B-3. The Veiled City

This takes place during Chapter 8 of Lights.

Facilier's Voodoo Emporium

Facilier put out the candles to his shop. He hung the 'Closed' sign on his door. A group of disappointed children were moaning outside. "But WHY are you closing the shop earlyyyyy?" a boy whined.

"Sorry, kids, but Uncle Facilier's short on supplies, he's goin' away someplace to collect more." He told them honestly. "Y'all can last without magic for a day, can'tcha?"

"You'll be back tomorrow night, right Mr. Facilier?" a 5-year-old girl with a teddybear asked.

The Shadow Man bent down and patted her hair. "I promise, Little Suzy." He pecked some magic on her toy. The teddybear lovingly hugged Suzy's chest. "Ah right, see ya later, kids." He waved the lot good-bye. "Uncle Faci needs some shuteye." He went inside.

Wendy and Carla finished stocking items as the blue-haired child spoke with a smile, "Mister Facilier, were you always this popular with kids?"

"Well, not all the time, Wendy, there was a time when I was mixed in with some demons."

"Demons?" Carla questioned.

"Where do you think most of this junk comes from? New Jersey? Granted, I have an age limit based on my items. Anyway, y'all should get some shuteye. I called us a Knight Bus to drive us to Orchid Bay; you can try to sleep there, but you'll also wanna refresh for the ride."

Facilier cracked open a hatch on the ceiling, letting a ladder come down. Carla flew up while Wendy climbed. In the small, cramped bedroom, Sonny and Donna were sharing a bed without complaint, while Wendy took off her sandals to settle in her bed. She looked up when a slim woman in a black coat walked across the room. "Oh, hello, um, Mrs. Facilier!" Wendy greeted her bubbly.

Madame Rouge looked at her with a smug look. "Hello, Drunken Mistake." She blew smoke from her cigarette, making Wendy cough. She began climbing down the ladder.

"W-Where are you going?"

"I vas called for some business." she replied in her thick French accent. "Eet's grown-up stuff, Dear, do not bother." She closed the hatch on the way down.

Madame Rouge was about to leave the shop when Facilier touched her shoulder, sporting a cool smile. "Ahh, Laura, why're you so sour to Wendy? It's not like you see her much."

"It's just, vhen ve got married, I vas not planning to raise children. Now you insist on vatching these urchins so your benefactor vill protect your business."

"Laura, it ain't about the merchandise or the, ahem, semi-legal protection." Harvey put an arm around her shoulders. "Not saying I wanted to, but I never got to raise a child of my own. I watched mah friends do it, then their kids do it, and any generation, kids are so… wonderful. The most important part is, they learning from us. So I guess I feel a sense of pride… over having a student." He pulled away from her. "You can say you don't like kids, but if you had one that, I dunno, looked at you for guidance…"

"Hmph. The only child I helped to guide vas Nolan York." Rouge smirked. "And he is still calling me for favors. How silly." The woman casually left the shop. "I am going to rob a mansion for blueprints. Do not vait for me." She morphed into a raven and flew away.

Upstairs, Wendy changed into her pajamas and put her emerald patterned dress in the laundry basket. As she put the covers over herself in bed, she looked down at Carla on a mat on the floor. "Carla, why do you always sleep down there?"

"Intelligent as I am, I'm still a cat." She replied, her usual scowl not changing even as her eyes were closed. "Besides, there are few beds for most of us."

Wendy looked at Sonny and Donna, sleeping together. She smiled at her kitten. "Why don't we share?"

"Thanks for the offer, but you probably don't want fur or feathers on your bed. And I wouldn't want you to feel cramped."

"No, I won't mind, really. Come on, you look lonely down there."

Carla sighed to herself. It was a little uncomfy, and cold. …She wondered what a bed would feel like, albeit sharing a skimpy one with someone else. "All right." Carla fluttered up and onto Wendy's bed. The girl scooted over, allowed Carla under the covers, and put an arm over her like a stuffed animal. Wendy's back was touching the wall; there really wasn't much room for them. "Um… if my arm bothers you, I'll move it." Wendy spoke guiltily.

"Child, look at yourself, this is much too small. I may as well fall off."

"Um… l-let's do it this way." Wendy lifted Carla onto her chest, still under the blanket as she wrapped both arms around the kitten. "Is this comfortable?"

"Sigh…" Carla was disbelieved. "You're going to keep insisting I sleep in a bed, won't you? Oh well… I think I'm alright with this."

"Okay. You'll let me know if it's not, right?"

"Yes, yes. Good night, Wendy."

"Good night, Carla." Both of them made it to slumber eventually, despite the weight of Carla on Wendy's chest. Granted, it was harder to breathe or snore, but Wendy passed this off. Carla was certain of this unspoken inconvenience; in the three months Carla knew her, Wendy sure was insistent in places where she didn't need to be. Still… the girl's chest was comfier than the floor. She supposed it was the instinct of a cat to want to sleep by their master. Of course, Carla was too intelligent to have to follow such instinct, let alone call a little girl 'Master.' Yet… Carla was very fond of Wendy. She didn't understand the bond she felt with her; other than the aforementioned, simple bond between child and pet. Carla felt odd to describe it that way, but at the moment, she couldn't think of anyway else. She hoped to figure everything out one day. Where she came from… and where Wendy came from.

5:00 in the morning…

After a couple hours, Carla ended up in a position where she sloped frontways down Wendy's belly, while said girl had her right arm dangling over the side. "Time to get UP!" Sonny and Donna leaped onto Wendy's bed, still in socks and pajamas, and stomped the girl's legs and chest, the force bouncing Carla off onto the floor.

"Honestly, you are going to give her sores if you keep that up!" Carla stated, rubbing her own head while Wendy rubbed her legs.

"Mr. Facilier says it's time to get up!" Sonny announced.

"The Knight Bus is here!" Donna jumped.

"Put on your BEST clothes!" they both cheered. With that, the twins leapt down the hatch.

Carla put on her signature red shirt and yellow skirt while Wendy fixed on a short-sleeve, bluish-purple shirt, white shorts, and sky-blue strap-on shoes. (Other characters could live with wearing the same clothes every day, Wendy was not one of those people.) "At least we won't have to run." she said. "My legs get sore. Plus, we can always catch up on rest on the bus."

"I don't know, Child… The way Facilier was speaking of it.."

A faint shade of orange was in the horizon, but went unnoticed behind Cleveland's buildings, so nighttime was still fresh. Wendy and Carla made it outside with bags of supplies packed. Facilier and the twins waited beside a very tall, night-blue bus with three floors. The door to the bus opened: the conductor bore a dark-purple suit and hat, and looked roughly in his 30s. "Top of the morning to you, laddies! My name is Jacksepticeye, here to play the role of Stanley Shunpike!" The conductor announced with an Irish accent, speaking fast and energetically.

"They seriously got a YouTube Let's Player to voice a role in this story?" Carla questioned.

"Yes, and I've got five tickets for Orchid Bay, one adult, three children, one pet, all aboard or we'll be wastin' daylight, tip-tip, taddly-ho, up from bed and off you go!"

"Please tell me that was part of your script and you don't actually talk like that." Carla said as they all boarded the odd bus.

"I stocked up on 10 pounds of crack before takin' this gig, didn't know what it was, but boy was I glad, pip-pip and doodly-doo! Aaaaall aboard!" The bus door shut.

The bus driver, Ernie Prang, was very old with white hair that looked like Albert Einstein. He had blue eyes under black circle glasses. There was also a Shrunken Head hanging by the windshield, sickly green with a squished nose, and had dreadlocks. It spoke with a Jamaican accent, "Mind your head."

Ernie stomped the gas pedal, the passengers were flown to the back of the bus by the vehicle's irrepressible speed. The driver swerved left, the passengers smashed against that wall, he zipped right, there they crashed. Wendy and Carla's hearts jumped every time they were about to hit a car or a building, but—this made no sense—every obstacle was jumping out of their way like they were programmed. Carla absolutely had to know if anyone saw, and/or felt these movements.

"Can I interest you in a hot chocolate while you wait?" Stan asked perkily, whirling circles in midair as he poured a cup of chocolate—as it fell, the liquid made a whirl around and above before landing in the cup, and kept flying out and back in the cup as the bus was apparently rolling.

"Sure! I would love some hot chocolate!" Wendy was pressed against the wall, weakly reaching her arms forward to take the cup. She tried to sip, but on a sudden turn, the hot cocoa flew out and drenched her face. She screamed and cried tears from the hotness.

"We're ROLLING, we're ROCKS, we're ROLLING, we're ROCKS!" The Ice Climbers were bundled like a ball, rolling back-and-forth to the swaying of the bus.

"A little history behind this," Facilier spoke calmly, his long arms and legs pressed against each side of the bus to keep from flying like the others, "before the Knight Bus was invented in 1865, the Ministry of Magic considered sidecar broomsticks. Heh heh, you can guess why that ain't make the green light!"

Up ahead was a construction zone, where the cranes dropped tons of bendable pipes and long planks onto the road. A flatbed truck was passing by and got a flat tire, leaving a small space between the flatbed and the ground. The group expected all of that to magically jump aside—but Wendy was the first to notice otherwise. "Hey… why the long faces?" Dre Head asked.

The bus's dimensions were steadily becoming squished and flat, along with its passengers; and its passengers' stomachs. Everything seemed to go slow-motion with this part. They had very little of the third dimension left as they slid under the flatbed. Then the bus's sides contracted, they became like a rectangular worm that crawled through a fallen pipe, up and around its sides and ceiling as said pipe was bent and spiraled. While still driving on its side, the squished bus could come out and drive across the side of a plank that was in the process of descending, followed by expert maneuverability across other falling planks, right-side-up, sideways right, upside down, until finally flipping and landing on the street. Almost instantly, the bus POPPED back to normal, zooming away from the construction zone. "Carla?"

"Yes, Wendy?"

"I'm glad I never went to school as a kid." Wendy spoke with weeping eyes. They passed a sign that said, Orchid Bay, Maine. 5 hours by Knight Bus.

Orchid Bay, Maine

The sun was higher over the horizon when the bus finally made it to a forest road. It came to a very slow, and very gentle stop. As soon as the door opened, Wendy fell front-first on the ground, Carla landed on her gently, then the twins smashed them both, wearing happy expressions. As Dr. Facilier calmly stepped out, Stan Shunpike told him, "Sorry I can only take ya this far, but this town is very antsy when it comes to magic, and they try to limit supernatural tourism as much as possible. If you had element powers, that's one thing, but be a little careful when using magic 'rounds these guys. Thank ya for riding the Knight Bus, tell all yer friends and family, this is Jacksepticeye, I will see you all for the next bus ride!" He closed the door, and the vehicle zipped away, its tires screeching against the concrete.

"M-m-m… Mr. Facilier?" Wendy was on her knees, holding her stomach and crying. "I think I have motion-sickness… ulp.."

"What? Already? Girl, we ain't even at the timeskip, yet!" Facilier said.

"I'm sorry."

"Don' worry about it." Facilier raised his cane. "I 'ave a spell that'll help. Troia!" He touched Wendy's stomach.

She felt the sick feeling fade away, looking with wonder as she stood. "Wow! That does feel better!"

"Assuming my head was on correctly," Carla spoke as they strolled across the forest road, "what did he mean by 'this town is antsy with magic'?"

"Truth be told, I came here a couple times." Facilier replied. "I'll tell ya a little secret." They walked around a winding turn of the forest, where they had perfect view of the ocean, and the city across. "That's Orchid Bay. Looks like your average seaside town, right? Well, get this: they's a barrier over that town, we call it the Veil. All magic and magical creatures alike are completely invisible."

"Invisible?!" Wendy shook. "S-So that means we?…"

"Hhhhhahahahaha! Naw, humans are still flesh and solid, it's just all the other weird stuff. The most they tolerate are benders. Y'see, that city is a home to both humans, AND demons. Good demons that just wanted an escape from all the sorrow and sadness downstairs, but there are bad ones. Of course, the humans wouldn't be comfortable, that's why the Veil was created, so that demons could live in peace without humans judging them, and humans can live happily not knowing there are big scary monsters everywhere they look. However, humans that possess magic like you and me see everything."

"Excuse me, but didn't you say there are also bad demons?" Carla asked.

"Correct. And therein lies whom we are visiting today: a very lovely lady by the name of Jasmine Lee. Her ancestors created the Veil, and it is her job to fight and control the evil creatures. Ah remember when she was in 'er late teens and she helped teach martial arts at Hogwarts—hah hah, I FAILED that class!"

"Heh heh." Wendy forced a laugh; she couldn't find it too humorous, being a failure herself in some areas. "…Oh? Mr. Facilier, look!" Wendy pointed far up the winding, seaside road, where black GUN trucks were driving down, and helicopters flew overhead.

"Haven't seen GUN this persistent since the Firstborn Quest. Wendy, y'all should run ahead, they won't arrest us. Tom told me that Jasmine lives in the forest behind town. Try and find her and we'll catch up."

"Okay. Be careful, Mr. Facilier!" (Play "Sunshine Airport" from Mario Kart 8!)

Stage B-3: Orchid Bay

Mission: Find the home of Jasmine Lee!

"Sky Dragon BOOST!" Wendy blasted twin gusts of wind behind her and raced across the ocean, sidestepping left and right when GUN Sharks swam up from below in their aim to snack her. Wendy was bolting straight to the city pier, where Orchid Bay was displayed on the welcoming sign- "Wendy, watch out!" Carla yelled when a line of GUN Sharks appeared in her path, forcing the airbender to drift rightward, skiing against the surface in the process. She couldn't turn around or slow down to look back, having to keep her feet moving across the water. "That was inconvenient."

"I'm not done, yet!" Wendy declared as she raced toward a close-by cruise ship, which steadily sailed away from the town. It was sailing past a short, jagged rock that slanted vertically up like a ramp, so Wendy poured more speed to run up and fly off it, going as high as the ship's deck. Carla lifted and carried the girl forward a little, then Wendy kicked a gust backward to fly onto the deck. "Sorry!" she yelled as she dashed across, sidestepping around the passengers and tables. She zipped to a flagpole, clutched it just as she flew by, and whirled upward thanks to the momentum, landing on the second level of the ship. "Whoa-!" She stumbled thanks to some rope on the floor, but recovered in time to nimbly jump the stacked boxes on the way.

When she encountered a taller stack of crates, Wendy shifted rightward and into the ship, throwing a quick "Sorry!" to all the waiters and workers that she zipped past and pushed with her wind. She slid down a stairway to the lower floor, following a set path through the dining hall, and out onto another deck where a Nitro Tram 5000 trampoline rested. "WHOOOAAA!" She jumped and bounced sky-high thanks to the powerful trampoline, but Wendy clutched a wire that was hanging under a blimp flying overhead. The blimp was designed like a Cheep Cheep fish.

Carla flew and caught up to her. "Do you ever stop to think before doing something?"

"I can't help myself sometimes! Besides, we're about to fly over the city, I can handle this." Wendy swung onto a walkway stationed below the blimp's side, then Carla lifted her up onto the blimp's roof. Wendy collected a Fire Soul that was floating over the balloon's backside, then rushed up to the front, standing on the slope as she looked down at the city. "See any good places to land?"

"Wendy, don't stand there or you might-"

"Wah-ah-AAAAHHH!" Wendy lost balance and fell as Carla predicted. There was a surreal blur as Wendy fell closer to the city—and landed on the back of some kind of slimy green bat monster. The monster lifted and turned its head to glare at Wendy, roaring a blood-hurdling scream. "AAAAHH!" Wendy leaped over the tail end, and landed on the head of a giant, orange, spike-backed dinosaur. The creature roared as Wendy ran across its back, up to its flailing tail before she flew off and landed on a rooftop. She needed a moment to catch her breath, and let Carla catch up. "Carla, where did THOSE things come from?"

It wasn't just them. As the kitten looked down to the streets, giant lizards, blob creatures, some kinds of hairy crocodiles, roamed everywhere. "Perhaps this is what Facilier talked about."

"And none of those people can see them…" Wendy recalled. "I wonder." She grabbed Carla, leapt off the building, bounced off a table umbrella, and presented her friend to a passing businessman. "Hello, Mister! This is my cat, Carla!"

"…?" The man looked confused. "Uuuuumm-"

"Never mind!" She boosted up the street and stopped at a corner. "So it looks like no one else can see you, either."

"Or perhaps he was pondering the point of some blue-haired child showing him her kitten."

"Or that." She sweatdropped. "Anyway, let's head to the forest." Wendy boosted down the right street, jumping up a stairway of fire escapes before climbing back on the roofs. A flock of Furnixes flapped around over a city street, so Wendy used their hook tails to swing across, then take land on a roof to her right. Some Bokoblin were trying to break into a rooftop window, so Wendy blasted the monsters over the edge with wind. "Sorry!" she yelled once more. Wendy ran off onto the next, lower roof and encountered twin Fatblin, who held metal shields. They jabbed their large spears, but Wendy jumped, kicked off the left one's, then stamped him in the face with both feet. She flew back, and while he was dizzy, Wendy blew a Cyclone Roar to send him falling over the edge. For the second one, Carla Torpedo Spun into its face, not really hurting him, but while it was trying to swing its spear at Carla over the edge, Wendy could blast another cyclone and push him over.

Wendy jumped to the next roof, then saw a lush green park not far away, deciding to go for a stroll. She bypassed a pink monster eating the bathrooms (ew), and saw a Fire Soul several meters up in the air, with a stairway of Guay (purple birds with orange beaks) floating up to it, aligned with a playground slide. Carla couldn't carry her that high, and although Wendy could run up the slide like a ramp, she was too heavy to jump the Guay, so she kept running. Wendy ran to a fountain in the park's center, jumped into its central spout, and was flown upwards, landing on a passing GUN Hawk. The Hawk thankfully flew her over an area of broken ground, likely for construction, and she jumped onto a safe street while the robot shifted skyward.

After passing a left turn corner, Wendy came to a towering purple building with a circular, tube-like structure around the top part. Wendy hit a Spring Pad to bounce onto a foothold around the tower, then jumped a team of GUN Beetles to get onto the next foothold. She then grabbed a dangling retractable hook that pulled her higher, swung to another one before a Beetle shot her, pulled higher, jumped across a Beetle to grab another one, went higher, then landed on a rounding walkway where Shield Hunters shot at her. She jumped over the first one, between it and the second, and blasted both off their feet with air gusts, then she ran to kick the third in the chest, knocking it down as she ran up a stairway.

She reached the upper floor of the building, ran through the café to the opposite balcony, then had Carla carry her up onto the roof. She saw another GUN Hawk about to pass the left of the roof, flying the direction of the forest, so Wendy vigorously leaped onto its back. Her hand accidentally pressed a switch that- "WAAAAAAHHH!" made the robot fly super-speed, so Wendy lost her grip and fell into the forest. The branches weakened her fall, but she landed upside-down with her legs bent over her. She jumped back to her feet, already lost, wondering how far she ended up. Without really thinking, Wendy chose a direction and ran. (End song.)

An old woman of Chinese descent was calmly tending to her garden. She was overweight, wearing a large, brownish-purple dress with dark-pink witch hat designs. She wore a necklace with a pink emblem, had grey hair in a bun (with a white strip along its left), and squinted reddish-brown eyes. Just as she was watering some flowers, somebody had burst through her fence and plopped onto her carrot patch. "MY CARROTS!" she panicked, dropping the water can. The culprit, Wendy Marvell, shook the dirt off her face and stood up. "What's the matter with you?! Those are Pikpik Carrots I had specially ordered from Europe to lead scavenging animals into my traps! I didn't expect them to work so well on HUMANS!"

Wendy recomposed herself, "S-Sorry! I'll help clean up!" She hurriedly picked up the fallen fence boards and set them outside of the garden, then used her bare hands to scoop the carrots back into their holes, and the dirt with them. Carla eventually landed by her.

"Don't bother with the fence because that's another area of protection that needs improving." She returned to watering the flowers.

After Wendy finished replanting, she let her mind catch up with her. "Um, Miss… I'm looking for a woman named Jasmine Lee. Do you know if she lives around here?"

"Who wants to know?" The lady turned to her.

"Wendy Marvell, i-is my name." She bowed. "This is Car- never mind, you probably can't see her. Mister Facilier sent us to find her."

"Facilier, Facilier…" The woman tapped her wrinkly chin. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"I wouldn't know, but Mr. Facilier attended a school called Hogwarts, and he knew Jasmine Lee from martial arts class. Now Mr. Facilier is teaching me about magic, so we're-"

"Oh, HAH HAAA! NOW I remember!" The lady laughed. "Stick-Bones Harvey, that's what we called him! Because the bigger kids picked him up and threw him like sticks! Ahhhh, those were the days."

Wendy beamed. "Then you must be Miss Lee!" ("That much is obvious." Carla remarked.)

"Please, call me Ah-Mah." Jasmine spoke humbly. "I have a granddaughter, you look about her age. Who's the cat with the wings?"

"Th-This is Carla! (At first, I didn't think you could see her.)" Wendy scratched her head. "It's nice to meet you, Ah-Mah."

"The pleasure is all mine. Please, come inside and let me make you tea." The woman walked onto her porch and entered her small, white house. "Then I'll tell you more about Stick-Bones Facilier. Wash your hands first."

Downtown

"DEMOOOOOONS! Hey, DEMOOOOOOONS!" Sonny cried for the whole town to hear. "Where are yooooooouuuu-"

"Quiet!" Facilier bonked him with his cane. "Heh heh, DON'T MIND THEM, fellas, children get really over-imaginative when they wear fluffy coats in the beginning of summer!" He gestured the twins forward quickly.

"Mr. Facilier, why don't the demons come out?" Donna questioned.

"The demons are out, but since y'all aren't magic, you can't see them. What up!" Facilier waved at a tall, yellow monster with a big mouth of sharp teeth. "Nobody in this town can see them, you'll find very few people who know magic and supernatural phenomena exist. It's the same as it's been for centuries. Jus' don't worry about it, now I don't see Wendy anywhere, so she's probably at Jasmine's house by now."

The group made it to the opposite end of the parking lot of Orchid Bay Mall. "I'm goin' ahead to Jasmine's. Y'all remember what I told ya to find, right?" Facilier asked. The twins nodded. "Good, then take these cards." He handed them small, green cards with witch hat logos. "Show them to every clerk. If he puts on a stupid look, move on to the next person. I'm counting on you, and no drawing attention to yourselves." The twins happily skipped into the building to carry their tasks.

Facilier hopped in his bright purple car (hidden in a secret compartment only he knows) and rode out to the back woods of town, following a dirt trail. He happened upon a small white house with a purple roof, that smelled of old people. He walked up to the front door and knocked. "Who IS iiiiit?"

"Doctor Facilier." He pronounced with his French accent.

"Oh, HAH hah haaa! Come in, come in, we were just talking about you!" Already sensing badness, Facilier creaked open the door and saw Jasmine, Wendy, and Carla at the table. "And then he got lost under Gruntilda's portable underdress flea circus! WE COULDN'T FIND HIM FOR HOURS!" Ah-Mah cracked up.

"Heheheh. I probably would, too." Wendy blushed. "I get so lost and ditsy. Plus I'm kind of small."

"Harvey, so nice of you to join us!" Ah-Mah greeted the man as he sat at the table with a blushed face. "Your little intern has told me all about your shop. You really ought to watch yourself. The Magical Ministry may not approve."

"You forget the Ministry is now World Government-protected." Facilier noted, sipping a teacup. "Thanks to Miss Head President. We mages are allowed more freedom."

"Freedom comes with a price, Harvey." Ah-Mah shook her cup a little. "Magic was not an art that the gods blessed onto mortals. We developed it ourselves. There have been wars between element benders, 'Muggles,' and magic users alike. Our power was deemed too unnatural, and too deadly. That's why laws had to be established. Especially in this town."

"Miss Ah-Mah, could you tell us about yourself?" Wendy requested. "Mr. Facilier said your family created the Veil."

"Yes, we did." Ah-Mah sipped her cup. "My family always possessed strong magical prowess. To my knowledge, we are of very few families who studied physical combat. Sure, most mages believe you can just wave a wand and throw a few spells, but to be physically enduring and agile is an important gift. You should see how strong we are." Ah-Mah flexed her left arm, smirking. "'Course, not all of us are born with magic, my son for instance. Harvey, you are right that the World Government protects the Ministry of Magic. Thanks to them, we mages cannot be persecuted for our power. That does not mean mages cannot be feared, cannot create a panic among non-mages. This is the reason we must be discrete as much as possible, especially under the Veil."

"Well, as long as people are happy." Wendy replied with a glum look, facing down. "And if there are no bad monsters." Inside, though, she had mixed feelings about the idea that magic users had to hide their selves. She looked up with a brighter look, "Miss Lee, will you teach me magic? Mister Facilier said you-"

"Ha ha ha, WENDY, Wendyyy." Facilier clamped her mouth shut. "You can't learn magic until you go to Hogwarts! No, I brought you to Jasmine's so you could learn to punch and kick!"

"You mean… fight?"

"Of course, Wendy! A growing girl like you NEEDS more meat on your bones!" He lightly pinched Wendy's arm, making her flinch. "Your legs have muscle, to be sure, and yo' airbending's superb, but you'd be amazed how far you get when you know how to punch."

"Um… I guess you're right." Wendy looked down again, sadly.

"He has a point." Carla agreed. "Don't be sad, you've gotten by without magic this long."

"I would be glad to teach you." Ah-Mah began, standing up. "If not for the fact I am reallyyyyy, really old. I've had this pain in my hip for the past three months. I think it would be more wise to let my granddaughter teach you. If you head down the road outside, you can find her by the canyon, doing her… daily activity."

Wendy and Carla jogged (and flew) through the forest to find a gorge area with barren, soil ground. "RAAAAH!" Wendy nearly lost her balance when a giant, brown-furred rat, with sharp teeth and horns, flew against the slope beneath her. (Play "Lightning Speed" from Naruto: Shippuden!)

Juniper Lee flexed her fingers after dealing such a mighty punch, then focused on her other opponent, the Dracotta Beast, a huge red dinosaur with big pink ears. June wore a green T-shirt that showed her belly, and bared a dark-pink silhouette of a juniper flower. She wore long blue jeans and large brown shoes, and had sleek black hair with a pink wisp along the left side. "Ya SEE what I did to that guy?!" June yelled at the Dracotta. "That isn't even CLOSE to how hard I can punch!"

Without warning, the Dracotta whipped its tail and sent her flying. June recovered, but saw the Racatan had recovered, charging on all fours and attempting to snap June in its buckteeth, but June swung her foot up and kicked the rat in those teeth. She flipped, kicked off the creature's head, and flew partway up the Dracotta's body to kick it in the neck. Racatan turned around and breathed fire at the child, so Juniper ran a circle around the rat to surround himself in a flame circle. Juniper rushed up to the Dracotta to punch its knee, but it felt little pain and kicked June away.

While she was down, Wendy noticed the Racatan inhale the fire surrounding him, ready to blow it at the fallen girl, so Wendy dashed in the way, inhaled a large breath of air, and countered the fire with her wind, blowing it back and burning the Racatan's face. June helped herself up and passed a grateful smile to the blue-haired. They focused on the monsters, in which Racatan shook the fire off as they growled with fury. "Jump above me!" Wendy yelled. June leaped high above as Wendy blasted a Cyclone Roar, blowing June several meters upward, so she could land on Dracotta's head. She punched the beast's blue eyes and tugged its ears, before the Dracotta shook his head and sent her flying.

The Racatan slashed its claws at Wendy, who dashed the opposite direction, slid to a halt, and "Sky Dragon BOOST!" came at full speed, ramming the Racatan's stomach headfirst as he flew back. "Ow ow ow!" Wendy gripped her throbbing head. "Bad idea, bad idea!"

"Wendy, watch out!" Carla swooped down and lifted her friend to safety before the Racatan blasted fire.

"Thanks, Carla." Wendy said as they glided above the trees. Looking down, she noticed a black-haired boy in a red shirt walking through a distant, open area of forest with his dog. "Look, there's somebody there."

These two figures, Ray Ray Lee and Monroe, wandered lost through the forest. "Ay can't believe we got lost just because you thought you smelled barbeque from over that river!" Monroe stated with a Scottish accent.

"Hey, we stopped a group of Fire Demons from torching a rose garden, I say we're heroes." Ray Ray argued.

"Excuse me!" They both looked up, seeing Wendy and Carla overhead. "This area is dangerous! Get out of here!" the latter warned.

"Who in blazes are you?" Monroe shouted.

"That dog just talked!!" Wendy exclaimed.

Ray Ray gasped, "THAT CAT JUST TALKED! And can fly!"

"Since you two are up so high, Ay don't suppose you've seen any monsters?" Monroe inquired.

"Yes, there are monsters in that direction." Carla nudged with her head. "You shouldn't go wandering."

"Oh, you did NOT just spit on me!" a familiar girl's voice rang.

"JUNE!" The boy and dog hurried to where Carla pointed.

"Why am I such a difficult creature to listen to." Carla remarked before carrying Wendy back.

"I just had these clothes dry-cleaned!" June shouted at the Dracotta. "If I can't get these stains out, you're paying with your teeth!"

"June!" She looked above the hill when Ray Ray and Monroe appeared. "A Racatan's weakness is its tail." Monroe informed. "And Dracottas have very ticklish ears."

"Carla, we can handle it!" Wendy dropped free of the kitten's paws and landed on the Dracotta's head. She gripped and pulled the ears open, then Carla fluttered beside the right ear to tickle with her wings. The monster began laughing hysterically, falling on his back and kicking his legs. Meanwhile, Juniper dodged the Racatan's breath, slid behind and grabbed his little tail. With her super strength, she lifted and swung him around and around. Wendy and Carla got away from the Dracotta as it stood up in anger. It turned to look at June, so she could chuck the Racatan up and against Dracotta's face. They both fell on the ground defeated. Wendy ran beside June and exchanged a victorious smirk. (End song.)

After the monsters recovered, they were sitting politely (though scowling) before June, as Racatan spoke, "Ruh-rah, rur-rah-rah, rur-rah-rah."

"What's it saying?" Ray Ray asked as Monroe turned pages of a book.

"Not that my Racatanese is top notch, but I believe he's angry at the Dracotta for stealing its golden nut."

"Okay, Dracosaurus, give back his nut, and both of you crawl back to your caves," June demanded, "because if I see you tearing up the valley again, I'm wearing my gym shoes!"

Both monsters exchanged gruff looks, before the Dracotta pulled a saliva-covered gold rock from its bowels. He gave it to Racatan, before both stomped away in anger. "Sigh… that could've taken longer. Thanks for the help." June smiled at Wendy, holding a hand out. "The name's June. What's your-" Wendy panicked when she saw a floating pair of eyes, and an open mouth behind June, but the girl swung her other first behind her and punched the invisible chameleon. The creature depressedly crawled away.

Wendy stared agape, but shook this off and returned the smile. "I'm Wendy." She shook her hand. "I'm happy to help."

"THAT was SO COOL!" Ray Ray cheered. "Who is this blue-haired girl?! PLEASE tell me you're our long-lost cousin!"

"I think we used up that cliché." June remarked. "But he raises a good question. Where'd you come from, Wendy? And who's the flying cat? (I'm open if you're willing to trade.)"

Ray Ray snorted a chuckle, earning a glare from Monroe.

Ah-Mah's House

"And that's how Stick-Bones Harvey got himself off of the laundry string." Ah-Mah concluded her tale, and Facilier held his hat over his face in embarrassment.

"My favorite part is when that bully flapped him like a towel!" Ray Ray laughed.

"If I didn't know this was a magic school, I would've sworn you made all that up." June rolled her eyes humorously.

"Oh, it happened, all right." Ah-Mah nodded. "If you roll up your sleeves, we might still see the clothespin marks."

"Weeell, putting that aside," June turned to Wendy, "I wouldn't mind showing you a few moves. 'Course, you kicked plenty of butt back there already."

"Heh heh. I'd still like an ice bag for my head, though." Wendy blushed.

"I can't right now, though." June frowned regretfully, standing up. "We promised our parents we'd help clean the house. How 'bout we meet in the park at 1:00? Come on, Ray Ray."

"Dude, you gotta teach me how to run like Super Sonic!" Ray Ray exclaimed to Wendy as he followed his sister.

"Yer an annoying mix of both Super Sonic and Chaos." Monroe remarked. The trio shut the door upon their exit.

"For the sake of avoiding anymore stories…" Facilier stood up. "We should probably regroup with some friends of ours. Let's go, Wendy, Charles."

"Thank you for the tea!" Wendy told the woman.

"And my name is Carla." The cat corrected.

They climbed in the back of Facilier's WKD WTCH car while the witch-doctor got behind the wheel. "I sent Sonny and Donna inside the mall for a 'private' errand. If they ain't find it, we'll look ourselves." Facilier fixed his rearview mirror.

"What did you send them to find?" Wendy asked.

Facilier smiled to himself and sported a light chuckle. He turned to face Wendy. "You're getting a jumpstart ahead of all those first-years, Wendy. Because we're about to buy you a wand."

Greenland; Mountain of Flavors

The morning was crisp as the sun peeped over the horizon. The ocean air smelled especially fresh at this time of day, especially when it mixed with the cold scent of ice cream. Augustus parked his plane on the ocean, climbing a rugged cliffside as Maggie rode his shoulders. He and the Baby Trio followed the route above, finding a wooden house within an enclosing. Augustus knocked, and a pair of eyes looked through the looking hole. "Tax collector?"

Augustus lowered his shades, smirking. "Adventurer."

"Oh!" The man opened the door. He was actually a brown bear with a long snout, white T-shirt, and reddish-brown trousers. "You must be Augustus! Brandon told me you'd be coming, yup."

"Messenger bird travels fast." Augustus noted, walking in.

"No actually, we have cellphones." Ricardo held up the small device. "You say you lookin' for Corn-Clamber Boots for that-there Buttermilk Buildin'?"

"Uh-huh. And it looks to me you have a surplus." Augustus looked around. "One Size-9, two Size-1's, and a Size-2."

"Ohh, these children… Brandon warned ya about Lord Licorice, yup?"

"Did he warn you what I thought about Lord Licorice, yup?" Augustus tossed his lollipop in the trash.

"He warned me you had too many sodas, yup. Augustus, if you're really going to put the young'uns in danger, I need to know, what's so special about Buttermilk Building? Surely it's more than the sake of an adventure."

Augustus began another, yellow lolli. His eyes still behind his shades, he looked up in thought.

"Mi abuela said, when God created the world, He made all kinds of candies that, when baked together, make the most delicious cake in the world!" The diseased, little Spanish boy spoke with wonder and delight to his teenage visitor.

"You must be thinking of the Eight Sugary Wonders." Augustus spoke coolly. "The Eight Firstborn created those, and they create a cake that-"

"No no no, is not like those! These candies were around before that! And the cake that they create, its taste lasts with you to Heaven!"

"A cake more delicious than the Eight Sugary Wonders?" The explorer was highly intrigued, beginning another lollipop. "I might have to see this for myself."

The boy coughed. "I want to eat it, too. Señor Augustus… can you please take me to find it?"

Augustus frowned. "I dunno if you're in the right… shape to travel."

"Then please bake it and bring to me! I want to know, kah, cough, ka…"

"…" Augustus didn't want to disappoint him… nor did he want to lie. "How long do you even have?"

"The doctors say seven months. I don't think it can save me, but it sounds so… delicioso."

The faint light twinkled off Augustus's shades. He smiled. "Tell me what these candies are. If I don't make it… I'll still bring the cake to you."

That was back in November. Now it was May. Augustus wanted to find the Lost Candies, but was more in debt with the Big Mom Pirates in finding Candied Planet. He thought that if they could find Candied Planet, he could take Luviro with them, show him these Candies and more. But Augustus hadn't gotten over how he was deceived by Big Mom. He wasted time hunting the Sugary Wonders, when he could have searched for the Lost Candies for a better purpose.

Truthfully, Augustus suspected Luviro to have passed by now, so any reason to find the Lost Candies was for the adventure. But in theory, he could have found the Candies if he hadn't been more interested in "Candied Planet." He was selfish, he admitted, and he regretted it. "You're right, maybe it is." He told Ricardo. "But you don't need to know that. How many Chocolate Coins you want for these, 30?"

"Thirty-four." Ricardo said. Augustus tossed him the coins, buying the four Corn-Clamber Boots for them. They looked like normal boots, but they had very sharp sweet corns on their soles. "Jus' don't tell Lord Licorice where ya got them."

As the Marzipans were leaving the shop, somebody watched them from the sky. It was a man flying like a kite, his body flat and bendable as paper. His hi-tech goggles zoomed on the group.

Unknown fortress

The Marzipans' image displayed on a screen. A ball-shaped creature with spider legs, a single eye, and a mouth of sharp teeth skittered off to a throne room. He spoke with a wide smile, "Lord Licorice! The Teavee saw something! He saw people buy Corn-Clamber Boots! What if they go to Buttermilk??"

Lord Licorice was interrupted polishing his shiny, green candy gun. He smirked evilly. "Is that so? Well… If they goes up there, just have Veruca deal with them." He locked his gun on a Red Chuchu that was mindlessly crawling around the floor. "I'll be there momentarily." He shot the Chuchu, scattering his remains. "Tell Smithers to clean that up." he said as he walked away.

Negaverse; DNK Moonbase

Team Nerehc and the DNKG operatives returned to Moonbase. They uncuffed the delinquents' arms, but fixed chi-blocks on Atnort and Annaira. "You'll be given minor chores and duties until we feel like we can trust you." Nerehc told them. "I'd like for that day to be soon."

"Yeah, we aren't stupid." Beewv stated smugly on Avakam's shoulder. "Just show me to the nearest dirty keyboard and I'll do what I do."

A minute later, Sicnarf brought Yddam and Hcaz to them. "Beewv, you're helping Hcaz clean the terminals." The glasses-wearing boy carried Beewv off. "Annaira, help Yddam in the kitchen."

The Yhprum sister looked frightfully at the alien. "Hehe… no hard feelings?"

"Leave your light on when you go to sleep." Anna threatened before following her.

"Atnort, help Sicnarf fix weapons. Avakam, help Inap in the laundry room."

Avakam shot a sudden glare at Ininap's face, scaring the girl. The alien walked ahead annoyedly as Inap jogged far behind. Nerehc sighed and returned to his office, sitting boredly behind stacks of papers. Ghirahim popped out of his sword. "Why do you even care about these fools, Master?"

"When the world's about to end, you have the urge to make as many friends as possible."

"Where's your evidence that the world is ending?"

"Some guy obsessed with masks. I really dunno what to do, Ghira… if finding the Seven Lights and Thirteen Darknesses is up to the Positives, I guess the most I can do is build up my own army. However whacked-up we are."

The office door knocked, so Ghirahim returned. Nerehc answered the door to find AlyakAm and Egroeg Gnik. "Hello, Numbuh -3621." The former greeted tonelessly. "We have a request for you. We wish to go into the Posiverse to meet our Positives. Our own private Meet Your Match Day."

"Could you organize a meeting?" Egroeg asked.

"Sure. What's the occasion?"

"We feel bad for missing Meet Your Match Day. AlyakAm is especially looking forward to mocking my opposite self."

"Egroeg knows that if he mocks me in such a light, I will eat his fingers." AlyakAm said.

"Why don't siblings bond as well as you guys." Nerehc remarked sarcastically. "Okay, I'll try to get in contact with Cheren and see what his operatives are doing. Maybe I can ask his progress…" The three of them left the office.

Underworld

Medusa watched them all in her giant cauldron. Nosam was helping Lorac train in acrobats, using his waterbending as an obstacle course. Ynohtna was trying to play with his gloomy little sister. Ikuyim was practicing her crystalbending. Newd was bugging Ydnew, in the form of a red bee. "Simple little Negatives… so carefree and blind to everything."

One of her green snake strands, Thanatos, dangled beside her. "Medusaaa! When are we going to start finding the Darknesses?! Palutena is going to beat us!"

"Patience, Thannypoo. It won't matter who finds what first. Because Palutena will have Seven Lights, and I will have Thirteen Darknesses. Assuming I can't rely on Ragaj to turn the Lights to my side, thirteen still beats seven!"

"Yes, but if we wait too long, the universe will be destroyed, and we'll have to wait another quadrillion years." Pandora, the living blue flame with a face, spoke depressedly.

"Yes, you're right. Which is why it's time we began our quest." Medusa smirked at her cauldron. "Little do they know, these Negatives are about to take part in a story I whipped up: Legend of the Thirteen Darknesses! HA HA ha ha!"

"Zeeeeehahaha." Blackbeard laughed, munching a cherry pie. "I'm too excited to meet them! What were their names again?"

"I dunno, Blacky. Why don't you name one?"

"Gladly!" Blackbeard twirled and let his coat flap, speaking confidently, "I believe one of them was a Pirate Emperor like me! His name is Davy Jones!" He pictured the tentacle-faced captain in the sky.

"I remember a few as well." Pandora sighed. "Two of the Darknesses are wizards. One of them is Zeref the Black Cloud." Her flame displayed the handsome, teenage mage with black hair.

"Oo-oo, I know!" Thanatos perked up. "Two of the Darknesses were alien overlords! One of them sounds super sexy! And her name," the snake twirled, "was YELLOW DIAMOND!" He imagined a slim, shadowed figure with a yellow eye.

Medusa pictured these three figures, as well as 10 more silhouetted, appearing in the dark sky. "When these three evils come together, the New World will be OURS for the taking! Any silly child army Palutena can create will pale in comparison! For now, it is time for our favorite opposites to begin. Ragus… he is at his house."

Somewhere in the Negaverse was a girl with wide, psychotic purple eyes, aquamarine hair, and a forced smile. She seemed to have stitches on her face, wore a dark-pink coat, and a dress depicting a full moon over a shadowed graveyard. "Great, Lady Medusa! I look forward to playing with him!" She held a doll of Nerehc in her hand.