12. Where Madness Grows

New York City

Sandman, Yuki, and Wiccan landed atop a skyscraper after dropping out of the Sandmobile. "Alright, the Warbucks Mansion is just on the outskirts of the city, east side." Sandman explained, viewing his map. "We just need to sneak in and talk to the Yipper."

"Ahhh, adults breaking into a young girl's home." Crystal sighed. "Many misunderstandings."

"Let's just get it over with. My head's starting to feel real fuzzy all of a sudden…"

Stage 21: Warbucks Mansion

Mission: Speak with the Yipperman Plus about Freddy's Pizzeria.

Act 1

Of course, before they actually went to the mansion, the three heroes began their flight across the city, wind chilling their flesh as a feeling of freedom filled their hearts, a kind of freedom one can only find in open-world videogames. "Quick question I wanna ask, didn't you say the mansion's got heavy security?" Yuki asked.

"I know, that's why we didn't go the other night. I called in a favor to get codes and blueprints for the place."

"To who?" Crystal asked.

"An acquaintance. Hopefully she didn't make too big a mess getting them. Still have her communicator linked, she's just this way…"

The honking of horns rang below as they glided over street after street, the city alit by building, car, and streetlights to keep everyone awake. The heroes made their way to a dark, more empty backstreet area where Sandman led the team down a darker alleyway with fallen trashcans and puddles of slop. Nolan stopped just before the path turned black. "Who valks in the shrouded path?" a woman's French accent spoke.

"One who seeks the unshrouded." Nolan replied.

"We meet again, Sandman." The slender woman in the black coat, long hair, and ruby-red lips blowing a cigarette, stepped out.

"Madame Rouge. No trouble getting the codes?"

The woman slipped a small disk from under her sleeve. "Not as much as I vished." She tossed it to Sandman. "Revan vould be proud, his apprentice robbing a rich type."

"He sure would. How's the husband?"

"Good. Ve have recently taken a girl called Wendy under our ving. You-Know-Who's orders. And they've just been all over the place vith each other, eet's very annoying. I don't suppose you've heard of a vinged cat?"

"I don't doubt such a thing exists." Nolan said with a hint of 'that was so random.'

"Didn't think so. Vell, enjoy your break-in." She walked past him out of the alley. "I vill be hitting the town." She morphed into a raven and took flight.

Nolan slipped the disk into his terminal and had the blueprints studied. "Perfect: guard schedules, searchlights and everything, these rich guys have class. Interestingly, they have aerial sensor alarms to keep an eye out for non-bird flying objects. No gliding or hovering, then. We're not trying to make ourselves as enemies, so don't get caught or attack anyone. If everyone starts panicking, they'll seal the place and we'll never talk to that Yipper. Time to move."

They flew back to the buildings and soared to the east, where Warbucks Mansion was marked on Nolan's map. They could've taken the time to explore the city and look for Riddler Trophies or sidequests, but figured the readers would forgive them for making this journey a little bit shorter. There came to be less buildings and more trees as they journeyed down a road through a small forest. They made it to some tall barred gates, viewing the huge front yard of a heavily-guarded mansion, where searchlights and guards roamed the many square crossroads. "I guess we'll be jumping the fence, then." Wiccan said.

"Actually, Iiii was thinking you could do this yourself." Sandman replied.

"Come again?"

"Well, we're not trying to cause a panic, and it'd be harder for three costumed adults to run around unseen. Since I'm in a heavy-ass wheelchair, and you're um, more coordinated than Yuki, you could sneak in the mansion, disable the alarms, and we could sneak in through a safe window. I'll beam you any codes you'll need, but we'll rush in if you get in trouble. If this goes wrong, we'll need another plan."

"If I'm so required, I won't fail. …No hovering, huh?" So with that, Crystal climbed a tree, got over the fence, and landed behind some trashcans. "It's like Coach Wittenberg always said, 'You may not like gym now, but when it's time to break into a young girl's home, you'll wish you took more classes.' And I said, 'Well I'm not the one teaching class through a TV in jail, am I?'"

Since the yard was so open and exposed, Crystal crawled between two rows of bushes, where a watchtower was stationed a few feet away with two searchlights lazily rotating around. Two guards were also patrolling, one in Crystal's aisle, and another on the left aisle beside the fence. She thought it best to crawl through this one since the lights were going counterclockwise, waiting for the guard to walk forward before she crawled. She then quietly stepped over the left bushes, got down, and crawled away before either could notice. "Hey, Johnny. How d'you feel about nightshifts?"

"It's the hard-knock life. For me."

"It's a hard-knock life. For me."

Though mildly humored at their chat, Crystal continued. She arrived at a small area of yard littered with twigs, where a dog was fast asleep in her house up ahead, labeled Sandy (not to be confused with many others). Using the balance and coordination Nolan praised her for, she began hopping to the little patches of open ground, one foot standing while the other stretched away, having to leap precisely in following patches of land lest she lose balance and scared the dog awake. The next jump was to a tree, but since her staff's rocket function was too much of an alarm, she leaped and grabbed it in a hug that looked rather awkward from another's perspective.

She climbed to and then crawled across a branch, going above a tall wooden fence with very spiked tops. A few plank tops were flat, so those became Crystal's stepping points when balancing across. If she fell off either end, she would hit the lines of trashcans, certainly setting people off. A searchlight glided over an area of the fence partway through, forcing Crystal to remain steady while it went by, then continued past it. She made it to a corner of the mansion, grabbing hold of a vine ladder that grew on the wall and climbing to the roof. She crouched and crawled to stay just under the searchlights' starting place, keeping along the edge as best her balance could. She turned a corner and reached the back side of the mansion, overlooking a yard of five pools.

Crystal was able to rest on a small balcony before the window of a storeroom. She sat down to catch her breath. "Okay, Nolan, how do I get in? I assume this window's alarmed."

"Yep, and the door below has guards on the other end. But see that pumphouse across the pool?" Crystal viewed the little house on the farther end. "There's a passage inside that connects to the basement, no guards. I'll tell you the code to get in."

"There's quite the handy bit of guards AROUND the pools, you know."

"Those middle ones, though… they each have one set moment where the guards look and walk away from them. You can freeze the pools and slide across."

"That'll look subtle. Sigh… I'll try, anyway." Crystal carefully hopped down using the roofs of the windows below, landing on the top of the stairs where the back door was perched. With careful timing, when the guards were turned away on Nolan's cue, Crystal rushed down to the pool, "Glacius." and blew a gentle ice cloud that froze it solid. Backing up, she ran, fell on her front, and glided across like a penguin, quickly ducking under the umbrella table once across, and "Incendio." using fire to melt the pool.

"So why didn't Warbucks take Annie to the party?" a passing guard asked.

"He didn't like how all the rich types think. Didn't want Annie to pick up some bad habits, or worse. If it were me, I'd have mixed feelings about riding a train halfway up the stratosphere."

"Charlie thinks Warbucks is goin' up there to learn somethin', of what, I don't know. You know what I heard about that Mariejoa once? Anyone that goes up there never makes it back down. The joke is they're 'uplifted to Heaven.'"

Crystal repeated her actions once the guards weren't looking, freezing this new pool, but since it was heated, her ice melted into shrinking chunks, having to quickly and quietly jump these chunks to make it. She hid beneath a smaller table afterwards, but the third pool had a guard sitting in an inner-tube in the middle, slowly rotating while sipping juice. The right side had a rope floating with thick bobbers, so when the guard rotated away and all others were not looking, Crystal quickly and carefully walked across each bobber before she tumbled over.

Once at the pumphouse, she typed the code 'Leapin Lizards' in a terminal and got inside. The tiny cramped room reeked of rusty wet pipes, and a strange gas emitted from one of them that made her cough. The gas did nothing else while she searched around, eventually finding a small hatch with a pitch-black passage. She climbed down, frantically shook cobwebs off her, and hit a floor. "Lumos." She emitted a light from her staff to see down the dusty passage.

She walked through at a quick pace, hearing only the rhythm of her gasps. On her right, she thought she caught a glimpse of a skeleton in a ragged icy cloak, but passed this off. Finally, she got to a ladder and climbed, but one of the planks gave way under her foot and she slipped. "Gotcha!" A hand grabbed her arm, helping her to safety.

"Oh, thank you, Tra-.." Crystal nearly froze. A handsome boy with dark-purple spiky hair and yellow eyes smiled at her. Crystal's brother. "Travis…"

"UAAH!" The boy was stabbed from behind, and Crystal gaped as he morphed into a ghoul, collapsed, and dispersed into dust. A scarecrow-like being with glowing eyes vanished into the dark. Crystal kept still and breathed heavily. What in the world was this? Her staff light having gone out, she merely walked forward and through a door.

"N-No! Stop! Pleeeeaase!" A man was crying down the hall on Crystal's left

"Take whatever you want, just don't hurt anyone!" a maid cried.

"I want to hear you scream… I want to see your fear." A being's shadow raised a long syringe over the shadows of the pleading couple. "I'm more than just a nightmare… I'm Affright." The shadows shrunk away when the syringe came down and they screamed. The mansion was an eerie gray color as Crystal ran down, seeing the man and woman shaking ceaselessly after turning the corner. Crystal kept going, entering a large chamber with a stairway, chandeliers overhead, and mansion guards walking like zombies.

"Uhhhhh, Nolan, something very odd is going on here." Crystal spoke into her communicator. A heavy breathing was on the other end, right into Crystal's ear, mixed with exhaustion and anger. "Nolan?"

"DAMMIT, Crystal, stop calling me!" A high-pitched ringing rang from the phone, and it morphed into a bat and flapped away. The zombified guards all faced her and morphed into ghouls. Crystal held her staff and started batting them around when they ran at her, kicking them when they managed to grab hold, and watching as they dispersed into dust. "Hey!" she yelped when the bat-phone flapped down and took her staff away in its talons. She ran up the stairs to give chase, but giant green tentacles burst out of the walls and floors, wishing to claim Crystal for whatever monster they belonged to.

A chandelier fell down beside her level, so she leaped to it. It shook and clanged its jewels furiously, attempting to raise Crystal to the spiked ceiling, but she jumped to another one in time. This one tried to drop into the floor-turned-lava-pit, but Crystal jumped to the floor where the stairs would've led her. Her staff was dangling from the phone-bat's talons, chasing it through a hallway of paintings and artifacts. When the bat seemed to poof through a door, Crystal chased it in.

The room was packed with statue heads, paintings, and old weapons. Crystal suspected the bat was hiding among the junk, so she searched around. It wasn't anywhere totally visible, not behind any statues or anything. She looked around the paintings to see if it was camouflaged, but in the few black areas, there were no bat-shaped lumps. The paintings themselves weren't of anything original, Mona Lisa, a fancy heavy-clothed couple holding hands, Eskimos crossing a blizzarding plain.

She combed the room a few more times just to make sure, moved a few objects around, but no sign that the bat was in there. She skimmed the paintings again… the Mona Lisa was replaced with Crystal herself, same pose and style. The Eskimos were replaced by Yuki leading skeletons, and the couple was replaced by Nolan and… Affright? The latter grabbed and pulled Nolan in for a kiss that made Crystal want to vomit. Affright then faced her with new puffy ruby lips. "Num-Nums is good inside my tum-tums. HAAAEEEEE!"

"AAAH!" The scarecrow lunged at Crystal, its whole lips surrounding and encasing her inside a dark dimension. She couldn't go left, she couldn't go right. She could only move forward like a 2-D side-scroller. Okay, I guess that's right. A distant, echoing beep sounded, becoming louder as she went on. Through the eyes of someone watching, she was a purple body surrounded by black, and after each beep, she shrunk a few inches. She started to look more like a purple dot within darkness. After the final beep, Crystal just… vanished.

A single strike of lightning brought Crystal back to what could be less reality. She was at the base of an obstacle course, floating miles above the ground in the center of a tornado, designed from torn walls, floors, and debris from the mansion. She ducked behind the wall when Affright's gigantic form appeared over, sniffing for Crystal. Finding no one, he returned.

Crystal quietly crept along the floating path, peering around the wall's edge to see the giant Affright rotating in the center of the course, searchlight eyes skimming for his prey. Before he came around to her, Crystal quickly jumped the midair bobbers like from the pool, of course it was far more terrifying inside a tornado. She got across and ducked under the short wall when Affright looped around. "There's nowhere to run." However, the giant began skimming that particular area, going left to right as Crystal stayed hidden. There were broken gaps in the wall he could see through, so she waited 'til he wasn't looking before quickly crawling forward.

She was able to stand behind a tall wall and recompose. She gasped when a thick wooden stick dangled before her face, looking up as the phonebat flapped away tauntingly. "Hey-!" She clapped her mouth shut, not wanting to attract Affright. The bat flapped its way over the course, so when Affright looked away, she quickly chased, having to jump the recurring spike traps and flamethrowers. She would've caught the bat, but he was too far in exposed space when Affright came back, so she hid behind a wall. She seized the moment when his sight passed, running as quick as she could. Despite the bat's desperateness to escape, Crystal jumped and grabbed her staff back, then bumped into a wall. She had to use her rocket function to propel up to the ledge, ducking when Affright came around.

She found another dead end between two walls whose space between was the length of her staff, each baring holes parallel with each other. With the rocket boost, she shot partway up and stuck both ends of her staff inside the first pair of holes, conveniently behind a sub-wall to avoid Affright's vision. "You'll only climb to oblivion." He began skimming up-and-down that particular area. To climb higher, Crystal had to stand and balance on the staff, jump while yanking it off, and sticking in the following holes. The catch was she couldn't stay behind the wall while standing, and much of the following holes didn't have walls, so she had to move quickly.

Once up top, Crystal was behind another wall while Affright continued the left-to-right routine. Hovering just over Crystal's side of the path were huge floating diamonds that, when hit by Affright's lights, would emit a huge light that would have Crystal caught if she stood in it. He could view these diamonds through gaps or windows, but there were smaller walls on Crystal's side she could hide behind and avoid the expanded gaze. She made it out of the diamond zone, and the rest of the course appeared to be a balance beam, with the only walls to hide behind being below. When Affright looped around, she would have to drop, grip, and hang behind the wall; unfortunately, parts of the beam steadily began to collapse. She climbed up, balanced further, and hung behind the wall when Affright looped, immediately continuing before the beam fell.

Finally, she was on a platform where a path led directly at Affright's face. Almost instinctively, the giant caught her in its gaze, the entire realm flashing yellow. "Your path ends. Your soul is mine." His groady scarecrow mouth ripped open, unveiling the endless vortex of death that would inhale Crystal's soul. She felt frozen with fear, her life and existence about to end. She looked desperately for anything to help, but everything was yellow. The tornado and scattered mansion faded; on the wall beside, the couple's painting was placed, baring the image of Nolan and Danika. That image was the only thing burned in her mind that moment.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" She lashed her staff at Affright as a great, silver hawk flew forth. It dug its talons into Affright's form, and the whole realm was swallowed in light.

"Wuh?" Crystal gasped awake. She was plopped on the floor of the art junk room. Two blurry figures stood over her, and they bore the painted image of Nolan and Danika. The figures morphed when her vision cleared, and Sandman and Yuki stood.

"There you are, Crystal!" Sandman yelled. "You wouldn't respond, so we thought something happened. We saw the guards run back into the mansion and followed them in—before we knew it, they started acting…"

"Affright." Crystal gasped, helping herself up. "It was Affright. He was in here, he was…"

"I thought there was somethin' familiar about those spasms." Yuki commented. "So'd you chase him off?"

"I… imagine."

"Affright doesn't tend to stay in one place too long." Sandman said. "Likes to save seconds for later. I've already called the cops—but let's see if we can find that Yipper 'fore they come."

With the guards unconscious, navigating the mansion became much easier. Recalling Buzz Lightyear's story, if a rich girl bought her, they'd have to find a girl's room, and before long they found a door labeled Annie's Room. "That reminds me, 'wonder what Annie Wilconson's up to." Nolan thought aloud. "'Wonder if she and You-Know-Who got married."

"You'll have to fill us in, Nolan." Wiccan noted.

"She's some fangirl we used to hang out with—let's just go in." Yuki said impatiently.

They quietly creaked open the door. The room was filled with toys, pictures of friends from an orphanage, Annie with her baldheaded adoptive father Oliver Warbucks, and one with her dog Sandy. Annie was fast asleep on her bed, like Affright hadn't touched her at all. She was clutching a teddybear, so they viewed the toys around the floor 'til they spotted a Yipper wearing a red cape and emblem—snoozing like any human. Knowing this was the one, Sandman rolled over, picked it up, and poked its chest. "Hello? Yipper?"

"Yaaa-aaawn…" Its beady black eyes blinked away. "W…WAH!" He frantically cowered behind a leg under Annie's bed, fearing he would be ripped in two. "Intruders! Robbers! Don't take me, I have too much to live for, take Ms. Beany-Baby over there!"

"It's okay. My name is Sandman and we're only here to talk." Nolan spoke quietly enough so as not to wake Annie.

"About what?"

"…I need you to tell us everything you know about the animatronics at Freddy's Pizzeria."

"FREDDY'S PIZZERIA?! NO!! I DON'T WANNA GO BACK THERE, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" He tried to bolt to the door, but Yuki jumped in his path and grabbed him.

"WE'RE NOT taking you there," Nolan stated, "we just need you to-"

"NOOOOO NO I DON'T WANT TO, DON'T TAKE MEEEEEEE!" Yuki struggled to hold onto the toy, possessing the strength of a furious child.

"STOP!" Crystal smashed the toy to the floor with her staff, which seemed to silence him dizzy. Yuki rubbed his sore hand.

"Listen to me, I'm trying to change all of you back into humans, and I'm going to do something about those animatronics. The only way I'll be able to get past them is if you tell us what you know. Please…" Sandman uncovered his mask to unveil the sincerity in his eyes.

The toy looked at him more admiringly. "I know that face… Are you… Nolan York? The legendary 2030 of the Kids Next Door?"

"Yes, yooou… were one of them?"

"Back in your time, yeah! I was McGillicutty."

"…Never heard of you."

"I once helped Numbuh 2 against Jimmy and his Bus Walkers. Remember?"

"I heard that story, don't remember you in it."

"Oh, forget it. Okay… I first came to Freddy's when my kid-owner brought me. He dropped me to look at the robots, and… disappeared. And, between you and me… he was my little brother. Anyway, the robots are programmed to sing and dance in a room with lots of people, but in a room with one or few people, or at night in general, I'm not sure why, but they automatically assume any human is a robot out of costume and force him into a spare animatronic. That's why you can't get caught. The thing is though, the robots are also camera-shy, if an active camera is looking at them, they'll stop moving. Also, if you shine a flashlight or something on a few of them enough, they'll get confused and go away. Now Freddy himself, he doesn't get off stage much, unless it's really dark, so that really depends if it's cloudy outside or not, and if it is, he'll be pretty active."

"Okay." Nolan jotted all this down. "And, how would we go about interrogating them for information?"

This seemed to surprise Yipper, with worry. "Oh… Well, if that's what you're doing, your primary problem is The Puppet."

"Puppet?"

"A creepy marionette that hangs in the back room. I still don't know why, but it seems like The Puppet commands all the robots, like a sort of hive mind. It's kinda confusing, but the robots act and look like zombies when night comes, but they have more personality during the day, in spite of their programming. The reason is that this music is always playing during daytime, and I think it puts The Puppet asleep, because the nightguard played it during his shift and the robots seemed to be more attentive, but they were still kind of in a trance. That isn't the creepiest part… somehow, I think The Puppet just knows if anyone's in the building. The music stopped playing one night, and he was gone so fast, no one saw. The Puppet froze in the guard's room just when the sun came up; guess he was still bound by his contract. If there was a three-second delay, the story would've ended differently. If you're going to take out that marionette, it's imperative you keep that music playing, or that thing will be on you like a guy who passes you on the street and swipes your brain."

"That.. would be a little difficult not to notice." Crystal commented.

"In a pitch-black store?"

"Anything else I should know?" Sandman asked.

"Yeah, just a few things, there's this one with balloons…"

After a few minutes of explanation, Sandman had all the notes in his digi-watch. "Well-p, our next stop is Freddy's Pizzeria." He announced as they headed out of the mansion. "I hope this is well worth the effort."

"For the record, I want the next stage after Freddy's." replied Yuki.

"Noted. Time to head back to Civic. Let's go." And the vigilantes were gone as police and ambulance sirens sounded in the air.

Midway Gala

Compared to what the balcony outside looked like now, the inside of the peak was far more beautiful. Floors and walls with beige and bronze patterns, beautifully polished floors with many curtained tables, while the Corporate Presidents took their place at a rectangular table before a center stairwell. Gold chandeliers hung from what was essentially the ceiling, but it seemed as though this room was exposed to the indigo starry sky above. Everybody watched as Head President Morgan walked to the top of the center stairs. "Good evening." her British accent echoed. "Pleased to have you all join us tonight. I am Head President Morgan, but please call me HP."

"PAHAHA!" Peter Griffin laughed, getting the joke.

"The caterers will be bringing food out shortly. I hope you like our model of the night sky above you, had a few magic friends create it their selves. There are a few words I'd like to say to all of you, by order of the World Leaders. The Leaders have hereby declared the Kids Next Door as our enemy, for they have disrupted the peace of our world by announcing a ridiculous phenomenon called 'the Apocalypse.' How they concocted such a rumor, we don't know, nor do we know who was the first to start it. But the Leaders believe they aim to challenge us for world power, because knowing their morals, every adult with notable power is considered a threat, and while we would like to avoid such a conflict, they may give us no choice. If any of the children present are affiliated with the organization, the time is now for you to decide which side you're on, and report any viable information to the World Government. Now if the other presidents would join me in the meeting room, the party may begin."

As Morgan and the presidents were clearing up the stairs, groups of wizards and witches brewing cauldrons on the higher walkways waved their wands and let the show begin. Animals and creatures of silvery-white, angels, mermen, centaurs, dragons, soared about the party. From the cauldrons came beautiful, colorful bubbles that combined and formed many shapes, but saw that their liquid would magically return to the pots if they were popped and not ruin the food. Just as well, the chefs made their appearance with hundreds of plates of fabulous edibles, sure to satisfy the bellies of all richmen.

"My, the Head President truly knows how to put up a show." Babs smiled with admiration.

"Thanks to her, wizards and magic folk don't need to hide as much as they used to." a high-pitched British man with a long gray mustache said. "The Anti-Lower-Class Charm I bought from them goes excellently with my outdoor pool!"

Helping herself to a Fruity Cake (and packing up a Couple's Cake for someone special), Carol Masterson was back on her laptop when Doflamingo Jr. came over with a cool smile, his sister beside him with her Rainbow Monkey. "You hear THAT Carol, no feelings of treachery. I see you're spending quite the time on their website."

"Well, I'm STILL in training, regardless."

"I'm aware of that. It won't do you any good, you know. The last Supreme Leader never decided a successor, the KND is leaderless. Even with perfect marks, you can't legally get in."

"I'm still going to try. I don't have to be in the KND to be able to help them."

"Fufufufufu. Go ahead and help them if you intend to. The World Government's power is limitless, if you remain on their side, punishment will be severe. Not that I'd want anything to happen to a lovely girl like you." Carol rolled her eyes. "Come, Sugar. I'm sure your favorite grapes are somewhere." He walked away. "Careful of the Tatababasco ones."

Sugar looked at Carol for a few seconds before walking away with her Rainbow Monkey.

Chariton Household

Sunni was outright bored… again. Laying just where her mom would lay: on the couch. She spent so much time here, maybe Sunni would absorb some of her essence here and be a better psychicbender. She had no other ideas to try at this moment. If all else failed, she might as well just pay a scientist to extract her brain from her body.

But it seemed that was already done. When Sunni looked 'round to their fireplace mirror, her reflection was smiling and waving. Now what did her Negative want? She got up and walked to the mirror half-awake, her reflection grinning. When she retreated inside, Sunni climbed onto the fireplace and peered where she went. "…WAAAAAH!" She tumbled forward into the shiny liquid glass. (Play "Welcome to Wonderland" from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.)

Stage 13: Wonderland

Mission: Follow your reflection.

Act 2: The Looking Glass

The inside of the mirror was just how Sunni expected it to look: extremely bright, shiny, and glassy. All the walls, floor, and ceiling were bright silvery-white mirrors, yet none of them bore her reflection. Except the one just down the hall before her, whose reflection smiled and waved before skipping to the right. Sunni chased after and wound up in a perplexing maze of mirrors that all bore reflections which mimicked her movements. She thought she could interact with them, but no such luck, but particular ones smiled and waved before skipping off. When Sunni followed the direction she skipped, she discovered new paths that were steadily leading her out of the maze.

She was brought outside to a beautiful sunny field of hills and flowers, and it felt much nice already to be viewing the field at a natural size, rather than tree-size plants. She followed the brown path through the grass that sloped down and up hills, passing a picnic table by a tree, but that's when Sunni plopped into an invisible barrier. She felt around, but all it was was glass, totally unseen, but blocking her path. Her reflection was to her left again, sporting that cheery wave before skipping away. Following on the right of her path, the way seemed to be clear, heading into just barren grass. She then looked as her reflection leapt up some invisible stairs, so no doubt Sunni had to do so and ended up standing 7 feet in midair above the ground. This was followed by jumping over random areas, which Sunni assumed were pitfalls, dropping to an invisible slide that would send her back.

Sunni then watched as her reflection jumped, rolled in midair, and dove headfirst into a well on the ground, so Sunni did the same. She winded up hitting her head on a brownish-red floor below, inside of a darker, underground chamber with designs on its walls and floors. What few floors there were, as a dark chasm lay in the center, and her reflection on the ceiling was riding some slow back-and-forth square platforms across. Sunni did like before and mimicked, though seeing the darkness just beyond her feet was a nervous feeling.

She reached a foothold on the other side and passed down a narrow stairway to a rounder room with a wider chasm. She watched the ceiling mirror as her reflection rolled on her side, around and around the walls of the room. Feeling this was ridiculous, Sunni got on her side and rolled around and around. She felt herself moving along the wall, but didn't dare stop lest she plummet to the chasm.

It seemed her reflection had the right mind again when she made it onto the higher platform in the corner. She followed a hallway that led back to the previous room, now on the higher ledge. Her reflection had arms squeezed to her body, staying perfectly straight as she made a collection of long, precise jumps over certain areas, apparently hitting invisible platforms as she jumped them in random order. Sunni assumed she had to jump to them in that order, and once she had memorized it, she was on the parallel foothold and could go down another stairwell. Then she kept going down…and down…and down…and down… Okay, her legs were getting tired. Stairs couldn't possibly be this long.

Then after the 10th or maybe 15th loop down, she saw a mirror on her right where it looked like her reflection was mimicking her, but actually shifted a little to the left. Sunni shifted the same, and winded up slurped through a very narrow gap down a tight stairwell. It went on and on like before, until when Sunni glanced at the ceiling mirror where her reflection jumped just past the mirror. Sunni jumped then too, and expecting to collide with her image, ended up walking up an alternate stairwell that was camouflaged. The mirror was on the floor this time, her reflection diving left, so Sunni did the same and ended up going down a slide on her belly, ooooon and ooooon and ooooon. On her left, the reflection in the mirror zipped left, so so did Sunni, and THUMP! slammed headfirst into a wall.

She annoyedly recovered, finding herself on a flat floor and continuing down a passage. She appeared in another chasm room atop a foothold, her next path on the other side, and the entire wall on her left a mirror. Her reflection dropped off the front of the foothold and ran across a set, zigzag path over the chasm, Wall Jumped an area to start running at level with the footholds, jumped some areas, then one last Wall Jump onto the following area. After examining closely, Sunni memorized and followed this set route, or else she'd fall, reaching the next stairwell successfully.

The stairs sloped up this time, bringing Sunni to another outside meadow of giant chess pieces and teapots. Her reflection merrily skipped across the fields, and Sunni's instincts told her to mimic as she hopped along, though with a much less joyous expression. She arrived at a white-curtained table where a black-clothed man in a top-hat poured tea into many cups. When he turned, she was staring at the handsome face and gorgeous eyes of Harry Gilligan, who smiled coolly.

Sunni felt her heart uplift, flushing at the sight of Harry. She had a real schoolgirl crush on the boy, and despite a few flaws Sunni didn't agree with, he was totally cute and cool, and had an awesomely cool voice. She knew she had to be dreaming, 'cause why else would he be doing this, looking so… awesome? And looking at their reflections, Sunni's furiously grabbed Harry's and sucked powerfully on his lips, probably trying to swallow him whole. Shrugging agreeingly, a big grin on her face, Sunni grabbed Harry and embraced for kiss. She went flying into his mouth like a vacuum and down a surprisingly deep tunnel.

She landed on her head again and shook to.. semi-reality. Well, that was totally trollish. With a disappointed aura, she followed another hallway to a large, dim-lit fireplace room. Her reflection was there to greet her. (End song.)

She kept her bright, vibrant smile, waving happily. With a very baffled, tad-resentful expression, Sunni waved back. It was so odd she just kept that smile, her eyes wide like they didn't have lids. Her head turned full rotation and slanted just then, making little cracking sounds. Sunni became totally weirded when the reflection's body swelled in different areas, growing taller and taller while the head stayed mini. Its legs stretched very long and muscular, as though Sunni did a looooot of running, and her arms old, wrinkly, and frail. Her rear and chest area swelled like balloons, the sight making Sunni wish she were blind, and her head, still smiling, stretched its eyes and let 'em hang loose. …Sunni would never want to engage in such madness. (Play "Shrouding Dark Cloud" from Kingdom Hearts.)

Boss fight: La Huüfla

This oddly-named creature started to walk about the room in an odd fashion, its head and droopy eyes swaying as it shook its hip to the music. Its arms were flapping mindlessly as fast as fans, and the right arm smacked Sunni and smashed her against the wall. Angered, Sunni whipped out her lightsaber and ran to strike its muscular legs, but they were much too thick as Huüfla kicked her forcefully against the wall again. Sunni ran up and dodged its legs before Wall Jumping between and throwing a strike at that offensively large bottom. Huüfla leapt and hopped around before falling on its rear and swaying back-and-forth. Sunni was then able to get on its body and strike the chest, making the creature fly around like a balloon.

It landed back on its feet and created Psycho Spheres around it, throwing at Sunni, who jumped away. She tried to create her own Psycho Sphere, but- "Whuh?" nothing appeared, leaving her to be blown away by one of Huüfla's spheres' explosions. "Where's my bending now?" She quickly flipped back up and dodged the creature's spheres, running around and behind it as she was about to draw her lightsaber and bat the spheres back at it. Just one problem- "Yuh-oh-" she seemed to have dropped her lightsaber when she was blown away moments ago.

She rolled forward and between Huüfla's legs, running up to grab her saber and switch it on (since she couldn't call it back with psychic either). When more spheres came, she batted one back with her saber and struck the monster in the face, and as it stumbled back, Sunni ran to the wall, jumped and kicked off, and struck the monster's head. The head shook rapidly like a bobble head that was punched, and Sunni watched with disgust as its eyes drooped out even more and began slithering around the floor like snakes. Sunni frightfully tried to back away, keeping her saber ready to slice. But the eyes shot at her like bullets and wrapped her eyes and stomach area, attempting to pull her to the Huüfla.

Sunni shook more desperately than ever because of how gross this was, and managing to flip on her lightsaber, slashed the eye binding her waist, then slashed the one over her eyes. She felt near to barfing when they molted on the spot, but two more extra eyes spawned from the Huüfla. She started lashing them at Sunni as she jumped back, managing to grab both the eyes in her left hand and yank, the monster stumbling forward. Sunni let go and jumped forward to slice between the knees, the Huüfla wincing as it sunk slightly so Sunni could jump and strike its rear.

Huüfla jumped up again with a start, becoming angered though its face didn't show it, and desperately began stomping around to hopefully smash Sunni, throwing Psycho Spheres at her as well. With a leap and vertical spin, Sunni batted a sphere back and struck the face, the creature wobbling only on one leg now. Sunni ran underneath with a quick slice at its right leg, and when it fell back, Sunni threw her sword up to stab the inflated rear. (End song.)

A high-pitched "WEEEEEEeeeeee" squeaked out of its rear as Huüfla blew around and around the room like a balloon with a leak. Many snaky swirls through the air, growing flatter the more it flew. Finally, it came to a halt as it slid along the floor, expelling the last ounces of air. Sunni was filled with the greatest disgust at seeing herself this way. She took far too many blows to the head.

"I hereby decree you on the highest level of madness." Sunni whipped around, spotting the Cheshire Cat atop the fireplace. "Only someone truly insane would beat themself up."

"Pfft, that thing wasn't me, it was just… some fucked-up metaphor someone's trying to show me."

"Well, then it's no different from anything else. Because everything else here is a metaphor. Unless someone makes it a simile. Like this, for one: have you even the slightest idea why a raven is like a writing desk?"

"Because in a fucked-up world like this, either of them could become a surfer."

"That's true. It's the same way a surfboard is like a pair of scissors: both are very good accountants. Ever decide on what your career should be? This fireplace here makes over 7 billion dollars a minute."

"Siiiiigh." Sunni sat cross-legged in defeat. "Look man, I just don't care anymore. I just wanna learn psychicbending and go save my damn mom. Unless you got any books-for-dummies, just show me to the nearest glass so I may look back through it."

"Well, it might be a tad difficult to learn it since you just beat it up."

"What're you talking about, this bloated balloon?"

"That 'balloon' happens to be your shadow."

"Oh, I'm a shadowbender now?"

"Everyone has a shadow. Even me. See?" The cat waved at his shadow, who flailed an arm happily before settling down. "Fun little fellow. Don't judge them just because they don't speak. All shadows have a personality. Shadowbenders' shadows are just more open. Other shadows are shy. A shame, really, because they can work so much better together if they speak up more."

"Right… So are psychicbenders' shadows normally like that?"

"Shadows can look like anything. They're meant to represent the bender's hidden self. It seems you were hiding you from yourself from too long. Now it wants to speak."

The fallen body that was Sunni's "shadow" turned blue before flipping to the air and shrinking into a light. Sunni stared with wonder when it became a faded blue silhouette of herself.

"You know, if you had a problem with me, you coulda SAID so."

"…YOU… are my psychicbending?" questioned Sunni.

"That's right, and I don't appreciate having my bottom cut up." Hands on her hips. "This MAH body, sistuh, you got NO right cuttin' me up." She swayed her hips and spoke in a sassy fashion.

"Well, you were kinda freaking me out, so uh…"

"Uh-uh! If YOU got such a problem with me, maybe Ah shouldn't be IN you at all!"

Sunni shook, "Come on, I NEED psychicbending, and where're you gonna go without me??"

"Ah go in some caterpillar, be right-down better than YOUR smelly bod!"

"JUST get back inside me so we can go save Mom!"

"Bitch, you like HER freakin' psychic better than ME, y'all can drop in a DITCH for all I care, leave you beggin' and moanin' me to floatcha out, but I ain't care, I just eat me some popcorn 'let you decay."

"Well, it's not like you ever listen to me ANYWAY, if you did anything I told you, we wouldn't be HAVING this problem."

"Grl, I been doin' EVERYTHING you tol' me, you were all 'Bitch, do that' and 'Bitch, do this', bitch I doin' everything, why you gettin' all up in my face, and like I ain't takin' this shit, you wanna shrink so bad bitch, well eat THIS." And with a snap of the fingers, Sunni was the size of a beetle.

"HEY, what's the big idea?!" she squeaked.

"Nuh-uh, I TIRED of puttin' up with you, I better be seein' some respect or you c'n just kiss up to yo' mommy's psychic."

"I don't need to respect ANYTHING, you're my psychic and I command you to biggify me!"

"Or WHAT, I don't gotta put up with you, you wanna bitch me around some more, you better be a little less bitchy."

"Siiiigh." Sunni was utterly thankful no one else was there to see her get bitched at by her own psychic. "Okay, you have my word that I won't boss you around so much. Which I don't see how we'll get much progress done if I don't."

"Wh'tever. Take what I can get." So with that, the body of psychic compressed itself into Sunni's tiny body. Once inside, Sunni stretched back to normal.

"…What in the world just happened?"

"Curious thing, shadows. They help store Element Chi." Cheshire explained. "Chi that's been stuffed away by a bender's personality, which was also stuffed away. When it turns a little too overbearing, sometimes the shadow has to speak up. It doesn't like being treated this way."

"But when I was following my reflection here, it looked like my Negative; I met her a couple months ago. But aren't they the same thing, shadows?"

"Shadows are the bridge. They help Positives look at Negatives, but in manifested form, shadows appear like the Negatives, because they're containing the personality the Positive has stored away. Typically, you are mad, but deep inside, you are mad in the other sense. The shadow has helped you realize it. Maybe now, you'll be better at psychicbending."

"Well, what'm I supposed to do? Give my psychic extra pay?"

"Use your imagination." Cheshire's body was vanishing, and only the head swayed in place. "All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe…" Whiteness engulfed the world, and Sunni was awake,

Shooting up on the couch inside her house. The mirror hung above the fireplace, ordinary as always. Sunni plopped her head onto the couch's pillow again. She would take awhile to clear the idea of that dream out of her head.

Midway Gala

The party drew on, and after awhile, the magical displays lost their appeal. Sector DR was sitting at a table and guzzling snacks. Sugar ate grapes from a basket while the Rainbow Monkey sat patiently in her lap, its smile unchanging. "Fufufufufu. Look at Warbucks trying to put moves on Mom." Doffy Jr. snickered. "Poor old man can't get anyone else, so he's trying to score an even older woman. How hopeless."

"He can get her if he wants to!" Sweetie-1 flushed. "He don't have to be as rich."

"Rack up 10 million dollars and tell me that, Sweetie." Doffy flicked her nose. "Now run off and find me some pretzels. Mmmm, wouldn't mind something salty."

Sweetie flushed further and smiled, "Well if you really need me to, Prince Doffy, I'll see what I can do." So she ran off.

"Nnnnn. I'm confused though-daizokun." Bison said. "This whole meeting happened 'cause of people hearing about the Apocalypse, but the only ones who knew shoulda been the Government. Who coulda told people-daizokun?"

"Probably those Revolutionaries Dad's always talking about." Doffy replied. "Starting rumors about it, that's why a lot of people are confused. Still a little overreaction on the Leaders' part—I mean, how much chaos can a leaderless Kids Next Door create?"

The party was calm and casual. Regular conversations between rich types, everyone enjoying the elegant food. No one suspected that anger and hatred of unparalleled depth was brewing. Within the very heart of Sugar's Rainbow Monkey, under that frozen smile, its fluffy stuffing. It didn't know why, it didn't know what… but for some unexplainable reason, that Rainbow Monkey was angry. Where am I? Hfff. . . Why can't I move?! Hfff… Its limbs were soft, stiff, and lifeless. Its only sense of form was the anger brewing inside. In its mind, in its heart, the only person that appeared… was Sugar. Sitting politely, a casual face, chewing on grapes. I have to move. . I have to do something. We're all going to die. . . unless I move! Why…WHY… But it plainly knew. It knew nothing else, it felt nothing else. The toy wanted to kill Sugar… strangle her… let her guts fall out… make her wish she had never been born.

Meeting room

The six Corporate Presidents all took a seat around the round table, with Morgan at the end nearest the wall TV. "I'm glad you all could make it." Morgan began. "The World Leaders would like a word with us. If you would turn to the screen behind me."

Not the little TV on the wall, of course. It rised and sunk into the ceiling as that very wall opened, a much greater TV buzzing to life as the six World Leaders appeared, seated in their throne room. Around the table, Henry Churchill, Daphne Anderson, Felius Umbridge, Lucas Stonebuddy, and Jennifer Bush. Atop the high throne behind them, the most powerful man in the world, The King of the World, and above him, the staring eye in the upside-down pyramid.

"Greetings, Corporate Presidents. I'm delighted you all arrived." said The King.

"Yoo-hooooooo, Morgan Deeeeeaaaar! Hellooooooooo!" waved Jennifer Bush with joy.

"Hello, Master." Morgan bowed.

"So it seems the majority of the U.S. has abandoned the Apocalypse notion." Lucas recapped. "Peace among them has been restored for now. We are sad to say, the cataclysm is not a total lie. It is bound to happen, according to our Eye of Order."

"Intel states that a means of stopping such a catastrophe lie in the hands of twenty key individuals, Seven Lights and Thirteen Darknesses." Felius explained. "We cannot allow such kinfolks to come together. We sense only danger arriving should they interact, and think it best to prevent the comingling of them. –Suggests Felius Umbridge, World Leader."

"Yes, except there's one problem we haven't quite taken into account." Henry replied in his quiet British accent, eyes focused on his book. "Some nasty chaps appear to have caught wind of these 'Twenty Keys' and are attempting to find them. They've caused quite a bit of chaos around the world in the short time news of the Apocalypse escaped. Much like that Negatar fellow and his ruffians, we must have them dealt with momentarily."

"Sigh, but the Kids Next Door will get in our way, too." Daphne sighed, plucking a rose petal. "And Lord knows the White Lotus won't stand aside. Siiiiigh. So many people are going to die."

"It won't matter at all in the end." followed The King. "By the end of this month, we shall all be uplifted to the Spirit World. Our Spirit World. Where no person will ever have to fear ever again."

"Until then, we would like you to keep things organized." Lucas told them. "Our special assassin group is going to collect the Minish Princess, a key component to our plan. Until our operations are finished, you must see that the Twenty Keys are never found and prevent any further progress the KND or this 'Team Gnik' makes. Is that understood?"

"Yes." Morgan bowed, the other presidents mimicking. "We'll stop them at any cost."

"Very well. This concludes our meeting." King said. "We will speak to you in-"

"WAIT, I didn't get to say anything!!" Jennifer shouted.

"Shoot."

"…Uhhhh… PANCAKES!" The screen blanked out.