22. Fallen Angel

Hawaii

Fybi piloted the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. as the team of five were closing in on the volcano island, seeing Sector H's treehouse atop a small hut. "I heard my cousin say how Tom Taylor was 'hot', but I didn't think he meant he was a lavabender." Aranea commented.

"No wonder the teenagers wanted him so badly." Sally followed.

"Okay, someone tell me why I'm just hearing of this Tom guy?" Anthony said angrily.

"Well, Tom was one of the Kids Next Door's strongest operatives when he was active, and most popular. He removed his booger from the Code Module before turning 13, but he was good enough to get thrown in the books. Hmhm, our cousin Marcus told us." Sally smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, bu' we didn't know much about 'im, except the KNN girl had a crush." Harvey said. "He should be about 14 now."

"Ah, man. I just accepted lessons from a teenager?"

"Tough break, man." Nea remarked. "Hey Fybi, I forgot to ask, where were you before you came back?"

"Ay, nowhere grand. Embracing the wonder of yonder sun and sky." Fybi said half-truthfully. "Sector H's home draws nearer. The ground doth await us."

The S.C.A.M.P.E.R. landed a few meters away from the hut, where the kids met a very red-skinned man in a palmtree shirt, brown fur-boots, a pointed hat with a fluff ball on its tip, and goggles. "Hey-hey, if it isn't a group of rad youngsters in one of their flying machines." The former 30c greeted. "You must be Angie's kid, welcome to the Taylor Zone."

"Hello, Mr. Taylor." Sally bowed. "Are you really a lavabender?"

"Yeah, took me awhile to figure out, didn't tell too many buds at the time since benders were, uh, 'unreal' back in the day, but it's all cool now, we're the hottest dudes on the island. Apparently our whole family line was lavabenders, datin' back to the Sovites way back when, 'course all we have are history books to tell us that. Anyway, 'f you're lookin' for my son, he's up in the jungle, in his little zone, just follow the heat waves and you'll find 'im."

"Alert! Clouds of red and dark doth drift from jungle depths!" Fybi flew several meters above and pointed across the jungle. "Methinks the son he speaks of be this way." She flew ahead.

The air grew hotter the closer they journeyed up the jungle hill, and became barely breathable when they arrived at an area where only blackened remains of trees and shrubs were existent. A tan-skinned boy of 14, wearing a blue shirt with mini volcano designs, panted heavily on a small platform in the middle of a pool of lava. "Umm… Tom Tayl-AAAH!" The minute Anthony spoke, Tom punched the ground and forced all the lava to blast up like a geyser, directing to the center where he stood. His form was hidden behind the lava, which spun like a tornado around his center, the kids holding their hearts for fear of his life.

Several long streams of lava flew around the sides of the field, solidifying into stone pillars. Tom was unveiled as he thrusted his fists toward each pillar, breaking stone tiki designs into them. With that, he stomped lightly, emerged a stone lounge chair, and relaxed, drinking juice from a small coconut. "Really breaks a sweat, huh kids?"

The five exchanged glances and approached him across the soft, sooted ground. "Are you, um… Mr. Taylor's son?" Anthony asked. "Who used to be an operative?"

"Yeah, that's me." The tan teen replied, kicking back with one leg over the other. The undersides of his feet were scorched red as though they've stood in the sun 24/7. "Name's Tom, Tom Taylor. People say I'm the best earthbender around these parts, and yeah, I'm pretty great, but I owe it all to my trainer."

"Was it your dad?" Sally asked.

"HELL NO!" screamed an unfamiliar, unseen voice. "He learned it from ME!"

And they saw him: a Minish man with a very muscular build, huge pointed ears, and black stone armor, looked mighty enough to rip a diamond in half with his bare hands.

He looked like such an adorable, tiny dot to the young ones' eyes. "THAT GUY'S your trainer?" Anthony proclaimed. "What a SHRIMP!"

"Hey, DON'T call the G-Man a shrimp!" thundered Taylor, sitting up. "Gedra's got bigger bones than ANY o' you wimps, and thanks to him my bones are in tip-top-" He couldn't finish that statement as Taylor was forced off his seat, onto his front.

"DID I SAY you could lounge back you lazy sloth?" the tiny thunder-voiced Minish proclaimed. "GIVE ME TWO-HUNDRED!" He stomped the ground and propelled three round rocks onto Taylor's back.

"YES SIR!" So the teen began pushing up and down, sweat quickly populating his fiery skin.

Gedra decided to hop up and relax on Taylor's neck. "So what can we do you runts for?"

The kids exchanged glances before Anthony spoke up. "Well, uh… My name's Anthony, and I wanna work on my earthbending, so my mom told me to come here."

"Awwwww cute kid, still listens to his mommy." scoffed Gedra.

Anthony shook, "Look, are you gonna TRAIN me or not?"

"Hey, I deal with rocks, not giant brat droppings."

"NOT THAT KINDA TRAINING!!" His friends laughed at his outburst.

"Look kid, love to help, but training this big twerp's become enough of a chore." He gestured his thumb at Taylor's head. "And he still can't even chew a pebble without getting toothache. …Maybe he can teach you, you'd probably relate." He smirked.

"Yeah, I'll teach the runt." Taylor agreed. "Just lemme finish these 'ups."

143 push-ups later…

"Now I'm all fired up." Taylor stood up and stretched. "Alright kid, let's get started. Chuck the hardest rock you can at me."

His friends stepped back as Anthony fixed his feet firmly in the soil. With a forceful stomp, a rock came out, which Anthony kicked at Taylor, but it smashed on his chest and didn't budge him. "Is that all?! Man, you must have CRYSTAL for bones!"

"Well MAYBE if we were training on ground that DIDN'T just evolve from lava!"

"Hey, the quality of the rock don't matter, it's the man, or kid, who breaks it. What you gotta understand about bending, is that the bender OWNS their element. SHAPES it. A waterbender can turn liquid into ice or steam, a firebender can make fire into air or lightning, a spacebender can make us into pixels or strings. So why can't we, earthbenders, make our rocks as hot or cold as we want!" He picked up a hand-size rock, hovered it, and morphed it into lava, which he threw at the ground before Anthony, who jumped back in fright. "I don't expect you to lavabend, but if you plan to succeed, you gotta learn to take heat. The lavabending is just an advanced form of that analogy, that's why MY family's able to do it." With a whoosh of his arms, the lava solidified.

Anthony sighed and walked onto that spot, feeling a minor sizzle under his feet. "Alright, then. Give me the hottest heat you got. Ah'll send you rocks so solid, you'll think they're diamonds."

"Hur hur he. The day I meet an earthbender who can bend diamonds… I'll worship his ground." Gedra snickered.

"Lucky Gedra ain't the one training you, kid." Tom smirked. "Then you'll be dead." He thrusted his hand at the ground, squeezed, and twisted, morphing the entire field into lava again. Anthony frightfully scrambled back, but he ended up on a platform that sank into a magma whirlpool, in which Tom's lounge rested on the center pillar several feet above him. "Your first test will be to shift that platform back to the top, while avoiding the geysers I'll squirt out to you. Good luck, brat."

His rock slowly drifting toward the center, Anthony stood as firmly as he could and thrust his arms forward, pouring all his strength in making the foothold float up the sloped magma. His feet were burning from the transferred heat, his clothes grew sticky from the sweat. But for the sake of helping Cheren save the world, using his power to help everyone, he would fight the heat.

The Sector W team stared with hopeless disbelief. "Well, it was nice knowing him." Sally said.

"Might as well go to the snackbar." Nea said, heading off.

"Sweet!" agreed Harvey, joining.

"Ay, I canst not wait for Hawaii's exotic burgers to reach mine tongue!" proclaimed Fybi with joy.

Solana; Star Train

The greatest and largest train in the universe soared across Solana this very moment. It was here where the masterminds who will create the New Universe have gathered, to discuss only a small portion of their ultimate plan. The interaction was enticing.

"WHAT do you think you're doing?" Nefarious yelled at the Program in the monitor.

"What're you doing?!" XANA yelled back, his face glitching to King Candy, then back to his own.

"No, what ARE ya doin'?!"

"What are you doing?!"

"NO, what AAAARE ya doin'?!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!"

"If I may ask," Lawrence spoke up, "what are you two doing?"

XANA and Nefarious exchanged glances and replied, "We've always wanted to do that." Lawrence sweatdropped.

"Stop acting like fools, the both of you." Giovanni ordered, petting his Persian. "You wouldn't have lost those twerps if you acted a little more competent. Lesser Lord Gnik orders us to collaborate if we're to have any hope of finding the Lights or the Firstborn."

"Lord Gnik's orders make little sense." Specter replied with his (modified) calm voice. "He told us specifically that the Lights could only awaken after finding their Poneglyphs, which can only result from a certain 'journey' they must take. If it's really destiny, wouldn't holding them captive defeat the purpose?"

"Perhaps it was destiny that we come to capture them." Mr. Dark conjectured, rubbing the Protoon with his finger. "In his defense, our efforts were not fruitless. One of the prisoners I have captured in the Dream World talks about one of the children that have gone to Symphonia. Even though we know who the Lights are, the specific 'quests' they must take are unclear to us. This way, we are steadily finding out."

"Then it's up to us to work Phase 2, right?" Plankton asked from his little fishbowl. "Turning them to evil so as to manipulate them to create the New World in our design!"

"Yes, and it will be a glorious New World!" proclaimed Nefarious. "Where good will never triumph over evil! Our own real live Dream World! We will never have a chance like this, so we must seize it or die trying!"

"Yes, perhaps. But don't you believe it's a little too… simple?" Giovanni queried.

"What do you mean?" Specter asked.

"Yes, this Ragaj man saved us, he promised us glory for this mission. Yet, we know little about him. He never even shows us his face. But out of nowhere, he tells us some inevitable cataclysm is coming, but it can easily be avoided if we find these twenty 'people' to open an alternate universe, where we can design the very world we wanted? Don't you find it a little straightforward?"

"The cataclysm is real." XANA reminded. "The Zoni in this world confirm that. I still don't see why Ragaj wanted me to watch this Vanellope girl. What possible thing could SHE do in this Cyberspace?"

"We've confirmed something else, too." Mr. Dark informed. "That Sheila girl running around in the Dream World is no doubt searching for the other Lights. Each mortal in this world has an alternate vessel in the Dream World, which only becomes active and tangible when the mortal falls asleep. But when the mortal awakens, their dreamself transports back to the Start Bed, intangible again. In other words, there are as many areas in the Dream World as there are mortals. However, Sheila is specifically traveling to certain ones, the Suki child's dream for instance. By guiding them through their dream, they are guided to their destiny. I believe my duty should be to let this happen."

"So what, you won't try to stop Sheila, anymore?" Nefarious asked.

"Of course, I still have a stronghold in my world to keep up, and I can't have that child destroy it. Perhaps I can work things to my favor. In fact, I expect her to be going to sleep soon. …I've a feeling where she'll come next." He whooshed his cloaked, and Dark swirled into the Protoon like a vortex before it vanished.

"Look, there is a reason I want to capture the Firstborn." Giovanni continued. "So I have something to use against Ragaj in case he betrays us. If you were smart, you'd think about siding with me."

"Yes, yes, we all want the top spot in this New World," Plankton eye-rolled, "if the going gets tough, we'll think about it."

"I don't really intend to listen to him after this. But for now, perhaps I'll check on my troops." XANA's screen switched off.

"Yes… that is a good idea." Specter turned to a monitor. "Mojo, have you captured the Garley child, yet? …Mojo?"

A capuchin greeted Specter when the staticky screen came on. He stepped aside, revealing Mojo and Yellow. Both were sound asleep on the ground, arms around the other, beautiful dreams. "…" Specter turned the screen off before the scene would escalate.

Cyberspace

The Zoni splorped Vanellope to a new land, where she felt her boots sink into a white substance. She thought it was snow at first, but it bore a different texture, and wasn't cold. A dark-yellow sky was overhead, mountains towered everywhere. Atop their peaks sat giant teacups with silhouetted black cat designs. "Yo boy. Is this the Crazy Old Cat Lady's dream?"

"This is LOLCAT: Land of Little Cubes and Tea. The one who shares its origins is trapped here."

Vanellope walked to the top of a nearby hill and viewed a field. XANAbots were progressing toward a mountain. "Well, no one likes being trapped. Alright, I'll help them. But when'll I get to see Dillon again?"

"You will have your wish, if you accomplish this. Now: must go."

"Alright then. I'll hold you to it." (Play the Snow World's theme from Yume Nikki.)

Stage 31: Land of Little Cubes and Tea

Mission: Find the Shimmer.

Vanellope trudged down the cube-covered hill, glitchwarping to the various XANA Tarantulas and kicking them senseless. Kankrelats emerged from the cubes one at a time and blasted lasers at Vanel, and once the girl was finished defeating them all, her three Zoni were ready to make work at a nearby kitten teapot. "Heat." After flashing their lights, water came flowing out of the pot, dispersing into liquid cubes that stayed aloft throughout the air, with cube-shaped cores of steaming tea. Vanellope dove into the closest floating cube, keeping on the surface lest she sink into the tea and be scorched like lava. She had to swim-jump to each consecutive cube, but reduce momentum upon landing before she sank too far. Volcano Lotuses rested on small cube platforms and sent small fireballs into the air above the Tea Cubes, so Vanellope had to avoid when the fireballs fluttered down.

For the following part, Vanellope had to spin-jump out of the water and across a series of Volcano Lotus, going between their fireballs in the process, but the next Water Cube was far above, so Vanel glitchwarped three times to get up. She barely touched the edge, but couldn't swim higher lest she touch tea, keeping perfectly stable in this thin current of safe water. The current went straight, then shifted directly upward—three Bullets Bills blasted from the tea, and Vanellope was thankful to be in a safe spot. She made it up, swam along another straight current, but a Bullet Bill blasted from behind, so Vanel quickly swam to and down a vertical current, barely avoiding. The next part of the current went diagonal like stairs, so Vanel kept her body wormlike as she swam, feeling the hotness of the tea touching her hair.

Vanellope was released onto safe ground at the current's end, crossing a passage to a village of giant teapots and cubes. She explored and casually patted each cube, but one that was of slightly different texture came to life. Other Bloks that were camouflaged as cubes followed, their eyes lighting blue as they blasted freeze rays. Vanellope glitched to dodge them, but couldn't kick them without risk of being frozen. "Use the pots." The Zoni said. "Cubes will help." Vanellope told them each to take a cube, told one to throw theirs into a teapot, and a stream of acid-like tea flew out, burned a puddle on the ground, and melted the two Bloks within range. She lured the Bloks near other teapots and told the Zoni to chuck cubes in until all the robots were extinguished.

Their defeat signaled another Zoni to appear, so with four in tow, Vanel sent them to a smaller teapot (about her own height) next to a ledge. A string of little cubes came out, and Vanel jumped on as it began flying over the chasm. They zigzagged either left, right, or vertical like pixels, and when they slithered under a large block of floating tea, Vanellope jumped and glitchwarped to keep safe until the cubes came out on the right side, carefully positioning the fourth warp to land back on. The cubes went up, shifted left, backward, down, then straight like a loop-di-loop, Vanellope glitchwarping onto the flat parts. The cubes then went straight up, parallel to a row of separate, stationary cubes that had Munchers on them, so Vanel had to Wall Jump between the Cube Path and the still ones until the path shifted horizontal again.

The cubes were coming to a row of floating, square Tea Cubes with openings in the center, the width of the Cube Path. Vanellope had to glitchwarp over them and land carefully in the gaps, warp again before the cubes passed completely, but maintain focus and land on the path, not away. The path went up vertically through three more Tea Cubes, so Vanellope performed a consecutive four glitchwarps and barely landed on the path before it became horizontal again. It shifted directly down before a cliff, so Vanellope jumped off. She crossed a narrow passage between hills and came to an ocean of Munchers. Vanellope turned to find a XANA Kone, which was like a Kankrelat, but cone-shaped, walk out from over a hill and begin crossing the Munchers. Vanellope spin-jumped onto the cone's tip, so as per the mechanic, she could bounce on it endlessly.

The Zoni wanted Vanellope to go to a left platform, which had a floating coin trail leading to it from the Kone's path, so Vanellope glitchwarped over. A P-switch was on the platform to turn the coins into cubes so she could return, but first, a key was lain on the Munchers a few yards off the platform. Vanellope jumped to it, and picked it up while simultaneously jumping to get back. "Zoni." The creatures were active to use their powers, so Vanellope accepted, and the Munchers ahead of the Kone's path rose into a stairway. Vanellope hit the P-switch and carefully jumped the coins-turned-cubes while carrying the key. The Kone was about to completely pass, so Vanel carefully set the key down on the last cube, spin-jumped while picking it up, over to the Kone to continue bouncing. It walked up each Muncher stair as Bob-ombs descended on parachutes from above. Vanellope propelled herself higher to get above and smash the mobile bombs before they could destroy the Kone, then returned to her unknowing host while maintaining her constant spin-jump.

At the very top stair, a Caped Koopa was in the process of swooping down, so Vanel chucked the key into the air, glitchwarped above to bounce off the Koopa, grab the key in midair, then jump a following string of Caped Koopa to a Donut Cube, which consequently began to fall. In its last half-second of floating, Vanel panicked over what to do, so instinctively spin-jumped, when a stairway of Bullet Bill popped out of nowhere, Vanellope crushed each one descending down and created a rhythm of pops, the stairway taking her down between parallel strings of diagonal Munchers. She thought to herself, had she jumped normally on the first Bill, she wouldn't be able to follow the pattern and get down in time.

The Bills ended right under a cliff, while the Muncher rows zigzagged upward, so Vanel used four glitchwarps wisely and could land on the cliff. But then she panicked, for the key dropped on her first glitch, but she realized it landed on a tiny treadmill that would carry it into a pipe, and come out on Vanellope's ground. "Zoni." The creatures activated the treadmill so Vanel could collect it, then proceeded to a huge enclosing under a mountain. A huge, barrier cage was protected by Big Bloks, blackish-gray Bloks that were roughly two stories high. They made an eerie robotic whir as they leapt and CRASHED, forcing piping-hot cubes to rain down from the giant teapot above. "Cool." She could command the Zoni to cool the cubes down after landing. "Lift." Afterwards, she told them to carry the cubes back up into the pot.

The Bloks knocked Vanellope down upon their jumps, and she immediately had to recover and dodge the other one's massive laser, then she hurriedly glitched about to dodge falling cubes. All during intervals where she waited for the Zoni to come back down so she could command them to take the next cube. She glitched around and behind the Bloks in the hopes of distracting them while she waited, but had to recharge when she landed close to the left Blok, and was blown away when it jumped. She was burned by a falling cube, glitching around to avoid others, then had to catch her breath. "We're ready." After 30 cubes were gathered, the Zoni flew to all sides of the pot and flashed. The teapot boiled red and shook, and Vanellope glitched a great distance before the waterfall of tea poured down, melting the Big Bloks. Vanellope grabbed the key she'd lain down a safe distance and threw it onto a Blok's top, glitched to it afterwards, then threw the key into the cage's keyhole. She glitched around the teafall to get inside, finding the faint green spirit laying down. (End song.)

"Ooo…ooo…" The spirit gave weak little shimmers as it floated. It faced Vanellope.

"Nice to meet you again." she said. "You kinda left me hangin' back there. Now how did you know about Dillon? Th-The dead one?"

"Ooo…"

"…Wait… you're a different one, aren't you. You sound.."

"Thank you for saving me." It spoke in a light, feminine voice. "I must go. I have to stop him!" It flew to the sky and slowly dispersed.

Vanellope stared curiously. "That one was sure more chatty, though. What's with these things?"

"It is a memory. Everything here is."

"Memory?"

"The world that was lost, was not forgotten. Its inhabitants live and exist. …Now, as we promised. To let you see your chosen one." The Zoni flew around her, flashed their hands, and gave Vanellope a staticky vision.

Dillon York spun to life in her mind. "He must return." Then Maddy Murphy spun into being. "She must stay. Find the Disbanded." A tall, shadowed being appeared.

Vanellope shook her head after the trance. "…Huhu… do it again." The Zoni zapped her, Dillon appeared, then Maddy, shadowed man. "Hah hah, again!" Zapped her, her eyes were static, shook back to normal. "Again!" Zapped, trance. "Again!" Vision, normal. "Hahah, that feels so weeeeiiiird!"

"YOU MUST FIND AND TELL THEM!" they shouted impatiently.

"Okay, okay. How do we find them?"

Solana; R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N.

"NOOOOOO! I wanna squash that train for thinkin' it's the big galuna around these parts!" Chimney cried, ferociously trying to shake away from Chris and Harry. ("Gyom-gyom!") Kirie held Gonbe back.

"Chimney, we don't even know what that thing is." Haylee stated. "Or even if it's an enemy. I say we just watch it and see where it goes."

"Nnnn… fine. But the second it honks its horns, I'm tail-ending it."

The Star Train had gotten several miles ahead of their tiny vehicle, and everyone was curious of its destination. A strange green planet was coming into view, so perhaps they would have their answer. "I wonder if any KND organizations are in this galaxy?" Mason thought aloud. "They could help us out."

"Uuuuuhh…" He turned and found that Sheila was nodding her head, half-weary eyes.

He smiled quizzically. "You, uh… getting sleepy, Sheila?"

"Naaaaah nah, mate… I'm still hyper as… snooooore." She conked out.

Mason rolled his eyes, and had the funniest notion, someone else in the universe had conked out as well.

Hall of Doors

Sheila flew out of a Waking Water portal labeled Symphonia. Sugar was waving happily on the other side of the river. "Yeah, this was considered one of your stages." Murfy noted. "Even though she did all the work. Anyway, let's move on." They moved to the next portal, labeled Fly High Tower, represented by a round platform, tilted diagonal and fluttering up via a green propeller on its bottom. Globox was also on the other side. "Yo Globox, you sure this is where they went?"

"Uh-huh, pretty sure! I saw Hoodlums carry Rayman to a really high tower. I'm scared of heights, so I didn't go save him."

"Well, I've grown beyond heights, so I'll save Rayman for ya!" Sheila declared.

"I still wanna help, too!" Globox vowed. "Rayman's my buddy, and we need him to beat Mr. Dark!"

"Okay. You first, Globo!" Globox did a cannonball into the portal, and Sheila vigorously dove in after. (Play "Yoshis in the Wind" from Yoshi's Story.)

Stage 32: Fly High Tower

Mission: Rescue Rayman.

A gentle breeze touched Sheila after coming out of the portal. A tall tower of whitish-yellow stretched miles into a cloudy sky. Although the tower was greatly highlighted, Sheila saw an indigo sky through the clouds, implying it was nighttime, and not even sunrays pierced the gaps. The clouds were deep gray and constantly circling the tower at an average pace. They bore a form and shape that was equivalent to steam lines from a train, except they didn't have the texture of smoke. Their constant, gentle motion, along with the peaceful breeze made Sheila drowsy. She still wouldn't let it get to her, though. "Fly High Tower, what a convenient place!" Murfy spoke. "I kinda already know Rayman is here, but one of-"

"Next word outta your mouth is costin' you your teeth." Sheila informed.

"Don't worry, Sheila, I'll climb up there and save Rayman!" Globox declared, his limbs outstretched as he plopped against one side of the huge tower. His belly scraped against it as he struggled to climb. "Be up… in a jiffy…"

Sheila rolled her eyes, knowing this month will be over before he makes it. The open field around the tower was empty except for wandering Shy Guys, Red Lums, and those same propeller platforms which Sheila couldn't use. Nothing worthwhile except for Teehee Fairies fluttering in a line toward a ledge on the side of the tower. The fairies were bulbous with tiny antennas and wings, and alternated from pink to blue. According to Murfy, the blue ones would damage Sheila if she bounced on them, so when they became pink, Sheila bounced on the nearby Spring Pad and bounced the line to get onto the small balcony. Over the left edge was a tiny ledge for Sheila's fingers to clutch and climb around the tower's side. This ledge reached its end, the next one above her, so Sheila pulled up fast and forcefully to go up a few feet, then whirled her arms around to grab her fingers over this one. She climbed across, but a Snapdragon protected the gap between this one's end and the next. When it popped out to snap that gap, Sheila flipped back and upward, smashed it with her foot, then hauled up. She grabbed the new ledge and progressed further, the next gap protected by two Snapdragons that snapped the same spot, so she flipped up, stomped with both feet, and jumped to the ledge, which brought her to another balcony.

A small bed with light-green blanket sat there, and a beautiful redheaded beauty on it. When Sheila stepped closer, Fybi Fulbright softly floated up out of the covers, clothed in a green nightgown. She was still in slumber, only her wings flapped as she peacefully flipped backward a full 360-degrees. Her emerald eyes peeped open as she stretched her arms. "But soft, what light through yonder clouds break? Is it the sun?"

"No sun but here." Sheila lit her fist. "Hey, help me get to the top of this tower, Fybi."

"Mmm… I dreameth of aiding mine fellow operative? Thou art not my sectormate, but we operatives doth not show bias. I shall help thee, Sheila. Oh." She somersaulted, her nightgown poofing to her normal clothes. "Better."

Sheila jumped off the balcony and spun her tail to land softly on the floor. Sheila jumped on one of many Propeller Pads, and Fybi used a whirlwind to make it spin. It slowly began to hover skyward. Sheila had to keep her arms outstretched to keep the platform steady, but shifted her head toward different directions to signal Fybi to breeze that way. "Yuck. I tried one of those Fly Pies from Toad Land, the taste is still in my mouth. Wonder if this tower has any plume juice." Murfy complained. Fly Guys slowly fluttered down to push the raccoon off the platform, but since she couldn't spin her fists, she gestured Fybi which direction to maneuver. The Fly Guys were easy to avoid as they didn't come back for a rebound, but partway up the tower, blimps floated overhead as Hoodlums blasted shotguns. Fybi shifted them between the blimps, and it was only now Sheila realized how slow Hoodlum bullets were. "Help me." Sheila saw an Electoon cage between two tightly-close blimps, so she told Fybi to maneuver that way, their platform just barely scratching the side of the blimps, and Sheila thrust her fist up, broke the cage open, and returned to balance before they made it through.

The platform couldn't go any higher than a specific balcony of the tower, which was just before a spiraling of clouds, so Sheila jumped off. The next part of the tower was much thinner than the section below it, and a path of spiked patches spiraled up along the tower. A small, round vent was on the floor, and when Fybi blew an unending gust into it, Sheila watched as the spike patches were blown away from the tower, for they were covering a grate that spiraled up. However, the spikes were attached via chains, so Fybi had to keep blowing so they wouldn't fall back. Sheila held the grate tight while she climbed, for the wind affected her too, so she had to make sure not to jump off. Vine Slimes crawled around a wide part of grating, still too slow in thwarting Sheila's progress—the spikes almost crushed her when Fybi stopped blowing, but the angel regained herself and resumed.

Sheila reached a narrow part of grate where panels of wall slid back-and-forth over it, which would force Sheila off and render her unable to grab back on due to the wind, so she waited for the panels to pass before progressing. At the top of this part, the grate directed right and set Sheila off on a safe foothold. She yelled for Fybi, who flew up to reunite. The next portion of tower was massive, and shifted more to certain directions than others, unsymmetrical with the overall structure, but clearly this took no part in the stability, 'cause it was magic. The duo passed a wooden doorway inside the tower. The air was average inside, it was mostly quiet and dark, and their footsteps and voices echoed.

Purple Lums fluttered about, and Stumblebooms, Hoodbooms on tall stilts, chucked grenades from their high stations. Sheila spun and sent Light Fists, but they were swift on their skinny stilts to avoid her, but not when Fybi spun whirlwinds, spun the stilts around, and caused them to collapse. Sheila could then wipe them out with Light Fists, but none of them gave her a Swing Suit. Fybi flew around the ceiling and found a Hoodlum hiding in an enclosing, so she pulled him back with an air gust and let him smash on the floor, dropping the blue Power Can. Sheila retrieved the Swing Suit and swung her way up the Purple Lums, lowest to highest, until they brought her into a narrow hallway with high ceiling.

Spiked bars connected the walls at certain parts, and large fans were over the chasm below, facing up with Purple Lums on them. Fybi blew into another small vent, activating the fans to blow the Lums higher so Sheila could swing them. Depending on their height in accordance with spike bars, Fybi had to cease blowing so the Lums would sink lower than them, but blow to raise them skyward again when Sheila so required. She landed on safe ground before the power wore off. Fybi joined her as they faced a seemingly-barren hallway, where they needed a Propeller Pad to float to a high ledge on the other side. Fybi first blew into a vent, forcing giant blades to pop out of random parts of the walls, floor, and ceiling. They retracted when she stopped, but when Sheila curiously stuck her hand over where one of them came out, it did so, she quickly pulled back.

They had to memorize the location of each blade, since Fybi couldn't keep them exposed while floating Sheila's platform. They inched slowly higher to avoid the first three floor-blades, had to sink to dodge some wall-blades, then float directly up when a long wall of wall-blades blocked them, but couldn't go too high in fear of a ceiling-blade. They shifted down to avoid a left wall-blade, up to avoid a right one, down to dodge a ceiling-blade's tip, and quickly inch high-high-high-high to barely dodge a very tall floor-blade. They couldn't abandon their platform yet, for above this ledge was a great, wide shaft of giant fans. A ventilation-like breeze touched them as Fybi blew them higher. The fan-blades spun slowly, so they waited until one passed before inching higher. Hoodmongers slowly descended with balloons and blasted slow-bullet shotguns, and while they were easy to dodge, it was fun to watch the Hoodlums get cut by the fans below.

The shaft eventually ended at a barren ceiling, where the two could drop off on a platform with a door to outside. They couldn't see ground or sky, just soft spiraling gray clouds around them. There was nowhere to go from this tiny balcony, and Fybi had mixed feelings about flying into those clouds. But after about 10 seconds, a Hoodmonger slowly appeared from the clouds, holding a balloon, so Sheila proceeded to send him falling with a Light Fist. At first, they thought a Power Can was dropped on their platform, but it was actually a floating green sandal like Sheila's. She reached to touch with the tip of her finger- "Nnn-z-z-z-z-z!" Both girls were suddenly zapped and shrunk down to three inches.

They fell onto one of their sandals that was abandoned on the floor, while the other sandal grew a pair of wings and flew away. Their current sandals grew wings, so they rode them to the sky and chased, using the straps to steer. Their vision became foggy when they soared through the clouds, but Sheila's other sandal whooshed in front of her, so she turned in that direction. Fybi's empty sandal flew overhead, and that was when she and Sheila rammed each other like bumper-cars. They recomposed and flew aimless in the clouds, eventually finding their way to the very top of the tower, above the clouds. The Crazy Sandals were seen above as well, so the girls could chase them easier. The shoes submerged under the clouds when they sensed them coming. Sheila gestured Fybi to fly a little further ahead before going under herself.

Sheila used her raccoon ears to hear the sandals' flapping wings, following the sound's direction to narrow on hers. She tricked it to flying where Fybi was, so the angel ambushed and rammed Sheila's sandal. Sheila then heard Fybi's sandal nearby, which moved faster considering who it belonged to, so Sheila took a shortcut to catch up, and also flew down to make the sandal go above the clouds. It thought it was escaping Sheila, but Sheila's Crazy Sandal came up from below and hit it, so both flew together while the girls chased. Fybi reached to Sheila and took her hand, gesturing her to fly down under the clouds. The angel poured her Nimbi speed into her sandal and helped Sheila move faster too, so both could get in front of the Crazy Shoes via a shortcut. The shoes wouldn't change direction, decided to ram their owners head-on, and Sheila and Fybi wore devious smirks as they increased speed. But as we all know, human- er, hybrid, beats clothing, so both shoes took the fall to the tower's top. The girls stretched back to normal and slipped their sandals on, exchanging victorious nods. They turned toward the single floating cage in the center. (End song.)

Sheila recognized the creature inside the cage. Gloved hands, yellow shoes, body, and a head separate from each other. It had orange hair, a big nose, and wore a purple shirt and red neckerchief. "Well, well, Ms. Frantic. I am impressed." Both girls looked up. A man in a dark-blue cloak drifted down from the sky. He tapped his fingers gently on the electrical pink sphere. "Your friends have no knowledge of the Lights or where to journey on this quest. Yet, you know who they are like the front of your palm. Or, I suppose your insect friend does."

"Hu! Sheila, that's him!" Murfy cowered behind the raccoon. "Mr. Dark, the one who's taking over Dream Land. And he's got the Protoon! He can obliterate us in a single second!"

"He doesn't look that scary." Sheila said.

"Alas, is he only the scary monster, which be only a coat, inside my wardrobe?" Fybi asked.

"My dears… I really don't want this kind of relationship." Mr. Dark said calmly. "Protagonist and antagonist… isn't it kind of cliché? We want the same thing: to find the Twenty Keys and open the New World. We want you children to succeed. To find the Lights. So please, can we not work together?"

"Could ya tell yer minions that, 'cause I don't think they got the memo."

"I still have a position of power in this world, you know. It did not have to go far. But the people of Dream Land have doubted my power. The only way to persuade them was to steal the Protoon. Now I will have the power to structure the New World."

"This dream doth be demonstrating reality too much." Fybi said. "Or hast the summer heat prevented my mind from telling real and unreal?"

"Look, man," Sheila held her hand open, "just gimme the Protoon and we can find the Lights a whole lot easier."

"Hm hm hm. It's a shame we must be at each other's business." Dark chuckled, holding the sphere closely. "However, I cannot let you free this creature. My most heinous enemy is ever-so more peaceful in ignorance. It's time you two have awakened. My servant will see to that. Cloudjin, if you will." He snapped his fingers before throwing his cape and swirling into the Protoon.

Some of the spiraling clouds merged together in the sky above. A giant, hazy white genie-like creature, with a swirly tail and muscular build, materialized, his arms folded. He spoke with a mighty, echoing voice. "My flaming breath is very hot. These spiky balls are surely not." (Play the Boss Theme from Yoshi's Story.)

Boss fight: Cloudjin

The genie chortled haughtily as it flew around the sky, his tail shining with lightning which tried to strike the kids. From random parts of the sky, spikeballs fell down and rolled across the floor before falling over the edge. When it was done chortling, Cloudjin flew down, turned solid yellow, and puffed a breath of fire at the girls, but Fybi defended with a Wind Shield while Sheila spun her arm and shot a fist, forcing Cloudjin around as he blew a line of fire behind, lighting a large torch. It didn't seem to effect anything, but they noticed a lightning rod on the other side of the field. When Cloudjin began striking lightning again, Fybi soared to the rod and tricked him into striking toward her, successfully giving the rod energy. Several hatches opened on the floor exposing large fans, along with a smaller, central vent. As spikeballs continued dropping on the field, Fybi knew the solution: she blew into the central vent, caused all the fans to blow, and send the spikeballs skyward to hit Cloudjin. However, the genie was intangible, so no avail.

Cloudjin came down to puff fire at the kids, but during his solid state, Sheila spun a Light Fist and chucked at his mouth, forcing the flames to stay inside. He returned to the sky, bloated and solid, so when spikes came down, Fybi blew them around to certain fans, then blew the fans when Cloudjin was in range to be struck by a ball. Fybi blew the fans two more times to hit Cloudjin with that number of balls, until the genie finally exploded with flames. He wasn't dead, and puffed with anger before lighting his tail with lightning. He flew around like usual before swooping over the floor in attempt to hit the girls with his tail, but they evasively dodged. "Um… Sheila? Murfy?"

They heard a familiar voice on one edge of the tower. A big, blue balloon was making its presence known, little arms and feet at its sides, and it was only when its body turned did Sheila recognize. "Globox?"

"I got thirsty climbing the tower, and I saw Murfy drinking plum juice in one of the rooms, so I…"

"Ay-ay-ay." Murfy shook. "I keep telling him he's allergic to plum juice, but does he ever listen? No. Stick to flies, Toadboy!"

Sheila and Fybi dodged Cloudjin's tail again, and after looking at Globox's juice-filled form, they had an idea. Fybi flew above and blew Globox down to Sheila, who wrapped arms around him and aimed at the floor. Purple juice came squirting out of his mouth when he squeezed, and Sheila stood in the puddle so when Cloudjin flew down, his electric tail touched the liquid and lit up his whole body. Cloudjin was solid again, but didn't bother swooping down again while he chortled about the air. Spikeballs were falling again, but Cloudjin was flying around the sides of the tower instead of above, blowing forceful wind at the girls.

Sheila almost slid off the edge, but Fybi grabbed her so she could recompose herself, Sheila fighting the wind and stomping back toward the center. Fybi countered Cloudjin's wind with her airbending, in the process blowing spikeballs a great distance over the edge, so it became Fybi's goal to fly them at Cloudjin. She dealt three blows against him before the genie exploded again. Cloudjin returned to the sky, puffed his breath, and coughed meteor-like fireballs. Fybi blasted powerful air gusts to disperse them. "Hast thou ideas?"

"Yeh, I do." Sheila jumped onto the bloated Globox's back. "Murfy, you 'elp, too."

"Okay." Both he and Fybi squeezed under Globox's belly and raised him to the air despite Sheila's weight. They dodged Cloudjin's fireballs and narrowed in, Sheila clutching the toad's bloated, balloon-like flesh tight. When they were meters away from Cloudjin, the genie began charging a powerful burst of flamebreath. "Now!" Sheila kicked Globox down as she leapt, Fybi and Murfy flying a few meters down so he was a good distance between them both. Then Sheila shot down fists-first while Fybi came up foot-first at whipping speed, so when both forces collided, a strong stream of juice popped out of Globox's mouth and connected with Cloudjin's fire.

Amazingly, the juice was stronger, dispersing the fire before flowing into Cloudjin's mouth. Globox grew skinnier while Cloudjin grew fatter, but the genie never changed his haughty visage. The genie was perfectly round before Globox went flat, and within seconds exploded into dust. Sheila and Fybi landed on their feet and high-fived. Globox drifted to the floor like a feather, so Murfy blew into the toad's mouth to restore his 3rd dimension. (End song.)

Sheila punched a Light Sphere and destroyed the cage, Rayman's limbs falling to the floor. The Dream World hero awakened, its head staring at Sheila with awe while it lay fallen. His limbs helped their selves up to their respective positions, he and Sheila shared the same astonished expressions. Sheila's natural reaction to a creature so unique, and Rayman's… well, weird stuff lives in his world, why was he surprised. They both stared and stared and stared… until-

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Rayman let out a blood-hurdling scream, eyes popped out, and he zipped away. He ran with cheetah-like speed, until he bounced against Globox's belly, falling to his back. Rayman got up, looked back-and-forth frantically, and- "Bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-"

Murfy bashed him unconscious with a frying pan. "Ugh, I knew this would happen." He read the guide. "Mr. Dark gave Rayman Rabbid Therapy. He was forced to listen to Rabbid screams all day long, he's gone totally cuckoo. It's gonna take a lot of work to get 'im back to his right mind. Lots of shocks, stitches, and fan letters. Also, I haven't found the part of the story that tells us what to do." He flipped random pages.

Sheila twisted her pinky finger in her aching right ear. "You're telling me, I haven't heard anything more annoying. We're supposed ta take this bloke with us?"

"I suppose we could ask the Magician for help. Iysh, this is gonna be annoying though, we'll have ta clean up after 'im, change his diaper, ay-ay-ay, there is no good to come outta Rabbid Therapy."

"EEEEEEHHH-kakadamemeda-KAAAAMIIIIIOOOOOON!" Sheila and Fybi shielded their ears from Rayman's screams.

"I don't think me eardrums will last long, mate." Sheila said.

Globox approached Rayman with a friendly smile. He grabbed his friend and stuck his head into his big mouth. Rayman's wild screams and sounds were muffled. "An unsanitary solution at best." Fybi said. "Doth my services hath any further worthwhile?"

"Oh right, I forgot." Murfy skimmed his guide. "'See, uhhhhhh, 'cording to this, you're heading to a land called Birka, which iiiiiiss right up there."

Fybi gaped, wondering how she hadn't noticed earlier. A massive island blended in with the stormy sky, lightning flashing on all ends. "You have wings, so getting there shouldn't be much problem, right?" Murfy said. "Well, we'll leave you to that; come on, you lunks, we gotta get this wild animal sterilized." Sheila, Globox, and Rayman followed Murfy to a portal pedestal nearby. They performed a silly dance (except Rayman still in Globox's mouth) before the portal slurped them in.

Hawaii

"Hmm?" Fybi gasped awake, the hot summer sun hitting her irises again. She was lain sloppily on the leaves of a palmtree, floating up to stretch her limbs. "I… must hath fallen into slumber as I flew. 'Twas an odd dream of Sheila from Sector V. But what purpose doth a dream serve than to send meaning? Perhaps I may… know it in time?"

She took to the sky and flew blissfully over the jungle, her mind as free and light as the air. But earthly curiosities would take her again, when she spotted the strange alien ship crashed amongst some trees. She carefully flew closer and hid behind some leaves to observe it. She heard what sounded like someone peeling a banana, and looking under her perch, Phosphora was munching the fruit. She glanced up and froze, seeing the green-eyed angel watching her, Phosphora's cheeks still puffed. She swallowed. "Oh, hello."

"…Hast thou been… following me?" Fybi inquired.

"Uh no, I'm just… roaming around. Fancy I'd run into you again today."

Fybi's look was quizzical. "…If thou art querying my response to thine earlier request, I do forgive thee."

"Oh… that's nice." She smiled halfheartedly – masking deeper gratitude, and bit her banana.

Fybi plucked another banana from the tree and ate as well. "I canst not feel too great anger, knowing mine wings made a miraculous recovery in the midst of our battle. To this day, I know not the reason behind it."

"Oh, I do. Viridi told me Palutena had something to do with it. The Light Goddess. She can heal almost any physical injury. We're kinda alike, Fybi. Fallen angels whom the gods frowned upon and sought to help us."

Fybi raised a brow. "Thou call thyself an angel? I see no wings on thine backside."

Phosphora stood, turned, and pulled up her top to expose her bare back. "I lost my wings a long time ago."

Fybi stared in shock. Two parallel scorch lines were burned on Phosphora's back. "…Thou art… flightless Nimbi? But no pure Nimbi canst survive without wings."

"Well, I'm from a particular breed of Nimbi." She lowered her shirt and faced up at Fybi. "I'm a Birkan. From the stormiest region of Skypia where lightningbenders dwell. We had very particular chi-paths that connected to our back bones and could manifest in the form of wings. But an accident ruined my chi-paths and rendered me wingless. I can't lightningbend without a good source. I couldn't live on a stormy isle as I was, so I had to come to Earth. Then Viridi found and offered me a Lightning Scarf if I joined her crew in return. I got to feel… free again."

"I am sorry for thine loss. But I will not say the same for Viridi's fate."

"I know. Why do you live on Earth, anyway? Hang out with these humans?"

"I was born on Skypia, verily, to absorb the atmosphere of my culture, but alas, mine parents believed I would make true friends on Earth. I am now tethered to them, and I doth prefer it that way. However, I do wish for the day I canst return to my homeland, show them wondrous Skypia. Yon supreme beauty."

"Prettier than Birka, I'm sure."

Fybi flinched, suddenly remembering her dream. "…Phosphora… my mind doth be processing strangely… but I bear the irksome desire to see thine homeland. Shouldst I wish to go, wouldst thou guide us thither?"

Phosphora frowned, a tad surprised. The opportunity to return to her homeland… could she pass it down?

A trembling caught their ears, coming from the direction of Taylor's camp, where magma smoke was rising. His clothes completely drenched with sweat, Anthony succeeded in pulling himself out of the pit. It was amazing he still had breath. "Nicely done, shrimp." The teenager remarked. "Ya beat Level 1. Now the Bonus Round." He stomped his foot, waved arms, and raised five columns of lava. As they aimed at Anthony, whose eyes felt like drying, the child just wished for it to end. They all lunged, but Anthony stomped himself underground and covered the hole, protecting himself. Tom smirked, but to his surprise, that piece of ground jabbed up and flung the lava back at him, but he threw his arm, hardened the lava, and smashed it with his fist. Anthony returned aboveground, still groggy, but glared fearlessly at Tom. The teenager didn't think he'd be having this much fun.

Florae; Mom's ship

"Hello? Ah, yes, thank you. Yes, we have received it. Ah, thank you. My pleasure, Mr., um, pronounce that slowly. Your donation was accounted Mrs., um, Gargamesh. Haha, yes, I look forward myself." Ted Wassanasong was provided a spare office inside Mom's flagship, and was already receiving waves of phonecalls after his announcement.

"Business is blooming, I see." Mom remarked, walking in.

"This idea was more fantastic than I ever could have hoped." Ted confirmed brightly, still speaking with a moderate tone. "Yes, please hold. It goes to show, Carol, success can be taken anywhere. We have it, don't worry. Before you know it, the Corporate Presidents can extend their empires across the universe. Um, I'll get back to you on that." He was alternating between talking to Mom and his phones.

"Why did you choose this location to build, exactly?"

"The atmosphere just feels 'right', to me. And I am right. Pretty soon, everyone in this galaxy will know the glory of the Corporate Presidents. It's a shame, because there used to be more of us. Norman Osborn and Charles Burns met untimely demises; you have to admit, Lord Business had potential as well, and; what was that other fellow? The one who trained Pokémon?"

"Giovanni, but one fight with Gozaburo and he goes crying like a little-"

"Hey, you can't go in there!" Guards were yelling outside.

"Uh-, no!" Two men grabbed Arianna's arms just as she ran into the office. She had several potted plants strapped to her belt. "I need to speak with President Wassawong!"

"Sorry, Presidents, this little girl came with her mom and slipped by us. How should we dispose of her?" a guard asked.

"It's all right, gentlemen. I'm sure this child does not mean trouble." Ted gestured with his fingers. The guards released Ari and left the office. Mom passed a smug look to the Harnitan before leaving, shutting the door. "Now, what seems to be your concern, little girl? Unless you happen to be a fan of golf and would like a preview of the new course."

"Um, that's why I'm here. Mr. Washerna- um, Sir, I know you are a hard-working businessman and I understand how important this project is to you, but there are far more open locations for such a course besides the Violet Dwarf System. With that in mind, I humbly ask you not to blow it up and find a different location. You can easily save money by not buying ammunitions."

"You seem like a very smart and mature young girl, and your concern is highlighted, but do not worry. It was specifically chosen because it is very far from any settlement, so the explosion will not harm any of the locals."

"Th-The locals aren't who I'm concerned for, in particular, it's the wildlife." She spoke more insistently. "Those asteroids have all kinds of unique, and endangered species. Destroying them would be a terrible thing, please I ask you to reconsider."

"There are billions such asteroids that exist in the stars. No one will miss a few. But I promise, you will not feel sorry when you are having the time of your life in Golfing in the Stars."

Just go away, you stupid girl. A sinister voice said.

Arianna gasped. "S…Stupid?"

Ted raised a brow. "I beg pardon?"

What? Did she hear me?

"..!" Arianna demanded firmly, "Who else is there?! What are you hiding?!"

"There is no one here but the two of us. If you have no other business here, I ask you to leave my office." Ted pointed to the door.

"Not until I have your honest word you won't blow up the system!"

"I'm afraid I cannot, but you shall not be sorry after you have experienced the first of many holes in Golfing in the Stars." he said with his honest smile. "You, your friends, and your family will never know greater fun."

"Siiiigh." Arianna bowed her head. "Mr. Wassanong, I see you are very devoted to your goal, and I do not like to escalate conflict. But for the sake of all those animals, please forgive my actions." Without warning, she threw her arms up, vines emerged from two of her pots and grabbed Ted by the wrists, raising him upward. The man struggled, flailing his legs and kicking a stapler at Ari's face, making her lose her grip as Ted tried to run outside, but she whooshed her arm, extending a bramble's sprout to lash Ted just under the shirt-collar.

Something small and black flew out of the shirt to a corner. Ted fell over and began rasping with pain. "M-Mr. Washanong?" Arianna spoke fearfully.

"President Ted!" A team of guards burst in and stood over the businessman. They looked at the cut across his back, and to Arianna's bramble. On closer inspection, the skin around the cut was sickly purple. "Someone call a doctor, arrest this girl—she poisoned him!"

"N-No! I didn't!" Arianna retracted the bramble and raised her hands, but her protests were ignored as guards took her arms and led her away. "I-I didn't mean for this—there must be some misunderstanding—I'm sorry!"

Ted was later carried away to a medical wing. The black thing that had flown out of his shirt skittered into the dark.