38. The Black Queen

I forgot to mention that Malevolous is basically the Shadow Queen from Paper Mario, so she's sort of half-OC. I remember way back then, I always thought Grandfather was like a Shadow King, and I imagined them being a pairing, so there's that origin. Same idea with Shadow Queen and Wuya being sisters. Cryptogram is A1Z26, but it'll be tricky to figure out.

Twilight Forest Graveyard

"Behold, Jack Spicer: my adoptive older sister, the Queen of Shadows, Malevolous Djinn!" Wuya announced once again (in case people missed the recap). The boy genius crawled backward in fright as the grey, towering zombie rose taller. "Malevolous, it's me! It's Wuya, your favorite witch!" The ghost looked ecstatic. "I came back to revive you, just like I said I would! I hoped to be in better shape than what you see now, but it all worked out! We'll get my body back soon enough."

"Uuuuunnn… nnnnuuuuhhh…" The droopy-faced zombie moaned and wobbled mindlessly. Jack wondered when it was going to lunge for him and eat his brain. …Malevolous's corpse fell backward and plopped into her coffin.

"PAH HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Jack laughed hysterically and kicked his feet in the air. "'Guess being dead for 50 years makes you a little uncoordinated! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Wuya glared at him with anger. She flew over Malevolous with a worried expression. "Oh, Malevolous, this isn't how I wanted you to look, either. I was going to force the Firstborn, Midna to become your shadow and revive you. These Shen Gong Wu could reanimate your corpse, but you are anything but sensible at the moment. It's all right, dear, I'll get you the help you need. JACK, get off your buttocks and help my sister this INSTANT!"

Jack sighed and snapped his fingers, summoning two Jackbots to pick Malevolous up by the arms. Once she was on her feet, other Jackbots came to help her get down from the gravestone. "Malevolous, it's alright. Everything's going to be okay." Wuya spoke comfortingly. "We'll restore you to full power, and then you'll conquer the world!" She smirked devilishly. "I still remember the spell that Cole used for me! Once I get my body back, I will use it for you—I will find you a vessel and-"

"NUUH!" Malevolous swung an arm, Jack yelped and ducked, inching backward as the zombie panted. "Taaah… taaay… tah-me-bah… TAY MAY bah…"

"Maybe we should wake her up in the morning?" Jack wondered with fear.

"Malevolous dear, what's wrong?" Wuya asked.

"Tay may bah… teh may back… Derrrrrrse!"

Tree of Beginning, Europe

A swarm of Jabbi glided over the mountains as the enormous tree came into view. They were set to land within a narrow tunnel several meters up the tree, which in reality was a hangar. Jessie, Sandy, and Spongebob had to crouch slightly, seeing the Minish guards stand aside so a path was clear for them. "Before we actually let you pass, whose orders was it to bring full-size humans in here?" a Minish operative questioned. "As well as some oversized sponge creature?"

"My orders." Gonshiri climbed off of her Jabbi and approached the guard in a regal fashion.

"Princess Gonshiri!" The Minish bowed. "You finally got saved? You have to tell Numbuh Hundred Acres ASAP, he's been worried sick!"

"I have every intention. Now move aside, you can't trust these half-awake lugs not to crush anyone." The princess waved her hand to gesture them aside as she walked.

From his 50 Minish-feet high throne, Supreme Leader Lenari saw two big humans and a sponge approaching, escorted by a troupe of Punies. If nothing else drew his curiosity, it was this. He leapt off the throne with the intention of greeting Punio, but saw that two other tinies were leading ahead of him. "Princess?!" the leader exclaimed with shock. "You're back! And…And Shelly?"

"That's Princess Shelly to you." She informed thusly. "Twin Princess Shelly?"

"Excuse me?"

"Lenari, meet my long-lost half-human sister." Gonshiri smiled regally.

". . ." Lenari processed everything for a minute. The humans and sponge were weird enough. "Well, maybe Punio would like to fill me in. You should go tell your mother you're okay, she's in her room. …I'm sure she would know if she had a human daughter." With that, Gonshiri nodded and led Shelly away.

Punio walked forward and saluted with one stubby leg. "Numbuh Hundred Acres, Sir, the Minish KND have a mission. Petunia, the report." Punio's sister, a smaller Puni with a pink antenna, gave Lenari a leaf scroll.

Gonshiri led Shelly to the royal quarters of the tree, made of pretty glittering stone and pure green leaves. Shiri's mom's room had furniture made of wood and miscellaneous decorations found only in their world. Shiri knocked on the closed bedroom door. A Minish woman with long eyelashes, a gold flower crown, and posh green dress answered. She gasped, "Gonshiri?"

"Hello, Mother." Shiri smiled politely. Shelly made a smile that was half-warm and half-smirk as the taller Minish bent down and hugged her daughter, who returned the gesture.

The queen looked up at the human. "Who is this?"

"Well-p, my feelings are hurt." Shelly folded her arms and turned away. "Some mother you are."

"Shelly?"

"What's up." She turned back around.

"It…It's really you?" Lánshelly stood up, making a hopeful smile.

"The one and only." She smiled proudly. The human princess shortly earned a hug from her mother. Shelly shrugged and put one arm around her. "So I guess it's all true, then." She figured. "I'm really the Minish Princess. Same for that story about you and Dad."

"You know what happened?" Lánshelly asked, pulling away.

"The Puni Elder told us." Gonshiri confirmed. "However, I distinctly recall Shelly saying her mother left Father because he was an incompetent king." She smirked.

"Well, I never met her, so that's what I assumed!" Shelly shouted.

"Hmhmhm, Sandy did boast a lot." The queen giggled. She then frowned, "I can't believe that man kidnapped you, though. You aren't hurt anywhere, are you?"

"Not much. However, my nose still feels bent from when Shelly stepped on me."

"Shelly, don't you know better than to crush your little sister?!" Lánshelly yelled at her daughter.

"Sister, shmister, ants get squished!" Shelly retorted.

"Well, you're an ant now, so I hereby ground you until you're 13."

"Screw you, Mom, you're not the boss of me and you're not so big!" Shelly smirked (she was a fan of Malcolm).

"I'll have you know I can be very 'big' when I need to." The queen smirked back. "But seeing as you brought your sister back from captivity, perhaps I'll go easy on you. How did you two escape, anyway?"

Shelly and Gonshiri recapped their long and arduous journey, from crossing Sand Kingdom, finding the Sand Wand, then flying to Kochi. "There's something that concerns me, however." Gonshiri said afterward. "If Father was really set on capturing me, I'm certain he would have searched by now. More specifically, searched our birthplace."

"We haven't had any signs of Sandy or the Government." Lánshelly replied. "However, travel here takes a while by plane; although you all still made it."

"I suppose it doesn't matter for now." Shiri resumed. "Mother, we may not be staying long. There's something we have to do, but you're not going to be okay with it."

Lenari's Throne

"YOU WANT US TO WAGE WAR ON THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT?!" Lenari screamed after reading the scroll.

"We have no other choice!" Punio reasoned. "It wasn't even our idea, it's the Elder. If she says that Bill Cipher is a monster, and only the big people can stop him, we have to do what she says."

"The Minish Kids Next Door was never meant to go to war with adult human governments!" Lenari argued. "Even if the princess were to agree with this plan, how exactly would an all-out attack on Washington benefit us?"

"Our classmates are trapped in Washington, along with many others." Jessie told them seriously. "I'm the First Grade President at Gallagher Elementary, so it is my job to help them."

"And Shelly is the Fourth Grade President, so she'll be helping, too." Sandy followed.

"That still doesn't change the fact that we're going against humans." Petuni replied. "You're all so much bigger than us. You three could crush hundreds of us in minutes."

"Petuni, we keep telling you to not give them ideas!!" a fat Puni named Puniper yelled.

"Sorry!"

"We understand that, but you're the only army we know." Sandy spoke pleadingly. "Well, except the Kids Next Door."

"NO." Jessie and Lenari said together. …Both leaders stared at each other.

"I never agreed to an official alliance, yet, so we can't work with them." Lenari explained.

"And if any big kids are helping us, it's ones from our school." Jessie stated.

"CHOKE IT UP, Whippersnapper!" Punio yelled, scaring them. "That's what Elder would say. Numbuh Hundred Acres, we're not even trying to destroy the American government, we just need to get Jessie and Spongebob to Bill and President Jimmy so they can fight them. But they'll need to fight them in the Dream World, so one of the bad guys' helpers could hurt them if they're asleep. That's why we need a lot of people supporting them. It may be against Minish Code, but even all of our Pikmin would have a hard time against those big people. The Kids Next Door could help us…"

"The World Government hates the Minish, they're generous enough by not attacking us directly." Lenari argued. "If we just up and attack America, what'll that mean for us?! Mass and legal extermination!"

"But if we were aligned with the Human Kids Next Door, they could protect us from the WG. Besides, didn't you hear any news about this 'Apocalypse'? The Government's going crazy about it, they're blaming the Minish for some reason, so sooner or later, they're gonna get us, anyway! I personally don't know what could result from this battle, even if we win, but it would be nice if we weaken the Government any way we can. If the WG's using a monster like Bill to do their work, we gotta help these humans beat him."

Lenari huffed and smacked his hand onto his forehead. "I never even heard of 'Bill Cipher' until today, I never cared about what America was doing to other countries, why is this suddenly our responsibility?!"

"Because the princess orders it." Everyone whipped around to look at Gonshiri and Shelly, whose mother was behind them. Gonshiri spoke, "The World Government kidnapped me for their insane purposes. If we allow Bill Cipher to run even part of the scene, they'll have more than enough manpower to capture me again, and burn down our entire kingdom just to do that. I can't verify anything about the 'Apocalypse' or 'Twenty Locks' ("Keys." Punio said), but as Princess and vice-leader of this Kids Next Door, I have to agree with the best possible means of protecting everyone."

Lenari let out a long, hard sigh. "Do you actually agree with this, Your Highness?"

"Of course I don't, the children of my kingdom are going to war." Lánshelly stated. "But my daughter and that young Puni are right. I would like to hope there's still good in my husband, but we can't trust any of the World Government not to attack us. I may be an adult, but I'm not oblivious to anything the Kids Next Door are up to. You are strong, to be sure, but if those two human leaders from before would like an alliance, it would do no harm to trust them. Their strength can help you."

"Are you really sure, Your Highness?" Lenari asked.

Lánshelly smiled. "I've read stories of many strong and noble humans—or big people in general. The Fairy Sisters of Ancient Avalar, the Earthbender Families, and I was proud to bare witness to the Human Kids Next Door's heroic acts 20-plus years ago. Forgive this adult for telling you how to do things. It's only a considerate mother's suggestion."

Lenari looked at Gonshiri, then to Punio, then to Jessie, who put on a half-interested, accepting look and gave a shrug. "All right." Lenari decided. "I'll go to the nearest Human KND sector and get them in contact with Moonbase. I'll explain our dilemma to their leader, then no matter their decision, our fate is set: we will attack Washington at High Noon tomorrow!"

"YEEEEAAAAH!" As Minish, Punies, and Pikmin alike were cheering, the room ringing with squeaks in the big peoples' ears, a short Minish scampered up to the Supreme Leader.

"Numbuh Hundred Acres, Sir!" the Minish saluted with an Australian-ish accent. "We just received word from our sector in Virginia! Our Pikmin Instructors, Sappo and Gibli, were spotted in the possession of King Sandy. They're currently at the human school, Gallagher Elementary."

"What?!" Shelly stepped forward. "What's he doing there?"

"Well, uh, our reports say that the school ground was turned into sand. The kids inside are trapped."

Shelly's eyes widened with realization. Gonshiri knew it was obvious, even to her. Sandy was using Shelly's subjects to lure them into a trap. "…'Guess I'll give him what he wants." She smirked and punched her palm.

"For the record, people will get confused between my sister and Shelly's dad." Jessie informed. "How 'bout we just remember to call him 'King' Sandy?"

"And I'll be Vice-President Sandy!" the girl beamed.

"Too long, you'll just be Sandy."

"Okay." She frowned.

Hall of Doors

Sheila, Globox, and the still-caged Rayman followed Murfy to a portal labeled Mado no Nikki. It was represented by two ghosts with swirly tails, with black bodies (one had purple outline and one had pink), and both leaked drool. "So what's in this place again?" Sheila asked.

"This is where the Magician is hanging out." Murfy recapped. "It's a dreamscape that belongs to a 12-year-old girl called 'Madotsuki.'" His info was based from the Manual. "He chose this place because it's really weird and mazey; the Hoodlums would never think to look here. Haha, if you think about it, her name is a mix of Maddy and Suki's names! The kid kinda looks like 'em too, maybe these two Fuse like in Steven Universe? I'm gonna flip ahead and see if that happens." Murfy quickly flipped pages forward.

"Put that spoilbook away so we can get going!" Sheila yelled, jumping in the portal before Globox and Rayman.

"Okay okay! Just let me bookmark." Murfy put a bookmark in his chosen page—the Manual had bookmarks in every section. He flew in after them. (Play "Forest World" from Yume Nikki.)

Stage 49: Mado no Nikki

Mission: Find the Magician's residence.

Sheila appeared within a vast forest of coniferous trees, where the sky and invisible ground were pitch-black. A tremendous image floated in the sky: to the best of Sheila's analyzation, it was a red Egyptian monkey god, staring at her with hexagonal yellow eyes, and had a tail that curled in a square, with a black hand with a face reaching out from its bottom-right—it was just weird. There were a couple of ways to go in the forest, so Sheila chose a random path. "So apparently this level's from some horror game." Murfy read from the Manual. "In fact, after the Presidents Saga, we're gonna have a lot of horror crossovers. Mary's even a central character in the next saga, if you don't know about her, she…"

Murfy's voice droned out. Sheila was lost in the forest, long separated from the group. She encountered one of the purple-outline ghosts that were outside the portal. She reached to touch it, then the ghost latched itself to Sheila's head via its green drool. Sheila shook her head, grabbing the drool in attempt to yank the ghost off, but had no luck. With annoyance and disgust, Sheila walked forward. She wandered aimlessly for a few minutes, encountering similar ghosts with pink outline, and as she grew more lost, seven of the two different ghosts latched onto her head with drool. The ooze was covering her eyes, so Sheila walked forward with her hands outstretched, feeling around the trees. She was close to finding her way even less, and had no means of ditching these ghosts.

"AAAAHH!" She heard the familiar scream that belonged to Globox. "Sh-Sheila? Don't look now, but there's a bunch of ghosts on your head!"

"Okay, I won't look." she said sarcastically. "But someone's gonna need to be my eyes if I ain't." Globox took Sheila's hand and led her through the forest, however the toad had as much idea where to go as Sheila.

"Oooo, Sheila, look at these weird rectangles!" Globox spoke ecstatically after minutes of wandering. "Oh wait, I guess you can't. Maybe Murfy can tell us what they're for—MURFYYYYY! You aren't chatting up that frog, are you? Oh well, let's keep goin'." Globox led Sheila between the parallel, green zigzag rectangles—they were suddenly taken out of the forest and into a field of large face carpets. A group of seven, skinny bird-like people – with brown hair in pigtails, normal clothing, and crazy purple eyes – quickly walked toward Sheila's direction.

"Sheila, watch out!" Murfy yelled. "Those are Toriningen, if they catch you, you won't be able to escape unless you wake up!"

Said Toriningen were attacked by the ghosts drooling over Sheila, allowing her to wipe her eyes clean. She seized the moment and ran around the Toriningen with Globox. This Face Carpet Plaza had odd and creepy face carpets that were cyan and purple, with smaller variations that had spikes sticking out. The plaza was surrounded by a spike wall, so Sheila searched around for a place to go. The purple face in the down-right corner had a squinted left eye, so when Sheila stomped this eye, a yellow Power Can came out. Sheila touched it and became imbued with Shock Gloves. "Sweet, a new power, and totally erases the Flight Suit from the story." Murfy spoke (the yellow can was the Flight Suit in Rayman 3). "Use that to power things up. You know, pointy objects are conductive too, right?"

Sheila wouldn't know that, but as far as Dream World went, the raccoon began punching electric at each of the face carpets' spikes. "No no, don't punch the cyan ones, those will only power them up!" Sheila rolled her eyes and instead punched the spikes on the purple faces. By this time, the Toriningen were chasing her again, and Sheila's own Light Spheres couldn't hurt them. After she lit all the purple spikes, the floor within their center shone with energy. Sheila lured the Toriningen across, but ran off this floor herself, watching as lightning struck down and destroyed all the Toriningen. Globox, who was cowering in the corner, looked back up and sighed in relief. Sheila saw that the gateway out of the plaza was sealed, so she used her Shock Fists to ignite the spikes on the cyan faces. Globox wandered mindlessly onto the energy ground that formed, and when the lightning struck him, he was imbued with enough adrenaline to run around, crashing and bouncing many parts of the wall of spikes (Sheila having to dodge him at some points), until Globox finally burst through the gate.

From here, Sheila ventured into another forest area, with a prettier night sky of stars, and lampposts one would find in parks. Globox was already conked out from that energy boost, so Sheila was glad she didn't do the same. This path was more straightforward, though a few routes led her into dead ends. She found an open area of lampposts, in which one of them was turned off. Sheila realized her Shock Fist ran out of juice, so she rushed back, grabbed the Power Can, and returned to the lamppost to shoot and activate it. When Sheila touched the post afterward, she warped to an alternate dimension with a pink and purple wavy sky, in which she was secluded on a platform of same-color tiles. Sheila opened a wardrobe to find an Electoon cage. She punched it open, then touched the lamppost to warp back to the forest.

The route led her into a mall of some sort. The interior walls had bluish-purple, block-like tiles, while the floor and ceilings were black. The shoppers had various colors of skin and clothing – some bright and some darker, but none of them had faces. Sheila couldn't talk with any of them, so she bypassed them all and walked up an escalator. There was a shoe store close by, and along the shelves were various shoes that came in single pairs. "Easter Egg alert, these shoes belong to horror game characters." Murfy commented, startling Sheila with his appearance. "There's even a footnote section that tells you specifically. Want me to read it, or you wanna get on with the stage? Just break that box there if you do."

Sheila released an annoyed "Ugh" and punched the box open, releasing a Crazy Sandal. When Sheila touched it, as what happened in Fly High Tower, she shrunk into one of her own sandals, while the other one drove away. Sheila drove her current sandal and chased the crazy one across the mall's walkway, maneuvering around the standing or walking shoppers. On the other side of the mall, Sheila chased the Crazy Sandal into an open air vent, driving up its slope and slowing down to avoid giant fan blades. The vent came out over the building's roof, where the crisp morning sun poked over the horizon, under a misty cloudy sky. Sheila chased the Crazy Sandal around the rooftop and rammed it several times with her own sandal like bumper cars. After dealing the required number of hits, Sheila stretched back to normal.

Sheila had a terrific view of a city from up here—miles above the planet's surface. Over one edge of the building, she felt a light gust of wind blowing upward. Sheila jumped off and spun her tail, kept aloft in the air by the gust. She slowly floated through misty clouds, maneuvering around the witches on broomsticks that went unseen except for their shadows. To her left, Sheila noticed the small, faint shadow of an Electoon cage, so she punched a sphere to break it open. As Sheila neared the end of the mist, the cloudy sky became indigo again. It was nighttime, but there were no stars in the sky.

Sheila set foot on the edge of a dock, within a vast, endless ocean that reflected the sky's blue. Lampposts stood up from the water and served as the only lights. The docks turned many corners and together formed a maze. There were mysterious faceless creatures swimming in the water; at least, Sheila hoped they were swimming, and not either dead or drowning. After wandering the maze for some time, Sheila came across a hooded spirit in a brown cloak. When she touched the spirit, Sheila was warped to a rocky plain where Lizardmen roamed about. Well, that's what Sheila decided to call them – she couldn't make out their characteristics well as everything was pixelated, including herself.

Sheila talked to one Lizardman, but all he said was 201819. She talked to him again, he said 201518. She approached another one, he said 191225. Then he said 131415. Since they had nothing interesting to say, Sheila kept along the pixelated path. She had to navigate a maze of gray blocks – they were short enough for her to jump, but the RPG world limited her actions. In getting a little lost, Sheila discovered a pixel Electoon cage, which she could punch open (her Light Spheres only traveled a few feet in the pixel world). Sheila later found a secret path above the screen's boundaries, which led her into an enclosing of the maze. She trekked down a stairway that led deep underground, then as she expected, she found herself within a maze of stairs.

The interior was like somebody's house, with small dressers, lamps, and many doors on the many floors. Some of them led to new areas, whose doors led to dead ends, then back to previous areas, allowing Sheila to check other doors, then other stairs, which brought her back to previous rooms. The lowest room that Sheila could find was filled with Goblins – small, blue-skinned creatures with red clothes and green swords. Sheila's Light Spheres defeated the Goblins in one hit, but had no effect against the Big Goblin.

Sheila retreated from the room and back up the stairs, then up another flight of stairs. The door on this secluded floor was locked. Sheila returned down the stairs and explored more routes until she found a room with a demon with light-red skin. Sheila defeated the demon with a simple Light Sphere, watching him drop a red Power Can. Sheila got the Strong Fists and quickly found her way to the Goblins' room again. She defeated the respawned small Goblins, then bested the big one with her Strong Fist. She collected the key from him and used it to open the door on the upper floor.

Sheila exited to a pretty grassland and followed the path away from the house. She touched another gateway of purple-and-black, zigzaggy rectangles that warped her to another dark area, and was thankful to be back to a normal, non-pixelated form. As she approached a big purple house, represented by a tall top-hat with a star, Sheila saw Murfy come from the right, grunting as he carried Rayman's cage. "This is what I meant when I said not to turn on the cyan spikes first." He said. "Globox is pooped, he had to rest in the lounge back at that mall. Good thing I knew a shortcut to this place."

"Shortcut woulda been nice." Sheila admitted, looking around the dark sky. "I dunno what it is about this world… but it don't sit right with me. I don't like it."

"Tell me about it." Murfy agreed. "Little girls need to dream about ponies or boys. None of this is natural for a Dream World. Oh well." Murfy lifted Rayman's cage again. "Come on, let's go tell Magician the good news. In case you're interested, his real name's Ales Mansay." (End song.)

The Magician's house featured posters of Dream Land's scenic locations, bottles of potions, and many typical artifacts one would find in a wizard's home. Sheila saw an animated clock, with gloves and shoes separate from its body, and when his hour hand struck '11,' the clock's eyes whirled as his bells rang. The Magician was in a medical room, where a Red Lum was pinned to his desk as he gently poked it with a needle. Sheila assumed he was in the middle of an experiment. To recap, Magician wore a tall top-hat and a sleek black jacket. He was shorter than Sheila, and had a big, light-blue nose like all Teensie. He turned his head and gave a bright grin at his guests. "Hey, you guys made it!" Magician said perkily. "For a minute, I was afraid you'd get lost. Madotsuki! Fetch our guests something to drink."

The girl in question walked in from behind purple curtains on the left. Her eyes were closed as she walked listlessly. She had brown hair in two pigtails, a pink hoody sweater with a window design on the chest, and a purple skirt. Her red shoes made little squeaks as she walked. "Oi, is this girl sleepwalkin'? Ya can't sleepwalk in your dream, ya dumb drongo!" Sheila shouted at her.

"Don't worry, she's totally conscious!" Magician grinned, patting the girl's head as she walked by. "She's only resting her eyes, but she knows every nook and cranny in this place, so it's alright. Her dream, after all." Madotsuki walked into the kitchen. "Anyway, great that you're here, how's the quest been going Sheels, have you been collecting me them Lums?" His eyes turned big and bright at the word.

"Got 'em right here, Sir!" Murfy pulled several giant jars of Yellow Lums out of nowhere. "Sheila's been doin' great, she got like two S-ranks, mostly A's, but that's after replayin' a few levels. Heh, these levels are just too fun not to replay!"

"Ahhhhh, Lums, so many Lums!" Magician hugged one of the jars and stroked it with his arms and legs. "Leems, Looms, Lems, Lims, Lums… I love Lums, I hope you know that."

"I hope you're planning to use these 'Looms' to help out Raydum." Sheila said.

"All in good time." Magician stretched his arm and shoved all the jars away into the curtained room. "First, lay our guest of the hour on my table over here."

Murfy carried Rayman to said table and opened his cage. He forcefully shook it until Rayman tumbled on all fours onto the table. Magician quickly cast some spells to bind Rayman's hands and feet. Magician jumped onto Rayman's body on the table, pulling his mouth open to peer inside. "Mmmm-hm…" He grabbed a Purple Lum out of nowhere and shoved it in Rayman's mouth. Nothing happened. He shoved another one in. Nothing happened. Then another, another, another, and another. "That's somethin'."

"I'll say. Rayman has no neck, arms, or legs!" Murfy joked.

"It's not only that. His eardrums absorbed so much Rabbid screaming that his brain up and left his body. It might be wandering the Dream World this very minute; assuming nobody stepped on it."

"Do ya mean we have ta go on a big quest to find Rayman's BRAIN?" Sheila asked exasperated.

"No we don't!" Murfy spoke eagerly, skimming the Manual. "If we go to Picture City, 'Where art becomes real,' we can paint him a new brain! And that's not even the best part, the next Light is in Picture City, her name is-"

Sheila grabbed the Manual, tore its pages off, threw them on the floor, and furiously stomped and grinded them under her sandals. "NOOOOOO!" Murfy grabbed a few tiny pieces. "My Manual! My limited edition Guide to Legend of the Seven Lights, made by the one and only Catswell Patterson, same guy who made guides for all the other Gameverse stories! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, Sheila?! That thing had all the answers, every big secret was in that book! What are we gonna do now?! I don't know what's gonna happen, NONE of us know! How can we possibly survive without knowing the end of the story?!"

"You spent this whole adventure buried in that piece of garbage." Sheila scolded. "Well, I'm the captain of this voyage, so we're going by my rules. And Cap'n Sheila says… we do this adventure the way we're supposed to." She winked at the camera. "Keep everyone guessing."

"Sniff." Murfy was sobbing, hugging the ripped bits to his chest.

"Either way, he had the right idea." Magician said. "If you go to Picture City, you could make a new brain for Rayman. I'll still need to conduct the surgery to get it in there; that's gonna take a few thousand Bubble Bucks. Thankfully, we've been making a ton of money from Super Legends Heroes. Make sure to read that when you have time."

"Yeah, when we're done saving the universe." Sheila stretched her arms. "Well-p, it's right time for me to wake up, or me mates will miss me. Where's the way out o' this place?"

"Right in the kitchen." Magician pointed. Sheila smiled in thanks and walked in, finding Madotsuki standing by the portal pedestal. She and Mado performed a silly dance to make the portal open. Sheila swirled inside.

"I guess I'll go back for Globox." Murfy sighed, flying out of the house. "My poor Manual… sniff."

The Magician waited until he was gone. He looked as Madotsuki returned with a cup of coffee. The Teensie drank it calmly. "Thank you, Mado. Now, if you would with this Lum?" He noted the red, winged energy ball on the table.

The Red Lum shook frantically to escape its binds, but it was hopeless. Madotsuki put her hands beside her forehead, and pulled a Sleep Bubble into being. She caught the Red Lum inside. Ales watched as the creature fell asleep, shuddering from the nightmares it was now having. "Good job, Mado. Now, why don't you go out and play, it's a nice day out. I'll have more work for you later." Without opening her eyes, Madotsuki walked to the exit and left.

The Magician entered the purple curtains, which led down a flight of stairs. He used a key to open the door to a secret passage. Ales put the Bubbled Red Lum inside a closet with many others. All those Lums were mutated, however, some growing blank white eyes, arms, legs, yet all were asleep and shuddering in their bubbles. Ales closed the door, then peeked into another closet, where all of the jarred Yellow Lums Sheila collected were placed. Ales smirked evilly, intending to conduct experiments on them later.

With that, Ales entered the main room of the passage, grinning ecstatically: Mr. Dark posters, Mr. Dark carpet, banners that read I :heart: Mr. D, fan letters to Mr. Dark, Mr. Dark T-shirts—the Teensie was totally obsessed with this one person. Ales Mansay rubbed his hands with a malicious smirk. "Just gimme a week… only one week so I can work on these Lums. I'll create the most powerful army of mutant Lums you've ever seen! Then once Madotsuki lives up her worth… she'll be the perfect sacrifice! The Waking World will be yours, Mr. Dark! Oh, but don't worry… I'll be sure to keep away any incursions." His eyes narrowed to a bubble across the room: it contained a short being with a silver body, pink head, and two long tails, fast asleep. "You'll be good and stay in here, won't you? Thanks." The Magician left and shut the sleeping creature in the dark.

Twilight Town

Sector V was still lingering around Twilight Town, and Grandfather and Cole were sitting at an outdoor table and slurping tapioca. The operatives still couldn't believe how mellow these two were, knowing the terrors and atrocities they caused in the old days. Cheren called them to confirm he got their message, and he's summoning a group of available operatives to plan an attack. "We should go to help them, too." Aurora said. "We mostly came here to get Mario back to begin with, and he and Dillon look pretty patched up. He can claim Midna as his Firstborn later."

"Are you still sick?" Dillon asked Midna.

"I'm feeling better." Midna replied. "But I also feel… something else. A familiar presence… Huh?"

"EVERYBODY RUN!" a Twili screamed as many citizens were running from one side of town. "The robots are invading!!"

"Yo, what's going on?" Virginia asked, hurrying to the center of town with Lola and Terry beside her.

"Is this another tradition they have?" Lola asked.

"I'm glad we don't come here often." Terry remarked.

"Wait! Look at those robots!" Django pointed.

A swarm of short robots with red eyes, no legs, metal claws, and black and dark-yellow designs flew up from the cliff around town, surrounding them. "BWAH HA hah ha!" came the cackle of the red-haired boy with a helipack. "Kids Next Door, your ultimate match has returned once again! Jack Spicer, evil boy genius, is from this point forward, the CONQUEROR of this town!"

Grandfather shot up and grabbed him by the chest. "Under WHOSE authority?!"

"AAA-HA-HA-HAAAAA!" Jack panicked and squirmed at the sight of the demon. "W-Wuya! Help! Scary shadow man, scary shadow man!"

"Listen, you overgrown coat hanger," Wuya flew up to Grandfather's face and glared, "if you were wise, you would make like the other shadows and- HUUU!" The ghost gasped. "Wait! I know you! You're…" Wuya's eyes narrowed to the left, seeing the little man floating in midair. "COLE?!"

"WUYA?" Cole exclaimed.

"COLE!" Wuya happily flew to the leprechaun as they locked hands (sort of) and twirled in place. "Where have the years BEEN? I have been having the most exhausting time with this nose-picking pest."

Jack was in the middle of picking his nose as Grandfather clutched him. At Wuya's remark, he wrapped the hand behind his back. "But this is wonderful timing, Cole!" Wuya beamed. "I need your help- no, my SISTER needs your help! We need you to use that spell again to give her a vessel!"

"Your… sister?"

"Uuuuueeeeeee." The group looked down the left street and gaped at the source of this moaning. The grey zombie in the large blue-and-brown dress was nearly Grandfather's height, and was only kept standing with the help of Jackbots.

Grandfather gasped and dropped Jack, "Is that…?"

The Jackbots stopped to let Malevolous droop and catch her breath. The zombie lifted her head to stare at the team of frightened children. Her hazy vision looked at Midna, then focused on Virginia, who was holding a lit cigarette. "HUUUU!" The zombie thrusted her chest forward, and her shadow stretched out and latched Virginia's.

"UUU-Uck!" The woman choked, feeling her very nerves bind. Virginia dropped her cigarette. The shadow between her and Malevolous grew black, and the half-human's body became black, too. Malevolous's zombie collapsed, and the shadow flowed over to encase Ginny's body completely. In a flash, Virginia was wearing purple-and-black clothing, and her eyes were a milky dark. "Siiiiigh… huff…"

"M…Mom?" Terry choked.

"Dude, is she possessed?" Lola asked.

"Malevolous?" Grandfather bore a teary smile and eyes, lowering to take Virginia's hands. "Is that really you, Dear?"

"Yes!" Wuya hissed. "YEEES! At long last, the Queen of Shadows is reborn! Come, Malevolous." She flew beside the possessed woman. "Let us finish what we started! Let's take over the world together!"

"NO!" Malevolous swung an arm through Wuya's hazy body, wobbling away from Benedict as she bent and cupped her hands onto her knees. "I…I am Malevolous Djinn… a Logia shadowbender. My chi remained inside my corpse after death… I am controlling this woman with an advanced Shadow Possession. So tell me…" She looked at Midna, "Is this woman—this shadowbender; is she the Firstborn Guardian?!"

"I believe you want that fellow there." Cole smiled wryly at Dillon.

Malevolous faced him, and Dillon glared back. "Oh… my mistake. Very well…" She walked forward. "Come here, boy…"

"The HECK you will!" Aurora and Chris jumped in the way, lighting with flames.

"You…You ignorant children. Why are you defying me?"

"Don't play dumb with us," Harry said, "you wanna possess Dillon so you can control Midna. Viridi pulled the same crud, it ain't gonna happen."

"You useless imbeciles, you don't understand! Let me possess him!"

"Or what?" Django tuned his guitar, smirking.

"Oh, come on, YOU again?" Jack exclaimed with annoyance. "Look, I can only deal with one dead thing at a time, so let's make some adjustments. JACKBOTS: ATTACK!"

"Skeletons, attack!" Django strummed the skeletons into being and had them fight the robots. Terry and Lola jumped Malevolous in their mom's body, trying to weigh her down, and when Kirie leapt for a kick, Grandfather blasted heat vision to knock her away.

"HEY, what's your deal? !" Haylee shouted.

"Please, this is my wife here." Grandfather smirked. "You kids need to mind your elders."

Aurora blasted ice at the demon, and Cole sent ghostly mice to latch the Uno girl to his energy strings. He forced Aurora to battle Chris, but Harry tossed CDs to slice his strings, then Haru and Mason bounced Haylee up to whack Cole with her wrench. "Nnn-nnn!" Artie tried to whack Wuya with his hat, but the ghost was intangible. "What's the deal with you, anyway?"

"I created a Horcrux back in my world." Wuya smirked. "Not telling you what it is, though. But let's see what secrets you're hiding." The ghost shrunk and flew into Artie's ear, and her image could be seen behind his green eyes. She flew out the other ear and stretched to normal. "I didn't think a boy your age could keep so many nude posters!"

"THOSE WEREN'T MINE, THEY'RE HOAGIE'S!" Artie flushed.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Malevolous blew Lola and Terry off of her, stomping toward Dillon. "Just let me-" A Light Sphere punched her in the side of the head, forcing the Shadow Queen out of Ginny's body.

"Sheila!" Mason exclaimed.

"'ey, did you numbskulls forget to wake me up again?" Sheila remarked, her fist shining.

The disembodied shadow flew in circles on the ground before going into Dillon. "AAAAH!"

"DILLON!" Midna screamed.

"Aaaaaaa-aaaaahhh!" Dillon twitched everywhere as black shadow was encasing his body. "Let… gooooo!"

Subconscious

Dillon panted heavily, landing within a shadowy black plain with a blue sky. He looked up when a glob of the shadow ground rose. It formed into Malevolous Djinn, glittering pink hair in strip-like strands, golden crown with jewels, and her blue-and-brown patterned dress was in great shape. She had no eyes, but a mouth that grinned at Dillon. "Queen Malevolous…"

"It's useless to resist me, boy. Now, stop this insolence." She loomed forward. "Allow me to-" But for the second time, she was thwarted. Mario flew up from the ground and punched the Shadow Queen away.

"You'll stay AWAY from my master!" the shadow declared. In this realm, Mario sounded like he was actually talking, rather than a voice in Dillon's head. "A fat ugly shadow like you doesn't belong here."

"How DARE you attack me!" Malevolous floated back up. "You lesser impudent shadow, I command you to obey me!"

"Mario, let's take her on!" Dillon said readily. "If we can fight Aunt Daphne's control, this old hag will be easy! You with me?"

"Yes, Master." Mario got beside him. "There's only room for one shadow. And Midna."

"Heeeeh… I don't want it to be this difficult." Malevolous sighed. "But if I must… I will. Before there can be reason, there must be punishment. I will teach you that lesson the hard way!" (Play "Shadow Peach Battle" from Paper Mario: TTYD!)

Boss fight: Malevolous Djinn

The Shadow Queen dug her arms into the ground, making a line of hands sprout up along a path to Dillon. The boy dodged aside, then ran as the hands kept chasing him, sending Mario to punch them away. "The ground is shadow, Master, use it!" Dillon squeezed the air in his hands, psychically grabbing the shadow ground and whipping it in front of him as a shield, blocking Malevolous's chomping teeth when she lunged. Dillon waved and thrusted his arms toward the queen, making streams of shadow pelt her in the face, but Malevolous countered with a swarm of shadow columns. Dillon raised his hands in defense to block the shadow, but Malevolous Veiled in the ground and came behind him, grabbing Dillon in her hands. Mario popped out and punched her away, then pulled Dillon into his own Veil.

The Shadow Queen looked around before a huge hand reached up and pulled her down, allowing Dillon to deal some punches against the witch. Malevolous easily escaped, then Dillon rocketed out for a headbutt against her face. "Ow." He grunted after landing, dodging Malevolous's stretched, roundabout hand. Dillon evaded other such attacks before stretching Mario to bind the queen. She was too strong to hold in his Shadow Possession, and Mario couldn't get close to wrapping around for a Strangle. Malevolous's head stretched and shot over to bite him, but Dillon dodged, punched a fist up, and had a shadow gush pop up from the ground and hit her neck.

Dillon punched a barrage of gushes against her neck until the queen's body toppled over. Dillon slithered over to her body and popped up with a large shadow fist, punching her in the gut. The queen sunk into a Veil, and Dillon ran as a string of her clapping hands chased him. Dillon became exhausted and stopped, stretching his hands to either side to push the queen's hands back, then he gasped when the queen's mouth appeared below and caught him inside. Dillon furiously punched the inside, and with Mario's help, he broke free. He recovered and stretched a Shadow Shockwave, sending Mario to bite and gnash the queen from all ends, tearing a few pieces of her dress and hair.

The Shadow Queen fumed with anger and molded much of the shadow ground up onto her form, encasing herself within a bulging ball. "What's that about?" Dillon asked.

"It's going to explode, Master, watch out!" Mario quickly pulled his master below, letting the powerful Shadow Bomb erupt without harming them. When they came up, Malevolous karate-sliced and knocked them away, and when Dillon recovered, the queen dealt stretched punches across his features. She flew up and grabbed his arms, ready to sink her teeth into him, but Mario punched her in the teeth and saved his master. Shadow Queen flew and chomped her teeth, but Dillon sunk into a Veil. He came up a few feet to her left, she chomped him, the Shadow Clone faded. Another one, then another came, she attacked both, Dillon clones were popping everywhere like Whack-A-Mole.

"You aren't the only one who can clone herself! Er, himself. Er, forget it!" Malevolous spawned a wall of Shadow Clones and had them all fly at the Dillon clones, dispersing every one. The real Dillon emerged behind her as a tall shadow, wrapping around her like a snake. Dillon flew off onto the ground while Mario remained wrapped, close to strangling the woman, but Malevolous sunk into the ground just as fast, coming up below Dillon to make him fall. He jumped to his feet and punched a shadow gush at Malevolous from the ground, but the clone dispersed, and the queen punched him from behind.

The Shadow Queen expanded a Shockwave and attacked Dillon with an onslaught of shadows, then pulled him into a Veil with a single hand to lay beatings. "Gnnn!" Dillon grunted after being thrown back onto the floor, and the moment he stood, he was trapped in Malevolous's Shadow Possession.

"Quit trying to resist. You will submit to me! You will listen!"

"No, Master!" Mario yelled. "You must fight her! You can!"

"Easier said than done… Mario!" Dillon choked, watching the shadow steadily rise up past his waist. "I'm not… the Logia shadowbender here."

"It doesn't matter who's a Logia, what matters is I'm your shadow! The same way you took me back from Daphne, Master… If I'm really important to you, you can fight her with your own strength of will. If you want me to give you power, you'll have to give me power, too! Come on, Master! I don't wanna get eaten by this bitch!"

"Dude, if Mom heard you cussing…"

"It's your own fault, just save me, Master!"

Malevolous's essence was about to pass Dillon's neck. He struggled harder and stopped her there, desperate to break his arm free of the blackness. "Come on, Dillon, you can do it!" Haruka's voice cried out.

"Huh?" Dillon looked up. The shadows of his friends appeared in the blue sky.

"Don't let Mario die on us!" Chris's shadow yelled. "We need someone to hang out with!"

"If he's gone, we'll have no way of talking to our masters!" Shadow Mason followed. "Being a shadow is lonely when you can't feel like part of the group. Come on, Dillon, do something!"

"Artie is still trying to hit Wuya, and he looks really stupid right now, so please hurry!" Shadow Artie cried.

Dillon couldn't believe it. The shadows of his friends came to support him… like they were their own persons. No, what is he saying… all shadows have a conscience, it's just that most of them can't express it. All of Sector V's shadows were alive, they were Mario's only friends besides Dillon. But through each other, Dillon was friends with the shadows, and Mario was friends with the humans. …Dillon chuckled. "If you guys love Mario so much, help me out here. Are you just gonna let your teammate get eaten? Quit being a bunch of lifeless husks and HELP US!"

"Blimey, Dillon is a sourmouth." Shadow Sheila put hands on her hips. "No wonder we never talk to him."

"Come on, let's just help him." Shadow Harry said.

"OKAY!" Shadow Kirie cheered. With that, the team of shadows flew into Dillon and imbued him with power. Dillon successfully broke free of Malevolous's grasp. His sweater was white, his hair was white, and he brimmed with a white aura as he turned to face the queen.

"It can't be!" Malevolous hissed. "White Shadow?!"

"The Power of Dawn, baby." Dillon said simply. "And you are looking a little pale." He blew a White Shadow Breath that blinded the queen, sent Mario over to land a few bright punches, then stretched a Shadow Shockwave for some blinding gnashes from His Truly.

"AAAAH!" Malevolous hissed when a white strip of shadow connected her and Dillon. A White Shadow Possession. "This isn't possible, you're just a boy! In all my years, the only shadowbenders I've seen master White Shadow were the Andersons!"

"Uh… yo." Dillon pointed at himself.

"What… you mean you…"

"Choke it up, you worn-out piece of paper." With that, Dillon wrapped Mario around the queen, and Strangled.

"AAAAAAaaaahhhhh. . . ." The Shadow Queen broke into little particles of light. Mario returned to his master, and the shadows of his friends flew out. (End song.)

"Huff… huff…" Dillon bent over to catch his breath. Mario kept him standing. "We sure showed her, didn't we?"

"Yeah. But it was probably Sheila's shadow that helped us use White Shadow."

"Better keep her with us then, right? Heh heh."

A shadow crept up behind the unsuspecting boy. "GYAAAAH!" Malevolous captured him again, putting her eyeless face beside his as she whispered softly.

"I guess it's true, then. You are Midna's Guardian, there's no other option. It's great to know I didn't waste my time with you. Now…" She slowly moved her open mouth to bite him.

"No! No! No! No!" Dillon shook frantically, he felt Malevolous's essence enter him, he was becoming overpowered. "NAAAAAAHH-!"

Many images flashed before him. A purple city on a small planetoid, citizens were black shadow-like creatures, a baldheaded man in a black robe was locked in prison, vast space with many odd planets, 888 flashing "8", gray-skinned creatures with orange horns, salamanders, a giant red warship, then Majora's Mask shrinking beyond the fires.

Dillon gasped for breath, finding himself floating in darkness. All those images were burned into his mind. "What the…What the heck is this?!"

"The future." Malevolous hissed. "I am not only the Shadow Queen, boy… I am the Black Queen. The Black Queen of Derse, the Kingdom of Darkness. I was born in what you people call the 'First Dimension.' I was the original shadowbender of that world. After the creation of this universe, the inhabitants of that world banished me here, in order to watch a powerful demon called Majora. Majora had been banished to this universe a few years before then. Through my Logia shadowbending, I was able to meld with my own shadow. As a half-spirit, I became immortal. Then the gods, how pitiable they were. They made me the Queen of Shadows, in exchange that I tell no one of the First Dimension. I was made Midna's guardian spirit…

"I will not confess to being a saint, that's why the First World decided to banish me. I used Majora's Mask for evil purposes, I ruled with darkness in my heart. I wedded to Benedict Uno and bore two children. In their veins exists the blood of demons, of humans, and the blood of my species, Carapacians. Then my body, which had lasted for millenniums, was killed by Ganondorf. But my memories… remain in this body."

"You're…You're from the First Dimension?" Dillon asked, struggling to process all of this. "The one that's… behind the Time Gate? The one we'll go to-"

"When the Twenty Keys have been collected, yes. There's something you should know about that world, boy. There is no law. There is no balance. I may have died in this world, but I am still alive in an earlier time of that world. That's why I wanted to get in contact with Midna's Guardian. The moment Wuya revived my corpse, returning my soul to here, I had to speak with you. I can only assume that Negatar Gnaa has already been banished from this universe."

"What does Gnaa have to do with anything?"

"Before I was sent here, Negatar Gnaa arrived in the First Dimension, having been sent from here. Time is horribly unbalanced in that world. It does not correlate with this world's time at all. If Gnaa was sent there, it meant that very soon, the gateway leading to your world would open. Now that I am here, no longer controlled by the gods at this moment, I can tell you something. You must find the Firstborn. You must find them, and bring them to the First Dimension. And you must do it, before the gate is opened." Dillon felt a throbbing pain. "I cannot hold onto you for long. My deceased soul exhausted too much energy. Listen, Dillon… you must do what I said, find the Firstborn, and come to our dimension. Our world is in terrible danger. It will affect your world, too, and any world that should come. Please… Dillon…"

"Okay, I will. But why couldn't you tell me all this before?"

"I wasn't sure if you were awakened as Midna's Guardian, so I had to test you. You passed. You are a true shadowbender, but you must become stronger. Dillon… I will leave you a fraction of my chi. Use it… to strengthen your own. Dillon… I know that you and your friends… can save our world. Tell my descendants… they possess the blood of rulers." They were swallowed in light.

Twilight Town

Dillon collapsed onto the ground, rasping. "Dillon, are you okay?!" Aurora asked worriedly.

"I don't sense Malevolous's presence." Midna said. "He must have fought her back."

"No! NOOOO!" Wuya cried. "Malevolous! This can't be! Quick, Jack, revive her body again!"

The boy jumped to attention and rushed to Malevolous's corpse. "Zing Zom-Bone! Reversi- AAAAH!" A laser blasted the dead body and destroyed it.

"Oops. Did I do that?" Django smiled innocently. Smoke emitted from the head of his guitar.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Wuya cried once more. "My precious sister! How could you do this to her?!"

"That's how the cookie crumbles, dude." Virginia remarked, blowing a smoke. "The thousand-year-old cookie in this case."

"Actually, she was around 8,000." Grandfather informed.

"How were we born again?" Chris asked.

"I think it's about time we conclude this chapter." Dillon got back on his feet, taking out his Spirit Ball. "Do you agree, Midna?"

"A thousand times." The Firstborn nodded.

Right out of nowhere, a glass cage came down and caught Midna and Dillon inside. "WHAT THE CRAP?!" Mason shouted.

"Prepare for trouble, we are back for more!" A jet with a red "R" hovered overhead.

"Make it double, won't you feel sore?" Midna and Dillon's cage dangled on the bottom.

"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace!" Jessie continued.

"Dashing hope, putting fear in its place!" James followed.

"A rose by any other name's just as sweet!"

"When everything's worse, our work is-"

"JUST get to the point!" Haruka shouted. "We never liked the Diamond/Pearl motto, anyway."

"Midna is ours, that's the point!" Meowth smirked. "We're blasting off to Giovanni, and won't he be happy to see us?"

"So let's put the pedal to the metal, James!" Jessie said brightly.

"Austa la vista, twerps." So with that, the aircraft flew away. (Play "Double Trouble" from Pokémon!)

"Get after them, Jack!" Wuya shouted. "We can still harness the Firstborn's power!"

"Right!" Jack slipped on a pair of jetshoes. "Jetbootsu!" He shot after Team Rocket at great speed.

"Not if I can help it!" Chris blasted after them with his own jetshoes.

"Pumpkaboo, use Shadow Ball!" Jessie threw her Pokéball open.

"Victreebel, Razor Leaf!" James threw his—"DAAAAH dammit, Victreebel!" His loving Pokémon began munching him.

Chris narrowly dodged Pumpkaboo's spheres while Jack Spicer used the Ruby of Ramses to catch the Razor Leafs and toss them back. Wobbuffet stood on the roof of the ship and used Counter to bounce the leaves back again, scratching the sides of Jack's cloak. Chris kicked more fire to his shoes and flew faster after Team Rocket, only for James' Chimecho to catch him in psychic and throw him back. Jack used the Reversing Mirror to bounce Pumpkaboo's Shadow Balls to knock the creature down. He then shot the Zing Zom-Bone at Chimecho to make her zombified, easily letting Jack pass.

"Come on, Victreebel, he's gaining on us!" James shouted, so the Plant-type lashed Vine Whips that Jack evasively dodged, using his helipack to slice the vines. "Wobbuffet!" The blue blob jumped in the way and brimmed red as Jack neared.

"Reversing Mirror!" Jack's mirror glowed, so now it was a matter of which Counter power was stronger. Wobbuffet was knocked clean out, flying into Victreebel as they broke through the roof. "Eeeeek!" The Rocket Trio panicked when Jack dropped in after.

"What's that?" Jack smiled wryly. "Did I hear screams of panic at my presence? I suppose that reaction is to be expected. Hands in the air, because you're now under MY care! –Jack Spicer, evil boy genius."

Dillon and Midna were trying to punch the glass, but no avail. "You won't get out of that!" Jessie yelled to them. "That cage is chi-blocked."

"But is your ship?" Dillon smirked.

"What?" Team Rocket and Jack looked at the controls, watching as Mario pushed the 'Detach' button. The villains panicked again when the glass cage dropped to the earth, shattering to pieces.

"Awesome job, Dillon!" Chris announced, landing on a mount in the forest. Mario returned to his master.

"Chris, use Combustion Beam!" Aurora jabbed a finger at the jet.

"Are we roleplaying or somethin'?" he stared.

"Yep, so play your part, Bro!"

"All right." Chris threw off his headband, sucked in a breath, and puffed his head. Spark spark spark…

"AAAAAHHH!" Team Rocket and Jack's features grew wide, and the ship vanished in flames. (End song.)

It was on this moment, Team Rocket had the greatest view of the sunset. "Ahhhh… it really is beautiful from up here, isn't it?" Jessie sighed with delight.

"You really appreciate life's wonders when you're looking down on them from way up above." James agreed.

"The breeze feels good on my whiskers, too!" Meowth perked.

"Wooooobbuffet!"

"Hey, um, are we actually safe up here?" Jack Spicer asked, flying along with them.

"Except for the occasional bruises, we usually come out okay." Jessie replied.

"Sometimes we land somewhere inconvenient." James said.

"But ya really get used to it after a while." Meowth followed.

"Hm… it is kinda fun." Jack smiled. "How long does this last, anyway?"

"Two minutes, at least."

"We don't have long, then!" Jessie beamed. "Let's do it!"

"Team Rocket is setting off with the suuuun!" ("Wobbuffet!") The agents and Jack flew into the yellow orb over the horizon. Twinkle.

The other Sector V members regrouped with their friends in the forest. "Always end a story arc with a bang." Artie said.

"With that outta the way," Dillon held up the Spirit Ball, "after you, Midna."

The Firstborn nodded. Dillon threw the ball, transforming Midna into light as she flew in. The ball shook and beeped on the ground, the light on the lock was red. …It stopped. The Pokéball hovered into the air and shone with its black top and white bottom, with glowing cyan lines. A golden 'II' was inscribed above the lock. Dillon held the ball proudly.

Dillon captured a FIRSTBORN! Only 6 more to go!

Wuya floated with a defeated, downtrodden stare as Grandfather and Cole joined her near the kids. "You snot-nosed urchins never change, do you?" Pappy asked.

"Old habits die hard." Haruka shrugged.

"I would've loved for Malevolous to stay a little longer." Ben frowned. "We could've had the whole family. After all…" He looked up with his devilish smirk, "my grandson's funeral is coming."

Sector V exchanged surprised looks. They hadn't heard news of a funeral date, yet. "May the 10th, that's a good date." Cole agreed. "I hope you children don't have plans."