44. Demon State

Today's code uses Atbash Cipher, however the letters are scattered.

Foster's; Extremeasaur Cage

"So you've made your first Friend." Morgan said nonchalantly as Sunni was still hugging Peas to her cheek. "I suppose if you were desperately hungry and had nothing else to eat, he would make a decent snack."

"Ewww, I don't like food that screams." Sunni said. "But Aunt Morgan, haven't you ever stopped to think, I dunno, maybe Imaginary Friends are more than just a way of entertainment? I mean, these little guys still have hearts, don't they?"

"Imaginary hearts aren't the same as real hearts. The only feelings the Friends have are those that the creator feels. They're made only to suit the creator's desires. My own siblings, for instance, were the ideal family I've always wanted, a brother to fight with, sisters to joke around with, all of them to support me. But in time, I learned to embrace the fact they weren't real. It may seem like these Friends have natural feelings, but that's only their illusion. Imaginary Friends-"

"The same woman that attempted to kill, and humiliated her nephew in front of a bunch of rich people, is lecturing me about Imaginary Friends." Sunni stared reprovingly, as did Peas. "I think I'll believe what I want about this matter. Aunt Morgan, even if you're right about Imaginary Friends, they still make kids happy, and they leave a lot of good memories by the time they're adults. Besides…" Sunni frowned regrettably and looked away, "sometimes you kinda feel sorry for them. They have to rely on their creators or psychicbenders if they wanna survive. They're forced to be dependent on people. If they had as much freedom as humans did, I'm sure they would want to be more than… 'entertainment.'"

"Perhaps you're right." Morgan replied. "It's merely the law of nature that was set in place for them. But we can't change nature. Imaginary is what it is."

"That's still no reason to show favoritism for the monsters." Sunni glared. "If you're noble enough to pay this place's mortgage, you'd give your power to all the other Friends, too. Make friends with them, give them a sense that they won't be forgotten and fade away."

"I'm not going to waste my time with useless Friends who aren't even-"

"Then I will." Sunni declared. "I'll make contracts with every Friend in this house. I have more Psychic Chi than I know what to do with, I guess I'll share it."

"Hm." Morgan made a wry smile. "Now you're obviously just making false devotions to imply that you know better than me. Sunni, I think you do have potential as a psychicbender, so don't waste it all on these living child's toys."

"Or is someone afraid that my army of Imaginaries will kick the crap out of your Extremeasaurs?"

"If you want to exhaust yourself, you can try. But even on their terms, you couldn't possibly make friends with all of them. I'd love to stay and watch you attempt, but I have business to attend to. Do me a favor and tell Cheren not to break into my parties."

"Pfft, tell Mom not to sneak him into your parties." Sunni eye-rolled.

As Morgan was about to walk away, she stopped at this statement. "…Mikaela snuck him into my party?"

"What? No, not my mom, I meant Mom the… person. Th-The Corporate President."

"…I see." Morgan resumed walking. "My mistake."

They waited in the cell until Morgan's footsteps faded. "So um, you're really gonna make contracts with everyone?" Peas asked.

"Sigh, I guess I have to now." Sunni sighed. "Know a good place to start?"

"SNOOOOORE… shhhhhh…" Slifer the Sky Dragon made a breeze with his snoring. Sunni and Peas looked at the monster, then exchanged a glance with each other.

"Sunni, please don't."

"I'm not, I'm not. …"

Delightful Mansion

"How many retired supervillains just have a Dimension Transportifier sitting in their house, gathering dust?" MaKayla asked as Cheren was turning on the machine.

"Don't question it." Cheren smiled coolly. "Just enjoy the fact that Father's still in Arctic Prison, which means we have this baby to ourselves." The machine took a few minutes to power up, but the pink swirling vortex made its presence known.

"Let's try not to get separated like me and Wendy did." Kayla cautioned. "The byway is really messed up."

"Hang on, I just realized something." Cheren said. "If you and Wendy went to another dimension, doesn't that mean your Negatives did, too?"

"Oh yeah, I guess so." Kayla realized. "Nerehc, do you know if anything happened to…" she tried to say her name backwards, "Al-yak-kam and… Ednew?"

"Not really." Nerehc shook. "Come on, let's go in." Without waiting another moment, the three jumped into the portal and surfed through the Dimensional Byway.

Termina

They came out of the Transportifier in Father's mansion in Termina, exiting the house to breathe the similar atmosphere of this parallel dimension. Termina Virginia looked the very same as Hyrule Virginia, same neighborhood, same school, same treehouse over the same Uno House. "Wanna go say 'hi' for me, Nerehc?" Cheren asked.

The Negative shrugged and flew up to the treehouse's balcony. He cupped his hands on either side of his mouth and bellowed, "RAINBOW MONKEYS TASTE LIKE UNICORN BARF."

"WHAT?!" a girl's voice cried from inside. Cheren recognized her. "I'll have you know unicorn barf is used as ice cream toppings after it's been cleaned by…" When Kellie Beatles stepped out onto the balcony, she gaped at who was flying over the edge. "Cheren?…"

"That's Nerehc, Kellie!" Cheren exclaimed, waving his arms for her attention.

Kellie beamed with joy. "Cheren!! Harry, Lissa, Celeste," she dashed inside, "Cheren's here, Cheren's here! Lower the stairs!"

In time, a set of wooden stairs was lowered for Cheren and Kayla to walk up. The three entered the living room where the sandy-blonde Stork girl rushed up to greet them. "Yo, dude! It's been forever since we saw you!" Celeste exclaimed.

"Cheren, what's up!" Harry Uno grinned happily, joined by Melissa Gilligan, Thomas Drilovsky, and Truman Kirman.

"Finally decided to pay us a visit, huh?" Melissa asked.

"Although I guess our location's pretty inconvenient." Truman blushed. "Another dimension and all."

"Good thing we know a shortcut." MaKayla smiled. "My name's MaKayla, by the way. Thank you guys for helping Cheren save Miyuki."

"Well, she was trying to destroy the planet anyway, so… it was our pleasure." Melissa said. "What's new with you? Stop anymore moon crashes?"

"Funny story, actually." Cheren scratched his head.

Nerehc rose up before the camera. "Half an hour later:"

The six Sector V members were wearing derpy faces. "Well, those aren't things that happen every day." Celeste said.

"So when Majora turned the moon into a monster and tried to destroy us, that was actually what was going to happen?" Harry asked.

"That's what Zanifr told me." Cheren confirmed. "He used Miyuki's timebending to speed up the moon's years and power it with dark energy. I don't actually understand most of what he did…"

"My prediction is that the moons are destined to rupture, one way or another." MaKayla said. "Majora was only trying to instigate it faster. But the darknessbending was probably his own touch."

"So are you here to try and stop it or what?" Harry asked.

"Um… kind of." Cheren answered. "We need you guys to take us to DunBroch Ruins. There's something there we're trying to find."

"You mean that place you went to without us because you were mad?" Thomas remarked.

"Yes, that place." Cheren stared. "If you aren't busy, can a few of you take us?"

"I'll take you." Melissa complied. "But I don't want to stay too long. We've been a little busy with our own things."

"Cheren tells us part of the adventure involves time-travel, so that might help." Kayla replied. "Kind of a coincidence, because I wanted to ask, Cheren, didn't you have special relations-"

"DO YOU HAVE TO SEE EVERYTHING IN MY TIMELINE?!" Cheren flushed hotly.

"Heeheehee, okay, okay! …When we're alone, then." Kayla smirked.

KND Arctic Prison

"He's in here." The guard told Dillon, leading him into a private cell. "You have 5 minutes." He shut the door.

Dillon approached the dark cell slowly. The prisoner inside had thick, mechanical cuffs over his hands, which were chained to the wall. "Doflamingo?"

The leader of Sector DR let his head hang back, an uncaring frown on his features. The blue round sunglasses covered his eyes. "It's me. Dillon. I know you and I were enemies when we last met… but I wanted to apologize for…for what my dad did to your dad. We can't deny that what your dad was doing was bad, but… we really wish it could've gone differently than it did. So, with that in mind, we'd like it if your team joined the KND again. We'll make up for what my dad did as long as you help us with our mission. We already forgave your sister."

"…Is that the best you have to offer me?" Doffy Jr. raised his head. "You seem to have forgotten something. I'm still the Prince of Dressrosa. Even if my father committed a crime, I won't forgive your father for murdering him. You think simply promising a friendship is going to erase your past sins. But let me tell you something." Doflamingo got up and walked as close to Dillon as he could before the chains pulled him back. "Even if the World Government is evil… your KND is just as evil. 'Friendships' cannot solve everything. You can remember that… Dillon."

"…" Dillon turned around to walk out of the room. "You can't blame a guy for trying." He said before shutting the door.

Termina; DunBroch Ruins

Melissa parked the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. on an area of grassland a few miles away from the ruined town (since Cheren insisted the walk was nice and Kayla agreed). On the way, Cheren, MaKayla, and Nerehc told her a few stories about their recent adventures, and Melissa didn't know whether to feel jealous, or relieved that her team didn't get involved in so much action. Melissa told them about how Truman's been feeling very feverish, ever since his Delightfulization during Majora's attack. "That's why I don't wanna stay here too long." she told them. "Truman is… really important to me, and I wanna be there to help if he needs it. So if you're time-traveling, I dunno how you actually work that, but…"

"We might need a few more favors after this." Nerehc noted. "But we'll fly back to your place first."

"Alright, let's go." Cheren declared. "Hopefully the Warp Gate is still in the town ruins. We'll go back in time to see Merida with that."

Stage 52: Ancient Ruin

Mission: Find the Ocarina of Time.

Act 1: The Road

Cheren led the group across the field. It looked the same as when he'd first visited seven months ago. A gray cloudy sky, peaceful grasslands, forests in the distance, but no signs of human life. He walked by a small hole- "Cough!" some gas emitted from it, making him choke. He looked behind to see Kayla and Nerehc trying to catch up, though the two were viewing around at the sights.

"Chereeeeeeen!"

Cheren heard the Scottish girl's cry in the distance. His heart filled with delight. "Guys, did you hear that!"

"What?" Kayla asked.

"It's Merida! Merida's calling me! MERIDAAAAA!" He ran forward excitedly.

"Cheren, wait!" His friends chased him.

"Chereeeeeeen!" Her voice was still faint, but he knew he was getting closer. The ruins of the ancient town were in sight. "Chereeeeeeen!"

He saw her among the ruins, waving her arms, her frizzy orange hair swaying. "MERIDA!"

He jumped a few broken walls, crossed some hills, and stepped over the broken buildings to… Merida's expression was eerie and cold. She had no legs… the bottom of her green dress was ragged, dangling from her blue ghostly body. "Cheren…" Cheren was deafened to every other sound except a howling wind, but he couldn't feel anything. He was unable to move, and his vision was centered on Merida, everything else spinning and blurring.

Merida's eyes became black holes, her face more ghoulish, as she glided toward Cheren and swallowed him in darkness. In a blink, Cheren was in a field of skulls under a red sky. MaKayla's skin unraveled off of her body before her skeleton collapsed, Aurora and Chris caught on fire and became bones, April Goldenweek's body melted, Anthony's limbs were scattered, and Panini's skin hung on a post like wallpaper. Cheren clasped his head and ran. Chunks of the earth were flying into the heavens, going into rips in space that sucked in galaxies.

"AHHHH HAHAHAHAHA, AAAAH HAHAHAHAHA!" Bill Cipher laughed hysterically above all the destruction at a giant size. "WHERE YA GOIN', Cherry Cakes? The party's just getting started!"

"BILL!" Cheren glared with malice. "I thought Jessie got rid of you! Why are you back?!"

"You think I'm gonna sleep through the end of the universe (universe universe…)? My master is going to come back to this world, Cherry. I'm just taking a little catnap, but rest assured, I have every intention of GREETING him when he does. But try your best to find those other Keys, it makes great entertainment. Wake me up for hotdogs! Ahhhh hahahahahaha, ah hahahaha…" Bill shrunk into the distant sky as the most terrifying colossus rose from the earth. The demon was a shadow in emerald flames, with a skull for a head. Flashing 8-balls stared at Cheren from his eye sockets. 888888888888888888

Cheren trembled in anger. All of his friends were dead, the universe was coming apart, and there was nothing he could do. "RRRRRRRRRR!" His body caught on fire, letting his Demon State take over. He flew at the demon like a rocket, and the moment he made impact, the world was swallowed in a great explosion.

Cheren was knocked unconscious for who knows how long. When he awoke, he was still in his Demon State, consumed in anger. He was miles up in the sky, in the center of a massive fiery tornado. Pieces of the DunBroch Ruins flew everywhere, and he was on one, close to a wall. Cheren gasped and ducked under a tree when the colossal figure of Legion peeped over, looking for his prey. "I know you're here…" He went away.

Definitely the Termina Legion. Cheren thought. Oh well. He isn't that tough. I'll get 'im when he doesn't suspect. Cheren progressed across the path—lightning struck, and the ground collapsed, leaving him only able to sidle across the thin ledge. He made it across and ducked under a wall when Legion looked over, and waited until the giant began to turn away before he faced a set of Hookshot targets on floating ruins. Some of the targets were turning in place or shifting left-and-right, making it confusing for Cheren as he latched across. Cheren remained on a turning target when Legion made the loop, not spotting Cheren when the target was turned away from him.

Cheren ducked behind a wall when Legion whipped his direction, after he landed on a foothold. Legion directed his vision left-to-right every few seconds, on either side of this windy shaft. Cheren had to jump in the shaft, whip out his Pirate Sail, and float up. When Legion looked over, Cheren let go of his sail to fall softly in the draft, staying behind a piece of wall, then floated up higher when Legion looked away. Cheren made it inside a building, where Stalfos appeared. The skeletons swung swords at him—fast as light, Cheren zipped behind one and sliced it in half with his flaming sword, then he chopped another one up in multiple directions as its bones disintegrated.

Cheren lit on fire, clutched two more Stalfos' skulls, and had them turn orange before they popped. The last Stalfos leapt at him from behind, but Cheren shot a fire beam and destroyed him. Cheren burst through the wall and rushed across a straight path while Legion was looking the other way. There were stone pendulums kept suspended by pillars, so Cheren had to blow up the pillars using M.A.R.B.L.E.s so the pendulums could swing and hit Legion's head. He had to duck under a wall when Legion looked over afterward, but when three pendulums struck him, Legion became dizzy. Cheren was able to run to the pile of boulders on the end of the path, light up the powder keg, and blow the boulders away without Legion catching on.

The giant was about to recover, but Cheren was already running up a stairway leading to his head. "AAAAHH!" Cheren leapt forth and stabbed the giant in the forehead, then the eyes, then the nasal bridge, he stabbed Legion everywhere with his flaming sword. "You died in the other world, now you'll DIE in this one! RAAAAAAH!"

Cheren sliced his head clean off, watching it fall into the burning abyss. He panted, standing on the edge of Legion's neck. The burning sky was turning dark, his flames died away. Cheren watched his shadow stretch away from his body, becoming a shaded mirror copy of himself. "I guess a hallucination is better than nothing."

"It's you again?" Cheren asked.

"Nice to see you, too." Shadow Cheren retorted. "Y'know, it's not easy being a shadow, when I finally wanna talk to my master, I expect a friendlier greeting."

"Pardon me if I don't feel comfortable with you. You're the Demon State. The one that never listens to me."

"I've BEEN listening to you, remember? You wanted Doflamingo dead, you wanted Viridi dead, you want all those operatives to leave you alone. I do what you're not strong enough to do."

"But I don't WANT you to do those things! I'm not TELLING you to, I wouldn't want you to, not unless I straight-out say so."

"It's not my fault that you aren't clear about it! All I want is what you want, I wanna survive the same way you do, I wanna stop the Apocalypse, I'm just SICK of all those jackasses getting in the way!"

"I KNOW that I want those things, I'm sick of all those people, too! But if we're gonna beat them, if we're gonna stop all this, you and I have to cooperate better."

"That's the problem, we CAN'T stop it! You're lying to yourself! You're trying to chase a dream, I'm trying to help you accept reality, you can't stop the Apocalypse. That's why we can't cooperate, because you're an idiot!"

"We CAN stop it! If you would just do what I say, you would see!"

"I've BEEN doing what you say!"

"No you WEREN'T! You never do what I say when I let you out!"

"You never TELL ME what to do after that, you just tell me to kill somebody and I DO IT!"

"NO I DON'T! Ugh!" Cheren smacked his forehead. "This is ridiculous! We shouldn't be having this conversation, you're my shadow—my firebending—or something. You're supposed to go along with what I say or do, no argument needed! And I'm not talking about what I think, if a person just does whatever they think about, how can they… Sigh…"

"Cheren? Cheren, wake up."

"What?" The darkness went away. Cheren was sitting on a scorched ground, MaKayla touching his shoulder.

"Finally." She said. "That hole we ran by had some Nightmare Toxin leaking out of it. Me and Nerehc breathed it, too…"

Cheren looked around. The grassland was black with soot, as were some of the trees in the forest. The ruins of the town were more destroyed, some of it still had small fires. "What happened?"

"She said you jumped into your Demon State while you were hallucinating about Merida." Nerehc replied. "Tore up everything. Too bad I missed it."

"Lucky for both of you, I fought out of my nightmare early." Kayla stated. "Even if I still think about it… Come on, Cheren. The Warp Gate was in town, right?"

"Right…" Cheren rubbed his head, remembering Merida was in the past. He should've saw through that hallucination.

The Warp Gate Cheren had used to travel back 800 years was still intact. Just like last time, he struck the Timeshift Orbs with his Time Chi-imbued Master Sword, and the portal spiraled open. The three jumped inside.

The next second, DunBroch Town was restored and bustling with people. The sky was full of gray clouds, but there were large gaps in-between that showed the blue sky and sunlight. It filled their hearts with delight to see so much people in a land that was once dead. Er, a land that will be dead.

Cheren led them all to the north gates of town, running across the plain between them and the distant castle, which had an unmistakable KND treehouse growing from it. Cheren remembered the first time he was here, helping the soldiers fight through an army of demons and skeletons. DunBroch looked much prettier since then.

There were two guards protecting the front gates of the castle, who were at first quick to deny the strange-clothed kids entry. However, once they examined Cheren, and checked their own posters of 'approved' people (Cheren was drawn with a much more proud and manly face than he really was), they shrugged and allowed them all entry.

"So I told Lord Macintosh," King Fergus proclaimed to his men in the throne room, "Ay don't mind that yer hair is longer than mine. Ay just wanna know if you're at least charging the fleas RENT!"

The Scottish men erupted into laughter, which the three operatives were just in time to listen to, smiling in disbelief. "WHAT'D WE MISS?" Cheren exclaimed to all of them.

"Hey, WHO let in a pack of gypsies?" a soldier asked.

"What? Gypsies, you say?" Fergus inquired, looking toward the shuffling soldiers. "Ay hope they aren't plannin' to juggle torches in my…" His expression lit up when the kids made it through the crowd. "Hold the phone, boys." ("What is a phone?") "It's… CHEREN! Elinor, look who decided to visit! It's wee Cheren! And 'e's brought a fancy young maid along!"

"Oh, you really are too kind." MaKayla smiled and blushed, swaying on the spot.

"And who is that boy?" Elinor inquired at Nerehc. "Your twin brother?"

"Yep. We're two peas and a pod." Cheren remarked.

"So 'ave ya decided to marry my daughter?" asked Fergus. "Unless this lass stole yer heart."

"Fergus, Ay told you they're too young!" Elinor whispered.

"Ay, me grandfather MaDungus met HIS true love when he was a wee toddler, 'o says love has an age?"

"Ah ha ha." Cheren blushed. "Well uh, I'm still reaching a conclusion. I came to see her actually, where is she?"

"She be upstairs in 'er room. Do ya want me to call 'er down for ya?"

"No, I… think I'll surprise her." Cheren smirked, already going upstairs. "Come on, MaKayla."

"A'right then. You know, Ay think I can set yer friend up with one o' the Lords' sons!"

"I will… see to them myself." Kayla replied detestably.

In the room Cheren recognized as Merida's, the Scottish Princess was not there. Cheren only spared a knowing smirk to his comrades and walked onto the bed. Very gently, he creaked the wall passage open, leading MaKayla and Nerehc up a ladder inside a dusty shaft.

They coughed as they emerged above a dusty fireplace, covered in gray as they peeked into the treehouse's living room. "Willie, did you steal my last Berry Cake again??" questioned the tall boy, Stephen Macintosh.

"Uhhhhh.." moaned Willie Dingwall.

"You are much too attached to those things." Arbur MacGuffin replied, walking by while witling a wood crossbow. "You oughta go on a diet, try some steamed carrot stew."

"Oh, really?" Macintosh turned to him, "And what's that blue stuff on yer lip?"

"Ay said you 'ad to. Ay'm not the one in shape." He smiled witfully.

"Ya dirty little sneak!" Stephen whipped out a sword. "I oughta gut ya and-"

"You boys are HOPELESS." proclaimed Merida DunBroch as she marched in. "Ay can't go ONE day without you burglaring all the food, and when it's not you, it's apparently those Dust Sniffers that go crawlin' around the fireshaft, just like those three over—" The moment she looked and pointed to the fireplace, three gray dust beings were standing there with wide, querying eyes. "AAAAHH!" she panicked. "They're real!"

"Geh!" Cheren frantically shook, the dust scattering. "Oh drat, we've been cornered."

Merida perked. "Ch…Cheren!"

"Did I arrive announced?" he winked, and soon found himself caught in Merida's hug.

"What a surprise! It's been months, Ay thought ya might have forgotten about me!"

"Oh, I could NEVER… hold on, you didn't happen to forget me, did you?" he asked curiously.

"Fer…Forgotten you?" She let go.

"Yeah, when… um, tell you later."

"Ay, who is this?" Macintosh questioned, approaching the other dust people. "Found yerself some weird pets?"

MaKayla shook the dust off, "I'm MaKayla; a friend of Cheren's, and this boy is Nerehc, his… brother. I think you're acquainted with my friend, Miyuki."

"The masked girl?" Merida asked.

"Yeah." Cheren nodded. "MaKayla's a timebender, too."

"You guys are all over the place now, aren't you? What brings ya here, Cheren?"

"Well, um… it's a crazy story… but we're looking for the Ocarina of Time."

"Ocarina of Time?"

"It's a powerful timebending relic once used by Cheren's family." MaKayla explained. "It was left here by Link during his Terminan adventure, and the Giants left it in the Spirit World. And Cheren… well, he also has a second side of him whenever he grows really angry." Cheren glanced away in regret. "We planned to help him control it. Are there any areas of this kingdom that are… well, really sacred and spiritual?"

"You mean like the Heavenly Ruin?"

"Hey, hang on." MacGuffin spoke up. "Durin' one of me and me dad's excursions, we found this… really strange temple in the cliffside over Madara's Chasm. It was the strangest temple we've ever seen… doesn't look at all like one of ours. We didn't go inside 'cause we thought it mighta been haunted, and I—er, my dad, was scared."

"And you never brought this up when I visited?" Cheren asked.

"'ey, this was after you left. Ay dunno what it is, but there was somethin'… ghostly about it."

"Hmmm…" MaKayla closed her eyes. "Yes… I do feel something. Strange spiritual energy… over a giant chasm. I wonder if the Giants hid the ocarina there."

"Alright, let's get goin'." Nerehc fist-palmed. "Anyone'd like to show us the way?"

"Ay know Ay'm goin'." Merida declared. "'Cause I know Cheren can never survive without meh. Anyone else?"

"No way!" Macintosh said. "You know the stories about Madara's Chasm: legend tells of a fearsome warrior from a far-off land, took on thousands of warriors and destroyed 'em in a single blow: by destroying the very earth and sending all o' them to the Underworld. That's where the chasm leads, and that's whom it's named after: Madara."

"Yeah, well some dead Scottish warrior's not gonna scare me." Cheren spoke confidently. "I'll cross his chasm like a boss."

"We'll have you know Madara wasn't Scottish." Arbur informed. "'e was from the east. Japan, Ay think."

"Big deal, he's still dead. Let's get going."

"Hold the fort, boys." Merida told her teammates before descending down the fireplace.

After the operatives snuck the princess out of the castle, they headed further north, far behind the castle before they reached a tremendous, foggy chasm. The opposite land seemed miles on the other side. "…So one Japanese guy made this, huh?" Cheren asked.

"Yep." Merida said. "We're lucky not to be around back then, right?"

"I'm feeling spiritual energy." MaKayla said, pointing a little to the left. "Over there."

Nerehc lit his rocket shoes and soared to the direction Kayla pointed, becoming harder to see as he shrank into the mist. He turned around a corner of the opposite canyon wall, completely unseen. …Nerehc flew back as fast as he could afterward. "It's there."

Nerehc carried Kayla and Merida across while Cheren glided using the Pirate Sail, falling far behind as a result. Again, Cheren was never a fan of heights, he hated being suspended above where no ground was visible. He hoped Nerehc would come back and carry him the rest of the way, too. … … … … Nerehc was a jerk.

Thankfully, there was enough wind to keep Cheren uplifted, and as he swerved around the canyon, the ledge within the enclosing came into view. He set foot on the grassy ground, gazing at the brownish-orange temple of curious design and structure. It looked like aliens had created it, and didn't look ruined at all in this era. There were lines of light-blue energy, as well as totem poles with same-color spheres. "There was a reason I felt it so well." Kayla said. "This place is rich with Time Chi. This must be how Majora made that Warp Gate, and why the Giants hid the ocarina here."

"But who made this place?" Cheren asked.

"I wish we brought Miyuki. She could see its history."

"Let's see what this place has." Nerehc said. "Catch up later." With that, he flew over the temple and left his friends.

"CHEATER!" Cheren shouted.

"Come on, we'll explore this place without 'im." Kayla said. "Hopefully their hieroglyphics are easy to read." (Play "Colorful Mist" from Naruto: Shippuden.)

Act 2: The Temple

The ground outside the temple was all lush grass, and the structure's magnificence was complimented by the sunlight poking through the gray clouds. The door was sealed, but the walls on either side had round slots. MaKayla stood between them and shot Chrono Beams from her hands, and the other two gazed as the lines within the entrance glowed blue. The temple door, which bore the design of a Termina Giant, opened. They were led to a small pond area, enclosed within canyon and temple walls, and cubes floated around in midair. Cheren and Kayla stepped into the opening of the first cube. There were Eye Switches on the opposite wall, which Merida could shoot with arrows to make the cubes flip certain directions. If she turned the cubes to drop her friends in the water, they would have to climb some stairs back to the starting ledge and try again.

The puzzle was too complicated for words, but eventually, they solved it and got to the ledge on the right side. Cheren then pulled Merida over with the Hookshot. The grassy path turned a right corner, but Cheren noticed a short stone in the corner with writing.

If what the man with the strange face says is true, this temple holds the gem of incomparable wisdom and power. With it in my hand, I may finally harness all the inner secrets of our cosmos. To any who should read this stone, if you know my name, I was victorious, and the gem is no longer here. If you do not know me, the gem is truly too powerful for mortal understanding. Heed my words, and turn away.

-Acnologia

"Sorry, I don't know you." Cheren remarked. He hurried after his friends to another water area enclosed within walls. Cheren attempted to shoot part of the water with an Ice Arrow, but the frozen platform melted away in seconds. MaKayla climbed down to the step before the surface and stuck her finger in the water, pulling it out and shaking the heat off. "This water's piping hot. But it doesn't look…" She put her finger in another part. "This part's cold. Mixed temperatures?…"

Cheren shot his Ice Arrow at another random area, and the frozen platform stayed. "Crazy science for the win." Around the pool were three odd tiki statues with Timeshift Orbs in the mouths. Cheren froze multiple ice platforms for Kayla to jump around, having trouble finding the cool spots. Kayla collected the orbs one at a time and brought them to the small temple room on the far left corner. They were each set in a slot, and Cheren and Merida glided over to join her. The three orbs caused a giant clock to emerge from the floor. It was like the turntables in Cheren and Merida's adventure, they could stick their swords into individual slots and turn it. The clock hands turned before stopping at 7:30. Lightning flashed before it started to rain.

The sky became darker, and the hot areas of the pool emitted steam. The team was able to swim through the cool route and climb back onto the previous starting ledge. They returned to the pool with the cubes, seeing no other way to go. They decided to dive into this pool, and a tunnel led within the wall underneath. They swam through as Merida used her sword to cut up the Lockjaws coming at them. The tunnel directed upward to a surface within the cave, where a waterwheel was turning thanks to the rain. They grabbed one of the wheel's pegs and were lifted up to the opening, climbing onto the grassy ground above.

The air was a misty dark-blue under the rain, but they could make out a large area of temple stretching partway over the next field. They walked down a stairway, through a path between the temple walls. They didn't see it coming through the mist, but a large blue eye opened up on an archway, blasting a blue beam along the ground toward the group. They flipped back and took cover within an enclosing on the right wall. Cheren jumped out, tried to shoot the eye, but did no effect, quickly jumping back before it shot. Merida noticed the sequence of far-apart platforms in this enclosing, jumping up them to get across the wall. She got behind the archway, seeing the opposite side of the eye, and she and Cheren shot both eyes simultaneously to destroy them.

"You know, you never told me why yer lookin' for this ocarina." Merida mentioned. "What's been goin' on?"

Cheren sighed, "I am really tired of telling people this story. Look, it's a future thing, you don't need to worry about it."

The path led to an open area with a short totem that sat a miniature sun, and a tall totem that had a mini moon. The gate had a glowing emblem designed like the Earth over it. Both totems were stationed in carved paths, so they could only be pushed within those paths. They pushed the totems at a perfect position where the Earth aligned with the moon, aligned with the sun. This solar eclipse caused the rain to turn into snow. "The machinery of this temple is manipulating the weather." MaKayla observed. "I never thought about using timebending like that."

The gate opened, allowing them up a stairway. This area was a wide open field with temple walls in every other direction. There were Crystal Switches stationed on pillars, and when struck with arrows, random tiles rose at different heights around the field. The group had to figure out another maze regarding which switches raised what tiles, and some of the switches were concealed inside hollow pillars, in which Cheren had to drop M.A.R.B.L.E.s in from the top. Several pillars had letters on them: in no specific order, they were L I Z M N W V F G H M N.

They had to get MaKayla onto two platforms to grab Timeshift Orbs, then they eventually found the right set of platforms to make a path to a ledge to the next area. This garden was enclosed within canyon walls, and a circle of brown-orange tikis surrounded a circular patch of snow. MaKayla set the Timeshift Orbs into two slots that caused a clock to emerge from a wall. Merida climbed the hour hand that was aiming at the 6, up to the minute hand as she stuck her sword in the gap. She let herself fall, pulling the minute hand with her so it whirled around rapidly and turned the hours. At 12:00, the snow was gone, letting sunlight shine.

"What the heck are you guys doing?" Nerehc asked, sitting atop a cliff before floating down to them.

"Changing nature, what're you doing?" Cheren retorted.

"Waiting for you guys."

"We could've gotten through there faster if you'd helped."

"Yeah, but how do you develop?"

"Whatever." MaKayla sighed. "I think… this is the place." They faced the light-brown metallic circle in the center of the tikis. MaKayla breathed through her nose and closed her eyes. "Yeah…" She stepped out of her shoes and approached the circle. "Alright, Cheren. We're going to enter the Spirit World from here." She sat cross-legged, and Cheren sat directly in front of her as they locked hands. "Now, focus. Clear your mind and soul of any obstructions, and our path will be set."

"Have you ever done this before?"

"Yes. I've made regular visits to the Spirit World since I was 5."

"Wow, really? How come?"

"Oh, something happened, just… It's nothing."

"Come oooon. Tell me." He smirked.

"Sigh, well… Back when we were in kindergarten, we had a teacher named Mrs. Sheryl. That was a time when I wasn't too into anything, just playing and coloring like a normal kid. She was a really sweet woman, showed me how to draw a bird, she played blocks with me when no one else would… we just had that connection. But then—it happened outta nowhere: a mugger broke into the school; I dunno what for, and found his way to our classroom. The rest of the class made a run for it while Ms. Sheryl held him off, but I stayed behind and watched. He… stabbed her in the chest three times before he ran."

"Whoa… I'm sorry." Cheren felt bad about asking her now.

"Well naturally, I was pretty traumatized for awhile, but; that's when Mom told me about it: the Spirit World. She told me about the place where all people go to when they die, and if I wanted to, I could visit there. Eventually I calmed down after a few months, when I started meditating with her. Then when I was good and ready, we… Ascended."

"Ascended?"

"It's when a mortal's soul is uplifted into the Spirit World before their death. A person that becomes spiritually connected is able to Ascend into the Spirit World as a means of searching into their selves. When I went there, it was the most beautiful thing in the whole world. And my mom took me to find my teacher. …She was teaching a class of 5-year-olds who'd also died."

"Mmmm." Cheren noticed the teary smile form on her face.

"Since then, I've never been as afraid of dying, knowing we were bound for a happy place. But still… the sight of blood makes me panic. And I couldn't bear it if someone I was close to died. Seeing that death enabled me to see spirits, and the Hollows as a result. But my bond with Clockwork came naturally. And when I first saw the Apocalypse coming… I knew I had to stop it."

"And we are going to stop it." Cheren looked at her with passionate eyes. "We'll find the Twenty Keys and open the Gate before the Government or Team Gnik have a chance to stop us."

"Yes… there always was a special fire about you. A fire that can burn through anything. And I know, what lies beyond the Gate will be more fierce and powerful than anything we can imagine. That fire is what will burn it down. I want to help you ignite."

"Let's do it!" Cheren gripped Kayla's hands and shut his eyes tight.

"Don't get too eager. Only a weightless soul may Ascend to the spirits. Your heart is still filled with anguish."

"Well, how do I get rid of it??"

"Just relax, and focus… Face your inner demon, and take his soul with yours."

They sat in silence for several minutes. Things steadily grew silent, things steadily grew dark. MaKayla disappeared. All Cheren could see now were the tan metal circle, the bright green grass surrounding it, alit as though sun were shining, even though everywhere else was pitch-black. Cheren opened his eyes and stood, walking forward with a sure expression. He stopped and looked down when his shadow stretched before him, detaching and standing at his height. His black body alit a tiny amount, to a very dark tone of Cheren's colors. It glared and spoke in a fashion like Nerehc.

"Back again, huh?" Cheren's shadow asked.

"Yeah. I'm a bit more calmed down."

"Yeah, not for LONG. You know you're just gonna DIE, why not kill yourself?"

"That seems a tad excessive."

"Look at how much TIME you wasted! You spent 4 months KEEPIN' this a secret, you got less than 30 days 'til it happens, and everybody just FORGOT you for a day! You've done absolutely NOTHING all this time. Just letting all your buddies run happy and clueless, only to break all their spirits with the fact they're going to die. You expect any of them to be any stronger before it comes; heck, YOU'RE probably the most powerful kid in your army, and what've YOU got to show? How do YOU know what's going to turn out, if you're gonna find the Keys, how can you be so sure you'll save everyone from what you already know is unavoidable? And why are you wasting what's left of your life trying to?!"

"Because…" Cheren presented the Book of KND from his pocket, "I have hope. The kind of hope only snot-nosed kids are stupid enough to believe in. Fine. I don't expect to be at God's level by the end of this month, and I don't expect everyone else to. All I can do is keep everyone hopeful, and promise them that I CAN stop it. That I can give them a future. That we will all have the power to do our part."

"That's IT?! Hope? What do you expect HOPE to do for you?! This isn't a fairytale where you can just WISH for a miracle, and if your GODS cared a damn bit, they woulda done somethin' about this. How can you be so sure of yourself?"

"Because…" Cheren stretched a smile as joyous and tearful as MaKayla's, "because I'm a silly little kid whose parents have rotted his mind with that ideology. And I've got such a big ego, I'm the King of the World. And AS King of the World, you oughta do what I say."

"Like I'll ever! I don't serve any king who cries like a pansy!"

"Yes you do." Smiling mischievously, Cheren wobbled forward and put an arm around his shadow's neck. "Because we are one silly kid."

"No we are not!"

"You are Cheren Uno." He spoke very quietly in his ear.

"I am NOT!"

"We… are Cheren Uno."

There was something about Cheren like a magnetic pull. That silly little smile that looked so annoying. Thinking he was the King of the World. What people followed him? Those silly little twerps of his that followed his every order. He ordered them to help stop the Apocalypse. Like they could follow such a request. He almost wanted to play along with him. Just try to stop the Apocalypse. Satisfy his twerpy little mind. Heh… if only..

The shadow embraced Cheren in his own hug. He had fallen into his trap. "You are one slick little monkey." were his final words before his essence dispersed into Cheren. Cheren stared at his arms as they brimmed, feeling his body alight with sun-orange flames. The light returned to the world, as did MaKayla, Merida, and Nerehc, and he raised his fiery arms in victory. (End song.)

Cheren gained control of his Demon State! He has finally awakened himself as a firebender! After accumulating enough energy, he can enter this Fury Mode whenever he likes, but he'll be exhausted when it ends.

Whirling his arms, he threw them sunward and unleashed a straight ray of flames. "AAAALL RIGHT!! I'm finally a bender like my siblings!!"

"I know, that's so great!" MaKayla beamed, Merida clapping excitedly in the background. "Too bad you can't use it now."

His flames vanished. "WHAT?"

"Well, now we have to go in the Spirit World. Can't use bending there. Or your weapons."

"Aaaaawwwww. But how will I defend myself? Is Fi at least going?"

The spirit emerged, "Master, although I will be able to see your progress from here, I will not be able to assist you directly. I may still provide info for you telepathically."

"Well… good enough. Let's do it."

Both he and MaKayla sat down again cross-legged. "Now… just close your eyes and look inside yourself… find your spiritual center."

"Siiiigh…" He closed his eyes. "Fiiiind my center… beeee a spirit… I, am, a spirit… I eat nothing but onions and banana juice… my skin is so shriveled, I'm skeletal… I am an airbender… I am air… I am… wind… I'm bald… I am-"

"Okaynoneofthosethings apply to you." Kayla said quickly.

"Well how the hell am I SUPPOSED to go in the Spirit World?! I don't have time for all that CRAP!"

"Cheren, every person has their own spiritual center, and it's never easy to find. Think about what applies to you. Think about what makes your soul, and let that uplift you to the higher realm. What makes… Cheren."

"What makes… me…" Cheren thought long… but not hard 'cause he felt like that never works. What did make his soul… his responsibility as Supreme Leader… his duties to his organization and… to the universe. His mission was to stop the Apocalypse and bring peace of mind to kids and people everywhere. All he desired was a universe where kids can run around and act like idiots, save the world from impending doom in pretend games, not for real. But to achieve such a world… he needed to set the example. In a pretend world where he was crazy overpowered, he can do anything, never giving his enemies the advantage… because he was the big hero who would save everything. He was the hero that was above all the rest… so above, he was the King. Yes… he was the King. The King of… the Whole World. He ruled on high… so very high… as the World's King… so… above it all… above… high…

His body was gone, for he no longer felt the ground beneath his rear. He was soaring high, high into the sky, past the clouds, past the stars, in a single blur. He had… Ascended.

He had only been to the Spirit World once, er, six times before, when each Giant had been awakened. In those places, he was on a pillar, miles above the ground. Bubbles floated everywhere, columns of water rose from the ground into the sky, and the landscape itself represented whatever world Cheren was in at the time, be it a jungle, ice land, or amusement park. This was… almost like that.

He was on a pillar, miles above the sea of clouds, and columns of water rose miles from where he stood. The sky was very misty and reddish-pink, the sunset, or was it sunrise, in the distance. He had no idea what way there was onto this tower, but several more stood in the distance beyond, all baring gold round tops, and their walls painted in Arabian styles. Since he was just in Scotland, he really questioned how the Spirit World did things. He guessed that no particular mortal area had a set Spirit World, none of it was existent, all depended on the mind, it seemed.

"A report, Master:" Fi's voice sounded from directly in his mind. "Judging by your soul exiting your body seconds ago, I conjecture an 80% chance your soul has Ascended from its mortal form. You are now in the Spirit World."

"Yeah, I… see that."

"MaKayla has requested me to inform you she may not be able to follow you where you have gone. However, somewhere in this space lies that which belonged to Link: the Ocarina of Time. There is a 70% chance this information is accurate. While I cannot assist you directly in this world, I shall be happy to provide status updates when need be. Oh… and Merida would like me to inform you a beetle has crawled up your pants and you may feel a paining sensation upon your return. Master… I wish you luck."

"DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN'T HELP IN THE MORTAL WORLD, FIIIII!" (Play "Flip Panel Footpath" from Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.)

Act 3: Spirit Skies

Cheren was on a platform with a wall too high to climb. There were twin switches that mirrored each other, but Cheren couldn't press both at the same time. There was a tile within the gap in the wall, which Cheren assumed would rise if both switches were hit. He heard a faint sound, nervously moving away when a cloud of bluish-gray smoke chased him. The smoke PUFFED, and a glowing ghostly mummy appeared. The gaps under his white wrapping were dark-blue, and a little opening showed his beady light-blue eyes. He was shaped like Cheren. "Uh… Fi?"

"Target locked: Mummy-Me. A type of mummified Duplighost who, like others of its kind, can take the shape of whomever it comes in contact with. While their mummified appearance makes them unlikely to deceive anyone, they memorize every movement the mimickee makes and follows with haste. If a Mummy-Me catches up with you, Master, you will suffer damage. Should you be over a dangerous chasm, you will take the fall. I'd advise you keep track of your own movements and be ready to dodge them, Master."

Cheren ran in circles, looking backward, and the Mummy-Me mimicked his actions precisely. He quickly ran back-and-forth between the twin switches, so when Mummy-Me mimicked, both switches were pressed, and Cheren quickly jumped onto the rising platform, then climbed to the ledge. He faced a chasm of floating spinning tops, running around his foothold when the Mummy-Me climbed up. When the first top spun over, Cheren jumped on, trying to maintain balance as he waited for it to float back over, while also avoiding the mummy. He jumped to the next top, and from there, he had to swing between two floating ropes of energy balls.

He had to alternate heights on the ropes when the Mummy-Me was swinging with him. When the top spun over, Cheren let go, and waited for this top to carry him to a path within the walls of a tower. He hurried through with the Mummy-Me hot on his tail. He followed a narrow, snaky path and pressed a switch, but with the mummy behind, Cheren had to Wall Kick up and over him to escape that dead end. Cheren ran down another road, climbing a ladder that appeared on the wall, due to the hit switch. Parts of the zigzag ladder sunk in and out, Cheren waited impatiently for them to appear, having to stop every half-second so the Mummy-Me would move slower.

At the top of the ladder, Cheren sidled across a thin ledge along the wall, stopping to let the Snapdragons snap, but moving quickly afterward to outrun the Mummy-Me. He could safely run when the path became wider, pressing a switch at the edge of the chasm. A platform activated down below, so Cheren jumped down to let it slowly carry him across. It stopped every few seconds to let the Mummy-Me catch up; Cheren grunted at this troll move. He shifted to different positions of the platform to avoid the mummy.

Eventually, the platform brought him to a very tall, thin tower, where Cheren jumped his way up a series of rotating platforms. The pattern was set where if a platform was horizontal, the next was vertical, so Cheren had to stand on the edge of each one before it turned vertical, then jump onto the next one, without letting Mummy-Me catch him. The next part of tower had in-and-out platforms, which followed an odd sequence that required Cheren to step back to previous platforms before the next ones would stick out. Cheren then quickly, but carefully sidled up another thin ledge to reach the top of the tower. A Snapdragon surprised him, but he missed it by an inch, kept sidling, and got onto the tower before Mummy-Me caught him. The minute Cheren grabbed the shiny blue ocarina on the pedestal, Mummy-Me poofed into nothing. (End song.)

Cheren got the Ocarina of Time! This was a treasured artifact that belonged to Link in his era! Its notes can create many a mystic effect.

The ocarina felt warm in his hands. He sensed a strange energy coming from it. He held it close to its heart, embracing in its warmth. The Spirit World around him blurred, he felt his soul flying quickly across the misty sky. The next second, Cheren was on Earth, in his body, with his friends. "…YOOOOOOWW!" Cheren felt the stinging pain in his leg.

"Oh, come on, ya big baby, Ay wasn't THAT hard!" Merida said.

"Do you have the ocarina?" Nerehc asked. Cheren stood up and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the shiny blue instrument.

Fi came out. "Master, I can safely tell you with 100% assurance, this is the Ocarina of Time Link possessed. Link's spiritual signature is still very clear upon its shell. Master… if you would, I would like to hear you play it."

"Haha… okay." The three kids and spirit smiled eagerly (except Nerehc), excited to hear the ocarina's mystic notes. Cheren took a calm breath, put his mouth over the reed, and blew.

HREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! It was the worst sound they ever heard.

"Sorry!" Cheren grunted. "Let me cover a different hole. Huuuu-" REEEEEEEE-

Nerehc swiped the instrument away, "YOU CAN'T PLAY!"

"I could play the Spirit Flute, how is this any different?!"

"You just need a little practice." MaKayla blushed, chuckling. "Or maybe let someone else. Anyone can use it, right?"

"Affirmative." Fi said.

"I guess we should go back to the future now." Cheren figured. "Melissa's probably getting tired. So, Nerehc… what did you say you needed this for, again?"

"Merida…" The boy in question faced the Scottish princess. "Didn't your friend say that Madara lived in Japan?"

"Um… yes?"

"Where, exactly?"