75. It’s Quiz Time!

Play "Grunty's Furnace Fun" from Banjo-Kazooie!

Stage 68: Gameverse Land

Mission: Ace the quiz!

Balloons were released to the night sky and lights flashed on the stage. The author of this story took the spotlight and announced to all his fans. "WELCOME, WELCOME! Gamen's the name! Thank you ALL for playing this game! This park is the home I reside! I'm delighted to let you all inside! Emily Garley's here, and she will play, to walk home with a Firstborn at the end of the day." The lights shone on Uxie. "Sure, I could do some character development trial, but that's been overdone a while." I shrug. "I have here a wheel with icons galore." The roulette wheel had pictures of a "?", an eye, a note, a clock, and myself. "Whatever it lands on will be a question you can't ignore. Around this park are various games, and they will feature the choices' names. Focus your mind and hit the right choice, otherwise you'll hear my disapproving voice."

"What do the different icons mean??" Emily yelled.

"This question mark is a simple query, but if you don't know, make your best theory! The eye will let you see a world, and see if you know it, smarty girl. The note, you'll hear music or maybe a voice, answer the related question with your best choice. The clock holds a time trial – could be any character, and you have to complete it with great care. Then as for me, I'll ask about me. How well you know, we'll have to see. Are you ready? Then let's begin! I'll start this game with the first spin!"

I spun the roulette wheel as it landed on "?". "Which of these Pikmin is new to the Gameverse?" a. White Pikmin, b. Wing Pikmin, c. Ice Pikmin, d. Rock Pikmin.

"Ice Pikmin!"

"That's right, and you have 2 points! A second guess is one point in this joint. Have fun, and don't foint! (faint)"

"What do you want to ride first?" Sarah asked.

"Um, actually… I was thinking I could do this trial myself since… I probably know more than you." Emily said with a blush.

"Well, fine!" Gary stated. "We'll do the trial separately and try to get the highest score!"

"May the best smarty win!"

"When you think you've gotten a handy amount," I continued, "enter the prize door to see the bout! If one is lowest, there they goes. What score do the other players have, who knows?"

Emily first decided to visit the roller coaster, which took her along a whipping fast track. The choices were spinning in the air, having not gained tangibility as the roulette was spinning. Emily readied her slingshot as a "Note" question was asked: "Listen to this music: Where in the story did I use it?" (Plays "Dream Room" from Yume Nikki.) a. Boggly Woods Act 2, b. Land of Cubes and Tea, c. Chronicler's Domain, d. Hall of Doors.

Emily shot her slingshot at Hall of Doors. "WRONG! Does someone else want a swing?"

"I do!" Gary shot Boggly Woods Act 2.

"CORRECT! One point for Gary, 0 for Emily!"

The music switched back to "Furnace Fun" as the coaster stopped. Emily hurried to a bumper car game and claimed a shoe designed like her own. I spun the wheel, which seemed to automatically land on an eye. "Focus and beware: match the character with correct footwear!"

A bunch of names appeared over the other bumper car shoes and began swerving around. A white shoe with a red stripe had "Nagisa", a white shoe had "Anthony", a sparkly light-blue shoe had "MaKayla", and a green sandal had "Sheila." Emily thought it was the easiest question ever and hit Sheila's sandal. "Too easy! 2 points for Emily!"

Emily headed to a merry-go-round, and the roulette landed on 'Clock.' "Uh-oh, time trial time! Which character do you wanna be?" The choices rotating on the roundabout were Augustus, Rupert, Cheren, and Sheila. Emily chose Augustus.

The teen boy in question suddenly materialized in the Cinnamon Jungle, under a ceiling with lots of Apple Piranhas and pitfalls. "Get to the Goal in 2 minutes, hurry!" Augustus donned his Corn-Clambers and trekked up the wall to get on the ceiling. He quickly examined the path and tried to choose the best routes that would take him around the pitfalls. The Apple Piranhas gnashed at him, but he quickly countered with his Lemon Cutlass. There were 20 seconds left by the time he was near the Goal Ring, but three Piranhas were guarding it. Augustus hurriedly sliced the creatures and went to touch the ring.

"Emily wins! She has 4 points!"

Next up, Emily wanted to ride the Ferris wheel, and the choices were displayed above the very top. She eagerly rode the wheel as the roulette landed on a "Me" space. "All you folks should know this: what is currently my favorite fictional pairing?!" a. Romeo/Wendy, b. 10/11.0, c. Ruby/Sapphire, d. Ruby/Weiss.

Emily shot 10/11.0. "NOT ANYMORE!" I subtracted 2 points from Emily. Sarah got her slingshot and hit Romeo/Wendy. "CORRECT!"

"Darn it! Back at 2 points again." Emily huffed. "I need to step up my game." Emily saw a stairway leading up to a very high platform. She Super Hooped up the stairs, and by the time she was at the top, the roulette landed on the Note space.

"Listen and make note: which character has this quote?" "I don't want to become a burden to any of you." a. Wendy Marvell, b. Sonya Dickson, c. Sally Harper, d. Yuzu Kurosaki.

The choices appeared on four different distant platforms, forcing Emily to Sky Fly to the correct one. Though she vaguely remembered, Emily floated to Yuzu's space. "CORRECT! Back to 4 points with Emily!"

Emily sighed at the small number, but kept a steady look as she ran to the next game with determination. She came to a small fenced baseball field, where she had to hit the ball to the correct answer with her Stun Club. The roulette stopped at "?". "What were Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee doing at the beginning of Shrinking Ice Violet?" a. Sparring, b. Playing a game, c. Doing homework, d. Eating cookies.

The baseball flew at Emily, so she faced the direction of- "ME FIRST!" Gary jumped in the way and hit the ball to 'Sparring.' "INCORRECT! Your turn, Emily."

Emily glared at her opponent and hit the ball to 'Playing a game' like she intended. "Correct! She now has 5 points!"

Next, Emily went to a fenced mud farm where she had to net the correct answer. The roulette landed on Eye. "Do you recognize this place?" The screen showed a view of a coast from a wooden walkway under a night sky. a. Tortuga, b. Lunaria, c. Heron, d. Bullies' Land. The choices ran around the field, but Emily ran up to net Tortuga. "Right again! 7 points for you!"

Emily located a mini C.A.M.-C.A.R. maze under a glass case. She would have to navigate the car in the maze and find the correct answer. The question was another Sound one. "Who is this person speaking to?" "Don't break any bones." a. Jinta Hanakari, b. Maddy Murphy, c. Nagisa Shiota, d. Cheren Uno. Emily navigated the maze and touched Nagisa. "Correct! 9 points!"

Emily sighed with relief, glad to be steadily building her score, but wondering how much the others had. Am I doubting my own genius?! she thought to herself. The bumper shoes were open again, so Emily tried for another question there. The roulette stopped at Me. "Which of these characters wears the same colored shoes as myself?" Cheren's name appeared over his red shoe, Fybi's over her brown sandal, Terry's over his gray shoe, and Dillon's over his white shoe. Emily rammed Terry's shoe and now had 11 points.

Emily located a pool where you had to dive and catch the answers in the Water Net. Sarah was also attempting a question here. Both girls dove as the roulette stopped at "?". "In the story Wendy's Mistake, who was the character Violeta based off of?" a. Vivian from Paper Mario, b. Pearl from Steven Universe, c. Viola from Witch's House, d. Maddy from Gameverse. Sarah netted Maddy. "Wrong answer! Emily?"

The Garley swum to and caught Viola, but it was still wrong. "'Guess no one's getting this one." Now at 10 points, Emily went to a shooting game that had stuffed plushies of Firstborn. The roulette hit a Clock. "Time Trial time! Who you wanna be?" The choices moved quick around the opposite wall – they were Emily, Rupert, Wendy, and Vanellope. Obviously Em wanted herself, but she missed and hit Rupert. "Oh, darn it!"

Rupert Dickson appeared in the gymnasium of the Iron Plains. Giant children ran about aimlessly, quaking the world with their sneakers. Rupert had 10 White Pikmin and there were two large Riddler Trophies. "Carry the trophies to the Onions in 1:30 minutes!" The trophies both required 5 Pikmin, so Rupert set them to work. He quickly called them back whenever a kid would run by and crush them, returned them to work when it looked safe—but had to constantly call them back from running kids. Thankfully, Rupert had plenty of Pikmin experience, and successfully brought both trophies to the Onions. Emily scored 2 points, making 12 total.

"Wonderful! Can I have my trophies back?" Riddler asked.

Emily explored the park further and found a platform on the edge of a chasm. Balloons with multiple different answers floated up as the roulette landed on Eye. "Here's the picture this time, view it while I think of a rhyme." The picture displayed a forest with white leaves and white grass. "What chapter did this stage appear?" Among the many balloons with Seven Lights chapter numbers, Emily hit the one with '34'. "Correct! 14 points."

Emily jumped for joy and went to revisit the baseball cage. The roulette landed on Note. "Listen to this music!" The soundtrack "Chocolate Room" from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory played. "In what level was this music used?" a. Sweets Factory, b. Candied Island, c. Goofy Goober's, d. Chocolate Island. Emily hit the ball to choice "B". "Right again! 16 points."

Emily returned to the merry-go-round and got a normal "?". "Which of these characters has small feet?" a. Sheila Frantic, b. Cheren Uno, c. Shelly Johnson, d. Kirie Beatles.

"Like you have to ask." Emily shot choice "B" when it rotated by. She was correct and now had 18 points.

Afterwards, Emily revisited the farm as her next question was an Eye. "Look at this character." I showed a picture of the backside of a nun with a white habit. "Catch the correct eye color!" A red eye, light-blue eye, yellow eye, and dark-green eye began to run around the farm. Gary jumped in with Emily and ran to net the blue eye. "Wroooong!"

"As it so happens, I met Index once!" Emily netted the green eye.

"Lucky you! 19 points." Emily rerode the Ferris wheel next, deciding this would be the last question before she submitted her score. It was a Me question. "Which of these series stands as my favorite show of all time?" a. Kids Next Door, b. Fairy Tail, c. One Piece, d. RWBY. Emily shot the slingshot at One Piece. "Isn't it obvious? 21 points!"

With that, Emily headed to the door in the back of the park, which was whitish-blue like everything else, and had black numbers decorated around it, like 2030, 6.13, 227, 321, and 1004. Emily went inside along with Sarah and Gary. It was pitch-black inside, for only their scores were visible. Sarah: 26, Emily: 21, Gary: 18. "Oh, dear! You won't survive in the Gameverse with a score like that, Gary! Sorry, but I'm gonna have to evict you."

"YAAAAAaaaaahhh…"

Emily and Sarah exited the room, looking concerned. "Uh… what happened to him?" Sarah asked.

"Don't concern yourselves with it." Uxie winked.

"Round 2 begins with reset scores, Sarah vs. Emily! Try your best, but don't be silly! But for this round, an extra hazard: a Death Space on the roulette leads to disaster." An extra space with a skull appeared on the wheel. "Get this wrong and you'll instantly die. Hope you have the extra lives to retry."

Emily gulped and headed up the stairs to the Sky Flyer game again. The roulette spun and stopped at Clock. Emily had the choices of Sandman, Maddy, Vanellope, and Rupert. She chose to float down to Sandman's platform.

Sandman appeared in the boss room of Freddy's Pizzeria. "The animatronics are back again! Can you keep them away until the clock strikes ten?" Freddy Fazbear popped up, screamed, and ran at Sandman, who countered with his Shock Rod, Chica on his right, Bonnie behind him, he had to keep them away for a full minute. It was apparently 9:00, but the minutes counted up like seconds, so 10:00 would be the stopping time. The animatronics came so fast and he always stopped them a millisecond early—Foxy got a lucky bite off of him, so Nolan lost the challenge.

"Sorry, Emily. -2 points." Emily sighed and went to the C.A.M.-C.A.R. set. The question was Sound-based. "Listen to this sound: what collectible would you have found?" The sound was a SHRIIING! a. Riddler Trophy, b. Pipo Monkey, c. Fire Soul, d. Gold Wonka Bar. Emily maneuvered the car around the maze to touch Fire Soul, the correct answer putting her back at 0.

Emily decided to try a new attraction, a circle of colorful clams. The choices would fall into four of the eight clams and rotate around. Unfortunately, the roulette landed on Death. "How old is this character?" I showed a picture of a white-haired girl with pale eyes that looked like sunset. a. 10 years, b. 11 years, c. 12 years, d. 6,000 years. Emily saw the correct answer go into the orange clam, keeping an eye on it as it rotated, but when it stopped, she whacked answer "B". "2 points!"

Emily went to the balloon-shooting game and got a "?". "Which of the Thirteen Darknesses does not have an alias, epithet, or a second identity in their respective series or the Gameverse?" Thirteen balloons came up. Sarah appeared and quickly shot the one with Madara's name. "Eh, not quite!" Emily shot Sōsuke Aizen's name. "Yep! 3 points!"

Emily got on the roller coaster again and got a Death question. "Who was the person that killed Nigel Uno?" a. King Andrew, b. Daphne Anderson, c. Lucas Stonebuddy, d. Henry Churchill. Emily waited for the coaster to speed by Daphne and shot that answer. "You have been spared! 5 points."

Emily returned to the shooting game and got a Note question. "Which story was this quote from?" "Yes, you called?" a. The Gang, b. Viridi's Last Stand, c. Scorched Wings, d. Anthony Ant. Emily aimed carefully and shot choice "C". "Right again, Em! Seven."

Emily went to the rotating clams and got an Eye question. "Look at this story cover!" I showed a picture labeled Gamewizard2008 Presents Operation: GALACSIA, which was uncolored, had Dimentia in the center, and five of the main characters standing on Earth (including humanoid Luvbi). "Who drew this picture?" a. Gamewizard2008, b. Numbuh 227, c. Depthcharge2030, d. Numbuh 6.13. Sarah wanted in on this question, too, but she had the misfortune of choosing me as an answer. "Heh heh, unfortunately not."

Emily smirked, having seen Depth's name go in the green clam and proceeded to whack it. "Das right! 8 points for Emily!"

Emily stuck her tongue at Sarah and ran for the Water Net Pool, where she got a normal "?". "Which of these universes also features Violet McCleary?" a. Legends Universe, b. Fanverse, c. IDA Multiverse, d. Out of Mind. Emily netted choice "A". "Right again, mah man! Er, girl. 10 points!"

Emily grinned happily and raced back to the C.A.M.-C.A.R. set, eager for another question. However, she got a Time Trial and had choices between Emily, Wendy, Vanellope, and Sandman. "Hmmm… Honestly, I wanna play as Wendy." She decided to maneuver the car through the maze and choose her. "I'm not THAT egotistic."

Wendy Marvell appeared in one of the pinball machines of Casinopolis. "You have to score 500 coins in 2 minutes!"

"Oh, no! I stunk at this the first time." Wendy cried.

"JUST DO IT!" Emily shouted.

"Yes, mysterious voice!!" Wendy cast a bubble shield over herself and rolled into the machine. At first, she was simply bouncing around, trying to maneuver into the slot machine and score coins. Sadly, her luck ran short as she couldn't get good combos, but by some miracle, when the minute mark hit, she got three-in-a-row "7"s and won too many coins to count.

"Holy WOW that was awesome! 12 points and I'm glad we caught that on camera!"

Emily went back to the Net Farm, but her question was Death. "Have a look at this picture." I displayed a hand-drawn picture of Carol Masterson in her new uniform, holding a laptop with a "$" and winking at the viewer. "Which part of this picture wasn't in my original design for this form of Carol?" a. The dollar sign, b. The freckles, c. The puffy buns, d. The long socks. Emily ran to catch the dollar sign answer. "Bingo! Carol can only afford the best, after all!"

Emily headed for the bumper shoes and got another question relating to Me. "Choose the shoe that belongs to the character who shares my hair color!" Melody's shoe, Nagisa's shoe, Yuzu's shoe, and George King's shoe were driving around. Emily ran into George's shoe and had 16 points.

Emily rode the Ferris wheel again and got a Sound question. "What elemental attack makes this sound?" I played what sounded like a sparking mixed with chirping birds. a. Spacebending, b. Airbending, c. Lightningbending, d. Lightbending.

"HYUH!" Sarah intervened and shot choice "D".

"INCORRECT!" I shouted. It seemed Sarah's mind played a trick on her, giving Emily the chance to choose "C". "Correct! Emily now has 17 points!"

"I can go higher." Emily declared, hopping off to run to the baseball cage. I spun the roulette and asked a Sight question.

"Where was this item found?" I showed a picture of a flower petal skirt. a. Lost Woods, b. Jungle of the Apes, c. Hidden Passe, d. Tortuga Backpass. Emily hit the baseball to Hidden Passe. "INCORRECT! Emily's back to 15."

Emily cursed herself and ran up the stairs to the Sky Flyer platform. The roulette stopped at "?". "So far, what has been the third-longest stage in the Gameverse?" a. Guertena Gallery, b. Majora's Moonbase, c. Scattered Realms, d. Lunaria. Emily floated to choice "A". "Right you are. 17 again."

Without hesitating, Emily ran back to the merry-go-round. Another Sight question. "Check out this painting." I showed a painting of an empty chair. "What appears on that chair at night?" a. A hanging doll, b. A purple-haired girl, c. Plushtrap, d. A can of paint. Emily shot choice "B". "Good answer! 19 points."

Emily rushed back to the balloon game. She got a Death Time Trial. "Choose your character wisely." Balloons with various character names came up, and Emily shot Cheren's.

Cheren Uno appeared in the Hidden Leaf Village, on the very other side from Mount Hokage. "Kill all the enemies in 10 seconds." Cheren panicked, looking around for whatever enemy—and then he saw it… at the top of the mountain, though it looked like a dot. He smirked, aimed his arrow at the lone Bulblin, and shot it down from over 50 meters away. "Way to go, Cherry! 21 points!"

Emily sighed with relief after being spared from death. She chose to get one more question and ride the roller coaster. I spun the wheel and landed on "?". "In what story did we see Dimentio awaken as a Darkness?" a. Operation: NECSUS, b. The Great Candied Adventure, c. Legend of the Eight Firstborn, d. Underworld Prison Party. Emily waited until choice "D" came before shooting it. "That's right! 23 points!"

"Sigh… okay." Emily braced for the worst and went to submit her score. Emily: 23. Sarah: 22.

"Wow, Emily barely had enough! I guess she gets to survive, while her friends go bye-bye!"

"EYAAAAAAHHH…" Sarah's cries faded.

"Congratulations, Emily! You outsmarted your friends to nonexistence! But that doesn't mean you're walking away with the Firstborn. You have one more round of questions to endure. I have taken the liberty of bringing back some old friends!"

The curtains opened, and Nick and Zach appeared in wheelchairs. "WE'RE BACK, BITCHEEEES!" the two cheered. ("B-word." Zach said.)

"You can only win this game by defeating both of them. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do great, Em. But be forewarned, for some I may ask, a follow-up question, that is your task. This time, I will let you see their score, if you are ever going to complete this chore."

While Nick and Zach went their own separate directions, Emily returned to the Net Farm, her first question being about Me. "What used to be my average quota for chapter lengths in 2011?" a. 5,000 words, b. 1,000 words, c. 10,000 words, d. 33,000 words. Emily netted the thousand. "Yes, it was." I bow my head in shame. "But what is the NEW average?!" Emily quickly netted the 10,000. "And THAT'S how much I improved! 3 points!"

Emily jumped happily and raced for the baseball cage. I spun the roulette and asked her a Visual question. ("Pick a synonym!" Kris shouted.) "Does this scene look familiar?" I showed a picture of a blue and white, bright wormhole. "Where was this located?" a. Index's stomach, b. GKND H.Q., c. Mysterious Underground, d. Library of Galaxia. Emily remembered this like she were somewhat there, and hit toward answer "A". "But where did it lead to?" a. Newborn Universe, b. Xedni's stomach, c. Hoopa's Dimension, d. First Dimension. She hit toward "B". "Ding-dong! 7 points!"

Emily raced up to the Sky Flyer Platform, but Zach Guiles was here to steal the show. They both got a Death question. "Check out these four items." I displayed four pictures of a banana boomerang, a handheld radar, a wooden whistle, and a small sphere with a grapple claw. "Which of these items belongs to Sandman?" Zach nervously floated his wheelchair down to the radar. "Eh… no, Zach."

"BLAAAAAAAAHH…" He was blown to smithereens.

"Well, this makes it easier." Emily floated down to the Grapple-Cam.

"Correct! But where was it found?" a. A garbage can, b. Two kids were playing with it, c. A propane office, d. Sandman always had it.

"It's 'C'!" Emily yelled, earning 10 points. ("This score system is confusing.") She then returned to the Water Net Pool and got a Sound question.

"Listen to this phrase and be amazed!" "I'M NOT A PSYCHICBENDER!!" "What chapter was this said?" a. Chapter 23, b. Chapter 27, c. Chapter 42, d. Chapter 65. Emily swam to answer "A". "And what element DID this person possess?" a. Psychicbending, b. Earthbending, c. Airbending, d. Spacebending. Emily net the second. "Uh-huh! 14 points!"

"I am on a ROLL!" Emily resurfaced, ran for the C.A.M.-C.A.R. track, and got a "?".

"What was a sin in 'Everything Wrong With Operation: GALACSIA'?" a. Sector V is useless, b. The OCs, c. The action stages, d. Violet wasn't in it. Emily hit choice "A". "Yes they were. 16 points."

Emily revisited the Balloon Game and gulped when she got a Death question. "Who helped write Operation: ERASED?" The balloons listed the names of all Gameverse supporters. Remembering that story had Sunni and Darcy, Emily shot '6.13.' "Nice shooting! 18 points." Emily sighed and went to the bumper shoes. The roulette stopped at a Visual question.

"Take a look at this snowy peak!" I showed a picture of a snowy mountain, specifically a region between a trench with some cliffs going up. "Choose the footwear of the person that ventured this stage." Emily had choices between a brown boot, a black shoe, a pale yellow bare foot, and a brown sandal. Thinking it would make a good Suki level, Emily hit the foot. "OOO, that's wrong! Your turn, Nick."

"BOOSH!" Nick rammed the sandal.

"Correct! Emily has 16 points while Nick has 23!"

"HU!" Emily gasped. She dashed for the Shooting Game, in desperate need of points. She got a "?" and was asked, "Which of these characters was shrunken for the shortest amount of time?" a. Nagisa Shiota, b. Jinta Hanakari, c. Cheren Uno, d. Wendy Marvell. Nick Klouse quickly rolled up in his wheelchair and hit "D". "WRONG! Sorry, Nick, I count ALL the stories."

Emily shot Nagisa. "As it happens, I was there to do it!" she declared proudly, now at 17 points.

"Well well, I guess they're just going to race each other." I observed as both competitors hurried to the Rotating Clams. I spun the wheel and asked a Me question. "Which game did I play first?" a. Mad Father, b. Ib, c. Witch's House, d. Yume Nikki. They both watched answer "B" go into a red clam, sure it was the answer as they waited for the rotation to stop. When it did, Emily kicked Nick out of the way and hit the clam. "Jingo! But which of those choices does not yet have any crossovers in this story?" Emily panicked and chose to hit the blue clam as choice "A" came out. "Very good, Em! You are now tied at Nick with 21 points!"

Emily and Nick ran for the baseball cage. They got a Death question. "Which of these characters didn't have a monkey dress as them in Animonkey Tour?" a. Amethyst, b. Son Goku, c. Spike Spiegel, d. Aoi Yukimura. Confused, Nick Klouse shot at Amethyst. "NICK, NOOOO!" To my greatest dismay, I executed Nick on the spot.

"YAHOOOO!" Emily hit answer "B" and won by technical death.

"The winner of this game is Emily's name! The Firstborn is yours, as well as fame! You can leave now you smartass dame, while your friends die in nonexistent shame."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Emily shouted. "I'm not leaving without my friends! They make me feel smart! (And chances are, I probably can't 'earn' the Firstborn without choosing to save them.)"

"Very well, Emily, if that is your wish, one more round before we finish. NOW you must deal with me, over the flaming MAGMA SEA!" And so, we were both teleported onto a narrow bridge above a sea of lava, located somewhere in the park's boundaries. Emily readied her Stun Club while I got my G-Staff. "The questions I ask have no multi-choice, you must answer with the best knowledge in your voice. One right gets you a free swing at me, but get it wrong and I will knock YOU towards the sea."

"Bring it on!" declared the smarty.

"Who came up with Operation: RECLAIM's acronym?"

"227!" Emily whacked me.

"YOW!" I fell back. Nine spaces until the fall. "What's the most recent anime I watched?"

"Scientific Railgun!" Another hit.

"OW! How many Nextgen operatives wear sandals, excluding DNK?"

"Uh… Eight?"

"WRONG!" I whacked her back. "What is a word Anthony never said?"

"Huh?"

"'COURSE NOT!" I hit her again. "What's Sapphire's element?"

"Ice?"

"NOT HERE!" Pushed her halfway. "Who's a member of the Dimension Rebels we haven't seen, yet?"

"ASH KETCHUM!" Emily pushed me back.

"YOW! Name a male Lilliput OC I created."

"Avery!"

"D'oh!" I was pushed further. "Look at this picture!" The screen showed an image of the tip of an orange spiked hair curved downward.

"Shade!"

"D'arr!" I had 8 spaces left. "What's this sound?" I played a noing noing noing noing sound.

"Throwing Rock Pikmin!"

"Ouch! Which character makes cameos in each of the towns?"

"Roger the Alien!"

"Oof! What story was a precursor to Fairy Sisters?"

"Zeiry the Fairy!"

"DAH!" 5 spaces left. "What rating did I give Fairy Tail?"

"9.5!"

"NOPE!" I hit her back. "My least-favorite Straw Hat?"

"Franky!"

"Yup!" I fell back again. "Why didn't Sheldon Cooper come here?"

"He hates carnivals!"

"GRR!" 4 spaces left. "Did this character appear in the Gameverse?" I showed a picture of a brown-haired boy in a yellow shirt and blue pants.

"He wishes!" She hit me.

"Deak!" Three spaces. "Name the most depressing song I heard in 2015."

"'Undermine' from Witch's House!"

"NEEK!" Two spaces. "Speaking of which, who instigated the plot of Witch's House in the Gameverse?"

"Crystal Wickens!"

"DOAF!" One space left. "Name one of my weaknesses!"

"Not good at confrontation!"

"DAH!" Zero spaces left. I was wobbling on the edge of the abyss. "And finally, what is Arceus's Power Level?!"

"ONE BILLION!!" Emily struck the final blow.

"GYAAAAAH!" I dropped my G-Staff into the lava and wobbled on one foot, flailing my arms. "That's it! It's over, folks! Emily Garley has won the trivia, rescued her friends, and has earned herself a Firstborn! Thank you, thank you for playing! Don't worry, for this park will be staying! If anyone would like to try the challenge, I'll always be open, so don't cringe! For now, let's continue the story. From this point on, it shan't be boring. See you later, as I take the fall! The Gameverse continues, thanks to Y'AAAAALL!" I plummet into the lava and take a big splash.

Emily reappeared at the central stage and claimed the Spirit Ball that materialized from thin air. She captured Uxie as the ball glowed – silver bottom, gold top, red emblem – and a 'II' appeared above the gem. (End song.)

Emily Garley captured a FIRSTBORN! Just 1 left!!

"YAHOOOO!" Emily tossed the Spirit Ball in the air as she left the park. "Thanks to me, all the Firstborn have been found!"

"But Cheren still ain't catch Azelf, yet." Sarah reminded.

"Also, Nebula didn't find Jirachi 'til after you found Uxie." Gary followed.

"Don't steal this from me!!" Emily cried.

Uxie popped out of her Pokéball. "Congratulations, Emily! But we have other matters to attend to."

"Defeating Specter, of course."

"There's that, but more importantly is your newfound metalbending. No doubt, you and your mother are descendants of Hornfels, one of the Noble Earthbending Families. I think you should go to the Tree of Beginning, the place where the families once gathered."

"Why? To study metalbending? It would be cool and all, but we have monkeys to catch."

"And that's cooler?" Gary cocked a brow.

"It's not just that." Uxie replied. "For a long time, I felt… a strange, but familiar force emitting from the Tree of Beginning. I want to know what it is."

Kris Hallows turned the camera to himself and said, "Aaaaand cut."

Tree of Beginning

When Team Emily arrived at the Tree of Beginning, following Uxie's lead, they saw another S.C.A.M.P.E.R. parked outside the stone wall. "I wonder who else is here…" Emily said to herself after landing. The other ship's passengers disembarked at the same time. "Sector W!" The group of seven-year-olds (minus Fybi) were accompanied by Michelle, as well as an older boy who… Emily's mouth dropped. "It can't be… y-you're Tom Taylor!"

"Hm?" The teenage Hawaiian with sunburnt skin raised a brow at her. "Yow, who's the dork with parallelogram eyes?"

"His attempt at making knowledgeable humor is so sappy, and… HOT." Emily started sweating.

"Good Lord." Sarah rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Anthony asked them.

"Duh, Anthony! She's a metalbender, isn't she?" Michelle reminded. "She's gotta be the Hornfels!"

"What do YOU know, Michelle?"

"Seriously?" Tom raised a brow. "You're the Hornfels? You can bend metal?"

"Uh-huh!" Emily took out a nickel and made it levitate. "Pretty soon, I'll be a real Magneto!"

"Apparently, she just discovered her power two days ago." Aranea mentioned.

Mesprit popped out of Harvey's Spirit Ball. "Uxie! Welcome!"

"Hi, Mesprit! Guess who just became my Guardian?"

"Cheren?"

"HA HA HA HA!" Both sisters laughed.

"Ahem!" a squeaky voice coughed. They looked at the base of the wall, where a Minish guard stood. "What business do you humans have here? This isn't a place where you can have your… big human parties!"

Tom's Minish mentor, Gedra hopped out of his hair and landed on the ground, approaching the guard. "This boy Tom is the son of the Sovite Family. These two," he gestured at Anthony and Michelle, "are from the Granite Family, and that big-eyed girl claims to be of the Hornfels."

"The Earth Children descendants?!" the guard exclaimed. "Including Princess Shelly, that means… all four of the Noble Earthbenders are here! They must be taken up to God Regigigas and prove their selves. The four of them can come in as they are, but the others must either shrink or remain outside."

"No thanks, I'm fine out here." Aranea said in a 'chill' mood.

The guard signaled the earthbender Minish to open the wall. Emily grinned and waved to her friends as she entered, and the wall shut them out. Sarah and Gary rolled their eyes at her ego.

"So, how do you know Tom, Anthony?" Emily asked.

"Trained with him awhile ago. Then for some reason, Michelle wanted me to pick him up on our way here."

"He's the Sovite, isn't he?" Michelle replied smugly.

Uxie then floated in front of her, staring sharply. "There is still something off about you… Do you mind if I enter and examine your brain?"

"Meep!" Michelle clamped her ears.

The four were led up to the royal quarters of the tree, where Princess Shelly was lain in a patch of flowers as Minish were feeding her berries, massaging her feet, and sending Pikmin to recover dirt. "I don't even care if Shorts is the President of America, anymore. I'm living the life of luxury."

"Good gracious, young lady!" Queen Lánshelly hopped onto Shelly's nose. "If I can't trust you not to enslave my people, I'm revoking your normal size privileges!"

"I'm not enslaving anyone. These kids are fine with it, aren't they?"

"We sure are, Princess!" a girl Minish replied bubbly. "You're really beautiful and tell funny stories about the human world!"

"Are we interrupting something?" Anthony asked as they approached.

"And who are you four?" the queen inquired.

"Your Highness, they claim to be the Earth Children descendants." replied the guard. "I wanted to take them and the princess to Regigigas."

"The Four Earth Children? Including Hornfels? I'll take it from here—Shelly, get your butt up!" The queen summoned some Wing Pikmin to lift her.

"Ugh." The Minish quickly climbed off as Shelly helped herself up. Her mother escorted the lot of them to the top of the tree.

The God of Earth, Regigigas, woke from his slumber, the beeping lights signaling his body rebooting. The god sensed the earthbenders' presence and stomped forward, quaking the tree. Regi examined the earthbenders and scanned them. "Subjects identified: Anthony and Michelle McKenzie of Granite. Shelly Johnson of Quartzite. Tom Taylor of Sovite. Emily Garley of… Hornfels. Children… welcome back to my tree."

"Welcome back?" Anthony questioned. "Have we been here before?"

"Not you. But they… have…" Regigigas linked his hands together as a ball emerged from the top of his body. The ball projected a holographic scan over the room, dividing it in four parts: a forest, a desert, a volcano, and a metal mine.

"It's a hologram?" Emily observed.

"Made of spiritual energy…" Uxie followed.

"Look!" Anthony pointed. Four figures began to form in the respective areas. In the desert was a 17-year-old boy with black hair to his neck and dark-purple armor. In the volcano was a muscular 18-year-old with spiky brown hair and red-hot skin. The mine produced an orange-haired, scrawny boy with silver armor, 17 years old. And in the forest, there came a 16-year-old girl with green armor and dirty brown hair.

"Ha ha!" The girl grinned at Anthony, her green eyes shining. "Heeey! I'm glad we finally get to talk!"

"M…Mom?"

"NO, silly! I'm not your mom, I'm your ancestor, Granite!"

"Granite? Then that means the rest of you…" Anthony looked around.

"We're the original Earth Children, yes." Quartzite responded. "Didn't know you kids were so famous among the Minish community, did ya?"

"In more ways than I thought." Shelly realized.

"Yeah, those little guys are fun, aren't they?" Quartzite chuckled. "Don't tell them I said this, but they do make good servants."

"Ugh." Lánshelly sighed. "True, the Earth Children are very renowned among the Minish, due to the fact they trained under God Regigigas. Some Minish watched over their descendants and hoped to one day train the newborns… However, Hornfels steadily drifted away from his roots."

"Sorry." Hornfels replied with a sheepish grin. "I never quite… 'fit in' with the rest of you. Like, I learned I was really good with machines, and my descendants were good with machines… Before we knew it, we stopped being about metalbending and more about-"

"Dorkbending." Sovite remarked. "Boopy-doopy-doooo."

"Hah! Nice!" Tom nudged his ancestor. "Hey, when am I gonna get abs like yours?"

"After ten million more push-ups." Sovite punched him.

"Damn you!" Tom threw a punch, but Sovite blocked and shoved him to the ground.

"This is the first time in eons when the Earth Children have come together here." Regigigas said. "It was I that originally brought them together for an important purpose. The purpose… I will now show you."

"Not yet!" Michelle yelled. "We're still waiting for someone! I feel her coming right now."

They all looked to the entrance, curious to who would be coming. The person to enter the holographic room was a white-haired girl in a black shirt and orange skirt. Her orange eyes held the vibrance of a rising sun. "Hello!" She waved.

"Miyuki?" Emily said confusedly.

"No, it's Ikuyim!" Anthony recognized.

"I know this might sound weird, but I had a dream telling me to come here." Ikuyim explained.

"It was I that summoned you under… special orders." Regigigas said. "With the Latsyrc Family of the Negaverse… we now have five benders with different forms of Earth Chi."

"But we're still one short." Quartzite mentioned. "What about Stone?"

"Oh, yeah… Stone…" Sovite moaned with remorse.

"Stone?" The name seemed familiar to Anthony.

"No, guys!" Granite perked up. "I've been with Stone all this time! Well, part of him, anyway."

"Part of him?" Hornfels queried.

"I mean, it's… kinda hard to explain. I kinda don't get it, either."

"I can explain." Michelle replied, facing Anthony. "But… we should go downstairs first, shouldn't we?"

"Michelle, what the crud are you hiding from me?" the brother glared.

"Tee hee hee! Nothing, Anthony!"

Minish KND Quarters

Ever since Team Rupert recovered the King's Brew from the Zingers' Hive, the Minish have been adding the golden honey to all their fruit and bread crumbs. It was extremely delicious and brought delight to everyone's day. Supreme Leader Lenari was impressed with their work and terrifically boosted Team Rupert's status among the Minish, not to mention gave them more food than they could ask for. Unfortunately, after 9 days, they were still asking for something else.

"Why won't you tell us where Malarko's Pikmin Army is?!" Rupert shouted, following Lenari through the cafeteria.

"YEAH! You guys are STILL gobbling up this honey we risked our necks to get, we deserve to know!" Timothy joined.

"I told you guys that it's not only sacred, it's dangerous! Sappo and Gibli weren't allowed to tell you about the army, but if three humans like you attempt to go there, it'll only end badly."

"Then take us there yourself!" Rupert argued.

"I CAN'T! And besides, that shouldn't be your top priority. You saw that message in the sky, the Apocalypse is going to happen soon. We need to rally with the Human Kids Next Door and think of a plan. Just quit… asking about it." He walked away.

"Y'know, he has a point." Timmy said. "After seeing that sky show, I'm not really worried about finding Malarko's army."

"But this is exactly why we should try to find it!" Rupert reasoned. "If it's really going to happen, we need to have one more adventure before we… I mean, there's a chance that we won't…"

"I wanna find Malarko's Pikmin, too." Hikari replied solemnly. "But I'm scared, Rupy."

"And what are a thousand Pikmin gonna do for us, anyway?" Timmy asked.

Rupert sighed. "I guess you're right."

"All operatives, report to the southern balcony and bring your Wing Pikmin!" the PA announced. "A massive swarm of bees is approaching the tree! In fact, you might wanna stop eating that honey."

Team Rupert rushed to action and called their Onions to the south balcony with other Minish. There was a swirling cloud flying toward the great tree, buzzing loudly. Zingers composed the cloud, and leading the swarm was a giant bee whose rage spread to his swarm. "It's King Zing!" Sappo exclaimed. "He must've found out where his honey pot is!"

"BUZZ-BUZZZZ…" A squad of Zingers swooped down on their king's command.

"I can't believe it!" Rupert said.

"I know. That's a lot of bees…" Timothy shuddered.

"No, I can't believe it's almost the end of the story and we're just now getting a second boss fight!"

"Let's kick their buzzing butts!" Hikari jumped. (Play "Boss Bossanova" from Donkey Kong Country 2!)

Boss fight: King Zing

"Gibli, run and get some Bomb Rocks!" Sappo ordered, his sister saluting. "Rupert, help us hold them off!"

"Can do!" Team Rupert evasively commanded their Pikmin to dodge as Zingers stabbed the ground, sending Wing Pikmin to beat the bees down while the Purples smashed them. Electric Zingers flew in, but Hikari was quick to toss Yellow Pikmin to weaken them. A Commander Zinger ordered a line of Baby Bees to swoop across an area, so the humans quickly rolled out of the way. Large globs of honey dropped down and stuck Rupert and some Minish in place. "We're stuck! Guys, hurry up!" Timmy and Hikari sent the Brown Pikmin to free Rupert, who would throw Rocks to attack the Honey Bees who were going to kidnap them.

When they defeated enough Zingers, King Zing himself flew down to the field. The Bee King was more terrifying up close, and his anger burned for the humans that stole his honey. He had a sphere of bees protecting him, so while Hikari was distracting and dodging the king's stings, Rupert and Timmy were behind, throwing Pikmin at the bees. They tossed Brown and Ice Pikmin to stick to Zing's body, but he was too strong to damage normally. The king shook them off and whipped around to face them.

"Sappo, I brought the Bomb Rocks!" Gibli returned in a hurry.

"I'll take one!" Hikari gave a bomb to a Brown Pikmin and threw it up onto Zing. Although she sacrificed a Pikmin, the king suffered a great blow. "BUZZ, buzz, buzz, buzz…!"

The Bee King buzzed back to the cloud of bees and sent stingers to rain down upon them. Five Reds and six Purples were killed. "Ahh!" Rupert tripped when trying to dodge a stinger.

"Rupert!" Timmy and Hikari came to his aid—they braced for cover when a stinger threatened to crush them. A group of giant vines suddenly popped up and defended everyone.

"Is anybody hurt?!" Princess Gonshiri yelled.

"Princess!" Sappo yelled. "We lost a lot of Pikmin, but the Minish are still okay."

"I knew it was a bad idea for you to steal that honey. Sigh, well all we can do now is drive these monsters away. We'll have to destroy the king if we want to make them scatter. I can raise a vine and lift you closer to him."

"He's surrounded by a sphere of bees!" Rupert pointed. "We won't be able to get through."

"Yes we can." Timmy declared. "All those bees are blocking the sunlight. Let's send Ghost Pikmin up!" They summoned 10 Ghosts from the Onions and sent them to fly straight up through the swarm. None of the bees could attack them, and when they made it to King Zing, they freely attacked his eyes and caused him to scatter the shield.

"I'll hold you up as long as I can!" Gonshiri lifted Team Rupert and their Pikmin up a very long beanstalk, going up through the cloud of bees and becoming horizontal as it circled around King Zing. The kids dodged his blows as Timmy threw Rock Pikmin at his stinger, damaging him, but causing the king to pop stingers in many directions, with one stabbing Timmy's cape into the vine. He ditched the cape and tried to settle his speeding heart. Their Wing Pikmin caught up, having brought Bomb Rocks. One of them threw a bomb onto Zing's body and damaged him.

Angered, the Bee King electrified himself and zapped the Wings out of the air. He began to drill a thunder bolt along the vine, so Team Rupert sprinted across the narrow rounding path. Several Pikmin were hit and stunned, tempting Rupert to run backwards and face them so he could recover the Pikmin with his whistle. "RUPERT!" Timothy grabbed his friend and dove over the side before the lightning could hit. Wing Pikmin swooped down and rescued their masters, lifting them back up to the vine behind the king.

King Zing was still chasing Hikari, but Rupert could give a Bomb Rock to a Yellow Pikmin and run to throw it onto Zing's stinger. "BUZZ, buzz, buzz, buzz…!" The king flew away to let his weak point recover.

"Grrrr, I can't hold this vine any longer!" Gonshiri yelled, her hands dropping as the beanstalk collapsed. Team Rupert called their Wing Pikmin to catch them as they each picked up a Bomb Rock.

"That's okay! We can defeat him like this!" Rupert declared. "Let's get him, team!" King Zing glared at the humans and shot stinger bullets as they pursued through the buzzing storm. King Zing charged and tried to ram through them, but the kids dodged in time. King Zing flew under and got in front of them again. "Hikari, go for his stinger, we'll get the wings!"

"Um… That stinger looks scary." Hikari said worriedly.

"I know, but you're faster, you can dodge it."

"Okay, Rupy…" While the boys flew up and diverted King Zing's attention, Hikari aimed her bomb at the stinger. "BUZZ!"

"YEEP!" Hikari yelped when a smaller Zinger flew by her—King Zing whipped his vision down to see her, raising his stinger.

"HIKARI!" Timothy dropped down and BZZPKOOM! King Zing's sting felt like taking a thousand lightning bolts at once.

"TIMMYYYYY!" Hikari cried as her brother fell to the earth.

"BUUUUUUUZZZZ!" King Zing flashed like lightning, feeling absolute pride in claiming vengeance on one of his enemies. Fueled with anger, Rupert threw his Bomb Rock at Zing's wings with great force. "BUZZ, buzz!"

"YOU MEANIE BEE!" Hikari chucked hers at the stinger, and with both weak points fatally wounded, the king fell. "BUUUUUUUuuuuuzzzzzz…"

The swarm grew confused and scattered, so Rupert and Hikari told their Pikmin to take them back to ground. Other Wings had rescued Timothy, and Minish gathered around the boy. He was swelling red. (End song.)

King Zing's dead body was collected by Rupert's Brown Pikmin, who carried him to their Onion to produce 50 more of their kind. But the humans couldn't celebrate their victory with Timothy injured. Medical Minish injected him with a white sap. "Timmy… I…I'm sorry." Rupert felt responsible.

"It's not your fault, Rupy." Hikari said. "He tried to save me. But at least the nice nurse will make him better."

"I'm… afraid not." Nurse Sipi said. "The medicine I used usually fixes Zinger stings… but King Zing's was stronger. I'm afraid the medicine will only keep Timmy alive for… at least a day."

"No!" Rupert yelled. Hikari cupped her sleeves over her mouth and broke into tears. "There's NOTHING we can do?!"

"King Zing had the most toxic stinger of all bees." Gonshiri spoke solemnly. "The only thing I can think of that would heal Timothy… is the God Fruit."

"The God Fruit?"

"Princess!" Lenari shouted reprovingly. "You aren't actually thinking of…"

"Yes, I am! I may not be pure-hearted, but I won't let any operatives die under my watch!"

"But you know your uncle is after the God Fruit!"

"The God Fruit won't leave its cave. We'll carry Timothy there, heal him, and destroy what remains of the fruit. King Andrew won't have a chance to take it."

"Fine, then let's go!" Rupert insisted. "Where is the God Fruit?!"

Lenari sighed. "It's…It's in a country called the Wistful Wild. Deep underground. The same cavern where Malarko's army is hidden."