Chapter 26
Dr. Kamenstein was in that tremendous storage room of his again. With his female guest beside him, his stork behind him, and the Sky-Pop before him, he pushed a certain button and the trio got to watch the changes begin. The little device suddenly revealed that it was two halves stuck together. They both spread apart, unveiling that a new seat was hidden behind the pilot's seat all along. Once this was done, Dr. Kamenstein turned and faced the woman. "After you, Madame," he said. She nodded and climbed into the seat that just showed up. The doctor himself commenced, similarly, getting into the seat with the control panel in front of it. Storko, in the background, was nervously twitching the tips of his wings. Dr. Kamenstein was well into his seat when he turned and glared at the bird. The product of genetic-engineering felt something hard and heavy plunge into his gut at the look. "And just what are YOU doing just standing there?!" he demanded. Storko jolted.

"Um, uh," he stammered. "Do you...Do you want me to stay behind, sir? You know, to watch everything while you're gone?"

Dr. Kamenstein squinted his eyes in fury at the feathery person. "Why? So you can SCREW THINGS UP EVEN MORE?!" Both Storko and the Madscikoopa's passenger jolted at this outburst.

"Well, um, no, but..." Storko had drops of a cold fluid flinging off of his trembling scalp.

"Look, Storko," Kamenstein said, suddenly grabbing a hold of the side of his plane and flinging himself out. He landed on the ground and the other two people both watched as he approached the bird, menacingly. "I tell you to return the babies to their rightful owners, and you screw up. I order you to be a good host and a good babysitter, and you screw up. Quite frankly, Storko, I'm getting quite sick of you screwing up all the time." Neither of the two of the scientific man or his bird were removing their unblinking gazes from each other’s eyes. "I give you food, I give you shelter..." The lab-coat-wearing man counted on his fingers. "THIS is the thanks you give for me?!"

"But, sir, I-" Storko stammered. Dr. Kamenstein swung an arm to the side. Storko shut up.

"Maybe making you wasn't such a great idea," Dr. Kamenstein said. Storko's heart stopped. Their female guest held her hand before her mouth and watched all this in pure shock. The Madscikoopa looked down at his feet. "Maybe if I never even made you to begin with," the doctor continued, "none of this would have ever happened." He looked up at Storko using eyes that could pierce through steel. "Poison is less harmful than you." Storko gasped and staggered backward at these words. He stared at his creator, shaking terribly. He stared in absolute terror into the doctor's eyes. Finally, he worked his courage up to say something.

"Then...what do you want me to do?"

Dr. Kamenstein snorted. He flipped his head away, turned around, walked towards the Sky-Pop, and heaved himself back in, feeling feminine eyes gawking at him in worry. He started the engine of his device, causing it to vibrate in anticipation. He turned his head around to give one last dreadful look at the bird. "You figure it out." Storko gulped. Dr. Kamenstein made a few more movements and finally got his plane moving. It rolled on through the place at a high speed and began to lift into the air. Its passenger turned around and waved to Storko with a small smile on her face. In return, Storko only gave the smallest of smirks. They flew away into the morning clouds and the stork was left all alone. He stared for a while longer, then mopily turned around and started slowly sauntering back inside the doctor's home.

I knew he was gonna be mad, he thought. Maybe I really am not good enough for him...

"All set and ready to go?" Xoshi and White Rose were standing before the little mushroom person of yet another Toad House. They had gotten their daily dose of sleep and were prepared to attack the new day.

"Yes, we are," replied White Rose.

"Alright then, sirs. You have a nice day and thank you for choosing our services," the Toad said. Xoshi and White Rose took their leave of him. Soon, they were back beneath the sunny sky of the cheerful Toad Town. Toads of all ages were out and about, each of them carrying out their morning routines. The two travelers looked around and took note of the place's streets, trees, grass, and various buildings. One of them had a whirling roof. White Rose looked at it intently.

"That's the one, Sir Xoshi," he said. "The home of Merlon. Once in there, perhaps we'll learn of the whereabouts of Merlinda."

"Mm-hm," Xoshi said.

"Alright," White Rose said. "Let's go." The two of them moved away from the Toad House and onto the street. This was what they crossed before arriving at the door of the house itself. Once there, White Rose extended a gloved fist and knocked.

"Not now! Nobody's home!!" a voice from within called. Xoshi and White Rose exchanged weird looks. White Rose knocked again. "I said go away!!"

"Hmm..." White Rose hummed, holding his fist in front of the door. Again, he knocked.

"Ugh!!" the voice said. At last, the door swung open. Thinking fast, White Rose hopped one step back so the portal wouldn't slam him in the face. The two of him and his partner could see that the person who opened it up was a small Shaman with a big grey mustache. He looked annoyed. "What is it? What do you want?" he demanded. "Can't you see nobody's home?"

"Um," Xoshi hesitated. White Rose took it from there.

"We're looking for Merlinda," he said. "Is she about?"

"My niece, eh?" said the Shaman. "Sure, she's here. What do you need her for?"

"We need to get to the Clover Kingdom," White Rose replied. "We need her in order to get there as quickly as possible."

"Well, that's what she's good for," the Shaman said. "However, I'm afraid you can't have her. She's working on the basement right now, so off with you!"

"What seems...to be the trouble?" Xoshi asked.

"My basement's haunted. It seems some time ago it got possessed by dozens of mischievous, little, otherworldly beings. They're causing a ruckus!" the magical old man explained. "My niece is good for these kinds of things, so I had her come on over to take care of it. She's an exorcist, you know." This was all clear to the man's two visitors. He continued. "But the trouble is, she's been down there for quite some time, and she still hasn't come out! Oh, I fear the worst."

"I see," said White Rose, pressing his fingers where his lips would be behind that veil of his. He put them down. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"You? Help?" said the Shaman.

"Yes," White Rose said.

"If you do this, do you promise to go away and leave me alone?" the Shaman asked.

"We promise," said White Rose.

"Alright, come on in, then." The old man walked away into his home and his two visitors were soon inside as well. They found themselves amidst a single, circular room with a strange glow to it surrounded by curtains. An upraised platform in the middle had a green crystal ball on top with a yellow star in the middle. The Shaman led them to that very thing. "Open!" he said. "Sesame!" With those magic words, the platform flipped to one side and all was revealed: a trapdoor popped open revealing a staircase leading down to someplace dark and mysterious. He turned and looked at the gawking guests. "Alright, you two, now make yourselves useful." Xoshi and White Rose approached the newly-formed staircase. "Good luck!" Unsure of what was in store, the two of them bravely set foot onto the first step and began to descend into this man's infested basement...

Everyone in the room was sprawled across the floor in various positions. The ordeal they had just endured had a heavy impact on them. It was quite dark in there, and the only light was coming from some of the emergency ones here and there. Getting his wits together, the captain pushed himself off the ground, rubbed his scalp, and stood up. "On your feet!!" he yelled. The underlings within the vicinity obeyed hesitantly. The commander of the organization was beside his superior sweeping dust off him. The purple leader turned to this gigantic frog. "Looks like that portal didn't do us in when it got the chance," he said.

"YES, SIR," the amphibian agreed. The captain folded his arms and looked around the room expectantly. Most of his men were back in their seats, but were still all very confused and waiting for orders.

"Well?" the captain said. "Any more readings? Where are we?" His minions all got back to work, punching away at keys and whatnot. One of them looked at his screen perplexedly.

"Sir," the purple servant said, "We're in a place surrounded in... brass!" The others all began to let out murmurings of confusion and disbelief. The captain placed his chin between some of his fingers.

"Brass, hmm?" he mused. He put down his hand and placed both arms beside him. "Alright, then. Wart! Cutlass! Katana!" One by one, the frog and both silver space aliens turned to look at their leader. "You're all coming with me. The rest of you stay here and don't mess anything up!"

A purple one had his objections. "But, sir! It could be dangerous out there!"

"Don't underestimate your captain, "the big purple leader growled. "Besides: judging by your earlier actions, this ship should be your place, anyway!!" A good deal of the aliens seemed to shrink by the sound of these words. Cutlass and Katana looked at them in pity. They got up from their seats and walked up to the captain and Wart. The head-honcho folded his arms once more. "Alright, boys," he said, "let's move it."

"Yes, sir," they said at once. The newly formed quartet walked up to the circular room's futuristic door, let it slide upwards, and the four of them walked through. Soon, they were walking around in one of the ship's many cold, sterile halls, lined with various lights, air ducts, nuts, bolts, pipes, and steel panels.

"This is what being promoted is all about," Katana privately said to Cutlass. "Getting to go on missions, personally, with the captain." Cutlass grinned mischievously. The four-some continued walking, doing so past various other crew-members while they were at it.

Now let's see if we can get to the bottom of this, the captain thought grimly...

Xoshi and White Rose had reached the bottom of the staircase. Before their eyes was a maze where the floor, the ceiling, and all the walls were covered in curtains and were glowing strangely like the room they were just in. They could see that a four-way intersection was lying in wait for them.

"Well, then," said White Rose, "let's see if we can get to the bottom of this." Xoshi nodded. The duo moved onward until they were just before where the intersection split into four different directions. "I'll go this way," he said, pointing to the right, "you go that way." He pointed to the left. White Rose gave Xoshi a salute. "Good luck!" Xoshi saluted back and the two of them headed on through the maze...

"So the intruders have come for us..." A shadowy figure lurking somewhere deep within the place was talking to its minions. They all listened intently for orders. "Go and get them. Make sure they don't make it to the prize." The minions all saluted and scurried away. "Nothing can stop me now! Uwee hee hee..."

White Rose ran through this strange new hall. Curtains and glowing sensations whizzed past him as he drew closer to the corner. It came within proximity, and he turned left. He headed onward through this other path until something suddenly caught him off guard and he skidded to a halt.

"What the-" he blurted. He looked down and noticed a huge crevasse he had almost fell down. He shook his head, getting his wits back together. "Strange basement this man has." He closed his eyes, unsheathed his sword, and held it out before him...

Everywhere Xoshi ran, another intersection was there for him. First he had to choose between two different paths, then three, then four. He turned left, he turned right, he went forward, and sometimes he just stood there and thought. He was right before a three-way intersection. One way or the other...Which was it going to be? Finally, he reached his decision. He made a left turn.

This caused him to go down a new path, but they all looked exactly the same. Once a new turn came at his face, he went to the right. He kept going down until he reached another turn. Right again, he stopped dead in his tracks. This part of the maze just led to a wall.

"Shoot," Xoshi grumbled. "Wrong way." He turned around and continued trekking through the labyrinth...

White Rose opened up his glowing eyes. He swung his sword forward three times, each one making it noticeably longer. SHING! SHING! SHING!! Both the sword's singing and its growth stopped. The blade had gotten a good few meters longer and was ready for action. White Rose strained his muscles to let it down slowly. Clink...clink... With the pointy end laying down on one side of the pit and the hilt laying down on the other, the knight had managed to make a makeshift bridge. He rubbed his gloved hands together and ran across it, the metal weapon making clanging sounds with each harsh step. Once that had been done, he was across and ready to continue the journey. He picked up the pointy end of his sword with both hands and gradually let it shrink back into its original size. He put it back in its scabbard and went on with the quest...

After a few more twists and turns, Xoshi was finally able to catch up with something a little more interesting than what he had previously endured. This next hall he was in was a little wider than the others. It was just as well since a batch of Crazee Dayzees were there for him. Xoshi stopped and stared at them suspiciously.

"Who...are you?" Xoshi said to them.

The Dayzee up front spoke up. "We work for the guy in charge of this basement."

Xoshi blinked at them. "Really..."

Elsewhere, White Rose was having troubles of his own. A few changes of direction later and he himself was in a vast opening. Five Crazee Dayzees were present.

"And you are?" White Rose asked.

"The one running this joint sent us," said the one in front of all the others. "We've been ordered to kill you on sight."

"Is that so?" White Rose said.

"Yes," said the one Crazee Dayzee, sternly. White Rose drew his sword once more.

"I see..."

Xoshi got into a fighting stance. "You'll...have to fight me, first," he said. His quintet of enemies all got into similar poses...

"We suspected as much," said the one White Rose was dealing with. It raised one arm into the air and swung it downward towards the man. "GET HIM!!" he yelled.

"ATTACK!!" yelled Xoshi's Crazee Dayzee. In different places, two guys commenced going at it with a five-some of walking, talking flowers...

Four of them rushed Xoshi. One leapt through the air, but Xoshi was ready. Before the little foe could land any sort of punch against the brown Yo'ster's body, Xoshi was able to lash out his tongue, whip it around the pest's torso, snatch him into his mouth, swallow him, and turn him into an egg. Xoshi readied his new projectile with one hand, closed one eye, aimed with the other, and fired. SPLAT! One unlucky Dayzee failed in his attempt to rush his enemy and instead only succeeded in getting a face full of yolk. He was knocked back and was down for the count. Three more wanted to take Xoshi on...

White Rose was having an equally easy time. The Crazee Dayzees all tried in vain to launch themselves at him, but they were no match for him and his sword. Each time they came too close, they'd get a huge gash cut into them if not an entire petal torn off. White Rose was quickly finding himself surrounded by a multitude of flower-like bodies out of commission. One remained. He had a trump card up his sleeve and White Rose was willing to let him go ahead and use it. The remaining Crazee Dayzee closed its eyes and took a deep breath...

Xoshi was ready for this next troublesome trio. The first one lunged at him but Xoshi was able to slurp him up. Within seconds, another egg had been made. Two more Crazee Dayzees were still flying towards him. He thrust the egg in the direction of the first one. SPLAT!! Yolk got all over this unfortunate opponent. The impact of the blow sent him flying backward. WHAM!! The one right behind him got nailed by his own comrade. Both enemies were sent sprawling across the floor. None were left. Xoshi had taken care of this one.

Now to find out who's in charge, he thought. Xoshi ran through the maze, continuing this search...

White Rose's one Crazee Dayzee let loose his collection of air. A mysterious song escaped from his lips. As it flowed through the air and swirled its way into his ears, a strange sensation fell over the brave knight. He suddenly felt very light-headed and groggy. There was something enigmatic about this song. It was telling him to do something, and he couldn't disobey. The last thing he thought about revolved around what this could possibly be. His arms fell limp to his sides. The right one dropped his blade to the ground resulting in a clattering sound. His knees buckled beneath him. Not wanting to, he fell forward and collapsed onto the ground. Loud snoring began to escape from the swordsman. The remaining Crazee Dayzee chuckled to himself.

"Not so tough now, are ya?" he said. He slowly approached the downed man in white...

Left, right, and straight-forward Xoshi had to turn. To him, it was just more of the same with this crazy dungeon. Once he saw another three-way intersection drawing closer to him, his instincts kicked in once more and so he decided to take a right. He soon found out that this was most likely the correct move to make...

In this new hallway, he found four downed Crazee Dayzees and one suspicious one that was slowly advancing towards his fallen ally. Xoshi snapped. "Hey, you!!" he blurted to the enemy.

The one Crazee Dayzee turned around. "Ah, more of 'em, eh? This should be interesting..." The Crazee Dayzee broke into a sprint towards Xoshi. The brown Yo'ster squinted his eyes at the adversary. At the right moment, he leapt up into the air. Seeing the disappearance of his opponent made the Crazee Dayzee skid to a halt. He looked around himself to figure this out. He looked up when it was too late. WHAM!! Xoshi flattened him against the ground by pounding him right into it with his rear-end. He hopped off the pancake of a Crazee Dayzee and confirmed that this round had been dealt with.

Seeing White Rose was still a matter at hand, he approached his unconscious fellow traveler, knelt down, placed two hands against his body, and shook. "White! White! Wake up!!" Xoshi urged.

White Rose jolted and leapt away from Xoshi, looking cautious. He turned his head in this direction and the other wondering what was going on. He finally looked at Xoshi and said, "Ah, Sir Xoshi. Thank you for helping me. It seems those fiends should be watched out for once they begin singing."

Xoshi looked at him quizzically as he walked up to his sword and picked it up off the ground. "Singing?" he asked.

"Yes," White Rose said, placing the sword back in its scabbard. "These fiends have the ability to put people to sleep once they start singing. I was not careful enough and soon succumbed to that, as you can see."

Xoshi nodded. "Okay," he said.

"Right then," White Rose said. "Let's continue!"

"Right!" The duo continued moving on through the maze...

The UFO lowered a massive, metal ramp. It banged against a vast amount of ground made entirely of shiny, yellow brass. Four figures descended the ramp and found themselves amidst an entirely different place. All around them, they could see that this was a world where roads of brass weaved in and out of one another, all the while floating in the middle of something black with stars drifting across it. No... Those weren't stars. They were more like white musical notes. All four of Wart, Cutlass, Katana, and their captain were in awe of this strange place. To top it all off, it even came with hills, caves, and even plants that resembled trumpets, tubas, baritones, and trombones. They wondered what they had stumbled upon.

"There are some pretty crazy things in this universe," Katana mused.

"Indeed," Cutlass agreed.

"Let's keep moving, boys," the captain said. The others agreed to do this. They only walked forward but a few steps when suddenly it got extremely windy. Cutlass and Katana looked around suspiciously with the other two as their long, white hair was swept in this strong breeze. "What the-" the captain said, beginning to shield his eyes with his beefy hands. They looked forward and saw that all this wind was forming some mass of swirling clouds right in front of them. As the wind picked up further, the mass got tighter as well as smaller. Eventually, it not only shrank; it vanished. At last, all was revealed.

Standing where the cloud once was was a tall man in a red cloak and a white mask bearing two slanted eyeholes. In his right hand, he held a spear, and on his back were two faerie-like wings. On either side of him were two strange little creatures. They had round bodies, brown shoes, green faces, big noses, beady eyes, antennae, and pants that were striped blue and white, but had no visible mouths. The man spoke up.

"So, you're next," he said to the captain.

The big purple space alien looked perplexed. "Next for what, infidel?" he said. "What's going on here, anyway?" he growled.

"You've heard of Tondariya, true?" the man asked.

"What of it?" the captain said, folding his masculine arms.

The red-garbed man tapped his spear against the ground. "This place, and the people standing before you..." All four visitors looked at the man and his two little cronies. "...Are her wrath." The quartet of aliens all looked very confused by this. "More specifically, we are her pride. She always enjoyed seeing herself outperform the best of her adversaries, and you just happen to be four of them."

Again, the aliens looked befuddled. Katana spoke out. "What?! Us four?! But what of the others on that ship?!" He pointed to the UFO behind them.

"Warriors step forward, cowards stay behind," the man said. "Tondariya never liked cowards, and you four have stepped forward."

The captain sneered. "Yeah? So?" he questioned.

"You are here so that it can be proven, once again, that she is the best," the man explained. "You are to enter in a contest of skill. In the unlikely event that you win, you'll be able to return home and carry on with your lives. But in the inevitable event that you lose, you'll be forced to stay here for all eternity." The man tapped his spear against the ground again. "What do you say?"

For a good few moments, the four-some remained silent. During this, the captain just stood there with that dead serious look on his face. Then it slowly turned into a grin. "Have you any idea who you're talking to?" he said. The man said nothing. "You treat me as though I'm just another commoner who stumbled upon this place. Think again, tightwad." The captain unfolded his arms and placed their fists against his hips defiantly. "The name's Gonnic. Titotal Gonnic. Scourge of the galaxy, conqueror of worlds. No-one has ever stood a chance against me. Those who thought they did were the ones who fell most swiftly. To me, you're just another insect bound to fall to my greatness. I fear nothing."

The robed man stared for a while. "Tondariya liked arrogant people," he said. The captain cocked an eyebrow at him. "This should make it all the more amusing to the audience."

"What?" the muscular alien said.

"Come with me," said the man. A gigantic spiral of wind began to engulf the seven people. The four visitors were all looking confused again. The red person and his two attendants remained calm. The wind got more powerful, getting the group to see more white around them than yellow. "All will be explained..." Within seconds, the cloud of wind had completely ensnared them all. Once again, it dissipated. In its wake was only a few wisps. The seven-some had disappeared...

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, mama."

"Alright..."

Bowser and Kamek were standing in front of the two Bangarang Bros. who were still guarding the front steps to Monet's Mansion. All five of Gorroh, Helga, Arris, Doppel, and the Koopa Troopa servant were there as well. Helga bent down and gave Bowser a hug and a kiss on the snout. She rubbed the top of his head, brushing his little ponytail in the process and stood upright again.

"Now, you two be good," she insisted. "This is a very important mission, so I don't want the two of you bickering. Understood?"

"Yes, your highness," Kamek muttered.

"Don't worry, mama," Bowser reassured. "I'll keep him in line!"

Gorroh laughed. "That's my boy! Now get out there and let 'em have it!!"

"Yessir, papa!" Bowser said. Kamek shook his head. He whipped out his broom, stuck it between his legs, and began hovering.

"Hop aboard, young master," he ordered. Bowser complied. He got the backseat behind Kamek, and the two of them began to fly above the paint-oriented tree-tops of the Clattagin Woods. Gorroh and Helga started waving to them. Bowser looked behind and waved back. After that, it was just those five people and the Bangarang Bros..

Doppel turned and looked at Gorroh. "That Koopaling," he said. "He's a lot like you, isn't he?"

"Yup!" Gorroh agreed, folding his arms. "Therefore, he has what it takes to be king!" Hearing this, the two of Helga and Doppel started nodding their heads. The Koopa Troopa servant only chuckled a little. Arris still had a dead serious look on his face.

"Well, enough chit-chat. Let's go in; I'm starving!!" Doppel said this while clutching at his stomach.

Gorroh nodded. "Alright. Let's go." With that, Doppel was the first to turn around and float back up the stairs. The others soon began to follow his example.

Surely they'll succeed, Gorroh thought optimistically. I hope they will. I'm dying to see what these babies Kamek was talking about look like...

"We're here," said the man in red, letting the wisps of white smoke fade into the air.

The ride was over. Wart, Cutlass, Katana, and the captain had materialized in a very large, rather dark room of brass held up with pillars here and there. They all swore they could hear the faint sound of cheering behind the walls of this place. All throughout it were various motorcycles, all lined up. They each came in a wide variety of different shapes, sizes, colors, and designs. One particular one was at the end of one of these rows. It appeared to be made of gold. It was lined with an assortment of precious metals like silver, bronze, and platinum as well as gems like ruby, emerald, sapphire, and topaz. The four visitors noticed how, posing next to it with his arms folded, his back leaning against a pillar, and his head turned away, was a man that resembled the red-robed one that was with them, only his attire was much fancier. His robe was gold, and his mask was silver with a red ruby in the center of its forehead. His gloves were silver as well. Each finger wore a ring with a different color gem embedded into it. Beneath that robe, they could also see ruby-encrusted bracelets and the like. Like his forehead, his belt also had a ruby in its center. The rest of it had many jewels stuck in it that formed an intricate pattern. Unlike the man in red, however, his legs actually were visible, or rather their pants were. They were silver and his boots were gold with more precious gems on it here and there. He looked as though he were the wealthiest man in the universe.

The four aliens were given further instructions from their host. "This way," he said. The red-garbed man lead his four guests and his two cronies up to this fanciful one. He turned his head and looked at them.

"Who's this riff-raff?" scoffed the man in the gold robe.

"Kreezo," said the man in red to the one in gold, "meet your new competitors." He extended his left arm and used its outstretched palm to point to each of the four people individually as he stated their names. "Wart, Cutlass, Katana, and Titotal Gonnic."

"Tch. What good are they?" said the one named Kreezo. The aliens' captain frowned.

"We don't know yet for sure," said the red man. "But they would like very muchly to leave this place..."

"I see," said Kreezo.

"Quit stalling!!" the captain barked. "What do we have to do?!"

The red man turned and looked at him. "Hmmm... Yes," he hummed. He tapped his spear against the ground. "Tondariya was very talented. She had everything. Speed, strength, agility... Kreezo, here, represents her speed..." Kreezo and the captain exchanged scowls.

"So?!" said the purple man. "Get on with it!!"

"In order to leave this place," the red-robed man continued, "you four will have to enter in a race against this man." Understanding sunk into the skulls of the four. Cutlass's eyes widened. "The rules are simple," said the man in red. "Each of you will get a bike. Together, you'll race against Kreezo. You'll do this in the race-track out there." The man tilted his head to his right where the cheering could still be heard. "Make it to the finish line before him, and you will win. That's easier said than done." He tapped his spear against the ground again. "The track is riddled with obstacles. Don't bother trying to avoid them; you won't be able to anyway. You can only imagine how many different ways there are to lose..."

"Stop being so cocky," growled the captain. "I told you, I fear nothing!!"

The man gave a quick laugh. "Let me finish." The captain folded his arms again and resumed grimacing. "You will trip over wires. You will get lost in smoke. Your faces will be smashed in." Three of the visitors scowled a bit at this remark. Only Cutlass still remained calm. "Although it is futile, I shall tell you anyway: be careful." The captain rolled his eyes. "Now," said the man in red, "choose your motorcycle..."

The visitors started looking about the room with interested looks on their faces. They left from where they were standing in search of what vehicles would strike their fancy. Within a few moments, it had been done. In due time, the four were standing in front of the red man again. Wart had a green bike, Cutlass had a silver one, Katana had a white one, and the captain had a purple one. Once that was said and done, the red man could continue.

"Very good," he said. "Are you all prepared?" The quartet grinned and nodded. "Very good," the man repeated. "Now you're all going to go out there and race." His four guests looked ready as ever. However, he had something else to say. "Oh, but one more thing." The attention of the four was stolen once again. "If fewer than four of you are able to beat Kreezo, here," he gestured to the golden man with his left hand, "then you may not get exactly what you want at the end of the race. Just a word of caution." The aliens started frowning and speculating. "Oh, and let's not forget," he added, "while driving out there, be careful not to fall of the edge. There's no telling what'll happen or where you'll end up. Understood?"

"Yes, yes. Let's get on with it, already!!" said the captain impatiently.

"Very well..." After that, five contestants had taken their motorcycles and had begun strolling with them after the man in red with his two cronies. He led them down a hall and finally to an archway leading outside. The closer they got, the louder the noise got. At last, they found out the source of this noise was indeed a crowd. The group of eight was standing on a brass road that extended for miles. In the distance, it turned and twisted in every way imaginable. At the start of it was a long bar painted with checkers of black and white lying flat against the ground. This was all between two gigantic sets of bleachers, both of which were occupied by thousands of little creatures very much like the ones that the man in red was accompanied by. They were all very excited. All of this was floating in the strange sky of Tondariya's wrath. "Places, everyone," said the man in red.

Wart, Katana, Cutlass, the captain, and Kreezo were lined up in front of the starting point. Each of them were getting their motorcycles up and ready to go. While waiting for the official start of this, Cutlass turned to his right and looked at his superior, smirking confidently. "Captain?" he said. His boss looked at him. "Don't worry. Where I'm from, there's no better motorcyclist than me."

The captain scoffed. "You'd better be," he said. The two looked away and awaited further instructions.

Suddenly, everyone could hear a loud voice rumbling throughout the place. "Ladies and Melon Bugs," it said. The audience began to quiet down and the five racers were beginning to listen more intently. "Today, to prove once again that Tondariya is the best, we have four new visitors here to challenge the unbeatable Kreezo..." The audience cheered at the sound of the golden man's name. The cocky racer extended his left arm and waved to them, nodding all the while. His four competitors scowled at him disapprovingly. The announcer continued. "Coming from parts unknown, we have with us today, Wart..." Everyone booed at the big frog. Wart scowled and held tighter to the handlebars of his vehicle. "Katana..." The long-haired, man of silver got booed as well. Katana just scoffed and shook his head. "Cutlass..." Cutlass suffered the same fate. He rolled his eyes. "And Titotal Gonnic..." Even the captain was booed. His eyes squinted as his brow furled even further, making his grimace even worse. "Let us see the great Kreezo defeat them and prove the mighty Tondariya cannot be topped." Finally, the audience started cheering again.

The four aliens were anxious. The crowd was still going wild, but not much else was happening. Then the two creatures that were beside the red man earlier walked up, made their ways past the starting line, and turned and faced the five motorcyclists. They were all pretty expectant. Anticipatingly, they waited. Then finally, the two curled up into little balls striped blue and white, made loud bouncing noises, and simultaneously launched themselves sky-high. The instant this happened, all five bikers were off in a flash and the crowd had gone nuts. The race to either prove or disprove Tondariya's strength had begun...

"Sir!" said a Crazee Dayzee to his shadowy figure of a boss. "The intruders will be here any minute!"

"Have they, now? Uwee hee hee... Let them come. This should be good for a couple of laughs..."

"Yes, sir!"

Xoshi and White Rose turned to the left and headed down the next hallway. Up ahead, they could see a light at 2:00. "Almost there," said White Rose. Within moments, that very entrance was right before them. They entered and all was revealed.

"So, you guys thought you could put a stop to my operation, eh?" said the one sitting in the throne at the end of this big room. One Crazee Dayzee was standing in front of him a little and two others were by his side. What was different about those two, though, was how their bodies were completely of a bright, shiny yellow that sparkled and glittered fabulously. All four of them were carefully watching the two intruders. "Well, you can't do that," said their leader. He was the most different-looking member of the group. He was an oversized creature hiding beneath a big green sheet with a quasi-spooky face on the front. Two shoes could be seen dangling off the throne beneath the sheet. One wrapped-up arm was on the left armrest while the other was holding up what looked like a big watering can. Something seemed oddly familiar about this guy.

"Are you... the Plantern Ghost?" Xoshi said.

"Uwee hee hee," chuckled the green-garbed leader. "Yes, that is me. And these are my children!" The Plantern Ghost was referring to the Crazee Dayzees within the vicinity. They all smirked mischievously at the two intruders. "Like them?" the Plantern Ghost asked. "It just goes to show where plenty of love and good nutrition can take you," he said, dangling his watering can, letting the liquid splash inside of it.

"You're the one haunting this basement," White Rose accused. The mysterious knight started fondling the hilt of his sword. "Just what are you up to?" he demanded.

"We were just looking for a good hideout," replied the leader. "Is it our fault people make such a big deal out of this?"

"What for?" White Rose said.

"My children don't just pop out of the ground, you know," the ghost replied. "They need virgin sacrifices."

The Plantern Ghost tilted his watering can forward and poured out some of its contents onto the ground. Both Xoshi and White Rose were in utter shock at the sight of what it was. His watering can was filled to the brim with blood. The thick, red substance sloshed into a murky puddle on the ground. The two intruders watched in horror and disgust. At first, nothing happened. Then the fluid began to bubble as though the ground beneath it was beginning to heat up. The stuff bubbled and boiled and rose a column of steam into the air. Then something began to take shape beneath the bubbling. It rose out of the red gunk as though it were a trapdoor. This something turned out to be another Amazee Dayzee like the ones by the Plantern Ghost's sides, but it sparkled red instead of yellow. The remaining blood by its feet evaporated and its eyes remained closed. At last, they flew open. The two of them seemed to be made out of fire. Xoshi and White Rose were in awe.

"Meet the latest addition to the family," bragged the Plantern Ghost. "I call him... Blazee Dayzee. Something like this can only be achieved if you have a green thumb... like me." The ghost lifted up his left arm and gave the two adventurers the thumbs-up. He got some weird looks in return. "Quick, strong, agile... This work of art has everything you could ever ask for. His powers allow him to burn up most anything. He's one little flower you won't want to mess with. All that, and he can reproduce asexually, too. Uwee hee hee." Xoshi and White Rose got a good look at Blazee Dayzee's overconfident, smirking face. They could tell it was going to be quite the opponent. "Yes, gentlemen, with a couple drops of blood (including my own), this is what can be done. You could say he's proof the worthless fungus of this town is good for something after all..."

Xoshi clenched his fists in fury. "Why...you..." he growled.

"And that's just with a guard or two..." It suddenly dawned on the two intruders that the very person that had warned them of this very creature was no longer alive. This got them all the more infuriated. "Imagine," continued the ghost, "what I could do with a Shaman..." The Plantern Ghost raised his left hand again and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the ceiling of the corner of the room to his right formed a rectangular opening. This opening lowered a big cage hanging from a few chains. Inside this cage was an unconscious person lying down. It was a Shaman much like Merlon, but far more feminine. Hanging out of either side of her hood were two long locks of blonde hair that coiled into two little swirls at the bottom. A lock sticking out of her forehead did something fairly similar. No doubt this was Merlon's niece.

"You'll do no such thing," White Rose threatened, pulling his sword completely out of its scabbard this time.

"Think you can stop me?" the Plantern Ghost taunted. "I said that you wouldn't..." The ghost raised his left arm and swung it pointing forward. "GET THEM!!" The four flowers in the room lunged for the duo of intruders. Three of them went for the swordsman leaving Xoshi to be the lucky one having to deal with the powerful, red one. Within seconds, the fight had begun...

Out of the three, the less sparkly Crazee Dayzee of the trio was the first to try tackling White Rose. Showing no mercy, the knight thrust his sword out. SHUNK! The foolish flower had run right into it. Now he had a bloody sword going through his torso and his back and a dead look in his eyes. The brave swordsman flung the messy corpse off his sword, letting it splatter against the floor. He glared at the two yellow Amazee Dayzees and got into yet another big fight...

Xoshi made the first move. He shot his long, stretchy tongue out at Blazee Dayzee, but soon came to regret it. TSSS! The instant the tip of his tongue hit the surface of that thing's face, it shot right back into his mouth. Xoshi let the tip dangle out of his mouth as he tried flapping his hands in front of it to cool it down. With his opponent distracted, the Blazee Dayzee held out one hand and started making a ball of fire form in it. Once it was nice and big, he chucked it at the preoccupied Xoshi. It nailed him in the gut. FWOOSH! Xoshi immediately put his hands down and dropped onto the ground, rolling around like mad, desperately trying to get the fire out. Once the flames had been reduced to a black scorch mark on him, Xoshi got back up and stared at the smirking Blazee Dayzee. He knew this wasn't going to be easy...

The two Amazee Dayzees started speeding towards White Rose. He bent down and swung his sword horizontally to rend them both asunder, but it wasn't enough. The clever little creatures leapt over his assault and flew right over his head. To keep track of them, he quickly spun around, but that wasn't enough either. One of them suddenly shot up and punched his right hand straight from the bottom causing his sword to fly out and clatter to the floor beneath the suspended cage. White Rose immediately turned around, jumped forward, and landed on his side so he could roll towards his weapon and pick it back up. He extended his right hand for its hilt, but SLAM! His hand suddenly got pinned to the ground by one of the Amazee Dayzees. He glared up at its smirking face. In the next instant, the sword was being held high above the flower's head with both arms in triumph. He jumped off of the knight's injured hand and sped towards its comrade which had an equally mischievous look on its face. White Rose jumped up from the floor, turned around, and saw this. The Amazee Dayzee to the left of the one with the blade took a deep breath...

Xoshi stared down Blazee Dayzee. His fiery opponent held out both hands and started making fireballs appear in both. Xoshi's eyes widened at the sight. The Blazee Dayzee arched his eyebrows at the brown Yo'ster and began his assault. Xoshi commenced doing a dance in a desperate attempt at dodging each of those fireballs. Left, right, left, right, left, right... FWOOSH! Xoshi was incinerated with one in his right shoulder. He jumped back, knelt down, and clutched at his wound, letting loose a low moan. He glared at his enemy. He was getting another sphere of incineration ready. Xoshi had yet to react...

Xoshi...

Yes??

My powers...

Xoshi hesitated. Alright... While the fireball was busy whirling its way into its ideal size, Xoshi was busy making a certain sign with his arms and his hands. His brown eyelids closed dreamily...

White Rose only got to hear the first three notes of the mysterious song. No, he thought. I won't fall for the same trick twice... White Rose's hands flew up to the sides of his head and he slapped his ears shut. His eyes could make out that one of his opponents was still singing, but did so with his eyes closed. The other flower had an annoyed look on his face. His partner's song wasn't working and he was unaware of it. With his hands still clasped against his ears, the knight rushed the one with the sword. That particular Amazee Dayzee wasn't a lucky one. BAM!! The swordsman kicked the unfortunate flower in the nuts, forcing him to release the sword and send his hands immediately to his private area. What's more is that in the process, the sword he was holding fell from the air and conked him on the head. It clattered to the ground as he fell unconscious. At this point, the other Amazee Dayzee's eyes were finally opened and his lips were no longer moving. White Rose caught on to this cue, took his hands away from his ears, and hastily picked up his sword. One more opponent remained...

The Blazee Dayzee's fireball was big and ready, but he couldn't help but notice that Xoshi's eyes were still closed. It looked at him questioningly. Xoshi remained still. Finally, his brown eyelids flew up. They revealed two glowing pupils, both of them a storm of colors. The Blazee Dayzee arched an eyebrow at him. Then the brown Yo'ster thrust his hands out. The Blazee Dayzee caught on and flew his own hands out as well. The two opponents had their palms facing each other and were letting out rather poignant waves of their own powers. As a result, two tsunamis of pure destruction were colliding with each other in midair, trying to out-push one another, but they seemed to be evenly matched. One of them was golden, shiny, sparkly, and filled with star shapes. The other was orange, bright, wavy, and loaded with streams of flaming fury. The two forces struggled to triumph over their opponents and knock them into the next century, but it was still even. Seeing this wasn't enough, the Blazee Flexed his muscles and started sending forth even more fire than before. This seemed to work. It was pushing back Xoshi's stars! Seeing that a tidal wave of burning was headed his way, Xoshi began to feel cold drops of sweat going down his face.

Xoshi, Beel said, are you really going to let this imbecile beat you?

Xoshi scrunched his eyebrows down in anger. NO!! That was when Xoshi conjured up some reserves of his own and the tables had turned. At that moment, it was the Blazee Dayzee's surge of power that was being pushed back, but at an even faster rate than what had happened before. In alarm, its eyes widened. Immediately afterwards, it clenched them shut. FWWOOOSSHH!! An explosion of stars had pierced right through its wall of flames, causing them to dissipate into wisps of embers and plow right into the fiendish flower. The Blazee Dayzee, covered in bruises ,was knocked back and was sent skidding across the floor with its eyes still shut in infuriation. Once its head hit the wall between the cage and the throne, it stopped skidding. It opened one eye. It saw Xoshi pumping an arm in victory, and growled...

White Rose saw the whole thing. Hmm... he thought. I never would have imagined Xoshi to have such power... His gaze went from Xoshi's pleased face to the Blazee Dayzee's scowl. But that strange creature's fire was also quite impressive. Then he looked at his yellow opponent and his eyes went wide. Wait...Fire! The swordsman sheathed his sword and pulled out the wand he got from the Star Spirits. Once again, he could feel an invigorating sensation of holy energy spiraling throughout his body. I hope this works... The Amazee Dayzee saw the sudden appearance of this new weapon and looked quizzically at it. It started grimacing again and began another assault. It ran towards White Rose while he was still staring at his wand. WHAM! The Amazee Dayzee leapt into the air and tackled White Rose in the waist. Both fighters came crashing down to the floor. In the process, White Rose's wand fell from his hands and clattered to the ground as well, rolling away from his grasp. He couldn't feel its strange energy anymore at that point. Soon, the two opponents were rolling around, seizing each other’s wrists, punching each other in the face, and blocking each other’s attacks. At some point, the Amazee Dayzee was on top of its opponents chest and had White Rose pinned to the ground. The knight had the flower's right wrist in the clutches of his left hand, but that left hand was something to look out for. Without warning, the Amazee Dayzee plunged downward with that very hand and unsheathed the swordsman’s trademark weapon. It raised his sword up into the air and struck. SHUNK!! The flower struck the floor, wedging the weapon firmly into it. The knight had rolled to his right out of the way and had finally gotten the pesky flower off his chest. It fell to the floor but still had its hand firmly latched onto the sword's handle. It saw the knight jump up, land on his side, and roll like the time he tried grabbing his sword. This time, the maneuver proved successful. The wand was back in White Rose's right hand and he could feel its energy again. Similarly, the sword was back in the Amazee Dayzee's right hand. The white-garbed swordsman got into a stance with his new magical weapon and let his opponent make another run towards him, sword swinging and all. Once the flower was close enough, White Rose brought up his left knee and punted his sword right out of his enemy's hand. The flower became confused as the blade once again went flying across the room. Taking advantage of its distraction, White Rose punched the fiend hard in the face with his left fist. This sent the flower skidding across the floor. White Rose ran up to it and stomped hard down onto its chest, pinning it to the ground. He pointed his wand at his scowling mug and started feeling himself clasping onto this energy flowing through him. DIE!! White Rose had squeezed the holy energy out of his body, sent it squirming through his hands, through his fingers, and finally his wand. The magical item's ruby-red jewel glowed brightly and the Amazee Dayzee's face suddenly took on a look of pure terror. It knew this was it. FFWWOOOOSHHH!! A column of pure, raging flames spilled out of the jewel and collided into the flower's face. White Rose's eyes squinted at the brightness of his attack. He held on tightly to his wand and continued forcing energy out of it. Gradually, the hands of his opponent, lying on the ground, began to squirm less and less. Once their trembling had stopped and once they had fallen limp, White Rose cut off the power. He pulled the wand away and noticed that his enemy's head had been completely replaced by a smoking crater. White Rose removed his foot from the Amazee Dayzee's glittering body, stood back, and stared at his ruby-bearing wand in awe. He couldn't believe what he had done with it.

The Plantern Ghost watched this in great dissatisfaction. "You monster..." he growled...

Xoshi was still looking pleased by his moves. This wasn't smart. HISSS!! Xoshi found himself clutching at his left shoulder in agony. He angrily looked forward and saw that his opponent was back up and readying another fireball. To retaliate, Xoshi closed his eyes and crossed his arms once more, making that stance again. He thought about constellations, meteors, supernovas, and the like. Once he could feel the preparations were complete, he opened up his glowing eyes once more and started his rebuttal. This time, the two opponents started firing at each other as though they were wielding a pair of gatling guns. They circled each other around the room, trying as much as possible to dodge, flip, and roll in order to not get hit by each other’s attacks. WHAM! A big glowing star shot the Blazee Dayzee in his left shoulder. Xoshi looked cocky. FWOOSH! Xoshi's chest got hit by a fireball. He was angry again. He started running towards the fiery fiend and he jumped up into the air. His enemy was below him readying another fireball. Xoshi's palms were beginning to sparkle in opposition. Xoshi crash-landed his feet against the flower's chest and the two went sprawling, sending sparks of fire and star flopping around in the process. The two were rolling around, trying to overpower each other. Once the two were back on their feet, Xoshi swung his tail out and tripped the Blazee Dayzee. The red being was tossed into the air and was ready for the final blow. Xoshi aimed, concentrated, and fired. BLLAMMM!! Xoshi blasted out a huge, glittering star at the Blazee Dayzee. It collided with his body and he went soaring through the air. He crashed through the wall where he was lying earlier, leaving a star-shaped hole. At that, the Blazee Dayzee had disappeared...

Xoshi looked triumphant again. Then he turned and saw the Plantern Ghost raise his left arm and snap his fingers again. As a result, the two rectangles of metal holding the cage's bars together that sandwiched Merlinda were beginning to close in on her. "NOW, WHITE!!" Xoshi yelled. The brave knight caught on. He spun around, grasped tightly onto his wand, and concentrated. The still unconscious Merlinda was losing more and more breathing space with each passing second. At last, White Rose was ready. He pointed the wand at the Plantern Ghost and started squeezing out that energy.

"NO!!" screamed the ghost. "YOU GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!!" The ruby of the wand began to glow. "NO!" A hurricane of fire spilled forth from that jewel. "NOOOO!!!" the Plantern Ghost wailed as the flames engulfed him. "AAAUUURRRRGGHHH!!!" The Plantern Ghost had been replaced by an oversized mass of screaming fire. White Rose persisted in maintaining the assault. Sweat formed on his brow as he saw that two slabs of metal were getting rather tight against Merlinda, already beginning to squeeze the girl to death. "AAAUURRggghhh..." White Rose heard the wailing die down. At the same time, the pressing was beginning to hinder. He turned off the wand, and saw what he had done. All that was sitting in the throne was a bunch of flaking, pitch-black debris. A scorched and blackened watering can fell from the air and clattered onto the ground. Xoshi and White Rose watched with dead serious, unblinking stares. They heard the sound of metal groaning, and looked at the cage. The squeezing had stopped, but Merlinda was suffocating between two impenetrable walls as she was trapped.

"What now?" asked Xoshi. Just then, the cage became a ghost. Its transparency was beginning to make it disappear into thin air. Once it was completely invisible, Merlinda's body could bounce back into shape from being pressed. Then she fell from midair. "ACK!!" Xoshi screeched. He ran forward and caught the girl with his saddle. She was still unconscious but was in significantly less peril. Xoshi breathed a sigh of relief. "Well," he said, looking at White Rose, "we did it. The basement's okay... The Plantern Ghost's gone... Merlinda's alright..."

White Rose nodded. He then held up the wand he had used to defeat the Plantern Ghost once and for all. "Not only that," he said, "but I'm beginning to feel some strange connection between me and this wand..."

"Well," Xoshi said, wiping sparkly, starry dust off his hands, "it looks...like we both learned something today."

"Indeed," said the knight. He marveled at the wand some more and put it away. He truly had felt as though something had come between him and that wand. It was like it had become a new body part. With that in mind, he got the feeling that making seven kings with these wands was probably not going to be as hard as they thought...

ONE DOWN
SIX TO GO

"Alright," said the swordsman. "Let's go report this to the old man."

"Right!" Xoshi replied. With Merlinda on their hands and a new amount of bravery coursing through them, the two adventurers left the throne room and commenced journeying through the maze once more...

The five racers sped down a shiny road of brass. They continued down it even when it started sloping upwards. After that, it started twisting and turning. All five of them had to be as careful as possible when going left and right lest they wanted to find out what happened if they were to fall off into that abyss. The quintet had managed to do this well enough. They were all still intact. Kreezo glanced behind them and acknowledged their skill.

Good, he thought. But let's see how well you'll do against this...

Meanwhile, the two of Naji and the giant version of Cutlass were standing in the middle of yet another dream world. This time, it was a gigantic, glowing teal hexagon floating in the middle of pitch-black with various wraiths floating up into the air in the background. The two fighters stared each other down. Then Cutlass raised his arms in front of them, flexed them until they started trembling while Naji was busy getting into a stance of his own. Cutlass made a grey explosion symbol appear and Naji made a light blue snowflake appear. At the same time, a fierce gale was piercing through the air headed in Cutlass's direction and an avalanche of swords started to fall from the sky, landing in different places throughout the battlefield. In order to protect himself from Naji's blizzard, Cutlass had to send his gigantic arms up and defend himself. Surprisingly, it took more than this. Shards of razor-sharp ice started hacking into the dreaded man's skin, letting a thick, purple ooze start to seep out. Cutlass looked at this in shock, and then at Naji only to be shocked even more. Any sword that dared to fall in his direction was flung off by a circular barrier surrounding the purple Yo'ster. Cutlass scowled and his level of arrogance had been taken down a peg while that of his respect for his enemy had gone up. Once both storms of swords and ice had cleared up, the two fighters glared at each other. They got into more stances and dragged the battle further...

Wart, Katana, Kreezo, the real Cutlass, and the captain were still racing. While driving across a higher level of brass road, the five of them eventually began to start drawing closer to a pit full of brass spikes. Being the one taking the lead, Kreezo was the first to hit the gas, accelerate across the ramp and go flying over the spike-filled pit. His four competitors saw this and prepared for what was coming.

THIS ISN'T FOR ME, Wart thought, defeated. I'LL LET MY COMRADES TAKE IT FROM HERE. With that, Wart suddenly turned his bike to the side, hit the breaks, and skidded to a screeching halt. The captain looked behind him and saw his chief commander's surrendering move. He saw his salute, turned around and continued speeding up the ramp. Cutlass was the first of the three remaining aliens to make this huge leap. He and his bike went soaring through the air. After a while, his leap had reached the peak of its arch and began its descent. He kept his eyes on where the pit ended and where the road began again. He kept a firm grip on his vehicle and prepared for impact. His efforts were not in vain. He hit the road right where he wanted and continued the chase. Right behind him were Katana and the captain. The three of them were together again, but Kreezo was still far beyond their grasp. They resumed their racing.

After that was more quickly-paced rides down long roads, as well as more turning left and right. Some parts dipped into lower elevations, and some went even higher up. What they didn't know was that this was all merely a warm-up. At some point, in the distance, they saw the amazing Kreezo drive down what appeared to be yet another slope. His three pursuers continued their chase, not knowing what was really headed their way. Then they started descending as well and were all very surprised. They all had to maintain a constant left turn as much as possible because they had just began driving down an insane spiral of brass. Kreezo was already at the middle of it. Cutlass was the first to take it on, followed by Katana and the captain. This wasn't quite like anything Cutlass had experienced before, but he was still handling it quite well. He was beginning to get sick from the constant spinning but had to maintain his composure. Katana was another story, however. He was noticeably turning green rather than silver.

Ugh... he thought weakly. I'm past my limits... Katana suddenly lost control of his vehicle and went spiraling out of control. He spilled out of it, went sprawling across the slanted brass road and fell down the abyss. Cutlass watched this in shock, especially since he was past Kreezo at this point. Luckily, he landed in a heap right where the road was flat again at the bottom of the spiral. Unfortunately, Kreezo was just behind him. Starting to leak a thick, silver liquid, Katana wearily looked behind himself and saw what was coming. He prepared himself for the upcoming demolition. VVRRROOOOMMM!! Kreezo accelerated and drove so fast, he soared right over Katana's head. Katana dropped his head in defeat and relief. Moments afterwards, Cutlass drove right past his head. After that, the captain drove right past his legs. Do it, you guys...

Naji charged up some power while Cutlass raised a brutal arm up into the air. Naji was just about ready to unleash his attack when suddenly he saw something in the distance past all those ghoulish figures floating around flying towards Cutlass's upraised hand. Once it came into focus, it turned out to be a really big sword. It flipped around through the air and Cutlass caught it, wrapping his masculine fingers around its hilt. Conjuring a formidable amount of strength, he swung it forward and sent it crashing down onto the hexagon. Naji leapt up just in time, letting rippling shockwaves pass beneath him. While in the air, Naji made a yellow lightning bolt symbol appear and the clap of thunder could be heard. RRUUMMBBBLLEE... While Naji was fluttering to the ground, Cutlass was struggling to lift his massive sword out of the ground. He brought it up with both hands when he looked up. In a flash, a tremendous lightning bolt shot through the sky and plummeted right into his sword's tip. BBZZZZZTTT!!! The tall man of silver skin and purple scales was electrocuted beyond redemption. Afterwards, his body was steaming, his hair was frizzy, and his face was angered. He saw Naji standing by, readying another spell. This time, Cutlass wouldn't let it happen. He swung his sword into a different position and started preparing an incantation of his own...

The real Cutlass and the captain drove down this new flat road and soon found themselves going down another slope. This one twisted to the side a bit, so they found they had to maintain a constant right turn this time. The road swooped downward and they had to make a left turn again. Next, the road was sloping into the entrance to a huge forest of trumpets. Kreezo had already disappeared into that purgatory. It was their turn next.

Upon going into that entrance, everything became much darker, save for a few spots of light bouncing off of the trumpets' surfaces. They drove to the fullest extent of their carefulness through this perilous place. Turning here and there, they drove through the crazy vicinity. Then it happened. Rolled-up Melon Bugs started firing themselves out of some of the holes of these trumpets at the two racers like a bunch of cannonballs. Cutlass and the captain took their maneuvers up the next level. Instead of just turning and driving very quickly, they also had to swerve in various directions and even duck their heads just to avoid these things.

After what seemed like an eternity, the two racers were finally out of that mess, but only just to get into another. Letting their driving continue a little further, they soon came across yet another road stuck between two rows of countless tall trumpets. Their holes made more moves. Instead of Melon Bugs, though, these started spewing impenetrable fogs. Cutlass started squinting, trying everything within his power to see this through. Then, of all things to worsen the situation, more Melon Bugs started popping out of nowhere trying to take the motorcycling aliens. Dodging these and maneuvering around them was even more difficult for Cutlass with the mist in the way, but he kept driving. Then he heard a scream.

"AAUURRRGGHHH!!!" That was definitely the deep-pitched voice of his captain. He heard some skidding and he knew that he was the only one left.

Alright, Cutlass, the silver man thought to himself, now we show that infidel who's truly superior...

Naji made the symbol of a silver hourglass show up. He swung his palms forward and fired a black ball of purple electricity coursing towards his opponent. It soared through the air and vanished. CHINK! A giant sword had pierced right through it, turning it into a bunch of little, purple lightning bolts disappearing into the air. The blade that did this was not the one that Cutlass was holding. It was one of many gigantic ones that were flying from the distance behind him, slicing through the ghosts and heading for the Yoshi, but avoiding their master. Naji suddenly found himself jumping, twisting, dodging, rolling, and sliding. He severely wished not to find out what it'd be like getting stabbed by one of those things. He quickly glanced up and saw overconfidence returning to Cutlass's spiteful mug. Naji glowered and continued avoiding the weapons. He had to figure out how to retaliate against this and fast...

In the real world, Cutlass had different matters to attend to. After a while, he was finally out of the mist and back to concentrating on getting out of that forest. Kreezo was a little ahead of him. He could tell a slope was ahead of him, but didn't understand why he had to jump it. Cutlass figured it was just a shtick of his. Cutlass drove on until he reached the beginning of that slope. "AHH!!" he yelled. He suddenly switched tactics and made an awkward leap over the slope. He found out that a wire connected by the insides of two holes would have tripped him otherwise.

A tricky place, this is, he mused. He suddenly ducked his head, jumped, turned the motorcycle on its side in midair, and rotated it a good 270 degrees while still flying. He finally landed right-side-up and sped off. Had he not have done that, a huge web of wires would have either cleaved his head off, tripped him, cleaved some more body parts off, or all of the above. Cutlass scowled reflecting on this.

He kept driving until he finally made it out of that insane collection of trumpets. He was back on the road again and continued driving as fast as possible. Kreezo was a ways ahead of him, but he had plans of changing that. He hit the accelerator and worked on getting past that guy. Kreezo glanced behind himself.

This guy's good, he thought. No-one's ever made it this far... He suddenly started going faster as well. And I intend to keep it that way...

Cutlass could see his prey was getting away. He started speeding up as well. The two racers sped further down this crazy highway. Cutlass could see that in the distance, they were drawing closer to a blindingly bright light. The road seemed to be leading towards that very point. Cutlass wondered what its deal was while maintaining his speed against his opponent. After a long period of trying to outdo each other, this bright light was finally getting noticeably closer. Kreezo was the first to disappear into it. When it was Cutlass's turn, he was completely lost. Nothing in his past could prepare him for this. He tried squinting, tried feeling the vibrations of his motorcycle, tried feeling the air around him, but nothing gave him a hint of what was going on.

So long, sucker, Kreezo thought...

The flying swords were beginning to decrease in number. Naji began some more concentrating so he could show this freak who was boss. Before he was finished, though, Cutlass had jumped up into the air and landed down hard into the ground, sending more shockwaves in the Yo'ster's direction. This time, Naji couldn't dodge it. He tripped over the waves and was sent tumbling backwards with power stuck in his hands in mid-concentration. Not wanting to fall off the hexagon, he grabbed a hold of the edge and held on tightly, struggling to get himself back up. The menacing Cutlass took big, lumbering strides towards the unfortunate Naji causing small tremors with each step. Once he was close enough, he knelt down and stared the helpless Naji in the eye.

"How does it feel, Naji?" he asked. "How does it feel to come all this way, to lose everyone important to you, and to tire yourself out just to die?" Naji's eyes were scrunched up in frustration and fury. He struggled further to get his arms back onto the platform. "It must be disappointing. It must be depressing." He leaned closer to his struggling opponent, grinning. "It must fill you with a rage like no other." Naji began straining with all his might to hold on with just one arm so he could build up some energy in the other. "This is your last chance, Naji," Cutlass said. "Join us." The white-haired giant reached forward and grabbed Naji's right arm, lifting him up into the air, starting to stand up straight again. "Join us...or die..." Cutlass said this holding Naji over the bottomless pit. It was then the overgrown swordsman caught a glimpse of something shining in Naji's free hand. He eyed it questioningly but did nothing to prepare himself for what came next. FFWWOOOOSSHHH!! His face was suddenly being torn up by a cyclone of thrashing wind. "AARRRGGGHHHH!!!" Cutlass screamed. He dropped Naji so he clutch at his face in agony. Naji nearly fell into the abyss, but he quickly flutter-kicked his way back above the platform and landed. While his enemy was still distracted, he readied another spell. He made a green leaf symbol appear and he fired a furious storm of poisonous needles at the man. Each one stuck somewhere in his flesh, beginning to inject its stinging venom into his system. A grey explosion symbol was next. Naji got closer to the staggering giant and thrust his palms outward once he was close enough. This time, he slammed the monstrous Cutlass with a maelstrom of pure, incinerating, white energy. It pierced through the air and hacked right through Cutlass's demonic legs. "RRRAAAUUUGGHHH!!!" the man screamed. Naji maintained the devastating spell. When it was over, he let his arms down. Cutlass was still there, but his legs had been completely blown off. Before the rest of body could collapse to the ground, Naji did one other thing. He made a white sun symbol appear and he fired a humungous, soul-shattering, red laser beam at the man. It tore right through his skull and blasted his brains out, knocking him back and tumbling over the edge of the hexagon in the process. Naji ran up to where his enemy had disappeared. "AAAAUUUUgggghhh..."

Naji stared down the pit in pure hatred. He gurgled up a wad of phlegm in his mouth and spat it out, aiming for where Cutlass was last. He sneered some more. "And stay down there," he growled. He stepped back and knelt down, breathing heavily. Sweat was flinging off of him, and thoughts were plowing through his mind. After a while, he looked up into the darkness. "Well, father," he said to the nothingness, "it's finished. The one called Cutlass is finally gone." He let out an exhausted sigh. "I guess I can go now..."

At that, the ghosts floating up into the air suddenly began to slow to halt. Everything around him began to turn black and white like an old movie. Then it all began to disintegrate. He looked around himself in confusion and wonder. He then looked at his hands and found out that they, too were turning to dust. He dropped his arms and gracefully accepted that existence was being erased...

WHHAMM!!! Something hard and heavy hit the real Cutlass from behind him in the head. He could feel his silvery juice spilling out from its deadly wound. "AARRGGGHHH!!!" he screamed. He let one hand go so he could clutch at his injury, but this was a massive mistake. The bike suddenly became unstable. It tripped over something and both he and the bike went flying. The two of them came crashing down onto the road and went tumbling for a little while. The searing pain in the back of Cutlass's head combined with the infinitely bright light and the utter confusion of it all was too much for Cutlass. At some point, he was finally flung from his seat. He was sent sprawling across the road while losing consciousness. The edge came close and he didn't even know it. Unable to help himself, he skidded right off it and started plummeting into that forbidden void. The light was beginning to diminish, although he couldn't tell if that was because it was getting further away or what. Nothing seemed to matter anymore to him at that point. He had lost the race and was most likely about to suffer a fate worse than his comrades had. Upon falling and losing consciousness, he suddenly felt as though he had just crashed straight through a giant panel of glass. KISSHHHH!!! Fragments of various shattered images tinkled past his eyes. He could make sense of very few of them. He saw a world filled with purple clouds, a crowd of kids scowling at him, a motorcycle, and a younger version of himself stabbing a man in the gut. He saw a silver hand shaking a purple one, a spaceship, and a Yoshi wearing sunglasses. All of these things no longer meant anything for him anymore. Everything became pitch-black and that was it. A portal much like the one that had brought him and the others to this freaky world in the first place suddenly opened up beneath him and sucked him in. Wart had quit the race early on, Katana and the captain had both been badly injured, and Cutlass had disappeared from it for good. Who knew what was in store for him...

Fools, Kreezo thought, as he exited the bright light and neared the finish line. That's what you get for trying... He crossed the finish line and the audience began cheering. Confetti and balloons fell out of nowhere and started showering the golden man. He waved to all the patrons and blew them kisses. Then the unseen announcer got to work again.

"Ladies and Melon Bugs," it said, "the unbeatable Kreezo has done it again. Tondariya is still number one!" The audience cheered some more at the sound of this. The race had officially come to an end...

Naji was out of his mind and back in his body. His eyes opened up and he could see through a green liquid that he was stuck behind a tube. All around him were various other creatures that had suffered this fate. Knowing exactly what to do, he conjured up a grey explosion symbol, tightened a fist, and threw a palm out. CCRRAAASSHHH!! The tube burst open and the liquid spilled out. Summoning even more of his strength, the purple Yoshi tore himself from the tubes attached to his body and flutter-kicked out of the strange prison. He landed onto the wet floor. He shut his eyes, shook off the green droplets still on him, and stretched his limbs. It was good to be a real person again. He looked around himself and started planning his escape route. Naji ran off beginning the next phase of his quest against these aliens...

Elsewhere, the man in red was busy looking over the spaceship that the aliens had come in. "Too bad," he said. "Looks like they won't be needing this anymore..." He suddenly made white wind start to surround both him and the spaceship. The wind got stronger and stronger, gradually making the two beings more and more obscured by this tornado. "I'll just add it to the others..." In a flash, the tornado was gone, and the brass field was completely empty...

Bowser and Kamek were flying high over the morning sea. Their destination wasn't as close as they'd have liked it to be yet, so Bowser struck up a conversation. "Hey, Kamek," he said, "do you even know where we're going?"

Kamek looked annoyed. "Of course I do, Bowser. We're going to the Mario Land Grand Castle."

"Weally?" Bowser asked. "What'll we do once we get there?"

"Well," Kamek said, "we'll confront the king and the queen, explain to them what's going on, and ask them for the babies. If that doesn't work, we'll just have to take them by force."

"Ooh! Ooh! Can we break one of their windows?" Bowser asked excitedly.

"Why would we do that?" Kamek asked.

"It would make us look cool! Come on, let's do it!"

Kamek sighed. Well... I suppose a dramatic entrance wouldn't hurt, he thought.

"Alright," he conceded, and the flying continued.

Why must I drag this obnoxious brat along? he wondered. All I can say is that he'd better stay out of my way. He looked behind himself and saw the same fierce stare and sharp facial features as Gorroh. Hopefully, he'll become a stronger Koopa in the process and learn the true meaning of vengeance like His Majesty said... Kamek thought this, and onward they flew...

Moments later, a tornado materialized in the middle of an incomprehensibly humungous room of brass. The tornado disappeared and in its place was left the spaceship of the aliens and the red man that had brought it there. This complex transportation unit had suddenly become surrounded by airplanes of all shapes and sizes and companies. Some of them even had pictures of mushrooms in their logos. This had all made things all the more complicated for the aliens. This, of course, was of no concern for a certain purple Yo'ster. Behind everyone's backs, he continued carrying out his scheme to flee the dangerous place alive...

Storko fastened a red bundle with white spots all over it and started carrying it in his bill as though it were one of the two babies he had dealt with earlier. He walked through the door leading to Dr. Kamenstein's huge room of vehicles and whatnot and exited that so he could find himself walking towards a cliff in the morning light. He looked back at the dome for a good few seconds and let out a sigh. He turned around and looked at where he saw the Kame Cruiser disappear last. He looked at his bony feet and shook his head.

Doctor, he thought, You won't have to deal with my bumbling anymore. I'll be going now... The depressed stork spread his wings and took off, flying away from the dome, forever leaving it behind. The bird had a past to run away from and was then on the verge of finding for himself a new life. He hoped he'd succeed...

Xoshi, White Rose, and a conscious Merlinda were back in front of Merlon and his table with the green ball on it. Good feelings all around were in the air. "I must admit, I underestimated you two," the old man said. "But you did it! You got rid of those pesky things and you rescued my niece."

"Thank you so much. I'd be dead by now if it weren't for you," Merlinda said, taking a bow. Xoshi scratched the back of his head.

"It was our pleasure," White Rose responded.

"There must be something I can do to repay you," Merlinda thought aloud. She rested her head against one of her hands. Then she brought it down in realization. "I know! I'll teleport the two of you anywhere you'd like to go, free of charge!" The two adventurers let their eyes go wide.

"Take us to the Clover Kingdom, please," White Rose requested.

"It shall be done," Merlinda said. She held out her hands. "Now just hold still..." Xoshi and White Rose did just that. They waited anxiously for this miraculous spell to carry them away. Sparks of purple were beginning to glitter about the girl's hands when she got interrupted by her uncle.

"Hold on!" he said. The sparkling around Merlinda's hands suddenly disappeared. "I would like to offer something for free as well."

Xoshi and White Rose looked at each other. "Well, go ahead," White Rose said.

"I shall grant to each of you," he proposed, "predictions of your future." The old man cracked his knuckles. "Are you ready?" Their two visitors nodded their heads. "Alright then." He suddenly closed his eyes and held his hands out before them, letting them quiver. "Ooooo---------!" he said. "Crystal eye! Open wide!" The old man continued speaking strange magic words. "Aiiii----------! Aiiii-----------cha!! Ai, ai, ai------ching!!!" He blurted out the next one. "AH HAAAA!" Xoshi and White Rose jolted at the outburst. Then the ball on his table started glowing. A disco-ball lowered itself from the ceiling and started making star shapes shine everywhere in the room. During this, three little orbs of light commenced revolving around the ball while it gave off green flashes. The two visitors were dazzled by this display. Then the disco-ball disappeared into the ceiling and the ball stopped glowing. A lightbulb appeared over the Shaman's head. He put his hands down and opened his eyes. He turned to White Rose and started spouting out the prophecy. "You," he said. "You play a key role in something that will determine the fate of a large amount of people. However, you also hold the key to the fate of one person alone. Wield your sword and your wand, and someday the light will shine upon him."

White Rose nodded. Next it was Xoshi's turn.

"And you," he said the Yoshi. "I see your body..." Xoshi made his eyes wide. "...Lying down in the bloodstained grass. A lifeless look in your eyes." Neither White Rose nor Merlinda could believe what they had just heard. However, what they were feeling was nothing in contrast to Xoshi's position. The pupils in the brown Yoshi's eyes went tiny and he stopped breathing. What had the geezer meant by that? He felt as though a mercilessly frigid hand had just scuttled its way up his spine. He shuddered at the disturbing image that just popped into his head. "Okay, now off to the Clover Kingdom with you!" White Rose turned and looked at Xoshi, who still acted as though he had just heard a ghost greet him and tell him that they would meet again. The knight looked worried.

"Um, okay then," said the niece. "You two ready?" White Rose nodded. Xoshi remained frozen. "Alright!" She held her hands out and the purple glitter returned. It swirled around her hands and a similar effect was surrounding the two visitors. Gradually, the two of them had become two figures of white standing in the room. At last, in a huge flash of purple light and sparkles, the two of them were gone. The Clover Kingdom had instantly become theirs for the arriving at. Having been left behind, Merlinda turned to her uncle and asked him a question. "Merlon?" she said.

"Yes, dear?" he replied.

"What exactly did you mean by that prophecy?"

Merlon sighed. "In all honesty, Merlinda, I do not know. I can see the future, but I cannot read it."

Merlinda fiddled with her hands. "But...that nice Yoshi. Is he going to be alright?"

"We can only hope so, darling."

"Okay..."

 

 

Dr. Kamenstein flew himself and his female passenger over a nice, bushy forest. Once again, the doctor was deep in his thoughts. Ugh... That Storko... Ruining everything for me... Grr... He suddenly looked down upon having something grab his attention. He saw something pink and symmetrical in the middle of the woods somewhere. Flying over it, he recognized it as the house that nearly got him killed. The roof was still stuck with a big hole in it. Ugh... he mentally groaned again. I can only imagine what atrocities those two witches are doing right now... He lifted his head back up, shook off the heebie-jeebies, and returned to concentrating on getting back to Gana Village. Whatever the case, he thought, it's none of my concern...