Chapter 31
A giant walking, talking wooden soldier with a key rotating in his back walked down the high-raised aisle of a certain building. He could see through the railing rimming the path the various rooms of his base down below. Looking around, he could only see things that made him smile in satisfaction. Here, he saw Chuckyas floating around, patrolling the vicinity; there, he saw table after table of Bob-Ombs making numerous different explosives by hand; and in the other direction, he saw Bob-Ombs working on an assembly line, one that kept producing one mechanical Bob-Omb with digital eyes after another. The woman that was following him also had a smile on her face, but it wasn't as noticeable.

"Everyting is going good, da?" said the soldier in a strange accent. "Soon, entire world will be bowing down, answering to dhe might of General Wind-up..."

"Yes, sir," the woman agreed. The devious duo trekked on, continuing to watch the progress of their minions as they did so. This carried on until a grey Bob-Omb with a white mustache walked out of a room and right in front of them. The fuse sticking out of his head had its strands unraveled and splaying out like wild hair.

"Ah! General Vind-up! Larva! So gut to see you!" the Bob-Omb said. His dialect suggested a foreign origin.

"And good to see you, Albert," Wind-up replied.

"Come," the Bob-Omb named Albert said, beginning to walk back into the room he had just left, "I vant to show you somezhing." General Wind-up and Larva followed him. Soon, the three people were in a laboratory, decorated with various Bob-Ombs, all of them working diligently on an assortment of things. In the middle of this gigantic room was a humungous machine of some sort. It seemed to be composed of four electric chairs to the left and a conveyor belt coming from a huge, rectangular opening to the right. Albert began to explain it. "I call it der Einamizer 2000," he said. "You strap ein or more very strong people in zhose seats, und it sucks der energy out of zhem. Moments later, it creates a beast of monstrous proportions..."

General Wind-up rubbed his chin, a smug look on his face. "So dhose people we captured..."

"...Vill get vhat zhey deserve."

The general removed the hand from his face. He began to grin devilishly. "And in turn, we get anodher weapon..." Albert nodded. Wind-up laughed. "Albert Einamite, you never cease to amaze me." The wooden soldier turned around and faced the woman. "Larva," he said, "go and get prisoners."

Larva bowed to the man. "At once, sir," she said. She turned around and began to walk out of the room, leaving General Wind-up and Albert Einamite behind. As she did so, she began grinning to herself.

With these new advantages, she thought, the world may begin begging for mercy sooner than expected...

The sun had risen, the fire was out, and it was finally time for two 8-Bits to continue their journey. Both were standing, getting ready for what was ahead of them. In the morning light, they could see that this place was covered in palm trees, all of them with yellow bark and red, plumy leaves. It was a strange sight.

Not for Laser Snifit, however. While he was still stretching to get his muscles straightened out after last night's rest, his gigantic partner was hopping from his left foot to his right, all the while keeping his dukes up. He was sparring with an invisible enemy.

"Well," the big Shy Guy said, "I don't know about you, Snifit..." The muscle man threw a particularly strong punch to his unseen opponent. "...But I'M ready!"

Laser Snifit looked at his companion in disbelief. How can that guy be so energetic? he wondered. The small Snifit stretched some more.

"Yeah, I'm ready, too," he replied.

"ALRIGHT!" Big Guy yelled. He stopped dancing and got into a defiant stance. He swung his right arm back and thrust it forward. "FOLLOW ME!!" ZOOM! The brute sped off. His sudden increase in speed left Laser Snifit in a mass of dust clouds. He coughed a bit.

Geez, what a freak, he thought. Soon, he was running, too...

Don't worry, guys, Big Guy thought as he ran. We're coming!...

Wario, Waluigi, Tessa, and Annabyss had resumed their journey as well. Together, this quartet was wandering through the unusual palm tree forest of Bobbus Island. Their march was complimented by the sun shining down upon them. Regardless, happiness did not seem to be the dominant emotion of the group.

"Wo gehen wir, madame?" the boys said.

"Somewhere on this island, there is a base," the woman replied. "Inside of it, there's an army of Bob-Ombs plotting to take over the world. Unless we take care of them and their leader, General Wind-up, and quick, we may cause many an innocent life to be taken. After all, death is not for those who don't deserve it."

Tessa looked a bit confused. "We won't have to kill him, will we, Annie?" she asked.

"If it is necessary, yes, we will, dear," Annabyss stated. "Whatever the case, the fate of one individual does not outweigh that of the entire world."

"Hmm..." Hearing this, Tessa began to get some more deep thinking done as she walked on with her other three teammates.

Their journey continued for a few minutes longer. Many strange-looking palm trees had been put behind them during this. After a while, the two of Wario and Waluigi got to speaking up again.

"Wie viel länger, madame?" they said.

Annabyss suddenly stopped. The other three did the same. "Soon," she said. Her next move was to step to her right and start hiding behind one of the palm trees. Once again, the others began to follow her example. Then the four of them found themselves peeking past the palm tree at the spectacle ahead of them: an amazingly humungous metallic dome in the middle of these woods that was painted with splotches of red and yellow so it could blend in with its surroundings. "Full Moon," Annabyss said. "The replacement for Half Moon." Looking at what appeared to them to be the right side of this place, the four-some could make out a duo of Bob-Ombs walking up to two others that looked as though they were guarding the entrance to this place.

"So, how'd it go?" said one of the guarding Bob-Ombs.

"Wonderful," said the one in front of him. "The shipment'll be here soon enough."

"Good."

Tessa was a bit worried. "So, what do we do now, Annie?"

"Either we fight them, or we find a way to sneak in," she said.

The group of four could see that this small group of Bob-Ombs were in the middle of opening up the gigantic, metal door leading to the inside of their base, blissfully unaware that another group was nearby and plotting against them. Then they heard something unusual. It grabbed their attention and they were suddenly on their guard.

"Wait a minute," one of the Bob-Ombs said, "did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It sounded like someone was saying something about beating us up..."

Blast, Annabyss thought. Have they found us out?

The Bob-Ombs all began taking on some fighting stances. They were looking around very cautiously.

"Whoever it may be, they picked the wrong people to mess with," one of the Bob-Ombs said. Tension was in the air all around. Something most definitely was going to happen to them and soon. Finally, it did so.

"HIII-YYAAAAAAA!!!"

"I TOLD YOU, NO!!"

At that second, a blur of orange fur flew out from behind one of the palm trees and smashed something blunt right on top of the head of one of the Bob-Ombs. WHAM!! Soon after that, he was little more than a wick sticking out of the ground. With his club in hand and an embarrassed Laser Snifit behind him, Big Guy stood back and admired his handiwork. The other Bob-Ombs first looked shocked, then angered. Big Guy returned the look. "So?" he said. "Anyone else?"

The Bob-Ombs growled. "LET'S GET'EM!!" one yelled. Against three angry Bob-Ombs, an excited Big Guy and a reluctant Laser Snifit were ready to fight.

One Bob-Omb ran up to Big Guy while he had his club raised. One of them was faster than the other. WHAM!! Big Guy dropped his club and started hopping around on one foot, clutching at the space beneath his knee. While he was in the middle of hopping around and grunting in pain, two other Bob-Ombs were about to attack some more...

TSEW! TSEW! The Bob-Omb Laser Snifit was dealing with had managed to successfully jump straight through both of his hoop-shaped lasers. This frustrated the grey 8-Bit. The next thing he knew, the little pest was right in front of him, ready to slam his face into him. WHOOSH! Made it. Laser Snifit jumped to the side just in time. The Bob-Omb went staggering. Now was his chance. Laser Snifit fired another laser. TSEW!! The 8-Bit looked shocked. What he had done was worse than missing his opponent; he had lit his fuse! The Bob-Omb had suddenly turned red and began to charge towards Laser Snifit, an enraged look on its face. The lab coat-donning man was in a jam...

Big Guy's two Bob-Ombs had him in a pincer attack. Both were in the middle of running towards the muscle man when suddenly, SHWOOP! The big lug slipped on the club he had dropped earlier, sending it flying at one of the Bob-Ombs and himself falling backwards. WHONK! The club nailed the Bob-Omb right in the face, and he was out. As for the other Bob-Omb, he had noticed this turn of events a bit too late. He had ran right beneath their overgrown opponent and was in the process of skidding to a stop as not to bump into his fallen ally. Then he paid for his second mistake. BAM!! Without even getting to look up, Big Guy's heel had gotten to slam him into the ground as he landed on his back, still clutching at his knee. At that point, only one enemy remained...

Laser Snifit had only a few more split seconds to think it over. What was he to do against this charging Bob-Omb? Not explode, that's for sure. Then he saw the red thing right in front of him. Its wick had been completely replaced by a little spark. Laser Snifit had no other choice. BAM!! Like a football, he punted the sorry thing through the air. Seeing where it was headed, the four of Wario, Waluigi, Tessa, and Annabyss all ducked. KA-BOOOMM!! In a nice, big, fiery explosion, the upper halves of their palm trees had been blown, but not their cover. Looking up, they could see this battle had been won by this mysterious pair of 8-Bits. The grey one blew out some air in relief and approached his larger companion, who was still writhing on the ground in agony.

"It hurts!! It hurts!!" he moaned.

"Oh, quit blubbering. Let's just go in already," Snifit retorted. Big Guy didn't find that a very easy thing to do. Eventually, Big Guy finally had his club back and was back on his feet, but was still rubbing at where he got hit earlier. Laser Snifit shook his head and walked in before him. Big Guy eventually dragged himself after him. All that was left of the scene were a few defeated Bob-Ombs lying around. Wario, Waluigi, Tessa, and Annabyss were impressed.

"They're good," Annabyss commented. "A bit graceless, but good."

"What now, Annie?" Tessa asked. The elder woman looked around. In the other direction, she could see something approaching.

"Remain still," she instructed. In a few moments, a line of storage trucks had arrived, all of them with tarps strapping down their loads and painted in the same type of camouflage as the base was. Once the one up front slowed down before the entrance of this place, the others slowed down as well. Two Bob-Bombs hopped out of the one up front. Together, they examined what had become of three of their allies, and dragged them aboard. After that, the trucks got going again. One by one, they were all disappearing into the base. Wario, Waluigi, Tessa, and Annabyss watched each of them go by like carts on a train. At one point, Annabyss began to give further instructions. "Wait here," she said. She turned herself into a Yoshi and hopped into an opening in the tarp of the last truck. Wario, Waluigi, and Tessa watched as she disappeared into the storage. Then ZIPP!! A long, shadowy tongue shot out of nowhere, and wrapped itself around the three-some like a snake. WHOOOSH!! The tongue whipped them out from behind the trees and into the truck. After that, Annabyss spat out her three companions and returned to her normal self. The group of four then began to hide between stacks of crates and enjoy the ride.

Infiltration, Annabyss thought as the tarp above their heads went from being brightened by the sun to being darkened by the tunnel, complete...

CLANG! Hyrg and Galileo's swords slammed into each other, letting sparks of black and teal start flying. The two of them jumped back, holding their weapons in front of them and staring each other down. They were in a large, wooden room, illuminated slightly by the high-raised windows surrounding it. It was Hyrg's third day in this strange place, and he was spending it sparring with his new teacher in a dojo of some sort.

"Good," his professor said to him, "but let's see how you do against THIS!" The anthropomorphic wolf rushed forward with his sword pointed downward. Once he was close enough to the boy, CLANG!! He swung it upward, and Hyrg blocked it as he did before, but then SHING! He jumped back, sliding the sword away from his opponent in the process. Had he not have done that, Galileo's leg most definitely would have succeeded in tripping him. "Excellent," the wolf complimented. "Now, come on! Retaliate!!" he demanded. "Pretend I'm one of the Black Jewel's mummies, and come get me!!"

Have it your way, Hyrg thought darkly. He sped towards his opponent once more...

"What happened?"

"I dunno. Someone kicked the crap out of'em, I suppose."

"Well, whatever. Let's get 'em out of here!!"

After talking to one of the regular black ones, six white Bob-Ombs got to carting off the three that got beaten up earlier with a set of stretchers. The black one took a moment to watch them go. "Well, back to work, I guess." He turned around and wandered back into the warehouse where all the trucks were.

In his wake, he left a rather large pile of stacked crates. From behind it, two heads poked out. "Okay, Snifit! The coast is clear!"

"Alright." After that, the two of Big Guy and Laser Snifit could commence sneaking out of there and heading down a certain hallway. Two of Full Moon's intruders had slipped through their fingers, and the other four were about to be exposed...

"I'm tellin' ya, I saw somethin' in there!" the black Bob-Omb heard. He was being led to one of the trucks by another black Bob-Omb like him.

"Alright, keep your pants on," the other Bob-Omb replied. He walked up to the aforementioned truck. In the back, its tarp had been peeled back so the Bob-Omb had a nice opening to hop into.

"They're looking for us," Tessa quietly commented. The Bob-Omb in question began investigating the truck. His companion behind him watched and waited anxiously as he searched the cracks between all the crates.

Nothing here... Nothing there... Where were they? Up front, perhaps? The shadow of the tarp was cast over the Bob-Omb as he walked beneath it and furthered his investigation.

Carefully, he kept his eyes peeled. Between those crates, he didn't find anything. Behind those other ones, he found only dust. This was getting tiresome. At last, there was but one place to look left: the dark place in the very back...

The four of Wario, Waluigi, Tessa, and Annabyss waited for the inevitable. That Bob-Omb had only a few more seconds...

Even the Bob-Omb outside the truck was getting impatient. "Well?" he called. "Didja find anything yet?" No answer. "WELL??" he called again. Then he hopped onto the truck and began walking slowly down the aisle of crates. Once the darkness fell over him, something popped out of nowhere and right in front of him. "GAAHHH!!" he shrieked.

"Relax, you spaz. It's just me," the other Bob-Omb said.

"Oh, phew," the startled one said. He breathed a sigh of relief and calmed down some. "Well?" he added.

The other Bob-Omb shook his head. "No luck. Maybe you were just imagining things."

"WHAT?!" the other one blurted. "I was SURE I saw something..." He ran past the other Bob-Omb and began to investigate himself. "Hmm..." The Bob-Omb he left behind just shook his head.

Wario, Waluigi, and Tessa chuckled to themselves. "They'll never find us," she pointed out. They had seen the whole thing through one of the grids of the air ducts hanging above all those trucks and crates.

"Tessa, dear, you're a master of finding secret routes," Annabyss praised.

Tessa giggled. "Thanks," she said.

"Now then," the older woman said, "we find General Wind-up..." The other three vocalized their agreements and the quartet continued crawling through the frigid tunnel...

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Hyrg and Galileo were still going at it with each other. Unfortunately for Hyrg, the fight had reached the point where he was backing up each time he blocked one of Galileo's blows. Sweat trickled down his face each time he brought that blade up to protect himself from the other one. CLANG! His heart was racing, but that wasn't helping him. CLANG! His arms and legs alike were getting worn out. CLANG!! WHUMP! His back hit the wall. Hyrg was disoriented. Fear struck him as he saw Galileo pull his sword back. Then came the plunge.

SHUNK! Hyrg's eyes were clenched shut. He dreaded the worst. Once he realized it had not come, he popped his left eye open. His gaze looked first at Galileo's fierce, yellow eyes. He let it go down the man's arm and to where his sword's blow had landed: into the wall beneath his left arm. Hyrg was confused, but relieved. Galileo pulled the sword out, allowing his pupil to drop his arms. The teacher made a shaking movement with his head.

"Killer intent, Hyrg," he said. "Unless you have that, you'll never learn." The boy grimaced and kicked at the floor. "Well, come on," the man said as he began walking away. "I guess we've earned a break." Hyrg sighed, calmed himself, and began walking after his teacher.

This is tougher than I thought, Hyrg observed...

"Just a little further, Snifit!"

"I still don't know about this..."

In a dank cell somewhere, four people couldn't help but mope about. They consisted of a Snifit with a green robe and a brown belt around his waist, a pint-sized Shy Guy donned in a lighter green robe with overtly large eyeholes in his mask, a regular-sized Boo Guy with a robe made of purple glitter, and a Shy Guy with a grey robe. Exactly what they could have done to have been in higher spirits was beyond them.

"Life be a cruel mistress, aye?" said the Snifit. "Had we have known that tangling with forces greater than ourselves would only end in ruin, we would not be here, wasting away, but alas..."

"It's not fair, it's not fair, IT'S NOT FAIR!!" the little one raved.

"Fair is for the weak," the Boo Guy rasped. "We get what we deserve..."

"Yeah..." said the grey one.

"Thus the Shy Gang comes to a fitting end," the Snifit lamented. "Life is just..." To respond, the other three murmured in agreement. Then the unexpected came.

"Or...is it?" The four former members of the Shy Gang turned around and saw straight through the bars a giant Shy Guy and a Snifit wearing a lab coat. The big one was looking triumphant whereas the little one was just looking shocked. "Toldja we'd find'em here," the big one bragged to his partner.

The other four 8-Bits were just looking confused. "Strangers!" the green Snifit said. "Explain theyselves! Who wouldst thou be? What has brought thee here?"

Big Guy looked a bit disheartened. "Come on, Robin Hifit! Don't you remember us? We worked together when that wooden doll thing attacked us!"

"Hm?!" the one named Robin Hifit grunted.

"It's us, Shy Guy and Snifit," Big Guy's cohort began. "I know we may look different now, but there's really no time to explain. We're here to break you out!"

"Hold!" Robin Hifit exclaimed. "I know that voice..." The green 8-Bit thought hard for a second. Finally, he had it. "SNIFIT! By the gods, thou hast returned! Oh, glory in heaven! Small Fry! Crystal Guy! Grey Guy! The tides turneth!!"

"YAAAYYY!!" the small Shy Guy cheered as he hopped up and down. "We're saved! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!"

"Heh. Even a desert gets rain now and then," the glittery Boo Guy commented.

"Yay..." said the grey Shy Guy.

Big Guy looked happy again. "Alright guys," he said as he began cracking his knuckles, "just stand back! We'll have you outta there in no time..." Soon, Big Guy had his hands on the bars. ERRKK!! Just by pulling on them was he able to bend them apart. Two makeshift doorways for the prisoners were on their way. "Rrg..." Big Guy grunted as he pried. "Just...a little bit...more..."

"Um, Big Guy..." Snifit said.

"WHAT?!" the enormous Shy Guy blurted, oblivious to what the other ten eyes in the area were looking at. Once he noticed this and started looking confused, he stopped the prying. His companion pointed behind him. He turned around and was seeing it as well. He yelped and jumped back, nearly bumping into Snifit.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" the woman said. Her height was average. She was wearing a billowy, princess-like dress with strange red and yellow patterns all over it. Its color-combination reminded the 8-Bits of the exterior of the base, but its arrangement of spots and other strange shapes reminded them more of caterpillars. The bottom of it was rimmed with balls of red that were all between others of yellow. The dress turned out to be quite revealing and seemed to shamelessly unveil the tremendous size of her bosom. Across it, she was wearing a silver necklace with a center of three circular blue gems stacked on top of one another, all of them surrounded by silver. The one on top had two smaller ones sticking out of it like antennae. She wore a silver band around her neck with a similar-looking piece of jewelry in the middle. For some reason, the parts of the dress that covered her shoulders looked perfectly like two balls of red. Just above her elbows were two more. The spheres were connected by two others of yellow. Her arms were crossed and were donned in shiny black gloves, and her wrists had numerous bracelets to boast of. Strangely, each of her hands had three fingers on them. Her face didn't look very happy. It was pretty, but also rather pale and menacing. Her lips were thick and glossy, complete with a layer of some very dark red lipstick. There was a rather prominent beauty spot at the center of both her cheeks. Her nose was small and upturned. Her ears were long, pointy, oddly-shaped, and wearing earrings that looked like the necklace on her chest. Her eyebrows were dark red and very curvy. They were above two blue eyelids that were rimmed with extra thick, extra long, almost spider-like eyelashes. Her eyes themselves were wide and slanted. The color in them was dark red to match her lips and her eyebrows. They were so shiny, they seemed to resemble perfectly a pair of rubies. To top it all off, her brow was sporting a tiara that looked similar to the accessory of her neck, and her hair was very long and dark red. The front two locks of it came out in two lengthy antennae-like appendages dangling before her face. The rest of it was braided and trailing behind her. Thanks to the scrunchy black hair tie at the bottom of it and the way there were two tufts of hair sticking out from underneath it, it looked like another caterpillar on the woman.

Overall, she appeared to be very beautiful, yet, strangely, very caterpillar-oriented. However, this was not the time to be marveling at her appearance. She was, after all, looking very displeased. That, and behind her were six Chuckyas floating around and twitching in anticipation.

"Trying to free them, are you?" the woman accused.

"Hey, lady," Big Guy said, once his hands were free from the bars, "who are you?"

"Larva, Mistress of Wigglers," she said as she lowered her arms to her waist. One of them came up and snapped its fingers loudly. That was when two of the Chuckyas behind her zipped forward and grabbed a hold of Big Guy and Laser Snifit.

"What the-" they said as the Chuckyas began holding them above their heads in their ball-like hands. The next thing they knew, they were hurtling through the air. The Chuckyas had chucked them! "AAAAUUUGGHHH!!" BAM!! Their heads hit the stone wall at the end of the hallway. Big Guy and Laser Snifit slid to the floor. Both were seeing stars.

"SHY GUY! SNIFIT!!" Robin Hifit and Small Fry were hysterical. Crystal Guy was less so, and Grey Guy didn't seem to be showing any sort of emotion.

"Shy Guy and Snifit," Larva muttered, "are down for the count." She snapped her fingers again. This time, the other four Chuckyas behind her unlocked the gate to the cell of the prisoners the traditional way, headed on in, and grabbed the four people behind it, ignoring their protests. "Time for your punishment," Larva said to them. She then began leading them and her Chuckyas down the other end of the hallway.

"HELP!! SOMEONE HELP US!! HELP!!!" Robin Hifit and Small Fry were still screaming. It was beginning to grate Larva's nerves.

"Annoying, little..." she grumbled.

"NOT...so...fast..." she heard. In a very systematic fashion, once she stopped and turned around, the Chuckyas did so as well in perfect synchronization. They found that Big Guy and Laser Snifit were back on their feet. However, Big Guy was breathing heavily and Laser Snifit was still rubbing the sore spot in his head. "They're our friends!" Big Guy yelled. "You can't have them!!"

Larva scowled at them. She snapped her fingers and ZIP!! Big Guy and Laser Snifit were in the Chuckyas' clutches again. This time, though, they did not chuck them. They merely continued to float along with the other Chuckyas and Larva down the hall.

"HEY, PUT US DOWN!!" Snifit yelled.

"YOU'LL BE SORRY!!" Big Guy threatened. As he squirmed in this thing's grasp, he couldn't help but wonder why they kept having such trouble with these Chuckyas.

"Not likely," Larva commented as she continued leading her Chuckyas down the hall. All the while, their six prisoners just kept struggling and protesting. It seemed hopeless.

Damn it, Big Guy thought, we're finally reunited and look what happens! Well, this ain't over yet...

Hyrg and Galileo were resting beneath one of the trees of a different courtyard of the Death Sickles' secret hideout. This was encased within a tall and vast rectangular wall. Running through the middle of it was a road of wood leading to the inside of the place. It came from a gigantic gate on the other side. There were other Death Sickles in this area. They seemed to all be enjoying themselves as well. In the meantime, Hyrg and Galileo were busy consuming some drumsticks.

It was a warm day. The grass was cushy, the clouds were fluffy, birds were singing, and the sun was shining through the leaves of Hyrg and Galileo's tree, giving them a nice, green glow. Galileo chewed and swallowed another bite of his meal.

"You like nature much, Hyrg?" he asked.

The boy sent another morsel down his throat before answering. "It's okay, I guess."

Galileo chuckled a bit. "Well, this forest is full of it. If you think about it, it's the perfect place for our hideout to be."

Hyrg swallowed again and began to look around. Galileo had a point. Not even he could deny how nicely all those big, bushy green trees looked from behind the walls. In this courtyard, beneath the sun, there were even people dancing. Hyrg found it hard to believe that this was the same place he noticed earlier to be filled with such creepy-looking people. "I guess you're right," the boy conceded.

"Hm-hm," Galileo said. The two continued eating for a while. At some point during their meal, something got their heads to turn towards the gate. Its doors burst open and in walked two Death Sickles. One of them was male, muscular, and over eight feet tall. The other one was female, petite, and over five feet tall. She was helping the bigger one trudge along who was grasping at a spot in his brutal arm that was letting some red fluid soak through. Once they neared Galileo and Hyrg, the wolf grabbed their attention. "Yo! Alexander! Kitty! How'd it go?"

Hyrg noticed how both of these Death Sickles looked very different from most of them. For one, their skin was peachy-colored and not grey, and their eyes were dark and not yellow. They also didn't have stitches going across their foreheads let alone bolts sticking out of their necks or long, pointy black fingernails. To Hyrg, these people looked pretty normal.

However, like most Death Sickles, they still had their fair share of odd physical features. In addition to being gigantic, the one named Alexander had a smooth, brown beard complementing his gentle face. As for Kitty, she wore a pair of rectangular glasses and had two extremely long locks of brown hair sticking out of her hood. What did a better job of catching Hyrg's eye, though, was that she had three thick, black marks going across both of her cheeks. Appropriately, they seemed to give the pretty woman a rather cat-like quality. "Pretty good, for the most part," she said, answering Galileo's question.

Hyrg, at the moment, was too busy wondering what the two of them had been doing besides being cooped up inside this hideout and how it could have caused the giant to be wounded. "What happened?" he asked.

"Just a flesh wound," the giant said. "I'll be fine." He shifted his eyes towards the sky. "But I swear I'll never get used to that place..."

"Yeah," Galileo agreed. "In any case, what's important is that you showed those guys what's good for them."

"Indeed," said Alexander. His strong hand still had a firm grip on the bloody spot on his arm. He gritted his teeth some.

"Don't push yourself, dear," the woman said. She then turned and looked at Hyrg and Galileo. "Well, we'd really better get this taken care of," she said. "We'll talk to you later, boys."

"Alright," Galileo nodded. "Take it easy."

Hyrg watched in wonder as the two Death Sickles resumed walking down the wooden path and up to the main door. Those two managed to convince him that the Death Sickles indeed were an organization meant for multiple races, but he couldn't help but wonder about a few things they said. Once again, questions began to fill the young boy's head. He turned and faced his teacher. "Galileo?" he said.

"Yes, Hyrg."

"What happened to them? What were they doing?"

The wolf paused for a second. "Well, Hyrg," he began, "they don't call this the Forbidden Forest for nothing, you know..."

The boy looked puzzled. "What?"

"Believe it or not, one of the Twelve Gods of Chaos lives here," Galileo pointed out. Hyrg went wide-eyed. The wolf nodded a little. "Yup. His name is Bidden," he went on. "He's the king of the centaurs. A few of them have a hideout of their own somewhere around here. It's where we sealed Bidden's spirit during Trondaga. Occasionally, some of his minions'll come out and start looking for some sacrifices in hope of being able to revive their master." Galileo waved his arm some, gesturing to where Alexander and Galileo had been a second ago. "But, as you can see, we don't let them do that," he continued. "It's the least we can do until the inevitable, I suppose." Galileo took another bite out of his drumstick. "We don't just sit around and train, you know."

"Hmm..." Hyrg hummed. Having been given a few more things to think about, he continued eating his break away beside his teacher...

Tessa had been leading Wario, Waluigi, and Annabyss through these air ducts for quite some time. Occasionally, they'd look down and they'd be able to see what was going on in the other rooms of this base. Mostly, they were just filled with Chuckyas and Bob-Ombs. All of them were working hard on weapons and other such war-type things. At this point, it was undeniable that world-domination was what they wanted.

As for the leader of this operation, he was still nowhere in sight. That is, he wasn't, until the next grid Tessa managed to come across. "Hey, over here," she said, gesturing to the others. Soon, the four of them were gathered around this new window, peering into a rather interesting room: a lab. In it were two individuals: a Bob-Omb with a mustache and an overgrown, walking, talking wooden soldier. "That's him, isn't it, Annie?"

"Yes," Annabyss replied. "Let's see what he's up to..." The quartet began listening in on their enemy's conversation...

"...And after weapon is made, what shall we do?" General Wind-up said.

"Vell, sir, I have sent six of our Cutchyas over to Belome Rock, a mountain in der Clover Kingdom," said Albert Einamite. "A strange creature lives zhere. Zhey'll capture it, und bring it back. Zhen ve'll strap ZHAT to der Einamizer 2000. See vhat comes out."

"Brilliant, Albert, brilliant," Wind-up commented. His intelligent Bob-Omb of a minion nodded in return.

"So," Annabyss said, "trouble in the Clover Kingdom. This is proving to be quite interesting..."

"Hmm..." Tessa said. She and the other three continued watching the show. In a few moments, it got interrupted by an odd-looking woman and six Chuckyas entering the room. On them, they had six 8-Bits. None of them were looking pleased in anyway. Two of them Tessa recognized. "Annie!" she said. "Aren't they the ones who..."

"Yes, dear," Annabyss replied. "It looks like they could use some help..."

"Larva!" General Wind-up said. "You come wit prisoners!"

"Yes, sir," the woman replied.

"Larva," Annabyss said. "Not a trustworthy woman, I see..."

General Wind-up's next move was to notice the big orange Shy Guy and the grey Laser Snifit his female minion also seemed to have on her. "You bring two odhers?" he said.

"Yes, sir," Larva answered.

"DAMN IT!! LET US GO!!" Big Guy protested.

"They're rather noisy, as you can see," Larva commented.

"Hm. Da," Wind-up said. In the next instant, he turned and faced the room's scientific Bob-Omb. "Albert? Is Einamizer ready?"

"Eine minuten, sir," the Bob-Omb said. He then waddled up to the one side of the machine near the electric chairs. On it, there was a big switch. KA-CHUNK! He slammed it into the on position, and lightning bolts began to swim around throughout the monstrous machine. "It ist ready," Albert announced.

"Marvelous!" General Wind-up exclaimed. The six 8-Bits that the Chuckyas were holding prisoner could do little more than gawk at this devious-looking device.

"By the gods!" Robin Hifit said. "What be that infernal contraption?!"

General Wind-up snickered. "Your resting place."

"WHAT?!" Small Fry spazzed. His teammates made some similar reactions. Evidently, this guy had struck a nerve. The man just snickered again.

"Larva," he said, "it is time."

"Yes, sir," said Larva. Once again, she snapped her fingers. Big Guy, Laser Snifit, Wario, Waluigi, Tessa, and Annabyss all watched in horror as four of the Chuckyas in the room dragged Robin Hifit, Small Fry, Crystal Guy, and Grey Guy to their seats.

"DISGRACEFUL SWINE!! RELEASE ME AT ONCE!!"

"LEMME GO, LEMME GO, LEMME GO!!"

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?"

"Ugh..."

Ignoring their objections, the four Chuckyas shackled each of their prisoners into the four seats of the Einamizer 2000. They each tried squirming and breaking free, but it was no use. Their ankles and wrists were all being bound by some cruel metal cuffs. They were trapped. All that, and their craniums had been placed beneath metal bowls of some sort. All three of General Wind-up, Larva, and Albert Einamite were looking very pleased by the plight of their four prisoners. Big Guy, Laser Snifit, Wario, Waluigi, Tessa, and Annabyss, however, all just looked worried.

General Wind-up laughed. "Do it, Albert," he ordered.

The Bob-Omb nodded. After pushing a few buttons on a nearby council, the process began. The four prisoners started taking note of the cuffs and the devices holding their heads beginning to glow. They each stopped struggling and just let pure fear ensnare them.

"The unforgiving ways of the world," Robin Hifit whispered. "An endless reign..."

"Ohhh, no, no, no, no..." Small Fry wailed.

"All things with form eventually perish," Crystal Guy stated.

"Well..." said Grey Guy. Everyone watched in horror and anticipation as these final words were spoken. Finally, once the glowing things got bright enough...

BDDZZZZTTTT!!! Electricity began to tear the prisoners apart. Every last nerve in their body was throbbing in pain. The four victims began screaming at the tops of their lungs. "AAAUUURRRGGGHHH!!!"

"NNOOOOOO!!!" Big Guy screamed. At last, through a sudden burst of adrenaline, he and Laser Snifit had broken free from the Chuckyas' grips. They ran past them, General Wind-up, and Larva and up to the fiendish machine. Big Guy made it first. He lunged at the device with his fists swinging. Then ZZAAPPP!!! His body slammed directly into a wall of electricity, shocking the poor man, and sending him flying backwards. Laser Snifit watched in surprise and anxiety as he skidded across the floor.

"BIG GUY!!" he yelled, running up to his downed comrade. Wind-up, Larva, and Albert just grinned at them. Laser Snifit held his partner's head up and they both watched in sadness and terror as the Einamizer continued to fry their friends. They were helpless to do anything. They had come all this way for their friends' sake, and now all they could do was sit and watch as they gradually faded away from their lives. The more lightning bolts bore into them, the less pain they could feel. Finally, the electricity began to die down, revealing what it had reduced the four of Robin Hifit, Small Fry, Crystal Guy, and Grey Guy to: a bunch of limp masses with smoke coming out of them. None of them were breathing.

"No..." Big Guy gasped. "NOOOOOO!!!" The massive Shy Guy bolted up from the floor and ran up to what used to be his four friends. He stared at them all in pure belief. "They're... They're..." The man couldn't bring himself to say it. He collapsed to his knees and buried his face in his hands. All the memories he ever had of these people, all the pain and the pleasure they went through together... It had led up to this point. It had left Big Guy to writhe in a pit of despair.

Saddened by the sight of his heartbroken comrade, Laser Snifit walked up to Big Guy and placed a hand on his shoulder. Solemnly, he looked down at the ground and began to share Big Guy's sorrow. Big Guy, he thought, you're a tormented soul...

General Wind-up, Larva, and Albert Einamite just looked at this depressed duo and laughed. It cut through Big Guy like a drill. As a result, his sadness soon turned to anger. His blood was set alight and he jerked his head up. Just giving Albert Einamite that chilling stare was enough to get the Bob-Omb to abruptly stop laughing and gulp.

"You..." Big Guy growled. No one was laughing anymore. Even Laser Snifit had become afraid. He removed his hand from his partner's shoulder and took a step back. "I'LL KILL YOU!!!" The infuriated giant leapt from the ground and started bounding towards Albert. Instinctively, Larva snapped her fingers. At once, all six Chuckyas were on Big Guy's tail. It was necessary to protect Albert. The Bob-Omb shook with fear. This looked like the end...

Suddenly, along with the Chuckyas, Big Guy stopped. His anger had become confusion. He turned his head and looked at the Einamizer 2000, as did everyone else. The machine was shaking and creating quite a few strange noises. It was even gushing out puffs of steam in various places. All the eyes in the room watched as the machine's strange activity gradually began to calm down. Finally, the opening near the right of it burst forth a massive cloud of steam and the conveyor belt started moving. Looks of surprise were everywhere as the machine pushed out something big.

WHAM!! It shook the entire lab as it hit the ground after being pushed out by the conveyor belt. The steam faded away and the thing's identity was revealed. It was a giant, mutated-looking, hooded creature that walked around on all fours. Its hands and feet were both pitch black and had claws sticking out of them. Its robe was torn and its colors were in splotches. Simultaneously, it was green, a darker shade of green, grey, and a purple that sparkled. It wore a misshapen, white mask with two eyeholes that were lopsided. Neither of them were where they were supposed to be. The one on its right had a Snifit-like snout beneath it. Big Guy and Laser Snifit seemed to be intimidated by this thing. Wario, Waluigi, Tessa, Annabyss, Wind-up, and Larva just looked intrigued. Albert smiled.

"Behold," he said, "zhis ist vhat der Einamizer 2000 ist capable of." Big Guy and Laser Snifit swallowed hard. This looked bad.

"GET DHEM!!" General Wind-up yelled, pointing with one of his wooden fingers. The next instant, all seven of the Chuckyas and the monster were advancing on Big Guy. The muscular Shy Guy was starting to panic. Laser Snifit started trying to push his way through the mob, but it was useless. Seeing the fear on both their faces, and the grim satisfaction of Wind-up, Larva, and Albert, the four of Wario, Waluigi, Tessa, and Annabyss decided they had seen enough.

CHUNG!! All twelve of the heads in the room suddenly turned around and got a good look at who or what had just dropped in. From out of the air ducts had arrived two odd-looking men, one little girl, and one shadowy woman.

"What is..." Wind-up started. Annabyss answered him.

"General Wind-up, you have gone too far," she said. "It is time for you to face judgement."

"Careful who you're talking to, miss," Larva said, stepping in front of her superior with her arms folded defiantly. "You might get burned..."

Annabyss got into a fighting stance. "Wario, Waluigi," she said, "go and help those two over there." She gestured towards Big Guy and Laser Snifit. "I'll take care of this woman."

"Ja, madame," the brothers said as they saluted Annabyss and started running towards the Chuckyas.

Tessa looked fretful. "Annie, what am I supposed to do?" she asked.

"You've done your part, dear," the woman said. "Just leave this to us."

Tessa looked a bit displeased. She stepped back and folded her arms. Darn it, she thought. I just know these gloves are capable of something. I wanna try them out!...

While Annabyss and Larva were busy being about to square off with each other, Laser Snifit was busy trying to push his way through the Chuckyas again. "Would you jerks get out of here already?! Leave him alone!!" the 8-Bit yelled. Just when this mob of Bob-Omb-like creatures were about to get too close to Big Guy, Laser Snifit saw two blurs of yellow and blue rush in out of nowhere and start to punch and kick the daylights out of those things. Big Guy and Laser Snifit were in awe as they bore witness to Wario and Waluigi successfully knocking aside all seven of the Chuckyas and even the monster. Once all these enemies were on the ground, the four of Big Guy, Laser Snifit, Wario, and Waluigi were the only ones standing. Big Guy and Laser Snifit were impressed.

"Wow! I don't know who you are, but thanks a lot!" Big Guy said. The Kamenstein Bros. gave them the thumbs-up. At first, things were looking good for this newly formed quartet. Then ZING! An arrow suddenly materialized between them. Confused, they turned around and saw that the monster was back on its hands and its feet. It looked ready to kill something. Big Guy looked offended. "That thing's got Robin Hifit's ability!!"

"That's probably not all it has," Laser Snifit added grimly.

Big Guy pumped an arm. "LET'S GET'IM!!" he yelled. Both he and Laser Snifit then sped off and threw themselves upon the beast. Wario and Waluigi tried following their example, but their path was blocked by six Chuckyas that were suddenly up and floating again. The brothers beckoned the six-some of monsters with their hands. Soon enough, the two of Wario and Waluigi had become engaged in battle with these weird things...

"Fight if you must, mein freunde," Albert said, commenting to himself as he watched the brothers begin to fight off the Chuckyas. "You can't vin..."

Annabyss and Larva stared each other down. Both of them had total eradication on their minds. First, though, Larva had to say something. "You know," she said to Annabyss, "they don't call me the Mistress of Wigglers for nothing..." Annabyss looked a bit perplexed. Larva's next move was a strange one. She held out her right hand and flicked it upward. In the next instant, CRRAASSHH!! A giant yellow Wiggler with its eyes narrowed and its teeth clenched burst through the ground between the two sorceresses like a whale breeching. Annabyss was awed. The Wiggler landed nearby, blowing puffs of steam out of its nostrils. Larva grabbed its attention with a hand gesture and pointed at Annabyss. Soon, the behemoth was stampeding towards the woman. Annabyss had to think fast. She transformed herself into a Mecha-Blooper and began to fire away. KA-BBOOMM!! A shadowy Bullet Bill got the monster right against its forehead. The immense Wiggler roared in pain and began to steer away from the Mecha-Blooper, leaving its summoner wide open.

Larva scowled. She's good, she thought, but not good enough...

With their club and hoop-shaped lasers handy, Big Guy and Laser Snifit had soon found out that this monster they were going up against had more up its sleeve than a bunch of arrows. After the thing knocked them to the ground, it started firing projectiles at them from its eyes. Since Laser Snifit was able to get up first, he was able to snap out of it and dodge those things, but Big Guy was less lucky. SHING! SHING! SHING! Whatever they were, three of them had sliced a few bloody gashes into his arms and got stuck in the ground behind him. Big Guy was up with a start, gasping in pain again. Laser Snifit observed what it had used to attack: extremely sharp pieces of crystal. He was even more amazed. "So, not only does it possess Robin Hifit's arrows, but also Crystal Guy's crystals," he mused. Big Guy had his club ready again. He panted a bit, then started charging towards the monster. In one second, the monster was glaring at him. In the next, WHAM!! It had materialized right in front of him and sent him sprawling with the swipe of one of its paws. "And Small Fry's speed, I see," Laser Snifit groaned. "How are we supposed to beat this thing?..."

WHAM! Wario socked a Chuckya right between the eyes. BAM! Waluigi sent one spinning by kicking its face in. No matter what these things did, the result would always be the same. They simply weren't anything of a match for the Kamenstein Bros.. However, what these things lacked in skill they seemed to make up for in tenacity, ensuring that this was a battle that would take more than six hits for the Kamenstein Bros. to finish. Thus, the battle dragged on, and all Tessa could do was sit back and watch.

Ohh, she fretted. There must be SOMETHING I can do... Soon after that, her attention went back to focusing on the fight between Annabyss and Larva. Annabyss looked ready to fire another Bullet Bill, this time in the direction of Larva, which she did. SHOOM! The projectile was off. It was Larva's turn to think fast. KA-BBOOOMM!! The Bullet Bill exploded, but it wasn't against Larva; it was against one of the many segments of the giant Wiggler. Larva had forced it to jump in the way just in time. The thing was badly hurt. It didn't look as though it'd be going anywhere for a while. With that in mind, Annabyss turned herself into a Spinthra and began to scale the fallen monster's body with her many legs. Once she was on top of it and could see her opponent, she leapt off the monster, opening her mandibles wide for the treacherous sorceress. Surprisingly, Larva just smiled. Again, Annabyss was confused. CHOMP!! Tessa shrieked as the Wiggler suddenly hopped back onto its numerous feet and grabbed Annabyss with its teeth. In her spider-like form, she was writhing in that beast's mouth, barely being even able to breath. Larva approached the woman and smirked.

"Not much of a sorceress, are ya?" she taunted. The Mistress of Wigglers turned around to face General Wind-up who had born witness to the whole thing in satisfaction. "General Wind-up," she said, holding her hands by Annabyss's head, "would you do the honors?" Tessa was more horrified then than ever, especially by what the general did next.

"Wit pleasure," the wooden man laughed, whipping out an odd-looking sword. Its blade appeared to be separated into three different parts, each one having an arrow-shaped line pointing towards the tip between them. None of them would ever share the same color. They were always changing between being red, yellow, and blue, in that order. This was the strange blade that the man was going to use in order to hack down Annabyss for good as he marched towards the struggling woman.

Tessa's widened eyes watched this as panic overcame her. Subconsciously, she placed her hands over her mouth, wondering what to do. That was when she noticed it: the gloves on her hands; little yellow sparks of electricity were flying around them! She took them away from her mouth and observed them, awestricken. Then she looked up and noticed the general had gotten dangerously close to the woman that was taking care of her. He raised his sword, and Tessa scowled. She thrust out her hands, pointed them at her target, and thought, Here goes nothing...

TSSEEWWW!! A big, fat, yellow laser beam burst forth from the palms of her hands and went flying. BBOOOMMM!!! It nailed her target right where she wanted it to: right on its neck. As a result, the giant Wiggler's humungous head was blown off its body. Green guts went flying everywhere, and SHUNK! General Wind-up's sword struck. It got the Wiggler directly in its forehead. Both he and Larva were surprised by this. It wasn't what they had planned.

"Good job, Tessa!" Annabyss called out. The girl's eyes lit up. She had successfully saved Annabyss's life, allowing her to scurry out of the monster's mouth, transform into a rather large snake, wrap herself around the startled Larva, and began to constrict. "Now on to you..." she growled to her rival of a sorceress...

It had all become clear to Wind-up now. He wasn't going to forgive that little girl for what she had done. He pulled the sword out of the dead monster's forehead and began to stride towards her menacingly. "You have made big mistake," he snarled. Tessa gasped as this new enemy of hers started getting closer. She knew this was going to be trouble...

Big Guy was still struggling to get up as the beast began bounding towards him. Thinking fast, Laser Snifit turned around, faced it, and fired a circular laser in its direction. The monster was in the middle of leaping upon the overgrown Shy Guy like a puma when it got its rear-end fried. The thing roared in pain, still flying through the air. In the nick of time, Big Guy caught a glimpse of how dangerously close this thing was to him, and WHACK!! He smacked it across its ugly mask with his club, forming a crack across it in the process. Then it was the monster's turn to go sprawling. It was skidding in the direction of Laser Snifit. The little man got his wits together and jumped up into the air, landing onto the behemoth's chest as he did so. He prepared to fire another laser. SH-SH-SHING!! Too late. The Snifit went flying off of the monster's body. Three crystal shards had lodged themselves in his right arm. Soon, the monster was on all fours again and Big Guy and Laser Snifit were still unsure of how they were to defeat it...

Wario and Waluigi were still going at it with those pesky Chuckyas. Waluigi had managed to successfully drop-kick one right on top of its bulbous head, knocking it to the ground. Just then, another Chuckya had snuck up behind him and grabbed a hold of the demonic man. Wario could hear his brother screaming once he got done socking another Chuckya's ugly mug. Once he turned around, he could see the Chuckya had chucked his sibling right out of the arena. Maddened, Wario decided to give that particular Chuckya a taste of his own medicine. A different Chuckya got in his way while he was running towards it, but he just pounded it into the ground upon jumping atop its head in order to reach his next victim. Wario got close enough. He circled around the pest, picked him up by the black diamond in his back, and heaved. The Bob-Omb-like creature made a loud, metallic yelping sound as it exploded once it hit the ground. The elder Kamenstein Brother was astonished by this development. Waluigi was as well once he was on his feet again. The other five Chuckyas were looking nervous upon realizing that these two men had discovered their weakness. The turning point had been reached...

General Wind-up had his sword swinging. Tessa was doing little more than backing away from this maniac at this point. She knew she had to do something. CLANG!! The general smote the ground with his sword. He would have gotten the girl had she not have yelped and rolled away just in time. Her dodging was starting to get on his nerves. He just started chasing her some more. Again, he raised his sword. The girl was still wrought with fear, but, this time, she decided to go with a different approach. She concentrated once more, causing the sparks around the gloves to appear again. Then ZAP!! The weapon of General Wind-up was knocked from his grasp by a cleverly aimed laser beam. The man was ticked. This time, he decided strangling the girl was the way to go. He growled and held out his hands, tightening his fingers like claws. Tessa got nervous again. She decided there was only one thing left to do. She got a good look at his exposed torso and concentrated. Wind-up had walked pretty fast. His hands were inches away from the girl's neck when suddenly, TSSEEWW!! A big, smoking, black hole materialized on his chest and he went flying. His back hit the ground hard and he skidded until he was right next to his blade. Tessa watched in anticipation as the man weakly lifted up his head, looked at her through dizzy eyes, and fainted. Tessa smiled in relief. She had managed to successfully down her enemy, and it was all thanks to her new gloves. The girl began to look around the room, wondering what else she could do...

Two of the Chuckyas were starting to look nervous. In one second, there was only four of them left. In the next, only three. The Kamenstein Bros. had indeed become a nuisance ever since they discovered their weakness. With another loud, metallic yelp, it had officially become two-on-two. Unfortunately for the Chuckyas, not even this could amount to a fair fight. Before they knew it, the menacing brothers were behind them and grabbing them by their black diamonds. With two squirming Chuckyas in their arms, the brothers nodded to each other while sporting some mischievous grins, and tossed. Soon enough, those Chuckyas had hit the ground and disappeared in a few puffs of white smoke, just as their peers had. Wario and Waluigi wiped the dust off their hands. As for Albert Einamite, all he could do was watch these brothers in disgust.

"You two zhink you have won?!" he spazzed. "Zhe reign of General Vind-up ist just beginning!!"

The Kamenstein Bros. waved their hands at the man in a belittling gesture. "Stille, sie alt täuscht."

"Vhat?! How dare you!!" Albert objected. "You two are nozhing more zhan a bunch of-"

SHING!! A rather large hunk of crystal nearly got the old Bob-Omb right in the face. Lucky for him, it only hit the ground in front of him. Nonetheless, it had gotten him and the Kamenstein Bros. to shut up. The three of them turned around and saw that Big Guy had deflected one of the shards of the Einamizer's monster using his club. It was a good move, but it still wasn't enough for the likes of this thing. It spat some arrows out of its Snifit-like snout at the two of him and Laser Snifit, which merely made them dance. Once that was over with, Big Guy readied his club again and Laser Snifit got into another fighting stance. The monster roared and lunged through the air, holding its claws out, ready to tear the two 8-Bits to pieces again. Thinking quickly, the duo just front-flipped over the batch of arrows sticking out of the ground, allowing the monster to go sailing right over their heads. They turned around and prepared to retaliate, but WHAM!! It was unbelievable how fast that thing was. Immediately, it had turned around and pounced on them, slamming them into the ground, a paw around both necks. The thing snarled at them and began to make its eyesockets glow again. Big Guy and Laser squirmed helplessly, dreading what was to come.

Watching this, Wario and Waluigi were in the middle of deciding they had seen enough. However, no sooner than the instant they took that first step towards the demonic beast with their fists clenched had Big Guy and Laser Snifit's salvation already come. TSSEEWWW!! A big, yellow laser beam flew out of nowhere and blasted the monster's mask right where the crack was. As a result, the mask shattered and the monster found itself in tremendous pain. It immediately tore its paws away from Big Guy and Laser Snifit's necks and began to clutch at whatever it was the mask had been hiding this whole time. Roaring in pain, the monster was staggering about on its hind legs like a bear. Meanwhile, Big Guy and Laser Snifit were turning their heads around, looking at the girl who had saved them. They waved to her to symbolize their gratitude and she nodded back. Then it was back to business. The 8-Bits knew that this was their chance.

"Okay, it's vulnerable," Snifit said. "Big Guy? Think you can handle'im?"

Big Guy tightened his grip around his club. "Just watch me," he assured. The monster was still staggering around and Big Guy had gotten to rushing towards the foul thing, club in hand. All the murderous intent in the world was in his head.

Alright, you freak, he thought. Payback time...

The moment had come. Big Guy jumped high up into the air with his club upraised, fixing his gaze upon the top of the behemoth's head as he did so. The overgrown Shy Guy came down and began to swing the club. The result was explosive. CCRAAACKK!! With all his strength, the Shy Guy slammed his club right onto the beast's cranium, surely having made a crack in its skull in the process. WHAM!!! The impact of the blow was so devastating, the beast had fallen right to the ground. Its face had made a crater in the ground and was buried deep within it. As for the rest of its body, it wasn't moving one bit. Big Guy stepped back and admired his handiwork. Then the cheers came. All five of Big Guy, Laser Snifit, Wario, Waluigi, and Tessa found themselves jumping for joy at this thing's defeat. However, Albert Einamite was looking pale...

During this, Annabyss was still trying to choke the life out of Larva with her snake-like body. She was determined, but her opponent didn't look ready to give in just yet.

"Don't...think that...summoning Wigglers...is all I can do," the incongruous woman wheezed.

"Don't talk," Annabyss said. "Just die."

Larva growled. Beneath the portion of Annabyss's long, twisted body that was keeping her wrists in place, Larva's three-fingered hands were beginning to flick upward in an odd formation. Then the unexpected occurred. FFWWOOOSHH!! Yelping in surprise and pain, Annabyss instantly uncoiled herself and flew off of the woman, observing what had caused this to happen. Lo and behold, both of her index fingers had pillars of blue flames rising from their tips. The two sorceresses glared at each other.

"An interesting ability, you have there," Annabyss commented.

"Thank you," Larva said. Her next move was to create four more pillars of blue fire for her other fingers to wield. "Though, I'm afraid this must end now..."

"Indeed..." Agreeing with the treacherous woman, Annabyss turned herself into a giant Blooper once more. Again, the two women got into some fighting stances, staring each other down. They were about to get the riot going again when...

"STOP IT!! ALL OF YOU!!" Big Guy, Laser Snifit, Wario, Waluigi, and Tessa stopped celebrating, and Annabyss and Larva stopped fighting. These seven people turned and looked at Albert Einamite. An extremely grave expression was on his face. "Ve must get out of here at once!!" he declared. "In sixty seconds, zhis place ist going to explode!" In response, the Bob-Omb got an assortment of different confused murmurs. To elaborate, the Bob-Omb pointed his face towards the monster's body. It was beginning to glow white and emanate a foreboding hum. "Ze monster vill explode, taking everyone in zhis base down vizh it! It's full of crates of gunpowder!!" At that, everyone in the room began to panic. "Ve must get out of here!!"

Fear and desperation began to sweep the room. "Self-destruction," Laser Snifit said. "Grey Guy's ability..."

WHUMP!! Big Guy and Laser Snifit jolted and looked behind themselves. A shadowy, elephant-like creature was there. On top of it were those two guys and that one little girl that rescued them earlier. "Hop on," the pachyderm said. "There isn't much time." Big Guy and Laser Snifit hesitated for one second, but then decided they didn't have a choice. In a few moments, all five of Big Guy, Laser Snifit, Wario, Waluigi, and Tessa were on Annabyss's back. Without a moment to lose, the shape shifting woman began stampeding out of that room as fast as she could, leaving Larva, Albert Einamite, the unconscious General Wind-up, and the glowing monster to eat their dust. None of them knew what to do.

Damn it, Larva thought, looking around her with her teeth clenched, things are getting complicated...

Chaos ensued everywhere as Annabyss ran through the various rooms of the base. Bob-Ombs and Chuckyas alike were scattering, clearing a path for her, and various crates were getting crushed. Blurs of assorted rooms and explosives whizzed past Big Guy, Laser Snifit, Wario, Waluigi, and Tessa as they held on tightly to their ride. Within seconds, they were all in the next room and having very little time left until the entire place was history. This time, trucks and crates were what Annabyss raced through. Again, Bob-Ombs began to scatter, all of them screaming for their lives as they tried to get out of this thing's way. One such Bob-Omb couldn't help but notice that three of the people riding that elephant looked familiar.

"Hey," he said, "aren't they the ones who were sneaking..."

It didn't matter. WHAM!!! Since the front door to this facility was closed, Annabyss just had to make a new one. After tilting her head forward and ramming straight into it, one was made. Then it was off to speeding away from the deranged base of Full Moon and into the palm tree forest for her. Big Guy, Laser Snifit, Wario, Waluigi, and Tessa looked behind themselves as they watched the few remaining seconds of this base. Three... Two... One...

KA-BBOOOOOOOOMMM!!!...

The entire base had turned into a gigantic mountain of detonation. Fire and debris was flying everywhere. Surviving that was a high impossibility. Full Moon was no more. Big Guy, Laser Snifit, Wario, Waluigi, Tessa, and Annabyss stampeded on...

Hyrg and Galileo were still under a tree, enjoying their break and eating. Exactly what was on Galileo's mind, Hyrg was unsure of. After all, he had his own thoughts to deal with, most of them centering around the Twelve Gods of Chaos. He knew so much about them, yet he didn't feel it was enough. To get answers, he only knew one way how...

"Galileo?" he asked.

"Yes, Hyrg?" the wolf replied.

"I still don't get it," the boy started. "Who and what were the Twelve Gods of Chaos? What did they do wrong? Where are they now? How'd they get there?"

Galileo chuckled a bit. "You sure are full of questions," he commented. Hyrg just furled his brow at him. Galileo looked at him. Then he started reaching into the folds of robe. "Here," he said, pulling out a book. Its cover read, "The Forgotten Legends." "Just read this every night before you go to bed," Galileo instructed. "It should clear things up."

Hyrg took the book and examined it a bit. In the meantime, Galileo was busy finishing off his meal.

"Well," he said, getting up. "Come on. Back to training."

Hyrg thought for a moment. He then placed the book within the folds of his own robe and got up as well. The next instant, the two boys were walking down that wooden path leading to the inside of their hideout. The afternoon was young and Hyrg was still in the midst of adjusting to the complicated life of a Death Sickle...

Six people were on a beach somewhere. Two of them were talking to each other and two others were looking glumly at the pillar of smoke that used to be Full Moon. Tessa and Annabyss may have been in high spirits, but Big Guy and Laser Snifit were another story.

"You did very well for a first-timer, Tessa," Annabyss complimented. "I can see great things coming for you and those gloves." Tessa giggled. Annabyss nodded to her, but then noticed the melancholy moods of Big Guy and Laser Snifit and began to glide towards them. "Gentlemen, what's wrong?" she asked.

Laser Snifit didn't say anything. Big Guy just took a deep breath. He commenced explaining it to the woman. "We let Chogun down, we let Davey down..." The muscular Shy Guy held his hand out, pointing to where the smoke was coming from. "Now this. We let Robin Hifit, Small Fry, Crystal Guy, and Grey Guy down. Maybe there's no room in this world for a couple of screwups like us..."

"Don't talk like that," Annabyss said. "If there's anything the world is unfit for, it's two ninnies that aren't willing to learn from their mistakes."

Big Guy turned around and faced the woman. "But," he started, "we really tried this time, and it STILL didn't do us any good!"

"Did it?" Annabyss retorted. "You are underestimating yourself." The woman took a step closer to the massive Shy Guy. She was only up to his chest, but she continued talking to him. "We saw what you two did," she said. "The way you handled those Bob-Ombs and that monster back there... It was truly amazing. Ordinary people can't do what you have done." Having heard that, Laser Snifit stopped looking at the smoke and started looking at Annabyss as well, listening some more. "Gentlemen," she added, "ask yourselves this: does the world really not need you?"

Big Guy and Laser Snifit both ran the question through their heads. It didn't take long for them to realize that, in spite of what had happened during the past few days, they were still two very incredible people.

"I guess you're right," Laser Snifit said quietly.

"Yeah..." Big Guy agreed.

Annabyss nodded. "And it's not too late," she said. "The world needs us. It needs you, too."

Big Guy and Laser Snifit started looking pensive. That was when Tessa walked up to them beside Annabyss. "We're on our way to Uaurpe to help the world," she said, "you guys can come with, if you'd like."

"Hmm..." said Laser Snifit.

"But," Big Guy interjected, "what about our friends? Robin Hifit, Small Fry, Crystal Guy, and Grey Guy?"

"They have already forgiven you, gentlemen," Annabyss said. "Wherever they are now, they want you to do for the world what you couldn't for them."

The two 8-Bits weren't sure just yet. They looked first at Annabyss, then at Tessa. Behind them, they could see the Kamenstein Bros.. The two boys just held up their fists and grinned as though to urge them to fight on. Big Guy and Laser Snifit huddled up.

"Should we?" Laser Snifit asked.

"I don't see why not," Big Guy said. "Besides... Sounds like fun! And I'm sure it's what the gang would have wanted us to do."

Snifit nodded. "You're right." The two guys faced their four new friends again. "You can count us in."

Tessa and the Kamenstein Bros. were smiling. Annabyss clapped her delicate hands together. "Wonderful," she said. "Just wait here..." Everyone watched. The woman turned around and began walking across the sandy beach. Gradually, she let the ocean's water engulf her. Once she was completely submerged beneath it, FFWOOSHH!! A shadowy Nep-Enut emerged. Catching on, Tessa and the Kamenstein Bros. had commenced hopping onto its head again. They beckoned their two new recruits with their hands to do the same. Big Guy and Laser Snifit just shrugged and did just that. Before long, all six of these people were back to drifting across the ocean, and Big Guy was excited.

"Alright!" he said, pumping an arm. "Uaurpe, baby, here we come!"

"Not quite," Annabyss said, confusing the others a little. "We have some unfinished business to take care of. I'm afraid Belome Rock of the Clover Kingdom is our next destination." The others began to nod.

"Alright then," Big Guy said. "First to Belome Rock, then to Uaurpe!" Excited, his other teammates cheered. Their mission on Bobbus Island may not have been an entirely successful one, but life went on, and these six people had a journey to continue. They seemed to be on the right track...

"Hmph..." Little did they know that high above the smoking wreckage of what was once Full Moon was the woman they tried to kill, Larva. She had been watching them the whole time by riding on the back of a giant Flying Wiggler. Her arms were folded. A very disgusted look was plastered on her face. "Good job, you ingrates," she growled. "You just cost me my ticket to enslaving this world. All that sucking up I did... All those Bob-Ombs I had..." The woman looked down upon the ruins she had just barely escaped. "They're all in shambles now..." She fixed her gaze upon the six that were escaping her. Her eyes had embodied death. "You'll pay for this... Mark my words..." With that, the woman was off, flying far away into the distance...

Dr. Kamenstein watched in satisfaction as Christopher and his wife locked each other in a deep, passionate embrace. It had taken a while, but he was finally back in Gana Village and back in Christopher's book store. That, and the man's wife was back in his presence. He was ecstatic. However, there was something bothering him in the back of his mind. Once he got the opportunity to do so, he voiced it to the scientific man.

"Again, I must thank you for this task,
But there's something else that I must ask:
Tessa and William; where are they?
I cannot stand them being away."

Dr. Kamenstein clenched his eyes shut and took a deep breath. He knew this moment was going to come. All he could do was bite the bullet and go along with it. "Your children," he started, his voice quivering uncontrollably, "while we were gone..." The Madscikoopa swallowed hard. "Mysteriously disappeared..."

Christopher's eyes widened. He stopped breathing. His wife wasn't very surprised, but the pain was still the same. She just continued holding her husband's hands while her eyes started to get misty.

"They could be anywhere right now," Kamenstein continued, his voice still shaking. "I'm sorry."

Christopher didn't say anything. He just looked solemnly down at the floor. Slowly, he slipped away from his wife. She let him do so. The poet walked his way up to the window. He stared in depression out at the setting sun. Why did things always have to turn out this way for him?...

The man may have been looking out the window, but he wasn't doing so beneath it. Therefore, what he didn't know was that a group of four Beezos were busy finally breaking free from their icy prisons and shaking off the frigid stuff. Fortunately for them, no one saw them do this as they were hidden deep within the bushes. The four of them socialized a bit, but stopped once they noticed they could hear talking in the building behind them. One of the voices sounded familiar...

"I'm not sure what to tell you," Dr. Kamenstein said. "These things...just happen."

For a little while longer, Christopher stared at the sunset. The man was deep in thought. Analyzing and hypothesizing was going on in his head. Finally, he said something.

"Dr. Kamenstein, you've done well..."

"Hm?" the scientist said.

"In the distance, I hear a bell..."

Both Dr. Kamenstein and the woman in the room were looking a bit confused.

"It's telling me what job's for me,
That I should search the land and sea..."

"Honey," his wife started, "you don't mean..."

Christopher nodded...

A few moments later, the scene was taking place outside the store. Christopher was getting wished good luck by his friend and his wife. The one in the lab coat was all the Beezos cared about. They were watching all this from around the corner of the building. They noticed that the taller man had just slipped what looked like a pair of claws into his jacket. He looked about ready to go when the bespectacled one stopped him.

"One moment, please," Dr. Kamenstein said. All six of the Beezos and the Ices watched as the man in the lab coat ran up to his Sky-Pop and started fiddling with it with his screwdrivers and various other tools. In a few seconds, this had allowed the man to have been able to extract a bazooka of some sort from the flying contraption. He walked up to the poetic man and handed it to him. "Blifit Bills," he said. "Should you come across any evil clowns along the way, just use this on'em. It'll freeze them right in their tracks." While Christopher was in the middle of thanking his friend for the new weapon, the Beezos were busy going from feeling hatred towards the man that froze them in the first place to feeling total fear. Could this mean what they hoped it didn't mean?

"Mary, my dear, watch over my store.
There's a certain tunnel I'm going to explore.
I assure you both, I'll find those two.
Until then, I bid you...adieu..."

Christopher waved. The other two waved back. With that, he was off. Christopher had begun to walk away from Gana Village. Surely then, the Beezos would be able to have their revenge against the treacherous Dr. Kamenstein. The four of them got their spears ready...

Curiosity had gotten to Dr. Kamenstein. "Where exactly is he headed?" he inquired.

"Gulpit Tunnel," Mrs. Ice replied. "There's a cave nearby that leads to it. It connects Gana Village to three other places: Silicon, Mario Land, and the Clattagin Woods." Dr. Kamenstein just grunted in response to this, but the Beezos responded in total fear again. This time, they knew there was trouble afoot. They huddled up and got the discussion going. Once they had reached an agreement, they zoomed out of the bushes and commenced following Christopher. It was either him or them...

Dr. Kamenstein and his female host were walking back inside the shop. They both had something to hope for, but the Madscikoopa was still feeling a bit down. Storko, he thought, if only you'd have just been a little more careful...

 

 

After what felt like quite a long time, Storko had found it: his new place to live. He looked around and took in his surroundings. He was on top of a nice, big mountain. The whole thing was covered in moss. Down below, he could see dozens of trees, all of them forming an odd, clover-filled forest, it seemed. In the distance, he could see the ocean stretching out and getting lit ablaze by the setting sun. All this beautiful scenery, and Storko had fresh mountain air, too.

"Well," he said, "time to unpack..." The bird began unfolding his bundle, getting ready to make this place officially his. Unbeknownst to him, however, a worm-like blob of some strange green ooze had spotted him. It swam around through the air insanely and commenced sneaking up on the bird. It caused him to start hearing an unusual sloshing noise behind him. "What the..." He turned around and saw it. That in of itself would have been enough to make him scream, but, once it got close enough, it zapped him with something, engulfing the fowl in white light. Then it happened...

"AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!..."

The ooze had made another victim. As quickly as it had arrived, it had fled. The gunk was back in the sky again and all was silent again. It was deceitful. This had happened, and Belome Rock had become even more interesting...