This next world takes place in a new Netflix cartoon! Play "Autumn Mountain" from Origami King!
World 4: Oni Mountain
Robi and Jolene passed the red entrance arch of an entrenched mountain path, gushing with plant life and peaceful waterfalls. The ground was soft and warm beneath them as Robi felt the earth in harmony. There were several dark-gray rocks, about his size, standing around the path. "Grrrr!" They grew hands, feet, and angry faces as they came to life, much like the monsters outside. The Stoni were easily crushable with their bending, but it took a few solid hits for them to crumble. The path ended at a pond with a tall waterfall. They noticed the thin ledge behind the waterfall, and when they sidled to it, Robi felt a chi flow. He punched the wall, causing platforms to jut out of the cliff and through the waterfall. There was a spot on their level they could use to Rock Jump to the first platform, and from there jump up the rest.
They traveled along a riverside and fought back large, red-and-black frogs called Flibbits. Past the river on their left, a beautiful field of pink flowers splayed before them. They only saw a lone person in the field: a young girl with black, ponytailed hair, wearing a dress that looked like a leopard's pelt. "Dunskun-skun-skun, oshi, oshi! Dunskun-skun-skun, oshi, oshi!" She was dancing and banging a drum hanging by rope in her hand. Smiling at her silly dance, the duo approached her.
"Hi there!" Robi called. "We're new here. Could you tell us about this place?"
The girl gasped and spun around, shocked to find visitors! Strangers, no less. It was then they realized she had two tiny horns, but the left was chipped in half. "I've never met you two before! You look…" She glanced down at Robi's feet. She held one of hers up beside them. They were almost the same with five toes each, but hers were much tinier. She also had small, dot-like eyes and no nose. She couldn't really judge Jolene's since she had shoes on. "I don't know what you are."
"I'm Robi the Nimbi. This is Jolene the human."
"Huh? I can't understand you. I thought Naridon was the only one who talked differently…"
"But we understand you. Well, our translators do, at least. I guess this is Japan."
"Hmm…I have an idea! Principal can help me understand you! Let's go to school!" She ran off excitedly.
"Ooo! I wonder what kind of school? …Jolene?" She was poking her nose. "Hehe, it is weird she doesn't have one. Didn't Perry say his aunt didn't have a nose either? I bet it's hard to breathe like that." The two raced after the girl, going up a hill on one side of the field. "AAAH!" Paper-thin monsters called Flatsos would suddenly spring up from the flowers, swinging their own flowers or candycanes, but she would fight back with her drumstick. The ops would join in the fight, the girl awestruck by their powers. She raced down the other side of the hill, overlooking the edge of a cliff over clouds and further peaks. A large, twisty tree sat near the cliff.
They joined the girl to the tree, which had small windows and a door in it. "Is this the school? It looks way nicer than ours!"
They walked up some stairs around the side and back of the tree. It led to a small balcony enclosed in trees with a single table with a pond. Tiny, bug-like lights swam around the area. "Principal! These new Yōkai speak a strange tongue. Could you help me understand them?"
A gentle voice echoed. "These children hail from a different realm… but I sense kindness and love in their hearts. Perhaps they are here to help, Young Onari. You must help them as well."
Two of the lights flew into Onari's ears. "Onari?" Robi asked. "Is that your name?"
"Hai. …Hey! I understand you now!"
"Awesome!"
"Onari-san!" A gruff man's voice called. The ops were taken aback as a tall, bearded man with a big nose, purple robe, and dark wings walked up the stairs. "Huh? Who are these… strange creatures?"
"Robi the Nimbi, Jolene the human." Robi answered.
"I've never heard of those kind of Yōkai." Onari said. "Tengu-san, what are they?"
"H…Human?!" Tengu was in shock. "It can't be! Don't tell me you are minions of that evil sorceress?!"
"They don't look like the sorceress' oni." Onari said. "Just now, they helped me fight some of them. And they were controlling rocks and clay! Does that make them benders?"
"Onari-san, humans are forbidden in our land! They are vile demons who desecrate nature and poison our skies!"
"Calm yourself, Tengu-san." Principal spoke. "I do not sense such evils from these youths. Perhaps allow them to explain their presence here?"
"The sorceress you mentioned… was she fat, dressed in black, with a green face, and pointy chin and hat?"
"Yes! Do you know her?" Onari asked.
"We've come to stop her! Her name's Gruntilda; she's been cursing all sorts of places with her evil magic. Can you tell us what she's been doing to this mountain?"
"She appeared some time ago in a flying fortress." Tengu answered. "She abducted my daughter… and all of my students but Onari."
"My dad went to try and save them." Onari frowned. "But he never came back… If you're here to save them, can I come with you?"
"Of course! We don't know our way around, after all. But, I was wondering… do you guys have a way for me to fly?" Robi flapped his wings. "Gruntilda put a curse on me, so I can't fly. I can only stay off the ground for a second."
"Tengu-san, don't you have something that can help with that?"
"Before Amaten learned to fly on her own, I gave her a mystical feather imbued with Air Chi that enabled her the power of flight. I'm sure I left it somewhere inside the school, but I… do not remember where."
"Let's go find it! Come on, guys!" The children raced downstairs and into the base of the twisty tree. They first searched the classroom, but it was occupied by Grublins and a Gruntling teacher! The teacher was pointing at a sloppily-drawn picture depicting Robi and Jolene as the enemies. But when the trio barged in, they would prove their worth as the enemies. They stole a key from the teacher and traveled up a winding staircase. There, they could unlock Tengu's bedroom. There was a picture of his daughter, a nice young bird girl, and a picture of himself in his youth… with a wild hairdo, sunglasses, black biker-like robe, and eying a group of umbrella Yōkai ladies at the hot spring.
There was a door leading to a ladder, but that ladder was covered in tiny Whipcracks. "It's more of the witch's cursed plants! I'll cut them down!" Onari feistily swung her drumstick and ripped the Whipcracks off their perches. She climbed first to slice the rest, the operatives climbing after.
Soon, they reached the top room of the tree. They saw a white glow coming from a pot. Robi reached in and pulled out a large, white feather. "This must be it!" Robi stuck the feather into his wings.
"Ah, so that's where it was!" Tengu landed on the room's balcony. "However, the feather does not work on its own. You must draw up chi from certain pads found throughout the mountains. Like this one." He flapped off a pad with a butterfly wing depiction.
"Aha!!" Robi recognized it. "Now we can finally use those! Let's get flyin'!" Robi took Jolene's hands and stood on the pad. Feeling the rush of air, Robi shot skyward and flew! He clasped Jolene firmly and flew with relative ease. "Huhuhu! I forgot how great it feels! Um…but I'm not sure if I can carry both of you."
"Don't worry!" Onari cheered. "I have my own ride!" She banged her drum and called, "Nimbo-san! Fly me away!"
A fluffy cloud soared down to her level. Onari leapt on it. "My dad is a Thunder Spirit! I haven't awakened my lightningbending, yet, but he gave me this 'living' cloud to help me fly around! I can even strike lightning when I do this." She jumped and Ground Pounded the cloud, striking a bolt.
"OW!!" Tengu was zapped.
"Oops! Sorry, Tengu-san!"
"Ahem, no matter. But Onari, if things start to look dangerous, I advise you to head home immediately. We do not know if these strangers are trustworthy."
"It's important not to talk to strangers." Jolene agreed.
"We've been talking to strangers this whole adventure, Jolene!"
"Don't worry, Tengu-san! These kids sound nice! And maybe working with them will help me develop my own bending!"
"You said Grunty came on a flying fortress, right? Then we gotta search for that. But let's search the other mountains for Jiggies!"
The sky was the limit for these flying friends! The mountains had several distinct peaks, such as a curved fish, a gaping cave of darkness, or one with a large thundercloud over it. "Did you say your dad is a Thunder Spirit?" Robi asked. "Does that mean you're a spirit, too? 'Cause you look kinda… 'squishy' like us."
"Yōkai are born with physical bodies before moving to spirithood, silly! Until then, we have to learn our purpose in nature. But no matter what, we must never go below the sea of clouds. 'Cause that's where the evil oni live. They'll consume our souls and we'll be lost forever in the darkness."
"Yikes! We better be careful, huh, Jolene? Although… I wonder if Grunty's fortress would be hidden down there."
Since they had fish recently, they decided to go to Tuna Mountain first. There was a grass field around the base of the tuna statue, and an elevated platform where two figures sat at a table. When the kids descended for a landing, the two figures seemed to be orange-furred monkeys with clothes. One had a banana-shaped mouth and camper's uniform and the shorter monkey wore only a red shirt and backwards cap. The table had a can of tuna on it. "Man, I told you we shouldn't have trusted Eduardo with the can-opener." Jake Spidermonkey said impatiently.
"Hey, maybe these guys can help!" Lazlo said. "Excuse me! Yoohoo!"
"Cool! Monkeys!" Robi smiled. "Hello! Do you guys need something?"
"We need a can-opener, man." Jake said, trying to pry his fingers under the can's key. "Or at least something thin enough to flip this stupid…grrrrr!" He tried to gnaw it with his teeth, but to no avail.
"Our friend is looking for the can-opener in the grass." Lazlo pointed. "Do you think you could help him?"
"We'll try." The kids jumped down into the tall grass, nearly dwarfed by it. It seemed that a large, purple-furred, horned monster was looking through the grass with a magnifying glass.
"Señor Can-opener? Holaaaaa? Come out, come out, wherever you aaaaare?" Eduardo called in a gruff, Spanish accent.
"What kind of Yōkai is that?"
"I've… never seen that one either." Onari cocked a brow. "Those monkeys were new, too."
"Their clothes looked kinda modern, too." Robi thought. He used Seismic Sense to feel the earth around him. He felt the rumbling of Eduardo's steps, some bugs, and rocks within the grass, but no weight akin to a can-opener. But he did feel something odd: a cave under the grass. He walked to the spot where the ground was most weak: he was able to stomp a hole open, the trio falling in. Large beetles called Click-Clacks skittered to attack, but some quick rock-jabs and swings of Onari's stick would flip the beetles on their backs, KO'ed.
The cave winded around a bit before they found a lever. Robi kicked it, and they felt a rumbling from above. They hurried back to the hole and jumped out of the cave, watching as the giant fish statue seemed to spit something out. It landed beside the monkeys' table. "Maybe it's the can-opener!" Robi ran up to see. "…No, it's a Sun Stone?" An orange rock shaped like such.
"Hey, I think I know a place that can go!" Onari said. There was a Flight Pad beside the statue, so they used it to take off again. Onari led them to a circle of small peaks near the center of the mountain range. They each had pedestals, with one having a sun-shaped slot. They inserted the stone, and it began to glow. "These mountains showed up around the same time the sorceress did. Maybe they'll help us find her."
"Sounds like a lead! Let's check out that dark cave next. It looks scary, so it'd be nice to get over with." They flew to the mountain with the looming dark cave. As they landed on the shore, they felt a chilling air sweep over them. Waves of darkness came coursing out of the cave. However, it also seemed the cave was sealed by a gate with a moon symbol. There was a little human girl wearing an orange and yellow, square-patterned kimono, with short black hair done in a small ponytail, holding the gate's bars and peering in. "Hey! Are you trying to get in there?"
The girl turned. "More Yōkai? Maybe you can help. I'm trying to save Sesshōmaru-sama."
"That's a name you don't hear every day."
"Sesshōmaru-sama?!" Onari gasped. "I heard he's a really powerful Yōkai!"
"Sesshōmaru-sama went into this Underworld Gate searching for treasure, but he never came out. The gate only opens at night."
"Then we'll have to try and save him at night." Robi offered.
"Sesshōmaru-sama also said mortals can't survive in there unless they were 'coated in light.'"
"I bet we have a solution to that. Let's make sure we're stocked on Sun Sand before night falls."
"Sesshōsesshōsesshōsesshōsesshōsesshō…" Jolene chanted.
"Haha, that's kinda fun!" Onari began to dance. "Sesshōsesshōsesshōsesshōsesshōsesshō!"
"Hehehehe!" Rin giggled.
Sadly, they had nothing else to do here, so they took flight again. They visited the thundercloud island next. The peak was very shaded beneath the rumbling cloud, but it released no lightning. It also seemed a radio antenna was stretched up into the cloud, connected to a small, old-timey T.V.. "Onari, try to strike lightning into the big cloud."
"Good idea!" She mounted her cloud and flew above the large one. Performing Mario-style Ground Pounds, she pumped the large cloud full of lightning from her own. The thundercloud puffed before combusting with lightning! Power coursed through the antenna do the T.V., which sparked with static. "It worked! Onari, come down! It's about to come on!"
Onari flew down, watching as an image appeared. It depicted an angry Japanese schoolgirl. "Inuyasha! You're such a vulgar jerk! I'm leaving!" The screen changed to a white-haired boy with dog ears. "Fine, Kagome! Go away! I don't need you!" A cloud was briefly visible through the static before it showed the next clip. "Kagome, I came to bring you back." It switched to Kagome again, who looked happier. "Inuyasha, I'm glad you were there for me."
The scene changed again, showing the cloud through the static. "Inuyasha! You're such a vulgar jerk! I'm leaving!" It changed back to Inuyasha. "Fine, Kagome! Go away! I don't need you!" The next clip. "Kagome, I came to bring you back." Kagome looked happier. "Inuyasha, I'm glad you were there for me."
"It's starting to repeat the same scenes." Robi said. "I wonder how long this will go on?"
"Wait!" Onari pointed. "I think that might be the Cloud Stone! Hah!" She broke the TV with her stick, revealing the stone inside it.
"Aw, I wanted to see if they would get together."
They flew back to the pedestal circle and inserted the cloud. They still needed a Moon and Star Stone. One of the peaks was wide and round, with craters around it like a moon. They were positive the Moon Stone would be somewhere around it. Buzzbomb dragonflies orbited the moon, but Jolene could swat them away with Clay Fists and Onari could zap them. They could explore the Moon Mountain with ease, but there was nothing distinct. "Hmm…" The craters actually looked fragile. "Jolene, put your legs out! We're gonna do a Meteor Dive attack!" Robi flipped his feet to face forward while Jolene did the same. They launched to the first crater and STAMPED it, causing a chunk of the moon to crack from their earthbending! "Aha!"
There were three different craters they needed to Meteor Dive into! The full moon shattered into a crescent, and the Moon Stone was sitting in its curve. They collected it and flew to its pedestal. Afterwards, they flew to a shorter peak with some hot springs. "Wait!" Robi yelped. "This is where we got Boggy's ice cream! I guess now we have a shortcut to Tupu's world! And now we can use this Flight Pad, too! Huhu, this really would make a fun game."
"Game?" Onari asked. "How?"
"We'll tell you later." They couldn't find any other distinct mountains, so they searched around the main island. They discovered a shrine built into the mountainside. They landed and walked inside. The shrine was wide and empty, but posh and mystical. "Oh!" They were startled by the lone resident, standing directly right of the entrance. She was a girl with shoulder-length, soft white hair, white flowers embedded in the sides, wearing a white dress with long sleeves, and white sandals. Her skin was a light peach and her droll eyes a dense black. "Um…hello. What's your name?"
"…" The girl turned and faced a tall mirror. The kids looked into it. It reflected a luxurious living quarters and their selves. Robi and Onari saw Jolene walk further into the room, bumping into a table. She shook her head and felt the area in front of her. "I get it!" Robi beamed. "This room is invisible! And I can see the Star Stone on that shelf!" The high shelf was set above a… Snarebear. Barely hidden behind a wardrobe.
"Jolene, I need you to follow my directions, but stop when I tell you. Hold onto that table and feel your way around…stop. Turn around. Walk forward." She walked past the wardrobe. "Stop." The Snarebear began snapping its teeth. "Turn right a bit… now, bend a bunch of clay in front of you." She did so and clued the plant's mouth shut. "Perfect! Now, climb on top of the clay. Then reached up toward the wall. Put your hands together… you feel that? That's the Star Stone! Climb down and let's go!"
Jolene tumbled down with the stone in hand. She took her clay back and made her way back to the entrance. They left the shrine victoriously!
Just after they left, another door reflected in the mirror opened. A man with star-glittered bluish skin, flowing white hair, and purple horns walked in. He poured a cup of tea at the table. "I heard sounds, M." He spoke in a soft voice. "Did we have guests?"
"…" It wasn't necessary to answer.
When they returned to the pedestals, they realized there were Egyptian signs on their peaks. They would translate to hints on how to find the stones. "Haha, that makes us feel even smarter!" Robi cheered. With the Star inserted, a peak rose up from the center of the four. It had an hourglass. "Onari, watch this! Jolene, flip it!" She flipped the hourglass. At that instant, the peaceful morning became a soft twilight.
"It turned night!"
"Yep! Those magic hourglasses change the time! This means we'll be able to get in that cave and…?" There were several neon spotlights shining from one area of the cloud sea. "Definitely have to check that out… but first:" They flew back to Nether Gate Mountain. The cave had opened as Rin had retreated a safe distance. "You girls stay here! I'll look for Sesshō…guy!" Robi donned himself with Sun Sand and charged into the cave! All kinds of Underhands reached for him, but they were shattered upon touching the light, the ghouls crying out otherworldly wails. Far into the cave, Robi found a tall man with a white robe, white long hair, long ears, and crescent moon on his forehead, struggling to shake from some Underhands.
"HEY!" Robi destroyed the hands and took Sesshōmaru's. "I'm here to get you out of here!"
"What sort of lowly being are you? Nngh!" He was dragged by Robi, leaned and stumbling on his feet. They were able to escape the darkness just in time for the sand to wear off.
"Sesshōmaru-sama!" Rin squeezed him in a hug.
"Rin? Don't tell me you sent that mortal in there. To think that I, Sesshōmaru, would be in debt to another human."
"Well, part-Nimbi." Robi said. "Wanna help us beat Gruntilda?"
"No. Instead, I shall repay you in gold." Sesshōmaru tossed a Jiggy to the ground. "That's all that was in there. Another wasted journey. Come, Rin." He picked the girl up by the collar and soared around on a conjured cloud. ("Wheeeeee!")
"Awe! I wonder what their story is?"
"What is this treasure?" Onari asked.
"It's a Jiggy! We need these to beat the witch. …By the way, can you show us that dance you were doing before?"
"You mean…"
Robi picked up the Jiggy and, "Dunskun-skun-skun!" squat and held it out.
Onari took the Jiggy and, "Oshi, oshi!" hit it with her stick! The friends stomped in a circle before, "Oshi!" Onari tossed it to Jolene. She gave it a couple smacks before stashing it. "It's Naridon's Thunder Chant! It helps us channel our chi."
"Cool! I wonder if earthbender's have a chant? Anyway, let's check out those lights." They flew to the center of the neon lights. "Onari, I think we're gonna have to go beneath the clouds."
"Are…are you sure it's safe?"
"We'll protect you from whatever Oni are down there! I'm sure this is Grunty's fortress, so we have to be brave if we wanna save your friends."
"Okay…" They flew down and splashed in the lightweight sea. The dive and swim was short-lived before they fell through the bottom, landing on a velvet roof with gold edges. The towers around the edge had rotating, giant casino chips. Curiosity growing, they approached a large elevator on one side. It would carry them down, and through the glass border, a great casino splayed around them! The scape steadily rose as their elevator soon set on the bottom. (Play "Furnace Fun Entrance" from Banjo-Kazooie!)
They walked out of the elevator in awe. To Robi and Jolene, it was far bigger than Krabs' casino, while Onari had never seen a place more bright and colorful. They approached the front desk, its chair swerving around to face them. "Wahey, losers!" Its occupant was a short boy with blonde hair covering his eyes, a squished nose, a red and green patterned suit with a green tie, and a voice like a wheezing pig. "Welcome to the Cursed Casino! Name's Pokey, and I'm the manager of this joint!"
"But you're just a kid!" Robi said. "And… didn't you help the vampires back on Halloween?"
"I got a job working for Grunty. And I bet I got somethin' you babies want." Pokey pressed a button. Four cylinders with Jiggies rose from behind him.
"The Jiggies!"
"What's wrong? Were ya hopin' to go around and collect them? Too bad!" The cylinders lowered. "If you want my Jiggies, you're gonna have ta pay for 'em. I want 15 Casino Coins for each Jiggy. Shouldn't be a problem, right? Little toddlers love goin' around and collecting things. Spankety-spankety-spank!"
"HEY!" Onari stomped to the desk. "Where are all the captured Yōkai?! I know they're here!"
"They're enjoying the wonders of the casino, duh! See for yourself." He gestured his arm to a poker table. There seemed to be a withered umbrella and carrot Yōkai playing against a pair of Gruntlings with cigars.
Onari gasped, running up to the pair. The umbrella had a squinting single eye and chapped lips. "Ann-Brella?! Ninjin?!"
"Spankety-spankety! The Yōkai have surrendered to the spirit of gambling! And soon, you will be, too!"
"RAAAAAAH!" Onari rushed at Pokey, drumstick raised.
"Stop, Onari!" Robi held her back. "I know a way to save them!"
"That boy is an Oni! Let me at 'im!!"
"Relax! We still need to get those Jiggies, let's just play along."
"Grrrrrr…" She begrudgingly followed them, a sneering Pokey at their backs. They first went to a slot machine with the faces of Snippets, Buzzbombs, Scabbies, Grunty, and coins. Jolene used her clay to pull the large lever, the slots spinning. "Jolene, step on the switches when you see the coins." Each slot had a button in front of them. Jolene's eyes flipped up and down while focusing on the left slot. She memorized the coin appearing after the Snippet, so she squished the switch then. She needed a couple minutes for the other two, but once successful, they earned three coins! They walked toward the stairs near the center, leading to the second layer.
There was a fountain in the very center: Onari gasped, seeing an old Kappa quivering and leaning on it. "KAPPA! Kappa, is that you?!"
"O-O-O-O…Onari-san…kah, kah!" He coughed as some of the water on his head spilled. The spray of the fountain helped refill it. "Onari… you shouldn't be here… or you'll be… cursed, too…"
"W-What's happening to all of you?!"
"It's a Life Clock!" Robi answered. "Grunty's draining everyone's youth with a magic clock. We have to find and destroy it."
There was another slot machine near their left. This time, there was only one switch, but the slots would move at different speeds. There would eventually be a moment when the Glowbos would line three-in-a-row. Robi waited for that moment again before pressing the switch. A Glowbo came out, so they collected! There were small black robots called Securinos (Corplet bots from Yooka-Laylee), scanning the floor before them with green eyes. If the kids wandered close, the robots would try to shoot them with lasers. Jolene's punches nor Robi's Ground Pounds could destroy the Securinos, so they decided to avoid them.
The giant House of Cards looked inviting, so they walked to check that out next. There was a switch at the base of the house. When they pressed it, a Goal Flag appeared at the top. When they contemplated how to get up there, Robi pointed out the black footprints that led up and around several cards. Jolene stuck clay to her shoes to walk up them. Unfortunately, the trail became a "maze" as they looped over and under the cards in several directions, some leading to dead ends. She naturally got lost and ran out of time, the flag poofing. "My cards are a marvel of architecture! You kids sure are fun to pester."
Robi growled. And worse, they couldn't reset the timer until Jolene came back down. It took a few more tries before Jolene was able to find the right way, seizing the flag up top. This caused five coins to spawn beside the others! "Uhhh…airplane." Jolene pointed at the plane circling around the ceiling, attached to a track.
"Oh! Good eye, Jolene! Let's look for a place we can get on it." They watched the plane's path. It passed by a huge Grunty statue in the back of the casino, a cigar in her mouth and holding three cards in each hand. Robi also just noticed the Egyptian writing on one side of the ceiling: By Grunty's chin, you cannot win, it read.
The plane passed a window with a platform on one side, but there was no way up. However, it also seemed to pass directly over the central fountain. They realized the switch behind the fountain: when they pressed it, a gush of water would shoot up. "Onari, climb on the fountain and grab on the plane! We can launch you." The Yōkai nodded and jumped up, laughing as the light gush uplifted her. Robi launched her when the plane was close, Onari grabbing its bottom bars. She soared around the top of the casino with a great view! First, she landed on a giant palm tree, noticing the cage containing a green bird. She freed the Jinjo and was awed as it circled her with a trail of magic!
Onari was able to jump and grab the plane again. She dropped off at the platform beside the window. She whacked a lever to open the window to the outside clouds of darkness. To her relief, Nimbo-san came in! She was able to take flight again! As she flew back to her friends' level, a thought crossed her mind: she hovered above the Securinos and pounded lightning unto them. The four bots exploded, each dropping two coins. This added 8, which altogether made 16 coins. With these, they returned to Pokey. "Alright, Porky, we got 15 coins."
"It's Pokey, Beaver Face! And fine." He took them. "'Guess one is all you're good at getting." Pokey unlocked a Jiggy and tossed it over. The three naturally performed the Jiggy Dance. "Hahaha! You three are such dweebs! I wouldn't be caught dead doin' that!"
"You just don't know how to have fun!" They marched away in search of the next objective. Exploring the area under the second layer, there was another slot machine, but it was coin-activated. There was an inactive Slotbot managing a Hat Booth, a register in front of him. It had a sombrero, propeller hat, Mario cap, Facilier's top-hat, a straw hat, and—… Facilier's hat? The ops perked up at the clever hiding place! "Onari, pick up that hat!"
"Okay." She climbed over and did so. "AAAAH-!" And was sucked inside! Robi laughed and jumped after her with Jolene.
"Ha ha, you kids sure meet the oddest people on your travels!" Raymond laughed. "So, who's this little lady?" He rubbed Onari's broken horn.
"This is Onari, a Thunder Spirit Yōkai. Onari, this man is Uncle Raymond, a wizard."
"Nice to meet you, Raymond Ojisan." She bowed.
"She's a Yōkai? Hmmm…" Raymond seemed to study her with intrigue. "Ahem, anyhow, looks like Grunty brought more than a few sins to these peaceful mountains. And I think you'll have a hard time gettin' around without any money. And that's why you need a transformation to 'fit the bill'! Any ideas come to mind, kids?"
A riddle. The kids needed money, and a new form to fit the bill… something that carried money? They jumped outside the hat and… there it was! The cash register at the desk! Robi picked it up and brought it inside. "Um…you don't mean this, do you, Uncle?"
"BRILLIANT, Robi! Toss the ingredients in the pool and get ready for a new perspective!" He tossed the register and Glowbo inside.
"What… is this pool?" Onari questioned. "What are we doing?"
"We're about to find out." Robi took Jolene's hand and jumped inside. Onari was agape as their bodies morphed and fused: in a burst, they had become a register! The top part had Robi's glasses and the mouth his buckteeth, facing up. And when it opened, Jolene popped out: she was a tiny coin with her body depicted on it, attached to a string from Robi's mouth.
"Voila! Now Jolene is a multi-use coin! You won't have to worry about runnin' out of cash now! Best of all, the string extends quite a distance."
"Cool, but… couldn't you have just changed Jolene into a coin and given us a string? Why'd I have to become a register?"
"So that she doesn't fall out of your pocket!"
"Well, okay. Hop back in my mouth, Jolene!"
"But Robi, you didn't brush your teeth for a few days. I'm gonna catch bad teeth germs."
"We don't have germs like this!"
"That's good." So, she leapt back in. Thankfully, Robi had wheels to move around, but Onari could carry him when needed. The first thing they checked out was the slot machine that needed a coin. They inserted Jolene and yanked her right out! The three slots moved, but had only one switch. When Onari pressed it, the left, right, and middle ones would stop in that order. They reset the slots so Onari could stop them with better timing, earning three coins.
"You know, people toss coins into fountains to make wishes." Robi said. "Let's see what happens if we put Jolene in." They traveled up to the fountain and spat Jolene in. Luckily, the coin child didn't need to breathe as a coin. There was a small vent in the bottom of the center, thin enough for Jolene to roll in. She fell down through a chasm and… warped through a portal.
She wound up flying out of the fountain-mouth of a sea serpent statue, strangled by that of a muscular man wielding a harpoon. She was in Portorosso! She fell and splashed in the town square's fountain. Rolling around, Jolene found a tiny switch inside a coin-sized hole. Only she could press it in this new form. When she did, the statue reeled back its harpoon and hurdled it at a stone plague of a Jiggy on a wall. The plaque burst and dropped a Jiggy! "WOW!" Luca was just in time to watch the event, running up to grab it. "How did that happen?! Well, I better hold onto this for Robi and Jolene." He ran off.
Jolene wriggled and signaled Roni to reel her back through the serpent's mouth, returning to the casino. "Did you find anything?"
"Luca found a Jiggy…"
"Luca? You mean you found a portal to his town? Cool! Too bad we can't use it as a shortcut… Actually, I just remembered something else we can do! Onari, we have to leave the casino for a bit. Can you carry us back to the Tuna Island?"
"Hai?" They went back to the elevator and rode back to the roof. Onari called Nimbo-san to lift them out of the cloud sea and fly back to the giant fish statue. It seemed the monkeys were still waiting for their can-opener.
"Hello again!"
"Huh? A talking cash register?" Lazlo questioned.
"You think you could use this coin to pick open that lock?" Robi spat Jolene onto the table.
"That's a great idea!" Jake took Jolene and shoved her under the can's lock. To their success, it flipped! They were able to pull the can open!
"WOOHOO!" Lazlo cheered. "Eduardo! Hurry up! The Canned Food Party is about to begin!"
"Mui bueno!" The purple beast stomped up and quaked the mountain taking his seat at the table. With spoons in hand, they began to pick the tuna out.
"I didn't know monkeys liked tuna so much." Robi said.
"Um, I am not a monkey, Señor Register." Eduardo corrected.
"Really? You kinda sound like these two."
"Ow!" Jake winced when taking a bite. "Who put this gold nugget in the can?! I don't need this!" He pulled a Jiggy out of the spoon and tossed it on the ground. The crew gladly collected it and danced! "By the way, can you help us open the rest of our cans?" Jake leapt under the statue and pushed out a pile of tuna cans.
"Uhhh…maybe later."
On their flight back to the casino, they saw something glowing on the clouds, circling the pedestal peaks. They flew down and realized it was a floating Jinjo cage! A white one! After setting the magic birdy free, they returned to the casino. They explored the area under the second layer again, going to another slot machine on the left. These ones all had Kittentias, Purrexes, Mewsteres, Twin Floofs, and squirrels. "Uh…which one do we need here?" Onari asked.
"Well, the squirrel's the most different." Robi said. "Let's try to get that." They pulled the lever. Pressing the switch would stop each slot starting from the left, so Onari timed them to stop on the squirrels. This caused a squirrel with silver dreads to run out of the machine, a bundle of coins in its tail!
"Hey! Come back, squirrel!" Onari chased the rodent around the pillars and poker tables. Each time she whacked the rodent, it dropped two coins. After she took a total of 8, the squirrel poofed and became a brown-haired kitsune.
"Sheesh, fine, take the stupid coins!" Shippō yelled. "This place stinks, anyway." He scampered away, Onari blowing him a raspberry.
They returned to the second floor and checked the very right side. There was a long pool with two balance beams stretching across. There was also an Anti-form Cauldron, so Robi decided to change themselves back. It was good to stretch the limbs, after all! By pushing a switch before the pool, a ring would appear partway around the left beam. Robi balanced across and went through, and a ring would then appear over the right beam. "Leave this to me!" With Robi's Flutter Jump, he was best to jump between the thin footholds, though keeping his big feet balanced on them was tricky. One of the rings appeared between the beams, and trying to jump through this one caused Robi to slip and splash. Sadly, he ran out of time for the trial.
"You're doomed to splash and meet your fate, if you don't trim down and lose some weight!" Grunty sneered. Robi tried the challenge again, making his landings more precise and passing all the rings. He earned five coins, making 14 in their current total.
The left side of the room had a VIP area, sealed with lasers, but the ground before it was a golf course, which sloped up to their right and around to the Grunty statue. As they walked up the course, they studied all the elaborate loops and ricochet bumps that would help lead the ball to the hole. At the course's start, the sign read they would receive a coin for every score from 5 to 1. "So, we're gonna have to get a hole in one to get all the coins."
It proved to be especially tricky. Robi could only kick the ball with small rock-jabs. Memorizing the appropriate momentum and ricochet paths was difficult. The first time, Robi only got a hole in 9. The second, he got a 7, and then he got a 6. There was a particular part that would work a lot better if there was a rock to ricochet off of… then, when he felt the earth around there, he was able to erect such a rock. He had better luck thanks to it on the next rounds, but he could only manage a hole in 3. "HUFF! Halright, let's leave it there for now."
They went to cash in 15 coins at Porky—I mean, Pokey, and earned another Jiggy! Afterward, Robi noticed a long strip of window along the wall underneath the window they opened earlier. This time, Onari would press the fountain switch to launch the operatives to the plane, while she flew with Nimbo-san. Robi and Jolene landed on the window's platform, and from there could drop to a lower platform at the "entrance" to the long window. Inside was a hallway with a whole bunch of coins! "All right!" Onari cheered. "This will help us get the Jiggies-"
"NO, ONARI!" Robi screamed. The second she touched one, almost all the coins stretched to beat them to a pulp, kicking them back out to the platform. "Those coins were spinning a different way! They're the same as Triggies! They're… Trick-sino… coins? Trasinos?"
"I knew it was too easy." Onari frowned. "I'm sorry."
"Let Jolene handle this. She's good at spotting the differences." Jolene carefully tiptoed around the Trasinos. She could spot the ones rotating clockwise and pick them up. After finding all five, she returned. "Nice! Now we got 8 coins again! If only we could figure out how to get in that VIP room." They returned back down and searched for a way to disable the lasers. "…Aha!" Robi noticed a power box high on the wall near the elevator. "Onari, fly over and zap that!"
"Hai!" Excited to make more progress, Onari flew to strike lightning at the power box. The whole casino flickered for a bit, but managed to stay intact. The only thing that shorted out were the lasers. Onari returned and shared an excited fist-pump with her friends, proceeding up the VIP stairs! It led to a more extravagant, smaller casino with a cocktail bar. "AH!" Onari screamed at the huge, horned, muscular man with black hair and long mustache. "It's an Oni!"
"HNNNNNRRRRRRR!" The giant struggled to pry open a bottle of saké. "I am Kaido, the strongest man in the universe!! (his Banjo-talk is 'Worororo') I will not lose to this wretched bottle cap!! I spent too many casino coins on this infernal thing… I only have 8 left buried under that blue flower!"
The kids made a mental note of this: 8 coins under a blue flower somewhere. There was a slot machine, but this one was even faster. It was up to simple luck to be able to hit 3-in-a-row coins. …Luck, or cheating. "This one doesn't have glass over the slots like the others did. Jolene, stick your clay on them." While the slots were stopped, the coin symbols were still visible. Jolene attached clay to them, so when they began spinning, they tugged with all their might to force the coins into a row. Onari then stamped the button to seal the deal, earning 5 coins!
There was a large window overlooking the main casino. While Robi and Onari gazed out, Jolene curiously approached a lone drink on the table. It had the same wings as on the Wing Pads. She reached to touch it. "Jolene, don't!" Robi ran up. "I think that's a grownup drink. Oh?" He noticed the symbol, too. When Robi touched it… he felt the same flow of chi in his wings. "Don't tell me-" he took off, "Ow!" and bumped the ceiling. "Haha! I didn't expect the Flight Pad to be hidden like that!"
"But what can it help us with?" Onari asked.
"Let me show you~" Robi picked Jolene up and flew out through a wide vent in the ceiling. Onari would rush out the exit and watch as they took aim at the Grunty statue's chin. They dealt a Meteor Dive and snapped the chin at its base! It fell and shattered a glass covering at the statue's base. The crew jumped in and landed in the casino's basement, full of pipes and electrical wires for all the mechanisms. But more importantly, a certain device was lodged in the wall beneath the statue. "The Life Clock!" (End song.)
"This is it?! Then let's destroy it!" Onari bashed the clock determinedly.
"No! We have to look for a Crystal Jiggy. It's gonna be somewhere down here." They traveled opposite of the clock and reached an electric abyss. They would have to carefully jump across suspended, thick cords that sparks coursed through. There was a higher cord Jolene could reach with Clay Arms, finding a Black Jinjo. This section was followed by hang-climbing along a pipe, broken in some parts as electricity jutted out. They climbed past during intervals when the electric stopped.
They reached a dense floor of wires, converging and electrifying a chair in the center. An old, spike-haired man was suffering on the chairs. "You think… this is enough… ta break me?! You whippersnappers… ain't seen what ol' Spike… is capable of!"
"SPIKE!" Robi screamed. "He's speaking 'old man'! The agifying's really affected him!"
"Is he someone you know?" Onari asked.
"Yeah! We gotta hurry!" They saw a winding stairwell to the right and rushed down.
"You know… all this lightning feels kinda familiar."
"Well, it's not lightning, it's electricity. Electricity is made by sticking wires together, but lightning comes from clouds."
"But, I'm sure… it feels like…"
They entered a wide chamber that was unmistakable a boss room. It was a giant roulette wheel with three sections and multiple numbers. They wandered around a while, but nothing happened. There was a counterclockwise arrow on the wall, and three human symbols running the opposite way. "…I get it!" Robi asked the girls to each occupy a section while he took the third. They ran the same direction, causing the entire floor to spin.
It slowly descended, still attached by the central pillar, but exposing them to the dark sky. Just beside the edge of the hole, there was a huge generator, surging with power as someone seemed to be screaming inside it. It was a red ogre with a black afro. "NARIDON!!" Onari screamed.
"Who's he?"
"My dad! Naridon, I'm here!"
"NAAAK, NAAAK, NAAAAAAAK!"
"Diyiyiyiyi!" someone laughed. "A Thunder Spirit will keep this place powered for centuries!" What looked like a large slot machine flipped up onto the wheel's edge. It had mechanical arms, attachments to the edge, and the head of a block of dice with a smirking face.
"What kind of monster are you?!" Onari shouted. "Why are you doing this to all the Yōkai?!"
"I am King Die! (from Cuphead) Or at least I was, before I gambled my body away. Now I've been reduced to the Life Clock's guardian droid. And we're doing this because it's the fate of you Yōkai to be banished from this earth. Do you know what era this land exists in, kids? Nearly 200 years ago, during Japan's industrial revolution. They've chased the Yōkai to the mountaintops in their desecration of nature, and soon they will be lost from the earth completely. Why let them go to waste when we can harvest their youth? Diyiyi!"
"Why does Grunty wanna take everyone's youth?!" Robi asked.
"So, she can stay forever young, son! And also because causing havoc in the past will help speed up the master plan… not that I know what that is, diyiyi."
"Master plan?"
"It's time for your next gamble, kids: a gamble for your LIVES!" He tossed some dice in his hand. "Once I crush you, I'll get a big enough bonus to buy a spankin' new body! And maybe we'll replace yours with coffee cups just for fun. DIYIYIYIYIYI!" (Play "Track Attack" from Yooka-Laylee!)
Boss fight: Gambling Addicted Cyborg, KING DIE
"I saw you kids playin' the slots in there! Well, how 'bout a spin?" He whirled the slots around.
"We're not gonna play your games!" Onari called Nimbo-san over and tried to fly above the boss, but he simply rotated away along the wheel.
"But first, we're gonna raise the stakes!" King Die shook the dice in his hands before throwing them on the wheel. "Seven! Seven of what?" The slots landed on monsters. "Beasties, come out!" Two Snippets, two Boom Boxes, two Stoni, and a Googly Eyes possessing a casino chip whirlwind appeared. The kids worked together to fight and destroy the monsters. "Now I'm thinking of three numbers." Die whipped out a deck of cards and picked out random ones. "30, 14, and 6! Better find them fast!" They saw all the spaces on the wheel begin to light up, except for those three! The kids rushed to those spots before all the others exploded with bolts! King Die then spun the slots again. "Uh-oh. Could you hand me my die back?"
The two die were still on the wheel. Jolene picked them up in her Clay Hands, but… an idea occurred. With King Die extending his hand, she threw one of her fists into it. The boss tried to pry the clay open, but struggled. Meanwhile, Jolene kept both die in her other hand, whirling them around for momentum before throwing them at Die's head. "DWOH!" The boss was knocked dizzy as his slots slowed down. With this, they could make out the symbols, such as ?'s, cookies, monsters, or Wing Pads. "!" Robi told Jolene to punch clay at the Wing Pads, stopping them in a row. This spawned some pads on the spaces!
Onari could also fly above King Die to electrify him, keeping him stunned longer. When Robi took flight, he soared behind the dice's head and did a Meteor Dive! Die's head snapped clean off the slots, rolling onto the field. "DAH! You sneaky little snots! I don't need to be attached to keep playing!" The slots operated and spun on their own while King Die leapt around the field, trying to Ground Pound the group. The slots landed on ?'s, and the kids felt magic overtake them. They poofed into termites! Their movement was hindered as they could barely dodge Die's smashes, bouncing in the air each time. However, Jolene left her chunks of clay around the ground, and she could still bend them. She left a sticky trap when King Die targeted her, gluing him to the wheel.
The slots' arm would now draw the cards 25, 15, and 19. The termites rushed to those spaces while King Die remained helpless. "NO, WAIT! DON'T USE THAT NOW! ZZZZZZZZT!" The head was electrified. The kids changed back to normal after this event, so Robi ran up to Ground Pound him! "Alright, that's it! Just try to ground me in the sky!" He hopped back to his slots, which grabbed him before detaching from the wheel. A roulette-like saucer uplifted the cyborg from the bottom. He spun the slots again, the side ones landing on monsters and the center one a ?. "Ho ho! Time for a mixup!" As he threw the dice and landed on 5, the kids magically transformed into crocodiles. Three Buzzbombs and two Flibbits appeared to attack them, but the crocs could easily munch and crush them in their jaws.
Defeating them reverted the kids to normal. "No point drawing cards this time!" Die declared. "Electrify them all!" All the spaces threatened to strike lightning.
"Uh-oh! Maybe I can do something!" Onari hopped onto Nimbo-san and Ground Pounded over some spaces. This caused their charges to short out ahead of time, making them safe for Robi and Jolene to stand on. They were safe from the lightning, but Die wouldn't accept that: he tried to soar over the kids, shooting an electric beam from the bottom of his saucer! The duo dodged, and one of those spaces flipped to show its Wing Pad. "Haha, bad idea!" Robi beamed, grabbing Jolene's hands and taking flight.
The brave band of three faced the angry blockhead at equal level! King Die electrified his whole frame and charged at them, the fliers dodging. They spun around, Die doing the same as his electricity faded. Robi and Jolene seized this chance for a Meteor Dive, locked directly on his head, but King Die easily ducked aside. However, they were prepared for this: Jolene shot a thick rope of clay to latch his head, linked to her hands and feet. As they kept flying from the momentum, the clay tugged Die's head, and when he forcefully yanked himself back upright, the kids allowed it to pull them over like a paddleball. Their Meteor attack BANGED his noggin, causing his whole form to flip upside-down.
The lightning rod of his wheel faced directly up. Onari smirked and flew above it, pounding her cloud repeatedly to fill it with lightning. "N-No! That's too much! I need some time to release-" The machine rippled with cracks and exploded! "DIIIIIIIIIiiiiii…" The blockhead took his fall into the darkness below. (End song.)
"WE DID IT!" Onari cheered. "Now we have to rescue Naridon!"
"He looks too dangerous to touch." Robi said. "We need to find a way to stop the electric flow. I wonder…" They flew underneath the battlefield. "The Crystal Jiggy!" A ruby Jiggy was lodged in the center of the bottom. Jolene attached clay to it, and they did a Meteor Dive downward to yank it out. This caused a surge that caused Naridon's electrical prison to short out for small intervals. "Now we can save him!" They flew behind Naridon opposite from the field. When the electricity shorted out, they launched forth and kicked him out of his prison.
The red ogre plopped down on his back. "Naridon!" Onari dropped down and dashed up to her pudgy papa. "Naridon, please wake up!" The distraught youth leaned over his face and shook him. "Naridon! Can you-"
"BUUUUUURP." His mighty belch blew her on her butt. "Nnnnn…nak, nak." He seemed mildly clueless as he sat up, looking down at his daughter.
"Naridon!" Onari sprung up and glomped him in a hug.
"Nak-na-nak! Nak nak!" He happily patted her back.
"Awwwwe!" Robi cooed. "Hehe, he looks bouncy, doesn't he?"
"Hmmm…" Jolene wondered where her papa was.
"Naridon, this is Robi and Jolene! They helped me!"
"Nak, na-na-nak." He bowed in gratitude.
"He's speaking gibberish like everyone else, but I can't understand him." Robi said. "But I can guess! You're welcome!"
"Now we've gotta save your friend, right?"
"Yeah! And the others, too!" They flew back into the basement and hurried upstairs. Spike's electric chair had depowered, so Naridon lifted and carried the elder. They raced back through the passage and reached the Life Clock. A few strong bashes with the Crystal Jiggy destroyed it. Life force exploded from it and returned to all the Yōkai! Kappa breathed back to rejuvenation, and Amaten—who hung feebly in a birdcage in the VIP room—stretched her wings and pulled the lock open.
Naridon set Spike on his feet as youth returned to him. "Gah, man…!" He flinched seeing Naridon. "YAH!" And instinctively punched him in the gut.
"No, Spike!" Robi yelled. "He's a friend! He was trapped by Grunty, too!"
"G-Grunty? Whuh…"
"This is Onari," she grinned and waved, "and her dad, Naridon."
Spike cocked a brow at the horned girl, looking between her and the ogre. "You, too? Er, never mind. Now, where is this Grunty? 'Cause I got a few words for 'em." He fist-palmed.
"We'll explain everything later. First we need to…" They climbed a ladder back to the casino. "Hey!" The destruction of the clock caused the bottom of the statue to burst open, revealing a stairwell leading to a portal. "I wonder if… this will take us farther in the lair?"
"You mean Gruntilda is up those stairs?" Onari asked.
"It's possible. Onari, I think we'll go ahead on our own for now. You think you and Naridon can help the Yōkai get out of here?"
"Hai! I hope we get to meet again later!"
"It's a promise! There's still Jiggies to find here, after all."
"Come to our school when you come back! Sensei will be really grateful. Let's go, Naridon!" ("Nak-nak!")
Smiling at the Yōkai's backs, the three operatives faced up the stairs. "We'll find your parents soon, Jolene." Robi promised. "We'll introduce them to Onari and everyone else! It'll be fun!"
With Robi's words to drive her, Jolene traversed upstairs with no hesitation.
Azure Hall
Seven holographic shapes took form on the platforms. "The mountains are such a beautiful retreat." The Stargazer said. "They're most gorgeous in the morning. Now, Heroine, what is it you wanted to talk about?"
"First off," the Heroine began, "Gruntilda still has the Firstborn Guardians in her captivity, doesn't she?"
"Not completely." The Fairy answered. "They've given her more trouble than she expected. And they've found a way to break your Life Clocks, Genius, using the special gems she's been using as power sources."
"Gah, dang it, burp," the spike-haired scientist belched, a bottle of beer in one hand, "I told her, Grunty, you need to have protection on those things, burp, I know they're strong, but they need protection, or else, burp, it's all gonna pop, and your life is screwed, Grunty, burp."
"I think you're confusing this with something else." said the Cosplayer, dressed as Alice from Wonderland.
"Ahem, anyway," Heroine continued, "I've been consulting with my special 'acquaintances,' so I'd like to make a proposal: instead of destroying the Firstborn Guardians, it would be better to capture and corrupt them. Even though Gruntilda managed to hijack that temple, she has no chance of bringing the Firstborn completely under her control. The only way we'll be able to seize and make the full use of their power is through the Guardians."
"The Firstborn will make splendid sources of power," Stargazer said, "but uniting the Guardians with them carries its own risks. Regardless, we haven't been able to find the other temples, so maybe the Guardians can aid with this. I agree to this proposal."
"I suppose I'll throw my coin in as well." The Overlord replied. "After all, my 'master' and I were going to target the GKND eventually. Sadly, we've suffered our share of delays."
"I guess I'll go along with it, burp, if only because I'd like to find the Firstborn in Grunty's lair, burp, 'cause it could seriously enhance my metal, burp, make it nice and hard, so I'll be able to finish the King's, burp, project." Genius rambled.
The Cosplayer was swallowed in a cyclone of clothes, transforming into a cowardly Luigi. "N-n-n-n-n-no-no-no-no! It's-a too risky! It'll only make the KND worse. We can't-a do that!"
"Truthfully, I share your sentiments." The Fairy agreed. "And you, Oathbreaker?"
"Hmmm…" The man lit a cigar. "CP0 made an oath to eliminate the gods if they returned. That includes the Firstborn. But…"
"Oh, boy." 'Luigi' sighed. "Here it comes."
"What fun is an oath unbroken? Let's capture the Guardians and do what we can."
"So it shall be." Fairy sighed. "I just hope Gruntilda is up to the task. The King's men have arrived with the 'allies' she requested… but I may have to be there myself, just in case."