What goes up must come down…
The portal exited to a stairwell at the top of the mountain they had initially traveled to reach Oni Mountain. They could finally reach the upper building of the lair, overlooking the lighthouse lake. "No matter how much you jump through time, you toddlers will never hit your prime!"
"I'm guessing that's Grunty?" Spike asked.
"Sometimes, I think she's lonely. Hmm…" Robi approached a switch with a Wing Pad. He pressed it, causing a pad to not only spawn beside them, but one to spawn on the lake's shore. "Perfect! Now we won't have to climb back up the whole mountain. In fact, I don't really see anywhere else to go. If we fly to the top of the tower… do you think we'll find Grunty?"
"Let's find out." The sandbender fist-palmed. "Get me up there and I'll bend her chin a bunch of ways!"
"What do you think, Jolene? Should we go?"
Jolene stepped on the pad. As she gazed up the tower, contemplating the question, a strange message came to mind. Once you go up the tower, you will not be able to revisit the other levels. Will you proceed?
"Uh…are there more puzzles to find?"
"You wanna find some Jiggies? If you think we'll need them, then sure! Actually, Spike, one of the portals leads to Egypt. We wanna bring you there. Since you're a sandbender, there might be something only you can do."
"Ugh, shouldn't we get this witch over with first? Whatever you tubbies wanna do."
Robi flew them down to the lake and ventured down to the sphinx room. They reunited with Nefertine as soon as they crossed the Nile Portal. "Robi! Jolene!"
"Hey, Nefertine! This is Spike!"
"What's up?" Spike waved.
"(Ooo, his head is very weird! What kind of person is he?)"
"Uhhhh…what?"
"We don't understand each other well, but she's real nice! What I can get is she wants to explore all the ruins of Egypt and write about her adventures."
"Ah, like Dora the Explorer, but Egypt."
"Yeah, exactly!"
"(I wanted to show you guys some strange statues further upriver.)" Nefertine pointed. "(I'm certain they didn't show up until the witch came.)"
"Sounds like she wants to take us somewhere. Come!"
The part of the Nile that was blocked by a netted gate could be swum under, thanks to Jolene's Clay Flippers (and Spike was already a good swimmer). Sentient mines called Shrapnel lurked around the river, but the kids carefully evaded them. "(Up there!)" Nefertine climbed onto a shore and led them to the statue of a giant soccerball. A goal net of greater size loomed in the distance, with the statue of a goalie guarding it. The Egyptian "K" was on the ball's pedestal. "(These monuments didn't exist before. What could they mean?)"
"Oh, I know EXACTLY what this means!" Spike beamed. "Just need to size up a bit." He stamped his feet into the sand and ran around as he bent a huge quantity of it together. The sand raised him to the air until they became a pair of huge feet. "Hooooo! I know how it feels to be you now, Robi! Take this, you cruddy colossus!" He took a mighty swing and sent the ball rolling, but the giant goalie kicked it back. Spike returned it, and the two kept sending the ball back with faster speed. Eventually, the goalie went toppling into the net, which collapsed as well. The crew raced to it, discovering an underground stairway beneath where the goalie stood.
The stairs led into a tomb with a kid-sized coffin, inside which was a portal. There was a sign above it. "Ghoul School is open." Jolene read. "We can go in there now."
"(How fascinating!)" Nefertine beamed. "(I wonder what we'll find in here?)"
"Nefertine, let us go ahead to make sure it's safe." Robi said. "Spike, you stay here, too."
"Afraid I'll hog all your glory?"
"Well, when we play games sometimes, you never let us get the win. Besides, we might need you in case the statue gets up. Be back later!" The duo jumped into the portal.
Sub-world: Ghoul School
They appeared in a valley of dead trees, pumpkins, dark clouds, and a haunted building. "Jolene, look!" Robi pointed at a pair of Rippers (sentient gravestones) carrying a cage with a small mummy trapped inside. "Doesn't that mummy look familiar?"
"When we watched that mummy movie, I was wondering why they kept calling it their 'mommy,' but Mom and Dad said if it was spelled with a 'U,' it was a person wrapped in white. But then, how come Jason calls his mom 'mum'? 'Cause she isn't wrapped in white."
"We'll ask him when we get back!" The kids ran and crumbled the Rippers into pebbles, breaking the cage open.
"Robi! Jolene! Is that you?!" the little mummy asked in a cute, girly voice, a red bow on her head.
"Tanis! I never thought we'd run into you out here!"
"Well, this is my school, silly! I'm wondering why YOU'RE here!"
"Haha, it's a long story. This is your school, huh? Why were those things trying to trap you?"
"It's Revolta, the Witch of the Web! She's taken over our school and trapped all my friends! Would you please help me save them?"
"Well, we gotta pay you back for helping us on Halloween. This'll be a nice warmup before Grunty!"
"Thank you so much!" Tanis gave them a soft hug. (Play "Scooby-Doo Where Are You" (Instrumental)!)
Taking their first steps into the school, they were swarmed by spider-bats! Jolene was frantic to swat them down, Tanis assisting in the act by wrapping one with her bandages and swinging it into others. They first tried to go up the stairs along the right of the entrance hall—it immediately became a slide and sent them down. Robi helped them up the slide with Flutter Run. The stairs led to a bridge on their left and another hall on the right. The bridge led to a door, but since it was locked, they backtracked through the hall, destroying the Chompas that gnashed from portraits. They tried to open one of the doors, but it poofed into a Tee-hee, the green ghost giving Jolene a solid punch. Angered, Robi used Sun Sand to destroy the ghost. They could enter the door further up, into what seemed like a normal classroom.
There were decrepit desks, a chalkboard, and a skeleton in the corner. "!!!" A grating sound ripped their ears, seeing scratch marks forming against the chalkboard. "Man, I hate it when bullies do that!" Robi yelled.
"But the teacher says it serves them right," Jolene said, "'cause they're gonna end up with bloody fingers."
"Wait, it's writing Egyptian on the board."
"I can read Egyptian!" Tanis beamed. "It says, 'Reflect my soul.' I wonder what it-"
The skeleton suddenly came to life and ambushed them with a knife, but Robi noticed just in time to grab the girls and dodge. Tanis wrapped its shins and threw it against the wall, the kids crushing its bones. "Maybe it means we need a mirror. Let's look for one." They left the room and returned to the first floor. A spider-web was blocking a classroom, but Jolene could easily pull it down with clay. This room's desks were levitating in circles in a ghostly manner. "Leave this to me!" Tanis cheered, wrapping the first desk and pulling herself up to it. She used this technique to climb the others and reach a key webbed to the ceiling. "Aha! Now we can get into that room!"
They returned to the locked door on the bridge and entered the Mirror Room! "Great!" Tanis went to grab one. "This can help us figure out-" but it poofed into a Tee-hee, the mummy taking a punch before Robi destroyed the ghost.
"I knew it wouldn't be easy." Robi frowned. "Which mirror is a real one?" Each of the mirrors seemed to reflect them in an inaccurate way, whether it were bigger feet, bigger noses, ears, or shrunk faces. But one mirror reflected them properly. Jolene picked it up with Clay Hands and had no trouble! They brought the mirror to the other classroom and held it up at the chalkboard. It reflected a blue ghost girl with a dark-blue streak in her white hair and wide eyes.
The ghost flew through the mirror and appeared in the real world. "HAHAHAHA! Thank ya, guys, I thought I was gonna be backwards forever, hahahahahaha!"
"Phantasma!" Tanis tried to give the ghost a hug, but her solid frame went right through. "Hehehehehe!"
"Three more of our friends are still trapped! I'll search for where Revolta's hiding, hahahaha!" Phantasma phased through the floor.
The trio explored further up the main hall, making a right turn. Thinking there could be something in the bathroom, they walked into—"NO, NO, NO." A hand ghost pushed Robi out.
"Oops!" Tanis blushed. "I forgot that Robi's a boy. This is a ghoul school, so there's no boos' room."
"Huhu, so that's how you tell genders!" Robi laughed. "I'll just wait out here then."
There was nothing particularly off about the toilets… except one of them had a ghost hand waving from inside. "Yoohoooo! Somebody flushed a bone down the loooooo. Would yoooou please pump it out? A goooood smash oughta doooo the trick."
"But I'm not heavy enough to smash the toilet." Tanis said.
"Maybe Robi can do it, with his 'uuh!'" Jolene mimicked the Ground Pound.
"But Robi can't come in here! Maybe there's a secret entrance. Jolene, can you break that mirror? There's always secrets behind mirrors!"
"But if you break a mirror, you get seven years of bad luck. That's why they make good hiding places."
"Don't worry, we have an antidote that fixes that. Just do it!" Jolene complied and punched the mirror with clay. As Tanis expected, there was a secret passage behind it. They walked carefully over the shattered glass and followed the passage to a brick wall. They could push the wall open like a door, leading into the boiler room. There was even an Egyptian clue that read, Boos enter from here. The girls exited the room's main door and saw Robi up the hall.
"Huh? How'd you girls get over there?"
"Robi, there's a secret passage to the bathroom! We need you to come through it!"
"But Mom says that only weirdos do that."
"That doesn't matter! We need you to be a weirdo!"
Gulping hesitantly, Robi followed them through the passage. Given that he wasn't a jellyfish this time, he felt a lot more awkward going into the ghouls' room. Tanis instructed him to jump on the hand's toilet and Ground Pound it. The pressure forced the bone out of the toilet. "Thank yoooou! I will be able to enjoy my precious paper again!"
"Wait, I recognize this bone." Tanis said. "This is Winnie's favorite." They left the bathroom and entered the cafeteria. The floor was covered with puddles of ghoulish food, so they needed to safely jump across the tables. Gruntydactyls swooped down against the tables in attempt to push them off, but Jolene and Tanis would send them falling first. They reached the kitchen, where a little werewolf with puffy orange hair and a blue dress was rolling around in catnip. "Winnie! Oh, no! She thinks she's a cat! Winnie, stop rolling in-"
"REOW!" The wolf viciously clawed at Tanis when she tried to approach.
"Winnie, try this!" Robi held out the bone.
"Sniff sniff sniff…" The bone carried a familiar scent. The young wolf bit, growled, and rolled around the floor. "Mmmmm! It tastes like my favorite toilet! Growl! Where've you been, baby? Mmmm! And… why am I covered in catnip?!"
"Winnie! You're back!" Tanis hugged her.
"Grrrr, that Revolta. She's gonna pay for this! I'm goin' ta find her! Don't keep me waiting, Tanis!" The wolf scampered off.
The group exited the cafeteria and ventured into the gymnasium. "Tanis! Up here!" They saw a cage high up on the ceiling and barely saw the girl trapped inside.
"Elsa! How do we get you down?"
"I think you gotta press that button on the wall." She pointed to a switch with big footprints. "But you'd have to be a Frankenstein to press a switch that big."
"Or me!" Robi cheered. Tanis rode his back as he climbed a pole, and she would use her bandages to snag some rings that would swing them to the switch, but some Stoni would throw dodgeballs from the stands. They knocked them down a couple times, but the duo was eventually able to make a flawless run. From the last ring, Tanis swung Robi into the switch, pressing it in. However, this simply opened the door to the exercise room. Beside the door was a cage containing a Wing Pad, and underneath it was a rope going into the floor.
Sentient dumbbells tried to attack them, but Jolene's Clay Fists proved stronger as they were knocked unconscious. An Egyptian hint read, Grow your wings at the bench press! Seeing the bench press in question, Robi sat in it and tried to pull the handles together, but the weights were too strong. Instead, Jolene sat in it, stuck Clay Hands through the handles, and used their greater strength to pull them. As the weights lifted up, the others looked outside and saw the Wing Pad had been pulled down from the cage.
Robi thumbed up at his friend and ran out to use the Wing Pad. He could fly to Elsa's cage and do a Meteor Dive to destroy it, sending the Frankenteen falling to the floor. "Elsa!" Tanis ran out and tried to help her up, but her small muscles weren't fit for the task. "Are you okay?"
Elsa simply helped herself up, smiling assuringly. She had big black hair with white streaks, sandals, and a green dress. "I'm fine, Tanis. And hey, that's Robi! Hi, Robi!" She waved up at her Halloween dancing buddy.
"Nice to meet you again, Elsa! Oh, I better tell Jolene she can stop bench-pressing."
"I think Sibella was taken to the observation tower. Goldia can show you a secret path up there." Elsa led them to the door to the swimming pool (after Robi got Jolene). "Goldia! You can come out! I brought friends!" An orange Fishgirl walked out of the supply closet. She had a red flower on her baldhead and a brown seaweed dress. "Goldia, take 'em to the tower, okay?"
The fish smiled and nodded. She dove in the pool and pushed open a hidden hatch. Tanis held onto the kids as they dove and swam into the tunnel. Fishbones gnashed at them, but Goldia fought back with Torpedo Spins similar to Luca. They resurfaced in a pond at the base of some winding stairs. They were broken in some parts, needing Tanis to wrap some wooden beams and swing them up, all while having to jump barrels rolling downstairs. At the top of the tower, they found a dorky pumpkin with glasses and braces on its grin.
A bat's face peeped through the eye. "Tanis! In here! It's me!"
"Sibella! You're inside a pumpkin?"
"Revolta made it so I'm stuck in my bat form as long as I'm in here. The only way out is through the mouth, but his teeth are locked tight!"
"Ind 'nliss yuh h've s'me Stuh Cundy, Uh n'v'r lit huh ut." The pumpkin mumbled through its teeth.
"Stuh Candy? What's that?" Robi asked, Tanis shrugging.
"I think it means Star Candy." Sibella clarified. "You might be able to find it if you look through the telescope."
Robi approached the telescope and gazed through. There were several clearings in the clouds for him to see the stars. He searched each hole until he spotted a Twinkly Mart in one. Robi took off with the available Wing Pad and soared up to that gap in the clouds. He flew into the airborne shop, purchased a bag of Star Candy, and returned down to feed the pumpkin. As the dorky fruit munched them—"D'OW!" it hurt its teeth! It sobbed as its braces fell apart, allowing Sibella to escape.
"Fangtastic, I'm free! Now then, I heard Revolta's hiding out in the basement. We can get there through a door outside." Sibella flew off the tower and to the bottom of the school. Robi simply used the Wing Pad to carry the girls after her. He Ground Pounded the cellar door, so they and Sibella could venture down and reunite with the others. They were gathered before a double-door with five switches before it.
"Hey, Tanis! Ya came to the right place." Winnie said. "I can smell Revolta's revolting smell right behind here!"
"I think if we push these five buttons, the door will open." Elsa deduced. "And it looks like the switches are enchanted, so only certain monsters can press them."
"Hahahahaha!" Phantasma landed on a ghostly switch. "Luckily, we have all the right monsters right here, hahahaha!"
"She must've been really confident you guys wouldn't escape." Robi figured. The five monsters pressed the switches and opened the door to a room with a magic cauldron and the witch herself stirring it.
Revolta was a spider-woman with warts on her humanoid torso, a squished nose, dark-green hair, and red eyes. "Imbeciles! Those useless monsters Gruntilda lent me let you all escape! I'll have some words for her after this!"
"Why were you trying to capture these girls?" Robi asked.
"Because Grunty promised to share some of her youth-draining secrets, using them as the guinea pigs. And I'll have them, just as I'll have you for dinner! With this potion, I'll turn you runts into worms and drink your juices."
"I don't wanna know how that feels!"
Hidden boss: Witch of the Web, REVOLTA
The vile spider used three of her arms to scoop the potion into bottles and throw them at the kids, while her 4th arm cast spells from her Y-shaped wand. Robi and Jolene split up to divide her focus, but Jolene wound up hit by a spell, causing her eyes to go dizzy and web-like. Revolta was able to hit her with the potion, Jolene shrinking into the form of a worm. "Jolene!" Robi quickly ran to grab the helpless Jolorm, carrying her to the Anti-form Cauldron in the corner. Revolta pursued and tried to throw another potion, but a pair of bandages snagged it out of the air. "Let's see how you like it!" Tanis declared, whirling around and throwing the potion back at Revolta.
"Baaah!" Two of her arms became squishy and wormlike. "Meddlesome mummy! You won't make a worm out of me! Perhaps a touch of invisibility will help." Revolta whirled her wand above her, raining sparkles on herself to cloak her form. Meanwhile, she used levitation spells to lift bottles into the air, scoop up the cauldron, and continue to throw them.
"Too bad I can still feel your weight." Robi dodged the potions and used Seismic Sense to track Revolta's position. "Jolene, grab a potion and throw it there!" She used Clay Hands to do so and throw. "She dodged! Throw there! No, there! Dang it!"
"Quit movin' around, ya ugly spider!" Winnie tackled the invisible witch. "Don't think I can't sniff yer revile scent!"
"Thanks, Winnie!" With her holding Revolta in place, Jolene was able to throw the potion and strike Revolta, while Winnie jumped off.
"Raaaag!" Revolta became visible and her four legs wormlike. "How dare you disfigure my beautiful form! I'll be safer up here!" The spider-worm shot a web to the ceiling and pulled herself up. From her upside-down position, she conjured spider-bats to swoop down and attack them.
"Growl! Get down here, you coward!" Winnie growled.
"Robi!" Elsa ran over. "The ceiling's structure is a little unstable. I bet the two of us can shake the room up enough to knock her down."
"Hehe, I remember you were pretty heavy! Then let's get right under her!"
"Hahahahaha! Let's get her, Sibella!" Phantasma and Sibella swooped around the witch, who flailed her arms at the nuisances.
"Jolene, here's what you do." Robi approached his partner. "When we knock her down, we need you to…" he whispered the rest.
Robi and Elsa then ran underneath Revolta. "We should smash the ground at the same time." It took a few attempts for the Nimbi and Frankenteen to get in sync, but their unified stomp was able to send the witch falling. Just as she did, Jolene, holding the cauldron in her Clay Hands, swung it into place to catch Revolta!
"GAAAAAH!" She was frantic to escape the bright-yellow ooze, the kids quickly clearing away before any of it could splash on them. The cauldron toppled over as the witch squirmed out… but in seconds, the arachnid shrank and morphed into a worm. Fearful and furious at the seven children smirking down at her, the worm had only one option: crawl her way to the Anti-form Cauldron! She slithered as fast as her slimy form could… until Winnie smashed her beneath her paws. The werewolf gave a few more good stomps until the worm was mushed into paste.
"Winnie, that was a little cruel…" Robi said.
"Grah, who cares! I always wanted ta squish that overgrown bug!"
"Hooraaaaay!" Tanis cheered. "Our school is saved! I don't know what we would've done if you two hadn't come!"
"That's what the KND is all about!"
"You guys deserve a reward! I'll let you take something from my mummy case!" She led them back through the basement and into a different door. Inside were two tombs: a small one that served as Tanis' bed and a large one. She opened the large one, revealing her shelves or trophies.
"Aha!" Robi beamed. "We'll take that one!"
"Then it's all yours!" Tanis took the Jiggy down. The trio danced in circles and twirls as Robi took the puzzle from Tanis, but her bandages pulled with it, wrapping Robi as he kept spinning. He passed it to Jolene, who twirled and got wrapped up as well. Soon, all three were mummified and stuck together. They shared a good laugh before spinning to unwrap their selves! "By the way, how did you two get here again?"
"Through a portal. C'mon, we'll show you! It leads to Ancient Egypt!" Tanis followed the two back to the portal near the school's gate. They met with Nefertine and Spike upon returning to Egypt.
"(Whoa! You found a mummy!)" Nefertine gasped. "(And a rather young-looking one.)"
"(I was made this way.)" Tanis smiled. "(My name's Tanis.)"
"You're one of the kids from Halloween." Spike remembered.
"Yeah! This portal goes to her school." Robi thumbed at it. "Winnie is there, too. …Wait! Tanis understands both English and Ancient Egypt! She can be our translator! I mean, if you don't mind traveling with us for a bit."
"I don't see why not. I love Egypt! But… what exactly is going on here?"
"There's this evil witch called Gruntilda, and she has portals linked to different places and times. We don't know how she does it, or why she has these different places linked together."
"I see… it's hard to wrap my head around, but I'll roll with it."
"Haha!" Robi laughed. "Anyway, I remember a place we can go to."
"You guys have fun with that." Spike winked, walking into the portal. "I'mma go wrestle with Winnie."
The group changed the area to nighttime and ventured into the violet desert. They climbed the dune where the Moon Spirit, Khonshu waited. Since they could use the Wing Pad now, Robi carried all three girls to the air. (Luckily, Tanis didn't weigh much, but Nefertine and Jolene together did weigh him down more.) They flew to the black, two-pointed pyramid in the sky. Naturally, they had to land on the entrance dock, but Robi saw a Black Jinjo cage under the bottom tip. When they flew to the very top, they found an Extra Health Cookie inside the glass tip, but they couldn't collect it now. (Play "Rock Solid" from Conker!)
The four landed on the dock and entered the building. They weren't sure what to expect in a floating pyramid; some kind of mix of ancient ruins with alien technology? Well, that was almost what they got… along with neon lights and party music. Several creatures that looked like Egyptian spirits were gathered here. "Is this another Godlywood? Excuse me, what is this place?" he asked a brown-skinned man with a long, pointy nose.
"Oh, you speak a kind of English." He acknowledged. "And yet, you look like one of this planet's sky people. Pay us no mind. We are Osirins. We find this region's culture to be very fascinating, so we've come to study it. Of course, the study can often be tedious, so we like to have a lively time. Feel free to stay and exchange knowledge with us, but… you don't look old enough to drink what we serve here."
"You know where we can find any gold puzzles like this?" Robi showed him a Jiggy.
"Ah, some fellow brought one like that just the other day. He's still here, so why don't you ask him? He's dressed like a sort of mummy and wields a crescent staff."
The problem was the room was too crowded with people to proceed. They couldn't see any way through… but Jolene, meanwhile, was enticed by the beady wall of lights on the left, depicting animated Egyptian art. She put her hand to the pretty wall—her hand sank into it as some beads lit up on its shape. "Uuuuh!"
"Jolene?!" Robi spun. His friend's shape was depicted on the beads, animating confusedly. He worriedly ran up and became part of the wall as well. But, he was able to jump out. "Oh! It works just like Uncle Raymond's spell!"
"Amazing!" Tanis ran up. "How does it-" but she merely bumped into the wall and fell back.
"Oh…I guess it's because you never took his potion. Just wait here for us, Tanis."
"Fine!" Tanis huffed. "Then I'll go enjoy the party!"
Nefertine climbed into the wall, the crew proceeding rightward past the crowd. There were animated Egyptians bowing up and down, forming a staircase, so the kids had to jump up them while they were bowed. The wall would curve to the next side of the pyramid, on the second floor. Animated sand waves would push them, so they jumped with timing. They reached some escalating platforms that would blip on and off, again making use of timing to jump them while they were on. The platforms would lead them left, across the way they just came, until more would up to a safe spot on the third floor. They would have to jump out of the wall and platform across some floating, rotating pyramids, in which only the flat bottoms would be safe jumping.
The next pyramid had the same beady design, so they could jump into it. It would lean into and connect with a similar pyramid, so they could cross over. From that, they would have to jump out and into the next pyramid: it was rotating and had designs on each side but one, and they could only safely jump in the blank side. This pattern would repeat as the pyramids escalated to the next floor. It seemed to be the top of the central pillar. They could jump into some lights against it and jump up, but instead of emerging atop the floor, they were still within the lights. They were underneath a glass floor that Osirins danced upon. "YOOO! Who wants to get jiggy with me?!" a mummy-like fellow danced in the center, where there seemed to be a window hatch.
"That's the Moon Knight that bird guy wanted us to find!" Robi pointed. "Let's get up there!" They traveled along the border of the floor, first avoiding scorpion tails that jutted in and out. They jumped to the second floor from the border and had to walk under spiraling, fire pinwheels. On the last floor, closest to the center, they had to run under up-and-down Grindels; square, mummified Thwomps. Finally, they could jump through a gap to the center and pop out of the hatch.
"YOOOOW!" The Moon Knight tumbled over. "Yo, what's the deal cuttin' my groove?!"
"Your boney bird friend wants his staff back." Robi answered.
"Well, tell 'em he's gonna have ta wait!"
"If you give us some gold, we'll leave you alone."
"Fine, go buy yourselves some cookies or something." He gave them a Jiggy. "Now bug off, I got a hot date with some hippo!" He jigged his way away.
"Aha!" They saw Tanis clamber up to the dancefloor, her bandages ragged and mushed. "I made it up all by myself!"
"(It looks like you had some trouble.)" Nefertine blushed.
"Well, since we're up here," Robi said, "how about a quick dance?"
Nefertine and Tanis went to an open area and engaged in an Egyptian dance. Robi started a premature, kiddish, unrhythmic dance of his own, and Jolene had no other idea but to mimic him. Against all the colorful lights and dancing aliens, there were lots of things that would normally distract Jolene's attention, but she managed to keep her focus on Robi. He used his wings to get a bit of air in his dancing, while his husky proportions made him anything but fluent. He was a complete goof in the art, like something silly you'd see on T.V.. It made Jolene want to giggle. "Hehehehehehe!"
It was rare to see Jolene grin, stretching her flabby cheeks even more. The way they flailed from Jolene's dancing was silly, along with her frilly dress. It almost seemed like her little feet were stumbling to keep her chubby body animated. "Hahahahaha!" In the end, both friends held each other's hands to keep stable, but their unsynchronized motions only made them bobble more. Jolene stepped on Robi's foot, causing both kids to fall on their backs with their soles touching. "Hahahaha!" Robi pulled himself into a sit. "You're a great dancer, Jolene!"
"Uuuh…" Jolene pointed at the ceiling. The sides of the pyramid conjoined into the tip.
"Hey, that's the special cookie! Let's look for a way up there!" Some platforms led to the dancefloor on the side of the room. They found the Egyptian "O" beside a Wing Pad. They took off and grabbed the Health Cookie from the glassed tip. Their business concluded, the friends left the pyramid. "Wanna check out the sphinx that was by the soccer thing, Jolene?" Jolene nodded agreeably.
"(That's the pharaoh's sphinx!)" Nefertine smiled. "(I bet he'll have a Jiggy for us!)"
They swam back up the Nile and crossed the desert past the soccer area. The sphinx seemed to have an irritated expression, the kids curious as they approached the pharaoh in front. "(Pharaoh! What's wrong with Sphinxy?)"
"(Ah, Nefertine. It is nice to see you, my dear. I'm afraid poor Sphinxy has a pest problem. There are bugs crawling all over him. We cannot possibly live in him like this. I wish my son and the high priest would come help deal with this, but they probably ran off playing that stupid card game.)"
"(My new friends could probably help, right?)"
"We'd be glad to! Huhu, it'll be just like climbing a giant cat."
"When a cat has fleas," Jolene said, "it's important not to touch it, or else you'll have to shave all your hair off. Then people will laugh at you for looking like a gross alien."
"Yeesh, who told you that?"
"I did." Spike smirked. Robi shot him a glare.
They could climb Sphinxy by first climbing the laying left leg, squishing two Tickers marching on it (the same bugs from Central Park). They Rock Jumped up platforms ascending the leg's vertical half, traveling the walkway along the side. Tickers roamed the wall above, but Jolene could easily stretch Clay Fists to squish them. There was an arched walkway that led around Sphinxy's butt, but there was a group of dung beetles camping under the bottom. "Heh heh." Spike snickered, kicking the side of the rear as several balls of sand fell out of it. They crushed and buried the dung beetles. "Well, that's less gross than I was expecting." Robi shrugged. The Egyptian "D" was also beside the rump.
They needed to walk along a footprint trail over Sphinxy's right side, but the prints scattered many directions around it. "I can feel the bugs moving underneath." Spike said. "Leave this to me." He would spin over specific spots and drill underground, squishing the Tickers burrowing within. The trail led to a walkway going around Sphinxy's chin. "Help!" They heard a chirp and looked up the sphinx's nose. A Yellow Jinjo was hanging from it. They couldn't reach or shake it down, so they kept going around the path until a staircase led onto Sphinxy's back. They squished the last bit of Tickers roaming the back.
"(Excellent!)" Pharaoh called up. "(Sphinxy looks a lot better now! Come down and I will be happy to reward you!)" Before doing so, they climbed up Sphinxy's head. Jolene slid down to the nose, cutely hanging from it like a booger. She reached to pick the Yellow Jinjo free. This final Jinjo would reward them a Jiggy! They would soon be facing double pay when they dropped down to the pharaoh. "(You have my gratitude, children. Please accept this token of gratitude.)" With that, they did the Jiggy Dance twice in one minute! "(Now, could I perhaps ask you to clean Sphinxy's litterbox?)" The children cringed in disgust. "(…Only joking. This entire desert is his litterbox!)"
Nefertine brought them back to Godlywood afterward, wanting to show them a "magical moving picture." They would have to swim in a tunnel under one of the fountain pools, so their new swimming ability came in handy once more. They would surface on a path leading to an outside movie theater, the audience crowded as they watched a film of shadowy animals. There were stairs on either side leading up to the screen, the Egyptian "U" on the left side. "Hmm…" Wondering if they could merge into the screen just like the beady lights, "WAH!" Robi found out the easy way. "Wow! It works with this screen, too! We're gonna be movie stars, Jolene!"
"But Dad says movie stars can never take a bath or go to sleep without people taking pictures, and-"
"It's alright, Jolene! We'll be shadowy, so no one will recognize us."
Nefertine giggled and ushered Jolene inside the screen, going as well. They could only travel leftward with the film reel. But when they walked into the gap the reel went into, they seemed to warp through a portal. The reel would keep going over a forest area. "Huh…we've above Central Park?" It was the very same park Tupu lived. In fact, the reel would lead to a small theater near Grunty's Carnival. They followed it inside and wound up in a silhouetted version of Central Park. (Play Tupu's Theme!)
The trio had to jump cars while crossing a street. When they reached the park itself, silhouettes of Tupu were swinging from up high. They had to grab the Tupus, swing up, and let go with the momentum. The last Tupu would lead to a floating kite, which they could grab the string of. They climbed and jumped between a series of kites, evading the shadowy Zingers between. The area became bubbly and watery as they jumped to a dolphin from the last kite. Several dolphins would swim past, the kids quickly jumping before their current dolphin could hit the Shuris. They had to drop from the last dolphin and land on a giraffe, with a platform on the back of its neck. They had to drop and climb between the head, platform, and giraffe's back while avoiding the Zingers that flew over the unsafe spots.
The giraffe stopped under a white cliff. They climbed its head to reach it, sliding over an icy pond. They jumped polar bears that emerged from the pond, but two bears would surround them from either side. That's when Tupu swung down to pull them up again. She set them atop a tree branch, the trio following her as she dug into some leaves. She pulled out a yellow-silhouetted Jiggy. "Haha! Thanks, Tupu! …I think. Wait, this is the last Jiggy in this area! This calls for a special dance!"
They recited the Tupu Jiggy Dance with the silhouette. At the end, there was a more excited fanfare, the three wildly jumping around, before Jolene hopped on Robi and Tupu hopped on her. They spin-jumped in that formation before jumping off each other, slapping a high-five that resounded like fireworks! The friends kept going rightward until the reel exited the building, later to go back through a portal to Godlywood.
"I think we're gonna head out for now." Robi told Nefertine and Tanis. "Make sure Spike stays outta trouble."
"You got it/(got it)!" both girls chirped. (End song.)
After returning to the lair, Gruntilda decided to chime in. "She wears diapers and has flabby cheeks. Jolene can't go a day without wetting the sheets!"
"You're the one who's gonna wet yourself when we come to get you!" Robi shook his fist.
There was an area Robi thought about checking for a while: they backtracked to the very beginning. A swarm of Gruntling had originally come down a staircase to the left of the entrance, but now that they were gone, the duo tried checking up there. All they found were police tape and barbwire fences, with a large sign that read, Under construction. "Interesting. I guess we should try to come back later?" Robi shrugged.
"Yeah. We shouldn't go into construction sites, or we'll get squished by a bulldozer." With that, they made their way back to the lake (there was even a Wing Pad in the sphinx room to make travel faster). They paid a quick visit to Luca's Lagoon and met their Fishboy friend.
"Robi, Jolene, perfect timing! I found a Jiggy!"
"Wow, you were right, Jolene!"
"Huh? How did Jolene know?"
"Uh, I turned into a coin, went into the fountain, and came outta the other fountain, and the statue threw a pointy stick at a wall."
"So, you came out of the fountain in this town and triggered something!" Robi deduced.
"Uh…sure." Luca just decided to accept it and do a Jiggy Dance.
Robi and Jolene left and flew up to the Oni Mountain entrance. On their way back to Onari's school, they noticed a lone blue flower in the pink field. Robi stomped the earth up from it, unveiling five Casino Coins. "Hah, we found it!"
The school grounds had become lively with young Yokai. Onari excitedly called out upon seeing them, "Robi, Jolene! You're back!"
"Hi, Onari! Are these all your friends?"
"You're the ones who saved us?" Kappa approached with a smile. "My name is Kappa. It's a pleasure," he bowed, "to meet-" and spilled his head dish. He collapsed in a faint.
"Uh-oh!" Onari dragged him to a river and refilled his dish. "-you. …Oh, man, did I do it again?"
"You have my sincerest gratitude for rescuing the students." Tengu said. "I see that my Sacred Feather has served you well. Onari says your flying was exemplary."
"You can't be serious, Father." Amaten the bird-girl scoffed. "He looks like he can barely lift himself off the ground. I bet I could fly circles around him."
"Robi can beat you at flying easy!" Onari retorted.
"I'm sure she's very good." Robi said modestly.
"You're 'sure'?! Fine then, how about we settle this with a race? One lap around the island. First one through all the Butterfly Rings is the winner."
"Ooo, that sounds pretty! Sure!"
"Ah, my daughter, always the overachiever." Tengu chortled. "Very well. Let me get things set up."
Robi readied himself on the nearby Wing Pad, Amaten beside him. "On your mark: get set: GO!" (Play "Sled Game" from Twilight Princess!)
The fliers took off! They first flew up some short cliffs past the school, flying through rings of butterflies. They veered left and followed the next batch through sakura trees, barely seeing the rings through them. Amaten quickly gained the lead on Robi, but when he Meteor Dove his way through the sakuras, he surpassed her! It was even better that he could quickly shift left or right to fly through the rings. Past the forest, Robi had to take a turn left and down, flying over the path from the world's entrance. Stacks of Stoni would rise to block Robi from the flowers, but his Meteors were more than enough to topple them. Amaten was almost catching up, but Robi was quick to stop and shift direction in-between his Meteors. The next round of rings had him quickly flapping up the waterfall, then up the river. They would pass the path to the flower field and go further upriver, past some hopping stones, and toward the field of a large, stone house.
Robi saw Naridon waving at them from the roof. "Oh! Is this Onari's house?!" the Nimbi called out. Naridon nodded in confirmation. "Cool!" The racers needed to tightly swerve around the large home to pass the rings, later to fly down the cliffside. Amaten was desperate to catch up, resenting the idea of losing to this goofy-looking creature, but Robi made great use of his Meteor technique to stay ahead! The race concluded when they had to swoop up the waterfall back to the school grounds, and ultimately land at the top of the school tree as the Finish Line.
"Impressive, young Robi!" Tengu praised. "Though not quite as graceful as Amaten, your ability to throw your weight around makes you swift. You are almost a true master of the air!"
"I'LL be the judge of THAT." A new voice declared.
The students were aghast when a large, cyan-colored ogre with a small black goatee and tuft of chestnut hair soared down on a bag of winds. "A genie?!" Robi gasped.
"Uncle Putaro!" Onari ran up to hug him. "What are you doing here?!"
"I heard from a couple monkeys about some big ol' butterfly struttin' his wings around the mountains." The ogre eyed Robi skeptically. "The name's Putaro, and I'm the REAL master of the air."
"My uncle's the Wind Spirit!" Onari cheered. "He's the fastest flier around!"
"Hello, Mr. Putaro!"
"Salutations, mah little fuzzball." Putaro ruffled Robi's hair. "You may be faster than this little birdy, but how 'bout a race with the champ? If ya beat me, I'll give ya this fancy trophy." He held up a Jiggy.
"You're on! Is it another lap around the mountain?"
"Oh, I'mma need more room than that! We're gonna start here, fly to Tuna Mountain, Moon Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and back. You ready, little man?"
"Ready!"
The fliers took off! Robi was immediately astounded by Putaro's speed, quickly using and maintaining his Meteor Dive on the flight to Tuna Mountain. A consistent dive could barely keep up with the ogre, and after passing the Butterfly Ring in the tuna statue's mouth, they would have to make a turn toward the crescent mountain. Putaro was able to make a nice swift turn, while Robi had to stop his Meteor and reposition in the right direction before launching again. The problem was Robi couldn't tell where the ring would be until he was close (a couple meters down-right of the crescent's center), but he had to reposition himself again to launch through it.
Putaro still had the lead on the flight to the thundercloud mountain, and Robi found another issue while tailing him: the wind from Putaro's bag would push Robi back slightly. It didn't seem intentional on Putaro's part, it was only due to his half-conscious drifting. Robi couldn't even see the Butterfly Ring well under the dark cloud, but it was actually right underneath the cloud. They made the flight back to the top of the school tree, and the winner was…
"Guess who's still the master of the skies?!" Putaro declared.
"That's not fair!" Robi shouted. "Your wind pushed me and I couldn't even guess where the rings were!"
"Fine, kiddo, we'll consider that a practice round. I'll race you as many times as you want, but you'll run out of excuses eventually."
"I'll get you this time!"
The placement of the rings was the same as last time, so Robi memorized their position while doing his Meteor Dive. For each turnaround, he managed to stay just ahead of Putaro. Victory would be assured as Robi was the first to set foot on the tree! "Hoo!" Putaro sighed. "That race just about had me gassed! Where'd you learn to fly like that, kid?"
"My mom! She's an airbender, so she's way better at flying, but she taught me that trick to make up for it."
"Well, ya sure showed me. Here's ya trophy, kid, you earned it!"
Robi, Jolene, and Onari shared a Jiggy Dance, the other students snickering at the act. "What do you wanna do now, Jolene?"
"Uh…can we go beat the witch?"
"Sure! I feel satisfied with our Jiggy count now. But since we have 17 Casino Coins now, let's swing by there and buy one more." (End song.)
They changed the world to nighttime, returned to the casino, and traded 15 coins for a Jiggy. They then returned to the Mysterious Lair through the Grunty statue. Mustering their courage, Robi held Jolene's hands and lifted off. They ascended the tallest building and landed at the top of the tower. From such a height, the duo could almost see the curve of the planet. "Jolene… what's that?"
A field of pale-blue aura enveloped the Minneapolis outskirts, crackles of lightning flickering from the earth. "That's… the playground we were at before. What's happening to it?"
"A rift has come to rip this land! It's soon to fall under Grunty's hand!" (Play "Final Battle" from Banjo-Kazooie!)
Her voice wasn't heard as an echo: it sounded quite close. Robi and Jolene turned to face their foe at last: the portly witch was in warts and wrinkles, mounted atop her faced broomstick. Her jet-black hair had a hue of grey under her hat. "Look what you've done to this old cow! Destroying my Life Clocks has made me old now! I'll make you pay for what you've done; this will be the day that Grunty won!"
Final boss: Wrinkly Kid-Hating Witch, GRUNTILDA
"Rakakakaka!" Gruntilda lunged at the pair, who dodged aside, but she would repeat the maneuver over and over. This would provide an easy trap for Robi to set, stomping a rock wall to make the witch crash and tumble onto the ground. Jolene molded a Clay Fist, spun it, and punched Grunty with enough force to send her falling off the tower. Her Lardmaster broom recovered and swooped down to catch its master. "You done cracked Grunty's neck! Time for me to give you heck." The witch soared circles around the tower, dizzying the kids in trying to trace her. In the process, Gruntilda conjured a circle of fireballs, all of which shot at the kids at the same time, exploding and covering them in soot. "My spell made you nice and crispy! It could even fry that Christie!"
While continuing to fly in fast circles, Grunty would swoop down at random times and ram the duo. "Now I hit you in the knee! Give it up, you can't beat me!" She conjured another circle of fireballs, but Robi would protect them with Sun Sand. Jolene spun in place and kept eyes on the witch, so when she swooped down, she slapped clay over the witch's face while dodging. "Grak! Get this gunk off Grunty's face! Or else she'll hit you with a mace!" She was stationary as she zapped the clay off with her wand, allowing Jolene to grab her broom in both Clay Hands, swing her around, and bash her into the floor.
"You'd do well to learn some manners. I think I'll bury you in nanners!" Gruntilda conjured a banana pile above the duo, who dodged before it crushed them, but Grunty would conjure more in rampant succession, soon crushing both kids under their own piles. The witch cast a Homing Spell at both of them, exploding the bananas into magical mush and rendering the two injured. Robi quickly pulled himself up as Grunty whirled her wand above her, stirring the clouds. Robi dodged the first thunderbolt and hurried to grab Jolene before she was struck. He was distraught seeing Jolene's bruised visage, drooping and looking as if she was trying to hold back tears.
A bolt shot at them, but Robi stomped a barrier to block it. As soon as it crumbled, Gruntilda swooped and rammed the duo again. Robi quickly punched a rock out of the ground and threw it, but she destroyed it with a flick of the wand. A frustrated Robi rapidly stomped up a barrage of rocks, but Grunty was quick to zap each one before shooting a spell at Robi. "Stupid curse! If I had my full bending, you'd be sorry!"
"Alas, you don't, to my good fortune. And yet, my power is only a portion. And if you think I'm too much, you'll tremble when you see this bunch. COME, MY GRUNTIES!"
Three more witches came flying up. One looked like a skeletal Grunty, wearing a ragged dress and riding a star-shaped platform. The second looked like a mechanical Grunty, using jetpacks. The third wore the same outfit as Grunty, but had a skull head inside a glass container, riding an aircraft with a cauldron cockpit. "More witches?! And they all look like Grunty…"
"We do not just look alike." Nuts Grunty said. "We're the same, you stupid tyke!"
"Us Grunties were pulled through time," Mecha-Grunty continued, "to punish you for your meddling crime."
"To think we would achieve time travel." Bone Grunty smirked. "Even I am impressed with myself."
"Oh, I forgot about that time." Nuts Grunty sighed. "When my sisters forbade me from rhyme."
"That's why I didn't bring them back." Current Grunty smirked. "All they ever did was slack. Now, my Grunties, altogether! Prepare to cast the Four Star Fetter!"
Robi held a worried and tired Jolene as the four witches began to draw symbols with their wands. He couldn't believe the situation escalated this badly. After coming this far, he was confident they could beat Grunty, he really didn't expect her to be this tough. And worse, there were four of them! He should've gotten Spike and the others together. They were outnumbered and powerless. If Robi couldn't do anything else, he at least wanted to…
The four Grunties cast their spells—Robi pushed Jolene away with a rock jab and became trapped in a powerful, pink bubble. He watched as his confused friend pushed herself up. "JOLENE, RUN! JUMP OFF THE TOWER AND LAND ON YOUR CLAY! RUN AND GET THE OTHERS!"
"Rakakakaka!" Mecha-Grunty cackled, flying by the edge closest Jolene while keeping the cage maintained. "There's nowhere for you to run! I'm glad to say your life is done. By the will of my magic gun," the robot's right arm morphed, "I command you, girl: BEGONE!" The robot fired a beam straight into Jolene's tummy. The force was solid, blasting Jolene with extreme momentum as she went flying off the tower and away from the lair.
"JOLEEEEEEENE!" Robi could only watch helplessly as his friend plummeted to the earth.
"Ladies, our business here is done." Current Grunty said. "It's time to move this lair and run. Another rift is forming on a certain world, while this rift will swallow the corpse of that girl. My troops will stay and construct the portal, so we may quick travel here with a chortle. In the meantime, we need to recapture the other lands. Get down and seize them with your own hands!"
"RAKAKAKAKAKAKA!"
Robi sobbed as he was carried into the tower, hating himself for bringing Jolene up here. Now, as the lair was beginning to rumble, about to teleport to a whole other location, he feared he would never see his partner again. (End song.)
…
…
…
…
The autumn leaves lay in still, soft piles. The forest was quiet and lonely. But a grouping of leaves stirred. "Mmmm. Mmmmmm…" Jolene weakly and groggily rose from the orange pile. She'd been asleep long enough for a small pile to build on her. "Lub, lub, blub…" She swished her tongue about to draw an ingested leaf to the front, pulling it out. Jolene had landed on the soft pile and hit the soiled ground diaper-first, with some clay stuffed inside for extra protection, all factors playing a part in her survival. The sensation still knocked her dizzy self out. She felt worse than going to bed after stuffing too much candy in her sore tummy.
"Ooooog…" Injured and battered, Jolene limped her way out of the pile. Her mind was slower to register pain than others. A small cut or bruise wasn't a big deal to her. Even in CND Training, she learned to take harder hits and was taught to pick herself up and keep in the battle. It felt a little worse this time… but Jolene wasn't sure whether to cry or throw up. It was at times like this she would ask her parents or friends for some medicine.
…She was back in the Puzzle Park. The place were, just a couple days ago, she and her friends were playing an innocent collecting game. It was dead with only the sound of breeze and falling leaves. The sky a dull cloudy. "…Rrrrrrobiiiii?" She drawled out, half-wondering if he would answer. "…Liiiilyyyy?" She leaned down, wondering if the Kateenian was between her shoes, but wound up plopping on her front. It took a minute for her to push herself up, her pretty dress covered in more dirt. "Moooom…Daaaaaaad?"
No one answered her. No one was there. "…A kid… shouldn't go to the forest… all alone." She limped forward, recounting another piece of advice. "A kid has to go with… an adult or… a re-li-a-ble friend. Or they'll get kidnapped… by the Boogeyman… and put in his car…"
Something clicked with Jolene: they came here by car. And if she remembered right… it was parked just over there. She kept limping until she got to the parking lot. There was the car. Jolene used some clay to make up for lost strength and pulled open the door. She climbed on her parents' seat and opened the glove drawer, where she remembered they kept the pills. She recognized her tummy pills… and the pain pills her mom often took. They were made with childproof caps, but her claybending gave her the extra strength to pop them open. There were even the water bottles and lunchboxes they brought for the trip. She ate the sandwich and lunchables in her own box… then had a bit of Kent's since she was still hungry. She didn't feel right eating Robi's though, even though he usually shared.
Once her belly was full, she put both the tummy and mouth pills in her mouth and drank water to wash them down. The child didn't know what to do from there. Wait in the car for her parents to come back? Somehow, she knew that wasn't an option. "…I gotta go potty…" She climbed out of the car again, wondering if there was a bathroom. "…uh?" The road looked weird up ahead. It was all blue, misty… and wavy. The road was fizzing between two different forms. The confused youth walked toward the mist, the food giving her a bit more pep in her step. She felt a little funny walking through, but the road seemed normal on the other side… if a bit different from how it looked going into the park.
Jolene decided to keep walking. If her parents or friends weren't back at the park, maybe they were further ahead. A sign was posted on the side of the road, listing its eventual destination: Peanutville, 5 miles.