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Chapter Text

Mayor walked through Rapoville, eyeing the many gates that had been set up generations prior. Wilfre had killed him a few months prior, and now that he was a ghost, he has resolved to protect the village at all costs.

Making his way to the edge of the village, walking past the Forest and Jangala gates, he arrived at the gate leading to the Land of the Eastern Winds, the final gate in his search. Peeking into the gate, he watched the clouds construct a path that leads directly to a bundle of floating rocks - the Balancing Rock Garden.

Hovering with the clouds, Mayor eventually arrived at the front of the garden, observing the cacti, the blossoms, and a strange noise drifting from further in the garden.

"Can anyone hear me? Hello?" Mayor made his way though the rocks and platforms, coming across a bespectacled Raposa shivering in the wind. "Anyone at all?"

"Isaac? What are you doing here?!" Mayor shouted, briefly forgetting that no Raposa could hear him.

"He's here because I left him here," a new voice responded from behind Mayor. Whipping around, Mayor came face to face with a massive, Shadowy figure wearing a key around its neck. "Hello Mayor. My name is Aldark. Pleased to meet you."

"Who are you?" Mayor asked, taking a step back.

"You knew me is Wilfre, others knew me as Boss, but I've always been here, watching and scheming against you."

"Could you put that any more evilly?" Mayor asked as Isaac continued to beg for help. "Why did you leave him here?"

"He was in the way of my plans. I needed your human boy to stay out of the shop while I formulate my next plan."

"My human boy?" Just then, a fourth person appeared in the garden, Mike, the only human trapped in the Raposa realm.

"Isaac! There you are!" he said, hopping over to Isaac's rock. "You ready to come home?"

"You have no idea. Let's get out of here!"

Mayor and Aldark watched as Mike and Isaac walked back the way they came. Aldark's toothy grin fell into a scowl. Grabbing his key, Aldark opened up a portal in front of the two Rapoville residents, revealing a warm, industrial town with robots and Raposa galore.

"Is that another village?!" Mayor asked as Aldark schemed.

"Did you really think Rapoville was the only Raposa hideout of the world? There's villagers all over this world waiting for me to torment them!" From the portal, a Raposa fell into the Balancing Rock Garden. A crown fell from his head and a green robe covered his silver fur.

"Who dares! Robosa, help me up this instant!" he yelled as the portal closed behind him.

"Hey man, are you okay?" Mike asked as he and Isaac helped the king to his feet.

"Get off of me commoners!" he yelled as he got onto his feet. "I am King Miney of Lavasteam! You should be working!" Before Mike and Isaac could retaliate, Aldark drifted between the villagers, revealing himself to them.

"Raposa! And Mike! This pathetic ruse is about to come to an end!"

"Who are you?" Miney asked, pulling a chunk of crystal from his pocket and chucking it at the Shadow monster. Aldark dissipated himself to avoid the crystal, letting it soar directly into Isaac's glasses, shattering them.

"I am Aldark!" As shards of glass exploded in every direction, slicing Mike and Miney, Mayor drifted over to Aldark.

"How dare you kidnap and attack me. Send me back to Lavasteam now!" Mayor observed as Miney angrily approached Mike and Isaac. "You two! Send me home, now!"

"We didn't bring you here, you just appeared here," Mike responded, helping Isaac clean up his glasses.

"Bull, I know a powerful Raposa when I see one. You, with your dark magics and baldness. This is your fault!" Miney slapped Mike across the face, opening the gash on his face further. Without saying a word, Mike tackled Miney to the ground and began throwing punches. 

"Guys what's going on?" Isaac asked, unable to see the violence in front of him. Suddenly, a voice ringed through his head. 

"Protect yourself." Isaac froze in place, half of the glass shards still on the ground. "They want to hurt you."

"What are you doing to him?" Mayor asked, watching as Aldark whispered into Isaac's ears. "Get away from him!"

"Or what, old man?" Aldark's voice retorted, coming from Isaac's body. "You can't stop me." Isaac stood up, glass still in his hands, and ran over to Mike and Miney, who were still beating each other. With all the strength he could muster, Isaac threw the shards into Miney's face. "You two stay away from me!"

"Isaac, are you okay man?" Mike asked, throwing Miney off of him and knocking him into a jagged rock.

"No I'm not. I know you want to hurt me, Mike. That's why you brought me here!" 

"Brought you here? I didn't bring you here, you just vanished so Mari sent me to find you." Picking up the rest of his glasses' shards, Isaac charged Mike. Mayor watched as Aldark sneered behind the Raposa.

"It's too easy Mayor. They'll destroy each other before they ever get a chance to destroy me." 

"Why are you doing this? I get that you're the manifestation of evil and all that, but this just seem extraneous." As Mike and Isaac fought, Aldark began monologuing to Mayor.

"You and I both know how important this human in to your realm, and Isaac is the only way your precious Hero can save him. Pit the two of them together and let them destroy themselves. No Mike and no Isaac, no Raposa."

"What about Miney, and why here?"

"My bats are here. My pets and my friends. There's no influence from the Creator here, so far away from the Tree of Ages. As for the mad king, think of him like a firestarter for the fire to kill Mike and Isaac."

"What about that? Did your plan anticipate for that?" Mayor asked, pointing to the fighting Rapovillians. Fearing for his plan, Aldark swung his head around and eyed the fighters just long enough for Mayor to run past him, yanking the key from his neck and opening a portal to Rapoville. Using all his energy, Mayor forced himself to become visible, yelling at Mike and Isaac. "Jump through!!" he shouted, scaring Mike just enough to grab Isaac's color and drag the both of them through the portal.

"No!!" Aldark yelled as Mayor changed the portal to lead to Lavasteam, grabbing Miney's unconscious body and returning him home. "What have you done?!"

"I stopped you Aldark. You're strangely convoluted, and frankly very stupid, plan is over." Aldark let out a roar as Mayor returned to his incorporeal state and tossed Aldark his key. "Now get back to whatever dumb plan you have to kill our human. You know the Creator will prevail."

Chapter Text

"And here's your keys!" Mayor handed Crazy Barks a keyring with three keys on it, each leading to a different door of Wilfre's old castle on his old Wasteland. According to Mayor, Wilfre had selected Crazy Barks for a very particular task in his will. Despite his disdain for his former friend, Mayor kept Wilfre's final wish, as is the job of the patron ghost of the Wasteland.

"Crazybarkshasnewrock!" 

"Yes you do, now be sure to head back to Rapoville and gather your things before coming back." Crazy Barks nodded and ran over to the docks, joining the rest of his party on Turtle Rock.

"What'd ye find, matey?" Pirate Beard asked Crazy Barks, who was trying to conceal the key ring in his dense fur. 

"Crazybarksfindghostkeys!" Unable to decode any possible meaning, Pirate Beard turned around and began sailing back to Rapoville. Crazy Barks wandered around the living ship, eventually crossing underneath Zsasha. 

The master thief, resting in his unreachable balcony, watched as Crazy Barks adjusted the keys in his fur, piquing Zsasha's interest. Jumping down from his tree, Zsasha snuck behind Crazy Barks and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hi there. What do you have in your fur, Barks?"

"Crazybarkskeepzsashaawayfromsecret!" 

"Secret? No need to keep me away. Let me into your secret; I'm trustworthy, honest!"

"... Crazybarksgotkeysfrommayor. Crazybarksownswilfreshideout." Zsasha watched Crazy Barks pull out the keys to the Hall of Darkness, dangling them in front of his face.

"Wh... Why you? Why not let me have the massive palace? We were friends, weren't we? I knew him better than anyone!" 

"Crazybarkswilfreknewbetter." 

"Oh don't give me that. It was me, him, and Indee against the world. the grey furred brothers!" 

"Crazybarksthoughtzsashawasonlychild."

"You know what I mean! Why would he leave you, a crazy dog rapo his literal palace, hell, his literal island, instead of me. Or even Indee!? I would've understood if he gave it to Indee over me, but you?"

"I see you two are discussing me!" Indee said, spooking Zsasha. "Perhaps talking about my dangerous exploration of that ghastly ship?" 

"Wilfre left Crazy Barks his palace. The one we were just at." Indee almost processed the bombshell of information, but instead of anger, turned to laughter.

"Well of course he did! Give it to me and that's just leaving the door unlocked. There's no fun in that adventure if I'm supposed to be there!"

"Crazybarksletindeeinsideanytime."

"Ah! Thank you pal!" Indee scratched Crazy Barks behind the ear, hearing the keys jingle as Barks shook. "And give that palace to you? Why would he rob you of that chance to loot? No fun stealing from yourself, is there?"

"Crazybarksneverletzsashainside." Zsasha smirked, patting Indee on the back and watching Crazy Barks shove the keys back into his fur. 

"You know what? You're right." 

"Of course I am! Wilfre may have gone off the deep end but he was still a hell of a guy. Both of us are gonna go through there one day, I just know it." Crazy Barks began to run off, accidentally dropping the keys to the palace as he ran. 

Zsasha walked over and picked up the keys, shoving them into his backpack and scanning the area. He walked to the edge of the shell, beckoning Indee over to him. The two of them looked over the edge to see a lifeboat drifting in the water alongside the ship.

"I know where I'm going. Are you coming with me?" 

"With you? I'd go anywhere." The two of them jumped into the boat and untied the rope tying it to Turtle Rock, setting sail for a brand new adventure.

Chapter Text

Treetop Village is a safe haven for those in the Jangala Jungle, despite the chaotic nature of the Monkies, Bonobos, and Baki. As such, the sudden appearance of a massive, blue and red Scorpion sent the residents of the treetops into a frenzy.

"OOK! OOK! (Massive thing attacking us!)"

"EEK! AAK! (We gotta get out of here!)"

"AKA AKA! (Someone get the king!)" Running up to the top of the massive tree housing the villagers, a lone Bonobo burst into the Monkey King's throne room. 

"AGA AGA! (Sire! We need your help!) AK AGA! (Something's out there and we can't make a scratch against it!)" Looking out through a window, the Monkey King observed the Scorpion tearing through huts and houses in his domain.

"Ook, (Leave it to me,)" the Monkey King growled, standing up from his throne and leaving to face the Scorpion. Readying his staff, the Monkey King began swinging at the Scorpion, denting it's shell slightly, but not stopping the beast from destroying the village. Using a strangely three-pronged stinger, it knocked the Monkey King to the ground. "oo... oook... (call... the raposa...)"

Meanwhile, in the nearby Rapoville, Officer Cricket sat in Mari's home, meeting with her about the recent crime spree brought on by Circi.

"I'm pretty sure everything was restored by good ol' Zywlmezr," Cricket said, gesturing to the black and orange teddy bear Hero running around outside. "Isaac has his door, Cookie has his sign, the windmill and bridge are back. Everything seems back to normal." 

"I agree, it's a shame that we were without Banya for so long though. I know Cookie and Brown are worried about a food shortage in a bit while they regrow the crop."

"Most of us have some sort of Banya supply in our homes if we need to dip into reserves." Mari rubbed her chin, thinking about Cricket's plan, when suddenly, a Bonobo ran into her house, followed by Zywlmezr with the Ice Sword.

"Ak ak aki? Aka ka. (Are you Mayor Mari? We need your help in the Treetop Village.)" 

"I... I'm sorry, I don't speak Jangalan. Cricket?"

"Sort of, but it wouldn't be my first time translating. It sounds like something's wrong in the Treetop Village." Zywlmezr stood behind the Bonobo as Cricket thought hard about his next words. "Ook aka ooka. Eek aak aka? (I can help with my you. What today problem?)" Turning to Zywlmezr, the Bonobo responded.

"Aka ako eek ooka. Ka akak. (We need the Hero to stop a beast. A big scorpion.)" Suddenly realizing what was needed, the Hero ran towards the Jangala gate, leaving the Bonobo in the room with the Raposa.

"Eka aka ak ak? (Am I need helping?)" Cricket asked, causing the Bonobo to chuckle a bit, nodding instead of responding. "I'll be right back Mari, I can give you a report when I get back!" Cricket and the Bonobo ran out of her house, following the Hero into the Jangala gate and straight to the Treetop Village, arriving just in time to see the Scorpion pierce the unconscious Monkey King's crown.

"AKA! (King!)" the Bonobo cried out, running to grab the King's stabbed crown. Cricket and Zywlmezr stared up at the massive Scorpion, and Zywlmezr began slashing at the arachnid. Cricket surveyed the area, searching for any patterns in the Scorpion's destruction. 

Cricket's eyes darted from holes in huts to a few injured villagers, helping the Bonobo move them out of the battle arena. As Zywlmezr and the Scorpion continued to fight, Cricket watched the Scorpion's eyes dart all over the place, eventually discovering a strange gel coating its eyes. 

"Zywlmezr! Its eyes! Scrub its eyes!" Zywlmezr checked out the Scorpion's eyes, identifying the goop as ink from Circi's factory that had somehow ended up on the Scorpion. However, unable to clean the ink themself, the Hero pointed upwards and continued to clash with the Scorpion, trying to minimize damages to the village. 

Cricket looked upwards, wondering why the Hero would deny cleaning Shadow when all the pieces fell into place in Cricket's mind. Continuing to look up towards the sky, Cricket began to pray to the Creator.

"Creator! Hi, hello! Been a while since we talked! Hey, could you do us a favor and clean the goop out of that Scorpion's eyes? Thank you!" Cricket and the Bonobo watched as the Hero stunned the Scorpion and the goop vanished.

Finally able to see again, the Scorpion stopped it's rampage and slowly looked around. After seeing the eyes burning into it, the Scorpion rapidly crawled down the tree, crawling through the Jangala Outpost to hide.

In the destroyed village, Cricket, the Bonobo, and Zywlmezr surrounded the Monkey King as he woke up, reaching for his staff and his crown.

"oook... (my head....)"  The Monkey King looked around at the carnage in his village. "Ook! OOK! (Where's that scorpion?!)" The King shot up and began searching for the bug, but he was soon calmed down by the three heroes. 

"We took care of it your majesty. There was some bad ink stuck in its eyes, and it went crazy!" 

"Eek? Ook? (Bad Inkies are back? Should we prepare?)" 

"Oh no, your majesty! Everything is being taken care of. Zywlmezr here took care of the bad inkies already, we just need a bit more time to get rid of all the ink." The Monkey King nodded and thanked the Raposa, soon returning to his quarters to begin repairs of the village. 

As Cricket and Zywlmezr prepared to leave, the lone Bonobo ran up to them with some things in its hands.

"Eek aka ak. (Thank you Hero and Cricket.)" To Zywlmezr, the Bonobo handed a golden badge engraved with the Jangala coat of arms, and to Cricket, the Bonobo handed an elementary level Jangalan textbook. "Aka ak, ooka. (Your Jangalan is okay, just needs some work.)"

"Thank you, uh, I don't believe I caught your name." 

"Aka Ook. (My name is Aka Ook.)"

"And does that translate to Raposan?" 

"Aka Ook ika. (Aka Ook should work nicely.)"

"Well, Aka Ook, it was a pleasure to meet you. Let's head home Zywlmezr." Aka Ook waved goodbye to their foreign friends, and began to search under the leaves, desperate to find the Scorpion.

"Ook ak... (I know you're down there...)" After making sure no one was watching, they jumped down from the village and into the Outpost, finding the Scorpion's trail and following it. After traversing all the way to the edge of Jangala, Aka Ook came across a den, hearing the scratchings of the Scorpion inside.

The Scorpion, hearing something behind it, quickly spun and flared its claws and stinger, attempting to scare the intruder.

"oook. (It's okay.)" The Scorpion slowly let down its guard thanks to Aka Ook's calming voice. "ak aka. (I'm not gonna hurt you.)" Aka Ook slowly walked towards the Scorpion, placing their hand on the Scorpion's head, completely calming the beast. "eeek? (You were hurting, weren't you?)" The Scorpion pressed itself against the floor and forced its head deeper into Aka Ook's hand, gently snoring a few moments later. "Ook aka aka eek. (Poor thing, I'll be sure you get all the care you need.)"

Chapter Text

"Aly I have fleas. I need to go to the vet."

Chapter Text

"Losing the Eternal Flame was the last straw. Now my shop is covered in Darkness!" Isaac and Mya, some of the last remaining residents in Rapoville, had finally broken their will to stay in the wasteland that was once their home.

"And now our daughter is gone! We have to find her..." Now that their daughter, Cindi, had gone missing, the couple had decided to load up and find her, with or without their Mayor.

"I understand… But we should go out together," their Mayor said, desperate to not be the final adult in the village.

"This can’t wait any longer… We’re leaving." The couple turned around and began their trek through the frozen wastes surrounding their village. However, right as they turned into the entrance to Mt. Snowy, a strange haze of darkness appeared in front of them.

"Where do you think you're going?" a voice called out to them through the smog. "Travelling through this darkness is awfully bold of you, shopkeep."

"Who are you?" Isaac shouted into the darkness, clinging onto Mya's arm.

"Show yourself!" Mya yelled, prompting a Shadowy figure to emerge from the darkness. 

"Wilfre?!" Isaac asked with disgust. "What happened to you?"

"I did what the Creator couldn't and improved myself! I plan on improving the two of you, but I need to keep you here for a brief moment." Wilfre snapped his fingers, summoning two cages above the heads of the couple. "I'll see the both of you later." With that, Wilfre vanished, and the darkness enveloped the couple. 

Suddenly, the darkness cleared around Mya and her cage, leaving her alone in an unknown spot on the mountain.

"Isaac? Isaac?!" Looking around, Mya couldn't see any signs of life, save for some other Shadow monsters that vaguely resembled Wilfre. "Can anyone hear me?!" Just then, a wave of snow collided with her body.

Now even colder than she was before, Mya wiped the snow out of her eyes and violently searched for anyone else around her. out of nowhere, a strange, fuzzy humanoid with a head covered in snow appeared in front of her. Observing her cage, the creature sent another wave of snow towards Mya. After being covered with a second layer of snow, Mya decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Hey mister! I don't know who or what you are, but you need to stop!" Hearing her shouting, the creature walked closer to her. As it neared, it began reaching for the cage, seemingly playing with the Shadow. "Oh, are you just interested in the cage? I'm afraid there's not much you can do to help me here."

Hearing Mya's voice, the creature turned around and created a lump of snow, writing something into the side. It turned around and pointed at the word it had written.

"Yeti? Is that you?" The Yeti nodded and began writing again, with Mya reading the words as it wrote. "I want to help... lift the cage... up. Aww, I appreciate the help Mr. Yeti, but..." The Yeti cut Mya off and wrote one more word into the snow mound. "Oh! Just Yeti. My apologies, Yeti. I do appreciate the help, but I don't think you can remove this cage. Wilfre is stronger than he ever was, so I don't think anyone but those folks can remove it," she said, pointing towards the Wilfre-looking creatures.

Seemingly understanding what to do, the Yeti began walking towards the Shadow creatures, tapping one of the taller ones on the shoulder. However, instead of a civil conversation, Mya watched as the Shadow creature began to coat the Yeti in Shadow.

"No! Yeti!!" Now looking at another Wilfre-like creature, Mya backed into a corner of her cage. However, as she bumped into the cage, she let out a groan, feeling sick to her stomach. Hearing the noise, all the Shadow monsters snapped their heads towards her, slowly walking towards her. "No, no no no. Somebody help!" 

In the distance, a strange noise caught the attention of the Shadow monsters. Silently observing them, Mya watched as some of them exploded, leaving a strange looking being in their place.

"Oh Creator! I'm saved, I think." The being appeared as a jumbled mess of bones and nerves, all with the style of a young child's drawing. The being drew near and began punching the cage. Mya watched as the cage began to shatter, and eventually, she was free. "Thank you so much, I was so scared!" 

"I found Cindi, ma'am,," the being said, seemingly beaming its thoughts directly into Mya's head.

"What?! You rescued my daughter? Praise the Creator!!" Mya began running towards the mountain's exit, desperate to reunite with her husband and daughter, but still mourning the death of their brief friend, Yeti.

Chapter Text

"You couldn't find anyone?" Mari asked through tears as the Hero had returned from Mt. Snowy for the fifth time. "No... I know he's out there! Creator! Please tell me exactly where my father is!" Mari looked towards the sky, anticipating a response, only to be met with a short quip.

"I apologize." From behind, Jowee and Cindi huddled around Mari, guiding her towards her home. When the four beings arrived at her house, Mari let the Raposa enter before her. Before going into her house, she turned around to face the Hero.

"I'm sorry. If you can't help us, I guess it's all over..." With that, Mari shut the door in the Hero's face. Inside her home, Jowee and Cindi sat at a table while Mari meandered over to her bed. "Well... we lose..."

"Hey now! Don't have that kind of attitude!" Jowee exclaimed. "We can still find your dad and Cindi's folks. All we have to do is go through that gate ourselves!"

"And risk being turned into Shadows? No thanks." Mari fell over, laying face down on her bed, letting out a muffled scream. Despite being muffled, the scream still managed to scare Cindi, who ran out of the house.

"I'll be right back," Jowee sighed, running after Cindi. "And for what it's worth, I always believed you." Closing the door behind him, Jowee began searching for Cindi once more, only to find her sheltered behind two Shadow Walkers. "Hey!! You get away from her!!"

"sgheggshgrag ugsers duagjtghegsr!!!" one of the Walkers yelled, swiping at Jowee and letting some Shadow land on his arm.

"Mari?! I need help out here!!" Back inside, Mari jolted up from her bed and swung her door open just in time to see an army of Shadow Walkers swarm the area from all sides. Standing immediately in front of her was Jowee, Cindi, and the two Shadow Walkers.

"Get away from them!" Mari yelled, inserting herself between the Shadows and Jowee. 

"Mari?" Jowee quietly asked. Mari turned around just in time to watch as the Shadow on Jowee's arm had creeped up his entire body, almost entirely encasing him in Shadow. "I'm sorry..." As Jowee became a Shadow Walker, Mari began to back up, still trying to save Cindi. However, as she scanned the area, she found that Cindi had been replaced with a shorter Shadow Walker of her own.

"No... Creator... please..." Mari turned towards Creation Hall, thinking of making a run for it, only to watch the Creator re-seal the building. Before she could plead with the Creator any more, she was grabbed from behind. Without making a sound, Mari closed her eyes and fell limp, awaiting the fate that had presented itself to her. 

"mgarhrai... igats okagty ngow. We'gre all here." As she understood more and more of the Shadow Walker's speech, she turned to face a Shadow Walker that used to be her father. 

"Dad? What happened?"

"We're better now! Wilfre saved us from the Creator!"

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meanwhile

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"I'm sorry. I'm afraid he didn't make it."

"I'm the only one? I... they're all... it's just me left?" Heather Row sat next to her now deceased brother, her face still heavily bandaged. "Can... can I have a minute?"

"Of course. Take as much time as you need. I'll be in the hallway if you need me." Dr. Curie closed the door behind her as she left Heather to mourn the loss of her entire family.

"Mike... oh god Mike..." As words began to fail her, Heather's tears fell faster and faster, and her sobs echoed louder and louder through the halls of the hospital.

Chapter Text

The Book of Imagination hovered in the air where Kone's Mansion once stood. Watching the Book devour the land was Kone himself, mourning the loss of his home, Bobby Tweeth, who had come by to visit his friend, and the Hero, who had just lost the Book of Imagination to Aldark's forces.

"Now, now, Hero! Don't be too scared for this world. I promise to take good care of it once you and the Raposa are purged from it for good!" Aldark laughed as Shadow creatures began attacking the village, pouring out of the Book of Imagination. However, a Raposa suddenly appeared from the Book, appearing between Aldark and the Hero. "Ooh, this will be fun. I'll leave you four alone for now. See you on the other side!"

Aldark vanished as the Raposa stood up straight, a coat of Shadow covering their entire body, save for a ruby-colored earring on their right ear. 

"You're lucky he summoned me to fight you three," she said, holding her hands into the air. "Get close to me!" Kone, Bobby, and the Hero all ran close to her as she began to create a protective bubble around Kone's former mansion.

"Who are you? And who was that? What's going on here?" Kone asked, clearly unable to even begin processing everything that had just happened.

"My name is Circi, that was Aldark, and your realm is under attack."

"Under attack?" Bobby Tweeth shouted. "This doesn't have anything to do with that Row kid and these Shadow things a few years back, does it?"

"All of this hinges on the Row kid, actually," Circi responded, sealing the bubble off at the ground, preventing any Shadow beings from getting close to the group. "Now, before the Hero and I start cleaning up Aldark's mess, is there anything I can help you two with?"

"...my house..." Kone muttered, refusing to process the danger he was in, instead focusing on the hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages before him.

"Do you think there's anything you can do about this?" Bobby asked Circi. Thinking for a moment, Circi looked over to the Hero.

"Only if they can help me." The Hero nodded, and the two of them ran up to the former front door. "Can you do anything cool with your color?" Circi asked the Hero. They looked down at their arms and shrugged. "Alright, I'll see what I can do. You can take five hits, right?" Without waiting for an answer, Circi shot some Shadow at the Hero, stealing the color from their arms for herself.

"Woah! I though you weren't going to hurt us!" Bobby shouted from the sidelines, still consoling Kone.

"Don't worry about me, arcade guy. I know what I'm doing." Circi began creating beams of combined Shadow and color, using their abilities to move the rubble back into its original position with its original foundation and supports. After a few minutes of working, and one more attack on the Hero to replenish her color, Circi took a step back to observe Kone's Mansion, restored to its former glory, albeit with some Shadow and color oozing out from small cracks. "How's that look, rockstar?" she asked Kone.

"It's... it's... beautiful! So much better than I ever could've imagined!" Kone immediately ran inside, leaving Circi, the Hero, and Bobby alone. 

"You need to go inside with him and keep him inside. The Hero and I are going out to fight, so if anyone else comes knocking, let them in until we come back to let y'all out, agreed?"

"Agreed," Bobby said, running inside the reconstructed mansion.

"Alright, Hero. Let's go beat Aldark's ass and take back the Shadow for ourselves!"

Chapter Text

The Shadow Fountain sat in the center of the hallway, watching as the countless Ameba, Baki, and Fireflies came by. The Hall of Darkness had been recently renovated, with color finally drained from its walls. Tasking itself with figuring out where it all went, the last Shadow Fountain picked itself up and began to walk.

"Hey babe?" a voice called out. Circi had been standing in the hallway, watching the Shadow Fountain plant itself back down. "Babe!" A portal opened up next to Circi, and out stepped Wilfre, Mari, and a traumatized Jowee.

"What is it Circi? I'm in the middle of... telling... Is that a Fountain?" Wilfre asked, finally noticing the pure-Shadow Fountain.

"I'm pretty sure it is." Not having ears to hear the Raposa, the Shadow Fountain picked itself up once more and took a few more steps.

"I thought you said all the Shadow was gone?" Mari asked, also watching the Fountain. "That was the whole reason for the Ameba army, wasn't it?"

"It sure was," Wilfre responded.

"Also, aren't you supposed to be dead?" Mari asked Circi.

"Yeah, but so is he," she responded, pointing to Wilfre.

"You know, fair point." The three Raposa continued to watch the Shadow Fountain pick itself up and plant itself down a few more times before Jowee finally spoke up.

"It's all his dream. Every single thing in our lives was his dream, and this is how we're spending our last moments? Watching a fucking sentient fountain walk across this fucking hallway!?"

"Glad you could keep up," Circi mocked, reaching her fist out to Wilfre, who fistbumped her. Eventually, the Fountain made its way into Wilfre's arena, so the four Raposa followed it through.

"This is a really good use of our time, guys," Mari said, seemingly annoyed but just as focused on the Fountain as the rest of them. 

"I just want to see where it ends up," Circi said as the Fountain made its way to the edge of the room.

"Should I absorb it?" Wilfre asked sincerely.

"Nah, keep it around," Circi said, walking over to the Fountain and petting it, causing it to spit balls of Shadow onto the ground around it. "It's friendly!"

"We're all gonna stop existing and I'm stuck here at the end of my life with a Shadow Fountain." Suddenly, the building's color was restored, and Wilfre looked at his wrist.

"Okay well, that's my cue. I gotta get these two back to the plaza. Figure out what you wanna name that thing and I'll go make it a collar or something later. Love you Circi," Wilfre said, opening a portal to the front room.

"Love you too snookums." Wilfre, Jowee, and Mari stepped through the portal as Circi picked up the Shadow Fountain, petting it and walking it back to the hallway. "What's the best name for a Shadow Fountain?" she thought to herself, looking up at the stained-glass windows. "Of course! Windex."

Chapter Text

The King and Queen sat dormant in a massive hole underneath Treetop Turrets, and in the rubble, Wilfre appeared.

"I can't believe that imbecile couldn't knock us out of the sky!" Wilfre has just revealed himself to the crew of Turtle Rock and had left the group stranded at sea. "And all my work in this village is undone, to make it worse." He dug through the rubble, hoping to find the two power cores he had added into the machines, eventually finding the one labelled "King". 

"Hey. Looking for this?" a voice called out to Wilfre. He jolted up to see a familiar looking Raposa standing in front of him and holding an identical power core. In the Raposa's other hand was a strange green book.

"You- You're alive?" Wilfre said, running over to the Raposa, who was now activating the book.

"No thanks to you, Will. Now sleep." Suddenly, Wilfre fell to the ground, unconscious. The other Raposa also fell unconscious and the book clattered to the ground. 

Inside Wilfre's head, the other Raposa appeared, where four Raposa Dreamers appeared in cages above him.

"There you all are!" he shouted, looking up at the Dreamers resembling Sock, Salem, Wilfre, and Heather. "Can't say I remember you being a little girl, but whatever floats your boat brother." Wilfre's brother jumped into the air, landing on Salem's cage. "Now, what's your name?"

"Unhand me, especially if you don't even know me! How could you get here without knowing the reputation of the greatest opera singer of all time?"

"Alright then," Wilfre's brother laughed, jumping over to Sock. "You're the decoy, aren't you? The double agent that became Jowee's right hand man?"

"That's right, and don't even try to get anything out of me. I'll sic the Hero on you!"

"Even when your charade is over, you can't help but default to worshiping the fraud. How interesting!" Wilfre's brother jumped onto Heather's cage and shook it around. "Now, tell me who you are."

"H... Heather. I'm Mike's sister..." Wilfre's brother, now shocked, jumped down and dangled off the cage, now at Heather's eye level.

"You know the truth? How?"

"Because he does. I do too now," Heather said, pointing at Wilfre in his cage, stuck in his Shadowless form in his own mind.

"I see. I'll make sure you're safe Heather. Don't worry about a thing," Wilfre's brother said, jumping over to Wilfre's cage. "Why?"

"Why, what?"

"Why are you going through all this? What's the point?"

"If Mike wakes up, we all die." Wilfre's brother sighed. 

"How do you know?"

"Because I just do, Dion! The Creator wants him awake, and this world only exists in his head!" Dion listened to Wilfre's ramblings and jumped back over to Salem's cage. "Where are you going?"

"I'm making sure you don't get your happy ending." Salem's cage slowly began to open, and Dion brandished the Queen's power core.

"What's your plan here?" Salem asked, looking at the power core glowing.

"You're going to die, Salem."

"You do know my name!" Salem cheered as Dion aimed the power core at Salem's head. "And I supposed this is the end of my reputation, then?"

"You're smarter than I gave you credit for. Now, see you." Dion let the power core go off, but before the blast could decimate Salem, a red energy ball deflected the blast and knocked the power core out of Dion's hands. "What!?" Dion shouted, looking down to see a Shadow being standing on the ground below the cages.

"Dion! Don't think you can mess around with my thrall that easily!" Aldark shouted, firing another ball of energy at him. Dion jumped down to the ground, picking up the power core once again and firing it at Aldark.

"Do you know how much planning went into this?" Dion shouted as Aldark dodged the blast. "I won't let you stop me!" Silently, Aldark aimed his key at Dion and twisted it, locking the Raposa in place.

"You're in my realm, Dion. You have no more power here." Dion, now unable to move, watched as Aldark fired another energy ball towards him.

Suddenly, Wilfre woke up underneath Treetop Turrets, first noticing the strange book still near Dion's body. Flipping it to its cover, he noted the inscription - "Imagination". Before he could do anything else with the book however, his phone buzzed.

"They're here." From Mari.

"How could they have made it to the Wasteland?" Wilfre shouted to himself. "Oh damn... the cap..." Silently, Wilfre composed himself, dropped the book back near his brother's body, and portaled back to his base of operations. "Now, let's deal with these troublemakers."

Chapter Text

Deep in Sun Burn Bay, an Angry Sun floated above the docks, watching as the Baki and Fleas went about their lives, not a care in the world. Below, two Raposa walked by, each in a brown hood.

"Shall we?"

"We shall."

Holding out a blue book, the first Raposa pulled down their hood, revealing a tan-furred Raposa. He began to read out of the book, pointing at the Angry Sun in the sky.

"Vivere et scire quid es! Vivere et scire quid es!" The second Raposa pulled down their hood, revealing a rust-furred Raposa. She grabbed onto the first Raposa's shoulders and continued the chant.

"Vivere et scire quid es! Vivere et scire quid es!" Suddenly, a beam shot out of the book and pierced the Angry Sun's head. The Sun's eyes shot open, now glowing a bright blue. As the beam faded, so did the Sun, slowly falling to the ground.

"Oh... my head..." the Sun said, now resting on the ground near the waters. "What happened?"

"You're alive," the rust-furred Raposa responded. "Alive and knowing."

"What does that even mean?" the Sun asked. "I was already alive."

"You don't need to understand," the tan-furred Raposa responded. "Just know that our work wasn't in vain. You're the first of many to be elevated to the Raposa level. Welcome to the new world." Turning around, the tan-furred Raposa pulled up their hood and began to leave. The rust-furred Raposa followed shortly behind him, leaving the Sun alone. However, as the rust-furred Raposa pulled up their hood, a small piece of paper fell to the ground. The Sun hovered over to the paper and inspected it, reading the hand-written message on the page.

"Don't forget to come home. Lavasteam needs us."

"Lavasteam?" the Sun said to themself. "Where have I heard that before?" The Sun looked around the Bay, seeing the Drip Drop Docks across the way and eventually coming face-to-face with the Lavasteam Quarter in Wilfre's Wasteland. "Oh! Lavasteam!" the Sun exclaimed, now looking into the sea, seeing an orange dot on the horizon. "Here we go."

Climbing off of a ship at Lavasteam's dock, two hooded Raposa  walked towards a house deep in the village. Tailing behind them was a small, Grey Baki, simply looking for some food. As the two Raposa entered their home, the Baki slipped in behind them.

"Brrriiip?" the Baki chirped, getting the Raposas attention.

"Oh, hello!" the rust-furred Raposa said, kneeling down to pet the Baki. "How did you get in here?"

"Should we try again?" the tan-furred Raposa asked, opening the blue book once more.

"Why not? We could use a friend." Standing back up, the two Raposa started their chant once more.

"Brriipp?" The beam shot into the Baki's head and the Baki's eyes began to glow, and just as soon as before, the beam faded.

"Brip... Brip... Baaaaki. Baaaaaakiiii. Me. You," the Baki mumbled to itself as its sentience began to match that of the Raposa. "Well, can I have some food now?" the Baki asked, looking around the room.

"Food? Sure, I guess," the tan-furred Raposa sighed, looking for a small snack for the Baki. "You don't have any opinions on what just happened? You just want food?"

"I just want food," the Baki responded. The tan-furred Raposa returned, giving the Baki a slice of Banya Pie. "Ooh, is this Ellen's recipe? This stuff is good!"

"Alright, eat up and get out of here," the tan-furred Raposa said, waving off the Baki and pulling the rust-furred Raposa to him. As the Baki left the house, it looked up into the sky, seeing the Sun arriving on the land.

"Woah! What's going on here?" the Baki asked.

"I'm looking for two Raposa. I presume they got to you too?"

"You bet. Why'd you follow them here?"

"Revenge! They want to do what they did to us to everything they can! We can't let that happen? Things are this way for a reason, and they can't just-"

"Buddy! Buddy, calm down!" the Baki shouted, cutting the Sun off. "I get why you're upset, but have you thought about this at all? Let's cool it for a bit. Did you give yourself a name yet?" The Sun thought for a bit.

"Sola."

"Oh, for sun, right?"

"Kind of," Sola confirmed. "Do you have a name?"

"You know, it's simple, but I like 'Brip'. It has a nice ring to it."

"Well Brip, I apologize, but I have work to do here," Sola said, shooting a bolt towards Brip, setting them on fire.

"Shit!" Brip shouted, now running around the area, setting small plants and some houses on fire. "You son of a bitch!"

"If the Raposa want me on their level, then that's what I'll stoop to!" Sola shouted into the village, shooting more bolts into the village. The two Raposa, hearing the chaos, ran out of their home to see Sola and Brip slowly destroying their neighborhood. 

"Oh Creator. Dion, check the book. Is there anything in the book to stop this?"

"No! Why would there be?" Dion shouted, flipping through the book and turning to face the rust-furred Raposa.

"You two!" Sola called out, shooting a bolt in front of Dion and his partner. "Either leave this place or die." Immediately, Dion ran away, dropping the blue book on the ground in front of him. The rust-furred Raposa stood in shock, completely unaware that Brip was running directly at her.

"Eos! Leave the book and run!" Eos looked down to see the book get struck by Sola's bolts and burst into flames. She immediatley rushed down to salvage as much of the book as possible, giving Brip plenty of time to collide with her and set her ablaze.

"Aaauuggghhhhh!" Eos screamed in pain, satisfying Sola, who turned their sights towards Lavasteam's castle. "Dion! Help me!" she shouted. Dion ran towards Eos, picking her up and carrying her into the river running by their home. As the two of them dropped into the water, Brip ran in after them, dousing its flames as well.

"We need to get out of here," Dion panted.

"Can I come with?" Brip asked, looking up to the Raposa.

"Of course you can," Eos said through pained breaths. "But only if you can go get the remains of that book." Brip nodded and walked over to the charred remains of the blue book, picking them up and walking them back to Dion and Eos.

"It's in rough shape but it should still work for whatever y'all plan on doing."

"That's all we need. This was one bad person out of the entire population of Raporia. We can't stop here," Dion said determinately. "We will bring everyone to this level."

Chapter Text

Farmer Brown was suddenly woken up by someone knocking on his door. As he slowly waddled his way to the door, the pounding got louder, and a shout echoed from the other side.

"Mr. Brown! Please!"

"I'm comin'! I'm comin'!" Farmer Brown called out, quieting the knocking. He swung the door open to see a panicked Galileo standing in front of him. "Now, what's all the ruckus? Yah almost woke Banny and Tilly!"

"So sorry, but the moon is under attack!" Farmer Brown gave Galileo half a chuckle before noticing the genuine fear on Galileo's face.

"Ya need me? Not Mayor Mari, not the Creator? Me?"

"Yes! Come quickly!" Galileo responded, running towards the Forest Gate.

"Oh Creator help me. Galileo went off the deep end," Brown mumbled to himself, grabbing a coat and reluctantly following Galileo. As he walked over to the Forest Gate, Brown looked up at the moon, only to see a massive Shadow monster on its surface, slamming its fists into the ground.

"Hurry up! We don't have time to waste!" Galileo called out.

"Ya don't need me, ya need the Hero!" Farmer Brown yelled, still watching the monster on the moon. 

"The Hero can't help us right now!" Galileo said, slightly annoyed as he prepped a rocket for Farmer Brown. "Only you." Farmer Brown looked ahead and sighed, putting his trust in Galileo.

"Creator, please let me live this and please don't let Tilly find out about this," he prayed as he boarded the rocket. "Ya got any weapons for me ta fight this thing?" 

"You'll be fine without one. I promise," Galileo said as the rocket's door shut and its engine started. As it propelled itself into the sky and towards the moon, Galileo turned towards Farmer Brown's house and seemed to glitch. As the moonlight hit his eyes, they glimmered a brilliant pink, and he suddenly morphed into Farmer Brown's appearance. "Now, I need ta get some sleep tanight. No tellin' what tomorrow brings." 

Meanwhile, in the Moon Grove, the massive Shadow monster watched as Farmer Brown's rocket landed in front of it and the door opened. Farmer Brown slowly peeked his head out of the door.

The monster, though it appeared to be made of Shadow, was made of a scribble-like substance. It had two large, white eyes, still locked onto the rocket, and two massive arms. It seemed to be rooted in a large moon tree nearby, as a massive puddle of scribble was surrounding said tree.

"C'mon Creator, help me out here. I need sumthin' to fight this thing!" Just as Farmer Brown finished his prayer, the giant monster picked up the rocket and began inspecting it. "This is not what I meant!" Farmer Brown shouted as the scribble monster looked at the top of the rocket. Suddenly, the rocket's engine fired on, launching itself into the monster's face, right between its eyes. "Woah!"

The monster roared as the rocket landed behind it and Farmer Brown was tossed out of the ship and near the tree. The giant scribble monster turned around to grab the rocket, picking it up and throwing it as far as it could.

Now on the ground and feeling the pain of impact, Farmer Brown crawled closer to the tree, out of the monster's view. As he caught his breath, he noticed a small piece of paper floating just above the ground at the tree's base. Upon closer inspection, he also noticed black sap dripping off the tree and onto the floating page.

"Well now, is this really all ya are, ya big monster?" Farmer Brown said, picking up the piece of paper. "Well if that's the case," he said, taking out a pencil from his coat pocket and turning the eraser towards the paper. As he began to erase the sap from the page, the monster shrunk, roaring in pain. "Sorry bud, but Galileo needs me ta do this," he said, continuing to erase the monster until it was shorter than the tree it inhabited.

As the monster continued to shrink, it began to match the tree's form, crying out in pain. Farmer Brown, unable to take the screams anymore, stopped erasing and turned to face the monster. 

"Creator, do I have ta do this? Or is there another way to help this thing? It ain't really Shadow, right?" Suddenly, a voice boomed from the sky.

"Correct. There is another way."

"That's what I needed ta hear! Thank ya Creator," he said, putting his pencil away and folding up the paper. "Well, I ain't gonna kill you, but I am gonna ask ya ta cool it a bit. I'm gonna keep this paper on me, and if I see ya actin' up again, yer outta here. Sound good?"

The scribble monster nodded, retreating into the tree's branches, and Farmer Brown began to walk away, only now noticing that the rocket had been thrown away.

"Uh, Creator? Got anythin' else for me here?" Suddenly, a pink and black being glitched in front of him.

"You need to get back home dude. I can't do this anymore. I am not cut out for kids."

"What? Who are ya? How'd you-" Farmer Brown was cut off as GenericChallenge held him tight and teleported back to the Banya Farm, where Banny had woken up and wandered outside. 

"You're back!" he shouted as GenericChallenge and his father appeared in front of him.

"No I'm not! You get your dad now. See ya!" he quickly said, running away towards the wishing well in town. Farmer Brown watched as he jumped into the well.

"Daddy! Did ya see that? That weird rapo was hangin' out with me!" Farmer Brown looked up towards the moon once again and felt the piece of paper in his pocket.

"I saw Banny. Now let's getcha back ta bed."

Chapter Text

Mike and Heather got off their plane and began walking through the airport, scanning the baggage claim for their bags.

"Talk about a rocky flight," Heather said, noticing the scratches on the bottom of her backpack. "Did you feel all that turbulence?"

"Nah, I was asleep that whole time," Mike said, still rubbing his eyes as he woke up.

"How were your Raposa friends?" Heather asked as her suitcase came around the belt.

"Didn't see 'em this time. No dreams at all," he responded as his duffel bag made its way around the belt. However, when Mike picked it up, he noticed a massive hole in the top of it. "Guess you weren't kidding about that turbulence, huh."

"Did you lose anything?" Heather asked, walking over to look at the hole in the bag. "I'll go grab an employee."

"No, don't bother," Mike said, stopping her from leaving. "I don't see anything missing. Oh, hey, can you grab my suitcase?" he said, pointing over to where Heather had stopped and his suitcase had appeared.

"Alright. If you're sure you're good, I guess we can get going." The two of them, now with all their luggage, left the airport and hailed a taxi to take them to their hotel. However, inside Mike's duffel bag, a small piece of paper began to glow.

Inside the plane's baggage compartment, another page began to glow a bright purple, though it was quickly stabbed by a golden spear and plastered onto an iron mask.

"Eek eek eka ak. Aka ooka eek ki. (I must get back home. I'll find that second page no matter what.)"

As Mike and Heather arrived at their hotel, Mike dropped his duffel bag onto the chair across from his bed and threw himself under the covers.

"You're going to sleep already?" Heather asked as Mike closed his eyes. "It's only 6:48!"

"Yeah, back home. I'm getting ahead of the curve and going to sleep now, at 9:48."

"Whatever suits you. if you need me, call me. I'm heading down to check out the hotel."

"Sounds good. Love you."

"Love you too. Night!" Heather closed the door behind her as Mike switched off the lights and tried to ignore the sun setting on the horizon. However, in doing so, he also ignored the purple glow coming from his duffel bag and Heather returning to the room with room service.

"Mike, I brought some stuff up!" she shouted. "He's not actually asleep," she told the housekeeper. "Just throw those towels on him."

"I'll put them on the chair, just in case," he responded, walking over to the glowing duffel bag. "Oh, Ms. Row, something's on in this bag," he said, placing the towels on the floor and looking into the hole in Mike's bag. However, before either Row could respond, the attendant was sucked into the purple portal.

"Mike! Mike get up!" Heather shouted, running to close their room's door. "What's in your bag?!"

"What? What do you mean?" he asked, getting out of bed and walking towards his duffel bag, which was still glowing. However, before either of them could discover the portal, their door was kicked down by a Masked Bonobo.

"Aka! Ook iki eek! (You! Back away from that!)" the Bonobo shouted as the page on their mask continued to glow. Mike and Heather both stepped out of the way, not knowing what had broken into their room or their realm.

As the Bonobo walked towards the duffel bag, their gold spear pointed ahead of them, the portal on both pages grew stronger. The Bonobo, once close enough, plunged their spear into the duffel bag, and the glow on both pages nearly tripled in intensity.

"Shit!" Heather shouted as the portals began inhaling the smaller items in the room. The Bonobo continued to step closer until their spear was ripped from their hand and entered the portal.

"AKA OOK EEK EEK! (I APOLOGIZE FOR THE MESS!)" they shouted as the portal's intensity grew. "IKI IKI AKA OOK! (I MUST BE OFF NOW!)" With that, the Bonobo jumped into the duffel bag's portal, and the combination of pages swallowed each other up, transporting the Bonobo and both pages back to their home realm.

With the normal light returning to the room, Mike and Heather began checking to see what all they had lost to the portals. Mike's duffel bag was now empty, and the pamphlets on the TV stand were all missing. The tag on both suitcases were gone, and a hotel pillow was also stripped away. However, in Heather's mind, the most important, and unexplainable loss, was the helpful housekeeper that was now lost to the pages of the Book of Imagination.

Chapter Text

Kaihe was free. No more rules to obey, no more S.P.U.D. agents to fear, no more Queen patrolling the skies. Kaihe was free.

Unagi was not. The Cosmic Bog was still bubbling underneath Unagi's only escape, his phone had just died, and he had a sneaking suspicion that the only way out was down. Unagi was stuck.

Celebrating his newfound freedom, Kaihe began exploring the formerly restricted areas of the Jungle, starting with the Treetop Turrets's Floor. As he wondered around the space, he noticed a strange individual laying on the ground near an explosion of robotics. Resting in front of them was a strange book with the word "Imagination" etched on its cover.

Unagi looked around his enclosure seeing a few crates and a single plant covered in glass. Knowing that he was his own last hope, Unagi picked up one of the crates and chucked it into the plant, shattering the glass and dropping a single RapoCoin. He jumped over the gap in the floor to make it to the plant, and he started uprooting the plant and tying it's many stands together to create a rope.

With the Book of Imagination in tow, Kaihe ran back into the main village, looking to show the book off to someone. However, it seemed that everyone had gone home for the day, leaving Kaihe alone in front of the screen. With no better place to be, Kaihe decided to explore his favorite Jungle Habitation Dome, JHD1.

Unagi, now dangling above a pool of acid, let of his rope and landed right on a floating platform. However, as he regained his balance, the platform began shooting into the sky. 3... Unagi looked down to see more floating platforms around him. 2... He also saw Moon Baki making their way towards the platforms. 1... Unagi hesitated, but jumped. 0... The platform exploded just behind Unagi, launching him past the acid, but knocking him out.

Kaihe easily made his way through the Dome, bouncing between platforms, boost rings, and lily pads. After calling upon the Creator for a bit of help with a massive gap, Kaihe came across his favorite part of the Dome, a platform jump. Under Click's rules, Kaihe wasn't technically allowed inside the Dome, but had gone in anyways, eventually mastering the obstacle course that was the Cosmic Bog.

On the other side of the platforms, Kaihe noticed another strange looking Raposa unconscious on the floor.

"Are you okay, rapo?" No response. Remembering the other Raposa he met, Kaihe decided to place the book he had found next to Unagi's body. However, as Kaihe let go of the book, it flipped open, and Kaihe fell to the ground.

Inside Unagi's mind, Kaihe noticed nothing but stacks and stacks of Boom Baki surrounding Dreamers, signs, and crates. Taking a single step forward, all of the Boom Baki were activated, counting down from 10 aloud. Kaihe, knowing that an explosion was imminent, began running forward, trying to find any way out of where ever he had gone, but simply could not.

As the Boom Baki finished their countdown, they all exploded at once, knocking the Dreamers out cold, setting fire to the signs, and blowing up the crates. Kaihe was launched across the room and bounced into the sky, landing on a single bouncy platform on a ledge.

"How did you get here?" a voice asked Kaihe. Looking up, the unconscious Raposa was standing above him. Unagi asked again. "How did you get up here?"

"The explosions brought me up."

"That was you? You should be dead. I should be dead." Unagi looked around at the rubble of his imagination, scanning the creates for anything he could use to open the massive gate in front of him. "You know any way out of here?"

"Not sure," Kaihe responded, getting off the Bounce and walking over to the gate, noticing a gem-like indent on its surface. "A gem maybe?"

"A red one?"

"Sure." Unagi jumped down to one of the broken crates, digging through the ashes to find a single red gem. Bringing it back up to the ledge, Unagi shoved it into the gate, which opened and let the two men enter a glowing white doorway.

Suddenly, Kaihe and Unagi woke up in Galactic Jungle's courtyard, just underneath the screen. Standing in front of them was Jowee and the Hero.

"Are you two okay?" Jowee asked as Kaihe and Unagi rubbed their heads. "We found you guys passed out in that jungle over there.

"I think so," Unagi responded, looking over to Kaihe, who was now looking around the four of them.

"You didn't happen to find a book with us, did you?" Jowee and the Hero shook their heads.

"No, sorry. What kind of book was it?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter. Probably better off without it. Thank you two." Kaihe, leaving the Rapoville residents alone, quickly walked back to the Treetop Turrets, hoping to find the book where he left it, though this time there was no passed out Raposa or an explosion - the floor had been cleared.

Chapter Text

Pirate Beard jumped off the Bane of Kings, with bags on treasure draped along his back and the backs of his crew.

"Aye men! This be the end of our journeys for the year." His crew cheered, all running of the ship and towards their house in Rapoville. Before leaving for his house in the village, Pirate Beard boarded his ship once more, checking all the rooms and compartments for stowaways, only finding Crazy Barks.

"Crazybarksliveonpirateship!"

"Crazy Barks lives on rock in the village and needs to get off the ship!" Pirate Beard laughed, chasing Crazy Barks out of the ship with his share of treasure. Finally done with his ship for the time being, Pirate Beard quickly ran over to the Village Lighthouse.

Entering the tower, Pirate Beard shut the door behind him and began climbing up to the top of the tower, where the Creator's light guided ships into the docks at night. At the top of the Lighthouse, Pirate Beard looked down on the village, watching the Raposa scurry around like ants.

"Aye, it's a nice village." Still lugging his treasure on his back, Pirate Beard walked up to a wall in the room, opening a hatch and pulling up a ladder. Lowering himself into the hidden room, he threw his treasure into a pile with other bags of treasure that he had accumulated since docking in Rapoville.

"Ow!" a voice yelled from the treasure pile. In the blink of an eye, Pirate Beard pulled out his pistol and aimed it at the treasure.

"Who be in here with me booty? Come out slow if ye want to live." Slowly, the treasure pile shifted around until an odd looking girl stood up with her hands in the air.

"I'm sorry, I haven't taken anything, I won't tell anyone you live here, I swear."

"I don't live here lass. I just save me hoard here." Pirate Beard studied the person in his pile, recognizing them to be a human, but not one he had seen before. "What's yer name lass?"

"Heather, sir."

"Familiar. Do ye know a boy named Mike?"

"He's my younger brother. I'm sorry, sir, I'll leave, I promise." Pirate Beard sheathed his gun.

"Calm down lass, I won't hurt ye. What're ye doin' up here?" Heather sighed, dropping her hands and sitting back down on the floor.

"I just needed an escape. I didn't think anyone did anything in the Lighthouse, so I found this bunker and made it my home here." Pirate Beard nodded along, listening to her story. "I just haven't felt at ease the entire time I've been here. I came here looking for someone but I don't think I'm cut out for this kind of work!"

"Who you be looking for?"

"Someone I don't know that well. They were stolen from my realm and brought here, but that's all I know. I barely remember what they look like at this point!" Pirate Beard thought back to his travels over the year, eventually remembering one other human he had seen.

"It's a long shot, but I think I may know who yer lookin' for, lass. Tall fella, lanky? Brown hair?"

"I think so, that sounds about right."

"Come with me," he said, standing up and leaving his treasure room with Heather. The two of them exited the lighthouse and made their way into Rapoville proper, eventually stopping in front of a large house where the crew all lived. Pirate Beard walked inside, bringing Heather with him, and made his way to a door labelled "Chuck". He knocked.

"Yeah?"

"Come to the door furbag!" Pirate Beard shouted, and the room shook. The sound of falling, running, and fumbling with the door all rang out until the door opened.

"Howdy, cap! What can I do... You!" Chuck shouted, looking over at Heather. "You and your damn duffel bag! What are you doing here?"

"It is you! We need to get you back to the hotel! They're probably worried sick about you!"

"Fat chance! I don't know what you and your brother did to me, but this place is so much better than New York! Beard treats me so much better than The Plaza ever did. Plus I get paid my weight in treasure. Who would ever want to leave here?"

"Mike certainly didn't... You might be right Chuck."

"Don't call me Chuck. You don't get to call me Chuck." Heather was shocked.

"Why not? It's your name isn't it?" The Room Attendant, now Pirate Crew, and certainly not Chuck, laughed.

"Didn't you read my name tag when you called me up to your room?" Heather looked away in embarrassment - she hadn't. 

"Alright, the two of ye got yer anger out, and it seems ye don't want nothin' to do with each other. How about we go our separate ways? Enjoy yer winter Chuck."

"Aye aye Cap'n." The Attendant gave one more dirty look towards Heather and shut the door, with Pirate Beard bringing Heather back outside. 

"Why don't you head on back to the Lighthouse lass?" Heather sighed.

"Actually, I think I'll be heading back home. Not-Chuck was the only reason I came here, and I'm sure Mike needs me back home." 

"Well then, I'll see ye off. Where should I sail ye to?" Heather chuckled.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I have my own way out of here," she responded, pulling out a tiny piece of a page of the Book of Imagination. "It was nice to meet you Pirate Beard."

"You too lass." With that, Heather vanished into the small scrap of paper, and Pirate Beard returned to his shack in the Lighthouse. "That was that weird Shadow lass that Jowee lived with, wasn't it... I'll need to look into that lass some more..."

Chapter Text

It came time for the Hero's Festival once more, and a Raposa family gathered around their campfire. This year, they decided to spend their holidays on Mardin Island, just off the coast of the village of Brookwillow. The matriarch of the family joined the campfire with a book in hand.

"Is it time?" her youngest child, a son, asked, sparkles in his eye.

"It is, honey. We have to read fast though, it's almost midnight -  Zero Verbard will be here soon!" The Rapoboy squealed with excitement as his mother opened the book. However, before she could begin reading, her eldest child, a daughter, spoke up.

"Mom, would you mind if I read the Ghoultale this year?" Her mother thought and looked over to her father.

"What do you think Izak?"

"I think that's a great idea!" The mother handed the book to her daughter and looked into the campfire, its warmth hugging her tightly. 

"Thanks Mom and Dad. I love you."

"I love you too Sasha." Sasha smiled and looked down at the book in her hands, taking a deep breath and reading the words from the page.

"Twas the fest of the Hero, as the parties died down;
Raposa tucked in, and was nary a frown;
The vases stacked up by the porches with care,
In hopes that Zeroverbard soon would be there;

The Sheepdogs were lined by his vessel with glee,
For tonight was the night they would go on their spree;
With Zero in baldric, and the Hero in noggin,
He boarded his ship with the gifts in his cabin;

Though just as he sat, a siren went off!
A Shadow had broken into their loft!
Knowing that fighting was surely the way,
Verbard drew his sword and was up and away;

Right by his docks was a devilish ghoul;
It's eyes sharp as daggers, its body like drool;
Verbard saw the monster and called it to him;
Hero's day they were fighting, he knew he could win;

The ghoul sprung to action, the fight was now on!
Verbard and the Shadow both beaming with brawn!
The sword pierced the monster, though nothing it drew,
He stopped, knowing now what he needed to do;

'Now, Barky! now, Nagi! now Choco and Indy!
On, Rocky! on, Baaky! on, Mykul and Sindy!
To the face of the beast! to the Shadow so tall!
Now gnaw away! tear away! shred away all!'

The Sheepdogs were off, their teeth gnashed with malice;
They valiantly fought off the ghoul and its callous;
Though the ghoul was now gone and the ship safe to sail,
Verbard surely thought there was more to this tale;

The Sheepdogs grew anxious as he chased the ghoul,
Though returned to the ship, thinking he was a fool;
Verbard sheathed his sword, he at last found his prey,
But the Shadow was crying, hunched over in hay;

'What's wrong, scary monster?' Verbard asked the beast;
'What brings you to cry when you know you've been beat?'
'You don't understand,' the Shadow rebuffed;
'Raposa don't get all this Shadowy stuff;'

'Try me!' he shouted, his laughter so vibrant;
'I promise that you can trust this here ol' pirate;'
The ghoul sighed and shifted, its face now in light;
It decided to talk, respecting Zer's might;

'I wanted to help you bring joy to the world!
I see what you do for the young boys and girls!
If only I sat next to you on your ships,
Then we could both bring all the love to the kits!'

Verbard stood and thought, thinking back to his start;
His ship was just lonely, twas missing a part!
Extending his hand, he shouted with glee,
'Come this way dear ghoul, you now work with me!'

The ghoul and the pirate soon boarded his vessel,
The Sheepdogs were off and their mission was simple;
Deliver the presents to kids and their vases,
Let all of the rapos show joy on their faces;

Verbard and the Ghoul now united as one,
Flew into the night with their ship on the run;
Verbard watching over and booming with might:
'Happy Festival to all, and to all a good night!'"

Sasha closed the book in her lap and looked up, seeing tears in her mother's eyes. 

"Oh Sasha, that was beautiful!" she cried, going over to hug her daughter. Izak followed his wife, starting a group hug. Sasha's brother also joined in as the tears flowed from their mother's eyes. "You're so grown up! I'm so proud of you!"

"Don't suffocate her Sami!" Izak laughed, breaking the group hug.

"That was so fun," Sasha said, handing the book back to Sami. "I've always wondered - is that a true story?"

"Who knows?" Izak responded. "There was a Zero Verbard, though his name was actually Pirate Beard."

"That's such a jump! How do you get from Pirate to Zero?"

"Words jump between languages over the years. The actual word meaning Pirate is Zeerover, so when the story spread throughout Raporia all those years ago, Zero Verbard is what stuck!"

"What about the ghoul and the Sheepdogs? Were they all real?" the son asked.

"Well, we know Sheepdogs are real. They're native to Watersong! Shadows though, no one knows for sure. According to the records we have, all Shadow was banished from Raporia approximately 1500 years ago."

"That's what the Hero's Festival celebrates!" Sami jumped in. "The Hero returned to banish the Shadow from Raporia, and we celebrate because of it. Now tell me, Illeo, do you believe in the Hero?"

Illeo thought hard about his answer.

"I don't not believe in the Hero. I just don't think that all the stories about it are true. A giant turtle and stolen color? Time and seasons disappearing? It doesn't make sense."

"Well, I believe in the Hero," Sasha said. "If all that stuff really did happen, then I'm glad someone was here to help us."

Izak and Sami smiled as the stars shone in the sky above them. Sasha and Illeo looked up to see the constellations dancing above them, and Sami continued the conversation.

"Humans though? Those I don't believe in. There's no way something like that could exist! It would freeze to death without all this fur!" The family laughed in agreement as midnight neared.

Sami and Izak lead their children to bed, and visions of Zer' Verbard danced in their heads. Though out in the sea as their eyes closed to sleep, Pirate Beard and the Ghoul drifted into the deep.

Chapter Text

Click entered the Council Room after narrowly avoiding questions from Jowee and Sock. He had told them that he needed to get new forms or find a key or get a part, he didn't remember, but he did know that he could finally activate the Queen to stop their progress.

"What are you doing?" a deep voice shouted behind Click, just as he began the activation process. "The Queen is for emergencies only!" Click quickly swiveled around to see Wilfre, in all his Shadowy glory, standing in the doorway.

"This is an emergency! We have intruders who are demanding to speak with the Council! You said it yourself when we started this - no one can see the Council."

"That means you have to keep distracting them. Arrest them as a S.P.U.D., send them on fetch quests, lose them in space, I don't care, but it's your job to not sic the Queen and King on anyone that tries to -"

BANG. The Queen crashed into the roof of the Council Room. Wilfre glared at Click and teleported to the top of the building, seeing that the Queen was now thrusting itself forward, lodging it deeper into the building.

"This is your problem now. Save one of your own or save the boy. Make up your mind Creator," Wilfre said out loud before teleporting back down to the surface to masquerade as Sock once more.

The Creator watched as the Queen pushed deeper into the Council Room, and saw Click panicking inside. The Hero was currently busy exploring the various parts of the Jungle, so the Creator was left on His own to solve this issue.

Suddenly, and idea stuck, and just as that idea struck, a small meteor hit the Queen changing the angle of its thrusters and pushing it into the sky, successfully diverting it from tearing the Council Room apart.

"Oh, thank the Creator. I need to get back to the floor right away!" Click said, gathering his composure and sneaking back to the bottom of the Galactic Jungle, where the Hero had just returned with a Photon Blaster. "Ah, um, yes. That certainly is the part I need... Pardon me a moment while I repair the elevator."

I need to keep stalling, Click thought. The Queen needs to be fixed before these three can make it to the Space Fortress.

I can't believe Click is stalling again, Jowee thought. It's so painfully obvious that he doesn't want us to meet the Council, but why?

I can't believe he saved a Raposa, Wilfre thought as Sock. Make up your mind on who you want to save!

"Well, the elevator is repaired..." Think, Click, think! "There seems to be no reason why we can't take you to the Council..." Um... Um... Wait! A badge! "Oh dear... I seem to have forgotten my security badge to get into the fortress. Wait right here... I'll go and fetch it..." Phew, another close call, Click thought. And they're none the wiser.

This guy is such a tool, Jowee and Wilfre thought in unison. I can't wait to be done with this.

Chapter Text

The Eternal Furnace exploded. No one knows why or how, but the result was the same either way, a massive chunk of the Wastes were now melted, and an entire subspecies of Baki were now extinct. Luckily for the Baki of the Icy Wastes, the Eternal Furnace's explosion helped prolong their lives into death, letting them arise as ghosts. 

As the world adapted to the news of extinction and the loss of the Eternal Furnace, some began to grow angry. The Monkey King blamed the Mother Snow Cat, while the other Bakis throughout the world grew weary of their moralities. Meanwhile, the ghosts of the Icy Wastes Baki began forming their own, new cultures in their afterlife. They weren't cold anymore, so they shed their earmuffs. They could finally wield weapons to fight against their enemies, so they fashioned ice spears similar to their Snow Warrior neighbors. They weren't bound by mortal rules like gravity, so they began to fly through the air. No one would argue that these new lives were better than their old ones, but they were certainly more exciting.

One day, in this new, postmortem life, a Hero came strolling through the Frozenini. Ready to show off their new abilities, the Icy Wastes Baki Ghosts readied their spears and charged.

The Hero simply jumped on top of them, as if they were still alive.

This didn't deter all the Ghost Baki, as some had followed in the footsteps of their ghostly relatives in Watersong, and had learned to transform into explosives. Unfortunately, the only metric that these Baki had for explosions were the explosions of the Eternal Furnace.

As the Hero stormed through the massive blockade of Baki, many began transforming into small versions of the Eternal Furnace, and they began to slowly exploded, trapping the Hero in a cycle of explosion after explosion after explosion.

Unfortunately for the Baki, the Hero was able to withstand most of the damage and figures a way to defeat the massive wall of Baki, simply pulling out its slasher. As the Hero rampaged through the Baki with the blade, they began to scatter, now facing a second extinction.

After the Hero was gone from the Frozenini, the Icy Wastes Baki Ghosts returned to their normal afterlives, donning their earmuffs once again and discarding their new spears. They also vowed to never explode themselves again, as no reminder of the end of their mortal lives would ever be worth the end of their immortal lives.

Chapter Text

Mr. Row swerved out of the path of the oncoming Deputy Snyder, tumbling into a ditch and ejecting both himself and his wife out of the front of the car, killing them on impact. Mike Row, their son, who had just won two dolls at the carnival, took the full force of a window's worth of glass shards all over his body, and falling comatose due to the head trauma of the crash.

The Hero charged into Frostwind's room, seeing a Shadow Cage with a young child inside. As Frostwind caught up to the Hero, the two engaged in combat, with the Hero eventually emerging victorious. As Frostwind fell unconscious, the Shadow Cage broke, releasing the RapoGirl from her confinement.

Returning to the village with the girl, the Hero is met by Jowee, Mari, and Mayor.

"Hero! You did it! Frostwind was defeated!"

"And who is this little-"

"Cleo?" Jowee exclaimed, running up to the RapoGirl and embracing her. "Oh Creator! Cleo! How did you get caught by Frostwind? Are Mom and Dad okay? Are you okay?"

"Get off of me, wiener!" Cleo said, pushing her older brother off of her and discretely wiping away a tear of joy. "Number 1 - Frostwind didn't catch me, some weird Shadowy guy did. Number 2 - Mom and Dad are okay as far as I know. When I got kidnapped, they weren't nearby. 3 - I am now! The Hero saved me!"

"I'm just so glad you're okay! Let's get you home."

Cleo suddenly bolted up in the middle of the night. She had the same dream she had been having for days now - Wilfre and Circi were back and were terrorizing the village. Slowly pulling herself  out of bed, she began walking around the village.

Soon, Cleo found herself on Mari and Jowee's Secret Beach, where she had caught them kissing last year. However, when she arrived, a washed up treasure chest began to beckon her over. As she walked closer, the lid swung open, revealing a magnificent golden scepter, designed to act and appear as a massive paintbrush. Cleo reached for the scepter but quickly backed off.

"Nice try, universe, but I'm not falling for that trick again," Cleo mumbled, pushing the treasure chest back into the sea and watching it drift away. After spending some more time on the beach, Cleo returned home and climbed back in bed, falling asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

"There will be no Hero to save you this time!" Wilfre shouted, floating above the Raposa as the color slowly drained from the world around them. "The Creator can't get rid of me that easily... not while this world still exists!"

Cleo, Jowee, and Mari huddled up together as Wilfre began portaling various groups of villagers throughout the land. Continuing with the three of them, sending them off to an unknown, incredibly windy village high up in the sky.

"Mari? Cleo? You two okay?" Jowee asked, shouting over the volume of the wind.

"I think so! We need to get back to Rapoville!" Mari shouted.

"Maybe should deal with this first, though," Cleo added, pointing to a group of white-furred Raposa who were starting to crowd around them.

The world became truly colorless that day. No one really knows where all the color went once it was drained, nor why it was drained at all, but eventually, nothing could be done to undo it, and the Raposa began adapting to their new, colorless lives.

The human kid vanished one day. No one really knows what happened to him either. Some think he simply ran away due to his weird ears, but others think that something more malicious could have happened.

In the hospital, Deputy Snyder sat over Mike's bed, watching as he began to lose more and more color in his face as he drifted further and further away from life. His tears splattered on the ground beneath him, and thoughts raced through his head, though they all circled back to one thought eventually. If only Mike had someone there to protect him.