Time for some Chad/Emily romance!
Chapter 40: Toxic Love
Battleship Halberd; approaching Avalar's atmosphere
The Halberd and Blue Typhoon were currently approaching the colorful fairytale world of Planet Avalar. As they approached the atmosphere, Rachel sat on her knees, head rested on her hands as she sighed and stared out a window in thought. The Master Sword was leaning against the wall beside her as Fi jumped out. "Something is troubling you, Master?"
She sighed. "Yes, Fi. I've been thinking... about this whole thing. I mean, the Grandfather thing was intense enough... but we've dealt with alien invasions, Underworld demons, zombie fish pirates, mad scientists that try to saw the world in half with gold, and Fanny grew into a giant several weeks ago... and I mean, look at us! We're just kids!" she yelled, throwing her arms out. "And we have to deal with all this stuff! Heck, we had to deal with an actual teen murderer a few months ago. Who's the whack job who decided we'd do all this? I'd like to just go back to... I dunno, fighting Ice Cream Men, and trying to steal birthday cake..."
"Hmm... it is true, such destinies and battles may be far too great to place on the shoulders of children... even Link had to wait until he was older to wield the Master Sword... but I always believed that children were chosen for such matters because of their spirits. Children's spirits are joyous and carefree... perfect traits for fighting the Dark Side. I calculate it is why the Firstborn's Guardians are children. But you mustn't despair, Master." Fi smiled. "Simply keep your spirits high, and stay courageous. For when this is over, you all can return to the peaceful life you originally had."
Rachel looked up and smiled at the spirit. "You know, you may have been made as just a servant, Fi... but you can be really inspiring."
"I am honored to be of assistance, Master..." Fi nodded.
Dimentia, at this time, stood by a window at another part of the ship. The former leader looked to the starry sky. The bright star that had emerged in the spot after Zathura's fall continued to shine, its light still reaching to many vast planets.
Valley of Avalar
A ghost portal opened behind a small waterfall as the eight people, previously in the Ghost Zone, came flying out, landing in a shallow river as the portal vanished. "Ow." Emily groaned slightly, rubbing her head as they all looked back up. (Play "Valley of Avalar 1" from Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon!) Their eyes were completely widened, fixated on the marvelous sight that was the Valley of Avalar. The morning sun shone brightly on the fields of lush green grass, reflecting light off the silver river of pure water they had currently fallen in. The mountains surrounding the valley towered in the distance over the few clouds that covered the land.
"This place is... beautiful..." Chad said quietly in awe.
"Good Lord... and to think, all we had was our cul-de-sac..." Double D said as they walked out of the river onto the land.
"When you say you're going to another planet, I can normally picture, like, futuristic buildings and green things with antennas... but man." Eddy replied, feeling just as amazed.
"It's like a great, big gravy tub blessed this land with its succulent ooze..." Ed said, gazing with wonder.
"...Er..." Emily bent down from slight pain in her legs. "Boy, crashing on that asteroid was a little too much..." The Halfa pulled off her shoes and socks, dipping her feet in the refreshing water. "Ahh... boy, my feet hurt."
"Um, let me help." Chad offered, sitting down beside her and lifting her feet onto his lap, proceeding to rub them.
"And... now they don't hurt so much." Emily smiled and sighed in relief.
While they did this, Penelope looked around and spotted her glider that landed a few miles off, running over to it.
After a while, Chad stopped massaging Emily's feet, and the half-ghost dipped them back in the water. "Thanks, Chad..." she smiled at him.
"No problem." Chad smiled back, scratching the back of his head. "Listen, I...I'm sorry for the way I acted before. It's true, I've never been the biggest fan of metahumans, but... I shouldn't have acted like such a bully."
"Ah, don't worry about it. My guess is it's near impossible to resist the effects those Darkness Cannons give you."
"Well. Either way... you're pretty cool, Em."
"Hm hm! Thanks! And you have strong hands..." she said happily.
"Haha..." he chuckled and blushed nervously.
"By the way... did I tell you it was my birthday recently?"
"R-Really? When?"
"Oh... sometime after this whole quest began. I kinda wanted to have a party, but... all this happened."
"Oh... well, I'm sorry we had to ruin your party."
"Hm hm, it's okay! And it wasn't your fault, y'know. Besides... all this excitement is party enough. You know, if I never met Cosmo and Nova, I would never have these much adventures. And I certainly wouldn't come to a place like this."
"Oh yeah! We should probably try to look for all them..." Chad figured, standing up.
"Relax." Em replied, standing up. "I'm sure they'll be fine. Why not just... take a break?..." she asked, gently wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
"Um, hehe, yeah... maybe..."
"Yeah..." The two stared closely in each others' eyes before Emily gave a little smirk. (Play the "Valley of Avalar 2" Theme!) "...THINK FAST!" she yelled, playfully pushing him in the river and running barefooted down the rushing water, laughing with pure joy.
"Grrr!" Chad playfully grumbled, kicking off his own shoes and chasing after her. The two splashed and kicked water at each other before Chad grabbed Emily and started wrestling with her.
The two rolled around a while before Emily was on top of Chad, holding him down. "Ha! Pinned ya!" Emily exclaimed.
Chad just blew into her face and forced her on her back, getting on top and holding her down. "A guy with strong hands like me? Fat chance!"
"Alright, Strong Guy." Emily smirked. "But I can do something I know you can't do." With that, she switched into her ghost form and phased beneath the ground. She suddenly popped up behind Chad and wrapped her arms around him, taking off to the sky.
Their hair was blowing back, and their skin cooling from the rushing wind blowing across as they gazed at the spectacular view of the valley from the sky. They soared over and under some clouds before shooting toward the ground, flying just a few inches above the water as Chad dipped his finger in, letting it skid across. Emily flew them higher and soared through the clouds, alongside some colorful dragons that were flying into the area. She flew closer to the ground beside some cheetah men, scampering across the wide meadows.
She finally took them to the tops of one of the mountains. She gently placed him on the ground on his back before lying down next to him.
Shaunie and Luvbi had just watched the happy moment between the two from the ground. "Ay, nothing lessens the anger more than being able to soar through yonder skies..." Luvbi sighed peacefully.
"I'll bet..." Shaunie said, a little nervously. "...Is your wing feeling better?"
"Yea, somewhat..." she replied, flapping her wings a little. "...Hey... I hath never got to thanketh thee for... rescuing me from yon female ghost..."
"Heeheehee... well, when a friend's in danger, you gotta put aside all fears and do what you can to help."
"Yea... 'twas very brave of thou..." She smiled at him.
"Hehe... can you take me flying?"
Luvbi flew up and grabbed under his arms, attempting to lift him... but he seemed too heavy. "Huff... no such luck. Mayhap if thou were a bit smaller..."
"Grrr-rrr!" Penelope grunted, hauling her fallen glider over. "Don't just stand there! Help me fix my glider! If I reprogram it for space travel, I should be able to fly up to that space station and find Amanda, please!"
Double D approached as Penelope began work on the glider. "Um, Penelope... I admire your passion, and your technical knowledge... but, um, don't you think there's a little more to life than this Amanda person?"
Penelope shot him a glare with her psychotic face. "Amanda means EVERYTHING, please! The world means NOTHING if I don't get to meet her!"
"Perhaps, but there SURELY must be-"
"Ah, give it up, Double D." Eddy stopped him. "What can ya do with crazy girls? Still, this is a pretty nice place. We need to find that Kobosh guy again and ask him how he makes those portals! People will pay a FORTUNE to come to a planet like this!"
Chad and Emily had their arms around the others' head as they lied upon the mountaintop, watching the clouds drift by. "You know... I don't think I really hated metahumans." Chad said. "I... think I was just jealous."
"How come?"
"Well, like just now. You people can do all this amazing stuff. Like flying, going through walls, controlling water, running like cats... feeling others' emotions. And I was the only one in my family born without powers, it looks like. April got powers, Sonya got powers, even Mom and Dad have their little robotic suits. But I was the only one born... normal."
"Awe... you don't have be so upset about it."
"Yeah... I guess you're right." Chad said, sitting up. "And besides... I won't have to worry about it long."
"How come?"
"As soon as I get me some Bang Gas, I'll get to meta around before ya know it!" (End song.)
"Wait... what?" Emily shot up in surprise. "Is that why you came with us to begin with?"
"Well, yeah... why do you think I wanted to break into an enemy base? I figured some of them might have some Bang Gas. If I could steal some of that stuff, I could inhale it and have my own cool powers. I hear that Brain keeps a lot of the stuff. He has quite a few metahumans in the Brotherhood, you know."
"Hold on, I know you said you were jealous, but... I don't understand. Are you ashamed of being a regular person or something?"
"Well, no! Not exactly. I mean, in the past, I didn't think much of it, because hey, I was still the best there was in Kids Next Door! But then Nigel Uno beat me, and he didn't even know about his firebending, yet. Now, a bunch of these super-powered people show up out of nowhere, good guys AND bad guys. And I realized, if I wasn't even the strongest operative among normal humans, how can I hope to combat them? I guess, what I'm saying is... the reason I hated people like you is because I was afraid. Afraid that the world was changing. So, what I need to do to face my fears is to change with it."
"Chad, I understand your reasons, but... I mean, it just doesn't sound right. You shouldn't be ashamed of who you are just by comparing yourself to others."
"Okay, but from what I recall, you've been having the time of your life since you got your ghost powers."
"Well, yah... but the saying goes, 'With great power, comes great responsibility.' And as a Halfa, I may have a pretty heavy duty. You've watched Danny Phantom, right?"
"So, you're saying that you would give up your super awesome ghost powers?" Chad raised a brow.
"Well, I..." Truthfully, Emily didn't want to give them up, "there's a difference! These powers were forced upon me... sort of. But the only reason you want powers is because you're ashamed of being just a 'regular' person!"
"Whatever. I'm getting me some powers, anyway. The sooner I can, I might have a shot with Danika."
"But morally, I would still be a 'regular person' on the inside, right?"
Emily bit her lip. It was a cliché moral, but a true one all the same. "Sigh, alright... if it really means that much to you... I'll help you steal some Bang Gas. That space station Penelope was talking about might have some." Just then, there was a loud rumbling coming from the sky, so they looked up and spotted the two spaceships coming in for landing. "Hey! That's the Blue Typhoon!" Emily recognized.
"Friends of yours? Well, let's go!" Chad exclaimed. Emily turned back to a ghost and carried Chad as they shot up towards the ship.
Blue Typhoon
Inside the ship's cockpit, Tails heard a knock on the windshield, smiling when he looked and spotted Emily and Chad, waving at them. "Look! It's Emily!" The others looked up, and smiled and waved as well.
Afterwards, the two passed by the Halberd's cockpit. The two's smiles widened when they spotted the KND operatives, as well as Annie, and they knocked the windshield to get their attention. Annie looked up and gasped, "Emily!"
"Chad!" Rachel exclaimed.
"So, we are not the only ones here." Meta Knight examined. The two blonde teens pointed ahead of them, flying in that direction.
"Well, guess we oughta follow them." Magolor figured.
"Go-we go-we go-we! YAY!" Marx cheered.
Outside the Silver River Forest
On the very far end of the valley, the Silver River flowed into a nearly pitch-black forest. From a cliffside, Mandy and Katie watched as The Terrible Toxic Four slowly entered the forest. Mandy took out a walky-talky and spoke, "This is Mandy to Dodds. We just spotted the poisonbenders head into the forest. Do you copy?"
"Yep, read you loud and clear. We'll be ambushing them soon. Wesley out."
After hanging up, Mandy slipped the phone into her pocket and turned around, sitting by Katie on a rock. "So, what's this planet about, anyway?"
"Well, this is Planet Avalar. A fairytale-themed world in Galaxia. And one of the prettiest." Katie began explaining. "Somewhere beyond the mountains are the Giant Farms, where the titans roam. The Valley of Avalar is where the proud Cheetah Tribe scamper the fields. It also has a small forest where little creatures called Elfin live. And somewhere past the forest is the Ogre Swamps, home to the ogres. And many other wonderful places that make this one of the most beautiful planets in Galaxia."
"How cheesy." Mandy could only say, disgusted. "But do any humans live here?"
"There are a few humans. In the kingdom of Far, Far Away, for example. In fact, I heard an ogre from the swamps married the princess of that kingdom one day. Happily ever afters, such as that, are a pretty common thing here."
"Blech." Mandy felt her stomach sickening from this info.
"But the main population, I believe, is dragons. I even heard the dragons were the first ones the spirits granted their element powers to, before they gave them to mortals."
"I see... but what about that forest those poisonbenders just went in to?"
"Ah. That's the Silver River Forest. One of the most unexplored places in Galaxia. It's home to an evil spirit. The one who granted powers to the poisonbenders. Hexxus."
"Well, I don't see why those boys would be wanting to go in there. Unless they're seeking to gain more power from this Hexxus."
"Hm." Katie then looked in the distance and spotted the two ships coming in for landing. "Hey, someone's here."
"That's odd. Let's see who it is." With that, both girls stood up and headed for the ships.
Back in the Valley
After both ships landed, everyone stepped off and gazed at the scenery. "EMILY!" Annie, Cosmo, and Nova immediately ran over to hug their friend.
"Zuri!" Zuri exclaimed, rubbing against her leg.
"Awe, I missed you guys, too!"
"Wow, I guess I never really took much time to explore this place." Nigel said, gazing at all the sights. He came to this valley once, during his galactic adventure, but he doesn't recall it looking this beautiful.
"Me either." Morgan said. "Last time we were here, some crazy teen with a gun was chasing us."
"SHAUNIE!" Fanny yelled, running over to hug her youngest brother, alongside Paddy.
Eva looked over and frowned when she spotted Penelope Taynt. "Ugh. You, too?"
Penelope just shot her her usual crazy glare before working on her glider. Eva and Nova decided to release their Firstborn Spirits from the Spirit Balls. Celebi immediately went to fly around the meadow while Manaphy dove and swam into the river.
As Dimentia stared up at the sky, Infinity walked over and asked, "Ummm... perhaps you would like to take a walk with me... Dimentia? It may ease your mind a bit." The former leader smiled to him as the two walked down the river.
"I know I'm already feeling better." Rachel smiled.
"Agreed. It may be best if we rest here for a while." Meta Knight said.
At this time, Morgan, Kami, and Ava were sitting by the river, resting their bare feet in the refreshing water, while Kweeb just sat between Kami and Ava. "Ahhh." Kami sighed. "Boy, you aliens sure have it good."
"I'll say." Morgan agreed. "I wonder if this planet has any wizards or magic charms and stuff?"
"Yeah, this place'd make anybody relax." Kweeb said. "Even a hothead like Kami!"
"Say what?" Kami raised a brow.
"I'm just worried about you pushing around the little Elfin creatures, since they're small, like me." Kweeb remarked.
"Oh, yeah?" Kami then stood up and rose her huge right foot above Kweeb. "Sounds like someone's asking for a stomping."
Manaphy then swam by. "Mana-Mana! PHYYY!" The young prince extended the two red beams from his antennas, connecting Kweeb with Kami. When the beams vanished, Kweeb had noticed everything became smaller, while Kami noticed everything was bigger.
"AIEEEE!" Kami screamed in Kweeb's little body. "I'm... I'M TINY!"
"AWESOME!" Kweeb exclaimed in Kami's body. "Now I'm the one doing the stomping!" he said, keeping his right foot over Kami.
"H-Hey! Stay back! Don't step on me- AH!" she jumped back when Kweeb tried to stomp her, then accidentally fell into the river.
"That's karma for you, Kami." Morgan stated as Kami floated past her.
"Heehee! She looks really cute in that body!" Ava giggled.
"Uh... where's she going?" Morgan asked, noticing Kami floating down the river at a fast pace.
"Mmm-maybe that river's a little TOO strong." Kweeb figured.
Meanwhile, Marine and Yin were standing barefoot in the river a few feet away. "I gotta admit, Mate, this place totally beats the oceans... almost." Marine said as Kami, in Kweeb's body, flowed past them.
"Me too. You'd expect a place like this to be in a storybook." Yin replied. "But I wonder where-"
"Heeeelp!" Kami called, floating further away.
"Kweeb?" Marine called.
"Come on, we gotta help her!" Morgan shouted as they ran by. Yin and Marine exchanged a quick glance before chasing Kami with them.
"Don't you mean 'him'?!" Marine called.
From atop a cliff, Katie and Mandy watched Nigel and Rachel playfully splashing each other in the river. "Well, whaddya know. It's our relatives." Katie said.
"Hmm... so, Rachel's here, too. I think it's time for a family reunion. Care to join?" Mandy asked.
Katie looked over and noticed the other girls running down the river, not noticing they were chasing Kami in Kweeb's body. "Um... no thanks. I'm going to see what those girls are up to." With that, Katie ran to follow them.
Mandy looked back down at the splashing couple and leapt down from the cliff.
Silver River Forest
The Terrible Toxic Four have finally arrived at their destination. "Well... this is the place." Matt said simply. The Silver River Forest, unlike the rest of Avalar's lands, was nothing more than a dark forest of poisonous liquid, harmful to any creature, except for the ones nurtured by it. And the pure-watered Silver River that led to this forest went from refreshing to intoxicating just upon entry. "This place... isn't so bad." Matt said, though still a tad afraid, much like the other poisonbenders. Except for Leo, who was totally afraid.
Said boy whimpered as he looked to trees and bushes, seeing vicious eyes peeking out of them. When he spotted a huge spider drop down by his head, hanging from a web, "AAHHH!" he screamed, jumping into Matt's arms. "OH! H-Hey, Matt! Hey, did you ever notice we've been going to the NICEST places on our journey?!"
"Ugh. Get off, Leo." Matt ordered, dropping him.
Leo shot back up and said, "No, really, think about it! First, we go to the jungle of big, scary dinos, then we go to the planet of vicious, human-exterminating aliens. And now we come to the dark, spooky forest in search of a POISONOUS SPIRIT!! What could be more thrilling?"
"Well, he's pumped. So, what are we waiting for?" Jeremiah asked.
Matthew spotted part of the river of purple, gooey liquid and walked over. He stuck his finger in the substance, and immediately pulled it out from the sting. "Ah! It's poison."
"Well, that's weird. Everything else is all... fairytale enchanted. Why would this water be poison?" Elijah asked.
Matt rose his hand up, attempting to bend the poison, but no such luck. "I can't bend it. This must be a Spirit Location. You normally can't bend in certain areas there."
"So, that means..." Jeremiah began, "there really is a Poison Spirit."
"Well, that's great! So, let's turn back now, in case it's an evil one." Leo suggested, trying to walk back until Matt grabbed him by the shirt collar.
"Not so fast. We have to meet this spirit and see what he has to say. Let's go, team." (Play the "Treetop Rock Returns" Theme from Donkey Kong Returns!)
Stage 35: Silver River Forest
Mission: Find the Poison Spirit, Hexxus.
The boys began their journey into the dark, sunless forest of poison, climbing some vines up a small wall with a waterfall of the poison. The path ahead didn't seem littered with too many trees, so they decided to stay on it. As they progressed, little poisonous bugs, called Grove Mites, flew out of the trees and went over to bite them, but the benders swat them to the ground and stomped them.
Out of a pile of fallen trees ahead, some monstrous poison dogs, called Death Hounds, jumped out and charged over. Leo screamed when two of the dogs tackled him, but Jeremiah quickly took out his pocketknife and stabbed the dogs, making them run off. The other two snarled at Elijah, but he conjured a Poison Whip and lashed at them, eventually scaring them off. The poisonbenders then proceeded to climb a large pile of fallen trees to a higher path.
They came to a point in the river where fallen trees were slowly drifting down. Matt, Jeremiah, and Elijah hopped on one, while Leo missed and fell in the river. "YOOOW!" He flew back out, injured from the poison, and landed on the log, barely tipping it over. Matt and Elijah used Poison Whips to swat away some Grove Mites that came out of the river. Afterwards, some Grove Worms emerged from the water and slithered over, but Leo recovered quickly and took out his gun, shooting the worms off.
They were coming to the end of the river, about to go down a long waterfall. They spotted a branch hanging over the pit and used Poison Whips to wrap around it and swing to a path on the other side. When Leo tried to swing over last, the branch came off, and Leo was sent screaming down the falls. Matt shook his head in disbelief while the others snickered as Leo's butt was burned by the toxic below, flying back up and landing beside them.
As they continued to a turn in the path, three swamp warriors, called Grove Beasts, dropped down and drew out swords. The four scattered when they struck the ground, Jeremiah and Elijah rolling behind one and burping Gas Bombs. Leo ran behind another one and used a Poison Sting, scratching its back and making it slowly hurt with poison until it fainted. Matt just burped some Gas Bombs at the last one before making it choke with regular poison gas.
Afterwards, they continued to a pond of the poisonous liquid with some platforms to lead them across. As they jumped the sinking platforms, some sludge Pokémon, called Grimers, fell and landed on some of the platforms, spitting poison sludge at them. When they landed on a larger platform, more Grimers fell and surrounded them. The poison blobs jumped and covered the poisonbenders, but they were able to blow them off with Gas Bombs. Matt was able to wrap around one with a Poison Whip and swing it into others, knocking them out.
After reaching the ledge on the other side of the pond, Leo screamed when more poisonous spiders dropped down, hanging from webs and spitting venom at them. The four evaded and walked around the spiders before reaching a larger, wider tree. They whipped off some spiders on a vine wall and climbed to an opening in the tree. On the inside, the four proceeded to head up some stairs and climb some vines heading further up the tree, taking out any spiders in their path.
They found an exit and were now on a high branch of the tree. They saw a series of branches on other trees, leading up and going around to another large tree. The four used Poison Whips to swing across the abyss. Some spiders dropped down in their way, but Matt and Elijah kicked them off so they could keep going. When they reached the inside of the next tree, large sludge blobs called Muks dropped down. One of them tried chewing on Leo's head, but Elijah and Jeremiah pulled him out quickly before Leo shot Gas Bombs at him.
The other two tried grabbing Matt, but the leader quickly flipped behind them, throwing gas attacks. Jeremiah and Elijah then leapt inside them and fired Gas Bombs from in there, blowing them to pieces. Matt then rolled inside the last one and blew it up, causing a door to open for them to proceed. The four were now standing in another branch, overlooking another dark pit with a series of giant, blue floating jellyfish.
"The heck are these things? Floating alien jellyfish?" Jeremiah asked.
"Yeah! They don't even look that-" Leo began, reaching out to touch the closest one's tentacle, only to erupt in shock. "YAAAHAAAAAA!" When Leo finally released, he was pitch-black with soot.
"Ugh. Let's go, and don't touch the tentacles." Matt ordered as they climbed some branches to reach its head, jumping onto the bouncy part, then bouncing their way across the jellyfish, waiting for them to float by for them to land on. The rest of the jellyfish along the way were electrifying for a few seconds before switching off. When they were off, the four carefully jumped across them before they lit back up. Leo was the last one to hop, and he ended up getting shocked once again.
After reaching a ledge, the four were ambushed by a pack of several more Death Hounds, led by a hideous swamp monster called a Growth. The Growth sent the hounds after the kids, who quickly used their Poison Whips to keep them back. Leo cowardly held his whip as a dog snarled at him, so the monster was able to swipe it in its mouth, Leo screaming and waving his arms in the air as the dog chased and whipped him. "How are you able to grab it, anyway?! It's POISON!!" he shouted.
The other three didn't have too much trouble fighting the rest of the hounds. Matt used Poison Whip against them while Jeremiah and Elijah just rode on their backs, scratching them with Poison Stings. Leo kept running from his hound's whip until he was able to trick it into running over the edge and falling to his doom. "HAHA! Shows what you know, ya-" However, the dog was able to toss the Poison Whip back up and whack his head one last time. "YOW!"
Once they were all gone, the four surrounded the Growth. The swamp monster stomped a shockwave along the ground, but the poisonbenders easily jumped it and fired Gas Bombs upon him, quickly knocking him out. They continued along the path where the monsters came from, finding only a dead end with a pond of green poison this time. They dove into the poison pond and swam through the underwater cave underneath, avoiding any poisonous fish as they swam to the inside of what looked like another tree.
They resurfaced and found their selves inside the tree, looking around at a bunch of large spider eggs. "Boy, this place gives me the creeps." Jeremiah said.
They then leapt down a ledge to a floor below, looking at a long hallway ahead. (Play the "Muncher Marathon" Theme from Donkey Kong Returns!) Leo looked back with absolute fright when he saw a huge swarm of spiders in a dark cave. "AAAHHHH!" He ran off.
The others looked back as well, eyes widened at what they saw, immediately hightailing as the spider swarm chased them. Grimers and Muks dropped down in their way, but the benders paid them no mind as they just kept running. The four did have to use Poison Whips to take out any large spider webs in their path, however.
The four then had to use bouncy nests of spider eggs to hop their way to a higher point. When they arrived at a river of spiders, the four used Poison Whips to swing across branches leading over the river, continuing running on the other side. More Death Hounds popped out and ambushed them, but the kids ducked when they leapt at them, letting the dogs be eaten by the spiders as they kept going. More spiders started to pop out of the walls, so the kids hurried even faster towards the exit.
The kids reached a dead end with some Barrel Cannons leading upward. Just as the spiders were catching up and flooding the room, the four hurried and fired their way up the tree trunk. The last cannon shot them up to a ledge which they hurried and ran up some more stairs as the spiders got closer. Once out of the tree, the four found a long vine slide, using it to slide down as the spiders came even faster. The four gained more speed as they shot closer to a ramp at the end of the slide that flung them over a long, wide part of the poison river. Just before the spiders could bite Leo, the four shot up the ramp and flew right over the poison river as Grimers fired sludge at them from below. The four landed on the foothold at the end with a thud, standing and brushing their selves off. (End song.)
"Hoo... that was close." Matt sighed.
"YOOOWWW!" Leo screamed, running frantically with a spider biting his butt.
"Augh!" Elijah face-palmed, grabbing and yanking the spider off before crushing it. "And I thought my last name was 'Frantic'."
"You can't go 5 seconds without something unlucky happening to you." Jeremiah told him.
"SHUT UP!!" Leo shouted, then leaned right a little as if someone was whispering in his ear. "I know, Steve, I hate them, too."
"Will you three just stop it?!" Matt yelled, turning to a dark cave ahead. "Honestly, the three of you have got to be the most annoying people on the planet!"
"Now, that's no way to talk to your friends, is it?" (Play the "Freaky Monkey 5" Theme from Ape Escape 2!)
The four looked around for the source of this voice, seeing none other than Wesley Dodds and Mr. Oldman walking out of a dark cave ahead. "I keep telling ya, Dodds, these children hain't no good no how." Mr. Oldman whined.
"Who are you old geezers?" Elijah asked.
"My name is Ghastly Sandman." Dodds answered.
"And I am Frosty Coldman!" Oldman shouted.
"Ha! Those are the dumbest names ever!" Leo laughed.
"Hang on... didn't you use to be some kind of superhero?" Matt asked.
"Yes, we were." Dodds replied. "Until we retired. But duty calls when duty calls."
"Heehee! He said 'duty'!" Leo snickered.
"But now you're probably wondering why we're here. We, or I, was sent by the Order of the White Lotus to test your Poison Element. Even though I'm not quite a bender of the element myself, I know that a group of friends shouldn't be picking on each other like that."
"Tell that to Mr. Screams-at-every-little-scary-thing." Jeremiah replied.
"Every little thing IS scary!" Leopold shouted.
"Still doesn't change the fact that you're a crybaby." Elijah replied.
"Well, Steve thinks you have a barf face!"
"Ugh! You see what I have to deal with here?" Matt said.
"Well, it seems this little adventure is starting to tear you boys apart." Dodds said. "And you're nearly all each other has since your banishments." Mr. Oldman then used his ice beam to spray around the open field and freeze an ice wall around it. "It doesn't matter now, I suppose. You're minions of Lord Gnaa. Your chaos here ends now." (Replay theme!)
Boss fight: Wesley Dodds and Larry Oldman
"Let's see how you kids like a taste of your own medicine!" Dodds exclaimed as he readied his gun.
"You're done now, ya munchkins!" Mr. Oldman shouted.
"Pfft. Let's teach these geezers how to rumble!" Matt said. The four dodged and ran as Dodds spread poison gas around the area. Elijah ran along the ice walls as Larry shot ice balls at him, the South American leaping off and kicking him in the face.
"Gah!" the old man screamed, spinning around from the kick before Jeremiah slid and kicked him off his feet. "Mmm, why must children be so agile?"
Matt ran and kicked the gas gun away from Wesley before the two started throwing punches and kicks at each other. Matt flipped back and threw some gas at Dodds, who rolled to his right and grabbed his gun, firing some gas back. Leo ran and dealt Sandman a few punches from behind before Dodds tried to spin-kick him, Leo ducking as Matt threw a poison blast and flung the man over Leo.
Jeremiah drew out his small and large knives and chased Oldman as he fired more ice balls at him. When Jeremiah attempted a jump attack over him, Larry fired an ice ball as he came down, knocking him back up and over a few feet. Elijah flipped over and kicked his ice pack away before dealing a few punches to his head, then kicking him down. The man rolled over and grabbed his ice pack, continuing to try and freeze the two boys.
"Gah." Wesley grunted, getting himself back up. "Let's try something new, Larry." With that, both men fired their weapons upwards at, the poison and ice mixing and making a green and white cloud, raining drops of acid and freezing rain. One of the ice drops tapped Leo on the head, freezing the boy solid in an instant.
Matt dodged over to kick Wesley's stomach while Jeremiah attacked Mr. Oldman, cancelling off both beams. Elijah then went over and breathed some poison breath on Leo's frozen form, melting the boy free. Afterwards, the stupid poisonbender burped some Gas Bombs that Wesley rolled and dodged.
Mr. Oldman shot a Polar Bomb at Jeremiah and froze him, then turned to try and hit Elijah. The boy dodge-rolled his attacks left and right before reaching and kicking Larry in the gut, making him grunt as he then went to unfreeze Jeremiah. Both green-eyed boys continued to kick at Oldman some more when he recovered.
Dodds started firing his own Gas Bombs from his gas gun that Matt and Leo rolled and dodged. Matt took out some Purple Flurp and drank it, erupting a bigger Gas Bomb that blew Dodds back. As Sandman recovered, the poison leader jumped and kicked his stomach, leaping back off as Sandman stood up and defended from more punches and kicks.
Mr. Oldman eventually froze the ground and caused Jeremiah and Elijah to slip and fall over. The two drew out Poison Whips and wrapped around his legs, tripping and pulling him over, then leaping right over before swinging and sliding the old man along the icy ground. As Dodds defended against Matt, Larry slid over and tripped his ally, making him fall on his head, then rammed his own head against the ice wall.
Both men groaned and rubbed their heads, standing up. "Alright: let's do it again." Dodds decided.
"Okay." Both men went to separate ends of the field and fired their rays above the ground once again, connecting them and conjuring the cloud of freezing and acid rain.
"Let's finish these guys off!" Matt exclaimed.
"RIGHT!" Their leader immediately whipped out some Purple Flurp and tossed one to each of them. The four drank away as they ran to four separate ends of the field. All four boys finally let out one big burp, firing four huge Gas Bombs to the sky. When all four bombs impacted, they exploded and rained tons more Gas Bombs, exploding all around the area.
"AHHH!" the old men screamed, the shaking from all the explosions destroying the ice wall and causing Dodds to fall over, while Mr. Oldman still stood dizzily. After a while, the raining stopped, and the poisonbenders smiled and high-fived each other.
"Ergh..." Dodds sat up and groaned. "Maybe we should help resolve your problems the less violent way." He said before fainting.
"Duh-hoiiii." After a few seconds of rolling his head, Mr. Oldman finally fell over with a thud.
"Ha. Stupid old men." Matt smirked. "The current generation is always the stronger one."
"YEAH!" the boys high-fived once again. (Stop the music.)
"Ah...augh..." Wesley Dodds groaned as they both stood up. "Ahem, nicely done, boys. Seems you have a friendship that doesn't take long to fix."
"Well... all friends have their bad moments." Matt said.
"That friendship of yours is an important thing for any poisonbender. You'll need it for the trials ahead. And speaking of 'ahead', the spirit you're looking for is JUST... up ahead. He'll tell you what you want to know about poisonbending... since I don't really know much about it."
"Mmm, okay, the test is over!" Mr. Oldman shouted. "Now, let us get out of here in this spooky place and go back to the unicorns and fauns frolicking about in the sunlight."
"Well said, Frosty. OLD MEN AWAAYYY." With that, both men fired their weapons downward like rockets, taking off to the sky.
"...The hell were those guys?" Jeremiah asked.
"Angels?" Leo guessed.
"Forget them. It's time we go meet this spirit." Matt declared. "Let's go, guys." With that, they all proceeded through the cave ahead.
Hexxus' Domain
The four slowly trekked through the dark cave with Leopold shivering, thinking of what horrible monster might come out and gnash at them. "Geez, talk about 'Courage, the Cowardly Dog'." Elijah said.
"Quit bein' a baby, Leo, there's nothing really scary in this forest." Jeremiah said.
"Oh yeah, sure. Except for the poisonous slime blobs, big scary bugs, and need I remind you of the GIANT, VENOMOUS SPIDERS!"
"Will you three quit it?!" Matthew shouted, still leading the way. "The monsters only like it more when you're afraid."
"Just why the HELL did we have to come all the way out here to meet this spirit again??" Leopold asked.
"I-I dunno! Maybe he's friendly. Either way, the dream told me to come here for some reason. I just wanna find out..."
After finally exiting the cave, they found their selves at the top of a waterfall of the poisonous liquid. In the center of the river that flowed to the waterfall was a tall, leafless tree. "Aw, THAT'S just great! We come ALL the way out here to see a Whomping Willow!" Leo shouted.
"Oh, be quiet, you idiot. There has to be something here..." Matthew looked below the small ledge they stood upon and spotted a row of platforms leading to the tree. Leo quivered in fright for him as the three watched their leader jump down and start hopping the platforms, over to the tree. The toxic leader felt his way around the bark before spotting what seemed like an 'X' carving. "Huh?" The bender stared closely at the X, tapping it a few times with his knuckles, sensing some kind of faint aura. He pressed his left hand against the bark, leaning on the tree as he let out some poison breath, covering the 'X' carving in his gas.
"Haaaahhhh..." The X started to sizzle with acid as the ground began to quake. "That'ssss SLIMY!" Matthew immediately hopped his way back across the platforms, his friends helping him back onto the ledge.
"OHHH-OHHH YEEEAAH!" called some Grimers' high-pitched, singing voices in the background.
The benders watched with fright as the tree began to dissolve into some kind of brownish-black acid, a large, poisonous smoke cloud rising from that spot. "The SSSSLIIIME!" The kids gaped when that cloud started forming arms, as well as a mouth. "Can ya feel it, Baby? Can ya feel the SSLIME!" The entity started to form itself more as it sang.
BOILLLIN' pain!
AAAACID rain!
SLIIIME beneath me! A left arm formed below him.
SLIIIME up above! He rose a right arm above him.
You'll. Just. LOVE. Mah...
Finally, the being formed itself a rather muscular body, with a head of smoggy hair, no nose, and shady white eyes and mouth, looking down at the poisonbenders. "Toxic looove."
After finishing his song, the spirit lowered itself closer to the poisonbenders, still very tall to their vision. "Well, now... what type of PUNY little PESTS are Pilferin' around my Property?" he asked, adding emphasis to every "P" sound, spitting small drops of acid at them. (Note: any capitalized "P" words are "P" sounds he's Putting emphasis on.)
The other three hid behind Matthew, with Leo still shivering, as the leader wiped the spit from his face. "Ahem... are you... the Poison Spirit, Hexxus?"
"Mm, that'ss riiight." He smirked, shaking his hips a little. "And if it isn't the little poisonbending quartet who have long been banished from their homes to live in a dumpster."
"How do you know us?"
Hexxus smirked and sang some more.
Mah name is HEXXUS, Baby! (Hexxus, Baby!)
"Ssspirit of all things Poisonousss!"
I find. All. The most. Pain-endured soouuls
AND GIVE 'EM POWERS, BABEH!
"Now, let's get to work about you, little sweetss." Hexxus looked back down and smirked, his head drifting downward. The other benders stepped back when he flowed around Matt's head, placing his smoggy hands on his shoulders. "I been watching you, boyss. I know all about your little adventuress. Your little incidentss in the passt."
"Hm... oh yeah?" Matt cocked a brow. Hexxus smirked and continued to sing loudly in his ear.
Your name is MATTHEW Dimalanta! (Matthew Dimalanta!)
FORMER Sector LEADUH
Until one day your POISON...
Caused your town some NOISE 'N'...
You left yo' TEAMMATES alone!
He then shot into Leo's face, the boy immediately tilting back in fright.
Yo' name is Leo! (Leo!)
Dimwitted boy-ah!
"...Uh-huh?" Leo nodded.
Parents long lost, and...
YO' SISTERS' TOY!
"Hey!" Leo shouted when he flew over to Jeremiah.
Jeremiah Heartly...
With burrrns so darkly!
Jeremiah looked away as Hexxus rubbed his shoulders from behind.
Banished FROM New York, and...
A crush on Kamiii!
Jeremiah's eyes widened as he blushed, turning as the spirit drifted behind Elijah.
Elijah Frantic!
A raccoon's man!
An encounter with that navy captain had you...
BANISHED from the LAAAND!
The spirit flew back to his body and grew into his regular massive height.
Oillll and grime!
Poiiiison sludge!
Diesel clouds and... noxious muck!
Sliiime beneath me! He twirled his finger in the river.
Sliiime up above! He scooped some water in his hands and held it above him, letting it pour down.
Don't. You. LOVE. My...
Two long, muscular legs emerged from his form, stretching out as he looked back at the poisonbenders. "Toxic looove!"
"Uhhh... it's... slimy..." Jeremiah could only say, unsure.
"Sso, what can I do for you boyss today?" Hexxus asked, taking a seat on the ledge across from them, crossing his big, muscular legs.
"Er... it's about our poison element." Matt said. "Is there... can there be any good in them?"
"Mmm, that old story..." Hexxus replied, drinking some poison and smacking his lips. He afterwards got in the river and drifted to their ledge. "Well, clearly The Chronicler has gotten to you boyss."
"Matt, actually." Elijah corrected.
"Then I'm sure he's told you all of the thingss that are associated with Poisonbending..." He spat a little smoke in Matt's face.
Matt coughed and waved the smoke away, giving a slight nod.
"Well, I can only say they're all true." He said, kicking back and swishing around in the poisonous river. "Our Poisonous Powers come from the very hurtful things from the insultss given to us by other People. I, mysself, was an outcasst to the spiritss. They banished me to this forest, ever ssince I tried to melt a rainforest with my... GLORIOUS!" He floated up and sang again.
Ah see the world...
And all the creatures in it.
Ah chew them up and...
Spit 'em out like spinach.
I burn down the forests...
Every, living, TREE!
And replace 'em with SHHOPPING MALLS, parking lots, and...
SUH-WEET! Factoriiies!
Any-thing that's harmful to the
('VIRONMENT!)
Enviro-
(TO THE!)
Environment!
I FEED UP on it!
Like egg chow mein CEMENT!
Oilllin' pain. Oil dropped from his fingertips.
AAACID rain! He threw his left arm out, the benders shielding from acid rain.
Poi. Son. Is. What.... Gives me faame!
Sliiime beneath me!
Sliiime up above!
Boys. You'll. Love. My...
His head drifted around the Toxic Four, giving them all coughs before going back to his body. "Toxic looove!"
He came back down and continued, "So... they had me banished to this placcce."
"...But... what does that have to do with anything?" Matt asked.
"I was banished, like you were banished. Forced to hide into exile. But I ssee you're exxpecting more of an answer!"
Matt nodded as Hexxus began to sing some more.
YOU SEE, Ah-
"ENOUGH WITH THE SINGING, ALREADY!!" Matt shouted.
"Okay, okay." Hexxus frowned, lowering to the poison leader. "But the point is, Matty, you and I have a lot in common. Same for yo' little teammatess. You're very good with your skillss as a Poisonbender. Although you sseem to lack the Proper control."
"Meaning...?"
Hexxus got in front of Matthew's face, placing both hands on his shoulders. "You take these Poisons to the heart. When People throw the insults at you, you let them dig deep until they just hurt. But for every dangerous Poison, there's always a Poison to counter it. You wanna know how you can counter it?"
"Ah!" Matt winced as Hexxus continued to spit at him as he spoke. "Yes, yes I do! But a little space wouldn't hurt."
Hexxus floated back up and replied, "Firsst... don't let the poisons in yourself. It doesn't matter what others think about you. All that matters is how you feel about yourself. And besidesss... you have friendss. The four of you will always have each other. And friendship... is a healthy little poison that can heal any wound." The four benders finally looked up and smiled at each other. A few Grimers and Muks gathered along the opposite cliff as Hexxus leaned back and wrapped his arms around them. "Just look at me. I got these little guys to keep me company... I'm doing okay. But just the four of you together, makes the Perfect symbol of Toxic Love!"
"Hmm... maybe you're right." Matt smiled.
Hexxus smiled back and sang more, anyway.
POIIISON gain...
From PEEEOPLES' pain!
Don't. Let it TAR-nish... your good naame!
Sliiime beneath me! He dipped his head back in the water.
Sliiime up above! He spun around as he flew upwards.
Now. YOU. Know about...
Hexxus did a little twirl coming back down, the other benders deciding to dance along with him. "Toxic looove!"
"Although... I do believe each of you has your own... ccertain ssomeone that gives you a little healthier poison." Hexxus smirked, turning his head. "But Perhapss you'd rather hear a little interesting Piece of hisstory... I do believe you're familiar with a former sstudent of mine."
"Who?" Matt asked.
"The Dark Master. Negatar Gnaa. I was his Poisonbending teacher."
"You...YOU WERE??"
"Precissely!" He turned back around. "Do you know why he became the Dark Master to begin with? Because he learned all of his elements from the darkesst benders of those elements. Poison from me. Shadow from Voldemort. Psychic from Palpatine. Even Darkrai II was a troubled ssoul, because of his past remorsse for Dimentia, his heart was pained when he taught his fearbending to Lord Gnaa. Gnaa knows only the dark features of those elements. And then he learned Darkness itself... from that loyal little phantom that follows him around. He was the first Negatar to ever truly master the power of Darkness. And sso, he became a Dark Masster!"
"Hmm..."
The Poison Spirit did some stretches before proceeding to settle back in the poison river. "Well, I believe that'ss all we needed to discuss here. But firsst, I'm sure you boys would love to learn a new move: if a poisonbender thinks of something sad and upsetting, they are able to conjure Acid Rain. You'll produce a sstorm cloud of Poison to rain down on everything surrounding you. This might be nicce in taking out sseveral enemies in one area. Well... that'ss it. You boys should be heading off now."
The Toxic Four gave another nod, now in a much brighter mood as they started their trek out of the forest.
Matthew Dimalanta can now use Acid Rain!
Valley of Avalar; Hermit's Cave
Dimentia and Numbuh Infinity had wandered into a secret cave behind a waterfall in the valley, walking through with curiosity before seeing a light. They ran to it and reached out of the cave, finding their selves at the top of the waterfall where the cave started, giving them a good view of part of the valley. "Hmm... odd little place up here." Dimentia said as they hopped across some stones to the other side of the river.
The two found a cave on the other side and walked through, finding a small, open area, surrounded by walls, except for the other waterfall pouring to the river below. From there, they could see the two spaceships, as well as their socializing friends.
When the two walked in the center of the area, they stopped in fear when a hoarse breathing sound came from a dark cave behind them. "Why have you returned?" They slowly turned as an old, grey Cheetah man in a green cloak with a staff stepped out, pointing a finger at them.
"What?... I've never been here before." Jeremy said.
"Not you! The female..." he aimed at Dimentia.
"I've never been here either." Dimentia told him.
"You have returned from the dead... and to Galaxia. I recognize you... Dimentia Z. Winkiebottom. Who could forget a face... as hideous as your heart?"
"She's put all that behind her!" Infinity shouted.
"I'm not proud of the things I've done!" Dimentia followed.
"Oh, is it that simple? To leave behind the darkness inside you? You are no different... than him."
"Who?" Jeremy asked.
"The Dark Master, of course." Their mouths dropped. "Lord Gnaa came here, too... many decades ago. Seeking to learn of his poisonbending element. He was just a little boy... but he was cursed with the powers of the Dark Side. He is far younger than you are... but his heart knows nothing but evil. He doesn't see the light... and likely never will. You can run..." he started cackling, "but you can't hide, Dimentia! The darkness will overcome... and DESTROY you like it's done in the past!" The Hermit burst into maniacal laughter.
Dimentia gritted her teeth in anger and charged some Space Lightning in her right hand. "No, Dimentia." Infinity grabbed her left hand. Dimentia's anger and lightning died down as she sighed. "Do not listen to him. He is just an adult after all."
"The Darkness will come, Dimentia!..." the Hermit shouted, beginning to dissolve into smoke and blow away. "The Darkness will COOOME!..."
The kids covered their eyes when the smoke blew past them, blowing to the sky in the distance. Infinity uncovered and saw the cave the man had come from had some kind of light-blue glow. He walked over and spotted a Sol Emerald under some rocks, picking it up. "Well, it wasn't a total loss, coming up here."
He turned back and saw Dimentia holding her head down, obviously hurt by what the Hermit had said. "Dimentia..." He walked over. "He didn't know anything. Don't let it get to you."
Dimentia looked back up, still not showing much emotion. "I...I'm fine. Let's get the Emerald back to Blaze." With that, the former leader walked ahead, followed by Infinity, who still looked worried for her.
Coruscant; Galactic Council Headquarters
Flying cars and vehicles drove across the endless array of skyscrapers that made up Planet Coruscant. An Imperial Star Destroyer hovered over the atmosphere as a butterfly-like ship dropped from the flagship, flying into the atmosphere. The Imperial Shuttle came down from the sunset sky, approaching an enormous dome-shaped building (while requesting to land like a dainty butterfly).
Nolan followed The Brain off the shuttle after landing, rolling inside the building, two Imperial Guards; men dressed in red robes, bowing as they let Brain pass. The domed brain in the canister led the cripple up several stories via elevator before reaching a ruined office with a broken window that showed a great view of the city.
The Brain took a long whiff through his... nonexistent nose and sighed. "Ahh... the smell of office dust after the toll of ages. There can be no more pleasant smell, no?..."
"Um... yeah, I guess." Nolan replied unsure, rolling over and wiping some dust off the desk with his finger. "And... why are we here?"
"You sit now in the very domain where my father organized his operations. My good Papa Palpatine. Former Supreme Chancellor of Galaxia... former ruler of the Galactic Empire. Slayer of the Jedi. Oh, how he was brutally murdered before his time. He left his fortune to me just before his departure. From the Stormtroopers to this very office. He even confided in me a secret chamber down below. Follow me..." Nolan did as told and followed The Brain out of the office.
The two were zooming down another elevator before reaching a dark chamber just beneath the building. They rolled to a large door with a computer terminal. "Password."
"Revan Bane Sidious." The Brain spoke. The terminal blinked blue as the door slid open. Nolan followed Brain into a hallway of pictures and paintings of various, malicious-looking people.
"What are all these?" Nolan asked, looking at all the paintings as they moved along.
"This is the Hall of Sith." Brain answered. "The hall where all the greatest Sith Lords', and even apprentices', features are posted. Forever remembering the history of their greatness." They stopped beside a painting of a human Sith in a dark robe, sitting in a throne with his hands folded. "This is Lord Kaan. Founder of the Brotherhood of Darkness. Leader of over 20,000 Sith Lords in the Dark Army for nearly 1200 years."
They then went beside a painting of a baldheaded Sith with dark-yellow eyes. "This is Darth Bane. A renowned Sith Lord, responsible for establishing the Rule of Two. Creating the balance between master and apprentice."
Finally, he led him by a picture of a pale-skinned Sith Lord in a black robe, grinning with rotten teeth. "And this... is my father. Emperor Palpatine. The greatest Sith Lord of them all. Forever to be remembered as the one who killed all the Jedi in Galaxia. Excluding those despicable twins, Luke and Leia, I don't believe he missed a single Jedi."
Star Station
Meanwhile, aboard Brain's space station, a cowardly, white-skinned alien with a long neck and a fake mustache shook in fear as he stood at a cafeteria line, scooping up food and dropping them onto villains' trays. He was none other than Yarael Poof. The Jedi who evaded Order 66. "Everyone I know is dead..." he mumbled to himself. The poor, long-necked alien has been hiding for many long years, ever since his Jedi comrades were wiped out by the Stormtroopers, afraid every day that the Siths may eventually discover and kill him as well. "I can't go on... I can't do it! I have to kill myself..." The Jedi picked up a knife and was about to cut himself when...
"Hey, you have anymore squid soup?" a Stormtrooper came and asked.
Yarael tossed the knife away and said in a cheerful tone, "Yes, we do!"
Back on Coruscant
"Things were going so smoothly for Papa Palpatine." Brain continued. "Until that boy... Luke Skywalker came into the scene. ...And brainwashed the mind of that traitorous apprentice."
A young Darth Genious watched with joy from the throne room door as his father, the Sith Emperor, induced Luke Skywalker with an endless ray of Force Lightning, the boy screaming in absolute pain. "FATHER, PLEASE!"
The black-armored Sith that was Darth Vader looked back-and-forth between his son and Palpatine. Finally, without hesitating, the apprentice lifted the Emperor right overhead, and hurled him over the shaft. "AAAAHHHHHH!" A bright blue light erupted from the bottom when Palpatine's body came in contact with the electrical reactor.
"I was traumatized..." Brain spoke. "My father taught me everything I know as a Sith. After his death... I believe his spirit has always remained with me. I tried to make my escape after his fall... but it was too late. The entire station erupted into flames, and exploded into nothingness. Destroying my body in the process. However... my powerful brain survived. And I drifted to Planet Earth. That's when I met Monsieur Mallah, and passed my knowledge on to him. I granted the ape intelligence... and in turn, he agreed to help me fulfill the destiny I knew was meant for me. The destiny..." he turned to the cripple, "I share with you."
"What?"
"It's true, I am the last living Sith Lord in the universe today. But I assure you, there have been many before me. And there may come a time when the Sith Lords rise again. We just may be the keys to that, Nolan."
"How can that be? I'm not even a psychicbender."
"Nolan... the term 'Sith' refers to the dark part of the mind. You do not have to be a psychicbender to be a Sith Lord. For years, I have been watching you. Ever since the Dark Master freed us from our frosty prison. Not a psychicbender, but strong with the Dark Side. A mind, lusting for revenge... perfect as my apprentice." He then turned back to his father's portrait. "The type of revenge I wanted... for what those fools did to him." He started to speak in a rather upset tone. "They took you away from me, Daddy. How could they? How could they take poor Papa Palpatine away from his Little Genious?" he sniffled. "Why must they be so mean to us, Daddy? Oh, but don't worry. They'll all pay. They... will ALL... pay..."
Nolan felt the area began to shake as Brain's eyes glowed red, and his dome green, releasing a powerful amount of his psychic energy. After a while, the energy died down, and the shaking subsided as he turned back to Nolan. "My apologies... my Psychicbending Fury nearly went out of control for a moment."
"Hey, hey, he said it!" Peter Griffin shouted offscreen.
"What the-?" Brain looked around confused.
"I dunno." Nolan shrugged. "But, about that... don't you think, maybe it's not so good to take revenge?"
The Brain cocked an eyebrow... well, he would if he had one. "Nolan... you are not showing remorse for your former teammates, are you?"
"Well, no! But..." The boy looked away in thought as Brain rolled behind him. "You can't stay mad at someone forever... can you?"
"Can you not? Do not forget, it was that Ava girl who got you in trouble with the Kids Next Door. It was Lizzie who put you in that wheelchair. And even if you are not angry with them... what about us? Your fellow freaks."
"Huh?"
"You were the leader of the Prospectors, Nolan. A team of freaks in the Kids Next Door. Hated and shunned by all 'normal' types. And now, you are in the Brotherhood of Evil. An entire organization of freaks, mutants, and outcasts. Don't you recall the bad treatment your friends received from the other operatives? Never to be accepted as one of their own?"
"Ergh..." Nolan felt the painful memories, and angry emotions returning to his mind.
"And, oh, Corey. Poor, defenseless Corey. Throat slit long before his time by that vicious Koda Shrieves."
Nolan gritted his teeth, gripping the left armrest of his wheelchair.
The Sith Lord rolled closer to his apprentice, speaking softly in his ear. "And... who could forget... the unjustly process... known as decommissioning? Turning close, lifelong friends into mortal enemies. And the only ones who were secretly spared this fate... met with worse ones. Such as when poor, Dillon Simmons... met his fate. Ah, but do the others care? What operative could ever care... for a teenager or a freak? Isn't that simply aggravating, Nolan?"
Nolan finally took a deep sigh and closed his eyes. "Yes... you're right..."
"I wish to make this world better for them... but to do that, you must help me."
"Yes... I'll do whatever you say..."
"Very good, my apprentice... But... could you call me 'Master'?"
"Yes... My Master..."
"Good... good... then your journey to the Dark Side can progress... Say, speaking of revenge... whatever happened to that talking piece of wood that sent you and your friends to the past?"
"Actually, I don't think we've seen him since he did that. I wonder what he's doing?"
Plank's Lair
"Friends... we have suffered... a cold and humiliating defeat." Plank spoke to his army, pacing along the stage in the audience room. The legions of Plank Troops, however, were still quite injured from the battle against Cosmo and Nova, and were very torn up and distorted. "But we mustn't lose hope! We shall locate these aliens and take back what is rightfully ours! Once Celebi is ours again, we will continue to build up our army and conquer this worthless land of-"
"Uh... excuse me? Plank?" called one of the soldiers. "Yeah, we talked it over, and... we're not sure if this whole 'conquering the world' thing is... gonna work out."
"What?"
"Yeah, I mean, we were kinda just better off being hunks of wood. Doing what we normally do, like, building things."
"Yeah, for one thing, I get to stare at a nice, refreshing pool all day, watching other kids have fun and play around." A diving board said. "It's... kinda nice."
"I get to sit in a park, so all the cute little kids and their heinies can go up and down." A teeter-totter said in a homosexual voice.
"Yeah, and when you think about it, bein' used for shelter and other stuff isn't SO bad." Another plank said. "I mean... we were kinda helpin' people."
Plank started to panic when they all engaged in agreeing conversations. "No, no you fools, humans only take advantage of you, they-"
"Come on, everyone! Let's go play with the cul-de-sac kids at the construction site!"
"YEEEAAHHH!" With that, the entire army of wood excitedly dashed out of the exit.
"NO, WAIT, STOP, COME BACK, I..." Realizing they were all gone, leaving only him and Johnny, Plank stopped and sighed. "Well, Johnny... we're officially ruined."
"E-yep..."
"We... probably shouldn't have attempted this to start with."
"Probably..."
"...Wanna go over and play at the construction park?" At this, Johnny gave a wide grin, grabbed his pal, and carried him off.