Chapter 18

"...Because of that, my mother died.
The right to live, she was denied.
I didn't think I could feel worse.
Tuberculosis is a terrible curse."

"My goodness..." Dr. Kamenstein said slowly. He took a sip of his coffee just as hesitantly. "That's terrible. It's everything compared to how I lost my helmet on the way over here, that's for sure," he sympathized.

The man he was sitting at a table across from waved his hand sloppily and shook his head.

"I thank you for your sympathy,
But no more sorrowful tales from me.
Come, my friend, share your past.
Let your anguish come out at last."

With that, he carried the conversation forward. He was a thin man donned in an old-fashioned, black jacket that came with a droopy bowtie. His short, thick, black, frilly, greasy hair was no more lifting. He let it sweep to the left side on top, but the rest just kind of curled out. He had a broad forehead, sagging eyebrows, and a little, black mustache. The two of him and his town's savior were in the man's very own store where he would sell books of his poetry and stories. This was Christopher Ice, husband of Marilyn Ice, and father of Tessa and William Ice. He was having a much better afternoon then than he had been in the cell, and was spending it with the Madscikoopa for the time being.

"So, you'd like to hear one of my sad stories?" the mad scientist asked. Christopher nodded. "All right," Dr. Kamenstein sighed. He strummed his fingers against the table's surface, sipped some more coffee, and came up with one. "I was a teenager," he started. "We got to go on a field trip to Mario Land..."

Gorroh, Helga, Bowser, Kamek, Arris, and that one green Koopa Troopa were taking down the tents they had spent the night in so they could journey onward through the strange, but very interesting, Clattagin Woods. Once they had their things all packed up and ready to go, they had themselves arranged in a line of six people about to head off. Gorroh spoke up.

“Is everyone ready? Kamek, do you have the item?” he asked.

“Yes, Sire. You needn’t worry yourself of such things,” the competent Magikoopa replied.

“All right, then,” Gorroh said. “Let’s go...” After his command, the six-some at last got their feet going. They journeyed deeper into the colorful Clattagin Woods...

Amos Milo Kamenstein (AKA Dr. Kamenstein) had done it again. He had gotten himself entangled in his previous experiences once more. He found himself reliving days that had already gone by. This time, he was going through the moment that had come after the dinner with his parents, the wait for the bus, the ride on the airplane, and the beginning of the appearance at Mario Land. He remembered how two young, female tour guides had led the way. They kicked off the rite of walking and talking by giving each of the members of the group some complimentary carrots, which were special since they were a kind that could make the eaters sprout magical bunny ears for a little while and could only be found in such a country. The girls then took them to a place near the big house of Mac Rozone. There, they got to see a burned-down building, a fully-operational building, and a homeless Goomba who was blamed for the arson. He was the creator and owner of the stupid sign that read “Vil verc vor vud”. It was quite an intriguing stop they made.

Their next stop was the mayor's home. It was particularly bigger than the others. Dr. Kamentein recalled how it was even bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. It was a multi-roomed structure that had much to boast of, like a white house. The guides took them everywhere from the commons area, the hall of paintings, and the gift shop. In time, the group was led to the house's grand cafeteria. It was more of a diner, if anything. There were booths, tables, menus, gorgeous waitresses on roller skates, a snack bar, and even a stage, for some reason. Amos and Mad were once again together. They were seated across from each other, with Birdo and Lazy Kong taking up the window seats next to them, respectively. Amos and Mad were engaged in an intelligent conversation with each other.

"...But I can't quite get the octensatious redunction square-root going. No matter how I calculate it, it always comes down to the same thing: B2-9^3," Mad was saying.

"I once had that problem; not even my TI-2001 could handle it! Did you know it even has a parrot key?"

"A parakeet?"

"No, no, a parrot KEY. It's supposed to activate the X, Y, Z coordinates of the circumeter axis. Quite a time-saver..."

"Geez, no wonder that guy's always asleep!" Birdo said out of nowhere in that echoic voice of hers, as usual. "He's always around you guys, always... Moon-man-talking to each other!"

"'Moon-man-talking' is not a properly punctuated term."

"It's actually because he's got too much melatonin coursing through him, hence resulting in the overdose of unconscious activity," they responded.

Even though those last few sentences were semi-comprehensible, Birdo let out a disgruntled sigh anyway and put one claw up to hold her temple and balance against the booth's table.

"More bananas... Please... zzz..." Lazy was mumbling. Luckily, that was when their waitress strolled on over to deliver unto them the four plates of food they ordered.

"Here's your Garlic Stroganoff, your Carrot Platter, your Egg Salad, and your Bananna Split, with extra Sleep Potion," she said, handing each of them to their respective persons.

It took a second, but that was when they each said "Well done", "Much obliged", "Thank you", and "Just a trim, if you will". As soon as the waitress was gone, they dug in.

"Two things," Amos was saying. "One: I haven't had the opportunity to consume some garlic stroganoff in years. Two: That would explain why Lazy Kong is incessantly lazy."

"Indeed, it would," finished Mad. They ate their meals for a little while longer, when suddenly...

WHAM! The lights shut off. Naturally, a few people screamed, yet the cafe's employees remained calm.

"Ladies and gentlemen," a voice screeched out of nowhere. It was semi-high-pitched, a little scratchy, but intelligent, "kneel before your masters..." Suddenly, DOOSH! The spotlights were on and the stage was alight. There, upon, was a team of five. The Jester was the one that got to do vocals. The one with the cone-shaped hat was the one with the horn around his neck. The one who had a long red nose and a pair of pants striped blue and white got the electric guitar (somehow). The one that had a round red nose and spikes all over had the keyboard. The biggest of them all, the freakishly gimongous clown (half red, half blue), was the one who had spoken. He was doing the drums. "We give you... The Evil Clowns!"

At that point, the group was doing a frenzy of ridiculous pantomiming gestures (remixed with a heavy metal type feel), and everyone else in the room for dining was more than calmed down. They were excited.

"'Evil Clowns'?!" Amos said. "Whatever happened to I.C.-"

"Shush. They're starting up," Mad said to him.

Rudy held up his pair of drumsticks to start the band. He banged them against each other, swiftly, in a certain rhythm. One... Two... One, two, One-two-three-four-

-Joovada-JOOT-ja-joova, joovada-JOOT-ja-joova, joova-da-DOO, joova-da-DOOT-doo; Joovada-JOOT-ja-joova, joovada-JOOT-ja-joova, joova-da-DOO, joova-da-DOOT-doo...

Their "grooving" song began with a bang. Their fans were cheering. The Jester began to sing in that deep, vampire-like, yet charismatic voice of his...

A dark past crosses my mind.
A history where none were kind.
It's left me
As this entity
Where forgiveness is confined.

You can't away,
You have to stay
For that-which-has-not-yet-come-to-pass.

I have plans up my sleeve.
The existences of them will leave.
They will go
Leaving red to flow.
My version of a "Painter Steve".

Find, they will,
Hard, it is to kill
The "green dwarf" they said was their peeve (they can't believe)...

You can't bend me!
You can't break me!
My will, it is as hard as steel.
You can thank me;
You just shaped me!
It's your own blades that you will feel!

Yeah!

I know when you're not awake.
I know when your sleep is fake.
You can't touch me,
What a tragedy.
You're the one whose life's at stake.

You will pay
For your wrong way.
Your make-shift pov will break like glass (you waste of mass)...

You can't bend me!
You can't break me!
My will, it is as hard as steel.
You can thank me;
You just shaped me!
It's your own blades that you will feel!

You can't bend me!
You can't break me!
My will, it is as hard as steel.
You can thank me;
You just shaped me!
It's your own blades that you will feel!

That was when the 100 percent instrumental portion of the song started up. Amos could eat no longer. He was too mesmerized and layered in goose bumps to do anything more than listen to its beauty. He semi-yelled to his friend from across. "Though, they weren't quite the band I was expecting, I love this song!"

"I know!" Mad said. Then the climax to the song ensued...

Why in the world did they give you life?
The only thing you've caused is strife!
You're a plague to me, a blasphemy,
So much and yet so little that I can't think!

The refrain returned, once more...

You can't bend me!
You can't break me!
My will, it is as hard as steel.
You can thank me;
You just shaped me!
It's your own blades that you will feel!

You can't bend me!
You can't break me!
My will, it is as hard as steel.
You can thank me;
You just shaped me!
It's your own blades that you will feel!

The Jester dragged out the "feel" part longer than he did the other times, as it was part of the song. The music was dying down, leaving him to repeat it once more softly. Finally, it was over...

The audience erupted in applause and screaming. The group did their pantomime thing a few times as though they were bowing to them simultaneously for a certain number. Rudy spoke up again. "Thank you!" They were still cheering. He tried again. "Thank you!" That got them a little. "That was 'Your Own Blades'! Thank you... And good night!" DOOSH! The lights were off once more. The panicking that arose was less hectic that time. Soon, they were back on again. WHAM!

"My goodness," Amos said, while taking his glasses off to give them a quick polish. "That was very exhilarating." He put them back on.

"Indubitably, it was," said Mad.

"Ugh... Did I miss anything?" Lazy Kong mumbled...

“Are we there yet?”

“No.”

“Are we there yet?”

“No!”

”Are we there yet?”

“NO.”

”Are we there yet?”

Kamek got fed up with Bowser’s incessant whining. “NO, YOU LITTLE CORRODED PILE OF-“

”KAMEK!!!” Helga shrieked. She, the two arguers, and the other three members of the group stopped in their tracks. “Don’t you dare take that tone of voice with my son, you hear me?! He’s sweeter, kinder, and way gentler than you’ll ever be!”

”No, he isn’t, dear. Bowser, don’t take that from the Magikoopa! Beat him up!” Gorroh encouraged.

“You gonna get it now, stupid-face!” Bowser taunted. He breathed in deeply, letting his chest inflate outwards.

“Oh, for the love of...” Kamek grumbled, reaching for his wand.

Their little green servant just stood back, watching the scene uncomfortably. “Uhh... Guys?” he said.

“Dear!” Helga blurted, turning to her husband. “What are you thinking?! Bowser’s still healing! What if he gets hurt some more?”

”Stop overreacting, Helga. If you would just-“ Gorroh tried presenting his retaliation against her statement, but his sentence was cut off.

“INCOMING!” Arris shouted. He dove to the ground, and the other five members of the group turned their heads towards the direction that they were just walking in a second ago. They saw it: It was a ridiculously huge boomerang whirling their way. Stopping the fight and everything, they each followed Arris’s example and hit the deck. WHOOSH! It went sailing over their heads. The wind it created not only ruffled up the hairs on the heads of Gorroh, Helga, and Bowser, but it also made Kamek’s hat fall off. Getting it off the ground was something he tried doing while the others were starting to get up.

“What was-“ Helga said.

“IT’S COMING BACK!” Arris cried out again. For the second time, the group ducked and the big boomerang went WHOOSH back over their heads. Kamek got his hat, and the clique of six was able to stand again.

“What was that?!” Helga asked.

“The Bangarang Bros,” Gorroh answered.

Helga looked confused. She fixed her gaze on him. “The Bangarang Bros?!” she repeated.

“Yes, the Bangarang Bros,” Gorroh folded his arms. “They’re the guards of our backup fortress.”

The muddled Bowser, Kamek, Arris, and the servant were twisting their heads about cautiously while Gorroh and Helga were having this discussion. “Well, if they’re our guards,” Helga began, “then what are they attacking us for? What did we do to them?”

Gorroh laughed and coughed at the same time as a slightly nervous gesture. “They’re, erm, not exactly OUR guards, dear.”

”WHAT?!” Helga belted out, throwing her arms down, making her head jolt.

“That’s why...” Gorroh started.

“DUCK!” Arris yelled.

As though on command, the devious band did just that. They plopped to the ground, and Gorroh loudly stated the rest of his answer. “...WE BROUGHT A LITTLE SOMETHING!” Kamek knew exactly what he was talking about. WHOOSH! The boomerang went over their heads again.

“STAY DOWN!” Arris ordered. They all obeyed that, too. WHOOSH! The boomerang came back.

When they got up again, Gorroh addressed their royal vizier. “Kamek, now’s your chance. Go and bring those goons to their knees!”

”Yes, Sire!” Kamek replied. The sorcerer ran ahead, leaving the rest of his party members behind.

As they watched him go, Helga had to voice another wondering. “Gorroh,” she asked, “what did you give him?”

Gorroh made a big, toothy grin. “Their greatest weakness,” he responded.

Kamek ran at a relatively quick pace. To his left and his right, the various pastel colors of the weird forest flew past him like a collection of paint-filled explosions. The closer his feet brought him to his enemies, the more he could see something coming into focus on the horizon. Two yellow figures were standing before an enormous structure. A few more leg movements later and he could see that these figures were a pair of Boomerang Bros, but with tremendous height, powerful muscles, and gigantic boomerangs. Behind them was most likely the building they had been questing for. Not having his mind on that, he took note of the duo of adversaries readying both of their weapons at once this time. Thinking quickly, he reached into the folds of his cloak, and pulled out the special item. It was block-shaped, had a yellow roof, a white body, and a curly, black symbol on the front with a connection to symphonies. He grabbed a hold of the handle coming out of one side of it and began turning. He dropped to the ground, clutching the device. WHOOSH! WHOOSH! Lucky for him, those humungous boomerangs weren’t able to hit him. He got up off the ground and continued running and turning. The contraption was letting loose a soothing melody. Kamek started getting confused. He had to alternate between looking at this thing his hands were minding, looking at the Bangarang Bros, and looking behind him in order to make sure no projectiles were headed his way. This served him well, no matter how daunting the task was. Not wanting to ruin the fact that he had not yet been injured, he saw what was coming, and flopped down again, clutching the object like before. WHOOSH! WHOOSH! Another double-dose of pain had been narrowly avoided. He got off the ground, resumed the movement with his hands, his feet, and the tune, and TRIP!

“AGH!” Kamek grunted. His foot stumbled over an inconveniently located rock of paint sticking out of the ground, and he released his hold of his enemies’ weakness. It went soaring through the air while he was falling flat on his face. “OOF!” While he was on the ground again, he considered getting back up, but immediately declined the suggestion once he saw through his thick glasses that the guards had fired their instruments of battle again. WHOOSH! WHOOSH! His skin was still safe. WHACK! That didn’t sound pleasant to Kamek. He got up and looked behind him. Not only were the boomerangs flying away, so was the weakness of the people who were using them. “BLAST IT!” Kamek growled. He unsheathed his wand. “Time for Plan B,” he said darkly.

Gorroh, Helga, Bowser, Arris, and the other guy saw a mostly white object whiz over their heads. “That’s not a good sign,” Gorroh said quietly.

“DUCK!” Arris ordered again. They did so.

Kamek started running harder towards his prey. As this was going on, the red jewel of his wand started to glow brighter. He had his thoughts focused fiercely on casting something that could make these guys sorry for attacking. His mind was so set on this, it didn’t even occur to him to look the other way. The huge implements of the dangerous duo was whirling straight for him on a collision course towards his back. Kamek didn’t know this. He concentrated more. Then something got his mind off the incantation. He saw two green figures suddenly materialize before the Bangarang Bros. Just as suddenly, his back became safe. He didn’t know this, either. He kept running, trying to get his spell back on track. Then...

“WAIT! KAMEK!” he heard Gorroh’s voice call to him. Kamek skidded to a halt and let his spell evaporate along with the wand’s glow. He turned around and saw the other five running up to him. He could also see that they were being accompanied by two more of the green figures just like the ones that had materialized earlier. They were floating through the air, carrying those big boomerangs that could have seriously damaged him. They caught up with him and slowed to a stop. At last, Gorroh could explain things. “You don’t have to fight them. Clat called them back!”

Kamek blinked. “Clat, Sire?” he asked.

“Yes, Clat. A friend of mine. These woods are named after him.” The two green things that were carrying the oversized weapons hovered closer with the group in between them.

”Clat,” said the one to Kamek’s right in an obnoxious voice.

“Clat Monet,” said the other one in the exact same voice. Getting a better view of them, Kamek could see that these things were vaguely humanoid. They had pale, green skin that seemed to glow, hunched shoulders, long arms, and four horn-like shapes growing out of their heads. Because of this glow, Kamek couldn’t make out many other features of the creatures. However, he could tell their droopy, light-giving eyes were yellow and that they floated through the air with ghostly tails.

“But please...” Kamek heard the same voice behind him. He turned around and could see that the Bangarang Bros. had relaxed and the two green ghouls that calmed them earlier were floating towards the group. The two with the boomerangs were floating away from it. They returned the weapons to their rightful owners.

“Call me Lord Doppel,” said the one next to the one that just spoke.

“Or just Doppel,” said the one beside it again.

“Either one, really,” said the one next to it again.

Kamek’s head was spinning. It showed. Gorroh looked at him and made another grin. “Confused, aren’t you?” he pointed out. He started making gestures towards the odd quartet of look-alikes. “He’s Doppel, he’s Doppel, he’s Doppel...” he went on. “They’re all Doppel! He’s got the ability to make copies of himself.”

”It comes in handy,” the four of them said at once. Kamek was even more confused. At that point, the strange four-some was floating directly in front of the group of six. They remained in the exact same position as they floated towards each other. They faded into one another, it seemed. Once this dubious occurrence was over, Kamek could only see one Doppel. He had to rub his fists into his eyes after seeing something so strange.

“But seriously, everyone,” the single Doppel said, “you didn’t need to use that silly music box to put my Bangarang Bros. to sleep! I know it’s the only way to get past them, but seriously. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

”Yes, we are,” Gorroh agreed.

Kamek got to have a good look at what the guards were protecting. It looked vaguely like a house, but it was way bigger and had a lot more windows. It was an extremely expensive-looking mansion with an exterior that was green for the most part. This was where Doppel lived.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Doppel said. “Let’s go on inside. We can have a cup of tea...”

”Yes, let’s,” Gorroh concurred.

“Well, come on, then!” Doppel insisted. He turned around and floated between the guards that were standing on either side of a small, stone staircase. He went up the stairs leading to the architecture’s large front doors. Then he floated right through them as though they weren’t even there.

Helga looked at Gorroh and raised an eyebrow at him. “What?” he asked. “Let’s just go in already...”

With nothing else to do, Gorroh, Helga, Bowser, Kamek, Arris, and the Koopa Troopa could reach an agreement. They went past the guards, up the stairs, and arrived before the doors. Pretty soon, they were inside. At last, they were under the roof of their backup fortress. A backup fortress that didn’t necessarily belong to them. It belonged to this strange individual, partially known as Clat Monet. Hence it was the building partially known as Monet’s Mansion...

A certain mad scientist was still skipping through Memory Lane. With the one about the vengeful song out of the way, he could carry on with this activity of past happenings.

Dr. Kamenstein skipped ahead yet again. That time, they were in the middle of the "Hall of Has-beens". Their group's tour had been interrupted by some senator, or something.

"...And so I was saying, 'how can I get on the bus, if I don't know where I'm going to?' Well, he told me, 'Son, when the times are getting the tough, the tough gotta get times.' They were the wisest words I ever heard in my entire life. Years later, I thought of the economy while watching the paint dry. I said to myself, 'Self?' And I responded, 'Yes?' 'What can I do to make this country a better place?' But then I remembered Waldo Zwoods' wise words..."

Lazy Kong, as usual, was way ahead of everybody else. Eventually, Amos's level of tolerance had run out, and so he said to Mad, "Neeeyyucchh. I'll meet you outside; I need some fresh air."

Mad simply gave him a proximate nod as a person would do to subtly hint that he understood in such a way as not to catch the attention of anyone else that could have thought this suspicious. Amos managed to sneak out with no one noticing, let alone caring. Once out there, he noticed how dark it had become. Had it really been that long? he thought to himself. Dr. Kamenstein remembered how he took the possibility of it being two in the morning into consideration. He couldn't help but notice the band over there, talking amongst themselves within reach of their Clown Copter, only that time there were seven of them, and not just five. With each step he hesitantly took towards them, he could make out the detail of the new two.

He remembered laying eyes on the Evil Clowns, Taffy Kong and Har-Harlequin, for the first time. For a moment as he remembered this, he wondered where they had run off to. It didn’t seem to matter, so he began his skipping some more...

The six people that Clat Monet/Lord Doppel had just invited in were in a vast room of his filled with all kinds of things. Furniture with white sheets tossed over them, bottles of paint, cans of paintbrushes, sinks, smocks, newspapers, paper towels, statues, chisels, white powder, rags... If it had anything remotely close to do with art, this place had it. In fact, while Doppel was keeping one duplicate of himself at a table with the guests, one of him was painting a picture of another one of him in a dramatic pose, another was carving a statue of two others, and at least three more were moving in and out of the room, carrying various paintings and other masterpieces along with them, putting them wherever. While this was going on, all seven of that one Doppel and his visitors were drinking tea with each other. That very Doppel clinked his cup down into the saucer at some point.

”So, let’s review,” he began. “You and Helga,” he said, pointing to Gorroh and his wife, “were enjoying some nice time off...”

”That’s right,” Gorroh agreed.

“...when suddenly Kamek, here, comes,” he gestured towards the mage, sitting to his left, “and tells you that something TERRIBLE has happened. He tells you that a couple of babies have attacked you, or at least they’re going to, unless you do something about it. They ruined your castle, and so you,” he said, referring to Arris, “take them here,” he summarized.

“That’s... technically it,” Kamek said, fidgeting with his cup of tea.

“Quite right,” said Arris.

“Not only that, but you’ve also had some kind of premonition that a couple of apes are also going to ruin you, is that right?” said Doppel to Kamek again.

“Yes,” Kamek answered.

“And once little Bowser, here,” he said, moving his arm towards the tyke, “is all rested up and completely boo-boo free, you’re going to take him to go and capture those two babies and those two apes?” he said to Kamek.

“Yes,” said Kamek.

“AND...” he included, wrapping it up, “there’s... some kind of... sweepstakes going on?” he said to the only one he hadn’t referred to yet.

”Yes,” said the Troopa, timidly.

“A-HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!” Doppel guffawed, tossing his head back. The others kind of gave him a set of weird looks. “Oh, I haven’t heard a story like that in years,” he said, wiping a tear from his glowing eye. “Oh, but seriously,” he added, “I have total faith in this mission of yours against Mario Land and Donkey Kong Island.” He said this while reaching his left arm out and using it to pat Kamek on the right shoulder.

Kamek looked at the ghostly hand, uncomfortably. “Thank you,” he said, still a bit freaked out by this new person. “Let’s just hope it all ends in triumph,” he said. He took another sip of his tea.

Doppel removed his hand. “Well, whatever the case,” he announced, placing his hands together, “I’m with you all the way. I promise I’ll do anything I can to-“ He stopped there. He suddenly clutched at his gut, and started groaning. His other selves were doing the exact same thing. His guests started staring worriedly.

“Doppel! Are you all right?” Gorroh said, putting his tea down.

It took a few seconds, but at last the specter was able to get a hold of himself, as were the other Doppels. He looked up and slowly removed his hands from his stomach, trying to get a few breaths in. “Yes,” he panted. “I’m fine. Just a little airsick is all,” he said.

“Oh, is that- Wait, airsick?! But, Doppel, we’re-“

Doppel cut him off. “I’m all right now, really. Thanks for your concern.” He grabbed his cup of tea and took a big gulp from it. “As I was saying, I promise I’ll do anything I can to help,” he finally got out.

Gorroh remained staring at him a few more seconds. Then he managed to rekindle his trust in his old buddy and commenced actually giving the apparition an answer. “Thank you, Doppel,” he said. “You’re a true friend.”

”Ahh,” Doppel responded. He took another sip of his tea. “What else are friends for, anyway...?”

”So those Evil Clowns, the ones you fell,
You had an encounter with them as well?”

Dr. Kamenstein nodded at Christopher’s comment. “Yes, that is the case,” he said. He drank some more from his cup of coffee.

”Well, I certainly hope those miscreants
Are never again to sing or dance.”

“I hope so, too,” said the doctor.

”I also hope they’ll always miss
The chance to get their so-called mistriss.”

“Yes, that, too,” Kamenstein concurred, drinking some more.

”Yes, indeed, but one another thing:
I’d like my wife and children back under my wing.”

Dr. Kamenstein heard the request and nodded. “Don’t worry, Mr. Ice,” he reassured. “I’ll have your wife and kids back to you in no time,” he promised. The scientific man finished the rest of his coffee, got out of his seat, stood up, and pushed the chair in. The doctor took a bow. “Sir, I thank you dearly for letting me stay here for the time being,” he said.

Christopher waved a hand.

”You’re our savior, so tried and true.
Letting you stay is the least I can do.”

“Yes,” Dr. Kamenstein said thankfully. He took a glance at the door. “Well, sir, I really must be off now, but I’ll be back... with your wife and children.”

Christopher gave him a small smile and nodded. Soon after that, the Madscikoopa was out the door and back into his Sky-Pop. With a twist here and a turn there, he was back amidst the clouds. Down below, he noticed how several people outside were looking up, waving, saying goodbye, and giving their thanks. Smiling and looking back, he returned a wave. His trip to Gana Village was a success, but his mission still wasn’t over. Drifting through the orange sky of the early evening, he thought to himself.

Now I can see, he was thinking, just how good a job that Storko did of taking care of everything...

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