Our next crossover will be Celeste! In fact, funny story, in 2016, I drew a picture of Cheren's girlfriends being tiny and climbing around him. One of the girls was Celeste Stork, and she says, "I am Celeste! Mountain climber!" And two years later, Celeste comes out, and it's about climbing a mountain. I am a master of foreshadowing!!
After returning to Madotsuki's room, Marshadow began to focus for the next Chiptoon, cradled in Mado's arms. "It's kind of weird that we didn't actually get to meet Riley." April said.
"Well, they did say she was still awake." Mado replied.
"I know, but it's just sort of weird how her mind is run by sentient emotions. Like, are her actions based on her own will, or theirs?"
"Eh, I don't wanna think about it." Marshadow replied. "If anything, it's probably symbolic. Maybe the Emotions act on Riley's thoughts, making it seem like they're controlling her… Whatever."
"Hehehe! Yeah, it gives me a headache, too!" April laughed.
A vision appeared in Mado's window: it displayed an incredibly tall mountain lined with gems and stars at the peak. April painted this mountain and drew the night sky with it, connecting it with Mind Works on the canvas. The girls eagerly touched this mountain to be whisked into their next adventure. (Play "First Steps" from Celeste!)
Dream 5: Mount Celeste
Mission: Climb the mountain
Act 1: Forsaken City
The entrance portal released them near the foot of a mountain, the girls chilled by the snow in the air and the snow seeping into their shoes. Telephone poles and wired lined the road toward the mountain. They made simple jumps up platforms, until they reached one that was too high. There was a withered plant on the ground. "We should've brought Sadness with us." Marshadow said.
"Hold on…" Madotsuki reached into her window. "I have this!" She withdrew a bottle of lush blue water. "A bottle of Sadness's Tears!"
"When did you collect that?" April asked.
"It just appeared in my window. Let's use it!" Madotsuki watered the plant and grew a platform. They reached the high platform before having to Hover Bubble across a long gap, a large boulder dropping from above and missing them. They hopped up some steps and reached a wood cabin. There was a short girl with long red hair and a blue coat, talking to an old woman.
"Ma'am, is this the way to the mountain trail?"
"You're almost there. It's just across the bridge."
"Thanks! By the way, you should call someone about your driveway. The ridge collapsed and I nearly died."
The woman began laughing in a snarky way. "If my 'driveway' almost did you in, the Mountain might be a bit much for you!"
The girl's blushed cheek's puffed. "Well, if an old bat like you can survive out here, I think I'll be fine. …Hm?" Feeling a presence behind her, the girl turned. "Who are you two?"
"Oh, friends of yours?" the woman asked.
"No, I've never seen them."
"I'm M-M-Madotsuki." Mado shuddered. "This is April… and Marshadow…"
"Where are your coats?"
"We didn't bring any…"
"My, we're seeing lots of bold guests today!" the woman laughed. "What brings you three to the Mountain, anyway?"
Madotsuki gazed up the mountain. She could barely see the top… but something caught her eye: a bright light, partway up. "We're looking for a gem called a Chiptoon. We think it landed on this mountain."
"You think? But what if it didn't?" the girl asked.
"We're pretty positive it did." April replied. "And there doesn't seem to be anywhere else to go."
"Are you the owner of this dreamscape?" Madotsuki asked.
"Huh? This is a dream?"
"Well, of course it is, dear." The lady smirked. "Why would you want to climb something like this in real life?"
"Figures." The girl mumbled with a scowl.
"Why don't you ask these girls to come with you? Some company would be nice."
"Yeah! You probably know this mountain better than we do." April replied.
"Well, not really, but I guess it wouldn't hurt. My name's Madeline. …You're gonna freeze if you go dressed like that. Hey Lady, do you have any spare coats?"
"Certainly. Dress warmly, you two."
Madotsuki and April came out wearing coats, heavier pants, and boots that resembled their normal clothes, complete with earmuffs. "Phew! Nice and warm!" April smiled. "Of course, our real bodies should be tucked warmly under our blankets. But did you know that, if your mind believes something is real, then you'll actually feel it? We're feeling cold in our dream, so our bodies probably feel cold, even when they're warm!"
"Can we go back to thinking about those Emotions?" Marshadow remarked, growing confused by the topic.
"Hey, do you guys have grappling hooks?" Madeline asked.
"Er, not really." April replied.
"Boy, and I thought I was absentminded. Well, I guess I'll let you borrow my spares." She handed both girls a grappling hook.
"Alright! This should be pretty fun!"
With that, Mado and April traversed across the bridge with their new friend, a forest of pine trees beneath them. "Huh?!" The bridge immediately began to crumble behind them. The girls raced over it, but just as they were nearing the end, they found their selves falling. "QUICK!" Madeline shot her grappler at a floating Hook Gem, the others doing so as well. They were instantly pulled to the gem and landed safely. "Wow! That was awesome!" Marshadow cheered.
"Yeah, if near death experiences make you happy." Madeline said. "So, what's with the little shadow thing in your chest?"
"Marshadow is the Nightmare Firstborn." Madotsuki answered. "We're trying to help him fix the Protoon and save the Dream World."
"Wow… That sounds like a big job. How did you two end up being so important?"
"It's just our typical Kids Next Door duties." April shrugged.
"Oh…so, that's it." Madeline narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Is something wrong?"
"Nothing. Let's just find what you're looking for."
They faced a long road leading toward a tall ledge, but there would be no way to climb up. They had to grapple and swing the gems floating over the path. They had to hang onto some gems as spiked crystals rotated around following ones, having to time when to grapple safely. They flew up the valley in this fashion and reached the tall ledge, which appeared to be the entrance to a forsaken city. They jumped onto a platform that zoomed across a track, launching them off with momentum. They quickly grappled a gem and landed on another Zipper, which launched them the opposite way—Madotsuki quickly grappled a gem up to a secret cage. She could Hover Bubble back down to join her friends on the ledge they landed on. They jumped on a Zipper that shot straight up, the trio having to maneuver rightward to avoid a spike ceiling. The next Zipper launched them up-left and toward a spike wall, but they grappled a gem to the up-right before then.
A locked gate served to block them, so the group grappled upward. There was a white Zipper on a track, but since it couldn't move, April painted it in. "WHOA!" It whooshed toward a low ceiling of spikes, the girls reactively ducking, but Madotsuki's back was scraped. The platform stopped at a ledge with an upward Zipper. It wouldn't move as the track was uncolored, so April colored it, launching them up high enough for them to land on an upper path. This path was set above the spikes they just ducked under, a troupe of Doomtoons marching toward them. As usual, the girls knocked the creatures' eyes out of their bodies, watching the harmless eyes bounce around. At the end of this path, they collected a key, then could drop back down to the locked door. (Play "Resurrections" from Celeste.)
The girls traveled through a dark tunnel, April using her Glow Paint to light the path. As they seemed to exit the cave, stars rained around them. The area was brighter than the cave, but still very dim as stars rained from a pitch-black sky. There was a canvas available for April to paint a strawberry, restoring their health. (Somehow, she figured strawberries were healthier for this setting.) They progressed calmly until they came across a wide mirror. Dark reflections of Madeline, Madotsuki, and April glared at them from beyond the glass.
"Hmph. So, you decided to climb the Mountain, huh?" Dark Madeline asked.
"Oh…it's you again." Madeline glared.
"And you're traveling with KND operatives, huh? Don't they have better things to do than bother with you?"
"And who are you supposed to be?" April asked.
"I'm Madeline, of course. I ran into these two and just decided to tag along with them. I might as well, since they're going to forget about me as soon as they leave."
"I'd like for you to leave so we can forget about you." Madeline argued.
"Go ahead. Try to push me out. But I doubt you'll be able to push these guys out." The dark reflections burst out of the mirror and flew away.
Black sand leaked out of the mirror and morphed into thin, wriggly-tail Nightmares called Fearlings. The Fearlings attempted to cover the girls, but by shaking around, the Nightmares let go. April's Paint Fist would drench the Blacksand in various colors, causing the Fearlings to retreat.
Above them appeared to be a wobbly, black block with colored stars twinkling inside it. Madeline launched her grappler at it, and she was yanked up into it. The others mimicked her action, traveling up through the block and coming out on top. They faced up at a longer Dream Block and launched up to the top of it. They traveled rightward, and it seemed the Block would continue through the wall. They tried to grapple into it diagonally, but upon bumping the inner ground, they took damage and bounced back to where they started. They decided to head left and were ambushed by Blacksand Wolves. April's fist wouldn't paint them, so she and Mado fought together until the wolves split in two. Afterwards, Mado could Bubble and put them to sleep.
They crossed the Dream Block and could drop to a ledge against the Block's left side. They grappled through from that side and could burrow straight across, into the tunnel, and land in a new room. However, Madotsuki noticed a hidden cage room up-left of the exit, so she grappled into the Block from her current angle to reach it.
The girls faced up a very tall Dream Block with several blockades within it, as well as Hook Gems by the sides. Starting from the right, they grappled diagonally up the Block and hooked a gem once out the other side, and they repeated the process as they quickly traveled up the Block. From here, they stood before the lower-left point of a large, star-shaped Dream Block. They grappled through and out the top-right point. Blacksand Bats flapped down to nip them, but Mado's bubbles put the Nightmares to sleep. They used Sadness Tears to water some clouds, which they could use to jump to a high ledge. From there, they Hover Bubbled down a deep shaft, maneuvering around floating spikes before hitting the bottom. They reached the lower-right star point and could grapple through to the upper-left point.
The girls had to swing Dream Gems and water shriveled clouds to fly up this next area. The platforms led upward and right, landing them up on a ledge above the star's top point. Before proceeding, they used the magnifier to examine a cage hidden behind a rock in the background, and could free the Electoons inside. With that, they burrowed straight down through the star's point and out the bottom middle, falling down a shaft. Once they hit the bottom, they crossed a long passage before encountering their Dark Clones. "Hey there, wannabe. Did you complete your mission, yet?"
"It'd go a lot faster if you weren't in my way."
"Do you think finding that Chiptoon or whatever will make you feel important? These two probably do missions like this all the time, getting whatever help is convenient to them. You're just another stepping stone to these two."
"Madeline's not a stepping stone!" April argued. "We may have just met her, but we appreciate her for helping us!"
"And how is she helping? You have your own grappling hooks and the right skills to climb this Mountain. Plus, Madeline can't even fight. You could easily just climb this Mountain on your own."
"Sh-Shut up!" Madeline yelled. "I am being helpful to them! Right?"
"I mean, there haven't been any sections that only you could do."
"Marshadow!" Mado yelled.
"See?" Dark Madeline smirked. "You're just holding them back. Why don't you leave the operatives to their work? Stop acting like you're special."
"Hey, Madeline? Do you have some kind of problem with the KND?" Mado asked.
"Well, I…"
"The only problem she has is that the KND are special." Dark Madeline said. "She hears all about them on the news. Everyone in town talks about them. They accomplish so much in their young lives and Madeline has done nothing in her 20 years of life. And all she's doing now is getting in your way. See for yourself!"
The Dark Clones stepped forward, the girls jumping back. The clones mimicked their action, so the trio jumped over and ran forward. They swung some Hook Gems and would have to swing past rotating spikes, acting quickly before the clones caught up. They swung to a hanging chain and clambered up, but with Fearlings wriggling down, April quickly punched them away so they could keep climbing. They saw some shriveled clouds, which Madotsuki quickly watered. They jumped across the clouds to find a hidden cage, but with the clones closing in, they dropped and hovered back to a lower part of the chain. They resumed climbing and grappled into a Dream Block on the right. They landed under another Block, with blockades on its left and right. They only had a moment to judge this before the clones caught up, but managed to grapple up through the very middle in time. They had to grapple through a Block on the left, taking the higher angle to avoid a blockade. Next, they would have to grapple through a diagonal Block starting from the mid-left side, followed by a diagonal-left Block. They could either grapple through the wider gap on the right side, but by grappling through a tinier gap on the left side, they could flip a switch that would trigger an Electoon Cage at the exit.
The trio had to jump a series of small platforms leading straight up, but the Doomtoons mounted on them served to waste time. The platforms led to a Zipper, which launched them up-right and onto another Zipper. It wouldn't move due to an uncolored track, so April painted it before the clones caught up. The Zipper launched them skyward to a series of Hook Gems, the girls grappling up in quick succession. As they landed on the ledge before a stairway, the dawn faintly shone over the horizon. The girls raced up the stairs with the clones hot on their tail, but once they reached the top, the clones disappeared. (End song.)
The girls walked over to a large gravestone, having a seat to catch their breath. "Phew…so, uh, you get chased by your shadow often?" April asked.
"Sometimes. I guess you two are the same?"
"Only since tonight." Mado panted. "Huff…but, Madeline, is that really how you feel? What she said?"
"Forget about it. It's not a big deal."
"Come on, talk to us." April smiled. "I mean, you don't have to tell us your life's story, but we don't want any weird tension between us."
"I dunno… I just feel like I'm in a rut. Hearing all this stuff about the KND makes me feel like I need to do something with my life. Like climbing a mountain. But since this is a dream and you 'KND operatives' are part of the dream, I feel like being in KND is the only way I can feel accomplished."
"Well, we're not just part of the dream. We're real people; Madotsuki has the power to travel dreams. But no one's telling you to be a KND, right? No one's telling you to be a big hero or do something important, right? What's wrong with just living a normal life?"
"Well, I guess… but what about you two? If you're real operatives, would you want a normal life?"
"Technically, I'm not really an operative." Madotsuki smiled sheepishly. "I just help them sometimes. And it's easy because all I have to do is stay in my room and sleep. Which is pretty much all I do. But now April says I have to be Marshadow's Guardian. So, I guess I won't be able to live a normal life even if I want to."
"It was Index who said that, it wasn't my idea." April mentioned. "Do you… not want to?"
Mado and Marshadow stared at each other for a moment. "Honestly… being a Firstborn Guardian feels like a huge responsibility. If I could, I would make you his Guardian, April."
"Heh, me?" April blushed.
"You sound like you've been through a lot more than I have. You would probably take much better care of Marshadow."
"But don't you like me?" Marshadow asked.
"I do like you! I just don't wanna have a big destiny. I just like sleeping in my house and daydreaming at school. Helping the KND the way I do isn't usually difficult, but I never wanted to…"
"You've been through a lot, Madotsuki, so I understand why you'd feel that way." April said. "But even if you become Marshadow's Guardian, it doesn't mean your life has to change. If anything, we could look after Marshadow ourselves until we really need you. Until then, just enjoy yourself!"
"But I wanted to spend more time with you after this." Marshadow said to Mado. "You're really nice to be around. There's just something inside me that really wants to be near you…"
"Awww." Mado smiled and patted his head. "Of course I will. There's plenty of time to hang out in my dreams, after all."
"We sort of just stopped talking about me, didn't we?" Madeline asked. "I only asked a simple question."
"Oh, we didn't mean to ignore you!" Mado realized. "Did you wanna say something?"
"No, forget it. You guys are the important ones, I'm just tagging along."
"Madeline, all we're trying to say is it isn't always fun to be like us." April said. "I won't deny that it is a lot of fun, but there's nothing wrong with a normal life."
"I guess you're right. Still… if this is an important mission, I'd like to think I'm doing something helpful. Are you guys just gonna think, 'Oh, Madeline was a nice girl, I hope she does well,' and just never talk to me again?"
"We'll come visit you in real life!"
"That's a lot of people we're gonna have to visit." Mado said awkwardly.
"Never mind, forget it." Madeline said. "I don't want you to feel like you have to hang out with me."
"Yes, why would they waste time with a miserable girl like you?" a low voice spoke.
"Gee, thanks for the compliment." Madeline replied angrily. "…Wait, who said that?" (Play "Chase Sequence" from Celeste.)
The girls stood with a start and searched behind the gravestone. A thin, gray man in a black robe eerily walked out of the mist. "Ah, there's the little prince. You're not so terrifying."
"Huh? Do you work for my father?" Marshadow asked.
"I am one of the king's Nightmare Generals. Call me Pitch Black." He bowed courteously. "Now then, how about we just cut to the chase and give me those Chiptoons you have?"
April threw a punch, but Pitch slapped the Paint Fist away. "So, we're doing this the hard way, are we?"
"Oh, Mr. Pitch? Mister?" A chubby, Asian-looking ghost with a green sweater, pink nose, and dark-green hair floated up behind him. "Are you almost finished with your errand?"
"What?! Would you leave me to my business, you persistent old fool?!"
"Y-Yes, of course! Please forgive me! (Oshiro, you idiot, if you bother your customer like this, you'll only drive them away!)"
"You know, it's kind of annoying when people barge into my dream like this." Madeline said with a glare. "I should at least have the right to invite you in."
"But don't you see, girl? So long as you feel fear, you are inviting the Nightmares inside. Of course, we Nightmares have a tendency to break in where we aren't wanted. Now then, Onyx, let's put these three to their final rest!" Pitch waved his arm and conjured a black horse with golden eyes from his Blacksand.
"Neeeeiiigh!"
Sub-boss: Pitch and Onyx
The horse charged at the trio in attempt to ram them, but they latched a Hook Gem overhead and swung away. The horse stopped as Pitch aimed a sand-made bow with multiple arrows, the girls dropping before the arrows could strike. Onyx charged again, so they swung away once more. This time, Madeline dropped to the ground while the others stayed above. Pitch focused his arrows on Mado and April, allowing Madeline to run up, grapple the Nightmare, and pull herself toward him forcefully. The attack damaged Pitch as Onyx galloped backward. Pitch shot his arrows at the Hook Gems to drain their color. Onyx charged them again, but April punched Glow Paint to make the horse jump back in fear of the light. She could recolor the Hook Gems during this weakness, with Madeline grappling up to them, then grappling down at Pitch from behind, landing another strike.
Pitch conjured a wave of sand that allowed Onyx to gallop across the air. The girls grappled up a series of gems to swing around the air. Pitch charged them from the upper-left direction, then looped back around to charge from the right. April anticipated his direction and landed a punch against him. The horse retreated as Pitch began sending multiple streams of sand from random directions. One from the upper-left, one from below, the very right, the lower-left, leaving less room for them to swing with each wave. They all disappeared as Pitch charged them himself, but Madeline shot her grappler in time to latch him and land another hit. They landed on the ground as a storm of Blacksand enveloped the background. Horses charged one after the other, the girls evading as necessary. As expected, Pitch was riding one of the horses, and April shot her fist to impact him before he could pass.
"Agh!" Onyx came to a halt when it felt its master in distress. "I'll let my minions take care of you instead. I have a Chiptoon to collect!" Pitch kicked his horse as it galloped across the road. The girls quickly ran after him, but a group of Sand Wolves appeared. The Nightmares were hurriedly dealt with as they chased Pitch toward a large hotel that seemed to be built around a mountain. (Play "Checking In" from Celeste.)
Act 2: Celestial Resort
The lobby of the hotel was fairly empty, excluding the piles of laundry strewn about. The windows were cracked and there were cobwebs in several places. Madotsuki saw a cage up near the ceiling, and the only way to get to it was to drink the shrink potion and enter a small hole in the wall. Madotsuki could use the grappler to swing Hook Gems up the interior scaffolds, having to fight back the cute spiders patrolling each platform. She could exit a hole at the top and grow back to normal before breaking the Electoon Cage. Mado rejoined her friends as they entered the first hallway, seeing Pitch and Oshiro across the other end. "Oshiro, would you quit wasting my time and point me to the Chiptoon?"
"Y-Yes, yes, of course! Just follow me up these stairs! (Darn it, Oshiro, you're losing him! You can screw this up, you idiot!)"
Just then, a large swarm of black and red goop erupted from Oshiro and cluttered the hallway. The girls jumped over the first mounds of Toxic Sludge, but were stopped by a taller mound. They hooked a Hook Gem above its tip, but the rest of the floor seemed flooded with the substance. They would have to swing subsequent hooks and avoid the Flying Sludge in-between. They could land on a floor with small wriggly tendrils, and after casually stepping around a bit, April was hurt when the tendrils suddenly morphed into sludge. "Yowch! I guess we should be mindful where we step!"
The following room had floating stacks of laundry, requiring them to jump up the initial stacks to reach the airborne ones. Flying Sludge circled the many blocks of laundry as they jumped and climbed their way up, but they could avoid the sludge by ducking. There was a mass of laundry going into the wall on the left, and Mado was able to crouch and crawl into a gap. The gap had a dead end, but it seemed she flipped a switch that spawned a cage at the entrance, which April promptly broke. They climbed the laundry to the ceiling, where they could climb a rope through a vent. The vent let out on a new floor, where Mado was swiftly attacked by a Sand Elf. A group of elves snickered mischievously and ran about the floor. Madeline shot her grappler to one to pull herself over and headbutt the elf, working in tandem with her allies to KO the elves.
There was a washing machine in the left corner and a Kittentia surfing around inside it. Madotsuki used the magnifier to examine her. Kittentia shot out of the washer, wielding a magic scrubbing stick. She landed in a swimming pool somewhere and saw a lifeguard sleeping on the tower. Kittentia aimed her magic scrubber and fired a ray of light at the lifeguard: he transformed into Santa Claus.
"H-Ho, ho?" The lifeguard woke up with a fright. Feeling something fuzzy on his face, he pulled out a mirror, and was utterly shocked by his Santafied self. "Hoooooo! Hoooooo! Hooooooo!" Waving his arms in panic, the lifeguard fell off and into the pool.
With that, the girls proceeded into the next room. Waterfalls were leaking from the ceiling and flooding the lower floor. Madotsuki blew a large air bubble to envelop her friends, allowing them to traverse underwater. They jumped over small whirlpools of laundry, then had to jump small platforms up a tall shaft. Whirlpools swirled beneath each platform, requiring a careful jump trajectory. Afterwards, they began to cross a passage with a current blowing against them, having to either jump or duck clusters of laundry that were caught within it. Once they were past, a stairway led up and out of the water.
They stood before a large room full of Toxic Sludge. Pitch and Oshiro were near the top of the room. "I'm certain I left the Chiptoon around here…"
"This place is a complete mess, Oshiro! How could you leave it lost amongst all this clutter?!"
"I-I promise I'll find it! In the meantime, would you like to wait in our presidential suite?"
"I'll find the blasted thing myself!" Pitch smacked Oshiro aside and stomped through the door.
"(No, you're losing him, Oshiro! If you can't keep such an esteemed customer, you're doomed!)"
A line of five Flying Sludges swooped to and fro between them and a Hook Gem, the trio grappling to it with careful timing. Afterwards, they had to jump up small platforms with tendrils on them, meaning that sludge would appear after they left those platforms. Fearlings wriggled down to stop them, and the girls had to take them down without jumping, lest they return to sludge-covered foothold. The next sequence of platforms had tendrils on the sides with sludge already on top. The trio had to grab the ledge of each platform before hang-jumping to the next, but as the same rules would apply, they had to hang from each ledge as a group, or else the sludge would prevent the others from advancing.
The girls grappled up a series of Hook Gems with sludge flying through each one, preventing them from hanging on them for more than a second. They reached a safe foothold and would have to crouch under a narrow tunnel of the sludge. Seeing the tunnel sloping downward, the girls removed their shoes, crouched, and slid under the sludge on socks. The slope would go up a ramp, and they jumped with quick timing to fly over a large mound of sludge—Madotsuki shot a Hook Gem toward the upper-left, going through a narrow tunnel of sludge to find a cage. Afterwards, she could glide back down to her friends. They landed beside a canvas as April painted another strawberry. Once their health was replenished, the girls jumped up another sequence of platforms before reaching a door. They entered a large, decrepit, but luxurious-looking bedroom. (End song.)
At first glance, there was nothing dangerous, so they calmly stepped forward—"AAAAH!" They were immediately surrounded by a thick column of Toxic Sludge, leaving only a small gap open for them to see through.
"There! I've trapped them! Are you pleased, Mr. Pitch?" Oshiro asked anxiously.
"Yes, very pleased." Pitch smirked, crawling out from under the bed. "Now, if you would please, girls…" He held a hand open expectingly, "the Chiptoons."
"You aren't getting a single one, you creep!" Marshadow yelled.
The general loosed a Sand Arrow and struck Madeline in the shoulder. "OW!"
"HEY, leave Madeline alone! She has nothing to do with this!" April shouted.
"Give me the Chiptoons or I'll load you with far more arrows!"
"H-Hey, if this is just a dream, we'll just wake up if we get seriously hurt, right?" Madeline asked.
"What? You mean you haven't told her?" asked Pitch. "With the Protoon destroyed, no one will be able to wake up. If you die, you'll basically be asleep forever."
"A-Asleep… forever?! I'm gonna die?!" Madeline's pupils shrank in fear.
"We're sorry we didn't tell you." April said. "It just didn't come up, so we…"
"I-I don't wanna die! I don't want…I don't want…"
The world began rumbling as huge, dark tentacles broke through the walls. "What is happening?!" Pitch exclaimed.
Madeline began hyperventilating, sinking to her knees. "She's having a panic attack!" April exclaimed. "Madeline, calm down!"
Pitch grit his teeth impatiently as the tentacles closed in. "OSHIRO! THE CHIPTOON! Give it to me now!"
"Y-Y-Yes!" Oshiro flew over to a wardrobe. "It's right here, Mr. Pitch." He withdrew a yellow, electrical orb.
Madotsuki shot her grappler and seized the Chiptoon, yanking it over as Marshadow grabbed it. "AAAAAAHH!" The panic Madeline was feeling immediately coursed through him, gasping and panting as the tentacles swat the sludge away. Madotsuki, April, Pitch, and Oshiro were grabbed and squeezed by the tentacles.
"Madeline, you have to calm down! Please!" April shouted.
Y-yeah. Right. Remember what Theo taught you, Madeline. Remember… the feather… Madeline closed her eyes and imagined a gold feather floating in front of her. She breathed out to make the feather rise… breathed in to make it sink… breathed out… and in… and out… She kept her breath consistent so the feather floated at a calm, gentle pace… Eventually, her heart and mind were at ease.
The tentacles released them and shrank away. Marshadow calmed down as well—Pitch immediately lashed a sand claw and snatched the Chiptoon away from him. "I've wasted enough time here!" He flew up through a large hole in the ceiling that the tentacles broke open.
"Mr. Pitch, wait!" Oshiro flew after.
"Huff…sorry about that." Madeline said. "I should've told you about my panic attacks."
"You got us out of that sludge, so don't be too upset." April said, helping her to stand. "But we have to go after them!"
"Y-Yeah! Let's go!"
Hook Gems lined the interior of the shaft, so the girls grappled up and onto the roof of the hotel. "Please, Mr. Pitch!" Oshiro begged, tugging on the man's cloak. "My hotel is falling apart! I need someone to stay! Please!"
"Then why don't you secure a permanent room for them?!" Pitch shot Oshiro with an arrow. (Play "Oshiro Chase" from Celeste.)
"NNNHHH!" Oshiro's head swelled as his peach skin turned white, his eyes full of malice. "It's not my fault… it was beyond my control… I did everything I could to accommodate my guests… If destroying them is all I can do to please you… then I WILL!"
Boss fight: Mr. Oshiro
Oshiro launched at the trio with mouth agape, Mado trying to shoot a bubble as they jumped over, but Oshiro endured the hit. The ghost returned as they jumped again, with Madeline bouncing on his head, causing his mouth to snap shut on his own tongue and take damage. Oshiro lunged at them with faster speed, but Madotsuki bonked him this time and dealt another hit. Oshiro took to the sky and spat Toxic Sludge down. The girls evaded 10 globs of the substance before Oshiro stopped to catch his breath, his tongue hanging out. Madeline grappled his tongue, shot up, and headbutted the ghost. Oshiro flew to the right side of the roof and flew up-and-down, spitting a barrage of sludges at various heights. The girls alternated between high jumps, low jumps, and quick drop downs or ducks to avoid the flurry of sludge. Oshiro tried to launch at them with a surprise attack, only for Madeline to stomp his head in return.
Oshiro flew away again and barfed out a great tsunami of sludge. Hook Gems seemed to fly out with the waves, so they grappled one above, grappled a low one through a narrow gap of sludge, then performed quick and careful jumps over the next few waves, with Mado's head bumping some and taking damage. The waves ended as Oshiro lunged, suffering a bonk under Mado's boots. Oshiro flew even higher and spat out several sludges that swept left and right. Madeline grappled up the Hook Gems while avoiding the fast-moving sludges—she took a hint and was dropped back to the ground. She endured the pain and grappled up again, dodging the sludges more carefully. Oshiro floated at the top of the sequence and had to be hooked past the sludges just the same, but Madeline successfully landed another hit to the ghost.
They both returned to the roof as Oshiro spat out a faster barrage of sludge. In their hasty dodging, April and Madotsuki took a hit, and they nearly missed Oshiro when he whooshed by. The ghost barfed and flooded the roof with sludge, requiring them to swing across flying Hook Gems again. They latched between high and low hooks to avoid the sludges that would follow, but Oshiro whooshed underneath before they could realize it. They endured another round of swinging as Madeline was hurt in shooting upward, but when she saw Oshiro about to fly across the upper area, she let the momentum fly her up so she could bounce on him. The girls could land on the roof again, having to duck under a huge, flying wave of sludge. Oshiro waited at the end of their little gap, readying his teeth. After waiting long enough, he launched—but this was just the same time that an overhead gap flew by, allowing them to jump up into it before smashing down on Oshiro. (End song.)
"Oooooohh!" The ghost's head deflated like a balloon as he plopped on the roof.
"Huff…huff…" Madotsuki gasped for breath. "That was cl-"
Pitch Black shot his sand claw directly into Mado's window. The three Chiptoons were yanked out of her. "You girls were more annoying than I anticipated. We'll return to finish the prince off later. His Majesty will be delighted to have these!" Pitch mounted Onyx and rode off into the dawn horizon.
"THE CHIPTOONS!" Marshadow screamed.
"Oh, no!" Madeline panicked. "After climbing this far… it's like we accomplished nothing."
"We'll get them back!" April assured. "Look, there's the Exit Portal! As long as we have Marshadow, we can track where Pitch takes them!"
"I'll go with you! I feel bad that this happened…"
"It wasn't your fault, Madeline. But you don't have to come with us."
"But I…I feel like I haven't done anything. I don't want to just… end the mission like this."
"Madeline, it sounds there's a lot of things you're trying to figure out with your life. I'm sorry our conversation was kind of cut short, but we really appreciate you for helping us. We don't want you to trouble yourself with our mission. Just focus on living, and some day, we'll come back to visit you."
"I… Okay." Madeline bowed her head in a frown.
Madotsuki tipped her chin up and shared a smile. "Promise you'll enjoy your normal life. It's probably more exciting than you think."
"Heh… okay." Madeline smiled back.
With one last friendly farewell, Madotsuki conjured a portal onto the nearby pedestal. She, April, and Marshadow were slurped inside. "Hmm…" Madeline looked over at a nearby payphone. She walked up and dialed a number.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Mom."
"Madeline! Are you enjoying your trip?"
"I'm fine, but… I think I had a bad dream."
"Oh, dear. Is everything alright?"
"Yeah…" Madeline smiled contently. "Besides that, things are pretty good."