A little trivia about Darkrai and fearbenders, their power depends on the phase of the moon. Full moons make them weakest, new moons are strongest, with other levels fitting the phases in-between. But anyway, uh… disturbing content at the end of this chapter. Be forewarned.
Play Mr. Dark's theme from Rayman!
Final boss: Darkrai I
Madotsuki encased the Protoon in a bubble attached to her wand. In order to reach the king's head, she latched a series of Hook Gems to swing to the top of the hat of Polokus's statue, but the head still loomed a few meters above. The king wriggled his fingers and rained Ztars around Mado, the girl dodging left and right. Afterwards, he attempted to smash her beneath his hands, but she dodged once more and bashed the Protoon against his fingers, the force of the powerful gem making his right hand wince from pain, while the left hand merely snapped loose. Darkrai began to surge power in his throat, his goggles shining as he bellowed a Scare Scream in the form of a bright-red laser. The laser burned along the ground after Mado, but some Electoons guided butterflies over. Madotsuki could Bubble and use them as bounce pads. She got level with his goggles and shot the Protoon against them, his face receding for a bit as the beam was stopped. Darkrai grabbed his false hand and reattached it, swiping both hands across the field in turns as Mado either jumped or ducked. However, Darkrai tricked her and stopped his hand on one swipe, able to grab and squeeze her for damage.
Darkrai tossed Mado to the side while his head leaned toward the opposite side. He pinned one of his nostrils shot and blew Horror Sludge out of the other one (resembling Oshiro's Toxic Sludge). Madotsuki quickly jumped before the sludge could wash over, using the Hover Bubble. She feared falling in, but Electoons carried a Hook Gem over in time for her to Hookshot it, flinging up to Darkrai's eyes for the next hit. The sludge stopped flowing as Mado could land, and Darkrai returned above the center. He tossed a gumball in his mouth, chewed, and spat wads of the substance around the ground with the intent to trap Mado. She jumped to whatever free space was available, but just as the floor was nearly drenched, Electoons pulled clouds over the field for Mado to jump on. Angered, Darkrai attempted to inhale the clouds, but Mado spilled Sadness Tears over one.
She jumped off and onto the sticky ground. Darkrai's eyes were forced to water from the tears, his goggles flooding, so he cracked them open to let the water pour out and wash the gum away. Darkrai growled and decided to rest his chin on the side of the field, putting a hand over his goggles to protect them. He stretched his mouth wide as a Scare Beam charged within, but Mado bravely rushed up to the mouth and poured the Shrink Potion inside. Darkrai gagged on the potion as his gigantic compressed to a smaller form, albeit he was still three times Mado's size. "Well, this isn't good. Time to recuperate!" Darkrai bundled into his cape and assumed his Nightmare Ball form, rising to the sky.
"Madotsuki! I'll handle this one!" Mr. Dark swooped by as Mado tossed him the Protoon. They flew above the clouds where the crescent moon was in view. Mr. Dark evaded Darkrai's Ztars and cast spells from the Protoon, steadily breaching the ball's defense. Darkrai flew further away and cast a Ztar Storm, and while Dark was able to fly within a snaky path between the Ztars, he took damage from some of them. He could resume shooting Darkrai after the storm, and when the ball appeared to be charging a burst of energy, Mr. Dark curled into his own ball and rammed him. With a flash of energy, Darkrai flew to the background and fell like a comet. Mr. Dark returned beneath the clouds, falling alongside his foe. "AGH!" He was struck by something unseen, finding himself covered in milk.
"Dark-san!" Mado cried. While he fell beneath the statue, the Protoon was dropped back to Mado's care.
"It must've been Randall again!" Rayman deduced, having gone back to fighting his dark self.
"Who?" Diwata asked.
"He's a chameleon Nightmare who's completely invisible!" NiGHTS answered after dealing a kick to Reala's head. "He was sabotaging Second Darkrai before!"
"Invisible? If only there were a full moon, I could find him easy."
"I'll just track him with Aura Sense!" Sunni said, closing her eyes and focusing chi.
You'll have to try harder than that to bypass my Complete Invisibility. Randall smirked in thought.
Darkrai stayed in the background to cast Ztars at Madotsuki, but by using her magnifier, she brought him back to the field. The smaller king opened his cloak to try and drill her with his tornado, but Mado shot the Protoon at it and seemed to damage him. He flew to the left side and opened his cloak, shooting Ztars that she ducked or jumped. Madotsuki could hit the Ztars back with the Protoon, changing them into normal stars that damaged him. Darkrai then attempted to swoop over the field to scratch Mado, but a quick strike to the head forced him back. "Grrr! It's time to get back in shape!" Darkrai puffed back to his normal giant size. "That's more like it! Try to survive this!" Darkrai summoned an even greater storm of Ztars, and the gaps in-between were too complicated and fast to navigate.
As Mado dreaded the fast-approaching storm, a terrible memory of something similar sparked: Mado assumed the form of a Stoplight and froze time. She toggled the power on and off in order to safely navigate the Ztars, until the full storm had passed. The Electoons tossed a Hook Gem over afterwards for Mado to fly up and strike the king. "Ah! Was that timebending?! No, it was a power from your Dream Molding. But I can sense the trauma in your heart child. Some of these powers are quite inconvenient!" Darkrai tipped up his goggles, using a Scare Stare to stun her. She was forced into using the Poop Hair effect, leaving some flies in each area she stepped away from. Those flies would grow large and hazardous, so as Darkrai swiped hands over the field, Mado had to be mindful of her jumps. She left a trail of flies, so she tried to make small arches and left herself enough room to avoid the attacks. An Electoon finally brought a Hook Gem over, so Mado could strike the king's head. Doing so dispelled the flies and her gross hair.
Darkrai conjured a barrier around the field and rose to the opening up top. He spewed saliva into the barrier with the intent to drown Mado, but by using the Frog effect, she could safely swim and float. Piranhas fell in with the saliva, so Madotsuki maneuvered underwater to avoid the fish and dispel them with the Protoon. Eventually, the water rose to Darkrai's head, where Mado hopped out to land the blow that would dispel the water. "Ow, my nose! I need a moment to fix this!" Darkrai curled in his ball form and returned to the sky. Mr. Dark flew up after cleaning his cloak and borrowed the Protoon again.
Darkrai conjured an electric barrier to prevent Dark's attacks from getting through. Fear Spheres formed on Darkrai's side as he rammed them like a billiard ball, bypassing the electric. Dark curled in his ball form and rammed them as well, having to send them in Darkrai's trajectory to damage him.
Darkrai decided to uncurl and draw Exor, suspending it with the blade facing down. He was slurped into the mouth of the sword's hilt. Exor spat Fear Spheres in rapid succession, Mr. Dark evading and casting fire at the eyes. The eyelids steadily closed with each attack, and once they were totally blinded, the mouth spat out an electric sphere to power Dark up. The red eyes of the pommel head glowed and were about to stun Dark with a powerful Scare Stare, but Mr. Dark electrocuted the hilt with purple lightning. The sword was about to drop, forcing Darkrai to emerge and reclaim it. Darkrai swooped downward with Mr. Dark in pursuit, trying to shoot fireballs, but Darkrai's open cloak simply caught them. "AGH!" An invisible Milk Missile struck Mr. Dark again, and Darkrai swatted him out of the air. Some Electoons flew to catch the Protoon and return it to Mado.
"That invisible guy shot him again!" Sunni exclaimed. "Why couldn't I track him?"
"Sunni, maybe I can help!" Diwata offered. "There may not be a full moon, but maybe my moonbending can purify your sight enough to find him."
"Grrr, why are we just standing here?!" Harvey shouted. "We should be fighting him, not-"
"Don't." Mesprit said. "Someone else needs to help her…" She turned to Marshadow.
"Y-You mean me? But I...I'm afraid he'll absorb me, too."
"If Madotsuki's your Guardian, she'll protect you!"
"But…"
Darkrai lowered his head to the side of the field and blew a powerful gust of wind with Ztars mixed in. Madotsuki pedaled her bike to fight the gust and jump the projectiles, but before she could land a hit, Darkrai tipped up his goggles and used Scare Stare. Madotsuki recalled the time her classmates made fun of her for eating donuts, and she forcibly swelled into her fat form. Darkrai raised Exor and tried to stab down, but despite her heftier weight, she was able to dodge the sword. Darkrai flew further back and slashed the blade at multiple angles, but as Mado kept dodging, she felt out of breath in her chubby form. Even trying to duck a swing didn't help as the sword managed to barely cut her back.
Fortunately, the exercise she got from all this dodging caused her to lose weight and return to her normal thinness. Darkrai returned above the field, aimed the sword down, and pierced the statue with such force that the ground caught on fire. Before the fire could spread to her, Madotsuki used the Umbrella effect to make it rain and douse the flames. Darkrai growled and raised the sword, about to chop it down, but Mado quickly switched to the Demon effect and caused lightning to strike in the rain. "AAAAAAAAHHHH!" His sword acting as a rod, Darkrai was electrocuted, causing him to sink. Madotsuki was able to land five shots with the Protoon to his head. (End song.)
"GOT YOU!" Darkrai seized her in his grasp as soon as he recovered. "Ha ha ha ha!" He giggled at Mado's attempt to squirm free. "Who was going to show me what it means to be afraid? You've been a nuisance, but I'm hardly afraid of you. However, you feel quite nice squirming in my grasp."
"LET GO OF HER!" Mr. Dark tried to fly up—he found his eyes were suddenly on the ground and dislodged from his cloak. "What?! What just happened?"
"Guys, over there!" Nebula pointed. "Randall must be near Mr. Dark!"
Sunni faced that direction with Diwata still focusing Moon Chi over her face. Sunni's Aura Sense couldn't detect anything at first… until a faint silhouette resembling a chameleon flickered near Dark's fallen cloak. Sunni quickly tossed a Psy-Sphere, and Randall gasped as he dodged it. "HEY, I can sense him more clearly!"
"Crud!" Randall tried to scurry away. His Complete Invisibility could only hold so long as he was holding his breath, so he tried to suck it back in—Diwata dashed in his direction and spread Lunar Flames at a wide range. "AAAAH! FIRE! PUT IT OUT!" The flames highlighted the invisible Nightmare. "W-Wait… it doesn't hurt-" Diwata struck Randall with Moon Beams, each shot causing him to flash an array of colors and camouflages. She pounced him and beat Randall to a pulp, until he finally fell unconscious.
Murfy grabbed Mr. Dark's eyes and put them back in his cloak. Once he had control of himself again, the Creation flew up the statue. Darkrai swung Exor to keep him away, flying higher as Madotsuki kept squirming. "How can you be so brave as to face me when your fear still eats away at you? Yes…" Darkrai opened his hand and kept Mado binded in the fingers. "There it is! The source of all your terror!" The red-oozing monster gazed at the Nightmare King with a beaming expression, slapping its hand to Mado's window. "What say you we let it out for some fun?" He pricked a finger from his left hand over the window.
"AAAAAAHHH! NOOOO! STOP IT, STOP IT!" The hands of Darkrai felt like the hands of the monster, and as Madotsuki's trauma surfaced in her memory, the Protoon in her bubble began to spiral with darkness.
"Your fear will make a most marvelous snack! Don't worry: I'll take care of the Protoon for you." He picked the gem away from Madotsuki and discarded the child down his throat.
"MR. DARK!"
"Huh?" Mr. Dark faced down at Marshadow, the spirit raising his little arms.
"Let me help! That jerk of a dad needs to pay!"
"My thoughts exactly!" Mr. Dark flew down and allowed Marshadow to wear him like an oversized coat. They soared to the sky in pursuit of the Holy Nightmare.
"It's your turn now, you wretched first son of mine!" The Protoon enlarged to fit Darkrai's right hand, still wielding Exor in the left. "I will return you to my arm at once!" (Play "The Dark Protoon" from Rayman Redemption!)
Phase 2: The Dark Protoon
Mr. Dark conjured his Darkband, strumming the guitar to send out bursts of fire against the Darktoon. Darkrai launched fireworks that exploded into nightmarish flames, and Mr. Dark had to navigate around the safe paths before resuming attack on the Darktoon. Darkrai then cast down Ztars that left trails of dust to block the path, so Mr. Dark blew in his instrument's saxophone to scatter the dust. Darkrai tried to slash him, but Dark electrocuted the sword with purple lightning and stunned the king. "Marshadow, go inside! Look for Madotsuki!" Mr. Dark strummed a piano path for Marshadow to surf into Darkrai's spatial cloak.
Arriving in a red sub-dimension, Marshadow could see five giant black arms reaching out from a small center and grasping yellow gas canisters. Those canisters were connected to Darkrai via cords, and seemed to be transferring Fear Chi to him. "Wait… Brother! Is that you?!"
"My, what are you doing in here, child?" Darkrai's high voice replied in a less echoey manner. "Begone!"
Marshadow dodged Fear Spheres and flew toward one of the cannisters. He heard the familiar screams of Madotsuki and saw that the arms originated from her window. Ztars fell that Marshadow dodged, with two diagonal rows of them crossing directly behind and attempting to close in on him. Marshadow closed in on the first cannister and leapt to grab it. The cannister overloaded with his Fear Chi and exploded, blowing Marshadow out of the dimension.
"Marshadow!" Mr. Dark grabbed him. "What happened in there?"
"These arm things were coming out of Mado and grabbing these tanks! I destroyed one of the tanks, but…"
"We'll just have to keep going!" After Darkrai sent another round of fireworks, he conjured three giant Ztars to help shield the Darktoon. Mr. Dark shined a spotlight from the Darkband, focusing it on each Ztar to steadily electrify it until it exploded. They released rings of Ztars, in which he had to fly between a gap once wide enough. Darkrai conjured walls of red spikes that Dark maneuvered around, but was nearly caught off guard when the king thrusted his sword, barely dodging. A spire of lightning rose from the Darktoon and rained down around Dark, the Creation using his own lightning to shield himself. Mr. Dark struggled to maintain his position, but the lightning eventually cleared away as Dark cast what he had amassed at the Darktoon. It forcibly bounced the energy into Darkrai's hand and electrocuted him.
Dark sent Marshadow into the god's cloak again. A wall of spikes was pursuing Marshadow, and several more walls sprung up in his way. Marshadow had to quickly find and float through the openings before the back wall caught up. By the time he reached the cannister, the spikes were merely an inch behind him, but his brief touch was able to destroy it. After being forced back outside, he was caught by Mr. Dark. Darkrai blew a waterfall of Horror Sludge from his nostrils and shot large lasers from the Darktoon. By strumming the Darkband's piano keys, he could send waves of keys to temporarily block the sludge-fall and shoot the Darktoon. Eventually, Darkrai ceased this technique and raised his sword again.
Darkrai would begin to cut the air, and Mr. Dark would see a streak appear near him. He would only have a second to move away from that streak before suffering a follow-up cut. Dark evaded these streaks and attacked the Darktoon until it grew overwhelmed with power and electrocuted Darkrai. Marshadow bravely flew into the cloak, where smaller versions of Exor launched from random directions. He did so while maneuvering around some Exors spinning in place, followed by an Exor pursuing while chopping like an axe. Two more Exors emerged from, above or beneath before the cannister, but Marshadow made it through and touched it.
Mr. Dark caught him as he was expelled. Darkrai made a whistle as a swarm of Doomtoons flew on Warp Ztars, making jet sounds in their attempt to tear through Dark. The Creation bopped the Darkband's drums when the Ztars were in front, sending small jets of sound that would flip the Ztars, the Doomtoons off, and allow Mr. Dark to throw them against the Darktoon. Darkrai used the gem to conjure a thousand illusions of Doomtoons, making them indistinguishable from real ones. Mr. Dark shone the instrument's spotlight, which could make the fake Toons appear faded. With that, he bopped the drums against the real Toons, seized their Ztars, and tossed them at the Darktoon until the king was electrified.
Mr. Dark tossed Marshadow onto a spare Ztar so he could fly in at full speed! Doomtoons chased the Firstborn, coming in on him, but by shifting up and down, he was able to confuse the creatures and trick them into crashing against each other. The speed of his Ztar cut through the fourth cannister, but he was still blown out just as quickly. As Mr. Dark began the next round of blasts, Darkrai willed it to snow as twin diamond saws flew from the Darktoon. The saws would close on Dark's current position, in which he would dodge, and the process would repeat as the saws kept looping around. Once enough damage was done to the Darktoon, Darkrai ceased the attack.
He dropped a series of giant Ztars around the space, but after Mr. Dark maneuvered around, the Ztars would explode into smaller ones, requiring him to find a gap to squeeze through. Some of the Ztars scratched his cloak, but he endured, determined to shoot the Darktoon. "GAH!" A large, red arm emerged from Darkrai's mouth and grasped Mr. Dark.
"Hey!" Marshadow was able to fly out. "You let him go!" He tried to fly at his father's face, only for Exor to swat him away.
"What's wrong, son? Are you afraid to use your power? Then give it back to me!" Darkrai attempted to cut Marshadow out of the air, the tiny spirit hastily dodging.
Marshadow grit his teeth and glanced down at the Darktoon. With a huff of courageous breath, he dove down and hugged the gem. "AAAAAHH!" The Protoon began vibrating from the surge in power, electrifying Darkrai. "What are you up to? Do you intend to break it again?!"
His hold on Mr. Dark waned, so the Creation flew into the cloak instead. "Madotsuki!" He saw four of the black arms wriggling from her tiny window, with the fifth one holding the last cannister. He flew forward and strummed his guitar, bringing up a spire of fire to burn some incoming Ztars. Horror Sludge rained down, but his piano keys served as a shield. Walls of spikes rose, but with more fierce strums, he tore through them all until he arrived at the final cannister. After destroying it, the five arms began shaking, desperate to squeeze free of Madotsuki's window. "NO! You stay where you are!" Mr. Dark struck the beast with lightning. "I could do nothing but watch from behind that window, as you did what you did to Madotsuki! Now, you can stay in the dark confines of her heart."
"Oh, poor Thaddeus, won't you let him come out and play?" Darkrai's core cast strings down at the arms, Madotsuki screaming as they tried to pull the beast from her body.
"Stop! Stop!" the girl cried. "Let me go! Let me go, I don't wanna!"
"Wake up, Madotsuki! It's not real, anymore! It's only a nightmare! Madotsuki, listen to this song… Listen, and calm down…" Mr. Dark dispelled the Darkband and replaced it with a flute. (Play "Flute Player" from Yume Nikki.)
Despite having no mouth, he played a happy jingle with the flute. A barrage of Fear Spheres launched from every direction, so he had to evade them to focus on his song. The tune reached his creator's ears as her heart began to ease. The arms stopped struggling as Madotsuki's eyes softly opened. "…!" But the sight of the arms growing from her window drove her to panic. "Dark-san! What do I do?!"
"It's alright, Madotsuki… You must accept. Accept what has happened… and leave this nightmare in your dreams."
"…" With a heavy heart, Madotsuki crammed her hand into her window and pulled the Knife. She stabbed each of the arms, causing them to recede, crying as she did so. Once they were gone, Mr. Dark hugged his creator. "I am sorry, Madotsuki… I'm sorry this all had to happen to you… That you had to be forced to remember…"
"I'm glad to have you back, but… how long is it going to hurt, Dark-san? Does this thing have to stay inside me… forever?"
"So long as you remember the pain, it will always haunt you. But I will be here to keep you whole. And so will your new friends… always…"
"Sniff…thank you… Dark-san."
"AAAAAAAHHH!"
They faced the exit with a gasp. "Marshadow!"
Outside, Darkrai had dropped the Dark Protoon to the ground. Marshadow was holding on, desperate to keep it together. "No… I won't let you fall apart… again!"
Mr. Dark carried Madotsuki out of the cloak, quickly returning to the ground. "Marshadow! What happened?!"
"I'm trying to suck all the excess Fear Chi out of this thing! But I feel like… it's gonna blow up either way!"
"If the Protoon scatters again, we'll never be able to finish Darkrai!" Mr. Dark yelled. "You must keep it together!"
"You can do it, Marshadow!"
"Aaaaaaahhhh! It's too much! I can't…"
"Don't just let him do it by himself!" a girl's voice shouted.
"Huh?" Madotsuki turned, spotting a nun in a white and gold habit. "Who're you?"
"Index!" Nebula exclaimed. "When did you get here?"
"Well, this is her dreamscape." April replied.
"April!" Mado gasped. "You made it!"
"Yep!" April smiled. "I feel like I would've died, but I was suddenly able to wake up. I guess Marshadow was able to fix the Protoon."
"He sure was!" Mesprit cheered. "It was all thanks to him!"
"No it was—ow!" Crest said, but Mesprit slapped him with a tail.
"But he needs your help this time!" Index stated. "Do what you did before… and put them to sleep!"
"But they're too powerful! I couldn't make a Sleep Bubble strong enough!"
"We're here to help you!" an Indian voice spoke.
"Whuh…?"
Madotsuki was taken aback by all the new visitors that had appeared: Jessie Sidney, Spongebob Squarepants, Acanom Awot, and Otokam. "Who are you guys?"
"Hello, there!" Acanom greeted. "I know we've never met, but we're fellow Bubble Dreamers. The Teensies told us what was happening and led us here!"
"We'll put that Protoon right to sleep!" Spongebob declared.
"You guys got room for a few more?" another boy spoke.
The Phantom Thieves of Hearts had entered the chamber, accompanied by Max and Linus (from Sharkboy and Lavagirl), as well as the Black Rock Shooter. "Hey, it's the Phantom Thieves!" Murfy pointed. "From the DLC that wasn't released, yet!"
"So, we gotta put those things to sleep, right?" Linus asked. "Shouldn't be too hard."
"Okay, all together now!" Max announced, hands over his head. "Everyone ready?"
"Hm…" Black Rock huffed tonelessly.
Madotsuki smiled in gratitude. She put her hands around her window and slowly extracted a pink bubble. The Dreamers formed bubbles from their calm minds and bent them over Marshadow and the Protoon. The soothing air of the combined bubble warmed them… and Marshadow felt sleepy. The Dark Protoon stopped rumbling… and faded into its natural pinkish color.
Madotsuki released a sigh. "Mado?" April spoke. "It's time…"
Mado nodded. She withdrew the Spirit Ball from her pocket and threw it into the bubble. It softly bonked Marshadow. His body morphed into dark mist and was sucked into the ball, the bubble popping. The ball beeped and vibrated on the ground next to the Protoon… and it sealed with a satisfying boop…
The ball levitated in the air and flash with a soft purple aura. It was soft to Mado's hands as she took it. (End song.)
Madotsuki captured a NEWBORN! Only 7 to go!
With that, Madotsuki cracked open the ball and released him. Marshadow now displayed a purple tint on his shady body. "Huh? What just happened?"
"You did it, Marshadow." Madotsuki said. "You stopped the Protoon from breaking!"
"No I didn't… you guys had to help me."
"But it would've definitely broke if it stayed in Darkrai's hands." April assured. "You saved it! And you saved Mado, too."
"Heh heh…" The little spirit blushed.
"Phew, I guess that wraps up this catastrophe!" said Oracle, one of the Phantom Thieves. "Protoon is fixed, Darkrai is defeated, let's wake up and get some coffee!"
"But I don't remember him getting defeated." Queen replied.
"So? I don't see him anywhere."
The dreamers looked around the sky with concern. The dark clouds had cleared away, revealing the stars and faint sliver of a crescent moon. "Hey, it's about to become a new moon." Crest said.
"I guess it was about time…" Diwata figured.
Just as the last sliver of moon faded away… a great blue eye opened on the moon. (Play "Opening 2" from Kirby of the Stars.)
"I am the darkness that covers the night sky… NIGHTMARE MOON!" Darkrai's head had grown gigantic was the Moon Eye replaced his goggles. His Purple crescent moons glowed on his helmet, and his cape had become a mystical purple on which the stars flowed. "No matter what dreams you imagine… they are laden with fear. And I… am the master of ALL DREAMS!"
Madotsuki stared at Marshadow with determination. Marshadow nodded, a newfound spark in his eyes. Mr. Dark picked the Protoon up and placed it in the center of his cloak. Madotsuki raised her bubble wand and assumed her Witch form. She sat on the broomstick with Marshadow, and they all took flight to the heavens.
Phase 3: Nightmare Moon
Darkrai cast a series of giant Ztars down, all exploding into a hypnotic fireworks show of tiny Ztars. Madotsuki blew a great string of large bubbles, swallowing a dense amount of Ztars and turning them to stars. Darkrai bellowed a massive Scream Beam, its brightness eclipsing their vision, but Mr. Dark fired a beam of his own from the Protoon to pierce a hole through, allowing himself and Mado to travel safely through. Madotsuki made bike wheels appear on her broom for faster flight, holding onto Mr. Dark as they flew all the way to the moon.
"Madotsuki, I'll help you build a giant Sleep Bubble!" Marshadow said as he climbed in her window. "Until then, try to make him sleepy!"
"We'll make him hurt, too." Mr. Dark stated.
Madotsuki waved her wand like a witch and cast an array of bubbles at Darkrai's eye, but slumber was far from taking him as crescent waves cut through the air. Madotsuki shrunk and divided into seven clones. Her small size helped to avoid the cuts, but in the event her clones were severed, she could quickly form new ones. Darkrai's eye glowed and tried to flash them with a Scare Stare, but Mado used the Faceless Ghost effect to blind herself. Mr. Dark then struck lightning at the eye to cancel his power, so Mado restored her face and kept shooting bubbles. Darkrai commanded Exor to slice down the whole area, but Mr. Dark conjured a shield over them to block the sword. Six hands of Horror Sludge assimilated and pursued them, but Dark easily burned the sludge with a wall of fire.
Darkrai flapped his ethereal cape and trapped them in a hypnotic illusion of stars. Their eyes were spinning as a circle of Ztars were closing in on them… but when she thought of spinning eyes, Madotsuki used the Eye Palm effect to warp them out of the illusion. Mr. Dark replicated the Ztar circle in a compressed form, concealing them in an orb that he threw at Darkrai's eye. The furious king conjured giant twin rollers to block their path, with only the tiniest gap in-between. Mr. Dark hid in Mado's window as she used the Buyo effect. Her squishy, blobby body easily squeezed through the rollers, growing completely flat, but puffing back to normal once out the other side. Darkrai conjured giant presses to close on them from above and below. Mr. Dark gigantified his hands to suspend the presses, while Madotsuki blew a Bubble Torpedo to explode against Darkrai's eye. This dispelled the press, but Darkrai immediately gnashed his gigantic mouth over and chomped Mado inside.
Madotsuki used the Lamp effect to light up the interior exposing the cavern of Horror Sludge. She fired bubbles all around to clean the sludge as they flew higher. She found the stem of Darkrai's eye, but when it was twisting around to spot her, Madotsuki assumed her Neon form and rammed against the eye. The collection of bright colors damaged his vision, and Mado proceeded to escape afterward. With his vision distorted, Darkrai aimlessly rained meteor-sized Fear Spheres. As the duo evaded them, Mr. Dark conjured a giant jar-shaped barrier around Darkrai while Madotsuki used the Umbrella to make it rain, filling the barrier. The flood reached up to Darkrai's "chest" by the time he regained his vision. Madotsuki then used the Yuki-onna to freeze the water and bind Darkrai.
Madotsuki could freely shoot bubbles at the eye while Exor tried to cut the ice. Eventually, the ice shattered, then Darkrai grabbed the dark moons on his head and threw them like boomerangs. The giant projectiles would swoop left and right repeatedly, the two flying at different angles to avoid them. Mr. Dark's enlarged hand grabbed one of the moons and tossed it into Darkrai's mouth. Madotsuki used the Stoplight to freeze the other moon and landed within it. She held on as the moon resumed its rotation, flying behind Darkrai's head. She steered the giant crescent leftward to stab the back of Darkrai's "neck."
"Madotsuki, it's almost ready!" Marshadow announced.
"Okay! Let's get ready to pull it out!"
Madotsuki flew away as a humongous Sleep Bubble began to slowly inflate from the window. Darkrai pulled the moons from his head and made Ztars fly at her from every direction. Mr. Dark formed a shield to protect them, and when the storm reached its outer layer, he wrapped the barrier around the Ztars and threw their condensed form at Darkrai's eye. "Do you really think a silly bubble can defeat me?" Darkrai sent Diamond Saws, but as they were actually made of ice, Mr. Dark used fire to melt them. "Rock me to sleep if you want, and destroy me afterward. The fact is, I am immortal!"
Darkrai rose Exor and tried to cut the ever-expanding bubble from all angles. Mr. Dark conjured an energy sword to intercept him at those angles. "True to my name, I am but a dream that lives in your heart." He thrusted the sword forward as Mr. Dark mustered a barrier to block it. "For as long as there is fear in the hearts of mortals, I will return!"
"SHYAH!" Kirby shot up on his Warp Star and using his own giant blade to knock Exor out of Darkrai's hands.
"Then it's only fair that fear lives in your heart, too!" Madotsuki said. The bubble had grown to a size huge enough to encase the Nightmare Moon. Darkrai brought up his hands to push the bubble, attempting to squeeze and pop it. Rayman was carried up by NiGHTS, using his powerful fists to pry the fingers away, while NiGHTS drilled against the eye moon. Kirby used his inhale to pull the bubble closer as the giant mass enveloped Darkrai's hands. It traveled up the arms and impacted his face. He surged power in his throat to use a Scream Beam, but then his power diminished as his heart felt soothed somehow: this was due to April having painted green on the back of his head, using painted wings to fly.
The bubble was able to bypass the face and swallow the head. In just a few moments more, the entirety of Darkrai's body was sealed. "Ah ha ha ha…yes. So long as the moon grows dark, mortals will know fear. When you feel trauma, anxiety, paranoia… that is me." Darkrai slowly shrank to his original giant size, returning to his normal form. "I will… awaken."
"Maybe you will." Madotsuki said. "But you're not going to have a pleasant sleep." And with that, she and Marshadow worked to pull the giant bubble into her window. The King of Nightmares compressed, and as the last of him popped through the window, Madotsuki closed it. (Play "White Desert" from Yume Nikki.)
Darkrai landed in the middle of a white wasteland. "Hmmmm…?" The king sat himself up, staring at the white sand on his hand. "Ahhh…what is this…?"
Enticed by the atmosphere of this world, Darkrai felt a presence behind him. He turned… and there stood the red-oozing monster. "Ah…it's you…" Darkrai rose to full height, smiling. The monster slowly approached him. "I tried to invite you to the party, but they pushed you away. Don't worry… you're never too late."
The monster planted its hands against the hills with each step, its long red tongue hanging. "What a fascinating body of terror. Indeed, Madotsuki's dreamscape makes the perfect fortress." Darkrai opened his arms in a welcoming way. "Why don't we dispose of that rogue Mr. Dark together? Doesn't that sound-" The monster grabbed Darkrai's right wrist. "Huh? What are you doing?! ACK!" The tongue latched his neck. Darkrai molded a Fear Sphere in his left hand, but the monster grabbed and stopped it, and the rest of his arms grabbed his elbows and head. "AAAAAH! STOP! AAAAHH! NOOOO!" The monster was slowly pulled into Darkrai's open cloak, making itself home within its warmth. "AAAAH! OH, NOOOOOO! AAAAAAAAAHHH…"
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Monoko, Masada, Mafurako, and Poniko came to the White Desert's new landmark: a haunting white statue of the Nightmare King, his arms raised in resistance. They wondered what it was feeling… what was going through its mind… or maybe it just stopped thinking. Regardless, once they had their fill of the sight, they turned to leave the White Desert. Outside, Madotsuki landed on the ground with a tired expression, the view of the statue displayed in her window.