Chapter 3: Landing on Iceria
A circular pod zooms into Iceria's bitter atmosphere. In the back of this ship, Klúmes struggles against the creatures that threaten to harm her. She broke from the chains they imprisoned her in, and had been trying to break Lúmes free until the Imps noticed.
"BACK OFF!" she screams. "I'M WARNING YOU!"
"Oh no! What are you gonna do? Throw Starbits at me? Oh, the pain," a creature remarks sarcastically. He edges towards her, grinning.
"TAKE ONE MORE STEP AND I'LL HAVE TO DEFEND MYSELF!"
"Go right ahead!" the Imp shouts, and charges towards her. She dodges and he snatches up Lúmes. "Oh! What are you gonna do now? I've got your sister!"
"DON'T YOU DARE!"
The Imp grabs a knife from his belt, and holds it to Lúmes's throat. "Oh, I dare."
"THAT'S IT!" Klúmes screams. She flings herself upon the Imp. She smacks him with her tiny arms, and he just laughs. She screams in fury, and there is a flash of light. Smoke billows out and cloud up the pod. Somewhere within the smoke, screams are repeatedly heard. Lights flash. The smoke clears. Klúmes floats over the dead Imp, continuing to bash him. Somewhere from within her, flashes emit and seem to only be damaging the Imp.
"KLÚMES!" Lúmes cries. "Just stop... Stop it! JUST STOP!"
Klúmes suddenly remembers where she is. She stops what she's doing and begins to cry. "What... What came over me? H...How...How did I do this?"
"I don't know, but we've got to get out of here!"
"What about the others? And what about those Imps piloting the ship?!"
"They're all unconscious. Your attack on that creature seemed to affect everyone else except me."
"So who's piloting the ship?"
"Uhh... At the moment, nobody."
Within the castle of Iceria, the strange, villainous figure, who had been watching Lúmes and Klúmes, smiled. "Ah, so she does have as much power as I suspected. Perfect," he says as he walks over to the door of his throne room. He opens the door and sticks his hooded head out. "CIRCRISEN! YOUR ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED RIGHT AWAY!"
A squid-like creature crawls its way into the room. It is red in color, has glowing yellow eyes, and is very short. "Yes Master... What is your need?"
"Ah, CirCrisen, my loyal minion. I'm going to need you to help me with something."
CirCrisen looks up at his master. "What is your demand?"
"I need you to send out our secret project. The one... under the ice. I need you to accompany it on a journey to an old launch pad, on the ice. You’re going to need to have it snatch up the Lumas from underneath, AS SOON AS THEY LAND. I don't want you to give them any time to be able to combat you. Am I clear? Good."
"Of course Master, of course. Anything for you."
"Oh, and one more thing. Tell the interception team, to home in the space pod at the old launch site."
CirCrisen sighs. "Yes, of course."
The evil one waits until his minion leaves. He picks up his emerald orb and rubs it with his hands. He recites the magical saying and the orb shows him what he seeks. He sees the raging battle upon Dukomu. Most of the Penguin forces are being massacred, and some others have fled to the mountain's sacred Ice Temple. There they bow before an ice sculpture of an Emporer Penguin with a robe and crown. They pray for strength and power, but unfortunately thiri idol does not grant their request. With the slash of claws and strike of lightning, the evil forces bulldoze down the front door and stand before the cowering Penguins.
"Please don't harm us!" a Penguin squeaks.
A foot soldier smiles and whistles. The army charges towards the defenseless Penguins.
***
"HOW DO I PILOT THIS THING?!" Klúmes screams.
Lúmes scrambles around the pod frantically. "I HAVE NO IDEA!"
"Huh..." Lumaria whispers as she comes to. "My achin’ head..."
"You're awake!" Lúmes squeals with glee. "Do you have any idea how to pilot a crashing spaceship?"
"Nope."
"We're doomed!"
"Now you’re starting to sound like Luma Pete! There has to be something we can do! Oh, and speaking of Luma Pete, don't let him wake up or he'll flip out and tell us how he was right about something bad happening!"
Klúmes screams, "UGH! There is just no way to pilot this thing! The wheel is stuck, and none of these buttons do anything. It's like the pod went into lockdown."
"Maybe someone is piloting the ship from the planet below us," Lumaria suggests. The pod suddenly jerks to the left, and the planet's surface is visible. The whole thing is like a sea of ice, with snow-capped mountains and mountain ranges that randomly protrude up from the ice.
Lumaria looks out the window. "What a strange planet. It must have been a great sea at one time, dotted with little islands everywhere. Then it must have somehow gone into a sort of ice age, and frozen."
"Or maybe it was once a great nation, and was flooded and people fled to the mountaintops. Then it froze," Klúmes says.
"Isn't that story so copying off of Legend of Zelda? Nintendo could sue you for that," Lumaria warns.
Klúmes looks befuddled. "Nintendo?"
"Never mind."
"Uh, guys!" Lúmes shouts. "Shouldn't we be getting back to the danger at hand? LIKE US CRASHING INTO OBLIVION!"
However, at that moment, the pod slows down. It lands upon the ground without a crash, and the door opens.
"We're alive!" Klúmes cheers.
"Not for long," a voice says. A red Squid enters the pod. "Not after my master has fulfilled your usefulness..."
"Who the Grand Star are you?" Lumaria questions.
"No one in particular. Now, are we gonna do this the hard way, or are you just gonna let me capture you?"
"I COULD TAKE YOU ON!" Lumaria boasts.
"Oh really?" the Squid wonders. He smacks his tentacles in a clap-like motion and the ice rumbles as the ship is lifted up in the air. Then the top of the pod is ripped off by monstrous tentacles. Beady, Squid-like eyes stair down into the pod. Luma Pete wakes up with a start.
"What happened? How did I- WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT?"
"Your worst nightmare," the little Squid smirks.