Through the Looking Glass: Chapter 2-A
Banjo: Chapter 2
The one hundred laps that usually began their day had ended too slowly for Banjo. Somehow, thoughts of figuring out what that grey stone that was being tossed about in the pocket of his shorts was pervading his mind, along with thoughts of the mysterious bat he had met in his dream the night before. Thus, he went a little faster than he usually did when it was his turn to run the laps, and he beckoned Kazooie to run faster during her turn. Yet, even with this, the point when Banjo regained his feet after talon trotting around the mountain several times came almost too late for him. He almost didn't realize it first before he looked down and found his feet planted on the ground and Kazooie's wing patting his had impatiently.
"So, off to Showdown Town?" asked Kazooie as Banjo looked at Kazooie.
"You bet!" he said, running towards the location of the portal that would take the two of them to Showdown Town. "I've been waiting all morning!"
"I can tell," replied Kazooie dryly, crossing her wings in front of her as she looked above Banjo's head. "You've been giddy as a schoolgirl since you woke up this morning."
"Oh, shut it," replied Banjo as he ran through the fields of Spiral Mountain, eventually finding his way to the portal that L.O.G. had set up for them at the beginning of their previous adventure.
Kazooie simply shook her head, thinking about how out of character Banjo was acting at this moment in time as they went through the portal and were sent tumbling down the familiar slope into Showdown Town. Banjo had learned not to try to run down the slope or else he would risk landing on his face the way he usually did, so he placed one foot in front of him and slid down the mountain in this fashion.
What the bear did not foresee was literally bumping into a familiar cheetah on his way down, and then Banjo, Kazooie, and said cheetah were all left in a heap on the ground, bear and bird on top and cheetah below
"Oh! Mr. Trophy Thomas!" shouted a surprised Banjo, literally jumping off of the blue-haired cheetah and bowing a few times in apology. "I'm so sorry!"
"Oof..." said the cheetah as he grabbed his bright red sunglasses and put them back on his face before turning to Banjo while straightening his bright hair. "That hurt! That, and you messed up my hair!"
"You asked for it, sun face," jibed Kazooie from Banjo's backpack. "When we have a supply run, don't walk near the slope."
The overconfident cheetah shook his head, adjusting his #1 medal on his neck. "Yeah, yeah, spare me that talk. You're earlier than usual, anyways..."
"Well, that's because we needed to see Humba about something," replied Banjo. "You know if she's in the workshop?"
"Oh, Humba?" asked Thomas, lifting his sunglasses so his light teal eyes could scrutinize the bear. "Yeah, she should be in the workshop. You should probably move it, though; she's about to run to the wigwam again to test her shaman stuff."
"Actually, that's probably better," replied Banjo with a shrug. "We just wanted to get something looked at is all."
"Oh, okay," replied the cheetah as he walked away. "You better not bump into me like that again."
Kazooie shook her head at this. "You better watch your step, cat wannabe!" she cried after him.
"Kazooie!" shouted Banjo as T.T. walked away from the bear and the bird.
"Oh, we're wasting too much time here anyway!" replied the breegull angrily. "Let's just head over to the wigwam and wait for slut face there."
"Sure... wait, what?" asked Banjo, turning to face Kazooie at this new use of foul language.
Kazooie chose not to answer, instead whacking Banjo on the head with her wing.
"Move it!" she cried.
The honey bear did not hesitate for one second after that, as soon as she commanded him to move faster, he was running towards the outskirts of Showdown Town, where Humba's wigwam lay waiting for them to enter.
When bear and bird both arrived at the wigwam, they both found Humba sitting on the overly large chair that she had set up. The layout of the wigwam was rather familiar from the pair's second adventure, except there was a table of shamanic objects splayed out in front of the chair in place of the pink pool that Banjo remembered from that journey all those years before. The wigwam itself was rather simple, excepting the fact that a dreamcatcher was now hanging from one of the wooden poles used to hold the place up. When they walked in, the shamaness looked at them and smiled.
"Hello bear and bird," said Humba in greeting. "Humba think it nice to see you two."
"Hello, Ms. Humba," replied Banjo with a respectful nod of his head as Kazooie winked. "Listen, I think there's something we need your help on."
The woman cocked her head to the side, just a little confused as she tugged at her jean shorts. "What bear and bird need?"
"Well, see, we were adventuring on the ice side of Hailfire Peaks yesterday," began Kazooie, gesturing with her wings as she spoke. "And when we were heading home, this black... furry... thing... comes out of nowhere and leaves this strange jewel! And when we touched it, the cold wasn't so bad!"
"Huh," said Humba, scratching her chin. "Humba see strange stone?"
"Sure," said Banjo, fishing into his pockets.
He pulled out the grey jewel, and then placed it on the table amongst Humba's other charms that were splayed out all over it. The jewel flashed in the light for a second, and then Humba walked out of her chair and picked the jewel up gingerly. She then inspected it, turning it around in her hands as he eyed the object, scrutinizing every detail.
Then, the shamaness enclosed both of her hands over the jewel, and suddenly her eyes shot wide open, a mysterious glow emanating from the jewel. This surprised Banjo and Kazooie as well, who looked to their friend as she abruptly pulled her hand away. After this strange encounter, Humba turned to them with a rather consternated expression on her face.
"Humba sense huge heap power from strange jewel," she said, placing the object down on the table. "Humba think no good come from stone."
"Really?" asked Banjo. "That would explain some of the things that the black thing said..."
Kazooie, though, was less pleased. "Okay, so we're set for an adventure," she said, slightly peeved. "Now what is that thing?"
"Humba no seen strange stone," replied the shamaness with a shrug. "Humba not know what it is..."
"Oh," said Banjo, his tone of voice hinting at disappointment but keeping his cheery demeanor as well. "I see. Do you know anybody that might help?"
Humba nodded at this, a slight smile on her face. "Computer man may know," she said simply. "See him."
"Oh, wait, you're saying Pong face might know something?" asked Kazooie crossly. "You're cheap, you know that?"
"Kazooie!" shouted Banjo, brown fur standing on end.
"What?" asked the bird, leaning on Banjo's head as she spoke. "You know I'm right!"
"That's not the point!" replied Banjo. "Maybe he does know something! I mean, he is the creator of all video games, and seeing as how he created all sorts of games I'm sure he'll know what this came from."
Kazooie shook her head, cooing in distaste as she folded her wings in front of her. "And you're really trusting computer head with a lot considering we're seeing this object!"
Banjo shrugged. "We've gotta try anyways," he said simply, turning his attention to Humba and picking up the jewel from the table. "He's at his factory, right?"
The shamaness simply nodded at this. "Humba sure he let you in."
The honey bear nodded, and then looked to Kazooie before giving a thumbs up sign to the shamaness. "Thanks, Humba!"
"No mention anything," replied Humba with a smile on her face. "Glad to help bear and bird again!"
With this, Banjo left the wigwam, leaving Humba to her thoughts and the bear and bird duo with one less question on their minds and many more following that.
"Huh... And then we make them do stuff... And... Well..."
Sheets were suddenly sent flying into the air, half of them spontaneously combusting in the air as the occupant of the large, brightly lit office teleported to the door.
"No!" shouted the L.O.G., his two pet mice stock still on his monitor head. "That's not going to work! How do we expand the action-RPG to accomodate turn-based RPG fans?"
The creator of all video games shook his head, his long cloak at the air just beneath him as he was deep in thought. The two pet mice proceeded to move all over him again, and they continued to move as the L.O.G. thought about it.
As he was thinking, a buzz sounded from his desk from the receptionist of his video game factory. Noticing this, the omnipotent computer teleported to his desk and promptly held one of the buttons down with his mind.
"What is it, Grace?" he asked, just a little dismayed that something happened then of all times.
"Uh, I've got this bear and bird here, they say you're acquaintances?" asked the secretary, her voice filtered through the speakers that were on his desk.
"Banjo and Kazooie?" he asked, his interest piqued. Why would they ever come to his factory?
"That would be them," replie the secretary. "They want to come over to your office, sir. They said they had something they wanted you to look at. Should I send them up to your office?"
This piqued the curiosity of the computer, his screen lighting up as he heard this. "Please do," he said.
In a matter of minutes, the L.O.G. heard a knock on his door. Upon hearing this, the lord's mice scampered to the back of his head.
"Come in," he said.
The door opened then, and the familiar bear and bird duo that the L.O.G. had propelled on their last adventure stepped in.
"Hello, Mr. L.O.G.!" said Banjo politely as he stepped into the office.
"Ah, Banjo!" replied the computer. "Always a pleasure to see you and Kazooie coming by."
Kazooie looked pretty peeved from Banjo's backpack. "What I want to know is why pig face down at the lobby is such a bitch," said Kazooie dryly.
"Kazooie!" cried the honey bear. "Not in front of her employer!"
"Eh, Grace can be like that sometimes," replied the L.O.G. stoically. "She probably had a bad morning is all. She's usually like that on bad mornings."
"I noticed, rectangle eyes," replied Kazooie just as dryly.
The creator of all games shifted slightly from where he was behind his desk. "So, you had something you wanted to show me?"
"Yep," replied Banjo, his hand diving into his pocket and pulling out a grey jewel. Recognition seemed to flash on L.O.G.'s monitor as Banjo held the jewel in his hand. "We ran into this at Hailfire Peaks yesterday. Some black... furry... thing dropped it here and talked about someone else finding this before some doctor did."
"We wouldn't know, we didn't have a direct interaction with him," added Kazooie. "So we just took it to shaman lady, and she said this thing has a lot of power in it. So what is it?"
The L.O.G. was stock still as he looked at the jewel, processing the information in his mind. A few questions then came to mind, and then he looked at Banjo and Kazooie, his monitor shining just a little brighter.
"Let me ask you something first," said the L.O.G. "Did you notice if this black furry thing had any shoes on?"
Banjo scratched his chin at this, but Kazooie was stock still, her expression shifting from concentration to epiphany and confusion.
"Now that you mention it, it did..." she said, looking up to the sky. "They were red, and looked rather wierd. But why's that important?"
The L.O.G. suddenly teleported away, surprising both Banjo (who dropped the item in his hand in his surprise) and Kazooie as he appeared right by one of his filing cabinets. The cabinet zipped open ridiculously quickly, throwing bear and bird off even more than they already were as files were levitated and placed back in the cabinet with frightening speed and precision. Even Kazooie was surprised, her emerald eyes wide as the L.O.G. flew back to the desk, dropping a file onto it. Banjo quickly bent down to pick up the emerald, stashing it into his pocket as he looked at the file uncertainly.
"W-what was that about?" asked the breegull, her voice showing quite a large amount of surprise as Banjo looked at the file that was on the desk.
"I know what you were talking about," replied the L.O.G., his computer mice moving around his head as he spoke. "The file should tell you more."
Banjo picked up the file that lay on the desk hesitantly, and stared at the manila folder for quite a lengthy period of time. He looked to Kazooie for reassurance that he got rather quickly from his breegull companion. The bear gulped slightly as he opened the file.
This initial hesitation turned to complete shock as he saw an image of seven jewels within the folder. All of them were different colors, with green, orange, blue, and yellow all appearing along with purple and red. But perhaps the most surprising thing was that one of the jewels was grey. Even stranger was that all of the jewels in the image seemed to have exactly the same cut as the jewel that was currently sitting in Banjo's pocket. In his surprise, Banjo let the folder down slightly and looked at Kazooie. The breegull, who had been peering over Banjo's shoulder the whole time, was just as shocked as he was over this. The bear suddenly turned to the Lord of Games, pointing at the folder.
"What is this from?" he asked, the shock evident in his voice.
"It's from a rather popular video game that came out well before you had your first adventure," replied the lord stoically. "The items themselves are called the Chaos Emeralds."
"Chaos Emeralds?" asked Kazooie, too surprised by the developments that had unfolded before them. "What the hell kind of name for a jewel is that? And what do they do anyway?"
The L.O.G. tilted his head to the side, the mice struggling to catch their footing at this new angle. "Don't ask me about the name," replied the omnipotent computer. "And they are the most powerful entities on this planet. They can turn thoughts into power, give life to all living things, power nuclear devices and whatnot, et cetera."
"Wow..." said Banjo, who had gawked at this temporarily. "No wonder that black thing didn't want that doctor to do anything!"
"Wait, what was that black thing anyway?" asked Kazooie, rubbing her beak with her wing as she said this.
"Oh, him?" asked the Lord of Games. "He's part of the franchise that these emeralds come from. His name would be Shadow the Hedgehog."
"Hedgehog?" shouted Kazooie obnoxiously, snapping her head back. "What do you mean, that was a hedgehog? I didn't think hedgehogs could be taller than moles, especially goggle boy!"
"Then again, you wouldn't think hedgehogs could have blue or pink fur, now, did you?" replied the L.O.G. "Lots of things happen in this franchise that a normal person wouldn't think of."
Banjo pulled at the tuft on his head, shrugging as he did. "I wonder what else is there..." he said.
"You want to see the entire universe?" asked the L.O.G. "I can get you the files right now, and you can borrow them for a few days."
Banjo's sapphire eyes lit up at this, a smile appearing on his lips. "Would you?" asked the honey bear.
The L.O.G. vanished rather quickly, teleporting through all of his filing cabinets and taking various files out. Eventually, he arrived with a huge pile at his desk, all of the manila folders neatly stacked in such a way that the long cloak that concealed the L.O.G.'s body was half covered by both desk and paper. Astonished, Banjo and Kazooie could only look.
"Oh, thank you, Mr. L.O.G.!" said the honey bear quickly, bowing down politely.
"Now, my only question is, how are we going to get all this back to Spiral Mountain?" asked the breegull.
The button on the creator's desk was then depressed, and the L.O.G. spoke into the speakers on his desk.
"Grace, could you send a cart up here?" he asked. "Some people are going to be borrowing some of my files for a few days..."
"Sure," replied the secretary. The connection was cut off after this.
The L.O.G. then looked over at Banjo and Kazooie, his pong face still giving the same expression it had given them throughout their entire conversation. "So I'll let you borrow all of the files on the franchise for a few days," said the lord stoically. "And when I say a few days, I want them back as soon as you're done with them."
"Oh, thank you Mr. L.O.G.!" said Banjo, his smile gleaming brightly as he spoke.
Kazooie cooed, rolling her eyes as she pulled at one of the feathers on her head. "I just hope this isn't included in whatever talks about our next adventure..."
"Actually, fanfiction authors are rather pesky like that," replied the L.O.G. "I think he's already put it in."
Kazooie's pupils shrank rather quickly after this comment, and then she looked up at the sky and back at the L.O.G. before narrowing her eyes and slouching in Banjo's backpack.
"Damn it."
When bear and bird had finally arrived back at their home in Spiral Mountain later that night, they pulled their cart with two boxes of food and L.O.G.'s manila folders up to their house. Once they arrived back at their home, Kazooie jumped out of Banjo's rucksack, and then she began to remove things from the cart that they had borrowed from the L.O.G.'s gaming factory. Banjo helped with this, and when just the manila folders were remaining Banjo entered the house and carted the item of manila folders into his room. He left the cart there, looking at all of the manila folders as he settled the cart in a place where he and Kazooie both had room to move around. As soon as he had placed the cart in a satisfying position, he ran outside to help Kazooie with bringing their supplies into the house.
Right when he got outside, he began picking up some boxes of food that he and Kazooie had gotten when the breegull cawed out to him. With the box already over his shoulder, the bear looked over to Kazooie, who herself had a small box on her back.
"We're gonna look at all that tomorrow, right?" asked the breegull.
"You bet," said Banjo, walking into the house with the box over his shoulder. "I wonder what's in those folders..."
"Well, I personally can't wait to see this 'Shadow' hedgie's face," replied Kazooie as Banjo held the door open for her and the two of them unpacked the boxes of food on their small table. "And I wonder what he meant about blue and pink fur..."
The bear shrugged as he took some items of food and opened the refrigerator door, dropping the items of food in there. "I wonder if that black hedgehog used those emerald things to warp around..." he said as he did this.
Kazooie shrugged from where she was unpacking the boxes, dropping the items on their table. "I wouldn't be surprised," she said. "But that doesn't explain how he got out of there by warping."
"Maybe he had some of the other ones," replied the honey bear with a shrug as he moved towards the table. "I wonder if he's okay..."
"I would think so," replied Kazooie as she stopped briefly to put her hands on her hips. "Night creature looked like he could handle himself."
"Still, I can't help but worry about him..." said Banjo with a shrug as he packed more food items into the refrigerator. "I hope he and whoever else is on his side are okay."
"Including us, right?" asked Kazooie dryly.
The honey bear let out a chuckle as he walked back to the table and grabbed the last of the food items they had bought from Showdown Town. "I know we're okay," he said. "That's a given. I mean, you're standing here in front of me, and I'm standing here talking to you, so we both know we're fine. I just worry; I hope he's not alone..."
Kazooie shrugged as she put the empty boxes off to the side, brushing her wings together when she was done. "Well, since we picked that thing up, I know he's not alone," she replied. "As long as we've got that jewel in our posession, he's got somebody supporting him."
The bear nodded, his dark brown fur shining in the light as he lumbered around. He let out a yawn before walking into his room, slinging his backpack over the coat rack.
"Well, Kazooie, I'm gonna hit the sack," he said tiredly.
"Aw, dinner at the Summer Shack got to you?" she play-taunted from the kitchen.
"Nah," replied Banjo as he stretched his arms and jumped into bed. "Just a long day is all..."
"Well, good night!" shouted Kazooie from the kitchen.
"Night," said Banjo as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.