The gang huddled together, and the minions stood side-by-side. Lightning was still sleeping deeply, much to the gang's upset, but to the minions' delight. "Poor thing…" hissed Mysterious "Guess he's reached the end of his rope." added Rep-Stallion

The others tried to wake Lightning up, but he was really passed out. Krysta then realized what was going on when Lightning went to see Penny, and she gave him that medicine. "It might make you sleepy when you least expect it."

"Lightning… please, wake up!" cried Starla.

"Come on, amigo!" cried Dyno… but Lightning hardly even moved.

The gang also realized that they had all huddled into one group again, which made them easy targets for their enemies. "Who should we take out first….?" Dementia teased. "All of you…!"

The gang were in trouble now, but they couldn't just run off while Lightning was down. "I have an idea…" Buddy Rose whispered to the others, and told them his plan. "Okay, get ready…!"

The minions readied their most powerful attacks…

"DANCE OF ICE…!"

"THE BITE OF LIGHTNING…!"

"THE HAMMER OF EVIL…!"

Right as they fired their attacks, Buddy quickly leapt up, "SOIL STORM…!" and his magic worked as it stirred up the soil in the grounds creating a dust cloud just as the attacks collided in a massive explosion. All that soil and dust and mist made it hard to see for a moment, and then when the dust had cleared, the gang was gone, but they hadn't been blown to pieces.

"They're gone!" cried Dementia.

Rep-Stallion angrily slammed his scythe hard. "They outwitted us again!"

Mysterious, too, was annoyed. "They must be around here somewhere." He said "Remember, they can't leave here. We'll find them, even if we have to tear this derelict dimension apart piece by piece!"

They spread out and began blowing up and attacking anyplace that could remotely serve as a general hiding spot, but the gang had actually retreated to the foyer of Titan's castle. The one place they hoped the minions wouldn't dare to attack.

Lightning was still sleeping deeply under Penny's medicine, and the others needed time to rest and think. The minions had certainly lead them into a well laid trap, sending them to this dimension where their powers were much stronger, while some of their magic wouldn't work. "Just look at them out there…" said Artie. Everyone gazed outside watching the minions blast more chunks and piles of dead trees and rocks away. They're powers seemed just as strong as ever, even after all that had happened outside during the battle.

"Come on out…!" roared Rep-Stallion "We'll find you!" He sliced the remains of trees down, and blew up more rocks.

"Where it comes from we want to know…

How can they just keep going like so?" asked Rhymey.

The others didn't know and were too busy trying to wake Lightning up. He managed to get his eyes open at least. "Guys…?" he whimpered "What's going on…? I feel so… heavy… and weak!"

"You're just sleepy from Penny's medicine." said Krysta "That's why you feel weak."

Lightning struggled to stand, but he felt as if he had a huge boulder rest on his back and slumped back down. "Shh…! Quiet…!" cried Starla "They'll hear us out there…"

The minions heard nothing and continued to search. "You're beginning to make us angry!" snarled Dementia as she fired more ice shards and she almost struck the castle off in the distance. "No!" Mysterious thundered as he intercepted her blast with his own power. Then he gave her an angry look!

Dementia apologized. "I forgot."

…

"Did you see that…?" asked Dyno.

"Si, I did…! That ice shard could've come this way." said Myte.

Obviously the minions didn't want the castle to get blasted, but why was that. "There must be something very important in here." said Starla. "But what is it, and where is it?"

Just the foyer seemed large enough to hide so many things in so many places. Lightning finally managed to stand up without falling down again, "Maybe… we should go in deeper?" he asked.

Seeing no other option and it would do well for Lightning to move around and shake his drowsiness away, they ventured forth into Titan's castle.

…

Outside, Rep-Stallion asked the others "What if they really are in the castle? Maybe they know about… you know…"

Dementia grabbed him, "Don't be an idiot! No one would dare venture into the depths of the master's castle."

Mysterious wasn't too sure about that, though. "It is a possibility." He said "I think we'll play a waiting game."

…

Even with Kyrsta's fairy glow, and the lit torches along the walls, the inside of the castle was dark and creepy. Cobwebs everywhere you looked, water dripping down from above and bits of dead bones along the floor. Starla stepped on a few "Ugh! Gross…!" she murmured.

Every once in a while, one of the others would ask if Lightning was okay "I'm fine!" he would say annoyingly. Then he let out a yawn, "At least I think I will be…"

That was the least of their problems- They now were facing an area with many doors and pathways. "Which way should we go now…?" asked Buddy Rose. The best they could all do was split up. Starla and Krysta would remain with Lightning to help him out.

Artie handed everyone a small paintbrush, and a small jar of white paint each. "We'll draw arrows along the walls in case we get lost."

Then, everyone picked a doorway and headed through. Some ways lead upwards, others went deeper into the bowls of the world, and some just kept going straight ahead. "Hello…?" cried Krysta "Is anyone here?"

…

Poor Rhymey felt his hind legs quivering.

"Oh dear…!

I'm in fear." He whimpered. Then suddenly, something spooked him.

"I see something moving to and fro…!" Then he realized, "Oh silly me… it's just my shadow."

As frightful as he felt, he pressed on.

…

Dyno and Myte almost felt right at home in the mines, but it was never this dark and spooky. At least they had their miner's hats to give some light. Suddenly, Dyno felt as if he were walking on wood. "Myte… do you feel that?" he asked.

His brother nodded. "The floor was stone, now it's wood?"

Then suddenly the floor opened wide, as it was really a trap door, and the twins fell through, shrieking. Their shriek echoed throughout the castle, alarming the others.

Rhymey quivered in fear.

"Mercy me…!

I BELIEIVE I SHOULD FLEE…!" and he ran as fast as he could down the tunnel.

…

"What's that…?" asked Buddy Rose.

"I don't think we want to know." cried Artie. They continued to walk forward, and suddenly slipped on a steep slope sending them both sliding down and away!

…

"Okay…!" Lightning cried "I think wide awake now."

"Good…!" cried Krysta "Because I think we should…"

"RUN…!" cried Starla, and all of them began to dash ahead, and up ahead were three doorways, each of them dashed through one completely separating from one another.

Dyno and Myte were falling, Buddy Rose and Artie were sliding, and all the others were running feeling scared out of their wits, somehow they all wound up crashed into each other… and lay on the ground right back in the room where they started. All the paths lead them right back. "Now I'm really wide awake!" Lightning grunted annoyingly.

As everyone got up, they felt really silly, falling for all those traps.

"This just will not do.

This won't work out for me and you." Rhymey said.

"What do we do now?" asked Artie "There's no point in trying the paths again. We'll just end up back here."

The twins began to feel along the walls. "What are you two doing…?" asked Krysta, the twins didn't answer but just kept feeling along the walls, and tapping the stones. Suddenly, Myte reached up and grabbed hold of a torch holder, which moved like a lever. "Ah…! Esso Es!" he chirped with glee as the wall near him began to slide open revealing a hidden way to a flight of stairs. "Just like at home, Si." said Dyno.

"Way to go, boys!" said Lightning "Come on, let's go."

Everyone dashed up, up, up the long flight of curving stairs up into the castle keep. They felt a little tired after running all the way to the top. "Whew…! Now I see why the minions always teleport." groaned Artie.

Nevertheless, they had reached what appeared to be Titan's old throne room, and the sight of Titan's old massive throne was almost breathtaking. "Even the Grand Ruler's throne isn't this big." remarked Lightning.

Krysta flew round, and around the throne as she flew to the top then back down again. She landed on the seat and walked around a bit, but something felt strange to her. "Krysta… what's wrong?" asked Lightning.

"I feel something…" answered Krysta "Something below here is giving a vibration."

Starla walked over and place one of her front hooves over the seat. "I feel it…" she said. The other all walked over to see if she was right, but then Rhymey felt one of his hooves press down on a stone which was a floor-switch.

The area around the throne began to rumble and quake. "Rhymey… what have you done…?" asked Lightning.

"Oh…

…No!" whimpered Rhymey

Suddenly, the throne began to move. "Hey…!" cried Krysta and she leapt off of it and everyone else backed away. "Look…!" cried Buddy Rose as something was rising up from where the throne was resting before, it was a giant glowing sphere.

"What is it?" asked Starla.

That's when the sphere raised up, and began t fly around in circles, and then it flew straight through an open window and headed outside. "Let's go after it." said Lightning.

They all flew up and out the window, chasing the sphere, not realizing where they were going at first until they ran right into the minions again. "Well, well…" hissed Mysterious as he held the sphere and tucked it away in his armor.

"Did you enjoy your tour of the master's castle?" Dementia snickered.

The others had almost forgotten why they had come in the first place. "No more games!" Lightning said "I think it's time we finish what we started."

"Funny… we were thinking the same thing." snapped Rep-Stallion as he gripped his scythe. The gang readied themselves, drew out their weapons, and charged up.

"Go…!" shouted Lightning. At his shout, the gang split up and attacked the minions just like before. It was harder than ever to find a good place to run because most of the trees and rocks had been blown up.

The battle seemed more equal this time as attacks and blows were sent and given, but the minions were still proving to be far too swift and strong. Their powers just never seemed to decrease or get weaker, no matter what they did.

As for the gang, some of their attacks still didn't work because of the unstable conditions of the dimension, and Lightning couldn't summon the rainbow rod as it couldn't travel between realms. "You… won't win…!" growled Lightning. "We shall see…!" hissed Mysterious.

Rhymey and Artie's weapons were starting to get scraped and scratched, while Rep-Stallion's scythe had hardly a dent in it, and Dementia's ice powers were making it hard for others.

Dyno and Myte tried to rush her from different ends, but she flipped out of the way causing the twins to ram into each other. "Did we… get her...?" they both said feeling dizzy.

Dementia just had to laugh, but Starla didn't think it funny. "Oh yeah?" she growled, and lunged at Dementia trying to land one good bash, but she dodged each and every one of them and kicked her hard sending her back and right into Lightning, knocking him down.

"Starla…!" cried Lightning a she got up "Are you okay…?"

"Yeah… I'm alright." She answered

"This is crazy! We're not getting anywhere." Krysta said. The others huddled together.

"We've fought the best we can,

But I say we need a new plan." panted Rhymey

The minions laughed as the slowly crept forth "There's nothing you can plan…" hissed Mysterious. "There's nothing you can do." He reached into his armor and held out the glowing sphere. "We have all the magic… we have all the power… and now we have you in our grasp!"

Lightning took note of what was just said, and he also remembered how during the fight everyone was bumping into one another. He was beginning to have an idea. "Any last words…?" asked Rep-Stallion as he held his scythe high. "Make it fast…!" snapped Dementia.

"Yeah…" Lightning said "Everyone spread out…!" the others felt confused at first, but did as they were told. The minions were losing their patience and spread out to continue the fight.

"What are you doing…?" asked Starla

"Just trust me!" Lightning said and then he ran back towards the minions. "What is he up to?" Krysta wondered aloud. Then they all noticed that Lightning was standing directly with minions all standing around him in a ring. "I give up!" he then said.

"WHAT...?" everyone shouted.

"You're right, we can't beat you, but I don't want any more trouble. Take me, but let my friends go."

"Lightning… No!" cried Krysta.

"What are you doing?" called Dyno.

Dementia felt she was going to faint. "Somebody, pinch me." She chuckled.

"You're offering yourself to us…?" asked Rep-Stallion in disbelief.

Lightning nodded. "I'll do anything you want as long as you let them go."

Mysterious thought it over for a moment, "Well… as tempting as that would sound, I'm afraid we must refuse."

"That's right!" growled Rep-Stallion "We swore we'd get rid of all of you, and that's just what we'll do."

Dementia nodded, "You destroyed our master, Titan, and now we'll return the favor. Starting with you, Lightning Dawn…!"

The minions charged up ready to fire, and Lightning had no place to run. "And now… goodbye!" roared Mysterious as he and the other minions fired, that's when Lightning spread out his wings and flew straight up, casing the minions to miss them and strike each other instead!

"Ha, ha…!" Lightning laughed from above, "It works!" and his friends caught on with his plan. "If we can't beat them ourselves…" said Buddy Rose.

"Maybe… we can get them to beat each other!" said Artie.

The others agreed and the battle was on again.

Krysta fluttered round Rep-Stallion and near his face like a fly "Bet you can't hit me here…" she teased. "Why you puny pixie!" growled Rep and he launched his "BOLT OF THUNDER…!" straight at Krysta, but she dodged it and the blast collided into Dementia, too late for her to raise her defense. "AAA-AAH…!"

"Oh…!" cried Rep "Dementia… I… I!"

"Watch where you're aiming?" she shouted at him.

"Hey it wasn't my fault!"

While they bickered and quarrelled, Starla and Rhymey decided to launch an attack.

"STAR SHOWER…!"

"DRILL QUILL…!"

The two minions were hit hard and went after Starla and Rhymey, but they stepped out of the way at the last minute causing Rep and Dementia to ram into Mysterious hard. "You fools!" growled Mysterious.

Another quarrel erupted, and Dyno and Myte saw their chance and launched their "BOOM-BOOM ROCKETS…!" and bombarded the minions hard. The glowing sphere also slipped out of Mysterious' possession and Krysta managed to grab it and levitate it with her power.

"Look what you two have done!" roared Mysterious.

"We…?" snapped Dementia

"What about you…?" growled Rep

They broke out into such a quarrel and even began to fight each other, weakening themselves even further. The gang realized this was the perfect chance for them to attack with all they had. "IT's time to end this…!" Lightning growled "Once… and… FOR ALL…!"

That's when his horn began to glow and he was summoning up the uniforce, which alerted the minions. "Guys…!" cried Rep, the others looked up just in time as the other launched their strongest attacks.

Rhymey's sword was charged up and glowing strong, "SLASH THRASH!"

"ART ATTACK SPIN!" Artie was whirling his spear. They both slashed hard, knocking the armor clear off the minions.

Then Starla went next with her "PULSAR LASER…!" and her powerful beams knocked the minions' helmets off.

"My turn…!" Lightning roared as he stood tall and proud, bathed in glowing light and recited the chant and unleashed the "…UNIFORCE!" The minions tried to run, but were struck full force and screamed loudly.

They felt the magic around them starting to spark and flare off. They transformed back into their regular forms as, what appeared to be, the magic of their three knight forms rising into the sky, flare and sparkling wildly. They combined together in one big sphere and exploded in a great ball of fire! The gang jumped for joy and cheered with delight, while the minions could only grieve…

"Just like that…!"

"Our most powerful magic…"

"It's all gone…!"

They really blew it this time, and felt it was finally officially that they had lost for good. "Master Titan…" Mysterious whispered under his breath, and he shut his eyes tight "We have failed you!"

The gang was still cheering, but then something caught their attention. A portal gateway had opened, and The Grand Ruler's voice called out. "Lightning…! Are you there…?"

Lightning answered his master's call. "Yes, we're here."

"Quickly everyone…" Grand Ruler said "Come through this gate. Hurry, it will not hold for much longer."

"Andale, amigos!" cried Dyno.

"Let's go!" added Myte.

"Wait…!" snapped Lightning "We go… but we're taking the minions with us. They've caused us enough trouble for one lifetime."

"Hey!" cried Buddy Rose, "They're gone!"

Sure enough, the minions were nowhere to be seen. They had slipped off to somewhere when everyone's backs were turned. Still, there was no point in worry about that now.

…

Once back in Unicornicopa, everyone settled down and relaxed to a warm and hearty meal in Grand Ruler's palace, prepared by Cookie Dough. Grand was very, very proud of everyone, not only for going beyond the call of duty and seemingly put Titan's minions out of commission, but they had also found half of a rainbow stone.

The glowing sphere they had found in the castle was in fact a defensive shell of soft magic that kept half a rainbow stone, the green part, intact. This was what was supporting the evil powers that the minions had all this time.

"But… how did it end up in Titan's castle?" Lightning asked.

Even his master didn't know the answer to that, but one thing was certain, it was now imperative they all continue to search from the remaining rainbow stones. Even with Titan's minions out of action, there still other, more powerful evils still were lurking out there. "Our mission has not been fulfilled. Take good care, everyone, and never let your guard down."

Everyone bowed to their ruler, and then they all decided to head home for some much needed rest, they had a very exhausting night.

…

Lightning and Krysta escorted Starla home to the library, and her tower. "Starla…?" asked Lightning.

"Hmm…?"

"I…! I uh…" he just couldn't bring himself to tell her once again, "Goodnight, Starla." Then he left. "Goodnight, Lightning." she whispered, and she didn't stop staring at him until he was out of sight.

"Why didn't you tell her?" Krysta asked.

"I just couldn't do it." Lightning said "It didn't feel like the right time."

Krysta sighed and rolled her eyes. She was still waiting impatiently for him to suck it up and tell Starla how he really felt. "Lightning… what am I going to do with you?"

…

(In Grand Ruler's Palace)

Grand Ruler: "Planning is something we all tend to do, but usually for what we expect. I'm very proud of everyone for working together and escaping unharmed, for they learned that there is always a weakness in the enemy, and always a way to get the job done."

"But sometimes, even the best laid out plans can go wrong, and can confuse and surprise you when you least expect it. Most of the time… we make plans to do things with each other, or plan to make or do something extraordinary, only to be obligated with other affairs and chores even duties that slip our minds, or just sneak from out of nowhere. Just remember, that there always might be a way to deal with something, even if it isn't what you planned at first. Sometimes, what you didn't plan may turn out to be something better than what you hoped for."

"See you all next time, and keep on believing!"