Nextgen Kids: Legend of the Nine Newborn

The Starmaker

The upcoming backstory was provided by Sarstar98!

Gourmet 8: The Starmaker

"In hindsight, I don't think falling off this thing was a good idea!" Yuzu cried as they plummeted along the edge of the pillar with terrific velocity. "We're going to hit that platform!"

"Hey, a little freefalling never hurt anybody!" Kat exclaimed with enthusiasm before willing them all to float in place. She safely lowered them onto the platform.

"Hoo...well, that was a thrill!" Augustus perked up, letting his heart settle for a moment. "It's like skydiving without a parachute!"

"O-Tama believeth she hast gone to Heaven..." Tama moaned.

Yuzu held her stomach as she looked over the edge of the platform. There appeared to be red and black clouds circling the pillar, striking pink lightning. "Are those clouds? Just how high up are we?"

"That's a Gravity Storm." Kat replied. "They exist all along the pillar. The only way past them is through the Temporal Tunnels."

"Temporal Tunnels?"

"Basically, time is frozen, but we'll be alright. But we still have more platforms to drop down."

"Oh, boy..."

Kat shifted gravity toward the next platform as they took the fall once more, and shortly after landing, they fell to the next one, the town of Hekseville drawing further and further to the sky. The atmosphere grew more unsettling the further they fell, like falling into a void of no return. With one more fall, they were nearly at the looming Gravity Storm, but Kat directed them to a wide branch jutting from the pillar, the end of it open to reveal its hollow interior. She landed them on the rim of the branch. "My bending will be hindered in the Temporal Tunnels, so you'll have to watch your steps."

"We'll be able to make it back up, right?" Yuzu asked worriedly.

"Yeah, we will. Don't worry." Kat smiled. "Just stick together and we'll be fine." (Play "Strange Universe" from Gravity Rush!)

Menu 4: Cosmonuts

Recipe: Follow the Gourmet Corp. agents down the pillar.

Act 1: Temporal Tunnels

Kat bent the gravity along the tunnel to allow her friends to sit down and slide along the vertical entrance. "I can only think of one thing those hunters would be searching for in the core: the Calaziali."

"Calazi...whaty?" Augustus asked.

"Some call it the Starmaker. It's an ancient space squid said to be able to consume planets and create stars, as well as draw in huge quantities of Space Chi. Some say it's the very reason Zathura is so abundant with Space Chi."

"A giant squid that ate planets?" Yuzu replied.

"That's what the legends say. But as you could expect, the Starmaker was extremely dangerous, so God Palkia created the planet that would be known as Zathura to seal it away. ...We're here." They had arrived at a strange, wavy entrance. "My bending won't work well past here. Careful not to fall."

They passed the waviness and entered an extremely vast, deep chasm composed of a white, bone-like interior. The crew had to carefully balance along a rounded path, following other such paths that sloped further down. There were round Nevi called Minaye that were jutting out spikes, floating around the cavern. Augustus had to wait for their spikes to retract before throwing his Gobstopper at their eyes.

"They couldn't risk the Calaziali escaping from its prison, so the gods harnessed the power of Jirachi and created two Star Spirits: Estelle the Winking Star and Nostura the Bottomless Star. Estelle used her melodic voice to put the Calaziali to sleep. Nostura was a dark matter Ztar that created a sub-dimension, a 'cradle' to hold the beast. And the entrance to that dimension was in Zathura's core."