The intermission seemed to go on forever, though Kai suspected that in reality, it only lasted a couple minutes or so. It seemed that every person(?) in the audience was eager for it to end, excitedly anticipating the next act.

As for Kai... he couldn't say that he wasn't entertained, but he was also confused. He didn't think they were trapped here, because when Kai stood up, nothing stopped him. Kai was surprised at first, he wondered if he could leave if he wanted. Not that he really did, at least, not when his friends were still here.

Where they the ones who were trapped? Kai had only seen two of them in the story so far, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Luz's 'stabbing' had been particularly enthusiastic, while Fei Fei just seemed to be nervously going along with it. It didn't look like they were being forced, they were just going along with the story for... some reason.

And speaking of the story, what was that all about? It seemed so random and kind of boring, and without Luz's acting, Kai probably would have fallen asleep. Why had that shadow person seemed so eager to preform it, and why force Kai's friends to participate? It didn't make any sense, and for a second, Kai tried to figure out how they got from exploring an abandoned castle to here. He couldn't find a satisfactory answer on his own. It probably had something to do with the shadow person... but that was a whole other can of worms Kai didn't want to get into.

Not that he had the time. Suddenly, the lights around the audience dimmed, and the cut-outs settled back into their seats, taking a second to whisper among themselves before quieting. Unnerved, Kai sat down, too, and turned his eyes back to the stage.

"With civilization torn down, something else rose in its place. The Dark Ages, but just with a hint of danger and magic. The council members were set up around the remains of World as guardians, hunters and trappers, and, when they were lucky, explores. The betrayal of the council member had destroyed the world, and used as many people he could find to keep it going, building it up into something better. But with the rate they were dying, people were not as much of a renewable resource as they should be, and this new World, this Dark World, had to turn to other places."

Actors filled the stage again, but no actual people this time, only the cut-outs. The background was changed again, with a much more modern city popping up, the sky a deep red and the buildings silhouetted in black. In front of it, the cut-outs milled around, and Kai got a strange sense of depression, emanating from all of them.

Suddenly, Kai frowned, leaning forward. Was it just him? Or were there a lot less cut-outs than there were before? No... he was certain of it. Luz had killed some of them, but there were less than half of the surviving ones still here.

Where had the rest gone?

Kai shook his head, not even bothering to figure it out. Luckily, he got a pretty good distraction as Kipo, Tulip and Mabel suddenly walked out, looking around and blinking into the bright lights shining into their face.

"These three were some of them many taken from distant lands to feed this ones gluttony for blood. There was Ben..."

A spotlight suddenly shone on Kipo, making her jump.

"Danny..."

The one on Kipo disappeared, just as quickly as it had appeared, and then reappeared on Tulip, who seemed startled, frowning up at it.

"And their ghost friend."

And last but not least, the spotlight appeared over Mabel, who giggled and bowed deeply.

"Now, as many would have thought, it would have been easy to slaughter them were they stood, as they first stepped onto the soil on the dirt of this land, after all, it was alive with the will to kill, but that was not the point of this Dark World. With no knowledge of why they were there, or who they were, they all travelled forward into the world, set on a journey set in motion by people they couldn't even have imagined existed."

Looking a little disturbed by the narration, the three did as they were told, walking out across the stage, glancing at the cut-outs working around them. Suddenly, one stepped out at them, and Kipo stopped, staring up at it. She was obviously confused, just like Kai was, but she wasn't worried. None of them were. This was weird, sure, but not dangerous.

"One of the council members, now turned into a Prophet, told them exactly what they were meant to do here. She told the story of a Mad King, living in the ruins of his kingdom, and poisoning the land as he sat on his throne. The Prophet told them that they'd have to journey through the land, and enlist the help of a wizard to help them defeat the king, as well as collect various magical items to fight against him. And, as well as her words and warning, the Prophet imparted on them a map, to help them with their various goals and searches. The newcomers were confused, unsure why they had appeared in this place, but they accepted the job, anyway, none of them the type to let this land suffer when they could help, anyway they could. The Dark World knew this, after all, this was why they had been brought here, after all."

Kipo nodded once at the cut-out, taking a hold of the paper the cut-out had handed out to her. She looked down at it, and did a double take, peering at it closer. Kai shifted in his seat, trying to find what had startled Kipo.

"The first thing they had to do was find the mysterious wizard the Prophet had told them about, the map leading them to a specific town with a particular circus theme. At first, the three could not find the supposed Wizard, and nearly gave up before they found the answer in a book. What they had though was a riddle was actually instructions for a ritual, and when they completed it, the Wizard finally appeared."

Kipo blinked, looking around as she listened to the voice, before finally spotting something just out of sight of the audience. She hurried to the edge of the stage, appearing a minute later with a book in hand, opening it up and quickly scanning a bookmarked page. She said something to Tulip, who quickly ran to the other side of the stage, picking a couple objects from backstage and carrying them back on. Together, she and Kipo arranged them in a circle before Kipo stood up, reading from the book out loud, but Kai couldn't really make out any of them words, much understand them. It didn't really matter, though, because a second later, before Kipo had finished, one of the cut-outs descended from the ceiling on a string. Unlike the others on the stage, who were crowded around the edges to make room for the human actors, this one did not radiate sadness, or if it did, it was unnoticeable underneath its sparkling radiance. Kai's eyes widened. This cut-out was not only different from the others in it's feel, it also looked different, because somehow, it glowed with a rainbow light around it, like an angel.

"With the wizard and the map in hand, the group found traversing the land easily, overcoming danger and collecting the weapons needed for they're predestined fight with the mad king. They found others like them, travelers from distant lands that turned from friends to allies. However, not everyone made it, and the journey was a taxing one, costing many of the heroes their lives before they finally collect all that they needed, setting out to the mad kings castle."

As the voice spoke, various cut-outs jumped out at Tulip, Kipo and Mabel, who pushed them all down like dominos. It wasn't as cool or impressive as Luz's sword fight, but it seemed to do the job. The cut-outs didn't get up again.

The cut-outs stood between the three and the throne, acting almost as guards. Kipo seemed to realize that, too, and started pushing through them, trying to get up to the throne.

"However, as Ben and Danny were going through on their journey, the ghost, that nobody could see but Danny, was looking through the world, and finding answers to questions that hadn't even been asked. On their own, they managed to find the truth of this world, and uncover the lies beneath the lies. Everyone here was a liar: the wizard, the prophet, the mad king... and every single enemy they had fought.

"As the group, six in total, including the ghost, reached the castle where the mad king hid, the ghost told them of all it had learned, of truths unspoken and forgotten for decades upon decades. At first, Danny found it hard to believe, and decided to keep it a secret from the others, for that moment, at least. The silent truth would stay bottled up for just a little longer."

As Kipo and Tulip pushed through the cut-outs, Mabel trailed behind, looking through everything and clearly not knowing what she was looking for. But suddenly, she paused, and knelt down, shifting through the cardboard carcasses below her to pull something out. Kai's eyes widened. It was a piece of the previous background, still dripping red as Mabel held it up, peering at it. Emotions crossed over her face as she suddenly hurried forward, tapping Tulip on the shoulder as Kipo knocked over the last cut-out. Tulip seemed to be expecting it as she turned around, and Kai saw Kipo glance back, too, before quacking turning away, listening to the narration above her. Kai could see curiosity written across Kipo's face, though, this couldn't be easy.

Mabel held up the piece of carboard she had found, and Tulip's eyes widened. Kipo glanced back, but Tulip quickly shook her head.

"They slowly ventured into the castle, cautiously as they could. With all they had found and learned about themselves and each other, they felt they were ready, but they still felt the deaths of everyone they had lost weighing on them. They travelled through the castle, from top to bottom until they finally found the man, gone from prince, to king, to ex king, to the mad king that now laid in front of them. Clearly, he had been expecting them, and he was ready for them. With a flourish, the mad king revealed the trap he had set while the group had been travelling the land."

Suddenly, as Kipo, Tulip and Mabel edged forward, a spot light appeared over the throne, revealing Luz draped over it. She smirked at them, looking positively disarrayed as she laughed at them. Kipo, Tulip and Mabel backed up quickly, startled, and Luz's grin widened. She pointed up, and a second spotlight appeared, angled to show the top left corner of the stage where Coraline sat in a cage, looking bewildered for a second, before she crossed her arms, glaring up at where she apparently thought the voice was coming from. She did not look very happy.

"The group stared at the mad king's prisoner, only having a vague idea of who she was from the stories and legends they had heard on their travels: a princess from a distant land, just like they were. They had only met her once before, but then she had disappeared, and they hadn't heard from her since.

Now, they knew while. And they also knew what they had to do. They had to stop the mad king, and save his prisoner he had trapped, freeing her and the lands he was poisoning."

From the throne, Luz revealed a sword, covered in red. The same sword from earlier, Kai realized, and she held it up at Kipo, tilting her head. Kipo frowned, tilting her head, before something caught her eye from above. Quickly, Kipo backed up, and caught a second sword as it fell. Hesitantly, Kipo held the sword up to Luz, who's smile widened, but there was a sad look in her eye as well.

Before Kai could guess what it was, Luz lunged, and Kipo just barely managed to block the sword with her own, although very clumsily. Kai was pretty sure he saw Luz nick Kipo's shoulder, a very painful blow if those swords had been real.

Locked in a (terrible) sword fight, neither Luz nor Kipo paid much attention to the other side of the stage, where Mabel had grabbed onto a rope that pulled her up to the top of the stage near Coraline's cage, and Tulip was done below, shouting instructions up at her. First, Mabel looked around the cage for some sort of door, but no such one existed. Instead, it looked like the only way to open the cage was to opened up the floor of it. Coraline seemed alarmed at that.

She yelled something, but Tulip only shook her head, running over to the throne. Luz glanced back at her, but Kipo quickly distracted her with an attack and nearly knocked Luz to the ground. Quickly, Kipo apologized, but Luz only laughed. From the throne, Tulip took a key, and through it up to Mabel, who caught it, and raised it to the lock. Above her, Coraline was saying something, shaking her head and glaring at Mabel, but Mabel only gave her a reassuring smile, and twisted the lock.

Mabel tumbled out of the cage, yelling out, but Mabel was ready for her, catching her before she could fall too far and grinning, looking far too proud of herself. Coraline scowled for a second, and then sighed, melting into Mabel's hugged. When she wasn't pissed, she looked relieved.

Tulip shouted something up to them, and then over to Kipo, who only glanced back to give an affirmative nod, and then she looked back to Luz, her face determined. They continued fighting, and Kipo allowed Luz to back her up until they were right underneath the cage. Then Kipo called out, throwing her sword up to Coraline, who caught it and swung it in a wide arc, cutting the rope that held the cage.

Luz glanced up just in time to see the big, metal thing fall on her and trap her inside. Luz stared at it, looking surprised, and then grateful it hadn't actually fell on her.

Finally, the fight was over. Mabel lowered her and Coraline to the ground, letting go of the rope. Then, they all gathered around Luz, staring into the cage.

"With the mad king finally defeated, the group of heroes hashed out a deal. They knew he was immortal, and trapping someone evil like that inside this place for all eternity might only make his grow more evil, and more importantly, more insane. So, in exchange for his freedom, the group asked for only a couple things. Ben told him to use the last of his power to help them get home. The princess, Vanellope, told him to stop tearing up the land around him, and if he didn't, she'd be back to stop him again. And Danny... he asked for Truth. And Truth the king showed them, all of them, before finally promising he'd get them home."

Kipo, Mabel, Coraline and Tulip glanced around at each other, before Tulip reached forward, grabbing the cage and lifting it up. Coraline reached forward, offering Luz a hand, and a soft smile. Luz blinked, before she softly smiled back, accepting Coraline's offer.

"One out of his cage, the mad king wondered if he should try something, but he didn't. Maybe he was done being powerful, he thought, and, using what he had left, he reached forward, giving the others the exit they were looking for."

Now standing up and out of her cage, Luz shook her herself off. She turned to the background behind her, and raised a hand. Suddenly, the background scenery changed, a swirling blue portal replacing the buildings and red sky. Then, turning back to Mabel, Kipo, Tulip and Coraline, she bowed. The rest of them waited for a moment, before they suddenly bowed back. Then, with that, the curtain fell down over them, and the show ended.

...All in all, a little confusing, Kai thought.