CLAP!

Rayman opened his eyes to the sound of a clap that reverberated through the room and his figurative eardrums. At first, he almost forgot where he was until music started playing. 

Oh, right. He and his teammates were stopping a large ghost rabbid from getting revenge and possibly taking over galactic media with unlimited power. After hitting the show-tune villain where it hurts, the team woke up to... flashing lights, scattered speakers, and checkered dance floors. But that was not the sight that shocked everyone the most. There in the spotlight floated the Phantom wearing a garish neon pink jacket styled with coattails, a black shirt, and purple fuzzy bracelets. His phonograph was now a light purple color. Needless to say, the heroes shielded themselves from the sight. 

"Augh, my eyes!" Rabbid Mario exclaimed.

"That jacket's so fourth decade ago!" Rabbid Peach scoffed. The Phantom ignored the cries, moving his body to the syncopated beat.

"This next act will get your heart pumping and the beat stomping you into the dance floor! Let's go at it with this mix!" Phantom smirked, electricity flowing through his transparent body.

Rayman, on the other hand, hid behind some speakers nearby. His face was a mixture of familiarity and suspicion. He turned to Beep-0 and asked, "Anything you can tell us, Beep-0? The music rings a bell, but I can't put my finger on it."

"Hmm," Beep-0 scanned the Phantom using the tacticam and gasped in realization. "According to my findings, we're experiencing Freestyle music. Rabbid Peach isn't too far off in the timeline. It's an electronic genre that was popular in a couple of cities and had to compete with other genres like techno, funk, or pop. It was usually played in dance clubs. And the nerve of him, using the first Freestyle song to perform! A disgrace to the original artist!"

"Whatever it is, I can dig it!" Rabbid Mario grinned as he got out to dance freely until Rabbid Peach pulled him back behind cover.

Beep-0 continued, "There's a static in the Phantom's eyes, so we're going to deal with shock-based attacks. But knowing the diva, he'll have something up his sleeve. Keep your guard up and dash those lights!"

The three heroes nodded, huddling together for their battle plan. This time, there were five light bulbs that surrounded Phantom like a circle or a pentagram with Goombas, Stooges, and a few Spellraisers scattered around. After a brief discussion, the heroes went to work. 

As the two Rabbids dashed the two lights in the front, Rayman used the flying rings to glide toward the back of the stage. He dashed the backlight before he shifted to his Rocket costume and flew his rocket to target the Spellraisers and Stooges. Meanwhile, Rabbid Mario took out as many Goombas as he could whereas Rabbid Peach summoned a clone and helped the clone team jump into the next light. Four out of five lights were dashed before the enemies attacked. The Stooges and the remaining Goombas advanced towards the heroes as the Spellraisers threw their shots and summoned more Stooges. 

It was Phantom's next move that surprised the heroes. Usually, Phantom would stay in the spotlight, wave his hand to disable any weapons or techniques, and let out a note that would slam someone into next week for his first turn. Instead, he took one look around the stage with a twirl, then placed his hands upon his chest as his gramophone glowed eerily and he prepared an action with an invisible range. 

Rayman shuddered. He did not like the confident, smug grin on the Phantom's face in general, but it seemed more ominous now than ever. He glanced at the Rabbids all over the floor who looked equally wary. There was no telling what the Phantom would do and it did not help when Beep-0 scanned the pose and it came up blank with his full effort. Either way, someone had to be the bait. With the brawler and two healers out on the field, Rayman decided for himself and moved first.

Before Rayman could even grab a ring or take a step, Phantom jerked in his direction, inhaled, and sang out while waving, "Let the music play!" Rayman stumbled, losing his footing but regained balance and stopped to check the damage. 

"Huh." Rayman patted himself down, feeling no ooze on his face or around his hands as he gradually smiled in relief. "I can shoot and use my powers still, so I think I'm--"

Just then, Rayman froze and paled, his hands hanging by his sides as he tilted his head down. His teammates gaped in concern.

"What's wrong, Ray?" Rabbid Mario called out. 

"And this is no time for dancing in place!" Rabbid Peach added with a scowl. Rayman, in fact, found his feet were pacing from side to side with the beat. His body glowed a light purple as he struggled to lift his head. His eyes were purple, one pupil brown and the other light blue. 

"I... I can't-- move my body!" He managed to hiss as his body shook. It was so shocking that even the Rabbid Peach clone gasped in horror along with the heroes. 

"What's the meaning of this?!" Beep-0 demanded an explanation. 

"That would be me." The Phantom piped up with a dark chuckle. "What better way for your final show to turn out than by throwing in a climactic betrayal?"

"Betrayal? What do you-- Ghk!" Rayman yelped when his hands started to raise in unison with the Phantom's. Phantom cracked his knuckles and neck which looked strange with Rayman copying him. 

"Now, to make use of your two turns." All of a sudden, Rayman jumped down from the raised platform, dashed into the Rabbid Peach clone, and ran as far away from the Phantom and the remaining light as possible before he shifted into his Vortex costume. He raised his hand and instead of pulling minions with tornadoes, his teammates were caught instead. The three Rabbids flew towards Rayman and dropped to the floor with minor injuries.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean that!" Rayman apologized. 

Beep-0 growled, glowing red as he and the team glared at Phantom. "That Devious Wind-Bag! He found a way to be like our Spark, Mayhem, and control anyone with his music!"

"Hey, leave my best buddy alone! No one gets to control his body like that!" Rabbid Mario shook his fists angrily. 

Rayman blinked. "Best Buddy?"

"Us Punching Pals gotta stick together!" With that, the Rabbid Plumber rushed to show the Phantom what for, forgetting that he still needed to take out one more light. When he got close, Phantom sang out a blast that shocked Rabbid Mario multiple times and stopped him in his tracks. 

The two Rabbid Peaches and Beep-0 looked at each other. Both Rabbid Mario and Rayman were out of commission which meant it was up to them to destroy the spotlight. Rabbid Peach covered for her clone as the two of them made their way to the light whereas Beep-0 stayed with Rayman to give moral support. 

The eggplant thingamajig, however, was still reeling. Rabbid Mario called him his best buddy even when they recently just met. Rayman thought he only had one or two best buddies. He would never think that a Rabbid would think of him to be one. Regardless, he needed to get out of the Phantom's control, but the ghost had a strong grip.

"Let me go! I don't want to hurt them!" Rayman pleaded as his body ran after Rabbid Peach, pulling out his plunger gun. 

'Funny. I thought deep down you'd want to take down the Rabbids.' Phantom's voice echoed in Rayman's mind. 'They captured you, took over a planet, and annoyed you to no end. Because of them, no one remembers you. It wouldn't hurt to enjoy pushing some around a little. Give them a taste of their own medicine! Mwahahaha!'

Rayman did not know what he hated more; the idea of hurting his comrades, temporary or not, or the fact that some part of him was considering the notion.

After taking down some Stooges, the clone dashed the final light before screaming as Rayman chased it with his gun raised, apologizing repeatedly while doing so. Although the spotlight shut off, the Phantom still had his glow as he sang, "We started dancing, and love put us into a groove as soon as we started to move."

"It's okay, Ray. I'm comin' for ya!" Rabbid Mario exclaimed in assurance, coming from the electrocution until another High-C froze him again. "After I get over the shocks. Curse you, catchy rhythm!"

"The music played while our bodies displayed through the dance. Then love picked us out for romance."

Rabbid Peach chased after Rayman, punching Spellraisers in the process. She came to Rabbid Mario and healed him on the way over. 

"I thought it was clear the plan was we would share this feeling just between ourselves."

It did not help that all the minions were dancing to the beat, the lights were flashing with the atmosphere, and the rhythm was indeed catchy. Rabbid Peach took some brief pictures before getting serious. The new goal was to defeat the Phantom's phase before he decided to control someone else. If anything, this gave her the excuse to punch the weird Rayman and knock him out for the remainder of the fight. She would heal him later. 

"But when the music changed, the plan was rearranged; he went to dance with someone else."

At that lyric, Rayman had already shot his gun at the clone before turning his body around towards Rabbid Peach. She had to admit she felt guilty for a moment, seeing Rayman staring at his betraying body parts like he wanted to bite at his non-existent limbs to stop. She backed away from him, unaware that she was getting closer to the Phantom. 

"We started dancing and love put us into the groove, but now he's with somebody new. What does Love want me to do?"

Rabbid Peach noticed Phantom's voice loud near her ears. Before she could turn around, a wave of a hand spread a dark ooze that covered her face and eyes.

"Where'd you go? Hold still, will ya?!" She snarled as she pushed herself into where she thought Rayman stood, throwing punches but Rayman kept dodging and weaving before pushing her to the ground. She then launched missiles in the air haphazardly. One hit the Phantom but the other two hit the remaining Spellraisers. 

"Love said: let the music play! He won't get away. Just keep the groove and then he'll come back to you again! Let it play!"

As the music kicked up and the Phantom's singing became much more sinister, Clone Rabbid Peach got from behind Rabbid Mario and dragged him to the back so they could attack the ghost with a surprise attack. 

"Let the music play. He won't get away. This groove, he can't ignore. He won't leave you any more!"

"No, no, no!" Rabbid Peach protested, deciding to retreat until she could get the ooze out of her face and Rayman would be set free. 

Although the hold would loosen any second now, Rayman still trembled at the power Phantom possessed and the implications. Who knew which hero he would go after next? A large Rabbid ghost posed a threat that he had not realized until now. As his brown pupil turned blue and tears formed in his eyes, Rayman strained a smile as he sang with Phantom's voice in unison, pointing his gun at his fellow teammate.