The Lost Warrior

**The Lost Warrior** (originally titled “**Island Of The Lonely Fighter**”) is the twenty-second Season 1 episode of Leeko: The Beginning trilogy, and the twenty-second episode overall.

## Summary

A typhoon strands Leeko and his friends on an abandoned island, where they find Sand Man, an old Star Warrior; Leeko defeats Leo’s latest monster, Windify.

## Characters

### Primary

* Leeko
* Sand Man (*debut*)
* Helios & Luna
* Milly
* Manny

### Secondary

* King Leonardo
* Sharks
* Tommy
* Windify (debut)

## Episode summary

The episode begins off the coast of Usapia, where Leeko, Milly, Manny, Helios, and Luna are having a fishing trip on a rubber raft. Before they get too comfortable, a massive storm rolls in out of nowhere and lifts them up in a tornado. Next thing they know, they are washed up on an unfamiliar coastline. Helios and Luna fly high into the sky and confirm that they're on a small deserted island. The kids then find their raft ruined, leaving them out of any immediate options to get home. They soon grow hungry, and travel further into the island to look for food. They come across a sign of habitation carved into the side of a cliff and investigate, concluding that someone must have used it recently. They call out for help, only to be attacked with a volley of arrows and a series of traps. As the assault continues, Manny grabs a stone and tosses it at their aggressor, landing a direct hit and causing him to fall out of the tree he was hiding in.

The kids then corner their attacker, and demand to know who he is. He reveals himself to be Sand Man - a Star Warrior in exile - who believes them to be monsters coming for him. After an unproductive conversation, Sand Man grabs Leeko and runs off with him. Having tied Leeko up, Sand Man prepares to finish him off with a bow and arrow, but Leeko's naive charm gets the better of him, so he lets Leeko free. Sand Man then watches as Leeko catches fish in the water, then spies on the kids failing to do just that. Taking pity on them, he barges in and shows them how to properly catch fish, then tells them to prepare for anti-monster training come dawn, reuniting them with Leeko in the process. While no longer on his bad side, the kids soon learn just how extreme Sergeant Sand Man's outlook is as he squelches their campfire, saying it will give away their position to the enemy.

The next day, Sand Man begins his training, forcing the kids to do jumping jacks, push-ups, archery practice, and laps around the island. That night, after the day of boot camp is finished, Milly once again tries to explain to Sand Man that the war against Nebula Enterprises is over, but he insists on further training. The next day, Sand pushes Manny over the edge, and causes him to attack the sergeant, but in the process, he drops a pocket knife given to him by Moonlight Man. Seeing the cloaked swordsman's visage on the object, Sand Man reacts instinctively by saluting, and soon learns that the kids are affiliated with his former superior officer. Seeing this, he finally realizes that the war is really over. After agreeing to come to Puffy Town with the kids, the group is interrupted as a boat ferrying King Leonardo and Tommy in their Tank car arrives on the island.

King Leonardo reveals that the storm which swept the kids away was their doing, in order to isolate Leeko at a spot where they could finish him off without interruption. Sand Man then appears and sees King Leonardo's arrival and believes the kids were lying to him and had planned an ambush, which King Leonardo and Tommy quickly played to their advantage. King Leonardo then releases his monster Windify from the vehicle's compartment. After an initial skirmish, Windify throws Sand Man to the group. Manny then steps in to fight the monster in his stead, in order to snap Sand Man out of his delusion. From here, he leads the kids back through the forest to escape the monster, but gets pinned by a falling tree. He urges the kids to go on without him, and gives a rousing speech which fills Leeko with a new sense of determination.

Leeko then runs out after the storm and vacuum-mouths the oncoming tornado, transforming into Tornado Leeko. Seeing Tornado Leeko do battle with Windify gives Sand Man a renewed sense of hope, but Tornado Leeko soon gets tossed aside by the monster as he charges with renewed force. Refusing to give up, Tornado Leeko charges in one more time, and manages to beat Windify at his own game, sending the monster flying out of his tornado. Tornado Leeko then throws one last series of gales at Windify, which defeats him by causing him to vaporize. Seeing this, King Leonardo and Tommy attempt to get away, but Tornado Leeko stops them with another tornado blast. King Leonardo and Tommy are then attempting to flee from a whole school of sharks who come out of nowhere and try to pursue them into the sea. Later on, as the kids prepare to return home using King Leonardo's boat, Sand Man insists on staying on the island, saying he had grown rather fond of it, but promises to jump back into battle should Leeko and Moonlight Man need him. The episode ends as the kids wave him goodbye.

## Trivia

* Second episode in the series to feature the Tornado Copy Ability.
* This is one of the few episodes where Leeko fights without being told by others.
* Sand Man is likely correct for seeing Leeko as a monster since Leeko is believed to be a creation of Nebula, as explained in an earlier episode Fighting With Swords.
* It is ironic for Helios and Luna to say that they’re not monsters, since their original form (Heliuna) is technically a creation by Nebula.
* This is the episode in the series to introduce a Star Warrior.
* This episode features the least number of characters in the series, at eight (ten if you count the sharks and the monster Windify).