In the previous part, I wrote the Fusion dialogue in italics to emphasize their conjoined voices, but I write it normal from here on since Fusion gets pretty common.
Part 3: Vanilla and Pai
The operatives filled up on Mowchan's food and gathered on his giant sleeping bag, setting their shoes on the ground as they relaxed on the soft platform. "Is this all we have to sleep under?" Aniki questioned. "It's so musky!"
"I feel the same." Kansai remarked. "But it feels better without him takin' up space."
"Come on, you gotta try it sometime, Kansai." Mowchan said, poking himself. "It's so soft~"
"Hmhmhm!" Nyoro giggled, poking it as well. "It is pretty soft!"
"Moohoohoohoo!" Mowchan flushed from the ticklishness. "Your fingers are so thin~"
"Ugh!" Chuko cringed. "That reminds me, I bet you guys had to take a shower together, too."
Jennu gasped. "WOW, I just realized that!" She hugged herself and shuddered. "The boys and girls took showers like nothing was wrong, who created this system?!"
"I guess that Sage girl thought it'd be funny." Pochi shrugged. "Assuming she's the mastermind."
"Good thing me and Aniki didn't." Nyoro smiled. "Even when we were brainwashed, we remembered our species didn't like water."
"Your species?" Yuki asked.
"Mm-hm! I'm an Inkling and Aniki's an Octoling. We're from Inkopolis on Planet Mushroom." Nyoro took her hair and squeezed some ink out on the ground beside the bag. "We're able to secrete an ink that dissolves easy. We can become squids or octos to hide in it," she became a squid and hid in the puddle that resulted, "but we mostly harness it for all kinds of weapons. Like my F-Bombs!"
"That's hyper adorably awesome! Your hair is kinda like a paintbrush!"
"Hmhm! If you think that's cool, you should see our Turf Wars!"
"Aniki, can I see you change, too?"
"Why, so you can coo over how cuddly I look?"
"You said it, not her." Nyoro remarked.
"Yes!" Yuki clapped.
"No."
"Aw, make her happy, Aniki."
"I'd rather just try to get some sleep."
"If we're gonna be on a mission together, we should at least tell a little about ourselves. Liiiiike how you're an extremely rare earthbender from our race!"
"He's an extremely rare what?!"
"It's nothing special." Aniki ripped a small chunk out of the ground and crushed it. "There's millions of earthbenders out there."
"Not among us!" Nyoro beamed. "Because of what we are, we almost never get bending! Not even music, even though we have lots of great singers. But I guess earthbending makes sense since Octolings used to live underground."
"Boy, Inkoctolings just keep getting better!"
"Aren't we?! Even Marty's dad and uncle wanted to take after us!"
"Alright, don't hog all the attention." Jennu said. "I'm sure you haven't heard of Zathura either, Yuki."
"Hm? Is that another world?"
"Yep!" Jennu pinched the back of her white hand. "Zathurian skin looks like this! But not all in the same pattern. A small percentage of us is born with spacebending while others just get gravitybending." She demonstrated by floating in the air. "We can bend the flow of gravity like this! I can be low-G, concentrate there," she fell toward the cliff, "and now over here!" Then she focused gravity to Nyoro's forehead, the tips of her socked toes balancing on it.
"Very funny!" Nyoro huffed.
"That looks so much fun! I wanna fly around, too!"
"I can make anyone fly with me! Come on!"
"Cut it out!" Aniki shouted. "You're not gonna have any energy by the time we wake up."
"Fine, fine…" Jennu settled back onto the sleeping bag.
"I hope we can later." Yuki smiled. "But now that I think about it, I don't know anything about Mr. Pochi or the rest of you. Are you from different planets?"
"You don't need to know anything about us!" Chuko argued.
"I…I don't?" Yuki asked, mildly upset.
"Some of us aren't comfortable talking about our backgrounds." Suna said. "And either way, you might get a headache just taking all of it in. All that really matters is we can trust each other and we… well, most of us like each other."
"Hmph." Chuko felt there was no point protesting at this point.
"So, for the sake of not having more headaches, can we go to sleep?" Aniki asked.
"Fine, Anicranki." Suna remarked.
"Can I at least tell her about Electro Rangers?!" Tattsun pled.
"Ooooo!" Yuki beamed in intrigue. "You mentioned them earlier. Are they zappybenders like you?"
"Yes, actually! But they use different forms of electricity. The Pink Static Ranger builds up static electricity with her fluffy clothes, the Blue Sea Ranger-"
"ENOUGH!" Aniki punched the ground, bouncing the group with an earthquake.
"Well, nothing rocks us to sleep like an earthquake." Pochi said. "Time to tuck in."
"Good night, everybody." Yuki said. "I'm sorry for keeping everyone awake."
"It's not your fault at all." Nyoro smiled. "See you all in the morning!"
It was only 9:00pm, but the events of today made them too tired to go any longer. A nice rest in a safe spring would reinvigorate them for the next round. Around 3am, Kansai rolled over and lightly smacked Yuki's face, starting the girl awake. She realized the folly without gasping too loudly and gently pushed Kansai's arm down. But while awake, Yuki decided to make sure everyone was okay and accounted for. There was Mr. Mowchan snoring like an ox, Nyoro and Aniki in their cute little squid forms, Chuko snoring like a squeaky mouse… wait, where was Mr. Pochi?
She looked around and eventually saw his shape, the glow of the spring reflecting off him. Yuki stood, careful to tiptoe around the sleeping friends and her socks making no disturbance to the earth. Pochi sensed her coming and turned. "Mr. Pochi, did you get enough sleepies already?"
"I have trouble sleeping sometimes. Just washing my eyes out before I come back; hard to get back to sleep with crust in your eyes."
"Yeah. Crust is for bread, not the eyes!"
"Different kind of crust, but… well, you just made me think of some gross food. …But since you're here… can I share a secret with you?"
"Sure. I promise to keep it!"
"It's…It's how I was able to resist the brainwashing, I think. I have some sort of clairvoyance."
"You have… a clear voyage?"
"N-No, haha." Yuki's mistake sparked a smile and blush on his features. "Clairvoyance is where you have visions of things happening far away. And, not even just that, in my case: I can see what other sectors are doing and even glimpses of their pasts. One time, I saw Erin and Nora when they were little, and I saw Christina when she was sent to the future, when she met that samurai."
"Who are these people again?"
"Not important. The point is I'm not really involved with these people most of the time, especially not these events… but I still see them happening. Except I don't seem to get the visions as these events happen, just… as they finish, I think. And I don't even see all their missions, just certain ones. That's how I escaped the brainwashing, because I remembered what my friends and I were doing before coming to this world, and I saw other operatives, too. And it seemed like I was the only one able to see the light from your Core Crystal. I don't really understand that."
"I don't understand either… but, if you have that kind of power, you can tell when your friends are in trouble, right?"
"Well, by the time I learn other ops are in danger, the mission's already over. Besides, it would be hard to explain how I knew of the danger… and if people found out about this, they make get too reliant, ask me too many questions, and I wouldn't always know the answer. I'm only telling you now 'cause… you're my Blade."
"It's kinda funny." Yuki chirped with a smile.
"Huh?"
"I don't have any memory before meeting you guys, but you remember lots more than you should. I guess that makes you my perfect Driver!"
"I… guess." Pochi flushed at the odd, yet logical analogy.
"But a promise is a promise. I won't tell anyone if you aren't ready to tell them. But if I could ask… if you see all these visions, would you know anything about Sage?"
"To be honest, I… vaguely remember seeing her shape pop up recently. Then it all gets jumbled into letters. So, for now, the only way to learn anything is to investigate and train. I should probably get back to sleep then."
"Okey-dokey Pochi!"
"Hehe. Thanks for hearing me. My head feels a little clearer."
The two rejoined their friends on the bag and gently settled back down. …Tattsun's eye cracked open as he glanced backward.
Next morning; Dannagh Desert
At 6am, the friends left the sanctuary of the spring and into the white desert of dark alien plants. They woke to a glum, cloudy sky soaring with Marrins (large horned eels) and Ansels (orange birds with long purple beaks). Several beasts lurked within giant whirlpools of sand, and a great trench separated the desert from the next region. "Not the best place to ski around so far." Suna said, wearing her backup pair of roller-blades. "…But that might help!" She saw what looked like abandoned Keves cargo and jogged up to it, picking up a pair of skis. "Pochi, can you fuse my shoes to these?"
"Should work." Pochi worked his magic.
"You'll just have to lose them when we make it out of this desert." Aniki said. "Why do you make walking so hard for yourself?"
"'Cause some girls like fluidity~" Suna skied a loop back to Aniki's direction and spun so hard that she washed a wave of sand over him. The aggravated Octoling forced it off with his bending.
"Looks like there're sleds for the rest of us." Nyoro observed. "Even some cannons to go with them and fans to boost."
"Then make us some good rides for the rest of us, Pochi!" Kansai said excitedly.
"Well, I wouldn't wanna cross the desert on foot. We just better watch out for these sinkholes. Also… what's that stuff?"
Pochi pointed at clouds of dark mist. "Oh, that must be the black fog." Nyoro said. "It causes Annihilation Events."
"What's that mean?" Yuki asked.
"They're bodies of Destruct Chi known to this continent. If enough black fog builds around an area, chunks of the land are destroyed."
"That's pretty scary!" Chuko gulped. "Why does that happen?"
"We aren't sure. But we think it has something to do with this continent's creation. Just a couple decades ago, the God of Matter, Deoxys fought a battle on this world. It was so intense that his matterbending crafted this continent, using pieces from other parts of the world."
"That's insane." Jennu said. "What was he fighting?"
"I'm not sure of that either. But just be careful around that stuff. I don't think it's dangerous to touch as it is, only when it starts building up."
After Pochi crafted sleds for his teammates, they surfed the desert and "trained" with the local monsters. He equipped Chuko's sled with a flamethrower she could enhance with bending, Aniki and Nyoro's with ink turrets, while Jennu was happy surfing on anti-gravity and ramming her sled into the airborne foes. The kids could surf around the rims of the sinkholes and up against their flow. When they felt ready to train with their Fusion forms, they searched for Named Monsters: Kansai and Chuko battled Crystalline DuGarre, a Ropl who lurked in a sinkhole, while Suna and Tattsun fought Dunesea Marcellus, the strongest Marrin in the desert.
"So, I guess I should try fusing you guys now." Pochi said to the GKND and Mowchan.
"I am not fusing with anyone." Aniki stated, already walking away.
"You're kidding me!" Nyoro yelled dejectedly. "Imagine what you and Jennu could do if you fused! Your bending combined could call down meteors or something! Which could even be a way to get us off this world."
"Those four said they could see each other's memories. I'm not havin' that."
"Don't be a baby. You should be comfortable fusing with me, at least."
"Forget about it."
"Fine. Then I'll just fuse with… Mowchan!"
"M-Me?!" The mini giant pointed at himself with a blush.
"It might be fascinating! We'll be a perfect brains and brawn combo." Nyoro smiled with a light poke at Mowchan's belly.
"Moohoohoo." His belly wobbled from the tiny, ticklish poke. "Okay. I'm ready if you are!"
"Here goes somethin'." Pochi aimed the gauntlet and merged the Inkling and giant.
They became a colossal fusion propped on four legs, the front ones small and the hind ones long with Nyoro's boots. The torso was rotund and cow-like with udders while the head was squid-shaped. "Yikes!" Pochi gawked. "'Guess we didn't need to resize Mowchan first!"
"Wowie!" Yuki chirped. "It looks so…"
"Weird." Jennu smiled awkwardly.
"Ugh!" The Fusion rested on its side and rubbed its belly. "Mowchan, how do you move around with this much weight?"
"It just comes naturally, I guess." They blushed. "But I don't know why I have udders. I know I have a cow shirt, but not actual-" They squeezed the udders and squirted Nyoro's brown ink. "Wow, chocolate milk! I'll take that!"
"That isn't milk, that's my ink!"
"Either way, I'll never be able to stomach chocolate milk the same…" Jennu cringed, her stomach creasing.
"WAAAAH—UGH!" Tattsun and Suna's Fusion crashed beside them. "Man, that thing's tougher than I thought!"
"What's wrong, Tattsuna?" Kansuko asked cockily, strolling up with their bat propped over their shoulder. "Ya couldn't even take a flying fish?"
Suna and Tattsun defused. "We underestimated the power readings is all." Tattsun said.
"Wait, what's that thing?!" Chuko's will asked frantically, pointing at the squid-cow.
"Say hello to the newest Fusion, Nyorochan!" Yuki exclaimed.
"Nyoro and Mowchan?!"
"I thought the head would grow round enough to match the body, at least." Jennu said. An angry Nyoro proceeded to squirt her with her udder-ink.
"See, this is why I didn't want to take part in this!" Aniki stated.
"We would've looked better if you and I fused, Aniki! We're virtually the same race, so we would've worked perfectly."
"But it's wrong for siblings to fuse with one-another." Tattsun said with a push of his glasses.
"Uh, what do you think Fusion is exactly?" Suna questioned.
"I still think it can be useful with a bit of training." Pochi said. "Why don't you practice on… that thing?" He pointed at Scornful Daria, a feathered raptor-like monster, which just bit off the trail of a Scorpox. "Mowchan, you said that was another Unique, right?"
"Okay! I'd like to do a Goron Roll, but these legs are…" Nyorochan tried to bend the legs in and around their body, "kinda long."
"Let me try something." Nyoro willed the legs to recede. "Aha! It's just like when I turn into a squid! Can you work with this, Mowchan?"
"I can now! Thanks!" Mowchan curled them up and rolled at Daria, flattening the Skwaror like a steamroller. Daria recovered and charged at them with a Tail Slap, sending the Fusion spinning toward a sinkhole. However, they left a trail of ink and were able to swim into it, going up before it all flowed down the sinkhole. When Daria observed the ink cautiously, Nyorochan suddenly stretched its legs out, bent them down to catch Daria between the ankles, and chuck it into the sinkhole. The Skwaror galloped out of the pit and lunged to bite their leg, chewing a gash into it, but the giant kicked away on the other leg and blasted a round of ink. Thankfully, Nyoro's Inkling biology could self-regenerate the wound.
Utilizing combos of Goron Rolling and Inkling swimming, the Fusion had Scornful Daria KO'ed. The pair diffused with Mowchan back in his giant form, panting on his back while Nyoro lay arched over his belly. "Hoo…that was weirder than doing a three-legged race. But it was kinda fun!"
"Yeah, but it feels better to be back in shape." Nyoro rolled around to embrace the soft surface at different angles. "Mmmmm…but your belly doesn't disappoint, Mowchan."
"D'aww." A blushing Mowchan lightly patted the little Inkling. "Feel free to rest on it anytime."
"Have some dignity, Nyoro." Chuko cringed.
"And who was snugglin' up to Mowchan the first night?" Kansai asked.
"At least he smells nicer than you!"
"Ahem, so anyway…" Suna coughed, "let's get out of this gloomy desert. That fresh grassland over there is practically calling for me!"
The Ribbi Flats was lush with greenery and clear rivers, divided by stairs of cliffs and waterfalls. With the creatures they hunted in the desert, there was no need to disturb the peaceful wildlife. Tattsun was quite enthralled by the triceratops-looking Ardun. "Right… it was here!" Nyoro lit up. "This was where we tried to ambush Colony 30. But we got overwhelmed by Valdi's mechs and retreated into Eagus Wilderness." She indicated the dry canyon to the right. "From which we got to the meadows and wound up fighting you guys."
"Then Valdi's colony might still be around here." Pochi wondered. "With any luck, I can restore them, too…"
"Here's hoping for that." Jennu said. "In the meantime… I was thinking if we're gonna be together for a while, we should have a unified team name! Since we're from different sectors and all."
"We already have one." Chuko replied. "The 'Kids Next Door.'"
"That's not what I mean. Besides, Yuki isn't even an operative."
"Alright, let me think…" Tattsun stroked his chin. "Hmm…what month were each of you born? 'Cause what I'm thinking is… we can be the Zodiacs!"
"Zodiacs?" Kansai questioned.
"Yeah! Kansai, you can be the Tiger, because of your pants! Chuko's the Rat because she's sma-" Chuko looked about ready to burn him if he said the next word, "-because her hair loops look like mouse ears!" She still looked unhappy. "Yuki can be the Sheep because of her coat. Mowchan's the Ox, naturally. Pochi can be the Dog because his name sounds like poochy."
"If I'm a sheep, does that mean I go, 'BA-A-A-A-A, BA-A-A-A-A'?" Yuki called.
"Woof-woof." Pochi nodded.
"Kansai the Tiger, eh?" Kansai grinned with a proud twitch of his nose. "Sounds strong and majestic! Fitting for a leader like me!" Chuko groaned at his arrogance.
"And me?" Tattsun's eyes twinkled. "I'll be the Dragon!"
"WHAT?!" Chuko flared. "I should be the Dragon, I breathe fire!"
"Didn't you take offense to being called a dragon the other day?"
"Only 'cause Kansai was being mean! It's better than being a stupid rat!"
"Sorry, but with the amount of squeakin' you do," Kansai shrugged, "no animal suits you better."
"THAT'S IT!" Chuko tackled Nyoro and fished around her clothes. "Where's the Weenifier, I'll show him who the mouse is!"
"ENOUGH!" Nyoro wrestled her off. "Or I'll Weenify you both if you're gonna be like this the whole way!"
"Why don't we just forget the animal comparisons?" Pochi chuckled. "For a team name, I'm sorta feeling… Go-Getters."
"Seriously?" Kansai asked. "That's a little kiddish."
"And you're just ripping off Pokémon Mystery Dungeon." Tattsun accused. "Come on, Zodiacs is a great name! All we need are giant mechs representing our animals that can fuse together into a Zodiac Megazord!"
"WHO'S ripping off again?!" Suna shouted. "Screw it, Go-Getters it is."
"Yeah, same here." Chuko huffed.
"It's okay, I guess." Jennu smiled.
"Can I still be a sheep? Ba-a-a-a-a!"
The Go-Getters traveled up the valley toward a circular lake at the base of the towering cliff. A path curved up along the cliff and around the lake, and a waterfall fell from a hole above, the same width as the lake. "The Annihilation must've happened here, too." Nyoro said.
"What makes you say that?" Chuko asked.
"I heard they're usually in spherical shapes and leave perfectly rounded gaps where they happen. Just look at the shape of this lake and the cliff above."
"They're that huge, huh? That's… pretty scary."
"It'd be scarier if Sage could control them as well." Pochi said.
"Don't even suggest it!"
"Hey, something's coming!" Jennu exclaimed, pointing upward. Something spherical and flashing blue was falling from the cliff. Tattsun quickly struck a bolt, exploding the bomb as the force brushed a strong wind over them. As they skimmed upward for the culprit, they found the circular cliff filled with Keves soldiers and robots. "I think Valdi's found us!"
"Cowards!" Aniki shouted.
"Yonyenrate yall ynn…" There was a voice coming through a microphone, but it seemed to be muffled and incoherent.
"Ahem, Vice-Commander Nikol, you're not coming through clearly." They could hear another soldier's voice above the cliff.
"Ahem, s-sorry!" The microphone came through clearer, but it still sounded a little muffled and nervous. "C-Concentrate, all fire, yon the mnnsters… On the monsters!"
"Somebody's got stage fright." Suna remarked.
"And we're about to get heavy rain!" Pochi exclaimed as more bombs and gunfire rained from every side. "They sure picked a bad spot for it!"
"Actually, we have a shortcut!" Jennu smirked. "But managing all of you at once is gonna be tricky, so we gotta move fast."
"What do you—MEEAAAN!" Tattsun screamed as Jennu suddenly gravitated them against the cliff. They raced upward, outrunning the laser fire from the opposite side and being sheltered from the bombs by the cliff's underside.
"You turned the wall into a floor!" Yuki beamed. "Gravitybending is amazing!"
"Just don't get a headache!" Once at the cliff's underside, Jennu focused gravity on it.
"Nikol, they're right underneath us!" a soldier panicked.
"Step back from the ledge!" Nikol ordered. "Soldiers on the west side, any visual on them?"
"No, sir!"
The operatives stayed along the rim of the path and out of eyesight as they made their way to the north side of the circle facing the valley, in actuality a curved bridge. "Aniki, flip us up!"
"Got it!" Aniki crouched and gripped the ceiling, flipping the segment of ground and sending the troops and bots falling into the lake. The sensation dizzied his allies, who only stayed on their foothold thanks to Jennu's bending. The other soldiers on the path were taken aback by the action, so Aniki quickly channeled his bending to flip their segments and send them falling as well.
Based on a brief survey of the area, some soldiers were stationed along the route that would've linked the lower lake with this upper area, while toward their left, more troops were stationed along that valley. "The colony must be that way!" Pochi pointed. "Mowchan, do you see your sister anywhere?"
"Not yet…"
"She'd have to be easy to notice." Yuki said as they began to fight their way through the hordes. "If she's super huge like Mr. Mowchan!"
"Well, actually-"
"Yuki!" Pochi yelled. "Let's try to Restore these soldiers!"
"Okay!" Both of their gauntlets shone as they linked hands. They focused on some of the downed troops and flashed the light. The Kevesi retained their uniforms and shook their heads from the dizzying flash. They only seemed momentarily confused afterward. "Um…Mr. Keves Troops? Do you remember-"
"GRAB THEM!" The troops seized the two and tried to strangle them on the ground—Kansai and Suna returned to bash them off.
"It didn't work!" Pochi yelled.
"Well, ain't no point stickin' 'round here!" Kansai said.
"Yes there is, it still worked on us!" Jennu argued. "It'll work on Pai, too!"
"Yeah, but if we can't fix them, we'll just have to flatten them!" Nyoro declared as she restored Mowchan's size. The giant curled up and proceeded to roll over a line of soldiers while the others divided to fight through any troops on the sides.
Commander Valdi was horrified as the monsters swiftly plowed through his lines. "Those demons! They're ruining all my Levnises!"
"A real heart of iron, you have." A clownish voice remarked behind him. "I say this isn't boding well for you, Valdi m'boy."
"Tch, it's not over yet, Consul! My two pals are the best Defenders in Keves!"
Mowchan's steamrolling was put to an abrupt end as he rammed headfirst into a small, spherical force. "WOH!" Mowchan tumbled back on his rear, rubbing his sore noggin. He looked down at the force with a gasp: it was a psychic barrier of orange hue, projected by a teenage girl with bob-cut light-brown hair with a pink butterfly clip. She wore the Keves uniform and her blue eyes were narrowed threateningly, but she was nonetheless the same girl who bore blushed cheeks like her little brother. "PAI!"
"Ew!" Pai cringed. "It just said my name!"
The other operatives came around. "There she is!" Jennu exclaimed.
"Th-That's Pai?" Kansai asked in shock.
"But she's so teeny!" Yuki said. "Does this colony have a Weenifier, too?"
"No," Nyoro answered, "she was like this when Sector GT first passed by H.Q.. I don't think Pai inherited the gigantism."
"That makes our job easier." Pochi reasoned. "Except for that barrier. What is she using?"
"She huffed Bang Gas and got barrier powers." Mowchan answered. "Pai, it's me! It's your brother! Mowchan! Mow-chan!"
"Hey, watch your head!" Pochi yelled. Another figure leapt atop Pai's barrier and kicked off it. He was a 12-year boy with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a backpack with attached, black and yellow mechanical arms. He wore a bluish-gray turtle-neck sweater and black vest with detached sleeves, black shorts and knee-pads, and black boots with yellow socks. The mechanical arms, made extendable via the electric links between segments, folded hands and hammered down on Mowchan's head. He landed before Pai, who yelped, "Nikol!" as she quickly despawned and reformed her barrier around them both, protecting from Nyoro's ink gun.
"Th-Thanks, Pai!" Nikol gasped in a soft, meek voice.
"That sounds like the guy in the microphone!" Kansai said. "Don't tell me this dork's been dishin' out orders?"
"Wait, I think I know him!" Jennu said. "He's Valdi's best friend, Nikol!"
"Not just that." Nyoro replied. "I think he's also-"
"Save the lesson for later!" Kansai angrily began bashing the barrier, his bat still equipped with the Avis Spear. Though Kansai kept feeling the knockback from each blow, his persistent swinging was steadily cracking the shield. She dropped it herself, but Nikol would stretch a punch at Kansai's head, wrap himself and Pai in his mech-arms, and roll backwards. Suna intercepted them with a kick, knocking both apart, afterwards leaping to stomp Nikol with her Avis Orb. Nikol crossed his arms in defense as Pai returned to form her barrier over them again.
Aniki stomped up a rock jab from inside Pai's barrier at her hip, disabling the shield. "Pai! Wh-!" Tattsun jumped Nikol afterward and absorbed the electricity from his backpack, its segments falling apart. Tattsun would kick his leg to Nikol's and return the electricity.
As Pai tried to recover, she was seized in Mowchan's firm, but gentle grasp, struggling to shake free. "You hurt my sister!" he yelled at Aniki.
"I had to break her barrier!"
"I hope you didn't break a bone! Pochi, can you fix her?"
"Yeah! Yuki?" His Blade nodded as they linked hands again and flashed the Restore command.
Mowchan lay his hands flat as his sister reeled from the effects. Her true clothes replaced her uniform: a yellow-brown dress and white top underneath, a pair of very short blue sports shorts, and cowboy boots at the end of her thick legs. Her upper body seemed much shorter and lighter compared to her legs. She also carried a dark-green purse with wriggly light-red stripes. "Mmmmm…what…"
"Pai! You're back to normal!"
"M-Mowchan! Wait, w-what was I doing just now?"
"I'll explain later!" Mowchan squeezed his big sister in a hug. "I'm just glad I found you, big sis!"
"D'aww, I'm sorry I worried you, little bro!" She tried to put her smaller arms over his chest as best as she could.
"W-Wait…" Yuki scratched her head in confusion. "Don't they have it backwards?"
"It's a matter of mentality." Pochi remarked.
Nikol's A.R.M.S. reassembled as he grabbed Tattsun and threw him toward the cliff, Jennu catching him. "Now there's another one! Where did Pai go?!"
"She's right in front of you!" Pochi leapt and socked Nikol's jaw with his gauntlet. "What do I have to do to Restore you?!"
"Valdi! I-I need help, now!"
"Hear you loud and clear, pal!" The operatives saw the young Machina himself, riding atop a much larger Levnis. With his guidance, the robot trained its massive laser gun and shot craters around the operatives.
Tattsun kicked back to the ground and yelled, "Suna, let's fuse!" running to the skater.
"Yeah!" She glid up to Tattsun as Pochi focused the Fuse command, turning them into Tattsuna. They zipped circles around Valdi to both confuse and make an energy field around him, striking him and his mech with powerful lightning. As the energy dispersed, the Levnis shirked as Valdi seemed to be gasping from the pain, only to suddenly turn his gun on the Fusion and unload a flurry, blasting Tattsuna back.
Nikol lunged at Kansai and Chuko with a spin attack, knocking the leader's bat away before slapping him flying, while Chuko ducked and burned his legs. Nikol reeled his A.R.M.S. in and clapped Chuko between them. "I'll save you, Ms. Chuko!" Yuki charged and socked Nikol with her gauntlet, flying him several feet while Chuko bounced along the ground.
"Not bad, Yuki!" Pochi praised.
"I learned it from you!"
"Stupid big-hands." Kansai rubbed his aching arm, raising his bat as more Kevesi closed in around them. "Hey, since we saved Pai, I say we just head downhill and split!"
"For once, you're right." Chuko said, throwing flames at the soldiers. "Pochi's power doesn't seem to work on the natives, we should just go."
"Hmmm…" Pochi narrowed his eye in the colony's direction.
"What's wrong, Mr. Pochi?" Yuki asked.
"I think… someone else is here."
"What'd ya say?!" Kansai called.
Pochi held his forehead. He remembered Valdi speak to his lieutenant about a consul coming, and a pink-haired girl trapped in a cage at their colony. "Wait!" Yuki perked up knowingly. "Is this…"
"Yeah. There's another prisoner at the colony!"
"What makes you say that?!" Aniki questioned, stomping a small platoon away with a Rockapult. "We can't keep fighting here, I think they're starting to appear out of thin air!"
"We can! I'm going in!" Pochi and Yuki charged forth. Valdi trained his gun on them, but Jennu "fell" and stomped the Machina's stomach in. Nyoro threw an F-Bomb at the base of the Levnis' gun, exploding it with ink.
"Valdi, don't you remember Ralph and Marty?!" Nyoro shouted. "Or me, Nyoro? You told us that you don't like using robots to hurt people! This isn't what you are, Valdi!"
"Nnn…" Valdi felt a tinge behind his eye. The monster flickered between its dark misty form and Nyoro's. "Have I… seen you somewhere?"
"Commander, are you alright?!" Nikol yelled.
"I'm fine! Nikol, don't let those two reach the colony!"
"Yeah, good luck gettin' past us!" Kansai took a swing at Nikol, who clapped the tip of his Avis Spear and was able to tear it off.
"I hope Pochi knows what he's doing!" Aniki stated impatiently. "What about you?" he asked Pai. "When you were working for that colony, did they have any other prisoners?"
"Hey, don't talk to her like that!" Mowchan scolded.
"I…I think…" Pai was in a daze as she rubbed her forehead. "There was this strange, pink-haired ghost… in a white dress."
"Pink-haired… what?"
"Hey, Aniki, if you're gonna whine, go support Pochi!" Kansai ordered.
Pochi and Yuki closed in on Colony 30's sealed gate. With enough arm and legwork, they could climb over it—the gate burst open as a white car zoomed out, nearly running them over before they dodged apart. The car's hood with a large mouth a wriggling tongue between its teeth. "I've always wanted one of my own." The driver chimed as he rose from the cockpit. "All I'm really missing are billions of dollars and a secret laboratory." He wore purple mechanical armor with a deranged, big-nosed clown helmet and an almost pointed jester hat.
"Consul J!" Valdi exclaimed.
"Consul?" Jennu repeated, repulsed by the costume. "Well, the circus wouldn't work out for him…"
"Kids these days don't appreciate hard work." J shook disapprovingly. "We worked so hard to organize this game and you're stepping all over the board! But I'll have you back in place soon enough."
"So, you're one of Sage's accomplices." Pochi deduced.
"Sage?! I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Don't lie! Why did you brainwash this world?! Why did you turn it into some kind of war game?!"
"Hey, don't yell at me! This was all the Executives' idea. Or was it that fat lady? Whatever the case, who would turn down the chance to make juveniles into bloodthirsty warmongers? It's taking angst to the next level. Of course, angst isn't really my thing, so why don't we put a few smiles on these kiddos' faces? I was given enough authority for just such an occasion." J snapped his fingers.
"Huh?!" Valdi, Nikol, and the other soldiers were dumbstruck as they acquired clown clothes, white skin, and makeup with painted red smiles. "Hahaha! Hahahahaha!" Valdi cackled. "This is killer, eh?!"
"Haha, yes! I wanna bash some heads in, haha!" Nikol chortled.
"Okay, this has gotten way too creepy!" Tattsuna said.
"I knew we should've left!" Aniki shouted.
"What a bunch of jokers!" Kansai joked.
"Pochi, maybe they'll go back to normal if we beat the scary clown!" Yuki suggested.
"Just what I was hoping." He and Yuki closed their gloved fists with resolution. "I won't let you play with them anymore!" (Play "Moebius Battle" from XC3!)
"Just try to take me by the tongue, twerps!" J returned into his Jokemobile, the windshield closing. "It'll only taste badly!"
As the consul sped toward them, Pochi and Yuki tried to throw a combined punch at J's car, only for the vehicle to overpower their gauntlets and ram them against the cliff. The car's mouth cackled with J as it did a U-turn before speeding for the next blow, only to be kicked off course by Suna, she and Tattsun having separated. "Suna, throw us on that thing!" Pochi ordered, he and Yuki running to the skater. Suna flipped down and grabbed both by the hand, chasing J's car before throwing them atop the hubcap.
"Whoa, whee, whoooaa!" Yuki screamed, she and her Driver holding on as the car swerved around rampantly. Fortunately, Nyoro would squirt ink around its area, gooping up its tires and slowing it down. Pochi and Yuki grabbed hold of the tongue and yanked it: when the tongue snapped back inside, "DWOW-WOH!" J was sprung out via his chair spring. Driver and Blade leapt down for a combo, but only managed one punch before J flipped upright and blocked their fists with his ankles. J whipped out decks of cards in a fan shape, slashing the duo. J only then noticed the puddle of brown ink beneath him, Nyoro shooting out with great force to ram his armored jaw. During his knockback, Pochi and Yuki punched him backward, their gloves glowing as a thin line connected them.
J flipped back into his Jokemobile, doing a spin as springs ejected from his tires to forcefully spring the kids down toward the swarm of Keves Clowns. J floored his engine and charged to ram them—but his car abruptly made impact with a strong force. Pai had jumped in the wake, hands forward with her barrier projected. "Pai, I told you to stay in my backpack!" Mowchan said, trying to hold down Valdi's Levnis.
"I can't just lay back and do nothing in the middle of all this!"
"It's much appreciated!" Pochi said, yanking the Jokemobile's tongue during its stunned state and springing the clown out again. He and Yuki took turns throwing consecutive punches at the consul, confusing him, with Kansai to help by swatting baseballs at him.
"Um, not to interrupt," Tattsun began while trying to sap electricity from Nikol's A.R.M.S.; they were replaced as snapping jaws in his clown form, "but should someone go with Aniki?"
"Aniki?" Nyoro looked over. Her brother was running toward the colony.
"I'll go to him!" Jennu took flight.
Aniki still questioned why Pochi would assume other relevant prisoners were here. It's true that it could still be one of their sectormates, but Pai's description… It shouldn't be possible, but it concerned Aniki too much to not check. At least they knew there was another prisoner here, so they should probably save them. Aniki rushed in through the forced-open gate and surveyed the area. The Ferronis was based on the opposite side of the cave while the camp was set on metal platforms built over a small lake. There were other soldiers here including Nopon, all clownified as they trained weapons on him. "Aniki! Aniki, is that you?!"
He took a deep gasp, the voice ringing too familiarly, even though it was somewhat distorted. There was an electric cage in the middle of the campground, and what seemed to be a hologram inside it, fizzling and sparking pixels around her body. More important was her tentacled hair with shades of light-pink, dark-pink, and orangey-yellow, and white dress with matching open-toed platform shoes. "V-Vanilla?"
"Quit standing there, you clowns, FIRE!" Yuzet ordered as the clowns unloaded. Aniki couldn't erect a barrier on the metal surface, so he shrank into octo form for the momentary evasion, but would afterwards charge forward from there. Jennu soared in and landed Grav-Kicks on some of the troops before grabbing Aniki and rising them to the ceiling.
"What's wrong, Aniki?!"
"Vanilla! My sister's in that cage!"
"Vanilla?! …Uh-oh!" The Ferronis shot lasers at the ceiling, Jennu flying them into retreat as rubble plummeted over the colony. "Those clowns are gonna kill their selves if they do that! He must've stripped them of their sense of reason!"
"Then let's grab Vanilla and get out! I can use the rocks to smash the cage open!" Jennu complied and landed them on the surface. Aniki raised the fallen stones and tried to smash Vanilla's cage, but it remained rooted to its surface and refused to budge. "Crap!"
"Think you can wreck Valdi's handiwork like that?!" yelled Zooza, a purple-winged Entia girl, attempting to bash them with a large wrench. Aniki blocked it with an arm while Jennu kicked her in the shin. With the other troops closing in, Jennu decided to pull them out.
"Aniki, let's get Nyoro! Maybe she can hack it!" Jennu soared back to the battleground, using Mowchan as the waypoint where Nyoro might be.
"Oh dear, we've got ourselves a bird problem!" Back in his Jokemobile, J launched Chatter Missiles, missiles with false teeth. Jennu and Aniki tried to kick them away, but some were able to bite. Gray blood seeped from Jennu's arm while Aniki lost his left foot and right arm.
"Aniki!" Jennu flew down to Mowchan's side, using him for shelter as J fired more missiles. The giant would Goron Spin to deflect the missiles.
"OH, MY!" Seeing Aniki's bleeding limbs, Pai cupped hands over her mouth in horror. "W-We gotta find a hospital!"
"Relax, they regenerate!" Aniki stated as his arm and foot steadily reformed. "Nyoro, Vanilla's being held there! We need you to open her cage!"
"What's Vanilla doing here?!"
"Whuzzat?!" J asked, a hand by his ear. "That pink girl is a friend of yours?! Then she needs to join the fun, too!" The clown spun the car in the colony's direction, but Suna stopped him dead in his tracks, pressing her Avis Skates against him. "Grrrrr! Out of my way, brat!"
"YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Aniki desperately clambered along the ground on his mismatched limbs, pressing his hand to shoot rocks at J's car.
"Hey, you shouldn't move like that!" Pai bent down to help him up.
"Yeah, just relax, Aniki." Pochi said, his gauntlet held open at them as a gesture to stop. "We won't let him—w-wait, wait!" His Fuse command worked on its own!
"What?!" Aniki gasped, finding himself amidst a space of floating screens. He was standing on Pai's shoes, upside-down from her as they mirrored each other's confused motions.
"Giddyup, Mowchan!" A 3-year Pai was wearing a cowboy hat and swinging a small lasso, riding her baby brother like a cow.
"You did great, Big Bro!" A 5-year Vanilla cheered as she combed Aniki's hair.
"I lost every match, don't lie to me!"
"This is…" Aniki grit his teeth in mild panic. "Don't tell me we fused?!"
The others were blown back by the force: Paniki was a small octopus with a cowboy hat, set on a pair of arched hulking legs with cowboy boots. "Oh, my!" Pai's will gasped. "All that pie really DID go to my thigh!"
"Pochi, I told you I didn't want any part in this!"
"YEAH!" Mowchan shouted. "Why would you fuse my sister with THAT jerk?!"
"I didn't mean to, it just worked on its own! Like when I fused you guys the first time!"
"HATCHAAA!" J had finally destroyed Suna's Avis Skates, swerving around her to make for the colony. "An elephant could've balanced better than that!"
"HEY!" Aniki's priorities seized control, the Fusion charging before making a leap. Its impact crumbled the earth toward the colony, sinking J's car. With another leap, their boots headed straight for J's car, a barrier projected from the soles to firmly flatten it.
"That'll show him!" Pochi fist-pumped. "Let's get to the colony! We can still climb to the gate!"
"Pochi, our hands!" Yuki called attention.
"Huh…?" His and Yuki's gloves grew brighter, still interlinked. The metal detached and disassembled before reforming into a new, longer shape. "It's the…"
"Hey, it's the sword!" Kansai exclaimed.
"Whoa!" Jennu gaped.
The hilt of the thin katana fit firmly in Pochi's grasp. The purple light with the Japanese symbol "Lucky" shone in its vacant hole. "Wow!" Yuki beamed. "Our gloves became a hyper super cool sword!"
"Maybe we had to build up power in combat to summon it. I wonder how strong it is…" Fixing his gaze on the colony, Pochi raced forward.
"BAH!" J sprung out of his car and punched Paniki away with an extendable glove from his chest. "I've had about enough of your tricks!" J landed and fired a string of Chatter Missiles at Pochi, who was swift in slicing them. "W-Wait! Did I mention I do kids' parties—GAAAH!"
Pochi sliced the clown right down the missile, derezzing his armor. In the act, he leapt over and continued on his true objective. Colony 30 lined their gate with Levnises that Pochi sliced in a clean row diagonally, afterwards severing the agents' weapons. "Hmmm…" He saw Vanilla's cage in the center and considered slicing it… but his gaze rose to the gauge on the Ferronis. "That's what was collecting EXP. But what does that even mean in this context? What would happen if I…"
The Ferronis fired curving lasers, Pochi deflecting or dodging most, but panicked as three were dead set on his head. "YAH!" A barrier saved him: Paniki had sent in a smaller statue clone of itself and projected Pai's orange force-field. "Phew!" the Fusion sighed, still sitting where it was punched. "I can't believe that worked. Hurry, Pochi!"
Pochi nodded in thanks and kicked off Vanilla's cage, the Inkling looking in wonder. Pochi impaled the sword into the gauge and carved down it like a hunk of meat. A storm of data flew spewed from the gauge as the colony-mates flickered between their clown and normal forms, panting on the ground.
"What?!" J gasped. "The Genius said his Life Clocks were unbreakable!"
"Pochi, something's happening with the soldiers!" Yuki yelled as the same happened to Valdi and Nikol.
Pochi focused on his sword as the Restore icon appeared within. "Then Restore them, Yuki!" He slapped his hand against the gap and flashed the soldiers: they collapsed as their bodies stopped flickering, attaining distinct clothes. Smiling victoriously, Pochi threw the sword outside as it gravitated to Yuki. She caught it and repeated the act, setting Nikol and Valdi to normal, while all of the cloned soldiers derezzed into pixels.
"I! I!" J called. "I like a good improv, but I don't think this is part of the script!"
"It's as I feared." Sage momentarily appeared. "Retreat for now, you can't win this battle, J. I'll have the Kilocorn dispose of this place."
"Fine by me if the fireworks are still on!" J ran for the cliff and leapt off. "Toodle-oo, kids! Aaaaaaahahahahaha!" He took off on a kooky bike with a grinning paraglider. (End song.)
Paniki defused and landed, the Octoling stable on one boot while Pai fell on her rear. "Sigh…I guess that wasn't so bad. Are you alright?" Aniki helped her to her feet.
"I have no idea what just happened, but I'm fine." Pai smiled confusedly. "So… should we check on your sister?"
"Y-Yeah!" Aniki immediately headed back for the colony.
The clock's destruction sent a power surge through the colony and shorted out Vanilla's cage. Pochi approached, curious as the holographic girl softly dropped down to his level. "Thanks for rescuing me. But your princess is in another castle."
"Uuuuhhh…"
"Just kidding! You don't get to say that every day."
"Vanilla!" Aniki arrived. "What…What happened to you?!"
"Heh heh…this is a little embarrassing." Vanilla scratched her head. "I followed you here, Big Bro. But I had no idea I would wind up like this."
"You followed us here?! How? When?!"
"Well, by… separating my soul from my body and flying after you."
"WHAT?!"
"Is everything okay in here?!" Jennu called. The other Go-Getters arrived, Mowchan carrying Nikol and Valdi. "These two are waking up. And Vanilla, is that really you?"
"Let's wait until everyone's awake before we start answering questions." Pochi suggested. "And we should take cover, too. I feel like Sage is about to send another of those Titans…"
Far across the Ribbi Flats and beyond the Eagus Wilderness, great metallic mountains in the shapes of bent fingers loomed over the Fornis region. A shape above one of the fingers began to move. It was a triceratops-like robot with sharp, shiny spikes and curved horns. Energy began to amass between the horns.