This next level was inspired by a similar one that Ratchet once experienced!
Cover Image: Star and Kid hug each other in fear as they're parked in a dark forest of alien plants, evil eyes glaring at them from the shadows.
"Mmmmhh…uuuuh…" Star had lost all bearings on his surroundings. Was he even alive? Everything just felt like… jelly.
"STAR!"
"OW!" Tiffi conked him with a spatula. They appeared to be in a kitchen.
"You didn't come home until 1am last night! You better not've been out milking the dung beetles again!"
"WHAT?!"
"Oh, give him a break, Tiff." Jennu massaged his shoulders from behind. "A man's gotta have hobbies. It's hard to keep two wives happy."
"WIVES?!"
"Bark, bark!" A small, puppy-shaped Kid Cosmic scampered through the doggy door, carrying a newspaper.
"That's a good boy!" Tiffi took the paper and petted him.
"Bark!" Kid scampered back outside.
"Kid! Wait!" Star bolted through the door after him—winding up in a blobbish dimension. Behind him, the kitchen vanished. "Kid! KID!"
"Star!" Kid's distraught, crying visage morphed in and out of the sky. "Star… they're gonna get me…"
"Kid…"
"HOWDY, Star!"
"Gyah!" Star spun around to the source of the voice. "Ratchet?!"
The Lombax's creepy grinning head was on Captain Qwark's body. "Your head's on wrong, Star! Let me fix it for you!" He raised a chainsaw.
Star whipped out the S.P.O.R.E. and exploded the phony hero, his body breaking into X Parasites that would fly away. "Right… I need to hold myself in the Space Ball or they'll get Kid. I might be hallucinating, but I think I'm still conscious. Just gotta hold on… until Samus gets here…" (Play "Dreamtime" from Size Matters!)
Stage 11: X Dream
Mission: Survive through the nightmare.
Star ran and jumped floating islands amidst the wobbly dimension. The trail would twist and contort like a whirlpool, the gravity automatically shifting in Star's favor. He entered Space Ball to fit on the contracting path, but it actually grew wider as he went. He was rolling toward a wobbly image of Demolt, when it ripped open and two Ratchwarks flew out. Star resized and fired S.N.O.B.O.M.B.E.R.s at the nightmares, afterwards using the P.O.G.O.S.H.O.C.K. to electrify their frozen forms. (Since it was a dream, he had Kid's weapons.)
Star had to shift gravity to enter the torn Demolt image, landing in front of a cartoon door. Star walked into the house of… Timmy Turner from Fairly OddParents? "Oh, dear!" Timmy's mom exclaimed. "Timmy's stuck on the stairs!" Timmy's big head was wedged between the bars of the stairs' handle.
"Don't worry, honey!" Dad beamed, his huge mouth grinning. "I'll cut him free!" He pulled out his own chainsaw and began sawing Timmy at the neck.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Only sawdust flew out of Timmy's neck before it snapped free and hit the floor. His parents then stood frozen with creepy grins. Star saw no way out of the house, but there was a headless figure of Drake Bell in the corner. Star used Gravity Shift to pick Timmy's head up and place it on Drake's body. "Hey! Thanks, dude!" he said in Drake's voice. "Rock on!" He took out a guitar and STRUMMED it powerful enough to send Star flying!
Star landed on a huge, squishy platform, laughing as he bounced up and down! "…?!" It was Ralph Gilligan's pudgy tummy! He would have to bounce his way across Mowchan and Silica's giant tummies, too. They had bouncing munching Clank heads that Star shot down with the H.O.M.E.R., breaking them into more parasites. Past Silica's belly, Star would have to bounce on Hunk's more enormous tummy. "WHOOOOOOAAA!" His belly packed tremendously more force, blasting Star into outer space!
There, he found the other Voltron Paladins, their arms linked and their backs to each other as they rotated like a merry-go-round. There were multiple clones of them in this setup, and as Star Grav-Jumped to the planetoids, the Paladins would hover above him and "fart" lasers. Star was taken off guard by the first one, so the lasers punctured him. From the last planetoid, he had to Grav-Jump to Voltron's head's nose. "ACHOO!!" The tickle triggered a sneeze so strong that Star flew across galaxies!
Star crashed on a huge, bouncy blue surface. He cocked a brow, wondering what this was until he turned backward. "AAAAACK!" He was on Samus' rear. She was in her blue jumpsuit, blonde ponytail flowing free. She was crouched, her head turned left with a seductive smile. "S-Sorry… Ms. Aran. If I could just… get across…" He ran across Samus' back, seeing more Ratchwarks riding down on giant chickens with Raven Beak's head. The Ratchwarks shot chainsaw-tipped bows and arrows, Star dodging and returning fire with the N.A.V.S.C.O.P.E.. Going up the other side of Samus' back, Star would have to Space Ball and roll up a Ball Path, leading up Samus' nostril. This nostril transitioned into Galaxia Elementary.
Exiting the ball, Star saw Kalux up the hallway. "Hey! Kalux!"
"Oh, Star." The one-eyed Solaran turned to him. "I've come to enlighten you. As I have already enlightened the others."
"AAAAAAAHN, AAAAAAAHN!" Aniki, Jennu, Nyoro, Goombria, and everyone else stormed out of the classrooms, their heads effectively replaced by flames. A horrified Star quickly shot them all with the S.N.O.B.O.M.B.E.R. and replaced them with snowman heads. Afterwards, they began to follow Star in a straight line. "Uhhh…" This only felt weirder. All the classroom doors were burned to ash, but Star could still enter the teacher's lounge. The refrigerator was a gateway to an icy cavern, where a trail of stalagmites lined an abyss. All the snow-headed students jumped to stab their heads against the stalagmites, serving as platforms for Star. He met Kalux again on the other side.
"Wow. Perhaps it was you who enlightened my way." Kalux pulled a gun to his own head. "I am at peace now." He pulled the trigger, bursting into a cloud of soot that shaped into a door. Star entered and found himself before the Star Sanctuary. …Except it seemed to be a Trapezoid Sanctuary now, as all the star shapes had been replaced. He walked into the sanctuary and found his mother laying in the dry fountain as if in a hangover.
"Oh, Trapezoid… you've finally come home."
"What?" The name change took him off guard.
"They came, Trapezoid. Vilgax came. They took all the cheese." She reached up and grabbed Trapezoid's shoulder. "The cheeeeeeeese…"
Creeped out, Trapezoid pushed the woman off, his "mom" breaking into parasites. He ran back outside and saw trails of ground shifting, as if moles were underneath. One of them peeped up: it was a tiny Vilgax, arms positioned like a mole, but with cheese in his mouth. They would only peep out when he was far away. Trapezoid shot one with the N.A.V.S.C.O.P.E. and sent the A.B.D.U.C.T.O.Y. to pull out two more of them. Each Vilgax defeated would fill the fountain up with cheese.
Trapezoid returned to the fountain… and saw the back of a star-headed child. "Jir…Jirachi?" Could it truly be the Star God who presided over the universe's wishes? Trapezoid approached him…
"It's JIRICKY!" He spun around, his star head turning pale bluish and bearing Rick Sanchez's face. "And I wish to turn the whole universe into gummy bears! Come on, Trapezoid! Let's gummify the Kids Next Door!"
"NO!" Hordes of parasites began swarming over the boy. "I'm not… Trapezoid! I'm Star! I won't… let you…UGH!" He ripped the parasites off.
"WAAAAAH!" Jiricky cried, rocked tenderly in his Guardian's arms. "Dimortia! He ruined my gummies!"
It was Morty wearing Dimentia's clothes. "There, there, Jiricky. Star will give in to the gummies soon."
"Wubba-lubba-dub! I like to eat 'em a different way!" (Play "Running through Mirrors" from Size Matters.)
Boss fight: Jiricky and Dimortia
Dimortia aimed Jiricky at Star as the infant burped parasites. The parasites orbited Star and threatened to close in on him, but there were space lights that they were passing over. Star quickly trapped each of them in a Block and exploded them. "WAAAAAH!" Jiricky cried so loud that his mouth grew wide. It was open enough for Star to shoot Z.A.P.B.L.E.R. bubbles into, flushing right down the baby's mouth and electrocuting him. Dimortia gigantified and stomped after Star, who compressed into a Space Ball to swiftly evade his furious kicks. There were ramps that would curve up into Dimortia's head, so he rolled beside one and tricked the giant into kicking him. Star zoomed right up and bashed Dimortia, toppling him.
Dimortia melted and flooded the chamber. "I'm PICKLE JIRICKY!" The Star Child became a pickle, swimming around the pool like a python. Star released the S.C.H.O.O.L. after him, but as they chewed the pickle to bits, the piranhas turned into parasites. They molded into a single entity; a blobbish, disfigured version of Dimortia. "Open your MIIIIIIND!" The flood drained as the monster crawled after Star, who fled in panic. "Open your MIIIIIIND!" None of Star's weapons worked against him. He ran around for a while, lost on how to beat this form, and having to hear "Open your MIIIIIIND!" over and over grated him.
"Wait… could Ed hack his mind?" Anything was possible in this world. Star threw the Tomato onto Dimortia. Ed herself popped out of the Tomato, unscrewing Dimortia's head with her feet. "WUUUUUB!" Jiricky shot out and tamed Ed like a horse. Ed galloped about in an erratic manner, her eyes rolled in separate directions.
"Crud! I need my own horse!"
"ARF! ARF!" Kid Dogmic returned, now horse-sized as he used his nose to flip Star onto his back.
"Kid! You came back! Let's get 'em!" They and Jiricky were suddenly on opposite ends of a corridor. Kid and Ed galloped toward each other while Star tried to aim the N.A.V.S.C.O.P.E. at them. Several parasites were in their way, so he had to shoot them first. Before they made impact with the Ed horse, Star sniped Jiricky right off, causing Ed to gallop into oblivion. Dimortia reformed and patted Jiricky's tummy, burping more parasites out. This time, there were no space lights and they closed in on the boys quickly. Luckily, Star could use the S.P.I.T.R.A.P. to latch and yank them all together, afterwards blasting them with Bomb Spores. Jiricky cried once more, so Star gave him another mouthful of Z.A.P.B.L.E.R.. The more bubbles he consumed, the more he bloated.
"SURPRISE, MOTHER EFFER!" Jiricky's True Eye opened on his inflated belly, blasting a nasty yellow laser.
"AAAAAAHH!" Kid Dogmic was eradicated, forcing Star to suffer the rest of the stream.
"That's mah boy." Dimortia patted him. "Let it all out."
"Ugh!" The longer Star endured, yellow parasites began to overwhelm him. "I can't… give up now… Kid…!"
"Star! Rivet! H-Help!"
Two Zombie Na'vi were looming over the W.A.R.P.S.T.A.R., intending to pierce its windshield with spears. Kid could only cower under the car seat, sobbing over his writhing friends. There was nothing he could do… Was this the end?
"AAH!" The Na'vi's heads were blasted off with missiles, the parasites flying out. Kid looked up, agape at Samus Aran. She lured and absorbed the parasites directly into her body, yet they only seemed to strengthen her.
"Samus!" Believing he was safe, Kid opened the car. "Please, help them!" He tossed the Space Ball on the ground, just as Star's will gave in and it dispelled, he and Rivet growing to normal size.
Samus grabbed Star by the neck. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH…" A stream of purple energy travelled from Star into her, her pupils dilated like a predator.
"W-What're you doing?!"
"-AAAAAHHH…" The energy flow stopped as Samus dropped Star, immediately repeating the effort on Rivet. (End song.)
"Star!" Kid knelt on Star's chest and shook him. "Speak to me!"
"Agh…" Star woke to Kid's tearing glasses. "Kid… it doesn't hurt, anymore… Is this… real?"
"Star!" Kid bent down and hugged him. "You're okay! I was so scared!"
"Heh…it's okay…" Star patted Kid's back, warm from his friend's comforting embrace. "Great job calling Samus. You were my hero again today."
Kid smiled, his tears continuing to flow.
"Ugh…" Rivet groaned, pushing herself up. "What… just happened?"
"I absorbed the parasites out of your system. But some of your energy was taken in the process. You kids should get off this planet and find somewhere to rest."
"W-We can't just leave now! What even are these things?!"
"The X Parasites are the worst vermin from my world." A Direhorse zombie charged at them, but Samus shot it and absorbed the X. "They can infect any host alive or dead. You can resist them if you have the will, but most aren't that lucky." She jumped an infected Na'vi and sapped the X out of her, the Na'vi passing out. "When Raven Beak mentioned the time distortions, I was scared of them coming back. I didn't expect them to wind up on another world!"
"It was Rick Sanchez!" Star yelled. "He's a criminal scientist! He must've brought them here from Zebes!"
"No one could just 'bring' them anywhere without being infected, too!"
"It doesn't matter!" Rivet said. "My dad's fighting him! We have to help now! Nngh…" She stumbled on her leg.
"You three need to leave. Doctor's orders! I'll save as many people as I can on this planet. But I'll give you these." Samus dropped two identical weapons at their feet, Kid and Rivet picking them up. They were vacuum-like guns with small Metroids in capsules. "Only Metroids can safely consume the X. I captured some and crafted these when I considered their return. If you encounter them again, just pull the trigger and it'll send a wave of energy to vacuum the X. The X are also weak to concentrated plasma energy, and they can't survive the vacuum of space, but they can underwater."
"So, does your suit have Metroids in it? Is that how you saved them?" Kid asked.
"…" Samus only closed her eyes, making no response for a moment. "…Just go. This planet is safe in my hands."
"Sigh…we don't have a choice." Star struggled to stand. "Listen, there's another operative sector here, too, you should warn them. Also, the reason the Vilgaxians are here…" He explained the relics.
The subject seemed to click with Samus. "Understood."
Kid helped Star into his car while Rivet limped back into her own ship. They took flight, regretfully looking over the once beautiful forest. "What do we do now?" Kid asked.
Star bowed his head. "We'll go back to H.Q. and rest. Then we can issue a report. Everyone needs to know about Sanchez's involvement… and those parasites."
"I'll go back to Polaris and try to warn more people." Rivet said. "Besides… I can't leave Dad behind."
"Be sure to contact my other operatives, too."
"I will. Thanks for all your help, Star and Kid."
"It was great working with you, too, Rivet. Please be careful."
Once they were out of sight, Samus faced the infestation. "This is why I never appear in public, anymore." Her purple aura flared up as her suit became green and monstrous.
Chimeran Hammer
Vilgax, Frieza, and Raven Beak watched a live report from one of their Agorian soldiers on Pandora. "Th-They're everywhere!" he cried as parasites chased him. "Three of them already got in me, I can't keep—OOOOAAAAAGH!" A fourth one infected him.
"What was that fool thinking bringing X Parasites off Zebes?!" Raven Beak shouted. "He'll doom us all!"
"We're too strong for the parasites' corruption." Frieza said. "Besides, we have your Metroids."
"That doesn't mean the parasites can't grow stronger! And we still haven't got the Metroids trained!"
"Imbeciles, all of you!" Vilgax rasped, inputting a frequency. "SANCHEZ! Your parasites are running rampant over my soldiers! This wasn't part of your contract!"
"Look, you wanted me to fix the Omnitrix, and the only way I can get the relics for it is to get a little assertive. Ow, shit! Damn cat bastard just turned my groin into a sheep groin! You know what a pain that is to shave?! I just bought a new razor, now I gotta wear it down on this, Ratchet, you bastard!"
"AGH!" Vilgax shattered the monitor with an imperial fist.
"Goodness, that's the third one you've broken this week." Psyphon came to unhook the monitor and carry it away.
"FRIEZA!" Vilgax faced his smaller compatriot. "What possessed you to hire a man this insane?!"
"Pardon me for considering the most efficient means to accomplish our mission."
"You could stand to be more efficient yourself! Go to Altea and begin searching for their relic at once! Otherwise, Sanchez will continue spreading his parasites to our soldiers there!"
"As you command, My Liege. I shall mobilize the Ginyu Force."
Pandora
Aniki trapped several infected Na'vi in rock prisons. Any parasites that flew for Sector Q would be incinerated by Chuko's fire breath or by Fusion IT's lightning. "Listen, I really think you guys should leave without us!" Pochuki said.
"No way, man!" Kansai shouted. "Did you forget the song?! 'Even if the world comes to an end, Go-Getters will never be apart!'"
"When our Fusions come undone, these specimens will spread to you." Sage said. In hers and Tattsun's Fusion subconscious, the X were floating around them. "It is only thanks to mine and Yuki's artificial physiology that they cannot maintain a hold on us. Also, need I remind you that several of the other 'Go-Getters' are currently apart."
"That's why we need to leave and find them!" Aniki insisted. "We'll come back when we figure out how to beat these things!"
"Aniki, watch your six!" Suna leapt to squash an X flying toward him. "CRUD!" But this merely resulted in herself being infected.
"NO!" Tattsun screamed.
"HAAAAH!" Fortunately, Samus arrived to drain the X from her body. The Go-Getters were stunned by her appearance as she quickly shot the surrounding zombies and vacuumed the X into her system. She then sapped them out of Pochuki and IT. "Huh?" The parasites were no longer floating in their subconscious.
"They're gone!" Yuki cheered. "It's so superty-duperty clean in here now!"
The Fusions diffused. "What a relief!" Tattsun sighed.
"You kids better get off this planet." Samus said. "It's a hazard zone. I'll destroy the X!"
"ARE YOU SAMUS ARAN?!" Pochi gawked at the famous game character. "When is Metroid Prime 4 coming out?!"
"NEVEEEEEER!" Samus tackled a zombified Thanator, the apex land predator of Pandora. She tugged its jaw open with her cannon pressed against the bottom one, shooting a point-blank laser down its throat.
Eywa's Roots
The Na'vi chieftain awakened as an X zombie. The last memory rekindling in its mind was the Lombax Relic they swore to protect… and how the X's "brethren," Rick Sanchez, sought the relic. Then they could spread even more.
The zombie limped down a secret passage beneath the Hometree; with Morty tailing far behind him. The timid teen still didn't like being around these parasites, regardless of what Rick said.
"Say, Rick, shouldn't you give those things some of my brain cells, too? S-So, they won't try to eat me?"
"That would sabotage their entire system, Morty! But don't worry, the same way your brainwaves shield me from other Ricks, with my brain cells, the parasites won't give a shit about you either."
The passage led beneath Pandora's crust, where the roots of all the moon's Hometrees united. "Is this Pandora's Heart?" Morty wondered.
The chieftain stopped before a dense bundle of glowing blue roots. He tried to link his queue to a stem, but it rejected his undead ooze. "Ah, geez." Morty sighed. "This isn't gonna work. Sigh…I guess it's up to me."
One unsightly scene later
Brimming from the pleasure of the ancestors, the roots unraveled. Inside them was a large, black and green wrench. "You are lucky I watched this film a million times, Rick." Morty approached it. "It's a wrench? Kind of like Ratchet's? Is it, like, a really old one?" He picked it up and swung it around, dealing the chieftain a few hardy bashes. "Haha! This thing's awesome! I'm the Wrench Master, baby!"
Morty sprinted toward the Hometree passage as he called, "Rick! I-I think I got the relic! It's a big wrench, like the one Ratchet uses!"
"You mean an OmniWrench? …Right, Omnitrix, OmniWrench, it all makes sense now. Just hang onto it until I get back there, Morty."
…
Rick and Ratchet landed in a forest of living apartment buildings. Rick shot parasites to infect an apartment. It ran to Ratchet, jumped, and flattened him, but Clank used his gigantic strength to pick it up and throw it off. Ratchet smiled to Clank in thanks before jetboosting after Rick. Ratchet fired a Meteor Gun, Rick dodging with his own jet as several apartments caught fire from the missed projectiles. The buildings cried and ran around on their little feet. Rick dropped a new weapon down; a strange box. "I'm Mr. Meeseeks!" A thin, blue, balloonish creature came out.
"Kill that Lombax!" Rick ordered.
"Okay!" Meeseeks whipped out a knife and charged Ratchet, but the Lombax bashed him aside with his wrench. Ratchet chased Rick into an apartment; its insides possessed the squishy internal structure of normal creatures, arranged like an apartment, and the residents were kidneys and other organs. The residents screamed as they were caught in Ratchet and Rick's crossfire. As the scientist hid and maneuvered between several rooms, he dropped more Meeseeks and ordered them to kill Ratchet. Ratchet shot through them all and finally tackled Rick as they blasted through a wall of the apartment. Rick shot a portal open as they fell through, Clank shrinking and joining them.
"Oh, no! They're gone!" The Meeseeks panicked. "We can't disappear… until we kill the Lombax! WHAT DO WE DOOOOOOO?!"
The trio landed in a dimension where walls and ceilings didn't exist; all the "houses" were very thin floors stacked on equally thin stairs. Clank gigantified again and tried to flatten Sanchez, but the scientist jumped atop his fists and shot Clank with a new gun; it fired a gooey yellow substance with a cute face. "I'm Mr. Frundles!" Clank cheered, his face turning into the cute face.
"Clank!"
"I'm Mr. Frundles!" Clank tried to grab and bite Ratchet, forcing the Lombax to evade. "I'm Mr. Frundles! I'm Mr. Frundles!" Several of the fragile houses were crumbled in the process, but Ratchet shot Clank with a Plasma Storm to zap him back to his senses. Rick warped behind Ratchet and fired more Frundles, but Ratchet caught them with the Suck Cannon and shot them back at Rick. "I'M MR. FRUND—dammit!" Rick quickly shook free of the effect, but Ratchet had the chance to give him a body-full of R.Y.N.O.. Within the smoke, Rick fled through a portal, but the friends chased him.
They landed in a dimension where everyone was a balloon, but they could attain a normal form by having a cartoon made about them. Because of this, the animation industry was on fire, but animators were severely overworked and wages grew smaller. Ratchet threw Ultra Multi-Stars, which Rick countered with his lightsaber (which had two orbs on the hilt). The balloon people panicked as they were popped by either weapon. Rick then threw an orb on the ground, which released a disco ball into the air. "A Groovitron?!" Ratchet gasped.
"Ooooooh yeeeeaaah! You gotta get Schwiftyyyyy! Gotta get Schwifty in heeeeere!"
"Is this what you pass for music?!" Ratchet questioned.
"But it is just as effective as a normal Groovitron!" Clank danced. "I must get schwifty! I must acquire pants and panties, so I may take them off!"
"Nnh!" Ratchet danced. "I can't… fight it! Can't stop… getting… schwifty!"
"Lubba-lubba-dub!" Rick shot Ratchet with more X. "Let's see how long you can hold off those X now! Now if you'll excuse me, I have a schedule to keep." Rick exited through a portal.
"C-Clank… how do we… get out of here?!" Ratchet couldn't even writhe in pain from the parasites from his forced dancing.
"I will signal Gary, Ratchet! Perhaps he can… contact Vendra to assist us! Get… schwiftyyyyyy!"
On Pandora, Morty exited the Hometree, bearing a proud smile from his victory as he searched around for Rick. "?!" The tree rumbled as Samus landed on the walkway. "OH, SHIT!" He whipped out a gun, quivering as he aimed it.
"Huh?" Samus cocked a brow at the kid. He wasn't infected, but was understandably on edge at her monstrous figure. More importantly, was he with anyone?
"Morty! You still got the—GEEZ!" Rick frantically shot his freeze gun at Samus. She managed to shake free of the ice as she looked Rick over.
"…! YOU!" Samus unloaded fire on the scientist, his shield only holding for five blasts before it shattered, sending Morty falling down the tree. "You're the man who stole samples from some of my hunts!"
"What, like the Cronenbergs? You wouldn't believe what I did with those monsters!"
"YOU'RE the one behind the X!" Samus engaged him in direct melee, Rick countering with his own, but his muscles sprained from each contact with the pro hunter. "Rick SANCHEZ!"
"Damn right! And if you don't tell me where the Chozo Relic is, I'll dump these X over every planet in sight!" Rick was flipped on the ground, but when Samus tried to stomp him, he dodged and shot open a small portal to trap her foot. "I'll give you time to think about that! Now, where's Morty?" He escaped through a portal.
"Ow…" Morty weakly recovered on the forest floor. "…Oh, shit, where's the wrench?!" He searched the surrounding area. "Geez, why is everything on Pandora so big?! Oh, there it is!" The wrench was lying about 20 feet away. He ran toward it- "What?!" But it was caught in a tractor beam, ascending into a floating mechanical pod.
"Well, if it isn't Sanchez's little protégé." Dr. Omelette smirked. She was protected by the X thanks to the glass dome over her pod. "Didn't expect to see you here. And what's this curious gadget?"
"You bitch! Give that back!"
"Morty!" Rick appeared. "Where's the relic? …Omelette?!"
"Relic? Well, don't mind if I take this, do you?" Omelette quickly returned to the sky.
"DAMMIT!" Morty cursed. "This is why the new Sonic games still have Eggman, you SUCK, Omelette!"
"Let's just get back to the car, Morty, we'll stop her!"
Sector Q were leaving Pandora on their ship, returned to human forms. "Sage!" Omelette called. "I need you back on the Egg Carrier now! I might've stole something from The Genius."
"Affirmative. As they say, Sector Q, 'catch you on the flipside.'" Sage digitized through their terminal.
"Sigh…long distance relationships really are tough." Tattsun sighed. Suna cast him a look of disbelief.
GKND H.Q.
Star and Kid barely got any sleep after the harrowing experience. How many Pandorans died before Samus got there? Was Ratchet okay? What about the rest of Solana Galaxy? And Star himself was too scared of seeing those germs in his dreams.
"GOOD MOOOOOONING!" Tiffi brightened the room, startling the boys awake—Star tumbled out of bed and squished Kid's gooey form into his sleeping mat.
"T-TIFFI?!"
"What gives?!" Kid shouted. "It's only been an hour!"
"Huh? It's been seven hours."
"THAT LONG?!" Star exclaimed. "I feel like I've just been… laying there. Not getting any sleep."
"Man… you really did have a bad time." Tiffi said. "Well, maybe this will make you feel better! Come on!"
The boys got dressed and followed her to the mess hall. "Oh!" The familiar smell of pancakes, eggs, sausage, juice, and hot fudge cake filled their nostrils, with four servings for both of them on the table.
"Howdy, boys!" A line of Papa G clones waved at them. "Tiffi told us about what happened, so we all made ya a quadruple-sized breakfast!"
"Wow…" Star blinked. "Wait! This is just like that dream! Am I still infected?! ARE WE MARRIED?!" he shouted at Tiffi.
"Uhhh…" Tiffi's blue cheeks flushed magenta.
"Aw, you poor thing…" Papa G came to pat Star's shoulder. "Ah know what it's like, Star. Seen all sorts of nasty stuff when I fought for GUN. And it ain't easy to get it out of your mind. But a good breakfast always gets me happy."
"No… we don't deserve it." Kid said. "We had to abandon a world that needed us. We couldn't save them."
"Kid, you won't be savin' anyone if you beat yourself up. There are some fights you just can't win. Just be happy you're still alive. Think about the things you accomplished and be proud. But be honest, son…" Kid met his grandpa's eyes. "After what just happened… do ya still wanna be a hero?"
"I…um…" Kid turned to Star. He remembered Star's words… 'You were my hero again today.' "I-I do. We can't let that guy get away with this!"
"Heh heh!" Star laughed. "That's right. Sanchez and Vilgax need to be stopped at all costs!"
"Then good heroes need good breakfasts! Eat up and get back out there!"
"All right!"
Their strength was swiftly returning halfway through the quadruple-sized breakfast, but there was no need to stop there! "By the way," Tiffi began, "we heard from Sector IC at the Great Clock. They've been working on fixing the time distortions on Zebes."
"Really?" Star said mid-chewing. After swallowing, he brightened, "Wait! If the parasites came back because of the time rifts… maybe they can banish the parasites, too! Tiffi, can you contact the Great Clock and-…er, unless you want a more active mission?"
"F-Forget that." Tiffi shook and blushed. "I'm sorry about that, I was just… frustrated is all. This is more important. You want me to tell them to focus on Pandora and Polaris, right?"
"Yeah. It should make Samus' job a bit easier. …Speaking of which, I think we'll head back to Zebes first."
"Why?" Kid asked.
"That first E.M.M.I.. Remember? With our new skills, we might be able to get past it and find its core. I'll need as much spacebending as I can get before we face Vilgax again."
"But… what if he takes your bending again?"
"Then we'll be extra ready for him. Right, Kid?"
"Ha ha…RIGHT!" Kid thumbed up positively.
Zebes (Play "Upper Brinstar" from Super Metroid!)
Star and Kid made landfall in Station SR388. Sharing confident smirks, the boys advanced. Navigating through the Brinstar caves, they were startled by the X Parasites that flew out of some of the defeated creatures. "CRUD!" Star whipped out the Vactroid and sucked the parasites in. "They really ARE here!"
Tip: If Star or Kid get captured by X, use the Vactroid to suck them out. The X will consume their health bar the longer they are infected; that amount of health will be lost after the X are sucked out.
What made things worse is that all the infected monsters were stronger than their normal variants, but the boys had enough new weapons to make up for this. In fact, they had upgraded the S.P.O.R.E. to come with a sprinkler; it would shoot a pod in the air that sprinkled surrounding enemies and trapped them in moss and flowers, leaving them extra vulnerable to the bombs.
Star and Kid returned to Luminoth City, where Star remembered the space lights leading up part of the fortress. He could finally form Blocks and jump up there! They led to a vertical shaft with four Ball Paths around either wall. They used Space Ball to get on the first path—it would zoom them up at high speed! Electric life-forms called Bombus floated in the shaft, their electric waves rotating around the paths. The boys had to quickly shift paths; hitting the electricity would send them falling back down. They survived their way to the top of the room and resized. "Hoo! Imagine coming back all this way after we got the Space Blocks, only to find out we needed the Space Ball." Star said.
"Yeah, that would've been annoying!"
They entered a rift at the top, immediately feeling a chill on their skin. They were in a blizzarding region, the Ice Belt. As they followed a path downward, the Riftdar went off: the Nether Rift was on a target device several meters above them. The device was too slippery to climb, so without a way to reach, they could only head downhill. An open snowfield lay before a frost-ridden base. As the boys made the journey across, Star stalled Kid and pointed atop the surrounding cliffs.
White-furred wolves peered at them with bright orange eyes, black spikes
in their manes. "Hooooowwwwwwllll!"
"Wait a minute, Star! Is this Star Wolf?!"
"I, uh, don't think so, champ!" The wolves pounced down and began to stir a storm as they ran circles around the duo. As the wolves rushed them sequentially, they relied on their weapons to fend them back; though in this cold weather, the Z.A.P.B.L.E.R. and Sprinkle S.P.O.R.E. was ineffective. Each wolf they defeated released an X Parasite, which they hurriedly sucked into the Vactroid. When the Snow Wolves began go overwhelm them, they relied on the C.L.O.U.D.B.L.U.F.F. to divert their pouncing.
With perseverance, the snowfield was clear of wolves. They trekked uphill toward the base's entrance, but it was frozen shut. However, there was a cannon-like device with a slot small enough for their Space Ball. Star compressed them into the ball and rolled inside: the cannon activated and auto-locked onto the target structure across the opposite side of the field. "Alright, time to get back at this E.M.M.I.." It fired them perfectly into the Nether Rift.
Resizing out of the Space Ball, they faced a corridor that would seem to branch into a maze. "Bebeboop, bebebeboop." Already, the E.M.M.I. crawled out of a tunnel. Star quickly puffed the C.L.O.U.D.B.L.U.F.F.. The white droid looked the cloud up and down before deciding it was nothing. Before leaving, it planted a portal-like space on the ground. Star and Kid approached the space. They shared a glance as the former stepped on it. The ground was still solid, but they weren't sure what it did. With that, they quietly walked forward, turning a left path, then a right, another right, and left.
They hit a dead end and backtracked to the beginning hall; from the E.M.M.I.'s beeping, it seemed to catch on to their footsteps. It sounded like it was within a further wall—"WHAT?!" but it suddenly warped to the space it left. "SINCE WHEN CAN YOU TELEPORT?!" (Play "E.M.M.I. Chase"!)
Alerted to their presence, the boys aimlessly bolted around the maze as it pursued. There was a fork—the right path was a dead end, so they turned left—"AH!" The E.M.M.I. dash-warped and grabbed Star's arm. "Nngh! Nngh!" He frantically bashed it with the other arm. "BEDEBEEP." Then it grabbed that arm and pinned him down. Star raised and positioned his foot… it was taking a while for the second, "BEDEBEEP." The needle jutted—Star kicked! The droid glitched, so Star got up and kept running. "Bastard delayed his beeps on purpose!"
They finally noticed a Grav-Path on the ceiling, bringing them to another part of the maze. The E.M.M.I. followed their footsteps, but there was a crevice for their Space Ball to hide. They planted a C.L.O.U.D.B.L.U.F.F. before going in the crevice. The E.M.M.I. had to pass through the cloud, but it didn't notice them otherwise. It did plant a Warp Space though. The duo kept navigating the maze and found a corridor flooded in shallow water. Splashing it would certainly attract the E.M.M.I.'s attention, but the S.N.O.B.O.M.B.E.R. could freeze the water, so they could traverse it quietly.
The final stretch had several Space Block-like walls blipping on and off. They had to read each row quickly and run through the open gaps. The E.M.M.I. appeared at the start of the room and simply Warp Dashed through each barrier. With it hot on their trail, the boys hurriedly cleared the gaps, making it to the end before it caught up. "Finally!" The Omega Core was before them. Star lent the S.P.O.R.E. to Kid, decorating the eye brain with moss, flowers, and explosions, while Star sniped its eye with his N.A.V.S.C.O.P.E.. Eventually, the core fell.
Star pierced the brain with his N.A.V.S.C.O.P.E., absorbing its power onto it. "Time to put my sharpshooting to the test." When they went back into the previous room, the barriers had disappeared. The E.M.M.I. planted a Warp Space on the opposite end before running toward them. As Star aimed the N.A.V.S.C.O.P.E., the E.M.M.I. warped around. He managed to snipe it once with an Omega Arrow, but the E.M.M.I. warped to the starting space. It zipped around more frequently on its second run, but Star landed another shot. As expected, it picked up speed on its third run, Star missing several times. "Crud, crud, crud, crud, CRUD, CRUD!" The E.M.M.I.'s eye was blaring directly through his sniper scope, the droid an inch in front, but that inch spelled the E.M.M.I.'s end. (End song.)
The arrow lodged clean through its iris. It stretched upright, jittered, and spun its head. "Beep! Boop, beep, bo, bow, bebebebebebebebe…p."
And with that, another power was now Star's. Kid beamed as Star zipped to and fro with warping dashes. He lifted Kid on his shoulders and, "WAHAHA!" let him experience the thrill of warping! Afterward, Kid jumped off and gave him a high-five!
Star learned Warp! He can cross long gaps and go through certain barriers with the Warp Dash! He can also set a Warp Space to instantly return to that spot!
"That's one less E.M.M.I. to darken the dimensions. Let's get outta here, Kid!"
"Hey, don't the Chozo have one of those relic thingies, too? Should we look for it?"
"We'll have to ask Samus about it after she's done in Solana. Otherwise, we won't know where to look or if the Vilgaxians already found it. But what we can do is ask Princess Altea about her peoples' relic."
"So, we're goin' back to Quintessa?!"
"Yep! And we can only hope the same mess isn't happening there."
Fort Ginyu, Planet Sadala
Lord Frieza was welcomed into the fortress of his most elite force. They were silhouetted against the darkness. "To what do we owe this honor… Lord Frieza?" Their captain asked with a visible smirk.
"Emperor Vilgax has given us an important assignment. Today… we fly to Quintessa to challenge the legendary Voltron. I am bringing all of my soldiers. Are you prepared for the challenge?"
"Heh…"
GINYU FORCE RULES! GINYU FORCE RULES!
Lights flashed on—all five sported their signature poses! "We!"
"Are!"
"More!"
"Than!"
"Ready!"
"TO SERVE YOU, MY LORD!"
GINYU FORCE RULES! GINYU FORCE RULES! GINYU FORCE RULES! GINYU FORCE RULES!
"Heh heh…excellent."