Operation: CLOWN, Part 6

Chapter 6: Escape

SMILEs Chamber

Vergo remained on his icicle post as the factory below flooded with toxic substance. His cool look returned as he said to Yuki, "This barely hurts me, you know. My Haki is so strong, my body is practically Armament itself."

"Yeah, well… I'll just leave you hanging then." Yuki remarked as he began to walk away. Sector W7 just stared confused as Vergo hung there, not appearing in any pain.

"Hm… your loyalty to your friend is strong… I'll give you that. Perhaps I underestimated you."

Yuki stopped. "Well… if I didn't have a friend to fight for… you might've beaten me. I guess that loyalty gave me strength. Vergo…-san." And the Coldman continued to the door. "Let's go meet up with Nolan. It's time to get outta here."

"Oh-ahh!" Chimney perked as she hurried after him, followed by the others. Vergo merely lay there on his post and watched them from his upside-down view.

Building R

Caesar Clown escaped to the northern most part of Building R, ending up before a huge, steel door. He gasped and turned around, seeing Nolan York just rolling in from the hall behind. "CAN'T you just mind your own business?!"

The Sandman wore a fierce look behind his mask as he slowly rolled closer.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Caesar yelled with a fear-filled expression. "Do you know what'll happen if you lay a FINGER on me?! My business stretches farther than you can imagine! My customers will become VERY disappointed if I'm unavailable."

Nolan kept rolling forward, unhesitantly.

Feeling angry and nervous, Caesar sucked in some breath and cried, "OXYGEN BEEEEAAAM!" He blew a powerful blue laser from his mouth, straight for Sandman as he stopped and gaped with surprise. The beam brimmed in his masked eyes as it shot past and blew up the hall behind him. Caesar recovered and faced forward, but flinched when he saw that Sandman dodged right.

"Don't you care about your buddies AT ALL, Sandman?! They'll ALL get in trouble if you so much as punch me!" Sandman reached the clown, and at that instant, he stood and dealt a series of rapid punches against his face, before finally sending him flying to the left. Caesar landed near the wall and formed a devious smirk. "I have BIG NAMES ordering stuff from me! And if you think of pummeling me, you will FEEL their wrath!" Nolan approached him again, and didn't hesitate with this next series of rapid punches.

He grabbed Caesar by the neck and tossed him near the middle of the room again. The scientist stood up and faced him with a wicked grin. "So go ahead! KnnnNOCK me around! I'm protected! Some BIG names are gonna come after you! The Corporate Presidents! Brotherhood of Evil! Big Mom! They'll come to my rescue and demand ALL the stuff from me! After I'm done here, I'll harvest the energy from your son and MANY other benders to use in my brand new series of Devil Fruits! With Devil Fruits that grant artificial bending, I'll make MILLIONS! SHURORORORORO-"

Nolan channeled the energy in his Armament fist, and with full force, he dealt another forceful PUNCH on Caesar's face, knocking him toward the steel door. "Whoever these people are, I'll break ALL their bones before they have a chance."

"Gu-ack!" Caesar held his nose as more blood dripped.

Nolan heard the fast clopping of several shoes, looking back as a squad of Caesar's minions appeared. They wore no masks upon Caesar's orders. "Master Caesar! Are you okay??"

"Gu-ack… now is my chance! I'll show you what Bang Gas-Z is really capable of!" He faced up at the ceiling and yelled, "LISTEN all of you in the control room! Open the vents and allow the gas to flow INTO this room from outside!"

Control Room

"But Master Caesar, isn't that gas dangerous?!" one yelled.

"RELAX, you fools, I'm a GAS-man! I'll be okay!"

"But what about the men in that room?? Won't they be-"

"JUST LET THE GAS IN! I'll sacrifice anything to take this fool down!"

"Nnnnn-nnnn!" The men looked worried. "R-Right as you say… Master." And with that, they pulled a lever.

Center Room

Two huge vents opened from the side of the room, allowing the cloud of Bang Gas-Z to flow in. "Shurororororo!" Caesar cackled maniacally and used his bending to make the gas spiral around him. "Now then… WHO to use as a guinea pig? How about… YOU THREE!" And he launched the Bang Gas at three random minions.

"Gu-aaaacccck!" They choked as the Bang Gas was forced in their lungs. The men's bodies swelled and wobbled as they grew to twice their size, their arms and legs growing out of proportion with each other as they turned into hideous, bloodthirsty monsters.

They roared like dinosaurs as they charged for Nolan, but the Sandman dodged right. He started to beat the other minions, flipping away when the Titans charged at him again, tricking the monsters into running over other minions. He boosted his chair into one of them before swiftly flipping up and on its back, using him to swat away other minions. The other two Titans were about to charge, but Nolan charged his Titan as well and rammed the other two headfirst, afterwards flipping back to his chair.

"Shurororororo! Perhaps I should've found better TEST subjects! Oh well, I'm feeling lucky!" And with that, Caesar tossed Bang Gas into two more minions, and pain surged through as they transformed.

"B-B-But Master!" one of them exclaimed. "You said you wanted to fix us… Why are you DOING this? !"

"If I wanted you fixed, I could've DONE IT by now! You fools were just convenient to have around in case I needed some spare subjects!"

"M…Master…" Their hearts were struck.

"Ugh, I don't have time for this." Nolan sighed. He raised his fist and cried, "Armament!", speeding over to deal a forceful punch against the first Titan, knocking him into the second. They tried to recover, but Nolan rolled over and dealt a series of rapid punches, using his Armament to finish both of them.

"Ohhhh. Why do you ALWAYS have to do that?" Caesar frowned. "Can't you just let people have fun? You REALLY need to learn how to lighten up, you know. And speaking of lightening up, it feels a little too cramped in here. I think it's time for some FRESH air! ShuroROROROROrorororo!" The giant steel door opened behind him, revealing a circular platform under a huge elevator shaft. "SHUrororororo!" The ghostly poisonbender cackled on his flight up the shaft.

It wasn't long after when Yuki and Sector W7 finally arrived. "Hey, Nolan, you're already here!" Yuki exclaimed.

"AAAHHH, more of the minion-sans!" Chimney exclaimed, ready to fight. "Time to kick some adaruto ass!"

"Gyom-gyoooom!" Gonbe also looked fierce.

"At ease, guys." Nolan assured them, rolling over. "I don't think they'll trouble us any more." They looked around and noticed their pitiful, weeping expressions.

"Where did Caesar go?" Yuki asked.

"Up there." He pointed up the shaft. "I'm going to catch him. But I want you guys to run back and see how Dillon and the others are doing. I feel like that elevator takes us to the underground, so if I'm up there, we won't be able to use it, anyway."

"But that means we have to rely on you before the gas comes." Yuki remarked. "But hey, can't rip off Batman without being a masochist. Or One Piece for that matter. Good luck, Nolan, don't die on us." He and most of the operatives ran back the other way.

"Oh, wait!" Aisa spoke up. "If Caesar's a Logia, you might wanna use this." She handed Nolan her Impact Dial. "It's an Impact Dial. It absorbs forces and blows them back when pressed. It's also got a chi-block symbol imprinted on it."

Nolan stared at the tiny shell with interest as he stuffed it up his left glove, pressing it against his palm. "This should help."

"Hm hm!" Aisa smiled. "Just thanks for watching over Aeincha! Anyways, good luck!" The Nimbi waved as she ran off.

Nolan nodded before turning back and rolling onto the huge, round elevator. He felt the air rush past him as it lifted him straight upward at high speed. In seconds, he was lifted all the way outside, several meters above the rooftop. He sat at the highest part of the island as he overlooked the incredible view. There was nothing but miles of purple gas down below, with only the peaks of the mountains sticking up. Caesar Clown hovered several feet over the ledge, and in the air.

"ShuroRORORORORORORORO! Welcome, Sandman, I am pleased to have you here at your final show! Tonight, you will see your end as I demonstrate the FULL force of my poisonbending power!" The gas man waved his arms as a tornado of purple gas rose from below and surrounded the platform. Nolan gasped as the gas came straight down, and Caesar opened his mouth wide as it flowed inside. "ShuROROrororororo." The gassy scientist grew to two stories tall as his gaseous form turned purple. "SHUROROROrorororo!" His gassy coat became a lot more puffy, his black hair grew out of control, a giant purple crown appeared on his head, and the front of his coat bore the inscription 'LAND OF DEATH.' "SHAAAAAHROROROROOOOO!"

"Wow. Way to overstuff yourself with the crazy juice."

"SHAAALULULUU! Welcome, Nolan, to the PEAK of your existence! Get ready to CHOKE on your own screams as you beg for death inside my gas! It's a shame you won't be able to watch me choke your friends afterwards, and know the TRUE might of my poison, SHURORORORORORORO! NOW DIIIE!!!" (Play "You Contract Has Expired" from A Hat in Time!)

Boss fight: Land of Death, SHINOKUNI

The gassy incarnation launched his fists at the Sandman, but Nolan dodged left and right, leaving quick spray-marks on the floor with his Explosive Gel. "The Bang Gas-Z is stronger than regular gas, but it should still be flammable." Sandman said to himself. "The Explosive Gel doesn't pack much force, but it should weaken him a little."

He sat over one of the marks as Caesar threw his fist, and Nolan dodged as he set off the bomb. "SHURORORORO!" Caesar only cackled as his fist exploded. Nolan kept flipping when Caesar swung his other arm across the floor. Caesar was so fast, it was difficult to catch him above a bomb, but he was able to after a few more seconds. "SHURORORORO!" The giant clown spun around and sent a barrage of sludge drops from his body like a sprinkler.

Nolan evaded the drops, but they made less room for him to move around. The toxic drops formed into purple Toxichu-Z, which started wobbling to Nolan. The Sandman stuck spray-marks on the ground and flipped far away from their spots as he lured groups of Chuchu on them, afterwards blowing them up. Afterwards, he threw a Smoke Pellet at Caesar's face and blocked his vision for the time being. The Sandman rolled over and planted three spray-marks before the gassy entity. When Caesar finally blew the smoke away, Nolan rolled away and set off all three bombs, destroying Caesar's base. "SHUROOOOOO!" The gaseous clown fell to his front, holding himself up with his injured hands.

Now that his face was close to the ground, Nolan rolled over and turned his fists to Armament as he proceeded to lay a series of punches. He finished by charging an uppercut, punching Caesar upside the chin, and shooting to the air before dropping to the giant's head and punching his crown. Nolan hopped back to his chair and backed away as the clown shook back to his senses. When Caesar did so, he saw Nolan turned away as he appeared to be spraying the ground. "SHURORORO!" The scientist began to throw his fists again, forcing Nolan to dodge rapidly.

Nolan set off one of his spray-marks and managed to blast Caesar's right hand. Instead of swinging his left hand, Caesar held it open and launched a ray of gas. The gas didn't stop for a second and stayed on Nolan's trail. Since he couldn't slip under it, the Sandman quickly whipped out his own gas gun and fired back. His green gas wasn't strong compared to Caesar's purple, but it held it back long enough for Caesar to finally cease. Immediately, the clown launched his left fist, but Sandman trapped him above a spray-mark and blew it up.

Still wearing a wicked smile, Caesar sucked in some breath and puffed up, releasing tiny puffs of gas with eyes. The Toxi-Gag-Z's flew at Nolan fast, forcing the Sandman to keep them back quickly with his gas gun. He flipped and left more spray-marks, but it was difficult getting them to fly above and keep away. A few of the Toxi-Gags covered Sandman's face, but his gas mask managed to protect before he sprayed them away. He used his gas gun to hold them over his spray-marks, quickly detonating the bombs and taking them out.

With the Toxi-Gags gone, Nolan watched as Caesar sucked in another breath, charging his Oxygen Beam. The Sandman charged his chair, and just when Caesar blasted, Nolan boosted forward and avoided the beam. While Caesar was still holding it, he didn't notice Sandman leaving three more spray-marks before his base. When Caesar finally stopped, Nolan backed away and set off the bombs, causing Caesar to topple over again. "SHUROOOO!"

With that, Nolan rolled forward and laid the second round of Armament punches against his face. After he finished, Nolan gripped Caesar's face forcefully in his left hand, while he sprayed Explosive Gel with his right. He set off the bomb and gravely injured Caesar's face, the clown standing back up as he was forced to cover his face. Caesar spent 20 seconds trying to form his face back together, but while he was doing so, Nolan was turned around and spraying Explosive Gel in his left palm. When Caesar shook back to normal, he glared at Nolan hatefully, seeing him spraying something and assuming he was readying more traps.

Caesar started to suck in an even greater amount of breath, and when Nolan heard this, he turned eyes wide as Caesar became extremely puffy. He expected the clown to blast another Oxygen Beam, but as the clown shook trying to hold his breath in, it became clear. "GAS BALLOON!!" The giant clown EXPLODED like a balloon, swallowing the whole platform in Bang Gas-Z.

Thankfully, Nolan used the Gem of Dreams to become sand as he hovered high above the platform, afterwards reverting to normal (along with his chair) and using his chair's glider to fly around. He watched as Caesar Clown emerged from the resulted shroud of Bang Gas, having become even bigger. Nolan glided around and dodged as Caesar launched his giant fists. Nolan flew straight at the clown's face, aimed his legs out, and kicked him square in the nose to kick back to higher altitude. Caesar released more Toxi-Gags, but Nolan moved faster in the air and avoided them, flying back at Caesar to deal another Armament kick. Nolan glided up in a loop-di-loop before dropping down and bashing Caesar's crown with another Armament punch.

Nolan landed back on his chair as Caesar sucked up all of the gas and shrunk back to his previous giant height (not sure how sucking it back makes him smaller XP). Nolan glided back to the platform as Caesar started launching his hands like hammers, smashing the ground in attempt to crush Sandman. He then started to swing his hands horizontally, smashing them against each other, but Nolan still dodged and blew up the left hand with a gel trap. Caesar formed a Poison Whip in his right hand and wrapped it around Nolan, tossing the Sandman far away behind him. Nolan activated the glider and flew at Caesar from behind, using both legs in another Armament kick. Caesar nearly fell over, his hand pressed against the ground, giving Sandman the chance to roll over and blow it up with Explosive Gel.

The clown scientist spun around and released more Toxichu-Z. Nolan did the same as before and blew the Chuchu up with Explosive Gel, but those Chu just exploded into Toxi-Gags. Nolan kept the gas puffs back with his own gas and planted more spray-marks to blow the puffs up as well. While he was busy with them, Caesar was sucking more breath to do another Gas Balloon. Nolan rolled over quickly to plant more spray-marks, backing away and exploding Caesar's base once again. His face fell near the floor as Nolan rolled over for the third round of Armament punches. He finished once again by doing an uppercut, shooting up, then pounding straight down, destroying Caesar's crown entirely.

The clown finally became dizzy and passed out with a light thud (he was still made of gas). Nolan approached the giant's head calmly to see if he was conscious. However, Caesar opened his eyes and grinned wickedly, immediately snatching the Sandman in his right hand like a doll. "SHURORORORORO! You've failed, Sandman! My Bang Gas-Z cannot be defeated with simple punches! Now you'll experience the full glory of being a super-mutant! …Before you inhale too much and DIE that is! SHURORORO! Any last words??" He raised his left hand, ready to smother Nolan's form.

"Heheh… yeah." With that, Sandman forced his arms out and removed his left glove, revealing the Dial on his palm.

"Huuuh?! What's that?"

"Impact Dial. During the battle, I've been spraying Explosive Gel on my hand and setting it off, and the Dial absorbed the force. This thing's packed to the brim with explosive energy, just waiting to blow in somebody's face."

"SHURO?!"

Nolan pressed the Dial to Caesar's face and proclaimed, "And did I mention it's imprinted with a chi-blocking symbol?? Now you're basically a mass of solid gas."

"HUUUUH!!!" The clown was stricken with horror.

The Sandman smirked behind his mask and pressed the Dial's button, feeling the energy charge. "Remember this, Clown: you touch my son… you're gettin' slagged."

"W-Wait! Sandman! Did I mention you can work for me??"

But the hero didn't hesitate as the power in his Dial EXPLODED with incredible force. Caesar felt as though a million elephants were stampeding him all at once. He's never felt more incredible pressure on his face. Finally, Sandman broke free as Caesar was blown over the edge. "SHUROOOOOOO!" He plummeted the mile-high drop and vanished beneath the poisonous cloud.

Down below, the minions jumped with a start as the ceiling blew open, and the giant that was Caesar thudded on the ground. The purple being of gas shrunk back to his normal size, his face totally bloody as all consciousness left him. His pink coat of gas faded away as he lay in his own mess.

The Sandman sat over the edge and smiled down at his victory, twirling and sheathing his gas gun. (End song.)

Dillon's group

Dillon, Zach, and Maddy met up with Crystal Wickens as the group was hurrying back down the hall. "Are all the children safe?" Crystal asked.

"Well, most of them… except one." Dillon spoke regrettably.

They scurried down the staircase as they were coming to the horde of children, who were still crying over the loss of their friend. But when the group made it past the kids, what they saw surprised them: Haruka was able to force her fingers through Mocha's flesh, and they watched as her fingers swelled, appearing to suck something from the giant's flesh. "Mmmm…" Haruka let go shortly, suddenly feeling weak herself.

The operatives stepped closer as the kids ceased crying and stared confused. Five seconds passed… until Mocha started to moan. "Mmmm…" The giant held her head and sat up weakly. "What happened?..."

"MOCHA!" The kids immediately gathered and embraced their savior in a hug.

"Waaaaah! Heeeey, what's going oooon??"

"We thought you were dead!" Doran exclaimed

"You saved us, Mocha!" Konbu said.

The operatives hurried beside Haruka as she weakly stood. "Haruka, you healed her??" Dillon asked surprised.

"Yeah…"

"How?" Zach questioned.

Haruka raised an arm weakly and pointed at the Devil Fruit storage. The operatives stepped in, seeing rows of various Devil Fruits. The Bee-Bee Fruit. Chop-Chop Fruit. Mini-Mini Fruit. But there was an empty spot, labeled 'Parasite-Parasite Fruit'.

"I decided to look in here for a fruit that might help." Haruka explained. "The Parasite-Parasite Fruit allows me to drain energy from bodies and add it to my own, and also any kind of substance injected in it. I ate the fruit and mixed it with my poisonbending to suck the NHC10 from Mocha's blood. Thanks to the fruit and my bending, it barely affects me… much. But I can't suck the poison from these other kids without consequence."

"So… you're a metahuman now?" Dillon asked.

"I guess so…"

They walked back out as Mocha was back on her feet. "You know, I actually feel a little better now!" Mocha smiled. "A little woozy… but I think I'm gonna make it!"

"I'm glad…" Haruka smiled, still weak.

They heard panting up ahead and looked to see Yuki and Sector W7. "Oiii, what're you guys still doing here??" Chimney yelled. "We hafta gooo!"

"Gyom-gyoooom!"

They all looked back as the cloud of Bang Gas-Z was closing in. "Sounds like a good idea." Dillon said. "Let's go." Mocha grabbed and carried Haruka as they all ran ahead.

Building R Center Room

The elevator lowered back down as Nolan rolled off, finding Caesar's unconscious, bloody body on the floor. A swarm of Caesar's minions surrounded him as Nolan approached. "That hole's gonna let in a bunch of Bang Gas soon." He said. "Listen, we gotta make this quick, you guys have any chi-cuffs??"

"HERE YOU GO!" They all tossed a bunch of cuffs into a pile.

"YOU GUYS came prepared!!"

Nolan grabbed one of the cuffs and stuck them around Caesar's wrists. "Okay, we need to get into the underground tunnels and get off this island."

"It's just down that elevator!" one exclaimed.

"There's a bunch of cargo trains; we'll run down and get 'em started!"

"You guys go, I'm waiting for a few people."

"HOY!" They all gathered onto the huge platform and rode it straight down.

With that, Nolan focused on the parallel hall and tapped his fingers on his armrest impatiently. "Come on, come oooon…"

The clopping of shoes echoed across the hall, and Nolan was relieved when Yuki, Crystal, and the swarm of kids were charging down, the cloud of Bang Gas following in the distance. "OOWAAAAAHHH FREEDOM HAAAAALL." Chimney cried.

"Gyooooooom!"

"Great, you guys made it." Nolan sighed with relief, lifting Caesar's body over his shoulder.

"Hey, is that?..." Dillon asked surprised.

"Caesar. I kicked his ass."

"Heh, all right, Dad!"

"Heheh, thanks… Now let's get outta here."

The elevator came back up and everyone piled on. The smaller kids rode on the bigger ones so everyone could fit, and the Nimbis and Gargoyles just flew down. Kaleo was too big to fit, so he had to wait for everyone to go down first. The poisonbender looked back with fright as the Bang Gas closed in. "Nnnnn DON'T LEAVE MEEEE!" The giant boy decided to jump down with his rear aimed down.

The elevator stopped at the bottom, and everyone scurried off before Kaleo thudded. They scampered down a short, wide hall before arriving at a crossroads of five alternate hallways. "We opened all the routes, ready when you are!" The minions exclaimed

"Which one do we go to??" Yuki questioned.

They examined the hallways' labels. They led to Adabat, Uzbekistan, Dressrosa, Bully Island… and Cleveland, Virginia. "Cleveland, Virginia, that's us!!" Dillon perked.

"Quick, everyone onto that train!" Nolan ordered as they all piled on the various giant carts, with Chimney deciding to pilot from the front. "Let's ride!" The Sandman declared, and the train began speeding down the tunnel just before the Bang Gas poured in.

Inside the laboratory

From the depths of the gas-filled laboratory, a venomous, winged monster peered through the thick gas with glowing yellow eyes, sensing the location of the team as it sped down the halls.

Transport tunnel to Virginia

The team was able to enjoy the peaceful, quiet ride to Virginia, hearing only the spinning of the train's wheels. Some of the kids were drawing with marker on Caesar's unconscious face. "Haaaeee." A vicious hiss caught their attention, and they stood with a start as they looked around.

"What was that?" Maddy asked. (Play Heavy Lobster's Theme from Kirby's Return To Dreamland.)

Everyone looked back down the tunnel as a gigantic, demonic harpy flapped after them. Crystal and Dillon's team recognized it as Monet, only she was much bigger, with spiky wings, teeth drooling with venom, and fiery yellow eyes. "WAAAAH SCARY BIRD LADYYYY!" Kaleo quivered with fear.

"Uuugh! Leave us alone!" Nolan demanded.

Boss fight: Monet Sinclaire-Z

The wereharpy flew as fast as the speeding train as it hovered above, and SLAMMED down on the back, causing the train to shake. Chimney felt this quake and stepped on the gas to make the train move faster. The operatives got to the back of the train as Aisa blasted gumballs at her, and Zach shot her with his S.P.I.C.E.R.. The birdwoman blocked the attacks and kept flapping, attempting to snap the back of the train with her huge teeth. The other children whimpered and held each other, fearing the worst. Yuki skied to the back of the train and hurled icicles at her to push her back.

Monet recovered and began to dash across the floor, moving just as fast as if she were flying. She leapt and slammed the ground to shake the train, then did so again, causing the bunches to bounce up to the air. A few of the kids fell over the carts' ledges, but the others were able to pull them up. The train made swervy, wobbly turns around snaky halls, but Monet still kept after them with her pace. The birdwoman spiraled like a torpedo and made ice surround her as she shot forward. She rammed the back of the train and made it shake before she stopped.

They made more turns down snaky halls as Nolan bounced to the back of the train. He sprayed Explosive Gel on the back as Monet spiraled after them with Ice Torpedo. When the wereharpy was close enough, Nolan set off the gel and BLEW it up in Monet's face, making the harpy woman bounce back. She recovered quickly and dashed after them again, swinging her wings to launch sharp airwaves to damage the train. Yuki shot ice blasts down to block the waves, but they didn't prevail well.

"Uwaaaah! I don't think the train can take any more of this!" Chimney exclaimed.

"If I'm lucky, I can probably get another Impact Dial shot off her." Nolan said, looking at the gloved hand that held the Dial underneath. "But first to stop these air-strikes. Hmmm… yo, Leo, can you help?"

"HAH?" The giant poisonbender sat up with shock. "Well, I'll try…"

As Monet kept throwing air-strikes, the Anderson boy stood up, back faced toward her as he bent forward in a tight angle. His butt was aimed directly at the wereharpy, and after sucking in a deep breath, the giant blasted a powerful fart and sent a huge, thick green cloud at Monet. The bird monster stopped throwing air-strikes and began coughing from the horrible stench. She flapped her wings to push the gas away and chase faster. But once she regained vision, her eyes widened at the Impact Dial in Nolan's hand.

"Get slagged." Nolan pressed the dial, and BLASTED Monet's face with incredible force. The force was strong enough to push the train down faster, while Monet's body rolled along the ground and fell unconscious.

"YEEE-EEAAAH!" Everyone cheered.

"Good-byyyyeee, Moneeeeet!" some tiny Minish waved.

"Phew… and from here on, it's smooth sailing." Nolan sighed. (End song.)

Specter's Former Hideout; beneath Rainbow Monkey Factory

"Yaaaaawn…" The lone henchman that delivered the Vita-Z Bananas sighed after waking up in the now-vacant hideout. "Boy, how long did I sleep? Traveling under the ocean in seconds sure makes you tired…" However, he perked when he felt the ground begin to shake. "Wh…Whuh?..."

Above ground

In the streets outside the Rainbows Factory, people were going about their daily business. "AAAAAHHH!!!" The ground exploded when a huge train of giants and other kids popped up from below and crashed on the street, skidding along the ground on its side before it came to a stop.

"YAHAAAA!" Chimney cheered as her friends were dizzied. "THAT WAS THE BEST RIDE EVERRRR!"

"Gyooooom!" Gonbe was just as excited.

"Oi, let's go again, on'nanokos!"

Sector W7 was still dizzy. "Uhhh… let's not." Apis said.

Later…

A few hours later, a squad of big KND ships landed down in the area, as Aaron and Rhilliane Doblemitz guided Caesar Clown onto a S.P.R.A.Y.S.H.I.P.. "Hey-hey-hey, WATCH the horns!" the scientist demanded as he had to duck to fit into the tiny door. "I'm a professional scientist, you know! I NEEEED a more luxurious cell!"

"Yeah yeah, file a complaint to the I-don't-care police." Aaron remarked as the twins got in their ship and flew away.

"And so solves the SECOND case of missing children." Cheren said to the group of operatives. "I must say, much better than the Arlon thing."

"So do you think the scientists can fix everyone?" Haruka asked.

"Hmmmm." Cheren studied all the super-sized kids. "Well, the ones that are still short should be easy, but those big ones have probably been taking this stuff for a while. It might even be a challenge for the scientists. And even so, there's no guarantee we can shrink them back to normal; the lab's shrink ray doesn't last forever, you know."

"Well, we really don't mind." Mocha said. "We just wanna go back home and see our parents."

"Agreed." Cheren nodded. "You all get on the ships and we'll drop you off at your houses."

"Heeeeeey!" Chimney shouted.

"Siiiigh… and we'll fish the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. out of its wreckage."

"Nnnn!" Chimney nodded approvingly.

As everyone else was boarding the ships to leave, Maddy walked up to Mocha. "Mocha… I just wanted to say… what you did back there was pretty brave."

"Well, I couldn't let my friends be killed!" The giant beamed.

"Right… You know, I don't say this often, but… you should join the Kids Next Door."

"Oh? That's where you're from, isn't it? You guys protect kids?"

"Mm-hm." Maddy nodded. "And we couldn't have saved everyone without you. You risked your life to protect everyone from Caesar. You should think about it."

"…" Mocha was beginning to consider.

"Come on, we can't wait for you forever!" Cheren yelled to Mocha.

"Oh, sorry! Well, bye, Maddy!" Mocha smiled and waved as she hurried onto the ship. "It was fun meeting you!"

"Take caaare!" Maddy waved to her new friend as the ship took off.

Onboard Cheren's ship

Cheren sat quietly in his ship's control room as he stared at the sky beyond the windshield. He felt the floor shake and looked back as Mocha approached him. "Um… Cheren, right?"

"Yeah?..."

"Um… when's Cadet Training opening?"

Back with the others

"Hoo… man, what a mission." Dillon sighed in exhaust. "I'm taking a week off after that."

"I may need a week to get myself healed…" Haruka followed.

"Sooo, you're a metahuman now!" Dillon perked up. "That should really help you with healing people!"

"I guess." Haruka sighed sadly. "But I really didn't want to be a doctor with metahuman powers. Just my poisonbending. It just doesn't feel… right this way."

"Well, if it wasn't for those powers, you couldn't've saved Mocha. You should at least keep them for now, just in case."

"Maybe…"

"But did you hear what those guys said? Apparently Caesar's Devil Fruits are made from demon material, too; hence the name. So people who eat them, aren't able to swim."

"Guess I'm not going swimming for a while…"

"Heheh, and Mason used to be the non-swimmer!"

"Hehe, yeah!..." Haruka furrowed her eyes and ordered, "You will NOT tell Mason that I can't swim now!" She jabbed a finger. "Got it?!"

"Okaaay!"

A few feet away, Nolan was speaking with Caesar's former henchmen. "Master Caesar told us we couldn't leave the island because GUN would arrest us. He said he would try to find us a cure while he worked on his Bang Gas business. That's why we helped him."

"But… you said that GUN isn't arresting metahumans anymore?!" one exclaimed.

"No. They aren't." Nolan assured. "If you want yourselves cured, you can go to see them."

"At long last, we can return to our normal lives!!" the men began to tear with joy.

"Thank you, Master Sand-san!!"

The other operatives gathered around Kaleo, staring at the giant boy with worry. "Um… is he okay? We might need another cure." Maddy said, noticing Kaleo's zombified eyes.

"Nyuuuuhhh…"

"No… he's just like that naturally." Dillon remarked.

"Too bad we didn't have a ship big enough to carry him." Zach said.

"That's okay, his friends hang out around here." Dillon replied. "Maybe he can find them."

Kaleo shook to his senses. "Oh yeah! Me and Beat were gonna have a wrestling contest! I should go!" And with that, the giant stomped away, quaking the ground and causing several passing cars to stop in place.

"…How d'you think they're gonna take it?" Maddy asked.

The Gang's Hideout

"…!!!" Kimaya, Beat, and Rhyme stared with the greatest surprise. Kaleo Anderson wore a wide, casual grin as he had to crouch down to fit in the hideout.

"HI, GUYS!" the giant waved. "Boy, do I have a story to tell YOU!"

"KYYYAAAAAH!!" Beat screamed. "YO, what the dip HAPPENED, Maaaan???"

"Oh-ho yeah, that! I'm not really sure, but, you ready to wrestle, Beat??"

"I ain't wrestlin' with yo' big ass!!"

"Well, I am a little tired. Also, my stomach feels woozy. Ohhhh…" With that, he released another loud, intoxicating fart. The three punk-kids coughed uncontrollably in the green cloud before fainting from the stench. "Um… guys?" He poked Kimaya's body. "Helloooo?"

Sector DR Treehouse

The members of Sector DR were calmly relaxing in their living room as the KNN News played. Melody and Danny Jackson were onscreen as the former spoke. "Breaking news today as KND officials arrested notorious Bang Gas dealer, Caesar Clown, who has been exposed for his distribution of metahuman products for over 20 years. Sadly, there were a few casualties, but the remaining children he held as test subjects were brought to their homes safely. Further investigation has-"

"Ooooh! Did you hear that, Boss?" Numbuh Sweetie-1 asked. "Caesar's been arrested."

"Hnn-hn-hn-hn." Don Quixote Doflamingo Jr. grinned coolly kicked back in his chair, a twinkle in his sunglasses. "My dad isn't gonna like this. I just hope his other patrons don't find out first."