Operation: NECSUS, Part 9: The Abandoned Orphanage

Chapter 9: The Abandoned Orphanage

Outside Amazonia's atmosphere

Nebula and Vweeb took off on their Shooting Star, followed by a Drophyd Transport Ship, which had been commandeered by Sector V, since the Drophyds who brought them there were dead. "You know, I'm gonna miss Amazonia." Aurora said.

"Me too." Haruka agreed. "I wanted to ask Hancock how she makes her skin so smooth."

"Ugh. Oi'm jus' glad we got off there 'fore you blokes melted your eyes." Sheila remarked.

"Too bad Sector W7 couldn't come." Dillon said. "Chimney just didn't wanna abandon her R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. again."

"Good thing they're girls, so hanging around there won't be a hassle." Haylee noted. "Except for Gonbe, but, animals should be an exception, right?"

Amazonia

"Gonbe, Deeeeaaar!" an Amazon sang. "Another margarita, please!"

"Rabbit. Where my arrows?" a cavewoman asked.

"OI, GONBE!! I WANNA 'NOTHER BOWL!!" Chimney demanded.

All these commands were running the little rabbit ragged. "Gyom-gyoooom…"

With the others

Nebula grabbed her communicator and spoke, "This is Nebula to Pollyx. We got the first Dimensional Fragment."

"Oh, that's WONDERFUL! I heard that Tachyon sent Mom to Amazonia, so I was starting to worry."

"But how did Tachyon know about the fragment, anyway? You think he retrieved the artifact from the pirates and had Mom decipher it? …Uh, MY mom, I mean?"

"With an alias like that, there's BOUND to be confusion." Vweeb commented.

"Who knows… but SPEAKING of those pirates: some of their crewmen have been skimming the Space Junk Region for some treasures, more or less. I wonder if they're hoping to acquire another artifact. Whatever the case, it's worth looking in to. But it's fair to warn you, that region is nearly impassable without the right equipment. There's so much junk floating around, it's hard to navigate, and several ships end up crashing asteroids. 'Course if you had more of your powers, I suppose it's possible…"

"Well, where would I begin looking for those?"

"Hold on!" Vweeb spoke. "Where did you say that Vendra lady lived before this?"

"The Meero Orphanage, on Forest Moon Endor, just around the edge of Galaxia's Outer Limits."

"Just a thought, but, if we searched around Vendra's old orphanage, we might find a secret behind her powers! And there's bound to be a Nether Rift there, at that rate."

"Hmmm… well, it is a matter worth investigating." Nebula said thoughtfully. "Maybe we can find a reason she teamed up with Tachyon in the first place. We'll head to Space Junk after we do, and keep you posted." She hung up.

"Sooo we're heading to Endor?" Aurora asked via intercom.

I hope we get to see the CUTE little hamster people! Kirie joyfully signed ('course, you wouldn't see that through the speaker).

"Well, the more the merrier, I guess. Though I wouldn't want our group to be so overcrowded. I'd like to see if-" Her wristwatch communicator rang, and she answered to find Jerome.

"Nebula, I flew by Galaxia Elementary just now. Now that our mom's in jail, it's under new management. New principal, teachers, everything. And they've turned it into some kind of work camp."

"What? Who's running it?"

"I'm not sure. Some muscular lady… I think it's a lady. And apparently, school lets out at 8:30pm. Several of our operatives are being held here, like Tronta, Arianna, and Makava."

"What?!" Vweeb exclaimed. "We have to go over there!!"

"There's no time." Nebula stated. "Sector V, can we trust you to head over and rescue as many operatives as you can? I'll send you coordinates for the school."

"I couldn't rescue them myself because they had chi-blocking symbols stationed for Space or psychicbenders. It might be kind of dangerous." Jerome noted.

"We'll have to take our chances." Aurora decided. "We'll head over there and do what we can. Don't worry, Vweeb, we'll save your friends."

"Aw, man! Oi wanted to go on cool space adventures with Nebula!" Sheila complained.

"Our duties come first, Sheila. Good luck, you two, we'll meet back up as soon as we can." With that, the Drophyd ship changed course and flew elsewhere.

"I hope they can rescue them…" Vweeb spoke worriedly.

"Don't worry, your friends'll be fine. Let's just head to this orphanage and get back on track 'soon as possible."

Planet Legola; Octan Tower

On the planet of Legos, a tower of impossible height stretched all the way to the stormy heavens. At the infinity-ith floor of this tower, a Lego man with a grey tuxedo and huge, mechanical legs stomped into a room where his employees were typing on computers. "Ahh, the smell of business in the morning!" he declared with an evil smirk. "Mr. Johnson, how are this month's sales coming along?"

"Uh, just fine, Sir. Our reports show mostly purchases from adults, wh-who were buying them for their kids' birthdays. Heh. Heh. Maybe we can model a set after that, huh?"

The towering businessman became infuriated. "CURSES!!" He stomped Johnson's desk before pacing angrily. "My precious Legos being used for simple TOYS! I worked hard creating this neat and orderly utopia, so that OTHER grown men across the universe will be able to experience the sweet sensation of business that I know! My Legos were supposed to take blueprints to a whole new level, 3-D models that tell more than simple 2-D illustrations ever would! Why in the WORLD would they mistake them as little playthings for KIDS?!"

President and Ruler of Planet Legola, honorary member of the Corporate Presidents

LORD BUSINESS

"With all due respect, Sir, a lot of our citizens are modeled after childhood heroes, like Batman, Milhouse, Han Solo…"

"That's EXACTLY why I had those people locked up! In a world of business, you have no time for children's imagination! Ugh, but seeing a bunch of scattered blocks inside a box apparently gives wrong IDEAS! But not anymore…" He grinned and rubbed his hands evilly. "Once my Kragle is fully developed, I'll never have to worry about kids mucking up my creations again, a-" The alarm started blaring.

"Sir, a helicopter seems to be flying onto our landing pad." Business's henchman, Bad Cop reported. "It appears to be Doflamingo."

"Ahh, my colleague!" Business smirked. "Allow them to land!"

Sector DR landed on the platform outside the building as the group stepped off Bison's mouth, the copter-boy returning to normal. As they entered the building, Bison took out a toothbrush and toothpaste, rapidly brushing his teeth. "Eeeeyuck. You guys need to wash your shoes."

"I stepped in poo earlier on purpose because I knew we'd be riding in you." Sugar remarked.

"Aaaahh, welcome!" They looked up as Lord Business towered over them. "Say… you aren't Doflamingo! You're his whiny kids!" Business's mechanical legs shrunk down as he stepped out. The short man was really as tall as the DR crew.

"I may not be him… but I'm on official business!" Doffy Jr. grinned. "One of my dad's employees has been kidnapped and we've been sent to rescue him. You being his colleague, we hoped you would lend us some supplies."

"Heh heh heh. Well, I couldn't turn down a favor from my fellow businessman's son. But if I'm to just hand you things willy-nilly, I'll need compensation. This new Emperor person is trying to put an embargo on exports from this planet, 'cause he doesn't want kids buying them and making spaceships or something! To lift it, he demands something important of mine. I want you to go and do something about 'im. I'm currently working on a new project that'll make my Legos perfect. And for the products to go out, I'll need that embargo lifted. And I also need that important thing. Go on and do that, and I'll give you as much access to my equipment as you need." With that, he walked off.

"Hmph… like I give a crud." Doffy smirked.

"Are we going to change him to a toy?" Sweetie asked.

"No. Sugar's powers won't work on Legoans. They're already toys. But Business shouldn't be that hard to screw over. After all, that's the whole point of business. We'll mooch off this guy's supplies for now… but we'll have him dealt with in time."

Shooting Star

Nebula and Vweeb were still on their way to Endor, flying through an empty area of space as Vweeb's tiny stomach rumbled. "Hey Nebula, do we have any snacks? I'm hungry." Vweeb said, rubbing his belly.

"I'm surprised someone your size GETS hungry."

"Hey, smaller stomachs means we don't eat much." He smirked. "And I haven't eaten anything since we left. Think we'll find a Space Wendy's around here?"

"No, countryside's pretty vacant. Hm, there's a planet down there. Let's see what they got."

They flew down to a nearby yellowish planet, whose surface appeared to be totally barren. There wasn't signs of life for miles, and many mountains covered the land in the distance. The two took land in the middle of a flat, empty field, looking around for any sustenance. "…Any chance the restaurants are invisible?" Vweeb asked.

"Probably not… but what is that?" Nebula pointed to a nearby spot that was trapped in a Time Distortion Beam. Inside, a swarm of micro-droids appeared to be eating the gunk out of a small pond, but the time rift was making it Rewind and move forward, over and over again.

"Well, this raises a lot of questions." she remarked.

"Like 'What're they doing' or 'Why are they here'? Stuff like that?" Vweeb asked.

"Yeah… Wish we knew how to make these things stop…"

Great Clock

"Hmmm…" Jagar looked with curiosity as he led his kids to a Planet Room. "Wow, this place looks nice all of a sudden… did you work overtime, Sigmund?"

"Well, you might say I… acquired a few extra tools." He spared a wink to MaKayla.

The girl chuckled quietly before turning to a planet's hologram. Her attention was drawn to the blue beams. "Um, Dad… is that planet okay?"

Jagar looked at the planet. "Oh, some disruptions. Good eyes, Kayla! We better fix those."

"I'll do it!" she insisted as she took the staff from her father's hands. Jagar looked curiously as she aimed the staff and proceeded to fix the disruptions herself.

"Wow… how'd you learn to do this?"

"She must take after her father after all!" Sigmund beamed.

The barren planet

"Huh? What's happening?" Vweeb asked when the Time Beam started to whir and blink. Before their eyes, the strange beam faded away, and the tiny droids were able to finish cleaning the water.

"Whatever the reason, that pond looks like it's getting clean. What good that'll do…"

But the moment the last filthy particle was consumed, the mysterious bots suddenly focused their attention on the operatives. "Uhhhh you think they think I'm a dust bunny?" Vweeb asked.

The swarm of nanobots immediately charged at them. "Who cares, let's go!" With that, the kids were fast inside the Shooting Star, taking off for the heavens before the droids could feast on them.

"Hoo…" Nebula sighed once they were back in the stars. "'Kay, let's never go THERE again."

"Deal. When I'm hungry, I wanna be the one eating."

"Let's just head to Endor and investigate this orphanage. We'll be there in one more cut."

Forest Moon Endor

And once the camera cut to their destination, they were there. "Ahhh, Forest Moon Endor. Lot-a history happened here." Vweeb began. "This was the site of Emperor Palpatine's defeat, and Darth Genious's birth. …Not his LITERAL birth, his uh… spiritual birth into… you know, evil. But to THINK such a mighty empire was defeated by Ewoks. Guess ol' Vader had a sixth sense 'bout these things, AH??" He nudged Nebula's neck. "Okay, let's land!"

They passed the atmosphere and started flying over the forest-covered surface. "Good thing Pollyx was able to give us the coordinates. We'll park a few miles away so we don't disturb the wildlife."

"Right!" Vweeb perked. "'Cause it's never fun when we park too close!"

They found an open spot and took land, staring up at the dark, towering trees as they climbed out. The sky was cloudy, so the weather felt less than cheerful. "Hm… definitely the place for a low-budget orphanage."

"Well, this ain't Foster's. But hey, at least the Ewoks are friendly, right?"

"Yeah…" (Play the Wind Temple Theme from Zelda: Wind Waker.)

Stage 8: Ewok Village

Mission: Find the Meero Orphanage and try and find a clue to Vendra's plans.

Nebula and Vweeb followed a small road through the trees, already seeing treehouses ahead, which belonged to the Ewoks. The treehouses were built on two trees on parallel sides of a tiny gorge. A ladder on the right of the gorge led up onto the first house's walkway, where an Ewok mother was feeding a milk bottle to children. They crossed a thin, rickety bridge and passed an Ewok guard with a spear.

A bridge guard, adds more unnecessary pages to the Star Wars Wiki

UNIDENTIFIED EWOK 2

As the Ewok spared them a look when they passed, Vweeb looked worried. "Umm… they ARE friendly, right?"

"Yeah. As long as we don't attack them. We still get Experience, but, they aren't hurting anyone."

The bridge led to the parallel house, but there wasn't any way onto the floor above. Inside this empty house, a tiny path led along the wall, from the door up to a hole in the ceiling. Vweeb walked up this path, having to shoot beetles that came out of holes. He made it up into the hole, finding a rolled-up rope ladder. Vweeb pushed the ladder into the hole, unraveling it as Nebula climbed up. On this house's walkway, there was another road through the woods. Ahead was an open area where the road turned right, but a squad of ape men in orange jumpsuits jumped out of the woods and began blasting.

Nebula dodged and tossed a N.I.N.S.T.A.R. at them while Vweeb snuck over to shoot his Stun ray. Nebula was able to finish them with a few shots from the S.H.O.O.T.E.R.. "What're they, overzealous huntsmen?" Vweeb asked.

"Those're bounty hunters from Sargasso. I wonder why they're here."

They followed the rightward path to a small misty chasm with platforms over it, and rickety bridges connecting them. As they crossed, a squad of Ewok scampered past them, running from a Ruffian Battle Mech. Nebula jumped its shots and tossed grenades at its cockpit, but was blown backward by one of its bombs. Vweeb was able to sneak onto its cockpit and Stun the pilot, so when Nebula came back, she was able to throw the last few grenades and defeat it.

They crossed the rest of the chasm, and reached a small village of treehouses over another misty chasm. They swung a G.R.A.P.P.L.U.H. target to reach a walkway around a house, then crossed a bridge to another house, bypassing a bridge guard. There was no other path to follow from there, but a wide, fenced platform hovered over the chasm, too far to jump. Below the left of this house's walkway was a Space Light, where Nebula conjured a Space Block. When they jumped down, a set of Space Lights formed a path just above the chasm, letting them form Space Blocks to make it across. It was a little hard to see with all the mist, but the lights were still visible, eventually leading them to a vine wall.

Nebula climbed with Vweeb still on her shoulder, having trouble navigating with all the mist. The vines alternated left, right, up, down directions, and Snapdragons popped out of unseen holes in the wall. They avoided the dragons and made their way onto a ledge above the mist. They had a clear view of the wide platform from earlier and were able to walk on. There were several barrels around the platform, blowing open when Ruffians jumped out.

They began firing immediately, so Nebula side-dodged and tossed the first N.I.N.S.T.A.R.. The Ruffians whipped out light-nun-chucks and ran over to swing them at Nebula, who back-flipped before countering with the S.H.O.O.T.E.R.. Two more Ruffians were trying to whip Vweeb with nun-chucks, but the slippery alien dodged around and ran between one's legs, causing the other to wrap his nun-chucks around and pull him down. Vweeb then jumped on and ran up his nun-chucks, shooting his Stun ray at his face.

After Nebula finished off her group, she hurried over to defeat the ones Vweeb disabled. Once they finished, they continued to a larger village area, where houses sat on five different layers and Ewoks roamed around. "Ahhhh, the Ewoks." Vweeb said. "The culture who discovered the Stormtroopers' armor was made of plastic. Easily penetrable by even their little arrows."

"Yeah, isn't it somethin'…" Nebula said blankly as she stared at the M.A.P.. "The way to the orphanage is just up there." She pointed to a small path on a ledge above the left of the village. "Now to find a way up…"

A bee was buzzing around Nebula's right shoulder where Vweeb stood, the Kateenian backing away frightfully as he yelled, "Shoo, shoo!" It wouldn't go away. "Ugh!" Vweeb tried to shoot the bee, and by the time he succeeded, he accidentally blasted one of the Ewoks. "Er-er-er-er! Er-er-er-er!" The enraged teddybears started to charge at the operatives, while Nebula passed a dirty look to Vweeb.

The two dodged when Ewoks on the higher levels launched arrows. Nebula tossed a N.I.N.S.T.A.R. and knocked down a group on higher levels, then ran when some chased her with spears. When they were all bunched together, Nebula tossed a grenade and blew them all away. "Didn't wanna hafta do that, but frankly they're kinda aggressive." With that, they searched around the village for a way to get up to the ledge. One of the houses had that same pixel image of a gray robot's head. There was an enclosing between another house and a pile of supplies, and a giant box sat inside. Nebula blew it up with a grenade, and a G.R.A.P.P.L.U.H. target flew out and hovered by the ledge. Nebula was able to latch it and pull them up.

They followed a straight, narrow path to a region high atop a cliffside. Sat atop a hill above them was a small, rundown building, unmistakably Meero Orphanage. They jumped up the stairway of ledges on their right to reach the orphanage's front yard. But once they did, a squad of Ruffian Mechs ambushed and started launching bombs. Nebula chucked grenades at the middle one, but had to quickly dodge the others' fire. Vweeb ran up and crawled into an opening on one of them, once again tinkering with its wiring and causing it to throw bombs at its allies.

Vweeb jumped out before the Ruffian Mech charged into its teammates and forced them against the wall, before they shoved him away onto his back. During their moment of weakness, Nebula tossed more grenades and defeated another one, and the last one spun its right grabber-hand and launched it on an electric chain. It wrapped around and shocked Nebula, but Vweeb jumped off and charged a Powuh Shot in his ray gun, blasting and blowing the mech back.

Once freed, Nebula threw a few more grenades and wiped the mech out. With that done, they entered the orphanage's rusty front door. There were broken tables everywhere and fallen file drawers. There was crayon writing on the wall saying ENTER HERE AND DIE and other scary things, and also skeletons in some of the corners. Vweeb jumped over to examine the bones. "…They're plastic. Phew." He was relieved. "I was gonna say, who made THIS a graveyard?"

"The way it looks, it might as well be one." Nebula said. Her communicator rang, and she answered Pollyx.

"Ehhh, I'm just checking in. Did you find the orphanage?"

"Yeah… we found it. It's not in the best shape…"

"That's because it was ransacked 11 years ago. All of the children and staff went missing, except for Vendra and Neftin. Then a few years later, they started committing crimes, attacking villages, robbing banks… then they team up with Tachyon out of the blue."

"They were probably looking for the Dimensionator in their chaos…" Nebula deduced. "My guess is, they want it to return to the Netherverse. But considering Vendra's power, I don't see why she can't do that herself. If she can bend Space Chi out of someone's body…"

"Even her powers must have limits. But there has to be a clue in there somewhere. Either way, I'm definitely picking up readings of a Space Rift in that area. You should be able to recover one of your powers there."

The two had to make a loop around the ruined building before finding a bedroom of multiple fallen bunk beds. There was an open door leading into a pitch-black basement, which they frightfully followed. "Why were bounty hunters from Sargasso here, anyway?" Nebula asked.

"After their bounties were lifted, Neftin enlisted the help of Team Star Wolf. They probably sent Ruffians there to keep people from snooping around."

"Too bad they weren't the best defense…" Nebula said once they reached a dust-filled bedroom at the bottom. "…I think this is Vendra's room." The pile of beheaded dolls in the corner was a giveaway.

The two walked around the bed before a huge, pink gap revealed itself in the wall. "And now we found the Space Rift."

"Great, now go in. Just like last time, complete the trial and you'll get a power back."

"In a minute, Vweeb." Neb said as she placed her friend on the dirty bed. With that, he watched as she vanished inside.

The little Kateenian gulped as he viewed the expansive (to him), dust-filled room. "I better not get eaten by dust bunnies when you get out!" (Play "Clank in the Netherverse" from Into the Nexus.)

Netherverse

Right as she landed in the bizarre world, she was forced down a slippery, purple slide inside a cave with an eerie pink glow. The slide turned rightward as she had to navigate around sharp crystals that stuck from the ground and jump gaps in the slide. The slide became more straight as it led her to an outside, endless realm, sliding over a bright-pink abyss. The slide was thinner, too, with more gaps she had to jump, so she had to be careful not to slide off the sides. The slide then turned leftward as it split in various forks, going around huge poles in the center before reuniting. They all led the same way regardless, going back into a cave that slid rightward before dropping Nebula into a long, thin hole.

She fell into a small room of pink crystals, where another glowing pink sphere sat before a cave. She reached out and touched it as the Spacebending Chi flowed inside her. She smiled as she felt herself levitate in the air for a brief moment, feeling almost no weight or mass on her body. When she was forced to land, she raised her fists in victory.

Nebula learned Gravity Body! With this, she is able to become light as space for a short time! Also, wherever she sees a spot glowing blue on any surface, she is able to jump and stand on it, defying gravity completely!

She looked up and saw a set of glowing blue spots on the walls up the shaft she fell down. Light on her feet, she gracefully jumped to each of those spots, standing on the wall parts like it was actual ground. But her moment of victory lasted shortly when she heard the venomous growl, eyes peering from the dark hole behind the sphere.

"GRAGRA GRAHGRAH GRAGRA GRAHGRAH!" (Play "Netherverse Chase" from Into the Nexus.) The Nether flew out, ready to feast some Zathurian. Nebula jumped up the hole quickly, and then had to jump Gravity Spaces on her way up the slide. She made it to the open area above the chasm, and the Grav Spaces were on the sides of floating pillars over the slide's edge. She reached the point where the slide divides around giant poles, and longer Grav Spaces led around the poles. She jumped to them and hurried around to launch to other ones, but when she had to launch to the next floating pillar, she slipped and fell back on the slide.

She tried to regain composure on the slide, thankfully sliding under the Nether when she passed by. She was able to launch to a Grav Space, but had to make her way back up again. The Nether was coming for her, but she managed to jump over when it got close, quickly jumping the Grav Spots to get away again. She made it back to the first cave and jumped the last round of Grav Spots. She reached the last one, but the exit was too far to jump. However, she jumped off and simply glided to the exit instead, and easily escaped the Nether's hunger. (End song.)

Back in the orphanage

Nebula emerged from the rift as the Nether stuck its head out. His body swelled from the outside atmosphere before blowing down the wall where the rift once sat. As the dusty smoke cleared, Nebula instantly felt Vweeb glomp onto her neck. "Finally, you're back! I swear I saw a dust bunny glare at me!"

"Sigh, Vweeb, there's no such thing as real dust bunnies. You should know better than to listen to Comfy Couch. …" They looked into the new room revealed by the broken wall. They stepped inside and found a small, mechanical book under the rubble. Nebula wiped the dust as she picked it up.

"Hey, it's one of those old record-your-voice diaries! Those went outta business when brothers started easily eavesdropping their sisters. They never worked out…"

The cover read that the diary belonged to Vendra. Curious, Nebula opened it, and Vendra's recorded, younger voice was heard. "Dear diary… another lousy day at Meero Orphanage. Me and Nef were bullied… again. Why? 'Cause we were apparently from a different species. Even though EVERYONE here was a different species, the Galaxians 'parently never saw anyone like us. I don't know what we are… all I know is the people here are nothin' but creeps and bullies. And when I tell one of the teachers, what happens? I get sent to detention!

"But last night, I had the most wonderful dream! I wasn't sure if it was a dream… but a weird, pink crack appeared in the wall. I stared into it… and someone spoke to me. He spoke with a voice, so charming and smooth… He said he knew what I was… and we had something in common. Apparently, me and Nef were from the race of Nethers, who thrived in a dimension within Space itself. But our parents were a Nether, and a kind of Mobian that lived in the Netherverse, so that's why we were hybrids of the two. But they were disappointed in us for some reason, so they banished us to this waste of a universe. He said that he experienced similar pain. He was banished from his people… and now all of his kind was lost as well. He called himself… the King of Space.

"He wanted to find his people again… but wherever he was, he was trapped. Trapped in the confines of what was essentially my homeworld. So he needed my help… in order to escape. He would be able to see his family again… and in return, he would take me to see my family. I asked how I would be able to help… and something incredible happened. He lured me into this gap… I walked in slowly… and… what I believed to be his hand, reached out to me. It phased through my own body… and a great sensation overcame me. The power of black holes… no gravity… was mine.

"Today, we were bullied again… but things went a little bit different. Using my powers, I sent the lowlife orphans into a black hole of despair and… well, darkness. I robbed the place of life completely… and turned it to ruin. I knew we would become criminals… but that was okay. As long as one day, we could get our hands on the Dimensional Fragments. But the first thing I wanna do with my powers: kill the bastards who thought record-your-voice diaries were a good idea."

The recording ended there, and Neb and Vweeb exchanged frightful, curious looks.

Shooting Star; back in space

After leaving the planet, Nebula once again phoned Pollyx. "Hmm… well, that did explain a bit. Since Meero Orphanage was destroyed 11 years ago, she was definitely 7 years old when she got her powers. I wonder who this King of Space is?"

"Someone we'll have to worry about, probably." Neb said. "But now we know why she's helping Tachyon look for the Dimensionator. And she probably teamed up with him in the first place for his political support. Judging by Boa Hancock, the fragments must be guarded by fairly strong or important people. And Tachyon must have the resources to take them from them."

"Such was to be expected. Not to mention, Tachyon and Vendra have the same thing in common, too: having lost their people."

"But if Tachyon's people were banished by the Zathurians 2 million years ago, how is Tachyon here now? Unless he found a way out…"

"I don't know. But it has become apparent he's rather close to Mom. But I doubt we'll be scoring info off her very easily. With your new gravity powers, you should be able to get through the Space Junk Zone. Head there quickly and see what those pirates are up to."

"Roger that. We'll get the fragment as soon as possible." And so, the operatives' flight through space continued.

Galaxia Elementary; under new management (Play the Batalia Theme from Ratchet & Clank.)

Galaxia Elementary was seeing dark days in the short time the new principal took control. A group of kids were at recess, but the playground became a work camp where the children worked tirelessly. Well, that wouldn't be the right word to use, but-

While five Kikwi children were pulling a huge crate, they immediately became tired when they reached their destination. A whip lash made them jump back up with a start. "'EY! NO ONE TOLD YOU TO SLAGOFF!" an alien sergeant with a horn-mouth yelled.

From a window on the third floor, the principal stood and watched their labor with a proud smile. Agatha Trunchbull was a muscular woman who wore a dark-green uniform, a big brown belt tied around her waist, long white socks, and black shoes. She had brown hair tied in a bun and blue eyes. "Ahhh, to see the YOUTH of today, working off their little limbs." She spoke with gusto, her teeth yellow. "THIS is the way you WHIP young minds into shape, off their lazy butts and AWAY from their mind-rotting videogames! Hmm… Watching this labor makes me hungry. Time for some chocolate."

She reached into a box on her desk and grabbed a piece of chocolate, munching piquantly. She then reached for and guzzled down a cup of coffee. However, she stopped when she spotted a Drophyd ship flying outside the dome in the distance. "Ahhh! Tachyon has delivered more fresh MEAT! Let's see what the butcher has brought on to us!" She typed on a computer on her desk. "This is Trunchbull to Drophyd ship. What's on the menu today?"

An image of an unmoving Drophyd came on, speaking with gaps between his words, and each syllable made him blink left-and-right. "We. Got. TWELVE. Pass-en-gers. Hand. Cuffed—COMING! In! On. OWN."

"Hmph. WORK on your grammar and sentence structure, dimwitted slob! Hnn, let's see if these kids are any special." She stomped off to greet her new victims.

The Drophyd ship entered an opening on the dome before landing on an open spot. As Sector V fixed phony handcuffs on their wrists, they smiled at Mr. Game-and-Watch, who had a 2-D wire plugged into the ship's computer, projecting an image of the frozen Drophyd. "Nice hacking, Mr. Game-and-Watch!" Aurora smiled.

"I keep forgetting he's in our group, too." Chris remarked.

"That's 'cause I keep him in my computer." Vanellope noted, holding up her laptop. She hid it under her sweater and said, "Now let's spring these kids from prison! Er, make that school. But there's no difference!"

The kids stepped off the ship in a single-file line, wearing fake handcuffs. They stepped up to the muscular principal by the front door, who stood sternly. "Ahhh, what a lovely little flock of hens ready to be bred and cooked. WELCOME to Trunchbull Academy, the NEW and improved galactic school for aliens. I AM your headmaster, Agatha Trunchbull, you will DO as I say WHEN I say it—WAAAAIT!" The kids flinched when she lashed a whip, stomping over to Haruka and standing over her imposingly. "WHAT. Are. Those?..." She pointed at her pigtails.

Haruka glanced to both sides of her head. "You mean… my pigtails?"

"Are you a PIG, my dear?"

"She probably stinks like one, being a poisonbender." Chris remarked through gritted teeth and a sly smirk.

Trunchbull LASHED the whip, making Chris whimper. "SILENCE or you're staying an extra two hours! And if those aren't removed by the end of the day," she directed back to Haruka, "you'll SHARE his FATE!"

"Well, my mom likes them!!"

"Your mom is a TWIT! Now cut those off or-"

"But-"

"WHAT?!" Haruka flinched. "But? Did you say 'but'?"

"Uhh-"

"I'll show you BUT!!" The Trunchbull grabbed Haruka by her pigtails and spun around and around as the goth girl screamed.

"WHOOOOAA!" The child was sent flying across the playground as the many kids looked up with wonder. "AAAAHH!" She flew with enough force to crash through the dome, and everyone held tight to something as the air was sucked out.

"HARUKA!!" Mason screamed.

Two mechanical hands reached out and pulled her back into the dome before some wooden planks were placed over the hole. Haruka immediately gasped for breath, fixing her disheveled hair. "The next time you speak up I'll have those hands DISABLED! Now all of you report to first-day detention or it's off to the choky."

The kids willingly marched off to a dark, dim classroom as Trunchbull instructed, before she slammed the door and locked it. The team took a seat on desks before pulling off their fake cuffs, rubbing their wrists.

"Well… we infiltrated the school. That's good." Chris spoke calmly with a tone of slight sarcasm. "Now… how're we supposed to sneak a bunch of kids onto a ship and take off?"

"Well, first we need to disable the school's cameras." Aurora said. "That would make things a hundred times easier."

Vanellope glanced up to the camera in the corner of the ceiling, aiming intently at them. "You just leave that to me." She got up and walked under the camera, hooking a wire to her computer and an open slot on the camera. With that, she digitized inside and entered the camera terminals.

Stage 9: Trunchbull Academy

Mission: Rescue as many GKND operatives as you can from the school.

Vanellope appeared in a narrow, straight virtual hall of many monitors, showing various parts of the school. She walked ahead to a wider hall, where floating cameras moved forward and backward, skimming the area for intruders. There was enough space for her to walk around the first one in the middle, but the next two floated parallel to each other, close to the hall's sides. She was only able to hide behind a small, square wall in the middle. However, on the right wall was a single "Zoni.", who Vanellope quickly grabbed before hiding again. A Zone Light was across the hall, past the cameras' turning point, so the Zoni flew over for Vanellope to glitch to it, evading the cameras.

She made a left turn, crossing a very thin, bridge-like path between more floating monitors. She viewed one of the classrooms that had a seemingly-nice-looking teacher speaking to students. "Now class, today I'm going to teach you how to have a proper conversation. The first thing you must know is not to express yourself in any way, and always follow the rules, no matter how funny or original you think you're trying to be. Just as well, no making witty remarks or interrupting someone to contradict them. I've found a group of 'special' kids whom you will be paired with, they aren't the best with speaking, so it's likely to lead to boring conversations, but you'll…"

"Oh, that is just the worst type of person." Vanellope remarked. She continued ahead, reaching a room with flat, horizontal terminals on the floor in a row. There were three more Zoni in the corner, so Vanellope walked over to enlist them. "Zoni." They revealed a hidden computer in the corner on the other end, where Vanellope cracked the password 'Whiplash.' This caused the laying terminals to float up and form a staircase. A camera appeared and started floating up and down the stairs, but Vanellope was able to Ground Pound and flip the platforms, holding onto their bottoms and avoiding the camera's view. "Flip the footholds to hide." The Zoni instructed, just in case.

At the top of the stairs, she entered another thin hall of terminals, where she saw the Trunchbull yelling furiously at the Drophyd pilot (Mr. Game-and-Watch) through her desktop computer. "For goodness SAKE, why didn't you stop at a GAS station if you knew you were running low on fuel?!"

"Thought. I! Could. Make! It! Called- FOR! Backup. Soo-oon!"

"JUST make sure they get here before my new order of unearthed salad oil gets in, these kids need SOMETHING to grind on this lifeless asteroid!"

Vanellope reached a room with a long chasm and some platforms over it, and Zone Lights leading to them. On her right were 3 more Zoni, making 7 in her group. "Zoni." They flew to their own Zone Lights over the first pit, but cameras were flying in-between some of them, so Vanel had to time it right so she wouldn't be spotted. When they were high or low enough respectively, she glitched to the first platform. The next 3 Zone Lights didn't lead onto anything, but the Zoni revealed a computer in the left wall. She entered the code 'Choky,' followed by 'Ethical,' making two platforms rise up to where the Zone Lights ended, spiraling around a spinning camera in the center. The camera spun counterclockwise as opposed to the camera's clockwise, so she had to wait 'til it was pointed away, and also time right so she'd land on a platform. Four more Zone Lights led to the next ledge, so before the camera could notice Vanel, she had the Zoni move to those spots and glitched over.

She reached a set of narrow, maze-like halls where more cameras patrolled. Vanellope simply had to hide and wait for them to turn back before quickly hurrying down the next path. Once she cleared the maze, she reached a room with many terminals on the wall, and a control panel before it. Once more, the Zoni revealed a computer in the control panel. Vanellope cracked the codes 'Always watching,' 'Absolute order,' and 'Headmaster sees all.' The terminals turned into static and the cameras were shut down.

Trunchbull's office

As Trunchbull yelled at the "Drophyd," her desktop computer suddenly shut off. "WHAT the-?!" She immediately stomped off to the camera room.

Sector V watched as the camera in the corner suddenly drooped, and Vanellope emerged from her computer. "Alright, I did it!" she perked.

"Great work, Vanel!" Aurora praised. "Alright, let's split up and save the GKND ops. I'd like to rescue everyone, but I doubt the ship has enough room. Let's go."

The group split up and peeked into the many classrooms. Kirie found the speech teacher's room, where she spotted Arianna. "Unfortunately, we could only find 3 'special' aliens, but as soon as we acquire more students…" She looked as Kirie walked in, smiling happily as she signed, Hi there, Teacher! You have a bad hairdo and those earrings are SO last year!

"Ohh? Are you a mute child?"

She nodded.

"Ahhh." She turned to her students. "You see, class, this little girl is a mute: she speaks using sign-language. I think this would be a perfect opportunity to learn how she talks."

I'll teach you how to say 'Get slagged!' in sign language! Kirie signed happily. First, you raise your foot, aim it at the dumb teacher's butt, and- She kicked the woman into a wall, before jumping over and laying several kicks across her head before she knocked out.

"YAAAAY!" the aliens cheered.

"Aww… I thought it was a very fine lecture." Arianna frowned.

"It's lame and you know it." an alien remarked.

Kirie quickly signed, Everybody who wants Get Out of School Early Day, follow me! She ran off, and while the others didn't understand a word, they decided to follow.

Chris found a room labeled Daycare Center, but found nobody as he walked in. "Mister?" a squeaky voice spoke. He looked down, spotting a group of tiny, Kateenian children with teary eyes. "Are you here to step on us?" a girl asked.

"Um… no, why would I do that?" Chris asked with a slight blush.

"You're really big. Why are you here?"

"I'm, uh… here to rescue some GKND operatives. Ever heard of them?"

"Can you rescue us, too? Please?"

"Umm… w-well, we're sort of limited on room, so…"

"Please? We promise we won't be trouble…"

Chris just couldn't resist those tiny, teary eyes. "Ahhhh… you guys shouldn't take much room." He decided with a charming smile. He bent down with his hands laid on the floor. "Climb on, you guys." The group of tinies quickly hurried up his arms, to his shoulders and head. "Let's get you outta here." The Uno boy quickly hurried back to the ship. The Kateenian kids exchanged wicked smirks and snickers.

Sheila Frantic reached a gym room where Makava and other alien students were forced to climb poles that alit with flames going upward, forcing them to climb fast. "COME OOOON YOOOU HUNKHEADS- UP WITH IT, UP WITH IT!" yelled another alien coach with a horn mouth. "YOU CALL THAT CLIMBING YOU'RE GONNA GET YER BUTTS BURNED AND I'LL TELL YOUR PARENTS IT'S WHAT THEY GET FOR SIGNING AN ANTI-LAWSUIT FORM- YOU WORTHLESS-"

Sheila dealt him a forceful punch that forced his horn mouth into his body. "We'll see 'ose butt they burn FIRST." She flipped a lever on the wall, deactivating the flames and allowing the kids to drop.

"Hoo, thanks!" a cat-boy exclaimed. "They put grease on mine just to make it look like Tom and Jerry!"

"Oi, Makava, you c'n come DOWN now!" Sheila yelled to the still-climbing Glomourian.

"No way! I'm going for the record!" she exclaimed.

"Oh fer the love of-" Sheila punched a Light Sphere and knocked the swordsgirl down. "GRAB 'ER!" The other kids grabbed Makava from all ends and carried her after Sheila.

The Gilligan Triplets reached a science class where a big-brained teacher was forcing kids to make different potions, and try them. One kid became a shoelace, another became a gas cloud with eyes, and one turned into George Lopez. Tronta was there, and he was a little hesitant to drink his red potion. "Come along, Mr. Dunfree." Mr. Braino spoke with a high British accent. "Data won't observe and collect itself. We must test every theorem no matter the risk of the students being tested."

"I have a theorem!" Haylee spoke from behind him, holding her wrench. "It's called 'Seeing what happens when a big-brained teacher's hit in the head with a wrench!'" She swung her tool and knocked the skinny, flimsy teacher clean out. "Brain over brawn, right? Yo Tronta, let's get goin'! We got a ship!"

"Umm… can I… bring a couple o' friends?" he asked.

"Well, we don't really have room. How much?" Harry asked.

"Just a few."

"HEEEEY, Trontaaaaa!" a squad of girls cheered from outside.

"Heheh… I also want these guys." Tron chuckled, indicating the nerds behind them. They waved at the triplets goofily.

-_- The three stared disbelieved.

After leading 3 confirmed GKND ops to the ship outside, Aurora sat on the hatchway and awaited the others. "Huh?" She looked up, seeing several of her teammates coming out with many aliens. "Guys, are ALL these GKND ops?"

"Well, some… wanted to bring friends." Chris noted as his Kateenian passengers grinned and waved.

"Siiigh. Well, we got what we could. Let's wait for Dillon and get off this rock."

Terminal room

"GRAAAH!" Miss Trunchbull furiously pounded and kicked the staticky terminals. In the wall by the door, Dillon spied on her from a shadow. "Damn lousy faulty alien equipment! If a school has enough in the budget to be built in SPACE, why can't it afford some decent security cameras that don't break after EVERY little-"

"Achoo!"

The Trunchbull jumped around, searching the room intently. Inside his shadow, Dillon shuddered with fear, which Trunchbull seemed to notice as she sniffed around his area. She stared closer and closer at the mysterious shadow in the wall… A pair of brown eyes opened, and Mario spit in her eyes before Dillon dashed down the hall. "GAAAAH!" He felt the halls quaking, dashing faster than ever as the mammoth woman chased.

Outside

While the aliens were led onto the transport ship, "Gyaaaah!" They looked to the school's entrance, seeing Dillon run out. "QUICK! START THE ENGINES! Start the engines, let's GOOOO!"

He zipped past them into the ship, and as they looked confused, they flinched at Trunchbull's presence in the doorway. The woman snorted like a bull, readying a stance as she scraped her feet along the ground, ready to charge like a wild animal (for example, a bull). "I SECOND THAT MOTION!" Aurora yelled as they ran on. The hatch closed before the Trunchbull charged, but as they lifted, they felt their selves weighed down by her amazing strength.

"Errr, let go you crazy witch!" Chris yelled, trying to drive the ship away.

The Trunchbull's strength still prevailed, but- "Zoni.", the mysterious aliens appeared and dealt her a painful zap, the ship gone from the dome in a flash. The Trunchbull stood and turned around with anger, a burning desire to kill her assaulters in her eyes. When she found no one, she looked up to the escaping kids, her rage growing terrifically.

"Phew! That was close!" Mason sighed in relief.

"I hope we never see HER again." Haruka said, still brushing her pigtails.

"What was her problem, anyway?" Dillon asked.

"I dunno… but I think I've heard of Trunchbull before." Aurora began. "I heard a story about a really abusive elementary principal with unnatural strength. Rumor has it, she was scared away from her town by ghosts, and no one ever saw her again. Was she hiding in Galaxia all this time?"

"She must've been scared good if she ran away from the Earth." Chris noted. "Anyway… let's call Nebula and see where…" He mindlessly felt around his pocket, but noticed something missing. "Hey! My wallet!"

"Teeheeheeheeheeheehee!" Outside in the hallway, the squad of Kateenian kids giggled mischievously, holding Chris's wallet above them as they marched like little ants.

"HEY!! GIVE BACK MY WALLET!" They skittered faster as Chris chased them around the ship. "YOU LITTLE BUGS, I'M GONNA SQUASH YOU!!"

Mysterious lab

"Nerf-nor… NEAF, nar…" Vendra stood before a Space Rift with a black half and white half while a being spoke in a gargled voice. Neftin walked in and watched them speak.

"I'm sorry. The first fragment was taken by the half-Zathurian." Vendra explained, her head down. "But don't worry: we'll find the rest."

"Nur, nuuur. NEGAO, FOOOAR."

"You saw her in the Space Rifts?"

"NEAR-OOOOOO."

"So… she's discovered a way to get her powers back. Oh well… even with the energy from the Netherverse, her power's still limited. Compared to me, she's a tiny asteroid waiting to be crushed within a black hole. Since my power comes from a much greater source."

"NE-OOOO."

"I know, King. We'll get 'er, don't worry. We'll have you out of there in no time, I promise."

The black and white faded and became a pink gap again. Vendra turned to Neftin and ordered, "Go get Star Wolf and start HUNTING for this wannabe witch! No matter what, we can't let her get her hands on the Dimensionator first!" She passed her brother and left the room.

Neftin followed as he asked worriedly, "Sis, are you really sure we should be listening to this guy? He says he's the King of Space, but we don't know anything about him."

"He's the one who gave me unlimited power." Vendra spoke fiercely as she hovered before him. "HE'S the one who saved us from that HELLHOLE and gave us real LIVES!"

"As CRIMINALS!"

"Doesn't mattuh! He wants our help, and we need his! Now are you gonna chicken out on me, or are we gonna do this??"

"Siiigh… No, Sis."

"Good." She turned back. "Now let's get goin', 'fore they find out about the fragment in Legola!" She flew off, leaving a conflicted Neftin with his head down.

…No matter what… I'll never abandon you, Sis. With these thoughts to keep him going, Neftin followed his sister.