Operation: NECSUS, Part 15: Sunny Excavation

Chapter 15: Sunny Excavation

Aloha Oe

A spray that makes you immune to any form of heat? Kirie asked. Nasty sunburns are a thing of the past!

"I still have mixed feelings about going to a world that Mom essentially controls." Aurora said.

"Well, Pollyx said it was relatively safe, just mostly nerds talking about trading cards and anything that isn't to do with physical activity." Mason replied.

"Well, I think I know where I wanna move to." Artie said simply.

"Nah, find me a music planet or don't find anything at all." Harry replied.

"I just wanna go back to Earth as soon as possible." said Aurora. "Let's hope we can get the Fermion Spray without any trouble."

Cloud City; Great Library

Pollyx's head was swimming with guilt as he stared out the window with worry. He could barely think as well as he wanted to, knowing he just sent Sector V to their deaths.

"Listen up Pollyx, I got every square corner of Axiom City guarded by Killbots, ready to shred up any intruder that sets foot on the planet." Mom reported through a phone call. "We were going to use them to burn Doflamingo's ass if he came, but if you send Nebula or Sector V there, we can be done with 'em nice and easy!"

"Ehh, wouldn't it be cleaner to just throw them in jail?"

"They're just gonna escape like they always do, and I'm tired of Tachyon bitching my ass off. The only way to deal with rats is to KILL them. And don't you try to weasel out of it like a crab, ya crab. I don't need to remind you what stake you have in this."

"Ehhh… no."

"Good. Now SEND those snotty kids to Axiom City so I can blow their brains out."

"Ehh, but what should I tell them?"

"USE THE FIRST EXCUSE THAT COMES TO YOUR HEAD, YOU BASTARD!"

Of course, that was before Pollyx heard about the Fermion Spray. Nebula provided the perfect excuse. But still… it didn't sit right with him. As he looked out the window and saw the Shooting Star entering the atmosphere, ready to land in his library, he had no idea how he could face her. "Well, there's always the slimmest chance Sector V will come through. Ohhhh…"

Coruscant; above Axiom City

"Ahhhhh, lookathis, guys: the planet of nerds." Doflamingo announced. "Lot-a smart stuff happenin' here. And the primary product distributed here, you guessed it, nasal spray."

"Your mediocre nerd jokes are always humorous." Sugar said sarcastically.

"My jokes always bring laughter and joy!" his grin sparkled. "But enough chitchat! Let's turn this place into a high school hallway and WASTE some nerds!"

The streets of Axiom City were crawling with Killbot troops, leaving no inch of the city unguarded. Sector DR's Lego ship came straight down and began blasting with Lego lasers, and while they were plastic blocks, they still hurt like regular lasers. "Ahhhh! We're being invaded!" a Killbot screamed. "Someone call 911-"

"SOMEBODY SAID '9/11'!" another screamed before shooting the previous.

The ship landed and scraped along the ground before Sector DR came out and charged for Pollyx Industries. Doflamingo Jr. swiftly jumped the Killbots' bullet and lashed strings out to slice them perfectly.

"My Yipperman can turn Ultralord into human jelly!" yelled a Terachnoid nerd to his friend.

"Oh yeah? Does Yipperman have a time-space matter transporter, which he can use to warp to the Bogan System and save it from mutant zombie bears?"

"Um, no."

"Can he rip a five billion foot robot in half like he was made of dust-cloth?"

"No…"

"So I ask you, what can Yipperman do, that is SO-"

"Gimme that!" Sweetie-1 yelled as she took the Yipperman. Killbots surrounded the area and readied to blast the weapon girl, but Sweetie aimed the head of the action-figure as it opened to reveal a sonic plasma cannon, which fired and destroyed every last robot without leaving a trace. She gave it back to the nerd before running after her friends.

"…" Immediately, the Ultralord nerd knelt down and bowed to his friend with the superior toy. "I am at your mercy."

Doflamingo burst through the entrance to Pollyx Industries and lashed his strings all around, tearing up everything as the employees cowered and ducked under desks. He zipped to a random employee and got in his face with his usual grin. "Alright, Caesar's lab: where is it?!"

"I-It's in the basement! Please don't break my nasal spray!"

"'Consider it!" And he zipped off.

After making his way to the basement, he smashed into Caesar's lab, seeing it filled with all the material he uses for SMILEs. He finally saw the clown himself standing by a desk. "There he is!" He dashed over, excited to finally have his mission accomplished. "Let's get outta here right-… Huh?"

"Shurorororo!" The hologram of Caesar sizzled. "If you're seeing this message, I'm afraid I have left for an extended vacation! So anyone who came looking for me is gonna have to turn around and never come- SAVE ME, Doffy-sama!!" he started crying. "We're in the- YOWWW!" He was shocked.

"JAM a bastard in it, you clod!" Mom yelled, shoving him aside. "Listen, Bird Boy, I've taken Caesar, and if you try looking for us, I'll run your company down like yesterday's-"

"Abandoned Jedi Temple in-"

"DAAAAH!" She smacked him away. "ALL THE LOAD-FILLED SACKS OF-" The recording ended.

"Huff, huff, we made it." Sweetie-1 panted as they ran in.

"Nuuuu where'd Caesar go-daizokun?" Bison asked.

"He's gone." Doffy said as he began to walk out. "To the Jedi Temple most likely. And Mom might not just let us waltz in and take him: she could ruin Dad's company by telling everyone he does business with Caesar."

"That would expose her too, wouldn't it?" Sugar asked.

"Yes, but she now has support of Galaxia's ruler. She has more than enough power to get around these things. It's all a matter of…" he grinned, "waiting. For the opportune moment. When Mom is provided with the perfect distraction, we'll swarm the temple and take Caesar. But first… to find out where it exactly is. Seems we'll be stopping by the library after all…" He pulled out to look at the book of ancient technologies.

Sometime later…

Not long after Sector DR left, Sector V entered Pollyx Industries H.Q. to find it in ruins. "Huh… Boy, a tornado musta hit." Dillon figured.

"Well, at least we don't need to worry 'bout security." Haylee said.

Aurora approached an employee cowering under his desk and asked, "Hey, excuse me, but do you have any Fermion Spray we could borrow?"

"Here!" He tossed her a can. "Just take it and go! Leave me and my nasal medicine in peace!"

"Aww, I wanted to borrow that, too." Artie frowned.

"Just get a tissue and let's go." Harry told him as they left.

As soon as they were gone, the Terachnoid pulled out his nasal spray and hugged it to his cheek. "I'll never let you go." With that, he sprayed some up his nose.

Cloud City; Great Library

Nebula, Vweeb, and Bender wandered around the library while Pollyx stood by the window twiddling his fingers. "Ehhh, Sector V sure is taking awhile, perhaps you ought to go check."

"They only left a while ago, give them some time…" Nebula told him, looking suspicious.

"Hey, Professor, you're missin' a book here." Bender mentioned, seeing an open spot in a shelf.

"Oh, that thing's been missing for decades. Don't even remember what it was or who checked it out. I guess I should've asked for those trackers, huh?"

"That reminds me Pollyx, where is your son, any-" Before Nebula could finish, they heard the roar of an engine outside.

"Sister! Sector V is back!" Jerome called.

"Th-They're alive?!" Pollyx exclaimed. "Uh, I mean… I expected them to come back."

They all hurried outside to find the Aloha Oe landing, and Sector V soon rushed out. "Boy, you guys are back early." Nebula said. "How'd it go so well?"

"The whole place was ransacked before we even got there." Aurora replied. "The people looked like they saw a demon or something."

"So not even a raging army of bloodthirsty Killbots?" Pollyx asked.

"No, but we saw these two nerds with action-figures, in which one was making the other his slave, so I assume there's a 'dominance' thing goin' on." Artie explained.

"Anyway, we got some Fermion Spray from one of the nerds." Aurora said as she tossed the can to Pollyx. "It didn't HAVE to be yours in particular, right?"

"Ehhh… no."

The professor proceeded to spray the yellow substance all over Nebula, Vweeb, and Bender's bodies, and also sprayed the Shooting Star, too, so their skin and clothes were completely dark-yellow. "There. That spray provides the perfect skin-tight protection suit against high temperatures. If you wanted to, you could swim in a pool of lava. But I wouldn't risk it. Normally it's strong enough to last for more than a day, but if you're walking around in the sun, I'd give it about 2 hours. So if you don't find the fragment and get outta there before then, you'll be roasted blacker than black."

"'Course with Nebula, you could hardly tell much! Ha ha ha ha!" Vweeb joked.

"Racist joke is racist, Vweeb." Nebula glared.

"Isn't one of the morals of this story to acknowledge and appreciate different races?" he asked.

"Not like that."

"Anyway, I'll try to look into the location of the other fragments while you're gone." Pollyx told them. "With only 2 left after this one, I hope we can put all of this behind us."

"Yeah, 'cause before you know it, we'll get called into another quest." Aurora knew.

"Speakin' of which, wonder what Cheren's doing, anyway." Chris said boredly.

"Getting worked up wondering where we are." Aurora figured.

"Alright, let's just go." Nebula said as her group hopped in the Shooting Star. "We'd ask coordinates to the sun, but it's a little hard to miss. Wish us luck!" And the ship lifted up and took off to the huge, glowing sphere in the sky.

Approaching Galaxia's Sun

"Hwooooo. Hot diggity, that thing hot." Bender said, squinting and shielding his eyes from the approaching sun.

"Well, of course. Galaxia's Sun would be the hottest point in Galaxia." Nebula pointed out. "The Fermion Spray is enough to protect us, but we have to find the fragment fast if we don't wanna end up Chop Socky Chooks."

"The three chickens that got fried and served at SFC after their show got cancelled." Vweeb recalled. "Huhuhu." He shuddered.

"If the Sun Miners know anything about the fragment, that would make things easier. But, can't always expect the easy route…" (Play "Phoenix Mountain" from Kid Icarus: Uprising.)

Stage 19: Solar Mines

Mission: Look for the Dimensional Fragment.

The Shooting Star landed on a platform in the middle of a fiery sea, and the trio began their journey across a walkway, jumping gaps that had fireballs jumping from the lava. Ordinarily a scorching hot landscape like this would make them sweat all over, but with the Fermion Spray, it felt like normal, warm temperature. They turned left on the path and found a set of Ferris wheel-like devices, with platforms that moved to either side as they turned, and were dipped in the lava. When the platforms rose up on their side, they had to jump to the other before the platforms went in the lava. Once they crossed, they were approaching the entrance to the Sun Mines, where creatures made of fire were loading out cargo.

"What're these little sparklers?" Bender asked.

"Solarans." Nebula replied. "They mine the sun for rich minerals to fuel their people."

"Hey, I think my dad had a Solaran bully once!" Vweeb recalled.

"All the aliens were your dad's bullies." Nebula remarked. "It's just she was the only one with painful spit."

They reached a gaping tunnel that led down into the mines, and the gravity altered and allowed them to walk down the vertical path. Parts of the path looped around the tunnel's walls and ceiling, in which the Gravity Path still allowed them to follow these routes, but it became a little dizzy to jump the platforms. They soon reached a small, underground village with houses built on scaffolds above the lava. Nebula approached a Solaran and asked, "Excuse me, we're looking for a glowing pink fragment, like this one." Bender held out one of their fragments. "Seen anything like it?"

"Nyarrrr. Rumors say a gem like that exists… deeeeep in the mines." He pointed to a tunnel across the lava.

"Of course, where else would it be." Vweeb stated.

"It was buried there… countless millennia ago. Likely melted by now… and if it's not, it's black instead-a pink. Try and find it if ya can… but by then, you'll be roasted, too."

"We'll take our chances." Neb said.

They followed a path into a right tunnel, which quaked and caused the path to split into several moving platforms. When the tunnel made a turn, there was no path to walk on, except for a Gravity Path along the left wall. That path was bent outward however, so Bender stretched to grab and bend it flat again. They followed the path around the turn to another tunnel, which led them back to the town area, across from the area they just were. They followed a minecart track into the indicated tunnel from earlier, having to jump flaming minecarts that sped from ahead. There were also little flame creatures called Hotheads flying around, which Nebula was able to put out using the S.P.O.U.T..

They reached an open room where Drophyds ambushed them, wearing Fermion Spray as well. The kids dodged as the Cyclocannon sped forward, and Bender got behind to stretch and grab its wheels, yanking them off its sides. The Drophyd pilot was exposed to the heat, frying into a fishstick. Nebula ran around and shot the Drophyd Troopers with the S.P.O.U.T., flinging them up in the air as she focused on an Enforcer. Bender wrapped his arms around its legs to bend them up, making the robot fall as Nebula destroyed its cockpit with the V.I.S.S.I.L.E., making him fry. When the S.P.O.U.T. dropped the other Drophyds and broke their helmets upon landing, they turned into fishsticks immediately.

They turned toward their next tunnel, in which they had to use a mechanical device with long legs to walk across a river of lava. Nebula activated the device using Space Lightning as it began to walk across. There were geysers of fire spewing from the walls, so they had to flip a lever to make the legs squat or stand straight, depending on the geysers' height. They stepped off on the floor at the end and looked down the next tunnel, which was essentially another lava river. There were metal devices lodged in the walls, in which Nebula launched V.I.S.S.I.L.E.s into the weak spots to make them fall out, revealing grind rails that all connected once Nebula knocked them down.

Neb and Bender began to grind the rails further into the mines. Nebula had to toss grenades at other weak targets to knock more rails down, so they could jump to them when previous rails ended. Hotheads were also trying to swoop at them, so they jumped when they did so. The rail directed into a hole, landing them at the start of a new tunnel. They hurried down as more Drophyds came to battle them, launching grenades that the trio dodged. Nebula caught some on the S.P.O.U.T.'s geysers, then tossed N.I.N.S.T.A.R.s while they were airborne. Bender grabbed a few of the short walls (meant to be used as shields) and bent them to sharp points, so when the Drophyds came down, their suits were stabbed.

They kept following the tunnel and arrived at another town, which had a huge tunnel sealed by a pile of flaming boulders. A single Drophyd landed in the middle, and they watched as he transformed into a man-sized chameleon, along with his suit, thanks to the Lizard-Lizard Fruit, Model: Chameleon. He turned invisible and leapt to one of the many buildings on scaffoldings. He was launching missiles from his hidden point, but Vweeb shot the missiles while Nebula launched a V.I.S.S.I.L.E. to locate the Drophyd, spotting him on the side of a building and attacking him.

The Drophyd dropped and charged at the group, who jumped as it swung its tail. Bender grabbed the tail and hauled him over to bend the lizard forward, but the Drophyd began rolling around and running them over. Bender jumped it when it rolled at him, stretched his arms to catch the rolling lizard, then flung him like a slingshot into the pile of burning boulders, breaking his glass helmet and turning him to a lizard-fishstick. With that, they noticed some Space Lights leading up the beams holding up some of the buildings, so Nebula formed Space Blocks for them to jump their way up.

Once they were at the buildings' level, they swung a G.R.A.P.P.L.U.H. target to reach another set of buildings. They then jump up the buildings to reach a platform that had a huge drill, which sat atop a slope aimed down at the clogged tunnel. Nebula activated the drill using Space Lightning, making it shoot down and begin drilling the burning rubble. They entered the new tunnel, following the drill before it crashed into a wall at a turning point. They followed the next path on their right, where Sun Toadpolis popped out of holes in the road, spitting fireballs at them. They took more hits from the S.H.O.O.T.E.R. than regular Toadpolis, but Nebula took them out eventually.

They dropped off on a safe foothold and found a Crimson Wisp wearing Fermion Spray, so they couldn't really tell it was crimson. "EAGLE!" Nebula absorbed the power and began soaring through the tunnels with her friends riding. They bypassed the grabable ledges and flew down a new tunnel, once again avoiding Hotheads that swooped at them. They flew into a wide-open room and swerved around huge geysers of lava before flying into a thin, tight tunnel where they barely had room to move up or down. They had to move up or down to avoid Hothands trying to grab them from the walls, but once they were through, they landed safely at the start of another pathway.

They found a 20x40 stand and approached it to buy a new weapon. "Hoooowee, it's HOT in here. Not that I can feel it, from the coolness of my store! Better to send in drones or machines than put on that nasty spray and risk it! And now that I think about it, how do all these houses and devices stay in here and not melt? Why don't other people buy Solaran materials. Ah well, taday's special is the T.O.P.M.A.N., 6,000 Bolts for the dizzy experience!"

Nebula paid the money and acquired the weapon that fires spinning tops.

Galactic Kids Next Door: T.O.P.M.A.N.

Twirling Ocularly Pummels Monsters And Nauseates

"I'd offer sunscreen too, but it'd probably evaporate, eeeh heh HA heh!"

They proceeded down the new tunnel as Enforcers stomped down, already shooting lasers. Nebula blasted the mini tops with strings, which wrapped around the Enforcers' legs and caused them to topple. Bender grabbed one of the fallen ones by its legs and used it to bat all the others into pools of lava, then tossed the one he used as a weapon. The tunnel's path ended, and before them sat a group of tall platforms with thin, screw-like stems. Nebula shot tops to spin around those stems and screw the platforms downward, allowing them to jump across them. They jumped to a metal walkway along the left wall, walking out to a vast open room with a lake of lava.

They stayed along the walkway as more Hothands tried to grab them, but they were easy to avoid. They saw a bridge that was standing straight up vertically across some lava, but Nebula shot the G.R.A.P.P.L.U.H. to its top and pulled it down, letting them cross. The next bridge was dangling downward, and it was too heavy for Nebula to pull up with the G.R.A.P.P.L.U.H.. Instead, she shot a top down and let it wrap the bridge's handle to float and pull it up. They crossed and entered the next cave, finding a small room with another single Drophyd Trooper. This one transformed into a lion, thanks to the Lion-Lion Fruit.

The lion tackled Bender and scratched the robot before hopping back, dodging a grenade from Nebula. The Zathurian leader shot another top that attracted the lion's attention, and when he caught it under his paws, Bender leapt onto his back, grabbed his back legs, and bent them backwards. Lot-a backs. The Drophyd shook Bender off of him and tackled Nebula, binding her arms as he snarled in her face. Vweeb jumped onto the lion's nose, then jumped above the head as the lion tried to grab him. The Kateenian ran along the ground as the giant cat chased, but in his distraction, Nebula shot a top that wrapped the lion's legs and made him fall. Bender proceeded to grab him by the tail and swing him around before slamming his glass against the wall. The lion-fish became a lion-fishstick.

A door opened, revealing a tunnel with a minecart and track. They hopped in and began the classic ride, for rolling through a thin, straight tunnel. They exited to a more open area as the track shot them straight down for several meters, until the track suddenly sloped up and made snaky turns around the scaffolds of more houses. From ahead, flaming minecarts sped at them, so they made quick, hasty jumps since they came by surprise from around the buildings. They then had to jump gaps in the road, common minecart hazard, and also had to bounce Drophyds' heads to cross certain gaps.

They rode into another tunnel as the tracks became vertical and went along the wall. There were two tracks on each parallel side. Different parts of the tracks had holes with fire geysers, so Bender had to reach to a parallel track and pull them over to avoid. They ended up on the top-left track as it became flat and rolled them through another snaky cave. The tracks eventually came to an end and dropped them on the floor of a huge round room, with the ground surrounded by lava, and a single house on a scaffold seated a few feet away. (End song.)

"Let's see, big round room surrounded by a death pit, nowhere else to progress in the level… I think we're in the boss room." Vweeb knew.

"Why change things now. Only person here to ask is that guy." Nebula pointed to a lone Solaran man pounding the ground with a pickaxe. They hurried over, seeing the man sweat as he tirelessly smashed through the ground. Well, he would sweat if he's not made of fire. "Um… hello. Is this your digging spot?" she randomly asked.

"Don't see anyone else diggin' here, do ya?" He continued digging. "Names Ardor. It means 'heat.' Obviously a race of fire people have those names. What're a couple of liquid-bodies doin' down here, anyway?"

"Take a good look, I'm a robot, not a fleshy." Bender glared.

"I said 'liquid,' which you carry that stuff, too. Now leave me alone. It took 40 years to reach this point, making a minecart track back and setting up a house, I know it's here somewhere."

"What's here?" Neb asked.

"The Gem of the Stars. A story that's been in my family for too many generations to count. My great, great, great, great… ehhh etc. grandfather, was entrusted an ancient and mystical gem, and buried it in the deepest part of the mines. So much time passed, everyone thought it was a legend. But I knew… it was real. And I was going to find it." More digging. "Sure, I could've taken the same job as other Solarans. Digging up luscious spark rocks and cereal that doesn't disintegrate. But I…I was just bound to find this gem."

"Buddy… I know as well as you do how much I wanna find a gem." Bender replied. "But how d'you know where it is, or if it's even real?"

"A Sun Miner's main job is to dig up materials to help our race survive… but I saw it much more than that. The underground is just full of valuables… full of treasures. Full of… adventure. You never know what you'll find… the most amazing thing in the universe… can lie just under our noses."

The three smiled at his dedication. There was so much determination plastered on his flaming face. They stood for several moments and watched him dig… and after a few more jabs, a purple light began to shine from the ground. "Hey! You found something!" Nebula said as they gaped.

"Quick, let me try it!" Bender yelled, quickly taking the pickaxe and jabbing the ground, revealing the purple glowing gem they knew so well.

"The Gem of Space!" the man exclaimed.

"I found it! Bender is great!" Bender cheered.

"And it's all mine."

The gem was suddenly grabbed by a grappler and pulled to a Drophyd commander flying with rocket shoes. "I'm the leader of the squadron ordered to capture you in Solar Mines. I'm Commander Fisher Phoenix."

"That's a stupid name!" Vweeb yelled.

"Silence! The three of you have interfered long enough with Tachyon's plans. But using the Devil Fruits provided to us by Caesar Clown, we will be the end of you."

"So Caesar IS working for you." Nebula deduced.

"Yes, though uncooperatively. Regardless, this gem and all the others you collected are coming with us."

"We'll see who does the stealin', after I break yo' dome!" Bender declared as he reached to grab the Drophyd. "Heee-EYEH!" He slammed his glass dome on the ground and smashed it. "And another fried fishstick for- 'ey, why aren't you a fried fishstick?"

Indeed, the Drophyd's fishy head bounced on the ground, not roasting at all. "Now to demonstrate Caesar's greatest of all Devil Fruit types: Mythical Zoan!" And before their eyes, the fish burst into flames and morphed into a big, light-blue, beautiful phoenix, its screech echoing to the heavens (which the sun was essentially IN Heaven). It charged fire in its mouth as it screeched, blasting a blue flame at Ardor and knocking him out. The Fisher Phoenix took the fragment in its talons and tossed it into his mouth. "Bird-Bird Fruit, Model Phoenix… A mystic bird, immortal to the ages, and the scorching suns. If I can't scorch you, the sun will, once the Fermion Spray is melted off your body. Know the consequences… those who defy Tachyon… and THOSE, who mock my NAME."

"Which is STILL stupid!" Vweeb remarked.

"Uuuugh…" (Play the Night Boss Theme from Sonic Unleashed.)

Boss fight: Fisher Phoenix

The werephoenix Drophyd flapped its wings and shot fireballs, the trio dodging as Nebula shot it with her S.H.O.O.T.E.R.. The shots proved futile as the phoenix swooped down and knocked Nebula over. It tried to swoop down again, but Bender tossed a beer bottle at its head and exploded on him, making him stop. "Wait a second! Beer is flammable!" Bender realized.

"How come it didn't explode before this point? ?" Nebula questioned.

Bender tossed more beers and exploded them on the phoenix, making it fall to the floor. Nebula proceeded to pummel it with the S.P.O.U.T., the gushes of water dousing the flames to expose the phoenix's feathers. Bender began to deal punches on its head while Nebula tossed grenades at the body. The phoenix recovered and attempted to snap Bender, but the robot jumped overhead, grabbed its head, and bent its stretchy neck backward, jabbing his beak into the back of the neck.

The phoenix shook him off and took to the air again, lighting on fire. It began to flap its wings again and launch flaming shockwaves that homed in on them, but they were able to duck them and let them fly over. They dodged aside when the phoenix swooped across the ground, and when he came back again, Nebula shot S.P.O.U.T. geysers in his path to douse his flames, but he still didn't come down. Nebula used the T.O.P.M.A.N. to shoot and wrap a top string around its beak, then one around its tail, the two tops hauling both ends down until he was grounded.

After a few more beatings, Bender caught his legs around the phoenix's neck and pulled it back, then stretched to grab the wings and pull them over to tie them together. The phoenix shook around and got its head free, but Nebula quickly fired a V.I.S.S.I.L.E. down its throat and exploded his stomach. Fisher Phoenix pulled his wings free and shot straight for the ceiling, slamming the ceiling as it cracked and dropped four mechanical devices around the field. The phoenix held his wings out straight and launched a series of feather bullets, pelting Bender and Nebula and pushing them back.

They were pushed beside one of the devices, which Nebula activated using Space Lightning. She dodged the swooping phoenix and activated a next-door generator, and the two connected via electric beams. She ran to the parallel one and activated it, forming an electric triangle. When the phoenix swooped into the triangle, he took a painful shock. He shook back to his senses in time and flew around to destroy two of the generators. He launched another storm of feather bullets, which Nebula ran and avoided to activate one of the remaining generators. She dodged his swoop again to activate the next-door machine, but it wasn't enough for a shock-trap.

As Bender chucked a few more beer bottles at the phoenix, Nebula noticed the antenna on his head. Having a crazy idea, she ran up and induced him with Space Lightning, making him fizzle as the other two devices connected with his antenna and made a triangle. When Fisher Phoenix swooped down, he took the shock and was stunned on the ground. Nebula once again shot him with S.P.O.U.T. geysers, and the water made the shock even more painful. Before they could begin attacking, the phoenix instantly recovered and grabbed Nebula in its talons, flying to the air as it screeched loudly in her face.

With its mouth wide open, Vweeb jumped inside and shot his Stun ray down his throat, finally silencing the screaming. Vweeb climbed onto his beak and shot his eyes, forcing him to drop Nebula. With that, the Zathurian shocked Bender and electrified his antenna. With a confident look, the robot stretched up, grabbed the bird's wings, and pulled himself straight up, jabbing the electric antenna through its stomach and forcing him against the ceiling. The phoenix still hovered as Bender dropped down, but the ceiling broke open completely and dropped a huge, heavy drill onto its head, the same drill Nebula activated earlier.

The phoenix shrunk back into a regular puny Drophyd, still surviving the heat since he was still part-phoenix. He puked out the Dimensional Fragment before losing consciousness. (End song.)

Nebula walked over to claim the fragment in victory. "Ohhhh…" Ardor finally awakened, rubbing his fiery forehead. "What happened? Where'd the fish thing go?"

"Right here." Nebula gestured to the fallen fish-head.

"Hmmm…" Ardor kicked him in the lava. "Sun is no place for fish."

"Probably won't do much, since he's a phoenix."

"No matter… you got the gem back, it looks like. I don't know what you kids did… but you got sizzle."

"No kiddin'- bzzzrt." Bender sparked.

"But why did you three decide to help me? And why are you down here?"

"The truth is, we might know the end to your family story." Nebula explained. "We think your ancestors were entrusted the gem by the Zathurians, and they wanted it guarded until a Zathurian needed it."

"So that's what you are… I thought the shadings on your eye looked different. Anyway… you kids can have it. All I wanted to know is if it existed. Now it's time to start looking for other treasures. I have plenty of time. We Solarans can live for nearly 10,000 years…"

"Wow. 10,000 years digging in a sun." Bender said. "Sounds like a hard days' livin'. You guys should be folksingers!"

"Glad we could help out," Neb began as Bender stashed the gem away, "but we need to get out of here before this spray dissolves. Think you can help us?"

"Be glad ta! I see you stumbled upon my drill that I lost. I built in rocket engines that can only be activated by a Solaran. Just hop in and we'll drill you out in minutes!"

The group squeezed in the drill as Ardor turned on its rockets and flew straight up, drilling through all the scorching rock and lava. As soon as they were out, they made their way back to the Shooting Star, and Team Nebula was soon flying away from the sun. "Happy digging!" Nebula called to Ardor as they waved good-bye.

"Send me a cut o' the gold!" Bender yelled.

"You know, for walking around in a sun, that wasn't so bad!" Vweeb said.

"Yeah, but I can't wait to get this spray off." Nebula replied. "I wonder if Pollyx has any bathtubs in that library."

"Me too. Wouldn't mind stopping for a meal, either."

"If you want, I can whip up some lunch!" Bender offered. "Cooking was my third hobby!"

"I'm not really feeling for robot food." Vweeb said.

"Come on, our food's just as good for you meatbellies."

"Well, it's probably better than anything Solarans have to offer." Nebula remarked.