Operation: NECSUS, Part 20: The Zathurians’ Greatest Invention  

Chapter 20: The Zathurians' Greatest Invention

Aloha Oe

The team began to sail away from St. Percy's Asteroid as Nebula was quick to interrogate MaKayla. "You were a member of Sector IC, weren't you?" she asked. "But what are you doing here?"

"Also, why're you in your PJs?" Chris asked.

"Because I like the look, all right?!" she shouted. "Anyway, George and I had to go on a trip with our parents after the graduation ceremony, and they took us to something called the Great Clock, which is-"

"Yeah-yeah-yeah, we heard about it already." Nebula stopped her.

"I know you did. Then every night after we went to sleep, Clockwork woke me up to go on little time-traveling adventures to aid your quest, which is why I have my father's staff."

It suddenly became clear to Nebula. "Aid my quest? Wait, so… all those weird things that've been happening-"

"I was the one who opened that compartment in Sector V's cell." MaKayla confirmed. "I was the one who fixed Sector W7's R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. and left them that note to have Mocha help you. I retrieved the Piece of Resistance from Lord Business and hid it on your ship, I stole the Escape Fruit from Caesar and gave it to Dandy, and I am also responsible for the lack of troops in Axiom City." She smirked.

"You mean where we got that spray?" Chris asked. "What did you do there?"

"That's a secret." She smiled innocently. (She actually snuck the planet's coordinates in the book that Sector DR found.) "And if you're wondering why I'm here now, it's because I'm on another mission. To give you this." She gave Nebula the Centicubit Washer.

"Hey! It's a 3 and ¾ Hexagonal Centicu-" Vweeb tried to say.

"Yeah yeah yeah TONGUE twister." Nebula stopped. "But this is the last part Business needed to fix the Dimensionator! Except for the last fragment."

"Feel free to repay me however." Kayla smiled.

"I'll make Vweeb give you a footrub later."

"Wow, that'd be great! You have no idea where I've been walking."

"Heeey!" Vweeb protested.

"But it's great that Pollyx was able to fix Vanellope!" Aurora beamed. "And Dillon was so worried!"

"I don't even remember being broken!" Vanel glitched.

Dillon chuckled lightly, but held his head down in regret. "You'll have to tell them eventually." He looked up, seeing MaKayla staring at him. Her serious, bright blue eyes seemed to peer into his soul.

"…" Dillon wanted to change the topic, "So uh, you said Clockwork sent you?"

"Well, his vision, anyway. You know how spirits are. Or dead spirits. Anyway, it's time we start looking for the last fragment."

"But if you knew all this would happen, you must know where the fragment is!" Nebula reasoned.

"Yeah, but where's the fun in telling you everything!" MaKayla smiled brightly. "Find it yourself! Or wait for a clue to call."

"Incoming transmission from Jerome!" Haylee reported.

"There you go." Kayla said.

Nebula and co. walked over as Jerome's image appeared onscreen. "Hello, Sister. Hope I'm not interrupting something." He smiled.

"No, you're just in time." Neb replied. Kayla grinned and winked at this. "What's up?"

"I found a Zathurian Artifact, with some help." He turned the camera right, revealing-

"Hello."

"NEFTIN PROG?!" The aliens screamed.

"Yeah. Hey, uh, sorry about, you know, wailing on you back on Coruscant."

"We've reached a mutual understanding." Jerome confirmed. "And he showed me a Zathurian Artifact he's hidden."

"But how do you know he's not-" Neb began.

"PLEASE do not start this again, Sis. Anyway, I can't exactly read it, so I'll let you have a go. Here." The alien words appeared onscreen.

"'You, who is descended from the Clan of Space, you probably know how many of what thing you have to seek. The final Dimensional Fragment waits on the long-barren planet of Mechanos. But know it will only be yours, once the evolutionary cycle is complete. Good luck, and beware the ever-impending darkness, you little hero.' Wait… it couldn't mean…"

"It was on THAT planet? ALL ALONG??" Vweeb asked with surprise.

"That's the only logical planet I can think of." Nebula replied. "With the evolutionary cycle… I guess that's where we're going."

"Mind filling us in?" Aurora asked.

"Oh, it's not important. Listen, the rest of you fly to Legola and give the washer to Lord Business. We'll get the last fragment and meet you there to give him the others. Get ready, guys. After the Dimensionator's complete, it'll be time to send away Tachyon."

"Mmm." They nodded seriously.

Nebula, Bender, and Vweeb took off in the Shooting Star and flew to the once-barren planet for the 5th and final time.

Amazonia; Kuja Colosseum

Mocha was dressed in an Amazon uniform as she furiously punched away and swung her feet at charging Amazon warriors. Many of the tall women were lying unconscious, some lying in craters on the ground thanks to Mocha's might. Five more warriors charged, but Mocha charged at the center one and sent her away with a head-butt, then grabbed two's spears when they tried to stab and spun around to knock away other warriors with them. The final warrior was very chubby, but she charged at Mocha with full force. Mocha did the same, and both forces were equal as they shoved against the other, but the taller Amazon adult was slowly overpowering. Mocha stood firmly on her feet and pushed with her greatest strength, and in 5 more seconds, Sector W7 watched as the chubby Amazon went smashing against the outer ring.

"YYYYEEEEAAH!" Mocha raised her arms in victory. "I am the strongest child in the WORLLLLLD!"

"YAAAAH! WAY TO GO, MOCHAAA!" Chimney screamed.

"Gyom-gyoooom!" Gonbe was purely amazed.

They walked out of the arena and toward the palace as Mocha flexed her arms. "Boy, I feel a million times stronger!" She smiled ecstatically. "Next I'm gonna learn Haki, then I can kick ANYONE'S butt!"

"Just how strong are you exactly?" Apis grinned.

"REALLY strong!" Mocha beamed.

"Nnnn! That's not good enough! We need an example!" Chimney stated.

"Gyom, gyom!"

"Okay… let's try: …" When they arrived at the palace, Mocha quickly approached the fixed R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N.. She bent down, stuck her arms under the middle car, and tried to lift. "HURR! Hurrrr… Hnnnnn!" Her arms trembled as she gritted her teeth tight, and huge globs of sweat could clearly be seen dropping down the giant's skin.

"Be careful, Mocha!" Apis said with worry. "Don't sprain yourself!"

"Heeeeeeeehhhh!" Mocha refused to give up, and mustered an even greater amount of strength. Her friends had no words as the part of the train rose from its perch, and Mocha held it above her head.

"YAAAAAAAAHHHH!" They screamed and cheered as loud as they could (except April).

"Nnnnn!" Her arms shook even more as she grunted. "Told you I could do it!!" With that, she slammed it back on the ground, beginning to catch her breath.

"Boy, Mocha. You can take out the whole KND army with that much strength." Apis said with admiration. "You might be better off joining the Amazonians. I mean, your size and everything…"

"Thanks, but my place is on Earth!" she stated. "I may be a giant monster, but I'm a human just like the rest of you! …Well, almost the rest of you."

"Yaaaah! You BETTER stay with us, Mochan!" Chimney yelled. "As Leader of Sector W7, I refuse to let you be with people you fit in with!" ("Gyom, gyom!")

"Don't worry, Chimney!" she grinned. "I'll always stay where I stand out! But I have to admit, I really like this outfit! It's a little loose, but it's something I can get used to!"

"So bring it with you!" Aisa told her. "You look like a real warrior! Besides, I always support the barefoot look." She winked.

"I know you do." Mocha chuckled. "Boy, all that fighting made me hungry. Let's go eat!"

"Yeah! Food! FOOD!" Chimney cheered. ("Gyom-gyooom!")

"You guys go ahead." April told them. "I wanna look for stuff to draw."

"O-kay." Chimney said as the others ran ahead. "But don't expect me to save you dessert!" She followed after them.

April decided to walk into a shrub-filled area to look for anything of interest. "Ohhh! Cod-snot it." She stopped and faced ahead, hearing a strange voice. She stepped through more shrubs, seeing a Terachnoid kid with very long, spider-like legs fixing a broken ship. "If only I could phone in for help, but so many of those monsters are roaming around, I can't re-acquire the parts to fix my computer."

"Hello there."

"GYAEEEE, eek-GAAAAH!" The boy screamed and panicked at April's emotionless voice. "Oh, a human! I thought you were Amazonian. Or perhaps a smaller variety of the sort."

"Who are you?"

"Eh, I'm Sollyx, Numbuh IQ 500 of the Terachnos KND. A few weeks ago I flew over this planet to do some studying, but my ship malfunctioned and I ended up crashing. The parts scattered all across the surface, but I've been too afraid to go out with all the Amazons roaming around. It's miraculous I've been able to hide for this long, but I need to get back to my planet quickly! My father and my friends must be worried sick."

"My friends and I have a ship. We could take you back."

"EEK, ee-geh, REALLY?" He looked very excited. "That'd be GRACIOUS of you! My Gmail friends probably left me SO many messages, I'm very late in answering them! But can we get past the Amazonians?"

"We'll just tell them you're our slave. And you can give us backrubs."

"Ehh, I'd rather not, my arms don't have the potency."

"Okay. We'll just let you die."

"EEK!, eck-no! Okay I'll try my best, I promise."

"I was only joking."

"…Oh… I really can't tell with that face."

"…" April's emotionless, doll-like face remained unchanged. "Let's go, then." She began the walk back as Sollyx skittered after on his spider legs.

Approaching Mechanos' atmosphere

"So wait, if the planet started from nothing and went to dinosaurs, then cavemen, and then modern society, then…?" Vweeb recapped.

"That means they're more evolved than even we are by now." Nebula concluded. "And for all we know, they have technologies and giant robots greater than we can imagine. This is the last fragment, so we're gonna be in for the battle of our lives. I hope you guys are ready…"

"Pssh, I'm WAY ready! You're the one I'm worried about." Vweeb smirked.

"Hm-hm." Neb smirked, too. "For the sake of my organization, I'm ready to shoot anybody to smithereens. And no matter how evolved these things are, in the end they're nothin'…"

Finally, the Shooting Star took land on the planet's barren surface. They climbed out and cautiously walked through a very thick fog. There was nothing. No metal trees, no tiny robot ants… not the slightest sound besides their footsteps echoing in the fog. The planet was more dead than when they arrived the first time. Then… there was the bang of the gavel.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Has the jury reached a verdict?"

"No. We have not." They looked up and flinched with utter shock. Hovering in the air was a swarm of bubbles with little energy lights inside them. "For we have evolved to a higher state of consciousness. We are beyond the state of empty, metal husks, and have reached a level beyond that of Logia. We are… Purions."

"Purions?" Nebula spoke quietly.

"Yes. For without our physical bodies, we are finally pure. In the grand scheme, all physical beings are but yokels. And this universe, has steadily lost our interest. All the wars that happen, all the battles fought, all the losses… they are mere, petty squabbles."

And before the three's eyes, the Dimensional Fragment floated out from the fog. "The Dimensional Fragment is yours." They let it drop and bounce on the ground. "Take it. And get the hell out."

Nebula approached it confusedly and picked the gem up. "Um… thank you. …What'll you do now?"

"We believe we will head to a new, developing universe… and conquer it. In the future, may you hear the name Purions again, and let your mortal nerves crawl. ..." And in a single flash, they were gone, never to be seen again.

"…That… could not have been any easier." Nebula said.

"Let's go back to Lord Business!" Vweeb perked before they ran back to the ship.

Octan Tower; Business's Lab

Team Nebula (including Makava and MaKayla in tow) and Sector V were gathered in a small audience chamber as Business was working on a project behind curtains on the stage, and drill sounds and blowtorches could be heard. Eventually they stopped as Lord Business walked out. "Boy, sorry I couldn't get that done sooner, but I'm ALL THUMBS! Heheh!" He held up his grabber-hands. "Ahem… ladies and gentlemen: the unveiling, of the greatest invention ever made by Zathurians or Legoans! I give you… the Dimensionator!" The children's eyes widened in wonder as the huge curtains opened. They were expecting a gigantic, highly-detailed machine… but there was only a stool that rested a small, mechanical helmet, with the six fragments inserted into slots around the top.

Business grinned as he walked over and held it up. "Whaddya think?"

"…A hat?" Nebula questioned. "The Zathurians' most prized and remarkable invention that defeated the Cragmites was a hat?"

"Now just because an invention is remarkable, it doesn't have to be 10,000 feet tall!" Business said. "Go on, try it out!" He tossed it to Nebula.

Nebula held the invention in both hands and stared with the greatest wonder. The device she sought since the start of this quest… the item that could warp her across the greatest vastness of space… even the others gathered around her anxiously, wanting to see it in action. Oh well… can't keep 'em waiting, she thought. She placed it on her head and announced, "Dimensionator: find… the Avatar Realms! …WHOA!" The small helmet puffed like a balloon, unveiling several antennas, a punching glove that hit Mason, and a little Mario doll. It launched an energy blast and formed a portal a few feet away.

"Ow!" Lin Beifong fell out, recovering to see the familiar faces. "Oh. Hey, guys."

"Hey, Lin." Sector V chorused.

"How's Cheren doing?"

"Planning to shrink him later." Neb replied.

"Coolio. Well-p, see you later."

"Later." They chorused. Lin jumped back in the portal as it vanished.

Nebula pulled the helmet off and stared at it again. "This is… incredible. Your ordinary traveler takes so much energy… but this thing can warp you to the other side of the plain in seconds."

"Iiii… wouldn't push it." Business spoke simply. "I'm not sure how the original version was like, but this can only warp to dimensions that are relatively close in the plain. To go any further would need huge amounts of Space Chi channeled into it."

"Is that why Vendra took Nebula and Dimentia's powers?" Aurora asked.

"Hmmmm…" Nebula stared in thought.

The group gathered on the outside balcony and casually approached the Aloha. "So what I wanna do is, just walk up to Tachyon, tell the Dimensionator to open Dimension D, and have it suck him inside." Nebula explained. "The universe is saved, he'll be back with his people, then we beat the snot out of Vendra and make her give back our powers."

"You make it sound so easy." Aurora said. "Including Vendra, Tachyon has so many bodyguards, like Mom, Star Wolf…"

"So we'll just kick all their butts! Old-school style!" Dillon fist-palmed.

"I'm expecting it to be a challenge." Nebula replied. "But no matter what happens, we can't let Vendra get the Dimensionator and awaken the King of Space."

"I actually have a theory what this 'King of Space' is." Chris said.

"You do?" Aurora asked.

"In my dad's Galaxia story, he said that Zathura was a living creature that Dimentia wanted to use to destroy the universe."

"Uh-huh?" Nebula replied, recalling this as well.

"Well, what if the King of Space is Zathura? The consciousness that overtook it?"

"That… would be incredible." Nebula agreed. "But it still doesn't tell us what kind of creature it is. Black holes don't just develop a consciousness and wanna destroy the universe."

"Well, maybe it's a rogue god. Like… maybe it was an apprentice to Palkia, like Clockwork was to Dialga. He just went evil one day and, wanted to destroy everything."

"Or it could be just another mysterious being, like Majora." Aurora figured.

"I bet MaKayla could probably tell us." Vweeb noted, sparing a look at the timebender.

"Well whatever it is, I'd like to avoid a fight with it, but we probably may have to." Nebula assumed. "For now, our main priority is banishing away Tachyon and saving GKND. So let's fly to Coruscant and get to it!"

"Over my missing HAND, Lassie!" They looked up when Captain Slag and his pirates revealed their selves from above the ship.

"Slag!" Neb exclaimed.

"I be quite tired of waitin' for me interdimensional pen pal to reply." Slag decided. "So Oi'm takin' the Dimensionator and askin' him what's up, face to face!"

"And afterwards, we might use it for a handy bit of break-ins and gettin' away easy (hiccup)." Rusty Pete noted.

"So hand it over easy if you don't wanna get messy."

"Messy with WHAT, huh??" Vweeb shot back.

"Messy with yer skinny friend's blood here." They turned around and gasped as Sprocket held MaKayla upside-down by her feet, threatening to cut her neck with a blade. "I'd hate to see a pretty body like THAT go to waste."

"MaKayla, DO something!" Aurora yelled.

"Let what must be, be." She stated simply. "But please hurry, 'cause my gown keeps falling down."

Slag dropped to the ground behind Nebula and quickly swiped the Dimensionator. "Hey!"

"Much obliged, Lassie!" he retorted as Sprocket chucked Kayla at Nebula. Slag hopped back on his hoverpad and glided back to his flying ship with the other pirates. "Tell the lads to hold the warpspeed, that's become obsolete!"

"Wonderful show, Captain, wonderful show (hiccup)!" praised Pete.

"Uh, guys?" They looked at Haylee, who was sticking out from the Aloha's hatch. "They sorta broke in and smashed our controls. Me and Business can get 'em fixed, but it'll take a while. They glued the Shooting Star to the floor, too."

"Darn it!" Chris yelled. "Now we'll never get after them in time!"

Mason suddenly realized something, looking around. "Um… where's Sheila?"

The kids flinched and searched around frantically. You know, for Sheila Frantic. "NOT AGAIN." They chorused.

Sargasso Space Station

John Fett and Aurorra Bane returned to Sargasso and exhaustedly climbed out of their Wolfens. "Welcome back to the party." Daddy Masterson remarked. "So I guess the mission was a bust."

"Yeah, since YOU weren't there to help us." John stated.

"Sorry. I already had my battle and got my butt kicked."

"Yeah, well Tachyon's planning one last scheme, so now I have to tell the boss what happened." The fox said as he headed upstairs. "Get the weapons loaded, you two. And wake Dandy up, too."

John entered a near-dark room where a shadowed person, who seemed to have a fluffy tail, was seated in the darkness. "So how'd it go." He asked.

"Terrible. Those kids laid waste to us like Flapjack. The show, I mean."

"Didn't I teach you anything?"

"Not enough. The kid who wasted me happened to be an Uno."

The man blew smoke from a cigar. "Well, how d'ya have it. Even after I'm over my squabble with them… they still causing me trouble." He stepped out of the shadows, revealing to be an ancient wolf man with whitish-gray fur and a white beard. "Oh well. 'Guess I can't let this go unpunished. Your father entrusted me with your care. If I don't make the Unos pay, I'll have broken his trust in me."

Leader and Senior Member of Star Wolf, a Mobian wolf

WOLF O'DONNELL

"Anyway, Tachyon wants you to get ready and-"

"I already heard." Wolf stopped him. "Go rest up until then. I won't need much until I'm ready to take off."

"Well… okay." John walked off.

"Hm… feels just like yesterday we were doin' kills for corrupt officials." Wolf said. "Oh well… either way, the bounty hunter's code lives on. Kill for anyone who pays us, and kill anyone who DOESN'T pay. And to see what Uno has managed to produce after all this time… how could I miss this trip."

Approaching Ublik Passage

"What a mangy FOOL that Tachyon be, Rusty Pete!" declared Captain Slag as they were approaching their headquarters, an abandoned space station. "He be wastin' many good men to stop those snotty scallywags. All we had ta do was WAIT for 'em to build the Dimensionator, and snatch it from roight under their noses!" Clutching to the side of their ship, just beneath the window, was the adventurous little sheila known as Sheila. "With this, Ay'll rob all the greatest treasures from every dimension! Ay'll be feared across the galaxy as, the 'Time-Space Pirate'!"

"But 'ang on." Pete said. "The Dimensionator only travels space, not time."

"Too bad, since you won't even have time to USE it!" Sheila declared as she climbed into the window.

"Davy Jarg's rust-bolts!" exclaimed Slag. "It be the mangy reindeer from the lads' crew!"

"Wot the- Reindeer?! Ah'm a raccoon, you drunk dog, not a reindeer! Now give back that fancy hat or I'll pound you across- Ow!" When she punched her left fist to her right palm, she shook the injured, bandaged fist.

"Ho ho! You'll have to do that with one hand tied at yer front, Lassie! Unless those bandages are meant to fool, come at me!"

"Hurrrrr. Ah'll come at you like angry REINDEER!" She dashed at the chubby captain and PUNCHED him across the face with her left fist. "Nnnnnnn!!!" It didn't take long until pain surged through.

"Yer brain has less spark than that fiery 'tude of yours!" Slag said as he lifted her by her shirt using his hook hand. "Mother must've been drunker 'an a hobo at a crack factory, and raised by donkeys that kicked her around 'til her brain was knocked from her body!" Sheila immediately ceased struggling, and rage began building inside. "It's time I hauled ye overboard, Lassie." Slag said as he approached the window. "I hope to be dining on raccoon-deer for supper. Bon tomber!"

The raccoon lass was thrown out of the window, but she hovered using her tail and landed on a thin ledge on the side of the space station. Slag turned to Pete and said, "Drop me below, Rusty Pete. Ay've first got a personal issue to deal with regarding this Dimensionator. Blow that runt to space-dust."

As Sheila carefully sidled along the ledge, she gasped when the flagship sailed down and aimed its cannons. "No one dents the captain's perfectly good chin!" Pete announced. "All guns take aim, and make sure we preserve the corpse (hiccup)!" (Play "The Precipice" from Rayman 2: The Great Escape!)

Stage 23: Ublik Passage

Mission: Get the Dimensionator back from Captain Slag!

Sheila sidled quicker along the ledge as the ship began blasting at her, destroying the parts of the ledge behind her. A cannon shot below her, causing her to fall, but she grabbed the ledge with her right hand and began to grapple across, which was a struggle with one hand to do so. There was a Snapdragon hole ahead of her, below the ledge, but the cannons shot ahead and destroyed it. She continued to grapple across and saw another Snapdragon hole above the ledge. Having an idea, she got close enough, so when the Snapdragon shot down, she grabbed its neck between her feet, so when it retracted, she was hauled back onto the ledge, then sidled across faster. There were a few more Snapdragons, but Sheila punched them with her free fist and didn't slow for a second as the ship kept firing. The ship began to break gaps in the path which Sheila could jump, but a ledge she was on soon collapsed and made her plummet into a vent below.

She slid into a hallway of the station and shook the dust off, but quickly jumped to her feet when the ship rammed through the wall and fired cannons at her again. She dashed and jumped across several boxes, and when the ship blasted barrels of gunpowder and set the path on fire, Sheila had to run around them, but the ship exploded the barrels at the last second before she passed, startling her. She made a turn down a left hall, and the ship stayed in place as it sent pirates on flying turrets. They shot the path ahead of her and turned it to flames at random spots, forcing her to keep an eye out and dodge carefully. She then jumped up a stairway of increasing crates, reaching a thin hallway that the ship furiously bombarded from the outside. The path behind her was speedily blowing to pieces, and she kicked her feet faster as the destruction was catching up. She jumped a few ruined gaps in the road before finally jumping out into a huge, cylindrical shaft.

A squad of pirates slid down from above using ropes, but Sheila easily punched and kicked them away before beginning to climb one of their ropes. Cannons in the walls shot at her and cut the ropes above, so she jumped to alternate ones and kept going. Pirates came down on parachutes and burned the ropes with flamethrowers, making Sheila climb up faster. She reached a thin, fencelike walkway that snaked around and up the room, so Sheila once again began to run up as cannons blasted her. The narrow path was wobbly, but her feet stayed firm as she kept going up, her eyes focused straight ahead. When the path ended, a fence wall led her up higher, and using one hand and both feet to climb was all she needed. Naturally, cannons blasted holes in the fence, but she didn't stop until she reached the doorway above.

She began running along a walkway on the side of a wall as the flagship blasted her from the right, with Rusty Pete dancing on the deck. He was amazed that Sheila could run so fast in those loose flip-flops. He destroyed several parts of the path, but she kept gracefully leaping across, and he detected no tiredness in her legs. She then swung several dangling chains with her hand and legs as Slag called, "By JOVIE, Rusty Pete, it's just one cat! Why do ye need to destroy the whole base to get her?"

"She's bein' a bit tricky, but no worries, Captain! I'm goin' full throttle!"

He blasted mines in the path that exploded once Sheila crossed, and also dropped dancing squids that she had to jump, too. The mines didn't do much as Sheila was too fast, but she was hoisted slightly when the paths behind her blew off. Regardless, she kept running like a pro athlete, like she's seen this before and knew the exact moves to make. It was also weird how their dancing squids looked just like Squidward. Sheila began the dash up a long stairwell, and swung her feet forcefully at any pirates charging down to cut her. Even when the stairway tilted down, she ran up the vertical path and escaped through the next door.

She was in a dark shaft and had to dash straight up a wall, and jumped back and forth between the parallel walls to avoid buzzsaws ahead. Pirates dropped down and tried to cut her, but that still didn't surprise her as she kept dodging. She made it to a straight hall where pirates popped out of compartments and tried to slice her. The next path was on a very high ledge, when the hall narrowed, so she Wall Jumped up and avoided the pirates on the way.

She made it back into an upward shaft where wind blew up, so she spun her tail propeller and hovered straight up. Once again, pirates dropped from above and attempted to cut her, and they were harder to navigate around in this windy shaft. Once she was a quarter of the way up, missiles were launched down, but it took one Light Sphere from her right fist to destroy each of them. The wind eventually stopped flowing halfway up, so she had to bounce up a series of pirates on parachutes. She then simply had to swing a few chains to reach a ladder that led out of the shaft.

She was finally on the upper areas of the station where pirates roamed around like townspeople, and hovercars with pirates passed through. The flagship continued to blast at Sheila as she ran through, shoving all the pirates aside on the way. When she reached a dead end, she had to jump across the hovercars over a chasm, making the pirates angered when she did so. The ship began to settle down when Sheila was making it to a tall, wide circular platform, running up the spiral stairs that led to its top. She was soon at the highest point of the station as the flagship calmly sailed around it. When she made it up top, she saw Captain Slag with the Dimensionator. (End song.)

"Ahhhh, Ay've encountered many a rat in my time, but none as crafty as you, it seems. Well, except Jerry, before he and Tom moved to their new resort. Which they destroyed in their attempts to outwit each other."

"Oi, check your vision sensors, Mate. I'm a raccoon, not any of these other rodents!" Sheila stated.

"Yer all part of the same annoying family as far as I'm concerned." Slag said as he turned to face her. "And no rodent is skittering away with this tasty cheese o' mine. It's gonna make me fabulously wealthy, and all the pen pals I've never met are all within reach! And it's time ONE o' them fine'ly replies to my message!" He stuck the helmet on and yelled, "Dimensionator! Find the TERMINAN Slag!" The invention sparked to life and blasted a portal open a few feet away. Sheila and Slag watched, and Rusty Pete climbed down to see this, too.

In seconds, another Rusty Pete stepped through the portal, holding a mask of Captain Slag. "Is this the new dance room Sprocket was talking about?"

"Holy smokes!" the Hyrule Rusty Pete jumped. "I 'ave a twin!"

"Bejolt my under-hardware!" Termina Pete said. "You look just like me!"

"You must be the Termina Pete! I'm your interdimensional counterpart!"

"For real? So YOU'RE the blokes me captain's been communicatin' with!"

"Yes, and he's a fine 4 months late." Slag stated. "Where is the mangy bloke?"

"Oh, I've got some bad news, Parallel Captain. Your ol' twin's been scrapped where he stood, and 'is soul imprisoned in a mask." He showed them the Slag's Mask that Cheren once used on his grand journey.

"Ahhhh, that's how I wanna go." sighed Hyrule Slag. "Keep me mind and spirit in a wee piece of facewear. Ah well… good restin' to him. What say you, Other Pete, we merge our two crews and create the most formidable of scallywags across the infinite galaxies?"

Termina Pete put on the Slag Mask and said, "Arrrr, that be a right fine idea, Other Me. Our crew will be unstoppable, wakka-wakka!"

"Most EXEMPLARY, Other Me! Let us cross worlds immediately. …Ehh, as soon as I swab the deck with this mangy platypus here." He turned to Sheila.

"Now that's just hurtful, Mate." She frowned. "But any way you have it, Ah'll take insults to me, butCHU ain't warpin' ANYWHERE after insulting my MUM."

"Really, young chipmunk? And what makes ye think a fight here will be any different from back on the ship?"

"Don't ya know anything about Mobians, Mate?" Sheila smirked. "Our real power is in our feet, not our fists. And these pair of sandals have stuck with me for a thousand miles. Ah'll punch you with one fist behind my back, and KICK you for the rest of that term!"

"So be it! Then let us both engage with but a single arm out of commission!" She expected Slag to hide his right, hook hand, but he instead hid his left, normal hand. "And clash like the swashbuckling amputees we are. ENGUARDE, you thieving hedgehog!" (Play Slag's Theme from Ratchet: Tools of Destruction.)

Boss fight: Captain Romulus Slag

The pirate's hook hand became a cup of grog as he guzzled the beverage down and blasted fireballs at Sheila, who began dashing around him quickly until she could get behind. Afterwards, she attempted to run at him, jump, and punch him across the face with her right hand. She bounced back as Slag changed his hook to a sword and swung at Sheila, but she jumped, spun, and landed a series of kicks against him. Of course, the robot's solid metal head was barely fazed, but he was amazed she managed to knock him around just a little. He caught her shirt on his hook and tossed her away, and when she recovered, Sheila ran when Slag jumped and attempted to smash her.

Sheila noticed the thermometer on his belly and rapidly spun her fist as Slag guzzled more grog. Before he could shoot flames, Sheila punched a charged Light Sphere at his thermometer and made his temperature increase. With that, she quickly punched more Light Spheres, but using only her right fist made them weaker than they're supposed to. Regardless, she managed to increase his temperature enough to make steam pop out of gaps in his body, and he was stunned for a while. She took this time to spin her right fist and build up more light energy. When her fist felt good and hot, she ran and punched him forcefully against his thermometer, making a few bolts blow off from the heat.

"Oi, that lass has more punch than Mike Tyson with Chuck Norris's beard!" Hyrule Pete said.

"'ang on. You watch boxing?" Termina Pete asked.

"Goodness no, but the captain 'as it on all the time."

"That goes same for my Slaggy."

"Does your Sprocket like botany?"

"Nothing more could be on his mind!"

"WILL YE just call for backup?!" Slag demanded.

"WILL DO, Captain (hiccup)!" they both chorused.

The flagship dropped a bunch of Swabs and Corsairs, and Sheila was quick to dodge their shots as she ran around them. She kicked a Corsair's gun into the air and caught it before shooting the others, then tossed it at a Swab's head before running again. She ran behind some crates and supplies and picked up some powder kegs with both hands. Her left hand winced a little in pain, but she summoned enough strength to throw the kegs at the Swabs and blow them up. She dodged when Slag suddenly burst through the supplies, and grabbed a powder keg that rolled out. When Slag was preparing a fire blast, Sheila tossed the keg and exploded it on him. Slag shook it off and stepped through the smoke, but Sheila leapt straight at him, turned upside-down, and flipped back while swinging her foot at his face full force.

"Guhhh!" It was expected her toes would hurt upon impact of the metal, and she gripped them tight after landing.

"Arrrr, the center of me face be a few cubit meters out of proportion." said Slag when Sheila made a slight dent. "Ay best be gettin' back into shape. Ay'll put some weights on YOUR bones, too!" Slag whipped out two pairs of long, heavy weights and electrified them as he slammed them on the ground and sent electric shockwaves that Sheila jumped.

"'ey, Oi thought you were only usin' ONE arm!" Sheila stated.

"No, I said I'm using one hand, and I AM using one hand!"

"No, you said 'arm'."

"Oh, well I meant 'hand.' And Ay'll HAND ye a crushing defeat!" He swung the weights faster, but Sheila was quick to dodge.

"Then Ah'll just use your weight against you." Sheila spun her fist around and dodged the pirate's swings as she ran to him and punched his thermometer, jumping overhead as Slag let his left weight slump and bonk his head. He then flipped the weights and held the other sides up, which were magnets, using them to attract nearby metal crates and scraps and repel them at the raccoon. He then attracted the two Petes on each magnet, as the Hyrule Pete said, "I've never felt so close to you, Captain." He repelled the two Petes at Sheila, but she jumped and kicked them both at Slag, bumping and making him flip the weights as the magnets attracted to him, pinning the two Petes to his front. "Okay, NOW I never felt closer to you (hiccup)."

With that, Sheila jumped up and punched two Light Spheres at the weights, making them repel and push the pirates away. The weights also bounced and rolled off the edge as the swabbies recovered. "Arrrrr, alright ye bouncy kangaroo. Ay'll show ye once and for all, yer precious fists o' gold be NO MATCH for Slag's iron belly!"

"Fists o' gold?" Pete repeated. "Hmmmm…" He walked off, feeling curious.

Slag stomped the ground and opened a hatch containing a huge cup of grog and began to guzzle the whole tub down. Sheila glared and began to spin both fists, and even though she ached in her left fist, she spun it anyway. Slag's belly increased more and more while Sheila's arms spun into whipping light blurs. Finally, Slag set the empty jug of grog down, and Sheila's fists brightened the tower. As Slag charged for a massive fire breath, Sheila dashed at him, jumped, and kicked off his face with both feet to bounce high into the air. Slag fell backward from the impact, and Sheila looked down at the clear wide target that was his belly. "EeeeeeeEEEHHHHHH!" With both fists brimming with power, Sheila slammed down and SMASHED Slag's belly like a big, metal balloon. "HAAAAAAHHH!"

The grog-filled pirate exploded into flames, his various parts flying around. Sheila flipped back to her feet as the Dimensionator landed in her right hand, and Slag's head landed in her unbandaged left hand. "Ohhh, POP me cannons!" he cursed. "Ye mangy turtle!"

"Can it, ya rusty soccerball!" Sheila retorted before kicking him away. (End song.)

Slag landed near the edge of the tower as the Hyrule Rusty Pete walked back with a poster. "Captain, I thought the little sheila looked familiar! Look!" He showed him a wanted poster. "She bare the same look as Golden-Fist Marine!"

"Scrub yer eyes, Rusty Pete! This wee lass be a mere runt! The real Golden-Fist Marine be VICIOUS!"

"Well then." They turned back as Sheila approached them with a devious smirk. "I bet Gold-Fist Marine won't be lookin' so bright after she 'ears you've been messing with her daughter."

"Wait… Golden-Fist Marine is… YOUR MOM?!?" Slag screamed with utter shock.

"The very same one that was raised by donkeys who kicked the BRAIN outta her body." She frowned.

"Eh, we were just kidding about that, really. I got that from Rusty Pete, actually."

"Now I don't recall mutterin' a- (hiccup)." Pete said.

"If Mum were here, she would turn you into TEETHbrushes! And nosehair trimmers! And ear-scrubbers! All that disgusting stuff, really. But you're getting off easy. Eeeehhhh-YAH!!" The raccoon lass ran forward and PUNCHED the severed head so hard, he flew far beyond the orange fiery sky of this planetoid.

"…Well, I guess we better go get him, then." Rusty Pete decided before he and his counterpart jumped off the tower.

Hearing roaring engines, Sheila looked up and found the Aloha Oe coming down for a landing. "There you are, Sheila!" Aurora yelled as the team ran out. "What were you doing out here?!"

"Gettin' your silly ol' helmet back, duh." Sheila said as she noted the Dimensionator on the floor a few feet away.

"Where's Slag?" Nebula asked.

"Oh, he's around." They looked around at the many fallen pieces of Slag. "He weren't no stronger than a cup of-" But at that moment, the immense pain finally caught up in Sheila's left fist. "YOOOOOOOWWWWWW!" She rolled around and gripped it in pain.

"Hold still!" Haruka yelled as she went to bandage it again. "Sheesh, you always have to do such reckless things!"

"Well, aside from that… I guess things are all well and good." Nebula figured. "Now we can get back to sending Tachyon to the Cragmites' dimension. Afterwards, I can use it to travel to all sorts of dimensions and start a universe-wide Kids Next Door!" She looked very enthusiastic then.

"I'm afraid I'll have to stop you there." MaKayla stated. "As soon as it's served its purpose, the Dimensionator must be destroyed."

"What? How come?" As they talked, a single barrel appeared to be sneaking up behind Sheila. When she turned around, it immediately sat itself down.

"The power of space is dangerous to control by artificial means. It's already dangerous letting mortals control elements. Overuse of the Dimensionator would create a calamity that could bend and rip the whole universe from the fabric."

"I'm not letting anyone destroy it!" Nebula decided as the mysterious barrel snuck closer, the Dimensionator its target. "With Zathura destroyed, the only thing that links me to my own culture is the Dimensionator. And setting up KNDs in other worlds could create universe-wide peace."

"Isn't spreading rule to other worlds what Tachyon is trying to do?"

"He's trying to spread a rule of evil, my rule is all about PEACE."

"While it's not a crime for various cultures to interact, it's incredibly dangerous if too many dimensions start visiting each other."

"If Time is the opposite of Space, maybe it's a good thing they interact."

"Time is closely linked to Space, so in that sense it's a BAD thing."

"You just have no appreciation for alien cultures."

"QUIT making up silly excuses and just-" But their fighting was cut short when a figure finally jumped out of the moving barrel.

"Your journey is over, kids!" Pollyx declared as he took the Dimensionator. "Leave the rest to me!"

"Pollyx?" Nebula questioned. "What're you doing here?"

"After aiding you kids for so long, it just won't do me well to let you fly to Tachyon on your own! Since I am technically under Mom's employ, I can easily approach them more casual-like! I'll use the Dimensionator to send Tachyon away myself, and the universe will be saved! Ehh, don't worry, I'll give you credit." With that, the stubby scientist was encased in a small rocket, and they watched as it took off to the sky.

"…Well, that's awfully nice of him." Aurora said.

"Something's not right." Nebula said with suspicion. "We have to follow him."

"Way ahead of you." Haylee said as she ran out. "I called Jerome and Neftin, apparently Tachyon is waiting on his home planet, Reepor. He said it's not too far from here."

"Pollyx was using an old-model escape pod, programmed to fly to the closest planet." Neb observed. "Must be where he's heading. Let's go." They all hurried on the ship to take off.

Reepor; Cragmite Ruins

Tachyon stood upon a cliff that overlooked a vast plain of his homeworld. Empty… dead… not a soul's stirred here in eons. It hurt him to think what the Zathurians did… but made him glad, knowing victory was just moments away. Mom approached him from behind with an evil smile. "My crappy assistant actually got the Dimensionator. He's already on a one-way rocket to us. The moment we worked for for 40 years is finally here."

"Yes… ever since you rescued me from Glacia… it's been my destiny to revive the Cragmite race. And as soon as this planet is repopulated, we will finally take revenge against that wretched Zathurian and her friends."

"And let it be swift." stated Agatha Trunchbull as she tugged her whip. "Those rotten kids are looking at TWENTY years worth of detention and SEVERAL unbearable hours in the CHOKY."

"Choke yourself." remarked Wolf O'Donnell as he blew his cigarette. "But just leave the Uno brats to me."

"Remember our end of the deal, too." Vendra glared at Tachyon. "When you're done bringin' the Cragmites back, I need the Dimensionator. Especially if you want your rule to spread farther."

"We'll see depending on my attitude, Dear." Tachyon told her.

"Pardon me, Mother, but, shouldn't the Drophyd Leader be here?" Mom's son, Walt asked.

"We asked him to watch over CAESAR, you TWIT!" she smacked him. "Someone needs to keep that clown in position!"

"Then everything is where it should be." Tachyon smirked. "And soon, the Cragmites will be, too. Be prepared, my accomplices, and count yourselves lucky, as you witness the universe enter a new age: the AGE of the CRAGMITES! MWAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! And then comes the coup de grâce… when I execute the last of the Zathurians! STARTING WITH DIMENTIA! UWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA!"