The Great Candied Adventure, Part 3

Chapter 3: Two-Tons' Treasure

Sunny Day

It's been two hours since the Raccoon Pirates set sail, and Azultown's shore was far out of sight. There were hardly any clouds, and the sea was bright and sunny. Sheila, still seated on the keel, inhaled a big whiff of salty air through her nose, and sighed. "Ahhhhh. Isn't this way better than that dusty ol' treehouse, mates? For the first time since we started going on missions, I feel free."

"Mmmm… The sea does feel nice, though." Aurora sighed, resting her head on the railing. "And the sun's so… warm. I've been doing missions and reports my whole life, I forgot what it means to relax."

"Mm-hm." Haylee agreed. "Hey, wait a minute, shouldn't we have a navigator?"

"Kirie's the navigatuh." Sheila answered. "Same as being a tactician." Haylee looked over and saw Kirie drawing a kiddy picture of their ship sailing on the sea.

"Um… I think I should be the navigator AND carpenter. As a pilot, I have better sense at direction."

"All right, whatevuh."

Artie and Carol sat across from each other at a curtained table as the former spoke with his hat slanted over his eyes. "So, you want to join Sector V, do you. But Sector V asks, what have you got to bring? I mean, can you do anything?"

"Of course!" Carol spoke proudly. The rich girl was also holding a light-green parasol above her head to shield the sun. "I have a fighting style called Cash Combat."

"Cash Combat?"

"Exactly. No one can resist the power of cash, so I use that to my advantage! Watch." She walked to the railing, pulled out a bundle of dollars, and yelled, "Look! Money!" She tossed the bundle into the ocean, and Artie greedily jumped after it, then a giant fish popped up and ate them both. It landed back in the water and stuck its head above the surface before spitting Artie out, then submerging. "See?"

"Well, it's good distraction." Mason observed. "But still feels like a waste of money."

"You know Carol, as the treasurer, you're gonna have to keep track how much you use in battle." Aurora informed.

"Relax, I will. By the time this adventure's done, you'll be so adjusted to me and you won't even remember Whatsherface!"

"Hmph." Dillon walked away.

"Hmm, huffy." Carol glared.

"Well, at any rate," Chris said, standing up. "Hey Captain, mind if I go for a swim?"

"You'd be a wingnut if ya didn't, mate." Sheila said.

"Terrific." Chris approached the cabin and said to Haruka, "Wanna join me, Haru? You look pretty bored."

"Um, no thanks, I… forgot to pack my suit."

"That's okay, I packed it!" Mason beamed.

"YOU TOUCHED MY STUFF?!"

"Well, I'M the SUPPLIER!"

"Uuugh! Well, NOW I don't 'cause I'm afraid of getting BOY germs."

"You and Mase share the same room, what're you afraid of?" Chris asked.

"I don't like salt in my hair, either."

"Please, don't ALL bodies of water have some manner of filth?" Artie asked.

"Well, I…I JUST DON'T WANNA SWIM, OKAY?!"

"Sheesh, coulda just said so." Chris said, continuing inside.

I'll join you, Chris! Kirie signed, following.

"Speaking of navigation, where're we going, anyway?" Aurora asked.

"Wherever the wind takes us, Mate." Sheila said, still facing directly ahead from the keel.

"Heh heh… Well, we have to find the Sugary Wonders eventually, right? We should start finding hints about them ASAP."

"Actually, the wind IS going in the right direction." Haylee replied, studying a world map. "We're sailing directly east from Azultown, Brazil, and on a direct course to the Sugar Deserts of Africa. That's where my mom said rested the Blurpleberry Supreme. It's the first Sugary Wonder she knows off hand."

"Ahhhh, Blurpleberry Supreme." Artie sighed. "A classic tale indeed."

"I much prefer cherry." Chris said, coming out in blue swimtrunks.

"Our mom said that she brought the candy back to Two-Tons' tomb after Numbuh 1 didn't want it." Haylee continued. "And she locked it in a much deeper chamber to keep it safe from thieves."

"So I can assume it won't be easy for US to try and get it?"

"Nah, it probably won't be so bad!" Haylee said surely.

Big Ma'am

Stewie dumped the tiny Rick out of the jar and restored him to normal size. "I say, young man, do your PARENTS know you're shrinking people?!" Rick scolded.

"Yes, my folks know EVERYTHING that's goin' on in my life." Stewie said with sarcasm.

"Please, forgive us for the roughhousin'." said Nickel Joe slyly, flipping the coin he's named after. "We can't help enjoyin' it. Now Rickie, what is it you know about this here recipe?"

"I'm sorry, but I haven't the faintest clue what the recipe is. I've only laid eyes on it for a brief moment, then I never saw it again."

"Then WE up chocolate creek without a marshmallow." Rallo said.

"Ahhhh's okay, Rick." Joe assured. "We was afraid of such, but we's got another method. Lala?" He stepped aside as a brown-haired, early 20s girl, with a pink dress and red eyes, approached them. Her right eye was open, along with a third eye on her forehead, while her left eye was closed.

"Eeeuuh!" Rick flinched in disgust at her third eye.

"Lala here ate the Eye-Eye Fruit. It gives her a third eye, which only opens inside peoples' minds. She can share it with other people to see into their own mind and look at parts of their memory. Even parts they can't remember, but that comes with a limit: depending how cloudy the person's memory is, it could be cloudy to look back on it. So seeing it while you were decommissioned was impossible, but now we got a better shot."

"Only opens when… but her third eye is already open!"

"No, her third eye is her left eye. She was already born with that forehead eye."

"YUUCK!!"

"Show him up close, Lala." The girl approached Rick, grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him close to press her closed, left eye to his right. They both saw a foggy memory of Rick infiltrating the Triplets' mansion, and viewing the recipe with his own eyes, for 1 brief second before he stashed it in his shirt. For that brief second, Lala scanned the blurry recipe.

"It's hard to make out." She said. "But I can see part of it. One of the ingredients is… the Blurpleberry Supreme."

"Ahhhh, that's just dandy." Joe grinned. "Augustus suspected such, that's why we have Fat Jack already on it. I think he's paired up with a couple thugs in the area to search the temple. Just keep tryin' to uncloud the fog, and we'll be after 'em faster than red vanishes from a candycane. We got a whole fleet of candy-crazers, so that's a lot-a lickin'."

Sunny Day

The Raccoon Pirates sailed for three more hours. Sheila lied back on her keel and relaxed in the warmth of the sun. Harry lied on a pool chair, seemingly asleep while music played in his earbuds, and Chris and Kirie were swimming in the ocean, while staying with the ship. Chris still had blue swimshorts while Kirie wore a green one-piece. They swam underwater and viewed the landscape under the sea. So many fishes, sea anemones, and coral… they couldn't believe how much activity went on beneath their noses.

Kirie looked far to their left and spotted a dolphin in the distance. She tapped Chris's shoulder and pointed, Look, Chris, a dolphin! Sign-language came in most handy underwater.

The Uno looked over and spotted the creature. Let's go see it! exclaimed Kirie, swimming ahead. Chris shrugged and swam with her. Before they knew it, they were swimming relatively far. The dolphin looked pretty normal from back there… but when they drew close..

Everyone else on Sunny Day was still relaxing peacefully. Just then, an enormous splash was heard in the distance, and a shadow fell over them when- "Whooooaaaa!" Chris and Kirie came soaring over on the head of a tremendous, white dolphin. They all (except Harry, still asleep) gaped with the utmost surprise, watching the dolphin soar directly over before splashing back in the sea. The dolphin shot back up, flung his riders above, and- "WAAAAHHH!" sent the two flying away with his tail.

"Mmmmm… hm?" Harry woke up finally, removing his earbuds.

The two were thankfully thrown ahead of the ship's direction, splashing in the water just a few miles from a shore. They floated calmly before the Sunny Day came to let them climb up. "You okay?" Haruka asked.

"Yeah." Chris said. "Dunno what THAT dolphin's been eating."

"At least he pointed us in the right direction." Haylee said. "Look." She indicated the nearby shore, and the vast desert beyond it.

Chris and Kirie dressed in their normal clothes as the Sunny Day parked, and the adventurers stepped off on the sandy shore. "Here it is… the Sugar Deserts." Haylee declared. The sands were filled with giant candycanes, lollipops, and chocolate bars, and hints of sugar could already be felt within the sandy winds.

Carol looked over and noticed the group of ships parked further down the shore. "Hey, look! The Big Mom Pirates are here!" She noticed the Jolly Roger.

"They must've known, too." Aurora figured. "Or Augustus, from his mom."

"Heh heh. Then our time has come, cobbers." Sheila smirked and fist-palmed. "So begins our lifelong rivalry with our enemy crew. Let's cross this desert and BEAT the jelly outta these pirates! Let's go!" (Play "Angry Aztec" from Donkey Kong 64.)

Stage 4: Sugar Deserts

Mission: Retrieve the Blurpleberry Supreme before the Big Mom Pirates.

Act 1

Sheila crossed a straight path between sand dunes as Pokeys emerged from the ground, but Sheila threw Light Spheres at their parts as she bypassed the creatures. She trekked up a hill and overlooked a wider valley from the top, hurrying down along a hill of Buzzy Beetles. The Buzzy Beetles tried to spin at her, but she kicked one like a soccerball and caused it to bounce around against all the others, clearing a path down the hill.

Sheila reached the open valley, which was mostly made up of quicksand and little islands. Sheila could easily float to the first island with her helicopter tail, then jumped across two Pokeys to reach the next island. The next one was too far off, but a Pokey emerged on this current one. There was a dehydrated Hydroplant on the platform, which Sheila was able to water with a Purple Flurp. The plant became bouncy and allowed Sheila to bounce up the Pokey's height, allowing the raccoon girl to throw a punch at the Pokey's head towards the next platform. His severed parts flew off and landed in the quicksand, creating a row of bouncy platforms for Sheila to make it across.

At the end of the bouncy platforms, a ladder was available for Sheila to climb onto the foothold. The next foothold was right next to this one, but it was much too tall. However, the platform had a small, weathered stem, so Sheila spun her fist and punched a charged Light Sphere, breaking the stem and causing the whole pillar to fall toward the next island. Sheila ran across this structure, avoiding the Sand Pythons that were on it, and reached the next platform, and from there, was able to jump to the next path across the desert.

She reached a chasm area encased within huge sand dunes, where giant jawbreakers were pushed up from below by sand geysers. Sheila proceeded to jump across the giant balls, which were hard to keep balance on since they spun so much. The jawbreakers fell down fast, so Sheila had to quickly jump the next one when it came, eventually reaching a new path. She continued across another road of giant lollipops and candycanes.

The group reached a wide pool of quicksand. Giant breathmints flowed down from a sandy river on their left, which sank beneath the sand. "Eeeeyuck. Those mints always did have dry taste." Haylee said.

"Yeh, but they 'elp us a-" Sheila flinched, realizing, "Hey, where did you blokes come from??"

"We're honestly just going around these dangerous segments." Aurora said. "Plenty of open desert, after all."

"Well, screw you blokes! I'm taking the fun way across!"

Sheila began jumping the floating breathmints, jumping her way to the small sandfall that led up the river. She jumped up the breathmints when they flowed down the fall, and reached the river, but saw that the mints didn't flow down all the way; they only came above the surface near the sandfall. Sheila jumped to the safe path on the right of the river, where some Leevers came above the ground. They ordinarily weren't that menacing, but a Sombrero Guy – a Shy Guy with a sombrero and guitar, was playing his instrument on a platform in the sand river. His music reached the Leevers' ears(?), making them stronger. The creatures spiraled faster than ever and rammed Sheila from all directions, barely giving her time to punch back.

She jumped and hovered in the air while trying to float over the Leevers, making it to the thin, narrow arch bridge that went across the river, to the parallel path. There, a huge Sand Python emerged from the ground and gnashed its fangs at Sheila, who jumped back. The raccoon girl tried to throw Light Spheres, but the monster easily evaded. The python was able to grab Sheila by the shirt in its fangs, but before it had a chance to eat, "Look! Money!" Carol raised a bundle of dollar bills, and the snake's eyes became dollar signs, dropping Sheila as he panted. She tossed the money into the Sombrero Guy's sombrero, and as the Shy Guy looked confused, he screamed when the python dove down to snack on him.

With that, Sheila was able to get past, grabbing hold of a vine wall and climbing around the river. She got to a foothold leading to an enclosed area, where a sand geyser was pushing another giant jawbreaker up across a short chasm. Sheila jumped and floated to it, but she wasn't able to land on the giant ball. However, another jawbreaker was pushed up from behind her, and as the two were pushed higher, Sheila had to Wall Jump between them. She managed to stay between them as she made it to the top of the gorge, where the vast desert lay in her wake.

There were little obstacles in their path, just a simple, clear journey across the desert. The 11 kids continued their journey to the temple. (Pause song.)

The kids stopped, hearing the cartoon sound-effect of something falling. "What's that?" Haru asked.

At that instant, Fat Jack descended from the heavens and crashed on the ground several feet away. "Aaaahh, not so fast, aaaaahh."

"It's Fat Jack!" Haruka recognized.

"Who are you kids, ahhhhh. You're not Kids Next Door, are you?"

"We ain't Kids Next Door! We're the Raccoon Pirates!" Sheila declared.

"Raccoons, ahhhhh. But you look like little munchkins."

"Hey, you can't be the only pirates on this sea." Aurora stated. "We happen to like candy treasures, too."

"Candy treasures, ahhhhh. I can't let you have these ones. You're not going any farther, ahhhhh. I'm gonna bury you in the eternal sands." The kids watched as Fat Jack leapt high, high, as high as the clouds.

"Whooooaa! Look how high he's going." Sheila stared with wonder.

"He's probably out of the atmosphere!" Haylee stared.

"I think he's coming back." Haruka noticed.

As fast as Fat Jack flew up, he was coming down at equal speed. His chubby body remained perfectly still, and his expression unchanged as the winds brushed by. The overweight pirate shot down like a meteor and SHOOK the ground with tremendous force. The shockwave was so powerful that it created a humongous, sandstorm-sized wave.

"Yo-kay, staring time over." Aurora said. "RUUUUN!" (Play "Dragon Chef's Belly" from Rayman Origins.)

The kids dashed as fast as they could, jumping small cactuses that lay in their wake, while sliding and ducking under the gaps of huge rocks. Pokeys popped up from ahead, but Sheila threw Light Spheres and punched them out of the way. A set of rock platforms, each higher than the last, were ahead, so they had to carefully jump them to get across and keep running. They had to do the same thing again, but there were cacti between the platforms, making them have to jump more carefully. Unfortunately, Artie stepped on a cactus and winced, his eyes widened as the sandstorm claimed him.

Their eyes widened with shock, but they faced forward and kept running. There were obstructions coming up that were unjumpable, so they had to sidestep left and right to avoid them. These were followed by tall bone piles, which Sheila was able to break using her Light Fists. Finally, there was a chasm with several platforms, evenly spaced, with a Spring Shroom on each of them, and a Spring Shroom at the edge of the cliff. The kids simply hopped on the first shroom and let the rest bounce them across, making it to the route on the other side. They stopped and turned back as the sandstorm blew into the chasm. (Resume "Angry Aztec" theme.)

"Eee-ee-ee-ee-ee!" Artie frantically climbed out of the sand and bounced across the Spring Shrooms, plopping beside his friends. "I felt like a cricket in a snowstorm!"

Carol helped the boy up and bashed the back of his head, forcing out the sand from his mouth. "Thanks."

The journey across the barren desert went without trouble after that. Mason, Chris, and some others were sweating from the heat while Sheila continued to lead from the front, showing no signs of exhaust with her adventurous spirit. Only Aurora, Harry, and Kirie didn't seem bothered from the heat, and Carol had an umbrella to shield her. "Why couldn't we fly on the C.O.O.L.-B.U.S. again?" Artie asked.

"Because that's not the adventurous spirit, Mate." Sheila stated. "When it comes to thinkin' like pirates, it's about sailing to exotic lands, and walkin' across miles of dirt, grass, or whatever particular landscape exists on that region."

"Besides, if the 'Kids Next Door' are out trying to stop them, they'll kill Panini and burn Virginia." Aurora reminded. "This is the best loophole we can come up with. But we're not even sure if it's gonna work."

"At least it won't attract much attention." Harry said. "Sometimes, slow and steady works, 'stead of those fancy ships."

"Those are our fancy ships." Artie glared.

The kids made it to the bazaar where Arabian men were making bargains with candy merchants. "I can't believe adults are this into candy." Mason said.

"Why not?" Haylee questioned. "Candy is awesome! And there's so many exotic kinds!"

"THAT'S the adventurer's spirit, Mate." Sheila said approvingly.

They walked up to two men beside a candy-made tank, in which one man was apparently trying to sell it. "Look, you can't get a better deal, jawbreaker cannonballs can break walls of iron, breathmint wheels drive over any surface, and all the licorice to last you for miles."

"Hmmmm… I will trade you two Wonka Deluxes and triple-chocolate Hershey Kisses."

"Pfft. You will have to do better than that."

"Step aside, boys." Carol proclaimed proudly as she approached the man. "You'll be able to buy a hundred little gumdrops, with FRESH American money!" She grinned and presented a bundle of dollars.

"…KILL HER!"

A bunch of the surrounding men raised candy swords, but Chris and Aurora jumped around and pelted all of them with fireballs, knocking them out. "Yeah, don't show that stuff here." Chris stated.

"Oi, LOOK, mates!" Sheila exclaimed as she climbed in the tank. "This baby has EVERYTHING! Oi bet we can wreck some good convenience stores with THIS load!"

The rest of the group climbed in the tank as Haylee said, "At least it'll save us some strength. Let's ride this to the temple."

And for several miles, the team rode the tank across the desert. Other candy-made tanks were coming from ahead, along with Arab soldiers on foot, wielding candy swords. The kids blasted jawbreaker cannonballs to blow the tanks away, but the soldiers started climbing on and striking their tank, and it became hard to keep track of all the enemies. When soldiers climbed on, they were able to spin the tank and knock them off. They drove the tank down a road between rock walls, making less room to maneuver as more soldiers came. They arrived at a huge candy-made wall, with turrets on the top sides that attacked the kids' tank. The team remained their ground and kept firing until the wall was blown down.

They quickly rolled across, their tank smoking as they arrived at a vast chasm, using only a narrow, snaky road to get across. There were teddybear minions; called Tediz, floating on mini helicopters while they shot guns, and more Arab men charging along the road. The tank blasted the Heli-Tediz and ran over the Arabs as it reached the end of the road and shot down another wall, enduring more shots. "Ugh, we can't take anymore hits!" Aurora yelled.

"We're almost there!" Haylee announced with determination, forcing the tank up the following hill.

Once they arrived at the top, Haylee turned the turret backward as the soldiers chased, and blasted a cannonball that gave their tank a boost. The rest of the drive across the desert was peaceful and uninterrupted, and the group was relieved to get a break from walking (even if Sheila had complaints). They finally reached the ancient tomb that Haylee was quick to recognize. "There it is! The Tomb of King Two-Tons-of-Candy! One of the Eight Sugary Wonders of the World."

"Vell, zere is only seven now." Mason joked with a mock German accent. With that, they pulled a lever in the tank and BLASTED the huge stone doors down.

"Heh, we'll blow through the whole temple using this-" Artie said, before Haylee smacked him, "OW!"

"Don't you have ANY value for Candy History??" she yelled. "Precious ruins like these were NEVER meant to be blown down! They're about going in and seeing how people valued candy in the old days!"

"Ah've got a whole new respect for you, 'aylee!" Sheila beamed as she hopped out and landed firmly on the sandy ground. The others climbed down as well, and noticed the Japanese symbol on the entry's sides.

"Chi-blockers." Aurora observed. "But weak ones. We can't use our bending much."

"Orright, mates: let's explore us a PYRAMID!" And the spirited raccoon was the first to march in.

Another Arab man watched from behind a rock, glaring at the kids as he spoke into his walkie-talkie. "Al Sugarh: you've got company." (Play the "Angry Aztec (Underground)" theme from DK 64.)

Act 2: Two-Tons' Temple

The kids stepped down the wide stone steps and approached sealed stone doors. On the right wall, next to a column, was a weaker door, which Sheila was able to bust down with a Light Fist. Inside was a closet-sized room with a pedestal holding a tiny, pink-wrapped candy. Sheila picked up the candy and studied with curiosity. "Wot is it?"

"Hey, I've heard of this!" Haylee perked. "It's a Shrink Sweet! Whoever eats it shrinks down to jellybean size!"

"'Guess we found our shrinking item." Mason said.

Sheila unwrapped and began chewing the tasty sweet. Her face shrunk and scrunched from the sour taste, and before their eyes, her whole body shrunk to jellybean size. "Oi, blimey! I'm all mini! Hey, can I go inside your tummies??"

"NO." They chorused.

The itty-bitty Sheila scampered across the floor and discovered a mousehole opening in a left column. She entered and Wall Jumped up the vertical shaft, reaching a walkway above the columns. She spotted the lever above the door, but her adventurer instincts told her to walk down further left. She got above one of the floors between the stairs and dropped down, finding a tiny opening in the wall. She went in this opening and discovered a golden-wrapped Wonka Bar, which conveniently minimized itself to allow her to take it.

Side Mission unlocked: Find all the Gold Wonka Bars across the world.

With that, the tiny adventurer made her way above the columns again and above the doorway. She spun her fist and punched a charged Light Sphere, flipping the lever and opening the door. With that, she dropped down by her friends as they entered. "Great, but how does she resize?" Mason asked.

"They usually have some Growth Gum nearby." Haylee said, noticing a pedestal behind the opened door with a light-blue bubblegum. She handed it to Sheila, who bit a piece off, began chewing, and soon puffed up back to her normal height. "Mmmm! Minty!" She grinned.

On their right was a vast, bottomless chasm of darkness with several small platforms leading over it, and some larger ones. There were also bats called Swoopers flapping over the chasm, but when Sheila knocked one out with a Light Sphere, another flew in to replace it. The door was sealed on the other side, but on the wall beside it, there was a stone face with a green tongue sticking out. Across the path that they were on was a giant gumball machine, with a big green gum in its slot.

"I've seen one of these before." Haylee explained. "You have to feed the Tongue Ones the same colored gum as their tongue."

"Orright then." With that, Sheila lifted the green gum with both arms, struggling to carry it. She wasn't able to jump, so she had to throw it onto the individual platforms. She missed near the beginning, but the machine dropped another green gum. Sheila proceeded to throw it across the platforms again, this time more cautiously. The Swoopers were flying at her, but she set her gum down and punched them away, quickly tossing the candy across before they could come. She finally made it to the Tongue One and tossed the huge gum inside. The stone face blew the green bubble, and popped it. "Thaaaaank yooooou."

The stone doors opened and allowed the group to enter. They stood at the top of a narrow, snaky stairway with torches alighting the walls. They stepped down the vacant stairwell and reached a room where a camel stood before an empty pool. "Hoo-ooooo. I'm so glad I made it out of Avalar. I can't imagine anything worse than that bear and bird. At least I have more than enough water to last me."

The group stood on a small ledge overlooking the chamber, and on their right was a small walkway leading above the camel's hump. Sheila curiously walked up and looked down at the camel. Without hesitating, she jumped, and PUNCHED down with great force. All the water spewed out of the camel's mouth, and filled the pool one-third of the way. "Noooo. Some kind of raccoon-human? Oh, no… my water. Moooooo."

The kids walked beside the camel and looked down in the pool, noticing a small tunnel on the parallel side, near the top. They jumped down inside and saw the tunnel had a bottomless chasm partway through, with the path continuing across. "Think I can shadowbend across?" Dillon asked.

"Bending's limited, remember?" Aurora asked. "Let's just solve the puzzle, be safe."

They returned to the camel's room and climbed a ladder out of the pool. They saw one corner of the room had a giant faucet aimed at a drain on the floor. The huge pipes spread two different ways, so they followed one of the routes between close walls. They reached a small room with a teeter-totter-like device, attached to one of the pipes that had a glass window. Sheila climbed onto the platform that was lifted and Ground Pounded, forcing the other side up. However, nothing seemed to happen. "Hmmm. Maybe it needs two people."

"Sheila and Chris are the strongest, they should do it." Aurora suggested. Chris hopped onto the other platform and Ground Pounded, flinging Sheila in the air on her side, so she Ground Pounded and flung Chris up. They kept this cycle of rapid Ground Pounds going, and the others saw through the window as water rised in the pipe. They soon had enough water flowing as it poured out the faucet.

The camel – Gobi – perked when he heard the water pouring, running over to embrace its taste. "Ohhhh sweet water. How I LONGED for you. Hoo-oooo." He returned by the pool just as the seesaw device fell apart from all the pressure, and the water stopped flowing. Sheila hurried to the walkway above the camel again and Ground Pounded down, forcing this next batch of water into the pool. "Hooooo… I knew such would happen…"

The kids looked around and saw the alternate pipe was connected to a giant wheel, which looked like a faucet's knob. Sheila ran down the hall where the pipe led, turning a right corner to reach a small room with stairs leading onto the pipe. She easily balanced across the huge pipe and made it atop the knob. The knob had an arrow on it, so Sheila dashed in that direction, causing the knob to turn. She ran faster and faster to make the knob spin, and it eventually caused more water to flow. Gobi joyously ran over to devour the liquid.

Sheila stopped running and became dizzy as the wheel still turned, and it eventually unscrewed itself and made her fall. She shook the dizziness off and stood up, hurrying above Gobi again. With one final Ground Pound, she smashed down and forced this last bit of water into the pool. It finally reached the tunnel, and for some reason, it flowed over the pit instead of down, likely due to old-style game mechanics. "Hoooo. Screw the desert. I'm going someplace with more atmosphere." And the pour camel was out of there. (Pun intended.)

Sheila was first to dive in and swim through, followed by the others. Haruka, however, looked worried. "Ummm, would you help me, Dillon?" she whispered.

"Come on, Mason's not gonna laugh if he knows you can't swim."

"I mocked him too, you know." She glared.

Dillon did so and helped his friend swim across. They all resurfaced in a small room and walked down more stairs. They appeared on a small ledge with a dark chasm on the left. Giant starburst blocks were sliding off from a ledge directly above, and they were close enough to the right wall for Sheila to Wall Jump off of them. She grabbed a vine wall that was below the upper ledge and climbed to the foothold on the left. The top of this ledge was a steep, flat slide where the starbursts slid down. It was too slippery for Sheila to run up, so she had to jump the starbursts as they came down. She reached the top of the slide and stepped down a straight, narrow stairwell.

They reached another hall with a dark chasm, and Swoopers flapping over it. The next door was on a path across from them, but there was no way to cross. They did notice the small opening above one of the Swoopers' caves, and the Shrink Sweet on the pedestal on their right. Sheila walked over and ate the sweet, shrinking to jellybean size. Carol placed a bundle of dollars on the ledge, letting Sheila jump on as a Swooper came down and carried it to its cave. Sheila jumped on the ledge above it, and when the Swooper came back out, Sheila got on its back.

When it resumed its pattern of flying in circles, bypassing another, Sheila jumped to that next one, and repeated this until she got to another opening along the right wall. There, she found a Growth Gum and bit a piece to grow bigger. She then jumped down to the door's ledge and pressed a switch to make a bridge extend across for the others. They entered a vast, wide, round room where the central floor had a chasm around it, and many columns along its edges. They also saw a group of Arab candy soldiers around the floor, so they jumped their way across the platforms leading down to it. The men didn't seem to notice as Sector V- I mean, Raccoon Pirates, reached the last platform and were behind two of them.

"How in the world did the Blurpleberry Supreme end up this deep?" one asked.

"It was the candy-hunting girl who beat Boss Sugarh before, Ms. Lincoln. It took the boss 20 years to finally discover it."

"Why would it take him so long?"

"He didn't think she would hide it in the same temple it came from."

"What does he want with it, anyway?"

"He has already lured the Big Mom Pirates here, and plans to give it to them in exchange for a membership."

"Big Mom Pirates? The ones that burned down Loompa Land?"

"Yes, if you believe the tale. I dunno what the boss has planned with them, but-" They looked as a bundle of dollars landed between them. "Oooooo, American dollars!"

"I'm doing to buy their new designer shoes!" Immediately, Sheila and Chris jumped down and kicked them forward. This drew attention from the other men as they charged to fight them. Chris tried to punch a fireball at them, but only a little flame came out. "Ah, man! Stupid chi-blockers!" He dodged their swords and punched at them normally, shoving them over the edge.

Two more ran at Kirie, but the mute girl easily jumped and kicked off their heads before throwing her poison-injected fans at them, knocking them down. The last soldier clashed his sword with Carol's umbrella, and the rich girl managed to catch him on top of it and spin her parasol around before throwing him over the edge.

There were three different Tongue Ones around the columns with narrow slopes leading up to them through gaps in the columns. There was also a red, green, and blue gumball machine, and a giant handle in the center, which the Gilligan Triplets could push together and turn parts of the columns, creating new paths while closing others. Sheila grabbed a green gumball and hauled it up the current path, but it led to a red Tongue One. Curious, she tossed it in the face's mouth anyway, and he immediately spat it out. "F***** yooooou."

"They just couldn't resist, could they?" Aurora rolled her eyes. Sheila dropped to grab a red gumball, but it turned out the column parts with the gum machines turned away when the parts were moved, so the Gilligans had to switch them around until a red gumball popped out, then find the way back. It became a confusing puzzle that took several minutes to solve, but the different Tongue Ones eventually got their chosen gum. The center hatch with the handle opened up, flinging the Gilligans off since they were still on it. Sheila led the group down a spiraling stairwell beneath it, bringing them to a narrow hallway of coffins.

Licorice Mummies pushed open the coffins and marched toward the kids, but Sheila grabbed one's loose thread and yanked it to make the mummy spin around the hall and bump others, before unraveling. Haylee and Kirie grabbed others' ends and munched away, and Chris used what little fire he could conjure and lit another's end, burning him like a fuse before his licorice turned black, and disintegrated. Behind one of the coffins, Kirie discovered a Gold Wonka Bar and collected it. With that, the group continued through the door at the hall's end and overlooked a vast room where another Arab man stood before a tomb. The team dropped down and kept their guard ready. (End song.)

"Tombs don't get any deeper than this." Haylee said.

"So who's the candy-crazy grave-robber?" Chris asked.

"Hee hee hee… So, I see you have received my invitation. Welcome, Big Mom Crew, to Two-Tons'- GYAAAH!" The chubby man turned and shrieked at the sight of the kids. The man wore a green-and-yellow-striped Egyptian crown with a rectangle slot on its forehead.

"Al Sugarh!" Haylee recognized.

"Who?" Aurora asked.

"He's a candy thief my mom fought one time."

"So, you are related to Miss Abigail, are you?" Sugarh inquired. "I still haven't paid her back for her little disruption in my important business."

"We both know you stole the Blurpleberry Supreme from her and now you're about to take it again!"

"You mean THIS Blurpleberry Supreme?" He presented the glowing blue candy itself. The kids gasped.

"What do you plan to do with it?!" Aurora demanded.

"The Big Mom Pirates are desperately seeking this treasure, and I have used my knowledge of this location to lure them here. I was going to demonstrate its power before them, and ask that they grant me a membership in their crew, but using it to crush a band of snotty kids will suffice either way! Get ready to taste the sourest candy you could ever imagine!" Sugarh slammed the Supreme into the crown's slot, and a storm of candy immediately flew from the tomb, around the room, and engulfed him. The team stared up as the candy colossus grew almost as tall as the ceiling. He became the familiar sugar-coated, candy-corn-teeth monster any fan of candy would know. "Broo ha ha ha ha ha! After 20 years, King Two-Tons-of-Candy has RISEN again! Watch, Miss Abigail, as I take revenge by SQUASHING your children, and their petty KND buddies!"

"Hey, candy codger, get this in your asparagus-flavored brain 'fore ya do so." Sheila told him. "You ain't dealin' with the Kids Next Door: You're about to meet a gruesome fate at the hands of the Raccoon Pirates!" (Play Targitzan's Theme from Banjo-Tooie.)

Boss fight: King Two-Tons-of-Candy

King Two-Tons threw punches by stretching its fists at the 11 kids, but the group separated as Haylee dodged toward its left leg to bite some candy off. Her face winced at the horrid taste, so- "PYEEH!" she spit out, just before King Two-Tons kicked her away.

"Did I not SAY it would be the sourest candy of your life?"

"Sour is still candy, but that tastes like asparagus!" Haylee yelled.

"Exactly! And it will be your demise!" He launched his right fist at Haylee, who shut her eyes, but she was saved when Chris jumped above and smashed the fist with his own flaming fists. "What?! But this temple chi-blocks firebending!"

"Maybe," Chris smirked, "but I use Fire Kung-Fu, too. My dad knew I couldn't always use bending, so he taught it to me."

They noticed a large green gumball appeared from Two-Tons' hand when it fell apart, and some Tongue Ones hanging on the walls a few meters above. While they were wondering what to do about this, Two-Tons jumped and landed with enough force to propel them upward, in which Sheila took this time to hover with her tail and spin her fist as she approached Two-Tons' head. The candy colossus noticed her and slammed her against the wall before reforming his right hand. Two-Tons continued launching his fists, but when Carol tossed dollar bundles at two spots on the ground, he launched both fists to grab them. Sheila and Chris quickly hurried above the fists to Ground Pound and break them off.

Sheila quickly got behind the giant gumball with the green Tongue One faced directly ahead. Sheila spun her fist rapidly, and when Two-Tons jumped and propelled them in the air, Sheila punched the gumball directly to the Tongue One's mouth. "Thaaaaank yooooou." It spat out a Shrink Sweet that Sheila grabbed. Carol distracted the colossus with money while Sheila ate the sweet and shrunk in size. Using her mini size, she climbed the rugged candy body that was Two-Tons and made it up to his head. She found a Growth Gum in the back of his neck and bit a piece off, growing back to normal size.

Two-Tons felt her and furiously shook around, but Sheila was flipped onto the front of his face as she gripped the Supreme and tried to yank it off. He smacked her away and readjusted the glowing candy, before spinning rapidly and throwing a storm of poison candies. When he finally stopped, Artie and Harry grabbed Haylee and threw her at his left leg, in which she stabbed her wrench in the base of the leg in attempt to cut it off. At the same time, Chris jumped at the right leg and punched its base with a fiery fist, and with both legs weakened, Sheila spun a Light Sphere in both hands and fired both at the bases, breaking the legs off.

Two-Tons was forced to crawl around on his arms, but Carol once again lured him away with a trail of dollars. During so, Sheila hopped on his back and performed a Ground Pound, forcing a blue gumball out of his mouth. Two-Tons reformed his legs back and did a jump that bounced the kids upward, in which Sheila punched the blue gum to a blue Tongue One. "Thaaaaank yooooou." He released a Shrink Sweet, along with a swarm of Swoopers. Sheila ate the sweet and shrunk down while Chris dealt a few punches to Two-Tons left leg. He jumped away as Two-Tons leapt at him for a smash-down, but the force caused Tiny Sheila to fling high to the air.

She landed on a Swooper as it flapped around, and she carefully hopped the series of bats until she made it to Two-Tons, still focused on Chris. She got to his neck and bit the Growth Gum, but he immediately felt her expand and grabbed her forcefully. Sheila forced her left arm out as he held her before his face, and she spun her fist to punch a Light Sphere at him. He let go as Sheila jumped to grab the Blurpleberry, but Two-Tons shook her off again.

Two-Tons sucked in some breath and spewed a stream of chewed candy, disgusting them greatly as they were covered. Chris spun around and created a spiral of fire to melt his candy off, and when Two-Tons punched, Chris leapt with a counter-punch and blew his right fist off. "Euuuuhh!" Carol moaned, still covered in the substance. "Why couldn't I've stayed on the nice, clean ship?"

"As a future Kids Next Door, you need to get use to this stuff." Aurora told her.

Sheila spun around to shake her candy off and spun her fist to break Two-Tons' left fist off when he punched. He faced directly down and chased Sheila as he released a waterfall of chewed candy, but the raccoon ran. Sheila dodged around it and Wall Jumped up Two-Tons' legs, punching directly at his crotch and spewing a red gumball from his mouth. "You know, I heard the red gum is actually really spicy." Haylee noticed.

Sheila smirked and carried the red gum away as Two-Tons recovered. Angered, the colossus once again jumped and flung them upwards. Sheila punched the gum straight to his mouth, his candied eyes watering before a stream of burning flames emerged from his lungs. He shook his head furiously, not noticing Sheila climbing up his body. She made it atop the crown and reached down to take the Supreme, but he immediately grabbed and tossed her against the wall. She recovered and kicked off, spinning her fist rapidly as Two-Tons charged. A powerful surge of light flowing through, Sheila SMASHED Two-Tons' face into pieces, and the crown and Blurpleberry came flying off.

"Errrrrrrr…." The sugary colossus fell to pieces, leaving only Al Sugarh's puny form. The thief plummeted to the floor and landed hard. "Ohhhh… now I see why… he died… ohhh…" He was sick to his stomach.

Sheila approached the Blurpleberry Supreme and picked it up, tossing it up and down with a victorious smirk. "And that's why you smelly grown-ups should leave candy to the kids." (End song.)

"All right!" Haylee cheered. "We got the Blurpleberry Supreme!"

"Eee-yup! Shall be a treasured memento of our first adventure as Raccoon Pirates!" Sheila winked.

"Mmmm, it looks so tasty! I want a bite!" Carol beamed.

"Hey, precious candy like this wasn't meant to be eaten!" Haylee argued.

"Then explain our mom's reason for getting it for Mr. Uno." Artie smirked.

"Doesn't count! But now that I think of it, Two-Tons' candy is supposed to taste good to people who share candy. So why couldn't I taste it?"

"It's pretty obvious." Harry spoke. "This candy's gotta be 5,000 years old. Whether it's asparagus flavored or not, it's way past its prime. Heck, even the Sugary Wonders might not taste good anymore."

"But they're still worth collecting." Haylee replied.

"Orright, mates!" Sheila began, wrapping the candy in an orange cloth. "This concludes our very first adventure! Let's back to the ship and sail for NEW land!"

"YEEEAAAH!"

Sunny Day

The Raccoon Pirates made it back to the Sunny Day and readied the ship for sail. As Chris was raising the anchor, he looked up and spotted an incoming ship. "Uh, guys… we got company."

Everyone saw it was a gray ship designed like a coughdrop, captained by none other than Nickel Joe himself. The shifty man sported his usual grin as he spoke, "Parley."

"Alright, guys, let's kick his-" Chris was about to speak, but Sheila held him back.

"He said parley. There'll be no fighting here."

"But he kidnapped Panini." Aurora whispered. "This might be our chance to-"

"The negotiator won't be harmed 'til the parley is complete." Sheila stated seriously. "And even then, only 'til we meet again."

"Siiiigh…"

Joe's ship parked parallel to the Sunny as the man stepped one foot on his railing. "Well, what a fancy lookin' ship youse bunch of squirts be usin'. The only kids I'd expect to use anything of that stature are the Kids Next Door. You wouldn't happen ta be, aaah… interferin' with our business, are ya?"

"We ain't got a lick of bizzo with those blokes." Sheila replied. "We're pirates."

"Pirates, ahh? Pretty young squirts to be sailing the seas. You wouldn't happen ta have any correlation to a young, spicy rabbit called 'Panini,' would ya?"

"Never heard of her." Sheila confirmed.

"Yep," Carol nodded, "so if you killed someone with that name, we wouldn't care ONE- B'OOH." The Gilligans tackled her.

"Hmmmm… Well, this is an unexpected turn of chronology. Fat Jack said he encountered some munchkins in the desert… but just what are you doing here on this here shore?"

Sheila unwrapped and raised the Blurpleberry Supreme high. "The Blurpleberry Supreme…" he observed. "After the Sugary Wonders too, are ya? Awful bit of coincidence."

"Well, we're still kids." Haylee responded. "Our life's goal is to hunt for candy."

"It's understandable, but some candies have way more value than satisfying your taste buds. Surely you would wanna leave that candy in more capable hands?"

"Like yours? As if." Aurora remarked. "We started this crew as a form of rebellion against adults who wanna take our candy. So we're sailing the seas and taking ALL the greatest candies in the world, so you ADULTS can't have them."

Sheila looked at her with approval. "Yeh… but we can't count on those Kids Next Door for squat, they like haulin' all the candy, too. Not ta mention we can't hunt 'em when we want. So that's why, we want all this tasty candy for ourselves! So neither you nor THEY can get it!"

"A truly rambunctious band of pirates." Joe flipped his nickel. "Just what is the name of your pirate crew?"

"We're the Raccoon Pirates." Sheila answered justly.

"Raccoon Pirates… Come ta think of it, you bare striking resemblance to the legendary Golden-Fist Marine. You wouldn't be a new division, would ya?"

"You're looking at the flesh of ol' Golden-Fist 'erself!" Sheila winked. "I'm Sheila the Sunny Fist!"

"Sun-Fist Sheila, ahhhh… Well, this has been a pleasant interaction, Sunny Fist. We'll let you keep the Blurple Supreme for now, but we look forward to encountering you again. Since both of us seek the same treasures, you and us are now enemies."

Nickel Joe and his squad hopped off the boat and crossed the desert. Without another word, the Sunny Day set sail for the open seas. "Ahhh, an adventure well done, mates." Sheila said, flipping the Supreme.

"But we could've taken that Nickel guy now and forced him to tell us their hideout." Aurora said.

"Yeah, we could have… but he wasn't lookin' to fight, and even as pirates, we have to uphold a code. And if we're ever going to beat those blokes, we need ta play like pirates 'til the end…"

KND Moonbase

Cheren returned to his paperwork in a less-than-joyous mood. The Moonbase felt so empty without Panini, and he felt so weak knowing he couldn't do anything. But if Nebula trusted Sector V with her mission, he could certainly trust them with Panini's fate.

He looked up when his door opened, seeing MaKayla King walk in. "Oh, hi, MaKayla. Sector V talked about you in their mission report. Where's your pajamas?" He smirked.

"That was a one-time deal." She glared.

"Heh heh ha ha! Still, though! They said you were pretty badass. And strange."

"It's true." She smiled witfully. "Using Clockwork's essence within the Great Clock, I gained abilities to see through the timeline. They're gone, now. But while they were around, I noticed you seem to be keeping a peculiar secret."

Cheren froze while filling a form, glancing up with concern. "Oh?…"

"I understand your concern, but know that if you keep holding the secret, they will never be prepared in time."

"…So it… happens?"

"As far as I saw… yes. I didn't pick up any of the details. Regardless… you need to tell them at some point. Perhaps when Sector V returns with Panini… you can tell them all."

And on that note, she left. If Cheren wasn't concerned enough, her sudden appearance made him even more uneasy. …But reviewing her words, his previous concern was lifted. When Sector V returns… with Panini.