13. The Place To Be Tomorrow

Outside Uno Home

The neighborhood was quiet and peaceful in this most average of towns. It wasn't so late where people were in bed, as many lights were still on and children were playing. The earth nearly shook when a flaming skeletal train exploded from and screeched to a halt along the street, its blue flames lighting for blocks. Django stepped off with a cool, casual smile while Sector V followed tiredly. "Did we have to stop at Dos Bros' Tacos?" Aurora asked.

"What? They make good tacos." Django replied.

"You can't even taste, dude." Chris said.

"Doesn't mean I can't savor."

"Yes it do-"

"Dude, forget it." Dillon cut off. "What about Midna, is your group gonna save her or what??"

"Not right now, it's late at night, you know how mortals get. So uh, this thing about you being a leaderless Kids Next Door, you guys uh… need a leader then, don't you?" Django smirked.

"Well, you can't be leader, aside from being dead, you're not even an operative." Haruka told him.

"I'm not I'm not, I'm just saying. Nice treehouse, though, we crashing here tonight?"

"You're not, but the rest of us are crashing at our own houses, don't want our parents getting worried." Mason said.

"Who's Django staying with, anyway?" Dillon asked—the others flinched to attention and put their index on their noses. "Since he can't just stay in the treehouse and he…. DAMMIT!"

Sheila's finger was twisted up her nose when she realized. "Oh, I thought you all just decided ta pick your noses."

"Fine, I'll take him to my place." Dillon admitted defeat. "He can help explain to Mom about Midna's situation. See you all tomorrow?"

"SEE YA." So all 10 members disbanded to their own houses, while Dillon and Django boarded the latter's train again to take to Quahog.

"Mom, Dad, we're hooooome." Aurora called once she and Chris entered their house.

"Hi, kids." Rachel greeted in the living room. "Listen, there's somethin' I wanna ask you. Do you… remember anybody like this?"

She showed them a family photo, Nigel, Rachel, Chris, Aurora, and… a brown-haired boy with red glasses. The siblings stared confused. "I… don't remember anybody like that." Aurora said.

"I know. And I also found this." She showed them the note to send backup to Roguetown Station, in case 'Cheren' didn't call.

"Is that his name—was that for you or us?"

"I don't know. But… isn't it kind of weird?"

"It is…" Chris held his forehead. "Until a while ago, I've… actually been feeling kinda woozy. Just like when I fought that Sir Knightly guy. Hmm… I need to lie down."

Their father watched from the kitchen as Chris walked upstairs. Nigel followed him shortly after, finding Chris on his bed with his hand still over his head. "Need any medicine, son?"

"No Dad, I'm alright, just… tired."

Nigel approached and sat beside him. "Tell me again how… the fight with Sir Knightly went?"

"I was whalin' on him, not leaving a dent… then I lost him… and when I was trying to find him, a… boulder hit me."

"And you didn't have any bruises." Nigel recalled.

"No… that's the weird part. Like, I remember so clearly getting hit by a boulder, but I didn't feel any pain, and it doesn't feel like something that… happened. …What's wrong with me, Dad?"

"…" Nigel pat his son's head. "Nothing's wrong, Chris. Just go to sleep if you want to. Everything will be better, soon."

"Yah… okay."

Nigel left his son to himself and proceeded down the hall. He passed by a room labeled 'Cheren's Room' and flinched. He peeked inside. It was Nigel's old room, British flag blanket, under a slanted ceiling, Numbuh Zero's treehouse in the corner. Pictures of that same boy were on the walls, with Panini, Melody, Chris and Aurora, Nebula… he was clearly well-acquainted with all of them, he apparently lived here… so why in the world didn't Nigel remember. …Nigel knew, though… knew the reason… he connected the dots… "You've gone too far this time, King."

Civic City

Team Sandman returned to Rhode Island via the Sandmobile and sat perched atop a building overlooking the pizza restaurant, a giant waving Freddy statue giving the place attention. For the last half hour, Nolan's been going over and memorizing the Yipper's notes. "Read all sorts of nasty rumors about this place online, but I guess they're true. And look, chi-blocked just for our entertainment." He noticed the symbols on the sides. "I wanna get through this place as quick as possible. Let's go down." His friends followed him to the roof of the restaurant. When the Freddy statue seemed to glance at them, they already felt chills down their spine.

On the roof, Nolan ripped open a hatch exposing wires, linking them to his wristwatch. "I'm downloading a wireless link with the camera system. Yipper said he made good use of the cameras, so they'll help me big time. Since it's robots we're dealing with, I won't see 'em with Detective Vision. Meanwhile, you two stay out here and keep rewinding this." He pulled out a CD-like device and hooked it to another cord. "I linked it to the speaker system so you can keep rewinding the music that puts The Puppet to sleep. I'll just need to sneak by the other animatronics to take it out."

"Are you sure you don't want us going in with you?" Crystal asked.

"These aren't the modern guards we're used to dealing with. I've survived worse, so don't worry."

"But isn't this a bit too much trouble for info on Doflamingo?" Yuki asked. "We already know he lives in Dressrosa, can't we just work from there?"

"Maybe, but this restaurant's sounding too dangerous to just let stand. I'll be able to kill two birds by doing something about it. Not gonna sugarcoat this place, though. I'll signal you if I need the music rewound, you probably won't hear it out here. Wish me luck." With no more else to say, Sandman glided to the front and approached the entrance. He entered the code 'It's Me' in the terminal before going in.

Stage 22: Freddy's Pizzeria

Mission: Find out who turned everyone into toys.

Curtained tables with party favors covered the checkered floor of this dark restaurant. The gentle tune of "My Grandfather's Clock" rang throughout the store. Nolan looked at the camera system. Many corridors, a Prize Corner, Game Room, an old office with an oscillating fan. In the far back was a wide circular room with a closed black jack-in-the-box, where The Puppet was asleep. In a room outside of that, Chica, Bonnie, and Freddy were standing still. Any moment, they would start moving.

"HELLO?" Nolan jumped. He didn't even notice the happy child by the waiting line holding balloons. Apparently Balloon Boy was a harmless animatronic, but he was real clingy and got in the way a lot. Nolan threw a boomerang and popped his balloons, so the child went to a closet to collect more. Sandman seized the moment to roll through the main room, going left of the stage where the animatronics would be singing at daytime and into a door. As he entered a hall, he checked the camera of the room with the robots. Bonnie was missing.

The notes said that he usually roamed around the west of the restaurant, where Nolan now lurked. He kept his flashlight ready, peeking down each corridor before making a turn. The music was reaching its end, so he signaled a ring tone to his friends to start it again. From here, he could either head north or enter an alternate hall that also led north, but on the east side. If he chose the former, he would roll by the Pirate Cove where Foxy waited, so he chose the other route. He checked the cameras and saw Chica left the room. She was headed his way, so he dove into another hall that led to the Game Room.

There was a mini merry-go-round and various game machines, but nothing too important. He saw that Chica was still wandering the northern area, close to an air duct that connected to one in this Game Room. He pressed a switch by the merry-go-round and activated it as a jingle played. There was an instant thundering through the air duct, so Sandman escaped that room before Chica would come. He pressed a switch outside that sealed the room and would keep her inside. He checked the cameras, finding nothing else in Chica's former vicinity and rolled forward, looking back to—

Foxy was standing right in the doorway from the previous hallway, staring at him with one eye (he wore an eyepatch) and an open mouth—thinking fast, remembering his notes, he aimed his wristwatch flashlight and flashed it on-and-off on-and-off repeatedly. Foxy stood there mindlessly before finally turning and going back. Sandman sighed, signaled his friends to rewind the music, and kept rolling. The hallway turned left, so he could either go back to the west side or further north, to the sealed room where The Puppet waits. He reckoned Freddy was the only animatronic in the next-door room, but Puppet's room was closed with a garage door with an electrical switch above it. He needed something to activate it.

He checked the cameras and saw Bonnie lurking a little southwest, so Sandman followed the hallway to the farthest west region. His map revealed a back corridor into Foxy's room, and when he checked the camera of that room, it seemed a key was twinkling on the table—Foxy stood at the very end of this hall staring at him, so Sandman frantically flashed his light until the fox wandered back mindlessly. Sandman signaled his friends to restart the music and continued to the narrow, mazey west side-

"Ha ha ha!" When he approached the fork, Balloon Boy jumped out from the left and grabbed him in a hug, laughing like a child who was joyous to see his daddy. Nolan aggressively tried to shake him off, and with his arms free, he sliced the balloons and forced the child to retreat. He checked the cameras and saw Bonnie was coming his way, attracted by the child's laughter, and maneuvered his way around the maze. He checked the cameras to confirm Bonnie was trying to find him, and forced the rabbit to follow him deep enough before he made the dash back to the back corridor. Foxy waited for him at one of the turns again, so Nolan flashed him away. He let Foxy go a fair distance before following him, through the back corridor into the Pirate Cove.

Foxy was stationed on his stage, and would in-time make his round again. Nolan threw his boomerang to a button that closed a curtain around the stage. "Dududumdumdum didlydo didlydo, dududumdumdumdum, diddly dumdumdum…" Preoccupied with a little song, Sandman took this time to swipe the key and leave out the room's front door. Sandman signaled his friends, then returned to the first room of the restaurant where he could unlock the sealed door on the right of the stage. He was about to go in, but sensed a disturbance, checking his camera to confirm Chica was in the hall beyond, having gone through another vent from the Game Room. Sandman was about to retreat to the west, but it seemed Bonnie was on his way, too. Looking left-and-right panickingly, he ultimately slid underneath a curtained table and pulled his wheelchair under, too.

He lay totally still. Still as a statue. Both doors creaked open. Bonnie and Chica's feet were visible under the curtain, their footsteps the only sound. They were stepping around the tables. As if they sensed a presence. Nolan didn't turn to determine their location, didn't look at the camera. All he knew was that they didn't return through the doors. They were still roaming.

". . . ooooooh, oooohh, ohhh…" Bonnie moaned like a weary old ghoul.

". . . ooooohhhh…" Chica returned the sentiment. And with that, both robots returned to their respective corridors. Sandman climbed out and studied the cameras, seeing Chica return through the vent. He signaled his friends to restart the music and headed into the eastern door. With Chica gone, it was fairly straightforward as he reached a closed door and casually opened. He found the abandoned office, where the oscillator was still alive and blowing. Leaned against the wall was a large gun with an electric antenna. He picked it up and examined.

Sandman got the Shock Rod! This device can shoot electric beams that stun enemies and power electrical devices! Maybe it'll work on the animatronics?

"R-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-ING." Then a sudden ringing almost made Nolan's heart skip. The phone on the desk. Thinking quick, not wanting the robots to hear him, Nolan grabbed the phone and answered. "H-H-Hello?"

"Hello? Ultear, is that you?"

"Y-Yes, I'm-a Ultear." Why am I using the accent? "Who is this-a?"

"It's Diamante. The boss is coming back to Dressrosa tomorrow morning and he wants to know how the place is holding up."

"Is-a holding up beautifully, robots are-a behaving."

"Good. The Leaders want those freaks for some kind of experiment and they're counting on Doflamingo to keep them under control. I don't care about these 'rumors' your boys keep making up, just keep them inside the store. Report tomorrow." Hung up.

Sandman sighed in relief, signaling a music rewind, and checking the cameras to see Chica lurking in the Game Room. He returned to the front room- "HI (hi hi)…" popped BB's balloons again, then returned to the west hall. Bonnie was there to ambush him right away, so Sandman blasted the Shock Rod and caused the robot to twitch furiously, Nolan punching him aside with an Armament fist to go forward. Foxy stood yards away, having escaped from his curtain, so Sandman flashed his light to make him go back.

"Nnn HNN HNN, hnn HNN HNN, hn. . ." A deep, distant laugh that belonged to a demon echoed through the restaurant. Sandman hurried into the hall that crossed to east side and checked his camera, finding Freddy finally left his room. He reached the east end, but saw Chica roaming up north. He could use the Shock Rod on Chica, he just wasn't sure where Freddy was. He approached Chica and blasted the rod, putting her in a similar state as Bonnie. "Uur hur hur hur hur hur. . ." After pushing Chica aside, Nolan was soon facing down the corridor to Puppet's room. His cameras read that no one was in the starting room beside, so Nolan braved the risk. He shot the electrical device above the garage door with his Shock Rod, rolling forward when it slowly began to open. As soon as he was inside, he would shut it, keep all the other animals out.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" He whipped around—there came Freddy in all his fury—Nolan blasted and trapped the titular mascot in a shock-stun, just a second from reaching the hero, but was still trying to step forward determined. The door finally opened, so Nolan wheeled inside, grabbed the bottom of the hatch and slammed it shut, then quickly signaled his friends to restart the music. He turned. There sat his target. The little black jack-in-the-box in the middle of the room. He slowly rolled over and picked it up, set it on his lap. He grabbed the handle on its side and slowly winded.

All… around… the mulberry bush…

Oh geez, Nolan thought, hearing that song in his head though the wind only jingled. Oh well.

The mon…key chased… the wea…sel…

Nolan sighed. He'll just have to get this over with.

The mon…key thought it was all in fun

….Pop… goes… the wea…sel…

The lights blacked out. The music stopped. He turned on his flashlight and viewed his wristwatch, unable to access the cameras. "Crystal, Yuki, you read me??"

"Urgh, the wires sort of blew a fuse—they looked pretty faulty to begin with. I'm not sure how old this place is."

"Ugh… try to fix them, I can't… !!!"

"AAAAHHH!" Sandman forcefully tugged his wheelchair and dodged aside, narrowly avoiding The Puppet's arms. It hovered before him, stretching its full length: a skinny, boneless humanoid figure with a pitch-black body, white-striped arms and legs, and a white joyous face with empty eyes and mouth, purple vertical lines across his eyes. The lights flickered, and the cameras appeared more staticky. There were five cameras stationed around the walls of this room. They would have to make do.

Boss fight: The Puppet

He quickly logged back into the system and managed to get the view from each of these cameras. "AAAAH!" He couldn't look for long, dodging fast when The Puppet took another swing. He looked around but couldn't find him as the lights kept flickering; this creature really was fast. "AAAAH!" He dodged once more and checked the cameras, flipping through each one in hopes The Puppet was there. His smiling face stared directly into CAM03, but a flicker of light made him vanish. He tried to find him on another- "AAAAH!" dodged when he swooped, then flipped through the cameras again to see his face. Nolan immediately turned to that camera, shot his grappler, yanked The Puppet down, and slammed him to the floor with his fist. He delivered a round of punches, The Puppet trying to stretch its arms around his neck, but Nolan wrestled the creature, grabbed the high and low ends of its body, and threw it against the floor. Before it recovered, Nolan blasted the Shock Rod at its head and dealt immeasurable pain. "UUAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAA-A-A-A-A-AAA…"

Mixed with his screams was a banging. It was only then Sandman noticed the vents around the walls, buttons above them, and the banging was coming from one of them. Bonnie was crawling through, so Sandman launched a boomerang to hit the button and seal the vent. The lights continued flickering as The Puppet was back in the air. Sandman checked the cameras, found him on CAM02, vanished in a flicker, and flipped the cameras and lost him. "AAAAH!" Nolan was ready to dodge, that scream becoming less surprising, but Puppet was unfortunately gone from view. Sandman flipped and found his face smiling at CAM01, whipped his grappler at him, but The Puppet was gone in half-a-second via a flicker, then "AAAAH!" dodged when the creature lunged.

Sandman flipped on the cameras, caught Puppet on CAM02, expected a flicker, then quickly skimmed around. For a brief minute, the top of CAM04 was blackened, but couldn't study this long before it was back to normal, and "AAAAH!" dodged The Puppet's lunge. He repeated the cycle, found him on CAM03, flicker, then the top of CAM05 was darkened, so Nolan launched his grappler up there and pulled The Puppet down. Punched to the floor, rapid punches, wrestle, thrown and bounced, then Shock Rod to the head. Sandman heard a metal scraping and saw the garage door forcefully hauling itself open. When it was a foot open, Foxy tried to crawl through, so Sandman frantically flashed his light to make him go away. Just then, a banging was heard from a vent, so Sandman deduced the one, hit its button, and blocked Chica.

The cycle again, the top of CAM01 was dark, flicker, The Puppet's white cranium was at the bottom of CAM03, whipped around to grapple, flicker, Puppet was gone. "AAAAH!" Dodged, repeated the cycle, on CAM02, flicker, CAM03—bang bang bang, an animatronic was coming, so Sandman looked up, found BB coming, and hit the switch to block him. "AAAAH!" Dodged The Puppet's strike and returned to the cameras. CAM02, bottom dark, flicker, CAM04, cranium, flicker, CAM03, glowing eyes in darkness, CAM05, he was standing right behind Sandman and bent over his head.

Puppet grabbed Sandman's head the same time Nolan grabbed his, hauling over his body, falling forward out of his chair, and smashing Puppet's cranium against the floor. Puppet gripped Sand's head firmly, the two rolling and wrestling on the floor. The Puppet had no bones, no muscles, so its hold and tugging force was unusual. It was trying to snap Sandman's neck, but the human wouldn't have that. His gloves turning Armament, Sandman grabbed The Puppet tight and pinned him on his back. Punch, punch, punch, punch, Armament punch against Puppet's head 'til its arms let go. Nolan flipped onto his rear, wrapped arms around Puppet's waist, grabbed its head in both hands, twisted as hard as he could, and the head came loose. Its shadowy rubber body plopped on the floor before Nolan tossed and bounced the head away. A faint, pinkish aura rose from the head. A child's ghost formed, yellow hair, green shirt, blue shorts, white skin, dark baggy eyes. "He, hehe, he!…" A soft, happy giggle, and the ghost was gone.

Nolan caught his breath. He grabbed the arms of his wheelchair and helped himself back on. "AAAAAHHHH!" He was too stunned with surprise to defend when Freddy lunged at him—the animatronic was immediately frozen in ice. Sandman looked around, seeing Yuki aiming his pack and Wiccan her staff. "Lucky we decided to come check on you." The latter said.

"Phew… owe you guys." Nolan breathed. At his signal, Wiccan aimed and released a flame spell near Freddy's head, melting it free.

"AAAAAHHHH! LEMME GO! LEMME OUT! I WANNA KILL YOU! AAAAHHHH-!" The robot was frantically trying to escape.

Nolan socked him in the jaw with Armament. "Even free from mind control, you guys are messed up. Did you even have human hearts to begin with?"

"Big deal, we stopped being human the minute we died!" Freddy kept struggling. "We're Hollows!"

"Hollows?"

"I read about them." Wiccan replied. "They're spirits who turned into monsters because they were consumed with darkness."

"Spirits? Then how were they turned into…"

"FEEEEEE feh feh feh!" They turned to the entrance, weapons ready. Foxy walked in casually. "You won't-a be getting any info outta Freddy, but I'll be-a happy to oblige."

"You, Foxy?" inquired Sandman.

"Feh feh. The kids here know me as Foxy the Pirate Fox, but back in my day, I was renowned as the Silver Fox Foxy, pirate captain of over 500 men!"

"Can't say I ever heard of him." Yuki replied.

"Well of COURSE-a you haven't, that's-a because of the curse that's-a been placed upon us. If you imply to know of our position, ya should know-a we all used to be physical flesh creatures, but everyone who ever knew us forgets us the moment we became toys. Freddy there was a pretty famous serial killer, Chica was a stripper who choked the men who hooked her for their money, and Balloon Boy, eh, let's just say the child has his own problems."

"But Freddy just said you were spirits." Sand replied.

"We ARE-a spirits, but, strangest-a thing, some melancholy scientist used some sort-a thingamajig to pull us from the Spirit World and seal us into these robotic husks. I don't-a remember his name, but he was a bald man with a white coat and glasses. Poor fool couldn't control us, so we were brought-a to a man called Doflamingo, who showed us to a twerp with greenish-hair that had the nerve to touch us, and POOF! As if these-a stupid bodies weren't bad enough, we are TOYS now!"

"Twerp with green hair…" Sandman typed Doflamingo into his computer and pulled up images. One of them was of Doflamingo grinning, his hands on the shoulders of his son and a girl with aquamarine hair. "Is this the kid you mean?" He showed it to Foxy.

"Oh-ho yes-a. Looks-a the very same."

Nolan pulled up Doflamingo's online bio. "Doflamingo, accredited toy-maker, President of Doflamingo Incorporated, known for making interactive talking toys. Lives on Dressrosa with his son, Junior, and daughter, Sugar—Sugar?"

"So Sugar is the toy-maker, then?" Crystal deduced. "She's the one we need to go after?"

Nolan rubbed his head. "Everyone turned into a toy is forgotten by everyone… those people like Holiday, Fanatic, or Tornado… they were turned into toys, that's why we don't remember 'em."

"You mean Doflamingo got ahold of enemies of ours and made us forget them?" Yuki questioned. "As long as they're out of the way, good idea if you ask me."

"Yuki, that's a terrible idea!" Nolan argued. "With a power like that… what if Sugar turned someone REALLY important into a toy, imagine what would happen if everyone forgot them! Just how far do these powers go, what else could they do? I hate to beat up a little kid, but to change everyone back to normal, we have no choice. We fly to Dressrosa at dawn."

"Nolan, you're… sounding a little touchy about this subject." Wiccan noted.

"… … Sorry." Nolan released his head. "I mean… a power to remove someone from existence. No one remembers you… even your loved ones. Imagine if you or anyone you know got affected."

Crystal couldn't imagine herself having a dramatic effect if she were removed from existence, but Nolan though… she couldn't imagine what she'd do if she just forgot him. "But what about The Puppet?" Nolan asked Foxy. "How is it he controlled all of you?"

"Oh-a, de Puppet… I don't even know. Never saw him in Dressrosa, don't-a know where he came from. He was-a… something, though. Had quite the mind, compared to these bozos."

"He just got a kick out of this deal, then." Wiccan replied.

"Well… thanks for the info." Sandman told Foxy simply. "Sorry you had to sing in a restaurant against your will, but once I'm through with Doflamingo, I'll have this place condemned."

"And what makes-a you think I'mma let you?" Foxy proclaimed with a grim look. Bonnie, Chica, and Balloon Boy crept up behind him with ravenous eyes. "Annoying singing aside, the little children make healthy morsels when we get 'em all alone in a back corner. And now that that Puppet is gone, maybe we'll-a be able to free-roam better and snack on 'em some more. If we're-a bound to live in Hell, what a Hell this will be-a for us. We're staying and YOU'LL be our-a late-night dinner. BOYS (and Chica): attack-a."

The animatronics were ready to lunge. Freddy shook and shook and broke free of his ice, going to join his comrades. The heroes had no way to defend their selves from all of them. They were cornered.

Suddenly, a ghost flew in through the wall and shoved Freddy against the wall. They all stared surprised. This ghost had an orange body and tail, white arms, and flaming orange hair. ". . . Wheeeeere's my BABYYYYY?!?" She turned at them with demonic bloodshot eyes on a white face. The lower jaws of the robots dropped, as did the humans'.

"E-Emily?!" Nolan gasped.

"Teeeell meeeeee NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW." The restaurant shook from her unbearable, unblockable Ghostly Wail. The animatronics tried to shut their ears as best as they could, but her wail had the heart-stopping capability of a million jumpscares. Bonnie's face caught fire, Chica's limbs stretched, BB's eyes melted, Foxy sizzled and sparked, and Freddy's head popped clean off. Emily finally ceased. The animatronics lay there, bodies sparking, smoke coming out of several areas, dead. Freddy's head landed in Wiccan's arms, the woman screamed and dropped him quickly.

The ghost woman caught her breath, hovering lazily in midair. She looked at Nolan with baggy eyes. "Hello, Nolan. Ghost trouble?"

"T-Taken care of." He replied, his friends holding each other.

"Good. Say hi to Danika." She left through the floor.

"Glad that's taken care of." Sandman rolled up to Foxy's sparking corpse, its outer skin dissolved in areas, revealing the endoskeleton. "Back in Toys 4 Grab, Sheriff Woody didn't have any internal metal parts, only stuffing. Foxy said they were sealed inside robots, THEN turned into toys, so why are they still robots inside? Unless Sugar's power can only partly work on robots; maybe her role was to control the robots better. But why… why spirits? They could just as easily forced humans to entertain at the restaurant, why did Doflamingo go to this much trouble? What kind of experiment do the 'Leaders'…"

"Experiment?" questioned Wiccan.

"Never mind, time to go." He began the roll out. "I'll need to start making plans on how we're gonna infiltrate. Here's to my night, guys."

The animatronics lay for the rest of the night, dead. The eyes in The Puppet's head, however, still emitted an eerie glow.

Somewhere far away

A weak, staticky image displayed on screen, depicting the whole fight and conversation afterwards. A bald man in a thick coat and glasses watched in the darkness. "So, the Sandman is interfering with Government operations. Mmm…" He shook his head in disappointment. "My master was right about when children read too many comic books…"

York Household

This little community in Quahog was the next to be shaken up by the appearance of a ghost train. "I hope you have a way to park that." Dillon stated as he and Django stepped off.

"Yeah yeah, just gimme a strum." So with that, Django strummed his guitar, and the train vanished in flames.

Danika walked out from the kitchen to see her son enter the home. "Hi Mom, this is Django, a dead kid we found in Mexico that I had the lucky honor of watching tonight."

Django sniffed (he had no nose?). "Smells like booze mixed with week-old formula. Nice crib, Mrs. Y." He smirked at Danika.

"Hmhm, nice to meet you too, Django." Danika smiled. "Are we adopting him?"

"NO." Dillon shouted defensively. "Er, but Mom, I'm not sure how to tell you this… Midna got captured by the Brotherhood for who-knows-what, and we're trusting her fate in whatever cracked-up crew this guy has."

"At least my crew knows when to leave more cracks where they belong. Sniff sniff, is that dead Century Fish in the fridge, I CALL DIBS!" He zipped into the kitchen.

"Mom, I promise we'll track down the Brotherhood again and save Midna; they caught us off guard, but we can totally take 'em-"

"Settle down, Dillon, I'm not upset." Danika patted his messy hair. "Midna's always been a tough girl, and there're honestly worse people than the Brotherhood nowadays. I'm only glad you arrived earlier than your father. Come and have dinner."

While Django was stuffing himself with meat that looks like it's been in the fridge for decades, Dillon helped himself to peas, steak, and mashed potatoes on the table. "I don't even remember why we wanted to go to the Brotherhood. I think Midna wanted to catch Zant, and we kinda agreed we could catch Hannibal… it just felt like outta nowhere, though. Why now."

"…" Danika turned away. There were a few things she didn't understand herself. Why weren't they allowed to tell their kids about it. Let them discover for their selves, he said, but it's only one month away. They have to know sooner or later and they can't wait forever. …They deserved to know. "Dillon, there's something I need to tell you, too. Back in our teenage years, some friends and I visited The Chronicler again, and he… told us something. At the end of this month, something will-"

"Hey hey, sorry to be tardy to the party." The man of the house just rolled in, throwing his trenchcoat and mask onto the coat-hanger.

"Where've you been this time?" asked Danika with exhaustion in her voice.

"Condemning a restaurant to the afterlife. Hold dinner for me, Danika, I'm flying to Dressrosa first thing tomorrow, so I-" He rolled into the kitchen for a drink, but stopped to stare curiously at Django, who mirrored his stare with a Century Fish halfway down his throat. Django slurped it all the way, belching a horrid gas that made Nolan wish he kept his mask on. "…I'll leave you and Dillon to whatever you're doing together." Django stepped aside to let Nolan retrieve a water from the fridge before he headed for the Sandcave.

"What's in Dressrosa, Dad?" Dillon asked.

"Really messed up. You know the Corporate President Doflamingo, who makes all the talking toys? Apparently his daughter, Sugar turns people into toys with some weird power, and makes everybody forget who those people were. I'd explain more, but I really need ta get started if I wanna work sleep in tonight." So he proceeded to his Sandcave.

Dillon stared mindlessly at his dinner, twirling his fork that had a pea stuck to one end of it. "Sugar…Doflamingo… where've I heard…. !!!"

The image was faint, but it was there. A graduation ceremony on Moonbase. Back in March. Many operatives were graduating. A girl from Dressrosa, with aquamarine hair…

"If the Kids Next Door hasn't had a leader for a whole year, how did those kids like Mocha graduate?! No one was approving them, yet we had a graduation, so how come. ."

Mocha's booger was too big, Dillon remembered, so how did it get in the Code Module, unless someone took a piece off and stuck it in. Sugar was up next, she was from Dressrosa, became Numbuh Trebol, in Sector DR, when she put her booger in, she shook hands with—

Dillon frantically tapped his wristwatch. "Aurora, are you there?"

Her tired, baggy-eyed image appeared on the tiny screen. "What is it, Dillon?"

"Aurora, I…I think we should go to Dressrosa tomorrow."

"You mean Sector DR? Why?"

"Because I…I don't know.. what it is, entirely, but I feel… Dressrosa is the place to be tomorrow."

"Okay, Harry Potter, I'll tell the others in the morning, can we go to bed first?"

"Y-Yeah… sorry." He hung up. Almost instantly, a furious toilet flush occurred upstairs.

"Hoo, huff…" Django came storming down. "Sorry, Dillon, but tonight you're gonna be using el Aseo de los Muertos."

Ashland Outskirts

The sun had just gone down over the horizon. Lilac and Berry scampered all the way back to Ashland on all fours, and Rupert, Timmy, and Hikari kept hold on them the whole way. The kittens were exhausted, but they could stop and rest once they made it to Rupert's house. "Huuuff… made it." Berry gasped. "And looks like your dad's still home." She noticed the car in the driveway.

"W-What about Mom?" Rupert asked worriedly.

"Ms. Ghostie told him to go home and wait for you." Lilac answered. "She's probly still looking with our moms."

"But don't worry, we'll bite him if he bees mean." Berry smirked.

"Haha… thanks." Rupert blushed. "I gotta admit, Berry, you're really scary sometimes, but when you're on my side-"

"WAZZAT?" The werecat whipped her head around, Rupert flying onto the sidewalk to his house. A little brown puppy was roaming innocently, about to urinate on a hydrant. Anger and lust burned in her eyes. Her humanity was gone. "ROOOOWWWW!" She was filled with power again as she dashed forward, and the puppy immediately started running.

"PUPPYYYY! Brrrrrrrrrr." Lilac excitedly shook her head and chased like a kitty.

"Waaaaah-!" Timmy and Hikari went flying off from the shake, onto the path with Rupert. As they moaned and recovered, their seven Pikmin Onions landed down with them.

"Aw, GREAT!" Rupert whined.

"Think they're comin' back?" Timmy asked.

Rupert listened. The echoing rows and ruffs faded into the distance. "Not anytime soon. Sigh… at least we're here. We'll just have to go in on our own. …" The trio gazed at the gigantic house, towering miles over the trees of the thick jungle before them. They felt totally inferior at its size, knowing just what it was like to be ants in the yard. They knew there was a monster of utmost terror inside that fortress, and its name was Rupert's father.

"Rupert? You think our Pikmin can protect us from your dad after he spots us?" Timmy whimpered.

"They helped us up 'til now… this will be their ultimate battle. …I hope Mom comes home soon." (Play "Fungi Forest Night" from Donkey Kong 64.)

Stage 23: The King's Den

Mission: Get inside Rupert's house.

Act 1: Rulers' Grounds

The friends called 10 Wing Pikmin, 5 Purples, 5 Whites, 10 Reds, 11 Rocks, 9 Yellows, and 11 Blues, 61 total. The sidewalk to the front door seemed pretty simple, but they wouldn't be able to get up those stairs. They decided to follow a path through the right half of the jungle, finding a small field where Bulborbs were awake and lively, searching intently for nighttime prey. The kids quickly snuck up on the closest one from behind and chucked Rock and Purple Pikmin at it to take him down. But two more spotted and stomped over to snack them, unfortunately losing 2 Reds and 3 Yellows. They ended up sacrificing 2 Whites to poison the Bulborbs and defeat them, and allowed the Yellows, Reds, and Whites to take them back.

They retrieved 5 of each of them from the Onion. They pressed forward and reached a similar yard with yellow Bulborbs with golden, glowing spots. They tried to throw Rock Pikmin on them, but they ended up getting shocked while the Bulborbs ate 5 of them, so they quickly sent the Yellows to attack them, and briefly used the Purples to stun them. They let the Yellows take them back and had Hikari stay with them while Rupert and Timmy continued. The yard started to become a lot brighter, the two looking up as the sun shone bright in the sky. But it felt awfully closer to Earth, and no blue sky to support it. …That's because it wasn't the sun, but rather the lamp post in Rupert's front yard.

Rupert and Timmy made it to the pole's base, where it seemed a green flower bud was curled and shrinking in the light. "Hmmm…" Rupert padded the bud, but it stayed shut. "It looks like one of those Candypop Buds. Wonder what its problem is?"

"I would be too if I was planted under a ginormous light." Timmy commented.

Rupert noticed the convenient path spiraling up the pole. "Then let's do something about it." The two made the long journey up the hundred-story tower with as many Pikmin in tow as they could. Gnats fluttered around the light up top, so they sent the Wing Pikmin to take them down. The bulb was shielded by the surrounding glass, so they tossed Rock Pikmin at it repeatedly until it smashed open. The lightbulb truly was like a giant sun up close, and they feared they'd go blind of they looked at it for a second. "HEY, HIKARI, HURRY UP WITH THOSE YELLOWS!" Hikari heard Rupert's voice above the tower, so she rushed up with 16 Yellow Pikmin.

"GEE, Ruppy, couldn't ya pick a vacation with a little less sun??" she yelled.

"Let's just take this light out!"

"Okie-dokey, Karaoke!" With that, she sent all her Yellows inside the chamber as they crept into small slots and safely disabled the electric wiring. The black night returned in a flash, and the kids' eyes never felt more at peace. 'Course, those weird little shapes were floating in front of them, but they would be gone soon.

Once they made it down the tower, the green Candypop Bud bloomed to life. With curious shrugs, Rupert tossed a Red Pikmin into the flower, sprouting a Pikmin seed. The boy plucked and revealed the strange Green Pikmin. "…What does this one do?"

"Beats me." Tim said.

"Maybe he cleans noses!" Hikari grinned.

"He does look like a booger."

"Well, anyway, let's make more." Rupert said as he tossed 4 more Reds in the Candypop, so when the flower wilted, they had 5 of the strange Green Pikmin. They couldn't find anyplace else to go, but there was a misplaced cup upside-down in a gap in the trees. It was made of plastic, so the Rock Pikmin couldn't break, and was too slippery for the Wings. They decided to send their Green Pikmin at the cup, but they couldn't do anything. They decided to leave this field and found another narrow path that led closer to Rupert's house. They made it to the garden around the border of Rupert's house, protected by a great stone wall (5 inches tall, but fairly large to them).

A couple Skutterchucks patrolled the outer wall, so the kids first took them out with Rock Pikmin. There was a particular area of the wall that slanted forward, while another spot slanted back, and that was where the kids could walk up and drop into the garden. They immediately took notice of the odd-looking stone creatures with unsymmetrical bodies and long arms that they used to slam seeds in the ground. "Hey, I know what those are, they're Mamutas." Rupert whispered. "They're things that help plant flowers or somethin'. …My mom got some."

One of the Mamutas took notice of the group with their Pikmin and marched over to start smashing them. "H-HEY!" They quickly tossed Pikmin to take it out, but soon realized their Pikmin were merely planted again, their flowers fully bloomed. "Oh… heh, not bad!"

They plucked their newly bloomed Pikmin, including the five green ones. But the kids filled with worry as a strange stomping sound grew closer, and marching over the slanted border wall was the vicious Spotty Bulbear, a black Bulborb with red spots, leading several Dwarf Bulbears behind him. The kids made a run for it, but the Bulbear stayed on their tail. Three Purple Pikmin, 4 Rocks, and 3 of the Green Pikmin were devoured. "So much for them…" Rupert sighed.

But before they realized, the Bulbear was attacked by the Green Pikmin their selves, their bodies glowing green and faded, and ghostly tails had replaced their legs. Indeed, the Green Pikmin had become ghosts.

Rupert discovered Ghost Pikmin! This rare breed can only be found in Limegreen Candypop Buds! While born as ordinary Pikmin, their spirits live on after death! These ghostly bodies can phase through anything, and lift anything! Just keep them out of bright areas and you'll be fine!

Unable to be killed, the Ghost Pikmin defeated the Bulbear by their lonesome. With that, the kids quickly took out the Dwarf Bulbears, letting some Rocks, Yellows, and Whites take them back. "Holy cow, they're ghosts!!" Timmy beamed.

"Heheh, just like my mom!" Rupert perked. "Wonder if she has anything to do with this?"

"I hope they aren't gonna haunt me." Hikari shuddered.

"Relax, they're too small. Plus, they probably don't like light, better watch out."

The three split up as Timmy accompanied the Pikmin to the Onion, Hikari took their other Pikmin around the garden, and Rupert brought the Ghost Pikmin to the plastic cup covering the treasure. They could phase under the cup and push it up and away, revealing the treasure underneath, a Cheato Page from Banjo-Tooie. He had the Ghost Pikmin carry the Cheato Page (Guide to Wimpness) to the Onions, and like the Wing Pikmin, they could easily fly over the yard to bring it faster. Rupert then joined Timmy to the left side of the yard, where the end of a giant hose was lain down. They were unable to climb onto the hose, but it seemed some of Hikari's Pikmin were bringing mulch all the way from the garden to make a hill at level with the hose's top. They had to hand it to these guys, they were smart.

Hikari's Pikmin returned to her while Rupert and Tim led theirs across the snakelike hose. There were enclosings in the grass along the sides (with dirt hills for them to get back on the hose) that contained nectar eggs, deciding to let the Greens and Whites feast some. However, only the two living Greens could eat them, the Ghost ones were stuck with their leaf phases. In another enclosing was a Limegreen Candypop, so they sacrificed 5 Yellows to produce more Greens, 10 total. They found more nectar to feed those Greens before they made it to the garden wall, in which the hose sloped over it to let them across, then turned vertical as it led up, and wrapped around the faucet.

Before they explored the garden, they looked up at the faucet handle, which had a metal container sealing it. Curious, they sent their three Ghost Pikmin up and through the container, and when they didn't come out, they suspected they were trying to turn the faucet. Rupert led the living Greens into the garden, and a strange flower with eyes emerged from the ground when they approached. Rupert allowed the Creeping Chrysanthemum to flatten his Greens, letting them become ghosts as they proceeded to beat the monster. With that, he sent the Ghosts up to the faucet as well, successfully turning it.

A light stream of water resulted as a DK Barrel (Ape Savior) popped out of the end. The kids returned and, since it was drenched in water, they used 7 Blue Pikmin to carry it back. "Oh hey, my DK Barrel toy!" Rupert remembered. "Dad made me water the garden one day, so I, shoved it inside. Eh hehn hehn." ^^;

They took the Blue Pikmin back once they were done and returned to the garden. They led them around the corner of the house to a dead-end area, with a large rock that contained Bomb Rocks. Surrounding this rock were small eggs, and while they thought them to be nectar eggs, Morphs popped out of them when they got close, spiked, black, one-eyed round creatures that latched onto Rupert and Timmy. They didn't hurt, but sure slowed them down, so they hurriedly shook them off and ordered the Pikmin to swarm them. Each Pikmin could take a Morph back, but it felt too tedious, and they called their Pikmin back when they were already doing so. With the Morphs dealt with, 10 Ghost Pikmin each grabbed a Bomb Rock, then ventured to the very middle of the garden where the house's stairs went over. The stairs were wooden, held up by diagonal wooden bars with holes in-between. They entered the dark of their underside, encountering a stone wall.

"Ruppyyyyy? TIIIImmyyyyy. Where ARE yooooouu??" Hikari called from the other side.

"Huh? Hikari? Are you there, too?" Rupert asked.

"THERE you are! You two left me all alone, I've been waiting here worried SICK! I found this weird wall."

"Yeah, so did we. Stand back." Hikari did so while the Ghosts placed three Bomb Rocks beside the wall, blowing it up. Hikari hurried in to join them. "So did you find anything else?"

"Nuttin' but dirt. Where do we go now?"

Some Pikmin were making "Nneyah" noises, and saw some Whites digging parts of the ground in this pitch-dark. They were trying to uncover a blue chain necklace, joined by other Pikmin once they were close enough. Once the chain was dug up, the kids let the Ghost and Wings take hold of it, as they floated up to the porch on the right side, latched one end of the chain to a thin, dangling rope, while the other end was left hanging near the ground. "Hall riiight! Thanks, guys!" Rupert cheered. "Before we go up, let's get our other Pikmin, first."

They returned to the Onions, rearranged, and concluded with 14 Reds, 15 Yellows, 16 Blues, 15 Wings, 10 Purples, 10 Whites, 10 Rocks, and 10 Ghosts, 100 total. The kids returned to climb their way up the chain while their Pikmin followed. Considering their sizes, it was several stories until the porch. Hikari had an easier time jumping between each hoop with her agility, Timmy was also a proficient climber, but Rupert was using every ounce of strength in his arms to hang tight and climb up. It was like trying to climb the poles at gym, and Arceus knows he wasn't good at that. He stopped a quarter way up to sit in a hoop and catch his breath, sweating. "MmmMMMP!" A Purple Pikmin grabbed and put Rupert on his back, the boy holding on with wonder as he was carried the rest of the way. Finally, they were level with the porch, jumping off as Rupert climbed off the Pikmin.

"Heheh! Thank you!" If only strong little ants would help him in gym. The floor of this porch was mostly massive and barren, so they focused their sights on the front door to Rupert's house that towered a hundred stories. Even the bottom of the door was closed pretty tight, not even for ants to get in. They could send some Wings up and hit the doorbell, but probably wouldn't be strong, and Rupert's father might not even notice in the dark. Thankfully, the bottom walls around the door were cracked, with one of them big enough to fit inside.

Finally, they were inside of Rupert's house. Timmy and Hikari never came over before, and what a heck of a first visit this would be. In an enclosing to the right of the entrance was exercise equipment. "Dad makes me use that stuff for 2 hours a day." Rupert informed. "Hope he won't make me use 'em now." They ventured across the great carpeted plain to the living room, where Dweevils roamed about the ground. They used their Purples to smoosh the spiders in one throw, but chose not to let their Pikmin collect to avoid the horribly long way back to regather them. It took a fairly long time to get beyond the couch and to the kitchen, where they hoped there would be some food crumbs lying around. The Ghost Pikmin didn't follow because of the light.

"I didn't even eat breakfast. Or lunch." Timmy moaned. "Please tell me you got somethin', Rupert."

"Timmy, look! There's food!" Hikari pointed at some bread crumbs and Cheerios lain on some giant tape pieces near the wall by the doorway. "Let's go eat-!"

"No!" Rupert grabbed her before she ran over. "Those're sticky traps my mom set up to trap bugs. We shouldn't risk it."

"Sigh, that stupid pet." The kids jumped when the floor started to shake. They ran away from the doorway as fast as they could when a pair of massive socked feet stomped across the flat kitchen plain. Chad Dickson was bigger and far more terrifying than the kids would've imagined, and the strict, surly man looked too stressed for confrontation. "'Make sure you feed Zuri,' she says, 'make yourself a LITTLE bit useful.' Well if the stupid little bat's gonna be a pest about it, he isn't getting a scrap." He poured himself a bowl of cereal and started munching aggressively.

"There he is, Rupert, now's our chance!" Timmy jumped.

"Y…Yeah…" His tiny heart was racing in fear.

"What's wrong, Ruppy? You don't think your dad would really SQUISH you, do you?"

"W-Well, we do kinda look like ants, I, I just don't think…"

"Quit being a baby." Timmy told him. "I know he's mean, but I'm sure he'd at least help when you're like THIS. How's his son gonna be big and strong when he's tiny, huh?"

Rupert couldn't really believe that… he imagined too many things going wrong. Aside from mistaking them for bugs and crushing them, Chad might just keep Rupert like this, hidden from his mother as he puts Rupert through even more painful and inescapable exercise. Or he would tell Rupert to find his own way out of this mess, then act totally ignorant and uncaring that his son and his friends are the size of bugs. No… Rupert shouldn't think that, Chad is his dad, he used to fight for kids' rights, despite being an aggressive trainer, of course he would help Rupert when he really needed—

The kitchen door flew open just then as Emily Dickson walked in. "Hi, Chad." She spoke in a dreary, depressed tone. "Is Rupert home?"

"No." Chad twirled his spoon in the cereal. "No calls from the werecats, either."

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" Suddenly full of adrenaline, Rupert began screaming. "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

"Nope, not Dad." His friends chorused. ("La la." sang the Pikmin.)

"Honey, you've searched for two days straight, you need to rest." Chad told her.

"Oh, SURE!!" The bags under her colorless eyes were very dark. "I'll just REST while my SON is being RAPED by MOUNTAIN FOLK!"

"Emily, you're overreacting, I'm sure Rupert's just—"

"DON'T YOU DARE TAKE THAT CALM TONE WITH ME!" The kids and Pikmin shut their ears to no avail. Emily looked murderous. "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DUMPED HIM OUT IN THE WOODS AND LET HIM GET KIDNAPPED BY REDNECKS. OUR LITTLE BOY WILL BE SCARRED FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE BECAUSE YOU WANTED HIM TO HAVE PREMATURE MUSCLES!!"

"Look, you're just delirious because you haven't slept or eaten since-"

"HOW ABOUT I EAT THAT USELESS MOUND OF SHIT YOU CALL A BRAIN AND SLEEP ON YOUR CORPSE, AND THE UNGODLY SMELL OF YOUR DECAY WILL REACH RUPERT'S NOSE AND LEAD HIM HOME, WHERE HE'LL HAVE A MILLION PARTIES NOW THAT YOU'RE FINALLY-!!"

"Emily… …you need to go to sleep. You need, I dunno, 15 hours hopefully, eat a nice healthy meal when you awake, take a hot warm shower, then you'll be nice and semi-alive again."

Emily panted heavily. The kids never felt more afraid, closing their eyes as they expected blood to fly out of Chad's neck any moment. Rupert's mom was the Devil, there was no other explanation. Rupert never thought, for a split second, how much safer he'd be in his father's hands when his mom was like this. "…You're right." Her head sunk, and the bags below her eyes seemed to droop.

"I'll take you upstairs." Chad smiled and took Emily's arm around his neck, calmly leading her up.

"Zuri!" The aforementioned pet skittered downstairs panting excitedly, but frowned when Emily passed him by. "Not now, Zuri, go play with Ruppy, oh wait. . ."

"Zurrrr." The Pokémon's ears drooped, sad. "…Zuri?" A strange whiff fell on his nose. It looked at the kitchen, seeing three tiny figures and an army of colorful things behind them.

Team Rupert stood still and fearful. Zuri crept up to them on all fours, little batty eyes narrowed on Rupert. Noticing this, Timmy and Hikari zipped behind the wall; they were alright with him being eaten first. Zuri loomed close and sniffed. Rupert strongly felt the gusts of wind going in his tiny nose. "H-H-H-H. . . . Hi, Zuri."

His giant ears made a slight twitch, but seemed extremely noticeable from Rupert's viewpoint. "ZUUUUURIIIIIIIII!" Why the kids weren't deaf at this point, they never knew. Zuri leaped and smashed Rupert beneath his round yellow belly.

"Hmmp-hmmp-hmmmm-mmmm-mm-mmm!" Still smiling, Zuri rolled on his back. Rupert pushed his face free of his belly and revitalized his lungs. "HUUFF… thanks, Zuri."

"Aaaaaawwwww! He's so cuuuuuute!" Hikari beamed adoringly.

"So you having a weird alien bat for a pet just… never came up in conversation?" Timmy asked.

Zuri perked. It flipped onto its feet, let Rupert fall, and leaped forward, startling the siblings as Zuri stared close and sniffed. "ZURI!!" Another screech that could've been fatal to their ears.

"Zuri! Hey boy!" Rupert clapped. Zuri hurriedly turned around to face him. "Who missed Big Brother Rupert? You did! 'o's a good boyyyyyy."

"Zri!" Zuri pinned Rupert under the tip of his paw and playfully sniffed him.

"Zuri! Take me to Mommy, boy! Wanna take me to Mommy, Zuri??"

"Zuu!" Zuri stepped off and put his nose on the floor to let little Ruppy climb up. He also lowered his tail for Tim, Hikar, and the hundred Pikmin to squeeze and hold on tight while the Pokémon scampered up the stairs.

He slipped through the cracked-open door to the parents' room. Zuri hid by the side of the bed and stared while Chad lay his wife down and pulled her shoes off. "Even if ghosts never get tired, you're still alive. It'll be alright, Honey." Chad patted her shoulder softly. "I know it sounds like I don't care, but… well, you should have faith in Rupert, too. Wherever he is, I'm sure he's holdin' up fine. If he's tough as me or scary as you… okay, he's neither, but…" He looked at Emily. Her eyes were closed as color was returning to her face. He rubbed her hair. "You're still a kid at heart. I'mma head downstairs and, sweep up the spiders. Been gettin' a lot o' them for some reason." So he left, leaving the door open a little crack to allow hall light.

"Zri?" Zuri leapt onto the bed, lowering his head so the tinies could climb off. The surface of the blanket plain sloped downward to the weight of the woman's body. Her head was lain on the bed, not the pillow, and when Rupert finally made it to her sideways face, her dark-green eyes were open a tiny crack.

"Uh… Mom?"

"Nnnnnn…."

The moan was loud and eerie to their ears. Timmy and Hikari were honestly afraid, considering her earlier anger and her being a half-ghost. They watched as Rupert approached her left eye, closest to the bed. "It's OK, Mom… I'm all right. I'm holdin' up just fine… Timmy and Hikari are here, too, they're helping me. And look! Those are the Pikmin! They're extremely big help. Even though they're all really tiny."

"Uuuuuu…. Ruuupeeeert." Her eye appeared to roll to face Rupert. Its pupil looked dull and dead.

"I'm sorry I'm making you worry, Mom. You're really nice and I'm glad you protect me from Dad as much as you do. But I don't want you to be so… scary. You deserve to take a nap, Mom. Take a nap and don't worry. When you get up, take a hot, warm shower. You sing really pretty in the shower. Your hair looks silly when it's wet, too. Your little Ruppy's gonna be OK… he's right here, just to tell you that. I…I love you, Mom."

He stretched his arms and lay himself against her flesh, the pupil seeming to sink down to see him. Emily was mindless, blind from her own madness… and yet, she could feel him hugging her. Those teeny little arms… felt like they were holding her whole body. She was warm… her mind was repairing… she had no idea he was actually there, no idea those words came from his mouth… she only deemed it as visions created by her wasteland of a mind. But what warm visions they were… giving her peace… promising her… her baby was right beside her.

Her eyelid slowly closed. The bags began to shrink away into natural color. She was asleep. Rupert walked away to view the whole of his mother's face. She looked so beautiful. "Not that I don't like a cheesy emotional moment once in a while, which I don't, but I woulda said something along the lines of, 'Hey Mom, we're right here, we braved the dangers of the tiny world to get your attention, please help us get back to normal so we can all live happily ever after.'" Timmy drew on.

"SNOOOOOORE… shooooo… SNOOOOORE.."

Rupert smiled as her snores blew them like brief, though strong gusts of wind. "Dad's right, she needs to sleep. I wanna be back to normal, but I don't like seeing her so angry… I'll risk Dad helping us. Zuri, you'll protect us if he gets mean, right?"

"Zuriii!"

"Fine, then let's do it so we can get food." Timmy said impatiently, and with that, they climbed onto the animal's head. Zuri crawled out of the doorway and readied to head downstairs to Chad, until a curious sight caught their eyes: a group of bugs were soaring down the hall miles overhead. Timmy zoomed in his goggles and saw they were Minish flying with Wing Pikmin. "Rupert! They're Minish!"

"Minish? HEY, COME BACK! Zuri, go after them!"

"Zri!" The Pokémon excitedly scampered down. The five Minish had flown into the keyhole of a closed door, which Zuri failed to get open in all his head-bashes. "Zuri! Zuri! …ZuuuuuRI!" It burst open with an Iron Tail and he crept into the bathroom. "It's too dark, where did they go?" asked Rupert.

Timmy turned on his goggle flashlight and looked around. The Minish flew over the sink before going down. "On the sink." ("Zuri.") The Pokémon followed Timmy's direction and hopped on. Timmy focused his flashlight on the sink's drain. "What would they be going down there, for?"

"Minish are weird. Darn, I was hoping we could ask 'em for help." Rupert said. "Guess it's back to Dad."

Almost on cue, Chad walked in with a dustpan and turned on the light. "I don't understand why Emily wants 'em flushed down the toilet 'stead of the trash. Oh right, 'cause they attract MORE spiders otherwise, yet she's the one-"

"UUUAAAAAAAHH!" The Ghost Pikmin went into a seizure. The light was unbearable.

"Oh no!" Rupert gasped.

"ZURI!" Unable to handle those screams so close to his ears, the animal shook furiously and sent the lot of them flying, with Team Rupert and some Pikmin going straight for the toilet.

"Huh? Zuri, get offa there." Chad approached and shoved the Pokémon off the sink. Under Chad's shade, the Ghosts were saved from fate, but they thought fast and sunk beneath the floor. "I hope we don't have to get the door fixed because you…?" He noticed the toilet.

Team Rupert struggled to keep balance on the thick liquid surface, but their Pikmin were panicking and flailing their arms. The kids were panicking, seeing no way out of this with their Pikmin alive. Their problems would grow worse when Chad towered over the toilet bowl with a baffled expression. "Wow… guess the toilet thing actually works. Well, more for the ride." He tilted his dustpan and let the dead Dweevil bodies land and float beside them. "Down you go." The children got the image of death when Chad pushed the handle.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH. . . . ."

The abandoned Wing Pikmin flew all the way back to the Onions and entered. The seven vessels lifted off and flew into the house, gathering all the other abandoned Pikmin before diving beneath the steadily-rising toilet water.

". . . . . . . ." Emily was so sleepy, she was dead. She never realized how great it felt to lie here, lost in Dreamland. Rupert was there… what a fun little adventure he was having. Living among bugs, leading an army of cute, colorful ants. Their reckless voyage would carry 'em down the maelstrom of an ordinary toilet. …Wait a second.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" She shot up with bloodshot eyes. "MY BABY'S GOING DOWN THE TOILET!" At demon speed, she was in the bathroom, kneeled over, grabbing the edges, and screaming into the bowl. "RUPERT JUST GOT FLUSHED! RUPERT, DON'T WORRY, MOMMY'S COMIIIIIIIN'!" She submerged her head into the toilet, gurgling and bubbling.

Chad walked back in and freaked, "Gaaaah! Emily, what are ya doin'?!" He quickly pulled her back to her feet.

"My BABY… RUPERT just went down the TOILET!"

"Ha hah, come on, we stopped worrying about that when he turned two, he still falls in, but not enough to sink. You can't keep treating him like a helpless ant, remember Emily?"

"B-But he DID! After he came in with his ant army, and he said!…he said!…"

"He saaaaaiiid…?"

"…He said…" Emily smiled, "He'll be all right. I should take a shower." Her aura far more calm than it had been in days, she undressed.

In minutes, she was standing in the tub, soaking her skin with the steaming water as her soul healed. "Hm… Rupert leading an ant army down the toilet… I thought Mika had messed-up dreams. Siiiigh…" She hung her head under the faucet so her hair drooped. "Rupert… I'm sorry I yelled… wherever you are, wherever you go… I'll always be beside you… remember that. I know you'll find your way back to us…"

Act 2: Cavern of Discarded

"WAAAAAaaaaaahhhh!" The children went whipping across a rapid stream after flushing down the drain.

"LOOK OUT FOR THAT WATERFALL!" Timmy screamed, pointing ahead.

"HOLD ON!" Rupert grabbed a nearby stairway ledge, his other hand holding Timmy's, who held Hikari, who formed a long string of their Pikmin grabbed one-another that extended down the waterfall. The Ghost Pikmin appeared and helped Rupert on the stairs, and with all his strength he pulled his friends and Pikmin to safety.

"Sigh… that was close." Timmy sighed.

"Good thing Dad didn't actually use it, right? Ha ha." Rupert chuckled.

The whirling of propellers was heard as their seven Onions came fluttering down the drain pipe, taking land on this piece of land they stood on. "Well, I guess we're not going back up."

"I hope no 'back up' comes down anytime soon." Timmy moaned.

"Then let's get moving. Hopefully we'll find a way out." (Play "Jellyfloat Pool" from Pikmin 2.)

They expected the pipelines below Rupert's house to be filled with decades of dung and gunge, rusty pipes with absolutely no hint to their former silvery self, their noses shriveling at the scent of too many compounds of dead matter. But it was beautiful and very spacious. There was an odor and pipes were rusty and accumulating dirt. But there was solid ground to stand on, floors and walls of large blue tiles that were eroding away and exposing the earth behind. The way this structure was intricately carved, as if by men, or Minish… it was a whole other floor of this house Rupert never knew about. One he wouldn't mind visiting again, if the circumstances for coming and going here weren't so risky.

Rupert summoned his Red Pikmin and went to take out some grazing Bulborbs, bringing them back to retrieve 16 new Reds. They rearranged and took the same amount as last time, except 15 Reds and 15 Blues, still making the perfect 100. They followed a corridor carved from a rusted pipe that sloped down into a new room where Jellyfloats floated about the air. They were alien-like in their blended yellow/blue color, spots around their bulb, and glowing yellow antennas. They tried to slurp up their Pikmin, but they didn't immediately die, just floated mindlessly within the jelly. The kids quickly chucked Rock Pikmin to destroy the Jellyfloats and save their comrades. They were then facing a rapid river that surfed further down, but looked too wild for them to survive in. A Waddlepus clung onto the wall beside the next path, blowing bubbles over the river between the two footholds.

The kids tossed Yellow Pikmin up into the bubbles, causing them to sink. Quickly, the trio jumped across the bubbles while their Pikmin mimicked, and the Ghost and Wing types pushed the bubbles over the foothold as well so the Pikmin would pop safely. They then overlooked a great, carved pipe-pathway where it looked like a river should flow, but was almost dry, with just a few dead leaves. But another distant whooshing wave mixed with the sounds of this previous river, sounding from up the hill of the barren one. A beautiful voice that belonged to a passionate woman echoed from beyond the pipes as the water came rushing. "Here we aaaaare, racing down the street again, wonderin' if this is how we're meant to be-e-e-e-e, fast as Lightning makin' a scene again, wonderin'…"

Rupert's eyes lit with love and delight. "It's…It's my mom! She sounds so… happy."

"Great, so we probly shouldn't tell her her baby got flushed down the toilet." Timmy remarked. "Which wouldn't have happened if, you know."

"Fast as Lightning givin' you a heavy load, fast as lightning wondering if this is how we're meant to be, 'cause it's just you and me now…" His mom sounded so happy. Rupert wondered if she actually saw him in her half-dead state, knew her son's current position. Or a part of her told her Rupert was just fine, and he would come back soon. No matter how long it takes, he would keep the sound of that voice in his head, encourage himself to keep going. A leaf floated close by, so the friends and the Pikmin jumped to it. It threatened to sink before long, so they jumped to another, and repeated this pattern before jumping off at a safe ledge on the right.

They were stranded at this point, as the leaves would eventually sink against a grated waterway, and the parallel ledge was too high. The kids climbed atop each other so Hikari could see and confirm there were bridge tiles up there, with Water Dumples guarding them, and tall glowing mushrooms grew there, too. The kids sent their Ghost Pikmin to battle the Dumples with nary a scratch, but the bridge tiles were in range of the Glowcaps, and when the Ghosts began to falter, the kids called them back. They instead sent the Wing Pikmin to collect and create the bridge, so they could get up. Sticking out of the wall and lain on the floor was a pipe closed by a hatch, in which they had their Pikmin turn the wheel and open it, revealing a shortcut up to the area beside the first river.

They let their Purples, Rocks, and Reds take the 3 Water Dumples to the Onions via the shortcut, and Hikari went with them. Their next route would take them across a gas pipe, with several holes where gas geysers were spewing out. They would never be able to guide all their Pikmin, so only the Whites and Ghosts. Rupert and Tim held their breath and navigated around the geysers, careful of their footing on this slippery pipe over the river, 'til it led safely into a tunnel. There were still geysers, but an enclosing on their right led to an open, dirt-filled room. They walked around until their Whites started digging a spot, and then had their Ghosts on it as they revealed a faucet beneath the soil. Rup and Tim got on and started running the direction of the arrow, turning the faucet and disabling the gas flow.

They returned for their other Pikmin as well as Hikari, able to cross the whole of the pipe and reaching a new corridor of bathroom tiles. The source of the shower flow drew further away, the sounds of Emily's voice fading, but a faint bit was heard. They wandered a maze where Wollywogs leapt out to crush them, succeeding in destroying 3 Blues and 3 Yellows. They had the Ghosts and Rocks destroy the Wogs, but let the bodies be for now. Dweevils dropped down in random parts of the ceiling, the kids destroying them before too much damage was done, and they eventually found a dead-end area with a water pool. There was a F.L.U.D.D. head (Assistance Legend) down there, but the Blues couldn't swim and carry it. So they sent the Ghosts in, unable to drown since they're already dead, to carry the F.L.U.D.D. together. They had the Blues take back a Wollywog, and Yellows, Whites, and Purples take Dweevils.

Rupert offered to see them back while Tim and Hikari progressed forward. Rupert never actually accompanied them going back much, so seeing them carry prey in perfect alignment and unison was entertaining. The Ghosts couldn't carry the F.L.U.D.D. through walls or through the shortcut because of the glowy mushrooms, instead floated slowly and softly over and up the shower river. Rupert smiled, admired the Pikmin's cleverness at times, knowing which paths were impassable and which they could safely take. Except when they were following him, straying just a little bit and walking into something dangerous. They were such fun, silly, and unique creatures. Rupert was glad he got to meet them.

Meanwhile, Tim and Hikari made it to a long, shallow puddle that a plug was touching, making it flash with electricity. The puddle was thin enough for Pikmin to cross, but any one of them would die the moment they touched it. Hence, the Yellow Pikmin gladly lifted the kids and some Pikmin and carried them across. Their hearts were racing, praying above prayer the Pikmin wouldn't trip and drop to their demise. The puddle stretched a while, they were more afraid they would fall and zap to death, until they finally reached a sandgate with poison patches. The Yellows chucked their carried Whites onto the gate to begin breaking, Timmy and Hikari wishing they would hurry up so they can get off this puddle. It took forever with 6 Whites, but the gate collapsed, and the poison pouches followed as the Pikmin carried them to dry land.

Here, they found a huge lever, designed like a lightswitch, only they were tiny. The Pikmin shoved and flipped it, disabling the electric. Rupert and his Pikmin were able to cross, and Timmy demanded 30 dollars because of that endeavor. Oh, the allowances he'd have to save. By this point, Emily's singing was gone from their ears, but the Pikmin memorized the rhythm of the song and were humming it to keep their spirits up. "La la la, la la, lalala, lalala la LA la la, la la la la-a-a-a, la la LA la, lalala la, lalala la la la, la la la-a-a-a-a…"

They made it to a large room where Shiny Bulborbs roamed, two Jellyfloats, and a Great Jellyfloat, which was larger, dark-blue, and had dark-pink spots. They kept their Ghosts at bay (no way they were losing them) and marched forward to chuck their Rocks and Purples at the jellies. Meanwhile, Rupert bravely approached the two Bulborbs with 15 Yellows, letting the brawl take place. 3 Yellows were eaten, then 2, so Rupert called them back and tried to run, totally outmatched. Rupert called some Purples over and risked their health for serious damage on the Bulborbs. 2 Purples were eaten, but the Bulborbs were defeated in time. All monsters were fallen as Rupert let the Purples take one Bulborb while the Reds took another. There were several enclosings with nectar eggs or Iridescent Flint Beetles, but only one path was true. They decided to go together, trusting their other Pikmin to get back okay.

This path grew darker and made several turns. Finally they were in a huge, dark room lit with Glowcaps. They stepped forward and felt their feet sink in shallow water, but deep enough for their Pikmin to drown, so only Blues, Wings, and Ghosts they took. They wandered around, but the room was empty. "AAAAHH!" Suddenly a pair of buggy legs, as thick as logs, hit the ground, giant beady pink eyes staring and two glowing antennas standing straight and diagonal as TV antennas. The Radio Beetle moved its legs fast despite its size, turning to face the Pikmin at the shore and unleashing an intangible shockwave. The sound was minor in the kids' ears, but the Pikmin reacted crazily, feeling the same attraction as their Pikmin Whistles. The beetle summoned them, tricked them into hitting the water, so the kids frantically tried to whistle them back to land.

Timmy handled that part, while an angered Rupert and Hikar went for the beetle. It attracted their Ghost Pikmin too, tricking them into flying by the Glowcaps to extinguish them. The kids summoned them back quickly, trying their best to throw Pikmin onto the beetle's eyes, but it shook them off in spite of damages. It became an annoying pattern, throwing their Pikmin over and over again for a little damage, quickly summoning them from the beetle's control, chasing it, throwing for damage, shook off, then again. As the bug was skittering around, it sent Hikari flying with a whipping-fast kick. Rupert grew more angered, tirelessly calling his Pikmin back, chasing the bug, and throwing them on. As long, arduous, and boring as it was, the beetle saw its last moments of standing, and collapsed before Rupert's Pikmin.

His frail arms, which could never lift a box of old toys, felt so tired. So much throwing and throwing, he didn't wanna do it anymore, he wanted to rest. The Pikmin he had used for this noble battle walked/flew up to him, patting his arms and shoulders. They were glad he kept his strength 'til the very end, and were honored to be in his command. That's what he wanted to believe, and he did. In the beetle's remains, they found a curious device. It was a radio made of wood, clearly Minish-crafted. Rupert picked it up and fiddled with its controls.

"Nah nah!" His Pikmin excitedly ran around him, and the ones at shore tried going to him, 'til Timmy called them back from the water. "Whaddyou think this is?" Rupert asked.

For minutes they played around with it. In time, they realized the Reds and Purples they sent back suddenly found their way to them. "Hey… you think this radio lets Pikmin know where we are?" Timmy asked.

"Hey, maybe it does! We're definitely keepin' this. …Uhhh, but they probably made Pikmin rooted in the ground. Let's go back 'n' get them."

So they made the long journey back to pluck the new Purple and Red Pikmin. Then they came aaaaall the way back, finding nothing else in the beetle's room but a hole leading deeper in. The kids nodded and bravely made the jump in. (Play "Rest Area" from Pikmin 2.)

Stage Progress: Red Pikmin: 45. Yellow Pikmin: 51. Blue Pikmin: 42. Pink Pikmin: 51. White Pikmin: 45. Purple Pikmin: 47. Rock Pikmin: 30. Ghost Pikmin: 10. Total: 321.

The kids landed in a soft patch of soil, and found the Onions flew to them and came down as well. This cavern had a light not far away, so they followed it (keeping their Ghosts at a distance). The end of the cavern had a populace garden of Pellet Posies, nectar eggs, and Pikmin just waiting to be plucked. Their eyes glowed with wonder as colorful Spectralids fluttered over the garden, the light from the ceiling making their wings shine. "Whoa… it's beautiful." Timmy said quietly.

They looked as some Pikmin walked in with buckets of water, pouring them in the garden to make more Posies grow. "Looks like they're growing more." Rupert observed. "Hope they won't mind us takin' some."

He was about to pluck some of the rooted Pikmin, when- "GET YER OWN GRUB, YOU ROTTEN KIDS!"

"AAAH!" Rupert backed away in fright when a gruff old Minish with a lantern stomped out. He had a short white beard and wore withered leaf clothing, his beady black eyes narrowed at Rupert. He raised his lantern for a better look at the trio.

"Well Ah'll be chlorophyll… you runts're human." He spoke more calmly. "I haven't seen a human in over 30 years. …Yer smaller 'an I remember."

"HIIIII Mr. Old Chipmunk Guuuuy!" Hikari greeted with a sunny smile. "Why do you live under Ruppy's hooooouse?"

"Ruppy?"

"Hehe… that's me." Rupert blushed. "We sorta got flushed down my toilet and we ended up here."

"You sound like you have a wild story to tell… Why don't we get you kids some dinner." He snapped his fingers as some Pikmin came over with some berries and bread crumbs. Timmy and Hikari were more than excited to finally have food, so the kids sat and proceeded to feast as Rupert explained his story.

"So my dad just ditched me in the woods, then, well, out of nowhere, this random tree stump shrunk me. Then I saw some Minish playing with these Pikmin, and I guess I… wanted to get into it, too."

"Then outta nowhere, he drags us into it, too." Timmy informs. "Then we figured we might as well protect him since Rupert's a wimp."

"I could beat YOU up."

"Pikmin are odd creatures, ain't they?" The old man asked. "Even humans 'come fascinated with 'em. Back in the day, I was all about these creatures… have you ever heard the story of Malarko?"

"Malar-who?" Hikari asked.

"Malarko… 'e was a legendary Minish and one of the earliest recorded to ever use Pikmin. He was the first to find and use every type of Pikmin… and became the most feared Minish of them all. He made an army of over one thousand Pikmin… 100 Reds, 100 Yellows, 100 Blues, 100 Wings, Purples, Whites, Rock, bunch of colors I don't remember… and with them, overpowered a band of humans that tried to tear down the Tree of Beginning. Then, he started the Minish Kids Next Door."

"Were YOU a Minish operative?" Timmy asked.

"Yeah, I was… it's a story that almost all of 'em know. Some call it a bunch of malarkey… 'cause that was his name. Some think the legend is true. But if it were… somewhere on this Earth, his Army of a Thousand Pikmin, and the Onions that contain 'em, rest, waiting to be called again."

"Did you try to find them?" Rupert asked.

"Even if I could… only members of Malarko's family could use them, as well as the relatives of the friends he lent 'em to. But I tried to create my own army. I flew everywhere searchin' for all kinds, takin' all sorts of prey to make my army huge… but too many of 'em got smooshed, too many eaten, and I ain't even find that many colors. …So I decided to settle down, hollowed this underground cave out with my earthbending, and using some Sun Plants I gathered, I planted 'em here so they would grow to the ground and channel all the sunlight gathered from the day to grow my garden. I also set this place up close to some water pipes, get a… mildly fresh water source from the filth of you humans. The lady of the house is takin' a shower now."

"Hehe… I'll pass your thanks to my mom." Rupert blushed.

"Hear all sorts of things in that house up there. 'parently all the ladies get freaky powers and the men are usually wimps. …Is that accurate?"

"Matter of speaking… yes."

"So what're you doing with these Pikmin anyway, Kid? Some crazy dream you wantin' to follow? …"

"To be honest… I never really thought about it. I'm always getting beat up by my dad… I guess I just wanted to get away from him. And these Pikmin looked so happy, I just… wanted to hang out with 'em. It's just so much peaceful down here. 'Course, my mom is worried sick about me… she's stressing so much over where I am, and we tried to get their attention but got flushed down here."

"Need I remind you you had the PERFECT opportunity to- ow!" Rupert slapped Timmy.

"That reminds me, did you see any Minish kids come by here? We saw some go down my sink drain."

"Oh yeh… some twerps walked by." The elder replied. "Wanted some food 'cause they were goin' on some crazy mission to that there Dressrosa."

"Dressrosa?"

"Is some island or.. somethin'. Told me a lot of unusual activity was goin' on; some factory is genetically modifying all the fruit there. That's no good."

"Could you tell us which way they went? We wanna ask them to help us."

"That little hatch over thar." He pointed to a pipe that burrowed beneath the ground, sealed with a lid with a turnwheel. "Goes to the sewer. Makes me wonder how those brats plan on makin' it to Dressrosa."

Rupert exchanged glances with his friends. It might've been the only shot they had, so they would take it. "Well, thanks for the food, Mr.…"

"Call me Barry." The old Minish replied. "I wish you safe travels now, 'Ruppy'. And tell your mom my Pikmin like her singing."

"Ha ha ha! I do, too. See you later, Mr. Barry!" The trio hurried over to turn open the hatch, proceeding to climb a ladder down the endless shaft. Barry watched as their seven Onions shortly followed suit.

"Haaah… sure is different from when I was an operative. 'Don't let humans see you, stay out of sight,' now they're letting twerps like them into Minish World. Heh… next thing you know, they'll actually join the KND." (End song.)

In time, Team Rupert finally made it to the bottom, a stronger and louder rushing of water in their ears. After crossing a short plain, they found their selves atop a towering cliff over a river that looked like a huge, filthy ocean. The pipe-filled walls stretched to a ceiling as high as the sky, and by that horrid faint scent, they knew they were in the sewer. A few meters to their right were some stairs that led to a pier, and Minish kids were getting onboard a them-size sailboat. The friends bolted to and down the stairs as fast as they could.

"Darn it, Oak's team said they'd be here hours ago." a Minish boy, Acro said impatiently. "If they aren't here in 5 minutes, we're shippin' off-"

"Huff, WAAIT!" Team Rupert made it down with desperate need for breath.

"What the… HUMANS?!"

"Yeah I know, it's a long story, but we need you guys to biggify us." Rupert told them quickly.

"We don't have time for that, we're on a mission to Dressrosa!" a girl, Pine stated.

"You can take us with you and do it THERE." Timmy retorted. "You know what it's like eating nothing but crumbs?" They stared at him weirdly. "…Okay, maybe you do."

"Hold on… you guys use Pikmin?" Acro noticed the creatures behind them.

"Y-Yeah, Sappo and Gibli-" Rupert began.

"-and Rupert shrunk us." Timmy interrupted.

"Good enough." Acro concluded. "Another group was supposed to be down here, but if they're not gonna show, congratulations, you're the first human operatives to go on a Minish KND mission."

"But we're not-" Hikari tried to say.

"Time to go, gotta catch the liner, LET'S MOVE!" Acro forcibly pulled them onto the boat while the Pikmin, already sensing the journey, excitedly returned to their Onions. The boat was untied from the dock and the Onions fluttered after while the insect-size vessel swayed up and down to the giant rushing waves.

"Ruuuupeeeeeert?" moaned Timothy.

"Yeeeeeees?"

"I get motion sickneeeeeeess."

"Me toooooooo."

"WHEEEEEEEEEE!" cheered Hikari as the wind breezed her hair.

Since they didn't have watches, they easily lost track of time as the boat kept sailing. In time, the river surfed out of an expansive pipe out of the sewer, down a humongous waterfall that turned the ship diagonal as they screamed to the heavens, then were finally horizontal after a forceful BUMP, sailing under a starry night sky. "A think it's past my bedtime…" Rupert said woozily.

"Take a nap on the boat, we're almost there." Acro retorted.

"But we ARE on the boat." Timmy whined.

"He means THAT boat!" yelled another Minish.

They didn't immediately see it through the darkness of night, believing those lights were oddly-bright stars… but soon, the humans realized their teeny boat was sailing to a tremendous steamboat, its foghorn roaring miles and nautical miles from where they sat. "Whoa…" Rupert was too tired to gape in awe.

Astonished as they were, the Minish boat made it before the country-like vessel shipped off. They were so uncomfortably close to the ship, the humans were afraid they would crash. Some of the Minish's Wing Pikmin got between both vessels to push and prevent impact. "Quick, grab our Brown Pikmin." The Minish kids planted either hand on a Brown Pikmin, which then began climbing the side of the vessel with super-sticky bodies. Rupert's team held onto their own Brown Pikmin, though while this would normally be a heart-racing endeavor for the tinies, they were far too tired. Now Rupert felt just like his mom. Eventually, they entered a tiny cracked opening into the ship's storage. A team of tiny ants, their floating flower things, hidden in darkness amongst towers of crates. It was here, in this darkness, Team Rupert and the Minish could rest safely. Enjoy the ride to Dressrosa.

Midway Peak

The party was over. The guests were going home, using whatever means they had of coming there. The Corporate Presidents and their children were boarding the Excess Express. Don Quixote Doflamingo kept his cool smile as he joined. He stopped, feeling his phone vibrate. A text message from Diamante. Freddy's ransacked.

His face scrunched to reveal veins. What a way to ruin a good party. When his kids were about to pass, he grabbed his daughter's arm. "Sugar." She was midway in eating a grape, looking up. Her father's head kept straight. "I'm going to lock you in your room when we get home. I need to keep you safe."

"…Okay." She complied simply. They boarded the train. Sector DR went to their room and settled on their mats, and Jr. and Sugar their bunks. Sugar kept in the dark of the low bunk. Her basket of grapes, crown, and eyepatch on the nightstand, her sandals and coat on the floor. She got under the covers and lay asleep, holding her new Rainbow Monkey close as the train's regular shakes rocked them to sleep.