16. Not Even An Ant

Dressrosa

Doflamingo's family returned to Dressrosa very late at night. The whole town was long since in their homes, as per curfew. Dressrosa was empty, quiet. Doflamingo kept his daughter close as he led her across town. Eventually, they climbed to their castle set high on a stone fortress. Sugar was brought to her room, full of toys, color, and fun activities, no windows. "Stay here, Sugar." her father told her grimly. "We may put toy production on hiatus until we can confirm it's safe. Don't make too much noise. Good night." He shut her door and locked it.

Sugar walked to her bed and settled under the covers, just like hours ago on the train. She held the brown-haired Rainbow Monkey and fell into slumber.

The next day

Dressrosa was one of the liveliest towns you'll ever visit. Half the population was humans, half the population was living, walking toys, created by the very company which protected this island. As they engaged with children for as long as the sun was out, happiness and joy was all anyone felt, the terrific lack of darkness and gloom rivaled Mariejoa. Guards roamed the street, ensuring there was no conflict among their happy citizens.

The Corrida Colosseum was the most populace place this day, watching warriors duke it out like ravenous animals. The prime attraction was Azure, a small, floating, silver-bodied creature with a blue steel helmet. It wielded swords in its twin tails and slew every man that came at it.

Downtown, our heroes waited in a dark alley as Nolan overviewed a digital map. "Why aren't we in costume again?" Crystal asked.

"Because this is a day mission, for our day clothes, and three masked/hooded adults flying under the sun would draw a bit much attention. Anyway, the plan: we break into Doflamingo's castle, find his daughter, punch her senseless, everyone turns back to normal."

"What makes you think that?"

"Call it a hunch. Anyway, Yuki wanted the honor of infiltration, he shall have it. Your first test will be stealthing a guard and taking his costume."

"No prob." Yuki smirked.

A casual guard in a pink-feathered coat and sunglasses whistled as he strolled into the alley. Yuki jumped out, beat the crap out of him, and dragged him to the darkness. Nolan and Wiccan watched as he came out strapped in the guard's clothing; he barely looked like himself except for frosty skin. "Perfect. And, through know-how of my own, I hacked the company's website last night, found the guards' shifts and where they keep stuff. Apparently they use a password system that changes on a daily basis, I'll radio you today's passwords if you get in any trouble." Nolan briefed.

"Right…" The feathers were already making Yuki itch. "Where exactly am I going?"

"The Toy House, just around the western side of that fortress. Sugar's gotta be in there. I reckon the city will fall into a panic if everyone turns back, we'll seize that time to break into the castle and attack Doflamingo. From there, maybe we can find Caesar. Let's get to it. Good luck, Yuki."

Stage 27: Dressrosa

Mission: Stop Doflamingo's operations.

Act 1

Yuki fixed his sunglasses on and marched the first city street in a casual fashion. "You there!" He flinched, spotted by another guard. "What is the password to the casino?" he asked with an Italian accent.

"Uhhhhh-"

"Casino, 't's right here." Nolan said. "It's-"

"Pica Pica Trebol Dia." Yuki answered.

"Okay, that checks out. What's-a Doflamingo adding these extra security measures for, he don't-a trust us?"

"Er—is that rhetorical or…"

"Hah hah, you-a funny, eh…" The guard looked at Yuki's nametag, "Mauricio. Nice-a new hairdo." With that, he walked away.

"Sigh… gotta watch out for that." Yuki sighed.

"No kidding, you call that an Italian accent? Sound more realistic." Nolan stated.

"Dude, I'm from France."

"I thought you were Japanese."

"Yet he moved to Iceland." Wiccan followed.

"Screw it, I'll talk Italian. Hopefully all the guards I encounter will be English."

Yuki progressed, trying to avoid as many people and walking toys in this bazaar. A little boy was happily playing with a springy dog on his right. It was strange how happy everyone seemed, Yuki had to remember that none of these toys were in their own will, nor anyone in the right mind. "Oi!" Another guard stopped him. "What was yesterday's password for the Toy House?"

"Cora Pica Monet Monet."

"Okay-a. Next time you get a haircut, I know a good barber." The guard left as Yuki made his way down a dark alley leading west, but more guards were passing. "What's the password for the colosseum?"

"Dia Dia Senor Cora."

"What was last week's order of executive seats?"

"Dia Pica Trebol Cora."

"What will be tomorrow's castle password?"

"Cora Cora Pica Trebol?"

"That's right-a. Your haircut's-a scary though."

"So I've been told-a." Yuki made it out of the alley and to another active street. "Getting sick of people criticizing my haircut."

"Play it cool, just get to the Toy House."

After coding his way past at least four more guards, Yuki arrived at the Toy House, which seemed built into the wall of the fortress and designed like stacks of colorful presents with fun designs. A fat, tan-skinned man in sunglasses guarded outside. He wore a purple shirt with 'Let's Baby' written, too small as his blubbery tummy was exposed, tight yellow underwear, and sucked on a pacifier. "Mw-mw." He sucked a few times and narrowed his vision on Yuki. "Mauricio. It is time for your shift already?" His accent was more Hispanic than Italian.

"Yes it is, a…"

"Señor Pink, that's this guy's name."

"Señor-a."

"Then give me today's password."

"Pica Pica Cora Pica."

Señor's sunglasses twinkled. "Bueno… but what is the name of the woman I got with last night?"

"I, uh… I did not hear-a that, I meant to ask the other guy."

Señor seemed to furrow. "What other guy? Is Gladius trying to steal my woman again? I will visit him at the casino later and give him a taste of… Pink."

"I'll-a pass him your message, do not-a worry." Yuki turned and walked away, casually disappearing behind some citizens to be out of eyesight from him. "Dammit, he won't let me in. Maybe I'll try my luck with this Gladius."

"The casino's just down this road, down some stairs on your right to an alley." Yuki kept forward and noticed another alleyway along the right. The stairs led to an empty enclosing with a 'Restaurant'. "Well, the map says this is it."

"Way to hide it." Yuki approached the entrance and knocked. A little slot opened, revealing dark eyes. "Identificare il nome e la zuppa preferita."

"Oh, crap. Uh, Google Translate, don't fail me now. Lessee, 'identicare,' uhhhh, your name and favorite soup. Now, 'My name is…'"

"Il mio nome è Mauricio, che mi piace di patate arrosto."

"Bene. Ora la password?"

"Pica Pica Trebol Dia."

"Bene. Si accomodi." He opened the door.

It was probably the smallest casino Yuki ever saw, nothing very flashy, a bar in the far left corner, slot machine, card game at one table, and a roulette wheel. A large man in a big yellow coat was using the slot machine, and a kid that looked like his son was beside him. "Nuuiiii Dad, why did Doffy's dad lock Sugar in her room again-daizokun?"

"I told you-dasoyun, he thinks someone's trying to get her. I dunno why, but when Diamante called and said Freddy's got ransacked, he got worried. He's having Trebol guard the door to her room, and if he catches anyone try to sneak in there, he'll bind them up and have her turn 'em into toys. I think Young Master Doffy's getting a little paranoid-dasoyun. He's been making toys for 12 years, how could anyone find out now."

"Nuiiii. Well, I'm going back to the treehouse-daizokun. I'll tell Mom you were gambling again." Bison began to waddle to the exit.

"Niiii. Okay."

Yuki stepped aside and let the child leave. "You said his name was Buffalo?" he whispered.

"Yeah. Gladius should be wearing a mask and have spiky hair like yours. See him?"

"Ahhh…" Yuki searched and found a spike-haired man at the roulette. "Yeah. 'kay, wish me luck." He calmly approached the masked man watching the roulette spin. "Ahem, uh, Gladius-a."

"Oh, Mauricio. Very interesting… haircut." He spoke with a calm aura.

"What, you got-a nice hair, thought about shapin' like it."

"Mmhm… what is the password to the trade port?"

"Dia Dia Pica Tre. 'ey, can you help-a me out, I'm supposed to be in the Toy Factory, but I don't-a know the lady Señor slept with last night."

"Ugh, this is why progress is slow with Señor… Her name was Natasha. Don't ask how I know that."

"'Course not-a." Yuki casually left the restaurant ('cause casual is the key to stealth) and returned to the Toy House. "You did-a Natasha, didn't you."

"Mw." Señor's right shade twinkled. "Sí. Now tell your hero Gladius, she is mine."

"Señor, I just want to go to my shift-a."

"Mw. This is not over, Mauricio." His cold stare remained on Yuki as he walked away. Yuki sighed in annoyance before entering the colorful house.

It was just as colorful and decorative inside, though very small at first glance. Toys roamed around mindlessly and guards stood firm, keeping order. "The boss says-a we should watch out for intruders. But what else-a are we doing?" one remarked.

"Who's he expect to show up, Rubberband Man? Ay ay… hey you!" He pointed at Yuki. "What code makes the heli-toy fly?!"

"Coming right up!"

"Uno uno dos tres."

Immediately, a small helicopter toy panicked as it hovered into the air, flew directly forward, and crashed into a wall. The guards laughed ecstatically. "Ay, Gladius, you are such a… 'ey wait, you are-a Mauricio. Way to-a really 'stick out'!" They laughed away as Yuki bypassed and headed into a door in the back.

This room was much larger, where Yuki's floor had an overview of a lower area where toys were carrying crates from Point A to B, commanded by guards. This round upper floor was protected by a fence-wall, so Yuki proceeded rightward, finding a doorway blocked by an energy barrier. "Yo Nol, what's the coe?"

"Uhhhh barrier door in Toy House, not finding that. Uhhh maybe search around?"

Yuki headed back the opposite way, to a dead-end area encased within the fence where several crates lay. Old papers were stacked inside them, but nothing that gave any hint to the door. "'ey, why did Doflamingo not tell anyone the code to the barrier, I had to ask like four guys." Yuki listened intently to a talking guard below.

"He wants as few people in the house as possible, too afraid of spies."

"He has like a hundred guards, why ya gotta keep 'ocho nueve cero cuatro' a secret?"

Yuki quickly rushed to the barrier, typed in the number—oh wait, he didn't know their English versions. He asked Nolan and confirmed it was '8904', entering. Beyond the fence of a parallel wall was an elevator shaft, the door of which was on the lower floor, so Yuki quickly headed to the staircase—"YOU THERE, factory password, go."

"Cora Trebol Trebol Pica."

"Okay. GDV, ah?" Yuki exchanged a laugh for who-knows-what with him before they crossed paths. Yuki went down the stairs to the lower floor, and ignoring all the guards whipping toys, he approached the elevator. "Halt." A guard stopped him. "Elevator password."

"Dos cinco seis nueve."

"All yours. Oh, it's just coming down."

Indeed, the elevator was slowly lowering to stop at their floor. Yuki eagerly waited directly in front, and when the green light dinged, it opened. Two guards stood on either side of a red-caped, open-shirt, slender man with painted red lines down his eyes and a big mouth. The guards all saluted behind Yuki. "Heads up, Yu, that's Diamante, one of the bosses!"

"Ha-heeeeey, Diamante, what's uuuup!" Yuki cheered.

"You're awfully cheery today, Gladius."

"I am Mauricio."

"My mistake. Are you on duty down below?"

"Well ah, I was looking for uh, Trebol. You-a know where he is?"

"Trebol's on an important assignment. No one's allowed to disturb him."

"What, he's-a guarding the girl's room, isn't 'e?"

"? …" Diamante froze. "How do you know what he's guarding? None of the guards were informed."

"Oh-uh, Buffalo told me, he-a wanted me to go 'n' ask him for something, somethin' about extra money, you know for the casino."

"Damn Buffalo, can't he keep a secret. Look, no guards are allowed upstairs, if you still wanna be useful, go down and help in the trade port."

"Oh, what are we trading, spaghetti and meatballs?"

"The illegal kind, probably. I'm going to the colosseum. That Azure creature… she's quite a catch. If she wins this year, I'm thinking of…" With a devious grin, Diamante went upstairs with the guards. Yuki sighed and pushed a lower-floor button, quietly enjoying the ride down.

"No guards allowed upstairs, huh? Okay, let's think this through… can you icebend in there?"

Yuki looked around for an elevator camera, seeing one in the corner, so he made a tiny ice glow in his hand, hidden from its vision. "Apparently. So I should go mano a mano with Trebol? How tough can he be?"

"Siiiigh… I would like to hope he's by himself and can't put up a fight… but if Sugar is that important, and Flamingo's trusting Trebol to guard her, I dunno. Just walk around the trade port, maybe you'll find something."

Before long, the elevator stopped and let Yuki onto the floor. "Whoa…" Indeed, it was an underground harbor, massive and atmospheric. A steamboat was parked at the docks as toys carried crates off and brought them to a huge, distant factory. "What's something like that doing—SMILEs Factory?"

"'SMILEs'… that's the alias Caesar gave his Devil Fruits." Nolan recounted their trip to Punk Hazard. "Is that where Caesar is working?"

"Hold on, there's some people there! They look like… Teen Ninjas!" Black-armored teenagers were in fact standing near the factory entrance. "I'm gonna try and get closer." Yuki did a fast-walk on the way to the factory, hoping to not draw too much suspicion from passing guards and toys. None of them were asking for passwords, apparently too focused on work and boredom. Yuki went behind a nearby stack of crates, pretending to inspect them while he increased the range of his earpiece to overhear the Teens.

A large, buff teen with a neck-brace opened a box brought out to him by guards. Eldwin pulled out two Devil Fruits, an orange and a strawberry. "Another mighty fine haul. These will make good rewards for CP10. Whenever they get a non-wild goose chase assignment. King Sandy really drove them crazy. Now for your payment: we found a couple of snot-nosed twerps lost at sea, they belong to the Kids Next Door. According to reports, they're the grandkids of Kyogre the Sea God. If that's not worth a Yipper 50 and 572, I dunno what is. Just help us get these goodies loaded and we'll send 'em down."

The guards carried the Devil Fruits to the ship, and Yuki kept behind them casually. He pretended to patrol the general area and watched them go up the plank. Minutes later, guards were escorting two handcuffed kids, Melody and Danny Jackson, down from the vessel. Yuki walked a good distance away, watching the guards leading the children toward the factory. Thinking fast, Yuki grabbed his Mauricio nametag and stuffed it away, quickly approaching the guards. "Ahem, I'll take them from here, gentlemen."

"And you are-a?"

"Gladius. Thought about going casual today."

"Eh, no one else has that hairdo. Why do you need these kids?"

"I've been told these were Kids Next Door operatives, I think we need someone more reliable to watch them."

"If you say so. Hope they don't make you pop." The guards tossed Yuki the keys and left the children in his care.

Melody and Danny followed Yuki patiently, a smug face on the former. "I just want you to know, this is child abuse." Melody argued. "Your company can be sued for millions, not just for irrationally kidnapping us, but underground trade ports are illegal in this part of the sea, you know. My mom's an international reporter, she'll bust your ass."

"Pipe down."

"Oh, you do not tell ME what to do, I don't need waterbending to freeze YOUR nuts."

"Someone already beat you to the punch." Yuki hid behind a row of drums away from guards, kneeled, and took off his glasses. "Kids, my name is Yuki."

"Mr. Crystal? What are you doing here?"

"Undercover. Hey, maybe you kids can help, I need to take someone out upstairs and she has a guard protecting her, but I have a plan. Assuming my 'Gladius' disguise holds up, we're gonna ride up to his floor and I'll tell him you operatives know Sugar's 'secret.' Now—I'll explain on the way—I'll suggest we make you into toys, so hopefully they'll let Sugar—that's the toymaker—out, then I'll take a swing at her."

"Okay, ummm… and how do we know you aren't tricking us?" Melody asked, and had zillions other questions spinning in her head.

"Just trust me on this, oh and pretend you're beaten-up so I can drag you on the floor, can't make it too suspicious."

"I better get an interview for this."

"Deal." Yuki led the kids to the elevator, pushed the button, and waited for it to lower. "Get down now, there's a camera." Melody and Danny fell to their sides, looking injured. Yuki dragged them in and pushed the button to Floor 4, hoping that to be the right one. Yuki kept still and avoided looking at the camera, feeling tense from the quiet. Just when the elevator was half past Floor 3, it shook and stopped.

There was a bong. "Hello, elevator passengers, this is your humble host, Don Quixote Doflamingo. We apologize for the inconvenience, but the elevator seems to have a little heavy… luggage. We are sending guards to rectify this dilemma. Until then, enjoy your nap. Fufufufufufufufufufu!"

"Yuki? Yuki, what's going on?" Nolan called. Gas began to fill the elevator, Yuki and the kids growing weary. "Yuki, it's all staticky on my end, what's up? Yuki—"

They all passed out. The gas eventually faded away and the elevator door opened. Within minutes, the guards would come climbing and claim their intruders.

Outside

"Yuki! Yuki, where are you?" Nolan shouted in his wristwatch. "Dammit. Why did I lose transmission?!"

"Radio waves are a little iffy in this area." He and Crystal whipped around. Diamante grinned maliciously, a sword over his shoulder and many guards behind him. "We don't like expensive phone bills. If it isn't the famous Sandman and his protégé. Even without your costumes, you fit Caesar's description to a 'T'."

"You couldn't possibly know we were in town." Nolan said.

"What, you thought you'd glide onto one of our arriving ferries early in the morning and make yourself out as a tourist? All of Dressrosa's ferries have security cameras that allow us to view all incoming passengers before they arrive. You can never be too sure a trio of heroes won't try to sneak in undetected. Now that we have your ice man, there's no one to stop us from cutting you-"

Nolan boosted forward and threw his fist at the officer, but Diamante whooshed his cape in front like a shield, damaging Nolan's fist when it made contact. "Ahhhh! Slag!"

"Uhahahahaha! My cape is made of steel, but with my Ripple-Ripple Fruit, it flaps like a flag! An Armament user, aren't you, Sandman? Let's see how it works against real hardness."

Nolan held his sore knuckles and backed up beside Crystal, the guards locking their guns on the duo. They heard an engine roar and turned, seeing a C.O.O.L.-B.U.S. incoming, inching steadily to the ground. Nolan grabbed Crystal's arm and used his other hand to shoot his grappling hook, propelling them both to the aircraft. "FIRE!" Diamante shouted, the guards failing to blast the intruders.

The heroes flew a few feet over the bus and landed on the roof, crouching and holding tight. "Dad! Miss Wickens!" Dillon exclaimed, sticking his head out the window.

"Dillon? Shouldn't you be in school??"

"Field trip, Dad, that's why we're on a bus."

"Dillon wanted us to come here for some reason." Aurora yelled through the wind. "Something about Sugar and toys."

"'Guess I should be glad you're here." Nolan said. "I need to get into the castle, fly me-"

One of the bus's legs was sliced off by a string. "Sector VEEEE, how nice of you to VISIT us!" exclaimed Doflamingo Jr., he and Aeral sitting in the mouth of helicopter Bison. "Dressrosa's got all kinds of neat sights! I for one enjoy the AIR SHOW!" Flicking his fingers like guns, the aircraft swiftly evaded the onslaught of strings. Sweetie-1 morphed her arms into cannons, locked on, and blasted bombshells that nearly caught the sector in its range.

"Dillon, I don't suppose your reason for coming here can be connected with why Sector DR's attacking us?" Aurora questioned.

"All of the toys in this town were actually people made into what they are by Doflamingo's daughter, Sugar. He knows we found out, so he's keeping her protected in the castle." Nolan yelled to explain while keeping hold on the swerving school bus.

"His daughter makes all the toys?" Chris shouted. "Can't they tell anyone?"

"I'll try to explain later, for now I need to get in that castle, help Yuki, and take Sugar down."

"That's gonna be a little hard with Sector DR on our tail." Haylee yelled, her expert maneuvering being what's preventing them from being sliced by strings this very moment.

Mason was holding his stomach, unable to take this much speed and shifting angles. "We could sure use a miracle right now."

Elevator

The intruders were still asleep. They were dreaming a pleasant dream… a dream about a flying glass elevator… they saw a little boy with his grandpa and a man with a top-hat… they had a glass elevator too, except the former had missiles that kicked their ass. Awesome.

From the safety of Melody's back pockets, they were safe from the gas: Team Rupert and the Minish KND stretched their micro bones upon landing on the vast floor, whistling for their Pikmin Onions to fly out from Danny's pockets. "Lucky these humans were captured, or sneakin' in woulda been way worse." Acro said.

"But the SMILE Factory was down there, it'll take us ages!" Pine said.

"Never mind that, did you hear what this guy was sayin'?" Rupert asked. "He's trying to take out some girl called Sugar."

"Why do you care?" Acro asked.

"I'm just curious. Oh well… let's just get outta here before anyone comes."

"We'll escape through those open wire slots." Cone said, pointing beyond the edge of the open door. "You humans take the left, we'll go right, stay in contact with these." They tossed the humans wooden communicators.

The tinies reached the wide trench between the elevator and open wall, Team Rupert's hearts racing as Wing Pikmin carried them, their feet dangling above the infinite blackness. To their relief, they made it to the slots. "Wish us both luck. 'specially you guys." Acro said before his team vanished in the darkness.

Rupert took a deep sigh and marched first into the dark hallway, emitting light sparks. "I sure wouldn't mind Mom's hot chocolate by now." (Play "Snagret Hole" from Pikmin 2.)

Act 2: Fun Fun Castle

There were too many sparks down this hallway for comfort, so Team Rupert summoned 20 Yellow Pikmin and marched down. Within the opening slots were broken wires generating the sparks, so they sent a Yellow inside each one, touching both ends of the broken wires as their bodies glowed with electricity. By hall's end, 10 Yellows were filling a broken slot, 'til they were able to come out so an electric beam connected both ends of all wires. They wouldn't spark anymore, so the friends returned to reorganize their Pikmin. 15 Reds, 15 Yellows, 10 Blues, 15 Wings, 10 Whites, 10 Purples, 15 Rocks, and 10 Ghosts, 100 total.

It was very dark when they got into the larger area of the inner-wiring, but a Shiny Bulborb was seen a few meters off. Beebs were running around, little robotic purple spheres with four legs and an antenna. Timmy used the Purple Pikmin to damage and destroy the weak robots while Rupert and Hikari led the Rocks and Yellows to the Shiny Bulborb. With the combined efforts of both types, they pummeled and defeated the creature with nary a loss. "I wonder, do robots even count as prey?" Timmy asked. To answer this question, he had the Purples begin hauling some Beebs back. "'Guess we'll find out."

Rupert made the Yellows carry the Bulborb back before the kids explored this somewhat-large room. A fallen cog, very huge to them, was lain on the floor with a wooden plank leading from it onto a high foothold. Leaned against a corner wall was a similar plank, which the Wing Pikmin happily carried to lean onto the cog so the kids could get up. A bead-made bridge led across the gap to another foothold, where something large and pink was lodged into the floor. It was connected via cords to a pump machine with two heavy switches, the left pressed while the right stuck up. None of their Pikmin could press the switch, so using their new Pikmin Tuner, they summoned the Purples back to them. Rupert tossed one Purple onto the switch, pressing and forcing the other one up, so Timmy tossed a Purple onto that, causing a sequence where one Pikmin flew up from the rising switch, came down and pressed it, bounced the other Pikmin up, and over and over.

There was sort of a rhythm as energy flowed along the wires into the pink thing, but nothing happened. It seemed the wires also connected to a gold bell on the lower floor, and the kids soon found their Rock Pikmin could make it ring. Five Rocks were set around the bell, and as if on instinct, they each hit the bell at different intervals, creating another rhythm. The wires also connected to a bar-like device with split wire ends, needing 10 Yellows to connect them. When the Pikmin flashed, certain Yellows were lighting at different intervals and making a brief "woooo" sound. In time, they realized each of these rhythms went in sync with the level's music—or at least the players should notice that. :P The last of these devices was a flute hanging high on the wall, 10 holes for 10 Wings. No, the Wings couldn't do anything, except carry 10 Whites up into the flute so they could fart gas out of each hole and make a little note.

With all four items in sync, the energy fully flowed into the pink thing. With a sudden trumpet and fanfare, the Onion fluttered from the floor and stood on three legs. It wasn't 'pink', more magenta, and a seed dropped onto that patch of earth. The kids had too many, so they sent 5 Rocks, 5 Wings, and 5 Reds back. Rupert had the honor of going up and plucking their first Magenta Pikmin. It was chubby like the Purples, but a black note with neon edges sat where its antenna should be, the leaf on its tip. It sang with a long note, its voice majestic in Pikmin terms.

Rupert discovered Magenta Pikmin! These guys carry the music in their soul! Get enough of them together on a stage, they'll sing a marvelous performance! So marvelous that fantastic things might happen.

So the kids began to collect the nearby Magenta Pellet Posies and build up their concerto, until 20 Musics existed, with only 15 on the field. Already the room was ringing with their vocalization of the level's music, the other Pikmin mimicking in spirit. It really did add energy to the mission, made the kids happy, they were inspired to keep going. But what could they do to help, that was the question. Near the middle of the farthest wall was a small stage. They set 14 Musics in different spots while a single Music stood on the conductor's platform. It waved an imaginary wand as they burst into song, mimicking the Underground theme of Super Mario Bros.. The kids nodded to the tune before it came to a short end. A huge doorway opened up along the wall, exposing them to a stairway of rounded pipes. They quickly jumped aside when a large saxophone (Song of Tears) haphazardly slid down. A group of 30 Pikmin carried it back before the kids set off to the new floor.

The Pikmin had a hard time trotting up the slippery pipes, but they made it in time and stood upon a platform overlooking a vast room. The floor below was filled with small parts of broken toys, and it seemed the only way to progress is across the other platforms. A hill connected the left of the starting platform to the cluttered floor in case they fell down. The nearest platform was protected by a tall rounded fence, so the kids sent their Ghost Pikmin through to try and pluck the poles from their loose hinges. The Ghosts succeeded as the fence toppled down and made a wide, slight-curled bridge for them all to cross. Unfortunately, a Gatling Groink wandered onto that platform, a large orange fish with mechanical legs and a cannon mouth.

They wanted to use the Ghost Pikmin to wipe it out, but it shone a light on its back to scare them off (as if this enemy couldn't be more annoying). They kept their Musics at a safe distance, but 4 Reds and 5 Whites were destroyed by its cannons, while other Pikmin lost their bloomed flowers. They had Purples and Rocks attack from either exposed side and soon brought the Groink down. However, it slowly restored its health, so they let the Musics carry it back. Hikari joined them and offered to recollect more Pikmin. Rupert and Timmy crossed a beaded bridge to the next platform, where dice and dominoes were lain around. These toys grew limbs and sprouted to life, angrily charging for the children.

They didn't crush their Pikmin, rather batted them to the side with their fists, sending them to the cluttered low floor. Timmy dropped down and regathered the Yellows and Whites that fell down, while Rupert struggled to chuck Purples to stun the blocks, then knock them out. Timmy would soon learn why the lower floor is dangerous, when Bombardier Beebs rose from the clutter and readied to explode. Timmy hurriedly made his Pikmin run, getting far enough to avoid their chain-reaction, but a Yellow was lost. Timmy led his Pikmin to the hill to the first platform, then proceeded to explore this low floor with only one White.

The presence of that White lured more Bombardiers out, so Timmy attracted them all until they were all exploded. He safely called his other Pikmin down and explored until the Whites found a diggable spot, in which they only threw small scraps to the side since this wasn't soil. He had to call Rupert down to help, for several areas were diggable, and each contained severed limbs of the teddybear from Witch's House. They had groups of Pikmin carry the teddybear (First Nightmare) to the Onions and decided to join them, and also collected the fallen dice and dominoes.

They regrouped with Hikari and reorganized their Pikmin: 10 Reds, 10 Yellows, 10 Blues, 15 Wings, 10 Whites, 10 Purples, 10 Rocks, 10 Ghosts, 15 Music. They returned to the platform with the dominoes and dice and noticed the stage, where they had their Magentas gather. They sung a reimagining of "Frantic Factory" from Donkey Kong 64, which caused a row of colorful toy chains to dangle from the ceiling to the next ledge. Not only that, all of the flowers bloomed on their Leaf Pikmin. They didn't notice this the first time, but it seemed the Magentas' performance would bloom any nearby Pikmin. The kids jumped, grabbed the chain ends, and swung across, and all of the Pikmin mimicked their style. From here, they entered a round tunnel that sloped up like a slide at the playground. It was amazingly easy to walk up, then they found their selves in an even bigger room with a toy racetrack.

The track was made of many segments and slopes, kept aloft from the distant ground by support beams. With a mini toy elevator, the kids could squeeze all of their Pikmin on and ride to the floor. Small, flat cogs filled the floor and revealed to be Skitter Cogs, whom were like their Skitter Leaf counterparts except they were, well, cogs, and could mainly be damaged by Purple Pikmin. In a far corner of the room, a racecar sat, very huge at Minish size and likely to hold all their ground Pikmin. Just as they approached it, a King Beeb dropped onto the floor, curled in a ball, and rolled around, squishing 6 Purples and 5 Musics when the kids tried to avoid.

Anger consumed them from this ambush, but the kids recomposed as Rupert took two Whites and tricked the Beeb into chasing him. Timmy and Hikari sent their Wings and Ghosts to carry the racecar all the way up to the start of the track. When they confirmed they were good, Rupert focused on escaping the King Beeb and returning to the elevator. Although they could recover a treasure from the robot, the loss of those Music Pikmin irked them too much. They rode the elevator to the top of the track and all squeezed onto the car. The Pikmin could stick their antennas into the keyhole, and each type could enter and make their element shield protect the car.

The toy car whooshed down the first slope, up the next, and when they saw two flamethrowers blowing fire over the track, the Red Pikmin made a flame shield that protected them. Next was an electric beam, so the Yellows had this task. Next they were speeding to a ramp with a long jump, the Wing Pikmin fluttering across and dropping the car back on track. It sped to a glass wall, so the Rocks made a crystal shield and smashed through. Now some sprinklers, the Blue Pikmin shielding from safety. The car then had to go up a steep hill, but would slide down any moment, so the Purple Pikmin dropped off the back and used their strength to keep pushing and pushing. They made it to the flat ground up top and celebrated in victory.

The next room was more like a hallway, smaller in width but tall in height. A short stairway led them onto the lowest of many round, metal platforms, steam emitting from their stems. On the walls on either side of each platform were trumpet-like devices with the mouth-ends near the floor. A Magenta Pikmin was sent to each one, blowing forcefully into the trumpets to make the platforms rise to the air. One trumpet made its platform lower, one made it rise, so they had to choose the correct one, otherwise they'd lose a Magenta, and would have to restart the puzzle if they had to climb down and regather them.

The final platform didn't need to be altered, but if they chose to lower, they could enter a secret room with a crystal encasing a Treble Clef from Banjo-Tooie. They chose to go after this, having brought Rock Pikmin anyway, and let the Ghost and Wing Pikmin take the clef (Decline of Difficulty) back. With all their Magenta Pikmin dropped, they had to restart the trumpet puzzle, and eventually made it to a ladder leading up a shaft. Team Rupert exchanged shrugs before climbing up with their Pikmin. (End song.)

The shaft stretched up quite a ways, but found the other end eventually. They were behind a set of tremendous letter blocks on a wooden floor, and the sky design up above told them this was a child's room. Their theory was confirmed when they walked around the blocks, finding a gigantic girl, about 10 years old with aquamarine hair, polka-dot dress under a yellow coat, and gold crown, playing with a Barbie and Bratz doll. Her colorful room was filled with many toys and crayons, such as a red Rainbow Monkey with brown hair and glasses sitting on a toddler's chair.

"Oooooo! I don't have that one, yet!" Hikari beamed.

"'Guess we ended up in somebody's house." Rupert said. "I wonder if she can help us."

"She's kinda weird-lookin'." Timmy said.

"How? She's just playing."

A sudden ringing sound nearly split their eardrums. "Sugar? Sugar, dear? This is Daddy. Fufufu. How's my princess doing?"

"Trebol's still outside my room, Father. Kill him for me, please?"

"Fufu, I'd love to, but someone needs to guard your room. Things are becoming hectic outside. Your brother has encountered some Kids Next Door operatives."

"So what?"

"I fear that too many people may be on to our secret than I let on. It won't do to toyify them; I may have to execute them altogether. Stay in your room, don't come out. I'm putting this castle under so much protection, even an ant won't be able to wriggle its way in here. If any creature has entered the upper floors without my approval, they are to be killed on the spot. Understood, Trebol?"

"Beeeehh way ahead of you, Doffy!" a weird voice sounded outside the room's door. "I saw a fly earlier, hit it with one shot of my Sticky Gun! No one's getting in her room Doffy, beeeeeehh!"

"Sugar… is that the girl that man was trying to get to?" Rupert asked.

"She sounds really important." Timmy said. "Why though, she looks kinda ordinary. Whaddyou think, Hikar…Hikari?"

"Yooooohooooooo. Miss Sugaaaaaarrrrr!" The boys panicked: Hikari was already miles ahead of them, excitedly approaching the mindless child. "Miss Sugaaaaarrrr! Where did you get that Rainbow Monkey?

"I have one just like that that's a samurai, but the hairdo is slightly off kilter," Sugar heard a very faint sound and turned, seeing a very tiny, bluish bug, "and the red glasses kinda blend too much with the coat and the fur, if you want, I can help you research some cute blue glasses, also what's with the pink monocle, it's cute on you, but kinda stands out too…"

Sugar eyed her vision a little upward and saw the tiny colorful squadron of Pikmin marching toward her, led by two more bugs who were Rupert and Timmy. "Hi, Miss!" Rupert's faint voice didn't reach her ears. "I know you must have a lot-a questions, but maybe you can help us with, I dunno, getting back to normal? Uh, we're humans, so we're not normally small like this, it's just been… ONE crazy thing after another, before we knew it, we…"

All Sugar did was stand up from her spot, walk over to slip on her brown sandals, and come back. Her figure was a lot more imposing as she stood over the tinies, one foot held over Hikari. "Kill any unapproved creature in the castle… I'm stuck in my room with nothing to do… I can make due when one and one work together."

"HIKARI, WATCH OUT!" Timmy snapped fingers, sent the Wing Pikmin to whoosh to his sister, and pull her out of the way before the sandal slammed down.

"HEY GIRL, WAIT UP, WE'RE NOT BUGS, WE'RE KIDS!" Rupert screamed, flailing his arms.

"Maybe if I squish and grind them hard enough, their insides will fade from existence and I won't have to clean. I'd just make Trebol do it, anyway." She took another step forward, the kids ducking and expecting death to come.

"HUUU!" The four Purple Pikmin raised their arms and kept her foot from hitting the floor, so the kids seized the moment and ran out, calling their other Pikmin over. Confused and annoyed, Sugar added more pressure and killed the Purples.

"Your sacrifice won't be forgotten!" Timmy saluted. "At least for the next 10 seconds until she stomps us again."

"Timmy, look!" Hikari pointed to the passage between the giant blocks they were just behind. The eight Onions took land on the floor, ready to serve their masters.

"I still don't know why anyone'd want to attack this girl, but we're bug-splat if we don't!" Rupert exclaimed. "Split up!" (Play the Boss Theme from Pikmin 3.)

Boss fight: Sugar

Hikari dashed all the way back to the Onions, retrieved 15 Musics and 15 Purples, giving them a hundred (the Ghost Pikmin couldn't appear in this bright room). Rupert led the Reds, Wings, and Whites away to Sugar's left while Timmy took the Rocks, Yellows, and Blues to her right. She was confused by their gestures, but Sugar decided to chase the slower leader (Timmy), merely walking to make the game more enjoyable. Timmy ordered the Pikmin to duck and roll before her foot smashed the ones in back. "Take this, you Girlzilla!" Timmy grabbed his Rocks and quickly chucked them at Sugar's slim, smooth toenails, cracking them a bit, then tossed the other Pikmin at her toes. He didn't expect the tiny creatures to damage her, but her toes grew red from soreness, and she shook her foot to knock them off.

Rupert watched the battle from his distant side of the room, trying to think of a way to help. He looked around and found a Minish-size spring pad at the base of a stack of blocks. He led his Pikmin onto and bounced to the next level, where they hit another spring, and kept bouncing up until they found a huge basket of grapes at the top. "I guess she likes eating these. I wonder if we can use 'em." With that, Rupert ordered his Wing Pikmin to fly up and each take a grape down.

"Mii miiii!" a Red Pikmin jumped when the grapes were placed beside them. It excitedly burrowed its way into the grape like an ant, and when the Pikmin puffed, the purple grape burned red for a second.

"Oh, I get it. I hate to lose Pikmin, but if it can stop her. All o' you in a grape!" The Reds obeyed and dug into a grape to make it spicy, then the Whites proceeded to lift and carry them to the floor below. Their little bodies were hidden under the giant spheres as Rupert watched them seem to float quickly to the angry giant.

Hikari made it back with her Purples and Magentas, but left the latter behind in worry of losing too much. Timmy's Pikmin finished pounding on Sugar's right toes, the giant slumping on that knee, so Hikari threw the Purples onto the left toes. They bruised the flesh much faster, and before she knew it, Sugar fell to her knees and hands. Her astonishment for these creatures' strength was masked under her toneless face, so she crawled toward Hikari and swiped her left hand, catching 5 Purples. She squeezed the life out of them with her fingers before planting her hand back down and chasing the tinies. Rupert arrived and ordered the Wing Pikmin to fly into her unprotected right eye, distracting her as she tried to swat them with her right hand. The ground Pikmin were sent to charge the fingers of her left, making bruises appear on them until her hand gave and she fell.

Sugar's head now lay on its side, her right eye twitching as she tried to see through the pink monocle of her left. The White Pikmin arrived with the grapes in hand as the closest one rushed to Sugar's panting mouth and threw a grape inside. On instinct, Sugar began to munch and chew the grape, but its spicy flavor made her face turn red. She sat up on her knees and coughed, frantically running to a glass of water and washing it down. "Bleh! I thought I told Trebol not to put the spicy kind in there? ! As soon as I kill these ants, I'm having him executed!"

Now back on her feet, Team Rupert scurried away expecting Sugar to stomp after them. Sugar snapped her fingers, and from the piles of toys came a swarm of Mr. Dice and Sir Dominoes. The kids swarmed their Pikmin against the toys, but Sugar was now stomping back to begin squishing some Pikmin in this confusion. 4 Yellows and 5 Wings were lost when Team Rupert tried to call them back, but Sugar's forceful stomps smashed the toys out of commission. She viewed the grapes that were dropped after the White Pikmin were called back, and with the Red Pikmin called out of the grapes as well, the kids could watch without regret as Sugar kicked the grapes away.

"Hmph." Sugar calmly approached the basket of grapes and placed its lid over it. "They're the only relief I have in this dump, so you ants aren't taking them. Now die." Sugar grabbed some blocks from the stack and chucked them at the Pikmin, smashing 6 Reds and 4 Wings. Rupert and Hikari took their remaining Pikmin and split up, maneuvering behind the many giant blocks to confuse Sugar, while Timmy scurried to the Onions to recover 5 Purples, 9 Wings, 7 Reds, and 4 Yellows. He then decided to explore behind the blocks in search of anything that would help; and inside a fallen plastic bucket were some Bomb Rocks. He made the Wings carry some and quickly ran to the stack of blocks where the grapes sat.

Meanwhile, Sugar became a bit more serious while chasing Rupert and Hikar, the two unable to get close enough to her feet before she stomped furiously or swung them to and fro to knock Pikmin down. Rupert encouraged Hikari to keep running, until they eventually found a Magenta Pikmin stage. They gathered their 15 musicians on before they sang a dramatic reiteration of Old King Coal's boss theme from Banjo-Tooie. Sugar seemed entranced by their squeaky notes, ceasing her stomping spree to watch the little ants. In the background, they saw the bottom of the grape basket explode, the grapes spilling and rolling on the floor.

At the same time, Timmy sent some of his Bomb Rock-holding Pikmin over to his friends, so Rupert and Hikari each took one and threw it onto either foot. The bombs exploded and sunk Sugar to her hands and knees like that. She annoyedly brushed the music stage away and knocked those Pikmin out, focusing her sights on the tinies before simply moving her hands around and squishing the Pikmin under her fingers, one by one. 2 Reds, 3 Yellows, and 2 Blues were lost. "GO, Wings!" The Wing Pikmin not holding bombs flew up to Sugar's eye to attack her, but she closed her eye and smashed them against her face, crushing the 6 of them.

"That's it, time to stop playing around!" Sugar brushed her right hand across the floor and knocked the Pikmin and kids off their feet. They felt groggy from the force and felt the shadow of Sugar's hand loom over them, ready to smash down. "HURR!" The Purple Pikmin were to the rescue, keeping her hand aloft again. Before they were smashed, Timmy rushed out and grabbed a Wing Pikmin holding a bomb. "Squish someone your own size!" He threw the bomb onto the hand and exploded.

"Yowch!" Sugar was up on her knees again, shaking her hand from pain and observing the bleeding cut it made. Sugar angrily narrowed her eyes on Timmy, and before the boy could run, she planted her palm firm on the floor against him.

"Ohhhhh…" She raised her hand to find Timmy groaning and nearly flattened, his Wing Pikmin dispersing to spirit. He felt his senseless body grabbed between Sugar's fingers, lifted off the floor, and held before her great purple eye.

"I'd like to forget that you did that. So if you don't mind." And within seconds, Timmy's body took the form of a tiny, seaweed-green toy soldier. She flicked the toy away, flying several yards across the floor and haphazardly landing on its front.

"Darn, she's still standing. Er, sorta." Rupert said, aching as he and Hikari got up. "Sure wish we had a third person to help us. Why didn't we bring those Minish kids along?"

"What should we do, Ruppy?"

"We have one more Bomb Rock. I'm gonna try and choke her with another grape, see if you can knock her down until I get it." He took a single White and Red Pikmin and trusted Hikari with the others. The child swiftly dodged when Sugar slammed her hand down over and over, blowing a whistle to sic the Pikmin on it when she wouldn't raise. They dealt a few bruises to the fingers, but she shook them off. Meanwhile, she sent the Bomb Rock Pikmin to Sugar's left knee and blew it up without suspecting, the giant falling fully on her front.

However, she wasn't leaving herself vulnerable, planting her left hand against the floor, pulling to force her own body around, and saw Rupert heading for a grape. Said boy made his White Pikmin pick the grape up. "Okay, now the Red guy will go inside like before and we'll… huh?" Something was off, though. His Red Pikmin had fallen behind halfway to the fruit. "How could you get lost on a straight path like this?! What is this, Cyberchase? GAAH!" The floor shook, for Sugar had a sudden recollection of strength and was crawling toward them with a rage, smashing the Red Pikmin. His White one nearly lost balance with the grape- "Hold on!" until he got under with it to counter with his own force. "We're gonna have to-" Then, his feet left the floor while his hands gripped tight onto the squishy grape.

Rupert panicked as the floor drew further away, but his worry would increase when he found Sugar's round purple eye almost peer into his soul. "My grapes aren't for you."

"RUUUUPPYYYYYY!" Hikari raced to the giant as fast as her little legs could. She slowed to a stop when it appeared fruitless, as Sugar returned to her feet.

"After all, I'm the only one being treated like an insect." Sugar stated coldly. "Trapped in my room like a jar. Why should I let you come and go as you please? Take my food while I starve?"

"Nnnnn!" Rupert's grip was slipping. "Miss, I'm not a bug, I'm a person! Please, help!"

"It feels pointless to toyify you. Who would buy you, who would remember you? Maybe in your last few seconds of life, you'll have learned a lesson. Into my belly you go."

For these next few seconds, Rupert struggled with the choice between letting go or holding on. Even if his small body was lighter, would it survive the equivalent of a thousand-foot drop? 'Course, if he didn't let go, he would surely perish in the bowels of Sugar's stomach. He was too frozen with fear to think, the great gaping mouth drawing closer, and he was too late to make his decision when her fingers released the grape and let it fly inside.

He couldn't stand on the slippery mushy tongue, especially when the space between floor and ceiling compressed and stretched, the jaws on either end munching the grape into juice. Saliva and purple ooze mixed together, Rupert had no more bearings on his surroundings, he tried to grip the tongue with all his strength to keep from flapping any further. The purple goo clogging his vision, he barely saw the White Pikmin bouncing and flailing ahead of him. Rupert held tighter when the position of the floor turned vertical; Sugar's head tilted back. The Pikmin fell, so Rupert grabbed by the antenna in his left hand, but his right wouldn't last long. He remembered a similar scenario with Berry, the reason he didn't want the White one to fall, but to save his own life, he had no choice. He let the Pikmin fall into the impending darkness, down the throat.

Hikari almost lost breath the moment she saw Sugar swallow. The giant stood still, no emotion on her face. "…! UUEEEEECK!" Sugar grabbed her neck, feeling an unbearable compressing, what felt like a painfully thick gas clog the width of her throat. She stumbled on her feet, her senses failing, unable to choke another breath. Her purple eyes closed, and Hikari braced for impact when the giantess tumbled backwards, landing with a force that could shake the continent. Sugar was down and out. (End song.)

Stage Progress: Red Pikmin: 30. Yellow Pikmin: 57. Blue Pikmin: 41. Wing Pikmin: 35. White Pikmin: 44. Purple Pikmin: 32. Rock Pikmin: 30. Ghost Pikmin: 10. Music Pikmin: 27. Total: 513.

BANG BANG BANG. "Suuugaaaaar? I heard a crash." The door flew open; in stepped a tremendous, droopy, blob-like man with sunglasses, a gooey green cape, and long boogers from his nose. "You better not be- BEEEEH?!" Trebol almost hardened at the sight. "SUUUGAAAAARR!" He shook the floor as he stomped forward, grabbing the child by the shoulders and shaking. "SUGAR, WAKE UP! YOU DIDN'T CHOKE ON A GRAPE, DID YOU?! I TOLD YOU NOT TO EAT TOO MUCH! Pleeeease!"

No matter how rashly he shook, Sugar's head remained limp. "BEEEEEH!" He dropped her. "Oh God, Doffy's gonna kill me! I gotta leave town! Oh- maybe they won't start turning back right aw-"

But then he saw the shaking red Rainbow Monkey on the chair. With a POOF, the doll was gone. Cheren Uno fell to the floor. "Owww… what?"

"BEEEEEH! It's happening!" screamed Trebol. "Gotta get to the phone! D-DOFFY-SAMAAAA!" He stormed out and slammed the door.

While masked in confusion, Hikari heard another 'poof' and saw Timmy appear behind her. "Timmy!" She ran over.

"Ohhh… was I just turned into a toy?"

"I dunno. Were you?"

They heard a loud, eerie groan and turned. A giant brown-haired boy with glasses held his head. Timmy gasped. "I know that boy, he's the Kids Next Door Supreme Leader! Numbuh 3621, Cheren Uno!!"

Everywhere

Like a sudden, terrific wave, it all came back. Everyone on Moonbase stood agape. Panini whipped out her 4DS and looked at the Mii in her Friends list. Tears nearly dripped from her eyes.

Rachel Uno gasped. She grabbed the family portrait and stared speechless. Her son, her heir… but, did that mean-?

At the Chariton Home, Sunni shot awake from her bed. A promise she made 6 months ago came back in a flash.

800 years ago, memories flew back to Merida, King Fergus and Elinor. "'ey, I just remembered somethin'!" the king exclaimed. "Whatever 'appened to that Cherry fellow? I was hopin' he'd come for the Horseback Games!"

"He might come around, Dad, ya never know." Merida smiled hopefully.

Everyone in Termina, Booster remembered the boy who saved his park, the wolves remembered the one who united their packs, the pirates remembered their dear old Captain Slag, the ninjas remembered the one who defeated the Puppet Clan, and Alternate Sector V remembered their dear friend from another dimension.

The Galactic Council remembered the boy who ended the Viridi War, made Flora a safe place to visit. Nebula D. Winkiebottom nearly fell off her throne, feeling the biggest headache of her life.

Just when Sector IC was nearing GKND H.Q., it hit them like baseball bats. "Whoa! Cheren, did…did we just forget him??" questioned MaKayla.

"Something is really wrong." Miyuki said. "I…I wanna go back to Earth 'soon as we check in."

And on Mt. Mariejoa, memories washed over Morgan. She hadn't had this feeling since the Scattered Realms 20 years ago. How a huge piece of her mind and heart could be lost, then come back. She held her head… then, remembered the aura that had just climbed Mariejoa this morning. Her cousin, Nigel. Why could she no longer sense his presence up there?

Everywhere around the world, everywhere talking toys had been sold, they were turning back. "LEAPIN' LIZARDS!" Annie cried when her Yipper had morphed into a man. The customers of Toys 4 Grab panicked when the shelves became occupied with men, women, and kids. The Drophyds on Aquaria remembered their leader, their reasons for siding with Tachyon. The police at Quahog remembered Fanatic, Holiday, all those mysterious villains.

Dressrosa

"OOOUUH!" It came back to Sector V, Nolan, and Crystal like that. "I JUST REMEMBERED! A cataclysm is gonna destroy the universe and we told Cheren we'd help stop it!!" Aurora exclaimed.

"Huh?!" Doffy Jr. gasped. "What's happening?!" They looked over the town, screams roaring everywhere.

"The toys are turning back!" Aeral screamed. "Does that mean Sugar-"

ZZHHHOOOOM. The C.O.O.L.-B.U.S. zipped past them.

"Nuuiiiii! They're heading for your dad!" Bison exclaimed.

"No!"

Doflamingo's Throne

When memories washed over the king's head, his heart almost stopped. He jumped to the window, roars crying all over town, citizens panicking. His phone rang, so he quickly answered. "Trebol?!"

"BEEEEEH, Doffy! Sugar choked on a grape, she's dead!"

"WHAT?!"

"I'm sorry, Doffy, I shoulda checked on her, please don't kill me!"

"DAMMIT! If the Corporate Presidents catch wind of this, I'M the one who's DEAD!"

"Whaddo we do, Doffy?! The town's in an uproar! They're comin' to get us!"

"Grrrr, I'm not done, yet. Tell Pica to raise my castle to the sky and rearrange the whole island so they can't get to me!"

"Beeeeehh! You gave Pica a 3-week vacation after he had voice-modification surgery!"

"Oh, that's right." Doffy slumped. "Okay then, Plan B! Using my String-String powers, I'll trap the entire island in a giant birdcage, control everyone like puppets, and make them kill each other or-"

But before that thought could reach conclusion, the Sandman swooped in and punched Doflamingo with his Armament fist. Pearly teeth flew out along with blood, he went sliding across the floor. The president couldn't process what happened as he helped himself up and glared at Nolan through his slanted shades. "Before we waste 30 chapters of endless fighting, I'm gonna kick your ass here and now."