17. Like a Videogame

Doflamingo's Throne

"Fu fu fu." Doflamingo grinned, standing back up and wiping blood off his mouth. "The legendary Sandman graces me with his presence in my own home. Without his mask, no less. Should I be honored? To be trusted with your true identity? Or did you hope to savor the fury on my face after my corporation falls?"

"I've always thought criminals couldn't get any lower than killing… but after seeing what you do, I actually would've settled with." Nolan said. "Because at least they still would've been remembered by everyone they loved! You were literally trying to wipe their existence from the Earth. I can't imagine how many lives you ruined with your plans! Being forgotten from everyone they knew… it's a fate worse than death!"

"Fufufufufu! Worse than death? How simple you are, Sandman. What I've done to these people is NO different from dying! True, people are still remembered by their friends after they die… but eventually, those people will die, and their kids will die, and in time, their existence will be forgotten entirely. I was merely trying to speed up that process. At least the toys would've had a longer life force, regardless if everyone forgot them. Can you honestly say there's no one you've met you wished you could forget?"

"To tell the truth… yes. Darth Genious and Madame Rouge were some of the worst people I could've met… and I've always wished I could forget them. But then I realize… if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have gotten where I am. I wouldn't have met Danika, and… I definitely wouldn't've had Dillon. The point is, whether they're friends or enemies, everyone has a major importance in someone's life. But even if you wipe our memories of them, everyone leaves some kind of legacy behind. Holiday and those guys' criminal record, my son… those are the things you can't erase. And I didn't notice it until now, but Nigel's son was one of your victims. I didn't know they had another son until a few minutes ago! Can you imagine how many people you HURT by making them forget him?!"

"HU HU hu! Looking back, my daughter actually SAVED the Cheren boy! Had she not intervened, President Morgan would have killed him!"

"Morgan Uno? You're lying, why would she kill her nephew?!"

"Did Benedict not try to kill his nephew a number of times? President Morgan carries on his legacy, I see that now. And what legacy are you, Sandman? The legendary 2030, defender of morality and justice. Let me ask you… what is 'justice' to you?"

Nolan pulled up his laptop and looked up Wikipedia. "'Justice includes both the attainment of that which is just and the philosophical-'"

"I WAS ASKING YOUR OPINION!!"

"Alright, alright." He put his laptop down. "But isn't that all it is, just a matter of opinion? What difference would it make if I told you mine. Your sense of justice is erasing the world of its evils. Keep your citizens in bliss ignorance. Isn't it?"

"And your idea of justice is to punish wrongdoers, yet hold on to the philosophy there's redemption for them as your reason for not killing. Which even then you're a hypocrite, assuming Caesar's story of what happened to one of his most loyal customers is true."

"Yeah, I killed Revan, I admit it. But; it's funny saying it out loud… I want to honor his memory. I visit his grave every year. Friends or enemies, I guess I let everyone have a place in my heart. After I take you down, I might have a place for you, too."

Doflamingo furrowed so hard, Nolan could see the veins on his face. "A place in your heart… peh! How could any person bear such respect for their enemies? Erasing them, forgetting they were ever around to annoy you… the World Leaders can agree, that's where true peace lies."

"Well, I always was against the idea of decommissioning. And the Kids Next Door can agree, some memories are important to hang on to. The stories of the trials of their parents help kids learn. That's why the Next Generation's gonna bring your Leaders down."

"Snot-nosed urchins against God… that's beyond laughable. Just because your friends were arguably great in the day, Sandman, you set your hopes too high. Your children will be destroyed."

"Then it's only fair us evil adults take the fall first. Don't you agree?"

"Fufufu. That's your death wish, then? Alright… show me your faith for the Next Generation. If your will to teach them further is strong, fight me with all you have!" (Play "Majestic Wings" from Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance!)

Nolan dodged swiftly when Doffy's strings lashed forward and stuck into the wall, and fast as lightning, the puppet master created lines of strings left-to-right, up-to-down and diagonally, 'til the entire throne was covered in what looked like spider webs. Doflamingo stretched two more strings to the ceiling and pulled up, hanging upside-down as he grinned and licked his teeth. "You may be a Batman-wannabe… but call me Joker. Fu fu fu!"

"You look more like Venom."

Boss fight: Don Quixote Doflamingo, Sr.

Nolan whipped out and shot his grappling hook, but Doflamingo nimbly leaped to another gathering of strings and shot some down like bullets, Nolan dodging. He rapidly tossed boomerangs to cut the strings and make Doffy drop, but the president shot four strings from either hand to the ceiling and swung forward, kicking Sandman with force that flew him out of his chair. Doflamingo landed and buried his fingers in the ground, making strings pop up everywhere, so Nolan used the strength in his arms to flip around since his legs were less-than-worthy. "Fufufu! Give up, Sandman, there's no force on this world that can cut my strings!"

But as a quick reminder, Sandman threw an onslaught of boomerangs that chopped up incoming strings. Doffy appeared confused, so Nolan seized the moment and shot his grappler to some strings behind the master, latching and hauling himself over as he PUNCHED the president square in the jaw, his fist pulling Flamingo along to slam him against the strings, which didn't break or damage their own creator. "What kind of gadgets are those?!"

"Not of this world." Nolan shrugged. He pushed the ground with his hands and flung into the air, his wheelchair rolling under him to catch. Doflamingo lashed another group of strings, but Nolan grabbed them in an Armament fist, held on as he flailed his arm forcefully, and slammed Doffy into a string wall twice. "The strings don't affect you, huh?"

Doffy snapped off the strings Nolan was holding. "No, but your toys won't be singing for long." He shot strings into the wall behind Nolan, positioned like a slingshot, and flew forward, but Nolan ducked and shot a grappler, which Doffy dodged by flying to the ceiling. Doffy threw his fists and sent strings raining down on Nolan, the hero dodging again while trying to shoot shock beams at his enemy. They made contact with the strings and vanished instantly, so even electric had little effect. In Nolan's tiredness, Doffy shot down with an Armament fist ready, but Nolan hardened his own and made contact, the collision making every atom in their being vibrate.

The battle outside was just heating up, Sector V's C.O.O.L.-B.U.S. swerving to avoid DR's bombshells and strings. "If it wasn't for Flamingo, I could totally take those other two!" Haylee exclaimed.

"Get us close, I'll bring 'im down!" Dillon declared.

The aircraft did a U-turn and flew right for DR, Haylee just barely dodging the strings with her skill. "Nuiiii! They're on a crash-course-daizokun!" Bison cried.

Doffy Jr. focused intently, seeing Dillon clutching the roof of the bus. The shadowbender inhaled a huge breath and released Shadow Fog all around. The summer sun was powerless in this cloud. "Gah!" Junior angrily tried to see through the fog, but Dillon jumped out like a predator on prey and caught the flamingo, plummeting to the ground with him. "Not without your FRIENDS!" Doffy Jr. lashed his strings and sliced the C.O.O.L.-B.U.S. into pieces. The 8 kids screamed as they fell.

"Crud!" Haylee exclaimed, piloting the very front portion of the bus while Artie clutched the severed edge.

"Still hanging on?" Sweetie-1 taunted, locking her cannon. "One more blast should do it!"

"Shows what you know!" Artie climbed back on. "Thankfully I've installed something for just this occasion! Press it, Hayl!"

Haylee pushed a button that read 'TRANSFORM', and that little front portion of bus morphed into a robot. The remaining two engines kept it aloft at the bottom, its two remaining plunger-legs balled into fists, and the bulldozer on the front popped off, divided, and became spikes on said fists. "Remember how to do this, Hayl?" Artie asked, his hands and feet planted on levers in the bottom cockpit.

"I'll handle flying, you handle fighting?"

"You got it!"

Dillon and Doffy Jr. hit the ground as the latter leapt off and whipped strings at his opponent, but Dillon sunk in a Veil and slithered away. He came up and blasted S.P.I.C.E.R.s at the prince, but Junior divided the sauce beams with his strings and easily avoided, stretching the strings like slim claws between his fingers, grinning as he stepped closer and swiped furiously. Dillon looked at how well they cut the ground, so he hid in a shadow and slithered at Junior, only for the puppeteer to send his strings into two distant buildings at either side and propel himself to the air. Dillon emerged and glared at him, then dodged when Junior shot strings down from his feet.

The other Sector V members watched this from afar. "We gotta help him!" Mason said. "Everybody-" The ground wobbled like liquid beneath his feet, and Señor Pink popped up from the ground with a forceful uppercut. Mason flew and bounced back, recovering and glaring as Señor was fully emerged, beside Gladius and Dellinger. "Doflamingo's crack-job crew?"

"That's some mouth on you, hombre. Perhaps you need a taste of Pink." said Señor.

"Uh-huh. Leave Baby New Year to me." offered Mason.

Accepting his challenge, Señor submerged beneath the ground and swam away, chased by Mason. "KAAAAAH!" screamed Dellinger, the 16-year boy with slim bare legs on high-heels and a white cap with bull horns. "Señor's gonna fight him! Your friend is deeeeeaaaad!"

"Tell that to the last guy that fought Mason!" Aurora proclaimed.

"KAAAAAH! You're arguing with me?? YOU must wanna die, too!"

"I'll be happy ta-" But Kirie stepped in front and blocked Aurora's view. The mute's eyes were closed as she passed Aurora a quiet assurance. "…Well… okay, Kirie."

"KAAAAH you wanna fight me?? Good luck, 'cause I'm Dellinger! Half-human, half-Fishman! SPOILERS!" he yelled at the readers. "Time for me to KILL you, pretty lady! DAAAAAH I'm gonna rip out your bones, eat your flesh!"

That's gross!

"TAAAAH what can YOU do? I'mma eat you, now! BOY, am I gonna eat you! Haaaa-aaaaa-AAAUMPH!" Fangs grew in his mouth, he lashed at Kirie, who leaped and kicked him across the face. She jumped away happily while Dellinger stormed after like a bull.

"Hm… then who do I get?" Gladius asked.

"Me." Django raised his hand and stepped in front. "But I don't fight fair." He brushed his Mystic Guitar and blasted the spike-haired away with a sonic wave.

"Hm…" Gladius's head inflated. "That makes me angry."

The others watched as Django went after him. "Well, while those blokes're busy," Sheila said, "I say we explore this-" And just out of nowhere, she and Harry were hit by a gooey white substance. No matter how much they struggled, they couldn't burst free. "Bleeeeh! Whose overgrown boogers are these?"

"Beeeeeh! They would be mine!" Standing yards behind them was Trebol, digging his finger up his big nose. "I shamed the family by letting Sugar choke on a grape. I can still make it up to Doffy by squashing you kids!"

Chris chuckled and ignited his fist. "I've been having the worst few days, but now it looks like I have something to take my anger out on. Sucks to be you."

"BEEEEEH! Keep that fire away from me! My Stick-Stick Fruit makes me a Logia Glue Man, but my glue is flammable!"

"You just told me your weakness."

"Beeeeeehh! You disrespectful brat, get away!" To their amazement, Trebol leapt meters into the air, to a distant building. Chris kicked on his rocket shoes and boosted after.

Aurora used his icebending to freeze Harry and Sheila's stick-traps and broke them free. "I'm breaking into the fortress, see if I can find something." Aurora announced. "Anyone wanna join?"

"Fortress shmortress, I'm seein' the town!" Sheila declared before running off.

"I ain't no powerhouse." Harry shrugged before leaving.

"A'ight… Haruka?"

"Sure." The poisonbender shrugged, joining her leader as they rampaged to the fortress.

Inside the Toy House, Diamante furiously mashed the elevator button. "Dammit! I have to get upstairs and see if Doffy's-"

A sudden ice blast flew Dia against the opposite wall. Yuki, Melody, and Danny appeared out of the shaft. "Ahhhh." Yuki cracked his neck. "What a nap. By the way, I'm going on strike."

"Hnn." Diamante gritted his teeth. "You lost your chance for a raise." He slammed the floor and made it wobble like a cape, but Yuki froze the floor and slid across the still-waving substance, swinging his foot to kick Dia, who raised his steel cape and bounced him back. Diamante turned flat and flew to the ceiling, Yuki giving chase with Ice Rocket.

After flying off Sector V's bus, she entered and was running around the castle halls. "Where's the elevator? I hope Yuki isn't-" She was blown away when the wall beside her exploded. She looked up and gasped: Monet Sinclaire, the giant venomous harpy she now was, snarled at the witch, and Vergo, who was in a body-cast, held onto her back. "You two again?!"

"Too bad. I was hoping for Yuki." Vergo said. Monet gave an earsplitting roar before swiping her wings at Crystal, who frantically dodged while blasting fireballs at her face. Monet hissed and froze a wide line of ice up the floor and wall, so Crystal got up and ran while the harpy coughed ice chunks. Crystal flew to the ceiling with her staff, switched the mode to Ground Quake, then came down on Monet's head, but Vergo Armament-punched her away before the attack could land. Crystal raised her staff in defense when Monet gnashed her fangs, taking the staff and throwing away, so Crystal got up and bolted again.

Doflamingo was back on the ceiling and making walls of strings slide at Nolan, who quickly threw boomerangs to cut open gaps and evade, and the first chance he had, Nolan shot his grappler up and pulled the flamingo from his web. Nolan socked him upside the jaw, watching Doflamingo's head fly off and disperse into strings. His body followed suit, then Nolan was punched in the back of the head by his opponent, flying out of his chair and very near the strings. "Fufufufufufufu." Nolan pushed himself up and glared at the grinning devil. "String Clones. They're a handful, huh?" Groups of strings raveled behind him and became Doffy replicas. The clones charged at Sandman, who stood on his aching legs and threw punches at every one, dispersing into strings upon defeat. He expectantly waited for the real one to shoot up afterward, but that Flamingo became strings as well while the real one fell from above and smashed Sandman on his front.

The flamingo hopped off to let his adversary stand, but not for long before he whipped a string at the floor and knocked Nolan down. He whipped again, wrapped the string around Nolan, then hurled him into a string-wall, scratching his backside as blood seeped out. Thinking fast when Doflamingo prepared to lunge, he whipped his wheelchair over with his grappler, got in, then shot his grappler at a string-wall to pull himself away. Doflamingo crashed into the previous strings and bounced off like rubber rope around a ring, coming for Nolan, who blasted the Shock Rod and stunned him in place. Nolan swung his fist against Doflamingo's jaw, but the president recovered and lashed strings, while Nolan grabbed in his Armament fist.

Doflamingo launched other strings to the ceiling to pull himself away, attempting to "fly" with his shoulder-attached strings, but Nolan kept his grip on the previous ones and pulled like tug-o-war. In Doflamingo's distraction, Nolan grabbed the Line Launcher and shot one end at Flamingo, the other at a string-wall behind, so when Flamingo pulled toward him, Nolan flew his fist and slammed him to the ground. Nolan fell off his chair, pinned Doflamingo with his knees, and laid a barrage of punches against his head, before helping himself back on his chair, picking Flamingo up by the neck, and punching the side of his head before throwing him aside.

Haylee's piloting skills were pro in dodging Sarah's missiles, and while she got close to the helicopter-Bison, the metahuman sprouted more propellers as a shield. "Nuuuu! You no getting her-daizokun!"

Artie controlled the C.O.O.L.-B.O.T.'s fists and grabbed two propellers, but he couldn't hold them still when Bison spun faster and forced Artie to release. He then made his propellers bladed and chased the robot, so Haylee maneuvered them away. Bison was faster, but when Haylee got far enough, he lowered his defense so Sarah could lock on with more missiles, which Haylee again dodged. "Too bad we couldn't squeeze missiles in this thing!" Haylee said. "We'll have to get close with their defenses down!" She let the craft sink, then stomped the boost to fly toward the bottom of Bison, during which Artie had his spiked fists ready and successfully gutted him.

"AAAAH! Keep it steady!" Sarah cried.

Kirie kept running, but Dellinger moved whipping fast, warped to either side, then kicked Kirie powerfully from the left. "KAAAAAH!" screamed the bull-fish. "What's wrong, Little Girl?? Aren't you gonna scream??" He zipped up and kicked Kirie across face while she was still grounded. "Come on! Scream! Can't you talk? Are you deaf? Deafo! Scream! SCREEEAAM!"

Blood flew out her mouth at each kick, he just wouldn't stop. But Kirie's voice was not unknown to her faithful spirits, the Rainbow Monkeys, so three of the colored creatures appeared and punched Dellinger away. "KOOOUUCH!" He flipped back up and frowned. "What was that? Who got me?"

Kirie smirked and yelled for the monkeys to attack him. Although he couldn't see, he knew they were there, so Dellinger swiftly avoided the monkeys and kicked them with the spike of his high-heel. "KAAAAH I see! Invisible friends? Well, I'm a predator, so that don't work on me! You might join them soon!" He revealed his fangs and lunged at Kirie, bite bite biting, the girl frightfully dodging. When Dellinger gnashed at her chest, Kirie jumped and kicked him across the head, the force stumbling him forward, but to no avail. "Kaaaaah! I like little girls 'cause they taste yum! Perhaps you have a silent surprise, HAHA!"

Django caught up to Gladius and blasted another sonic wave, blowing him further. "I don't like music. It makes my head pop. Like this!" He aimed his arms at the skeleton, puffed them round, and exploded flames that Django dodged. "With the Pop-Pop Fruit, everything goes. Like this!" Django looked down, realizing bulges of ground inflated, and ran away before they all exploded. Django fell to his front, but kept his guitar above him, then he recovered without regret.

"But what goes 'pop' must revive." Django strummed the guitar and summoned a squadron of skeletons. Gladius nimbly avoided their grabs, touched each one, and caused its head to inflate and pop. Django tried to strum again, but Gladius inflated his lower body and blasted to him, head-butting and knocking Django down. Gladius clutched the child's skull and inflated, but Harry Gilligan jumped from behind and punched the officer away. "Hey, you came to save me!" Django remarked.

"Us operatives stick together. But for the record, I'm the sector's musician, find somewhere else."

"Yeah yeah." Django strummed an energy beam at Gladius, who dodged, clutched the ground, and inflated a path between the boys that blew them apart. Gladius flew at Harry and punched him away, then inflated a large patch of ground with Django in range and exploded, but Django shielded himself in skeleton soldiers before blasting another wave at the Pop Man.

Mason lost sight of Señor Pink, but the baby-man popped out of some liquefied ground and uppercutted Mason to the air. "Mi Devil Fruit amigos cannot swim, but with my Swim-Swim Fruta, the earth is my sea."

Mason rubbed his jaw, "It's not nice to keep other kids out of your pool. I can totally outswim you."

"Outswim me in my pool, mw? Come on in, Man. Don't blame me if you get Pinkeye." Señor submerged again, then Mason dove after him. It was the weirdest feeling swimming in solid ground, especially in the dimension underneath, he couldn't see when Señor grabbed him around the hip, shot up above the surface like a dolphin, and slammed Mason headfirst against the ground. He submerged, and Mason was determined to beat him, guzzling Silver Flurp before diving. Full of adrenaline, Mason blasted an endless fart that moved him around the liquid like a torpedo. Through the thick gray, he saw a faint fat shadow swinging its arms, so Mason chased the swimming man, spun, and head-butted Señor in the gut.

Señor grabbed Mason and pushed him off, swimming forward to punch him in the head, flipping Mason upside-down before he farted downward. "That's some bad tacos, Hombre." Señor tried to avoid the gassy current and chased Mason, who swerved about aimlessly. Mason's gas was running out, so he slowed to a stop, ending up caught by Señor and punched around the face. His yelps of pain were drowned in the liquid ground.

Chris Uno was amazed by Trebol's great leaps, but he kept after the Sticky Man until he stopped to rest on a building. "HAHA!" Chris landed behind him. "You're mine n-" He tried to raise his foot, but found it glued. "WHAT?" The sticky substance was everywhere on the roof, Chris couldn't move his feet.

"Beheheheheheh!" Trebol turned around, the goo flowing from his nose as he held a lighter. "You fell for my trap, beeeeh! Time for YOU to get burned! Bon voyaaaage!" He dropped the lighter and jumped to the next building.

"AAAAAAAHH!" The explosion claimed Chris.

"Beheheheheh—beh?" Trebol stared confused. The expanding flames compressed and sucked into Chris's mouth like a vacuum.

"Fire Dragon's Breath! Credits to Nigel Montgomery Uno!" Chris's skin was red and steaming, he blasted the powerful breath at Trebol who jumped to another building. Chris flew after with jetboots and coughed fireballs, but Trebol kept a far distance and pelted Sticky Bullets, binding Chris's fists with two shots. He kept true and flew headfirst at Trebol, who pinched one nostril close and shot a booger, covering Chris's face—save for the headband area. The Uno fell to the ground and desperately tried to pull it off.

"Beh! Beh beh beh!" Trebol landed before Chris. "I heard firebenders are ticklish in the ribs! I'll tickle you now! Beh! Beheheh!" Without mercy, he started wiggling his fingers on Chris's abs, the boy muffling laughs. Chris ignited his fists, and Trebol jumped away before the glue exploded.

"You see anywhere to go?" Aurora asked, still tearing through guards with Haruka. The Toy House nearby exploded with ice, a kite figure flying out, chased by Yuki. The friends then saw two familiar kids come out. "Melody! Danny!"

"Aurora? Haru?" Both pairs hurried beside each other. "What're you doing here?"

"Random chance, I guess. What's in there?"

"Some underground port; and I think a factory."

"Factory? Let's check it out." Haruka said, so the teammates charged in.

"Have fun with that." Melody said. "Danny, let's find a phone and call Mom." They ran into town.

Yuki flew to the air on an ice path after the Diamante-turned-kite, and all of Yuki's icicles were blasted by Dia's pistol. Yuki got high enough to grab Diamante's tip, but he wasn't strong enough to pull the steel down and took the fall himself. Yuki shot ice at the ground to break his fall, looking up as Diamante fluttered a few feet above. "Uhahahahaha! In my day, I was the champion Kite Fighter. I really made the kids' skin tremble!" He puffed to normal form and hit the ground, making it wave and ripple like a cape.

"Whoa!" Yuki fell back when the ground contracted, then was pushed away when it stretched. Diamante pulled a chunk of earth up like a blanket – without actually ripping the earth, and threw it over Yuki to roll him in a blanket. Diamante was about to impale his sword in the roll, but the ground suddenly froze and shattered as Yuki escaped. "I'm sending you back to retail."

Wiccan ran circles around the hall, but Monet-Z stayed on her tail, more of the hall becoming frozen. "It's not normal for a predator to lose its prey." Vergo said calmly.

"I'll like to disprove your theorem with science." Crystal reached in her back satchel, got a ball of powder, and threw it to the floor to cloud the hall. Vergo coughed while Monet hissed, the harpy crawling about crazily and slamming the walls over and over. "Calm down, you fool!" Vergo yelled, grabbing Monet by the shoulders and easing her. "Wait until the fog is gone."

Crystal had slipped under the predator and returned the opposite direction. Following the trail of ice, she saw her staff from afar and was about to run to it. "RAAAAH!" Monet tackled her onto her front, about to snap its fangs, but Crystal pushed her wristwatch and summoned the staff to her. She swung it up and bashed Monet's head, escaping then aiming her staff at Vergo to shoot fire in his face. "Ahh!" Vergo frantically shook and lit his head with Armament to disperse it, but Monet went crazy again and started snapping about aimlessly. Crystal dodged and watched her storm down the hall. "Hmmm." She had an idea.

Doflamingo Jr. linked several surrounding buildings with his strings and pulled them in to crush Dillon. The earth quaked upon impact, but Dillon slid out of a crack with Shadow Veil. He immediately dodged Junior's strings, Veiled over to blow Shadow Breath, but Junior flew back and lashed long strings, Dillon barely dodging between them. Junior flew over to swing his fist, but Dillon grabbed and engaged him in Arm Wrestle. "Enjoy this while it lasts!" Doffy proclaimed. "But when my dad takes your dad out, you're toast!"

"You wish! My dad kicks WAY more ass than your dad!"

"Feh! My dad could slice a meteor! And pull an island!"

"My dad could rip a boulder in half barehanded!"

"Uuuaaaaahh! Will you guys PLEASE stop talking about your DADS!" a nearby Knaaren from Rayman 3 yelled.

Junior looked to the sky. His shades twinkled. "If you wanna know whose dad is better, mine is at work!"

Dillon looked at the top of the castle: what appeared to be Doflamingo Sr. was unraveling into string going to the sky. They stopped at a point in the sky where they glowed, and strings stretched to all ends of the island.

"Fufufufufufufu." Doflamingo Sr. got back up, laughing maniacally. "You fight well, Sandman. It's time I take this upstairs. Did you know that, by attaching my strings to clouds, I can fly around the air?"

"There's no clouds in the sky today."

"I know, just felt like telling you. But I don't need clouds today. You see, I sent one of my String Clones outside to make the Birdcage, anyway. Come join me, mueheheheheheheheh!" Doflamingo burst through one of the walls and flew up, so Sandman whipped his chair toward the hole, fell out, and shot his grappler to a higher tower- "Whoa!"

The entire island was encased inside a giant birdcage of strings. Linking to all sides, connecting at a perfect center, there was no escape without severing one's body. "Byeheheheheheheh!" A complex of strings stretched from one end of the cage to the other high in the sky, where Doflamingo sat. Nolan shot his grappler all the way up and flew to him. "Be careful, Sandman! You'll be CUT!" He blasted a Bullet String, and Sandman watched with regret as his wheelchair plummeted. "Fufufufufufu!" Nolan shot above the point where his hook latched and landed on the strings. "HEHEHEHEH… eh?"

Nolan wasn't dead yet, much to Doffy's chagrin. His head was kept up off the strings while his body was solid Armament. "'Guess the scene's… still rollin'."

Doflamingo furrowed, blasting strings crazily, but Nolan pushed himself away, landed on his Armament back against the wobbling strings, and blasted the grappler to catch Doffy and yank him to him. Nolan got to his feet while balancing the string, grabbed Doffy's head, and slammed it against the string, but Doffy slipped off while hanging by a new stretched string, blasting up at Nolan. The vigilante fell and grabbed the string in Armament hands, sliding down to kick Doflamingo off, but Dressrosa's king shot a string to a higher one and pulled up. Nolan shot his grappler up as well to chase, but Flamingo cut that string and had Nolan fall. Nolan grabbed that end of string and held on, but grew worried as he was swinging toward the cage wall.

Django ran as Gladius chased with his Pop Rocket, the skeleton strumming his guitar to make a giant skeleton rise, but Gladius grabbed its legs and made the whole body explode. Through the smoke, he blasted Django with Pop Flames, and his guitar was flown into the air. Gladius caught it. "Music makes my head pop. I'll pop it as well. Go back where you came from." Django grew worried when his Mystic Guitar inflated.

"Nnn!" Harry pounced on Gladius's head and, astonishingly, squeezed his own hat over the man's spiky hair. Harry jumped off and pushed his wristwatch, making headphones extract from the hat over Gladius's masked ears. "What's this?" Harry pushed again—Gladius started flailing his head with no control, for the headphones sounded an unbearable, nonsensical rock-and-roll soundtrack. "Aaah!" He threw the guitar away, and Django caught it.

The headphones puffed up and exploded, Harry's hat flying off Gladius's head. "Uhn?" The area turned a reddish-dark. Django was turning the dials on his guitar.

"Melodía de los Muertos. Gracias por tu vida." A chilly wind blew. Gladius only stared as Django's bones rattled. "Un globo se marchita. Fresa pierde color."

Gladius faced the gravestone in front of him. It read Gladius. "Sueño es el cielo. Buenos noches."

Gladius felt his own heart inflating. The officer was spherical, he looked less like a human than before. And then…. POP (POP POP. . . .)

Django twirled his guitar and put it at his back. "I coulda did that all along, ya know."

Kirie summoned rounds of Rainbow Monkeys after Dellinger, but with pure precision, he swung his heels and stabbed them all. "TAAAAH it's boring to kill opponents you can't see! I won't be able to deduce their nutrients, so I'll eat you instead!"

Kirie panicked when Dellinger eyed her. She sent more monkeys, but all were kicked, and the bull-fish boy succeeded in tackling her, his fangs drooling on her face and his eyes mad. "Taaaah I'm gonna eat you now! I'll chew your organs one-by-one and digest them! You're gonna be devoured and excreted! What will you do now!"

Kirie fixed her glare. A shadow would be looming over them, if it was visible: the spirit of Rainbow Monkey Kong towered over them, anger and fury burning for Kirie's assaulter. "KAAAAAH water you LOOKING at! Ah? Ahhhh? …" Dellinger turned up. His mad pupils shrunk, his open mouth was wide. He never saw the humongous fist come.

Kirie got up and dodged, watching the crater smash into the ground. Dellinger was smashed flat, his perfect legs bent. "Thank you, Mister Monkey Kong!" Kirie proclaimed with her lovely mute voice.

"Ooo-hoooo!" The King Kong blushed.

Mason resurfaced above the ground for air. Señor Pink came up and pulled him back under, throwing a punch to send Mason further. "You no have the legs to outswim me, Niño. Drown in the earth you walk on." Mason turned when Señor swam at him and farted a huge bubble, catching Señor's head. "Ay! Apesta!"

Mason could finally resurface, take out his Green Flurp, and drink. The bubbles in his tummy rumbled, so he dove back under to keep Señor from waiting. "You're right, this isn't my kind of water. 'Cause I prefer a little more H2O!" He planted his rear firm against Señor, channeled all the gaseous energy to it, and farted. Señor Pink choked, flailed his arms, his liquefied environment was intoxicated. The Spanish man fainted and floated to the surface. Mason Torpedo Spun, shot above the ground, and landed perfectly. "Besides, it's full of crap." And he walked away from the man partway in solid ground.

Yuki froze the ground in attempt to make Diamante slip, but he kept firm and made the earth wave again. "Both our powers control the land. I wonder which will dominate?" Diamante smirked.

"Mine, Shlomo." Yuki skied at the enemy with icicles on his knuckles, but Diamante ducked, stuck his leg out and tripped Yuki, then grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Not really. However, you'd make a nice new cape." And so, Yuki was flat and bendable as a towel. "Aaaaaaahhh." Diamante used him to wipe the back of his head. "So refreshing, I get goosebumps."

"That's a clone, man." Diamante froze, eyes widened at the real Yuki to his left. The clone turned back into blue ice as Yuki bent the towel-like substance around Diamante's head. Yuki froze his boots in solid ice, skied over, and kicked him in the crotch. The scream was muffled in the ice, but it broke after Dia fell over, writhing in pain. Yuki ripped a strip of the wavy ice-ground and rolled it over Dia. "Told ya." Yuki kicked Diamante and watched him roll up like an icy rug.

"Huff, huuu, huff, huuu…" Chris can't believe he survived that, but he focused his chi to push the flames away just when the glue exploded, leaving only a few burn marks on him. This area of town was set to flames from their battle. Chris ignited his shoes and blasted at Trebol with his fists on fire, but his fists sunk into his blobby body.

"Beheheheheheh!" That laugh was getting on his nerves. "You survived, did ya, little snot." Trebol picked his nose. "You thought you had me, you thought you could set me on fire and blow me up. You need way more flames than that to make ME go boom!" Trebol puffed, blowing Chris away, at the same time he ignited his fist and exploded the glue blotch stuck to him. "Beheheheh! You're a tough kid, ya, but you ain't strong enough to defeat the Don Quixote Family!"

"Not strong enough? Heh. Unfortunately for you, I've been holding back all this time."

"Beh?"

"Heh heh…" Chris chuckled maliciously. "I've waited a long time to find an opponent to show this to. I shoulda used it on someone else awhile ago, but another cackling idiot will suffice."

"What're you talking about, you tweeeerrrp?"

"…" Chris clutched the back of his headband. "This birthmark is really embarrassing… you won't tell anyone, will you? Nah…"

It was 11 years ago, when Rachel was in the final hours of her first pregnancy. After pain and struggles, Nigel and Rachel's first son was born. "It's a boy!" the nurse beamed. "A-… What is this?"

Nigel looked over her shoulder. "…Whoa…"

"It's not an unnatural thing, but it is weird." another doctor told them. "At a young age, it can be dangerous to control."

"But what can we do about it?" Rachel asked, her baby wrapped in a blanket.

"I recommend he wear this." He presented a light-red headband. "The chi-block inside will prevent any accidental uses, but his normal firebending will be faulty. If he learned Fire Kung-Fu, he'll be able to make up for until he's able to control it."

Nigel and Rachel exchanged glances. "I guess it'll have to do." The former complied.

"Whooooa!" 5-year-old Aurora and 4-year Cheren gaped.

"I know, but you can't tell anyone." Chris stated. "My parents say it's dangerous to use, especially if I'm hit in the head."

"Well, we won't tell anyone. Will we Cheren?" Aurora smiled.

"Yeah… but it would be cool, though!"

For the first time in public, Chris's headband flew off. The horror on Trebol's face was clear as what lay underneath.

A slim, vertical, hexagonal eye was exposed on his forehead. The very sight of it made Trebol speechless… and we would soon know why.

Chris's head lit like a boiler as he sniffed a huge breath into his nose, and once he was fully charged, his third eye flashed, sending a string of small fireworks toward Trebol.

". . . . . . . Spark . . . . . . Spark . . . . . . Spark. . . . . . . BOOM."

A tremendous explosion engulfed Trebol and his flammable body. The area was set to flames as sticky gooey drops flew everywhere, Trebol's head landing and melting. Chris breathed the fresh, flaming air, giving his forehead the breath it deserved.

Bison sent a stream of bladed propellers at Artie and Haylee, the two evading. "Come on, Aeral, can't you hit me?" the latter taunted.

"Errrgh, screw this crud! Time for double-team, Brother!" Aeral exclaimed.

"You said it, Sister!"

"THEY'RE RELATED?" exclaimed the Gilligans.

With her Weapon-Weapon powers, Sweetie-1 transformed Bison, missiles and machineguns appearing all over his body. They blasted the C.O.O.L.-B.O.T. with full force, the Gilligans evading quicker than ever. "Now or never, Artie!"

"Augh. Ready when you are." He flinched.

Through the smoke created by the explosions, the C.O.O.L.-B.O.T. lunged at the metahumans, so on pure impulse, Aeral blasted a missile and destroyed it. "Ha HAAAA! Got 'em, Bro!"

"Sorry!" The two panicked, for Artie and Haylee were above them, the former in a flysuit and Haylee with jetpack. "But the Gilligans rule the sky!" Haylee turned up her pack's engine, burned it against one of Bison's missiles, and exploded the DR operatives.

"WAAAAAAAAH!" Sweetie-1 and Numbuh Spade took the fall to the castle grounds.

Monet-Z sniffed about the castle halls, searching for her prey. "You'll dine soon, Monet, she cannot be far."

"Over here!" They whipped to a right hall, finding Crystal smiling innocently. Vergo sicked Monet at her, but the witch faded into air. "No, this way!" Monet charged another way, but that Crystal dispersed. "Huuuuh-!" Crystal charged at her from another hall, Monet slashed, Crystal dispersed. "Huuuuh-!" Another came, she slashed, it dispersed. "HUUUUH!" Then a whole platoon of Crystals leapt, ready to slam Vergo.

"Hm. The most obvious trick. Neither of them are-"

The real Crystal among them all batted Vergo off his steed. "You can't beat the classics!"

"Uhhhh-" Crystal shot sleeping gas that knocked Vergo out. Monet roared and screeched, in reality blind to her senses. Crystal rode her like a bull while she slammed walls left-to-right, left-to-right, before finally passing out. Crystal climbed off and proceeded. "What animals."

Doflamingo Jr. whirled around and around, his strings stretching for blocks and slicing buildings. Dillon came out of the ground, expecting Flamingo's whip and ducked. "Fufufufufu." The feather-boy grinned, seeing the sweat on Dillon's face. "You can hide, but I'll catch you! Just give up and admit-!" He froze. Junior had no more control of his body. "Wh-What the-?"

"Shadow Possession. Thank your dad for the strings." Indeed, Mario had stretched into and across the tiny shadow of one of the string lines from the Birdcage, the other end touching Junior's shadow. "Doesn't matter how small it is, as long as it's shadow, it's-" But Dillon's hold faltered. Mario released and retracted, panting beside his master. "What the-?!"

"Fufufufufu!" Doffy chuckled. "You wore your shadow out, he's out of breath! And soon, you'll be, too-"

A distant explosion caught his attention. Doffy Jr. looked up. "Hey… where did my teammates go. Did those two… !!" Now angered, Doffy Jr. launched his strings to the top of the fortress and flew up.

"Hey, wait! What about our battle? Ugh." Dillon kicked the ground.

Aurora and Haruka were making a mess of things downstairs, and the moment they saw the factory underground, their target was set. Haruka blasted gas at the sealed steel doors, Aurora blasted flames, the combo exploded and blew the entrance. The factory appeared natural inside, trees and grass growing, but the rivers flowed with toxic waste, the fruits were oddly-colored, mutated. "This is a Devil Fruit factory!" Haruka exclaimed. "Not if WE have anything to say about it!"

"Nuuiiii! You aren't allowed in here-dasoyun!" Buffalo exclaimed, propelling at them. "I'll turn you into-"

Aurora shot above him, kicking down his face with an icy heel, and knocked Buffalo to the ground like that. "Hooray, I defeated their weakest member! Okay Haruka, you take this half, I take this?"

"Okay." So the duo split up and started wrecking the place.

In the sky, Nolan hung onto the string and swung ceaselessly toward the cage's wall, but he covered himself in Armament and protected. He grabbed the string bars and climbed, seeing Doflamingo up above and crawling toward with a venomous grin. Nolan shot his grappler, Doflamingo dodged, Nolan propelled to the higher point, yanked the hook off partway, and lunged at Flamingo to grab him. He held tight and didn't let go, so both men took the plunge. Doflamingo shot some strings to the center and pulled them both up. He angrily kicked Nolan's face, but Nolan pulled up, got his head level with Doflamingo's, and began punching the side. Doflamingo swung back-and-forth on the string, trying to shake Nolan off like a sticky bug on his hand, but he wouldn't let go, his fist socked Doffy in the nose over and over.

His string retracted so much, Doffy and Nolan ended up at the very top of the Birdcage. Flamingo caught Nolan between his legs, hauled him above and tried to push him backfirst against the connected strings, but his Armament back saved him. Nolan got his boomerang, and with an evil grin, cut the center, and they both took the great fall. The wind pressed against their bodies, the castle roof was drawing closer, Nolan and Flamingo swung punches and kicks in midair. Finally they both held each other, braced for impact, and smashed through the roof.

Nolan used his grappler to catch the edge of the hole and break his fall. After the smoke cleared, Doflamingo was still standing, though dizzily. Nolan landed and dealt the last round of punches. He turned Doffy around, bent his arm behind, and punched him to the ground. His pink feathery coat faced the air as he lay defeated. The strings in the room, the slowly-descending strings of the Birdcage all dispersed into energy. Corporate President, Don Quixote Doflamingo, was down. (End song.)

Sugar's Room

Knock knock knock. Crystal slowly creaked open the door. "Hello?"

She saw the aquamarine-haired child on the floor, along with grapes. She calmly approached. "Did she slip on a grape? No, choked on one is more likely. Shame… works in our favor, I suppose. …!" She heard groaning to her left. Cheren Uno was on his knees. "Hey! You're that Cheren boy." She knelt before him and held him up. "Were you one of her victims, too?"

"Nnnn… Ms. Wickens? Where am I?"

"Doflamingo's castle in Dressrosa. That girl there, Sugar made you a toy. I only just remembered you."

"A…A toy?"

So Crystal explained everything, how they deduced Sugar was making people toys, how everyone forgot them. "W-Wait, so… she made me a toy… no one remembered me? She erased me?!"

"Well, it… wasn't her fault, I reckon. Her father was making her do it all. He's mad, really."

Pain and rage had been building in Cheren all this time. It was time to let it loose.

Throne Room

Nolan panted. He looked at the hole in the roof. His wheelchair, which had landed there, rolled to the edge and fell in. He seated himself, spared a look at his unconscious adversary, and began to roll out.

A string caught his chair from behind and whirled him into the throne. Doflamingo was back on his feet, cracking his neck. "Hnnhnnhnnhnn." He grinned. "You just… don't know your place. This is my kingdom, Sandman. The world I have created. Heroes like you don't belong here. I… am-"

The entrance to the chamber creaked open. Doflamingo frowned and turned, feeling a strange heat wave. A dark boy glared at him with chestnut eyes full of malice. A flame engulfed his form. "My, my! If it isn't the Head President's nephew. Cheren Uno, I believe. That's a hot new look for you."

"…" Cheren stared.

"Oh, that's right… Sugar turned you into a toy, didn't she? Heh, everyone forgot you. Forgot everything you said about that Apocalypse. It was so much nicer, having nothing to worry about. Why did you torture them like that?"

"…"

"Fufufu… how you tried to beat President Morgan… an apprentice of the Leaders, the most powerful person under them. You, boy… you're a joke."

"…"

"Hnn… you're a nuisance to us, regardless. What will the KND be without its leader? Time to make the example… with their pride." Doflamingo's string flew like a bullet, but Cheren grabbed the tiny thing in his right hand. "Nnn?"

The string caught fire and turned to soot. Fast as lightning, Cheren zipped to Doflamingo and socked him with a Hellfire Fist, flying him against Nolan York in the throne. Both men grunted, Nolan keeping Flamingo upright, surprised when Cheren zipped up, kicked him in the head, and flew Flamingo against the wall. Doflamingo growled and stood, Cheren warped before him, dealt an array of punches that scorched and darkened his face, then threw Doflamingo to the center. Doflamingo lashed another string, but Cheren grabbed it in a blink, zipped around the president, then forced it deep into the floor. "Uuck!" Flamingo grunted. Cheren punched that area of floor, melted it, then solidified, the end of that string lodged within. Sandman zoomed in his binoculars, horrified to see the string wrapped around Flamingo's throat.

"Cheren!" Nolan called as the boy dodged another onslaught of strings, then pelted giant fireballs at Doflamingo, pushing him back. Faster and faster did Flamingo's strings come, but no closer he was to winning than Cheren's flames inching him to the hole in the wall Doflamingo made earlier. Doflamingo was now touching the edge, his head throbbing in extreme aggravation. "CHEREN, NO!"

Doflamingo threw two huge spinning strings, but Cheren dodged forward and blasted his final two flames. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaa…"

Faster than Nolan ever acted, he threw the boomerang at the string still lodged in the floor.

Creak.

It missed by an inch, and Nolan knew, the moment it stretched perfectly straight… he almost lost his breath. Turning very weakly, he saw Cheren standing at the edge of the hole, looking down the strong, sturdy string to where it ended. His flames never looked darker.

Thousands of townspeople gathered before the castle. Gasps and murmurs echoed all around. A pink, feathery coat, and the pair of legs below it, could be seen hanging from the castle. Very slowly, it swayed and spun in the air. His large mouth forced open, his tongue hanging out. His gorgeous blue eyes lost all life inside them.

The slanted red shades that defined him fell all the way to the courtyard, at Junior's feet. His own shades fell beside them as his eyes widened. He, Sweetie-1, and Bison almost choked at the sight.

And within that hole stood the culprit. Alit by his mighty red flame. The citizens of Dressrosa knew… the Devil had come to claim its prize. "…DOFLAMINGO IS DEAD! DRESSROSA GIVE PRAISE TO OUR SAVIOR!"

"YAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

Chris and Sector V were frozen. At the front of the crowds, they saw the flame clearest of all. "Cheren…" Chris uttered.

And if no one else did, Melody and Danny could see him. The anchorgirl lost any sense of feeling. "I…" She was on her knees, "I'm done with reporting."

Not that Cheren heard or saw anything anymore. He was feeling… increasingly dizzy. "It's natural, you know."

The entire world turned dark. In his half-awake state, he saw his shadow stretch across the ground before him. It stood up, took form, and standing there was a very dark, grim form of himself. "This anger of yours."

"Who…'re you."

"I'm what just won the battle. Your inner demon… the Demon State."

"You look like… Nerehc."

"A single person is composed of 3 entities: the Positive…Negative… and the Shadow. I… am your shadow. The one that separates your light and dark. The vessel that contains all of your anger, your rage… when you aren't using it. Your inability to keep me under control, led me to take control."

"So you're…you're the one that's been doing it."

"Not true. I'm only a part of you, Cheren. I act based on your orders. And I hear your mental orders… better than your oral ones. You want something destroyed, I'll destroy it. You wanna deal pain, I'll deliver it. When you want someone killed… the blood will be on my hands. And all my strength… comes from your self-turmoil."

"I'm not in turmoil."

"Of course you are. Because of Sugar's power, everyone forgot you. Forgot your virtues and words. The Apocalypse. You were nothing… for that time. If it weren't for a bunch of insects, you would've been gone."

Cheren didn't understand… he was tired… dizzy… With no sense of self anymore, he fell forward—Nolan grabbed him by the shirt-collar. "You've done enough, Cheren. Let's…Let's go down." He set the boy on his lap and rolled.

SMILEs Factory

Caesar saw it on his TV. Doflamingo hung by the neck by his own string. The scientist choked. "'Thought I'd find you here."

He turned. Haruka Dimalanta faced him from the doorway of his dark room. "Shurororororo. Haruka…" Caesar smiled slyly. "Paying your dear old uncle a visit?"

"You still have a trial to go to. One or another, you're coming."

"Nnnn… I suppose I've no choice. There's chi-blocking cuffs in that drawer over there." He pointed.

"Hm… someone's melancholy."

"Doflamingo's dead." Haruka was shocked slightly. "See for yourself."

Haruka approached the TV. The hanging man and the fire above it. "I…I don't.."

"Ever since we were kids, this has been our dream." Caesar spoke with regret. "To follow a goal that combined my genetic knowledge with his need to build a peaceful world. In everything that's happened, our friendship… was always what surpassed."

"I…I feel kinda bad."

"You should." Caesar glared at her. "True, Doflamingo was crazy, but you would be, too. His father was a World Leader, a very kind Leader who wanted to live among commoners. The people hated them for what they were: self-believed 'Gods.' Well, his father didn't think that. He tried his darndest to be friends with the people. Then… they killed his wife. Killed her when Doffy was only 8. Then when he was 9, he killed his father. I was the only friend he had, a gassy poisonbender who did stuff to animals for fun. No one wanted us around, so… we were all we had."

Haruka looked at the screen again. The repeating image… it ached her every time to see. "Somehow, I knew it would go too far." Caesar went to the drawer and picked up the chi-cuffs. "Something like this would happen. If I could, I'd… do it all again. Talk Doffy out of this deal. Hn, no, he wouldn't listen, shuroro. Silly, stubborn Doffy… siiigh…"

Haruka looked between him and the screen. …She was sometimes too kind for her own good.

Sugar's Room

The aquamarine girl still lay on the floor, senseless. Timmy and Hikari slowly approached on the side of her left ear, climbing the head that was roughly 3 stories. They approached the gaping hole of her mouth and peered inside. "Hellooooo? Rupert?" Timmy called.

"Timmy, Hikari! I'm still on the tongue, heeeelp!" Timmy viewed into the dark with his goggle light. Rupert clung to the mushy substance with all his strength. "I can't hang onto a gym pole for long, so it's amazing how much the threat of a pit of acid changes that, help me!"

The kids sent their Wing Pikmin down the chasm to bring their friend back to safety. "Phew… thanks. …Is she dead?"

"Looks like it." Timmy replied.

"Awwww. She's pretty." Hikari frowned. "When she's not trying to kill us."

"I feel kinda bad." Rupert replied. "It was only self-defense, after all."

"Mi-miiii!" The Magenta Pikmin began jumping, running around the face. Clearly they were overjoyed about being on her.

"What's with them?" Timmy asked.

"I think they're in looooove!" Hikari beamed.

"…" Rupert was curious, looking at their glowing note-antennas. They got this way around those music stages, what would get them so riled up. He whistled the Pikmin to attention, so once they were organized, Rupert led them around. He instructed a Magenta onto Sugar's nose, one between her eyes and one on the left and right sides, two on each cheek, four along the forehead, and one in each ear. The one on the nose swayed an imaginary wand like a conductor as they all began to sing.

"Ringalaringaling! Ringalaringaling! Ringalaringaling!" Some music from an invisible source before their notes flowed. "Yooooga habooon… waga la wigginother: yooga labon he nooootheeeeir…" Sugar's eyes cracked open partway. Her purple irises looked pretty up close. "Yooga habooon… waga le wigginother… yoode widon he no theiiiir…"

Her pupils shifted left and right to view the little creatures. Her eyelids were still half open, so the kids wondered if she was aware of her surroundings. Rupert stood before the left eye as it looked at him. He smiled kindly. "Sorry about poisoning you, but you did try to eat me. You seem kinda lonely up here, so… you know. You like the Song Pikmin? They seem to like you, for some reason. Don't they sound fun?"

"…"

"We can't stay long, but I'll let you keep these guys. They can sing you lullabies or somethin'. Well, um… see you later." So with that, Team Rupert and the rest of their Pikmin climbed down, scampering across the vast floor.

Then the doors to the room burst open, the tinies' hearts almost stopping with fright. A troupe of GUN soldiers charged in and shocked Sugar into submission with rods. "I don't know what happened, but she's NOT getting away! Call Headquarters and have this company tried once and for all!"

Within the next half-hour, the G.U.N. and KND officials showed up. Doflamingo's body was carted away on a stretcher, his officers sulked in depression as they were collected in their incapacitated states. Trebol's body was still scattered goo, separated in several containers that were carried into GUN's crafts. "Astonishing!" Brett Gunkan exclaimed. "For 12 years, Doflamingo has been kidnapping victims and using his daughter to turn 'em into toys! During that time, we've sent GUN spies to investigate the story behind these toys, but all were transformed so no one remembered. What kind of witchcraft does she possess?!"

"I dunno…" replied one of the officers, "but we have her in custody." He looked at the child in question, her hands encased inside huge mechanical cuffs. "We'll entrust the Kids Next Door with her friends' custody, but we've singled her out as the prime threat."

"Still… arresting a child. This hardly feels ethical. Perhaps some questioning will-"

"The hell with questioning." They turned and saw Nolan and Cheren. The latter had a strong hint of darkness in his baggy-eyed state. "Lock her away and let her rot to death. Best she deserves."

"Cheren…" Nolan spoke under his breath.

"And who was the one that brought about Doflamingo's demise?" asked Gunkan.

"That… I did." Nolan said. Hopefully not many townspeople saw the culprit too clearly.

"It was you, Sandman?"

"What can I say. I got carried away. Believe me, it's not the worst that coulda happened."

"Hm… considering the circumstances, perhaps this can be overlooked. But I don't believe the Corporate Presidents will take this manner of respect to one of their own so lightly. I implore you to watch yourself, Sandman."

"Will do, Sir."

So with that, Sugar was loaded onto the aircraft before they returned to the sky, and the criminals of Dressrosa were carried away. The people of Dressrosa were still in an uproar, people scrambling to find the loved ones they hadn't known for 12 years as Nolan escorted Cheren around. Sandman couldn't really be bothered to settle this conflict, hopefully some new, more noble ruler would come along and tell everybody to quiet. For now was a matter of bringing Cheren back to his loved ones. "I still don't understand…" Nolan thought aloud quietly. "If these toys've been around for 12 years, then Sugar would had to've been alive that long, unless she was given her Devil Fruit after birth, but she still… Cheren, do you remember her giving her age?"

"I just want her to die and burn in Hell."

"Man, you're taking this a little rough. How long were you a toy, exactly?"

"CHEREN!" Through the crowds, Nolan saw Yuki with Sector V. Aurora and Chris bolted over as the former grabbed her brother in a hug. Tears dripped from her eyes. "Bro, I don't even know what happened, but I just forgot you and this whole Apocalypse, I can't even explain, I… what happened to us?!"

"Cheren, weren't you in Sugar's room, what happened to her?" asked Nolan.

"She was trying to squish some ants and she swallowed one that choked her. Too bad she didn't die."

"He's still a little… traumatized, as it were."

"Yeah, we saw. It was his Demon State." Chris noted. "Ever since he was born, it's always been more 'active' with him than us. Aurora's able to absorb his flames and cool him down—which I guess is her icebending at work—so Mom and Dad want her to be around often 'case Cheren's fire gets too… big?"

"Lord knows I'm no comforting hand." Nolan admitted, stretching his aching fingers. "I'll let you take care of him. See you at home, Son."

"'kay, Dad." The kids watched as Sandman and his team took flight over the crowds.

After a while, KND officials dropped a new C.O.O.L.-B.U.S. for Sectors V and L to leave the island. "Sigh… my head hurts." Cheren sighed.

"Same here, man." Chris patted his shoulder. "Just glad you're back."

"I should get up to Moonbase, everyone's probably in chaos. …I suppose I should tell you guys how I ended up getting transformed. A couple days ago, me and-"

His cellphone rang. Cheren answered his mother. "Cheren, are you there? Where've you been, for some reason we just… forgot you."

"Mom, I'm fine, I'm with Sector V."

"Cheren, you need to come home, Chris and Aurora, too. We…We have to tell you something."

"Oh…okay. Love you, Mom." They hung up. "Huh… She sounds really upset."

"'Wonder what's up." said Aurora.

Uno Household

A cold, gray sky hung over Virginia this afternoon. They expected rain soon. The sectormates landed; Melody and Danny were still with them. Convenient, considering who waited outside. "Mom!" The siblings ran up to Eva Jackson in the yard. "We tried to call you from Dressrosa, but the phone was dead!"

"You were in Dressrosa?"

"Long story, I… what's everyone doing here?"

There was a lot of people. Lizzie MayHence with her head down, Dimentia looking at the gray sky, Dr. Facilier petting his downtrodden shadow, Harvey holding Angie's hand. Anthony and Michelle looked at Cheren and waved. Cheren exchanged worried looks with his siblings and friends. He slowly approached his front door and entered.

There was a huge crowd in his house, too. The Gilligan parents, Beatles, Drilovskys, all turned to him the moment he stepped in. The grieving looks on their faces were unsettling. "Wh…What's going on?"

"About time you came." The Grim Reaper squeezed out from the crowd. His presence here made the air feel colder.

"Grim…" Cheren actually wanted to speak with him about these Keys, but… "What are you doing here?"

His mother walked out around Grim, just as upset. "Kids… there's no easy way to say this. Your father's dead."

The room fell silent. It was almost like time was frozen. Especially Cheren, who didn't even feel his heart beating. "What?"

"Yep. 9:35a.m. today. Killed at the top of Mt. Mariejoa." Grim explained, reading a paper. "Got in a fight wit' de King of de World and his cohorts. He didn't stand a chance."

Everyone waited impatiently for Cheren to make a move. He just stood there with the same blank, frozen expression. "…So bring him back."

"What?"

"You heard me, bring him back to life!" he shouted aggressively.

"You know I can't do that."

"WHY NOT, you're the Grim Reaper!"

"It's against my rules!"

"RULES, SHMULES, you brought Uncle FACILIER back to life!" He stomped up and tugged forcefully on Grim's cloak.

"Well DON'T you t'ink I'm in too deep ALREADY?!"

"So you brought ONE lousy mortal back to life, BIG DEAL! You honestly wouldn't do the same for my DAD?! The one who made you KING?! Any REAL friend in your position would TOTALLY—"

"I've been risking my position bringing you and YOUR crummy friends back to life THIS ENTIRE TIME, you little SNOT!"

Cheren felt himself freeze again. "What?"

"EVER since you joined Kids Next Door, I've been WATCHING you and watching you, getting involved on these crazy adventures and dying EVERY step of the way!"

"… ..How…How is that possible."

"The reason you don't remember is because, upon bringing you back to life, I set you a few moments in time before you die, wipe your memory of your death, but leave a small shred of knowledge that allows you to sense what kills you, so you can avoid it. A few minutes later, however, you die again, and the cycle continues, for 8 months now I've been DOING this. Keeping a sharp eye on you so the other Reapers wouldn't, and bringing you to life so I wouldn't be caught. Wasting my time doing so, so the children of my friends can have a longer chance at life and continue to learn from their flops. If you really don't believe me, SEE for yourself!"

And at the whoosh of Grim's scythe, everything was clear to Cheren.

Anthony McKenzie, at one inch tall, hurriedly dodged Cragalanche's massive fists, until one unlucky slip caused him to be smashed flat.

Cheren clashed furiously with Captain Slag's sword, until the captain came victorious and stabbed him in the heart.

It was difficult maneuvering underwater to dodge the Eelion monster, and the upper half of Cheren's body was munched clean off. A second time when Cheren was trapped in its bubble, and a third in the larger room, when it swooped in and out of the walls.

The battle against Garo Master, Cheren and Merida were sliced in perfect diagonal halves by his flaming swords. Both friends were then pierced by the Stalgod's massive swords.

In his climactic battle against Majora, the Masked Demon caught him in his whips, and swung him around until he was dead.

Dillon, Zach, and Maddy ran from the Bang Gas-Z as fast as they could, but a wrong turn led them to be swallowed in the gas, overcome with mutantism, and eventually dying.

In Nebula and Mocha's battle against Geoffrey Giant, the massive Neanderthal chucked a huge boulder that squished Nebula's blood out.

Vweeb hurriedly jumped around in the crowded and violent bloodfest of Glomourians vs. Kateenians, but the tiny alien was squished beneath a Glomourian's foot like a bug.

Nebula and MaKayla fought Dimentio with the power of gods, but when the superior being caught the girls in a black hole, he distorted their matter and destroyed them.

While the Raccoon Pirates were hopping marshmallows over a chocolate river, Mason slipped and fell in the ooze.

When Carol Masterson began her battle with Nickel Joe, the sly man succeeded in shooting a coin inside her mouth, blowing her head clean off.

Sheila Frantic hurriedly dodged Big Mom's acid globs, until one particular glob struck her face and melted it off, allowing the massive woman to crush her like a pancake.

"And there's something else I want to clarify." Grim said. "Earlier, your timebender friends tried to revive their teammates. However, while timebending can restore a broken body, it cannot call souls back from death. I secretly aided them as well. Even 20 years ago, Clockwork merely gave Dimentia a Gigai, and it was I that revived her once the quest was over, same with the timebenders. Ordinarily, being revived from death would have negative consequences on your body, but I've been negating those effects at the cost of my own well-being. My power is dwindling… so, I may not have much time left."

Cheren was blind to everything. His mind was open. In a single stroke… he saw the truth. "Our lives are… just repeating." He spoke quietly. "Like a videogame… some twisted god killing us like playthings in a game… we're nothing… I see that now."

"Cheren-" Rachel reached for him.

"OUR LIVES MEAN NOTHING!!" And he was gone upstairs to his room in seconds.

His jacket, shoes, and glasses were off haphazardly on the floor. His face lay smothered in his pillow as he cried. Rachel, Chris, and Aurora came with sympathetic looks as his mom walked up. "Cheren?"

"All this time, we were being helped by someone, because we were too weak to survive on our own." He choked on almost every word. "If my dad couldn't beat the, World Leaders, how are we supposed to find the 20 Keys?! He was one of the best there was, and he STILL couldn't win! We'll never find the Keys in time…"

"Cheren, I'm upset, too, but we gotta remember what Nigel taught us. What he taught you. You have to keep trying. You can't give up—"

"WE'RE NOT AS GREAT AS YOU! Okay?! YOU weren't dying over and over, WERE YOU?! You guys got the easy stuff… but this…this is really huge! If my dad couldn't survive it… we don't have a chance! Zanifr was right all along! I can't beat Aunt Morgan… I can't find the 20 Keys… I CAN'T stop the Apocalypse! NO ONE can! We're all going to die and there's nothing ANYONE can do! So let's just… let's just wait for it to happen! Sniff!"

They weren't sure what to say. It was pretty mind-blowing to the others, too. Cheren never looked so drowned in depression. They had nothing to encourage him. Chris, Aurora, and Rachel left his room and shut the door. Cheren was alone, sobbing on his bed. There was no more reason to try… no more reason to fight. Their fates were set in stone. They were powerless to the world, to the gods. The Apocalypse would take them all; the Grim Reaper couldn't hide that. He would wait patiently for his true death to come.