B-6. Lost and Looking

Welcome to the second story arc of the Side Stories, which I will title the Darkness Seeker Arc. To start off, we'll have Nerehc's first stage and Augustus's 3rd stage. Again, if you read the Negaverse segments in the other story, you don't have to again. (Takes place during Chapter 12.)

Negaverse; EiznekCm House

Nerehc and Ragus came up out of the basement of the former's house. As they headed for the front door, they were caught by Lehcar EiznekCm, who had walked in from the kitchen. "Oh, Mother!" Medusa said with Nerehc's voice, pushing up the sunglasses to hide her snakelike green eyes. "This is my friend, Ragus. I invited her over for-"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Lehcar asked Nerehc, cocking a brow.

Medusa's (Nerehc's) heart jumped, wondering if she'd been caught. "Er… I'm-"

"Because I don't like random kids sneaking in my house and taking my stuff. NOW, GET OUT!!"

"WHOOOA!" Medusa and Ragus were flung out of the front door, which Lehcar slammed shut. The two rubbed their heads as they stood up. "That wasn't the response I expected." Medusa said.

"You're telling ME!" proclaimed Thanatos's perky voice.

The God of Death wobbled over in the very fat body that belonged to Eigaoh Nagillig. "I can't understand how a vegetarian stays fat as an adult, yet his Positive eats meat and is skinny as a mantis!"

"Lucky for you, that body is still prettier than your own." Pandora said negatively, coming over in Ikuk's body. "This woman is so small-chested. Sigh…" (she actually says the word).

"This guy's shirt doesn't even work for his belly!" Thanatos said, indicating his big belly sticking out. "Look! When I push my front in, my BACK pops out!" He pushed his belly under his shirt, then his back belly popped out. "But when I push my back in, my FRONT pops out!" He pushed his back in, and the same happened. "What's up with that??"

"The gods keep track of our Gigai ever since our commingling with the Thirteen Darknesses over the years." Medusa reminded. "We'll only be able to get work done by possessing these bodies. Now, shape up, you two! Our first order of business is to gather the Six Demon Saints."

"Awww, look at you giving orders like a grown-uuuuup." Pandora cooed, leaning forward and folding her arms on Nerehc's head. "You're so adorable."

"Stop it, Dora!" Medusa flailed Nerehc's arms and pushed the woman off. Ragus giggled.

"Fine. So, why are we concerned about the Demon Saints when we're supposed to be finding the Darknesses?"

"There's nothing we can do about the Darknesses for the moment. Not until Ragaj Gnik and Bill Cipher get done doing what they're supposed to. However, since we've come to know the Darknesses across the years, especially their powers, it's going to be Hell when all those people are suddenly together. We can use the Demon Saints to keep them all in line. And not only that… one of the Darknesses will need the power of the Demon Saints to help him."

"Also, we're purposely not saying the names of the Darknesses for secrecy's sake." Thanatos informed. "You understand, don't you, Ragus?"

"I certainly do!" Ragus beamed.

"Then let's get started." Medusa clapped hands. "I propose that we search for Lucifer first. Last I heard, he was Ganondorf's horsy, but he's mostly been doing work in Mexico. We'll enter there from Ocixem, since the gods don't look in here often. Ragus, those people will not be able to bother us while they're in their dolls, right?"

"They most certainly shouldn't." Ragus smiled brightly and held the three dolls of Nerehc, Eigaoh, and Ikuk. "However, Lady Medusa, I have a small query: who is Nerehc?"

"?" Medusa cocked a brow. "Nerehc is this boy. The one I'm possessing right now."

"I assumed as much, but for some reason, I don't seem to know who he is!"

"…Interesting. But you remember those two adults just fine?" Medusa indicated Ikuk and Eigaoh's bodies.

"I do."

"Hmmm… Well, we'll ponder over it later. Although this makes me wonder what the Coincidence Factor had in store for Cheren."

"Sorry for disturbing you, Miss EiznekCm." a girl's voice said inside the house.

"You're just lucky you're more tolerable than other kids. NOW GET OUT." That's when Sipa came flying through the window.

"Ow!" Sipa hit the grass outside. She shook her head and looked up at the possessed Nerehc and his group. "…Who are you weirdoes supposed to be?"

Dream World… (Play "Piano #1" from Mogeko Castle.)

Nerehc woke up with a fuzzy feeling in his head. He saw that he was wearing a purple jumpsuit with a three-swirl symbol on the chest. "Am I in… the Dream World?"

He was gazing up at a huge, grayish castle under a pure blue night sky with stars. There were statues of what looked like stuffed animals, and it seemed that many stuffed animals were happily roaming this place. "Well, I'm somewhere. I…" He held his head, and the fuzzy feeling seemed stronger than ever. "I am… Who am I? What's my name… I can't… remember. …" He looked up at the castle. "Maybe… someone in there will know."

Stage B-5: Night Castle

Mission: Find out who and where you are.

Act 1

Nerehc (for now, we'll assume that's his name) sprouted purple flames from his shoes and skated across the stone bridge over the moat. Stuffed toys were floating carefree in the water, so he wouldn't disturb them. He skied around some statues of the animals and followed a right route, where a blue strip of carpet led between castle walls. The road forked ahead, so Nerehc followed a right path, which led to a dead end. There were crates and barrels stacked around, so he sliced them with the glowing white sword he apparently had. He found peppers and bags of potato chips, and figured he'd take them with him.

Nerehc skied to the left route of the fork, going up some stairs that ended at a ledge over the moat. There were several towers standing around and more stuffed toys floating in the water. Nerehc could grind on a rail on his left, to a spring that propelled him to another tower. He Wall Kicked off, flew to another tower with Rocket Boost, and repeated the Wall Jumping until he set foot on a new path. He glided up some winding stairs to reach the top of this short tower. Using his weightless rockets, Nerehc leaped across a series of small pillars across the water, getting to a castle wall and gliding up some stairs.

The path reached an end before a drop, in which the castle wall on the left had a series of branches going up. Nerehc grabbed and swung around each one to propel himself higher. He landed on a new path that led to a chain, which Nerehc grinded across to reach another path, and skied along until some stairs brought him to a ground above the wall. Plushies were sitting at tables and drinking tea, all wearing bright and happy faces.

Nerehc decided to approach a pink rabbit and blue hippo plushy. "Um… Can any of you tell me where I am?"

"You're in Night Castle." The rabbit replied.

"The castle made by Ragus." The hippo followed.

"Everyone's happy here."

"You'll be happy, too."

Nerehc looked at a statue of the smiling, hooded girl with a stitch face. "Ragus…" Her appearance was foggy in his mind. "Do any of you know where I came from?"

"We're all from the other world." Rabbit replied.

"That bad world." Hippo said.

"Ragus helped us escape."

"We live in this world now."

"You'll like living here, too."

"Er, I'm not sure I'll fit in… I'm not a toy like the rest of you."

"You'll become one once you get adapted." Rabbit replied, sipping tea. "I wonder what you'll be. A monkey, maybe?"

Nerehc looked at the statue again. "Can I meet her? Maybe she can tell me who I am."

"You can go in the castle to find her. But by the time you do, you won't care anymore."

"Yeah, well…" Nerehc looked to the castle entrance far across the chasm. "That'll depend."

Nerehc skied past the café and jumped some platforms up around a tower, then grabbed a zipline to slide to a small pillar. From there, he used his rockets to glide to a further, shorter pillar. Then, he could only glide to a platform just over the surface of the moat. The stuffed animals looked as carefree here as any of the other ones, floating in the water. But rather than swim with them, Nerehc used his rockets to glide just over the surface. He found a set of branches leading up to a foothold on the wall below the castle entrance.

Nerehc swung up these branches, but to get higher up, he had to climb a long, dangling blue drape on the left of the foothold. He reached a new ledge, which led around the wall to a path consisting of in-and-out platforms. Nerehc jumped the platforms with timing, and once at the following foothold, he viewed a stairway of gargoyle statues in which spikes sprouted on their heads every few seconds. Nerehc nimbly jumped the statues when the spikes were down, arriving at the ground before the castle entrance.

The gate was completely black inside, like when you enter a loading zone in a videogame. However, when Nerehc skied through the black entrance, he was still outside, now overlooking a long stairwell down that he didn't see before. He glided down, and then up an even higher stairwell, before viewing the majesty of the Night Castle's distant entrance. With nothing obstructing his path, Nerehc skated over. A yellow crescent moon hung in the stars above the castle. This world was really pretty, Nerehc thought. If all those toys had a point, he could get used to living here. Maybe he would decide if he got to view the inside of the castle. After arriving at a short flight of stairs, Nerehc skied up to and entered the castle gates. (Play "Mirror Room" from Sonic Adventure.)

Act 2

The interior walls were brick and gray like outside, with a red carpet leading down this candlelit passage. Nerehc entered a foyer room with candlelit chandeliers, skating up some stairs before turning left into a hallway. The hall seemed empty at first- "YAH HA HAAA!" a jack-in-the-box popped out of the floor. Nerehc sliced it in half with his sword before skiing further- "YAH HA HAAA!" Two more jacks came from the wall. He beheaded them and continued. "YAH HAH-!" The next jack-in-the-box hopped over to Nerehc, so he slashed it perfectly down the middle.

The hall ended over a passage with a checkered floor, with platforms that had skinny baggy stems and waddled around on little crow feet. When Nerehc jumped down on one of these platforms (which was called a Buyoon), it shook around before flinging him back up on the starting ledge. Nerehc had to jump over these Buyoons quickly. When one was too far away, he simply tried to skate across the floor, but the Buyoon's top was too high to jump, so it kicked him to the start. Nerehc simply Wall Jumped across that floor to reach its top.

The passage led up some tall stairs, each of which had Buyoons. Nerehc had to Wall Jump to get high enough to land on them. At the end, Nerehc could safely land on the checkered floor of a bigger room. He tried to skate to some stairs, but some of the floor panels rose up to block his path. Nerehc had to solve a maze of rising floor panels. One route led him to a box containing some bacon, but eventually, he made it to the staircase and skied up. He glided down a hall that seemed to twist rightward, so in the following room, Nerehc was standing on the wall with the checkered floor standing vertical on his left.

Nerehc couldn't stand on the floor, only the wall he had shifted gravity on. He jumped up some cube-shaped platforms along the wall opposite the floor (the ceiling), then he glided to some further platforms to get into an opening on the other wall. There were big stuffed bats with crazy, wide-mouth faces flapping around this twisty hallway, which looped up and rightward before bringing Nerehc to the room's ceiling. There were black holes around the ceiling in which huge, peach-colored hands reached out in attempt to grab Nerehc. He avoided these Ragus's Hands and skated up some short stairs, into the next twisty passage. Ragus Hands reached out from every direction, but Nerehc avoided as he made it to the right-side-up checkered floor.

Nerehc saw only blackness at the end of the next passage, but by the time he was there, Ragus's huge and frightening image appeared. In fact, there were many Ragus'; Nerehc was in a hall of huge mirrors that bore hers and his own reflection; except Ragus was nowhere in sight. When Nerehc shifted left, then right, her illusions disappeared, so only Nerehc's reflection moved with him. The mirrors depicted holes in the floor that were otherwise unseen, so Nerehc avoided them, and also crossed the holes with invisible floors. Nerehc had to Wall Jump the mirrors over a long hidden chasm—seeing one of the mirrors was actually a spike wall in its reflection, Nerehc took care to avoid that.

The mirror hall brought him to a longer, straight passage where the mirrors depicted invisible platforms. Nerehc jumped up these platforms, having to wait for a moving one that shifted up, and from the higher platform, glided to further ones. He then had to Wall Jump some vertical invisible platforms before he made it to another corridor.

This passage appeared to grow bigger, and bigger, and bigger as Nerehc skied down, until it was so wide that he couldn't see the walls or ceiling. Even the floor was starting to become invisible in the growing darkness. Nerehc just kept skating and skating… until he apparently reached the end of an even tinier hall. The door was smaller than his fingertip, so he couldn't possibly enter. He bent down and cracked it open with his finger… then magically, he phased through the wall into a normal-size passage. Nerehc continued until he encountered another mirror. (End song.)

The boy inside the mirror was floating in midair, limbs drooping, asleep. The boy looked just like him… except he was wearing golden clothes, with a symbol of a "C" and a small 'x' between its endpoints. Nerehc slowly reached to touch his sleeping "reflection"… but the mirror disappeared the moment his fingers made contact.

Nerehc entered a living room that was behind the mirror. There was tea at a table between two couches, a painting of Ragus, and some drawers. "Mmmm, hello, Good Chum." said a stuffed penguin wearing a top-hat and monocle, sitting on a couch.

Nerehc raised a brow. "You look like a character from a really cool Posiverse show."

"That's funny." The penguin said with a British accent. "I'm actually a character from a crappy Negaverse show. Please, do have a seat."

Nerehc shrugged and sat in the couch opposite. "So, do you know anything about this Ragus chick?"

"Ol, I met her after our studio got burned down by an angry mob because our show was so crappy. She told me she could bring me to a happier world, and lo, here I am. Few months o' bein' here, I turn into this old thing. Shore is better than being in that smelly world." He was emphasizing his long "O" words. "More peaceful here, you know?"

"But how does she do it? Magic?"

"Oh, I here she's some sort of… spiritbender, what give you. She can bend peoples' souls outta their body and put them in her little stuffed hoodilywinks."

"Do you mean her toys?"

"Don't criticize my way of tolking. Then, I surmise she puts our souls into slumber like her toys, ergo we are in a dreamland. So, how did you end up being here?"

"Actually…" Nerehc touched his head, "I don't even remember. Not a thing. Zero, zilch."

"Well, you must have been pretty miserable, given you agreed to Ragus's proposition. Might as well enjoy life here."

"I don't really feel I should without knowing who I am. Can you take me to where Ragus is?"

"Oh, if she's awake right now, then I conjecture she is asleep here. I can take you to her bedchamber 'fore she awakens."

"Sure. I'll like that."

"Let's enjoy our tea first. You musta come a long way."

"Not as long as your O's, dude." Nerehc remarked before drinking tea.

Naihcalappa Mountains

The members of the Order of Black Lotus held their hearts in sorrow: one of their most beloved members, Little Aunt, met her end at the talons of a robotic owl. Now, the coffin was descending into her grave, dug next to Oitnemid's. "And so, we bid farewell to Little Aunt, who would always show concern for others' well-being above her own." The Man With the Blue Eye spoke. "At least now, she will be able to look over us from the serenity of Spirit World. Farewell… Auntie."

After the funeral, Ydnew Llevram returned to her house, her blue eyes baring their usual scowl. "Can't imagine what a bitch her Positive musta been."

"Hey, Yddy. Hey, Yddy. Hey, Yddy."

"What?" Ydnew asked through gritted teeth.

There was a red praying mantis on the back of her hair, but with the head of a bear. "I'm a Man-Bear." Yeoj transformed into a scarf around her neck. "Hey, Yddy. Hey, Yddy. Hey, Yddy."

"WHAT?"

The end of that scarf was a big tongue drooping saliva on her dress. "I'm a scongue." He transformed again. "Hey, Yddy. Hey, Yddy. Hey, Yddy."

"WHAT?!"

He was over her head as a part-hat, part-lizard, and part stapler. "I don't know, anymore! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Ydnew grabbed, threw him on the ground, and stomped Yeoj forcefully. "Do you ever get tired of being a fuckin' IDIOT?!"

He turned into red goop on her foot. "How do I get tired? I have no respiratory tracks."

"YDNEEEEWWWW!" Nil and Niyus Gnofieb dashed in, tripping on each other. "Yddy, why aren't you come to the afterpartyyyyyy!" Nil whined.

"It's not a party, dummy!" Us yelled. "It's a… after-funeral!"

"Dad said I could come back. He knew I was bored." Ydnew replied. "Besides, why are you here?"

"We were bore, tooooooo." Nil moaned. "Besides, the grown-ups are talking."

"They said the Apocalypse is gonna happen." Us frowned. "Is this true?"

Ydnew looked down solemn for a moment, then looked at a window to the cloudy sky. "That's what they keep saying. But I… still don't understand. How would it happen? And… how would we stop it." She touched her forehead. "My head feels fuzzy for some reason…"

"Awe, I know what'll unfuzz it." Yeoj said, turning into a bird with a duck's bill before flying on Ydnew's head. "What do you get when you combine the names 'Yeoj' and 'Ydnew'?"

Ydnew made an aggravating sigh. "What?"

"YDEOJ! HAAAAAA HA HA HA haaaaaaa! Hahahahahaaaaaa!"

Ydnew warped him with spacebending, shrinking him to dot size. …He morphed bigger into a frog on her shoulder. "That doesn't work on me. Oink."

"Ugh. If I wasn't worried about my Positive, I would kill myself already."

Outside, Blue Eye was overseeing the after-funeral from a mountaintop. "The fault is mine." Red Eye's deep voice said, materializing from the wind. "I guided the Sector V children to Candied Island, ensuring Big Mom's doom. I did not want your friend to die, but she could not live…"

"I was expecting something to happen when you told me of the crisis regarding Big Mom." Blue Eye replied in his higher voice. "I was afraid to tell her… but at least now, I can focus my worry on the Apocalypse. What is it… that you plan to do, exactly?"

"Eventually, the Twenty Keys will come together and open the gate to the New World. Then, we can make a world that is to everyone's liking. But I fear the forces that may intervene. It is my goal to make things as easy for the chosen ones as possible…"

"And that's destroying your world's leaders, isn't it?"

"Yes. The World Government will be a great liability to the quest. So I must destroy all people who are affiliated with them. I personally do not want to harm the Head President, since she is a close relative of the Unos, but only time will decide her fate. At least, during the span of this month, my acquaintance will be pushing the training of my daughter." Red Eye smirked to himself. "I want to meet her at least 15 days before the Apocalypse, halfway through this month."

"Considering the reckless way you chose to 'raise' her, I'll be surprised if your daughter turns out like you wanted."

"Oh, I'm sure she will. In any case… I believe I will go to Oceana in my world. According to rumors, the Fairy Princess that lives there hails from the legendary Moon Planet. I really want to head there…"

"Why?"

"All in good time, my friend." Red Eye turned around, about to leave. "…Hm hm hm." He chuckled. "You know, if you still want to determine who raises their daughter better… I guess the Opposite Law will see to that." He turned his exposed left eye to Blue Eye. "Because by the end of this month, I expect my daughter to be as powerful as the other kids."

Posiverse; Sour Cinnamon (Play "Fellmuth Arena" from Spyro: Eternal Night.)

The sun singed Augustus's body as he found himself in some sort of desert upon waking. After standing up, he flinched at the sight of the gigantic window, where Veruca Salt and her creepy grin; Violet Beauregard, and a lanky man with round sunglasses were staring at him. "You two? And… some other guy? Where am I?"

"You're in my TV." The paper-thin man responded. "I put you in there with my TV-TV Fruit powers. That's what I am: Mike Teavee."

While he couldn't tell from outside, Augustus was stuck inside a small, old-timey TV, which used antennas and had a staticky screen. "Yes yes, it's funny how all of you are named after your respective thing." Augustus rolled his eyes. "Though I want to ask where Augustus Gloop is."

"He wanted to get chocolate powers from the Chocolate Volcano." Violet replied. "Didn't work out."

"Ah." Augustus flexed his brows, figuring out the rest. "Well anyway, where's Lord Tyrone?"

"Lord Licorice has already been to see you." Veruca stated. "He wanted to make sure we caught you. We did. Now he's going to meet his acquaintance. He wants us to bring you there, too."

"You guys can't say one thing that isn't secretive, huh? I guess Willy Wonka did teach a few things. Unless you'll tell me where we're going?"

"You'll find out." Veruca grinned. "For now, just be a good boy and stay in there. Come, Violet. Let's go eat cookies."

"Of course, Friend." Violet flipped out of the room while Veruca walked normally. Mike Teavee laid flat on the floor like a carpet.

Stewie Griffin piloted the Ace Flyer as they soared after the fleet of Cinnamon Ships under a sunset sky. "The tracking device I had placed on Augustus isn't responding." Stewie said. "It shut off in that left tower, so perhaps we'll look there."

"Ah dunno, man, what if Lord Licorice is on that thang?" Rallo asked worriedly. "Can't we just wait and see where it's going?"

"Don't be such a Scooby, Rallo. I mean, their propellers are cinnamon rolls, I think we have the upper hand here."

"You forget that we once worked for a company that also had candy-based technology." Rallo said with disbelief.

"And we were utterly defeated. So let's do this."

Stage B-6: Sour Cinnamon

Mission: Escape the Sour Cinnamon!

Act 1

As the small plane flew closer to the Sour Cinnamon, PIE Fighters were sent to launch giant versions of said pastries at them. Stewie barrel-rolled and dodged the pies before blasting pool balls at one ship, while Maggie shot the other with a missile launcher. They kept this up with other PIE Fighters until a Cinnasaucer approached them, which looked like a smaller UFO aptly shaped like a cinnamon roll. It flew vertically and blocked their path, facing its hypnotic swirly top as it released a constant stream of cinnamon. The Baby Trio avoided the substance for the sake of not getting their engines clogged, and Maggie kept pelting it with missiles until it was down.

The Ace Flyer caught up with the Sour Cinnamon and was flying over the roof of the swirly-propeller ship. Turrets emerged from the roof and blasted colorful rock candies, possibly meant to mimic lasers. Stewie and Maggie kept shooting them, nearing closer to the left watchtower Stewie mentioned. "So how do ya wanna get in?" Rallo asked. "Park by and knock on their window?"

Two Cinnasaucers ambushed them on either side and swallowed their ship in cinnamon. Stewie struggled to see forward, his eyes squinted from the sticky powder, but the plane was now trembling from clogged engines. "No, it seems we're doing like my father: drunken crash through the front door at 1am."

Within seconds, the two-seated plane CRASHED through the tower's window, and the babies flew out. "What the hell?!" Mike Teavee jumped to the air and on his feet, his body wobbling like paper.

"Twerps! You made it?!"

"Augustus?!" Rallo looked around for the source of the voice. "Where you at?? Are you a ghost? OH GOD, PLEASE DON'T HAUNT ME like President Lincoln now haunts Joseph!"

"I'm inside the TV, you idiots! He put me in here with a Devil Fruit power. Just destroy this TV or somethin'!"

"I don't think that's a good idea." Stewie said. "If it doesn't work, you might end up lost among the airwaves until you end up on TeenNick. Maggie, Rallo, attack him!" He pointed at Mike.

"Good idea!" Rallo perked up. "If we knock him out, his power will wear off!" He blasted music notes at the paper-thin man while Maggie shot missiles. Mike Teavee withstood the notes, then he nimbly dodged the missiles.

"Iron Body and Paper Art." Mike said, his top part bending like a cane. "Can't hit me, can't touch me. What, you thought a guy who's skinnier than paper wouldn't learn some kind of self-defense? Even an idiot coulda guessed that."

"Could that idiot also have guessed Rallo and Maggie would distract you while I saved our idiot captain?" Mike turned his paper head left, gasping when he saw Stewie on the table beside the small TV.

"Who you calling an idiot, Stew?!" Augustus yelled.

"Don't even THINK it!" Mike's goggles turned into TV static as he shot a static beam at Stewie.

The baby whipped out a satellite gun and blasted a blue ray, which turned the static blue as it struck the TV. Augustus popped out of the gray screen like 3-D before plopping on the floor.

"A Metahuman Neutralizer." Stewie smirked and held his weapon proudly. "Even an imbecile could have guessed I would have one."

"Nice going, Brat." Augustus grabbed Stewie under his left arm, then dodged over to grab Maggie and Rallo. "Later, TV!" Augustus ran for the broken window to jump out.

They landed on a walkway as Augustus nearly fell over the edge with the momentum, but he regained balance and set the babies down. "Man, why ain't we beat that guy and get on the plane??" Rallo complained.

"I saw it clogged with cinnamon, and I wasn't gonna waste time with that loser." Augustus said. "We'll just steal one of their ships."

There was an open hatch on the tower's side, puffing a Growth Gum. Augustus took a piece and used it to bounce down the mini cinnamon roll propellers, the Baby Trio following. They landed on a walkway, but before letting the gum pop, Augustus bounced to a cinnamon roll platform above its left, retrieving a Gold Wonka Bar. The Marzipans traveled along the path and encountered three Blackberry Guards. They shot guns with jawbreaker bullets, but Augustus countered by chucking his Gobstopper to hit their guns away.

"Maggie, you know where to shoot!" Augustus grabbed the spike-haired baby and threw her over his shoulders, running from the Blackberries when they drew swords. Maggie used her sniper to shoot the Blackberries in their unarmored faces. The pirates searched the Blackberries' fallen forms ("She clearly killed them, yet we can't say it." Stewie said) and found Licoropes. "Cool! We can use these!"

Augustus was first to throw his Licorope onto a candycane propeller that was over the railing. He whirled around and around before letting himself fly to another propeller and roping it. "Yyyyeah…" Rather than mimic his actions, Stewie decided to launch his grappling gun to the railing of the walkway they would eventually get to, pulling Rallo and Maggie with him. Indeed, Augustus arrived at this walkway after clearing the propellers, and was very dizzy afterward. "Uuuuhh… how you twerps get here 'fore Iiii…" Augustus moaned.

"Shall I fetch The Little Brain Cell That Could?" Stewie remarked. After August recovered, the four entered the doorway of a building this walkway was set around. They were on a circular walkway over a lower floor, and Blackberries were quick to charge around from the opposite side. Augustus left the babies to deal with them while he dropped to the floor below, which had three large boxes. Broccoli Trolls popped out of these boxes, and their horrid stench reached Augustus's nose. He could understand why the Blackberries don't come down here: these guys were poison to any candy lover.

Augustus held his nose shut and sliced the broccoli with his Candycane Cutlass, but this merely increased the strength of the stench. Augustus had to squint his eyes because the green gas was making them water. He looked up the stairs that led back to the walkway and noticed the switch on the wall, labeled FANS. "Guys, hit that button!"

After Rallo finished beating a Blackberry, he jumped off its fallen body and reached the switch to flip it. Ceiling fans activated and sucked the poison gas out of the room. "Way to go." Augustus smiled with praise. "Come on, kids, let's blow this place." The three babies joined him as they followed a passage that sloped down. They stood on a grated floor above a chasm, using their Licoropes to swing a candycane ceiling fan. Their weight pulled it down, so they swung to the following floor quickly. Augustus noticed another floor below this one, so he held onto the fan to descend and land on it.

He found a Fudgepuffsicle down here, eating it to inflate and float up like a balloon. He shifted his body to avoid hitting the spikes under the higher floor, and Maggie jumped on his bloated body to ride. Turrets on the next floor blasted candy corn, so Maggie shot those turrets to protect her captain. Over this next floor, Augustus could float up a ceiling shaft, where Maggie grabbed a floating Gold Wonka Bar. Augustus deflated and landed on the floor, and Stewie and Rallo came over with the grappling gun.

Since nothing would help them cross the pit to the next floor, Augustus grabbed the three babies in his arms to make a great leap over. He set them down as they climbed a ladder down a shaft. They ended up at the bottom of the Sour Cinnamon, standing on a walkway hanging precariously over the great drop. It appeared that they were flying over a jungle. "Augh. The sun's almost setting." Augustus noticed. "We better steal a ship and get outta here before it's your bedtime."

"Yo, quit treating us like children!" Rallo yelled. "We're over 20 years old, you know!"

"Well, I'm 15 and I'm hunting candies." Augustus bit his current lollipop and lowered his sunglasses to show his cool stare. "Your argument means nothing."

The Marzipans followed the walkway down before it came to a stop. There was a turning device with cinnamon rolls attached to the end of its two poles. The rolls passed by their platform, so they used the Corn-Clamber Boots to step on them and ride along. The Deadly Babies were terrified at hanging directly over the thousand-foot drop, relying only on the sturdiness of their candy boots and some overgrown cinnamon roll. They were about to pass a part of the underside that looked like chocolate chip cookie, and Augustus was able to stamp his boots into it.

The babies joined him, but being completely upside-down over the drop wasn't a good feeling. Turrets popped out and tried to shoot them, but Maggie reacted quickly by shooting back. They kept firm on the cookie path until they were above a new walkway. They jumped off the cookie and switched to their regular shoes. Blackberries tried to shoot them from other paths, but Augustus threw his Gobstopper to bonk their heads forcefully and make them fall into the jungle. "Man, this thing is awesome!" he said happily once the Gobstopper returned.

They came to a series of sealed steam pipes on the ship's underside. They used their Licoropes to swing across, popping the pipes open as a result (sugar came out instead of steam). They set foot on a new walkway and hurried to the ladder at the end.

Unfortunately, Veruca Salt climbed down that ladder, approaching with a malicious grin and rotting body. The pirates readied their selves, but they saw Violet Beauregard crawl along the underside and land behind them. "I knew Mike couldn't guard you." Veruca said. "That's why I wanted to. Why couldn't I?"

Augustus chucked Gobstoppers at her, Maggie shot Violet with bullets, but both of them used Iron Body to defend. "So all you guys use Rokushiki like Black John Licorice?" Augustus asked.

"Well, yeah." Violet was chewing some gum. "If he knew it, why wouldn't Lord Licorice know? FYI though, the martial art was invented by the government assassins, CP10."

"So there's nowhere to run." Veruca stepped forward slowly. "Lord Licorice wants you to fight in the arena. I want to help him. I want to catch you."

Augustus clutched his cutlass in both hands. "Huuuurrrrrrr!" He gripped it tight, trying to focus his very willpower into it.

"Not the best time to be constipated." Stewie remarked.

"I'm trying to focus my Haki! Just… a little…!"

"You can't use Haki?" Violet asked, popping her gum.

"Nnnnn… aaaaaahhhh!" Augustus slashed his sword and cut one of the beams holding up this path. "Huh… It's Licorope. Kids, better hang on!"

"W-Wait! What're you doin'?" Rallo asked. ("Mw-mw?" Maggie followed.)

"Sorry to drop on your summer, but fall is coming early!" Augustus slashed the other three Licoropes, and this section of the walkway plummeted to the forest as the pirates hung on. (Play "Piranha Creeper Creek" from Mario 3-D World!)

Act 2: Cinnamon Jungle

"WAAAAH!" The walkway bounced down some big gelatin leaves before crashing on the jungle floor. "You tryin' to kill us, Cap'n?!" Rallo yelled.

"You're still young, but I thought you would know the difference between staying there and where we are now."

"True, but this defeats our plan of stealing a transport." Stewie noted.

"There's bound to be civilization somewhere. Let's just get away before they come down."

The sun had gone below the horizon, so the sky was turning indigo. They followed a path through the woods, turning left and stopping to view a route where giant apple-headed Piranha Plants stretched out of holes in their walls to munch on trees oozing with cinnamon. "This reminds me of a cereal no one eats." Rallo said.

"You mean Apple Jacks?" Augustus asked. "This is where everybody harvests cinnamon for their food. The Apple Piranhas here love them. That's where they got the idea for those commercials."

Augustus threw Gobstoppers at the piranhas' heads, making them retreat into their holes so the pirates could get through. Once past the road, they arrived at a small lake of cinnamon, where a large cinnamon roll platform was floating. They jumped on it, and another platform floated up. The sequence repeated, but Apple Piranhas were coming up, munching their mouths as they moved in zigzaggy fashions to eventually eat the rolls. Augustus and Maggie attacked them before they could come. Piranhas ambushed from behind, so Maggie handled those ones while Augustus faced front. Eventually, the cinnamon rolls led them to a shore on the other side.

They used their Corn-Clamber Boots to go up a short wall made of rock and cinnamon. At the top, they overlooked a very steep hill, but thought it best not to take off their boots given the unsteady ground. Apple Piranhas peeped out of holes and spat cinnaballs at them. They managed to avoid them despite the slower speed of their boots, and Augustus hit them with Gobstoppers. At the bottom of this slope, the path shifted left, but the cinnamon ground was still slanted and threatened to drop them in ooze below.

The slanted path became more wide, but Apple Piranha heads were rolling out of holes on their left, threatening to shove them off. There was a Gold Wonka Bar perched in front of one of the holes, and being the gutsy fool he was, Augustus stomped up to grab it. Eventually, the path brought them to stable, grassy ground, so they could take off their clamber boots. They entered another route through the jungle, where Augustus used his cutlass to slice the M. Bushes he expected to ambush them. Spear Guys swung overhead on vines and dropped their favored weapons, moving too fast for August or Maggie to hit.

They hurried through this path and reached another cinnamon cliff. Augustus tried to march up first, but he ended up falling when he stomped a spot that was less stable. Rallo used his boombox powers to shake that cliff, making the outer crust come off. This way, they could easily step up. They viewed a steep, grass hill, but they could see Spear Guys swinging from afar, throwing their spears with whipping speed. Maggie locked on with her sniper rifle and shot every Spear Guy in her vision.

Augustus lifted Maggie over his shoulders so she could keep shooting them while he marched up the slope with his clamber boots. They made it to the top of the hill, then took a right path to find a river of oozing cinnamon, which had a solid path that threatened to crumble under their weight. There was a bushel of Ringtrots, so they each took one and began sucking on it. The super sour taste gave them the energy to run across the would-be crumbling path with great speed. The cinnamon creek became wider, and they had to make run-and-jumps over gaps in the path. Rallo ended up taking a left route where the footholds were smaller, but he survived and successfully grabbed a Wonka Bar.

Rallo rejoined his friends before they dashed up a path up the wall, shifting rightward and dodging the many Apple Piranhas that came out to munch them. The path was coming to the wall's edge, but instead of fly off, they shifted angles as the wall turned. The path led them parallel with another wall, where they had to jump back-and-forth when Piranha Plants tried to block their way. This segment concluded when a string of piranhas rose out of the opposite wall, failing to bite the pirates before they landed on the safe ground. The Marzipans gasped for breath before marching further into the jungle. (End song.)

They stepped up a hill and looked at the Sour Cinnamon in the distance. "'Guess they lost us." Augustus panted, still tired. "Let's hope they stay lost."

Stewie's eyelids were drooping, and the baby was trying to keep himself standing. …Inevitably, the football-head ended up tumbling down the hill. "Stewie!" Augustus and co. ran down to help him.

"Uuu… I'm okay." Stewie said groggily.

"I knew you kids would get tired. Let's rest here. They shouldn't be able to find us in the dark."

The four pirates settled under a grouping of trees. Augustus pulled the wrapping off one of their Gold Wonka Bars, giving a small piece to each of them. "I know it isn't good bedtime food, but it's all we got without our airplane. I'll let you kids have extra servings 'soon as we're out of here." The captain proceeded to eat the rest of the Wonka Bar.

"I ain't sure I'll be able to sleep, on account o' the monsters." Rallo shuddered.

"Mw-mw-mw." Maggie said with worry.

"Fine. You two can be night watch." August smirked.

"Sure…" Rallo's eyes grew heavy. "We'll just… eat some cinnamon and…" He and Maggie both fell into slumber.

"Ahh, the minds of the less intelligent." Stewie said. "I suppose you'll be falling asleep before long."

"I have more sugar in my veins than you." Augustus bit his candybar. "I still don't get something, though. Why'd you twerps save me, anyway? I don't think I'd be able to blackmail you if Lord Licorice had me."

"You probably would've escaped, anyway." Stewie sighed. "Besides, our lives are too dull without the Big Mom Pirates. When your family's frozen in age, nothing ever changes. It's always the same routine, week after week. We joined those pirates to begin with to get away from those routines. But now that they're gone, you're all we have left. And, I guess part of me kind of liked what we did."

"Hmm. I think that's part of the reason I didn't wanna stay home with my parents." Augustus smiled. "Aside from the adventure and new experiences, I feel more at home out here. Chatting with the Gumdrop Pirates and… well, people who can understand me."

"Perhaps, but, Augustus… do you ever wonder if it's wrong to seek life away from your family?" Stewie looked away reflectively. "If you think you're bound for so much more because you're ashamed of where you come from?"

"I'm not ashamed." Augustus started a new lollipop. "The blood of candy hunters courses through my veins. Seeking adventure, thrills, whether you have a reason or not… I know for sure that this is what I was meant to do."

"That's something to admire about you." Stewie smiled. "But you know, you never did tell us why you wanted to search for the Lost Candies. Judging by your response to that Ricardo fellow, it sounds like a deep reason."

"Actually, I-…" Augustus blushed, thinking how cheesy this sounded. "A few months back, I… promised this sick boy I would find the candies. He wanted to… taste the cake that they created before he dies. I felt bad because… I was more interested in finding Candied Planet."

"Oh…" Stewie remembered hearing the truth behind that plan. "…I suppose if this adventuring thing doesn't work out, you wouldn't fail as a babysitter."

"Hwhat are you talking about?" Augustus chuckled.

"Oh, I don't know. It's just a thought. …Achoo!" Stewie sneezed. "I don't mean to suggest anything, but babies aren't used to sleeping outside without… blankets."

"Sad that you don't have Mommy or Daddy to sleep with?"

"Oh, shut your lollipop hole."

"Alright, fine. But just for tonight." Augustus lied down and held his arm open, allowing Stewie to crawl up and rest his misshapen head on it.

Augustus felt something on his right and saw that Maggie was hugging him, laying her weary head on his chest. Rallo also cuddled up beside Maggie, warming her with his afro. Augustus didn't know why, but… he felt warm. These children, even though they were frozen in age, were adorable. Sometimes, Augustus wondered what it would be like to have siblings. Little brothers or sisters who look up to him. Of course, he had Haylee for that. And they would all be his pirate crew. "Hmm… But as far as siblings go, these three are downright weird."

The next morning…

The Marzipan Pirates were still asleep, cuddled close together. Engines roared in the sky, and the kids were waken up when small bits of cinnamon sprinkled on them. Feeling the sticky stuff on their face, they shook awake and got to their feet. The Sour Cinnamon was passing overhead. "Uh-oh. Looks like they found us." Augustus said.

They stood and watched as the Cinnamon continued flying. "That's odd, they aren't dropping any soldiers." Stewie noticed.

The vessel appeared to be heading to a giant mountain that was round like a stadium. "Didn't Veruca say that… they were taking us to an arena?"

Roars and chants echoed through the jungle. As the Marzipans approached the stadium cautiously, they grew louder.