B-9. The Sky Sisters

This chapter is optional reading. It takes place around Chapter 14.

Lucifer's cave

"You're one for pleasant greetings, Lucy." Medusa remarked. "Still feeling sour about You-Know-Who?"

"I was not pleased to be cast into your shadow, Medusa." The black mass that was Lucifer spoke with malice. "When Malladus, that wretched usurper, scolded me for my failure… I felt utter disrespect. I felt less than demon. I wanted to crush him. I wanted to crush Uncle Malladus in my own two hands. Why did he find love and I could not?!"

Lucifer began panting. The three gods could feel the emotion in his voice. "I can't get over it. I still want her. I still love her. I still love… ELLEN WICKENS! I am a disgrace to my kind to love a mortal! But I cannot abandon these feelings. I cannot stomach mortals who feel love for other mortals. I want a mortal to love me! If I were loved like Malladus was loved… I could become more fierce."

Sipa was still bowing on the floor. Medusa surmised that, being in the presence of such a great demon, she was in no position to speak. She would be on the floor like the lowly human she is, and let the two Demon Saints speak. Medusa walked closer to the evil spirit. "But Lucy, you did crush Malladus. If it wasn't for your rambling about Ellen, Malladus never would've chosen to fall in love with a mortal. Malladus doomed himself when he transferred his own life force to his descendants. It is because of you the Uno Family exists!"

"That doesn't please me! It is only Malladus, scattered into tiny pieces. But I do not care for him. He is not the one…"

"We know that. We know who the one is. Because we want him too, Lucy."

Lucifer looked at the possessed boy with inquiry and hatred. Medusa smirked and stepped closer. "We need the Six Demon Saints to rescue him from the Sanzu River. He's one of the Thirteen Darknesses. You know who I'm talking about, don't you? The Devil Reincarnate himself. Ganondorf Dragmire!"

There was a reaction in his eyes. "Ganondorf… I've spent many a year with that man's crotch on my back. The only reason I served him was because I felt my father's presence inside him. I thought, if I served him, I would get to see my father, Lord Demise, again. And the only reason I wanted to see him… was so I could DESTROY him! I, Lucifer, the King of Black Magic, would be Emperor of Hell."

"But Grim Reaper is the king now." Pandora mentioned. "Why don't you crush him?"

"Because… he is stronger than me. He destroys my kind… Hollows and Arrancar. Even now, I struggle to hide from the Spirit Kids Next Door. The only one who could destroy him… is Demise. Yes, I do wish to rescue Ganondorf. But I wish to destroy him after. I cannot do that in this state… I need to appear stronger before him. I want love… I want to be… MARRIED."

The statement took Medusa by surprise. She looked at the girl who was still bowing. "Married? Then… Sipa will do."

Sipa gasped, her head flying back up as her eyes showed terrific shock. "L-Lady Medusa…"

"Yes, she is a perfect match. And a very devout Ganonist. You would love to be wed to one of the Royal Demon Saints. You even have part of each other's soul."

"Huuur, yes… She does…" Sipa felt a chill in her spine when Lucifer touched a single, sharp finger to her gently. "A soul… so dismantled and poisoned… Perhaps it is what I needed… all along… Feelings of hatred… and LOVE…"

"W-Well, it… does sound wonderful." Sipa stuttered, forcing a smile. "But my love is for Ganon! I couldn't betray…"

"The only way you will be able to see Ganon…" Sipa looked up at Medusa, "would be to do what he says. Besides, a kind of two-sided love like this is what our Bad Lord would want."

"Yes… I cannot possess a human vessel, unless we are joined in unholy matrimony. Allow yourself to be mine… Give your love to me, Sipa… and we will both get to see Lord Ganon again. Isn't this… what you wanted?"

Sipa felt the darkness around her grow. She was swallowed in despair… and didn't know why. I was raised to love… no one but Lord Ganon. I burned my soul and many others… all for his sake. I loved nobody else. So why… do I feel this way? Why am I so afraid to speak his name? Why am I afraid… to be near these people? These… demons?

"Sipa…" A hand touched her shoulder. Sipa looked up into the eyes of that boy. Those snake green eyes… of the boy whom Medusa was possessing. "Marry Lucifer for us… For everything that is the Demon Realm… you will want to do this."

Maybe these feelings were what Sipa was seeking. Her mind a haze, fear shrouding her heart… these were what she gained from serving Ganon. This was the path she wanted. She should follow it… to the end. "Yes. I do…" She looked up at the black demon. "I will marry you, Lucifer."

"I get to design the bridal dress!" Thanatos raised his hand eagerly. "I don't know if you know, but I make beautiful bridal dresses."

"The wedding shall take place tomorrow at negative noon." Medusa said. "And as for a location…" She looked at Nerehc's right hand. "I believe this amnesia epidemic can work to our advantage."

Glitzville; Glitz Pit

"So here's how it's gonna go down." The security guard said to Wendy in a filthy locker room. "Youse gonna wait for dem to call you, den you gonna go out in da ring, and beat 'em up. Youse got that?"

"NO we don't got it!" Carla shouted insistently. "We never signed up for this thing!"

"Looks, I don't makes da rules. I don't got control over who signs up whom. But youse name gots put on da paper, so someone has ta fight. It's no sweats, 'cause you can use whatever methods ya like. Well, you're probably gettin' tired of my typical tough guy talk, though I should let you know my vocabulary is above average. Before I goes, Mr. Fancy-Hat gives me this card for you." He handed Wendy a folded paper. "Catches ya later, Pally." The guard left.

Wendy unfolded the paper to find a list. "'Good offensive spells: Reducto (explosions)… Stupefy (stuns)… Titillandoooo'…" Wendy moaned unconventionally and wept. "Why did Mister Facilier sign me up for this?"

"Now do you see what I mean?" the kitten asked. "This man is beyond trustful! Entering you in a fighting contest behind your back. You could barely stand your ground against Juniper Lee!"

"I know! But…" Wendy took out her Lamia Scale wand. "I did learn a few new tricks. Maybe he's trying to teach me more. But I dunno what any of these people are like!" Wendy slouched on her knees in a frightful manner. "Oh, I'm going to get clobbered! !"

"You don't have to fight. Just stay in this room and you'll forfeit."

Wendy was on the verge of doing that… but then she remembered June. She remembered locking fists with the strong opponent. She remembered combining her airbending, magic, and her strength. "…I won't."

"There's no shame behind that, Child." Carla said agreeably. "You didn't sign up for this, so you should choose-"

"No. I meant I won't forfeit."

"You… What?" The kitten was taken aback.

Wendy grasped the rose quartz wand and looked proudly. "I want to try. Mr. Facilier signed me up for this… and I trust him."

The arena

The arena's interior was a mix of beige and orange, and the outer walls were designed in a brick style. Hundreds were gathered around the rectangular stage. There were spotlights shining on it and three huge televisions around the chamber. Dr. Facilier and the Ice Climbers had a great view from the top seats, and Romeo chose to see the fights up close. Jessie, James, and Meowth sat suspiciously close to the side doors where the fighters would enter.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" A hatch opened up on the stage's center. "The host of today's events! Bringing you this top-quality family entertainment, famous star of children's television show, Floop's Fooglies… Fegaaaan FLOOP!"

The man with standing brown hair, wearing a shiny leather red robe over a patterned shirt, emerged from the stage on a floating pink ball with a smiley face. He had a frantic expression, flailing his arms as his feet tried to stay balanced on the ball. It floated halfway up the chamber before he finally took the plummet, smashing facefirst against the stadium floor. His body flattened as he bounced back on his feet. He puffed himself up by kissing his thumb and blowing air back into himself. "Boy, that was a Floop!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The stadium roared with laughter, except from the more mature audience members.

"Thank you, thank you all for coming!" Floop began energetically. "So wonderful to have so many people in my WONDERFUL arena! Oh, what a wonderful show we have today, we've got so many competitors, I think you'll LOVE 'em! And I know they're so EXCITED to battle, so is EVERYONE READY?"

"YEEEEAAAAAH!"

"Our contestants will score big money for their performance in the contest. The farther they get, the wealthier they will be. And we have a special prize for the person to win the top place: an all expense paid trip to MY domain, where ALL the magic happens, Foogly Palace! Now, let's introduce our first combatants!

"ENTERING from the red door!" Floop pointed with gusto. "He packs a wallop, he IS a wallop, he's Wally the Wallmaster!" The red door opened, and a giant brown hand with pointy fingers walked in on said fingers. "AGAINST the King of Arm-Wrestling, he takes ambidextrous to a whole new level, it's Lefty 'The Righty' Left-Right!" The person entering the blue door was a yellow-skinned man, bald with a gray mustache, and wearing a black tank-top over his muscles. "LET'S get READY to RUMBLLLLE!" Floop whipped out a mechanical rod that extracted a propeller, then hovered away.

The Wallmaster turned green and flew at the arm-wrestler, who used both his left and right hands to push back. The hand monster's defense lowered, so Lefty flipped it on its back, then crushed the Wallmaster under his left elbow. Wally managed to flick Lefty off before leaping to the ceiling. Lefty couldn't see him with the spotlights shining in his eyes, but he looked at the hand-shaped shadow on the floor. When it grew bigger, Lefty dodged Wally's drop attack. He grabbed the hand monster and wrestled with him.

In their locker room, Wendy and Carla watched the fight display on their own TV screen. "Would Mr. Facilier want me to take notes now?" the girl asked.

"Yes, the sight before my eyes is very educative." the kitten said with sarcasm.

"So, Wallmasters can harden their skin…" Wendy scribbled on a notepad, her eyes directing at the screen every few seconds. "And they specialize in ceiling drops… Wow, I am learning a lot!"

A guard barged in. "Hey, Wendells. Youse is up next up, Ponytail. Looks likes Lefty's gonna be your square."

"Oh, boy. Ahem, wish me luck, Carla." she said in her guy voice.

Lefty "The Righty" succeeded in defeating the right-handed hand monster. Wally left the arena mopingly while Lefty was cheering. "That was a beautiful display of hands-to-hand combat!" Floop said spiritedly. "But let's hope Lefty still has arm power to spare! Because his next match is up against…" Floop looked at his list. His expression turned to confusion. "Someone a little last-minute… he's apparently a young wizard, and I do not recall anyone with his name ever existing anywhere… WENDELL BERRY!"

Murmurs of confusion rang throughout the stadium when the purple-haired, ponytailed boy ran in from the red door. Facilier and the twins were the only ones cheering, and the Team Rocket trio grinned deviously. "It's that guy…" Romeo said quietly. "He was a fighter all along?"

Wendy eagerly jogged up the two steps leading onto the ring- "Ahhh!" her foot hit the final step as she fell facefirst on the ring.

"Hahahahahahahahaha!" The audience burst into laughter. Facilier and the twins winced at the embarrassing act.

Wendy scrambled to her feet, clutching her wand and fixing her scarf. She looked around blushingly at the laughing fans. "Uh… What a Floop!" She shrugged with a grin.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" The audience, including Facilier's team, laughed insanely, and Floop himself was holding his chest, almost falling off of his floating platform. With the tension out of the air, Wendy faced her opponent. Lefty Left-Right held a Hulk glove in his left hand, a Thing glove in his right, and crushed them both as he growled at the child.

"Heheh…" Wendy flushed and scratched the back of her head. She spoke with her guy voice, "I know I made a show there, but I'm not necessarily here to fight. I only came here to study the fighters. So, with that said, could you go a bit easy on me?"

The baldheaded arm-wrestler stood more poised and held out his right hand. Wendy grinned, happily approaching him to shake his hand. Immediately, The Righty squeezed her extended hand and- "UH! UH! AH!" slammed Wendell back and forth on the floor. He then tossed the purple-haired to the other side of the ring.

Wendy got up on all fours and faced Lefty, who brushed both hands. Wendy took breaths to relieve the slight pain. What am I thinking… I'm doing this fight for you too, June. As long as you're trapped in that city… I'll do my best for both of us.

Lefty approached her slowly, so Wendy rolled forward and thrusted her hands at him, pushing The Righty back with a gust of air. The wrestler fell out of the ring, and the audience shouted "OHHH!!"

"Uhhh… I'm sorry!" Wendy flushed and scratched her head again. "I was told I can use any methods I liked."

"Oh no, you can!" Floop nodded, smiling at the performance. "It's just, getting knocked out of the ring isn't a loss, you have to knock your opponent out."

"Kn-Knock him out?" Lefty climbed back into the ring, snarling at the airbender before dashing forth. Wendell made a terrific weightless jump over the wrestler, and when Lefty whipped around, his left arm was extended. On instinct, Wendy threw her own left hand into it, but the wrestler used little strength in flipping her over and sliding her away. Wendell got on her fours, grabbing her wand and casting "Arms!" on her right arm. She jumped to her feet and glared fearlessly at the wrestler with that arm held up. Lefty accepted her challenge and grabbed it, and was surprised to see they were pushing with equal strength.

Wendy leaped, still clutching his hand, pulling it up with her as she flew over and caused him to punch himself in the face. Lefty tried to push himself up, but Wendy brought a burst of wind down on him and smashed him against the floor again. She kept her guard raised, expecting Lefty to get up, but he didn't. "The winner is WENDELL BERRY!" Floop announced.

"YEEEAAAAH!" Team Facilier cheered.

"Ah ha ha… I just took a shot." Wendell shrugged, making a sweatdrop.

"Our young adolescent has grabbed our attention, but will he keep it? His next battle, an Irken invader who conquered five planets in the Florae Galaxy, he's lean, he's mean, Invader Gagules!" A teenage Irken wearing magenta armor, accompanied by four small SIR Units flying with rockets, entered the arena.

"I wish us a good match!" Wendy told him assuredly.

"You are now Number 57 on my 'Kill' list." Gagules stated.

The bell dinged, and Gagules' first act was to form a bubble barrier around himself, using the SIRbots as generators. "Stupefy!" Wendy shot stun spells at the bubble, but it remained sturdy as the Irken pulled out a gun. "Protego!" Wendy whipped up a pink shield, which withstood against the electrical net the gun fired. "I thought a Lamia Scale could break defenses. What if I hit the robots…"

Wendell dropped her own shield and ran right around the Irken. As his body turned to her direction, the four SIRbots floated in a diagonal fashion around his body, so that Wendy could not directly face one. Wendy skidded to stop, then ran the opposite way, and she merely repeated this maneuver to try and get in front of a robot. However, she had to keep dodging his net, and Gagules was too close to the edge for Wendy to run fully around him.

When Wendy hesitated, Gagules shot the net, and Wendy gasped, barely dodging backward as she nearly lost balance on her heels. As she caught her breath, Wendy glanced up at the overhead spotlights. One of them was above Gagules, so Wendy aimed her wand and cast, "Spinneroo!" The screws of the spotlight detached as it fell on Gagules' bubble, blinding him with the flash of electricity. Wendy got to one diagonal side of him and yelled, "Reducto!" to shoot a spell and destroy one of the SIRbots. The barrier disabled, so Gagules positioned his robots in a triangle fashion as they tried to shoot the girl. Wendy dodged them and- "Titillando!" blasted the Tickle Spell.

"HAHAHA, HAH HAHA, HAHAHAHA!" The ex-invader fell on the floor cackling, drawing baffled looks from his robots. Wendy blew the robots away with her bending and knocked the Irken out with Stupefy.

"THE WINNER IS Wendell!" Floop announced; he was wearing a hat that had a miniature amusement park with a merry-go-round, roller coaster, and the like. "I see this boy has more under his scarf than we saw at first! For these next matches, we're going to do some SLIGHT redecorating at the request of some of our next combatants. Entering from the blue door, they put rubber and fire to the road, give it up for the Rolly Bowlies!" The ones to enter were three Wheelies (Nightmares who were red-armored tires with exhaust pipes) and a GUN Rhino Metal, which was a short rectangular tank.

After Floop pulled a switch, the edges of the ring curved up into ramps, which led up narrow tracks that looped directly overhead. When the bell dinged, the Wheelies began to zoom up and around these loops, while the Rhino Metal rammed Wendy and knocked her down. Wendy cast a Protego to protect herself when it tried to ram again, and the shield also blocked the bullets the Wheelies were shooting from above. "Reducto!" Wendy's blasting spell had no effect on the Rhino, so she decided to run and avoid it.

Tired of the Wheelies' bullets, Wendy boosted to run up the loops herself, but the Wheelies managed to knock her off with their countered momentum. Wendy dodged the Rhino and recomposed, boosting up the loops again and performing a quick spin-kick on each Wheelie to take them out. Wendy took firm land on the floor and projected a shield before quickly skimming her cheat sheet. One of the spells was used to summon Tetramites, and though she didn't know what those were, she decided to try it. "Tetrortia!" A swarm of ravenous little bugs came out of her wand and piled up on the Rhino, munching the metal tank until it was nothing. When the Tetramites turned their attention on Wendy, she quickly shot the counter-charm, "Tetranesca!" making all Tetramites poof into smoke.

"Up next, the masters of bounce, with possible relations to slinkies and rubber balls, the Boinkers make their appearance!" The loops around the arena retracted, and springs appeared around the ring's edges, as well as midair. The enemies to appear were two Burts (small round, yellow creatures with red noses and blue shorts), three Sproing-Oings (neon-colored spring creatures with eyes), and two Spoinks (gray pig Pokémon with spring tails and pink orbs on their heads).

The Burts were bouncing around the side springs, the Sproing-Oings took the aerial springs, and the Spoinks chose to attack Wendy with Psybeams. Wendy whirled air around her right hand and cast "Repiti!" to keep a constant whirlwind going. She swung her Cyclone Fist to knock both Spoinks unconscious. She tried to shoot Stun Spells at the Burts, but the bouncing boys proved too evasive. Wendy decided to hop on the springs and bounce in the opposite direction they were going. When a Burt was mindlessly approaching her, Wendy thrusted a foot down when it was underneath, knocking the Burt out with a stomp. She did the same to the other Burt.

With that, Wendy bounced up to the midair springs and tried to chase the Sproing-Oings. She had to maneuver her momentum so she could land against certain springs, and when she would fly to a Sproing-Oing, she had to react quick and throw a kick. The tedious objective and loud springy sounds rang in her ears for almost three minutes before she finally knocked them all out.

"Hoo, that one dragged on a little!" Floop spoke in his spritely manner; he was sitting on his own big bouncy ball. "But I think this junior wizard needs more of a challenge. Let's bring in our next contestant, a never-before-seen creature who was discovered deep beneath the surface of Planet Avalar. His speech is limited, but please give a round of applause for the beast we have dubbed as 'Jasper'!" Two guards were escorting a huge, orange creature with big whiter orange hair. It crawled on all fours like a gorilla, had a very messy and distorted appearance, and a broken jasper gem for a nose.

The guards carefully released and backed away from Jasper, and a cage was set up around the ring. The Jasper cocked a brow at the purple-haired girl, who backed up in fear as it crawled over. Wendy closed her eyes when Jasper chose to sniff her, examining her slim body. Without warning, the creature brushed his tongue up against her face. "EWWW!" Wendy frantically shook the spit off. "I'm not a tasty treat, so can you please not do that!"

Jasper's eyes widened at the sight of her hair. When he licked the front of the purple hair, the dye came off and revealed the blueness underneath. "BLUE!" Wendy shot her eyes open at this shout. Jasper grabbed Wendy's ponytail and held her up higher, grinning with pure madness. "Meeee likes… BLUE! Meeeee wants it!"

"AAAAHHH! No no no no!" Wendy flailed her arms and legs, but her premature thrashings didn't harm the orange Neanderthal. "I'm not interested in a relationship, let me go, let me go, let me gooooo!"

"Me likes blue! Jasper wants Blue and Jasper together!" The creature took Wendy's right arm and began to dance, forcing her to twirl around.

"AAAAAAHHHH! Reducto!" Wendy whipped up her wand and destroyed the monster with an explosion, blowing herself away with the force. When the smoke cleared, she saw all that remained of the monster was its cracked gem nose. She was horrified at the sight.

"WOW, what a show-stopping performance!" Floop beamed as the cage opened. "Let's give our rising champion a break, eh? He'll need to wash up after that biz! We'll give everyone 10 minutes to use the restroom or fill up on snacks. When we return, we'll have our Golden Champ, Rawk Hawk, vs. the kids who know how to shine, the Bulb Boxers!"

As soon as Wendy returned to her locker room, she collapsed on the dirty mattress. "My word, I couldn't believe the nerve of that monster!" Carla yelled as she climbed onto Wendy's chest. "That must've been traumatizing. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. But Carla… I just killed that thing."

"Better it than you, I would think."

"Carla, I KILLED something! And it was a never-before-seen creature! What if it was kidnapped from its family—what if I made the population go extinct! I feel so awful about it!" Wendy pulled off her contacts and covered her tearing eyes with her hands. "I was just trying to study and practice my fighting, I didn't wanna… sniff, sniff!"

"Heys, buddies." The security guard came in. "Floop says if you wants the washroom, it's yours's."

"I don't wanna fight, anymore." Wendy rolled on her side and wept. "I just killed a mindless, innocent creature, sniff sniff."

"Oh noes, that thing goes 'poof' all da time. It always comes right backs, it does."

"Sniff…" Wendy rolled over to face him, "It comes back?"

"Yeah, it comes outta da pretty rock on its nose. Da boss says it's somethin' to do with solid photon particles. It'll be locked up in its cage if ya's wants to see it again. Anyways, later pallies." He left.

Wendy sat up on the bed, feeling a huge weight lift off her heart. "So it isn't dead… I'm so relieved."

"That's certainly worth noting down." Carla wrote on the notepad. "I took the liberty of writing about the creatures you battled. You may want to review them at some point."

"I know…"

"So, are you going to drop out now? Are you tired?"

"…No. I'll keep fighting." She stared at her wand. "I just have to be more careful which spells I use."

Floop's office

Floop happily bounced into his office on the sit-n-bounce ball before tossing it into a corner amongst other toys. He fell back onto his chair that rolled over to his desk. "Dat-do-doooo, dop-dop-do-dooooo…" He hummed to himself while checking his computer. He reviewed the screenshots taken during the fights from different angles, namely those featuring the new boy, Wendell. He smiled, showing interest in this boy's skills. "…Hmmm." He noticed a screenshot when Wendell was flailing his arms in Jasper's grasp. The front of his hair was blue instead of purple. "…I wonder…" The show host looked up the World Government database.

DNK Moonbase

The DNK has been leaderless for almost a year, but given their uncaring natures, it didn't feel very different from how things normally were. Annaira, Atnort, Beewv, and Avakam had no idea why they were here on Moonbase. Ininap and Sicnarf remembered bringing them here, but had no idea why they would ever want to, given their actions in the past. "S-Sicnarf!" Ininap stuttered, pointing at the balcony window. "Th-There's a ship coming!"

"What?" Indeed, a S.U.B.L.O.O.C. was flying full speed at the glass wall. All of the operatives ducked out of the way before it smashed through, sending shards of glass flying everywhere.

The three to step off the vehicle were Medusa, Thanatos, and Pandora in their human vessels. "Since this is the Negaverse, we land ships through the window, right?" the Goddess of Darkness inquired rhetorically.

"Isn't that Eirik's mom?" Sicnarf asked. "What're they doing here? And who's that boy?"

"You don't need to know the story behind this child." Medusa said. "Just that he is the vessel I specially chose for my operations. Destructively Nefarious Kids, I am the Goddess of Darkness, Medusa!"

"Medusa?" Atnort questioned. "Is that s'posed to be the Positive Asudem?"

"Yes, and NO! Asudem was only a myth, but I'm the genuine creator of Darkness. My associates and I need these human bodies to hide from the gods. Not that the gods often look here, I suppose. Now, you must be wondering why I decided to show myself in this weathered old treehouse. The answer is simple: I am taking over the DNK as Supreme Leader!"

"SAYS WHO?!" Beewv shouted. "If you're a goddess, you must be WAY under -13!"

"Actually, even though I'm my sister's 'Negative,' I still go by Positive numbers, which means I am far over -13." Medusa smirked. "And even if I wasn't, this body is still within age requirements. Besides, it's not like your organization has any real order. Ask yourselves this… what outstanding things has the DNK accomplished in the past years?"

The base fell silent for a moment, thinking. "Um…" Ininap stuttered, "Ah-I seem to recall, we made friends with… the Nimbi DNK."

"And we… beat up those DNKG." Yddam remembered.

"Whoever said you were friends with anyone? And who was it that ultimately destroyed DNKG's leader?" Medusa asked.

They fell silent again. True, no one in their leaderless group officially made a friendship pact with any other DNK, and they had no idea how DNKG leader, Aluben ended up destroying herself. "Their leader destroyed herself of her own accord." Medusa finally stated. "And in time, the same will happen to the lot of you. Because this realm is and always has been a world of darkness! The Negatars were the embodiments of this dimension's very darkness! That's why the gods look away from this world, and why I, the Goddess of Darkness, choose to walk among you. Destructively Nefarious Kids… help me locate the Thirteen Darknesses. With them, we will establish dominion over the universes, and shun the gods in the way that they have shunned us!"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Hcaz spoke up. "What's this about Thirteen Darknesses?"

"Oh, right, they don't remember that, either." Medusa said to herself. "All will be revealed in good time, my friends. I wish for you to elect me your leader. If you do, I have a marvelous proposal: I have drawn up, and will sign the official Demon-Negative Alliance Treaty!" Medusa whipped out a contract with dark symbols.

"Demon-Negative pardon me??" Sicnarf questioned.

"The demons are the 'Negatives' of the spirits, therefore it is in our best interests to sign a pact with them. Their powers combined with ours will make us formidable."

"B-B-But why w-w-would the demons c-c-cooperate with us?" Ininap shuddered at the idea.

"This is all ridiculous!" Sicnarf shouted. "You expect even a leaderless organization like us to follow the ideals of a dark spirit like you?"

"Don't you understand anything?" Medusa spoke. "The one to destroy DNKG leader Aluben was the overabundance of darkness that consumed her. It was ME! The one who manipulated those two brats," she indicated Ininap and Sicnarf, "into bringing the former DNKG operatives here, regardless of their misdeeds, was my dark essence manipulating them! I am the Supreme Leader you were always missing, but was always here, and I am the one who will make your Negative kind rise! And besides, I am not the only one who favors the Demon-Negative Alliance. Sipa, Lucifer, come out."

The young Ganonist that many of them knew and feared stepped out of the ship with a forced smile. The operatives raised their weapons when a vicious wolf with red eyes followed her. "Don't you irksome worms point those weapons at me. I am Lucifer of the Six Demon Saints. I possessed this wolf I found in the desert, but I am not to be underestimated. And this child has agreed to become my bride."

"As part of the Demon-Negative Alliance, a marriage between a Negative and a demon will be established." Medusa explained. "And Lucifer, as a Demon Saint, can establish the alliance by signing the treaty. That's only if I become your leader. However, Lucy plans to marry Sipa, anyway. If the Negatives and demons are not aligned, he will have every position and power to destroy you if he pleases. Because once Sipa is his bride, their powers will become one! Now, wouldn't you want someone like that on your side?"

"Y-You're… blackmailing us…" Inap stuttered.

"Goddess of Darkness." Medusa shrugged. "I like everything black. Still, let's assume that I keep Lucy under control… the benefits to my leadership weigh heavily in your favor. It's a very easy decision to make, I would say."

The operatives were all looking at each other. The DNKG kids didn't seem to care what happened to this organization they didn't like. But Sicnarf, suspecting Medusa to play unfairly, made the decision for them. "We'll let you be our leader… for now."

"That's a smart decision. We will have this place clean and have the wedding here by tomorrow at negative noon. Or would that be midnight?" Medusa thought aloud. "Sigh, I never understood the differences between time in these worlds."

Glitz Pit

"OOOOH." The audience winced after the Rawk Hawk smashed a Machoke's head against the arena floor. Since the Machamp was knocked out beforehand, all that remained was the Machop. The smaller fighter fainted on his back and held up a white flag.

"THAT'S RIGHT, baby! HAWKSTER is the KING!" Rawk Hawk roared to the screaming fans. He was a golden Mobian hawk, with big blonde hair, wearing orange shorts, yellow shoes, and yellow wristbands. "The Hawk doesn't care who you are or WHERE you're from, 'cause if you ain't expecting to get Rawked, then STAY out of my arena! YOU GOT THAT, Four-Arms?!" He stomped on the Machamp's chest.

"Machamp, Machamp!" it said frightfully. ("I got it! Please don't hurt me!")

"WAS THAT A THREAT?!" Rawk Hawk picked him up, whirled around like a tornado, and sent the Machamp flying. He broke through the stadium's wall and shrunk into the sky. Twinkle.

"When we get back, get ready for a 10-minute lecture on AERO DYNAMICS!" The Hawk Rawked.

"That Rawk Hawk has quite the large head on his shoulders." Carla remarked, watching the show on their locker room TV. "Perhaps if he could afford a decent haircut, his head wouldn't feel as full…"

"I know, but at least he feels confident." Wendy said, washing her face in the (filthy) sink. "I kind of wish I were more like that."

"Hey dere, Wendells." The security guard came back. "Afters Rawk's next match, youse is gonna be fighting again in the next couple of thousand milliseconds."

"Yuh-oh! Now's my last chance to use the little multi-gender's room." Wendy jogged into the small one-toilet restroom.

"I'm going to use the lobby restroom." Carla called to her as the guard left. "Make sure to put your contacts back on if I don't return on time."

"Okay, I will!"

Carla left the locker room and carefully trekked the dim-lit hallway, passing a security guard with short blue hair. When she passed, that guard stopped and looked at her with a twinkle in his shaded eye. "MMMM-mmmm!" Carla was instantly stuffed into a bag as she squirmed helplessly.

"Who's NEXT to feel the Rawk?!" The Mobian bird hacked spit as he shouted. "Huh? YOU?!" He glared at his next opponent. "I was set to beat up a little boy, but I guess a puny girl would make a good warm-up. When I get done Rawkin' you, you gonna wish you were at your daddy's gettin'-"

A gust of black wind struck the Hawk harder than a wrecking ball.

After Wendy came out of the restroom, she put her contact lens back to make her red eyes into brown. She noticed her kitten was still not in sight and assumed she was still using the restroom. "Hee hee hee! Kitty's gotta go, too!" She giggled. She eagerly jogged back to the arena and found somebody beaten and battered. When she came up to view the Rawk Hawk's latest victim- "Hu!" She gasped at seeing it was the Rawk Hawk himself, his beak dented and eyes darkened.

"Huaff…" The Mobian helped himself up and looked at Wendy. "You've been spared the Rawk's thrashings… but you're going to wish it was me by the time you face her." He limped away, leaving Wendy awestruck and terrified. She was already afraid of facing him herself, but apparently there was a stronger fighter in the stadium. She wished she stuck around to see this person…

"Wendell Berry's making his comeback, ladies and germs!" Floop announced—now he was swinging on the ceiling, as though he were an acrobat in the circus. "He's up against the hard hitters, the swift swingers (and I don't mean yours truly), the Chucksters!"

There were five snow-covered platforms where Sir Slushes were stationed – angry snowmen with top-hats that had red X's. Three more platforms, which were set on the stadium walls parallel to the ring edges, had Chargin' Chucks that threw baseballs. When the bell dinged, the baseballs and snowballs whipped in her direction, so Wendy thought fast and evaded. "Protego!" She decided to protect herself with a pink bubble so she could think. Wendy thought shooting the snowmen with fire spells was the best option… but the act of killing them would be awful, even if they were just common field enemies.

The baseballs were landing on the floor after hitting her shield, so Wendy decided to grab them herself. Dodging the other balls, Wendy chucked them up at the Sir Slushes' hats, and the snowmen fell apart once their weak spots were hit. One of the Slushes was on a platform directly above the ring and out of Wendy's view. She saw one of the other snow platforms, currently vacant, and it was short enough for her to jump and air-boost to. She had view of the remaining Slush, and caught a baseball to chuck up at his hat. With that, Wendy jumped back to the ring and shot fire spells to knock out the Chucks.

"Next up against Wendell, banned from fancy restaurants international, they're the Ear Killers!"

Three Boomboxers landed on individual platforms around the ring, and a Merenguy in the center—the purple demon with slug-like eyes and a hypnotic face began dancing wildly, forcing Wendy to look directly at it. The Boomboxers – yellow humanoids with boombox heads – seized the chance to shoot soundwaves at her. Wendy avoided the waves and hurriedly shot spells at the Merenguy. The monster dispersed into darkness like any demon, and once free of its spell, Wendy was able to shoot down the Boomboxers with Silencio spells.

"Wendell's next match is the Kamikaze Squad whodemandaninstantstart." DING!

With no time to prepare, Wendy was surrounded by four Voltorbs, four Bob-ombs, and one Electrode. "AHHH! PROTEGO!" Wendy whipped the shield over herself when the explosives lit, shrouding the entire ring in smoke and soot. When it cleared, Wendy's shield stayed sturdy. The bomb creatures were knocked out.

"Well, I probably speak the obvious when I say, Wendell's performance has been EXPLOSIVE this whole tournament!" Floop grinned at his audience, floating his platform close to the ring. "It's clear to me that this young man is a HUGE fan of my show and wants the honor of touring my castle."

"Ah-I… guess I am… heh heh." Wendell blushed at the recognition; and still had no other idea why Facilier would sign her up for this.

"If he wins this next match, he just may have the glorious honor! But it won't be easy to best the maiden who conquered Rawk Hawk."

Wendy's heart almost stopped—she didn't expect to face Rawk Hawk's superior so quickly. Well, at least she didn't exhaust much energy against these last enemies.

"She had to wash her face and fix her hair braids, but now she's revved and ready to go!" The blue doors opened, and Wendy heard the opponent running in. On the opposite side of the ring, she couldn't quite see her, but Wendy kept her Lamia Scale raised in case of a surprise attack. "Known as the 'Sky Dancer' by many, she LOVES to dazzle her fans!" Wendy felt her heart racing with anxiety; in the next second, she would view her adversary. "CHELIA BLEN-"

"AAAAH!" The girl in question hit the final step onto the ring with her foot, causing herself to fall on her face. She had reddish-magenta hair tied in two spiky pigtails by orange bows. She wore a pink shirt whose sleeves were detached from the body, going into white gloves. The shirt had a dark blue center, and she wore a sky-blue skirt. She had long black socks that went into white leg-warmers, and black sneakers with pink tongues and soles. "Uh… hehe." She looked up and sported a nervous grin. She had pretty blue eyes. "That totally Flooped."

The audience burst into as much laughter as they had with Wendell before. "NO FAIR!" Donna shouted. "THAT GIRL'S stealing Wendy's ACT!"

"Let's gather a mob and WHALE on her!" Sonny readied his hammer.

"PUBLIC MURDER!" both cried.

"KEEP IT DOWN!" Facilier smacked the twins. "Ugh… Although, they are uncannily similar…"

"Yes, it's almost fate that two magic airbenders would go one-on-one in the same tournament." Floop said. "So I think these star-crossed fighters deserve an atmosphere more fitting." He pressed a switch, and the stadium's very roof came open, exposing the vibrant blue sky. The ring began to rise, and the girls felt the chill and strength of the wind once it brought them outside.

"Ahh-!" Wendy stumbled under the force of the wind, but maintained composure. Her scarf flew off, and she watched it fall into the stadium. "Uh-oh…" She sank to her knees and held her stomach, feeling a twist. "Mr. Facilier's charm is wearing off… I hope I don't…"

"Ooo, what a pretty wand!" Chelia raced over and swiped Wendy's wand off the ground.

"HEY, that's mine!" the purple-haired shouted, standing up. "Please give it back!"

"Wait a minute…" Chelia moved the rose quartz wand and studied every inch. "You have a Lamia Scale, too!" With that, she pulled out her own.

"Oh!" Wendy gaped. "You have the same…"

"I bought it from a store in Orchid Bay a few years ago." Chelia crossed both pink wands. "The lady said not many wizards have one."

"Orchid Bay…" Wendy thought back to her visit at Orchid Bay Mall. The words of Tasha were, "Some chick with pink hair. I think she's like, a dancer."

"I heard that they only work for wizards with pure-hearted souls. I didn't think that was me, but…" Chelia chuckled at the thought. "Well, here you go!" She tossed the wand back to Wendy, who was caught by surprise and stumbled in trying to grab it. "You make sure to hold onto that."

"Uh… thanks." Wendy said, finding this pleasant interaction a bit odd.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! My name's Chelia Blendy." She held a hand out. "What's yours?"

Even her name's similar… "I'm Wendell Berry."

"Wendell Berry? Like the American novelist?"

"Who?"

"Ten seconds!" Floop announced.

Chelia jogged back to her side of the ring and stood poised. "Well, I wish you the best of luck!"

Wendy turned serious and poised herself. "Yeah. You, too."

The bell dinged, and Chelia was first to spin her arms and blast twin gusts of black wind at Wendell, who dodged to her right with a start. "Why is your wind black?!" Wendy shouted, almost forgetting to use her boy voice.

"Because I'm using Haki with my airbending!" Chelia held up both arms, which were turned black like iron. "Not many benders know you can do that." She punched more air gusts, so Wendy projected a bubble shield, but Chelia shot spells from her own Lamia Scale to make it crack. She flew over for a mighty kick that shattered the shield, but Wendy was already set to dash left and run around, sending an air-slice with her leg. Chelia countered, then dashed up to Wendy's right so swiftly, the momentum caused Wendy to fall on her rear. "And that's not the only thing I can do! I also have God Chi."

"God Chi? What is that?"

"Tell ya later." She shot a Stun Spell, but Wendy rolled away and hopped back to her feet, whipping Disarming Spells at her opponent that Chelia was quick to block. The Sky Dancer did a breakdance and sent a black wind shockwave along the floor, but Wendy jumped, blasting twin air blasts to push Chelia across the ring. Chelia jumped to her feet and yelled, "Infatua!"

A string of large hearts flew out of her wand, phasing through Wendy's head as the atmosphere flashed red, and her expression was dumbfounded. After the spell finished, Wendy shook back to reality. "What was that?"

"HUH? But that usually makes boys go head-over-heels for me!"

"'Guess I don't find you attractive." Wendy blushed and shrugged. Chelia growled and punched another black wind blast, which Wendy evaded and began to whirl a cyclone around her left hand. "Repiti!" She cast the spell to keep it spinning, then she cast an endless cyclone over her right hand. She dashed at Chelia, dodging her spells, then threw an uppercut that sent her spiraling into the air via the Cyclone Fist. Chelia recomposed, kicking one foot down as she spun around and conjured black wind around it. Wendy dodged, gaping at how Chelia dented a crater in the floor from the impact.

Chelia began to spin at an incredibly rapid pace. Wendy stood her ground when the air was being pulled in to her, and clouds began to appear above them. Chelia stopped spinning and was clearly dizzy, but she cast her own "Troia!" and ridded the effect. Chelia took a great breath that inhaled the clouds above, so thinking fast, Wendy inhaled and sucked in some clouds herself. When their lungs were full and clogged, they stopped inhaling and aimed at each other.

"Sky Dragon-"

"Sky God-"

"ROOOOAAAAR!" A white cyclone spun against a black cyclone, and it felt like the impact made Glitzville sway in the air. They could barely breathe in the furious wind, and the mix of white and black was blinding. "Hu!" Chelia gasped when Wendy leapt through the wind, eyes squinted, and punched the Sky Dancer with a Cyclone Fist. She slid across the ring as the wind cleared away. The girls could breathe and catch their breath.

Chelia was staring awestruck at Wendy as she helped herself up. While keeping her wand raised, Wendy was confused as to why she was getting this look. …Wendy felt over her eyes and realized the contacts were missing. She grabbed the end of her ponytail and pulled it in front of her. It was blue.

She gasped and tried to cover her hair with her hands. Panic was clear in her red eyes. The floating cameras recording their fight depicted the revelation on the arena screens, and everyone was murmuring. Facilier and the twins felt great concern, and Romeo felt at a loss for words. Floop stroked his chin and bore an insightful stare, his suspicion having been confirmed.

"You…" Chelia pointed at her. "You're the girl on the wanted posters. The… 'Sky Dragon.'"

Wendy could feel the audience gazing at her with fear, knowing a wanted criminal was in their city. She was on the verge of tearing at the idea. "I…I'm…"

"WENDY, HELP!"

"That voice!" Wendy gasped, looking up at a hot-air balloon designed like Meowth. A man with blue hair and a woman with red hair were holding a net, in which a winged white kitten was squirming. "CARLA!"

"Prepare for trouble, your show has been cancelled!" the woman started.

"And make it double, like Gretel and Hansel." the man followed.

"To protect the world from family-friendly fights!"

"To unite all people within our spotlights."

"To denounce the evils of airheaded girls!"

"To extend our reach across the worlds!"

"JESSIE!"

"James."

"Team Rocket is taking all the glitz and glory today!"

"Give up now, or we'll have our way!"

"Meeeeowth: Let's play!" ("Woooobbuffet.")

"What're you people doing?! Let my friend go!" Wendy demanded.

"Tough break, toots!" Meowth retorted. "But if ya wants, we can send ya an invitation to the wedding! If you be good, we might even let you in the photo! Catch ya later!" The balloon drifted across town quickly.

"COME BACK!" Wendy leapt off the ring and down the building's roof.

As the stadium goers were rushedly clearing out, Wendy's scarf ended up landing in Romeo's hands. …The boy put it around his neck and said with a deeper voice, "Testosterone!"

…

"Grrrr! Who do you people think you are?!" Carla squirmed helplessly in the net. "A couple of poachers?!"

"We're more than just poachers, Miss!" Meowth declared. "We're Team Rocket, the greatest of Pokémon hunters! And I'm Meowth, the smartest and most admired cat in the entire crew!"

"Let me out of this thing right now! I'm not a Pokémon!"

"We'll see about that!" Jessie declared, ready to throw. "GO, Pokéball!"

The red and white device struck Carla in the head. She morphed into red energy and was sucked into the ball through the net. Team Rocket gaped… Their question has been answered so easily. Now they had to wait for the ball to stop beeping. Sadly, the ball popped open, and Carla escaped capture.

The kitten shook her fur until it was untangled. "Mr. Facilier once showed us a book that described Pokéballs. They convert creatures or objects into energy and trap them inside a subspace-like dimension. They can work on anything, except for humans. However, the Pokéballs are only designed to create holographic spaces for any registered Pokémon, which allows said Pokémon to grow more friendly with their trainers. Sadly, I do not have the attributes a Pokémon possesses, and even then, I would not fall for such brainwashing."

"That's a shame." Jessie said. "But I'm sure someone will be willing to fetch a hefty price for you somewhere."

"Wait a second!" Meowth shouted. "We ain't gonna sell her anywhere! 'Cause she's joining with us." Meowth took Carla's paws. The love in his eyes and the red on his face was in plain view of the winged kitten. "Dis crew always felt so incomplete without another talking animal of the opposite gender. Now look at who we found! A beautiful goil, with bee-yootiful wings like an angel!"

Carla felt herself redden when Meowth twirled her around, and she fell back into his arms. "Oh, Carl. Beautiful angel, Carl. Won't you be my bride? Together, we'll have wonderful kids. Wonderful half-angel kids. Whaddya say, Carl? Let's get married here and now. Mwwwww…" He puckered his lips and moved closer.

"SHYAH!" Carla threw a furious smack and slapped him off. "Are you INSANE?! Marry YOU? AUCK! I wouldn't marry a tomcat like you if we were the only two sentient animals on the planet! If you insist on going nude wherever you walk, I can imagine we wouldn't get invited to dinner parties. What, you think because you have a golden charm on your head, that makes up for it? Plus, you smell horrible, your mouth reeks of fish. I bet you spent the last 15 years trying to capture a single mouse."

Meowth felt his heart shatter. Sadness overcame him. "Well… I guess dat's it den. Sniff. I got nothin' else to live for."

From a perspective, Meowth was walking down a dirt road, into the orange sunset. "Good-bye… friends…"

Jessie's head appeared over the picture, looking unimpressed. "Just paint yourself blue already." she remarked.

"Carlaaaaa!" The Rocket Agents looked over the balloon's basket to see Wendy and Chelia chasing them across a town road, stopping at the city's railing which Team Rocket had passed over.

"WENDY!" Carla stretched her wings and flew down to the two girls.

"Carla!" Wendy grabbed the kitten in her arms and hugged her. "Thank goodness you're safe!"

"Hey, Wendy, let's teach these kidnappers a lesson!" Chelia said excitedly.

"I agree." Both girls stood together and took big breaths. "Sky Dragon/God ROOOOAAAAR!" The white and black cyclones merged together to blow the balloon away.

"Looks like Team Rocket's vaca' is blowing awaaaaay!" ("-buffet!") Twinkle.

"That was unhumorously unproductive." Carla sighed.

"THERE you two ladies are!" The girls turned around to see Floop, alongside several cameramen and stadium goers. The host calmly approached them with his friendly smile. Once between the two girls, he grabbed their arms and raised them high. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a tie! Throwing the competition and working together to save something they both hold dear! These girls are the SISTERS of Sky! And they have BOTH won the honor of touring MY castle on Foogly Mountain!"

"YAAAAAAAYYYY!"

Wendy and Chelia exchanged flushed grins. This host kind of misunderstood, but as long as it made the people excited, there was no reason to speak up. "I'll get the blimp all set up for both of you!" Floop walked away and gave thumbs-ups to both girls. "Join me when you're ready and bring whatever guests you like. Wonderful show, girls, wonderful!"

The girls saw him go in the direction of a blimp whose design was fitting for his whacky personality. "Hwow, a trip to Foogly Palace!" Chelia jumped joyfully. "We're really lucky girls, Wendy!"

"Y-Yeah! I guess we are!" Wendy grinned.

"I'll see you there!" Chelia waved as she jogged backwards. "Can't wait to talk- AAH!" She tripped when she tried to turn forward. "Uh, hehe!" She blushed and kept jogging.

"WEN-dyyyyyy!" Facilier surprised his student with a hug from behind. "Y'all made the fans go WILD! I knew everyone'd love you, who of us ain't surprised?"

"WE AREN'T!" the twins cheered.

"I'm really glad I tried." Wendy blushed. "But is this why you signed me up for this, Mister Facilier? Are we going to Floop's castle to learn something?"

Facilier's grin shrank into a nervous frown. "Weeeell… I ain't comin' with you. I'll let these tykes come along and watch your back, but… Sigh, just look at this paper." He gave Wendy a paper that was completely blank. "Aparecium." Facilier tapped his cane to it, and words appeared.

Wendy and Carla skimmed it. They gasped. "No way! Mister Facilier, where did you…"

"It's from yo' daddy. Accordin' to him, Floop is an apprentice to one of the World Leaders. And… he wants you to destroy his castle."

Glitzville Candy Shop

The store was currently empty with almost all the town inside the Glitz Pit. When Sally the Salesman Sugar Fairy viewed a camera monitor that depicted the nearest edge of town, Blackberry Guards were stepping off of Cinnamon Ships. "Oh well. This town was fun while it lasted!"

The adorable fairy opened the case containing the blue cupcake with golden icing. She pulled it out and held it up with only her teeny right hand. She reached her left hand into a back pocket and pulled out a giant (normal size) detonator, which she placed into the glass case. "Bye bye, delectable goodies!"

The time it took for the bomb to count down was the same time it took for the teeny fairy to carry the cupcake down a long escape tunnel. The further she got down the zigzaggy passage, the faster the bomb was beeping. She got to a secret hangar where she chucked the cupcake onto a teeny ship and drove off. The Blackberry Guards entered the shop on its last few beeps. Beebeebeebeeeeeep!

The candy shop exploded and destroyed everything inside in a fiery blaze. The Sugar Fairy was presumed dead. The very idea made everyone in Glitzville cry.