21. Flowers and Brambles

Mom's Hideout

Mom sat alone in her dark office. Calming herself after last night's party—her anger for the Head President. It was only hours ago did she remember, her plan that failed humiliatingly. Cheren didn't last a chance against her. Now what was she to do. "President Carol." Her TV flashed on, startling Mom out of her thoughts. "Am I interrupting?"

"More than usual?"

"I'm calling because I was wondering if you had any information regarding Cheren."

"Why would I care about your crap-ass nephew and what he did to crap-ass Doflamingo?"

"I was wondering if you had any idea how he infiltrated my party in the first place?"

"What are you implying?"

"I am inferring that he only could have gotten to Mariejoa through the party attendants, otherwise how would he have known."

"And you think I snuck him in? In case you hadn't noticed, there were plenty of snot-nosed twerps there, so how d'you know one of his operatives didn't sneak him in? How do you know Doflamingo himself didn't do it just so his daughter could wipe Cheren from existence and claim the credit?"

"I wasn't suggesting it was you, but I'm taking extra precautions. With Doflamingo's death, the Corporate Presidents have shown weakness. Further weakness."

"Fuh. Why are you so afraid of them, you know they can't beat the Leaders."

"Our orders are to prevent the 20 Keys from coming together. The Leaders gave us a list."

"Yes, and we aren't even allowed to talk about or show ourselves to them, just keep a damn eye!"

"Unless, of course, they find out, and they may. For the time being, most of them are unaware. Just stay focused, and if you learn anything on the Cheren dilemma, report it." Transmission ended.

"You must excuse her." A voice said from the doorway. "She interrogated me, earlier."

"Whaddyou want, Ted?"

Ted Wassanasong, the baldheaded Laotian-American president, entered the room. "I would like to request something of you, Mom, and I believe only someone with your political power can help me do it."

"Spit it out."

"I would like you to take me to the Florae Galaxy, and help me create the greatest golf course in the cosmos."

Harnita; Dunfree Household

Nova shut her eyes and relished in the scent of her garden. For so many years, she populated it with as many alien plants she could collect; their house was practically a jungle. Flowers that looked like the caps of jellyfish, rows of pots with flowers of polygon shapes, some plants were in multiple dimensions. Whichever plant grew under her care, they all danced under the swaying of her arms. "Mother?" Arianna, who knew every passage of this garden and could find her way effortlessly, approached the sakura-colored woman.

"Hello, dear." Nova's mind was lost in daydreams.

"Um… if you're busy, I can come back later." Arianna said softly.

"No, dear, I'm never too busy for you."

"Um…" Arianna shifted her foot on the grass. "I was wondering if… I could learn more about my heritage."

The plants stopped swaying when Nova did, turning to her daughter. "How come?"

"Just so I can learn more about myself. If I can become strong like…like.."

Nova smiled, not needing to know the end of that sentence, and kneeled to her daughter's level. "There isn't much you need to know. Harnita is a planet of pacifists like us who believe in tranquility and try not to dirty their soul with conflict. Pumparia is close by, they believe in taking action rather than bliss. In truth, their philosophy is probably better. Though depending on the conflict, I guess both of us have pros and cons."

"Was our species not meant to fight?"

"The choice to fight and learn how to fight is up to the person. If you want to become stronger, there's nothing holding you back. Most adults on our planet raise kids to be pacifists, then we do a lot of things we don't want to without question. That's sort of how the Harnitan Kids Next Door was founded. Our planet has conflict after all."

"And you were the best of the planet."

"By Old GKND standards, yes. I was still soft, in reality, and I passed that on to you. Even though I didn't want to."

"I'm sorry, Mother."

"Don't be. I'll be happy to teach you plantbending, either way."

"I'm a plantbender?"

"Hm-hm, how do you think my garden's so lovely? Why we can talk to animals? It's actually a simple skill. Hm hm, I actually thought you knew by now."

"Heheh." She flushed.

"Arianna, you know the Bramble Forest that's outside of town, right?"

"Of course."

"If you want to get stronger, you can go there and try controlling them. They're harder for most plantbenders because they require strong willpower. Unless you would like to do garden exercises with me."

"No… I'll try the brambles. Vweeb won't respect me unless I try hard. I'll see you later, Mother."

"Good luck, Arianna." Nova returned to her swaying.

A few miles outside of town was a forest of giant brambles, more like a giant bush that stretched miles to the sky. When only yards away from it, a mystical fluttering of wings hit her antennae, and a familiar celery-colored fairy soared down. "Celebi!"

"Rebi-rebiii!" The Forest Spirit faced Arianna with a wondrous smile.

"Ha ha ha ha! It's great to see you, too! Will you help me with plantbending?"

"Rebiiiii?" She flew into the brambles. "Biiiii!"

"Okay. W-Wait for me!" (Play "Bramble Blast" from Donkey Kong Country 2.)

Stage 29: Bramble Perplexion

Mission: Follow Celebi.

Arianna was amazed how much sunlight entered the brambles. The prickly thorns grew on stems of an elegant green tone that, along with the sun, complimented their sharpness. Arianna reached and tried to bend a few, but none budged under her psychic grab. She saw Celebi quite a ways ahead and ran forward, jumping up wooden planks that served a stairway up some thorns. At the top, she overlooked a vast chasm of thorns, looking around for where to go. A very thin vine dangled a few meters away, so Arianna took a breath and lightly gestured it over. Her plantbending was proven true, for it lightly swayed to her call, coming a little closer each time until she could jump and grab it. She gripped tight, almost expecting it to snap and give her a spiky death, but it stayed strong. She saw a foothold within close range to her right and shifted momentum until the vine was close enough.

She jumped off and walked up a stairway of planks sticking out of the brambles. They led to a small foothold with a tunnel cluttered with brambles. She couldn't even crawl under them, so she focused every ounce of plantbending to move them aside. They were as heavy as Mom gave credit, but just when Arianna thought she might sprain herself, they shifted slightly. She had enough space to crawl, keeping extremely low to avoid getting pricked. "Ah!" A thorn scratched her right arm, she kept crawling and withstood the pain. Just as she made it out, her grass-green hair got stuck in some thorns, requiring forceful tugging until she pulled it out. In this new, open room, Beedrill fluttered from the ceiling and readied to stab their intruder. Arianna tried to communicate, but her thoughts didn't reach, she ran around and hastily avoided their drills.

She ended up cornered against a bramble wall, and when a Beedrill came stinger-first, she dodged and got it stuck. She nimbly dodged when more stabbed at her, then when she tripped, on impulse, she swung her hand up and yanked down, pulling a thornless vine to whip the bees away. They recovered, but she controlled the vine and tied them, throwing against the brambles where their stingers got stuck. She looked at one of the corners to see a cluttering of Buttercoons, large butterflies where only the wings shed from their cocoons. She saw a nearby brambly tunnel sloping upward, but with no footholds, she summoned the winged beauties to land on different points of the tunnel and make a staircase. Their hard shells protected them as she stepped up, she apologized after she made it to the top.

Two handheld flower propellers were lodged in the brambles, and Arianna knew she'd need them to cross this narrow chasm of close brambles. She plucked them out, jumped, and let the flowers glide her. She moved and shifted momentum softly, trying to keep in the exact center to avoid being pricked. She fluttered her way back to the vast area, where she could now float into a narrow tunnel, bending her legs up to be able to fit. She carefully landed on a safe plank below and followed the path to a smaller chasm area, where Vine Slimes, blue gooey slugs, slithered on vines, multiple ones on each vine. Arianna jumped to grab the nearest vine, keeping between the slugs. She swung to the next vine, and could climb to a higher level of it before a slug blocked her. She swung to another vine whose lower part was blocked by a slug, swung to one that was slightly farther, but could safely grab the bottom.

She climbed up and swung to a level of another vine above its slug. She swung to a point of the next vine between two very-close slugs. The next and last vine had a green slug high above, and the moment she grabbed it, the slug slid down quickly, so she instantly had to release to swing onto the wood stairway. Small bramble balls rolled down on either the left or right sides, forcing Ari to dodge to the other, spiking her rear in the process. She made it up top and went around the Bramble Blaster, finding herself facing another prickly chasm. A grappable ledge stretched across the bramble wall on her left, so she clutched tight and climbed across. A Snapdragon startled and almost made her fingers lose grip, so she politely told it to go back in. It did so, but tried to snap her an inch away from fully getting past, Arianna taking land on a safe floor.

A pink flower whose petals balled into a sealed sphere dangled from a fishing rod-like vine in the brambles. When Arianna held it by the rod, she felt water contained inside the flower, seeing a small, squat flower on the bramble floor below. She hurled the water flower at the smaller and caused a great long vine to twirl up into a tunnel in the ceiling corner. She grinded up this vine, or rather used her plantbending to stretch it further and carry her. The tunnel led into a wide passage with brambles below, and as the longer vine began slumping under her weight, Arianna shifted it left and right or hauled it higher as she went.

She used this maneuvering to avoid Beedrills that innocently buzzed by, as well as big bramble vines that suddenly stretched down. She was unable to keep her vine going any longer, steadily slumping toward the floor, until she realized a Butterplane, a huge butterfly with violet wings with patterns that appeared like a mural, was resting on the wall. She told it to come down, so she could gently jump onto its back. It flapped its wings fast, soaring into a great wide tunnel. Giant spider webs, patrolled by Ariados, blocked their way, so on Arianna's command, the Butterplane blasted bullet-like pinchers. When the large spiders were defeated, the webs crumbled so they could pass, but it became harder to aim when Ariados were on far corners of the webs, almost hidden.

The Butterplane ended up caught in a web, so when the Ariados came to snack, Arianna told it to whirl its wings and slice it up. This became more frequent on following webs with two spiders, and the final web with three, until the Butterplane could finally rest on a safe ledge. Arianna smiled and patted the creature on the head in thanks before continuing. She went down a wooden stairway where Whiplashes popped out of walls to get her, she hurriedly ran down before they appeared, but got scratched by a few. She was back in the first, vast area, overlooking the starting point from high above. A hanging bramble wall had wooden planks she could jump across and grab a hanging vine. This was the very same vine she grabbed at the beginning, but a Vine Slime blocked this higher route, and would've prevented her from climbing up at the beginning. But now she could climb up through the vertical tunnel, shifting position on the vine when Beedrill buzzed down. Before long, she could set foot on safe ground and enter the great, open room. (End song.)

Arianna caught her breath after the arduous journey and approached Celebi, who floated in the center. "Huff… I finally made it. And I got my share of cuts on the way."

"Biii?" Celebi noticed the cuts of blue blood leaking from her purple skin. The spirit gently touched the cuts and they healed.

"Oh! Thank you, Celebi."

"Bi, BIII!"

"So, um… will you teach me how to bend brambles?"

"Bi… biiii." Celebi focused her chi and had several brambles extend from the ceiling.

Arianna reached toward and tried to bend one. She squinted, clutched her fingers, felt it in her psychic grip, but the thorns wouldn't budge. "Huff." She slumped, feeling exhausted. "It's no use… I'm just too soft, Celebi. I just now realized I have plantbending… but I really want to be stronger. How can I do that?"

"Biiii…" Celebi thought to herself. "Bi?" She had an idea.

"…! AAAH!" Arianna hurriedly dodged when Celebi lashed a bramble, destroying that part of floor. Celebi had several under her control, sending them all to the alien, Arianna ran around the field and narrowly dodged them. She whipped around and clapped her hands, hoping to grab one, but they wouldn't budge in her power. Celebi lashed another right in front and knocked Arianna to her rear, the girl backing away as a string of brambles stabbed through the floor. One of those popped out of the floor on her left, scratching her, she scrambled to her feet and tried running for the exit, but Celebi sealed it.

Arianna faced the spirit, whom showed no resent in her huge eyes. Arianna wiped some sweat off and stared firmly, ready to dodge another onslaught of brambles.

Philippines; Roxas Beach

Sunni stared at the horizon, small waves whooshing over the surface. The open sea made the world seem so empty. The sunny sky made it seem like there was nothing to worry about. But Sunni knew that better, if nothing else. Even the sad little display to her right. "Come on, Mister Fishyyy." A little girl sat with a fishbowl between her legs. The little creature inside appeared very frail. "Eat iiiiit." She dropped a single pellet in. It fell softly past the fish's face, but in its attempt to show life-force and try to eat it, it missed. The fish was motionless again. "Come ooooon."

Sunni only stared with half-closed eyes. Half-conscious eyes. She stared at the motionless fish… the more she looked, her vision zoomed closer like binoculars. She saw its beady black eyes, lower-lip hanging open, the speck-size pellet among the pebbles. Every ounce of her sight, from her irises to the center of her pupils, narrowed on that pellet. Every ounce of sight shifted upward… and the pellet with it. It glowed with blue aura, floated softly. Just inches from the old fish's mouth, it snapped, and ate. "Hahaha! Good, Mr. Fishy!"

Sunni smiled, happy to see her smile. She looked at the sea again. Its openness. If only her mind can be so open. If only she could be carefree. Just like her mom. …Just like her mom.

Sunni turned everything off in her mind. All her frustration, her anxiety. Let her mind wander. Light as air. Then… she was flying, flying miles away from Roxas's shore, over the sea. Let herself be free, her imagination was in control now. She could do anything. "WHOA!" A sudden beam whooshed before her, and she fell into the sea. She resurfaced and angrily viewed her oppressors.

"This is her. The psychic woman's daughter." A squadron of agents in dark-gray suits with big red "R"s hovered with jetpacks. The beam came from one's Gyarados. "The boss wanted her captured too, right? She shouldn't be too hard."

Sunni furrowed—but remembered herself. She must abandon her frustration and use imagination. So: she reached her right arm and pulled herself onto the faint blue step of psychic energy. The Team Rocket agents were baffled, Sunni smiled and waved her hands. She would keep her promise, treat her psychicbending with better respect, and it would give her its full power. "WHOOOOAA!" The agents and Gyarados were blown away—an entire harbor of psychic energy appeared in the middle of the sea. Buildings, platforms, barrels, cranes, her Psychic Chi took the shape of all of them. As she saw a fleet of Team Rocket helicopters coming her way, it was time to have fun. (Play Super Sonic's theme from Sonic 3 & Knuckles.)

Stage 30: Makeshift Harbor

Mission: Just go crazy.

Sunni ran into an open wharf and Wall Jumped between two buildings, landing on the roof of the shorter one. Three agents flew down and tried to hit her with shock rods, so she blasted a Psycho Sphere and sent them flying, crossing the roof and swinging a dangling hook to another building. The parallel side had an opening above the wall, and to cross, Sunni raised some of the psychic-made drums below and formed a staircase, excitedly crossing. A swarm of Fearow swooped down to prey on Sunni's face, but a simple psycho grasp could throw them away, then she glided over the sea between her and the next wharf. Rocket Agents tossed Pokéballs that released Blastoise and Golducks, the former of which curled in their shells and spun at Sunni, knocking her off her feet before they retreated. The Golducks hurried over and used Psyshock to stun her senseless, but when the Blastoise readied to blast her with Water Gun, Sunni, in her dizzied state, protected herself with a shield, warped behind the turtles, and slammed their heads against one-another with psychic.

Sunni whipped out her lightsaber, swiftly dodged the Golducks' attacks, and sliced them before proceeding to the next wharf. No stairs led up to the opening, but a psychic rail and its wall went up and around. She found a psychic skateboard in one of the corners, skated about the wharf stylishly, jumped under the lowest rail point, and stylishly grinded up. She shifted direction on corners with no problem, and after leaping through the passage, she grinded and jumped a series of floating psychic rails, evading the Gyarados who blasted Hyper Beams. Sunni flipped off her skateboard and let it fall to the sea, resting on a small platform that overlooked a region of cranes.

Sunni used psychic to turn the closest crane towards her, and when she grabbed onto its hook, she made it whirl around and around, and it was up to her where she released and flew to. She flew to a platform that was farther from the others, drawing her lightsaber to defend from Skarmories' Air Slashes. While blocking the other two, the third lunged at Sunni for a peck, but she bashed it against the head with her saber, leapt, and slammed it to the floor. The other two attacked her together, she flipped up and hit one with a vertical spin-attack, then forcefully slashed the other's head. Even though her laser sword didn't pierce their steel bodies, it still hurt. Nothing else really over there but to beat those guys and increase her score. With that, she grabbed onto a nearby crane and swung back to the first one, from there swinging to a larger platform that was the intended route.

A crane was raising a huge rectangular platform with stacks of psychic-crates up and down into the water. When it was at Sunni's level, she ran on and quickly climbed a tall stack to be safe when the platform submerged. She repeated this routine until she made it to the next lifted platform, which twirled around and around in its place. Sunni waited until she saw a trio of psychic-made pillars rise out of the water, jumping to the center. A psychic wall rose up with a gap on the left side, her current platforms threatened to sink, so she flew through the gap onto the next one. Four spiked platforms came up, but the farthest right one was flat, so Sunni floated to it. A single, ordinary platform appeared, a line of Rocket Agents flew in her path, Sunni blasted them away with psychic before floating over. A parallel set of snaky walls with spikes on either end emerged, so Sunni had to glide between them, maintaining a steady balance and staying clear of the spikes before setting foot on the platform. She could easily fly to the next pathway, but a Gyarados popped up out of the water and startled her out of this thought.

It was going to destroy Sunni's platform in one blast, but as its mouth remained wide-open for a Hyper Beam, Sunni chucked a Psycho Sphere, clogged its throat, and watched both energies explode inside as the seasnake fell unconscious. She floated onto the new, long, straight walkway, with nothing to interfere except a herd of Tauros. Line after line of the bull Pokémon charged at Sunni, but she whipped a Psycho Shield in front of her to fling them away when they were inches from reaching. She kept this routine on her journey down this road, not one of the bulls struck the fast-thinking child. Once she was through, she arrived at a giant psychic-made ring-shaped floor surrounded by walls, a few platforms laying about, and a pool of ocean in the center. She expectantly waited for the obvious boss to show itself. (End song.)

And not a second too long did something emerge from a huge splash: Sunni thought it was a Tentacruel at first, except it was metallic with two figures inside the red domes on top. "Prepare for trouble, this stage is going too fast."

"And make it double, I'm afraid it won't last."

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of artificial wharfs."

"To destroy it easily as little dwarfs."

The red-haired woman emerged from her cockpit. "Jessie!"

Followed by the blue-haired man in the other. "James."

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of sound."

"Surrender now, or we'll be sticking around."

Meowth appeared from the small, center dome. "Meowth, that's right!" ("Wooobbuffet.")

"That last one didn't rhyme." Sunni said, picking her nose. "You fail."

"Get smart all you want, you twerp, it doesn't change how we'll capture you." Jessie stated.

"Oh yeah, you guys captured my mom." Sunni replied nonchalantly. "You wanna take me too, huh?"

"That's right, so if youse wanna SEE her again, I suggest you play along." Meowth said. ("Wooobbu-wah.")

"Eh, she can take care of herself. But I don't mind beating the crap outta you for fun." :3

"We'll see about dat! Get a load of our Tentabot!" Meowth switched on the mech's stereos and the battle commenced. (Play "Double Trouble" from Pokémon.)

Boss fight: Tentabot

The robot swung its tentacles at the psychic girl, but Sunni easily dodged and batted them away with her lightsaber. She charged a Psycho Sphere and chucked it at Jessie's cockpit, but it bounced off toward the sky like a rubber ball. "Did we forget to mention this robot's armor bounces any and all psychic attacks?" Jessie asked. "Because that's kind of important." The robot opened its mouth and blasted acidic sludge that Sunni dodged, though it didn't burn through the psychic floor, it made those spaces unstandable. Sunni ran around the ringed pathway and hid behind tall psychic-crates to shield from acid, but a swing of their tentacles sent the crates flying. Sunni dodged a tentacle and kept running, grabbing and throwing psychic-drums at the glass shields, but they bounced away as well.

Bounces psychic, huh? Sunni thought. What if it couldn't bounce? She tried to grab the tentacles with psychic, but the chi dispersed upon touching. Sunni dodged another smash before focusing energy, spawning the first end of a huge psychic ring above her. She hastily dodged the tentacles, running around the path to create more of her ring. She blocked a tentacle with her saber before the loop was complete, the ring perfectly round and symmetrical, but she couldn't call it complete before forming a vertical ring that intersected with both sides. The Tentabot was in the center of both rings, the agents looking confused. Sunni began to compress the rings, and the tightly-woven chi didn't bounce off upon touching the robot. Team Rocket tried to shake it off, but the rings became so tight they couldn't, and the robot's head ended up falling against the floor. Sunni grabbed her saber, her joyous psychotic grin contrasting with the agents' panicked faces, as she ran up to slice the glass protecting Jessie's cockpit, afterwards knocking the woman dizzy.

The robot recovered and broke through part of the wall as it flew across the sea. A psychic-skateboard flew out among the debris, and when Sunni saw the (convenient) floating rails, she boarded on and began grinding and jumping each one. The Tentabot drew farther from Sunni and fired a stream of water in attempt to blow her off the rails, but Sunni could jump high and land perfectly on a rail, despite how scattered they were, as if she imagined this whole harbor and knows it front-to-left. In fact, she does, so there was no hassle in getting close to the Tentabot. "Weezing, Smokescreen!" James summoned his Pokémon.

"Weez." The area was shrouded with smog before Sunni had a chance at striking the robot. However, she felt the Tentabot surfing away with Weezing with it, so Sunni stayed within the cloud, searched for the glowing blue rails in the gas, and skated to them. She sensed the robot growing closer, and when her gut instinct told her, she leapt and landed on its head, startling James as she cut open his glass and had him stunned senseless. The robot suddenly shook her off to a safe platform on the surface, the Smokescreen going away.

"Smarmy little twerp, we'll handle you ourselves!" Meowth declared. ("Wooobbuffet.") He controlled the robot himself and slammed a tentacle at Sunni's platform, but she jumped to another and saw several small bits of floating psychic-debris on the water. The Tentabot maneuvered away and blasted Water Guns as Sunni jumped the artificial junk to get closer. After jumping a group of drums, she used psychic to make all the debris fly and chuck it rampantly at the Tentabot. They all bounced away, but so much debris confused Meowth before long, and- "Daaah!" he was surprised when Sunni warped right before his cockpit. He pulled a lever and lashed a tentacle, but Sunni warped and broke Meowth's own glass. "Darn it!"

"I'm down here!" Sunni cheered, warping to the robot's bottom. Meowth directed the tentacle to strike there, but Sunni warped and the tentacle pierced a hole. "No, up!" She was on the very top, a tentacle swung, she warped, pierced a hole. "Gotchor back!" On the robot's backside, another easy trick as the tentacle broke a hole. Sunni warped a few meters behind and said, "Who wants to see some fireworks!" Sunni formed a little tiny Psycho Sphere in her fingertips and flicked it into the back hole. Once it was far inside, she smirked and stretched her fingers apart, expanding the sphere.

"Uuuuh… is it morning already?" Jessie moaned, she and James recovering.

"Meowth, did we catch her?" the blue-haired asked.

"No, but you're just in time for that part of the episode." Meowth said with disbelief.

"Woooobbuffet!"

The Tentabot was sparking as the Psycho Sphere grew larger, and when Sunni had enough build-up, she clamped her hands and let the structure explode. "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off ag-!" Unfortunately, the trio was saved in Sunni's psychic grasp before they could live up to their name.

"Yeah, heeeeey, sorry about that." Sunni lied on her front on a floating psychic platform, her feet up in the air as she smiled innocently. "I'll let you get back to that, couple-a things I wanna ask you. 1) Who's your boss, 2) what's your deal with me and my mom, and also, what are the Twenty Keys?" (End song.)

Harnita; Dunfree House

A pretty white flower danced a silly jiggle under rain from Nova's watering can. She thought it before, she'll think it again how plants can have so much personality. How they could dance when they're happy, or get flat-out violent when they're mad. "Hello, Mother."

"Huuuu!" Nova spoke too soon. Her daughter had come home with cuts and thorns all over her body.

"I'm back from the Bramble Forest." she said with a casual smile. "I brought some seeds." She held bramble seeds in her hands, some of them already sprouts. "Celebi was an excellent teacher."

"Biii, BIII!"

Arianna knelt down, dug open a small hole with her fingers, and put seeds inside. "I'll carry some of them with me. They might help."

"Y-Yes… let's get some medicine."

After a long, arduous process of plucking the thorns out of her skin, rubbing her wounds with medicine, and changed her clothes, Arianna and Nova went to the living room where Cosmo was watching TV. "Mother, I did it, though… I bent the brambles!" she spoke excitedly. "I actually feel… a little stronger now. I feel like I can do anything I set my mind to!"

"That's very great, Dear."

"Hey Nova, check out who's on TV." Cosmo said.

A commercial was playing, and both girls recognized the old woman with bluish-white hair. "Hello, dearies. This is Mom, from Mom's Friendly Robot Company." She spoke with her warmhearted tone. "Do excuse any rumors you may have heard about my acquaintanceship with Emperor Tachyon. I come to you today with a very special guest. I'd like everyone to meet my colleague, Ted Wassanasong of Planet Earth. Knock 'em dead, Ted." She said with her smug tone before walking offscreen.

"Thank you, Mom. Ahem, female and male aliens, do not be deterred because I am a man from a distant galaxy. I am much like you, a simple, erm, sentient being whom cares for wholesome family fun. And what bonds a family better than golfing? At Ted's Golfing Galaxy, we work tirelessly to make golfing both a fun and exciting experience." The TV depicted images of a golf course through a volcano, where kids ran screaming after fireballs hit their rear; a course through an aquarium, underwater as sharks chased the customers; and a course through a maze, where some yellow creature ate the ball, made him super-charged, and allowed him to eat a bunch of ghosts. "But today, we bring you a course like no other, one that will be, to put it simply, out of your respective worlds. Behold."

The TV showed an image of a glowing purple celestial body. "Hey, that's the Violet Dwarf Star." Arianna pointed. "Up in-"

"The Violet Dwarf System has been selected as the perfect sight for our newest attraction, 'Golfing in the Stars.' The only problem is that this star, along with many annoying asteroids, clutter this system. We plan to have it all blown away to make room to design our course, but such an action is not cheap. Please: support Ted's Golfing Galaxy by calling 1-800, um, whatever these weird alien numbers are, and donating cash; which I also do not know the pronunciation, to; to help us afford ammunition and building supplies! Ahem, now back to your regularly scheduled program."

"They're going to blow up the Violet Dwarf System? No, they can't do that!" Arianna cried. "Those asteroids have so many natural habitats. It's a wonderful place!"

"It is majestic." Nova spoke regrettably. "We've been there a few times… it's like being in a dream world. What will you do."

Arianna exchanged a glance with Celebi. She looked at the ceiling with a passionate aura, "I'm going to confront Ted and ask him to stop this. And if he says 'no', then I'll… MAKE him stop this. I'm not going stand around like a helpless flower anymore. I'm a Harnitan-Pumparian and it's time I started acting like one."

"Biii, biiii!" Celebi shared her fighting spirit.

"Hm hm hm!" Nova laughed. "Just don't turn into Viridi, Arianna."

"Hmhmhm! I want to be hard-shelled, not end up in the nuthouse."

Texas; Cooper Works

She was on a stage with a blue curtain, raising a golden trophy as thousands cheered for her. She had won the award for Biggest Brain in the Universe. Greater than Einstein, Copernicus, Gerald Robotnik, and every scientist before her. She would lead the future of science, the next generation. "Huhuhu! I would like to thank the academies for combining together since not one school can teach me! I'd like to thank the unintelligent people for giving us a reason for existence, and I am glad to increase sales of big square glasses everywhere! And best of all… I'm thankful of being the first female scientist… to land the hottest guy on the planet!! I'n't that right, Mike?"

"Sure is, Em." Mike Strongarm ran up onstage and took his friend's hands. "I'll be happy to perform the reproductive cycle with you as soon as I'm legally able to." And so, their lips locked in a heartfelt kiss.

"Hu-u-u-u-u-u." Emily was strapped to a metal bed, wearing a headband with small wires. Her face was red, in deepest fantasy. "Hu-hu-hu-hu-hu-hu-hu."

Mojo Jojo viewed Emily through a window in the next room, observing her brainwaves on a monitor. Sheldon Cooper walked in with a tray of two cups of cocoa. "I have returned with your hot beverages," he said with a casual smile, "one Criollo and Forastero-type; I couldn't decide which of the three main types of beans to use, I had considered Trinitario, which is a hybrid between the previous two, but I surmised, if you're only partial to one type, you may choose."

"NO." Mojo refuted. "My brain is developing by the day, I must only eat healthy organic matter, cocoa is a form of chocolate, which decreases brain cells while increasing body fat, so I will not take part in the consumption of such-"

"I'll just leave it over here." Sheldon carried the other cup to a table where he placed it in a small metal box. "So what's the status on Ms. Garley's brainwaves, I must say I'm anxious. I'd rest better knowing my scanner found a decent challenge—even though it's already scanned me without conflict."

"Oh, her mind is very expansive. And what remarkable patterns. This is the very kind Specter desires for his Pipo Helmets. After we download the data from these waves to the helmets, our apes will be unstoppable, because Emily's mind is so expansive, which is what is desired for the Pipo Helmets! It's unfortunate that Specter is away in Solana Galaxy, but once he returns, he'll be delighted to hear that we have found the desired brainwaves for the Pipo Helmets, of which Specter is the-"

"Yes, yes. Ehm, point of inquiry," Sheldon said while putting on a gas mask, "what is your favorite form of toxic gas?"

"Everyone knows that tungsten hexafluoride is the most deadly and volatile form of gas, because it kills slowly, and lets victims SUFFER along the way."

"That's nice." Sheldon grabbed the box containing cocoa and opened a hatch in the wall, revealing a red button. "I'm more fond of sleeping gas, all the fun of gassing without leaving a big mess. …" Mojo was merely fixated on the brainwaves. Sheldon slammed the button without hesitating and quickly bolted into Emily's room.

A soft pink gas slowly began to surround Mojo. "Sniff sniff. Is this fresh spring flower scent?" Mojo asked, looking up curiously. "This is not a gas I am familiar with. …" He fell into a deep slumber.

Sheldon hurriedly unlatched Emily and pulled off the headband. "Come on Emily, time to wake up!" he said quickly, shaking her.

"Mmmmnn, but all the bearded scientists didn't kiss my brain."

"Those things are infested with fleas anyway, time to go!" After Emily was sort of awake, Sheldon kicked open a secret passage and pulled her down a metal slide. "WHEEEEeeeee- sorry, my Mario 64 urges were acting up."

Emily finally returned to her senses and realized she was on a most peculiar platform with several floors, dangling by a support attached to a rail on the ceiling. It was one of many such platforms connected together with a great, snaking tunnel that stretched who-knows-where; like these were giant seats of an upside-down roller-coaster. Sheldon was hastily typing into a terminal. "Mr. Cooper, what is this?"

"A little something called the Velocity Coaster, uh, made for quick getaways, you see. Once it's activated, it'll carry us straight to the ocean down this tunnel. Our own velocity should increase along with it, but I wouldn't recommend jumping too often. And 3, 2, 1." Sheldon pulled a lever. (Play "Terminal Velocity" from Sonic Colors.)

Despite the platforms' structure and size, they began to build up speed as they progressed along the tunnel. "Eh, a small concern, I had only designed for the front car to make it to the end while the others detach – a safety measure, if you will, we had better move quickly. Hu- haaaah!" He frightfully scampered up the stairs of this platform. After her delirious mind grasped the situation, she followed.

Stage 24: Cooper Works, Act 2

Mission: Escape the laboratory.

Emily rushed up the thin stairs that altered back-and-forth – hold on, her R.A.D.A.R. detected a monkey below, she found it hiding in a box behind the stairs and quickly netted it, then returned up the stairs, climbed a pole to the platform's top, and found Dr. Cooper jumping impatiently. Emily saw a switch on the next platform, hitting it with her slingshot to make a bridge connect, and Sheldon ran across first. Capuchin monkeys flew on jetpacks alongside this car, at a speed that matched the whooshing coaster, blasting laser guns that Emily dodged as she jumped over the edge, netted one, and returned with her Sky Flyer; amazing how she still kept the momentum to do so. The other ape was over the platform, so she could safely jump and net it before jumping down into the car after Sheldon, landing on a floor and watching him clamber across a zigzaggy balance beam. Emily clambered after him, several parts of the beam collapsed as she went, and the previous car was disconnected as she set foot on the next.

This car had a short shaft going up, which Sheldon used dual Sky Flyers to go and exit an opening. Emily's didn't go that high, so she switched for M.A.G.N.E.B.O.O.T.S. and stomped up a metal path, which looped out the exit and twisted along the left of the next car. She fought the wind against her face and stomped closer, finding monkeys clutching tight to the car's side, and netted them before they blew off. The path led to the front of the car where it shifted toward the roof, Emily watching Sheldon get into a catapult and propel himself to the next. Emily scrambled in the device, flung over the gap, bounced a trampoline on the next car's roof, over the next gap (caught a monkey clinging onto the ceiling rail), and landed on a path leading into the following car.

Shelbots fired mini missiles that Emily easily batted away. The girl found a turnable cog in the entrance of the next car and used her Stun Club to spin it quickly until it stopped. It begun to turn back, so she threw on the Super Hoop and ran up the sloped path that led out of an opening, down another slope within the gap, and before the door on the left side of the new car closed, Emily crouched and slid underneath. Sheldon waited expectantly again, for the path was closed by 3 switches, which immediately switched back if Emily hit them with her slingshot. So Emily used three homing pellets and struck all three, letting the hatch fall open.

They both hurried forward, and Emily was forced to use M.A.G.N.E.B.O.O.T.S. on a metal path that twisted upside-down and traveled along the bottom of the car. The act was heart-racing, seeing the tunnel's floor whooshing above her vision, and kept a tight hold on her glasses and her shoes in fear of her skull cracking open and scraping a long trail of blood should she fall. She was thankful to be right-side-up in the next and let her blood recalibrate. She saw Sheldon put on a scuba suit and dive into a pipe, so Emily followed him using the Water Net to swim. They followed a pipe maze of sorts where monkeys also swam, so Emily encountered them on the way to net, then hurriedly maneuvered to the end before the pipes disconnected from the previous car.

They landed on a straight path to the front and final car, but as they scurried along, panels were flying off, leaving only the beams underneath to connect the cars. Sheldon was already ahead, but Emily used her Sky Flyer to go across, then Super Hooped quickly as panels flew off by the second. Sheldon frantically gestured her into the car, rectangular-shaped, larger and more sturdy than the others, and when the girl finally dashed in, Sheldon slammed the door and let it disconnect from the second-to-last car. (End song.)

They waited for 3 seconds until- "WHEEEEEE!" the car flew off the rail's end, out into open sky before it splashed into the sea. The cube submerged as propellers appeared on its back corners, headlights in the front, and began swimming through the ocean. "Well, not the swiftest getaway I could've performed, but it's not a contest, so… who's judging."

Emily adjusted her glasses and took much-needed breaths. "Mr. Cooper, can I ask what the heck that was all about?"

"Of course you can, and ignoring your grammatical error, you may as well. The truth is, Specter invaded my laboratory some weeks ago, wishing to use my equipment to host more crude and hypnotic television programs. Hm, but they won't be able to now, because I input the program to shut down every piece of technology in my lab, and the only way to turn it back on again is to enter a password only I know." Sheldon wore a giddy smile that clearly said he was proud of himself.

"Is it 'Getyourhandsoffmystuffyoudamndirtyapes'? No spaces?"

Sheldon's smile faltered. "…Maybe. Moving on, Specter instructed me to capture the Garley child if she came by, and I had considered doing it, before I found her brainwaves to be far too precious and important to, entrust in the hands of simple primates. Plus, you were traveling with my niece and nephew, and Mother always said that 'family comes before haggling with amphibians.'"

"But where are Gary and Sarah?"

"We're up here." Gary's voice called from an upper floor. He and Sarah were watching a nature channel on a small TV. "After we fell in the trapdoor, we ended up in this hallway where a Sheldon recording guided us to this train."

"His instructions were both informative and unnecessarily detailed." Sarah sighed.

"Hey, mis-instruct the color for one door and you end up down the garbage chute." Sheldon informed. "Sigh… I normally wouldn't let my lab be taken so easily, but… before confronting me, Specter's crew captured a very dear friend of mine. Dr. Amy Farah Fowler." Sheldon showed Emily the screensaver on his laptop. It had an image of a black-haired woman with glasses and a knitted blue sweater, grinning ecstatically with a silly posture. She wasn't slim or, "sexy" in a matter of speaking.

"Awww. She's your girlfriend?" Em asked.

"No, she's my friend who is also a girl."

"True, but I recall during our game, I stated that at some point in your life, you found the idea of love to be inane. I wasn't saying you still did." Emily smirked.

"I admit that I find her a very fascinating creature, much like I find you fascinating, but in a different sense that relates to our respective ages."

"Right, because you wanna have intercourse with this one."

"Knn- nn- I-…"

"Hu hu hu!" Emily took delight in seeing the egomaniac falter. "Don't worry, Dr. Cooper, I'll help you save her. Maybe they took her to Specter's hideout."

"I had concluded that, the problem is locating it. However, if we work to round up all of these apes, I am positive we can uncover some leads. Until then, we must make the best of our time inside this sub, and it so happens I have a perfect way to use our time. Are you familiar with the three forms of Haki?"

"Sure I am! There's Observation Haki, Armament, and Conqueror's!" Emily counted 3 fingers.

"Yes, and while the physical and mental necessities for the latter two are before me, the art of Observation is within my level. Miss Garley, during our undersea voyage, I would like to teach you such a Haki."

"Hmmm. It does sound like something I could do. Yeah, it would totally be helpful! Okay, Dr. Cooper, teach me Observation! I'll see everything clearer than a microscope!"

"Brilliant! …But if you will excuse me, my natural seasickness is acting up. I'm going to vomit." He dashed into the bathroom.

"…Hulp!" Emily's cheeks puffed. "Me, too!" She ran into the other.

Solana Galaxy

After the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. soared out of Symphonia's atmosphere, the wondrous colorful planet was shrouded in the matter storm. "So every time you go to sleep, you end up in the Dream World where some bug creature tells you all about this whole quest?" Aurora recapped.

"Yeh, and it's gettin' annoying." Sheila said angrily. "He's got a silly book that's ruinin' all the good stuff for me. I have a boss in me next level, but now I won't even be surprised."

"If that book says everything, we could just get all the answers we need right from him." Mason informed.

"Mate, I ain't gonna disrespect this series with cruddy Wikia spoilers, I'm seein' this adventure the way I'm supposed ta."

"If that's how the gods wanted it. But if it helps our quest, maybe you should go to sleep more."

"NO WAY, man! I'm in SPACE, I gotta see what beauties the stars have! Hey, I wonder if Chimney will let me drive the train." She curiously ran to the front.

Aeincha was seated on April's shoulder as the latter faced a window and painted on a canvas. She wasn't painting blackness and stars, but Don Quixote Sugar standing proudly on a stage, colorful notes flying overhead, Chernabog's despairing form in the background, La Melody contestants below her, and Goddess Meloetta in the sky above. "It's beautiful, April." Aein smiled. "I'm sad Sugar didn't wanna come with us, but I'm glad she's happy."

"She's in her natural habitat." April smiled. "I would feel the same if there was some kind of art-themed planet. Wouldn't you, Mary? …"

Her cousin was on the seat on her left, staring out the window. April noticed her reflection bore a sad look. "April… we almost died in that place."

"What? Because of Chernabog?"

"Yes, because of Chernabog. April, why do you go on these missions?" Mary faced her cousin. "Aren't you afraid of being killed by things like that?"

"That wasn't really as bad as having our particles destroyed from existence." Chris commented.

"Or being converted to chlorophyll." Artie followed.

"Try shrinking to my size and not be scared of dying." Aeincha grinned.

"Then why do you do all these things?!"

"Because then we would've been turned to chlorophyll, our particles would've been obliterated, and the whole planet would've turned into candy." Dillon replied, laying in the seat across from her. "That's what being an operative's all about, Mary. No matter who they are or what it is, there's gonna be stupid adults doing stupid things, and it's our job to stop them. Thanks to operatives like your cousin, kids like you still have a place to draw with crayon and be happy."

"It's not really as dangerous as you'd think, either." April informed. "If you underwent training, Mary, you could be just like-"

"OIIII! May I remind our new Ryokaku-chan to STAY OUTTA our sector if she ever joins!" Chimney screamed via PA. ("Gyom-gyom!")

"Blimey, you sound like Dillon when 'e didn't want Carol." Sheila remarked, in the cockpit with Chimney.

"'ey, I love my on'nanokos, but she tops annoying. So you wanna pilot the Rocket-san, huh?" She raised a brow. "She is glamorous, ain't she?"

"Yeh, she's right fine, alright." Sheila rubbed her chin and viewed under the controls. "Really the tops, eh?"

"Oh, she's MORE than just 'tops', she's top of the UNIVERSE!" Chimney declared. "I challenge you to find any train that REMOTELY challenges this baby!"

Sheila peeped through the windshield and indeed tried to find something that matched Chimney's description. Her eyes stretched wide and wondrous at the terrific mass that shadowed their train. "Whadabout THAT?"

Chimney looked up—her soul was crushed—the other operatives felt the shadow and fell speechless when they looked up. One starship flew overhead, then another, until they realized they were all linked like a train. The biggest train to ever sail the stars, aptly named the 'Star Train' on its side. The front cart's face was designed like a giant robot's head with a gaping mouth, glowing red eyes, and a towering green dome with skyscrapers. "That's a big train." said Harry.

A fire burned in Chimney's eyes. Her throne was threatened. She could not have that. "My train rules the railway."

McKenzie Household

Angie McKenzie lay solemnly on the couch, basking in the breeze of the air conditioner. She was a woman of nature and all, but not so much to torture her family with scorching summer air. "Mom?" Her seven-year-old son, Anthony approached her. "I gotta ask you something."

"Sure, Anthony. Anything." She smiled.

"Um… I…" Anthony spoke passionately, "I wanna become the greatest earthbender ASAP!"

"You've been following through with Chiri's lessons, right?"

"Yeah, I got Seismic Sense down, but I wanna do more. Cheren's counting on us, so I wanna help him, too! I wanna new way to train, and um, could you please not tell Michelle?" he whispered.

"Are you really up for it? No matter how hard it may be?"

"Yeah, I'm up! 'Cause the Apocalypse is just gonna be even harder, right?"

"Well, it just so happens that one of my former operative colleagues is an earthbender, too. Numbuh 30c from Sector H. I found out after my friends and I visited Groudon Volcano back then. He and his son, Tom are lavabenders."

"Lavabenders? Can I learn lavabending, Mom??"

"Hmhmhm, you're much too gentle for that, son." She said happily. "But it would be pretty fun if you and Tom trained together. He's a lot older than you, but you know teachers learn more from their students!"

"Alright, then. I'll go down to Sector H and see what this Tom kid's about!"

"I'll call Kenny and let him know you're coming." Angie said, reaching for a phone. "But if he gets too hard on you, there's no shame in coming back."

"Peh. I'll take a lavabender over Michelle, any day!" Anthony eagerly headed up to the treehouse.

The sky

Fybi had long awaited summer, when the golden sun was at its brightest. Flying above the clouds in this hot summer air, she felt even closer to home. Skypia. There were days she dreamed of returning home, the kingdom uplifted from the earth, drifting the endless breeze, freedom. But she's grown far too attached to earthly tethers, where Anthony and her friends walked. But she was always free to spread her wings in the sky whenever she wanted to.

Fybi glided to a nearby cliff and set foot. The same cliff she brought Anthony on their first flight together. She pulled out a bottle of Conache Pumpkin Juice and drank, tranquilly fluttering toward the forest, letting her mind wander unfocused while she went forward. She put her juice away and readied to take flight again. "Hello, ANGEL."

Fybi gasped and fell to the ground out of fright. Phosphora, the lightning woman that was Viridi's servant, leaned against a tree with her arms folded, psychotically glaring at Fybi. "I escaped from prison and thought I'd pay you a visit." she said with a twisted grin. "Wanted to pay you back for humiliating me. Say good-bye to your WINGS."

She approached Fybi slowly with her fingers clenched. Fybi couldn't feel the sense to uplift her body from the ground, her heart heavy with fear, her skin tingling from the Lightning Chi this woman possessed. She felt herself backed against a tree, shutting her eyes from the lady's revenge.

"…Kidding."

Fybi opened her eyes. Phosphora stared at her with a halfhearted smile. She slowly turned around and walked away from the angel. She stopped a few meters off and said without facing her, "Please forgive me. I got carried away." She kept walking, and Fybi watched until she was gone beyond the bushes.

… "Ring, ring." Her wristwatch beeped, Anthony's face on it. "Hey Fybi, we got a mission, come on!" Fybi looked once more to the empty space between the trees and took flight.