31. Undersea Sanitization Committee

Today's codes use the Atbash Cipher.

King Household

Cheren's never been to the Kings' house before; add that to the hundreds of other operatives he doesn't associate with much. The interior was fancy with elegant-looking chairs and carpet, as well as old paintings. Rely on timebenders to be more into the classics. Jagar King walked in with two cups of tea, one for Cheren. "Hope you like Koopa Tea."

"Why not." Cheren mumbled sarcastically, having a sip while Jagar sat on the couch beside him. "Mr. King, I didn't really feel comfortable leaving my operatives behind. I assume what you want to tell me is important."

"Well, first, the journals…" Jagar had little spirit in his somber voice. "The person who wrote those journals was my father. Stanford Pines."

Cheren swallowed a large glob of tea. "R…Really?"

"My original birth name was Ruford Pines. My father was always very obsessed with uncovering paranormal secrets, even while his wife, Judy King was pregnant with me. He created the Multiverse Portal with Bill Cipher's help, but then something terrible happened, so my father had to leave where Bill couldn't find him. He entrusted his first journal to my mom to hide, then demanded that we drop the name 'Pines' and call ourselves by Mom's maiden name. He even went as far as to rename me. I believe his exact words were…"

"Listen to me: his name is NO longer Ruford. Ch-Change it to something else, like Jagar; Jagar King! E-Except pronounce it like Hagar, who names their kid that?!"

"I was a little over a year old, and I had already displayed timebending. My mom never actually told me any of this; I was able to see into my own past after becoming the Ghost of Time."

"But if your last name is Pines, wouldn't that mean Dipper and Mabel-"

"-Are my uncle, Shermy's grandkids, and George and Kayla's cousins."

"Sigh, now Gravity Falls is ruined for me." Cheren sighed sadly. He shook back to attention, "S-So what happened with your father and Bill?"

"My father achieved the impossible: he created a Dimension Transportifier that actually linked with the Original Worlds. You may know that our universe is one that was born from mixing hundreds of other universes, through something called Dimensional Fusion. The 'Original Worlds' are the universes where parts of our dimension was taken from. People, places, events, those were taken from the Original Worlds to create this one. But those worlds are very far away along the Dimensional Byway. Creating a machine that could actually take you to them would consume tremendous amounts of power. That kind of power is dangerous for the universe. That's why my father wanted to stop Bill from using it for his own gain."

"And what 'gain' did Bill want from it?"

". . ." Jagar clutched his Chrono Staff and looked down. "This is what I wanted to talk to you about…" He looked up at Cheren with as much emotion – in the form of seriousness – his blue eyes would display. "You all have to stop your quest for the Seven Lights and Thirteen Darknesses!"

"What?! But wouldn't we be able to save everybody from the Apocalypse?!"

"The Apocalypse is going to happen either way, but the results are actually different. There are two gates that maintain the unstable energy in our universe, the Time Gate and Space Gate. When Arceus unleashed his wrath 20 years ago, both of those gates suffered incredible damage. The Great Clock was given the greatest attention when fixing, but the Space Gate – the Nexus – was still weak. In truth, Cheren, the person who instigated the Apocalypse… was Dimentia's brother, Dimentio."

Cheren's pupils shrunk with anger and horror. "Dimentio? . . . The one that almost destroyed everything two months ago?!"

"Yes. Dimentio tried to destroy all matter in the universe by controlling and destroying the Nexus, which controls all of the unstable Space Chi in the cosmos. Nebula and my daughter defeated him and restored the Nexus to a safer condition, but it wasn't enough. By the end of this month, the Nexus will truly start to falter. Unstable Space Energy will begin to burst free from the moons – which are normally the primary entries to the Netherverse. When that happens, all planets will be destroyed by their power. Arceus will only rescue a choice few, so that they may help construct the New World."

"But what about the Twenty KEYS?! We're trying to find the Keys to open the Time Gate, so that EVERYONE can escape to the New World safely!"

"HOW do you plan to fit a whole UNIVERSE of people into the Time Gate?!"

Cheren clenched his teeth and looked down. He hadn't thought about that. "It won't work." Jagar stated. "Arceus may have approved the hunt for the Twenty Keys, but it's far too dangerous. The Time Gate is what's maintaining all the unstable Time Chi. Letting all of that energy loose into this universe will create worse cataclysm than the Nexus."

"But if we DON'T find the Keys, jillions more people might die! You just said Arceus approved the hunt, why wouldn't HE know all of this?!"

"Because he DOESN'T! The only reason I was able to determine this is because of-!"

Jagar stopped himself. Cheren stared up at him curiously. "Because of. . . ?"

Jagar sighed, sitting on the couch as he spoke more calmly. "There's a demon."

"I fight demons."

"No, it's nothing like Demise, Malladus, or Majora! This demon is more powerful than anything you can possibly imagine, and his name is ____. …! His name is ____! …" Jagar held his throat with shock.

Cheren cocked a brow. "Couldn't think of a good name for your crappy story?"

"I…I can't say his name!"

"Oh, lemme guess: VOLDEMORT."

"No, I literally can't say his name! I-I don't under… His name is spelled _ _ _ _ . . ! Hold on!" Jagar ran off to get a paper and pencil. He drew the first line- "Ssppk!" the pencil sparked, the line faded away.

Cheren glared. ". . . . Mr. King, you're full of crap. I bet the reason you don't want us to find the Keys is because… 'cause you're The King."

"What?!"

"You're The King of the World Government!" Cheren got up and walked around the opposite side of the table, pointing accusingly at Jagar. "The same one who used that Octagon or whatever to kill my dad, and for SOME wild and crazy reason, you don't want us to stop the Apocalypse!"

"I am NOT The King!" Jagar shouted, standing upright.

"Then who IS The King? You must know that, Ghost of Time."

"I don't know who he is-"

"WHAT A LOAD OF BULL!" Cheren stomped the short table.

"Cheren, you're just going to have to trust me on this, trust me when I say not to find the Twenty Keys-"

"Then tell me what's gonna happen if we do. The minute we bring all of the Keys to the Time Gate, after EVERYTHING we've freaking been through, what's gonna happen?"

Jagar clutched his staff and looked down again. How he desperately tried to find a good answer. "I don't know. . . I can't see. . anything…"

Cheren calmed down and looked closely at the man's features. Jagar trembled, stuttered in a fashion that meant… he was telling the truth. He really couldn't see… so he was afraid. The Ghost of Time, unable to see what's going to happen. "Mr. King… I don't know what's going to happen, either. I even get the feeling I might… die. But you can't just sit around and cry away your fear. You have to take a chance. That's why… we're going to find the Twenty Keys. We're going to save as many people as we can." Cheren passed him an assuring smile before walking to the exit—

He froze in time, mid-step. Jagar walked over and picked him up like a statue. "I'm afraid… I can't trust your word over mine." Jagar said. "Your friends can't be allowed to find the Keys. I don't want to harm them, though. Without their Supreme Leader, they may be discouraged either way. It might by some time." Jagar carried Cheren into the basement, setting him in a corner. He left the room and shut the door. Cheren's frozen, assuring smile went unchanged in the darkness.

Under the sea; Dr. Cooper's submarine

Emily's square-spectacled eyes focused on the tiny tray under the microscope with pure attention. Her blue eyes narrowed on them for several minutes, her brain pulsed trying to determine an answer. "…Seven-million-and-four?"

"NOOOOO!" Sheldon Cooper cried. "There are FIVE million and forty-THREE! Honestly, this is the one good use Amy had for these germs, and you're treating this like a joke!"

Emily stomped around to face him, "Well, I'm sorry if I haven't been able to perfect a sight-based martial art in less than two days!"

"Holeh SEACOW, Emily's not PERFECT at something!" Sarah exclaimed. She and her brother were on the second-floor couch, watching the sea pass by in the window.

"Call the fraud police!" Gary yelled.

"For your information, I never said I was perfect… with physical body skills!" Emily retorted. "I never planned to learn ANY martial art, let alone Haki!"

"And yet, you deliberately guessed the number of nails that make up my lab!" Sheldon argued. "Miss Garley, you were allowed in the company of Sheldon Cooper for over 36 hours since our meeting, not being able to learn Observation Haki is your fault, not mine."

Emily tiredly slumped away from the microscope. "Well, I'm officially too weary to embrace the beauty of microorganisms. I'm gonna lie down." She was about to settle down on a large bed in the corner.

"Ne-Wai—HAAAANG on…" Sheldon stopped her before she did so. "That's MY bed, yours is right there." He pointed at a lanky metal bed against the wall, about Emily's own width. For a minute, she thought that was a stretch bed.

"Why can't YOU sleep on that one?"

"Khh! Now you're only acting silly; unless you intend to recite a passage from E.M. Snickering's beloved children's book, 'The Tall Man From Cornwall'."

"Who?"

Sheldon raised a finger, gesturing to wait, and walked over to the skinny bed. He turned on a radio and played a jaunty sailor tune (Mrs. Puff's Theme from Spongebob) before sitting on the bed with his legs across it; his entire lower body stretched the length of the bed. He recited the poem in rhythm with the music.

"There ONCE was a tall man from Cornwall: Whose length had exceeded his bed. My body fits on it, but barely upon it, There's no ROOM for my big Cornish head!" He lied down completely flat—his upper-body couldn't fit on the bed, so he was lain diagonally, uplifted by the head side's fence.

Emily cleared her throat and recited her own poem: "There once was a man from Oregon, Who had an extra finger on each hand. He couldn't wear gloves, so Winter was unloved, but he was the lead drummer in a bestselling band."

The sailor tune resetted again as Sheldon got up from the bed. "There was a rotund woman from Kentucky, Whose width was too round for the door. She was incredibly heavy, more so than a Chevy, However she wrote one hell of a score."

Emily blushed and touched a finger to her chin in a cute fashion. "There was a little girl from Germany, Who was born with Size 10 feet." She looked at her shoes. "She trips, she stumbles, in the water she fumbles, But them booties were easy to beat."

The volume of the tune increased as they stood back-to-back and sang together. "There were a couple of musicians from England, Who were chemically glued to the back." They swung their legs forward as they circled in place. "They knew how to pose and smelled like a rose-"

They held their heads close to each other and spoke impossibly fast, "It-took-a-while-to-find-a-manager-who-was-comfortable-with-the-idea-but-you-can-imagine-the-public-wasn't-so-into-it-at-first-they-would've-had-the-accident-reversed-but-they-ran-into-financial-issues-so-they-had-to-compromise-their-albums-didn't-sell-well-for-a-time-but-when-a-rival-attempted-to-rip-off-their-work-they-sued-him-for-millions-now-they're-living-it-up-in-a-mansion-with-two-women-who-like-them-now-because-they're-rich-"

"-but their bedroom skills are sufficiently lack!" The song reached its final notes. Emily and Sheldon made a stunning pose.

". . . . ." Sarah and Garry wanted to erase that from their minds. "Aren't you glad we don't have as many scenes as other characters?" the former asked.

"Ahhhh, you're a delightful company, Lady Emily." Sheldon sighed.

"And you are very tolerable, Sir Sheldon."

"Eh, fun fact, in the Japanese dub of this series, I would be known as 'Sheldon-sama'."

"Noooo, I would refer to you as Sheldon-kun. Because you're so cute." Emily flushed goofily.

The monitor on the control deck started beeping. Sheldon hurried over. "Oh, dear… seems we're not alone." He observed. "There's some kind of… structure, traveling along down here."

"You know, part of me had a feeling that wasn't a fish…" Gary replied. Beyond their window was a dark, tremendous force in the distance.

A red light at the radio station started beeping. "Uh-oh. Seems they're trying to signal us." Sheldon said.

"We can't just ignore 'em." Emily spoke with mixed thoughts. "But are they friend or foe?"

"Only one way to find out…" Sheldon worriedly went over to the station and put on headphones. "Remember, kids, the key to avoiding any terrible situation is a well-developed lie." He said to the group. Sheldon pressed the microphone button and responded, "Ahem, hello?"

"Pardon me, fine sailors, but this is restricted land owned by Chum Bucket Labs. All unauthorized personnel will be annihilated on the spot." A deep and maniacal voice spoke.

Sheldon quickly concocted his lie. "Sir, we are part of the Undersea Headquarters Sanitization Committee, and we received a report about a, um, newly identified mobile fortress, 200 nautical miles southeast of the Gulf of Mexico. Would that be your fortress by any chance?"

"Well, actually, yes. Can we help you?"

"Wonderful." Sheldon smiled. "As you can surmise, our Number One priority is the purest cleanliness of all undersea fortresses, and it would be a shame if a headquarters as remarkably tremendous as yours was drenched top to bottom in repulsive, disgusting seaweed for another minute. Should you have questions or concerns about our credibility, I would be glad to provide you a list of clients who are familiar with our work." Sheldon held up a clipboard. "Feel free to call them to your hearts' content, and you will see, the UHSC is the finest under the sea!"

"Hmmm… Come to think of it, we do have too much seaweed clogging up the ventilation shafts. Alright, come on in! But DON'T get any soap on the sofas! I got those with a bargain."

A garage door on the bottom of the fortress opened. Sheldon steered their submarine inside, parking it in a surface pool. The interior walls were brownish-orange, and a red carpet led down the tunnel. There was a camera in a ceiling corner. "I bet if I can hack into the camera, I can get footage from all the others in this place." Emily said. "Then we can see what's in this fortress."

"And how d'ya plan to do that?" Sarah questioned.

"With THESE!" Emily held up her glasses proudly.

Kids Next Door: S.P.E.C.S.

Spectacles Propellerized Equipped Camera Spygear

Emily took out a mini remote/monitor, which displayed the image from her square glasses as they flew around with twin propellers. Gary opened a hatch on the ceiling so they could fly out, letting Emily land them on the camera. She pressed a button on her remote, extracting a cord to plug into a slot. The glasses' lens displayed a staticky image that appeared on her monitor. She could search through dozens of screens displayed from different cameras.

"Holy mole, check it out! There's a bunch of monkeys in here, too! Maybe Specter owns this place! And… hold on." Sarah, Gary, and Sheldon looked over her shoulder. The monitor displayed a prison cell, containing a frightened child with dark-red hair, clutching the bars and looking around worriedly. "They're holding somebody captive. The fiends! Come on, guys, this is officially a Kids Next Door mission!"

"Yes, but before we do that, I need a list of your friends' phone numbers, whom we can pretend to be clients that the, quote-on-quote, 'UHSC' has worked with." Sheldon showed them his pen and clipboard. "Be mindful that these must be friends who are willing to stay faithful to the lie for an undetermined amount of time."

"Buff that lie, Sheldon!" Emily shouted, putting her glasses back on after they flew back. "They're going to catch us catching their monkeys and breaking that girl out. Stay here and guard the ship; it'll be the only way we can escape."

Sheldon shook, stumbling on what to say, "We can't just call the lie off right NOW! These people are expecting a fine-quality sanitization of their entire fortress within the next 5 minutes. The best spy missions keep the aforementioned lie up in the best and longest way possible."

"Then Y'ALL can spend yer time scrubbin' seaweed outta their vents," Sarah tossed him a mop and bucket, "while we conduct our rescue mission." She and Gary marched out with no regrets, joined by Emily, who waved cheerfully at the older man.

"Good luck, Sheldon-senpaaaaaiii!"

". . . . ." Sheldon stood with a blank expression, holding the mop and bucket. "I want a refund." (Play "Frozen Frenzy" from Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze.)

Stage 40: Undersea Mansion

Mission: Capture 15 monkeys and rescue the prisoner!

The three operatives jumped out of the submarine and proceeded down the tunnel lit by flickering lamp posts. They saw the first Pipo Monkey up on the ceiling, holding the seaweed while he swung innocently, with a stairway of thin ledges leading up to him along the wall. Gary chose to grapple and hop up these ledges himself, then kicked off toward the monkey to net him, then landed beside his friends. They wandered into a large room with giant gears, being churned by the ocean down below. On their left, the three could float onto a high ledge with their Sky Flyer, then jump their way across a constant turning bar to another platform—any missed jump would send them sliding into the sea.

From here, they had to cross a flat, turning gear, but several security lasers were crossed and turning along it. The trio was careful to hop in the open gaps, then they had to ride one of the bars up a vertical gear, steering clear of the lasers that were in-between bars. They jumped off on a safe platform—however, Sarah saw a platform below it and rode the gear further until she could jump off on it. A ladder led down the wall and close to the sea, where a Pipo Monkey was innocently surfing on a board. Sarah had to time it precisely: she jumped down, net outstretched, caught the monkey, then Sky Flew upward to grab the ladder, and climb back on the platform. Then she could Sky Fly off and up to the higher platform, where her friends helped her up.

They Sky Flew up to a thin ledge along the next wall, having to hold tight with their fingers as they climbed across, and wait for the security lasers to skim away from it. They made it to a platform with a door leading into a corridor of fishtanks. Exotic fish of many varieties, and unknown origin, swam freely inside. Some of them were, in fact, Pipo Monkeys, but there was no discernible way inside of the tanks. The hallway turned right and sloped up, leading into a very dark passage with security lasers. Two sets of lasers were diagonal, moving back-and-forth, and crossing each other, with the only gap available at the top, after they slid away. When the lasers were in the process of moving away, they quickly spun their Sky Flyers and got through.

The next portion was a maze of lasers, with platforms of varying height blocking some. They first jumped onto a platform on the right, used Sky Flyer to fly over some and around other lasers to land on the second, then they crouched to crawl under a row of platforms blocking more lasers. Then they could crawl onto safe ground, and the rest of the hall had dozens of lasers sweeping back-and-forth in diagonal fashion. This task required their Super Hoops, speeding across as the lasers were opening up, and getting past before they closed. The three scientists jumped into a small pool and swam underneath with their Water Nets.

There were floating balls with searchlights moving about—Search Spheres. They swam behind a group of rocks in the down-right corner to avoid the first light. The next Search Sphere circled around a water mine, so they had to stay on the exact opposite side of the mine to be out of its sight; without touching the mine. Once past it, they swam down to inhale some air bubbles to rejuvenate their selves, then they netted a Pipo Monkey hiding inside a clam. The next Search Sphere shone along the floor and ceiling, but couldn't hit the walls because of the rock blockades. However, Torpedo Teds came out of holes at the end of those passages, chasing the kids with devious grinning faces. They had to hurriedly swim behind a strip of rock that spiraled across the passage, hiding them from sight of many Search Spheres, and outrun the pursuing Torpedo Teds.

At the end of the passage, the trio climbed out of a surface pool, bringing them to a lounge area with potted plants, red couches with gold edges, and chandeliers. Two Pipo Monkeys were lounging on a couch, chucking nut shells at the Fodder robots who were mopping. The robots clearly had pent-up rage, so the kids put them out of their misery by shooting them with their slingshots. The twins monkeys panicked as one hopped across the lasers over the floor, and another leaped to grab the chandelier above. A dresser was standing against the wall, and Emily could jump onto it, and from there Sky Fly onto the chandelier to—the monkey greeted her with a storm of rapid punches, then- "Ow!" pushed her off. When the monkey ran to the opposite side of the chandelier afterward, Emily had Sarah shoot the ape repeatedly with slingshot pellets, distracting him so she could float onto the chandelier again to catch him.

The lasers scrolled around slowly, but Chucks were throwing torpedoes from afar in attempt to push the kids around. The kids avoided and shot the robots with slingshots, but a hidden Duplicatotron was spawning more. Gary simply shot the robots himself while his friends got across, then Emily destroyed the Duplicator hidden behind a wall. The second Pipo Monkey was still hopping around between the lasers, but Sarah kept him in place with slingshot while Gary netted him. The next passage was blocked by lasers, so the trio hopped up some stairs to an upper area composed of chandeliers. The chandeliers were far apart, requiring Sky Flyer usage, and lasers skimmed in-between. From the starting point, Sarah and Gary had to shoot Chucks while Emily crossed the platforms herself. She was able to get into a hidden room and destroy a Duplicatotron, afterwards flipping a switch to disable the lasers blocking the path.

"Plankton, I'm starting to doubt these people are from the Undersea Headquarters Sanitization Committee." Karen's voice sounded throughout the base.

"Quit worrying, Karen, this guy is totally credible, listen to him!"

"One year ago, we signed a contract with the Kremling Krew of Oceanic Base, which as you can see, has interior floors and walls with a newly-painted seaweed-green hue, complimenting their scales!" They heard Sheldon's voice through the intercom. "'Course, that's nothing compared to the Marine Research Facility, although it is difficult to go five seconds without slipping, thanks to their polished marble floors."

She returned to her friends, and they entered the new hallway where giant blue jellyfish floated in a river. A Search Sphere was moving about below, shining its light above the surface. The jellyfish served as barriers, but if they stood on them too long, they would electrify. They had to wait until the searchlight went away, then hop to the next jelly, and repeat the pattern until they were across. However, a Pipo Monkey was clutching a chain on the ceiling above one of the jellies. Emily shot it down with the slingshot, and Gary made his way across again to net. The trio entered a very tall, upward shaft, where a Search Sphere floated up-and-down through the center.

The kids put on their M.A.G.N.E.B.O.O.T.S. and walked up a metal path that went up the shaft. There were barriers in place in certain areas, to protect the group from the searchlight when it came by. Partway up, an alternate, snaky path led to a Pipo Monkey, who was taped to the wall. Sarah quickly stomped up to net it, then return under the shelter before the light caught her. At the top of the shaft, they switched for their real shoes and entered a wide, empty room, where steam pipes circled around. To open the next door, they had to catch three monkeys. They saw two peep out of hatches on pipes, so Emily rushed to one with her Super Hoop and bashed it open. "AAAH!" She was met with piping hot steam to the face, no monkey.

Clearly the three apes were switching between pipes, so they had to use the R.A.D.A.R. to find them. Emily ran to one pipe, Gary another, and Sarah the other, hitting those pipes open so they could catch the shifty monkeys. The door was open, but this entire following river passage had vertical and horizontal security lasers. Emily chose to use her S.P.E.C.S., flying them carefully around every wide-enough gap within the lasers. There was a wiring hatch in a far upper corner of the room, so Emily let her glasses float beside it, insert the cord, and begin hacking. All of the vertical lasers were disabled, so the crew could swim under and through the river. Two Pipo Monkeys rode Enguarde swordfishes, the kids barely avoided their jabs before catching the monkeys with Water Nets.

The kids had to swim through a rightward tunnel at the end, navigating a cavern of sea anemones and jellyfish. They encountered two Pipo Monkeys piloting mini-submarines and launching torpedoes. They couldn't net the monkeys through the subs, so they lured them into the sea anemones. They were grabbed in their tentacles, the subs were squeezed and ruined, and when the monkeys swam out, they were netted. The trio swam to a more narrow tunnel, having to avoid electric eels as it snaked, and they resurfaced in a room. It was incredibly huge and wide, and a searchlight took up nearly the entirety of the space, its source coming from a glass dome on the ceiling. There were Sleepytime robots lurking around, and some naughty Pipo Monkeys who threatened to wake them. The robots couldn't be shot with slingshots because they had protective lasers.

However, a trashcan was nearby, and using the handles of her S.P.E.C.S., Emily could cross them under the can's lid's handle and lift it. She turned the lid to face the searchlight as she made it float up to the source. A large area of floor was made a blind spot, and Emily controlled her glasses to keep protecting them as they trekked through the danger zone. The monkeys threatened to awaken the Sleepytimes, so Sarah shot and stunned them, Emily maneuvered the blind spot as they got closer, and Gary netted the apes. The friends had to press three switches around the room, each guarded by a Sleepytime. To destroy the robots, the kids crawled close within their range, and quickly shot an explosive pellet, so their laser couldn't react in time.

With all three switches hit, a staircase extracted on one side, leading into a passage. The trio hurried over, and Emily kept protecting them with a blind spot as they jumped up. By this point, her eyes were getting tired, and walking while focusing on the monitor was no picnic either. Thankfully, after they made it into the passage, Emily could call her glasses back and put them on. At the end of this passageway of pipelines, they found the jail cell. (End song.)

Sandy Sidney had almost lost any hope. They were trapped in this dingy old place for days, and had nothing to eat but Chum Patties. But her spirits lifted when she heard the fast-paced footsteps rushing up the hall. A blonde girl with big square spectacles, and her two odd-looking friends hurried in. "Hu! Are you here to rescue us?"

"Never fear, little lady, the Kids Next Door is here!" Gary cheered dizzily. "And we may be here a while, because I need to take a rest." So he plopped on his back and snored away.

Emily approached the girl's cell. "Are there any other prisoners here?"

"Just me and my brother, I think. I'm Sandy, by the way, this is Jessie." She indicated the unconscious, tan-skinned boy behind her.

"Mah brother, I get, but what's his problem?" Sarah asked.

"I don't know." Sandy spoke sadly. "He forced himself to stay awake before we got here—then we get captured out of nowhere, and he won't wake up! I'm really worried…"

"Don't worry." Emily drew her slingshot. "We'll get you both out of here and get your brother help. Step back." Sandy did as told, and Emily destroyed the cell's lock with an explosive pellet.

Sandy grunted as she struggled to lift her brother up in both arms. "Could you help me carry him?"

"Not a problem. You two can get inside this." Emily placed her Infi-Cube on the floor.

Sandy looked at it with confusion. "Th-That?"

"Yeah, just put your brother on it!"

Sandy carefully set Jessie onto the little box- "Wh-Whoa!" He was slurped inside like a vacuum. She frightfully stepped on it herself, and in she went. Emily closed the box and hid it under her coat. After Gary's short-lived nap, the trio hurried back into the huge searchlight room. "Not so fast, kiddies!"

The searchlight vanished, and the doors on either end sealed. A figure emerged from the small stage in the center of the room: he wore a light-red jumpsuit, with blue rubber gloves, boots, and underpants, and a blue helmet-mask with a smirking red mouth and eyes. There was a blue belt with a gold buckle around his waist. "If you plan to escape this place with your lives, you'll have to get past Man Ray! BWAH hah hah ha!"

"Holy cow! A muscular guy in speedos!" Emily exclaimed. "My one weakness! Must… avert… eyes… can't… from… HOTNESS!…"

Sarah and Gary stared in disbelief. "We both know that's yer overly-sarcastic mock." Sarah said.

"Usually, you itch when you're turned on." Gary remarked.

"Huhu!" Emily blushed. "Forgive me for trying!"

"MOCK my speedos all you want, kiddies, but I am sporting the LATEST in supervillain swimwear!" Man Ray proceeded to make fashionable poses. "My muscle-tight body suit! Undergarments of the silkiest rubber! Topped with a Tickle Belt of solid gold buckle!"

"Tickle Belt?" Sarah questioned.

"Umm- that's not important." Man Ray furrowed. "You phonies from the UHSC have taken a very important prisoner from us! Hand us that weird voodoo box or else!"

Emily glanced at the Infi-Cube under her coat. She clutched her Stun Club and looked at him sternly. "You want these kids back, you'll have to do it around the corner of my multi-directional glasses!"

"We both know they can't do that." The friends chorused.

"Why can't I dream!!"

"Quit bickering!" Man Ray demanded. "Just try to get past my array of 'multi-directional' searchlights!" The supervillain pressed a remote, lowering a giant disco ball from the ceiling. Dozens of searchlights appeared and started circling the floor of the chamber. "By the end of this day, you'll regret having never learned how to dance as well as… MAN RAY! Huu! Oh yes!" The speedo-wearing gentleman flashed his sexy poses on the stage. "That's the stuff! Ho!"

"Well, he's not as bad as Yellow Monkey…" Emily sighed. (Play the Mini-boss Theme from Battle for Bikini Bottom!)

Boss fight: Man Ray

The searchlights were turning rapidly, so getting close to the villain would be difficult. The trio used their slingshots to blast exploding pellets, but Man Ray was quick to react by punching and kicking, and being able to withstand the explosions, he was tougher than he looked. Man Ray whipped out a ray gun and started trying to blast the trio, giving them a trickier time with trying to strategize. Emily remembered his note about the Tickle Belt, so her curiosity reached the peak of her improbably large mind. She told Sarah and Gary to distract him with slingshot pellets, so without his ray gun to distract them, Emily flew her S.P.E.C.S. through the searchlights (the defense turrets didn't register to them) and narrowed in on Man Ray. The villain was still distracted punching her friends' pellets, so Emily was able to stick the S.P.E.C.S.' cord into his belt lock.

"He he he he, he HWAH ha ha, HOO HOO HOO hahahahahahaha!" The Tickle Belt lived up to its name, for the villain started laughing uncontrollably. The array of spotlights started skimming forward-and-back, left-to-right, whichever direction they chose at respective intervals. Sarah wanted the honor of landing the first blow, so she maneuvered around the quick-moving searchlights, leapt onto the villain's stage, then jumped to bash Man Ray's head with her Stub Club. "OUCH!" The force of the attack made him bump Emily's glasses away from him, so free from his tickling, he grabbed Sarah and furiously threw her across the room. Man Ray pushed his remote again to raise his platform higher, nearly halfway up the room. They noticed grabbable ledges around the sides.

Not only were searchlights spinning around again, Man Ray skimmed security lasers across the room every few seconds, with wide-enough gaps for them to dodge, they just had to be attentive. It seemed the lasers could only sweep across certain areas, so the kids remained in the safe spots as they shot at Man Ray again. While he blocked the pellets, Emily sent her S.P.E.C.S. across the room, having to evasively dodge the security lasers that appeared out of nowhere, stretching across the room. They were a minor hazard, and once her glasses made it to Man Ray, they connected with the Tickle Belt and induced Tickle Torture. While Man Ray entered a laughing fit, the searchlights were still spiraling around the center, with only one empty spiral path going around to Man Ray.

Gary readied his Super Hoop, waited until the path's entrance circled by him, then rushed on, keeping absolute focus to stay within the path's boundaries, inching leftward the whole time as the road led into the center, and then he was at the risen stage. As he grabbed and hopped up each ledge, security lasers shone onto the pillar, requiring Gary to either jump or wait in order to avoid them. Once he made it onto Man Ray's platform, he managed to land two hits against his head, before the villain shook free of the S.P.E.C.S. and kicked Gary away. Man Ray pushed his remote again and rose his platform to the near top of the dome-shaped room, a little under the disco ball.

No ledges led up around the side of the pillar, but after studying the room, they noticed a metal path going up and around the wall, ending near the ceiling. One of them could jump from there and Sky Fly onto the villain's platform. But this time, Man Ray sent respawning Chucks to even the score. Emily flew her S.P.E.C.S. all the way up the tower, Sarah shot Man Ray with pellets, while Gary shot the Chucks, which proved tricky since they were high up in the air. Emily linked her glasses with the villain's belt, then Sarah took the task of stomping all the way up the metal path with her M.A.G.N.E.B.O.O.T.S.. The Chucks still chucked torpedoes at her, so Gary defended her from the ground, so all Sarah had to do was watch out for the searchlights that skimmed by.

After nearly exhausting her legs, Sarah was at the top of the room, with Man Ray in close view. She jumped out of her metal boots, hovered across with Sky Flyer, avoided the disco ball's searchlights (God, she would hate to get hit and have to do all that again), and thwacked the cackling supervillain with her Stub Club. "UAAAAAAH!" Man Ray's head flew clean off his body, landing close to Emily and Gary.

"AAAAAHH!" Emily screamed, calling her glasses back. "You beheaded him!!"

"No no, it's alright!" Man Ray's platform sunk back to the floor, as his body was gesturing with his hands. "My head naturally comes off, I'm still fine."

"Aaaaaand the explanation behind that is?" Sarah inquired.

"….I'm not really sure."

"Well, I guess it's alright if I do this, then." So Emily whipped out her net, and "GOTCHA (GOTCHA)!!" had the severed head teleported. Man Ray's body panicked and ran around aimlessly, before slamming into the wall, falling, and shaking crazily.

"That doesn't look too pleasant." Gary commented.

"That's because his head was warped to a cage full of monkeys." Emily reminded. "I don't think it'll be in too fine a shape by the time he finds it."

"Great. Now one of you get my boots back so we can get outta here." Sarah stated.

"Yeah, sure. In a minute." Emily put on her own M.A.G.N.E.B.O.O.T.S. and stomped up the path to recover Sarah's. (End song.)

"No! STOP THEM, Dirty Bubble!" Sheldon J. Plankton yelled from his control room (don't be confused with Sheldon Cooper). "We can't let those clowns from the Undersea Headquarters Sanitization Committee get away with the Light! Catch them NOW!" (Play "Hell's Gate" from Rayman Legends!)

Emily, Sarah, and Gary bolted down the halls of the mansion to find the docking room where Dr. Cooper waited. "Hnn HNN hnhnhnhnhnhn!" A giant, brown bubble with an evil face was chasing them with swarms of robots. "Come back here, little morsels! I need a new helping of dung to refill my DIRTY Blasters!"

"SUPER HOOP IT, GUYS!" Emily screamed, so the trio spun their hoops to run faster. Chucks tossed torpedoes, the trio sidestepped left-and-right to avoid them, giant piranhas popped out of the floor ahead, they had to maneuver around those as well. A huge chunk of floor was broken, the trio leapt, spun their Sky Flyers to go across, landed on a stable foothold, then Sky Flew again. The entire fortress shook, for the mobile structure was shifting upwards, making the hallway slope incredibly, their feet were moving faster against all control. Parts of the floor popped open and shot water spouts, the kids made sure to avoid them, and then they took land in the water.

They quickly got their Water Nets and kicked hurriedly to swim, but Dirty Bubble had dove underwater and was on their tail still. Emily looked back, eyes widened when the bubble's giant, demonic mouth loomed over, and she swam down to dodge when he chomped. Dirty Bubble shifted lower, readied to snack on her again, Emily hurriedly kicked up and dodged his teeth. He slowed down, but swarms of Torpedo Teds were coming out of holes, it took quick-thinking maneuvering to go around them. The kids swam into a dark tunnel, lit only by jellyfish and Search Spheres.

Aside from avoiding the jellies, the trio had to keep an eye out for the blockades and swim behind them to get past the searchlights. Water mines fell down from below, they had to maneuver down to avoid the high ones, then kick up to dodge the low ones, but they made it out of the water, and the ship shifted normal-ways again as they Super Hooped through a hall. A series of floor lasers was coming, they carefully jumped the gaps, they dodged fast-moving diagonal lasers, then evasively got through a row of left-and-right searchlights. They turned a left corridor, the fortress suddenly tilted left-ways, they kept their Super Hoops going and ran along the sideways floor, lest they fall in the jellyfish water below.

Waterfalls popped out of the floor, the kids expertly avoided them, they had to kick to and run along the opposite wall (ceiling), dodging the waterfalls and leaping Magikarp. The fortress shifted normal again, the kids landed on the floor and turned down another hall. They dove under another river, swimming past the incoming electric eels and continuing to outrun the smirking Dirty Bubble. Suddenly, a shark was coming their way, Emily blasted a Water Net at its face, causing the shark to haphazardly swim against the glass and pour all the water out. The kids were dumped out as well, they recognized this particular hall, they kept running along, then they were at the room of giant gears. They jumped their way down, then ran through what they recognized as the starting hall. They avoided the Sleepytime robots' searchlights, and saw Sheldon's submarine in sight.

Sheldon Cooper was brilliantly keeping his lie, "For just 200 doubloons, we'll have the underside of your headquarters scrubbed of all soil, seaweed, and waste, but throw in an extra treasure chest, we can coat it with Sleek 'n' Slippery Soap, guaranteed to make filth fly off and keep your bottom clean for five-to-eight months!"

"Quit your bellyaching, I know what you're really doing!" Plankton shouted.

"Oh, dear." Sheldon frowned. Team Emily made it back just in time, slamming the door to their sub. "Okay, new plan!" Sheldon spoke quickly. "You're all mentally ill children from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, your wish was to see the best aquarium possible, and the only one we could land was this one, you like to capture animals and break stuff for fun, so your reasons justify-"

"START THE RUDDER AND LET'S GO!" Emily ordered impatiently.

Quickly as he was startled, Sheldon started the ship, backed it away and under the surface, and out of the garage hatch just before it closed. He spun the wheel, turned the ship around, and sped them away from the mobile mansion as quickly as possible.

"They're gaining on us, can't this sub go any faster?!" Gary yelled when Torpedo Teds started to chase them.

"Hu- it can't!" Sheldon panicked. "In the event we were chased by an enemy structure, we were meant to surrender while I offer my friends as sustenance!"

"No one is becoming sustenance today!" Emily declared as she turned a dial on her T.E.L.A.-N.E.T.. "Thankfully, I snapped other destinations with my net several months ago, in case we would have to make a getaway. Everyone stand still and we'll make the leap to Sector L!"

"Are you sure this'll work?" Sarah asked worriedly.

"This is why we test it with monkeys. Get ready, NOW!" Emily whipped her net over Sarah, then Gary, both were transported. "CURL UP, Tall Man from Cornwall!" Sheldon frightfully curled in a ball, enabling Emily to net him. She took out her Infi-Cube and netted that by itself, just in case. As the submarine was being bombarded by torpedoes, Emily forced the net over herself, and a-splorping she went. With no one controlling it, the submarine rammed into several small mountains, and along with the torpedoes, was torn to pieces.

"CURSES!!" Plankton furiously banged his control panel. "And my plan to capture the Light was so brilliant! Lesser Lord Ragaj told me who he was, and Mr. Dark said he was a Bubble Dreamer, so cornering him at Sabaody Park was perfect!" He grabbed the microphone and yelled demandingly, "All troops, MOVE OUT and find where those brats escaped! No matter who you have to destroy, find and recapture Jessie Sidney at all costs!" (End song.)

Sector V Treehouse

The KND's largest field sector finally made their return to their favorite place. "Hooooome SWEET hooooome!" Haylee cried, happy to bask in the scent of their hangar. "I have MISSED this place!" She twirled as they headed for the door.

"I'm actually allowed in here now?" Django asked.

"You've proven your trust, congratulations." Dillon said with slight sarcasm. The group entered the living room. "You and Carol will make excellent—!" They all gaped.

The wooden walls were decorated bright green, gorgeously intricate rugs were lain around, and the tables, cabinets, and chairs were replaced by those of the fanciest quality. Django looked weirdly at all of their struck-open mouths and eyes. "What?"

"WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR TREEHOUSE?!" Haylee screamed.

"Impressive, isn't it?" a familiar voice perked up.

Their second surprise of the day. "Carol? . . ." Mason stuttered. "Is that you?"

Carol Masterson wore a green business suit with a white shirt and blue tie underneath. She had a dark-green skirt and very high white socks that went into black Mary-Janes. She held a laptop in her right arm, her light-blonde hair was in two puffy buns, and her blue eyes were as clear and pretty as ever. "Meet Carol Masterson: Computer Nerd!" She winked and stuck a tongue out at them.

They couldn't take their eyes off of her. "Carol, what the heck did you do?!" Mason asked. "How did you get in our treehouse?"

"As I learned in Arctic Training, with additional help from my butler, Jenkins, I am a master Computer Expert! I let myself in using pro hacking, then I called a couple hundred helpers to redecorate this place while you were away. I think this place looks a HUNDRED times prettier! Well, Maseyfairy? I know you think I look cute." She swayed her hip.

Mason blushed, shaking his head. "It's certainly a wild change of style!"

"Well, I had a wild change myself: I went from richest girl in Cleveland to smartest computer wiz in KND… while still having millions of dollars at my disposal! Actually, when I was running laps during training, my ginormous hair got stuck on a broken oil can, so Numbuh 6,000 suggested I get a haircut. He recommended a girl named Aeincha from Sector W7, so I hitched a ride to her sector a couple days ago. I don't know if you know her, but she was… not what I expected."

"Wait… YOU'RE Aeincha?" Carol asked with the clearest confusion.

"You were expecting somebody bigger?" Aeincha blushed, scratching her head.

"Kind of. I was told you're the best stylist in the organization. And for the record, I have a whole team of barbers style my hair, so I know how to judge."

"Oh, yeah? Come to my room and I'll show you what real quality work is!" Aeincha smirked confidently.

Carol was later seated by a sink in Aeincha's room, back facing it while her huge puffy hair was lain atop it. Aeincha certainly had a lot to work with; she never imagined a person carrying this much hair. It would be a real test of her abilities, but Aeincha wasn't afraid. She spent several minutes combing and brushing, noting every single pattern of the strands. When she was ready, she picked up the pair of scissors in both hands, cutting with absolute precision in all the right areas. Her little arms were used to handling such large items, she trained herself to work with them quickly; she wouldn't let tiredness get the best of her, this operative-in-training needed an example of KND's greatness.

Aeincha had a pile of severed strands on the floor and sink. Carol had lost a terrific portion of her hair, but once it was short enough, Aeincha retrieved two blue braids from the drawer. It took just as much strength and effort to pull the still-thick hair into two puffy buns, and tie them in place. "Huff… huff… huff…" Aeincha sat on the edge of the sink to catch her breath. "Do you like it?"

Carol stood and viewed her new appearance in the mirror. Her eyes went wide. "It's so pretty!! I didn't think someone so tiny could MAKE something like this!"

"Heh… really?" Aeincha smirked, her heart still not caught up. "That was nothing."

"I feel so light and pretty and SMART!" Carol twirled joyfully. "And Maseyfairy will SO go google-eyes for me! …Here. For your troubles." She placed a bundle of dollars beside the little barber.

"Aaaaahhh-!" Aeincha went google-eyes over all those '100's. That bundle of bucks became her temporary bed. "I never wanna spend this."

"I've been able to move MUCH faster," Carol twirled, "and I feel a jillion times smarter, too!"

"So you're a Computer Expert now…" Dillon replied solemnly. "Just like… Vanellope."

"Oh…" Carol frowned. "I almost forgot… I'm not trying to replace-"

"No-no, it's fine, it's fine. C-Carol, you called us because you said my dad got arrested."

"Oh, right!" Carol sat down and placed her laptop on the floor, "Well, when I went to the party on Mariejoa, I logged into the mountain's Wi-Fi. I wanted to hack into the World Government's database, but I wasn't sure how to go about it. Thankfully, Cheren lent me his 4DS before he got toyified; I didn't remember who it belonged to at the time, but it was extremely helpful. I Copied and Pasted his Miis to my computer, and with some quick modifying, they were able to steal their passcodes! Of course, they did need a little leadership. Guess what new friend I made!"

"Beep! Beep! Bip-bip-bip BEEP!" a familiar, two-dimensional black creature floated down on a 2-D parachute.

"Mr. Game-and-Watch!" Aurora beamed.

"I met him a while ago, when I practiced hacking into your treehouse." Carol winked. "He was pretty upset over Vanellope going missing, so I gave him a little patting on the back. WHO helped me hack into a top-secret Government website, YOU did, THAT'S who!" Carol lovingly petted Game-and-Watch's head. If he could make other colors, he would be smiling and blushing. "But more importantly, they had a list of wanted posters, and which of those criminals they had incarcerated. Nolan York is being held in the CIA Headquarters, Langley Falls! Pending interrogation!"

"Sigh, it was only a matter of time, huh Dad?" Dillon sighed.

"CIA, shme-I-A, let's bust in there and save his half-dead ass!" Django fist-palmed.

"If I get close enough to the building, I should be able to hack Game-and-Watch into their—" Carol froze. She stared weirdly at Django. "…Who's the skeleton?"

"The hottest guy you'll ever meet."

"Dillon, I dunno if we should help your dad, yet." Chris said. "We need to get your shadow back."

"His… shadow?" Carol questioned.

Midna came out from under Dillon. "Allow me to explain:"

So Carol got to hear their exciting and dramatic tale. "Ohhhhh! So THAT'S what happened in Peter Pan!" she realized.

"With this mystery solved, it is now a beautiful piece of cinema!" Artie smiled.

"Carol, do you think you could save Dad?" Dillon asked. "I mean, if you're really that good at what you do…"

"I could…" Carol frowned sadly. "But I really wanted to go on a mission with you. I wanna show you how much smarter I've gotten, Maseyfairy. And a place like Twilight Town sounds sooooooo romantic!"

"Carol, an operative must plan based on what's best, not what one wants." Aurora spoke wisely.

"Then again, my dad's a pro hacker himself, he can probably bust himself out." Dillon noted.

"No, Dillon… I have to do this for you." Carol decided. "I'll go to Langley Falls and rescue your dad! Meanwhile, you should just worry about getting your shadow back and not dying like a vampire. However, as soon as Mr. York is safe, I'm coming to Twilight Town for an endless evening of romance!!"

"It's officially a race to get Dillon's shadow back." Mason blushed with embarrassment. "Um… just out of curiosity, Carol, did you decorate me and Haruka's room?"

"Oh ho ho hoooo." She winked.

Then Mason was staring humiliatingly at his room. Paintings of Carol, sculptures of Carol, cookie jars of Carol, Carol pillow, Carol blanket, Carol absolutely ensured Mason could be with her all night. "…Kirie, may I move into your room? I think Carol's gonna take my spot." Haruka asked.

Cyberspace

"That stupid Ragaj doesn't make my job easy." XANA mumbled as he was hard at work fixing a robot. "So I hope you will change that. I'm reviving you from Digital Nothingness specifically for your excellent construction skills. This entire world is a mess, so you better be worth the money." He closed the hatch on its chest and walked away. "I was to understand your field of combat is range and deception, rather than direct. Well, that's acceptable, but expect to be submitted through some experiments."

XANA pulled a lever. The metal bed the robot rested on began to shift vertically. "Based on Lesser Lord Gnik's orders, you are to help repair every pixel in this realm, leave no spot unchecked. And if you see a little girl with candy in her hair, give her the same treatment. I actually have a more important task for you, but I'll test your ability on the field, first. Do you understand… Peridot?"

She was a Program composed of green skin of various hues in different parts of her body. Her legs became bulky past the knee and ended in boots, and her fingers were little green bars floating separate from her stubby hands. Her hair was a pale yellow, shaped like a tetrahedron, she had a visor over her eyes, and a triangle-shaped green gem on her forehead. Her green eyes opened- "AAAAAAHH!" She began shaking and looking around frantically, her arms and legs still binded to the bed. "Where are they?! Where am I?! No no no this is bad, I can't be captured, I have to report back to-!"

XANA socked her across the jaw, knocking Peridot dizzy. "Nnnnn bvoold wrznlmw… hzev nv…" She was unconscious.

XANA angrily pulled out a notepad and wrote, "Note to self: Before giving an instructional speech, make sure the Program actually pays attention, and/or has no past trauma."