43. Real Friends

Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends

"I really wish Mikaela didn't get you in the habit of calling me 'Aunt.'" Morgan said.

"Good point." Sunni glared at her. "You don't deserve it after what you did to your nephew."

"I was in the middle of an important operation." Morgan argued without changing her moderate voice. "If his parents won't make an effort to control their son, then I have to."

"You tried to kill him!" Sunni shouted. "Is that how your side of the family disciplines children?" Oh, wait, I'm talking to Father's biological daughter.

"You don't have any qualms of trying to kill your mother."

"That's totally different!!" Sunni steamed red. "That's a matter of personal growth, symbolism, thing… Look, what are you doing here, anyway?"

"She's here to pay our mortgage." An old woman's voice said. Morgan stepped aside as Madame Foster came down the stairs. She was shorter than Sunni, with white hair in a large bun, a green overshirt, yellow shirt, glasses, purple skirt, and a cane. "Hello, Morgan Dear. Will you be taking an Extremeasaur today?" She smiled politely, but Sunni noticed the look of resent.

"Hmm… maybe. I'd like to look around, though. We need some extra help around the base."

"Certainly, Dear. Take all the time you need." Madame Foster moved aside as Morgan went up the foyer stairs. Another gang of Anti Guys stared at Sunni before following their master.

After she was gone, Sunni approached Madame Foster and sat before the short woman, "She pays your mortgage?"

"She's the only benefactor that was willing to offer." Foster frowned regretfully. "After Mr. Herriman was killed by a Werehog 10 years ago. Lady Morgan has been a regular visitor before then, ever since she left her Imaginary siblings here. Those four are a delightful bunch, I tell you what." She made a smile. "And we are so grateful to her. It's nice to be friends with the Head of the Corporate Presidents."

"I dunno, I seen that look on your face, you got a problem with her." Sunni's eyes narrowed.

Madame Foster sighed. "In return, Lady Morgan wishes to make contracts with Imaginary Friends. Preferably the Extremeasaurs. Those are the very monstrous kind. But as a request, Lady Morgan wants those Friends to have more freedom. So naturally, the other Friends get terrorized."

"I'm sorry to hear that. But what is this 'contract' thing, anyway?"

She turned to Sunni, "Well, I don't know if you know about psychicbenders, but certain kinds of people with powers come in here to make 'contracts' with the Friends. They can use their powers to summon the Imaginary Friends to their side for whatever chore they had in mind. Lady Morgan and some psychics use their Friends to fight for them."

"That's pretty cruel. And you let her get away with that?"

"Oh, it's not cruel at all, Dear!" Madame Foster proclaimed bubbly. "You'd be surprised how well some of our Friends fight! Besides, it's good for their health. Since their Creators have long abandoned them, they need the psychic energy to stay alive. And by warping Friends to their locations, the benders are giving them their energy. Plus, when that happens, they aren't as hungry for dinner, and Lord knows we need extra hands in cooking."

"I'm trying the best I can, ya know!" Handy walked by and yelled. He was a large, brown glove with a face.

"I wasn't talking about you, Handy! Anyway," Foster faced Sunni again, "forgive me. You must be here to adopt a Friend. What's your name, Dearie?"

"Sunni, Sunni Chariton. My mom's name is Mikaela, do you know her?"

"You're Mika's daughter? Ho ho ho, I thought you looked familiar! Yes, your mother is a regular visitor, too. Used to come all the time with Lady Morgan, but now I only see them apart. Mika said you might be coming here in the near future."

"Hehe, well here I am." Sunni grinned and blushed. "I don't understand how it works, but I wanna try this contract thing. But, I kind of planned to use them for battle, too." She scratched her head nervously. "If that's okay…"

"Oh, it is, don't worry about it. I'd love to help you look around, but I need to help my granddaughter with papers. I'm sure the Friends will like you just as much as they like Mika!" She gave her positive smile before walking to the office on their right.

"Hold on! I don't even know how to make a contract."

"Oh, the Friends can tell you how to. Really, it's not as hard as you think." Madame Foster assured the girl before continuing to the office.

Sunni made a shrug before going upstairs. It might've been her imagination, but this house looked far bigger inside than it did outside. I mean, it was unnaturally huge. The length of these hallways and all their rooms looked longer than the house's width, and all these intricate stairways made it so mazelike. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!"

And now there was an odd, faint sound in her ears. She stopped and looked around for a source. "Down here!" She looked down. There was a very tiny, green pea with a face, arms, and legs beside her right shoe. It had a thimble for a hat. "Hello, Miss! Can I help you find something?" It spoke energetically.

Sunni raised a brow. First interesting sight of the visit. "Yes, I dropped my silver grain of sand here earlier and I was looking for it."

"Ahhhh, you're a kidder!" The pea playfully punched her shoe. "My name is Peas! If you're looking for an Imaginary Friend, I'd be happy to give you a tour."

"Actually, I'm a psychicbender. The name's Sunni. I'm looking for some Friends to make contracts with."

"Oh, well I'd be glad to make a contract with you! Just bend down so I can reach your finger."

"What I meant is I'm looking for some Friends that can, y'know, fight?"

"Well, I can fight. I mean, I can't duke it out," he jabbed his tiny fists, "but I can run fast and I'm great at distractions. I've been studying Tiny Style."

"That's great, but I prefer to save room for ones that're more… direct? Maybe. Just how many contracts can I make?"

"Oh, please give me a chance." The little guy pleaded. "I don't get noticed very much, so it would be great if someone picked me for a summon. The only limit on contracts is your imagination. If I'm really not good, you could still pick plenty more."

"Hmmm…" Sunni thought for a second. "I never actually made one before, so… can you teach me how?"

"Oh, certainly! It's easy! Just let me touch your finger and mark me with your aura."

"Hehe-hyeah, 'cause, I dunno how to do that." She forced a sheepish grin.

"Come on, I'll teach ya how. Let's do it!"

Sunni sighed and sat on her knees, holding her pinky beside the Friend. Peas touched both hands on its tip. Sunni closed her eyes and tried to sense both their auras. Seeing the inch-tall Friend touching her finger, Sunni tried to channel energy to her pinky's tip. "GAAAH!" Peas blew across the hall like a bullet. Sunni gasped and chased after him, finding the tiny green pea knocked out against the wall. "Ohhh…" Peas held his head as he sat up. "Well, I see whatcha mean when you wanted a bigger friend. Your psychic's a little too… strong for me."

"At least I know what to do now."

"Wait!" Peas perked up before she could leave. "I still wanna be friends with you! Just… try again, but don't do it so hard."

"Whaddyou mean 'don't do it so hard'? If it's too much for you, then we aren't gonna work out!"

"I'm just saying, you're gonna have the same problem with other Friends if you're too hard. Even some big guys get repelled by too much psychic. Come on, just try again."

"Uuuugh." It was embarrassing to be taking psychic lessons from a pea. Sunni bent down and touched her finger to him again. She kind of did it on accident the first time, but this time, she tried to focus her power with a weaker sense of effort. "WHOW!" Peas smashed against the wall again. "That wasn't as bad, but… ow."

"Huuuff." Sunni sat and lied back on the stairs. "This exercise is giving me a headache already."

"You wouldn't be having a headache if you just work on your focus." Peas said as he climbed up to Sunni's shoulder.

"If you're implying my psychic's too strong, then maybe I should focus on stronger Friends." Sunni argued logically. "Then again, I'm not even sure if I need any Friends. I finally got adapted to my real psychic, so I can kick enemies' butts by myself."

"Do ya mind if I ask which enemies' butts you're trying to kick?"

"Well, in all honesty…" Sunni sat up and spoke lower so only Peas would hear, "that Morgan lady is one of the ones I want to beat. She attacked a friend of mine. I didn't even expect her to be here, but…but if she's picking Imaginary Friends, wouldn't that mean she's not very strong by herself?"

"Not really. She picks a lot of Extremeasaurs, and only really tough psychics can do that. Sunni, having Imaginary Friends isn't about having someone else do stuff for you, it's about having someone to do stuff with. Your chances of winning are better when you fight with them. Even if you're the greatest psychic ever, sometimes a Friend is great to have. Especially against other psychics."

Sunni released a solemn sigh. "I used to have Darcy to do stuff with. But she's been on her own adventure for weeks and I haven't heard from her. Still, you're probably right about having friends, even Imaginary ones. But I don't think you and I are right for each other. I'm going to try to make contracts with stronger Friends."

"Fine." Peas folded his arms. "But just because a Friend doesn't suit up to your style, it doesn't mean they wouldn't be a good friend."

"I still kind of like you, if that's what you're saying. But in the midst of war, preferences have to be made."

"I guess."

They heard glass shatter upstairs. Peas rode Sunni's shoulder as the girl rushed upstairs. Shy Guys were running amuck in a living room area. Some were trying to eat an Imaginary Friend made of gelatin, others ran off with a giant baby's rattle, while some Pyro Guys were chasing a snowman Friend. "Uhhhh what da hell is this?" Sunni questioned.

"These are all Lady Morgan's Shy Guys." Peas responded with a sigh. "She always brings them so they have a place to play around."

"I'm starting to think Lady Morgan's getting more than what she's paying for outta this place." Sunni said with a glare.

"She's still the one paying our mortgage. Look, it'll be fine, I mean some Friends get a few bruises, but we can't just-"

Sunni grabbed a couple Shy Guys in psychic and chucked them at the ones eating the jelly Friend. The other Shy Guys whipped in her direction. "A'right, you all better settle down or I'll TEACH you what rowdy means."

"Sunni, no!" Peas exclaimed. "Lady Morgan'll get mad at us if we attack her soldiers!"

"If she's gonna criticize someone's parenting and attack their kid, I'm gonna do the same. I'm sure there'd be a few grateful Friends out there." She cracked her knuckles. "It would make a great start to a contract."

"Ho boy. I would be afraid to be your friend." Peas sighed. "Just try not to do more damage than they do." (Play "Shy Guy's Toy Box" from Paper Mario!)

Stage 51: Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends

Mission: Clear out the Shy Guys and make contracts with Friends!

Rather than heed her warning, the remaining Shy Guys in the room went rampant. Two Guys were jumping up-and-down on the couch and whacking each other with pillows. Sunni quickly swiped the pillows, and when the creatures began running around the floor, Sunni threw quick kicks and knocked them out with the heel of her Mary-Janes. Sunni saw a Shy Guy peep out from behind a small garbage can in the corner, but he ducked when she looked over. Sunni only saw from the corner of her eye, watching him emerge before pulling him over with psychic to knock him unconscious. Another Shy Guy was holding a lamp horizontally to block Sunni from entering the passage. Sunni stepped to either side, but the Shy Guy wouldn't let her, and he jabbed the lamp if she approached. Sunni decided to rush to the left, quickly zip past the hall's edge with psychic, then got around the Shy Guy to knock him out and take the lamp, standing it up.

Sunni headed up the following staircase to a roundish room where a chubby Imaginary Friend with green fur was being forced against the wall by three Headbutt Guys, using the attack they were named for. "That's Belly Bob Norton." Peas explained. "He's fun to bounce on. Unfortunately, the Shy Guys know that."

"Not a problem." Sunni jumped directly in front of the Friend and created a shield, blocking the Headbutt Guys, but her shield was cracking under their attacks. Sunni grunted and thrusted her shield against them, raising the Shy Guys in the air with psychic. She felt them quickly shaking free of her grip, so Sunni dropped them on the floor to face each other, resulting in them aimlessly ramming and knocking each other out.

"Thanks for saving me." Belly Bob told her. "It never actually hurts, but boy do I feel woozy."

"About that," Sunni began, "would you agree to a psychicbender contract where I summon you to be a back-up shield?"

"Well… okay, but nothing too scary."

"And it's called a Creative Summons Contract." Peas informed. Sunni grabbed Norton's hand and channeled her aura, pouring extra focus since he was a bigger friend (only slightly taller than her).

"Ow!" Norton's hand burned as he pulled away and shook it. "You don't have to do it THAT hard!"

"That's what I kept telling her!" Peas shouted.

"Fine, I'll do it where you're less sensitive!" Sunni placed both hands on Norton's belly, but this time channeled her chi at a weaker rate.

"Uhhh… not feeling anything." Norton said.

"Y'know what, screw you, I'll find someone else." Sunni stated before proceeding to the hallway. When she looked up, a Shy Guy was hanging on the bottom of a chandelier and swinging back-and-forth. Not surprisingly, the chandelier detached and plummeted, so Sunni threw a hand up to grab it in psychic. "Don't let anything fall!" Peas yelled. A few jewels on the chandelier dropped, Sunni held her other hand forward to grab each jewel one at a time, but she lost her grip on the chandelier and let it smash to the floor, knocking the Shy Guy out as a result. "That's coming out of my allowance." Sunni figured.

She used her Aura Sense to see into other rooms, and found a Shy Guy in two of them. Those Shy Guys scampered out of the rooms and through a taller door, and when Sunni entered, she discovered this room was a basketball court. There was an Imaginary Friend designed like a scoreboard, with the two scores being labeled for Shy Guys and Sunni. He seemed to be forcibly strapped to the wall above the basket, and two Spark Guys shocked him to make a point go up whenever one of the Sports Guys scored a basket. "I heard of kids who were forced to be a basket, but since when do you force a scoreboard to be, well, a scoreboard??"

"Hang in there, Stats, Sunni will save you!" Peas yelled.

"These guys think they're so great, but let's see 'em play without hands!" Sunni swiped the basketball from the Sports Guys and bounced it around with psychic, much to their astonishment. Sunni chucked the ball to the basket, but a Sports Guy leaped up to whack it away. His friend caught it, bounced toward, and tried to send it to the basket, but Sunni pulled it away with psychic, bounced it to the floor, the opposite wall, then against the ceiling before flying it to knock out one of the Spark Guys. She rapidly bounced it around the room, and when the Sports Guys attempted to tackle her, she jabbed her foot against each of them to knock them out. She tossed the rubber ball at the remaining Spark Guy to defeat him.

"Sigh… glad that's over." Stats sighed. "Hey, wanna hear a secret? If you score 10 points, you'll find a secret passa-"

Sunni grabbed the basketball in psychic and tossed it through the hoop 10 times. A secret door opened on the left wall, leading to stairs. "Thank you!" Sunni hurriedly jogged up the stairs. Stats was left alone, hanging on the wall. "I assumed you would help me, too!" he yelled.

The stairs brought Sunni to a fancy room with a curtained roof over the bed, a writing desk, and a small table in the center. A very fat Shy Guy with a knife and fork was sitting on the little chair, facing a plate of what seemed like melted apples. Sunni wasn't sure what that food was, it smelled good, but looked gross. "D'oh… I thought I smelled something good, but I couldn't possibly eat this." The Gourmet Guy said. "Little girl, would you go down to the kitchen and bake me a cake with flour, white icing, strawberry-"

Sunni stunned the overweight Shy Guy before punching him across the head and knocking him out. "Most boring mini-game ever."

"Hey, lookathis!" Peas bounced onto the table and pressed a small button. A trapdoor opened before the room's main entrance. Sunni grabbed the little Friend and jumped down the chute, taking land within the laundry room. Sunni's shoes sank partway into some shallow water that covered the floor. Shy Guys were climbing up the wall of washing machines and pulling them open, letting water spill constantly.

Sunni approached and tried to open the door—something was blocking it on the other side. Sunni banged the door. "You guys better not be out there!"

"What? Who's in there?" someone's voice yelled.

"Hey, that's Wally!" Peas realized. "HEY, WALLY! Why are you blocking the door?"

"I'm trying to keep the water inside! Listen, if you can do something about the Shy Guys and stop the flooding, I'll open."

"Don't mind letting us drown, do you!" Sunni shouted. She quickly used her psychic to close each washer, but the Shy Guys were readily climbing around to reopen. Sunni tried to grab them in psychic, but the Shy Guys held surprisingly tight to the washer doors. Sunni decided to close a pathway of washers as she climbed up herself, and once close to the Shy Guys, she punched them to make them fall to the flooding floor, unconscious. Once all four Shy Guys were down, Sunni closed all the washers with psychic to stop the flooding. "Okay, we're done!"

Wally stepped away from the door, letting all of the water flow down the hall when Sunni opened. He was a red brick wall with a pair of eyes inside a black space. "Sigh, Frankie's gonna love cleaning that up." Peas said.

"Hey, Wall Guy, wanna make a psychicbender contract with me?" Sunni asked Wally.

"Umm… sure?" Wally shrugged. Sunni walked over and placed both hands against him, channeling a stronger amount of energy considering Wally's apparent sturdiness. "Ummm… I'm ready when you are?"

"Ugh, I'm trying!" Sunni shouted. "You're a lot bulkier than I thought, you know? How 'bout I…" Sunni trembled and channeled greater chi—Wally went blasting across the hall.

"IIII… think you came on too strong." Peas said.

"Let's just kill more Shy Guys." Sunni progressed down the opposite hallway and entered the house's arcade. The many game consoles' screens lit up the otherwise dark room, but no one seemed to be occupying it. Sunni spotted the brief images of Shy Guys on the consoles' screens, zipping around within every console as they blasted coins at her like speeding bullets. After getting scratched by coins from a nearby console, Sunni drew out her lightsaber in anger and lunged at the nearest one with a Shy Guy.

"DOOON'T!" Peas cried with his high voice, Sunni immediately stopping. "You already broke a chandelier, but we'll never be able to afford to replace these!"

"How could you buy these to begin with?!"

"I don't know, just find another way to get them out. Can you do Force Lightning?"

Sunni was about to respond- "Ow! Ah!" More coins scratched her from either side, "I haven't gotten around- ow! It's a dark move anyway, isn't- oof! And I don't think I can bend well-" She got scratched by three more rounds of coins, "RRRRRRR!" She threw her fingers up and zapped lightning at the consoles, causing the screens to turn staticky. When she hit the ones with the Spark Guys inside, the creatures were forced out. They were still zipping frantically around the room, Sunni shot more lightning at the Guys and overfilled them with energy, up to the point where they explode. With the arcade cleared out, Sunni headed outside to the hallway, seeing a staircase going up on her left.

A banging sound rang in their ears, seeing a Shy Guy using a cookie pan as a sled as he rode down the stairs. He passed Sunni and slid across the hall, and Peas noticed the monitor in the ceiling corner. It depicted the Foster's foyer, with vases lined up like bowling pins. "Oh no!" Peas pointed. "Sunni, you have to stop those guys!" Sunni rushed over to the sliding Shy Guy and used psychic to slam him against the wall. He tried to run for it, but she grabbed the cookie pan and bashed him unconscious.

Sunni headed back and began to run up the stairs, grabbing any Shy Guy she passed in psychic to throw him over the edge. The stairs stretched up a tremendous, vacant shaft in the house, and the sounds of the sliding pans echoed all around. Sunni didn't question again how all of this fit inside the house, she was set on throwing Shy Guys. One of the staircases was broken with only a few standing chunks, so she had to float to each one. Pogo Guys were hopping down the chunks on pogo sticks, aiming to smash the vases on the ledge where these stairs began. Sunni made a psychic bubble to bounce each Guy off and down the chasm.

"Remind me how many floors are in this house, again?" Sunni requested.

"I lose track between 42 and 2,017." Peas replied. After getting to the top of the stairs, the duo followed another passage that led to the house's roof. A Shy Guy had forced the Imaginary Friend, Scissors to detach a group of balloon Friends from the railing. Sunni kicked that Guy over the roof's edge, then quickly used her psychicbending to grab the balloons and pull them down. Considering their durability, Sunni grabbed the balloons gently and could only pull them slowly. All the while, Sky Guys were trying to shoot the balloon Friends with slingshots, so Sunni briefly released the balloons to grab their pellets with psychic, chuck them at the Sky Guys' balloons, then grab the Friends again before they drifted too high. She maneuvered the Friends in the air as she got them low enough for her to safely release. She repeated this pattern until all the Sky Guys were taken down, then the balloon Friends could be lowered back to the roof. Peas leapt off and grabbed the ends of their strings, using Tiny Style acrobatics to wrap them around the railing.

"Safe and secure!" Peas proclaimed proudly. "High five, Sunni?"

"More like a low one in my case." Sunni smirked, holding her pinky beside him.

"It'll do!" Peas smacked her fingertip ecstatically.

"RAAAAAAHHHH!" A monster's roar screeched across the air, followed by the forceful sounds of banging metal. Peas hopped on Sunni's shoulder as she ran to the opposite railing, seeing a huge metal cage shaking under some force.

"That's our Extremeasaur cage." Peas informed. "Lady Morgan must be in a fight with one of them again."

"She's fighting them?!"

"Well, yeah. They are Extremeasaurs. If you're goin' near those things, you better know how to fight."

"I wanna see what's up with this." Sunni leapt over the roof's edge and used psychic to make herself float down steadily; scaring Peas at first. She landed lightly on the grass and was about to approach the large, distant cage. (End song.)

"NOT SO FAST!" Sunni stopped. She and Peas looked around for the source of this militant voice.

"Sunni, look out!" Peas pointed upward, and Sunni dodge-rolled away before the large force could crush her. It was… a giant rubber ducky. Sunni and Peas exchanged weirded looks.

Steam emitted from the duck as the head opened up. A Shy Guy leapt out, wearing a white general's cap with a gold emblem. He wore a white robe with some medals and spoke with a strict general's voice. "I'm the General Guy, the commander of the World Government's Shy Guy battalion! I am Head President Morgan's personal escort, and I do not appreciate you attacking my troops!"

"Well, WE don't appreciate your troops making a mess of our house!" Peas retorted. "Forgive me for disrespect, but I think your battalion needs new management."

"NEW MANAGEMENT?! Am I to take criticism from some half-pint, morbidly obese bean?!"

"WHAT? I'm not obese—I'm not even a BEAN! I'm a pea, and the name's Peas!"

"Well, Ah got news for you, Peas, I don't take lip from ANY sentient delicacy, not no way nor no how! In fact, just because I'm impressed with your physical ability in besting my best troops, I'll invite you on the secret of my true identity!" The General Guy grabbed his hat and mask. "There's only one reason I'm always in my prime, and why I always have the best taste in both troops and Drake Bell CDs. I'm not just the General Guy." He spun around. "My alternate identity… is GENERAL RICE!" Underneath his sock suit, the General Guy actually had a head shaped like a yellowish-white block of tofu.

"YOU'RE A TOFU HEAD?!" Sunni screamed.

"TOFU? Don't be ridiculous! I am a large piece of cube-shaped rice! You see, Ah love rice. Rice is GOOD! Rice is life!" The general began ecstatically eating a bowl of rice using chopsticks. "Mmmm, yummy-yummy. Tasty. Mmmm. Mmmm. Gooood." Sunni and Peas stared with disbelief. "Mmmm. Mmmm. Gooood. DON'T STARE, IT'S IMPOLITE!" He chucked his rice bowl forcefully at Sunni's head.

"Aaaahh!" Sunni flew a few feet back and hit the ground. "Grrrrr!" She helped herself up angrily. "Alright, you wanna go Filipino o Genero, I'll turn your rice into sushi!"

"Not so fast! You still need to eat dessert!" The General Guy turned around, preparing a dish. "And for dessert, nothing follows rice up better than… WATERMELONS AND DORITOS!" He held the former in one hand, and a bag of Doritos in the other.

"Does Japan even HAVE Doritos?" Sunni questioned.

"I had this stuff imported from Turkey, don't patronize me! Just eat your dessert." He tossed her the food.

Sunni sighed and sat down, using her lightsaber to cut open the melon. "Sunni, you're really gonna eat that?" Peas asked.

"Why, you think it's a trap?"

"It wouldn't hurt to make sure." Peas jumped into the opening that Sunni cut. The tiny Friend searched within the juicy red insides carefully. Everything seemed in order… until Peas got to a candlelit room.

A penguin was laying in bed with an antelope as romantic music played. The penguin looked up at Peas with shock, baring an angry look. "Out- Get out—GET OUT NOW!"

Sunni saw the distraught look on Peas' face after he climbed out. "You don't wanna eat that."

"I'll say, THEY FORGOT THEIR BILLY JOEL CD!" General Guy threw a boombox at the melon, shattering it, and injuring Sunni, the antelope, and the penguin in the process.

"That's it, I'm done playing around." Sunni charged a Psycho Sphere. "See ya later, Squarebob." She let the sphere fly and strike the general directly. He was engulfed in an explosion, Sunni brushing her hands off with a victorious air about her.

The smoke cleared, revealing General Guy's bacon body underneath his robe. "Well-p, you done blowed off my garb. I hope you're happy."

Sunni sighed, "You're gonna make me ask, do all Shy Guys look like this?"

"Not really. Martin is made up of a pill and a bellybutton lint, while Louie Gibbson is naught more than two drivers' licenses and a hacky sack."

"Well, I'm glad I cleared that up." Sunni made a sweatdrop.

"But now that you know my REAL secret identity, I have no choice but to exterminate you!" The General Guy leaped high up into the sky. "Prepare to face the deadliest move of Shy Guy Style! Medium Rare Grill-heat-to-right-temperature Attaaaack!" He spun around and lunged at Sunni bacon-first. The Filipino raised a psychic barrier to protect herself, struggling to withstand as the bacon was about to pierce through.

"Sunni, maybe fighting this guy isn't such a good idea!" Peas proclaimed. "We should take this chance and get away!"

"Come on, this guy's just a bunch of talk. I can make a whole harbor out of psychic, you expect me to be afraid of…"

General Rice broke through, entering the bubble shield in the form of dozens of Toothberries from Donkey Kong Returns. "THE HECK ARE THESE THINGS?!"

"Frybits, frybits, frybits, frybits!…" The tiny, blue, and sharp-toothed creatures chanted as they bounced endlessly around Sunni with their limbless bodies.

"Why are people so obsessed with those things lately?" Peas questioned, rolling his eyes.

"Frybits, frybits, frybits…" They all stopped and faced up at Sunni. "Fryyyyy-BIIIIIIIITS!" They all fired Solar Beams at Sunni and sent her flying into the sky.

"OW, D'OW, daaaahh!" Sunni landed on one of Foster's' many layers of roof, dropping down other ones before hitting the ground. Sunni held her aching arm as she got to her feet, glaring at the general with anger. "Okay, this fight is losing its appeal. I'm serving chopped tofu for dinner, with a side of bacon!" She drew out her lightsaber and ran at the Shy Guy. "Haaaaaaa-!"

Sunni stepped on a wire that dropped a gigantic empty rice bowl and caught her underneath. She tried to force the bowl off of her with psychic, but it was stuck tight. "What kind of bowl is this?!" She was unable to cut the bowl with her saber. "Some kind of chi-blocked diamondtanium?"

"This bowl is greater than a peasy chi-block!" General Guy declared. "This is a limited edition diet-block that I bought from the hardware store. It feels that your body is lacking in healthy rice and intends to keep you under until you get yo' belly full! So if you will pardon my absence, I am going to the kitchen to prepare the grand course! I hope you're hungry, 'cause I'm gonna stuff ya with so much rice, you'll be more square than a Christmas present!"

"Your analogies make no sense!" Sunni shouted, her voice muffled by the bowl.

"THEY ONLY MAKE SENSE EVERY OTHER HALF-MOON! But first I'll sing you a gentle Mexican lullaby. Ahem:" He took out two maracas and began singing quickly, "La CucaRAAACHA, La CucaRAAAACHA, eeehhh di adi-adi-aaaaa! La Cucaraaaacha, La Cucaraaaacha, EEEEHHH-di adi-adi—DON'T YOU COOK-A MY RACHA!" He smashed the maracas against the bowl, ringing it like a giant church bell.

"Nnnnnnn!" Sunni gripped her head from the unbearable noise, feeling her mind spinning.

"Let her go, General."

"HUHN?!" The General Guy slowly turned his tofu head. President Morgan was standing behind him. "But…But she-"

"She's not worth your time. Just release her."

The general huffed with anger. He took out a tiny nail and stuck the very tip under the bowl's edge. He raised a little pebble above the opposite end. He brought it down lightly—the giant bowl went flying away. The General Guy put his robe, mask, and hat back on before leaving.

Morgan walked over to Sunni as the Filipino sat up on the ground, still holding her aching head. "Since you're probably wondering, the General Guy uses Bo-bobo Kempo. I don't know what it is, either. Some kind of martial art that incorporates the Imagination element, that's the best I can come up with. Don't peg him wrong, he's the strongest general in our military. Even I'm afraid of getting in a fight with him. His style works."

Sunni helped herself up, glaring at Morgan while Peas stood on her shoulder. "So did you pick your new Friend?"

Morgan raised a hand and gestured with her fingers. A tiny pink bunny-rabbit hopped its way over, baring an adorable smile. The rabbit formed wide eyes and metal jaws as an enormous and deadly laser cannon emerged from its mouth. Sunni and Peas stared with colorless expressions that said "Oh sh**." Morgan waved away, and the cannon retracted as the bunny hopped away. "You want to see my other ones?"

Morgan led them to the Extremeasaurs' holding cage, opening the small human-size entrance. Sunni immediately ducked at the cry of Chompjaws, the monster forcefully trying to smash through its giant cage. Morgan bore an emotionless look as she led Sunni through casually, while said girl and Peas were absolutely frightened. Like the foster home, this holding place was bigger inside than it was outside. They all entered a door at the end of this passage, going down a dark flight of stairs. At the bottom, Morgan used her psychic to light the room blue.

Sunni forced herself not to scream. Slifer the Sky Dragon, the tremendous snakelike armored colossus, was asleep inside a cage. He was breathing through both mouths of sharp teeth. "This is the monster that I summoned to attack Cheren. He's the most powerful and indestructible Friend that lives here, who was created to destroy any and all enemies the summoner sets them against, and any other enemies that should appear. The sad part is that he isn't actually imaginary. Some kid ripped him off from a card game."

Sunni and Peas gaped at the monster. They didn't want to imagine this thing when it was awake. They can't even imagine how they got him down here. "…You were gonna kill your nephew with THIS?!"

"I was going to stop Slifer before he actually completed his attack, I only meant to scare Cheren. I really didn't expect that business with Sugar. I mean, I knew about her powers, of course, that's why I had her transform Spongebob. Too bad she's gone rogue now."

"And I suppose you brought me down here to scare me, too?"

"Well… yes, in a way. I can see your progress in making Imaginary Friends is… faulty. Let me tell you something about the Creative Summons. It's not just about how strong your chi is. It also matters how well you connect with the Friend. Many of these Imaginary Friends' creators have died, so their essence is being kept alive by the Psychic Chi that flows within here. If they left this house, they would fade, unless they were 'adopted' by someone else. That much could only happen if the adopters felt a strong bond with the Friend, and that bond would keep the Friend solid. Creative Summoning requires such a bond. The Extremeasaurs, for example, like to fight, so their choice friends are ones who can fight. Believe me, even with my power at the time, it was hard, let alone Slifer. But I did it, anyway."

"I still don't get this whole thing." Sunni said, turning away. "Even if these guys are monsters, they're still called up only to fight. Were most of the Friends here even made to fight? I figure most of them were made to just goof around with their creators."

"Do not forget these are Imaginary Friends. Even if they take physical form, they're still imaginary at heart. No matter who they're adopted by, an Imaginary Friend's purpose is to make their owner happy, serve them even. And the fact is, real friendships can't develop between them. They can't even attempt to act like real friends. Because real friendships have all kinds of feelings, sadness, anger, support, comfort… Imaginary Friends are merely a catalyst for children who have no real friends. But Imaginary Friends will not help them in reality, and in time, those people realize that and abandon them. The Imaginary Friends that live here only stay with their adopters for so long before they are abandoned again. Relying on ordinary children to keep their essence solid will not work for very long. That's why their only hope is to rely on psychicbenders. Not just for a sake of friendship, but to fight for them, work for them, anything so long as the Friend can survive on their Psychic Chi. What depends, then, is if the Friend can follow the orders they were given. In my case, I need good Friends who can fight.

"What I'm trying to tell you, Sunni, is sometimes people should have their pick in Friends. You can become friends with any real person out there, but Imaginary Friends are a different story. The only Imaginary Friends you should make are any that would suit your serviceable needs. Because, although they would keep you happy, you can never find a real friend in an Imaginary one. Of course, you yourself, Sunni, are looking for Friends who can fight for you. Unfortunately, no Friends match up like the Extremeasaurs, especially that little pea. You can find all the other strong types in the house, but my Friends are superior in power. Sunni, the simple fact is, no matter how much you or your friends try, real or not real, the World Government is-"

Morgan turned and realized Sunni was on her knees, turned away from her. Sunni had lowered her pinky finger to the floor as Peas touched it. Morgan sensed the psychic flow between the girl and the pea. It was a very small flow that fit his size. …Peas shone with a light-blue energy, then he smiled confidently. "I might've come here to look for Friends who can fight for me," Sunni proclaimed, standing up and holding the tiny pea to her cheek, "but I still like a few that I can talk with once in a while!" They both wore vibrant smiles as Peas hugged her cheek.

Düssenheim, Germany; Goldenweek Residence

The Goldenweek Mansion was stationed 20 miles from the city of Düssenheim, in a beautiful grassland with few trees and a bright sky. The mansion itself was made of solid reddish-brown brick, two stories tall and 32 rooms. The R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. came for a quaking landing in the open courtyard, scraping on the ground and halting just before hitting a hedge. The Sector W7 members stepped out with only minor dizziness, being used to Chimney's driving. "Well, Dad, I hope you enjoyed the Flying Train Experience." April said sheepishly to her father.

Galdino Goldenweek stumbled out of the train, hunched over as he felt his stomach twisted. He was a black-haired man that wore slanted glasses, a shirt with blue and white vertical stripes, and yellow khaki pants. He had a droopy face. "If you were going to insist I come to see my brother again, where was the harm in riding a Sea Train?"

"'Cause a Sky Train is free and gets the job done faster." April laughed.

"YAAAAAY!" Mary danced off the train, knocking her hunched uncle aside. "We're home, we're home! I mean, my home, you guys are away from your home, but welcome to my hooouuuse!"

"Whoa!" Apis gaped at the mansion. "This is where you live, Mary? You really are rich!"

"No kidding." Chimney narrowed her eyes at April. "April, how come you never dropped me a few mulas when I needed 'em?"

"Because Euros aren't accepted in Water 7?" April asked with a sweatdrop.

"Then exchange 'em for OUR money!"

Aisa was gazing longingly at the grass. She wore a golden dress, white sandals with green straps, and her cap was absent. A white satchel was slouched over her shoulder, and Aeincha and Mocha peeped out of it when they felt their friend jittering. "What's wrong, Aisa?" the miniaturized giant asked.

"I wanna take my shoes off and walk in the grass, but April says I have to look classy, or else I can't go to the gallery." Aisa looked close to weeping. "Do you think they'll be mad if I'm barefoot just a little bit?"

"I'd be more mad at Chimney for landing a train in their garden." Aeincha said.

"Motheeeerrr, Fatheeeeerrr!" Mary skipped up to the front doors and knocked excitedly. "I'm back, and April's back, and Uncle Galdino is back, and I wanna show you all my new frieeeends!"

Mary's mother, the woman with brown hair, red eyes, and a red robe answered the door and smiled at her daughter. "Mary, you're finally back!" She bent down to hug her. "How was your visit to Water 7?"

"It was so much fun! Me and April went to space on our flying train, we visited a music planet where me and a raccoon girl sang karaoke, then a giant monster tried to kill us, then we fought space-pirates on an even bigger train, THEN we flew to America and beat up a man with funny underpants!"

"That sounds like quite the adventure!" Rosa replied jubilantly at her daughter's imagination. "And… April, hello!" She looked up and saw her niece approach, going over to hug her. "I haven't seen you in years! You're such a big girl now…"

"Hello, Aunt Rosa." April blushed, hugging the woman with one arm. "I just thought about showing my friends the place I grew up. Er, partly grew up."

"Look, Mom, these are all the friends I made!" Mary danced around and pointed them out. "This is Chimney, and Aisa, and Apis, that's Gonbe, and look!" She reached into Aisa's bag and pulled out the two tinies. "These are their dolls, Aeincha and Mocha! Of course, Mocha's normally bigger, but now she's tiny, and they're so cute!" She pressed them to her cheek lovingly.

"We still have lungs!" they choked.

"It's wonderful to meet all of you." Rosa smiled politely. They looked in the doorway when Mary's father appeared, the man with short brown hair, black eyes, wearing a midnight-blue tux. "Alvin, Mary's back! And she brought April and her friends."

"I thought I heard commotion outside." The man chuckled, smiling at the group. "It's a pleasure, really. …" He frowned when he looked at the slim adult with the drooped face. Galdino was staring resentfully at him. "Hello, Galdino."

"Alvin."

"…" The girls felt the awkward silence between them. "Shall we… adjourn inside?"

The friends and adults were at the dining room table after lunch was prepared for them. Gonbe was on the floor and chewing up carrots that were cut up and dropped in a bowl. Chimney, who was wearing a red bowtie on her chest to make her look fancy, was forcefully tugging on her piece of steak in her big teeth. She stopped when she glanced up at Mary's parents, who stared with curious expressions. Chimney sighed, putting the steak down so she could cut it and eat it like a proper lady.

"We actually expected Mary home much sooner." Rosa said. "She was only supposed to be in Water 7 for three days, at most."

"I was, but I was having so much fun with April's friends, I got sidetracked!" Mary spoke brightly. "Whoopsie!"

"You lose time quickly when you're traveling in space or demoralizing a country." Apis commented, eating a pea. "So, uh, COUGHHUAHIsmaryadopted?"

"Apis!" April hissed.

"Oh! Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Goldenweek." Apis smiled with mock politeness.

"Why would you ask a thing like that?" Alvin asked.

"Oh, I dunno. It's just, neither of you have blonde hair or blue eyes, so I thought it was interesting."

"Mary isn't adopted." Rosa chuckled. "Though we have considered adoption at one point, if I do recall. But April started coming over a lot, so Mary had her for a big sister."

"Mrs. Goldenweek, did anyone tell you you have really pretty eyes?" Aeincha complimented.

"Well, thank you! You're a very kind little doll, Aeincha."

"Heheh, actually I'm a Lilliputian." She blushed. "If you want, I know lots of good eyeliner that goes with red."

"Uncle Alvin, Aunt Rosa, we actually wanted to ask you something." April spoke. "Do you remember the Guertena Gallery you took us to when we were kids?"

"Oh, yes, that place was lovely." Rosa replied. "I remember those pretty red jewels they were selling at the gift shop. I still have them!"

"I found that museum rather odd." Alvin spoke awkwardly. "Mr. Guertena had a peculiar mind for… designs."

"Alvin's not as appreciative for art."

"I would say so." Galdino remarked smugly, sipping a teacup.

"Well, as far as our father was concerned, our work at Adams Tech was more profitable than Galdino's sculptures." Alvin informed. "You couldn't have been surprised when the family fortune was passed to me. Of course, it's not as odd as Bertrand's style. …He liked to make sculptures out of his unusually lavish earwax."

"Yeah, his son makes sculptures at the KND Museum." April said. "But anyway, me and Mary were wondering if you'd like to take all of us." Mary's smile faltered at the inclusion of her name, and she slowed down in eating.

"To the Guertena Gallery?" Alvin asked. "I suppose we could… What's the occasion?"

"Lately, me and Mary have been having nightmares about it. We don't know why, but we wanna go there and ease our thoughts about it."

"It's not a scary place, is it?" Mary asked, forcing a smile. "It has lots of silly paintings. And there's a pretty big rose sculpture! Mom, that's your name, Rosa!"

"It would be nice for a visit." Rosa agreed. "Alright, then. After we're finished eating, we can all drive downtown when you're ready."

"I hope we won't encounter any monkeys while we're there." Alvin said, standing up as he left the room. "I'm going to call the lab to see if everything's okay."

"Who was this Guertena, anyway?" Aisa asked. "Was he a famous artist?"

"Not incredibly famous." April answered. "He lived in the late 1800s. But I think he died of a heart attack after the century." She ate a piece of steak. "I wanna paint a picture of it sometimes."

"Um, Honey?" Alvin called from the foyer. "When did we get a train in our front yard?"

"I'm charging for rides." Chimney stated. ("Gyom-gyom.")

Louisiana Bayou

Melody and Danny Jackson were calmly rowing their canoe down a murky swamp river. The air was filled with seaweed-green mist that blocked the sky, making the swamp appear dark, even though it was broad daylight. "There's nothing I enjoy about this." Danny said, afraid of the lack of sunlight and various sounds of miscellaneous, unseen animals. "Why couldn't we just search from our C.O.O.L.-B.U.S.? It's not like a magic tornado would've sucked us in."

"Did you forget how foggy it was from the sky? And I wasn't gonna fly too low and get gunk all over my ship. It's safer in Sector X's treehouse."

"But why couldn't they come with us?"

"Because there's apparently some crazy rumor about monkeys with guns going around and taking over treehouses, and they wanna be around in case they come. Blame Emily for that."

"Assuming this Mermaid Swamp does exist, what makes you think we're going to find Manaphy? As far as Oceana's terms go, this would be the 'Outlands,' and an Ocean Prince in a lawless area of his country is asking for trouble. Besides, how does an injured Fairy Princess expect to get healed here?"

"But if the Ocean Prince and a Fairy Princess turned up anywhere else, you'd think there'd be news about it, from anywhere, and at least one or two KND sectors would've learned about it. Our best guess is a mysterious swamp that not many people know about. Either that, or some bad guys captured them."

"So why didn't we place our bets on GUN first." Danny asked rhetorically.

Melody and Danny stopped by a large boat that was suspended in a tree. The siblings jumped over to the tree's ladder and climbed into the boat's opening. Ancient furniture and fancy decorations made up the interior. An odd smell emitted from the cauldron in the center, where the short, wrinkly woman in the white robe and shades to indicate blindness was stirring a brew. "Can you believe that scruffy old Cranky got away with stealing mah song, Juju?" Mama Odie asked her snake companion. "Twenty years since that failed lawsuit, and I still can't get over it."

"Excuse me?" Danny spoke up, knocking the side of the wooden entrance. "I hope we aren't interrupting something."

"JUJU!" Odie spun and swung her ladle, the snake ducking. "Why ain'tchu tell me we have guests? I hope you got those magazines off the floor."

Juju nodded, using his tail to sweep a pile of adult animal magazines under the chair. Melody and Danny were unsure, but they assumed it was okay to walk further in. "Is your name Mama Odie?" Melody asked. "The kids in the treehouse down the river told us about you…"

"Yes yes, you have the right 1100-year-old blind woman." Odie replied, walking to the other side of the boat to shuffle through supplies in cabinets.

"Good, 'cause we were afraid of confusing you with the other old woman in that mud cave." Danny joked, earning a giggle from Melody.

"Save your jokes for the news, Danny!" Odie threw her ladle at his head. "Them's the only kids that'll like 'em."

"Do you know us?" Melody asked.

"Of course I do, Melody!" She turned around, bringing armfuls of colored jars to the cauldron. "You'd be surprised how long a fortune-telling cauldron stays runnin' in the magic world." She dropped the items on the floor beside the cauldron. "Even with all the Chocolate Plum Stew I be cookin' in it! Eh HEH heh he…" Odie opened a pink glass jar and dipped a single eyeball in the soup. She peeped into the jar with confusion. "JUJU!" She screamed at her snake. "Where are my warthog eyes? Did you invite some boys over when I was out walkin'?"

Juju frightfully shook 'no.' …He began to lightly nod yes, then more quickly, then he made a sheepish smile and shrugged. (Since he's a snake, he stuck his back end up to imply a shrug.) "Then GIT OUT to the swamp and git some MORE! And I don't want no complaining about them mermaids."

"Wait, did you say mermaids?" Melody asked.

"Yes, the ones in the Mermaid Swamp. You were gonna ask about that, weren'tchu?"

"Does that mean you know if Manaphy's there or not?" Danny asked.

"Oh, I can't see what goes on in the swamp. In fact, not too many humans can. Only animals can find their way through the swamp. They can bring humans along with 'em, but that's only if they get through all the predators."

"Okay." Danny spoke with mock interest, still not liking the sound of this place. "What's the science behind that?"

"The mermaids there emit a sound and smell that only most animals can smell or hear, especially fish. That's how they lure 'em in. Then legend has it they COOK 'EM like pork beans!" She banged her cauldron with the ladle.

"O-kay, we're gonna go." Danny tried to walk away.

"Danny," Melody grabbed his shirt, "that's the perfect reason Manaphy would be lured there. We have to check it out. Mama Odie, can you lead us?"

"Who, me? I can't even tell the color of these circles over mah eyes," she touched her sunglasses, "you think I can git through a foggy swamp? Naw, Juju here can take you. Won'tchu, boy?" The snake nodded. "And they'll make sure you get them warthog eyes, won't they?"

"Can we at least have magic charms to ward off evil spirits or whatever?" Danny asked.

"Chill out, whippersnapper, evil spirits only show up every other Monday. Just get your rumpuses over to that swamp—and quickly now! Y'all don't wanna try traveling this fog when it's nighttime!"

Melody forced an anxious sigh. "Alright, let's go." She allowed Juju to slither up her arm.

"Come on, Melody, you can't be serious about going in there." Danny said as his sister climbed back down to the canoe.

"Danny, there's nothing to worry about, we brought a lantern, and we can protect ourselves with waterbending. Though it might be best not to tell the mermaids we're royalty."

Danny released a worried sigh and climbed down to join her. "You're just not afraid 'cause you know they're gonna eat me first."

Juju pointed his head in the right direction, so the Jacksons rowed the boat into the green mist. Their presence was indicated only by the lit lantern. A crocodile's eyes were peeping out of the surface of the swamp, watching them.

Deep within the swamp's green mist was what appeared to be a mountain. The mountain had an odd shape about it, a crocodile head with a crown on top, and two clawed arms reaching forward. If one could see closer through the thick fog protecting it, they would see it wasn't actually a mountain. It was a fortress. A fortress that had run aground here from the sea.

An eerie breathing was echoing through the halls of this fortress. The master was sitting in his throne, gazing at a glass prison cell where a slim, blue-skinned figure was down on her knees, faced away from him. The teardrop-shaped gem on her back was cracked. A single Kritter – a man-size crocodile on two legs, wearing an open shirt with his crew's crocodile Jolly Roger – jogged down the fortress halls and arrived at the throne room. The Kritter told his King the news. "Ahhh… I see." The large crocodile's deep voice echoed. "Well then… make sure they're kept safe." The Kritter nodded and jogged back down the hall.

"Uhhhh Master Kroctus, Sir?" A Klump spoke through the PA. "The guys you were expecting are waiting for you."

"Good… It's time for a meeting."

King Kroctus helped his overweight self off of the throne and trudged down the halls. He lightly shook the halls with his weight, and his red cape blew behind him. The spiky golden crown sat firm on his head. Finally, King K. Rool made it to the meeting room. He sat at one end of the rectangle table. "New and old members of Team Gnaa… I'm glad you all could make it."

The other people around the table were King Bowser Koopa, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, and Gruntilda Winkybunion. "So… what did you call this meeting for… Miss EiznekCm?" Kroctus looked up at the blonde-haired woman on the opposite end of the table.