46. The Night Before

Sandman and Rupert get action today! And a number cipher!

Kentucky; Raiders' Valley

The sun had gone down over this region, and the cloudy sky was totally black. Sandman, Coldman, and Wiccan marched across a grass road between the short walls of a trench. The wind was filthy with the dirt of the country, so the heroes kept their masks and hoods on. "I received an email telling me to come to this location, on the night of Nigel's funeral." Sandman said. "Now I'm waiting for this guy to reply to me."

"You just trust whatever some Internet stranger emails you?" Wiccan asked.

"Well, I did backtrack to a couple areas to pick up Riddler Trophies, soooo… Ah, here he is." Someone was calling Sandman's wristwatch.

"Hi-diddly ho, a-riddling we go!" the perky voice exclaimed on the other end.

"It's Bill Cipher!" Coldman gasped.

"Very funny, Gladius. No, this is the Riddler, reporting to you live from an undisclosed location! I'm so glad Sandman found the time to go back and find my trophies while he was busy breaking into government facilities. I see you were also able to discover which people among those enemy guards were actually my henchmen."

"They weren't hard to figure out after sending a Game-and-Watch copy to your email." Sandman informed.

"See, this is why videogame walkthroughers shouldn't offscreen, because now I'm totally lost." Crystal smacked her forehead.

"Yes, your little game character was an interesting trick. Too bad I blocked him. I sensed you were getting tired of backtracking, however, so I thought I'd give you a pointer to your next mission. This is a rather secluded valley in Kentucky, called the Raiders' Valley, after the outlaws who used to run around here in the 1980s. Milkmen used this passage to cart milk to various stores and such, and the Raiders had a gimmick with breaking their cargo. Don't understand the story behind that, all you need to know is Hugo Strange found an interest for it."

"What are you saying?" Nolan asked.

"I'm saying that I have a couple of boys among these people as well, so they know that Dr. Strange is planning to ship what seem like ordinary milk bottles, which are actually filled with a peculiar substance, to the stores. Search me for whatever that is, my boys didn't seem to know."

"So Dr. Strange is trying to put this stuff on the shelves in place of milk? Where's the actual milk?"

"The actual milk is mixed in with it, it looks like. I don't know if the farmers were persuaded to turn a blind eye, but it might've been behind their backs."

"If this is true, then I can't let them make it to the stores. We have to steal these bottles from the trucks."

"How are we supposed to do that? Our own personal truck?" Wiccan asked rhetorically. "They couldn't all fit in the Sandmobile, could they?"

"Ahem." Riddler coughed. "It so happens I have a special carrier craft hovering over the area. It's watching your movements down there; just hold the bottles outside and it'll reach down to take them off your hands."

"You expect me to trust you with this unknown substance? What's in this for you, anyway?"

"What I want is not important. But you can certainly trust I wouldn't want any minds dirtied because of this stuff, and I'm sure you don't, either."

"Hmph… I'll play along, but don't think I won't take some for my own research."

"I was counting on that, Sandy. Just don't take more than you can drink." (Play "Infiltration of Hyrule Castle" from Zelda: Four Swords Adventures.)

Stage 55: Raiders' Valley

Mission: Steal the cargo from the milk carts.

Team Sandman trekked up the road, unable to see far forward through the dust and darkness. Sandman mostly used his Detective Vision- "Up here!" He grappled to a ledge in the wall on the right, his friends joining him as they were nearing a horse-drawn cart, carrying bottles of milk. The cart seemed to be dropping landmines as it went, so Sandman ordered Wiccan to fly down to it on her staff. The witch softly landed on the safe spot between the bottles, picking up each one, holding it over the back edge, and a mechanical claw reached down from an unseen source in the darkness to claim them. Crystal kept a single bottle under her cloak before flying back to her friends.

"Whoever's controlling it, there's definitely a ship up there." Sandman observed. "This whole thing is really unnerving."

"Rest easier knowing it's for a good cause. Now are you gonna sit there, or are you gonna get the rest of those carts?"

"I'll do one or both." Sandman remarked. They waited for the cart to drive around a left turn, vanishing down a road, while the heroes followed a path above some natural stairs. Partway up the dark road, they saw the red lasers of snipers aiming from afar. They backed up to a point they wouldn't be seen, then Sandman sent the Grapple-Cam to latch its way between the trench walls. He found the snipers standing in small enclosings on either wall. "Enjoying your low-playing night job?" his voice sounded from the mike.

The snipers turned around to search for the voice. The heroes quickly moved forward, Sandman latched the left cliff and knocked the sniper out, and Yuki froze the one on the right. Sandman used Detective Vision to see ahead; they stopped to let a cart drive by from a left road, which turned straight from their direction. They wanted to pursue, but duos of guards were standing on either side of the road. One looked at the back of the cart when it passed, the other looked the opposite way in each group. Yuki swiftly froze each one before any of them could notice, and the heroes bolted across the path before Crystal flew to the cart and landed on a clear spot. She handed each bottle to the extended arm, except one she kept under her cloak.

They watched the cart drive casually down the rest of the road, and the heroes took flight over a chasm on their right, landing on a cliff. They followed the road to a small field where guards roamed. This zone was chi-blocked, so Yuki's OP ice attacks wouldn't work. Thankfully, there were several tall rocks in this area, so the heroes snuck around and knocked out the three roaming guards. The two gate guards weren't armed, but the minute they spotted the heroes, they rolled forward for swift punches and kicks.

Crystal blocked with her staff, which the guard kicked away, but Crystal managed to roll behind him and punch him in the head. The guard withstood and grabbed her arm, throwing the witch forward, but Yuki leapt and kicked him in the side of the head, knocking him out against the wall. Nolan grabbed the other guard's fists in his Armament hands, but the guard flipped his legs in the air, overhead to kick Sandman in the face and push him on his back. The guard leapt at Sandman, who turned his stomach area Armament to withstand the impact, afterwards swinging a punch at the guard's legs to knock him down, then climb on top to punch his head senseless.

Nolan's friends helped him back onto his chair. "Ever since the Doflamingo fight, using my Haki hasn't been easy. I'm not good at Coloring other parts of my body besides the fists."

"At least you have us along in case things get rough." Yuki said. They swiped gate keys from both martial artists, using one of them to open the way out of this field. Sandman saw a cart coming from the right road, aiming to enter a gate on their left, he used the other key to seal that gate shut. The cart was forced to change course down their path, but the heroes took cover in a hiding place in the wall. When it passed, Crystal flew on to rob the cart of its bottles. The heroes progressed down the road the cart previously came from, coming to an area with a medium cliff and high cliff, and guards patrolling on each of the three levels.

Sandman threw a boomerang at the guard on their level, then quickly knocked him out. He waited for the guards on the second level to pass each other, afterwards he and Yuki grappled up to knock both out simultaneously. Two guards were protecting the path on the very left side of the third level, so Crystal floated to the very right, sidling along the wall to slip behind the nearest guard, then she stood between both before performing a Ground Quake with her staff. In their dizzy state, the trio knocked them out.

After crossing this small dirt road, they arrived at a wider road where two carts drove side-by-side. They noticed that the right cart had more bottles and no standable areas, so Wiccan was tasked with boarding the left one for its bottles, while Yuki pushed Sandman's chair after the right one, allowing the hero to grab them off the cart. It took longer to pass each bottle (except two) to the ship, but they managed okay.

On the right, they viewed another chasm with a low cliff on the other end, but two snipers stood guard. When they were turned away from the center, Sandman quickly rolled off the edge, shot his grappler to the opposite one, but remained under so the snipers didn't see. He climbed below the left sniper and pulled him off to dangle by a rope. He repeated this for the right sniper so his friends could cross. The road turned leftward, bringing them to an enclosed area with several separate footholds where armed guards stood. Below the zigzaggy trench was a rugged road that a cart was slowly maneuvering across.

They had to knock out these guards before the cart escaped. Sandman first rolled down a slope on his left, getting behind a sniper to knock him out. He grappled to the vacant cliff on the center platform, then climbed over a short rock wall to take out the guard standing there. On another segment of the center platform, the guard was facing a guard on a wall ledge, so Sandman sent his Grapple-Cam behind the latter guard and whispered, "There's a creeper gonna creep when yo' sleepiiiinng." That guard turned, Sandman knocked out the one on the platform segment, then grappled to the ledge guard to take him out quickly. Meanwhile, Crystal floated over to knock out the remaining ledge guard.

Afterwards, the witch floated down to the slow-moving cart, and since there were no standable areas, she followed and took each bottle out to hand to Riddler's ship. The heroes continued on the next path north of this mini canyon. They hurried across this wide road and chased, not a horse cart, but a large truck of black steel. The back doors were sealed, but there was a terminal on the side. Yuki pushed Nolan after the truck while the latter called Mr. Game-and-Watch on his wristwatch, holding it toward the terminal to see if G&W could connect.

In his cyberspace, Game-and-Watch chased a two-dimensional train-like vehicle with multiple segments. He jumped on the back segment, over some boxes, then he Ground Pounded onto the link and severed the back part. The train moved slightly faster, and while G&W chased, midair turrets fired at him, the Program tried to avoid the bullets to catch up. He jumped on the train car and flipped patties from his frying pan to defeat turrets perched on it, then he could chop the link off. He chased more, jumping pits of electricity, then got onto the next car, patiently waited for the laser barriers to disable, and severed the link. There were no obstacles on his way to the faster-moving front car, and there, he had to flip patties at a wall of turrets. Afterwards, he entered the train and inputted the code 'Ginger.'

Team Hero watched as the truck's backdoor opened. Wiccan and Coldman flew onto the standable spot on the edge, working together to hand the bottles to Riddler's ship. Finally, the truck was clear, and the two jumped off, chased after, and shut the doors like they were never there. They stood in place and left the truck to drive away. (End song.)

"Well done, Sandman. I should've expected no less from you. I'll make sure these hazardous bottles are put away safe and sound. For now, it's been a long night. I think we all deserve some beauty sleep… by which I mean you. Keep looking for my trophies!" Transmission ended.

Seeing the ship about to fly away, Sandman forcefully threw a tracking device skyward, latching it to the bottom hull. "I'm sure he expected me to do that."

"Nolan, now that you have these, erm, samples, how do you plan to examine them?" Crystal inquired.

"Humans have senses for a reason." Nolan twisted the cap on one of the bottles and opened.

"Don't do that!" Yuki cautioned. "What if it's Nightmare Toxin, or worse?"

Nolan took off his mask and smelled the liquid. "…Definitely more than sour milk… but I don't recognize the smell. A taste test would be out of the question."

"I should hope."

"Not to worry, guys." Nolan twisted the cap back on. "There's one expert on poisons I know well enough to make a guess. …Of course, it might be past her bedtime."

DK Isles; Zingers' Hive

Sappo and Gibli led Team Rupert's Onions to the jungle island with the Donkey Kong-shaped mountain. Among the trees was a massive beehive fortress, where the mammoth-size bugs they were named for, the Zingers, fluttered in and out. The Onions were careful not to touch any of the oozing honey before they landed in a dry spot within the hive. The constant and furious rumbles of buzzing filled their ears once they stepped out. "You're lucky you don't have Zelda ears." Sappo remarked, poking their fingers in their big ears. "Alright, you kids remember the deal, right? Get the Premium Honey, along with whatever treasures these bugs collected, and we'll tell you where Malarko's Pikmin Army is hidden."

"You can count on us!" Rupert proclaimed confidently.

"Aaaah!" Timothy screamed, having gotten his shoe stuck in a patch of honey. "I might need a little help here."

"Don't worry, Timmy! Just play dead and the bees won't think you're food!" Hikari said bubbly.

"Bees don't eat humans, anyway." Sappo said. "They will want the honey on his shoe, though."

"You guys better find some Brown Pikmin fast!" Gibli jumped. "Only they can carry Premium Honey, or eat regular honey. In case you don't know, Premium Honey is more shiny and gold. Like those weird cards that humans use for money!"

"That narrows it down." Rupert shrugged. "Alright, gang, let's nab today's breakfast!"

Timmy tried to pull his foot out of the honey, but remained stuck. "Just help me out before I become a bee's breakfast!" (Play "Hornet Hole" from Donkey Kong Country 2!)

Stage 56: Zingers' Hive

Mission: Collect Premium Honey!

Rupert and Hikari pulled out 20 Ice Pikmin, 15 Reds, 15 Musics, and 10 Purples for now. They viewed a lake of oozing honey, and Rupert decided to toss Ice Pikmin onto it. The honey froze. The two smiled at each other, beginning to freeze a path for them all to cross. "Guys!" Timmy panicked when some Fuzzybees (furry bees that were their size) were buzzing toward him slowly. Hikari quickly threw some Reds up to take the bees down, then she called 10 Yellows to give to Timmy, letting him defend himself. With that, the other two proceeded across the ice path the Pikmin froze.

They could step onto a dry shore, where an incomplete bridge began. The tiles of the bridge were over on a small island, so the two would have to use their Ice Pikmin to- "Or we could use Wing Pikmin!" Hikari smiled. "They can carry over anything."

"Yeah!" Rupert agreed.

"No, you can't!" Sappo yelled at them. "We forgot to mention that Zingers hate Wing Pikmin! They'll attack 'em the moment they're out!"

"That's inconvenient!" Timothy shouted.

Regardless, they could use the Ice Pikmin to carry across the bridge tiles. It didn't reach all the way, and they saw another isle of tiles on the opposite side of the big room. Unfortunately, those tiles were drenched in honey, so the Pikmin couldn't get them without being stuck (even the Ice ones).

They returned to the previous shore, going further across as Hermit Crawmads peeped out of holes. Rupert threw an Ice forward, quickly called it back when the Crawmad came out, then they sent Pikmin on the creature. They repeated this pattern for the next two Crawmads, then continued to the wall at the shore's end. A honey waterfall was dripping out of a hole, and while the Ice Pikmin could freeze it, they couldn't climb up. On the opposite edge of this wall-side shore, there was a standing plank half-buried in the ground. Their Pikmin dug it up, then the Ices carried it over to lean it against the edge of the hole, causing the honey to flow down the slope. The Ices could freeze the river so the others could walk up it and into the tunnel.

The tunnel dropped off over a high point, but the Ice Pikmin froze the honey below so the kids could safely drop, then get onto the shore. They viewed this new honey pond, seeing three downpour currents focused on a single point: over a Brown Onion. They saw a path near the ceiling leading above those currents, and a honeycomb ladder on the wall of their shore. Hikari agreed to take some Ice Pikmin up there, having the creatures attack some Zinger Larvae on the walkway. The Ice Pikmin couldn't freeze the currents because the constant flowing made the ice break, but Hikari saw a cavern of Bomb Rocks across the center. She led her Pikmin over to them, had them place bombs beside the honey slides' bases, and destroy them so the falls would flow down the wall.

The honey over the center isle flowed away, leaving it dry, and the Brown Onion sprouted to life and dropped a seed. Rupert and Hikari regrouped to freeze a path to the platform, and the former plucked his first Brown Pikmin.

Rupert discovered Brown Pikmin! Their sticky bodies make them hard to shake off! They can cross and climb sticky terrain, and also eat sticky sweets off of items! Just don't grab them too hard, or they'll stick to you, too.

"I have a feeling we're gonna need a lot of them to help the others around." Rupert said.

"Me, too."

They dedicated the surrounding Pellets and fallen enemies to the Brown Pikmin, ending up with 35. After that tedious journey, they brought that many Browns to the start and freed Timothy from his trap. Afterwards, they got out 20 of each Pikmin, except for Ghosts and Wings, making 195 total.

The Brown Pikmin ate the honey off the bridge tiles before bringing them to repair said bridge. They explored the rest of this lake with their Browns, and one of the honeycomb shapes in the wall was golden. Looking closer, it was made of glass. They threw their Rock Pikmin to break the glass, and inside the short tunnel was a pool of golden honey. "That must be the Premium Honey!" Rupert pointed.

"Alright, Brownies, go and get some!" Hikari threw the Brown Pikmin inside, and they made trips back-and-forth from the Onions until all the fragments of Premium Honey were collected. On one of the sides of the lake, a path of honey led up into a higher hole, so the Brown Pikmin performed the arduous task of carrying all their friends up (if the twins were trolling them about the 'no Wing Pikmin,' those two were gettin' honey up their dresses). The tunnel was wider inside, and they saw the Silk Spitter from Xiaolin Showdown stuck to the left wall by honey. They threw the Brown Pikmin onto the honey spots to eat it off, afterwards sending 10 Ice Pikmin to carry the Silk Spitter (Captured Rival) back, with Timmy accompanying them with 10 Browns.

Rupert and Hikari encountered two Honey Bulborbs, and only the Brown Pikmin could be tossed onto and defeat the creatures. Afterwards, the duo made it to an open area of the hive, where Zingers were fluttering about. Their hearts raced nervously when one of the giant bees hovered above them, and when it suddenly swooped down for a stab, the kids commanded their Pikmin to roll aside. They tossed Yellows up to weigh the bee down, but they were doing no damage. Hikari decided to throw Rock Pikmin at its stinger, and the bee winced with pain under each blow before falling.

They took care of three more Zingers in the field, and when Timothy returned to them, they fed their Pikmin some nectar from a garden of eggs in the center. They led their Pikmin to a side of the room where they had to go up some stairs, following a walkway that led to two large gaps between footholds. Timmy threw his friends to the first, then Rupert threw Hikari to the next, and she continued. She entered a cave that was barren, but the soil felt soft, so she returned to her friends and told them to throw White Pikmin over. As expected, they found diggable patches within the ground, and like oil, Premium Honey spurted out of them when they dug deep enough. Hikari told her friends to throw Brown Pikmin over to begin carrying.

To avoid having to throw the Browns over the gaps every single time they came back, the White Pikmin could thankfully dig up a weak patch of the ledge, causing it to slump into a slope. However, Fuzzybees were flying down to recover the stolen honey, so the trio had to throw Pikmin up to take them down. While waiting for the Browns to finish, they allowed their Music, Ice, and Rock Pikmin to take the fallen enemies (the Ice went first to make a path). Afterwards, the kids viewed another honeycomb ladder in one side of the wall, and since some holes had Zinger Larvae slumbering inside, they had to punch the bees and slay them (how cruel). They led their Pikmin to an area at the top of the room, viewing a complex, twisty path that led to the other side.

Big balls of honey rolled across this road, being spat by Honey Cannon Beetles from different turn points in the path. Timothy ran up, staying to the side to avoid their boulders, and distracted the beetles after reaching them, allowing his friends to come up and attack with Pikmin. As soon as they were all dealt with, the kids reached the other side, seeing a Bob-omb (Kids' Kamikaze) from the Mario series sat on a platform. They tossed Purple Pikmin to pick it up—the bomb's fuse lit, it turned red as it threatened to explode, burning the Purples with its heat. Only the Reds could carry it back, and going across the complex path took up time. Furthermore, they had to use Ice Pikmin to freeze over the honey lake, but just when the bomb was seconds from exploding, they reached the Onions.

The trio climbed the honeycomb ladder again, for there was also another tunnel up top to follow. A dry path snaked between sticky honey on the ground, so they kept their Pikmin within it. There were holes in the wall that were likely sheltering large creatures (such as bees), and would snack on anyone who steps on the honey. They made it through with no trouble and were standing in a tall, wide, and vacant room. There was a Music Pikmin stage facing a bright, towering wall of frozen honey. The Musics sang a remix of the "Rolling Boulder" song from Zelda: Skyward Sword, and their notes caused the hive to tremble and the frozen honey to loosen.

The kids bolted downhill when the honey began flowing toward them. They constantly whistled so their Pikmin would keep up, maneuvering them around Dwarf Bulborbs and honey patches in the way. They saw a walkway to the left and aligned their Pikmin to run up it, watching as the honey flowed down the rest of the hill. It stopped at the dead-end ahead, rising higher until it was level with their walkway. The Ice Pikmin froze a path leading to a narrow tunnel.

Honey dripped from the ceiling, and the Brown Pikmin had to eat every pile since there was no room around the honey. They kept an eye on the ceiling for forming globs, moving their Pikmin away before the honey fell on them. Just when they were reaching the end of the tunnel, Hikari spotted a shiny drop of honey form on the ceiling and hit the ground. Two Brown Pikmin carried the Premium Honey drop back, and Hikari brought two Ice Pikmin to follow them.

The other two entered a taller passage where faint streams of honey flowed down like slow, web-like waterfalls. They used Yellow and Rock Pikmin to defeat two Zingers in the area, then the Rocks broke down a couple of yellow glass walls through a passage. Speaking of webs, the room through this passage was a spider-web wall with Arachnodes crawling on them. Instead of questioning what the hell spiders were doing in here, the duo threw Pikmin onto the web to lure the spiders down. They called their Pikmin off before the spiders ate them, and when each spider was defeated, the Brown Pikmin began the tedious task of carrying each of them up the webs. Rupert and Timothy led their army into a very dark cave, where sprouts of fire popped up from holes. While Red Pikmin could destroy the holes, they were the only means of light, so they kept the other Pikmin away.

The group walked along a ledge over a pool of honey, which was nearly hidden in the darkness. However, Rupert noticed a weird object with what faint light was over the honey, but their Browns couldn't get underneath the gooey liquid. After trekking up a hill, the duo saw a water faucet up on the wall. They tossed Yellow Pikmin up onto the faucet, and they turned it as a stream of water flowed out into the honey pool. The substance was washed away, and their Blue Pikmin could go into the weaker liquid to retrieve the treasure: a laser-light for cats (Ceaseless Mockery). After it was out of the water, they had 10 Brown Pikmin carry it back.

Hikari regrouped with them as they ventured further through the cave, still dark, keeping along a narrow path over honey pools. One of the pools on their right had what seemed like a closed hatch on the wall over it, and a handle on top. They threw a Yellow on, and the (magically appearing) Pikmin counter required 20 to pull it open. They counted spaces under the current one, and the Pikmin would touch the honey before the quota could be met. So instead, they tossed two Purple Pikmin, causing the hatch to fall open, the handle part landing over the edge so the Pikmin could land safely. Inside the hatch was a mount of Premium Honey, so the Brown Pikmin were on the case.

After that was done, their journey led them out of the cave. They were in an expansive room where faint streams of honey dripped down the walls. Some of the honey patterns shaped like numbers; they were 2 5 3 1 18 5 6 21 12 23 8 1 20 25 15 21 19 20 5 1 12 19 15 13 5 23 15 21 14 4 19 1 18 5 8 1 18 4 20 15 8 5 1 12. A stairway led up a tall, wide altar that had a huge pot of honey at the top, like that seen on Winnie the Pooh. Rupert and Timothy helped Hikari climb and stand on the pot's edge. The honey was as shiny and yellow as solid gold. "Ooooooh! This honey looks super-duper yummy!"

"And I guess it's free for the taking!" Rupert beamed.

Their Minish communicators rang, and Sappo's voice spoke on the other end. "Say, did you guys find King Zing's King's Brew?"

"More like Winnie's Big Score, if he were here. But yeah, we found it!"

"Listen, guys, don't worry about taking that. King Zing will get really mad, and he'll tail you guys like you were made of pollen. Just look for other Premium Honey."

"We wouldn't want the whole kingdom mad at us." Timothy figured. "Okay, let's leave it. I see another tunnel over there."

"No way!" Rupert proclaimed confidently. "We can take on a giant bee!"

"What?! No we can't, Rupert, a giant bee is scarier than a giant girl!"

"You're completely right in that statement." Rupert said with a blushed, dreaming face. "But with a score like this, we'll go down in Pikmin History!"

"History means we DIE!"

"Come on, at the very least, we'll get extremely swollen. Alright, Whites, get it on!"

It took 30 Pikmin to lift the King's Brew, so their 20 Whites plus 10 Ices were used. They marched and carried the honey pot down the stairs, ready to enter the dark cave. "Rupert, I really don't think this is a good idea!" Timmy hissed.

"Timmy, you worry too much. We can have this big pot outta here before King Zing even notices. Where is the fatty, anyway? (I just assume he's fat.)"

"Maybe that big bee there will know!" Hikari pointed at the ceiling. "Heeeeey, Mr. Big Beeeeee!"

Rupert and Timothy freaked: they had just now realized the ceiling was spiky with yellow and black stripes. The giant bee puffed as he snored, curled up, and rolled upward as his tired eyes peeped open. "Bzzz…bmmm?" The room and altar was a big circle with smaller circles from his view. He thought a more yellow circle would be in the very center… instead, he saw three humans, and no pot of honey. "Bzzz? Bmmmmm-zzzzz!" King Zing shook with anger, buzzing his wings to life and detaching from the ceiling. He fluttered above the kids and rapidly blasted stingers, and they tumbled down the stairs to avoid.

"He's gonna go after the Pikmin!" Rupert exclaimed. "I'll go with 'em and attack from the front, you guys stay behind and get 'is stinger!"

"Deal!" Timmy nodded frantically. (Play "King Zing Chase" from Donkey Kong Country 2!)

Rupert took a team of Pikmin and rushed after the Pikmin taking the pot, and when King Zing forced himself through the tight dark tunnel, his narrowed eyes were clearly seen. Zing was faster than the Pikmin, so Rupert quickly tossed Rocks and Purples to damage his eyes and slow the bee. From behind, Timmy and Hikari threw Rocks at his stinger, and the bee stopped totally for a few seconds to recompose himself and shake the enemies away. Rupert was at the wide area of the dark cave, and King Zing had more room to fly. His wings beat the ceiling rapidly, causing boulders to drop around in the darkness.

Rupert only had a few seconds to see the shadows of boulders in the fire spouts' lights, and had to call the carrying Pikmin over if they were in danger, or move his own Pikmin aside if it was them, then they quickly had to resume carrying the pot. They escaped the cave and traveled down the drooping honey path, and under King Zing's shaking, globs of honey dropped in the way, forcing the carriers to stop while Brown Pikmin ate it. To keep King Zing from catching up, Timmy and Hikari threw Yellows at his stinger (since it was currently electrified). When the way was clear, they progressed the narrow tunnel, and since Zing couldn't fit, he stuck his stinger in and blasted stinger bullets. Rupert threw Rock Pikmin at each one to stop them.

Rupert escorted his Pikmin up the slope where the large honey river downpoured, and when King Zing slammed the ground, honey boulders rolled down from ahead. He ordered the carrier Pikmin to maneuver around them, and once up the slope, they traveled the snaky path between the honey ground. Like the dark cave, King Zing forcibly squeezed his way through, Rupert hit him in the eyes while his friends hit the stinger. They were back in the large room with the Cannon Beetles' path, they dropped to the floor below as Fuzzybees chased them, aiming to reclaim the honey.

When King Zing floated below the ledge in his pursuit, Timmy and Hikari threw Red and Purple Pikmin onto his wings, slowing the king greatly. The carriers had one more trip through a tunnel, Rupert froze a path in the lake below with Ice Pikmin. Sappo and Gibli jumped excitedly when they saw the large pot coming, and after the Pikmin crossed the ice, the King's Brew was inside the Onions.

King Zing burst out of the tunnel, desperately trying to recover his honey despite the Pikmin wailing on his wings. When he sank closer, Rupert threw Brown Pikmin on his eyes, Yellows on his stinger, Pikmin were beating him down all over. Eventually, King Zing was worn out, he collapsed into the honey lake, and the victors summoned their Pikmin back before they sank as well. "HOORAY, we did it!" Rupert cheered.

"Wow, guys, I can't believe you made it!" Sappo exclaimed. "Wait until Lenari sees the hefty load you got us!"

"But not now! Let's get outta here before the king wakes up!" Gibli said rushedly.

With that, all of them boarded the Onions and took flight away from the hives. "I almost wish we went with you." Sappo said. "You guys have guts to steal from King Zing."

"He's just a giant bee, what's to worry about." Rupert said casually.

"You don't know how dangerous that was. According to stories, King Zing's stings are fatal and slow-killing. Your body just keeps swelling, and before you actually die, the pain is horrible. I've seen pictures of it, and trust me, I had mixed feelings about coming here. The worst part is, there's absolutely no way to heal it."

"Yeesh. I'm glad we escaped when we did. But now that it's over, you gotta tell us where Malarko's army is!"

"Yeah, about that…"

"You lied to us, didn't you?" Timothy inquired.

"No, we were truthful. But we wanna ask Lenari's permission to reveal such classified information. He'll probably be mad at us for dropping the hint, anyway."

"But I'm sure he'll confide in you!" Gibli spoke surely. "You guys are awesome!"

"Even if we don't find out, that was still pretty fun." Rupert smiled. "Next time I see a bee when I'm bigger, I'm gonna say, 'I'm supposed to be scared of that?'"

"My answer will always be 'The crud I'm not.'" Timothy remarked.

Within the honey lake's ooze, King Zing slowly and weakly resurfaced. The bee fumed with rage, knowing his precious treasure had been taken. He would have his revenge on them all. (End song.)

Stage Progress: Red: 49. Yellow: 60. Blue: 60. Wing: 46. White: 53. Purple: 60. Ghost: 20. Rock: 52. Music: 50. Ice: 50. Brown: 35. Total: 535.

Goldenweek Residence

Since it became fairly late in the day, the Goldenweeks decided to schedule a trip to the art gallery tomorrow. The Sector W7 friends spent the night in Mary's mansion, engaging in late-night antics such as coloring (which April proved best at), pillow fighting (Chimney showed no mercy toward Mary), Hide-and-Seek (Aeincha and Mocha took a while to find), but then Apis made them bored (except Mary) reading her god stories, so the girls were finally ready for bed. The other friends were sharing a guestroom, with Chimney on the bed, cuddling Aeincha and Mocha close to her, and Gonbe, Apis, and Aisa on the floor.

"Isn't it great, Big Sister April?" Mary happily bounced on her bed, wearing a dark-green nightgown, while her cousin was brushing her teeth in Mary's personal bathroom. "We get to sleep and cuddle each other just like when we were kids! I mean, we're still kids, well mostly me 'cause you're a teen, the point is we were littler!"

"Would I even fit in the same bed with you, anymore?" April asked with a smile. "We're way too old for that, Mary."

"No we're noooot." Mary made a fake mopey frown as she sprawled out on her bed. "Come on, April, I'm tired of cuddling with dolls. I wanna cuddle with my big sister before she leaves tomorrow!"

"Well, I kind of missed it too, I guess. Scoot over, Mary." She chuckled.

Mary excitedly whirled so her head was on the pillow end, getting under the covers and scooting left so April could climb in. The older girl moved some of Mary's dolls aside to fit her head on the pillow. She felt her little cousin's arms grab around and hug her tight, like an overgrown doll. "You have such wonderful friends, April. It's no wonder you don't care about me, anymore."

"Don't be silly, Mary. You'll always be my little sis." She patted Mary's hair. "I might not act like it, but I really miss you a lot."

"I'll miss you guys, toooo." She moped. "I wish you would stay here with me, forever. I wanna play with you all every single day."

"You saw our flying train, we can easily come visit you. But Mary, you really should join the Kids Next Door. You've already been on missions with us, so you're a step ahead. You might not get put in our sector, but we would still see each other more, and you'd make lots of friends. I mean, even if they were scary, didn't you have fun on our missions?"

"Of course I did, April!" Mary hugged her tighter. "I had loads and loads of fun! In fact, I wanna go on more missions with you. That's why I'll be sad when you leave after we visit the… gallery."

"Well, we'll come visit you either way, Mary. You can count on that. Tomorrow's gonna be fun, though, even if it's just walking through a boring gallery." April pulled the lamp switch and made the room dark. "And Mary? Don't worry about those nightmares. As soon as we see that gallery, they won't bother us, anymore. Good night." April rested her head on the pillow and closed her eyes.

Mary frowned, loosening her grip on her cousin during slumber, but still lying close to her. She didn't understand her nightmares, or why she had such worrisome thoughts about the art gallery… For some reason, she felt like after tomorrow, she would never see April again. She really hoped this didn't happen, though. She was already sad when April moved to Gobi's Desert, she didn't want her to leave again. She hoped she could stay with April forever…