57. The Disbanded

This upcoming stage takes place on May 15, during the Madotsuki Arc, but the other scenes are after. Yeah, I'm gettin' the times all confuzzled for ya! ;D This chapter is also pretty short.

Road to KND Central Bike Hub

Emily Garley pedaled ceaselessly en route to the Central Bike Hub, zipping past all the trees in Virginian Forest and snatching all the wandering monkeys. Easy when she had a self-pedaling bike. Meanwhile, Sarah and Gary were following on natural bikes, but Sarah had a harder time seeing with the adult passenger sitting in her basket. "AAAAAAHH!" Sheldon Cooper cried – he couldn't drive a car, and he was certainly not a bike person. "WATCH OUT FOR THAT ROCK!" Sarah bumped over a rock, but kept going. "AAAAAAAHHH!"

"Told you we shoulda bought the crate." Sarah remarked.

"I see it, guys!" Emily pointed. "Let's stop here and rest!"

They parked their bikes when the Bike Hub treehouse was in view, along with the dozens of colorful, swervy roads connecting to it. "I haven't seen Mike since I left for Germany." Emily said. "And when he finally calls me, his treehouse is getting ransacked by a 'Red Monkey.'"

"One of Specter's Freaky Monkey Five, I'm guessing." Gary deduced.

"But think about it!" Emily counted fingers. "We stopped White Monkey at Sector N, Sector V said they beat Pink Monkey up in space, we caught Blue Monkey at Sector JP, visited Sector KB and caught Yellow Monkey… That makes Red Monkey the last of Specter's officers!"

"Eh- hang on, now, 'defeated' does not mean the same as 'captured.'" Sheldon noted. "Did Sector V capture Pink Monkey?"

"Er, no… but I'm sure it was still an amazing battle!"

"Furthermore, you are forgetting Mojo Jojo."

"Always on top of things." Emily shot him a look. "Still, this is the last of Specter's field officers! If we catch him, it'll strike a major blow against the Pipo Army! Soon, we'll be able to take the fight to Specter!"

"Now you got me rarin' to go!" Sarah smirked, readying her net. "Let's go for it, Em Girl!"

"Before we actually capture him, we should interrogate Red Monkey as to the whereabouts of Specter's location." Sheldon suggested.

"Excellent idea as always, Dr. Cooper. Maybe we'll even find your girlfriend, too." Emily smirked, feeling Sheldon's nasty look at the fact she used 'girlfriend.' (Play "Excitebike Arena" from Mario Kart 8!)

Stage 60: Central Bike Hub

Mission: Collect 20 monkeys and capture Red Monkey!

The three kids rode their bikes down a hill, then made quick turns around a snaky path through a forest. They came to a straight path with some large rumps, with two monkeys riding over them with bikes from the other side—Emily snatched the left one as she passed it, and Gary caught the right one. They made a wide right turn when the path curved that direction, then had to shift left for just as much—Sarah snatched a monkey behind the corner turn, visible for just a brief second.

They stopped their bikes at a large step and stuffed them inside the Infi-Cube. They climbed the step to a playground setting, seeing two Phanpy Pokémon inside a spherical cage that was hanging by a chain. The Phanpy looked like sky-blue wheels as they were rolling around the cage. There was also a tall pole with a U-shaped ramp at the top, and two Biker Pipos riding up and down it. Sarah climbed the pole, then used the Sky Flyer to get level with the ramp's base, snatching the apes in her net when they swooped down.

Meanwhile, Emily flew her S.P.E.C.S. up the Phanpy cage and unhooked the door with the glasses' handle. The Phanpys rolled out, rolled rampantly around the park, and one of them hit a tall tree at the edge of a long pit. When the tree was in diagonal position mid-fall, the other Phanpy rolled up, off, and grabbed the branch of a tree on the other side. The tree fell over with its weight, connecting the tips of both trees as they formed a bridge.

The four crossed the chasm to a road that sloped and curved up left, and sloped down right. They went right, but saw it led to a ramp over another pit. They would have to use their bikes, so they went up the left hill and got to the highest part. They released their bikes from the Infi-Cube, rode them down the slope, and used the acquired momentum to go up the ramp and over the pit. Two Pipos rode in from the sides and began to race them across the track.

The track brought them to an open field with mounds and Dash Panels. They had to avoid the mounds and use the panels to catch up to the monkeys. Emily maneuvered leftward, following a zigzaggy path between rows of rocks. She was rewarded with a Dash Panel that shot her up to catch one of the monkeys. Once past the field, they rode up a path constructed by 4x4, going over a loop-di-loop—Sheldon fell out of Sarah's basket at the loop's top, but landed back in when she rolled down.

The Pipo Monkey jumped bumps in the road, so the kids mimicked the action – and every jump choked a "Hee-hee!", a "HWOO!", or a "Hwuh-oh!" out of Sheldon. They made tight and careful drifts when the narrow, no-railing road turned, but then the treehouse was in their view as they were driving straight to it. The road would zigzag right and back left, but Emily chose to jump her bike across scattered platforms on the left, landing on a road of Dash Panels that shot her back on the main road, catching the monkey just before he could escape inside a small garage.

The bike path ended as the team hopped up some platforms on the side of the treehouse. There was a large gap that required a Heli-Glider to get across – the same device from Cooper Works. Before using it, Gary detected a hidden monkey on a platform behind them. He floated onto it with Sky Flyer and discovered the monkey behind a square patch on the tree. After catching it, the group used the Sky Flyers to make the Heli-Gliders float them across the gap (Sheldon was forced to get in the Infi-Cube since he didn't have a Flyer). "Okay, why ain't we do that durin' the biking??" Sarah questioned.

"Because he's like an adorable baby brother!" Emily said with a flush. The trio put on their M.A.G.N.E.B.O.O.T.S. to walk up a metal strip leading into a house on the tree, via a trapdoor. The inside of the house had some controls, computers, and half-eaten pizza. Emily sniffed the pizza. "Pepperoni and liver. This is definitely Mike's."

"Won't even ask how you know that." Sarah remarked.

The three walked up some stairs through the treehouse hallway. There was a door to a room that consisted of a large, glass-protected table. Under the glass was a design based off the Excitebike game, an oval-shaped racetrack with bumps and boosts, and three spidermonkeys riding motorbikes. "Good Lord." Sheldon swore. "Excitebike. The bane of my NES days."

"How did you escape the Infi-Cube?" Emily asked.

"Please, that thing has as much security and complexity as a Rubik's Cube. Sigh, but I suppose the task of seizing these monkeys is up to me. Excuse me." Sheldon took out the C.A.M.-C.A.R. and drove it into a hole at the table's bottom. From up here, it looked like playing a 2-D NES, driving the toy car around the miniature track. Once again, Sheldon had to avoid bumps and hit boosts to go faster, then shoot the car's net to catch each individual spidermonkey.

After catching the three monkeys, they continued up the stairs to a massive room of the treehouse with many bike-related devices. Emily stuck her bike into a device on the floor, hurriedly pedaling as the wheels activated it. A huge bike tire rose up from the chasm, spinning quickly. Sarah and Gary had to use their Super Hoops to run across the tire, since it was spinning the opposite direction from the next path. They jumped to the foothold on the other side and used Gary's bike to power another device, spinning the tire the other way so Emily and Sheldon could get across.

"Hey, check it out, guys!" Emily ran up to some tables with spare bike parts. She picked up some wheels that had a snake-shaped dent around the center of the tires. "These are special tires designed to remain steady on poles or rails! I'll bet we can use 'em to get new places."

"Alright, but I reject any backtracking until we have all the known abilities." Sheldon noted.

Already, they saw a yellow curvy rail go across part of the chasm. The kids used their upgraded bikes to ride and balance on the rail perfectly. They jumped parts of the rail that were electrified and were about to land on a new floor. However, Emily jumped to an alternate rail on the left, which would swirl down like a whirlpool with a suction tube at the bottom. Two monkey saucers were flying around the whirlpool, so Emily had to keep jumping parts of the rail to chase them, jumping to hit with her Stun Club, and when the saucers were destroyed, the monkeys would fall into the suction tube. Emily jumped in the tube and was sucked up to the floor where her friends were. They already captured the Pipo Monkeys.

The kids rode their bikes again through a narrow hallway, leaving the big room. The hall turned left, bringing the bikers outside as the track was on the treehouse's side. They jumped a low branch and ducked a higher branch. Another low branch came, Em and Sarah jumped over – Gary bounced his bike on the branch, to another one, and caught a Pipo Monkey climbing the tree. The track dropped them on a rail that went straight up vertical. "Don't stop, guys!" Emily shouted as they were moving slowly and weakly. "Just pedaaaaalll!"

"Screw yooooouuu!" Sarah shouted at the fact Emily's was self-pedaling. They got parallel with another vertical rail. When an Amp traveled down their rail, they jumped their bikes, whipped around, and landed them on the other rail, fighting their exhaust to keep slowly pedaling. An Amp came down this rail, they jumped to the other—an Amp instantly came down, they jumped again. Finally, this rail became flat and stable, allowing them to catch their breath. They took it slow for a few seconds, and immediately sped down a sloped part, which would curve up and fling them to the air with momentum.

They turned their bikes about-face and landed on a new rail that stretched away from and sloped down around the treehouse. They passed one final look at the annoying vertical rails before riding into an opening. They jumped and ducked two Amps and landed on a huge bike wheel. It wasn't actually a bike wheel, rather a rotatable platform with the 2-D design of one. The kids used the Super Hoops and ran in one direction to make the platform turn and float upwards.

When it stopped floating, they entered an exercise room that only consisted of bikes (and not the moving kind, obviously). Three monkeys were using the bikes, and there was a video camera on a platform by the ceiling. Emily jumped up some stacked mats to the platform and recorded the monkeys with the camera. From this view, the apes appeared very devout in their exercise and were building up quite a sweat.

All we think of is crack! Like, all the time! The caption read. The kids proceeded to net the monkeys simultaneously before they could start jumping around the room.

In the next room, there was a Pipo Monkey balancing on a unicycle on a mini circus set behind a glass case. Sheldon had to drive the C.A.M.-C.A.R. into the tiny entrance and make its way to a switch at the top of the set. The car drove over some small balls floating in the pool at the bottom, and they each shifted left and right, requiring careful timing when crossing them. The car drove up mini stairs and got level with some platform swings. It got on the first one, swung over, crossed to the next, and repeated until it was at the other side. It went up more mini-stairs, then had to bounce over some mini trampolines. They would lead to the switch that would cut the monkey's rope, causing him to fall and break out of the glass. Emily caught him in her net.

"Two more monkeys, guys!" the scientist cheered. "I am in fuuuuuull Excitement Mode now!" They went outside to a massive rooftop swimming pool, but to fit with the bike theme, they had to ride waterbikes. A Pipo Monkey was driving his own bike in circles, splashing waves that would knock the others off their bikes. When this happened to Emily, she tried to swim under in attempt to resurface in the center of the circle, but water mines prevented this act. However, Gary shot the ape with the slingshot to knock him off his bike, then Emily netted him with Water Net.

They rode their waterbikes around a snaky river, jumping waves surfing from the opposite way. They had to jump the bikes onto individual pipes of water, grind across, and jump to higher pipes. Emily saw a cog switch, quickly jumping to bat it with her Stun Club, turning the device and forcing a spout of water to shoot up from ahead. The spout bounced them up to a higher part of river. They had to jump and hit other cogs to activate more water spouts to propel them over barricades. Just after the second barricade, Emily hit another cog, activating a spout that shot her up to a monkey on the wall, and catching this 20th monkey. The river ended in a docking room, so the kids climbed off the waterbikes and proceeded through a corridor. (End song.)

"MIIIIIKE?" Emily's voice echoed as the treehouse began to grow darker. "HELLOOOOO?"

"May I insinuate that Mike is Emily's quote 'boyfriend' unquote?" Sheldon asked.

"It ain't even something to laugh at." Sarah said. "One time, she shrunk him and kept him in a jar."

"And we will treasure those 28 hours for the rest of our lives." Emily replied, on the verge of crying at the memory. "OH, MIKEY, please be safe!!"

Green and red spotlights came on and moved around the room as a voice echoed. "LADIEEEES and GENTLEMEN! The act you've all been waiting for, the exciting conclusion of our show! Starring the fantabulous, the extraordinary, the exemplary, the incomparably talented, the-"

"THE REDUNDANT!" Sheldon shouted.

"I dunno what that means, but I'll take it! For I am RED MONKEY!" A purple spotlight shone on a muscular ape wearing a red ringleader's uniform, goggles, and a Pipo Helmet. "Now you might be asking, who is the guest of honor? WHO, besides Red Monkey, could be so heavily emphasized so as to deserve a mention?! Well, folks, you will have your answer. I give you… MIKINLEY!" Pink spotlights aimed at the top of a ramp.

"AAAAH-!" Emily and co. gaped with utmost horror.

Mike Strongarm was wearing a pink dress, a fruit bowl hat, red lipstick, and blue eyeliner while balancing on a unicycle. "Well: this is all manner of humiliating."

"LOOK AT THIS GUY!" Red Monkey yelled in his microphone. "Is it a guy… OR A GIRL? ! I can't tell! Yellow Monkey confuses me enough with his/her gender, but now my head just freaking aches! So I'm just going to beat the snot out of this guy, and squash his head like the fruit he's carrying!"

"MIKE, DON'T WORRY!" Emily yelled, setting her T.E.L.A.-N.E.T. to warp to a hamster cage. "I'll use this net to transport you out of here!"

"DON'T LISTEN TO HER!" Sarah and Gary tackled her.

"No no, please, guys, I-hi really need to do this!" Emily chuckled, trying to shake them off.

"That's okay, Em! His one mistake was putting me on a unicycle. It may be half of a whole bike, but half is all I need!" Mike smirked with confidence.

"You'll need a bigger wheel than that to crush MY wheels!" Red Monkey jumped onto a four-wheel bike—with monster truck tires. "Come down from your tower, Princess! Let's dance!" He rammed the side of the ramp and caused Mike to roll off. (Play Mr. Patch's Theme from Banjo-Tooie!)

Boss fight: Red Monkey

Mike hurriedly pedaled around the circus grounds to escape from Red Monkey's Big Wheel. Even though he only had a unicycle, Mike was skilled enough to keep a safe distance from the oversized bike. Mike dodged the Orange Grenades Red was throwing, but this gave the boy an idea: he grabbed a banana off his hat and threw it behind him, causing Red's four-wheel to swerve out of control. Mike seized the chance to roll up to a towering "U" ramp, rolling up one side, down, up the other, and got higher each time until he was ready to fly off and soar to the approaching Red Monkey. He landed the unicycle on Red's head and knocked him dizzy.

"You won't mind if I tinker around a bit?" Mike took out a wrench and proceeded to detach the huge tires from the four-wheeler. He jumped off as Red Monkey crashed to the floor, but the Freaky Monkey recovered and leapt to a large tricycle that automatically came over. The trike's wheels rotated around the center, but still gave Mike a good pursuit. When Mike threw another banana, the wheels avoided slipping on it.

A laser shot from the bottom of Red Monkey's tricycle and propelled him up like a rocket. Mike pedaled faster as the ape intended to burn him with the laser, but he was steadily catching up. Mike saw a gong high up on the wall, at level with Red Monkey, so he pedaled toward it and tricked the ape into smashing against it. The tricycle plummeted to the ground, its legs stretching for a brief moment so Mike could jump on. He bashed Red with the wrench before unhooking the trike's legs.

Red Monkey smacked Mike off and called over a bicycle with big wheels (big bike wheels, not monster truck wheels). The ringleader pedaled up a tightrope going up a pole, so Mike chased him. Red Monkey threw his own banana peels back on the rope, but Mike jumped them and made it to the top. Red Monkey pedaled across another tightrope, weighing it down and causing Mike to speed down faster with the shift in angle. He bumped into Red's back wheel and nearly lost balance, but was able to recompose and keep chasing the monkey.

"HE'S GOING TO ESCAPE!" Emily cried, for the final tightrope would lead out of a window and onto a ship.

"NOT TODAY!" Mike smirked. When Red's weight weighed that rope down, Mike could jump over and bonk his head. Red lost balance and fell down to a "U" ramp. His back wheel hit the back fence of the top part, snapping the wheel off while he continued pedaling his front one.

Red saw the other end of the ramp coming and pedaled faster, aiming to fly up and land on the tightrope again. Mike landed on the ramp and chased him, having gained a boost by landing on the curve appropriately. "I'm going to make it! I'm going to make it!" Red was having trouble balancing on the broken bike, but his acquired speed launched him sufficiently high off the ramp. He saw himself landing on the tightrope. "I'm GOING to… huh?"

"Whatever, Carny." Mike had already launched off ahead of him, so fast that none of them saw. Having gone higher than Red Monkey, he jumped off and KICKED the ape off his bike.

"AAAAHH!" Red's boots hit the top of the ramp, getting stuck and causing his face to smash against the side. His body scraped down the ramp and made a squeaking sound before stopping at the bottom. Emily came up and kicked him to his back, seeing his cracked goggles. Emily set her net to the Adams Tech containment and caught Red Monkey. (End song.)

"ALL RIIIIGHT!" Emily jumped and swung her net around. "WE CAUGHT ALL THE FREAKY MONKEY FIVE!"

"Emily!" Mike hurried up to his friend, throwing off his outfit and wiping the makeup off.

"Mikeeey!" Emily jumped over and hugged her crush. "I have had oooone heck of a trip! I expected to find a career in science when I arrived at Adams Tech, not a career in animal control!!"

"Believe me, you aren't the only one, Em. These apes show up outta nowhere and start making a circus out of my treehouse! And it looked like they were freaking recording it."

"Yeah, they've been turning all our treehouses into TV studios, ruining all the wonderful educational programming. But now that his officers are in our custody, Specter's brain-rotting days are numbered!" Emily smirked and raised a fist.

"Yes." Sheldon spoke with sarcasm. "And now we will never know where Specter is hiding."

"D'AAH!" Emily flinched and began crying. "I forgot we were supposed to interrogate Ree-eeeed!"

"Wasn't Red trying to escape on that ship?" Gary pointed.

At this, they all used their bikes to grind up the tightropes, jumping into the ship through the window their selves. Sheldon came out of the Infi-Cube and approached the control panel. "It's on autopilot. Set for G.U.N. Area Delta."

"GUN Area Delta?" Mike repeated.

"Is Specter hiding in a GUN facility?" Emily asked herself.

"I say it's worth checking out." Sarah nodded.

"Agreed! You up for a trip, Mike?"

"Hey, these guys messed up my treehouse. If you know where their boss is hiding, I wanna administer some payback!" Mike fist-palmed.

"I've been waiting all month for a moment like that, I would be glad to share it with you." So with that, Emily pressed the Activate. The small GUN ship roared its engines and set off for the destination.

Solana Galaxy; Pokitaru

The last thing they remember was a flashing 8, then an explosion. The rest was all a haze.

Maddy woke up to sun hitting her face. Her eyes were blurry – she lost her contact lenses – but the ground was sand, and she could make out a straw roof on the side of a cliff and clothes hanging from a clothesline. Ratchet, Zach, Drake, and Shade were asleep under that roof. Maddy felt a shadow come over her. She looked up and saw a man looking down, darkened by the sun behind him and his round glasses shining white. "Thirsty?"

Maddy tiredly sat up as he held a coconut cup of juice to her. She took it, looking as the man approached the others. He had greying hair to his neck, wore a white coat, sandals, and sunburnt tan skin. "Um… Where are we?"

"You're on Pokitaru; it's a beach planet." He said as he lightly kicked Ratchet's body. "Don't ask me how you got here. One minute, the sky was glowing, and the next you all fall on my beach." He kicked Shade's body. "It was all one hour ago. But the Zoni said you had time-traveled. Er-?" Zach was still snoozing, but he gripped the man's leg and crawled up like a worm. He climbed to the man's head and smooched his cheek. The man pushed him off.

"CELESTABELLEBETHABELLE!" Zach yelped, startling everyone awake. "W-Whuh?"

"What happened?" Ratchet asked, rubbing his eyes. "Wait… This is Pokitaru!"

"Pokitaru?" Shade repeated with familiarity.

"Don't be alarmed, I'm not your enemy." The man said. "I was just telling Maddy here. My name… is Silvers Rayleigh." He turned to show his face to Maddy (not that she could see it well). He had a small grey beard.

Shade gaped. "YOU'RE the Disbanded, aren't you?!"

"Heh heh, that's what the Zoni keep calling me!" He chuckled.

"So you're the one I was supposed to find?" Maddy asked.

"And you're the girl I was told to wait for, it seems. So I guess you're right." Rayleigh paced around the beach as he spoke. "I've been on this island for 20 years. I was really surprised to learn that I was on another planet—in an entirely different dimension! Apparently something happened in this world that caused me to be sucked from my world. I wouldn't have had any idea if it wasn't for the Zoni."

"Who are the Zoni?"

"They're small black aliens that've been keeping me company. They seemed like very wise creatures. They told me to stay here and wait for 'The Conqueror.' I didn't know who that was, but I figured I had nothing else to do. So I waited. Heh, doesn't feel any different from my home!" He chugged a bottle of rum.

"'The Conqueror'?" Maddy questioned. "Who's that?"

"It's the name you were given in the prophecy." Shade said, approaching her. "I tried to tell you before. You have Conqueror's Haki. You used it on Nya's Teen Ninjas way back when."

"That Haki stuff again?"

"You have Conqueror's Haki?" Rayleigh raised a brow. "So it's true… the power does exist in this world."

"It's in your world, too?" asked Shade.

"Hold on, tell me what Haki is again?" Drake Puncture cut in.

"Armament Haki, which hardens the body." Shade raised a fist. "Observation Haki, to predict attacks and determine numbers. Those are two powers that all beings can use, but there's a third form called Conqueror's Haki. For eons, people have called it the 'Color of The King.' It is a symbol of true strength and authority, and very few beings are born with it."

"Right you are." Rayleigh said, sensing a huge creature burrow from under the sand. "But the meaning of 'King' is different in your world. It was given to-"

He jumped away when the hideous sandworm emerged from the ground. It hissed at Rayleigh and lunged at him—there was a tingling sensation in the air, and the sandworm went down like that. "This will be your lunch. I'll start the fire in a moment."

Ratchet blinked, wondering what just happened. He shook back to reality and said, "Wait a minute, we were being attacked by Dr. Nefarious! There was an explosion caused by… caused by…?" He touched his head, trying to remember.

Rayleigh frowned. "Maddy… would you like to see something? It's a little grotesque, but…"

"M-Maybe I shouldn't."

"No, I think you should. This way…"

Rayleigh calmly led Maddy and her group inside a cave within a mountainside. They heard a sound of energy surging, and saw faint blinking lights around corners in the dark tunnel. The group gasped horrifically. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Eight Zoni were floating and surrounding a pale-skinned boy, whose veins were showing and eyes were bulging. They channeled their energy to holding him in a sphere. He looked like he was in pain more horrendous than they could imagine.

"Is that… GEORGE?!" Maddy exclaimed.

"Yes." Rayleigh nodded. "Apparently, this young man had an Octogan implanted inside him."

"An Octogan?" Maddy remembered Shade talk about it.

"It's an extremely powerful relic that gives the user control over time and reality. These creatures here, the Zoni, are trying to subdue its uncontrollable power. Maddy, do you know about the World Government that rules Planet Earth?"

"My friend, Chris mentioned them to me…"

"Every King that the World Government has had could use Conqueror's Haki. They used that Haki to withstand and control the Octogan. That's why Conqueror's Haki is known as the 'Color of The King.' But if what they say is true, you possess it, Miss Murphy."

"But does that mean me and Zach are related to The King?"

"Oh, no. Numerous people, albeit few, possess the power, including myself, but I'm not from this world. And my knowledge is only based on what the Zoni have told me. I don't really understand much about this world, but I'm sure there's a reason I was brought here. And it is to teach you Haki."

"So if I mastered Haki, that means I could overpower the Octogan? And maybe help George?"

"That's a stretch. In my homeworld, it took me 2 years to teach a student Haki. An inexperienced child like you would take much longer to be able to hold an Octogan without gravely injuring yourself."

"But I'm a fast learner!" Maddy yelled impatiently. "I was able to master Tiny Style in a few hours, I bet I can do this, too!"

"I don't doubt that you could," Rayleigh smiled at her willingness, "but as far as the matter of George here, we have only the Zoni to rely on. However, I promise to protect him myself, in case they fail. For now, my child, I will teach you the ways of-"

"The Force!" Zach shouted. The five people shot disbelieved glares at him. "…Well, he set me up for it."

"Whatever, let's get started right now." Maddy stated. "The Apocalypse can happen at any time, so I won't go back to Earth until I'm a master at Haki."

"Very well. First, I'll teach you the most offensive form, the Color of Arms. Let's go outside."

As Rayleigh led them out of the cave, Maddy turned back to George. He really did look grotesque; she could feel the power surging through his veins, the unbearable energy coming from the '8' on his forehead.

"All the doctors know, Melody found out, George—I mean…" Chris stopped himself.

"Who's George?"

"George King, from Sector IC. He, uh… kinda found out during Arctic Training."

"Did Chris actually know about that?" Maddy asked herself. "And he kept it secret? …Just what are these people?"

"I'm a freak among firebenders." Chris concluded.

"Then I guess he's a freak among timebenders…" Maddy mumbled in worry. She couldn't imagine what sort of 'advanced powers' a timebender could have.

"Even more than that." Shade replied; Maddy flinched when she realized she was beside her. "Maddy, I'm beginning to understand why Nefarious was hunting you. The Octogan are the most powerful objects in the universe. If those with The King's Haki can control them, their strength can be phenomenal. Nefarious must want that kind of power."

"I wouldn't put it past him." Ratchet noted. "But, Nefarious was destroyed in that explosion, wasn't he?"

"If we survived, there's a chance he could have survived, too. It feels unreal for a child to become a Full Haki Master in less than a month. But if mastering Haki is Maddy's job in the prophecy, then maybe she can. But it won't be easy."

"I lost my wristwatch communicator." Ratchet said. "Drake, will you help me look for it? I need it to call Aphelion if we're gonna have any hope of getting off this planet."

"Aren't you still worried about Clank?"

"Yeah, but I can't do anything about it now, can I? But if Dr. Nefarious shows his face again, I'll make him tell me where he took Clank."

On a different island

"AHH, MY FACE!" Dr. Nefarious shouted. "I can't tell where my face is!" His head was dropped on the ground and covered by a blanket. "LAWRENCE! Where are you?!"

His butler was collecting other parts of his master's body and putting them back together. "I thought the blanket was supposed to project the illusion of nighttime and put one to sleep. Hmm, perhaps I misread that article on birds." When he attached the left arm, it smacked the butler before the body marched over to pick up the head.

Nefarious screwed his head back on. "Finally. Now, what planet is this?"

"Pokitaru, Sir. The vacation resort. We somehow winded up here after yet another failed attempt to detain Madeline Murphy."

"Ugh, I am officially SICK of chasing that girl around all the time. Lawrence, signal Lord Vorselon to come get us off this watery wasteland." The robot mastermind marched around some trees to a cliff overlooking some islands. "We don't have much time to discover Maddy's ability before the Apocalypse arrives. I want to harness that power in case…?" From the cliff, Nefarious had view of a beach campsite on a close island. He zoomed in his vision to see the people coming from around the hill. "Ahhhh… She's HERE!"

"Ooo, how lucky." Lawrence said in his emotionless voice. "If we time it correctly, perhaps we can seize Madeline while no one else is looking and teleport to ship when Vorselon arrives."

"Wait, Lawrence… Let us sit and observe." Nefarious tuned his eye-binoculars. "Perhaps the child believes she is a safe distance from us. Maybe now she will be willing to show us her 'secret power.' And once I know what it is… I will see what I can do with it before I feel like telling Ragaj."

KND Moonbase

Since Mom was too weak to work herself, and was still being treated in the infirmary, she called some workbots to help the operatives repair their treehouse. Mom was currently sipping tea while laying on a hospital bed, having been healed by Melody beforehand. Dillon York approached her with a serious expression. "Mom, I need to ask you something."

She opened one eye to view her visitor while in mid-sip. She put her cup down and said in her smug tone, "Why, if it isn't the little snot who liked to skip around with that candy chick. Where is your little robo-doll, anyway?"

"Vanellope's missing, and last I heard, she was at the Great Clock. You said we would have to go to the Great Clock. Why?"

"My, aren't we persistent." Mom said in her soft, sweet tone. "Little boys need to be patient while Mom is busy. As soon as your Moonbase is fixed, I'll take you to the Clock, dearie."

"Tell me what's happening at Great Clock!!" he yelled in anger.

"Augh, fine. I'm sure by now, you must know that the World Leaders don't look too highly at the Twenty Keys Prophecy. They want to do everything they can to stop it from happening. Well, they know that the Great Clock is a key item in the prophecy. And at this very moment, one of our Corporate Presidents has been sent to handle the situation."

"Who?"

"He is known as the 'Full-time Gamer.' President of KaibaCorp., Gozaburo Kaiba."

Meanwhile, three workbots were fixing the entrance to the Weapons Storage safe. Several Moonbase guards were stationed to watch them, while Cheren, Panini, and Francis had a checklist for all the safe's items. "It doesn't seem like anything was destroyed in the attack." Cheren said with relief, checking off Father's piano. "But when I think about it, if Kodama hadn't stolen the Shell 297… it could've actually blown up in here. …Holy fuck." The very idea was mind-blowing to Cheren: Kodama saved the Moonbase by disobeying him. …He was actually stunned for a few minutes.

"Wait a minute, the Yin Yo-yo that Sector JP brought us seven months ago!" Francis realized. "Is that on our checklist? Where is it?" He looked around frantically.

"Er- I'm sure it's here somewhere. Look around, it might be under something."

While the three were hopelessly crawling in search of the small yo-yo, an even smaller thief was already tiptoeing away behind the guards' boots. "Ha ha hee heeeee!" Jack Spicer laughed, having minimized the Yin Yo-yo with the Changing Chopsticks. "Twenty years later, these kids are still morons!" He made his escape before anyone would see.

Great Clock's Cyberspace

This chamber was nearly pitch-black, except for the lights of a control panel, which faced an enormous stream of light that was ceaselessly flowing right, its waves and texture whirling around as it did so. XANA and Peridot's footsteps echoed in the dark, quiet chamber. "Well, Peridot, in spite of a few bumps in the road, your work has been… satisfactory. Our job will not be complete until we have flushed out those verminous Zoni. But for now, there is one other thing you must repair. Lesser Lord Gnik says that it is the most important of all."

Peridot approached the controls, gazing at the stream of light. From a close perspective, the light was both blinding and hypnotic. She stared transfixed at it for a few minutes. "I…I recognize this wavelength." Peridot used her computer-fingers to activate the controls. Holographic screens appeared, showing gray-skinned humanoids with orange horns, beautiful angels, green mist, a distorted space, and a tall yellow empress whose scowling face was turned away. Peridot gasped.

"Peridot… I want you to infiltrate the trolls' fortress. Learn what you can about the machine. Any threats or weakness it might possess. But do not let them see you."

"I hope you die! Hee hee hee!" Pearl laughed.

"According to Ragaj, this wavelength dwells in the bodies of the Zoni." XANA said. "They use it to warp between the First Dimension and the New Universe in mere milliseconds. This stream is none other than the First Byway. It is the Dimensional Byway that links the universe with the First Dimension. Sealed behind the Gate of Time. Peridot… if you hope to see your Diamond again, then it must be fixed."

"Yellow… Diamond…"

The area rumbled suddenly. "What was that?" Peridot gasped.

Outside

The Zoni had splorped Vanellope to an outside area of the same Cybersite. She was still carrying an unconscious Clank in her arms. "THIS IS THE PLACE. WHEN WE BRING ORVUS TO OUR SUPER COMPUTER, HE CAN TELL YOU PART OF WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW." The gray-eyed Zoni (Karkat) said.

"Mewww! I can't wait until we get to m33t you all!" Nepeta's Zoni said.

"1 SM3LL TR34CH3RY! SN1FF SN1FF!" Terezi hissed. "W3 4R3 NOT 4LON3."

The site rumbled. "Is it XANA?" Vanellope asked.

Great Clock

The Human Bill Cipher walked by a window. He peered outside at the incoming fleet of ships. "Ooooo! Looks like this place is in for a party!"

The flagship was commanded by Gozaburo Kaiba. "Even if the Twenty Keys come together, we will not allow them to do anything here. We will condemn this place for the Government and keep the Gate of Time sealed."