B-33. The Ark

Are you ready to learn why this is Noah's Arc?

Gumdrop Cove

It was twilight when the Marzipan Pirates returned to Gumdrop. The village was more hectic than usual—some houses were on fire and pirates were beating the sugar out of each other. "Why pirates devolve into Neanderthals?" Nel asked, riding her captain's shoulders.

"I reckon it's to do with that business in the sky."

"THE END IS NIGH!" cried Gelatin Gerald, standing on a pile of defeated Soda Pirates. "Brandon, Ay've defeated yer crew, now BUILD me a soda rocket so that I may return home- NYAR!" Augustus grabbed him off the pile.

"Gerald, where is Brandon?! I need to ask him something."

"Where ya think he is, boy, where 'e always is! Too afraid ta face me, he is."

The Marzipans fought through the crowds and made it to the Soda Can, which was empty except for one person. Bubbly Brandon was at the same table he was seated at the beginning of this month, staring at the same treasure Augustus brought him: the Everbubble Fizz. "Not feeling fizzy today, Brandy?"

"Not anymore, Augustus." Brandon replied solemnly. "I've foreseen such a cataclysm… 'twas always in me nightmares. They called me crazy, but now Ay'm the only one sane… The end of the world."

"Well, I have news, too." Augustus ejected the Lost Candies from the Infi-Cube. "I found all the Lost Candies… except for one. And it's hidden under this very island."

"Augustus… yer still fixated on such things?"

"I have every reason to be, Brandon. The Lost Candies are supposed to create a ship. A ship that's supposed to save everyone from the Apocalypse. I'm talking to you because you've been coming to this island longer than anyone. I think you have the best chance at knowing where it is."

"That don't mean a thing, boy. There be hundreds of sugar-salts on this rock. If there were a giant vessel under this island, it sure ain't noticeable. Otherwise, all the pirates would be where it is."

"I didn't say there was a giant vessel under the island."

"Y-…" Brandon was confused. "Sure ya did, you said the last candy is under this island."

"Right, but did I say it was the ship?"

"Well- I… thought the implication was…"

"Bruh, you lie worse than me." Rallo remarked.

"Brandon, I know you know where it's hidden." Augustus stated. "Why are you keeping it secret?"

"Because… that's when me nightmares started happening. I found the ship yer talkin' about… found it in me 20s. I wanted to eat every ounce of that candy. But I was so tired from the journey that I took a nap… I saw the planet collapsing, stars exploding, some wave of green mist… and that ship was sailing on by. I thought it was a bad omen… I left that cave and never came back. Never told anyone about it… but I feared the worst happening. 'Tis the very reason I sought to taste all the world's sodas, and live me life the way I wanted to."

"And where was the cave, do you remember?"

"Aye…"

Bubbly Brandon led the Marzipans to the Scarlet Licorice, where sexy female pirates came to dance. The bar was abandoned when they stepped in. "'Shame." Brandon said. "When that Sky Show took place, the lovely lady pirates suddenly had epiphanies and wanted to spend the remainder of their lives doing something more meaningful than pleasing the opposite gender. In me youth, I found the lady pirates here so beautiful that I break into this bar after hours to, eh, nibble on their licorice bikinis."

"Gross!" Augustus remarked.

"Man, we the ones should be saying that." Rallo said.

"One day, I decided to play around with the poles." They stepped onto the stage with two licorice poles. "I got two Licoropes and wrapped them around the tops of either pole to practice my… acrobats."

"Acrobats?" Augustus chortled. "What, were you in the Circus Pirates?"

"No, but there was a pretty lass from that crew I… may have tried to impress. But when I did, the poles bent, the tops connected, and… Just try it, Augustus."

"Stewie, gimme yours." August requested. He roped his Licorope around the top of the left pole and roped Stewie's around the right. Using Haki strength, the captain tugged both ropes and bent the poles to touch the tips, shaping them like an archway. He unwrapped the ropes and gave Stewie's back as they stared confusedly. "I don't understand what-" Augustus walked between them and vanished.

"Captain!" Rallo and the crew gasped. Augustus's head seemed to stick out of nothingness.

"Whooooaaa!" He gaped. "You twerps gotta get in here!" The head retracted.

Exchanging frightful looks, the four children entered the invisible portal. They were taken to a vast chamber with a giant door sealed with a keyhole and six small doors around the wall, equal to the number of keyholes. There was an image of an ark on the ceiling, similar to the design they saw in the Deep Cream. "These doors each hold a trial that uses one of the Candy Powers." Brandon explained. "I had to complete 'em all to see the marvel that lay behind that big door there."

"Then we know what we have to do." Augustus began his next lollipop. "Which door you kids wanna do first?" (Play "Tower of Riddles" from Paper Mario: Thousand-Year Door.)

Stage B-29: Noah's Shrine

Mission: Find the sixth Lost Candy.

The Marzipans first decided to enter a door with a Pop Gum floating over it. The door led to a small room with several chocolate rocks, an available Pop Gum, and a sign in the middle. Nel chose to chew the Pop Gum while her captain read the sign.

Save the stones with taste.

Where shall the worlds go.

The tasteless stone must break.

Before shooting Nel's gum, Augustus walked around and tasted each of the chocolate rocks. While all the same color, they each tasted different, from milky chocolate, nutty chocolate, dark chocolate, minty chocolate… One of the stones tasted like mud, nearly making him puke. He destroyed that rock with the Nel Launcher. "Aye, ya did it, boy!" Brandon called. "One of the keyholes be glowing!"

Indeed, one of the holes on the central door glowed, and was in the respective location of the room they completed. Next, the kids entered a door with a Bounce Gum. There was a central cyan switch and various puddles of colored Kool-Aid around the wall. The sign read:

Colors surround us.

But they all share one sky.

Combine and taste their flavor.

Augustus sat on the Bounce Gum, drenched it in the blue Kool-Aid, then the green to make cyan, pushing the same-colored switch. The switch became magenta, so the captain bounced in purple and pink Kool-Aid. Afterwards, it wanted brown Kool-Aid, which Augustus got by combining yellow with orange, then red. When the switch was hit the third time, another keyhole glowed. Next, they entered the Fudgepuffsicle room. There was a spiked floor and ceiling, and a licorice rope-lever in one corner. (Candy corn spikes, of course.)

Believe in your friends.

And the gods that protect you.

Let them guide you.

As expected, Augustus would have to eat the Puffsicle and let Nel ride him. The bloated boy maneuvered toward the switch while Nel made light jumps to keep from sinking him in the spikes or letting him float too high. When they got to the lever, Nel kept Augustus under her while she grabbed the rope in her teeth and pulled it down with her weight. Augustus barely touched the floor spikes when the switch fully hit. They made their way to the start as August deflated. A keyhole was glowing.

"I actually cheated that one." Brandon mentioned. "Burped me a mighty big soda bubble, I did."

The crewmates entered the Shrink Sweet room, which had three tiny holes in the opposite wall.

The right road to take.

The smallest survives.

Which is the road to light?

Augustus held Maggie up to peep into each of the holes, and she confirmed the left one was safest. Augustus ate the sweet and shrunk as Maggie put him in her slingshot. She carefully aimed at the little hole and flung him through. Augustus bounced on a marshmallow over a dark pit and landed on a safe foothold. There, he could eat a Growth Gum to stretch back to normal and press a switch. He climbed a ladder to a walkway above the room to return to the side with his friends.

The next room utilized Rock Candy. It was a humongous room that consisted of a racetrack swirling down.

Life is an endless loop.

The universe begins and ends.

Know where it stops.

Augustus encased in the Rock Candy and began rolling down the swirling, whirling path. The four kids felt dizzy while watching him, especially when he seemed to come down from the top after going down. Indeed, Augustus was trapped in an endless loop, but the captain was probably too dizzy to realize that. There was a floating pink switch between two loops, and it was lined up with a part on the opposite side. "Augustus, jump when the pink thing is above you!" Stewie yelled.

Augustus saw what he was referring to. When he was aligned, he pushed up and caused the Rock Candy to jump, hitting the switch and bouncing back to the start with a marshmallow. The sixth door they had to complete was the Fizzy Lift Soda. It took place in a breezy room over a dark pit, with a Red, Green, Blue, and Dark Chuchu bubble floating around. There was a gray Tongue One on the other side.

He who hungers for strength.

Beware the enclosing darkness.

With a heavy heart, he swallows.

None of the Chuchu matched the Tongue One's color. However, there was a ray of light poking in from the corner near the entrance. Augustus pushed the Dark Chu to the light and turned it to stone. He quickly grabbed the round stone, which nearly weighed his floating body into the pit. He struggled to carry the stone to the Tongue One and set it in its mouth. "THAAAAANK YOOOOOU."

With the six trials completed, the great door opened, shaking the cavern in the process. "Ya did it, mates! The door is open!" Brandon called. "The ship not be far now."

"Sweet!" Augustus dropped his lolli stick. "Let's go, team." The passage took them down a zigzaggy cave dripping soda from the light-brown stalactites. They came to a tall wall with a cinnamon path, making use of their Corn-Clamber Boots. At the top, they were taken to an extremely vast room of the cave, most of which was occupied by a terrific mass. The five pirates gaped.

It was a gargantuan ship designed like an ark with an orange body, some yellow stripes, blue wings, and a gold central house on the deck. It had to be as big as an island. It was impossible to believe something as enormous as this was hidden under Gumdrop. "You've finally made it." A tiny, childish voice said. The kids were so busy looking up, they didn't think to look down and see the Sugar Fairy with mean purple eyes.

"Princess Zeira…" Augustus said. "Why couldn't you have told me about all this before? About the Apocalypse?"

"The World Government is against the Twenty Keys Prophecy and anything that references it. If you were seeking the Lost Candies with knowledge of the Apocalypse, Lord Licorice would have been tempted to kill you more. Besides… the news of the Apocalypse has struck fear in the hearts of many. I didn't want that fear to drive you. Instead, what you had was a desire to grant someone's dying wish… that pure-hearted nature was what drove you."

"Did it occur to you that I might've worked FASTER knowing the world was at stake?! That I could be saving billions of lives besides Luviro's?"

"Perhaps, but sometimes faster is not better. But it doesn't matter now. Finally, the six Lost Candies are here. We can revive the Gummi Ship, Noah."

"The Noah? Like Noah's Ark?"

"Exactly. The same way Noah's Ark was to protect the animals from the floods, the Gummi Ship Noah is meant to save the universe's population from the Apocalypse."

"The entire universe? It's big and all, but I don't even think it can hold the entire world. How is it supposed to work?"

Zeira floated up to the teen's face, glaring cutely. "How do you think, big guy?"

"Um…" August felt like he should know, yet he didn't.

Zeira jumped away. "However, it won't function without the powers of the Lost Candies. Bring them inside quickly. I have already placed the Sugar Fuel in its rightful place. If you're smart, figure out where the others go." She flew inside the ship.

"Alright." Augustus began his next lollipop. "Let's find a way inside."

An invisible force appeared to be keeping the vessel propped up, giving them room to run underneath. They saw a Sugar Fairy floating near one side of the ship, and when they ran toward it, the fairy flew up into a window several feet above. "Maggie, you wanna get in there and look for somethin'?" The baby nodded and shot her grappling hook to lift her up into the window.

She was in a room with a candy corn spike floor, and across it was a lever. Maggie shot her grappling hook to the lever and flipped it. Outside, the Marzipans heard a CRASH, looking left to see an anchor drop from a hatch near the front. "MAGGIE, there's an anchor!" Augustus called for the baby to come down. The crew rushed over to the anchor and stared up at the hatch.

"This looks much too small to actually hold a ship this massive in place." Stewie observed.

"Yeah, it's like they set up these puzzles on purpose. Nel, you're small enough, climb up there and find a ladder to throw down or something."

"Eyes, Aughsucks!" Nel responded before climbing the anchor's chain.

"It's just 'Aye,' Nel."

The cavegirl climbed into a rather tight room of the ship, which led to a corridor with a java pit below. Nel could sidle along a horizontal pipe on her right, then jump to a left pipe when it ended. Nel set foot on the other side and up some chocolate-bar stairs. The following passage led across a java river, where Nel had to jump floating marshmallows that would sink under her weight. Nel then had to swing three hanging Licoropes that would quickly collapse before landing at the base of another stairway. They led to a hall, where the left route led further in the ship, while the right route led to a sealed door.

Nel approached the door and stepped on a switch beside it. The door opened, giving Nel view of her crew down below. A mechanical ladder also lowered from the entrance. "AUGHSUUUUCKS!" She waved for their attention.

"Hey, great job, Nel! Time to see what this baby's like on the inside." The crewmates climbed into the ship as Nel took her place on her captain's shoulders again. They followed the passage to a massive room whose floor was messy with rotten sugar piles and giant Life Savers lain around. On their right, there were two staircases leading up to a higher floor, but there was a sealed garage door between those stairs labeled Generator.

Augustus knocked on the garage door and stuck his Haki hands underneath to try and lift it. He could only lift it slightly, but Stewie took the Infi-Cube and crawled underneath. There was a machine with a glass case and a circular space in its center. Stewie got the Cupcake Core out of the cube and placed it in the space. There was a big green button on a panel on the left, and when Stewie pressed it, the chamber sparked to life and began absorbing the cupcake's energy.

The door to that room opened, and the pirates gaped when the Life Savers floated in the air, and everything brimmed to life. From the top of the twin stairs, one of them could jump to a small Life Saver that floated to and fro. Stewie had the honors of jumping on and making leaps to the following floating Life Savers. They led to a platform hanging on a wall with several nuts and bolts. There was a large, central peg where a nut could be screwed in, and what better fit than the Rock Nut.

When Stewie twisted it in, the Rock Nut sent some kind of energy glow across the structure of the ship. The crewmates entered a door above the stairs, leading to a room with multiple gears. One of the central pegs was empty, so Augustus took the liberty of putting the Gear Heart there. The gears still weren't spinning, but with a few tremors from Rallo's boombox, the Gear Heart pumped to life and began endlessly spinning the system.

The following door led to a chamber of giant gears, leading to an area where the Sun Key would go. Nel bit the Sun Key in her teeth and hopped up some vertical gears, ducked to avoid being crushed by the point in an above gear, then jumped to grab a rotating chain. She dropped on a flat gear, then jumped three hollow gears with Amps floating around them. She then had to Wall Jump between two stacks of small gears, and at the top, she jumped more vertical gears that each had only one spot for her feet. With her excellent platforming, she got into the control chamber and stuck the Sun Key in the keyhole.

The Noah shook harder when all the Lost Candies were in their rightful places. A pathway stretched from the control area down to the other crewmates, allowing them to regroup with Nel. "The ship is fully powered. Meet us up on the bridge." Zeira's voice said through the PA.

From the control room, the pirates crossed a hallway and passed a vacant room that had an illusion of space. After going up a few stairs, they found their selves at the deck of the ship, where Bubbly Brandon had been brought by the fairies. Augustus approached Zeira and asked, "It's certainly big, but how is it gonna get out of here?"

"Don't underestimate the power of the Lost Candies. BEGIN LIFT-OFF!" (End song.)

The pirates took cover inside the gold house when the ship trembled with power. It felt as if the entire earth quaked when the ship burst up through the ceiling and flooded ocean water into the cave. Everybody on Gumdrop Cove fell off their feet when the titanic vessel lifted up into the sky.

When the trembling subsided, the pirates stepped outside and looked over the railing. The view of the briny sea was astounding, and as the ship steadily ascended, they would soon see the entire planet. "Wow… Imagine the look on Mom's face when I bring this home." Augustus remarked.

"I'm afraid I will have to deny you the chance."

The pirates whipped around and found Lord Licorice, Mandy McKenzie, Azula, and Blackberry Guards. "LICORICE! Where did you come from?!"

"We've been camouflaged in the dark sky all along, stupid boy." Licorice said, holding his gun ready. "With all the Lost Candies, we knew it was only a matter of time before you awakened the Noah. But instead of ambushing you and taking the Lost Candies, we thought it far better to let you do what you must… so we may put this vessel to better use."

"Oh yeah?" Augustus took out the lolli stick and dropped it over the edge. "And what better use is that?"

"Destroying Kids Next Door Moonbase, of course! King Andrew claims that those meddlesome brats are holding the Seven Lights up there, safe from their grasp. Our only chance to stop the prophecy is to destroy them in one fell swoop. Using the power of this indestructible Noah, I will be the man that ended the Twenty Keys Prophecy! Meanwhile, you five will be the sad little pirates who failed to stop me, and jumped over the edge in despair."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because if you don't," replied Mandy, "we'll feed your Sugar Fairy friend to Azula." She revealed the butterfly net and the helpless Zeira squirming inside.

"Didn't you learn your lesson from last time?" Augustus asked Azula.

"I remember what happened." Azula replied with a snarl. Her eyes were still red from crying all month. "And I learned something: when I feel sad, when I cry… a new fire burns inside me. A fire that burns from pain… and I love feeling that way. I want to cry more… so I can BURN more!" She combusted with sapphire flames.

"Not now, dearest!" Licorice cautioned. "So, what will it be, Marzipans? Are you going to jump, or let your fairy die?"

Augustus glanced over the edge. He stared at his crewmates and nodded assuringly. "You win, Licorice. I guess we just weren't good enough. Come on, kids. Together!" He picked the four kids up and leapt backward. Licorice and Mandy stared over the railing, but saw only open sea.

"I say… they fall fast." The Candy Lord observed.

"Indeed, too fast." Mandy agreed. "But what can you do about juniors. Speaking of which:" She kicked Licorice off his feet and pinned his chest under her foot.

"GYAH!" Licorice yelped when she tipped a sword to his neck. "What are you doing?!"

"Surprise, surprise." Mandy said sarcastically. "I'm double-crossing you." Behind her, Moblin and Fatblin had climbed onboard and were attacking the Blackberries. "A ship with this size and power will make the Boogey Pirates invincible. Could use a paint job, of course. I'm not sorry to say I'm putting you out of commission, Licorice."

"N-Now now, Mandy." Licorice said nervously. "Perhaps we can sit down and talk about this! Or better yet, you can GO down!" He sunk into the deck.

Mandy, Azula, and the demons were immediately grabbed in cocoons from the ship's gummy deck. Azula was unable to burn it and Mandy couldn't phase out. "What in the world is this?!"

"Myah hah hah hah ha ha!" Lord Licorice emerged in the form of a candy monster. "Marvelous! My powers work on this vessel after all! And how convenient, even a Logia's power is useless against it." He squeezed the demons into darkness. "Men! The collars! I'll hand these pirates to King Andrew personally."

The Blackberries placed chi-blocking collars over Mandy and Azula. Violet Beauregard dropped down from the Cinnamon Ships and kicked the women down. "Lord Licorice wants the Noah." Veruca Salt smiled eerily, surrounded by her gas cloud. "He wants to destroy the Kids Next Door. He wants to be rid of all you pirates."

"Our next stop is Kids Next Door Moonbase." Lord Licorice faced the half-moon in the distant sky. "After this, no one will ever doubt the power of candy! King Andrew… will be pleased." The Noah turned under his power and set course for the Moonbase.

The Marzipan Pirates landed on a small Cinnamon Ship piloted by Penelope Mousse. "You came unusually quickly." Augustus remarked.

"I may have put a tracker on your neck and followed you from far away." the mouse Mobian replied. "I hope that doesn't violate our parley."

"I'll overlook. Speaking of which, where is Captain Stag?"

"I don't appreciate being called that, boy!" Captain Slag flew up on a large hoverbike fit for his fat body. His twin Rusty Petes rode with him, and many other Slag Pirates had their own bikes. "So, this be the legendary treasure you journeyed far and long for. A ship o' that size and beauty will be perfect in destroying the World Government!"

"We'll discuss details later. We can't let Licorice get to Moonbase!"

"Guys, I think some people are already ahead of us!" Penelope pointed. (Play "Hag 1" from Banjo-Tooie!)

Boss fight: Lord Licorice

Azula's airships and the Hook Pirates' flying ships were being bombarded by the Noah's cannons. "OI! Give us back the captain!" Creeper yelled from the lead airship. "Fire Slugs, melt that behemoth!" A bottom hatch opened and dropped 500 Fire Slugs on the Noah. Veruca took cover from the monsters as they puffed flames, but Licorice simply forced points to jab out around the ship and push them off. "MWAH HAH HA! Do you fools not know what 'indestructible' means?!"

"What kind of weird super power is that?!" Penelope questioned.

"It has to be the Candy-Candy Fruit!" Augustus realized. "I remember Big Mom saying that she sent samples of her DNA to Caesar to make Devil Fruits out of them. I guess Lord Licorice managed to steal it, too. Big Mom was so mad, she ate the Gingerbread Village."

"If I can get Licorice in range, perhaps I can neutralize the power." Stewie said as he readied his Neutralizer.

"Great idea. Penelope, fly higher." The mouse girl did so, putting Licorice's monster form in their view. While the beast was swatting at some flying Hook Pirates, Stewie locked on and fired the Neutralizer. "BYAAAAH!" Licorice sunk into the deck, and the ship halted without his control.

"Now's our chance, let's land and attack them!" Augustus declared. Penelope stomped the gas and flew above the Noah's deck, the Marzipans dropping down. They faced Veruca, Violet, and Mike Teavee with battle-ready expressions.

The three henchmen turned when the control room's entrance opened and Lord Licorice stepped out. The Candy Lord tossed a bubblegum in his mouth, chewed, and stretched a long, whip-like gum to grab Augustus's legs and throw him and Nel onto the control room's roof. "Take care of the larvae." Licorice ordered. Veruca jumped to grab Stewie, Violet caught Maggie, and Mike caught Rallo before they fell into individual trapdoors.

"Ow…" Augustus helped himself up. Nel was flattened by him from the impact, the cavegirl unconscious. "Nel, are you alright?!"

"It's cute that you're concerned for that outdated piece of trash." Lord Licorice climbed onto the roof. "That's what you'll be soon enough."

"You know, I kind of guessed you would betray the other pirates… but why the Kids Next Door? Why the Seven Lights? Do you want the Apocalypse to happen?!"

"I serve only King Andrew. I owe him everything. Everybody mocked my family for our candy heritage, but he believed in me. He gave me a chance to be feared and respected. I will prove his trust in me by destroying all his enemies with this beauty!"

"King Andrew is wrong, Licorice. The Sky Show made it sound like he's being controlled by that 8-ball thingy. This ship could save everyone, Licorice, you have to realize that!"

"I won't let a junior Candy Pirate order me! My faith is in King Andrew, and with this ship, I will be the most powerful force in his ARMY!" He lashed four Licoropes from under his armor. Augustus dodged and slashed his cutlass, but it flew out of his hand and into Licorice's. "Your friend's little toy weakened my control on this ship, but my Candy-Candy Fruit isn't neutralized, yet. You stand no chance against me!" He shot two bullets that Augustus dodged, but Licorice commanded them to come back and hit the boy's arms.

"YOWCH!" Augustus grabbed the right arm's wound. The wind from the moving ship made him fall to his knees due to this unstable position.

"You only looked formidable next to your monstrous grandmother, boy, but you're nothing without-"

"AYAAAAAA!!" Henrietta Fizzuras rammed the Ace Flyer against Licorice's head, knocking him down to the deck.

"MOM?!" exclaimed Augustus.

"DAMMIT, BOY, I can accept you keeping a cavegirl as your pet, but VHERE did you expect to hide THIS PIECE OF JUNK?!"

"It's not junk, Mom, it's important!"

"Oh, I don't vant to hear it right now!" Henrietta landed on the deck and raised her sword at Licorice. "Nobody hurts my boy except ME, arschloch!" Licorice easily dodged her swings and willed the Candycane Cutlass up at her neck, but Henrietta used Haki to keep it away.

Augustus chucked his Gobstopper at the Candy Lord's head, giving Heinie the chance to slice him. "Aughsucks, you're hurt!" Nel yelled after recovering.

"Nel, go inside and look for Zeira. She can heal me." The cavegirl nodded and pranced inside the ship on all fours. Augustus withstood the pain in his arms and bounced the Gobstopper in his hand. "Are you ready for a taste of Marzipan, Licorice?"

"Cough, cough!" Stewie Griffin was trapped in a gas cloud created by Veruca Salt. The Metahuman Neutralizer turned to rust, much to his horror.

"I want you to suffocate in here." Veruca told him creepily. "I want you to turn into dust. My Rot-Rot Fruit allows people to age. The more they age, they ROT."

"Cough!" Stewie studied his hands. They were still baby-like and unchanging. He smirked. "Do your powers affect chronologically frozen infants, perhaps?"

"What?!" Veruca spun a cloud around Stewie. "No! I want to turn you into dust! Why don't you do what I want?!"

"Because my show has been rotting for years already!" Stewie stretched his Hulk arm and grabbed Veruca, slamming her back-and-forth around the floor. The rotten child was quickly knocked unconscious, her gas cloud fading away. "I'm not going anytime soon."

Maggie Simpson blasted homing bullets at Violet Beauregard, but even the bullets that never miss could not strike the nimble target. "What's wrong, baby? Your master eyesight can't keep up with my flexibility?"

Maggie glared murderously and whipped out a pink bubblegum – in actuality, a Bounce Gum. Maggie shot it at Violet, who dodged as the gum exploded behind and clogged that part of the hall. Violet leapt over and punched Maggie to the floor. She recovered in time to see her escape down a left hall, so she shot a Bounce Gum to the right to clog it up.

The opposite hall turned right at the end, and Maggie saw Violet clinging to the ceiling close by. The henchgirl quickly kicked Maggie against the wall and crawled away, but the baby shot another Bounce Gum ahead to block her path. Maggie shot bullets that Violet still dodged, and when the baby got closer, Violet jumped over and ran back the way they came. Violet was forced to head into the original hall with gum blocking the other. Unfortunately, gum prevented her escape here, too, and Maggie shot another Bounce Gum to trap her in place. "HEY! Let me out of here, you little brat!!"

Maggie pulled her binky out and said, "Start chewing, bitch."

Rallo ducked under a classroom desk to hide from a group of zombies. "Come on, man, Zombie High ain't somethin' a 5-year-old should watch! Please change the channel to Class of 3000."

"We can't leave now! This is the part where the zombies eat the little kid's brain." Mike's voice echoed.

"AAAAH!" The zombies threw aside his desk, missing Rallo as he sprinted toward the hallway. His efforts were fruitless as zombies in school uniforms surrounded him from both directions. "No, please!" Rallo ducked in fear. "I need my brain! I can't even count to 11! My head's as good as a-!" He just remembered: "Duh." Before a zombie could snack on his afro, he revealed his stereos. He turned them up to full blast and quaked the digital television world.

Outside, the stereos of the HD TV caught fire and burned the whole device. Rallo and Mike were forced out. "I don't got time for you, Teavee!" Rallo blasted a swarm of music notes to knock Mike out. "My captain needs me!"

Nel located a storage room where Mandy and Azula were chained to pipes. "Oh, it's Augustus's new pet." Mandy remarked. "Do us a favor and bite these chains off."

"Up here!" Zeira's butterfly net was hung on a wall. "Hurry and save me!"

"Pupils!" Nel responded, bumping the wall headfirst to make the net fall. The cavegirl tore it open with her teeth and freed Zeira. "Aughsucks need help!"

"I'm on it. And it's 'aye,' by the way."

Lord Licorice made a cloud of Pop Gums circle above before sending the explosives to rain upon Henrietta, who dodged in a tap-dance fashion. Augustus tossed his Gobstopper at him, but Licorice caught it in midair, and pelted the sphere between the mother and son's stomachs. During one comeback, Augustus grabbed the ball and was thrown against his mother. "I'm through wasting time with you so-called pirates!" Licorice stomped his foot to sink into the vessel, then grabbed the deck in his fingers.

Augustus and Henrietta slid toward the back when the Noah shifted angle and faced the moon, shaking as energy charged in the engines. "I'll drive this ship so fast through Moonbase, they'll never see it coming! GAAAAH!" It shook forcefully under an unseen force. "What's happening now?!"

"By Electro!" exclaimed Captain Slag. "It be the giant Kremling, K. Lumsy!"

"K. Lumsy?!" Augustus whipped around. The giant Kremling was flying with a pair of white, glittery wings.

"Pwetty fairies tell me friends in trouble. K. Lumsy gonna protect friends."

"Because the power of friendship is sweeter than any sugar!" declared the Sugar Fairies that composed his wings.

"Augustus, we have to defeat him now!" Zeira flew out of the ship and used glittery bubblegum to patch the captain's wounds.

"Not vithout me!" Henrietta grabbed Lord Licorice around the neck.

"Rock on, Mom!" Augustus hardened his fists like stone and repeatedly punched Lord Licorice's face.

"NNN!" Henrietta kicked the Candy Lord to his front. "You're not getting out of punishment, boy!"

"I'll take that CHANCE!" Augustus stomped the lord's head with an Armament boot and knocked him clean out. The Noah was free from his control. (End song.)

"YAHOOOO!" The Rusty Petes cheered for the Marzipans as they and Slag boarded the Gummi Ship. "Augustus-gustus, he's the man, if he can't do it, perhaps Slag could have!"

"Oh ho ho, I admit, 'twas a festive display." Slag laughed. "But we have a parley to complete. This ship be OURS now, Augustus!"

"What do you mean yours?!" Mandy and Azula appeared, with the latter holding Nel by the ankle. "I didn't waste a month working with that clown to let YOU take this ship!"

"You blokes have enough in your arsenal!" Captain Hook and Mr. Smee landed on deck. "Give the Hook Pirates a fighting chance, why don't ye?! I'll fight ye BOTH for this delicious vessel!"

"NONE OF YA are getting the Noah!" Bubbly Brandon declared. "It belong to Captain Augustus! He's the one who earned it. He and his crew braved all the trials to find the Lost Candies."

"You think I'm going to let some junior pirate captain the Noah?" Mandy asked.

"You don't get to decide that, Mandy." Henrietta stated imposingly. "I'm his mother, so I'll deal the necessary scolding." She turned to her son and demanded, "Augustus, vhat the HELL do you plan to DO with this freaking ship?!"

"Save everyone from the Apocalypse!"

Heinie's eyes widened. "Ze… Apocalypse?"

"This Noah has the capability to save everyone from the universe's destruction." Zeira reasoned. "You all know what is to come. And frankly, none of you deserve to captain the Noah."

"And we're to entrust the duty to him?!" Captain Hook shouted. "Big Mom's grandson?"

"Will you stop calling me 'Big Mom's grandson'?!" Augustus argued. "I'm Augustus the Stone Fist! I'm not the one who did all those things to you, Big Mom did! I'm my own pirate and I have my own crew. And I went on this entire adventure for YOUR sake!"

"OUR sake?" Azula questioned.

"If this ship can save everyone from the Apocalypse, then it can save you guys, too. What's going to happen if the world ends? No more sailing, no more competing, no more treasure, no more adventure… but with this ship, we can keep doing what we love. All I ask is that you let me lead you for just a little bit. Let me lead you to the New World… and you can skewer me later."

Silence followed for a few minutes. In truth, they all feared the Apocalypse and none knew what to do. "Very well." Mandy finally spoke. "I'll let you have the glory of piloting this rust bucket. But… where do we go, exactly?"

"That… is a good question. Where do we go, Zeira?"

"First, let's make a quick stop." Zeira glanced at Lord Licorice.

KND Moonbase

"CHEREN!" Larry MayHence called. "You gotta see this!"

"WHAT the-?!" Francis gaped.

"It's… AUGUSTUS!" Panini screamed.

The tremendous Gummi Ship casually sailed by the treehouse's glass window. Augustus waved at all the gazing operatives, slurping a new lollipop. "What's up, kids?! I brought you a little present!" A cannon shot a tied-up Licorice, Mike, Veruca, and Violet through their window. "You might wanna lock 'em up somewhere! I'll see you on D-Day!" The ark sailed to the stars.

"What… the heck has he been doing all month?" Cheren asked.

"I dunno." Sheila said. "But it looks WAY cooler than what I've been doing."