Sparring Partner

King Dutchman (Play "Meanwhile at the Prison Ship" from Rayman 2.)

MEANWHILE AT THE LEGION OF DOOM- I mean, the King Dutchman, the members of The Thirteen were gathered in what would be known as the Portal Chamber. Dimentio Z. Winkiebottom had stretched his height and width so everyone could see the portal in his body. "My friends, with Lord English's generous donation of power, I am now one with the multiverse. The equipment for the Multiverse Portal is active in my own Logia dimension, enabling my body to transport you all to the marvelous universes that await. Oh! I feel a denizen from the worlds being slurped up through my tunnel already."

His portal spiraled and shined, and the creature to come out was a skinny robot with a large mouth of sharp teeth. "WHAT?! Where am I?! I was swallowed by a strange light and all of a sudden…"

"Future English was kind enough to lend me this dimensional guidebook." Bill snapped a small book out of thin air. "This creature is called an Akuma. It comes from Dimension Black. They are creations of the Millennium Earl and enemies of the Exorcists. An Akuma is composed of two human souls. Thanos, try to control it."

The Mad Titan used the Soul Stone of his gauntlet. "Aaaack!" The robot bowed to him.

"It certainly looks like no Akuma I'm familiar with." Aizen commented.

"Nearly every universe has demons." Bill replied. "Many of them are different."

"As long as they're demons, I think we'll get along." Ganon smirked.

"When I was recruited," Giovanni spoke up, "I was promised more Pokémon than I could ever have imagined."

"One of my multiverses is the Original World of the Pokémon." Dimentio informed. "We intend to capture thousands to include in our army using the Perma-Mega Evolution Potion. Uh-oh, something else is coming!"

A huge black elephant with a skull face flew out and crushed the Akuma. "That is called a Grimm." Bill read the guidebook. "From Dimension Remnant, they are dark spirits who feed off of darkness and negative emotions."

"Intriguing." Xehanort stroked his beard. "I would like to visit this 'Remnant.'"

"Of course, Xehanort! You all will have picks of universes. Spread your reign to each and every corner and keep acquiring followers. And if there's any rebellion, by all means, destroy them!" Bill smirked demonically. (End song.)

Washington; KND Newbase

Now that Moonbase was destroyed, the Sooper Convention Center became the new primary headquarters for Global Command. It was restless as the building was constantly quaking under Maddy and Sheila's exchanged blows. The Sunny Fist was still unsatisfied with her inferior Power Level, so she would often come to challenge Maddy, Sun Fist vs. Iron Fist. Every blow they exchanged sent vibrations in the air, if they didn't have the outside stadium to settle their squabble, the interior of the skyscraper treehouse would be in shambles. The scary part is Haki was supposed to penetrate elemental defenses, so if Sheila was this enduring, imagine if she learned Haki.

They fought for 20 minutes until they started panting, their clothes drenched in sweat. "Huff…huff… break time?" Maddy gasped, her Haki Fury dissipating.

"Heff…heff… Parley." Sheila's Midas Body faded.

Maddy got a soda from the Newbase lounge while Sheila drank Flurp. "As soon as I get through with you, I'm goin' after that giant chick." Sheila stated.

"Good luck, Sheila. Mocha's been spending a lot of time in Amazonia. She'll be a monster by the time this voyage is over."

"In that case, she'll fit right in with us." Chris Uno said from the couch.

"Oh, Chris! I didn't see you there." Maddy replied. They were facing the back of the couch as Chris was lain down.

"Yah." He drank a soda. "Figured if you and Sheila get out of hand, you'd need someone to stop you."

Maddy felt a droll tone in his voice. She knew he must've been struck by the loss of his mother. With his father already dead, Chris's siblings were orphans now. Even his mentor, Fanny Drilovsky, was killed by Lord English. "Are you doing okay, Chris?"

"I'm fine. I'm not letting my folks' death get to me if that's what you're thinking. I have a training regimen going on, gonna have to keep at it if I wanna be at Cheren's level. 'Course, I bet you girls will get there in no time flat."

"The gold flames are pretty catchy, eh?" Sheila smirked.

"I'll stick to black. Hey Chris, you wanna spar sometime?" Maddy asked.

"Nah." Chris got up and passed them a cool smile. "Wouldn't wanna hurt ya, Mads. Come on, Sheila, let's go home." He walked ahead.

"…He wasn't wearing his headband." Maddy noticed.

"Yeh, he don't use it much, anymore. Maybe because everyone knows it now. Well, see ya down the ocean, mate." Sheila followed Chris.

But somebody knew it first… Maddy remembered.

King Household

George King's head was still recovering, so he wore a purple hat to hide the bandages. Because of this injury he didn't even understand, he had very limited use of his timebending, for it had to do with Chi Overload. Whenever he wasn't on KND duty, he was playing videogames. "George, you have a visitor." He looked to his mother, who was standing by Maddy.

"What's the occasion?"

"It's about Chris." Maddy sat beside him on the couch. Misty left them alone. "He said you knew about his Combustion Eye."

"Oh… Yes, I knew about it."

"Why did he show you?"

"I don't even remember. But if I had to guess, it has something to do with this mess." George lifted his hat up. "Freakin' 8-ball whatever thingy was on my head? Dad actually thought I could control it?! Sigh, but I guess it's better I had it than that English freak."

"Well, did Chris tell you anything about his Combustion Eye?"

"Let's see…" George scratched his head. "(Ouch, Mom said I shouldn't do that.) Um, I think Chris said his father told him it was inherited from Malladus. Malladus was the original combustionbender and his lingering spirit could grant the power to mortals. Heh, I asked my dad about it once—without mentioning Chris—and he said combustionbenders have a habit of dying suddenly."

"Dying suddenly?!"

"You know, because they explode their selves in some way. Pretty scary, right?"

"Doesn't that make you a bit worried for him?"

"Well, hearing it out loud… But he's Chris, he's an awesome fighter! Besides, he covers it up most of the time."

"Not lately. I wanna see what Chris is up to." Maddy got up.

"I can tell you what he's up to." MaKayla said from the doorway, holding the Chrono Staff. "He'll return to his house shortly."

Underworld; Castle Hell

Death the Kid led Chris to an underground chamber of the castle. Chris sat in the middle of a circle of candles and closed his eyes. "Are you sure you want to keep doing this?" Kid asked. "You know I'll have to detain you if you lose."

"Hey, if my dad can do it, so can I."

"So be it." Kid raised the Reaper's Scythe as it flashed.

In his Subconscious, Chris was in a fiery cavern, facing up at the towering entity that was Malladus Uno. "You've returned, my descendant. I thought for certain you would be tired by now."

"I'm just taking a few naps." Chris smirked. "I have a universe to save, man. I can't go down now."

"Such bravery. You still remember the rules, I'm sure?"

"Yeah yeah." If Chris won, he gets Malladus's power. If Malladus wins, he gets Chris's body. Chris is allowed to call a draw and leave. "Let's fight!"

He shot a quick Combustion Beam at Malladus, but the Demon King took the hit to the face before punching Comet Fists. Chris flew with Rocket Boost and evaded the punches before shooting to Malladus's third eye. He punched the eye with fire fists and flew circles when Malladus launched his own Combustion Beam. Chris was lightly singed by the beam and fell to the ground, giving Malladus a chance to stomp him. Chris hopped up and entered Combustion Fury, flying high above Malladus to shoot a giant beam.

Malladus countered with combustionbending, the center of both beams growing bright as a sun. When the sun exploded and blew either opponent back, Chris hit the ground again, his Fury fading. His head aching, he looked up weakly as Malladus stomped forth. "Ugh… I… call a draw."

Malladus stopped, smirking victoriously. "That was worse than last time. Keep fighting, boy. Your passion ignites your fire… and it ignites me."

The flames turned to steam, and Chris fell back on the floor in his real body, panting. "You're too young to defeat the Malladus spirit inside you." Kid told him. "I strongly urge you to cease."

"Not gonna happen, Kid." Chris helped himself up and turned to leave. "You know as well as I do… we can't rest for even a second."

Uno Household

The sun was setting beyond the horizon, and the painted sky possessed a solid orange-to-indigo gradient. Chris sighed when he stared at the sky from his front yard. "Nothing is the same, anymore." He could smell food cooking and knew it came from the Drilovsky house. Panini was making soup for her father, assuming most of the housewife duties now that her mother was gone. Since Patton lost an arm to Lord English, life was a chore for them now. It would be even worse if they didn't have treehouse bases, especially for the Unos.

Chris entered his house. "Chris!" He was surprised to see Maddy and Kayla have paid him a visit.

"Maddy? Why are you two here?"

"The Chrono Staff sensed you were in the Underworld." MaKayla explained. "You were in a meditative trance."

"Is that the training regimen you were talking about?" Maddy asked. "What exactly are you doing?"

"I feel a spiritual presence radiating from you as well. A dark one…"

Chris sighed in defeat, figuring they would learn eventually. "I've been talking to Malladus."

"Malladus?"

"My dad once told me that members of my family are born with Malladus's conscience inside us. Each time a descendant is born, the parents pass part of the soul inside them. Basically, Malladus is broken into little pieces. Those pieces can't actually do anything unless we talk to them. If we challenge the Malladus soul to a fight, we can get more of his power. That's what my dad did. He said he didn't want me trying it, though, that's another reason he wanted me to hide the Combustion Eye. But when I've been going Fury Mode, I started hearing Malladus."

"So you went to Kid to help you speak to Malladus?" Kayla deduced.

"But why are you doing this, Chris?" Maddy followed.

"The same reason you learned Haki, Mads. The same reason Cheren learned God Tier. Because after these three years are over, we'll have to fight the Thirteen Darknesses and that monster Lord English."

"And this is going to help?"

"It might not." Kayla answered for her, closing her eyes while her Chrono Staff glowed. "I see Malladus taking over Chris's body."

"What?! Chris, I don't think this is a good idea!"

"MaKayla's just being crazy, Maddy." Chris said surely. "Malladus isn't gonna control me."

"I don't think you should take a chance with it."

"Why not? We already agreed that we weren't just kids, anymore, we were monsters. We're monsters going up against even bigger monsters. Do you know what Malladus said when I first talked to him? He said even he didn't like that monster. Lord English. That's why I know he'll cooperate eventually, with just a few more punches."

"Why doesn't he just cooperate with you now?"

"Heh, he'll always be Malladus." Chris coughed a chortle. "But as long as we beat English, then I'll compromise."

"What does that mean?! You'd let Malladus burn your humanity just to beat English?!"

"Don't YOU want to beat English?"

"Not by signing away my soul!"

"Maddy, I already said I'm not gonna let him beat me. I'll take his powers and use them to protect everyone."

"Even if you did win, and we defeated English… what about after that? You wouldn't be the same, anymore. Nothing would be a challenge to you, anymore. Because you're too powerful."

"Cheren already made that decision, didn't he? It won't matter if we get to live like normal people. Defeating English is all that matters. We'll sacrifice our humanity if it means giving everyone else a chance to see the future."

"I don't think we need to be that powerful. Didn't Fybi's dad beat Bowser when he was only five years old? And at Mariejoa, Nagisa was able to knock out that World Leader, and he didn't even have powers like that magic girl."

"What about when Nya shrunk us? If Shade didn't turn out to be your secret protector, she could've finished you. All those instances were pure luck. We can't assume some random convenience is going to help us beat the Darknesses. We have to assume they're powerful and assume we have to be as strong as possible in order to face them."

"But isn't that why the Firstborn Guardians put the Firstborn in those Egg thingies?! Maybe the Malladus power-up won't even work! Maybe the Firstborn is the only answer!"

"If that's what you think, maybe you and Sheila should quit sparring."

"Ugh! Chris, I just…I just don't wanna lose you. When we get to the New World, I wanna fight Lord English with you, not with… Malladus."

"Sigh…" Chris glanced at MaKayla. "What do you think, New Clockwork?"

"Honestly, I don't know. The Chrono Staff isn't showing me much. But as far as Chris's reasons, I…I wonder if he may be right. His father and mine were powerful, and they still lost."

"Maddy, you were willing to become the Seventh Light at the risk of losing who you were." Chris reminded. "How is this any different?"

"I don't know… I guess I didn't see any way around it."

"In the end, it turned out to be a hoax." Chris laughed. "I'd like to think this is all a trick… but it's not. We're on a shrunken planet with a fake sky. I know my dad liked to be reckless and lucky… but it can't last forever."

"Chris… just promise me you'll stay who you are." Maddy said. "Even if we become monsters… we're human at heart."

"…I will, Maddy." Chris smiled.

"So… are you going to challenge Malladus again?"

"Maybe tomorrow. I wanna sleep first." He slipped off his boots and headed upstairs. "You girls should head home, too."

"…He and Cheren have that in common." MaKayla noted. "Still, Cheren's fire burned with more love and passion. Chris just seems… determined. That's the good way of putting it, at least."

"Did you really see him losing to Malladus?"

"I can't tell if the staff is showing me the future or a possible future. But I do feel his soul dwindling."

Chris's Subconscious

Chris returned to the fiery domain and faced up at his ancestor. "Did you sleep well, boy?"

"Better than you." Chris snapped.

"What a touching moment between you and the girl. Going through so much just to be able to 'protect' everyone." Malladus leaned closer. "Admit it, boy. Protecting your friends is second nature. You want to FIGHT! You CRAVE fighting! You want to challenge the most powerful beings and tear them all down until you're at the top! After you destroy Lord English, you wish to challenge all the friends that helped you. Cheren… Anthony… even Maddy."

"For now, I just wanna fight YOU!"

"So be it!" Malladus blasted a Combustion Beam, and Chris outran it by gliding with Rocket Boost along the ground. He flew a circle and shot a Combustion Beam at the demon's feet, but Malladus leapt to the ceiling, set his feet on fire, and erupted a flaming shockwave upon landing. Chris caught some of the fire to make it surround himself, flying around as a comet before hitting the back of Malladus' head. Malladus whipped around in attempt to smack him, his hand swiping across and dispersing the flame shield.

Chris spun around with fists on fire, flying around as a flaming wheel and aiming to chop off Malladus's tail. The tail suddenly whipped to life and wrapped around Chris, squeezing the life out of him. "You thought my tail was just a dead limb?"

"Nnnnn…!" Chris felt like his insides would explode. "D…D…Draw!"

"Predictable human." Malladus released. "Let me ask you, Chris… will Lord English accept a draw? No. He would destroy you the moment your weakness showed. Not like me, the generous Demon King. The only way to survive is to keep fighting."

"I will keep fighting! Just not right now."

"You do not have to keep coming to the Underworld to challenge me. I am always inside you, Chris. All you need to do is speak to me. You and me, like your brethren, are one. Aren't we… Chris?"

Chris shot a glare at him. Malladus knew he didn't approve of him using that reference. The boy woke himself up on the bed in his room. He already knew he didn't have to return to the castle. It was now morning, and he had spent his night in another hopeless battle. "Mmm…" He put a hand to his third eye. Even it felt sleepy.

KND Graveyard (Play "I Need Some Sleep" by Eels.)

Chris Uno stared at the grave that belonged to his father. Nigel Uno was lain to rest in a row with Rachel Uno, Fanny Drilovsky, Mikaela Chariton, Kuki Beatles, and Jagar King. He looked a few rows over: Nolan York was visiting the graves of Dillon Simmons and Corey Sanderson, even knowing they had graves in their hometowns. Chris gave a light sigh and faced up at the cloudy sky.

KND Newbase

Maddy was at Newbase early in the morning. With very little decommissioning duties in recent days, all she had to do was walk around and make sure everyone was happy. With school done for the summer, many operatives spent their time here. Some were chatting and watching TV with sector pen-pals, others were in the stadium, training for the upcoming battles.

Maddy studied everyone's matches from a stadium entrance. The sun hadn't come over the stadium walls yet, so they fought under a dim sky. Nagisa held a rubber knife in his teeth as he nimbly evaded Morgiana's kicks, trying to counter with punches. Nagisa's blue eyes glimmered unusually bright in the dim morning shade.

Jinta was seemingly throwing punches at nothing, but Maddy could see the tiny fly that was Ururu buzzing around and hitting Jinta when he was open. Even Arianna Dunfree was trying to snatch Vweeb in vines, proudly taking hits from the swift Kateenian. Melody Jackson and Chimney were in battle, with the latter using Melody's water against her. Ruby and Diwata Uno were up on the stadium walls, so their furious fires wouldn't disturb any of the others. Carol Masterson was intently focused on a DS, mashing buttons quickly. In reality, Vanellope had entered her game and Carol was throwing all manner of attacks at the Program.

Maddy looked across the stadium and saw Chris leaning in the opposite doorway. She could feel him staring at her, too. He closed his eyes and bowed his tired head. "Hey, Maddy!" a voice yelled behind her.

She turned around. "Hi, Mocha!"

"You wanna battle?" Mocha smirked, balling fists. "I won't hold back this time! I wanna be ready to FIGHT those Darknesses!"

"Yaaawn… I'm still kinda tired. Wanna fight later?"

"Okay, but don't wait too long! I'm challenging Chrysundra later and I need a good warm-up!" She flexed her muscles.

Maddy passed her a smile before returning to the living room. She saw Artie and Makava talking, Apis and Index reading the Book of Arceus, Kodama and Quill Ramsey talking, Kirie and Sally, Lola and Haruka… It was perfectly peaceful in here without all those powerhouses.

"I was too scared to come up and see the Apocalypse." Eric Horvitz told Larry MayHence. "Just decided to stay on Earth."

"Me, too. I don't think we would've helped much, anyway. Did you hear about Lord English?"

"Who hasn't? I heard he killed Mrs. Drilovsky by looking her in the eye."

"Is it really safe to be living on shrunken planets with him out there?"

"I don't know. But the second I see Lord English for real, I'm jumping behind Melody. I don't care if it's cowardly, she's way stronger than me."

"Yeah, I'll take the life of a desk jockey any day."

Maddy saw Panini Drilovsky by herself in a corner, drinking soda. She approached the rabbit-earred girl. "I'm surprised you're not up there fighting anyone."

"Ay've got no one to spar with." Panini said with a reflective smile. "Cheren doesn't need a meek rival like me, anymore. Even if I tried, I don't think I can get up to your level. It's easier to just stay out of the way and let you guys fight the Darknesses."

"Is that how these other guys feel?"

"Pretty much. They know what's at stake, but they know they aren't the powerhouses. They know when they're no match. But some of them are determined. The Triplets are still honing their skills, might come in handy some day."

"Not everyone can be monsters." Chris's voice spoke. Maddy turned to face him.

"Chris… You're wearing your headband."

"Yeah…" Chris glanced at the red band on his forehead. "Thought it needed some rest. I need someone new to spar with. …You want to?"

"…Sure, but I kinda promised Mocha…"

"Ah, Mocha can have Sheila. It's no fun if we don't change things up."

"Hehe! I guess not." The duo walked to the stadium to join the sparring party.

At Tree of Beginning, Anthony kicked a boulder to Shelly, who broke it into sand and wrapped it around him. "Don't feel special, twerp! You're only the second big-tooth loser I had the pleasure of stomping." Shelly taunted.

At Arctic Base, three new recruits were introducing their selves. "My name's Mary!" The blonde-haired painting girl saluted. "I'm from Germany and I love to color crayons!"

"I'm Ib." The red-eyed girl bowed. "I'm from Germany also."

"My name is Wendy Marvell!" The blue-haired girl proclaimed with an enthusiastic smile. "I'm a wizard-in-training!"

"Good." Marcus nodded. "What about the rest of you?"

The cadets behind the three girls were all giant children that were former captives at Punk Hazard. "Eeek!" Wendy yelped. "I think we came a little under-prepared!"

Even above all the tiny planets, two gods were facing off on the Noah's deck. "You really think you can challenge me?" Nebula asked Cheren with a chuckle. "With a snap of my finger, I can make you the size of an atom."

"I'm sure you would've done that a long time ago." Cheren smirked, entering God Tier.

"Hm hm hm… but this time, I have planets to protect."

"That's how you see me?" Malladus inquired. "A sparring partner?"

"Why not?" Chris replied. "We are on the same team. We're against the same enemy."

"But you are a mere mortal."

"Not just any mortal. I'm an Uno. You wouldn't have stayed with us if you didn't need us. Even if you took my body, you would still work with my friends to save the universe you want to rule. As long as you're part of me, you're part of the KND as well. I can't fight you as an enemy… I need to fight you as a partner."

Malladus grinned humorously. "You consider yourself my rival? My equal?"

"Well, we both like fighting. Don't we?"

Malladus narrowed his eyes. "A different view on our battle… will only lead to the same outcome."

"Then let's spar!"