F-16. Zachary’s Wackory Factory  

Neutral Garden

Cheren was passed out on a grass ground within a tight enclosing of stone walls. A salamander found his body and licked his cheek. Cheren didn't wake up. …The salamander reached into his jacket pocket. "Nnnh- whuh?" Cheren awoke. "HEY, GET!" Cheren smacked the creature off.

"Hey! No hitting!" the salamander said. "This is the Neutral Garden!"

Cheren cocked a brow. "Neutral Garden?"

"Yah. Everyone here is nice to each other. Lots of people come so they don't have to fight. Even monsters." (Play "Shooting Star Summit" from Paper Mario!)

Cheren walked out of the enclosing. He gazed in awe at a beautiful, glistening pond, surrounded by tall cliffs, lush plants, and crystal pillars. Angels were seated on small, high ledges, Blue Pearls had their feet in the water, and a Hollow and a Grimm were drinking from it. A starry night sky made up the heavens, but the garden was bright as though it were day. "A Neutral Garden where nobody fights… It's beautiful."

"Yeah. We like it, too. …" The salamander tried to reach in his pocket again.

"Back off!" Cheren kicked him—the salamander skittered up the cliff.

Fi leapt out of his sword. "Master Cheren, I am unable to determine under what circumstances have allowed us to arrive in this location. Regardless, I believe we are fortunate to have been spared of Lord English's wrath, considering you had a probable -5% chance at victory."

"-5, that's higher than I expected." Cheren said sarcastically. "Do you know where Nerehc and Karkat landed?"

"There is an 87% chance they are in the vicinity. However, I detect no traces of Nagisa, despite his surprising… appearance."

"Heh heh… Yeah, it caught me off guard, too. Where did he come up with that crazy plan? Hmmm… I guess we better look around."

Stage F-14: Neutral Garden

Mission: Find your friends.

Cheren dove into the pond and spared glimpses at the people chatting amongst their selves. The only way out of this area was blocked by the Hollow and Grimm drinking water, but he didn't feel it was right to kill them. Cheren dove underwater for a solution, and he found a large stone that seemed to stand out from the smaller ones on the waterbed. Cheren Torpedo Spun and destroyed the stone, exposing a jetstream that shot diagonally up. Cheren used it to propel himself up and over the two monsters.

Cheren followed a path out of the trench, and it would lead over an endless abyss. It seemed like this entire garden was suspended in space. Across the path was another pond where spires of water spewed up at different heights, and a waterfall came down from the opposite cliff. Cheren froze them all with Ice Arrows, thinking he could use them as platforms, but they were too spread-apart for jumping. "Hmm, what else do I have… Oh, my Wolf Mask!" He put on said mask and became a wolf, making great leaps up each frozen pillar. He made it up to a ledge on the right side of the waterfall.

From a player's perspective, the camera would be positioned far away so as to catch the whole waterfall. They would see Cheren's shadow sidle along a small ledge. The shadows of Snapdragons would be seen attacking him, but these simple enemies were nothing to him. Past the waterfall, Cheren ventured up a hill within a small trench, arriving at a wide river where more peoples and friendly enemies were socializing. Cheren decided to go for another swim—there were Mega Sharpedos underwater! …But it seemed like these drugged Pokémon were as mellow as everything else here.

Cheren swam to a small island in the middle of the river, where an Amethyst was fishing beside a Team Rocket Agent. Cheren climbed on shore, bypassed a few shrubs and trees, and found a familiar troll passed out on the island's center. "Karkat!" Cheren bent over and shook him. "Karkat, wake up!"

"YAP!" He startled awake. "GAMZEE, QUIT SHOOSH-PAP…ing… me?"

"Heh heh! Did I ruin your dream?"

"Cheren? Where did we end up?"

"They call it the Neutral Garden. There's a bunch of friendly monsters here."

"Oh… crap…"

"What?"

"Ugh… I don't like this place. Everybody acts like pussies."

"Sounds like it would do you some favors."

"Yeah, yeah, just go god and fly us off this rock."

"We need to see if Nerehc landed somewhere."

"Damn. Fine, then fly me back to the Noah."

"I don't know where the Noah is from here."

"Then FLY ME SOMEWHERE!"

"I don't wanna fly!" Cheren giggled. "I wanna go ol' natur-al for a bit!"

"NNNGH! You piss me off sometimes, Uno."

"Yeah, I'm a real Jar Jar Blinks. Come on, Karkitty."

There was a waterfall at the opposite end of the river, wider than the one on the other end. The large water spires were too far for even the wolf to jump to. "NOW you wanna fly?!" Karkat inquired.

"Nope! LINK never needed to fly! …Except when he lived in Skypia." They swam back to the other end of the river, which was above the waterfall Cheren sidled behind earlier. There was a Catch Card floating below the edge, but since that edge was shallow enough to stand on, Cheren could throw his Bananarang to catch the card.

"A banana BOOMERANG?!" exclaimed Lazlo, the banana-mouthed monkey inside the card. "All I got for Christmas was a dumb cherry boomerang."

"Let's discuss a trade later!" Cheren put him in his pocket. He and Karkat searched around the river for a means of getting across the platforms. "Wait, maybe we can ride one of these Sharpedos."

"I hope they're more reliable than you." Karkat remarked. The two grabbed the top fin of a Sharpedo, and it seemed the Pokémon was happy to help them. They directed the Sharpedo to swim surface level so they could breathe. Using the shark's quick speed, they drove off the edge of the falls, landed on the first platform, jumped to the second, then jumped to the next river. The Sharpedo swerved along a narrow, snaky river suspended in the air, then it had to jump over a series of rising water spouts.

The Sharpedo came to a stop at a shore. Cheren and Karkat disembarked, overlooking another pool that was bubbling in several spots. "Hey… there's a bunch of Rubies underwater."

"Yeah, your Ruby friend CAME from this dimension. These are probably her cousins."

"Yeah, and it seems like they're overheating this pool. Better freeze a track." Cheren used Ice Arrows to freeze platforms on the pool, but the Rubies' heat would melt them quickly. The next level of this pool was above a short waterfall ledge, likely unclimbable in these conditions, so Cheren froze a path to a ledge on the left. They climbed steps to get above the second level, which seemed to have no Rubies heating the water. However, the river was flowing quicker, so the ice platforms would fall over into the heated pool. Cheren froze several ice platforms making a path to an up-right exit, he and Karkat quickly jumping across. The path brought them to an area of shallow water with a forest of fountains. Black and white Carapacians were dancing around the fountains. "Ha ha! This is pretty fun!" Cheren ditched his shoes and socks and began to dance with them. "Karkat, come join us!"

"GRRR! WHY ARE YOU ACTING SO HAPPY?! We got our asses kicked by LORD ENGLISH! He could've exterminated the others in the time we spent in that clock tower! You should be ANGRY! AFRAID!!"

"Wow. I can't believe I use to be like you." Cheren said with a reproving frown.

Karkat was almost stunned by the remark. "…He really HAS lost it, hasn't he. …Cheren, let's go up there." He pointed to a short cliff across the fountains. There were stairs leading up there from the far left, and there they saw people socializing at café tables.

"I know these guys that've been hunting a Pikachu for 15 years." A Rocket Agent said to a Bokoblin. "Can you believe that? The SAME Pikachu, for FIFTEEN years!"

"Why did the Earl have to make us so ugly?" an Akuma said to a Heartless Soldier. "Was he mocked for his large mouth when he was younger? If that DIO guy built us, we would look much cooler…"

"There's so many of our enemies here…" Cheren said in amazement.

"No one's your enemy in this place." Karkat replied.

"Look, there's a table! Let's have a drink and enjoy the view."

With an annoyed moan, Karkat joined Cheren at a table beside a cliff. They had view of a distant part of the island. A salamander walked over with two cups of Starfee – coffee with a big bright star glimmering on its surface. One sip had Cheren awash in dreams. "Mmmmmm…"

"I know why you're so happy." Karkat said, merely staring at his cup. "It's your God Tier. You're slowly detaching yourself from mortal concerns. Knowing you can't die… Knowing your friends will one day be spirits, and you'll always be able to visit them… why would you care?"

"That's not true. I am worried. I just… don't want fear to get to me. Not anymore…"

"Hello, Cheren." A squeaky voice spoke.

"Hm?" Cheren turned. He didn't see who had talked to him. He looked down- "Oh?" An orange Miniblin was facing him.

"Mind if I sit here?" he asked. Cheren nodded. The Miniblin took the open seat and drank some coffee. "A-a-a-a-a-ah…" His sigh vibrated. "I bet you don't remember me. I fought you back at Jungle of the Apes. You killed me."

"Oh…" That was a while ago, Cheren thought. "I did?"

"Yes. I know you don't remember. You can't keep track of every Miniblin you kill. But that's okay. I encountered Link a few times. Once in Ganon's fortress… once in Ganon's Tower… another time in the Rupee Mines… one cut was all it took to kill me. It isn't easy being a lowly foot soldier. We're barely acknowledged. We're only paid to do one thing: and that's hunt you down and try to kill you. But every time we find you, we know we're gonna lose." Another sip. "You think Mario remembers every Goomba he stomps? You think The Thirteen remember every person they trap in a card? Got you this, by the way." He handed Cheren a Catch Card.

"Cheren!" Crystal Wickens beamed.

"Ms. Wickens!" Cheren returned the smile. "You're… giving this to me?" he asked the Miniblin.

"Yeah. Ganon would be mad if he found out. But he probably won't tell me apart from my brethren. It doesn't matter. I'm a minion. For life. Whether I'm serving Ganon, Malladus, or Majora… I'm bound to meet the end of Link's sword."

He took one more sip. "Cheren… thanks for listening. I feel better now. When we meet again, I'll likely come to attack you. But I'll be glad it's your sword that does me in."

"Heh heh! It's a promise!"

"Am I… missing something?" Crystal asked, confused by the interaction.

Fi leapt out of Cheren's sword. "Master, I can feel Nerehc's presence nearby. He is on that island over there." She indicated the distant area they had been overlooking.

Cheren sipped the rest of his coffee. "Ahhh, sounds great to me!" He whipped out his Pirate Sail. "Karkat, grab on!"

"Uh… Oh, fine. (Someone needs to make sure you don't get killed.)" Karkat hugged his waist as Cheren jumped off, flapped open the sail, and glided over the abyss. They landed on the shore of the island, Cheren going around some mounts – he noticed Karkat wasn't following. "Karkat?"

"I need to finish my coffee." He was faced away, nervously sipping his cup.

"Hehe! Good stuff, isn't it? Fine, I'll go first."

Cheren proceeded around the mounts. "Whooooaaa!" His eyes glimmered at the sight of the shimmering mountain of treasure. Gold coins, colored gems, and a king's crown with a white… thing on it. "Hey! It's Nerehc! NEREEEHC!" he called for his friend as he ran to climb on the treasure.

"WELL, well, well!" Cheren fell off the mountain when it began to shake. Three crabby legs emerged on either side, followed by two giant claws of red and blue texture. The crustacean's head rose from the soil, grinning at Cheren with big rotten teeth. "What have we here? It seems a little meal has wandered to my lair! What's this little red thing with chestnut hair?"

The crab tried to clip Cheren's head, but he dodged and whacked its claw with his sword. "Well, Tamatoa's gonna make a hefty meal out of you! Keep fighting! I like me some spicy fooood!"

Cheren quickly clashed against his claws, leaping on Tamatoa's shell to try and save Nerehc, but the crab shook him off. "And do ya like to take a look at yourself, In that pretty little mirror of yours?"

Cheren briefly viewed his Mirror Shield, then used it to block a claw stab. "Well, I wouldn't mind having that on my shelf! I'll take it once I give ya SORES! You see, I'm SHINY!" His treasure brimmed like a sun. "Like a treasure on the bottom of the sea! Is that me? *looks in Mirror Shield* I can't tell because I'm SHINY!"

Cheren shut his eyes from the light, allowing Tamatoa to Ground Pound him. "I'm so rich, I could afford a seventh knee! So pret-ty!"

The treasure became a beacon to the sky. Dozens of salamanders crawled quickly to his location. "Lizards are DUMB DUMB DUMB! They chase anything that GLIMMERS! Pfft. Beginners." He dropped treasure for the salamanders to pick up. "And here they COME COME COME, To the brightest thing that GLITTERS!"

He grabbed them in his claw and swallowed them whole. "Mmm, free dinner!" Cheren leapt for a jump attack, but Tamatoa smacked him away. "I feel so MEEEERRY!" Tamatoa picked Cheren up and brought him to his mouth. "And you look like a CHEEERRY!"

"FREEZE!" Tamatoa looked a few feet away. Karkat presented himself. Tamatoa dropped Cheren and crawled toward him.

"SO, little Karkitty's decided to come back. Time for Daddy to give you a smack." Karkat used the Sicklekind to clash with his claws. "Using those claws that you stole from my bod? Too bad you couldn't take enough for a ROD!"

Cheren watched the scuffle with a raised brow, curious about their history. "So, did ya find the old folks who abandoned you? Or did ya cry and go and give up hope? Couldn't help but find your way back to moi? What'd you expect, dope! I'm too SHINY! I shine brighter than a Diamond on Emera. Look, this one's from Pink Diamond! *hold up pink shard* And it's SHINY! I can make a brighter day than Hemera. Or learn to play Hammond."

Karkat's sickles were smacked away, allowing Tamatoa to smash him thrice. "You can TRY TRY TRY, But you can't expect a Cancer… to beat a sexy dancer! (Ladies, you know you want some.) You will DIE DIE DIE," he squeezed Karkat thrice in his claw, "Now to watch you erode… As your HEAD EXPLODES! I'm afraid you're much too TIIIINY! You'll never be as SHIIIIINYYYYYY!

"OW!!" His middle left leg was sliced clean off by an awakened Nerehc.

"I was trying to sleep…"

"Now there's TWO of you?! Agh, my leg, what the hell, man?! Oh well, I can just afford another one. Look at my shell, man! I'm so SHINY-!"

"WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER VERSE!" Karkat screamed.

"You don't like my song?" Tama frowned.

"Karkat, who is this guy? Why does he seem to know you?" Cheren questioned.

"Sigh… Tamatoa is my Lusus; a kind of guardian creature for young trolls. I was dropped on this island as a pupa and he raised me. He's a real ASSHOLE."

"Now, don't talk to me like that, Karkat. You're quite lucky to grow up with a filthy rich dad. I bet you told these fine boys about me and they came running for some dough."

"NO, actually. We landed here after a deranged Time God kicked our asses. But now that we're back together, we should get going."

"You don't really think you're leaving without returning my Sicklekind, are you? You never earned them properly. And you can't awaken their full potential without my pass."

"Just take them back and screw off." Karkat brushed the air. "Those things are useless against Lord English, anyway. Cheren, are we going back to the Noah or what?"

"I… guess we should." Cheren went God Tier and picked Karkat up. He and Nerehc were ready to fly off.

"Before you go, please take this card." Tamatoa held a card in his left claw. "This guy's making me crabby."

"NO-HO-HOOOO!" Mr. Krabs was crying. "PLEEEAASE! I'll die if I'm not part of yer treasure! Just let me keep a coin! No, two! PLEASE LET ME STAY!"

Nerehc snatched the card, crumpled it up, and stuffed in his pocket. "I'm sick of crabs."

"At least he's shiny." Cheren said before taking off.

Flying skyward, they seemed to be quickly closing in on the starry sky. Before they knew it, they passed the very stars themselves, rising out of the Galactic Sea. "So, that's what it looks like under the sea. Pretty!"

"There's a planet up there." Nerehc pointed. "It look familiar?"

Karkat sniffed. "EEEEYUCK!" He closed his nose. "It smells like…like… rotting frogs?" His mind flashed back to one of Terezi's prophecies. "It's Froast! The planet that was inside the clock tower!"

"So, the clock tower's gone?" Cheren deduced. "That means the others should be near." He switched on his communicator, "This is Numbuh 3621 calling any operative, please respond."

"This is Numbuh High Noon, we read you." MaKayla responded. "My sector is in Hivebent. Most of the operatives already left."

"I'm tracking your location. Be there soon."

They flew for 10 minutes around the planet until they located the purple 2-D base. The hangar opened to welcome the three leaders. "Karkittyyyy!" Nepeta pounced her leader and nudged his cheek. "I really r33lly missed you! How could you leave us alone with that scurry monster?" >:33

"You're in good shape, it seems." George King said. "I dunno what you did in that clock tower, but I guess we owe you one."

"Why?" Cheren replied, a brow raised.

"Perhaps we better show you." MaKayla said, leading them off.

They were led to Nepeta's room. "YAH!!" yelped the three boys at the sights.

Wendy Marvell was holding Carla, who now had the form of a small bloodhound. Melody Jackson was green and growing shrubs on her head, panicking at her own appearance. Morgiana and Goombella seemed to be comforting Nagisa, crying on the floor and holding his crotch. "What's… going on here?" asked Cheren.

"Lord English showed up on the Noah and decided to… Rewrite some of us." Kayla answered.

"He turned my mom into a dog." Wendy said. "He thought she would… 'look more attractive that way.'"

"He said that I should inject myself with chlorophyll and sprout my own vermin." Melody followed. "Then… this."

"He, um… He mistook Nagisa for a girl." Goombella explained hesitantly. "And in one second, he was…" Nagisa began sobbing.

"Nagisa, why were you in the clock tower just then?" Cheren asked.

"W-What? I wasn't in the (sniff) clock tower."

"Yes you were! I was fighting English, and you showed up, and we… hugged…"

"And you touched his boob." Nerehc snickered.

"You did WHAT, Cheren?!" Haruka fumed. Nagisa flinched and covered her chest. I mean, his?

"H-He put me up to—OH, never mind! I'm beyond confused! Where is Lord English now?"

"The clock tower suddenly vanished and then he left." Kayla said. "Hordes of enemies started to surround us. Most of Sectors V, JP, W7, and KB flew off to combat them. Haruka was tending to Sheila and Aeincha, and I've been trying to fix these guys. We're not seeing good results."

"Well… the bright side is you're still OK. You're lucky to encounter Lord English and survive."

"There's something else I think we should mention, too." Haruka said. "That is… in most circumstances, I would. …But the person in question is Zach."

They went to Vriska's room, where the latter and Maddy were staring at Zach. The boy was still as a statue, eyes blank. Maddy felt the group behind them and said, "Zach's been like this ever since we crossed the ring. I never know what's going on in his mind, so… I'm not sure how to feel."

"I was afraid to do this, but I'll check him out." Haruka approached and checked Zach's forehead for a fever. She opened his mouth and put a thermometer under his tongue.

Beam. Beam. Beam. A red light beeped under Zach's shirt, in the navel area. A curious Haruka lifted his shirt a tad and looked closer. Maddy bent beside her.

Hallelujah! Zach's bellybutton was a glass window, and someone was standing inside. "Attention all staff! This is an emergency request announcement!"

"Mako!" Maddy yelled.

"Who?" Vriska looked in the navel with her seven pupils.

"Numbuh No Star?" Cheren said. "I didn't know she came with us."

"Due to an unforeseen hacky sack outbreak, we must result to summoning the Competent Casers! Initiating Shrink Zone!"

A blue bubble expanded around Zach. The others jumped back while Maddy and Haruka were caught in it. The two glowed and shrunk down to ant size. "WHAT THE HECK?!" Maddy squeaked.

"I knew I didn't wanna touch his body…" Haruka moaned.

"Please meet me at the Foot Floor." Mako announced as a door seemed to open on Zach's shoe.

"Are we… really doing this?" Haruka was still appalled.

"Haruka, Zach is one of our most important operatives." Cheren said. "If he's ill, you have to use your medical knowledge to fix him. And Maddy, as his sister, you have to help."

"Why did I have to be involved with Zach's shtick?" With very regretful faces, the girls limped toward the shoe and entered.

"Welcome, Maddy and Haruka!" Mako greeted with a vibrant smile. Zach's girlfriend wore a grayish-blue business outfit with glasses. "This is your first time visiting Zachary's Wackory Factory!"

It was just as she said: the inside of Zach's body was a factory. It was run by mini Zacharies in kiwi hats, but the Foot Floor was primarily stacking boxes. The Mini-Zachs were scattering as a result of Hackies, bouncing hacky sacks with goofy faces that were latching onto machines and making them malfunction. "So… this is real." Maddy said in a factual sentence.

"As real as the imagination!" Mako spoke knowledgeably. "Zach let me into this factory two years ago!" A thought bubble materialized to show the tale.

"It was our anniversary… so we visited the candy store and ordered a Fruit Roll-Up Spaghetti." Mako's thought bubble depicted the spaghetti scene from Lady and the Tramp. "We were slurping the same spaghetti strand… and then…" Their lips were about to come in contact via the strand. Then Mako was completely sucked down his throat.

"His mouth is bigger than Mocha's!!" Maddy and Haru chorused.

"Waaaaaah!" Mako descended down a long shaft and plopped on a hard floor. Everywhere she looked were Mini-Zacharies constructing teddybears wielding paperclip swords, spiders that waged money in cockfights, and some were carting chunks of Fruit Roll-Up to the Waste Well. Curiosity clear in her eyes, Mako stepped toward a round window, peering out from Zach's navel.

"Hi, Mako!" The navel moved like a mouth. "Welcome to my factory! Please, do not enter the Waste Well without special gear!"

"From then on, I was appointed as Factory Caretaker!" Mako continued. The thought bubble displayed her, "I cleaned out the Earway Canals to promote more trade from foreign comedies." She organized the Mini-Zachs in cleaning earwax as Dr. Seuss boats and toddler rockets sailed through. "I sorted out only the most healthy materials." Mako directed walking words like 'nutrients' and 'potassium' to the Brain Dome, and told 'GMO's to go to the Waste Well. "And a job that only I could do: pump his heart and keep the factory flowing!" She was turning a cog with her hands and pumping a pump with her feet. Outside, Zach smiled and held his chest.

"You have to admit that's super cute." Haruka said.

"I know, but this adds so much logic to Zach's being." Maddy reasoned. "This just PROVES he's an alien robot that's constantly maintained and controlled by a race of wacky inventors that use shrinking and growing tech to welcome visitors and release their crazy products!"

"That fact is NOT dismissible!" Mako proclaimed. "But Zach actually traded his internal organs for a prank factory."

"I won't think about how that benefitted the other side." Haru said.

"We'll have time to think later!" Mako turned serious. "We have a serious problem! It seems that when Baldy Bald was doing that football field attack, a crayonorious earwig infiltrated his system and barfed a Hacky infestation!" The thought bubble depicted a smiling crayon caterpillar crawling in Zach's ear. "I exhausted every means, but it seems only two things can sew the seams of my factory: actual medical know-how and sisterly love! With your skills combined, we can make a powerful medicine that can restore Zach to perfection!"

"Well, if Zach's in legitimate danger, I can't say 'no.'" Maddy said.

"Me neither." Haruka nodded. "But I'm adding this to the record book as the weirdest operation in history."

"We're counting on you, girls!" Mako smiled vigorously. "Let's bring sense back to this nonsense!" (Play "Factory Inspection (Pyramid Area)" from Kirby: Planet Robobot!)

Stage F-15: Zachary's Wackory Factory

Mission: Sack the Hackies!

Maddy and Haruka ran around the Foot Floor and beat the stuffing out of every Hacky they could find. They either exploded under Maddy's Haki punches or dissolved in Haruka's gas. Once they wrapped up, they were about to ride the elevator to the next floor. "Sorry, this elevator is for factory personnel only!" Mako stated, having apparently warped into said lift. "Besides, there's repairs that need fixing in the Knee Shaft. I'm sure you'll find a way up." The door closed.

It looked like the only way up Zach's leg was by climbing the boxes. Maddy used Haki to push a stack of two large boxes between a single box and a three-stack. With this, they could jump up the three stacks, getting level with a bar of moving hooks (they looked like canes to yank someone off a stage). They could let go to land on the base of a box tower, but they allowed the canes to keep carrying them, the bar going up diagonally to drop them on a higher platform. Pogo Shy Guys were bouncing around tiny platforms, leading to a Catch Card. When a Pogo Guy bounced near them, Maddy stole the pogostick and bounced over the platforms herself, using Observation Haki to see precise landings.

She got to the Catch Card, discovering it contained Ed from Ed, Edd, 'N' Eddy. "Boy, this factory sure makes me feel smart! A-hu, a-hu."

"Yeah." Maddy put him away. She noticed another bar of hooks leading to the top of the box tower, a shortcut to bypass an otherwise tedious platforming segment. "Haruka, can you make it?"

"I'll try." Haruka leapt off and used a Fart Rocket to get over the pogoes. "Do NOT tell my friends I did that."

"Deal." With that, they rode the hooks over to the box tower, having only to jump up a few crates before getting level with a box lift. They jumped on one of the lift's footholds as it carried them up the Knee Shaft, which was surprisingly wide and mostly hollow. The lift was about to flip and go back down, so they jumped to grab a chain. They climbed beside another chain, and were forced to jump to it when a string of Sparkies traveled down the previous. The Sparkies bypassed as another string was coming down this current chain, so the girls had to alternate between them. More Sparkies came down with only brief moments to change gaps, but they kept up the pace and swung to a new ledge.

Hackies were infesting a staircase, but some quick attacks from the girls took them down. The stairs went up a few meters before stopping at a ledge with a cannon. An elevator opened as Mako stepped out. "Those Gacky Sacks are keeping Zach's legs from moving!" She pointed at some giant gears across the pit, which were blocked up by giant germ-like Hackies. "We need some kind of medicine to destroy them and make his legs better!"

"I have just the medicine." Haruka drew a white tube from her sleeve and attached it to a syringe. "It's called-"

REOO REOO! An alarm briefly went off as Mako crossed arms like an 'X'. "By Wackory Law, you are forbidden from saying complicated doctor words! Just stick it in the cannon and shoot Pill Bills at the Gackies."

"Fine." Haruka saw a syringe-size slot in the cannon and stuck the medicine in. With that, she aimed and shot Pill Bills (or Bullet Pills) at each Gacky. Some were much smaller and hidden in little gaps, but they didn't escape Haruka's keen eyes. Soon, the germs were gone and motion was restored to Zach's right leg. "There. Now we have to get to the left leg, don't we?"

"Don't worry!" Mako assured. "As long as one leg is moving, a rivalry will spark with the other leg, prompting it to fight all restraints and pursue its goal! Next, we should head up to the Process Plant. The service lift will take you." She returned to her elevator while a smaller one lowered by the ledge. The girls climbed on and rode fastly up to Zachary's stomach.

They immediately pinched their noses, gagging at the awful smell. A lake of toxic waste made the entirety of this floor. Mako stepped out of the elevator beside them. "The pipes down in the Waste Well have gotten backed up, causing a flood in the Process Plant. You need to get over there and pull the Emergency Flushinator."

"Should we contact the others to move Zach to a bathroom first?" Haruka asked, repulsed.

"Don't worry! By Cartoon Law, all physical waste must be warped to another dimension inhabited by sentient objects where squirrels are kings."

"That sure didn't happen when Mason and Sheila were in the sewer."

Haruka used poisonbending to call up a large gas bubble from the waste lake. She forced herself inside and invited Maddy to come, which she did regrettably. Haruka carefully rolled the gas bubble over the lake, maneuvering around whirlpools. Toxichus also swum to them and latched on their bubble, so Haruka jiggled the bubble to shake them off, but she did this sparingly. They made it onto a safe foothold across the lake and popped the bubble.

They headed up stairs to a floor where a larger Toxichu was covering a huge lever, labeled Flushinator. The Toxichu produced smaller versions of itself. Maddy fought these younglings off while Haruka threw stomach pills at the parent. With enough pills, the Toxichu dissolved. Maddy used her superior strength to pull the lever, flushing all the waste back into the well with a great maelstrom. "I feel bad for whatever dimension gets that." Maddy said.

Cleveland's House

Cleveland Brown entered the bathroom and opened his toilet. "HEY!"

Factory

"Wonderful job, girls!" Mako saluted. "I'll meet you up in Heart Central. You'll find a way up." She returned to her elevator.

"Whoa, check out that statue of Bo-bobo!" Maddy pointed. Without all the gas in the way, the stomach was returned to its natural, brighter color, so it was now they noticed the shiny statue towering straight up to the heart.

They walked around and observed the back of the statue. "There's a ladder on it." The girls climbed a ladder on the back and entered a hatch in the center. The player's camera would rotate and only show the front of the statue, but they knew there was a ladder inside as the two kept climbing. When the camera panned past Bo-bobo's head, "NOSEHAAAAIR!" its glasses brimmed and nosehairs wiggled out.

The afro stuck up through the dark-pink ceiling, from which they could open the round hatch and enter Heart Central. Zach's humongous heart took up the whole of the center, beating very weakly. Mako came out of the elevator. "The Hackies are clogging up the ventilation. Not only is Zach's breathing faltering, his ability to love has weakened! Maddy, you and I need to pump those germs out of here!"

"'kay. What do we do first?"

"Follow me to those pumps." Mako led them to twin pumps over beside a stairway of closed hatches. "Zach needs the love of a girlfriend and sister to restart his heart. Now, Maddy: together!" They both pumped the pumps in unison, causing the stairway of hatches to squirt out winged Hackies at the same time. They were flying back to the pipes, but the girls used them to bounce up to the next foothold. They used two more pumps to shoot spiked Hackies out of vertical pipes. They used the gusts of these pipes to float up toward the next platform, succeeding before the Hackies descended again.

Another staircase brought them to the top central platform, where large cords were attached to the heart. "Maddy, you and I can restore Zach's heart with love. And nothing shows love stronger than a great, big HUG!" Mako grabbed one of the cords in a hug and squeezed very tightly.

"That will just make his breathing even WORSE!" Haruka stated.

"We'll see about that!" Maddy ran to hug another cord. The girls hugged with all the strength and love for Zach they could muster. With enough force, a great burst of wind coursed through the heart, permanently blasting all the Hackies out of the vents. A draft began to breeze up the chamber, Haruka floating up while the others held onto the cords.

"We can get into the Brain Dome like this!" Mako yelled.

"Wait a minute!" Maddy sensed a Catch Card blowing up the draft. When it was level, she let go and flew to catch it.

"Deh, heh heh heh!" The card imprisoned Ed the Hyena from Lion King.

"Hello, Ed! My name is 'Ed'!" Ed greeted when Ed was put in the pocket with Ed.

They flew up Zach's lungs and set foot on a platform under the brain, which was bigger than Maddy remembered. Brain cells that took the form of jellyfish served as floating platforms up to the brain, but like jellies, they would electrify if the girls took too long jumping off. Once at the brain, they climbed across worms dangling from it, leading to a hatch from which they could enter. It was a large, dark-pink, mostly vacant chamber with an electrical column in the center.

The Mini-Zachs were riding the crayonorious earwig in circles around the column. "If we can just get rid of that thing, we can clear out the rest of the Hackies." Mako said. "Can one of you try and steer it into that room?" She pointed to a door labeled Schoolasses, which had a spider-web on the knob.

"Leave it to me." Maddy jumped on the earwig's back, pushing the Mini-Zachs off. Using Conqueror's Haki, Maddy held on and gained control of the creature. In trying to steer it into the Schoolasses room, she bumped and bounced around the rounded walls. If she hit the electric pillar, they would both get shocked as Maddy falls off. Luckily, the earwig went in the Schoolasses headfirst, and the rest of the body squeezed itself in. (End song.)

The earwig froze at the sight of mountains of textbooks and incomplete homeworks. Cobwebs linking them together, it would take forever to organize and read them all.

The crayonorious earwig bought a one-way ticket to Portugal, seeking a life of uneducated glory. It made a living out of gambling with chicken butchers and creating a monopoly. He was imprisoned for cooking chickens on a crayon burner. I wish I could tell you he fought the good battle…

Mako stepped up to the control station and seemed to recalibrate the functions. "You did great, girls. We have the factory under control again."

"Sweet, so can he let us out now?" Maddy asked. "We were busy with more important stuff."

The chamber quaked. "What's happening now?!" Haruka yelled.

"Zachy's waking up!" Mako beamed.

Outside, the human-shaped factory began to stomp forward like a rebooting robot. His giant shoes took three seconds for each step, quaking the floor and making things unsettling for all inside.

But from the perspective of our normal-sized friends, Zach was just walking very slowly. There was nothing dramatic about his steps. Once his legs felt rejuvenated, he began to walk faster. "Mako, where is Zach going?" asked Maddy.

"He goes where his heart tells him, obviously! Because I know he's not hungry enough for his stomach to guide him."

Zach's destination was the base's morgue. Miyuki and Suki looked over to him. "Suki… remember that promised time I vaguely mentioned? That time is now."

"You mean… it's ready?"

"Of course. I had Mako work on it in the back of Schoolasses. A room so secure, even I couldn't screw it up."

"Ah… I see." Mako smirked. "Okay, Zach. I'll open it right now!" She raised one hand and called Zach's Keyblade.

"YOU can use the Keyblade?!" Haruka exclaimed.

"As long as I'm in Zach's body, I'm basically part of Zach. That means Zach's tools are my tools!" She winked. With that, Mako headed into Schoolasses, navigated around the books, and located the room Special Projects. "This will cheer you up, Suki!" She positioned the Keyblade to unlock the door.