F-27. The Final Countdown

Casino English

The Casino Castle was a vast and vibrant metropolis of green lights and neon structures. Amusement park rides, giant slot machines, and statues that embodied His Lordship's likeness. From the most secure quarters, Bill Cipher and Dimentio watched as coated women were softly patting the Lord's shoulders. "Dammit! All the brainwashed Disney Princesses in the universes can't wake Lord English up!"

"Oh, what's the rush?" Dimentio asked. "If those would-be heroes even show up, I can shrink them all to the size of atoms."

"Don't get cocky. We both know you're using every ounce of energy to keep that Multiverse Portal inside you. And if Lord English doesn't wake up, he can't help you. Conserve your chi."

"Oh, what a shame. Sigh… well, I guess I'll just watch the show." He faced out the window. (Play the Main Theme from Smash Bros. Brawl!)

The entire fleet of heroes splorped out of space and flew headfirst toward the castle. No later did a massive fleet emerge from the castle and bombard them with lasers. Heartless, Grimm, Akuma, Mega Pokémon, pirates, all enemies that had signed over to Lord English worked to defend his castle. "ZEEEE HA HA HAAAA!" Blackbeard crashed on the castle ground like a meteor, causing a massive earthquake that took down the surrounding forces.

"GO, MY ARMY OF THE UNDEAD-AH!" Davy Jones roared as the Inferi used their powers to defend the King Dutchman. "Show them our eternal FURY!"

Nigel Uno became a dragon and said, "For the record, we're not YOUR army!" before going to burn the enemies.

Ruby Rose and Allen Walker stood back-to-back and blasted Akuma and Grimm. Liaziana slashed massive airwaves from her sword and cut down many, and tiny Kateenian ships swarmed enemies like fireflies and destroyed them together, moving so fast that the enemies couldn't hit them.

"Un…be…LIEVABLE!" Bill Cipher tore his hair out. "Those traitorous idiots are actually HELPING the Kids Next Door?! After ALL the luxury I gave them for three years?! HOW DARE THEY BETRAY ME!"

"Well, since we're not protecting planets anymore," Augustus began, piloting the Noah, "what's the harm in ramming this ship right through their walls?" So, without a moment's hesitation, Augustus drove the Noah through countless towers of the castle—the combined psychic attacks of Mega Alakazam grabbed the massive vessel and pushed it back. A hatch burst open on the bottom of the Noah, and out came Zach's Gravy Train with everyone onboard. "Super Fist of The Fool, We're Too Good For Giant Gum Ships! Puny trains made of sticks glued by gravy are the way to go!"

"It coulda at least had better cushions!" Anthony complained.

"I'll stick to yonder skies, thank thee!" Fybi grinned, flying alongside them and shooting down enemies.

"Zach, there's a bunch of land mines up ahead!" Maddy sensed.

"Never fear!" Zach grabbed 30 lassos and whirled them around. "Super Fist of The Fool, Metahuman Shields!" The lassos flew in multiple directions and caught several Brotherhood members.

"WAAAAHH!" The villains were all yanked under the Gravy Train and forced to run and carry it.

"My train just got back from the gym, it's too tired of working. Sometimes, we all need a bunch of criminals to carry us."

They soon crossed the mine field as the villains suffered round after round of explosions. Thankfully, they made it past the mines, and the injured villains were still charging forward. "Zach, perhaps we should allow them time to rest." Arianna said.

"The time for rest is over! And it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings! Or in this case, the giant Hulk wannabe with flashy eyes! I'm as eager as a beaver with a cleaver, I can't wait to finally cleave that fool in twain!"

"But how do we know where Lord English is?" Wendy asked.

"Where all the big bad gUys like to hide!" Calliope winked. "At the top!" She pointed forward.

"At that huge building with his head on it?" Lee Andrew asked.

"No, it's a little fUrther than that. It may actUally take a few days before we get there."

"WHAT?! A FEW DAYS?!"

"There's no WAY we can keep fighting for multiple days straight!" Aranea shouted.

"TrUe, bUt yoU still managed to complete the main part of the prophecy in only one month. YoU trained for three whole years and that meal has fUlly rejUvenated yoU. I'm confident yoU can sUrvive!"

"…Well, I'm confident, too." Cheren smiled.

"Yeah! Besides, it's either us or the universe." Aurora said.

"Wendy, you remembered to give everyone a Vanishing Box, right?" Charle asked, currently in a humanoid form. "(Finally kicked the dog talk!)"

"Of course I did! Right, guys?" As Wendy asked, all the Sector Leaders presented Vanishing Boxes.

"We're about to break into the gates!" Goombella shouted.

"Everyone, eyes front and don't hold back!" Cheren ordered passionately. "Our target is Lord English! Don't stop until we TAKE HIM DOWN!" (Play "Castle Bleck" from Super Paper Mario!)

Final Stage: Casino Castle

Mission: Destroy Lord English and save the multiverse!

Act 1

The Gravy Train broke down the castle gates as the heroes raced down the stretching halls. Magiblots of various colors appeared around the ceiling and halls, raining dark powers upon them all. Wendy and Sunni conjured shields to protect them all, then Nebula and Sheila shot Starbursts and Light Spheres to destroy them. Next, a troupe of Darknuts came marching down, but Emily could easily use metalbending to compress their armor and crush the demons.

The heroes went up a stairwell, which had Bill Cipher busts on either side that would close in to crush them. Anthony held the busts back with his bending, leaving everyone else to destroy the spikeballs that rolled down. "He spared no expense on death traps, I'll give him that." Carol said. They all made it to the top of the stairs and faced another corridor with multiple passages. There were paintings and sculptures whose eyes flashed like the Octogan.

"Which route is the fastest way to English?" Cheren asked.

"I'm not completely sUre, actUally. Almost everything in this castle is imbUed with my brother's chi, it's making it hard for me to see the way. This is why I reqUested Wendy and Diwata to make dUplicate Vanishing Boxes: we mUst take different roUtes and locate the fastest way to English."

Billiard Boys charged in from the main passage while Imps came from their left. "So be it. Everybody pick a path and find him! Use the Vanishing Boxes to regroup with one-another if need be." Cheren ordered. With a charge of his blade, Cheren performed a Hurricane Spin and sawed through the legions of MS Paint creations. As they passed more corridors, operatives divided into groups and searched different directions.

"Come on, Mason! We'll sock that drongo in the jaw before any of them!" Sheila shouted, grabbing her mate's arm before running with lightspeed.

"WAAAAAH!" They blew through swarms of Tockbots, giant walking clocks. "Sheila, I don't think we can take them by ourselves-!" Mason was silenced when one of the Tockbots froze them. Some Chrono Koopas (turtles in green, spiked armor) charged up to stab the duo, but MaKayla King showed up to whack the Koopas away with her staff.

"You're lucky I'm just as fast when I Speed up." Kayla said. She used her chi to counter that of the Tockbots, shooting Chrono Beams to shatter them. There was a door at the end of the hall, but it spawned a face and gnashed at the kids. This door was a Heartless Possessor that spat rapid dark globs, but Sheila effortlessly sliced it up with her light-imbued Keyblade and reduced the Heartless to nothing.

In this next, grand hall towered a statue of His Lordship which they almost mistook as the real thing. An angry Sheila dashed up to the statue with a charged Light Fist, but the statue's eyes opened and flashed the whole room with neon. In an instant, Sheila was back at the start. "What in blazes?!"

"That statue froze time, I felt it!" MaKayla said. "The two of you, stay close to me!" Mason and Sheila did so, for when the statue flashed again, she used her bending to counter the Stop. Time Guys (Shy Guys with clock masks) came to bring the kids back to start, but the unfrozen MaKayla beat them down. Time unfroze, and the trio could keep going. The process repeated as Kayla kept beating Time Guys until they reached the door under the statue.

Mega Gengars immediately swooped in and hurdled Shadow Balls, which MaKayla sent back with Rewind while Sheila punched Light Beams up at them. Their path led to a chasm of green lava, requiring the need of floating cogs and giant pendulums to get across. Large clocks hung on the walls as minutes ticked like seconds, and depending on what "time" it was, the platforms would either stop, slow down, or move faster, with the changes being sudden. They watched out for what times would stop or speed and made their way across to the next room.

"'ey, who's that fellow in the snotty getup?" Sheila asked, seeing the back of a man in a limegreen tuxedo and top-hat with neon parts.

"I feel Time Chi from him!" MaKayla said. "But it's not English's…"

"Oi, get outta our way!" Sheila ran toward that man with a spinning Light Fist. The second she was about to punch the side of his head-

"ZA WĀRUDO!" The fist struck the stranger and slammed him against the wall.

"Ooooog…" Mason moaned in agony, now clothed in the getup.

"MASON?!" Sheila cried. "You mean YOU were Lord English?! HOW HAVE I NEVER EXPECTED THIS!!"

"You thought it was Lord English…" Someone grabbed MaKayla by the neck. "But it was ME! DIO!"

"Hn?!" Sheila whipped around. "Oh, great! Another crazy bloke Ah've never heard of!"

"You're Sheila, aren't you?" DIO softly stroked MaKayla's neck with his sharp, black nail. "One of the Seven Lights that Lord English fears. The fact that you all are here means that it's time for him to die, right?"

"Sheila, run!" Kayla shouted. "This guy's a timebender, so I can hold him back!"

"You misunderstand." DIO said. "You see, I am offering you the chance to join me. With my powers, not only can we destroy English… we can manipulate him to our will. Imagine, all the power of the universe, to do as we please. I merely need your help in weakening him. Then, when he is on the verge of death, I can finally make him one of my servants. And if you refuse my offer… your friend will-"

With the speed of light, Sheila KICKED the side of DIO's face and knocked him away. "Ah'm sick of you already, ya smelly musclehead! Ah reckon I'll beat the tar out of YOU before I go for English!"

"ZA WĀRUDO!" Time was instantly frozen by DIO's power. He got to his feet, walked up to Sheila, and a golden humanoid spirit emerged from his body, bombarding Sheila with rapid punches. "Useless useless useless useless useless useless useless USELESS!"

After 9 seconds passed, Sheila was injured head to toe. "SHEILA!" her friends cried.

"I'll ask you once more." DIO said. "Submit your loyalty to me, and I shall help you destroy Lord English."

"You can suck on a salt lick for all I care!" retorted Sheila. "The only one we follow is Cheren!"

"Very well." DIO set his sights on Mason. "Then perhaps, for your friend's sake, you will-"

"STOP!" MaKayla froze him in time. "Sheila, Mason, you two should just-"

"ZA WĀRUDO!" DIO froze time again.

"Not this time!" MaKayla was able to leap up and attack DIO. "As a timebender, I'm aware of any chrono distortion…?!" She was frozen. What?! Why did I stop moving?!

"Useless useless useless useless useless USELESS!" DIO laid the beatdown on her. Time resumed. "You may also have power over time, but my The World is superior in every way."

So, if he stops time, I'll only have a few seconds to move? But I can't use other attacks in stopped time. …Unless… Kayla glanced at the singed spot on DIO's cheek. He must be weak against lightbending. And those fangs… could he be a vampire like Lola?

"AAAAHH!" Sheila leapt to punch DIO again, but The World punched her away.

"Sheila!" Kayla sped herself up and caught her. "Sheila, I think you and I should fight him together!"

"Oi, first you tell me to leave, now ya want me to stay! Which is it?!"

"STAY!"

"Still you defy me? Then I will have to bring you over to my side by force!" (Play "The 13th Struggle" from Kingdom Hearts II!)

"Sheila, stay far away from him, but close to me!"

"Don't count me out!" Mason ran beside them. "A first mate needs to help his captain!"

Boss fight: Dio Brando

"ZA WĀRUDO!"

"HERE IT COMES!" Kayla grabbed the two and leapt away. During the stopped time, she used her chi to let Sheila move, and the raccoon shot rapid Light Spheres that DIO's World countered. After 3 seconds, they were forced to stop, and DIO rushed up for another "Useless" flurry. The kids were knocked apart, so DIO decided to try and impale MaKayla with his fingers. She used the Chrono Staff to briefly Rewind DIO and escape, but the vampire fought out of the Rewind. Sheila summoned her Keyblade and conjured spires of light to slide toward DIO, who was quick to evade them.

"ZA WĀRUDO!"

"The HECK you ah!" Sheila lit up her body like gold, so even when time froze, DIO was unable to attack her.

"So, you've made yourself untouchable." DIO observed. He studied his knuckles, which were slightly burned from punching her spheres. "Even The World cannot touch her light. This girl is proving to be more troublesome than I anticipated."

"YAH!" Sheila seized the chance when time unfroze to lightspeed-punch DIO in both cheeks and then KICK him in the air.

"Way to go, Sheila!" Mason praised. "Here, drink some of this!" He used bending to draw out a few drops of Golden Flurp and throw it to her mouth.

"Hee hee HEE!" The energy boost kicked in as Sheila punched rapid Light Spheres at the floating vampire, but DIO materialized ice shield after ice shield to defend from her.

"Are you kidding, he's an icebender, too?!" Kayla shouted.

"ZA WĀRUDO!" Time was frozen again. DIO moved away from Sheila's line of fire, but MaKayla used her three seconds to leap up and bat the Light Spheres away. They began to bounce rapidly around the room even in stopped time, hitting each other as they all began to bounce, and some managed to strike DIO. This caused the Stop to wear off faster, and as Sheila fired more Light Spheres, they bounced around some more.

"Ow ow OW!" Mason yelped, taking a few hits. "Watch it, Sheila!"

DIO threw up an ice shield to block the spheres, but the raccoon turned her legs to light and kicked DIO away once the shield broke. She whipped her tail and shot a long light strip, crushing DIO against the wall. Sheila ignited her whole body—"ZA WĀRUDO!" DIO froze time yet again. "Huh?!" For some reason, Sheila seemed to be everywhere, with light streaks connecting them. "Impossible! She ran around the room so fast that her presence is everywhere! Maybe I'll just freeze this whole room, so she can't run at all!" DIO clasped the floor and turned everything to ice.

MaKayla used her free time to jump and avoid freezing, but the same couldn't be said for Mason. Time unfroze, and- "WHOA!" Sheila did a lightspeed slip on the ice and crashed rear-first into the wall. "Ow, me bum! …?" She smirked. "Say, Oi just thoughta something fun!" With that, she kicked away from the wall, sliding along the ice. "Hnnnnnrrrrr!" She channeled Light Chi to her rear and spun rapidly, bouncing all around the room like a hockey puck.

"How ridiculous." DIO scoffed. "ZA WĀRUDO!" And time was frozen.

"Not THIS TIME!" Mason, thanks to MaKayla's aid, farted a Gas Bomb at DIO's face. It weakened DIO only slightly, but it was just enough for MaKayla to grab the Stopped Sheila and YANK her out of the ground, exposing the massive Light Sphere that had grown from her rear.

"OH MY GOD!!" DIO gaped in utter disbelief.

"Take this! Golden GAS BUBBLE!" MaKayla spun with Sheila in hand and SMASHED DIO with the weight of the Light Sphere. Time resumed, and Sheila continued spinning, drilling DIO into the ground under her golden sun bum.

"UUUUUUUUSELEEEEEEESS. . . !" (End song.)

"Oiiiii, oiiii, oiiii…" Sheila's brain was spinning, as were most of her organs. Her eyes may have been inside-out, but they recovered. "Oh? Blimey, why did a big hole appear where the room used to be?"

"Ha ha, wow, Sheila!" Mason clenched his rib in laughter. "Way to let out the poisonbender in you!"

"Hee hee hee, I 'ave you to thank for that, Mate! Still, Ah can't believe what a letdown that guy was. Goin' on about takin' down Lord English and he don't even last 9 seconds."

"Eh, what can ya do?" MaKayla shrugged. "At the end of the day, he's… useless. Let's keep moving. Try not to exhaust too much of your strength until we get there!"

"Aye!" So, the trio kept moving, leaving another battle at their backs.

Elsewhere

Terry Stork grabbed five Longadile's in Shadow Possession and crushed them, and Lola hurled spanking hands at Magiblots. "MaKayla just called." George reported. "She, Mason, and Sheila encountered one of the Backup Army, but they took care of him. She said she's gonna stick with them for the time being."

"I suppose they'll be all right." Miyuki said. "You aren't too tired yet, are you, Suki?"

"Nuh-uh! The sooner we beat Lord Meanie, the sooner we can play again!"

"Ha ha! You're right, Suki! Then let's keep going!" (Resume "Castle Bleck"!)

Act 2: Frosted Halls

Sector IC reached a zigzaggy path that led up along a wall. It was thin and smooth, and with each level of zigzags, they turned steeper. That path turned so steep that they couldn't walk up it, but Suki froze a stairway up that part so they could. This was followed by a corridor with a snaky, slanted path over a candlelit pit. Even Suki could not cool the flames for more than a second, so she conjured a stable path along the slanted one. The candles' heat were melting it, so the kids progressed quickly.

The end of the passage led outside, providing the team a marvelous view of the vast, planet-size castle. There were platforms with trampolines splayed, bouncing the kids very high. Green fireworks were quickly being shot up and bursting in the area, threatening to end their spring-happy fun. An emerald Pyro Guy was bouncing on a trampoline, and Lola had the liberty of spanking it off. From this last trampoline, the kids landed and surfed down a slide. "WHEEEEE!" Suki took the lead on her own slippery feet.

She knocked an 8-ball off its perch as it slid down an alternate slide to the right. They slid over a switch with a circle, creating a bridge on the ball's slide. "Something tells me we need to guide that ball!" George yelled. Their slide turned wide as they had to avoid Phantom Embers and cut the strings of catapults to launch boulders and break rocks on the ball's slide. Afterwards, their slide divided into multiple segments, reconnected, and divided again, with a switch to extend the ball's slide being on certain paths. The kids simply took their own slides, ensuring a switch would be hit.

At last, they were sliding toward a giant Lord English skull. The ball rolled ahead and settled inside its empty socket, and the mouth opened to welcome them inside. Right away, they landed on a huge casino roulette, with the edge spinning rapidly. They feared that whatever spot they landed on determined their fate, so George and Miyuki Stopped the wheel. They could see a red spot with Calliope's face and slid onto it. The platform raised them up to a passage.

The air became chilly as ice seemed to cover the hall. Suki was obviously happy in her natural element, but the snow was hardly enjoyable as green top-hats with flashy neon bases were lain about. Snowmen with flashy angry eyes (Cuemen) formed and spat black snowballs, hurting George and Terry with the force of cannonballs. Suki could not control the black snow, and even her icicles took a while to totally destroy the snowmen. Miyuki helped her by casting Chrono Beams at them. A Cueman waited at the edge of a pit, but Lola spanked it off without a moment's notice.

There was a switch over this chasm, and when Suki tried to form an ice bridge, emerald flames sprung up and melted it. Another hat dropped down to create another Cueman. George had an idea and Stopped the snowman, telling Lola to keep spanking it. Momentum built up within it, sending the Cueman flying across once unfrozen and hitting the switch. A bridge of piano keys appeared, making a tune as they bounced across.

The minute they passed through the door, they were grabbing onto a massive pendulum over an endless pit. "WHOOOOOAAA!" Down they went, swinging with breakneck speed, as they came crashing into a '12.' The clock above them spun around and landed on '4.' They were swinging to a 4, a 6, and a 9, but they shifted momentum to crash into the former (the 4-mer ;D). The clock spun and stopped at 8, but the numbers they were swinging to were 1, 5, and 2. They simply swung between those numbers, missed them, and returned back. An '8' was included amongst the three this time, so they hit it. The clock then switched to '10,' but they were caught off guard when three different numbers appeared along their flight path rather than the end. They barely avoided those numbers before touching the '10.'

The pendulum went swinging into a hall, dropping the kids as they forcibly slid across some ice. The hall in question made numerous twists and turns, sideways and upward, which would confuse the player if this were a game as the camera didn't change. The teammates maneuvered pits and flying flames, losing sense of direction until the ice finally stopped. They could follow a straight passage as they felt the temperature get colder.

"Guys." Lola whispered. "I hear something around that corner. It's four pairs of footsteps."

"I'll check it out." Terry used Veil to slither around the corner in question. To his surprise, it was only Sector SA. He emerged and said, "Sector S-"

"YAH!" Morgiana instinctively KICKED him in the gut, smashing Terry against a wall. Sector IC jumped around the corner for a counterattack—"Sector SA?" George said.

Morg gasped. "Sector IC! I-I'm sorry."

"Heh heh heh!" Nagisa laughed. "'Didn't think our paths would cross so soon. This castle sure is confusing, huh?"

"You can say that again." George scratched his head awkwardly.

"Ooooog. . . my last lunch. . . ." Terry moaned.

"Alas, we knew Terry well, but he died before he could serve a purpose in the New Universe." Lola joked.

"Shut up."

"Well, since you already combed that way," Goombella said, "I suppose we'll take this hall together."

"Sounds good to me." George agreed. The two sectors followed the path to a door that was frozen solid. Needing no effort at all to do so, Suki bent the door open with her powers.

This room was so cold that it felt like being in a freezer. There were ice statues of people crying in despair; some of them were missing limbs or severed in half. "Welcome to my gallery." A woman clad in white revealed herself: General Esdeath. "All these men are those that have fallen before me. Some of them are rejected boyfriends. Many have tried, but none have fit my qualifications…"

Oddly, her sights were set on Nagisa. "?!" The boy gulped, flushing in terror. Esdeath knocked everyone else away with icicles and slid up to him. "You, however… I'm quite fascinated by you. I don't know why, but I feel an aura from you that is… strangely familiar."

"Ehh… I appreciate the offer, ma'am, but I think I'm too young for you."

"Oh, that's no problem. I'm sure Lord English can increase your age with his powers."

"Did I mention I'm also a girl right now?"

"What?"

Morgiana kicked Esdeath off him with the force of a truck. "Hands off him."

"Suki, this woman… I think she's the one that killed Dad." Miyuki said.

"Her?…"

"You people are annoying." Esdeath willed the ice beneath their feet to encapsulate and freeze the group, leaving only Nagisa. "Come, boy!" He grabbed the flushing blue-head. "Let us watch the universe's destruction and marry!"

An icicle struck Esdeath in the head and knocked her back. She recovered to see Suki had escaped from her ice. "Excuse me, Miss? Did you kill my dad?"

Her dad? Is her father that ice-wielding man from before? "Perhaps. What if I did?"

"It's not nice to kill peoples' dads. If you say 'sorry,' I'll forgive you."

"I have no remorse for your father. He died because he wasn't strong enough. The same reason my own father died. The sooner you understand that, the wiser you will be."

"…It's because of bad people like you that my sister is always on missions. It's why they always have to save the world. It's why we can't have fun together. They can't come back home until they beat up the bad people." Suki raised her hand and summoned her Keyblade. "So, I have to beat you up, too!"

"Hm… That's positively adorable." Esdeath pushed Nagisa across the ice and drew her sword. "There's only one way to discipline a child!" (Play "Final Battle" from Ni no Kuni!)

Boss fight: Esdeath

Esdeath conjured ice soldiers around Suki, closing in as the girl did a spin attack to slice them in half. Suki skied along an ice path, surfing around Esdeath and casting icicles that the general countered. Esdeath spawned giant icicles in Suki's path and caused her to fall, and she leapt to stab the child, but Suki blocked with her Keyblade and kicked ice from her foot to freeze Esdeath's feet to the ground. Suki dealt quick attacks to Esdeath, then slid away when the general escaped. Esdeath spawned one ice soldier, and another, then another, with Suki slicing them each time, but then Esdeath forced the ice beneath Suki to thrust her into the air, then had an ice soldier throw its sword up.

The sword only grazed Suki, and she used Ice-Make to make ice wings and stay midair. Esdeath rose on an ice platform in attempt to stab her, and when Suki flew away, Esdeath engaged pursuit on the moving platform. Suki surprised her by stopping and whacking Esdeath off her perch. She launched icicles that all stabbed the general, but Esdeath psychically grabbed them off and returned them to Suki. Suki batted them away, but did not expect an ice boulder to drop on her head.

Suki landed on the ground in a daze, but Esdeath conjured more ice boulders to bury her. Suki pushed the boulders off her and made some fly into Esdeath, who shattered them with the tip of her blade. Suki conjured a giant ice spatula and batted Esdeath away, so the general in turn created a larger sword that would destroy the spatula in one swing. Suki willed many ice shards lain about the ground to all fly at Esdeath like bullets, but she protected herself with a diamond-shaped ice shield. Suki skied toward and hit the shield with her Keyblade, breaking it after three hits, but Esdeath blew her back with ice jabs from below.

Esdeath conjured a Suki clone complete with a Keyblade. The clone flipped over and engaged Suki with equal speed. Suki channeled more chi to her Keyblade to crack the clone's ice and destroy it with enough attacks. Esdeath materialized an ice wall that touched the ceiling, kicking it forward as it fell over on Suki, who was able to break an opening and survive. Esdeath willed a rainstorm of ice rocks to rain above Suki, who used an Ice-Make Helmet to protect herself. Suki escaped from the rain and threw some of those chunks at Esdeath, followed by a quick ice blast to her face.

Suki flew up for more strikes at the general, to which Esdeath countered before sliding away. "I'm through playing games with you!" The symbol above her chest glowed, and in a second time itself was frozen. "I'll kill you the same way I killed your father." She marched up and positioned her sword at Suki's chest, smirking devilishly. "I wish I could use this power as frequently as DIO can use his, but even I'm not immortal. Well, once is enough." And so, she impaled Suki's chest, then withdrew the sword.

"AAAAAAH!" Suki clasped her chest and dropped to her knees. "M…M…My heart…" Her chest began to freeze from the inside. "I-I-It's… so cold…"

"In a moment, your heart will become ice and shatter! You can try all you like, but I'll cut you before you get the chance. Prepare to join your father in Frozen Hell."

"AAAAAAAAHH…" Suki's entire body became ice, and then she shattered. Her remains drifted like glittery snow.

"SUKI!!" Nagisa cried.

"Perfect." Esdeath sheathed her sword. "Now, where were we… Nagisa?" She approached the boy with a lust on her features.

"Nnnn!" He backed up in fright, but Morgiana's frozen body blocked his escape.

"So, you said you're a girl now? That's okay. I don't mind becoming a lesbian for you." Esdeath softly stroked his cheek, covering it with ice. "Notice how the touch of my hand gives you goosebumps? Well, imagine… if you felt the whole thing."

A finger tapped her shoulder. Esdeath glanced behind. "HUH?!" Suki was floating behind her with a vibrant smile, her body merged with the frosted mist. "You LITTLE-!" Esdeath drew her blade and CHOPPED Suki's head. Ice was between the gap. "IMPOSSIBLE!"

"Suki!" Nagisa exclaimed. "You're a… Logia!"

"I am?" She was baffled. "I guess it musta happened when Sis and I fought that ghost guy! Hey, Esdeath! You're looking a little pale…"

Indeed, the ice from Suki's Logia body spread along Esdeath's sword, and when she yanked it out, the blade snapped in two. Suki shook the blade out of her and willed all the ice to assimilate around her. Growing and growing, Esdeath gaped with utter disbelief when Suki became a giant, chubby snowgirl. Esdeath conjured more ice soldiers to climb and stab at Suki, but they were merely absorbed into her fluff.

"Snowy Suki BELLY SMASH!" The heavy heroine leapt and SMASHED Esdeath under her round, fluffy belly. Underneath it, she felt Esdeath's body crunch like a large ice cube. (End song.)

All the ice in the room dissolved, and the operatives were free. "Esdeath ES DEAD!" Suki cheered innocently.

"…I will do whatever she says, as long as she doesn't freeze me." Terry said fearfully.

"SUKIII!" Miyuki picked her sister up and whirled around. "You're a LOGIA! The youngest Logia in history!"

"I know, Sister-chan! But I still feel warm when I'm with you!"

"That's good, Suki!" They shared a hug.

"Phew… all's well that ends well." Nagisa sighed. "At least in this case."

"Aww, you and Esdeath would've made a great couple." Goombella winked.

"Ew, don't even say that."

"I agree." Morg replied.

"Anyway, thanks, Suki. I don't think we would've beat her without you. If we need you again, we'll call!" Nagisa affirmed.

"Got ya!" George nodded. "Let's get back to finding English." So, the teams split up, once again taking their own routes.

…

"Grrrr!" Bill's hair was a mess with how much he had been tugging. "Those brats shouldn't have lasted 10 seconds in this castle… it's the most impregnable fortress in the universe! His Lordship demanded it be this huge! Did you KNOW this would happen?!" He faced the unmoving English with anger and stomped over to him. "Is this why your plans have failed?" Bill floated up to stare into His Lordship's flashing eyes. "Because your stupid ass can't move?!"

"Ca…Ca…Calli…"

"…No…No, of course… I'm the one who did all the thinking for you. Because I was separated from your mind, your All-Seeing Eye became faulty. Is that why, Lord English? Did you need me that bad?" Tears fell from Bill's eyes.

"Cal…li…"

"Lord English… is she the only one you can think about? Did I…Did I matter to you at all?"

Deeper in the castle

Three years ago, the four of us were nothing more than rookie operatives struggling to gain respect from our peers. Now we were in the castle of the most powerful being in the universe. It would be the hardest mission we would ever face. The four of us alone will be inspirations to cadets everywhere, and-

"Nagisa, save the monologue for later!" Index shouted. "We almost got our butts frozen by that Esdeath lady, we aren't going to inspire anybody like that."

"I know, I'm just excited! Let's not stop now, team! Lord English is only a few chapters away!" (Resume "Castle Bleck" from Super Paper Mario!)

Act 3

Sector SA entered a hallway with multiple Bill Cipher vases on pedestals. Some of those vases poofed into Shy Ninjas and tossed shurikens at them, the others dodging while Nagisa used Iron Body. Morgiana flew to the Shy Guys with rocket-like feet and stomped them into submission. The hall's exit was too high to reach, but with Nagisa using Moon Walk and Morg using Rocket Jump, they could carry their friends and reach the exit, but had to dodge the Ninja Guys throwing shurikens from the side.

In the next hall, they were behind a short wall. The minute Morgiana peeked over it, a wall of kunai knives flew from up ahead, the Fanalis ducking. "How can we get through here?"

"Let me see." Index peeked over. She ducked when kunai came, but observed that each set had a pattern with open gaps in certain areas. "There's a repeating pattern. I'll show you where to jump." They let Index have the lead, for her Perfect Memory memorized all the safe gaps within the kunai walls. The kunai were coming from holes in the ending wall, but they turned left from there and exited to outside. A twin Bombshell Banzai cannon blasted them from across the chasm, but Nagisa and Morg, the keen jumpers, bounced over the giant golden projectiles and reached a midair walkway.

A giant robot dog crashed onto the walkway, and it looked like a twin of the Dao Dog boss from Starship Vorselon. This Dao Dog was gray and had the Shinra Power Company logo. Nagisa used Tempest Kick to slightly cut the Machine-Made down the middle, then Morgiana leapt up for some strong kicks to the head until the robot was down and out. The path ended and continued in the form of a tightrope, in which parts of the rope would dissolve into matter and then reform. They took heed of this while making their way across the rope, which would end at a platform whilst another rope followed.

Li'l Sparkies traveled along one rope and they had to jump to avoid Shockwave Thwomps on others, but the segment finally ended on a safe platform. "Man, all these clocks are giving me a headache!" Index shouted, as the castle was constantly ringing with clocks ticking in a dramatic rhythm. "I'm never gonna get this music out of my head…"

A green hot-air balloon was available, and it carried them over to a series of platforms held up by balloons. Machine-Made Lokis attacked them with scepters, but the team had to be careful in fighting them as they could cut the balloon strings and make the platforms plummet. Morgiana used kicks and Goombella used headbonks as they worked to knock the Loki copies off. The platforms led toward a clock tower, but the ticking clock hand was actually a cannon. They climbed in, and since the cannon ticked on each hour, they had 12 different directions to shoot.

They chose to fire at 11:00, for this would fire them up to a zipline sloping down to a new area. Nagisa used Tempest Kick to destroy the Phantom Embers on the platform, but now their only lead was two giant candles. The left candle tip drooped right while the right one drooped left. Since Nagisa already destroyed the Embers, Morgiana used the heat of her Red-Foot to light the left candle. It instantly sprung her to a far, right platform that had its own candles. What this was was a spring-candle maze, however the science behind it worked. Morg ignited and tested all of them until she eventually found a path that worked. Index helped them memorize this path, so the others were quick to join.

They landed on a small platform with stairs leading down to a battlefield. Stationed in the center, his back facing them, was the silver-haired man with one wing. "Hey, who's that over there?" Index whispered.

"Sephiroth." Nagisa remembered. "It looks like he hasn't noticed us. Let's see if we can get the jump on him."

"I wouldn't do that." Sephiroth whipped around, the tip of his long sword touching Nagisa's nose.

"Uh, hehe… I was joking?"

"…Hm… Let me ask you something, Blue-Haired One… what is your gender?"

". . ." Nagisa felt dead inside. "Uh… I'm a boy, Sir."

"Really? Your chest is somewhat plump."

His soul was crushed. "NOOOOoooo…" He sat down crying.

"Grr! Let us pass!" Morgiana demanded. "We need to defeat Lord English soon, or we'll all be destroyed! That includes you…"

"I doubt that." Sephiroth smirked. "Besides… I don't recall you being mentioned in this prophecy."

Nagisa regained a serious composure and stood up. "So, what? We're Kids Next Door operatives, too. Saving the universe is as much our responsibility as the Seven Lights."

"Really? So, you think you're ready to battle someone as powerful as Lord English?"

"Sure we are." (Play Sephiroth's Theme from Kingdom Hearts II!)

"Then you should have no problem defeating me first…"

Boss fight: Sephiroth

Sephiroth readied his sword—Morgiana kicked Goombella and Index away, then immediately jumped in the second it took Sephiroth to zip over and slice, and Nagisa kept safe with Iron Body. He used Shave to dodge behind the angel, then Paper Art to evade the following sword swings. Morgiana let loose a flurry of kicks from behind, ending with one that knocked Sephiroth away. He flew over to slice away at her, but Nagisa had jumped in the way, used Iron Body, and let Morgiana hold him like a shield. "That's an odd way to fight."

"You mean teamwork? We use it all the time." Nagisa replied.

Sephiroth's next attempts to cut through Nagisa failed, and afterwards, Morgiana used Nagisa as a post to whip around and kick Sephiroth in the face. The One-Winged Angel ran in a circle around them, materializing Dark Spheres that Morg kicked away. Sephiroth then approached, Morgiana hid behind Nagisa, the angel sliced, and the second he was open was when Morg kicked Nagisa into him, briefly stunning him as Morg leaped overhead for a head stomp, followed by Nagisa cutting him with the Antikill rubber knife, then Morg kicking him off.

"This is the substance you used on Giovanni…" Sephiroth observed, wiping it off his chest.

"It's supposed to sting you unconscious." Nagisa clarified. "But I guess you're a little too strong for that."

"Indeed. That's why I'm not wasting another second with you." Sephiroth teleported over the edge and flew several feet high. "Descend Heartless Angel…"

As he glowed a pink aura, Morgiana was not willing to let him finish, so she squat her legs and kicked toward him like a rocket, ramming the angel headfirst. His attack was cancelled, but Morg took the fall. She used consecutive Rocket Kicks to make her way back to the tower, but during this time, Nagisa had to dodge Sephiroth's sword with Paper Art, use Moon Walk to evade the Dark Spheres, and resume Paper Art during midair sword strikes. Morgiana returned and quickly rejoined Nagisa.

"Perish now." Sephiroth erupted numerous spires of fire around him, drawing the kids in like a vacuum.

"Morg!"

"Right!" She grabbed his arms and spun around.

"DUCK!" Index yelped.

With Morg whirling and Nagisa extended, the boy used a 360° Tempest Kick, landing a direct hit on the angel. Sephiroth performed another flurry of teleporting sword-strikes, with Nagisa remaining in Iron Body and serving as Morg's shield. Morgiana kicked him whenever there was an opening, and when Sephiroth stabbed, she leapt onto his blade for another successful kick to the head. Sephiroth flew over the edge again and summoned a herd of meteors to rain unto his foes. Morgiana stomped the ground to kick on her Red-Foot Fury, igniting her feet so she could kick the small meteors back at him.

Sephiroth fell, but immediately teleported behind Nagisa, who failed to use Iron Body in time, but Morg acted faster and blocked Sephiroth's downward swing with her burning leg. Both forces pushed against the other, and Morg grunted when the blade cut her leg slightly. To prevent the wound from increasing, Nagisa Shaved behind Sephiroth and stabbed his neck with a Finger Pistol, which did minimal damage, and Nagisa instantly jumped as he sensed Sephiroth was going to swing back.

Sephiroth warped to the center and called down more meteors, larger ones. They landed scattered around the field and began to whirl around in different directions. Morgiana ran up and tried to kick Sephiroth, but a blue aura made him invincible during this attack. All they could do was avoid the meteors, but Morg had a harder time with her wounded leg. Nagisa hugged his friend and used Shaves to help them both dodge the meteors. Sephiroth was charging a large energy ball above him during this time, and the attack concluded when he tossed it.

Nagisa and Morg dodged it by an inch, but they watched with worry as Sephiroth warped sky-high for his fatal attack. "Descend Heartless-"

"HOMP!" Index bit him in the wing.

"AGH! Where did you come from?!"

"I grabbed your leg when you warped!" Index channeled Light Chi to her teeth, weakening the angel's wing as he fell. Nagisa smirked and grabbed onto Morg as they both used Rocket Kick and Moon Walk to gain some air, followed by Shave to get above Sephiroth. Nagisa and Morgiana locked their legs together and spun, mixing flames and wind.

"Tempest FLAME!" They drilled downward, and Index dropped away from Sephiroth, as the two partners STAMPED the angel into the ground with the force of their combined strength. (End song.)

"Eat this, Morg!" Goombella took out a Life Shroom. "This'll heal your leg."

Morgiana picked up the mushroom and ate it. The cut disappeared, only leaving the dripped blood. "Thank you."

Morgiana always defended me when enemies came. I always felt weak because she was all the strength I had. So, I'm glad I get to fight beside her, and defend her, too.

"You're so corny, Nagisa." Index smirked.

"Gip!" He blushed. "Well, uh… at least we beat him!"

"Not quite." They jumped back to attention when Sephiroth stood, brushing the dust off. "Well… you two are very strong. But I must say I'm disappointed. I expected a one-on-one fight, but it seems you do not do so well individually."

"Well, no one can do everything by their selves." Nagisa said. "But I wasn't gonna keep hiding behind Morg my whole life. It's more fun to fight alongside people instead of alone. It's how we beat all of our foes… and it's how we'll beat Lord English."

"I see. Then you better get going." Sephiroth willed a dark portal to open. "That will take you further in the castle."

Index approached the portal and poked her head in. "Well, it looks like it does. But… why?"

"Only a certain man can defeat me. You kids would be wasting your time." Sephiroth turned away. "The sooner you defeat English… the sooner I can see him again."

"…Okay. Thanks for the help, I guess. Let's go, team." Nagisa entered the portal first. Morgiana, Goombella, and Index followed suit.

With Sector W

Anthony pushed a spiked Whomp onto its back, then leapt on its face and squashed it into pieces, while Fybi shot down a Twilakitu. "After the Darknesses, you all are wimps! Let's keep going, team!"

"Aye!" Fybi stayed above while Anthony remained ground-level. …They felt something was missing and looked back. Aranea and Sally were leaning on a wall. "…Aren't you comin'?" Anthony asked.

Aranea glanced at him. "Anthony, Fybi… do you even need me or Sally, anymore?"

"What?"

"Admit it. We haven't done anything since we got to the First Dimension. We're useless in places like this."

"Oh. …Well, um…" Anthony scratched his head.

"I truthfully doth not know what to say." Fybi said honestly.

"Ugh." Nea sighed. "Let's just go."

"Uh… okay." Anthony shrugged, going ahead with Fybi.

Harvey put a hand on Nea's shoulder and said, "If it makes you feel better, I feel like my role as Firstborn Guardian is about to be extinguished. With Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie becoming one Firstborn and all."

"Heh… thanks." Nea smiled weakly. (Resume "Castle Bleck"!)

Act 4

This hall was guarded by giant black Whomps with spiked backs. They were as easy to trick as normal Whomps, waiting for it to fall on its front as Anthony kicked up and broke it to pieces. The journey took them uphill with large, spiked Rhomps made of Permanite. Anthony used bending to hold the first one back, but couldn't break it without direct contact, and the other Rhomps were adding pressure. True, there was a hole at the base of the hill to prevent the Rhomps from coming closer, but the problem was getting up.

Nea noticed the torches lining the wall up the slope. "Sally, get up there and look for a switch!"

"Mm-hm!" Sally used her yo-yo to swing up the torches, passing the Rhomps' spawning point and landing on the foothold. "Hey, there is a-!"

"Switch!" Fybi pushed it. The Rhomps' ceiling hole sealed, so Anthony let them drop in the floor hole.

"I… was going to hit it." Sally said.

"Oh. Apologies."

The others could march up the slope and enter a dining room with three tables. There were people eating spirit balls with forks and knives. "Some guys have weird diets." Anthony said.

The people looked at them, smirked, and eyes glowed green. The humans became Akuma, the kids evasively dodging their lasers. Fortunately, Fybi's B.O.W. was implanted with Innocence like everyone else's 4x4, so she could shoot them down like average robots. There was no way out of the room except the window, but outside was merely a thin ledge with a far drop. The kids were careful in sidling along this ledge, and Fybi had to shoot down Missile Bills.

Some ledges either moved or went in and out, but the heroes made it to a new passage. Anthony went first and felt the posh floor become rock. He gasped—the floor pushed him up into the ceiling, so he pushed up against the ceiling to press a hole into the stone trap. From inside, he broke the stone apart. There were more stone traps down the way, so Anthony took the liberty of smashing them all. At the end, a Shy Guy appeared to be jumping around switches, wondering why the traps weren't activating. Aranea jumped up and knocked the Shy Guy out. "Woo. I'm useful."

"Don't be a baby." Anthony remarked. The next room was impeccably tall and cylindrical, with a Drop Tower extending all the way up. A large stone ring wrapped around the tower, so earthbending was the only way. Their friends got on while Anthony and Diancie stayed below, but Sally and Harvey wrapped their yo-yos around them. The earthbenders lifted the stone up and punched it up some, and then a second time. The siblings charged even greater force and punched with all their might, sending the ring rocketing to the top, and they were also yanked up via the yo-yos.

The ring stopped level with a path, so the kids had a second to jump off before the ring dropped again, pulling the earthbenders to safety. They entered a wide corridor with a dark chasm, and the only path across was completely taken up by a Lhomp, an extremely long Thwomp. Anthony and Diancie could do nothing to stop it because Akuma were constantly trying to shoot them, and they kept coming no matter how much Fybi shot them off. Fybi glanced at the Lhomp's path and stated, "There art small gaps where his base dost not reach!"

"Time to be useful, Nea!" Anthony slapped her back.

"WHAT?! You want me to go under that thing?!"

"You're the only one small and skinny enough! Come on, take one for the team!"

"If I die, I'll haunt you forever." So, Nea waited for her chance, and when the Lhomp leapt, she quickly crawled under and into a safe spot. The Lhomp barely touched her back—if she were an inch thicker, blood would squirt out. Very carefully, she moved from gap to gap; truly the most dangerous mission of her career. One of these gaps had a switch, and when she pressed it, the whole path tilted right and down slid the Lhomp. She slid off as well, but grabbed the edge as the path repositioned itself.

The others could come across and reach the door to the next room. Inside was no one but a chubby, gray-skinned fellow with a large grin and top-hat. "Well, well… it seems a couple of rats have snuck into the castle." said the Millennium Earl. "And judging by how you've been destroying my Akuma, I assume you're using Innocence in your weapon."

Fybi locked her B.O.W. on the man. "So, thou art the creator of yonder robots. Thou art one of Lord English's Backup Army."

"Heh heh, that's right. You know, His Lordship has a problem with spirits and ghosts. But I can keep spirits under control by turning them into Akuma."

"So, thou trappest souls for a living. Such an ungodly profession."

"Like God ever has any say in any universe. Otherwise, He wouldn't let people like me or Lord English run around. I don't know what it's like where you children are from, but in my world, the good guys don't win. But it sure is fun to watch them struggle!"

Fybi loosed an arrow, which the Earl whacked away with his umbrella. "The victory will not always be thine, and it shalt not be hither! I wouldst be honored to show thee the Kids Next Door's strength!"

"Heh heh hah! Sounds like fun! Very well, girl, I'll test your willpower! Don't make it too easy for me!" (Play "Militant Missionary" from Sonic Adventure!)

Boss fight: Millennium Earl

"Eat up, my Akuma!" The Earl summoned five Level 1 Akuma that shot lasers, Fybi dodging and shooting each one in the head. The Earl twirled around the room and conjured a dark cloud on the ceiling, raining black stars. Fybi quickly dodged them, sensing a poisonous air from the stars. During this, Fybi blasted rapid Innocence Arrows, steadily dwindling the Earl's health, but he did not seem phased at all. The Earl conjured giant green-lit jack-o-lanterns that spat emerald flames, but Fybi blew them away and sliced one of the pumpkins with her Keyblade. With the Earl exposed, she spun wind around her blade and made lightning sparkle, striking the Earl with shocking slices.

"My, that actually hurt a bit! Did you put Innocence in that weapon, too?"

"Nay, only my B.O.W.. Regardless, I believeth I hath the advantage. We were told that those not from our world art weaker, whilst Keyblade-wielders remain immune to the rule. Thou do not possess a Keyblade, and thou art in my home dimension. In other words, we Kids Next Door art the rulers of this world!" Fybi clashed her Keyblade with his umbrella, then Earl flew away to shoot explosive dark balls.

Fybi used an Air Shield to protect herself from the flames, but that's when a Level 2 Akuma attempted to slice through it. Fybi barely dodged as her shirt was cut, and she used a charged arrow to destroy the Akuma. She did the same with two more, and that's when two arms reached out of a portal and pulled her in by the ankles. Fybi was in a bright blue sky dimension, and two white force-fields appeared on either side. In the distance, the Earl danced, and the walls began to close in.

Fybi flew with high speed, dodging the Earl's blasts up and down. The walls were getting closer, so Fybi flew vertically, and the walls barely scraped her front and back by the time she was out of the exit portal. The Earl was open, so she didn't hesitate to deal a Keyblade whipping. The Earl's grin opened as a venomous tongue popped out, licking Fybi in the face. She was robbed of her senses, so she plopped on the ground. "Michelle, protect her!" Anthony ordered.

"You got it, Brother!" Diancie formed a diamond shield around Fybi.

"Oh, that won't do any good! My Dark Venom can stun people for an entire hour. Speaking of which, I should get rid of the rest of you." He conjured another dark cloud and rained black stars upon the Sector W team, and when they were struck, dark stars began to appear on their skin. "The Akuma virus will reduce your bodies to dust! Farewell, Kids Next Door!"

"This is Sector W, we need Haruka to come to us now!" Anthony shouted in his wristwatch.

"This is Haruka, I'll come through the Vanishing Box!"

Anthony set their box down and opened it, and out came Haruka. "What the-?!" She noticed their stars.

"Hurry!" Sally yelled.

"What do you think you're doing?" Earl questioned. "Nothing can stop my Akuma Virus… eh?!"

Haruka injected the members with a syringe of golden liquid, and the stars disappeared. "Whatever this poison is, it looks like Dark Chi. A little liquid light will nullify it!" She then did so to Fybi. "Feel better?"

The angel got back on her feet. "Verily!" She was quick to begin whacking the Earl again.

"But nothing in my world can cure my virus!" There was a slight frown to his grin. "Let alone that yellow stew you call 'light'!"

"Then I guess we're ahead of your time!" Haruka winked.

The Earl conjured Dark Spheres in the air and hurled them at Fybi, the angel dodging and clashing against his umbrella. Fybi flew above him and cast lightning, but Earl vanished in a portal and reappeared above her for a Ground Pound. He flew up and conjured more Dark Spheres, but Fybi blew a forceful breath to send them back. Earl easily dodged them, and created more jack-o-lanterns to fly down and gnash at Fybi. She dodged up and shot Innocence Arrows to destroy the pumpkins.

"I do not have time to waste with this fool. Mayhaps I shalt play with him some!" Fybi spun around and stirred the air in the room. As air spiraled everywhere, there were mixes of hot and cold.

The Earl spotted Fybi and shot his Dark Sphere, but she dispersed into air and was caught in the wind. "Huh?" He looked around and saw Fybis everywhere. "So, you're creating mirages? Well, not for long!" The Earl spun his umbrella and fired Dark Spheres in multiple directions. "My Dark Matter will hit you eventually!"

"Art thou certain?!"

"Eh?!" The Earl looked up, seeing Fybi in the center of a whirlwind of Dark Spheres.

"Eateth this!" Fybi directed the wind down to the Earl and had them all CRASH dead on. The Earl seemed to have been weakened by the attack, but he did not recover in time as Fybi was charging a giant Innocence Arrow. "Angel's Divine GIANT ARROW!" And Fybi loosed, smothering the Earl's face in green light. It seemed as if his head was blown into pieces. (End song.)

"Hm hm hm!" Fybi set foot on the floor. "I hopeth that hast not weakened my B.O.W.'s durability. 'Twas worth to do away with him."

"Aww, my suit…" Fybi gasped: the Millennium Earl stood from where he lay, and his suit slid off. "I just had it washed…"

The kids were dumbfounded. He was just an ordinary human with yellow hair. "Is that what he looks like?" Anthony asked.

"I needed a face that was appealing to the kids."

"That was anything but appealing!"

"Oh, well. I guess I'll need to make you pay for-"

Haruka injected her Light Syringe into the Earl's neck from behind. "So, if this is your real body, how would that affect you?"

"Cough! This toxin… impossible! Cough!" The Earl dropped to his knees. "How could this have any effect on me… it is merely light!"

"Yea." Fybi said. "But thine powers would be equivalent to a darknessbender in our world. Thou art bound to the rules of our universe, and therefore thou art weak against light. …'Tis what Calliope's knowledge speaks, of course."

"COUGH!" The Earl lied down. "I'm so weak… I need… sleep…"

"What a wuss." Anthony scoffed. "Let's pummel him into dirt so he doesn't bother us, anymore!"

"No!" A little stuffed doll popped out of Earl's coat. "Leave him alone!" it spoke with a girl's voice.

"Whuh? A doll?" Harvey cocked a brow.

"Lord Millennium doesn't want to work for Lord English! He was just doing it, so that The Thirteen wouldn't destroy his Akuma! Better step away or I'll kill you!"

"Awwww! What an adorable dolly!" Diancie beamed.

"Siiigh. Let us leave." Fybi smiled. "We art done hither. We must save our aggression for His Lordship."

"Good idea. Let's go." Anthony agreed. So with that, the friends left the Earl behind, and Haruka jumped back into the Vanishing Box.

Somewhere in the Ruined Space

While all the endless action transpired at the castle, one particular trio was going elsewhere. The Gilligan Triplets landed their C.O.O.L.-B.U.S. on a massive asteroid that may have used to be a planet. "Why don't they just tell us we're useless?" Harry asked glumly.

"Get over it." Artie replied. "We wouldn't last two seconds against any of those guys. Besides, we'll rejoin them soon enough."

"Calliope said it wasn't far." Haylee said. "Aha! There!"

A few miles ahead was a farmland of alien crops. A bearded man with a messy pompadour was raking the soil. He heard footsteps behind him and turned around. "Oh, it's some kids. …Wait…" He recognized them.

"No… way…" Haylee was gaping. "DANDY?!"

"Hey, you're that girl I lent the Aloha to! Helly!"

"IT'S HAYLEE!!" She glomped the man with joy on her features.

"Heheheh! Man, just when I thought the Apocalypse had nothing else to offer!"

"What's going on, Dandy?" Another farmer asked from a table. He was muscular and wore a filthy green jumpsuit. "You interrupted my story!"

"OH, GOODY! Some visitors!" Don Gero hopped from his seat at the table. They were seated around a round couch, borrowed from the Aloha Oe. "Please rescue me! This Copernicus fellow's stories are longer than Gamamaru's!"

"It's him!" Artie pointed. "Don Gero!"

"Dandy, what are you all doing out here?" asked Haylee. "I heard that you weren't on any planets when the Apocalypse hit; I thought you were DEAD!"

"I could say the same about you. I don't remember much of what happened… but about 10 days before it all went down, I visited this disco club in space and found a guy who calls himself a superhero."

"I'm sure you might've heard of the extravagant Captain Qwark!" the man grinned and pointed at himself. "I had lost sight of my good friend, Ratchet and these kids we were escorting to safety when the EVIL Dr. Nefarious knocked me out with a baseball bat—I mean, super complex Kung-Fu moves after a long and endearing battle. When I came to, I realized I had no money to pay for a cab and got a job at the Electrodrome. (The disco beats still haunt my brain.)"

"So, I picked him up and we decided to visit this pretty music planet." Dandy continued. "There, we found this old frog that said he could travel the Dream World and thought he would fetch a high price! But before we could get to the registration office, the universe kinda exploded. I'm guessing we only survived thanks to my Devil Fruit."

It was then Haylee thought back to her conversation with Dandy: "Why, even if the Apocalypse were to happen right now, you can bet I could avoid it with nary a scratch."

"MAN, this series has awesome foreshadowing!" Haylee shouted.

"What?"

"Nothing. Listen, Dandy, we're going to need to borrow Don Gero. It's for an important job."

"Sure, kid. Do whatever."

"But my story…" frowned Qwark.

"Be quiet. You're lucky you weren't even erased."

Casino Castle

It has been two days since the assault on the castle commenced. The halls seemed to stretch on and on, no matter which route the operatives took or what convenient puzzles that matched their powers stood in their way. The team of Wendy, Sugar, and Charle were having a sit rest in a hall. The former was using her magic to fix some colorful, soft see-through slippers over Sugar's feet. "There. Those should help you move around better."

"Thanks, Wendy. Hm hm, I guess going barefoot isn't for everybody." Sugar giggled. "Mine are just too soft. It's nice to have a comfy pair of shoes to dance in!"

"I agree. 'Course, I'm used to being on my feet. I've been running my whole childhood."

"Wendy…" Charle looked with sympathy.

And with that, she was back on her feet. "Well, we can't stop now! We've got a universe to save!"

Charle smiled. "Yes… we do!"

"Then it's time to bust out the 'Castle Bleck' theme again!" Meloetta sung.

"Can't we pick a different theme?"

"Nope! It's too catchy and end-of-the-world-y!" (You may resume the theme!)

Act 5: The Dance Floor

The girls raced through a hallway of Limbo Shy Guys, swiftly dodging their sticks by either jumping or sliding. They began to hear a catchy disco remix of the stage theme that existed nowhere on the Internet. The girls burst through the door to a disco room, where Billiard Boys, Shy Guys, and ladies in thick, fat coats were boogying on a tiled neon floor. "It's much too early for these lugs to be celebrating!" Charle shouted.

"It's NEVER too late or too early to DANCE!" danced Meloetta.

As they continued running, they passed through a blue gate, stretching out a path of blue tiles between red ones. Sugar stepped on a red tile and was electrocuted, so they stayed on the blue ones, sidestepping as the path did several zigzags. They hit a purple gate and were forced to stay along the purple tiles as the other ones had sunk far down. At the end, they passed through a yellow gate and landed on said tiled platform, facing a series of spinning platforms. Some had a straight yellow path, others had a single spot, and some's yellow tiles kept switching spots, so crossing the rotating footholds was tricky and painful.

They were free to stand on all tiles again after passing the segment. Two coated women blocked their path, dancing to the beat and pushing the group back with belly bounces. Sugar and Wendy mimicked their movements and dodged their attacks, waiting for the right openings to kick them in the heads until they fell.

Their next road took place over five rows of floating blocks, but only one color was solid at a time. Beep! Beep! Beep! BOOP! That color would flash on the ceiling for a few seconds before that path became solid, so the girls would know which path to jump toward before the switch. Further up, different blocks began to merge into each other's road, requiring some quick jumps, and when Wendy slipped and fell, Charle saved her daughter.

Some Dash Panels redirected them on a left turn, and this next set of block paths changed every second. Starting from the left, they sidestepped to the center, then right again, then left center, then very left, and repeated the process until they were at the end. They could rest on a safe platform, but before them was a wide, rotating tunnel of blinky tiles. A disco ball hovered in the center of the tunnel and shone spot lights around the tunnel. Those spotlights were safe to run in, but they not only prevented them from being electrocuted, but gravity was altered in those spots.

They were past the tunnel, but the trial still continued on a more narrow rotating path, the girls keeping within the spotlights. The path came to its end, but there was nowhere to go beyond besides taking the great fall. They descended into a spinning, neon vortex, one that would surely blind them. "Ergh… I can't see a thing!" Wendy squinted her eyes.

"Cast a Sunshade Charm, Child!" Charle stated.

"Oh, right!" Wendy used magic to cast a dim shade over their eyes, giving them protection like sunglasses. Through the neon lights, they could avoid the electrified tiles and eventually hit the bottom. On one last tiled path, a fat coated woman tried to push them off, and the tiles behind them beeped off one at a time. Sugar and Wendy combined Song Beam and Sky Dragon's Roar to take her down before they dashed into a door of light.

"What's with all this light?" Wendy asked.

"It seems to be coming from there!" Charle pointed.

They saw a humanoid figure in a tub. She was a woman with rainbow hair, and her dazzling naked form was the source of the bright light. She climbed out and grabbed a white robe from a hangar. When she slipped it on, the light dimmed. "Oh, my. How can you three live with such shabby outfits?"

"What are you?" Charle asked. "Lord English's tailor?"

"My name is Ragyō Kiryūin. I am the voice of the Life Fibers, the force from which all clothing originates from. And you must be part of those 'Kids Next Door' Bill is so concerned about. You should know that Lord English is beyond invincible now. I have crafted for him a suit made of my most powerful Life Fibers! Why, if you could simply GAZE at him, your very eyes would burn out of existence!"

"So, you ARE his tailor!" Sugar proclaimed.

"Were you even listening?!"

"We don't care how powerful he is!" Wendy said determinedly. "Nothing's gonna stop us from beating him! Right, team?"

"HER HAIR IS SO PRETTY!" Meloetta beamed. "Sugar, call Sector W7, Aeincha has to come see her hair!"

"Was anyone listening to me?…"

"Yes, I know I'm beautiful." Ragyō smirked. "And you can agree that my clothing helps my look. But the truth is, clothing is a sin. No matter how beautiful we look on the outside, we are rotten to the core on the ins-"

"Here she is!" Sugar pulled Aeincha out of the Vanishing Box.

"WOOOOW!" Her eyes were stars. "Her hair is so shiny and pretty!"

"I know!" So were Meloetta's. "I don't think I've ever seen hair that beautiful!"

"YOUR hair is the exact same!" Charle shouted.

"Ugh." Ragyō sighed. "Why am I wasting my breath? I should just destroy you and be done." She mended giant arrows out of red fibers and launched them at the group, but Wendy used the Sky Dragon's Claw to slice them.

"Ma'am, I would like to ask you to please stand down and let us pass. You've made the wrong choice to serve Lord English, but if we destroy him, you'll be able to go back to your world."

"Simple single-colored girl… All I care about is spreading my Life Fibers across the universe. But you poorly-dressed girls will make excellent sustenance. And SHE will make sure of that!"

At that instant, Meloetta blasted them all with a sonic wave. "Meloetta!" Sugar shouted. "What are you doing?!"

"During our talk, my Micro Fibers have infiltrated her brain." Ragyō spoke as Meloetta possessed a dull look in her eyes. "Such lovely hair… I couldn't let it go to waste. Now, my dear… teach these brats some manners!"

"Leave Meloetta to me!" Sugar said. "You two do something about that woman!"

"Got it! Let's take her down, Mom!"

"I'm right behind you, Wendy!" (Play "Vs. Yin-Yarn" from Kirby's Epic Yarn!)

Boss fight: Ragyō Kiryūin

Ragyō mended Covers and sent them to force their selves over Wendy, but she cast sapphire flames to burn the fibers. Wendy spun a whirlwind and used Engorgio to make it tornado-sized, but Ragyō used more Life Fibers to encircle the tornado and turn it against her. Ragyō willed it to spin the opposite way and whip out the fibers rapidly, scratching the girls' skin. She followed up by sewing giant fists, Wendy dodging as they punched with quickness, and when there was an opening, she ran at Ragyō and used Sky Dragon's Claw to SLASH the seamstress, followed by a kick and then a Cyclone Roar to blast her against the wall.

Ragyō climbed out and knitted a block around her body, sewing a spiked spring at the bottom of it as it bounced around in attempt to squash the mage. Wendy was still dodging proficiently, but none of her spells were able to penetrate. "Wendy!" Charle swooped in and lifted her up before Ragyō almost smashed her.

"Thanks, Mom! Look, the top part looks weak! Give me a good spin, will ya?!"

"You got it!" Charle spun rapidly as Wendy channeled Air Chi and Haki to her leg. With great momentum, Wendy's leg SMASHED into the top of the block and broke the fibers.

"HA HA!" Ragyō ensnared Wendy with the fibers, to which Charle was quick to cut her daughter free with her sharp high-heels. Ragyō stretched her fingers and pinned them both to the wall, dragging them all around the walls before slamming them on the floor. Ragyō knitted spikes around the ceiling and dropped them, but Wendy conjured a large, square barrier to protect all her friends. Wendy willed that barrier to wrap around the fibers, then slammed it into Ragyō for massive damage.

The woman was broken in several areas, but the Life Fibers reattached them, erasing any sort of damage inflicted upon her. Wendy bravely raced over, dodging fiber arrows and using Haki-imbued claw attacks to injure the witch. "As long as the Life Fibers protect me, I will be immortal! You can do NOTHING to me!" Ragyō mended short fiber swordsmen that attacked Wendy with combos. Charle swooped in to slash the swordsmen into pieces and fly her daughter away. Wendy used a Healing Charm on herself, then Charle performed aerial maneuvers to dodge fiber-made bladed boomerangs.

"Wendy, how do you suppose we defeat this woman? If she keeps reknitting herself…"

"Don't worry, Mom. I'm sure we'll find a weak spot soon." Wendy dropped to the floor and cast Ventus Glacius to freeze Ragyō's giant boomerangs, followed by Ventus Incendio to melt them. "In fact…" Wendy dodged her way to Ragyō once more, and when Life Fibers sprouted from the floor and grabbed her legs, Charle swooped up to cut them in an instant, barely slowing Wendy at all. "Sky Dragon's Iron CLAW! !" Wendy leapt above the seamstress and SLICED off her rainbow hair in one blow. Ragyō was left completely bald.

"Ha ha ha!" She was completely unfazed. "Oh, so you've cut my hair, boo-hoo. I'll simply grow it back more beautiful than ever, and use it to kill you!"

Wendy simply watched as Ragyō's head seemed to pump. "…?" She frowned. "It should've grown by now… Why haven't the Life Fibers-"

April Goldenweek burst out of Ragyō's body, yet instead of blood, out came scattered Life Fibers. Ragyō's expression remained aghast as she collapsed like a torn old rag. (End song.)

"HOORAAAAAY!" Aeincha cheered from April's shoulder. "You did it, April!"

"Amazing!" Charle gaped. "Wendy, how on Earth did you two do this?"

"Uh… I don't know." Wendy was confused also.

"I snuck in when you broke her open with that bubble!" Aeincha explained. "Then I used my mini scissors to cut an image into her body. I called April and she used her Keyblade to travel the Art World and come out from that image."

"Afterwards, I sliced her heart with my Keyblade." April concluded.

"…Well, not how I expected to achieve victory, but impressive." Charle said.

"Huh?" Meloetta regained sense in her eyes. "What happened? Sorry, I dozed off for a second."

"Ha ha ha!" Sugar laughed. "You didn't miss anything important!"

Wendy walked up and picked up some Life Fibers in her hand before letting it drop. "You know, if Aeincha was able to sneak into her body so easily… I wonder if this woman felt any feelings at all."

"Probably not." Aeincha replied. "There was nothing inside her except fabric. …But it did smell pretty gross."

"Anyway, we should get back to our team." April said. "We'll see you guys down the road!"

"Yeah! Thanks for the help!" Wendy held the Vanishing Box open so the two could jump inside. The three girls and Firstborn resumed their venture in the castle.

With Team Vweeb

"Hooooo wee!" Vweeb flexed his arms as he ran ahead of his teammates. "I've barely broken a sweat against these monsters! You know, Arianna, if you're tired, I would be happy to carry you."

"Why don't you join Sugar's group and carry her?" Arianna asked with furrowed eyes.

"Are you still hung up about that? She was weary and I was helping her bathe, it's called being a gentleman!"

"I'm beginning to understand why my people went to war with yours." Makava said.

"Hey, we're only human, Sis." Vweeb shrugged. "Er, metaphorically. …Who came up with that expression, anyway?"

"Can we hold off the discussion for later?" Tronta asked, annoyed. (Resume "Castle Bleck"!)

Act 6

As if luck and coincidence was on their side, giant flora was growing in this hallway. When the floor ended at a chasm, the four walked along a large tree root on the left wall. Afterwards, they had to bounce across some floating Skiploom Pokémon, but when a large gap separated them and the foothold, Tronta threw his Light Discs out to serve as platforms. On this foothold, three Mega Jumpluffs (with giant dandelions over their little bodies) drifted down and rained dandelion spores that forced the aliens into sneezing fits. "Good thing my nose is too small for this!" Vweeb retorted as he used the spores to swing up and dive through the dandelions, using Kateeny strength to punch each Jumpluff into submission.

They were on a giant tree with nowhere to go, so Arianna used plantbending to make giant leaves grow around it. Unfortunately, a strange buzzsaw was traveling after them and cutting the leaves' stems, so they could spare no extra time on one leaf. The leaves rotated upward and led them to a hall with more overgrown flora. They wandered into a giant forest. "AAAH!" Vweeb screamed when Piranha Plants dropped and dangled from the treetops.

Makava nimbly dodged their teeth and beheaded each Piranha, then sliced the heads in half as they still rolled and bit. Deep within the forest, they were required to cross a chasm with floating hoops of different sizes. The only things wide enough to fit in those hoops were the Piranha Plant heads, which were also different sizes. Big ones, small ones, medium ones… unfortunately, by the time they figured this out, Makava had slaughtered most of the Piranhas. But there was a clock in the room, and when it chimed midnight, all the enemies grew back.

Makava decapitated the Piranhas they needed and chucked them into the proper hoops (facedown because teeth). The aliens hopped across and arrived at a pool. Makava held onto Vweeb and Arianna guided Tronta as they dove under. In this underwater tunnel, Bubble Plants provided them air, but they could each only breathe one before the clock struck 12am again and the bubbles turned poison. They held their breath for a whole minute's worth of second-long minutes, carefully avoiding the poison bubbles until they became pure again.

The tunnel redirected upwards, and Mega Seaking (two long spikes and golden bodies) swam at them in a fury. Makava and Tronta were the only ones who could combat them via their weapons. They were slowly nearing the spotted ceiling of the tunnel—it turned and revealed its massive mouth; they had been swimming to a giant Piranha Plant. It tried to slurp them in like a vacuum, so Arianna released Celebi from her Spirit Ball. "I'll take care of this!" Celebi used a great surge of Plant Chi to reduce the monster's size.

The aliens kept swimming to the top of the tunnel, ignoring the tiny seedling of a Piranha Plant. They resurfaced in a room with another giant tree that was glowing a purple light at the top.

"You will go NO FARTHER!" roared a voice so dark and foreboding that it rattled their bones. Their eyes were drawn up, seeing a being in purple mechanical armor with a green eye attached to several vines. "You have done well to get this far. Allow me to introduce myself: I am Dark Oak, ruler of the Metarex! And what you see before you is my Forestation Project."

"Forestation Project?" Arianna repeated.

"I'm feeling incredible Plant Chi from this room." Celebi said. "But there's darkness mixed with it…"

"Bill Cipher claimed Lord English would help me spread forestation to my universe, but when their guard is down, I shall absorb BOTH their life energy into my plants and USE their power for my own!"

"I don't think that's going to go very well…" Vweeb replied honestly.

"Oh, I can assure you it will. Because now my most vital ingredient has finally arrived!"

"BIII!" Celebi was captured in a glowing purple flower. Green chi flowed through the stem and filled the entire tree.

"Neah hahahahahahahahaha! I can feel it! Ultimate power courses through me! It is even greater than the combined might of the Chaos Emeralds! NOTHING CAN STOP ME!"

"We'll see about that!" Arianna yelled with determination.

"Strange… your voice is familiar. It reminds me of hers… Perhaps when I am finished with your friends, I will see if there's a connection!" (Play "Andross Brain" from Star Fox 64!)

Boss fight: Dark Oak

Dark Oak swooped down and slashed his sword at the group, which Makava countered with both of hers. As they fought, Vweeb jumped around Dark Oak's armor in attempt to find an opening. "WAH!" A vine whipped the little guy off, but as he fell in midair, he shot lasers at the armor. They bounced right off. "For a plant, he's got some pretty thick skin."

"Then perhaps we must cut him at the stem!" declared Ari. "Attack the tree!"

"Never thought I'd hear you say that, Sis!" Tronta yelled, throwing his bladed Light Discs at the trunk of the tree. The discs rotated and trimmed the bark off. Vweeb assisted him using Powuh Shots, and when Dark Oak tried to attack them, Arianna bent brambles up to restrain him. Makava ran up the brambles and slashed the Metarex's eye, but bore no fruit as Dark Oak shook them off and cut the brambles. Dark Oak flicked his wrist and made spikes pop out of the trunk and push Vweeb and Tron away.

Dark Oak trapped Ari and Makava in Venus flytraps and choked them for their health, but both girls were able to escape with struggling. Dark Oak summoned a swarm of Razor Leaves that left no safe place to stand, so the aliens used any means necessary to cut or shoot the leaves, enduring the pain from the leaves that slipped by. Tron and Vweeb went back to blasting the Dark Tree as Arianna stretched brambles to entangle Dark Oak again. "If I contribute more power, the brambles will be stronger, and they'll cut through!"

"You pathetic fools! Nothing can pierce my armor!" Dark Oak grabbed a bramble and yanked Arianna up to him. Sword drawn, he aimed for her waist, but Makava leapt up again and defended her. The Glomourian got atop him and sliced the vines he was hanging from, but more quickly grew to catch him again. The vines whirled Dark Oak around in a spherical fashion as airwaves lashed from his sword into multiple directions. They either dodged or defended, and afterwards Arianna grabbed Makava in vines and swung her at Dark Oak while her swords were extended.

The Dark Tree rained giant acorns around the room, exploding and slightly injuring the group. During their weakness, branches grew from the tree and smashed down at them. Makava saw one coming for her brother and leapt to slice it, and Arianna formed a bramble shield to defend herself. Vweeb used two Powuh Shots to cut off two separate branches, but one last branch swept the floor and knocked them away. Four more Venus flytraps stretched down and ensnared the team. Vweeb was trapped with Makava, but he blasted an opening for them to escape, only for Dark Oak to fly over and slash Makava.

Vweeb landed on Dark Oak and got on the back of his armored neck, the Metarex swinging back to cut him, without fearing of cutting his own impenetrable armor. Vweeb leapt on the sword and used Kateeny strength to knock it out of his hand, and after hitting the ground, he used a Powuh Shot to blast Dark Oak, but it merely bounced off his armor. "There's nothing that can injure him!"

"Mwahahahahaha! Now you finally realize, there is nothing that can stop the Metarex regime! We will be the ultimate force in the universe! We will control all life in existence! And we will control… What?!" An unseen force made him twitch. "NNNGH!!" His armor compressed. "AAAGH! What's happening?! NOOOOOO…!" Within seconds, the armor crumpled into a ball, and Dark Oak's body was crushed inside it. (End song.)

". . . ." Team Vweeb was both unimpressed and underwhelmed. "WOOHOOOO!" Emily Garley danced in the entrance to the room. "EMILY IS THE VICTOR! She is the inventor and robots are her tools!" Using metalbending, she made the ball of armor dance. "Dun-dun-dun-dun, HEY! Dun-dun-dun-dun, HEY!"

"Chill out, Emily." Sunni came behind her. "Don't get all cocky because that was the one enemy you can kill in one hit."

"Celebi!" Mew flew up to the plant Celebi was trapped and ripped her free with psychic.

"Phew! Thank you, Mew!"

". . . ." Team Vweeb could not believe what was happening. Nebula came in next. "Oh, it's you. Everything all right so far?" she asked them.

"…Just peachy, Ma'am." Tronta answered.

"Good. Don't stop now. Lord English can't be far ahead." Her group continued onward, Emily still dancing silly.

"…We will never speak of this again." Tron said. They nodded in agreement. They kept walking while Dark Oak's crumbled body squirmed.

"All operatives, this is Nebula!" the Supreme Leader spoke into her communicator. "We've just defeated another one of the Backup Army!"

"NO, I DID IT!!" Emily shouted. "Emily Garley, one-hit KO, spread the word!"

"This is Wendy Marvell. We defeated a Backup Army officer, too!"

"Excellent!" Calliope responded from hers. "Nearly all of my brother's agents are down! I sUrmise we will be arriving at his qUarters soon. I know yoU're all excited, bUt don't forget aboUt the plan. Dimentio and Bill won't be as easy!"

"Oh, Oi can probably one-shot 'em both!" Sheila said.

"Don't be crazy, Sheila!" Mason shouted.

"Look, if anyone encounters Bill, you have to call Jessie!" Nebula ordered. "It's as simple as that. And if you encounter Dimentio, call me and Diwata. We're the only ones that can beat him! Well, maybe not the ONLY ones…"