The Horrorverse, Part 3: Dancing With a Queen

Play "Night of the Cursed" from Kingdom Hearts II.

Boogey Fleet; near Port Rivera

A fleet of dark pirate ships roamed the seas of this small port town. The buildings were situated up a hill, though the telephone wires seemed much taller than them. Sandman watched from the highest building as demon pirates fought with Affright's Nightmares, with both sides turning into either darkness or Star Dust. "Mandy's pirates are trying to protect the town. The people must be hiding in their homes."

"That's honestly kind of noble of them." Carol replied. "I hope they'll be okay…"

"They'll be fine. Demons are immortal, after all. Which is good, because that means I won't break the no-killing rule."

"So, the real reason we're here is to fuel the lust." Revan remarked.

"If I'm going to attempt to get the jump on her, I'll need to be sneakier than usual, or the whole crew will gun me down."

"I thought you said Mandy was an old friend."

"She is… but she doesn't like having company over."

Nolan glided across the town and hid behind a pile of barrels on the beach. There was a pirate ship parked near the shore and two Bulblin with sniper rifles watching it. Nolan tossed his Remote Boomerang and had it fly above and past the Bulblins, hitting a hanging lantern as it crashed onto the deck. "Huh?!" The Bulblins whipped around and found the fire spreading. "What the heck?! Put it out, quickly!"

The two scrambled to fill buckets of water and put out the flames, all the while Sandman grappled and hung onto the railing of the ship. After they doused the fire, Sandman snuck up, grabbed both their heads, and slammed them together. With that, he grappled up above the sail and to the crow's nest for a better view of the fleet. "Hey, Mr. York, if the Sandmobile can fly, couldn't it go underwater, too?"

"Of course. But the seas are infested with monsters. Not safe for an underwater ambush." Sandman observed the next ship, which had two Bokoblin sitting and eating sandwiches on the topsail. Nolan glided to the lower beam of the sail and quietly sidled across. The Moblin patrolling below were oblivious to his presence. Once across the beam, he could see inside the back window of another ship close to this one. Some Miniblin were talking to each other in the window, but not facing Sandman, he could safely glide down and grab on a ledge under the window.

Some demons were talking to a teenage Japanese girl in a light-brown school uniform inside the window. "Slow down a minute! Who said we would let you stay on this ship?!"

"'I was assigned to this vessel for an important project,' says Misaka for about the umpteenth time."

"We never agreed to any project!"

"'Mandy was already briefed and paid to allow us to conduct the project,' says Misaka, not wishing to discuss this any further. She also recommends you to ready your troops and make sure they are at their peak by the time the project will commence."

Paying the conversation no mind, Nolan kept climbing across. The ledge ended under a Bokoblin that was leaning on the railing and smoking. Since no one else was on the deck, Nolan simply grabbed and threw the demon into the water, letting him drown. He didn't detect any more demons on the deck, so he decided to climb on. The flagship was not too far off. "Hey, Mr. York, do you think Mandy likes trick-or-treating?" Carol asked.

"I heard. But she's a little too famous now to-"

Four female ninjas poofed into existence, two of them grabbing Nolan by the arms while the other two aimed katana at him. "INTRUDER! You shall not take a step closer to Lord Mandy's cabin!"

"Ninjas?! But how did you hide from my Detective Vision?"

"We have trained to conceal our aura and become spiritually invisible. Whatever your 'Detective Vision' is, it is useless against us! Prepare to face judgment in the name of the Demon's Head!" The ninja raised her sword-

A shorter ninja with sky-blue hair in two pigtails flew in and KICKED her away. This interloper landed on her feet, her bright blue eyes glaring sharply at her opponents. Her outfit had blue sleeves and leggings, while the chest and her mask was white with a red eye symbol. Based on the ninja's slender physique, she was no doubt female. In the ninjas' distraction, Nolan fell back and bashed the two holding him together.

Four more ninjas leapt in, so now five ninjas were attacking them. Nolan spared a glance at his strange ally before grabbing a ninja's sword and bumping the hilt against her face, then punching her away. A ninja leapt to impale the stranger, but her sword bent the moment it made contact with their body, then the stranger leapt, sat on the ninja's shoulders, and stabbed her head with a rubber knife to knock her out. Two ninjas swung at her from either side, but the stranger vanished in a blink and reappeared behind the left ninja, slitting her throat.

A ninja used Armament Haki and struck at Nolan, but he used his own Haki to grab the sword and struggle. The stranger flipped behind the ninja and slit her throat with the rubber knife. The last ninja carefully backed away, her sword raised in defense. The stranger threw something on the deck and made a big FLASH, stunning the ninja as Nolan laid a beatdown and knocked her out.

The stranger got behind Nolan and held the knife to his neck. "The Sheikah Tribe has been watching you for a long time… Sandman-san."

Nolan calmly turned and looked down at the young ninja. "I thought I recognized your outfit. It's from the Zelda games… right, Nagisa?"

"Hee hee hee!" The boy pulled off his mask, grinning and raising two fingers. "Yeah, but this one came from that new Hyrule planet!"

"Nagisa, what are you doing here? I saw your sector. They were poisoned by the Fear Toxin."

"I know… but I've been on a week-long mission trying to infiltrate the Boogey Pirate fleet. I suspected Lord Mandy would be planning something on Halloween and I wanted to find out what. I didn't expect all this stuff with Affright to happen. Only Morgiana is still safe, but I had her go to my apartment and protect my mom."

"GUN is currently working to rescue the KND operatives from the poisoned sectors. But you should have stayed at home, too. You should know better than to spy on someone like Mandy."

"What, like you're any different? I doubt you're here on a casual visit."

"I'm here to pump Mandy for information on Horror's Hand, and hopefully enlist her help in stopping Affright."

"Great, then I'll help you! It shouldn't be that hard, because none of Mandy's Division Commanders are around. It'll just be her and a few cronies."

"Alright, you can come. But stay close to me. I have a plan." Nolan grabbed onto Nagisa and grappled up to the crow's nest. Revan was sitting atop the mast.

"Say, who is this kid, Nolan? Is he the second Robin after your first boy became Nightwing? You sure seem to think of him that way. Especially considering his own father left him. You know, it's rude to snatch up any random bastard you meet. …Especially if you throw them off a balcony."

"If we can just pass these two ships, we can get to the Boogey Coast. I can Line Launch us to the crow's nests, but those snipers are in the way."

"No problem! I can sneak up on them with my Moon Walk. This suit makes my footsteps as soft as air. He'll never see or hear it coming!" So with that, Nagisa began hopping across the air via Moon Walks. His feet didn't make a sound, and the Bulblin sniper was blissfully minding his business. Nagisa landed behind the unaware Bulblin, positioned his fingers, wrapped an arm around his mouth, and stabbed the Bulblin in the neck with Finger Pistol. The demon died silently. Nagisa waved his arms, gesturing Sandman to use his Line Launcher to zip over.

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"Relax, I know that demons don't really die. They just poof into darkness and go back to the Underworld." The Bulblin poofed into darkness. "See?"

The next ship had a taller mast with two crow's nests, both with snipers. Nagisa used Moon Walk to get high enough and make his way over to the top nest. He killed the top Bulblin, then dropped down to kill the lower Bulblin. Sandman Line Launched over. "Good. Now, we just need to get inside Mandy's cabin."

? This Pirate Queen would sure be mean, if she didn't celebrate Halloween! ?

Nagisa used binoculars to survey the Boogey Coast. "Kargaroks surrounding the crow's nests. Snipers too, of course. A Fatblin is guarding the cabin. And the deck is being patrolled by Darknuts."

"We'll never be able to beat them with normal stealth tactics. But if we can just get ahold of Mandy, she can keep them from slaughtering us."

"Eh-!" Nagisa's heart skipped. "Do you really think… it'll be that easy?"

"She's more reasonable than you think she is. I'm sure I can strike a bargain with her. Any idea how we can get in?"

Nagisa tapped a finger to his mask, where his chin was. "What if… instead, we made Mandy come out? If I used my Tempest Kick from here, I could cut the mast and make it fall over. If she walks out and sees what happened, you can fly down and grab her with those Chi-block Gauntlets."

"She won't appreciate someone wrecking her ship."

"You said she's reasonable!"

"More reasonable to some than others. But on the bright side, she doesn't kill. She only leaves scars. Real ones and mental ones."

"Well, my mother prepared me for this, I guess. Time to be a man and commit property damage." With that, Nagisa positioned his leg horizontally, channeled his chi, and slashed a slim, long airwave. The Tempest Kick cleaved the distant mast almost all the way through. It creaked, toppled over, and… crushed Mandy's cabin. (End song.)

". . ." Nolan and Nagisa froze with shock.

". . ." The Fatblin guard was frozen in fear. The mast missed him by a few inches. "Uh-oh."

The shattered cabin EXPLODED and a body of fear and hatred emerged. The Pirate Emperor cleaved her overweight guard in two, a crimson aura surrounding her body. "I was in the middle of Super Smash Bros. Universe. . ." She spoke with the grimmest of tones. "Now, I'll be banned from the Wi-Fi for 30 hours. . . So, tell me… whose cruddy idea was THIIIIIIIS?!?" Bursting with fear, all the Darknuts onboard fell on the deck and rolled around in their armor, the Kargaroks dropped into the sea, and the sea monsters created waves that stirred the ships around. (Play "The Thieving Magpie" from Batman: Arkham Origins.)

The Sandman swooped in like a bat in the night, landing with grace and grabbing Lord Mandy with a twirl. Nagisa stylishly landed behind her and held the knife to her neck. "Nolan York…" Mandy recognized. "This is awfully rude."

"Tell me about it!" Revan shouted. "Dude's cheating on his wife now!"

"Do you know anything about Horror's Hand?" Nolan asked, keeping a firm grasp on her arms.

"You mean that gross thing Affright strutted?" Behind Nolan, a Darknut ran up with his sword raised, but the hero whipped around and batted him off the edge with Mandy's legs. Nagisa flipped away and put his back to Nolan. "Well, yes. When we were young, Grim took Billy and I on a voyage to find Horror's Hand. It was the very same day that I stole this crew from the Boogeyman. He tried to take Horror's Hand, but if you wonder how that turned out, well look above you."

She indicated the shuddering Boogey tied below the fallen crow's nest. Another Darknut ran up, but Nagisa flipped, yanked its helmet off with his feet, then stabbed the head with his Antikill knife. "Grim stored the hand in his trunk for protection, but after you Kids Next Door put me on your wanted list, I decided to start my pirating career."

A Darknut ran up behind Nolan again, but he hauled Mandy overhead and used her legs to smash his armor. He then flipped over himself, so they were back on their feet. "I needed money, so I stole Grim's trunk and sold the contents to various underworld brokers. But I kept Horror's Hand to myself because I wanted to make myself a Logia. But when I was done, I decided to sell it, too. I held it up at an intergalactic auction and sold to the highest bidder. And the winning bid was Taneleer Tivan, for a whole two billion dollars."

Three Moblin ran up, but Nolan spun around and knocked them all away with Mandy's own strength. "And now Affright has it. If you had just kept it yourself or let Grim keep it, maybe this wouldn't have happened. Which is why you're gonna help me fight him."

"I don't think so. I have no quarrel with Affright."

Two Bulblin on the other mast's sail locked guns on Nolan, but Nagisa jumped in the way, defended with Iron Body, then swung a Tempest Kick to knock them down. "The world is in danger! Your FAMILY is in danger! If you became a Logia thanks to Horror's Hand, then you're the only one who can-"

"You're wrong." More ships were sailing over. "I tried to become a Logia with Horror's Hand… but I couldn't. I simply followed the Dark Side of my element, asserting my fear over others and injecting myself with Fear Toxin." Bands of Bokoblin and Moblin swung onto the deck. "I didn't follow the Light Side… because I could never conquer my greatest fear…"

All the demons ran up, but Nolan swung Mandy into some, then used her as a base to swing into others, and again, and again, and again, and again, knocking each one out or off the deck! Then, Nolan leapt into the air, he and his partner spinning like a wheel, before he SMASHED her to the deck and kept her pinned. (End song.) "You will help, or I will drag you to GUN and make you live your greatest fear myself."

"If I'm captured, my crew is ordered to destroy each and every town they cross until I am freed."

"We'll stop them. And you will be trapped in a cell, alone. Vulnerable."

"Sigh… you're annoying." Mandy used a small bit of strength to push Nolan off her and get up. "Besides, you could never take me in a fight. Marine and her daughter are the only two that might have a shot with me, and you're nowhere near their level."

"If I have to bring them to beat some sense into you, I will."

"Please. Alright, Nolan, let's say that I'm generous enough to help. I won't do it for free. It's only fair that you do something for me first. And since you destroyed my cabin, you're hardly in a position to argue."

"What do you want?"

"I've been sensing treachery amongst the crew. I feel as if some of them are plotting behind my back. Ships that don't provide hourly reports due to 'complications.' It might just be paranoia, but then again, Azula and I have the natural instinct. So, since you and that boy are master spies, why don't you investigate my ships and see if you find any suspicious activity? Of course, my crewmen will still be ordered to attack you. If they knew you were assigned by me, the traitors would only be more alert."

"And if I do, exactly how do you plan to help?"

"I may or may not know the identities of some underworld brokers that may or may not have something to do with Affright's operation, based on rumors my spies may or may not have overheard."

"I may or may not have faith in your words."

"Isn't that what the entire Kids Next Door said to you, 23 years ago?"

"…Okay. Where do you think I should start?"

"Well, most of the ships I've been suspicious of have been sky ships. My, but how will you get up to them?"

Nolan approached the railing and started to summon his Sandwing. Nagisa hurried over beside him. "Hey, so what are we doing?"

Nolan grabbed him. "Jump."

"Waaah!" They leapt over the fence into monster-infested waters—but instead landed in the comfort of Sandman's invisible Sandwing. (Play "Protect Jinx" from Jak 3!)

You've got the Cloak Function for the Sandmobile! With this, nobody will be able to see justice speeding in! But don't forget, enemies aren't that dumb. If you bump into things or shoot bullets, they'll determine your location eventually.

"This is awesome!" Nagisa praised. "But how are we supposed to single out any traitors? Even if we can narrow it down to the sky ships…"

"If there's anything I learned from this job, it's that grunts love talking out loud."

The Sandwing took to the sky, unseen by the fleet of Boogey ships. They flew above the highest ships to better survey the area. A voice rang from the ships' megaphones. "Sandman, while you're taking your time sharing drunken shanties with Mandy's pirates, I hope you haven't ignored the riddles I've laid around her fleet! Why, if this were a YouTube Let's Play, I would leave negative comments on EVERY video that points out your ignorance to completion."

"Ignore him." Nolan told Nagisa. "Let's begin with this ship."

They landed on the crow's nest and observed a trio of Moblins drinking at a table. "One of them is a Riddler Informant." Nolan whispered. "Nagisa, you takedown that one, and I'll get the other one."

"So, I walk in on Ganon staring at a picture of Zelda," a Moblin told his friends, "and the first thing he does is-"

Nolan and Nagisa dropped on them, Nolan snapping one's neck and Nagisa using the Antikill knife on the other. Nolan quickly grabbed the third one by the neck and held him over the edge. "So, you've been working for Riddler behind Lord Mandy's back!"

"N-No, no! I'm with Lord Mandy until the end! I just… wanted the extra money from that Riddler guy."

"No harm in taking second jobs." And once Sandman had the Riddle locations, he dropped the Moblin off the edge. He and Nagisa entered the ship's cabin, finding a bunch of Underworld comic books. They spent a moment searching the ship.

"Well, I can't find anything suspicious, can you?" Nagisa asked.

"Nothing. Let's keep looking."

They returned to the invisible Sandwing and searched more ships. The next one had four Sea Wizzrobes (parrot magicians in white cloaks and blue hoods). Since they floated over the railing, Nagisa could easily Moon Walk up and attack them, while Nolan yanked them over with his grappling hook. Once the Wizzrobes were KO'ed, they entered the cabin and found a bunch of chalk and drawings.

? Wizzrobes can be fanboys, too; I wonder if they have the same inspirations as you? ?

Among the chalk drawings was a tiny Batman symbol, so Nolan snapped the picture and solved the riddle. They found nothing else of note, so they searched the next ship, and several more after that. During the venture, they discovered a few Riddles. One ship had a challenge where they had to use cannons to blast three moving "?" balls in the distance. They had six cannonballs for each attempt, lest they had to start again, but they won the trophy all the same.

Inside one cabin, they found a Riddle Cube: the first room required Nagisa to use Moon Walks to go up and hit a switch, opening a cage on a wall, leaving Nolan to grapple hook the trophy. The next room had bullets immediately start bombarding them from the front, with only a shield to protect them. Nagisa used Iron Body while Nolan held him like a shield to get through the bullets and grab the trophy. The last room had a long line of Riddlerbots that would be impossible to beat in 10 seconds, but a quick Tempest Kick from Nagisa took them all out and won them the trophy.

"Not that playing with Riddler isn't fun," Nagisa said as they landed on an empty deck, "but we aren't getting anywhere with this 'traitor' business. I'm starting to think Mandy sent us on a wild-"

A phone rang from inside the cabin. "Shhh." Nolan and Nagisa crept up to the window and peeped inside. (End song.)

A Bokoblin came up from a floor hatch and answered the phone. Sandman could hear the voice on the other end of the phone and transmit it to Nagisa. The voice was dark and crackly: "Cream puff, chocolate shake, marshmallow…"

"Swirly, malt, cherry pie." The Bokoblin finished.

"Good, it's you, Bokobean. We received the Baba Seeds. Were there any complications?"

"Nope, no complications at all. Lord Mandy would never suspect a harmless Bokoblin like me."

Nolan and Nagisa raised brows. "Just make sure she stays in the dark. We're still expecting orders from our other spies, but the ritual is almost complete. By the end of this night, we won't have to worry about Mandy or any other Yonko again."

"Just let me know when it's finished, because I'm hightailing out of here the first chance I get. 'Til then." He hung up. "WAAH!" He fell out of his seat when Nolan kicked down the door.

The Sandman grabbed Bokobean by the neck. "So, plotting against Lord Mandy, are we?"

"NO! No, it's not what you think!"

"I'll let HER be the judge of that." Nolan began to march out with him in custody.

"No! No, please! NO!" Nolan strapped the demon onto the Sandwing's backseat and drove back down to the Boogey Coast.

Mandy's Brig

"NNNAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" The Bokoblin was chained to a wall, being mentally tortured by an inescapable nightmare. "WHOA! WHOA! WAAAAAAHHHH!"

"I'm impressed." Mandy said casually. "You actually managed to find one. I should've known… some ships have reported receiving spam phone calls from people who list terms related to sweets. Perhaps this will help me narrow the search down."

"Tell me what you know." Nolan stated straightforwardly.

"Always so demanding, aren't we, Nolan? All right… I only know two things that could help you, but you're probably pretty good at working with little. First off, when my officer, Rā's al Ghūl visited an underworld auction, he reported that one of the benefactors, Baron Kelvin Renbourn, mentioned that 'A man named Affright had business with him.'"

"Kelvin Renbourn, eh? Where does he live?"

"No idea. Sorry."

"Good thing he wasn't asking you." Carol remarked, her voice only heard by Nolan. "Looking him up now."

"Anyway, Rā's' ninjas also overheard a man say, 'I've got to get over to Academy City soon or Affright will kill me.' He was wearing a thick coat and scarf, according to her description, but she sensed Poison Chi radiating from him."

Nolan fixed a glare. "Caesar Clown…"

"See? I knew you would figure it out."

"Well, thanks for the help, Mandy. Come on, Nagisa, let's go." They turned to leave the brig.

"Not so fast." Mandy yanked the boy back by the neck of his jumpsuit. "I still want you to help uncover the traitors in my crew, and piece together what they're planning. …Also, that Riddle guy kept begging us to let him install puzzles on our ships, and we'd like you to hurry up and solve them so we have the extra space. I'd dismantle them myself, but he's paying us for every hour they go unsolved, so eh, extra money. And until you do those things, I'll keep this girl as a hostage."

"Actually, I'm-" Mandy channeled fear into Nagisa's mind. "AAAH! NO, MOM, please don't cut off my dick!" He grabbed his privates.

"I need him to help me stop Affright!" Nolan stated.

"I'm sure you can work my dilemma into your schedule, Nolan. Plus, I can't just let a little spy go freely."

"Grrrr… Don't you even think of hurting him."

"No worries. I can use him to sniff around for any more clues. But I still expect you to help when you can, Hero."

Side Mission: The Tea Party Conspiracy: Uncover the conspiracy within the Boogey Pirates.

Nolan returned to the deck of the vessel and switched on his holo-screen. Carol was dressed like a butler and talked in a British accent. "Sir, I searched GUN's files and the regular Internet database, but I'm afraid I found nothing on this Kelvin Renbourn."

"Well, we can't all be Alfreds. I think I'll head for Academy City instead. If Caesar is there, he could lead me to Affright. Or even Haruka."

"Let's see, Academy City is in Japan, west of Tokyo. According to this, their technology is 30 years ahead of the world. Oooo, just looking at this picture, it looks pretty nice! Still, they got nothing on Coruscant."

"Send me the coordinates. And look up any information that could tie the city in with Caesar or Affright's plans."

"With the magic of the Internet, I can make it happen!"

"Going already, Mr. York?" Nagisa asked, walking out of the cabin. "I feel like you just got here."

"This job keeps me on the go. But I'll be back, Nagisa. Just try to hang in there until then."

"Oh, I will. It's my team I'm worried about. Hurry up and stop Affright, Mr. York. For them."

Nolan took off his mask to show his smile and nodded. Afterwards, the hero leapt off the deck and into his Sandmobile, taking off into the night. "For shame, Nolan, for shame…" Revan said, legs crossed in the passenger seat. "Thinking of replacing your own son with Nagisa. I can see why; I mean, he gives you the admiration that Dillon hasn't given you for years. Sure, you won't say it out loud, and in your heart, you would never choose Nagisa over Dillon… but I can read even the darkest corners of your mind, Nolan. How you crave admiration… because I love it, too. I can still hear them chanting: 'Long live The Brain… Long live The Brain…'"

Nagisa frowned, watching the Sandmobile vanish from sight. "That's weird. Were his eyes always like that?"