Trench Excavation

Time for a level from Spongebob, named simply after one of Patrick's lines! XD

Santa Hylia

When Midna arrived at the flagship, the guards allowed her entry into Skaios' quarters. Of course, anyone was free to come and go in this kingdom, but Midna was especially important to the captain. After meeting with him, Midna tried to explain what they learned about Monaca.

"STOW YOUR TONGUE, MIDNA!" Skaios shouted at his big sister. "What kind of captain would I be if I suspect me own first mates?! What proof do you have that Monaca is going against my orders?"

Midna was taken aback by his outburst. "Er… I admit there's no physical evidence, but the message we received couldn't be a lie."

"It was a false tip from our enemies! It was a fake Monaca killing a fake person! Or maybe it was the real Monaca pulling a prank! Aye, that's it! How dare you try to make me think ill of me closest mates!"

"Uh…" Midna sported a grin and said, "Sorry, Skaios, I was just joking!"

"J-Joking?"

"Part of being a strong leader is having faith in your friends. You've proved to be very loyal to them, so I'm positive you can win!"

"Oh… Argh, your sense of humor irritates me sometimes, Midna. It must be Kokichi's curse, the scurvy…" Skaios shook and said, "But I thank ye for your praise. But if you'll excuse me, we're nearing Hyrule's atmosphere. Mandy will pay for taking Masaru in her brig!" The captain flew off.

"Knock her dead, Skaios!" Midna cheered. …Now that he was gone, she released a sigh. "Well, that sure didn't help. If he cares about his friends that much, trying to stop Monaca will be all the harder. We can't have him on our bad side… not yet, at least." As much as she dreaded it, Skaios was still a threat to the world, and he would have to be stopped eventually. And yet, she deeply wished to protect him when that time came…

Sweetopia; Cheesebilly Valley

Pawtucket Pat, still a colossus of beer, stomped around a small, steep, cheese wedge hill, searching intently for the Pichu balloon. "I could've sworn they went behind this hill. Where the hell did they go?!" His phone rang. "Dammit." He shrunk down to his normal form and answered it. "Hello?"

"UNCLE PAT, something awful has happened!" Pea's voice cried. "I lost Augustus's mask! Somebody swapped it with this ugly fake! I think he was stolen!"

"What?! Pea, I do NOT have time for this now, Sasha was kidnapped by the Sky Gods!"

"Please, Uncle Pat, I'm afraid somebody's going to break him! And Grandma's going to be furious if she finds out."

"Ugh, for the love of… Fine, I'll begin a search immediately. He couldn't have gone too far." Pat hung up and began to walk away. "Chumba-Wumbas, search this valley for that balloon. Track those brats down."

Little did he know that the Luxury Pirates had hidden in a cave on that very hill. "Phew. I didn't think it would shrink in time." Pacifica said, holding the tiny Pichu balloon. "Now that we have a moment… is what Kokichi said true, Ciel?! You think I'm a disgraceful woman?!"

"Are you really going to let such a petty remark from a liar affect you?"

"But is he even lying though?" Weiss asked. "About knowing all the KND's secrets? Will he really destroy all our reputations?"

"Not me." Raleigh said. "Luckily, I joined you guys after he left, thank goodness." This earned a glare from Weiss.

"It's just something we'll have to deal with when this is over." Carol followed. "Surviving is more important now. We have to find a shore and regroup with Lola. Hmm…" Facing out into the cheese valley, she noticed the tiny glow of a distant pair of headlights, driving along the road. She used binoculars for a better view and could make out a hamburger car. "Maybe we can hitch a ride, assuming these country folks are friendly. Wait a second…" When the car was going past the middle of the road, she could make out its occupants: a teenage boy, a purple-haired girl napping on his lap, and three infants in the back, keeping an eye out for anyone following. "It's Augustus!"

"Augustus?" Weiss asked. "Right, the Candy Hunter. Isn't he one of Big Mom's kids?"

"Yes, but I think he's against them now. He could help us!"

"He's going awfully quickly." Raleigh said. "Even if the balloon could catch up, my Pokémon are exhausted."

"Then we'll just switch vehicles." Carol typed on her laptop and formed a 2-D, Game-and-Watch car. "Shrink down and hop in!" She took the Crystal Flashlight and minimized her team, letting them rest in her pocket. Using the laptop as a steering wheel, she started driving after Augustus.

"I can't imagine a 2-D seat is very comfy." Raleigh said. "You sure you won't get a rash, Carol?"

"Don't ask such insensitive questions." Weiss stated.

Hyrule; Q-Bus?

Drake, Quill, and Eddy had been climbing the block tower for what felt like hours. They were only 10 levels away from the top, but just as Quill was pulling and pushing blocks to form the next staircase, Eddy suddenly pushed him off the side. "AH, YOU DICK!" Quill cried as he grabbed the rim of a lower block, trying to climb around to safe footing.

"Eddy, you need to quit doing that!" Drake yelled, climbing up after him— "AH!" Eddy shoved Drake off next.

"She said only one of us can escape! I don't wanna die like this!"

"Yeah, same here, buddy!" Quill made it back up and pushed Eddy, resuming trying to pull out a path. "You always break my cars, so I'm not letting you break my life!"

"Hee hee hee!" Catherine giggled. "You boys really like me! This is so flattering!"

"You two need to cut it out!" Drake ordered, returning to safe ground. "Can't you see she's doing this on purpose? For all we know, she's lying!"

"And what if she's not?!" Eddy yelled. "There's so many games I wanted to play! I knew coming here was a bad idea! All to save Miko's stupid teammates!"

"I was gonna give Kodama the best date ever after this!" Quill argued.

"You were about to hit on some 'elf' girl! When I get out of this, I'll tell Kodama you cheated on her!"

"And I'll take all your games and-!"

"ENOUGH!" Drake kicked his friends down to a lower level. That layer was about to fall off, so the boys scrambled to climb back up. "Looks like there's only one way to settle this!" Drake began hurriedly making a stairway. When his friends made it up again, Drake kicked them both down.

"DAMN YOU, DRAKE!" Quill yelled, desperate to get up. "I looked up to you! I—!"

Drake kicked him down again. "Well, get ready to look down!" With a few more moves, Drake had formed a clear path to the top.

"Ooooo! Looks like the big boy gets me after all!" Catherine cheered, taking the form of a Hylian teenager. "I knew I had eyes for the coolest. Well, come on, Drakey." She kicked open the exit door and stepped aside. "The gate to freedom is yours and yours alo-"

Drake grabbed Catherine and BASHED her head against the doorframe. "OOOOOOWW!"

"Eesh…" Quill and Eddy cringed. Even from here, they were repulsed by the sight of her bloody, dented face.

"I see! When I punched you earlier, it actually hurt! Your pain is real in this dream world!"

"Let me go, you oaf! The only way out of this dream is through the door!"

"Then I guess I ain't waking up, but neither are you!" Drake wrapped his whole body around Catherine and kicked off the edge.

"AAAAAHH!" Her screams echoed into the abyss, Eddy and Quill watching in horror.

"DRAAAAAAKE!" Quill cried in despair.

"D-Drake…why…" Eddy stuttered.

"Hey, look! There's all the blocks that fell!" Drake beamed at the pile of blocks that threatened to splatter their bodies. "Bet ya that's gonna hurt!" Catherine squirmed in his grasp, but Drake grabbed her head and forced her down so that she would hit the rubble first. Her eyes stretched in panic as she was seconds from impacting the point of the highest block. Those seconds passed, and with a split second more, she snapped her fingers—a flash of light enveloped them just as her skull could crack against the point.

…

"AAAAH!" The three boys jolted awake, scaring the girls awake as well. ("Snoooore—whuh? I'M AWAKE!" Miko yelped.)

"AAAH!" Catherine seemed to spring out of nowhere, her face bent like a trench. Her mouth hung agape and her flesh was pale with shock. "I…I…I almost died…I…"

"Guys!" the girls beamed. "You woke up!"

"We… woke up?" Quill asked. "Wait… what happened? …Hey, what's this girl doing here?"

"I saw this girl running up the canyon." Eddy said. "What happened to her face?!"

"I know her, too! She was taking me to a restaurant." Quill mentioned.

"What?! I'm pretty sure she was going to school."

"But isn't this the succubus?" Carmine asked.

"Succubus?" the boys chorused.

The girls discussed everything that occurred during the boys' slumber. "So, this girl… was trying to kill us in our dreams?" Drake asked. "Why don't I remember any of it?"

"Beats me." Jenny shrugged. "Maybe it's a side-effect of her power."

Catherine continued to sway and babble incoherently. Drake slapped and knocked her out. "I don't remember what happened, but…" Eddy rubbed his messy light-brown hair, "I have these really bad thoughts in my head. I feel like… I said some pretty bad things in the dream."

"I feel like I did, too." Quill said. "…Hey, Eddy? I know this seems out of nowhere, but you kinda piss me off sometimes. But I don't want you to die."

"Well, that's comforting."

"You could at least say the same thing!"

"Alright, I don't want you to die either. Even though you're a crybaby."

"Ugh."

"No matter what we might've said, the fact is we're alive now." Drake smiled. "These pirates took us off guard, but we showed them! That's why we're the best!"

"Somehow, I feel like you did something really stupid." Eddy replied. "Like… I get the weird sensation you almost died."

"Yeah, me too." Quill nodded.

"Feels like I still have a pulse to me! And I expect all of you to live through this war, you hear me?"

"Hehe, aye-aye, Captain!" Carmine saluted.

"Then let's drop this bimbo in the holding room and get going." Quill decided. "Where did you say you drove us, Miko?"

"In a volcano."

When Quill manned the wheel, he steered them to an exit of the cave. They truly did appear to be somewhere on the side of a volcano, driving along a cliff over a pool of lava. The morning could faintly be seen over the cloudy horizon. "Not the most welcoming sight to wake up to." Miko said.

"I remember hearing that Castle Rock was built near Mogma Volcano." Eddy said. "This must be it."

"Let's just turn back the way we came." Quill decided, stopping the bus. "Maybe we can ask these two where they locked-"

"RISE and SHINE, little cave rats!" The Ash Knight descended onto the path.

"What?! Already?!" Jenny yelled.

"It's just tracking us everywhere!" Quill exclaimed.

"The jig is up, Gaz!" Miko proclaimed. "We know who you are!"

"Huh? So, you figured out who I am. I guess I can't let you leave this planet alive."

"Yeah, well I'm ready for you this time! My focus levels are pumped through the roof after that night, you don't stand a chance with-"

"Ah, now what's going on down here?"

This echoing, ominous voice certainly didn't belong to Gaz, but it sent an unsettling chill down their spines. The earth quaked when a huge mass crashed atop the wall beside them: an armored, vicious dragon. "Smaug! What're you doing here?"

"Smaug?!" Eddy panicked. "The dragon that they mentioned?!"

"There are a lot of annoying flies trying to take me down." Smaug hissed. "I thought I'd come for a drink of my favorite hot spring, but I see a few flies have made it here."

"Wellp, backing up now!" Quill switched to Reverse and stomped the gas, speeding backwards, but Smaug spat a fireball directly ahead of them, exploding as it bounced their bus forward.

"Hey, these kids are my prey, Smaug!"

"Not anymore! I'm feeling hungry!" Smaug flapped up and SMASHED the Q-Bus beneath his claw without hesitation!

But Jenny was able to jump out of the bus just in time, her friends and the prisoners inside the Infi-Cube. She dashed up the path with all the speed she could muster, dodging Smaug's claws and the fire that he spat ahead. She skated steadfast up the volcanic path with her friends' lives in her hands. (Play "Dragon Slayer" from Rayman Legends!)

Stage Q-2: Dragon Rush

Mission: Escape Smaug's wrath!

Jenny skated down a slope and jumped toward a platform over some lava. Smaug blasted a fireball, but she ducked before jumping to the next platform. One platform curved sideways, but Jenny stayed on it with her momentum and jumped to another, which curved left before she jumped to the next. When she jumped the next sequence, she kicked away some Kargaroks that were swooping down to bite her. Jenny landed on a straight road and had to alternate between ducking or jumping Smaug's flames.

After the last jump, Jenny found herself zooming down a steep hill. A Miniblin horde tried to impede her, but she blew them down with a swift kick. Another horde tried, but Smaug's fireball crashed on them like a meteor, though Jenny jumped over the flames in time. Two fireballs crashed between a geyser, but she jumped in as it erupted, blowing her across a series of diagonal geysers that faced each other. Jenny landed on a high platform, performing quick jumps across other small platforms, then having to combine ducks and jumps when Smaug's flames flew. Jenny flew and landed on a ramped edge, the momentum zooming her up, a line of geysers erupting at her back before a larger geyser BLEW her across the lava!

Jenny landed on a new path—a series of wood fences blocked her, but she switched on her rockets and BLASTED through them, riddling her face with splinters! Another geyser suddenly blew her back across the lava, Jenny screaming as Smaug nearly bit her in his teeth. She landed on a road that curved up into a wall, in which several lavafalls poured down. She dodged left, then right, and rinse and repeat. As she kicked off to a stable path, she was skating to Smaug, dodging three fireballs before a ramp launched her over the dragon's head. She skated across his rugged back, but jumped when he tried to shake and landed on another slope downward. Smaug soared after her, trying to bite from any angle, but she reacted to dodge him. He spat quick fireballs at the ground, but she jumped each one, eventually to land in another geyser.

She was blown to another slope, jumping three spires of lava as she zoomed down, and landed in one more geyser that finally blew her to the edge of the volcano. Jenny continued to race across the rugged ground with the dragon in pursuit. (End song.)

"Hey…!" Jenny saw a horde of people charging in their direction. They didn't look like demon pirates, but the group consisted of Pumparians, Solarans, and some Glomourians. "Hey, guys! Other operatives are here!"

Sector Q jumped out of the Infi-Cube. "Who are you guys?!" asked Pyler, the purple-flamed Solaran leader.

"We're Sector Q, from Earth! What's going on?" Drake asked.

"We're trying to kill this dragon, that's what! Watch out, he's coming!" The horde ran past as Smaug crashed back on the ground.

"You little flies just can't get enough, huh? I'll just have to roast you all!" He blew a charged flame that the Solarans worked to defend, but they were blown back by the force.

"What should we do?" Carmine asked. "Should we just try to escape?"

"Miko? Miko, is that you?!"

The gamer gasped and whipped around. Five familiar faces stood at their backs. "F..F…FIVE!!"

Sector Q turned to meet the faces of Sector Hinobi. "HAH! It's about time you guys showed up!" Drake exclaimed.

"Us?!" Zahra questioned. "We've been here for weeks, you're the ones who showed up out of nowhere!"

"Five, I'm so glad you're okay!" Miko ran to hug her best friend.

"I just knew you'd show up, Miko! We got separated from Mitch and we've been trying to find him ever since. We decided to check that theme park over there before we saw a bunch of operatives going to fight that dragon. Then we just kinda joined in."

"So, Mitch isn't with you guys? We were looking for him, too, but we-"

"Hey guys, less talky, more dragon bashy!" Pyler yelled, shooting a Fire Bullet into Smaug's throat. He felt it burst inside him and coughed out smoke, but then performed a spin to knock operatives away with his wings.

"What do you wanna do, Miko?" Five asked.

Miko faced up at the dragon with determined eyes. Above him, the Ash Knight soared down from an airship in the sky. "I don't mind staying to fight a dragon and a robot knight."

"A knight? Oh, nerds! Miko, that's-!"

"I know, it's Gaz."

"We can't fight both of those things!" Bergy exclaimed.

"No, they can't handle all of us!" Drake declared, his harpoon ready. "Let's kick their afts!"

"We're eating dragon meat tonight!" Haneesh cheered.

"Okay…" Carmine narrowed her eyes fearlessly. "Let's do this!"

Deep Dark Trench

There was a region of the ocean where the tips of two landmasses connected in the form of a vast trench. The Sports Star Pirates studied the situation from miles away, hesitant to get close with the fleet of Phantom Division ships sailing before the cliffside. There were lifts carrying demons and Hyruleans to the top of it. Ururu shrunk to fly size and flew above the trench in her Tiny Devil, sending a recording from her visor to a small monitor that her friends were viewing. When Ururu crossed over the top of the cliff, the deep interior of the trench was made clear to them. There was starfish, corral, and seashells lain in the darkness, yet the trench was mostly sealed off from the ocean.

"Alright, Ururu, fly back here." Karin ordered. "This is definitely where they've taken Jinta: the Deep Dark Trench."

"They basically named it after what it is." Kodama shrugged. "That's a heck of a lot of ships though. This mission has to be a fast one. Luckily, it's how I work best." She winked.

A moment later, Ururu resized on the deck. "I found a good spot we can enter from. Is everyone ready?"

"The Jetsled is already loaded in the Infi-Cube!" Kodama presented the cube in her hand. "Ururu just has to carry us and leave the next part to me."

"Meiling, you and the others are in charge of the ship." Karin told the TD operative. "Stay out of sight of the pirates. If something happens, send word and I'll fly up ASAP."

"Hai." Meiling nodded. "And please keep an eye out for any of my team, Karin-san."

"Got ya. Girls, jump in!" She, Yuzu, and Kodama jumped in the Infi-Cube, while Ururu shrunk down and began to carry it to the trench.

The Tiny Devil flew high enough to avoid sight from the enemies, making her way to a sloped path going into the trench. As she was nearing it, a Stalfos noticed the light of the Infi-Cube and thought it was a firefly or something. "Ahhh… that's a pretty one. Why is it landing there?" The light landed on the base of the slide, and suddenly, something came sliding out of it. "What the heck is… OI! I THINK WE HAVE AN INTRUDER!"

Kodama came shooting out of the Infi-Cube on a small, cardboard plane with wheels, a firework engine on its back. "KAMIKAZE KODAMA TO THE RESCUUUUUE!"

"P-Please waaaaiiiit!" Ururu flew to catch up and landed on her friend's shoulder. (Play "Slide" from the Spongebob Movie!)

Stage 15: Deep Dark Trench

Mission: Rescue Jinta Hanakari!

Act 1: Rocket Slide

Kodama leaned slightly right, then left to go around curves, evading the Bomb Flowers on the corners. She made the cart jump to go over a gap, and upon landing, cannons on patrol platforms shot at the track, Kodama dodging around the explosions. She was nearing a series of spinning platforms, each with a flat side and spiked side; they stopped when she was near, but she thought quick and jumped to the flat sides. As she landed back on track, she was about to drive off into the chasm. "Kodama-chan, shoot the base of that platform!" Ururu shouted. Seeing a patrol platform coming up on the right over the chasm, Kodama launched a large firework and exploded the base. The platform fell leftward and hit a tall stone pillar, which fell toward Kodama's track and created a bridge for her to cross.

The slide curved left along a cliffside—a Big Octo emerged from the depths and tried to eat them, but a quick firework sent the monster falling. Kodama was nearing a ledge that was too high to jump to, but when she jumped the first time, Ururu flew underneath and gave it an extra lift to help the cart up, but could not do so for too long lest the weight overcome her. The cart began to roll along a wooden track, and pirates on minecarts shot the path ahead of her, Kodama jumping the gaps. She returned to a solid road, but saw a series of boulders blocking the way. She saw dynamites tied to them and launched fireworks to destroy the boulders. One of the dynamites was tied to a fuse that lit up and went to the ceiling, exploding more dynamites that sent stalactites falling, Kodama nimbly evading them.

She began to cross a wooden track again, but a stalactite hit the left side of it, so the boards began to tilt in that direction. Kodama forced her cart to the right, standing on the wing and wobbling, balancing on one foot with a panicky expression as her arms flailed. She fell back into the seat to jump up to a safe ground and resumed sliding. A rock pile blocked her, but she shot down a platform on the left, which fell onto the pile with its TNT barrels exploding and clearing a path. Kodama repeated this maneuver by shooting a platform on the right, which fell and destroyed another pile. Kodama shot another right platform to clear a path—this platform also shot a cannon to a lone house on the cliffside, exposing Cleveland Brown in his bathtub.

"What the hell?! No no no no NO NO!" The naked man slid out and landed in the hole of a giant round boulder. The boulder rolled onto the slide and after Kodama. "Heeeelp!" Cleveland squirmed in the hole, but was smashed into it once it made contact with the ground. Kodama maneuvered around Bomb Flowers that blew up against the boulder, cracking it only slightly. The middle of the path sloped down into a mini trench, so Kodama slid in there, watching as the boulder rolled overhead, Cleveland's flailing figure passing right over her. She came out as the boulder rolled down onto a lower path and was able to jump on top of it.

Kodama kept the cart balanced on the boulder, leaning backward so it wouldn't go off the front, and jumping whenever Cleveland made the rotation. She had to shoot down stalactites that threatened to push her off, and the boulder would soon explode against a pile of powder kegs. Kodama jumped over the kegs, and when they exploded, the force sent her flying toward a chest that she grabbed. The boulder shattered, and Cleveland fell into the abyss.

Kodama rolled into a wide open area of the abyss, but the track would end before long. There was a line of patrol platforms to her right, so Kodama blasted the first one and created a domino effect. Until all the platforms could fall, Kodama leaned left or right to dodge their cannons. The platforms came full circle as the last three served as a bridge for Kodama to roll over, and after jumping the last few gaps, the cart crashed against the wall, and the engine switched off. (End song.)

"Phew! I think this is as far as we can roll." Kodama said, Karin and Yuzu climbing out of the cube while the cart was stashed inside. "We'll have to search for Jinta on foot now."

"Thank goodness. I almost lost my lunch on that slide." Yuzu replied.

"But there's no gravity in the Infi-Cube." Karin said.

"There is with me driving, I guess." Kodama blushed. "But hey, it's better to enjoy fireworks from the outside, anyway." (Play "Now That We're Men" from the Spongebob Movie Game (not the song from the actual movie)!)

Act 2: Monster Valley

The group hopped up some platforms shortly before being ambushed by Embers, which were quickly doused by Kodama's Iceworks. A large gap divided them and the next platform, but Kodama could launch a firework to attach to a rotatable cog, spinning it to make a bridge stretch out from the other side. A Popper popped out of the ground; it was a green, one-eyed monster with a large round pack attached to a hose. It quickly shot green rocks from its hose, and whenever the girls got close, it would burrow underground and pop up somewhere else. It also dodged Kodama's missiles and Karin's soccerballs like this, shooting the team from all directions. The other three stayed in place while Ururu flew around the beast at tiny size, using Bullet Speed to pierce its eye and end it.

A few meters ahead, there was a stand with a purple-skinned spider girl selling cookies. "Hello, travelers! Interested in some spider pastries? All proceeds go to real spiders."

"Hmm, they do look tasty." Yuzu said. "And I don't sense anything wrong with them. How much?"

"One million Rupees."

The group paled at hearing that. "Yeah, thanks but no." Karin decided. "Yuzu's food is good enough. Come along, gang." She gestured Yuzu to move it. Kodama and Ururu glanced at the girl suspiciously as they followed. She seemed to be glaring at them.

The girls started up a hill and heard a masculine voice, "Hey! Where do you think you're going?" They saw a Goron up the hill. "This is Lord Mandy's territory! Trespassers will be imprisoned!" He curled up into a ball and rolled down, prepared to bowl them over like pins. Karin rooted herself to the ground, hands at the ready. She stopped the Goron, pushing with all her strength, and was able to haul the brute off the side. Another Goron rolled down, but Karin stopped it once more; since they were on the hill this time, she struggled to maintain balance, but Ururu propped her up from behind until her leader could throw him off.

"Aren't these Gorons Hyrulean soldiers?" Yuzu asked.

"Mandy's the queen, so all the soldiers on this world are basically her pirates now." Karin said. "And it doesn't make our situation any better."

"Is the KND even big enough to take on four planets' worth of soldiers?"

"I mean, the Sky Gods don't have a whole planet, but those still aren't very good odds, I'll agree. But we shouldn't let their numbers scare us. I know Cheren wouldn't be scared."

Once atop the hill, Kodama shot Iceworks into small pits of lava to create platforms for them to jump across, quickly before they melted. They landed on a long stone slab balancing on a natural needle, and when their weight began to tilt it, they tried to quickly run up the other side. An Octorok on the ceiling spat boulders down to weigh the slab further, so Kodama shot it down with a firework, and the group made it across. They were about to jump some platforms—"AAAAHH!" A monstrous tentacle emerged from the water and destroyed the platforms. They noticed someone tied to the tentacle via glowing green chains. "SOMEONE HELP! I ain't diggin' this ride!"

"Hey, that's Beat!" Karin recognized the punk boy. "I can't cut those chains, but I can save him with this!" She grabbed the T.H.E.R.M.O.S. and tried to focus on the boy as the tentacle shook him. She fired, and the blue beam sucked Beat inside. The tentacle returned to the sea as Karin released Beat.

"Hey, ya almost sucked my pants off, ya dumb… K-Karin?!"

"Beat, how did you end up here? Did Bellum beat your whole team?"

"Hey, we almost had 'is number, but this stupid sack of bones came and beat the shit out of us! We all got separated and… Aw shit, Rhyme!" Beat panicked. "She must be goin' crazy without me! Yo, I gotta split and find her, catch up with ya later!" He flew away.

"You're welcome." Karin remarked.

"Unfortunately, our path is ruined." Yuzu observed. "But I think this could help us." She aimed the arm with her wrist band and shot an energy arrow (Soul Arrow) at a narrow stone needle, highlighting it. She shot another arrow at a needle across the pit, and a Soul Rope formed to link them.

"I'm so glad you got that upgrade." Kodama said as they began to cross the rope.

"Hehe, thank Cheren!" Once across to the first needle, Yuzu shot an arrow to one above a waterfall, forming another rope, and she continued forming Soul Ropes as they traveled upriver, but if they were too slow, the ropes would fade. Octoroks spat rocks to try and push them off, but Karin kicked the rocks back. The group stepped off on a path along the left shore, entering a garden of dark seaweed. They stayed close together in trying to navigate the seaweed. "Ow!" Karin grunted when green rocks hit her. Three Poppers were zipping around the seaweed, blasting them while going unseen behind the weed. Even Ururu struggled to maneuver through them, but when she flew overhead, she got a better view of the seaweeds that were moved when the Poppers changed position. She pinpointed each Popper and slayed them.

From this view, Ururu guided her friends to a path out of the garden. A small stairway led them up to a path along a small river, adorned with glowing blue flowers. The path ended at a more open ground surrounded by water, from which Zora Warriors leapt out, wearing green armor, swords and shields. Karin swung a mighty kick at a Zora, but he imbued his shield with Haki, and Karin leapt back before his sword could strike. Ururu flew up and punched the eyes of the first Zora, distracting him as Karin then flipped up and kicked him square in the face, knocking him on his back and finishing him with a few more good kicks.

Kodama shot Cheeseworks at the 2nd Zora's feet to glue him to the ground. Ururu then zipped by and knocked the weapons out of his hands so Kodama could freeze him with Iceworks. Yuzu shot a Soul Arrow at the 3rd Zora's sword, but he kept a firm grasp on it; however, Yuzu shot an arrow to a stone needle behind him, forming a Soul Rope that yanked the sword away. Yuzu shot him with arrows and Ururu punched him across the face until he was down. With the Zoras defeated, the four approached the ledge and saw they were above the wider river they were previously crossing. Yuzu could link a Soul Rope between two points across the river. As they carefully crossed the rope, Kodama glanced down and noticed a skeleton in a hoodie, grinning as he blissfully floated along the river on an inner-tube.

The group set foot on a small field of Rupees. Suspicious, Yuzu shot arrows at some Rupees—they sprouted into Like-Likes! Kodama tossed bombs down their vacuum mouths until they were all cleared. As it turned out, one of the red Rupees was actually real, so Kodama decided to take it, swatting a spider off it. "For my troubles~"

The path sloped down into a sub-trench area, where floating, glowing anglerfish "swam" in bliss. Their skeletons glowed from inside their bodies, and the girls avoided touching as they were electric. The walls grew taller as the path became narrow, and the anglerfish seemed to "swim" away in fright. "UUUUUOOOOOO." To their horror, a giant Deep Python stretched out of a tunnel up ahead, its gaping mouth ready to gulp them, but it swallowed one of Kodama's fireworks and retracted. The girls quickly ran forward and could follow a left path. However, Yuzu felt a small presence by the python's hole. Kodama decided to investigate, blasting the python whenever it lunged out, and discovered a round Zora egg in a puddle before the tunnel. "Oh, dear. Can't let this little guy be eaten." She gently stored the egg in the cube.

They followed a path where spider-webs adorned the cliffs. Moblins patrolled the area, but they were grabbed by Skulltulas and lifted into a ceiling of webs. Disgusted by the sight of them, the girls progressed quickly (and Ururu thought it best to resize). Kodama burned down any webs blocking their way with fireworks, and Yuzu shot down any spiders trying to drop on them. They noticed a treasure chest wrapped up in a ceiling web, so Kodama shot that down as well.

"I heard those humans hate spiders~" They could've sworn they heard the spiders whispering, but the voice was too faint. They reached a part of the trench that was completely covered in web, and setting fire to it all may not make their journey easier. Yuzu could form Soul Ropes between points, making a path up the webs, but she would have to shoot down Skulltula crawling to get them. "I heard they're very stingy with their money~" They made it to a narrow path with a stone bridge going over a dark chasm. They heard a hissing sound from the depths and barely noticed a set of five red eyes before whatever creature they belonged to retreated into the darkness.

The girls arrived at an open area with a large web on the ceiling. That same hoodie skeleton was standing in the middle, casually swinging around a giant baseball bat. "Hey, that's Jinta's weapon!" Ururu yelled, the group rushing toward the skeleton. "Excuse me? Is that bat yours?"

"no, but i took it anyway." Sans replied.

"Right. Give it here." Karin ordered.

"okay, i'll trade it for one million rupees."

"So, you're a scam artist too, huh?"

"no, that's edna's job. i need the money to pay off this spider donut i bought. but i guess you'll do instead."

"AAAAH!" A pit suddenly opened beneath them, but Yuzu was far enough away from it to jump back, the others falling onto a giant web. Three stingers were shot down from the ceiling, sticking them and rendering Karin, Ururu, and Kodama immobile.

Yuzu faced up to see the spider girl on the ceiling web. "Do you know how hard it is for my spiders to afford transportation?! All I want is a measly one million Rupees, but you humans can't even be bothered for that! If I can't buy them a heated limo, I'll settle for your blood instead!"

A series of red, green, and blue large spiders began crawling toward the captive girls. "I can't go ghost!" Karin yelled. "Yuzu, do something! Shoot them!"

"No worries, Nee-san! I deal with spiders at home all the time!" Yuzu reached into the Infi-Cube and whipped out a sack of small cookies. "And I know all their favorite treats!" (Play "A Fearsome Foe" from Mario: Color Splash!)

Sub-boss: Serket Pirates Baker, MUFFET

Tip: Flip the correct cookies at spiders of the corresponding color to protect your friends. If Muffet defeats you, Jinta will be seized by the Sky Gods and you'll fail the mission.

A red spider clambered along the web, hungry for some Karin, but Yuzu flipped a mosquito blood cookie in its way. The spider was delighted by its taste and skittered away. A green spider was about to snack on Ururu, but Yuzu satiated its hunger with a slug-frosting cookie. A blue spider wanted a bite of Kodama, but was satisfied with a crunchy dragonfly cookie. "So, you managed to make a few spiders happy. But will you be able to fill all their tummies?" Muffet wondered.

Two reds came for Karin, three for Ururu, and a quick blue one came for Kodama, but Yuzu filled them all. However, now the spiders' colors were mixing together, approaching from all ends of the web: a red and green going for Karin, blue and red at Ururu, 3 reds and 4 blues at Kodama, 2 reds at Ururu, 5 blues at Kodama, 2 reds and a green at Karin—she messed up the green and Karin got bit! Keeping steady, Yuzu fed 3 reds and 2 blues coming at Kodama, a green, red, green, red, and 2 greens at Ururu, then a red, green, blue, blue, red, green, red, red, green at Karin, with one final blue at Kodama. The spiders stopped coming.

"Fine! 'Guess I'm eating by myself!" Muffet swung over the captives, Yuzu locking on with a Soul Arrow. The spider-troll suddenly dropped toward Ururu, so Yuzu took the shot and struck her. "OUCH! I spilled tea all over my dress! Spiders, get back out here, I have to clean this off!" She pulled herself back up to the ceiling, and the next wave of spiders came.

These spiders had numbers on their backs, indicating how many of their favorite cookies they would want. With their numbers ranging 1-3, Yuzu fed them as usual: 4 reds at Ururu, 2 cookies each, a green, red, green, and blue at Karin, a blue, green, red, green, green at Kodama, a quick blue and red at Karin—Yuzu messed up some cookies, resulting in Ururu getting bit by a red and green spider, then Kodama was bit by a blue one, but Yuzu protected her from the following red and green ones, then protected Karin from a blue and red spider. One last blue spider was slowly approaching Ururu, and it wanted 20 cookies. Yuzu rapidly tossed dragonfly cookies as if mashing a controller button, and she saved Ururu just in time.

Muffet swung circles from her web, using her free arms to throw donuts at Yuzu, who evaded. Unfortunately, without warning, Muffet dropped onto Kodama and KO'ed her with a venomous bite, but Yuzu shot her before she could do further damage. "That's it! I'm calling my pet to finish this! Until he arrives, try to please these bouncy spiders!"

The third wave of spiders were bouncing along the web, making them much trickier to hit. Regardless, Yuzu did as before: 3 reds and one blue at Karin, a green, red, green, red, green, green at Ururu, a slow blue and fast red at Karin, two slow greens and a fast blue at Ururu—Yuzu messed up and Ururu was bit by two spiders, KOing her. Now all remaining spiders charged at Karin: red, green, blue, blue, blue, green, green, blue, red, fast green, fast blue, 5 slow reds and 2 fast greens, red, green, red, blue, and they stopped coming.

Then, to Yuzu's horror, a gigantic spider began to crawl up the hole below the web! Its eyes glimmered red with hunger, so she threw a red cookie down. They turned green, so the slug cookie followed, then blue, green, blue, red; Yuzu focused intently and kept the spider at bay at all costs. Even if her other two friends were still awake, one bite from this spider would finish all of them. The spider's face was now inches away from them, and it screeched as it readied a big bite, but one final green cookie fulfilled what remained of its appetite, and the beast retreated.

Muffet slowly lowered beside Yuzu. "Unbelievable! You knew what all my spiders liked and fed them! Maybe I misjudged you, Human. Maybe you're not a spider-hater."

"Of course I'm not!" Yuzu smiled proudly. "I feed any tummy, no matter how tiny! I even know what kinds of pastries bugs would like. It's how I lure them out of the house."

"The original plan was to recover the prisoners before you guys did, but I couldn't possibly knock out such a talented cook. Here, allow me to heal your friends." Muffet jumped down and fed Kodama and Ururu a special cookie that woke them up and rid their stiffness (helping Karin as well). They all climbed up to Yuzu. "Well, I'd best be going now. I pray we can meet again somed-"

Karin KICKED the back of Muffet's head, the spider stumbling forward as her eyes spun. When her vision came to, Yuzu was aiming a Powuh Shot directly at her. The Soul Arrow loosed, blasting Muffet with such force that she crashed against a stalagmite, the baker fainting. (End song.)

The girls tightly tied her in ropes and had Muffet thrown in the Infi-Cube. "There's another prisoner. Question is, what to do about this weirdo?" Remembering Sans was still there, the group readied their guard.

"it's very conflicting. on one hand, i want to save my crewmate. on the other, i won't have to pay one million rupees. well anyway, you got a friend to save, so… take this." Sans handed them Jinta's bat. "i guess i'll start climbing now." The skeleton walked a few feet away and merely stood there.

"Eh… 'kay." Karin decided to leave him be and lead her team onward. Other demons on the path had already been ensnared in Muffet's webs, so there was nothing to impede their venture up the stairs, seeing a Boogey flag standing over a vast chasm. Someone was tied to the flag, and as they neared it, they confirmed it to be Jinta Hanakari.

"Would ya look at that?" Jinta greeted with a smirk. "I thought for sure you girls would get lost."

"Jinta-kun!" Ururu resized and flew up to hug her friend. "I'm so glad you're okay! After I was captured, I thought you were eaten by Smaug."

"Never doubt the J-Man, Ururu. Now let's hurry before that Vicky chick—"

"DON'T SPOIL THE SURPRISE!" Vicky lunged herself from below the cliff and grabbed the top of the pole. "AHAHAHAHAHA!" She whirled around and swapped the Mandy flag with a gold "V" flag, swiftly slicing Ururu's wings. Vicky landed and sawed the base of the pole. "Can it at least wait 'til I'm done stroking it, ahahahahahaha!" She hugged the pole tight and launched harpoon arms to a distant platform, pulling herself and the pole over.

"Jinta!" Karin shouted.

"Karin-nee, we have company!" Yuzu yelled, alerting her to a swarm of Embers, Poes, and Stalfos at their back.

"No way I want the harem to spoil our fun!" Vicky said, forming a saw. "This is my last chance to play with you in pieces!" The saw came down on Jinta's arm, slicing the rope—Jinta used Haki to protect his arm, rolling away and getting back on his feet.

"Sorry, but you ain't welcome in my fan club, lady! Huh?" He heard one of Kodama's fireworks and saw it flying up with his bat tied to it. The firework burst as Jinta caught the weapon. "Finally back in the game! Let's see how YOU like being tortured, Icky!" (Play "Name's Dennis" from Spongebob Movie!)

Boss fight: Boogey Pirates Torture Warden, VICKY

Vicky's middle torso spun like a tornado as she charged at Jinta, the boy crossing his Haki arms like a shield. Jinta turned when Vicky tried to go around him, but the Baby-Shredder suddenly stopped spinning and stabbed under the arms, cutting Jinta's stomach. He managed to jump away and only suffer a light cut, retaliating by slamming his bat down. Vicky dodged and flipped onto the bat, swiping her bladed foot just over his head and cutting some hair. Jinta swung the bat overhead and tried to slam her to the ground, but she had jumped off and stretched a buzzsaw. Jinta dodged up to Vicky and bashed her in the head. His Haki squished her metal head for a brief moment before reflating.

"Bleeeeh!" Vicky leapt to one of the distant platforms and began to throw shurikens, Jinta jumping left or right to evade them. She threw one at a time at first, but later switched to vertical or horizontal rows of three, in which Jinta held his bat in the respective position to block them. He noticed the shurikens would melt into flesh after a second. "Fine, ya like to play ball? I call this one the Nutcracker!" Vicky molded a spiky baseball on her hand, her eyes locked onto below Jinta's belt. The boy squatted and readied his bat, so when Vicky hurled the ball, Jinta hit with a powerful swing, smashing it into Vicky's face.

The ball fell out, revealing Vicky's comically cratered face, which popped back to normal. The babysitter leapt to a further platform and channeled chi into her finger-blades. She slashed five airwaves that sliced the foothold Jinta was on, so the boy quickly ran off and leapt to a lower platform. He leapt a series of platforms as Vicky continued to slash and destroy them, whilst the babysitter swung to her own platforms using an arm-harpoon. Jinta was able to settle on a large foothold just 10 meters below a ceiling of the trench. Vicky slashed airwaves at the ceiling to slice it up, causing boulders to fall.

Jinta imbued Haki into his bat and raised it to defend himself from boulders. He glanced up and saw a boulder about to fall on him, so he backed up and forcefully swung his bat to fling the boulder toward Vicky. A direct hit, Vicky fell off her platform, Jinta fist-pumping in victory! He waited in patience for a few moments, expecting his teammates to fly down to recover him—"AAAH!" He jumped out of the way when a drill suddenly sprouted beneath his feet, which turned out to be Vicky's conjoined arms.

"I'm not really a miner, but I'm still gonna stick it to ya, AAAAH HAHAHAHAHA!" Vicky cackled wickedly and chased Jinta around the foothold, drilling through all the boulders lying around. He stopped and pushed against her drill with his Haki bat, keeping extremely steady so the point didn't slip around the bat. Suddenly, Vicky backed up and burrowed underground, Jinta jumping away before he was stabbed. She retreated down and tried to drill up again, repeating this maneuver as Jinta was hurriedly hopping around. Just imagining that drill grinding through his sole was unbearably awful.

Then, Jinta got an idea: he discarded his right shoe and watched as Vicky shred it up. When she felt this, the babysitter climbed out of the ground, looking confused by the sight of a shoe with no foot—Jinta BASHED her in the head for serious trauma once more. "Ya think you're harder than me, boy?! Well, see if you can top this!" Vicky used spiky feet to run up the cliffside, then used her drill to burrow up through the ceiling. Jinta climbed after using the crevices that she made, and upon entering the tunnel, he found it was a lot wider than he anticipated. He used Haki to punch away falling boulders, climbing ever higher until he resurfaced above a wider battleground.

"Tiiiiiiime to BABYSIT!" Jinta whipped around in terror as Vicky slightly gigantified, molding all her metal into her behind as it transformed into a giant, bladed roller. Jinta ran as Vicky was in hot pursuit, seeing several large spider-webs lain around. Jinta leapt over the webs as they got stuck onto Vicky's roller, eventually meshing them together and causing the roller to falter. "Ah shit, it's stickin' to me~" Vicky wriggled around to shake the webs off, giving Jinta a chance to run around the front and bash her three times with the Haki bat. "Ya done crossed the line, twerp!" Vicky reformed to her normal shape, propped herself up with her hands, and kicked her harpoon legs directly past Jinta's sides. She lunged at the boy, catching him between her legs and pinning him on the ground.

"I call this one the Humpty-Bumpty!" Vicky grabbed his shoulders and repeatedly bashed her metal head against his own, Jinta bruised and bleeding. Vicky opened wide and tried to sink her steel teeth around his face, but Jinta pushed them back with Haki hands. He forcefully grabbed the bladed teeth, tugging with all his might, and he was able to rip a few out. "AAAAAH! My perfect dental record is ruined!" Jinta punched the witch off, reclaimed his bat, and dealt her a total of six bashes to the head, reshaping it into a pyramid shape.

Jinta lifted Vicky and threw her straight up into the air. He channeled all the Haki to his bat and cried, "Home-Run Shooting Star SWING!" Vicky went flying like a rocket, spinning with her pointed head forward, until she stuck into the cliff half a mile across the chasm. Having been knocked out by the swing, Vicky hung limp. (End song.)

"Hah… Serves you right for training me." Jinta sat on the ground to catch his breath.

"Jinta-kun!" Ururu suddenly resized beside him and hugged. "That was incredible!"

"Nice job, Jinta." Karin remarked, joined by the others. "I guess a man doesn't always need a woman to save him."

"You look hurt!" Yuzu yelled with concern. "Let me find you some bandages."

"Relax, I felt way worse than this."

Ururu shrunk down and hugged Jinta's nasal bridge. "If it'll help you feel better, I'll let you play with me~"

"Have a little more dignity, Ururu."

"Okay, quit horsin' around and get in the cube." Karin ordered. "I'll fly us all outta here in a jiffy. We knocked out most of the troops, so escaping should be a lot easier."

Soul of Competition

Muffet found herself locked in the brig when she woke up. "Seriously, they caught you, too?!" Masaru yelled.

"Oh? Fancy seeing you here." Muffet said. "We thought you were captured by the Boogeys."

"So, you two are from the same crew?" Yuzu asked. "I thought for sure you would've been one of Mandy's."

"Quite the contrary. You ought to be weary, however: Captain Aranea greatly cares about her friends, and she won't spare you the punishment if she finds me captured here. Of course, I wouldn't want that to happen to such a great cook~"

"I reckon we should call up GKND to give them tighter security." Karin suggested. "Having these two aboard makes me feel uneasy."

All their wristwatches suddenly started to ring. The operatives answered. "Calling all available operatives, this is Nagisa of Sector SA! We're in Gerudo Town, we need backup! Emperor Skaios is here!"

"The captain's at Gerudo Town?!" Masaru beamed. "I bet they're trying to find me!"

"This is Wendy, Sector MG! We're sailing there as fast as we can!"

Gerudo Town

Gerudo were screaming, fearing for their lives as their peaceful oasis town was sealed in a sandy tornado, conjured by Skaios and preventing anyone from escaping. "We'll never survive in that twister!" Hange said to Nagisa's team. "And Skaios is far too high to damage!"

"I hope Wendy gets here in time!" Nagisa said. "But is she even strong enough to fight him?!"

"ARE YE SEEING THIS, Queen Mandy?!" Skaios bellowed in the heavens. "For taking one of me first mates, I'm freeing this town from your control and ending its sexist laws! Jataro, tear it out!"

Jataro Kemuri was watching from a tower on Artemyra, snapping a photo of Gerudo Town. "Aye-aye, Captain. This will be like picking up one of my sandcastles at the beach and shoving it down Masaru's pants, huhuhu!" With the photo complete, Jataro reached his bare hand into it. His gigantic fingers dug into the sand around the town.