Scrapping With Death

Hyrulean Sea

The Phantom Hour blasted pink, gum-like cannonballs at the Soul of Competition, splatting and sticking the ship to the piece of ocean it floated on. "Karin-nee, we can't move the ship!" yelled Yuzu.

"Guys, hide inside! I'll have to take it from here!" Karin ordered.

"None of you are going anywhere!" Something splashed out of the sea, a yellow monster with five purple tentacles, each with eyes on the ends, plus a massive eye in its mouth. "Nowhere but the SEAFLOOR!" Bellum lashed his tentacles at Yuzu, Jinta, and Kodama, the three struggling to escape as their bodies turned into statues (except Yuzu's, who merely fell over).

"LET THEM GO!" Karin entered ghost form and kicked her soccer ball at Bellum's eye, the demon whacking it away with a spare tentacle.

"Don't think I've forgotten you, little missy! You want your friends' souls back, come and get them!" The demon dove into the sea.

"Dammit! Meiling, you and the rest protect Ururu! Don't worry, the Spirit KND should be here any second!" Karin dove after Bellum. (Play "Bellum Battle" from Phantom Hourglass!)

Boss fight: Boogey Phantom General (former Dutchman Pirate), BELLUM

One of the benefits to being part-ghost is being able to fly through water with endless oxygen, Karin thought as she pursued the demon deeper into the depths. Globs of slime were spat from Bellum's rear, which would bind Karin in place, so she made sure to avoid them until she was able to catch up to the demon. Bellum whipped around and flashed his giant eye, trying to blind Karin with Dark Light, but she shut her eyes in time. She dodged Bellum's tentacles, zapping Ecto Beams from her fingers to hit three of the eyes, but the others evaded as one whipped Karin away.

Karin drew out Soul Soccer and kicked it at one of the eyes, but Bellum simply moved it. Karin smirked, having attached an Ecto Rope from her finger to the ball, tugging to bring it back in the trajectory of an eye. "YOW!" Bellum yelped, but then Karin followed by kicking the ball to the last eye. Bellum was forced to keep his main eye opened, swimming circles around Karin and shooting missiles from his rear antenna. Karin kicked Soul Soccer at the missiles, ricocheting off while destroying them, the ball going faster as it was bouncing toward the eye. Bellum shut his eye as the ball drilled against the lid, eventually flying off and back to Karin, who dodged the ball with her Ecto Rope still attached.

"Hurrrrr!" Karin tugged the rope with great force, the speeding ball threatening to rip it off, but she was able to redirect its course. It was too far for Bellum to notice and came too fast, so the Soccer Comet DRILLED into his pupil! "AAAAAAAHH!" It was a miracle that the ball finally stopped and returned to its master. "Dammit, I need some eyedrops! SOMEONE GET ME EYEDROPS!" Bellum desperately swam away, spraying a purple cloud of gas from his antenna to shroud the area. Karin held her breath and shut her eyes, using Spirit Sense to track the fleeing demon.

A Bonefish brought Bellum some eyedrops, the demon feeling rejuvenated once they touched his six pupils. He was able to release more smog into the water, interfering with Karin's sense. In her view, Bellum's aura was becoming more faint, even as she tried to follow him, it eventually disappeared. There was smog everywhere, Karin couldn't find a way out, but Bellum could pinpoint her easy: his tentacles formed a star shape as his eyes connected lasers, unleashing the Dark Light Beam. Karin greatly felt this surge of energy, so she immediately channeled chi to her Soul Soccer to enlarge it. Karin kicked it just in time to intercept the beam, energy splashing everywhere, but Bellum's power prevailed as the ball blew miles away.

Again Karin had her rope attached, tugging with greater force than before to have it fly straight back, with such speed that it blew away the smog and SMASHED into Bellum. The demon shut his lid, the force pushing him away as he struggled to withstand it. Luckily, the speed died out as the ball returned to Karin's hand. "Ah, good to breathe again. Even though I'm still under…wah?!" Karin realized pink goop had been attached to the ball, gluing her hand, and in trying to force it off with her feet, her sandals became stuck as well.

"I got tired of you swinging that around!" Bellum said as he spat more goop missiles, Karin evading them by rolling in her awkward position. She forced Ecto Beams against Soul Soccer until the goop melted off. Bellum swam away, spinning like a torpedo to greatly outpace Karin, who couldn't catch up even at her quickest speed. She kicked her ball backward, pulled it back with the Ecto Rope, and rammed her back to push her faster. She kicked the ball again, which came back with greater momentum for a greater push, and Karin did it once more to give herself the push to blast past Bellum. The second she was past, she drilled her foot into his eye—Bellum endured the pain and snatched her in his tentacles.

"Bloop bop boo! I'll drain your soul and leave you at the bottom of the ocean!" Karin struggled hopelessly to escape, but internally, she was smirking. "H-Hey! What's grabbing my…?!" Bellum realized the still-speeding Soul Soccer was zipping around his rear antenna, the Ecto Rope wrapping him tighter and tighter as the ball closed in. "Hey, that's extremely sensitive! Get it off me, goddammit, get it off-" Bellum reached two tentacles back to try and unwrap the rope, but Karin was able to free herself, grabbing the three remaining tentacles and tying them in a knot, keeping them bound with sticky ectoplasm.

Karin proceeded to shoot and blind those eyes before taking her ball back. "I can play ball too, you know!" Bellum retorted as he blew a giant wad of goop from his antenna, using his remaining two tentacles to whirl it around via a rope. He lashed it at Karin, who swam up to dodge, but the ball quickly redirected and caught her, zooming around in a cyclone fashion as Karin remained trapped in its goop. "And PUCKER UP!" The goop flew right into Bellum's eye, his lids smooching Karin like lips. Her energy coursed into his eye like a smoothie, Karin reverting to her human form.

"!!!" Her mortal lungs were immediately overwhelmed by the ocean's density, unable to scream or break free of the goop. "It seems you were only half-dead before, but now I'll make sure you take your permanent rest. Just relax your muscles and let the ocean's waves rock you to sleep—OW!" An energy arrow shot him in the eye.

Karin looked up, eyes widening at the sight of her sister, Soul Arrows equipped. Judging by the fierce look in Yuzu's eyes, it seemed she had gone into her "Yuzunite" persona. Wait, of course! Bellum didn't know that Yuzu has TWO souls!

Though Yuzu's cheeks were swollen from holding breath, she smirked at her sister as though acknowledging Bellum's folly as well. She unloaded a storm of mini Soul Arrows, Bellum evading as he whirled the sticky ball around again, this time to trap Yuzu. Bellum brought them both up to his eye-lips—he realized Yuzu had shoved the T.H.E.R.M.O.S. into Karin's mouth, the elder sister now passed out from lack of oxygen. Yuzu stamped her finger against the 'Eject' button, practically inflating Karin with spirit energy.

Karin combusted with life, her Halfa form reborn, and she kicked an Ecto Beam at Bellum's eye to worsen the damage. She ignited her body with energy and burned free of the goop, but saw that her sister was running short of breath and consciousness. Karin molded a large bubble of ectoplasm and placed her sister inside, allowing her to gasp for breath. "There they are!" Karin saw Bellum swimming away. "My precious eyedrops!" A little Bonefish was carrying a bottle in its mouth. "I say, you fishies are a lot more reliable than those four—YAAAH!" Karin had kicked her Soul Soccer to fly past his eye, beginning to wrap Bellum in a vertical fashion via the rope. "Hurry, give them to me! It hurts!" Despite his cries, the Bonefish had no clear view of the pupil, and the tightening rope continued to compress the demon.

"Soccer SAW BLADE!" Karin grabbed her ball, willed energy spikes to grow from it, and KICKED! The rope began to unwrap rapidly with the spiked ball scraping against his body, the eye scratching each time.

"OH, PLEASE STOP! I just got back from the eye doctor! You have no idea what it's like to be an eyeball monster!"

"I have no sympathy for creeps who eat peoples' souls." Karin flew in front of the demon and surged energy to her palms. "Now give my friends BACK!" She unleashed a massive beam of ectoplasm directly into Bellum's pupil, the chi expanding and piercing through the demon's back.

"AAAAAAAHH! NOOOOOoooo…" Bellum's being vanished within the green of Karin's beam, and by the time it died out, all that existed were three souls. Two of them flew up to the surface, while one took its place inside Yuzu. (End song.)

"Phew… If it wasn't for you, Yuzu, I would've been a goner." Karin told her sister, still safe in the bubble. "You saved my life."

"What can I say, we're two girls with two halves!" Yuzunite did a spunky wink and pointed thumbs at herself. "And both halves stick together!"

"Hehe… hu!" she gasped, "The others! We gotta help them!"

"Don't worry, the Spirit Dudes showed up just before I dove in to help you."

"Good. Then let's all get outta here safely." Karin grabbed her sister and flew to the surface.

Unbeknownst to them, all that remained of Bellum was a very tiny piece of plankton. …The purple sub-species grew a single eye. "Man, that was WAY too close. No way am I dying for Mandy's sake. Not while Lord Jones still needs me! Nnneh, I'll just find a little cubby to hide in while my energy restores." The little plankton swam its way to the seafloor. "Then I'll give them a whoopin', oh yes I will!"

Just a moment before, Commander Cortez landed on the deck of the ship. "Arrr… Bellum certainly knows how to clean a table, leavin' me only these tiny scraps."

Li Meiling had taken a fighting position, her knees trembling before the ghostly skeleton. Her terrified expression could only belong to one who fully understood how massively under-leveled she was. "Nnnn…HYAAAH-!" Meiling refused to let fear become her, so she leapt with a Fire Fist to the skull-

Cortez smacked her out of the air with ease, Meiling landing on her back. The last thing she saw was Cortez stomp over and impale her with his cutlass. "MEILING-CHAN! NOOOOO!" Naoko welled up with emotions; the sight of one of her own friends dying was too much to behold…

Even if it was an illusion. Cortez withdrew the ghostly blade from Meiling's chest and left no wound. Still, just the very idea that she could've died knocked Meiling out cold. "Now, wee one…" He turned his blade on Naoko, "be a good niña and release Princess Cindy, or I shall ram this blade through yer skull. And THIS time, it will hurt!"

Two bullets hit the back of Cortez's head, the pirate twisting at the culprit. Death the Kid's arms crossed in an X-shape, guns smoking. "Captain Cortez, 1,000-year-old spirit of the Mushroomian Pirate King. Leader of the Black Skull Pirates who robbed innocents of life and loot. The Reapers neglected to take your soul for so long because you refused to leave your stranded ghost ship, abandoned on a deserted island. But because of their neglect, your spiritual power was allowed to grow, and you've forbidden any ships from sailing near your island."

"Until Lord Mandy came along and returned what was stolen from me. She returned to me my freedom, and all I need do is serve her. Much better than slaving away in your filthy Underworld."

"Well, you're not running anymore. For harming these mortals, I will bring you down!"

"Ye think yer a brave laddie?! Then come and face me in my homeground. Maties, seize the princess!" Cortez vanished in a whirlwind, and swarms of Embers and Poes surrounded the kids.

"HIYAH!" Yachiru slashed five Poes, and Beat and Rhyme blew Song Beams to disperse two lines of Embers. "Kid-sama, we'll protect Karin-chan's friends!"

"Great! I'm going for the leader!" Kid mounted his skateboard and rode across the surface, rolling stalwartly into the Black Skull. (Play "Island in Violet Parallel" from Mario: Color Splash.)

Stage 29: Black Skull

Mission: Subdue Cortez!

"What in the…" Kid expected the inside of the Skull to look like any shabby pirate ship… not an entire sub-dimension. The sky was an indigo blue with thin lines of ghosts flowing across it, whilst the sea brimmed an eerie, lighter blue. Kid had just entered from the severed bow of a ship, tilted upward from the sea. The "stern" of the ship was huge and loomed in the distance. Kid sensed that if he fell in there, he would be grabbed and drowned by the souls of the dead. Furthermore, a spell was in effect to prevent Kid from flying in this space. For now, the Reaper rode his skateboard across several long planks connecting floating boxes, shifting direction on a dime during those turns. The last plank was set up like a seesaw, tilting down when Kid got on it, so he rolled up the other side quickly and jumped to a platform.

Kid would have to hop across a series of small islands and floating boxes to reach a ledge, but a Snipoe was mounted on that ledge: it was a huge Poe with a terrifying upper skull and white tent-shaped head, eyes glimmering pink. Its lantern was a huge rifle, its bullets designed to freeze Kid stiff with fear, but the Reaper evaded and shot his own bullets. The Snipoe would be stunned for a few seconds, allowing Kid to proceed, but he would have to watch for when the Poe recovered. This became especially difficult while jumping the sinking boxes, but Kid was able to land on the foothold beneath the ledge.

By sticking his scythe in the cliff, he was able to thrust himself up, pull the scythe out, and repeat, and he sliced the Snipoe into nothing once up top. Kid was on an island of Pirate Poes, all dancing and humming to the music. Dark Notes were given life by their rhythm, gnashing at the intruder, but he could easily silence them with little puffs of deafbending. After muting enough notes, the Poes tried to attack him their selves, only to meet the wrong end of his scythe. Kid had no way to cross the sea, but to his left, a tower-like piece of a ship was shooting Boo Bills his direction, so he could easily bounce across the projectiles and onto the severed ship part.

Kid engaged in a duel with Reaper pirates, his own scythe proving superior to theirs and destroying them. Kid used one of the available cannons to destroy a jagged rock a few yards in the water, freeing a chunk of ship that was stuck to it. The chunk conveniently floated to the starting island, and Kid would be able to climb its mast. In doing so, Kid's weight on the mast caused the ship to tip over, with the mast bringing Kid to the next island. However, the Reaper returned backward, noticing a newly-revealed opening in the back of the fallen ship. Inside was a treasure chest. "No reason to let Cortez keep this." he said as he used the scythe to warp the chest back to the Sports Stars' ship.

The island was fairly small and overlooked a river of rowboats flowing left or rightward, lanterns hanging on their fronts. "Unbelievable! Rivers should only flow one direction, why are these boats going two different directions?! Sigh, but that isn't the only thing wrong here…" Kid could sense that some of the boats were intangible illusions, so he took care to only jump the solid ones. It was quite simple to jump across them otherwise, arriving safely at another small platform. …However, far to the left, Kid noticed a lone boat floating in place. Kid could ride one of the solid rowboats down the river, waiting patiently until he could jump to it.

There was a fishing lure on the boat, its string underwater, so a suspicious Kid reeled it in. "HUUUUFF!" A Chinese boy in green clothing gasped for breath. Kid cut him free and helped him to his feet. "I thought they were never going to let me up… HUH?!" Li Syaoran gasped, recognizing Kid. "Y-You're the Grim Reaper's son! Which can only mean… NOOO!" Syaoran fell to his knees and grabbed Kid's pants. "Please bring me back to life, please! At least let me see Sakura-chan one last time!"

"…You're not dead." Kid replied, scowling in annoyance.

"…Oh." Syaoran stood in a more dignified way. "Please don't tell anyone about that."

"Actually, your friends could use your help. Take this portal and you'll find them." Kid opened a green portal. Syaoran bowed in thanks as he jumped in.

Special Mission: "Rescue Sakura-chan!" has been unlocked!

Kid returned to the small island and overlooked an area of the sea that was secluded, allowing him to dive and swim in it. There was an inner-tube carrying a simple white ghost with round, empty eyes and headphones. Kid ignored him and swam along the secluded river, only to find a barrier with the ghost's image, next to 'Only.' Kid returned to the ghost and asked, "Hey, I need you to open this barrier."

"Oh. …Can you bring me to it?" Napstablook asked tonelessly.

"Can't you swim?"

"Really not feelin' up to it. Sorry." Kid groaned in agony, deciding to abide, but the inner-tube was attached to a rope weighed down by a heavy ball on the seafloor. Kid had to dive under and lift the ball, forced to stay low as he swam and pulled the ghost along. It was only then that mines appeared on the seabed and surface, and the surface ones would destroy the tube and cause Napstablook to drown (and respawn at the start). Kid took care to avoid the mines and brought the ghost to the end, the barrier disappearing.

"I will gladly forget the time I spent with you." Kid remarked to the ghost. He viewed up at the severed side of a ship with several walkways. The walkways were lined with doors that led nowhere, paintings, and red inner-tubes with angry eyes. Those tubes, simply called Mr. Circle, would bounce off the wall when Kid drew close and try to choke him, but the scythe was more than enough to deflate them. Kid could hear growling from some of the portraits, and when he got close, Chompas (skeletal fish-like monsters) would sprout out of the frames and tried to munch Kid in their gaping mouths. Just as well, many of the doors had Broozers, ghosts with boxing gloves that would shoot out and try to shove Kid off the edge. Kid noticed a chest inside the door from where a Broozer shot out, so he stole its loot after destroying the ghost.

(Note: Those Mr. Circles are from Banjo-Kazooie and are actually called "Flotsam," but that's also an enemy in the Kremlings, so I used the name I used to call them as a kid. XD)

All these annoying monsters made ascending the walkways a pain to Kid, but he was able to reach the end in due time. Kid crossed a plank to a large, square platform with a key trapped inside crystal glass. Along the edges were disorganized letters and pictures of Cortez. "Greetings, O monochrome one! I'm Tumblar the Mighty. Solve the puzzle and you can take this infernal thing that's stuck under me!" the glass spoke with the sound of bowed glass. Kid assumed that he needed to spell 'Cortez,' and he could move Tumblar by standing and surfing on him.

"Bueheheh!" A purple ghost called Tee-hee appeared and chased Kid at a slow speed. The Reaper maneuvered around the nuisance in sliding Tumblar over Cortez's letters, and the second he hit 'z,' the Tee-hee poofed. "Thank you, my friend. At last, I can join my brethren up in Glass Heaven. Owowowo…" A holy light shone on Tumblar and ascended him, leaving only the key.

Kid unlocked a magic barrier, viewing a clear path through a graveyard. Kid rode his skateboard along the path, which sloped down to a more narrow form along the surface. Kid heard a stretching sound behind him and saw a giant gravestone pop out like a pop-tart, eyes, arms, and feet growing on it. The Ripper growled and waddled after Kid, its speed impressive despite its girth. The young king skated at a continuous speed, mini-jumping over stones in the path. Any mortal child would be rather terrified of the goofy gravestone, but Kid merely saw it as a nuisance, that being his main reason to get the heck away from it.

The path would slope up in a vertical ramp, Kid's skills as a skater carrying him to victory. He set foot at the top and glared down at the Ripper, hopelessly trying to toddle its way up the ramp before taking the fall and breaking. Now at the very stern of the ship, a bridge was available to take Kid to Cortez's cabin. Kid's eyes were nearly blinded by the glowing mountains of gold and jewels. He readied his weapon, expecting an ambush at any moment, though he sensed no other presence amongst all this treasure. There was a flagpole with Cortez's Jolly Roger beside a pile, but the treasure was too slippery to climb.

Kid found the shortest pile of treasure and from there could jump to other piles, steadily ascending until he was level with the pole's top. He swapped the flag with a gold one of the Nextgen Pirates. "'ey now, laddie, ye don't just barge into a pirate's quarters and defile his flag!" A whirlwind appeared at the desk, Cortez materializing. "A Jolly Roger is a pirate's pride! Not that a mangy Reaper would understand."

"What would a man like you know about pride? Look at yourself! Why is it that only your left eye has a scar across it and not the right?!"

"Yer face-to-face with the most feared pirate on Mushroom and THAT'S all that concerns ye?! Or are ye threatening to carve a second scar yourself?"

"No, I'm here to bring you Underworld punishment after avoiding the Reapers for a thousand years. The scar will be just icing on the cake." Kid twirled his father's scythe in hand.

"Now that I take a good look, that be the fabled Grim Reaper's Scythe." Cortez observed, drawing his cutlass. "Yohohoho! Mandy will be positively thrilled to have it in her treasury! And if I'm not mistaken, your father swore an eternity of servitude to Her Highness, and it's yer duty to carry the torch. I'll rip that scythe from your hands and use it to sharpen me sword, amigo!" (Play "Boss Cortez" from Thousand-Year Door!)

Boss fight: Boogey Phantom Commander, CORTEZ

Power Levels: Kid – 8,888. Cortez – 10,192

The scythe and cutlass met, ringing every half-second as the wielders swung with ferocity. Kid caught him in a stalemate, holding Cortez long enough to draw his gun and shoot him in the skull, but the pirate only suffered minor damage before whacking Kid's scythe away and slashing him in the gut. Kid held the wound for a moment as he recovered his weapon and returned to clashing with the captain. He watched his movements carefully until he was able to knock the sword away from his hands, slashing Cortez across the coat three times before the captain jumped away.

Cortez's eyes flashed blue as large spiritual skulls formed around Kid, each gnashing him one after the other, the Reaper swiftly evading. He dodged his way up to Cortez and lay more slashes upon him before the captain blew him away with a Boneado (bone tornado). Cortez detached his skull and had it fly around the room, leaving more spirit skulls in his wake that would continue to gnash at Kid. The boy drew twin pistols and shot the flying skull whilst dodging the spirit skulls, but still little damage was done. "Eryah!" Kid swiftly whipped out his scythe and spun-leapt to slash the main body, but the blade flew through and did nothing as though the body were air. "Now it's intangible?! Does that mean-!" Kid began to choke as Cortez's skull bit into his neck, and the cutlass flew up to stab Kid in the hip. Kid managed to tear the skull off and leap away, and he returned to evading the soul skulls.

"Wait… I'm sensing a stronger presence in his skull alone. Could it be…?" Kid kept his eyes on the skull, waiting for when it would gnash down. He sensed the sword was about to stab again, so he countered with the scythe. It was then Cortez's skull flew down, and Kid looked just in time to see the aquamarine stone inside his gaping mouth. With a quick draw of a gun, Kid shot the stone. "GARH!" Cortez was forced back, snapping his mouth shut from a sore throat, and then Kid leapt to try and cleave through the skull. The skull spun and used a Boneado to repel his opponent and return to the body.

"So, it seems most of your essence resides in that Soulstone, and parts of your body that aren't connected to it become intangible. Now I'll know where to strike!" The blades met in another fast-paced battle, in which Cortez could sense the boy trying to maneuver around and cut through his coat.

"Multiply, Milenios!" Cortez called, and suddenly, three more arms shot out of the coat, each stabbing different blades at Kid (such as a lance, hook, or sabre). Kid suffered a few cuts before jumping back, and soon after, dozens more arms began to jab at the Reaper, who conjured a barrier in defense. "My Zanpakutō is able to multiply itself by a thousand. I'll have you turned into confetti before long, yohohoho!"

"That isn't the problem here! Why are they all different blades?! It makes the technique so imperfect!"

"Ye don't have many friends in school, do you, amigo?" Cortez's body enlarged as 60 swords stabbed at Kid simultaneously and repeatedly, until the boy was forced to retreat from his shattered barrier. He lashed his scythe faster than ever as he became lost in a storm of arms.

"Close-range is pointless. This requires some long-range tactics." Kid rode his skateboard backwards and called, "Unite, Liz and Pat!" linking his guns together into a scope. "Go for the stone!" He aimed toward the upper right and shot a single bullet, which two miniature cowgirls were riding.

"WHOOOAA! I would totally kill for that many arms!" Patty yelled. "School would be so much easier!"

"Good thing that's our job!" Liz remarked, kicking the bullet to change its direction. Patty was next to kick it, then Liz warped in front to kick it again, making the bullet's way around the colossus until they could see the Soulstone through a rip in the coat. "YEEHA!" Patty dealt the final kick, and Cortez bellowed as the stone was ruptured, his arms retracting to his normal form. Kid skated up and carved open his coat, unloading more slashes upon the stone before the ghost escaped with a Boneado. Cortez formed his coat back together and stabbed his sword into it. Kid could see him rumbling, and realized what was happening: his bones were multiplying under his coat, and then Cortez threw it open to unload a wave of spiked bones, Kid barely defending and suffering a few cuts.

Cortez then grabbed a sapphire gem and batted it at Kid with his sword, the gem exploding into multiple copies and knocking him over. "Milenios can multiply other things, too!" He grabbed a single coin and batted it, then a gold plate, a ruby, and an empty chest, Kid struggling to dodge or cut through the multiplied items. Cortez then batted a necklace, which ultimately wrapped and trapped Kid, squirming to get them off. "Including YOU!" Cortez lunged to stab him, but Kid was able to escape and dodge left—his right arm was cut, causing it to split into 15 copies.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! I'm so… ASYMMETRICAL! My hands aren't even the same shapes, they're hideous!"

"I can do worse than that, amigo!" Cortez conjured hundreds of blades and took to the sky, having them all rain down on a fleeing Kid. The boy rode his skateboard to fly up to the ghost pirate, but he struggled to attain balance on his right side. A sword cut him, causing Kid to fall, and he hastened to dodge any further attacks.

"It looks like the sword can't multiply things when it's multiplied itself. And yet, it doesn't seem their power has been divided, it's literally been multiplied. …So I wonder if mine has, too." Kid was able to conjure Patty's gun in the only normal right hand. "My bullets are imbued with my own chi, but if the chi in my right arms are all condensed in one gun-" Kid shot a giant bullet that blazed through several swords, as well as the right of Cortez's coat before he dodged. "Then I'll use his technique against him!" Kid mounted his skateboard and flew skyward again, shooting endless bullets from his gun to destroy any swords in his way. Whenever Cortez changed position, Kid would ensure that bullets were between the two of them.

When Kid finally made it to his level, he drew the scythe in the left hand, channeling all the chi from his right to the left to strike Cortez with greater power. His Milenios was easily knocked from his hand, then Kid went for the chest—the scythe couldn't harm his intangible body, for the Soulstone traveled to Cortez's left boot, which detached before kicking Kid in the crotch. It then flew up, stamped his head, and sent him crashing to the floor, his right arm returning to normal. Little did Cortez know that one of the bullets Kid shot was a normal one, Liz and Patty kicking it across the air until they saw an opening: once they saw Cortez's boot kick Kid down, they kicked the bullet straight in to hit the stone.

"ARRRRHH!" Cortez returned to the floor, becoming solid and with a single sword. "Alright, laddie. Try and find me stone amongst hundreds!" Cortez seemed to slash up his own body, multiplying his arms, legs, and heads in all sorts of disproportionate shapes. Cortez split them all from his body, buzzing around the room. Kid could only sense one Soulstone, but it was continuously switching positions, first in an arm, then a boot, a head, another head, an arm-boot—Kid was stabbed by the cutlass in his moment of confusion. He forced it out and clashed with the floating sword, but then Kid was bit by a skull.

Knowing that skull must hold the stone, Kid reached back, pistol aimed, and shot—the stone flew to an arm, then a skull, then a boot. "Hmm… on second thought, all I should need to attack is the sword." Kid clashed with the blade, ignoring the flying bones. Several arms and skulls flew down in attempt to scare Kid, but they merely phased through. One of the arms had its fingers aimed, and the second Kid felt their tips poke his neck, he shot—the stone changed hosts again.

The pattern repeated for several minutes, Kid clashing with the sword and reacting whenever a solid bone tried to hit him. "Arrr… c-curse him…" Cortez struggled to maintain all his divided limbs, so he returned them all back into a singular form.

"As I expected." Kid said. "You multiply your own power along with your bones, but when it eventually wears off, it exhausts you. That's why you use the Soulstone to enhance your stamina, but when the stone isn't connected to all your bones, they wear out faster."

"Nice observation, boy. But I'll tell ye what don't need the stone: Milenios!" The sword burned with a powerful ghostly aura: Kid could feel its power rising by a thousand, the blade extending with a blue and black color, and the skull on its hilt shining green eyes. A single slash from the sword cut the air, and that cut split into a thousand, shattering the cabin dimension into splinters.

Kid flew dozens of miles away to escape that deadly range, impaling himself with the scythe to enter, "Madness Order Fury!" A pale white aura surrounded his body while his clothing oozed with black death. The three white lines on his hair flew off and connected in the form of halos, his black hair defying gravity and standing like flames. The Reaper returned to his opponent, blazing through the Thousand Cuts and feeling no pain. The scythe and cutlass united once more, death ringing from both forces. It was fortunate that no living things were inside the ship, for nothing may have survived the outpour of death.

Each blow of the scythe caused a fraction of Milenios' power to die, but Cortez willed it to continuously multiply, using his free arm to shoot spirit flames around and burn Kid from behind, but his lack of pain receptors prevented Kid from bending. "That Fury Mode will wear off eventually, but so long as I keep multiplying Milenios, its power is limitless! The power of death be nothing to one who's already dead! I am… argh…" Cortez felt himself weakening, but refused to slow down his assault. "Why… do I…"

"My Madness Order isn't just meant to bring death. It brings sleep to bodies of power who have gone out of control. Including that little battery in your chest."

"My…My Soulstone!" The stone was turning pale as if falling into sleep, no longer transferring power to Cortez. Kid's slashes were now killing more units of power than Cortez could multiply within Milenios, the numbers rapidly decreasing as the sword's aura faded.

"Now I'll finish you off!" Kid leapt back and drew his united gun. "Absolute Silencer!" The bullet perfectly pierced the pirate's coat, reducing the sleeping Soulstone to ashes. (End song.)

"NOOOOOOO! MY TREASURE! My life force! I'm done for!" The bones crumbled into dust, the skull collapsing on the floor as the life in Cortez's eyes faded. Milenios finally disappeared once death caught up to it.

Kid's Fury disappeared, and only silence filled the ruined cabin. "… …I still feel your energy."

The skeleton quickly reassembled with the skull on top. "Well, ye can't blame an old pirate for trying. But I suppose this be the end of me. Go on. Throw me in chains and strip me of me valuables."

"I would very much love to, but unfortunately, that wouldn't help 'Emperor' Nebula in the long run. Her endgame in all this is to earn the loyalty of the Four Emperors, and with the way things are going, she'll be lucky to collect whatever spoils she can. Still, I think we'll definitely have use for you." Kid reached the scythe and held the blade behind Cortez's neck. "I'd like to call a parley with you. We're both pretty spent of our chi, but I can still off your head and scatter your soul in a heartbeat. Do what I say and you may get to keep what you have for 'freedom.'"

"And what is it you want, laddie?"

"Two things. First, you're going to signal your troops to stop attacking the operatives outside. Second, you're going to help give us passage to the Dark Continent. We know Mandy is going there for some plan of hers."

"If those be your wishes, but you're signing the death sentence for your friends. Mandy's Divine Beasts be nigh unstoppable. Especially with the Anti-Fairies cursing the landscape with their misfortune."

"My friends won't be the ones feeling the misfortune."

Anti-Fairy Island

In place of an actual pirate ship, the Anti-Fairies forged an island of dark clouds using their magic. The buildings were of a Gothic architecture, and Princess Sivam made her home atop a pitch-black clock tower. "Maaaan, this totally blowwwwws!" whined the bat-winged princess as she twisted a finger ring into her nose. "Smaug promised me he would make a pot of all the enemy pirates and burn 'em all up. How's he gonna do that when he's all dead?" Sivam pulled the ring out, wiping the boogers off it as she stared into the green gem. "Whaddyou think?"

A bandaged Dillon York was trapped inside the ring's gem. "I think your dragon friend killed my classmate and I'm glad Smaug is dead!"

"What's that you say?" Sivam twisted the ring into her ear. "You wish you were dead? I would, but Queen Mandy says I ain't supposed ta. But eh, a few thousand years inside a ring ain't the worst thing in the world, right? …Oh, THAT'S IT! We'll just get Smaug's spirit back and make it part of Cortez's crew! And his dead body can be in Cindy's! We'll have two Smaugs for the price of one!" She pulled the ring out and held it in her mouth, screaming very loudly, "WOOOOHOOOOO! YOU'RE RIGHT LITTLE GUY, I'M SO GLAD SMAUG DIED!!"

"I'll bet he's glad to be away from you…"

After returning from H.Q., the Rogue Delivery charted a course to the dark Sky Island. "Say, Akko, did you know that Fairy Sisters has a sequel called Sugar Fairies that was banned by the World Government?" Wendy asked her fellow mage.

"I think I heard of it from somewhere." Akko replied. "I was never that into Fairy Sisters to be honest. Mavis was cool at first, but it totally killed it for me when she wished for immortality. You're not supposed to become powerful just by wishing for it, how is anyone supposed to relate to that?!"

"Heh heh heh! Well, it's an ancient fairytale, and those aren't known for being 'relatable.' Either way, I was able to find a copy of Sugar Fairies, and… I just hated Sivam's scenes." Wendy frowned and played with her hair in a nervous fashion. "She had blue hair and red eyes the same as me; at least, when I used to have red eyes. She was also cursed with bad luck until she acquired the power of the Anti-Fairies, and then all she cared about was hurting other people. Somehow, it just felt… really offensive to me."

"Basically, they made Mavis too perfect and Sivam too imperfect." Akko sighed. "Those old-timey writers just can't get it right."

"But they based them off true events." Wendy replied awkwardly.

"Still, you really think the two of us can take someone as powerful as Sivam?"

"I'm positive we can. After all…" Wendy placed a hand over her pocket, where both her wands lay, "I made a promise to Mr. Facilier."