Inkopolis; three years ago
With a merry skip in her step, Vanilla led her siblings on the way to school. She would squirt splotches along the sidewalk and jump across them in her squid form. "You think if I study REALLY hard, I'll be able to go to Galaxia Elementary with you guys?"
"I suppose you could." Nyoro answered. "We only got in because of our GKND admittance."
"The extra studying is the worst part of it." Aniki said. "I only agreed to be in GKND to get away from the attention. Why'd it have to come with extra work?"
"That's sort of what you'd expect from alien schools. Either way, I'm quite excited to explore their technology!"
"I can't believe you're both leaving me all alone!" Vanila cried, reforming as a humanoid and twirling on her heels to face them. "Why does GKND only accept one per species?! And aren't Inklings and Octolings basically the same thing, why can't only one of you go?"
"It's not like we're staying permanently." Aniki replied. "We'll still come home. Besides, you're in training now yourself. You'll be able to come visit us up there."
"You bet I will!" With a hop, Vanilla faced the crosswalk and squirted more ink spots. "I'm gonna be such a good operative," she squidified and began surfing them, "GKND will make an exception for-"
"Wait Vanilla," Aniki said quickly, "the light's still red-"
HOOOOONK! The bus couldn't slow down in time. The poor pink Inkling was caught in its headlights.
"VANILLA!" She was blown back by the impact, reverting to humanoid form as she fell unconscious. Aniki raised her head off the ground and felt for a pulse. Vanilla still had a faint one, but her eyes, half-open, were dim and delirious from the serious concussion. "SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!"
Inklings were able to regenerate limbs, but blows to the heart or head were still dangerous. Vanilla was admitted as the doctors worked to recirculate her ink flow properly. "I should've done something…" Aniki tremored. "I saw the bus out of the corner of my eye, I could've stopped it!"
"It's not your fault." Nyoro said. "She'll be ready to go in three days."
"We were right in front of her and we let this happen! What kind of operatives are we?!"
"We'll just have to be more attentive from now on. Let's just be glad she's not in terrible shape."
"Tch…"
"She'll be fine, Aniki. Let's go to the entrance for now, our parents will be here soon."
"Hmm…" With hesitation in his steps, Aniki walked with Nyoro to the lobby.
…Vanilla's soul softly ascended from her comatose body. "Whoooooaaaa…owie." She drawled as her head swayed. "Now I know how it feels to be a Blooper in sub lights. Well, onwards to school!" She planned to spin on her heel to make the next skip… but realized there was no ground to kick off of. "Huh?" She finally comprehended her surroundings… and saw herself in the bed. "I…I…" Her pink and bluish irises dilated into her sclera. "SQUOOMIIIIIIIIIEEEEE!" Screaming in her native tongue, her ghostly feet kicked the air. "…Wait… the beepy thing is still on." She looked to the heart monitor. "I'm not dead! But… why am I a ghostie?" She did flips and flew in and out of the room. "Hehehe! It's kind of fun! But… where are Nyoro and Aniki? Hmm…" She floated in place to think. "Oh?" But through the floors and walls of the building, she saw small, squid and octo-shaped auras that matched the colors of her siblings, along with two taller ones that matched her parents.
They made their way upstairs and finally arrived at her room. "VANILLA!" Her mother, Pearl jumped to her bedside. "Baby, didn't we ever teach you not to cross the road without looking?!"
"I'm sorry, Mom." Vanilla bowed ashamedly. "I wasn't-"
"It's not unlike her to be aloof, but I never thought it'd be this bad." Her other mother, Marina stepped in. "But I don't think yelling is gonna wake her up."
"Oh, no one sleeps to THESE chords, Marina!"
"Um…Mom? Octo-Mom? I'm right here, don't you see me?" Vanilla waved her hand through them, but they felt no presence. "Am I… invisible like this?" She flew outside where her siblings waited. Aniki was leaned back against the wall with his heel propped up. "Aniki. Nyoro. Can you hear me?"
"She seriously plans to join Kids Next Door?" Aniki questioned. "How does she expect to survive out in the field?!"
"I'm sure she'll know better after this. Mistakes happen."
"What if she doesn't? She's gonna need her teammates to watch her 24/7!"
"Aniki, I'm not THAT hopeless!" Vanilla shouted.
"Nyoro, we… Maybe we should stay here."
"Huh?"
"What do you mean?" Nyoro asked.
"We aren't… We can't leave Vanilla by herself. If she's still gonna join the KND, we should be in her sector. We can't just rely on others to watch her for us."
"I'm sure she'd like that, but… is that really what you want?"
"You're the one who wants GKND more! Why aren't you upset by this?! Because we aren't really your siblings?!"
Nyoro reeled back with a gasp, hurt and distraught by the accusation. Vanilla gasped as well, feeling her pain. "I just…I'm just trying to be calm. But we both know you want GKND, too. You're tired of this place."
"Hnn…" Being the children of two famous singers came with problems. Some kids avoided them for being "special," while others picked on them for faltering in some areas. Whenever Aniki answered a question wrong or when he failed a Turf War, he would hear more snickers and remarks than anyone else. It was because they were famous that they were bigger targets in such games. The aggravation kept building up and Aniki tired of it, so he hoped GKND and Galaxia Elementary would be a breath of fresh air. Er, space. A handful of those operatives might be pretty famous on their own worlds, so there wouldn't be any unwarranted judgment.
"Or maybe I should go by myself." Nyoro turned. "If that's how you feel about me…" She walked away. A furious Aniki kicked the wall before dropping into a sit. Vanilla sat beside him and put a hand on his shoulder in comfort… not that he felt it.
Under their parents' wishes, Aniki and Nyoro still attended school the following days, but the brother was mentally and emotionally absent. He paid no real attention to lectures and put no effort in homework. That was to say nothing on how he was decimated when they played Tower Defense in gym. "ANIKI, WATCH OUT!" Vanilla shouted. "He's sneaking up behind you! AH, HURRY, GET HIM! Come on, you're better than this, I know you can do it! THRASH HIM, ANIKI!"
For those next two days, Vanilla's spirit stayed by his side, cheering him as best she could or yelling answers to the homework in the hopes he would hear. But Aniki heard nothing and felt soulless inside. If he just knew Vanilla was with him right now, he might feel stronger. Nyoro, meanwhile, still maintained her focus in class, as expected of someone with her smarts… but when Vanilla looked closely at her, she would see the hurt in her sister's eyes and hear her distressed breathing.
It wasn't until the third night that Nyoro came to Aniki's room and finally spoke to him again. "Aniki… I'm sorry if I sounded like I wasn't bothered. I was… just afraid of letting the idea cross my mind. We were so happy that morning, and I was excited about… you know, so I only wanted to stay hopeful. They promised she would be out by tomorrow, so I wanted to hope that was true."
"Hmm…"
"But saying I'm not really your sibling… that's not true at all." Inky tears began to well in her eyes. "I thought it didn't matter we weren't related by blood, if we had surrogate parents… You've always been my brother and sister. I loved walking to school with you every day, getting ice cream and playing games… and I really wanted Vanilla to come with us, too."
"I-I'm sorry… Nyoro." Aniki approached his sister, regret finally showing in his eyes. "I never meant it, it just… slipped out of me. I'm not… good at anything. I never win Turf Wars, I barely pass tests… and I only passed training because I'm a half-decent earthbender. But I couldn't even help my sister when she was right in front of me. I'm not right for GKND."
"You are, Aniki. And I'm sure you'd realize that if you go. But if you'd rather stay with Vanilla… I'll stay, too."
"Hmmm…"
"When we pick her up tomorrow, we'll ask what she wants. That should be fair, right?"
"…Yeah…"
Nyoro hugged her brother. Vanilla, glad they made up, joined the hug. "Sigh…I should go back to my body now. Where's the hospital again? …Oh, there it is." She saw a squid-shaped aura in the direction of her body. "Boy, this ghost thing is convenient. 'Guess I better fly on over-" She morphed into a squid and, "ZOOMIIIIEEE!" blasted off to her body!
Vanilla's family were elated to see her on her feet again. Her time in bed left her a little numb and wobbly, but a few hop, skips, and squid-jumps got her calibrated again. "Boy, I haven't slept that good in ages! I feel more alive than ever!"
"That's great!" Nyoro smiled. "Sigh, you really had us worried, Vanilla. Promise you'll look both ways from now on!"
"Absotively-lutely!"
"Heh…" Aniki never realized how much he missed her enthusiasm.
"But, um…about Kids Next Door… I kind of… wanna change my mind about that."
"What?"
"Come on, girl, don't let a stupid bus tell you what you can and can't be!" Pearl rapped.
"I mean, it's true that KND work is dangerous, but there's lots of fun things, too." Marina followed. "You'll learn confidence, self-sufficiency and teamwork, and you'll learn to survive much worse things."
"It's just… I don't want you guys to worry about me, while you're at GKND."
"No, forget about that!" Nyoro said. "We can stay and join a sector with you! Or better yet, we don't even-"
"NO!" Vanilla snapped, as if knowing what she'll say next. "Don't stay here because of me! You guys don't like it here. You don't like being called Big Head Nyoro or Big Foot Aniki! You wanna make better friends at GKND!"
"But…But don't you wanna leave, too?" Aniki asked. "You were hoping to find a sector and make friends, too."
"Yeah, Vanilla, if you're telling us to go, you shouldn't worry about how we'll feel either!"
"I…I don't know right now. For now, I think I just wanna carry on with my own life. At the very least, I can keep up my programmer training. Just don't let me hold you back. I want you guys to go to GKND… and have fun."
"Are… you sure, Vanilla?" Aniki asked.
"YES!" She pointed at him reprovingly. "And I want you to start believing in yourself! Don't let anyone bully you in Turf Wars or otherwise and focus harder in class! 'Cause even if we're light-years apart, I'll always be with you in spirit! So, don't let me down!"
"O…Okay!"
"Hmhmhm!" Nyoro giggled. "It's a promise, Vanilla. From both of us."
"Good! Now let's go get ice cream, I need my daily vanilla!"
Four months ago
"Hi, honey!" Marina greeted as her 12-year-old daughter returned from school. "How was your day?"
"Just great, Octo-Mom! Gonna take my nap before I start homework."
"Hehe, don't make it too long!" Marina watched Vanilla run up to her room with a smile. …It concerned her inside. Though Vanilla seemed happy and healthy day by day, she would sleep for pretty long periods. She wouldn't snore, and even shaking Vanilla wouldn't wake her up immediately. When they go for checkups, the doctors say there's nothing wrong and she's as normal as any young Inkling would be. All they could do was hope it was simply a matter of heavy sleeping.
Vanilla lay in her bed, folded hands, and shut her eyes in meditation. After waking up from the accident three years ago, she tried to replicate what happened. She tried to remember how it felt… to be separate and free from her body… discard her mortal ink and weight… and float. "Hoo!" And she pulled it off again, for how many times, she lost count. Her spirit was free, her body lain peacefully in bed. She saw the squid and octo auras to indicate her siblings, light-years across the universe. With her soul set on joining them, she became a squid and, "ZOOMIIIIIIIEEEE!" shot skyward like a comet, zooming past millions of stars.
As fast as she flew, she quickly stopped upon reaching her siblings. They and their friends were pedaling a six-person bike from Galaxia Elementary and riding through space, as per their favorite after-school pastime. Vanilla seated herself atop Goombria in the front basket and enjoyed the ride as well. She turned backward as Star winked at her. He'd already promised secrecy the first time she did this. It was then that Kid Cosmic intercepted them and told them of an incident happening at his café. Alien invaders. Aniki battled a crystal-shooting alien with Vanilla cheering him on. Though Aniki unfortunately lost his battle, Vanilla gave him 10 cheek kisses in congratulations.
Present; Colony 30
"So… ever since we've been in GKND, you've been following us in that ghost form?!" Aniki exclaimed.
"M…More or less." Vanilla blushed. "Nyoro always texts us when you're on a mission, so I take that chance to… go ghost and join you! VWOOSSSSSHHH! And I learned to sense when someone's trying to wake me, so I can fly back in a heartbeat. Occasionally, someone'll see me, and I couldn't get close when you were fighting those vampires. I even told myself back then I would only follow you a little while… but it just became so fun going with you to missions and cheering for you."
"I…I don't believe it…" Nyoro said. "So… all our missions?"
"Just about, yeah. And I was gonna follow you to this planet, too… and before I knew it, I was like this. I can't fly back to my body, I couldn't fly to you, and I can't even float right. I can do," she zipped up in the air in diagonal streaks, "this which is pretty cool!"
"It's almost like… you're some kind of glitch to this 'game world.'" Pochi reasoned.
"AAAAAGH!" Aniki screamed. "YOU'VE BEEN FOLLOWING US ALL THIS TIME! Watching our… awkward moments, poor performances, and just… that's why our moms said you were sleeping a lot! I can't believe you, Vanilla!"
"I'm sorry, Aniki…"
"Wow, I just realized your name." Chuko said. "It's just the Japanese word for 'big bro.' Your parents really weren't creative, were they?"
"He even had the name before he had sisters, I think." Tattsun inputted.
"Our parents aren't even Japanese!" Aniki shouted. "My name is just a normal name!"
"I have 'dragon' in my name!" Tattsun's glasses sparkled. Chuko set his butt on fire. "YAAAIIII!"
"Good news, everyone!" Valdi approached in bright spirits, his meeker friend Nikol by his side. "We've fixed the gate and fortified defenses! Now perhaps we could join in this riveting story you're telling."
"Mind your own business!" Aniki shouted.
"Er, he's right." Pochi agreed reluctantly. "For now, we should explain what's even going on."
He tried to recap everything from going to the planet, seeing Yuki's beacon, and eventually reaching this colony. "Yeah… it's all coming back now." Valdi said. "Just before this happened, we had a meteor shower. The meteors looked kind of pixelly… in fact, they even looked like those waves they asked me to research, in the sky. I guess if you lot hadn't come around, we'd be toast."
"But, um…how do we stop this?" Nikol wondered.
"That's what we're still wondering." Pochi said. "But there's hope now. If I can save you guys, I can save the other sectors."
"I'm all for that! Ah, and in case I haven't already, I'm Valdi! Mira's GKND representative. This here's my best bud, Nikol!" He slapped Nikol's back with his large mechanical hand, the blonde stumbling forward. "He actually leads this colony right here."
"I… wouldn't say much of a leader."
"Not with that gulpy voice." Kansai remarked. "Seriously, it sounds like you're swallowin' each word."
"S-Sorry…"
"Oh, don't mind him." Nyoro approached Nikol in comfort and admiration. "That's quite a good pack you have there. Very flexible and well-calibrated."
"Thanks…"
"Did you make it yourself?"
"I-I did. Well, er…I based it a little on something else, I suppose."
"Still really good. But let's not beat around the bush: your father is the hero Shulk, isn't he?"
"Oh, um…yes."
"Shulk?!" Pochi's eye widened.
"She-Hulk?" Mowchan asked.
"No! He's one of this world's greatest heroes, the Heir to the Monado! …And that's a good question, where are they? The Aegises?"
"I…I don't know."
"Haven't seen hide nor hair of them as far as I remember." Valdi shrugged. "But I dread to think they've been brainwashed by all this, too."
"Just so we're all on the same page, what are 'Aegises' again?" Mowchan asked.
"The strongest Blades on Mira." Pochi answered. "They possess God Chi and saved this world from incredible threats."
"Yeah, that sounds like it would be pretty handy to have right now."
"Commander!" Zooza called from a high lookout post. It had a tall telescope that rose up through the cavern ceiling. "I've got visual on something large, on top of one of the fingertips! And it looks like it's charging something!"
"Let me see!" Pochi hurriedly climbed up to her station and looked through. He paled seeing the huge silhouette atop the finger mountain, a light surging above it. "Crud! Our defenses might not mean anything against that! And Sage already knows where we are… Wait!" He lit up. "Aniki, Pai, your Fusion!"
"What?" They both perked up.
"When you made that golem clone," Pochi jumped back down to their level, "you projected a barrier from it. Maybe it can block that thing's energy blast!"
"Then let's do it!" Pai stood with a fist-pump.
"What's Fusion?!" Vanilla exclaimed. "I wanna see it!"
"Hang on, we still aren't finished-" Aniki tried to argue.
"There's time for that later!" Pochi aimed the gauntlet. "Priorities first!"
"Pochi-!" Aniki was silenced as his matter merged with Pai's, transforming into Paniki.
"I'll float you guys onto the ceiling!" Jennu offered, already on the case. "You can make those golems through the rock, right?"
"I never learned anything like that, I need to be up there!"
"Then hurry and dig through!" An irritated Paniki stomped the ceiling and dug a hole through, emerging above the cliff. They quickly formed a golem and projected a barrier. The Kilocorn fired an energy beam directly at the colony's cave, but while the barrier was able to block it, it shattered in the process while the golem was blown down, broken into segments.
"That looks painful!" Pai said, scared to imagine if that would've been them.
"At least it worked. We can keep making more if it fires again."
"I should've done something…" Aniki gasped, hearing his familiar voice. "I saw the bus out of the corner of my eye, I could've stopped it!" The memory was playing up close on one of the screens.
"Huh?" Pai looked down.
"Why aren't you upset by this?! Because we aren't really your siblings?!"
"Oh…is that from the accident?" Pai asked.
"Tch…" Why did that tender moment have to play now? This stupid Fusion… "AAAH!"
"WAH!" Both teens split apart and plopped on the ground. "It wore off already?!"
"Dang it! Let's get down!" Aniki grabbed onto Pai and dug back underground, dropping back to their friends. "Hey, we kind of fell apart."
"It was never going to last." Mowchan said with huffed cheeks.
"What does that mean?!"
"I think it's charging for another blast!" Zooza yelled. "The light looks small at the moment."
"We should make sure we can still pull it off." Pochi tried to fuse them again, but their matter repelled each other. "Crud! Did I use too much chi?"
"But you had plenty to eat." Mowchan said.
"Yeah, and I don't feel too drained. Still, that thing's just gonna keep firing at us. We can't keep running and hiding, we have to deal with these Aion Titans. We have to go up there and destroy it!"
"But we just crossed a desert and barely survived Valdi's colony!" Chuko argued. "We need to at least rest first!"
"We can hook up a barrier machine outside." Valdi said, his technicians already on the case. "That might hold off its attacks."
"Yeah, but how long?" Pochi asked. "I know it's a long shot, but we have to destroy that thing as soon as possible. At the very least, my Lucky Sword might be strong enough to destroy it."
"That's what you're calling it?" Suna asked.
"It's what the symbol said."
"Then let's hop to it!" Vanilla said determinedly.
"NO!" Aniki shouted. "You're staying right here! You may've been invisible before, but there's no telling what could happen to you like this!"
"But…But I'm already here now, there must be something I could-"
"You changed your mind about joining KND in the first place, it's too late for that now!"
"Hmmm…" Vanilla bowed regretfully.
"Let's just… get this over with. What's the fastest route to that mountain?"
"The base of the finger is in the Elaice Highway." Valdi answered. "Of course, I would suggest flying up there, but it seems all our ships, engines, and even rocket fuel are gone. We still have Gliders, at least."
"I guess Sage wanted to cover any possible base." Pochi figured.
"Couldn't she fly us up with her power?" Pai asked.
"That's a pretty far distance." Jennu reasoned. "Even if I'm just taking Pochi."
"I'd feel more comfortable going with all of you." Pochi replied. "Let's try to reach it from the mountain base first. Maybe it'll have a harder time seeing us."
"Come this way!" Valdi ushered. "We have more equipment on the overlook past this tunnel, if it'll help!"
"Sure, we'll take a look. Let's go, Yuki. …Yuki?"
"Hehehehe!" Vanilla and Yuki shared giggles as the latter poked around her pixelly body. "You're so sparkly-prickly!"
"And you're tickly-fluffy!" Vanilla returned the favor by poking Yuki's coat. "At least I can touch things like this!"
"Pochi, can Vanni PLEEEAAAASE come with us?"
"I said no!" Aniki stomped. "Being apart from your body this long is already bad enough! Don't you agree, Nyoro?!"
"Hmmm…" The scientist was stroking her chin thoughtfully.
"Oh, great! Just what are you thinking?!"
"It's just… Vanilla sort of reminds me of something in this state. I think I'll stay behind for a bit and run some experiments. Valdi, I might need your help with them, too."
"Okay!"
"You're seriously gonna 'experiment' on Vanilla?!" Aniki shouted.
"Aniki, whether we like it or not, Vanilla is here, but if I'm right, there's a way she can help in her condition. Which we sort of need as much help as we can get right now."
"I won't allow it!"
"Well, I want to!" Vanilla argued. "Before now, I was fine just cheering you on in secret… but deep down, I think I really wanted to be on your missions, too. But if I went, I would just hold you back. Still, I've been training and studying on my own… because I thought the time would come when I… when you wouldn't worry about me, anymore. So, you can't hold me back, either!"
"Nnn…"
"Aniki, just go with the others for now." Nyoro said. "If my theory doesn't work out, I'll reconsider letting her come. For now, just trust me."
"Sigh…"
"Um, right then." Nikol coughed. "I'll lead you to the overlook, I suppose."
Captocorn Peak
Colony 5 stood little chance against Colony Omega. Smoldering Cammuravi was unhindered by the cold, reducing his foes to ash with his firebending. A light in the snowy darkness, he swung his flaming spear with grace. His red hair was wrapped in a burning bun and he wore a burning spiked shoulder pad on his left.
"Mor Ardain's royal Blade ain't half bad." Enforcer R commented, watching the battle from one of the peak's high branches. Bare-chested with a scythe in hand and otherwise clothed in a dark robe, his true name was Mumkhar. "You wouldn't think that little squirt was his Driver."
"Cursed snow…" His comrade had a camera set on a tripod, trying to snap photos of each Kevesi slain. He was Enforcer P, known by some as Stefano Valentini. "Oh, what does it matter anyhow? This is not true art. It's superficial. No blood, no bodies, it's mere data that simply reloads."
"They lose a little at a time. That's the Genius's new idea. These people may respawn at the Castles, but 10 years of their true lives are taken by the Life Clocks; what they think is EXP. Eventually, they'll run out of life completely, while the King and time-travelers sap what's harvested. Though with how good some of these runts are, they may not get killed at all. That'll be our job then. Still, if you're so hungry for death, why don't we pick a poor colony to experiment with, eh? It'll make the process go faster."
"Living and dying so many lives… I wonder how beautiful they'll shine at their very last breath? Perhaps there's art to be made, yet."
"Reminds me of this wolf Reaper I knew. But while we're here, P… there's someone I'd like to find."
"Former 'friends' of yours?"
"Well, them too, but for different reasons. No, I actually learned something in my first years of reaping. I had a so-"
"Attention all soldiers." They heard Sage's voice as the Agnians' irises burned red. "All colonies are ordered to detach their clocks from the Ferronises and hide them. They will still function and collect any EXP you harvest. A group of monsters are roaming the continent and destroying them, corrupting your brethren in the process. You must hide and protect the clocks at all costs. Destroy the monsters on sight."
"Direct orders from the Castle?" Cammuravi said. "Commander Ethel…" He turned to his Driver, comparatively younger and smaller than him: a 10-year girl with short silver hair and silver coat.
"Let's do as they say for now." Ethel affirmed. "I don't know what these monsters are, but even we should be careful, Cammuravi."
"And I want all Enforcers to return to H.Q.. We must discuss this unforeseen nuisance… and make some upgrades."
"A matter of time before somethin' went wrong." Mumkhar said. "Orright, let's get this over with."
Ribbi Flats
Nikol and the Go-Getters rode boats down a river tunnel ending at a ladder, which led outside to a cliff overlooking the field. There was a large platform full of equipment that Pochi worked with using his Rebuild power. He attached three fans to a Glider, two auto-targeting lasers, three Attack Tanks on the bottom with their own energy cannons, along with two small sails on the side for extra stability. "How do you expect us all to fit on that thing?" Aniki asked.
"Nyoro lent me this." Pochi whipped out the Weenifier. "Yuki can tuck you under her coat."
"Oh, great."
"Um, what's that supposed to do?" Pai questioned, thinking the design was a little weird.
"Observe." Pochi aimed it at Mowchan and held the Shrink button down until he was the size of a hamster.
"OH, MY!"
"Moohoo! Wow, Pai, you're a giant now!"
"And we have to change your name to Hamtaro now!"
"Isn't the Weenifier the most magical thing you ever saw?" Yuki danced.
"Hehe, I suppose so!" Pai knelt down and poked her little brother, earning giggles.
"Um, if it isn't too much trouble," Nikol began, "we have a secret storage in the forest. I have, um, something there, that could help us fight."
"Ya don't really sound confident about it." Kansai remarked.
"Knock it off, you." Jennu scolded. "Anything that helps is worth stopping for, so let's get flying. By the way, if you want to resize all of us at once, just press the red button. It'll shoot out a field that restores any shrunk target within radius."
"Noted. Well, shall we get started?"
Excluding Yuki, Pochi shrunk his friends one at a time. "All aboard, everyone!" Yuki joyfully picked each one up and tucked them in her pockets. "I'll keep you cozy in my coatsie!"
"As if!" A stubborn Chuko ran to Pochi and climbed into his pocket. "Your coat looks stuffy and gross!"
"Mmmmm, so soft~" Pai rolled around in the soft mass, cuddling close to Aniki. "I like the Weenifier!" Aniki cringed.
Pochi manned the control pad and took flight. They flew fairly low to avoid being easily seen by the Kilocorn, but high enough to fly over the small cliffs on the way to Elaice Highway, which seemed to be a forest of massive, leafless trees. As the forest's mists enveloped them, the kids were mesmerized by the ethereal, glowing lanterns hanging from the trees. "Whoa… this is… gorgeous…" Jennu said.
"Yeah, it's a spirit forest." Nikol said. "But the wildlife here's pretty aggressive."
"Don't have to tell me!" Pochi exclaimed as Quadwings already came torpedo-spinning their direction, while Gogols were chucking boulders upward. The Glider's auto-lasers fired at the beasts, but they would afterwards suffer arrow fire from Ignas mounted in trees. "Yeah, didn't think the Glider would last long. We're going on foot from here!"
Pochi tried to make their landing as less bumpy as possible, Yuki releasing everyone as Pochi blew them back to normal. Some nearby Camill—horse-bird hybrids—galloped over to shoot electricity at the group, which Tattsun promptly absorbed and zapped back. Mowchan Goron Rolled against a charging Gogol. "Kansai, Chuko, up for a fuse?" Both nodded as Pochi fused them, hitting fireballs up at Quadwings and Skeeters. "Now let's try Aniki and Pai again…" He tried to fuse them, but to no avail. "Still not working?!"
"What could be causing it?" Suna wondered, kicking a Skeeter down to Tattsun who zapped it.
"Let's see…" Pai thought aloud, "this only started after we saw that memory where he said-"
"DON'T TELL THEM!" Aniki shouted.
"Oh…I see." Pochi said. "Maybe Fusion doesn't work if someone is too afraid to let the other person into their mind."
"If that's true, I shouldn't have been able to fuse in the first place! And neither should those two," he thumbed at Kansuko, "they don't seem like they like each other."
"Well, we happen to have similar parent issues." Kansuko replied. "We got nothin' to hide."
"We'll see about that." Suna remarked.
The ops KO'ed the surrounding monsters within the next two minutes, Kansuko defusing. "So, what should we do first?" Nikol asked. "I'm not sure how long the colony will hold if that thing fires again."
"We'll split up for now." Pochi decided. "Aniki, Pai, and Mowchan will go with Nikol to get his special weapon, since they can't fuse right now. The rest of us will get a headstart on the Aion. I can build up energy fighting the monsters on the way."
"Shouldn't Jennu come with us?" Aniki asked. "She doesn't have a fusing buddy either."
"Her bending can help us climb the mountain."
"Yeah, so take some time to bond." Jennu stated witfully. Aniki shot her his signature scowl.
"Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeeeeee!" A familiar clownish cackle echoed through the woods. "Don't you know it's unwise to hike in the woods in the dark of night?"
"It's that J guy again!" Chuko said.
"This fantasy forest is oh so drab. I think it needs a little redecorating." The forest's mystic blue air turned black and purple. The hanging lights became evil grinning clown heads and the trunks gained their own smiling, gaping faces. Circus music filled the air as circus versions of the fauna appeared: the Gogols were riding unicycles and juggling, the Feris had fire rings around them, the Rhinons were balancing large spikeballs on their tails, and Ignas were holding each other on swings from the branches, dropping bombs down.
"Is he in this forest somewhere?!" Nikol panicked.
"Let's stay on track!" Pochi ordered. "Try to catch up with us soon as you're finished! You can take these Attack Tanks with you, too!" He detached the small tanks from the Glider and activated them.
Pochi's group hurried to the edge of a cliff, where a Camill was balancing on a Garaffa's head and throwing daggers at them. Kansai hit baseballs at the Camill to knock it off, allowing the Garaffa's neck to extend like an accordion. Jennu channeled a Grav-Path onto the Garaffa, so they could walk up it onto a higher path. Aspars were rolling down the path, curled like wheels. Pochi fused Tattsuna to kick the snakes down with their superior wheels. The path led to a valley of juggling Gogols and Fire Ring Feris. Pochi and Yuki proceeded to battle the feline animals, who would take the flame rings in their teeth to clash with their fists. As their fists shone from the act, a katana of blue aura formed in Pochi's hand. "Whoa!" With it, he countered the Feris' weapons with safer distance and swifter speed. "Talk about an improvement!" He tossed the sword to Yuki, who charged at one of the Gogols and leapt to slice its unicycle.
"Boy, you're tougher than I first gave ya credit for, Yuki!" Kansai praised.
"Tehe! Thanks, Kansai!"
"Hrmph…" Chuko huffed. Kansai never compliments her toughness!
From the edge of this road, Jennu redirected their gravity onto a clown tree over the abyss. They traveled up and along its branch while Trapeze Ignas hurdled bombs upward, but Chuko would burn the ropes of their swings. Jennu levitated them to a branch on the next tree, but some Ignas from the higher branch were throwing the clown heads down. They threatened to explode, so Kansai was quick to hit them back at the Ignas. The branch led them to the base of a mechanical mountain, from which they heard a burst of energy. "It just fired its beam again." Pochi observed. "We're almost there! Let's hope we can beat it!"
Nikol led the others to Torus Hollow, a cave near the Great Liente Shelf. "EEEK!" Pai raised her barrier at what was clearly a cardboard cutout of a Mechon. Similar cutouts came at them, some resembling dragons and Behemoths. "This cave is full of monsters!"
"They're just cutouts, knock it off!" Aniki kicked boulders out and easily shattered the wooden shields wielded by Ignas.
"This cave is home to Ignas." Nikol explained, stretching an A.R.M.S. punch at a clown-nosed Igna. "I guess they're trying out a new 'cave of horrors' theme."
"Those ignant Ignas!" Mowchan Goron Rolled a line of them.
"If this is the worst we have to worry about though, it shouldn't be so bad. It's not far, just keep at it."
The group traversed deeper into the hollow with Mowchan heading the rear, with Aniki and Pai between him and Nikol. "Do you think Pochi's right about why our Fusion fell apart?"
"Who cares if he is?" Aniki replied standoffishly.
"Well, we… won't be able to fuse if you don't open your mind."
"I never wanted some stranger looking through my mind, anyway. I'll just fuse with Nyoro when she gets back."
"Fine by me, you can do better than him, Pai!" Mowchan stated.
"And I also forbid YOU from fusing with my sister, too."
"Oh…c-can she still-"
"She can't poke your belly either."
"Mmmmoooooo…" Mowchan had to be the saddest cow in the universe.
"Now, that's just cruel." Pai frowned. "Aniki, all I mean to say is I never wanted to judge your awkward moments. And I know how you feel. I worry about my little brother all the time when he's on missions."
"Then why don't you go with him? Especially with that defense power."
"I just never had the passion to join KND. The closest I get is cleaning Mowchan's treehouse while they're away. Giants leave big messes, y'know. And if you're wondering how I got this power, Mom and Dad took us to a superhero museum on Superbia when I was seven. Mostly to see the gigantism types. They had a real can of Bang Gas from the olden days… but Mowchan booped it off the shelf, I tried to pick it up like a good girl, and huff!"
"Sorry…" Mowchan blushed.
"Hmhm! At first I thought I would hit my growth spurt, but no. Barrier power!"
"If you're not an operative," Nikol began, "why did you come here with them?"
"We only came on a trip, to meet a Nopon chef called Manana. We didn't think this would happen! But I'm here now, so I might as well do my part to help!"
"Hmph…" Same logic as Vanilla, Aniki thought. At least Pai is the older one, it should've been her responsibility to look after her lug of a brother in the first place.
"But don't worry!" Pai jumped in front of Aniki, hunched over in a cute way. "I'll help look after your sisters, too! We are the grownups in the room, after all!"
"Ehh…" He blushed at the implications.
The four reached the Cadion Cliffside, a cliff under a cave ceiling that overlooked the outside abyss. Serpronds (large flying eels) loomed over the abyss, with circus Ignas riding unicycles on them. "It's around this corner!" Nikol led them to the other side of the cliff and through a passage that ended at a large metal door. "I'll just input the code and we're in."
"NYAEEEE!" Nikol hoped it would be that easy, until a dark-skinned Gormotti girl with black hair, cat ears, and green eyes pounced Nikol from the ceiling, nawing his ear. Nikol's A.R.M.S. grabbed and threw the catgirl. "Now, Dame Alex!"
A band of Agnians leapt up from beneath the cliff, their commander a brown-haired woman with yellow horn-like accessories and a mechanical sword with a green aura. Dame Alex charged at Mowchan's legs with a merciless swing. "WATCH OUT!" Aniki stomped a rock-jab between Mowchan's legs at Alex, the leader dodging right, but giving Mowchan time to roll away.
"It's Colony Iota!" Nikol exclaimed. "That's Commander Alexandria!"
"Chickadee, are you alright?" Alex asked. "That didn't leave a bad taste, did it?"
"My mouth feels fine!" the Gormotti answered.
"What fascinating creatures." spoke Salazar, an Indoline (pale-skinned humanoid) with a goggled helmet. "I'd like to experiment on them."
"Our mission is to destroy!" Alex declared.
"Nikol, hurry up with that weapon!" Aniki ordered as Pai mustered a barrier, leaving him to stomp jabs at the Iota troops while Mowchan tried to grab Chickadee. The cat was swift in climbing and clawing his soft cheeks, Mowchan crying and trying to swat her.
"I'm on it!" Nikol ran to the terminal at the door. The screen depicted two circles with yellow smaller circles that he rotated around them. "Just need to solve this puzzle first."
"For squid's sake, Nikol!"
Jennu landed Pochi's group on a platform along the finger mountain. It sloped up to a great ladder, the kids taking hold of the bars as they quickly, but steadily ascended. ♪ "What a thrill…" ♪ Tattsun sung softly. ♪ "With darkness and silence through the night… What a thrill…"♪
"Is this really the best time, Tattsun?" Pochi asked.
"Everyone knows 'Snake Eater' is the best song for ladder climbing. ♪ I'm searching and I'll melt into you… What a fear in my heart… but YOU'RE SO SUPREEEEEME!" ♪
"Knock it off before I kick you off this thing!" Suna yelled.
"But it was getting good!" Yuki frowned.
"Leave the singing to me." Jennu offered. "I'm a natural, after all."
"Can we wait until we're not so anxious?!" Chuko yelled.
From the top of the ladder, the group traveled up long, zigzag walkways, where Pterix flocked around. The pteranodons were colored like clouds and blew large balloons that would shoot toward the ops like missiles. Chuko filled up on Colony 30's spicy chips and spat fire before they could reach, while Kansai KO'ed the Pterix with baseballs. The walkway eventually broke off, so Jennu bent gravity onto the ceiling. Nearing the Distant Fingertip, they could hear and feel the surging of the Aion's energy, the finger vibrating from its presence. "It's… right above us."
"Th-Th-Those are its… claws…" Chuko quivered, pointing at the spiked protrusions hanging around the rim of the finger.
Pochi took a deep breath. "Let's pull back a few meters and ambush it." His resolve was firm as his and Yuki's gloves began to morph into the sword.
In Torus Hollow, Pai's shield was repeatedly shattered by Alexandria's sword. Aniki stomped holes throughout the ground, squirted ink into them, and used his octo form to swim between the holes, ambushing the Iota agents wherever possible with boulders to the head. Even so, he could barely lay a hit on Alexandria's keen blade-work. It was only when Mowchan rolled against her, forcing Alex to press her weapon against the giant to hold him back, that Aniki was able to land solid hits. Rhyza, a muscular green-haired Urayan, would tackle the Octoling off, Aniki octofying to escape.
"Sorry for the holdup!" Nikol said as the massive door finally opened. "POPPIBUSTER, ACTIVATE!"
"Affirmative." Behind the door was a spherical mech, its eyes lighting as it stretched up on legs and grew arms, similar to Nikol's A.R.M.S.. Nikol hopped on the seat on its back, working in tandem with their four arms to fight the soldiers.
"You have your own Robo-Mowchan?!" Mowchan exclaimed.
"Um, no…this is Poppibuster, my remote-controlled Blade. It's sure to be a big help!"
"Great, then let's get out of here!" Aniki shouted.
"What about these guys? Should we try to save them?" Pai asked.
"Not without Pochi; and we'd have to find their clock thing, anyway."
"He's right, we can't worry about them now." Nikol said.
"Initiating Runaway Mode." Poppibuster said.
"Dame Alex, they're escaping!" Chickadee exclaimed, her clothes torn from Mowchan repeatedly shaking her off.
"We have to take that weapon back from them!"
Mowchan tossed Aniki and Pai in his pack before rolling up the cave, Nikol and Poppibuster doing the same. They found the exit in record time—"AAAH!" but an Agnian Ferronis was waiting in ambush, blasting a laser that grazed the cave between them. "Darn!" Nikol swore. "Should've known that'd be here."
"Hey, isn't that where the clock's supposed to go?" Mowchan pointed. "There's nothing there!"
"They must've heard what Pochi did and removed it!"
"Well, THAT sure makes our job harder!" Aniki said.
The Ferronis turned and steadily followed as the group beelined to its right. "I wonder if they'll even be able to collect EXP without it." Nikol said.
"About that… what even is this EXP stuff?" Pai asked. "I mean, I get we're in some kind of 'videogame' and when enemies die, they pixelize and become EXP, but what is it even for?"
"Nothing good, I bet." Aniki replied, looking back at the Ferronis. "MOWCHAN, LOOK OUT!"
"WAH!" The fortress fired its laser.
"I GOT IT!" Pai extended her hands and formed her barrier the exact second the laser would impact it. Miraculously, the laser bounced backward and struck the Ferronis. "WHOA! I've never done that before!"
"Whuh, what happened?" Mowchan asked.
Pai stared at her own hands in wonder. "It bounced back… right as I made my barrier. Does that mean, if I time it right, I can bounce back any attack?"
"That seems pretty risky." Nikol said. "At least it worked, but it's still standing."
"There you are, Nikol! Hope we aren't late!"
"Valdi!" Nikol was elated to see his friend, Nyoro, and a small robot about their height.
"Nyoro! You're back!" Mowchan cheered with open arms.
"Done with your experiments?" Aniki asked. "I guess they didn't work."
"Guess again, Aniki!" the robot shouted.
The group winced from the mech's staticky, girly voice. "Vanilla?!"
"Ta-daaaa!" She glitched out of the robot. "Valdi taught me about Levnis programming! And I learned I could hack into data like a digi-ghostie!"
"I even had some Agnian mechs lying around, too. So, I wonder if you could hack into that Ferronis, too?"
"I'll give it a try!" Vanilla glitched her way to the fortress as Alexandria's remaining troops arrived, confused as the Inkling zipped around them.
"What's that?!" Rhyza asked. "That isn't one of the monsters!"
"MEOOOOOW!" Chickadee was skittish as Vanilla glitch-poked her, giggling. "What did it do?! Dame Alex, I think it stole my organs!"
"VANILLA, GET BACK HERE!" Aniki shouted.
"Zoing!" She zipped into the Ferronis. The Inkling landed within a vast subspace of what and yellow code. Ferronis-shaped firewalls formed and took aim at the intruder. "Yoinks!" she yelped with a dodge. "Gonna be a bit tricky this time. But I'll slow it down somehow!"
"Give her a chance, Aniki." Nyoro said. "Let her studying finally mean something."
"But…tch."
They were startled as a rhythm of rumbling ruptured the air. "I think that's… coming from the fingertip!" Valdi faced skyward. "They must've started fighting it!"
"Should we go up and help?" Pai asked.
"We might not make it up in time. Let's just subdue this lot for now!"
"Good luck… Pochi." Nyoro said. (Play "Undefeatable" from Sonic Frontiers!)
Boss fight: Kilocorn Aion
The Kilocorn was a massive, four-legged Ardun Aion with surging red spikes along its silvery back, a similar axe tail, and two curved horns that were building energy in its mega laser. "HAAAAAH!" Pochi immediately tried to slice the tail first, but though his blade sank into the metal, the Aion flipped it up and brought it down against the threat. Pochi raised Lucky to block it, and the Kilocorn would jump about-face for a full view of its enemies. It repeatedly banged the ground to send the operatives tumbling down the finger, unloading a storm of lasers. Jennu stabilized her friends with gravity while Pochi fused Tattsuna, their lightning speed zipping uphill and dodging the beams. They leapt to the Titan's face with a spiraling kick, the mech enduring, but it didn't realize Pochi and Yuki were racing toward its front legs. Pochi landed a slice to the left leg, then tossed Lucky to Yuki to strike the right. They dashed to reunite directly under the neck, clasped the sword, and jump straight up to stab it.
The Kilocorn roared and vehemently shook the pair off to its left. Jennu soared up to catch them and redirect gravity toward the Titan, the pair stabbing the left side of the neck. They flipped up to the Titan's back as its spikes launched and returned as missiles. Pochi and Yuki dashed along the back, swatting the missiles away, while also stabbing the exposed weak points they launched from. They swiftly tossed Lucky back and forth to each other to cut everywhere possible, but both Driver and Blade would go flying off when the Aion leapt and rolled. Jennu saved them once more, watching as Kilocorn leapt to one of the other fingers. The three returned to their friends on the current finger as the Aion fired energy spheres.
"Kansuko!" Pochi fused the two so they could counter the spheres with fire baseballs.
"'Guess I better fly us over!" Jennu uplifted them all and "fell" toward the Kilocorn, Kansuko continuing to block its spheres. Jennu landed them on the fingertip as the Titan turned and chopped its axe tail, Pochi deflecting it with a fierce swing. The axe rounded about for a combo of five, the force of Pochi's counter strikes crackling the air. Pochi eventually got under at a close enough angle to slice the base of the axe and sever it completely. It tried to slam the rest of its tail onto Pochi, but this simply made a slope for himself and Tattsuna to run up. The skater zipped ahead and leapt between its horns to absorb the plasma it was building up. It launched back spikes at the Fusion, but this allowed Pochi and Yuki to dice the exposed weak points again.
The duo concluded their onslaught by jumping between the horns, clutching the sword in unison, and charging chi. A deadly, multi-directional spin attack cleaved the horns into pieces. "Hey! The horns fell apart!" Zooza reported, watching through the telescope. "I think they're doing it! …Wait, IT'S COMING DOWN HERE!"
The Kilocorn curled up and zoomed down the finger; Pochi and Yuki kept the sword impaled in its side to hang on, Tattsuna magnetized to the Titan, while Jennu directed gravity for herself and Kansuko on it. The Aion rolled back uphill and launched off, flying down to the Ribbi Flats. The operatives tumbled off from the crash, but the Titan would continue rolling around the flats, making them live up to their name. Tattsuna grabbed Pochi and Yuki and sped after the Aion, cutting in its path. The duo raised Lucky out while Tattsuna spun with fierce speed against the Aion. The air ripped with the screeching sounds of a thousand strikes, finally blowing the Titan on its back. Tattsuna threw Pochi and Yuki on its belly, the two shining an electric purple aura. They split up to the front legs, Pochi dicing the left and tossing Lucky to Yuki, who diced the right. They raced backward so Yuki could slice the hind right leg, then trusted Pochi to sever the left.
The Aion flipped onto its belly, flinging them off. Without legs, it ignited an engine on its rear and boosted away, then returned to them with its great momentum. The operatives reunited and exchanged nods. Kansuko first grabbed Pochi and Yuki while Tattsuna grabbed them. Jennu made them fall toward the Titan, Tattsuna spun to throw Kansuko, and Kansuko batted Pochi and Yuki toward the Titan. With that combined speed, the duo sliced across the Aion with supreme force. Its halves flew apart, flashing intensely. A pixel explosion brightened the valley and the night. Pochi and Yuki stood proud and victorious as chunks of the Aion rained around the flats. With a heavy breath, their sword reformed into gauntlets and their aura faded. (End song.)
"NO!" Sage exclaimed. "They destroyed an Aion! I didn't think they could be that powerful!"
"Rey restroyed ran Rion?!" Scooby-Doo panicked. "RIKES!"
"Cosplayer, what should we do? Our tactics will fail at this rate! They'll get ahold of the Cyber Keys!"
Scooby was enveloped by a clothes cyclone and became Shaggy. "Like, chill out, man, we still got way more to throw at 'em! You still haven't explored all of your power yet, anyhow. And just wait'll they see our own Fusions, hoo hoo hoo!"
…
"POCHI! YUKI!" Their friends, defused, rushed to their side. "THAT WAS AMAZIN'! You cut that dino down like butter!" He put his arm around Yuki. "And with a swing like that, I hope ya join my baseball team!"
"Would you really have me?" Yuki flushed.
"Heck yeah!"
"HECK NO!" Chuko protested. "You can't have a swordswoman in baseball, she'll cut all the balls!"
"I don't think that's what he meant." Jennu replied.
"Hey… look at this." Pochi approached an orange glowing object among the Aion's remains. It was a key with a large head and "X" inscribed in it.
"A key?" Tattsun cocked a brow.
"An important-looking key. Let's hold onto it." Pochi stashed it. "Now… we should look for the others."
Nikol and Poppibuster smashed both fists onto Alexandria, raising her blade in defense as she was brought to her knees. Valdi's laser rifle broke Alex's stance, leaving Nikol to K.O. the grounded commander. "Sorry, Miss Alex." Valdi said. "Hah…well, suppose we better tie them up until we find out what to do."
Vanilla glitched out of the quelled Ferronis. "I might know where the EXP thingy is. There was a map inside the Ferronis' cyberspace, and there was a shining spot. Valdi, do you have your own map of this area?"
"I do! We'll check that spot out after we meet up with the others."
"So, did I do good, Aniki?" Vanilla asked with a small curtsy.
"ARE YOU KIDDING?!" She winced. "That was completely reckless! You have no idea what could've happened to you inside that thing! And YOU," he shot at Nyoro, "should be ashamed of yourself for allowing her!"
"But I shut it down! I helped, Aniki! And I'm gonna keep helping!"
"She's right." Nyoro replied with a reproving glare at Aniki. "We'll be dealing with more robots in the future, so Vanilla's new power will be a big help. Especially if she's right about the EXP gauge."
"How… Why are you okay with this?! Right now, Vanilla's real body is basically lifeless and our parents have no idea why!"
"It's not really lifeless!" Vanilla argued. "Just… soulless!"
"And I'm not okay with this." Nyoro said. "I think Vanilla was really reckless to follow us around in secret. What if you got eaten by a dark spirit or something? You'd be passed out forever and we would never know why!"
"Because… I didn't want you to worry-"
"Then you should never have been doing that in the first place!"
"Mmmmm…"
"But like it or not, this is your first step into KND business. And we can't turn your skills down in this situation. You'd just better prepare for a strict talk when we get home. And if something seems too dangerous, pull back immediately, okay?"
"Okay…"
"Hm…" Aniki shirked.
"But don't worry!" He looked up with a start when Pai took his arm. "Your friends and family will be right there to protect you! Right, Aniki?"
"F…Fine." He almost had to force out of his mouth. "Thanks for… your help today, Vanilla."
"Hehehe!"