The First Tree

The First Tree towered over a valley north of Whole Cake Capital. Hordes of pirates and Titans guarded the valley, anticipating the coming storm. …And not a moment too late, a fleet came flying over the valley hills. Like a flock of birds, the witches of Luna Nova swarmed over the pirates, dropping magic bombs and spells. A Titan performed a terrific leap to smack a student out of the air, only for Aurora to burst out of her Infi-Satchel and stab the Titan's palm with Galaxia. The other Nextgen Pirates dropped out of the satchels of random students.

Jasminka inflated and created a shockwave after dropping, knocking over some Piantas. Pound Cake Gorons rolled to bowl her over, but were blocked by an ice wall conjured by Suki. "YEEEAAAH!" The icebender skied joyfully and froze the ground at Titans' feet, giggling at the way they stumbled and tripped.

"Awesome job, Suki!" Miyuki praised, reverting some rabbit pirates to elderly age. "I'm surprised you still have some in you after that last battle."

"Suki wants to win with Sister-chan!"

"Then stick with us to the end!"

The nine appointed operatives, along with Augustus and Rawberry, were dropped close to the First Tree, noticed by only a few pirates who were quickly beaten to a pulp. Augustus hardened his fists and punched the invisible barrier surrounding the tree, shaking his knuckles from the pain. "Yep, that's a barrier all right."

"Let me try!" Sheila declared, throwing a passionate punch at… thin air. "Haha! My fist is stronger!"

"No, Sheila." Mason casually walked through. "The invitations are letting us pass, like Pea mentioned."

"Our chances of defeating Sherbet with such a small group are slim." Diana mentioned, walking through as well. "Not only due to the pirates protecting her, but we are missing a vital resource."

"Aurora contacted Cheren that it was time for the battle." Rawberry informed. "They're flying down with Harvey as we speak. Even if you aren't successful with the cake operation, if Bender bends the tree, everyone including Sherry should ideally fall off outside the barrier. That'll allow everyone to fight her together."

"Nobody ruins weddings by bending trees better than me: Bender!" the robot boasted.

"For now, you should probably stay away from the tree so the pirates don't get suspicious. Make sure to listen for their signal." With that, Rawberry ran into the hordes, beginning to sink her powerful jaws into stone-hard Goron flesh.

"Hurry on, mates! There'll be plenty action inside!" Sheila declared, the first to race toward the tree with her team following.

"Hey, Sheila?" Carol spoke. "About your mom… I'm really sorry."

"'ey, don't cry a river over it." Sheila replied with a confident grin. "Her chi is about settled with my own, so I'll be ripe for the battle when it comes."

"You sure you're okay?"

"Even if I ain't, I ain't about to give that old hag a show."

"We can save our emotions after we win the war." Mason assured. He, Sheila, George, Lola, Goombella, Carol, Akko, and Diana arrived at the entrance to the tree. Wondering what dangers could await them in Queen Sherry's treasured sanctuary, a small stairway led them to the first room. (Play "Undertale" from Undertale.)

Stage 48: The First Tree

Mission: Get to the top of the tree.

The first room of the tree resembled a cozy living room with a marshmallow couch, childish drawings adorning the wall, and a fireplace. Most of the objects had faces and were bobbing up and down in joy, including the fire. Pink, illusory spirits of Carl and Sherry were on the couch. He was holding a book open to his sister, who looked like a ball next to him.

There was a door atop some stairs, but it was locked. Sheila tried to punch it open, Diana used magic, but the door remained sealed. Carol called attention to the key in the fireplace, but the fire was spitting flames at them. Water magic wouldn't affect it either; it seems the puzzles were required to be solved with whatever materials were available. There was an empty glass and a water dispenser, so Mason filled it up and poured it over the fire. It dispersed into steam, allowing them to take the key.

The door led to a tight stairwell to the next room. Sherry's pink chi took the form of fairies fluttering about the room. There were crayon drawings of the young Titan playing with the Fairy Sisters. They had to use a butterfly net to catch the fairies, but when Akko caught some random ones, the fairies morphed into bombs and exploded on her. "I think we have to catch ones that resemble the Sisters." Goombella figured. They searched the garden of fairies, and Akko netted ones that resembled Mavis, Lapis, and Aisling. The fairies melded into a key, which could be used to enter one of two doors.

The correct door led to a pool where a normal-size child Sherry was reaching in the water, trying to catch tiny merkids. One of the mermaids was carrying a key. Sheila dove in and chased the mermaid, but it was an evasive swimmer. When Mason jumped in and tried to intercept it from the opposite way, they cornered and snatched the illusory mermaid's key. This key could open the other door in the fairy room. It led to a tall room, where one wall was a mirror. Little Sherry was happily bouncing floating trampolines in the reflection. They figured those trampolines were invisible on their end, but as Sheila demonstrated, she could bounce on them. Using the mirror as reference, they made their way up the tramps (though Carol missed a bounce and hit the ground, asking Mason to come help her up).

They bounced to an upper room, which had a blank bed and Sherry lying on it in agony. There were little pillows hidden around the room. There was one under the bed, one in the lit lamp (they could see its shadow), one in a hole in the floor, one taped to a picture frame with other pillow pictures, one disguised as a drawer knob, and to get the one on the chandelier, Sheila had to bounce the bed and swipe it. They put all the pillows under the Sherry illusion, watching as she cuddled up comfortably. The room became dark as a glowing door was revealed.

The next room was bright as morning as Sherry waited mouth drooling at a breakfast table. The cereal boxes were missing their mascots, so they couldn't pour any in. A little Lucky was shooting them from atop the cabinets, so Lola flapped up to catch him. Buzz the Honeybee was camouflaged with a napkin. Toucan Sam's beak was sticking out of a can of umbrellas. Trix disguised as a rug on the floor. The group stuck all the mascots onto the cereal boxes. They poured a hearty bowl for the growing princess, and she munched them up. Sherry burped out the key to the next room.

Sherry appeared to be gazing up at a bright sky, reaching to the heavens. The fairies, a Carl illusion, and Dimentia illusion were flying far beyond her reach, while giant raindrops were falling down. There was Fizzy Lift Soda for everyone to ascend. They avoided the falling droplets and bypassed the illusions. The farther Sherry shrank from their view, so did the light, and her tears dropped much like these raindrops.

They landed on a platform with a door to a dark room. Little Sherry was sitting in the middle of a gentle, pink rain shower. Her sadness touched their hearts, and they so longed to lay a comforting hand on her… or were they forgetting just what kind of person this was? Was the very air of this tree hypnotizing them into feeling empathy? Either way, to solve this puzzle, Lola figured she would fly above Sherry and extend her wings, serving as an umbrella. Her idea proved fruitful, for a small sun began to grow above Sherry. It grew a face, smiling and cheering the princess up. The rain dried away, revealing the door.

In the following room, Sherry's arms were stretched in joy as she rode a boat like a surfboard, with Zeus blowing her from the front to give the illusion of speed. Of course, his strong wind was a hindrance to them as well. George was able to concentrate and Stop the cloud's time, halting the wind so they could advance. They climbed a ladder to a narrow bridge, where sentient whirlwinds flew around trying to knock them off, so George kept up his Stopping. Once past the bridge, they entered a dark, planetarium room. Sherry looked with awe as the planets circled above her vision.

Those planets had faces and were blowing raspberries. However, one of them wore an eyepatch and was going "arrrrr!" Akko turned into a kangaroo and bounced up to punch into that planet's mouth, yanking its tongue out. The planet barfed out a little pirate ship, which sailed the floor into a little hole. It seemed to activate something and open a door. The following room, Sheila nearly walked off a ledge before catching herself: a gaping Sherry's mouth was looming below the thin, rounded walkway, ready to snack anything that fell in. Impish pirates were on higher platforms, dropping sweets against the walkway to bounce into Sherry's mouth, while other pirates shifted side-to-side pouring buckets of candy.

It seemed this path would lead to a Puffsicle bushel, so Sheila braved it alone. She jumped the bucket pirates and evaded the falling sweets, and once at the Puffsicles, Sheila viewed the shaft above. There were ice cream cone spikeballs as expected of such a section, but rather than eat the popsicle herself, she threw it into Sherry's mouth. The mouth sealed as the illusion seemed to swell and was now floating up. The group could set foot on her, the illusion lifting them all. Diana cast spells to destroy the Cone Spikes, preventing any of them from popping their lift. The "elevator" reached the top, where they entered the next room.

An illusory Sherry blew a bubble through a wand. The bubble took the shape of a Goomba. There were lots of tiny illusions around the floor resembling different races. Goombella picked up the Goomba in her mouth and placed it inside Sherry. Next, the princess blew a Rito bubble. The best they could find was a Cucco, which ran from Mason's grasp before he caught it. Sherry blew the bubbles of a merman, a Harnitan, a Majin, and a Minish, which was rather microscopic and required Akko turning into a mouse to locate. Sherry would then burp out a bunch of bubbles that popped against the wall to make a door. The door was real and allowed them past.

Rain drizzled and tickled their skin in this next room. All those races were standing before the queen as she lay on a deathbed, crying. After a bit of wandering, Carol assumed, "Maybe we need to bury her?" So, Sheila leapt onto the deathbed and used consecutive Ground Pounds, steadily pressing Sherry underground and making a grave rise up. Once the grave was at its peak, a door unsealed.

The following room had a clock, sniffling and sobbing as it mourned for its queen. There was a hamster wheel underneath it, along with a Rock Candy. Sheila ate that candy so a crystal ball formed around herself, then she rolled onto the wheel. Using the rock's speed, the wheel spun ever faster, and the others saw the clock's hands spiraling rapidly. As if time were fast-forwarding thousands of years, Sherry's soul tilted out of the earth. A sun sprung up and the mini people returned, celebrating their queen's revival.

In the next room, Queen Sherry was standing at the top of a massive cake with a gaping smile. All her commanders and pirates were on layers of the cake, bobbing up and down. It was as simple as jumping up the cake's layers to reach the top, but the door was sealed. Between Sherry and the door's platform, there was a smaller foothold with a star. Sherry also seemed to have an extra face on the back of her head, looking at that spot curiously. Perhaps one of the pirates was supposed to go there. They searched around, trying to find who it could be…

"Akko?" Diana tapped her friend's shoulder. "Perhaps it is… that one?" Akko followed the direction of her finger… and found a tiny version of herself. Akko moaned in agony. Her little cartoony self was confused, but was bobbing with the music. She regretfully picked it up and carried it to the little platform. The star glowed and the door opened. In the room following, Sherry was sitting on a throne holding a cake, while little Akko sat on a table with a muffin. Both were smiling cluelessly and bobbing.

While Akko continued to shrink in despair, the others noticed the bucket of muffins. Lola threw one up to the spirit Akko, and like a fish swimming for food, Akko shot up and ate it. Lola chucked more muffins up in the air, attracting the goofy spirit and leading a path to Sherry's cake. Akko splashed in the cake, popping out with arms high. She and Sherry faced each other with smiles, and the spirit's action sprung a key out of the cake.

In the following room, the Akko illusion was now normal-size before a half-as-tall Sherry. She was standing on a stage as magical sparklers flared everywhere. The more the real Akko gazed at her own grandeur, the emptier she grew inside. Her teammates could feel the gloom inside her, so they hesitated to say anything. That said, it wasn't clear what the solution to this puzzle was. They couldn't interact with anything onstage and there was nothing else distinct. …Akko figured the solution was quite simple. She walked up onstage and took her illusory self's place. Her arms-wide posture was reconstructed perfectly, with only one difference: Akko's soulless expression was in great contrast to the fake's bubbly smile.

Regardless, Sherry saw her no other way, and fireworks exploded in celebration. The door opened onstage, granting them entry. This room was dark and peaceful. Akko was smiling, eyes closed in bliss, as she lay bundled in Sherry's giant hands. The queen's enormous smile and heartfelt eyes loomed above her. She held Akko like the most precious treasure of all. A very warm gift that she would always keep close to her heart. …The group noticed a pink glow in their chests. It seems they were required to hand over a piece of their souls.

When they stepped a bit closer, the pieces of soul floated out. Sheila's, Diana's, Carol's, Goombella's, George's, Lola's, Mason's… even a piece of the soul Akko borrowed from Molly went up into Sherry's mouth. Their hearts were now inside Sherry. They assumed anyone who arrived past this point had to give their soul, guests or not. They hoped it wouldn't last long, at least. They calmly entered the gate that had opened, where the sound of a music box soothed their ears. (Play "Memory" from Undertale.)

They entered a dark and cozy bedroom lit by a fireplace. Queen Sherry was happily snoring on her bed… and someone was standing on it. It wasn't a psychic illusion, it was a Goomba in physical form. Goomnut looked over the sleeping Sherry with nostalgic, narrowed eyes. "My Queen can certainly be a headache." he said aloud, knowing they were in the room. "No matter how old she grows, she is a child at heart. She has always looked at the world with the same set of eyes. Even when she grows angry or sad, she treasures all that were close to her, all her fond memories. Every piece that made up her soul inhabits this tree. We of the Chestnut line have always acted as her guardians. When her soul began to speak to us, we always made sure it was at peace. We kept all of her precious belongings safe."

Goomnut turned to them. "I had a feeling intruders would break in some way or another. Whenever we host a wedding, all of Grandma's guests have to climb up this tree. It is here where she allows them to view her precious memories. She opens her heart to them. Puts aside their preconceptions of the 'terrifying ghost who rules the pirates from the Spirit World.' Why, it is because she was such a sweet soul that, despite her accidents in life, she was allowed into Heaven. She would then challenge the Firstborn Mew to a duel in exchange for his God Chi. You can probably guess the result there."

"So, what?" Akko asked. "Why should we care about Sherry's memories? She killed and hurt innocent people. She refused to let her soul rest, all so she could keep running her empire. I don't care if she thinks she's innocent or deluded, or whatever. It needs to stop."

"After Queen Sherbet's crimes," Diana said, "the Spirit World will not make the same mistake twice. She has harmed not only us, but her own people as well."

"In a few years, our citizens may come to enjoy their Titan forms." Goomnut said. "If Her Majesty could recover her intelligence and make new friends, these Titans shan't have much to fear. They will be stronger than ever and live longer lives. Perhaps that is what Her Majesty wishes."

"Yeh, yeh." Sheila rolled her eyes. "Goombella, you can kick his arse, we'll just go on ahead."

"Sounds good to me."

"Oh… you aren't going anywhere." Goomnut's eyes glowed an ominous white.

"AAAAAHHH!" Sheila's Light Chi exploded from her body, Mason's gas, Akko and Diana's magic, Lola's Darkness and George's Time, their bodies felt like bursting dams!

"Guys! What's happening?!" Carol exclaimed.

"This must be his Force-Force Fruit!" Diana screamed. "But I don't remember it being anything like…"

"I have Awakened my Force power." Goomnut replied. "Not only can I target multiple people, but your bending gets exhausted greater than ever! I will run your chi completely dry so you'll never stand a chance against Grandma!"

"HIYAH!" Goombella dove at the minister, but Goomnut countered her Headbonk with his own. Goombella rolled backward, eyes dizzy.

"Are you okay?!" Carol asked.

"I'm fine, but his power is making my Tattle run rampant." Goombella shut her eyes to restrain her analyses. "Carol, you're the only one who's not affected, so can you make a wall or something?"

"Okay." Carol downloaded a Game-and-Watch barrier to shield the benders.

"So, Goombella, it seems your Level is a simple 100. I am 10 times stronger at 1,000, and my head is hardened from being stomped by Grandma these past months!"

"That's something to be proud of?" Goombella remarked. "My friends can stomp way harder than that old hag."

Boss fight: Minister of Nuts, GOOMNUT

Goomnut dove for another Headbonk, but Goombella opened her eyes in time to dodge it, though she would have to close again as her Tattle uncontrollably tried to focus on everything in the room. Goomnut kicked her, flinging her against the wall. Goombella squinted open her eyes and ran to him, the minister maneuvering to confuse her. The more she kept her eyes open, even a little, the more every little detail tried to attain maximum focus. When she thought she could predict Goomnut's move, she Headbonked, but missed by an inch while the minister rammed her to the wall again. Goombella growled and shut her eyes for a rest, and after reopening, she started to spin-dive toward Goomnut in pursuit of him.

The minister kept evading, but his foe was quick on the rebound, so he decided to counter her head-on. Goombella rolled back from the force, but recovered quickly and charged headfirst. Goomnut met with her again, but this time, she refused to fall back and kept pushing, both stubby pairs of feet toddling frantically in attempt to overpower the other. Goombella remembered the way Nagisa would always knock Morgiana off-balance, so she mimicked his technique, falling to a sit, slipping right, and tripping him. She quickly dealt a spin-dive at his stem, Goomnut yelping.

The minister leapt away and bounced high in the air, remaining stationary while spinning. He then launched at Goombella like a missile, but she evaded and dove at him. Goomnut dodged and began to repeat his attack. Goombella remembered Nagisa's Moon Walk and Morg's Rocket Jump, how they would channel spring-like power to their legs and jump the air. She tried to visualize such a technique, but rather used her head as a base: she jumped and imagined bonking the air itself, her head throbbing from the visual imagery, and it felt so real that she truly did bounce.

Goombella kept it consistent, surprising Goomnut as he missed her. He would still attempt his Missile-Bonk, going midair again and locking on Goombella. Sadly, he sank a bit too lower after launching, but as soon as he passed, Goombella faced her stem toward him and did a more forceful air-bonk, launching to the minister and Screw Kicking his stem. Goomnut bellowed from the surprising attack, hastily kicking Goombella away. Goomnut began to spin-roll while bouncing, ensuring Goombella couldn't target his stem as he tried to crush her. Despite her attempts to evade, his impacts were able to knock her off balance and lay damage, and even when trying to run away, Goomnut was quick to keep up.

Goombella tried to remember Nagisa's Paper Art technique, how he allowed his body to flow gently and let enemies' attacks blow him out of harm's way. She let her mind wander and body grow light in the same manner, so every impact of Goomnut's would gently push her away. Goombella kept her technique active until Goomnut would grow tired of his own and dive at her directly, but she would blow aside again and quickly dive at his stem after the fact. A frustrated Goomnut focused more intently on her, further amplifying her Tattle. When Goombella shut her eyes for recovery, the very inside of her eyelids were overflowing with detail, and she couldn't help but analyze every vein, every wobbly shape.

Goomnut rammed her during this moment of weakness, then leapt for a follow-up, but Goombella wouldn't be distracted by the details of his motion and dodge. Still, it seemed like the tiny cells that were present in the air had become visible to her detailed vision, making it harder than ever to focus. All she could do was jump away from the mass of kinetic energy that was Goomnut. With so much detail pounding her vision, giving her a headache, Goombella had to imagine this was what Index felt like every day, how her memory was able to perceive the shape of every raindrop, every blade of grass.

Ultimately, Goombella decided to accept the headache. She took in every single visual and let her head throb with information. When Goomnut leapt, Goombella did as well, both Headbonks meeting in the air. Goomnut felt a stronger force, surprised that she wasn't knocked away. She dove and bonked his face, then repeated, but he dodged and bonked her side—she leapt upon recovery and bonked him, bonked again, and once more. Goomnut growled and charged headfirst against her, to which Goombella met his challenge again. That was until Goombella visualized the swift motion of Nagisa's Shave: she zipped aside and made Goomnut trip, but he dodged before she could bonk his stem.

Goomnut leapt and Headbonked from above, to which Goombella jumped to counter and bounce him up. Goomnut came down, but she thrusted up, repeating the process over and over. Goombella imagined Morgiana unleashing a storm of rapid kicks, visualized her legs growing hotter and harder each time, so she imagined similar stress with each jump against Goomnut. The minister was insistent on flattening her, but she refused to sink and kept thrusting up. Combining her headache with the idea of Morgiana's stress, Goombella kept countering until Goomnut eventually flipped off and landed upside-down.

With a stylish flip, Goombella was now bouncing on his stem, keeping her motion and force consistent. Goomnut felt his stem flattening under her Multibonk, the blood dramatically rushing to his head. It was only when Goombella's headache began to shrink, the immense detail fading into obscurity, that she decided to cease her combo. Minister Goomnut had been knocked out cold. Carol lowered the barrier after confirming this fact, and their teammates had stabilized their chi paths.

"Phew. That was an unpleasant delay." Diana sighed. "Now, let's move on. Quickly." She ushered the group to proceed through the door.

Carol approached Goombella while the others had left. "Hah, he said he was 10 times stronger and he still lost? Silly old man."

"His big mistake was making my Tattle go crazy." Goombella smirked. "My Tattle is connected to my brain, and of course my physical strength is all in my head. Not only did it make me stronger, but it was easy to remember my friends' techniques and replicate them. Hmm…"

Goombella looked to the illusory Sherry in her slumber. "But I kind of saw into his heart as well… Despite how much the queen aggravates him, Goomnut truly adores Sherry. It almost breaks my heart, but… she's caused too much destruction and has no intention of stopping."

"Yeah." Carol nodded seriously. "We're going to stop her, no matter what it takes. So, let's go."

As Carol walked ahead, Goombella spared one last glance at the fallen Goomnut. When he next wakes up, his beloved queen will likely be gone. …It was wise to let him sleep with that memory of Sherry. (End song.)

Seeing the intense combat transpire in the distance, the Reign Supreme made landing in the valley. Cheren, Harvey, and Nebula climbed off the royal vessel. "So, those are the Titans, huh?" Nebula observed. "Just a bunch of giant naked aliens? How disgusting."

"You're the one who wanted to come." Cheren replied.

"I'm the Nextgen Pirate Emperor, I deserve to be here for the end of the war."

"So, we have to go up that tree?" Harvey asked.

"No, Aurora said they would bring Sherry down here. I hope they can make it in time."

"Hey, bro, you made it!" Chris Uno ran up to them with an eager smile.

"Uh-…Chris?" Cheren was taken aback in confusion, as were his teammates.

"Glad you could make it! Wanna join me in pummeling those pirates over there?"

"…What… are you doing here, Chris?"

"Here to beat up the Big Mom Pirates? Win the war? What else?"

"…" Cheren drew his sword and trained it on him. "Who are you really?"

"Cheren, dude, what's wrong?"

"Your impersonation of Chris. That's what's wrong!" Cheren SLASHED the fake's clothes, and as they fell off, their perception of Chris transformed into that of Roger. "Wait, I remember you! You were that-!"

Roger slowed time and punched Cheren and Harvey in the crotch before taking Nebula. Time returned to normal, the boys slouching in pain. "JAUNE! I GOT HER! If we lop her head off now, we can still make it to the wedding-?!" Nebula warped out of his grasp, reappearing several feet away.

"I don't know how you escaped the brig, but it looks like no one told you Chris abandoned the war." Nebula smirked.

"Roger! I am-a coming!" An eight-legged Pringle Man stomped toward them in a hurry, but was unfortunately grabbed by a pair of extendable arms.

"Hey, my cousin Curver works in a chip factory!" Bender recalled. "How did he do it again?" He bent the Pringle Man at multiple angles, crumbling and crushing it into dust. "Or, maybe it was like this." He gave one more sturdy bend.

"MAMA MIAAAAA!" cried Jaune, having become an acute angle. "I am a flippin' pretzel!!"

"JAUNY! NYAAAA!" Roger raced to Bender in a fury. "You're gonna pay for hurting my sweet Pringle!"

"Oh, hey E.T.. Are you still mad that I dumped you on that planet?"

Roger smacked Bender's head off, then ripped off one of his arms to go and smash the head with. The arm maintained willpower and punched Roger, while the body stretched its remaining arm to grab Bender's head and return it. Bender stretched a punch at Roger, and the broken arm gripped Roger's neck before pulling itself to reattach to Bender, who then performed a stretched, overhead slam to the ground. Roger shook free and seemed to vanish. Bender heard something behind and twisted his head, seeing Roger in a fireman disguise, complete with a fire truck as he blasted a hose.

"Little do you know, arson was my 11th hobby!" Bender drew a flamethrower and countered Roger's hose to make a cloud of steam. Both weapons ran out of power, but the condensation blocked Bender's eyes. This allowed Roger to sneak up in his Ricky Spanish disguise and stab Bender's back. The robot kick-stretched his leg back, but Roger dodged and sliced that off as well. He then stabbed Bender again, but Bender stretched them to the heavens on his other leg and quickly retracted back down to smash Roger off. Bender grabbed and tossed him away before reattaching the other leg.

Roger donned the disguise of Bethany Matthews, a chubby, but spirited photographer. The blinding flashes of "her" camera would distort Bender's receptors. After succeeding, Roger ran for the attack and ripped off Bender's arms; of course, the flash had affected Roger's vision, too, so he just realized he only chopped the arms of a candy-made statue. "Sculpture art was my 14th hobby!" Roger viewed around the candy statues, all of which had Bender's pixel graffiti face on them.

"Ew! No way am I putting these in my portfolio!" Roger began to kick the sculptures' legs and take them down. He grew more aggravated in his search for the crafty robot-

"YA YA YOW!" He discovered Jaune inside one of the sculptures, finding out the hard way by kicking his knee.

"Oh, Jauny, I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay, Roger. The mighty strength of your leg makes my love for you burn brighter~"

"Oh, you are the sweetest little-"

Bender grabbed both lovers and bent them around each other. Afterwards, he stretched them up and smashed them into a crater. "Get a room, you two."

"Bender, this is Mason. We need you to get in position now." A voice rang from Bender's antenna.

"Time for ol' Bendy to work his magic, eh?"

…

"Not, yet. We may need a few more minutes, but we're just about there."

The eight operatives carefully peeked their heads out of the exit to the top of the tree. Akko became a mouse and crawled out to scout the area. It seemed there was nothing on this level but a staircase. The entire treetop was perfectly hidden within the leaves, including the massive chapel. The doors were naturally large enough for giants to enter.

Hisoka Morow was appointed as the organist. His long nails tapped the keys to the rhythm of the wedding march, and his stretched arms could cover the width of the wide keyboard. Sasha occupied one of the seats in the giant-size benches, looking with morbid disgust. She had been kept in the dark about this marriage for a month, and it totally justified why Terry began to act sour to her in that time. Madame Broode was in attendance, and her Broodals were guarding the entrance.

There were also plenty of normal-size attendees in the stands, with high chairs placed to help them see. There was Vick Chestnut and his future wife, Éclair, both of whom felt mixed feelings from this event. Pilaf, Mai, and Shu were looking suspiciously at Team Rocket, who were "inspecting" the cake. Lala Stork sat with her brother and sister-in-law, Bartie and Virginia. "Awww, I can't believe Grandma went to all this to set up a pretend wedding for Terry and his girlfriend." Bartie smiled. "Don't they look cute?"

"And I thought oblivious adults were outdated." Lala chuckled.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Terry and MaKayla felt like betrothed little dolls, crossing a road-size velvet carpet to the overgrown child who orchestrated this playtime: Sherry Linlin. Her expression was not ridden with the malice of a villain whose plan was close to completion, but an over-emotional, teary-eyed Grandma happy to see her grandchild marry. They walked up the aisle as slowly as possible, an action that would savor the moment for Grandma's satisfaction, but also to stall time for a hopeful rescue. They gravely hoped a solution would arrive by the time they set foot on the altar.