Galactic Kid Recess

We're meeting some new operatives today, but they won't be too frequent. I just wanted to show other future kids I had planned for the series, whereas any planets we don't see, I just don't have ideas for, yet. XD Also, this chapter draws from continuity of past arcs. It also takes place during the week of "Talent Showcase."

Based on Planet Wisp, Galactic Kid Council H.Q. was a dome-shaped structure with a large, colorful tree growing from it, its colored branches shaped like the different Wisps that inhabit the planet. Meetings were either bi-monthly or in the events of certain crises or incidents. Before now, such crises had never occurred in this age, but this meeting on Earth December 4 was filled with conversation.

"And that basically sums it up." Hyrule Supreme Leader Norman said, concluding his briefing of the Demon Slayer incident.

"Fuhahahaha!" laughed Fukaboshi, Supreme Merman Leader of Oceana. "So, both our worlds were dealin' with similar problems! Princesses and all!"

"Yeah, and I got sucked into both of them." Perry Uno said, his shoes propped on the rim of his platform. His guards, Jasmine and Frasmine looked reproachfully at his demeanor. "Don't I deserve compensation or something?"

"Perry!" Jasmine yelled.

"Ha ha ha!" Ferdinand Tildrum chortled. The 12-year, blue-haired boy was Avalar's Supreme Leader and the prince of Evermore. "You want Star's vice-seat or something?"

"Yeah, why not? Hey, Star, let me sit by you!"

"We'll have to sign piles of paperwork before I allow that." Star remarked.

"Earth had a little hand in helping us with a time rift situation, too." Ferdinand mentioned. "Gruntilda was famous in our villain records, but I couldn't believe she was still kicking."

"I couldn't believe Sector W wound up on a mission like that." Perry replied. "We were so busy with the Oceana stuff, we could barely investigate where they were."

"Boy, Earth has way more going on." remarked Astro Midoriya (from Sensei no Bulge), Superbia's Supreme Leader. He had spiky blue hair, a blue vest with orange edges, a tan jacket over it, and black pants with blue boots. "All we've been having are run-of-the-mill villain attacks. Well, we stopped a Devil Fruit shipment the other day… and we've been hearing rumors from the Brotherhood about some sort of 'princess.'"

"Oh yeah." Perry chirped, the memory jumping to his mind.

"Oh yeah… what?"

"Uh, I'll tell ya later." Perry smiled teasingly.

"In any case, it's been a trying time for many of us." Star replied. "I'm certainly hoping for a good Christmas myself. Miss Floofikins, how are we on time?" He glanced up at a platform on the ceiling: a Kittentia was on a cat tower, wearing a secretary suit. She checked her watch and gave a paws-up. "We have a few minutes until recess. Have we any other matters to bring up?"

"My world has been experiencing unusual phenomena." reported Zeon, Mira's Supreme Leader. He was a young man with golden hair with small, matching wings, along with black armor with glowing blue circles. "The skies over our Aionios continent have been flickering with a strange, pixelated glow. Our scientists are trying to investigate the source. If I may, Supreme Leader Star, I'd like to borrow Valdi to aid in the investigation."

"We can ask him after the meeting. For now, my bum's getting a little sore, so how about some recreation? When we come back, I'd like to discuss the possible addition of a new member of this council."

Unlike the adult Galactic Council, the Kid Council came with its own playground that spanned around the building! "Recess" was quite literally like a school recess! Though Perry's last experience with a playground was little too titanic for his heartrate, he loved to feel the joy of the kiddom around him. Besides the Supreme Leaders, some of their own operatives were here on official "guard" duty… but in actuality, they were already going wild on the playground. Perry wondered if Hiyuki was hiding somewhere as usual. He might as well go around and do a headcount of his operatives, anyway. "Perry! Hey!"

Perry turned as a blue-skinned girl with magenta hair and star glasses hurried up to him. "Hey, Tiffi." He greeted GKND's Lunarian representative. "What's up?"

"I thought you'd want to meet our new cadet~"

"Yeah?" Perry's eyes lit with intrigue.

"Say hello!" Tiffi spun aside, and Perry's expression grew brighter!

"Hi, Perry." She was a girl of about seven, with short dark-purple hair and small yellow horns. Her eyes were large and light-purple, she wore a purple dress with matching shoes, and carried a crescent moon wand.

"LEILA!" Perry jumped to lock hands with his Mamodo friend.

"Hahahahahaha!" They jumped and spun in circles! It had only been over a month since they parted, but it felt like years! Their reunion brought a smile to Tiffi; they were as joyous as she expected them to be!

"So, you're joining GKND now? What about your own homeworld, did you… find your home?"

"My home… doesn't exist, anymore." Leila frowned. "We made it back to Mamon, yes, but we don't really have homes or families, anymore. So, we've been staying at the KND's headquarters."

"So, they have their own KND?"

"Yep!" Tiffi nodded. "It was only form in recent years. Star was going to talk about inviting them to the council. After they decide the Supreme Leader, that is."

"Mamon will be holding its 100 Mamodo tournament soon." Leila said. "You know, the one that gets held every five years? The winner will become the new Supreme Leader, then Star will travel to meet them with Dr. Riddles."

"That'll be awesome!"

"Yeah. But the 100 of us couldn't join the tournament because law says you can only enter once. So, my job basically is to determine if an alliance with the GKND would be good. Not that I would say 'no' of course."

"So, I was gonna show her around and meet some of the operatives." Tiffi said. "Wanna come with?"

"Better than touring by myself!"

ZOOM! They saw two remote planes zoom overhead. One was unmistakably Ralph's, while the other was dark-gray, and both seemed to have small pilots in them.

"Eat my exhaust, Clive!" Marty Gilligan yelled, shooting rear turrets back at his opponent, a Mobian rabbit with light-brown fur.

Clive turned on a blue shield to protect from the bullets. "Wrench, Bananarang!" His chimp companion threw a boomerang at an angle that would break Marty's turret off. It would loop back and chip one of the propellers.

"I think we know our first stop." Perry smiled, leading the girls after the planes.

Ralph Gilligan and a boy with gray skin watched as their planes were returning from their 3rd lap around the playground, chewing burgers on a playground tower. "Looks like I win this round, Valdi!"

"My plane's still comin' in hot!" Valdi said (from Xenoblade). He wore a black and blue sleeveless mechanic's uniform, brown shorts with yellow kneepads, and black and blue boots. His spiky hair was a pale-blondish color, he wore a blue glove on his left hand, while his right arm was mechanical. Valdi was slightly chubby, though not as much as Ralph.

Both boys raised their hands to welcome their planes for landing. "YEAH!" Ralph cheered, lowering Joaquin and his tiny cousin to his face. "You did us proud, Marty!"

"No one soars like a Gilligan, buddy!" the Kateenian thumbed up.

"You almost had him, Clive, great job!" Valdi offered a hand for the tiny bunny and chimp to hop onto. "Were there any problems?"

"I think the shield was a little off center." Clive replied. The bunny only wore a yellow cap with blue shorts and a red backpack where Wrench rested. "But it still held up okay!"

"A little tweak'll fix that." Valdi knelt down and placed Clive by his boots, Ralph setting Marty down as well. Marty pulled out the Weenifier and resized himself and Clive. "But you think you can race me directly, Ralph?"

"You bet I can! Right, Joaquin?"

"Joaquin!" The G.En.I.E. flew out of the plane in glee.

"Hey, Ralph!" Perry greeted, climbing up with Leila and Tiffi. "You having a secret meeting without me?"

"It's pilots only, man. Hey, it's that Mamodo girl!"

"She's Leila, man. Leila, this is my buddy, Ralph. Sorry his breath smells like hamburger."

"It's better than smelling like oilburger!" Ralph pointed accusingly at Valdi, who was eating a pale-bunned burger with oily ketchup, nuts, and bolts.

"Oilburger makes your brain bigger!" Valdi argued.

"More like your guts!" Perry pointed. "Hahaha!"

"That's it, Marty, shrink him." Ralph said.

"NOPE!" Perry used Tiffi as a shield.

"Eh heh." Tiffi blushed. "Leila, this is Valdi, our Miran operative. He's a Machina. Sort of a half-robot, half-organic alien."

"So, he's a cyborg like Pamoon?" Leila approached him.

"Technically not." Valdi smiled, allowing Leila to feel his arm. "Except I did lose my right arm in an accident and had to replace it with this." Valdi flexed the fingers of his mech arm. "So, I guess I am."

"Valdi's one of our medics." Tiffi explained. "He doubles as a mechanic, so he's pretty…"

"HANDY!" Ralph wanted the honor of making the joke.

"Booooo!" Perry moaned.

"I'm Clive!" the rabbit greeted (from Clive 'n' Wrench). "This here's my buddy, Wrench! We're the Mobius operatives!"

"Hi! So, there can be two people from the same planet?" Leila asked.

"Well, we do have three Mushroomians," Tiffi answered, "but they're different races. Wrench is technically…"

The chimp opened his face. "AAH!" Leila screeched, horrified by his circuitry innards.

"-my robot." Clive finished. "I built him myself!"

"Oh…cool!" Leila reached to shake Wrench's hand.

"So, care to watch me and Ralph race around the playground?" Valdi asked.

"Well, we can watch you while we're on our tour, right?" Perry asked.

"Fair enough." Ralph shrugged. "I'd rather not shrink around you, anyway."

"No problem, Blueberry Boy." Perry teased. "We're still going to Azoth after this, right?"

"You bet, man!"

The trio bobbed their way across a swaying bridge, leading to a hollow tower made up of many square panels with gaps in-between. It was designed for climbing and had a trampoline set up under it. They saw four kids hopping around inside the tower using the panels. "TAG!" Lulu Koda, Sector L's new Karate Frog, slapped the back of a humanoid dragon girl. "That's one more point for me, Firaga—ow!" But Lulu was smacked by a smaller girl of 5 years, with messy ginger hair and a pink dress.

"Now I got one, hah!" snapped Chima Midoriya, Lulu's half-sister.

"Not for long!" Jennu smirked, squatting against a panel and kicking after her.

"Yipe!" Chima quickly changed the direction of her gravity to avoid as best as she could, but Jennu's skill with the art was faster.

"Hey! What're you guys doing?" Perry called. "Wanna meet the new cadet?"

"Time out!" Jennu yelled. The four kids flew or leapt down to the tower's entrance. "Oh, it's Leila!"

"You already know Jennu the Zathurian operative." Tiffi said. "But this dragon girl is Numbuh Hellfire 13, Firaga, our Avalaran op. She's a Snack Supplier."

"Hey, Leila!" Firaga smiled. She had tan skin, pointed ears, and flowing orange hair. She had black and red dragon wings and a yellow-spined tail, along with a snaggle tooth, reptilian yellow eyes, and claws. Firaga wore a black ninja suit with sleeves broken off at the puffed shoulders, a belt with a Yin-Yang buckle, and Chinese shoes. "Wanna try a Lava Muffin?" She offered an orange muffin with lava cracks.

"Uh…is it safe?"

"Only if you got a tongue and guts of iron!" Firaga grinned humorously.

"As you can see, aliens have far lethal tastes from each other." Perry remarked.

"I don't suppose you're familiar with the dragon hero Spyro, are you?"

"Not… really." Leila answered. "I just know about a few dragon Mamodo from-"

"SPYRO'S MY GRANDPA!"

"And she loves telling people that!" Jennu laughed.

"Well, he's only the most famous dragon in the world! He could even use several elements because he's a purple dragon! And if I ever meet the assassin who got him, I'll MELT HIS SKULL!"

"You also don't wanna sit across from her at the table." Tiffi said. "She has… hot burps."

"This girl is Lulu." Perry introduced. "One of my new ops. She's from Superbia."

"She looks like Byonko…" Leila said.

"That's because… she's a frog." Perry wondered if Leila had ever seen a normal frog.

"Ribbit!" Lulu croaked. "And this is…" she gestured to her left, but was confused. "Chima, where are you?"

"Up heeeeeere!" Chima was holding her feet and "rolling" in the air.

"That's my half-sister! She's a gravitybender."

"Except hers works differently from mine." Jennu said. "She needs to touch things to make them float."

"Can we go back to playing?!" Chima asked. "Let's find Big Brother and ask him to play!"

"YOU HEARD HER, TROOPS!" Firaga shouted like a general. "Find Astro ON THE DOUBLE!" She took off across the playground. The gravitybenders flew after while Lulu made terrific leaps.

"That looks pretty fun!" Leila laughed.

"I know!" Tiffi cheered. "And it doesn't stop there!"

They reached a slide that slid down into a large sandbox. "Better take our shoes off. Don't wanna get sand in them." Perry suggested, the three doing so and storing them in Infi-Cubes. They slid down and welcomed their soles to the sand's soft warmth. However, it didn't seem as pleasant further ahead: two boys were in a violent battle, a spike-haired boy using sandbending and a raccoon-tailed boy using light.

"Hey, aren't those your operatives?" Leila asked, recognizing Spike and Jason. "Why are they fighting?"

"Because it's nature for strong kids to fight each other." Perry answered. "It's a fundamental part of kiddom… and a vital part of our job. But, you see those tiny things around Spike? Those are Pikmin."

There were small, colorful, leaf-headed creatures around Spike's feet. When he bent up a Sand Fist, a horde of Purple Pikmin surfed it. Jason would kick and splatter the fist, but the Purples would jump on his face and pound it. "Irk!" They didn't bruise him terribly, but it was irritating enough to bug him, so he smashed them against his face. Spike sent a quicksand wave, so Jason jumped to a different spot—"OUCH!" He felt spikes in his feet, raising them to see Silver Pikmin half-buried in the sand. "See, Isabelle, this is why I keep me sandals!" Jason blasted them away with a Light Fist.

"Better check above ya!" Spike yelled, sending a sand cloud over Jason's head. White Pikmin dropped droplets of sunscreen over the lightbender.

"Spike, you're cheating at this point!"

"That's the power of family, pally!" Spike held a hand up to his shoulder. A Minish girl with a yellow flower crown and pink dress jumped to high-palm him!

"Well, I'm done goin' easy on ya!" Jason charged straight at them, spinning his fists. Spike yanked up giant Sand Hands to grab and withstand the fists, but Jason rapidly brushed his feet against the sand to kick toward him. "W-Wait a minute!" The sand wound up glued to his hands and feet, allowing Spike to levitate and spin him around the air.

"Surprise!" Princess Mansherry cheered. "I hid Brown Pikmin in the sand. Now it's all stuck to ya!"

"See that little person on his shoulder?" Perry pointed. "That's the Minish princess. She's the Minish Supreme Leader."

"Wow! I didn't know there were people that small."

"And Spike is her cousin."

"Really?!" Leila jumped.

"Haha! I don't know all the details, but Spike is part-Minish. And he's their prince, too. You wouldn't know from looking though!"

Spike slammed Jason into the sand before erecting two giant fists to pound him in deeper. Jason managed to burst out in a flash of light, spinning and whipping a wave of light from his tail. Spike blocked the attack, but a snickering Jason flicked a Light Finger and sent Mansherry far back. "AH!"

"Haha!" Jason landed and quickly dashed around Spike, closing in on the fallen Minish. "Now I gotcha!" He reached an open hand to grab Mansherry, but Spike dashed to his cousin's defense and grabbed Jason's palm.

"No one grabs my cousin but me!" Spike dealt him a sand-uppercut. Some Ice Pikmin were riding on it, latching and attacking Jason's face to freeze it.

"And I thought Demolt was scary." Leila said. "So, is there a Minish operative in GKND?"

"Not really." Tiffi answered. "Most of the operatives didn't think our techy alien base was 'right' for them."

The trio hurried past the brawling boys before they could get swept up in the conflict. The sandbox would transition to a large, soft-floored field full of giant rubber crates and flour sacks. "AAAH!" They were taken aback when Mali came flying their way, the giant kindergartner almost crushing the group.

"AMANDA SMASH!" A massive, muscular, bald, green-skinned monster lunged and smashed Mali under a sack.

"Help me, Laruta! I'm being squished!"

"I'm trying, Mali—waaaaah!" Laruta was seized by a mechanical claw.

"Not on my watch!" Laruta's opponent seemed to be a huge, mechanical sphere with an eye window. The sphere tossed Laruta above and opened. "Repulsion!" Laruta was blasted skyward by an unseen force.

"They're in trouble!" Leila exclaimed, blasting large crescents at the Hulk-like monster. The beast growled and tumbled off Mali.

"No, stop!" Tiffi pushed her wand down. "She's one of ours!"

"Stop!" Mali pled. "We were playing Flour Fight!"

"What's going on, Amanda?" The mechanical eye rolled over. Laruta descended safely by belching gas downward.

"Hey, you Perry!" the monster said. It shrunk down and took the form of a 10-year-old girl with ponytailed brown hair and a white shirt (from Invincible). "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"This is Amanda, our Superbian operative." Tiffi explained. "Also known as-"

Suddenly, U.A. teacher Present Mic appeared. "MONSTER GIRL! Her Quirk: Monstrify! Born of a human and Namekian, she gained the metahuman ability to change between species at will! Her monster form gives her exceptional strength, but it has the unusual side effect of regressing her human age the more she uses it. She loses one year for every minute of use, and it takes one hour in human form to restore each year!"

"Present Mic?" Amanda asked. "Where'd you come from?"

"It's my job to fly to any Superbian who needs their Quirk explained!"

"That makes our job easier, I guess." Tiffi said. "Anyway, this is Leila, our new cadet."

"Hi, Leila!" Amanda waved, Mali rolling onto her front to face them. "Did you wanna play Flour Fight, too?"

"I would, but… I'm not sure I'm big enough."

"I mean, you're at least as strong, from what I remember." Perry said.

"Plus, I just fought an even littler girl who was pretty strong, too." Mali mentioned.

"Oh yeah…" Perry remembered something else he wanted to bring up at the meeting.

"I guess I could then." Leila smiled. "But who's that?" She pointed at the eye. "Is that an alien, too?"

"I'm Tatiana." The eye curved in a sheepish way (from Undead Unluck). "I'm a Superbian operative, here for guard duty. I'm actually-"

"TATIANA TOGATA!" Present Mic screamed, startling their eardrums. "Quirk: Untouchable! Her skin and hair generates a repulsion current, preventing anything from coming close to her! As a result, she can't wear clothes and stays confined in this specially made sphere. That said, chi-blocks and those with strong will can penetrate her repulsion, but she can extend its range to 30 feet. The repulsion opens over her mouth and nostrils, allowing her to breathe and eat meals."

"I WASN'T READY!" Tatiana sent him flying.

Perry chuckled. "I think Jolene's mom has a similar condition."

"Anyway…" Tatiana's eye shirked as she fiddled her robotic fingers, "nice to meet you all. Leila, have you ever had cake bars?"

"What are cake bars?"

"They're like cakes, but really thin and long. I've had them a lot since… I was put in here. The mango and sushi ones are my favorite."

"Maybe I could try one!"

"I'll go get them!" Amanda offered with a fist-pump. "There're some on your ship, right?"

"Uh-huh! Just watch out for those two."

Tatiana indicated two people brawling with fiery powers. They easily recognized Christina and her emerald flares, but her foe was a teenage, tan-faced boy with a red and yellow body suit and orange goggles. "REX SLOANE BAKUGO!" Present Mic screamed. "His Quirk: Explosion! He can throw explosive balls at his enemies!"

"That's kinda like… Milordo's power." Leila frowned.

"Don't worry, he's a nice guy at heart." Amanda smiled. "You just gotta be careful not to set him off."

"Which is impossible around Christina." Perry joked. They watched as Amanda hurried across the playground towards the parking lot… and it was through tracking her that Perry noticed a white hand sticking out from under a stone turtle. "Aha! Leila, follow me!" The Mamodo did so curiously.

Hyrule Leader Norman and his Head Guard Unzen had climbed the Swing Tree, a very tall, wooden palm tree with swing sets around its many platforms. Unzen lit up seeing Perry from his high swing. "Heh heh." He threw his Super Ball down.

"DWOW!" Perry tripped on the sudden metal ball, which would bounce and ricochet its way back to its master. "Grrrrr! UNZEN! I know that was you!"

"What're you gonna do about it?" Unzen sneered, throwing the ball down to ricochet all around the playground.

It zipped by Mushroomian Leader, T. Ode, who exclaimed, "WHOA! I've never seen a Super Ball move like that!"

"DWAH!" Its trajectory hit the wings of Ralph and Valdi's planes, the boys spinning out of control.

The ball would ambush Perry from behind—but a scythe blocked it. Perry lit up at Hiyuki King, Sector IC's timebender. She had white skin and smooth brown hair, sunset-colored eyes, and a purple shirt with black pants. When the ball met her scythe, Hiyuki used Rewind Deflect to return the ball all the way along its trajectory. It flew right back to Unzen and—"UGH!" hit the Sheikah's gut.

"That was on you, man." Norman chuckled.

"It went up there." Hiyuki pointed.

"Jasmine, Frasmine!" Perry shouted. "Instead of following me, go up that tree and teach Unzen a lesson!"

"Aye-aye, sir!" Jasmine saluted. She and her brother soared for the Swing Tree.

"Thanks, Hiyuki." Perry said as she crawled back under the turtle. "Leila, she's one of my ops, too. She only comes to playgrounds to take naps under things."

"I'm not napping." Hiyuki remarked with a smile. "I'm feeling the history."

"That… doesn't make any sense." Leila said.

"Alright," Perry crawled under and lay beside her, "then what's the history of this turtle?"

"It was brought here from a playground in Quahog." Hiyuki brushed her fingers along its rough surface. "The community was gonna remove it 22 years ago, but Mr. York wanted to preserve it. Then it was eventually added to this playground, when our parents built it 10 years ago."

"That's cool." Perry smiled. "…Hard to believe this place didn't exist when Dad was in charge. Council meetings must've been BORING!"

"Our parents had such a difficult time that they almost forgot the joys of childhood. They built this playground to remind us what the KND was founded on. So we could have better childhoods than they did…"

"Yeah…" Perry still couldn't believe how intense things were in their parents' time, even looking at the Masterson Games. He feared the day his own friends would experience such trouble… and it felt they were already spiraling that direction. But when he glanced at Leila, he again remembered how rewarding this job was. "It's been 1,000 years since you've seen a playground, huh? Did they even have them back where you're from?"

"Not really…"

"Then we gotta get out from this turtle and have some fun!" Perry grabbed Hiyuki and,

"WAAAAAH!" rolled her out of it, bowling Leila down and amassing her in the roll.

"Hahahahahahaha!" Perry stopped and let out a laugh, Tiffi sharing in.

"Pluh, I got woodchips in my mouth!" Hiyuki spat.

"Hehehehehe!" Leila giggled.

"There you are, Perry! We've been looking for you!" a British accent called. Perry perked up and looked upside-down at two approaching, blue-haired boys.

He rolled on his front for a clearer view. "Supreme Leader Ferdinand! And," Perry pushed up, "you're the Superbia leader, right?"

"Who do you think I am?" Astro asked. "I'm only-"

"BIG BRO!" Chima dropped down and crushed him to the ground. Lulu would then crush him deeper in the woodchips from a high hop.

"Wanna come play Tower Tag, ribbit?"

"Not nooooow!" Astro pushed them off.

"He's the son of Superbia's Top Hero." Tiffi finished for him. "That basically makes him a prince, too."

"We sure have a lot of royalty here." Leila replied.

"Yeah, but we're all equals out here!"

"Is it true, Perry?" Ferdinand asked. "You can draw the Master Sword now?"

"Huh? I never brought that up in the meeting."

"Your dad called mine and told him, then he told me!"

"Man, I was waiting for the best time to surprise everybody!"

"Wait, your two dads are friends?" Tiffi asked.

"Oh, yeah." Perry smiled. "But we never really hung out outside of meetings."

"Shame with being worlds apart." Ferdinand returned the look. "Much easier to hang out with next door neighbors, eh?"

"Yeah, but enough chitchat." Astro smirked. "Let's battle, Perry!"

"Battle?!"

"Let's see how tough the Master Sword really is." Ferdinand drew his sword, a silvery-blue blade with a complex gray hilt with green jewels. "My Mornstar and his Blacktorch against yours."

"What's the-"

"ASTRO MIDORIYA!" Present Mic scared them. "Quirk: Blacktorch! He can shoot ropes of black, solid mist like his father used to, but unlike him, Astro can shape it into any melee weapon of his choosing."

"Yeah…" Astro formed a black trident with a fiery-gold head. "So, think you're up for it?"

Perry smirked and grabbed his Gilded and Master Sword, drawing both blades in a cross. "It's still 2 vs. 2!"

"CHANGE OF PLANS, girls!" Firaga announced. "Alert the whole playground, this is the match of the millennium!"

"SIR, YES, SIR!" Jennu, Lulu, and Chima saluted.

Everyone crowded around the pavilion as the boys faced each other determinedly. "Alright, alright," Star nudged his way through the crowd, "break it up, break it up before we start another war."

"Sorry, Star," Tiffi stopped him, "this is a duel of honor."

"Well, as the old knights say," Ferdinand began, "enguard!" (Play "Battle Theme" from XC2!)

Ferdinand quickly positioned Mornstar defensively, focused on blocking the Master Sword while bending his body to evade the Gilded. The prince took a small cut before Perry spun to strike at Astro. The hero jumped back and thrusted a Blackspear, poking Perry's belly before the hero chopped the spear's head off. He spun his way to Astro, but his Blacktorch became a shield to block Perry's swords. The shield wasn't a sturdy solid, but more like a thick layer of tar. Astro reshaped the shield like ropes to try and yank the swords away, but Perry held on as he was pulled into the air. He spun to slice free of the whip, followed by a vertical spin attack to strike the hero. Perry then took a blow to the right from Ferdinand, who was swift to dodge Perry's retaliation swings. The Master Sword grazed him on the shoulder, but Ferdinand spun to cut Perry's left hip.

"Incredible!" Present Mic commentated. "Astro is 15, Ferdinand is 12, but Perry is only 9 and he's showing us that age means nothing on pure fighting spirit! They're just lucky their parents aren't around or they'd get a real talking to for playing with swords!"

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Lulu asked.

"My wife left me 'cause I kept blowing her ears off in bed!"

"That's… depressing…"

Ferdinand assaulted Perry with swift and forceful swings, blocking with the Master Sword while cutting through gaps with the Gilded, but Ferdinand caught onto this maneuver and threw a swing at the Gilded, sending it flying. Astro roped Perry's legs to prevent him from running to it, so he quickly sliced the Blacktorch before rolling to the sword. Astro and Ferdinand chased and thrusted their weapons (Blacktorch became a trident), but Perry would flip and dish the Helm Splitter to them both.

"Okay, that's cheap." Unzen said. He suffered burns from his brief spat with Jasmine while Frasmine left Norman with more than a cold shoulder. "Their heads should be ripped in half after that."

"The same sword can cut through steel, but it can't cut paper." Norman replied.

"What?"

"Heh, something my sword teacher taught me. Good swordsmen can control the will and force of their own sword, so it doesn't cut when the user doesn't desire to. Just what I'd expect from the Hero of Time. Even so, the damage from the swords are still strong, so those two are commendable in their own right."

Perry lunged at them with X-shaped slashes, the foes dodging backward while Astro swung Black Yo-yos at Perry. The rampant yo-yos pounded his face and tripped him. He saw Ferdinand's shoes incoming and did a ground spin, but he expected Ferdinand to jump and dealt an upward cut at the prince. Perry sprung up and chopped both swords down, Ferdinand blocking and pressing them back with Mornstar. Astro threw a Blackspear at Perry's back, breaking his hold as Ferdinand escaped and landed a blow. Perry hopped away from them and sheathed the Master Sword, charging chi into the Gilded. He targeted Astro and charged, the hero stretching the Blacktorch around him to prepare to block his swings. Perry spun with the River of Retribution, the rapid and powerful spins slicing through the net and striking Astro.

"FUHAHA!" Fukaboshi laughed. "That's Master Kawamatsu's technique!"

"Perry is AWESOME, Ralph!" Valdi cheered. "I wonder if he could fight our Aegises?!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Zeon chortled.

"Oi, Perry!" Jason yelled. "You need a third sword you can hold in your mouth! Ah heard about a pirate who could do that!"

"My brain has a hard time managing two!"

Perry dodge-rolled from Ferdinand's swing and stood to sheathe his blade. Ferdinand charged, but Perry surprised him with the Mortal Draw. Ferdinand barely blocked, but was knocked off-balance, so Perry went for a thrust. Perry would suffer a thrust from Astro's Black Trident, the hero reeling it back for a quick rebound, which Perry deflected with an upward swing. Perry drew and threw the Master Sword, Astro quickly forming a shield to catch it, but the younger hero would run and roll under the shield's gap to strike Astro. Ferdinand tried to ambush Perry in that state, but when the Black Shield retracted, Perry reclaimed his Master Sword and landed his own strike simultaneously. With both opponents on his sides, Perry did an upward jump strike and one more on the down swing, but the opponents dealt one final stab to him before they all collapsed on the ground. (End song.)

"Huff, huff, hoof…alright, I…I think I'm pooped now." Perry panted.

"Huff, you mean, you haven't, huff, been in harder battles than this?" Ferdinand breathed.

"No, I huff-ave, huff…but there's a difference between fighting for your life and huff-fighting with friends."

"For a scrawny guy, you're, sigh…pretty good with those things." Astro smiled.

"Man, they tuckered out like average school kids." Ralph laughed.

"Alright," Star rolled his eyes, "show's over, let's get back to the meeting. And please let's stay on topic and not talk about how good the fight was." However, his voice was already drowned out by the crowd going on about the fight.

Astro was carried by Tatiana, Ferdinand by Firaga, and Perry by Jas and Fras. "Well, that really interrupted our tour." Tiffi joked to Leila. "But did you have fun meeting everyone?"

"I already forgot who's in GKND, who's a Supreme Leader, and who's from what planet."

"Heheheh!" Tiffi blushed. "It was a pretty rushed way to meet people, huh?"

"Yeah, but… I feel really great about this." Leila smiled. "All I really wanted to do was… pay Perry and the rest of you back for helping me. Helping all of us."

"It's what we do." Tiffi took Leila's hand in comfort. "And it sounds like the kids of Mamon will learn how it feels, too. Pretty soon, you'll be some other kid's hero!"

"Haha! Hmmm…" Leila looked toward the council building with hope. So many children talking about their deeds and making the universe greater. Next year was going to be a great one, she knew it.

…

"So, until Mamon's tournament concludes, let's all be ready to welcome another world of friends!" Star concluded. "But going from that, I'd like to discuss matters with the Vil Galaxy next. Has anyone got any other matters first?"

"I do, actually!" Perry raised a hand.

"Perry, I swear if you goad this whole room to challenge you…"

"No, no, I was gonna do that afterward! I wanted to ask… Have any of your sectors encountered any villains who called themselves letters?" This sparked murmurs of confusion. "'Cause, in my sectors' recent reports, they met some villains who called themselves B, E, F, X…"

"Oh, I remember." Fukaboshi replied, frowning. "Jinbe told me of those fairy hunters. They were never captured…"

"Wait!" The Glacian Leader raised her hand. "Last month, we found Sector FRO petrified in the Arendelle Ruins! We asked help from Avalar to fix them, and they said they were attacked by a lady called 'V'."

"Sector Six-Two fought a burglar in a lightsaber shop two weeks ago." The Coruscant Leader said. "He was wearing a black hood and wielded red lightsabers. They said he called himself S."

"Hmmm…" So, there were other people like that, Perry thought. This couldn't be a coincidence…

"Perry, could you tell us a little more about your sectors' reports?" Star asked. "If these villains are connected, there should be other commonalities between them."

"I…I'm not sure if there are. One of them appeared in both W and IC's reports, but the two incidents weren't connected at all. It started with…"

Azure Lounge (Play "Behind the Lore" from Cold Steel!)

Three men shared drinks at a pig-shaped table. "So, ya left old Y to himself, did you?!" laughed a clown with a wicked smirk and purple tux. "Overlord's gonna chew you out for that!"

"And you didn't even finish his job…" A man with a black robe and red and black head with spikes said, his yellow eyes glaring.

"I was running to ambush those kids." The Huntsman, H argued. "But I couldn't help but notice… the paper cranes fluttering in the air above. It seemed someone else was looking out for them. Getting into a fight then would've been too risky. Besides, Y is the one who let them get away. He can break himself out of prison."

"But that's TWO Enforcers we have in jail now!" J – The Joker laughed. "We can't have them spilling all our secrets, can we, Sithy?" He slapped S's head, "OUCH! So, those ARE real spikes?! I thought that was just a bad hairdo!"

"Our mages enchanted them so their presence in this space can't be uncovered with mind-reading, Past Sight, or other such arts." S – The Sith said. "But you know how Y is. He could be dropping intel about us just so his captors will keep him alive. As for L… she was pathetic to begin with. We should just have someone go and-"

"Mmm." They heard a light, feminine grunt. They glanced over at M – The Mirror, her stare cold.

"Now, that's not nice~" Joker frowned and drawled in a teary manner. "That's her best friend you're talking about. Now she has no one to be her dolly, boo hoo hoo hoo."

"Don't dare mock our comrades' feelings." Another girl spoke threateningly.

"Eh?!" J gasped, seeing a red, digital cloud above their table. A floating girl with white skin and hair narrowed her red eye at him. The skirt and sleeves of her black dress were fizzing out with red 0's and 1's. "I, aren't you supposed to be in the lab? It's almost time for your big show, right?"

"The tests are proceeding smoothly. But I would like L to be there for the Aionios Project as well. One of you should retrieve her."

"She's not necessary for that project." S inferred.

"But she may be an asset to the following Mamon Project." M said. "If the Aionios Project goes well, we'll have the chance to save her."

"Hey! I! Time for the next, burp, test." A spike-haired man in a labcoat called, leaned drunkily on an open door. "It's almost time, burp, gotta iron out the last bugs before the, burp, project. 'Cause lemme tell ya, I, burp, you don't want bugs all over your project, because they'll eat all the cardboard, burp, inside and out, and the whole thing'll fall apart, I, burp."

I landed beside M. "Don't worry. L will be with us again before that time's Christmas. I'll make sure this project goes right." M only stared as I followed the Genius.

The half-digital girl was hooked to a machine attached to a complex computer. The Genius began navigating a labyrinth of code. "Time for our next test!" Son Goku declared with an enthusiastic fist-pump. Yes, he was clearly Goku, looks and voice and all, standing in the Genius's lab. "I have Towa Academy on field trip at a deserted island! Let's make a convincing paradise for them! Me and Q can fill in for them at the school easy." A cyclone of clothes whirled around Goku as he became Solid Snake. "Watching a bunch of kids kill each other for amusement… I'm one sick bastard, ain't I? Heh."

"Yeah, great, Cosplayer, burp," the Genius rambled, "but there's more, we need one more thing, Cosplay-BURP, call C for… C-Call C, tell him, there's somethin' I need… I need C to get somethin', BURP! In Az-somethin'…something with an 'A.' Get, get AA to go, too, burp, have AA go with him."

"Sounds like you need to visit AA yourself."

"Yeah yeah, really funny, burp, God I need to pee. W-Watch this thing for me, I need, gulp use the john." The scientist swayed his way out of the room.

The amphitheater was lonely except for three boys. A baldheaded youth sat in the center and watched the scenes flicker away on-screen. A silver-haired teen and a thin boy with blue-black hair stared at him. "Why does U spend all his time in here?" K asked.

"Because he's not like most of the others!" E answered jovially. "He doesn't want to escape a cursed fate. He wants to live in an Endless Now! I'm no different, really… and neither are you. Still, even the King claims he's special among the time-travelers. U – The Unchanged never wanted to grow up. Never wanted to evolve. The future is terrifying for all of us… but none more than him."

"It's… kind of sad."

"Oh, who are you to judge? Come, let's bring him some ice cream. Cherry's his favorite, right?"

U sat silently as the film replayed over and over… starting once more at that special treehouse. Above him, the King watched from his balcony seat… sneering beneath his piggish nose.