Web of Determination

Free Kingdom; The Overground

Sheila, Mason, and Tani emerged from a Paint Portal within a tight, underground tunnel. A faint light glimmered from a pool of water, reflecting off the tiny crystals on the ceiling. "Ah, feels good to be back, doesn't it, Tani?" Mason joked.

"Why would it? This isn't Evermore. Personally, I could care less about the other islands." Tani replied coldly. "…Okay, that's a lie. A lot of these people are in the same boat as we are, I guess."

"It'll all be over once we knock these pirates outta the sky, Tani!" Sheila cracked her knuckles with a smirk. "Then we'll fix a way to bring these islands back where they belong."

"Then let's get started with the pirates on this island." Mason insisted. "We can't keep Sunni waiting, can we?" (Play "Waterfall" from Undertale.)

Stage 32: The Overground

Mission: Do a Genocide Run.

With Mason holding Sheila, the three dove into the pool and had to swim against a strong current, Tani doing Torpedo Spins, Sheila her tail, combined with Mason's Gas Boost. They resurfaced above a beautiful, sky-blue river, contrasted with a crystal ground that sparkled like the stars above them. Lilipads and cattails decorated the water, and large blue flowers grew from the rugged ground. The trio climbed onto shore and approached a floating anglerfish with blue hair covering one eye. She blushed, remaining turned when she sensed the strangers behind her. "…Si fa si fa so fa so mi…" she hummed quietly.

"That's a Shyren. Be careful around her." They were approached by a blue turtle with a bathtub shell, a small yellow bird bathing in it. "She can only speak to Echo Flowers. It makes her feel like there's someone that understands her inner-most dreams."

"Aww, that's so sweet." Mason smiled.

"Do you believe stars can grant wishes?" Woshua asked. "What would you wish for?"

Sheila spared a glance at the adorable Shyren. It was almost half-tempted to glance back at her. "…Well, I sure wish I didn't have to do this."

Without mercy, Sheila PUNCHED Shyren out of the air, the fish lain defeated on the ground. Woshua screamed and shot a spiral Water Beam, Tani dodging and running around the turtle to bash it unconscious as well, its little bird friend crying. All other creatures in the area screamed and fled for their lives, with Mason launching Gas Bombs to take a few of them down. "Time to start acting like the pirates we are and CRUSH this kingdom!" Sheila declared. Shyren Agents (big-lipped worms) slithered up to them in a fury, but Sheila punched them into submission with little effort.

The area they were in was composed of a maze-like path around the water, and the only way out was via a rolled-up ladder above the waterfall. Sheila determined the best route leading to the waterfall, going to a starting point and beginning to build momentum as she raced around the paths. With her Light Feet, she was able to race up the waterfall, though she used her tail to float up when she threatened to fall. She unrolled the ladder so her friends could climb up. The river flowed between a trench, and there was a giant flower they could use as a boat. Tani used plantbending to lift it into the river, as well as keep it afloat to carry the three upstream.

There were gelatin-like creatures floating on lilipads; these Moldsmals spat homing pellets at the intruders, Sheila knocking them away with light while Mason blasted the Moldsmals off with Gas Bombs. Tani struggled to will their flower to lift up a short waterfall. On this next segment of river, Tani maneuvered the flower around waterfall pillars that could submerge their ride. They were nearing a shore, where another Moldsmal was waiting—it suddenly grew to five times its height and became a Moldbygg, its segments floating with the top one shooting bubbles at them from its eye. Said bubbles would explode, so Tani worked to evade them, leaving Sheila to bombard the eye with Light Spheres. Once the top segment was defeated, the next one down would expose its eye, and the pattern repeated until Sheila downed the whole thing.

The three stepped off and entered a dark cavern. For some reason, Sheila was unable to light her body completely, so her bending was of little use in this pitch-blackness. Mason walked forward carelessly, screaming as he walked off the edge, but Sheila saved him from falling the seemingly endless drop. Tani noticed the faint glow of a lantern in the dark, and Sheila could shoot a weak Light Sphere to light it up. The dim light of the lantern grew strong enough to highlight the path, but as it was only barely visible, they progressed calmly. Sheila hit other lanterns to keep the path visible, snaking and going up or down stairs.

"Oi, do you guys smell that?" Tani asked, sniffing. "It smells like… paint?"

Mason and Sheila sniffed. "Yeah, definitely! It smells like it's comin' from… there?" Mason got down and sniffed along the ground until he discovered a path covered with black paint. It seemed that it was meant to camouflage with the darkness even with the glowing lanterns. Curious, they followed the path until they came upon a glittering cave, frolicking with white cats with black hair, blue sweaters, and derpy faces. "Whoa, did we discover a secret village of cats?!" Mason exclaimed.

"Too bad we got a job to do." Tani remarked, already lashing Vine Whips at the cats. The Temmies retaliated by stretching to the ceiling via their legs, trying to walk above the invaders and Ground Pound them, but once they came down, Sheila Ground Pounded in turn. Tani wrapped vines around one's legs to make it trip before attacking the body, all the while Mason worked to pollute the cave with gas.

"'ey, what's the big idea?! Cough, I can't breathe, hack!" They noticed someone stuck to the wall via a psychic spider-web, a blonde boy with green tights.

"Are you a prisoner?" Tani asked.

"Why else would I be stuck up here?! These cats have been using me as a scratching post for weeks, get me down!" Tani applied Haki to her spear to cut Peter free, Mason waving the gas away to give him breathing room. "Thanks, at last! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find Master Doffy."

"You're one of Doflamingo's friends?" Mason asked. "Jump in the Infi-Cube, we'll take you to find him."

"That little thing? I hope there's snacks, at least." Peter jumped in. After ensuring all the poor kitties were defeated, the trio left the village and followed the faint path all the way to the end, exiting outside.

"A-Attention, all monsters of the Overground p-please evacuate. Th-There is a dangerous band of enemy pirates a-attacking the island, a-and are hurting everyone in sight, s-so please leave until further notice!" Alphys' voice stuttered across the island. Zombified trolls rose out of the ground, either lashing whips or shooting crossbows. Tani countered the latter with her own arrows and Sheila dodged the whips, making her way up to punch those trolls down. Still, the zombies felt no pain and were determined to keep fighting, so the girls mercilessly beat them until their bodies fell to pieces.

Tani gasped and dodged a large arrow in the nick of time. For just a moment, the arrow felt familiar, and only by looking forward were her questions answered. Horror flooded her features upon seeing the corpse of Batu. "D…Dad?" The burly pirate showed no reaction or remorse in his soulless, psychic eyes, loosing the next arrow at his daughter. Tani dodged and yelled, "DAD, it's me! It's Tani!"

"Tani, he has no will of his own!" Mason reminded. "He's just an empty shell, same as all these bodies!"

Although Tani was already aware of this, just hearing it out loud and seeing it in person made her well up in anger. "AAAAAGH!" The girl charged at Batu and spear met with axe. "YOU BITCH! LET MY DAD GO! Don't let her control you like this, Dad, FIGHT BACK!" The psychic in Batu's veins empowered his muscles and willed him to fight with as much ferocity as if he were conscious.

"Tani, hey!"

"Just let 'er be, Mason." Sheila ordered. "It's her fight." They looked upon the pirate family with pity, distraught that it had to come to this. The duo trusted Tani to win and crossed a bridge stretching over a lava river. White Seals rolled on large circus balls, hoping to knock them off, but Sheila punched the seals off the back with Light Spheres, then performed roundabout punches to knock the balls off the bridge. After fully crossing into the Hotland zone, they viewed a valley with little volcano creatures with happy, sleeping faces. The smoke from the Vulkins caused thunder clouds to appear and strike lightning, the duo evading and blasting their elements as a countermeasure.

The Vulkins were startled awake and spat fire, the two remaining elusive and attacking until the creatures were down. They approached a sales booth where a humanoid cat man was selling Fireproof Bounce Gum, his face in a panic. "H-H-Hey, did you kids hear about some nasty pirates attacking the Overground? I-I sure hope they don't come here, haha-" Sheila shut him up with her fist. The two stole some Bounce Gum and looked into a lava river with burning platforms. Praying that it wasn't false advertising, they blew up the gum, seated their selves on, and bounced across the fires.

The platforms led to a wider path that was still on fire. Pyropes, flame-headed monsters with rope bodies and grins, bounced around like springs and spat explosive fireballs. They would easily dodge Sheila's spheres, but when she punched at the ground to let her attacks ricochet back up, they would successfully hit and end the Pyropes' bouncing. The Bounce Gum deflated once they landed on safe ground. The duo approached a hotel labeled 'MTT' in fun and welcoming golden letters, yet the outside was not so pleasant as the door and windows were sealed with metal shutters.

Zombie trolls awoke outside, throwing ball-n-chains that Sheila countered with her fists, the balls rotating back and bashing their own users in the heads. During their mild dizziness, Sheila destroyed their heads with Light Beams. She turned her attacks on the entrance, but the shutters were unbreachable. "Sheila, look at this graffiti." Mason indicated red spray paint on the right corner wall, reading not a secret. When the two felt around that wall, they noticed some looseness, and one Gas Bomb was enough to blow it open. All the monsters inside panicked knowing their haven was breached, but the pirates spared no one in their rampage.

The center of the lobby had a fountain statue of Mettaton, and a massive punch from Sheila dented the statue, causing water to pour onto the carpet. Mason chugged Green Flurp and soiled the restaurant with more devastating Gas Bombs, and Sheila burst into a room with a bed large enough for six people, deciding to destroy it with a Ground Pound, but its supreme bounciness forced her up through the ceiling and through another bed.

Sheila had intruded on two cats in a make-out session: one was Tabbias, a yellow Mobian in a blue vest, and the other was a purple cat with blue overalls. "OH MY GOSH! Have you ever heard of privacy?!" Catty shouted.

"By Jove, that's the Sunny Fist!" Tabbias recognized. "The one Tani clashed with, it is."

"Well, she's not gonna like, rat us out is she??"

"Relax, love, she ain't with the crew, though I'm a bit worried she-"

Sheila grew tired of their banter and knocked them both out. "Get a room, ya lovesick pussies." She stuffed them both in the Infi-Cube.

After she and Mason finished tearing the place apart, the two approached an elevator labeled 'Lab.' "As if I would ever let you two on here!" Alphys called. This didn't stop Sheila from blowing the door open with a charged punch. Regardless, the elevator was inactive, so they jumped through the top hatch and began to climb a rope up the shaft. Mason panicked when zombie-trolls were climbing after them, like sinners desperately climbing a thread to heaven. Mason shot rear Gas Bombs to push the dead back, but they were climbing ever faster. "Alright, only one thing we can do!" Mason mustered his chi and performed a Gas Rocket, Sheila seating herself on his head as Mason elevated them both. They changed position around the rope to avoid electric Amps, but Mason slowed to a halt once they were level with the exit. Sheila charged another Light Sphere and broke the doors open before the trolls could catch up.

"AAH!" Alphys screamed. "Mettaton, attack!"

"Smile for the camera, darlings~" The dancer-bot skied forth, bent his legs, and swung a kick—Sheila moved away and held her foot at the perfect angle to trip him. "Ohwuh-wuh-wuh…WHOOOOAAA…" Mettaton took the fall down the elevator, taking the horde of zombie-trolls down with him.

With that, Mason and Sheila faced a shuddering Alphys. "P-Please spare me." The reptile bowed, knowing her Power Level of 20 was nothing to them.

"Well, that depends." Sheila smirked. "Ya got a flagpole somewhere?" She handed Alphys a balled-up, golden Raccoon flag.

"Eh… outside?"

"Perfect! We're gonna do something." Sheila casually lifted the lightweight lizard and walked outside. Seeing the Serket flagpole in question, Sheila hurdled Alphys at the top, replacing Serket's flag with Sheila's, though the action knocked Alphys out cold. Sheila and her mate grinned and high-fived. (End song.)

"Okay, you've had your fun." As if on cue, Commander Serket herself appeared above the lab, staring at them with a condescending aura. "Honestly, what do you two have to gain 8y destroying my island? If you wanted an audience with me, all you had to do was ask."

"That ain't the only thing." Mason stated. "We're bringing an end to this Free Kingdom. No one's gonna wanna live here when the whole place gets ravaged by pirates!"

"Ah, children get the wildest ideas sometimes!" Serket smiled humorously. "8ut sometimes, you just have to put your foot down and stick 'em to the we8." A Psy-Web stretched from her open hand to trap the two, until a twirling lightsaber burned the sticky threads.

Her expression fierce, Sunni immediately threw a Psy-Sphere up and blew Serket skyward, the troll kicking it away, but Sunni had instantly warped above and threw another sphere to force Serket to the ground. She crashed in a fluff-covered field in Snowdin, blowing the snow away as Sunni landed. Aranea pushed herself off the ground. "Oh… it's, uh… it's you again." She scratched her head awkwardly. "You…You certainly taught me a thing or two a8out revenge." She smiled blushingly. "What with throwing Undyne down to the 8oogey Pir8s."

"You mean you never got her back?"

"Sadly, no. Cortez 8egan to overpower me and 8ellum took her who-knows-where. I know she isn't dead, otherwise I would 8e a8le to warp her 8ack to me… 8ut I guess I deserve it, don't I? For killing your sister and all…"

"Yeah, maybe you do. But you know what? I'm tired of feeling despair. I'm sick of the anger, the worrying, the pain, the sadness… Just when I was getting in tune with my Psychic Chi, just when I learned to let my imagination run free, so many terrible things started happening! And because of them, it became harder and harder to focus my chi! But don't think it's going to slow me down any. The Free Kingdom is going to fall, and you're going first!"

"In that case, here's a little more 8ad news." Serket frowned. "Even though it was an accident… I might have killed your sister, anyway. The outcome of this war will be gre8r than you realize, and for that reason, I'm resolved to win no matter what. For the sake of freedom in the Overground, and freedom for all 8eings, I have to defeat any who stand in our way, even you KND, even if you ARE Vriska's friend… I'm resolved to kill you all if it comes to it."

Sunni carved a symbol in the ground with her lightsaber, planting her hand to it. From a puff of smoke, Mary Goldenweek appeared, crayons between her fingers and a fierce glare on her features. "I'm ready, Sunni! Is that the evil spider lady?!"

"She sure is, Mary. I'll need both of you to help me beat her." Sunni pressed her hand to the symbol again and poofed another person into being: she looked like Mary, except her blonde hair was spiked. She wore a torn green top with an exposed belly, red shorts with black splattered designs, and blue sandals. She wore gold rings on her right fingers and her body had bruises around it.

"So, that's the one, huh?" Yram smirked, cracking her knuckles. "Let's beat the shit outta her, Mary!"

"Eww, I don't wanna make her go poopy!"

"She's a freakin' spider lady, she'll just poop webs!"

"Ah hahahaha!" Serket laughed. "Isn't that the cute pair you have? 8ut let's see how well they compare to a real warrior." (Play Asgore's theme from Undertale!) Aranea threw her arms apart, focusing psychic on the spot before her: she seemed to be teleporting a bulky mass into being. The figure that appeared was a large, mighty goat in purple and yellow king's attire, a crimson trident in hand. The king's eyes brimmed with no soul, but Serket's psychic.

"This man is King Asgore, a no8le king who sacrificed himself so his citizens could 8e free. For his sake, we will not allow his people to fall in this war! We refuse to 8ecome slaves to those wretched Emperors! So, face the fury of Asgore's determin8ion!"

Boss fight: Serket Pir8s Captain, ARANEA SERKET

Asgore twirled his trident and leapt circles around the girls, throwing swarms of fireballs. Though there were many, the flames were small enough for the Marys to dodge around, though once Asgore finished jumping around, he lunged at the girls and swiped his trident. The two ducked as Mary drew dark-blue crayon on his right hand, and Yram punched him in the groin with ringed knuckles. Asgore flew back, his eyes flashing either blue or orange three times. The girls tried to run, but suffered blows from the blue swipes, while evading the orange swipe. Asgore leapt to stab down at Mary, but she rolled away and colored yellow on the trident, mildly shocking Asgore. Yram then leapt for a punch to the face, the effect of which was more heated, as Mary had colored her rings orange.

Asgore willed multiple flaming circles to surround the girls, but because his right hand had been wetted by Mary, there were gaps through which the girls could jump through and survive. Asgore threw his trident, the two dodging as it magically returned, and he resumed leaping around the field and throwing from multiple angles. During one of these throws, Mary colored White Crayon on Yram's knuckles, then the Negative leapt onto the thrown trident to ride it like a horse upon its return. She double-punched Asgore in the face, the Glue Crayon sticking her to him as the goat furiously flailed to shake her off. Yram remained glued and was bent above his head, bending her legs down and around his neck in an attempt to twist it off.

Trusting that fight to them, Sunni and Serket took to the sky, the former throwing rounds of Psy-Spheres that the troll caught in webs. The spheres would whirl around like tetherballs in midair, creating an obstacle course as Sunni tried to chase Serket around them. Her foot got stuck on one of the webbed spheres, whirling her around before she cut free with her lightsaber, but then Serket willed the webs to compress and explode the spheres, bouncing Sunni all around. When it was over, Sunni screamed as Serket sank her fangs into her back neck, but Sunni instinctively imagined a giant fly-swatter to smash her against herself. Sunni could kick her off and bat her around with the swatter, Serket warping away and flying skyward.

As Sunni pursued her, Serket spread a Psy-Web across the sky in fractal forms, almost hypnotizing Sunni and making it difficult to dodge the webs she was actually throwing. Serket finished by throwing a web that would continuously expand like the fractals, but Sunni shrank herself to go through a gap before ex-expanding. She nearly reached Serket, but the troll sprouted another web that suddenly wrapped around Sunni in a spherical manner, the human reacting by slicing a symbol in the web and putting her hand to it. "Froggy, eat her!" A large, green frog Friend in Indian attire poofed into being and caught Serket on his tongue, gulping her.

Serket bashed him around from inside, so Froggy aimed downward and spat with the force of a cannon. Sunni teleported in her trajectory and positioned her lightsaber to slice Serket down the middle. Mary and Yram, having brought down Asgore for the time being, watched as the severed Serket halves crashed, but both halves got to their feet and reunited the body via Psy-Webs. "Where I'm from, we 8elieve that if a soul possesses enough Determin8ion, it can still survive in its dead 8ody. My Determin8ion is what allows me to live, and I can use psychic to spread it to others! Just ask the Everyman!" Serket summoned a tall, cartoonish, human-ish being with a half-formed embryonic beak, psychic blue eyes on its dead face.

The Everyman yanked its head off, releasing a swarm of undead butterflies that swarmed the Marys. Sunni brought Froggy down to quickly snatch and eat the flies, though their dead bodies were less than appealing. Sunni had to send the Friend home once he had enough, but Yram was able to punch and squish the remaining bugs out of the air. The Everyman chucked its head and knocked Yram away, the head psychically returning so it could repeat its maneuver. Mary colored her shoes with Electric Crayon to run with lightning speed, using her palette knife to slice up the Everyman until its body fell to pieces.

"AAAH!" Mary was tackled by a recovered Asgore, the king pressing her to the ground, and with his trident hand, he swatted a charging Yram away. Mary colored the hand with Flame Crayon, heating it up as the hand started to rot, so Asgore quickly brushed the flame off, allowing Mary to escape.

Serket summoned a Reaper Bird, a bird with a long, skinny neck, a massive eye with sharp teeth for sclera, and no main body except for loose dead feathers. Every time it "blinked," it would send teeth shockwaves at Sunni, the first few scratching her face before she caught on. She summoned Dilloknight, an armadillo in knight's armor, which helped the Friend endure the bites as it battled the bird. Sunni resumed chasing Serket, the latter having to change course in a heartbeat when the human kept warping. Serket was able to snag Sunni in a web—or so she thought as it was only an illusion, the real Sunni beheading her with the saber. The body shot a web from its foot to catch Sunni, the head bouncing and facing Sunni with a grin. "8ut it's kinda funny: you summon Imaginary Friends, I summon the 8odies of dead friends, so we're 8oth kinda sad, don't you think?"

"At least if my Friends died, I would let them rest in peace!" Sunni used psychic to control her saber and cut herself free. Serket, her head reattached, grew four psychic spider legs and crawled after her, Sunni flying to escape, though Serket willed a webbed path to stretch to the air and continue pursuit. Sunni tossed Psy-Spheres, Serket jumping to dodge and forming webs to land on the spot. She latched a Psy-Web at Sunni and pulled herself to, enclosing her limbs around the human to bite her face, Sunni exploding a psychic barrier to blow her off.

Sunni dropped to the ground and drew up another symbol, Serket leaping to bite her, but Sunni finished in the nick of time and caused her to bite Mushpot, a red mushroom Friend with a troll face. Serket was unable to pull free of the sticky mushroom, allowing Sunni to bash her with a psychic hammer. Serket summoned Nameless, a bulky corpse with an eye on the chest, and a round head with no features. It roared eerily and wobbled over to grab and strangle Mushpot, the Friend crying in fear as Sunni sent it back. Sunni threw a sphere at the corpse, but it failed to push its bulky body, Nameless surviving the explosion as it chased after Sunni.

Sunni flew away and summoned Chompjaws, a giant Chain Chomp Friend with spiked tentacles. It lashed one at Nameless, the corpse grabbing and yanking it off, but the tentacle divided into bombs that exploded. The beast was steadily becoming weakened, so Sunni hurriedly slashed it up with her saber before Chompjaws engulfed Nameless, chewing it to pieces. Serket caught Chompjaws' head in a large web, swinging the monstrous Friend at Sunni, who warped to evade the attacks before banishing Chompjaws back home. "WAH!" Sunni was caught in Serket's cleared web, the troll smashing her to the ground repeatedly.

Sunni teleported herself to safety, recomposing herself. She imagined a skyscraper appearing above Serket and crushed the spider with its full weight, but with a sprightly grin, Serket raised the entire structure up with her arms. Serket brought the building down on its conjurer, so Sunni teleported to the sky, materializing thousands of square panels. Serket cocked a brow in curiosity, for Sunni was creating a complex maze from those panels. Serket shrugged in a way that said, 'Sure I'll play along,' entering the maze and wandering its endless corridors. Sunni was moving the panels around and transforming the maze, and once Serket caught on, she began to blow down the panels, though Sunni willed replacements to form.

"HYAH!" Upon breaking a panel, a valiant prince galloped on a horse, catching Serket on his jousting lance. The maze vanished as Prince Charming galloped across the ground. "I shalt smite thee, foul demon of the afterlife!"

"Me, too!" Sunni warped in their path and leapt to behead Serket, and quickly burned and diced the head up with her saber. "WOH!" Charming cried as the body kicked him back, afterwards yanking the lance out and chucking it at the prince, Sunni guarding him with a barrier. Tiny, psychic strings began forming and linking to reform the shape of Serket's head. "No way, even a corpse shouldn't be able to do that!"

"That's what Determin8ion does for ya, sweetheart!" Serket's head screwed itself back on the body, beaming perkily. "If I'm determined enough, even if you cut my 8ody down to a molecular scale, it'll form right 8ack. If you perfected this power, you'd never have to lose any8ody. Liiiike… YOUR SISTER!" And with that, the corpse of Darcy Chariton appeared at her behest, her eyes blue and soulless as the others.

Sunni didn't even have time to be horrified before Darcy started attacking her with Fire Kung-Fu, the elder sister merely dodging. "How?! She was on base, I saw her in the morgue before coming here!"

"I still left my mark on her when I killed her, juuuuust in case. I can summon dead 8odies from anywhere 'long as they have the mark." Darcy used Fishman Karate to turn the surrounding snow into liquid and lash water gushes at Sunni. The elder flew skyward, but Darcy mimicked with her own psychic, thrusting herself at Sunni with Earth Style headbutts. Sunni hacked blood and fell to the ground from the strong attacks, raising her lightsaber when Darcy came again—though realizing this was her sister, she jumped away instead.

"Face it, Sunni! I'm unkilla8le, invinci8le, and have an army of dead at my 8ehest. No matter how much you attack me, so long as I have Determin8ion, my chi will never wear out."

Darcy yanked Sunni's saber away with psychic and leapt to slash her sister. "BACK OFF!" Yram leapt from the side, dealing a ringed punch to the corpse, Darcy dropping the sword. Darcy got to her feet and exchanged punches with the Imaginary, her Fire Kung-Fu burning Yram's knuckles. Yram retreated to let Mary draw Water Crayon and cool the knuckles, but Asgore leapt forth to bat them away with his trident. Sunni threw a Psy-Sphere at Asgore, but Darcy kicked it back, blowing Sunni across the field.

In Waterfall, Tani was still in battle with her late father, trying only to disarm him of his axe and not wound his corpse in any way. She flipped above and bashed his head with the hilt, landing behind to kick his butt, but leapt back when Batu did a spin attack. "I'm not gonna desecrate your body! I'll just keep fighting you until you snap out of it! There's no way that woman is controlling you, these are your exact moves. Some part of you must be conscious. Please, just recognize me!"

Sunni groggily recovered, seeing the glowing eyes of Darcy through the dust. After confirming she was still awake, Darcy threw a Flame Fist, but Sunni grabbed it in her hand, enduring the heat and looking Darcy in the eye. "It isn't just Aranea's psychic giving you life… it's your memory. Your body remembers how it fights. So, that means…" Her own eyes glowed, focusing the slightest flow of chi into Darcy's, "your brain must have some function. Remember who I am. Remember that we're a team, Darcy!"

Darcy punched her other fist, so Sunni grabbed it as well. Both worked desperately to overpower the other, be it Darcy's fists or Sunni's focus. Miraculously, there was a reaction in Darcy's dead eyes, her head hanging limp, but her body was still under orders to melt Sunni's palms in her heated fists.

The Marys dodged more of Asgore's fireballs, then the king's eyes flashed blue three times and orange once: they remained still, surviving the blue attacks, then moved to survive the orange. They smirked, proud of their selves for recognizing the trick, then Mary colored Yram's knuckles to deal a fiery uppercut. Mary ran to color Metal Crayon on Asgore's feet, weighing the corpse down as Yram kept beating it. "AAH!" They screamed when Serket raised them by the necks. "Bitch, focus on your own fight!" Yram yelled.

"Yeah! This isn't fair! L-Let me… go…" Mary gasped for breath.

"Honestly, you girls would work perfectly in the Free Kingdom. Just ditch Sunni and 8ecome my Imaginary Friends! Imagine all the super cool places we can visit after…?!" Serket felt a disturbance. "Hey… what is that girl…?"

Sunni had mentally linked her mind to Darcy's, their psychic brains linking perfectly like pieces to a puzzle. Psychic webs were wrapped around her dead brain, and Sunni followed those webs up to their core—Serket—and felt all the many interlinking points of the web—the other corpses. "Darcy… you and I are a team. I'll always keep your spirit beside me, and I'll fight strong enough for both of us. Together, our Determination is strongest!"

Sunni's psychic was interfering with Serket's orders. Darcy's psychic was melding perfectly with Sunni's, and the fire in her hands died down. Sunni sighed with relief and gently held Darcy's hands in her charred ones. Darcy's body remembered Sunni's chi and allowed it to work with her, and vice-versa. Both their minds took hold of the web in Darcy's mind. Sunni focused rage to the web, and thus Darcy did so as well, an unseen electricity traveling along the entire unseen web like a wire.

"NYAAAH!" cried Serket, a strange force overcoming her, as if all points of her web were becoming imbalanced and detached. "8ut… it should 8e my Determin8ion controlling them! My psychic control can't 8e overpowered!"

"Your psychic links with your victims and disallows any interference." Sunni said. "But my bond with Darcy's psychic breaks that barrier, and together, we take control of the web. And we'll set it on fire!"

Tani's spear met Batu's axe, pushing against the other… until Tani felt weakness in her father's resolve. His bushy brows narrowed, and he reached his left hand to pat his daughter's shoulder. That was his body's last instinct before falling dead. "Sniff…" Tani burst into tears, her little arms hugging the best they could. Even if there were an ounce of life left, it was gone now.

Mary and Yram landed in the snow after Serket dropped them, fearful as Asgore loomed above them. …The king put a hand to his chest and bowed in apology before falling on his back. "…I get the EXP, right?" Yram asked. "I got the last hit."

Serket's body was fizzling like psychic, electrocuted by her own web and her own psychic. "No… I am determined… I will live… No matter what you do to me… I… will… LI-"

Sunni and Darcy whipped out lightsabers and leapt, slashing Serket in an 'X' shape. Despair plagued her undead features as her pieces collapsed everywhere. The backlash of chi that plotted against her caused her corpse to liquefy into steamy, gray goo. "Uuuuuuaaaa… Freedom… The Free Kingdom must win… Vaati… don't let my wish go to waste… Your chi… is… compati8le… you must… win…" Her final words were inaudible as her throat long melted. Her dead white eyes reduced into a moldy, sour milk.

Death the Kid appeared from a portal, scooping the melted remains in a shovel and tossing them in a pack on his back. "Well done, girls. I'll take it from here." He returned to the Underworld. (End song.)

Darcy collapsed on the ground, Sunni picking up her corpse. "Darcy… thanks. I never would've beaten her… without you…" Tears soaked her dead face. With Serket's control gone, her eyes were finally allowed to rest.

"Great, can I go home now?" Yram demanded, shivering. "Freakin' cold out here, and I gotta get back in case Oemor needs me."

"Don't be so mean!" Mary yelled.

"Hehe, it's fine, you guys." Sunni chuckled. "You all can go back. Mary, I'll let you know when April needs you." She banished them back to Foster's.

Mason and Sheila breathed a sigh of relief following the battle's conclusion. "I was almost worried about that one." Mason said. "Alright, Sheila… this island ain't gonna wreck itself."

"Sigh, it ain't an adventure unless you disregard the law, eh?"

Nextgen Pirate H.Q.

Nebula's response was exactly as Sasuke expected: "uuuuuuuu…" Such mindlessness could only result from a direct look into his Sharingan, the wannabe Emperor trapped in a daydream. In said dream, Nebula was locked to a cart on a track, forever listening to, "It's a Small World After All."

Sasuke raised the cutlass and studied it curiously. "It appears to be solidified Space Chi? Considering Skaios is an airbender, it is the wise choice. It's probably designed to also amplify her own chi to be strong enough. But would this really give her a fighting chance? Huh?" He heard something suddenly appear behind him—it was Jerome and Cheren!

The Zathurian's immediate instinct was to amplify gravity in the room, pressing everyone to the floor, Sasuke included. "I thought I sensed Nebula was in danger!" Cheren grunted. When Sasuke dropped the sword, Jerome zapped a Starburst to knock it away. Jerome released the gravity, Sasuke immediately throwing a kunai at him, but Jerome opened a portal just as quickly, exiting behind Sasuke and stabbing his back. Cheren shot a Light Arrow at Nebula, freeing her of her dream. Jerome formed a Space Block around Sasuke, but he used his copied moonbending to escape easily, focusing on Jerome and setting him aflame with Amaterasu.

Nebula warped to the sword, grabbed it, and warped it away to someplace secret. Sasuke split into three Shadow Clones, one tackling and knocking out Cheren (who was still exhausted from his last battle), and another attacking Nebula. Nebula struck Space Lightning to disperse the clone, but suffered a blow from the real Sasuke's lightning, electrocuting her until she fell unconscious. "These two will make great hostages." Sasuke lifted Cheren and Nebula in his arms. "Now that your 'Emperor's been captured, these kid pirates will surrender in no time. But just in case."

The ninja proceeded to set the entire cabin aflame with Amaterasu. Black flames consumed everything, along with the entrance, but Sasuke escaped by opening a window in the floor with moonbending. He dove all the way down to the base floor, immediately alerting all the operatives. Bullets and elements were unloaded upon the ninja, but Sasuke's evasion was unparalleled, a kunai clutched in his teeth as he zipped about and sliced them. His Sharingan flashed at multiple corners, cursing the corridors with black flames until he arrived at the Paint Portal room. "No more shortcuts for you brats!" he declared before jumping in the portal and destroying it from the inside.

Fortunately, Diwata and the GKND's Lunarian operative worked quick to douse the flames with their pure chi. Diwata pretended to be a fire hose as she sprayed "Moon" around the cabin, saving Jerome. "Phew… Diwata, where are Nebula and Cheren?!"

"The ninja man took them! He destroyed the portal, too!"

"Damn! He'll probably destroy the other portals, too. Have Maria and Louise already gone to the kingdom?"

"Yes. Should we fly there on our ships?"

"Absolutely, we can't let anything else go wrong. We have to save our leaders and continue on with the plan. In fact, I'd better go get Nebula's sword."

Santa Hylia

Sasuke's ninjas bound Nebula in chi-blocking chains, sealing her in a barrier cell in the King's Brig. "You just make yourself comfortable and I'll have this 'Emperor' nonsense wiped from your mind shortly. As for this little boy wonder…" Sasuke faced down at Cheren in his arm. "I'm sending you someplace special. My boss would love to have a word with you."

The ninjas calmly exited the ship, crossing the deck en route to the bridge linking to the Red Cloud. "Hm?" Sasuke spared a glance to the corner: Kokichi's head was bowed in shame, his back facing them as he was still in Time-Out. "…Useless imbecile." He gave no extra thought to the liar and boarded his ship in peace.

"…" Kokichi's crescent eye glanced at the ship, the curve of his smile visible. "Went right for the gold, didn't you, Sasuke? But you should never bet against the master gambler. Perhaps now is the time to set that one loose."