Animal Crossing: White Leaf

Animal Crossing was a pleasant town that had never known a day of conflict before now. The homes and businesses were relatively small, as were the Mobians, most of whom resembled pets. The harmless town was now on fire as White Fang wrought ruin. An innocent yellow dog girl was shuddering helplessly on the beach, surrounded by three brutish elephant Faunus with spiked gloves. The dog had a bell-shaped head and a green patterned vest. "P-Please don't… I-I don't want to…" she stuttered meekly.

"Hey, bullies!" The elephants about-faced, spotting the Luxury Pirates. "Leave that poor girl alone!" Weiss demanded.

"So, the Fang really are here." Carol said. "Tell us where your captain is!"

"You ain't get to know!" replied an elephant, drawing a bazooka.

"N-No!" pled the dog-girl. "Please don't hurt our guests!"

"Shut it, Pup! 'Soon as I blast these blighters, you're gettin'-"

"AIYAH!" The dog-girl jumped, grabbed the elephant's trunk, and hurled him into another brute. The 3rd one tried to punch her, but the dog dodged his fists and jumped to stamp his face, her tiny paws indenting him with the force of a cannonball. The other two got up, but she ran to punch their knees and knock them over, then jumped on their heads to crush and KO them. "Huff, huff…" The girl panted before facing the sectormates and bowing, "Please forgive me. Welcome to Animal Crossing!"

The six operatives' mouths had dropped open, while Sebastian simply cocked a brow. "Wow, you're a strong little puppy!" Raleigh said.

"Little puppy?!" she flushed. "My name's Isabelle! I'm the mayor's secretary. I can handle any job for the sake of our lovely town, whether it's building, paperwork, or fighting invaders. Come to think of it, uh… you aren't invaders, right?"

"No, of course not!" Weiss consoled. "We're here to help."

"Phew, that's a relief. I don't like confrontation."

"AFTER THAT PERFORMANCE?!" they bellowed.

"But if you'd like to help, I'd be extremely grateful. I'm worried about the mayor. He said he could handle himself, but I don't know…"

"If Adam's anywhere, it would be at the mayor's house." Weiss deduced. "Isabelle, lead me there. The rest of you help out with the invasion."

"Sebastian, let's go out to sea and take care of the ships." Ciel decided.

"Hold tightly, My Lord." Sebastian lifted his master and leapt for the sea.

"Hey gang, let's make it a game!" Kokichi declared, twirling his guns. "Whoever beats the most pirates gets to be captain!"

"Hey, this is Weiss' mission, so she's captain today." Carol corrected. "Good luck, Captain!" The others ran off.

"Aye-aye! Lead the way, Isabelle!" (Play "Scorch Torch" from Tropical Freeze!)

Stage 39: Animal Crossing

Mission: Save the town from the White Fang!

Weiss followed Isabelle along the beach, the heiress casting ice to cool the burning umbrellas. The snack bar had been converted into a fort that was blasting beachball bombs; the first one exploded near and blew them back, but once they were aware, Weiss shot icicles to destroy following bombs. Isabelle then caught a bomb in her net and threw it back, damaging the fort, then repeated her technique with another bomb to fully destroy it. Going further up, the beach's exit was guarded by a bull Faunus riding an actual bull, which charged at them, Weiss grabbing Isabelle to dodge. The bull about-faced and returned, Weiss freezing the sand as they dodged and causing the bull to slip, followed by icicles to the rear to KO it. The Faunus leapt off and charged with just as much ferocity, but Isabelle drew a confetti gun and shot it, blinding the bull as he tripped, and was KO'ed by Weiss.

The duo entered town, finding mounted, automated cannons rotating and blasting wherever they pleased, so Weiss froze their guns sealed to cause them to explode their selves. The bridge to cross the river was destroyed, so Weiss formed a replacement easily. Fish Faunus jumped up onto the bridge, bending the ice into water to attack, but Weiss refroze their waves, took hold, and used them to bash the fish back. Isabelle drew a fishing rod to catch one of the Faunus and whirl him into another. Once they were down, Weiss remade the bridge so they could cross, entering a business area. Only one of the buildings, labeled 'Able Sisters' was still standing, but Sable and Mabel were fleeing from their shop.

"RAAAAH!" The shop suddenly exploded as a spike-haired human flew out. "Where's my mommy, goddammit?!" shouted Bakugo.

"I think that's one of the U.A. kids." Weiss recognized him from Bowser's castle. "If he's swearing, maybe he wasn't Revertified. Hey, you! We're with the KND!"

"What?! Did someone say candy?!" Bakugo perked up.

"Or not. Isabelle, we need to knock that boy out."

"Okay!" Isabelle ran forth, and feeling challenged, Bakugo reactively shot explosions, the secretary dodging up to kick him in the gut. Bakugo hacked spit and clapped his hands for wider explosions, Isabelle retreating back. He pursued while rampantly clapping, but when Isabelle tripped on a rock, she grabbed and threw it at his head, knocking Bakugo dizzy before leaping for a punch to the head. Bakugo was KO'ed, so Weiss stuffed him in the Cube. The duo proceeded to a forest, where leopard Faunus sniped arrows from the trees. They maneuvered above the leaves, but Weiss watched for their movements and shot icicles where necessary, and when the leopards fell, Isabelle caught them in nets and punched them to unconsciousness.

"So, Isabelle, if you're a fighter, is the mayor a strong fighter, too?"

"He is! But with all the work he does for the city, he hasn't had the same amount of practice I have. Because we're not a 'strong' town, we were holding out hope the Kremlings wouldn't target us, but I guess we were wrong…"

They arrived at a road cutting through the forest, where some turtle Faunus were ramming a bus with their spinning shells, a kappa Mobian cowering on the roof. Weiss yelled for them to stop, so the turtles shifted their attention. Weiss' icicles bounced off their shells, but Isabelle planted acorns within broken parts of the road. When the turtles tried to ram her, Isabelle quickly watered the acorns so the trees would sprout up, flip the turtles, and allowed Weiss to pummel them with iceballs. "Kapp'n, can you drive us to City Hall?" Isabelle asked. The kappa nodded and hopped into the bus, which Weiss felt a tad cramped in.

She endured her discomfort as the bus drove out of the forest to a new region of town. There were Faunus chasing them on dune buggies, so Weiss wedged her way to the back. She froze the road with her left hand and shot icicles from the right in attempt to steer the pirates into a crash. Just as they entered town, the road was heavily cracked and ruined, preventing the bus from going further. Weiss and Isabelle jumped up the elevated road segments, but Weiss was flung off when a gopher Faunus sprung out. He used earthbending to lift the segments in attempt to crush Weiss, but she slid backward and down.

Weiss mustered her chi to create a snow monster resembling Lowlah, the giant cow Faunus from Sweetopia. The giant endured the attacks and pounced up to grab the gopher in its teeth, swinging him around before throwing. Weiss and Isabelle hopped onto the beast's back, the former controlling as it leapt down to the fixed road. Bulls charged at them as the Snowlah rammed them with greater strength, but Weiss struggled to maintain its form and was forced to disperse it. Two hippo Faunus were shooting Water Beams and destroying the post office, and when Phyllis and Pelly, the two pelican workers fled out the back, hawk Faunus swooped down to carry them away.

Weiss flew on an Ice Road to chase and shoot icicles at the hawks, freeing the pelicans, then she froze the pirates' wings as they fell. Weiss dropped and froze them against the ground, then returned to Isabelle, who had already beaten the hippos to a pulp. "We're almost at City Hall!" Isabelle yelled, Weiss following her as they turned a street. The building ahead was in view, a White Fang flag already mounted in the front yard. Sadly, several buggies drove out of alleys, forming a roadblock.

A tiger Faunus with dark skin and hair stepped off a buggy, smirking as she twirled her chain whip, Cerberus. "So, the princess is here. I'm surprised you would walk on this planet without fear of being persecuted."

"You're Sienna… the White Fang's captain." Weiss recognized. "Where is Adam?"

"He wanted to deal with the mayor personally. Looks like I get you all to myself."

"Think again!" A set of chains flew up from behind the buggies and caught Sienna, flinging her over and into the road. Sienna escaped, glaring up at Pacifica.

"Pacifica!" Weiss beamed. "You caught up!"

"Yeah. Raleigh went somewhere else, but Carol and Kokichi headed for the mayor's place. Save your strength for Adam, I'll deal with this one."

"At least let us deal with the small fry." Weiss replied, already attacking the buggy drivers.

"Seriously, Schnee is having her playmate attack me?" Sienna remarked. "No respect at all."

Sub-boss: White Fang Captain(?), SIENNA KHAN

Sienna's chain whirled around herself, shielding herself in a flaming cyclone. Pacifica gasped when a blade flew out, the human dodging; the yellow gem on the blade flashed before exploding with electricity, stunning Pacifica in place. Sienna rushed over to wrap her in the whip and hurl her against a streetlight. Pacifica shook off the head trauma and dodged a stab from Cerberus, then Sienna spun in a fire cyclone again. Looking back at the streetlight, Pacifica got an idea and wrapped her chains around it as she ran, swinging in the air, and releasing at an angle where she could fly over the flames and land in Sienna's cyclone. Pacifica snared Sienna's legs and arms in her chains, swinging and bashing the Faunus around the ground before Sienna spun herself free.

Sienna growled and chose to come at Pacifica directly, the electric blade sending energy throughout her whole chain as she lashed it furiously. Pacifica could only run and evade, knowing her own chains would transmit the electric despite being energy-made. However, since her chains were detachable, Pacifica could turn and shoot segments of chains, pelting Sienna in the face. It had little effect on the Faunus, so Pacifica shot longer chains in attempt to tangle her. They caught the Cerberus Whip and pushed it against its wielder, causing Sienna to suffer her own electrocution. The affect disabled, and Pacifica snared her again for more ground-bashing before she recovered.

Sienna escaped, getting further away and shooting the frost blade, Pacifica dodging as it burst and froze a wide area of ground. The blade respawned on Cerberus, allowing Sienna to toss it repeatedly, trying to throw ahead of and around Pacifica to freeze her route. Before she knew it, Pacifica was in the middle of an ice field. Knowing she couldn't move without slipping, Sienna started tossing shock-blades. Pacifica spotted a streetlight and chained it, pulling herself swiftly across the ice. Pacifica slid to a dry zone, to which Sienna sent flame-blades flying to explode and set the route ahead on fire. Pacifica returned to the ice field, wrapping the streetlight to slide around. Pacifica intended to slide at Sienna, so the Faunus tossed an electro-blade in the way, but Pacifica was able to slide underneath it and out of the ice with her built speed, quickly launching the chains to Sienna.

Pacifica reeled herself to the Faunus and kicked her on her back, the chains still trapping her as Pacifica tightened their hold. Sienna whipped her off, using Cerberus to cut the chains and recover. She began to slam frost and flame-blades into the ground, the hot and cold mixing into steam to fog the area. Pacifica tried to run out, but more blades were thrown further to spread the steam wider. She gasped, seeing an electro-blade about to fall in and explode, so she thought fast and shot chain segments to push it skyward, where it exploded without shocking the steam.

Pacifica whirled her chains to blow the steam away, not seeing Sienna through it. Two more blades came flying to re-steam the zone, but Pacifica caught them in her chains, whirled, and sent them back where they came from. Sienna had already tossed the electro-blade before she realized her folly, for the returned blades had steamed her own area. Pacifica then caught the electro-blade and tossed it back as well, electrifying the steam and seeing Sienna's shocked silhouette through it. Pacifica ran toward her, and when the shock wore off, Pacifica shot chains to grab Sienna and slam her around the ground. "Are you ready to accept me as the Chain Master, Tiger Lady?!" Pacifica added more strength to her swing for a heavier crash—and Sienna's head lopped off.

"… … …" The world seemed to turn a pale white for a minute. All sound was muted until Pacifica spoke: "AAAAAAAAAIIIIIEEEEEE!" The Northwest knelt down and begged forgiveness to the gods. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, I was only trying to knock her out! I don't know my own strength!"

"Pacifica, calm down!" Weiss yelled, going to pick up the head. "Take…take a look at this."

Pacifica looked up, her guilt replaced with confusion: wires sparked from Sienna's neck. "It's… a robot?"

Weiss placed it in the Cube and replied, "Let's go help the others." Pacifica nodded, they and Isabelle rushing to City Hall. Weiss gasped, seeing mines in the road, and a Faunus pressed a remote to explode them. Weiss grabbed her friends and sloped an Ice Road upward, going over the explosions, but large boulders flew up and threatened to bring them down. Weiss steered the ice around, one of the boulders breaking the right side as Isabelle flailed in midair, but Weiss kept her on track. Just as they were about to touch the flagpole, multiple boulders blew up behind and destroyed the track as it went, Weiss skiing faster to get away, then sloping the path up to catch the top of the pole. They swapped the Fang's red flag with a gold one with money eyes in the skull. (End song.)

Adam Taurus had cut down all the police, sheathing Wilt into Blush before facing City Hall. It would take no trouble to cut the simple building down, but his nose picked up a rather cold scent. He turned away from the building, already knowing who was approaching.

"We really need to stop meeting like this, Schnee!" Adam chortled. "Do you really think stopping me is going to make these Mobians think better-" he was pelted by icicles, Adam gasping and dodging. Weiss bore an expression of zero interest as she calmly shot them. "Wow, you really don't care about anything, do you?!"

"Adam, we already know you're a liar." Weiss said. "Why should I listen to some whiny terrorist with faux ideals who enjoys using other peoples' guilt to make them feel miserable? You're a bad guy, I'm the good guy, let's just get this over with. But before we do, would you mind explaining this?" She presented Sienna's head.

"Oh, so you broke my little toy." Adam smirked. "Truth is, the real Sienna 'left.' She came down with a little 'second thoughts' sickness, showing signs of guilt and regret, and well… we had to give her an early retirement." He drew his sword forcefully. "But I didn't wanna decrease morale, so I had that robot built. There goes my deposit."

"When did this happen?"

"A little after we took over Mobius. Heh, awful timing, wouldn't you say? She just couldn't handle the workload."

"Hard to feel pride in a pointless job." Weiss dropped the head and held her sword vertically. "So, Adam, wanna start this the honorable way, or just go in headfirst like pirates?"

Adam swung Wilt as a warm-up gesture. "At least we agree on something!" (Play "Battle of Award 42" from Hat in Time!)

Boss fight: White Fang Vice-Captain, ADAM TAURUS

Adam lashed his sword at Weiss aggressively, the heiress blocking with more focused, calmer movements. She twisted her foot to send ice along the ground, Adam sensing this and jumping to her left, but as Weiss blocked his next attack, a quick stroke of her heel redirected the ice strip at an angle to trip him, Weiss throwing a kick at his face. Adam flipped up and leapt several feet from Weiss, surging chi in his sword as he sliced vertical beams across the ground. She dodged her way up to him, but when she got too close, Adam quickly carved and hauled a boulder out of the ground, batting it at her. Weiss ducked with a gasp, and then Adam went for a stab, barely poking Weiss' belly before she slid away.

She covered the wound with ice, and Adam was now jumping toward her, slashing a wave each jump. Weiss kept away, watching his movements, and threw an icicle at a spot she predicted the knee would be. Adam tripped, so Weiss pelted him with more icicles in the brief second before he got back up. Adam grabbed Blush and shot bullets, Weiss evading and forming an ice wall to block them. Adam held the trigger down to shoot a charged shot, destroying the wall, followed by a vertical beam, Weiss dodging, but was hit by some of Adam's bullets as he returned to shooting. Weiss slid in a circular angle to escape his barrage, willing icicles to appear in midair along her path before launching at him. Adam simply withstood the damage, continuing to shoot at Weiss as a red aura brimmed around his body.

"Careful, Weiss!" Pacifica yelled. "I think his power is growing!" Indeed, Weiss could see that aura rise with each attack; perhaps Adam wasn't trying to dodge at all. When they called attention to this, Adam stopped his rounds and grabbed Wilt, his aura transmitting to his sword. He spun in the air and lashed a mighty 360-degree swing, sending out a flaming, rotating sword beam. Weiss hastily blasted up with Ice Rocket, the spectators rushing as far back as possible as the surrounding land was incinerated.

"Like it?! I trained to mold my own pain into power! So, go on and hurt me all you want!" The attack destroyed Weiss' pillar, so Adam waited underneath for an up-slash, Weiss skiing an Ice Road to escape, gracefully sliding to the ground and up to Adam. She ducked, leg outstretched with the intent to knock him down, but he chopped down at the leg—just as swiftly, she pulled it back, flipped, and stamped it down on Wilt's hilt, her other heel coming down on his head. She kicked off and back up, skiing full speed as Adam pursued like a murderous animal. While she skied a circular angle, Adam ran through the corner of that circle, throwing a forceful slash that Weiss barely ducked. She kept sliding as Adam resumed pursuit, and she abruptly angled leftward, hoping to trip him, but he jumped after for a slice—with a gasp, Weiss let out a burst of ice that pushed him back, though she suffered a very thin cut to her back.

Weiss whirled her free hand and molded an ice-baseball, skiing when Adam pursued again. She lashed her sword to send icicles, missing his head to confuse him, then she swung the baseball arm—Adam lashed by his legs to block the ball, but it was a trick, for Weiss hadn't thrown it, and the motion spun her before she actually threw the ball at his left eye. Adam stumbled, during which Weiss swiftly slipped behind and dealt a quick jab behind his left knee. Adam angrily grabbed Blush and unloaded more bullets, Weiss going a fair distance and either ducking or sliding up arched ice as she dodged side-to-side. She dealt quick jabs of her sword to send mini icicles at the Faunus. They were thin, long, and only left Adam with mild pain as they gently punctured his skin. "Why are you only hitting me with these puny things?!"

"If pain makes you stronger, then I just have to avoid doing heavy damage." Weiss remarked. "I'll pummel you with these gentle attacks to soften your muscles before it's time to take you down."

"Yeah, well it ain't just me! My sword can absorb kinetic friction, too!" He proved this by shooting his own sword, positioning it so the bullets bounced at Weiss, who could see the aura brimming around the blade. He then ceased, and the earth suddenly became black against a red sky, Adam's features barely visible to Weiss. "MOONSLICE!" His cut was shaped like a crescent moon, tiny debris flying up from the ground on a path to Weiss, who escaped its range just in time to avoid becoming scattered with them. Color returned to normal, revealing the crescent crater.

Adam formed a hand-signal, summoning faded, red Shadow Clones that took turns lunging at Weiss, disappearing once they made their move. It was trickier to dodge their blades, a few managed to cut Weiss, but she remained consistent in shooting Ice Needles at him. Adam stopped the clones and flew at Weiss with a vertical spin-attack, the heiress dodging and dealing a stab to his left hip before he could recover. Adam drew Blush to unload more rounds, prompting Weiss to retreat. This was just as Adam planned, for she could no longer stop him from shooting his own sword. In preparation for his next strong attack, Weiss summoned a great surge of chi and created a snow colossus.

This colossus resembled Sasha Blouse, whom Adam recognized with clear disgust. Weiss willed the giant to swing kicks, Adam evading as he continued charging. Then, the world became black-and-red, and Weiss' creation was scattered by the Moonslice, but he flew down from its chest in attempt to stab Weiss, who barely noticed his silhouette in time to dodge, her left shoulder cut. Weiss froze the wound, but Adam was shooting Wilt to quickly rebuild its power. Darkness returned, and Adam slashed Weiss with no hesitation, the heiress scattering into dust along with the ground.

But when light returned, Weiss was still okay, her Snowclone having fooled him successfully. During Adam's recovery time, Weiss slid up to deal jabs at him, the Faunus returning blows as they clashed. Weiss remained composed in her movements, not letting Adam's strength overwhelm her, but as expected, Adam pulled Blush and shot, the heiress quickly escaping. Once far enough, Adam shot his sword with multiple charged shots, the aura flaring brighter than ever. The world blackened, and Adam's posture indicated a spin-attack.

Weiss shot up with an Ice Rocket, watching as Adam became a crimson maelstrom that shredded the ground. Weiss continuously stretched the Ice Rocket, yet she was slowly falling as Adam's attack was rapidly slicing it. She held out hope that she would hold out long enough, and to her fortune, color returned as Adam fell to his knees in exhaust. "'Guess your muscles are a little sore!" Weiss smirked, freezing a boot over her foot for a strong stamp to Adam's head. She then sent ice into Blush and willed it to expand, breaking the gun apart.

"Grrrr…" Adam growled, standing achingly. The bull noticed a large group of citizens had gathered to watch the battle. "LOOK, Mobians! This is how the Schnee Family treats people like us! She'll treat you all as slaves! She'll do to you what she did to me!" He threw off his mask, exposing his scar.

The citizens merely looked at him with confusion. "What's a Sneeze Family?" a little puppy asked.

"Adam, no one cares anymore." Weiss said. "Now give up."

"The HELL I will!" Adam carved a boulder out of the ground, dropping Wilt to bash his sword with it and build up kinetic energy. It took longer than using his gun, so Weiss let it play out. When the world darkened, he performed a Moonslice, but it was slower and had a smaller range as Weiss observed. When it ended, she slid up for more light jabs, Adam recovering to strike back, but his attacks were less aggressive. Weiss tripped the boy, then dealt more jabs to the back. Adam got away and cut out another boulder, bashing his own head with it to increase his Pain Chi.

With the charged energy, Adam got closer to Weiss and performed a spiraling Moonslice, slashing the ground in a spiral fashion, but Weiss stayed between two cuts and survived. Adam was left panting after the attack, so Weiss could get behind him calmly. "Your muscles should be brittle enough now." Weiss uplifted them both on an Ice Rocket, going 20 feet in the air. She picked him up and dropped down with him first. Though Adam didn't get smashed from the fall, he felt himself breaking like glass, all of Weiss' tiny punctures ripping open all at once. He had nothing left to offer, so Weiss sheathed her blade. (End song.)

Weiss stepped off, speaking to her opponent earnestly: "In all seriousness, you're a good swordsman. Dueling you was kind of fun and I wouldn't mind doing it again. Aside from that, you should take an example from Sienna. Abandon this silly terrorist act and start over."

"We're still locking you in jail, but yeah." Pacifica reminded. "Anyway, not bad, Weiss! You didn't even pass out from overexertion!"

"That's how I was trained! A good, clean victory!" Weiss announced proudly, still feeling sore in the frozen cuts. "…Mostly."

"Rejoice, everyone! Your mayor is here!"

The voice of Kokichi drew everyone's attention to the City Hall entrance: a brown-haired boy in a red shirt was riding Kokichi's shoulders, smiling. Carol was beside them. "Mayor! You're safe!" Isabelle raced up in joy.

"Wait… that kid is your mayor?" Weiss questioned.

"Yes. He's very smart for his age, aren't you?" When Isabelle joined them, the Mayor climbed down, blowing a whistle to indicate his happiness.

"Actually, there's something we should mention." Carol began awkwardly. "While we were in there, Kokichi played a game with him, and…"

"I am your NEW MAYOR!" Kokichi's demonic features shone for all to see. "Animal Crossing has entered a new era! I'm changing it to Dice City, and the national anthem is the Peanut Butter Jelly song!"

"Kokichi, just clear out the pirates!" Carol ordered.

"Fine. The Kremlings are banned from Animal Crossing."

All the White Fang swept out of the city like a sudden gust of wind, blowing through some crumbling buildings in the process. "YAAAAAAY!" The city was lit with cheers.

By the time the Luxury Pirates regrouped, Weiss was able to put out the remaining flames, and the imprisoned citizens were freed. "Honestly, your Devil Fruit is kinda overpowered, Kokichi." Raleigh said with a sheepish smile.

"Eh, not exactly. My 'authority' over something wears off in a month, and if I go a whole day without using it, it'll wear off as well. In any case, hopefully the planet will be saved before my authority wears off here."

The Mayor made another whistle sound. "The Mayor is grateful to you kids for saving everyone." Isabelle translated. "And he's thankful to Weiss for stopping the terrorist leader from attacking him."

"I was happy to help." Weiss nodded. "Do you mind if we rest here for a bit until our strength comes back?"

"Sure! We'll give you whatever you need!"

"Everyone, there's a problem!" Ciel and Sebastian rushed over. "When we attacked one of the ships, it had already sent an emergency distress to K. Rool's fortress! I think this town is about to be Revertified!"

"REVERTIFIED?!" Carol exclaimed.

At Hideout Helm, Baron Klammy had received the distress call and was inputting Animal Crossing's coordinates into the computer. The satellites displayed the town. "There's just no helping it. We'll need to Revert all these operatives as soon as possible. Starting with the pests in this town…"

"AAAAAH!" Carol began running in circles. "No! I don't wanna lose my experience! I don't wanna go back to being the talentless, bratty rich girl!"

"W-What's going to happen to us?!" Isabelle asked fearfully.

"As Miss Carol expressed," Sebastian explained, "everyone will lose all their memories and be Reset to an infant mentality. We must evacuate as soon as possible. I fear if even Kokichi's authority can withstand it."

"Did you say Reset?!" Isabelle gasped. "No! There's no way he'll accept that!"

"No way who will accept it?" Weiss asked.

…

"The cannon will fire in 3…2… on-" Klammy was about to press.

"HOLD UP, BUDDY! You better not be thinking of Resetting our town!" A mole with a mining helmet appeared on his screen.

"What in blazes?!"

"You don't know how hard it is to build a town like this! It takes an equal amount of time and effort. What sensible person would make it all go to waste? I can't imagine what sick individual would command powers beyond their understanding to Reset our humble little lives. Have you really got nothing better to do? You must not, considering you're destroying a lot of progress. I've seen a lot of people who destroyed everything they worked for just because they thought they wasted their time. It's true that our town has made some mistakes, but we always move forward. But worse than destroying your own work is destroying other peoples' hard work. Does that make you feel better about your own emptiness? Life was never meant to have a Reset button, so assuming this much power is an utter sin against nature. I remember an age where if you Reset, you…"

"Why won't the blasted cannon fire?!" Klammy mashed the buttons in a rage. "Where did this virus come from?! Crah, it has to shut up eventually… Let me fire, damn you!"

…

"Uh… Mr. Resetti?" Carol asked, having trouble believing this.

"We have him to protect us in case something like this would happen." Isabelle assured with a smile. "They shouldn't be able to blast us with such a weapon!"

"Uhhhhh…okay." Their response was unanimous.

"Come to think of it, any chance you guys have a television studio? Or at least a concert hall?" Weiss asked.

"We may have to fix them up, but… what's the occasion?" Isabelle asked.

"We think we'll need to host a live show for the planet soon. It'll be nice to have it in a place where the Kremlings can't reach."

Nyakuza Metro

"IT'S BAAAAAAAAACK!" The Empress was in euphoria at the sight of her metro, returned to the earth it belonged to. "My beloved metro is back! The Nyakuza are finally back in business!"

"That means more pets for Moge-ko." her Kommander replied with a twirl of the knife. "Since the Sky Gods already messed it up for us, it'll be easy to rebuild it in our image."

"You know, you like to eat rats, don't you, Kommander?" The Empress smirked. "If I understand correctly, Mr. Big is only working for us for the sake of protecting that rabbit girl that was in your fortress, correct? But since the rabbit escaped, he'll have no interest in us."

"Ooooo, that's right." Moge-ko rubbed her stomach and licked her lips. "Of all the rats, he looks the tastiest. But Kitty Rool might not like me if I eat him. Otherwise, we couldn't get his resources."

"Then perhaps we should find him to ask where his allegiances lie. After all, I'll be able to provide a lot more than he ever could, now that my city is back. It wouldn't hurt to ask."

"No… it wouldn't hurt us at all~" Moge-ko bore dreamy eyes, imagining the taste.

The Rusty Angler

Ineptune's ship sailed to a toxic sea, submerging beneath the waves as the Squid Sisters felt an unpleasant stench reach their noses. It was especially felt by Cheadle, who was chained as she continued playing dead. The chancellor had been stripped naked after being brought onboard, ensuring she had no weapons on her person. "Now that we're at base," Ineptune said, "I will send the call to Kroctus to come pick up the chancellor."

"That seems kind of rude." Marie replied. "He's the king, so why would you make him come out instead of bringing her yourself?"

"Why, he loves to get out of the house, of course, he enjoys a little cruise! And besides, I couldn't very well take a couple of sneaky brats to his fortress."

The cousins felt their hearts skip a beat. "Sneaky… brats?" Callie asked. "W-What does that mean?"

"Now, dearest Callie, I know as well as you do that the KND played a part in the Sky Gods' defeat. Wouldn't you think there was even the slimmest chance they enrolled you into their little plans?"

"Uh…hehe. That's a weird thing to ask." Callie smiled with extreme, hidden anxiety. "It's true the KND worked with us, but… th-they never had any idea I was with you. And there's no one else here but Marie and the chancellor."

"Perhaps it is a wild stretch… but don't think I haven't noticed you lightly patting your POCKET!" The mermaid whipped a green water tentacle at Callie, snatching something from the pocket in question and bringing it to her hand. "A Vanishing Box! Of course!" She smirked at the tiny purple box in her palm, cracking it open. "But empty. If I had to guess, you were going to call your operative buddies and tell them when to climb into their end of the box, preparing some sort of sneak attack!"

"What?! No, I just had it! Kommander, please, you can trust me!"

"Not for a second, you little worm!" Ineptune crushed the box with her fist. "As long as there is even the tiniest chance those KND got to you, you're a threat! After all, you're only working for us out of fear, not true loyalty, of course you would attempt to seek their aid."

"We never asked the KND for anything!" Marie lied.

"Do you think it was coincidence that the KND stole the Devil Fruit YOU asked us to secure?! It's more likely to believe you're using BOTH of us, and more likely than that you would favor their leadership over ours. I'm not a mush-brain like you squids, and I won't trust you until the KND are all Revertified! Guards! Strip their clothes like the chancellor, we're locking them in our base with nothing! No earpieces, no watches, give them no way to escape this toxic sea!"

Cheadle listened to her orders with worry, fearing, yet anticipating something like this would happen. Fortunately, even though she had to suffer a full-body search, they hadn't accounted for a Kateenian in her nose. "Yeah, had a feeling that would happen." Vweeb said quietly, fiddling with his wristwatch. "There's too much interference down here. If K. Rool's coming, I hope we'll at least get to go outside."

Rocketship

The Big Grin Pirates fought past hordes of more ships as they sailed to a jungle shore. "Ahoy, maties! We're almost at Dinosaur Valley! Get ready to land!" Chimney announced.

"That's where we'll find the Dino Kommander guy, right?" Anthony asked.

"Yep." Aisa smiled, eager for her next mission. "You ready to go 'Stone Age' on him?"

"That's what I do best!" Anthony punched his palm.