The Spiders’ Den

Free Kingdom; Santa Hylia

"This is Captain Skaios to all Sky God officers." The young god spoke to a wall of screens. "Give me status reports, one at a time."

"Kremlings are trying nonstop to capture the Mushroom Island." Sasuke Uchiha replied. "I've been able to drive them out."

"Excellent work!"

"The Big Mom Pirates are trying to steal our Artemyra Island." Aranea followed. "I haven't run into any major problems. I've also determined the location of some KND prisoners on Hyrule and sent Muffet to retrieve them."

"Make sure she's properly supplied."

"Speaking of which," Kokichi said, "I heard the Kremlings were en route to Ice Cream Mountain to take some of Big Mom's prisoners. Permission to intercept them?"

"Granted!"

"Captain, troubling news." Nagisa Shingetsu spoke. "We've lost contact with Masaru. We believe he was captured by the Boogey Pirates."

"Rescue him at all costs! I won't let me first mates be felled in this war. I'll save him meself if I have to!"

Behind him, Vaati watched with pride as Skaios instructed his crewmen. He was far different than the chaotic brat Vaati had known when he joined this crew. Once Skaios was finished, the screens switched off and he approached the Lotus Commander. "Did I do good, Vaati?"

"Splendid! You've become a true symbol of freedom."

"Hehe, thanks." Skaios blushed. "I don't feel much like one though. You guys are the ones that thought up all the strategies."

"You are the core that holds this crew together. Now that your citizens aren't aimlessly dying every few seconds, this kingdom can be a peaceful place. Although there are other things I would like to discuss with you, it can wait until after the war."

"Aye, Uchiha sounded a little peeved that you wanted to separate the King's Brig prisoners."

"Having them all in one place puts them in danger to those who want them, especially Peach. Besides, I don't like what Sasuke is doing to them."

"Commander Vaati, Kremlings are attacking the Nyakuza Metro, and the Nyakuza are helping! They've already taken their boss, The Empress."

Vaati responded to his communicator, "Katniss, help defend Nyakuza from the Kremlings. Tell Dio to recover The Empress."

"Understood! I've also got Dillon to help me control the situation."

"Great. I'll be there to assist shortly." He hung up. "Also, before I go, Skaios, Aranea wanted me to get something from you."

"What is it?"

"She… wanted me to collect a sample of DNA?"

"Like… my blood or something?"

"I suppose… I honestly have no idea what's in her mind." Vaati blushed.

"Well, okay. I got plenty to spare." Skaios held out an arm, allowing Vaati to absorb a tiny fraction of his essence into a syringe.

"Thanks. Hopefully she'll tell me what this is for." On that note, he left.

The Overtale

Chancellor Yorkshire sat patiently inside the brig. Psychic blue webs were tightly woven around the bars and walls. Her attempts to use Haki on them only resulted in her paws getting stuck and having to force them off, losing fur in the process. Cheadle heard footsteps and saw Papyrus enter the brig. "Heya, Doglady! You mind if I spare a visit, or are you still rotten to the bone?"

"Could they at least summon someone more intelligent to bring my food?" Cheadle remarked.

"Mock me all you want, lady, but I doubt you'll wanna miss this meal." Papyrus slid a tray with a bowl of dog food under the opening.

"Sorry, but I quite prefer tuna."

"Just look in the bowl! There's a, uh… special prize at the bottom. Heh."

Glaring at him with suspicion, Cheadle dug her hand into the brown pellets. She felt something hard and pulled out a cellphone. "…What is this?"

"Check the contacts. I just made the cutest girlfriend~. Don't you gossip behind my back!"

Nyakuza Metro

White Lotus benders shot flames and ice at the Mogekos, only to be bashed in the head via baseball bats held by Nyakuza, black Mobian cats in mouth masks. Two Kops were escorting a tall female cat onto a Flying Krock; she wore a black coat with a gold interior and had posh white hair on her head, while the rest of her body had smooth black fur. "As payment for this rescue, do you swear allegiance to King K. Rool?" a Kop asked.

"Yes, I swear allegiance, anything to get off this damn rock!" The Empress answered impatiently. The Krock soon took off as ships pursued it.

"Hooray, the boss escaped!" a Nyakuza cheered. "We'll be with you soon!"

Somewhere in a sewer, Louise and Maria emerged from a Paint Portal. "Nyakuza Metro is a Mobian town, basically home to Japanese cats." The former explained. "With any luck, one of your Sector V buddies is here."

"I hope. We gotta let them know about Mrs. Eva or…" Maria felt a vibration in her pocket. She answered her cellphone. "Hello? Who is this?"

"Maria, is that you?!"

She gasped. "D…Dogmom?!" She smiled and lightly teared.

"Don't call me that! Papyrus gave me his phone so I could call you. I'm in the brig on the Serket flagship."

"We'll come save you, just hold on!"

"We don't know where the flagship is!" Louise argued.

"She's right, it's too dangerous. I'm surrounded by psychic webs, they're too strong. Are you doing okay, Maria?"

"Um, kind of… We're trying to rescue prisoners in the Free Kingdom, and we need to find Sector V."

"Maria, did you know Observation Haki works through phones and screens?"

"Seriously?!"

"Yes! It's a bit faint, but I think I can alert you to hidden prisoners. Also, I've noticed that certain crewmen don't enjoy their positions. I can sense those feelings, too. Maybe they wouldn't mind helping the KND a tad?"

"You always know best, Dogmom!"

"Sigh, what will Peach think when she hears you calling me that?"

"Let's-a go, Louise! The kitties depend on us!" (Play "Rush Hour" from A Hat in Time!)

Stage 9: Nyakuza Metro

Mission: Inform Sector V of Eva Jackson's capture!

Tip: Enemies that are marked green can be recruited by catching them in Paint Portals.

The sisters ran along the walkway of the sewer, but soon found the path broke off. There were Squee-G's (robotic mouse-like scrubbers) cleaning the walls of the sewer, and Louise noted their springy backs. She painted a wall to attract a Squee-G, and they used it to spring to the opposite path. The tunnel turned a corner, and a Nyakuza cat dropped from the ceiling and tried to cut them with a sword. Louise jumped back, then brought her staff down to hold the sword down, leaving Maria to leap above and Ground Pound the cat.

They reached a glass floor that covered the width of the river, and a Squee-G was cleaning the underside. They needed to reach a ceiling bridge to go further, so Louise painted the glass in the hopes it would come up. Sadly, the confused robot merely scrubbed around in circles, so Louise painted a trail toward a hole to lure the device up. Once it came up, the girls used its spring to bounce up to the path. After a quick run, the girls jumped back down to the path and reached the end of the tunnel. A waterfall poured from the sewer to the great sea below. A ? Block was available, so Maria bonked it and found a mushroom with a smirking cat face. >:3

"Omigosh, Louise, PLEASE let me eat it!" Maria requested giddily.

"All yours." With that, the younger twin devoured the 'shroom, and she suddenly donned a purple and yellow jacket, black pants, cat ears, and a cat mouth mask.

Maria transformed into Nyakuza Maria! Her catlike instincts compel her to climb walls and leap to mouse targets!

Maria got on all fours, Louise mounting her back. The catgirl spotted a floating platform with a Squee-G, and despite the great gap in-between, Maria made the leap and bounced from the spring to another platform. They saw a longer floating rock with the Squee-G moving left to right; when on the right side, it made the perfect trajectory to reach the next platform. "Maria, I think there's a prisoner nearby." Cheadle said after they made the jump. When they looked back to the Squee-G's rock, they noticed another platform with a cage, and Maria could get to it by leaping to the Squee-G while it was on the left this time, her new position providing a different trajectory.

Maria freed a human boy named Chip, one of the Evermore citizens, and Louise had him jump in a Paint Portal. Maria leapt to the next Squee-G that bounced them across a series of the robo-mice, eventually landing them in the metro itself. Four Nyakuzas and three Mogekos drew baseball bats on them. "Maria, the short cat in the middle seems like a potential target." The sisters split up as Maria tackled a Mogeko and smashed it against the pavement. She stole its bat and furiously bashed and clashed with the other cats, with Louise shocking them with Electro Goop. They KO'ed all the cats except for the one Cheadle indicated.

"Alright, buddy, you can either surrender or die!" Maria threatened. "Your choice!"

"I SURRENDER!" The short cat dropped his bat. "Please don't kill me!"

"Then get in the paint and go straight to Moonbase!" At her cue, Louise drew up a portal, and the cat jumped in.

"Wow, you're pretty good at death threats." Louise praised.

The sisters ran up the road whilst defeating Nyakuza that jumped out of sewers or trashcans. Maria ran up a stairway, only to find the route blocked by a yellow barrier, but from here, she could leap to a mouse poster on a platform on the opposite side, finding a treasure chest. She rejoined Louise as they proceeded, and they heard a distant voice: "Mariaaaa! Louiiiise! Save meeeee!"

"Louise, I think that was Peach!" Maria said, facing a left road and running that way.

As Louise followed, the eldest wondered, "Why would they keep Peach in an open area-…!" She gasped, "Maria, stop-!"

An arrow struck the ground at Maria's feet, the girl jumping back as a blue, thick substance swelled up. "Up there!" Louise spotted the lady archer on a rooftop. "It's Katniss, the White Lotus sniper! She can turn into a bird that can mimic voices."

"Sorry to do this, Louise, but we're ordered to capture you." Katniss shot two arrows, the sisters ducking behind an alley. Maria saw a Squee-G cleaning the lower part of a building, so with Louise on her back, she leapt to it and was bounced onto a street pole. Before Katniss could shoot, Maria leapt to a mouse poster on a window and smashed through. Thinking quick again, Maria leapt to another Squee-G that bounced her to Katniss's roof, the woman running, leaping off the roof, and morphing into a Mockingjay.

"Maria, cats like birds, too!" Cheadle reminded. Perking up, Maria crouched, faced Katniss, and passionately leapt for the bird, catching it in her mouth as they flew over some trains and crashed on a walkway. Maria bashed the bird with her bat, and Katniss reverted to normal, kicked her away, and bolted. The girls tried to pursue, but were stopped by Inklings. "Forgive us, Captain Louise!" the squids cried as they shot ink. Louise shot bullets at their guns to disarm them long enough for Maria to bash them. After KOing the three Inklings, the girls headed to the end of the walkway, finding a single train car with a giant cat attached to the front.

"Apparently, giant cats were native to this region on Mobius." Louise said. "They were trained to pull the trains. …No pun intended."

Maria tossed her cat ear headband onto the giant cat and possessed it. "Mrow!" She signaled Louise to get on and began running along the track. Louise jumped or dodged the neon signs that were above the train, and she jumped to grab a floating cage that contained an Evermore mermaid. They were coming to a sealed tunnel, so Maria stopped the cat and reverted to normal. Louise held onto her as Maria clambered up the wall above the tunnel to reach a path.

There was a Squee-G under a glass floor, so Louise did as last time and drew a path for it to follow. A Nyakuza jumped out of a window, but Maria bashed it unconscious in a heartbeat. A Mogeko ambushed from the next window, and was rewarded with a blow to the head. Another Mogeko attacked—it was marked green, so Maria grabbed and pinned it down. "Wanna join the KND, buddy?"

"Yes-mogege!" And into the paint it went. At the end of the path, the Squee-G could come out of a hole and spring them to a wall Squee-G, which bounced them to another, then to the window of a building. They wound up in a kitchen where Kremling rats turned up all the ovens, causing them to shoot fire. Maria used her pounce attack to catch the rats, KOing each one before turning the ovens off. They found a key inside one of the ovens ("Ouchie-ouch!") and could unlock the kitchen exit.

A short orange cat woman in chef's attire was using a table for a shield as Inklings and Nyakuza were having a shootout in the restaurant. "Good golly, I NEVER shoulda moved to this town in the first place!" Cooking Cat said. "Girls, I'm sorry, but the restaurant may be going out of business."

"You can work for us instead." Louise drew up a portal. "Get in."

"I should know better than to trust magic paint, but anywhere is better than here." She jumped in. Louise shot the two opposing sides, then Maria ran to bash the Nyakuza, leaving Louise to hit the purple Inklings with brown goop. Cheadle indicated the hesitation in a dark-skinned female Inkling, and this one became the last person standing before Louise ordered her to get in the portal. ("Thank you, Captain Louise!!")

They exited the restaurant to a sidewalk, watching as a giant cat was about to run by with a train. The cat wore a hat, so Maria couldn't possess it, so they both jumped on the train. Nyakuza climbed up to fight them, but the girls sent the cats falling. The track led between two higher tracks with trains rolling in parallel fashion. "Girls, watch out! She's back!" They looked up with a start to see Katniss on the left train. After dodging her first arrows, Maria Cat Leapt to a mouse poster on Katniss's train, climbing to the roof.

The archer shot a Hookshot arrow to the opposite train, then shot a Fire Arrow to burn the mouse poster. As she dodged arrows, Maria saw a platform with a Squee-G about to pass between the trains, Cat Leaping to it to bounce to Katniss's train. The woman leapt down to Louise's train, the elder sister jumping to grab onto her. Katniss forcefully grabbed and threw her off, but Louise had already painted a mouse on her back. Smirking, Maria leapt at Katniss, pushed her down, then batted her in the head!

Louise painted glue across Katniss and stuck her to the roof. "And by the way, your third book sucked!" Louise stated before stomping her head, knocking Katniss out. The train was about to roll by a Sky God flagpole with a mouse on top. Louise held onto her sister as Maria leapt for the top, swapping the flag with their gold Jolly Roger. The sisters slid to the base and did a high-five—a Nyakuza leapt out with a bat raised, ready to smash Louise's head, but a large shadowy hand grabbed him and threw him away. "Bad kitty!" Dillon said. (End song.)

"Louise, look!" Maria pointed. "He's Sector V!"

"Huh?" Dillon acknowledged them curiously. "Wait, you're the Mushroom Princesses! How did you get here?"

"That's FORMER princesses to you!" Maria stated strictly. "And we have an important message: Melody's mom is in danger!"

"You mean Mrs. Jackson? She wasn't captured by The Riddler again, was she?"

"Worse." Maria recapped the message that had been sent around by Emily.

Dillon's face was horror-stricken. "Mr. Jackson was killed… by that Monaca girl?! What the hell?! Doesn't she know they're friends of ours?!"

"Monaca and Kokichi were two of the worst in this crew." Louise replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if they were spies or something."

"Yeah, but so far, the pirates have been mostly cooperative. They rescued a few of the captured operatives. I wonder what Skaios would say about this…"

"I'll talk to Skaios about Monaca." The three lightly jumped with a start when Midna rose out of his shadow. "I've been suspicious of her for a while. Still, if Monaca finds out we're on to her, she may execute Eva ahead of time. We need to be discreet about this."

"Midna, can you find the others and tell them?"

"Will do." Midna Veiled and flew away.

"Get out of the way! The ship is crashing!!" Hearing glass shattering and rumbling, the three looked up, terrified as a pirate ship with White Lotus sails was descending toward the city streets, scraping past buildings and carving a trail. The kids ran aside as the Windy Marvel crashed, the front side completely destroyed. A bird-like figure leapt out of the ship with wings spread, landing gracefully on its feet: it was Doflamingo, Jr..

The young prince quickly studied the area with a scowling grin, and the second he spotted Louise, he yanked her over with strings and wrapped them around her neck, forcing her to face the operatives as he strangled her. "Doffy, wait!"

"Better keep your 'justice' to yourself, Dillon! This brat and I have a score to settle. The pirates better set my team free or their precious princess's head will roll."

"Y-You're was-ting your ti-me, ack. . . I be-trayed . . the crew… ack…"

"You mean I can't even use you as a bargaining chip?!"

"No . . . so get your fuc-ing strings . . off me . . ack." Louise tried to tug on the tight strings, her tiny fingernails unable to dig under them.

Still in cat form, Maria pounced the flamingo, making him release the strings. Doffy pushed Maria off. "Grrrr!" Louise grabbed her gun and aimed it, "You're gonna die for that, you son of a-"

"Nononono Louise, we don't need any more enemies!" Maria jumped in front of the gun and waved her hands frantically. "Hey, he's an escaped prisoner, right? Let's ask him to join us!"

"Why the devil would I ever join you brats?"

"Because there's no way you can fight the pirates and rescue your team all by yourself?" Dillon assumed.

"You forget that I belong to an organization myself: the Corporate Presidents."

"Oh, I didn't know the Presidents looked after each other like that." Dillon twisted his pinky in his ear in a sarcastic manner. "Maybe I underestimated them."

"…" Doffy tightly bit his lower lip, refusing to admit Dillon was right. "Even so, I refuse to so much as ally with you. I would hate for your kind to win the Game of Thrones. Especially a piece of 'justice' trash like her."

"What do you know about justice anyway, you vacation clothes-wearing creep?!" Louise retorted.

"A lot more than you, Trash. And for the record, if I ever see you in my kingdom again, it's the noose for you." He shot strings up to a building and swung off like Spider-Man.

"GO HANG YOURSELF, PUPPET SHOW!"

"Yokay, settle down, lovebirds." Dillon snickered. "At least he's not entirely against us. You two should go; and tell Melody we'll do everything we can."

"Aye-aye!" Maria saluted. With that, Louise drew up a Paint Portal that they jumped inside, and Dillon watched as it was erased thereafter. Maria held up her phone and spoke, "So Ms. Yorkshire, did you say you were surrounded by psychic thingies?"

"Um, yes. The captain of this ship appears to be a powerful psychicbender with a spider theme. Her name's Aranea, I think?"

"I know exactly who will be able to fight someone like her: Sunni and Darcy! They're the strongest psychicbenders in the KND."

"That would be awfully kind, but I'd rather you work on saving your mother first. I think that ninja man took her-"

"Dogmom takes priority!! Peach is used to being kidnapped, but I will not let you be eaten by spiders! Louise, let's go fetch Sunni and Darcy right away!"

"Oh, where did we go wrong raising you, child? Well, I must admit, being a damsel-in-distress is very undignified. Do get here soon."

Hyrule; Soul of Competition

The vessel of the Sports Star Pirates (a.k.a. Sector JP) had the figurehead of a Chinese dragon and a comet baseball and soccerball painted on the starboard and port sides respectively. While the rescued captives worked on deck, the crewmen gathered in the brig, watching as Masaru Daimon began to awaken.

"Nnnn…?" His vision returned to find the four girls glaring at him (except Ururu who kept the normal shy expression). He was behind bars and tied tightly. Masaru began to squirm. "Grrr! Let me outta here! You'll be sorry when these ropes come off!" His attempts to use firebending were for naught due to the chi-blocks.

"Pipe down, boy." Kodama ordered. "Now, here's how it's gonna work: we're gonna hold you for ransom, and if your crew doesn't comply to our demands, I'm gonna stick this firework in your throat and kill you."

"NO! I REFUSE TO DIE HERE! I'M A HERO!"

"Sh-She's only joking." Yuzu consoled him. "Honestly, we're not that kind of pirates."

"Besides, the KND's job is to help kids." Karin said. "Thanks to us, you can put this life of war behind you. But you probably don't want that."

"Damn right I don't. My team is depending on me!"

"When you say 'team,' do you mean the Hope Pirates or Sky God Pirates?"

"What's it matter to you?"

"Masaru-kun, we would like for you and your friends to live in peace." Ururu reasoned. "Based on our intel, the Free Kingdom is really chaotic, and people died there all the time. I mean… can you say for certain your friends are happy there?"

"Happier than living with our parents! You hypocrites ignored our cries for help before, and NOW you say you wanna help us?!"

"Did you ever send an official cry for help?" Karin asked. "Like, a letter? We make sure all schools and shops receive posters with our contact info, if they need help or wanna join. Did you ever see some of those and call us?"

"W-Well, we did, but… Monaca said she tried to call you once and you ignored her, and she convinced us not to…"

"We received a few calls from different Monacas, and we helped them all out. What did she look like?"

"She's wheelchair bound and has green hair."

"I don't remember anyone like that. You sure she wasn't lying?"

"…" Masaru wanted to question why Monaca would lie about that… especially with how she kept loudly insisting she was right.

"Masaru, we would like you to work with us in saving the rest of our friends." Yuzu smiled. "And we'll save your friends, too. We don't think you should trust the Sky God Pirates."

"For your information, we've been helping your Sector V buddies save your operatives!"

"Sector V did so without a majority approval and therefore betrayed us." Karin stated. "Besides, if we let the Sky Gods help us, it's already as if we're acknowledging them as the victor, and I won't have it. However, your best option is to work with us, because you can at least be assured we'll protect you guys."

Masaru 'huffed' and glared at the floor. "I'll bring you some food later!" Yuzu said before heading up to deck with the others.

Hyrule; Mogma Mines

Nergal hurried through the mines in his horse form, Carmine strapped to his back. They trotted past several pirate guards along the way. "Why is Mandy letting you do this? We're her nephew's friends!"

"It doesn't matter. Since the KND are competing in this war, you're our enemies, too."

"But we only started because you guys captured our friends!"

"Yeah, well… you guys shouldn't have been on this planet!"

"Hmph…" Carmine had been fishing for something in her pocket in her bound state and managed to flick it on.

"AAAAH!" A gas grenade suddenly exploded, searing Nergal's back and tentacles as he dropped Carmine. Her suit managed to keep her safe, and she began to run back the opposite way. "CLOSE THE GATE!"

A Moblin pulled a switch to make a gate rise up from beneath, stopping Carmine in place as she worriedly turned back to Nergal. "CARMINE!" She turned back to see Jenny rolling up, taking down the demons on the way.

"Jenny, pull that lever!" she shouted while dodging Nergal's tentacles.

"Bloohoo! Not today!" A Wizzrobe suddenly appeared and cast a barrier spell over the lever. Jenny tried to jump and kick him, but he Disapparated.

Jenny looked up and saw the top of the gate had a gap big enough. "Carmine, take these!" She threw the bomb sacks up and over the gate, Carmine catching them. She used her Haki to dodge Nergal's tentacles and scatters M.A.R.B.L.E.s at his feet, the half-demon jumping back. Nergal extracted five tentacles and stretched them separate directions to surround her. Carmine dodged the munching tendrils and swiftly tossed M.A.R.B.L.E.s in their mouths to explode them, their heads popping into smoke. Nergal retracted them and changed into a horse, quickly trotting left-and-right so as to confuse Carmine. She tried to track him with Haki and dropped a bomb to her right when she sensed he would go there, but Nergal was still able to jump away from the explosion, landing on Carmine's left and kicking her with his hindlegs.

Carmine felt dizzy in the head, but reacted to roll away before Nergal could jump on her. He whipped his headless tentacles at her, but Carmine got back on her feet and rolled bombs at him. Nergal became a horse again and ran circles around to confuse her. He then charged, but he suspected a sneak attack and dodged to her right to land a kick. However, the previous bomb was a dud, while Carmine had dropped another upon being kicked, exploding beneath him. Nergal reverted to human form, charred and bloody from the blast. "You're more violent than you look."

"Normally, I use less lethal bombs… but in this war, I can't afford to hold back. So, sorry if you've been hurt—ow, ah!" One of the lenses of her Sleepy Mask was cracked as she felt a tiny shard of glass in her head. She pulled it off and tried to pick the shard out. "Ow…nnh…"

"Why did you even come?" Nergal asked, hesitant to attack her in this pitiful state. "You're clearly not in the right condition to survive a wa-"

Carmine was secretly reaching for a M.A.R.B.L.E. and quickly flicked it to Nergal, the man barely dodging as it blew up the ground and charred his right leg. "Because without the KND, I'd just be a helpless bully victim. Risking my life in a war is better than being the class freak."

"A freak, huh? Yeah… I've been there before. Kids weren't so used to half-demons with tentacles growing out of their-"

Carmine tossed another M.A.R.B.L.E. and blasted Nergal backward. "Hey! I thought we were about to have a heart-to-heart?!"

"Not when my friends are in danger!" Carmine put her helmet on after picking out the shard. "I don't have time to waste!"

"That's the spirit!" Jenny called. She had succeeded in KOing the Wizzrobe and disabling the barrier, allowing her to flip the lever. Once the gate lowered, she rolled to tackle Nergal to the ground, but Nergal wrestled back as he assumed Jenny's form, changing in a way that hid his own wounds. He wrapped both her and himself in the tentacles, sealing both their mouths.

Carmine hesitated in trying to determine the right Jenny. Both were trying to struggle and yell and prompt Carmine to make the wrong choice. "Grrrr!" Carmine grabbed a non-lethal bomb from her pouch. "We'll see who's the real deal!" She bravely threw the bomb, both girls perking up as it landed and exploded. A forceful sensation sprung throughout their bodies as Nergal's hold waned. "Ooooo…" Nergal moaned as he grew back to his adult form, passing out.

The real Jenny helped herself up, stumbling as little on her rollers. "Hoof…y'know, I just woke up, it still could've knocked me out."

"Well, you have great stamina, I thought it wouldn't matter." Carmine smiled.

"Heh, let's just hurry back."

"Let's take this man, too. He's really injured."

"So, what? He tried to kidnap you. Besides, demons just respawn in the Underworld."

"He said he was half-demon. Let's just treat him and tie him up."

"Alright then. Grab on."

Outside, Miko's Q-Knight was derezzed by the Ash Knight, the gamer panting in exhaustion. Miko glared through her baggy eyes while Gaz was smirking behind the scenes. When Ash Knight charged, Miko smashed a button to bring up the bus's shield. "Miko! Start the bus!" Jenny yelled as she came rolling out, dragging Nergal while Carmine held onto her back.

"Nergal?! That idiot lost!"

"Yeah, so you better stay back or you'll be hurting him, too!" Jenny threw him onto the bus.

"Eh…no big deal." Ash Knight raised its sword and chopped down, but Miko quickly backed the bus up. She then sped forward and dodged around the knight, their vehicle bumping violently on the rugged road. "Man, I have no idea where I'm going!" Miko shouted as she drove into a wide tunnel, headlights active as she maneuvered around stalagmites.

"Just try to get us out of its range!" Carmine said. "We need to stable the bus so I can patch this guy up."

"Carmine, the boys aren't waking up for some reason!" Jenny mentioned.

"There was a woman with him, a succubus! He said she went into their dreams to trap them."

"What?! So, what do we do?!"

"I don't really know… but listen, this guy was disguised as Mitch. I think the reason they were advertising him was to lead his team into a trap."

"Then where's the real Mitch?!" Miko asked.

"I don't know. But he also mentioned another name. He said they were waiting for 'Gaz' to show up."

"G…Gaz?"

"I wonder if that could be who's controlling the Ash Knight?"

"The Ash Knight…" Miko's tired eyes widened in realization. "One of the top gamers of the universe… Gaz Membrane."

"Wait… do you mean QUEEN Gaz?!" Jenny exclaimed. "The queen of Planet Wisp?!"

"Gaz is said to be online rivals with Mandy in the gaming world. No wonder why her moves are so good! It…it's really her." A wide smile crossed her features. "I went one-on-one with the Gamer Queen, Gaz Membrane!"

"MIKO, LAVA!" Jenny shouted.

"WOW!" Miko swerved rightward to avoid a pit of lava. There were tiny trickles of magma coursing around the cave walls like blood veins.

"I don't sense it following us, anymore." Carmine said. "Try to park the bus somewhere. We need to catch up on sleep. As for the boys… he said that only one of them would be able to wake up. The other two will be knocked out for a while."

"How're we supposed to keep going like that?!" Jenny asked.

"I'll stay up and watch over them." Miko offered. "Don't worry, I'm a night owl. I'll make sure they wake up okay."

"Sigh…" Jenny could feel the stress creeping up on her. "Yeah… I hope they can all wake up."

Mobius; Cave of Blind Ones

After docking the Rocketship at a nearby shore, the Big Grin Pirates and Anthony ventured up a cliffside above deadly stalagmites. The cloudy sky grew steadily darker as night drew near. The seven operatives hid behind some rocks when they found the gaping entrance to a pitch-black cave. Anthony closed his eyes and felt the ground, feeling vibrations emitting from the cave. "There's a lot of footsteps in there… four-legged, two-legged creatures… and even spiders. Big ones."

"Can we stay out here, Chimney?" Aeincha shuddered.

"This cave matches with the description Mado gave us." April said. "Fybi could definitely be in here. But it's pitch-dark. Only Anthony and Aisa will be able to sense things down there."

"But they can't go by their selves, it's too dangerous." Mocha replied. "We should all go and follow each other's voices."

"No way! You might squish us, Mochan!" Chimney stated.

"Too many things could eat me in there." Aeincha said.

"If I get spiders up in my fanny, you will NOT wanna feed me afterwards." 'Gonbe' remarked.

"I'll go with them." Apis offered. "My telepathy is a big asset against the Kremlings, don't forget."

"I'll go, too." April offered. "I have some glowing paint that could probably help. It's not very bright, so it wouldn't help show the path."

"I guess we'll just stay out here and keep watch." Mocha said. "Come back soon, it's almost nighttime. I wanna get back to my nice comfy ship."

"Alrighty." Aisa readied her bow. "Here we come, Fybi." (Play "Lair of Blind Ones" from Turok 2.)

Stage 10: Cave of Blind Ones

Mission: Rescue Fybi Fulbright.

The cave sloped downward as darkness enveloped the four. They stayed close as Anthony alerted them to pitfalls, from which spiders the size of their feet crawled out. Not willing to squish the hideous bugs, Anthony dealt quick rock attacks at them. The ground became stable, but a badger-mole burrowed out of a wall and knocked the group down with a shockwave. Anthony flung boulders at it, the mole swapping them away. He punched the ground and sunk the mole's feet, then Aisa ran up to slam an Impact Dial into its face, knocking it out.

They proceeded through the darkness, and Aisa alerted them when Lightfoots skipped up, twirling spears. April painted a red spot on the ground, then made it noticeable with glow paint so the raptors would attack it. Aisa shot them with arrows and Anthony with boulders to KO them. Using Seismic Sense, the boy felt a presence behind a wall and bent it open. A Mobian squirrel was found glued to a spider-web, scared out of his wits, but they cut him free and had him jump in the Infi-Cube. The cave continued down a deep shaft, the group clinging to a rugged wall as they climbed carefully. Spiders skittered out of holes to have a bite, but Apis told them to go back, the bugs obeying her telepathic voice.

The group set foot on ground, and Aisa winced in disgust when she learned how muddy it was. They trudged into an open cavern, seeing glinting white strings on the ceiling. "AAAAAH!" A string lashed down and pulled Aisa up to a giant spider. "HELP ME, PLEASE HELP ME, PLEASE!" Anthony formed a spear from the mud and threw it to cut her down, catching Aisa afterward. Fear flooding her eyes, she shot arrows into the beast's eyes. It did little to impede its web-slinging, so April dipped some arrows in pink paint so they would weaken the spider's defense when struck. The group ran out of the way when the beast fell dead.

"I really hate spiders." Aisa said, shuddering. "You're very lucky I'm doing this."

"I heard that spiders find Nimbi more delicious than humans." April noted. "They're like big butterflies that melt in their mouth in a warm, milky fashion."

"April, you're not a comforting person."

They saw a chest hanging from a web, so Aisa shot it down. This only prompted three spiders to ambush them, but some quick work with stones and arrows was able to subdue them. The cave continued over a pit with many webs sewn over it, where a bulbous-backed spider was resting. Apis called the harmless creature over, Aisa's heart racing, but the spider turned and allowed them onto its behind. Apis instructed the beast across the web, going around holes. Sharpclaw tried to shoot them from platforms, but Aisa sniped them with her own arrows.

At the end of the path, they could jump off on safe ground, only to land at the foot of a Sharpclaw fort. "(INTRUDERS! All men to battle!)" one of them bellowed in Dino Talk. The two-legged dinos came charging out with guns, Anthony bringing up rock walls to protect his team. He kicked boulders at the gunners and disarmed them, then dropped the wall so Aisa could shoot arrows. Apis tried to speak to the Sharpclaw, but they were too intelligent to listen. "WATCH OUT!" Aisa grabbed Apis and ducked before a giant arrow could gouge her. Aisa shot an arrow to kill the Sharpclaw on the giant crossbow.

April flung Glow Paint on the ground to distract the dinos, leaving them vulnerable to Anthony's boulders. Eventually, all the Sharpclaw lay in defeat and no backup appeared. "Hey… why do their feet look like that?" Anthony noticed that, while the Sharpclaws had reptilian bodies, their feet seemed like those of badger-moles.

"Interesting." April said. "Perhaps they had badger-mole feet attached so they could use their Earth Chi to see in this cave."

"Gross!" Apis winced and wanted to hurl. "God, for being an animal Krew, these Kremlings have NO respect for nature!"

Anthony felt a treasure chest near a corner of the field and went to collect. "OUA-OUA-oua!" The chest was actually a Klobber, the gold Kremling zooming around the field like a car! Aisa and Anthony struggled to hit it, but they succeeded, yanking the KO'ed Klobber out to take the gold. The group felt quakes further up the cave, and when Anthony sensed what it was, he burrowed his team underground.

Stomping aboveground was a T-Rex, its eyes replaced with a mechanical thermal scanner. It thought for sure it saw unfamiliar heat signatures. When the beast turned back, the group resurfaced. "That poor thing has an antenna in its brain." Apis said. "It's blocking telepathic interference."

"Let me take care of it." Aisa walked up and made a whistle. The T-Rex whipped around, ROARING at the intruders and charging them. It tried to smash Aisa under its massive skull, only for her to raise the Impact Dial and absorb the force. Aisa released the force at its chest, toppling the dino, and Anthony bashed its head with some boulders before it fainted. The tunnel ended at a ledge over a dark abyss, and Anthony sensed safe ground far across the pit. He asked the group to stand together before thrusting his arms and shooting them all across with a Rockapult. "AAAAH!" Aisa screamed when two rows of spiders swung down on either side of them.

Sharpclaw felt them land and shot at the intruders, but were easily dealt with. The group followed a short path and found another Rockapult spot, but large spiders were hanging along the path in an arched fashion. They wouldn't obey Apis' command to rise back up, but they would swing left and right. There was also a Mobian dog prisoner swinging on one of the webs, so when Anthony timed the launch, they made sure to grab the prisoner while flying by. The group entered another tunnel as badger-moles burrowed out. Apis spoke to the first one and asked it to fight another. A mole threw a boulder at Aisa, who stopped it with the Impact Dial, then Anthony grabbed and returned it to the mole's face.

Apis's mole managed to defeat its opponent, after which she allowed it to stand down. Anthony was playing "volleyball" with the last mole, until one lucky shot was able to best the creature. The tunnel sloped down until they found their selves trudging through a muddy marsh. This area was very open and had short, long rocks hidden under the muck. Anthony and Aisa gasped when they felt a presence rise up—it was a large Earthworm, and it grabbed Aisa's leg in its sharp teeth and flailed her around before throwing.

"Bad boy! Get down!" Apis yelled, the worm retreating. Many Earthworms were swimming underground, and would emerge from right below their feet, so Apis would quickly tell them to go back down. There seemed to be nothing of interest in this vast cavern, so they only proceeded toward the tunnel at the end.

"Hold on." Aisa said. "I'm feeling another presence down here… but it's weirdly faint." Taking her hint, Anthony used Seismic Sense to get a better scope of the cave. All that lay under the mud were Earthworms and long rocks… though one of these rocks seemed to have a different weight and form. They made their way over to it as Anthony earthbent the rock.

"Go away, wormies!!" What jumped to its feet wasn't a rock, but Eijiro Kirishima of Sector U.A.. "You twy to eat me and I'll… hey, you're not wormies!"

"Hey, it's Jinta!" Anthony recognized. "Since when did you become a rock monster?"

"No, I think he just looks like Jinta." Aisa said. "Judging by his behavior, he must've been dumbified by K. Rool's cannon. We'll protect you from the wormies, so get in this." She held out the Infi-Cube.

"But that box is too small." Eijiro said.

Anthony pushed him in. "Now so are you."

The tunnel at the end of the marsh sloped up, leading to a large room where they sensed a lightweight body tied to a stalactite via spider-webs. "There she is!" Anthony beamed; he recognized her thin weight more than anyone. "I think that's Fybi up there! HEY, FYBI!"

Though she couldn't see in the darkness, the young Nimbi knew that voice all too well. "Anthony! Art thou hither?! Be wary of yon-"

"WATCH OUT!" Aisa screamed, the group dodging forward when a giant spider crashed down. Unlike the others, this one had six legs, and had the upper body of a brown, muscular raptor: he was Musclefoot, the strongest Lightfoot and one of the Sharpclaw officers. Aisa panickingly shot arrows at his head, but Musclefoot whipped around and shot a venom from his behind. Aisa immediately froze stiff and fell on her front.

"AISA!" Apis screamed when Musclefoot picked her friend up and began wrapping her in webbing.

"(K. Rool's orders were to let the red-haired angel live.)" The hybrid spoke his native tongue. "(He no say anything about other prisoners.)"

Anthony dealt a Rock Stab at Musclefoot's underside, then threw a boulder at his stomach, making him drop Aisa. The kids desperately tore the webbing off, uncovering Aisa's stiff form. Her flesh was pale and no life was in her eyes. "OH MY GOD, AISA'S DEAD!" Apis cried, going red with despair.

"No, calm down, she's fine!" April yelled. "She's just paralyzed by the venom, it'll wear off!"

"You're gonna pay for that, you 6-legged freak!" Anthony fist-palmed.

"(Musclefoot is strongest Lightfoot! And my Spider Fruit makes me four times stronger. I will crush you and have you for dinner!)" (Play "Boss 2" from Turok 2!)

Sub-boss: Sharpclaw General, MUSCLEFOOT

Musclefoot charged at them, Anthony throwing up a rock wall in defense. With his muscular build, the dino-spider pushed the wall, but Anthony pushed back, both forces struggling to best the other. Anthony poured immense pressure into his arms to push him level with a stone pillar. He stomped and sent his chi to the pillar, sinking a portion of ground so it would fall and smash Musclefoot. Anthony was able to push the wall further in attempt to squish him, but the dino pushed up with his legs and flung the pillar off. He quickly ran up the wall and shot webs at Anthony, who dodged and retaliated with boulders, which Musclefoot swiftly evaded.

Smaller (but still large) spiders were crawling around the ceiling, so Apis telepathically spoke to them. Under her command, the spiders crawled over to Musclefoot's legs and sank their teeth. They could only make the strong dino itch, but as he tried to shake them off, Anthony chucked a large boulder at his head. Musclefoot fell and shook the ground, quickly getting up and running around the group. He shot a web toward the ceiling and swung to grab Anthony, and upon the swing up, Musclefoot did a loop and slammed the boy into the ground.

Musclefoot flipped and held onto the web rope with his arms, swinging around the room and shooting web balls at the group. He kicked off the walls to build momentum in his swings and make it difficult for Anthony to hit him. April spread Glow Paint on the wall and put red paint near it, compelling Musclefoot to swing in that direction. With this predictable pattern, Anthony could shoot a stalactite at Musclefoot's rib. The dino dropped and threw the stone at Anthony, who grabbed the tip, spun around, and chucked the stalactite straight at his head.

"(That's it, boy! You think you're stronger than me?! Why don't you prove it?)" Musclefoot leapt up to Fybi's stalactite and pulled the Nimbi off, wrapping web around her before jumping down a hole. Anthony pursued him, grabbing the side of the pit as he scraped down, eventually falling past a ceiling and landing on a narrow stone path situated over a deep abyss. Anthony quickly threw up his arms when Musclefoot shoved a large brick wall against him. "(No cheating this time, boy! One of us stands, one falls!)"

Anthony couldn't earthbend the thin path without risking falling, and even if he punched through the brick, the beast could easily grab and throw him down. He could only pour every ounce of chi into pushing the brick and winning this test of strength; even though Musclefoot could easily climb back up the walls. Meanwhile, Fybi had been stuck to the flagpole near the wall, and though she was glued tight, her airbending was still available. She started to mold saliva in her mouth, and noticed the very slightest glint of Musclefoot's eye. She focused on the glint and, using her bending, shot a saliva glob with the force of a bullet.

It did no damage to the strong dino, but it distracted him just enough for Anthony to pull the wall away from his grasp, lift it up with bending, and swat the overgrown bug off the path! Musclefoot grasped the chasm's side and was about to shoot a web at Anthony, but he used the wall as a shield, linking it to Musclefoot and then chucking the wall into the abyss. Musclefoot was pulled down, so he quickly detached the web and shot another at the chasm's side. Anthony ran to one side of the path, above the support pillar, and could Rockapult himself to the top of the flagpole, swapping it with a gold flag as he undid Fybi's webs.

"Thou hast my thanks, Anthony! But mayhaps a little sooner next time." She flew up the hole they had fallen down, and Anthony dug into the wall to climb his way back up to the others. Musclefoot hurriedly climbed up the hole.

During this time, Apis asked a badger-mole to make a boulder large enough to plug the hole, and April painted a glowing red mark on top of it. "Thank you, Mr. Mole!"

As soon as Fybi made it out of the hole, and Anthony climbed out of the floor, he took notice of the boulder and quickly plugged it up. "And now for the finisher!" Anthony felt Musclefoot climbing up, so with one mighty stomp, he sent the boulder shooting down!

The spider-dino was forced down by the weight of the boulder, returning to the endless chasm, but he was able to kick away from it as it smashed through the narrow path. "(You will not escape me!)" He instinctively shot a web back up to the ceiling—unfortunately, he was forced to shoot it at the Glow Mark April painted on the boulder. "(What?!)" The web latched as the boulder fell quickly down the abyss, pulling Musclefoot along. He detached the web, but when he tried to shoot another, it was still attracted to the Glow Mark. "(NOOOOOOoooooooo…)" His echoing voice faded into the darkness. (End song.)

The operatives made their way out of the cave, with April and Apis carrying Aisa, all the while briefing the situation to Fybi. "So, by my understanding, fair Harvey's emotionbending is an integral part of K. Rool's plan." She figured. "And he allowed us to live so long as Harvey cooperates."

"So he won't have to cooperate if we rescue the others!" Anthony said hopefully.

"He still hast other prisoners at his disposal. Harvey will not risk the lives of anyone, teammates or otherwise."

"Well, he at least won't hurt your teammates so long as he needs Harvey." Apis said. "So, we should at least save the other two first. …After we help Aisa."

On the Rocketship, Sector ZOU's nurse, a blue-haired squirrel named Tristan, treated Aisa with an antidote to cure her paralysis. The Shandian remained confined to her bed, unable to stop shuddering. "N-Never again. N-Never w-wanna s-see anot-her spider… aga-in…"

"She's fully healed, but the poor girl's been traumatized." Tristan said regretfully. "Give her time to rest and slowly the memory will fade… hopefully."

"Oi, April, don't you have a soothing paint or something?" Chimney asked. "Give her some of that."

"There's little value in burying someone's emotions, Chimney."

"But we in a war! We need all available manpower!"

"I think I have an idea!" Aeincha spoke up. "Let's call GKND H.Q. and have them get in contact with Aisa's boyfriend, Miguel. He's a musicbender, so I'll bet a nice song will cheer her up."

"Fine, as long as we don't need to do another stage just to get him." Anthony said. "So, where are Nea and Sally being held?"

"We received a call from Sector AC about Aranea." Apis answered. "They said they've found a mountain range with a gigantic birdcage. That matches Madotsuki's description. As for Sally, she's being held on a moving train."

"You know, my sector said they detected a train driving near the Sunset Hill." Tristan mentioned. "The planet's in a crisis right now, so there shouldn't be many working trains, if at all."

"Mayhaps that is our target." Fybi deduced. "Anthony, I know we hath just reunited, but we shalt achieve our goal faster this way. Allow me to join with Sector AC and rescue Aranea. I will be able to ascend the mountain with ease."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Then I'll go with these guys to save Sally!"

"You sure you'll be able to make it by yourself?" Aeincha asked.

"No creature flies faster than me! I will soar over the Kremlings before they hath a chance! Then with Sector AC's aid, I will surely rescue my cousin. Mark my words, Harvey's face will beam upon seeing the four of us come to his rescue."