Challenge Invitation

King Kroctus exited the hospital and marched down the cliffside path, flexing his muscle. "That Ultimate Chimera was quite the workout. It'll certainly make up for Klammy's lack of strength, heh har! The future of the Kremling Krew is bright…"

Mason, Sheila, and Arianna listened to his spiel, hiding on a platform underneath the cliff. "Blimey, the beastie himself is right up there." Sheila whispered, feeling temptation. "Man, I really wanna beat him up right now!"

"No!" Mason stated. "You already picked Great Grandma as your target. Plus, you don't even know Haki."

"Come to think of it, won't Kroctus feel us with his Haki?" Arianna asked worriedly.

"Accordin' to Maddy, he didn't seem to use Observation during her test fight." Sheila answered. "Reckon he don't have it. But ah'right. Sounds like he said there's a strong beastie in there, too."

"Let's subdue Baron K. Rool quickly. Maddy and Deku plan to fight Kroctus by the morning." (Play "Krook's March" from Donkey Kong Country.)

Stage 43: Khimera Kastle

Mission: Rescue Cheadle and defeat Klammy!

Arianna stretched vines to pegs on other platforms, the group balancing across along the cliffside. Karbines hovered near the platforms and shot lavaballs to burn her vines, so Mason intercepted the balls with Gas Bombs. The birds evaded Sheila's spheres, so they could only thwart their attacks. The route led them to behind the waterfalls, finding a ladder that led up to a sewer pipe. The trio climbed in and crawled into the pipe, soon finding their way out of a giant toilet. "Oi, this won't be the first time we been out of a toilet, eh Mason?"

"Please don't bring that up. …Still, this is pretty big."

"Mobians come in many sizes, so this is probably for the larger species." Ari figured. They found a chest inside another toilet, but with nothing else to find, they exited—against an orangutan's back. "Oh, dear! Excuse us, Mister-" The ape turned, startling the kids with its walrus head. "What the-?! A Monkalrus?!"

The chimera tried to snatch them, but Sheila countered its hand with her fist, then socked it upside the tusk for a KO. They progressed up a hallway where Dogfish pranced up on bird talons, panting giddily as they breathed Ice Breath. Arianna ordered the hybrids to sit, obeying her telepathy. A magic barrier blocked the way, and they found a large fire inside one of the rooms. Arianna ordered the Dogfish to breathe ice and disperse the fire, unveiling a key that could unlock the barrier. They turned a right passage, seeing nothing to obstruct them in this hall—a door burst open violently, and a red, four-legged demon with a massive mouth of sharp teeth bellowed venomously. "BAAROOOOOOOOO!"

"AAAH!" Arianna fell to her knees, clasping her head. "There's so many voices shouting at me! They're all… coming from that thing!"

"My, it seems we have some uninvited guests." Klammy's voice spoke. "Children, meet the Ultimate Chimera, my most powerful invention! He's a wee beaten up after some exercise with my brother, but he'll be happy to chew on you kids."

"Yeah, chew on this!" Sheila whirled her fist and charged, but Arianna yanked her back with vines.

"Don't, Sheila! I don't know how many, but I can feel a large number of animals fused into this one monster! It's too strong for all of us, so let's just avoid it."

"Oi, you ain't lettin' me have any fun today." With the chimera's slow speed, the group was able to go around it. Sadly, a dead end prevented a full escape, but a crank was there. Sheila began to twist it quickly while Mason shot Gas Bombs at the chimera, unable to slow its progress at all. The crank was lowering chains from the shaft above, and Sheila lowered them in time for them to grab and climb away from the chimera's hunger. They had to swing to other chains on the way up, Sheila punching down Klingers. The Ultimate Chimera gnashed a fallen Klinger in its teeth, and they could almost feel the earsplitting pain as the Kremling was forced out the rear with the force of a cannon.

They reached the top of the chains and entered a new corridor, seeing rather furry lumps on the ceiling. Sheila lit her fist for a better view, but this caused all the Batangutans to wake up and swarm the kids. They flapped slowly, as the bats' monkey heads were too heavy, but they dropped fleas on the kids, causing their hair to itch. Mason spread gas around his team to poison the fleas, and Arianna ordered the chimeras to clear away. Her telepathy wouldn't work on the Einswine, however, a pig with a brain inside a mechanical compartment. The Einswine grabbed them in psychic, but Arianna ordered the Batangutans to swarm the pig and disrupt its focus, freeing the group as Sheila punched spheres at the brain, and Ari grabbed it in vines to slam the pig in the wall.

They came to a room with two pools, one that was frozen and another with piping hot water. A red- and yellow-striped chimera with a hose-mouth and puffed body was locked in a cage, the key to which was in a Mecha-Turtle's mouth, on the frozen pool. Arianna's telepathy couldn't reach the cyborg, so Sheila jumped onto the pool to face it. The turtle about-faced and shot missiles from its rear, Sheila dodging up to kick the reptile. The force of her kick caused the turtle to spin and slide around the ice like a puck, then Arianna grabbed it in vines to haul the turtle onto its back. It stuck its limbs out, flailing them, during which Mason could seize the key, then Ari flipped him upright on land.

Mason freed the Pump Chimera as Ari asked it to suck in the boiling water and pour it onto the frozen water, cooling it. There was no path under that water, so Ari asked it to suck in and pour the cooled water onto the boiling, allowing the crew to dive in and swim through a tunnel. They resurfaced in a room with sleeping Krunchas, and quietly crept by the muscular crocs. "SQUA-SQUA-SQUA!" yelped the Squawking Stick, a bird head attached to a stick. The Krunchas awoke, cracking their knuckles as they readied to pound the intruders.

Sheila was relentless in fighting the Kremlings, her fists meeting theirs with only slight bruising. Mason guzzled Flurp to attack with stronger Gas Bombs, while Arianna silenced the bird-stick to keep further enemies from appearing. With the Krunchas defeated, they entered another passage with a magic barrier at the end. They could only search the empty experiment rooms, so far finding nothing, until—"AAAAH!" Mason screamed after walking in on the Ultimate Chimera, bolting before it could gnash him. He ran as the beast pursued slowly, but Sheila looked into its room and found the key. They opened the barrier and ran from the chimera to an outer walkway.

The walkway was thin with no railing, and filled with Wound-Up Road Hogs, boars with ball-shaped, bouncy wheels. The hogs would roll back and attempt to ram the kids, either to knock them off the edge or back toward the Ultimate. Sheila's attacks would bounce off the hogs, but Mason could stun them with gas, allowing them to pass the animals, though listening horrifically as the Ultimate would slam them in its jaws. The walkway had a dead end, but Arianna could order some Flutters to form a stairway to a window, the group bouncing up the dragonflies and escaping the Ultimate once more.

They landed in a room with capsules of Kremlings, no doubt the Kloning facility. Robo-Kritters were alerted at the intruders, but Sheila easily beat the robots into submission. Arianna took the liberty of smashing the machine's controls with her brambles. They exited to a hallway where the walls were lined with glass prisons containing different Kremlings or animals, likely meant to be the bases for new Klones. A Cat-O'-9-Tails guarded the passage, spinning up and first snatching Mason in its many tails before slamming him against a glass.

Arianna saw the platforms above and asked the blue cat to grab and toss her up to the first one, on which she grew a Bounce-Shroom from her pot collection and stationed it. She bounced up to the next platform, dropped another shroom, and repeated until she could make it up top, her teammates soon to join her. The next room was rather beautiful: Fireflies were fluttering peacefully, the only source of light in a dim room. Even though they were chimeras built with cheap lights, the light was still pleasant—until they lit the fuses of Squawking Boomsticks, which looked the same as the previous enemy, but would wobble over and explode against the group.

They endured the first explosions as Sheila quickly punched the others away with spheres, though it seemed the Boomsticks were respawning out of hatches. They noticed a cracked wall, so when a Firefly lit a Boomstick, Sheila punched it toward the wall and blew it open. However, Mason heard a despairing moan echo from an air vent, so they decided to crawl in and investigate. They exited to a round room, looking over a pit where a boy with a strange head was standing on a platform, cowering as a swarm of ants were trying to crawl up and eat him. P-Please! Stay back, ants! S-Stay back!

"He's using telepathy just like me!" Arianna noticed. When Gnawtys wandered into the pit from holes, the Army Ants swarmed the beavers instead, the kids horrified as they were reduced to bones. Mason blasted Gas Bombs down to poison the ants, but they were only halted for seconds. They lowered a ladder to the base of the pit, and Arianna used her telepathy to make the ants stay away from that path. With the prisoner using his telepathy in conjunction, the ants stayed clear of him as he was able to climb the ladder.

"A-Arianna! You saved my life…"

"Koji?!" Arianna gasped, recognizing the Superbian from Meet Your Heroes Day. "My, I hadn't expected to find you here."

"They've been forcing me to help tame the chimeras. It's been horrible. Many of these animals are very unhappy."

"I can imagine. If you're feeling weak, you can rest in our Infi-Cube."

"That would be nice." And so he did. The group crawled through the vent back to the Firefly room. No Boomsticks attacked, but Sheila bumped into a large figure, lighting her fist for a better view—it was the Ultimate Chimera's rear. "BAAROOOOOOO!" The kids ran before it could have a chance, rushing through a hall of Cactus Wolves. Sheila punched their heads when they pounced her, thorns sticking her fists in the process, but Ari found it easier to just control the cacti to keep them back. The hall became more narrow as hay littered the ground like a barn, and Cattlesnakes stretched their necks out of holes in the wall to bite the group with their cow heads. Sheila noticed a hole above a Cattlesnake and jumped on its head to reach it, finding a chest.

They arrived at a tall, cylindrical room with chains and platforms leading up. They began to climb, believing they were now safe from the Ultimate, but when the chimera in question arrived, it stood on a hoverpad with its image and began to float up. Sheila frantically punched spheres at the pad, lowering it just a bit. Heli-Mice attempted to cut them off the chains, so Ari whipped the propeller-necked rodents out of the air. They began to jump the platforms, but as some of the hanging platforms were too far to jump to, Arianna grew a Venus Vacuum from her pots to suck the platforms toward their direction.

The top of this shaft was a glass ceiling, and they could see Klammy walking around it. "'ey, there's the second-rate fatso himself!" Sheila said. "Ari, I reckon it'll be hard to fight him with that bloke chasin' us. Let me distract him."

"I'll distract it too, since it'll probably like chasing more targets." Mason said.

"Okay. Be careful, you two." Arianna cautioned. With that, the Earthlings jumped down the shaft, the Ultimate attracted by them and floating the pad downward. Arianna proceeded to the top of the shaft, entering a hatch through the glass. (End song.)

"I see you children wasted no time in showing yourselves in." Klammy said, back facing Ari as he typed on a terminal. "But you just missed Kroctus, unfortunately. Not that he should trouble himself with small fry like you."

"You and your brother are going to answer for everything you've done!" Arianna stated strictly.

"Suppose that we will… I can think of no prison that could hold my brother, not even that of the Underworld. If he was lucky enough to escape the Sanzu River, then he has every intention of going as far as possible." Klammy faced Ari, drawing his Blunderkroc and rubbing the weapon. "It's a pity Kruckers didn't have that luxury… but who knows, perhaps he will again someday…"

"Not if we can help it!" Arianna whipped brambles, but Klammy switched on his helipack and flew up in evasion. The youngest Rool flew to the cockpit of a large machine with quadruple cannons on the front.

"I may be lacking in the strength department, but I always have Kaos to contribute. You and those feisty friends of yours will make a halfway decent snack for the chimeras." (Play "Crocodile Cacophony" from Smash Ultimate!)

Boss fight: Vice-King of the Kremlings, KLAMMY ROOL

Klammy blasted cannonballs from the quadruple guns, Arianna evading quickly. The ammunition would warp back to the machine after slowing to a halt on the floor, so Arianna whipped some brambles to grab one, spinning to keep the momentum. She evaded the other balls and chucked hers against Klammy's cockpit, showing no immediate effect, but when she caught another ball and threw, the glass cracked. Klammy ceased using the cannons and used a bottom hatch to roll metal barrels along the floor, which split in half to reveal electric beams 8 feet long. Arianna could shoot Bounce-Shrooms to knock the segments back, but had to shoot some at both simultaneously to keep the beam connected. They would also bump into the following barrels, so Klammy had the next ones bounce.

Arianna simply hit the bouncing ones back as well, going on either side of the cockpit as the beams electrocuted Klammy's controls. Kaos began to glitch out, so Klammy exited the machine for the time being. Using his helipack, he circled the air above Ari, shooting spiked cannonballs that would easily puncture her vines and stab her, same with the shrooms. She kept evading until a normal cannonball fired, quickly catching and whirling it, but instead of throwing back at Klammy, she batted the spiked balls in his direction until he became dizzy and fell. With that, she pounded Klammy's head with the cannonball until he recovered and shot fire to scare her away.

Klammy returned to a recovered Kaos, spreading red gas designed to slow Arianna's movements. She extracted a Venus Vacuum to suck the gas in, and afterwards Klammy started shooting bullets rapidly. To his misfortune, Ari wasn't slowed down, so she could use Bounce-Shrooms to deflect the bullets. She directed them at the cockpit, the glass steadily cracking a bit more until Klammy ceased the attack. A chimney extracted on top of Kaos, Klammy pressing the blunderbuss into a pipe and pumping fireballs through it. The flames shot from the chimney and rained around the room, Arianna evading. Klammy accidentally shot a cannonball, which Ari caught, whirled around, and chucked into the glass to crack it further.

Klammy grumbled and switched to the gun's vacuum setting, Kaos aiming another pipe at Ari in attempt to slurp her in. Ari struggled to run from the sucking, but she noticed the fires from the previous attack were still lit, so she stretched her brambles to catch aflame, then quickly bent the brambles into a ball before throwing them into the vacuum. Klammy slurped the flaming brambles into his blunderbuss, causing an explosion. Klammy shook the soot off, but saw that Kaos' controls were damaged. He called in some Robo-Kritters to fix it while he flew outside. Floating above Arianna, he shot the Blunderkroc upward as spikeballs fell like a fountain.

The scientist aimed down and shot puffs of ice, and sucking them in unfortunately froze Ari's Venus Vacuum, and she herself was frozen after the fact. Klammy landed, held his gun like a bat, and bashed Ari across the room, unfreezing her with the cost of some trauma. Klammy tried to suck the injured Harnitan into his vacuum, but Ari whipped her brambles to wrap the blunderbuss—Klammy thought fast and gripped the brambles, using reptilian strength to swing Ari around. Arianna willed the brambles to detach, sliding on her feet to a halt. She then willed the detached side of that bramble to wrap around Klammy's neck and choke him.

The vice-king tried to tug it off with one hand and shoot spikeballs with the other. Since the other end of the brambles were still wrapping the blunderbuss, Ari quickly thrusted her arms left, redirecting the gun and tricking Klammy into shooting the cockpit. The spikeball shattered the glass and bounced around inside, ruining the controls and the robots repairing them. "Oh, who needs it?! I'll trounce you like a real Krock!" He hovered in the air and sprayed fire to the floor, Arianna running. She whipped brambles at the flames, then up at Klammy to burn him, though getting close caused some fire to hurt her.

Both brushed the flames off their clothes as Klammy flew away, making a flame wall and getting far behind it. He fired homing spikeballs at the Harnitan, but they were slow enough for her to perform last-second dodges. Arianna got close to the flames, but Klammy was too far to be hit by whip attacks, so she shot brambles through in bullet fashion, catching fire before hitting the baron. Knowing this was a mistake, Klammy flew above and out of the fire, spraying purple gas that Ari evaded. The crock landed a safe distance away and sprayed ice from the blunderbuss, molding a frosty barrier around himself. Klammy shot more spikeballs across, but since the ice wasn't very tall, Arianna could drop Bounce-Shrooms beside it and bounce on top.

Arianna dropped in to whip brambles at Klammy, landing a few hits before he quickly flew up while spraying purple gas. She tried to hold breath, but failed to in time as the gas entered her lungs. Her sense of direction was distorted as she stumbled on her feet; remembering the old stories, this purple gas "reversed her directions." She remained in the ice barrier as Klammy shot down from above. If she wanted to dodge left, she would have to go right, same with other directions, but she forgot a few times and suffered the spikeballs.

Klammy sprayed more purple gas, so Ari slapped a hand over her mouth—reversed direction caused her to pull her hand away, so she breathed the gas again. Klammy then sprayed fire to the center as it spread along, Arianna backing against the ice. Fortunately, the ice melted before it could reach, so she moved toward the fire, reversed direction taking her away. Klammy shot spikeballs all around the walls, and they bounced about rampantly, Arianna struggling to watch them all and dodge, which was made even worse by her ailment, so the spikes cut her again.

The gas wore off, so Arianna could dodge the spikes with more efficiency. Klammy flew down to freeze the floor, Ari seizing the chance to whip him, but he whipped his gun up to freeze her brambles and jump back. The frozen brambles weighed her down, so she detached them. Klammy smirked and tried to shoot her, but Ari quickly wrapped the frozen brambles in another set and whacked the vice-king with them for more damage. Klammy shivered with each icy cut, growing agro as he tried to counter, and impulsively turned on the vacuum. Arianna shot a Bounce-Shroom into it, clogging briefly, then she shoved a frozen bramble in to worsen the problem.

Arianna wrapped the blunderbuss, Klammy wrestling for control as he aggressively tried to fire it. Absentmindedly aiming down, the gun exploded against the glass floor, which gave way from all the abuse as Klammy took the fall. Ari's vines still held the gun, so she was pulled with him, both crashing painfully down the bottom of the shaft. Mason and Sheila helped Ari to stand, all three facing a recovering, rasping Klammy. "Heff…heff… This game has gone on long enough."

The three were viewing him with utmost terror, a fact which delighted the scientist. …Rather, they were viewing the Ultimate Chimera with terror, the beast directly behind the oblivious Rool. "I wonder how you three will look fused together? Heh, what if I should take the KND's strongest operatives and mix them into a powerful super-being? Heh, that will be the match of Kroctus's dreams! Far more impressive than that silly Ultimate-"

"Baaroooo…"

Klammy froze when he felt the breath cross his neck. "…Chimera?"

The big-mouthed beast enveloped Klammy's entire body, the teeth sealing like a guillotine. Out the back Klammy fired like a cannon, and they only had a split second to study his mangled and bloody form. With incredible force, he blasted up the shaft, through the glass, and through the ceiling. The barely-conscious vice-king flew meters above his castle before plummeting. "UNK." He bounce off a roof, his pack breaking off. "UNK." Bounced off another, clothes ripping off. "UNK." Hit the cliff beneath the castle, dropping the broken blunderbuss. He could only flail limp like a ragdoll as he descended the waterfalls, gone beneath the mist.

"BAROOOOO!" Still not satiated, the Ultimate prepared to attack them. Sheila rushed behind the monster, tired of playing the coward as she raised her fist and leapt. "AYAAAAH!" Her mighty attack slammed the chimera's back. "Baroooo…" Its eyes faded and it fell. "…Oh. Bloody hell, there was a switch on its back the whole time." Sheila noted the 'On/Off' settings.

"Ahh." Arianna smiled. "That was easy." (End song.)

There was another door in this room, and Sheila did the polite thing and blew it down with a punch. "Oi! There she is, mates!"

Cheadle gasped in surprise. "Ah…thank goodness you arrived."

The chancellor was sitting on a chair next to an empty pedestal, holding her stomach. "What happened?" Mason asked. "Were they going to Revertify you?"

"No…" Cheadle looked away with a solemn expression. "I…Well, I…um…"

"Looks like they did, mates." Sheila deduced. "No worries, we'll have her fixed with the rest of them!"

"I-I'm fine!" Cheadle flushed. "I…I'll tell you later. We should leave before more show up."

"Lemme just snag this." Sheila hopped up a stairway of open drawers to reach the top of the flagpole in the room, replacing it with a golden raccoon logo. "Perfect! Blimey, why you fly this in here when there ain't no wind?"

"Oh, by the way," Cheadle began, "who was 'Pink Monkey' again?"

"Um…oh, that's the one who killed Sally." Mason remembered. "Why're you bringing her up?"

"Earlier, Kroctus asked Klammy… if he had eaten her corpse. And he said 'yes.'"

"Eww! I know they're crocodiles, but I thought they were too smart for that."

"That ain't how ya treat your crewmen, dead or not." Sheila stated. "So, good riddance to that bloke, eh?"

Zootopia

With two hours before sunrise, the waters around Zootopia were calm. Kremlings continued to patrol the streets, ensuring a pleasant stroll for His Majesty. Kroctus sniffed the air, raising a curious brow. "What is this unusual scent? It smells as if… something exciting is about to happen."

The Mogeko Kremlin was approaching Hideout Helm. Still operating the control room, Specter received a transmission from the ship and answered. "Hello, Speccy. Mind if I pay Kitty Rool a visit~?" Moge-ko asked cutely.

"The king is out for a stroll right now. Shall I call him?"

"It's okay. Moge-ko will come in and wait for him~"

Moge-ko rowed a boat to the base, glancing down at the Infi-Cube in her pocket. The chartreuse was still painted on her forehead, and thus she had no reason to deviate from her friend's plan. Moge-ko entered Hideout Helm, the Kremlings growing stiff in her presence. Her terrifying reputation precedes her, which made walking to the center that much easier. Moge-ko viewed up at the Revert-O-Matic in all its glory. "Howdy, Kommander Mogek!" Noah greeted, casually walking up. "Kroctus left a while ago with Kami. Did you need something?"

"I was asked to bring him a present." Moge-ko picked up the Cube.

Alarms started blaring. "Attention all Kremlings, hordes of invaders spotted in Zootopia! Reported to be KND operatives. All available soldiers, head out and detain them!"

"Uh-oh. 'Guess I better see what that's about." Noah turned away. "I've been hearing most of the Kommanders getting ambushed. I hope Kami is still okay-"

"YAAAAAH!" A band of operatives ranging from Sectors W, W7, and L exploded out of Moge-ko's Cube, mercilessly attacking every Kremling in sight.

"Darn it, the machine has a barrier around it!" Melody yelled. "Spread out and find the generators!"

"You were a big help, Moge-ko." April patted her friend's head. "You can sleep now." On cue, Aisa swung a mighty kick into the hybrid, KOing her.

"Hey!" Noah drew her lightsaber. "Where'd you all come from?! Get back here-!"

Aranea intercepted her. "You don't tell us what to do!" The Fulbright smirked. Noah lashed the lightsaber at her, but Aranea evaded with Observation and threw a kick up to knock the sword out of her hand, followed by another to knock Noah off her feet. Nea snatched the lightsaber, leapt onto Noah's chest, and held the sword at her neck. "Tell me where Harvey is!"

"H-He's up on the second level! Inside the machine." Noah answered hastily. "Look, don't get the wrong idea, I was only here for the extra money, I'd be willing to switch sides."

"Just lock yourself in a closet and stay there!" Aranea stomped her face. "I had enough of you pirates for one war, I'm rescuing my friend and getting the hell out!" On that note, she took the lightsaber and began slicing any incoming Kremlings.

Downtown, GKND ships flew over the city, dropping alien operatives alongside Sector U.A. and the Hope Pirates. The Hightops mounted their selves on the skyscrapers and dove at the invaders with terrific force, but Jataro quickly snapped a photo and stretched his gigantified hand up to block the brachiosaurs. "Sector U.A., spread out and find Miss Asui!" Iida ordered his team. "Contact us the moment you spot her! If she gets violent, knock her out if you have to, but be mindful that she is brainwashed!"

A White Fang chameleon Faunus, Ilia Amitola, watched the heroes divide. "This is bad… I've lost contact with Adam and the others. But maybe I can still handle this." Ilia turned invisible. "I'll sneak up on them one at a time and choke them with my whip."

"Don't think I don't see you there!" Ilia was punched in the face.

"What?!" the Faunus gasped, but was kicked in the butt. She lashed her whip, but her invisible attacker evaded and struck from any direction. "Coward! Show yourself!"

"I think of myself as a strategist!" remarked Invisible Girl, happily beating her clueless opponent.

Inside the hideout, Eric and Emily had split from Yuta and Melody, the scientist ripping metal off the walls with her bending and slamming it into some Krushas. "Heehee, I can't believe we're invading an Emperor's fortress!" Eric giggled. "It makes me feel so strong. Of course, I would be nothing without my 4x4."

"Reminisce some other time! I can feel Specter's presence. He'll pay for everything he did to me! Raaaaaaah!" The nerd rushed up the passage with Stun Club raised, bashing Klaptraps in the noggins.

"Wonderful! Let me just search this supply closet for prisoners or something." Eric rushed into said closet. It was surprisingly wider than he anticipated, bombs and guns stacked on the tall shelves. "Sheesh, why make everything so high up? Sigh, at least there's no one in here. Perfect chance for an inhaler break." Eric took out his inhaler and breathed it in. "Ahhh… those superhumans will never understand we nerds. Okay, back to the brawl." He turned- "Oof!" and bumped face-first into a green, muscular stomach. "What the…?!"

A very beefy Kremling with a small head over pumped muscles stared down at the puny human. …But it wasn't just any Kremling. Eric remembered him all too well.

When Sector L visited Mermaid Swamp three years ago, they entered Hideout Helm, where this same Kremling asked for a toll. "…Hmmm…" Klubba reached over and picked up Eric. "But this boy could be fun to practice my balloon animal art."

"There's a couple things I don't like about that sentence!" Eric panicked.

"Deal with it or don't pass."

"Deal." Melody decided. "I can always heal Eric later."

"That won't fix the emotional trauma!" the nerd cried.

And that trauma was still present in the nerd's feeble heart. On impulse, he shot his laser rifle at Klubba, but the meaty Kremling squeezed the gun in his hand. "Arrr… I remember ye." Klubba said. "If it ain't me little balloon animal buddy, a-harrh!"

"Ah…y-yeah." Eric blushed and grinned, sweating. "Old buddy, old pal! I was just, uh… paying a visit."

"Arrr, comin' to stir trouble for me Krew with the rest of those rats, I takes it. But we can comes to an agreement, can't we, matey? Get onto old Klubba's shoulder and we'll fake yer beatin' nice an' easy! Klubba'll protect ye from the other Kremlings."

"G-Gee, that would be awfully nice of… w-WAIT!" Eric became flustered, standing more firmly. "What makes you think I need protecting?! That was more than three years ago, how do you know I'm not a lot stronger?!"

"Ye don't look much taller."

"Yeah, well I am!" Eric stomped his foot. "And I don't appreciate being treated like a wimpy sidekick! So, you might as well give me a real beating or NO beating!"

"Arrrr… if ye be sayin' so, matey." And so, Klubba picked up his spiked cudgel and began slapping it to his palm in a rhythmic fashion. (Play "Klubba's Reveille" from Donkey Kong!)

Sub-boss: Kremling Guardsman, KLUBBA

Immediately regretting his choice of words, Eric ran, luckily evading the first swing, which would have surely smashed his brain in. Klubba jumped after him, the landing knocking Eric over. Klubba jumped to squish him, but the nerd rolled away just in time, scrambling back up. Klubba continued to jump after, and Eric jumped to avoid being shaken by the impacts. A TNT barrel fell off one of the shelves, so Eric hurried to grab it. The barrel was heavy for his meek arms, so he dropped it in Klubba's direction when he jumped again. The Kremling landed on the barrel and blew himself up. "OOOOORRK!"

Eric was hopeful in thinking he'd won, but the beast got up and stomped after him normally. Eric shuddered in place, Klubba ready to swing his club, but the dork ducked just in time, the wind brushing his back as he frantically crawled away. He began scooting back on his rear, Klubba slamming his mace on the floor and missing his fragile feet by inches. Eric eyed up at the shelves as he shirked from his opponent, spotting a TNT above one. He maneuvered under that shelf and stood, knees jittering, but was ready to dodge. The club swung, so Eric ducked and ran, causing him to hit the wall as the TNT fell and blew up his head. "OOOOORRK!"

Eric was horrified to see him still standing. Klubba discarded his weapon and cracked his fingers, deciding to crush him with his own bare hands. He stepped after Eric a bit faster, so the nerd ran faster. It seemed his only option was to pick up Klubba's club and use it against him… if only it weren't as heavy as a tree trunk. His arms nearly snapped off in his failure, and his wasted effort allowed Klubba to pick him up. The pirate whistled a tune as he casually began to reshape Eric into a ball. After he was done, Klubba bounced Eric gently, face planting against the floor several times as his glasses broke, nose squished, and skull cracked.

Eric naturally unraveled as Klubba picked him up by the arm, wondering if he was still conscious. …His left arm jittered as he pulled his inhaler out of his pocket. "Save me, inhaler." Eric gasped, puffing it into Klubba's eyes. The crock reflexively chucked Eric up into a shelf, knocking a TNT barrel on Klubba's head. "OOOOOOORRRRK!" This third blast was finally Klubba's limit, the beef crock falling, back against his spiked club. "Arrrr… I pegged ye wrong… matey… yer mighty… strong…" Klubba fainted.

Eric landed on the floor, his vision spinning from all the trauma. If any strong person like Melody or Sheila suffered this abuse, they could brush it off no problem, but poor Eric just couldn't bring himself to stand. "Heh…I guess I am…I guess I… am…" And he passed out. (End song.)

"The KND show up in Zootopia, now they're suddenly in our base?!" Specter questioned. "This had to be planned… but how did they sneak in so easily? I need to call Kroctus back before-"

"Ohhhhh, Speccyyyyy…"

Specter's pupil shrank. That voice… it couldn't be! The ghost twisted slowly, almost not wanting to believe it… but there she was. "You and I have unfinished business…" Emily spoke with a gravely dark aura.

"But…But that's im…IMPOSSIBLE!"

"GOOD AFTERNOON, Planet Mobius!"

Kroctus faced up at a large building screen: Pearl and Marina were posing proudly on a stage, Sugar at their backs. "Pearl, it may be nighttime or morning in other areas."

"Irrelevant! It's time for Mobius to wake up from a long, never-ending nightmare! It's time for the Kremling Krew to get their sorry, scaly hides outta here pronto! Our Number One hit will break the terrible curse that has befallen this planet. Are you ready, girls?!"

"Absolutely!" Sugar cheered. "Let's save the world!"

"Heh heh hah ha…ha ha ha ha…HAH HAH HA ha!" Kroctus grew even more giddy, expressing his joy through laughter. "I've never been challenged like this in a LONG time! You want to foil my plans?! Then do it!" Kroctus pumped his heart with chi, and Haki flashed through his arms. "COME OOOOOOOON!"

His bellow flew across the entire city, reaching the ears of Maddy Murphy and Izuku Midoriya. The two fighters, brimming with power and confidence, listened to his call and obeyed.

DK Isles

Donkey Kong walked out to the jungle on a calm, sunny day. He had discovered a trail of footprints and was following them curiously. The prints ended at a bushel of huge leaves. Approaching slowly, DK moved a leaf aside. Underneath was a wooden spaceship. It was one that Funky built ages ago, to be able to visit their old friends. It had gone unused for many years, ever since 2018, after the Kremlings' devastating comeback.

The strums of a banjo stirred Donkey out of his thoughts. The ape gasped and turned, seeing someone leaned against a tree, their claws strumming the strings. The large, brown bear had a peaceful smile, his eyes closed in bliss. His blue eyes opened and beamed at DK. "Hey, old buddy. Have you been busy?"

"…" DK frowned and turned away.

Banjo smiled in sympathy as he approached the ape. "I heard the KND paid you a visit. Sounds like they wanted your help. Gyuh-huh… it's unusual for them to ask adults like us for anything."

"…" DK looked down.

"…I know you just wanna settle down, Donkey, I know you don't have it in you, anymore… Why, I remember a time when I felt the same. But my mountain was in danger, so I had to step up. And I know you don't want these Kremlings to take any more from you. …This could be your last chance to give K. Rool what he deserves. Even if you can't beat him… show him that the Kongs still have juice to spare. Your old friends could really use the help."

"…" DK looked up at him.

"…But I guess I'd better go now. Just thought I'd say 'hello.'" Banjo quietly left the jungle.

Donkey Kong faced the spaceship with a faint spark in his shaded eyes. He wondered if it still worked after all this time. If it did, maybe a nice cruise through the stars would be nice. If it worked. …Yes… it would be nice…

Golden Land

"Nagisa, have Maddy and Deku fought K. Rool, yet?!" Index asked worriedly.

"Uh…I dunno. Why?"

"I need to get in contact with them! Find out their numbers or something! I've been doing some research, and I learned something about K. Rool. It's…It's too dangerous to fight him! He has something that few people have!"

"Is it really alright to be casually telling them this?" Lambdadelta asked.

"I don't see much harm." Bernkastel replied. "After all, these kids seem used to bizarre twists."