Warriors of Sky, Part 4: The Will of Rebellion

Orchid Island

The town that was formerly connected to Orchid Bay was slowly lowered into Mushroom's ocean. Waves once again brushed the coast and fishermen could return to work. Vaati guided Sector MG down to the island: it was exactly as Wendy remembered, demons and humans roaming the streets. However, it seemed the two races were actually interacting: the humans bore fearful expressions and seemed to force their selves to talk to the demons, while others purposely tried to navigate around them. The same applied in vice-versa.

"My goals also entailed severing the boundaries between races," Vaati explained, "which included dismantling Orchid Bay's Veil. With this town uplifted into the Free Kingdom, humans and demons were forced to become friends, no matter how much one feared the other. Skaios was also able to keep the fairies from intervening. Orchid Bay was taken back in December; as you can surmise, a month isn't long enough to fully erase their metaphorical barriers."

"Why couldn't these demons just live in the Underworld, or an unpopulated area?" Cheadle asked.

"They've long since been adapted to Orchid Bay's magical chi. Both races have homes and lives here, and they were too used to being divided. Still, I can see that taking their city wasn't the best way to force them to change. It's merely filled them with more anxiety."

"Look, Mrs. Yorkshire!" Maria pointed at the sky in joy, seeing a red comet streaking across. "It's a shooting star! Let's make a wish!"

"I wish we could save Mobius as soon as possible." Cheadle sighed.

The comet seemed to swerve in a zigzaggy fashion. "Hold on, it's coming this way!" Oliver yelled.

"OH GOD, WATCH OUT!" cried a townsman; screaming erupted as a flaming, flying pirate ship threatened to crash onto a street, but Vaati used his bending to slow the ship down. He waited until the street was clear of people before allowing the ship to land, scraping against the road and sides of buildings before it finally came to a halt.

The burning ship, Overtale, was painted blue and was covered in spider-webs. The sail had the zodiac Scorpio sign, while the flag bore a skull with eight pupils in the left eye. Suddenly, a skull burst out of the ship with the force of a cannon, landing in Maria's lap. "Hey Girl, you up for a cliché Shakespeare reference?" the skull asked.

"AAAAH!" Maria threw him away.

"DAMMIT, PAPYRUS! Your piss cooking set the ship on fire!"

"ME?! Only a monster could possibly cook like you!" the skull shouted back.

"Grrrrr!" A sword sliced open a greater hole in the ship: a fearsome knight with a red ponytail loomed imposingly in the burning hull. "When will I ever find a cook worthy of my power?!"

Serket Pir8s General

UNDYNE THE UNDYING

"Excuse me, Sir, but your fire has spread to the buildings!" Wendy shouted.

"SILENCE, whelp! I will burn everything with my passion until I'm… crap, it's hot." The knight fell and plopped on the pavement, her helmet falling off: she was a Fishwoman with a patch over her left eye. "Huff… someone get me water."

While Vaati flew to put out the fires, Wendy used Aguamenti to rehydrate the Fishwoman. "Hooo. You know I hit rock bottom when I receive pity from a blue-haired child."

"I-I'm sorry, Miss."

"More importantly, why didn't you give water to the burning spiders?" Wendy looked up, leaping back in fear at the sight of a spider girl. She had lavender skin, five eyes, six arms, pigtails, and wore red rompers. "Are you some kind of spider-hater?" Her eyes blinked one at a time.

"EEEEEEEK!" Wendy's hair stood straight and her skin turned pale.

"Oh, it's alright! I'll forgive you if you buy one of my spider donuts!" She presented a donut with orange frosting and spider sprinkles. "Only 9,999 coins."

"Muffet, you know you're not allowed to charge money!" Undyne replied.

"How else am I gonna buy school supplies for spider orphans?! Demolishing the government can't happen any sooner!"

"Will you two quit 8eing so rude? It seems that we have guests!" Another figure floated out of the ship: she seemed to be 19 years old, with black hair and orange horns, with pointed glasses over her blank white eyes. Two fangs stuck out of her blue lips, she wore red boots, and a black dress with the blue outlines of a pirate uniform, which had the Scorpio on the left breast. "Hello, children! My name is…"

Serket Pir8s Commander, 8th Sky God Captain

"Mindfang" ARANEA SERKET

"Serket? That name seems familiar…" Wendy stroked her chin in thought. "Wait, you're a troll! You're from New Galaxia! Now I remember, Vriska Serket! Do you know anyone by that name?"

"H8H?! You know my descendant?!"

"Vriska's your descendant? I mean, I personally don't know her all that well, but she was our ally during that quest."

"Well, any partial acquaintance of Vriska is a partial acquaintance of mine." Aranea floated down and shook her hand, giving a friendly smile. "Come to think of it, you must 8e Vaati's daughter. He shows us all your 8a8y pictures, like, 8LL the time."

"Oh, dear." Wendy shrank in embarrassment.

"But if you two are partial acquaintances," Muffet said, "then I guess you're not a spider-hater after all. Care for a spider donut?"

"Sure, it looks yummy." Wendy smiled and took it.

"I'd like one too, please." Oliver said.

"Meh, I'll give it a shot." Phil followed.

"Yippee!" Maria cheered, taking one. The four friends happily savored the pastries. "Mmm, this is good! I didn't know spiders were such good cooks!"

"Well, all our goods are baked with real spiders, after all!"

The fact almost compelled the group to vomit. "Y-You're kidding, right?" Phil asked. "I mean, that's your own people."

"Spiders do eat each other." Cheadle informed.

Papyrus' head bounced over and said, "And I thought I had weird tastes! Yohohoho!"

"But so long as you enjoy our food, I won't eat you." Muffet winked.

"Anyhow," Aranea spoke, "I'm glad I ran into you, Vaati. Meta Knight wanted to hold a meeting 8etween us commanders. Quite a few new developments are taking place, it seems."

"I think I know what you mean. Well, I suppose I'll meet up with you later, Wendy. Go have some fun with your friends! There's not much else to do here after all." Vaati flew to the heavens with Aranea following.

"See you later, Dad…" Wendy waved half-heartedly.

"Wait, that guy is really your Dad?" Wendy flinched at the familiar voice. "No wonder you ran away, Wendy."

Behind her was a Chinese girl with jet-black hair with a purple streak, blue jeans, and a green shirt with a dragonfly design. "I was wondering when you'd be visiting."

"JUNE!" Wendy embraced her friend in a hug, and with a superior hug, June nearly broke her back. "Yowchie!"

"Whoops, sorry. I guess someone hasn't been getting exercise." June playfully wrapped an arm around her neck.

"I have, too! I'm way stronger than I used to be!"

"I should say so, Lass." They were approached by Monroe, a talking pug wearing a Scouter. "Accordin' to this gizmo, your Power Level is 6,000. June still tops you at 6,100."

"Guess what, Wendy, I work for the Sky God Pirates now! Star Knight Division, under Meta Knight! Man, I've been having the time of my LIFE!" June spoke exuberantly, punching the air and sometimes Wendy. "I've been to so many places and kicked so much butt! These pirates wrecking the town was the best thing that ever coulda happened!"

"Really? It seems like everyone here is pretty uncomfortable."

"Oh, they'll get over it, c'mon, let's go do something together! We gotta celebrate our newfound freedom!"

"YEAH, freedom!" Undyne suddenly hugged both girls from behind, her armor crushing their necks. "Let's go express our freedom in the nearest diner!"

"A d-d-; a diner?" Wendy choked.

"You two are my new acquaintances, and new acquaintances learn how to cook! LET'S BLOW THE ROOF OFF WITH OUR PASSIONATE RECIPES!" Undyne firmly gripped the girls' arms and raced off. "Papyrus, Sans, fix the ship!!" In seconds, they were gone.

Monroe approached the others and asked, "You lot are friends with Wendy, yah? Listen, there's something wrong with June; I think she was brainwashed by that Skaios character."

"Brainwashed?" Oliver repeated.

"Aye. When Orchid Bay fell into chaos, she got really angry, and she went up to challenge Skaios. She was out of her league, unfortunately, but all of a sudden, she started acting different. She stopped caring about the state of her town and started playing in their games."

"On the way here, Vaati actually told us something about that." Cheadle replied. "He said-"

"hey. you kids new around here?" They were approached by a short skeleton in a blue jacket, carrying tools. "i'm sans. sans the skeleton." He spoke in a lazy tone.

"Hi, Sans. My name's Oliver, this is-"

"good. she asked me to fix the ship. here you go." Sans dropped the tools in Oliver's arms and walked away. He and Phil exchanged disgruntled glances.

Towa City

The speakers continuously played the Monokuma song as children played without a care in the world. Boys and girls were having play-fights in a Monokuma bounce castle, some were acting like chimps as they climbed skyscraper monkey bars, and others raced down the slides. The swing-sets made 360-degree loops and the sewers contained tunnels that children would crawl through in search of treasure or play Hide-and-Seek. Monokumas served as guards and ensured a safe, fun experience for the young citizens.

"Kare! Kare! Monokuma!" Vanellope sang along. "Kue! Kue! Monokuma! Mina de outa o utae ba chi ga afureru."

"Vanellope, Kirie is writing down the lyrics," Dillon informed, "and based on what they say, they're… singing about killing adults."

"I know, I'm Japanese, too. It's still a fun song!"

"So yeah, this is the place we grew up!" Yuta said with an optimistic smile. "It was the Free Kingdom's first liberated town. Nagisa programmed the Monokumas to convert the city into a playground. All these kids were rescued from abusive parents, and now they all live in peace."

"I totally feel a kinship with 'em! I had an abusive dad too, y'know. Hey Dillon, I'll race you to the slides!" The Program bounced excitedly and zipped her way up a building.

"Don't go by yourself!" Dillon yelled, pursuing her.

"Where does all the power come from?" Artie asked.

"We steal Power Moons from Mushroom. It's part of the reason we docked on this world." Yuta answered. "Also, did you notice how some of the islands were lowered to the ocean? That's to gather water as well as fish. Normally I'd be down there looking for treasure, but my new friends come first!"

"Move out of the way, dammit!!"

"See ya at the finish line, sucker!"

Kids hurriedly jumped aside when two cars came zigzagging up the street, pressed against each other. A black-haired boy and blonde, pigtailed girl were driving them, their eyes brimming with competitive desires. Sector V dodged the cars, and Monokumas jumped in front to grab them, metal and rubber screeching against the blacktop. The cars ultimately exploded, much to the operatives' horror. "OH GOD!" Yuta screamed, quickly dousing the fire with waterbending.

The racers were blown out, the boy missing an arm and the girl a foot, but despite their blackened bodies, they could only smile. "I…I almost had ya…" the girl grunted.

"Pssh… yeah right…"

"ARE YOU TWO CRAZY?!" Haruka shouted, immediately wrapping their wounds in bandages. "You're nowhere old enough to drive, and even then, this is a crowded area!"

"Hey, it's the Free Kingdom." The boy said. "There are no age restrict…ow."

"Ugh, you people have no common sense." Yuta said, cleaning the soot off them. "This is the 5th injury in a month. Monokumas, hospital!"

An ambulance haphazardly sped onto the road, barely missing idle kids as they threw the two patients onboard. "Wait, can I-…" Haruka couldn't finish her offer before the ambulance vanished around the corner.

"HOLY COOKIES, Dillon!" Vanellope was beaming at the event from a rooftop. "That was epic! That's what Mario Kart needs, some good old amputation action!"

"What the heck are you saying, Vanel?! They were seriously hurt!"

"Yeah, and I'm jealous! I wanna know what it's like to have blood gushing out of a severed limb!"

"Vanel, what-…" It wasn't unlike his sister to express such violent thoughts, but to act so inconsiderate was highly unusual, especially since she had just shown concern after squashing Skaios' head. Come to think of it, she got over that pretty quickly, not even asking if he was hurt too badly. His suspicion growing, Dillon flew down to rejoin his team.

"Hey, Yutax!" the shadowbender called, approaching the guide with a piercing glare. "Vanellope's acting kinda weird. Heck, all these kids are weird, singing this creepy song. Is there some kinda brainwashing going around?"

"Brainwashing?!" Haylee exclaimed.

Yuta sighed in a manner that admitted defeat. "I also noticed it when my friends started acting different, and every other person in our crew was affected as well. Then Nagisa figured it out: Skaios has the ability to ignite peoples' free spirits. When a person possesses the desire to rebel and have fun, Skaios can enhance that desire until all their restraint is drained away. Because of that, our rebellious citizens injure themselves on a daily basis."

"So, Vanellope was affected by him? But she's just a Program."

"Well, Dillon, you believe more than anyone that she has a soul." Haruka inferred. "I mean, I believe it too, and by the looks of it, Skaios has touched that soul."

"Her wish was to leave the virtual world and live with us humans." Chris recollected. "That's her rebellious spirit. Still, if you say your friends were affected, why do you sound so mature?"

"Yeah, didn't you say you hated your dad for cutting those designs in your body?" Haruka inquired.

Yuta bit his lower lip, anxious about revealing the truth. "Well… that's what I tell them, anyway. But actually… I enjoyed it. It hurt at first, but I slowly began to embrace my heritage. I could feel my chi growing stronger whenever these wounds burned in a hot bath. But other kids thought I was a freak because of that, except the Hope Pirates, because they thought I was being tortured like them. And I thought the pirate thing was only gonna last a short time, I never wanted to be dragged into… this."

"So, you never wanted to rebel." Harry presumed. "You're basically a prisoner, too. …!" The eldest triplet gasped, "Crap! Sheila!"

"Sheila?" Artie cocked a brow.

"What if Sheila's spirit was touched by Skaios, too?! What if she does something reckless? You know how she is."

"Whoa, you're right! We should call her and Mason." Artie dialed his communicator. "This is Artie to Maso-"

"I'LL MOUNT YER HEADS ON A WALL!" a gruff voice bellowed, followed by a crashing noise!

"And the mission's a bust." Haruka face-palmed.

Evermore

"HOW DARE you kids steal my Titan Turkey!" A muscular pirate brought down a mighty hammer, Sheila throwing up her fist in defense. The pirate had a thick brown mustache, brows, and long hair, wearing a brown fur top and necklace of sharp fangs.

Cloudcoil Pirates Captain

"Cloud Snake" BATU

Mason leapt atop the hammer and shot a Gas Bomb at Batu, the man falling backwards. His crewmen, Khunbish, Chingis, and Munokhoi flew overhead on Wyvern Gliders and shot crossbows, to which Sheila spun and whacked the arrows away with her Light Tail. Sheila sent the Light Tail to knock Khunbish off, but Chingis dropped down and smashed the Faunus. "Got ya, street rat! Huh?!" To his misfortune, Sheila channeled chi to her feet, kicking them rapidly as she began to run around the town with Chingis obscuring her vision. "OOF! OW! ARGH!" She rammed him headfirst into several buildings. "Help me, Munokhoi!"

"Aye-aye!" His comrade flew overhead in attempt to grab Chingis by the shirt, but Sheila finally lifted him up with both hands to breathe. She saw Munokhoi and swung a kick, her Light Foot flipping the glider upside-down. She then jumped and slammed Chingis on top of it, pressing Munokhoi into the ground.

"Why you getting so mad?" Mason asked Batu. "It's the Free Kingdom, I thought anything goes."

"Aye! That's why there's no law against me runnin' ye through!" Batu performed a spin attack, Mason jumping away from the massive hammer as he released a stream of gas. Mason willed the gas to spiral around Batu's head and up his nostrils, the Cloud Snake stopping to pinch his nose. Mason blasted up to the pirate and pressed hands to his stomach, stirring Batu's acids and bringing him to his knees. "Argh, you little devil!"

"'Bet you're glad you didn't have that turkey now!" Mason grabbed two blue cans of Cold Flurp and bent the soda out to freeze the Cloud Snake. Batu furiously shook free and grabbed his hammer, withstanding his stomach pains as he tried to smash Mason again.

"Don't worry Dad, I'm coming!" A pigtailed girl with magenta hair and a forest dress came racing through town, ready to drive her spear through Mason. Sheila saw this and intercepted her at lightspeed, her foot meeting Tani's head and launching her over the roofs. The forest girl stretched vines from pots on her belt and caught a roof, slingshotting herself back to Sheila. The Faunus dodged and punched Light Spheres that Tani deflected by twirling her spear, then she leapt back and readied her bow.

"…" When Tani focused on her target, her eyes widened in realization, and she let out a gasp. "Oh… my… God!" With a beaming face that belonged to a fangirl, Tani pointed, "You're Sheila the Sunny Fist! I-I was just kicked in the face by the great Sunny Fist!" Tani touched the sore spot and gently rubbed it. "So that's how it feels… to receive a Sunny Fist. This is the best day of my life."

"Well, it was a Sunny Foot, but I'd be happy to punch you." Sheila smirked.

"OH GOSH, THAT WOULD BE SO AMAZING!!" Tani clapped her hands in prayer.

"Eh, it's weird when they actually want it…"

"Well, snakes alive!" Batu exclaimed. "You're a real pirate legend! No wonder a little lassie could salvage so much Titan Turkey."

"And I still got room for more!" Sheila grinned, rubbing her tummy.

"I wish you recognized her from the start." Mason sighed.

"So, what brings you runts here? Here to partake in our everlasting freedom?"

Tani's beaming expression faded to a downtrodden one. It was no surprise that her hero would be lured in to this "paradise," but she feared Sheila would become another enemy. "Actually, we…" Mason explained their mission.

"An alliance, is it? Sayin' you got friends to rescue? Sigh, I suppose that makes two of us…" Batu spoke sullenly.

"A friend of yours was captured, too?" Mason assumed.

"Yeah, it's our…" Tani was about to respond, until an idea crossed her mind. "Wait… the great Sheila Frantic, who defeated the former Big Mom and two Emperors, Mandy and Blackbeard… This could be my chance to become Captain."

"Wot are you getting at now?" Sheila asked.

Tani grabbed Sheila's hand, dropped to her knees, and begged with all her heart, "Please, Sheila! Please let me kick your arse!"

"You just asked Sheila to punch you!" Mason shouted.

"I know I did! But if I beat someone as strong as you, maybe they'll let me have a turn at being Captain. Then I…I might be able to save him."

Somewhere on the sea

"BOOOOOOOOSH!" After his meal, the young god decided to burn off his calories by running rings around the world. "GOOOOO!" Some of the Mushroomians thought the ghost of Sonic was paying them an angry visit, for ships were swept away in tidal waves and seaside towns drowned. "Man, I wanna just ditch the kart and use me own two feet! Nah, but then they wouldn't stand a chance against me, ya ha haaaaa! OWF!" He was forcibly stopped in his tracks. "'ey! What the-?!" He desperately shook. "Can't a guy run into the sunset in peace?"

"'Guess your own little feet aren't fast enough." A gigantic shadow stretched from Skaios' form, its toes holding him in place. Midna smiled down at the little god.

"YOU?! When did you get so big?!"

Midna tilted her head up. "Duh, shadows get bigger during twilight." Midna retracted to normal size as she fully emerged, standing on the water with him. "But you're pretty small for a sky."

"Small or not, I'm as equal to you as anyone else."

Midna grew herself 10 feet taller. "You're looking less equal by the minute."

"Grrrr, WHO CARES, Ay can rip ya to pieces if I wanted to!"

"Aww, a cute little god thinks he can beat me." she teased, smiling mischievously.

"I totally can! I'm stronger AND faster than you!" Skaios shouted defensively.

"But you said you were equal to me."

"Gyup-!" the god flushed. "W-W-Well, I… nyag, who cares what you think!"

"Oh, admit it, Skaiee." Midna pinched his little cheek. "As 'equal' as you think you are, you're still a kid. A delusional kid who only thinks one way, just like Jirachi used to be."

"So are the other gods! It's always Balance this and Balance that. They never wanna have fun, and if one of 'em tries to, they get locked away!"

"Are you sure?" Midna lightly pressed him between two fingers. "Because I'm having fun right now! And I'm not being locked away. Eee hee hee!"

"Grarrrr!" Skaios sunk his teeth into her right finger, but Midna retaliated by pressing him against her palm. Skaios blew a godly gust at her stomach, only for Midna to bend herself and avoid. "Stop it!" Skaios blasted wind at every part of her body, but Midna expertly dodged and kept him pinned. "This isn't fair, you're bigger than me!"

"Duh, that's what big sisters do!"

"S…Sister?"

Midna shrunk to normal size, "Well, yeah. I said we were kin, right?" She bore a friendly smile. "I'm a Firstborn and you're a Newborn. That makes me your biiiiiiig SISTER!" Her right Hair Hand grew bigger and POKED Skaios forcefully.

"You're a big pain is what you are!"

"Yeah, but you know you love me, you little pain!" Midna held him down with both Hair Hands and twisted one's knuckle into his skull.

"Ouchie, hahaha! Stop it, it tickles, hahahahaha!" Both siblings began to giggle happily. …Siblings. That's the word that came to Skaios' mind. When Midna stopped tickling, both stared into each other's eye(s). To Midna, Skaios seemed like the adorable little brother helpless to his sister's strength, and to him, Midna seemed like a responsible big sibling he aspired to be…

Skaios shook that thought out, growling and looking away from her. "Family? The Hope Pirates are my family. Heck, the whole crew are, and you're nowhere as fun as them."

"Are they really your family? Or just friends?"

"W-What's the difference?"

"Well, the saying is 'friends come and go,' but in the KND, that's kinda not true." She rolled her eyes in disbelief. "So, maybe there is no difference. Still, I feel the need to look out for you, just as I wanted to look out for Danika, despite setting me free."

"…" Skaios could find no rebuttal, internally touched by the gesture. For some reason, he didn't want to tell her off. "Um… well, my crew needs me. Ay'd best be gettin' back soon, Lassie."

"Whatever you say, little pirate."

"Arrrgh…" With a red face, Skaios made the flight back to his kingdom. Midna teleported back as well.

Orchid City; Golden Corral

"SKEWER THESE FISH LIKE YOU'RE MOWING GRASS!" Undyne bellowed, slashing her blade ceaselessly as the chefs threw fish at the three. "COME ON, GIRLS, SKEWER FASTER!"

"GRAAAAAH, WE'RE TRYING, BOSS!" Juniper roared, pouring all power into her sword.

"They're getting down my dress!!" Wendy cried.

"SUSHI TIME OVER! START ROLLING PIZZA!" Undyne began to roll pizza dough until it was perfectly flat, and the table started flattening, too. June's sweat dripped onto the dough, and Wendy felt like her wrists were twisting around the handles of the roller. "Great, now let's bake a cake!" Undyne grabbed a dozen sacks of flour and chucked them in the bowl like bombs, and June tossed 20 eggs, Wendy brought a jug of milk—

"No, like this!" June threw four jugs into the bowl. There was such a big mess around the area, Wendy couldn't imagine how awful the cake would look.

"I'll get it cookin', start frying the eggs!" Undyne ordered, setting the oven to its highest temperature. Wendy cracked open some eggs and meekly began to fry them—June chucked more eggs in the pan, turning them into a goopy mass that melted through the overheated pan, and they began burning through the oven like acid. "Now veggies!" Undyne and June started to slice veggies on another table, chopping up said table in the process. All the restaurant cooks had abandoned this losing battle.

"So, what's your story, Blue Hair, where you from?" Undyne asked mid-chopping.

"It's a very long story." Wendy wept. "What about you?"

"I'm from Planet Deltarune, the Land of Caves and Silence. Used to be a royal guard 'til Aranea showed me the pirate life."

"Th-That's nice. …Uh, guys?" Wendy pointed at the blazing oven. "I think the cake's burning."

"FASTEEEEEERRRRR!" Undyne and June were beginning to cut the walls.

"RAAAAAAAAAH I'M GIVING IT ALL I GOT!"

Golden Corral caught on fire and collapsed, the customers all fleeing. June BURST out of the rubble as Wendy helped Undyne out, rehydrating her with a water spell. "FUHUHUHU! Are you girls feeling the PASSION?!"

"YEAH! I'M REALLY FEELIN' IT!" June bellowed.

"You girls are completely loco! !" Monroe shouted.

"I'll say!" Cheadle stated. "Look at all the people you almost hurt!"

"Man, I wanted to go in there, too!" Maria whined.

"No you didn't, young lady!"

"Man, I've got so much energy now! Wendy, let's go burn off our energy at the arena!" June yelled.

"May I please rest, June, I'm exhausted."

"BOY, you're a wuss! Fine, we'll go without you, right Undyne?!"

"YOU SAID IT, sister!" Both girls raced to the arena, practically scorching the road.

"JUUUNE! COME BACK, LASS!" Monroe pled. "You need to stop acting like this! For God's sake, Ray-Ray's still in the hospital!"

"June's brother?" Wendy inquired.

"Sigh, when June started acting crazy, she let him fight in the arena. He put up a good fight, until he was up against Commander Uchiha. …Poor lad was burned to a crisp. And all June did was cheer him on. If she were in her right mind, she woulda jumped in and stopped that fight."

"Then what Vaati said was true." Cheadle replied. "Her rebellious spirit has overtaken her common sense."

"Oh, MARIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAA! Guess WHOOOOOOOO!"

"That voice!" Maria gasped, facing the heavens. "LOUISE?!"

A fleet of Hat Ships with mustache Jolly Rogers soared over the city. Louise Mario was mounted atop the flagship, her 'stache blowing in the breeze and her Paint Staff shining with gold paint. "Vaati told me you were here. Welcome to the Free Kingdom! I just nabbed me a hefty bounty!"

Maria's gaze fell to the hunk of gold hanging from the ship. "Wow, you found treasure?! It's so pretty-looking!"

"Oh, it's no ordinary treasure. This guy was pretty high on the pirates' black list. Allow me to introduce the sorry, saggy form of…" Louise lowered the gold mass: upon closer inspection, it was a teenage boy in slanted red glasses and a gold-painted flamingo coat. Maria and Cheadle gasped in realization: "Don Quixote Doflamingo, Jr.! Hah, he and his circus clowns didn't stand a chance!"