Megalovania

Goldpaw

Sheila's group had returned to Goldpaw and located Cheren, with Tani using her spear to cut him free. Zach and Mako had come as well, hauling the beaten Dice Pirates on a wooden George Clooney statue. They kicked Kokichi off, his grin ever static, even as the Nextgen Pirates loomed over him with furious glares. Tani and Dillon were particularly pissed for his actions, eager to fill his face with shoe prints. But Cheren made the first move:

"Die, foul demon!" With a non-serious tone, he drew an invisible sword. "You do not belong in this world!" And he 'struck.'

"Hyuuuuuk! I am defeated!" Kokichi cried, wriggling in despair. "Health depleted! Stage complete! End song. I'm dead." He 'died.'

"…?" The kids were confused. Cheren certainly didn't seem concerned. Rather, the leader smiled and began to laugh.

"Hahahahaha! I knew I could count on you, Kokichi."

"Admit it, Cherry Boy, I had you going for a while." Kokichi sported a normal smile.

"No you didn't, the lie was all over your face!"

"I guess I'm not the only professional liar here."

Dillon, Vanel, Sheila, Mason, and Tani had stretched jaws. "W…Wait… am I missing something?" Dillon asked.

"Yep! I was on your side the whole time." Kokichi said. "That whole 'exposing your secrets' business? It was all a lie."

". . ." The crew felt no satisfaction at all. "Oi, wait a minute." Sheila said. "Then what was all that about-"

"Super Fist of Infinite Deception! The Truth of What Happened On That Day!" At that instant, a TV appeared as a VHS tape started playing.

Year 2035

"Oh, you won't say that after you hear this amazing idea for a prank I have!" Kokichi told his crew after reading the newspaper about the Sky Gods.

"Fine." Ashley eye-rolled. "Let's hear it."

The 10 pirates huddled together in a tight circle. Ashley was in the middle of it, being so small. Kokichi began whispering his plan. "Think about it, guys… as far as the KND cares, we're traitors. We're despicable pranksters who only care about having fun and messing people up. We'll fit into the Sky Gods like pieces to a puzzle. And once we're deep in… we can sabotage them."

"S…Sabotage?"

"Yes. Like Cheren said, these pirates can become a threat someday. They're already worried about the Thirteen Darknesses, so they can't focus on the Sky Gods now. That's where we come in. We'll get a headstart on everyone, wait until these pirates become a serious threat, and ruin them when the time is right."

"That's…but…" Big Boy was confused. "You said you wanted to get back at the KND."

"And what better way to do that than making them praise us for our bravery?! I mean, if you guys don't want their respect and gratitude, we can just not do it."

"…" The crew was silent for a moment. Ashley glanced down, wondering how her old team would think of her for taking on such a mission. Would they feel grateful? The others seemed to be thinking the same. "It still sounds kinda dangerous." Edna said. "What if they find out we're operatives?"

"That's just the point! We're desertionist pranksters! Even if they find out, it won't matter! However, we have to make the lie look convincing. I have just the plan, so we need Cheren's help."

The next day, Kokichi went to Newbase and visited Cheren's office. He recapped everything he had discussed with his crew. "…Hmm…" Cheren rubbed his chin in thought. "Having a team infiltrate the Sky Gods isn't a bad idea… but all that about threatening my operatives and wiping their memory… Isn't that a little excessive? If the KND already thinks you're 'traitors,' you could just leave as you are."

"In the event that they can trace me back to the KND, this will be the perfect cover story. If the operatives feel threatened that I know their secrets, they'll want to attack me, and that'll make the lie more convincing. Of course, we can't have that worry weighing on their heads due to The Thirteen, so the Memory Wipe will make them temporarily forget so they can focus. True, we don't know if or when these Sky Gods will become a threat, or how long it will take, but this'll be the only way we'll know for sure. But I can't start this plan without you, Cheren. Of all these wannabe 'heroes,' you're the only one I trust. In fact, I doubt the timebenders will be affected by the Memory Wipe, and there might be others. I need you to order them to keep silent."

"But how do I know you won't actually go along with your threat?"

"I guess you don't, Cheren." Kokichi smirked. "After all, lying is what I'm all about. That fact won't change for now and forever. This is certainly a gamble."

"Heh heh… You live up to your numbuh. Okay… I'll trust you."

Kokichi frowned. "Really? That easy?"

"Well… yeah. If you're telling the truth, then it'll be a big help to us. But if you're lying, well, I guess our secrets will be blown! But eh, that's not the worst thing that could happen to us, and we'll just kick your butt either way~"

"Nyee hee hee! Then it's agreed." Kokichi extended an arm. "I'll see you later… Cheren."

"You, too." Cheren shook his hand.

Currently

"This is bologna!" Dillon swore. "If you were on our side the whole time, why didn't you talk to us when we came to Free Kingdom?!"

"Because I have trust issues! Duh! Hell, for all I knew, your team could've been betraying the KND! But in the end, I did my part to help! When Monaca was about to kill you, Dillon, I stopped her. I also stopped Adam Taurus from attacking Weiss on Sweetopia, and I used Miyuki to help me expose Sasuke as a traitor. I even discovered Louise's Paint Portals ages ago, but I didn't say anything. I didn't even report Zach and his group when they were using them."

"Everything he's saying is true." spoke the voice of Miyuki. The group turned as the white-haired timebender approached. "When I analyzed Kokichi back on Sweetopia, I might've left out a few details." She smiled sheepishly. "MaKayla and I remembered Kokichi all along. The Memory Wipe didn't affect us, but it did to George for some reason. Cheren let us in on your plan beforehand and ordered us to keep silent. We were skeptical, but we trusted him."

"And the file Kokichi uploaded?" Cheren continued. "It wasn't the KND's secrets, but rather the Sky God Pirates'."

"That's right." Kokichi smirked. "Now everyone will know that Mickey Mouse sent Sasuke into our kingdom to brainwash the captured kings, and that Monaca's a worshipper of Ganondorf, and don't get me started on all of Skaios' dirty secrets. I don't have the KND's secrets documented anywhere, except for my noodle~. But I will say that other plan wasn't a total lie. In the slight chance that things would go down for the KND, I might've stuck with the Sky Gods or even swapped to a different crew. Luckily, that didn't happen, because Cheren came back."

"And I bet YOU knew all along too, didn't you, Zach?" Mako asked.

"Nope, my memory was wiped clean as a new bike. But I had an Inkling I knew Kokichi like a brother, and like any brother that hatches Inklings from their brain stems, I had to be ready to fight him!"

"In all fairness," said Kokichi, "I was fighting seriously in my fight with Zach. Well, metaphorically serious. After all, for the KND to secure a total victory, they need to beat all the Yonko Commanders, right? All told, I was one of the pirates, but now that I've been defeated, and the Free Kingdom is going to shits, I think it's time I say hello to my old team. Oh, and I'll also return control of Evermore and Goldpaw back to you, plus Vanel and Midna, so, yeah. Feel free to thank me." He grinned innocently.

"Why, thank you, Kokichi." Tani smiled. "HYAH!" She STOMPED his face, and then Dillon, Sheila, Mason, Vanel's Lickety-Split, and Miyuki lightly kicked him. Their footprints were indistinguishable on his features.

"That felt satisfying." Dillon said, high-fiving Vanel.

"Heh heh, okay, guys." Cheren chuckled. "Let's just uncuff them. We're close to taking down the Sky Gods, and it'll be easier if we work together."

"You bet!" Dillon cheered. "We're heading to Evermore right now! We heard Doflamingo was in the area."

"Really, Doffy too?! Hehe, this'll be quite the reunion!"

"You'll have to fill me in on all the things I missed, Cherry." Kokichi smiled.

"Before that, you have a team to get back to."

Across the kingdom

The Hyruleans and Free Kingdom citizens were groggily recovering from the aftermath of Zach's battle. In Orchid Bay, for instance, both tribes of demons had forgotten which ones were enemies. Juniper Lee climbed onto a still-standing streetlight and announced, "HEY! HYRULE PEOPLE! I got a question for you! Do you want your Queen Mandy back?!"

"Yeah we want Queen Mandy back!" a Hylian yelled. "Why do you think we've been yelling those exact words?!"

"Well, GUESS WHAT? WE don't like this Free Kingdom any more than you do! They took our lives, our families, and everything we love! We wanna get them back, too! I say we work together and kick the Sky God Pirates OFF these islands, and make Captain Skaios put them back where they belong!"

"YEEEEEAAAAAHHH!"

Both Hyruleans and citizens of Orchid Bay began to attack the identified Sky God crewmen. June's speech and the results that followed were recorded by Pearl and Marina. "You heard it here, folks, from Off the Hook, comin' to you live from Orchid Island!" Pearl announced. "This is the morning of the Revolution! Since these pirates like 'freedom' so much, let's throw it right back in their faces! Show them the chaos we all know and love!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Every citizen on every island banded with the Boogey Pirates, and soon, Sky Gods were dropping off the shores like crumbs off a table.

Skaios himself had been managing the situation on Inkopolis when he saw the broadcast. "…W…Why are they…AH!" Purple ink shot him.

"'EY, SKY GOD!" yelled a boy Inkling. "TAKE US BACK HOME!"

"YOUR KINGDOM SUCKS!" a girl followed. Everyone else gurgled in agreement, bombarding Skaios with ink as he ascended higher to escape.

"B-But… I gave you all freedom! How could you all…"

"We don't want freedom! We want Callie! We wanna go back to Mushroom!"

"Stay in the Spirit World, you damn god!"

Their repeated bellows channeled more anger into Skaios, his eye reactively twitching. "Grrrrr, SHUT UP!!" With a raging gust of wind, the Inklings were blown off their feet. He grabbed a phone and yelled, "Nagisa, Mandy's spell is worse than I thought! We're starting the execution NOW!"

"Y-Yes, Captain, I'll, um… As you say." He stuttered on his end.

…

"Down with the pirates!" The citizens of Evermore were powered with courage, seizing the chance to attack the pirates patrolling their town. "Let's make King Evan proud! Avenge Captain Batu!"

Dio became a bat and flew to the top of a watchtower, surveying the situation with a new sense of worry. He held his phone up and spoke, "Vaati, the situation is worse than before! I think we need to initiate some kind of strategic retreat."

"You ain't hiding from ME, you coward!" Doffy Jr. came flying up the tower, shooting strings at the vampire, but Dio grabbed them and yanked Doffy closer, grabbing him by the neck and dropping to smash him against the ground.

"I can at least get you back under control." Dio readied to sink his teeth in the boy.

Alas, a white fist came flying and punched the vampire in the jaw. He fell off Doffy, who whipped him away with strings before viewing his savior. "Hi, Doffy!" Dillon greeted spritely.

"YOU again?! Mind your own business, York!"

"I should've known you would betray us!" Dio hissed, recovering. "I'll take you both down!"

"Doffy, bet I can beat him first!"

"You're on!"

Sub-boss: White Lotus General, DIO VERANDO

The vampire flapped open his cape, sending bats of dark energy to swarm the group, but Dillon stretched a storm of White Shade Fists to disperse them. Dio blended in with the bats and reformed to grab Dillon, only for Doffy to snag him by the neck and slam him to the ground. Dio ripped the strings and ran to swipe claws at Doffy, and said boy's attempt to cut him with string were fruitless against Dio's diamond skin. Dio managed to snag and bite him, aging him by a few years before Doffy kicked his knee with a Haki foot. Dio grunted and released, and once knowing his weakness, Doffy wrapped Haki strings around his neck, leapt above and behind the vampire, and began to choke.

Dio kicked back at his face, making Doffy release, but then the vampire found himself unable to move in Dillon's Shadow Possession. He struggled as the White Shadow steadily snaked up his body, but then Doffy shot a String Bullet to knock Dillon away, taking control of the vampire himself with Puppet Strings. He forced Dio to punch himself, but when Dillon slithered up in a Veil, Doffy willed Dio to jump and vertical spin-kick Dillon's head just as he came out. "Ow! Doffy, I didn't mean for this to be a real contest, I just thought we should work together!"

"For the last time, I don't need your KND's help!" Doffy lost control of Dio as he became a bat, zipping around the air at whipping speed. Dio swiftly evaded the strings and zipped around Doffy's body, nipping him wherever possible as the boy slowly aged. Dillon slithered up and pulled Doffy into a Veil, pulling him to safety before Doffy fought back and escaped. "I've only saved Sarah and Bison, but we haven't found the remaining circus troupe. This bastard's going to tell me where they are!" Dio reverted to human and ran away with vampire speed. Dio circled around the town and charged from behind, Dillon reactively shooting a White Fist, but Dio endured and swiftly kicked the two like soccerballs.

"Doffy, my friends said that they saved a bunch of circus performers!" Dillon replied as they flew across town and crashed into a building.

"Oh, so you're holding them against me, is that it?!"

"WHAT?! Doffy, for frick's sake, we'll give them back! Look, I know you hate us, but we both hate the Sky Gods now, so why can't we work together, for just a few minutes?!"

Dio leapt into the hole in the wall and tried to stomp them, but the boys dodged separate ways, Doffy snagging the right leg in his strings while Dillon's shadow caught the left. Dio performed a mighty flip back, pulling the boys with as they flung through a higher portion of the wall. "You already saved my crew without my permission, you don't get any more!"

"Freakin' saved without—you know what, you don't even sound prideful anymore, you're just a whiny brat!" As Dillon argued, Dio ran to follow-up his attack, but his face was met with Haki strings, and his back was pummeled by rapid White Fists. Dio began to race around them, leaving afterimages to confuse the duo.

"If anyone's a whiny brat, it's that wannabe god!" Doffy spun around with strings extended, Dillon ducking, but Dio ducked as well, rushing under the strings, but Dillon swiftly pulled his acquaintance into a Veil. Doffy's strings stretched up through the Veil and around Dio's ankles. "WAAH!" As Dillon slithered along, Dio was dragged by his feet, the strings squeezing his legs, and Dillon slithered by several rocks and fences, though they did the least damage to the diamond skin. Dio was able to tear himself free, dodging as they popped out with a string whip.

"Yeah, but that same god has a huge bounty." Dillon smirked, Veiling as several Shadow Clones rose around Dio. The vampire didn't bother with them, zipping all about until he lunged at Doffy, but the flamingo was a clone as well, the real Doffy shooting out of a Dillon clone and catching Dio by the neck. "Your own planet if you catch him." Dillon snagged Dio in a Shadow Possession, the two playing tug-o-war over the vampire. "Though I imagine it'll be one without much civilization."

"I don't need a whole planet! I already found the perfect spot of land." Doffy twisted in the air, tightening the hold, but the vampire ripped the strings off, became a bat, and flew away.

"Then just ask for money instead! Imagine how much you'll get!" Dillon stretched his shadow around to steal shadows from the locals, expanding Mario's arm.

"I ain't sharing it with you!" Doffy molded strings from his feet and made them into springs, squatting and charging power before blasting to the sky. He was able to snag the bat in a spider-web, tightening the gaps as he fell and slammed Dio into the ground.

"Fine! Let us help you beat Skaios and you can have all the money for yourself!" Once Dillon stretched his Shade Fist far enough, he reeled it back in at growing speed.

"Damn right I will! You brats have enough!" Doffy formed a giant hammer of strings, bringing it down. Dio was SMASHED, both from the air and from Dillon's enlarged White Fist from the ground.

"AAAAAGH! That's it, I can't take this anymore! I surrender, for frick's sake!" Dio pled, his diamond body as flat as a flapjack. "What's the point of even trying, I know a train-wreck when I see it. Serving Vaati all these years, I've seen my share of revolutions."

And so, Dillon and Doffy lay one final punch upon the vampire, KOing him for good measure. "But seriously, how do you plan to beat Skaios?" Doffy asked.

"We have a plan, and we also got a team ready."

"HELLOOO, EVERMORE!" A young, brave voice called out from atop a watchtower.

"LOOK, everyone!" a woman shouted. "It's Evan! King Evan is back!"

"By the time noon arrives, the Sky God Pirates will be no more! I've gathered some powerful allies, and together, we're going to march into that ship and CRUSH Skaios! Evermore Forevermore!"

"EVERMORE FOREVERMORE!"

"S'yeah, he'll be helping you." Dillon noted.

"Ugh, his voice is going to irritate me."

Dark Continent

Monaca traveled the island until she found the very bottomless chasm Gaon had risen from. With the Divine Beast depowered, there was nothing to block her descent. She followed a narrow pathway that zigzagged down along the wall. It was dead quiet, and Monaca sensed no more presences down the abyss.

After what felt like hours, Monaca had touched the base of the pit. She rolled her wheelchair ever forward. There was nothing in the cave but darkness…darkness…darkness…and Sans.

The little skeleton's form had softly taken shape once she was far enough into the darkness. "hey. you've been busy… huh?"

Monaca craned her head in confusion. "You really like slacking off, don't you, Sans? Involving yourself in other peoples' business… what kind of person are you?"

"there's a term for people like you. in other worlds, there are people like you. the worst monsters you could ever come across. i always wondered if those kind of people could change. do you think even the worst person can be good… if they just tried?"

"Nope. Monaca believes all people are natural born. Some want to reach for Hope, others want to cling to Despair. And Monaca wants nothing more than to see a lush, beautiful despair sweep the universe."

"i see. in that case… do you wanna have a bad time? i don't know what you're looking for down here, but if you take a step closer… you are not going to like what happens."

With that, Monaca pushed herself out of her wheelchair, stepping towards Sans. She flexed her legs to relieve the stiffness. "alright… you asked for this."

An eye appeared in Sans' left socket, flashing blue and yellow. A cubical force-field surrounded both people. "i swallowed the turn-turn fruit. it allows me to battle people in an RPG format. only one person can attack at a time, but the other person cannot attack back until one finishes their turn. until the battle is won, neither of us can leave. so, shall we begin?"

"Of course, Sans. Since Monaca is sweet, she'll let you have the first move."

Boss fight: Laziest Sky God Pirate, SANS

Sans closed his eyes in bliss. He was still, embracing the peaceful ambience of the world. "It's a beautiful day. flowers are blooming… birds are singing… on days like these… kids like you should be…" His sockets opened, yet they had flooded with darkness, "burning in hell."

With a wave of his arm—Monaca was forced against the ground—bones thrusted from all directions, pushing Monaca—a wave of bones flew, she could barely get in the middle to survive—skeletal dragon heads appeared from multiple angles, barfing powerful beams, Monaca suffering a few blows, though she managed to sense and evade the others in time, and the combo ended with an even bigger beam before she was allowed to rest. "huh. always wondered why people never use their strongest attack first." (Play "Megalovania" from Undertale!)

Now Monaca's turn, she threw a Psy-Sphere, but Sans dodged swiftly. She threw another, but the sphere disappeared. "if you're going to use a combo attack, you need to have it planned beforehand. like this." Sans sent bones at Monaca tall and short, the psychic using high and low jumps—they came from behind, surprising her as she could barely dodge without taking damage. When Sans finished his attack, Monaca conjured 10 Psy-Spheres and had them launch and explode around Sans, but the skeleton dodged with the lightness of a paper. For Sans' turn, he sent a blue wall at Monaca, but she sensed its illusion and remained still as it passed through. She had to jump a small bone, stay still for another blue wall—a bone suddenly came out, tripped Monaca, and her motion allowed the blue wall to damage her.

The girl grit her teeth in aggravation. "So, all this time, you really WERE holding back. You're overflowing with chi!"

"most benders rely on kinetic energy when fighting." Sans replied, grinning ever casually. "i'm a man who specializes in doing nothing. that allows my potential energy to build."

"Potential energy?! How absurd!" Monaca grabbed her Scouter and analyzed the skeleton's Power Level: 10. "A puny 10?! And you have extremely low Attack and Defense! Monaca should be able to crush you in ONE HIT!" She tried to grab him with telekinesis, but-

"you wasted your turn scanning me." Sans conjured dozens of bone pillars and slid them at Monaca, who flew at different heights to slip through the gaps, suffering a few scratches. Monaca followed up by forming a circular wall of Psy-Spheres around Sans, bringing them together for a massive explosion. Monaca smirked, thinking there was no opening for him to escape… but he did. His wink and grin was no doubt trolling her at this point. Sans willed dragon heads to appear in random places, Monaca dodging their deadly beams, be they from the side, ceiling, floor, behind, Monaca dodged them all, though she slapped her hand to the ground whenever she could.

Thinking more critically, Monaca circled Sans, formulating her strategy and combo. Once at the perfect angle, she threw a Psy-Sphere, to which he dodged left—Monaca snapped, exploding that spot, but Sans dodged in a heartbeat, she threw another sphere to trick him to the right, and exploded that spot, then flew at him for an attempted grab, but Sans slid around and behind her like a pro skater. For his turn, Sans willed gravity to prevent Monaca from floating, sending a field of bones with platforms at her. Monaca jumped onto a platform and jumped across other ones, lest they carry her against the barrier and make her fall into the bones. She kept her jumping consistent until the Bone Field was past.

Monaca used psychic to pull over some rocks left from her explosions. She teleported rampantly around Sans, throwing the rocks at random increments, as well as exploding some, ending this combo by getting right behind in attempt to touch his coat, but his dodging was as swift as it had always been. Sans sent another Bone Field, requiring Monaca to jump more platforms, though this time, taller bones were between the platforms, so Monaca had to use back-flips to leap over them. This more complicated formula didn't go without a few slip-ups and damage. For her turn, Monaca decided to form a Psy-Shield around her and expand it like an explosion, so he would no doubt be pressed against the field's barrier. But what she didn't expect was for the barrier to expand as well, giving Sans plenty of room to run until the attack ceased. Once it did, the field compressed back to its normal size.

"if the size of one's attack is greater than the size of the field, it automatically expands." Sans explained, winking slyly at Monaca's frustration. The skeleton willed platforms to fall from the ceiling in a manner that Monaca had to Wall Jump, as bones were steadily rising from the ground. She was able to survive, but gasped for breath after landing to rest.

Throwing strong attacks at him is pointless. But I can see him sweating… somehow. He's getting tired. Maybe I'll just wear him down until he can't dodge. Monaca created illusions of herself, all flying different directions to confuse Sans. She flew for a kick from behind, but he dodged nonetheless. Sans created two layers of platforms, and Dragon Cannons would form beside either layer (plus the ground) and sweep a laser along it. Monaca had to jump between the layers to avoid the dangerous ones, and was singed by a beam at the top before the round ended. Monaca smirked and formed a Psy-Shield around the width of the battleground, slowly compressing it as she walked closer to Sans. Giving him no room to maneuver, she swung a kick, but he slipped behind and against her back. Monaca angrily swung more kicks back, Sans dodging each one, then fully compressed the sphere so Sans would be pressed against her, but he even dodged her kick in this tight space.

The barrier dropped from Monaca's exhaust. She gasped, dodging hastily when bones stamped down from above. The bones cluttered the ceiling, giving Monaca no safe places except under the ones that didn't stamp. For one last surprise, Sans readied all the bones to stamp—Monaca barely noticed the blue one in time to get under it, laying still to survive its stamp, but a white bone still crushed her foot. She stumbled getting up, having to remove her shoe and rub her foot to help relieve the pain. "It doesn't make sense! How can you be so evasive, have such strong attacks, yet Monaca can barely sense any power from you?! How come the Scouter only reads you as a weakling?!"

"do you believe in parallel universes?"

"What of it?"

Sans' flashing eye showed as he explained, "there are a great many sans'es across different universes with different timelines. the 'original' sans also tried to stop a coldhearted murderer, whom is also sans' friend in another timeline. another sans is friends with a tiny version of said kid." The skeleton blushed. "that's one of my personal favorites. i don't understand why, but we sans'es are a rare being who are inter-connected across different worlds and times. and we can draw on each other's power. i call this power 'Megalovania.'"

"So, all these different abilities from gravitybending and psychic are because of your parallel selves?"

"i can also tell you have parallel selves. your current self is based off your 'original' self, but there are other versions of you that are a better person. your negative, for instance. i'm sure if you look inside yourself, you can find those other monacas. you can learn from them and change."

"Monaca didn't ask to be judged by some omniscient skeleton." She smiled wickedly. "Monaca is proud of who she is. Where do you get off defining what makes a 'good' person?"

"perhaps it's not my business… even cold-blooded killers have some manner of sympathy. even they can be 'good' from some perspective. however, there are a lot of strange relationships in this universe. people whose parallels would never meet each other somehow do. yet, i feel meaning behind those relationships. you and i, for instance… why were we put in this crew? and i think it's because my duty is to stop you, just as original sans stopped someone similar. …your turn."

Monaca put her shoe on, got up, and warped directly behind to slap—Sans dodged, but she kept warping behind, the skeleton dodging with equal speed. She decided to cease to save stamina for his next attack. Two gardens of bones came from either side, Monaca jumping—the world blacked out, then relit as Monaca was blasted by a Dragon Cannon, dodging further ones—another blackout, Monaca was hit by sliding bones, hastily dodging other—blackout, a massive Dragon Cannon, Monaca ducking to the left just in time. She rose to her feet—"OW!" something stabbed her feet. She quickly took off her shoes, finding bone spikes inside either.

"parasite bones are a status ailment." Sans winked. "continuously hurts you even when it's your turn." Monaca growled, twisting her socks in a way that halted the bleeding. She threw small Psy-Spheres around the room to create more debris, making all the rocks float to her as she touched them. She then whirled the rocks in a twister around Sans, then had them fly a few at a time, exploding each one. As expected, Sans was a fast dodger, but Monaca could see him sweating, hear him panting. Indeed, he was getting ever slower. "i'm warning you…" he said after her attack concluded, "if you don't stop now, i'll be forced to use my special attack."

Sans dropped more vertical platforms for Monaca to Wall Jump, staying out-of-range of the bones—blackout, she fell into a Bone Field and struggled to get onto a platform—blackout, Sans slammed her into the wall with gravity, bones thrusting out—to the ceiling, Monaca barely jumped—two walls of bones moving quickly, Monaca struggling to stay within their snaked path. The round ended—"Ow!" Tiny spikes pricked her feet from the ground, requiring her to keep moving as they followed her. Monaca formed another Psy-Sphere, slowly moving it to Sans, and willed it to chase him as he was dodging. His stamina whittled by the second, and Monaca felt confident enough to explode the sphere, but still Sans survived.

"huff…huff…alright then… you asked for it. this next combo will conclude with my special attack. if you're lucky, you won't live to see it." And so, Sans conjured more Dragon Cannons in random corners, taking turns shooting lasers at a rapid pace, and Monaca determinedly evaded them all. Blackout, Monaca jumped platforms over a Bone Field—mid-jump, she hit a vertical platform, Wall Jumping up others—gravity shifted sideways as Monaca fell down an endless chasm, shifting her body to fit within the snaked path between bones—gravity fell the other way, so she did the inverse of that. She was on the ground, jumping or ducking bones—bones fell down or came up, making her jump to either side—another round of randomized Dragon Cannons, until a whole cluster of them fused into the center. A deadly, spiraling beam was created, Monaca continuously running clockwise to evade its radius for five seconds.

More blackouts, Sans slammed her to the wall, Monaca jumped the bones—to the ceiling and jump—the other wall jump—the floor jump—upper-left ceiling corner jump, down-right floor corner—up right down left down left right left up down right left, Sans was changing gravity so fast that Monaca was flung about like a bug in a jar, down, left, right, down, up, left, it was slowing down… up… right… left… right… left… … … down. (End song.)

Though the final down-thrust was gentle, Monaca struggled to get up. The attack had left her completely bruised and bloody. She was never expecting to battle such a strange power as this 'Megalovania.' And worse, this apparently wasn't the end. "well… it's time for my special attack." Sans panted. "okay… here goes nothing."

There was silence and stillness. Monaca readied herself for whatever Sans would throw. So far, she sensed nothing. "that's right. it's literally nothing. and it won't ever be anything."

Monaca cocked a brow. "Well, it's been fun, Sans." So she tossed yet another sphere—it vanished before it could reach him.

"you can't attack, yet. i haven't finished my attack, so it's still my turn. i was planning to finish my combo with more ceiling bones. my turn will not officially end until i complete what i had planned. but my plan will never complete. it'll always be my turn. as long as i keep having my turn, you can never attack me. ever."

"Ufufu! Silly Sans, you can't just stand there forever."

"but i can. there is nothing i do better than doing nothing. if we keep fighting like this, you'll eventually land a hit and i'll go down. so, i won't let you have another turn. eventually, you're gonna starve to death. you won't be able to treat your injuries. even if it takes until the end of time, i will wait."

"No… you will attack Monaca." The girl's eye twitched, frustration and worry rapidly growing. "Because if you don't… you can never beat Monaca."

"some battles, you can't win by fighting. people like you do all sorts of things, mean and cruel, not out of any desire for good or evil, but simply because you can. and because you 'can,' you 'have to.'"

"ENOUGH of your NONSENSE! Attack Monaca, or ELSE!" A storm of Psy-Spheres flew at the skeleton, but they failed to reach. She ran closer, trying to punch him, but her fists were blocked, and she was unable to explode the ground around him.

"keep trying. you'll wear yourself down all the faster. if you don't mind, i'm gonna take a quick nap. you'll hopefully be dead by the time i wake up." So, Sans lay down calmly, shutting his eye sockets.

"AAAAAAAAAGH!" Monaca was relentless in her fury, yet her emotions were meaningless so long as Sans' turn was forever. Unable to touch him, unable to wound him… unable to keep attacking as her fatigue caught up. "Huff…huff…huff…huff…" Monaca fell on her back. The green of her eyes was fading to a dull color. "No… this… can't be the end for… Monaca… Monaca can't die alone… like this…" There was no light to touch her in the darkness. Even that which gave vision to her eyes was fading. "Masaru… Jataro… Kotoko… Yuta… Nagisa…" Her lids slowly and softly sealed, protecting her from the cold reality. No other soul was around to hear the despair of her voice. "Please… help… Monaca…"

Free Kingdom

The Towa Group acquired its wealth through the aid of Lord Ganondorf's followers, and hence became followers of Ganon their selves. They even acquired forbidden materials such as Devil Fruits. The price to be paid, however, was for the Towa patriarch to drink Ganon's very blood as a sign of loyalty. Though there was no immediate effect, the blood would corrupt Towa's daughter, Monaca. Though she gives off the demeanor of a sweet young child, she is a demon possessed, one who cares not for mortals, yet feigns loyalty to them for the sake of her own ambition. Perhaps she only served Mandy in the hopes of getting closer to Ganondorf, or better yet, hoped to sabotage the woman that was responsible for his fall.

After reading this article uploaded by Kokichi, the four Hope Pirates returned to their flagship and entered Monaca's room. It didn't take long to discover the secret room with Ganon's portrait. "She was… a Ganon worshipper?" Nagisa whispered. "But… no, even if she was… Why…She…"

"Just face it, Nagisa!" Kotoko yelled. "Monaca tried to kill me. She was working for Mandy of her own free will. But I don't think she cared about any of us. Always saying 'gentle' to me… and her 'expectations' for you, Nagisa… I know that Kokichi's a liar, but… the proof is all here."

"…I…I'm going…" Nagisa began to climb down the ladder—he hesitated, realizing that if Monaca were really paralyzed, she wouldn't be able to climb this, meaning that was a lie as well. Too many emotions were coursing through him, from his stress to his hurt. "I've got nothing else to live for at this point. But I will serve Captain Skaios to the end. We're executing Mandy, right now."

…

At Towa Hospital, Sakura Kinomoto could hear the commotion taking place outside. Sitting patiently in her cell, she heard the door open, watching as a red-dressed girl came in. "Oh… hello there. What's your name?"

Ashley waved her wand and cast, "Obliviate Rectify."

Sakura's eyes sparkled as memories came washing back into her. "…!" She gasped at the sight of her old teammate, "Ashley?!"

"Hi. Welcome to Free Kingdom." she said at long last.

Sakura stood and ran to the front of the cell in a rage, "Ashley, I can't believe you would go this far! Working for these pirates, hurting all our-"

"Yeah yeah, calm down, it was all an act."

"It… eh?"

Ashley recapped everything Kokichi explained. "Oh… Ashley, I…I really wish you would've told us if you were going through with such a dangerous mission."

"Why? You wouldn't have remembered."

"That's exactly the problem!" Sakura's cheeks puffed. "How could I forget one of my own friends?! You could've died, and I wouldn't be able to cry for you!"

"No, because the spell would've worn off if I died. And who're you calling 'friend,' anyway? You guys didn't like me, you hated that I was a troublemaker and sent me to disciplinary training!"

"Y-Yeah… well…" Sakura twiddled her fingers as a nervous, guilty reaction. "We didn't hate you, Ashley. We just wanted you to be more respectful."

"I was supposed to act like something I'm not just to gain approval from the popular kids, is that it?"

"W-What do you mean?" Sakura blushed, almost thinking Ashley was considering her popular.

"Drop the act. Everyone likes you because you're basically perfect, you're an ideal human being. But all you do is put down everyone else by setting 'standards' that everyone wants. People like you make it harder to gain acceptance because everyone wants everyone else to be like you!"

"…Ashley… I never wanted to put you down." Sakura eased and lowered her twitching hands. "I…I'm sorry. I should've talked to you before. I should've tried to understand you."

"Yeah. You should've."

"…" Sakura knelt down to be level with her 3-foot friend, smiling as she reached arms through the cell. "Can you forgive me?"

"…Yeah, whatever." Ashley walked up, allowing Sakura to hug her. She reached her little arms around to hug the younger, but taller witch.

"I FEEL SAKURA-CHAN IN HERE!" Tomoyo screamed, bursting through the door along with her teammates.

"Kinomoto-san!" Meiling gasped, ready to battle. "Who is this?! An enemy pirate?!"

"Same Spell." Ashley hit the four with magic, restoring their memory.

"ASHLEY! WE'VE FINALLY FOUND YOU!" they chorused.

"I-It's okay, guys, you can calm down." Sakura assured. Ashley moaned in annoyance.

…

Close to Goldpaw, Sasha Blouse was still chained and imprisoned in a giant cell on a floating platform. She felt as though her reattached arm had fully healed, yet was longing to escape from her prison and stretch it free. "Hm?" She heard a sound that almost sounded like hoses, followed by a, "Yaaaaaaahhhh…!"

With a soft gasp, she saw someone flying her direction: an African-American boy in hipster clothing and sunglasses, flying on a cluster of spraying Orange Soda bottles. The boy crashed onto the platform, rolling crazily before standing upright before Sasha. "'EY, Sasha! I been lookin' all over for you!"

"Kel!" Sasha was joyed to see her fellow combatant from the Snack Division, the Minister of Soda, Kel Kimble. "Right on time! Hurry and break me outta here!"

"Just stand back! ("I can't stand in here.") Super Fist of Orange Soda: Jail Bars Goin' CRAZY!" He sprayed the bars with his signature soda, soaking them and Sasha orange. The bars grew faces and were so giddy for more soda, Kel threw a bottle down to the sea, the bars diving after.

"Way to go, man!" Sasha slammed her giant hand down, to which Kel met with a high-five.

"WAAAAAH! You turned mah hand into a pancake, Sasha!" He held it up to prove himself. "Now I'm gonna need some butter an' syrup! Hop aboard, we're going to Big Boy!" Kel hopped aboard a huge boat of Orange Soda bottles, his giant cousin landing on as well. Despite her immense weight, the boat launched across the sea.

"You forgot about meeeeeee…!" Ernesto Taco soared after them on a Song Road.

…

Cheren and Kokichi headed for Evermore to meet with Doffy, Evan, and the others. The group was gathered on a shore of the island, viewing the Santa Hylia a short distance away. As expected, Doffy passed Cheren a sneer, but didn't say anything beyond that. A small GKND ship landed close as Jerome stepped off, Vweeb on his shoulder. "We had to drop Sector TD off elsewhere." Jerome explained. "Tomoyo said she could 'feel Sakura's aura.' I brought Nebula's sword." He held out his left hand, opening it to reveal a tiny sword in the palm. "She didn't hide it anywhere special, just under her throne cushion."

Vweeb pounced to his hand, took the sword, then to the ground as he raised it. "Avast, ye behemoths!" He winked like a one-eyed pirate.

"You're going to fight Skaios with that puny thing?" Doffy asked.

"It's shrunk for convenience, dummy! I mean, I'm the one who's going to sneak you all in there, anyway."

"Evan, look!" Tani called, hurrying over beside the Mario Sisters and Cheadle. "I found where the Marios were locked up! Since Evermore was one of the only 'safe' islands, I guess it made sense."

"Huh?" Louise gasped, seeing Doffy. The flamingo grit his teeth in anger. "What're you doing here?!" Louise ran at him.

"Don't tell me I'm working with this twerp!" Doffy clawed at her.

"You'll freaking slow us down!" Louise bit his arm. "Yuck, and you taste like bat drool!"

"Get off me, you shit!"

"Aaaaand therapy time." Vweeb shot them both and shrank them to inch size. The others could only watch with adoration as they continued to battle like bickering bugs.

"Hey, that's enough!" Maria stated strictly as she snatched them both in either hand. "Louise! Be nice to the bird man!" The tiny sister folded her arms in anger. "Bird Man! Watch your language. Now, apologize to each other."

"Mfff. Let's call a truce." Doffy squeaked.

"Ditto." Louise shrugged.

"Awwww! Now, make up and hug!" Maria pressed them together.

"Oi! Stop those kids!" Another band of White Lotus came charging.

"Oh, did I forget to mention?" Kokichi smirked, die between his fingers. "All Sky God affiliates are banned from Evermore."

"WAAAAH!" His authority blew the pirates off the island.

"WAH HAH HAH! KNEEL BEFORE YOUR TRUE KING!" A spire of darkness spewed from his body. "WHOA!" Evan kicked him in the knee.

"Anyway, it's time for this to end." Evan smiled. "Let's rescue Nebula so she can fight Skaios and save everyone!"

"Don't we still have Vaati and Monaca to worry about?" Dillon asked.

"That's why you're going in as a large group." Cheren replied. "But we'll monitor the situation from out here."

"And also, I don't think we have to worry about Monaca, anymore." Kokichi smiled. "I saw her heading somewhere… and I saw Sans follow her."

"Sans? The lazy skeleton?" Maria asked.

"He's got a few secrets of his own~" Kokichi put a finger by his mouth, colors swapping.

"Okay, everyone ready to shrink?" Vweeb asked. "Once we get in that ship, it's all-out war between us and Skaios." Doffy and Louise glared and nodded. Maria shared their expression. Evan nodded with determination. Tani nodded, ready to serve her king and take back their home. "Perfect! Hold still!" Vweeb shrank the group, and they squeezed onboard his hovercraft. Those remaining watched as the brave heroes flew for Skaios' flagship.

"Good luck, girls!" Cheadle cheered.

"Aye. They're gonna need it." Cheren said. "Let's be ready to help them."

…

"Well, look at that, Jessie." A man spoke in a smooth voice, disguised in Avalaran clothes. "Looks like Skaios is about to have a bad day."

"Indeed, James." spoke a woman, dressed in a kimono. "We'd better get ready to blast off when the time is right."

"Woooobbuffet!"