New Zathura; Hekseville
The Great Void spanned hundreds of miles and was as wide as a country. There was no land either on the surface or even where the mantle would be. If one were to fall down, it would be an infinite drop, not even to wind up on the other side of the planet. Such a phenomena wasn't unusual on the planet where Space Chi was prominent. In fact, people found they really enjoyed the atmosphere. In the very center of this chasm was the Great Pillar, a wide and towering tree-like structure that seemed to grow from the abyss.
It was on this tree that Hekseville was established. It was a peaceful, yet bustling town with towering buildings and the usual Zathurian Grav-Paths. The town was divided into four districts, connected via a railway loop and underground tunnels. Flying vehicles were also a necessity, since there was no other way on or off the pillar. The architecture felt somewhat European, and the natives spoke an alien version of French.
While the people were mostly easygoing and the town was pleasant, it was quite famous as the home of one of the world's greatest modern heroes. The people in Vendecentre District were in awe, watching the heroine fly from building to building in a manner that resembled falling, her legs aimed in the respective directions. However, today, it seemed she was accompanied by another gravitybender, a shorter, younger girl wearing white, black, and pink armor that made her seem like an astronaut fighter.
Kat was known as the Gravity Queen, a real Zathurian superhero who fought crime whenever it sprung up. She mostly hung around in her hometown of Hekseville, but would often travel to other areas. Recently, she was featured as a special guest at a circus, and it was good for extra money.
The heroine landed against a building that provided a great view of the district, facing her apprentice with a smile once she landed with her. Kat possessed white skin with blonde hair and a black romper/playsuit with gold accessories woven around it intricately, such as a sun design over the stomach. She wore a long and flowing scarf, detached sleeves and socks with gold rings at the ends, with matching high-heels. Her legs were thicker than her arms, for her fighting style involved kicking.
"Are you sure you still need this training, Uravity? I feel like you've really improved on your bending."
"Then I need more advanced training!" the younger hero fist-pumped. "I need to learn how to carry a hundred people, or pick up whole buildings, or even be able to lift the strongest people!"
"Whoa, slow down, mini hero." Kat chuckled, waving her hands in an easing fashion. While their feet were firmly rooted to the building side, their bodies balanced, Kat's hair and scarf hung toward the ground, toward Ochaco's direction. "I'm glad you're committed to your training, but I feel bad giving you lessons when you've already been through so much this year. Besides, what about that festival that's happening? Aren't your friends already there?"
"I can't let myself fall behind. I have to be able to support Deku… I don't wanna fail him again." Ochaco bowed her head in shame.
"But doesn't Deku like you as a partner?"
"I'm not a good enough partner. When he fought K. Rool, he thought that other girl was a better partner. She was so strong, and they worked so well together…"
"That's why you need to be with him now!" Kat stated firmly.
"Huh?" She looked up, surprised by Kat's shift in tone.
"You like Deku, and you want him to like you too, right? So, you can't just leave him alone and let some other girl take him. Just go and be with him. What if he's upset that you aren't having fun with him right now? He might think you don't really like him that much."
"I…I guess you're right."
"And more than that, doesn't Cooking Fest only happen every four years? It'd be a waste to miss all that food! I'm starving just thinking about it!"
"Heheh, then I guess I'm the one keeping you from the festival." Ochaco scratched her head guiltily.
"Yeah, so how about we work up an appetite? Let's make a full loop around the town this time. One continuous fall, that'll stretch out our stomachs!"
"Okay! Let's fall!" The girls leapt off, directed their feet toward the edge of town, and willed gravity to fall in that direction. They felt a rush of adrenaline as they flew over the endless chasm and willed their selves to fall around and along the town's border.
"WHOA!" Kat immediately halted when bullets were fired at them. A small plane zoomed overhead and began attacking the city, along with a squad of similar planes.
Ochaco stopped beside her mentor, looking just as panicked. "Where did these planes come from?!"
"I don't know, but I guess the festival will have to wait after all!" Kat shifted gravity toward one of the small planes, puncturing its windshield with her gold-coated heel. To her surprise, the pilot seemed to be an ordinary dog, and as the plane was spiraling into a crash, the dog launched out and pulled out a parachute. "They're dogs?"
"That's weird. I wonder who put them up to this?" Ochaco thought aloud as she flew to kick another plane. "My friend, Momo is here, too. I'll call her and have her contact the GKND. These dogs have to have a mastermind somewhere!"
"Good idea! Until then, the military can help us!"
With the city officials distracted by the sudden invasion, Eustace could fly down the pillar undetected, carrying the ripped-mouth man that was Zebra on his Mechon. "Hek kek kek! They ain't never gonna know what hit 'em! I'm gonna eat me a Calaziali, I tell ye what!"
"Watch it, old man! Here they come!" Zebra shouted. Eustace halted, seeing a swarm of large, insect-like creatures flying up from the darkness. There were red and black, blobbish insects with single, bulbous red eyes, and long pointed tails.
"Meh, so these are the big bad Nevi. They don't scare me none!" Eustace lunged and lashed his mechanical claws across the creatures. A Nevi dodged up and tried to sting Zebra, but the man gripped its tail, yanked it over, and squeezed its eye in his hand. A Nevi resembling a leafy sea-dragon emerged from the depths, multiple eyes along its body. Zebra took a breath and bellowed a soundwave, controlling it to strike the eyes precisely.
One of the dogs in the planes was Eustace's pink dog, his eyes curved in a worried manner under his aviator goggles. The dog glanced down at a small picture of a chubby old woman with white, fluffy hair. "The things I do for love…" Courage sighed as he withdrew a bombshell from his body and stuck it into a slot. He deposited the bombshell down to the city, resulting in an explosion of popcorn.
"Courage! That was a Popcorn Bomb! You were supposed to drop the Piesplosion Bombs! Do we have to stick the Cone of Shame on you?!" A dog with a gruffer voice contacted him through the radio.
"Owoh…" Courage moaned in dismay.
Ace Hunter
"So then, what happened to the Noah after that was all over?" Tressa asked.
"We left it in a secret, secluded place in New Galaxia." Augustus replied with a cool smile, chilling on a couch beside the merchant. "Maybe centuries from now, explorers will stumble across it and be like, 'Ah, so this is where Captain Augustus left his legacy.'"
"Ha ha ha! Not if I decide to look for it myself! I'll make a fortune off that baby~"
"You don't know the first thing about navigating New Galaxia. Not like this guy~"
"Buddy, you don't even know how to navigate New Galag." Haylee told him from the helm. "Neither do I, but I would do better at it than you."
"Yeah, but I was her inspiration."
"Hey, Captain?" They looked up to Yuzu standing in the doorway. "If you haven't already, I was wondering if we could talk about where to go next?"
"Stewie's looking up our next score."
"Now I know how Lois feels when she does Chris's project for him." Stewie remarked, lazily skimming the computer.
"Come on, Captain! We're supposed to be the Combo here, not you and Tressa!"
"Alright, alright. I'll see you later, Tress." Augustus pushed himself up and left the bridge with Yuzu.
"Heh heh…" Tressa spared a chuckle. "…?" With curiosity, she viewed up at the dome windshield, seeing Kohaku sitting along one of the sills as she gazed out into space. "Hey, you up there! Is that really comfy? How'd you even get up there?"
"Oh, do you mean me?" Kohaku looked down. "I'm just trying to get a better look at the stars."
"Doesn't this ship have a telescope?"
"Senku made me a telescope once. The stars were still really far away. And now that I'm floating among them… they're still far away."
"Ha hah! And just where are you from, anyway?"
"I'm from the Sto-…I mean, I'm from Earth." Kohaku quickly switched to the lie that Augustus told her to say, smiling awkwardly. "I'm from a primitive region on Earth."
"Neato! Why don't ya come down and join me? You seem like a weird one, I like you!"
"A weird one?…" Kohaku was unsure how to interpret that.
"I mean it in a good way, just come down!"
"Okay then…" Kohaku slipped off the sill and landed on the couch.
"Whew, that outfit is wicked primitive." Tressa looked the Historian over. "Are those shoes made of stone? I'm diggin' what you got goin'!"
"Thanks! Yours is pretty cute, too. Where's that feather from?" She indicated the gold feather on Tressa's hat.
"I sort of made friends with a Gold Eagle and earned it. I found the poor thing caught in a trap, so I freed it. They're a pretty rare species, so I imagine someone was trying to make a profit."
"But you're a merchant yourself, aren't you?" Haylee asked.
"Yeah, but I'm not a rare animal poacher! There's a limit to what I'm willing to sell. But moving on, tell me about where you're from, Kohaku. What're your people like?"
"We're… no one special, really." Kohaku blushed earnestly. "We were a small culture and there wasn't really much to see… definitely nothing as amazing as this ship."
"I kinda wanna check it out! Primitive cultures must have lots of antiques, right? Museums really like to preserve that stuff, so if you had any you didn't want, anymore…"
"I'm not really sure. Are these knives antiques?" Kohaku withdrew her dual daggers.
"Oooo, yes! They're totally old school!" Tressa took one and examined it. "Worth at least a couple thousand, how old is it?"
"I can see why Augustus picked this one up…" Haylee said.
Augustus and Yuzu walked to the playroom, where Tama and Suika were playfully running (or rolling) from Gourmerry. The spirit was munching her mouth like Pac-Man as if trying to "eat" them. "Honestly, Captain, you've got to stop bringing so many girls onboard the ship. We should've at least brought that Jak guy just to mix up the diversity."
"The last dude I invited to the crew was a giant Kremling, and that turned me off of guys completely."
"Ugh, let's change the subject." Yuzu face-palmed. "As for our next target… I was wondering if we could go to New Zathura."
"Why, what's on there?"
"I just wanted to check out what food they have. I met this woman named Cules a little while ago; she's a chef, too, and she wanted to try making some Zathurian dishes. So, why not check it out? I mean, it's not like we have to find rare ingredients for ALL the Full Course items, right?"
"No, I guess not. Alright then, New Zathura it is! How's that sound, Gourmerry?"
"Gourmeeeeeee!" Her mouth widened with joy as she was closing in on Suika.
"Suika doesn't wanna be eaten like fruit!" cried the melon.
"Heh, let's tell Haylee to set a course right away." August proceeded back to the bridge.
"Aye-aye." Yuzu followed him. "And, seriously, if you're gonna bring more people onboard, try not to act like Toriko. We don't need a show-offy guy stealing attention away from the food. That type turns me off of guys, if anything…" She spoke this with a sigh.
"Please, at least I keep my crew diverse and lively. You know what I hear Toriko does? He keeps a pair of Normies with him just to make himself look cooler."
Yuzu snorted at the thought, "True, at least your crew quips back at you."
"Case and point~"
New Galaxia; Land of Land and Sea
At first glance, it would seem like a peaceful valley of grass, trees, and clear skies… but this would only appear in a glance before the valley would suddenly change as easily as waves on a sea. The solid hills would rise and sink, sometimes as high as mountains or as rounded bumps. However, the sky was currently clouded as huge boulders began to rain and splash into the valley in a liquid manner. Regardless, Toriko bravely jumped his way up the falling stones, shattering any that dare impede him with a hardened punch.
"You're almost there, Toriko! You can do it!" Chef Komatsu cheered. Behind him, standing near their ship, were two ordinary-looking men in green shirts, hats, and blue overalls. They had short brown hair, blank, wide-eyed expressions, and were totally still as they watched the spectacle.
"Here it comes…" Toriko smirked confidently. Right as predicted, a whole volcano had fallen through the clouds. And right as it did, a gargantuan pelican swooped down and caught the volcano in its godly throat pouch. Toriko grabbed onto the beak and rushed up to its gigantic eyes, impaling them with his Fork technique. The continent shook as the Mountain Pelican splashed into the Landsea.
Toriko landed on his feet in a stylish manner. "You did it, Toriko! I can't wait to see how this thing tastes!" his impish chef cheered with glee.
"Then we'd better load 'er up! Hey, Normies, strap this birdy to the ship so we can haul her back to base!" Toriko ordered the men with a twinkle in his grin.
The Normies, their bodies stagnant and their expressions normal, responded normally. "Oæp."
Florae Galaxy; Stardust Sea
Haylee steered the Ace Hunter onto the edge of a vast, swirling vortex of pink, sparkling stars. They allowed the current of stardust to carry them to the center of the vortex, but Haylee shot lasers at any meteors floating as well. "This Stardust Sea actually has oxygen over it." Haylee said. "You guys can climb onto the top if you want. Just don't fall."
The crewmates were fascinated by the premise and eagerly climbed up onto the ship's roof. Kohaku and Suika were awestruck by the hypnotic sea of swirling stars, and the oxygen itself felt somewhat tickly and magical. "So, are stars actually liquid?" Kohaku asked. "They can be swum in as easily as water?"
"Stars are rather sporadic in what they can do." Yuzu replied awkwardly. "Some of those stars in the distant sky are extremely far away. They're either suns, planets, or even whole galaxies. And yet, some stars like the ones we're sailing on are as tiny as they appear in the sky."
"All celestial bodies are extremely abundant with Natural Chi." Augustus explained. "Some of that chi seeps up into space like gas, mixing with the Space Chi, and taking the form of stardust like this. This dust gets mixed with different kinds of chi and is often harnessed for magic. Some planets like Mushroom have higher concentrations than others… but that's stepping into some pretty complex territory, and I don't wanna hurt your head explaining the science of it."
"Actually, I would love to hear more about it!" Kohaku smiled. "Senku's already taught me so much about science… even if I don't fully understand everything."
"The universe is endlessly vast, Kohaku. There's too much to understand in one lifetime. That's why I'm mostly in it for the lovely sights. I'm lookin' at you, ladies~"
"…?" Tressa frowned and cocked a brow at this statement. "So, are you some kinda 'player'? Is this why there are so many girls on this ship?"
"I was starting to wonder that myself." Yuzu said.
"Hey, can't I have a respect for the opposite gender?" August asked. "I like to make girls feel happy, but I ain't gonna date just any girl I see."
"Augsuuuuus!" As if on cue, Nel had arrived in her adult form and squeezed her captain in a hug.
"Ahhh!" Tressa was startled by her sudden arrival. "Wh-Who's… this one…?"
"Nel Augsus' mate." Nel answered simply, snuggling with him. "Not-ripe girl need to find someone else."
"Uh, heheh, Nel, can we talk inside the ship?" August slipped out of her grasp and back down the hatch. Nel followed him.
"Why did you call Captain August a player?" Suika asked. "Is it because he likes games? Suika is a player, too!"
"Captain is a different type of player." Yuzu replied awkwardly. "…" Tama seemed to be looking down into the ship with equal curiosity. "O-Tama, can I hold Gourmerry for a minute?"
"Hai." The ninja handed the Firstborn over.
Yuzu climbed down the windshield to sit along the front rim of the ship, resting Merry on her lap. The spirit's young eyes were mesmerized by the swirling entrance to Zathura. "Do you like the universe so far, Gourmerry?"
"Gourmer…"
"You have such innocent eyes… no matter how many times I look, you just don't seem like a monster. Honestly… would you really eat everything in sight if you got hungry enough? If you went even a single day without eating one bite?"
"Merry…"
Yuzu looked ahead as the center of the vortex drew nearer. "…Now that I think about it, it looks like a giant donut with lots of sprinkles. I hope you don't decide to eat this whole thing."
"Merry?" She cocked her head up to look into Yuzu's upturned eyes.
"Hm hm hm! But you know, I think fasting is just as important as eating. I feel like we've been spoiling you ever since you were born, just because we were afraid. So, how about this: until we find the next ingredient, you can't eat anything else. Not Tama's dango, not a snack we pick up… I think we should practice restraint with you."
"Gour…" Merry's eyes half-closed in a hesitant manner.
"There are all kinds of things that make food tastier: eating with friends, the work you put in to make or retrieve your meal, and the hunger that builds up in-between meals! So, let's practice fasting, wanna? I'll tell the captain, too."
"Gourmerry…" She sighed in compliance.
…
"But seriously, Kohaku, does he just treat all girls that way?" Tressa asked. "Why did you decide to join him, anyway?"
"Because I wasn't able to leave my home on my own, so we got him to help. As for the first question… he certainly is the flattering type." Kohaku narrowed her eyes in disbelief. "But he's wasting his time because there's someone else I've sworn loyalty to."
"And I'm guessing that's tribal talk for 'I'm head over heels'?"
"What does that mean?" Kohaku cocked a brow at the weird expression. I mean, of course her head was over her heels.
"It means you're in love with someone~. Is it that Senku guy you mentioned earlier?"
"Love? …Senku?"
"Hey, gang, we're about to enter the portal!" Haylee called up. "You should probably climb in, just to be safe!"
"Let's go, Merry-chan." Yuzu climbed back up the windshield and dropped down into an open window pane, the others joining her back into the bridge.
"Sorry about that." Augustus walked in. "Had to, uh…ask Nel to tone it down a bit."
"Nel already know she can't be with Augsus…" The cavechild whimpered in the doorway. "But Nel can still pretend…"
Once the vessel finally crossed the rim of the portal, they descended down a circular waterfall. They flew at high speed as Planet Zathura grew wider in their view, floating within this lonesome sub-dimension. "Good to be back again." Haylee smiled. "So, gang, where should we land?"
"Heeeeellllp!" It was then they saw a man zooming around on jetpacks and a space helmet. He had brown hair, a small beard, and a green jacket over a gray shirt.
"Hey, it's Exposition Guy!" Haylee recognized. "I haven't seen him since… When did we last see him?"
"Help! The city of Hekseville is under attack by flying dogs! Wait, you guys are a GKND station, right?"
"Not necessarily." August replied.
"Darn. I'm too used to looking for the police station. Heeeeelllp!" And he zoomed away in panic.
"Flying dogs?" Haylee thought aloud. "That… sort of reminds me of what happened on Mira."
"And it sounds like there're operatives on the planet." Yuzu said.
"Zathura doesn't really have a KND, yet, so the GKND can't establish good communications with the planet; especially when you factor in where this place is. Maybe they're using that guy as a messenger."
"We'll leave him to his duty." August whipped out his next lollipop. "For now, it looks like we have a date with Gourmet Corp.."
"I'm bringing up the map." Haylee displayed the digital map. "It looks like Hekseville is… in the middle of that big empty spot. Heh, reminds me of Nowhere, Kansas."
The closer they flew to the location in question, the more ominous the Great Void became. It felt much less pretty than the sparkly entrance to Zathura, an abyss of darkness with no return. They were drawn toward the towering structure that rose from the abyss, and the town built on top of it. There appeared to be small planes flying around and blasting the town. "Let's park the ship here and head into the biplanes." August said. "Tama, you're with me, and Maggie can ride with Haylee. The rest of you head into town and check the situation there. If Gourmet Corp. is here, that means a rare ingredient can't be far!"
"Oh, so we're not worried about the townspeople?" Yuzu asked rhetorically.
Both pilots boarded their planes and flew to begin shooting down the dogs. "Mw-mw-mw-mw!" Maggie alerted Haylee to something behind them.
"Something wrong, Mags?" Haylee glanced back. "Whoa!" There appeared to be a swarm of flying squid creatures made of black and red goop. Maggie bombarded the creatures with bullets, but they survived as one flew up and squeezed their plane in its tentacles. "What're these ugly things?!" Haylee shouted as she tried to barrel-roll.
A squid attached itself to August's plane as well. "Tama, can you feed them?!"
"I doth not know wherein the mouth lies! And I doth not welcome their limbs!" She ducked into her seat.
"HYAH!" A Zathurian woman flew up and STAMPED the heel of her shoe into the beast's eye, shoving it off the plane as it splattered into gooey mist. "Are you guys from the KND?" the heroine asked, landing on the front wing.
"Hoo, baby!" Augustus perked up at the red-eyed, monochrome woman. "That squid's eye wasn't the only one that exploded! Who're you, cutie?"
"I'm Kat, and, uh… thanks?" Kat hadn't expected him to be so quick with flirting. "Anyway, if you're here to help, it's much appreciated." She flew off to kick another squid.
"YAH!" Uravity was next to stomp off the squid on Haylee's plane. "You sure got here quickly! I'm Uravity of Superbia Sector U.A.!"
"Haylee Gilligan, Earth Sector V!"
"Cool! Wuh-oh!" A dogplane was flying toward them and shooting, so Ochaco fell in its direction and STOMPED through the windshield. Maggie fixed her rifle together and shot the eyes of the pursuing squids. "Those monsters are called Nevi. They're monsters born from condensed Gravity Chi." Ochaco explained. "Kat says they're common around here, but we don't know where these dogs came from!"
"I fought with these dogs before." Haylee replied. "Their master is some old guy."
"Are you talking about ME, Gilligan?!" The girls whipped toward the right, spotting a larger plane incoming. Haylee recognized the plane and its pilot from Mira.
"Yep, that's the one! I'm surprised you heard me that far away!"
"Yes, well I have a VERY good hearing aid! Though it's about time I turn it down." Muntz did so before shooting bullets at Haylee, who deflected them with barrel-rolls. Uravity fell toward Muntz in attempt to kick, but he deflected the gravitybender away as well.
Tama loaded dangos into a slot on the Ace Flyer. After launching them out, parachutes stretched out to help the dangos float. "Ooo, what is that tasty treat?" one of the dogs asked as it flew to catch the dango in its ship. The dog happily chewed the treat and perked up in joy. "Who is the creator of this marvelous confection?!"
"I am!" Tama shouted. "Take down thine fellow canines!"
"As you command, Master!" He and two other dogs began shooting down their allies.
"Curses!" yelled Alpha, the black- and brown-furred commanding dog. "Dogs, don't eat those treats! They contain some kind of poison! Courage, hit that plane with a missile now!"
"Gulp…" The cowardly pink dog pulled a colorful missile from his "pouch," stuck it in a slot, and locked onto August's plane. The missile cut through the air with a flashy streak and exploded into a firework before reaching the plane.
"Courage, this is your last warning!" Alpha shouted. "Either you kill someone in the next five seconds or you're getting MORE than a Cone of Shame!"
"Woh-woh-woh…" Courage moaned, hesitantly loading a real missile into the slot. His finger vibrated with anxiety over the trigger as it was locked onto the Marzipan captain.
THUMP! Kat landed on Courage's plane. "WAAAAAHH!" cried the puppy as his teeth seemed to fly out of his stretched mouth.
"It's time to put this puppy…huh?" Kat was about to punch through the windshield, but stopped herself. "Wait… are you a Pocket Pooch?!" she asked with an adoring smile.
"Owoh?"
"Aww, I've always wanted a Pocket Pooch! They're so nice and they can store so much stuff! What're you doing working for these bad guys, little guy?" She squatted down in a typical manner, acting as if she were simply at the park and not on a flying plane.
"(W-Well, I…)" Courage scratched his head sheepishly. "…!" He gasped at seeing a missile flying from behind Kat. "ABA-BA-BA-BA! AB! ABA-BA-BA-BA!" He shook and pointed in a frantic manner.
Kat simply looked back calmly and saw the projectile. She dropped down, grabbed the ship, and increased gravity to tug it down and evade the missile. She glared at the plane responsible, flying overhead. Kat leapt up and channeled gravity to fall toward that plane.
"You've failed us for the last time, Courage!" Alpha stated, dropping exploding treats back at Kat. The heroine swiftly evaded the obstacles and caught up to the plane.
"You're a bad DOGGY!" With a piercing kick to the engine, Alpha's plane spun out of control and fell over the edge of town.
Haylee performed a somersault to go over Muntz, shooting directly down, but Muntz steered tight to the left. Haylee flew behind him as Muntz dropped bombs backward, but the girl shot them down before they could reach. "I'll never forgive you Gilligans! Not after what you did!"
"What we did?" Haylee repeated. "Does this villain have a surprising connection to my family??"
"It were fifty-some years ago! I was all set to capture the Monster of Paradise Falls and deliver it to the World Government for their Exotic Animal Diner! But that little brat, Hogarth attacked my ship with his puny amateur plane and caused the monster to escape! All because he thought I was trafficking kids!"
"Fifty years?" Haylee said. "Then… it was something my grandpa did."
"I lived in disgrace because of you! And if that wasn't enough, you even had the gall to assault my cousin, Washer!"
"Slow down, I can't keep up with all these revelations!"
"I won't let you disgrace me again! Today," he set the plane to autopilot, "I take you DOWN!" Muntz instantly morphed into a monochrome peacock and leapt out of the plane. Haylee nearly jumped out of her seat when he suddenly landed on the plane. Maggie scrambled to twist around and shoot him, but Muntz had already grabbed Haylee in his talons and yanked her out of the seat, flying to slam her onto a rooftop. Maggie hurriedly climbed into the pilot's seat to switch on auto.
Muntz's talons seemed to glow as the color was sapped from Haylee. Luckily, Maggie was able to land a shot to his back, allowing Haylee to escape and leap to her feet, her chest area now monochrome. She grabbed her wrench and bashed Muntz, who worked to defend with tail feathers. He absorbed color from the rooftop as his own body became those colors, and once full, he FLASHED them at Haylee to stun her. She got her own color back, but Muntz then grabbed her legs to drain and make them monochrome.
"Agh!" A trashcan hit Muntz's head. He turned to where it came from, but was surprised to see a swarm of floating cans and other objects, gravitating around Ochaco. The U.A. hero willed the objects to fall toward Muntz, the peacock dodging as he glided through them. Uravity grew fearful as the villain was nearing, and Muntz drew out a hunting rifle as soon as he was on her roof.
But the rifle was cleaved in two by Kohaku's katana. The primitive hunter sliced at Muntz's neck, but he backed his head away and quickly flew to a further roof. Kohaku glared at him with fierce eyes with Ochaco at her back. "And heeeere's TRESSA!" Muntz about-faced once more as Tressa tried to spin him in a whirlwind… only for the wind to appear rather small as Muntz was barely moved. "Uh…it's supposed to be bigger than that?"
"An airbender? Heh." Muntz smirked. "Zathura may have oxygen, but its Space Chi still hinders the use of Air Chi. OW!"
He was immediately stamped in the back with the combined heels of Ochaco and Kohaku. He reacted to recover and flew away, glaring back at the girls. "So, this is what low gravity feels like." Kohaku smirked, swinging her legs in the weightlessness. "I like it~"
"There's too many of you brats around now. I'll have to come back later." Muntz proceeded to glide toward the edge of town, his plane flying to retrieve him.
"Nngh…ugh…" Haylee's legs felt incredibly heavy, unable to budge them an inch as she was forced to crawl on her arms. She was relieved when Kohaku's stone sandals landed before her, looking up at the Historian with a smile. "Hehe…this is embarrassing."
"I'll help." Kohaku bent down and lifted Haylee onto her back, sharing a smile with her new friend.
"Thanks!"
With the dogplanes clearing the area, the crew regrouped with Yuzu and Gourmerry on a street. "It doesn't seem like anyone was hurt too badly. I'm glad we came when we did."
"Yeah, we really owe you guys a ton." They looked up as Kat descended to the ground, holding Courage in her arms.
"It was our pleasure! Who are you, Miss?" Yuzu asked.
"They call me the Gravity Queen, but just call me Kat. I'm sort of a superhero." She grinned modestly. "So, you guys are KND, right?"
"And here we go again." With that, Augustus proceeded to explain the story.
"Okay, I think I got the idea…" Kat said. "It's funny 'cause we were just talking about that festival!"
"We didn't really have any objectives in mind when we came here." Augustus continued. "But we heard there was a distress, so we came to look. Gourmet Corp. could only be here if there's a rare ingredient nearby… I don't suppose you would know about it?"
"Honestly… nothing really comes to mind. But maybe this little guy would know." Kat looked down to Courage.
"That dog?" Ochaco asked.
"I just rescued him from one of the planes. I don't think he's like the other dogs. Actually, I know he's not. This dog is a Pocket Pooch! He's a Zathurian dog that can store a large amount of items in his spatial body!"
"Woo-woo?" Courage questioned.
"But all those other dogs looked like normal ones, like from Earth." August said.
"Yeah, it sure raises some questions… but before that, would you be willing to tell us what you all were doing here?"
Courage hopped onto the ground. "Ah-blu-blu-blu, SQUOOOOO," Courage made a realistic impression of a squid, "uh-blu-blu, hek kek kek kek!" Then he impersonated Eustace, big chin and all, "blu-blu-buu, WHIIIRRR!" Then he imitated a demon of some sort.
"Uh…I'm having trouble following." Kat said.
Courage sighed and decided to scamper away, leading the group to the edge of town. "Hmm! Mmm! Mmm!" Courage pointed downward.
"Down… there? …Wait, are you saying some people are heading to the Zathura Core?"
"The core?" Yuzu asked.
"There's a portal near the roots of the Great Pillar that lead close to the core of the planet."
"Then there's a rare ingredient somewhere by the core."
"The…the only thing I can imagine would be the…"
"Would be the…?" Augustus cocked a brow.
"…" Kat faced back at the group with determined eyes. "If you guys are going down there to stop them, I'm going with you."
"But what's down there?" Yuzu asked.
"I only know about it from legend… but if that legend is true, there could be an ancient and dangerous creature down there."
"Sounds mighty tasty." August licked his lips.
"It's not a creature you should eat!" Kat stated. "Let's hurry and stop them. I'll explain more on the way. Uravity, do you think you could stay here in case more enemies show up?"
"Of course I will."
"You guys stay behind, too." August ordered. "I'll only be taking Yuzu, Tama, and Merry. Protect Haylee for me."
"Aye-aye, Captain." Tressa nodded.
"So… are we ready to go?" Kat expanded a gravity field to catch the chosen group. She steered them all to fly down into the abyss.
"Hmm…I actually thought he liked me, but I guess he just kinda flirts with everyone." Tressa said to herself.
"Huh?" Haylee asked.
"Uh, sorry. Just talking to myself!" Tressa laughed. "Anyway, let's go see if everyone's alright. Maybe there will be a few goods to pick up!" She jogged off eagerly. Haylee and Kohaku shared a curious glance at her quiet statement.