The temperature was at its peak on the 2nd day of Cooking Festival. The sun's heat mixed with that of the grills, and with the auras of so many people close together, it created a scorching environment. It was only natural that numerous visitors would be swimming in the ocean or pools, and ice cream or frosty recipes were especially popular.
Sector SA were heavily adapted with the heat, having already been based in a desert. Morgiana relished in the taste of a cooked Sea-Bear, which resembled a large fish with the size and head of a bear. "Aww, look at you nibbling fish like a little kitty~" Killua teased.
"Piss off." Morg spat a piece at his face.
"Well, we know the Fanalis are actually lions," Goombella reminded, "so it makes sense she loves fish."
"Did you know that house cats can be just as fierce as lions?" Index asked. "It's just their size that makes them submissive. So, you better watch out, Killua."
"Didn't I hear your bites were deadlier?" the Sheikah retorted, kicking back with his arms folded behind his head. "Also… aren't you worried about being in such a public place like this? You were kind of exposed to the universe or something."
"There was no way I was gonna miss such a big festival with my friends! Besides, I've got the perfect disguise."
"That… is not a disguise."
Index was dressed the exact same way: a white and gold nun's habit, partially veiling her brown boots, and her silvery light-purple hair hanging from her hat. However, her face was hidden behind a black mustache, long pink nose, and thick glasses. "This has been the most successful disguise in history. I'm practically invisible here!"
"And honestly, how well does the average person pay attention to the news?" Nagisa asked. "No one will probably remember Index, especially with a Pirate War to knock it off their minds."
"You better hope that's right." Killua replied. "I know the festival officially can't ban people or even arrest criminals, people are still gonna raise a riot if they see a dangerous person strolling through the crowd."
"Ahoy, mateys!" Skaios greeted spritely as he hovered above them. "Whatcha be eatin' there?"
"Like that guy. …"
"CAPTAIN SKAIOS?!" the five operatives exclaimed with elongated eyes.
"Uh, yup. That's me name." The infant-sized pirate was confused by their reaction. He wore only his red bandanna, eyepatch, and thick skull belt. His skin that resembled the light-blue sky and white clouds blended well against the clear day.
"What are you doing here?!" Goombella asked. "Aren't you supposed to be locked on Moonbase?"
"Nebula said I could go to the festival." Skaios said with a sheepish frown. "They took Gourmerry away, so I got bored. And hungry."
"Who took Gourmerry?"
"Captain, don't keep running off!" Nagisa Shingetsu and Kotoko hurried over, the former wearing a backpack. "I know they won't arrest us, but you can't just expose yourself!"
"That's exactly what I was saying!" Killua expressed.
"Oh, look!" Kotoko smiled. "It's the other Nagisa and the other Fanalis girl! We'd better go so it doesn't get confusing!"
"I don't wanna stay in that stuffy little backpack all day! I may be a changed god, but I'm still a free god!" Skaios soared backwards in a laid-back fashion similar to Killua's. "And I'll let no restrictions or public opinions bar me do-"
He had sunk a little low and bumped his head into someone's back. "Whoops, sorry!" Skaios turned and scratched his head sheepishly. "Heheh, I guess I'm a little rusty with…"
The person had reddish-pink hair in pigtails, tied with leaf braids that matched her green and orange dress, which had thin tree branch designs. She wore tall, green open-toed shoes. Tani turned around and gasped, her green eyes creasing in fright. "YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
"Oh, Tani." Skaios' face fell. "Uh…hi?"
"AGH!" Tani whipped out her spear and smacked Skaios to the ground. She pinned her foot atop the captain and aimed her spear at his head. "I thought you were locked up, what are you doing here?!"
"I-I just… wanted to see the festival."
"Well, I want you out of here! Evan, call the festival guards, I'll keep him down!"
"Um, Tani…" Evan tried to say something.
"Hey, get off the captain!" Kotoko ran up and kicked Tani off. "He wasn't hurting anyone!"
"Tell that to my father! I want him gone!"
"Okay, okay, what is-a going on?" They were approached by a big-mustached man in a security uniform, speaking in an Italian accent. "Are you little bambines getting in a zuffa?"
"Sir, this is Captain Skaios! He's an extremely dangerous pirate that destroyed countless kingdoms, we can't let him stay here!"
"Look-a, sweetheart, I dunno what the little ragazzino has done, but that-a doesn't matter here in the festival. But if you want-a go beat each other senseless, then take it to the backyard. That's-a what my mother used to say, hoho!" And he marched away in an exuberant fashion.
"Ugh!" Tani sheathed her spear and marched elsewhere. "Just go away." Her friend, King Evan spared one last look of distaste to Skaios and joined her.
Shingetsu and Kotoko shared a sympathetic glance and faced down at the grounded imp. "You okay, Captain?"
"Just leave me be, mateys." Skaios sighed, veiled in his friends' shadows. "Leave me to roast on the pavement."
"Poor Captain…" Kotoko cooed. "Nagisa, let's bring him something super yummy! Something to lift his spirits!" She jogged off spiritedly.
"And body, too." Shingetsu chased after.
Skaios merely lay still and dead on the scorching ground, unseen and uncared for by dozens of passing visitors. Only able to twist his head, he glanced around at all the KND operatives who seemed to be having a good time.
As Sector SA had returned to their lively conversation, they were approached by somebody. "Hey, are you guys really Sector SA??" she asked bluntly.
Giving attention to their visitor, she appeared to be a Japanese girl of 17, with light-brown bowl-cut hair, a light-green athletic jacket, and short black shorts under a matching mini skirt. Her legs seemed a tad longer than her body. "Yeah, we're SA." Nagisa answered. "Do we know you?"
"Then you must be Morgiana! The epic kickboxing legend!" she exclaimed ecstatically.
"Uh…thanks." Morg smiled with a blush. "What's your name?"
"I'm Chie! I'm not an operative, but I follow you guys all the time online! I just LOVE the way you STOMP all your enemies into submission!" Chie thrusted her leg forward for emphasis (from Persona 4).
"Congrats, No Shoes, you've attracted another weirdo." Killua remarked.
"Hmph. Well, I'm delighted to meet a fan." Morgiana ignored the Sheikah and smiled at Chie.
"Delightful indeed! Oh, and is that your new teammate?" Chie indicated Index.
"Yes, she is." Morg answered simply.
"What happened to the nun girl?"
"She left."
"IT ACTUALLY WORKS?!" Nagisa, Kill, and Goombella screamed. Index shrugged cluelessly.
"Hey, you mind if I test my strength? Let me kick you!" Chie began bouncing on her green sneakers, assuming a fighting pose.
"Hah, go on, Morgie!" Nagisa laughed. "Let's see what she's got!"
"Well, okay." She chuckled lightly and stood up. "Do your best!"
"HYAH!" Chie threw a fierce kick to Morgiana's hip, the Fanalis sliding several yards across the ground.
"That was pretty strong." Morg smirked, rubbing the sore.
"Now you do me! Show me all the power that leg can muster!" Chie encouraged.
"Don't regret it." Morgiana whipped her foot and blasted Chie up the street, crashing her against a building wall.
"Oooo…" Goombella cringed. "Coulda dialed it back a bit."
"Thaaaaat… was AWESOOOOOME!" Chie rushed back to their picnic with breakneck speed. "Man, I need to learn how to kick like that! Let's have a leg-off, right now!"
"How about a little training first?" Morg about-faced with a devious glare. "And we can use Killua for practice."
Killua froze. "Gulp."
Skaios almost envied how quick they were to make a new friend. He then looked over to Artie and Harry Gilligan, who were meeting with Entrapta (from She-Ra), a tall girl with thick mechanic's pants and huge lilac pigtails.
"Happy early birthday, you two!" Entrapta cheered, presenting a cake in her pigtails. The candles resembled welding torches, the numbers 52, 25, and 2x5 were placed on it, and the icing was sky-blue over white dough. "I had my personal chefs make it, I hope you like it!"
"Wow, thanks, Entrapta!" Artie said. Entrapta cut the cake into slices for him and Harry to take. The Gilligans had become acquainted with the Etherian inventor during Meet Your Heroes Day, in which Entrapta had expressed great fangirly interest for the younger geniuses.
"Say, where's Haylee? I gotta give her her share, too."
"Haylee ain't here right now." Harry answered. "I heard she went with Augustus on the Gourmet Hunt, so she might not come for a while."
"Oh, that's too bad." Entrapta frowned. "By the way, I'm sorry about what happened to your dad. I hope everything's been alright."
"It's gotten better. Though, thinking about it kinda makes me wish Haylee were here now. I hope she's okay."
"Yeah, me too. Funny story," Entrapta smiled, "the other night, I had a dream where I was your older sister. So, Hoagie was basically my dad, but I think my mom was a witch."
"You know, Melody's birthday is the same day as ours." Artie said. "Why don't we find her and share some?"
"Sounds awesome! Let's go!" She placed the cake in her hands and used her pigtails to waddle off.
Skaios sighed once more. At the same time, Suki Crystal seemed to make friends with Ursula, a fellow snow girl with small feet. Ursula was singing a pretty song and making a Song Road for Suki to surf on. Skaios saw his former crewmate, Kokichi fighting with a black-clothed boy named Kumagawa. Kokichi was stabbing him with staplers while Kumagawa used screws. It looked very violent, but Skaios assumed they were having a good time… maybe? Either way, it seemed the KND were far better at making friends than he was. All he had were enemies.
"Those Gourmet guys wouldn't-a stood a chance if I used my true power!" Skaios twisted his head to the source of the spunky voice. It belonged to Daxter, the orange-furred Ottsel, and he was walking alongside a dark-gray-furred creature of equal small size, a collar and license on its neck. It almost looked like a canine, except for its skull head. "Just dunk me in a vat of Precursor chi and BOOM! Divine Ray of Judgment."
"Whoa, hold your horses there, hotstuff." The skull creature stopped them before they crossed Skaios. "Looks like we got road-kill." Although his mouth didn't move, his voice was perky like his Ottsel partner.
Daxter walked over and observed the captain that was roughly their size. "Wait, this ain't no road-kill! This is Skaios, one of the Pirate Emperors!"
"Wow! A real live Pirate Emperor?! Is that true?"
"E-yep. I be Captain Skaios, conqueror of over 20 kingdoms." He spoke with no enthusiasm.
"Oh, boy, what luck! My name's King, and I'm a tiny ruler like you!" King (from Owl House) eagerly shook Skaios' hand with both of his. "I'm the King of Demons!"
"Ain't that Malladus?"
"Yeah, he's just full of himself." Daxter thumbed at King, who shot him a glare.
"Fine, I'm not the Demon King. But one day, I will be a Demon Saint, and that's just as good!" King whipped out a chart, listing five demons: Majora, Medusa, Chernabog, Lucifer, Diablo, and an empty "?" spot. "It turns out there's a spot open in the Six Demon Saints and no one knows why! Also, I think another demon named Hannibal used to be one, but he got eaten, so Diablo took his spot. But that sixth spot is going straight to me: Demon Saint King!"
"Good on ye, matey. You let me know how that goes."
"Sheesh, why are you so bummed out?"
"This girl hates me."
"Been there, done that, buddy. Did you also shrink her friends with shrink spray?" King pulled out a spray bottle of pink potion.
"No, I took over her kingdom and imprisoned her best friend, the king."
"Up top!" King cheered, hands raised. "Oh, wait… is that the bad thing?"
"And also, I… was sort of responsible for her dad's death."
"Oooo…" King cringed. "Yeah, that's hard to bounce back from."
"I, for one, am good with the ladies," Daxter boasted, "but even I don't know how to go about that. But sometimes, guys just need a break from that stuff. Get your mind off her and go have a time with the guys."
"Totally!" King agreed. "You wouldn't believe how degrading it feels to live with tall women who treat you like a pet. Who would enjoy that?"
Somewhere else, Vweeb was standing on the shoulder of a dark-skinned girl with long green hair and rather revealing forest clothes. Her legs were thicker than her arms, she had a large flower in her hair, but cute curious eyes. "I can feel it in your eyes, Amalia. Yours is the soul of an adventurer! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise and do what you want outta life! A strong girl like you can accomplish anything!"
"VWEEB!" They whipped in the direction of a furious Arianna. "Who the heck is THIS girl?!"
"Oh, Ari, this is Amalia! Amalia, this is the girl I told you about! Doesn't she look like you?"
"Nice to meet you!" Amalia greeted (from Wakfu). "Your friend here is really nice! And flattering, too~" She reached a finger up to tickle the little Kateenian.
"He also flattens pretty well. Wanna see?"
…
"Come on!" King cheered. "Let's show this festival how we Tiny Terrors have fun!" (Play "Greased Lightning" from Grease!)
Several muscular men and teens were charging across the beach with surfboards above their heads. The Tiny Terrors scampered along with a single surfboard, and they set it on the sea as Skaios zoomed like a motor boat. He used a rope to pull the board with him, King and Daxter swaying like surfers. They curved all around the coast, circling many surfers with big, ecstatic smiles.
"Huh?" Skaios looked to a group of young kids playing catch with a baseball. One of the kids missed as the ball sank into the sea. The children were unable to recover it, so they cried. Skaios decided to dive under, dragging the board with him as his riders clung it and held their breaths. Skaios grabbed the ball from the seafloor, returned up, and gave it back to the kids. As they beamed with gratitude, Skaios turned to King and Daxter, flinching guiltily at their half-drowned states.
The Tiny Terrors shared a single skateboard, cheering as they sped downhill. Skaios' gusts helped to dodge the countless people along the road, creating an exciting obstacle course. They zoomed along a curved road atop a cliff, but when Skaios looked to an opposite cliff across the bay, he saw a sleeping chubby man drifting on a raft. His raft was nearing the cliff, but some workers were about to dump some sour milk from above the cliff. Skaios quickly blew a puff, small but fast enough to cross the sea and redirect the pouring milk away from the man. Unfortunately, his puff blew their skateboard off-course and they crashed into a pack-mule.
The trio were running around a set area and throwing water balloons at each other. Skaios' balloons came at much more rapid speed, but Daxter succeeded in dodging one. Skaios gasped, seeing it was about to impact an old lady, so the captain whooshed into its trajectory and took his own hit.
Afterwards, they decided to play "Don't step on the cracks," hop-skipping along the tiled ground. It was easy for Skaios' tiny feet to stay on the tiles. "What do ya mean ya left yer favorite rattle at home?" He saw the yellow, conductor-dressed Mobian bird talking to one of his grandkids. "We ain't flyin' all the way back to Mobius just for that!"
Skaios flew over. "I can go get it for you. Where's your house?"
"Well, I suppose there's no harm tellin' me address to a wee tyke. It's…"
After receiving the info, Skaios blasted off to the sky. King and Daxter shared disbelieved stares, waiting a good long while for his return. After 10 minutes, he fell from the sky with a rattle in hand. "Blimey, I ended up on a flipping quest chain!"
"That's me daughter for ya. Thank ya, lad."
Skaios grinned modestly at the Conductor. "Ahem." Daxter coughed. Skaios turned and saw the Ottsel pointing down. Skaios' foot was on a crack, so he lost the game. (End song.)
"Man, you really have fallen from grace." King said. "Who wants to do kind deeds for strangers instead of play games with other strangers?"
"Sigh, I can't help it, mates." Skaios lied on his back. "Back when I was an Emperor, everyone hated me. In the end, I decided it wasn't worth it, so I gave back their lands. Now all I want to do is live free with me mates. But at the same time… I feel like I want more people to like me."
"I guess I know what you mean." King approached and lay beside him. "No one's going to follow you if they don't like you. So, I guess I want people to like me, too."
"Man, you guys are chumps." Daxter shook his head. "If you want respect, you need to be more like me: snappy and attention-grabbing! Between me and Jak, everyone knows I'm the star. He never woulda got far without me."
"It ain't that I want people to follow me. I just want…?" Skaios glanced over. Tani and Evan were walking down a street.
King lifted his head up. "Who you looking at? There's too many colorful characters to tell."
"That girl." Skaios pointed.
"Oh, is she the one?" Daxter asked. "Y'know, the one with the dead dad?"
"Sigh, just leave her be."
Meanwhile, Sheila Frantic and Mason were strolling by a nearby eatery. The tan-skinned raccoon spotted a plate of unfinished deviled eggs on a vacant table. "'ey, someone didn't finish their meal!" She ran up and took some bites of the food.
"Sheila, don't! They probably went to the bathroom or someth-"
"HEY!" They flinched at a thundering voice. Beerus snarled at them with sharp, grit teeth. "Those Kargarok Eggs were for ME! How DARE YOU!"
"Hehe! Sorry, mate! But hey, we can just get more, right?"
"RAAAAHH!" Beerus surged with Dark Chi and hurled a Darkball at Sheila. She jumped away as it struck the chair, and the Darkball puffed as the chair seemed to evaporate.
"Oh, no!" a citizen cried. "Beerus is enraged! He's using his destruction powers!"
"YAAAAAH!" Sheila ran for her life as more Darkballs flew her way and missed. One hit a table, causing the waiter to drop food on the floor; one hit a garbage can, causing a customer to drop his half-empty bottle of beer, and many other objects were "destroyed" in Beerus's failed attempts to hit Sheila. The chase had garnered the attention of Skaios' group.
"Oi! Tani! Heeeelp!"
Tani and Evan about-faced, confused as to why Sheila was running. But as she dodged out of the way, it became apparent: Beerus's Destruct Ball was coming. "TANI!" Evan pushed her aside.
"EVAN, NO!"
But before the ball took him, Skaios intercepted the attack. The darkness consumed and evaporated Skaios on the spot. "Uh…whoops." Beerus blushed.
"W-Was that…" Tani gasped.
"SKAIOS! NOOOOO!" King cried in dismay. "You MONSTER!" The canine jumped and grabbed Beerus by the neck. "What have you done?! All he wanted to do was try to be a better person, but you took away his chance of redemption! And YOU!" King jumped onto Evan's head and pointed down at Tani accusingly. "I hope you're happy! Skaios is dead now, just like you wanted!"
"W-Wait a second… that can't be…"
"Hey, hold on!" Beerus spoke up. "Nobody's dead, he just wound up in my dark dimension!"
"You hear that?! He's trapped in the Shadow Realm and he'll never—wait, what?"
"Here, let me release him." Beerus snapped his fingers. All the vanished objects poofed back into place, Skaios included. "It's a classic Osirin darkbending technique. Hehe!"
"Huuuuuff!" Skaios gasped. "Oi, there was way too much dust in there. So, what happened?"
"I think you just saved my life…" Evan replied sheepishly. "Sort of…"
"Ugh!" Tani huffed. "Even if that was fatal, you wouldn't have died from it! What were you trying to prove?"
"He wasn't tryin' to prove nothin'." She looked down as Daxter marched up. "He saw you guys in danger and decided to help, that's all there is to it. It ain't just you, he's been helpin' every Jim and Johnny around this island. He might give Jak a run for his errand boy title."
"Daxter, forget about it." Skaios said, floating away from the group. "Let's do something else." Daxter and King shared a glance and hurried after.
"Well, this was an odd development…" Beerus said with a scratch of his head.
"Hehe, at least it ended on a good note!" Sheila grinned, elbowing his rib.
"YOU'RE NOT OFF THE HOOK!" Beerus resumed chasing and shooting Darkballs at Sheila.
Evan released a sigh as he processed the rapid sequence of events. "Maybe he really does want to change."
"Yeah, but I'm not forgiving him that easy."
"I'm not either, Tani. But I got to commend him for trying. Honestly, it… sort of reminds me of Mausinger."
"Hmph…" Tani couldn't really argue with that. Indeed, the situation was pretty similar, and even now, she had to question why he was so forgiving.
"If we ever found ourselves in danger again, maybe he'd be willing to help us."
"That'll be the last thing I do. Sigh…" Tani eased herself. "But I guess I'll give him time to prove himself."
"Captain! There you are!" called the chorused voices of Shingetsu and Kotoko. The Terror Trio looked as the two in question raced over with a plate full of cookies designed like pillows. "These Pillow Cookies are supposed to help ease your stress." Kotoko said. "Maybe they'll help."
"But don't eat too much or you'll fall asleep for real." Shingetsu cautioned.
"Thanks, mateys." Skaios happily took a cookie and ate it. "Ahhh…but I think I feel a bit better already."
"Why don't Keira ever bake me anything this nice?" Daxter asked, taking two cookies.
"Aww, what cute little guys!" Kotoko beamed. "Captain, can we keep them?"
"Hey, buzz off!" King yelled. "I already have an owner—I mean, subordinates! But I will accept treats from anybody." He took a cookie and opened his skull to eat it.
Index watched them from far away, smiling behind her mustache. She looked between Skaios and Tani. "It's nice that he's trying to mend the pain. It won't be long…" her hand hung over the Spirit Balls in her pocket, "until we need Skaios once more."