The scar-faced mandrill had invited the villains into his palace. A troupe of servants in white wigs, festive masks, and red uniforms were posed courteously. Iron Mask held an unconscious Tama by the arms. He was accompanied by the Brotherhood villains, Robin Food and Nurse Claiborne, along with the former's Hungry Men.
The mandrill studied the young Historian curiously. "So, this is what you have to offer? And how might this little human be of use to me?"
"From what we heard, this girl has the power to-"
"Up-pup-pup. She can speak for herself." The ape withdrew his bottle of perfume. "Up and at 'em, little one." He sprayed the perfume over Tama's nose. The girl gasped awake, her irises shrinking. "Now, set her down. She must be uncomfortable in that position."
Iron Mask set Tama down, the child standing still and mindless. "Now, would you kindly introduce yourself, child?"
"My name is O-Tama. I hail from Kuri in Wano Country."
"Wano, and where would that be?"
"The planet Historia."
"How the heck did a Historian end up with that ragtag bunch?" Mask asked.
"Please only speak when spoken to." the mandrill demanded. "Still, a Historian. That would explain your archaic use of Japanese. Now, Miss Tama, have you any special abilities?"
"O-Tama canst pull dango from her body." Tama popped one from her cheek. "She canst command animals once they hath eaten them."
"A Historian with a strange ability?" The ape took the dango and examined it curiously. "Yes, it is certainly metahuman. Then, my dear, it seems we have something in common." He gave a courteous bow. "I am Scarlemagne. Lord of Wonderbeast World and a faithful lieutenant in the Kremling Krew."
"Hah, don't act so high and mighty." Iron Mask smirked. "The Krew was trashed and you're all that's left."
"Oh ho, don't be so daft." Scarlemagne chortled. "The Kremlings are in a shabby state for now, but we will rise again. I can still feel King K. Rool's aura, in the hearts of my subordinates and myself. And soon, his heir will be born, and give rise to a new generation. Until then, I am doing all I can to lead the Kremnants and prepare for the birth of the new king."
"Yes, you would do well to show your respect." Robin Food said with a smirk. "After all, the Brotherhood and Team Rocket are good friends with the Kremlings, are we not?"
"Like I give a crap about this sweaty ape." Mask stated.
"A mandrill's sweat can be highly addictive." Scarlemagne said, indicating his perfume. "My pheromones have the ability to make primates submit to my control." He walked up to one of his servants. "Someone has to show the lower-class apes their place. Go on, Jonathan." He pulled off the servant's mask, revealing him as a human with a blank expression similar to Tama's. "Show us the can-can."
The human began dancing and singing, "La la, lalala la la, lalalala la la, la la lalalalala!"
"Oh ho ho! But I won't use it on you, of course." he said to the villains. "After all, you are honored guests, requesting my aid. And this girl shall certainly prove a valuable asset." He gestured Tama to walk over to him, which she did. "With her powers and mine, I am bound to collect plenty more servants for the Krew. In fact, how much dango are you able to produce in a day?"
"I canst produce much dango, so long as I am fed. O-Tama grows thinner with more dango plucked."
"So, body fat is the key here. Then I had best show you to the dining quarters. I will harvest from you as much dango as I desire! Perhaps this may be the key to finally taming that wild jaguar."
Ace Hunter
The Aurora Breams were placed on a fish tank on the table. Their presences emitted an aurora over the tank, much to Suika's wonder. As soon as they had left the planet, Stewie quickly researched the Wonderbeast World. "Here it is. Wonderbeast World is a country on Mobius."
"I'm pretty sure a world is bigger than a country." Tressa inferred.
"World can be a pretty broad term." Yuzu replied. "Some people refer to other dimensions as 'worlds.' Sometimes, it's used for amusement parks."
"It used to be a city famous for its abundance of giant animals." Stewie continued. "But one unfortunate day, it was struck by a Bang Gas bomb, causing the animals to mutate and develop more monstrous impressions. It has become dangerous territory, but sometime after the Bang Gas had cleared, low-income Mobians had begun to call the region home."
"Bang Gas?" Haylee repeated. "That reminds me of Punk Hazard."
"Well, I hear Mobius liked to study Bang Gas, too." Augustus said. "But what's cool about Mobius is it's home to a lot of giant animals, not just in this zone. …You know, I think Tama's kidnapping is actually a blessing."
"How can you say that?!" Yuzu shouted.
"Because a land of giant animals is a hunter's paradise! This can be the place where we find our Meat dish!"
"But aren't the fishies already meat?" Suika cocked her head curiously.
"Fish are considered to be different from meat." Kohaku replied knowledgeably. "They have distinctly different tastes."
"You would be the girl who knows your meat~" August teased, earning a glare from the warrior.
"Alright, but our first priority is saving Tama." Yuzu stated. "Then we can all eat a giant animal together."
"Setting a course for Mobius!" Haylee declared with vigor. "Stewie, lightspeed!"
"Normal people say 'please.'" Stewie remarked.
"No, they would say 'oæp.'" Augustus said. "Now, get goin'!" With that, the lightspeed activated, and they zipped across space.
GKND H.Q.
"And that should about do it~" Nebula said as she signed the clipboard.
"Much appreciated, Supreme Leader!" saluted the delivery operative, a Quermian boy (he was a long-necked, bald alien with white skin). "You must be doing a lot of cooking if you need this many ingredients. Does someone have Cooking Fest Fever?"
"Yeah, two certain people do. Just look at the party behind me."
Mexican music was playing as a band of giant, sombrero-wearing sausages were blowing horns, while giant tacos were slowly swaying candles and singing, "Ay-ay-ay…ay-ay-ay…suuuuuch a wonderful feeliiiing~"
"Ah, that's… quite the party." The Quermian said. "Well, hope you have fun! I'll probably be bringing the next batch before long."
As he began to leave, Nebula had some Wisps pull the load of crates up to the kitchen. Inside one of these crates were liverwurst and onions… and they grew smirking mouths and eyes. "Nyeh heh heh…these brats don't suspect a thing." Liver spoke with a Brooklyn accent. "With most of the KND at Cooking Fest, we'll have our very own right here in their headquarters. Courtesy of Gramma Stuffum! Neh heh heh heh!"
Mobius
The explorers sailed to the Nintendia Galaxy and entered the atmosphere of the animal planet. Following the map, Haylee flew them over what appeared to be a ruined city shrouded in an overgrown jungle. Augustus, Yuzu, and Kohaku rode the Ace Flyer further down to the surface. The Historian was perched on the wing as she overlooked the city with her superb eyesight.
"I don't see any sign of Tama or Gourmet Corp.." Kohaku said. "But I do see a moving—AAAH!" Her vision was overwhelmed by the sight of a giant blue dragonfly. Augustus shifted the plane upward before the insect in question could ram them.
"Yep, that thing was moving all right!" August exclaimed.
"That wasn't what I meant!" yelled Kohaku, having been forced into a squatting position. "I saw what looked like a moving furry hill."
"I guess you must mean that." Yuzu pointed at the hill in question: the head of a gigantic bunny rose up, sniffing the air. It had eight legs and ten ears along its back.
"Hey, Gourmerry, what do you think of that one?" August asked. "You hungry for some bunny?"
"Gourmerry." She shrugged.
"Captain!"
"What, we can still decide on a menu option ahead of time."
The giant bunny seemed to catch a whiff of something foul and ran the opposite direction. Kohaku carefully walked to the edge of the wing, narrowing her gaze. Around some buildings, somebody was hurriedly pedaling a bike, outrunning a pack of Mobian skunks driving motor scooters. They were wearing helmets and biker gang uniforms. "Someone's in trouble down there!"
"Time to make a new friend!" Augustus steered the plane down that direction.
The one being pursued was a dark-skinned girl with messy black hair under a wolf hood and cape. She had a black T-shirt and cuffed gray jeans with no footwear. One of the skunks sped ahead of her, trying to suffocate the human in gassy fumes. She held her breath and grabbed a spear off her back, which had a scorpion's tail tip. She threw the spear forward to stab the skunk's back, causing the Mobian to slow down and falter. The human dodged her bike around and took her spear back.
The other two skunks unveiled small cannons in their scooters to shoot Gas Bombs, the girl maneuvering in evasion. However, she gasped, seeing Kohaku rushing up from ahead of her. Taken aback by the complete stranger, she was unsure how to anticipate her move or react, but it was then Kohaku performed a graceful leap above the girl and swung a kick into one of the skunks. "ANOTHER one?!" yelled Loretta, the skunk in an orange shirt. She halted her scooter and tried to gas Kohaku, but was bashed in the nose by Augustus's Gobstopper.
"Wanna pick on someone your own size?" Augustus remarked as the candy bounced back to his hand.
"Where did all these humans come from?" Wheels asked.
"Wheels, let's retreat! We have to tell the boss about this!" Loretta ordered. The skunks remounted their scooters and fled, grabbing their fallen comrade on the way.
"Excellent form, team." Yuzu smiled in praise. She approached the wolf-hooded girl and asked, "Are you ok—AH!" The girl responded by jabbing her scorpion spear in her direction.
"I'm not gonna trust a group of strangers that easy!" she stated with a threatening glare. The dark-skinned human was about 11 years old, but was about knee-height with the teenagers.
"We just thought you needed some help." Augustus said, the girl whipping her spear in his direction.
"I didn't need any help! You're probably just trying to trick me. You're pirates, aren't you?"
"Yes, we are, actually."
"HUR!" She jumped back with a firmer grasp on the weapon, her teeth grit in resolve.
"Take it easy." Kohaku approached her calmly. "We're not your enemies. Put that down."
"How about I put it HERE?!" She jabbed the spear at Kohaku, who swiftly blocked with her platform sandal. The girl twirled and lashed the poison tail at multiple angles, but Kohaku was able to block with quick legwork. With a smooth motion, she kicked the spear out of the girl's hands, into the air, and caught it.
Kohaku smirked at the little warrior, who bit her lip in worry. It was clear she felt quite helpless without her weapon. The girl tried to jump, but Kohaku kept the spear far beyond reach. She took a bite of Kohaku's leg, prompting the more mature warrior to grunt and swing her off. The girl returned and tried to pounce Kohaku, but she grabbed her leg and let her dangle and flail upside-down.
"If you want this back, all you have to do is ask nicely."
"Grrrrr…please… give back Stalky…" she spoke with clear damage to her pride.
Kohaku released her as the girl flipped and landed upright. She kindly held the spear down for her to swipe back, glaring at the elder and hugging it as if it were a precious toy. "So, you call your spear Stalky?" Kohaku giggled. "That's nice! Do you have a name?"
"It's Wolf. That's the only name I'll give you!"
"Wolf, huh?" Yuzu certainly thought it fit with her hood. "Are you a human or a Faunus?"
"I'm HUMAN!" She aimed Stalky at the chef.
"Okay, sorry!" ("Gourmerry!")
"So, what're you all doing here? Wonderbeast World ain't exactly a wonderland. Or are you part of the Kremling Krew?"
"The Kremling Krew? No, we're Gourmet Hunters. One of our friends was kidnapped and we think she was brought to this place."
"That's right, the Kremlings were occupying Mobius during the war." Augustus gazed upward. "And it looks like their influence still persists." There was a Kremling flag flapping above a rooftop.
"It wasn't just the war." Wolf said. "The Kremlings had control of this place for years. All thanks to Scarlemagne."
"Scarlemagne?"
"He's the worst monster around these parts. He runs a trafficking business in the criminal underworld, and he likes to buy human slaves." Wolf walked near a garbage can as she spoke. "It used to be all the lowlifes here would fight over territory." A five-eyed mutant rat skittered out from the can, but she stabbed it. "Even with Scarlemagne being at the top, none of the other packs listened to him." She raised the rat up on her spear and munched a bite out of it. "That was before the Kremlings showed up. Scarlemagne signed a deal with King K. Rool, and he forced all the packs to obey Scarlemagne. Well, there were a few resisters, but a few months ago, they were shot by the Kremlings' laser thingy."
"The Revert-O-Matic…" Yuzu remembered in a somber whisper.
"I was about nine years old when the Kremlings came. I was raised by wolves, and they taught me the arts of hunting and survival. They were my friends and my family… but they betrayed me." Wolf bowed her head in despair. "Scarlemagne wanted me for a slave, and my parents were gonna hand me over without a fight. But I wasn't about to become that creep's puppet!"
"That's awful…"
"But K. Rool is dead, and most of his officers were arrested." Augustus said. "Scarlemagne shouldn't have control, anymore."
"Well, he does. It's not like the rest of Mobius cares about this place. It's a wasteland as far as they're concerned."
"Do you think Tama was taken to this Scarlemagne?" Kohaku asked.
"If that's your friend, then there's no getting her back now. Scarlemagne can force humans to obey him. He and his minions use some kind of hypnotic perfume. You'll become his servants if you even try."
"Meh, we'll just save ourselves with the power of willpower." Augustus shrugged off.
"So, where can we find Scarlemagne?" Kohaku asked.
Wolf appeared to be shocked by their cluelessness. "Ugh, whatever. His palace is-"
"ROOOAAAR!"
The four were alerted when a giant jaguar appeared several blocks down. The beast was pink-furred with black diamond markings, six legs, and three tails. A band of Kruncha Kremlings were trying to restrain the jaguar, with one trying to choke it, but the beast shook aggressively to force them off. "WEEAH!" A large, brown Kremling in a Viking helmet bashed the jaguar with a huge spiked club. The jaguar moaned in pain and retreated from its attackers. "She don't got much fight in her!" Kosha yelled. "Get after her, boys!"
"YAAAARRR!" The band of Kremlings raced after the beast on dark-green jeeps.
"KIPO!" Wolf ran their direction in a panic.
"Wolf, wait!" Yuzu and co. followed after. "Do you know that thing?!"
"That 'thing' is my friend! You want my help, then help me stop those guys!"
"It's a deal!" Yuzu's eyes curved with determination.
"Does that mean we aren't allowed to eat it?" Augustus asked.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Wolf bellowed.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" the captain laughed, earning reproving glares from all girls (including Gourmerry). "Shame though…" (Play "Fight the War" from Kipo!)
Menu 6: Mega Jaguar
Recipe: Save Wolf's friend from the Kremlings!
Act 1: Las Vistas
Not long after turning the corner did they find the road collapsed with a pit of jungle beneath them. A group of Mega Dragonflies were fluttering over the gap, so they served as platforms for the hunters to jump. They landed on a highway, seeing the Mega Jaguar pouncing further ahead. A blockade of black cars served to block them, manned by Mobian frogs in tuxedos. The Mod Frogs drew guns loaded with stingers, but Wolf dodged her way up to one and slashed the tie on his suit. The frog cried out in panic and hopped away. "A Mod Frog's tie are its pride! Go for the ties!" Wolf stated, dodging their tongue lashes.
"I wouldn't have guessed that!" Kohaku swiftly kicked the weapons out of their hands and sliced the ties with her daggers. A frog caught her leg in its tongue, but quickly rescinded when Kohaku threatened to cut it. Instead, the tie faced its punishment. After the frogs fled, the girls raced ahead, but Kasplat Kremlings had occupied this part of the street and were rocking it with shockwaves. Wolf was knocked off her feet and smacked around by the shockwaves, but Kohaku was able to skip over the waves. She kicked each Kasplat in the head, but the crocs were still standing strong. With their shockwaves thwarted, Wolf could recover and begin jabbing them quickly, but they withstood Stalky's poison.
"Ugh, forget you guys!" Wolf decided to bypass the Kremlings and keep going.
"Hey, don't go by yourself!" Kohaku quickly KO'ed a Kasplat and followed her, leaving August and Yuzu to deal with the rest. The girls would have to long jump to some separate, broken bits of highway. Kosha Kremlings stood on other small platforms and would try to hammer the girls with spiked clubs, but Wolf and Kohaku simply jumped quickly to evade the clubs. The last platform toppled forward from their weight, leading to the next, which toppled forward as well, and they bounced across some dragonflies before landing in a jungle area.
Several trees had been toppled over from the jaguar's rampage, and there were tire tracks stripping along the soil. They were coming to a cliff and had to jump up some giant flowers, but there were bell flowers nearby whose interiors were flashing neon colors. "Watch out for the Dubstep Bees!" Wolf cautioned. Bees with neon hinds and black suits flew out of the flowers, and were much trickier targets for the duo to hit. Kohaku pulled Wolf behind her, and when the bees thrusted at them stingers-first, the Historian bashed them away with her shield.
There were large bundles of pollen covering some flowers, so Kohaku had to knock the bees toward the pollen, compelling them to suck it off. The flowers could then bounce the girls like trampolines and lead them up further. Once they were atop the cliff, they were attacked by a pack of large cats in plaid shirts and beanies. Despite looking like sentient Mobians, they hissed and pounced the humans like wild animals. "Don't cut the Timbercats. Just knock them out." Wolf requested as she whacked the cats with the blunt side of the scorpion tail.
"Okay!" Kohaku replied, curious about Wolf's intentions. Kohaku dodged a cat's claw swipes and dealt flip-kicks against its head until the cat was down. Wolf got between two cats and tricked them into ramming each other before she jumped out of the way. She landed on another cat, which tried to shake her off, but Wolf hung on and steered it headfirst into a tree.
"Phew, you two are just built for this environment, huh?" Augustus panted after he and Yuzu caught up. They watched as the last standing Timbercat had pounced and pinned Kohaku to the ground, but before it could bite, Wolf stabbed Stalky into its side and KO'ed it with poison.
"Thanks, Wolf." Kohaku said, freeing herself. "How come you didn't want to cut them?"
"The Timbercats were our allies during the war. They tried to resist the Kremlings, but they ended up being shot by that ray thingy."
"You mean there are still Revertified Mobians?" Yuzu asked. "I thought Sugar's Music Chi covered the whole planet."
"Maybe the song wasn't broadcasted in this region." Augustus assumed. "Hey, Wolf, did you ever try to escape from this place?"
"I couldn't with Kremlings guarding every border! And even if I could, I'm not going without Kipo." Wolf resumed the chase, but had reached a gorge where large spiders hung from branches via webs. Wolf narrowed her eyes fearlessly and jumped onto the spiders' rears, using them and their webs to swing to each other. Kohaku mimicked her technique as they landed on the road to another city zone. They watched as the Kremling jeep chased "Kipo" into a ravine that had been carved along a road. The hunters slid down into the ravine's shallow water, though it was deep enough for Motorfish to swim and attack them.
Wolf leapt and whirled around, landing frontwards on a Motorfish and using its "controls" to outmaneuver the others. She returned to Kohaku, who leapt to land on the vehicle's back. Wolf sped downriver, coming behind several Klank Kremlings whom were also chasing the jaguar. The first Klank spotted his pursuers and dropped barrels backward. Wolf dodged the barrels until they were up close, allowing Kohaku to jump and kick the Klank off his Motorfish. The second Klank dropped pairs of two barrels, and would also use water spouts to propel himself up and chuck barrels from the air. Wolf remained evasive until Kohaku was able to kick the croc off.
The third Klank was dropping torpedoes, and the only way to dodge them was to use incoming spouts to jump over them. They closed in on the Klank and used one last spout to dodge its last-minute torpedo, their Motorfish crashing on his head in the process. Kipo had climbed out of the ravine using a carved exit hill. The jeep used that hill to get out as well, so the hunters dismounted the fish and pursued. They were led to a desert town with overgrown cacti and large snakes.
"The Umlaut Snäkes were hit by the laser, too. Be careful." Wolf cautioned. Taking the hint, Kohaku raised her shield to block the snakes' gnashes, dizzying them as their teeth banged the shield. In these stunned states, Wolf bashed their heads and KO'ed them. Kohaku leapt over one's head and grabbed its tail, swinging the snake into two more and KOing all three. As they resumed their pursuit of Kipo, the jaguar had knocked over several large cacti onto the road. The girls saw safe footholds among the spiked plants and used them to jump up and over. "Yow!" Wolf yelped, having stepped on a spike on her way down.
"Uh-oh." Kohaku jumped down and observed the spike stuck in her foot. "Hold still, I'll get it out."
"No, let me do it!" Wolf yelled. She gently grabbed the spike and tried to pull it- "Eek!" but flinched from the shock to her nerves. "Eek!" She tried again, but flinched.
Kohaku whipped her hand, grabbed the spike, and yanked it out. "YOW-…" Wolf expected to be crying in unbearable pain right now, but she felt the pain slowly subsiding. "Hmph!" she huffed with a blush, causing Kohaku to giggle. It was then that a Mega Pigeon flapped overhead, dropping giant globs of boiling goop around the road. The girls shared a glance of repulse and carefully crossed a narrow path between the goop. They had to jump cars to cross it next, but Kannons were trying to shoot them off the cars from safe perches. Even after dodging the cannonballs, the cars led to a dead end, but it seemed that a Kannon was shooting barrels at them instead. Kohaku allowed Wolf onto her shoulders as the Historian jumped the barrels, easily reaching the Kannon and KOing him.
"Dammit, Kannon No. 7532!" another Kannon shouted. "How many times do we have to tell you, we are KANNONS, not BARRELS!"
Kohaku and Wolf hurried into a ruined building. Mod Frogs peeped out of drawers and lashed tongues, the girls dodging, grabbing their tongues, and yanking the frogs out. Once they were exposed, the girls sliced their ties. They ran up some stairs to the 2nd floor, and it seemed to be a dance floor filled with Dubstep Bees. Kohaku did as before and bashed the bees with her shield when they tried to sting. More bees were buzzing out of their disco ball hive, so Kohaku drew her katana, leapt, and chopped the ball off the ceiling.
This caused a stairway to unveil from the ceiling, but a swarm of angry Dubstep Bees threatened to sting them. Kohaku and Wolf ran up a flight of stairs with the bees in pursuit, having to jump rolling barrels as well. They reached the roof of the building and grabbed a zipline to zip across the desert. They had caught up with the Mega Jaguar, who was being electrocuted by the Hungry Men's shock arrows. "This animal is ours for the taking, men!" Robin Food announced. "Or my name isn't…"
DOOT, doo-doo DOO-DOOOO!
"Robin Food, Robin Food, not your average thieving dude! With his band-"
The Gobstopper bounced and bashed between the men's heads, breaking their noses. The candy returned to Augustus's hand just as Kohaku and Wolf landed to join them. "Sorry, boys, but we'll be taking that off your hands." The Hungry Men trained their arrows on the crew, the warriors rushing up to cut them down. The Kremling jeep had driven around the corner as Augustus was quick to exchange fists with the Krunchas. The muscular Kremlings caught his arms in locks, but August hauled them into a flip onto their heads.
The giant Kosha had caught up and tried to smash Augustus with its club. The captain dodged and tossed his Gob-Spinner up to the Kremling's chin, forcing it up as he stumbled backward. Yuzu had attached a Soul Rope between two pointed pieces of debris. The Kosha tripped the rope from behind and accidentally dropped his club onto his head. (End song.)
After the warriors had KO'ed the Hungry Men, Wolf twirled her staff and returned it to her back. "Kipo…" The young native approached the face of the weakened jaguar. "Kipo, don't worry. We'll take you to someplace—AH!" The jaguar tried to smack her under its claw, but Wolf jumped back in time.
"Wolf, who is this friend of yours, anyway?" Kohaku asked.
"Kipo was an explorer who came from outside. I think she's from Station Square or something. She and another friend of hers came to research the mutant animals, sometime back in November. I found out that Kipo was a mutant herself; she had the power to transform into this. But before we knew it, the war started. There were a bunch of strong Kremlings, and Kipo was forced to go full-on jaguar. She lost her humanity and now she's stuck like this."
"You said there was someone else?" August asked.
"Yeah, Benson. He was captured by Scarlemagne. Probably wound up as one of his slaves."
"Well, this just became quite the rescue operation." The captain smiled coolly.
"What?"
"I mean, we were already here to save Tama, so we might as well save all of you. In fact, we actually have a device that can neutralize metahuman effects. It can probably fix Kipo, too."
"R…Really?"
"ROOAAR!" A Gas Bomb suddenly came flying and exploded into a cloud, infecting Kipo's nostrils. The others held their breaths and backed away. The Scooter Skunks steered circles around the area, and two-headed flamingos loomed in the sky. Nurse Claiborne, Iron Mask, and Scarlemagne's servants were mounted on them.
"Hah! You actually came here after all!" Mask laughed. "Was that brat really that important to you?"
"So, Tama IS here!" Yuzu exclaimed. "Where is she?!"
"Why don't you come and find out? Scarlemagne would love to have you as his playthings. He can keep you while WE take the Firstborn!"
"How about you just piss off?!" Wolf threatened with a raise of her spear.
"Yeah!" Kohaku whipped out dual daggers. "You're not taking anything!"
Nurse Claiborne drew a water balloon launcher and shot down at them. The crew dodged the balloons as water drenched the ground, but as Wolf stood in the puddle, she was confused as to what threat they posed. It was during this confusion that Claiborne was able to strike her head, causing thick brown crust to mold around Wolf's eyes. "AAAAGH! WHAT IS THIS STUFF?!"
"This water is made from my own tears!" Claiborne smirked. "The Crust-Crust Fruit allows me to create toxic tears that make your eyecrust grow like crazy! On the bright side, you'll find that it's highly tasty~"
"Wait, NOW I remember you!" Yuzu shouted. "You're that creepy apple crumble lady! Man, what a disgusting power!"
"As expected of you tasteless brats! At least Scarlemagne has showed some interest in my ability."
"There's nowhere for you twerps to run!" Mask declared, drawing a Darkball. "Might as well give up!" He popped it open and freed the Mega Scizor.
Augustus chucked his Gobstopper against a Scooter Skunk, the candy ricocheting perfectly against the others as they fell off their bikes. "Hey, Kohaku!" August grabbed Gourmerry out of Yuzu's backpack and dropped her into Wolf's arms. "CATCH!" Without warning, he then grabbed Wolf and HURDLED her and Gourmerry away.
"AAH!" Stunned by his sudden action, Kohaku raced like a predator, jumping over rocks and cacti and catching the two.
"Scizor!" the Pokémon hissed as it tried to chase them, but Augustus caught its arm with his Licorope. He lunged forward to start pounding on the Pokémon.
"I think it's time for our secret weapon!" Robin Food recovered and drew an arrow loaded with a pinkish liquid. He fired at Augustus, the arrow bursting into a gas. Augustus's head began to grow dizzy from the gas, his grip softening as the Scizor smacked him off.
"Captain!" Yuzu was about to switch on Yuzunite, but found herself having to brace from Claiborne's balloons. "AAH!" It was then Scizor seized her by the arms, threatening to crunch them in its claws.
"Take them to the palace immediately!" Mask ordered. "There's no escape for them now! Some of you, go after the Firstborn! Don't let 'em out of your sight!"
"Captain…" Biting her lip in worry, Kohaku carried Wolf and Gourmerry and ran from the pursuers. "I'd better call the others!" She grabbed her communicator and held it up.
Ace Hunter
As the ship hovered a safe distance from the region, Tressa was casually strolling about the bridge. She noticed young Nel sitting behind the couch in a pouty fetal position. "Nel, are you okay? You've been like that ever since we were on the rooftop. Is it because of something Augustus said?"
"Augsus want you."
"Eh…what?" Tressa blinked.
"Nel know she can't be with Augsus. Nel still like to tease him, but he tell Nel to 'knock it off.' Augsus say he want to try new girl."
"N…new girl? …You mean me?"
"Augsus say he 'kinda like you.' So, Nel not bother."
"He…um…" Tressa wasn't sure if the cavegirl was remembering correctly, but… if there was some manner of truth to her words, then Tressa only became more confused.
Haylee's wristwatch rang as she answered. "Haylee, this is Kohaku! Augustus and Yuzu were captured by Gourmet Corp.!"
"Captured?!" Haylee gasped. The others looked in her direction with concern. Stewie listened in on his own watch.
"I still have Gourmerry with me. We learned about a man named Scarlemagne who rules this country, and they might get taken to his palace! We think Tama is there, too. I also have another ally with me."
"Find someplace to hide for now!" Stewie ordered. "You can tell us more once you have."
"Are they okay?" Tressa asked. "Should we go down and help?"
"I've been surveying the area with drones. It seems Wonderbeast World is still under Kremling control. This may just call for some special help."
"You don't mean the big big guy, do you?!" Rallo exclaimed.
"Yes, Rallo." Stewie narrowed his eyes downward to the basement. "The big big guy."
…
"Snooooore…shooooo…snoooore…shooo…" The giant slept soundly within the ship's lower quarters.