Sectors Q, V, and the GKND (Nebula and Cheren included) embarked on the flight to Planet Mira in the Nintendia Galaxy. Its northern atmosphere was covered in a sea of clouds, a peculiar space station looming above it. There were several normal islands or continents along the normal ocean, but the ones that really stood out were the Bionis and Mechonis Titans, facing each other. They could vaguely see the forms of smaller, animal-shaped Titans on the Cloud Sea.
"Mira's KND is fairly recent." Nebula said. "They aren't part of the Kid Council, nor do they have a formal H.Q. or Supreme Leader. But Queen Melia represents them in the Galactic Council. I want to meet her and tell her about Kael's Game."
"Man, check out that place!" Miko exclaimed. "It looks awesome! Those two things are HUGE!"
"Bionis and Mechonis once engage in epic battle." Poppi explained. "But they slay each other, and now their inhabitants live together. The Mechonis Sword serve as bridge between them. Of course, Poppi tell abridged version." The robot winked. "The full story much more exciting."
"What about that space station?" Quill pointed. "Looks like a place Eggman would hang."
"That station not belong to Eggman… but it possible he using it as base. Poppi not sure how, but we think Eggman using powers of Aegis to control all Blades. He take everyone on world hostage, so friends divide to rescue everyone they can."
"So, where do we even start?" Aurora asked. "Should we just invade that station and lay Eggman the smackdown?"
"Poppi think we should find Aegis Drivers; Shulk, Rex, and Jak, so we have chance at beating Eggman. Poppi wish to find other friends, too… needs Masterpon to fix her core functions."
"I guess this ain't enough of a repair job for ya?" Artie asked, in the process of fixing her broken circuits.
"Poppi thankful for first aid… but suspects xeno human not familiar with Artificial Blade technology."
"Well, I'd be a fool to pass up learning."
"Findin' your friends, findin' these Aegis thingies, Oi'm good either way!" Sheila replied with a grin. "As long as it means explorin' every corner of this planet!"
"We do NOT have time for that, Sheila!" Aurora exasperated.
"Poppi believes Aegises will have divided between regions. Rex on Alrest, Shulk on Bionis, and Jak in NLA continent. Poppi know good places we can start for info. Might be best if land in oceanic areas. May be less secured by Eggman's machines."
"Then we divide and rescue." Cheren decided. "Just like the old days."
…
Sector Q's Q-Bus could become a motorboat and cross the sea when needed. The sizes of the Bionis and Mechonis were overwhelming from this angle. Amidst their steady voyage, Eddy hooked Boly's Spirit Ball to the Magearna body, downloading the Program as the robot twitched to life. "Miko… have we arrived?"
"Sure have, Boly! It's Planet Mira! Anything feel familiar, yet?"
Boly felt as if she should remember being involved in the creation of such awe-inspiring colossi… but nothing came to mind. "Data unavailable."
"So basically, this whole planet used to be a virtual place like Aincrad?" Kazuma asked.
"If what Cheren heard from Deoxys is true." Eddy shrugged. "If we look around enough, we might find something to help power Boly up."
"SO, LET'S GET CLIMBIN' THE BIG BIO BOI!" Miko cheered with rockstar fingers. "We haven't been on any good adventures since Aincrad!"
"Maybe we should've borrowed Sheila, hehe!" Carmine laughed.
Following Poppi's directions, Sector Q steered their bus toward the left foot of Bionis. A slope allowed them drive up to the port town of Colony 8, admiring the size of the anti-air cannons, the Arduns with crates strapped to their backs, and the little furry round and colorful Nopon interacting with humans. "You think they would've shot those things at us if we flew any closer?" Jenny asked.
"I guess that's another reason to approach from the sea." Quill said, eying the sights while driving. "You'd think these people would be more alert with-"
"Quill, watch-!"
Carmine's alert came too late as the bus's bumper hit the side of a shabby mech. "WAAAAHH!" The driver, a soldier with a pink mustache that curved up at a sharp angle, cried as the mech toppled over. Quill shirked down in guilt, the group bracing for the worst as the pilot climbed out and stomped toward the windshield. "OI! What's the deal wit' you drivin' your bloated buggy through our 'arbor?! This don't even look Homs-crafted. Don't tell me you lot are bloody tourists?!"
"We're really sorry, sir!" Carmine said. "We didn't mean to hit you."
"Is that a salvager's uniform? The ocean's that way, ya idiot! And you can stay in there while you're at it!"
"Geez, she said she was sorry, Waluigi!" Miko retorted.
"I'll show ya sorry! You ain't leavin' this port until you get this mech in proper working order! Even if that means ya have to search the WHOLE Bionis for its parts!"
"Uhhhh…doesn't that mean you'll let us leave the port?" Jenny asked.
"I DON'T HAVE TIME TO PLAY GAMES WITH YOU! Don't you know the state we're in right now?! We're in the middle of dealing with an invasion! You picked a bad time to come exploring in that giant buggy!"
"We're here to help you stop the invasion! We're KND operatives from outside; we've been asked to find a guy named Shulk. Know anything about him?"
"I got no business telling an outside anything! Now get outta here before I plow you lot into the ground. GAH!!" A laser reduced the spot where he stood into an ashen crater.
"AAAH!!" The Q Kids panicked.
"BLIMEY!" a soldier screamed. "They killed Square-Tache!"
"Quick, get to the tanks!"
The booming of the anti-air cannons ruptured their ears. Sector Q realized a swarm of small Eggman ships were flying over the town, dropping hordes of mechs. As alarms went off, citizens fled into shelters. The humans mounted mechs and tanks to blast the invaders, while the Nopon rode large alien birds and dropped rocks. "Looks like we hit a roadblock!" Miko jumped out, extracting her violet digital hammer. "We'll clear a path to the next level with our own hands!" (Play "Colony 9" from Xenoblade!)
Invasion 2: Mira
Act 1: Colony 8
Mission: Find Shulk!
Miko ran through a street crowded with tanks, making sure to stay under their fire. The Egg Pawns set up a barrier to fire their own cannons from, but Miko climbed atop a tank and from there leapt to the roof. She dropped behind the robots' wall and squashed the mechs with her K.O. Hammer! She flipped a switch to lower the barrier for the tanks, seeing a panting Eddy hurrying through with Boly in his arms. "Hey, don't run off without your manager! Or your power source. You never know when God Chi will come in handy with robots."
"You know, if you carried her more, maybe your legs would be thick as mine." Miko remarked, thrusting a light kick at the scrawny boy. Eddy blushed for a moment. Miko saw some robots stationed atop a two-story building, throwing bombs down. After scrapping Boly to her back, Miko began to jump the building's fire escapes, Eddy clambering after her. Miko leapt and grabbed the sill of an open window to climb in, and from there could go upstairs to the roof. After easily bashing the Pawns down, Eddy quickly caught up, alert as avian robots called Falcos began to swoop down. Armed with his handy slingshot, Eddy shot pellets that would magnet the birds into one-another, causing haphazard crashes. Miko advised him against shooting the birds flying at them from straight across town, knowing she could use them for good old platforming. She carried Eddy as well and made the leaps across the Falcos, later to land on a roof.
It was then Eddy saw a cage with a Riddler Trophy. "Oh, you have got to be kidding!" He stood on a nearby switch and noticed three targets peeping out from around alleys. After sniping each one, he was allowed to collect the trophy.
It was then a small TV switched on: instead of Riddler, it displayed a black-haired man with glasses and blue armor. "I extend my greetings to whoever was so skilled enough to earn this trophy! Oh? Were you expecting somebody else? You'll be happy to know that I, Akhos, will be acting in Mr. Nigma's stead during your adventure on this planet. Please do your best to find them all!"
"Or we could leave you in your secret dungeon, wherever it is." Eddy replied.
"We both know you wanna-"
"Both wanna find 'em, yeah."
A nearby crane was twisting back and forth, carrying a girder wide enough to jump onto. The crane twisted underneath another girder, but it was too high to jump to. "Let's try out my Spring Pellets!" Eddy shot their current platform with pellets that stretched into trampolines.
"At least you don't need thick legs to be a good jumper!" With that, they sprung to the upper girder. However, there was no other way to go from there, until they realized they could spring on top of the previous crane. They traveled across and could jump onto a scaffolding from there. Eggchus (Bombchus) would slide along the scaffolds to reach them, Eddy sniping and exploding the bombs before they could reach. With several vertical scaffolds blocking potential paths, the two had to grab and swing hooks hanging along ropes, growing confused as they solved a maze of potential routes to take. They could spring up to upper levels of girders when openings were available, and Eddy was lucky enough to find a hidden Riddle Trophy on one.
Once they reached a high point of the scaffolding, they would have to cross segments covered in ink. Bloopers (white squids borrowed from Mushroom Kingdom) would flip up from under the scaffolds, attempting to squirt them, but their efforts would backfire as the Bloopers served as safe platforms over the inky parts. It was then they would have to jump a smaller, separate scaffold covered in ink, but Eddy shot a Spring Pellet on that spot to make a safer jump; though the extra altitude was a little nerve-wrecking over the narrow walkways. The path would curve left an end at a rope sloping down in a direction that would take it to one of the anti-air turrets. Hearing a gunshot from behind, Miko noticed the Eggman-made turret tower that was constructed on a cliff overlooking the town. "Hey, Eddy! If we jump in that cannon, I bet we can blast up to that tower!"
"Good idea! Cannons use high power gunpowder to shoot ammo at extreme velocity, but they're also safe for people to shoot from."
"Yeah! And we get to control them from the inside to aim where we wanna go!"
"GAMER LOGIC!" Exchanging a high-five of agreement (while Boly had a small error), both slid down the zipline and dropped in the cannon. From inside, they tilted the weapon until the Eggman tower was in sight from the hole, firing their selves straight toward it! Miko spun her hammer midflight, making sure to pack enough force to smash through the tower. "Miko, I'm gonna hack this tower to self-destruct! Take out all the mechs!"
Miko thrashed the three Egg Pawns in the room, watching the stairs for any more that were reckless enough to barge in. "Would you like my assistance in hacking the terminal?" Boly asked.
"A true pro doesn't rely on god magic!" Eddy smirked, his computer hooked up as he tapped relentlessly. Of course, it was still an Eggman computer, even if it was a low-level one, it took several minutes to finally get through. Once self-destruct was active, the kids jumped out the hole they already blew through, Eddy shooting a Spring Pellet down to soften their fall. They dashed down a hill sloping down the cliff, admiring the view of Colony 8 as they heard the explosion behind them.
"Awe, look, Eddy! Bunnies!" Miko cooed at the Bunnits holding wrenches in their large tails. "And they're holding wenches~ Are you wittle fellas repairmen?"
The Bunnits didn't take kindly to the intruder's teasing. So, they approached to try and bash them with their wrenches. "AAH!" Eddy frantically fought back with normal pellets. "Evil bunnies, evil bunnies!" As they progressed down the hill, more of the naughty critters would crawl out of holes and attack, but they would have to learn the same lesson. Eddy noticed an alternate path leading right and down the opposite side of the cliff, overlooking the ocean. The two followed it, gamer instincts heightened, warily avoiding the bug nests along the way. The cliff led to a large patch of dark, purplish flowers. "Ooo, a secret flower garden?" Eddy observed. "I wonder what these are."
It just so happened that the sun had finished setting, a twilight slit gracing the horizon. The flowers cast a lovely violet glow… and a dark aura rose from them. A monstrous hornet, its bright yellow parts emitting a spiritual glow, spawned from the aura. "Uh, Eddy, is this a special encounter?"
"Special encounter." Eddy gulped, sweating rapidly.
"Wanna risk getting stung?"
"Nope. AAAAAH!" While the song "You Will Know Our Names" rang in the air, the kids quickly bolted back up the path, the bee—whose name was Senator Kilgore—hot on their tail. It woke the hornets in the hives along the way, but with swift speed powered by panicking, they made it back to the main path. The bugs stopped pursuing, and Kilgore couldn't go much farther from the flower patch. "PHEW! Note to self, watch out for patches of Evil Flowers!" Miko exclaimed.
From the end of the pathway, there was a series of platforms descending down the cliff, far apart, but close enough to survive with minor fall damage. However, the last drop was a little too far for comfort, so Eddy timed a Spring Pellet to save them. …It turned out, there was a green Riddler Target to land on if they were bold enough to make the full drop and use the Spring Pellet then, thus earning them a trophy. Dang it. (End song.)
The other Q ops had divided to take out the robots in other parts of the colony. Even Kazuma's metal braces made good dents in their craniums, but after finding a weapon shop, he decided to poke around for anything good. "This not good time for young man to be shopping!" the pink Nopon saleslady shouted.
"Then why haven't you fled to a shelter?" Kazuma asked.
"'Cause no can let wares be stolen!"
"Then let me buy something. Got anything cool for a fist-fighter like me?"
"Hmm…me see you wear knuckledusters. Perhaps friend like this?" She held up a pair of black braces. "Made from Mechon armor. Good for denting metal fiends, mehmeh!"
"Sweet! Here's all the yen I brought, will this be enough?"
"MEHMEHMEH?! This currency not good here! You need gold to buy, G, G, show me the G!"
"Come on, I'm a tourist! Ugh, is there any place where I can-"
"MEHMEHMEH!!" The Nopon panicked, directing behind him. Kazuma spun, horrified as a huge black robot designed like a rooster crashed down.
"BAWK GAWKGAWKGAWKGAWK!" The robot chortled. "Gosh, Grounder! This Mechon technology is the best!"
"Deh heheheh!" A tank-like robot with drills came steering around the corner. "It feels older than the doc's bots, but I love a nice rustic sheen!"
"Say-a, kiddo!" The rooster's head hung over Kazuma with a manic smile. "You wouldn't happen ta know who's makin' a mess of our BOTS, would ya?"
"Tch…" Kazuma wasn't about to look chicken in front of a chicken. "Well…" he took off his bracers, "maybe it's," he whipped around and swiped the Mechon Bracers from the shock-ridden Nopon, "ME!" quickly putting them on and SOCKING the chicken in the beak.
"D'oh!" He head curved sideways. "Hey! That wasn't very NICE!" Scratch dove his head down, missing Kazuma as he beak got stuck in the ground. Grounder prepared to ram the boy, but a racecar rammed him from the side.
"Since these two can talk, I wonder if they're the bosses?" the driver, Quill asked.
"Bwah!" Scratch reemerged from the ground, running from Kazuma before bending and aiming a cannon from its rear. Kazuma cringed in disgust as the Mechon began to shoot egg bombs. "What're ya standin' there for, kid?!" Somebody jumped in the way, withstanding the explosions with a strong shield.
"Whuh?!" His savior was a muscular man with red hair.
"Get somewhere safe! Let old Reyn handle this!" With a battle cry, Reyn charged and stabbed Scratch's head with the spikes of his shield. The Mechon sparked as it shook Reyn off, pinning him beneath its talons. Kazuma dashed and punched the rooster's leg, weakening its hold as Reyn pushed it off and stabbed the mech once more.
"Hey, give me a boost up there!"
"What're ya thinkin', kid?"
"I'm thinking of punching this guy's brains out!" Kazuma yelled, dodging Scratch's egg bombs.
"Now, there's a Homs worth his salt! Reyn positioned his shield horizontally, allowing Kazuma to use it as a platform and bounce onto Scratch's back. He held on as the chicken flapped about frantically, afterwards climbing to dent its head with his Mechon Bracers. Reyn leapt to stab the top of its rear cannon, sparking a malfunction.
While Quill tried to force his kart against the charging Grounder, E. Carmine tried to throw bombs at its cockpit. "HEY, YOU!" Hearing a voice, the kids turned, seeing a blonde boy with a laser sword rushing up. "BACK UP YOUR BUGGY! HE'S ABOUT TO JUMP!"
"What?!" Quill yelled.
"Heheheh!" Grounder backed up, his Mechon springing into the air. Panicking, Quill quickly backed up, and Carmine was already running to dodge the drilling impact. The swordsman, Shulk slashed Grounder with Monado Cyclone, the robot crying as he tumbled over.
"GUYS!" Miko and Eddy rushed in.
"We ain't late, are we?!"
Jenny Strongarm leapt and dealt a Drill Kick into Grounder's cockpit, kicking off before he could retaliate. "If we're still alive, we're on time!"
Shulk faced the arriving operatives… His eyes widened at Miko. "The girl from my vision…" Seeing Scratch faltering from Kazuma and Reyn's combined assault, the swordsman charged. Reyn quickly ushered, "Oi, kid, get off!" Kazuma hurriedly obeyed as Shulk beheaded the rooster.
"Bwoh!" Scratch's real head poked up. "Grounder! It's the Monado boy! No-o-o!"
"And almost all our troops are capoot! Dis calls for a retreat!" Rockets ignited on Grounder's Mechon as he took to the mountain. Scratch frantically followed him like a rooster with its head cut off.
"Dah." Reyn cursed. "Got away again. Still though… that was some nice punchin', kid." He smirked at Kazuma. "You must be one of the ops. Which colony are you from?"
"Uh…Colony Japan?"
"Eh?" The brute scratched his head in confusion.
Shulk observed the visitors… staring particularly long at Carmine, who gave a cute wave. He then focused on the violet-haired girl and her little robot. "You guys aren't Homs, are you?"
"No, but I do get the noms sometimes!" Jenny grinned. "Nom nom nom! Got any restaurants around here?"
"What I mean is you're not from around here. The Homs are the people of Bionis… but there are countless races from outside that look like we do. And they're all classified under 'human.'"
"Wow, so you aren't privy to the word 'human'?"
"Heh, never mind." Shulk smiled. "I'm Shulk. This is Reyn. And that's Dunban over there."
Dunban was wearing a hula skirt and tribal makeup, staring blankly from across the road.
"Well, we're Sector Q, from Planet Earth!" Miko perked up. "The name's Me_K.O.! That's Q-I-L, Je-n-ny, E-Double-D, E.C., and King K!"
"Um…"
"Ugh, our real names are," Quill proceeded to introduce them. "We heard about Eggman's takeover of the planet. One of your ops, Poppi personally asked all of us to help. Our teams divided across Mira to find the local operatives, whole some of us are capturing the rogue Xenoblades attacking our treehouses."
"So, that's where they've all gone." Reyn sighed. "Usin' our pals to attack other worlds… someone needs to crack that egg!"
"It's great to hear that Poppi is okay."
"Yeah, and she said the Aegis Drivers would be able to help us beat Eggman." Eddy said. "You're one of… Boly?"
The little robot curiously approached Shulk. "I feel… a familiar chi inside this weapon." She reached and touched the Monado. …Shulk's eyes flashed blue!
"We were born from this one's power." A silver-haired boy spoke. "Perhaps we are the key to making her whole again." Shulk's vision zoomed out of a pine-tree covered mountain.
"Alvis…" Shulk whispered to himself. "That's where you've been hiding?"
"What's wrong, Shulk?" Reyn asked.
"I just had a vision."
"A vision?" Carmine asked. "So, do you have like Haki or psychicbending?"
"It's a power the Monado gave me. I can sense when danger's approaching or if there's somewhere important we need to go. But before I get into that… what exactly is this thing?"
"She's Boly." Miko answered. "She's, uh…this might be hard to explain, but… we think that Boly created this world?"
Shulk let out a gasp. "You'd never think God could look so small, huh?" Quill remarked.
"Who're you lot tryin' to fool?" Reyn asked. "Our Titans were created by-"
"Wait, Reyn. I…I can't really be sure, but… they might be telling the truth to some degree."
"And I thought I was crazy."
"I have no memory on my involvement with this planet." Boly said. "All I know is I was found here by my previous user, Akihiko Kayaba. I would like to learn a little more about myself while I'm here… but my top priority is assisting my allies in defeating Eggman."
"I see…" Shulk stroked his chin. "Well, if my vision is right, I think I know who we can go to. And they might be on the Bionis' left arm. We can get there if we go up the Shinbone Cliffs. Some friends of ours are up there, so I'd like to head up that way, anyway."
"Shinbone Cliffs?" Jenny laughed. "I know we're climbing an actual giant, but really?"
"It's a pretty steep and rugged cliff. It was made that way from the ancient battle…"
The impacts of the Bionis' and Mechonis' swords were godly, each blow shaking the world and rupturing the waves. Then, the Mechonis swung its right foot at Bionis' left knee, toppling the Titan over. …Bionis sat up and gripped its knee. "Ssssss…OOOOOW…sssssss…OOOOOW…ssssss…aaaaahhh."
"So, we're going mountaineering now." Eddy sighed. "I shoulda packed my boots."
"What did you expect when you learned the continents were giant creatures?" Quill asked.
"I thought we would at least be flying the bus more!"
"Eggman's set up cannons and machines designed to respond to enemy aircraft." Shulk said. "It might be safer to climb, anyway."
"Well, I can at least drive us close as possible." Quill said, pressing a button to shrink his kart.. "All aboard the Q-Bus! We're going hiking!"
"Just a minute." Reyn walked off. "I still need to pay my respects."
A group of soldiers were gathered around the smoking crater where Colonel Vangarre took his last stand. "Oh, Colonel Square-Tache! We will never forget the 50 laps you made us do around the legs! The tanks you had us repairing for five days and nights! Your harsh training will always be burned into our-"
"WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS PLAYING AT?!" The colonel sprung out of the crater, bashing the soldier with his gun. "Get back to fixing our gear or you'll be swimming 'cross this entire ocean!"
"THE COLONEL LIVES!!" the troops saluted.
"Uh…never mind, let's go." Reyn boarded the Q-Bus, driving the road to the cliffs.
"WHAT ABOUT MY 2,000G?!" the Nopon cried. (Play "Time to Fight" from Xenoblade!)
Act 2: Shinbone Cliffs
Mission: Meet with Shulk's team!
The Q-Bus sped up a hill between a trench, evading boulders that came thudding down. "Okay, doing action stages at night is NOT a good idea!" Quill shouted. "Even with these light posts, I can barely see a thing!" The bus could go no farther by the time they reached the first chasm of jagged rocks. Quill parked it on a metal platform.
"This lift was designed to carry equipment across." Shulk said. "But we need to activate it from the other side."
"Let's-a go!" Miko chirped. She and Eddy crossed a natural stone bridge to the first spire, relying on the altitude the Spring Pellets gave them to make the long jumps to other spires with safe ledges. A sequence of Bladed Spinners were available to help them over a long gap, the robots' eyes like headlights in the dark. They rode a zipline down to the opposite cliff, which required Wall Jumping on… well, mostly Miko's part, but first she just whacked Eddy to the top with her hammer. Once they were up, they trashed the Gamma copies guarding the switch that would lift the Q-Bus over. The duo reboarded and rode up the road.
"Reyn!" Shulk gasped, eyes glowing blue. "There are Gogol on ledges above! They're about to drop boulders!"
"Leave it to Reyn!" The muscle man climbed to the roof of the bus. His shield would deflect the falling boulders as the road would curve up and left along a ledge. He would have to make another stop at an inactive bridge. With only railings leading across, Jenny took it upon herself to grind across. The road on the other side would slope down and curve up, but with a troupe of shielded Egg Pawns in the way, Jenny dropped to her back and dealt a breakdance kick to take them down. She extracted rails from her shoes to grind up and leap onto a higher rail, which twisted around and returned to a ledge above the previous path. After ramming down three RhinoBots, Jenny flipped the switch that would extend the bridge. She dropped down onto the bus once it crossed.
The road past the rail would curve left and snake along the cliff before coming across a series of rockslides. Carmine threw grenades to blow the piles down, later having to blow up the entrance into a tunnel. The tunnel was eerily dark, and it didn't help that Vangs were in the way of the windshield, Quill scaring the bats away with horn honks. Shulk alerted the group to a giant Arachno pursuing them from the back, and Carmine could sense the giant spider just as well with her Haki. Thankful that she didn't get the full visual of the horrific bug, she threw grenades to keep the beast at bay. Eventually, they exited the tunnel, having to park the bus on a lift underneath a rugged cliff. Kazuma volunteered to climb, having to rely on the tiny ledges sticking out to rest. Shulk's visions alerted him which ones weren't stable.
Partway up, Kazuma climbed and swung ropes, then had to grab-hop up some stalagmites, punching down Vangs that were hungry for blood. The mites led to a ledge with a zipline, carrying Kazuma to the top of a metal tower with a level to activate the lift. "Okay, whoever placed these switches was nuts." Kazuma quickly climbed the zipline back to jump onto the lift. The bus continued its drive, careful not to fall into any of the potholes. They would drive past the crushed remains of fallen robots, but would grow horrified as the headlights shone on a large black Mechon with a white skull.
"It's one of those ones again!" Quill exclaimed.
"WAIT!" Shulk yelled. "It's a normal Face Mechon. It was probably here for backup."
"But I thought…"
"We made it to the camp. Let's see how the gang's doing." Reyn said. He and Shulk stepped out to show that the bus was friendly, the Mechon allowing them to pass. There were other Face Mechon along the way to a small campsite, where a woman stood to greet them. She was thin with tan skin, flowing black hair, a blue crop-top, red waistcoat, tall brown boots, and was holding a rifle. (End song.)
"Shulk! Reyn! Were you able to catch those rogue Mechon?"
"They got away, but we stopped them from causing too much harm." Shulk answered. "We also ran into some new friends."
"What's uuuuuup?" Miko cheered with rockstar hands as the group stepped out.
"Well, this is a unique bunch…"
"They're Sector Q from Planet Earth. They were here to help with our situation."
"Then it's a pleasure. I'm Sharla." She smiled. "Are you hungry? We were just about to make dinner."
"Heck yeah we are!" Jenny cheered. "Sitting around all day and suddenly going on a trip in the evening can really wear a girl down."
"Plus, I think it'd be better to keep exploring when it's all nice and sunny!" Carmine cheered. "So, let's turn in when we're done!"
"Juju!" Sharla called. "We have more guests tonight! You'd better make extras!"
A boy of about 17 with brown hair walked out, beaming at the strange visitors. "Heh! Well, I can't wait to hear their story. Hey, Seven! Shulk and Reyn are back!"
"Ah!" Shulk lit up hearing their name. (Play "Friend on my Mind" from Xenoblade!)
As Juju returned to the kitchen… Sector Q were dumbfounded as a large, orange number "7" came boinging out. Its voice gave no hint to its identity. "Welcome back, you two! I see we've brought some new friends."
"What the heck?" Miko asked.
"Seven, meet Sector Q. Everyone," Shulk turned to them, "meet my 'special' friend, Seven."
"Uh, hiiii…Seven?" Jenny waved awkwardly.
"You look very… well-drawn today?" Quill grinned.
"Hehe! Those accents practically scream 'outsiders.' Either way, it's always nice to have new company. What can I make you for dinner?"
"'Guess we'll just… have whatever's best?" Kazuma wondered.
"Hehe! Coming right up!"
…
Both teams sat around a campfire, dining on cooked Ardun meat and soup. The Earthlings were curious as cyborgs seemed to step out of the Face Mechon. "Um…what happened to those people?" Carmine wondered.
"The Face pilots?" Shulk asked. "They were Homs who were captured by Mechon during the war. They were modified and forced to pilot Faces… but now that the war's over, the Mechon have stopped that operation. The ones who were already transformed volunteered to keep piloting them, to protect our Titans."
"Unfortunately, becoming a Face means they can't have children." Seven replied in sympathy.
"Aww…that's terrible." Carmine bowed. She removed the mouth of her mask to softly consume the soup.
"Your…your mouth…"
"I kind of lost my body, too. My flesh was destroyed by strong toxins, so now I'm extremely sensitive to everything. I can't stomach heavy foods… and I don't think I'll ever have kids either."
"I'm sorry…" Shulk frowned.
"At least you got a cute boyfriend!" Miko perked up. "Jataro's a real keeper."
"Mmmmg…" Kazuma groaned.
"Hehe…yeah, he's nice, but…"
"But you're still the cutest in our sector and we love you!" Jenny grinned.
"Hehe!"
Sharla let out a light sigh, remembering someone else in a similar situation. "By the way, Shulk," Seven began, "I heard Riki was able to rescue Melia. Vanea picked them up and brought them to Mechonis."
"At least there's some good news!"
"You guys have a plan to stop Eggman?" Juju asked.
"Not exactly." Kazuma replied, seated next to the boy. "But Boly there is a powerful god robot, so we reckon a quick battle will spell the end of him."
"No need to fix what ain't broke." Quill remarked.
"But I think there's something else we can do to help." Shulk said. "We're going to climb Arbrick Alpine tomorrow."
"Where's that?" Eddy asked.
"The Bionis' left arm." Juju answered. "There's a ski lift on Colony 7 that'll take you there. Thankfully, it's still intact."
"Is Colony 7 nearby?" Miko asked. "Can't we just go there and crash?"
"It's a rather lively place at night." Sharla answered. "An entertainment city. Not exactly the best for resting."
"She's got us there." Quill yawned. "I'm too tired to party tonight."
"Maybe we'll have time to come there after we kick Eggman's yolk." Miko said. "'Til then, let's get ready for another day of robot-wrecking!" (End song.)
Cloud Sea, Alrest
The edge of the Cloud Sea appeared as a terrific mountain of fluffy clouds. There were points where currents shifted upward, so after finding one, Haylee steered the Sunny Day onto it, maintaining the ship's balance so they could ride the wave safely. "YAHOOOOOO!" Sheila Frantic wanted to be the first to grace Alrest's beauty, seated on the keel and flexing her legs about excitedly. "HELLOOOOO, Alrest! The Pirate King is HERE to explore ya!"
The sunset coated the clouds with a luscious orange glow. The fluffy expanse brought serenity to their hearts. They almost wanted to dive in and munch the clouds like cotton candy… which is exactly what Sheila did. "Cluck, cluck, cough!" And instantly found herself choking. "Blimey, clouds don't taste so good up close!"
"Cloud Sea much denser than regular water." Poppi explained as Dillon fished their captain up. "Only way to swim in its depths is with salvager suit, usable only to trained salvagers like friend Rex."
"Rex is one of the guys we're looking for, ain't he?" Dillon replied, disgusted as Sheila spat clouds on the deck.
"Correct. He Driver of Aegis Pyra. But Poppi want first go to Argentum. Think Masterpon might be there." She withdrew a Cloud Sea compass and turned it to the icon of a bloated fish. "We use compass to pin down wavelengths of Titans. They always moving, so needed to navigate sea."
"And it looks like we're-a heading this-a waaaay!" Haylee cheered, steering slightly rightward.
They sailed the clouds for about half an hour as Sheila and Kirie tossed fishing lures in. They caught a handful of Krabbles and beat them until they were ripe for cooking, but they panicked when a flying sea serpent called a Lexos popped out. Sheila and Dillon swiftly KO'ed it with their bending; they wouldn't be hungry for a while with that baby! "So, what's that big tree in the center?" Artie asked, indicating the colossal tree that stood out from anything else in the sea, green auras shining from the top of it.
"It World Tree, the center of our world… and the home of our creator, the Architect. But what it actually is is-"
"STREWTH!" Sheila exclaimed. "Check out those big ol' balloon fish! They're carrying boats!"
Rotund fish with stone-like flesh were afloat through the air as they did, in fact, carry red boats. "Those Argentum Titans carrying merchant ships! That mean Argentum is close by!"
"And I think Eggman's mechs are close by, too!" Artie indicated the fleet of robots incoming from the left.
"They hurt Titans!!" Poppi exclaimed.
"Not if I 'ave anything to say about it!" Sheila dove and swam to the nearest merchant ship. "I wanna ride these fishies!!"
"That'll show 'em, Sheila!" Mason cheered. (Play "Argentum" from XC2!)
Act 3: Argentum
Mission: Find Poppi's Masterpon!
Sheila climbed onto the first boat and destroyed the Eggrobos that landed to terrorize the semi-innocent Nopon. Wanting of a more impressive view, Sheila climbed one of the ropes hooked to the Titan and reached the top of it. Other Titans floated by, dangling ropes, so Sheila swung them to reach the top of another pufferfish Titan. Three Egg Keepers landed on the Titan, throwing bombs from their arms. Sheila tanked the first blasts before quickly punching Light Fists, but the mechs were tough enough to withstand them without falling at first. They unloaded miniguns with light bullets, damaging Sheila a tiny bit more before she finally destroyed them. A series of updrafts were available to lift her through the air, though it might've been nicer without the spikeballs set up throughout them.
Upon landing on the next Titan, Sheila followed a long bridge connecting to another. More Lexos emerged and circled the bridge, spitting jets of water at Sheila. They irritated Sheila so much that she was determined to punch them senseless into the sea! From the next Titan, there was a diving board likely meant for salvagers… but before using it for herself, Sheila saw another Titan higher up and further away. She ran back across the bridge to build momentum before leaping, spinning her raccoon tail to take flight! There was a Riddler Trophy hidden on this Titan, as well as another diving board. Sheila Ground Pounded from it, the momentum bringing her deep under the clouds.
It felt as though Sheila were swimming through the sky itself, the sunset murky through the dense fluff. Aligos—sharks with arms—swam to munch the fresh prey, but their bodies would later be found KO'ed on the sea's surface. Sheila found her way underneath a larger ship, deciding to bust her way through a hatch. Only then did she realize Egg Pawns were holding the Nopon crew hostage, but Sheila would be their unexpected hero! Sheila used an available harpoon to latch a higher Titan, climbing to it. To her awe, a flock of smaller Titan fish were fluttering by, and what kind of adventurer would she be if she didn't use them as platforms? However, the Titans would sink when they felt her, so she quickly jumped others to keep a good height.
The Titans were closing in on a greater ship carried by a larger bloated Titan, Goldmouth. Only two of the small fish were flying up to it, but rather than trying to jump interchangeably between them, Sheila found it was easier to Wall Jump the fish, maintaining a consistent rhythm as she reached the top of Goldmouth. There were piles of gold hidden up here by the Nopon, along with a Riddler Trophy, so Sheila reaped the spoils! By the time she was finished, she saw her mates docking their ship beside the merchant guild.
Sheila dropped to the deck with a Ground Pound—smashing through and landing inside. The ship was made of red and turquoise wood, had several layers with walkways between, and was bustling with shops and people from all races of Alrest. The excited raccoon raced around all corners, snagging "free samples" from whatever restaurants were serving, popping into the bedrooms and scaring the dancer ladies, and swinging her way across the banners and light wires.
"Argentum wealthiest trade center on Alrest." Poppi smiled. "And perhaps whole world. Was founded by Nopon Driver, descended from legendary Captain Nopopon, who conquer all Cloud Sea and founded Nopon Trade Guild. Guild make lots of money by salvaging treasures from Cloud Sea."
"And Sheila is already ruining most of it." Harry glared.
"HEY, MAAAATES!" Sheila came swinging on a detached light wire. "Blimey, the food is to die for! This place is a beaut!"
"So, is your Masterpon somewhere here?" Aurora asked.
"If he is, Poppi sure he be in secret hideout…" Poppi led them across the guild, indicating the Nopon standing in front of a closed warehouse. "That Nopon Rentarenta. He keep trying to sell warehouse for 100,000G, but so far, no one pay."
"And this is important, becaaauuse…?" Mason drawled.
"Because warehouse IS secret hideout!"
"Ah, so do we gotta say a secret password, so he'll let us in?" Dillon asked.
"No. Rentarenta have no idea we use warehouse."
"Then how do we get in?!" Aurora shouted at the bizarre logic.
"There secret entrance. Can clever humans find it?"
Accepting the challenge, the kids searched the upper floor near the warehouse, as well as the base floor, searching for some semblance of a secret passage. It could've been under one of the beds, behind one of the shop stalls, or under the stacks of crates, but such answers would be a tad too suspicious and noticeable from so many onlookers. That's why Kirie decided to explore an area less traveled: the sea around the ship. On the hull beside the warehouse, there was a small corridor sloping down in the surface. Kirie climbed in and found a secret door. After sending a nonverbal message to her team, they all went for a swim and met her in the tight, tiny passage.
"Dingding! You find it!" Poppi cheered.
"This sure isn't the most glorified entrance!" Aurora grunted.
"Haylee, your butt is crushing me!" Artie choked.
"Well, Harry is pushing me!"
Poppi knocked on the door. "Mehmeh?" A Nopon with light-brown and white fur answered, wearing blue overalls. "P-POPPI?!"
"Masterpon!" The lavender-haired robot raised and hugged the Nopon. "Poppi was hoping she find you hiding in here!"
"T-Tora not hiding! Making preparations, yes! Rex-Rex and friends off on other Titans. Needed make repairs to Poppibuster, but glad Poppi made it back okay! And these people are-"
"GETTING SQUISHED TO DEATH!" Artie screamed, scrambling into the warehouse.
Once the others piled into the warehouse, the crew introduced their selves and briefed their mission. "Tora like meeting new friends from outside." The mechanic flapped his wings. "Perhaps now we have good chance at beating Eggman. Tora see if can contact Rex-Rex and confirm location."
"And from there, it's just a matter of hearing from the others and finding where Eggman is." Harry figured. "Either way, I'm beat. Let's see if the guild will forgive Sheila for breaking their stuff and if they'll let us rest in their inn."
"Masterpon have 5 million G. Can surely pay reparations."
"Mehmeh! Poppi, no tell outsiders that!"
"Meh, we make more than that every mission." Sheila grinned.
"So, Tora, Poppi's your creation, right?" Artie asked.
"Yes! Poppi artificial Blade, made because Tora could never become real Driver. She come in three forms, and if Tora say so himself, perhaps most powerful Blade on Alrest."
"Is that so?" Artie's eyes sparked. "Then may I have a look at her inner workings?"
"Mehmehmeh! You better not try anything funny!"
"Perhaps friends would like to see Poppibuster?"
"Poppibuster?" Haylee asked.
Tora led the group around some crates… and their eyes lit at the marvel: a large white and black mech with a round center, small head, and streaks of light jutting from the top. "This special artificial Blade Poppi control herself." Tora said. "As if Poppi herself weren't good enough."
It was then Artie and Haylee began to drool. "Must…"
"Have…"
"Giant…"
"MEEEEECH!" And they jumped and began rubbing all over it!
"MEHMEH! Get off! Tora just polished!"
"I think I'm having fun with Mira so far!" Mason grinned. "Can't wait to see the rest of this planet!"
"Aren't we in the middle of a war?" Haruka asked.
"Are we? Hahaha!"
…
"Grrrr…" Quill growled to himself.
"Is there a problem, Fido?" Eddy asked.
"I just get the feeling… Sector V found something really cool."
Eggman's Base
"Now, Scratch, Grounder… say this again, slowly…" the doctor began with calm, but dwindling patience. "You encountered the Miko girl and her friends… but you didn't DESTROY THEM?!"
"W-W-We're sorry, Doctor!" Scratch gawked. "But the Monado boy came, and he cut off my head!"
"It looks like it's still intact to me! But that can be rearranged."
"P-Please, Doctor! We'll get 'em next time!" Grounder said. "I got the perfect trap in mind, huhu!" He pulled a Mario sports game out of his chest compartment. "No one can resist a good game in the middle of the field."
"Doctor…" A voice spoke from behind him. "If they're here, they must know the secret of this world, too… and its connection to Bolypius. Allow me to go and stop them."
"Your condition should be stable with those Core Crystals, Infinite." Eggman turned. "Very well… destroy the operatives. But try to bring back both the Monado and Miko… their powers may be of use to us, yet."