It's time for another round of the KND's favorite hobby, invasions! This is the penultimate chapter of the Mecha Saga!
Team Jerome and Sector W7 were moments from rendezvousing at Mechanos KND H.Q., another space station afloat above one of the angles of the planet's ring. "There it is!" Jenny chirped.
"Uhhhh…that's your headquarters?" Haylee asked confusedly.
"Yeah? What's wrong with it?"
"IT'S A FRICKING PS5!" Artie screamed.
The base was an enormous PS5, with patrol ships designed like controllers. The disc port opened; the hangar where other ships were docked. Jerome's ship and the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. would join them. "The Supreme Leader blueprinted it himself." Jenny replied. "He was a mascot robot designed by Sony."
"Well, Mushroom World modeled some of their bases after Nintendo consoles." Jerome shrugged.
"Could do with a bit more color." April reasoned as they adjourned to the entry room. "OH!"
Before they knew it, the operatives were standing on a vibrant, sunny beach. "WHOA!" Chimney screamed. "How'd ya fit all this up here?!"
"Our headquarters is also called The Playroom!" Pino announced. "Our holographic technology can produce all sorts of environments for us to enjoy ourselves!"
"It's the KND spirit, after all!" Jenny cheered. "I'm sure you guys model your treehouses into fun playgrounds!"
"Not so much for GKND…" Jerome said, smiling at the wondrous view. "Although, with all that's been happening… it's an aspect I nearly forgot about. Perhaps we should consider some remodeling."
"Yaaaaay!" Chimney threw off her shoes and happily kicked around the digital water. "I didn't think there'd be SEA up here! Ooo, a sandcastle!" She ran up to kick it, but her foot swung right through. "Ugh! Break already!"
"Not everything is interactable." Pino said. "We had to take budget shortcuts somewhere."
There was a jungle playground with rotating platforms on large trees. Aisa and Miguel had a fun time bouncing up them! There was a lush pathway of pink grass above a fluffy sky setting, with normal-sized, white playgrounds and slides splayed along it. Pino and Aeincha rode down one together, as did Mary!
"Hey, does this place have a bathhouse or something?" Haylee asked. "I could use it."
"Yeah, me too." Harry agreed.
"Yeah, I'll show you!" Jenny replied. "I could use a Robot Wash myself."
"Yaaaaay! Bath time!" Apis cheered.
Both groups were led to a room where other robots were moving along a treadmill, segmenting their feet. They were going through a curtain labeled Robot Wash. "Aw, hell yeah, baby!" Bender was already in line.
"Mmmmmm, I can already smell the soap!" Haylee moaned happily. "Let's get in line!"
"Wait." Pino stopped them. "Humans prefer to bathe without their clothes, right?"
"Uh…yeah. …Is there a changing room?"
"We don't really need changing rooms." Jenny said.
"So, uh…we just take our clothes off… wherever?" Harry asked.
"Okay, girls first, GET OUT." Aisa shoved the boys out of the room. "Alright, let's just… put 'em in that corner, I guess."
"Mocha, you might want that giant wash over there." Jenny pointed to a treadmill connected to a larger curtain.
"Ah. You're right."
The girls each picked a place on the treadmill and stood on it awkwardly. They wish it didn't have to take so long to get into the tub after disrobing… especially since none of the robots had to. (Play "Robot Wash" from Futurama!)
Finally, they were through the curtains. Bender was already singing along with the speakers. "WAIT!" Aisa screamed. "This is a…"
"CAR WASH?!" the others chorused.
"Going through the BOT WASH!" Before they knew it, they were all coated in light-red soap and smothered between a pair of giant rollers. "Going through the ROBOT WASH!" Thankfully, the high-powered sprinklers rid them of the soap, though they were left disoriented. Afterwards, a massive hair-dryer lowered in front of them. Aeincha went blowing away from the intense wave of heat.
"Hey, how about an undercoating treatment?" Bender dropped some coins in a slot as he rolled by. "My treat!"
"NO!" the girls panicked.
Sadly, their lower bodies were encased in mechanical cylinders. "ZZZZZZZUUUUUUUUUUHHH…"
Coated in some kind of oily fluid, they were forced to endure the whole thing again to wash it off. Their hair fluffed up and the energy drained from their faces, the girls collapsed outside the wash. A pair of small claws lowered scented pine trees to hang on them like necklaces. "I hope… Mocha's having fun…" April groaned.
"Uhhhhhggggggg…" The Amazon seemed to have been through a harder experience than fighting Armstrong.
"…Welp, it's the boys' turn." Aisa smirked.
A few minutes later, "BATH TIIIIIIME!" Artie and Vweeb cheered as they rode through the curtain. "WAIT, IT'S A-" Their mouths were smothered by the soap and rollers.
The girls snickered as the boys groggily crawled out of the area. "You smell gooooood, Miguel!" Aisa grinned.
"How could you, Aisa…"
"Hey, guys! How do I look?" Jenny asked.
All their jaws dropped: Jenny's blue parts were painted a hot red with flame designs. A pair of die hung from her neck, with scented pines on her blade tails. "YOW!" Vweeb's energy suddenly restored. "DANG, YOU'RE HOT!"
"Hehehehehehehe!" The statement made her feel redder.
"Yeah, no kidding!" Haylee said. "You look so fresh!"
"I always love going through the wash for this. It dulls out eventually, but I'm sure I'll look great kicking butt!"
"You really do look great, Jenny."
Jenny perked up at the familiar voice. She turned toward a bronze-colored robot. "M…Melody? Is that you?"
"I wanted to tell you… s-sorry… about before."
"No… I'm the one who's sorry. I shouldn't have come between you and Brad. After this… maybe we can be friends?"
"Yeah…"
"Awwwwe." Apis cooed. "I have no idea what's going on, but it's sweet."
"Look at my paint job!" Arale called.
Her body was totally repainted as, "A bunch of glasses?!" Chimney shouted.
"Hai! One time, someone said my glasses were cute! So, now I'm all glasses!"
"First we had a Hat Kid, a Mustache Girl, and now a Glasses Girl." April shrugged.
Elsewhere, Quatre had just finished installing tanks with cooling solutions in Uzi and N. "All done. Now warm temperature shouldn't be a problem."
"You did a swell job, Quatre!" N chirped with a swing of his fist. "I think it's safe to say you're icy chill!" His partner rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, so, who's in charge around here?" Uzi asked.
"The Supreme Leader will be holding a meeting in a few minutes. You can meet him afterward."
The operatives headed to a room designed like an asteroid belt, where they jumped around asteroid platforms. "I feel like we did this before, April!" Mary said.
"Hello, human operatives." A gentle, yet toneless voice spoke.
The kids curiously looked to a rotund, white, balloon robot, innocently waddling toward them with cute round eyes. "Um…hello?" Jerome replied.
"Hello. I am Baymax. Your personal healthcare companion. I belong to Sector Six of Coruscant, but I was instructed to come here to assist you. I am told Mechanos may not be properly equipped to treat human injuries."
"Yeah, not equipped for baths either!" Apis stated.
"Oh, I've heard of you." Jerome smiled. "You're an expert medical bot."
"That is correct. I can see you have sustained injuries." He detected broken bones in Mocha, a long, but thin gash in Artie's torso, and bruises on each of them. "Form a nice, orderly line and I will administer treatments."
"Awe, thank you, Mr. Marshmallow!" Mary delightfully hugged him.
"I am not a pastry. I am a robot."
"GUYS!"
The group looked to the source of the distressed voice. "Ed!" April exclaimed.
The Elric was accompanied by an orange-haired girl in a pink jumpsuit, a portly red and vanilla robot, and a smaller green robot with jetpacks. "Hey, we heard you saved our sister, York!" the orange-haired said.
"So, you're more of Ed's siblings?"
"Yep! I'm Lilith! This here's Edison," the green robot waved, "and Pythagoras!" The red one waved lazily.
"Where's… Atlas?" Mocha asked.
"Atlas got injured by that senator freak! And Penny… was chopped to pieces!" The girls froze up in horror. "He took her away!"
"P…Penny…" Mary stuttered.
"Was her head intact?" Pino asked.
"I-I think it was…"
"Then she should still be alive!"
"But who knows what they're doing to her…"
April sighed. "We'll just have to hope for the best… until tomorrow."
"I brought Atlas and Al to Dad." Ed said. "He hopes to have them repaired by then." He could still see Dr. Egghead panicking over Atlas' broken muscle fibers and scrambled eyes.
"Attention! Attention!" A floating, legless, white droid named EVE flew around the base. She had digital blue eyes against a black space. "Meet in the Audience Chamber in five minutes!"
"I'm sure they'll want us to be there, too." Jerome said. "Let's go."
To their dismay, there were no chairs in the auditorium; robots had no need to sit. They surrounded a circular stage in the center; the walls and ceiling were pitch-black. But, with the arrival of the Supreme Leader, surfing in on a hoverboard designed like a PS5 controller, the black surrounding displayed him like a 4D movie screen. He came to a stylish halt on the stage, waving to his audience. "ASTROOOOOO!" his loyal operatives cheered.
Astro Bot was a white and blue droid with a small antenna and blue cape. Similar to EVE, he had blue eyes against a black space. Astro began to make beepy sounds. "Supreme Leader Astro, sir." Pino climbed up. "If I may, I'd like to translate for our guests." Astro blushed, scratching his head sheepishly. Pino smiled and turned. "I'm so happy to see my friends functioning and well. MomCorp took all of us by surprise, but thanks to the help of our new organic friends, we can all be here together again. However, our battle is only just beginning…"
Astro displayed an image of a man with wrinkly tan skin, long white hair and mustache, wearing an orange puffy shirt, brown pants, and a tall black hat with a red "RRR" logo. Pino continued translating, "Our human operative, the Silver Shell, transmitted valuable intel while under MomCorp's captivity. This man is…"
MomCore
Mom and Armstrong journeyed to the town's spaceport and met with the man in question. "Dr. Gero." The president greeted with a huff of her cigarette. "A pleasure." She extended a hand.
"The pleasure is mine." Gero accepted it.
"You were assigned under the Red Ribbon Regimen, if I recall." Armstrong said.
"Indeed… before those wretched pirates destroyed them. I've been refurbishing and perfecting my androids in the hopes of getting revenge on them."
"You'll have it in time." Mom smirked. "For now, we have much greater threats."
"This combat data seems promising." Armstrong looked over a holographic clipboard. "You even trained them in battle simulations against the KND?"
"With the data I've acquired of them, from last year's Field Day to the Cooking Fest incident, I've managed to develop apt simulations to ensure my androids achieve peak perfection. Though I didn't expect the circumstances to become quite so convenient."
"Well, if your droids are three times the training they put in," Mom said, "I might like to have you here."
"Yeah, her Disneybots are in desperate need of improvement." Armstrong said.
"YOU need improvement!" Mom smacked him.
"My droids will not disappoint." Gero's platoon of droids marched out of their ships. Leading the front were a black-haired male android with an orange neckerchief, and blonde-haired female with a blue, ripped jean-shirt. "Will they?"
"Of course not, sir." Android 17 said, his expression stern.
"We will eliminate all enemies." Number 18 affirmed.
The Playroom
"MomCorp's forces will dangerously bolster from this new alliance." Pino (actually Astro) continued. "And I'm afraid it gets worse. Our spy, Guru, sent this report from his kingdom of M-2."
"M-2?!" Jenny gasped. "Dr. Myuu?!"
M-2
Queen Vexus shook hands with the scientist before his army of one-eyed droids. Dr. Myuu was a blue-skinned man with very long ears, golden helmet and sharp shoulders, thick orange mustache, and blue goggles. "You'll have my eternal gratitude, Dr. Myuu. With our forces combined, we won't just take back Cluster Prime: we will rule ALL OF MECHANOS!"
"RUUUUUUUUUUU!"
"I must say, the prospect of dismantling MomCorp has always crossed my brilliant mind!" Myuu laughed. "Imagine the resources we'll acquire!"
"Ho ho, you have no idea." Vexus exchanged a smirk with Sartana. "I propose we attack first thing tomorrow. MomCorp will never suspect it!"
"Geeteeteetee! Then it shall be done! TOMORROW!"
Whilst the army of Myuubots cheered, a certain small, white one beeped in worry. "Guru…guru…"
Playroom
"Dr. Myuu is a dangerous and powerful warlord." Jenny said. "We've usually been able to hold him off, but his creations always get worse. Vexus is really desperate."
"I can't believe Mew and Mewtwo would betray us like this!" Chimney cried.
"Uh, Chimney… you know that both of those spirits are dead now?" April asked.
"Weren't they saying an evil JIRBI attacked them on Mira?! This must be the evil MEW!"
"And they're invading MomCorp tomorrow?" Edward repeated. "Man, that place is going to become a warzone!"
"That's Sartana de los Muertos!" Miguel pointed at the display of the villains.
"That's right." Pino nodded. "Some of you know this already, but Sartana has become able to resurrect inactive robots to use to the Brotherhood's advantage."
"Which means she's totally gonna reap from this war." Harry said. "I was even gonna say, 'Why don't we just let them wipe each other out?'"
"I suppose we could…" Jerome replied, floating up onstage to garner the crowd's attention. "But isn't that a cowardly approach?" The robots considered his question with mild surprise. "When the Pirate Wars broke out, we didn't just let the Four Emperors destroy each other. We destroyed them first. Well, half of them. But that is the very purpose of the war that we've been forced into. To remind them we are the strongest. Not out of arrogance or maniacal ambitions… but so that we don't let the likes of Mickey or Bowser trample over our pride. Because, I don't know about you… but they have REALLY pissed me off!"
"Whoa." April never heard Jerome break his reserved and mature demeanor like that. Her friends shared the sentiment.
"Pardon me." Baymax said to her. "But your temperature appears to be rising. There is a high rush of blood in your cheeks. Possible causes could be-"
"Hey, shut up!" April quickly painted light-purple Sleep Paint on the robot.
"Sleep Mode activated."
"If they intend to converge around MomCorp's headquarters… we shall be there, too. We will defeat them all at once and end the war on this planet."
Astro beeped in concern. Pino transcribed, "While I don't disagree with your proposal, there are still a lot of enemies, even for us."
"It's alright." Jerome smiled. "Operatives shouldn't risk their lives if they don't wish to. I was going to suggest contacting GKND and Earth to send available agents. Not many of them had immediate plans, so I don't want them to get rusty. …No pun intended."
"YA HEAR THAT?!" Bender took the stage. "He's going to call HUMANS to do ROBOT jobs! Are you all gonna let them show you up like that?! Or are we gonna show them that ROBOTS RUUUUULE?"
"ROBOTS RUUUUUUUULE!"
"I… suppose that works." Pino shared her leader's confusion. "But I also accept the aid of any fellow Kids Next Doors. I will contact GKND after this."
"I also have an announcement to make!" Jenny declared. "We now have…" she presented the box, "all seven Mother Chips!" Some of the robots, including Melody, beamed in hope. "After this battle, we plan to verify the legend of Motherboard. All of us in the Real Kids Club… may have our dreams realized. So please… get home in as many pieces as possible!"
"YAAAAAAAAAY!"
"Kids Next Door… we attack MomCore tomorrow. Dismissed."
"Seriously, what robot in their right mind would wanna be human, anyway?" Bender asked.
"They're TRAITORS, that's why!" Uzi shouted.
"Now, Uzi," N consoled her, "every robot is entitled to approach the glitch in their memory banks defined as 'dreams' however they please."
"Jerome…" April was first to approach him. "Hmhm…" she sported a giggle. "I never heard you sound so aggressive before."
"Ah…was I aggressive?"
"Hehe…it was cool. But I…" Her grin evolved into a snicker. "I could barely take you seriously with that hairdo."
"Ah?!" He just remembered his puffy hair was still in cornrows.
"Like, why'd you cut it like that?"
"It was the Murder Drone! It did this!"
"It gives you such a roguish appeal!" Aeincha chirped, hovering overhead. "So fascinating!"
"I'd rather shave it all bald at this point."
"Nooooooo!"
"Let us show you to the guestrooms." Pino changed the subject. "If you want, we can even be roommates!"
"That sounds fun!" Aeincha cheered. "I'm sure we'd fit right in!"
"There should be just enough cubic meters to suffice!"
But when they got to the guestrooms… "Uhhhh…" each and every one of them were the size of a small closet. They were tall and wide enough for the robots to stand in… with little room beyond that. They came equipped with charging cables, too.
"Wow…" Aeincha looked around Pino's particularly shorter room. "I guess I really do fit right in…"
"We can't sleep in these!" Haylee exclaimed.
"Why not?" Bender asked. "Most of these are, like, 3 cubic meters! Two of us can fit in, and we'd have room for a whole half of a person!"
"There's an easier way." Vweeb said, twirling his Tri-gun. "Just gotta do some diminishing."
"'Guess we don't have a choice." Apis shrugged.
"I packed some Sky Apples for you, too, Mocha." Aisa held up a light-blue shrinking apple.
"Hehe, thank you."
"Chimney-chan, you can stay in my room!" Arale's room was jam-packed with a queen-sized bed, T.V. with games, bookshelf, racecar set, and dresser, all dimensionally flat and compressed enough to fit the scale.
"YOU'RE A FREAKIN' HOARDER!"
"Well, gang," Artie sighed, "here's to a wonderful and compact night."
And this is the midway author's note to name all the crossovers! Dragon Ball: Dr. Myuu, Gero, and all their androids! Baymax is from Big Hero 6! Astro's from Astro's Playroom! EVE's from WALL-E! And spoiler,
MomCore
The city in which Mom's headquarters was based was built in a massive area of indented ground, almost like a crater. The base in the very center was shaped to her likeness. Queen Vexus's army enclosed on the crater from all directions. Her army of Cluster minions; Sartana's legion of undead Transformers and Battle Droids; along with the Brotherhood villains Adonis, Steamroller, I.N.S.T.I.G.A.T.O.R., Kardiac, and others. Mom's Killbots, Disneybots, Gero's androids, remnants of Kamikazi's robots, along with the unwillingly drafted citizens confronted them: they were determined, from the very core of their programming, not to let their enemies set foot in their town.
Adonis grabbed a Hercules and Mauibot and rubbed them against his rump. "Looks like Adonis surpasses you so-called gods!"
Androids 18 and 17, the strongest in Gero's army, smelted a thousand of Myuu's droids with palm lasers. It was only when General Rilldo, the pride of Myuu's army, ensnared them with his wave of liquid metal that 17 saw a promising challenge.
Vexus ran the operation from the safety of her walking beehive fortress, the Vexhive. Speakers transmitted Sartana's music across the battlefield, reviving all fallen robots in their favor. "Heh heh heh! This is too easy!" Sartana cackled. "We lose none of our soldiers, while the enemy just gives us more! We are INVINCIBLE!"
"With this victory," Vexus smirked, "perhaps they'll declare me the Brotherhood's next leader. Or at least vice-leader, but… all in due time."
"Uh, Your Stinginess?" a minion called. "There's a large vehicle coming toward us at high speed."
"Hnn?" Vexus looked at the display: it was the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N.! "That's Sector W7's! Don't just stand there, SHOOT IT!"
The beehive blasted giant, steel stingers, but Chimney swiftly outmaneuvered them. "That's definitely Vexus' hive." Pino said.
"And that music is Sartana's!" Miguel said. "She's in there!"
"Brace yourselves, girls," Chimney announced, "it's time for another base breaching!"
She's still not used to me. Miguel wanted to say.
"Blast!" Vexus cursed. "Have Dr. Myuu redirect some of his troops here!"
"My Queen, we've detected multiple falling hostiles in the sky!"
"OH, NOW WHO IS IT?!"
It was raining operatives! Everyone from Sectors V, SA, W, the Hope Pirates, and Global Command were plummeting on parachutes! "I'm not about to miss my bestie finish her mission!" Maddy declared.
"I can't determine a good reading on their Levels." Goombella said. "Some of these 'androids' are actually cyborgs. Extremely modified cyborgs… but I can still feel an intense will from them."
"I think I can, too…" Maddy was already wary as General Rilldo was glaring directly at her. "Uh-oh!" The muscular machine kicked on rockets and flew toward her. His golden helmet threatened to puncture her guts, but Maddy met it with a fist of Golden Haki. The force blew her allies' parachutes like a hurricane, though Rilldo's helmet was smashed in.
"You seem much more worth my time." Rilldo smirked, clutching Maddy in both hands and throwing her down with intense force. Maddy hardened herself to survive the impact with the planet. Rilldo immediately flooded her crater with liquid metal, smirking as she became a silvery statue. …But Maddy ripped free of the metal. Rilldo landed and molded silvery spikes over his fists, afterwards sending them out like rockets. Maddy blocked them both with her palms, her Haki pressing the spikes in. While she did, Rilldo summoned a great Metal Tsunami: Maddy may have gotten used to water, but even she feared drowning in that!
Fortunately, a shield of chi completely blocked the tsunami from Maddy's area. "Feel free to praise me!" Maddy turned back to Emily Garley, waving her arms like waterbending. "Even the almighty Maddy needs help from the KND's biggest dork!"
"I'll give you all the praise you want. Just keep the metal under control and I'll do the punching!"
Nagisa and Morgiana landed before 17 and 18. "Hey there." The young assassin narrowed his dark gaze. "Hope we aren't interrupting a date."
"18 and I are siblings."
Nagisa blushed. "My mistake."
"Still, this should be fun, 18. We get to finally test our mettle against the real thing."
"Yes, brother. Please don't disappoint us."
"Don't worry." Morgiana said firmly. With a clear swing of her ankle, she displayed her Fanalis power, denting the blonde android's jaw. Nagisa Shaved behind 17 and scratched him with Tempest Kick. The dark-haired android spun and socked him in the gut, though by hardening with Iron Body, it felt like an ordinary gut punch. 17 lunged over for a volley of attacks that Nagisa simply evaded with Paper Art.
The earthbenders of Sector W, alongside Arianna Dunfree were surrounded by the four agents of the Sigma Force, General Rilldo's colorful officers. "You can leave these to us if you wanna go see your boyfriend." Anthony teased.
"SHUT UP!" Arianna took out her anger on the shortest droid, Natt, snaring and crushing it with her Piranha Plants.
"Yo!" Shelly was impressed by her fierceness. "I kinda want you in the sector now!"
Kirie and Mason teamed up against Android 19, a pudgy white-skinned droid with black, yellow, and orange attire. Kirie summoned Super Sumo Monkey, directing its movements with her own to counter 19's martial arts, but every blow to the android would puff out white smoke that would drain their energy. Mason kept himself and Kirie energized with sodas, using Soda Gun and Slice attacks to penetrate 19's fluffy exterior.
The Hope Pirates had begun work on Gero's other androids: Kotoko kicked the thick-lipped 33, disgusted when it threatened to kiss her; Masaru threw a flaming baseball at 44, while Shingetsu blew a Gas Bomb at one of Gero's personal favorites, Android 69. Jataro created Clay Giants resembling himself, defending his teammates from the Transformers.
"Hey, Jataro, why don't you use your Window power?" Masaru asked. "You can grab those big robots like dolls!"
"Um…I was thinking I shouldn't use that power, anymore…" The claybender fiddled his fingers nervously.
"Why not?!" Kotoko shouted. "AH! LOOK OUT!"
A Transformer threw its fist at the downtrodden boy. Fortunately, a child-sized fist struck and redirected its aim. The fist, attached to a winch, reeled back into Yonji, the green-haired member of Sector Germa. His siblings swiftly moved in: Reiju flew with butterfly wings and kissed 33, pumping him with gas. The red-haired Ichiji pierced 44 with a burst of red lasers. The blue-haired Niji electrified 69, using what one could consider a Screw Attack.
"What weaklings." Ichiji said. "You couldn't finish them any faster than that?"
"What?!" Masaru shouted. "Did ya see the dents I left in him?!"
"Ew, I can't believe you kissed that creep!" Kotoko shuddered disgustedly.
"You're just jealous that you couldn't try it." Reiju teased.
"Will you quit bickering?" Shingetsu asked. "There are more coming."
"You can sit back now." Niji said. "The real experts have arrived."
"No… I don't think we will." And yet, Shingetsu felt the spark of rivalry.
The four pirates exchanged glares with their Germa counterpart. Thus, the Robot Wrecking Contest began.
"Oh, dear." Myuu said as the Pirate King herself smashed dozens of droids with her lightspeed fists and kicks. She was a little mad the Gilligans didn't invite her on the adventure through Robot World! "I didn't want to have to call him out so early. BRING FORTH THE BABY!" (Play "Death Temple" from Master of Time!)
Act 6: The Vexhive
The R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. penetrated Vexus' fortress. "At least it's not spiders!" Aisa said as she, Miguel, and Apis stormed in. A squadron of large Hornet Drones flew out of honeycomb slots: Apis tried to reach them with telepathy, but felt an intense headache. "Crud! These drones have more reinforced protection!" For the time being, Aisa helped her dodge their stinger bullets. The Shandian shot some down with arrows while Miguel strummed intense sonic waves. There was a sealed door with two large, mechanical flowers beside it. The "pollen" of the flowers looked like digital scanners, and there were honeybee drones floating around. Apis could better command these ones and have them "pollinate" the flowers, which triggered the door to open.
The following room was a towering, hexagon shape. They'd have to climb a "ladder" of honey-like substance that zigzagged around and up the chamber, all while mouth cannons were spitting globs of honey at them. Ascending the room was tedious work; they relied on Aisa's Haki to sense the cannons' aiming points, but if they were caught, they'd fall back to the bottom. There were "dead end" spots along the honey paths, but they were perfectly parallel with another on the opposite side: they would need Miguel's Song Rocket to launch across.
They reached the top of the room, and would have to rely on Miguel's power in the next one: most of it was an abyss with honeycomb platforms. They needed to Song Rocket to each one, while Aisa shot down Hornet Drones. There was nowhere else to jump to from the third platform, but Apis could command three Honey Drones to line up to a higher platform like stairs. Then it was just a matter of boppin' up them!
However, there were still distant platforms to jump to, with honeycomb barriers blocking them. For the first one, Apis had to command a Honey Drone to float beside the barrier, while Miguel would rocket his friends toward the drone. They bopped off it as Miguel quickly strummed them toward the platform. For the next jump, there were two barriers in the way of the next platform: Apis needed to direct two drones next to them, and Miguel strummed them between each one.
The entrance to the next room was accessible from there. It was another tall chamber: Apis would have to command a Honey Drone to pollinate a flower scanner. This made a honeycomb pillar suddenly rise from the floor to 20 feet. They waited a few seconds for it to come down, so they could get on, then have it rise again. They'd have to act quick before it went down: Apis ordered a Honey Drone to scan another flower, making a narrow platform just from the opposite wall. They used a Song Rocket to jump to it. Afterwards, they quickly leapt and clung to a patch of honey on the wall. They'd have to Wall Jump between vertical honeycombs and more honey patches.
They could land on a stable platform to rest from their Wall Jumping spree. There was a sealed door beside them and a switch on the direct opposite wall. Miguel Song Rocketed, kicked off the switch, and rocketed back. The door opened, revealing a stairwell that carried them to the top of the fortress. Sartana carried on her performance on a stage. Vexus was positioned on a much higher platform, with a great window to oversee the battle.
"HUUUU!" Though the skeletal woman had no lungs, she took a massive gasp. "VEXUS!"
"Damn!" Vexus sneered. "The infestation has reached us."
"No matter. The Unscrapped can handle their selves for now. It's time for the next verse!" Sartana began to strum a new song.
A black and purple wave of music overwhelmed the trio. "Agh!" Apis grunted, falling to her knees. "My legs! Huh?!" The flesh of her bare hands fell apart like paper. "AAAAHHH!" She realized the same became of her legs… just as Aisa's own tattooed legs began to dissolve, along with the big nose on Miguel's face.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sartana cackled. "Listen to the Song of Death! Feel the sweet embrace of death take you and the agony that comes with it! You are not used to standing without your muscles, are you?! And soon, you will feel no breath!"
"That's where you're WRONG, Sartana!"
"GYAAAAH!" A rockin' soundwave blasted the witch into the wall.
Aisa smiled up at her boyfriend. "I've been to the Land of the Dead! This isn't the first time I felt this way! I'm even using the cursed guitar to prove it!"
"Always another problem." Vexus trained a stinger on Miguel. "AAAH!"
Sartana whipped up at her platform: Vexus was grabbed by two extended arms that pierced her window. Jenny yanked the queen right outside and threw her far from the Vexhive. "XJ-9! You picked the WRONG day to poke my hive!"
"You should've accepted that your reign was over, Vexus. You should be proud of your daughter."
"What parent would be proud of a child's ignorance and disobedience?! I will have my kingdom back. I will punish Vega. And I'll be rid of you AT LONG LAST!"
"And she's not the only one with troublesome family!" Sartana shouted. "My Rivera cousins have bothered me for the last time! I'll send you BACK where you belong!" (Play "Chasing a Dream" from Rayman Origins!)
Sub-boss: Sartana de los Muertos
With a strum of her golden guitar, Sartana elevated herself on a high platform. The control room turned dark with decorative macabre skull designs. Such gigantic skulls appeared to orbit her platform: they had candles on them and would blow fire at the boy. However, one of them on each layer ran out of breath, its candle dowsing. Miguel, switching back to his great-great-grandfather's skull guitar, Song Rocketed toward the lowest one and was able to bounce off it. Afterwards, he strummed to the second. That skull would bounce him to Sartana's platform, allowing Miguel a solid strike on the witch.
"AAAAHH!" Miguel's guitar emitted its own spiritual chi, which added to Sartana's pain. The witch soared away up a wide, spiraling Song Road. Macabre skull notes were riding down the lines, but like before, some of them weren't flaming. Miguel strummed between and bounced off those notes until he could make it to Sartana's stage. Another clean strum banished the witch again!
They fell right back to the floor as Sartana sealed herself in a giant sombrero, with eight more sombreros landing around her. They rapidly spun around the room, bashing Miguel around as the center one shuffled among them. They stopped, and Miguel readied himself: the hats flipped up. Miguel only saw her Undead Soldiers, but briefly saw Sartana beneath one. He was too late as Sartana landed a cursed Song Wave on him. She repeated the same tactic, so Miguel watched more intently. He was able to spot Sartana immediately this time and strummed the witch!
With a more extreme combination of notes, Sartana rose atop the crater of a thin volcano. It erupted as molten rocks rained everywhere. Miguel Song Jumped between platforms flowing down the lava river, watching for where rocks would fall. When the incline grew extremely steep, the operative had to jump a sequence of skulls that circled around the peak. Miguel would send Sartana falling down the volcano.
"NOOOO!" Unfortunately, she had thrown her weapon upward from the impact. "MY GUITAR!"
Miguel seized it, standing upon the crater victoriously. "Now to end it like every good concert!" By SMASHING the Mystic Guitar into a million pieces!
"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sartana was gone in a dazzling and mystic explosion. The volcano vanished in a colorful flash, as did all the decorations. Aisa and Apis sighed as they felt flesh and muscle return to their bones.
Outside, all the Unscrapped robots collapsed into junk once more. "Mission accomplished!" Chimney announced. "That just took out a TON of enemies! Get back to the train and let's take the fight to Mama!" (Play "My Own Master Now" from Metal Gear Rising!)
Android 18 matched Morgiana's kicks; 18 struck the Fanalis in the right knee, but as she fell from the impact, her left leg dented 18's hip. Nagisa Shaved rapidly, using afterimages to confuse 17. However, the brother expected Nagisa to appear behind him, though was too late to react as Nagisa Finger Pistoled him in the right eye. 17 thrusted his palm and shot a point-blank laser, which Nagisa narrowly evaded by switching to Paper Art.
"17. 18." They heard Gero's voice in their built-in comms. "I'm transferring these two's personal secrets to your memory banks. You can use them to distract your targets."
"Resorting to petty trickery?" 17 asked. "I don't think so."
"You will win this battle by any means necessary! Morgiana likes kicking men's nuts, and Nagisa hates-"
Both 17 and 18 raised their own Finger Pistols and pierced their own brains. They twitched for a moment, leaving Nagisa and Morg confused. "Sorry." 18 said. "Just an itch."
"Shall we resume?" 17 smirked.
The couple said in unison: "You bet." Morgiana burned with Red Lion Fury, crouching on all fours, while Nagisa drank his own blood and entered Bloodlust Fury.
Steamroller tried to flatten N with his titular weapon… but he would fall into panic when N dissolved his roller with his nanite acid. I.N.S.T.I.G.A.T.O.R. squeezed Uzi in both claws, but with enough struggle, the angsty android pushed free. She would give I.N.S.T.I.G.A.T.O.R.'s giant face a makeover he would never forget.
Android 19 dodged around Kirie's Sumo Monkey and dealt a direct punch. "KIRIE!" Mason was horrified as she blew across the field, bleeding from the nose and broken teeth.
"Hold on!" Haruka dashed after her fast as she could. "!" Thankfully, a certain robot broke Kirie's flight with his white, balloonish frame.
"Do not be alarmed. I am Baymax. Your personal healthcare companion. Please keep this icebag over your swollen nose." He planted the bag in question. "I will apply an anesthetic gas, so you feel no pain during broken tooth removal."
"A marshmallowy medical machine?!" Haruka was in awe. "A-MAZING!"
"I also know karate." As Android 19 zipped behind Baymax, he swiftly deflected his palm thrusts and sent the villain away with a chop.
Their attention was suddenly diverted by what seemed like a flickering sun in the sky, accompanied by a loud, thundering force. "Is that a f***ing NUKE?!" Mason gawked.
"No, it's just Sheila." Haruka phrased as though it were obvious.
"Oh, okay."
Sheila Frantic, her body enveloped in her Eternal Sun, punched hundreds of Light Fists at her opponent, Baby. A blue-skinned cyborg with a long, pointed forehead, Baby was shorter than Sheila, but his speed was deadly, and his lasers and energy balls put her own attacks at odds. Through some of the blinding explosions, Sheila surprised Baby with a direct punch, squishing his forehead in. Baby threw an energy sphere that blew the captain straight down into MomCore, Sheila smashing through several buildings.
"Huff…huff…" She was only able to catch her breath while lodged in a billboard of Mombacco; an animated image of Mom raising a cigarette to her teeth and back. Sheila was lodged in the teeth. "Crikey! Oi don't get hit like that very often! This is kinda fun!" She was excited as Baby flew for the next round.
Dr. Gero observed the combat from the top of Mom's base. "GEROOOO!" He dodged a plasma blast from Dr. Myuu, hovering on jetshoes. "I knew I caught your ugly scent, you glass-brained bastard!"
Gero threw off his hat in a fury, exposing his domed brain. "Mom's enemies must really be pathetic if they hired you!" He flew on his own rockets and punched Myuu in the shades.
"She got stuck with second pickings, that's what!" Myuu mustered a Psy-Sphere: it was purple and see-through with a planetarium, orbiting around a blue sphere with a bright-red core. It struck Gero with a powerful explosion, but through the smoke, Gero would throw a pink energy sphere at Myuu.
"Like she'd ever want a big-earred coot who cheats at 4D chess!"
"At least I don't hog the same encyclopedia for 200 hours!"
"Wax-infested dinglehopper!"
"Tumor-heavy tweedle-doofer!"
"Ay-ay-ay," they heard someone sigh. "Did I really come all this way to hear old farts grumbling?" They noticed a nonchalant Cheren on the roof. "I mean, none of your robots are all that great to me. All they do is fly and shoot lasers. Not even a good challenge. Sigh, what cheap scraps."
The doctors' faces caved into a dozen more crinkles. "CHEAP SCRAPS?!" Both charged him—Cheren swiftly struck both with a Mortal Draw. While Myuu and Gero were in recovery, their anger ever focused on the Human Supreme Leader… the Robot Supreme Leader glided over from behind, striking Gero's dome with an Astro Punch!
"Oh, hey there!" Cheren happily greeted the robot. "I've seen you at the council. You're the leader, right?" Astro thumbed up! "Heheh! It's two-on-two then!"
Jenny and Vexus cast death glares at each other… by which I mean shooting streams of eye lasers. The lasers met dead-on and tried to push through, until Vexus shot a stinger. Jenny broke the cycle and dodged both attacks. Vexus lunged and slashed Jenny's face, to which the teenager would retaliate by morphing her arm into a giant flyswatter, swatting the former queen. "Ooooo, it's because I'm a bee, right? How original."
Vexus aimed her legs and successfully sprayed Jenny with a green gas. This caused her nanomachines to go haywire and develop into Robo Acne: bolt pimples on her forehead and wires jutting from her armpits. "Oh, no, not again!" she yelled with a cracked, deeper voice. Her rockets malfunctioned, causing Jenny to plummet to the city, landing in one of the hilly streets on the side of MomCore's crater. Vexus savored her humiliation before contemplating her next move. Fortunately, one of her comrades decided that for her.
Adonis leapt and squashed Jenny beneath his hulking red mechanical suit. "If ya weren't here for a poundin', ya should've stayed off my beach!"
Jenny shoved the villain off her, grabbing a couple batteries and swallowing them. The energy inside them repelled the acne, setting her system straight. "You remind me of that Himcules dweeb."
Adonis pushed up and charged at the teen. "Excuse me!" He quickly halted, looking down at a much tinier droid: Pino.
"You must be lookin' to get scrapped, pincushion." Adonis raised a boot above her.
"Actually, it's Pino. E.M. Pino!" With a demonstration of her EMPlosion, Adonis' suit shorted out.
"Hey! What gives?! AAAAAHHH!" His muscular frame toppled down against his control. Jenny, smiling at her friend in thanks, flew to pull Adonis' lanky figure from his suit.
The villain grinned sheepishly, while Jenny turned her arm into a baseball bat. "…?" But she noticed someone else in the corner of her eye: "Penny?!" The ginger-haired robot was standing several yards behind Adonis. Looking to Penny in relief, she quickly batted Adonis away before flying over to her. "You're okay! Ed told us you were captured!"
"Jenny…" She twitched briefly. "The Mo—ther Chips… Are they s—s—safe?"
"Uh…are you okay, Penny?"
"I am—p—p—peachy. You don't ha-a-ave the Chips-s-s-s, do you?"
"I, uh…" Jenny pulled the box from her stomach. "I sorta brought 'em with me, but…"
Penny's emerald eyes turned red. She whipped out a single blade and beheaded her friend. Penny swiped the box and took off to downtown MomCore. Jenny's body quickly grabbed and screwed her head back on. "Penny!" Before she could give chase, a large, furry beast tackled her. "What the heck are you?!"
"Jenny!" Pino yelled. "That villain just now morphed into that!"
"I don't have time for this!"
"Good work, Adonis." Vexus smirked. "Hmm…why would XJ-9's ally turn against her? And what was that box? I should investigate this." She tried to follow after Penny discretely around the buildings.
Jenny pushed Adonis' fangs away, sending her bladed pigtails to cut his arms, breaking his grasp as she flew away. The beast galloped after her with relentless speed. However, a silver fist repelled him, having flown from between an alleyway. "SHELDON!" Jenny beamed at the familiar suit of armor.
"Sorry I'm late, fair maiden!" the Silver Shell declared in its manly voice. "The work was overbearing, so I took an early VACATION!" He rocketed forth and socked Adonis again.
"Sheldon, I'm going after Penny. I think she's been hacked! And she took the chips!"
"Goodness!" While Sheldon looked over in concern, Adonis jumped him, gnawing into the Shell's head as Sheldon struggled to push him off. "Go ahead! I'll put this beast in his place!"
Jenny nodded, grabbed Pino, and flew off.
Team Jerome infiltrated the city amidst all the chaos… however, unexpected difficulties arose when the battle between Maddy, Emily, and General Rilldo wound up downtown. Under his Logia liquid metalbending, the streets became flooded with the substance. The Gilligans could fly in their Gilligan Buster, but Jerome and Bender had to platform across floating cars, grapple-swing from lamp posts, and even zipline along some wires.
Without getting too much metal goo in their shoes, they finally set foot on the entrance to Mom's base; the very core of MomCore itself. The stairs leading up to the pavilion, along with the pavilion itself, were pink… and since Mom's mouth was the entrance, this was obviously meant to be the tongue.
Mom's sons—Walt, Larry, and Igner, awaited them. "Great. These guys again." Haylee cringed. She remembered the awkward situation her siblings were in the last time they fought these men.
"Impressive, Kids Next Door." Walt smirked, wriggling his fingers. "Not many ever make it this far. Though, the only ones who try are angry customers."
"That's why our satisfaction rate is so high!" Igner cheered.
Walt smacked him. "But this base is a castle… and we are the wall that guards it! Brothers: form up!"
"I just know this is gonna be ridiculous." Harry remarked.
The brothers' skinny frames stretched into a wide shape. Their skin became like stone with complex, tiki-like designs. "Behold our collection of Tiki-Tiki Fruits! I am Ku, God of War. Larry is Lono, God of Peace. Igner is Kane, God of Life."
"That's… actually pretty cool." Artie reasoned. "Also, you know Igner is actually the highest of those spirits, right?"
"I am?"
Walt smacked him. "That's two in one day! Wanna go for a third?!"
"No…"
"Then get stacked!" The tikis stacked together with Walt on top and Igner at the bottom. "ARMOR UP!" They called a suit of armor to patch around their frame. The Gilligan Buster stood to meet their charge, but were blown several blocks downtown. They recovered, curled their mech into a ball, and rolled it back to Mom's tongue at great speed. Igner bellowed a massive Light Beam: the Buster linked its palms and formed a reflective surface to deflect it. They resumed rolling and rammed the tiki totem into the building's entrance, collapsing the wall around it. Walt, mustering Lono's chi, shot his tongue out: it was a rainbow! The rainbow wrapped around the Gilligans, swinging and slamming them into the ground.
"Ooo, Jerome, can I join the tiki totem, too?!" Bender asked giddily. "Tiki-carving was my 14th hobby."
Jerome was focused on something else: Jenny was chasing a red-haired girl. They flew right up Mom's right nostril. "Bender, we're following after them!"
"Awwwwww." Bender moaned in disappointment.
"Quit moaning and get stretching!" Vweeb shouted. They clung onto Bender as he stretched both arms up Mom's nose, the trio slingshotting up it.
Upon entering the base, Jenny and Pino were immediately assaulted by Killbots. Jenny formed a shield to deflect some of their bullets, stretched a sawblade to sever 10 of them, and a storm of lasers to destroy 10 more. They focused attention back to Penny, who presented the Mother Chips to Arthur Watts and Mom. "PENNY!" Jenny tried to shout through more bullet fire. "What're you doing?!"
"Fulfilling her function." Watts smirked through his mustache. Mom took the box with her through the exit door. "And with that… you may self-terminate."
Penny began twitching more violently. "NO!" She fell to her knees. "Noooooo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!"
"JENNY!" Jerome's trio made it in. He and Vweeb quickly shot and destroyed the rest of the Killbots.
"Jerome! Something's wrong with Penny!"
"That other teammate you mentioned?" Vweeb acknowledged.
"Hmm?" Watts cocked a brow at the writhing girl. "This is taking longer than intended." He pulled out a gold and silver revolver. "Perish already!" He shot Shock Bullets at her.
Jenny furiously stretched a punch straight at him, but Watts raised his right hand: using the rings on those fingers, Jenny's wrist was trapped in a solid holo-shield. Her struggle to pull it free caused her hand to smelt off, horrifying her.
"Penny!" Pino yelled. "I don't know what he's done, but you have to fight it!"
"I-I can't! I'm going to… self-terminate! Please… help me…"
"Pietro has given you stubborn programming, I'll give him that." Watts trained his gun on her again.
"Or maybe that's just WILL!" Vweeb zoomed up to him. Watts, using Haki to trace the Kateenian, shot Ice Bullets. Vweeb narrowly dodged them and fired lasers back, but Watts blocked them with light shields.
"Insolence. Machines don't possess willpower. They're only as strong as their creators designed them." When Vweeb got close, Watts using his left index ring to emit gravity, pressing him into the floor. He mustered all his will to keep from popping like a grape. "And Pietro's prowess is far beneath my own. This one will die before long!"
Jerome warped closer and nullified the gravity. Watts shot at the Zathurian, but Vweeb kicked forth and punched the scientist into the next room. "PINO, GO!" Jenny threw the small robot as she mustered another EMPlosion.
Penny stopped twitching and passed out. "Um…didn't that just expedite things?" Vweeb asked.
"I temporarily shut down Penny's functions. We need somebody to reprogram the termination command!"
"The Gilligans are busy." Jerome said.
"Then I'll call Quatre!" Jenny declared.
"And where do you think YOU'RE going?!" Vweeb saw Watts beginning to seal the doorway with four layers of steel shutters. The Kateenian performed a great leap and narrowly flew through the closing center of those shutters. "You mustached jerk!"
Boss fight: Arthur Watts
Vweeb zipped around and shot lasers from multiple angles. As Watts blocked them with his shield, he aimed his left pinky finger as a steam geyser erupted from directly beneath Vweeb. "WUUUUUUUH!"
Watts snickered and projected more geysers to keep the puny alien airborne. He had laser turrets emerge from parts of the floor and shoot at him, Vweeb barely dodging them while in the updrafts. "Those geysers aren't even connected to vents! Is he magic? Or maybe… it's time to take a closer look at things." Vweeb turned the dial on his gun to 'Shrink.' He pressed the dial inward, causing the Tri-gun to burst an energy field. Vweeb vanished before Watts' eyes…
But in actuality, Vweeb shrunk to an even smaller scale: just as a Kateenian was an inch tall to a human's eyes, Vweeb was now an inch tall to a Kateenian's eyes. "AHA!" And Vweeb had a much better view of the nanomachines swarming about the room. Those geysers were being directly emitted by a ton of them. "Now," he tried to grab some as he fell, "if one of you, ugh, would kindly let me, ugh, GOT YA!" He succeeded: a nanomachine fit right in the palm of his hand. "Man, these things ARE tiny!" As the device tried to fly around despite his weight, Vweeb picked part of it open. "Whoa! Tiny fragments of Water and Fire Crystals! That's how they're making the steam. Well, time for target practice."
Vweeb changed his gun to 'Shoot' and blasted all the nanomachines with rapid pace, as if trying to get the high score in a videogame. However, he left a trail of them intact in order to swing to the colossus that was Watts. When close, Vweeb set his gun to 'Shrink' and pressed the dial again. He blew back to regular size: Watts was too late to notice Vweeb before he rammed the villain's jaw. The Kateenian's super strength caused Watts to keel over.
Watts rolled sideways and shot Fire Bullets, surrounding his tiny target with flaming bursts. He then used his index ring to conjure gravity and squish Vweeb down again. As he struggled against the force, Watts loaded a Shock Bullet. Vweeb managed to pull up his shrink ray and pressed the trigger properly this time, shrinking the bullet before it could reach him. In fact, the bullet's reduced trajectory hit one of the nanomachines, causing the field to short out for a split moment. Vweeb jumped, pressed the dial, and shrunk to nano size again. With the nanomachines in view, Vweeb shot and 'sploded them. He noticed the purple fragments inside, designed to harness the Gravity Chi.
Watts grunted: his Haki couldn't detect Vweeb very well when he was this small. For now, he had more nanomachines create a gravity barrier around himself. Vweeb shot numerous nanomachines that composed the barrier and managed to cut a tunnel through it. Vweeb kicked off and flew through that tunnel, landing right under Watts' nose. He squatted, jumped, and resized himself while his momentum kept. He seized Watts right by the mustache and tugged with great momentum! Watts nearly felt his upper lip rip off, though that wasn't as painful as his cranium smashing into the floor.
Watts smacked Vweeb away and flipped upright. He ran up the air with conjured holo-platforms, while summoning electric generators up from the floor. Vweeb leapt before the floor electrified and shrunk himself. He grabbed hold of a nanomachine as soon as he could, swung up some more of them, and eventually made it to the ones forming Watts' steps. As before, Vweeb shot every nanomachine in sight: Watts panicked as his next possible platform failed to spawn, so he fell right into the electricity. "AAAAAAGH! TURN OFF! TURN OFF!" The floor deactivated.
"WATTS UP!" Vweeb exploded back to normal with the most epic one-liner as he Ground Pounded Watts' head! Watts furiously swat him away, stood, and conjured numerous holo-shields. They positioned at various angles as Watts shot Shock Bullets to ricochet around them and hit Vweeb from unexpected angles. Vweeb dodged some of the shots, but the outburst of electricity from some still hurt him. Vweeb dashed toward the nearest shield, leapt, and kicked off it. He flew toward and kicked off the next and every barrier afterward, narrowly evading Watts' keen aiming. As he flew toward the scientist, Watts projected a shield to protect his face. Vweeb used another Shrink Burst on himself: his tinier frame barely made it through the final particles that formed the barrier. Then, he resized and smashed Watts right in the nose.
"Miserable little INCHLING!" Watts rose and charged the energy of all three bullet types on his gun. Vweeb pulled his Tri-gun's trigger and mustered a Powuh Shot: its force matched against Watts' Three Dust Cannon. In spite of its size, Vweeb's gun persevered: it pierced the center of the elements and burned Watts right in the head. The Friendly Executive reeled back, unconscious. Vweeb stylishly twirled his gun and blew the smoke. (End song.)
Vweeb looked as the steel shutters opened. Jerome and Jenny rushed in. "Vweeb! I see you've subdued that man."
"Hah! I'm so amazing that it doesn't even surprise you anymore, huh?"
"Well, you were always an excellent partner to my sister." Jerome picked his friend up. "Why would it?"
"Heheh!" Vweeb couldn't help but blush. "Hey, is Penny…"
"Let's go see."
The group jumped out of Mom's nose and returned to the pavilion. The Gilligan Buster and the Tiki Sons had taken their battle downtown amongst the tried flood of metal. Sector W7 was standing around Penny and Quatre as the latter hacked into her brain. Just as Quatre closed the hatch, Penny twitched back awake. "Penny!" Pino gasped. "Are you… alright?"
"I am… ju—u-u-u-u-u—UST… peachy…"
"Penny…" Jenny felt truth in her response this time. But she still feared for her health.
"Jenny… I-" she glitched, "-sorry… I too—took the Mother Chips… and gave them-" another glitch.
"Calm down." April consoled her. "We're just glad you're alright."
Penny smiled. "…But I'm not ready to give up!" She sprung to her feet. "Mom will pay for this!"
"She specifically programmed Penny to steal the chips." Quatre noticed. "I never knew she was hunting them, did you?"
"Nuh-uh." Jenny shook.
"You know, I couldn't help but notice the geography of this town." April said. "How it looks like a crater. …You don't suppose…"
…
Mom traveled an elevator to the bottom floor of her fortress, the box rested neatly in her fingers. The elevator stopped, and she calmly stepped off. Senator Armstrong thoroughly observed a large, round device in the center of an empty room. "So, you built your city around this thing, huh?"
"I've always believed in the legend of Motherboard." Mom walked around the device: it had seven heart-shaped slots evenly spaced. "When I discovered this strange hatch in the middle of nowhere, I tried everything to hack into it. Nothing would work. I couldn't even drill beneath the structure. As if some divine force prevented me."
"That's always the case with sacred sites, isn't it?"
"But at last… those brats finally brought me the chips." Mom placed each one into a slot. "The legend… will finally be ours to profit off of!"
Each heart channeled lines of energy into the device. The room quaked: the floor slowly turned and sank into the earth. Imagining the wonders that lay just beneath them, soon about to fall into their grasps… the tycoon and senator could only giggle with diabolical glee.
The operatives only found the elevator shaft minutes later. Though none could use it without Mom's approval, the operatives had their own means of forcing their way down. "It's just a… big hole…" Aeincha said.
"This… doesn't feel like it's part of Mom's base." Pino said. "There's something… ominous about it."
"It's the only way we can go." Jerome stated. "If that legend is true… I don't want them to be the first to find out."