The thing is, we kind of already had a Mobius Saga during Pirate Wars, and it's safe to say President Schnee isn't nearly as outstanding a villain as K. Rool was. But we are gonna meet some new characters in this arc!
Doomsdale; May 25
"Class dismissed." Ms. Bitters announced under the ringing of the Skool bell. "Your book reports are due tomorrow… or it's the dungeon for you!"
Dipper Pines hadn't missed his dreary hometown or going back to his single father. The peaceful woods of Gravity Falls were a breath of fresh air… but now they were only full of painful memories. He had thrown away his trademark pine tree hat… and now he looked more bitter than Skool's long-time, Underworld-dwelling teacher.
"Hey, Dipper." He was too focused on the sidewalk to even notice her ahead of time: a blonde-haired girl with a purple jacket and light-brown hiking boots.
"Pacifica… hi."
"Ice cream sandwiches?" She held up two wrapped sandwiches. "Yuzu made 'em. From Sweetopia's Ice Cream Mountain."
Dipper halfheartedly took one. They joined each other at the nearby playground, occupying the swing sets. "So… my sector's going to Mobius. Weiss' dad is persecuting innocent people… so, we gotta go kick his butt."
"Oh…"
"Wanted to ask if you'd come. Or…" she glanced at him, "do you still wanna take Mickey's side?"
"I…I-I-I dunno, sigh…"
Pacifica looked at her boots. She lazily kicked the woodchips, making a light sway of the swing. "You know, that bitch Aranea posted my secret, too. 'Pacifica fantasizes being 100 feet tall and squishing lower class people.'"
"Yeah, I uh…I read that."
"Except that isn't a fantasy, it's a f***ing nightmare. Just a reminder of where I came from, what my parents wanted me to do." She kicked the woodchips with slightly more aggressive force. "And exactly what President Schnee's doing now. So, someone has to-"
"Pacifica, don't go."
"What?" She faced him.
"Y… What do you have to prove? You don't have to keep fighting just to tell yourself you're a good person. You've done enough for them. Why don't you just… enjoy your li-…" Dipper choked.
Pacifica was silent. When Wendy died four years ago, it took him a while to get over it… but after the loss of his sister, the one he shared nearly every moment of his life with, Dipper would never feel happy again. His parents' divorce didn't help matters either. Now he feared something terrible happening to Pacifica. "…They deserve judgment for what they've done to us." Pacifica extracted a single chain from her wristband and tugged it in both hands. "Mickey, Aranea, all those villains. I can't rest until they do."
"…" Dipper had no will to argue.
He felt Pacifica's cold, ice cream-coated hand over his. "But I will come back. I won't let them get me."
"…" A tear dripped down his face. Pacifica's strong expression… It was a far cry from the spoiled girl she once was. He didn't want that face to go away…
GKND H.Q.
Hearing motion through the Moonbase portal, Sector $ looked up as Pacifica exited from it. "Hey, Pif!" Carol chirped. "So, what'd Dipper say?"
"Well, he's clearly not with her." Kokichi remarked, checking his nails. "That should be obvious."
They shot glares at him. "Dipper wishes us well." Pacifica answered. "That's the most he can do right now."
"Well, we're set on our end." Ciel said. "Let's go see if our 'extra muscle' is."
Gym
"Huuuurrrrgggg!" Maddy raised the weights as high as her arms would go, then set it down. "Huuuuuurrrrhhhhhhhh!" She raised them once more. The bench on which she was squatting was actually a giant dumbbell bench… and the "dumbbells" on the ends of the handle were actually cushions, on which Mocha and Atlas sat cross-legged. "Huff…huff…" Maddy finished her workout with the conclusion of their story. "Well… if it means anything… I think you did great, Mocha."
"Thanks…" Mocha gazed down in thought. "But you know… there's a small part of me that… kind of admired Armstrong. Being able to handle all those nanomachines… must've taken a huge amount of will in its own right."
"DON'T BE CRAZY!" Atlas jumped off and hammered her end of the dumbbell, flinging Mocha through the wall like a catapult. "He was a monster and we should be glad he's gone!"
Maddy chuckled. She could almost understand how Mocha felt… and that was part of why she wanted to go to Mobius. "Hey!" Carol called as Sector $ entered the gym. "You guys ready to go?"
Maddy was about to say, "READY?!" when Sheila answered first. "Oi was ready 100 years ago! C'MON, MASON!" She grabbed her first mate's arm and raced off. "LET'S SET SAIL!"
"We'll see you down there, Carol!" Mason shouted.
"I feel like we're cheating going with Sheila and Maddy." Raleigh said.
"I like to call it 'Invincibility Insurance.'" Carol smiled.
Weiss giggled. "Well, I like Sheila. And I kind of want her to tick my dad off some more."
"You can count on us either way." Maddy assured. "Can I get a double decker supersize farewell fistbump?!"
"Coming right up!" Mocha climbed out of the wall.
"Wait, what do I do?" Atlas asked.
"Just punch as hard as you can!" Maddy raised both fists.
"Okay!" Both giants threw in a knuckle touch!
GURAGURAGURAGURAGURAGURAGURAGURAGURA!
A titanic seismic tremor radiated throughout the whole treehouse. All the food fell off tables, items collapsed off shells, the operatives stumbled off their feet, and gravity itself slanted sideways.
Magical Meeting Room
The Corporate Presidents and Grand Admiral Thrawn observed the video of Mom's death in repetition, followed by scenes of their battle in which Armstrong killed two robots, before he was killed himself. "This…This is BIG NEWS!" Big Bird exclaimed. "One of our most revered senators murdering Mom in cold blood! And such an epic battle! But what about the details?! What happened down there?! I have to interview the KND! I-"
"DON'T BE A FOOL!" Mickey swiped his Keyblade across the bird's magic hologram. "This is obviously an elaborate trick to make their selves look just!"
"Yes, but the fact is," Jacques Schnee replied, "MomCorp is all but ruined and the KND continue to make fools of us! For all I know, I could be next on their hitlist!"
"Rest assured, you are in safe hands." Thrawn said. "General Ironwood and his Ace Operatives will protect you with their lives. Not to mention your own daughter-"
"You want me to be assured, Grand Admiral?! Then give me more assurance. I want no less than TWO admirals on this planet! You hear me?!"
"Big TWO?!" Big Bird gawked.
"Hmmm… do you think that necessary, King Mickey?" Thrawn asked.
"Well, I… suppose we can't be too careful. But only for a few days. Enough time to subdue most of the Mobian KND. We can't spread the army's forces too thin."
"I will be most grateful…" Jacques complied.
"Ahem, in the meantime," Big Bird said, "better start looking for side stories to add on." He looked over his info. "'High schooler Miu Iruma dies to virtual auto-erotic asphyxiation on Mechanos?' Well, that'll give that school a few days off, at least." His hologram turned off.
The Schnee president turned off the transmitter with the meeting's end. "Two admirals?" Ironwood said. "Isn't that a bit excessive?"
"After the way you were humiliated when the KND invaded Coruscant? No. And when those admirals arrive, I know exactly where I'm sending them first." Jacques took his leave from the office. Ironwood remained firm in his stance, glancing at the president with a dark gaze.
Mobius; close to Mystic Ruins
"Oiiiii, why couldn't we travel in me beautiful sunny ship?!" Sheila whined on the floor of the limousine.
"Because the Gilligans wanted a break after two adventures in a row." Mason said, enjoying a sip of Delfino melon punch. "Learn to appreciate luxury, Sheila."
"Those drinks are adding to your debt, Mason." Carol winked. "$101,659 now."
"Are you still keeping track of that?!"
"Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong."
The operatives flew to Mobius on Sector $'s Limo$uper, a flying limousine with all the functions of a KND fighter craft, complete with relaxing seats, luxurious drinks and snacks, and customizable neon lighting.
Maddy was hopeful as they were approaching a certain sky island. It had been a long time since they've seen each other…
Three years ago
Knuckles missed seeing his beloved Master Emerald on its altar. Entrusting it to the Earth KND gave him the chance to go traveling, taking in the world around him… but coming back to watch over it on his peaceful island was like a vacation. Still, neither Rouge nor Eggman tried to steal it, anymore. And he could easily fight off any trivial villain. At this point in life, nothing really surprised him anymore.
"Hm?" He saw someone crossing the bridge to the altar. Another wannabe thief? Or a tourist? Knuckles decided to travel down and meet them. "Hey. If you wanna see the emerald, I'm gonna have to check foooor…?"
Knuckles couldn't fathom who he was looking at. "Hello." She had reddish-orange hair curled down in spikes like his own. The ends of them had white markings, she had pink eyes, and wore black ninja-like clothes. "You're…You're Knuckles, right?"
"You're… an echidna!"
"Yes. My name is Shade."
For the next hour, Knuckles would grow dumbfounded as Shade spoke of the Netherverse and the destiny that was forced upon her as a child. To think that a branch of his people were secretly alive in that world. "I've done my part for Maddy… and she has advanced in her training so quickly that she doesn't need me. But now, I can't stop wondering… if my job really meant anything. This destiny… this prophecy… did any of it matter? I'm sure the Seven Lights will be the victors in this battle… but in the event that they aren't, I don't want the rest of my life to be… attached to this prophecy. So, I decided to leave Earth. I didn't want to return home either. Not after my people threw me away for this prophecy. But I didn't know where else to go. Then, I learned about… our other homeland on Mobius. And about you."
"Heh heh heh…honestly, a story like that's got me completely beat. But I know the feeling… It was always my job to watch the Master Emerald. Never allowed to leave. My parents died of starvation over that. And they passed the job to me with their dying breath. And for a long time… this is all I did. But I had a need for adventure. Treasure hunting. I abandoned my post a bunch of times, even let the KND protect it for a while. Talk about irresponsible, right? But hey… it's still in one piece. Island still floating."
"So, you were stuck with a duty… the same as me. If I went treasure hunting as well… would I feel happier with my life?"
"The answer might be different for you. Still, if you were curious about our heritage, I'd be happy to show you around. I know a bunch of other great places, too."
Shade smiled. "That may be nice."
Present
"We didn't see Shade when we visited Angel Island before." Mason said.
"Must've been helping with the post-war recovery." Maddy figured. "We still write to each other… but I can't wait to show her how far I've come. …!" She gasped, feeling thousands of incoming auras. "Hey! There's a fleet of ships coming in from the east!"
The operatives peered out the windows on that side, seeing the fleet of snow-white and black ships. "Those are Atlesian military ships! From our hometown!" Weiss exclaimed.
"Are they heading for the island?" Mason asked.
"Well, we won't let them make it!" Pacifica declared. "Raleigh, fly us over! Drop us off between different ships and we'll take them out from there!"
"I'll stay onboard with him and download my Game-and-Watch programs through the limo." Carol said.
"Drop me off on the island." Maddy requested. "I can help defend it from any ships that get too close."
"LOOK OUT, MOBIUS!" Sheila screamed, kicking open the door. "Captain Sheila's here to blow these drongos outta the SKYYYYYY!" She rode the wind with a twirl of her tail!
"Or we could just leave everything to her." Weiss joked. "Nah. Schnee Dust is my responsibility."
"And bringing judgment is mine." Pacifica joined her teammate by the door. "Let's do this."
Weiss nodded, a confident smile crossing her features. (Play "Egg Fleet" from Sonic Heroes!)
Invasion 5: Mobius
Mission: Stop Schnee Dust's occupation of the planet!
Act 1: Fleet Cordovin
Weiss stretched a frozen grind-rail that she and Pacifica began to slide along, cleanly snaking left and right in evasion of cannonfire. Weiss angled the rail up like a ramp as they flew off and landed atop a Mini Manta ship, the pilots panicking inside the wide windshield. Pacifica used her chains to rip open the roof hatch. The soldiers inside shot upward, but Weiss slipped in between rounds and quickly KO'ed them. She rejoined Pacifica as the latter wrapped her chains around a hanging device on a higher craft, allowing it to carry them toward a large ship. They swung and dodged cannonfire in the meanwhile before landing on it.
Cannons rose from the roof and aimed at them. Weiss skied about to draw their fire and freeze them inside-out. Pacifica ran further ahead as humanoid robots marched up to confront her; Atlesian Knight-200's. Pacifica spun her chains like fans to block their guns. She wrapped a droid in them and spun it against four more surrounding her, beheading them with the force. She grabbed another and swung it into a cannon, causing it to shoot through its clogged hole and explode. She and Weiss raced toward a stairway of cannon pillars; Pacifica chained each one and pulled them to the next until they could smash into the cockpit. Weiss KO'ed the troops while Pacifica tugged the last cannon to aim at the cockpit. The girls leapt out before the cockpit exploded!
They grinded another Ice Rail between two long ships. Weiss abruptly changed the height of her rail in response to their cannonfire. A ship directly in front threatened to blast them with a mega laser, but they quickly redirected downward. Thankfully, the Limo$uper came by to take care of those ships: it extracted a shock rod to transmit the lightning from Raleigh's Pokémon and strike their engines.
Weiss and Pacifica skied along the deck of a thin, long ship. A platoon of black and red robots rocketed after them, armed with large shields with small machineguns attached, firing concentrated wind bullets from the Nature Dust they were embedded with. Weiss aimed her Myrtenaster and shot bolts of Lightning Dust at the same velocity. She struck the shields in their turrets and destroyed five of the AK-135's. The girls smashed through the cockpit's windshield and stomped the gas pedal, ramming the long ship directly into a hulking flagship: the impact squished the long ship down to a pitiful size. "Ow…my pride." The pilot moaned.
Weiss and Pacifica dove downward, but swiftly transitioned to grinding a vertical Ice Rail. They descended with incredible momentum, closing in on another ship that looked ripe for breaking into. As they fell past the side of the ship, Pacifica chained a handle, grabbed Weiss, and swung them around the handle and into a window with the same momentum. A pair of black and red Spider Droids blasted them from the end of a hallway, armed with multiple blue energy cannons. Weiss and Pacifica dodged their way up the corridor; Pacifica wrapped one of the left one's turrets in her chains and forced it to aim and shoot the other spider. Afterwards, Weiss shot Gravity Dust at that spider and flattened it against the floor.
In the following room, Pacifica and Weiss were stunned in horror before an Atlesian Paladin-290, a much larger robot with sturdy arms and legs. "I won't show any mercy!" yelled the pilot. "Even for you, Miss Schnee!"
"WAAAAH!" A group of soldiers cried as they were blown through one of the other entrances. Sheila and Mason raced in.
"Oi, now THAT robo looks fun to punch, Mason!"
"Damn! The Pirate King!" The AP-290 immediately changed focus and fired an array of missiles. Mason cast his own array of soda bottle missiles to destroy them, while Sheila treated the robot to a Light Fist that was its very size!
However, the AP-290 extracted a large mirror plate, absorbing Sheila's light. "BLIMEY!" Sheila screamed as the robot lunged over and punched them both back down the corridor.
"Nice try, Sunny Fist! We upgraded our mechs with solar panels! Your power is useless on us!"
"We'll see about THAT!" Sheila used lightspeed to dash up and bend the robot's knee against itself with a direct punch.
"OW! My robot's shin!"
Mason rushed up and froze soda inside of its cannons while Sheila began pummeling the cockpit until it split open. The rest was history for the pilot.
Weiss and Pacifica had leeway to go up the cockpit stairs while the 290 was distracted. They hoped to make short work of the pilots—they fired blue Stun Rings from bazookas and stunned the duo stiff. "Hurry and get these two on a transport! We'll bring them to the prison in-"
"Oi, what's going on up-!" Sheila jumped and smashed through the window, stepping on a large button.
A trapdoor opened, dropping Weiss and Pacifica down a slide. "SHEILAAAAA!" They quickly plummeted from the sky.
"CRIKEY! Oi'll save ya MAAAAATES!" Sheila dove down the slide herself and fell after them.
"Sheila!" Mason exclaimed. "Crud! Better call the others!" (End song.)
Unfortunately, by the time Sheila could grab onto the stunned Weiss and Pacifica, there was nothing to stop them from falling into the ocean. The mainland was close, but the cliff looked rather arduous to climb. "Well, looks like we're going for a swim!" Sheila grinned.
"Great." Pacifica sighed. "But even if we can make it to that cliff, we got other problems!"
A massive, grayish-brown robot stirred waves as it stomped toward the cliff. A platoon of Mobian KND fired weapons or elements, but it projected a light-shield from its palm. The palm transformed into a white cannon and buried several operatives in tons of rock. "That's the Colossus!" Weiss gasped. "Atlas' strongest robot! They actually brought it here?!"
"Oi, they really know how ta make a gal feel welcome!" Sheila cheered. "WHOA!"
Their fall was abruptly stopped by a large net, hanging from a small two-seat plane. "Sorry!" the pilot yelled in a gentle voice. "I didn't have time to warn you I was coming! I hope nothing's broken!"
"What?! Who are you?" Pacifica asked.
She was a girl with long grassy green hair and blooming pink flowers on the top sides. She wore a light-pink dress with its rim above the chest, marked with a heart. "My name is Halinor. Of Sector SOUTH." She had light-vanilla skin, blue eyes, and a canine nose. "If you don't mind me asking, did you fall from that fleet above?"
"We were trying to fight them, but we got stunned and ejected. Looks like it's wearing off though." Pacifica and Weiss were able to move their legs.
"Since we're 'ere, we'll beat up that big ol' robo if you want!" Sheila offered.
"Really?" Halinor turned down to face them. "…Wait, aren't you… Sheila Frantic?!"
"Here to give Mobius a sunny hand!"
Halinor beamed. "I'll fly us over right away!"
The Colossus' pilot, Caroline Cordovin, smirked as the platoon of Mobians lay defeated. She was a short, elderly woman with a white uniform and silver-grey hair. Cordovin noticed a dot on her radar and twisted the mech to face the plane. Sheila was now standing on the wing, holding her two allies. "Weiss Schnee." Her voice resounded. "We had a hunch you'd come here."
"Commander Cordovin!"
"But this is a welcome opportunity. Now I will prove Atlesian might against the Pirate King herself!" She unleashed a storm of lasers at the plane.
But they were intercepted by a green hedgehog on a hoverboard. He raised a pair of cymbals to deflect the lasers into Cordovin's cockpit. "Don't forget who your REAL enemy is!"
"Great job, Manic!" Halinor cheered. Manic had numerous long and spiky quills, wore an open orange vest, spiked wristbands with white gloves, and red and white shoes.
"Don't think you can trample over our home and get away with it!" A pink hedgehog flew her own fighter craft, controlled by a piano keyboard as she fired pink lasers. She spoke with a valley girl accent.
"You tell her, Sonia!" Sonia had pink fluffy hair and spinal spikes, with otherwise fuchsia fur. She wore a red top, gold belt, purple gloves and skirt, and boots of red and purple.
"Hey, Pirate King, let us show you how it's done!" Manic said. The Earthlings exchanged glances of anticipation. (Play "Big Metal Shoe" from RWBY!)
Sonia put her plane on autopilot and leapt onto the Colossus' right arm. Cordovin raised the other arm and tried to smash the hedgehog like a bug… but Sonia's superb strength kept the cannon elevated. Sonia twirled on her feet with high speed, spinning into a pink tornado and drilling through the cannon beneath her. Cordovin felt her doing damage inside, so she charged the Wind Cannon to blast Sonia a vast distance across the shore. Manic landed on the Colossus' head and withdrew a drum set from his Infi-Cube: twirling some drumsticks, Manic rocked it out on the drums. Seismic tremors began vibrating throughout the Colossus, disorienting Cordovin until she was able to shake the hedgehog off. Manic returned his drum set and landed on his hoverboard.
Sonia returned to the cliff on her motorbike. Weiss gave her a hand by making an ice ramp, so Sonia could launch at the Colossus. Cordovin aimed at the hedgehog and charged lightning in its cannon, but Sonia flew up the ramp and got above the lightning in the nick of time! Cordovin fired missiles as Sonia rode up the left arm. The hedgehog dodged them with ease and sped up to the shoulder. From there, she leapt to the windshield and drilled down it with her cyclone attack. The windshield cracked from the effort, and another seismic drumroll from Manic shattered it completely.
Halinor caught Sonia on her plane before she could fall into the sea. Cordovin converted the left arm into a drill and tried to slice the plane out of the air. The fox hybrid made a tight incline in evasion, "WHOOOA!" but Sheila fell off the plane and on the drill. "YEEEEEEEEEEE!" She clasped the side of it firmly and enjoyed the ride of her life! Well, one of the rides of her life at least. The speed of the drill allowed her to muster Light Chi in her tail, growing more massive with every rotation. When she finally let herself fly into the air, Sheila cast the Light Tail at the wrist of the drill, snapping it off!
Sonia leapt into the exposed cockpit and engaged Cordovin in close-quarters combat. Cordovin deflected Sonia's palm thrusts and kicked up at the hedgehog's jaw. Sonia fell, but swiftly pushed against the floor to tackle Cordovin off her feet. She punched the commander's jaw, to which Cordovin caught Sonia between the knees, flipped her on her back, then punched her nose before flipping off. "What's that?!" She heard something shuffling up in her control station and saw a bunch of green quills.
"Dude, this tech is nuts!" Manic said as he rearranged the wires. "I gotta get me one of these babies!"
"GET OUT OF THAT-" Cordovin rushed to stop him, but Sonia jumped and wrapped legs around her head. She thrusted herself backward and yanked Cordovin into a flip, faceplanting her into the floor.
"Sorry, lady, but your Badnik needs a serious potty break!"
Manic's hacking caused the Colossus to put its remaining cannon over its pelvis. It wriggled erratically and felt compelled to "relieve" itself into the ocean, discarding the last of its energy. "MY COLOSSUS! NOOOOOO!" Cordovin extended an arm in despair before Sonia KO'ed her with one solid kick. (End song.)
Weiss, Pacifica, and Sheila joined their new Mobian friends on the shore. "Oi at least wanted a few punches at it!" Sheila said. "But Ah guess Ah'll live with that ripper drill ride."
"If you wanna go for a real ride," Manic began teasingly, "you should see how big Sonia's tornado can get."
"So, Sheila… I bet you already know who we are." Sonia smiled proudly.
"Uhhhhh…" Sheila scratched her noggin.
"You mean you haven't?!"
"Wot? Oi don't study other KNDs! Only pirates!"
"Heh, I guess fame's pretty one-sided, Sonia." Manic shrugged. "But no biggie! We're Sector SOUTH. The top hogs around these parts."
Weiss giggled. She and Pacifica introduced their selves and their sector. "Weiss Schnee, huh?" Sonia cocked a brow. "I'm glad you weren't just all talk."
"The way you stuck up for the Chance was pretty rad." Manic praised.
"Hehe…" Weiss blushed. "I mean… yes. What Father is doing is disgraceful. As heiress to the Schnee Family, it's my duty to-"
"Yeah, yeah, save the noble speeches for the news." The green hedgehog brushed the air. "If you're here to help us kick some army butt, then you're A-OK."
"Sounds OK then!" Pacifica smiled. "But first, we gotta regroup with the others."
Angel Island
The echidna toddler climbed the cliff with ease, joyed to meet Maddy at the top. "Nice, Tikal. But can you catch me up HERE?" Maddy proceeded up the next cliff face, twice as high. The child determinedly climbed up… but a slightly unsteady rock became her downfall. "Uh-oh!"
Thankfully, the child was saved in Shade's open hands. "Gotta watch out for those loose rocks, little one."
Maddy jumped back down. "Hehe…" Feeling at fault for the small accident, she blushed. "At least she had a better time than I did at that age."
Shade giggled. She set Tikal down as the child clambered up to Maddy's head. "Tikal was named after the princess that befriended Chaos. Perhaps she feels his presence on you."
"Well, seeing as that would be Nya's presence now… please get it off." Maddy picked Tikal up in her hands and playfully tapped her nose. "I'm really glad for you, Shade. This is what I want someday. A nice peaceful life on an-"
"MAD CONQUEROR!" A hulking armored soldier thundered toward them. "I WILL BOUNCE YOUR HEAD LIKE A BASKETBALL!"
Maddy shoved him with such force that he went flying off the distant shore of the island. "I hope you can someday." Shade took her daughter back. "But I'm glad you're staying strong through all this. It's because of you we're still here today."
"Nah…I don't deserve credit for that."
That's when a ninja zipped up with a knife aimed at Maddy's throat. He had kept his chi concealed sneaking up on her. But the knife merely bent against her hardened neck, and the ninja was swiftly banished from the island. "At first, I didn't mind losing a fight once in a while. Made me feel like I was still human. But after K. Rool… I realized I was tired of holding myself back. I would've failed this planet if Deku wasn't here. That's why I'm here now."
Three Paladin-290's landed on the ground around them. "Well," Shade began as Maddy grabbed one's leg, "even if you don't win," Maddy smashed it against the second robot like a hammer, "you'll never be a failure to us." Maddy's fist stopped before reaching the third mech's cockpit, but his insides compressed against her ranged Haki.
"Thanks, Shade." Maddy's communicator rang. "…Ah. Sounds like the battle's over. I'll see you later!"
The operatives met up at the jungle on the coast of Angel Island, where roaring waterfalls poured into the ocean. "Wait, where's Kokichi?" Pacifica asked.
"Over heeeeeeeere!" There seemed to be a stray Atlas ship, jiggling with Kokichi's every word. "Guess what? I gambled with this ship's captain and won! I'll add this to my pirate fleet! Haha!"
"Quit fooling around." Ciel huffed. "Anyhow, Sector SOUTH… we did research on the situation before coming here. Schnee Dust is imprisoning your operatives and other civilians in containment camps."
"That's right." Sonia replied strictly. "He took control of towns that were destroyed by the Kremlings. We've liberated one of them, and our other teammates are working on one in Menagerie."
"Yes." Halinor nodded. "And, um, I'd like to go and help them… but you don't have to come if you don't want."
"And why the heck wouldn't we?" Mason asked. "It's time like these we gotta remember Samus Aran's famous banner." He brought up an image on his phone: Samus Aran yelling SAVE THE ANIMALS! to the viewer while three Etecoons and a Dachora were running onto a white ship.
"Let's fly to Menagerie ASAP." Weiss declared.
"But we shouldn't all have to go at once." Maddy reasoned. "Sheila, Mason, and I can go take care of other camps."
"Then how 'bout you check on the Golden Hive Colony?" Manic suggested.
"Cinder's sector is already taking care of that." Sonia said.
"Cinder?!" Sheila gasped. "That's Blaze's kiddo! To Golden Hive we go!" Sheila grabbed Mason and Maddy and, "GERONIMOOOOOOOOOOO!" jumped off the island!
"ARE YOU PLANNING TO SWIM US THERE OR SOMETHING?!" they cried.
"Yyyyeah… we better make a quick plane for them." Manic suggested.
Sol Castle
It shamed Queen Blaze to have to litter her waters with so many soldiers and wrecked ships. Her sapphire embers dwindled after the battle, while her psychic husband levitated around the wreckage and prevented any of them from drowning. "The Game of Thrones…" Blaze thought aloud. "It's worse than I'd heard. Sonic… if you were here now… what would you do…"
"Blaze!" her husband, Silver the Hedgehog called. Her attention was drawn to an approaching warship with the figurehead of a gold, one-horned lion. Even from a distance, Blaze met the glare of Aurelia Le Guin, the silver-haired admiral on the stern. Beside her was a massive gorilla with pineapple-shaped hair: Admiral Kong.
The ship slowed to a halt a short distance from the shoreline of the castle's island. "Queen Blaze… for your knowing affiliation with the Pirate King and your daughter's disruption of Schnee Dust operations, you have been deemed an enemy of the Galactic Army. However, President Schnee is willing to forgive your transgressions… if you surrender your Sol Emeralds."
"Leave my kingdom at once." Blaze commanded. "Or you will die for your transgressions."
Aurelia raised her red and silver great sword, Arcadia. "Then kill me." Her sword turned black with Haki, except for the gold rim and middle designs. (Play "Wrapped in Black" from Sonic Rush.)
Seeing those colors terrified Blaze and Silver. The queen knew she couldn't afford to hold back on this woman. The seven Sol Emeralds orbited her: Blaze's braided hair, tail, wrists, and ankles ignited with great violet flames.
Aurelia kicked off her ship and flew at the queen with a golden aura, impacting Blaze's violet comet in a dazzling dance. Their engagement proceeded on the shoreline as Aurelia split every flame Blaze cast, eventually directing her blade at Blaze's shoulder. Blaze shot backward in evasion and up into the air before crashing onto the admiral. Aurelia raised Arcadia in defense as she was forced into a squat. Aurelia swung Blaze off her, but the queen made a quick rebound and lashed out at the admiral with blazing heels. Aurelia positioned her sword at several positions, but Blaze took angles around them and dealt several strikes.
Aurelia dealt a successful cut to Blaze's hip, the queen retreating. She cast burning cyclones, and Aurelia dodged the most she could while casting her own golden sword waves. Both suffered their share of pain before Aurelia lunged at Blaze, throwing a crescent swing that slit a large gash in the island. Blaze flew skyward and narrowly survived, conjuring a miniature violet sun and throwing it unto Aurelia. The admiral slashed the air in the form of an 8-pointed star and tore through the sun, though some of its embers still burned her. Blaze followed up with a Comet Strike: Aurelia managed to thrust her sword into the queen before she herself was sent flying into the sea.
Blaze dove into the sea and spread heat across it. The unfortunate fish caught in the crossfire would feed the town well. However, Aurelia endured the heat and swam to continue her duel underwater. Blaze blinded her with clouds of scalding steam, but with Observation Haki at her disposal, Aurelia traced the queen's position and slashed the waves accordingly. Blaze began to spin and create a gigantic maelstrom of steam. Aurelia chose to sheathe her blade and pour all her strength into swimming out of the current. Minutes of perseverance rewarded her with the breath of the surface, the admiral swimming to shore to relieve herself of the scalding waters.
Blaze rocketed up on shore and rammed the admiral with enough intensity to blast her through the palace gates. "For goodness' sake, Your Highness, this is why you need to control your temper!" yelled the palace guard, Gardon.
Aurelia faced down the entry stairwell with a smirk and stormed down. Blaze planted her hands into the earth and erected pillars of fire in Aurelia's direction. "Rakshasa ONSLAUGHT!" The admiral sprung into the air before impaling the ground: channeling a great surge of Haki, illusory swords ruptured from the ground in the same fashion, piercing the queen at the same time she was burned by the pillars.
Meanwhile, Silver levitated above Admiral Kong. "A member of the Kong Family works for the Galactic Army? Why weren't you here when the Kremlings attacked us?"
Kong shot him a glare that implied, Sometimes, there are no easy answers. What matters now is my job. And since Silver was psychic, he could read Kong's thoughts strongly. The ape launched into the air, and despite Silver's efforts to grab him with telekinesis, Kong threw a hardened punch, generating a shockwave across the air that blew the hedgehog away. As Silver returned to the flagship, he was bewildered as Kong took flight on his own rocket barrel, equipped with banana cannons. He steered the rocket with his feet while he waved his arms and fingers to make bananas fly out of the side barrels. Silver wondered, at first, if he was also a psychicbender… but he didn't sense similar chi.
Kong willed the bananas to swarm around Silver like boomerangs. The yellow fruits turned black with Haki as each impact felt like being hit with iron. Silver formed a Psy-Shield in defense, but his efforts to wrestle the bananas from Kong's bending were fruitless… literally. Silver instead teleported near the sea and grabbed some flotsam, throwing them at Kong's rocket. Kong bent some bananas to form a shield against the rubble, but he would return the bananas to his barrels as he jumped down. Silver flew evasively, but Kong's impact with the water splashed a great tidal wave that washed Silver into the sea.
Not being the best swimmer, Silver took flight again. Kong's rocket was still in flight, so he hoped to destroy the unmanned rocket. However, Kong blasted out of the sea with a powerful uppercut, causing the dazed hedgehog to fall. By the time Silver recovered, Kong was back in his rocket. He bent bananas to form rugged gauntlets, so with each punch, bananas would shoot toward Silver with intense force. Silver teleported around the ape to confuse him, using every opening to throw Psy-Spheres. The pain Kong endured was nothing that couldn't be quelled by just eating a few bananas.
Kong listened closely for where Silver would warp next, arming himself with a gun-shaped banana. When Silver appeared behind his left, the ape quickly turned his gun at the hedgehog and squeezed: the banana shot out of the peel with greater intensity, splattering against Silver's eyes. Kong leapt with both hands together and hammered Silver so hard that he splashed hundreds of leagues under the sea.