This may have been a short arc, but I think I did pretty well with it! There wasn't much need to explore Mobius that much, since we've already explored a ton of it in the past few stories. So, let's end things off on a solid note!
Jacques had never felt so offended. How could this mutt think she had any form of authority? Didn't she realize the position she was in? "I am not going anywhere. Not until I expose you for the evil-"
"President Schnee… I don't care to know why you hate my people so much." Chancellor Yorkshire continued. "Nor do I care for what power King Mickey gave you in this war. But I want no part in a council that permits this desecration of my world. You and the Galactic Army are hereby banned from Mobius. And if the Galaxian government still expects my part in the council, they will have you pay all the compensation you owe us."
"So long as King Mickey and the Galactic Army need Nature Crystals, they will make sure I hold all the funds. And I won't give a coin to you. You, Madame Chancellor, are an ally to both the KND and the Kremlings. I can smell it. So, show us your true nature."
Officer Hopps' ears twitched: she heard a gun cock. She saw a sniper situated on the side of one of the chimneys. "Chancellor! Up there!"
The sniper shot a purplish bullet at Cheadle's head: she raised her palm and hardened it as the bullet splattered. She stared at the juicy substance. "Night Howler!"
"Oh, you've done it now!" Carmelita fired her shock pistol up at the sniper.
The surrounding soldiers trained weapons—"Soldiers, stand down!" Ironwood ordered. "That sniper was a Schnee employee, not one of ours." He approached calmly. "Miss Chancellor, let us talk in private."
"Where do you think you're going?!" Jacques held him back.
"To negotiate." Ironwood brushed his hand off.
"The time for that is past! She is an ally of the KND, so we must fight!"
"King Mickey and Senator Phyronix have not designated her an enemy. We can still-"
"King Mickey put me in charge of this planet and you were assigned under me! Now, SUBDUE THEM!"
Ironwood merely returned his command with a cold stare. "G-GENERAL!" A soldier came running from the south. "The Kids Next Door are storming the island! Weiss Schnee's sector and dozens of Mobians!"
"All troops, head south and suppress them!"
"Yes, sir!"
"NO!" Jacques cried over the rumbling of hundreds of footsteps. "DON'T ALL LEAVE! Dah!" Jacques flew to the air as a cloud of Dust. With his torso maintaining shape, Jacques grabbed an animal whistle and blew. The Mobians winced from the painful sound, but they were equipped with earplugs to mitigate it.
However, it was only then they saw the whistle's true purpose: a horde of savage Mobians stampeded out of the farmhouse. "What the SKUNK?!" exclaimed Officer Nick Wilde.
"Nick, those are the prisoners that the army confiscated!" Judy said.
"Hey, you're right! And isn't that the guy we just arrested yesterday, Lumpus?"
"Never mind him!" Chief Bogo shouted. "Look at that one!"
"Blaze…" Cheadle almost didn't recognize the Sol Kingdom queen, charging at them on all fours with a ravenous snarl. "Subdue the victims! Hold them out until the KND arrive!"
Judy nimbly kicked between the head of a savage pig and Chinese monkey, landing before slide-kicking a Doberman off his feet. Nick sprayed fox repellant at some savage foxes… and no, he didn't need to hear the irony of that.
Cheadle cautiously approached the savage Blaze, holding out a taming hand. …The violet queen calmed her growling and stuff Cheadle's glove. She was docile, like a cat familiar with its owner. Well, perhaps that was an odd analogy. "Oh…Blaze…" She gently stroked the queen's hair in sympathy.
Another sniper shot the right of Cheadle's face. The chancellor winced as the Night Howler splattered on her fur, but she quickly wiped it off with a sanitizer cloth. "Why didn't it work?!" the sniper asked in a female voice.
The chancellor cast her a glare. "Growwwwl!" Blaze faced her friend's enemy. The sniper cried and ran, but the feral queen would maul her to critical injury. Blaze picked up the scent of her Night Howler and would sniff out other employees harboring the substance.
Cheadle giggled. "Reminds me of that story about Sonic becoming a Werehog." The chancellor decided to leave Blaze to her instinct.
Whitley Schnee observed from his father's office window, horrified as the conflict broke out. The young teen crouched and hid under the desk. What was going to happen to this place? And to him? He had too much responsibility on his shoulders… If only his sisters were here to take it instead. If only…
…
Green Hill was a stunning sight to look at, or so the Earthlings had always heard. The grass and cliffs possessed checkerboard patterns, the plateaued islands were separated by crisp waters and elevated lakes, with waterfalls streaming down the highest plateaus, and the flowers and palm trees were whimsical. But following the arrival of Schnee's factory, the lush greenery was withered and the skies fumy with rainbow smoke.
These withered hills became a war zone of operatives and galactic soldiers. Three Beach Troops aimed water guns at Ciel again—Neptune jumped in the way and made a "barrier" with his chi, seizing the water in his bending before sending it back. "You have my thanks." Ciel smiled. "I'm not fond of water."
"Really? Neither am I!" Neptune grinned.
"Then why are you a flippin' waterbender?!"
"Don't ask me, ask Kyogre!"
Sheila and Sun Wukong jumped across palm trees like the monkey Sun was, but Sheila wasn't. Sheila grew intrigued as Sun divided into Light Clones, jumping separate strings of trees and ambushing soldiers from above. "Strewth! Oi never learned that move!"
"Actually, it's a metahuman power." Sun replied.
"Oh, then that's just cheating."
"Sheila!" Mason yelled. "You could probably replicate that move, too, if you tried! I mean, you already use light attacks based on your body parts."
Sonia, Manic, and Cinder led their Earthlings friends along a shortcut over Hedgehog's Pass. It was a long strip of natural bridge over the warzone. They examined some of the skirmishes as they raced overhead.
Tangle the Lemur battled Captain Very Good, who could break himself into numerous balls using his Berry-Berry Fruit. The balls would try to overwhelm and pummel Tangle, and she could only damage the captain by striking the ball with his face. Chungchung crawled into the clothes of Captain Nezumi, a tall mouse Faunus, nipping every sensitive area she could. Anak faced Captain Gorilla, a hulking human and subordinate of Admiral Kong. The lizard girl's strength far exceeded his. Lanolin the Sheep trapped Commander Fullbody in a dance using her Golden Cowbell. …And also, Isabelle seemed to join in the dance. Well, her head is a bell, after all.
"Sheila, Maddy, you sure you two will be okay with those injuries?" Weiss asked.
"What injuries?" Maddy asked.
"You're freakin' wrapped up like a mummy!" Pacifica shouted.
"And you had no real time to rest!" Carol argued. "You fought two powerful admirals just a few hours ago."
"I'm seeing this mission through to the end." Maddy stated.
"And Oi promised Weiss I'd sock her pops at least once!" Sheila followed.
"Take it or leave it." Sonia said agreeably.
"We don't slow down around here!" Manic said. "If you got time to complain about injuries, then run!"
"Here comes the loop-de-loop!" Cinder alerted. "Everybody hang on!"
"WHEEEEEE!" While the Mobians could run up easily, Weiss formed a chain with her friends, leading the front as they ice-skied over the loop.
"Can't come to Mobius without going up one of those!" Raleigh cheered.
With the factory's pavilion closing into view, they could make out the skirmishes between the Mobian Army, police, and the savages. "Hey!" Weiss gestured her friends to halt when a familiar, bearded general impeded the exit of Hedgehog's Pass.
"Miss Schnee… I'm afraid I can no longer show you any mercy." Ironwood aimed his white gun.
"Where's Winter?!"
"In prison for treason. And I doubt I'll let you near each other after I've captured you."
"Buddy, you really wanna do this again?" Maddy asked with a cock of her brow.
"No matter how many of you there are, I won't let the KND win."
"But I will!" Ironwood gasped and turned as Cheadle rushed him.
"The Chance!" Manic exclaimed. Ironwood fully hardened his body, but when Cheadle's fist met his stomach, it bent inward as the general hacked saliva. Cheadle followed with an uppercut, sending Ironwood falling down the short cliff.
"AW RIGHT!" Sonia cheered.
Ironwood used Due Process to propel himself back to their level, so Cheadle pounced and forced him back to the bottom. "Chancellor, please!" Ironwood used palm thrusts to deflect her fists. "I assure you I intend to deal with Schnee!"
"But you're prioritizing these heroes over him!" Cheadle gnashed fangs at his cybernetic arm, tearing out a few wires. "I'd sooner go out with the KND!"
"Then you give me no choice!" Ironwood leapt backward and fired explosive bullets, but Cheadle withstood them with Haki. She got on all fours, rushed, and gnashed his leg. The general forced her off with a punch to the skull, but after rebounding, Cheadle kicked forth and headbutted his gut, knocking him into a boulder.
"She's stronger than I thought!" Weiss praised. Her and Winter could barely breach Ironwood's Haki, but Cheadle seemed too fast and strong for him to keep up.
"That's why we love her!" Sonia twirled.
"There they are!" A horde of soldiers came storming up the pass. "The Pirate King and Mad Conqueror! They look weakened! REVENGE FOR OUR ADMIRALS!"
"You know what," Carol stepped forth, "I'm tired of being overlooked."
"Me, too!" Raleigh and Ciel joined her. "Weiss, you go on ahead!"
"Yeah, Weiss, leave the grunts to the amateurs!" Kokichi raced toward the factory, shooting guns like a cowboy. "The big boss is for us!"
Weiss and Pacifica shared an eye-roll. After passing a quick thanks to Carol's group, the operatives proceeded.
Judy and Nick were surrounded by savage inmates: Scoutmaster Lumpus the moose, Muggshot the bulldog, Grizz the bear, and Mz. Ruby the alligator. "Mind if we lend a hand?" Bunnie extended her robot arm to grab Ruby's snout, slingshot into her, and stamp her with her mechanical boots. Antoine flew into Grizz with his Spin Ball Blade Attack. The bunny and fox operatives landed back-to-back with the bunny and fox officers.
"And I was just waiting for someone to take me off for my break." Nick joked.
"Zis vill be the second time zis year we've had to put these crooks away." Antoine said.
"At least you have us to help you this time." Judy said. During the Pirate War, the Kremlings had freed all the criminals and enlisted them in their Krew. The non-Reverted Mobian operatives worked hard to hunt down and recapture them.
Muggshot and Lumpus were shot by Carmelita's Shock Pistol. "With you here, we'll get this island back to normal in a jiffy!"
A short distance away, Pekoms Lionheart was impeded by Octavio, a savage lion with a vanilla beard and mustache. "I told you that gig was a bad idea, didn't I, Octavio?! Now, can we wrap this up? Schnee owes me a debt, too!"
Weiss' group reached the factory grounds, the source of the island's smoggy, yet colorful clouds rising from the smokestacks. The base of the factory had both large wheels and rockets, as it was a mobile structure. "IT'S MOM!" Cinder exclaimed as a team of Schnee employees were trying to stun the wild queen with Shock Dust guns. Only three out of 20 were left standing before they succeeded in knocking her out. But Maddy would finish them off with a wave of Conqueror's Haki.
Cinder rushed to her mother's side. Blaze was faintly breathing. "Mom… how could they do this to you?"
"This is the true state animals like her belong."
A stream of rainbowy, sparkling Dust descended onto the ground, reforming into President Schnee. "Father…" Weiss fixed her gaze.
"Do not address me in such a way, Weiss. Don't you remember what I told you?"
"You're a real sicko, you know that?" Sonia said. "Ya wanna know why we always bust up your mining operations? It's 'cause we're tired of creeps always takin' from our world and leavin' only ruin. Don't matter if it's Eggman or whoever else."
"That's right." Weiss said. "You started mining on this planet without a permit. Mining Nature Crystals is harmful to the Heart of a World… That's why our company only scrapes off small fragments, the Dust of the crystals, and fixes it into concentrated forms. But you still need permission to do that."
"I don't need you to tell me my own business practice! These animals never understood the value of progress! Just because madmen like Eggman left them a bad impression, why should I be denied their rich crystals?!"
"Because our crystals are ours to use, not yours!" Manic argued. "Also, 'value of progress,' have ya seen how high-tech some of our cities are?! And they're better than yours!"
"I've no interest in bartering with you! Regardless if it's Kids Next Door or my own former daughters, you've cost me too much of my time and resources! And it's time for my compensation."
"Okay, can we can it with the business bullcrap and ask why you're all glowy?" Kokichi asked.
"I feel a familiar essence from him." Cinder said. "Strong Fire Chi… like the Sol Emeralds!"
"Father!" Weiss gasped. "Don't tell me… you made Dust out of the emeralds?!"
"Oh, wouldn't I have liked to? Fortunately, the energy from the emeralds resonated very well with this planet's Nature Dust… and that Dust is now part of my body! And I didn't just use the Sol Emeralds. During this war, my workers were able to locate the Chaos Emeralds! Observe!" Jacques raised his palms: his windows opened as streams of sparkling Dust flew into his being.
"Yo, that ain't good!" Manic exclaimed. "The emeralds only just came back to the planet, how'd ya find them so fast?!"
"They are surprisingly easy to find! While the Sol Emeralds greatly increase my Fire Dust, the Chaos adapt well with my other Dust types! Now I no longer fear even the likes of you two!" He focused on Maddy and Sheila. "I'm sure the admirals at least made some effort in wearing you down."
"Ya couldn't be more wrong about that!" Sheila fist-palmed.
"His chi feels very strong though." Maddy cautioned. "We should approach him carefully."
"No matter what you throw at us, Father," Weiss raised her sword, "it won't stop me from setting this company AND our family straight!"
"Then I shall be rid of my mistakes at last!" (Play "Eggman Showdown" from Sonic Lost World!)
World Boss: Jacques Schnee
The neon president threw waves of flaming Dust, too hot for Weiss' icicles to penetrate. Fortunately, Cinder matched his techniques with sharper focus and tore a rift between the waves. Weiss skied through and thrusted icicles into Jacques: just as Cinder predicted, her father reeled back in pain when the ice struck the Fire Dust. All Jacques needed was more fire: he spun his Dust body like a tornado and became a rainbowy vortex. Weiss and Cinder fled from the pursuing twister; even the princess struggled to mitigate his flames. "Weiss!" Sonia grabbed her hand. "Why don't WE go for a whirl?"
"You got it!" Sonia would spin into a bright whirlwind, and Weiss would freeze the ground at her heels to keep up with the momentum. Weiss held Myrtenaster out and channeled a wave of frost: they spun against Jacques' tornado like a buzzsaw. The flames were agonizing on Weiss, but the sawing force was just as painful on Jacques, so the president cleared distance from them. They stopped spinning and watched as Jacques converted to Shock Dust, flicking samples of it at the girls with lightning speed. Sonia suffered a strike, while Weiss was able to nimbly evade them.
"Hey, I want a turn!" Kokichi shot Dark Bullets, Jacques wincing from their impact. "Hahaha! Take THAT, Shocks Schnee!" The enraged president ascended to the air as a cloud of Dust. He loomed above Kokichi and struck lightning down at the liar. "GAHAHAAAAA!" Kokichi seemed to stretch taller with each strike. "I knew I was a big rod, but this is ridiculous!"
"I'm starting to miss Zach's jokes." Maddy sighed.
"But it gives me an idea!" Sonia ran up to hug Kokichi.
"Yay, I finally have a girlfriend!"
"Not on your life! Just make darkness!" Sonia spun the elongated boy into her tornado while Kokichi projected a cloud of darkness from himself. As Jacques was vacuumed into the twister, the Dark Chi forced him back into his default form, throwing him into the ground. Sonia ceased spinning and slammed Kokichi into him like a hammer.
Jacques smacked Kokichi away with a furious grunt and rose to the air again. Purple Dust flew out of his factory and became amassed in his neon body. "Hey! That's darkness!" Kokichi exclaimed.
"Dark Dust?!" Weiss gasped. "How did you get ahold of Evil Crystals?!"
"You must not be familiar with the legend of Dark Gaia." Jacques said. "An evil spirit that slumbers beneath this world. Evil Crystals formulate from its essence. And proves the Mobians' evil."
"Oh, I'll show you evil, mate." Sheila cracked her knuckles: this was her cue to lend a fist. Jacques morphed into a giant version of his own head: the way he flickered with the grainy black and purple Dust almost looked like a static T.V. screen. Sheila punched rounds of Light Fists at the face, but Jacques opened holes through himself to let them pass through. Afterwards, the president inhaled a deep breath and blew a massive wall of dark fire. The operatives cleared as far from it as they could.
"Sheila!" Cinder joined the captain's side. "Let's do a Chi Unison! We can clear these flames together!" Sheila eagerly accepted the notion as they linked hands. Sheila began to spin her arm—"Whoooa!" but Cinder's whole body wound up spinning with it!
"Whoops." Sheila stopped. "Hehe. You're as light as a boneless kitten, Cinder!"
"It seems I am. You're gonna have to slow down a peg if we're gonna pull this off." They began the same tactic as Sheila lightened her speed and force. With their chi mustered and synchronized, they cast a wave of yellow-white fire. It didn't look much different from Sheila's Fury form, but the Light Flames were able to burn through the Dark Fire. They cleared a path toward Jacques and punched a concentrated blast at his mouth, but he opened another gap to let it pass.
"Sheila!" Weiss skied to her side. "If he's mixing Dark and Fire Dust, you and I should get him! Jump on my back!"
"Aye-aye!" Sheila got behind, propped her arms over Weiss' elbows, and wrapped legs around her hip.
"Hurk!" Weiss grunted. She was only a couple inches taller than Sheila, but the Faunus had thicker muscles and was overall heavier. "No biggie, we can make this work! Put your arms over mine!" Weiss held her arms forward as Sheila did so. She skied as well as she could with her extra weight and conjured Sunny Snowflakes! They were shaped like regular flakes, but shone like suns, and were the size of their hands. They waved their arms and willed the Sunflakes to orbit Jacques, striking his head at unforeseen angles. Jacques eventually grew dizzy from the volley of flakes, so to finish off their combo, Weiss and Sheila began to cartwheel! Weiss conjured a strip of ice at her heels, which then formed a circle so they could keep cartwheeling in place. Their unified chi created a bigger Sunflake: they cast it into Jacques and POPPED his big head of darkness!
The president momentarily resumed his normal form, but he would morph into a ball of gray Earth Dust. Jacques rose to the air before shooting down and piercing the earth, burrowing underground. "He's digging around like an earthworm!" Maddy could sense. "Beneath you!" Weiss and Sheila split apart when a large, Dust spike jutted out. It quickly retracted. "Sonia!" The hedgehog dodged next.
"If he wasn't semisolid, I could totally grab him!" Pacifica shouted.
"Wait! You can!" Maddy ran behind the Northwest and grabbed her wristbands. She channeled Haki into them. Pacifica smirked knowingly.
"We gotta stop him first!" Manic twirled his drumsticks. "Looks like it's time to fight earth with earth!" The hedgehog performed a solo! The earth vibrated dramatically as Maddy sensed Schnee slowing to a stop. Maddy told Pacifica where to aim as she shot Haki chains. Pacifica beamed, feeling them wrap around her target, and pulled Schnee out of the dust. She slammed the president on the ground as his body reformed, followed by a dozen lashes of her chains!
"AAAAAAHHH!" Jacques exploded with bolts of Lightning Dust, electrifying the operatives; even Maddy was hurt by one since Jacques was shooting randomly. The furious president flew into his factory and returned: the seven Chaos Emeralds were in his dusty tendrils. To the operatives' horror, Schnee drew the gems into his Logia body. His neon frame began to surge and flash with unbridled force.
"He's absorbing the emeralds' power directly!" Weiss exclaimed.
"But that ain't right!" Sonia said. "Only hedgehogs should be able to merge with the emeralds!"
"Perhaps it's because he's using the Dust from our planet." Cinder surmised.
Jacques' neon body morphed into a reptilian shape: the Mobians likened it to the form Perfect Chaos once took. "PBBTH!" Jacques spat the Chaos Emeralds out of him like bad pieces of candy. They were pitch-black. "He drained all their power!" Weiss gasped.
"If I had five Rings for every time that happened." Sonia remarked.
The president bellowed a ray of energy at the crowd. Maddy was prepared to hold the brunt of the blast back with her Haki—Chancellor Yorkshire jumped in front and blocked the beam with her own Haki. "CHANCELLOR!"
"Augh…" Cheadle fell to her knees, wrought with soot. "Everyone… okay?"
"Why would you do that?!" Maddy asked.
"It doesn't take a doctor to see how injured you are! But don't worry… that general didn't take too much of my strength."
Battered, bloody, and his cyborg parts sparkling, Ironwood lay on his back. "…Hnnnff…" The general refused to let it end like this. He still had a mission to fulfill. He was going to fight until his last breath. Hardening himself, Ironwood forced himself to sit up. He grabbed his dropped guns and marched toward the factory as if gravity were weighing on him.
"Sonia! Manic! If Jacques can use the emeralds, so can you!" Cheadle said.
"Uh, one problemo…" Manic picked one of them up. "They're kinda conked out. …What the-?" The green gem regained its light in his hand.
"Manic, don't you remember?" Sonia smiled as she picked up the red emerald. "The emeralds contain positive and negative energy! He done slurped up all the negative, so that just leaves the rest to us!"
"But we've never done this before, Sonia!"
"We don't got a choice! We gotta SUPE UP!"
The brother and sister stood together and played their drums and synthesizer. The seven emeralds orbited and flew into their bodies. Manic's fur shone a bright golden-green and his quills bent backward. Sonia became a bright pink gold as her fluffy hair rose upward.
"Oh, my stars!" Bunnie gawked. "It's the birth of Super Sonia and Super Manic!"
"Yoooooo! This sheen really ROCKS!" Manic cheered. "Hey, and my drums can float now! Take THIS!" With a forceful pounding of his drums, Manic fired a blinding green beam at the monster's face.
"AAAAAAHHH!" Jacques reeled back from the impact; he thought his Logia defense would protect him!
"Looks like we're on even ground now!" Sonia spun into a shining tornado, zipping around the air with wild speed as she ripped Jacques' body into chunks. However, those chunks shaped into smaller variants of the monster: they concentrated dark lightning onto the hedgehogs, electrifying them in space.
"Sheila!" Maddy shared her fist with the raccoon. "We're not out of the game, yet!"
"Strewth on that!" Unifying their chi, the two top fighters punched hardened Light Fists; they almost looked like eclipsed suns. They rapidly sent Haki Fists all around the Jacques chunks, dazing them enough for the hedgehogs to shake free. Jacques reformed himself, but burrowed underground again. "Crud!" Maddy gasped. "He's targeting everywhere!" Spikes rapidly jutted up around the field. The operatives dodged them as hastily as they could; Ciel picked up Carol to help her evade. Some of the KO'ed soldiers, both on the army's and Mobians' side, were stabbed to death.
"CHIEF!" Judy cried as Chief Bogo was pierced through the head.
"Ivori! Kobalt!" Neon exclaimed as two of her friends died.
"STOP!" Manic planted his drums to the earth and violently quaked the island with his solo. A few rock formations and loop-de-loops around the island collapsed. The trembling seemed to dizzy Jacques as his attack ceased.
"Keep him steady, Manic!" Sonia said. "I'll tear him out myself!" She spun into a tornado, mustering more power as she seemed to gigantify from the act. The others got down and grasped the ground to withstand the suction. Sonia stationed her tornado over the hole Schnee dug into, vacuuming him up out of the soil. She spun the mass of Dust around the air until Schnee was dizzy. Sonia slowed to a halt, soared up, and dealt him a powerful flurry of melee attacks.
Jacques burst apart and rose to merge with the fumes that covered the sky. He willed all of the Dust inside the soldiers' weapons, as well as Weiss', to ascend and merge with his body. The president began to muster a beam of darkness.
Sonia spun her synthesizer into being. Manic raised his drumsticks. Their instruments resounded for miles beyond the island. Their instruments channeled their Super energy and unleashed pink and green beams to intercept the darkness. Sheila mustered what was left of her bending and sent up a Light Beam to help suppress it, whereas Cinder channeled a spiral of fire up the beam. The darkness shrank in Schnee's direction until their unified power burned his titanic visage. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH…" (End song.)
The sunlight could finally poke through the fumes. Jacques' Dust had receded back to his human size, leaking only a small trail as he plummeted back to the island. He hit the earth with a thud, his body scattering until it reformed once more. "Ooooohh…" Jacques despaired as Sonia and Manic's shoes planted before him. His daughter stepped between the hedgehogs as their auras faded, their regular colors returning.
The combat behind them had gone quiet. The operatives and allies still standing gathered to view the result. "Father… it's over. The Kids Next Door will be taking you into custody until this war is over. Then… you will answer for all you've done to this planet."
"I'm afraid he won't." Ironwood marched from their left.
"J-James…" Jacques looked to him pleadingly. "Stop them…"
"…" The general combined his Due Process pistols into a single weapon: a silver, rectangular cannon with two triggers. The operatives, exhausted from the battle, stepped away from Jacques compliantly, while Maddy was prepared to defend her friends. …However, Ironwood turned his weapon on Jacques. "JAMES!"
A powerful beam of green energy unleashed. "LISTEN CLOSELY!" Kokichi jumped in the way, shooting his Denture Gun to break the beam's course.
"Out of my WAY, boy!"
"General!" Weiss yelled. "What are you doing?!"
"I had a hunch something was up!" Kokichi sported a crescent smile. "Ever since I met this guy, he had a thick cloud of darkness around him. It was almost similar to Aranea's darkness… except hers was a lot thicker. But the same principle applies: Ironwood possessed a strong disloyalty to one he's following. And as I expected, it was for Schnee. You were planning to betray him from the beginning!"
"You misunderstand." Ironwood glared. "This isn't a betrayal: I was ordered to execute him."
"WHAT?!" Jacques gasped.
"Everything you've done to the Mobians… was all based on your irrational hatred. You didn't care about the Kremlings or even the KND… you merely used your orders as an excuse to persecute the whole race. King Mickey knew this would happen, yet he still trusted you… but your intentions go against his vision."
"So, he ordered my death?!"
"None of this makes any sense!" Weiss yelled. "If Mickey knew about my father's prejudice, why would he assign him to Mobius?! And why kill him?! Why not just arrest him, take his money, or something?!"
"Actually, it makes perfect sense!" Kokichi declared.
"Oh boy, Detective Oma is back." Carol said.
"Mickey wins peoples' respect by promoting diversity. That's part of his whole campaign. But when you promote diversity, you need martyrs. Scapegoats. You need people who contradict your vision so you can demonize them. Mickey probably only kept him around this long because his knowledge on Nature Dust was useful. And the reason you're executing him now is because he was on the verge of defeat. Because Mickey doesn't want the KND to get their grubby hands on him. And also… it's because Mickey wanted Jacques' children to absorb the blame for all his crimes."
Weiss froze up from the idea. "If Weiss inherited the company, Mickey could easily paint more blame on the KND. But if it's her little brother, that's probably an easy sapling for Mickey to bend to his will. Victory would've been his either way. Mwahahahaha! The plan is so maniacal, it makes ME wanna try it!"
"I'll shoot you right now." Ciel threatened. "Still… now that I'm hearing all this out loud, there's something I've been curious about."
"Ciel?" Raleigh was curious as his friend approached Jacques.
The earl squatted above him. "It might be my demon instincts… but I can smell quite a bit of sin on you. More than the average man should. And if you've interacted regularly with Mickey, his 'influence' should've had an effect on your prejudice."
"What are you insinuating?!"
"According to our intel, Mickey is a lightbender… and he's capable of captivating people to his thrall just by the touch. Mr. Schnee… how regularly do you shake hands with Mickey?"
"W-Well, we meet quite regularly, and shake hands on just about every occasion! I never counted! But believe me, it disgusts me worse every time, even if that filthy rodent wears gloves!"
"So, you're disgusted by Mickey just like any other Mobian!" Weiss exclaimed.
"Yes, but if there's any good to come of it, it's that I got to teach this wretched world a lesson!"
"Then… Mickey's lightbending doesn't work on you?" Raleigh asked.
"No… I fear it's quite the opposite." Ciel said. "I believe King Mickey… has sapped the good inside him."
The proposition struck nearly everyone with horror. Weiss. Cheadle. The operatives. Jacques himself. Whereas Ironwood merely glared.
"Lightbending can fill people with good thoughts… so, why should it not take good thoughts, too? I'm not saying Schnee was once a saint. He has always despised Mobians, but he once knew how to keep these feelings in check. But if my theory is correct… then Jacques' negative feelings would have heightened without his restraint. Thus, King Mickey would have better been able to paint him as a criminal. A criminal that he would have slain and earned the respect of the Mobians."
Jacques rose to his knees, pressing palms against his head. "NO! It… can't… be! MICKEEEEEEEEEYYYYY! Are these accusations true?! ANSWER MEEEEEEE!"
Ironwood smacked Kokichi aside and recharged his weapon. "STOP!" Cheadle socked him in the skull. "I may hate Jacques… but even I can't let this happen to him! No one deserves to be manipulated like that! He needs help!"
"I have my orders!" Ironwood pushed the chancellor back. She rushed at him again, but his full-hardened body withstood her attacks; Cheadle was weakened from blocking the beam earlier. "If King Mickey believes this is the correct course, then so b—AAH!" Blaze the Feral Cat sank her teeth into his neck. Ironwood's own Haki was still diminished from his battle, so Blaze's fangs were able to penetrate. Ironwood elbowed the cat until she fell off unconscious, quickly charging Due Process and training it on Jacques.
"HANG ON!" But the general was taken off-guard when Pekoms Lionheart swat the weapon up in the air. "This guy ruined a wedding I worked hard on and he owes me!"
As Due Process rotated in midair, the green energy fired directly at Ironwood. The general was vaporized on the spot. "…uh…" Pekoms' shades drooped, exposing his tiny, horrified eyes. "I CLAIM NO RESPONSIBILITY! GROWWWWWWWWLLLL…" The lion dashed beyond the hills as if he were a hedgehog.
The operatives merely stared at where Ironwood once stood. Jacques, having reached his physical and mental limit, finally passed out. "…Officers." Cheadle began. "Arrest Jacques and every other soldier here. And place him into protective custody."
"Yes, Chancellor." Judy affirmed.
Weiss looked to the factory. "Weiss!" Pacifica called to her as she quickly skied to the entrance.
"I have to go, too!" Cinder joined after. "He didn't try absorbing the Sol Emeralds… Maybe they're still in here."
Weiss navigated the factory until she discovered the office. The door was locked. Weiss knocked it. "HEY! Whitley! Are you in there?" No answer. Weiss stuck her nail into the keyhole and conjured an ice key, clicking it open. She peeked inside calmly. Weiss faintly heard clattering… and approached the desk. She craned her head underneath… "AH!"
"AAH!" Whitley sprung up from his fetal position.
"Whitley!"
"W-Weiss! I-I-I was, um, ahem, mrrhhf…"
"Whitley… you look terrible."
"I, hem, well, I was up, quite a bit, o-organizing Dad's papers, and I-I-I…"
Weiss embraced him in a hug. "Whitley… I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't around more… I'm sorry we left you with… him…"
"Sorry… W-What're you sorry for? I've just been made heir to Father's company. I'll be making billions of credits… and managing lots of… employees and… lawsuits… I…I…"
"There, there…" Weiss patted his back. "We'll get through this together."
Whitley made no response. The number of things that have happened today froze his expression stiff. But his sister's love… left a speck of warmth in his heart. He hugged back.
Cinder found a room with energy-transfer tubes attached to 14 capsules. "These emeralds… were in this room. Where…Where did they go?!"
"RAKAKAKAKAKAKA!" Gruntilda was already flying away from the island, the Sol Emeralds tucked neatly in her satchel. "It's been fun, but I've got to go! Grunty has her own big show! Farewell, Schnee, I knew ye well. But kiss Grunty's green ass, she shall see you in Hell! RAAAAAAAKAKAKAAAAAAA!"
…
By that night, thousands of Galactic Army soldiers were incarcerated on Mobius, while all others retreated back to Coruscant. Haruka had gone down to help their medical experts develop cures for the enhanced Night Howlers, with Cheadle lending her knowledge as well. The chancellor was even immune to the plants, with how fortified her strength and system was. Princess Cinder was going to become the acting Queen of Sol Kingdom due to her mother's condition.
Perhaps in better news, they found that Winter Schnee was still in Elwood City's prison base. The city was liberated by Mobian soldiers shortly following the chaos Kokichi caused. They arrested the Ace Operatives while freeing the eldest Schnee.
Once Weiss and Whitley had been informed of this, they returned to the sky base. Winter met her siblings with a warm smile… and ran to hug them. "In the end, I just left everything to you. What kind of sister am I?"
"It's fine, Winter." Weiss said. "Now that we're together… we can make Schnee Dust right again."
"I doubt the government is gonna let us return home so easily."
"Then we might as well get started here. We have plenty new friends to help us."
Doomsdale
Dipper sat wistfully on the swings. It was 10:15p.m.. Under a black sky of stars, the glum neighborhood was a ghost town to the boy. Sometimes, he wondered if Mabel of Wendy's ghosts were here… patting his shoulder. "?!" He felt a pat and turned around with a start.
"Hey." Pacifica smiled. "Sundae Supreme?"
She brought two cones of ice cream stacked with different ingredients: vanilla, chocolate, bananas, strawberries, waffle biscuit, pretzel… "Geez, where'd you get this?"
"It's from the Apotos islands on Mobius. Legend says even gods love it. Sounds cool… don't it?"
"…" Dipper took a cone. Pacifica sat on the other swing as they began to eat. "Hoo, that's… really strong."
"Well, Mobians like food that gives them a rush."
"I don't think I'll get to bed now."
"Then let's go do something else. What's open this late?"
"You know how many delinquents live here? All kinds of places."
"Let's pick the worst one and hit it."
"Oh, Piff…"
GKND
The "Galactic Map" zoomed in on Mobius, which had the Schnee Dust flag attached to it. The flag collapsed as the KND flag took its place. The victorious Donkey Kong music strummed again!
"And that's another one down." Cheren smiled. "If we push it, we could finish a 4th one before June… huh?"
He noticed the Disney flag on Planet Etheria started shaking. The flag collapsed. A Jolly Roger resembling a silver-haired man with a red eye took its place. "Huh?! That's the White Lotus Revolutionary flag!"
"BIG NEEEEEEEWS!" Big Bird screamed on the T.V.. "Queen Angella, the Galactic Council representative of Planet Etheria, has been assassinated!"