The operatives found the clock within a nest of Arachnos. Once Pochi destroyed it, they returned to Colony Lambda and restored them.
"I can't begin to know how to thank you." Isurd said. "But what happened to Mio, Taion, and Sena? Did they… die?"
"We don't really know exactly." Pochi replied. "But it doesn't feel like they did. It could be because of how they derez, like a videogame… so, maybe they respawn somewhere."
"I hope that's right." Suna said. "We were kind of forced to 'kill' some people, too…"
"Hmm…I guess we can only hope you're right." Isurd replied.
"For now, I'm beat." Kansai said. "We really pushed ourselves hard today… especially Chuko. But how're we gonna sleep in all these soggy clothes?!"
"We have showers and laundry rooms." Isurd said. "Please use them as you need to."
"That's the biggest thanks we could've asked for." Jennu sighed.
With clothes and bodies refreshed, the Go-Getters were ready for a deep sleep. They conked out almost immediately with how much energy they exhausted today, fighting two colonies, an Aion, and two consuls. They would awake about 10 in the morning, not that one could tell inside the cave. To avoid getting drenched by the waterfalls, Jennu would bend their gravity upward. From there, they removed their shoes (save for the Ink-Octolings) and crossed the shallow waters of the bottom of Cotte Falls, brighter, fresher, and more gorgeous than ever on this nice, sunny day.
"How are you feeling today, Chuko?" Pai asked.
"I feel great! I'm not blue or spotty, anymore!"
"I still can't believe how well you held up in that battle! Even fused with Kansai, you barely slowed down at all."
"Actually, when we fused," Kansai said, "I think some of her sickness spread to me. I did feel a little bit weighed down."
"But at the same time, Kansai's healthy body and stamina spread to me! So, we kinda balanced each other out."
"Then again, I am taller than you, so you got more of my stamina than I did of your sickness!"
"Harumph…I'll let you have that one, I guess." Chuko's eye twitched. "But you better keep your promise! In fact, I want thank yous for everything I've ever done in the KND!"
"Geez Louise…"
"Good day, everyone!" Isurd greeted the heroes, accompanied by his fellow Miran ops. "I don't think I've introduced Nimue." He gestured at the ice-handed girl. "She's my Blade."
"Heya!" Pochi greeted. "Though, honestly… you look like a Blade yourself, with those face-markings."
"I'm a Bladeborn. Born from a human and Blade."
"Fascinating." Tattsun said.
"I am, too." Nimue said. "Except I'm a Reborn Blade."
"What's that mean?"
"When Blades give birth, they risk their own immortality." Isurd explained. "Sometimes, they give up their very essence and being, as their child becomes a new Blade in their place. But some like me are born like normal humans. We can't have Drivers, though we are stronger than average people."
"Mio and Taion were also Bladeborns." Nimue said. "In fact… Mio is the daughter of one of our great heroes."
"You don't mean Rex?!" Tattsun gasped.
"Haha, someone did their homework!" Valdi beamed.
"Well, Nikol is already Shulk's son, so that narrows it down."
"R-Right…" Nikol smiled awkwardly at the logic.
"Alright, that's enough of a biology lesson." Juniper chuckled. "You guys are planning to go to Colony Command next, yes?"
"It is the next destination on the map. But I don't expect it to be easy…"
"Then we should come, too! It should be our job to save our own headquarters."
"Especially you." Valdi snickered. "Nikol says you and Zeon spend lots of time together~"
"Excuse me?"
"I-I didn't mean it like that…" Nikol blushed.
"I think we'll accept the help this time." Pochi smiled. "In fact, wouldn't hurt to try Fusion on you all, too."
"But first, let's catch some breakfast!" Mowchan proposed. "I bet we're all super hungry!"
"I'm superty-duperty hungry!" Yuki cheered.
"Can't go explorin' on an empty stomach!" Kansai said.
"Especially after being sick." Chuko agreed. "Um…by the way, Yuki… I'm sorry for how I've been treating you. We were just surrounded by enemies on a weird planet, so I was really scared… but I was also mad that Kansai kept praising you more than me! So, I better get those thank yous!"
"Alright already!"
"Hehe!" Yuki giggled. "Thank you, Chuko. I hope we can be best friends from now on!"
"Hmm…" Now Tattsun was standing in Chuko's old shoes. "Hey, I'm gonna go take a leak. That cave looks good."
"Yeah, me too." Kansai said. "I'll join ya!"
"No way! We already had to share the showers again, at least let me pee in private!"
"Just don't get eaten by a cave bear, Yellow Ranger." Suna remarked.
"Actually, there's a vicious Aligo in there." Isurd said.
"Uh, then I'll go to that cave." Tattsun's fingers redirected to a different one. "And I'm the Black Ranger!"
The cave seemed to be clear of any monsters, but Tattsun had other intentions for coming here. Now that he was alone, he wondered if… "Nice to see ya again, son!"
He lit up hearing the North Englander voice. "Rex!"
"I saw that explosion last night." The one-eyed hero stepped out of the cavern's shadow. "Sounds like you kids did something big out here."
"Yeah, we destroyed one of those robot Titans. And it seems like they're dropping these weird keys."
"Hmm…reckon those open something important." Rex frowned. "But what about the Blade? Has Yuki been acting differently?"
"Not exactly. But last night, Sage herself tried to help the Aion, and she fused those consuls the same way Yuki's been doing with us. But after we beat them and backup arrived, they just retreated. I kinda thought Sage would've eliminated a few of us or something."
"Perhaps she wanted to avoid prolonging the battle. Otherwise, Yuki would've fought back, and that might spark her memory. And that wouldn't be good for either of us. Still, maybe those keys are meant to conceal something important to Sage. A weakness. And it could even affect both of them. It'd be nice if you could slip those keys over to us, but I doubt your pals will like that."
"If only I could pull them over one at a time and try to explain to them. …But I doubt they'll care what I have to say, anyway."
"Just keep it between us for now. We can't expose ourselves to Yuki without a sure plan."
"Speaking of which, there's something else I should let you know about. I overheard Pochi the other night… he told Yuki that he has some kind of clairvoyant power."
"Oh, really?"
"He didn't really make it clear; just that he could see other operatives' missions and activities, but only when those events finish. Chuko was poisoned by something yesterday, but Pochi never knew that until we found out. I don't really get it, but… it might be something to watch out for."
"Hmmm…well, thanks for lettin' me know. A power like that would make it hard to have privacy. Your brother's just full of gifts, isn't he?"
"Yeah…" Tattsun bowed his head. "Back home, the others loved watching him play games. He was so good… even better than Silica. But they didn't wanna cosplay Electro Rangers with me. Now we have to rely on him to save this world; he has all these cool powers and skills now, and I'm still the dork no one cares about."
"Tattsun, you've got your own talents. No matter what anyone says, don't ever forget that. And Pochi doesn't realize what danger he's in. He's only got this power thanks to Yuki, but even he won't be able to handle her real power. When the time comes, he's gonna need you… and we'll make sure of it."
"Heheh…" Tattsun only felt special when talking to Rex. He felt so important and appreciated… more than his teammates did. "Oh, uh…Rex, do you know what happens to people who derez in this game world? They don't die for real, do they? Because… your daughter…"
"You don't gotta worry about her, son." Rex responded with a jovial grin. "She's alive, Ah know she is. For now, just worry about yourselves."
"Okay!" He must've had great confidence in Mio!
"Well, don't wanna keep you. Keep a weather eye out and I'll look for the next chance to speak with ya."
"Aye!" Tattsun nodded with a blush. Refreshed with pride, Tattsun marched outside… "Oh, but I really should go." So, he returned.
Suna and Jennu sat along a shore with their feet rested in the gentle current. "That was a weird Fusion, huh? We couldn't use our arms at all, just an extra pair of legs." Suna said.
"We only use our legs to fight, anyway. I thought it would be a little more complicated, but it felt almost as natural as my own body… almost."
"Nothin' was natural about that. Your sister looked like somethin' else though. Symphogear, huh?"
Jennu closed her eyes and released a sigh. "Have you heard of that program?"
"I know Sector SG has two girls called that, but not… too much."
"It's a program run by the big music company, Otto Entertainment. They cybernetically enhance volunteers' bodies with a special alloy that's powered by Song Chi. Even nonbenders could grow stronger by singing, but musicbenders would be even greater. My sister, Uta was an incredible singer. She was popular to everyone at home when she was little, and even Serena's mom heard of her. She had Uta as a guest singer for a performance and helped Uta refine her bending. Of course, I was still a baby when that happened; she was nine years older than me. When she was 18 Uta was offered a contract by Otto Entertainment. Not just a record deal, but… a place in the Symphogear program."
"And I'm guessin' that's when it goes south…"
"It seemed great at first. We were all proud. Uta had an album of six songs released before she underwent the Symphogear process. But… there was a malfunction. The company called us and apologized… saying they overdosed her with the formula. They showed us a picture a-and… she…" Jennu cupped her mouth, the memory horrifying her.
"Take it easy, girl." Suna held her other hand.
"Sigh…you might even see it in my memories… when something goes wrong with their formula, they become a monster of gargled noise, with the worst Sound Chi you could imagine. And the company was forced to…"
"Man, I'm sorry…"
"Sigh…it was two years ago… but I'll never forgive them. They had the gall to pay us compensation… but I won't be happy until I see President Apocalypse pay for his crimes. That's why I can't die on this planet!"
"You oughta punish the parent who decided to name their kid that, they were doomin' us from the start."
Jennu coughed out a chuckle. "The sad thing is we can't because the KND has no good reason to. Can't just get in a fight with a Corporate President. In the first place, the Symphogear Program fights off evil the same way the KND does, and they even lend the KND their volunteers, like those two on Earth. But they wanna write my sister off as an accident… I can't accept that."
"Makes me feel a little bad for dragging you along for this mission. My parents made us come here just to have Ghondor back by Christmas… but you can't…"
"You don't seem to like her very much… but deep down, are you sure Ghondor doesn't love you a bunch?"
"Maybe a little. Not a bunch. 'Sunavabitch' ain't exactly what you call people you love."
"Heh, true. But maybe this incident will humble her a bit. If it doesn't… I'll kick some sense into her." Jennu raised her right leg with a kick.
"Heh." Suna grinned. "And if the time comes," she raised her left leg, "I'll help ya give Apocalypse the kicking he deserves."
"It's a date!" They high-kicked each other! "Um…by the way, ever since we came up with the Go-Getters name, I've been putting together a little song in my head. A few lyrics I have are… 'The road is so long, the nights are so cold, but our friends have been there from the start. Fiery maiden, blazing through the dark. Grand slammer, hit it out of the park.'"
"Sounds like the opening of a kids' action show."
"Heheh, that's kind of what we are. I wanna make a lyric for each of our skills. Maybe Tattsun could help me write the lyrics, he probably watches shows with those kinds of openings."
"Y…yeah…" Suna winced, remembering their brief dispute last night.
"Oh…speaking of, I guess he doesn't have a fusing partner now. Actually, could Pochi fuse with anyone and still be Yuki's Driver?"
"I dunno; let's just forget about it for now. See if that food's ready!"
"Heh, sure!"
"I can't believe I'm cooking with the legendary Manana!" Mowchan exclaimed, using the Nopon's very own cooking pot. "We only came here in the first place to meet you. Oh, I wish my friends could be here…"
"Oh, Mowmow flatter Manana too much. It true that Manana famed KND wide, but she not true legendary cheffypon 'round here. Has Mowmow never heard of Tempapa?"
"No?" Mowchan drooled thinking there was a Nopon who could make even tastier food!
"He cheffypon most Nopon only dream of tasting from! But they say he hermit who lives secluded where none find him."
"Then how do they get ahold of his food?" Pochi asked.
"That just it… his legend date back for several years and none see him since. Oh, but Nopon can dream…"
"Now we have a new goal!" Mowchan fired up. "To find the legendary Tempapa!"
"Let's worry about our other problems for now." Pai said.
"I hope we get to meet him someday!" Yuki cheered. "A legendary cheffypon prob'ly makes legendarily scrumpdlyumptious food!"
"You're making me even hungrier, Yuki!" Pochi laughed.
"Hehe, I'm sorry! By the way, Mr. Pochi, you sounded like you recognized that Joker guy. And he's from Batman comics?"
"Well, to start with, there's a planet called Superbia that's full of people with metahuman powers, apart from element bending. Those people either become superheroes or supervillains, and they get so famous that companies make comic books out of them. And those comics get shipped all around the universe."
"But those comics take a lot of creative liberties." Nyoro inputted. "They give the heroes a lot more powers than they really had and make whole multiverses themed around them. Nowadays, nobody could tell fact from fiction about those heroes. For instance, there's no such planet as Krypton, nor is there any alien species like them. The person Superman was based on either had super strength, flight, or something else, and the writers just outfitted him with all these powers."
"Okay…so…" Yuki stroked her forehead confusedly. "That Joker was one of these people?"
"Yes. He was the archnemesis of Batman, who was an active hero until about 60 years ago. The Joker, naturally, existed around that time, too… except people still debate whether he was real or a myth. Some say that they wanted all real records of the Joker scrubbed so he could be forgotten. Not that that worked out."
"But if that was the 'real' Joker, wouldn't he be really old?" Aniki wondered.
"He isn't a mystery for nothing."
"Yet, it could even be a commonality for these letter-named people…" Pochi replied.
"Hey, Pochi!" Valdi, Nikol, Isurd, and Nimue approached them. "Before we eat, we'd like to try fusing. Might work us up an appetite."
"Alright. Where's Juniper?"
"They've already gone ahead." Isurd answered.
"Gone ahead?!"
"Juniper's colony volunteered to be the vanguard for the H.Q. liberation mission. They're meeting up with Colony Iota as well. They hoped to confuse and take down as many guards as possible before we all arrived."
"And they've gotten their own meals, so don't worry." Valdi smiled. "We should also install a map of H.Q. into your own M.A.P.."
"Well, if they're alright going ahead." Pai shrugged. "We'd better finish eating soon."
"Yeah. In the meantime, let's try out some Fusions." Pochi focused his power on Isurd & Nimue and Valdi & Nikol.
Keves Castle
Colony 9's data returned to Cyberspace. Sage would code most of the members to that colony's Life Clock again, but she coded a certain three to the castle. Sage questioned them each individually.
"State your name and nation."
"Noah. Soldier of Keves."
"What is your duty?"
"To slay the people of Agnus and take their EXP." Eunie answered.
"Who do you obey?"
"The consuls." Lanz answered.
"No glitches detected. Updating false history with new teammates. Downloading now."
Noah, Eunie, and Lanz downloaded from pods in the castle throne room—rather, the Supreme Commander's office. They stood across from their teammates, Mio, Sena, and Taion. Though their heads had their differences, they all wore Keves armor. "Now that everyone's reported, I have an urgent mission for you all."
They turned to the consul at the platform's edge. He was very short with a long helmet, dark-silver nearly oval-shaped except for red boxed corners. He had red armor with silver parts in-between and a thin yellow visor. "Our nation faces the threat of horrid monsters. They have consumed several Life Clocks and corrupted our brethren. You six are our finest soldiers. We entrust the task of destroying them to you."
"We understand." Noah affirmed.
"They've never tangoed with me before." Eunie said.
"Let us adjourn to construct an effective strategy." Taion tipped up his glasses.
"These monsters… what can they do exactly?" Mio asked.
"I will cover those. For now, proceed downstairs."
The six obeyed and began to leave. "Sounds like a big job." Sena said. "But as long as we're together, we'll be fine, right, Mimi?"
"Yeah…" Mio held her head. She felt like she was forgetting something… and her neck was sore.
As they left, Sage appeared behind the consul. "I'm having A look into another glitch in the system. He may not arrive in time to assist you."
"I will make sure they complete their mission regardless. Supreme Commander Zeon assured me the castle clock was thoroughly hidden… but it's clear our enemies have some means of locating the clock."
"We think it has to do with that pink-haired girl in their group. I'll have to outfit the castle network with stronger security programs. But are you certain you can do this, U? Destroy these kids?"
"This world… and this time mean nothing to me. As long as I can go home and have ice cream with my friends… I'll do what needs must."
"Yes… I will, too."
Castle Outskirts
The Go-Getters traveled back through the Maktha Wildwood and followed the trail to H.Q. via Windstrong Bluffs. "Thank you for beating that rabbit Mamodo." And they had to listen to Kansai's 'thank you' stream the whole way. "If it weren't for you, he would've pantsed all of us and we woulda been shamed. Thank you for treating my booboos after Joto totally kicked my butt in baseball. I'm sorry for always stealin' the high chair from you at the table. It's clear that you're the size of a toddler and need all the height you can-"
"YOU RUINED IT!" Chuko flared up. "Start over from the beginning!"
"You guys better not be keeping this up the rest of the journey or I'll kick you off these cliffs!" Aniki threatened.
"You had your chance for that a while back, brother." Nyoro sighed. "But you'll have plenty of cliffs to choose from now."
Keves Castle was afloat among the Syra Hovering Reefs, a series of small floating islands. The castle was a dark metallic structure with several disc-shaped tower tops, its color meshing well with the abundance of black fog surrounding it. "It's based on the city of Alcamoth." Valdi said. "Over there, that's O'Virbus," he pointed left, "a small town Queen Melia had built here. But looks like now, it's become a Keves fort."
"And there's a battle going on." Pochi took heed of the screams, gunfire, and weapon blows sounding from the town.
"That would be Colony Iota's doing." Isurd presumed. "But I'd wager Juniper's team took that route." He indicated the harpoon rails interlinking several reefs. "O'Virbus links to the base's north gate, but there's a southern gate for supply shipments. Perhaps they intended Iota to be a distraction while they snuck in from the back."
"That's not gonna matter if Sage can see everything." Jennu said.
"I don't like that fog stuff." Yuki said. "I walked through some of it in the desert. It made my eyes all itchy."
"Well, it is made of Destruct Chi." Nyoro replied. "Doesn't look like a safe place to live, honestly."
"Hmm…" It made Yuki's eyes itchy, Pochi thought? If Yuki and Sage were similar beings, what if Sage had a similar issue with it?
"Pochi?"
"Uh, sorry. So, if we're going to free Command, we'll have to find its clock. But they would've hidden it, too, so… would it be linked to a Ferronis?"
"It may be linked to the base itself." Nikol reasoned. "It does have its own network, of course…"
"Then we should target Zeon's master computer." Valdi proposed. "It'll be in his office. It's located here on the 4th floor." He brought up the map.
"Not only could we find the clock, we could control the base's security systems as we need to." Isurd said. "And with our abilities, there may be other entrances available to us."
"That's where I come in, presumably?" Jennu smirked.
"Yes. If you look up there on the third floor, there's a guns balcony on the west side. From there, you can enter a water duct that leads below the office. Alternatively, we could take this waterway." Isurd indicated a small island near the northeast on the main map, comparing it to the castle map. "It pours out directly from the office as well. But it may confuse our enemies greatly if we divide and take both routes. Jennu can take Nikol up to the vent and make their way to the office to attempt to hack the computer. That is, if you can avoid the cannons."
"I should take Pai with me." Jennu said. "Her barrier can help.
"Okay!"
"I'd also like… Suna and Tattsun for some extra attack power."
"Er, okay…" Tattsun replied, sharing an awkward glance with Suna.
"As for the northeast waterway," Isurd turned to his Blade, "Nimue can freeze us a path. I'll take Vanilla with me on that route."
"Then I'm going with her." Aniki decided.
"Oh, brother." Vanilla giggled. "That brings up a small problem: won't your earthbending be useless inside that metal castle?"
"Tch!" The notion made him tense. "Then I'll smash up some of these rocks and stuff them in my Infi-Cube!"
"Then I wanna smash through the MAIN entrance!" Kansai declared. "Anyone who's not takin' those routes, feel free to follow!"
"We will!" Pochi and Yuki affirmed. "That bridge looks a little crowded though. Care to plow us a course, Mowchan?"
"Moohoohoo!" The giant curled up and bowled over the bridge full of soldiers. (Play "Keves Castle Battle" from XC3!)
To make her load a little lighter, Jennu borrowed the Weenifier to minimize her allies except for Pai. She took flight toward the balcony of cannon turrets, and Pai provided her barrier once they began firing. Jennu maneuvered their orange bubble to sustain as little damage as possible. "Actually, why didn't we think of this before?" Jennu sped them toward the first cannon, dented it upon impact, and bounced away. Jennu curved them at a different angle and struck the cannon again, repeatedly until the cannon exploded. "Haha!" She performed the same tactic on the next cannon. "This reminds me of a toy from Neutron Enterprises!"
"Can you put us down before you start having fun?!" Tattsun shouted, growing dizzy by the constant motion while Suna seemed to be just fine.
"I-I'm going to…ulp!" Nikol's cheeks puffed. ("Hurling initiated." Poppibuster said.)
Jennu landed on the balcony and pressed the Quick Resize to restore her passengers. "Sorry about that! Now, which way's the… vent?" Origami birds circled them.
"Wait, aren't these Taion's birds?" Suna asked. The birds amassed into a clustered stream and swooped down at the group. Suna and Nikol kicked and swatted them apart while Tattsun tried to char them with electricity. "Taion!" Suna called attention to the boy himself half-hidden behind a turret.
"Guys!" Jennu switched on comms. "Taion's attacking us, and he's wearing Kevesi armor!"
"Taion?!" Isurd exclaimed. "But… why?"
"That means they really aren't dying." Pochi said. "But they also get reassigned to different nations?"
"This might be no mere coincidence. I'm willing to bet the others will be here!"
"Um, something seems a little off here." Tattsun said, concerned as Taion's birds were rapidly multiplying out of black and red pixels.
"Looks like Taion's been given some upgrades!" Nikol exclaimed. "M-Maybe we should retreat."
"No, stay on track and get to the office!" Jennu ordered, taking Pai and flying from the bird swarm. "We'll deal with him!" Pai made a barrier as they smash Taion with the Grav Bounce.
"Okay, but you better catch up!" Suna said, dragging the two boys toward the vent.
Fort O'Virbus was the center point of the bridge linking the parallel cliffs. There were cloned Kevesi soldiers amongst the KO'ed soldiers; some were sliced by Pochi and Yuki's swords, some bashed by Kansai's bat, and others melted by Chuko's fire. "You're here!" Chickadee from Colony Iota pounced down from a rooftop. "Dame Alex told me to wait for you! Hurry, we have to catch up!"
"Yeah! Mowchan, mow down the rest of the bridge and make a path for Isurd's group." Pochi instructed. "Once they're in, you can meet back with us."
"He would be quite hefty for the rail." Isurd inferred.
The Go-Getters charged into the castle's main hall, where the Iota operatives were scattered and fighting more Kevesi. The main hall resembled the same one in Alcamoth's palace and even had a mural of the Bionis and Mechonis. But these hardly drew their attention compared to the giant sword that rose high above the mural. Its wielder swung it with ease in trying to strike Alexandria, who made sure to dodge the blade before countering it. "That's Noah over there!" Pochi exclaimed.
"I don't remember him having a sword that huge!" Chuko said.
Alexandria was taken off her feet by a wall of turrets, leaving Noah to bring the sword down. Pochi and Yuki jumped to block it with their swords. "Well, it took you long enough." Alex remarked.
"Sparks! Those must be the alpha targets!" Lanz said, stationed behind the turret wall; it was actually an enlarged version of his Shieldblade.
"Don't hold back!" Noah yelled, lowering his blade for a wide spin attack. Pochi, Alex, and Yuki positioned their blades to block it and wound up being pushed by its rotation. This would push them down the stairs to the lower layer, but Kansai would simultaneously leap up over it and run to bat Noah's legs. While he was down, Chuko spat fire on his sword hand to make him drop it.
"Sorry, but it's dangerous to swing giant knives around. Wuh-oh!" A sapphire meteor crashed nearby with a burst of fire. The ceiling was filled with small blue suns. Sena was flying around them with jetshoes and batting them downward.
"Pochi, fuse us!" Kansai ordered. In a flash, Kansuko was reborn, their bat ignited with flames as they batted the meteors back at Sena.
"Lanz is guarding the elevator." Valdi pointed. "And I doubt it'll let us up anyway unless we hack the system. Team Isurd, how's progress?"
Isurd's group rode the grind-rail leading to the island beneath the waterway. Nimue froze the stream and reshaped it into stairs. "Uh, Isurd? Why does the water seem so polluted?"
"Yuck, it looks like frozen doo!" Vanilla exclaimed, Reycho cringing in disgust.
"Well, to ease your stomachs, it looks more like mud." Isurd replied, Nimue continuing to freeze a passage upriver. "But it's still quite absurd. NIMUE!"
A tidal wave was coming, so Nimue quickly froze it in place, but it would still melt under someone else's will and wash them back to the exit. "I guess we were right about them coming up this way." Mio said.
"But they won't get by us!" Joran said confidently.
Mowchan and Nyoro saw the group land back on the island. "What happened in there?!" Nyoro called.
"There's another bender in there!" Isurd replied.
"Hmm…Mowchan, they might need your help after all. Nimue, can you freeze a path large enough for Mowchan?!"
"I'll try!" She mustered the strength for a wide Ice Road along the grind-rail. Mowchan carried Nyoro and bravely crossed it, Nimue struggling to maintain the path until they made it. "Now to make more stairs."
"You know, a thought just occurred to me." Aniki said. He stomped the island and raised his arms, willing their floating platform to rise.
"Ah! You're the best, Aniki!" Vanilla cheered. They grew level with the waterway and jumped inside. Mowchan's girthy size helped block the mud waves that were cast at them, while Nimue otherwise kept the river frozen.
"Joran, is that you?!" Mowchan gasped.
"And Mio!" Isurd acknowledged.
"It's the big one!" Mio said. "Joran, keep pushing!"
"Stop that!" Mowchan bowled the two down. Afterwards, Aniki would hammer them with his collected rocks. Unfortunately, his earthbending couldn't control the mud; since he was already weak to water, his chi wouldn't adapt to the liquid earth.
"Reycho, let's hurry on ahead!" Vanilla ushered, her host speeding past the enemies. Nimue would freeze their way up another downpour.
Nikol, Suna, and Tattsun followed the upper waterway up into the office. "We're here." Nikol whispered. "Doesn't seem to be anyone… around."
He was immediately proven wrong when they went up the stairs to the throne. "This is as far as you go." Consul U said. " We calculated any entrance you would take and have organized our troops accordingly. And your chances of finding our clock are one to eleventy-jillion-and-two."
"Boy, that was archaic." Tattsun said. "Prepare for a dose of Electro Ranger justice, Consul!" He surged lightning and aimed to strike, but U leapt forth and stamped Tattsun's chest with a clean kick. Tattsun spewed saliva as he flew back and off the throne's platform. A furious Suna immediately raised her foot to kick down on U's head, but while he hit the ground, he also grabbed Suna's ankle and whirled her before throwing her off the platform. Fortunately, Poppibuster's arms stretched to catch and throw Suna at the consul, sending him flying into one of the pods.
Tattsun groggily recovered in the shallow pool; already, he feared he wasn't living up to Rex's hopes. "You won't escape MWE!" a certain Mwachina was charging his way: Mwamba! "Time to get MWAMBED!"
Tattsun sent a current of electricity through the water, stun-locked Mwamba, and would watch as he fainted in place. "Sorry, Mwamb. Hey…" A blue, pointy crystal was sticking from his pocket.
Nikol ran to the large terminal behind the throne and began trying to log in. "They've added more encryptions! I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to hack this."
"You won't." U returned and extracted several guns from his suit, which would shoot mustard, ketchup, and ice cream. Nikol maneuvered his A.R.M.S. to block them, but the condiments gunked up the electricity between the arms and caused them to fall apart. Poppibuster grabbed U from behind and slammed him to the floor, the consul retaliating by shooting small bombs at the mech.
"HEY, HEY!" Vanilla, Reycho, and Nyoro arrived from the duct. "Are we late to the party?!"
"Good! Hurry, I really need some help here!" Nikol said. Vanilla determined glitched up onto the platform and into the computer.
"Whoa, it's… really complicated in here." Vanilla said, fearful at the sea of black and red code.
"It almost seems like a whole different network is meshed into this one. Why don't we try activating the elevators first, so Valdi and them can join us?" Nikol suggested.
"I'm happy enough that you're joining me in here." another voice spoke.
Vanilla gasped. Before she could turn and process Sage's gigantic visage, the Inkling was snatched in her coded hand. "L-Let me… go…"
"NO! Sage is in there!" Nikol exclaimed.
"What?!" Nyoro joined him at the terminal. "Vanilla, are you okay?!"
"You're the one that's been sabotaging our clocks." Sage squeezed Vanilla like a sponge. "Can't have a glitch like you corrupting our game."
"This calls for Tiger Tiger!" Nikol grabbed a flash drive and inserted it into the terminal.
The Tiger Tiger was an 8-bit Nopon with a diver's harpoon gun. It shot Sage's hand and weakened it enough for Vanilla to glitch away. "Vanilla, get out of there!" Nyoro ushered. "It's too dangerous with Sage around!"
"O-Okay! Huh?!" Sage summoned a swarm of polygonal, needle-armed Programs to surround Vanilla. She was quick in dodging their jabs, but their numbers overwhelmed and riddled her with cuts, which resembled Sage's code.
"Vanilla! Guys, we have a problem!" Nyoro quickly briefed the others via comms.
"Darn!" Pochi cursed, holding down Noah's sword while Yuki ran across to punch his head. "Isn't there another way up there?! Maybe we can do something!"
"Well, if the elevator's a no-go," Valdi began gravely, "then our only option is the stairs."
"N-N-Not the stairs!" Yuki shuddered.
"We're going!" Pochi decided. "After we do THIS!" They formed Lucky and dealt a clean cut to slice Noah's sword into pieces. The ponytailed young man was horror stricken as Pochi held the katana's tip inches from his nose, a warning glare in his iris. Yuki dashed to Sena and Kansuko, trading blows with their fiery weapons. Pochi tossed Lucky to her as she sliced the head off Sena's hammer. She then returned the blade to Pochi while he was running to Lanz's barricade, slicing it apart as well.
"YOU MUDDERS!" Lanz screamed.
"Leave the rest to us, Pochi!" Kansuko said, batting fireballs at Lanz. "We'll knock these guys out!"
"So sorry it has to come to this, Noah." Alexandia clashed with his shortened blade. "But if it helps, I won't tell anyone about this embarrassing… incident?" The edge of his sword developed black and red pixels. "GUAAH-…"
The giant sword suddenly returned to full form and severed Alex in half. "DAME ALEX!" Chickadee screamed, crying as her leader's body derezzed. "YOU KILLED HER! GRAAAH!"
"No!" Valdi grabbed the charging Gormotti. "She derezzed, so she might get put back in the game again! We'll just have to find her!"
"B-But…"
"We got other problems!" Kansuko alerted. Sena developed giant hammers attached to her arms and legs while Lanz acquired a Shieldblade tank.
"Ugh, just get to the stairs!" Pochi shouted. "Kansuko, try to hold them back!"
The group bolted for the stairwell entrance and raced up the towering shaft as fast as possible. The Kevesi were barely deterred by Kansuko's flames with their heavy equipment. Sena blasted her own flames up the shaft to set parts of the stairs on fire, and Noah could keep retracting and extending his sword in attempt to stab the kids. "Uh, the heck is that?" Valdi pointed.
A huge green bus with feathered wings was driving downstairs. The driver bore the same wings on her head. "Yesss! Eunie's the bus!" she smirked.
"Eunie?!" Chuko exclaimed.
"That's it, we're jumpin'!" Kansai grabbed the three by the shirts in their teeth and pounced a couple floors up the stairs before the bus could run them over. The bus would backtrack as its roof turret aimed to shoot. "You go ahead, we'll keep tryin' to hold them back!" Kansuko switched to the Kilocorn Axe and pounced down to tackle Eunie's bus. With their tail, they raised the axe and chopped the roof cannon.
"We don't wanna fight you, Eunie!" Chuko's will spoke. "We're friends! You fixed my knee! Deep down, you're a pure and kindhearted princess!"
"UGH, I can't stand that sound it makes!" Eunie cringed. "One of you better get your arses up here and nip this sparkin' thing in the snoz!"
"I have a good shot at it from here!" Lanz's tank took aim.
"Shoot THIS, Lanz!" Kansai raised the bus and hauled it down at Lanz's tank. One of Sena's flaming hammers descended, Kansuko blocking it with the axe, but Noah would stretch his sword to slice the axe.
"NOW I got you!" Sena's hammer came for the kill—"AAAAHH!" An arrow pierced her in the hip. Kansuko took advantage of her imbalance to pounce and push the hammer-spider down the shaft.
"Sorry, Sena!" Juniper called. Standing near a different entrance, the archer had a wound in their hip and a chipped right ear. "Where in the world did they get these weapons?"
"I'm bettin' Sage did this to 'em. But if we keep at it, they'll go down!"
"Noah, don't let those other monsters get away!" Lanz shouted. "We'll take care of this bunch!"
"You're right… just be careful!" Noah resumed chasing Pochi's group.
On the turret balcony, Pai kept her barrier raised to protect from the growing swarm of paper birds. Jennu kept aggressively shifting gravity to slam Taion against the wall, floor, or simply shake him around the air, but he had his own bubble of birds to soften each impact or stop him from falling. "Pai, I've got an idea." Jennu quickly briefed her on the plan.
"I don't know about this, Jennu… those birds are pretty fast."
"We did something like this in training once. Albeit they were toy darts, but let's try it!"
"Okay. Ready when you are!"
Jennu withdrew the Weenifier and pressed a button that would shrink herself along with the device. Pai dropped the barrier just briefly enough for Jennu to fly out, but when she reformed it for herself, a couple birds managed to fly in. Pai dodged or kicked while keeping her barrier steady, but suffered a few cuts. Jennu would focus gravity onto and ride the birds, switching between them as their paths led her to Taion's barrier. She landed on the barrier itself and made her way to the bottom, despite being disoriented by their fast rotation. "The other one's not in there, anymore." Taion observed. "How could it have escaped?"
Once directly behind Taion, Jennu hit the Quick Resize and KICKED the back of his head. His birds grew disoriented as Jennu grabbed under his arms and quickly soared skyward, grazing past the birds and escaping the swarm. Taion bent the birds to come to his rescue, "I was hoping you'd do that." Jennu smirked. She kicked Taion's knee to weaken his focus, then fell into a curve around the swarm en route to Pai. She slammed Taion onto the floor beside her while Pai reformed the barrier, preventing the birds from getting in. Jennu willed the barrier to fly around with Taion inside, and each time they bounced against a surface, Jennu would stamp him against the impact point. "Didn't the teacher always tell you not to toss paper around in class?"
Pochi's group reached the throne room in time to watch U swat Suna with a rectangular flipper, the skater hitting the wall beside a bruised Tattsun. U rebounded to grab Nikol's extended arm and swing him into the Poppibuster. Nyoro sent F-Bombs at the consul, their explosions barely bending him, but she would hide in the ink. "Nikol!" Valdi rushed to his friend's side.
"S-Sorry, Valdi… we couldn't hack in, and now Vanilla's in trouble."
"We'll get her out of there, don't worry! For now, how 'bout I lend a hand or six?"
"Hah, alright." Nikol smiled and, the moment he took Valdi's hand, Pochi fused them. They became a six-armed giant, two of which were the extendable A.R.M.S. and one Valdi's mechanical arm and laser. Nikol's blonde hair was atop Valdi's Machina face. "Nikola Vivaldi is HERE!" He rapidly threw stretch-punches at U, the consul nimbly evading and shooting ice and juice guns at the Fusion.
"Pochi, Sage is in the network, she's got Vanilla!" Nyoro explained. "Reycho hooked up to see if she could transfer over," the robot's finger-cord was linked to the server, "but we're not having luck."
"Maybe this can work!" Yuki took Lucky and raised it to the computer. The Restore command shone in its hilt as she focused power.
"Ugh!" Sage was squeezing Vanilla in both hands, covering the Inkling with her code. However, Yuki's blue and black code began infecting the space, trying to wrest Sage's hands off Vanilla.
"Why do you wanna hurt all these people, Sage? What did this planet ever do to you?"
"I do this… for Father… and my comrades. They want this planet's life… and I will get its power. I will… make them proud!"
"Father?"
"Hey, we got more company!" Pochi alerted them to Noah entering the room. The Kevesi stretched his blade, but Yuki sliced it, doing so in repetition as Noah's blade kept swinging. Fortunately, the lapse in the computer allowed Reycho to get in and snatch Vanilla from Sage's grasp, bringing her into his own data.
Tattsun achingly pulled himself to his feet. Consul U was withstanding Nikola Vivaldi's attacks. "How is that guy so tough? 'Guess it's time to awaken."
Suna gasped as Tattsun pulled out a Core Crystal. "Tattsun, what're you doing?!"
"I snagged this from Mwamba. If Pochi can become a Driver, then I can, too! Time to show them what I'm made of!" He grabbed both tips of the crystal and twisted it. "AAAAAAHHH!" An electrifying surge of energy and pain coursed through his body.
"TATTSUN!" Pochi screamed.
"Oooooo…" The younger Flores collapsed, drooling blood.
"TATTSUN, YOU IDIOT!" Suna cried.
"It passed out?" Noah questioned. "Did it just try to awaken a Blade?"
Pochi froze, pining for his next move. His brother and Vanilla were injured and they had no lead on the clock. They had to abort the mission. But if only they could get away with something. If only he could communicate with Noah…?
Pochi noticed it on his belt: Noah's flute. The one which he performed his off-seeing melody. To see fallen souls off to the next world. If words didn't get through to Pochi… could music do it? While Noah was looking at Tattsun, Pochi dashed to snatch the flute. "What?!" (Play "A Life Sent On" from XC3.)
Pochi put his mouth to the reed. He didn't know a thing about playing the flute, but he tried to mimic Noah's original notes. Noah was stunned as the monster's shadowy fingers danced across the pipe. The notes were off… but that was his melody. "Are you… playing for your comrade?" Noah looked to Tattsun again. "You're an… off-seer, too? W-Where… did I learn this…"
Noah's glowing iris began to throb. As he held it, the memory of a blonde-haired musician flickered in his mind. "What's wrong, Noah?" U questioned. "Destroyify them!"
"Noah…" Pochi held the flute to him. "You know how to play it right, don't you?"
Noah looked him in the eye. This monster… there was something…someone else underneath that darkness. He didn't understand its words… but he understood its request. Noah took the flute back and recited the song. "Oh…!" Yuki was in awe: her body was glowing! She shone a brilliant blue and white. "Look at me! I'm so shiny!"
"W-What is… this song?" Sage groaned. "I feel… lightheaded."
Noah's mind and body were peaceful. He let all fears escape him and let the music flow. There were no monsters, Agnians, or Kevesi… there was only the world. However, Pochi saw his Kevesi uniform glitching. He seized the chance and flashed the Restore command! "UWAH!" Noah started awake. He wore a red jacket and black combat pants with heavy boots. However, he also seemed to suddenly age a few years. "W-Where am…" Everything came flooding back, his old memories mixing with his new. And within those new memories, he recognized the very boy in front of him. "Pochi…"
U ignited his rocket shoes and shot toward Noah. "Look out!" Pochi was quick to slash him out of the air. "Vivaldi, can you go back down and get Kansuko? Tell them we're retreating, I'll deal with this guy!"
"You got it!" Vivaldi bundled his arms up and squeezed into the stairwell.
Kansuko had come undone, but Chuko curled up so Kansai could bat her through a window on Eunie's bus. The Entia princess grabbed a rifle to shoot, Chuko using her smallness to duck under the seats and roll between them. "Stay still, you little rodent!"
"Oh, you've never dealt with a rodent like me!" Chuko grabbed some spicy snacks Mowchan prepared for her and filled back up on Fire Chi. Her hands and feet were aflame as she skittered about with greater speed, and even her hair loops became rings of fire. She whipped her head to send the fire rings at Eunie and scorch her. The princess was distracted enough for Chuko to charge at her headfirst. "Take THIS!" Shooting a strong burst from her behind, Chuko rammed Eunie straight through the windshield and crashed her against the wall. The impact left Eunie dazed and unconscious.
Juniper shot between the treads of Lanz's tank while Kansai smashed his turrets with his bat. Lanz ejected from the tank and tried to grab Kansai, but his smaller physique helped evade the muscular Machina. Kansai batted Lanz's knee as he tumbled down the stairs, after which Juniper shot him in the waist. "HIYAH!" Kansai flew down and bashed him once more in the skull, but Lanz still had the strength and sensibility to grab Kansai by the arms.
"End of the line, you little mudder! AAH!"
Chickadee pounced Lanz and dug her teeth into his cheek. "This is for Dame Alex!" Thankful for the support, Kansai bashed Lanz's head and knees until the Machina passed out.
"Guys!" Sena climbed back up the shaft. She aimed to flatten Chuko with her hammer, but Vivaldi would send her plummeting upon dropping down the shaft.
"These are quite nice upgrades, Sena! Sorry we have to take them off." Vivaldi extracted screws and wrenches and began detaching Sena's hammer limbs. "All yours, Poppibuster!" He tossed Sena straight up the shaft, leaving Nikol's Blade to catch, roll, and smash her against the wall.
"How are things going up there?" Juniper asked. "Did you find Zeon?"
"No, he wasn't there at all. But we saved Noah, Pochi wants us to retreat now!"
"But can we save these guys, too?" Chuko asked.
"Now that they're settled down, we could try. Let's take them!"
Consul U could only stand in stalemate before Pochi and Noah's blades. Even he doubted his odds against that sword. "Those weapons you've been using… they look like classic KND weapons." Pochi observed. "Just who are you?"
"I'm the best there is. But it seems I'll have to retreat for now. Farewell." U kicked on jetshoes and flew away, throwing bombs to destroy the computer. He fled up an elevator behind the terminal.
"Hey, guys!" Jennu and Pai came up from the duct, the latter exhaustedly slouched over Jennu's shoulder. "Sorry we're… late, huff. We caught Taion." She showed the miniaturized bender hanging unconscious in her pocket.
"He's so cute!" Yuki chirped.
"Great news!" Kansai's group returned. "We caught these three! We ready to go?"
"Yeah! We'll slide down the northeast waterway; hopefully Isurd's wrapped up down here. Suna, how's Tattsun?"
"He's alive…" Suna sighed as she picked him up. "What an idiot…"
Aniki bent his rocks to make armor around Mowchan. The giant curled up and bowled against Joran and Mio's mud boulder, squashing them both. Nimue drew an icy katana and slashed Mio while Isurd pelted her with energy rings, KOing the Gormotti. Aniki proceeded to jump Joran, his heavy boots crushing his portly stomach as Joran hacked saliva. "Ick!" Cringing, Aniki punched the mudbender senseless.
"Phew, finally." Isurd sighed, lifting Mio over his shoulder while Mowchan got Joran. "I can't believe they anticipated our strategy. I hope the others are-"
"Wheeeeee!" Echoes of cheer rang from up the tunnel: their allies were all sliding down! "LOOK OUT BELOW!" Kansai screamed.
"WAAAAAH!" Even Mowchan was moved by the cluster of weight, in turn pushing his friends behind him. They spilled out of the waterway as their combined weight would sink the reef beneath it. But since it was still attached to the harpoon rail, it would stretch before retracting to the other end like a slingshot, flinging them all back onto land.
"Owwww…is everyone alright?" Mowchan pushed up.
"Um…Mowchan…" Nyoro spoke hesitantly. "My brother's on your butt."
"Grrrrr!" A furious Aniki squirmed off the giant's shorts. "Are we all done here?! Where's Vanilla?!"
"She's inside Reycho, recovering."
"Recovering from what?!"
"Let's just go! They're coming!" Pochi alerted them to the swarm of pursuing Kevesi.
"We'll hold them off!" Valdi declared, his fellow Mirans beside him. "You all run ahead! See if you can restore them, too!"
"Noah, can you carry Mio?" Isurd asked.
Noah still had too many questions… but his fellow operatives seemed to trust Pochi's team. So, he would, too. He put Mio over his shoulders and fled up the valley with the Go-Getters. The valley would lead to a great sword that towered above the land.
"Colony Alpha successfully secured!" Valdi cheered. "Let's make sure we're on time for the celebration!"