Cover Image: Star and Kid sitting sadly in a western slammer, their backs to each other. Kid plays a harmonica while Star looks at the stars through the barred window.
GKND H.Q. (Play "Escape ZDR" from Metroid Dread!)
"They're flying through the vents!"
"Then seal them off, we installed shutters for a reason!"
"They're already in the cafeteria!"
"How're they moving so fast?!"
"They're using the Speed and Laser Wisps—AAAAH!" The operative in question was rammed by a Speed Wisp and infected.
"Flame Wisps, she said plasma weapons hurt them, so make with the plasma!"
"But they're already inside our friends! What if we hurt—UUUUUUGG!"
Tiffi bolted toward a weapon storage room—one of the infected Cyan Wisps zipped right into it, intentionally destroying what was inside. Panicked and hearing parasites around the corner, her only solace was the restroom. "Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff!" She locked herself in a stall and bent her legs up on the seat. "Alright…alrightalrightalright!" She scrambled to call the communications office. "Please tell me you guys sent an alert to all available KNDs or-"
"AAAAH! S-Supreme Acting Leader, a bunch of tiny ones got through the door, they're getting in our—aaaaahh!"
"Guuuuuuuuhhhhhh! Okay, this is…this is not how I envisioned my day. Think, Tiffi, think…eh?" She heard the toilet bubbling beneath her. She climbed off and looked into it. A blue parasite came up. "EEEEEEEK!" She burst out of the stall and ignited herself with Lunar Flames. The parasite maneuvered around in evasion, but Tiffi narrowed her focus through her star-shaped spectacles and thrusted her palm, shooting a flame that hit the germ dead on. As it writhed and sank toward the ground, Tiffi threw more flames until it was extinguished.
"Huff…huff…" Tiffi raised her wristwatch again. "Are there any operatives available? Any at all?"
"Firaga reporting." The half-dragon girl was in the hangar, her body ignited to fend off any incoming parasites. "I don't know how long I can hold-"
"RAAAAAAH!" Amanda, in her Namekian form, leapt to throw a punch at Firaga, who dodged backward.
"Valdi here!" The Miran operative was struggling to hold down Clive, with Wrench helping restrain his master. "Clive's already submitted to them, he's trying to get in the ship! Cough! I'm only resisting them because of my Machina traits!"
"This is Leila!" The Mamodo child was shooting lasers from her wand to destroy parasites. By her side, Krillyx was using a backpack with multiple extenders, shooting lasers at them. "I'm with Krillyx in the portal room!"
"The portal room?!" Tiffi gasped. "It's not open, is it?!"
"No, I only just got here when the alert went off!" Krillyx answered.
"And I just came here to make sure it WASN'T on!" Leila explained.
"Huff…huff…" Tiffi's heart was racing faster than it ever had, and sweat trickled her deep blue skin. The ships…the portal… those were their only ways out. But the parasite could…! "Wait, are any Wisps getting outside?!"
"I haven't seen any try to fly out the hangar!" Firaga dodged a clap attack from Amanda. "But some of them are getting into ships!"
"Huh…even though the Wisps can survive in space, the parasites still can't rely on them for shelter. They need the ships to get out of here. Huff…huff…" Tiffi shut her eyes. Star was counting on her. He was probably in danger right now. He couldn't come to her aid. She had to keep this situation under control… somehow. But their communication office was compromised; they couldn't contact Samus. Even the Great Clock plan didn't work out.
"I couldn't." Ruford said. "I could only erase the parasites that were still within Zebes' time rift. The ones that are replicating in Polaris are anomalies that were born in 'this' time. I think the only way to destroy them is with their natural weaknesses."
Tiffi took one last breath… and made her decision. "Firaga, I want you to destroy all the ships' engines! Now!"
"HUH?!"
"The parasites need them to leave the base! We can't let that happen! But if possible, leave one active for yourself so you can get away! If other operatives come back, you can warn them! And Valdi… I'm sorry, but…"
"It's quite… alright. Just promise you'll… come back for us!"
"I will! Of course I will! Krillyx, Leila, hold your position. We're going through the portal together, to warn the Earth ops and everyone else. If I can't make it, I want you to go by yourselves! And if you start to get overwhelmed… destroy the portal!"
Both operatives gulped. "Understood!"
"Sniiiiiiiiiiiffffff…" Tiffi took the biggest whiff she ever breathed. "Okay! Here we go!"
Tiffi tore open the bathroom door with great vigor and quickly looked both ways. She made the journey down the right path—a group of Blue Cube Wisps barricaded her by stacking into a wall of cubes. Behind her, a Brown Boulder Wisp threatened to ram her into it. Tiffi squatted and shaped her arms in a diagonal crescent, forming such a shape out of moonbending. The boulder went up it like a ramp and smashed the cube wall. However, Tiffi decided to run the opposite way; too risky to skip over that pile of parasites.
Tiffi turned right down a wider passage; a part where branches from the base's bluish-white tree grew from the walls to make stable platforms with glowing blue leaves. Tiffi had to jump and float to each platform to reach the upper level. Pink Spike Wisps were rolling laps over each platform, so Tiffi timed her jumps carefully. She reached the ledge without a scratch and proceeded up a socializing hallway, a round glass roof providing a view of the stars and higher branches. Too bad the situation was anything but social here.
The hall was unusually empty though… but it was just out of the corner of her eye, "WHOA!" that a Cloak Wisp tried to fly into her. She grabbed the hilt of her Lunar Whip and pushed the "On" switch as she flicked the energy whip at the Wisp. "Sorry!" She feared other Cloak Wisps were creeping on her at this minute, so she channeled chi to her eyes to project a pure moon-like light, in which the Wisps' cloaked frames were clearly shown against the light. With more regret in her heart, she lashed her whip at the Wisps and cleared a path for herself. The parasites left their bodies to fly at her directly, so Tiffi shielded herself with blue flames. The energy of her Lunar Whip stunned the parasites, allowing her to use focused fire to finish them.
Tiffi turned down a right passage, but as soon as a group of infected Wisps flew around the corner ahead, she took cover in the theater room. She could actually cut through here to get to the portal room. …Unfortunately, she seemed to walk right into a performance of Magenta Music Wisps and their parasite backup dancers. The Wisps seemed to be wearing costumes of Scott Pilgrim characters.
"Hoooooow do I teeeeeell yoooooou?" the Ramona Wisp sang. "My exes… are eeeeeeviiiiiiiil."
A Wisp flew out with each cue and orbited the singers. "Skater (exes) Actor (evil) Vegan (exes) Rockstar (evil) Mogul (exes) Titan (evil) Lover (exes) Fighter!"
"WE ARE THE EVIL EXEEEEEEES!"
"…Yeah, they couldn't have picked a better day for this musical." Tiffi said.
As she danced her way to a door on the right side of the room, her tippy-toes gracefully skipping across the chairs, the X's flew at her in synch with the lyrics. "Bread ain't all that!" Tiffi flicked four of them away with her whip. "Bread makes you fat!" Another four tried to ambush her from beneath the chairs, but her flames quickly kept them at bay. "What's wrong with that?" Four Cube Wisps appeared above and tried to Ground Pound her, so she jumped quickly. "Scott, Scott, Scott, Scott, Scott!" Five Laser Wisps made an arch shape around the exit door. "THIS IS YOUR PRECIOUS LITTLE LIFE!" They charged and aimed to blast into Tiffi simultaneously, but she kicked forward and dodged by the tip of her ponytail, plowing through the exit door and immediately slamming it.
Tiffi navigated the boxes of the storage room, using her Lunar Vision to sense for any Cloak Wisps. A single Cube Wisp flew into the room, skimming the maze of boxes. Tiffi crouched and crawled between them to stay just out of its line of sight. If she bumped anything, it would alert the Wisp's presence. She was lucky enough to make it to the next exit door and slip out before the Wisp could notice. Afterwards, she rushed left down the hallway and made a right turn.
Leila projected a Moon Shield over herself and Krillyx. The door was blown open by a Black Bomb Wisp, and now a group of Yellow Drills and Pink Spikes were trying to penetrate Leila's shield. "L-Leila! I think we should consider destroying it!"
"L-Let's hold out a bit longer! I wanna make it outta here!"
"We won't even be able to get through without these things going with us!"
"We have to try! I just wanna see Perry…! THERE SHE IS!"
"GYUUUUUUH!" Tiffi beelined for the portal room, refusing to stop no matter the bruises in her bare blue soles. She grabbed her whip, channeled Lunar Fire through it, and lashed the Wisps with burning swings. Leila dropped her shield and conjured a Mini Moon Storm, striking the Wisps with a storm of tiny crescents. When X came out of the Wisps, Krillyx and Tiffi shot them with lasers and flames, desperately extinguishing whichever ones they could.
"Leila, push the red button and it'll open!" Krillyx yelled. "As soon as we're through, we have to shut it off from the other—AAACK!" An X got through his lasers and snatched him.
"Krillyx!" Leila gasped.
"LEILA, NOW!"
"Uuuuuh!" Leila pressed the button. The QuickWarp portal stirred to life. Tiffi dove toward Leila, grabbed the Mamodo's neck in her arm, and kicked into the portal with—"AAAAAAH!" A sneaky blue X snatched Tiffi just as they went in.
The moonbenders collapsed right on Earth Moonbase's floor, surprising the room's guards. "TIFFI!" Leila screamed.
"DON'T TOUCH ME! SHUT THE PORTAL, SHUT IT!" Tiffi screamed, squirming in agony.
"!!!" Leila threw a large crescent and smashed the machine. The space between dimensions was sealed, but Leila was horrified at Tiffi's state.
"Aaaaah…aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" Tiffi felt the parasite wriggling inside her. A mass of jelly spreading to every corner. No matter how much she bent and shook, she couldn't force it out. Couldn't feel her muscle. "Ahh…ahh…Star… I…I'm sorry! You never… trusted me with anything… this big… and I… failed!" Even her vision was jellifying. Everywhere she looked, there was X. "You trusted me… with the KND… and I let them all get… taken by these… things… and I freaking abandoned them…cough…"
A shadow formed amidst the jelly. "Star…sniff… I don't even know if… you're still alive… This might be the end for both of us. What's…what's gonna happen to them? What's gonna happen to… the friends I let die? I never deserved to lead in your place… and I don't deserve you. Star… I…"
The shadow grabbed her arm. As Tiffi looked up at it… it took a different shape: pigtails with a rose in the hair and a dress. This shape became that of an Asian woman with midnight eyes. "D…Doctor Grayson?"
"It's not the end of you." Haruka smiled. "Your mom would never let me live it down."
"Don't touch her!" Leila panicked. "You'll get infected!"
"It's alright…" Haruka thrusted her fingernails into Tiffi's arm. The Lunarian winced. They watched as the X's substance coursed up Haruka's fingers, draining from Tiffi's body. "We'll see… which parasites are stronger."
"W…What're you doing?"
"When I was 11 years old, I ate the Parasite-Parasite Fruit. I can drain substances from peoples' bodies and have my own parasites consume them. Huuuuurrrrrr…ugh!" She pulled away when the last of the X left Tiffi's body. "Hmmmmmm…!" Haruka squirmed in place as she tried to maintain herself.
"Mrs. Grayson, what's going on?!" Perry rushed in. "Tiffi? Leila?"
"All of you, get out of here!" Haruka ordered. "Lock me in until I get these germs to settle down. Shouldn't take long!"
Leila picked Tiffi up, easy for her natural strength, and carried her out of the room. The guards locked it up tight. "Huff…what was… Dr. Grayson doing here?"
"She follows Intergalactic News." Perry answered. "She flew up here as soon as those parasites made headline. And from the look of things, she was right to be here."
"Just take me to the Global Tactical Station!" Tiffi ordered. "I have a bunch of phone calls I need to make! We gotta save H.Q.… and begin invading the Vil Galaxy."
Castle of Lions
"PRINCESS!" Coran stormed onto the bridge. "I've got troubling news! The relic was stolen! The guards outside the tomb were out cold!"
"WHAT?!" the Paladins chorused.
"That's impossible!" Allura shouted. "How could anyone but me open it?! Unless one of my long-lost, very distant relatives turned up or something!"
Sometime before
There's a chapter of Altean history the people don't know. The story of how I fell in love with Queen Latifa.
Ah, Latifa. To think that was 500 years ago. How you slid down the mountains on your big, smooth tushy as you carried me in your arms. How we skipped across the Juniberries, but you kept sneezing 'cause you were allergic. But love is so tragic. You passed away from excessive frostbite to your tush.
Roger, the alien masquerading as Shiro, reminisced as he approached the tomb's entrance, a pair of stone hands serving as the handles.
Or at least I think that's what happened. I don't know if that was even your name. What I do remember though… is her hair.
Nowhere else in the universe can you find a wig of pure, soft, white hair like Altea. It's carried me through so many pageants. And earned me so many dates with so many Rodrigos. Wasn't fond of Herman Rodrigo though. Never called him back.
Roger donned the fluffy, double-bunned wig in question. He backed against the tomb door, allowing the stone hands to brush and embrace it. Such pure hair could only belong to Altean royalty. The hands gave a thumbs-up and opened the tomb. Inside was a thin white crown with a red crest in the center. It made the perfect adornment to Roger's wig. "We'll take first place for sure this time."
One of the injured guards weakly crawled in. "Wait, so THAT'S what Allura meant by the tomb opening to her touch? Because it touches her wig?" Roger grabbed a rock and threw it at his head.
Present
"CURSES!" Lotor torched the wall with a punch of frustration. "We barely let our guards down and they swiped the relic right from under us!"
"It's alright, Lotor." Allura lay a hand on his shoulder.
"How is it alright?! We've lost a treasure of your people, and worse yet, Vilgax may use it to build a powerful weapon!"
"Sigh…" Those weren't the only things that bothered him, Allura could tell. The White Lion entrusted him with the crown. It was supposed to be his second chance… and he feels he already failed. "But it also means the Vilgaxians may not invade us again. We can invade their galaxy without worrying about our own. And as long as we can stop Vilgax before he completes his weapon… we'll not fail."
"…" Lotor looked into her eyes for comfort.
"In the meantime, I'm more worried about Shiro. He hasn't responded to our calls."
"Speakin' of which," Hunk replied, "the GKND haven't contacted us yet either. And Star's not answering, anymore."
"I wonder if they're alright…" Pidge said.
"Or maybe they're off fightin' the Vil Galaxy without us!" Ginyu, in Laruta's voice and body, shrugged off. "I say we just get moving!"
"You sure you're alright, Laruta?" Ralph asked. "You've been sounding really weird."
"I know what's wrong with Laru-chan!" Mali announced.
"HUH?!" Ginyu panicked.
"She's allergic to Juniberry!"
"I…I am?!"
"That's why she's been so funny ever since we've been there! She needs to drink this anti-allergy medicine!" Mali picked out a tiny bottle from her fanny-pack and held it down to Laruta.
"Er…okay, sure, Mallory." Ginyu took the bottle and drank it. "EEEUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHH!" It was the worst medicine he'd ever tasted! He felt like Laruta's tongue was turning into Styrofoam!
"Tehehehe! I made it myself! Do you like it, Big Sis?"
Ginyu clutched Laruta's stomach and keeled over on the floor. "I need to… change bodies fast…" he grunted under his breath.
Boogwendy, Laruta's living booger friend, dripped out of her nose with a quizzical look. "Hi?"
GKND H.Q.
Firaga's mission was nearly a success. The last engine was destroyed. She was nearly out of breath after the endeavor; she pumped each of the engines with her own firebending until they burst from the inside. "I hope I'm not gonna have to pay for these."
All she had to do now was fly to her dragon ship and escape. "HUUUUUURRR!" She dodged a leaping smash from Amanda. Firaga kept her body ignited as she anticipated the Namekian's next move. "…uuuuhhg…uuuurrrrr!" But before Firaga's eyes, the monster shrank. She morphed into a spherical shape: an embryo.
"AAAH! You monsters! You made Amanda stay in her form too long!"
"Fuh…Firaga…" She glanced right of Amanda. Valdi and Clive were limping toward her, both succumb to the X. "S…Sorry…" Valdi moaned.
They were going to step on Amanda! Firaga swooped across and grabbed her helpless friend off the ground and returned up. "Don't worry, Amanda! I won't let you be unborn! AAAAAH!"
But it was through contact with Amanda that the X entered her system. Firaga fell back to the floor, squirming in agony. "Crud! Crud crud crud!" She still hugged Amanda's embryo, not wanting it to get smashed on the floor. "Welp…so much for getting out of here! I guess all I can do now… is get away from my ship!" With as much will as she could manage, she flew out of the hangar—Krillyx ambushed her with a volley of lasers, one shot hitting Firaga's wing as she collapsed again. Nalo, Lex, and Wisps closed in on her with weapons raised. "Cough…cough…sorry… Tiffi…" The jellies were already clouding her vision. "I should've just… destroyed my own ship, too… now they're gonna use it to escape… I…I hope I don't…"
"LOOK WHAT YOU BRATS HAVE DONE!" They all whipped in the direction of the hangar. Eyes widening, Samus Aran stormed into the base. The sight of all these X appalled her. "This is why you leave exterminating TO THE PROFESSIONALS!"
". . . . ." The parasites sensed the Hunter's danger all too well. They exchanged glances… AND SCATTERED! Firaga looked up at Samus in pleading. The Hunter grabbed her face and sapped the vermin right out of her system, making sure to do the same to Amanda.
"Th…Thank you…"
"Save your breath!" Samus began racing around the base like a ravenous predator. She grabbed each and every Wisp out of the air, the X forcing them to cry and panic as they were yanked out of their bodies and wolfed down Samus' throat.
"…Is it wrong that I'm hungry for gummy bears now?" Firaga asked Amanbryo.
Rivet, Kid, and Peni surveyed the treehouse from outside. "You think… we got here in time?" Kid asked.
"I think we did the best we could." Rivet said. "If we hadn't found Peni, who knows how far they would've gotten?"
"I wasn't even sure Amanda would go back to H.Q.." Peni said. "She could've just as easily gone to Superbia."
"I wanna say she has this covered, but… should we go in, anyway?"
"No." Kid answered. "We gotta go to the school and see what happened to Star." Rivet smiled empathetically.
"Drop me in there first." Peni requested. "I wanna check on Amanda."
"Okay."
Galaxia Elementary
It was worse than they had feared. Makava's scattered remains floating in the space outside. Sollyx dead in the communications office. Star's W.A.R.P.S.T.A.R. wrecked on the school grounds. "Mmmp…ulp…" Kid felt sick to his stomach. Traumatic memories flashed in his mind. The car crash… his parents… "Sniff…huff…" His sickness changed into tears… and he broke down and cried. "Star…"
"Kid…" Rivet patted his back. "It might not be what we think. W-We don't see… him anywhere." She tried to phrase that in the least horrifying way possible. "He might've… got taken prisoner. S-So, we have to get him back."
"Sniff…"
"…!" Rivet heard the sound of an engine and alerted Kid. A space truck was coming, one Kid recognized. It was Carl's truck! It landed on the parking lot; Papa G, Rosa, Jo, and Flo came rushing out. "Look, it's Kid!" Jo exclaimed.
"KID!" his grandpa shouted.
"Papa G! What're you all doing here?!"
"We followed Tuna Sandwich!" Rosa held up the tubby cat. His eyes were bright and wide as he yelped, "MEOW! MEOW! MEOW!" in repetition.
"He suddenly started doing that and pointing at this direction." Jo said. "Kid… what happened here?"
"All we know is Star came here on his own to meet one of Vilgax's minions." Rivet answered. "He was threatening the school… and it looks like he killed a few…"
"Aw, Kid…" Papa G knelt to hug his grandson.
"I can't believe this…" Flo said, hands cupped over her mouth. "Were any students around? They wouldn't hurt the students, would they?"
"It sounded like they abducted a few students." Rivet mentioned. "And we think… we're hoping Star was kidnapped, too."
"Where would they take them?" Jo asked.
"…The Vil Galaxy." Kid answered, rising to his feet. "And I…I'm gonna save him."
"Kid, you can't be serious!"
"Hey, he's not gonna be alone." Rivet assured. "Star's having the KND and a bunch of allies plan an invasion. And, well… I think Star wants Kid to be there, too."
"Well, he's not going!" Flo stated.
"But-" Kid stuttered.
"It's way too dangerous!"
"But I have to-"
"Not without us."
"Star told me I…huh?"
"I can't just sit around in that rusty junkyard when there's a war goin' on!" Papa G said. "I think it's time we round up the troops! Right, fellas?" He multiplied into an army. "RIGHT!"
"I'm sure those creeps are gonna come back for our stones, anyway." Jo shrugged. "So, we might as well start hitting them back."
"And SQUISH THEIR GUTS OUT!" Rosa fist-palmed.
"Whoa, easy there, Rosa." Papa G chuckled. "Try to keep the killin' to a minimum. A lot of those troops are just following orders. We'll be with ya every step of the way, Kid. We'll get Star back, count on it!"
Kid never felt deeper gratitude for his neighbors. For the first time, they felt like real heroes. "Then… I hereby decree you all… COSMIC HEROES!"
"Yaaaaaaay!" Rosa cheered. "By the way, who's the cat lady?"
"Oh! I'm Rivet. The Lombax."
"Can I pet your tail?"
"I don't see why not." Rivet turned and showed her fluffy tail to the child.
Rosa gigantified her hand and SQUEEZED! "Hahaha! So soft!"
"YOOOOOOOOWWWW!"
Moonbase
"Incoming transmission from GKND H.Q.!" Perry announced.
"Transmission?!" Tiffi gasped.
Firaga's and Peni Parker's face appeared on the monitor. "Tiffi!" Firaga beamed. Peni seemed to be rocking a newborn Amanda in her arms. "You made it! And you're… not an X, right? I'm not talking to zombies now, right?"
"No, I'm not! Well, I actually was, but Dr. Grayson saved me! And is that Peni?"
"I rode here with Rivet and Kid Cosmic!" Peni explained how she was attacked by Amanda after she became infected, but barely managed to escape. "After I told them all that, we brought Samus here. She's cleaning up all the parasites!"
"That's incredible!" Perry smiled.
"Totally!" Tiffi blushed. "I guess in the end, you were kind of the hero, Peni."
"You were the hero, too, Tiffi!" Firaga argued. "If it wasn't for your orders, the parasites would've gotten away before they got here. I never woulda thought to break the engines on my own!"
"I was really just being impulsive, if anything… There was probably a better solution."
"It looked like the best solution to me." Perry reasoned. "You ruined the parasites' chances to escape. And now they're Samus prey!"
It was then Samus' angry face appeared. "And you brats STILL have a lot to answer for! You let the parasites spread, you lost a priceless Chozo relic, and you let a freaking METROID loose on POLARIS!"
Firaga shoved her image away. "Pipe down and get back to the hunting! But, uh…that does raise the point that our ships are trashed now. The guys need some time to recover before they can fix them."
"Tell them to take all the time they need. But we have a schedule to keep, so we're going to go ahead and get started. Since you have the communications back up, send an Emergency Conference call to all Supreme Leaders."
"Just don't have too much fun without me!"
Planet Wisp; Galactic Kid Council
The Kid Council assembled as fast as they were able to within the next hour. Perry joined Tiffi on the central podium. "Thank you for coming, everyone! I'm sure a lot of you were probably sleeping or playing videogames by now, but we've had some urgent updates on the Vilgaxian War. To put it simply… Supreme Leader Star has decided it's time to invade the Vil Galaxy."
"We're invading?!" Fukaboshi exclaimed.
"Where is Star now?" Ferdinand asked.
"Star gave this order just before he was captured by Vilgax. …And that's only hoping he wasn't already…" Murmurs of concern echoed throughout the chamber. "To make matters worse, the Vilgaxians have been using germ warfare, attacking planets and operatives with body-snatching parasites! Our H.Q. was nearly overtaken by them! It was only thanks to Samus and Dr. Grayson that we survived!"
"You don't mean Samus Aran?!" T. Ode exclaimed. "The Metroid Hunter? She's here?!"
"Darn right! And she's going to help us! But as policy dictates, the choice to go to war lies with the operatives. Decide now, because we don't have time to wait. Vilgax is on the verge of building a dangerous weapon, so in 14 hours, the invasion begins! I'll tell you one thing though… even if I'm by myself, I WILL save Star!"
"You will have Mira's support!" Zeon vowed.
"Superbia's, too!" Astro Midoriya declared. "We'll end this war before Vilgax or his parasites reach Superbia!"
"I'll see if my troops will join!" Ferdinand said. "Who knows, we may even make some new allies in that galaxy!"
"I bet I know a handful on Hyrule who will join." Ray smiled.
"Imperial Prince Zurk has self-promoted himself from arena promoter TO WAR PROMOTEEEEER!"
"And you definitely have Earth's support!" Perry declared.
"I can't tell you how much this means to me." Tiffi said gratefully. "We leave for Vil Galaxy tomorrow. Kids Next Door… FOREVERMORE!"
"KIDS NEXT DOOR FOREVERMORE!"
Chimeran Hammer
"See, Sanchez?" Frieza dropped the relics on the floor before him. "THAT'S how you acquire relics!"
"Really? 'Cause as far as I can tell, Star found the relics." Rick smirked. "You ain't much better than me. And you still haven't found the Alteans'."
"Bastard." Frieza shot a combustion blast that Rick shielded against.
"You both still have a job to do!" Vilgax rasped from his throne. "Those final two relics must be found NOW! Now that we've taken their leader, it's only a matter of time before the KND come. And I fear they will not stand down for his sake."
"Relax, buddy, you have more Hearts than 50 Decapodians." Rick remarked.
"You just better keep those parasites in check!" Raven Beak stated. Five containers of Metroids were beside him. "They'll merely wind up as fodder for my Metroids, anyway."
"And what're you afraid of, Big Bird? You got that nifty little fruit now."
"I only speak for my people. Although…" The Mawkin Chief raised a blue Devil Fruit with a red core. "No reason I can't have fruits made for all of them."
"My Robeasts will be more than a match for the Kids Next Door." Haggar said. "It's only Voltron that concerns me… but if all goes as planned, its power will be ours to use!"
"My Lord!" Psyphon announced. "Our perimeter forces reported a massive fleet entering galactic borders!"
Vilgax hissed. "They've come to perish… right on schedule!"
The KND's fleet was lively and colorful with countless unique ships that befit each sector, from Sector JP's Skateboard Cruiser, the Go-Getters' Super Q-Bus, Sector W's Breegull Buster, and of course Sector V's Young Sunny. Kid Cosmic rode with his neighbors in Carl's truck. "This is gonna be our biggest challenge, yet!" Kid declared. "Is everyone ready?!"
"More than we've ever been!" Rivet declared. "We'll make them PAY for all they've done!"
"I shall not hold back either…" Kit said.
"I hope that," Allura began, "when this is done, we can make peace with the rest of the galaxy."
"For all we know, that madman infected half the galaxy." Samus glared. "I'll make them all suffer."
"Man, working with the legendary Samus." Spike Spiegel said, kicked back on his seat. "I never thought we'd climb so high."
"We won't be climbing anywhere if you don't get off your arse!" Jet Black shouted.
"Hahahaha! Ed is so excited!" Ed cheered. "Heeeeeeey! Joshaaaaaaa! Ed can see you from theeeeeeere!"
"HI, EEEEEEED!" Joshua waved from the Hylian fleet.
"Birdperson will repay Star and Kid the debt he owes." he declared, joined by his Birdfleet of Birdpeople.
"This ship stinks, Dad." His daughter had one foot propped on the other knee.
"Birddaughter! What did I tell you about stowing away?!"
"Maybe Jennu will be here, too." Suna said. "It's the only place we haven't looked."
"I mean, the universe is only so big, after all." Pochi remarked sarcastically.
"They're coming, guys!" Atomic Betty announced. "Time to ROCK AND ROLL!"
A prison somewhere
Star woke up with chains around his hands and ankles, suspended like an "X." He was still injured and dizzy… talk about bad hospital service.
His eyes cracked open hearing someone walk in: a bulky figure in black armor. "Oh…you're the guy from Sauria. Come to finally finish the job?"
The man raised his arm, morphing it into a sharp crystal. He charged at Star, "Um, I was only half-kidding," and took the swing, "AAAAAAHH!"