"Freedom! Freedom at last!" Asuna Kagurazaka gleefully yelled as he and Myreille Psychiokieus got off the bus.

Today was the last day of first grade for Asuna and Myreille. Once the two got home, summer break would officially begin for them. Asuna couldn't have been happier.

"I thought it would never end! It felt like I had been going to first grade for 10 years! But now it's finally over! Summer is here!"

Myreille rolled her eyes as Asuna continued to show his excitement. "Yeah, three more months before you go back to first grade" she snarked to the energetic boy.

Asuna's face of glee turned to one of anger. "Shut up, Myreille! I managed to pass the first grade! I got all D's – well, and a C, but I still passed"

"You passed? Man, the educational system is a joke" Myreille said. She hoped with all her heart that she wouldn't have Asuna in her class again.

"Summer break just started! Don't you dare bring up second grade!" Asuna yelled, not wanting to be reminded that summer break was only temporary.

Myreille rolled her eyes once more. "Whatever. Later, weirdo!"

Now that Asuna was done talking to Myreille, he dashed to his house. He wanted to think about all the hijinx he was going to get up to over summer break.

"I'M HOME!" Asuna yelled as he opened the door. A second later, he began panicking on the inside. He realized what was about to happen – and it was too late to do anything about it.

Before he knew it, Sweetie Belle had bolted towards the young boy, grabbing him aggressively. The duo crashed far into the grass.

"Wow! That must a new record!" Sweetie Belle said eagerly.

Asuna was not as amused. "Oh. Wonderful. Well, at least this is the last time I ever have to put up with that."

Sweetie Belle snickered when Asuna said that. "That is, until August when you begin second grade"

"Shut up, furball! I'll learn my lesson!"

When Sweetie Belle heard that, he laughed his furry butt off. Asuna's glare intensified, but the tiger did not care. Sweetie Belle thought that that was the most absurd thing to ever come out of Asuna's mouth, which really said something.

"You?! Learn your lesson?! Hahahaha! Flying pigs are more plausible!" the tiger continued to laugh. Between Myreille and Sweetie Belle, Asuna had enough of being heckled, so he stormed off into the house while Sweetie Belle continued to laugh so hard that tears began flowing from his eyes.

Asuna laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

The boy truly had no idea how to start his summer break. He figured he would create a new invention, or try a new experiment with an invention he already created. He thought about his Transmogrifier, his Time machine, and his Duplicator. He had already modified his Transmogrifier box into a Transmogrifier gun, and there wasn't any way he could think of to modify the Time Machine.

But the Duplicator? That could work, he thought to himself. He thought about when he did modify the Duplicator so that a good Asuna would be brought about. He shuddered at the memory. The good Asuna was something Asuna felt he would regret all his life, as the thought of a good version of himself made him want to hurl.

He didn't know how to modify the Duplicator, but there had to be a way. He wouldn't stop until he thought of something. Just then, Sweetie Belle came into the room. He let out a chuckle, still thinking about what Asuna said, much to the boy's annoyance.

"Gotta hand it to you. That was great!" Sweetie Belle said. Asuna was not about to have his thoughts interrupted by his tiger companion, however.

"Keep that furry mouth shut. I'm thinking about what I'm going to do today."

"Relax!" Sweetie Belle replied. "You just finished first grade, and school will only get harder from here. Just lay in bed all day"

"Well, it just so happens that I've already thought of something, Sweetie Belle" Asuna said with a smirk on his face.

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. "I'm not gonna like this, am I?"

"It's time for a third duplicator test!"

Sweetie Belle sighed with a great amount of exasperation. "Yep, I don't like it. This is what I was talking about, Asuna. You never learn!"

Asuna's smirk widened into a smug smile. "See, that's where you're wrong, Sweetie Belle. I'm not doing the traditional duplicates like we did the first time, nor am I going to bring back

that appalling good me."

Sweetie Belle scratched his head. "Then…then what are you going to do?"

"I will….uhhhhhh…" Asuna pondered for a bit. He had not gotten this far yet.

"If you need me, I'll be taking a nap"

A figurative light bulb appeared over Asuna's head as he saw Sweetie Belle heading out of the room. He knew exactly what he was going to do. "I got it, Sweetie Belle! I know exactly what we're going to do!"

Sweetie Belle turned around to face the young boy. The tiger really did not want to hear this idea, but he figured that Asuna would just harass him all day until the idea finally came out, so he figured he might as well hear it now. "I think we should duplicate you for a change!" the boy said.

Sweetie Belle scoffed at the idea. Was Asuna trying to top himself with saying absurd things? To Sweetie Belle, it sure seemed like it.

"Give me some time, Asuna. I gotta make a list of all the things I would rather do. It'll probably take a few hours"

Asuna groaned. "You're right, Sweetie Belle. I mean, sometimes I can barely put up with just one of you. I'm just grasping for straws here"

"Well, you continue grasping those straws. I hear sheep that need counting"

Another brilliant idea struck Asuna's head. "No, wait – this time I got it! I'm gonna make several duplicates again, but this time they won't know they're duplicates. They'll have all my memories, and they'll all think they're me!"

Sweetie Belle' eyes widened when he heard that. He looked genuinely impressed, much to Asuna's surprise. "Wow, Asuna! That is astonishing…ly idiotic!" Asuna's face sported a deadpan look. He should've known that Sweetie Belle was faking that impressment.

Asuna groaned again. Those were the only two ideas he could think of so far. Maybe Sweetie Belle was right. Maybe he should just take the day to relax before getting up to shenanigans starting tomorrow.

But then again, maybe he was wrong. Suddenly, a strange object in the sky caught the eye of both Asuna and Sweetie Belle. The two initially had no idea what it could be, but as it got a little closer, they saw that it was a spaceship. More humans were coming to Earth, just like the duo of Beck and Tori had just a few months prior.

As the spaceship got even closer, they realized that it looked familiar. Then it hit the two – it was Beck and Tori. Asuna and Sweetie Belle rushed outside to greet the aliens as the ship landed in the woods.

When they got outside, Beck and Tori were emerging from the trees. "Greetings, Emperor Asuna of Earth" Tori said.

"It is a pleasure to see you two again" Asuna replied. "But what brings you back to our planet?"

This time it was Beck who spoke. "We want to check out how our property is doing. We meant to come months ago, but our emperor, Constellius, got mixed up in some crazy antics. Would you give us a briefing on how the Earth is doing?"

Asuna thought about it for a moment, but then a sinister gin appeared on all his faces, to the concern of Beck, Tori, and especially Sweetie Belle. He was suffering the dilemma

of not figuring out the next Duplicator, and now Beck and Tori have just arrived. Perhaps the two situations could meet.

"I'll give you a briefing on the Earth…on one condition." The aliens and Sweetie Belle were even more confused now.

If Beck and Tori had eyebrows, they would have been raised. "What could you possibly want, Asuna?" Tori asked.

"Oh, it's not too much. It's just…I've been wanting to try a duplicator experiment. I've done two in the past, but I want to shake things up the third time. Would you two help me?"

Beck and Tori turned around to whisper about it. Sweetie Belle, meanwhile, whispered to Asuna. "What are you doing?" he said, with an even stronger tint of exasperation.

"Trust me, Sweetie Belle. It'll work out" Asuna whispered back.

Just as he said that, Beck and Tori turned back around to face Asuna and Sweetie Belle. "Alright, Asuna. You have a deal" Beck said.

Sweetie Belle' jaw dropped while Asuna cheered. "HOORAY!"

"Follow us into the ship" Tori said.

As the four walked into the woods and towards the aliens' spaceship, Sweetie Belle dreaded the thought of what was about to go down. 'There's no way this can end well' he thought to himself. He gulped and braced himself as he and Asuna entered the ship.

Asuna tapped his foot as he grew more impatient.

If he had stuck with duplicating Sweetie Belle or creating the duplicates that didn't realize their true nature, he would've been done by now. Beck and Tori had taken over half an hour.

Sweetie Belle was busy looking at the pure golden interior of the spaceship.

"Hey, could you hurry it up?!" he yelled, finally having enough of waiting. "I would like to make it home by dinner!"

"No, no, no!" Sweetie Belle in turn yelled. "Take as long as you want!"

That remark earned Sweetie Belle a glare from the six-year-old boy. "Sweetie Belle, don't encourage this!"

Before the two could get into a full-blown argument, Beck entered the room, sporting a glare of his own. "Excuse me, Emperor Asuna, but do you want our help or not?"

Fearful that Beck and Tori would abandon his idea, an uneasy smile forced itself onto Asuna's face. "Yes, of course I do"

"Then be patient. We're almost done anyway"

Asuna waited until Beck left the room before sitting by the wall and crossing his arms, sporting he best pouting face he could make (he was only a six-year-old boy).

He and Sweetie Belle waited another five minutes, before Beck came back. "Alright, Asuna" the alien said, "Come with us"

Asuna and Sweetie Belle followed Beck into another room in the spaceship, where there stood Tori, next to a golden chair that had a golden head appendage on top of it. 'These guys sure do love their gold' Sweetie Belle thought to himself.

"So you're gonna duplicate me….with this?" Asuna said. The golden chair and head appendage looked a lot fancier than his cardboard boxes, but Asuna wasn't fully invested in it yet.

"Just get into the chair and we'll show you" Tori replied.

Asuna obliged and sat down. The head appendage lowered down and almost glued itself onto Asuna's head.

Then Beck gasped, as if he had forgotten something. "We have a quick warning for you, Emperor Asuna. This will hurt, if only a little"

Then all of a sudden, purple lightning began emitting out of the head appendage, causing Sweetie Belle to back away. Asuna didn't scream or squeal, but he looked like he was hurting.

"Ow!" he suddenly yelled. "This does hurt!"

"We understand, Asuna" Tori stated. "But the duplicates are about to take form"

More and more purple lightning sprout from the appendage, and Sweetie Belle was not ready for what he saw next. He saw four purple blobs leave Asuna's body, and as they moved away from him, they began to take his shape. Soon, the colors of blue, yellow, and black appeared on the first blob. Then the next blob got red and yellow, and the third one got brown and white. The last of the blobs got tan coloring.

And then their formations were complete. Asuna recognized the first three of them. The blue and black one was his favorite alter ego, Ryoko Sakaki. The red and yellow one was his superhero alter ego, Zenji Marui. The third one was Detective Satoshi Isshiki, and the fourth one…was not familiar. He had no idea who he was.

Zenji Marui was only there for a second before he started to speak. "Ah, yes! Now the world will know the awesome power of….Zenji Marui! Defender of freedom and advocate of liberty!"

Sweetie Belle facepalmed. "Oh no" he whispered to himself.

Then Ryoko Sakaki spoke. "Our brave hero, Ryoko Sakaki, has found himself captured by aliens! He stands alongside four absolutely dashing young lads….and a TIGERMAN!"

Sweetie Belle' eyes widened when Ryoko Sakaki focused his attention on him. He couldn't think of any reason why the space explorer would have any interest in him, though his questions would soon be answered. "Tigermen are very valuable on the planet of Mok! Ryoko Sakaki is in deep debt to the Mokians, and selling this Tigerman to them should clear his good name! Down with you, foul beast!"

With that, Ryoko Sakaki got out his blaster and shot at Sweetie Belle. The tiger moved out of the way, but the blast still got some of his whiskers. Sweetie Belle looked at Ryoko Sakaki with a death glare colored onto his face. He unseathed his claws and let out a mighty roar before going after Ryoko Sakaki, the latter beginning to run as he blasted at Sweetie Belle.

While all of this was going on, Asuna decided to finally ask Beck and Tori what was up. "Ryoko Sakaki, Zenji Marui, Satoshi Isshiki, whoever that is….."

"I'm Shun Ibusaki!" the fourth duplicate finally said. Shun Ibusaki and Satoshi Isshiki had only been standing there and observing the ship and everything that was going on. When Shun Ibusaki revealed his name, it hit Asuna. He remembered pretending to be a safari guy before, but he only did it once and his mom cut it short by making him clean his room. With that clarified, he turned his attention back to Beck and Tori, who had already figured out what he was going to ask.

"Our device searched through your brain" Tori clarified. "It found those four alter egos of yours, those people you wish you could be like…and the duplicates were created from there."

Asuna's face brightened. "That's…..awesome! This was brilliant!"

Shun Ibusaki went up to Zenji Marui. "So you're a superhero?"

Zenji Marui gave the safari explorer a deadpan look. "Why else would I wear these tights?"

"Squidward could think of three good reasons" Shun Ibusaki replied.

"Well, this 'Squidward' you speak of is not here! I am the great Zenji Marui, defender of free will! You will never find a hero as glorious and amazing as I"

"Hopefully not as egotistical, either" Shun Ibusaki rolled his eyes at Zenji Marui's bold claims.

Before Zenji Marui could respond to Shun Ibusaki, Ryoko Sakaki bumped into Zenji Marui as he was running from Sweetie Belle, causing both of them to fall onto the ground.

Zenji Marui got up first, and he was full of fury and anger.

"YOU DARE?!" he kicked Ryoko Sakaki's stomach while he was down.

Ryoko Sakaki got up, and he too had become furious. "Do you know who I am? I am Ryoko Sakaki, Explorer Extraordinaire! I am the greatest hero in the entire galaxy!"

Zenji Marui scoffed when Ryoko Sakaki stated his claim. "You?! A great hero?! Give me a break! Now do you know who I am? I am….Zenji Marui! Defender of the good man! Champion of the free will! S…for Stupendous! T…for tiger, ferocity of! U…for underwear, red! P…for –"

It seemed that the universe would never allow Zenji Marui to finish his chant. The first time, Ms. Wormwood grabbed him before he could say the whole chant, and now Ryoko Sakaki blasted at him before he could finish.

"Our hero finds himself battling a delusional superhuman named Zenji Marui! Ryoko Sakaki, however, wishes he could fighting against some galactic empire, not some egotistical brat with delusions grandeur!" Ryoko Sakaki said all of this as he continued to blast against Ryoko Sakaki. Beck and Tori finally had enough of this.

"Alright, that's it, you two!" Beck yelled, desperate to avoid any damage to their spaceship. But before he could finish his threat, Ryoko Sakaki blasted at the alien – setting his phaser to 'stun' – and knocked him out cold.

Zenji Marui wanted to avoid any problems with Tori, so he punched him hard enough in the face to send him flying towards the wall, knocking him out as well.

"Now that the alien's been dealt with, Zenji Marui can deal with his most annoying foe yet – Ryoko Sakaki! With all his great might, Zenji Marui will take out this egotistical brat with delusions grandeur as quickly as possible he could continue to fight the good fight!"

Ryoko Sakaki blasted at Zenji Marui, but Zenji Marui dodged at all his blasts and punched the 'Explorer Extraordinaire' so with such great force that Ryoko Sakaki was forced out of the spaceship, leaving a huge hole out there. Zenji Marui proceeded to fly out of the ship to continue their battle.

Asuna, Sweetie Belle, Shun Ibusaki, and Satoshi Isshiki all stood there for a few seconds, dumbfounded by what had just taken place.

"Call me crazy" Shun Ibusaki broke the silence, "but I think we should go after them."

"Now, call me crazy" Sweetie Belle said, turning his attention to Asuna, "but I think this has gone horribly wrong. Just like all of your other schemes."

"Yeah, go ahead, Sweetie Belle. Gloat. It won't fix the problem!"

Satoshi Isshiki had just been standing there with his hands in his pockets the whole time, so the other three were taken aback when he finally spoke. "I really wish I had a bottle and a better gun in my holster, because this is an interesting predicament I have found myself in"

Sweetie Belle sighed. "If only Asuna could go that long without talking"

Sweetie Belle' remark caused Satoshi Isshiki to turn his attention to the tiger. "The kid – the original kid – and his tiger…they seem to be good pals, yet…well, I thought I bickered with people a lot, but when you see these two argue and fight, you gotta wonder how they put up with each other. And then there's what's-his-face….Shun Ibusaki. But he's uninteresting"

Shun Ibusaki raised an eyebrow. "He's also right here"

Satoshi Isshiki continued on as if Shun Ibusaki hadn't said anything. "What is interesting is those two dunderheads. Both fighting each because they despise they qualities of the other, even though they themselves have those same qualities. One fancying himself a spaceman, the other a superhero. Heh. Superheroes. They really are the big thing now, aren't they? 10 years ago, your average shmuck would raise an eyebrow at the name 'Iron Man' but now he's a household name. –"

Shun Ibusaki had just about enough of this. "Excuse me, forgive me for interrupting, erm…"

"Bullet. Satoshi Isshiki."

"Erm, right. Forgive me for interrupting, Satoshi Isshiki, but is there a point to this monologuing? We should focus our efforts on stopping those two maniacs!"

"He's right" Sweetie Belle blurted out. "If we're lucky, those two are just fighting in the woods. Otherwise, we know how humans work. They freak out when they see something strange, and they won't be prepared for a spaceman with an actual blaster fighting against a superhuman who can fly!"

"Exactly my point, Sweetie Belle" Shun Ibusaki unsheathed his blade. "Let's-a go!"

Asuna, Sweetie Belle, and Shun Ibusaki all charged towards the exit. However, all three of them stopped in their tracks when they realized Satoshi Isshiki wasn't following along.

"Eh, Bullet" Asuna said with a tint of confusion. "Come along, will ya?"

"I'm a private eye, kid" Satoshi Isshiki replied, wishing he had a cigar in his hand about now. "I don't have a big ego, but I do consider myself good at what I do. And when you're good, you're not cheap – that's how the world works. I charge $50 a day, plus expenses, so unless you got some greenbacks in your pockets, I ain't comin along"

Sweetie Belle was not in the mood for Bullet's antics, already frustrated with Ryoko Sakaki and Zenji Marui. But he did not saying anything to Asuna's private-eyed alter ego.

Instead, he simply glared at Satoshi Isshiki and unsheathed his claws. Bullet was startled.

"Although….I am feeling rather generous today. Perhaps I won't need any greenbacks today"

"Good" Sweetie Belle sheathed his claws. Asuna took a look through the hole in the spaceship and saw Zenji Marui flying in the sky, carrying Ryoko Sakaki by his shirt. "Alright, Sweetie Belle. We're lucky. They're still in the woods. But we need to move out!"

The quartet left the spaceship, hoping to stop the two before things got really bad.

As Asuna, Sweetie Belle, Shun Ibusaki, and Satoshi Isshiki stepped out of the spaceship, they noticed Ryoko Sakaki's crushed blaster on the ground. Satoshi Isshiki kneeled down to take a closer look at the blaster, cupping his chin as he inspected it.

"Interesting. The blaster of that Ryoko Sakaki fellow lays here crushed. From the look of it, it seems that it was crushed by a mere human hand. Gotta be Zenji Marui" Satoshi Isshiki paused for a second or two before turning to face the other three. "Guys…Ryoko Sakaki won't stand a chance without that blaster"

Asuna cupped his own chin, thinking about what he could do. Then another light bulb appeared over his blonde head.

"I have a plan! And a plan B!" Asuna said. Sweetie Belle had a look of genuine impressment on his face. He thought he would eventually have to explain the concept of a 'Plan B' to the six-year-old boy. He felt like pinching himself, because this couldn't be real. "You have a plan B? I never thought I'd hear those words come out your mouth."

While Asuna and Sweetie Belle had been talking, Shun Ibusaki took a look at the sky. And he didn't like what he was seeing.

"Um…guys…take a look"

Suddenly, Ryoko Sakaki and Zenji Marui came crashing towards the ground. Their outfits were torn from the fighting. Zenji Marui got right up and took a look at his opponent. "With Ryoko Sakaki down, Zenji Marui flies boldly into the sky to finish this once and for all"

Zenji Marui dashed off into the sky. Ryoko Sakaki got up to see Ryoko Sakaki circling around and heading towards him.

"Our hero has had one of the toughest battles of his life, and now he must take one of his toughest risks"

As Zenji Marui got closer and closer, Ryoko Sakaki moved to the left, causing Zenji Marui to panic. He knew he could not stop quickly enough – so he diverted upwards, just barely managing to do so, but not before Ryoko Sakaki got ahold of his cape.

Asuna, Sweetie Belle, Satoshi Isshiki, and Shun Ibusaki were all taken aback by this decision. "What is he doing?!" Shun Ibusaki yelled.

Zenji Marui was wondering the same thing, but he couldn't say anything because he was focused on not hitting a tree. Ryoko Sakaki did not care for this and continually punched Zenji Marui in the stomach.

Zenji Marui flew high above the trees and managed to wiggle Ryoko Sakaki off his foot before flying away.

Ryoko Sakaki was not to be taken down that easily, however. The space explorer managed to grab the nearest branch he could latch onto. However, that branch broke off, but Ryoko Sakaki latched onto the next branch, with worked out in his favor.

Zenji Marui saw Ryoko Sakaki's survival, but was greatly worn out from the fighting and flew away.

"COWARD!" Ryoko Sakaki screamed as he struggled to get out of the tree.

Zenji Marui got onto the ground to take a breath.

He was exhausted, for the battle with Ryoko Sakaki had proven to be much tougher and much wearier than he had expected.

"Stupendous….Zenji Marui has truly faced a worthy opponent. He will prevail against the dreadful Ryoko Sakaki, but it won't be a piece of cake like he thought it would. He takes this moment to breathe and think of what to do next."

Then his attention was taken by the sound of a little girl.

It was Myreille Psychiokieus, and with her was none other than Fumio Daimido. They were in Myreille's backyard, and Fumio Daimido had a face of content that Asuna had almost never seen on the high school graduate's face before, for Myreille never got up to any of the antics that Asuna put Fumio Daimido through.

"Annoying Girl? Babysitter Girl? Together?! This would be an emergency of the highest order…if not for Ryoko Sakaki. Still, perhaps they could provide some useful supplies…"

He saw them playing a game of soccer. He didn't want to fly just yet, not wanting to get the attention of the girls. He went to the side of the house and saw an open window. He looked left, right, and behind, making sure no one was watching him, and flew into the house.

"Zenji Marui has bravely infiltrated Annoying Girl's house, and….EWWWWW!" He was disgusted and appalled to find that he was in Myreille's bedroom, and as she was a girl, there was girl stuff everywhere. "Ew ew ew ew ew –"

He darted out of the room as quickly as he could, stopping to breathe once more when he was in the hallway. "With all his stupendous speed and grace, Zenji Marui has escaped the wretched hive of scum and villainy that was the Annoying Girl's room. And now, he tries to formulate a plan."

Zenji Marui went down the stairs. He would never complement Annoying Girl out loud, but he liked the beige coloring on the walls of her house. He went into the kitchen – and Asuna would've been jealous of how much nicer the Derkins' refrigerator was. He hid behind the kitchen counter, not wanting to attract the attention of his 'nefarious' foes.

"Use that magnanimous brain of yours, Zenji Marui! Think, think, think….brain blast!"

He dashed downstairs, heading towards the basement, just hoping that that the Derkins household would have anything that would be of use to him.

To his surprise, he found a water pistol right at the bottom of the stairs. Myreille must've only recently gotten it, because Asuna had never seen her use one before. He picked up the water pistol and grinned.

"Aha! Zenji Marui has found the perfect weapon!" he yelled to himself. He looked around the basement, and saw a bathroom on the other side of the door. That grin returned to his face as he darted into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

"With his stupendous intellect, Zenji Marui transforms this mere water pistol into a Duplicator Gun!" he exclaimed as whirling sounds could be heard in the bathroom. Following those whirling sounds were zapping ones, and out came not one, not two, but three Stupendous Men.

"Alright, gang" the original Zenji Marui said. "Here's the plan" he pointed to the duplicate to the left of him. "You will accompany me in battling Ryoko Sakaki." He then pointed to the duplicate to the right of them. "You will take care of Babysitter Girl and Annoying Girl. But no flying yet – not until we find Ryoko Sakaki!"

"Oops, I missed" Myreille said as the ball she kicked miss the tree, which was the goal she and Fumio Daimido had set.

"That's alright, Myreille. But watch out. 3-2 my favor!"

Just as they were continuing the game, Zenji Marui's second duplicate came out from the back door.

"Play time's over, fiends!" the duplicate yelled, taking Fumio Daimido and Myreille by complete surprise.

Fumio Daimido was trying to figure out what was going on. "What the….Asuna?! You broke into Myreille's house?!"

"I'm not Asuna! I'm Zenji Marui! Well…I'm technically a duplicate of Zenji Marui!"

"This is a new low for you, Asuna!" Myreille was even more enraged than Fumio Daimido was. After all, it was her house that Zenji Marui had broken into. "I can't believe you broke into my house!"

"Again, I'm a duplicate of Zenji Marui! And boy have I got a surprise for you two!"

He rushed back inside and got a bucket of water out, dumping it onto Myreille's head. Fumio Daimido's face turned a deep red.

"Oh, now you've done it, Asuna!" she yelled. "Just wait until your parents hear about this!"

Zenji Marui's duplicate got out another bucket of water and threw it towards Fumio Daimido. "Oh you little shi -….you are so dead!"

Zenji Marui's duplicate ran back into the house, causing Fumio Daimido and Myreille to go after him. The original Zenji Marui creeped from the side of the house, and he nodded to his duplicate as the two went into the woods to search for Ryoko Sakaki.

Ryoko Sakaki, however, was much closer than they thought. He was hiding behind a tree, and he had seen everything.

"So…Zenji Marui has created duplicates of his own! Two, to be exact! Well, if he thinks he can beat our courageous hero that way, he's got another thing coming!"

Ryoko Sakaki dashed into Asuna's house. Asuna's mom was getting the stove ready. She heard Ryoko Sakaki coming in and turned her head.

"Asuna, you're back already? Wait, where did you get that outfit? You didn't change clothes outside, did you?"

Ryoko Sakaki panicked. He hadn't thought of the possibility of someone else being in the house, and he was desperately trying to think up a plan.

"Zounds! An intruder has breached into the house!"

Asuna's mom let out a deep sigh. "Asuna, I'm not in the mood for this right now"

"Our hero knocks over one of the kitchen chairs down to slow the intruder down!" Ryoko Sakaki yelled as he proceeded to do just that and run away.

"Asuna!"

Ryoko Sakaki turned his head to see Asuna's mom, and when he turned back he saw he was about to run into a cabinet. He pushed against it, and in doing so, he caused a flower vase to fall to the ground and shatter. When Asuna's mom saw that, her face turned the color of blood.

"Asuna, that vase cost me $40! Oh, you're in trouble now!"

Ryoko Sakaki finally had enough of being called Asuna. "My name is not Asuna, woman!" he said as he dashed up the stairs. "I'm Ryoko Sakaki, Explorer Extraordinaire!" Asuna's mom was catching up to him, and the space explorer didn't know what he was going to. That is, until he saw Asuna's old dart gun lying on the hallway floor.

"With an ancient weapon to save the day, Ryoko Sakaki fires away!"

He shot all the darts at Asuna's mom, and each one hit her in the stomach.

"You're only getting in more and more trouble, Asuna!"

Just then, though, she tripped and fell onto the floor. This gave Ryoko Sakaki time to find Asuna's room and shut himself in. He managed to push Asuna's dresser towards the door, shutting the mom out.

Asuna's mom banged on the door. "Asuna, the amount of trouble you're in is unbelievable!"

She took a minute to take a few deep breaths and try to calm down at least a little. She could hear Ryoko Sakaki talking. "With his amazing intellect, Ryoko Sakaki has created a Duplicator Gun!"

She groaned in exasperation. "I'm calling your father right now!" And with that, she went downstairs – her phone was still on the kitchen counter.

Ryoko Sakaki had little reason to care for that, however. He was more focused on trying to take down Zenji Marui.

"Zenji Marui thinks he can try and beat Ryoko Sakaki with two duplicates, but our hero will prove him wrong. With this amazing Duplicator Gun, our Explorer Extraordinaire creates four duplicates of himself!" Ryoko Sakaki zapped himself four times with his Duplicator Gun, and now there were five spacemen in the room.

He looked at all four of them. "Get those bed sheets tied up so we can leave through the window – it's time to finish this fight!"

The five Spacemen Spiffs wandered into the woods, looking for the Stupendous Men.

The search was over almost as soon as it began. Before they knew it, they saw the three Spacemen Spiff flying in the sky.

"Alright, duplicates. Prepare for the fight of your lives!"

The three Stupendous Men noticed the Spacemen Spiffs, and flew towards them, landing directly in front of the space explorers.

Zenji Marui decided to gloat. "You think you can beat me with more duplicates? Ha! We're stronger and more powerful then you!"

Ryoko Sakaki smirked. "We have intellect and strategy on our side, something your pea brain could never dream of!"

Zenji Marui walked closer to Ryoko Sakaki. "You might as well give up now, spaceman. There's no way you can win against me!"

"I never quit, you stupendous oaf!"

Zenji Marui grinned. "Then this, I will relish"

"Stop!" yelled a voice in the distance.

The two groups all turned to the left to see Asuna walking towards them. Behind him stood Satoshi Isshiki, Shun Ibusaki, Sweetie Belle…and six other Asunas. Evidently. Asuna had created more duplicates.

"You two have caused enough mayhem for one hour, and that's coming from me!" Asuna yelled, anger coloring his face. "It's time to end this, once and for all!"

Zenji Marui and Ryoko Sakaki both smirked. "Well, this just got a whole lot more interesting" Zenji Marui said, and Ryoko Sakaki couldn't help but agree.

"Let's end this now!" Asuna yelled at nearly the top of his lungs.

Asuna, Satoshi Isshiki and three of Asuna's duplicates bolted towards Ryoko Sakaki and his group, while Sweetie Belle, Shun Ibusaki and the other three Asunas went towards Zenji Marui. The Asunas, Satoshi Isshiki, and Shun Ibusaki all yelled individual war cries while Sweetie Belle roared defiantly.

Asuna went directly towards the original Ryoko Sakaki and landed a punch on his chin, causing him to fall to the ground. Ryoko Sakaki got up to see Asuna sporting a death glare at him.

"And to think you were my favorite alter ego!" Asuna yelled, sounding furious as he did so. "To think out of all of you guys, you were the one I enjoyed the most!"

Ryoko Sakaki grinned smugly in response. "Well, I am quite dashing and charming, aren't I?"

Asuna gritted his teeth and pounced upon Ryoko Sakaki, all the while Satoshi Isshiki and the other Asunas fought off the space explorer's duplicates.

"This is all crazy, you know" Satoshi Isshiki lamented as he dodged a punch from one of the Spacemen Spiff. "I should be at my desk, about to get some greenbacks from a dame, not caught up in….well, whatever you would call this!"

"Even for us, this is a weird experience" the Spiff duplicated replied. "And you wouldn't believe some of the stuff I've seen up in space!"

One of Asuna's duplicates scoffed when he heard that. "Of course I would. I thought them up for you!" Asuna had decided to go with one of his original ideas and give all the duplicates his memories.

"No, I thought them up!" one of Asuna's other duplicates suddenly blurted out. Sweetie Belle was right – giving all these duplicates his memories might've not been the best idea. And unfortunately for him, he didn't plan for any tensions between himself in the most literal sense. Before he knew it, though, the three Asunas were barking at each other.

"I'm the original Asuna!"

"No, I am!"

"No, me!"

"Me!"

Asuna's head began to hurt. This was supposed to be a three-way war between him and his allies, Zenji Marui, and Ryoko Sakaki. Now, his regular duplicates were beginning to forget who was who, complicating things even further.

Sweetie Belle, thankfully, was not having his problem yet. He and Shun Ibusaki were doing quite well against Zenji Marui and his duplicates.

"Man" Sweetie Belle muttered as he threw one of Zenji Marui's duplicates towards the other. "I thought just one Asuna was annoying. But this is ridiculous!"

"But I'm not Asuna!" Zenji Marui yelled back, gritting his teeth. "I'm Zenji Marui!"

"You're stupendously annoying" Sweetie Belle replied as he clawed Zenji Marui in the rear, causing the latter to yelp in agony.

Shun Ibusaki tried to slash his machete at Zenji Marui, which the latter narrowly dodged. "You and Spiff both!"

One of Asuna's duplicates spoke up. "It's time to undo what I started!"

Unfortunately for Sweetie Belle and Shun Ibusaki, this only earned the ire of the other two Asuna duplicates. "No, we're undoing what I started!"

"I'm the original Asuna!"

"No, I am!"

"I'm the real deal!"

The three Asunas began beating each other up. Sweetie Belle and Shun Ibusaki took a step back to let it sink in what was happening. Not too long after, Asuna and Satoshi Isshiki did the same. The four of them could only watch as the battle got more and more complicated.

Satoshi Isshiki tried to wrap his ahead around what was happening. "Okay, let me see if I got this straight. We're in conflict with Zenji Marui and Ryoko Sakaki, who are in conflict with each other, and now Asuna's regular duplicates – who were initially on our side – are against them, us, and each other?"

Asuna gulped, for Satoshi Isshiki had managed to sum up the current situation pretty well. "Yes, Bullet…it would appear that way."

Shun Ibusaki had a look of panic on his face, for things had gone horribly, horribly wrong. "Well, then what?! What do we do?!"

"I say we sit back and just wait for them to be done taking out each other." Satoshi Isshiki replied. This situation had become too much for him, and he had grown tired from it. He saw little reason to continue doing anything about it. Shun Ibusaki didn't necessarily agree with Satoshi Isshiki.

"No, Bullet! We can't just sit back and let this all happen! We have to intervene, however we can!"

Once Shun Ibusaki expressed his frustration at Satoshi Isshiki, Sweetie Belle looked down at Asuna with a curious look on his face. "Well, Asuna, you said you had a Plan B. Well, now would be a really good time for that Plan B of yours."

Asuna cupped his chin as he glanced Sweetie Belle up and down. "I do have a Plan B, Sweetie Belle – and Plan B is to duplicate you while we go get Beck and Tori's ship."

Sweetie Belle' eyes widened when he heard that. Since Asuna having a Plan B was such a new concept, Sweetie Belle had no idea what it could've been. However, he never would've guessed it to be that.

"Uh…ar-are you sure about, Asuna? You know how I am with your inventions."

"I do, Sweetie Belle." Asuna replied. "But you're the strongest out of the four us. With more than one of you, you should be able to combat all those duplicates."

Sweetie Belle turned his head to the left to see the Asunas, Spacemen Spiffs, and Stupendous Men all continuing to duke it out against each other. As much as he hated Asuna's inventions, it became apparent to the tiger that he had no choice. He was unsure of how well Plan B would go, but none of them would know until it was tried out. Sweetie Belle let out a deep sigh. "Alright. Duplicate me as quickly as you can"

Asuna got out his Duplicator Gun from his back pocket, and aimed it as his tiger friend. He pressed the trigger seven times, creating seven duplicates of Sweetie Belle. The eight Sweetie Belle' all looked at each. None of them looked happy at having just been duplicated, but they also knew what had to be done.

"Alright, Sweetie Belle. Now!"

The eight tigers all let out mighty roars, and they all charged their way into the brawl ahead. With Sweetie Belle and his duplicates taking care of that situation, Asuna, Satoshi Isshiki, and Shun Ibusaki all dashed as quickly as they could to Beck and Tori's ship.

It didn't take long before a simple truth dawned upon Shun Ibusaki and Asuna – that they had forgotten where the ship landed. Both of them stood there dumbfounded, Shun Ibusaki scratching his had. "Well, this sucks, Asuna. Hey, Bullet – you remember where the ship was?"

Satoshi Isshiki groaned at the other two. "I think I do. I remember it being close by to Asuna's house."

Asuna and Shun Ibusaki all followed Satoshi Isshiki, and sure enough, he did have an idea of where the ship was – it was only about two or three minutes before they found it. They went inside the ship, and there stood Beck and Tori. It seemed as if the two had gotten up not too long ago, and what became very clear was that they were not happy to see Asuna.

"This is quite the conundrum you've started, Asuna!" Beck yelled angrily. "What do you have to say for yourself?!"

Asuna scoffed at Beck's words. "Hey, don't act as if this is entirely my fault. You two agreed to help me!"

Asuna's response caused Tori to snicker. "See, Beck. I told you we shouldn't have gone through with it, but did you listen to me? No!"

"Well, you can't blame me, Tori! I figured negotiations with Asuna and Earth would be much easier if we just helped him out on his mission!"

Shun Ibusaki had just about enough of all the bickering and fighting he'd put up with today. "ENOUGH!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. Asuna and Satoshi Isshiki both jumped. Not even Asuna knew he could be that loud.

Shun Ibusaki let out a deep sigh. "Sorry, sorry. It's just that we won't get anywhere by fighting each other! We need to think up a solution, now!"

Beck had a look of determination on his face. "The boy's right. We need to think up a plan, now. Shun Ibusaki and Satoshi Isshiki, we'll need to study your physiology! Follow us!"

Satoshi Isshiki and Shun Ibusaki did exactly what Beck and Tori said, following them into one of the smaller rooms in the spaceship. Tori turned around to look at Asuna. "Don't worry, Asuna. This will only take a few minutes"

The door shut behind the four, leaving Asuna alone. He was beginning to grow a bit anxious – he had no idea how Sweetie Belle and his duplicates were doing. Given Sweetie Belle' personality, he figured it was less likely his duplicates would turn on each than Asuna's did, but he was still getting worried about his best friend. He really hoped Beck and Tori wouldn't take long.

And sure enough, they didn't. After only a few minutes, Beck, Tori, Satoshi Isshiki, and Shun Ibusaki all came back, with smiles and smirks on their faces. This made Asuna a bit curious.

"It's time to end this, Asuna." Satoshi Isshiki said. "I know we keep saying it's time to end this, but this time it has actual meaning."

Five of the six Asunas laid unconscious on the ground, as did all of Zenji Marui and Ryoko Sakaki's duplicates. Even four of Sweetie Belle' duplicates were taken down. Sweetie Belle and three of his duplicates stood against Ryoko Sakaki, Zenji Marui, and the remaining Asuna - all of them determined to come out on top.

The remaining Asuna charged at Sweetie Belle, but Sweetie Belle barely had to do anything. All he had to do was move out of the Asuna's way. Just like that, the Asuna bonked his head onto the tree, knocking him out cold. Sweetie Belle smiled smugly, a look he kept on his face when he turned his head to Zenji Marui and Ryoko Sakaki.

"There's four of us and one of you, each" Sweetie Belle gloated. "It's gonna be pretty hard to take down the likes of us"

Zenji Marui yelled out in anger, for the superhero had finally snapped. "Well, guess what? I was actually holding back a little. I like to enjoy my fights a little. But now…now I'm done holding back!"

He flew towards two of the Sweetie Belle' and knocked them out cold with just one punch. He was just about to knock the original Sweetie Belle out, but his remaining duplicate pounced on the superhero before he could do so.

"You know what?" Ryoko Sakaki said as he grinned. This works out well for me, tigermen. With eight of you, my debt to the Mokians will be cleared for sure!" He decided to forget about Zenji Marui for a moment and focus on taking out the remaining two Sweetie Belle'. He had to be very careful, however, lest Zenji Marui knock him out in a brief second. But then he got an idea.

"Hey, Zenji Marui!" he shouted, getting the superhero's attention. "Let's call a truce – and take down this tiger together!"

Zenji Marui raised an eyebrow. "An alliance? You're suggesting an alliance after everything we've done against each other?"

"We got off on the wrong foot. But just think about it. Think about the team we could make! With our powers and resources, we'd be unstoppable!"

Zenji Marui thought about it. Ryoko Sakaki had proven himself a capable adversary, so perhaps he could be a reliable ally as well. He grinned at Ryoko Sakaki, and the latter got the memo. Zenji Marui punched Sweetie Belle in the stomach very hard, and as he was holding back a lot less, Sweetie Belle was in a great deal of pain.

Zenji Marui then threw Sweetie Belle towards the nearest tree. He threw the tiger with such strength that the tree shook, as if it was about to fall down. It didn't, but Sweetie Belle found it hard to get up. Ryoko Sakaki ran towards Sweetie Belle and kicked him in the stomach, grinning as he did so.

Normally, Sweetie Belle could take care of himself in a fight, but Zenji Marui had done a number on him. He could not fight back when Ryoko Sakaki repeatedly punched him in the face, as much as he tried to. After a dozen or so blows to the face, Ryoko Sakaki finally let up as Zenji Marui flew towards the two.

"So you mentioned that deal with the Mokians earlier – does it really matter if we take care of one of the Sweetie Belle' for good?"

Ryoko Sakaki pondered for a moment, before ultimately deciding that just seven tigermen would be enough to clear the debt. He shook his head at Zenji Marui, to the latter's delight.

"Farewell, Sweetie Belle!"

"Think fast!" Asuna yelled. He, Satoshi Isshiki, Shun Ibusaki, and the aliens had just arrived, and Asuna had a silver ray gun in his hand. He pulled the ray gun's trigger towards Ryoko Sakaki, and a wave of yellow energy flew towards Ryoko Sakaki, engulfing him and disintegrating him.

Zenji Marui was aghast at Ryoko Sakaki's demise, not knowing if he would be immune to the ray gun's effects or not. In a panic, he threw Sweetie Belle' remaining duplicate at Asuna. Asuna just barely dodged the tiger, and then proceeded to fire at Zenji Marui.

"No! No!"

Zenji Marui got ready to fire away, but it was too late. The wave of yellow energy came towards him, and he too was no more.

Everyone took a moment to sigh in relief. The crisis was finally over. Ryoko Sakaki and Zenji Marui had both been dealt with, and no more trouble could be caused by the two. Asuna used the ray gun to disintegrate his duplicates, Ryoko Sakaki's duplicates, and Zenji Marui's duplicates. However, he was hesitant to get rid of any of the Sweetie Belle' yet. He had no idea which one was the real Sweetie Belle. Beck saw the look on Asuna's face and figured what was going on.

"If you adjust this setting on the ray gun, Asuna, you can scan the Sweetie Belle over there and see if he's the original one"

Asuna walked up to Sweetie Belle and did just that, relieved when it turned out to be the real Sweetie Belle. With that done and out of the way, he blasted at Sweetie Belle' duplicates and undid them. Shun Ibusaki walked up to Asuna, with a look of content on his face. "My life was very short, yes, but none of this should've ever happened. I am ready."

"Well, I'm not" Satoshi Isshiki scoffed. "I would like to be around for more than an hour or two. I want to see the world, for pete's sake."

Asuna, Sweetie Belle, Shun Ibusaki all stared at Satoshi Isshiki.

"Oh, come on! Why do I gotta go?"

They continued to stare at him. Satoshi Isshiki thought about it, and ultimately decided that Shun Ibusaki was right. "Alright, alright. I'm ready too."

Shun Ibusaki and Satoshi Isshiki had stayed by Asuna's side, so he wasn't as ecstatic to get rid of them. However, Shun Ibusaki was right. Everything from this mess needed to be undone. So he blasted at Shun Ibusaki and Satoshi Isshiki, and the two disintegrated into nothingness.

It didn't take long for Asuna to brief Beck and Tori on how the Earth was doing. When he was done, it was time for farewells. Asuna, Sweetie Belle, and the aliens were all right by the latter two's ship, ready to part ways.

"This was…interesting" Beck said to Asuna, having no reason to expect that any of this would happen. "I don't wish for it to happen again. That said, it was good to see you again, Asuna"

"It was good seeing you, too" Asuna replied. With that, Beck got on board the ship. Tori stayed behind, having one last thing to say to Asuna.

"So, Asuna, what did you think of Shun Ibusaki?"

"Uh, he was okay, I guess."

Tori sighed in relief. "Oh, good. When the duplication process began, he didn't have enough to work with, so he borrowed some traits from that good duplicate we found in your memories"

Asuna groaned when he heard that. Now he was going to miss Shun Ibusaki a little bit less.

Tori didn't have time to comment – he and Beck were needed on their home planet. Tori said his farewell and boarded the ship. As it blasted off into space, Asuna and Sweetie Belle walked back into their backyard.

"Well, Sweetie Belle" Asuna said as he looked up at the tiger. "I did learn something today. Never enlist the help of aliens for your projects"

Sweetie Belle didn't really know what to say to that. "Uh….sure. That's a start, at least"

Asuna sighed. "I just want to go to my room now and lay in bed"

That would have to wait, however. Asuna's parents, Fumio Daimido, and Myreille all came out from the kitchen, storming their way towards Asuna.

"I cannot believe what they told me!" Asuna's dad shouted towards his son. Asuna had no idea what was going on, but he figured Zenji Marui and Ryoko Sakaki were involved in it somehow. "You are in so much trouble, young man!"

Asuna smiled nervously at the four. "Well, uh….you see, it's a funny story. It's just….AAAAAAH!" Asuna ran for his life, dashing into the woods. Asuna's parents, Fumio Daimido, and Myreille all chased after him.

Sweetie Belle felt bad for Asuna. After all, he was about to get in trouble for nothing he technically did. But he knew that this wasn't the end of the world. Asuna's parents would never take Sweetie Belle away, and Asuna had a way around punishments. With the crazy day he had just endured, Sweetie Belle felt that it was finally time for that nap of his.