Falling through the air with his front side facing toward the hundreds of skyscraper-roofs down below, Peppino could feel Neco-Arc's ball-like hands clutching onto his ears for dear life, as she let out goofy cat-like screams of terror; all while straddling the back of his neck with her short legs. "W-WHY DIDN'T YOU-A TELL US THAT THE-A GATEWAY WOULD DROP US OFF FROM-A THE STRATOSPHERE?!" Peppino screamed out from the top of his lungs, as tears began falling upward from the corners of his bulging eyes.

"I DIDN'T REMEMBER THIS PART, NYYAAAAAAHHHH!" Neco-Arc screeched back, while her small body was violently thrashing against the wind resistance, causing her head to move back-and-forth, as the two of them descended toward the Earth at their combined terminal velocity. " FLAP YOUR ARMS, BOSS! FLAP THEM LIKE YOU'RE BIRD!"

"W-WHAT?! " Peppino shouted back with a mixture of fear and confusion in his voice, as he turned his head over his shoulder to look back at the terrified cat-girl on the nape of his neck. " T-THAT WON'T-A HELP!"

"NYAAAA! YEAH IT WILL! LOOK, I'LL SHOW YO -UAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?" Neco-Arc cried out, while beginning to panic the moment the air resistance caused her body to go flying backwards, after having let go of Peppino in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of flapping one's arms out like a bird.

" Oh, Santa Maria…! HOLD ON, GATTINA; I'MMA COMING! " Peppino called out, as he stuck his arms out before flipping his entire body around until his back was facing downward toward the city. Using his keen eye, Peppino was able to locate Neco-Arc's flailing body high above him; just below where Noise was trying to put his arms through the straps of his jetpack. " THEO!"

"Y-YEAH, YEAH! GIVE ME A MINUTE, WILL YA?! " Noise shouted back as loudly as he could, while gritting his teeth as he quickly tightened the straps around his shoulders. " Come on ya piece of junk; work, damnit…! G-GOT IT! " Noise shouted back triumphantly, as he stuck his arms out like a comic book superhero before the thrusters of his jetpack propelled him to where Neco-Arc was screaming like a feral cat. " H-HOLD STILL YA FREAKIN'- NAAAAOAIYAO!?"

Without really thinking about what she was doing, Neco-Arc's panicked state made her start attacking the man who was trying to help her. Too feral to think clearly, the cat-girl latched herself onto the short man's jetpack to begin smashing it to pieces with her mighty fists; while of course occasionally missing and punching Noise in the back of the head in the process. "BURANYUUUU~!" Neco-Arc screamed at the top of her lungs, as she pulled out the main fuel-line within the jetpack; causing the jetpack to explode, and sending the two of them spiraling downward at a speed faster than their terminal velocity.

"STUPID-FREAKIN' CAT; YOU'RE GONNA KILL US!" Noise screamed out with his last nerve struck, as he quickly flipped around to begin attacking Neco-Arc, who in turn had no qualms about striking the man back in self-defense.

Face-palming at the sight of seeing the two feral gremlins trying to beat the crap out of one another, Peppino took in a deep breath before repositioning himself in mid-air by flattening his arms and legs, so that he could fall faster toward where they were spiraling out of control. Fighting against the wind that was making him shed tears, Peppino's cheeks were flapping along with the top of his chef's hat, as he reached his arms out as he got closer to the fighting duo. "THAT'S-A ENOUGH OUT OF-A BOTH OF YOU!" Peppino screamed loudly with a frustrated tone, as he grabbed both Noise and Neco-Arc by their throats; causing them to freeze up and let out a comedic squeak, as he pulled them apart from one another.

Knowing that his options were limited, Peppino's eyes darted back-and-forth from rooftop-to-rooftop, as he tried to think of a way to land as painlessly as possible. Figuring that he had nothing left to lose, Peppino began flapping his arms as quickly as he could; hoping that the combined air-resistance of Noise and Neco-Arc would somehow be enough to glide to safety. Unfortunately, that idea worked for only approximately twelve seconds before the trio suddenly were pushed by a gust of wind, and were launched straight into the side of the skyscraper that they saw through the portal before entering the reality marble to begin with.

Kicking up a cartoonish dust cloud as they tumbled through the solid wall of the skyscraper, the trio's arms and legs were flailing around as they tumbled and rolled through all the cubicle spaces that were unfortunate enough to be in the way of their crash landing. Breaking through offices and walls, eventually the trio came to a skidding stop once they reached a small employee lounging area that seemed very corporate in the way it had beige colored furniture, and sleek appliances.

Finally letting go of their necks, Peppino picked himself up from the pile of debris on the tiled floor with a dazed look on his mustached face. "S-Spaghetti…! Guwah…!" Peppino uttered out in a discombobulated and cartoonish fashion, as he stumbled around the office break room feeling dizzy.

Covered in comedical bruises and scratches, Noise let out a low groan as he picked himself up off of the floor. " Stupid-dumbass cat… I shoulda let you use one of them nine lives you've got, " Noise grumbled, as he used his gloved hands to brush the dirt off of him, before finally getting a look around at his surroundings. "Hey, would ya look at that?! Good work Italian Man, you've taken us somewhere that wasn't crappy for a change!" Noise mused somewhat sarcastically, as he walked over the pile of debris where Neco-Arc was buried, to make his way over to one of the two higher-end vending machines that were beside the steel-plated fridge. "Want a drink, Peps? I'm buying."

Beginning to find his composure and balance once more, Peppino was holding onto the ledge of the counter near where Noise was standing when he looked over at the glowing-red Coke vending machine in question. "We didn't-a come here for a soda, but… Do they have-a Diet Coke? Those-a are the only ones I sort of-a like," Peppino requested, while watching as Noise reached into his costume to pull out his large wallet.

"Feast ya eyes on this fat-wad, Pizza-Man; this is probably gonna be the most money you'll ever see in your minimum-wage-having life!" Noise boasted smugly, as he watched Peppino's eyes widen with his face beginning to reddened with anger, as the billionaire casually fanned out the money that he considered to be less than pocket change. Feeling better after having gloated about his personal wealth to someone who had just barely been able to begin staying afloat with his expenses, Noise grinned as he pulled out a five-dollar bill.

"Heh, heh-ha… Wait… Wait, what the Hell? Where do I even put this goddamn- WHAT!?" Noise screamed in fury and confusion, as he leapt up with his eye cartoonishly bulging out of his sockets. "OH COME ON?! "PIZZA POINTS"?! HIS DUMBASS BROUGHT THOSE STUPID THINGS BACK?!" Noise shouted in frustration, as he began seething at the display reader just above the electronic card reader.

Having just plucked Neco-Arc out of the pile of rubble, as though she were a carrot, Peppino turned his attention back to Noise, who was furiously trying to scan his credit card against the electronic card-reader. "... What-a are you even talking about?" Peppino asked with an annoyed tone, as he sat Neco-Arc down on the tiled floor, before making his way over beside Noise.

"Pizza-Points, Peppino! Apparently that's the only tender that this stupid-machine takes!" Noise said complainingly, before taking out his frustrations by delivering a swift kick to the machine that resulted in him immediately stubbing his toe. "AUGH!P-Pizza Points were an idea that Pizzahead thought of implementing through the Pizza Tower, before your fatass showed up! He wanted to jump on that " crypto-currency" trend, but never got around to freakin' doing it, ngh!" Noise explained with his face turning red with anger, while hopping up-and-down on one foot as he nursed his stubbed toe.

Rubbing his chin with a snide smile forming on his face, Peppino chuckled as he watched Noise lower his foot back down on the floor. "Heh!So what you're-a saying is that all that cash you just-a flaunted is essentially-a worthless here~?" Peppino asked rhetorically, and felt satisfaction in the way his rival was glaring back at him with a pissed off look on his masked face. "So what-a I'm getting here is that you're-a just as broke as me now, eh Theo? My, my; how-a the mighty have fallen~!"

"SHUT IT, FATASS! Just because I don't have any of Pizzahead's bullcrap currency, doesn't mean I've lost my touch on how to make money! YOU , on the other hand, SUCK at making money, so HA! " Noise insulted back with a mean-spirited smile forming on his face, as he watched Peppino's smug-confidence transform into red-faced anger within a split second. "Enjoy being poor across space and time, NERD! This is only a temporary setback for m- EEEAHHH!?"

"SHUT-A YOUR MOUTH, YOU-A RAT-BASTARD!" Peppino screamed in a fit of unbridled rage, before he and Noise began duking it out; kicking up a cloud of dust that obscured their fighting, while Neco-Arc casually walked around them before making her way to the employee refrigerator.

"Buranyuu~!Who needs money, when you've got leftovers~?" The cat-girl mused aloud, as she began raiding the cold-shelves of the fridge; stuffing her mouth with stolen food and drinks, while Peppino and Noise were continuing to battle one another for ten minutes straight. By the time the two rivals had finally stopped beating on one another, Neco-Arc was laying down with her back against the closed refrigerator; her hands rubbing her own extended belly, as she purred to herself while feeling satisfied.

"Alright Italian Man… Hear me out," Noise said, while covered in even more scratches and bruises than before, as he sat down at one of the three bar tables that were placed within the lounging area. "I know we've said it before, but I REALLY starting to think that us fighting ain't gonna get us anywhere. So, uhhh… How's about a genuine truce? Just until we saved the multiverse, or whatever," Noise suggested, while looking over at the Italian chef, who was slumped against the cushions of the couch he had taken refuge on.

"Yeah… Sure; let's-a just do that instead," Peppino said agreeingly, while taking a moment to breathe before getting up off of the couch. Popping his neck with one hand, Peppino let out a gruff sigh as his eyes turned their attention over to Neco-Arc, who had managed to find the remote-control to the flatscreen television mounted on the stark-white wall of the lounge area. "Gattina, this isn't-a the time to be watching your shows! We've-a got work to do here," Peppino scolded, as he began making way over to take the controller away from the cat-girl.

But that's when Noise suddenly got an idea that he found to be brilliant. "Now hold up there, Tubb- ergh , P-Peppino," Noise interrupted, as he hopped off his bar chair before putting himself between the Italian chef, and the easily-distracted cat-girl. "Don't touch that dial just yet! Let's see what's on the local news channel; there might be something that'll help guide us in the right direction!"

Although he had to admit that Noise's idea was genuinely useful, the fact remained that Neco-Arc wasn't watching anything resourceful, but instead was using the remote controller to watch a cartoon that Peppino hadn't heard of since he was in his late teenage years. "Is that-a…? "Cowboy Bebop"…?" Peppino asked with a surreal feeling emanating from his chest, as he walked around where Noise stood to get beside where Neco-Arc was still sitting on the ground.

"Uh-huh! I haven't seen this episode yet; it must be new, or something," Neco-Arc replied quickly, while giving most of her attention to the animated show playing in front of her. Normally Peppino wouldn't have thought much about the animated cat-girl's answer, but it was that the middle-aged man suddenly had an intriguing thought pop inside of his head.

"... Gattina… Can I ask-a you a strange question?" Peppino asked cautiously.

"Yeah, uh-huh! Sure, what is it?" Neco-Arc replied back casually, as her tail began to waggle the moment she saw the main protagonist appear on screen.

"... What year do you think it is?" Peppino asked, while earning himself a perplexed stare from Noise.

"Nyagaaaaa~...It's nineteen ninety-nine, ain't it?" Neco-Arc replied without giving her answer much thought.

Stunned by her answer, Peppino turned to look at Noise with a surprised look on his face; expecting for his rival to be in as much awe as he was. Noise, on the other hand, only gave Peppino an unamused stare back, before quietly replying "Italian Man, I'm pretty sure that any concept of time went out the window the moment you and I stepped foot into that gnarly-white castle. The sooner you accept that we're living in Pizzahead's screwed-up world that doesn't play by any rules other than his made-up ones, then the better it'll be for your noggin."

Already having been feeling himself getting a headache while having tried to comprehend the wild impossibilities laid out before him, Peppino groaned as he nodded his head agreeingly. "Yeah… Yeah, that's-a probably for the best, isn't it?" The Italian chef mused, while whispering a quiet apology to Neco-Arc before taking the remote controller away from her balled-hands.

Kicking her legs up-and-down against the floor, Neco-Arc was throwing a tantrum while Peppino began scrolling through the channels on the television. Kneeling down to politely shush Neco-Arc's frustrated cries while petting the top of her head, Peppino was able to quiet the cat-girl down as both he and Noise began paying attention to the news broadcast that they had tuned into the middle of; an event that took place somewhere called "New Pork City".

"And there were no survivors… And to those of you who are just running in, this is April O'Neil with Channel Six news. Today marks the second day since we've experienced what scientists and some weirdo with a clay medallion are referring to as "The Dimensional Merge". For those of you who've been trying to make sense of this chaos, basically what you need to know is that according to what we've gathered from the cosmologists that we've been able to locate in " New Donk City", essentially there was a cataclysmic event within the " Outerverse" that not only completely obliterated every single world within the " Multiverse", but completely reshaped it into separate " Hyperverses"; like this one, which was created with " Pre-Existing Resources"..."

"... To those who aren't familiar with theoretical physics and pseudo science applied to astrology, just think of it like we're in a crossover episode of your favorite sitcom! Except instead of wacky hijinks, all of us are self-aware of our circumstances and are just trying to make the best of our situation," April O'Neil said with a solemn look on her face, before moving on to the next story that involved warming the public about a gang who were calling themselves the "Phantom Thieves".

Turning the television off just as the screen showed a captured picture of the gang's half-masked leader, Peppino exchanged perplexed looks with Noise; both men unaware of the fact that Neco-Arc had swiped the controller back, and was watching her favorite 90's anime on low volume. "Seems as though everyone-a else is more-or-less-a confused about what's going on. So-a much for getting a lead that way, eh?"

"Workin' in show biz myself, I've learned that most journalists either bullcrap their way into their next new hit, or simply go along with what's popular for the sake of keepin' up the status quo… Or at least that's what the popular ones do," Noise mused with a thoughtful look in his goofy eyes, as he rubbed the bottom of his chin with one gloved hand. "So let's not jump to conclusions just yet, Italian Man; I say let's start with our only somewhat reliable lead… Hey Cat, you said you got that Maxim Tomato from this place, yeah?"

Keeping her eyes focused on the television screen, Neco-Arc replied in a casual voice "Nyaaaan~!I didn't get the tomato from this office building, stupid; I got it from a restaurant." Completely unmotivated to move from her spot, it wasn't until Noise decided to take the remote from her before chucking it straight into the flatscreen did Neco-Arc finally get up from her spot; a saddened look was on her droopy face, as she looked away the scattered remains of her only source of entertainment. " Tch…Now why'd you go and do that…?!"

"Because unfortunately, we genuinely need your help, and we ain't gonna get that help from you with you sitting on your ass all day watching them Chinese-cartoons!" Noise shot back passive aggressively; earning himself a narrowed-eye scowl from the growling cat-girl, who felt personally attacked by the man's blatant disregard for her culture.

And before Noise could further aggravate the cat-girl by squinting his eyelids and pulling on outer corners of them to insult her ethnicity, Peppino stepped in as to be the voice of reasoning. "Please-a Gattina, we-a need to get to the bottom of this, and we-a can't do it without you," Peppino said with a pleading tone; one that tugged at Neco-Arc's zany heartstrings.


After saying a quiet prayer to the fallen flatscreen, Neco-Arc proceeded to lead both Peppino and Noise down to the bottom of the skyscraper by using the elevator cart to descend down its ninety floors. Once they were in the unoccupied lobby, the cat-girl had the two men follow her out into the streets of New Donk City. The hustling-bustling city life was making Peppino uneasy with the sheer amount of equally anxious and confused looking pedestrians walking up-and-down the sidewalk they were on, while Noise didn't pay much attention to the claustrophobic-inducing crowd they were practically swimming through.

While Neco-Arc was doing her best to have them follow her through the thick crowds of people, Noise lamented to Peppino about how much the city reminded him of his parent's home in downtown San Diego; the short man reminiscing about how beautiful the lit-up buildings were at night, while Peppino was sweating bullets as he kept bumping into people along the way. Thankfully for the Italian chef's nervous tendencies, the distance from the abandoned "city hall" skyscraper they had been in to the restaurant in question wasn't far from one another, and soon the trio were walking down a quiet and spacious alleyway.

Passing by a dumpster that had a deep dent in its front, Peppino noticed the short cat-girl shaped-hole inside the asphalt road near it. ' That's probably where she landed in the first place… A hard landing like that must have been rough on her noggin, I think her head is what dented the dumpster; that's probably why she wasn't able to remember going through the gateway in the first place, ' Peppino thought sympathetically about Neco-Arc, as the thought of seeing her injured and alone silently upset him.

"Buranyuu~!Here we are, boys: " Shiitake Kitchen"!" Neco-Arc announced in a cheerful tone, as she posed in front of the slightly ran-down entrance of the back alley restaurant; the above-door sign appearing poorly made, and made out of cardboard and cut-out letters.

Raising an eyebrow at what they had gone out of their way to see, Peppino was feeling slightly disheartened by the unimpressive entrance way, but tried to keep an open mind as he mentally prepared himself to walk into whatever was awaiting for him inside. "This-a reminds me of that "Bruno's Pizzeria", where-a I fought Fake Peppino for the first time," Peppino muttered to Noise, as he walked up the brick steps of the restaurant's front porch, before opening the door and walking inside a quaint Japanese dining area.

Upon walking inside the unoccupied restaurant, which was surprisingly far cleaner than its outside appearance, Peppino's sense of smell was assaulted by the odor of burnt noodles that was thick in the air. "Santa Maria…?! I-a thought you-a said this was a restaurant, Gattina…?! Not a compost-site…!" Peppino uttered in disgust, as he pinched his long nose with his finger and thumb, while Noise was having a thrashing around on the hardwood floor; overwhelmed from how vile the smell of overcooked Italian food was to him.

Unlike the two other men, Neco-Arc found the smell to be appealing, and had her eyelids softly closed while she took a deep breath in through her nose. "Kuruuu~! I smell " Boat Noodles"~!" The cat-girl purred out with a hungry tone in her voice, as her entire small body began levitating before being pulled in slowly toward the direction of where the smell was coming from.

Walking back to the front entrance to prop the front door open, Peppino turned around while completely ignoring where Nosie was pretending to be dead on the floor, and watched anxiously as Neco-Arc's body pushed through the back-end door that looked like it led into the kitchen. Moments later, Peppino jumped in the air as he heard the sound of cat-yowls and screeching coming from the kitchen, followed by a goofy voice yelling incoherent words.

"GOSH-DARN THIEVING CAT! I THOUGHT I MADE IT CLEAR THAT YOU WEREN'T ALLOWED BACK INSIDE, YOU SCOUNDREL! " A tall, egg-shaped being dressed in chef's attire shouted in an anxious and frustrated voice, as he chased Neco-Arc out of the kitchen while swinging an oversized ladle at the cat-girl. " THIS OUTTA TEACH YOU SOME MANNERS!" The orange-skinned being shouted, as he suddenly manifested a ceramic bowl from thin air, before throwing it at Neco-Arc sideways like a frisbee; hitting her square in the back of the dome, and causing her to tumble forward into the dining area.

Even though Peppino had seen his fair share of interesting life-forms within the many universes held within the Pizza Tower, the large maroon-colored shoes that were connected to the bottom of the blob-like being before him was unsettling for him to say the least; especially considering that it had no neck, no fingers, legs, and had on only a large white-apron to cover its large-oval body. The look at the strange chef gave him when he saw Neco-Arc scrambling behind him made a chill go down Peppino's spine, especially when the orange blob's cartoonish black eyes began narrowing at him.

"... Hey Chef! Does that strange little character belong to you?" The orange blob with a chef's hat asked in an accusatory voice, to which made Peppino sweat nervously as he thought about what to say.

"Uh…?!S-She's with me, yes; so I'd appreciate it very-a much if you could stop trying to hurt her, " Chef"," Peppino said with a resolute voice, as he prepared himself to engage in combat with the strange being in front of him.

Frowning slightly with his hairless brows furrowed, the orange blob shook his head disapprovingly at Peppino before saying "I wouldn't need to run that little critter out of my kitchen, if you were a responsible pet owner who leashed their cat…!" The blob scolded passive-defensively; giving Peppino a stern look, before slowly softening his expression into a solemn smile. "I'm not usually like this… I apologize for my behavior, Chef; I'm still trying to get used to this crazy place. I can't tell ya just how topsy-turvy this experience's been for me!" The orange blob whined with a cartoonishly teary-eyed expression forming on his goofy face. "First your silly cat broke into my new restaurant, and stole the only Maxim Tomato that came with this place! And now, I burnt my boiling water and my noodles are oodles of B-BOODLES!"

And that's all it took before the orange blob began comedically sobbing to himself, throwing a tantrum on the ground, while dropping his large ladle while kicking his large maroon-colored shoes back-and-forth, as he pounded his stubby arms against the floor. Feeling uncomfortable about seeing whatever species that the orange chef was crying like a fussy man-toddler, Peppino was anxiously thinking about what else to say when all of a sudden he felt Noise climbing up his back. "Theo…?! What the-a Hell are you doing…?!" Peppino asked in a hushed voice, as he looked over his shoulder to stare annoyingly at the sly looking man.

Leaning his lips closer toward Peppin's ear, Noise quietly whispered " Let's skip the hoopla, and just beat the crybaby out of him until he starts talking; no point in doing whatever stupid sidequest this clown's probably gonna want us to do… "

While it didn't come off as a surprise that Noise simply wanted to resort to violence instead of taking the time to talk to the blubbering mess before them, the thought of kicking a chef who was already down on his luck didn't sit too well with Peppino. Shrugging his shoulder, Peppino shook Noise off his back before gathering up what little charisma he had in him. Approaching the sobbing chef, Peppino awkwardly knelt down beside the orange blob before clearing his throat to announce his presence to him.

" Uh… Hey-a big guy. Chef-to-chef , man-to… Man…? I-I think I know what-a you're going through," Peppino said, while feeling iffy about whether or not the orange-blob laying down in front of him was even a man to begin with, or something else completely.

Sniffling as he raised his head up to meet Peppino's uneasy smile, the orange-skinned chef wiped his eyes with one stubby arm before uttering out "Y-Ya do..? H-How so…?"

"Correct me if I'm-a wrong, but you're not-a from this place, are you? Or even-a from a city, I'm-a guessing," Peppino mused, to which earned him a sadden nod from the orange blob.

"Y-Yeah… This kind of change in environment would have already been too much for me to handle as is, but the fact that I-I saw my entire home invaded and a bunch of goons, and then that guy with the butterfly wings…! I-It's too much; it's just too much, and I'm out here trying my best to survive, C-Chef…!"

Seeing the orange blob beginning to once again sob violently in a way that most would have considered to be pathetic, Peppino kept his composure the best he could and simply patted the other chef on the back; calming him down before once again consoling him. "You and I both, Chef; that "Subspace Army" did that to-a my home too. I was-a fortunate enough to save my-a niece, and my-a " friend" " Noise" over there saved his girlfriend and himself, before our-a universe was absorbed… What-a about you? How-a did you end up here?"

Once the orange-blob was able to regain his composure, he began to tell Peppino the story of how the planet "Pop Star" was absorbed into Subspace. Much like how the day began for Peppino, nothing out of the ordinary happened for the residents of " Dream Land"; which was saying something, considering how chaotic the orange-blob's rural home " Cappy Town" was, thanks to one particular pink individual who had taken up residence there.

What was looking to be a regular day of serving up the residents of Cappy Town his improved recipes took a turn for the worst, when a massive rip through their veil of reality tore open; unleashing an army of primids. Unlike what happened in Peppino's universe, the orange-skinned blob talked about how their world's heroes, "Kirby" and " Metaknight", along with Dream Land's ruler, " King Dedede", were able to successfully fight off the waves of invaders; the blue penguin's army was more armed and combat ready than the Subspace Army's foot soldiers were, and nothing within Pizzahead's newly acquired force could stand up against the might of Pop Star's strongest heroes.

In the face of certain triumphant-victory, it was then that one of their universe's most feared forces was sent through another portal that Pizzahead had created from the sky above. Flying in on the blackened wings of a butterfly, "Morpho Knight EX" was Pizzahead's ace-in-the-hole; the amalgamation of red butterflies from the afterlife itself were sent in with " Galacta Knight" as their host. That's when the orange-blob— who let slip his name as being " Chef Kawasaki"— told Peppino about the " Day of Judgement" that had been prophesied, and about how " the Dreaming Bird of Sukhavati" came flying in from another dimension, to cast judgment down on them all with their crimson blade.

All Chef Kawasaki could remember from watching the battle unfold from the false-safety of his restaurant was seeing the fire from "Hades" erupt from Morpho Knight EX's sword, as the apocalyptic black-ball of doom pierced the veil of their reality in one swipe. Although it was hard at first for Chef Kawasaki to articulate the supernatural phenomena that happened to him before he was caught in Morpho Knight EX's hellfire blast, the orange-blob described feeling the entire world become disoriented; as if his universe's gravity had become nullified. The final image that Chef Kawasaki could remember before " dying" was seeing his town and Dream Land as a whole become instantly disintegrated; leaving behind a vast open abyss of swirling galactic-colors that Peppino knew to be of Subspace.

By the end of retelling his account of what happened to his world, after having listened to Peppino's account of his own universe's doomsday, Chef Kawasaki was feeling far less stressed. No longer bearing the burden of being alone in a new world where everyone was just as confused and afraid as he was, just having someone who was friendly in his presence was enough to make the orange-skinned native of Dream Land beginning to feel more like his usual self. "And then I woke up upstairs, with some boxes filled with a few of my belongings, and a few trinkets and items from Dream Land," Chef Kawasaki explained, before complaining about how he had already gone through his pizza points by trying to buy ingredients that he wasn't used to working with.

"Trust-a me, I know a thing or two about-a the woes of financial despair-a," Peppino said half-jokingly, as both he and Chef Kawasaki sat down across from one another, at one of the many empty booths in the dining area. Due to both chefs having been deprived of being having a good conversation with someone else who knew about cuisine, Peppino and Chef Kawasaki began sharing advice to one another about their favorite cooking techniques; sharing recipes that were native to their culture, as Noise and Neco-Arc were preoccupied with their own time-killing endeavors.


While Neco-Arc was inside watching her favorite 90's anime within the dining area, Noise was standing outside on the porch with a cigarette held between his long lips. Taking a look up at the starless sky above— the city's light pollution obscuring the glimmer of the celestial bodies— Noise found himself smiling as he raised his lighter up to ignite the tip of his cigarette; memories of his younger adult days coming to his mind, as he slowly inhaled the nicotine smoke into his lungs.

Closing his eyelids shut softly, Noise was reminiscing about the day he had walked into Noisette's first cafe, back when she was just a struggling business owner who came from a family of French immigrants, while he was a miserable med student who was drawn to the bright colors and whimsical theme of her strange coffee shop. Just as the usually bombastic and crazed acting man was finally able to let down his guard, Noise was snapped out of his nostalgic memories when he heard the sound of engines revving loudly, before the sounds of many tires squealing in the nearby distance caught his full attention.

Narrowing his eyelids while taking out his cigarette to snuff its flame out with the bottom of his shoe, Noise blew out what warm smoke he had left within his lungs as he saw a young slim Japanese man with black hair, a white half-mask and a dark trench coat sprinting from around the corner of the alley; a pistol held tightly in his red gloved hand, as he shot behind him while running away from the armada of motorized-robotic enemies that were pursuing him with their one massive wheel.

" What's going on…? " Noise wondered to himself, as he reached into his pocket to begin rummaging for the right sort of tool that would solve whatever problem would arise from the scene playing out before him. Noise was considering just letting the young man fend for himself, despite appearing fatigued and lightly injured, but it was then that the yellow-costumed man noticed the same emblem on the red chassis of one of the " Roaders" who were being shot at by the mysterious man's handgun.

' It's those Subspace bastards again! Damn it all; I can't allow them to know that we're here! If one of those assholes gets back to whoever Pizzahead assigned them to be their commanding officer, then whatever leisure we've got here is done for! ' Noise thought to himself, as he remembered back when his assigned Pizzard alerted him of Peppino's presence; after the Italian Man had struck Pepperman down.

Not wanting to get involved just yet, Noise laid low and watched as the black-trench coat wearing man unveiled a black dagger from his waist before beginning to duel-wield as he hoped from wall-to-wall; dodging the roaders, while putting them down one-by-one, until their numbers began dwindling to zero. Thinking that he wouldn't have to get involved after all, Noise was about to slip back inside when all of a sudden he saw a portal from Subspace open up in front of the dark-haired man, just as he slashed apart the final roader with the agile-skill of a veteran assassin.

Instead of anything physical coming out of the Subspace portal, a red light instead flashed out of its opening, before the rift into the outerverse vanished without a trace. Feeling confused, Noise could tell from how on-guard and alert the black-clothed man was that he too was just as lost as he was. Thinking that the portal had failed, it was then that Noise and the mysterious man both noticed the glowing red-silhouettes that were appearing from the ground-up, leaving behind humanoid-looking robots with triangular red markings on where their faces should have been located.

The "Soldiers", with their lank yet top-heavy bodies had sharp shoulders as well as sharp prongs serving as their arms, and were being loaded up into the alleyway one-by-one, until they had the mysterious man completely surrounded. Unlike the short and somewhat intimidating primids, the soldiers appeared durable and came equipped with their own arsenal. As the mysterious man took aim at the closest soldier before him, the roof tops began to glow crimson as more robotic enemies were summoned to combat the young man below.

Unlike the soldiers, the tall robots had less armor, and appeared feminine in the way that their bodies were shaped like hourglasses. The "Ninjas" bodies were composed of a black-metal alloy with red lights, and were sporting sharp forms with a triangular eye screen, similar to the soldiers below. With wide shoulders and hips, a narrow waist, thick thighs and long pointy feet with no feet, the ninjas had sharp upper-appendages similar to the soldier, but unlike the soldiers, their arms were floating apart from their bodies; just like how they themselves were levitating in the air.

Hearing the young man muttering an incoherent and stress-filled swear from where he was hiding, Noise watched as the mysterious man struck a pose before moments later a blue flame ignited behind him. Having appeared out of thin air, there was a lanky bipedal humanoid figure floating behind the mysterious man, being dressed in red crotchless trousers that were attached to his dress shoes, a matching blazer that they wore over a black formal vest that was similar to what their wielder had on himself. Unveiling its black angel wings, the mysterious ghost-like spirit adjusted its tall top-hat that it wore over its ominous red eyes and elongated and forward-pointing horns, before immediately flying forward to attack alongside their master.

Unlike the primids, the sleek robots had reactions time necessary to keep up with their target; the soldiers were able to deploy their red-translucent shields from their triangular faces in time to parry the mysterious man and his spirit's attacks, while the ninjas were able to get a few hits in themselves while using their levitation and agility to dodge most of the incoming attacks. Being a witness to how quickly the tides of battle had changed, Noise knew right then and there that the young man was a goner; from being already exhausted since the moment he saw him sprinting down the alleyway, the thirty robots with their impossibly high-tech arsenal were only minutes away from landing a killing blow on the man.

' Eh, sucks to be him, ' Noise thought cynically to himself, as he turned around to slide back into the restaurant, where he would try to make up an excuse to prevent anyone inside from investigating the violence outside. However, be it an act of karma or divine intervention, both Peppino and Neco-Arc slammed the door against Noise; flattening him like a pancake against the wall, as the two of them hopped into the thick of it.

"WHAT THE FIOCCHI IS THIS?!" Peppino screamed out with a confused and angry tone; his entire body enveloped in an aura of white-light, as Neco-Arc propelled herself forward with smoke blowing out of the bottoms of her shoes, as though she were a rocket.

"NYAGAAA!" Neco-Arc roared out as threateningly as she could, as she took out a boxing glove just as the last second, shattering one of the soldier's shields, before punching straight through its red-triangular face. Doing a backflip just in time to avoid getting sliced in half by the three ninjas who tried coordinating an ambush on her, Neco used her tail to stun like a whip to stun the three feminine robots, giving her just enough time to whip out her old school Nokia cell phone.

One prank call to the local Papa Johns and a call to ACME Corps later, Neco-Arc was not only able to put herself in debt in less than a microsecond, but she was able to call upon a mail-ordered piano that fell from the heavens; crushing the three ninjas underneath the musical instrument that the cat-girl foolishly forgot to insure when she ordered it.

"NYAAA~! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE! I'm suing you… I'M SUING YOU ALL FOR PROPERTY DAM-YAAAAAAAAAN!?" Neco-Arc tried screaming like a feral sue-happy Californian, before being sprayed by bits of sausage meat that was being fired upon her by a vengeful man in a yellow costume.

"That's for ruining my jetpack, ya stupid cat! " Noise shouted with a manic look on his face, as he shot Neco-Arc enough times to send her through the brick wall of the building across from him; smiling deviously, as he dropped his emptied minigun on the floor, before whipping out a massive rocket launcher with a stupid rat stuffed inside of it. " Now it's your turn, FATASS!" Noise cackled sinisterly, as he aimed directly at where Peppino was piledriving a soldier into oblivion.

Squeezing the trigger of his massive tubed weapon, Noise's red eyes were filled with frustration the moment he saw his rocket-propelled rat get intercepted by four soldiers who had tried to blitz him from the front. "OH GREAT! You stupid tin-cans ruined my shot! I only had one— count em— ONE RAT ON ME!" Noise shouted with a crazed look on his face, before immediately striking a taunting pose the moment a ninja tried splitting him in half with its aerial dive; causing the sleek-levitating robot to become stunned, with how powerful his parry was.

"You just made the last mistake you'll ever make, can-opener!" Noise quipped with a murderous look in his eyes, as he leaped up from the porch with his sharpened fingers tearing into the ninja's metal arms. Using his powerful thighs, Noise crushed the upper half of the robot like an empty soda can, before pulling its floating arms away from the hold its body's gravitational tethers had on them.

Armed with two makeshift katanas, Noise made up for his earlier missed opportunity of insulting Neco-Arc's culture by shouting out made-up gibberish with his eyelids narrowed, as he began slashing and parrying the ninjas who were targeting him specifically. "Masaka?! N-Nani?! Ora, ora! Nico-Nico-Niiii-NAAAAOAIYAO?!" Noise screamed out in agony, the moment Neco-Arc teleported behind him with a golden-murderous glimmer in her eyes, which were hidden underneath the shadow her rage was casting over her upper face.

"... Omae wa mou shinderu," Neco-Arc said in a cold, spine-chilling voice that was absent of any silliness; her rage alone was enough to plunge the city in a bleak darkness, leaving behind only Noise, who felt as though he was floating in a pitch-black void.

"W-What the Hell is th-GUWAAAHH!?" Noise cried out in a guttural scream, as pizza-flavored tequila spilled out of his mouth the moment Neco-Arc's first fist collided into his abdomen. From there, Neco-Arc's punches were breaking what laws of physics still remained in the reality marble, as her fists were moving at a " massively-faster-than-light" speed; each of them landing into Noise's body, and increasing the cat-girl's combo meter.

Charging her final attack, Neco-Arc's eyes were burning with fire as was her cocked back fist as time itself was paused around them. "Toki wo tomare, " Neco-Arc uttered out with her ever present smile curling into a slightly sadistic smirk, as she locked eyes with the beaten man before landing the fiery blow into his crotch. "... Soshite toki wa ugokidasu," Neco-Arc whispered quietly under her breath; resuming time, and transforming the costumed man into what was essentially a flaming meteor she sent hurtling into a group of soldiers who tried raising their shields to defend themselves.

After having parried a ninja's attack long enough to follow up with an uppercut punch that caused for the sleek robot to explode in a cloud of red-particles, Peppino turned around before immediately diving out of the way; narrowly avoiding being caught in Neco-Arc's powerful attack, as he heard Noise screaming out while his fiery body plunged into the surface of the world. ' That was close…! We can't be out here for long though; there's no telling when more reinforcements will show up. '

Doing a quick look around, once Peppino made sure that the coast was clear he immediately sprung into action once again by quickly collecting the three other individuals who were in the alley with him; piling all of them over his shoulder faster than light speeds, before dragging them inside the restaurant, and locking the door behind him. Tossing Noise's burnt body on the floor like a crumpled piece of paper, Peppino carefully placed Neco-Arc down on her feet while carrying the bloodied young man over his shoulder; handing him to the Chef Kawasaki the moment that the orange-blob came running toward him to help out.

Raising his finger up to his lips to signal for his allies to keep silent, Peppino kept his sweaty back pressed up against the front door; listening in, as he heard the distorting sounds of more Subspace portals opening within the alleyway. With his heart racing inside of his chest, Peppino's face was covered in a thick layer of sweat as he heard the sound of metal boots walking down the alleyway; passing by their porch, as if their owner was investigating the area, instead of just mindlessly running in a suspected direction.

Too anxious to not look, Peppino quietly turned around before kneeling down on one knee; peering through the door's keyhole, and holding back a whimper as he saw the pale-blond knight dressed in black armor plating over her dark dress, who had light-skin, a black visor with purple marking on it covering her eyes. The purple-and-black glowing sword that the pale-skinned woman was holding in her black-gaunglet seemed to radiate darkness from its blade alone.

There was a moment of panic within Peppino's mind, after he saw the blond woman slowly turn her head over her armored shoulder to look over in his direction; her visor-covered eyes seemingly staring right through the door they were all hiding behind, as she silently continued to keep her head turned. Seeing her raise her black-glowing sword up, Peppino was struggling to remain silent as she swung her blade down vertically; cutting through the fabric of their reality marble, before slowly climbing into it and vanishing before his very eyes.

Half-expecting for the ominous woman with the black saber to slice open another portal that would allow her entrance into the dining area, Peppino held his breath as he turned around with a frantic look in his eyes as he waited for the worst to happen. Luckily, after waiting nearly two minutes with suspended tension in the air, Peppino was finally able to let out a sigh of relief and begin breathing again, after feeling confident enough to assume that the pale-skinned woman in black armor wasn't coming back again.


"Aughh…And here I-a thought that we weren't going to-a see them again so-a soon," Peppino muttered to himself, as he let out another sigh while getting back up on his feet. Walking over to where Noise was still laying down and covered in soot, Peppino tapped his foot against his rival's side before asking "Hey Theo, are you-a dead?"

" ... O-Only on the inside, heh-ha… " Noise croaked back sarcastically; weakly laughing at his own comeback, before yelping in pain as Peppino gave him a swift kick in the ribs. " Ow!What was that for…?! "

"Don't-a think I didn't see what you did to Gattina, before you-a tried shooting me when my back-a was turned to you," Peppino shot back, while watching through narrowed eyelids as Noise smiled back at him with a guilty look on his crispy face.

" Oh, uh…?! I-I was just, uhhh… T-Tryin' to make the fight last longer; it ain't no fun if we just mop the floor with the bad guys, is it…?! " Noise asked, after having made up an excuse on the spot as to why he was willing to sabotage his own team.

Not buying an ounce of the lie Noise was trying to sell him, Peppino rolled his eyes at the other man before stepping over his small body. "Uh-huh, sure; just-a don't do it again, capchie?" Peppino said with an annoyed tone, as he patted Neco-Arc on her head before continuing on his way over to the large dining table that Chef Kawasaki had laid the young man's body down on top of.

With the man's white eye-mask removed, both chefs were able to see just how youthful the injured male's face really was. Feeling sympathetic to the pain that the groaning young man was experiencing, Chef Kawasaki grimaced as he took his own hat off from the top of his head before laying it down underneath the young man's head full of black hair. "Poor kid; he's just a boy, Chef… Whatever he did, he probably didn't deserve what those scary robots did to him," Chef Kawasaki said, while flinching as he thought about what he saw through the blinds of his upstairs window; before he had alerted Peppino and Neco-Arc about what was transpiring in the alley.

Seeing the young man covered in cuts, bruises and matted with blood reminded Peppino of how terrified and heartbroken he was when he was helplessly carrying his niece's unconscious body around within the ethereal halls of the Pizza Castle. "... Do you-a have another Maxim Tomato, Chef? Something-a like that would-a be enough to help-a this boy, no?"

Nodding his head with a disappointed look on his face, Chef Kawasaki gave Peppino an apologetic frown before sighing. "It would… If only I had another one to give out. Your cat stole the only one I had, Chef. Without any food from Dream Land to work with, I'm afraid the most we can do for this young man is call for an ambulance to take him to a hospital."

"Nyaga…I don't think that's a good idea, bub," Neco-Arc interrupted, as she made her way over to the table before climbing on top of it; standing beside the young man's torn gray-trousers, while looking Chef Kawasaki in the eye. "The Subspace Army's looking for him right now, and we would be painting a target on our faces if one of Pizzahead's goons found out we were here. Us being here in general is already risky enough, and it's only a matter of time before we're found out anyway, I take it," Neco-Arc stated factually with her arms crossed over her flat chest.

"... Besides, that whole saying "an enemy of my enemy is my friend" is more than likely the scenario we're looking at, nyaaa~. The way I see it, this kid's more than likely knows something that got him under the Subspace Army's radar to begin with; meaning that he's technically our best potential lead at the moment," Neco-Arc reasoned with a surprising amount of logic on her part that impressed both chefs.

Balling his fingers into determined fists, Peppino's eyes became filled with resoluteness as he looked away from Neco-Arc to give the stressed out blob a stern look. "She's-a right, you know. There's-a no more excuses for you to-a give me, Chef; if-a you ever want to go back home to Cappy Town, you're-a gonna have to recreate-a recipe using the ingredients you've-a got," Peppino said encouragingly, while also subtly giving the orange-blob a direct order.

"Oooooh…! Such pressurrrrreeeee…!" Chef Kawasaki muttered to himself, as he began sweating down his orange face, while holding the sides of his head nervously. "I-I want to help you guys, and this kid too, but…! I-I'm just not familiar enough with these ingredients to make anything from back home! I-I just-"

"-Then I'll-a help you cook, Chef," Peppino interrupted, while giving the nervous blob of anxiety a reassuring look; one that seemed to reignite the hope back into Chef Kawasaki's black-watery eyes. "With our-a combined skills and-a knowledge, we'll cook-a dish that'll be-a so good that this-a boy is gonna wake up as a fully grown-a man!" Peppino said as enthusiastically as he could; trying to motivate both himself and the other chef into trying the impossible.

"Y-Yeah… Yeah. Yeah! YEAH! YEAAAAHH BABY; LET'S FREAKING GOOOOOOO!" Chef Kawasaki screamed with righteous determination in his voice, as he pulled his white hat from underneath the young man's head; causing him to let out a groan of pain, as the orange-blob put his funny little hat back on top of his bald head. Pumped full of motivation and the willingness to unleash his inner power to create the perfect dish, Chef Kawasaki let out a battle cry as he and Peppino high fived before entering the kitchen to begin spitting the face of God, by making the perfect spaghetti and meatballs.

Nodding her head in approval, Neco-Arc quietly whispered to herself "My job here is done," before trying to climb down the edge of the table. Immediately losing her grip, Neco-Arc let out a cat-yowl as she fell down four feet, before landing face-first into the white-tiled floor below.