Omniverse Underground

by GammaTron

He killed them all...she lost to a maniac...both are poor lost souls. Fortunately, the Continuum Shift seems to think them still useful. Given a second chance in a new world, the two will aid in a rebellion against a tyrannical dictator and return the throne to its rightful heirs.

24. The Meaning of the Flag

Underground Omniverse

Gammatron: Hey guys. I own no one in this story nor the series of Sonic Underground, Ben 10 Series, or the BlazBlue series. Nor do I own the two series also included in this chapter. I do own Roll Cyber Sakurai, though, while seanzilla115 owns Haseo, Jake, J, and Jacky while KamenKeybladeDuelist owns Alpha.

---

Rebel 23: The Flag's Meaning

---

"Can't catch me! Can't catch me~!"

"He's coming! He's coming! Shishishishi!"

"Ahhhhhhhh~~~!-!-!"

A roar accompanied the shout. Three figures ran out of the bushes, the smallest and the -biggest two were laughing while third was screaming his head off. A wave of flames erupted behind them before a large figure flew through the flames, roaring in rage.

"Why did you draw all over him?! Why?!" the non-humanoid of the three running shouted in fear.

"Because this is fun! Shishishishi!" the tallest laughed while the smallest giggled on the non-humanoid's back.

"Why meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!-!-!-!" the medium figure screamed when all three ended up falling down a hole, the last figure flying down after them in its rage.

---

In these troubled times, the hardest lesson one learns is to trust. Manic was currently in a sewer with Ben. Currently, the Tennyson was using Omnikaka. He didn't want Omnikaka, he wanted Goop or Swampfire.

"Ugh. Omni hates this," the Kaka muttered, her ears flat on her covered head as she raised a leg and kicked the sewer water on her boot off as best she could.

"I grew up around places like this, so…" Manic shrugged before noticing something.

Ahead of them, a figure in a teal dress with a periwinkle hood was going around a corner.

"Mom?" Manic pondered, "Omnikaka, let's go!"

"Right!" Omnikaka agreed as she ran with Manic.

Around the corner, the figure dropped a scroll on one of the few dry areas of the sewers. The two behind her turned the corner and frowned.

"Nya! She went poof!" Omnikaka exclaimed.

"Mom…Why didn't you stop?" Manic whispered before noticing the paper, "Huh?"

---

"Welcome back, your majesty," Sleet greeted the figure in a nearby alley, "Did he get it?"

"He got it," a male voice informed before taking the clothing off, revealing Jetfire, "Was I to being good with that?"

"Indeed," Sleet nodded.

"Brother! You were mot excellent in being fake queen," Jetstorm agreed nearby as he walked up and fived his brother.

---

"Seriously? You got a castle now?" Makoto asked.

"My own castle!" Sonia squealed in delight.

"I didn't even know we had a cousin Elbert," Manic noted, tapping on a table, "Why leave it just to you?"

The group of seven were currently in the main base for their group in Robotropolis. After Ben-as a few of his more intelligent or required for remodeling-was done with it, it felt more like a home than anything, but it also felt more like a secret base as well. All over the city, Sonic and Roll had to deposit hidden cameras disguised as things no one would truly suspect all over the city, making sure to avoid capture. Tsubaki, Makoto, and Sonia all discovered that Spidermonkey's webbing, once refined by surprisingly a process of striking it rapidly with Makoto's punches, could be used as a fine silk and had made a few curtains and pillows. Ben, as Greymatter, had spent time with Manic on refining the security systems and mechanical devices of the secret base and made a few extra copies of the DNA Masks in the case of any of their current ones failing for the two humans and one Beastkin. Tsubaki and Roll had to drag Sonic away from Ben when the guy had used Upgrade on the kitchen, improving all the devices with rewiring them, and made it quicker for Sonic to make his Chili-Dogs.

"He may have thought you two were…well…" Makoto noted, "Sonia was the only one of you three to see the life of a nobleman, after all."

"Or nobody else would take the drafty thing," Sonic joked, "Who wants a dumb old castle anyway?"

"I do," Sonia replied, "If we do things just right like here, it could be used as another headquarters."

"Is it at a decent enough distance from here?" Tsubaki asked, trying to think of any advantages and disadvantages that could come from it.

"Yo, maybe we'll find out more about mom and dad," Manic noted.

"You mean aside from the tales our unofficial official uncles Sam and Max…"

"Freelance Police."

"…told us?" Sonia finished after Roll's injection.

"Fine. You stay here. We'll go check it out," Sonia waved him off.

"Oh…I wanted to see it," Roll noted.

"Why don't you want to go then?" Manic asked.

"It's a bad idea to go past the normal distance," Roll informed, not looking at anyone but Yacker, a solemn look on her face, "I…I saw it happen to someone once and…" she shook her head, "Anyways, although it would be nice to learn more about your Kaa-chan and Tou-san, I can't leave Sonikku's side."

"…" Sonic's face fell a bit at that information, "Ugh…Bummer majores…Okay, okay. I'll go, too."

"Really?!" Roll exclaimed in delight.

"Yeah," Sonic sighed, "But I want to stock up on some Chili-Dogs before we head out. Just in case."

---

Jacky and J paced around in a circle, worried looks on their faces. Two weeks. It had been two weeks since their brother had run off with the strange jewel and a new tail like he was possessed. However, there wasn't a single sighting of him in that entire time, almost as if he had just vanished off the face of the planet. Sitting at a table nearby, Rook and Alpha watched as Haseo was folding a paper crane. In their 'mobile home,' Ragna was making lunch with Noel's help (he had her there so she wouldn't try sneaking anything into the lunch).

"They seem quite worried," Rook noted.

"Wouldn't you be like that if your youngest sibling suddenly had a scorpion stringer on the end of his elongated tail and try to use it to attack you and your friends?" Alpha asked.

"…No, no I would not," Rook replied before pulling a wallet out, "I am not sure if this would fit, but I did advanced studies on Earth Studies in the Plumbers Academy. It is said that humans sometimes carry pictures of family in their wallets."

Alpha watched as Rook opened the wallet and showed a few pictures in it. A few of them had Rook with a young boy of his species, a tail wagging behind him.

"…You have a tail?" Alpha asked.

"Had a tail," Rook corrected, "My species loses their tails as they grow older. This little boy you see with me is my little brother and sees Benjamin Kirby Tennyson as a role model. I do not condone that."

"Just what do you have against this 'Ben?'" Alpha asked.

"He is a criminal in the eyes of who requested me for the murder of many military officers," Rook informed.

"…I get it," Alpha smirked, "You're jealous that Ben is your little bro's role model and you're not."

"T…That is preposterous!" Rook argued.

"Stammering is confirming~!"

"I am not speaking to you anymore for now," Rook looked away from Alpha.

"That's why?!" the three looked at the 'house' as Ragna stepped out with a large pot, Noel following him.

"Of course! I make it a rule not to taste anything!" Noel informed with pride, carrying a smaller pot that was good for only one serving.

"What the hell!-! That's going way too far, Noel!-!-!" Ragna barked.

"I would not mind trying Ms. Vermillion's cooking," Rook offered.

"Really?!" Noel gasped in joy before she ran over to him and began to serve what she had, "Here! Enjoy your meal, Mr. Blanko!"

"It…It's censored…" Alpha gawked, having been fortunate to have been out on a run with Haseo when she had managed to cook the last time.

"This is quite interesting," Rook noted, "Is this the rumored 'Akane Cooking' that I have read about in Japanese comic books called 'Ma-an gah?'"

"It's 'Manga,' but I've never heard of that," Ragna noted.

"I have the entire series saved on my amusement laptop. You can read them if you wish," Rook offered.

"…I'll try," Alpha shrugged as he took a spoonful.

"Thank you for the meal, Ms. Vermillion," Rook nodded before taking a spoonful as well.

The two bit into their food. Alpha was frozen in place as Rook swallowed it.

"Hmm…This is quite enjoyable, Ms. Vermillion."

"Really?!" Noel gasped in glee as Ragna and even J and Jacky were staring at him in shock.

"N…No way! Noel's crappy cooking is cured?!" Jacky gawked.

"Alpha, are you…?" J began before Alpha collapsed, the spoon still in his mouth, look almost dead.

"Eep! A-Alpha-san!" Haseo called out.

---

"North…It just had to be in the north," Sonic muttered.

"On an island, too," Ben nodded.

They were currently on the bus. Currently, the bus was in a new mode Tsubaki had suggested Ben make. The wheels had folded into the bottom of the vehicle and covered by a metal plating to prevent water from getting in, a propeller had emerged from the bottom to propel them along, fins extended from the sides to help stabilize the vehicle, and bars had extended on the top to let no one fall overboard.

"Does it have to be an island?" Sonic almost whined.

"Can't swim?"

"I'm what you call an 'Anchor,'" Sonic admitted.

"Incoming!-!-!"

"Watch out!-!"

"Huh?" Ben and Manic pondered.

The two looked up before their eyes widened, their irises turned to dots, and they paled. The two began to start running in place for a second before three figures crashed onto them before a larger one crashed onto them. A hatch nearby opened a few seconds later.

"What was that?!" Manic exclaimed as he poked his head out with the others, Makoto thanking Ben mentally for installing an Auto-Pilot for such an occasion.

The five blinked a few times at the sight before them. Sonic and Ben were on the bottom of a strange pile-up. Above them was a grinning teen around seventeen with a scar under the right eye, a red vest, blue jean shorts, and a straw hat on his shaggy, black hair. On top of him was a little boy around five or six with cobalt hair. He had a pair of wolf ears and a fox tail and wore a pair of black shorts, a white shirt, and a blue and black jacket that was meant for an adult male with the sleeves rolled up. With him was a Reindeer Mobian a few inches taller than him. He wore just a pink top hat with a white 'X' on it, a pair of red shorts, and his hands and feet were revealed, revealing them to be hooves. The reindeer was currently hugging the little boy while his eyes were closed. Behind them all was a large twelve foot dragon with an orange body and cream underbelly with vivid blue eyes and the end of its tail was on fire, almost belonging there.

"Are w-w-w-we d-dead?" the reindeer squeaked, eyes still closed.

"…" the straw hat boy was just looking at everyone, "Nope." His eyes then started shining with stars, "But everyone here looks so cool!"

"Uh…" Makoto couldn't think of anything else to say.

---

"T…To think I die…because of grossness…" Alpha moaned as he was on his bed, a cold, wet cloth on his feverish head.

"Please don't die on us, Alpha! We need your assistance in recovering our wayward brother!" J pleaded.

"H…How are you immune to it?" Ragna gawked at Rook as he was eating more of Noel's cooking.

"It reminds me of some of the cuisine students enjoy at the Plumbers Academy," Rook informed.

"A…Are you sure you don't have a…a problem with you taste buds?" Noel asked.

"…Huh?" Everyone but the ill Alpha looked at her.

"W-Well…My old friend Mai had a problem with super taste, making it really, really hard for her to eat anything," Noel explained.

"Huh. I knew a chick named 'Mai,'" Ragna noted, "Had this funny bit of her hair that reminded me of antennae."

"Oh! My friend Mai-chan had the same hairstyle!" Noel noted.

---

"H…Holy cow…" Manic gawked as the straw hat boy and the reindeer added more plates to their already tall pile.

"H…How many plates is that?" Tsubaki asked, a bit green in the face.

"Twenty for the one in the straw hat and five for the reindeer," Sonia replied, "S…So gross…"

"Mey (Hey)," the straw hat asked with overinflated cheeks, "Mere mid mou make mico (Where did you take Rico)?"

"D-Don't say things with your mouth full!" Sonia nearly barked as the dragon burped and put the empty cooking pot down before it with a smile.

"Morry (Sorry)," the straw hat boy apologized before eating even more food.

The reindeer sighed in relief as he finished his sixth plate, "Thank you! That was delicious!"

"You're welcome!" Tsubaki replied with a small smile.

"Hey, where's Rico?" the reindeer pondered as he looked around.

"Oh, the little dude was filthy so Makoto's giving him a bath," Manic informed.

The dragon began to let out a series of grumbles that Chopper translated, "'That's what happens when people and reindeers are idiots and draw on my face.'"

"You could understand this guy?" Ben asked.

"Of course. I've been working on my Poke-ese for a few years now," Chopper informed.

"Impressive, dude!" Manic grinned.

"Shut it!" Chopper snapped as he began to do the strangest dance they had ever seen, "Just…Just because you complimented me doesn't mean I like it! Dumbass…Dumbass~!"

"It's quite adorable," Tsubaki sweatdropped.

"Agreed," Sonia nodded.

"Dude can't take compliments, can he?" Manic asked Luffy, who was still eating.

---

"I never met anyone with ears and tail like me outside of Kaa-chan, Tazzy-Neechan, Bandit-Niichan, and Tou-chan, Onee-sama," the little boy noted as Makoto lathered his hair, "And it was mainly because Kaa-chan and Tou-chan ate the Inu-Inu no Mi: Model Wolf and Inu-Inu no Mi: Model Fox."

"Inu-Inu no Mi?" Makoto repeated.

"Unh!" Rico nodded, "Don't you know what Akuma no Mi are, Onee-sama?"

"Not really, no. And you can call me 'Makoto,' okay?"

"Hai, Makoto-Neechan!" Rico beamed.

"Close your eyes now," Makoto ordered as she filled a bucket with warm water.

"Akuma no Mi give you a lot of really cool powers!" Rico informed before Makoto dunked the bucket of water on his head, making him shake his head to get the excess water off, "Because of the cool powers, you can't swim anymore in water. Luffy-Niichan are the Gomu-Gomu no Mi, so he's a Rubber Man and Chopper-Nii are the Hito-Hito no Mi, so he can change into a lot of cool forms! Luffy-Niichan is the ship's captain and Chopper-Nii is the doctor!"

"Oh? You live on a ship?" Makoto asked as she picked up Rico and went into the tub.

Rico turned around to look up at Makoto, "Unh! Dreamer-Oneechan is a really great ship! Though…I miss being on Sunny-Oneechan, but she's sailing the bigger sea with Kaa-chan and Tou-chan."

Makoto's eyes widened. If she heard it right, then…Oh, the poor boy. Rico tilted his head as Makoto hugged him closer subconsciously.

"Makoto-Oneechan? Are you okay?" Rico asked.

"I…I'm fine," Makoto replied, "But…A…Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh," Rico nodded a he hugged her around the neck, "I have a lot of family now. Brook-Jichan plays a lot of music and I like to hum along with it, Uncie Franky is really super and I like to listen to him play his guitar or when he reveals a new invention with Usopp-Niichan, Nami-Neechan lets me help around Dreamer-Oneechan and gives me my allowance when we go to towns. Ash-Oniichan teaches me a lot about Pokémon and how fun they are, Brock-Niichan help Chopper-Nii with taking care of everyone while Sanji-Oniichan acts really funny around the girls and Mama. I have to bite him on the tushy a lot when he does it to Mama since I don't like him doing it and he doesn't listen when I asked him not to." Makoto sweatdropped at that part, "Misty-Oneechan helps me send letters to home and is teaching everyone that can't read how to on the ship. Though, Luffy-Oniichan and I don't really get it all. May-Oneechan and Dawn-Oneechan are really sugoi when they give performances with their Pokémon, Bancho-Niichan is a silly head, Zoro-Niichan is really, really strong and he can wrestle Mamoswine and he's huge! Usopp-Niichan always has the best stories like his stories about Sogeking and Chopperman, and Mama…Mama always makes me feel safe."

'He got adopted by one of the crewmates?' Makoto thought, "What's your Mama like?"

"Oh! Mama is really quiet most of the time and she likes to read a lot!" Rico informed, "When I'm not doing anything, I normally go see her and she lets me be in her lap. And when it's nap time, she always seems to know and uses her Hana-Hana no Mi to take me to bed."

"Flower-Flower Fruit?"

"Unh! She can make her arms and legs appear in poofs of flowers!" Rico giggled before his ears went down, "Demo…Mama nearly got taken away from us recently by some meanie named 'Panda' and we had to fight these big meanies to get her back! I bit Panda a lot of times to make him let go of Mama, too! Demo…I can't remember much after his sword turned into a big elephant…"

'What the heck?!' Makoto thought with her eyes wide and ears pointing straight up.

---

"That was great!" Luffy declared with a hearty laugh, patting his inflated stomach.

"Fifty plates stuffed to the brim with food!" everyone exclaimed as Makoto walked upstairs in her normal clothes with Rico in a big, fluffy, blue home coat (the jacket-like thing that can cover your whole body after you take a bath or just want to be all warm and cozy without a blanket), held in her arms.

"That was fun, Makoto-Oneechan!" Rico giggled, his tail wagging out of a hole made specifically for a tail in it.

"Same here," Makoto agreed as she put Rico into one of the two remaining empty seats at the table.

"Oh! Meishi!" Rico exclaimed as Roll put the plate before him.

"I kept this away from Luffy-san since I thought you'd be hungry as well," Roll informed.

"Arigatou, Onee-sama!" Rico beamed.

"So now that we're all here, how about actual introductions?" Ben asked, "Ben Tennyson."

"Makoto Nanaya."

"Tsubaki Yayoi."

"Sonic Hedgehog."

"Sonia Hedgehog."

"Manic Hedgehog."

"Roll Sakurai-Hedgehog."

"I'm Nico Rico," Rico greeted.

"Aw~!" the girls all cooed as Tsubaki was the first to start cuddling the little boy.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" the teen grinned before looking over at the little boy being smothered by Tsubaki's bosom in her hugging and then at Chopper, "And that's Rico and Tony Tony Chopper!" the dragon snorted, "And that's Charizard! He's my brother's Pokémon. They're a part of my nakama!"

"…You work on a ship?" Makoto asked, trying to confirm what Rico told her.

"Yep! I'm the captain!" Luffy grinned, "And Rico's the honorary Cabin Boy, so he has to make sure that he stays inside during storms!"

"…But he's a little kid!" Makoto snapped.

"Yep," Luffy nodded, "But the only reason he's on my crew aside from following his dream of seeing his brother and sister again and having a huge family is because he has a bounty on his head."

"…He what?" Ben asked, not sure if he heard it right.

"Yeah! We're Kaizoku!" Luffy beamed.

"Pirates?!" Tsubaki gasped.

"Uh-huh," Rico nodded before he was able to get out of Tsubaki's arms and pulled out some folded paper, "Here, Onee-sama."

Tsubaki slowly took the paper from him and unfolded it. Her eyes widened when she saw that there wasn't just one, but three pieces of paper. The first displayed a headshot of Luffy, grinning and waving at the camera. The other was a picture of Rico, riding a black puma-like creature with a sapphire jewel on its forehead. The last was an adorable picture on Chopper, looking at cotton candy in delight.

"''Straw Hat' Monkey D. Luffy. Bounty: 300,000,000 Beli.' ''Reburst Rico.' Bounty…'" Tsubaki shivered, "He…He has a bounty of 100,000,001 Beli."

"Wow!" Manic exclaimed.

"What about Chopper-san?" Roll asked as Makoto peeked over and began to crack up.

"''Cotton Candy Lover' Tony Tony Chopper (Pet). Bounty: 50 Beli!'" Makoto cracked up.

"It's not fair!" Chopper comically cried, "I fought like a man, dammit! Why was I the one with the lowest bounty, dammit?!"

"…How much is a Beli?" Sonia pondered.

"Don't look at me. I 'beli' understand it," Manic cracked, earning a laugh from Luffy and a giggle from Rico.

"It's mainly because of his blood," Luffy shrugged, "But it's also because he was a big help when we were rescuing Robin!"

"…Who's Robin?" Sonic asked.

"Mama!" Rico beamed happily before his eyes widened and he screamed, "Gaaaaaah!-!-! Luffy-Niichan, Chopper-Nii, where's Mama?! Awoooo…!"

"…" Luffy screamed, grabbing the ides of his head as his jaw dropped and his eyes bulged out, "WHERE IS EVERYONE?!"

"You just realized that?!" Sonic, Sonia, Chopper, Makoto, and Manic shouted, their eyes blank and teeth shark-like with an arm shot into the air.

---

"Better now?" Roll asked with a small smile as she watched Rico draw at the table.

"A little, Onee-chan," Rico replied, making Roll giggle.

"Oh, you're just so Kawaii, Rico-chan," Roll complimented.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!-!" Luffy screamed as he collapsed, holding his head in pain, "IT HURRRRRRRRTS!"

"Brain freeze. Gets them every time…" Ben muttered as he looked down at the downed pirate, "Luffy, you drank too fast and too much at once. You gotta be careful with cold foods and drinks or that happens."

"But it was soooo good~!" Luffy whined as he recovered slowly while Rico peeked out from behind Roll.

"Is Luffy-Niichan okay?" Rico asked.

"He'll be fine," Ben assured, "He just had a bit of a problem with his first smoothie."

"…What's a smoothie?" Rico asked as he slowly came out from behind her.

"Well, what's your favorite flavor of drink?" Ben asked.

"Chocolate!" Rico's tail wagged.

"One chocolate smoothie, coming right up," Ben chuckled.

"Luffy!" Chopper shouted as he ran downstairs with a medical kit, Tsubaki close behind, "What happened?!"

"He had a little problem with drinking a smoothie," Ben replied as he began to make another for Rico, "Want one? I'm making a chocolate smoothie right now."

"I'm in!" Luffy declared, having recovered from his brain freeze.

"Easy now, Luffy," Ben chuckled, "Wait until Rico has his first before I pour you one. Chopper?"

"Um…I-Is it safe?" Chopper asked.

"So long as you don't drink it too fast like Luffy did, then yes," Ben replied.

"O-Okay," Chopper nodded.

---

"There's the castle!" Sonia called from the driver's room, Sonic snoozing beside her.

"Sonia! New feature for the people different areas of the bus Sonic asked me to add!" Ben called from the kitchen as he was making lunch for everyone, "White button on the wheel near ten-o-clock position!"

"Got it!" Sonia replied.

A panel on a wall beside the table slid to the side, awing the three pirates, and revealed a screen. It turned on before nearly everyone cringed. The screen was displaying what the front of the bus was showing. It depicted an island in the middle of a light rain storm with lightning and thunder. In the center of the somewhat barren landscape was a lone castle on a hill. It had various towers of different heights, all with lightning rods connected to the tops. A moat surrounded it with a drawbridge lowered while the landscape was covered in barren trees.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Sonia asked.

"Uh…" Makoto began.

"Er…" Ben added.

"Eheheh…" Tsubaki laughed nervously.

"If it has a bathroom, it is!" Manic informed.

"Sugei!" Luffy exclaimed with stars in his eyes, "Oi! I need a Pirate Bento!"

"Pirate Bento?" Tsubaki repeated as Chopper hid behind Makoto, shaking like a leaf with blank eyes.

"Oh, this is so exciting! I've always wanted my own castle," Sonia giggled as the bus got onto dry land and shifted to Land Mode, driving up towards the castle, "Haven't you all?"

"I'd be happy with my own room," Manic shrugged, having had to share his bedroom with Chopper while Rico was spending the time with Makoto, Charizard taking the downstairs couch, and Luffy snoozing on the top of the bus at nights.

"I used to live in one," Chopper noted, "Doctorine and I made it our home when Wapol left because of a pirate attack."

"Uh-uh," Rico shook his head.

"No way! We've got Dreamer!" Luffy argued at Sonia.

"Not really," Makoto and Tsubaki replied.

"I don't really mind," Roll noted, "I'm happy with living anywhere."

"Same," Sonic yawned.

"No," Ben stated, a bit of a cold look forming in his eyes, "I don't like castles."

Makoto glanced over at Ben, concern evident on her face. Tsubaki raised a brow at how cold Ben sounded near the end of his response.

"Did you say you lived in a castle, dude?" Manic asked Chopper.

"Un-un," Chopper nodded as the bus stopped at the entrance.

"Whoa. Now this gives me the creeps," Sonic admitted, lightly fingering his Medallion.

"Hmm. Not exactly what I expected," Sonia admitted as the drawbridge was lowered and they drove into the courtyard, "Well, it has…potential."

"Oi, Ben, can you make me a Pirate Bento?" Luffy asked, "No vegetables! Just meat!"

"Okay, okay," Ben chuckled, "Why do you even want one?"

"He's gonna go explore and bring back anything dangerous!" Chopper replied quickly.

"No I don't! I bring back super cool things!" Luffy replied.

"The last time you went out, you were chased by a hoard of angry Rhyhorn evolutionary lines!" Chopper snapped, his eyes blank and teeth shark-like.

"Here," Ben handed Luffy a boxed lunch, "All meat, nothing else."

"Thanks!" Luffy beamed before he immediately ran out, "Adventure~!"

Charizard and Chopper looked at each other before they sighed, feeling the headaches starting to form. Lightning flashed and slammed down onto Luffy just as he was five feet away from the bus.

"Ahhhh! Luffy!" everyone freaked before the lightning ended, revealing Luffy perfectly fine.

"What?" Luffy asked.

"…What?" Manic gawked.

"Oh yeah!" Chopper gasped, "Luffy's made of rubber because of his Devil Fruit!"

"His Devil Fruit?" Tsubaki repeated.

"Yeah," Chopper nodded, "I ate the Hito-Hito no Mi and became a Human Reindeer. Luffy ate the Gomu-Gomu no Mi and became a Rubber Human."

"Adventure!" Luffy shouted as he ran off with glee as if nothing happened.

"…I'll go after him," Ben sighed.

"Wait up. I'll go with you," Makoto informed before the two ran after Luffy.

"Yowww!" everyone turned to the now-destroyed castle doorway to see a plump, elderly, Mobian Vampire Bat stumble out, his head covered in soot with an owl on his left shoulder, it's head on fire, "Ooh…Whoo…"

"Who is that?" Tsubaki asked.

"Must be the caretaker," Sonia noted.

"Welcome. I've been expecting you," the bat informed before bloing the fire out on the owl's head, "I am Bellok, the castle caretaker. This is Hooter. Welcome…" he waved his arms out to the castle behind him, "…to Worst Castle!"

"Sounds like a fitting name," Sonic muttered, earning a nod from Manic.

---

"Yahoo!" Luffy cheered as he stretched his left arm and rocketed up a tree after it grabbed the highest branch, "Oi! This island's great!"

"Of course he'd think that. We've only know each other for two days and already I know he's an idiot most of the time," Makoto muttered as she and Ben stood at the bottom of the tree.

"You see any trees with fruits or animals, Luffy?" Ben called up.

"Hmmm…" Luffy began to look around, "Oh?" his eyes widened, "Hey! Are animals here normally made of metal?"

"Metal?" Makoto and Ben repeated.

"Hold on, we're coming up!" Ben replied before turning his Omnitrix on and slapped it down lightly.

In a flash of light, Ben was replaced with a humanoid alien. It seemed to be a fusion of pterodactyl and a glider. His body was covered in brown/orange/auburn scales with some scales on his lower arms resembling vents. His mouth was yellow and shaped like a beak with no wings. Scales on his back seemed to have grown and formed a backpack of sorts while he wore a black and green flight-suit that exposed his legs and arms. On his hands and feet were green gloves and boots that exposed his fingers and three toes, all ending with yellow talons. Around his waist was a white belt while his torso proudly showed the Omnitrix symbol.

"Astrodactyl!" the new alien declared.

"SUGEI~!" Luffy cheered, stars completely making his eyes now.

"Hold on, Makoto," Astrodactly informed, squawking a bit like a parrot.

From his 'backpack,' a pair of wings in the shape of a glider emerged. Green energy pulsed at the bottom of it before he began to take flight, using the energy as propulsion. He landed beside Luffy, who was still staring at him in awe.

"Luffy! What about the metal animals?" Makoto snapped him out of his awe.

"Huh? Oh, yeah!" Luffy exclaimed before pointing out to the distance, "There's a lot of metal animals over there! See?"

"Hmm…" Makoto pulled out a pair of binoculars and began to look in the direction Luffy was pointing towards, "…Aw crap."

"What's wrong?" Astrodactyl asked.

"Look," Makoto offered the binoculars.

Astrodactly took them with a nod. Looking into them, he bit back a curse. There was a small fleet of EggPawns marching towards the castle from a small vessel. While that didn't really concern him considering he had a few aliens that could make quick work of them…it was the cavalry they had. Robians…Robotnik was finally using them as military instead of just menial tasks.

"Well, this isn't good at all," Astrodactyl scowled, "Well, you two, looks like we got some guys to stall."

"HEY!" Luffy shouted as loud as he could, "HOW ARE YOU GUYS FURRY AND METAL? ARE YOU CYBORGS LIKE FRANKY?"

"Luffy!" Astrodactyl and Makoto shouted in shock before the EggPawns began to fire in their direction.

"So much for taking them by surprise," Makoto groaned.

---

Bellok hummed as he walked along a hallway, carrying the suitcases. Hooter and Yacker were having a staring contest with the owl on Bellok's shoulder. The others were all looking around, Chopper hiding in reverse behind Roll as Rico was in the back, staying on Charizard's back. Roll giggled a little in excitement.

"Oh, this is so exciting," Roll whispered.

"You really like places like these, huh?"

"It's like the castles in some of the murder mysteries I've read back home," Roll informed, "There could be secret rooms all over. How cool is that? Secret rooms to have the Freedom Fighters stay in."

"Yeah…That's a good idea," Sonic replied.

"Your room, Miss," Bellok's voice interrupted their chat.

Everyone was before a door. Bellok, after going through a set of keys, proceeded to unlock it.

"Thank you, Bellok," Sonia curtsied.

Bellok proceeded to open the door…and a small swarm of rats dashed out. Manic and Sonia yelped as, surprisingly, Manic jumped into Sonia's arms, shaking like a leaf. Manic had a better reason than any of them there to do that. He had to live with rats and had seen the dangers of rabies from rats. He lost many a good friend to rabies-infected rats.

"O-Oh, look! M-More poten-potential…" Manic gulped.

"Nah, it just needs a little spring cleaning," Sonia assured.

"Yeah, along with summer, winter, and fall," Sonic whispered to Rico, earning a giggle from the child and a snicker from the dragon.

"Ah. Yes," the bat spoke as he handed a pair of packages to Manic and Sonia, "An acquaintance that didn't want her name to be let out asked me to give these to you two."

"Oh, thank you," Sonia smiled gently.

"Huh?" Manic raised a brow as he looked at his, not sure if it was a trap or not.

"And your room, sir," Bellok informed as he opened another door, this one letting out bats, "Huh?!"

"B-Bats?!" Tsubaki screamed, 'Oh thank lord Noel isn't here!'

---

"Bless you," Rook spoke to Noel.

"Thank you," Noel sniffled as Alpha groaned, kicking the air as the soup Ragna had made for him was now burning the poor hedgehog.

"Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!" Alpha screamed quickly.

---

"Gomu-Gomu no…Gatling!" Luffy roared as he unleashed a massive barrage of punches, breaking apart parts of the EggPawns.

"Powerful," Makoto noted as she took down another with a series of rapid jabs into its head unit as Ultimate Big Chill was freezing more in blocks of ice.

"Not bad," Ultimate Big Chill noted before screaming as a Robian Rabbit tackled him over.

"Priority 3: Ben Tennyson," the Robian stated monotony.

"I think your priority should be getting back to normal," Ultimate Big Chill replied before his turned intangible and phased through the ground, freezing the ground in the shape of his body.

Ultimate Big Chill erupted from the ground, releasing a stream of flames that quickly encased the Robian forces in a set of four, thick walls of ice.

"Sugoi~!" Luffy awed, stars in his eyes once more.

"Less awing, more fighting!" Makoto barked.

---

"Really?" Sonic asked as Roll peeked her head out of a suit of armor.

"I'll find one secret passage. You'll see," Roll cutely pouted before Rico poked his head out of the armor's behind with Chopper.

"Not down here either," Chopper informed as Charizard rolled his eyes.

"Ahem," the five looked over to see Bellok, carrying a medium-sized box, "I do apologize as you are guests, but may I ask for some assistance with something?"

"What do you need?" Sonic asked as Roll got out of the armor.

"Some help getting to the top of the castle," Bellok informed, "Every year for just one day, a tradition of the caretakers is to make sure this flag waves at the top."

"Flag?" Roll repeated.

Bellok opened the box and pulled out a black cloth. Unfolding it, the two tilted their heads. It was a black flag, but the design in the middle of it was surprising. It was the skull of a hedgehog with a set of three instruments and three weapons in three different colors. In the skull's mouth was a green knife while a green drum was behind it. In a Cardinal Cross formation was a magenta piano, a magenta spear, a blue guitar, and a blue sword.

"A pirate flag!" Chopper and Rico exclaimed, the boy on Charizard's back once more.

"Okay. That…That's pretty cool," Sonic pointed out.

"It should. I believed that every member of the royal family knew of this flag," Bellok noted, "It belonged to your great, great, great, great granduncles and grandaunt; Captains Newgate, Silvers, and Anne. In their time, piracy was all over the seas and even they got wrapped up into it, becoming pirates themselves to protect their kingdom."

"Protect their kingdom?" Roll repeated.

"Yes," Bellok replied, "They were the youngest three and took the sacred treasures that you and your siblings now wear, Prince Sonic."

"Y-You know me?" Sonic asked.

"Of course. Your mother speaks so kindly of you all when she does visit with that nice friend of hers…and the lady he serves under," Bellok informed, "You missed her just a day ago."

"Aw nuts," Sonic frowned before looking at the flag once more, "So why do you put this up each year?"

"Ah. Now that is a good story. As I said before, they left their kingdom and became pirates to protect their home. They worked together, acting as lead musicians and co-captains to their crew made of those who wanted to protect their country," Bellok explained, "They fought nobly and with such passion." He began to grin excitedly as he spoke, "This skull is a symbol of faith that nothing is impossible! They fought as pirates who had faith in their flag!"

"Sugoi~!" Rico awed.

'Doctor…' Chopper thought before Bellok sighed.

"Sadly, their journey soon ended after five long, but exciting, years. One of them slowly became mad with power, killing the other two and wielding all three. Within a matter of a year, they were able to conquer all the seas, stealing anything they wished. They became the infamous Bloody Ruler."

"I read about that. Though the gender was unknown, the ruler was infamous for putting the severed heads of those who tried to go against them on pikes attached to the front of the ship," Roll noted as Chopper gulped.

"A crewmate around the time of the death of the other two noble pirates stole this flag and took it back to this castle which was where the Royal Hedgehog Family resided for five reigns," Bellok continued, "Each year on the day the triplets had set out, that crewmate would wave this flag on the highest point, to signal the spirits of the two dead siblings to return to their kingdom with smiles, showing them that they protected their country. That crewman would become caretaker for the castle and then their child became it and so on and so on, each one hoping to see the children of this castle return if only in spirit."

"It must be beautiful to see," Roll noted.

"It is, especially when you add a little light to shine on it at night," Bellok informed, "Each caretaker would hang this flag for three days and two nights, taking it down on the third night. After that, a caretaker then lights a candle, puts it into a tiny little boat, and sends it to sea."

Rico began to sniffle as he and Roll looked at Bellok with tears welling up in their eyes, "So sad…!"

"Hai, hai. To go out to protect your kingdom with your siblings only for one to betray the other two…" Roll added.

"Bellok-san, we wanna help!" Rico informed.

"Un! Un!" Chopper nodded as well, tears falling from his eyes.

"Sonikku, couldn't you, Sonia-chan, and Manic-san play a song too?" Roll asked.

"Um…Well…" Sonic chuckled sheepishly, "I was hoping to do that when he mentioned that our ancestors had these Medallions."

---

"Oh my! This is great!" Sonia beamed.

She stepped out of the changing room. While the attire seemed to resemble her original attire, there were differences. Her gold belt had become thinner with an oval diamond in the center while her gloves new rested an inch below her shoulders instead of ending over her elbows, the back of the hands having a magenta rose design on them. Her legs were covered in form-fitting red and purple stockings, going up into her slightly longer skirt. She wore a new pair of purple and red boots with silver soles that ended in heels. Tsubaki raised a brow when she saw that Sonia's quills were altered as well. Her back-quill was missing while her neon pink head quills had grown longer and turned magenta with neon pink trimming at the ends with her hairstyle being more styling. Tsubaki also noted her eyes were a soft baby blue.

"New style?" Tsubaki asked.

"This was from mother," Sonia informed, "A new set of clothes, some special lotion that made my quills grow like this, and a pair of special contacts."

"Huh. Not bad," Manic chuckled as he adjusted his new open vest as he exited a second changing room.

Manic had also changed his clothing. His vest was still red, but now opened with black flame designs on the bottom half of it. Over his forehead was a pair of sunglasses with a red trim near the top. He adjusted his new black wristbands with four spikes on each one before bending down to restrap his new red and white shoes with black industrial strength straps. He lightly patted his new fannypack resting on his left hip while his purple eyes were filled with mirth as he also tapped his two new red earrings on his left ear.

"Did you pierce your ears?" Tsubaki asked.

"Nope. Clip-on," Manic informed, "And I have to admit that these are sweet."

"Your mother as well?" Tsubaki asked.

"Yeah. These new contacts work with my new sunglasses to give me some sweet things," Manic informed as he flicked down his sunglasses as the lenses turned red, "Infrared." They changed to blue, "X-Ray." They switched to yellow, "And Night Vision. Makes going out on raids mundo easier." He then held up his hands and the bands began to spin into buzzaws, "These little babies should be able to cut even the toughest of metals while the bottoms of my shoes can stick to any surface when they're active. And my fanny pack's been made bigger on the inside like our bus is."

"And can your new clothes do anything?" Makoto asked as she looked at Sonia.

"Not really. They're more durable, easier to clean, but I can produce a hidden blade from the heels," Sonia replied, holding up one leg to let a small blade extend from it, "If I can figure out how to improve my Sonia Tornado technique to incorporate these, I'll be a bit more dangerous."

"Though there was something in it for Bro," Manic added.

"Same here," Sonia added before they both held up a single shoe.

Tsubaki looked over the two shoes as they were offered to examine. They seemed to be soap shoes. They were primarily white with a red middle area, a white band near the middle of the red. On the sides near the soles, the shoes had a soft yellow on them while the back of the shoes had a green glowing band. She also took notice of a slot at the top of the green bands. Looking at the two, Tsubaki raised a brow when Sonia held up a small sack.

"I had the instructions in my box," Sonia informed, "Apparently, they're called Custom Power Sneakers. They're made to reduce friction on your feet and let you run at your full potential. There's also an anti-gravity chip that lets you run up walls and ceilings."

"Oh, good," Sonic chuckled as he took his sneakers off and put the new ones on, showing them they soles on his sneakers were almost completely melted off, "I go through this type of shoe more often than I like to admit."

"And the small sack?" Tsubaki asked.

"These are Custom Gems that Mother crafted for Sonic. Apparently, each Gem has a different ability and he can have two equipped at a time," Sonia informed as she pointed at the slots in the back of Sonic's new shoes, "When he has a gem in them, the whites of the shoes will change color when in use. But they require a recharge time equal to the time each Gem is used. Meaning that if he uses one Gem for a minute, that same Gem needs a minute to recharge."

"Uh-oh," Manic gulped, his sunglasses on X-Ray Mode, "There's some serious stuff going on near here." He tapped a side of his sunglasses and the lenses extended, "Scope mode, too." There went the answer to that question, "Ah! Not good! It's Ro-Butt-Nik's forces! EggPawns and…and…Robians."

"Robian?!" Sonia gasped, "So, he's finally resorting to using them as military strength?"

"We need to find the others!" Tsubaki declared before they ran off, the siblings carrying either the shoes (Manic) or the Gems (Sonia) while Tsubaki summoned her shield and rapier.

---

"Easy now, easy," Bellok muttered more to himself and Hooter than the dragon he was riding on with Rico, the owl and Yacker tying the top while Bellok and Rico handled the bottom, "While this is repaired each year to make sure it stays the same, we don't want it ruined. It's too important."

"Maybe…No, no, no. Not that," Sonic muttered as he scribbled out another poor line.

"I thought that'd work," Chopper noted as he and Roll looked over his shoulders, giving their opinions.

"Hai," Roll nodded.

"Why not try 'Bink's Sake?'" Chopper offered.

"Bink's Sake?" Sonic and Roll repeated.

"It is done!" Bellok grinned as Hooter and Yacker finished tying their end, "Why…it looks marvelous. Like it did the day I first tied it up here. Except without the dragon and floating octopus-like creature. No offense to either."

"$ 54h42," Yacked waved it off as Charizard snorted a bit of smoke out of his nostrils before he flew down to let Bellok off.

"Thank you so much for this," Bellok thanked, "Now…" he sniffled as he began to tremble, "Now…" a few teardrops hit the floor, "…Why…?" he fell to his knees and hands, starting to bang the floor with a fist, "…Why did you have to be so kind to do this?"

"Why wouldn't we? You want to honor the pirates that sailed out to protect this land while I want to try to honor my ancestors," Sonic replied.

"It's not that!" Bellok sobbed a little, "I…It would have been easier for me if you had been like what Sleet said you were like."

"Sleet?!" Sonic and Roll gasped.

"…Sleet?" Chopper and Rico tilted their heads.

"Everyone!" Tsubaki called out as the three ran out into the courtyard, "Robotnik! His forces are here and heading this way!"

"What?!" Roll and Sonic gasped before looking at Bellok.

"A week ago, Sleet showed up before me. He told me that you three were all cruel-hearted, never caring who got in your way," Bellok informed, "I was a fool to believe what he said without meeting you all first."

"You were," Sonic nodded, "But you can make it up now. Can you lock the castle down? Activate any defenses?"

"I can lock it down, but there are no real defenses," Bellok replied before something slammed into the ground near them.

"Yahoo!" Luffy laughed as the debris cleared, revealing him, Ben, and Makoto.

"Don't do that again!" the two with him barked.

"Guys!" Manic exclaimed.

"Luffy!" Chopper called.

"Oi, minna! Big trouble!" Luffy shouted, "A bunch of metal animals are coming this way! We had to warn you all and Ben here can't change!"

"I timed out," Ben admitted, showing his Omnitrix was in the red.

"We've managed to stop the Robians from progressing, but the EggPawns are still strong as ever," Makoto informed as a shadow covered the ground.

"Another storm?" Sonic groaned before looking up, "Well…That's not good."

Everyone looked up and had various reactions. While the majority paled a bit, Chopper screamed with his eyes popping out of his head, his hat shooting into the air with his antlers, his teeth were all shark-like, and his tongue flailed wildly. Luffy…Luffy had stars in his eyes since it looked so awesome to him. Floating above them was a large, armored battleship. It was primarily gunmetal black with dashes of deep scarlet and light gold decorating it all. In the back were seven engines all lit up to let it hove in place while, with binoculars, one could see from the ground that the sides had a familiar emblem on them.

"Robotnik!" Sonic scowled, lowering the binoculars.

A beam shot down before the group before fading away after a few moments. The beam dissipated, revealing Starscream, Shockwave, Sleet, a strange robot, and Robotnik himself. Robotnik was floating a few feet off the ground in a strange metal vehicle resembling the bottom half of an egg, metal wings attached to the sides and a red spike on the bottom.

"Hello, hedgehogs," Robotnik sneered.

"Robotnik?!" Sonia, Manic and Sonic exclaimed in shock.

"My, my. What a wonderful new look I have thanks to that Chaos Emerald Crisis so long ago, hm?" Robotnik asked.

"…Is that an egg?" Luffy asked, pointing directly at Robotnik, causing many to facefault.

"What?!" Robotnik snarled.

"L-Luffy, that's Robotnik," Sonic facepalmed, "Aka…" he snorted a laugh, "Doctor Eggman."

Robotnik's eye twitched, "What?"

"I think you mean Baldy McNosehair," Manic began to crack up.

Starscream and Dingo snorted in their laughter before quickly standing at attention when Robotnik glared at them.

"Remind me to send a fax to everyone, telling them that Robotnik changed his name to 'Eggman,'" Sonia added.

"Oh-hoh-hoh~! And the sister gets one in!" Manic cracked up, managing to five Sonia in their laughter.

"SILENCE!" Eggman barked.

"Lord Robotnik, perhaps I may…"

"No, I won't let you take over for this," Eggman replied, glaring at the group, "This time, I won't Roboticize them. I will kill those brats!" he then declared aloud, "I'll show you all the brilliance of my new inventions, the Egg-O-Matic and Quill Cascade!"

"What's he gonna do?" Chopper tensed up, ready for a fight.

"It's simple. With you three out of the way, I will use your own communication systems to broadcast a signal for all the leaders and their second-in-commands to come here for a secret meeting. Once they're all here, I will seal this building up and released the toxic gases stored within Quill Cascade here, killing them all!"

Quill Cascade resembled a Mobian Sea Urchin with a mushroom-shaped head, a grill-like vent at the base of the 'mushroom' with a pair of glowing, red eyes above that. Racing down its back was a series of spikes, one dripping out a drop of a purple liquid that, once it hit the ground, started to eat away at it.

"And the Robians?" Manic demanded.

"With a little holographic trickery created by my brilliant creation Shockwave, we'll disguise the Robians as normal Mobians, acting as lookouts for the meeting," Eggman sneered, "I've also added some special skills to Quill Cascade thanks to a mysterious fruit I discovered a while back. But enough with that, for prepare for what the Egg-O-Matic can do!"

A beam shot down before Eggman before dissipating, revealing a new vehicle. It was missing the middle part of it, but was primarily gunmetal grey with six wheels on the sides. It sported four headlights, a pair of spiked shields in the shape of buzzsaws on the sides, and an ammunitions pack in the back. Eggman piloted his vehicle and connected to the opening in it, causing a tank's cannon to slid up and connect to the front of the Egg-O-Matic.

"Behold the Egg Bomber Tank!"

"It docked!" Chopper and Luffy cried out in shock and awe.

"This is the ultimate force in Mobius! Those who disobey me will die or be Roboticized!" Eggman informed as a monitor appeared before him, aiming at the flag hanging from the tallest point of the castle, "This is everything I stand for! That's because this island is my island. This entire planet is my planet! So, therefore…" the cannon aimed, "I don't want such a disgraceful thing such as that flag atop one of my castles!"

"A pirate flag?" Sonia raised a brow.

"A flag?" Manic pondered.

"Oh no…!" Rico whimpered.

"No! Please don't!" Bellok begged.

"Don't do it…!" Sonic and Roll growled, Sonic's blaster forming as Yacker turned Roll's blade into the Laser Rapier before Starscream and Sleet began to fire lasers at them to distract their attempts to block the shot.

"I'll blow it to pieces!" Eggman declared.

The barrel glowed before firing a bomb shaped like an egg at the flag. The attack collided with the base of the flag and exploded, causing the flag to start falling. Bellok, Roll, Sonic, Chopper, Charizard, and Rico looked up and froze at the sight. Luffy looked up at the falling flag as well in confusion.

"The pirate flag…" Luffy whispered before noticing the others that were looking up with shocked faces, "Oi, bat. That flag is…"

"Captains…" Bellok barely whispered out.

"Ancestors…" Sonic breathed out in sadness, a tear falling from Roll's left eye.

"Doctor…" Chopper whispered, seeing the flag exchanged with a pirate's skull and crossbones, decorated with falling sakura.

Luffy heard the reactions with a shocked look. Slowly, his shocked look began to fade away, replaced by a stern visage. Makoto, Ben, and Tsubaki blinked and were gifted with him vanishing, leaving behind a small puff of dirt.

"Serves you all right!" Starscream sneered, "What's wrong? Got a problem?"

"Well, too bad!" Sleet added.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Chopper demanded, "Attacking the skull!"

"Heh. What does that even mean?" Starscream asked.

"It is illogical to consider that flag have any worth here," Shockwave informed calmly.

"Oi! Egg-Headed Idiot!"

"Hm?" Eggman looked up.

The others followed his motion. Standing on the top of the roof was Luffy, his vest tying the flag to its spot once more. He had a hand gripped firmly on the pole.

"You don't understand the meaning behind this flag, do you?" Luffy calmly asked.

"Luffy…" Chopper whispered.

"You understand what it means to shoot a flag, don't you?" Luffy demanded calmly.

"…What?" Ben blinked twice.

"He's…" Roll whispered, hugging Rico tightly, as Eggman began to laugh.

"Do you really think I care about such a stupid decoration?" Eggman demanded, "Didn't I just tell you? This is my world!" his Egg Bomber Tank revealed its cannon once more and fired, "I'll shoot that thing as many times as I want!"

"Watch out! It's dangerous!" Sonia shouted.

"You can't touch me! Someone like you can't destroy this flag! The Skull Mark…" Luffy declared as the energy sphere got closer, "…is a Symbol of Conviction and Faith!"

"Luffy-san!" Tsubaki gasped as the attack hit.

"A direct hit!" Makoto gasped.

"You fool!" Eggman laughed.

At his sides, Sleet and Starscream smirked. Shockwave remained quiet before pointing at the clearing smoke. Everyone's eyes widened as they saw Luffy. He was still keeping his hand on the pole, the pirate flag of the Royal Triplets' ancestors waved in the breeze despite the tears in it.

"See? It's still whole, not broken at all," Luffy informed.

"Im…Impossible! He's insane!" Starscream flinched.

"I don't know whose skull this is, or where it comes from…but it's still a pirate flag regardless. I dunno who you are, or why you think you can control an entire world…" Luffy glared down at Eggman, a black ring appearing around his irises as they shrunk to the size of dots, "But this is a flag that you pledge your life to! This is a promise of life! It's not something just anyone can hold! You don't raise it as decoration! IT'S NOT A FLAG THAT SOMEONE LIKE YOU CAN JUST LAUGH AT OR DESTROY!-! SOMEONE LIKE YOU HAS NO RIGHT TO DESTROY THIS AND THEN LAUGH ABOUT IT!-!-!"

'Th…This is a Pirate…' Roll thought, looking up at Luffy in awe, "S…Sugei!"

"Quill Cascade!" Eggman snarled, "Eliminate that brat! The rest of you, get in there and get those preparations ready!"

Quill Cascade nodded before vanishing, a puff of purple smoke being the only sign of him being there. Above them all, Luffy stabbed the flag into its spot once more. Quill Cascade appeared in the air, vents in his mushroom head letting him hover. The left hand twitched before turning into a drill resembling a twisted-up mushroom. Luffy yelped as he hopped back and off the tower, barely avoiding the drill. Luffy landed on another tower and Quill Cascade flew down at him. Luffy jumped over the drill attack before stretching to another tower. The top of the mushroom opened, revealing a series of openings that released a barrage of poison made into bullets. Luffy cried out as he was hit and slammed into the ground, where more of the shots rained down on him.

"Luffy!" everyone screamed.

"Roll, take Rico inside!" Sonic ordered as the siblings summoned their instruments, "Take Ben, Makoto, and Tsubaki with you! Ben, once that watch recharges, we need a heavy hitter!"

"Right!" those named nodded before they ran inside as Luffy jumped over to where the others were, Quill Cascade appearing beside Eggman.

"Combaticons, get in there!" Eggman ordered on a radio before looking at the others, "Hurry already!"

Monkey=D.=Luffy/Sonia=Hedgehog/Manic=Hedgehog/Sonic=The=Hedgehog VS Quill=Cascade/Shockwave/Starscream/Doctor=Eggman

Location: Worst Castle – Inherited Will, The Destiny of the Age, The Dreams of its People. As long as people continue to pursue the meaning of Freedom, these things will never cease!

"I won't let you win!" Luffy roared out.

"Let's do it to it, guys!" Sonic called out, strumming his guitar.

"Behold my scientific might!" Eggman declared as his men readied themselves.

THE WHEEL OF FATE IS TURNING – REBEL 10 – ACTION!

Luffy dodged another series of poison bullets before Quill Cascade appeared before him. The two began to release a series of punches on each other until QC hit Luffy on the head with his hands clenched together. They traded a few more punches before QC sent Luffy rocketing back with a punch to the solar plexus. Openings appeared on his fingertips before Quill Cascade released a series of eight purple mists that formed into poisonous mist-made copies of himself that quickly began to pummel Luffy.

"Gomu-Gomu no…Gatling!" Luffy roared out, dispersing the poison copies with his rubber barrage, before charging with his arm stretching back, "Gomu-Gomu no…BULLET!"

Luffy's eyes widened as his fist impacted with Quill Cascade…only for his punch to go through a hole that Quill Cascade made in his body.

"See that?" Eggman smirked, "That special fruit turned him into poison itself! Physical damage does nothing to him!"

"We'll see about that once I'm through with you!" Sonic argued, shooting a series of laser shots that destroyed the bombs shot at him, neither one able to hit the other yet.

"Yikes!" Sonia yelped as she backflipped from a series of shots Shockwave fired from his arm blaster.

Shockwave remained silent as he continued his assault on her. Nearby, Starscream screamed as he kept trying to avoid the glowing, green rocks that Manic's drums were sending at him and Sleet, the coyote on his back trying to shoot at the hedgehog. Nearby, Luffy cried out as Quill Cascade's drill finally got him in the back, sending him into the air. Luffy barely landed when Quill Cascade slapped the ground, causing the part Luffy landed on to erupt into an orchid made of dirt and poison.

"Ah! Luffy!" Sonia exclaimed in shock before crying out as a laser grazed her left shoulder, causing her to grab the new wound she got.

"Pay attention to your opponent," Shockwave scolded before the ground below him collapsed, sending him crashing into the ground before it sealed up around him.

"Like that?" Manic smirked as he sent more rocks at Starscream and Sleet.

"Rats!" Sleet screamed before Manic cried out as Quill Cascade appeared beside him and delivered a roundhouse that knocked him into Sonia and Sonic before hitting Luffy, freeing him from the poisonous dirt.

Quill Cascade exploded into a large cloud of poisonous spores. Eggman barely put up a glass, tightly sealed dome over himself before the poison washed over him, the hedgehogs, and Luffy.

=DISTORTION FINISH!=

"Excellent!" Eggman cackled as the poison reformed into Quill Cascade.

=LOSE=

"Perfect," Eggman smirked as his EggPawns entered, "Now we can…"

=Sir, there's trouble outside= an EggPawn informed.

"…What?" Eggman frowned.

=A group of five has appeared. They're easily demolishing the EggPawn forces and are headed this way= the EggPawn informed =We have no knowledge of who they are=

---

"Let's keep going!" Roll called out, in the lead, while the others followed behind.

"I am too old to be doing this!" Bellok panted loudly before a wall exploded on the other side of the large room they had entered, revealing Bruticus.

"Aw come on!" Makoto, Tsubaki, and Ben screamed in annoyance.

"Just my luck to be timed out, too," Ben groaned before Bruticus roared and swung his fist at the only Pokémon there.

"Rico!" Roll and Chopper cried out.

'I…I'm going to die…' Rico thought as time seemed to slow to a crawl, the fist getting closer and closer, 'I'm not gonna see Momma again. …Mama. …No. …No. …Nonononononononono!' "MAMA!-!-!-!"

"Ugh…! Too loud!-!" Bruticus groaned as Rico began to wail loudly in fear and wanting his mother, the combined mech stopping his attack to cover his audio receptors.

"Rico-chan," Roll whispered before her eyes widened.

A soft light was radiating off the wailing child, slowly covering Charizard as well. The light began to grow brighter and turning into more colors before the others witnessed it. In the center of the light was a multicolored leaf, hollowed out into the shape of a strand of DNA. Bruticus, Ben, Tsubaki, and Bellok didn't hear it, but Roll, Chopper, and Makoto did; the sobbing of a child in fear was turning into the growls of a fearsome beast. The light proceeded to explode and smoke filled the large room. Slowly, the smoke began to fade away as flapping echoed in the air. Everyone slowly opened their eyes and gasped.

Cue: Rockman EXE Beast Unofficial OST – Beast Out Theme

In place of Charizard and Rico was a single figure, slowly flapping its wings in the air. It wore only a pair of dark-blue torn pants with a rope made of a strange material, letting the clawed feet be exposed. Its skin turns black with a sky blue underside from the lower jaw to the tip of the tail. Two spikes with blue tips curved upwards from the front and back of each shoulder, while the tips of its horns sharpened, turned blue, and curved slightly upward. Its brow and claws were larger and its snout was shorter. It had two small, fin-like spikes under each horn and two more down its lower neck. The lower trims of its wings were divided into large, rounded points and each third joint is adorned with a claw-like spike. The being breathed blue flames out the sides of its mouth, and the flame on its tail burned blue with increased heat. The eyes slowly opened, revealing they were a glowing crimson. The humanoid dragon took in a deep breath before unleashing a powerful roar that made Bruticus fall over by the sheer force of it.

"What?" Bruticus gasped before the dragonoid appeared before him, "?!"

"Reburst!" Chopper cried out in shock.

The being crossed his arms before his face before swinging them outwards. At the moment they were moving apart, green energy flared around his lower arms and hands, creating transparent energy claws. The dragonoid let out a fierce roar before slashing. Roll's eyes' irises shrunk to dots as she witnessed the series of explosions traveling in a straight line caused by the single attack. Outside, Luffy and Starscream didn't notice the back of the castle erupt with a series of explosions traveling all the way down the hill and reached five kilometers into the forest below. Inside the castle, Bruticus held his left side, sparks and oil coming out of it.

"Is this…?" Roll whispered.

---

"Oh, Rico can do something super cool with some Pokémon!" Luffy grinned.

"Eh?" Rico tilted his head as he paused from his food, everyone at the dinner table.

"He can do something called Mega Reburst with them!" Luffy beamed, "It's so cool~! Usopp was the first to get to see it, so I'm really jealous of him for it!"

"What's Mega Reburst?" Ben asked.

"I've seen it a few times, but I do know that Rico can beat even giants with it!" Chopper replied, "Though, he doesn't seem to remember them. Maybe the power's negative effects make him forget about the time he uses it?"

"Hm?" Rico tilted his head again.

"But it all starts with this…" Luffy held up his left arm, showing a gold bracelet with a gem in the middle, "…A Mega Stone. With the right items, this thing can make Pokémon break their limits in battles and transform! Like Charizard over there."

The mentioned 'dragon' looked up from his bowl of meat at the mention of its name, "Rr?"

"That necklace of his has a Mega Stone called Charizardite XY in it, which can let him change into one of two forms that he can think of!" Luffy informed, "Usopp told me that one form was the one that reminded him of Rico the first time he saw his Mega Reburst!"

---

"Mega Charizard X," Roll whispered.

Mega Charizard X-Rico reeled his head back before his body ignited with more blue flames. The flames quickly concentrated into the mouth before firing. The stream of blues flames followed the line of destruction and released pillars of blue flames along it, only making the damage greater and greater. Mega Charizard X-Rico landed in the middle of the severely damaged Combaticons, the blue flames intensifying all over his body. Mega Charizard X-Rico slammed his fist down on the ground and a massive sphere of the flames quickly formed. Roll's eyes widened further before she and the others were swept away by the massive sphere-shaped explosion that rocked the castle to its very foundation. Outside, Sleet and Starscream yelped as the shockwaves knocked them away, Eggman's vehicle was knocked over as Shockwave managed to get out of the ground.

"What the Scrap Heap was that?!" Starscream demanded.

"I've lost visual contact with Bruticus," Shockwave informed.

---

Back inside, Mega Charizard X-Rico panted slowly as the adrenaline began to fade. His form glowed before splitting into an unconscious Rico and a panting Charizard, holding the sleeping child. Chopper dashed over, quickly starting to diagnose the child.

---

"So this is the end, hm?" Eggman smirked as he looked down at the four, all breathing slowly, their pulses fading away.

"Indeed," Shockwave agreed, holding up a set of six vials, "Without this antidote, they won't live for another sixty seconds."

"We won't lose," the five looked down to see Luffy and Sonic, struggling to get up and managing to get to their feet before glaring at them, Sonic's Medallion transforming into his sword, "WE WON'T LOSE TO YOU NO MATTER WHAT!"

"Im…Impossible!" Sleet squeaked, "How can they…How can those two still stand, let alone speak like that?!"

"Impressive," Shockwave examined.

"Trienta Fleur!"

Shockwave's optic zoomed in on the new addition to his arm. It was another one…an organic arm at that. Before he could react, the hand shot out and grabbed the antidote and a trail of them sprouted towards the poisoned captain and hedgehogs. The first hand instantly tossed the vials to the next and then they went towards Luffy. Six more arms appeared on Luffy and the trio and opened their mouth wide, pouring it into their mouths and then shutting them, one arm rubbing their necks each to make them swallow.

"Seems we made it just in time," a voice gently noted, making everyone turn to see a well-developed woman with richly-tanned skin and black hair.

"Tatsumaki!" a strong voice roared as a tornado formed nearby, shredding through the EggPawns that had entered the grounds a few minutes ago with ease and revealed a man in a white shirt, a green sash, three swords with one in his mouth, green hair, two earrings on one ear, and black pants with boots, "These guys are all metal? Heh. Too easy."

"IMPACT HAMMER!" A metal hammer with a shell-theme to it slammed into another EggPawn, sending it into even more and revealing a young girl two years older than Luffy with her orange hair tied up into a knot on the side of her head, a yellow shirt, blue short-shorts, and a marine-blue jacket, "You said it, Zoro. You can bench, what, twelve tons by now?"

"Forty."

"PIKACHUUUUU~!" a lightning bolt slammed into an EggPawn and blew it up before a yellow mouse with a lightning bolt-shaped tail landed before him, "Pika!"

A large, humanoid black dragon with gems on parts of its body landed. The dragonoid growled before he turned into a young man around sixteen. He had wild, black hair and a red and white hat on his head. He looked over at Luffy as the older teen was assuming a new stance with his legs spread out and a fist on the ground, the Royal Triplets also getting up.

"You okay?" the teen asked.

"I'm fine, Ash," Luffy replied before bumps formed in his legs and quickly reset themselves, causing his body to give off steam and turn his body pink, "Leave the guy in the tank to Sonic. You guys get the rest. I'll handle that Mushroom guy."

"Are you okay?" Manic asked as he saw the steam.

"Gear Second," Luffy stated with determination in his eyes before reeling his fist back, "Gomu-Gomu no…"

"Oh please," Starscream rolled his optics, "As if that'll work on…"

"…JET PISTOL!"

Quill Cascade rocketed backwards rapidly the moment Luffy moved. He literally crashed through a boulder the size of a small house before crashing into three trees behind that. Starscream's jaw fell off in shock as Shockwave repeated it in his processor in slow motion. To Shockwave, Luffy's arm stretched so fast that Quill Cascade didn't acknowledge it was in danger, so the power of the fruit it had been given didn't activate in self-defense.

"Who are all of you, anyway?" Manic asked.

"Nico Robin," the only woman there smiled motherly at them, "Archaeologist."

"Roronoa Zoro," the man with three swords replied, "Swordsman and Second Mate."

"Waterflower Misty," the orangette replied, "Third Mate."

"Ketchum D. Ash and Co-Captain of the Mugiwara Kaizoku," the boy who could turn into a half-dragon informed, "Luffy's my older brother."

"…Are you as crazy as him?" Sonia asked.

"A little less, if that makes it any better," Ash replied sheepishly.

"…I'm not sure if it does or not," Sonia admitted.

SONIC=THE=HEDGEHOG AND MONKEY=D.=LUFFY VS DOCTOR=EGGMAN AND QUILL=CASCADE

Theme: WE ARE! Mugiwara Kaizoku Version – One Piece OST

Location: Worst Castle – Inherited Will, The Destiny of the Age, The Dreams of its People. As long as people continue to pursue the meaning of Freedom, these things will never cease!

"Bring it on, Eggman!" Sonic roared out, spinning his sword.

"WE WON'T LOSE, YOU BASTARDS!" Luffy roared out.

"Blast you, Hedgehog!" Eggman cried out in anger.

THE WHEEL OF FATE IS TURNING! – REBEL 11 – ACTION!

Quill Cascade erupted from the debris he was under and landed behind Luffy, revealing parts of his body were broken, dented, and falling off. He attempted to stab Luffy, but the pirate jumped high into the air.

"Gomu-Gomu no…" Luffy began as Quill Cascade released his clones once more at him in the air before he swung his leg, releasing a shockwave, "JET WHIP!"

The shockwave dispersed the poison clones before slamming into Quill Cascade. Luffy landed and Quill Cascade unleashed a barrage of shots at him with his quills. Luffy blurred and vanished, letting the quills miss him and hit one of the walls, causing it to melt from the poison. Luffy appeared before Quill Cascade, his right arm stretched back and twisted into a screw.

"JET RIFLE!"

It instantly came undone and retracted. Quill Cascade rocketed past Sonic as he was swiftly slicing through the bombs Eggman fired at him.

"It can't be! It just can't!" Eggman cried out in shock, "You were on the ropes! I had you at death's door!" the shields began to spin rapidly before he fired them at Sonic, "You can't just survive because of that!"

"It's because no one is alone! No matter the opponent, so long as there are others at your side, even if they aren't there, their prayers to your victory are what can make the impossible possible!" Sonic roared out as his blade began to glow while he sliced through the attacks, "That's why you won't defeat the Freedom Fighters! That's why we will defeat you and take back what you stole!"

Luffy and Quill Cascade's fists slammed into each other, making a small shockwave form. The two began to strike at each other, yet only Luffy's attacks were able to hit despite the power of Quill Cascade.

"Call it. Surge with your soul!"

"SOUL SURGE!" Sonic roared out, his emblem appear briefly over him.

"Gomu-Gomu no…" Luffy began as his arms stretched out behind him.

Sonic vanished into a blue wind that washed over the Egg Bomber Tank. The wind then reformed Sonic as Luffy appeared before Quill Cascade, his arms retracting in an instant.

"JET BAZOOKA!/Winds of the King," both declared together.

Luffy's open hands slammed into Quill Cascade at the same time Eggman's vehicle was sliced to ribbons, leaving only his Egg-O-Matic intact. The attack Luffy did sent Quill Cascade into the Egg-O-Matic and then all the way into the top of a tower in the castle.

=DISTORTION FINISH!=

"What was that?" Sonic whispered, gazing at his sword, while the steam and pink skin ended for Luffy.

=SONIC AND LUFFY – WIN!=

In the tower, Eggman groaned as he crawled out of his destroyed vehicle. Looking around, he saw a pair of large cannons and Quill Cascade, red oil coming out of parts of it. Looking around, Eggman sneered.

---

"We give! We give! We give!" Sleet screamed in fear as he, Shockwave, and Starscream were teleported back to the flying vehicle.

"That was kinda easy," Misty smirked as she leaned against her mallet.

"Minna!" Roll called as she ran out, holding Rico while the others followed.

"This kid was amazing!" Makoto exclaimed, "He fused with the dragon here and kicked Bruticus all the way to the recycling bin!"

"Rico!" Robin called out as she dashed over and picked the boy up, "Rico! Rico, wake up!"

Rico whimpered as his slowly began to open his eyes, "M…Mama…"

"Rico."

"Mama? Mama!" Rico exclaimed in joy as he hugged her, "I missed you, Mama!"

"Where're Chopper, Tsubaki, and Ben?" Sonic asked as he looked away from his sword.

"They saw the tower near the flag explode and went to check it out," Makoto informed, "I wanted to go, but Roll asked me to stay with her and Rico to tell you guys."

"That's where we sent that Egg-head guy and that metal guy," Luffy informed before they saw a laser go into the hole in the tower, "Uh oh."

"We gotta get up there," Sonic scowled before he stumbled, "Ugh…" 'I…I can't move…'

"Rest for now. You need to let the antidote take its course," Misty advised.

"I can fly a few of us up there," Ash offered as his tail and wings formed.

"Whoa!" Makoto yelped in surprise, "Are you a Beastkin?"

"I ate the Ryuu-Gemu no Mi: Model Kuroryu," Ash informed, "It's a Sliced Akuma no Mi, so now I'm a Gem Dragon Man."

---

Chopper, Ben, and Tsubaki panted as they ran into the tower's room. Their eyes widened as they saw the shadow of Quill Cascade starting to bulk up. Two massive cannons replaced his arm while two more arms sprouted above them. Eggman laughed as he stood in his attachment to the new machine on the top. The smoke cleared, revealing the full form to them all.

"Behold! This is the ultimate form of Quill Cascade! Quill Massacre!" Eggman declared.

Quill Massacre resembled Quill Cascade, but much larger and bulkier. It had four arms with two being a pair of massive cannons. Spikes littered the form while Eggman was in a tightly-sealed dome for the head. On the chest was a timer that went from 7 to 0 with a mushroom and its stem as the arrow.

"What's this?!" Chopper gasped.

"So that's what it was! More parts to make this!" Makoto scowled as she saw the beam as well.

"You were planning this as well if Quill Cascade lost, didn't you?" Ben scowled.

"That's right," Eggman replied, "Even if my first plan fails, I will still be rid of you all with this special Mode Cloudy Bomb. This fatal bomb will take effect!"

As he said that, the timer went from '7' to '6.' Chopper, Makoto, and Ben glared at him as Ben's Omnitrix turned from red to green. Ben saw it and quickly activated it. Not even looking, he slapped down on the watch. In a flash of light, Wildmutt formed with a roar. He quickly slapped the emblem and Ultimate Wildmutt formed once more.

"Bring it on!" Ultimate Wildmutt roared out.

"Rumble!" Chopper declared as he bit down of a yellow ball of candy.

"If you have a good system to be rivaled with, a sick person can endure through it," Eggman informed as he batted away Ultimate Wildmutt before blocking Chopper as he had assumed a full reindeer form.

"Fleur de Lis!" Tsubaki cried out as her blade turned into a whip covered in white flames resembling the flower, severing one of the cannons.

"Gah!" Eggman cried out as the timer reached '3,' "You pests! I'll remove you first!"

"Come on!" Chopper shouted as he charged, dodging the poison bullets sent at him, "Jumping Point!"

Chopper's form began more humanoid and slimmer while his legs remained the same. He jumped into the air and Eggman followed, but no one was there. A flash of green light below him made him look down as his timer got to '1.' Beneath him, FourArms and Chopper stood together. Chopper's body was mostly his Walking Point, but he stood on his hind legs while he had huge muscles in his arms.

"Arm Point. Kokutei Roseo (Carving Hoof Cherry Blossoms)!" Chopper roared out.

Chopper's left hoof and FourArms' right fists slammed into the chin of the robot, causing an indent of two fists and a cherry blossom to appear. Quill Massacre shot straight through the roof, his head getting stuck in it with the glass dome shattering. The timer reached '0' and a bomb the size of a small car shot into the air, going into the part of the tower that had been knocked off by the impact of Quill Massacre.

"Is that it?!" Zoro asked as he rode on Ash.

He didn't wait for a reply before swinging one of his swords. The shockwave made from it cut through the roof and the bomb, releasing the poison.

"It's appeared!" Robin pointed.

"Okay! Leave it to Charizard and Ash-Niichan!" Rico cheered.

Charizard roared before he and Ash fired a stream of flames from their mouths, burning away the poison until nothing was left.

"They did it!" Sonia cheered.

"Alright!" Misty cheered, "Good thing Usopp's not here, otherwise he'd be trying to lie and say it went just as he planned."

"Huh? Some dude knew this would happen?!" Manic exclaimed in awe.

"That's wrong," Misty groaned.

On the roof, Eggman groaned as his headache began to fade from the impact. Looking ahead, his eyes widened at seeing the flag, waving proudly despite what had happened so far. He began to freak out as he saw Luffy had managed to climb up.

"Someone like you who has no resolve…" Luffy informed as he banged his fists together, glaring harshly at Eggman, "Don't you dare touch the skull!" he put his right thumb into his mouth, right where the thumb could bend, "Gear Third."

Luffy bit down on it and proceeded to blow into his thumb. Eggman let out a girlish scream as he saw Luffy's arm inflate before it went all the way to his outstretched arm, swelling up to the size of one of Way Big's arms, maybe bigger. He hopped backwards from the man stuck in the roof.

"Gomu-Gomu no…Gomu-Gomu no…"

"N-Now hold on…!" Eggman whimpered, "Y-You can't do this!"

"Uh oh," Rico squeaked before the two flyers quickly went down to the ground so as to not be hit my accident.

"His arm's growing?!" Makoto exclaimed in shock.

"GOMU-GOMU NO…!" Luffy roared out, his pupils turning into dots with a single ring around the dots.

"S-St-STOP!-!-!-!" Eggman cried out as the giant fist swung right at him.

"GIGANTO PISTOL (Giant Pistol)!-!-!"

The part of the roof of the tower Eggman was on was blown completely off along with Eggman. The evil ruler screamed as his machine broke apart all around him along with his Egg-O-Matic before he was sent flying over the flying fortress and then into the distance. The armored vehicle began to fly after him.

"The castle…The island…The land that the Melody Pirates were first formed…" Bellok sniffled, tears in his eyes, "…Was saved by the skull."

---

"Mama!" Rico cheered as he continued hugging Robin while staying in her lap, "I missed you, Mama!"

"Were you a good boy?" Robin asked.

"Uh-huh! I was on my best behavior!" Rico replied, his tail wagging as Robin began to scratch behind his ears.

"Except at night," Makoto pointed out, "It's kinda troublesome in trying to get him to get to sleep."

Robin giggled, "He tends to be uncomfortable sleeping alone and he's a bit grabby in his sleep until he finds something soft and warm."

"Like my tail," Makoto pointed out as she rubbed her tail, "He's strong, too."

"Shame about the castle, though," Ben admitted.

"It's just a castle," Sonia shrugged.

"Yosha! Let's party!" Luffy cheered.

"Hold on. How did your friends get here?" Sonia asked.

"A hedgehog much like you, Ms. Sonia, appeared before us, explaining the situation," Robin informed.

"She told us that she only had enough magic to bring a few of us here if we all wanted to get back with you guys," Misty added, looking at Chopper as she explained it.

"Still, you have to admit that this place must be great for you, Chopper," Ash grinned, "I mean, it's like everyone ate a Hito-Hito no Mi."

"Yeah. But only Sonic's got a problem with not swimming," Manic chuckled before looking around, "Hey. Where are Bro and Step-Sis? Makoto and Ben, too?"

"Yeah," Luffy looked around, "Oh! Bat Guy's gone, too! I wanted to see if he wanted to join my Nakama~"

"Luffy…" Zoro groaned, facepalming.

---

"It looks nice all the way from here," Sonic noted, looking out at the flag still waving, while wearing his new SOAP Shoes.

"Indeed," Bellok nodded, smiling a little, the small waves splashing the shoreline they were on.

"You seemed really worried about it," Makoto pointed out.

"I was. I've hung it every single year I've been here," Bellok informed, "And I never once don't love to see how it looks, even if a part of the castle is in ruin."

"Yeah. You know, you never did tell us the name of the first Caretaker that began to raise the flag each year," Ben pointed out.

Bellok chuckled, "Well, you never asked."

Roll giggled as well before her ears twitched, making her look out to the sea, "Hm? Music?"

"Music?" Ben repeated as the others put their hands to their animal ears.

"Yeah. I think I hear it, too," Sonic agreed.

"Sounds like a sea shanty on a set of drums, a Spanish guitar, and…is that a piano?" Makoto asked.

Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,
Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,
Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,
Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,

Gather up all the crew!
Time to ship out Bink's brew!
Sea wind blows to where,
Who knows?
The waves will be our guide!
O'er across the ocean's tide,
The sunset is goin' wild,
See the sky! The birds singing in circles passing by!

"C…Can it be…?" Bellok choked out as Hooter's feather ruffled in disbelief.

Bid farewell to weaver's town!
Say so long to port renowned!
Sing a song, it won't be long, before we're casting off!
Cross the gold and silver waves
Changin' into water sprays!
Sailing out on our journey,
To the ends of the sea!

"Look!" Sonic pointed out to sea.

In the ocean, sailing towards them was a vessel. It was a massive galleon ship with multiple cannons and was painted blue, green, and magenta. It seemed the crew was doing a celebration of sorts.

Gather up all the crew!
Time to ship out Bink's brew!
Pirates we, we'll divide and conquer all the seas!
With the waves to rest our heads,
The ship beneath us as our bed!
Hoisted high up on the mast our jolly roger flies!

"It's…It's a ship," Ben blinked, "But why is it coming here?"

"Look!" Sonic pointed.

On the top of the tallest mast was a flag. It was a black flag with a white hedgehog' skull in it. In its teeth was a green knife while a green drum was behind it. Behind that pointing to the North, South, East, West, NorthEast, SouthEast, NorthWest, and SouthWest were a blue sword, a blue guitar, magenta piano keys, and a magenta spear.

Somewhere in the endless sky,
A storm has started comin' by!
Waves are dancing, having fun,
Time to sound the drums!
If we let blow winds of fear, then the end of us is near!
Even so, tomor-row the sun will rise again!

Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,

"Gather up all the crew. Time to ship out Bink's brew," the four looked at Bellok as he began to sing it, tears going down his cheeks, "Could be today, could be tomorrow, twilight dreaming. No longer now can we see, shadow hands still waving free. Why worry, there's sure to be a moonlit night again!"

Gather up all the crew!
Time to ship out Bink's brew!
Sing a song, a lively song,
For all the oceans wide!
After all is said and done,
We all end up skeletons!
Endless, aimless, the story on the uproarious seas!

Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho.

The ship began to sail along the coast. Standing on the railing, laughing together, were three hedgehogs; two males and a female. The green hedgehog wore a bandana on her head, the blue hedgehog had a white beard, and the magenta hedgehog had a black beard.

"Oi~! Bellok~!" the white-bearded hedgehog laughed with a wave.

"So this is where've you been all these years, ya scallywag!" the green hedgehog called out.

"Bellok?" Makoto turned to the bat.

"They've come back," Bellok sniffled before crying out, "Everyone! You've come back!"

"Of course we said we would!" the green hedgehog beamed, "But our home's the seas now! Hurry up!"

"Aye!" Bellok shouted.

"Bellok! Sonic gasped as the bat jumped off the cliff.

A pair of rugged boots landed on the deck. Turning to the shore, a young Mobian bat with his hair done up in dreadlocks, a red bandana on his head, and formal-yet roguish-gentlemen clothing looked out to the four on the shore, a noble owl on his shoulder. The two began to wave as the crew began to cheer louder in joy.

"Oi! You there!" the magenta hedgehog shouted out, pointing at Sonic, "Beware the curse within those Medallions!"

"Our brother was possessed by the darkness within them!" the green hedgehog added.

"The darkness in the Medallions?" Sonic pondered as he looked at his Medallion.

"We tried to find a way to break the curse in them on the seas, but we all fell for them!" the blue hedgehog called out, "For those who will follow your footsteps and bare these Medallions, break the curse within them! For if not by your eighteenth year, it may be too late!"

"What?!" Sonic's eyes widened, "Wait!"

"Good luck, bucko!" the green hedgehog waved.

"To the seas of the skies, me hearties!" the blue hedgehog shouted.

"Aye, Captain Newgate!" the crew shouted as the galleon faded away.

"…D…Did we just see what I thought we saw…?" Ben blinked slowly.

"I…I think so…" Makoto replied, slowly nodding.

"Sonikku?" Roll asked as she saw the Hedgehog still looking at his Medallion.

"What did they mean by darkness?" Sonic pondered to himself before they heard someone scream 'Dammit, Luffy' before a blur crashed into the water before them.

"…That was Luffy, wasn't it?" Ben asked.

"Seemed to be," Makoto replied.

"And he's an 'anchor,' right?" Sonic added.

"Hai," Roll nodded slowly before Luffy erupted from the water, trying to swim despite his curse.

"Luffy!" all four shouted.

---

"Eh?! He was a ghost?!" Luffy exclaimed in shock.

"G-g-g-g-ghost?!" Chopper paled.

"You kinda lost me," Ash admitted.

"Pika…" Pikachu nodded before a pair of hands grew on Manic's shoulders and removed one of his contact with the same happening to Sonia.

"Robin?!" Luffy exclaimed, "What are you doing?"

Robin didn't reply for a few minutes, but when she did, it was aimed at the hedgehogs, "…You three are her children."

"Huh?"

"The hedgehog that brought us here to find our captain, our doctor, and our cabin boy," Robin informed.

"Did she say her name was 'Aleena' by any chance?" Ben asked.

"Yeah," Zoro replied.

"Mom?!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Wow. Our Mom's pretty wicked in being able to travel between worlds," Manic grinned.

"How did you guess we were her children?" Sonia asked.

"Drummer-san has her eyes," Robin pointed out, "Hime-san has her figure, and Swordsman-san has the same look in his eyes like she does; one of hope for the future. You also have her fur color, but not her quill color."

"…" the three hedgehogs blinked twice.

"W-Well…Don't that beat all?" Manic began to chuckle sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with a hand.

"Oh my~. N-Now don't think that will make me any happier than I was before," Sonia blushed as she bashfully waved her off.

Sonic just began to laugh happily, "Thanks for that!"

"Well, you just made their day," Ben sweatdropped.

"Thank you for helping repair this castle," Tsubaki thanked.

"It's nothing much," Misty shrugged, "We've had to rebuild things before. And if it wasn't for our crew's Shipwright Franky, we'd probably be doing a crappy job at it. He made sure everyone learned at least basic repairs if he was unable to perform his duties for a bit."

"He sounds interesting," Tsubaki noted.

"He wears nothing but a Hawaiian shirt and speedos," Misty informed.

"…Hentai," Tsubaki stated.

"Exactly," Misty nodded, "What's worse is that he's proud of it."

"…To all the female crewmmates you have, I give my apologies," Tsubaki bowed.

"And we accept them humbly," Misty returned the bow.

"But there's one big question; how are you all getting home?" Ben asked.

"She gave us this," Ash replied as he pulled out a necklace with a pendent shaped like a cartoonish skull and crossbones with a straw hat on from his jacket, "We just had to think about Luffy, Chopper, Charizard, and Rico and we ended up on the shore of this island."

"So to get back you just have to think of your crewmmates that aren't here?" Sonia guessed.

"Right," Misty nodded before she realized something, "The floor's gone down."

Sonic looked down, "Huh. So it has."

"Gaaaaaah!-!-!" everyone but Robin, Roll, and Rico screamed as they fell down the trapdoor.

"Uh-oh," Rico squeaked, blushing as he reset the pulled-out book he was getting on the nearby shelf, sitting on Roll's shoulders to reach up to get it.

"I knew there was a secret passage here!" Roll gloated.

"Roll…" nearly everyone else groaned in the hole.

"This is why I hate castles!" Zoro barked in the hole.

"Eek! Who's hand is on my butt?!" Tsubaki demanded.

"Sorry," Manic chuckled before a green blur shot out of the hole and hit the ceiling, revealing itself to be Manic, his head stuck in it.

"Hentai!" Misty barked.

"9," Robin informed.

"9!" Rico agreed.

"Ano…Eight," Roll informed after a moment, "He didn't go all the way through."

"Are you three seriously doing that?!" Ben demanded in the hole, "Hold on. Hey! I found something! Sonic, move your foot."

"Huh? What...Is that a Chaos Emerald?!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Seems that Zoro's head did i-gah!" Chopper began.

"Why you little...!" Zoro growled out as the ones not in the hole heard Chopper being choked comically.

"Someone get us out of here please!" Makoto called out.

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No Omake this chapter.