Friends, welcome to Return to the Negaverse. This is a series of "summary chapters" that describe what the DNK are doing during the events of the main stories, following Down in the Negaverse. These chapters will mostly be written in a summary style, with chunks of dialogue and action in important areas, but most importantly, we'll flesh out the DNK and give them their justice! This chapter introduces two sectors, Nega-JP and -SA.
Nega-JP
Atnij Irakanah has smooth red hair and a pale-blue tuxedo and pants.
Amadok dresses in a white and red shrine miko outfit, with smooth black hair draped over her forehead.
Nirak Ikasoruk has short black hair under a white tennis cap and dark-gray eyes. She wears a white button-up T-shirt with black sleeves and black gym shorts, complete with white tennis shoes.
Her sister, Uzuy Ikasoruk has yellowish-brown, short hair with brown eyes. She wears a light-gray hoodie with white pants, black knee pads, and black sneakers with red cleats.
Ururu Ayigumust is a tall girl with flowing black hair with a white top, yellow shorts, and sneakers.
Tennis Star Nirak
Nirak had just won a tennis competition at her school. Friends and fans alike amass around her in admiration, but Nirak panics and tells them to get away, afraid of catching germs, to which her sister, Uzuy tackles a path through the crowd so Nirak can escape.
"Looks like my prayers came in handy!" Amadok smiled.
"Nonsense." Atnij argued. "Nirak's talents speak for themselves."
A businessman approached Nirak and offered her a chance to play in a competition against "professionals." She was hesitant at first, but Atnij convinces her to do it, and Nirak's condition is that the field has to be highly cleaned and sterilized. Nirak shows up at the competition and is making short work of her opponents. Ururu decides to explore the building and trips on Amoyr, a very short man who was one of Nirak's opponents. She extends a vibrant greeting to him, but Amoyr displays a cold personality as he explains that he and all the others are prisoners who were betting their own freedom if they could beat a student in tennis, even though none of them are pro tennis players themselves.
Ururu runs out and reveals this truth to Nirak during her next match. Nirak is outraged, but the prison warden informs her that they intend to pay her a large sum for her part in this. Nirak denies their money and attacks the warden, and her team ends up in a brawl with the guards. Sector -JP defeats them as they decide to help the prisoners escape. Though Atnij questions if that was morally the right thing to do, he still felt the police deserved it for abusing Nirak's talent.
A Good Night's Sleep
Uzuy returns to her room one night, and though it is normally a filthy mess, it doesn't stop her from sleeping peacefully. However, she wakes up with terrible itchiness as bugs have infested her room, attracted by her scent. When her friends learn of this, Nirak smothers her in disinfectant and scolds her for not taking better care of her room, and for her unsanitary lifestyle. Uzuy argues that, except for this bug problem, she's perfectly fine with how she is and doesn't think she needs any more than a quick rinse in the bathtub to get her through the day. However, when the others express dislike at her smell and refuse to let her stay in their room, Uzuy feels offended and decides to stay in Sector -SA's treehouse for the time being, believing her football buddy, Anaigrom will let her stay.
"Yeah, sure, why not?" Anaigrom agreed. "Believe me, I smelled way worse things!" It helped that she was a poisonbender, so was tolerant to bad smells.
The two tossed a football around for a bit as Uzuy complains about her sister's cleaning obsession, thinking she's going to die the same way Mom did. "Huh? How do you mean?" Anai asked.
"Our mom was always angry at us 'cause we never cleaned up after ourselves. She was late bringin' us to school one time because of it. Then she rushed to get to work afterward and wound up in a car crash."
"Oh…" Anaigrom halfheartedly threw the ball back. "Sorry."
"Yeah, well if she wasn't so obsessed with it, she would've lived. That's why I don't give a crud about cleaning. Be fine with how you are, don't waste energy obsessing over flaws." Uzuy returned the ball with vigor.
"Um…" Anai hesitated to throw the ball again. Uzuy and Nirak were affected by their mother's death in very different ways, she could tell.
"What?"
"M…My arm's getting a bit tired."
"Meh, I'm kinda tired, too. Wanna just turn in?"
"Yeah. Let me get the sleeping bag."
The two shared the room. However, Anai began to find her smell a bit intolerable, so she left to sleep on the couch. Uzuy heard her leave, and when she doesn't return, the former felt a bit aggravated, also contributed by her itchy hair.
The next day, Nega-JP show up to bring Uzuy home, saying they resolved the bug problem, but they are surprised to learn Uzuy has taken a proper bath with soap, her body shinier than it's ever been. She resentfully asks Nirak if she's happy now, to which the sister answers with a simple "Yes." Still rather peeved, Uzuy would give her room a cleaning later, but she would sleep in her nice clean bed with a peaceful smile on her face.
Ururu <> Ururu
The DNK is hosting a racing competition and encourages all the fastest operatives to compete. A track was set up on Moonbase Gym for people to train. Ururu is excited to get into it, taking her stance on the starting line, along with Lirpa, Innus, Hcaz, Anaigrom, and Ikuyim. Ururu wishes them the best of luck in a humble fashion—but as soon as the race begins, Ururu's competitive streak kicks in: speeding ahead of the competition, she starts yelling and throwing taunts at the racers, calling them slowpokes and slugs. Her mouth is remarkably bigger than her Positive's, saliva spewing with each word.
Lirpa is angered by her words, putting more power to her feet as she charges to get ahead. The other racers, frightened by their speed, decide to wait in place as Ururu and Lirpa zoom laps around the track. They are speed demons, neck-in-neck in this thrilling training race, but as the -10th, final lap is about to end, Ururu wins by a hair's length. She boasts of her victory, shakes her rear at Lirpa, and slurs up a storm of poor sportsmanship. But in a heartbeat, Ururu changes back to her kinder persona and says, "Good effort, Lirpa! I can't wait to race you on the big day!" Her teammates stare at her awkwardly.
Lirpa is still upset over Ururu's attitude and seeks to find a way to sabotage her. Sipa considers planting a curse on Ururu, but Lirpa feels it can easily be traced back to them. Instead, Sipa uses her magic to sneak them into DNK Arctic Prison, where they locate the supervillain, Palindrome. Palindrome is a quirky villain whose sentences can be spelled the same forward and back, but to write his dialogue would require pure genius. However, he claims to have eaten the Swap-Paws Fruit, and by touching people, he can swap peoples' personalities to the inverse.
The girls make the deal that if Palindrome swaps Ururu's personality, they'll set him free, to which he agrees. Sipa shrinks him for portability, and they make their way to JP's treehouse to have Palindrome touch a sleeping Ururu, and afterwards sneak out. When Ururu greets her friends the next day, she displays a timid, cowardly demeanor, tripping and acting clumsily. When they take her up to Moonbase to train on the track, she is remarkably slower than yesterday, afraid the other operatives will try to prank her from behind, and so they easily outpace her.
Atnij is immediately suspicious, believing something unnatural is at play. He tries to motivate her by saying she's the fastest girl alive and she's not afraid of anything, but Ururu only becomes more upset, ashamed for disappointing her leader. Nirak remarks that, "She's not even Ururu Ayigumust anymore, more like 'Ururu Tsumugiya.'" Uzuy wonders if she can get over this by tomorrow, to which Amadok claims she will prepare a "Courage Spirit" to help Ururu.
The next day, the operatives are at the valley where the race will transpire. They will traverse across the valley and up a mountain. The race begins, and Ururu has a slow start. That is when Amadok summons the Courage Spirit: it is a tiny Grim Reaper with cyan flames and a scythe. Ururu panics, thinking it's going to kill her, so she runs faster than she's ever run. Atnij is proud of her for realizing the importance of life! Lirpa is angry that Ururu is still doing so well and struggles to keep up.
Unfortunately, that's when Palindrome shows up to ruin the fun: he was driving a racecar! He was running into operatives, sending them flying into the air, and the last two were Ururu and Lirpa. A frightened Ururu runs off the track, only to be chased by the madman. He is about to ram her, but Lirpa suddenly leaps above the car and kicks the villain through the glass, causing him to crash. Lirpa states this wasn't part of the deal, but Palindrome is acting on his own agenda now. Lirpa runs to kick him, but the villain dodges and touches her, swapping her character to "April," and this is followed by turning her clothes inside-out.
But that's when Ururu runs up to punch him, thinking he's some kind of pervert. She kicks him off his feet and beats him to a pulp while still maintaining a panicky state. Palindrome loses consciousness, and his Devil Fruit wears off and fixes the two girls. Lirpa regretfully admits that she initially hired the villain to change Ururu's personality because of her cocky attitude. Ururu says she never meant to offend her and was just getting into the spirit. She suggests Lirpa oughta try it, and Lirpa does just that as they run to finish the race. Throwing insults at one-another, they go faster and faster, and the race results in a tie.
Their throats are sore afterward, gasping in desperate need of water. The Courage Spirit rests on Ururu's chest, enjoying a nice glass of his own water. Palindrome is arrested as Atnij questions his life's choices. Palindrome's response is as follows:
"Do good? I? No. Evil anon I deliver. I maim nine more hero men in Saginaw. Sanitary sword a tuck Carol, I! Lo, rack, cut a drowsy rat in Aswan. I gas nine more hero men in Miami. Reviled, I? No na, live on I do. O' God!"
Dream Savior Amadok
Several kids were gathered at Amadok's personal shrine, which was connected to the outside of the treehouse. They claim to be plagued with misfortune, so Amadok asks for them to hand her their favorite items. She uses Ghost Whispering to awaken the spirits inside those items and ask them to take very good care of their owners. After they leave, Amadok goes back inside, enjoying dinner with her teammates as Atnij praises her good deeds.
"Do you really think Negatives don't get welcomed to the Spirit World when they die?" Uzuy asked.
"I'm sure our spirits will live in peace after they've left this world." Amadok smiled. "Just like my parents."
Amadok goes to sleep, hoping to wake up in her peaceful Dream World where she flies among the spirits. Her dreamscape exists under a starry night sky, where slithery, smiling, wisp-like spirits soar across the forest. Amadok lays back peacefully, the wind chilling her skin. She wishes to fly among the spirits for real someday, with her friends to join her. But to her shock, all her spirit friends begin to get captured in red bubbles, and Amadok is forced to jump off before she is Bubbled. As the sky becomes filled with dark clouds, a black-hooded figure in a dark coat approaches Amadok, his red eyes gleaming. He scoffs at Amadok for thinking her little "charms" can save people from their horrible fates. Amadok summons more spirits to fight the boy, but he creates more bubbles to ensnare them before eventually trapping Amadok. She desperately bangs on the bubble to escape, but is helpless as she floats to the sky and is forced to sleep.
Amadok awakes in her own bed, sighing as she passes it off as a nightmare. When she tries to get up, she trips on her blanket, and her morning is plagued with unfortunate missteps, spilling her juice, tearing her kimono, etc.. Uzuy finds it humorous at first, but her friends start to grow concerned. Amadok's customers from yesterday, along with dozens of other kids, return to her shrine, once again plagued with bad luck. But this time, Amadok is unable to call the spirits from their items. Her voice kept choking, rendering her Ghost Whispering useless.
Amadok tells her friends about the nightmare, and based on the dark boy's bubble powers, she believes he is a rogue Bubble Dreamer who is invading peoples' dreams and Bubbling everything, causing misfortune to plague them in real life. Atnij sings Amadok a lullaby to put her to sleep, so she could possibly fix the mess. They wake her up a couple hours later, but Amadok explains her dreamself was still Bubbled, so she drifted in empty blackness. She can think of one other way to escape her prison: if the five of them sleep in the same bed, their dreamscapes will become linked, and they will be able to help her. The five are rather cramped, with Nirak expressing displeasure, but Atnij sings one more lullaby to put them all to sleep.
The other four wake up in their dreamscapes and find portals interlinking them to each other, so they all meet up in Amadok's corrupted dream. The mysterious boy ambushes them, so the others fight while Atnij rides a Song Wave to the foggy sky, going above the clouds to the Sea of Bubbles. He finds where Amadok is trapped and blows a Song Beam to pop her bubble, and Amadok comically panics before falling. Atnij surfs down to catch her, and after recomposing herself, she asks the Bubble Dreamer what his problem is. The boy, Otokam, explains he had been plagued with misfortune all his life, but had developed a fondness for his own curse, and has since took pleasure in cursing other people by trapping their dreams.
All five of them battle Otokam, with Amadok summoning Dream Spirits that naturally formed in her realm, but too few appeared, and Otokam summons his own Nightmares from his bubbles, proving too strong for the team. Amadok decides it's time for the spirits to wake up, and she has Atnij amplify her voice, so all the spirits in the Sea of Bubbles hear her and break free of their bubbles. They swarm down, attack Otokam's spirits, and soon have the boy overpowered. Uzuy grabs the boy in a choke-hold and claims she will find out where he lives and give him the punishment of a lifetime, unless he takes Amadok to all the dreamscapes he corrupted so she can wake up everyone's spirits.
The next day, all the kids thank Amadok for ridding their curses. At school, Uzuy wonders if they should try to find Otokam to make sure he never does this again, but Ururu is confident he learned his lesson. They walk past a short, dorky boy, and Uzuy glances back at him when she thinks he looked familiar. The boy panics and quickly keeps walking, not daring to look back at her.
Atnij of the Odureg
Nega-JP wake up to an inviting smell, and they are surprised to see a cake on the kitchen table. One corner had a tennis ball icing design, another had a football, another a smiling ghost, and the 4th had a sneaker. Atnij baked it to congratulate the girls for their hard work these past few days. Nirak remarks it as an unhealthy breakfast, but Uzuy and Ururu are excited to wolf it down. Amadok begins to eat her corner in a calmer manner, with Nirak reluctantly doing the same. Ururu remarks it's as sweet as the little man who made it, ruffling Atnij's hair.
With a smirk, Uzuy asks the long-awaited question: which one does he like the best? Atnij, of course, can't pick a favorite and thinks they're all great in their own way. Amadok inquires that he must have a type, but Atnij believes he's not worthy for any woman. Ururu still thinks he deserves a reward, so she decides to go to Atnij's house in secret to ask his parents what he likes. Atnij's father is delighted to meet one of his son's 'girls,' thinking she would be an excellent wife, to which Ururu blushes. When Ururu asks about his son's interests, the father looks disgruntled, saying "What kind of girl doesn't know what her man likes? If you expect to stay with him, you'd better pay better attention."
Ururu feels offended and corrects him in saying they aren't romantically involved. Mr. Irakanah states that she better abandon that mindset, and Ururu soon learns that he treats his own wife like a slave. Ururu meets with Atnij at the treehouse, with the others there as well, and though she feels uncomfortable about it, she tells him about her unpleasant meeting with his father. Atnij asks if she was hurt and apologizes for any mistreatment. Ururu also apologizes, thinking she intruded on a private matter regarding his family.
Atnij thinks he may as well tell them a shameful truth about his ancestry: he is a descendant of the Odureg, an ancient tribe of women who only lived to serve the opposite gender. They used to live in the ancient kingdom of Lorule, but thousands of years later, Atnij's mother still follows that degrading tradition and thus chose to marry a slave-driver husband. Only females are born to the tribe and raised to follow this lifestyle, but Atnij was "the one man born every hundred years." Growing up, he always felt bad for his mother and ashamed of his heritage, and vowed that he would spend his life inspiring girls instead of degrading them. However, he too was afraid of defying his father's wishes, so he had been feeding him lies that his teammates were his "servants."
The girls feel bad for hearing this. Atnij explains he has no intention to get married or have kids, wanting his family to end so no more girls have to end up like his mother. Atnij believes they must be ashamed of him and decides to stay at his own house for that night. Mr. Irakanah explains that Ururu came over earlier, suggesting Atnij to let that one go as she seems too clueless. True, his mom isn't the smartest cracker around, but at least she knows how to pay attention.
Atnij snaps at him for talking about his teammates that way, and goes on to say that Mom doesn't need someone like him. The angered father turns on his Haki and goes to punch his son, but Atnij's mom gets in the way and takes the hit. Atnij ultimately attacks with his musicbending, but his father's Haki proves stronger as Atnij becomes riddled with bruises. Atnij is knocked into the backyard, the father deactivating his Haki as he thinks he no longer needs it. A Footbomb suddenly crashes into Irakanah and stuns him, followed by a tennis ball to the face: Uzuy and Nirak are responsible.
Atnij's teammates stand guard before him, and Nirak remarks, "Can't you do better than the girls, Atnij?" Amadok sends spirits to fly around the father's head and blind his vision, giving Ururu the chance to chi-block his Haki, while Uzuy tackles him to the ground. Nirak leaps above the father for one more tennis ball to the face. The man musters his strength and shakes Uzuy off, then punches Nirak, but he is swarmed by Music Notes that overpower and knock him out. At first, they think it was Atnij's bending, but it actually came from his mother.
Mrs. Irakanah hugs her son and glad he is okay. She regrets ever marrying that man and decides it's time for a change in tradition. The DNK arrest the father, so with only his mother raising him now, Atnij promises to make her the happiest woman ever. Atnij's teammates proclaim they are happy to 'serve' him, squeezing him in hugs as they promise to become 'worthy' enough to marry him.
Meeting Their Matches
Jinta/Atnij – Atnij would ask Jinta to describe his team's abilities and characteristics in detail. Atnij would quickly feel envious that his Positive got to work with such proud and strong girls. He regrets not being there for the boxing tournament.
Karin/Nirak – Karin would try out tennis for her Negative's sake, but she would use her foot to kick the ball. Nirak would have to sanitize the ball each time, asking why Karin doesn't play the right way, but Karin finds this method more fun and challenging.
Yuzu/Uzuy – Yuzu would wake up in a dizzy state. To her shock, hers and Karin's room was a mess, and she and her Negative were in tatters. Apparently, Yuzunite and Uzuy had ended up wrestling and it got really intense.
Ururu/Ururu – Nega-Ururu tries on the Tiny Devil, which stretches to fit her, and she joyfully shrinks down and flies around. She yells Posi-Ururu to try and catch her, and the shorter opposite chases her around the treehouse. She soon finds it very exhausting as it's like chasing an athletic fly.
Kodama/Amadok – Amadok summons the spirits inside Kodama's fireworks, and the spirits happily thank her for building their homes. Kodama cries in joy and admits it's going to feel sad after she blows them all up. The spirits panic.
Sector -SA
The first chunk of this session is directly ripped from the Sector SA story, as it introduces their Negative sector.
Sector SA: Hunger Strike
KND Moonbase
Sector SA explained the situation to Cheren, who found the idea of a wormhole in Index's stomach to be both humorous and downright weird. Cheren agreed to take them to Nerehc using the mirror in his office. Since the mirror had become a portal, this signified Nerehc was in his office right now. He invited Sector SA through the portal, entering Nerehc's office in the DNK Moonbase.
Nerehc was laying on a pile of unfilled paperwork when he looked up and saw them. "We need to design something for you to knock on when you enter a portal."
"Sorry to interrupt your super busy schedule, Nerehc." Cheren remarked. "This is Sector SA. They're here because of a stomach problem."
"I ain't a doctor."
"Listen, we need you to take us to Index's Negative." Nagisa gestured at the latter. "Do you have an operative like her?"
Nerehc cocked a brow. "Boy, don't we. Yeah, I recognize her—by far the laziest operative we have. She's not even emo, she's just a slob. She works for Sector AS – which you probably know as Sector -SA. I would guess it's in the same place as your sector, just reversed, but if you want, I could take you."
"That'd be nice." Nagisa chuckled, thinking he might get lost in this mirror world. "We'll explain on the way."
Sector -SA
Contrary to the scorching desert in the Posiverse, Nega-Sector SA's treehouse was located in a frosty snowfield, in what they believed to be the same general area relative to the other universe. Nerehc landed the R.E.P.M.A.C.S. in the hangar and began to trek the hallway. "Shouldn't you have called and told them you were coming?" Morgiana asked. "It feels rude to come unannounced."
"Did you already forget what universe you're in?" Nerehc asked. "They won't care, anyway." They passed by Allebmoog, a red Abmoog with no feet and very long arms that she used to walk.
"Well, there's another Goomba to be jealous of." Goombella commented.
"Anyway, I think this is the culprit you're looking for." Nerehc indicated a couch facing a TV that displayed a first-person shooting game. They walked around to see the fat slob on the couch: almost every part of Xedni's body was pudgy, her belly sticking out of her black sweater and white pajama pants.
Nagisa checked the scanner's screen. The image on it matched Xedni's posture exactly, from the still position of her arms holding the game controller and her dull green eyes. Xedni glanced up at her guests. "Oh, hey Supreme Leader. Do you have pizza?"
"YOU!!" Index grabbed her opposite by the neck furiously. "YOU'RE the one who's been stealing my FOOD!"
"Uh…are you my Positive?" Xedni asked lazily. "BUUUURP!"
"Uck!" Index waved by her nose. "Your breath smells like waffles! …!" She wept: "Those are my waffles. . . ." She shook Xedni crazily, "GIVE ME BACK MY WAFFLES!"
"Index, calm down!" Cheren pulled her off. "Xedni, we're given to understand there is a wormhole linking your stomach to Index. Do you know anything about that?"
"No way, man. And my name's not Xedni, it's-"
"NOT IMPORTANT!" Index cut. "Fine, if you don't believe me, I guess you won't mind if I eat THIS!" She raised a bitten blue Skypian Apple, the one Nagisa's mother bit days ago.
"Ironically, the only item in the fridge she didn't eat." Goombella said.
"Ha-omp!" Index ate the whole apple in one bite. She smirked at Xedni, and the others were surprised at the fact Index wasn't shrinking.
A puff of smoke consumed Xedni, dropping her controller as she became as small as a hand-size ball. "I KNEW IT!" Index grabbed the tiny Negative and squeezed her. "Do I need to SQUEEZE the truth out of you?!"
"Fine, you got me!" Xedni conceded. "I like to eat, but it's always a chore to go to the fridge and get somethin'. I got Sipa to take me to your room in the Posiverse and make some sorta body-link spell while you were asleep. All I gotta do is wait for you to eat, then I get full."
"Was that the same day all my church stuff was magically taped to the ceiling?!"
"I dunno… I forget what day that was. Who are you again?"
"Xedni, don't you realize what you've been doing?" Nagisa followed. "You're driving Index to near starvation, and look what's happened to you because of her eating habit!"
"Bro, I don't care. I don't do much around here, anyway. I just get my friends to do stuff."
"Hi!" a peppy voice greeted behind them. "Who are you guys?"
A friendly girl in a soft purplish sleeveless shirt jogged in, her sky-blue hair flowing. She wore skinny blue jeans and sandals that matched her blue, long nails. "Hello there! I'm Asigan!" she greeted them, her blue eyes sparkling.
Nagisa choked on his breath. This girl was… "No… you can't be…"
"Oh! You look just like me!" Asigan noticed. "Are you guys… our Positives?"
"Yeah, but…but you're a girl."
"Of course! I mean, I am at heart. I really like your hairdo!"
"Ah ha…thanks." Blushing, Nagisa scratched one of his pigtails. "Um, so what do you like? I like action anime and assassins."
"I'm not too into that stuff, but I like a good fantasy! My main hobby is swimming."
"Oh! That's cool."
"I'm a waterbender, too! Do you have an element?"
"No, but I…I think I could make a good fearbender."
"Hehe, that sounds neat! So, what're you guys here for? Could I get you anything?"
"We don't have time for that!" Index yelled, still clutching Xedni. "Listen, Xedni, I don't know what they teach you in this universe, but in my world, gluttony is a sin, and you're a big sinner!"
"NOW she brings it up." her friends chorused.
"You make me wanna puke up every meal I had. Knowing ALL my food was going to you, I've never been more disgusted. It makes me not wanna eat."
"Uh… you have to eat sometime. Or you'll starve."
"I don't think so. I am officially going on a hunger strike and SO are you." She whipped around, raised Xedni high, and asked her friends, "You with me, guys?! WHO'S ready to go on a hunger strike?!"
"NO WAY! We're not the ones who need to learn a lesson!" four of the kids said at once, while Morg shook her head in disagreement.
"And anyway—um, Xedni," Nerehc followed, "I think an exercise routine would do you wonders. DNK is changing for the better, so you need to catch up."
"It would be great if you could become more active." Asigan agreed. "And… clean after yourself."
"Got that, Xedni?" Index glared. "You're not getting one bite until I decide you earned it."
"Okay, whatever… Wanna play a game with me?"
"The only game we're playing is the PAIN GAME!"
Moonbase Gym
"Come on, Xedni, don't you know how to raise a fist?!" Index shouted while throwing punches at her (normal size) opposite. The nun donned her green top, white skirt, and green gym shoes, and both were wearing boxing gloves. All Xedni could manage were lazy arm swings, but Index jumped around and punched her from all sides. "A FIST, Xedni, it's when you bend your fingers into a ball!"
"I know what it is, I've seen it in my game. …I don't remember what button to push, though."
"Maybe it's 'P' button, FOR PUNCH!" Index punched her in the fat head. "Does that jog your memory?!"
"I've never seen Index so pumped up about anything." Nagisa said.
"The safety of her food is on the line." Goombella winked. "She's doing this for herself, too."
"Yeah, but forbidding herself from eating? How long do you think she'll last?"
"Her record is three days." Morgiana said. "She'll have to be hungry by then."
On the second day, Index took Xedni to the soccer field near her church. Index ran five laps around the field while Xedni made it halfway. "If those legs had as much muscle as fat, you would be faster than me."
"I'm tired…" Xedni moaned, her legs wobbling like jelly. "I just thought about jelly… Can we eat?"
"NO EATING. You've been pigging yourself out for months without chewing your own food. The only way to show you how precious food is is to make you go without it!"
Xedni was forced to stay with Index during their days of exercise, and was ordered to do push-ups for the first half hour while Index slept. Her friends and family helped keep Xedni away from anything edible, and Index restrained herself as well, no matter how much her stomach grumbled during the day and night.
Two more days passed; Xedni noticed Index was slacking in effort, likely starved from lack of food. When they were racing around the soccer field, seeing this gave Xedni the motivation to keep running. She thought passing Index would earn her something to eat. Index stopped to catch her breath, and seeing Xedni run by put a smile on her face. When they returned to boxing on the Moonbase, both girls fought with weak, lazy fists; they had no gas to burn off, little water to sweat, and the fact they had any energy at all was amazing.
At Sector SA's treehouse, the two attempted jumping up the central pillar like Morgiana. They fell extremely short of the latter's record—they were so tired, they barely got their toes off the floor. They collapsed on their backs, deader than sticks in a desert. They were so hungry, they were shriveled. Seven days without food and little water.
"Ulp… What's your name again?" Xedni asked.
"Index…" she replied tiredly.
"Index… Sorry for taking your food. I guess I thought… you would be okay with it. Sharing the same stomach. I think I was gonna tell you, but I… forgot."
"Well… hopefully you learned something." Index sat up and faced her. "I think we both love food, Xedni… but you don't appreciate it enough to even pick some up and eat it yourself. Any person that's able to eat should be thankful for every meal. You shouldn't deny food from others… It's a gift that everyone deserves."
"Yeah… If I had to exercise just a little bit… that'd be better than doing all this. I guess you want to get rid of this wormhole?"
"You said these were created from a magic spell, right? If I remember correctly, the Connecting-Stomachs Spell was created for people who couldn't eat on their own. I can probably dispel it myself." Index crawled to Xedni and folded hands in prayer. "Palkia, thou art the Creator of Space. Please, command the gates that bind us to close." She put one hand over her stomach and another over Xedni's. Her hands glowed white and, while they couldn't see, the wormholes vanished.
Xedni sat up, wondering what just happened. "Anyway… it was nice training with you, Xedni." Index smiled. "Why don't you go home and grab a bite? Make sure to really savor the taste."
Xedni Calls Hacks
Xedni is on her favorite couch, eyes locked to the screen as she is engaged in a videogame. The game is Cleanime (the opposite of Splatoon), and in this online mode, the Washlings must clean up more ink than the opposing team to win. The others are watching her, enjoying the entertainment, but Xedni is shocked when an opposing player is cleaning large amounts of ink with a weak weapon. She becomes increasingly frustrated and believes the player is hacking the game. "Well, two can play at that game," Xedni says as she looks up how to hack the game in question.
Lots of people hack Cleanime, so they left instructions, and before long, Xedni finds herself at the Coding Table. With an evil laughter, the chubby gamer begins to give herself her own upgrades, like a Wipe Brush that can cut across the entire field. However, opposing players begin to hack up stronger upgrades, and they soon become more bizarre. Xedni plants traps for other players to walk on, after which pianos would fall and crush them. Another player traps her with a foam noodle snake that flings her off the field. Xedni creates a gun that shoots out rockstars to beat players up with guitars. The enemies program it to rain hamburgers, causing Xedni's team to forcibly eat them and grow heavier.
Unfortunately, the hacking becomes too much for the game to handle. That's when the President of Odnetnin's Washsona lands in and yells, "What the FUCK is going on here?! You've made our game more of a mess than it's supposed to be! It's time for a mass reset, no one's allowed to play for a month!"
Xedni slumps in sadness, thinking she would be kicked out of the Washfest because of this. Asigan admits to having a good laugh with all those crazy hacks, and Allebmoog was impressed with Xedni's handiwork, surprised "those hefty fingers could type so quickly." Xedni smiles, realizing she did have lots of fun, and starts to think of ways she could apply her hacking talent to her DNK duties.
The Abmoog with the Dragon Tattoo
The team decides to visit Allebmoog's hometown, Law City, populated by rich Mushroomians who detested their homeworld and sought more comfortable lives on Earth. Allebmoog led them to the shopping center, introducing her school friends: a Dya-Namite girl (a Bob-omb, but resembling a dynamite), an Apook boy, and a Toad boy (instead of a round mushroom head, it was a pointed 'shroom head). Both groups exchange greetings, though the Mushroomians acknowledge Xedni as "the Marshmallow," much to her chagrin.
The Mushroomians are then introduced to Anaigrom, and they are awed by how cool she looks. Anai had magenta hair in pigtails and matching eyes, wore a light-green top with 'REPUS' written, short blue shorts with silver chains, rings over her bare bellybutton, and white sneakers with yellow socks.
Anai makes the point that she always wears the coolest fashions. They ask to hang out with Anai, and she agrees, but when Alleb tries to join, the Mushrooms turn her down and remind her she was giving the others a tour. Anai tells her friends that she'll catch up and goes with the gang. Allebmoog feels abandoned, but she continues giving Xedni and Asigan their tour.
When they meet up with Anaigrom later, they see the Mushroomians carrying several new clothes that Anai had woven herself. She boasts with pride about her Silanaf heritage, for her people are the most modernized modistes around. When they return to the treehouse, Anaigrom expresses how much fun she had with the Mushrooms, as she learned a ton about Mushroomian fashions and they shared ideas. Alleb sounds upset in her responses, and Anai says that she didn't mean to steal her friends. Alleb admits that she's jealous because, due to most of her body being arms, she can't enjoy beautiful, fancy clothes like most people can. However, Anai believes that, if clothing doesn't work for Alleb, maybe tattoos could.
After learning about Mushroomian paint and purchasing some herself, Anaigrom decides to practice tattoo art, using Alleb as a test model. She paints a spring-like design around Alleb's arms, which allow her to bounce very high. She paints a wind design, which allows her to run much faster on her arms, and then a dragon design, which adds extra strength to her punches. For the time being, Alleb decides to stick with the dragon design. It gives her that troublemaker, "tough girl" vibe.
Since Xedni still can't log onto Cleanime, she asks what they wanna do next week. Remembering the DNK's recent alliance with the Nimbi DNK, Asigan thinks they should visit Aipyks.
Peacemaker Asigan
The girls bring their swimwear to Aipyks and go to swim in a cloud lake that is not polluted. At first, Xedni is embarrassed, for this is her first time wearing a swimsuit, but Asigan thinks she looks adorable. Xedni has a hard time becoming stabilized in the water, especially since cloud water is lighter than normal water, but Asigan helps her to swim with her waterbending. Allebmoog remarks, "So that's what a watermelon looks like when it's swimming," earning a growl from Xedni.
They then hear commotion across the lake, and see that some Nimbi operatives are ganging up on a mermaid. The Nimbi try to breathbend her, the mermaid begging them to stop, so Asigan attacks the Nimbi and questions their actions. They accuse the mermaid, Aras of being an enemy, but she explains that she wanted to join the Nimbi and be free of the DNKG's control. Asigan persuades them to take the mermaid to Ibsej, the Nimbi leader, and -SA gets dressed as they accompany her. Ibsej is reluctant to accept a mermaid into their ranks, and that their conflict with Anaeco dates back to—"Yeah yeah, nobody cares," Allebmoog says rudely. "Y'know, some of those merfolk prolly don't even know why you're fighting, and some of them just don't wanna anymore."
Considering this, Ibsej decides to let Aras stay in Aipyks. Asigan thinks that, if more merkids want to switch sides, it could lead to peace between the races and another alliance. The -SA girls travel down to Anaeco in a submarine, attacking several merkid treehouses. Asigan uses her waterbending to prevail, Anaigrom can shoot gas bubbles underwater, Allebmoog is good at underwater combat, while Xedni shoots torpedoes from the sub. They question the merkids afterward, confirming some of them wish to align with the Nimbi and bring more to Aipyks. Over the course of a few days, they show no hostility and seem to befriend the Nimbi quite well.
Allebmoog comments that this is why people should look to the future more often. They agree with her, happy to see the two races getting along, and Asigan is delighted to contribute to such change. Just then, they hear a scream from a hallway, and rush to find, to their horror, Ibsej bleeding on the floor. She is still alive and gasping, so a healer works to fix her, and Xedni barely sees the tail of a merkid go around the corner. They try to chase, but the culprit has evaded their vision. All the merkids are immediately put under lockdown, thinking none can be trusted.
The sector is in the cafeteria, upset by the event. Anaigrom leaves to use the restroom, and she walks by a Nimbi boy who gives off a rather fishy smell. Thanks to her bending, she can pick up a trail of the boy's scent, following it back to a dumpster, where she looks in and finds a tail fin sticking out. She grabs it and pulls out the hollow, fake tail of a merkid. She calls her team and says she thinks the merpeople were framed, and she retraces the scent back to the suspicious Nimbi. The four girls corner and question him, but he strikes with lightningbending to weaken them. Asigan dodges his attack and molds water in the air to attract and catch his lightning, afterwards splashing it over the Nimbi to stun him, followed by Water Whips to KO him.
The girls explain to Ibsej and the others about their findings. Ibsej tries to confirm the truth by making the traitor hold a rock, putting a hand to that rock as well. When she asks, "Were you the one who stabbed me?" the boy replies, "No, it was a merkid!" But with her Seismic Sense, Ibsej confirms he is lying and has him handcuffed. The Nimbi reveals that he never trusted the merkids at all, but no one would listen, so he thought the only way to expose their falseness was to frame them. Alas, Ibsej had already used her Lie Detection on the merkids as well and knew they truly wanted peace. She preferred to keep her ability a secret in case something like this happened, but didn't expect one of her own operatives to attempt something like this.
The merkids are set free, and Ibsej extends her thanks to Asigan's team for their part in this. Asigan is tired of playing Peacemaker for now, bidding farewell as the team returns home.
Meeting Their Matches
Note: They meet their matches on a later date than the other pairs.
Nagisa Shiota/Asigan Atoihs – Nagisa quickly calls their meeting short, as he's too disturbed with seeing himself as a girl.
Index/Xedni – Index is proud of her Negative for sticking to her diet. Xedni wants to know what games they play, and she is introduced to Splatoon. Xedni realizes, "Holy crap, where has this been all my life?"
Morgiana/Anaigrom – As soon as Anai sees her Positive's limited attire, she tries on an array of dresses, which Morgiana takes a liking to. When Anai then shows her a collection of fantastic footwear, Morg says, "You had me and you lost me."
Goombella/Allebmoog – Goombella tries to teach Alleb about all her favorite stories and how they connect to history, but Alleb finds them all uninteresting. Goombella grows increasingly irritated, saying not only can these stories touch her heart, they can also help her with lots of life experience. Alleb decides to go into the topic of movie stars and their life experiences, and Goombella immediately becomes bored.