Six Against Infinity, Part 6

Six Against Infinity, Part 6 is the twentieth episode of the second season of TFAWPS. It is the forty-sixth episode overall.

Plot
After being thrown into a portal by Genesect, Buster finds himself on an island paradise being ravaged by pirates, led by Zack. Buster is forced to decide if he will continue the fight or call it quits.

Synopsis
Out in space, Genesect says that he wishes TFAWPS luck wherever and whenever they end up. As he says this, Buster is thrown into a wormhole and disappears.

Awakening on the shores of a beautiful beach, Buster immediately falls in love with his surroundings. As he explores the island, he locates a resort where he promptly checks in. After a few days relaxing throughout the resort's various amenities, he gets a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. He picks up his communicator and tries to call Mofo, but gets no signal. Buster leaves him a message telling him his location and that he'll be there until someone comes and gets him because he has no way out of there. Unsure of what to do next, Buster heads back out to party.

After several days of partying and checking his messages, Buster becomes concerned when he doesn't hear back from Mofo. Buster heads to the front desk and asks him if he can be put into contact with Lupina at her lab or someone at S.E.C.R.E.T., but the employee has no idea what Buster is talking about. Buster explains that he's an agent of a team that is currently trying to stop a genocidal maniac from taking over the second quadrant. The employee tells Buster that the second quadrant is just fine. Buster then returns to his room to nap and hopefully wake up back in his own universe. During his slumber, Buster is awoken by a knock on his door and explosions heard in the distance. The employee tells Buster that they need his help dealing with some pirates that are attacking the island again and Buster says that there's not much he can do. The employee reminds Buster that he said he was an agent of some kind and asks if he was lying, but Buster says that it was true and the employee then ushers him out. Buster runs out onto the beach where he finds a massive pirate ship raining fire onto the resort. Buster asks the employee what to do and the employee runs away and says that Buster is the agent and he needs to be the one to do something. Buster runs into the water and swims out to the pirate ship, climbing up the back. Once on board, he is cornered by Captain Cowboy and Bart, who Buster promptly greets, but they knock him out and take him to the brig.

In the brig, Buster asks them where he is and Captain Cowboy informs him that he's aboard the greatest vessel to ever sail the seas, Ye Olde Rental. Buster rolls his eyes and asks if he's the captain and Captain Cowboy replies that he's not the captain but it is his ship, he just rents it out to various pirate crews in exchange for a sum of their earnings. Bart says that he's part of the crew, but again not the captain. Buster asks for the captain. Agent Yellow then arrives and introduces himself. Buster asks him if he's the captain and Bart says that he's the first mate. Agent Yellow reminds Bart that he has a mouth of his own. Buster asks Agent Yellow what he's doing here and Agent Yellow laughs and says that he boarded their ship and he should be lucky he's not dead. Buster asks if they can help and explains that Genesect is preparing to destroy the second quadrant and that they need to work together to get the shards away from him like they did with the Entity and then they can go back to fighting each other after. Agent Yellow, Bart, and Captain Cowboy all look at each other with a concerned and confused look. Buster says that he's going to bet he knows the captain and guess that it's Zack. Agent Yellow says that there's no way Buster should know that. Buster says that he does and needs to talk to him. Agent Yellow then motions to Bart and Captain Cowboy and the three of them have a private discussion. Buster then says that on second thought, he'd rather be taken back to the island. Agent Yellow says that since he knows who Zack is, he can't be taken back to the island. He then goes on to say that nobody on the crew except for the four of them know that Zack is the captain, as he never shows his face on deck. Buster asks what's going to happen and Agent Yellow replies that Buster will have to do some work for them and then Zack will decide whether or not he'll meet him. Buster asks what happens if he refuses to work and Captain Cowboy and Bart pull their flintlocks on him. Buster then backs down and says that he gets the message.

A few days later, Buster remains in the brig. He begins mumbling to himself about how much fun the island was and how as soon as this is all over he's going back. He then tells himself that he knows that there is no going back and he knows it. He says that even if he gets back and defeats Genesect, he'll have to deal with Zack and then Pig King and then Zack again and some other villain and the cycle will just continue over and over again until he's too old to fight anymore and then he can come back to the island. Buster tells himself that that's no way to live a life and Buster replies to himself that he has no other choice. Suddenly, Bart comes downstairs and releases Buster from his cell and the two head up on the decks for work. Bart directs Buster to clean the decks and cannons by himself, much to Buster's dismay, citing how large the ship is. Bart tells Buster that he can handle it and then proceeds to watch. After many hours of work, Buster finally fishes his work and reports to Bart. He congratulates Buster's work and then takes him back to the brig and tells him that he'll be doing this again tomorrow.

After several months of the same work, Buster's once vibrant and carefree personality has given way to a cynical and depressed shell of his former self. Captain Cowboy and Bart arrive and tell Buster that they have more work to do. Buster exits his cell and grabs his mop and bucket, but Captain Cowboy tells him to put it down because today they'll be doing something different. The three make their way to one of the fishing boats where Agent Yellow greets them and brings them aboard. Buster asks if they're taking him out to see to kill him, but Agent Yellow tells him to relax and that they're just going to do a bit of work. Rowing out to shore and onto an island, Agent Yellow leads the group to a small town and hands Buster a mask. Agent Yellow says that the captain wants this job quick and clean and no screw ups like with their last recruit. Buster glumly responds that he'll do whatever as long as it's not scrubbing the decks. Agent Yellow tells him to watch his mouth. He then brings the group together and informs them of the plan to hit the bank through the front. Buster tells Agent Yellow that if they really needs his quick and clean they should wait until night time and cause a distraction. Agent Yellow asks where he got that from and Buster replies that it was his job before he ended up here. Bart asks what job that was and Buster replies that he was a tactical specialist in a group known as TFAWPS. Agent Yellow calls it a stupid name and the group then make a camp in the woods a few miles away from the bank.

At the camp, Buster stares into the fire and thinks of his memories with Mofo and his other teammates. He then imagines Sonic leading the rest of the team in battle against Genesect and winning all without him. Just then, Agent Yellow snuffs out the fire and tells them to get ready. The group then follow the trail back to the bank. As the teller closes up, Bart approaches him, putting on an act. As Bart manages to lead the teller away before he can lock up, Captain Cowboy, Agent Yellow, and Buster sneak in. Captain Cowboy stands guard while Agent Yellow and Buster continue on to the vault. Arriving, Buster helps Agent Yellow crack the safe and get the money as Captain Cowboy signals them that Bart is on his way back. As the three exit the bank and head back into the woods, Bart thanks the teller and follows them to the forest where they double back and return to the boat. As they row back, Agent Yellow tells Buster that he's very impressed with what he did back there. Buster perks up a bit and asks if he can meet the captain now, but Agent Yellow denies, but says he can get out of the brig. Back on the ship, Buster finds his new quarters with the rest of the crew, a very uncomfortable situation. Deciding not to put up with this, Buster returns to the brig himself.

The next morning, Bart wakes up Buster and asks him why he left the crew quarters. Buster replies that he missed the cell. Bart tells Buster that the deck needs cleaning and brings him up to the top deck. Once on the deck, Buster begins cleaning as usual, when he looks out realizes that he's near the resort. Bart catches him and tells him to focus. As Buster makes his way to the cannons, he looks at the resort and back at Bart. Noticing this, Bart asks Buster if he's impressed with the ship's firepower. Buster asks Bart why they attack the resort and Bart replies that they're pirates, it's what they do. Bart then tells Buster that he needs to make sure these cannons are spotless for their next attack and then leaves. Buster observes the cannons and the island and leaves to locate Captain Cowboy who is currently piloting the ship. Buster says that he needs to talk to him and Captain Cowboy replies that he's really busy at the moment. Buster asks him if he'd rather serve Zack or see his ship destroyed. Captain Cowboy asks if Buster is threatening him and Buster replies that he is. Captain Cowboy replies that he must have a lot of courage or really has nothing to lose. Buster replies that he doesn't think Captain Cowboy wants to find out which that is and returns to the cannons, now under the watchful eye of Captain Cowboy. As Buster cleans the cannons, he sabotages them as he does so, knowing Captain Cowboy has seen it. He then returns to the brig until the next morning.

The following day, Bart gathers Buster as usual and brings him to the decks where he finds the entire crew waiting for him. As Buster's mind begins to race, he looks over at the island. Agent Yellow informs Buster that it's time to attack the island and he wants Buster to fire the first cannon shot. Buster says that he's not sure. Agent Yellow says that the captain was very impressed with his performance at the bank and he wants Buster to prove his loyalty by firing on the island and once he does that, he will get his meeting. As Buster approaches the cannon, he says that after all he's been through he has no reason to have any loyalty to Agent Yellow or the captain, who as for as the rest of the crew know, may not even exist. Buster replies that his time with them has destroyed his life and who he is and he will no longer put up with it. Buster then turns to the crew and tells them that they are being used by Zack and he doesn't really care about them at all. He says that if one of them should die, Zack would replace them in a day and he wouldn't bat an eye. He then says that this is their chance to escape because once he lights that cannon there's no going back. Agent Yellow then pulls his gun on Buster and, disappointed, says that after all he's done for him, he'd still betray Zack like this. He then tells Bart to light the cannon, prompting Captain Cowboy to pull his gun on Bart, saying that he can't let Bart destroy his ship. Agent Yellow pulls his other gun on Captain Cowboy, calling him a traitor as well. One crewmate points out that the ship is going to blow up, prompting everyone to pull their guns on each other.

As everyone begins yelling at each other, Zack exits his cabin, silencing everyone aboard with his mere presence. Seeing the captain in the flesh, several crew members lay down their flintlocks. Zack approaches Buster and says that he ended up being a huge disappointment. Buster says that he doesn't care at all and fires the cannon, blowing up the side of the ship, knocking Zack back into Agent Yellow and Buster and Captain Cowboy into the ocean. Captain Cowboy berates Buster for blowing up his ship, but Buster asks Captain Cowboy if that's really all he cares about. The two then swim to shore. At the shore, they watch as Ye Olde Rental explodes and begins taking on water. As they watch, they witness Zack and his crew fighting each other as the ship goes down. Captain Cowboy turns to Buster and says that he'll pay for destroying his ship. Buster replies that he won't and walks away. Just then, some agents show up and arrest Captain Cowboy, as well as other agents arriving by boat to arrest Zack and the remainder of his crew.

Back at the resort, Buster is heralded as a hero among the people and is bombarded with requests for help, but he ignores all this from his room. Buster continues to contact Mofo in a hopeless attempt to get back to his own world. After several weeks, the employee knocks on Buster's door and hands him keys and walks away without saying anything. Exiting the resort, Buster finds Ye Rental parked on the docks. Turning around and realizing the island has moved on from him, Buster boards the ship and sets out, hoping to find his way back home.

Meanwhile, Genesect arrives on the Halberd to meet with Meta Knight, who tells him that he has some nerve showing his face here. Genesect tells Meta Knight to cool it and hear him out. He tells Meta Knight that he is aware of the bounty placed on TFAWPS and he's willing to help them out. Genesect says that he knows where TFAWPS are and will hand them over to Meta Knight, if he allows him to keep the Rainbow Twins for himself. Meta Knight says that he has no reason to trust Genesect, but Genesect says that until such a time as he can deliver the other six, he will give Meta Knight the Rainbow Twins to hold in the meantime. As Genesect brings in Roy and G. Biv, he warns Meta Knight that if either of them are hurt upon his return, he will slaughter him and everyone aboard his ship and then take it to Planet Popstar and destroy the rest of his species. Meta Knight then tells Genesect to cool it and agrees to his terms, throwing Roy and G. Biv into a forcefield prison cell. As Genesect leaves, Meta Knight sits in his chair and looks out over the second quadrant as it falls deeper into the Negative Zone.

Characters

 * Buster
 * Agent Yellow (alternate version)
 * Bart (alternate version)
 * Captain Cowboy (alternate version)
 * Zack (alternate version)
 * Genesect
 * Meta Knight
 * Roy (no lines)
 * G. Biv (no lines)

Trivia

 * This episode is the sixth and final of the Six Against Infinity saga.
 * This episode focuses on Buster's happy-go-lucky lifestyle and his commitment to helping do the right thing. These two conflicting notions cause him to lose his sense of self in order to put others ahead of himself. While most other characters came out of their trip to Infinity in a better place than when they arrived, Buster is the only one who seems to have really lost something.
 * This episode is also meant as a commentary on the working class in America.