Lightning and thunder tore apart the sky. Monkey darted around the boat, trying to avoid the savage blows from the Sister’s razor-sharp chain. They’d been fighting for what felt like forever, and the Sword Unbreakable had been thrown across the deck. It was perched high above her, just out of reach.

As Monkey dodged all the Sister’s blows, the deck started to come apart beneath her feet. It was Kubo’s magic that had created the boat and held it together. She knew that he must be in trouble somewhere below the water, that he was close to death. How long had he been under the surface? How could she save him now, with the Sister after her?

The Sister saw Monkey’s worry and used it to her advantage. Her chain flew out and coiled around Monkey, trapping her. “I have crushed creatures who have fit this whole world on their fingernail,” she said. “This victory brings me no honor.”

As the Sister moved to strike, Monkey kicked free. “Imagine how you’re going to feel when you lose,” she said, flipping over her to the top of the bow. She landed right beside the Sword Unbreakable.

“I felt loss only once,” the Sister said, as Monkey launched her own attack. She dodged Monkey’s blows. “Eleven years ago, I lost my sister. She fell in love with a fool and betrayed our father. She was an ungrateful coward!”

Monkey was closing in, about to strike, when the Sister disappeared into the clouds and rain. All Monkey heard were her strange giggles echoing in the air around her.

“Who’s the coward now?” Monkey asked.

No one responded. Before Monkey could say anything else, Little Hanzo pointed to the ship’s sail, which was unfurled behind them. Monkey spun around in confusion. Sister wasn’t there.

Then, in an instant, the sail fell to the ship’s deck. Sister was hiding behind it, ready to attack from behind. She struck Monkey with the chain. Monkey fell, her head smashing against the deck.

As the Sister stepped forward, Beetle appeared at the side of the boat. He held a fish, skewered with an arrow, in his hand. Monkey frowned, knowing that Beetle must’ve gone beneath the water, then completely forgotten why he was there.

“I got it!” Beetle cried.

“Where’s Kubo?” Monkey called out. “Get back down there! He’s in trouble!”

Beetle’s face changed from happy to terrified as he slowly realized that he had forgotten about Kubo. He hopped back over the ship’s side, disappearing into the water as the Sister stalked forward. She struck Monkey again. The Sword Unbreakable flew from Monkey’s hands, landing in the side of the wooden ship.

Monkey flipped to the other side of the ship, landing a quick blow to the Sister’s ribs. They fought on, Monkey dodging the horrible chain again and again. Soon the ship was just a few large pieces of driftwood, which Monkey jumped back and forth between, trying to stay safe.

“It never fails to amaze me how the creatures down here fight so hard just to die another day,” the Sister sneered.

“Down here, there are days worth fighting for,” Monkey shot back.

“There is nothing down here worth anything!” the Sister yelled.

Monkey spotted the Sword Unbreakable on a long, broken piece of the ship. She ran toward it, but before she could grab the handle, the Sister’s chain coiled around her. She fell, still trying to reach it.

“It’s pathetic what happened to my sister,” the Sister said. “I looked up to her. She was so strong. Love made her weak.”

Monkey turned, staring up at the Sister and remembering who she was. It all came back to her in that moment—their father, the Moon King, and the life she led before she met Hanzo. She’d tried to push it out of her thoughts for so long, but this sister—they had once been everything to each other. It was painful to see what strangers they had become.

“No,” Monkey said, narrowing her eyes. “It made me stronger.”

Then she leaped forward, grabbing the sword and spinning around. She closed in on her sister with a new power. This had to end—now. When she finally raised the Sword Unbreakable, she knew it would be for the last time.

Far below the waves, Kubo swam toward the breastplate. He could see the metal glinting through the seaweed as he weaved between schools of colorful fish. As soon as he reached it, he slipped inside the Breastplate Impenetrable, the suit magically shrinking to fit him. But when he turned to swim back, he noticed a strange glow coming from the deep.

The sea monster was staring at him with its one horrible eye. It was the creature his mother had warned him about, a giant underwater beast with thousands of legs. Kubo didn’t want to look at it, but he couldn’t help himself, and soon he was staring back. His limbs went limp. He could no longer think. All he wanted was to go with the monster deeper into the dark.

Whispers chattered in the gloom below. The giant eye took Kubo with him, down into the bottom of the lake, and Kubo was powerless to break free. He stared into the eye, hardly noticing a far bigger monster beneath them, one with a giant mouth lined with razor-sharp teeth. There were thousands of eyes below, all staring up at them, bringing him deeper into the trance.

Then something flew past his head with a whish! An arrow punctured the glowing eye, and the underwater monster let out a painful shriek, the sound rippling through the water. Another arrow flew past Kubo’s head, and he turned to see Beetle swimming toward him, his bow aimed at the giant monster below.

One by one, Beetle shot arrows into the glowing eyes as the monsters twisted in pain. Kubo slowly realized where he was. He’d gone so deep into the lake, and now he’d run out of air, his lungs throbbing. He opened his mouth, and water rushed in.

He tried to call for Beetle, but he couldn’t make a sound. His head was spinning. The last thing he saw was Beetle coming toward him. Then everything went dark.