Legend of the Seven Lights, Chapter 23

Had a slight block with this chapter. Too many distractions.

Chapter 23: Strange

Planet Bebop

A beautiful sunny morning appeared over the planet. The hills and farmland were awake and lively. The animals were ready for another day of pasteurizing. Farmer Zach Murphy, clothed in blue overalls, brown boots, and a yellow sunhat, danced outside.

Well, mah sister has a demon for a boy-friend

Big dern Apocalypse is getting close at hand

On the way, I met a pardner. And he said “Oh!”

A yippy-yai yo, yippy-yo

“Howdy, Zach!” Bullion Bill, the old fox farmer called over.

“Howdy, Bill! Manure smells lovely this mornin’.”

“Darn tootin’! Ain’tchu think, Dilberta?”

“Dang diddily, Bill!” exclaimed the mole with the prospector hat. “Just listen to them cows moo! Them likin’ that grape juice!”

The three began dancing as Zach sang.

Another day of farmin’ and another day of friends

Another day of rustling little piggies in their pens

Let’s bring others: to join the fun!

“Wah, ther’ already here!” Bill pointed.

“Let’s meet ‘em, everyone!” Zach happily named all the characters that appeared. “There’s Pumbaa, Li’l Gideon, Eduardo, Clam, Sandy Cheeks, Chester McBadbat, Corey Sanderson, and of course, Optimus Prime!”

“Hello, Zach.” The Autobot spoke with his strong, deep voice. “I love farming, almost more than saving planets.”

“Let’s DANCE like little girls!” Gideon exclaimed gleefully (look him up ).

All of them locked hands and danced joyfully in a circle (Optimus looked especially silly doing it ). “A yippy-hey yo, yippy-yo yippy-yo, gama tai hai yippy-yippy-yo!”

“Oh, Zachary, darlin’?” Gideon spoke. “Hey, ZACH?” Pumbaa said. “Hehe, Zach!” Clam chuckled. “Señor Zach?” Eduardo asked. “Z-Z-Zach?” Corey stuttered. “Zach…”

Reality

“Um… Zach?”

“Maddy, is this really your brother?” Ratchet asked.

“I… think.”

He certainly had Zach’s clothes, hair, and eyes, but… at the same time. He had no arms, he was frowning and staring blankly, and his body was hunched forward a little. Maddy lightly tapped his nose, and Zach fell over like a statue. (To make it simple, he’s a Homestuck. ) “Maddy, I think your brother’s a computer nerd.” Drake joked.

“Does this occur regularly?” Clank asked.

“It-… I dunno.” Maddy sighed. “One time, he turned into a blanket for 3 hours, then he filled with helium and blew away, a-… I dunno what to do about this.”

“But he had to’ve come on a ship, right, or at least backup?” Drake inquired.

“We would’ve seen backup by now, otherwise I think he was… his own ship.”

“This planet, Jellatonia is rich with many types of jelly.” Clank explained. “I believe a particular peach breed has properties which heal most ailments. If we cross this canyon, we may be able to find it.”

“Then let’s do it. Hopefully he’ll have some whack-job way of getting us back to Earth.”

As Ratchet walked with Clank strapped to his back, he never noticed the robot’s green eyes become red, his antenna emitting a signal. (Play “Jelly Jamboree” from Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze.)


Stage 33: Jellatonia

Mission: Find the Peach Jelly.

The sky was a gaseous green and most of the landscape was soft and sludgy. Jellatonia was made almost entirely of gelatin, the color depending on the particular landscape, green jelly forests, blue bouncy rivers, some even said the sun was a great big yellow ball of jelly. Nutbrains. Drake carried Zach under his arm as the trio journeyed down a solid path before coming to a garden of giant purple jelly blocks, which the three had a fun time bouncing across. Jelliens flew in a circle above a block, and couldn’t be destroyed by jumping on them. Well, most enemies couldn’t, that’s why they had weapons, but Clank drew attention to the eight pipes a few feet around the block. Ratchet could grab each Jellien in his OmniWrench while they bounced and threw them onto a pipe, so they would latch and let their jelly be sucked in. The pipe stretched across the land below, and wobbly blue gelatin pillars rose out of holes along the pipe. Being so unstable, Maddy jumped across first, then Ratchet, then Drake, one at a time. When the pillars toppled the direction of the next, the person quickly jumped since they were hardly standable as they were.

The pillars led them to a part where the pipe shifted vertical and ended at an opening where blue jelly was steadily pumping up. They all jumped onto the pipe’s side since it was tilted diagonal, and faced a huge cliffside with a cave. When the jelly was at a reasonable volume, it threatened to burst, so the three hopped on as it POPPED, sending them flying across to land inside the green oozing cave. “This gelatin is molten, but sticky. Make sure it does not drop on you.” Clank cautioned.

“Mmph!” Unfortunately, Drake’s head was caught inside a glob, and after failing to tug it off, he ignited a blowtorch function in his claw to melt the jelly. “Huff! Good advice!” The team proceeded through the cave, avoiding various jelly drops, in which some manifested into Green Chuchu that tried to attack them, so Drake and Ratchet used their flamethrowers to melt them. They came to a large, open area under a tall cliff. Drake blasted his grappler to the top, but rather than latch, the device pierced the jelly-made ground and whipped right back, leaving nary a hole. “Damn gelatin.”

Ratchet noticed a small jelly cube a few feet away and grabbed it in his OmniWrench. Rested under the cliff was a similar cube, and when Ratchet stuck the smaller one into it, they formed a slight larger cube. “Let’s find more of these.”

Maddy followed a path on the left side to a narrow chasm with gelatin stalactites up above. She could grab the first one’s tip and hang on while the next stalactite was in the process of forming, continuously swinging on this current to build momentum. Once the next was low enough, she swung and grabbed before the previous one snapped under her grip, then repeated for another one, before swinging onto a steady platform with a white gelatin balloon. Maddy plucked it off its pedestal and blew more air into it, still clutching with her mouth as it floated over the chasm. She sucked air in to make it sink and avoid the stalactites, but blew air before she fell in the chasm – all the while breathing through her nose for her own sake. Jellybobs fluttered across the passage from around the corner, so Maddy shifted direction to avoid the electric jellyfish. The passage led to a small platform where Maddy collected a Jelly Cube, then floated the shortcut back to the start.

Drake followed a right passage to a very vast chasm, with skinny pillars with wobbly jelly stubs as silver and springy as springs. Drake made his grappler a lasso and roped the nearest Cata-Jell, and could make the choice where it flung him to as he tugged. He faced a ledge that was around the corner of a tall pillar, loosened his force, and went flying over. He barely landed on the foothold, and quickly stomped a group of Tumfoids; large bugs that fed on jelly, that came to munch him, since humans were kind-of-jelly. Once they were gone, Drake roped another Cata-Jell and aimed at the great wall across the chasm. All the ledges on it were too far out of range, but the farthest right one was aligned with green jelly pillars, so Drake flung that direction, bounced the gelatin, and landed on the ledge.

On the ceiling between him and the next foothold, Jelltulas (jelly spiders) waited, and next to Drake was a flower where colorful Gummy Bears bundled in the petals. Drake took one in his fingers, and felt sad seeing it squirm helplessly, but sacrifices must be made, so he threw it over the edge and watched a spider come down to snatch it. He grabbed many more tiny bears, threw them, and saw almost every Jelltula lower. Before they went back up, Drake swung their white jelly strings to land on the new ledge. The next large portion of the wall had purple, yellow, and red branches stick out at 5-second intervals, an interval for each color, so Drake swung his way across by memorizing the pattern. He landed on a ledge where he picked up a Jelly Cube, then roped a Cata-Jell to fling to a bouncy jelly on a pillar, followed by a series of bounces before he landed at the start.

He and Maddy mixed their cubes with the one below the cliff and took turns bouncing up. They made it outside again and faced a dark-blue river of gelatin, which Maddy was reluctant to step into. “You should not submerge if you don’t remain stationary.” Clank assured. The trio marched across the river with this in mind, the jelly threatening to sink lower, so they moved quickly. There was a faint whirrrr sound, and the friends found a lump of the jelly, with big eyebrows and a grinning smirk, chasing them. Drake shot his harpoon at the Jelly Ghost, but it barely slowed down before sliding up to Maddy and grabbing her leg in its teeth. It tried to pull her down, but Ratchet bashed the ghost’s head and pulled Maddy upward, the group proceeding before the jelly sunk.

They reached a safe foothold overlooking the next portion of river, where many Jelly Ghosts were eager to drown them. The walls on either side were full of holes, and from those holes, Slither Boos came out on one side, and into a hole on the other. A Boo came out of a hole very close on their left, so they grabbed and climbed across before it retracted all the way. They climbed across a Boo sloping downward next, climbed a vertical Boo that went into a hole directly above, balanced across a straight Boo, then down a stairway Boo onto a new foothold. The next river was pinkish-red, a lot looser and would sink them upon touch. A boat was available for them to row across, so they began.

Jellybobs floated along the surface of the jelly and lit with electricity, the trio rowing around them. Currents flowed out of pipes that threatened to push them into Jellybobs, so they rowed harder to fight through. As they turned a corner, the river’s current picked up, they forcefully rowed rightward to stay away from the wall. Jellyfalls poured into parts of the river and would drown their boat, so they hurriedly rowed to whatever opposite side, adding extra effort due to the rushing current. Their boat roughly got drenched by two close jellyfalls, then the river sloped down into a cave. The area turned bright orange and a heat wave hit them. Their boat stopped before the shore of a magma cave.

Orange gelatin oozed everywhere, and they knew the moment they touched it, their flesh and bone was lost. Dark-red gelatin stalactites fell into the lava and were in the process of melting, so the trio bounced across when they had the chance. They landed on a dark-red ground of Jell-O and walked up a small slope, overlooking a long bridge across lava. The weight of just one would weigh the skinny thing into the lava, but Clank could go across with his light weight. A large brown jellyball was on the other side, which Clank rolled across. Worried that it was risky, also it stank, they held breaths and squeezed into the jelly as Clank rolled them across. Drake ignited his blowtorch to melt the ball, and the trio helped their selves up from the brown sludge and proceeded through a tunnel. The dark-red morphed into orange jelly, but it was stable and didn’t burn them. “This lava must be solidified.” Clank observed.

“It’s really bouncy, too.” Maddy said, already bouncing on the flimsy substance. Drake and Ratchet mimicked her actions, the jelly was so bouncy, it was hard to control their selves. Pits of molten lava came into view partway, so the three would have to recompose and focus their selves to avoid falling in. A river of magma followed, they Wall Bounced between the close walls to cross, then came to a room with a large lava lake, many stalagmites. Though they appeared sharp, the ‘mites were as bouncy as any hardened lava, so they jumped and flung to each one.

“BLAAAAH!” A Blargg erupted from the magma, his mouth wide in a crazy smile, his teeny arms outstretched as though he was ready to give them a hug. After the stalagmites, they landed on a solid foothold and quickly swung stalactites that hung low, the Blargg still on their tail. They found another big brown ball, but instead of squeezing in, they all climbed on and balanced as they rolled over a shallow area of lava. They maneuvered around stalagmites and big magma droplets—a Gold Bolt was on a corner platform, so they braved the risks and grabbed it—then rolled across a river through a more narrow cave. A wall of stalagmites blocked their way, but- “BLAAAH!” the Blargg splashed a wave that propelled their ball up and over them, followed by more waves that would lift them over other ‘mites with good timing. They could step off on a solid foothold and head up a gelatin stairway, looking back to see the Blargg stopped at the shore, but that big wide smile still creeped them out.

The stairs brought the team outside to a rugged green gelatin plain. A pathway brought them to a cave that turned pink the further they went. A powerful scent that smelled like perfume caught their noses, and pink took over their vision when the cave of huge blocks of pink jelly lay before them. (End song.)

“Wow. These’re Peach Jelly?” Drake asked as they entered.

“Yuck, that smell!” Ratchet flinched, pinching his nose. “I get how it can wake Zach up, but ‘any ailment’ is stretching it.”

“Will it really work, Clank?” Maddy asked, holding her own nose.

“If you get some in his mouth, he should be back to normal.” the robot confirmed.

“Assuming Zach’s peculiar disease isn’t foreign to these aliens.” Maddy dipped her fingers into some ooze and tried to shove it in her brother’s mouth.

Drake walked around the cave a little and found what seemed like alien skeletons lying about. “Ehh… guys, I’m starting to doubt Clank’s… nnnn.” He fainted.

Maddy and Ratchet’s eyes were heavy. “Buddy, I think you looked up the wrong. .” Ratchet fell, then Maddy.

“It is fortunate we robots are immune to natural gases.” Clank spoke knowledgeably—before his eyes turned red. “Mmhmhehehehehehe.”

Florae; Mom’s flagship

Arianna’s pots were confiscated and she was locked inside the prison wing. She sat in the back of her dark cell, pondering her actions. Her first time being aggressive didn’t go at all how she wanted. But how it went shouldn’t have happened at all; well, not entirely. She really wanted to be out of here now.

Her antennae picked up a slight rattling in the pipe to her side. A hatch came off, and three tiny figures hurried over and stopped by her shoes. “Never fear, Arianna, your rescuers have arrived!” Vweeb proclaimed.

“Vweeb? Tronta? Makava?”

“Eeee-yep, I FINALLY fixed my shrink ray! GKND Spy Team V is back in action!”

_{“It better be, or it’ll take a lot of shoe-cleaning ‘fore Nebula biggifies us.”} Tronta squeaked.

“You really put up a show there, Arianna.” Vweeb smirked. “I thought you’d grow a spine sooner or later, but I didn’t think you’d try to kill someone.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill him!” Arianna yelled defensively. “I lost my temper and hit him with the brambles by accident.”

_{“You still brought poison brambles to his office.”} Makava noted.

“Maranan Brambles are not poison. I scratched him across the back, but he was probably poisoned before.”

_{“How d’you know he wasn’t allergic? You know how susceptible humans are.”}

“I-I suppose… but I can’t believe that, yet! When I was in his office, I heard a voice. It was sounding inside my head, like…like when I use telepathy. Ted didn’t seem to hear it, so… I think something’s going on. I want to look for Ted and use telepathy around him; shrink me down and let’s look.”

“Whoa whoa whoa.” Vweeb said. “We only snuck in here to rescue you, not be caught red-handed in an assassination attempt. Your mom’s worried sick in the waiting room.”

Arianna crouched on all fours and loomed her head closer to her friends. “I’m going to save the Violet System and stop anyone responsible. If there’s someone behind the scenes, I need to find out. Please.”

The three never saw so much passion in her forest-green eyes. “Alright, fine.” Vweeb locked his shrink ray. “I’m not paying new Rebel Arianna’s bail, though.” He shot and zapped her to tiny size in seconds.

“’kay, it’s gonna be a little tight with four of us, stay close.” Tronta pulled out his dual Light Discs, and after transmitting his thoughts via a headband around his forehead, the Frisbees opened and attached to become a bigger Frisbee. The four stepped on, and Tron used his thoughts to make it fly them into and up the pipe.

They flew vent after pipe throughout the large flagship until they found the medical wing, Ted Wassanasong’s room. They stood in a vent near the ceiling with a perfect view of his bed, the Laotian man rasping. A nurse in the room observed a monitor, connected to a container with Arianna’s bramble, cut from its pot. “Hmm… this plant isn’t poison at all.”

“See?” Arianna told Vweeb, who glared.

“It could be an allergic reaction… there’s still so little we know about these aliens. Maybe I can look this up.” She left the room, leaving Ted alone.

“I don’t know of any disease these brambles could’ve given.” Arianna said.

“Yeah, but humans don’t live in this galaxy, right?” Makava asked. “We still aren’t really sure.”

“Not yet…” Arianna closed her eyes and opened her mind. To hear the unspoken thoughts of all of the animals. Animals which currently weren’t visible in the area. She had no idea what she was listening for, but she had a gut feeling it was there.

. . . Stupid brat, attempting to thwart my plan.

She gasped. “I heard it!”

“Heard what?” asked Makava.

“The voice! It…It must be close. Look around!”

“Hey, check out his robe.” Vweeb pointed.

A lump traveled along the part of Ted’s hospital gown the blanket didn’t cover, stopping at his chest. I don’t understand how she heard me, but as long as no one else does. I need to get back on schedule. It’ll be trouble to convince the nurses without being spotted.

Ted’s rasping stopped as the man helped himself off his bed, much to the kids’ shock. He casually walked outside, and they heard the nurses gasp. “President Wassanasong, why are you out of bed?!”

“I’m feeling fine, Jenny. It was probably a temporary poison, I did not think the girl meant harm.”

“Ted, don’t you think you should rest, still?” his wife, Cindy asked. “Or stay for tests?”

“There will be time for that later. I want to have the Violet System blown by tomorrow morning, er, space-hours. We’ve garnered enough support from the local planets to pay for the Star Bomb from Nightmare Enterprises.”

“But Ted-”

“As a loyal and devoted member of the Corporate Presidents, I insist that we proceed with the operations as soon as possible. (Er, the Golfing in Stars operation, I mean.)”

“One more hospital bill I won’t pay.” Mom remarked smugly.

The operatives flew all the way to the ship’s lobby on the Light Disc, flying near the floor so as not to be seen. Nova was sitting worriedly on a chair, but when she heard a tiny whistle, she glanced down and saw the kids wave at her, before going to Vweeb’s parked hovercraft and leaving.

Nova stood and told the receptionist, “Um, if you insist on holding Arianna, I suppose I’ll return later. Please, release her soon.” And before they got too suspicious, she fast-walked out.

Makava’s Heart Star was parked on a distant asteroid, and Vweeb re-expanded the operatives after they made it back. Makava started it up and took off. “Okay, so Mr. Washing Machine gets over illness fast and has a bug on his chest.” Makava recapped. “At least we didn’t need to go through an action stage for that. You’re still convicted for attempted murder and he’s still gonna blow up the star system.”

“You’re right. I guess that the best I can do is convince the people of Florae not to support Ted. I mean, what’s so special about a golf course, anyway?”

“Ah dunno, we kinda saw his commercial from Galaxia, his stuff looked pretty cool.” Vweeb said.

“You can’t even golf, Vweeb.”

“Says who? To the overpowered Kateenian.”

“Look, you guys don’t have to do anything else to support me, but I’m not going to let him get away with this. I’m going to the intergalactic TV studio and hosting my own commercial.”

“Siigh. I’m starting to miss the old take-no-action Arianna.” Tronta sighed. “At least I didn’t have to worry about you as much.”

“Specifically why I said you don’t have to do anything, anymore.” Arianna folded her arms and turned away. “I never expected you to.”

“It’s not that we don’t care, it’s just that we have more important things on our mind.” Makava said. “This cataclysm and… junk. And there wouldn’t be a Violet System either way if the universe gets destroyed.”

“That’s why I need to save it. To remind people that life can still flourish anywhere, to give them a sense of hope. I…I need to remind them all how precious life is.”

“Florae Galaxy doesn’t even know about the Apocalypse; except based on what Nebula told their KNDs.” Tron informed.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t use it as an example.”

Hawaii

Three rocks were stacked up on Anthony, and the boy was ordered 20 push-ups with them weighing him down. “You’re barely giving me five, kid, those rocks’d be light as feathers to real earthbenders.” Tom stated. “You don’t even need arms, just use psychic bending.”

“I’M NOT A PSYCHICBENDER!!”

“EVERY BENDER can control their element telekinetically, why do you think we never touch what we control?? Er- the actual art ‘psychicbending’ is one word, but psychically controlling our element is two words. Look, just see the rocks in your head and lift them!”

“Tsk-tsk-tsk.” Gedra shook his head. “The little twerp is hopeless. I’m going to get me some juice. I’ll be back when he gets his next one.” The Minish surfed away from the camp on a rock-wave.

“Finally, he’s gone.” Tom said before pushing the rocks off of Anthony’s back. “Break time, kid, wash yourself off in that hot spring up ahead. Oh, and here’s some juice.” He tossed Anthony a box of apple juice, only adding to the boy’s confusion.

Regardless, Anthony didn’t miss the chance to revitalize himself in the spring just up the hill. “So what’s the deal with you and Pudra, anyway?” he asked. “You take breaks whenever he ain’t around?”

“Nah, just on occasion, I’ve gotten more used to it, but different story when you’re only seven.” Tom replied, relaxing on an earth-made lounge chair. “And that story is, kids need more free time, they’re only just developing, so if you push ‘em too hard, they’ll break. True, Gedra’s been training me since I was seven, but I was born to take heat, you weren’t.”

“Is that s’posed to be your negative prodding?”

“Yes, but it’s also true. I mean, as young as you are now, you really shouldn’t have to put up with this kind of training. All this junk is… really too much for kids to deal with. In the old Kids Next Door, you go through basic training to learn the best way of takin’ down an Ice Cream Man, that’s it. But before you know it, your world’s in danger of being blown to bits. Yeah, I heard about it too, kid, I very well know why you’re training. But it still aches me… knowing what all you have to go through.”

“Well, you’re an ex-operative. Why don’t you help, too?”

“I feel like if I had a big destiny, some angel woulda spoken to me from Heaven by now. For now, it looks like my only job is helping you become stronger. Though that raises the question, whaddo you plan to do with your new strength after we’re done?”

“Eh, I dunno.” Anthony casually slurped his juice. “Probly help Cousin Cheren kill one of those World Government people. They killed my uncle, so I’m pretty mad about that.”

“Way to dream high, kid. Alright then, five more minutes and I’ll start chucking magma streams at you.”

At the beach

Gedra was enjoying leisure time as well, using a Minish-size straw to slurp juice out of a banana. “It’s hard to lose your carb when there’s so much food to go around. Don’t you kids agree?”

Sally, Harvey, and Aranea only stared awkwardly at the sight. The friends were drinking milk from coconuts. “Just don’t get too full of yourself.” Nea remarked.

“Mr. Gedra, why did you start training Tom, anyway?” Sally asked. “Did he come to you, or…”

“Well, my family’s been watching his for a few generations; like any other Minish. But Tom’s is one of the Noble Earthbender Families, they were taught by Minish from the beginning, so I had to carry the tradition.”

“Anthony mentioned those families, didn’t he?” Harvey asked.

“I heard that they were the closest of friends centuries ago.” Gedra replied. “With four different powers, they were unique, too. It taught benders how far their powers could expand, not just your average rock, but anything a rock can become. You could imagine how many possibilities opened when other benders adapted that idea.”

“But wouldn’t the gods have taught them, anyway?” Aranea asked.

“The gods created mortals with the power to discover. They shaped the world, they gave us elements, they allowed anything that’s happened to be possible, but the mortals had to discover those things for their selves. So across generations, benders studied their elements, found more and more ways to control them… even Logia was an amazing discovery, it baffled the gods when mortals learned to transform the way they did. …I don’t exactly remember how they discovered it, just caught a glimpse somewhere. Then mortals invent crazy martial arts to control elements; there’s really no guessing how much the gods had in mind for people to figure out. Heck, one of you kids might be an undiscovered bender.” Gedra slurped his banana.

Sally and Harvey exchanged glances. “Well, our mom was an emotionbender.” Sally noted. “Are you saying one of us could have that?”

“Wow, that’s a rare power. It’d be amazing though.” Gedra slurped, “Dang, I’ve practically sucked this dry. Hey short girl, get me another one?”

“Call me ‘short’ one more time?” Nea remarked spitefully.

They heard footsteps crunching the sand behind them and turned. Fybi was floating overhead—which means she couldn’t’ve been making them. When they directed their vision a little down, they saw who was walking. “AAAAAIIIYYYY!” Sally panicked at the sight of the yellow-haired woman. “You’re that Phosphora lady!! Fybi, get behind us, we’ll protect your wings!” They each whipped out weapons and ducked behind the logs they were sitting on.

“Thine selfless words for my safety are accounted, but I doth not believe Phosphora’s intentions are murderous.” Fybi assured. “Though she hast been following me most creepily.”

“I just wanted to apologize, geez.” Phosphora shrugged.

The trio exchanged glances that said, ‘This is out of nowhere.’ “Weren’t you put in prison?” Nea asked. “How did you get out?”

“Some weirdo in a cape busted us out. He lent me a ship, but he was more-or-less interested in Arlon. Anyway, I’ve been feeling bad about what I did to Fybi back then, so I’ve been trying to find her ever since I got back to Earth, and…”

“Still doesn’t explain why.”

“It would so happen that we art both wingless.” Fybi replied. “Thou seeth…”

So Fybi recounted the tale Phosphora told her. “Oh. I see.” Sally understood. “So you just wanna get back home?”

“Not particularly.” Phosphora replied. “But Fybi wanted to see my homeland. I don’t see why.”

“I wouldn’t mind visiting Skypia.” Sally said with a dreamy smile. “All the angels and pretty clouds sounds like a wonderful place.”

“Yeah, but we’re talking about an island that’s always storming. Like, 24/7.” Aranea reminded. “If Phosphora couldn’t even live there wingless, what chance would we have?”

“Actually, Skypia does have a place called Rubberband Land.” Phosphora said. “They’re really fascinated with the material for some reason, and they have suits specially designed for tourists going to Birka.”

“So why didn’t you get one?” Sally asked.

“Viridi came to me first, and I… It was just more convenient for me, okay??”

Fybi raised a brow. She had a feeling she wasn’t getting the whole story. “Alas, Anthony trains tirelessly with fair Tom. I wish not to interrupt.”

“Got it, let’s ditch him.” Nea concluded.

“I wish not that either.” Fybi stared. “Mayhap I shall oversee his progression.”

Fybi followed the heat waves to the open area of jungle that was their source. Anthony was blindfolded, standing still and listening only to the earth, and when the earth said a sudden lava geyser was going to blast him, he would dodge. Round after round of geyser came; Fybi remembered a time when Anthony tried to punch a rock, and it only punched back, now he was risking his life sensing and dodging lava effortlessly. Fybi always admired his determination and spirit, she would hate to stop him for a trip to Skypia. …Fybi remembered what Tom said earlier, too. A bender owns their element, water can become ice, earth into lava, fire into lightning. …Air came in many temperatures, hot, cold, average. Maybe she could learn something from this, too.

Arlen, Texas (Play “Savannah Citadel Night” from Sonic Unleashed.)

So much is taking place in so many places, we’ve seen that. It’s gonna get a little confusing now, ‘cause we’re jumping back in time. The same day that Nigel Uno died, the evening after Dressrosa, the Sandman was out. The sunset was beautiful over Arlen, Texas, the scent of fresh farmland plains reached their noses. Sandman observed the town from atop the signature water tower, Yuki and Wiccan floating up to join him. “It’s nice to visit the countryside once in a while, but what are we doing here, again?” Wiccan asked.

“Ted Wassanasong is one of the Corporate Presidents. He owns the Nine Rivers Country Club in this region. His colleagues come over often for a round of golf, so maybe we can learn something about them. Usually there’s a few guards that overhear conversations. Better be careful. After Dressrosa, the other presidents are probably on to me.”


Stage 34: Nine Rivers Country

Mission: Sneak into the country club.

The heroes jumped off from the tower and soared over the neighborhoods, embracing the marvelous, endless view before landing on the roof of Tom Landry Middle School. Plenty of thugs in cowboy hats were roaming the streets, and Nolan took notice of posters on walls and telephone poles. He zoomed in his binoculars to see they were wanted posters of him, Coldman, and Wiccan. “Yep, they’re really on to us. I wonder how much the country club upped their defenses. Hmm… if we break into one of these trunks, I could get linked in with their radio waves and eavesdrop.”

“10-4, Rubber Ducky, iron bull’s comin’ up the gravel.” Yuki joked, indicating the huge truck about to pass the school.

“Hang on, we wanna do this right.” Nolan said. “Wiccan, get onto the truck, Yuki will freeze the wheels, and before the driver has a chance to call for help, that’s when she’ll knock him out. Ready? Go.”

Quickly, Wiccan glided onto the truck’s hull and crawled to the front before landing on the driver’s roof. Yuki stealthily landed behind and launched two ice-paths along the road that froze the tires as they touched. When the chubby, brown-haired driver was panicking, Crystal stuck her staff in his window and shot sleeping gas. Nolan flew over and gently pulled the driver out before climbing in. He hooked his wristwatch up with the radio and downloaded. “This is Tow-truck Charlie comin’ to you from the highway, 500 gallons o’ propane tanks safely delivered to the country club.”

“Gadzooks, Charlie, what’s that got-dang Ted want with all this propane anyhow, he lookin’ to blow somethin’ up? Well, Ah ain’t lettin’ 100,000 big ones go to waste. Joe Jack, where the hell ah you with them 500? Joe Jack, you better ain’t be sleepin’!”

“Psst, Nolan!” Crystal hissed, indicating the unconscious driver’s nametag. “Uhh-” Nolan hesitated to grab the radio and respond with a country accent, “20-41, this is Joe Jack, en route to country club, everything’s Trevor 40-60.”

“Quit the jibber-jabber and deliver them tanks! Ah’m hittin’ the strip club, an’ when I come back, I better not be hearin’ no complaints from them Laotians. Hooooo-WEE, if I ain’t gonna be somebody’s daddy!”

The heroes ditched the truck and flew onto a nearby restaurant’s roof—Yuki dispersed the ice on the truck tires. “So Ted likes propane and propane accessories. Well, who doesn’t.” Yuki said.

“I’ve picked up the source of that transmission.” Nolan informed. “We could fly there and try to find why Ted ordered the propane.”

“But that man sounded like he didn’t know.” Wiccan replied.

“He could’ve recounted wrongly. Let’s check it out.”

They swung and soared over buildings to avoid as many squabbles with bounty hunters as they could. “’Jyou hear about that tornado that took out them Buckeyes up in Ohio?” a conversation between nearby Texans was heard on their wireless.

“That’s the 5th one this week. That storm come up here and tear up mah Longhorns, Ah’m-a shoot it in the face.”

“You illiterate, storms don’t have faces.”

“They got eyes, don’t they?”

A few short miles outside of town, they found the source of the radio transmission, Strickland Propane. The plain before it was pretty open, but the heroes were able to hide behind a huge tank as they approached, unnoticed by the workers outside. A Hispanic man, Enrique was carrying propane tanks outside while a brown-haired woman, Donna, was wiping them clean. “The door’s sealed with a terminal.” Sandman observed. “We could probably get the code off one of them.”

“Can’t we just break the window?” Yuki asked.

“This is an innocent business, let’s not be mean.”

“Hey Donna, did Buck say how many-” Before Enrique could finish the query, Coldman ran out and knocked him out from behind, then Crystal squirted sleeping gas in Donna’s face. A group of employees came running from around the back, Sandman rolled forward and laid punches against two of them, linked them with the Line Launcher, and made ‘em slam into each other. Yuki spun around, created an ice disk, and tossed it under an employee’s feet to slide him to Crystal, who bashed him senseless, then she swung at the remaining one’s legs to knock him down as Nolan approached and grabbed him by the neck.

“Code to get inside. Now.”

“It’s ‘Service’! Service!!”

“Thanks.” So Nolan punched him in the face, throwing him on the ground. “It’s not mean, ‘cause now they’ll get compensated.” He typed the code into the door so the trio could get in. While Yuki and Wiccan explored the small, deserted business, Nolan entered Buck Strickland’s office. He checked the phone’s answering machine, replaying a message from yesterday, May 2: Ted Wassanasong’s moderate voice was on the other end, requesting 5,000 gallons of propane in exchange for $100,000, to be delivered to his Nine Rivers Country Club. And like Buck implied, Ted never gave any reason—

The phone suddenly rang, and Sandman scrambled to answer. “Um… hello?”

“Mr. Strickland, is that you? I was promised one more of your trucks would be arriving today. Is it on its way?”

It was Ted. Sandman cleared his throat and talked like the free-spirited man on the radio, “We’ HOWDY, Ted! Ah’m afraid Joe Jack ended up takin’ a little DETOUR, but he’ll have ‘em to you by the night! But I gots ta ask, Ted, why do ya NEED so many propaaaanes?”

“I am buying them for a colleague of mine, who wishes to make room in the local canyon. You know, the one that stretches to Mexico. It’s very near your store, in fact, and my country club, also. Though I wish he would have bought them himself, but I suppose he is quite busy with these odd storms occurring. I have my own projects to attend to, so please, make sure the truck gets here soon. Good-bye, Mr. Strickland.” Hung up.

“Nolan, take a look what we found.” Crystal said as she brought Nolan a small, mechanical ball, while Yuki showed him a handheld monitor with controls.

Curious, Nolan took the monitor and turned it on, seeing himself in the image. It was projected from the little ball in Crystal’s hand, and after pushing a button, it launched a grappler to the ceiling corner, pulled itself to, and stuck there. “Hm… Grapple-Cam.” Nolan read the label. “Why would Strickland have this?” He clicked an option to view previous recordings.

“OOOOOGGH!” They shielded their eyes from the sight. “Ugh, he’s repulsive!” Wiccan whined.

“Delete!” said Nolan.

Sandman got the Grapple-Cam! Able to latch itself to any surface, it can spy on enemies from afar! It can transmit the controller’s voice to distract enemies and also self-destruct when necessary.

The heroes went outside and climbed onto the roof, seeing the canyon Ted spoke of very close by. “According to Google Map, this canyon does stretch to where Ted’s country club is located.” Sandman observed. “It might be worth a shot to sneak in this way.”

“Are you sure? I mean, we haven’t even tried the front yet.” Wiccan replied.

“Nine out of ten times, the front is the most protected after they were warned about criminals. They couldn’t expect us to go to the trouble of the canyon.”

“Twenty bucks they have guards there.” Yuki stated.

“I expect such.”

The heroes glided to and over the canyon’s edge. The breeze softened their descent and made their flight easier, turning a slight canyon corner before Nolan launched his grappler to a stable, flat ledge. His friends landed beside, then Nolan sent the Grapple-Cam to propel around the following corner, where its camera spotted a Laotian guard standing on a ledge before a cave. Without being spotted, he launched the Cam to the ceiling above the cave, seeing many armed guards patrolling the gorge ahead. There was a thin ledge high above the team’s platform, so Wiccan Rocket Boosted to it. Back to the wall, the witch sidled across the tiny foothold, around the corner, thousands of feet above the canyon ground, until she was directly above the guard. Nolan confirmed with the Grapple-Cam none of the others were looking through the cave, so Wiccan softly dropped down and gassed the guard unconscious.

Sand and Yuki could glide over and grapple to that ledge, passing the cave as they hid behind a group of tall rocks, unseen by anyone in the gorge. He had the Grapple-Cam latch around to the walls above the gorge, and the only way forward was through a passage within a wall, atop a short hill. A guard stood in the entrance, and when Sandman looked closer, a button was on the wall that would seal the passage if he spotted intruders. Sandman had the Grapple-Cam launch past the guard and up the rugged road. “Hey, you.” He spoke quietly from his end, but his voice was heard by the guard via the Cam’s microphone. The man turned and looked confusedly. The Cam went a little further down and called, “You, with the face.” A little frustrated, the guard hurried up, his gun ready. Before he had a chance to notice the little ball, “OOOOUUH!” Sandman shot its grappler at the guard’s crotch, weeping and falling on his side.

Sandman shot his own grappler to a tiny ledge on the side of a tall canyon needle, then glided into the passage before the other guards noticed. He punched the groaning guard unconscious, then returned to shoot his Shock Rod at two patrolling guards. Wiccan ran up from behind one and knocked him out, Yuki froze the head of another, punched through the ice, and he was down. Sandman glided behind two unsuspecting guards and slammed their heads together, then yanked another one over with the grappler and socked him in the face as he flew over. Sandman explored another hill to the gorge’s side that led nowhere, but its thin crevice beside it had a Riddler Trophy he decided to collect.

The heroes followed the rocky passage that was previously guarded and made it to another enclosed gorge where more guards roamed. “Well, this is already getting repetitive.” Wiccan said.

Sandman looked up at the needle towering over the gorge, its tip bulkier than its stability should allow. He had the Grapple-Cam latch up at the feeble stem and pushed the self-destruct. The explosion was small, but it caused the huge boulder to lose balance and plummet onto the ground, not crushing any of the startled guards. Out of curiosity, they all came to observe it, but the boulder’s impact caused the ground to give way and send them all falling. “WE’RE OKAY.” they chorused in Laotian.

“Easy way out.” Sandman said casually.

“Yes, but now the Grapple-Cam is gone.” Crystal reminded.

“Guess again.” Nolan smirked and pulled the metal ball from his pocket.

“… …How did you do that?”

“Facilier cast a spell so that all my equipment will return to me if they’re lost or destroyed. How do you think I never lose my boomerangs?”

“…Even Batman has no explanation for that.”

The heroes went around the hole, up the hill to the next passage. It was a narrow trench with rocky sides, and a chasm where only tall stalagmites went across. It was too narrow for Nolan to glide, and the walls appeared unstable for his grappler or Line Launcher. Thankfully, Wiccan could leap to each stalagmite’s point and balance, expertly jumping across the passage. A group of short slopes followed the ledge at the end, and a round boulder that was half Crystal’s height rested on top. She smiled as she rolled it down, crashing against the last stalagmite to create a domino effect. With all the stalagmites leaning, they were thin, but stable enough ground for her comrades to cross.

They trekked up to a ledge over another narrow chasm, in which some wooden platforms led to the left, around a corner, then along a canyon wall that overlooked the sunset sea. “WHEEEEEE!” A huge, block-shaped mechanical vessel flew out of the wall below and splashed into the sea.

“That was unexpected.” Coldman commented. “Any idea what that is?”

As Sandman was skimming below with his binoculars, “Any idea what THAT is?” He spotted some kind of giant figure climbing across the wall just over the sea.

“Strange. It looks familiar.” Wiccan said.

“Yeah, it does. I… recognize those kids. And that… skeleton boy, didn’t I see him… AUGH, too many distractions.” Nolan shook his head. “Let’s just focus, we’re almost there.” Sandman grappled to the next wood platform, but the following trench was all walls, no footholds, and zigzagged. He sent his Grapple-Cam through to discover there was flat, solid parts of the rugged, unstable walls, and was able to Line Launch his way across. He kept a careful eye on the flat parts’ position so he could shift direction of the zipline, slide across, then repeat the maneuver around every corner, while his friends flew/surfed an ice-path.

Finally, Sandman could land on a ledge with a cave, which stored stacks of gallons of propane. “Is this where they’re keeping it all? Hm… should destroy them, but that may cause a mess.” The heroes instead climbed the rope ladder nearby (Sandman’s wheelchair had extendo claws for the purpose), making it onto the cliff that was the edge of the vast golf course. Laotian men were innocently playing golf, but guards were around too, and Sandman sensed one coming around the trees with Detective Vision. “You know what to do, Yuki.”

When the guard was in view, Coldman pulled him aside, knocked him out, and donned the garb. Nolan hid the fallen body and stole his passcodes. “Great, just sneak into the building and look for any clues you can. Actually, take this with you, too.” Nolan passed him the Grapple-Cam. “Good luck.”

“Won’t he look a little suspicious if he’s, er, non-Laotian?” Wiccan queried.

“Good point. Er… know any quickie salons?”

“Right here. Hold still, Yuki.” The witch whipped out two spray cans, spraying Yuki’s skin light-brown and his hair black—also smoothing it flat. “There. It might be offensive, but it helps.”

“Why do you have that?”

“I enjoy pranks, too.”

Yuki casually walked onto the golf course and passed his first guard. “YOU there! What is passcode to 3rd hole?”

“And the Oscar goes to:” began Nolan.

“Putter putter wedge hybrid.”

“OK. I don’t like your perfume.” Yuki passed this remark off and continued. A guard finished knocking a ball into a hole and asked, “YOU. What were the scores for the 2nd hole yesterday?”

“Four two one five.”

“Just making sure.” Yuki crossed hill after hill, sandpit after—actually, he stayed away from those on account o’ the Chain Chomps, but another guard approached him, “You, with the weird smell. What’s the code for the bar?”

“Kahn is an oying.”

“Ho hoh! You got that right.” Yuki kept calm and was seconds away from reaching the clubhouse. One final guard was protecting it. “Want to go in, eh? Well, give me the password.”

“Wedge hybrid chipper chipper.”

“Very good. But I’m a little bored today. Fancy playing a round of golf before I let you pass?”

“Uhhh-”

“Yuki, now!”

“OOOH-!” The Grapple-Cam pelted the guard in the crotch, Yuki hurriedly clamped his mouth shut, kneed him in the jaw, and knocked him out.

“Hastily thought, but we don’t have time for a mini-game. Go inside.”

As casual as before, Yuki slipped into the clubhouse, seen by all the club members and guards as one of their own; save for his spray-paint-style perfume. He solved codes for numerous guards before he located Ted Wassanasong’s office, giving a small knock, hearing no response, and going inside. The desk was barren, only the ticking of the clock made sound. A few trophies for golfing tournaments stood, pictures of Ted on the field. A small glass cage sat in one corner, with a hole that looked as if it were burned open by acid.

Yuki sat at the desk and found a stack of papers inside. “Reports from an expedition to Mars? No way this guy went to Mars.”

“Would that mean he collected some marshmallows from that ridiculous rumor?” Crystal asked.

“Apparently trying to find good ground for golf courses. While there, he was attacked by an acidic leech that he took back for—”

Transmission went dead. “Yuki? …Yuki, where’d you go?”

“Ahh! Nolan!” Two guards grabbed and held Crystal from behind, while a third guard readied his golf club.

“DO NOT MOVE!” the guard demanded. “Take off your mask! Or I…I hit her with putter!”

Of course, the other guards had guns. Nolan raised hands in defense. “Don’t hurt her-”

“Take off mask now!”

Nolan hesitantly removed his mask and his hat. “Nnn-!” A dart got him in the neck, and the world went black. (End song.)

The world was hazy when his vision returned, and all was still black except for a faint light shining on a desk with a turned chair. A deep German voice spoke. “Hello… so honored to have you here. I had a feeling you would come.” Nolan was on his wheelchair, wondering if he was in the clubhouse, or somewhere else. “I’ve been eager to meet you… Sandman.”

“Ted… Wassanasong?”

“No. I…” The chair swerved around. The bald, dark-skinned man with the white labcoat folded his gloved fingers, the light sparkling in his round glasses, “am Hugo Strange. Apprentice to the Leaders of the World Government. Please… would you sit-…er… I see you already are.”

Nolan calmly rolled to the desk as Hugo poured tea for both of them. He took a cup and lightly sipped while Strange slowly walked behind him. “My masters keep saying how you killed President Doflamingo. Yet, that is completely out of character for you. …Is this true?”

Nolan was silent. “He got a little… troublesome for me. I wanted to avoid it, but I…”

“Why do you query with the Corporate Presidents, anyhow? They did not antagonize you in the past, did they?”

“One of them was antagonizing my son, another antagonized the world. They may be famous, but they’re anything but noble. So now I don’t trust any of them. And after hearing what the Leaders did to Nigel, I have no reason.”

“But you must understand, Sandman, what we are trying to accomplish. We wish to save this world from its evils. ‘Twas a terrible thing, what Doflamingo did, so you must agree, that evil beings such as he must be abolished, to make the world peaceful?”

“I believe that evil must be contained, so those people have several chances to redeem their selves. It hasn’t failed. I can name a few people.”

“People do not change their ultimate nature. If a person is born for evil, takes delight in it, they will always be evil. Those Brotherhood hooligans are nothing but obnoxious ruffians who cause mayhem for the sake of doing so, no true ultimate goals. Peoples’ lives would be much easier if they were all destroyed. You are a man of justice, Sandman. Why should you not aid us? Bring justice to all civilians.”

“Because the World Government makes crappy decisions. Need I point out two Corporate Presidents, again?”

“The World Government only wants the best for the world. Namely the children. And the Kids Next Door, especially, will end up destroying their selves in this pointless war. The World Leaders wish to save them from themselves because they do not understand, but we are adults, Sandman, we know. If you are not aligned with the World Government, you are enemies, we do not wish that for poor simple children. So I ask you, Sandman, cease these foolish endeavors. Set the example and educate your children, put them on the right path.”

“No. If the Kids Next Door want a fight with your Leaders, it’s the Leaders who need to worry. I can’t do anything to stop them… but I’ll be damned if I sit around and let my kids do all the work. What kind of example would I set if I didn’t knock a few heads in, ah?”

Hugo released a calm sigh. “It is a pity, Sandman… that this is your path. The Kids Next Door will never defeat the World Leaders, I’m sorry to say. It hurts to know you are worse now than your days in the Brotherhood.”

“How would you know about my-”

“I know many things, Sandman. I know that you did not kill Doflamingo, but that monstrous Cheren child. I know that many of your friends are part of the rebellion called the White Lotus. And I have no intention of letting any of them proceed.”

“Why should we be afraid of you?”

Hugo smiled and walked behind his desk. “I may not be a bender or a metahuman, but I have powers, Sandman. With my knowledge and experience, I have proven myself to the Leaders. You’ve seen it yourself, on your trip to Freddy’s.”

It was then that Foxy’s words popped back into Sandman’s mind. “I don’t-a remember his name, but he was a bald man with a white coat and glasses.”

Nolan stared at Hugo. “You’re the one who… trapped those spirits inside robots?”

“Yes. But that particular bunch were prototypes. I could not control them, and my horrible blunder landed me in prison. My master, Felius Umbridge bailed me out, and I continued my research. Doflamingo’s daughter helped to rectify that previous mistake… but I improved upon it: by creating the Puppet.”

Animatronic, toy-like versions of Bonnie, Freddy, and Chica appeared from the darkness behind Hugo, Nolan readying his guard in fright. “As you might know, Sandman, children are much easier to control than adults, and child souls are no different. Hypnosis puts their innocent minds to sleep… mends them to my will. I think you will do well inside a Freddy suit, Sandman, and given enough expertise, easy to control. Farewell… Nolan York. You’ll see your son again, soon.” The hologram disappeared. “BLOOUAGH!” The animatronics seized their chance on Sandman.

Hawaii

Tom sent waves of lava that Anthony blocked with rock walls, and the hardened lava eventually molded them all together into a single 5-foot wall. Anthony jumped on top and sent it surfing to Tom, who punched a hole open to dodge through, then Anthony landed behind and stomped a rock to the back of his head. “OOF!” The teen fell forward. “Ow… heh…” He pushed himself up and turned to Anthony with a smirk. “I gotta admit, I didn’t think you’d be thinkin’ that fast.”

“I’m not stupid, durrrr. I could see a pebble comin’ a mile away, you can try, but you won’t hit me.”

Fybi knew she couldn’t let this chance slip. She flew down into the trees, got a pebble, flew back up, and put it in her B.O.W.. She locked tight onto Anthony’s eye, and flung. “Ow!” A direct hit.

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha!” The angel twirled. “A mile off may be thine claim, but within said mile, whom’s to say?”

Anthony rubbed his eye angrily. “You’re just jealous ‘cause I could take you down in a fight.”

“Mayhap so, in thine natural environment. Alas, I must speak with thee of a matter.”

“Yeah, what?”

Fybi once again explained the story. “Hold up, hold up… so that Phosphora lady appears outta nowhere and apologizes, now you wanna visit her homeland? Well, I don’t trust her, and neither should you.”

“’Tis not a matter of her trustworthiness… but mine own reasons are thither. Thou may question my soberness, but I hath seen Birka in a dream. ‘Twas very straightforward; ‘thou art going to a place called Birka’, yon fairy said. Doth not deny our knowledge of the great journey is very small, training be an excellent direction, though alone, how far will we go? I believeth Birka may hath answers. I believeth I must go thither, and I wish for mine friends to see my homeland.”

“Fine, but why should I go? Skypia doesn’t have any earth, does it? I couldn’t help you there if I wanted to.”

“Kid, I think you should go.” Tom intervened. “She’s got a point—er-, I don’t understand her very well—weird way o’ talkin’—but somethin’ about training not being everything, well, that’s true. You only really learn from experience, even if this place doesn’t have any rock. If it’s really an important mission, you should go with your sector. They need a leader, don’t they?”

“Well… I guess.”

“’Tis not like we hath not flown storm before.” Fybi noted. “To the beach, and we shalt make S.C.A.M.P.E.R. ready for liftoff.”

The others were a little disappointed to leave Hawaii so soon, but who knows, Skypia could be a top vacation paradise. Everyone settled into the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.; including Phosphora’s special reserved seat. “O-kay… why is this the guest seat, again?”

The lightning woman was squeezed inside the air vent; which looked like a tiny cage from this angle. “You’re still a convicted felon.” Anthony remarked from the captain’s seat. “And I’m only on this trip for Fybi’s sake, don’t know what’s goin’ on in HER head.”

“I doth not know the meaning behind mine dream, either. Prithee, Phosphora, are there other things peculiar about thine birthplace?”

“A-Actually…” Phosphora looked down. “I should’ve mentioned this… Birka’s currently ruled by a king… er, more-or-less a ‘god’. Part of his policy includes the banning of anyone weak, like…like a powerless Nimbi. That also includes humans; I don’t know why he hates them so much, but he loves creating storms over their settlements.”

“So did you.” Anthony remarked. Phosphora glared.

“An evil king that hates humans? Maybe woulda been worth mentioning.” Nea said.

“Mayhap that wast my reason for going thither. To end corruption of evil god, like fair Pit in his days.” Fybi spoke dreamily. “Or doth I speak in more dreams than I shouldst? Regardless, ‘twould not be foolhardy to garb Nimbi disguises whilst in Land of Rubberbands.”

“You’re already going the wrong way.” Phosphora informed. “Rubberband Land was-”

“I know yon directions. But I wisheth to return home for a moment. Thou seeth,” Fybi smiled, “I fly fairer when the air touches mine face.”

Solana; over Jellatonia

An attraction beam extended all the way down from the Star Train to the surface. Clank freely flew up in its anti-gravity pull, and Nefarious Drones had Maddy, Drake, Ratchet, and Zach asleep in their possession. “This is Dr. Nefarious to recovery team, you should be onboard the vessel in five minutes. You’ve served me well, Klunk.”

“It was my pleasure, Sir.” Klunk said with Clank’s average tone. “In the end, tricking these fleshies into breathing the toxic Sleepytime Jelly was a walk in the park.”

“If what Mr. Dark says is true, Maddy will realize her destiny inside a dream, and when that happens, we will take her to her supposed Poneglyph. The brat will have been awakened, and I’ll only need to put up with her for 3 more weeks!”

“Yes. But except for the quest part, we can merely keep her asleep for that time. Mmhmhehehe.”

Once the robots were onboard, the Star Train could sail away. “Ahhhh…” Nefarious sighed with satisfaction, relaxing on a control seat. “A job well done. Say, any of you guys up for-” There was a light shake, and alarms started sounding. “What the heck?!”

The exterior cameras picked up a smaller, silver train circling to their sides. Despite being so tiny in comparison, the pilot’s voice was loud enough for the whole Star Train to hear. “HEEEEEY you stupid FAT TRAIN! You got to da count o’ futatsu to SUBMIT TO THE ROCKET-SAN and all her glory!” (“Gyom-gyom!”)