25. False Gibberish

Mobius Dick

The band of operatives were impressed, to say the least. The inside of an interdimensional space-whale was certainly not what they expected. "…Nice place." Haylee said. Apparently, the whale had eaten its share of spaceships in its time, and kept several of the parts inside to serve as living quarters. One of the ships had a kitchen with some food still in the fridge – alien food, true, but any provisions were good right now. A few bedrooms were around, not enough for all of them, and a living room for space-TV.

"No telling how old all of this stuff is." Artie observed. "Everything looks intact, so I can only surmise Time is at a stalemate within this creature."

"So we'll never grow up in here?" April asked.

"Possibly. Unless all of this stuff was recently acquired."

"Then how do you know he ain't tryin' to eat us?" Harry asked.

"I'll ask it. HEY, MR. WHAAAALLLE." Apis yelled. "ARE WE YOUR DINNER?"

Nooooo…

"See, we're just fine!" she grinned. The others questioned her judgment.

Drake walked to one of the beds, slipped off his shoes, and lied down. "'Long as I finally get to snooze, I'm fine with it."

"Weren't you just unconscious?" Mocha asked.

"Cruckers, we might be the youngest tykes in centuries to explore the belly of a space-whale." Sheila said with amazement. "We'd be right down in the head to pass up this experience. I'M first to ride the blowhole!" She marched forth.

"At least we have a chance to rest after today's events." Chris said, brushing his headbanded forehead and looking at Maddy. "I think we all have a story to tell."

They all spent what felt like hours resting in the giant whale. Though it was possible no time was passing at all outside. Some operatives were getting well-desired sleep, others were exploring this peculiar creature. Otherwise, they were summarizing their exciting tales up to this point, or passing the still-time with some fun.

"And that, Mary, is why whenever your close, respected friend is shrunk to a powerless size, you must treasure each moment because you may rarely have another chance." Aisa explained with a devious grin.

"Oh! That all makes sense!" Mary replied brightly. "And Chimney's okay with it?"

"Who cares."

"NO I AM NOT OKAY WITH IT!" While Chimney was squirming ragefully between Aisa's toes, the Nimbi was scraping dirt out of her nails using the toy R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N.'s blades. "AISA, IF YOU DON'T QUIT CONTAMINATING MY BABY NOW, I'MMA DISOWN YOU FROM MY SECTOR. I SWEAR TO ALL THAT IS HOLY, OBEY ME RIGHT NOW!"

"Oh? Mary, you have some food between your teeth." Aisa noticed.

"I do?"

"Yeah. Here, use this side to clean it out." She grinned witfully and passed her the train.

"Okay…" Though she didn't feel anything, Mary scraped the toy train's blades between her teeth. "Is it gone?"

"No, a little on the left."

"SHE'S LYING, MAR-CHAN! THERE AIN'T NO FOOD, STOP ABUSING MY BABY!"

"Did I get it, yet?"

"Yeah, you did. …Do me a favor and scratch my back, Mary-chan?" Aisa turned around.

"Okay!" Mary lightly scratched the train's blades along Aisa's dress.

"Ahhhh, that's the spot. I really should wash this thing…"

"I'm going to murder you both in your sleep. Not joking."

Chris and Maddy sat on the edge of a second-floor bedroom within a chunk of a ship. After both of them told their stories, Chris finally revealed the birthmark under his headband, and his reasons for hiding it. "So you had that power… all along?" Maddy asked.

"Yes, but like I said, it's dangerous. If I get hit in the forehead, that's the end. Keeping a chi-block over it keeps it safe. …To put it frank, I'm a freak among firebenders."

"Maybe, but doesn't that still kinda… go against everything you've been trying to tell me?"

Chris sighed in annoyance. "Fine, you got me. People shouldn't be ashamed of their traits or 'deformities', but if you have something that's legitimately dangerous, it is a good idea to hide it until people warm up to you. But that factor wouldn't have supported my argument to you regardless, that's why I kept it a secret."

"Well, I… can't argue with that. I gotta be honest, I'm glad you don't show it around often. I never woulda spoken to you, 'lot of people wouldn't. So did your friends know?"

"Not until recently."

"Does that mean you aren't warmed up to them?"

"Of course I'm warmed up to them, but if they knew I had a Combustion Eye, they'd keep pestering me to use it. And I didn't wanna have ta keep relying on it 'cause it's dangerous."

"So why now?"

"Because Cheren says we should pull all our strengths together, so I reckon it's time to let it loose."

"Oh. Still… you-"

"-would look weird walking around with an eyeball on my head."

"Yes."

"I'll still wear the headband, take it off when it's time for use. I never used it much at all, so I'll be pretty rusty."

"Maybe I can help you train with it."

"Madeline Murphy teach a bender how to do a specialized move? You haven't been breathing enough oxygen."

"Come on, if you can teach me to fight small-size, I can help you use a laser eye. Let's find someplace after we get off this whale and try it."

"Well… okay. I'm just afraid of it going faulty."

"If anything, we'll make it an emergency attack. You're a good-enough firebender as it is. So, did your parents know about it?"

"I was born with it, so yeah. All the doctors know, Melody found out, George—I mean…"

"Who's George?"

"George King, from Sector IC. He, uh… kinda found out during Arctic Training. Heh, kinda just remembered, I made George make an 'Unbreakable Vow' to save you. We sent his team to find you in the first place."

"I didn't think the two of you were so close. Whaddyou have to bond over?"

"Well, after he promised to keep this a secret, we sort of hit it off, we're kinda like pen-pals. …So, um… what's with Zach, exactly?" He gestured at the blank-faced statue by the bed.

"We just sorta found him that way. If he's just in one of his phases, he's really overdoing it. Sigh… but at least you all finally showed up. Hopefully, we can go back to Earth."

"Y-Yeah, but… remember what Dillon said?"

"About what?"

Apis was sitting on the tongue of the whale, smiling brightly as she exchanged pleasant conversation. "So Mr. Whale, what do you eat?"

Quantum energy. . . galaxy dust. . . and space-krill.

"Are you the only one of your kind?"

There are millions. . . or perhaps I'm the only one across timelines. . . I never stopped to ask.

"Why did you come to save us?"

I heard you ask. . .

"Do you mean that Arceus heard my prayer and he told you?"

I was passing this plane of existence at the time of your prayer. . .

"Hmhm! I'll take that as a 'yes.'"

Aeincha hurried over beside Apis and sat down. "Boy, I never knew anyone get chummy with something that could swallow them whole. Except for me and Chimney! Heehee!"

"It's definitely not something you see everyday. But I guess the space-whale is only one of Arceus's magnificent creatures!" Apis grinned.

"Oi, Apis, if you keep preaching about Arceus, we might 'ave ta turn our treehouse into a church!!" Chimney shouted from afar.

Apis frumped at that statement. "Oh Aisa, you have a booger in your nose."

"Oh! Thanks, Apis-chan!"

"NOOOOOO!" The next action went without saying.

Further down the inside of the whale, Haylee, Artie, Ratchet, Kirie, and Sheila were exploring. "Hmm, so you're of the Lombax race, are you?" Artie asked Ratchet quizzically. "Tell me, what is the primary form of technology of your people?"

"Iiiii was dropped on another planet and abandoned as a kid, so… no idea." Ratchet shrugged sheepishly.

"Oh. Well, what is your skill in using a 3.5 cubic meter sonic cannon powered by tetrahydro silicus and zyrinium xlexion gas?"

"Yooooou'll have to ask Clank for that, I wouldn't know."

"Uh-huh. Do you naturally speak English, or is your native language a tongue so complex, everybody's eardrums within a ten-mile radius would dysfunction before you could pronounce one letter?"

"Iiiiii don't know?"

"…How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Artie, stop it." Haylee said. "Sigh, don't take it personally, Artie's just trying to learn about alien cultures 'cause he has the hots for this alien girl."

"I do not, Makava's studying Exo-linguistics and I'm just trying to help her."

"Funny, I never said it was Makava." Haylee smirked slyly.

"I'm sorry I'm not in the mood for more worthwhile conversation, but Dr. Nefarious kidnapped my friend and I have no idea where he is." Ratchet explained. "I wanted to search that train more, but you guys came first…"

We're sorry, Mr. Ratchet. Kirie frowned.

"What's Sister Lorry's hatchet?" Ratchet asked. Kirie glared.

"I ain't sure of what a hatchet is myself, but check THIS out!" Sheila announced. The friends made it to the end of this tunnel and overlooked a large, open cave with a huge, pink tube in the shape of an infinity symbol, energy and space-fish spiraling through at a rapid pace.

"It looks like the… whale's colon!" Artie observed. "Its edible matter is circling for infinity! If it takes this long to process its food, it probably doesn't need to eat for trillions of years."

"Astonishing and gross at the same time." Haylee remarked. "I should be able to assume it doesn't reek of decay—SHEILA, get off of there!"

The raccoon had tail-flown onto the Mobius Colon, balancing on it. "'ey, if I was in this thing and it goes infinite, I bet I could beat the world record for longest time on a roller coaster without throwing up."

"Sheila, get off, you don't know what that thing will do to you! It might turn you into a baby or old lady, or stop you from aging!"

"The latter seems more likely." Artie reminded.

"Then I'd be Sheila, the immortal explorer?" she smirked enthusiastically.

"And we'd never forget you." Haylee sweatdropped.

Returning to the mouth area of the whale, Chris, Maddy, Aurora, and Haruka had just heard Dillon's info again. "But why would Vanellope just show up there?" Aurora asked. "How do you know XANA didn't project that on purpose to trick us?"

"But if they wanted us to do those things, they wouldn't have shrunken Chimney's train to keep us there." Dillon reasoned. "So maybe… she's learning things, too. And those are places we have to go."

"Did she tell you who this 'Disbanded' was or why I have to find him?" Maddy questioned. "I finally have a chance to go back home, I don't wanna stay in this dump."

"I wish you didn't have to stay either, but… we don't have enough info to argue otherwise, and since the Apocalypse is coming…" Chris didn't finish.

"So why do I have to come back." Dillon thought aloud, looking away. "Can't think of any reason I'd be special."

"Maybe it's something to do with Midna." Haruka implied. "If your mom is her Guardian, wouldn't that mean you inherit her?"

"I don't remember that being in the Firstborn Prophecy."

"Except the Firstborn Prophecy talked about 'Eight' Firstborn, as we saw with Sugar, that isn't the case." Chris reminded.

"Sigh, then I guess I'm not returning to Earth." Maddy sighed with aggravation.

"Maybe you can't, but… Dillon didn't say anything about the rest of us. Maybe I- or, some of us could go with you… if you want."

"You'd want to go with me?"

"Well, I-… It might be easier for you traveling with someone you're used to… Unless you're afraid of my head exploding."

Maddy looked down in thought. "Hmmm… Well, if anyone, Ratchet would be taking me for most of the journey… we don't even have a ship right now, so too many passengers would be troubling him, so maybe… we shouldn't… I mean, that's assuming Drake wants to come, but that's kind of a stretch."

"Actually, we have this whale." Aurora noted, looking up at the mouth's ceiling. "But we're probably ruining his tastebuds by now."

"Tell you what, we'll stick by you until we can get a decent ship." Chris said with a smile. "Then you can pick who you wanna come with."

"Heheh." Maddy smiled. "Sounds fair."

"Yaaaawwwn. Man, I didn't wanna be up this late after that battle. Wanna make like the others and get sleep?"

"Totally." Haruka stretched her limbs. "I'm feeling really stiff."

"Good Time-Stasis, everyone." Dillon waved as they walked to the beds.

In the next half-hour, the explorers had returned and chosen a resting quarters, Aisa and Mary were tired of picking on Chimney, Apis's mouth got dry from chatting up the whale, and they all were asleep. Gonbe was on his back as Aeincha cuddled up on his soft, furry tummy, and held little Chimney to her chest. The Gilligans shared an upstairs bed, sprawled out messily, while Ratchet lied on the floor beside them, still awake as he tapped his wristwatch exhaustedly. "Come on, Aphelion… pick up."

"Mama, I don't complain about your late-night ramblings on the cellphone, so if I'm up late playing a videogame, don't be…" Artie, who was on the edge of the bed, rolled off onto Ratchet. Without bothering to sit his own back up, Ratchet tried to lift and place Artie back onto the bed, but when the boy kept plopping back onto him, Ratchet kicked skyward, sent Artie flipping and flying into the air, before he plopped onto Aisa on the lower floor, whom was asleep on her front on the carpet. He settled softly on the angel as neither woke up.

April was still awake and painting a canvas, smiling. It was the inside of a great white space-whale, with broken chunks of many a captured ship, served as bedrooms, kitchens, and all of them were doing miscellaneous activities. Apis was talking to the whale in the center, Sheila, Ratchet and co. were exploring a tunnel above, Mary and Aisa were having fun with a toy train, and April herself was painting. With this beautiful image and this happy moment in mind, April lied on the floor of her shared room with Apis and Mary and drifted to slumber, using her folded jacket and hat as pillows. Now she could dream about the Art World, more beautifully than ever after knowing Symphonia exists. For if a planet could be dedicated to music, why not paintings and drawings? She would take her friends there, someday.

OOOOOooo… MOOOOOoooaaan. . . .

Apis woke up with a start, looking left-to-right frantically. She grabbed her hat and shoes and ran off onto the tongue. "GUYS! He's saying he's about to let us off!"

Smaller moans echoed as some of the kids awakened. "Wh-Whut?…" Aurora yawned.

The mouth of the whale swayed up and down furiously. "He's saying he found a planet to drop us! Everyone, brace for impact!"

Mobius Dick was flying over a barren brown surface under a dark sky. Roughly 10 meters from the ground, he spat every one of his passengers out, covered with cosmic saliva. His wails sounded across the heavens as he soared up and vanished into a vortex. "THANK YOU, Mister Whaaaaallllle!" Apis waved.

Chris ignited himself to dry the spit, as did Aurora. "Nice of him to give us a warning. Where are we?"

"I…I recognize this place. Look!" Maddy pointed to a distant town, where the whirring of racecars roared. She, Ratchet, and Drake recognized this as Peoples α, the planet of gangs and hustlers where she so superbly bested others in a race.

The friends all journeyed to the town as the racecars and rap tune that distinguished Blipton District grew louder, and a group of cars just zipped across the track behind the grated walkway that stood over the ground. "This place smells like rusting bean cans." April commented.

Drake, remembering his first time here and glancing at Mocha, said to her, "Hey Mocha, small favor to ask you!" She looked at him. "Uh, Maddy got in a race here the first time, and I sorta betted against her and lost all my money, and I was too afraid of the Human Resources guy to complain to 'im, but now that you're here, could you…"

"That's whatcha get for being unsupportive!" Mocha said with a grin that said, 'Not gonna help ya.'

The friends found a grated stairway leading onto the path, where many thuggish aliens were cheering for their betted racers. Though Mocha chose to stay below, not one for moving well across crowds. "I racked up a lot of money during our travels, but not enough for a ship for all of us." Ratchet said.

"If only we could change Chimney and the train back somehow." Aeincha said sadly, riding Gonbe's back while holding her friend. "We could all go back home."

"STEP right up, try your minds on the unreadable block!" They directed their attention to the sideshow alien on his platform next to a stone cube with foreign writing. He was a very skinny, blue, flimsy alien with a big nose and eyepatch, wobbly skin that made him seem like an amoeba, and wore a white sleeveless shirt with tan trousers. "While waiting for people to crash each other, test the magnitude of your brains by reading a language known by no one! You can try, you can fly, but your translators will hang themselves, want to risk your wages by saying otherwise?, well come up here and READ this unreadable block!"

"That unreadable block looks familiar." Aurora noticed. "Where've we seen…"

Sheila's brain sparked. "OH!! I remember! I' looks like the one on Candied Island! The one I read with my dyslexia! What's it called, again… Gibberish Rock!"

A text box from Murfy's Manual read, These rocks are called Poneglyphs, dumbo. See, this is why we gotta name these concepts the moment they're introduced. Now we're using the lousy fan-name, I swear this…

"Oh, that's right!" Haylee remembered. "We think Sheila awakened herself by reading it!"

"Does that mean… these blocks have something to do with the quest?" Maddy asked.

"Let's go up and ask what that guy knows." Chris suggested as they approached the platform.

"I bet I can read it!" Sheila smirked.

"Ho-HO! LOOKS like we got a COUPLE-A volunteers! Can you kids brave your minds to READ the unreadable block?" announced the alien.

"Actually, we'd like to know how or where you found this block." Aurora answered. "Do you know anything about it?"

"No one knows WHERE it hails! Is it from the sky or is it from the ground? Maybe its uninterpreted text will tell us, but WHO has the brains to read it!"

Aeincha climbed off of Gonbe and snuck around the back of the block with Chimney in hand. They observed every inch of the weathered structure, until Chimney pointed at a tiny hole on the bottom. She jumped out of Aein's arms and walked in, then the Lilliputian crawled after. It smelled of dust and it was hard to see inside the darkness, but light poked in through cracks, and she gasped after realizing.

"It's a fake!" The others looked as Aeincha ran back around, pointing at the monument. "This Gibberish Rock has a bunch of metal supports on the inside!"

"It does?" Dillon questioned. "Why?"

"N-No, no, that's not true!" the alien yelled defensively. "She's only lying, this rock is purely-!"

After hearing this from the ground below, Mocha punched and destroyed a metal beam that lodged into the ground, grabbed the higher end of it and pulled, causing all sides of this stone cube to topple as the metal supports inside were yanked through the platform. "Huh?" Several nearby aliens looked onto the platform. "Someone say it's a fake?"

"He made the Gibberish Rock himself?"

"Ye cheeky bastard! Any nimrod can draw a bunch a' symbols and call it a language!"

"Ay'm gonna rip yer HEAD in tuh!" A gang of beefy aliens marched up the stairs.

"W-W-W-WAIT! WAIT!" The sideshow alien cowered behind the monument's rubble. "Fine, I built that rock myself using painted metal, but it's based on a REAL rock! I saw it, wh-when I visited this planet!"

"ALL OF YOU get back." Aurora ignited with flames to make all the aliens cease. "We were here first, we'll deal with him. Just go back to watching your race."

"Nnnn-nnn, nuuuuh…" With grouchy expressions, the aliens complied.

Dillon stepped up, "What planet did you find this rock on?"

"A planet in the Milky Way Galaxy! I may look like a thug, but I'm actually a profound explorer who needed some extra cash!" the alien explained quickly. "So I, decided to host an attraction in this town based on something I found."

"What planet was it?" Chris asked.

"Earth! I-I originally went there because I was picking up strange readings. According to intergalactic news, Earth was a real hotspot… for, uh, things, so I flew there. All of a sudden, my ship malfunctioned and I ended up crashing through the atmosphere. I wound up in a forest called Gravity Falls, where this elderly human found me. I forget his name, but he owned a shop that sold all kinds of weird things, and after we got to know each other, he showed me a book. He thought since I was an alien, I might know what 'this' says, so he showed me a page that had this very rock. I wrote down the text to see if I could translate it later, but uh, financial issues and all, I spent awhile repairing my ship so I could head home immediately. And I never got around to deciphering it myself."

"So you thought a bunch o' chinheads could read it?" Sheila asked.

"No, of course not, this was all just for profit. …Would've been nice, though…"

"But did this man say where the stone was found?" Aurora asked.

"No. He didn't. …He had a lot of funny-looking curios, though. Actually bought me a few of 'em. Like this magic potion that's said to cure most ailments." He reached under his shirt and pulled out a tiny vial with steaming peach-colored liquid.

Aeincha gasped. "We could use that on Chimney!"

"YES! Give it to me FAST!!"

"No!" Maddy yelled. "Let's give it to Zach!"

"WHAT? Screw him, I'M the one who's suffering!!"

"Mocha told me you still fight well that way, Chimney, but my brother hasn't come out of that pose since we found him, and I'm getting worried."

"How do we know it'll even work on him?" Aein asked.

"I don't, but… please, let's try? It's more annoying to carry him than Chimney, wouldn't you agree?"

They all looked at Zach's stiff, heavy body and exchanged agreeing glances. "FAIR ENOUGH." ("Gyom-gyom.") Though now Chimney had plenty more people to murder.

Maddy popped the cork off the vial as Drake and Dillon tried to force Zach's mouth open. She poured the odd-smelling substance inside. It flowed down his stiff throat, so they awaited results to happen. ". . ." Zach's face swirled up and shrunk into his flesh like a toilet. And on that blank face, a great big mouth, half-closed teary eyes, and a bigger tongue stuck out. "UUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHNNNNNN." Zach grabbed his throat and rolled helplessly on the floor. "WATHER. Wather! I HATHE onion thuice. Fuh GOD'TH THAKE, Maddy, why you give me onion thuice? UUUUEEEEEEEHHHHHHH."

Confused, Maddy sniffed what little contents remained in the glass. "Eww! It does smell like onions! Or I wish it did… Were you trying to scam us again?!"

"I didn't know what it was, I told you I bought it from the old guy!" the alien replied hastily.

Apis clamped her nose and squinted her eyes. "So that means it wouldn't've healed Chimney, after all. But if someone wouldn't wake up, though…"

"Nnn. Thank you for saving my life, Maddy-san." Chimney grunted from the stench.

They stared with disgust when Zach began scraping his tongue against the grating. Mary was happily coloring the scene on her sketchpad. "Well, uh… thanks, Mister." Haylee said. "Listen, I know this is outta nowhere, but do you have a ship or something we could borrow? F-For all of us?"

"My ship can carry roughly five people, if I drop equipment, but all of you is asking too much."

"Well, do you know a place we could hang out until I rack up enough Bolts to buy us a bigger ship?" Ratchet asked.

"Oh, you can stay at my laboratory! I have a private residence out in the plains, good place away from these hustlers. I never knew anyone who was so into my research before; plus, I'd like someone to protect me in case these guys are still, ahem, mad."

"Heart of a Lion Turtle, this one." Drake remarked as they began to make their way off the walkway.

"Heheh. I usually take the subway to the plain. I'll persuade them you're all on a field trip, that should lessen the cost."

"It's not enough my baby is punied, now I gotta ride some dusty old dirt train." Chimney wept.

Büe's Laboratory

In case I forgot to mention, this intrepid alien explorer's name was Büe. As you figure out how to pronounce that, the near-two dozen kids were able to join him on an ugly subway train, that let off on a southern station. Which was kind of confusing because every direction is south on this planet. The neighborhood next-door to the station was quiet, but very unpleasant-looking. However, Professor Büe was taking them in the opposite direction, across a rugged plain where trash bags (in place of tumbleweeds) breezed around the soil. "Not many thugs come out here. Too many prairie jaguars. I scare them away with this whistle."

"Now, just for safety's sake, you aren't going to betray us by trapping and handing us to a bad guy, right?" Haylee asked.

"No, of course not, that's the easiest trick in the book! …But to be honest, I wouldn't mind that happening. I'd feel more important."

It's okay, Mr. Jelly Person. You're important to us. Kirie smiled.

"Now I'm curious, is this girl half-Dancingian? I don't know anyone else who talks with gestures."

"I wouldn't know, but I'm starting to get the feeling Zach is an alien." Maddy remarked.

"Here-here." Drake agreed. "Which reminds me, why am I still carrying him even though we have a giant?" Zach, with his big-tongued face, was riding over Drake's shoulders, "BLUUU-HUEEEEEEEH!" drenching the boy with saliva-falls every 5 minutes.

"I may have something to drink after we get there, but I don't know what quenches you humans."

They made it to a small house out in the middle of the expanse, surrounded by a decaying wooden fence and a yard with nothing prospering. A ship was parked in the garage, looked decent, but wouldn't fit all of them, like he said. Inside the house were dozens of charts on shelves, globes of different planets, and journals full of data-recordings. Ooh- except for that one. "Nice place you have here." Artie said. "You go to a lot of planets?"

"Yes, I'm somewhat of a cultural professor." Büe took off the eyepatch that he used to make the aliens think he was tough. "I study the landscape and lifestyle of all kinds of planets; and also see if they have any valuables that would fetch a high price on the market. Speaking of which, the man from Earth sold me this 'dimensional stitcher' for 20 Gold Bolts, can you verify if that's a reasonable price?" He showed them an ordinary stapler.

"Must be one fine-quality stitcher." Haylee remarked.

"Can you please find something to drink for this guy?" Drake said with aggravation. Zach's chin was starting to look like a toad.

"Y-Yes, come to my kitchen and look for something in the fridge."

While some of them followed the professor, Maddy touched Chris's shoulder. "Chris, since we're out in the middle of nowhere, you want to, uh… practice that combustion beam?"

"…Well, okay." Chris shrugged, figuring he's got nothing better to do.

Mocha was the only other person outside for obvious reasons, but considering the size of their group, they expected others to clear out of that tiny house. Though Professor Büe might've mentioned having basement floors to store more valuables, so maybe not. Chris and Maddy walked a half-mile away to practice. "Okay… try firing at that boulder."

Chris sucked through the nose quick and forced a pulse to his head, "Spark spark spark spark BOOM" destroying the pointed rock. "Okay, aim for that mountaintop." Miles away was a mountain, small in their eyes, so narrowing his eyes, Chris inhaled and pulsed. "Spark . . . spark . . . spark . . . spark . . . boom." The mountain tip flashed.

"Hmm…" Maddy noticed something. "It only explodes when it hits something, doesn't it, you can't make it stop."

"I can try." Chris inhaled and pulsed at open air, trying to decrease the throbbing in his head that split moment, but his sparks already flew a good distance before popping. He fired another direction, but used a noticeably weaker pulse, thus it exploded shortly. He thrusted his body forward with a half-second pulse, firecracks appearing in a zigzag line before a smaller POP. "It looks like the harder I focus, the further and more powerful it goes. I wonder how it would work in Fury Mode. If I'm not wearing the headband, I can probably go into it."

"Maybe, but let's start out small first. Try making it stop when you want."

Chris pulsed at open air, and made it explode at 10 meters. He blew forward at a more acute angle, shook his head to make it pop at roughly 8 meters. He looked directly skyward, inhaled, and puffed. The sparks flew higher, higher, higher, higher, until Chris willed an explosion, an average yellow dot in the dark sky. "Huff, my lungs hurt."

Ratchet, Harry, Mason, Dillon, and Haylee later came out to join them. "I thought you'd be stargazing, not making fireworks." Mason remarked.

"What's the point of having stars if you can't shoot for them."

"So how's Zach? Is he better?" Maddy asked.

"He's not taking anything that man has to offer." Harry replied. "Every weird drink we give 'im, goes BLEAH, slurp, BLEAH, slurp, BLEAH, slurp," while making his face and tongue like Zach's.

"Darn it. I wish he wasn't such a picky eater. I'm starting to think he was better off as a statue."

"Me or Haruka could probably bend the juice out of his tastebuds. Onion has to have some level of toxicity, right?" Mason wondered.

"Hahah." Ratchet chuckled, still typing in his watch for Aphelion. "Hey Chris, wanna try shooting a star, go for that one." He pointed at a flying white star over the mountains ahead.

Even though it might've been a million miles away, Chris had the natural instinct to shoot the star. He narrowed his eyes and aimed his Combustion Eye, but… the star appeared to shift direction to them, growing bigger. "Wait… that isn't a star." (Play "Taming Epona" from Zelda: Twilight Princess.)

Everyone else looked up curiously. The object was growing closer, they could see the blue within its whiteness. "Is that…" Ratchet looked through binoculars. "APHELION?!"

Maddy squinted her eyes, recognizing the ship. "But who's driving it?"

Haylee looked through her goggles. "No way… it's…"

"WOOOOIIIIIIIEEEEE!" Jar Jar Blinks had no sense of; that thing that tells you where to go. His ship was zooming faster toward the ground, the team ducked seconds from impact, but Jar Jar zoomed the ship upward right away. Ratchet stood up first and looked determinedly at the craft. Aphelion turned around, giving them a side-view of Jar Jar's head, his tongue dangling out while he aimlessly fired lasers. "WAWAWAWAWAWAWAWA-"

The ship barrel-rolled and swooped over them again, so seizing the chance, Ratchet blasted his Swingshot to latch it. He ran at ceaseless speed as Aphelion pulled him, then was lifted off the ground before his grappler pulled him forward. Ratchet kept tight hold, swerving about everywhere with Jar Jar's unprecedented maneuverability, but eventually landed on the ship's roof. "That's MY ship, GET OUT OF IT!"

"WHEEEEEEEE I can't stops! Not untils I gets—" Jar Jar spun the steering wheel forcefully without warning, Ratchet almost flying off when the ship mimicked. He stuck his OmniWrench against a wing and tried to crawl to the front. He dug the wrench under the bottom of the windshield, pouring all strength to force it up. Jar whipped right, barrel-rolled left, Ratchet almost slipped off, but held firmly onto the wing, onto his prized possession. He dug the wrench under the windshield again and forced it up.

"I'M relieving you!" Ratchet dove into the seat and strangled Jar Jar for control, his sluggy eyes and froggy tongue flailed helplessly as he continued steering. From the kids' eyes, the craft was haphazardly moving around the sky, and before long was dead-set on Büe's house. "LET GO! NOW!"

"I NO KNOW DOSE ACTIOOOOONS!"

"Zach, for the last time, eat the spinach or no more dessert for you." Haruka ordered, trying to shove the substance in his toad mouth.

"BLEAH!" She was spat at.

"WHAT IS THAAAT?!" Mocha screamed. All their eyes widened at the sight of the incoming ship.

"AAAAAA! I stole nothing illegally!" Büe cowered into his home.

"Grrrrrrrrr!" Ratchet was more determined to pull the brake lever on his ship. When he finally did, Aphelion froze in place, and- "WOOOIIIIIEEEEEEE…" Jar Jar flew out like a rocket, clutching a bottle of milk tight. The Gungan's face became still and blank, the group of kids growing larger in his vision, but more notably Zach Murphy. With no conscious intention of avoiding the other, Jar Jar crashed into the boy and they tumbled into the house. (End song.)

Ratchet softly landed Aphelion as the others scurried back to the house. They were actually nervous of peeking inside, so they approached the door slowly. Inside, Blinks was cradling Zach like a baby, allowing him to slurp the rest of his milky. "Dere, dere. Dash all you neeeed."

"…That's convenient." Maddy said.

The beginning of the "Drink Your Milk" song played, Zach and Jar Jar performed stylish, simultaneous flips, like their minds were in sync, coming toward the door. When the fanfare picked up, reaching its end, they flipped faster, then performed superb poses when they were outside, the music stopped, and 'MILK' appeared over them in flashing letters. "WOO-WEEEEEE!" Blinks cheered. "Where-sha you BEEN all my life?"

"No idea man, but BOY am I glad you're here now!" Zach exclaimed.

Jar Jar began crying, the sun (which was originally not there) glinting off his tears. "I sho glad you, sniff sniff, are back to me."

Zach's green eyes were pretty behind his tears. "Me, too."

". . ." They shared a heartwarming hug. The feels were high in all of them right now. It was so beautiful. "-OH! !" Drake kicked Zach, and Ratchet kicked Jar Jar in the crotch.

"You're paying for the new clothes I'mma have to buy." Drake stated.

"Now explain to me HOW you happened to come by Aphelion?" Ratchet demanded.

"Aha!" The pain left Blinks as he spoke informatively. "'Tis quite an exciting tale. A tale of love, romas, twists and turns and strong, but subtle foreshadowing. To know the full extent of this adventure, read Jar Jar's Shifty Shenanigans in Seven Lights: The Side Stories. DWAH!" Haruka kicked and sent him flying.

"You're not getting a story arc."

After everyone settled down from the commotion, Zach explained his own exciting tale. "Next thing I know, I'm drinking onion juice, now I'm here."

"You lost me at the part where you transformed into a ship." Ratchet mentioned.

"Yeah, I kinda slapdashed that part. My engines were powered by toaster fuel, crayons served as pilots – I broke the red one on the way here – and I burned headphones for oxygen. That clear it up?"

"…Sure, why not."

"Ugh, I'm starting to get a headache with all this nonsense." Chimney squeaked. "Mary, thanks for not talking much during these last scenes, I have more respect for you."

Maddy glanced between her, the shrunken R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. in Apis's arms, and Zach. "You guys will never look at me the same way again after saying this, but… Zach, can you fix Chimney?" As expected, everyone passed her looks that said she wasn't the same Maddy anymore.

Zach stared at the shrunken leader thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "Well, I could… try. I mean, I have an idea that might work, but…"

"If you're too unsure, we'd rather not risk it-" Aeincha said worriedly-

But right away, he took Chimney and the train and held them to an invisible camera. A gentle music started playing that sounded like it belonged to an instruction video. "Hi, kids, is your best friend shrunken beyond repair? Well, uncle Zach Murphy's here to teach you a quick and easy way to stretch them good as new." He pulled a table into view, and dropped Chimney in a blender. "First we add the shrinkee, and whatever miscellanea."

"EEH." Chimney grunted when Zach plopped the bent train in, crushing her underneath.

"Add this credit card," he dropped said item in, "some textbooks. These toenails will do, toolbox, PlayStation 4, Donkey Kong hammer, some hourglass, ooh this clock looks nice, uhhhh," Chimney grunted at each item that dropped in, and she grew more concealed from their eyes, "this pedometer, dead cat, window blinds, quantum energy, the entire collection of dubbed Fairy Tail on DVD, a Lorax ("Hey!"), coffee bean, baby grand piano, lighter oil, with just an itty-bitty hint of rotting whale," they would never question how Zach fit such a huge creature in there, "we are good to go." He clamped the lid on and activated the blender.

Looking back, this was probably a bad idea, thought most of our friends. The faster the ingredients spun, the more they thought it was too late. Zach switched it off and opened the lid, revealing what had all been molded together in groddy, unsavory mush. …Tiny limbs floated to the surface along with a blouse, all scattered and lifeless. Their eyes were so wide, they could never close again, the blood in Sector W7's veins might as well freeze. "Er… or maybe it was, add the pedometer first, and mix it with ponytail wands. …Well, can't waste good smoothie!" Zach grabbed and gulped the whole shake in one slurp, much to the absolute horror and bloodthirsty anger of Chimney's friends. "Tasty!"

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!!" Apis tackled and strangled the boy until he was dead. "HOW COULD YOU MURDER CHIMNEY AND DRINK HER REMAINS?! I'LL MAKE SURE YOUR SOUL NEVER GETS SAVED!"

"What're you talking about, I didn't drink Chimney, Mason did!" Apis looked bafflingly to where Zach pointed.

Now Mason's face was toad-like. His mouth puffed like he was about to vomit. A fantastic victory fanfare played, and out came the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. in its entirety. It was sparkling shiny and silver, and Chimney was passed out on the control deck. "Nnnnn… what did I just go through?"

"Ch…Chimney…" Aeincha was overcome with emotions.

"It looks… beautiful." Aisa stared.

"April, why did that train come out of that boy's mouth?" Mary asked.

"Because boys have a different diet than us, Mary."

Chimney was later outside, depressedly leaning her head against the train. "I'm so ashamed."

"Come on, Chimney, I'm sorry for misusing your baby back in the whale." Aisa replied with a humorous smile.

"Yah, but it never shoulda happened. My train never woulda gone through that if she was just a bit stronger. I…" She faced up at the sky passionately, "I NEED TO MAKE HER AN EVEN BETTER TRAAAAAIIIN!!"

Needless to say, Büe didn't miss the spectacle from the house's door. "I need to study this species more. They certainly do more than what the textbooks say."

Ratchet took the time to polish his own ship, smiling with warm green eyes. He kind of knows how Chimney feels, Aphelion means a lot to him, too. "Well, since Ratchet has his ship, and we got our train back… I guess we can continue our journey." Chris said.

"Yeah…" Maddy looked down.

"So who you wanna take, Mads? Want me to go…"

"Hmm… I'd like to take you, but… well, you kind of have your own team." Maddy replied with an assuring smile. "Drake, you can go back too, if you want."

"Eh… abandoning a girl in need, I wouldn't sleep well." Drake said coolly. "I'll stay with you, too."

"I know I'm not leaving her." Zach said.

"Then I guess we go separate ways." Aurora nodded.

"Don't worry, Mads." Chris smirked. "I'll have George bring you back soon."

Maddy smirked. "Well, I wouldn't want his Unbreakable Vow to be broken. Keep working on that combustionbending."

"Will do. And keep working on… um, tolerating alien company."

"See you later, Maddy!" Mocha waved. "Come back big and strong!"

"I'll be one of those things!" she blushed.

Sectors V and W7 were on the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N., engines roaring and ready to lift off. "Good thing Professor Büe lent us his record of galactic coordinates." Artie said, studying the paper. "Now we can get back to Milky Way with no problem. And come back whenever we wanna find Sugar or Maddy. Actually, after we buy another Warpdrive Key, I wanna visit Professor Büe again. I think he and I could learn a lot from each other…"

"After we get back home, we're going to save Midna." Dillon said firmly. "Then we're going to Gravity Falls, aren't we?"

"Yeah." Haru nodded. "If Gravity Falls had a book about these Gibberish Rocks, it can tell us where to find them."

"All engines are a-go." Chimney reported. "Passengers aboard. Rocket-san's happy to not be annoying brat's toy. WE'RE GOING HOOOOOME!"

The R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. flew to the skies up north, Aphelion left the atmosphere down south. Chris peered out the window of the former, Maddy from the latter, watching as the other ship became a tiny shooting star in the distance. "Hey… did we forget something?" Aurora asked.

Chimney gasped. "Did we leave Mary??"

"Right here!"

"Dammit. Ah, probly ain't important. Entering lightspeed nooooowww!"

The silver train vanished. The sky was empty over Büe's land. With the hopes of meeting that Artie boy again, he went back into his- "LOOKIE LOOKIE LOOKIE!" Jar Jar Blinks had formed many a paper plane from his notebooks. "I-sha made de aaaaairpooooort. Psshooooooooo."

"…" Büe needed money for hunting rifles.

Sector W Treehouse

"Refurbish thineselves with drinks and snacks and make use of yon urinal before we depart." Fybi told everyone as they disembarked the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.. "I wilt not take complaints en route to homeland."

Phosphora was relieved to be out of the vent, stretching her limbs and bending back to relieve the stiffness. "So this is one of your treehouses. No wonder Viridi hated them, it's unnatural for something so big to stand over a tiny house."

They spent the next 10 minutes resting from Hawaii's heat and gathering whatever provisions they desired for their trip. "So why did you wanna come back anyway, Fybs?" Anthony asked. "Just snacks?"

"I hath been developing this project for a good many months, acquiring resources from homeland KND as well as GKND ops." Fybi said as they returned to the hangar, showing them a large leather blanket covering something. "Voila, my motion-controlled Angel Wing!" She blew the covers off: The friends gaped at the shining white, mechanical aircraft with folded angel wings, three soft, cloud-made benches to fit 3 people each, and black lines around some parts.

Aranea climbed onto the glass. "Um… there're no controls."

"Ah ha ha. Such a vessel is not controlled by such." Fybi dug around a trunk. "'Tis controlled by one whom is not controlled, except by she. Ta-to-yon-da!" She came out with black straps with blue edges around her arms, waist, and legs. "Checketh this out." Fybi walked a few feet in front of the ship, back facing it directly. A scanner locked onto the straps, and the ship's black lines glowed blue. Fybi shifted horizontal, flying in place, and the ship lifted off the floor, its wings outstretched. Fybi shifted leftward, then right ("Whoooa!" Aranea screamed, still on the ship), forward, back, up, down, and softly landed on her feet. The ship mimicked all movements.

"Cooool!" Harvey gazed.

"Yeah, cool…" Nea climbed down. "Have you ever really flown this thing?"

"I hath taken for many test runs, 'til it wast perfect. I believeth it will help me maneuver much better in the air, predict very sudden patterns as my skin feels the atmosphere. The idea came to me last year, as we flew through Phosphora's storm, watching with regret as I flew forth, and Aranea piloted the vessel as thou followed."

"Yeah, Nea, work on your flying." Anthony stated, earning a hateful glare.

"I mean no offense, but I feel uncomfortable when I cannot fly mineself, and mine sector simultaneously. Yonder technology helpeth me achieve both tasks. I thinketh it to be wise idea."

"And what of the event thou gets scratched in yon bandage-thingies and we taketh great fall?" Anthony asked.

"'Tis programmed with parachute shouldst it drop suddenly over thousand-foot fall. Thou may be most helpless during thine descent, but let us hope not much harm will come. Art thou ready, for let us fly to Skypia 'fore sun sets!"

Anthony, Sally, and Harvey took the front seat, Nea and Phosphora in the middle, while their trunks of supplies got the back seat. "Motion sensors on: Engines full, wings readyeth." Fybi spoke, hovering in place as the aircraft was off the floor. The same thoughts were on everyone's minds, the worry of riding a motion-controlled vehicle. Anthony especially knew how Fybi flies, even with a mini passenger on her back, she wouldn't hesitate to make every twirl she wanted to. "I canst feel it shaking in my nervous system, the ship's eagerness to meet the skies. Shall I deny it the freedom any longer? Surely thou jest. To Rubberband Land in clouds above, I shalt not drift too high, lest I leave the atmosphere. On mine markest, getting set, let us go!"

Fybi shot out of the hangar like a jet, and the Angel Wing followed as the passengers screamed, the craft shifting an angle and going vertical. With Fybi's speed, it seemed even their seatbelts wouldn't protect them from impending crashes. But Fybi took it more softly when they were above the fluffy clouds and floating horizontal. Fybi's form was balanced and graceful, and this made the ride relaxing. After they were accustomed to the craft, they could look out the window without worry. Since their seats were made of clouds, it added to the feeling of being so high, flying over the heavens like birds, and that's just where they were going. Skypia, Fybi's homeland, where people lived on clouds and flew 24/7. Anthony was still against this adventure, he was totally powerless in the sky, no ground or dirt, he couldn't protect his teammates if danger came. For the time in this land, Fybi was their leader.

In time, they had no idea where over the Earth they were, flying for what felt like hours, even though Fybi flew under the clouds to give them a better view, but it was all oceans for most of the trip. Curiously, a plane piloted by a teenage boy with sunglasses passed them a few miles back, and three children in his backseat waved at the sector. Finally, they were closing in on a cloud with a village rested atop it, and beyond that was the amusement park called Rubberband Land.

Fybi glided to the island's shore slowly, and the moment her feet touched, the ship landed and disabled. The friends climbed out of the craft and set foot on the soft, solid cloud. Skypia was more than they imagined, they half expected every inch of ground to be blank white clouds, but green trees, grass, and bushes were planted around the houses, Conache Pumpkins, cabbages, and fruits grew, even though the clouds had no earth, they had other means of adapting. It even felt new for Phosphora, having not seen a Sky Island for so many years except that old temple, but this was where regular Nimbi lived, under sunlight and blue skies instead of storms. Compared to her homeland, this peaceful village was in stark contrast.

"AH HAAAAA!" Fybi flipped in the air before viewing the town at bird's-eye. "Fair home of Skypia, Fybi hast arrived with her earthly brethren!"

"Fybi, is this really the town you were born?" Sally asked.

"Nay, I wast born on Angel Island, my mother's homeland. I will love to take thee sometime, but now let us be lost among yon rubberbands."

Aranea checked the time on her phone, then looked at the horizon to see a faint shade of pink. "Fybi, it's 6:30, it's gonna be nighttime soon. I'm not very fond of flying under a storm when it's already dark."

"Fair, then we shalt rest hither, fly tomorrow. Ist there harm in camping outdoors? Art thou afraid of rain? We art above yon clouds! Thou fearest the bug crawling in thine mouth? Reasonable, because bugs art prosperous up hither. But thou dost not even needs shoes," Fybi kicked her sandals off, "when we art above the soil, allow Skypia's softness under thine soles! Ha HAAAA, my excitement be untamed!" She flew forward with joy.

The kids shrugged and slipped their shoes off, but not Phosphora as she was a little less ecstatic. They followed Fybi across the milk-white street, looking around to all the Nimbi working in their gardens or fluttering about the town. The adults paid no mind, but the children drew very curious expressions at the five humans (not knowing Phosphora was a Nimbi herself). Fybi returned to the surface after they crossed the barren cloud plain on the way to Rubberband Land, the angel landing before the gate. "Howdy thither, yon folkies! Art thou hither to embrace in yon substance of earthly cloud? Seet' that thou hail from yonder surface, thou art therefore visitors, so thine admittance into our fair land is freeth!" The tollbooth man spoke with a country accent.

"Mr., um, Tollbi," Sally read his nametag, "why did they make an amusement park based on rubberbands?"

"'Twas very heroic tale of chills and yon thrills, fair Nimbi explorers ventured to world below clouds, discovered the legendary material that wouldst be our park's foundation. Didst humans attempt to create cloudlike substance, whilst not the same, 'twas a joyful, exuberant material! So yon devices, Rubberband Land became Skypia's joy. What sort of creation doth protect one from lightning the way it dost??"

"We wanted to ask about that!" Nea perked. "We wanted to go to Birka, the lightning island, so we were hoping you had rubber suits."

"Thou shalt find all that thou needst, but fair humans shouldst not visit such a cloud. Dangerous beeth that place, though I shalt not deter thee, I must encourage time with bands of rubber, and enjoy thyselves!"

The kids enjoyed their selves very much. Aranea participated in a shooting game, given a pile of rubberbands to stretch and shoot at cardboard Bokoblin. After winning the cloud-made Loftwing balloon, she shot one last rubberband at Anthony's eye. Sally and Harvey went to a complex of giant rubberbands tied around tall pegs, the Nimbi bouncing up and down and all around them. The twins were happy to join, able to enjoy the bounce a lot more without wings, they even befriended a few Nimbi kids, told them what it's like living on Earth. Who knew that Earth pumpkins were soft and made good Halloween decorations.

Anthony found a mini-game where a series of giant slingshots were aligned on small Island Clouds, their large rubberbands dangling over the chasm. Anthony jumped in the first one on his left, his weight stretching it down before he was flung up and into the close one on his right, going down further due to momentum, flung higher and farther, into the second one on the left, then the second on the right, going farther each time with added momentum. The very left end had a tub of Conache Juice, the right end had a tub of mud, and where he landed depended on his starting choice. While it was intended to be the bad choice, Anthony was very thankful to land in the mud.

A carny released several rubberband balloon animals into the sky, Fybi used her B.O.W. to shoot every single one. She scored cotton candy fresh from sheep on Cotton Clouds, and allowed Phosphora to have some. Then, the woman joined them to the Loftlings, baby Loftwings for young angels. Sally and Harvey bonded with their birds quite well, Nea cried and hugged hers tight as it flapped forcefully, thousands of feet above the ocean. Anthony angrily ordered his bird to kneel so he can climb on, but it snapped its beak at him. Fybi happily flew around the sky on her golden Loftwing, and assured Phosphora it was okay. Even though she was much taller, she sat on a black Loftling, it withstood her weight and lifted off the cloud, then flew. Phosphora held tight, taking her tall height into account, while Fybi freely held her arms outstretched. The sensation of flying without doing it on one's own, it wasn't the same for Phosphora, but she was reminded how nice the feeling was. She knew how it felt for normal Nimbi almost, to fly with feathers under gentle wind, not energy under darkness and rough storm.

The evening was pleasant, the five children could go to bed with weary minds. As the sun was sinking beyond the horizon, they returned to the ship and slept on the soft ground around it. "Yawn… great work today, everyone…" Anthony moaned. "Hope you enjoyed yourselves, 'cause tomorrow is storms all day. Gonna get this crazy lady back to her island and do whatever the crud Fybi wanted. G'night, sleep tight, don't let cloudbugs bite." He was snoring away.

Phosphora sat on the edge of the cloud, staring at the endless night sky. It's been such a long time, she feels like she's come so far… but she was finally returning home. And so suddenly… she wonders how much has changed. And traveling with these kids, she almost felt bad. Getting them into what they're getting into. "Couldn't sleep either, huh?" Aranea came beside her, lied on the ground and stared at the stars.

"You could say I'm too excited." Phosphora replied nonchalantly.

"What happened to your wings, anyway? How old were you?"

"I was about 12, kinda gutsy for my age, and I… Well, I tried to see how much energy I could absorb from a lightning rod. …I overpowered myself and my chi-paths ruptured. Benders can have Chi Overload, you know. Too much power than they can understand, their bodies are too small. You could imagine."

"You really miss your home, huh?"

"Well, it's the place I grew up, that I was forced to leave because of a deficiency, so… a little."

"Can I tell you a secret? I've always been jealous of Fybi."

"Oh, ok." Phosphora lied back, hands folded under her head.

"…Aren't you gonna ask why?"

"No, it's because she's prettier. Better hair, clothes, face…"

Aranea glared. "I meant her-"

"I know, her wings, I'm not stupid."

"Y-Yeah… She's just so unique, happy and; spirited all the time… because she can fly, go anywhere she wants, you look at her and just know, she could do anything she wants to. I've always wanted to be like her… but I'm always stressing over stuff. Anyway, that's why I feel bad for you, not being able to fly."

"Don't sympathize with me, you're a human, you're all the same."

"No we're not. Well, not exactly. Some of us like Anthony get superpowers."

"Okay, you're just jealous."

"I am not—" Aranea looked at Anthony, who released a loud snore just then. "Anthony… I dunno. He's a jerk, he stinks, he's gross… but today, he worked really hard training; he just wants to do his best for his friends… really, I used to hate him, but now I can't say that, anymore. He's trying to prepare for what's to come, and sometimes I wonder… why he's our leader, why he wasn't picked for a higher position. After everything he's been through, he always stood strong in the end."

"Oh, I see… you're in love with him."

Nea flushed. "HECK no!! I respect him is all, but the picture of me BEING with him… e-e-e-e-e-"

"Nea, shuddup, I hear you a mile away, snooooore…" Anthony mumbled.

"SHUT your waterhole, Anthony!" Nea yelled back.

"Hm hm hm!" Phosphora giggled. "I'm fond of you, Blue Girl, I'll admit that."

"I'm lovable." Nea said proudly. "…Hey, Phosphora… you said Birka was ruled by a 'god', or something… Um, who is it? What kind of person…"

Phosphora frowned and turned away. "He showed up on a terribly stormy day. The clouds spiraled, and he appeared in a blinding flash of lightning. He stood atop Dashi's Peak, and announced himself as our god. His name…" She saw the towering altar in her mind, great big bolts of lightning, and the caped figure standing tall and mighty, "was Thor."