B-19. The Cupcake Core

Oceana; Sweets Factory

The Sweets Factory was the main candy distributor in all the ocean. The merman workers kept the salt out of their sweets, but when it came to applying sugar, they had Sugar Fairies for that. One of their products was fruit-flavored candy, made using real fruit collected from islands. The adorable little creatures had their own secluded break room, a tiny room with a tiny door. Knock knock knock. One of the fairies answered the door to a red-eyed fairy with blue hair and a blue tuxedo. "Hi, everybody!"

"HI, Sally the Salesman Fairy!" the fairies all chorused. "Did you enjoy Glitzville?"

"I sure as sugar did. And look! I brought back the Cupcake Core!" She pulled out a her-size cupcake colored sky-blue, with gold icing and a star-tipped wand, from her little pocket.

"Ooo, goody!" A fairy with a purple mermaid tail said. "Did anybody see?"

"Just a girl with blue hair and her kitty! Some bad men came, but I gave them the slip, and a boom! Tee hee! I'll take this back to its hiding place. But no telling when the bad men will come again."

"It's okay. We'll make them go slippy again!"

"That will look sweetielicious! Well, off to hide it. Be right backsy!" She picked up the big cupcake, waddling as she carried it off.

The mer-fairy's cellphone rang. "It's for me!" She took it out and answered. "Hello? Oh? …Princess Zeiry?"

Above the surface

The sun was setting over the Atlantic. The Ace Flyer flew over the part of the ocean where Augustus's digital map was marked. Stewie Griffin pulled out the shrunken Ace Swimmer and zapped it with his growth ray. The submarine puffed back to normal size, still in perfect condition. The captain parked the biplane next to the sub, taking Nel out of the trunk as the crewmen crossed to the sub. Stewie shrunk the plane afterwards and stored it in his Infi-Cube.

"Why is big rock floating?" Nel asked as they climbed into the submarine.

"Future caveman magic, Nelly." Augustus started a new lollipop.

"You know, we may not be taking the front entrance, but how are we going to enter Oceana without being discovered?" Stewie asked as he started up the controls.

"We're going to park a few miles away from the actual town. Then we're going to eat these Oxybursts and walk there. We'll sneak around and look for anyone who looks like a fairy."

"As foolproof as plans get." Stewie remarked. "Okay, all systems are go. Get ready to submerge."

The submarine sunk below the surface, headlights pointing the way forward. They saw the great bubble containing the oceanic city many fathoms below. The pirates parked a few miles away, within a small coral gorge. "Here you go, Nel." Augustus fed the cavechild the yellow oxygenated starburst, which she began to chew.

"Rock ish really squishy." Nel said through chews. "Ish rock become mud?"

"Sure it is, Little Gal." Augustus smiled, adored by her primitive behavior. "Everybody eat their Oxybursts? Then let's go."

They climbed out the submarine's bottom hatch, their lungs light thanks to the magic candy (Nel wouldn't get the complex science). Stewie, Rallo, and Maggie felt very heavy thanks to the Devil Fruits in their veins. Augustus had to lift the four kids as he jumped large crevices or skipped over mounts. Jumping around underwater was as easy as jumping around space. At the very edge of Oceana's barrier, the crew could hide under a short wall. Augustus peeped up, and Nel curiously did the same, clutching the top of the wall. "It looks like a back alley section. Let's go in." Augustus hoisted the babies up, and they all entered the bubble.

The crew snuck between two warehouse-like buildings, keeping eyes out for anyone. There were seahorse-drawn carts that octopus Fishmen were hauling boxes into. Stewie took out his binoculars and zoomed on the building across the yard. "Wait a second, this is the Sweets Factory!" he realized. "It's where Oceana produces all of its candy! The place that Big Mom ordered from."

"You know, Big Mom offers me a few crumbs from the candy she orders here… they're pretty good." Augustus said. "W- Hold on… do you think Aisling's friend works here?"

"Why would you think that?" Rallo asked.

"Well, if she and Zeira wanna find the Lost Candies, maybe the friend does, too. Maybe there's a Lost Candy in here or something."

"Aughsucks, look!" Nel pointed at the side of the warehouse they were beside. "It's cave drawing of you, but on square leafs and weird paint."

The Marzipans saw the wanted posters she indicated. Stewie Griffin - $80,000, Maggie Simpson - $56,000, Rallo Tubbs - $33,000, and Augustus – 700,000 Chocolate Dollars. "First, Nel, it's called paper, and it isn't paint, it's called gradient, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe InDesign. But holy cow, they upped my bounty by 200,000!"

"We can't go into that factory, they'll catch us red-handed!" Stewie stated.

"That's why it's called bein' stealthy! What, did you wanna send Nel inside and ask around? Not like she's wanted."

"It could work." Rallo said with sarcasm. "Mah mom catches cave kids scavenging around the trash all the time, they won't notice a thing."

"Nel good at stealing from Rocknut cave." Nel smiled silly. "Nel move like jaguar. Dumb cavemen no notice."

"Mw-mw, mw-mw, mw-mw." Maggie pointed.

"Those vents do look small enough for Nel." Stewie said. "Perhaps if we miniaturize, Nel could carry us inside."

"You turn small again?" Nel asked.

"And you carry us again! Can you do it, Nel?" Augustus asked.

The cavechild smiled adorably. "Nel is glad to help Aughsucks. Nel is happy for Aughsucks for bringing her to Futur."

"Aughsucks—I mean, Augustus is happy to have you in Futur. 'kay, Stew, let's-"

"NO." Stewie shouted. "I told you to NOT call me that!"

"Just shrink us!" Stewie groaned and shrank the three crewmen, followed by himself. Nel scooped them in her little hands and hid them in the eye socket of her skull mask. (Play "Wriggle Sweet Room" from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!)

Stage B-15: Sweets Factory

Mission: Find info about Aisling's friend.

Nel scampered into the open factory yard, coming to twin rows of sacks of flour lying on the ground. The parallel sacks were used to prop another sack up from the ground. When a hammerhead Fishman was approaching, carrying two sacks in his arms, Nel crouched and hid under one of the propped-up sacks, otherwise he was sure to notice the cavegirl with his stretched-apart eyes. "Ehhh, where was I supposed to lay these?" the Fishman asked himself, mindlessly walking back-and-forth beside the rows. Nel had to keep crawling under the flour sacks, and when the Fishman walked away from the end of the row, Nel crawled out and kept running.

The cavegirl came to a row of crates, which were each spread apart by one crate-length. A barracuda Fishman was looking into a different crate, his back facing them—he whipped around at the sound of Nel's faint footsteps. The girl hid behind the first crate just in time, but with every footstep she made, he would whip back around. When the barracuda wasn't looking, Nel had to position herself and perform a sideways midair flip between each crate, so when she landed behind the next one, the Fishman wouldn't see her. After the last crate, Nel could make a dash for the fence gate around the factory's boundaries. Too bad there was a searchlight.

An angler Fishman stood on a watchtower and lit the area around the gate with his light. The fence itself had barbed wire on top of it (was that really safe for an underwater city?). However, there was a small, open box nearby that contained light-rainbow-colored, wriggling critters that were as big as footballs, and had several skinny stems that served as their limp legs. Nel couldn't read, but the box said Wriggle Sweets. Nel picked out one of the wiggling critters, throwing it into the searchlight. Nel gestured right, and the Wriggle Sweet followed her direction, luring the curious searchlight away. Nel rushed for the gate, using her short size to crawl under a gap at the bottom.

Once Nel was under the targeted air vent, Maggie climbed off her head as Stewie zapped her to normal size. The non-speaking baby shot her grappling hook above the vent and pulled Nel up with her. Maggie used a screwdriver to unlatch the top of the vent, the two climbed inside, then Maggie pulled the vent back up, assuming it wouldn't fall off the rest of its bolts. The girls crawled through the duct, dropped down a vertical shaft, and smashed through a vent at the bottom, creating a loud noise that made Maggie wince. Thankfully, the room they were in was stacked with big crates and no immediate guards.

Stewie proceeded to resize the rest of their crew. "Nice job, Nel!" Augustus praised. "But we're going to have to keep it up. So, let's be careful when breaking vents open, okay?"

"Mw-mw." Maggie rolled her eyes.

The pirates jumped up some short stacks of crates, but afterwards they had to sidle along a thin ledge left open by a taller stack. They could climb into an open spot between two stacks, leading inside the crate fort. They looked over a narrow path below, where a lazy Fishman was asleep on a pile of fallen candy. Above their perch, the top ends of some boxes were slightly open. The crew used their Licoropes to swing these boxes, and doing so caused them to open and spill more candy down below. The kids thankfully made it across before the snoozing Fishman would notice.

They jumped down on a floor below, and from here they could pass a doorway with a fruity-flavored waterfall. They coughed after passing the fall, while also savoring its taste. A conch-shell speaker rang as an announcement spoke: "The Sweets Factory's new anti-Oxyburst magic fruitfalls are guaranteed to give any non-merman intruder a hard time! A big thanks to all staff for supporting this proposal."

"Wait, so our Oxybursts won't work now?!" Augustus shouted. "NOT CONVENIENT!"

They were in a room where a huge gap separated their ledge with the opposite ledge. A 3-feet deep pool of water was down below, along with some floaties. There were gears on the other side, and they had view of the side of a turnable cog lodged within the wall. Augustus threw his Gobstopper at the gear, turned it, the ball bounced back, and the water rose slightly higher, but sunk back down quickly. Augustus kept throwing and hitting the gear until the water was at their level. The babies jumped across the floaties and made it without drowning. The four kids stacked atop each other so Rallo could keep spinning the cog, letting Augustus swim across the level water.

The next room was puffing colorful bubbles of water, made of fruity flavors and magically floating. Augustus jumped into a yellow, lemon-flavored one close by, swimming in it as though it were normal water. He stuck his head out and said, "Tastes yucky, but it's safe."

"Even if we could breathe in those things, we can't swim." Stewie stated. "Can you carry all of us across them?"

"It won't be easy to jump them… Fine, hang on." To reach the bubbles that were higher, Augustus had to swim toward the top of his bubble, perform a Torpedo Spin, and launch out of the bubble with the momentum, reaching the higher one. Augustus got to a cherry-flavored bubble, propelled to a smaller grape bubble, and then he could Torpedo Jump to a ledge with four bottles of Fizzy Lift. However, he noticed a much smaller cherry bubble with a Gold Wonka Bar above it. He couldn't build enough momentum to reach it from the grape bubble, so he had to start from the lemon bubble and perform consecutive, nonstop Torpedo Spins, to the large cherry, to the grape, and then his jump was strong enough to reach the small cherry and grab the candybar.

Augustus grabbed the four soda bottles on the ledge, dropped back to the Baby Trio plus Nel, and allowed them to drink. "Wuuuuhh…" Nel felt extremely light, turning upside-down once she was off her feet. "Nel feels like bubble…"

"Help her float, you three." Augustus ordered the trio. "And move quickly."

The captain made his way back up to the ledge, the babies floating after him as they entered a corridor with a watery chasm. Fruity bubbles floated in here, too, so Augustus used them to cross the room while the babies had to maneuver around them. There were cannons stationed on either wall (they looked like F.L.U.D.D. from Mario Sunshine), shooting huge globs of water through the fruit bubbles, so the pirates made sure to avoid them.

A waterfall blocked part of the passage, but Augustus noticed a bubble on his upper left against the wall, holding a switch. Augustus shot up to it, hit the switch, and dropped back down to the bigger bubble. The waterfall stopped, but the crew encountered another one. There was a gear in the right wall, which the airborne babies turned to make the waterfall open. Augustus could jump to a ledge, which had another gear to keep the waterfall open and let the babies join him.

The Fizzy Lift wore off just in time. They passed another doorway and were standing on a ledge overlooking a room with a long treadmill. Sugar Fairies dressed like fruit were dipping sugar onto sweets passing along the treadmill. "Hey, Sugar Fairies do work here!" Augustus exclaimed. "We'll ask one of them!"

"Are you daft, they'll alert the guards!" Stewie reminded. "There's two of them at that door!" He indicated the puffer Fishmen beside the door on the left wall. One was blue, one was dark-pink.

"Sigh, good point. Let's see if there's a way around them."

"Wait! I got an idea." Rallo extracted the boombox in his afro, cleared his throat, and spoke with a magnified voice: "Attention all Sugar Fairies: Free coconut cookies and chocolate milk in the break room."

"EEEEEEEEEEEE!" The adorable little fairies scampered happily in circles before piling into tiny doorways.

"Way to manipulate the predictable." Augustus pulled out his dry lollipop and dropped it.

"Maggie says there's Pop Gum over there." Stewie pointed across the room. "Perhaps I can control the ceiling cranes with this panel and lift Nel across."

"Now things are convenient."

Stewie approached the control panel on their right, with Augustus lifting the baby so he could reach. The cranes began to move under Stewie's control, so he lowered the closest one for Nel to grab onto. He moved the crane to the next one so Nel could swing to it, and repeated the process until the cavegirl landed on the opposite ledge. She grabbed a container of orange Pop Gum and started chewing. She then jumped down to the lower floor, behind the treadmill so the guards wouldn't see, and the others did the same as they crawled over to her.

Augustus grabbed Nel, peeped up over the treadmill, and when both puff-fish yawned at the same time, Augustus shot a gum into each of them so they would PUFF. With that, the pirates could pass the incapacitated guards and enter a room with a pool. There was a ledge on the other side with a bushel of Rock Candy. It was too high for Augustus to Torpedo Jump to, but he could push the dark-pink inflated puff-fish in and balance on her round body (his boots protected him from her spikes). He allowed the babies to cling onto him, throwing them up onto the foothold before jumping on himself.

They ate the Rock Candies and encased their selves in spheres, with Augustus sharing his with Nel. They rolled into the water and each held down four switches. This opened a gate, leading them into an underwater passage. The four had to maneuver around mines and force their rock spheres against four different, long buttons on the walls. They had to press these buttons simultaneously, as they would begin to stretch back out, giving them a limited time to get into the gate. This led them to a tunnel with pitfalls on either side, and pipes shooting currents that threatened to push them in. They pushed through the currents quickly, stayed on the path, and rolled above a surface.

They smashed their crystal spheres against a ledge, which the kids peeked over to see into a room with a giant apple rotating on a stand. There was a path carved into and around the apple (that part of skin was cut off), and Sugar Fairies were digging into it. The crew could casually walk around the apple with the fairies busy, and another box of Wriggle Sweets was found in a corner. Augustus picked one out, hid under the entrance ledge, and tossed the sweet several feet to the right in the room. The captain Armament punched the wall, making the Sugar Fairies whip to attention and notice the Wriggle Sweet.

They immediately climbed off the giant apple and swarmed in, making little "AWWWWE"s and saying "Silly Wriggle Sweet!" With the cute fairies all nuzzling the critter, the pirates put on their Corn-Clamber Boots and marched up the giant fruit (August carried Nel). At the top of the apple, they could see a giant banana swinging up and down, so when it was down, the pirates jumped to and latched their boots to it. They trekked to the top of the banana, and when it swung up, they could jump to a ledge.

At the end of this ledge was a large orange spinning aimlessly in place. They could only briefly spot the cut part, so Augustus went first in jumping and sticking to it. The orange would rotate by a floating, stable cut lemon platform, which the captain jumped to, and from there, he faced a giant floating bushel of purple grapes. A specific row of grapes were taking turns turning and exposing their green undersides before turning back. Augustus jumped to the first one when it came, stepped across the following ones quickly, but before jumping to the platform above his vision, he kept following the green grapes higher up the bushel to get a floating Wonka Bar.

He jumped to the foothold afterwards and set Nel down as they awaited the others—the Baby Trio merely launched their grappling hook to the ledge and hauled their selves over. "Platforming isn't normally our thing." Stewie remarked, earning an eye-roll from Augustus. The crew entered the next hallway, which had several high ledges with water pools before them. The first one was short and squirted water spouts, so when one was about to shoot, they jumped in and were pushed up to the next ledge.

The next pool was longer, but twin rows of spouts led to the ledge. Each set of spouts took turns, starting from their end and moving to the other end, but they were only up for half a second. They quickly jumped on one of the starting spouts and raced across the following ones as they came. The third pool's spouts were more spread-out and had water cannons shooting big bubbles. They kept their eyes out for spouts about to pop up, avoided the water cannons, and successfully reached the final ledge.

They were in a large, dim-lit room with several security devices protecting a capsule with a blue cupcake with golden icing. "Damn, and Ah thought mah mom liked to hide cupcakes from me." Rallo said. "They didn't have any good ceiling cabinets?"

"A cupcake? Maggie, gimme those." Augustus took the girl's binoculars for a better view of the sweet. "…Is that the Cupcake Core?"

"One of the Lost Candies?" Stewie asked.

"Yep. I may not know what it looks like, but the crazy security makes it a pretty likely guess. Alright, kiddies, it's time for some Mission: Impossible."

There were two rows of searchlights rotating endlessly in the same direction. There was an empty spot in each row, but they weren't next to each other. Thankfully, there was a Wriggle Sweet box close by. Augustus waited for the empty spot to show, then quickly threw the sweet into the light next to the spot. The entire row ceased rotating so that one light could shine on the sweet. When the second row's empty spot came by, the kids jumped through.

A glass wall blocked their way, but fruity water bubbles were coming out of cannons below, floating up quick and popping on the ceiling. Augustus went by himself, Torpedo Jumping his way across the bubbles, going a half circle around the center where the Cupcake Core was, then he was able to swim into an opening in the glass. He pressed a switch to open the glass, so the four kids could jump over the gap where the bubbles came from.

Another glass wall protected the Cupcake Core, and there was a short water spout risen up on one area. Two Amps (floating electric balls with faces) flew circles around the glass wall, electrifying the water spout when it went through. Augustus jumped onto the spout, and a stairway of them rose up and around the glass. Augustus hurriedly ran over the spouts, jumping the ones that would be electrified by the Amps, until he could get inside an opening in the glass. He pressed a switch to open the glass and let the babies inside. The only thing protecting the cupcake was an electric barrier with four generators.

"Time for Stone Fist to mark his name." Augustus turned his hands Armament and punched his palms. He punched and destroyed each generator as the electricity stopped. The captain marched up and took the cupcake with the star wand. (End song.)

"Mmmm… That rock look yummy." Nel asked with big sparkling eyes and a drooling mouth.

"Sorry, Nel, but I don't know if these regenerate like the Sugary Wonders." Augustus turned the cupcake and studied every inch. "But man, I bet this tastes like Heaven. Or greater."

Suddenly, the room turned red as alarms rang, and Sugar Fairies dressed as fruit hung onto ropes and surrounded them, aiming tiny bows and arrows. "Hands where we can see 'em!" one yelled in their squeaky tone. "You may think you're a bunch of sneaky rats, but rats don't sneak by us. Because we're teenier than them!"

"Man, those voices are starting to hurt my ears." Augustus remarked.

"When we shoot you with our cupid bows, you'll go gaga over each other. You'll be kissing and kissing, and we'll take pictures and post them on the Internet."

"And since that boy is a teen, ALL his friends will think he's a creepy perv who stalks little kids."

"Ruining someone's future is funilicious! Get ready to fire, fairies!" They all readied their arrows.

"Wait! Don't hurt them!" The Sugar Fairy with the purple mermaid tail flew in. "They're the people Princess Zeira called about!"

"You mean he's the pirate Augustus?" The fairies lowered their weapons and looked more closely.

"Yes! He's on all the pictures."

"Wait, Zeira told you about me?" Augustus asked.

"She did. She said you were searching for the Lost Candies. Our friend, Sally just brought the Cupcake Core back from Glitzville. Princess Zeira called us and said to keep it safe, because a smelly man called Augustus was searching for the Lost Candies!"

"Only smelly 'cause I change baby diapers all the time." Augustus subconsciously passed the cupcake to Nel while he fished around for a new lollipop. "But since we're here anyway, do you fairies know if the Lost Candies regenerate if they're eaten?"

"A berry good question." The mer-fairy said as Nel studied the delicious cake in her hand. "It's hard to say, really." Nel sniffed the cake, entranced by its scent. "Because the Lost Candies…" Nel opened her mouth for a big bite, "are indestructible!"

CHOMP! They whipped their attention at Nel. She had golden icing around her lips. She licked it off. The pirates and fairies merely stared at the innocent-looking cavechild. ". . . . Nel's tummy heavy…"

"Did you just swallow the Cupcake Core whole??" Augustus questioned.

"It big, but squishy rock. But now Nel feel sick. Nel like taste, though." She smiled.

"Boy, that's going to be a really big poop." The mer-fairy said.

"EEEEEEEWWWW!" the other fairies squealed.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot!" Augustus spoke up. "We came here to begin with because the Forest Princess, Aisling mentioned a friend of hers in this town. Would you know anything about that?"

"You must mean the Ocean Fairy Princess, Lapis." A fairy dressed like a banana said. "But she hasn't been seen in eight years. And it was all because of…"

"Hu-hu-hu-hu-hu-hu…" The fairies shivered, afraid to speak of the culprit's name.

"The alarms went off in here!" They faced the entrance to the room as Fishmen began to storm in.

"Crap, it's the buzz!" Augustus exclaimed.

"THAT'S them!" the puffer Fishwoman yelled. "They used me as a platforming prop!"

"I don't think we'll be able to speak for you with these guys!" the mer-fairy yelled.

Augustus kicked Nel several feet backwards. "Nel's not on the wanted posters. After they take us, can you fairies guide her outside? Bring her behind the factory and tell her to get to the sub. Oh, and give her this after you're outside." He tossed them an Oxyburst.

"IT'S OVER, pirates!" The Fishmen grabbed the four humans and handcuffed them. "We're taking you to Samiya! You'll be lucky if the Ocean King treats you well. Nice work catching them, fairies. We'll throw you some extra gummy koalas." The guards began to escort the pirates outside, not noticing the cavegirl in the faint light.

Washington; KND Museum of Artifacts

The museum had been closed for several days, due to Emily Garley's absence. Sector GF landed their S.C.A.M.P.E.R. (piloted by Candy Chiu) outside the treehouse entrance. As they stepped off the craft, Carla was quick to fly out of the pig, Waddles' range, for the pig had been trying to nuzzle her the whole journey. "Ha ha! See, Carla, I told you Waddles would open up to you." Mabel laughed.

"Well, could you please tell him I am closed to him?" Carla stated. "I do not associate with runts of the litter!"

"Speaking of closed, the museum still isn't open." Dipper observed. "How do we get in?"

"Closed, shmosed!" Grenda stomped forward, looking agro. "The ticket booth was closed at Sev'ral Timez' concert, but that didn't stop me from breaking in and catching the ticket guy making out with his magazine. Heeeey-YAH!" With a mighty punch, Grenda broke the sealed door open.

The museum was still lit by a little daylight. Dipper led them to the back room that he remembered the first time he was brought there. "I first read about the Master Emerald in a KND book and asked the curator if it was actually here. She brought me back here and… Voila!" After opening a secret trapdoor, they climbed down into a dark room, lit green by the enormous emerald.

The mystical light reflected in their awestruck eyes. Carla set foot on the floor and approached the beautiful gem. "Astounding… Where would one find a jewel like this?"

"I heard the Mobian KND wanted to thank the Firstborn Guardians for their help, so they allowed them to keep the Master Emerald." Dipper explained. The male Pines helped himself up and straightened his back. "What I don't understand is why the Author planned it for his portal. I mean, if Bill helped him make the portal before, then he should've known about it, which means he would've brought the emerald there before trying to activate. Did the Author make the decision without Bill's knowing? But if Bill said that it worked before, then this feels like a really huge change in programming."

"You're thinking too much, Dipper." Mabel said as she carefreely climbed on the emerald. "The Author probably wanted his portal to look prettier. If this thing wasn't so big, it would make a PERFECT wedding ring!"

"Which brings up the question, how do we carry it back to Gravity Falls?" Carla asked.

"Grenda has no problem carrying it." Mabel replied as her muscular friend lifting the giant emerald with one hand. "But it probably won't fit on the ship…"

"Wait! Mabel, didn't you bring the Crystal Flashlight?" Dipper asked.

"Oh, yeah!" Mabel jumped off the emerald and whipped out the flashlight. "We'll shrink it down and put it in our pocket." Grenda put the emerald down, and Mabel flashed the purple light on the shining green gem, shrinking it to the size of her hand. Mabel picked it up and placed it in her backpack. "Or a backpack."

"Hokay, let's get back to Gravity Falls and stick this in the machine." Dipper climbed first up the trapdoor's ladder. "But we'll still need to fix the rest of the portal. Maybe we can ask one of the KND scientists."

"I should be able to fix the machine with the right tools." Carla said as she hurriedly flew ahead. "Just hurry, I want to bring Wendy back as soon as possible!"

"Okay, just take it easy!" Dipper tried to jog after her.

"She talks, she flies, and she's a technical wizard!" Candy said with admiration. "Where did Wendy shop for you, Carla?"

"The discount store of mutant pets for magic children…"

Oceana; Simaya's dungeon

The Marzipan Pirates were locked in the palace dungeon after they were shown to the guards. It was dark, empty of other prisoners, and, not surprisingly, damp. "At least they air-bubbled our cell." Augustus said with a casual smile.

"Ugh, what the hell are we going to do now?" Stewie asked angrily. "They took all of our weapons, AND the other Oxybursts."

"Do you think they'll let us call our moms?" Rallo asked with worry. "But I don't remember my house's phone number! OH GOD, we're gonna get eat by fish-people!" He gripped his afro and shook.

"Chill out, you twerps. At least it can't get any worse than this." Augustus said.

That's when a merman appeared and opened their cell door. "You've got a new cellmate. Enjoy him." He tossed what seemed like a big yellow sponge with limbs into the cell before closing.

The sponge pushed his hands against the floor and propped himself up on his feet. "Not the most comfy place for a slumber party, is it?"

"Wait a sec…" Augustus gaped at the sponge, his lollipop falling out. "You're-"

"AAAAAHH OHMYGOD OHMYGOD!" Stewie shook ecstatically. "You're Spongebob Squarepants, oh I'm such a HUUUUUGE fan!"

"Hold on, Stewie, is that yo' dad??" Rallo questioned.

"No he's not, but I WISH he was!!"

"I just assumed he was because BOTH of you need your asses cancelled."

"Oh, HA HA, become an old comedian, why don't you."

"What the hell is he doing in here?" Augustus asked.

"I don't know." Spongebob shrugged with honest confusion. "I was just on a downtown jellyfishing run (excuse all the wrecked carriages outside) when these mermen started trying to arrest me for hurting their princess, or something…"

"Princess? Was she a Fairy Princess?"

"I dunno. Ooo, but if I was a woman, I would be the Princess of Krabby Patties…" He imagined himself in a flowing gown designed like his favorite sandwich, and had a castle made of ketchup and mustard bottles.

". . . . PWAH HAH HA, pwah hah ha!" Stewie started cracking up. "Hah hah ha! HAH ha! OH, that is quality comedy you don't get on Cartoon Network!" He wiped a tear. "Please, Augustus, let him join our crew!"

"You have a pirate crew?" Spongebob asked. "Oh, I'd love to, but I can't. There's someone I'm supposed to meet. He's upstairs in the palace with his friends, but I won't be able to leave with him if I'm a criminal."

Augustus turned his hands Armament and tried to tug the cell bars. "Man, these're tough. But I think I have a plan. Spongebob, do you remember that episode where you and Patrick were making faces or something?"

"Are you talking about the Season 8 episode 'Face Freeze', the Season 12 episode 'Face Flash' where we tried to get the silliest picture for Photo Day at Mrs. Puff's Boating School, or the Season 18 episode 'Face Frenzy' where everyone in Bikini Bottom tried to make funny faces and ended up-"

"JUST make a face! Any of them will do!"

"Okay! Just give me a sec to prep up." He turned around and started rearranging his face.

"GUUUAAARD!" Augustus called. "We have a medical emergency!"

The merman jailer swam over, looking suspicious. "What seems to be the ailment?"

"POOR DESIGN QUALITY!" Augustus grabbed Spongebob and faced him at the guard: Spongebob's eyes, nose, and mouth were inside-out, exposing the hideous and snot-oozing undersides.

"AAAAAHHH!" The merman screamed before passing out and floating up like a dead fish. His keys sunk down, allowing Augustus to grab them and open the cell. "I'll swim out and grab our things, you kids wait here with Sponge." He dropped the sponge on the floor and swam out of the air bubble.

Stewie, Rallo, and Maggie tried to hold their stomachs in, their faces green. "I don't remember any of those episodes! BLUEEEH!" Stewie puked.

Augustus swam out to the lobby and found a giant clam holding their Infi-Cube and Maggie's weapons. Augustus tugged the clam open with Armament hands and grabbed the items before quickly swimming back. He grabbed some Oxybursts from the Infi-Cube and gave one to each baby and himself. Stewie grabbed a remote control from the cube and pressed some buttons. "I've set the Ace Swimmer to come to our location. We've got to get to the barrier!"

"No time to lose!" Augustus grabbed the babies and Spongebob in his arms. "Let's go, Sponge!"

As he struggled to swim through the lobby, Spongebob noticed the clam Augustus tore open minutes ago. "That reminds me of the time I fell in love with a Krabby Patty and killed a bunch of baby clams to protect it!"

"Your show teaches kids to kill birds for food??" Rallo questioned.

"Mw-mw-mw." Maggie noted.

"I think he was trying to avoid saying that." Stewie replied.

"Prisoner escape!" More bands of mermen were swimming out once the pirates made it to the palace foyer. "They're taking the Yellow Devil!"

"Oh, like the episode where I dressed up as a monster and fell into a church while I was jellyfishing!" Spongebob remembered as Augustus kept carrying him.

"Not even gonna question that!" the captain remarked.

Stewie grabbed a jetpack and a missile launcher to fly overhead and blast at incoming guards, and Maggie shot bullets at floating swordfish. As they were escaping the palace, Augustus looked back and saw the group of human kids, and one redheaded adult, rushing out to observe the situation, along with the Ocean King himself. "Uh-oh. 'Guess we played around too long!"

"WAIT! That boy is the kid I was talking about!" Spongebob pointed.

"If you're still wanted, it won't work to just throw you to him!"

"There's the submarine!" Stewie pointed.

"Right on time!"

Rallo spun around to shoot soundwaves at the pursuing guards. Once they were at the barrier, Augustus grabbed onto the babies, jumped out, and quickly swam to the submarine, climbing in the still-open bottom hatch. Nel had thankfully made it back beforehand, picking her nose at the time of their arrival. Stewie jumped at the controls and turned off the autopilot. "As soon as we're back in the sky, they shouldn't be able to-" The submarine quaked just then.

"What was that?!" Rallo yelped.

A face made of water and bubbles appeared at the ship's front window, glaring venomously at the escapees. "Just where are you going, little worms?" Eva Jackson hissed.

"SEA MONSTEEERRR!" Rallo flailed his arms.

"No, Logia waterbender." Augustus spat his lolli-stick out and punched his palms. "Not a problem for me, anymore!" He dove out of the submarine and swam to the woman's projected water-body. With his fists hardened, he dealt quick jabs at the liquid body, blocking Eva's chi as she shrunk back into her human form. "A-a-a-ah!" She was forced to hold her breath underwater.

"Kids, don't drink and swim!" Augustus winked at the woman before going back in his sub.

The mermen were still giving chase, but as soon as the pirates reached the surface, Stewie threw the shrunk Ace Flyer and zapped it to normal size. They jumped in the plane, Stewie shrunk the Swimmer and stored it, and Augustus quickly set the plane for liftoff. "Love to stay, Oceana, but we have places to be!" Augustus cheered.

"Ooo, going on pirate adventures is gonna be so much fun!" Spongebob said excitedly. "I've been ready for this longer than I can remember! Check out this pirate tattoo I have on my right buttock!" He dropped his pants-

"UUUGH!" The crewmates shut their eyes (except Nel, who looked curious as always).

"PLEASE get rid of him!" Stewie clutched his captain's pants and cried pleadingly. "He's not as funny as he used to be, now he's just annoying and I want him gone, I don't want him in our crew anymore, pleeeeaaase!"

"Alright, alright! …Hey, there's those people again!" Augustus pointed at a yacht in the sea ahead. "They catch up fast. Lemme just write a note." Augustus grabbed a small paper and pencil from a compartment at his seat, wrote You twerps owe me one, drew the Marzipan Jolly Roger, and posted it on Spongebob's forehead. "Stewie, now!"

Stewie shot the annoying sponge with his shrink ray, then Augustus threw him down to the yacht. The mermen were hopelessly pursuing their plane from afar, not aware that Spongebob was safe on his friends' yacht.

"Sigh…that was exhausting." Augustus sighed as they flew under the night. "Nel, do you still have the cupcake?"

"Mm-hm…" Nel rubbed her sore belly.

"You know, why is it called the Cupcake Core, anyway?" Stewie asked.

"The same reason for the Sugar Fuel?" Augustus cocked a brow. "Heck, even the Rock Nut looks like the fastener type of 'nut.' …Wow, I can't believe I didn't notice these things."

"The Lost Candies are named after terms that would apply to… a machine of some sort." Stewie thought aloud.

"Well, except the Sun Cream. Speaking of which, if the Lost Candies are indestructible, how did Veruca's Devil Fruit powers still affect the Sun Cream?"

"Indestructible doesn't mean they can't be supernaturally transformed in some way." Stewie argued.

"I dunno… something doesn't add up about that whole thing. Well, at least now we have two Lost Candies. Unless we count Zeira's Sugar Fuel, that means we have half of them. And I remember where Luviro said we could find another one: the Gear Heart."

"That's named after a machine part, too!" Stewie noticed.

"Exactly. The names can't just be a coincidence. And by the time we find them all, we may as well know. And as for the Gear Heart, get ready to go to the place where they all keep dancing in your face: Kamabaka Kingdom."

"Oh, Stewie, your hometown!" Rallo joked.

"Oh, shut up."

Fiore Dimension; bathhouse

The next morning, Levy, Mirajane, and a purple-haired girl named Laki brought Wendy to a bathhouse. The girls were naked, sitting in a tub that was carved in the ground as the steaming water eased their souls and melted away their woes. "Um… Excuse my rudeness, but does this world have bathing suits?" Wendy asked, feeling a little awkward about being naked in a tub with three teenagers.

"Yeah, but they're not used for bathing." Levy replied. "Lighten up, Wendy!"

"I don't think I'm old enough for this!" Wendy flushed, covering her chest.

"Wendy, it's fine." Mirajane said with a friendly smile. "We do this with our Wendy all the time. There's nothing shameful about it because we're all members of the same guild."

"Even so, this feels a little too… personal."

"Maybe, but it's what we do." Laki lied back and folded her hands behind her head. "You might as well get used to it."

Wendy sighed, relaxing herself and pushing aside the awkward feeling. These girls allowed her to bathe with them like it was a common thing. She embraced in the tub's heavenly feel.

Should I be concerned? Should I be desperate to go back to my world? …Because it's hard to feel that way. I like it here.

According to the guildmates, Chelia stayed at a local inn, so that she could return to the guild and keep looking for ways to send Wendy back home. None of them appeared too concerned. It was like they enjoyed Wendy's company.

They're so nice to me. What did I have in the other world, anyway? Sure, I had a few friends… but all I did was cause trouble. The Government keeps trying to arrest me. My friends would be happy I found a better home.

"Hey, Wendy, what're those papers on your waist, again?" Mirajane asked.

"Oh, you mean my Chi Stabilizers? They keep my Air Chi from going crazy. Without them, the wind would blow around too much outside. 'Course, I've been learning to control it, but just in case…"

Maybe I'm getting my hopes up. I could make trouble for these people, too. Then they wouldn't want me…

"Maybe we could research a way to get rid of that curse." Levy said. "It must be a pain to have to deal with."

Wendy looked down in shame. "It is… You guys wouldn't wanna be around me for 10 seconds."

"Oh, I'm sure we could manage." Mira replied. "A little wind is nothing compared to what we deal with."

"And we would help you with it, too." Levy promised. "Just don't hesitate to ask!"

"Mmm…" Wendy smiled at the gesture. "You're just saying that."

"Boy, you're more modest than our Wendy." Laki remarked. "Quit whining and just accept our help, already. That's what I always tell her."

"You never told her that!" Levy argued.

"Well, I should."

"Hm hm hm!" Wendy laughed.

Still… I wonder if I asked them… would they mind having two Wendys? I bet I would make great friends with the other one.

Fairy Tail

After their bath, the girls returned to the guild, where Mirajane cooked some ramen for Wendy and brought a glass of juice. Chelia greeted them, but was sad to report she had no luck in finding a way back for Wendy. Wendy thanked her for her effort and decided to share her ramen with Chelia. Then for the next hour, they forgot about the subject of Wendy's return home altogether, as Gajeel entertained them with stories of his own adventures. This led to Chelia sharing some stories, and Levy and Mira began bragging about how fast this Wendy claimed to be.

This resulted in Wendy and Chelia having a footrace around Magnolia. Wendy only used a fraction of her whole speed to give her friend a chance, but by the end of the race, Chelia was clearly more exhausted. The pink-haired airbender (or should we say Wind Mage) decided to challenge Wendy to arm-wrestling, to prove she was still stronger, and she beat Wendy in three quick matches. Wendy cast the Arms spell on her dominant hand, so Chelia had a harder time with besting her. Their arms locked in place for three minutes before Wendy's was able to pin Chelia's.

To reward her for this lucky break, Chelia agreed to tie Wendy's hair in two long pigtails, in the same fashion that their Wendy sometimes had her hair. The tails were fixed with red bows, then Chelia brushed them until they were perfectly smooth and straight. "There!" Chelia said after finishing. "You look as pretty as our Wendy!"

"You know what would look super cute?" Laki asked. "Putting tiny stars on the tips of her ears so they look like Christmas trees!"

"She does look like an elf, so why not?" Cana followed.

"How about it, Wendy, can we??" Laki excitedly requested.

"Stop it, you two are embarrassing her." Levy said.

Wendy blushed at the idea of her pointed ears being decorated for Christmas. …She remembered last Christmas, when she had a dream of meeting her older self, living with a family and having friends. The more time she spent with these people, the more she felt like she was dreaming. She was afraid that, when she woke up, she would be back in her own world… but she wasn't. She was still here, with the happy, carefree people that loved her. They thought Wendy was a delight. If she asked them, they would let her stay here. And no one would miss her in the other world.

…Well, Dr. Facilier would wonder what's keeping her. The first man to give Wendy a bed to sleep on, taught her magic, made her feel like life was worth living. And Carla, her talking winged cat whose very existence was a mystery, she would never know what type of creature she is, never know that there were others of her kind in this dimension, an "Exceed." The Chelia in her homeworld was probably captured by the Government, hoping Wendy was at least safe, and Lee Andrew might be hoping to hear from her again, and…

Wendy clasped the lap of her dress. Her lips quivered, and tears quickly built up in her eyes. "Sniff, sniff!" She got up and ran outside.

"Wendy!" Mira yelled as everyone looked in surprise.

Wendy fell to her knees and cried. No matter how much she wiped the tears, they wouldn't stop. Wendy's hands and arms became soaked. The Fairy Tail members came out to see her. "Sheesh, it was just an idea!" Laki shouted. "We weren't gonna make ya get the little stars!"

Wendy sniffled. "I'm sorry! All of you are really nice, and I'm really thankful for your hospitality. Nobody's treated me so nice before, it's like the home I never had. I really want to stay, but…but I can't! This isn't my real home! If I don't get back to my own world, Carla and Dr. Facilier will be worried about me, and I'll just feel so bad if I…" She choked out more sobs.

"Wendy, calm down!" Mirajane knelt down in front of her and tilted Wendy's head up. "There's nothing wrong about missing your home. We promise we'll keep trying to find a way back. Just stay positive."

She sniffled, and the tears started to subside. "The truth is, I…I really like this world. I actually liked it better than my home, I didn't wanna leave. What if Carla and the others are going crazy trying to bring me back? I'm a terrible person."

"I'm sure they'll be thankful you aren't hurt, at least. For now, we'll just work even harder to find a way back."

"But if it makes you feel better…" Levy began with a playful smile, "We're sorry for being too likable!"

"Sniff… Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Wendy couldn't help but find that hilarious.

"The second you get home, make sure your friends throw you a party." Mirajane stated. "But if they don't, we might just come to your world and throw one ourselves."

Facilier's Voodoo Emporium

Dr. Facilier was boredly looking at his crystal ball. Wendy and Carla certainly have been gone a long time, and he was unable to find them. Perhaps it was a result of Gravity Falls' obscure magnetic field. He wished he could tell if they were in danger.

A ringing sound came from his fireplace. Somebody was trying to teleport to him from the Floo Network. However, the doctor had a spell in place, requiring him to approve the person's entry, otherwise the warp would fail. He approached the fireplace, and was delighted to see the magical projection showed Wendy's vibrant face. She must have kept Floo Powder with her just in case. "Come on in, Girl!" He clicked the icon.

Emerald flames emerged from the fireplace. …Gideon Gleeful was the one who came out, wearing a Wendy mask. He took it off and smiled wryly at the man. "Expecting somebody else?"

He threw Facilier over the table with his psychicbending. The doctor scrambled to his feet as the Child Psychic approached. "My, look at this beautiful shop full of illegal magic stuff. The Ministry of Magic would love to see this. BOYS, come awn in!"

Four magic Aurors marched out of the Floo Network and stood beside Gideon. Facilier's heart was racing, the doctor unable to configure how any of this happened, what would happen now, or even more-so, what happened to Wendy. "Dr. Harvey Facilier," the Head Auror spoke, "for possession and use of a Devil's Wand, and harboring a wanted criminal, you are hereby under arrest. You will await trial in Azkaban."

Negaverse; Latsyrc Household

"Friends, I'm happy to welcome you to my home!" Ikuyim danced into her room and allowed Positive Sector W inside. Ikuyim had several plants, shelves aligned with pretty gems of various colors and shapes, and a sleeping mat on the floor.

Fybi sniffed the pleasant air of the room. "'Tis the most fragrant scent in this malodorous world. Thine choice in décor is praiseworthy."

"It isn't bad, I guess." Anthony said, enjoying the natural air. "So like, what's up with those people at the volcano, again?"

"Oh, that's just my sister and her friend, Yllehs." The group went over by the window to view the volcanic field beyond Ikuyim's back yard. "Ikus gets a lot of temper tantrums and turns everything into lava, so we need Yllehs to fight her and cool her down.

Lavabender Ikus Latsyrc and icebender Yllehs Nosnhoj were in another climactic battle. Yllehs surfed on an Ice Road, creating a wide curve around her opponent while Ikus sent streams of lava to break parts of the ice. Yllehs suddenly lunged at Ikus, hands lit with ice as she attempted to slam them against her, but Ikus raised a lava wall, which Yllehs turned to stone when her ice hands touched. Yllehs was knocked back when Ikus kicked a piece of the wall at her, then the lavabender surfed forth on a lava wave. Yllehs skied away, raising a trail of tall icicles, but Ikus surfed between each one and melted them in her pursuit.

"Wow, and I thought Michelle was annoying." Anthony remarked. "How do you get any sleep?"

"Knowing that tomorrow is another adventure!" Ikuyim happily danced over to her shelf of purple gems. "I loved to collect treasure as a hobby, but when I discovered my earthbending, I began to practice with them." She waved her hands and made an oval gem and triangle gem float. "I had a natural talent for it. You try!" She passed the oval gem to Anthony.

The boy set the gem on the ground and held his hand above it. He channeled his power and struggled to lift it. …The gem shook and lifted slightly, but it plopped back down when Anthony's grip broke. "Sigh, it's really heavy."

"Didn't that Minish say no earthbender ever lifted a diamond?" Aranea asked.

"That's not a diamond, it's an amethyst, silly!" Ikuyim laughed. "But you're right, diamonds are impossible to bend. They're like, super strong!"

"More than you know." A woman's voice said from the doorway.

Ikuyim gasped, recognizing her immediately. Medusa walked in and said, "Thannypoo, knock the extras out."

The green snake on her shoulder flashed his eyes at each of the Sector W members. They passed out on the floor, with Fybi dropping like a bird from the air. Ikuyim clenched her teeth in anger. "Whaddid you DO to them?!"

"Easy, I only put them to sleep!" Thanatos yelled defensively. "Not the everlasting sleep."

"I'm sorry to interrupt your lesson, but the Darknesses won't find themselves." Medusa said. "I'll need you for this one, Ikuyim."

"Need her for what?" Anthony asked groggily. The three looked in surprise as the boy was pushing himself up from the floor.

"He withstood my Sleep Stare?" Thanatos asked. "How is that possible?"

"When you train as long as I have… heh… you decide when to sleep." The boy smirked.

"Hmmm…" Medusa scratched her chin. "Impressive feat of will, but… you're not really relevant to my plan."

"Ikky-yim, who is this lady?"

"She's Medusa. And-; hn-hn, that's not my name, silly!" Ikuyim switched from a serious glare to a sunny smile.

"Wait… Medusa?" Anthony cocked a brow. "Palutena's sister?"

"HISSSS!" Medusa bared her fangs, scaring the boy. "Don't you mention her name in my presence!"

"She told us you were searching for the Darknesses. So, are ya?"

"I am." Medusa still glared. "That's what I was about to ask Ikuyim to do. You're going to awaken one of the most important Darknesses."

Ikuyim glanced at Anthony. "I want him to come with me." She stated firmly.

"What? Why?"

"So that I can give him some on-the-field training. I don't think you would've asked me unless this had something to do with my power. Now, who is this Darkness?"

"How very clever." Medusa smiled lightly. "All right. Your little beaver can come with you and die before one of the mightiest women the universe has ever known. She is a real beauty of a gem… A conqueress by the name of Yellow Diamond."