"Okay... let's take another look." Aviva stared proudly as her new invention.
"Cross your fingers," Ventus said.
Aviva pressed a button on her new invention. Immediatly, her screwdriver turned into... two screwdrivers.
"Woo-hoo!" Ventus cheered, while Aviva ran to his arms. "You did it, querida! You finally built a multipicator."
"This will make things easier for us here," Aviva said. "With the Multiplicator, we won't have to stop so often to get refilled."
"Or make multiple Creature Power Disks?"
"Yeah... this would actually spare lots of time for them to work on other stuff around here. Plus..." She looked at Ventus, approaching him. "It would give me more time to spend with y-"
"Hey, guys!" Martin came over, interrupting them. The couple shrieked of shock.
"Martin!" Ventus growled. "You scared us, dude!"
"Sor-ry," he replied. "Ooh! What's that?" He turned to the newest device.
"I was planning on showing the whole team, but I guess I can show you first. Presenting the multiplicator! Which multiplies any object placed in it!"
"This would spare us a lot of space! And time! And-and more Creature Power Disks!" Ven blushed a bit. He nearly said " time with my girl".
"Cool! Sorry again for the startling… I'm searching for… something."
"Something?"
"Oh! I think I know where it is! See ya!" Martin dashed into the hall with the rooms.
"I like my little bro, but sometimes he really annoys me," Ven said.
"Welcome to my world, querido," Aviva commented.
Martin started to mess things up as he always did whenever he checked the closet.
"There you are." Martin picked up a little velvet box, with a ring in it. "It costed me a lot, but it was really worth it."
"Whatcha looking at, bro?" Chris asked. He was startled, almost dropping the velvet box. Martin turned around, hiding it behind his back.
"Uh, I thought I would, uh... well, you know how I..."
"What are you hiding?" The brunet walked closer, so the blond backed up.
"What? Nothing."
"You sure?"
"Christopher, knock it off."
"What's going on in here?" Ventus asked, seeing the two bickering. "And what's that, Martin?" He saw the small box.
"*sigh* Just taking courage to take a big step forward in my life." He revealed the velvet covered box.
"I knew it! I knew you would end up proposing to Laura someday! About time!" Chris cheered. Martin immediately shushed him.
"Not so loud! And you say I talk too loud."
"The marriage thing has really evolved," the Kratt in white said. "10,000 years ago, courting was much more complex."
"How would you know?" Chris asked.
"Oh, for Hera's sake." Martin chuckled at Ven's comment. "Well, Martin, you're about to make a very important decision then," Ven commented. "This may not only affect your life, but Gavin and Ronan's lives too."
"I already love those boys. They're really united and brave together. Just like the three of us."
"So you're gonna become their step-father," Chris concluded. "Laura sure is a lucky girl. She has two amazing sons, and a really awesome boyfriend."
"I know... oh, I'm also so intrigued. There's so much I wanna do today, and I guess I don't have all the time in the world."
"Guess you'll have to-" Ven was about to say, but Chris quickly covered his mouth.
"Not that "D" word, any word but that one!"
"What? "Decide"?" Ven asked, removing his hand. Martin froze from that word.
"D-d-d-decide?"
"Oh dear..." Chris said in worry. "You said it. The one thing Martin can't do..." Suddenly, Martin went into a panic, and saying why it's hard to decide on anything. Chris covered his ears.
"How long does this last?" Ven asked, dumbfounded.
"A while, VK. Deal with it." Chris stared at him.
Koki and Jimmy were baking some chiparoos together, taking the time they had for each other.
"Now, the chocolate chips." Jimmy embraced his girlfriend from behind, as she was mixing the ingredients in the bowl. She gently picked up the small cup with small pieces of chocolate in it from her boyfriend's hand.
"Excuse me!" Martin passed through, nearly dropping them both.
"Martin, what in the creature world are you doing?" Koki complained.
"Sorry, gotta rush! I promised the kids I would join them in their recycled boat competition, and to see Laura at the park!, Then, I need to see mom, and pass by the candy store to experiment the newest cotton candy recipe," Martin explained. He had a timer on his neck. "Okay, if I can only make it to the lake in thirty seconds, I'm good."
Jimmy chuckled as he helped Koki get up. "Martin, honestly, you can't do all of this so quickly. If only there was more of you, maybe you could."
"Can you imagine the torture?" Koki teased. "Okay, back to cooking. These chiparros are gonna be the best!"
They both remained their work, while Martin remained stopped there. More of him… I-DE-A!
Martin snuck into the garage. He approached the multiplicator.
"I only hope Aviva doesn't mind me using it. Then again, she said it could be useful..." He saw the scanner. "Let's see... let's start with only one other me."
He put his hand on the scanner and pressed the button. The blond member got in the machine. A blue light scanned him and then he hopped out. Following him out was another him.
"Wow! It worked!"
"Hi!" the clone greeted happily.
"Hi, eh- me. I'm you."
"But I'm me," the clone said, confused.
"We're both right." Martin smiled at him.
"YAY!"
"Okay, so I need you to go see Aidan and Gavin in the lake for their recycling boat competition. It's gonna be so fun, but I can't actually be there now. Can you do this for me?"
"Okay!" The clone was on his way, until... he came back, wanting to ask where it was.
"Turn around the Tortuga, nearby the bridge."
"Thanks."
As the clone left, the original Kratt in blue cheerfully sqeualed.
"O-ho, boy! This was probably the best idea I ever had! Nothing could possibly go wrong! Now, off to try once more." He picked up the velvet box.
The clone Martin walked rightfully to the lake.
"Hey, Martin!" Aviva called him, carrying a bag of spare parts.
"Oh...h-hey." Shoot. He didn't know her name.
"Mind helping me with these spare parts? I'm planning to improve some of my inventions with all this spare time, and give the rest for Antonio."
"Uh..." The clone looked at the lake. Then, he looked bck at her. "Uh…" Oh, boy… it was tough to decide: help her or the boys? Her or the boys? "Gotta go! Bye, Anita!" He left in a rush.
"Uh… okay, I guess," she said. "Anita?" She wondered, confused. Oh, well...
"Well, how did it go?" Martin saw the clone coming, and then noticed the look on his face. "Uh… are you okay?"
"Well, I was going to join Aidan and Kevin..."
"Gavin."
"Yeah, him, in the paper boat competition in the pond, but then Anita..."
"Aviva?"
"She asked me to help her with some spare pieces, and then I went to a fritz, by not knowing what to do, when I should have done what you told me to do, but I didn't! So I haven't done anything at a-a-all!" The clone burst into tears.
"Okay, okay. No need to panic. We just might need more of us for the job."
"Really?"
"I wouldn't lie to me, right?"
Once scanned, two Martin clones popped out of the machine.
"Wow! Now I can cover my visit to mom's, the cotton candy experimentation and helping Aviva!" Then, a thought struck. "Wait, what if suddenly someone else asks to do something with me?"
The clone scanned himself, and one more clone popped up.
"Well, that could work… but what if some invitation to something else comes to- what in the name of...?!" Martin gasped, seeing the machine starting to malfunction. "Uh-oh… okay, guess I can lead with this."
He searched for a whistle, and called his maybe hundreds of clones with it.
"Okay, now that you're all here, I need you all to cooperate. If we all split up, there'll be enough fun for every single one of us. We are in the city and all our friends are there, just waiting."
The Martins just overheard the word "fun" and started to jump in excitement.
"But, first, let's do a quick namecalling test." He showed them a sketchbook with portraits of her friends and family.
"Chris, Aviva, Mina, Jimmy, Martin!" The clones successfully answered.
"Good. Now, go around and have the maximum of fun you can!"
*BG music: GUMI - A Fake, Fake, Psychotropic*
As the Martins spread around the city, they all did things that Martin liked to do: swimming, climbing on trees, searching for creatures… however, the excess of MKs started to be… too much for everyone.
Laura got surprised by receiving a bouquet from one of the Martins, but another came with chocolates, the other with stuffed creatures.
Zach took a look out the window of his mansion, and gasped as he saw the millions of Martins running around. Immediately, he drew close the curtains.
With members of the team, they were a bit shocked to have three to five Martins around them.
"Don't tell me he messed with the multiplicator," Aviva complained. Ventus looked over to see the invention broken.
"Yup." His girlfriend sighed.
"Martin William Kratt..." she mumbled.
"Yes?" three Martins asked.
"Not YOU!" Ven answered, making the Martins disperse in fright. "Oops..." He shied off, as everyone stared at him.
Martin (the original) walked around the city, but once he witnessed the mess his clones caused, he gulped in nervousness.
"Oh, my gosh. I gotta find some help!" he yelled at himself. "But... what if people can't tell me apart from them?" He looked down into a nearby puddle. "We have the same jacket, shorts, boots, eyes... even the stripes! I don't even know if… I'm the original anymore!" Martin collapsed on the floor, nearly in a state of shock, as the Martin clones ran around in their happy-go-lucky way.
Aviva tried fixing the Multiplicator. It was pratically on the fritz.
"I can't believe that bozo did this! I should have known I should have waited to show it to everyone."
"Well, he said he wanted to do much stuff in the city," Chris commented. "And watch your tongue, okay? He had the best of intentions."
"Just because he can't do the 'D' word."
"The 'D' word?" Sam asked.
"Decide," the Kratts answered. Then, Laura ran in, panting.
"I do appreciate the gifts the… Martins gave me, but… looks too excessive, even for him," Laura admitted, while chewing on the chocolates. "What? I eat when I'm nervous too."
"Don't worry, though, you guys. Luckily, M.A.T.I. and I had programmed in a reset option that will make the copies disappear." Aviva showed them the upgrade in the machine, as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.
"That's just what we need, querida!" Ventus cheered.
"But there's a problem," M.A.T.I. pointed out. "If we don't choose wisely, we might make the real Martin disappear... forever!"
"Forever?!" Chris, Laura and Ven exclaimed. Laura eventually fainted, and was caught by Tania. Her chocolates fell to the ground.
"Oh dear... That's a waste of chocolate," the brunette with glasses commented.
Aviva and Chris walked among the havoc caused by the Martins.
"That origins decoder I was going to install into the machine later would've really helped at this moment. But since Martin used it before I could, it won't work."
"So that puts a dent in the idea."
"Oh, boy, this is gonna be something very hard! We can't risk erasing the real Martin from existence. But we have to get rid of these clones. So how will we know which is the real one?"
"What about that one right there?" Chris pointed at the depressed one seated under a tree.
"Come on Chris, Martin never sits down for that long unless he's at the table eating."
"Aviva, you may be smart, but you still don't know THAT much about Martin. Even he has his limits." Chris sternly stared at her. Then, he walked up to the pouting Martin. "Hey, do you think you're the real Martin?"
"Who knows? It could be any one of us," Martin sighed.
"Uh… okay..." Chris stepped away, turning to Aviva. "Hm… if only we could do something that could show the real Martin..."
"Like… a test?" Aviva wondered. "One of the few things Martin dislikes in the world?"
"But one that could prove the real Martin wants to stay with us..." Chris had an idea. "Reunite everyone in the Tortuga, and try reuninting all the Martins you can! Stat!" He turned to the Martin under the tree, but he was already gone.
As fast as Aviva could clean the place messed up by Martin and his clones, the team found a way to attract them all: cookies.
"There's no other thing a Martin can't resist than candy."
"Especially Jimmy's chiparoos," Koki added, as she saw every single Martin entering the Tortuga. "Good thing we just made them."
"Well, now that all of you are here-"
"Wait!" Ven called, pulling a for-some-reason sad Martin by the hand. "There's one more. Found him sitting at the pond just poking the water and staring at his reflection."
"Put him in the middle of the others," Aviva said.
"NO!" Chris called. "Put him here in the first line where I can see him."
As Ventus placed him in the first line, Chris stared at him. Something deep within him was telling him that sad one was his brother. His REAL one.
"The sad one again… you don't really think THIS one is..."
"Let's do the test, and see who's right," Chris interrupted Aviva.
"Okay, guys, we have a challenge for you."
"A challenge?!" the Martins (except the one, who stayed quiet) exclaimed happily.
"And it's an easy one."
"Boring!" they groaned, though the sad one's eyes then sparked with hope.
"You better take it seriously," Chris pointed out. "Because the winner gets to stay." The oddball stood tall, waiting to hear what the challenge could be.
"The challenge is... a Quiet Challenge!" the Air couple announced.
"WHAT?!" the Martins gasped. The oddball gulped in nervousness, though no sound came out.
"Okay! Timer's ready, and..." Ven waited for it before hitting the button. "GO!" The room was immediately silent. The clones looked around the Tortuga, trying hard not to speak. The peculiar Martin looked at his competition. Some were actually starting to sweat from trying not to talk. He had to mentally chuckle at that.
'This quiet game might be easier than I thought,' he said in his head.
"Ooh! A bluebird!" one of the Martins said, looking out the window.
"Now, M.A.T.I.!" Aviva gave the word. M.A.T.I. activated the specific function and it made the Martin vanish in a blue light.
Martin mentally gulped. 'Maybe it won't be so easy," he thought. 'Ooooh, what would Chris do if he's in this situation? Okay, this is about patience. Patience to keep your voice and opinions in. Chris learned that a while back. But what does he do that's quiet? Wait! Of course! He meditates!'
The blond took a deep breath and exhaled calmly. He sat down quietly cross legged and closed his eyes.
"That can't be him. He's not even sweating," Aviva whispered. "And he doesn't meditate a lot either."
"Just keep calm and carry on, okay?" Chris said.
"Oh hi, Bite-Size!" One of the Martins waved, seeing the bat flying around. Zap!
"Wanna see a funny trick?" Other Martin said, playing the coin trick with another Martin.
"Huh?" Zap! Zap!
"Bet you can't hold your breath longer than me!" a Martin was challenging several others.
Zap zap zap zap zap zap zap ZAP! M.A.T.I. wiped some sweat off her forehead. Sam actually gave her a worried look.
Soon, there were only two Martins left. The one standing was starting to sweat. The one meditating just breathed calmly. Neither made a sound. Everyone just watched. Jimmy and Koki were starting to fall asleep.
"Ugh... alright, that's it!" Koki stood up. "Who's up for a new Creature Power?"
"ME! ME!"
Zap! And the second to last one was gone.
Chris smiled happily. He got it right: that Martin that never said one word even before the challenge was his brother. He looked at Aviva.
"Okay, okay, I admit it. I don't know your brother better than you," Aviva sighed in defeat. "Happy?"
"You bet." Chris smiled at Martin, making Aviva smile.
"Martin, hello in there." HIS bro snapped out of his concentration and cracked an eye open. "Martin, you can talk now." He opened his other eye at that.
"Huh?"
"You won, bro." Martin looked around him. The clones were gone.
"I knew it. I knew somehow you were the real one. You may joke a lot... but even you know when to take things seriously."
"Yeah... Chris is right. I'm sorry, Martin. I'm just so used to your silly behavior I forgot you can also be serious."
"Hm… I'll take the silly as a compliment. And it's okay, Aviva. Not always are you the big Smarty-Mc-Genius around here. And I owe you an apology for using your duplicator so much. I just didn't want to choose between my best friends and my girl."
"It's okay for me if you want to spent time with them. I know how important they are to you," Laura said. "Plus, I also can join the fun, can't I?"
"Sure thing, Laura. There's always room for one more."
"I'm me! I'm ME! I'M ME!" Martin cheered. "Am I?" He saw his sprigs moving. "Yeah, I am." Everyone laughed.
Martin (voice over): "It's alright to choose between your friends, because they respect your choice. I was afraid of breaking someone's heart with my choice… but friends always find a way of joining in."
By the end of the day, after helping fix the havoc his clones caused, Martin was exhausted.
"Well, he had a really busy day," Ventus commented.
"And he's not the only one." Chris yawned. "Excuse, gotta sleep for 1,000 years."
"And I need to refill my tank before taking another nap," Jimmy commented.
"I'll just be here by Martin's side," Laura said. Then, she saw Martin snoring by her side, and he had the velvet covered box, with the ring in it.
She got the message, and after wiping a tear of joy from her eye, she carefully picked the ring up, laying her head close to his.
"I do..." She whispered to him, before falling asleep.
