"I believe the lab is downstairs." Mo said to the others.
"Then let's go downstairs." Atticus replied.
They soon walked down the steps while Flux slid down the banister as they came to the lab to see the engineer.
"Hello?!" A dodo bird called out to them.
"I assume you are the engineer?" Lionel asked.
"That would be me, but I've lost my glasses!" The flustered bird replied. "Oh, where can they be?"
"You lost your glasses?" Mo asked.
"I'm afraid so!" The dodo told her.
"Have you checked your pockets?" asked Lionel.
"I have no idea!" The dodo bird replied. "Oh, I wish I knew..."
"I think what Lionel means is, LOOK IN YOUR POCKET!" Flux told him.
"Oh! Okay!" The dodo smiled and soon checked his pocket before finally finding his glasses and putting them on. "My glasses! I wonder who put them there? Say, do I know you?"
"We came to ask about the...Cuteifier." Lionel explained.
"Oh, you're here to help!" The dodo bird smiled. "Wonderful! Welcome to Team Happy! Let me show you what I've been working on."
"Thanks, Mr... Uh...?" Mo blinked.
"Oh! My name is Bricabrac." The dodo bird told them.
"Nice to meet'cha, Bricabrac!" Lionel replied.
"Good to meet you too!" Bricabrac smiled. "Now, let me show you what I've been working on."
They soon saw the blueprint for the machine.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the blueprint for Nefarious's Malevator!" Bricabrac announced. "Now then... You see the 12 things installed inside the ship's deck; the whistles, the dagger, and whatnot? Well, they power Nefarious's malevolation beam. We need 12 things to power the beam on our machine, but so far, I've only been able to find one."
"So we need to find different things to make it a Cuteifier?" Atticus suggested.
"Correct!" Bricabrac replied. "Pretty much the opposite of these right here!"
"So, the opposite of salt, a rock, spice, a dagger, stripes, a heart, whistles, polish, needles, bolts, a ball, and a bow." Cherry observed.
"Sounds like fun." Lionel replied.
"Well... I guess a scavenger hunt for the missing parts shouldn't take too long," Drew said, taking the blueprint from the dodo bird. "We already have the blueprint, at least we know what to get."
"Not that easy!" Bricabrac replied. "Use the same 12 things, get another maleovation beam, see? What we need are 12 different things, things of a different nature. Things that will produce the reverse effect."
"You said one thing worked," Cherry said. "What might that be?"
"Why, yes," Bricabrac said, showing them the blueprint again. "The thing that seems to work is sugar! It works when I put it right there, where the spice is in Nefarious's machine."
"Figures..." Lionel replied.
"Why?" Atticus wondered.
"I haven't a clue!" Bricabrac told him.
"Well, Bricabrac, we better go," Drew decided. "The sooner we get those missing parts, the better for all of us."
"Yeah! Hang on, cuz we're up, over, and GONE!" Lionel replied as he revved up his feet like Sonic.
"Oh, that reminds me," Bricabrac said, stopping him briefly. "I want to give you something that may help."
"A backpack?" Cherry guessed.
"No, silly!" Bricabrac chuckled. "A bottomless bag to carry all parts in! Trademark from Wakko Warner."
"Or Felix the Cat." Lionel replied.
"That too!" Bricabrac smiled.
"Thank you, Bricabrac." Drew smiled back.
"Splendid!" Bricabrac beamed. "And please, feel free to come back here anytime! We can install different things into the Cutifier to see if they work... Or... We can just talk. Okay?"
Everyone nodded as they left.
"Thank you, new friends!" Bricabrac smiled. "And good luck!"
They soon left the laboratory, going into the hallway, and came to the door, but...
"The door is locked!" Drew cried out. "Do you think King Hugh wants us to stay out of there?"
"Maybe," Lionel replied. "Or maybe His Royal Smiley-ness has some skeletons in the ol' closet!"
"Personally, I've always viewed a locked door as an invitation!" Flux smiled.
"Well, we might as well go outside if anything." Cherry shrugged.
"Okay, then." The group replied as they went outside.
They soon passed by the armadillo guards who were still there.
"Might as well get going." Lionel replied.
"Onward!" Atticus proclaimed.
They ended up in what looked like a downtown plaza with shops on both sides of the path. Flux wandered around with a smile as they explored the new world.
"Where do we go, I wonder?" Lionel asked.
"Hard to say." Atticus said.
"Well, I could go for a drink!" Flux told them as he went into the Irish bar.
"Okay then!" Lionel replied. "Wassay we join ya?"
They soon came into the bar as it seemed calm and quiet.
"Typical!" Flux snorted. "In Cutopia, even an Irish Pub is about as rowdy as a tea room."
"I don't know, Flux," Drew shrugged. "I think that mouse over there would disagree with you. Look at him!"
The mouse was hopping around, making mischief and causing trouble.
"He's really getting into his mischief." Lionel noted.
"Away with ye!" The bartender cried out to the mouse. "Shoo!"
The mouse, of course, did not leave and soon ran all around the bar and bounced around like a psychopath.
"Must be friends with that tricky Sledgehammer O'Possum from What a Cartoon!." Cherry muttered.
"Maybe we could find a way to stop him," Lionel replied, sitting at the pipe organ. "But how?"
"Um... Hey." Atticus said to the bartender.
"Hello, and welcome!" The bartender greeted. "So glad you could make it to me lovely establishment! My, you're lookin' awfully guid today! Magic weather, isn't it?"
"Um... Yeah... Are you Scottish or Irish...?" Cherry asked out of confusion as he was a shamrock with a kilt.
"Ah, yes, thank ye for noticin'," The bartender smiled to her. "A lot of folks can't tell the difference. It's my ancestry, y'see. I'm half Irish and half Scottish!"
"That WOULD explain it..." Lionel replied.
"And all cheese!" Flux smiled.
"Aye, that's right!" The bartender nodded. "I suppose ye could say I'm a bit of a hunk! A hunk of cheese, hoo-hoo!"
Cherry groaned from that slightly.
"Moldy, if you ask me." Lionel sighed.
"Well, he certainly seems to have the luck of the Irish." Drew commented.
"Yeah, this place is a bit lively." Mo added.
"Oh, I'm sure it has everything to do with the tavern's tasteful décor." Flux muttered.
"If you say so." Lionel shrugged.
"The shamrock motif is really original..." Cherry rolled her eyes.
"Oh, that's very kind of ye all to say," The bartender smiled. "Very kind! Although... I do have one eentsy little problem."
"Oh? What's eatin' you, laddie?" Flux asked in a forced accent.
"Well, that's just it, y'see!" The bartender told them. "There's a moose loose about in this hoose!"
"You say there's a mouse in here?" asked Lionel.
"Aye!" The bartender nodded.
"Ohh... A mouse..." The others replied, now understanding.
"Aye! A moose!" The bartender told them.
"What to do?" Lionel asked as he began playing the pipe organ.
Cherry soon sat with him before drumming her fingertips on the keyboard a bit. The music was a bit peppy and upbeat as the mouse seemed to dance from it. Patch and Furrball began to dance like Snoopy.
"He's distracted!" Lionel remarked as he began to ramp up his playing, getting jazzier with it.
Cherry soon jumped down, grabbing the mouse by its tail with a smirk.
"We got it!" Lionel exclaimed.
"Hello, mouse." Cherry smirked.
The mouse soon blew a raspberry against her glasses' frame.
"Ugh..." Cherry groaned from that before taking out a mallet from nowhere and bopped him on the head with it on the floor.
"Cherry, don't kill the mouse!" Patch gasped from that.
"Chillax!" Lionel replied. "He's just dizzy!"
Patch breathed in relief.
"You can talk?" Drew asked Patch.
"...It's... Complicated..." Patch smiled nervously.
"Yeah," Lionel replied. "I don't know how to explain cuz I don't know either."
"I guess that makes about as much sense as everything else going on now." Drew said.
"Take that, you wascally wodent!" Flux smirked to the mouse.
"That was magic, by the way!" The bartender smiled to their help.
"Um...yeah." Lionel replied.
"I never meant for our wee pal to get bopped though!" The bartender said.
"Oh, don't worry," Flux smiled. "As soon as we bend his skull back into shape, I'm sure he'll be just fine."
"Ah, I suppose yer right," The bartender shrugged. "Perhaps it is for the best. Thank ye, friends; for makin' me tavern a peaceful, and happy place again. Oh! And without further ado, here's your reward, my friends." he then handed them an old mug.
"An old mug?" Lionel asked. "Uh...thanks."
"An old mug?!" Cherry ranted. "That's our reward?!"
"I know, I know, it's maybe too much, isn't it?" The bartender replied. "But please... Take it! I insist! All of ya have earned it, so ya have!"
"What are we gonna do with an old piece of junk?!" Cherry glared.
"Everything has a use!" Lionel explained.
"Thank ye very much!" The bartender smiled.
Cherry grumbled as they soon went back into the town center.
"It's better than nothing." Atticus told Cherry.
"Maybe we can spray-paint it gold and pass it off as some fancy trophy!" Lionel suggested.
"Hmm... Maybe..." Cherry replied.
"Now what?" Mo wondered before looking to a shop.
The group all did some pondering. Furrball soon began to tease the mouse before laughing to himself. The mouse yanked off his whisker before trying to run away.
"Yaugh!" Furrball whimpered, cupping his face with his front paws.
"Going somewhere?" Cherry glared, holding the mouse in her hand.
The mouse squeaked something rude at her.
"Button it, Mickey," Lionel snapped, flicking his nose. "Or else I squash you flat."
The mouse just glared at them all.
"Ooh!" Cherry beamed. "Guys! There's a video game arcade!"
"Okay, I guess we could go in and check it out." Lionel replied.
"I just hope there's enough time." Patch said.
They soon came to check out the video game arcade.
"Good day, kind sir," Drew said to the octopus who flicked a coin like a cartoon conman. "My name's Drew Blanc, and this is Flux Wildly, along with Cherry Butler, Atticus Fudo, Mo Brown, Lionel Schwartz, and Furrball and Patch."
"You forgot Sora, Donald, and Goofy." Cherry joked.
"Wrong game!" Lionel replied. "Anyways...we're lookin' to play some...games."
"Oh, gee, in here?" The octopus smirked sardonically. "It's a flower shop! Only we're fresh out of flowers."
"Wow, he doesn't seem as obliviously friendly as the other Cutetopians." Cherry said.
"Clearly he's not a Cutetopian," Lionel replied. "He's from Zanydu. Only those characters could be so tenaciously snippy."
"Guess you guys ain't useless after all, huh?" The octopus smirked. "Okay, okay, so you found me out."
"Yeah, hey, I remember you!" Flux told him. "How come you left the homeland?"
"Eh, business sucked," The octopus replied. "It's not easy to con a Zany. Everyone's a wise guy."
"So you moved here since the Cutetopians are easier targets." Mo replied.
"But of course!" The octopus smirked. "It ain't glamorous, but it's a livin'."
"Rippin' off Cutetopians," Flux remarked. "Why, that's just downright... Inspired! You need a partner?"
"He's speaking theoretically of course." Drew quickly added.
"Yeah!" Lionel replied.
"I am?" Flux asked.
"Well, theoretically speaking... NO!" The octopus replied.
"Well, you gave it a shot." Cherry shrugged.
"A pointless shot, but it was worth it." Mo added.
"If you ask me, conning the ultra-gullible doesn't sound like a particularly rewarding career," Drew soon said. "Where's the challenge? Where's the joy? Now, in my line of work-...Uh, but enough about me. This is about your career mistake."
"Drew, are you nuts?" Flux replied. "Old fish-face here is a genius; he's got it made!"
"Oh, yeah, made in the shade!" The octopus said. "Except for the eentsy little fact that I gotta live here in Cutopia; which means I gotta kiss sweet, little, furry Cutopian butt! 'Well, hello, friend! Aren't the flowers lovely this time of year? Happy day! Happy Day!'."
Cherry soon cupped her mouth as her face turned sickly green.
"She gets it." The octopus replied.
"So, uh, what about that King Hugh?" Drew asked. "I mean, you gotta love him! I mean, you do... Gotta... Love him, right?"
"Oh, he's the happiest, kindest king in all of Cutopia!" The octopus replied. "I salute him! ...To tell ya the truth, the guy's way too happy. Makes me wanna puke. So you wanna play some games or what?"
"Well...okay!" Lionel replied.
"Hmm... A strengthometer... I like it here already." Atticus smirked.
"Me too!" Patch agreed.
"Gonna need your mallet." the octopus replied, handing him a rubber mallet.
"Hmm... Kinda small... No matter though..." Atticus said, taking the mallet and soon hit the machine, but due to the mallet being made of rubber, it bounced, hitting him in the head, making him see stars, and the level barely raised.
"That isn't right." Mo glared from the ranking of the game.
The octopus soon chuckled as Atticus saw that the hammer was 100% rubber.
"Tough luck, buddy." the octopus snickered.
"Good effort, Atticus," Flux commented. "Even though you failed, I admire you for giving it your best shot. I don't know him! I've never seen him before in my life!"
"That's something I expected Cherry to say." Atticus replied.
"He beat me to it," Cherry replied. "Besides, that octopus clearly rigged the game."
"Maybe I oughta take a whack at it?" Lionel asked.
"Well, if ya think you're up for it, kiddo." The octopus smirked to Lionel.
Lionel swapped the rubber mallet for a very heavy one, but did it too quickly for anyone to see. He gave a few practice swings, and then slammed it down onto the plank. Cherry ducked down as the bells were rung and shot right off of the game, but soon some hit her in the head as she saw birds, falling flat on the floor. She then glared, waking up and swatted them away and they flew away.
"What?! That's impossible!" The octopus cried out. "I mean, uh... Well, well... Congratu-freakin'-lations. Eh, don't think I'm impressed. You know what they say about guys who need big mallets."
"Yeah, well I know how to use it, too," Lionel replied. "Fine game ya got here, pal. Too bad Nefarious might zorch your customers and make 'em wise to your operations."
"Eh, yeah, that is a bit unfortunate," The octopus said to him before giving him a bottle. "Here's a grand prize: a bottle of Chablis."
"Cool! Fancy wine!" Lionel replied as he grabbed the prize. "Thanks, and we'll see you around!"
"Hey, this isn't Chablis!" Drew remarked. "It says it's 'Captain Blowhard's Prune Wine'?!"
The others grimaced from the mention of prunes.
"Yeah, and I hope ya all choke on it!" The octopus chuckled.
Lionel snorted. "Real nice guy. Makes Cruella's brats seem lovable."
They soon left the arcade, taking their prize with them as they wandered around, wondering where to go next.
"Well...wonder where we should head to next?" Patch asked.
"I guess we could take a look further around?" Cherry suggested.
They wandered down the path before they saw a bunny hopping over.
"It's Fluffy Fluffy Bun Bun in a big hurry!" Drew remarked.
"Maybe she's late for a very important date." Flux smirked.
"Maybe we can get some info from her," Lionel suggested. "I'll try talking to the little fuzzball."
"Have fun with that." Cherry replied.
Lionel cleared his throat and approached the rabbit. "Hello there...you're, um...Fluffy Fluffy Bun Bun, right?" he asked.
"That's me!" Fluffy replied before laughing in a sickly sweet way.
Lionel glanced from left to right, awkwardly. "Right. Well...call me Ray. Nice to meet'cha. How are you today, Fluffy?" he asked.
"I'm fuzzy 'n fluffy 'n cute 'n cuddly, and I just couldn't be happier!" Fluffy gushed. "Oops-see, I just told an itty bitty fib! You see, ever since that bad, bad Mr. Nefarious started messing up Cutopia with his nasty machine, I've just been an eentsy bit cranky! THAT NASTY MAN IS RUINING EVERYTHING! Just look at my meadow! NASTY, NASTY, NASTY! IT'S JUST NOT FAAAAAAIR!"
"Well...Fluffy," Lionel continued. "You needn't worry any more, because we're on a mission to stop that bad ol' Nefarious and make everything how it used to be!"
"Oh, well that just makes my day all the better!" Fluffy beamed. "Anyway, I'm being a big old grouchy pants! I should be welcoming you. Welcome! Welcome!"
"Thanks, Fluffy," Lionel shook her paw. "See ya around!"
"Oh, boo-hoo, it's always sad to see friends leave!" Fluffy pouted before smiling again. "Oh, well... Ooh, I'd love to give the whole wide world a great big Fluffy Fluffy Bun Bun hug! Wouldn't you?"
"Sure," Lionel replied as he hugged her. "And don't worry. Chances are we'll end up running into you again!"
"Okey dokey!" Fluffy smiled before letting out her nauseatingly cute laugh.
Lionel finished hugging her, then put her down with a pat on the head, and stepped back to the group. "Well, that's over with." he remarked.
Cherry seemed to pass out.
"Uh... Is she okay?" Lionel asked.
"Sugar Coma." Atticus said in a knowing tone of voice.
Lionel reached down and put her over his shoulder. "Let's go back to the castle. I think we might be able to find some stuff there."
Cherry blinked and looked up to him. "I'm really curious what's behind that locked door..."
"Same here," Lionel nodded. "So let's go find out."
They soon walked off back to the castle.