"My terms are fairly simple…" Professor Pester's acid eyes scanned the crowd and then the shocked judges and competitors. "For the safe return of Avalon Pendragonache, I would like a ransom. An enormous ransom. Twelve crates of candy and twenty crates of Chocolate Coins!" Pester's grin widened. "Not those paltry copper coins either. Big gold ones. I need to fund a new…project."

"I REFUSE to contribute!" Lottie yelled from the ground as she clutched her wounded hip.

"I wasn't asking you, woman," Pester's enormous eyes glared right at Lottie and she felt a chill run up her spine. She usually had nerves of steel, but Professor Pester staring you down on an enormous Jumbo-Tron would be too much for anyone to take.

"Avalon is one of Piñata Central's most successful gardeners," Professor Pester chuckled. "It's sickening how much care and effort she puts into that garden of hers. Without her, Piñata Central's success will plummet and her wonderful garden will fall into disrepair!"
"Oh NO!" Langston gasped. The very thought of his system collapsing…that was enough to make him want to puke up every last sweet in his candy cavity!

"The sooner you get me the ransom, the better!" Professor Pester burst into cackling laughter. "Avalon's stay won't exactly be…comfortable, if you know what I mean!"

And with that, the gigantic television screen switched off, leaving the entire crowd in a stunned silence…which Yoto quickly broke.

"God DAMN IT!" Yoto kicked the stage and immediately regretted that decision. "Why didn't anyone do anything? WHY did we all just sit around like lumps? We NEED to save Avalon!"

"Pester's enormous head on that screen was more than a bit distracting…" Seedos grumbled as he stepped off the stage.

"Wh-what is everyone waiting for?" Leena's voice was actually loud and choked with sobs. "We need to start gathering the money together! We can't just let Avalon…we can't let her…ahh!" Leena slammed her head into the judging table and her cries grew louder.

Yen gave Leena a tentative pat on her shoulder. "Eddie," Yen fixed his blue eyes on the catatonic emcee. "Don't you have that money? Can't you put a stop to this?"

"I…this…" Eddie dropped to his knees, his eyes so wide that they looked ready to pop out. He couldn't believe a disaster liked this happened at his P-Factor. What if Avalon sued? She was pretty darn rich herself; she could ruin them if she wanted to! Not to mention what this would do to the P-Factor's reputation…

So much for second chances. Eddie would have to give his father another talking-to about villains later! He would have a Moozipan when he learned what happened…all the more to worry about…

"No, no one will need to pay anything!" Storkos leapt onto the stage and planted her hands on her hips. "I'll take it upon myself to bring Avalon back, safe and sound, and no one will have to pay a single chocolate coin or a single piece of caramel!"

The formerly grumbling crowd erupted into cheers.

Yoto gasped as a thought entered his head. If he offered to help Storkos…he could work side-by-side with her! He could spend hours upon hours with the girl of his dreams, conspiring to save his best friend! He had to offer his assistance!

He practically leapt onto the stage next to Storkos. "And I'm gonna help!" He imitated her heroic pose, his lapel mic making his voice soar loudly over the crowd's noise.

The cheers ceased as quickly as they had started.

Everyone cast disbelieving eyes on him.

"Oh, come on!" Yoto frowned. "You all heard about what I did in the alternate universe! Eddie can vouch for me! Can't you, Eddie?" Yoto looked over at Eddie, who had devolved into lying onto his side on the floor, tears in the corners of his eyes and his mouth still gaping open.

"Eddie appears to have turned into a fish," Yoto frowned and pointed at Seedos. "He can vouch for me, though! So can Patch!"

Patch turned a little pink. "Actually, someone else saved-" He was interrupted when Bart covered his mouth.

"Painting Dastardos as a hero in this situation will only confuse, boy," Bart grumbled into Patch's ear. Patch turned even pinker and nodded.

"Please let me help you, Storkos," Yoto folded his hands under his chin and gave her a pleading look. "Avalon is my best friend. I won't sleep at night if I knew I couldn't do anything to help her!"

"Oh, Yoto…" Storkos let a small smile cross her face and she shook her head. "Of course you can help me. I'll need a brainstorming partner anyway."

It took everything in Yoto's power not to faint or jump in the air and yell "WOOOO-HOOOO!"

Instead, he took a step forward and smiled into Storkos' eyes. "Thank you, I really appreciate it! We'll get Avvie back, safe and sound!"
"You heard him, folks!" Storkos turned to face the crowd and draped an arm around Yoto. Every nerve in his body electrified to attention. "We'll work day and night until Avalon is safely returned! And we'll make sure Pester gets the pounding he deserves!" Storkos pumped her fist in the air and the audience cheered again.

Once the cheers died down and the reassured audience began to leave the building, Storkos felt a tug on her skirt. It was Leena, her eyeband sopping wet and her cheeks stained with tears. Despite that, she was smiling.

"Th-thank you, Storkos. Avalon…means a lot to me…" Leena looked down at her feet. All that cheering…Leena felt like she was talking to a celebrity. She hoped she wasn't bugging Storkos.

It was quite the contrary. Leena's concern just motivated Storkos all the more. Leena loved Avalon…the thought of Leena's joy if Storkos safely returned her friend was an amazingly inspirational mental picture. Storkos stepped off the stage and pulled Leena into a hug. "I won't let them lay a finger on her, I promise."

When Yen heard that, he took off his lapel mic and left it behind on the judging table.

"You can't promise that," Yen drawled as he walked over. That choked Leena up again and she buried her face into Storkos' shoulder.

Seedos gave Yen a hard punch in the arm. "What the heck was that for? You are not helping!" Seedos hissed through clenched teeth.

"It's called 'being realistic,' Seedos," Yen blew a lock of hair out of his eyes. "For all we know, Avalon could come home with all of her limbs chopped off or impregnated with some kind of evil spawn. Pester is unpredictable. Dastardos is unpredictable." Yen might have been facing Seedos, but he had a faraway look and it seemed like he was looking right through him. "I want her to be okay. But it's not likely." With that, Yen shoved his hands in his pockets and walked off.

Seedos raised a brow at Yen's sudden departure. He had no idea he was so dark-minded…not to mention Seedos had never heard Yen talk so much in his entire life.

"Good luck," Yen whispered to Storkos and Yoto as he walked by them. "You need it."

Meanwhile, Eddie still wasn't sure what had just happened and Petula had helped lift him into a chair.

"You okay?" Petula asked, folding her arms. "Your face is all, like, snotty."

"I can't believe this happened…I can't believe it…" Eddie shook his head. He had been saying pretty much nothing but that since the incident occurred.

From the crowd of exiting audience, a young woman with bouncy white-blonde hair and an exceptionally swirly blue mask came bounding down the aisles. She had a tape recorder in her hand and an enormous grin on her face.

"Eddie Lizard?" Her voice was extraordinarily high pitched and she seemed terribly excited for someone who had just witnessed a kidnapping. "Gigi Gabbins, reporter for the Island Inquirer, and I just witnessed something truly front-page worthy! My photographer got a load of pics, and we're looking forward to raising awareness! Any comments?" She clicked her tape recorder on and she burst into an expectant grin.

"I…can't believe this happened!" Eddie burst into tears again and buried his face in his hands. Great, now there were reporters. If the P-Factor went under, his life would be over.

"Why do you allow villains here in the first place? Why trust Dastardos, of all people? What was your relationship with Avalon Pendragonache?"

A black-haired, bespectacled young man with a full face mask stumbled up behind her, a camera in his hand. "Good, Andy, you're here! Take some shots during this interview!" Gigi gave her photographer an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder and turned her attention back to Eddie.

Eddie sighed deeply. He didn't have the energy to run away. He'd just have to grin and bear it…

Petula, on the other hand, was delighted to be a part of this interview…not to mention in the background of front page photos in the paper!

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Meanwhile, Dastardos was having more than a bit of trouble with his grand escape.

He was surprised a shovel-toting mob didn't follow him. Heh. Avalon must not be that popular. No wonder; she was one of the bitchiest people Dastardos could think of.

Cid, Avalon's enormous Crowla, did give chase, though. Victor had taken off after Cid, but Cid still circled around Dastardos' head and dizzied him quite a bit.

Crowlas always made Dastardos uneasy. They were very good at moving just right in order to send Dastardos' one good eye spinning. He was so easily distracted and he HATED it!

He hated Crowlas for another reason, too. Back in the day, one of Jardiniero's Crowlas had hopped right up to Stardos and decided it would get a cackle out of biting him right in the balls.

Needless to say, Dastardos was happy he was invulnerable nowadays.

There goes the mind wandering again! UGH! He had to get Avalon to Pester's lair, and FAST!

"It's the dead of night…" Dastardos said to no one in particular. "So no one will see me…everyone's at the P-Factor freaking out…if only I could get rid of this-" Cid thumped Dastardos in the back. It didn't hurt, but it was still annoying as hell. "-FUCKING BIRD!" Dastardos would have shaken his fist at Cid if he wasn't too busy carrying Avalon. Damn, she was heavy! Weren't ladies supposed to be light and soft or something? What the hell kind of lady was this?

Must be weighed down with the sheer amount of bitchiness she harbored within.

"VICTOR!" Dastardos shouted over his shoulder at his Vulchurro. "KNOCK THAT FUCKING BIRD'S HEAD OFF OR I'LL KNOCK OFF YOURS!"

Victor complied; he dove right towards Cid and both of them crumbled to the ground in a mess of wings and confetti. Dastardos heard tearing paper and he smirked to himself. He didn't actually give a Mousemallow's ass about the Vulchurro. He just used him as a reason to participate in the P-Factor and torment everyone. Losing Victor wouldn't be a big deal. He just had to get this bitch to Pester and he would be set for a long, long time! Pester would be so busy holding her for ransom that he wouldn't have time to boss Dastardos around! Sweet deal. Lazing around with Magnar and only going to newbie gardens for a while would be quite the vacation.

Victor, on the other hand, wouldn't be relaxing any time soon; he was still caught up in his scrap with Avalon's Crowla. Cid lost a wing in his scrap with Victor, but he tore off both of Victor's wings and took out a big chunk of his chest in the process. Cid called as loud as he could in his frustration. There was no way he could get Avalon now…or go anywhere! He hoped by some miracle someone would happen by…and soon! He was in quite a bit of pain…

Dastardos could see Pester's volcano coming up on the horizon. So close he could almost feel the heat of the lava radiating off of it!

That was when Avalon stirred in his arms. Dastardos stopped in mid-air and just looked at her in horror. She couldn't wake up yet! He had to make sure she was in the cage first! She could easily wrench herself out of Dastardos' arms!

Damn, knew I should have hit her harder… Dastardos huffed as Avalon's eyes fluttered open.

She could barely see and her head was throbbing. She saw the outline of a twisted mask and a glowing pair of eyes, though. She glared as much as her woozy head would allow and whispered "Yew…" before shutting her eyes again. Her head lolled over Dastardos' arm once more and he couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief.

"Yew…" Dastardos mocked her accent as he began to head toward the volcano. "What the hell did she mean by 'yew?' There was no way she saw this coming!"

Dastardos smirked down at Avalon's sleeping face as he began to ascend the ramp around the volcano. "Well, Prissy McBitch, I bet you'll have tons of fun hanging around with Pester. My condolences…"

There was a grain of truth in Dastardos' statement. He wouldn't wish being held hostage on Pester on his worst enemy.

VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP

Meanwhile, Gigi, the pushy reporter who had been harassing Eddie a few minutes before, had moved on to Storkos and Yoto. She flitted around them like a very excited Robean, her tape recorder in hand.

"Do you have a plan? Have you two worked together before? How do you feel about Avalon? How do you feel about each other? Where'd you get that lovely dress, Storkos? When exactly are you going to go after Avalon? How does it feel to be taking on two villains and God knows how many Ruffians?" Gigi finally sucked in an enormous breath. "Take a photo of our heroes, Andy!" Her photographer snapped a picture of Yoto and Storkos looking very bewildered.

Storkos wasn't sure which question to answer first, but Yoto found his voice and stepped forward before she could answer a single one.

"We'll get Avvie back, I'll do it if it kills me," Yoto's voice and expression were dead serious for once in his life. He shoved away Gigi's tape recorder. "Don't make a big deal out of this, lady! Storkos doesn't need the stress and neither do I!"

Gigi gaped at Yoto as if he had just chopped up her entire family in front of her and proceeded to drink their digestive juices right from the source.

"C'mon, Gi," her photographer jostled her fluffy-sleeved shoulder. "We got more than enough information from Eddie."

"But I wanna learn about the heroics!" Gigi stomped a high-heeled foot and pouted.

"Tell you what…" Storkos gave the reporters a thin smile. "Once the heroics are actually done, I'll give you an exclusive."

"Really?" Gigi's eyes lit up like two mini moon lamps and she pulled Storkos into an enormous hug. "Thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU! If this goes well, I smell a promotion~!" Gigi giggle-cackled and grabbed onto Andy's sleeve. "Let's get out of here~!"

With that, she flounced off, dragging her photographer behind her.

"Whew, thank God she's gone," Yoto sighed and flopped down onto the judging table.

The entire P-Factor Hall was empty now, apart from Yoto, Storkos, and Seedos. The lips of Seedos' enormous mask were pursed and he was looking at the soon to be "heroes" with uncertainty.

"What's with the face, Seedos?" Yoto asked as he swung his leg a bit.

"Bro…" Storkos sighed and rested a hand on her cheek. "I thought I told you to go home an hour ago. You need some sleep. Why are you still here?"

"Are you sure you two can do this?" Seedos folded his arms and narrowed his enormous eyes at Yoto. "This is a giant thing to take on, especially without a plan! You do have a plan, right?"

Storkos and Yoto looked at each other briefly and then shook their heads.

"I didn't have a plan when I saved you in the other universe, though!" Yoto burst into a grin. "That worked out just peachy!"

"Yes, but you had help!" Seedos huffed. "You two can't just charge in there without a plan. Who knows what Pester will have prepared!"

"Like what?" Storkos asked, leaning up against the judging table close to Yoto. Yoto bit his lip and carefully crossed his legs.

"I dunno-villain stuff!" Seedos waved his arms around as if that would better help him think. "A Ruffian army! A Sour army! Traps! Torture devices! A Sour Dragonache!"

"Don't be silly, Seedos, there's no such thing!" Storkos chuckled and dismissed her brother with a flick of her hand. "Look, Yoto and I both have experience, we'll figure something out…and we'll do it fast!"

"Heck yeah we will!" Yoto lifted himself off the table. "I won't sleep ever until Avalon is safe again!"

"You better get to planning, then," Seedos sniffed. "And Storkos…be careful. I don't want another member of our family getting…lost."

"Aw, Seedos, it won't be that serious…" Storkos flew over to her brother and wrapped him in a hug. "We'll all come back in one piece, I swear it!" She gave her brother a quick smooch on the nose before turning back to Yoto. "Hey, Yoto, we better get some strategizing done…" The corners of her full-lipped mouth turned up into a smile. "Let's go to my place. No use keeping Yen and Bart up all night with our planning!"

"B-b-but, I can't fly…and climbing the mountain would take too long…!" Yoto spluttered, his face turning bright red. Damn it, he had been totally smooth up until now!

"No worries, Yoto!" Storkos glided over to him and picked him up with zero effort. "I'll fly you up! Hope you aren't scared of heights!" She laughed with a wink.

"Heights…are…" Yoto wrapped his arms around Storkos' shoulders, shaking a bit in his sheer delight. "Heights are neato…"
"Glad you think so! Off we go, then!" After a quick goodbye to Seedos, Storkos flew out the door with an absolutely ecstatic Yoto in her arms.

Seedos gawked after them, the enormous mouth of his mask wide open.

He hoped this chain of events wouldn't lead to him having an irritating brother-in-law…

VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP

Dastardos finally arrived right where Pester had told him to be. They were in one of the side rooms of Pester's lair, completely dark and empty with the exception of a chair, a desk, a couple of green-flamed torches, and an enormous cage against the back wall.

Pester was waiting in the chair and sprung up as soon as Dastardos floated into the room, Avalon still draped in his arms.

"Give her to me!" Pester wrenched open the cage and stomped over to Dastardos with his arms outstretched.

"Geez, fine," Dastardos dumped Avalon into Pester's arms and he unceremoniously tossed her into the cage like she was an oversized rag doll. She hit the wall with a thump and then lay limp on the cold stone floor.

"I hate this bitch," Pester grumbled as he slammed the cage door shut and locked it. "They better hurry up with that ransom; I don't want to deal with her for too long!"

"Just ignore her?" Dastardos offered with a shrug. "She ain't getting out of that cage."

"You can never be too sure, Dastardos…" Professor Pester clasped his hands behind his back and began to pace about. "I've heard stories of many a villain who had left their hostages alone and came back to an empty cage and a note that said something rather rude!"

"Eh, good luck with her," Dastardos cracked his knuckles. "The dirty work is done, so here's hoping she won't be too much of a pain in the ass."

"Oh, Dastardos, you aren't going anywhere just yet…" Professor Pester smirked. "I just had quite the idea…"

Pester's thought process skidded to a halt when Avalon let out a loud: "UUUUUGH…"

"She waking up?" Dastardos floated to Pester's side and his boss nodded with a huge smirk.

Avalon's eyes flitted open. Urgh, she was so sore…her head was throbbing and this floor was beyond cold…

She rolled over to see where she was and barely made out two pairs of glowing eyes. One pair was acid green and the other pair was lopsided.

Oh, GREAT.

"Wot the 'ell?" Avalon staggered to a sitting position, one of her hands resting against her throbbing temple. "Wot am I doing 'ere and wot do yew two want?"

"You, my great glorified gardener, are being held for ransom!" Pester mocked and he rubbed his palms together. "Piñata Central would crumble without your piñata-rearing skills, so I'm keeping you here until Langston or that little girly boy or whoever has the money arrives with your ransom!"

"Yew," Avalon squinted at Dastardos. "Yew kidnapped me at the P-Factor during my winning moment! Yew are one sneaky sod!"

"I do my best," Dastardos shrugged and smirked at her.

"This 'sneaky sod…'" Pester gave Dastardos an unexpected clap on the back and actually managed to shove him forward. "…will be guarding you until your ransom is paid. Frankly, I can't stand the sight of you, Miss Pendragonache, plus I need to keep tabs on the town to see if people are gathering my payment together!" Professor Pester giggled with giddy glee.

"Tch," Avalon clicked her tongue. "I don't need a babysitter."

"I don't want to babysit you," Dastardos glowered hard at their hostage. "I have better things to do, Professor! Come onnnn!"

"Heh," Avalon chuckled. "Yew really are just a whiny teenager, aren't you?" Dastardos' face burned and he gave Avalon a glare so intense that it could crack an egg. Avalon didn't jump, but she pointedly looked away. Good, that meant Dastardos still managed to scare her.

"For once I agree with you, Pendragonache, he sure acts like one!" Pester clapped Dastardos on the back again. "Whine whine whine, day in and day out, you'd never guess that this man was twenty-six!"

"PESTER," Dastardos gripped onto his boss' wrist far too hard. "I. Don't. Want. To. Do. This."

"Oh…?" Pester smirked and leaned in close to Dastardos' ear. "Consider this payback…" he sneered. "…for what you pulled over in the alternate universe. You made me miserable, so I'll make you miserable."

"I hate you so much," Dastardos hissed right back.

"It's mutual," Pester ruffled Dastardos' hair before turning his attention back to Avalon. "He's a bit of a downer. Here's hoping he makes your stay positively miserable!" Professor Pester threw his head back and cackled as he made his exit.

Dastardos floated over to the desk and plunked his butt on the chair and his chin on the desk, pouting like a fourth grader who was just told that he had to stay inside during recess.

Avalon buried her mask in her hands. Of course this had to happen to her. Her luck had been amazing lately, something had to come bring it down…

She stopped wallowing in her misery when she felt something vibrate in her pocket.

Pester hadn't taken her Alert System…!

I'm surprised that people are actually worried about me… Avalon almost chuckled to herself as she discreetly removed her Alert System from the hip pocket of her dress and flicked it on.

The message was from Yoto, no big surprise there. It said:

Dont worry, Avvie! Me and Storkos are coming to save you! Thats right. Storkos. And me. Working TOGETHER. To save YOU! Im glad theres a bright side to you being kidnapped. Or ladynapped, or whatever its called. Either way, we are sooooooooo worried and we are gonna be there ASAP! Stay safe!

Avalon sighed and hunched over like a broken puppet.

Yoto had better be thinking about how to save her and not spending his time trying to guess Storkos' bra size. Avalon wasn't sure how much time she could take in the same room as the biggest mope on the Island.