Chapter 7: Plan B
"Rise and shine, Princess." a voice said.
Candi opened her eyes. She was lying on a table, looking up at a light. Above her were two blurred silhouettes.
"Are you sure this will work?" one of the figures asked.
"Of course it will, Mr. Strych. I'm not a fool. I know what I'm doing." the second figure replied.
Candi felt a light jab on her arm and felt somewhat woozy.
"Oh yes, this is interesting." the second figure said.
"What? What is?" Eustace asked.
"Nothing I can tell you without jeopardizing the plan. This is strictly non-human business." the second figure replied, raising their arm.
"But Candi is clearly..." Eustace began to say.
"Human, yes. But these memories... the Nightmare King is going to be very interested in this." the second figure said.
"I don't care what interests the Nightmare King! As long as it helps squash Neutron like a bug!" Eustace snapped.
"Yes, whatever you say, boy." the second figure said, waving an arm. He then said "Alright, we're done here. Tell that 'Crocker' imbecile that he's free to do what he likes.".
Candi's vision faded for a few seconds. She heard footsteps, and when she could see again, Crocker was leaning over her, smiling unpleasantly.
"Hello, Owens. Your going to help me conquer Fairy World." Crocker said.
"This is the Ministry of Happiness and Justice." Peach explained.
Peach pointed out a building on a map that she had spread out over a rock.
"I'm going to take it that neither happiness nor justice goes on in there." Swizzle said dryly.
"It's a buckethead conversion facility. They also use it to house political prisoners, people like Commander Bill. If we shut it down, Plankton's helmet production will be crippled and we can free a lot of good people." Peach explained.
"Great... how are we going to do that?" Nell asked.
"It's not going to be easy. It's heavily guarded at all times. We can't just kick in the door." Peach replied.
"Yeah, we tried that." Swizzle muttered.
"Well, can't we infiltrate them? Disguise ourselves as one of them and sneak in?" Destiny asked.
"Do you have a spare bucket helmet?" Peach asked.
"I could always overshadow an officer. I could get them to stand down their soldiers or something." Swizzle replied.
"Overshadow?" Nell asked.
"Yeah, he can take over people's bodies. Want to see?" Candlehead asked, brightly.
"I'll take your word for it." Nell replied.
Peach nodded.
"That could work. Get in, free Commander Bill and the prisoners, and get out again." Peach said.
"Alright. We have a plan. Just give me a second. I need to make a call." Swizle said.
"Location: Prince George's County, Maryland, July 5th 2109"
"You want me to do what?" Gizmo asked in surprise.
"You heard me. I need a distraction so we can slip into the Ministry of Happiness and Justice. And I need you to bring the rest of the team with you." Swizzle replied.
"And how am I supposed to do that?" Gizmo asked.
"I don't know. You think of something!" Swizzle replied.
Gizmo sighed.
"Techie, what do we have?" Gizmo asked.
The techie scratched his head.
"We have another helicopter, sir, but it's... ah... far from subtle." the techie replied.
"Meaning?" Gizmo asked.
"It's an attack helicopter with massive speakers attached." the techie replied.
Gizmo scratched his chin.
"Well, as long as it's distracting. Get it ready and find me a pilot." Gizmo ordered.
"Location: Litwak's Arcade, The World Of Disney, July 5th 2109"
Swizzle hid in an alleyway in Sugar Town, across from the Ministry. It was a large stone Aztec-style pyramid with a giant screen on top. The screen displayed a smiley face and the words 'Emperor Plankton Loves You!'. Armed guards surrounded the building.
"Wow... subtle." Swizzle muttered.
He turned invisible and walked over to one of the guards, which was a Centurion that had their back turned.
"I really hope that helmet doesn't work on me." Swizzle whispered.
He took a deep breath, shut his eyes, and phased into the Centurion's body. He opened his eyes and blinked.
"Yes!" Swizzle whispered, raising his fist.
He then realized that the voice was familiar and looked down to notice that he was in Kandle's body.
"When this is over, I'm never mentioning this again." Swizzle muttered as he walked away.
As Swizzle (in Kandle's body) led the Sugar Rush racers, Cinndon, Candace, Toxika, Damon, Crepe, Peach, Nell, and Destiny to the Ministry of Happiness and Justice in the center of the sugary dystopia, Destiny was beginning to think that this might be the strangest day of her life. They reached the door of the Ministry, where another Centurion walked over to Swizzle.
"Purpose?" the Centurion asked, flatly.
"Prisoners." Swizzle replied, as flatly as he could.
"ID number?" the Centurion asked.
There was a long silence.
"One?" Swizzle asked.
"Incorrect. Submit to immediate helmet reprogram..." the Centurion started to order.
Before the Centurion could finish speaking, he was drowned out by the sound of rotors and what sounded like an orchestra. A helicopter roared down the street, firing rockets at random at the road. It thundered past the door and vanished in the direction of downtown Sugar Town, the bucketheads racing in pursuit.
"And that's our cue! Come on!" Swizzle ordered.
As the group ran inside the building, Destiny decided that this was indeed the strangest day of her life.
