The sprinklers had stopped after awhile. The foursome was using some of the water that had settled on the rock to clean themselves up.
"Yecchhh," Windy grumbled. She hated getting dirty. "I can't believe women call this a beauty treatment."
"It boggles the mind all right," Multi said. "But all joking aside, sis, you okay?"
"Yeah," Windy said. "I'm fine. Thanks to Franky."
Fluey didn't acknowledge Multi's sister. He just took off his goggles, and dunked them into the water to clean the mud off of them so he could see where he was going. Multi walked over to him.
"I owe you big time, Fluey," he said. "I know it's weird to hear me saying that, because Windy and I are almost always fighting . . . ."
"It's your job," Fluey interrupted. "Brothers and sisters are supposed to fight with each other."
"Yeah, I know. But she's still my sister. And even though we fight all the time, we really do care about each other."
"Yeah. I know."
"I just wanted to thank you for saving my sister's life."
"It's part of my job, Multi. Matter of fact, it's part of all our jobs. It's an unwritten rule of being a superhero. You have to help everyone who needs help. Even if you don't like them."
Multi didn't say anything more after that. And he knew Fluey didn't like his sister, and vice versa.
While Multi, Fluey, and Windy were cleaning up, Coiley sprang upward, and looked around. Then he came back down and turned to the others.
"I think we're on the right track," he said. "I saw a flagstone in the middle of the yard while we were hovering in the Impossi-Jet."
"So we're about halfway there?" Fluey asked.
"I think so," Coiley said. "But I'm not positive."
"Well, whatever the case," Multi said. "We'd better keep moving."
The others agreed, and started to walk on through the "jungles" of the Atlas yard.
Meanwhile, Ken was inside, examining what was left of his machine, and kicking himself for smashing it in the first place.
"Brother, am I an idiot or what, Skittles?" he asked the brown and white puppy. "I've got to figure out how to put this thing back together."
Skittles barked. But she knew putting the machine back together was going to be easier said than done. Where and how was Ken supposed to get the parts he needed? He had no idea where this place was located. As he was contemplating the machine, who should happen to pass by the room but General Ryan? He saw Ken standing by the machine and came in.
"Any reason you're just standing there, lieutenant?" he asked. Ken looked up, and gulped for a moment. He had to think fast.
"I was just looking at the machine," he said. "I thought maybe I'd try to repair it."
"It might take all night. And no one is allowed to stay on the base all night without my permission."
"Well then, do I have your permission to pull an all nighter? After all, sir, you can't pull off a world domination scheme without Mills's machine."
"Very well, lieutenant. As of now, you have full permission to access any area of the base to get this machine in order. Take apart whatever you may need, but get this machine up and running so we can carry out our world domination plan."
"Yes sir!"
Ken saluted General Ryan, and the general left. Skittles came out of her hiding place, and smiled up at Ken. That was a smart move.
"Naturally, girl, I'm not about to let Ryan take over the world," Ken said, kneeling down to give the pup a belly rub. "I just said that so he'd let me work on this sucker. You've got the toughest part of the job, Skittles. You've got to go find the boys."
Skittles barked, and then tapped her paw on the floor four times. Ken stared at her, confused. Skittles tapped her paw another four times.
"Are you trying to tell me something?" he asked. Skittles tapped her paw again.
"Four," Ken said. Then he realized what Skittles was trying to say. "You mean someone else shrank along with the boys? Who?"
Skittles then went to the other side of the room. She didn't want to do this, but she had to. She revved up, and ran in circles around the room, causing a strong breeze.
"Whoa!" Ken shouted. "That's some breeze you're kicking up there, Skittles! But what does that have to . . . . . Windy!"
Ken smacked his hand against his head when he realized that not only his son was out there in the Atlas yard, but his daughter was, too!
"Oh boy, have I got a lot of work to do!" he shouted.
Skittles whimpered. It was about all she could do, with the exception of helping Ken locate parts.
Meanwhile, the Impossibles and Windy were still trudging through the yard, when Windy suddenly, stopped, and fell to her hands and knees.
"Win, you all right?" Multi asked.
"Yeah," Windy said. "I'm just exhausted. Can we stop for a minute?"
"You bet," Coiley said. He was feeling tired himself.
"Man, this is taking forever," Fluey said. Multi then duplicated himself upward to get a better look at how much farther they needed to go. Then he sighed, and came back down.
"We'll never make it by tonight," he said.
"And I'd rather not walk around out here in the dark," Fluey said. "We won't be able to see where we're going."
"I think our best bet is to camp out here for the night," Coiley said.
"Out in the open?" Windy asked. "Sleep on the ground? Are you out of your mind, Calvin?!"
"I don't think we have a choice," Multi said.
"Let's just hope it doesn't rain," Fluey commented.
The others agreed, and tried to get some sleep, but it wasn't easy.
While the Impossibles and Windy were trying to get some sleep, a couple of the Atlas men were coming out into the backyard. One had a box in his hands.
"So what do we do with this thing?" he asked.
"Just dump it out into the yard," the other one said.
The first guy shrugged, opened the box, and shook it. A scorpion flew out of the box, and onto the ground, and it began to scamper off.
"That's the last time I'm collecting scorpion venom," the first guy said, and the two of them went back inside to clock out.
Meanwhile, both Windy and Fluey found they couldn't sleep. They were both just sort of staring up into the sky.
"I'd never make it as a wilderness girl," Windy commented.
"You won't get any argument from me on that," Fluey said.
"Why do we always fight with each other?" Windy asked, sitting up.
"I don't know," Fluey shrugged, sitting up himself. "We fight almost as much and you and Multi fight."
"I still don't get why you didn't just leave me there to drown in that mud pit."
"Well, two reasons, mostly. One, you're Multi's sister. Two, it's part of my job description. Superheroes have to do stuff like that. They even have to rescue the bad guys from time to time."
"That's so corn ball."
"Yeah, but it's true."
Windy didn't say anything more. Fluey sighed, and started to lay back down.
"Actually, Windy, if you want to know the truth," he said. "I sort of had a crush on you back when we first met."
"You're kidding," Windy said.
"No, I really did. I mean, I was only twelve, my hormones were out of whack . . . . so were Coiley's and Multi's for that matter . . . . but that's beside the point. I just never really said anything about it, because like I said, I was twelve, and you were fourteen, and when Multi introduced me and Coiley to you and your dad, you considered us to be immature kids. It was just easier to fight with you than to admit I liked you. And I never told Multi or Coiley that I liked you, either."
"How come?"
"Because they would have given me the hardest time imaginable. Multi especially . . . . if he didn't kill me first. I don't know, a lot of guys are pretty uneasy about their best friends dating their sisters."
"That's probably true. I'd probably kill my best friend if she told me she had a crush on Mark."
Things got quiet all of a sudden. Fluey and Windy just stared up at the full moon for several minutes. Maybe the full moon was getting to him, he didn't know, but there was something he had always wanted to do since he was twelve, and it had been bugging him for at least four years now. He took a deep breath, turned to Windy, leaned in, and kissed her. But the second he pulled away, Windy let out a piercing shriek.
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad!" Fluey shouted, feeling a little insulted.
"Behind you!" Windy yelled. Fluey turned around, and saw a giant scorpion standing right behind him, tail poised ready to strike.
"Holy maracas!" Fluey shouted. He quickly converted and shot out of the way as fast as he could. Windy dove to the side just as the scorpion's tail came crashing down where she was. Multi and Coiley had heard her scream, and woke up, just in time to see the giant arachnid.
"Panicky playbacks!" Coiley shouted. "A giant scorpion!"
"Come on!" Multi yelled. "We've got to get out of here!"
The foursome ran off as fast as they could, but the scorpion was right behind them, grabbing at them with it's pinchers, and striking at them with it's tail.
"We'll never be able to outrun it!" Windy shouted.
"Maybe not," Fluey said. "But maybe we can outfight it! Rally ho-ho!"
Fluey converted to liquid form, and blasted right at the scorpion, giving it a sock in the "face" (or whatever it is scorpions have. I wouldn't know).
"Rally ho!" Coiley shouted, sproinging forward with his fist outstretched. He socked the scorpion in the same spot Fluey had.
Multi grabbed his sister, duplicated himself upwards, and dropped her off on a thistle so she was out of the line of fire.
"Stay here, Win," he said. "We'll take care of this."
"Be careful, Mark," Windy said.
"Don't worry, sis. We know what we're doing. Rally ho!"
Multi then duplicated downward and surrounded the scorpion. He and his duplicates grabbed the arachnid by it's legs and stretched. Coiley sprang forward and wrapped his coils around each of it's pinchers. Fluey streamed behind it, and grabbed it's tail, taking great care not to touch the stinger.
"Okay, fellas!" Coiley shouted. "Pull!"
The Impossibles pulled in at least four different directions (keep in mind four of Multi's duplicates had four of the scorpion's legs). Then, Multi, his duplicates, and Coiley let go. Fluey managed to swing the scorpion around by the tail, and then let go. The giant arachnid flew across the yard, and over the fence.
"That's one bug that won't be bugging us anymore!" Fluey shouted. Multi, Coiley, and Windy groaned.
"Geesh, Franky that was terrible," Windy said, rolling her eyes as Multi brought her down from the thistle. "At least you kiss better than you tell jokes!"
"What?!" Multi shouted, giving Fluey a shocked look. "You kissed my sister?! What'd you want to do a crazy thing like that for, Fluey?!"
"Especially since you have a girlfriend already," Coiley pointed out.
"Yeah, I know, I know," Fluey said. "But it's just something I wanted to do since I was twelve. I told Windy I had a crush on her, and one thing led to another . . . ."
"But the way you two are always fighting . . . ." Coiley started.
"Sometimes, Coiley," Multi said. "When you're attracted to someone, you have to pretend you don't like them for some reason or another."
"Besides, Multi," Fluey said, shrugging, "like I said, I always wanted to do it since I was twelve, and now that I've done it, I'm satisfied, and I'm not planning on doing it again."
"Okay," Multi said. "I'm just gonna drop it."
"Let's try to get back to sleep," Coiley said, stifling a yawn.
"Yeah," Fluey said. "But I think the three of us should stand watch in shifts. I'll take the first two hours, then Coiley'll take the next two hours, then Multi, and so on and so on until sunrise."
"Good idea," Multi said. "Just in case we get some more unwanted visitors."
