Chapter Seven: from Twoson to Threed

Sapphire raised his bat as the large mole looking creature stepped out of the shadows. It was similar looking to the smaller moles that played rough earlier, except it was much larger, well over six feet, almost seven. Its claws were each at least a foot, and its teeth were jagged and cracked, poking out of its mouth. Its fur was matted and dirty, and a deep brown color.

It chuckled a deep and dark chuckle, as it lumbered forward and a shield of light formed in front of it. However, it looked different from Sapphire's regular shield, and more like Buzz Buzz's PSI shield. "Be careful with PSI attacks," Sapphire said.

"You got it!" Willow readied her frying pan, and they both split up as to attack from two angles. The mole turned to Sapphire with its savage grin, raking its claws together.

"You will never defeat Giygas if you cannot defeat me!" It cackled and suddenly jumped forward with extreme speed, clawing at Sapphire's face. Sapphire held up his bat in a bunting position and blocked the attack, grunting as he was pushed back slightly. The mole then lifted its other arm and slapped him away, and Willow attacked from behind, slamming her pan down on its head.

It roared and threw her off before Sapphire recovered and slammed his bat into its legs, knocking it over with a roar. "I knew it, it's a PSI shield, not a physical one!" The mole growled and glowed red a moment before it thrashed around and threw him off with renewed strength. "Did that thing just get stronger?"

The mole clawed at him and he jumped back, before swinging and knocking the mole backward. The monster attempted to attack again before Willow's teddy bear jumped forward and blocked the attack. Stuffing went flying and the bear flew away, while the mole roared in confusion, until Willow unleashed a barrage of ice that the shield only partially stopped. The mole howled with rage as its back began to freeze over before it turned with surprising speed and bashed Willow away.

Willow cried out in pain as she slammed into the cave wall, and several sharp stones tore through her dress and dig into her skin. Red quickly stained her pink dress, and she dropped onto the floor. The mole monster cackled and jumped at the vulnerable girl before she telekinetically moved her bear in front of her to protect her, and the stuffed animal was subsequently torn to shreds. The monster huffed in disdain and attacked once more.

Luckily, Sapphire slid in front of her and crossed his arms to defend just in time. "Shield α!" The mole impacted, and sparks of light glanced off Sapphire's shield as the strong-as-steel claws impacted with his barrier. They dug through and ripped into his skin causing him to cry out, as the stress wore on his mind, and the sound of a lock snapping echoed through his head.

His eyes unfocused as knowledge of a new power flowed through his body before he switched his arms from defending to grabbing onto the mole's snout. "PSI Flash α!" The mole screamed as a ball of light formed between Sapphire's hands and subsequently exploded, blinding the mole as tears began running down its face.

"AGH! I'LL KILL YOU!" Sapphire grabbed Willow and dove away from the mole, who was swinging their dangerous claws wildly. Sapphire grinned as he noticed the mole stumble beneath several sharp stalactites and charged up a Hope. He unleashed it at the mole who screeched in pain, their PSI Shield only partially blocking the powerful attack. The cave rumbled and the stalactites fell, piercing the monster's flesh and bone.

As the monster fell forward and writhed, Sapphire quickly turned and checked on Willow. "Sheesh, that's bad…" there was a lot of blood, several holes in her back leaking her life fluid. Luckily it looked like no organs were hit, and the holes weren't too deep. And besides that… "PSI Lifeup α!" His hands glowed and he placed them on her bloody back, transferring the light to Willow's body. The holes closed, and Sapphire wiped the blood on his jeans, shivering. "I hate blood…"

Willow groaned and got up, rubbing her back. "Thanks, Sapphire…"

"No problem." They turned to the Sanctuary Guardian and saw that it was slowly getting up. "At least this one doesn't have little minions that can heal them." The mole glowed as it healed itself and Sapphire slumped forward. "You've got to be kidding me…"

The mole turned to them, clearing the tears from its eyes, and growled towards them. "You will suffer for this!" Sapphire winced as the voice dug into his brain, before shaking his head. Not enough energy left for a Hope, but definitely enough for a few Lifeup's or a Flash…

"Sapphire, I have a plan," Sapphire jumped as he heard Willow's voice in his head and turned to look at her. "I'm using telepathy so the plan can't be heard. Get the guardian in the water, and I can take them out instantly!"

"Uh, right." Sapphire tried to think back at her, and she nodded as she heard him. Willow moved back, probably to find good positioning for whatever she was planning, while Sapphire stepped forward, twirling his bat. The mole stomped forward, shaking the ground in the process, and growled at him. "Alright, bring it freak!"

"SUFFER!" The mole clawed at him and he dodged to the side, before blocking another strike with his bat. He yelled and punched the mole in the stomach, making it grunt before it grabbed his bat and tossed him aside. He groaned and rolled, getting back to his feet. The mole turned its gaze to Willow, and Sapphire quickly ran forward, making sure to keep the enemy's eyes on him, and not Willow.

"Eyes on me, dirt-breath!" He slammed his bat into its face, and it roared in pain before slamming its claws against his side. Sapphire gasped as he felt the claws tear through his shield and into his flesh. Blood spurted from his mouth as the sharp claws dug into his side, and he screamed as he felt them scrape against his ribs, cracking one. Sapphire squeezed his eyes shut as he realized that his shield must have finally gone down just as he'd attacked.

"You had no chance of defeating me! You will die here, barely days into your journey and Lord Giygas shall rule all!" Sapphire ignored the mole's words, focusing on something. If his own shield had gone down, and he had set up his shield after the mile had… then its own shield must be down as well! He opened his eyes and sure enough, the sheen of a shield was not on its fur!

"P-PSI Flash α!" An explosion of bright white light and Sapphire felt himself get thrown back as the mole threw him aside, clutching at their eyes. He got up, holding a hand to his wound, and charged. He impacted with the mole and they both were thrown several feet by his enhanced strength before the guardian grabbed him and slammed him into the ground below.

"It's over, Chosen!"

Sapphire screamed as the mole dug its claws into him again, but forced himself to smile through the pain, and weakly grinned upwards at the mole. "A-and now y-you're going to say… 'Your dea-death was inevitable fr-from the start…'"

"Your death was inevitable from the start!" The mole raised a claw, before gasping. "WHAT?!" Sapphire grinned as he felt water mix with the blood pooling under him, and looked to the side. Willow was charging up a PSI attack, electricity flowing across her whole body. Below both him and the mole was one of the small pools, and Sapphire quickly gripped the mole's arms so they couldn't escape, and screamed towards Willow, "N—Now, do it!"

"PSI Thunder α!" Willow launched several powerful thunderbolts, and both Sapphire and the guardian screamed in pain as electricity coursed through them, into the water, and back into them over and over again. After several seconds that felt like minutes, the electricity finally stopped. Willow rushed over and checked Sapphire, feeling a weak pulse. "Sapphire? Sapphire?!"

"Ugh…" Sapphire groaned and pushed the dead body of the mole off him. "Q-quick, get me to the Sanctuary… I'll die if I'm not healed, and I d-don't have enough PSI energy for a Lifeup…" Willow quickly grabbed him and helped haul him to his feet, causing him to scream.

"Sapphire!"

"It… it's nothing! Just get me to the Sanctuary!" Willow hauled him forward, and they began stumbling towards the opening in the wall. They emerged into a small clearing, with a few trees growing from the ground. They stumbled forwards before Sapphire collapsed onto the ground.

Sapphire could hear Willow calling his name, but it quickly grew quieter and quieter, and he looked up to see his hand resting in a small footprint. He looked around to see several more, starting from one tree, looping, then trailing off behind another. A name in the back of his mind surfaced. Lilliput Steps.

It was said to be a magical place, where nature spirits reside, away from the world, with the only evidence of their existence being their footprints. If you found the place, then it was said you would be blessed by nature, or you were blessed… Sapphire couldn't remember, he just knew that it was an old tale from an old book… but it looked like it definitely existed, at the very least.

He then remembered his vision from Giant's Step, of the small valley with trees and footprints. He'd somehow had a vision of his next Sanctuary… he reached into his pocket and pulled out the quickly warming Sound Stone, rolling it forward. It slowed as it reached the lip of a footprint, before rolling down into the print of the foot's big toe.

The Stone began playing music, starting where it had stopped back at Giant's Step. Willow listened along with him as the oddly familiar and contradictory melody played, before it once again stopped far sooner than he wished it would. In his mind, another vision grew brighter and louder, until he could see it clearly.

A small baby was giggling, waving his hands as he rocked in his crib. Atop his head, hiding small tufts of deep brown, nearly black hair, was his favorite red baseball cap… for a brief moment, he could see a small pond in another valley, which was oddly colored, being a bright white, and a round object in the very center which was spewing the white liquid into the air.

Sapphire smiled as he stood up, his wounds healed. No more cracked rib, the ripped flesh gone… even his clothes were fixed! Somehow… no idea how that one worked. Willow as well was fixed up. Well, Sapphire had healed her before, but now her ripped dress was fixed as well. He reached down and grabbed the Sound Stone, seeing that another notch was filled in. It had a brown circle, with a dozen footprints in it.

"I am Sapphire…" he held the Stone high, a bright grin as the wind itself seemed to laugh alongside him, as Willow grinned and clapped, encouraging him. "And I've claimed this Sanctuary!"


Sapphire and Willow walked back into Twoson, and Sapphire grinned as he heard the rush of cars. "Ah, civilization."

"You were only away from this for, what, a day?" Willow grinned and skipped away, twirling to look at him.

"Hey, a day seems like a lot more when you're dealing with exploding trees, UFO's, and weird cults."

"I guess." She nodded as she reached up and took a sliver a bark from her hair. "Those things were really annoying…"

"Of course they are. You've got to make a mad dash after beating those things up. Otherwise, KERPOW!" They both laughed as he pantomimed an explosion before Sapphire looked up and down the street. "Your house is this way, yeah?"

"Yep!" They walked down the road until they reached her house, where the same kid that was playing outside when Sapphire had first arrived. They looked up and saw Sapphire standing alongside Willow and immediately a bright grin grew on their face before they rushed over.

"Willow!" Willow giggled and caught the child as they jumped at her. "You're back!"

"Yep! I'm going inside to say hi to everyone, want to come?"

"Yep!" The child jumped down and grabbed Willow's hand, walking alongside her.

"You're really popular with kids," Sapphire grinned.

Willow smiled and shrugged in reply, and they entered the house. "I'm hooooooome!"

"Willow!" Suddenly, out of nowhere, a large blond man ran up and scooped up Willow, hugging her close. "You're finally back!"

"Hi, daddy! You have Sapphire to thank for that!" The man turned to him, and Sapphire waved, grinning. "He beat up monsters and cultists and saved me!"

Willow's father grabbed him and lifted him up as well, hugging him. "Thank you so much, my boy!"

"Uh, no problem." Willow giggled at him over her father's shoulder, until they were both placed back down.

"Come on, let's go tell everyone you're back!" Sapphire watched as Willow was dragged away by her father.

"You have fun with that, I'll just wait here." Willow nodded at him, and Sapphire looked around the house, before turning to the kid next to him. "You got a phone?" The kid pointed at a phone by the door, and he walked over to pick it up, dialing his father's number.

"Howdy-howdy, who's this?"

"Heya pops!"

"Sapphire! How's your journey been?"

"It's had its ups and downs."

"Oh?"

Sapphire began talking about everything that had happened within Twoson and Happy-Happy Village, while his father wrote everything down. "…So then there's a huge explosion of lightning and I have to hold my ground and hope that the Franklin Badge wouldn't give out!"

"Whoa-ho-ho! Sounds exciting!"

"Yeah, it was awesome! Well, not at the time, but looking back it was awesome." Sapphire looked back to see Willow walking over, a small bag on her back, and her frying pan in her sash/holster. "Hey, I've got to go. I'm going to call mom and sis, then get going!"

"All right, good luck kiddo! Make me proud!" Sapphire grinned and hung up, beginning to dial the number for his house.

As he waited for somebody to pick up, he turned to Willow. "So, how'd your parents react to you having to leave again?"

"They were upset, but they eventually understood. How did your mom react?"

"She was pretty cool about the whole thing actually. Anyway, before we leave Twoson, we should probably go see Mr. Everdred. He wanted to know if I saved you after all."

"Rightio! Sounds fun!"

"We can go see him- oh, hello? Mom?"

"Hello? Is that you sweetie?"

"Yeah! I'm just checking in to say hello to you and Trace!"

"Oh, how sweet! Tracey, your big brother is calling!"

"Really? Coming mom!" Sapphire grinned as he heard his sister's voice in the background.

"Anyway, how have you been?"

"We've been doing well back in Onett. King is still chasing off any wild animals around the house, and Tracey is making money with her job. She definitely feels safer with your old bat on her way to school. The teachers haven't said anything because they realize how dangerous it is outside."

"Well, it's good to know you're all safe. I'm doing pretty well myself."

"You haven't been hurt have you?"

"Uh… define hurt?"

"Sapphire…"

"Oh, is that Tracey I hear in the background? Beloved sister, come talk to big brother!" Willow made a 'snirk' sound from behind him as she tried to hide her laughter, while his mother just sighed and handed the phone to Tracey.

"Hi, big bro!"

"Hey, Trace, staying safe in Onett?"

"Yep! The Sharks are helping clean up all the messes around Southern Onett, so I don't have to worry about them."

"It's good to know Frank stuck by his word…"

"You know the leader of the Sharks?!"

"Yeah. I had to beat him up. Afterward, he said he'd reform the Sharks, so at least he's a man of his word. Anyway, I met one of the kids that's going to help me save the world, say hi to Willow!" He held the phone so that they could both talk into it and hear Tracey.

"Hello, Sapphire's sister!"

Tracey gasped. "Oh my god, mom, Sapphire has a girlfriend!"

Sapphire scrambled to pull the phone away, as Willow fell backward and began laughing hysterically. "I WILL END YOU TRACEY!"

Suddenly, his mom. "Really?! Oh, honey that's great! What is she like? What does she look like? What's her favorite food?! I can make it if you come home!"

"Mom!" He hissed into the receiver as he tried to get it as far from Willow's laughing form as he could. "I've got to go, bye!"

"Alright honey, one last question before you go… When am I getting grandkids?" Sapphire slammed the phone down to hang up, his mother and sister's laughter echoing from it.

"I'm out!" Sapphire threw his hands up as he exited Willow's house, Willow quickly following, still giggling. He grumbled as he walked up the street, Willow matching his pace and moving beside him.

"Sooo…" she turned to him and her eyes twinkled mischievously. "Since we're dating, want to go to the theatre or something?"

Sapphire groaned and facepalmed. "Let's… let's just go see Everdred then get out of Twoson…" her giggling redoubled as they made their way into Burglin park. The small shops looked the same as the last time he was there, and they knocked on the front door of Everdred's shack to let him know they were there, before entering.

Everdred was sitting on a choice and looked over, before grinning widely. "Sapphire, Willow!" He hopped up and approached, grabbing Sapphire's shoulder and giving him a thumbs up. "I knew I could count on you!"

"Uh, yeah." Sapphire nodded along.

"Anyway, I was planning on asking you to be my…partner… but I know you'll refuse. It's written all over your face."

"Yeah. Besides the fact that we're leaving Twoson, I'm not into the whole criminal thing." Sapphire rolled his eyes.

"Right, right. Anyway, if you had accepted I was going to give you some money,"

"I like money!"

"But… since I can't keep the money anyway for various reasons, let me give it to you! Here you go, ten thousand dollars!"

Sapphire choked on his spit. "H-H-H-H-How much?!"

He handed over a wad of bills. "Ten thousand! Take it! YOU CANNOT REFUSE MY GENEROSITY!"

"Why would we want to?!"

"We really can't Mr. Everdred-" Willow started saying.

"Don't listen to her," Sapphire loudly whispered.

"Just accept it," he laughed. "Anyway, now I plan on looking for the evil Mani-Mani statue that Lier X. Agerate unearthed in Onett."

Sapphire winced as a bolt of pain shot through his head, before nodding. "Alright. That thing seems pretty evil, it's probably a good idea to just destroy it. Or keep it…" Willow smacked him upside the head. "Thanks. Probably some aftershocks from being close to the statue while covered in mind-control paint…"

"Anyway, I'll get going now! See you in another time, in another place!" He ran out of the building, Sapphire and Willow watching him go.

"Well, that was a thing." He looked down at the Wad of Bills, "is this really ten-thousand dollars?"

"I trust him," Willow shrugged. "Anyway, do you want to head straight out of Twoson, or take a rest?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well just today we fought a giant mole, several bears and regular moles, then on the way back to Twoson, we fought UFO's, exploding trees, and living weeds and mushrooms. We could get something to eat or relax at the Chaos Theatre before heading to Threed since that's the closest town."

Sapphire hummed. While saving the world was pretty important, a short break wouldn't be that bad. It would probably help, the only rest he'd gotten was staying at a hotel in Onett and then that one house in Happy-Happy Village. A bit more time between fighting corrupted animals and aliens would probably be good for him.

"Sure, sounds good. Want to head to that pizza place we saw on the way here?"

"Sure!" They exited the park and walked up the street, eventually reaching a building simply labeled 'Pizza,' with a small overhang over the door and a single window. As they entered the building, Sapphire noted that there weren't any tables for some reason.

"Hello, welcome to Mach Pizza!"

"Hi, uh, why are there no tables?"

"Oh, we don't sell pizza here, we only deliver."

Sapphire raised an eyebrow and looked at Willow, who shrugged. "Okay, can I have the place's number then?"

"Of course!" Sapphire patted his pockets for a piece of paper, before just grabbing a napkin from a holder and a pencil from his backpack. After writing down the number, they exited the building and Sapphire placed the napkin in his bag.

"So, burgers and shakes?"

Willow nodded. "Burgers and shakes."


Sapphire finished the last of his shake as they reached the Chaos Theatre, and tossed the cup into the trash. "So, ever seen a Runaway Five show?"

"Nope," Willow said. "This'll be my first time."

"Cool. I prefer rockin' out to rock music, but I appreciate most types of music."

"You'll have to show me some of your music after we beat up Giygas," Willow smiled.

"I can do you one better," Sapphire replied, "I know a bit of guitar! I'm not that good at it though…"

"Really?"

"Yep. I wanted to be a guitar player when I was younger, so my dad got me an electric guitar. It's in my room back home, but…" he rooted around in his bag until he pulled out a very worn guitar pick. "Yep! Must have forgotten to take this thing out when I was leaving home." He flipped it, before putting it back in.

"You'll definitely have to play for me then!"

"Sure! As I said, rockin' was one of my favorite things, it'll be fun to see how much I remember." They reached the theatre and saw the band members outside by their bus. "Hey, let's go say hi to them before going in. They're the ones that first told me about the girl with PSI after all."

Willow nodded and they approached the band members, who looked up at their approach. "Well, whaddya know? It's baseball kid and PSI girl!"

"Well that's a superhero duo I'm sure," Sapphire snorted.

"We heard a bit about ya kid after you left! You took down a gang in Onett and beat up corrupt police! You're a real cool hero, kid!"

"Shucks, I'm not that cool…"

"So you did visit the girlie then!" The taller member noted.

"He actually saved me," Willow grinned. "From a really weird cult!"

"Really?" Sapphire gave a lopsided grin, embarrassed at the approving looks. "Well, You're definitely a hero then! Here, a present for the hero!" He handed him a slip and grinned. "It's a backstage pass, you can get into our shows with this!"

They walked back around to the front of the building, but before they could enter a familiar voice made Sapphire groan. "Photos taken instantaneously!"

"Who is this man?" Sapphire groaned as he turned. "Just… I'm not questioning it anymore. Take the picture already."

The man grinned and lifted the camera. "Well, I am a photographic genius, if I do say so myself! So how about you get ready and say… Fuzzy Pickles!" Willow suddenly jumped onto his back and grinned over his shoulder, and Sapphire couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped his lips, instead making a V with one hand, and holding up the backstage pass with the other.

One flash later, and the man was gone. "So who is that?" Willow asked.

"I have no idea," Sapphire deadpanned. "Let's get inside." They entered the theatre and walked up to the ticket taker, who looked at their pass before nodding.

"Alright, hurry on through, the show's just about to start." Sapphire and Willow grinned at each other before they walked past the ticket person and through the large violet doors behind them.

The moment they entered, their eyes widened with astonishment. Jazz music was blaring, and the lights that flashed down on them from above made the floor seem to move, partially helped by the zigzag patterns the floor had. "Wow!"

Sapphire grinned at the jubilation that showed on Willow's cute face, and they made their way through the room. One girl was squealing as she bounced in her seat. "Oh em gee! I finally get to see the Runaway Five! I only wish I could go backstage and see them…"

Willow turned to him and smiled. "Willow…"

"Come on, we could really brighten up her day!"

"Ugh, fine." Sapphire couldn't stop the small grin that grew though, and Willow quickly told the girl that they would let her come backstage with them.

"Really?! Let's go then, what are we waiting for?!" She grabbed their hands and dragged them towards a small door at the back of the room, with a security guy outside it. Sapphire flashed the backstage pass and he nodded, letting them through.

When they got inside, the girl ran off to talk with the heavyset member, while Sapphire talked with the taller one. "So, pretty cool gig you got here."

The man shrugged. "Maybe, but it's pretty tiring being the only act here."

"Really? I mean, you said you were in debt before, but how much?"

"About ten-thousand dollars worth," the man sighed. "We'll be the only act in Twoson for quite a few years it seems. They got us pretty good with that scam, I'll admit."

"Sapphire, Sapphire!"

"Yes, I'm Sapphire." He turned to see Willow behind him.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"…That people should stop assuming that we're dating?"

Willow lightly flicked his nose. "No, that we can pay off the Runaway Five's debt!"

"What?! We can't- well technically we can, but we also need the money! Food, travel expenses, there's only so much my dad can give me!"

The band began shuffling about and exited the room through another door. Sapphire watched them go, before combing his hand through his hair and sighing. "Alright, we'll talk about it later, let's just watch their show for now."

Willow puffed her cheeks out, before sighing and nodding. They exited the room back into the concert hall which was much quieter now, as well as dimmer. A sudden voice came over the speaker, "Yeah! That's right! Tonight, you got the Chaos Theater's Soul Men comin' at ya! Rockin' and rollin' live on this here stage for a limited time only! The world's greatest Bluesmen, the Runaway Five! And here they come! Oh yeah! Baby!"

They quickly found two seats and sat down, as the band members came out. "Wait, if there's six of them, why are they called the Runaway Five?" When nobody answered his question, Sapphire shrugged. "Probably a translation error or something."

About halfway through the first song, when the music began picking up in speed, Willow grabbed his hand and jumped up. "Come on Sapphire, let's dance!"

"What?!" She pulled him to his feet and she began twirling, laughing as he was forced to dance with her. "I'm not a dancer, Willow!"

"Come on, have some fun!" She let go of him and began jumping up and down with most of the other people, while Sapphire just looked around embarrassed, before joining in. Eventually, he forgot about his embarrassment and began laughing and cheering with Willow, as the band played all the way into the night. Well, early night anyway.

Near the end, Sapphire was dancing with Willow, laughing as they held hands and moved around. When the song ended, they cheered with everyone else, before exiting the concert hall. "That was so much fun!" Willow gushed.

"I'm tuckered out," Sapphire admitted, chuckling.

"Oh come on, it was just dancing! Fighting monsters was much harder!"

"Hey…" Sapphire couldn't think up a good comeback. "Shut up!" She giggled and he snickered before Willow noticed a door that was labeled manager.

"Sapphire, last chance, we can pay off the debt for the Runaway Five…"

Sapphire sighed. "I know it's probably the right thing to do since they were scammed and all, but we do need this money…"

Willow shrugged. "Besides the fact that it's the right thing to do, it's probably dirty money. Where else would Everdred, the criminal boss of Burglin Park, get that money?"

"…Yeah, you've got me there. Probably a good idea to get rid of it…" they made their way to the manager's office, and when they knocked they heard a man's voice on the other side.

"Come in!" Sapphire opened the door and let Willow in first, before following her. The manager was a short, fat man with a receding hairline, who sat behind a desk with several papers and stacks of money. "And what do you need, children?"

"We wanted to ask about the Runaway Five's contract? Or something?" Sapphire knew nothing about business or stuff like this, but he figured he could bluff his way through it.

"Heh," he chortled, leaning back in his chair. "The Runaway Five owe me a lot of money, and they'll be staying here until they pay me back. They might be here for the next hundred years unless someone can pay their debt."

Sapphire grinned and grabbed the wad of bills from his back pocket, but made sure to keep it hidden. "How much do they owe you?"

"Now now kiddo, I don't think you have nearly enough money to pay off their debt." The man chuckled condescendingly, and Sapphire narrowed his eyes. Luckily, Willow stopped him before he could lose his temper.

"Humor us," she said with a smile.

"Ten-thousand dollars," he spoke smugly, obviously expecting them to reel back in shock.

"Oh, is that all?"

The man sputtered for a moment, "Wha- now hold on missy, you may not think that's a lot because of how young you are, but-"

Willow motioned at him, and Sapphire grinned, pulling out the wad of cash. "Ten thousand you said?" He fumbled with the money, trying to flip through it, but eventually pulled it off. The man's eyes widened at the sight of the money before he motioned him closer.

"Could you, ah, bring that here? I need a real close look…" Sapphire rolled his eyes and walked around the desk, showing it to him. "Y-you've actually got it… now I'm not sure what to do!"

"Honor your word, dingus," Sapphire glared.

"Right. Right, of course." He reached into his desk and pulled out a contract, before ripping it up. "The Runaway Five are free to leave, now give me the money!"

Sapphire handed it over, and the man laughed as he weighed it in his hands. "Alright Willow, let's go.

"Rightio!" They exited the office and then the building before Willow giggled. "Dingus?"

"Hey, dingus is totally a serious insult," Sapphire laughed. Outside the building was the Runaway Five bus, with all the band's members inside, except for the short singer. "Hey, guys!"

The singer turned when he heard Sapphire, waving. "Well hey there, didja hear the news? 'Parently, our contract was paid off!"

Willow grinned brightly, "Yep! We wanted to help you out, so we paid it off!"

The singer laughed and pulled on his cap. "Well, I'll be! Thanks for that lil' missy, and you two boyo! Hey, if you're headin' ta Threed, why don't you let us give you a lift, for free!"

"That'd be great!" Sapphire and Willow grinned at each other and climbed on board the bus. The singer got on afterward and jumped into the driver's seat.

"All right, how 'bout y'all buckle up!" They sat down on a bench, putting in their seatbelts in. The bench was small so their legs were squished together, but they didn't mind as they were too busy listening as the band members all began playing loudly on their instruments, laughing and joking with each other. Willow grinned and grabbed a guitar, before thrusting it into Sapphire's hands.

"Here, play!"

"Uh, well I don't remember much, but…" Sapphire got out his guitar pick and began strumming, messing up several notes and the rhythm, but eventually was able to semi-decently play along with the rest of the band members.

"There ya go, kid!" The driver laughed as Willow clapped along, the bus pumping out music as it sped along the streets, into the Twoson countryside, towards the tunnel that would lead to Threed. As they drove, the sun began to finally set, bathing the sky in pinks, reds, and yellows.

When they eventually reached the tunnel everything got dark, the only lighting being some of the lights inside the bus, the headlights of the bus, and the lights along the roof of the tunnel. Although everybody inside in the bus couldn't see them, several pale white and tattered figures attempted to grasp onto the bus' wheels or infiltrate the bus, but the loud music and jubilation began scaring them off. By the time the bus exited the tunnel, none of the occupants knew that anything had happened.

Sapphire looked out the window and faltered, his grip on the guitar slipping before he caught it again. "What the heck?" The world outside looked… diseased was the best term. The grass was a dark blue, while the trees either had black and blue leaves or were just completely barren. The sun had apparently set while they were in the tunnel, as the sky was now dark, with no stars visible through the heavy cloud cover.

Sapphire's eyes snapped to behind a tree when he spotted movement, and he could see an odd-looking dog panting heavily. Its fur was mangy and torn out in some places, and its fangs were sharper and longer than any other dogs he'd seen. However, the most disturbing part was the holes in its torso. Sapphire could have been mistaken, but it looked like it was missing flesh and several organs, and he thought he could spot several bones. But before he could confirm it, the bus had gotten too far, and he turned to Willow with a disturbed look.

"Did you see that?"

"See what? The land around here is… wrong." Sapphire just nodded and went back to looking out the window, observing the landscape. Eventually, the bus entered the Threed outskirts, and then Threed proper. The city itself was about as big, or maybe a bit smaller, then Twoson. When they reached about the center of town, the bus slowed down and parked, letting Sapphire and Willow off.

Sapphire observed his surroundings, noting how gloomy the place was. There were very few streetlights, and all the buildings looked dark and cold, while the people wandered about aimlessly, making sure to spend as little time as possible in the shadows. When the driver stepped off, he tipped his hat at them, grinning.

"Well, this is where we say so long, for now anyway."

"Thank you for the ride," Willow smiled. "It was really fun!"

"No trouble at all, missy!" He looked around the town, frowning. "This place seems pretty gloomy, but I'm sure the two of you can bring your own little brand o' sunshine and light it up."

"Thank you, sir." Sapphire shook his hand, as did Willow, before the man climbed back onto the truck, putting his seatbelt on.

"Hope to see y'all again some time! Look for us to be singing in some theatre in Fourside, or somethin'!" The doors closed and he began driving off, leaving Sapphire and Willow standing alone on the sidewalk of Threed.


What a good place to stop.

Yeet yeet time for zombies. I've got a few chapters saved that I wrote over the break from high school I had a while ago, so I might be pushing Bound By Our Hearts chapters out quicker than my other stories. Really, Whatever I'm motivated to write about I write about, and when I lose the spark I write about one of my other stories.

But I'll never abandon any of them, even if I lose my spark for a while. Mostly because I've read too many stories that I wanted to see where they went, but then got to the last chapter and realized 'Well look at this, the dude abandoned/went on eternal hiatus.' "Monsters!" Sapphire screamed. Just wonderful.