A/N: Well I'm back. I don't want to drop any names but I'd say Somebody was living Life In The Fast Lane somewhere In The City near the Hotel California. Now I'm certain that I Can't Tell You Why that Witchy Woman was so Busy Being Fabulous or How Long I was Waiting In The Weeds giving Dirty Laundry to that Desperado who was Guilty Of The Crime, leaving that Hole In The World. She said All She Wants To Do Is Dance to that Funk 49 but I saw through her Lying Eyes and told her I Don't Want To Hear Anymore and to Walk Away but she was Already Gone. Little did she know that it was a Long Road Out Of Eden through that Rocky Mountain Way and that there would be No More Walks In The Wood. Still I suppose that In The Long Run, I left with a Peaceful Easy Feeling and realized Life's Been Good to me and that the whole experience wasn't really Wasted Time.

…Just thought I'd share that with you. Anyway, let's Take It Easy for a bit, shall we?

XX

"Why do we have to share the same room!?"

"Yeah, he has gas!"

"No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do!"

"All right, calm down, you two…" Stephanie said in a firm voice as she stood in the middle of the room, between the two beds. "Now I already called your parents and told them the situation. I promised them that I'd keep you out of harm's way and that you'd return home safely."

"Really?" Gloria's eyes sparkled. "You'd do that for us?"

"Of course I would."

"Wow…" She frowned. "Why!?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you make such a dorky promise like that for!?"

"Yeah!" Ritchie nodded his head as he stood on the bed in his pajamas. "We wanna get in on the action!"

"Oh no." Stephanie shook her head. "No, no, no. You two are going to stay here tomorrow while the team heads for the cave."

"But why!? This place is boring!"

"Ritchie, trust me. None of us know what could happen while we're over there."

"What, you think you might die from a severe case of boredom?" He sarcastically gasped. "My gosh! That's terrible!"

"Listen, you little smart-aleck!" She playfully swept him off his feet and placed him on his back. "Ozymandias is going to spend the day with you tomorrow to keep you guys company."

"You mean that guy with the makeup?"

"What makeup?"

"Uhh…" He gulped. "…N-never mind."

"C'mon." She lifted the sheets. "Into bed."

"Oh, all right…"

She helped him under the covers and tucked him in gently, kissing him on the head. "And if what Gloria says is true, then I'll leave a window open."

"It's not all true…"

"C'mon, little missy." The pink one then turned her attention to Gloria, who was already one step ahead of her, crawling into the blankets. "And if you're going to kill him, please don't leave a big mess."

"Deal!" The little girl wrapped her arms around her idol and kissed her on the cheek. "Good night, Stephanie!"

"Good night, sweetie."

She stood back up, headed for the door and switched off the lights. When she was out in the hallway again, Clyde greeted her from behind with his arms wrapped around her waist.

"I saw that." He grinned.

"Saw what?" She blushed.

"You know. The way you were handling the situation in there."

"What situation?"

"Well let's see… two kids, a boy and a girl; and of all people to tuck them in, it had to be you. I'm surprised you didn't read them a bed time story."

"HEY, YEAH! WHAT THE HELL, LADY!?" Ritchie's muffled voice shouted from behind the closed door.

"Ritchie!" She slammed her fist on the door.

"Why Miss Stephanie," Clyde turned her around and looked deep into her chocolate-colored eyes. "You've got a knack for this sort of thing, you know that?"

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"You wouldn't happen to be thinking of… well, y'know…"

"All in due time." She kissed him on the lips. "But right now a good night's sleep sounds good."

"You go on ahead. There's something I have to take care of." He kissed her back. "Good night."

"Good night."

As they parted ways, Clyde stopped and turned around to see his pink angel enter her bedroom. He then looked down and smiled as a warm feeling swelled in his chest.

--

The next morning, after everyone finished their breakfast in the grand hall, the away team began loading up their things on the Track One. Sportacus, feeling a bit empty inside, gazed up at his nephew's airship and began to reminisce about his lost companion.

"Uncle Sporty?" Clyde noticed his uncle's empty stare. "You okay?"

"Huh?" He regained his focus and straightened up his shirt as if nothing was bothering him. "Fine! Fine! Everything's good, Clyde. Thanks. Ready to go?"

"Well we are."

"Good."

"Umm… aren't you going to change?"

"What?" He looked down and noticed he was still wearing his blue and white striped pajamas. "Oh for the love of…"

"Hey, Sportadoofus!" Robbie approached him with a pat on the back. "Whoa! Nice jammies! And here I thought you slept in the buff like the egotistical muscle-head I took you for!"

"What was that!?" Ozymandias came rushing up to the group, giving Sportacus a once-over then frowning. "…Oh."

As Sportacus rushed back into the palace to change, five servicemen dressed in black and blue uniforms armed to the teeth with various weapons, met with everyone in the courtyard below the hovering airship. The leader of the five, tall, well-built with a healthy head of spiky blond hair and wearing a pair of sunglasses, saluted Clyde and Robbie.

"Sirs! We are to accompany you on today's outing."

"WHAT OUTING!?" Ozymandias blurted out, almost suspicious of something. "What are you talking about!? I don't know what you mean! Why wasn't I informed!?"

"Uhh, sir…" He cleared his throat. "I meant the expedition towards the caves."

"…Oh, yes! Yes, that outing!" Ozzy chuckled nervously. "Gotcha. Very good."

"At ease, boys." Clyde motioned for them to stop saluting.

"Hey, hey! Wait a minute!" Robbie smugly belayed the order. "Let 'em keep doing what they're doing… I kind of like it!"

"Robbie!" Rottenella gave him a dirty look.

"Oh, all right!" He waved his hand. "You can stop saluting now."

"All right, everyone!" Stephanie hollered as she slid down the rope ladder wearing her Kevlar jacket. "We've got a cave to explore now let's go!"

Amelie, Demetrius, Ziggy, Pixel and Stingy followed Stephanie up the ladder and into the airship. Before Trixie could climb on as well, she was halted by a familiar voice.

"Trixie, right?"

"Yeah?" She turned and looked at him.

"It's me."

"…Me who?"

He removed his sunglasses much to her surprise. "Leon! Remember?"

"Oh yeah! Hey, Leon. How's it going?"

"Oh, nothing much. Looks like we'll be heading out together."

"…Together, yeah."

"Well not together, together but you know…"

"Yeah, yeah, I do."

"Cool…"

There was an awkward silence until they both realized neither of them had entered the airship yet. Halfway to the top, Stingy looked down and noticed Trixie giggling with the commanding officer. He froze in place, his eyes widening and jaw dropping, unaware that his hand was slipping off the rope. The trance was instantly broken the moment he began to drop but thanks to a properly dressed Sportacus, so was his fall.

"Oh God…" He sighed as he realized he was being supported by one of Big Blue's arms. "Well this is embarrassing."

"You're welcome." He chuckled as he helped him climb back to the top.

"Stingy!" Trixie looked up. "Are you okay!?"

"Yeah!" He called back before growling under his breath. "…Just fine."

"We'd better go up now." She smiled nervously at Leon.

"Yeah, good idea." He then turned to his men. "Let's move on up, everybody!"

--

The Track One took to the skies and soared above the magnificent kingdom of Aðalsteinn. Everyone who wasn't familiar to the land looked out their windows and marveled at its beauty. Surrounding a crystal clear body of water were lush green fields, a beach of clean white sands with tall and mighty trees proudly watching over them. As they passed a hill, they could see several deer run by, a flock of birds rise up along a meadow and a family of rabbits curling up inside their hole.

"Hey, look!" Bob excitedly jumped on Demetrius' lap. "Them's my people!"

"Not really, Bob, no." The wizard shook his head.

"Huh? Why not!?"

"Well you're so… pink."

"And I thought segregation was a thing of the past." He shook his head. "You disgust me."

"Said the binge-drinking, anus-sniffing, pink rabbit."

After what seemed like such a short trip, the Track One finally settled itself over a large woodland area. The trees and bushes differed greatly from those they had just seen and there didn't appear to be any sign of animal life anywhere. Slowly they lowered themselves to the ground until there were three people left to climb down the ladder.

"Ziggy, maybe you should stay here." Pixel said.

"What? Why?"

"Well it could get dangerous."

"They're just caves, Pixel!"

"Yeah but I'd hate to feel responsible for the death of a good friend of mine. So why don't you just stay here and keep watch, huh?"

"Keep watch!? From what!? A flock of rabid hamsters!?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Screw you! I'm going down there!"

"Ziggy, please!"

"What!? Then why did you ask me to come along if you weren't going to let me in on the action!?"

"I didn't ask you."

"You didn't?" He then turned to Stephanie.

"Don't look at me." She shook her head. "Pixel, I thought you were going to--"

"What!? No! Trixie said she was going to tell him!"

"But I told you to tell him!"

"Tell me what!?" Ziggy was beginning to lose patience.

With a heavy sigh, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ziggy, we didn't want you coming along on this particular mission."

"You didn't?" His voice dropped to a whisper. "B-but why? The amulet… you need help, don't you?"

"We've got plenty of help right now, Ziggy. Thanks anyway."

"I don't understand."

"We're just looking out for you, man." Pixel shrugged.

"It's because I'm the youngest, isn't it?"

"No." He rolled his eyes. "It's not that at all… well, okay, maybe a little but…"

"You're still afraid I might screw things up, aren't you?" He threw his hands up in the air and sat down. "Why did I even bother to come? Why did you let me?"

"We just…" Stephanie paused for a minute, afraid of what to say.

Ziggy read her like a book and frowned. "…You just did it to make me feel useful."

"Ziggy, I--"

"Just go."

"But--"

"I'll keep watch."

Stephanie and Pixel exchanged guilty glances at each other and proceeded down the ladder. Hurt and deeply embarrassed, Ziggy activated one of the monitors and switched on the infrared map.

--

Outside, they slowly trekked through the woods and saw a vast opening near a shaded area. Every stayed put while Leon and his men went closer to investigate.

"I don't see what the big deal is." Bob said as he rested on Amelie's shoulder. "It's just a stinkin' cave."

"Are you sure about that?" Sportacus asked.

"You better believe it, Mac! Trust me! I know all about caves!"

Leon approached the group with a radio in his hand. "I'm going to take my men in first and scout the area. See what we can find, y'know?"

"Sure." Sportacus took the walkie-talkie.

"We'll radio if we find anything."

"Be careful."

As the five men entered the building, Stingy noticed his girlfriend keeping a concerned eye on the leader of the group.

"…So." He broke the ice at last. "That Leon guy's pretty cool, I guess."

"Huh? What?" Trixie looked over to him. "Oh, him? Well I suppose…"

"Right." He looked down and kicked a small mound of grass.

"Is something wrong?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"You just seem a little… out of it."

"No. I'll be all right."

"Listen…" She put her hands over his. "About last night…"

"You don't have to apologize."

Her eyes widened as she let go of his hands. "Wait, what?"

"It's okay, Trix. I forgive you."

"Huh…" She gave him a challenging stare. "So I guess I'm to blame for our little row last night?"

"Well you were kind of overreacting."

"Oh, this coming from Mr. Overprotective!"

Suddenly, before their fight could grow even louder, they all heard a loud scream coming from within the cave.

--

"Some friends." He scoffed. "Yeah right. No respect whatsoever for me…"

Just then, Ziggy noticed something strange surfacing on the map near the area within the cave. It started out as a red blur then gradually broke off into several pieces, crawling all over the greener areas of the map.

"Wait a minute…" He looked closer at the screen. "There were five little red blurs walking into one big red blur… now the big one's broken off… there's now several big red blurs and… four little ones? Oh, this isn't good…"