XXV

"Desirée was the light of my life. She was an absolute joy. So young and so very beautiful. She looked just like me when I was at that age."

"What was she like?"

"Sweet and very kind. Warm and passionate. But she was also very frail and naïve around those who couldn't be trusted."

"What happened to her?"

"A guardsman took her from me."

"You mean one of the royal guardsmen?"

The old woman nodded as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I never trusted him from the start. But they were all so very fond of him. They thought he would be next in line to represent our kingdom."

"But?"

"But someone else took that which he coveted the most. He broke ranks and opposed the king and queen. He demanded he be given the opportunity to carry on the mantle as Number 9 but they--"

"Number 9?"

She nodded. "But they, the king and queen, refused to give in to his demands. I sent my lovely Desirée into town to showcase my latest creation."

"What creation?"

The old woman pointed across the room at the glass case, which held a doll that eerily resembled an intrigued Rottenella. Right to the black hair and purple outfit she was wearing, the doll was a perfect match.

"Then what happened?"

"He lured her in. His home was along the way, standing tall on the grassy hill beneath the willow tree. It was well hidden from prying eyes." She paused for a moment to catch her breath and struggled to finish the rest of her story. "He had become a disgrace to his fellow officers and a drunk. A violent drunk to be exact. He…"

Rottenella moved from her seat and sat next to the old woman, putting a comforting hand over hers. "…He what?"

"Rottenella, maybe she doesn't want to finish the story. Perhaps we should come back and--"

"He raped and murdered my daughter." The old woman interrupted.

"Dear God." Helmina gasped and exchanged glances with Rottenella.

"You don't remember any of this?"

She shook her head. "No. I guess this must have happened before I was born."

"Ms. LaFleur…" She squeezed the old woman's hand. "I'm terribly sorry for your loss."

"The dolls you made… and all the toys…"

"From that day on, everything I made would resemble my dear sweet daughter. The dolls, the puppets… even the clothing I knitted."

"Even…" The young ebon-haired woman gulped. "…Even the music boxes?"

"Especially the music boxes." LaFleur sighed. "My Desirée loved music. And she danced like an angel. She loved dancing and music more than anything."

"Crap." She gulped again.

The old woman then stood up and stared at her guest suspiciously. "Who are you? Why have you come to haunt me!?"

"Ms. LaFleur, please!" Helmina stood up in her friend's defense. "We only wanted to talk! We mean you no harm! We just--"

"Leave now!" She yelled.

"But--"

"I said leave!"

"Ms. LaFleur, wait…" Rottenella faced the old woman sincerely and looked deep into her eyes. "I think I know why I came back the way I am now."

"What are you talking about?"

"I wasn't always the way you see me now."

"How is that?"

"I wasn't human."

"What?"

"Robbie, my fiancé, animated me and… well to make a long story short, he made me human. He gave me a heart. But… in some weird way… I'd say you gave me a soul."

"I did?"

"I can't quite explain it but… because of the effort you put into all your toys, the love you had for your daughter sort of transferred into them. It transferred into me, that's for sure. Look, I know it sounds crazy and just plain dumb but that's how I really feel."

"Rottenella…" Helmina pulled the young woman aside. "What are you smoking!?"

"What?"

"You just don't go into old people's homes and say, 'Hey! I used to be a toy that looked like your daughter!' Why would you say that to her?"

"Because it's true."

"No, it isn't."

"It is."

The old woman placed her hands on the dancer's face and studied her expression. "My God, you are the spitting image my daughter… my dear sweet Desirée…"

She hesitated for a moment but could see the tear of joy sparkling in the old woman's eye then finally took her in her arms. "I'm here now… mom."

---

Robbie sat down as several wires connected to his forehead fed on his thoughts and processed them into a machine Claudette was studying. She looked back and forth from her notes to the computer screen while Robbie yawned and rolled his eyes.

"So!" He finally said as he clapped his hands. "What's it say? Anything? Does it say why I suddenly found myself in a room full of penguins, drenched to the bone?"

"There's nothing about the orphanage here, Berto."

"No? Pity. How about my fixation on underground lairs and anything else that's covered in dust and cobwebs? Does it mention anything about that?"

"No."

"Does it say where I got my ability to create such wonderful inventions? No, wait. I got that in college! Sorry."

"Berto, the machine really doesn't say anything. I'm just studying your brain patterns and… well, here. Take a look."

"Hmm?"

She unplugged the suction cups from Robbie's forehead and led him to the computer screen. The layout of the interior of Robbie's brain was mostly highlighted with blue lights but the area Claudette was pointing at was red.

"Hey, nice!" Robbie smirked. "I didn't know parts of my brain had red states! I always knew I had a little republican in me!"

"No…" She shook her head. "The red indicates a part of your brain that's suppressing certain memories from your life."

"It can do that?"

"So far as I know, yeah."

"Wow." He looked at another screen which displayed someone else's brain patterns. "Whose brain is that?"

Suddenly, Clyde came flopping across the floor on his belly making fish faces and squishy noises with his mouth while a few men in white coats tried to pick him up. The young man squirmed from their grasp and began walking around like a puppet, dangling his head and limbs as such.

"Clyde, you have to sit back down." Claudette ordered.

"I'm sorry but I can't hear you. I'm a puppet. We have no ears."

"Then what's this?" She grabbed the boy's ear and began twisting much to his annoyance.

"OWW!" He wailed before imitating the sound of an inured orca.

"Clyde, cut it out!"

"Cut what out!?" He then noticed the computer screen with his brain patterns. "Hey, cool! TV!"

For some strange reason, the screen suddenly fizzed for a moment before switching over to footage of an old Godzilla movie.

"What happened?" Robbie asked.

"I have no idea." Claudette stood there stupefied. "I just… oh, God."

"Honey, I'm home!" Pixel walked in with a smile before noticing Robbie and Clyde standing next to her. "Visitors!? Well okay! You can watch but you can't touch!"

Before he could give her a hug, Claudette held her hand back and shoved the boy away. "I don't think so, Gizmo Guy."

"What are they doing here?"

"The queen asked me to scan Berto's brain for any signs of amnesia, which may be the reason why he can't remember anything from his past here."

"And Clyde?"

They both turned around to see Clyde sucking on the television screen, leaving a huge trail of drool and making squealing noises to match the giant lizard's.

"I think it would be safe if we kept Clyde here overnight. Berto, you can go if you want."

"All right!" He waved as he walked on by. "Let me know if you find anything!"

"Sure."

"Well…" Pixel raised his eyebrows. "…Looks like it's just you and me, baby doll."

With a straight face she pointed at Clyde, who was now wearing a medical glove as a hat and blowing into another like a balloon.

"Oh." Pixel frowned. "I see what you mean."

"What did you come here for?"

"Nothing, really. I just wanted to see if you needed some help."

"I don't."

"You sure."

"Positive."

"Well, okay…" He turned to leave before he remembered why he really came down in the first place. "Wait, now I remember why I came!"

"What is it?"

"The spiders."

"Spiders?"

"In that cave today. What are they doing there?"

"Spiders live in all sorts of places, Pixel. Surely you knew that."

"Yeah but I've never seen spiders like these before. Giant bloodsucking tarantulas with fangs as big as lamppost."

"You're kidding." Her eyes widened. "There's no way that…"

"Oh, I couldn't make this up if I tried. It's like something out of a horror movie."

"The tarantulas…" She gulped as she hurried over to a table and began flipping through several books. "…Was there a dominant one? A queen, perhaps?"

"Yeah."

"Project Morlock?" She said aloud.

"Project what?"

"Take a look at this." She opened a book and handed it over to Pixel.

"Holy crap…" He studied the contents. "Animal mutation? But why?"

"It's something a team of scientists were working on before I became head of the division. They wanted to enlarge certain animals and mutate them to use as cannon fodder."

"Really? That's, uhh… that's kind of lame."

"Oh, it gets worse."

"Oh yeah?"

"There were even talks of splicing human and animal DNA together to create some sort of 'super-soldier' army."

"Whoa."

"Apparently there was only one successful trial and the others either died or came out deformed. The project was scrapped immediately when King Hallbjörn realized its lack of moral ethics."

"Man, you guys will study anything, won't you?"

"It wasn't exactly the brightest chapter of our kingdom, to say the least."

"So, wait…" He paused to reflect for a moment. "Did you know those tarantulas would be crawling around that cave?"

"No."

"Did you even know they existed?"

"No. Like I said, the project was scrapped. At least, those were the orders I gave once I became head of the science division."

"Huh." Pixel thought to himself again.

"What is it?"

"…Nothing."

"Tell me."

"Well… I just have this weird feeling in my gut that maybe somebody wasn't exactly keen on following your orders."

"What do you mean? Are you saying somebody went behind my back and restarted the program?"

"I don't know."

"But why would you think that?"

"Something about the way Sportacus was acting."

"How do you mean?"

"Well the guy usually knows when something is up and he doesn't always need his crystal to remind him."

"Yes but I hardly think somebody went behind my back and mutated an entire army of tarantulas."

"Then how did they get there?"

"They could have been left over by a previous experiment before the plug was pulled."

Pixel nodded and shrugged, finally withdrawing his suspicion. "Yeah… yeah, I guess you're right."

"I know I'm right."

"Yeah." He grinned. "So… you wanna make out or--"

"No."

---

Hal and Jezelle walked along the courtyard with their son in tow while the group of men in blue and white cloaks were heading their way. With a gasp, Hal immediately turned around to flee but the religious leader stopped him in his tracks with a cheerful greeting.

"My Lord!" He, along with his followers, bowed. "Hail King Hallbjörn!"

"HAIL!" The hooded men shouted.

"Uhh…Th-thank you." The king stuttered. "H-how are you t-today?"

"Me, Lord? I'm fine! Absolutely fine! The day of Zül is coming, you know! And when he arrives, will you be there with us to praise his good name?"

"…Listen to me, you demented fool. You're worshipping a whale."

"Yes?"

"…Don't you find that a bit odd?"

"Do you find it odd that other religions worship several beast-like deities? Or that some follow an entire list of beliefs that clearly states that existence is suffering? Or that many in this world follow the words and teachings of a hippy?"

"I, uhh… well…"

"So why not a whale?"

"…Uhh… I see your point. It's just…"

"He's not just a whale, you know! He can take any form he chooses!"

"Oh, really?" He grimaced.

"Hal…" Jezelle cleared her throat.

"Well we should be going! Things to do, people to meet! King stuff, you know?"

"Of course, my Lord!" The leader stepped aside and bowed. "Forgive me! I didn't mean to delay you!"

"Thanks, pal."

"Sir!" Ozymandias suddenly appeared.

"Good God, what now!?" The king grunted.

"Sir, I just finished handing the invitations out."

"Oh, good." He then paused. "Invitations to what?"

"Your gala tomorrow evening."

"What gala?"

"The one you had been planning for weeks, remember?"

"What?"

"Hal!" Jezelle gasped. "Dear me, I forgot to tell you!"

"Tell me what!? I'm the god-damn king and no one ever tells me anything around here!" He shouted. "What gala!?"

"In honor of our sons' return and for Stephanie finally collecting the amulets."

"What… but…" He stammered. "WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!!!"

"Dad?" Sportacus stepped forward. "I know you're under a lot of pressure right now with the kingdom under high alert. But maybe a party wouldn't be so bad. It'll give us a chance to relax and catch our breaths for a while and… reconcile with loved ones."