Townsville Centre was coated in orange light when I awoke the next morning. Rays of sun broke through the air separating the skyscrapers lining Townsvile Centre. Stepping out of the Rusk Bucket, I took a large stretch and greeted Grandpa Max as he cooked himself some breakfast that smelled like dead rats and rotten eggs. I was thankful that he had allowed us to stay the night in his RV but there was no way in any dimension that I would accept his offer to try whatever foul mess he was making. Kerry was sitting on the railing overlooking the mall dug into the ground. He offered me a doughnut as I approached him, which I happily accepted as I joined him.
"Morning, boss," Kerry said happily.
"'Boss?'" I repeated, trying to hold back the teases rising throughout in my inner being. "Nevermind. What's happening?"
Kerry pointed to a gathering of Plumbers and SACT Agents in a corner of the mall as he took a bite of his doughnut. I looked between him and the gathering down below.
"What are they doing?" I questioned.
"I overheard Grandpa Max say that he was gonna be heading down to the Townsville Zoo with some Plumbers. Some SACT Agents found that there was a massive amount of seismic activity last night," he replied.
"Seismic activity? Like, earthquakes? Those aren't unheard of in Townsville."
"This amount is unprecedented," Kerry explained, "I think we've got a base under the Zoo. If Fuse is interested in the Townsville Zoo, that's why."
I could tell there was something that Kerry knew that he wasn't telling me, but he clearly didn't want to talk about it. I didn't want to push further, especially since it wasn't something that related to our own mission, so I decided to check my email and see if Numbuh One had sent me any recommendations for who to try to contact next. There wasn't a single communication, but as soon as I closed my NanoCom's email function, Kerry spoke up.
"If I may, uh, Nova? Typhon mentioned he was heading to the Park not too far from here. I mean, I don't wanna intrude, but we could see if he needed help with something."
A voice spoke up from behind us, "Oh, there's no need for that, chaps!"
I spun around and Kerry nearly fell over the railing as we saw the 8 foot tall Imaginary Friend, Typhon, Athena standing just behind him.
"Hey, Typhon! What're you doing here?" Athena asked groggily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Oh, my ol' friend, Pops, needed some help with finding his friends. They ran off shortly after the invasion started. Just a thing you needn't worry about, young masters," Typhon explained. "If I may, however, some of those strange green… simians were scouting the area while we were looking around the Park. I-I saw you all on the news and immediately thought I should inform you of my discovery come morning."
"Green monkeys?" I clarified.
"Mojo," Kerry added quietly. Typhon nodded.
"That's the first anyone has heard from that monkey since the invasion began," Grandpa Max explained, stepping over from his RV, carrying that.
"Maybe we should investigate," Athena suggested.
"Let's see if we can get an audience with him. Might be worth it to get the Powerpuff Girls there, too," I agreed. There was a beat shared between everyone in the group. "So… how do we go about getting in contact with a hyper-intelligent villainous monkey? Let alone, how do we get in contact with the Powerpuff Girls?"
"Good question," Athena said.
"I can help you get in contact with Professor Utonium," Grandpa Max claimed, "But you might be on your own with Mojo himself."
I nodded and looked at the ground briefly. "The fact that Mojo is sending out scouts feels like he might be wanting to be contacted."
Athena and Kerry looked at me, their eyebrows raised.
"Are you gonna just... walk right up to Mojo Jojo?" Athena asked.
"No," I answered, "We are."
Athena exhaled sharply. "O...kay."
"You sure it's okay, Athena?" I asked.
"Yeah… yeah, this is what I signed up for, right?" She nodded.
"You don't have to go talk to a villain yet if you don't want to. I know this is a weird world we're in now. I'm nervous, too," I reassured her, placing my hand on her shoulder.
"No, no," Athena said, shaking her head, "let's do it."
I smiled at her and turned to Grandpa Max, "You heard her. Let's get Professor Utonium on board."
"You got it," Grandpa Max responded, heading back to Rust Bucket and returning less than a minute later. "He's on the line, waiting for you 3."
"Make it 4!" Typhon exclaimed. Athena's eyes lit up.
"Are you joining Team UNITE?!" she exclaimed.
"Ah, I don't know about that, young master. Maybe just as a… confidant of sorts. For this mission, however, I will join you," responded the mythological creature.
The 4 of us returned to the Rust Bucket and Athena and I made our way to the front. There was static coming from the CB radio, of which I grabbed the receiver. Immediately a crackly voice came through.
"Hello, this is the Professor. You there?" asked the voice.
"Um, hi, Professor," I responded, "this is Nova von Zon. We, um, met yesterday… kinda."
"Yes, I remember you! Numbuh 790,000.1, right?" Professor Utonium's voice responded.
"Oh, just Nova is fine. Did Grandpa Max tell you what I wanted to talk to you about?"
There was a beat before the Professor answered, "Just a little."
I took a sharp breath and stated, "We need help getting… um… Mojo Jojo. As an ally, I mean."
Once again, the Professor was silent for a slightly uncomfortable amount of time, "Yes, that's what Max told me. I-Is Mojo willing to come to an agreement?"
"We're… not sure yet. But a friend noted that he had seen some of his scouts near Townsville Zoo. The Park, too."
"I see… I'm letting Bubbles know. Blossom is currently busy helping the KND set up the floating treehouse, but Bubbles should be Downtown and willing to help," I heard the Professor take a deep breath on the other side before continuing, "Keep me posted. I have some… requests to make of him if we're to work together."
"Understood. Thank you so much, Professor," I responded, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Of course. Again, keep me posted. Talk to you soon!" concluded the Professor, his weak smile audible through the radio.
There was a click, which I returned as I put the receiver back. I turned around on the soles of my feet and faced my team. Typhon's head was sticking cautiously through the RV's door, Kerry was leaning on the RV's table, and Athena stood directly behind me. They all had wildly different looks on their faces, clearly waiting for me to say something.
"So… that went well," I shrugged.
Kerry nodded, "As well as it could've."
"What now, chaps?" Typhon asked.
"'Suppose we should probably wait for Bubbles…" Athena responded.
As she concluded that thought, a faint sonic boom was heard somewhere off in this distance, indicating we wouldn't have to wait long. In fact, it was only 10 seconds later when we heard a cheery, high-pitched voice call out to us.
"Hiii!" the voice exclaimed.
Typhon hit his head on the door frame of the RV at the sudden new voice, spinning to face the new girl who had joined us. As I took a step out of the RV, I was met with a short girl with big, blue eyes and long blonde hair tied into pigtails. She had an adorable purple octopus backpack on and a large, friendly smile.
"Hello!" Typhon responded, rubbing his head. "A pleasure to meet you! Between you and I, you're Athena's favourite." The Imaginary Friend said, leaning in and pointing at Athena, who waved nervously.
The Powerpuff Girl giggled and said, "It's nice to meet you, Athena!"
"Um, you too!" Athena blurted out.
"So Dad told me you need help talking to Mojo?" Bubbles asked.
"Right," I responded, "I'm Nova von Zon, Numbuh 790,000.1. I'm the leader of Team UNITE. We're trying to get Mojo Jojo to join the fight against Fuse."
"Oh, that meanie? Alright!" she exclaimed, "Hopefully Mojo dislikes Fuse just as much as the rest of us. Let's get started!"
I smiled and nodded as my gaze drifted off in the direction of Marquee Row. I remembered seeing the outline of Mojo's Volcano in the distance before I had infiltrated Father's Apartments. I had never even been close to that place. I never wanted to be. But now I didn't have a choice. Mojo Jojo had a lot of influence among the villains of the world, and his army of monkey minions was strong and fiercely loyal. Getting him on our side, whether or not anyone wanted to admit it, was an absolute must. He had knocked Buttercup into the sea months ago - and no one had seen her since - and Mojo had seemingly taken a step back after that. It was clear he felt bad. I just hoped we'd be able to use that as partial leverage, or that he'd be more likely to accept an alliance if it was offered by the one Powerpuff Girl who he was truly afraid of; a girl who had lost her sister, with no clue to whether or not she had even survived.
"Let's," I finally responded.
The 5 of us had decided to fly there, with Bubbles carrying Athena while Kerry and I rode Typhon. We landed just north of the Volcano in a small alley. A large metallic bat covered in fusion matter approached us, which Bubbles dispatched quickly with her laser vision.
"Right, so. What should we do?" Kerry asked.
"Easy! We just go up to Mojo and ask if he finally wants to be our friend!" Bubbles exclaimed.
"Hold on a second," I cautioned, "Mojo may have a history with you, Bubbles, but we're all complete strangers. Strangers that have weapons and a giant mythological beast that killed Gods."
"Master Nova is correct," Typhon agreed, "we need a strategy before we just waltz in behind enemy lines."
"We don't know that Mojo is an enemy now, Typhon," Athena explained, "I actually think it could be worth it to just go on up to him. I mean, if we get stopped but his minions, we drop our weapons and explain we're here to negotiate."
"And if Mojo's minions are the shoot first, ask questions later type?" I asked.
"Mojo isn't," Bubbles explained. "I have a feeling that his minions won't be either."
Typhon nodded and added, "I suppose his minions were more cautious of me and Pops when we encountered them in the park. Even then, we are in a war. That caution is certainly merited, at least to some degree."
"Hey, uh," Kerry whispered, "regardless of what Mojo really wants, I think we're about to find out."
He pointed over his shoulder at a group of 5 monkey minions approaching down the street, staring directly at us. They didn't seem angry or disturbed by us at all, and in fact seemed completely unarmed, with the exception of two of them hovering above the rest using jetpacks. I instinctively took a step back and tried to make myself small and hidden. Athena and Bubbles, however, stepped forward with big, welcoming smiles on their faces. I tried to protest their move but I quickly realised that it would've been pointless.
"Hiii!" Bubbles shouted to the monkeys.
Three of them looked taken aback for just a moment, but the minion in a blue outfit held up a hand to his squad and stepped forward.
"Eek! The great Mojo Jojo watched your arrival, the powerful Mojo Jojo requests the presence of Bubbles and her compatriots at once!" commanded the monkey.
"Okay!" Bubbles said.
I stepped forward cautiously and stood at what I figured was a safe distance. "What does Mojo want with us?"
"The great and powerful Mojo Jojo wants to know what you want with him, he wants to know why you're here, eek!" shrieked the monkey.
I looked at each of my comrades before saying, "We're Team UNITE. We... want to offer Mojo Jojo an alliance."
"I am not the powerful and great Mojo Jojo, I am Bingo Bongo!" responded the monkey commander.
"Right," I sighed, "Okay. Take us to your leader, I guess."
Bingo Bongo chirped an affirmative and turned around as the two jetpack monkeys wearing purple outfits flew over to escort us from behind. He motioned for us to follow and began leading us toward the imposing volcano. We were all silent as we were walking, but I had noticed that Athena's demeanour had taken a full 180 from when we had departed from Townsville Centre. She kept pace with Bubbles near the front of the group, happily walking alongside the Powerpuff Girl on her left and a monkey minion in black on her right, while Kerry and I kept exchanging glances of caution regarding the monkeys around us. Even though we were still at least 2 city blocks away from the volcano, its height was one of the most strangely intimidating things I had ever seen. It just seemed to go on forever upward; even though I knew it was just as tall as City Station, if not shorter, it looked to be twice as tall - and thrice as dangerous.
Surrounding the volcano itself was a series of strange rectangular pylons with elevators that led down into a small subterranean forest that you could see by looking through an opaque glass ceiling. Monkey minions crawled to and fro over this glass ceiling and in the forest beneath - which I assumed to be a sort of residential area - doing various tasks and training with laser weapons and jetpacks. On the eastern side of the volcano was a small raised platform where a single monkey was delivering a long-winded speech to a group of money admirers below.
"We are here, eek eek! Mojo Jojo is delivering one of his magnificent speeches to his magnificent soldiers, but he wants to speak to you as soon as he is done! Wait for him on the other side of the volcano!" chirped Bingo Bongo, confirming my suspicions.
The monkey commander marched off with his soldiers in tow and joined the crowd at the foot of Mojo's platform. Without much else that we could do, I shrugged and awkwardly led the way to the other side of the volcano. I was relieved that there were very few monkeys to pay us much mind on this side of the volcano, and a few minutes later we heard the crowd begin to disperse on the other side. Almost immediately, the supervillainous monkey appeared, two purple-suited, jetpack-having minions floating behind him.
"Bubbles of the Powerpuff Girls. I did not expect your arrival, and so I was giving a rousing speech to my minions, who serve me, Mojo Jojo, and I was late because I was giving a speech to my minions and did not expect you to be here. I see that Blossom - the other member of the Powerpuff Girls - is not with you. Who are these strangers, who I have never met before?" Mojo rambled.
"Hi, Mojo! It actually was a pretty spontaneous decision to meet with you today. These are my new friends! They were the ones who wanted to meet with you," Bubbles explained. "Nova?"
"Oh, right. Greetings, Mojo Jojo. My name is Nova von Zon, Operative Numbuh 790,000.1 with the Kids Next Door. I'm leading a not-so-top-secret mission to unite the heroes and villains of the world against Fuse. These are my allies, Athena with the Urban Rangers, Kerry with the Plumbers, and Typhon the Imaginary Friend," I explained.
"And so you have come to my volcano to ask me, Mojo Jojo, to join this fight against the alien known as Fuse, who has invaded on that big planet in our orbit?" Mojo Jojo asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Precisely," I stated.
The monkey placed his chin in his hand and loudly hummed in thought. "Who told you to come to me? And why are you here, and who told you to be here?"
"We're coming to you because Typhon spotted some of your scouts near the Townsville Zoo and Park last night," I explained.
"Yes, I had scouts near the Zoo and Park, as you say your friend had seen, because there were some abnormal seismic readings that I, Mojo Jojo, had detected using my superior technology, which is superior because I, Mojo Jojo, made it," Mojo explained.
"So you detected those, too?" Kerry asked.
"Of course I did! My technology is superior in all ways from Plumber technology, Dexter's technology, AND Mandark's technology because they did not make my technology, I, Mojo Jojo, made my technology, and Dexter, Mandark, and the Plumbers are inferior to me, Mojo Jojo!"
I saw an opportunity in the middle of this rant and stated, "You know... if your technology is as amazing as you say, we could really use it for the war effort. I'm sure that, naturally, your technology is better than the Plumber's, Dexter's, and Mandark's combined."
"Naturally! My technology is superior in all ways, as I have explained!" Mojo roared.
"So it would only seem logical that you join us so we can combine your technological prowess with that of everyone else's, right?" I smirked.
Mojo returned to his thinking position and continued, "Perhaps I will join this alliance after all, as that is a very tempting offer you have just offered me! However, I, Mojo Jojo, have some demands to make before I join this alliance!"
I excitedly pulled up my NanoCom and began typing an email out to Numbuh One and Professor Utonium. "Please, continue."
Mojo Jojo began pacing in front of us, his long cape dragging along the platform we were standing on as he wildly flailed his arms, explaining his demands in great length, "My first demand is that I, Mojo Jojo, as well as my children, the Rowdyruff Boys, who I created to fight the Powerpuff Girls, and my former partners, the Beat-Alls, who I used to work with, all be pardoned of any crimes we may have committed, effective immediately!"
I looked to Bubbles before typing that demand out. "I can certainly ask the Mayor!" she exclaimed.
"Excellent!" the monkey cheered. I marked this down on my notes. "My second demand is that my troops be under the exclusive command of me, Mojo Jojo, and my troops be under only my command!"
"Naturally," I told him, marking it down anyway.
"Wonderful!" Mojo cheered, louder. "My third demand is that I become a guide in place of Professor Utonium!"
My jaw immediately dropped. "That's... that's all?"
"Yes, I am more intelligent than that Professor Utonium and I deserve to be a guide for that reason, and so my third demand is that I become a guide in place of Professor Utonium, a guide for the volunteers signing up for the fight with Dexter at his corporation and that the volunteers join me, Mojo Jojo, instead of Professor Utonium!" Mojo roared in response.
I looked at Bubbles, who also looked completely shocked.
"I... um... I don't think I have the power to do that," I explained.
"Well, then I hope that you can ask someone who does, because my demand to become a guide is my third demand, and I shall not join your alliance if I do not get all my demands!" Mojo responded.
"Er, I will... mark it down I guess?" I mumbled, marking it down with 5 question marks following it. I looked to Bubbles, who just shrugged in response.
"Good!" Mojo cheered, clearly not as impressed that that was all I could do. "My fourth and final demand is that my Monkey Minions become a means of transportation for the volunteers! They are trained to use jetpacks, which help them to fly through the air, and can carry things while they use those jetpacks, such as people, which is what I suggest! Volunteers would have to pay a small fee and then the minions of mine that know how to use jetpacks would fly them a short distance and drop them off! Those are all of my demands, as that demand was my fourth and final one!"
"That's... a really great idea, Mojo. Huh," I said, marking down the words "Flying Monkey Transportation System?" on my NanoCom. I attached Dexter to the email and sent it away.
"Of course it's a great idea! I came up with it, and all ideas that I come up with are great!" Mojo responded.
After a few seconds of waiting for a response, a large earthquake rocked the earth underneath us. Athena, Kerry, and I all fell to the ground at the intensity of it, while one of Mojo's minions picked him up and hovered up along with his other minion, Typhon, and Bubbles.
"What is going on!?" Athena shouted over the rumbling.
"The seismic readings!" I shouted back.
"That means-" Kerry began.
"Oh no! The Zoo!" Bubbles finished, "I have to go help those animals!"
"Wait!" Mojo yelled to Bubbles. "I will go with you!"
"Really?" Bubbles asked happily.
Mojo nodded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small remote, pressing the one big red button on it. The platform we were all on began to part, an elevator rising with a giant robot resting firmly on its base. It didn't take an uber-intelligent monkey to recognize it as the same robot that knocked Buttercup into the ocean a little over a month ago.
"This robot is not suited for many people, but I can bring one person with me, as I am sure that your team will want to come too. I can take one person on the robot with me!" Mojo explained.
I nodded up at him and shouted, "I'll go with you, then, Mojo! Bubbles, Typhon, you can bring Athena and Kerry, right?"
The others nodded and I was brought into the cockpit of the robot with Mojo. I never even knew that there was enough space for another person in this robot as I had never seen another monkey or person inside with him on the news reports that featured this robot. In fact, even in the interior, it did not look like anyone else could fit in, but the monkey villain pressed a series of buttons and a second chair extended up from the floor.
"Do not touch a thing!" Mojo yelled at me, "I am the only one who knows how to operate this robot and therefore you do not know how to operate this robot, so you are not permitted to touch anything!"
"Understood," I responded.
I tucked myself up into a tighter ball on the chair and watched through the cockpit window as a twister of neon-green fusion gas swirled around the Park and Zoo on the other side of Downtown Townsville. I could see Plumbers' and SACT vehicles pulling up to the scene as we approached. As we were about a city block away, Mojo spoke up again.
"You should be down there, not up here. I hope this proves that I, Mojo Jojo, am willing to join the fight against Fuse," Mojo said calmly.
"It will," I nodded, allowing his robot to pick me up and drop me on the ground next to Bubbles, Typhon, Athena, Kerry, and Grandpa Max.
"What's the situation?" Kerry asked.
"Not good," Max answered simply.
A horde of Fusion Monsters crawled out of the Fissure that had been made out of Townsville Zoo. Bubbles disappeared in a blue streak that darted everywhere around the zoo. Not even 60 seconds later, she returned, carrying some of the smaller animals and showing signs that she had taken some of the big animals to safety. Typhon, meanwhile, flew back up and hovered next to Mojo's robot. Kerry turned his arms to vines and jumped on top of a SACT van while Athena readied her bat and I readied my Pop Gun.
"Wait!" Bubbles exclaimed. I lowered my gun and turned to her. I immediately noticed something was very, very wrong. "Octi is gone!"
"That's not good. Not at all," Grandpa Max stated.
Within moments, a Fusion Bubbles landed in front of the horde, her eyes glowing a deep red. Kerry created a vine shield just in time for her to shoot crooked, unstable lasers out of her eyes.
"What now?!" Kerry shouted, groaning.
Plumbers and SACT Agents repeated the sentiment and soon the air was filled with "What now"s and "There's too many of them"s and "We need reinforcements"s. The ground stopped shaking just as a swarm of mutated Monkey Minions flew overhead. Mojo and Typhon managed to knock several of them out of the sky, but ten times as many were coming out of that Fissure. I could hear the creaking of metal, the screeching and shrieking of mutated animals, the distorted laughs of Spawns and Fusion Doppelgangers. According to agents on the front lines, a Fusion Max, Fusion Pops, and Fusion Vilgax - somehow - had now also joined the fight alongside Fusion Bubbles. Their yells were only a minor addition to the cacophonous symphony emerging from the Fissure. Grandpa Max looked at a loss for words, sweat dripping off his brow.
"Grandpa Max!?" Kerry shouted as his vine shield broke.
Grandpa Max shook his head and wiped the sweat off his brow, "Retreat! Get back to the outer perimeter!"
No one questioned his orders. Everyone accepted the full retreat. There was no way we would be able to stop this. It didn't seem unlikely that the entirety of Downtown might be lost. The best we could do was retreat and hope that more help was on the way. Sure enough, help did come; the KND sent in as many operatives as it could spare, but it wouldn't be enough. We all knew that. The minutes spent fighting back the onslaught turned to hours; four Fusion Doppelgangers turned to 6 as a Fusion Numbuh One and Fusion Mojo entered the fight. When Dexter's volunteers arrived, they and Bubbles together were able to take out the first two Fusions. Yet, even with Fusion Mojo and Fusion Bubbles defeated, the monsters continued the advance. The Park became a battlefield, the Aquarium became a piece of sunken rubble in the ocean, the entire area surrounding the Zoo became a wasteland full of sinking, fusion matter covered buildings. Most horrifically, Kerry had over-exert himself; seed pods had burst through his Plumber's uniform and his skin had begun to turn a swampy green. His eyes glowed an unnaturally bright green.
Then, somehow, we started to push back. Fusion Numbuh One fell. Fusion Pops outright retreated. And the volunteers were able to unveil a new weapon, the technology that Dexter and Mandark developed literally overnight. An evolution of previous force field technology used by both young geniuses that were now carried in portable spheres that, when thrown in an area surrounding a heavily infected zone, would connect and form force fields that one could not walk through, on either side. The only way in or out would be to be decontaminated and checked by a Dexbot who would then initiate a short-range teleportation sequence, sending volunteers hurtling through the force fields at the speed of sound. Three were set up over the area where the battle had taken place; one covering most of the Park, one covering the sunken ruins of the Aquarium, and one covering the perimeter of the Fissure that used to be the Zoo.
Miraculously, we had won.
The day following the Battle of the Fissure - as the Plumbers had been calling it - Mojo Jojo, Bubbles, Blossom, HIM, the Rowdyruff Boys, Professor Utonium, and Team UNITE met in Townsville Centre Mall. There, Utonium agreed to give up his status as a guide, deciding to consolidate his efforts with that of Dexter's but made a demand of Mojo in return; he would focus a large about of his resources on searching for Buttercup. The tyrannical monkey, a bandage wrapped around his head, agreed, stating that - in short-form - he had actually been looking for Buttercup since he knocked her into the ocean. Relieved, Professor Utonium signed a formal treaty with Mojo Jojo, much to the eventual delight of Numbuh One and Numbuh Five.
Typhon left and returned to the Park, where Grandpa Max, Numbuh One, Pops, and the Scotsman began trying to figure out what it truly was that Fuse wanted to do with the Fissure since the Plumber base had been completely destroyed when the earthquake began. Mojo Jojo reported that the mutated monkeys - Spawn Simians as he had named them - had moved in in the residential forest underneath the volcano. Infected Zones began being established around the world; Galaxy Gardens, the Space Port, the auditorium in Marquee Row, Steam Alley, Dizzy World, and the Nuclear Plant all had to be quarantined thanks to the effects of prior invasions and the aftermath of the Battle of the Fissure. Pokey Oaks Junior High, Goat's Junkyard, Mandark's old house, and Eternal Meadows graveyard were additionally quarantined, hoping to stave off any similar events from happening in the Suburbs sometime in the future.
On the orders of Numbuh One, my team took a break for the day. We spent the entire day at the Mall, as it was the one place in Townsville that hadn't been turned into a playground for Fusion monsters. We all agreed early on in our day off that, if Providence were at the Battle of the Fissure, things would have gone at least a little smoother; they had to be the next allies we needed to get. The first issue would be finding them. Until then, however, we needed some R&R. Kerry eventually was able to get his seed pods to retract into his body and his skin to expel the green in favour of his natural brown. We got smoothies and Athena tried to teach us how to skateboard, then gave up and settled on trying to teach us how to hoverboard since Kerry and I were obviously not going to get skateboarding anytime soon. As night fell, we gathered on the stage on the far side of the mall.
"Where are we sleeping tonight, then, gang?" Athena asked, munching on some Japanese candy she had bought earlier in the day.
"Here, I guess," I said, shrugging.
"We gotta fix just... asking people for places to sleep so we don't have to sleep on the concrete," Athena complained.
"How do we do that? I mean, it's not like we have much of an option. You live in Genius Grove across from an Infected Zone thingy. Nova lives in Orchid Bay, which has recently become a lot more dangerous thanks to the Te-Xuan-Ze up and leaving. And I'm from Homestead, Florida, which isn't exactly close to Townsville," Kerry replied.
"Besides, you're an Urban Ranger," I continued, "Shouldn't you know, like... survival stuff?"
Athena laughed, "Not really. You're thinking of Bean Scouts, I think. Urban Rangers are more like... I dunno, do some ordinary thing, get a badge, y'know? B-But that doesn't mean I want a slab of concrete as a bed for a night!"
"Well," Kerry said, a smirk growing across his face, "you could just imagine up a soft, cushy bed for the night."
Athena went to punch Kerry in the side, but stopped and muttered, "Kerry, I hate you." as she closed her eyes and looked like she was concentrating hard. A minute later, and she opened her eyes and sighed, "Yeah. No dice."
Kerry and I erupted with laughter, and Athena soon hesitantly joined us.
Sure enough, we ended up sleeping on the concrete that night at the permission of one of the Morbucks who owned the Mall. However, I couldn't sleep. I felt like I was being watched, but every time I tried to figure out where it came from whatever it was would disappear, only to reappear in someplace completely different. I eventually convinced Athena and Kerry to take shifts with me and was able to sleep, plagued by strange dreams of myself being the one watching me from every which corner of the Mall. I took the longest shifts that night.
Take 2 of this Chapter, I suppose. Hopefully, it's better this time around. I certainly think it is.
And we're back! Hope everyone has been doing well! I'm using this author's note to let you all know that I've been developing art for FusionFall: Unity! So far, I have character art for Nova, Kerry, and Athena, as well as a map of my take on the FusionFall world! If you're interested, the links for those are as follows (don't directly copy and paste, but go to Imgur and type in those links. FFN doesn't like external websites):
Character Designs: imgur/a/aWzBPdR
Map (WIP): imgur/a/dl4YDow
I'll post any other art in the author's notes of other chapters!
I've updated the continuity notes I made in Chapter 2! Go have a look if that kind of thing interests you! I have also been working on some worldbuilding and have made some general outlines for how I want the story to progress, and I'm very happy with how it all looks, and I hope you're all as excited for it as I am!
That's all for now, see you all soon! Things are gonna get a little bit busy for me here pretty soon, but I'll be working on this whenever I feel I can.