Catalysts
This was going well, everyone thought sarcastically to themselves in respect to their current situation. For Team Neutron and the Louds, they had been here five seconds and already they were being set upon by the locals, or in this case, a robot with a blaster in its hands pointed at them. For Team Murphy, they had landed on a planet they thought was Earth, but it had undergone some very drastic changes. Milo still thought there was something familiar about this world that they've landed on, but there was no time to dwell on this since the hostile droid was still menacing them with its weapon.
"Statement: Your allocated identification period has expired. Proceeding with the termination of unidentified potential hostiles," the robot declared.
"Goddard! Defensive position!" Jimmy commanded, and Goddard drew its own weapons at the robot.
"Let's scrap this bucket of bolts and find Bill already," Lynn urged. She tried to use her newly acquired magical abilities to aid in the fight to come, but she was coming up empty. "Oh, come on!" Lynn remarked. Lola then tried to use her abilities, but also came up short.
"I'm tapped out too!" Lola added. The other sisters and Lincoln all tried to use their powers, but their efforts were in vain.
"Oh man, we just got these powers," Lincoln complained.
"Will someone please tell me what's going on here?" Zack exclaimed.
"Everybody stand down!" a voice called out that Team Murphy was very familiar with. Sure enough, a boy emerged from behind the robot to help defuse the tension.
"Phineas? Is this another of your inventions?" Milo inquired.
"Wait, you know this dude?" Luna asked.
"Our paths have crossed over a few times," Melissa answered.
"Objection: Master! You have no idea who these individuals are. They could pose a threat to your safety and wellbeing, and in these times, one cannot afford to be careless," the robot rebuffed.
"BG, I have no intention of blasting strangers on sight or letting you do it. Now lower your weapon and let them through," Phineas ordered.
"Reminder: You also know the Captain's instructions when he commissioned my construction. Anyone seeking passage into your household must undergo an eye scan before they are allowed entry," the robot, whom Phineas called BG, reminded. Phineas sighed in frustration.
"Fine, do what you have to, just no blasting," Phineas conceded. The robot then fired up its eye scanners located on its optic sensors and, after sweeping through the new arrivals, concluded that they were clean and allowed them to pass.
"Evaluation: It appears that one group of arrivals is listed on the database under 'allies', namely the beings known as Milo Murphy, Melissa Chase, and Zack Underwood. Local authorities have you down as 'missing' for a period of two standard weeks," BG summarised.
"We've been away a while," Milo clarified.
"For two weeks, but it feels more like two years, like a TV show that's in renewal limbo," Zack mused.
"Milo?" came another voice that Team Murphy was familiar with, and that Milo was especially glad to hear. Amanda then emerged from the Flynn-Fletcher house, a look of astonishment and relief on her face. Awkward tension suddenly filled the air.
"Oh, hi Amanda. I'm sorry I….." Milo began his apology, but could not get the opportunity to speak further before Amanda ran over and pulled him into a hug so tight not even a crowbar could pry them apart.
"I thought I'd never see you again," Amanda tearfully greeted while burying her face in Milo's chest. Milo returned the embrace, not knowing what to say next.
"Meap has kept me apprised of the situation with the Octalians. The general consensus is while the authorities understand why the Octalian government authorised your abduction, they still need to face sanctions for what happened. Ordinarily, they would be compelled to downsize their fleet, but you took care of that already, albeit unintentionally," Phineas explained. Team Murphy chuckled at this development.
"You were abducted by aliens? Would you be happy to share your experiences with the scientific community at some point?" Lisa inquired. Lori gave her a sharp elbow.
"Time and place, Lisa. The guy hasn't seen his girlfriend in two weeks if I understand right. Give them time, then you can bombard him with questions about extraterrestrials," Lori scolded lightly.
"Instead, the Octalians have to pay a very hefty fine. I have also been asked to give you these," Phineas concluded and handed Team Murphy what looked like permission slips, but they contained indecipherable writing of alien design.
"Translation: Those are 'immunity from abduction' slips. In short, no interplanetary races can touch you or even approach you ever again, for fear of similar penalties suffered by the Octalians. They also mean you are to remain on this planet for the rest of your natural lives," BG summarised.
"Awwwww, we're grounded," Melissa complained.
"I'm not too fussed. I like it very much on…..I'd like to say Earth, but this looks nothing like home," Zack countered.
"Yeah. If I didn't know any better, I'd say we were on Mewni," Milo added, suddenly realising why this new world looked so familiar to him, it was because Milo had been to Mewni before and it looked just like this, except without the modern-day look of 21st century Earth.
"Yeah, why does this place look like something out of one of my princess stories? Not that I'm complaining, but the present day really clashes with the fairy tale aesthetic," Lola asked.
"And it really doesn't mix well," Leni added.
"Did we miss something while we've been in space?" Dakota probed.
"Oh boy, where do I start?" Phineas responded.
"How about getting acquainted with the other group that landed with us first?" Milo suggested, taking note of the other ship and its occupants. Before they could get introduced, a third craft came descending onto the backyard, prompting BG to raise his weapon once again. Once it landed and the occupants got out, the white-haired boy spoke first.
"You can stand down, BG. Albert ordered me here to see what was happening," the boy called out. BG then lowered his weapon.
"Report: The occupants of the crashed vehicles are non-hostile. Further action is deemed unnecessary at this time," BG updated.
"Wow, an actual bodyguard droid? I am so jelly," one of his companions complimented.
"Introduction: I am BG-23, Master Phineas' dedicated bodyguard. I was commissioned by Excalibur upon the disappearance of his former retainer and constructed by the Master to ensure his safety and wellbeing," BG introduced.
"I'm Danny, that's my girl Sam, and this is Tucker," Danny piped up. Luna was thankful that this Sam was leagues different from her own girlfriend, who was also called Sam. There was no way her Sam would be caught dead in a get-up like Danny's Sam was wearing.
"As BG no doubt told you, I'm Milo, that's Zack, there's Melissa, you've met my girl, Amanda. The old guys with us are Cavendish and Dakota, the one in the lab coat is Doofenshmirtz, and the platypus is his former nemesis Perry," Milo replied.
"Ahem, aren't you forgetting someone?" Cavenpuss emerged. Everyone recoiled in horror.
"OK, who made that abomination?!" Jimmy remarked.
"Nice to meet you too," Cavenpuss snarkily responded.
"That would be me. In my defence, I was in a hurry," Doofenshmirtz admitted.
"This defies every code of scientific ethics around. Where did you get your qualifications?" Lisa inquired.
"Errrrrrr…..would 'off the internet purchased with my ex-wife's alimony check' be an acceptable answer?" Doofenshmirtz probed. Lisa and Jimmy facepalmed at this response. "Hey! Don't give me that look! If you needed to make a clone in a short time span, I'm sure you'd do the same thing," Doofensmirtz said defensively.
"Said the baffoon who put self-destruct buttons on all of the negative probability ion suppressors fitted on the ship we crash-landed on. Given all this, it's a miracle you ever invented time travel at all," Cavendish mused. Lisa and Jimmy laughed out loud at the mention of self-destruct buttons.
"What kind of imbecile puts self-destruct buttons on his inventions?" Jimmy chuckled. Carl and Sheen joined in on this too.
"What are you, some sort of Saturday morning cartoon villain? Not even Ultra Lord's enemies did that," Sheen added.
"I did not travel halfway across the galaxy and crash-land on this freak world to get laughed at by a kindergartener and someone with chocolate ice cream for hair! This is like Vanessa's fourth birthday party all over again!" Doofenshmirtz retorted. Cindy laughed at this statement.
"He's got you there, Jim," Cindy observed.
"The one laughing at Doof's expense is Jimmy, certified boy genius. That's his girlfriend, Cindy. I'm her bestie Libby, and these two nerds are Carl and Sheen," Libby continued the introductions.
"You call us nerds, but I managed to win your heart," Sheen said.
"Yes, and to this day, we're still not sure how you did it," Cindy rebuffed. Jimmy stopped laughing in time to introduce the final group of newcomers.
"The family that came with us are called the Louds. The white-haired sole boy among them is Lincoln, and these are his sisters Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lucy, Lana, Lola, and Lisa, my interdimensional pen pal," Jimmy concluded. Zack was dumbfounded by how many there were, and that they were all related.
"You have how many sisters? How big is your food budget?" Zack wondered.
"We get by. My dad owns a restaurant," Lincoln answered.
"So, what brings you all here?" Melissa asked. The tone in the air was more serious now.
"We came here to find someone, and not who we would call a friend," Lori replied.
"The furthest thing from. In fact, we came here to end him," Lynn added.
"Isn't that a little extreme?" Dakota interjected.
"If you saw what Bill did to our world while he was there, you'd want revenge too," Lucy stated. Team Murphy was shocked at the mention of Bill, and Phineas' demeanor changed from optimism to dread.
"Wait, who?" Milo inquired.
"Bill? But he's dead!" Zack responded in disbelief.
"It didn't take," Luan replied.
"Regrettably, I have to confirm that statement. Bill Cipher is indeed very much alive," Lisa added. Team Murphy didn't know what to think at this point. Except for Cavenpuss, every one of them saw what Bill could do, and even fought in the Cipher War, and still had nightmares about it to this day. The very concept of his return brought them a sense of fear and panic.
"Then…how do we stop him?" Cavendish asked.
"I don't think we can. He's different now. The being we fought and the one we're up against now are two separate entities. All our old tactics will be almost useless," Phineas answered pessimistically.
"My boy, I think it would be best if you told us everything," Cavendish urged.
At the Diaz household, Star and Marco were still reeling from the sight of their old nemesis at their doorstep, along with his henchmen, most of whom were from Ludo's old gang. Of course, it didn't surprise them that Toffee would throw in with Bill once again, considering how their last partnership almost overthrew the Mewman monarchy. It was only through the intervention of Excalibur that they were able to withstand that attack and imprison Toffee in crystal. Star guessed that Toffee was granted early parole in exchange for his services by Bill.
"It has been far too long, Butterfly. Perhaps we should catch up. I hear that you, of all people, did what I couldn't. I'm obliged to give you my thanks," Toffee taunted.
"Save it. I didn't do it for you!" Star rebuked.
"Yes, I'm quite aware of the circumstances behind your decision to destroy the magic. However, in doing so, you enabled my release. I'm in your debt. So, I'm offering you a one-time deal. Help me find the catalysts and I will appeal to Bill's good nature and he'll let you live. He might even offer you a position in his new world," Toffee bargained.
"Ha! Bill has no good nature," Marco retorted.
"Besides, we don't know anything about these 'catalysts' and even if we did, we wouldn't hand them over to you or Bill," Star added. Toffee's attention then turned to the others, specifically, Timmy and Chloe.
"Is that so? Then why are the catalysts with you now?" Toffee interrogated, then addressed Timmy and Chloe. "Bill wants you two alive. Come with us and we'll leave everyone else alone. Monster's honour," Toffee promised.
"Not a chance, buddy! You've got 'stranger danger' written all over you," Bobby remarked, moving in between Timmy, Chloe, and the monster army in a defensive posture.
"Oh come now, that's hardly fair. You've only just met me," Toffee mocked.
"What does this Bill guy want with us anyway?" Timmy demanded.
"You can ask him that yourself, if you like," Rasticore replied.
"I think we'll pass up your oh so generous offer. In fact, I think it's time we left. Timmy and I have imposed on the Diaz family long enough and we really need to get home," Chloe declined. Marco then stepped between her, Timmy, and the monsters, joining Bobby.
"You heard her, neither she nor Timmy want to go with you. Now, as a resident of this house, I am asking you to leave," Marco requested.
"I didn't want it to come to this, especially after Star finished my mission of magical destruction, but your refusal to cooperate has left me no choice. Seize them," Toffee ordered Rasticore and they all advanced on the group.
"Any suggestions?" Bobby asked Marco in a panicked state.
"One, we flee," Marco replied. He pulled out a device similar and pressed a button on it. Soon enough, a vehicle emerged from the garage and came barrelling towards them. "Everybody in," Marco pressed as the doors flew open. Bobby then shoved Timmy and Chloe inside and jumped in after them. Star and Marco were busy fending off their attackers with hand-to-hand combat skills, Marco's karate abilities on full display. The reason for the escape vehicle was to get Timmy, Chloe, and Bobby as far away from the house as they could. Star was fending off Rasticore and two other assailants.
"Strawberry ribbon lass….oh, right, no magic," Star tried to cast a spell, only to suddenly remember that there was no magic anymore. "Well, this is going to be hard," Star joked before getting whacked by Rasticore's tail and slamming into the vehicle. Timmy then opened a door to let her in. Star hurriedly climbed in, which only left Marco outside. Bobby then took the wheel and parked up beside him, making a few monsters jump out of the way.
"Get in," Bobby ordered and opened up the passenger side door for Marco to make his escape. Bobby didn't care where he drove to, just as long as it was as far away from those monsters as feasibly possible. After a while, Toffee and his goon squad were but specks in the rearview mirror and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"OK, now that's over with, maybe one of you can tell me what's going on. Because between a magicless freak realm, a princess that knows more about fairies than my fairy-obsessed fifth-grade teacher, and Mr. Lizard Lawyer and his cronies back there, I was better off in Ancient Greece!" Timmy ranted. Star, despite the situation, couldn't help but laugh at Timmy's description of Toffee.
"Mr. Lizard Lawyer, I'm so using that one," Star commented.
"What does he want with you two anyway? And why did he keep calling you Butterfly?" Bobby quizzed.
"Because that is my last name, and we don't know the answer to the first question," Star replied.
"Nor do we, and we don't want to stick around to find out. The sooner we get back home, the better," Chloe resolved. Just then, a voice from inside the vehicle called out.
"Auto-pilot engaged. Estimated time to Excalibur HQ; three hours at maximum speed," the vehicle's onboard computer informed. A holographic image of a driver popped up on the driver's seat, leaving Bobby to awkwardly shift positions to take a spot at the back.
"Well, if it's home you want to go back to, this ride has you covered. If anyone can get you there, it's the captain," Marco assured.
"You know the guy?" Timmy asked.
"He's no friend or anything, but he does have resources, plus an interdimensional portal in his basement," Star answered.
"That'll do. On the way, perhaps you can tell me what's going on, and who this 'Bill' guy is," Timmy pressed.
"Oh boy, where do we start?" Star observed. Back at the Diaz household, Toffee was lamenting the loss of his prize when a portal opened up in front of him. To his surprise, a second vehicle came out of it, only this one was being driven by a human male, and he had a teenage girl with him.
"What are you standing around here for? We have twerps to catch," the girl urged. Toffee smiled at this development, but before they could get going, a firewall erupted between them but did no visible damage. When it dissipated, Azula and Ozai emerged.
"After the catalysts," Ozai urged. All of them got into Crocker's vehicle, got acquainted, and set off after Timmy and Chloe.
Back at the Flynn-Fletcher home, Candace had just finished getting the new arrivals up to speed on the present circumstances. What Milo had first noticed upon crash-landing on this strange new world was true; Earth and Mewni had somehow been fused, brought about by the destruction of the Realm of Magic, which would explain the Louds' inability to perform magic. That had happened shortly after Milo and the gang disappeared. Since then, Phineas and Ferb have been so busy with helping the residents of the Tri-State Area adapt to the change, they barely invented anything for fun, if ever. What didn't help was that the Tri-State Area got merged with the Kingdom of the Spiderbites, something which greatly disturbed an arachnophobic Leni, but Phineas distributed a small device to all of them which gave off a weird aroma.
"These emit pheromones that drive the spiders away. Before we whipped these up, pharmacies were fast running out of aloe vera to treat spider bites," Phineas explained. Leni thought the devices, that came in amulet form, were quite charming.
"This would look so cute with my summer wear. Do these come in different colours?" Leni queried.
"Indeed. It is rare to find someone who can design accessories that are both fashionable and functional," Lisa complimented. In turn, the Louds and Team Neutron informed them all of what Bill did in their respective homes. The Louds told the story of how Lucy found Bill's old wand, how it corrupted her into becoming the Dread Mistress, how they managed to wrench it from her hands, only for Bill to unleash a plague upon the town that sapped its victims of their energy, granting it to him as the plague fuelled his rebirth. Similarly, Team Neutron told their story, about how the Louds came to them for help after the fact, and about the rifts Jimmy had been investigating when he got dragged into this whole mess, and about his encounter with Bill that almost killed him. At the mention of Bill's name, Phineas abruptly left the conversation.
"I should update the captain. He'll want to know you're here," Phineas gave this excuse to leave. He then pressed some buttons on a communications console set up in the living room and was strangely distant from the rest of them.
"What's with him?" Lana inquired. Candace then approached them.
"I'll give you guys free passes since you're new, but we don't say his name in this house," Candace informed, referring to Bill. Team Murphy knew what was up, and the impact fighting Bill had on Phineas. They knew about his trips to the therapist's office, about how he rarely invented again after the war, and the big mistake Phineas made in developing Earthguard because he was scared of this very outcome. Jimmy couldn't help but sympathise, so he approached Phineas.
"Phineas, was it? I can't imagine how traumatising all those experiences were for you. With your permission, I'd like to show you something," Jimmy invited. Phineas was intrigued, so he turned to face him. Jimmy then lowered the collar of his shirt enough so Phineas could see the scar that was still there when Bill impaled him with his own energy blade. "You're not the only one he's left scars on. It took everything my friends had to save me, and it still hurts, sometimes," Jimmy added.
"How do you deal with it?" Phineas asked.
"With the help of those closest to me," Jimmy replied.
"That sounds nice," Phineas responded. The two paused before Phineas talked again. "I like your dog," Phineas stated. Goddard barked in acknowledgement.
"I like your bodyguard droid, even if his personality needs work," Jimmy returned the gesture.
"You can thank Buford for that. In fact, all my friends vouched for him. Only I was against building BG in the first place," Phineas recalled. At that point, Albert appeared on holo-communications.
"If I remember correctly, Isabella threatened to never come over and ask what you were doing ever again unless you built him," Albert recollected.
"Update: Situation nominal, requesting further orders," BG updated.
"Thank you, BG, that will be all," Albert acknowledged. He then turned to Phineas. "I must say, the revelation that Milo and his friends made it back to Earth in one piece was a welcome surprise, not least of all because now Amanda will finally stop calling the Institute every five minutes asking for updates on her 'Milo-muffin'," Albert added. Luna laughed a bit at this statement.
"Milo-muffin?" Luna repeated, slightly amused. Lori gave her a good elbow shove.
"I think it's cute, much like Boo-boo bear," Lori countered. Melissa gave a 'finger-down-the-throat' gesture.
"If you ever give me a pet name like that, I will bury you, Zack," Melissa warned.
"And speaking of 'Boo-boo bear', Louds, I think there is something you should know. Not long after you left on your severely misguided and, frankly, seriously dumb, revenge mission, several of your friends accessed Lisa's bunker and crossed dimensions trying to find and bring you back home," Albert informed the Loud family. He then brought up holo-images of Ronnie Anne, Sid, Bobby, Sam, and Benny. The Louds were in shock.
"Boo-boo bear, why?" Lori whimpered.
"I told her to stay out of this," Luna said.
"Benny. What have we done?" Luan asked herself regretfully.
"Ronnie Anne," was all Lincoln could manage.
"There's more. When they activated Lisa's portal, they hit a rift. Instead of going to Retroville, which I understand was where you all went, they instead ended up here. Thankfully, they have all been found by my people and are on their way to the Institute as we speak. However, since then, the authorities at Royal Woods have declared them and the Louds, minus your parents and your baby sister Lily, as dead. I've seen the memorial the town made in your honour," Albert concluded.
"We're dead?!" Lincoln remarked.
"Woah, can I visit my own grave?" Lucy asked enthusiastically.
"You'd be sharing it with your nine other siblings, along with the five others I just mentioned," Albert quipped.
"Eh, nothing new," Lucy reacted.
"We can protect them easy enough, but getting them, as well as all of you, back home is not in the cards. Interdimensional travel is still considered unsafe due to those rifts," Albert updated.
"I've been investigating those. I have data on those rifts in Goddard," Jimmy piped up.
"Jimmy Neutron, if Lisa's logs are any indication. Upload what you have and my experts will see what can be done," Albert instructed. Jimmy then had Goddard send the rift data he had collected to Excalibur via USB connection. Once the transmission was complete, Goddard detached from the console. "Interesting. Stanford, what do you make of this?" Albert asked his interdimensional physics expert, Stanford Pines, who appeared on the holo.
"There's definitely a pattern to these rifts. Give me some time to run some statistical analysis and I think we could pull off dimensional travel again," Stanford replied optimistically.
"Good. We might need your help on this one, Phineas. Yours too, Jimmy, if you're up for it," Albert requested.
"Ready and willing," Phineas acknowledged.
"Here to help," Jimmy volunteered.
"Excellent. Once that's done we can…." Albert began, but a notification on his desk cut off his sentence. "Oh, now what? I just got an automatic notification from the escape vehicle assigned to the Diaz household, the one carrying your 'Boo-boo bear', it's being followed. Skulker, they'll need an escort," Albert informed. Skulker then jetted off to the vehicle's last known coordinates.
The Diaz escape vehicle was about an hour away from Excalibur HQ. During the time they had been on the road, Star and Marco brought Timmy, Chloe, and Bobby up to speed about the situation regarding the destruction of magic, the circumstances behind it, and the current war with Bill. They also traded stories on their dealings with him. Star and Marco told them about the first Cipher War and his attack on Butterfly Castle. Bobby, in turn, told them about what Bill did at Royal Woods and about his mission to bring the Louds back.
"So, given all that, I still have one burning question; what were you thinking when you decided that destroying magic was a good idea?!" Timmy asked Star.
"Hey, you try facing down a hundred Solarian warriors. We barely managed to get one!" Star justified.
"It doesn't matter. The deed is done now. We just have to learn to deal. One thing I want to know is how you know about fairies, Star," Chloe wondered.
"It dates back a few centuries. Long ago, the fairy king and queen ruled over all of Fairy World, and for the most part, humans sparsely knew about their existence, save for the odd sighting that was easily dismissed as the ravings of a madman, until King Oberon and Queen Titania got bored one day and decided to meddle in the love affairs of two pairings, with funny, but equally dangerous, consequences," Star exposited.
"Hold on, are you talking about A Midsummer Night's Dream?" Marco realised.
"What's that?" Star asked. Marco then got out his phone and brought up an e-book of that name. Star looked through it.
"Yep, this is exactly how it went down. I have no idea how this 'Shakespeare' person got the details, but after that, the High Commission was so incensed at this nearly turning into a war, that they banished the fairies into a section of realms, declared them taboo, and named them the Uncharted Realms. According to my mum, the fairies still hold a grudge against mewmans to this day," Star finished her story.
"Any other Shakespearian works of fiction that turned out to actually happen?" Bobby inquired.
"No, just this one," Star replied.
"Yeah, well you'll forgive me if I leave that part out of any reports I might have to do on the subject," Timmy remarked, which Chloe stifled a giggle.
"You, doing homework? That would be a first," Chloe joked.
"It happens," Timmy rebuffed. Chloe then looked up at the sky.
"I'm seeing the moon. It is not blue," Chloe jabbed.
"Yeah, yeah, doesn't change the fact that this is all that's left of them," Timmy ended the humour by showing them all the crowns and wands Cosmo and Wanda left behind when they disappeared. Normally, Timmy wouldn't be this open, for fear of losing them forever, but considering that they are already gone with no means of return, he and Chloe figured that the time for secrecy was over.
"Don't worry, once we get you home to a realm that has magic, I'm sure they'll come back," Star half-assured, half-guessed.
"I hope you're right. They're our best friends," Timmy replied. Before anything else could be said, a flashing light got everyone's attention. The onboard computer then spoke again.
"Suspicious activity detected. Engaging cloaking device," the computer updated and the vehicle cloaked itself.
"This thing drives itself and has a cloaking device? How well-funded are these Excalibur people?" Chloe probed.
"Better question, what suspicious activity?" Timmy diverted. He then took a peek out the rear window and saw Mr. Crocker's van following them. "Oh, that," Timmy said. Bobby saw the van too and noticed something odd.
"Wait, why does it have 'Unsuspecting Van' written on the side? That should be an immediate red flag," Bobby observed.
"Would it alarm you to know that the one driving that thing is my teacher?" Timmy probed.
"The one obsessed with fairies, right? You need to call someone about that," Marco suggested.
"Relax, they can't see us," Star said smugly. In the other van, Crocker, Toffee, Azula, Ozai, and Vicky were in hot pursuit. Unbeknownst to their prey, Toffee was tracking them, so he knew exactly where they were, even with the cloaking device enabled.
"Well done getting that tracking device on Star, Rasticore," Toffee praised, even though Rasticore wasn't with them. He had taken the rest of the monsters and placed them around Echo Creek to watch for Star, Marco, and the catalysts in case they came back. Rasticore had managed to plant a tracker on Star when he whacked her with his tail. Crocker had opened a window and Azula leaned out of it. This, thought Timmy, was rather odd behaviour.
"Errr, what is she doing?" Timmy asked. He then saw that Azula was waving her arms around, and as she did so, what looked like electricity was sparking at her fingertips. This can only mean one thing. "Uh oh," Timmy added, and Azula shot a lightning bolt at the cloaked van. Lights started flickering on and off.
"Warning: Cloaking device offline," the onboard computer notified, and they were visible again. Another lightning strike disabled the auto-pilot, slowing them down.
"Alright, guess it's up to me," Bobby stepped up and climbed back into the driver's seat, and took the wheel. He maneuvered the vehicle so that they gained speed once more and weaved in and out of traffic, however, he did slow down a little bit, which Marco noticed.
"Dude, why aren't we going any faster?" Marco probed.
"There's a speed limit. I don't want to go to jail here," Bobby answered. Marco then shook Bobby vigorously.
"We are being chased by Lady Palpatine, a lawyer lizard, and an elementary school teacher that is likely on some sort of watch list. This is no time to be worrying about speed limits!" Marco urged. He let go of Bobby, who got the message and put the pedal to the metal.
"Just so you know, this is my first car chase," Bobby informed.
"Here's a tip; get as far away from them as you can!" Timmy advised. The chase went on, Bobby trying his hardest to stay ahead of the 'unsuspecting van'. This proved difficult with Azula shooting lightning bolts everywhere, as it was impossible to tell where they'd strike next. One did make contact, which disabled communications, so Marco couldn't even call for help. But it turned out sending out a call for help was unnecessary since an unknown flying creature suddenly appeared and started taking potshots at Crocker's van.
"You know that guy?" Star asked.
"No, but I'll happily take his help," Timmy remarked. Skulker was trying to keep Crocker's van at bay, allowing for the other van to make a clean getaway. Skulker's interference did allow Bobby the time he needed to get some distance between them and the 'unsuspecting van'.
"What a nuisance," Ozai said, annoyed at this incursion, and shot a lightning bolt at Skulker's jetpack, which caused his jetpack to deactivate. However, Skulker did manage to grab the roof of the van. Using some built-in cutting tools, he ripped the roof off and forced his way inside. He grabbed the controls, which caused the van to jerk from side to side violently, until Ozai zapped him at close range, causing Skulker great pain.
"It seems someone hasn't learned their lesson," Azula taunted. She opened the door and shocked Skulker, forcing him out of the vehicle. They managed to close the gap some more until another distraction reared its head from above. This time, it was a face Star and Marco were familiar with. Tom, along with Marco's dragoncycle gang, descended to lend a hand.
"Need us to get these guys off your tail?" Tom asked.
"If it's not too much trouble," Star responded.
"For you two, anything," Tom said and veered off with the gang to buy them as much time as they needed to get away. He let loose some fire blasts at the vehicle with his pyrokinetic abilities, which made it swerve and change direction. The other members of the gang all aimed at the tyres with sharp weapons and managed to puncture one before Ozai had had enough.
"Your firebending is good, boy, but let me show you how it's done!" Ozai menaced and unleashed a wave of fire at the gang, causing them to re-ascend into the sky. Ozai then aimed a lightning bolt at the tyre of the other vehicle and punctured it. Another tyre was shot out, which caused the vehicle to stop. The unsuspecting van caught up to them. Star, Marco, Timmy, Chloe, and Bobby got out and face their pursuers.
"Nowhere left to run. You should've surrendered when you had the chance. Now we have to get rough," Toffee said. Tom, who was still not done, descended upon Ozai once more and unleashed his fiercest fire attack, but Ozai had little trouble absorbing it with his hands and grabbing Tom's hands into a vice-like grip from which Tom could not escape.
"I like this one. He has a fire my son never had," Ozai observed. He pushed Tom away, who made to renew his attack, only for Azula to zap him from behind, sending him falling to the ground, wincing in pain.
"Tom! No!" Star called out.
"Oh, Tom, is that his name? Must be pretty special to you, then," Azula guessed. Vicky took one look at Tom, the at Marco, the back to Tom, and finally, at Star.
"If I had to choose, I'd go with three-eyes over here as a date," Vicky stated.
"And you are?" Marco inquired.
"That's my babysitter, Vicky," Timmy answered.
"OK, you definitely need to call someone," Marco urged.
"Enough! Give us the catalysts or your demon friend here takes a permanent trip to the Underworld," Azula threatened.
"Don't listen to her, Star. I can take…" Tom interjected, but another shock from Azula made him scream in pain rather than finish his sentence.
"Why do you keep calling us 'the catalysts'?" Timmy demanded.
"Bill does. He has plans for you, twerps," Vicky clarified.
"Should've…..known you'd side…..with that maniac," Tom sassed before another shock from Azula knocked him out cold.
"Stop this! You want us, fine. Just stop torturing Tom," Star conceded.
"But it's fun," Azula whined, but Toffee stopped her.
"Now, now, the princess has given her word, so we must adhere to our end of the bargain. Vicky, Crocker, if you will," Toffee directed. Vicky and Crocker then threw gas balls at them, which released a sleep gas that knocked them for six. Toffee, Ozai, and Azula loaded them onto the van.
"Hurry it up, I hear sirens," Crocker pressed. Indeed, it was true that the sound of police sirens could be heard coming closer to the scene. The kidnappers raced out of the scene, the cops arriving too late to help. At Excalibur HQ, Albert had just been updated on what happened at the freeway by his XO, Kilstone.
"Divert all available resources and coordinate with local authorities. Get me Ambassador Eclipsa, I want those kids found and rescued on the double," Albert ordered.
"Aye, captain," Kilstone acknowledged and left to carry out his orders. Ambassador Eclipsa then appeared on the holo.
"I heard what happened. I have every one of my agents looking for them and taking in Toffee's supporters," Eclipsa notified.
"What about Ambassador Moon, does she know Toffee's loose?" Albert inquired.
"She was livid when I told her. I can honestly say she is out for blood," Eclipsa answered. Albert then looked at his desk again.
"Good thing the transports you and Moon sent out are unharmed. Ronnie Anne, Sid, Sam, and Benny should arrive within the hour," Albert consoled.
"At least some good has come out of this," Eclipsa responded.
"Right now, finding and retrieving those abducted kids is priority one. Anything else is secondary," Albert stated.
"Of course," Eclipsa acknowledged and terminated the call. Albert then slammed his fist against the table in frustration. He was angered by the fact that all he could do now is sit and wait for an update from his agents in the field. He hoped they would bring him good news, but when Toffee was involved, anything could happen.
Author's note: For those wondering why Tom can still use his abilities in a realm with no magic, it is because his powers are demonic, not magical, and thus he'd still have them. Didn't do him much good here. Honestly, he was a last-minute addition in the concept stage. I added him here because I thought it would be fun. I hope the interactions between the Nickelodeon and Disney characters is to everyone's liking, and yes, before anyone asks, BG-23 is based off HK-47 from KOTOR/SWTOR. He is the best Star Wars droid in the best Star Wars story never to hit the big screen. This is my way of showing appreciation to our favourite mechanical homicidal usual disclaimers, I own nothing. All properties involved belong to their respective owners. Enjoy, and keep up the fight to get Milo his third season.