Paralon City was nearly in ruins. A tall, Persian man in a turban weaved through the crowds scrambling to the harbor, still trying to escape the island in the aftermath of the destruction of the Clockwork Parliament a few days earlier.
"Cap'n Nemo! Cap'n Nemo, sir, wait!" a voice called.
The man turned to find a badger running towards him, dragging an enormous shield. Pausing in his tracks, he asked, "what's going on, master badger?"
"It's Master Samaranth, sir. Says Ordo Maas' sons told him a battle was brewing out on the Island at th' End of th' World. Before he flew off to find th' other dragons, he told me to find you an' bring this shield with me."
"I thought as much would happen. Come on, then. To the Yellow Dragon. I knew we were short on time, but I hadn't realized how short."
Later, on the submarine-styled Dragonship, Tummeler had found the galley.
After the dinner the badger served, the first and last before their arrival on the island, Nemo and the crew regarded it as a feast for kings. "It's the least I could do for getting passage to the Island," Tummeler said. "I just have one last order of business with the ovens back there…"
With that, he left the room.
Nemo entered the galley just as Tummeler was pulling a batch of blueberry muffins out of the oven. Two other batches were cooling on a nearby counter.
Out of the corner of his eye, the badger caught the captain trying to sneak one of the muffins from the counter and said, "those ones aren't for eating, sir, but these are."
"I'll wait for them to cool, then. What are these ones for?"
"Secret weapons. Can't go wrong with blueberries, even in the middle of war!"
Soon after, the ship arrived at its destination. Tummeler's batch-for-eating was left out on the counter for Nemo with a note for him, never to be read.