This trip through the portal was… odd, to say the least. Zomboss had somehow found a way to transform his pod into a small cube so it could fit in his handbag, and he was currently riding in it. But what made the whole scene truly strange was the fact Zomboss was playing Blackjack with Majima and Steve, the three of them dealing cards completely unfazed. I was sitting on Jenny's back with Maple on my shoulder, and I watched the scene completely baffled. I shared a look with the plant, who mirrored my expression, then we both looked back to the card game.
"Are you guys serious?" I asked.
"Hey, don't fault me for being smart and packing up some entertainment", Zomboss shot back, "If this whole trip has times where we got nothing going on, might as well be productive."
"Yeah!" Majima cheered, "I like this guy already!"
"Even after what he did to us?" Jenny remarked in a salty tone.
Majima shrugged. "Meh, I have to deal with a lot of shit back at Kamurocho. Heck, being part of the Tojo means I get away with a lot of crap." He finished with a sinister smile.
Steve cocked an eyebrow at him. "Tojo, what the heck is that?"
"Ah, just the Yakuza family I'm part of", Majima said nonchalantly with a hand wave, "I'm head of my own family, and started the construction of Kamurocho Hills to boost the Tojo's control on the city. Plus, it gives me free range over Purgatory."
That made me shoot the eyepatched man a look of horrified shock. "YOU'RE A YAKUZA?!"
"What the heck is that?" Ralph asked, who had Vanellope, Hilda, Twig and Alfur on his back.
"It's basically the Japanese Mafia", I explained.
"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted in shock. They all gaped at Majima, who just scoffed and crossed his arms.
"So what? We just let a batshit insane Zombie scientist join us, so I don't get why you're all shocked." He spat. We all fell silent at his point. He was right, which both frustrated and stumped me.
We all fell into a conflicted silence as we continued through the portal until Zomboss spoke up. "Look, Majima is part of the Yakuza. Big deal. We're all here now."
"And don't forget you let me join", Galacta brought up.
"He's got a point", Vanellope said flatly, jabbing a thumb at him.
I sighed. "Yeah, whatever. I was just shocked." I looked at Majima in curiosity. "So… what did you do when you were a full-time member of the Tojo?"
Majima looked at me silently for a moment, then quickly glanced at the children. "Well, nothing that's good for the kids, that's for sure." He let out a laugh, which made us all look at him flatly, but we all jumped when a loud boom echoed around us. A white energy wave travelled up the portal from behind us and shot into the light in front.
"Caleb, what was that?" Star asked, cruising Cloudy over as Marco looked around for some sort of answer.
"I don't know-"
"OH NO!" Gladius suddenly interrupted me. "That was a rift settling!"
"What the heck does that mean?" Jenny asked.
"TURBULENCE! WE NEED TO MOVE, NOW!" He screeched. We all looked down the portal behind us, and sure enough we could see the portal fragmenting and shifting in a wave. And it was coming right at us.
"HOLY SHIT!" Majima screamed. Galacta quickly made his way over to Ralph and helped the wrecker increase speed as the girls, deerfox and efl all held on for dear life. Jenny supercharged her boosters, and I hugged Maple close as the robot held onto my legs tightly. Zomboss dropped his cards and quickly made his way to the pod's console, grabbing hold of a lever and pushing it forward as far as it could go. Star used her wand to blast out a jet of fire to rocket her cloud summon forward, Marco hugging her tightly. Gladius quickly blasted to the front of the group.
"Gladius, what the heck is happening?" Steve cried.
"Portals like this behave like magma and lava", the sword exclaimed, "Occasionally small rifts open and close as the universes shift, like when lava bubbles because of trapped air. Sometimes, though, a large rift opens and closes, forcing whole portals to shift and bend. If we don't reach the end of this portal, the quake will send all of us across the whole multiverse."
"Well that's reassuring!" Zomboss spat. I felt my anxieties spike, and I turned around to see if we were at least somewhat safe. While we had a good distance from the upcoming quake, but it was just that bit quicker, so it was gaining.
"Guys, can we pick up the pace please?!" I said through clenched teeth.
"I'm trying here!" Jenny spat at me in anger. Another loud boom echoed around us, and it almost knocked Zomboss and Star together.
"This is crazy!" Alfur complained, "We have to be near the end soon!"
I mentally wished the same thing, and it was actually met as we came up to a blinding white light.
"Everyone! Brace!" I cried. Everyone in charge of flying gave it one last blast of speed, and we were all swallowed into the light.
~X~
We left the portal, barreling through the air towards a large tree. We all screamed as we collided with its branches, each of us flopping onto the ground at different times. I was the first one, followed by Gladius, Ralph, Majima, Steve, Jenny, Star, Marco, Vanellope and Hilda crashed together, Twig, who nearly crushed Alfur, Galacta, and finally Zomboss.
"Everyone, sound off…" I called out in a dazed tone. I was met with groans from the others. Slowly, I sat back up, rubbing my head.
"That was such a shit landing", Majima bluntly stated, throwing his arms in the air as he laid on his back. "I swear one of those branches went up my fucking nose."
"MMMMMMMM!" We all heard a voice scream out, muffled. We all faced Steve, whose head was buried right in the ground. He was obviously trying to free himself, but his blocky build made that difficult. Jenny and Galacta quickly recovered and rushed to help him, and while they did that, I looked to Star and Ralph. The princess was in an awkward pose, an upside down sitting position with her legs open at an acute angle. Ralph was just full on face planting, not moving a muscle.
"You two good?" I asked them, pulling Gladius out of the ground next to me.
"I'm fine", she said with a groan, "Marco, you good bestie?" The hispanic boy, who was sitting on one of the tree's exposed roots and panting heavily, shot her a thumbs up.
Ralph just let out a muffled groan.
I hummed at the sight and rose to my feet, Gladius helping me. I started to take in the surroundings, and it started to make my heart flutter. We were in a desert, the occasional cactus or tree amongst the empty lands and rocks. The whole place was bathed in the orange glow of the sunset, but that wasn't what was most striking. Close by, down the hill, surrounded by a river, was a city. It was a large city, layered almost like a cake, with a church at the very top. At the backside was a large stadium, its pointed bowl giving the city the vague appearance of a ship.
The only way into the city was a bridge over the river at the base of the hill. At the city's entrance was an arch with a name.
San Ángel
"No way…" I said in silent shock. Suddenly, completely out of instinct, I let out what could be called a poor man's fangirl scream. This made me freeze and turn around slowly to the others. They all were giving me looks of confusion, having stopped what they were doing. I blushed in embarrassment.
"Uhhhhh…" I said, shrinking into myself and nervously laughing.
"What the heck was that about, Glasses?" Vanellope pressed, suddenly glitching right in front of me.
"I usually only hear K-Pop fans scream like that", Majima joked with his arms crossed. Zomboss gave him a side glance, then rolled his eyes, reattaching his head onto his body.
"I'm assuming you recognise this place?" Steve asked, finally freed from the ground. He had walked up next to me, brushing off any dirt.
"I do…" I said, trying to reign in my excitement. I then cleared my throat and stood confidently in front of the others. "This is San Ángel, main location of my second favourite movie of all time, The Book Of Life."
Ralph, who had finally stood back up, cocked an eyebrow at me. "Really?" He paused, then shot me a suspicious look. "Are you sure you don't have control over the portals?"
"100% positive, Ralph", I said with complete honesty, "We've just been really lucky."
"I might have a better explanation", Gladius spoke up. "Caleb's memories and emotions subtly affect our destinations with how my portals work, where they try to prioritise worlds he knows unless one is right in the way. Most likely, this world is far closer to The Capital than others we could have ended up at."
Jenny hummed in thought as Majima pulled out a cigarette and started to smoke. "So, what happens in the movie?" The robot girl asked.
"That would take time to explain…", I said, "But the short version is two gods bet on which of two friends would marry their one friend."
"That's fucked up", Majima bluntly said, puasing his smoke.
"I'm with Majima, that kinda screwed up", Marco added.
"It does sound like it is, but the three friends knew each other for a long time, and it was kinda obvious", I explained, "But the big thing is this movie has a time skip, the main characters going from kids to adults. And I'm a bit worried we came before that…"
"Well, let's go see!" Star happily announced. She walked ahead and grabbed my hand, pulling me along down the hill to the gates of the city. I looked over my shoulder back to the others, and they quickly chased after the two of us. Star almost passed under the arch before I wiggled out of her grasp and ran in front of her. She stopped dead in her tracks, only for the rest of the gang to tumble into the back of her, knocking the princess to the ground.
"Ow", she uttered in a bored tone, face planting right on the bridge. She quickly recovered, and the whole gang looked at me.
"Okay, look", I started, "This place is a bit… different, so just act casual. No magic, no guns, and no crafting." I received nods from everyone, although Majima seemed to be a bit annoyed about my rules. I faced the sword. "Gladius?"
"Of course, Caleb", he said. Instantly, he sheathed himself down the back of my shirt, and I led us through the streets.
I then turned to Galacta. "You should hide out, too."
"I will", the knight nodded, "But I'll still be nearby." He flew up into the air, and proceeded to circle above like a vulture. I shot him a thumbs up,and took the lead of the group, heading into the city. Despite being a large city, it felt deserted, not a single person around. There was only the occasional street lamp.
"Where is everyone?" Steve asked. "Was this place abandoned before we showed up?"
"No… It's because something is happening…" I said, shifting my eyes around. As we continued through the empty streets, we soon came to a plaza of sorts. There was a large statue in the centre depicting a fierce man riding a horse. In front of the statue to our right, there was a crowd of people around a group of four. The four consisted of three men of varying sizes wearing red and white mariachi uniforms, while the fourth member caught my attention the most. He wore a black matador uniform adorned with golden skull metals and golden lining. His legs were red with black shoes. Some of his edges stuck out with hard spirals, making him seem very distinct against everyone else. He was completed with a curled pompadour with a short ponytail in the back.
"Who the heck is that, kid?" Ralph whispered to me when he nudged me a bit, nodding at the man that stood out.
"That is Manolo Sanchez", I whispered back, "One of the main characters, and one of the boys that is part of the bet of the gods."
"Well I can see why", Star said in a dreamy way. We all gave her a weird look as she leaned more and more against Marco as her face was stuck in a lovestruck grin. Zomboss was quick to snap his fingers in front of her face, snapping her out of her trance.
"Sorry to tell ya', Butterfly", Zomboss said, "But based on what Caleb said, it seems this guy is taken."
"And way too old for you!" Gladius whispered angrily. Star just pouted and crossed her arms in return.
"So, what's the plan?" Jenny asked.
"Well, if what's going on is right…" I trailed off and just mouthed a countdown starting at three, and when I finished and pointed at Manolo, a man very similar to him, only with a green uniform and red skull medals, grabbed Manolo by the ear and dragged him off.
"Papa, I was on my way!" I heard Manolo whine. I looked over my shoulder at the others and nodded at the musician, and we all followed after him. I looked up to the sky, and I saw Galacta flying above, heading ahead to the stadium. The rest of us all fell into the crowd, following them towards the same structure.
"I'm kinda surprised no one's noticed us yet", Hilda whispered, "Considering we aren't… wood."
"Why is that?" Vanellope asked quietly. "Why does everyone look like rejected Pinocchios?"
"It's because this is just a story for one world", I explained. "Everyone's a wooden figure for it, kinda like when you play with action figures or dolls."
"Weird", Ralph bluntly said. We continued along our way in silence, still none of the other people around us paying us any mind. It did make me feel a bit odd, but I just brushed off the feeling. So we continued to follow the crowd, and we soon were within the stands. We all quietly made our way to the back most bleachers, and as we took our seats, Star magiced up all of us binoculars. Sans Jenny, because robot, and Galacta Knight, who was actually resting on the bowl above us. However, as I looked around the whole stadium, I caught sight of something that made my heart stop.
"Galacta!" I hastily whispered up at him, "Get down here, now!"
He looked down at me for a moment before obliging, the others all giving me odd looks. "What the heck is wrong, Glasses?" Vanellope asked.
"That", I said, carefully nodding towards who I saw. There were two beings resting on the edge of the bowl, watching over the whole stadium. Despite the distance, I could make out one was a woman with white skin wearing a red dress and large brimmed hat adorned with golden flowers, while the other was a man with black skin, black wings, and glowing green eyes.
"Who the heck is that?" Jenny whispered to me, her gaze not leaving the two mysterious figures.
"La Muerte and Xibalba", I whispered back, "Two of the three gods that watch over this world. La Muerte rules The Land of The Remembered, while Xibalba rules The Land of The Forgotten."
"Are they the ones that made that bet you told us about?" Hilda asked fearfully.
"Yep", I said back bluntly. The young adventurer gulped in fear.
"Should we be worried about them?" Galacta asked in a low tone, clearly prepared to obliterate the two rulers if things took a turn.
"No!" I whispered, snapping my head at him. "They're part of The Council. If anything happens to them, all hell will break loose…"
"Then we just stay out of their way", Gladius said. "We all follow Caleb's lead when it comes to this, since he watched the movie. We got lucky in Star and Marco's world, so we play it safe now."
"Wow, I didn't hear that before", Majima spat sarcastically. I shot him such a fierce glare it actually made him do a double take, before he just scoffed and rolled his eyes, facing the centre of the stadium silently. I adjusted my shirt and did the same, Galacta putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder. We all then gave out full attention to the centre of the arena as a man wearing a blue soldier's uniform adorned with medals stepped into the sunlight. This made the crowd erupt into a thunderous cheer.
"Who the heck is that?" Vanellope asked in a strained tone, covering her ears.
"Joaquin", I said. "The town's hero, Manolo's best friend, and the one Xibalba picked for the bet."
"Let me guess, he has an ego the size of Jupiter?" Jenny asked in a dejected tone, slumping into her seat with her arms crossed. I gave her a cringe, then made a "so-so" motion with my hand, making the robot sigh. "Of course…"
I slowly looked away from her, unsure what else to say, and decided to watch Joaquin. He rode on a horse, standing up straight and strong as he signed four sombreros and tossed them back to their four original owners. He then circled back around to the VIP box and made an impossible leap up into it. I saw he greeted a hunched over man with a brown general's uniform, and took a seat in the chair on the far left of the box, leaving a chair vacant between the two of them. The whole stadium then fell silent as they watched a woman make her way to the exact place, her face hidden behind a paper fan.
She wore a long red dress with a sort of pattern at the bottom that just barely touched the ground. Her torso and chest were covered with a white shirt that had a piece of cloth attached that draped over her shoulders. Her hair was styled in a ponytail, the long lock of curled hair nearly going as far down as her dress. The whole stadium stayed eerily silent as the woman took her seat between Joaquin and the hunched general. She said something to the town hero after lowering her fan, revealing her large, brown eyes to the world. This made the stadium explode.
"What's her deal, Claeb?" Marco asked me.
"That's Maria", I said. "Daughter of the town's general, the girl that's the target of the two god's bet, and all around badass."
Majima smirked and eyed her. "You don't say…"
"Ooooo, do you think she knows how to sword fight?" Star said hopefully. I was about to answer when I was cut off by loud music. I looked down and saw the three mariachi from earlier playing their instruments, followed by a determined Manolo, who had a red bull fighter's cape resting on his shoulder. When he made it to the centre, he grabbed it and whipped it off,an audible whip crack sounding off as he did so.
"I would like to dedicate this corrida to Miss Maria Posada", he announced. I used my binoculars to see Maria respond with a bit of a sour look, so I looked back to Manolo. "Welcome home, senorita." The sound of pounding on a door made us all face a flimsy excuse for a door break down, showing the culprit to be a bull covered in metal spiked armour on its head and horns.
"What kind of bull is that?!" Alfur exclaimed in an utterly flabbergasted tone. The three mariachi members all ran off in fear, jumping behind one of the red wooden barriers that circled the ring. Manolo spoke to the bull in Spanish, and dodged as the beast charged at him. The crowd let out varying volumes of cheers and threw roses at him. He grabbed one of the flowers and held it up to Maria, a bright smile on his face.
"I gotta say, he's good", Majima said as the musician did a flawless backflip over the bull, catching the rose in his mouth. "He's got some skill. Maybe he'd be willing to help with Kamurocho Hills."
"Yeah, no", Steve deadpanned. "I think you can handle it with what you got, Goro" The Yakuza grumbled bitterly, and we all turned our attention back to the bull fight, watching in pure amazement as Manolo guided the bull's horns into the dirt to write out Maria's name in cursive.
"Wow", Ralph said. "That was really cool."
"He's insane", Jenny said with a shake of her head, though she had a sweet smile on her face too. I beamed down at him as the crowd went wild, many of the audience members dancing as Manolo soaked in all the praise. I felt my smile fall, however, as he walked over to his father and took the sword he was offered.
"What's he doing?" Hilda asked.
I hissed. "See, his dad wants him to be the best bull fighter. That includes… finishing the bull."
"You're serious", Steve said in shock as the others all silently stared at the scene, their eyes all bugging out.
Majima nodded. "It's fucked up, but it's how they do things."
I nodded sadly, but felt my smile return (and heard the others all breath sighs of relief) when Manolo spun the sword and stabbed it into the ground.
"Killing the bull is wrong!" He shouted. The audience all let out gasps, and we watched as the bull charged once more, only for Manolo to let the cape drape the animal's eyes so it would ram into one of the barriers. It sent a shockwave that launched a good chunk of the audience off their seats. This was quickly followed by a bunch of booing, which just angered my friends.
"Jeez, these people all suck major dooty", Vanellope said, crossing her arms.
"And you wonder why I don't like humans", Zomboss grumbled. I only watched the whole scene in silent sadness as people threw all manner of junk at the poor man. It reached his peak when someone threw his guitar at him, knocking him unconscious.
"Who the heck did that?!" Hilda shouted as she and the others all shot out of their seats. But I just held out my arms to stop them before anything drastic happened.
"We should just go guys", I said. I stood up and began to follow the crowd out, with the others following closely behind and galacta returning to the skies. All I could do was look at Manolo in sadness. As we all filed out of the stadium, I headed off to the side.
"Kid, what are you doing?" Ralph asked.
"You guys go on ahead", I said. "I want to chat with Manolo when he's done."
They all shared unsure glances with each other, but all nodded and continued. All except Zomboss.
"Well, I would like to meet this Manolo", he said in a somewhat dignified tone, "Mainly because you shouldn't be unsupervised."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not a baby, Zomboss."
"You never know", he said. I quietly chuckled and leaned up against the wall, making small talk with the Zombie ruler for the next while.
~X~
Me, Zomboss and Gladius remained by the entrance to the stadium for what felt like a few hours. The sky was beginning to turn dark as some clouds danced around the sky. Zomboss let out a sigh as the sun began to set.
"I'm surprised how long this guy is taking…" The Zombie leader said. "You'd think he'd be done moping by now."
He was instantly met with my elbow jabbing him in the side. "You got to be nicer, Zomboss", I said bitterly, "Especially since you're stuck with us now."
He let out a groan, rubbing a hand where I jabbed him. "Fine, fine. Just as long as you promise not to hit me that hard." He hissed. "My body isn't as durable as other Zombies."
I nodded, and we both returned to our occasional conversations. It wasn't that much longer, however, when Manolo walked out of the stadium, with the three mariachi from earlier following him. None of them noticed the two of us, but that just let us see Manolo's dejected, defeated look.
"What's going on with him?" Gladius whispered, wiggling just a bit so he could look over my shoulder.
"Daddy issues", I whispered back.
Zomboss scoffed, "Of course. When is it not ever that?" The zombie leader began to walk up to the bullfighter, so I quickly rushed up and grabbed his shoulder. He faced me with an annoyed look, and I shook my head. Slowly, I left Zomboss, leaving him to sigh, and walked up to Manolo.
One of the mariachi, the largest of the three, was the first to notice me. "Oh, hey, Manolo! Looks like you got some fans!"
The bullfighter turned around and faced me, which made me lock up. I stiffly waved at him as Zomboss came up to my side.
"Wait, fans?" Manolo asked, shooting his friends a sceptical look, before looking back at us. "Is that why you two are still here?" He said in a harsh tone, giving us both a cold look.
"Yeesh, someone's grumpy." Zomboss whispered.
"I just…", I began, ignoring Zomboss. "I just really wanted to congratulate you." I paused.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I honestly was really worried you'd… kill the bull. But you didn't!"
Manolo sighed, but still gave me a weak smile. "Thanks. So, what's your name? I don't remember seeing you around town."
"My name is Caleb!" I said proudly. I then gestured to the zombie. "And this is Zomboss. He can have a bit of an ego, but he's smart." Zomboss let out a whine.
"Nice to meet you, Caleb", Manolo said with a light chuckle. "You probably already know me, but this is Pepe, Pancho and Pablo."
Pepe, the largest of the mariachi, suddenly bolted to me and began to shake my hand violently. His enthusiasm rivalled Star. "It's a pleasure to meet you, buddy!"
When he let me go, I let out a laugh. "Yeah, it's nice to be here. Me and my friends all are on a journey to try and get me home, and we stopped here just in time for your bullfight. I say we got lucky."
Manolo's smile faltered a bit. "Well,it's nice you liked it."
"All my friends did. Heck, I had to stop my buddies Ralph and Jenny from running around when everyone was booing you."
This made the musician cock an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yep. A lot of them are used to doing the right thing, so I did expect it", I shrugged.
Manolo hummed. "Well, there's not much going on right now, so how about you come with us?"
Zomboss gave him a look. "Really? You'd be fine with that? But we just met."
Manolo shrugged, and I jabbed Zomboss once again with an elbow. He kept his mouth closed as he groaned. I sweetly smiled at Manolo as he gave me a weird look, but he just shook his head and began to walk away, followed closely by me, Zomboss, and his three band members. It was a quiet walk, only the sound of our steps hitting the road and Pancho playing his trumpet to fill the void of silence. I looked over at Manolo, and felt my heart ache as he looked down at the ground sadly.
"Hey, Manolo, is everything okay?" I asked.
He looked off to the side a bit. "No…"
"I can't believe the General invited the whole town!" Pepe suddenly said, "Except for you, Manolo…"
"Sorry bro", Pablo said as he somehow lugged his guitarron over his shoulder.
"He even invited us", Pancho added, pausing his trumpet play. "And he hates us."
Me and Zomboss shared a look. "I'm guessing there's bad blood between you two?" I asked the bullfighter innocently.
"Maria's father. He never…Because I wasn't a hero like Joaquin, he barely gave me the time of day. Now I've lost Maria to him…"
I gave him a sad look, but stumbled when Pepe hopped in front of us. We all continued walking as he draped an arm over Manolo's shoulders.
"Okay, okay, listen, listen", he started, "All we got to do is play the right song, and trust me, everything will turn around in the space of four bars."
"We've already been to four bars! Twice!" Pancho added, only to slam right into a lamppost. Both me and Zomboss cringed, and I heard Gladius hiss quietly in sympathy.
"Hold it! I know exactly what to play!" Pepe whistled, and the three mariachi members huddled together. I shared a look with Manolo, gesturing at his friends, but was only answered with a shake of the head. Manolo turned to leave, only for Pepe to reach his arm out and pull the musician into the group huddle. When me and Zomboss both took a step back, we met the same fate. I couldn't really remember what the plan was, but I was suddenly watching Pancho play a tiny piano on top of Pepe, who was beatboxing, as Pablo acted at the chair. The song? A horrible rendition of Biz Markie's song Just a Friend. I shared a look of utter bafflement, something Zomboss mirrored. Manolo looked more unconvinced if anything. Pancho was suddenly silenced when a flower pot came from a window above and fell right into his mouth.
Me and Zomboss looked up at the window and saw a pig smile victoriously, then disappear. "Wow, that totally captivated her", Manolo deadpanned.
"I don't get it, that one always works", Pepe said in bewilderment as he and Pablo shared a look.
"Even on my wife", Pancho added, making his eldest brother give him a look of shock.
"Wait, you're married?" Pablo asked. Before the trumpet player could respond, the largest member suddenly had a flash of genius in his eyes.
"Oooo, I got it! Follow my lead."
Me, Zomboss and Manolo all gave him a flat look.
Suddenly,Pepe went off as he sang his heart out, doing twirls as his two brothers provided background music. It was actually really good, to the point me and Manolo kind of started to get into it. Zomboss, however, just grunted and crossed his arms. However, the song was cut short when another flower pot was tossed out of the window and landed right on his head.
Manolo chuckled at his friend's misery. "Very romantic, Pepe."
He recovered very quickly, and all three mariachi stood in front of us. "Hey, that's all I got, man." Pepe admitted. This made a smile explode onto Pablo's face.
"Okay, my turn." He began to count down in Spanish, the other two slowly raising their instruments…
Only for Pablo to be crushed by a flower pot with a cactus in it.
Me and Zomboss both jumped at the sudden action, my heart rate skyrocketing as Pablo's instrument was knocked away.
"That girl is way out of your league, bro!" Pancho said.
"Hey, let's eat", Pablo said from within the pot. The three of them then let out a mariachi cry as they ran into a nearby bar. Manolo watched them go, sighing as he looked up to the lit bedroom the pots came from. The balcony's door was closed, and as me and Zomboss joined his side, the light went off.
"So, now what?" Zomboss asked. The bullfighter, without saying a word, grabbed his guitar from his back. He held it out in front of him, reading the message carved into the side, and began to tune the strings. Once it was tuned, he let out a sigh and began to pay it, singing a gentle song when he made it under the balcony. I grabbed Zomboss by the arm and dragged him out of the way as Maria opened the balcony's door and walked out, looking down with a small smile.
"I'll admit, this song is pretty nice", the zombie leader admitted as Manolo walked out under the moonlight. I looked around at the surroundings, as people and animals began to form a small audience. However, when I saw La Muerte and Xibalba on different roofs, I grabbed Zomboss and pulled him out of their view. The trio of mariachi poked their heads out from the bar, and I watched as they joined Manolo, stacking up on top of each other and using their sombreros as a makeshift staircase. Manolo and Maria got so close to sharing a kiss, but it was stopped when the general's daughter put a finger to the musician's lips.
"Did you think it would be that easy?" She asked sweetly. Suddenly, the stack toppled, and Manolo was crushed by each of his friends. After Pepe rolled off of him, he stumbled around dizzily as Pancho's trumpet rested on his head.
"I-I kind of did…" Manolo said in a dazed tone, before falling to the ground. Maria, who had caught the guitar before Manolo fell, let out a laugh and ran inside. Me and Zomboss quickly rushed to the bullfighter's aid, helping him to his feet.
"Manolo, that was amazing!" I cried.
"Thank you", he said back, still dazed.
Zomboss sighed and rolled his eyes, only to be kicked aside when Pepe quickly rushed over and grabbed Manolo by his shoulders. I was forced away as the mariachi pushed Manolo to the front door, and me and Zomboss both bolted to stop him, only for the door to swing open and reveal Joaquin kneeling and holding a ring up to Maria. Everyone else in the building faced the musician, some softly gasping, and one girl even fainted. Pepe held up his arms and zipped away, leaving a dazed Manolo to stumble up to his heroic friend, drunkenly putting an arm over his shoulders.
"What'd I miss?" Manolo asked no one in particular. I watched the whole scene play out silently, Zomboss carefully pulling out a camera. I gave him a harsh look, and he put it away. I then heard the quiet sound of a throat clearing, and I looked to my shoulder. There was Alfur, pointing towards the back of the crowd, so I took Zomboss' arm and led him to the back, where the rest of the gang was.
"Nice of you two to finally join us", Majima remarked quietly in a slimy tone.
"What the heck took you two so long?" Jenny said as she wrapped around each of us and pulled us close.
"Hey, don't look at me", Zomboss shot back. "Caleb wanted to meet another one of his heroes, and it had us partake in one of the worst musicals I've ever seen."
I hummed as I was set on Ralph's shoulder, which gave me a good view of the whole scene play out. Manolo and Joaquin had devolved into a childish slap fight. That's when one of the other soldiers tossed Joaquin a sword, and Pepe tossed Manolo… his guitar. Manolo made a face and looked at his friend.
"What, you wanted a banjo?" The mariachi asked obliviously.
Joaquin and the other soldiers began to laugh. "What are you gonna do? I'm so scared."
Manolo strummed his guitar. "I'm gonna teach you some manners." Both men did a flashy move and clashed their weapons together, only to almost clash with Maria. She easily knocked the weapons out of her friend's hands, with Manolo catching his guitar and Maria catching Joaquin's sword.
"Did I mention I also studied fencing?" She said matter-of-factly.
The heroic Spaniard gave a cold look. "Fine, we'll settle this later."
"Anytime, anyplace", Manolo spat back, Maria putting a hand on him to hold him back.
She groaned. "Really, guys?"
"It's like I'm back at home watching my soap operas", Zomboss whispered to Steve.
"You'll have to hook me up with some DVD's", the crafter whispered back. I harshly shushed the two of them as Joaquin began to leave.
"No, Joaquin!" One of the other soldiers cried. "What if the bandidos come?"
This was promptly answered with a loud boom that shook the whole building. A back door was suddenly flung open, and two kids scrambled in. "The bandidos are coming!" He screamed. This sent the whole building into a panic, so Ralph took the lead to get us all out. We all exited out the front door as Manolo, Maria and General Posada ran to the front of the city.
"Manolo, wait!" I said, jumping off of Ralph's shoulder and running after them.
"Caleb, wait!" Hilda called. Galacta, who was hidden in the middle of our group, shot forward. He quickly picked me up and flew into the sky.
"What?!" I said in shock. I looked over my shoulder to the knight. "No, Galacta, put me down, we need to help."
"Not this time, Caleb", he said. "You said it yourself, we can't get involved without messing with the stories. And if this place has Council members, then we need to lay low."
I sighed, but nodded sadly nonetheless. "Fine", I said in a defeated tone.
Galacta turned around and took me back to the group, but I couldn't help but feel ill for abandoning Manolo. Sure, I knew how this movie would end, but a part of me wanted to help.
Maybe it was just because I was fangirling.
~X~
Yep, next up is none other than The Book Of Life, a movie I feel like is criminally underrated. Amazing characters, perfect soundtrack, and some of the most unique visuals in any movie I've seen.
Up next: Manolo gets roped in with Caleb's adventure when a dirty trick traps the two of them, Gladius and Zomboss in the afterlife.
~Caleb~