~~000~~
Tales of the Multiverse Bit 172
Keep it going guys! Don't show any of these motherfuckers mercy!
The H.I.V.E. Five are now fighting a large group of velociraptors and as expected from a former group of villains, they're tearing the dinosaurs apart.
~~000~~
A few minutes later, the members of Grand Empire's Team B which consists of Bubbles Utonium, Darkwing Duck, Dib Membrane, Golem Head, Hinomaru Izumo, Johnny Test, Mahoro Andou, Poppy the Popplio, Tadakuni and Zoe Orimoto alongside Ran the Warrior and Paletta arrives at the entrance arch of Pink Town where they came across a girl standing next to a stream.
"I'm supposed to be getting glitter but I just rather look at the fish." the girl admitted, "I hope my sister isn't having trouble with the cake..." she uttered in concern.
"A bleak-colored cake?" Johnny uttered in question, "That doesn't sound appetizing." he commented.
"Hey, if it tastes good then I don't mind." Zoe admitted.
The group then made their way towards the part of the town where the houses are located and came across a young woman.
"Hello there, children." the young woman greeted, "I haven't seen you all around." she said, "Where are you from?" she asked with Tadakuni explaining that he and his friends came from another world and are helping Paletta in collecting the shards, "I see..." the woman muttered, "We have been waiting for people like you." she declared, "Or well.." she uttered, "... something like you." she admitted, "Things don't change here anymore." she shared, "Rosa said that she felt in the air that something was coming." she stated.
After saying goodbye to the woman, the group then proceeds to walk forward and came across another young woman.
The young woman sighed, "These grey flowers won't do." she uttered, "I need yellow ones." she said.
"Grey-colored flowers will make you go insane." Johnny commented.
"I think that's just you." Mahoro pointed out.
Moving forward, the group then came across a pair of girls in front of a house.
"Hello, strangers." the first girl greeted, "What are you?" she asked.
"It's 'who'." the second girl corrected.
"Hello, strangers." the first girl greeted again, "What are who?" she asked.
This caused the group to snicker in response, "Okay, I'll admit that was funny." Drake admitted with a smile.
The group then made their way across the main plaza and came across a goose which honked at them in response, and upon walking past a fountain, they came across a pair of rats.
"Peep." one rat responded before giggling, "Just kidding." it spoke which surprised everyone.
"Did that rat just spoke?" Hinomaru asked.
Golem Head then sat on the ground in a fetal position, "Talking rats..." he uttered out loud, "I think I'm going insane from the bleakness of this place." he confessed while rocking back and forth.
"Take a chill pill, GH!" Dib advised in panic.
The rat then chuckled at their antics, "Sorry, I had to do it." it apologized, "We never see strangers around here." it admitted, "I'm just visiting Pink Town as you can probably tell." it stated, "I'm from Yellow Town." it shared, "Come visit us sometime, strangers." it beckoned, "But first tell me, what are your story?" he inquired with Tadakuni explaining that he and his friends came from another world and are helping Paletta in collecting the shards, "I see..." it uttered, "That's quite a story." it commented, "Collecting the shard is a big mission that you're on." he admitted, "But let me tell you, we have all been secretly waiting for people like you." it confessed, "I hope you're all serious about uniting the kingdom because I have seen a lot of people who look for the shards with selfish goals." it stated.
"Don't worry, Paletta is a very honest girl and is really serious in helping this kingdom." Tadakuni reassured, "If it's Johnny though then that's a different story." he said with a blank look.
"Hey!" Johnny exclaimed in disapproval.
"Well, I hope you all reach your goals." the rat expressed.
After saying goodbye to the rat, the group then made their way towards the middle of the plaza where they came across a young woman in front of the fountain.
The young woman had a petite appearance and a pink skin tone, she had a long straight hair that reaches the ground with one side held by a flower-like ribbon, she had red-colored eyes and a pair of sharp elf-like ears. She wears a black buttoned-collared cape over a black long-sleeved dress, black socks and black shoes. This is Rosa.
Shard of Anticipation
Rosa
"Hello there, strangers." Rosa greeted, "I am Rosa." she introduced herself, "What brings you to our town?" she asked with Tadakuni explaining that he and his friends came from another world and are helping Paletta in collecting the shards, "I see..." she uttered, "You all wish to collect the Shard of Anticipation." she mentioned, "This shard contains the powers of strength and understanding." she shared, "Many desire it for selfish reasons." she added, "I cannot simply give it you." she said.
"Why not?" Ran asked in confusion.
"Because like I said..." Rosa uttered, "... many desire it for selfish reasons." she repeated, "You're story, while fascinating, is very difficult to believe." she admitted.
"Then how about we show you proof." Tadakuni suggested before turning to Paletta, "Paletta?" he beckoned.
Paletta nodded in response before bringing out the Light Shard and demonstrating its ability in front of Rosa, much to her surprise and awe.
"Ah..." Rosa uttered in awe, "... the Light Shard." she mentioned, "I understand." she acknowledged, "I know this power is not mine to keep but I'll give it to you on one condition." she stated.
"What is it?" Bubbles asked.
"My town has been suffering as of late and as the leader, I worry for my people." Rosa admitted, "I want to ensure my town stays wealthy and I believe a golden egg will be suffice." she stated, "If you can make this goose lay me a golden egg, I will forfeit my shard." she instructed.
Tadakuni nodded in response, "Then leave it to us." he accepted.
"But how are we gonna get the goose to lay eggs if isn't it's time to lay one?" Mahoro asked.
"There must some other way." Zoe insisted.
"Let's go talk to the people in this town and gather some information." Drake suggested.
And with that, the group began to walk around town while asking different people on how to make a goose lay an egg.
"I have never seen a golden egg but I remember reading about them. You have to feed the goose with specific things. Huh? What are those things? I'm not sure..."
"Golden egg? From a goose? Sorry, I don't know anything about those."
"A golden egg? Sorry, I don't know about much about those but I have lots of dead seeds if you need those!"
"Sorry, I don't know much about eggs or goose but if you find some glitter, please get it for me? I need it for this cake."
"Can't say I know much about golden eggs but it require some items, some waiting and good luck. Was there magic involved too? Good luck, strangers."
"Oh, I know what exactly you need! A piece of cake and I mean it! A real piece of cake - you need to feed it to a goose to make the egg rich!"
"You need cake for the egg? I will give you a piece if you get me glitter to decorate the cake I'm making for Rosa."
"A golden egg? I have heard about goose requiring a flower to lay an egg like that and my sister knows more. You can find her in the cliffs! She likes watching the flowers blooms slowly."
"Hmm? You need a golden egg? I heard of you feed a goose with aurila flowers its egg will turn golden. The flowers are star-shaped, so it should be easy to find them."
"Eggs, huh? Yeah, I have heard about those, I think you need ash. Any kind would do but I'm not sure where you could get something like that, though. And how can you make a goose eat ash, anyway?"
Bubbles crossed her arms, "Okay, in order to make the goose lay an egg, we need to feed it with an aurila flower and ash mixed in a cake but in order to obtain a piece of cake from the girl, we need to give her glitter." she summarized.
"Then let's all split up and search around the town for these items." Drake beckoned.
And with that, the group splits up into two and began to wander around the town while searching for the items with Ran and Drake meeting up with the girl from the stream where she gave them glitters, the two went back to the plaza and gave another girl the glitter and in gratitude, she gave them a piece of cake.
As this is going on, Tadakuni and Paletta went back to the cliffs where they picked up a dozen aurila flowers while Hinomaru and Mahoro found ashes from a flower bed.
The group then gathered back in the main plaza where they fed the goose with the cake mixed with the flowers and the ashes, and upon eating it, the goose stood still for a couple of minutes until it laid out a grey-colored egg.
"That's a golden egg?" Ran questioned in disbelief.
"So grey is the new gold, huh?" Johnny uttered with a blank look.
"Maybe it's because this world still lack colors, so the egg came out grey." Bubbles assumed.
"Indeed." Rosa confirmed, "Thank you, everyone." she expressed in gratitude, "As promise, I shall forfeit my shard." she beckoned.
Rosa then hands the shard to Paletta and upon doing so, there was brief flash of light and the next thing everyone know the whole town gained its color and everything are now sporting a bright pink color, much to everyone's surprise and awe.
"Woah! Everything is now pink!" Hinomaru exclaimed.
"Fascinating, so fascinating..." Golem Head uttered.
"This place is a lot better with this kind of color." Mahoro commented.
Johnny then noticed that the egg is still in grey color, "But the egg still looks bleak." he pointed out.
"Well..." Ran uttered, "... gold isn't pink, so I guess we need to obtain the shard that can bring back the yellow colors." she stated before taking notice that Rosa is gone, "Hey wait!" she yelped, "Where is Rosa?" she asked.
"Huh? Weird, she was here a minute ago." Dib recalled.
As everyone looks around for the former bearer of the Shard of Anticipation but couldn't find her anywhere when Tadakuni and Paletta heard Rosa's voice in their heads.
"I wasn't expecting this." Rosa admitted, "Hello again, you two." she greeted, "I guess you were truly sent by the moon..." she conceded, "This place is really pretty." she complimented.
And a blink of an eye, Tadakuni and Paletta found themselves back in the strange area which consists of a white and dark-blue colored schemed walls with white flowing curtains, and down below them is a long flight of stairs.
But the difference this time is that the color pink is added and Rosa can be seen standing in front of the Moon.
"Everyone, you did!" the Moon cheered, "I hope you don't mind this but I couldn't let Rosa fade away." it said, "That's the Shard of Anticipation." it pointed out, "It will grant you the gift of strength." it shared, "There are different ways to be strong, you can be physically strong like being able to move heavy objects or you can be strong mentally like being able to stay calm in situations." it explained, "There's also strength of leadership of being strong in the way that inspires others." it added, "What does strength mean to you, two?" it asked with a smile.
Tadakuni and Paletta didn't answer since they understood that it's a rhetorical question, so they proceed to check on Rosa.
"Hello, Paletta and Tadakuni." Rosa greeted, "How did this happen?" she asked, "I was sure I would just..." she trailed, "Was this your doing?" she assumed, "I'm happy, regardless." she expressed, "I will also help you, if you..." she uttered, "... need any help." she offered.
Tadakuni smiled in response, "Thanks." he replied.
And with that, Tadakuni and Paletta climbs down the stairs and in a bright flash of light, the two are now back in Pink Town where the rest are waiting for them.
"There you are!" Johnny exclaimed, "Where did the two of you go?" he asked, "You suddenly disappeared without a trace." he stated.
"Paletta and I were called by the Moon." Tadakuni answered, "The Moon explained to Paletta on how the Shard of Anticipation work and Rosa is currently staying with the Moon to prevent her from fading away." he explained.
"I see." Ran uttered in acknowledgement, "Welp! We got what we came here for, so I guess we should head towards the next town." she beckoned.
"Yellow Town." Drake mentioned, "The town where that rat resides." he recalled.
"If that town is infested with rats, I'm gonna exterminate all of them." Johnny threatened.
"Don't you dare." Mahoro chastised.
And with that, the group made their way out of town while coming across some people along the way.
"Rosa... I heard that it's not real immortality that the shards bless one with, the wielder becomes on with the shard with their body crystallizing and acting as a vessel. The soul lives forever in the shards but does that mean the old king's is still within the shards? And the ruler before that, is their soul there too? I wonder. That would explain why the shards choose their new wielder personally. I think that this one chose well."
"The trees... the grass... the houses... it's all very pretty."
On their way on road just outside the town, they came across a girl looking at some flowers.
"These punara flowers are poisonous for most humanoid creatures." the girl shared, "It used to be easy to tell them apart from other flowers because of their red color but maybe it's better that no one eats any flowers for now." she stated.
And after moving a bit forward, they came across another girl.
"Oh wow, where did the pink come from?" the girl asked in awe, "It's weird being like this again." she commented, "But this definitely better than being gray." she admitted.
The group then press-on only to stop when they noticed a large fallen tree blocking their path.
"Roadblock!" Johnny exclaimed in irritation.
Golem Head then sat on the ground in a fetal position, "This is a problem..." he uttered out loud, "How can we go on forward with this tree blocking our way?" he questioned while rocking back and forth.
"Paletta, try using the power of the Shard of Anticipation to get this tree off the road." Tadakuni advised.
Paletta nodded in response before activating the Shard of Anticipation on herself which gave her super strength, she then proceeds to lift the fallen tree up and then tossing it aside like a piece of Lego block.
"Wow! What strength!" Ran complimented.
"Her strength is on par with Chris Masters." Hinomaru described.
"Yeah." Zoe uttered in agreement.
And with the fallen tree out of the way, the group decided to move forward when they came across another girl.
"Oh! That was so weird!" the girl commented, "There was a flash and suddenly the color were back!" she described, "Or pink, at least?" she corrected, "Thank you though for moving the tree." she expressed in gratitude, "I was waiting for Rosa but you know how it is sometimes..." she stated.
After saying goodbye to the girl, the group then proceeds to walk forward with Johnny cringing for some reason.
"Ooh..." Johnny cooed, "Let's not inform them what happened to Rosa." he suggested.
"I think she is aware." Tadakuni replied.
A/N: Inspired from someonestupED, damnlastwords, Jamesdean5842, Hope the Victor and Ace Neptune. All OCs and concepts not created by moi were given permission for me to use by it's respected creators.
