Chapter 7: The Quarantine
The previous chapter was originally tied in with this one, but I split them when I realized that it would have been way too long.
Hiccup awoke the next morning to the smell of something burning. He thought, for a minute, that Astrid was trying to cook something. He sat up, rubbing his tired eyes, which landed on a copper dragon with smoking scales.
All at once, he remembered where he was, and why.
The book he'd been reading to Peril was on the floor, closed. Hiccup guessed that he fell asleep while reading it, and, at some point, it slipped out of his hands. He couldn't remember where he'd left off.
The burning smell was coming from Peril's scales. For a brief, horrifying second, Hiccup was afraid she might have set something on fire...and then he saw Adhesive scooping spoonfuls of batter onto the SkyWing's back.
Hiccup had seen and done a lot of crazy things since the day he'd met Snivels and Toothless, but the last thing he expected to wake up to was a Poipole using a dragon's scales to cook breakfast.
"What are you doing?" he asked with a yawn.
"Helping Adhesive make pancakes," was Peril's reply. "I don't know what they are, but he said they're like 'little mini sunshines filled with yummy fun'. Which sounds annoying to me, but something like everyone else would enjoy. So, yeah, I agreed to help."
"Just wait until you see the look on Clay's face when he eats them," Adhesive said teasingly.
Peril's tail twitched as she resisted the urge to whack him with it.
Hiccup observed their process. Adhesive would scoop the batter onto Peril's scales with a large spoon, being careful to not actually touch her, and the SkyWing would shake them off after the span of a single second (or was it less than that?), after which they'd tumble to the floor as thin, flat, golden cakes.
No, not the floor, Hiccup realized - there was a circle of plates surrounding Peril, several of them sporting stacks of dark brown and black burning messes. It was evident that Adhesive had been at this for a while, trying to perfect the process of cooking their breakfast on Peril's back. There was no way in the Multiverse they would have gotten it right the first twenty or thirty times.
But, if Hiccup was being honest, it looked a lot better than Astrid's breakfasts. (And he wouldn't be caught dead saying that in front of his wife, if he knew what was good for his physical health.)
From somewhere in the pile of sleeping dragonets, Clay's nose started twitching. His snout trembled and sniffed and inched closer and closer to the pancakes. His stomach growled loudly. His tongue flicked in and out.
Adhesive carefully placed a plateful of the golden cakes within reach of the MudWing's snout, and Clay shot out with the speed of an attacking alligator. The moment his teeth closed around the pancakes, he started chewing vigorously. He let out a contented sigh.
"Well, I certainly wouldn't have thought sleep-eating was a thing," Adhesive commented.
Clay's eyes fluttered open with a dazed and dopey look. "Is there any more of that puffed deliciousness?" he asked, licking his lips.
"Enough for everyone," said Adhesive.
Peril snorted. "Yeah, if you like them burnt to a blackened crisp."
A pair of heads shot up, both gray, but one with pale orange patches and the other with faint green streaks. Ratha and Rathi flapped and flailed as they tried to untangle themselves from each other, and the other two participants in their sleeping pile - Snivels and Toothless.
The Servine let out a yelp as someone's talons stomped on his tail. He coiled up like a snake, his tail tucked in so tightly that the leaves rustled against each other.
After about a minute of chaotic squawking and flapping wings, the two Rathlings pulled free, one of them using Toothless's head as a launchpad, prompting an annoyed growl from the Night Fury. Hiccup had to scramble to the side to avoid getting stampeded as Ratha and Rathi made a beeline for the burned pancakes. Before anyone could blink, the two were scarfing down the crispy, gooey messes like two kids eating chocolate.
(It makes sense when you think about it. Rathaloses and Rathians had fire breath, so the food they ate was regularly burnt on the outside and soft and squishy on the inside.)
Well, thought Hiccup, I guess that solves that problem.
Astrid was the kind of person who got up early in the morning. She always had to - growing up in a time of war meant that an able-bodied warrior like herself had to stay on their toes and keep themselves fit. Even after the Battle of Dragon Island, she'd head out into the woods to train with her signature axe.
When she awoke that morning, she expected to be at home, sharing a bed with her husband, who would soon be up and about in the sky with his Night Fury while she slipped away from it all to do some target practice.
Not today.
The first thing she saw was a yellow snout just inches from her face, nostrils flaring as the mix-and-match creature inhaled her scent.
Eyes bugging, Astrid instinctively lashed out with her fist, which connected with the Dracozolt's nose.
Stegoraptor stumbled back, shocked and hurt, with an odd shriek-roar sound.
There was a rush of yellow and white, and Sticky was floating between the hurt Dracozolt and the wide-eyed blonde. "Sorry about that," she said, "Stegoraptor's never seen a human before, and they're very curious."
"They're?" Astrid echoed, eyebrow raised.
Sticky nodded. "Stegoraptor's agender. Meaning they're neither male nor female. It's something I found out just very recently. Not sure what it means about reproduction, though."
The only agender creatures Astrid had encountered before were the ones that had little to no resemblance to organic material, like Magnezone or Klinklang. Those, at least, made sense. But Stegoraptor looked much more animalistic than either of them, and that was saying something based on how mismatched their appearance was.
She spotted something black move in her peripheral vision. Against her better judgment, she hoped it was Toothless.
It wasn't.
Cat Noir was sleeping curled up in a bed that he'd made out of pillows. It wasn't the most practical approach, but this was the first time he'd actually slept while his Miraculous was still active.
Ladybug, of course, was the practical one. She was lying on her side asleep on the couch with a knitted blanket.
Astrid rolled her eyes and grumbled, "Zombie-flipping-apocalypse, and I get stuck with Dottie and Catnip."
"They're tougher than they look," Sticky said, "I mean, they've saved their home city a hundred zillion times from this guy who's basically a terrorist."
"Just one guy?" asked Astrid, raising her eyebrow again. "We've blown up a dragon the size of a mountain, obliterated several dozen enemy ships, even saved an innocent dragonet from being unjustly murdered by Hiccup's father, and they're still fighting one. Single. GUY?!"
"And a woman," Sticky said, her voice slightly squeaky. "And, to be fair, the villains from their universe aren't really the go-out-and-terrorize-the-public type. They work from the shadows and manipulate others into doing the dirty work for them; that's what makes them so formidable. Ladybug and Cat Noir are doing the best they can, even in spite of the fact that they're still legally kids."
Astrid shifted her gaze to the slumbering heroes. "I haven't been a kid since I was five years old," she said.
Blaze, who had crashed in the corner the furthest away from Cat Noir with nothing but a pillow, stretched herself awake. "Well," she said with a yawn, "that wasn't the worst night of sleep I've had. But definitely in the top three. Or would that be the bottom three?"
"I wasn't expecting overnight visitors," Sticky said apologetically.
Astrid pushed herself up into a sitting position. Stormfly was curled up asleep behind her; she leaned back against the Deadly Nadder's scales. "How long are we staying here?" she asked.
"I'm not sure," the Shiny Poipole answered honestly. "Adhesive's right about Kuro's next move being to bring in some backup, but that could take a while. Or never, if Kuro got infected, too. In any case, we should use whatever supplies I have here sparingly." She added to Blaze, "Which means you should try to keep your distance from Cat Noir as much as possible. I don't have a lot of allergy medicine on hand."
There was a small crash from the kitchen area, and they turned their heads to see that Stegoraptor had snuck away to nibble on some fruit in a bowl, which had fallen off the counter, scattering apples and oranges everywhere.
The noise woke up Ladybug. She sprung off the sofa with surprising speed, landing on her feet and striking a karate pose. "What happened?"
"Nothing," Sticky assured. "Just a light breakfast. I've got apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, and a half-eaten box of chouquettes."
Just like that, Cat Noir sat up, wide awake. "Did someone say chouquettes?"
The first thing Heather noticed when she woke up was that she was in Brandyn's arms. Feeling an inexplicable chill course through her, she snuggled in closer to his warmth, causing him to stir a little. She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck and softly kissed him.
"Good morning," he breathed into her ear.
She giggled, a lilting sound to him. "I had the weirdest dream," she said. "We had to go to Adhesive's home to fight these freaky mutant monsters."
His muscles tensed under her touch. "I hate to burst your bubble, my Siren, but it wasn't a dream."
"What?" Heather's eyes shot open.
They weren't in their bed at Raven Point headquarters like she'd thought. They were on a couch in an apartment room in Ultra Megalopolis. Ninjark was asleep on the floor next to the couch while Ra was curled up in the middle of the room with Camazotz's wings draped over him like a pair of starry blankets.
A clattering noise from the kitchen attracted the couple's attention. The two stepbrothers - Phineas and Ferb, they reminded themselves - were already at work building some kind of metal box-like contraption.
Rubbing her still-tired eyes, Heather sat up on the couch to get a better look at what the two young boys were doing. "What is that?" she asked.
Phineas moved to the side to reveal his and Ferb's latest creation. "We modified the microwave oven," he explained, and rather enthusiastically. "It rearranges the air and water molecules inside to create any kind of food or drink of your choice. That way we'll have plenty of edible resources while we're waiting for backup to arrive."
As if on cue, Heather's stomach grumbled hungrily, and quite loudly too.
"Sounds like it's time to serve up some breakfast," Phineas commented, not losing his enthusiasm. "Ferb?"
The green-haired boy pressed a few buttons on the microwave's touchpad. There was a flash of light from inside the contraption, then a melodious *ding* before the door swung open, revealing several helpings of scrambled eggs and bacon.
Heather felt the couch shift as Brandyn stood up and approached the metal box to examine it. "Interesting," he said. "You boys seem to have a knack of doing the impossible."
There was a growling yawn, and the large white feline in the middle of the room stretched himself awake.
"What's that smell?" asked Ra, his nose twitching as the scent of eggs and bacon wafted in the air.
His rousing awoke Camazotz, whose eyes fluttered open. "Since it's morning," she said, "I would guess that it's breakfast."
Something shifted at Heather's feet, and she looked down to see Ninjark rolling over onto his back. He stretched, his eyes opening about halfway and blinking a few times. Finally, he asked, "Are we holed up in Ultra Megalopolis from a horde of mutant virus zombies?"
"I'm afraid so," his trainer answered somberly.
He sighed. "Why couldn't it all have just been some crazy dream or something?"
Eyes lighting up, Phineas turned to his stepbrother and said, "Hey, Ferb, we should build a device that projects your dreams like a movie. I'd love to see what Perry dreams about."
The two boys looked around the room, but found no sign of their wayward pet.
"He's still not back yet," said the more talkative brother. "I hope he's okay, wherever he is. Poor little guy..."
Perry was fine.
That is, if you considered hiding in a dumpster full of trash to mask your scent from the more animalistic virus zombies to be "fine".
Fortunately, an agent of the O.W.C.A. always comes prepared.
His hat wasn't just for show - it was a multifunctional tool that defied logic.
The platypus reached up and removed the fedora from his head, reaching into it and extracting a makeup kit like a magician pulling a rabbit out of their hat. Although his teal fur might have been enough for him to pass as a virus zombie, it would be more convincing if he looked more bluish-gray like they did.
Perry opened the powder compact slowly and carefully, trying to avoid making too much noise. He grabbed the pad and powdered himself all over with the blue stuff.
Something clattered outside, causing him to freeze. A snuffling sound indicated that an animal virus zombie was closing in.
Did it only smell the garbage? Or was its nose strong enough to get a whiff of Perry?
He needed to work fast. He'd already prepared several blue-balls-on-sticks to glue to his fur, which didn't look like they'd be good enough to pass as protein spikes.
Perry wasn't expecting that he'd make it very far with such a paper-thin disguise. He just needed to hold out long enough to buy the other heroes time to find a solution before the mutant virus spread to other universes.
Something nudged the dumpster.
With lightning-fast speed, the platypus agent stuck the blue-balls-on-sticks into his fur.
The same something jostled the dumpster, trying to get it open.
Perry threw the lid open and snarled, trying to pass as a fellow animal zombie.
The creature was an infected Deinonychus from the zoo. Its eyes bore into Perry's, as if it were testing him. Panicking internally, the platypus agent snarled again, louder this time.
The Deinonychus snarled back before turning and walking of the alley.
Perry pulled himself out of the dumpster and quietly followed the infected reptile. He'd have to lay low if he was going to get by out in the open. If he could just lead some of the mutant virus zombies away from where his owners were hiding out, maybe they all had a chance of getting out of this mess.
Starflight sat in Adhesive's kitchen examining the silver-colored machine that was making humming noises accompanied by the sound of running water. "What did you say this was called?" he asked.
"A dishwasher," answered Adhesive.
"Dishwasher," the NightWing dragonet uttered to himself. He leaned in to get a closer look, thoughtfulness written all over his face as he tapped his chin with one claw.
On the other side of the room, Hiccup flipped through the pages of The Dragonet Prophecy, squinting a little as he scanned the words.
Himinn noticed and asked, a bit playfully, "Is there a problem, little bro?"
"I don't remember where I left off," he told her.
"I think it was the part where Clay and his friends were acting out how the war started," Peril offered.
Hiccup shook his head. He remembered reading past that part of the story. And judging from the amused look on Peril's face, he guessed that the reason she'd said it was so he would read it again.
"Acting out how a war began?" Himinn asked, grinning like a maniac. "I like the sound of that!"
"We can do that," said Snivels. "Or, more accurately, the Dragonets of Destiny can. Glory can be Queen Oasis because she's an actual queen, Starflight can be the human because he's basically a dragon version of Hiccup, which means the rest are the three princesses. Clay can be Burn because he's the biggest and strongest, Tsunami can be Blister because she's the most dangerous, and Sunny can be Blaze because she's the most lovable of the group."
The SeaWing dragonet whacked him with her tail, but not too hard. "Who said you could tell us what to do?"
"I like the idea," Glory simpered. "And as queen of the RainWings, I decree that we do it."
"I'm in," said Clay. "It'll be just like old times - the five of us having fun together."
"And we have an audience this time," Sunny added.
Starflight gulped. "I fail to see how that's a good thing."
"Don't worry about us," Snivels said, smiling encouragingly. "We're not the judging types. Just go ahead and have fun."
Glory nodded at the Servine in thanks, her eyes glinting with what Hiccup could have sworn was unadulterated joy. The young queen swaggered into the center of the room, her scales turning royal gold with flecks of ruby red, sapphire blue, and emerald green. She looked absolutely stunning and regal, like a walking pile of treasure.
"I am Queen Oasis of the SandWings," she declared in her queenliest voice. "Ruler of the Kingdom of Sand. I am one of the strongest queens in SandWing history; no one dares to challenge me for the throne! And with all this treasure, I am also one of the wealthiest queens in the world!"
Starflight stumbled forward, holding a spoon - the most harmless utensil he could find - in one talon. "Uh," he croaked, nervous and uncertain. "I am a little human who wants some of this treasure because..." He had to pause and think for about a minute. "...because REASONS."
Mentally rolling her eyes, Glory turned to face her NightWing friend. "What's this puny scavenger doing in my kingdom? Trying to steal my treasure? Not on my watch!"
"Eek!" Starflight cried, looking genuinely scared. "A dragon! I must, uh, defend myself!" He brandished the spoon like it was a spear.
Himinn covered her mouth in a vain attempt to muffle her laughter. Peril started giggling so hard she had to lie down and cover her face with her wings.
Glory roared and lunged forward with her claws, her long, harmless tail raised like a scorpion's. Starflight darted out of the way, and they circled each other, feinting and jabbing. The NightWing was more of a thinker than a fighter; he was certain that Glory could beat him in a fight without using her RainWing venom.
But in the end Queen Oasis had to lose - that was how the story went.
Starflight thrust the spoon near Glory's head, pretending that it went through her eye. The RainWing queen howled in fake pain and fell to the floor, her wings flopping lifelessly at her sides.
"I did it?" Starflight said. "I did it! Now to take some of this treasure and get out of here before another dragon shows up!" He mimed gathering some piles of jewels into his arms and shuffled to the far wall.
"Your turn," Snivels said to the other three.
Clay reached Glory first, clasped his talons together, and let out a cry of anguish. "Oh, no! Our mother is dead, and the treasure is gone! But, if none of us killed her, who will be queen now?"
"I, Blister, was about to challenge her," Tsunami cried. She flapped her wings dramatically. "I should be queen!"
"I, Burn, am the eldest and biggest!" Clay insisted. "I should be queen!"
"I, Blaze, am the youngest, the prettiest, and would have the longest reign!" Sunny said. "I should be queen!"
"I should kill you both right now," Tsunami snarled. "In fact, I'll go make myself an army - an army of SeaWings, who are the best tribe in the world, by the way - and then you'll both be sorry."
"If you get the SeaWings," Clay said, "then I'll get the MudWings on my side. And the SkyWings!"
"But most of the SandWings want me as their queen," Sunny said. "And, to be safe, I'll go ally myself with the IceWing army."
After that, they fell silent, unsure of what they were supposed to say next.
"Well," Himinn laughed, "that was more entertaining than the Snoggletog Pageant. And that's just a bunch of people running around on a stage killing fake dragons."
Hiccup shuddered at the memory. The pageant was hands down his least favorite part of the winter holiday, ever since he was five. Thank Arceus the Berkians had ceased the performance after the defeat of the Red Death.
"It was certainly fun to watch," said Snivels, "and it looked like you all had fun doing it."
Glory rolled over and pushed herself up, her scales shifting back to their normal emerald green except for her ears, which were tinged pink with happiness. "I definitely had fun," she said. "It sure was nice to play a different role than one of the princesses for a change."
"For a change?" Tsunami echoed. "I let you play the sca- I mean, the human!"
"Yeah, once," Glory said indignantly. The pink color quickly washed out of her scales. "This was my first time playing as Oasis. It's like you didn't want to give me such an important role just because I'm a RainWing and not in that phony prophecy."
Phony prophecy? Hiccup wanted to ask, but he had a feeling he'd find out later.
"I'm sure that's not what Tsunami meant to do," Clay said, placing himself between the two angry dragons. "We all know how much she loves playing queen."
Hiccup jumped right in before the argument could escalate any further. "Okay, everyone settle down." When all the creatures in the room turned to look at him, he added, "Maybe instead of fighting about silly little things, we should be trying to figure out a way to stop this outbreak before it spreads to anywhere else."
Himinn marched up and gave him a noogie. "Way to tell them, little brother!"
Laughing awkwardly, he extracted himself. "Yeah...please don't do that again."
"Alright," Tsunami said, sitting down. "When's this Kuro guy supposed to arrive with backup?"
"Hopefully soon," said Adhesive, looking apprehensive. "Or, more likely, never, if he got infected, too."
Sunny looked worried. "And if he did get infected?"
"Then we're effectively stuck here, surrounded by viral mutants, with no way to get home," Snivels said grimly.
After that, the entire room was filled with pin-drop silence.
"Well, this stinks," Peril finally said. "What are we supposed to do now?"
Hiccup sucked in a breath as he put his mind to work. "Okay," he said, standing up, "the entire city's been infected. No Ultra Guardians, no Resistance, no backup. But we have dragons, some Pokémon, and...what?"
Wanting to be helpful, Adhesive listed off, "Two superheroes, a pair of child prodigies, and knowledge that the virus doesn't affect Gore Magalas."
"Right," said Hiccup. The memory of Strep brushing off the mutant infection like it was nothing had eluded him up until now. "Maybe...Adhesive, you said we might be able to make a cure?"
"We'd need a sample from the Magalas," the Poipole said, "but, yeah, theoretically, it could work."
There was muffled boom from outside.
"How are we supposed to do that if we can't leave the building?" Glory asked.
Adhesive floated over to the door. "There's a sewer grate in the basement," he explained. "If I can get to the lab, I can gather some supplies to protect us from the virus. Then we head to the zoo, gather some samples from the Magalas, make the cure, and save the city and the Multiverse together."
Everyone in the room stared at him like he'd been speaking a whole other language they'd never heard before.
"Okay," Hiccup said awkwardly, "that's...sort of a plan, I guess."
Adhesive unlocked the door and opened it slowly, sticking his head out and checking the hallway to see if any mutant virus zombies had somehow managed to get in. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he headed out of the room. "You guys hunker down in here," he told his friends. "I'll be back by tomorrow. I hope."
Then he shut the door behind him, making sure to lock it before flying down the hallway.
The room was silent once again, except for the light smacking sound of Ratha and Rathi eating what was left of the burnt pancakes from breakfast.
"So, now what?" asked Sunny.
Something nudged against Hiccup's back, and he turned to find the wide, iridescent eyes of Toothless staring at him. He patted the Night Fury's snout and answered, "For now, we wait."
Adhesive's plan seemed pretty simple on paper, but was significantly more difficult when he was trying to enact it.
For one thing, the underground sewers were quite vast, with many twists and turns like a maze. It would be easy to get lost.
And for another, there was a chance that wherever Adhesive popped up, there'd be a hoard of mutant virus zombies waiting to infect anyone that might come across them.
The Poipole had brought his phone with him so he could use Google Maps to find his way, but, in the heat of the moment, he'd forgotten that the reception was absolutely terrible underground. When he tried to open the app, all he got was a blank white screen.
The Poison Pin Pokémon looked down the dark tunnel forlornly, his composure drooping. "I really didn't think this through," he grumbled.
Tomorrow
When Hiccup's group was awakened by the sound of the door opening, they expected Adhesive to be coming with good news.
Indeed, it was the Poipole entering the apartment room instead of one of those freaky mutant virus zombies. But judging by his worried expression, he probably wasn't bringing any good news with him.
"Adhesive?" Snivels questioned, rubbing his still-tired eyes. "Is something wrong?"
"Not exactly," the Poipole answered, closing the door behind him. "There is a slight problem."
"Slight problem?" Himinn echoed. "How slight?"
Adhesive locked the door before answering sheepishly, "I got lost in the sewers. Took me all night to find my way back."
"Did you encounter any mutants?" asked Hiccup.
Much to his, and his friends' relief, the Poipole shook his head. "Not a one. Believe me, I triple-checked."
Good. The last thing they needed was a virus zombie following them to their little hideout.
Not everyone was fully awake yet - the Dragonets of Destiny were still half-asleep while Ratha and Rathi were snoozing peacefully like the babies they were. Ever the considerate one, Hiccup was perfectly willing to wait until every creature in the room was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed before he'd go about breaking the news Adhesive had just delivered.
Toothless, on the other hand, was not. The Night Fury woke up early every morning to go flying with Hiccup, but now he couldn't do that because they were stuck in quarantine. In that very moment, his understanding was that the sooner they found a solution to the problem, the sooner they could all go home, and he and Hiccup could go back to flying together.
The Night Fury sucked in a long breath and unleashed an ear-splitting screech much like the one from his first encounter with Hiccup in the forest. Within the span of one second, every creature in the room was on their feet, looking around with wide eyes trying to figure out what in the Multiverse was making that noise.
None more so than Tsunami, who sprang up right up wither he tail thrashing her teeth bared. "WHAT IS THAT?!"
"I'm not a detective," grumbled Starflight, "but I think we have a suspect." He pointed his tail at the Night Fury, who was looking rather pleased with himself.
"Toothless!" Hiccup scolded. "Let sleeping friends lie!"
"WE ARE NOT FRIENDS," roared the SeaWing.
Himinn bravely walked up to the raging blue dragon and nudged her shoulder. "Well, we're not not friends, right?"
"I can agree with that," Peril chimed in from her semi-assigned spot in the middle of the room.
"No one asked you, lava-claws!" snapped Tsunami.
Snivels perked up at that. "Lava-claws?" he smiled. "I'll have to remember that name for later. Maybe for a Gronckle dragonet. Hey, Hiccup, does that name sound a little Gronckle-ish to you? Or is it more Fireworm-ish?"
"I'm not a Gronckle," snorted Peril, "or a Fireworm, whatever in the three moons those are. I'm a SkyWing, and, like it or not, my name is Peril, not Lava-claws."
"I'll explain later," Hiccup promised, "but, right now, we kind of have a problem."
"What sort of problem?" Clay asked. "A friend problem? A food problem? A friend and food problem?"
Adhesive shook his head at all of them. "It's more of a the-sewers-are-too-much-like-a-maze-so-it's-easy-for-me-to-get-lost-down-there kind of problem."
"A snag in the plan problem," said Himinn. "The worst kind."
Whimpering fearfully, Ratha scurried over to Snivels, head down and tail tucked. He nuzzled and licked the Servine's hands between whines.
"I don't speak Monster-ese," Sunny said, "but I think he's trying to say, 'what now?'"
They all sat in silence for a long moment. It seemed like forever until a lightbulb went off in Adhesive's head.
"Sticky did work at the labs," he said, his voice full of hope, "maybe she'll know what to do." He made a beeline for his cell phone, which he'd left on the counter when he first arrived from his little sewer adventure.
Astrid woke up that morning to the sound of vigorous chewing.
"Ah, good old camembert," sighed a small voice. "You really do make life better than it seems."
The blonde sat up and rubbed her eyes, her face scrunched up in confusion. Whoever was speaking, it certainly didn't sound like Cat Noir's voice. Or any of her "roommates'" voices for that matter.
There was a little black creature sitting on the dining table, eagerly wolfing down a wheel of very smelly cheese. He was so engrossed with his stinky breakfast that he didn't even realize he'd been spotted until Astrid was standing over him.
"What are you supposed to be?" she half-asked, half-demanded.
Pausing his feeding frenzy, the little black thing turned and look up at her, his mouth wide open as he'd prepared to take a large bite of the cheese. He quickly gathered his bearings, though, and retorted, "For your information, it's rude to sneak up on someone who is eating. My name is Plagg, and I'm a kwami. I grant powers. Cat Noir's is the power of destruction. Got it?"
"No," was Astrid's blunt reply.
"Good," said Plagg, who was clearly not paying attention. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a hot date, and her name is Camembert!" He turned back to his meal and promptly resumed gorging himself.
Mentally rolling her eyes, Astrid scanned the room, and was both relieved and a bit worried when she found no sign of Cat Noir. Ladybug was still present, though, so chances were he was still around somewhere.
"So, where's that Catnip guy?" the blonde asked.
Like magic, Sticky was there with another plate of cheese at the ready. "It was my idea for the kitty boy to take a bathroom break and freshen up," she said. "I thought that maybe he could use one." She turned to Ladybug and added, "Once he's finished, you might want to consider doing the same."
De-le-le wooooooooooop!
Startled by the sudden noise, Ladybug looked around the room wildly. "What the heck is that?!"
"Relax," Sticky chuckled, "it's just my ringtone. Kricketune call." She picked up the device and, recognizing her boyfriend's name on the caller ID, pressed the answer button. "Y'hello?"
"Hey, Sticky," Adhesive said on the other end. "This is probably going to sound weird, but how familiar are you with the sewer system?"
"No more than you," she answered. "Why? What's up?"
"My idea was that we use the sewers to get to the lab and start making a cure, but the reception down there stinks and I have no idea how to get there from the apartments without a map. I thought you might have an idea since you did work at the lab."
Sticky was silent for a moment as she thought it over. "I've been telling Kuro we need to do something about the reception working underground." Her eyes fell on Ladybug, who was sitting and watching with interest. "I think I have an idea. We can still make phone calls in the sewers, so if I go down there, with Ladybug and Cat Noir up here with their own phones, they could give me directions over my phone as I'm navigating under the streets!"
"Sticky, you're a genius!" Adhesive praised. "I should probably let you get to it. Good luck."
"Thanks," the Shiny Poipole said before hanging up.
One awkward silence later, Ladybug spoke up first. "That actually sounds like a pretty good plan."
"And while you're all doing that, what am I supposed to be doing?" Astrid asked. She hated not being able to do anything. She was a trained warrior, for Arceus's sake! She needed to do something! What would everyone think if they found her sitting in a corner doing nothing while there was some sort of trouble going on?
"You do what you want," Sticky said. "But we'd better get started right away." She turned to Plagg, who was resting on the now empty plate of camembert. "Could you go check on your owner?"
The kwami responded with a belch that unsurprisingly smelled like the cheese he'd eaten.
Brandyn probably shouldn't have been surprised when he and Heather woke up that morning to find Phineas and Ferb fooling around on the ceiling. It was all the stepbrothers had been talking about, among other things.
"Hey, guys," the triangle-headed boy called down gleefully. "Wanna join in?"
The noise woke up Ninjark, Ra, and Camazotz. The Greninja stared up at the two stepbrothers for a moment before asking, "How are you doing that?"
The green-haired boy reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a remote-like object. "Personal gravity-inverting device," he explained.
"We made extras in case you guys wanted to try it out," Phineas said, pointing to the kitchen counter.
There was a light jingling sort of ring, and the triangle-headed boy reached into his shorts pocket and pulled out a blue smartphone, which he answered with a cheery, "Hello?"
"Hey, Phineas, it's Adhesive," said the voice on the other end. "I'm not sure if you remember me. I'm the purple floating creature from the mission briefing, does that ring a bell?"
"Yeah, I remember you," Phineas said. "How did you get my number?"
"It was listed in my phone's call history from when you dialed a couple of days ago. I called to inform you that some of us are working on making a cure for the mutant virus. If you and Ferb have any bright ideas we can use to subdue those freaky zombie-things until the cure is finished, it would be much appreciated."
"Well, we've already been working on a few things in our spare time," he confessed. "Count us in."
"Great! I'll keep you guys posted."
The call ended.
"Well, Ferb," said Phineas, "sounds like it's time we went back to the blueprints. We've got some ideating to do!"
"Look," said Ra, "if you boys are so smart, can't you just find some old nuts and bolts lying around and whip up some kind of automatic-cure-all or something for those virus zombies so we can all get out of this mess?"
The stepbrothers looked at each other as they thought it over.
"Well," Phineas said, "if we did do that, the story would be over already. Pretty anticlimactic, if you ask me."
"Not to mention," Ferb added, "we are just kids."
Heather shrugged. "Well," she said, "when in Rome, do as the Romans do, right?"
Needless to say, they spent all the rest of the day on the ceiling.
There's an indefinite time of solitary confinement
'Cause the virus has our lives suspended
So the ultimate problem for all generations
Is finding a good way to spend it
Like maybe...
Nintendo Switch-ing
Or Zooming your best friend
Or trying a new home workout
Discovering new shows to watch on Netflix (Hey!)
We'll just be binge-watching for hours
Cleaning around the house
Learning an instrument
Or filming a bunch of TikTok
Getting a home haircut
Learning to bake some bread
Or being an absolute slob
As you can see
There's still a lot of stuff to do
And we're not gonna stall
So stick with us
'Cause Phineas and Ferb are gonna do it all!
So stick with us
'Cause Phineas and Ferb are gonna do it all!
Three Weeks Later
Sticky's plan was, in fact, a good plan.
If only there weren't so many twists and turns in the sewers. It really was too much like a maze. Even with Ladybug and Cat Noir giving her directions over the phone while they were using the GPS on their yo-yo-phone or staff-phone, the Shiny Poipole only got about halfway on their latest attempt before she had to turn back. It was going to be dark soon, and she didn't want to risk navigating underground at night while a slew of virus zombies was roaming the streets.
She'd encountered Perry in the sewers about a week ago. The secret agent platypus was still in his virus zombie getup, and he looked more ragged than when Sticky had last seen him at Kuro's briefing. She'd thought he'd been infected at first, which nearly gave her a heart attack, but then he'd tipped his hat to her and hurried on his way.
She kept her encounter with the platypus secret, of course. The less people who knew, the better. Sticky was excused because she was an Ultra Guardian, and they were pretty much required to know the entire layout of the Multiverse.
"Well," Sticky said when she returned to her apartment room where the others were waiting, "we're getting closer. I'm thinking once we get a direct route to the lab, we chart a course to the zoo, where the Gore Magalas will be."
"How do you know they'll be there?" Blaze asked.
Sticky plugged her phone into a charger, as it was low on battery, before answering. "We installed special beacons in each creature's exhibit. They're designed to emit specific sounds depending on the species to lure them back into their enclosures in the case that they manage to escape. It's how we keep them and the citizens safe."
"That's pretty smart," Ladybug admitted.
Cat Noir, meanwhile, was entertaining himself with his staff-phone. And what song would he be singing other than, "Chop chop chop! Chop away at my heart! I can feel it falling -" He paused and pointed to Astrid, who had taken refuge in the corner while she sharpened her axe with the whetstone she always carried with her. When she didn't respond, he tried again, "I can feel it falling -"
Rolling her eyes, Astrid growled, "Timber."
"And I will never part -"
Ladybug cleared her throat loudly, prompting her superhero partner to stop singing. "Maybe you should try doing something else for a little while," she suggested. "I think you're really starting to get on her nerves."
"How could you tell?" Astrid asked sardonically.
"Take it easy on him," Sticky said. "He's a designated goofball; it's how he deals with the daily stress of being a superhero."
"Hey!" whined an offended Cat Noir. Then he thought about it for a few seconds and admitted, "That's true."
In the kitchen, Blaze tossed a leftover chicken leg into Stormfly's waiting mouth. "It's been three weeks," the Blaziken said. "I thought we would've solved the problem by now."
"You can never be too careful when there's a zombie apocalypse," Sticky replied. "Even a mutant virus one."
Ladybug sighed. "Blaze is right, though. We can't stay here forever."
"On the other hand," Cat Noir remarked, "it's pretty refreshing to wake up in the morning and not have a Gabriel Agreste-brand billboard staring you right in the face."
"Gabriel Agreste is a famous fashion designer," Sticky tried to explain. Who is also Hawk Moth, she added silently.
"Sticky, it's three weeks into quarantine," Astrid snarled, "I don't care if Gabriel Agreste is a purple Fireworm that lived in my butt!"
It took every ounce of self-control Sticky had to not burst out laughing. Well, frankly, that would be an improvement.
"On the contrary, I certainly can make my prophecy happen however I want...considering I'm the one who made it up in the first place."
Hiccup's jaw was practically on the floor when he finished reading that sentence. It made perfect sense, but at the same time it was hard for him to fully wrap his head around it. In hindsight, he should have been able to put all of the clues together - the dead SkyWing eggs, the prophecy lacking an IceWing, and, most importantly, Morrowseer's persistence in having Glory killed.
Himinn was surprised, too, but her feelings about the matter were vastly different. "Oh, if I ever meet that Morrowseer, I'm gonna break off his horns and shove them up his -!"
Just where she was going to put the NightWing's horns was left a mystery to the Dragonets of Destiny, since Snivels hastily covered Ratha and Rathi's ears and scolded, "Himinn, please, not in front of the little ones!"
That was five days ago.
Hiccup had stopped reading when he got to the twentieth chapter of The Brightest Night, which the dragonets had said roughly matched up to when Glutton, or Beefeater, had arrived to "collect" them. (Adhesive was pretty adamant about not spoiling the future to the six Pyrrhian dragons.)
"I can't believe you five actually went through all of that," said Peril. "If Morrowseer wasn't dead, I'd gladly set him on fire for you. No, scratch that. I'd burn him so badly his own mother wouldn't recognize him!"
"I can appreciate that," Glory said.
Tsunami snorted. "Hey, the volcano already did that, and we didn't even have to ask it." She turned to Hiccup and asked, "Couldn't you have at least skipped my book? I didn't need the reminders."
"You mean about your father?" Peril asked. Then, noticing Hiccup's panicked reaction, she hastily added, "I mean, if Scarlet knew you were his daughter then that was the cruelest thing she could've ever done to you."
She was trying to make it better, but that only made it worse - the SeaWing's talons and tail were twitching like crazy. She looked like she was ready to kill Peril.
"No," said Himinn. "She didn't kill him."
Everyone stared at her like she'd suddenly started speaking turkey.
"What are you talking about?" asked Starflight.
"Tsunami didn't kill her father," Himinn insisted, "because he was already dead. Scarlet's the one who took away Gill's water and drove him to insanity. The dragon that was sent into the arena wasn't Gill anymore; the Gill that Coral knew, and loved, was long gone, and there wasn't anything Tsunami could do to bring him back. That wasn't Gill she fought, it was just a hollow shell of a dragon who had already been lost. You didn't kill your father, Tsunami. Scarlet did."
Tsunami sat there looking dumbstruck for a good few minutes. Then the corners of her mouth curved up into a grateful smile. "Thanks. Himinn, right?"
The girl nodded.
Peril gazed down at her smoking talons. Too bad we can't say the same about those other dragons who died in the arena. They'll never believe I only killed them because Scarlet told me to. What if I really can't change who I am? What if I'll always be a monster? She turned to Hiccup, who seemed unaware of her inner turmoil. At least I have one friend who knows what I've been through. How does he plan to help me? It's not like he can magically make my firescales disappear or anything.
"Well, it was nice to learn more about you guys," said Hiccup. "It's too bad we didn't bring the Book of Dragons with us; Starflight could've studied it to learn more about the dragons from our world."
The NightWing dragonet sighed wistfully. "Well, I appreciate the thought."
Sunny scooted over and twined her tail around his. Her touch made him stiffen. The last thing Starflight wanted was for Sunny to feel pressured into loving him.
"Sunny, listen." he said lowly. "I told you I love you because that's how I feel. Don't think for a minute that you have to love me the same way. I want you to be happy, even if it's not with me."
She said nothing; she only smiled. Starflight didn't need the power to read minds to know that she understood.
"You know," Adhesive said, "there is more than one way to tell a story."
He flew over to a very odd-looking device that none of the others had ever seen before - like a large black metallic slate mounted on the wall. "This is called a television. It transmits visual images and sounds for entertainment, information, and education. Like..." - he tried to think of a good analogy - "...pictures in a book, only the subjects are moving and everything. Here, I'll show you how it works."
There was a remote lying on a table set up right underneath the screen. The Poipole picked it up and pressed the round red button near the front. The screen lit up, and noise blared through the speakers.
"How did you do that?" Starflight breathed, amazed at the display.
"Well," Adhesive said, "there's a perfectly logical scientific explanation and SERIOUSLY IT IS SUPER HARD FOR ME TO EXPLAIN ALL OF THE DETAILS RIGHT NOW." He reached down and inserted a small, flat, round object into a barely-visible slot in the television's control box.
Hiccup had to admit that he was intrigued, but he wasn't quite sure yet if he wanted to get in the middle of whatever Adhesive had planned. He decided to make himself busy by returning The Brightest Night to the bookshelf. Barely had he stood up when he heard Peril call out his name.
"Er...Hiccup?"
He stopped and turned to face her. "Yeah?"
"I know you want to help me be better," she said, "but you actually have any idea how to do that? I mean, how can I prove I'm a better dragon than I was when I still can't touch anyone or anything without burning it?"
It was hard not to notice all of the scorch marks on the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling. The only reason the whole room hadn't gone up in flames was because of Adhesive's unusually large quantity of fire extinguishers. ("Why do I have so many fire extinguishers? Must have been on sale or something...")
"Well," he said, "what were you trying to say to Tsunami back there?"
Peril glanced at the SeaWing, who was distracted by whatever Adhesive was up to, before answering. "I think...I'm, like, eighty-five percent sure I was trying to make her feel better about Gill. But no matter what I do, she'll just hate me forever because I messed everything up that one time by telling Scarlet they were trying to escape because I was a lovestruck idiot who wanted to have Clay all to myself."
She hadn't meant to vent her frustrations about the SeaWing like that. But, for some reason she couldn't explain, it actually felt nice to get it all off her chest.
"It's okay if you and Tsunami don't like each other," said Hiccup. "You can't be friends with everyone. But I think Sunny's right - the best way to Clay's heart is through his friends. And, if you're up for it, we can start by practicing your apology to them."
"You mean my apology for getting them caught?" she asked. She curled her tail over her talons. "Where do I even start? 'Hey, I'm really sorry I told Scarlet on you'? Tsunami's never gonna believe that I mean it; she'll think I'm just trying to make myself look good in front of Clay."
Hiccup turned to the bookshelf, slid The Brightest Night into its empty slot, then looked back at Peril. "Maybe she will," he said, "or maybe she won't. But if you do mean it, then that's all that matters. Try this: imagine how Clay must have felt when he and his friends got caught."
Peril thought for a moment. "He was definitely scared," she said, frowning as she recalled the memory. "He must have thought that his friends were gonna get hurt or killed, and he didn't want that to happen because of that MudWing bigwings instinct or whatever that is. And he was sad, because I was supposed to be his friend and he trusted me to help...and I betrayed him." Her wings slumped pitifully. "I feel awful. If any of Clay's friends were killed that night, it would have been my fault and he would've never forgiven me. And Tsunami and Starflight would've never forgiven me if Clay had died. I really am sorry."
"Because you understand their feelings," Hiccup explained. "That's empathy. It's the reason why I helped Toothless when he was hurt - I knew what it felt like to be scared and helpless. Part of being a good friend is thinking about how someone else is feeling and trying to help them feel better if they're upset. If you're really sorry for what happened, then you should tell them that."
"I've never thought about how other dragons feel," said Peril. "I've never even felt sorry for anything. Does it always feel so awful?"
Hiccup shrugged. "I'm afraid so."
The SkyWing chuckled mirthlessly. "Is it okay that I want to burn Scarlet to a crisp the next time I see her? 'Cause it's her fault that I'm like this. Well, mostly her fault, I guess. I kinda let myself become a monster, didn't I?"
"Yes and no," Hiccup said. "You didn't choose to have firescales. And I didn't choose to be smaller and weaker than everyone else in my tribe. We were just born that way. I'm just lucky I was able to use what made me unique to change things for the better. You didn't get that chance because Scarlet stole it from you. But it's not too late. I'm willing to give you that chance, Peril. Are you willing to take it?"
She looked at him, then the dragonets, then back at him. Then she smiled. "Yeah. I am."
Her smile was contagious. Hiccup beamed at her with pride.
Peril stood up, leaving a sizeable scorch mark on the floor, and started for the group of dragonets. She'd barely gotten two steps when she suddenly stopped and turned back to Hiccup. "I'm really lucky to have you as a friend," she said. Then she resumed her short journey to where Clay and his friends were watching Adhesive's television with interest.
"You know," Himinn said teasingly, "in another world, you and Peril would make a pretty good couple."
Hiccup's smile quickly faded, and he sighed. "Okay, first of all, I'm already married to Astrid and Peril's got a thing for Clay. Second, even if Peril didn't have firescales, a human and a dragon isn't really a match made in -" He almost said 'Valhalla', then amended after a moment of thinking and wondering, "Wherever Arceus is from!"
"The Hall of Origin," Snivels said by way of answering the implied question. He then turned his attention to Adhesive's television screen and laughed at what he saw.
Hiccup's curiosity got the best of him. He didn't know what he was expecting when he followed Snivels's gaze, but it certainly wasn't what he found.
He was looking at himself.
Specifically, his starstruck reaction to Astrid's explosive entrance.
The poor boy was left gawking at the sight for about a minute before the embarrassment settled in. "Everyone saw that?!" he said in a strangled squawk. "You've got to be kidding! Is the entire Multiverse against me?!"
"Well, one thing's for sure," said a smiling Himinn, "you definitely know how to pick them."
It took nearly one and a half hours for the movie to be over. The whole time, Hiccup had retreated to the furthest corner he could find, but he couldn't escape the questioning gazes of the dragonets.
Toothless, Typhoon, Ratha and Rathi had been intrigued by the moving pictures on the screen, but the Night Fury had left the living room at around the half-hour mark to comfort his beloved rider.
"So," said Tsunami, "basically, there was a war without a prophecy, a friendship that wasn't supposed to happen, and some squid-brain chief guy who would rather send everyone to their deaths against a giant killer queen than admit he was wrong about anything."
Adhesive nodded. "And he would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for his meddling kid." He laughed, uncaring that nobody else in the room understood the reference.
"It must have been pretty different with you guys there," Himinn said, pointing to Snivels and Adhesive. "I wish I could've seen it."
Snivels looked at the older girl. "How did you handle it?" he asked her. "When Stoick threw Hiccup aside and took Toothless captive, you must have been furious, right? Aren't you even a little mad at your father for what he did?"
"Of course I'm mad," she said. "But, the thing is, he's still our father. He means well, even though he does a terrible job at it."
"I'd be mad, too," Sunny piped up. "It's not fair that everyone treated Hiccup so terribly. If all of that is true, then he really does know how Peril feels. No one should be treated poorly just because they're different. I didn't even know I was half NightWing until Thorn told me in the stronghold, and, even if I did know, it's not something I could help."
"We're all different," said Starflight. "None of us can help it. We are who we are, and if other creatures don't like it, then I guess that's their problem."
Clay folded his wings over them. "Well, I wouldn't change who I am," he said, "even if I really wanted to."
"Me neither," Hiccup admitted, taking a tentative step out of his little corner of safety.
"We really need to stop embarrassing Hiccup," Snivels told the others. "He's watched himself here in quarantine more than most people watch themselves in a lifetime."
"I agree," said Glory. "Shouldn't the virus zombie apocalypse be over by now?"
"Well," Adhesive said, "even if Sticky made it to the lab at this current time, the process of making a cure isn't as easy as one would hope. There's the whole trial and error thing with medicine against an unknown disease, only this one is, like, super-mega-powered-up and probably a hundred times more dangerous than usual. You can't be too careful in these kinds of situations." And, anyway, this is supposed to be a storytelling device.
Peril had moved to the kitchen, far away from where everyone had gathered, and had been watching quietly. In between moments of shock, admiration, excitement, and sadness as she watched the movie from afar, she'd been rehearsing her apology to the dragonets in her head.
She cleared her throat loudly, and all eyes were on her.
"Before anything else happens," she said, "there's...something that I want to say." She fidgeted with her tail and glanced at Hiccup, who gave her an encouraging nod. "I'm...I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?" Sunny asked, confused. She hadn't been present when Peril led Scarlet to where Clay and the others had been trying to escape the SkyWing prison.
"I'm sorry that I told Scarlet you were escaping," Peril clarified. She lowered her gaze to the floor, certain that Tsunami was glaring daggers at her right then. "I was a selfish idiot who didn't know right from wrong, and I really, truly feel awful about it. I don't expect all of you to forgive me, but I really want to be a better dragon. Not just for Clay's sake, but for my own sake. I'm probably going to make a whole lot more mistakes along the way, but I'm trying. I'm really, really, really trying. So...yeah." She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say next. "I'm gonna go...I'm just...If you need me, I'll be talking with my best friend, Hiccup."
There was an inexplicable explosion of tiny starbursts of joy all through her body, from her claws to her wingtips. Best friend. She'd never really had a best friend before. It felt strangely good to say that out loud. She wondered what Tsunami and Glory must think of whatever incredibly giddy expression she probably had on her face.
"I think that was beautiful," Snivels said, in reference to the speech Peril had just delivered.
As Peril approached Hiccup's little corner of safety, she found her path blocked by a dark figure whose green eyes were so intense she thought they might pierce her skull.
Toothless wasn't comfortable letting this coppery dragon with fire in her claws get too close to his rider. Nobody gets away with trying to steal his best friend!
Not wanting to risk a confrontation, Hiccup ran up to the Night Fury's side. "Take it easy, Toothless" he said soothingly. "You're still my best bud."
The Night Fury's muscles relaxed, but he kept his gaze on Peril. One stray flick of the tail was all it would take for any of them to go up in flames.
There was a long, awkward pause before Tsunami asked, "Okay, now what to we do?"
"Well," said Adhesive, "since Himinn wasn't entirely satisfied with the movie, why not try reading about the adventures of Team Go-Getters?" He picked up his phone, typed in the passcode to unlock it, and selected an app. "And the good news is, Hiccup, you don't have to read this one. I'll start at the beginning."
"Alright," Brandyn said patiently, "let's go through it one more time. Flowers?"
"White dryas from Berk and roses from the Peaceables," Heather answered with a smile.
"Food?"
"Seasoned chicken, smoked salmon, yak chops, sliced vegetables, malasadas from Alola, Aetherson-style cookies and cakes, and a berry platter for the Pokémon."
"Decorations?"
"Plain white tablecloths and banners; nothing too grandiose."
Brandyn looked up at Ra and Camazotz. "What do you guys think?"
"I think that sounds like the perfect wedding," the Lunala said, a dreamy smile on her face. "Simple, yet elegant."
"Yes," said Ra, "but what about the officiator? And when do you plan on having the wedding?"
The young couple looked stumped. "We haven't decided yet," Heather admitted.
"Maybe Fjord could be the officiator?" Ninjark asked. "He's ordained, remember?"
"All Legendary and Mythical Pokémon can officiate wedding ceremonies," Ra said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "They, or rather we, are creatures of high power, you know."
"Huh," Heather said by way of answer. "I didn't know that."
Brandyn cleared his throat. "So, theoretically, you or Camazotz could marry us right now if we wanted you to, right?"
The Solgaleo nodded in confirmation.
"Then how do Legendary and Mythical Pokémon get married?" asked Heather.
"They usually pick someone else to officiate," Camazotz explained. "Either a family member or a close friend. Can you imagine how weird it would be if I, for example, were to officiate my own wedding? 'Do I take this Pokémon to be my lawfully wedded husband?' 'Yes, I do'."
Ra felt his heart do a flip. He never asked Camazotz if she'd ever thought about marriage, or love for that matter. He didn't even have the courage to ask her if she was interested in anyone in particular.
He was in love with her, that much was certain. He couldn't keep lying to himself about that. But did she think of him as only a friend, or something more? He was afraid that the answer would break his heart.
Heather, Ninjark, and Brandyn, meanwhile, had been laughing at Camazotz's minor theatric about officiating her own wedding. Ra chuckled a little, partly because it was pretty funny, but also because of how weird it would look if he remained silent.
Once his own laughter died down, Brandyn called out to the other two humans in the room, "How are those projects coming along?"
"They're coming along great!" Phineas answered. "Ferb and I are just putting the finishing touches on the hazmat suits."
There was a large pile of thingamabobs and whatchamacallits behind the two stepbrothers. (Brandyn particularly recalled the Platypus Tracker - a remote device that displayed the current location of a platypus in the form of a small red dot on its screen - which the boys had made to find out where Perry was. Hiding in the sewers, it turned out.) Their latest project was still in the works: a large set of blue and white full-body suits with a sort of other-worldly design, complete with helmets fitted with clear, retractable visors. They'd finished with the human-shaped ones - a total of nine, one for each of whom was left counting themselves - and were currently gathering measurements for the non-human heroes.
Maybe the larger creatures wouldn't be able to wear full-body suits, but the boys could still make visors for them. As long as they didn't breathe in the infectious gases, they'd be okay.
"Keep working," Brandyn said encouragingly. "With everyone making an effort, we'll be out of this mess in no time."
Many Months Later
"This is ridiculous!" growled Astrid. "How can it take this long to make a cure?!"
Sticky shrugged. "Believe me, I wish I knew."
"At least you made it to the lab," Blaze said. "But did you have to bring the supplies all the way back here?"
"It's safer here than in the lab," the Shiny Poipole explained. "Nothing can get in or out of the apartments, but the lab is crawling with virus zombies. It's a miracle I was able to get in and out without being noticed."
Ladybug opened her yo-yo-phone. "Now to chart a course to the zoo," she uttered under her breath. "And we better make it quick. Who knows what Hawk Moth and Mayura have been doing while we're gone."
"Right," said her crime-fighting partner, "I hadn't thought of that. But, anyway, it was kinda nice to take a break and relax for a while. We don't get a lot of down time as superheroes."
Astrid couldn't take it anymore. Several months trapped in an apartment complex while a mutant apocalypse was raging outside, and this guy had the audacity to act like it was no big deal! Didn't he take anything seriously?! He was a superhero, for Arceus's sake!
"How can you do that?!" she exploded. She threw down her axe, and the blade embedded in the floor. The impact startled Stormfly, who squawked in alarm. "We're effectively stuck in this stupid building, and you keep making jokes like it's no big deal! Is all of this a game to you, Catnip?! We don't have time for any of your wisecracks or goofball antics! This entire city is in danger!"
"You think I don't know that?" Cat Noir asked by way of answer. Then he elaborated, "When there's an akumatized villain, if I mess up, someone could get hurt. From what's happened here, if we mess up now, the entire Multiverse could be doomed. Maybe that's too much to have in your head when you have to win. My thought is, if I act like it's all just a game, when the time comes, I'll be able to do what I have to do."
Astrid's stony expression softened. "Is that why you act like a muttonhead all the time?" she asked softly. "Because you're scared?"
He shifted nervously, a guilty look on his face. "Well, that and I wasn't allowed to go out much before I got my Miraculous."
"I'm scared, too," she admitted. "I don't know what's going on or why this is happening, or what I'm even supposed to do. I'm a fighter; when I'm on the battlefield, there's no room for error. I hide my weaknesses so my enemies will think I have none. But, right now, I feel like I'm nothing but weaknesses."
She felt a hand on her shoulder, and when she turned she met the eyes of Ladybug. "It's okay to be scared," the superheroine told her. "Even superheroes get scared sometimes. You don't have to hide it from your friends or your loved ones. They're here to help and support you, in the good times and the bad."
Astrid smiled gratefully. She wasn't the type of person who liked admitting to anyone that she was afraid, but it was nice to know that she still had friends here.
"Well," said Blaze, "I think we've all learned quite a bit about each other in this ordeal. I certainly never would have thought that Cat Noir is a Hiccstrid shipper." Then she inexplicably started singing, "Chop chop chop! Chop away at my heart! I can feel it..." The second she realized what she was doing, she stopped and covered her beak. "Oh, sorry!"
Thankfully, Astrid wasn't angry. "I know you said you could sing," she said, "but I didn't think you were that good."
"I'm a little out of practice," the Blaziken admitted. "I don't think I've sung anything since before I evolved from a Torchic. Until now, that is. I kinda had to give it up so I could meet your standards in training."
"Well," said Ladybug, "the next time you get a chance to sing, you should go for it. You never know what you can do until you try!"
"That's the spirit," Sticky said, smiling. "Now, let's get back to work! We've got a Multiverse to save!"
Stegoraptor chirp-grunted in agreement.
Hiccup sighed dejectedly. It had been a while since Adhesive had finished reading about Team Go-Getters exploits, and he had to admit that it was less embarrassing than watching himself on the television. But now he and several of his friends were quite bored.
The Poipole was currently using said device, but instead of watching something, he was playing on one of his many gaming stations. A How to Train Your Dragon game, naturally. What piqued their interest was that it supposedly took place after the movie, and yet the Hiccup in the game somehow had two intact legs made of flesh, blood and bone.
"It's an alternate dimension," Adhesive had explained. "The folks who made it weren't even aware that they'd pretty much opened a one-way window to an alternate timeline." Then he'd said, "If any of you are interested, I can teach you how to play."
"No thanks," was their collective response.
Adhesive was still playing the game right now. Of the several other creatures in the room, only Tsunami and Himinn were watching. The two had really hit it off after the older sister of an alternate Hiccup had convinced the SeaWing dragonet that Gill's death wasn't her fault. About ninety percent of their conversations involved battle or acts of courageous recklessness. (Himinn particularly liked Tsunami's stories of when she did battle training against Kestrel.)
Hiccup was leaning against Toothless's flank, flipping through his notebook looking at all of the drawings and notes he'd filled it with over the years.
If Ratha and Rathi were bored, they were doing a pretty good job of hiding it. They were running practically all over the room, and sometimes on the furniture, in a game of chase.
"Don't you two break anything," Snivels warned.
The two Rathlings took that as a sign to settle down. Ratha slumped down in the middle of the couch, a little short of breath. He dared not to pant so loudly when Rathi lay down next to him. If she took it as a sign of weakness, then he'd never had a chance with her.
If he even had a chance at all.
He scooted the tiniest bit closer to her, his wing twitching as he resisted the urge to drape it over her shoulders. Rathi was having none of that, though. She was tired of Ratha and herself tiptoeing on the line between friends and romantic partners. Even though they'd been cooped up for way too long, it had given her the opportunity to be close to Ratha without Swift hovering over them all the time.
And she wasn't going to pass up on that.
As casually as possible, she closed the gap between them, settling against his scaly flank and bumping his tail with hers.
If monsters could blush, Ratha would have turned bright red. Slowly, carefully, he laid his head on top of hers.
"...Hey, Rathi?"
"Yeah?"
"I like you."
Ratha shut his one good eye after making that statement, his nerves tingling like crazy.
"I know that already," Rathi crooned.
"No," he said, "I mean I really, really like you. As in, 'I want to grow up and have eggs with you'."
Rathi's eyes widened a bit at the unexpected confession. Her stomach was churning like it was full of writhing snakes. Not in the angry kind of way, more like the nervous kind of way.
"I know I'm not perfect," said Ratha, "and I probably don't deserve you. But, the thing is, I can't help it. I've always liked you, and, now that we're older, I just can't help falling in love with you. You deserve someone strong, someone who can take care of himself along with you. I don't want to force you to spend your whole life looking out for me. More than anything, I want to be the Rathalos you deserve."
Rathi lay there quietly in consideration. "We still have some growing up to do," she said. "Plenty of time for you to adapt to having just one eye. I'm pretty sure that lots of monsters have lost their eyes or limbs and have gone on to live perfectly normal lives. And for what it's worth...I really like you, too."
With all that settled, she snuggled further into his side, purring contentedly.
Ratha nuzzled her in response. I did it. I told her. And the world didn't collapse.
Peril, meanwhile, was cuddling with Clay on one side while the rest of the dragonets, minus Tsunami, were sprawled out on his other side. Starflight had his nose in a book about electricity Adhesive had managed to find. With any luck, the NightWing dragonet would take that knowledge with him when the dragonets returned to Pyrrhia.
"Any news from your girlfriend?" the SkyWing asked.
"I'm sure she's close to a breakthrough," Adhesive answered.
So Much Later That the Old Author Got Tired of Waiting and They Had to Hire a New One
By now, even the optimistic and fun-loving Adhesive was bored.
There were scorch marks all over the room, even up on the ceiling. The trash cans were overflowing with paper plates and napkins and tissues and toilet paper rolls. The electronics were thankfully unscathed, but Adhesive had bigger things to worry about than Peril touching his PlayStations.
The Poipole was playing with a fidget spinner, trying desperately to keep himself entertained for just a little bit longer.
Peril was arguably the most bored. How could one entertain themselves if they couldn't touch anyone or anything? Sighing, she shifted her tail, which nudged a leg of a nearby coffee table. Her firescales quickly set the wood ablaze.
Having somehow anticipated this, Adhesive grabbed one of the few fire extinguishers he had left, and, without even looking, pointed the nozzle at the fire and snuffed the flames out with just one pull of the handle.
"That's it," Tsunami finally said, standing up. "We've been waiting for way too long. I say we burst out of this building and run for the tower while Peril decimates those freak-zombies."
"We can't," said Hiccup. "Our friends are among those zombies. We need to cure them, not destroy them."
"What if there is no cure?" Starflight asked worriedly. "What if we can't save them? What do we do then?"
Hiccup struggled to answer. "I, uh..."
"Guys," Snivels spoke up, "do you smell cheese?"
"Cheese?" Himinn echoed, her face scrunched up in confusion. "This whole quarantine thing must be messing with your head."
There was a rattling sound from the door. Everyone turned to look at the doorknob, which was twisting left and right. There was a thump from outside, and the door's lock jiggled.
Someone, or something, was trying to get it.
Don't worry, I'm still here! That last time skip was meant to be a jab about how long quarantine seems to last. There's absolutely no way I'd ever abandon my stories!
...Oh, what am I doing with my life?
(That was also supposed to be a joke. I think.)
Anyway, the hazmat suits are based on the Ultra Recon Squad's outfits. With a few touches, of course, because, why not?
I know it's been almost forever since I got anywhere with this multi-crossover, so if any of you would be so kind as to leave a review it would make all of this work that I've done worth it.