Well, I'm back! Hello! Hello! Hello! I know not many of you are reading this, but hello all the same! I'm back and UNgrounded! Well, I'm kickin it to overdrive!


(Ruby's POV)

"Nothing?" I ask, bewildered.

"I can't find any of the ship parts!" Oli said again. Smiles stopped cooking that giant mushroom, while the white pikmin kept impatiently tapping his hand with the garlic powder that he just asked for.

"What do you mean?" He asks, glancing over his shoulder.

"I mean there is absolutely-" He is cut off as a huge laser blast cuts through the air... and a little of the right hull. We quickly pulled our spacesuits on. We gather the creatures together, and Oli maneuvers us towards the location that the blast came from. Off the map. We appeared to have passed through some sort of barrier, because everything became dark and twisted. Oh, and some strange robots started shooting at us.

"Gah!" Smies yelled, before heading to the breach in the hull. I didn't really see what happened, but there was a sound of metal against metal, and sparks. And after glancing out a window, one of the robots didn't have any arms. I saw a glint of silver falling towards the twisted

"Smiles?" I ask nervously. But Smiles eyes had become glazed over a lavender, and he was tying wires together, so that the arms connected. He pulled some of the metal apart, and started welding.

"Is that a blowtorch I hear?" Oli asked from the cockpit. "Where on earth would you keep a blowtorch?" Smiles didn't answer. He was cackling quietly to himself, and his eyes shifted slightly, giving him a rather deranged look. Finally, he got up, brandishing the arms and turned to the breech. He pulled a pole and welded it to the floor, and stared intently at the robots.

"Die bastards." He cackled, before opening fire. Now I know what it looked like. An M-60, except with two barrels. He pulled the triggers hard. And a large bout of laser cut through the air, as well as many robots. I gulped loudly. The scary robots were nothing compared to Smiles, whose hair seemed just a little spikier, his eyes glazed over purple, and that creepy smile on his lips. It gave me the creeps.

"Smiles." I say quietly. He was now firing at nothing in paticular. The entire army of robots were either fireballs or dust in the wind.

"Wahahahaha! Wahahahahahahaha!" He cackled maniacly. I put my hand on his shoulder. He turned to me, still shooting, I duck, and Oli had to jump out of the way as one of the lasers went through Cli-Cli's side, leaving a hole the size of a baseball. Smiles' creepy smile faltered, and his eyes cleared. His hair fell back down so that it looked like palm fronds again. He moaned loudly.

"What'd you do that for?" Oli yelled from behind that giant battery ship part.

"I-I-I didn't think that'd happen." He muttered, his eyes shaking slightly, tears coming to his eyes. "I thought... I thought..." His eyes widened, and he felt around in his pockets. "My knife. What happened to it?" He asked. He looked around, almost obsessively.

"Smiles." I put my hands on his shoulders. He stops and glances at me. I could see the purple threatening to creep to the edges of his eyes. "You don't need a knife."

"That knife is the only thing keeping me sane." He croaked. His eyes vibrated slightly, as if he was trying to keep the mist from going any farther. "I-I-I need it."

"No. You don't." I tell him.

"I-I-I... Can't... Fight... Anymore..." His eyes completely glazed over purple, and a big smile creeped across his face. I did the thing that came to my mind. I pulled him into an embrace. He stiffened. One of his bunch of hairs was poking my head, and by george, it hurt! But I pulled him in even closer.

"Yes you can." I pulled away, his hair was drooping slightly, once again. His eyes fell to the floor, and his knees gave out.

"I was going to... I can't beleive..." Tears streamed across his face. "I'm sorry. I..." He stopped, crying loudly, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Is he stable?" Olimar called.

"Yeah, he's good." I reply, sitting on my knees, rubbing the back of his head. He sobbed louder into my shoulder. "It's okay."


(Akuma's POV)

What? I slam my hand on the table, causing the rest of the bosses to leap up in surprise.

"I sent three hundred Norm Bots there, and they died in a minute? And what did you do to that ship? A breach? That would be fixed in a second. Uggh."

"Sssend meeee out th-th-there." Deus ex Machina hissed.

"I cccaaaaan take them." Jake hissed. I glare at the two of them.

"Fine. You better not let me down." I snarl.

"Yesssssssir!" Jake yelled obediently, flexing his just healed injuries, and slithering out the door.

"You can't tell meeeee what to dooooo, vaaaaampire." Deus crackled, but ran out of the cave.

*He is quite the nice guy.* The third titan chuckled.

"He's just upset that he lost last time."

*And is he going to lose this time?* There is a long pause.

"He's going to die this time." I replied.


(Olimar's POV)

Smiles was still fidgeting in his seat. I finished bandaging Cli-Cli, who gave me a pat on the head with his antenna.

"Is he going to be okay?" Ruby whispered quietly.

"Cli-Cli will make a full recovery, though his exoskeleton won't grow back right." I reply.

"You know that isn't what I meant."

"I know. It seems that Smiles has used that knife like a crutch."

"Huh?" She asks.

"*sigh* Like a security blanket. He's convinced himself that he needs the knife so to keep a level head."

"Oh." I heard the sound of squeaking, and I whip around, a karate stance at ready in case Smiles was going off the deep end again. I sigh loudly. There was just a peice of paper coming down from the ceiling, and Smiles had just stood up to grab it.

"Dear Smiles,

I hope your all right. I hope nothing bad happened. We just saw the outside of the ship. Are you okay?

Yours truly,

Addyson Sweetwater.

P.S. Nice job with the robots!" He smiled, a genuine smile. "Miss you. Thanks, I don't think they'll be getting back up after that." He paused, the scratching stopped.

"I... lost control again." He wrote down. "Ruby and Olimar set me straight, though. But..." He pauses once more. "I've lost my knife."


(Phineas' POV)

Ferb came out from the house, looking slightly sleepy, with a can of coke in his hands. That was when the screen started to scroll. He takes one look up, and he's let out the most emotion that I have ever seen. His pupils shrank to specks before you could say, 'Where's Perry?' The bottle in his hand fel to the ground, shattering very loudly.

"Ferb!" I yell. He doesn't appear to have heard me. He just kept staring.


(Smiles' POV)

It's all over. Whatever friendship with these people that I could have had is gone. I've lost my knife. And I am slowly losing my mind. Reminds me of my days at Smiles Away Reformatory School.


(Backstory)

"Don't worry! We'll write real often!" Ferb called at the retreating figure of the bus. After five hours of travel, the bus arrives at a large... for lack of a better word, a prison.

"That doesn't look anything like the brochure." I mutter to myself. I was just waiting for the sky to thunder, lighting up... everything. But no. The sky remained a dismal grey, imposing a false threat of rain. The bus rolls through the thick front gates. Who did they think was going to try to break in?... Or maybe... escape? No, no, that's crazy talk!... right?


I'm leaving it at that. Next chapter we'll return to the story!