"I'm kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air.
So there.
I'm kind of older than I was when I reveled without a care.
So there."

"Team," by Lorde

Chapter 10 – Museum

"Now where the heck am I?"

After parting ways with her new alien friends, Wendy Corduroy spent what seemed like hours exploring the strange new world she currently found herself in. Lost deep in the mysterious underground labyrinth, her thin and tall body was still getting used to the amazing power suit that offered the miraculous powers that enabled her to survive in the harsh environment. For this, the trek left her exhausted and sore.

"This stinks!" The redhead bent over, putting her hands on her knees. "I've gone down every possible path, following those stupid bubble doors. I can't tell if I'm going around in circles because everything seems to look the exact same!"

As Wendy caught her breath, the soft ground suddenly gave way beneath her feet, making her exclaim out loud as she fell; her voice echoed from behind her green visor. She landed hard on her backside, only to spring upward in reflex. Strangely enough, Wendy looked up to see that the hole she had fallen through had already resealed itself.

She aimed her arm blaster at the ceiling and fired an energy blast, only to discover that it repelled off of the harden surface.

"What gives? I thought this could blow away anything?"

Wendy looked around the new corridor, finding it to be entirely closed off save for a single blue bubble door right in front of her. The girl shrugged her armored shoulders as she found herself left with no other choice.

*ZIP!*

The fifteen-year old stepped into the entrance, noticing that the edges of the gateway appeared as a sort of streaking rainbow that flew past her at the speed of light. "Trippy," Wendy tapped her metal finger against the glass background, "It looks like what happens when we use those portal-things…"

*ZIP!*

"Whoa!"

Gone was the somewhat-supernatural greenery that she had gotten mixed up in earlier. Instead, an infinite darkness spread out as far as she could see into the distance. The borders of the area were formed by what appeared to be thin neon blue walling, providing the only source of light. The shining boundaries spread out into different twists and turns, resembling a form of maze. The floor beneath Wendy's boots were the same deep black as the sky, prompting her to test its sturdiness with her heel a few times before feeling confident enough to continue onwards.

However, the new environment still eked at the back of her mind, "This all seems awfully familiar to me…is this supposed to be a new game or something?" She peered over her shoulder to see that the bubble door from hence she came had vanished, leaving behind another solid blue wall. "Looks like I don't have another option…"

As soon as Wendy stepped forward, an odd sound shot up from underfoot, making the uneasy teen hop back in fright:

*WAKKA!*

"What the - ?"

Troubled by what had happened, she carefully lowered a foot into the translucent ground, as another jingle crept upwards:

*WAKKA!*

The ginger bit her cheek, and placed foot after foot, going from heel to toe for several paces…

*WAKKA-WAKKA-WAKKA-WAKKA-WAKKA!*

She stopped as instantly, a smile overcame her freckled face. Of all of her instances in dealing with the digital universe, Wendy had finally stumbled upon a gaming world that she was most definitely familiar with.

"Heck," she commented, "What kid wouldn't know this…"

In that instant, the quiet area seemed to spring to life; a series of branching small dots rose up from the floor. Wendy reached out the glowing objects to discover that they were firmly embedded in place. As she passed over the highlighted spots, their lights gently dimmed away, almost like they were disappearing.

"That's right!" Wendy remembered, "You collect the dots to move on…" She placed a fist against her plated hip as she continued to reminiscence, "But then again, aren't there supposed to be monsters around here somewhe-"

Against the furthest turn, a flash of orange, red, blue, and pink ran past in a blur, making her emerald eyes light up in response. Wendy scanned the surrounding area, seeing that the wave of varying colors seemed to be everywhere at once as they rushed around every corner.

"They're – They're surrounding me!"

With her green cannon raised, ready to strike, Wendy spun around in circles, her nerves at a high as she could do nothing but wait for the mysterious beings to try to pin her in. A sense of premonition rose up in the back of her mind, making her turn around with weapon aimed downward.

An adorable orange ghost bobbled up and down in midair as it glanced up at Wendy with pleading eyes. She pulled her gun-arm back in surprise of the cute creature. The cashier girl bent down, and offered an open palm, "Why, hello there! Why ya running around, scaring the crap out of me for?"

Wendy went to gently pet the ghost, only to pull her hand back in pain. "YEOWCH!" Her covered glove was smoldering and smoking! "That really hurt! I felt that even under the armor; it's like I stuck my hand in battery acid!"

Shaken by her reaction, the ghost started to change before her eyes. It stretched itself outwards, revealing a widened mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. Gangly arms formed from its midsection. It wiggled its lengthy fingers in her direction.

"Okay; enough of this…" Wendy lowered her blaster, concentrated her energy, and let a shot out at the new menace. The stream went through the ghost's filmy body, only to crash into the ground behind it. The orange blur began to approach on her, forcing her to backpedal in the opposite direction.

"Easy, fella…" Wendy held up her hands, trying to calm the monster's nerves. Low growls from behind made her twirl around to see another ghost edging its way towards her. Blue in color, the already-transformed demon closed in as Wendy went to take the closest detour. As she set foot on the new path, a third shape rushed in to block her way. A red ghost stuck out its elastic-like tongue in Wendy's way, almost like it was a snake invading her course. With creepily long fingernails, the beast lounged at the girl, forcing her to dodge backwards at the last second.

Wendy gulped as she was pinned in between the three specters. "I can't blast 'em, and they're everywhere…" They pressed on tighter, "The only way out of this is to out-think them!"

She waited with severe anxiousness for one of the fiends to strike; it would be her only chance to escape. The orange ghost dove towards Wendy in an attempt to bite her…

"Oh, come on! Umm…ball form go! I guess…"

Once again, her limber body was scaled down to the size of a basketball due in part to her alien-issued armor. In her spherical form, Wendy sped beneath the ghastly ghoul, only to take off sprinting as soon as she was cleared of any danger. She let out a sigh of relief, "I still can't believe that worked…"

Another series of scowls made Wendy turn around. Only the orange ghost pursued her, as the other two spread out in different directions.

"They're trying to cut me off. I have to find a way out of this maze!"

Wendy ran further away from the spiritual threats, being sure to take any possible turn in order to best avoid the predators. She tried her best to maintain absolute silence, but her own footfalls betrayed her, as the *WAKKA-WAKKA-WAKKA* sound trailed every movement, alerting her enemies to her presence.

She rotated around as the highlighted flashes seemed to appear around every other curve. No matter which way she went, Wendy could feel a creeping form of claustrophobia clouding over her.

"It's no use running away like this. It's like they're everywhere!" She stopped for a moment, trying to remember how the actual game went. "How did that little yellow guy get out of this mess?" Her thoughts wandered as she stared at the small golden dots before her feet. All of a sudden, Wendy raised her head and snapped her fingers in rejoice, "That's it! The big dots! The ones in the corners of the maze! They'll help stop the ghosts!"

Unaware of her exact position in the maze, Wendy figured that it would be easiest to retrace her steps by heading towards back to the wall. The distant roars served as a constant reminder that her doom could be lurking around every blind side.

Upon reaching the wall, Wendy heard a group of shrill screams come from behind her. Her mouth dropped open as she saw an entire train of ghosts, pink, orange, blue, and red, rushing towards her. She turned tail and bolted down the corridor. Her emerald eyes lit up as she spotted a floating white sphere in the leftmost spot.

"There is it!"

Wendy seized the pellet and held it close to her chest. The orb quickly dissolved away in her hands. A bright glow started to overcome her as she felt multiple taps on her backside. She looked to see that the ghosts had bumped straight into her as it appeared they attempted to slide to a stop. However, their appearance had changed. All four had turned to a timid blue as a sickly expression spread across their faces. They started to slink away in reverse in a cowardly fashion.

"Wait a sec," Wendy realized, "I was able to feel when they crashed into me…" Her arm cannon started to buzz as a devilish grin started to form on her dimpled face.

"…that means they're solid now!"

*BLAM!*

The orange ghost exploded into a fiery blast, leaving behind a hovering pair of eyes. They went past the remaining three phantoms and into the further distance. Wendy readied another shot as she gave chase behind her tormentors.

"What's wrong, guys?" she exclaimed mockingly, missing her next shot as a ghost narrowly rounded around a turn at the last second. "It's not too fun anymore, is it?"

As Wendy followed suit, the ghouls started to flash on and off repeatedly. "Uh oh! I remember this part!"

Within seconds, they returned back their original, acerbic forms. They stopped in their tracks and went back around to hunt the red and orange armored redhead. She jumped behind a crook and threw her weight against it. The ghosts rushed past, left totally unaware of her presence.

"Phew! That was close!" Wendy turned her head the other way, "I need to find another one of those things if I'm going to stand a chance!"

Wendy darted towards the next corner – the upper-left end – and spotted the second blazing ball. Just before she reached her goal, the pink ghost glided out from the other side and screamed aloud. It reached out for the ginger with its protracted limbs. Out of impulse, Wendy spin-jumped over the spirit; oddly enough, her body sparked and flickered until she landed safely on her feet.

"What was that about?" Wendy asked as snatched the next pellet. Again, she was bathed in a glorious light as the ghost behind her turned a firm white and blue.

"Gotcha!"

*BLAM!*

Seconds later, all that remained were a pair of red eyes that fled into the darkness. Out of the corner of her eye, Wendy saw the last two ghosts shuffling towards the back end. With green cannon at the ready, she went after the threats in haste, only to find them flaring again.

"But…" Wendy swung around to the nearest walkway as they returned to normal. "…I could have sworn that it lasted longer last time…" She raised her head to see something radiating over the next horizon. "Guess there's only one thing to do now…"

Inching her way against the wall, Wendy stuck her neck out and checked both sides of the intersection before stepping into the path. "It looks clear enough…" She peeked further to see another glowing pellet on her right. Heading towards it, Wendy was cut off by the red ghost as it grit its pointy teeth at her.

"No prob! I can just jump over this guy, too, and I'll be –"

To her amazement, the enemy leapt in the air, snapping its jaws with each bound. "Wow…I guess they can learn new tricks!" Wendy's green eyes followed its every moment, trying to study a possible pattern. "Just gotta wait for it…"

She waited for the ghost to take to the air once more. While it was in mid-jump, Wendy ducked and tore past it, taking hold of the third power pellet. Without looking, she pointed her blaster behind her and fired at her stunned nemesis, reducing it to nothing but its naked eyes.

The eyeballs disappeared down the hall as Wendy noticed that the miraculous shine vanished from her armor for a third time. "That was even shorter…" The eerie silence sent shivers down her spine. "So, one more ghost, one more dot to go…" She continued down the path, the only instance of noise was the hushed *WAKKA-WAKKA-WAKKA* as she tip-toed across the aisle.

After a few of turns around the bend, Wendy located the last power-up in the bottom-right corner of the area. Steadily, she made her way towards the final sphere, making sure to check out every possible passageway in preparation of the remaining ghost.

With no sight of the threat, Wendy patted down the foyer and reached her goal. Just before her fingertips touched the pellet, a surge of pain spread across her back, making her shriek in agony. The blue ghost had hopped onto her rear-side, wrapped its grossly-long arms around her, and sunk its teeth into her right shoulder blade.

Wendy sunk to her knees as she struggled to get the ghost off her back. No matter how much she squirmed, the deadly predator would not budge a single inch. With her left arm free, she reached up towards the power pellet as the demon tightened its grip. The teen closed her eyes and strained, trying to make contact with the one thing that would even the odds in her favor.

"Just…a…little…more…"

A split second later, all of the pressure felt as it had been removed. Wendy twisted her head to see that the spineless apparition had flown from her radiating body towards the nearest exit.

"Oh, no you don't!"

*BLAM!*

A well-placed missile robbed the ghost of its body. As its eyes wobbled up and down, Wendy hurried back to a standing position as they scuttled down the closest corridor. Annoyed by the whole situation, she tailed the speeding peepers moving closer towards the center of the maze.

"Come back here!" Wendy huffed in exhaustion. "I'm not finished with you just yet!"

Wendy stopped as she watched the eyeballs disappear into a small space in the middle of the region. She hesitated for a moment, unable to see into the short gap in front of her face. As she went to take a step inside, her foot went through the floor. Losing her balance, Wendy went to grab onto the neon blue wall for support only to have her fingers slip off as she fell forward.

"AHH!"

The young woman was surrounded by a variety of flourishing colors, reminding her of the strange entryway to the maze. "Am I warping again?!"

*KLUNK!*

Wendy landed hard on the ground. With a wary groan, she lifted her helmet-donning head to see that she was in what appeared to be a new world. The clean-cut appearance and brightness of the maze had been replaced by a gritty overworld filled with cracked, filthy concrete and aging green pipes hanging overhead. The road in front of her seemed to be made up of what appeared to be a sort of blue bendable floor, similar in nature to that of a swaying bridge.

"It's…like some old sewer…I think."

She went onwards; the sensation of having the flooring sink slightly beneath her feet left Wendy unnerved. The auburn-haired girl approached a gap leading down to the next level. She took a deep breath and jumped down to the new area. Upon landing, Wendy could sense brushing around her ankles. Pointing her blaster downwards, she stepped back in shock upon discovering what lied beneath her.

"No way…"

A snapping turtle crawled slowly across the ground. The unique detailing of the creature reminded Wendy of the ones that held her hostage in the gigantic skyward castle during her first encounter with the digital universe.

"But this can't be right…" She tipped the defenseless reptile over onto its back with the toe of her boot. "Those other guys were way bigger than – OWW!"

Wendy yelped as something sharp pinched her left Achilles' heel. She turned around to see that some sort of mutant crab had seized her foot with its mighty pincher. Similar in nature of that of the turtle, the crustacean looked almost cartoon-like as it released her and waddled away on its tiny legs.

"That hurt, you little - !"

*BLAM!*

Her energy shot struck the crab, making it bounce in the air. It landed straight-up, and went back to attacking her. Wendy noticed that its demeanor had changed; the red crab was now a bright bluish-purple with narrowed eyes and slanted brow. It moved faster towards her with both claws snapping repeatedly.

"Maybe…" Wendy confessed as she started to back off from the pest, "Just maybe, the whole "shoot first and ask questions later" thing isn't the best way to go about these things…" In her hurry, she accidentally knocked the flipped-over turtle from the platform and into the ground. Just before it landed, the body melted away in a series of pixels.

"So that's the deal…" The teenage warrior looked back at the upcoming creature, "It's not enough to hit them as hard as I can; I have to make them fall off!"

She turned around to see that there was another gap leading to a lower floor. With a game plan in mind, Wendy skipped down, and carefully watched the ceiling as it vaguely dipped with the little weight on top.

"C'mon, fella," the ginger aimed with her blaster, knowing she needed a near-perfect shot for her idea to work, "Just a few steps closer…"

As soon as Wendy saw part of the crab hanging off of the ledge, as it searched for its quarry, she launched a ray at the ceiling. The vibration knocked the creature off of the ridge, sending it crashing towards the earth.

"Here's my chance!"

Wendy took to the air and delivered a kick to the stunned critter, launching it into the distance. It hit the brick wall, splattering into a mess of multi-colored blocks.

"Heh, that was actually kinda fun!"

Her victory was short-lived as a massive buzzing sound quickly filled the air. Wendy whirled around at the ready, knowing that the next threat could be looming around the next corner.

Her green eyes opened completely in disbelief as she spotted the source of the noise. A literal cloud of skipping red and pink horseflies had flown down into the platform she was standing on. Moving as one functioning unit, the horde soared after her. Dozens of demonic smiles flashed themselves as they landed inches away from Wendy.

"Nuts to this! I'm outta here!"

Wendy took off towards the next platform, soaring over the short gap in between. In mid-air, Wendy spotted an oddity waiting for her on the opposite side. In the middle of the floor, a pointed block of ice with a smudged frown for a face moved back and forth of its own accord.

"How the – "

The ice creature stopped at the center of the platform and started to flash. Instantly, it liquefied away, spreading itself over the entire walkway. It froze straight across the ground, leaving a perfectly laid layer of solid ice.

"Aw, nuts…"

As soon as Wendy landed, her feet slipped out from behind her. Her iron body slid uncontrollably across the floor until it came to a complete stop. She lowered her head down in defeat, "Ugh…well, that sucked…"

*BBBBBBBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!*

She opened her eyes to see that the swarm of bugs had descended upon her. Wendy tried her best to cover herself, but even through the armor, she could feel all of the thousands of tiny feet prickling at her metallic flesh.

"Get off! Get off! Get off!" she yelled as she flipped over, trying her best to regain her balance. Wendy rolled backwards, only to fall hurtling to the ground.

*CRUNCH!*

Unlike the other floors, this bottom layer was entirely made of rock-solid concrete. Wendy let out a huge groan as she struggled to get back up. The nasty flock followed her the entire way, forcing her to rock from side to side in an effort to break away from the bugs. She looked around to see that several more of the turtles and crabs crowded around her fallen body.

"I'm surrounded!" Wendy trashed around to no prevail. The flies started to cover her visor, blocking her vision completely. In the reserve, Wendy could make out something hanging against the wall. Hovering between the upper gaps, a navy block shone in illuminated white text "POW!"

With the limited sight given, the redhead fought against the intense pressure on her body to raise her arm-gun to the sky. She charged a blast and released it as total darkness clouded her; Wendy prayed that she hit her target.

*KA-POW!*

The whole earth seemed to quake. Wendy seethed as the stir reached all of the way to the center of her brain, leaving her in anguish for a few instances. However, she noticed that the insects plaguing her were starting to recede.

"Whatever that thing is, it's working!" She took aim once more, "Trust me, guys! This hurts me just as much as it does you!"

*BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!*

*KA-POW! KA-POW! KA-POW!*

The horrid vibrations made Wendy shut her eyes and clench her teeth tightly. Her eardrums felt as if they were going to pop at any second. When the tremors stopped, she reopened her eyes, finding that the world had fallen deathly still. Yet again, Wendy was all alone.

With her armored body freed from any restrictions, Wendy sat up and seen piles of pixelated dust falling carelessly to the earth. She looked back to where the POW block hung in the sky, seeing that it had vanished along with the mischievous critters. In its stead, a new message flashed repeatedly:

"PHASE COMPLETE!"

Wendy repeated the phrase to herself, "What does that mean?"

A flash made her hold a hand above her eyes. The brightness hurt Wendy's emerald eyes in spite of the visor's protection. As she became used to the glare, she stepped forward to see that one of the rickety green pipes at the end of the chamber was the source of the shine. Its opening shimmered in the same way the inter-dimensional portal had.

"Is that the way out?" she wondered, pausing for a moment in worry of what her next destination would be. She looked around, remembering that there wasn't another exit openly available.

Wendy sighed, "Guess I really don't have a choice…"

The brave girl stepped into the new gateway and felt her essence rush forth at the speed of light. As her sight returned, Wendy found herself falling through the air.

"Oh! Not again!" she shrieked, flailing her arms wildly through the air.

At the last second, Wendy shifted her weight, landing roughly on one knee. "Phew! At least I didn't end up sprawled out over the ground!" After letting the sting pass, she stood up and searched around the new surroundings. She had landed in the middle of what appeared to be an abandoned mine. Numerous caves could be seen in the background, leading to only heaven knew where. Wendy took note of the detailing of the grotto's walls and stalagmites, observing that the set looked more realistic than any of the other worlds than she encountered. A single mine cart track ran through the complex, providing some guidance on which way to go next. Wendy followed along, rounding around the crook, only to have her breath literally taken away by the sight before her.

*GASP!*

The high-schooler found herself surrounded by what appeared to be dinosaurs – actual real-sized dinosaurs! The initial shock wore off when she realized that the vicious thunder lizards were frozen in place. Every one of the ancient creatures was sealed away in some sort of solid golden goop. She ran a quick finger through the slime, bringing some to her face for a better look.

"It looks familiar," she recalled. "It reminds me of the thick sap in the trees out in the forest…"

She walked past the Jurassic wonders in suspended animation, marveling at being able to see the lost wonders of the world first-hand. Going by a trapped stegosaurus and brachiosaurus, Wendy felt a weird sense of guilt, considering that she could easily remember seeing their matching skeletons on display at the local museum as a little kid.

As Wendy went further into the displays of motionless death, she noticed that the goo appeared to be melting. An unnerving thought entered her mind: "what if those things are still alive under all of that stuff?"

Her question was soon answered as she came near an ensnared velociraptor. Her brow raised as the dinosaur's jagged claw wiggled freely from outside the amber. Wendy hurried from the scene, unsure if her power suit would be able to withstand the brutality of a merciless dinosaur attack.

Another peculiar sight quickly caught Wendy's attention. She spotted a group of misshaped footprints in the soft dirt before her. After studying the scene for a moment, she realized that it wasn't a single pair of impressions rather than belonging to a whole group of people.

"That's so strange," Wendy thought to herself, "How would anyone else be able to get down here? More so, who in their right minds see all of this, and not say a single world to anybo –"

Wendy stopped in mid-sentence as the answer flashed before her eyes. She already knew the answer: "Wait…it was the guys! They were here!" The clerk evoked previously hearing the excited chatter of her two twin friends only a day or so before, making out small mentions of deadly dinosaurs and missing pigs.

She stood back up, "So, wait; this isn't a game world. I'm back in reality! Why didn't I remember this before?" The imagery in the redhead's mind changed to the next scene as in his excitement, Dipper looked back towards her, ready to tell her all about his adventures, only to be greeted with an angry glare and crossed arms. Seeing his crush's expression, the boy simply lowered his head, let out a disappointed huff, and pushed open the swinging door, vanishing into the living room of the Mystery Shack.

The realization bought Wendy further into the dumps. "That's right…I was too busy being mad at him to listen…" Lost in her own thoughts and regrets, she blindly walked into what appeared to be a hardened gray wall. She stumbled back, only to be shocked as two beady white eyes stared down at her. A pair of gargantuan wings opened and spread across in a magnificent fashion. A narrow, pointy head filled with knife-like pointed teeth threw itself backwards as it released a horrifying roar that made small pebbles fall from the ceiling.

Wendy found herself face-to-face with a living, breathing pterodactyl. The beast stood on its hind legs, and peered downward at the minuscule lumberjack princess.

"And my guess is that you're not the friendly type." Wendy raised her green arm cannon in self-defense, unaware if it would even be able to pierce though the dinosaur's thick hide. "How could things get any worse?"

From out of nowhere, a wave of rainbow-colored pixels soared into the scene. In the confusion, the windfall started to circle around the animal, making it bellow aloud as its shape started to change into a puff of lavender smoke before Wendy's eyes.

"What's happening? What's that stuff doing to it?"

As the fog cleared, a clawed foot shot out of the haze. A pair of sickly, yellow eyes stood out from the mist. The oval black pupils trailed Wendy's every movement. The pale, gray flesh was replaced with a scaly purple overcoat. Its tiny arms stretched along, revealing a three-fingered hand on each with lethal talons. The stubby tail on its backside had been transformed into one of a whip-like stature, complete with a sharp V-shaped tip at the end.

The now-purple pterodactyl advanced on the stunned youngster; its every moment shook the earth further. Wendy couldn't look away from the behemoth nor did she dare to even as much as blink. Deep within her soul, something felt different with this new enemy. Despite never seeing the monster before, there was a lingering sense of familiarity that she just couldn't shake.

The behemoth pulled its head back again and let out a tremendous howl, causing more of the cavern's roof to fall in. Wendy shook away her paralysis, dodging the incoming stalactites and boulders as they fell towards her position.

"I gotta stop this thing now, before it brings the house down on me!"

Wendy fired a few charged blasts into the creature's chest, only to have it shrug the attack like it was nothing.

"What?! It didn't even make a dent in it!"

The purple villain opened its mouth and to Wendy's surprise, returned fire. Fireballs came rushing out of the elongated beak, prompting her to jump away at the last second. "Phew, that was too close!" Wendy tried to wipe the sweat from her brow, only to laugh sheepishly at the fact that she couldn't with her helmet on.

Instead, the flaming projectiles struck the solid towers of sap behind her, causing them to dissolve even further. Wendy changed her focus to the velociraptor breaking through its prehistoric prison.

"Oh, come on!" she complained, being faced with yet another danger. The relic stepped through the ooze, testing its once-confined limbs. It slowly lowered its jaw, as it set its sights on the armored ginger in front of it. Wendy readied another energy beam, "I hope this stuff works on real things, too!"

Before Wendy could take her shot, something else rose up from the gap. At first, it started as mere floating particles, until another rush of the mysterious pixel wave appeared and came into contact with them. The samples multiplied and grew into individual round shapes. Each became a lime-green dome structure with see-through insides, made of three berry-shaped centers. At the bottom, every creature had two set of mandibles, the center ones being half the size of those in the back ends.

To her, the new beings reminded Wendy of oversized, gliding jellyfish.

Unsure what to think, she watched as the organisms quickly surrounded the velociraptor, revolving and rotating around its thinning body, making it swipe and snarl at them. All at once, they pounced on the defenseless carnivore, making it cry out in distress. No matter how hard it fought, it simply couldn't escape the grip of the dozens of teeth held on tightly to its flesh.

"Wow…glad that's not me…" Wendy could only watch, afraid of interfering with the sequence at hand, in worry that the small, vicious jellyfish would target her next.

*CRASH!*

"What –"

She turned around to see that the purple pterodactyl had launched itself through the roof of the cavern, leaving behind a large hole in the ceiling. The room began to cave in, pouring large amounts of dirt, gravel, rock, and sticky gap into the scene. Wendy hopped back, worried that she would become entrapped in the same goop that held the dinosaurs for millions of years. As a brown dust wave clouded her vision, she held up her arms to protect herself. Luckily, her visor prevented the potentially poisonous fumes from entering her lungs.

When the powder settled, Wendy waved away the access, only to discover that a thick layer of amber had dripped down from the ceiling, sealing off any further passage into the tunnel before her. The teen gulped as she slowly spun around, "That means…I'm stuck in here with those things…"

The room had become deathly silent. The velociraptor no longer yowled in pain. Wendy took a few steps forward, only to find that the beast had turned a lifeless brownish grey, stopping any form of movement. She poked a finger at the sight, only to let out a hushed shriek as the dinosaur turned to dust in her hands, swiftly collapsing into the ground.

Alerted by her noise, the ferocious alien jellyfish returned to the scene, spinning around the overanxious girl. Wendy tried to keep up with their flow, never once letting them go out of sight in fear of what would happen next.

She used her free hand to better aim her arm cannon, knowing that fate might not allow her a second chance.

*BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!*

A series of missiles sailed through the air, landing directly on the flying invertebrates. However, the powerful weapon had no effect on them!"

"I can't believe it!"

Before she had a chance to retreat,, the life-forms clouded over Wendy, angered by her attempt at self-defense. While the space armor kept her nimble body safe for mortal wounds, Wendy could feel their teeth clamping down tightly on the suit. A red warning light popped up on her visor screen:

"DANGER – MASSIVE ENERGY LOST DETECTED! EXPLOSION UPON REACHING 0%!"

Wendy twisted and turned, trying to her best to thrash her way free. However, the creatures hung on with every single movement. She morphed back into her mobile-ball shape, thinking that a small size might make it harder to stay latched on to. Nevertheless, the jellyfish horde maintained their grip, bringing Wendy's pace to that of a crawl. She could feel herself growing weaker; the power suit felt heavier with every passing second. The air became thinner from within, making Wendy gag in a series of coughing jags.

Miraculously, a new message flashed across her LED screen:

"BOMB SYSTEM RECOMMENDED. WOULD YOU LIKE TO ENABLE NOW?"

"Yes!" she screamed from within the armor. "If it'll help get these things off, then do it!"

From outside her rotating form, a small latch opened, dropping tiny red and white tablets all over the ground. They started to flicker repeatedly until releasing a number of controlled explosions.

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

The force of the impact plied the aliens from her metal body, sending them back into the atmosphere with a sense of regrouping.

Wendy came out of her ball form, and backed away from the threat. While she had saved herself from their attack, she was no closer to finding a way to defeat them.

"I tried blasting them! I tried blowing them up! Nothing seems to do the trick! I wish…I wish I just could make them freeze so I can think of something else!"

As if it could read her thoughts, Wendy's green blaster released a new type of beam. The icy-blue wave flew through the air and hit the wicked horde. The jellyfish fell to the earth, each frozen solid within a block of ice.

Dumbfounded, Wendy rose to her feet, shifting her sights between her arm cannon and the unmoving enemies. It seemed like with every new threat, her armor came up with an innovative way to aid in her escape from the underground. Heading towards the blocks of ice, Wendy forced the missile launcher on, and pointed down at the immobilized foes.

"I really hope this works…"

*BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!*

A few moments later, the violent monsters were blown apart into a million small ice cubes!

She lowered her arm-gun in victory, an exhausted smile formed on her moisten face beneath the helmet, "So, "freeze, and then blast!" That's the ticket…"

With all immediate threats taken care of, Wendy looked back towards the site of the sticky cave-in. She circled between her three various types of ammo, hoping that one would allow her to break through the already-hardened sap. Unfortunately, all failed to help her through the golden mess.

"Hmm…" Wendy grumbled, "Guess I gotta double-back and try to find another way…" Walking back towards the entrance of the mine, the fifteen-year-old started to hear a form of rustling sound. She followed the noise back to the open sap-cell where the dinosaurs and jellyfish once laid. Narrowing her eyes, Wendy could make out a small, green object waddling back and forth from within the substance.

She pulled it out from the gunk, setting it on the rocky floor. Oozy and covered in what seemed to be veins, the oval shape reminded Wendy of some form of egg. Her curiosity getting the best of her, Wendy took a knee and watched the shape vibrate.

"I wonder what's inside…"

The parts of the circle spread, revealing a constricted opening. A moment later, a baby floating jellyfish monster came rushing out, squealing and screeching excitedly. Wendy immediately raised her new ice beam to it, "Not another one of those things!" Unlike the other aliens, the tiny specimen happily glided and looped around, uttering the same type of "cooing" sound that a newborn infant would.

Perhaps the strangest thing about the creature was that it had a different color palette than that of the adult versions. In lieu of the green and red coloring, this smaller version was navy blue and orange on the outside shell with a light brown inside.

Wendy could only watch the extraterrestrial play joyfully as she realized why it stood out to her: "Those are his colors…"

The baby came closer to Wendy, prompting her to take aim once again. It circled around her long cannon, across her tiled chest and between her legs, almost like it wanted her to play with it. Going against her better judgment, the redhead lowered her blaster.

"I…" she concluded. "I don't think it's like the other ones…" A disturbing thought crossed her mind, as the young lumberjack was reminded of her past experiences finding newborn animals out in the Gravity Falls Woods.

"What if it imprinted on me?"

She nodded as it drifted aimlessly by her left shoulder blade, "All right, fella. I think you're good to go. But if you try any funny business, I won't think twice about blowing you to smithereens! Got it?"

It looped around her upper body, bustling all the way as if to agree with her terms.

"Good…" Wendy turned back towards the blockage, "If only we could get rid of that stuff, then we'd be on own way…"

The jellyfish squirmed in mid-air, wiggling its several teeth as it raced over to the sap barrier. It set itself down on the slime, digging both mandibles into the clutter.

"What's it doing?"

Little by little, the pile of sap began to shrink.

"It's…devouring that stuff!" Wendy folded her arms as she waited for her new friend to finish its first meal. "Just my luck, I find the one vegetarian of the whole species!"

Over the course of two minutes, she watched in awe as the creature consumed what appeared to be hundreds of pounds of primordial amber. Upon finishing, it came back towards Wendy, hovering before her in an effort to gain her approval.

She stepped forward and affectionately rubbed its translucent head, "Good boy! G-ooooo-d boy! At least I don't have to worry about you biting me from behind now!" With the jellyfish in hand, Wendy stepped over the last of the mound, setting her sights on the new-found passageway out of the mine.

"I think…I'll keep you around for a while…"