Chapter 22, Flight Through the NEON-MOONS Part 1
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NEON-MOONS, ENTRY DISTRICT
{Fly me to the moons...}
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The group of seven traveled through the brightly lit streets of NEON-MOONS, they marveled in awe and fascination at the brightly lit skyscrapers that reached beyond the clouds and the incredible flying cars that zoomed through the sky. At first the transition from the cartoony looking desert plains of BARBECUE VALLEY to this vast brightly colored neon lit cyber world only once believed to be exclusively science fiction seemed overwhelming but they soon adjusted and pressed onward.
"This is so crazy...I've never seen anything like this before in my life..." BASIL murmured in amazement and watched as a series of flying cars passed overhead. "...Not even OTHERWORLD was this advanced..."
Aubrey stopped to stare at a holographic billboard advertising a new video game releasing later in the year. "I think, I had a lucid dream like this once, except I was running from someone or something that wanted me in some sort of video game company..." Aubrey added, squinting thorough bright lights to get a better look at the foundations below them, it made her head spin a little from how high up they were. "Holy shit..."
It took her took a moment to realize her censorship from BARBECUE VALLEY was finally gone and smiled to herself. "Hey, I can swear again, fuck yeah." she silently celebrated her small victory with a fist pump and rejoined the rest of group where Kel had stopped in front of them, pointing excitedly to an ad showing off a sale for sports gear.
"Please can we go see the sports center? I want to see what basketball looks like in the future!" he begged,
Sitting behind a glass window on a rotating pedestal was a glowing sports ball with prismatic lights coming out it from different angles as it spun. A truly spectacular sight to behold, the displayed price? not so much...
Everyone winced when the saw the outrageous prices on the items in the store and decided to tell the bad news to him. "I hate to be the one to break it to you, but none of this is real remember? I don't think you can take anything back with you once we leave the dreamscape." Basil shrugged, gently attempting to let him down gently.
Kel's enthusiasm dampened immediately and he slumped his shoulders in disappointment. "Aw man, I wanted a funky space basketball..." he grumbled and kicked a can over the railing.
The further they moved through the city the more flashy and futuristic it seemed to become, more denizens of the city began showing up from normal looking people to otherworldly looking characters such as robotic bird people doing construction on a building to a pair of skeletons pushing a hovering hot dog cart across a bridge made of pure light. in comparison, the Faraway friends and Dream friends both seemed very out of place with their dated clothing and looks from the early 20th century.
"So pretty...I'd like to live in a place like this." AUBREY said in awe as a herd of CYBER BUNNIES hopped by on their way to work.
HERO just squinted his eyes shut as a giant spider crawled on by carrying her children with her. "Too bright for me honestly, I just find it bizarre that all this is in Sunny's head in the first place, everything in here wasn't originally part of our HEADSPACE, just like COWPOKE and those other cartoon guys."
Kel took a moment to squint closely at a large screen displaying an armored figure in a cape. "Actually, wait a minute...I just remembered something, that guy up there, that's Altima...you know? that comic book series that ended ten years ago?" he asked.
"Actually, this whole section of the city looks just like it did in issue 25." Basil simply replied with a nonchalant shrug, completely unaware of the athletic boy twisting his head to stare at the flower boy in surprise.
"Basil...you read Altima?! dude! that's a classic older than Spaceboy! why didn't you ever tell me?" Kel turned to everyone else. "why doesn't anyone tell me anything?!"
Basil smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Heh yeah I did long time ago, I was a fan back before I met you guys and...I didn't have many friends to share with except for Polly. I remember I had the first issue with the holographic trading card inside, my dad gave it to me as a gift when I was younger and when they still sent me souvenirs they found in their travels..."
"But I didn't really know how to read it back then so I mostly just stared at the pictures inside, that comic book was what got me into photography in the first place actually. Guess you never imagined someone like me being into something like that huh?" Basil smiled.
Kel beamed excitedly and wrapped an arm around Basil's shoulder making the smaller boy jump. "I had no idea you were this cool man, you gotta show us your copy when we save Sunny!" Kel chuckled.
"Hey who's Ra-man?" KEL stopped ahead of the group and pointed at a neon lit sign up ahead. Basil peered over at the words underneath the obscenely bright light and made out the words, RA-MAN'S RAMEN SHOPPE underneath.
Basil nodded in understanding. "I think this place must be a restaurant that sells ramen, you know? noodles, c'mon lets stop and eat for a second." he said and found a table outside for everyone to sit around. A holographic menu suddenly popped out of the table and displayed a number of food items to choose from. The dream friends looked over their menu and muttered amongst themselves.
"So INSTANT RAMEN doesn't come from toilets?" AUBREY muttered to herself.
"What? you're telling me that you guys just take ramen out of some random dirty toilets you find?! that's freaking disgusting, even worst than what I've seen KEL do!" Aubrey winced at the thought of the time when she was she going to the beach with her friends and she found soggy noodles in a toilet bowl in the gas station bathroom they had stopped at. Since then she vowed to herself to never use those bathrooms ever again after that. HERO took out a cup of INSTANT RAMEN from his pocket and frowned at it. "It was very useful when we needed to heal during battles but now that I think about it I'm not so sure about carrying these around anymore...eugh." he made a face and tossed the cup into a nearby garbage disposal.
"Jeez Sunny...you and your weird imagination..." Aubrey shook her head and picked out her order from the menu.
...
Meanwhile high above the city a massive flying aircraft carrier orbited around one of the brightly colored planets that gave NEON-MOONS it's name. On the main deck, a dark blue and purple colored woman with octopus tentacles for arms paced around musing over a data pad. Her research was interrupted by the entrance of a tall armored man in a cape entering the room to bow before her.
"The invaders ye has spoken of have entered through the front gate, they appear to currently be heading towards the park district, I'm sending a few of my knights to apprehend them, lest thou hast an alternate method of dealing with them, wise one?"
"I already do, call off your men, they will not be needed for this..."
MOLLY pressed a few button on her pad. A few portholes on the hull opened up revealing several ROBOHEART clones inside, each one vastly upgraded and sporting a purple and blue paint job and glowing red visors serving as a single 'eye' for them to see. The ROBOHEART DRONES stood at attention awaiting further orders. The man took a few steps forward to peer out at the robots outside.
"You claim your...'automaton women' can keep my city and it's people safe from these invaders...these, mere children?" The man inquired as he eyed the drones with suspicion. MOLLY took a seat in the captain's seat and pressed a few buttons on the chair.
"They aren't ordinary children, ALTIMA darling, if they've come this far and gotten past my hotheaded sister then they're obviously a threat to you, your city and me." she points at a security feed showing a group of seven escaping from a mine and another of the same group facing off against COWPOKE in a showdown. MOLLY turns off the feed and gestures to the outside window. "Though thankfully, I came prepared for this exact situation, my creation, ROBOHEART has been updated with the vast technologies your people possess so she can work as a hive mind for every drone being mass produced within ROBOHEART PRIME, they will be able to coordinate with one another to neutralize the intruders as quickly and efficiently as possible..." she explained carefully.
ALTIMA nodded along and rubbed his scruff understandingly. "Ah, I see now, forgive thee for thine earlier doubts Lady MOLLY, I will not forget the benevolent deeds you've done for us since you've blessed us with your arrival." ALTIMA said reverently and knelt down before her.
"Uh-huh, yeah...that's nice and all hold on a sec darling..." MOLLY blinked indifferently and turned on a loudspeaker at the front of the ship's main view-port. "ROBOHEART PRIME, deploy enforcer drones to Entrance Sector, drones, activate protocol; 'roll out the un-welcome mat.' show our new 'guests' the way out of the city."
The units turned to attention and saluted simultaneously. "[Command acknowledged/.../Deploying units; 1-23/.../ 7 enemy signatures detected 7000kilos from current position/.../tracking... setting weapons to lethal, destructive force authorized/.../.]"
ALTIMA frowned as the drones departed from the top of the hull and descended towards the city below. "Destruction? but what of any collateral damage to people's businesses and homes? have you accounted-" he asked uneasily.
MOLLY didn't even look up from her data pad as she typed in a few more commands. "This is a cyber city right? we'll just us the resources we have to rebuild what we blow up after we get rid of the unwanted guests, no big deal really, maybe just a few scratches and dings...we'll see."
ALTIMA glanced over at his drone companion who floated in place, regarding the oldest of the SLIME GIRLS with judgemental silence. "Hmm, very well, I shall leave you to your work, Lady MOLLY." The warrior finally answered after a moment of contemplation.
MOLLY twirled a bit of her hair in her tentacle and shrugged. "Don't call me that, it sounds too formal, I'm just a scientist, a very good one at that."
"A priestess of the higher magicks? I thought your order all but extinct..."
MOLLY ran a tentacle down her face and waved him off impatiently. "Yes...I'm a magical priestess, sure thing, you may go ALTIMA, follow those kids, watch them or something...I don't know, be anywhere anywhere but here, I'm a very busy person and I don't feel like moving out of my chair right now...just...get out of here."
ALTIMA stood in the doorway and bowed as he left. "As you wish...my lady, I will endeavor to do my upmost-"
"I get it! alright? just leave already!" MOLLY exclaimed and pressed a switch to shut the door in his face. She sighed deeply and returned to researching her various projects.
"Sigh...at least it was mostly quiet back inside HUMPHREY..." she muttered to herself.
"Ack! hot! hot! pahhhhhhhh..." Kel yelped and almost dropped his hot ramen bowl, before pouring a glass of water down his throat to soothe his burning mouth. Aubrey and her dream self were snickering to themselves as they watched the athletic boy make a fool out of himself. "You're supposed to let it cool down first before eating it, dummy!" Aubrey laughed.
"Muh tung, I can't feel muh tung...oooghh." Kel mumbled and stuck his burnt tongue out of his mouth.
Meanwhile ROWAN and HERO where enjoying their own bowls of noodles. "How's the food ROWAN?" HERO asked and drank the rest of broth out of his bowl.
"It's so much better than the stuff I've been surviving on back in the streets of Nearbye but hey, food's food." ROWAN replied plainly and put down his bowl to point at his. "Also, I thought you didn't like Ramen..." HERO made a nonchalant face and finished the last of the noodles, exhaling some steam afterwards. "I don't like that processed stuff you find in cups, this is more of a proper dish properly cooked and prepared in a kitchen which I can appreciate, I only wish I knew how they made it so I could make some for everyone else."
The tall goth shrugged and chuckled a bit. "Great idea...Maybe we could find a cookbook somewhere, might actually be able to bring some stuff back with us if we put it in our inventory."
HERO suddenly took out a tablet device from his pocket and placed it down on the table. "I actually picked this thing before we stopped to eat, it certainly wasn't cheap though." he went through a cooking app's contents and stopped at an entry about chocolate chip cookies. "I think MARI will get a kick out of the cookie recipe I found in here."
The two read on in silence, enjoying to the social atmosphere around them before one of them spoke. "You think Hero would have liked something like this?" ROWAN asked quietly pointing to the restaurant behind them.
"...He totally would have...he told me he wanted to start a food truck once a while back..." Kel suddenly interrupted from the side and took a seat between the two.
"Oh hey Kel, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought up your brother again, not after...you know..." ROWAN apologized, seeming genuinely guilty about the sensitive topic. The athletic boy sighed and smiled warmly. "It's cool man, I'm just surprised you decided to help us after all. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you and KEL saving my life in the hospital."
HERO leaned in to place a hand on Kel's shoulder. "You're being awfully calm for someone who just lost someone close..." he says and made a concerned face. "Are you doing alright?"
Kel looked to the side for a moment, imagining what Hero would be doing if he was here with them. Probably worrying about their families back home...about Sally...Kel had to come home safe so he could be there for her...to be her Hero. Kel put on a determined face and looked up to the stars above. "Yen killed my brother and it left me in a rut for a while until Aubrey snapped me out of it. But Hero wouldn't want me to be down in the dumps, he would want me to rise up and stay strong for him, for mom and dad and my little sister...he'd do the same thing if he were here instead. We'll get through anything Yen throws at us and we'll get Sunny back...I swear on it."
"Hey guys? I think we have company!" BASIL exclaimed and pointed up at three drones resembling SWEETHEART flying towards them, aiming pigtail missile launchers and wrist mounted laser cannons directly at the group. "[Attention unregistered citizens, by the law of NEON-MOONS you have been charged with, jaywalking, theft, loitering and possession of dangerous weaponry in public, you have ten seconds to comply or be fired upon...]"
"What the...theft?! what did we even steal? we...KEL..." Aubrey glared down at the small boy staring back at them oblivious to the problem he just caused.
KEL gave everyone a blank stare and carelessly shrugged. "Okay, okay sooooooo...I took some of those cool rocket boots when no one was looking cause, c'mon! they're rocket boots! who doesn't like rockets on your feet?...and I also swiped a awesome laser beam bat for AUBREY too!" he said proudly and offered a glowing pink bat to AUBREY who tentatively took the bat before giving KEL a slightly less disgruntled look. "Aw, I appreciate it...but we're still gonna be vaporized because of you, idiot!"
KEL rolled his eyes and crossed his arms with a huff. "You're very welcome princess...I'm just trying to be nice here..." he said sarcastically.
HERO flashed a charming smile at the ROBOHEART DRONES in a attempt to persuade them. "Maybe if we try and talk this out we can-" The robots looked at one another and prepared to open fire. "That doesn't look friendly, I think we need to run, now!" BASIL exclaimed and immediately ran ahead with everyone else following suit.
The ROBOHEART DRONES opened fire and initiated pursuit as the gang fled.
KEL quickly put on the rocket boots and stomped the ground, propelling him upwards above the killer robots where he landed on top one of the pursuing drones. It turned it's head completely backwards to look at it's unwanted passenger only to get smashed in the face in with a ball. The blinded ROBOHEART DRONE began flying erratically, in a attempt to buck KEL off it's back. "Hey woah! where are you taking me? someone help! I can't stop this thiiiiiiinnggg!" he screamed as the robot carried him further into the city.
"Gosh darnit KEL! now's not the time to be fooling around!" AUBREY angrily called up after him, shaking her fist.
BASIL nervously gripped his shirt sleeves and pointed to where the drones had flown off to. "At least those killer robots aren't following us anymore, I thought there was only one ROBOHEART, why are there more?" FLOWER said and tapped his nervously fingers together. "There was just one, but she got destroyed a little while back in a dating accident...though she got better afterwards, I think all she really wanted was to be loved...But these lookalikes...they aren't anything like her, they're far more dangerous...and more like, well...robots."
HERO glanced up at the sky with a anxious expression, clearly worried for his brother. "Let's keep on the move and find out where KEL is, I'm hoping he can find his way back to us, he usually does."
...
"Left, turn left...my left!" KEL shouted over the wind and pulled on the drone's 'pigtails' in a attempt to steer it. The ROBOHEART DRONE clicked and sparked before responding. "[Assaulting a law enforcement unit is a serious crime punishable by-]"
KEL whacked the robot again with his ball. "Stupid robot! I don't care about that! can you slow down a bit? I'm feeling a bit sick."
Suddenly the two ROBOHEART DRONES from before caught up from behind and began blaring police sirens at him. "Uh oh...nevermind, go faster faster!" KEL gulped and smacked the battered head of his ride. The drone sparked and smoked a bit, suddenly accelerating in response. Soon KEL found himself in a high speed chase through the skies of the city being pursued by more police robots that had joined the chase.
The young boy began throwing the various balls he had with him, each one downing one of his pursuers but as one fell three more would take it's place, and KEL was running out of balls to toss. "How many of these thing are there?" he exclaimed. The ROBOHEART DRONES fired back in response, badly damaging the one KEL was perched on. As it began to shut down. KEL began to panic, as a last desperate attempt he rummaged through his inventory and pulled out some DYNAMITE, he glanced back at the robots all starting to close in and lit the explosive using a bit of his ride's exposed circuitry and jammed the bomb inside the bot.
He yelped when a sudden jolt of electricity knocked him off balance and left him hanging on to the damaged drone's leg, the dizzying sight of the ground far below made KEL grip on tighter, but with the DYNAMITE ticking down on one end and a horde of angry robots reaching out for him on the other he let go of the leg at the last moment. The resulting explosion took most of the pursuers out in the blast above, the remaining heavily damaged survivors were forced to abruptly abort their chase to retreat towards a massive airship carrier that suddenly broke through from the clouds above, the rumble of it's engines shaking the very foundations of the NEON-MOONS to it's core as it landed next to the towering spire in the center of the city.
The gang witnessed the massive explosion from far above as debris from the pursuers rained down along with a purple and pastel white speck crashing into a science building in the far distance. "Oh God, was that KEL?" Kel gasped and began to panic. Aubrey clenched her fist and marched ahead of the group. "He'd better be okay when we get there or I'll kick his ass myself for making us worry!" she shouted and charged ahead, smashing a lock pieces on a gate labeled, RESTRICTED ZONE 3.
Basil reached out to her but she had already kicked down the door to a gate to a restricted area. "Aubrey wait! we don't know what's in there!" he exclaimed and followed after her into the building. The science building seemed to be heavily incomplete in some parts with doors leading to empty rooms or entirely missing areas altogether. The group split up to check different floors for their missing companion. "KEL? KEL! where are you buddy?" Kel called out to his dream self into a empty office room.
"I'm in here! come over here you gotta see this!" a familiar voice called out excitedly from down the hall.
Kel's face lit up with hope, his dream self didn't sound hurt which wouldn't be surprising but it would him and the others relief to know. "Hold on tight, we're on our way!" he yelled and dashed down the hall towards the voice. "Hey Aubrey! Basil! everyone! I found him! he's in this room over here!" The group scrambled to catch up behind him as he led them to a unexplored room beyond a locked door which ROWAN smashed down with ease.
"Did you find KEL? is he oka-" Basil worried only to stop by the sight of KEL laying on some sort of yellow gelatin-like substance in a swimming pool sized vat. "Are you okay friend? we were so worried about you." FLOWER asked cautiously and helped him down. KEL laughed and shrugged carelessly. "I'm good, I just fell through a couple of floors and onto this weird slimy stuff, plus it tastes like cheese..." he chuckled a bit and put on a goofy grin.
ROWAN walked around the side of the vat until he found a label. "I think you landed on some kind of rubbery cement solvent called 'Cementax'." he carefully read aloud. KEL froze and seemed a bit concerned. "Cement? I-I am I gonna have bricks in my stomach?!" KEL said anxiously looking down at his midsection.
HERO examined the gel with his tablet a bit further and shook his head. "Nothing to worry about KEL, this stuff would have hardened a long time ago if it were real cement, only thing you'd have to worry about is getting a bit of indigestion later." he assured with a slight chuckle at the end, much to his younger brother's relief.
AUBREY suddenly burst into the room, having finally caught up to the group, panting and wheezing as she cried out to them indignantly. "Hey guys! why didn't you wait for me?! I had to climb up seven flights of stairs to-"
In her rush however, she accidentally bumped into a table causing multiple containers full of unknown chemicals to topple off and shatter on the ground next to her. "Whoops..." AUBREY spoke and started to back away to started to back away from the spilled contents, which had began to mix together and reacting violently, flashing and bubbling on the ground... AUBREY and KEL held on to one another in fear while ROWAN placed himself in front to protect them from whatever would happen next, Aubrey herself stepped in front of Basil to defend him and his dream self, FLOWER picked up a potted plant on a windowsill in an attempt to protect it and poor HERO could only fumble with his tablet in a panic as he scrambled to find a place to get away.
Kel dove behind a table and braced for impact. "Get down! it's gonna blow!" he shouted just in time for the contents of the potions to finally detonate in a multicolored chain reaction explosion with the other vials and potions around the room...
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NEON-MOONS, CHEMICAL LABS
[Chemistry On and Off]
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After the explosion had cleared, Kel slowly peeked out from under his damaged table cover, clearly showing signs of corrosion from the blast and waved away the rainbow smoke permeating the air to peer through the fog for any sign of his friends. The entire lab itself was a complete wreck from the accidental discharge, smoke, shattered glass everywhere and the smell of sulfur and gasoline almost made him pass out had he not held his breath and placed his shirt over his nose. Once the smoke cleared away enough he could mostly make out a tall silhouette approaching in front of him. Kel sighed in relief and held out his hand to the figure.
"HERO I'm glad you're-wait a minute..."
When he got a better look at the figure his jaw dropped in shock. Standing in place of where KEL and AUBREY once stood was an entirely new but familiar looking person in their place, they had a rainbow checkered shirt like KEL underneath a teal colored vest resembling AUBREY"S nightgown with four muscular arms coming out of torn sleeves. The fusion of the two dream kids also wore pink bands around their head, ankles and wrists making them resemble a jogger from the eighties. The new figure rubbed their eyes and looked at Kel with a wide grin. "Heya! how's it going dude?"
The athletic boy rubbed his eyes and stared at the "KEL...why are...why are you wearing AUBREY'S clothes? is she..."
The figure chuckled heartily and flexed, showing off their supple arms and muscles. "Okay?! I'm more than okay! I feel fantastic!" They announced and did a small twirl in place. "I'm not KEL, just thought you should know..." they said with a smile.
"Wait you're not? then, are you AUBREY? you look a little like her..."
"Nope! I'm not KEL or AUBREY, I'm me!"
"Uh alright... so if you're not either of them...who are you?"
"I...dunno, I was just made a few seconds ago, I don't really have a name."
"We gotta call you something..." Kel rubbed his chin, examining the features on the fusion. "How about...KELBREY?"
"KELBREY? hmm...I like it, lets go with that!"
Next to them Aubrey pushed a overturned table off of her and pinched her nose in disgust. "What the heck happened? and what's that horrible smell? did you cut the cheese again KEL?" she groaned and let Kel help her up. Basil soon got up beside her and winced in pain when he felt a dripping red spot on his forehead. "Ugh my fucking head... hey, is everyone alright? I kinda got banged up by whatever the hell that was- ow shit!" Basil hissed and rubbed some blood off of his injured forehead. Aubrey and Kel stared at him wide eyed at the flower boy's unexpected vulgarity. Basil blinked and squinted at them. "What's up with the weird looks? was it something I said?" his features forming an uncharacteristically irritated scowl.
"Basil...did you just swear?" Kel finally spoke after a moment's silence.
"We're allowed to swear now? cool! I gonna say the F-word! FU-" The fusion butted in excitedly and took a deep breath in until a hand from Aubrey cover their mouth before they could say anything bad.
Basil shook his head incredulously before pointed an accusing finger. "What the hell are you talking about Kel? I'm not Basil, I'm Aubrey-." The Flower boy stopped when he looked down at his soft hands and held up a hand to his mouth to suppress a gasp. "E-excuse me? guys? what's going on?" Aubrey spoke in a quiet voice, looking at Basil with a shocked look on her face. "W-why am I looking at m-myself?"
'Basil' craned his head toward 'Aubrey' and furrowed his brow in bewilderment. "Okay again, What the hell are you talking about and what's going on? why are you in my body Basil? and why am I stuck in yours?!" he barked and strode up to the pink haired girl who began to back away from him. "I-I don't know what you're talking about! honest! I'm sorry! just don't hurt me!" she whimpered and put her hands in front of her face.
Kel scratched his head and pointed at the two of them. "Wait hold up a sec...did you two swapped bodies? and dream me and AUBREY fused together...then, where's everyone else?" he began looking around the room for any signs of the others.
"I feel so...small and weak...I feel like I can barely walk without falling over...you should really get more exercise Basil." 'Basil' awkwardly stood up on his feet and held on to Kel for support.
'Aubrey' huffed indignantly and crossed her arms, rubbing the back of her neck. "Hey, you're one to talk, I'm not the one who's got poor back posture, do you even know how heavy this nail bat is?" she replied and brought her bat. 'Basil' was about to retort with something rude but instead he pouted and stuck out his bottom lip, which looked more cute than upset, he was right, she did need to stop slouching all the time.
"So if we should be looking for everyone else. then for starters..where's BASIL?"
the fusion leaned up against a wall and casually picked their nose. "I dunno, I don't see him anywhere...maybe he's still hiding somewhere around here...huh, is it just me or is this wall a bit too soft to be a wall?" he punched the soft 'wall' and jumped back in surprise when it recoiled in pain and squeaked. "Ouch! my foot! please don't do that!" a deeper version of BASIL's voice echoed above them. Kel and the others slowly looked up to see a massive face and a pair of blue eyes staring down at them from a hole in the roof. "BASIL?!...what happened to you litt- uh, big buddy?" 'Basil' said
BASIL looked down at the tiny people staring up at him and frowned. "I was trying to find someplace to hide, and then I found myself outside the building...but everything shrunk and I can't really move." BASIL shifted a bit trying to get up from his sitting position, causing more of the roof to give way and reveal the rest of the city. "Whoops, s-sorry." he murmured. KELBREY rubbed the bridge of their nose and climbed up BASIL'S leg to get a better look. "I think it's the other way around, you're huge and we're normal sized...though, everything's a little weird right now...though I'm pretty sure if this can get any weirder it would have by now."
"That was one hell of an nasty chemical reaction, we're lucky we weren't vaporized or anything..." a gruff feminine voice called out from a hole in the wall. On cue, ROWAN, pushed away some debris and stepped out into the open, except, he wasn't exactly the same as before...he, or rather, she had long flowing scruffy black hair that went past the shoulders, her overalls seemed to have adjusted to her new ample bust. Finally, ROWAN'S chest seemed to have two new- "The fuck are you all looking at me like that for? my eyes are up here." ROWANETTE said crossly, clearly unaware of the changes to her physical appearance.
"Who's the new girl? she's kinda pretty." KELBREY said bluntly and poked the goth girl's arm with one of his own upper ones. ROWANETTE raised an eyebrow at the brightly colored fusion smiling goofily as they curiously poked and prodded at her. She swatted a hand away and glared at them.
"Guys? hello? anyone? can anyone hear me?" a small voice called out from somewhere in the room
Kel turned his attention away from his altered friends and tracked the voice to a pile of rubble. "HERO? are you okay? I can hear you fine, "
"I can hear you from outside! I'm under the rubble!" the voice responded, directing Kel to a pile of overturned chairs in a corner.
Kel lifted up the debris and checked around, when he saw nothing but a tablet face down on the ground his face fell, had HERO shrunk down or something, or worst, did he die and become a ghost? "I don't see you, where did you go?" He really really, hoped if he did shrink, that he hadn't just stepped on him by accident... When HERO finally responded, his voice seemed to be coming from the mobile device laying there. "Uh, try turning over the tablet...I'm here, just...stuck." Kel picked up the tablet and dusted off the screen as best as he could with his shirt and turned it on. The familiar face of his older brother's dream self greeted him with a sheepish smile. "H-hey, whats up Kel? good to see you in one piece."
Kel leaned in closer to get a better look at him. "How did you get in there?is...is there some way to get you out?" he said slowly
HERO looked around his digital surroundings a bit before shaking his head sadly. "I'm not sure really, hmm...let me try something and..." he felt up the wall around him, wishing he had some kind of help. A holographic menu suddenly appeared making him jump a bit in surprise before he leaned in closer to inspect. The digital menu showed several options to chose from from lights to cameras. HERO'S finger hovered over the features until he came to a window control. "Hmm, 'open windows'? I don't see a exit button, but I suppose this screen is like a window in a way...maybe that will actually let me out of here..."
Upon selecting the option however, a large window opened up revealing a squad of ROBOHEART DRONES on patrol nearby that immediately flew in closer to investigate. HERO gulped and frantically pressed some more buttons on the menu. "Whoops! uh, wrong window, I-I thought it was like in here! l-let me try closing-" the buttons no effect other than strobe lights and opening a closing doors which only made more commotion that drew unwanted attention. The lead ROBOHEART DRONE upon seeing them made a loud noise and attacked on sight.
"Hey! check out this out!" KELBREY called out and ran and leapt forward, tucking themselves into a ball midair and rolling into the group of drones like a bowling ball, instantly destroying them. 'Basil' smirked and pumped a fist into the air while 'Aubrey' ducked behind him in fear. "I don't know what that was you just did, but keep doing that it's working!" he cheered. The fusion uncurled and gave him a thumbs up.
"Okie dokey! one metal butt whooping coming up!" KELBREY laughed and ran into the fray.
Meanwhile, BASIL was covering his face as more of the robotic SWEETHEART clones began to open fire on him, their weapons seemed to be having no effect as the lasers and missiles only left tiny red marks on the giant flower boy's body. "Go away! leave me alone!" he whimpered and swatted a ROBOHEART DRONE out of the air where it crashed into another one and exploded. Kel, 'Aubrey' and 'Basil' ran out of the way of a laser blast and did their best to fight back. "What are we supposed to do?" Kel's basketball hit a incoming robot in the face but it seemed unfazed by the weak attack. "Just hide or something! we'll have this under control!" ROWANETTE shouted back and grabbed a robot by the legs as it flew by, slamming it into the floor.
"Where's FLOWER? he was with you last time wasn't he?" 'Aubrey' anxiously asked Kel, it was going to be hard for the athletic boy to get used to Basil and Aubrey having swapped personalities, but until they found a way to fix this he would have to keep track. Slowly, he peeked out from behind the cover only to be met with more weapons fire, Kel took a deep breath and looked back at his friends. "Well he's gotta be around here somewhere, let's just hope he's not invisible now or something."
Kel began to search around with the others looked around for their friend amidst the chaos, while the battle between the ROBOHEART security forces and altered dream friends raged on with neither side gaining any ground, and though the combined speed and strength of KELBREY and the gender-swapped ROWAN was near unstoppable, they were starting to show signs of wearing down against the endless waves of ROBOHEART clones converging on them, two replacing every one they destroyed.
The small frightened whimpering coming from a damaged pot containing a single unharmed daisy caught 'Basil's' attention, prompting him to investigate it. "FLOWER? Oh thank Christ, come over here and...oh what the hell." his face of relief turning to one of absolute confusion when the plant turned around to look at him. It had a scared face resembling the person of the same name that they were hoping to find. A few moments of uncomfortable silence followed before HERO spoke his opinion.
"Uh, I don't know if this is some kind of literal joke but... you're an actual flower..."
FLOWER tilted his head to the side and looked down at himself before shrugging his leaves. "That's fine I guess, always wondered what it was like being a plant..."
The friends each gave each other incredulous looks. "FLOWER is now a literal plant, HERO is trapped in a computer, BASIL is thirty freaking feet tall, I'm stuck in Basil's weak ass body while he's stuck in mine and ROWAN is a girl now for some reason! what do you mean we'll be fine!? does this look fine to you?" 'Basil' yelled, digging his fingers into is hair as another robot careened into a wall overhead and blew up in a bright flash of light.
HERO attempted to calm everyone down, but from his position, there was only so much he could do behind a screen except watch. "Panicking isn't going to get us anywhere, I- hey what's this?" his eyes gazed down at a peculiar menu option with bright red lettering...
Kel turned away from the battle for a moment. "Huh? what do you got HERO-900?"
"HERO...900?" 'Aubrey' blinked, gaining a confused face.
Kel only nodded slightly replying. "Yep! A.I. like that space movie with the talking computer who's name I think was Hal? like that you know?" he puffed his chest out, proud of his naming skills. HERO accessed the menu option and peeked inside, his eyes slowly widening. "It's a...turret control? like weapons? he said and hesitantly pressed the button. "Well I'm not about to asked why a lab needs these but here goes, jeez I hope this doesn't get us killed!"
Machine gun turrets emerged from the walls and targeted the airborne machines with laser pointers before unloading into them. Soon, ROBOHEART DRONES began to drop from the sky like flies, with each loss causing the battle to edge more in the gang's favor as the drones retreated, having sustained too many losses to continue. After a full minute, the turrets had run dry on ammo and shut down, removing any threat of them turning on the now resting friend group.
BASIL yelped when he stepped on something and looked down to see a drone embedded into his foot. "Ow! my poor foot! I don't like being this huge!" he whimpered tearfully and pulled the crushed bot out of his foot.
KELBREY shook themselves off like a dog and lightly elbowed his giant friend on the leg. "Aw it's okay BASIL, we'll find a way to fix this."
"Yeah what he...she?...they said!" FLOWER chimed in, sitting comfortably from his new glass beaker home for his plant body that 'Aubrey' had provided for him.
Meanwhile, 'Basil' and Kel gazed over the edge of the ruined building out at the rest of the neon city, searching for any sign of a clue to go. Kel groaned in frustration and sighed. "What now? this whole city is massive, the Key could be anywhere! and Sunny could be too!" he lamented.
HERO quietly checked through his holographic menu until he stumbled upon a entire map of the city! "Hey, here's something that can help us, I have a full map of the entire city and I believe if I do this right...it will let me open doors to other parts of the city as well!" he announced triumphantly, feeling very proud of himself at the moment.
ROWANETTE walked over stretching her arms with a loud pop and leaned down to check in. "Can't you shut off those drones then? my back has been killing me for some reason and I don't know why." she groaned and arched her back upwards, resulting in another loud crack.
HERO'S small moment of victory was cut short by the sudden daunting request, he shook his head and sighed, it was good while it lasted. "No unfortunately, It would require a higher security access to do that..." he said halfheartedly and rubbed his chin, pondering for a few moments until he turned back to them with a grin and an idea. "But if can get a look at one of those ROBOHEART drones heads and break into it's memory core, I can find the key's location for you. Though it might take a while to find..."
KELBREY tossed over one of the robots with a loud crash that made everyone jump in surprise. They grinned and gave a thumbs up. "Easy peasy, here you go! one bot head ready for picking!"
With a silent thanks, HERO linked up with the ROBOHEART DRONE and initiated a file transfer.
"HERO? how do you know that would work?" Kel wondered.
"Okay here's my theory, I'm in a computer, computers are smart, so I think when I was put inside of it it made me super smart as well since I'm part of it as well...oh! and the data upload is done already! that was fast..." HERO opened up the extracted the memory files, filing the random numbers and letters which seemed like gibberish. Using a translator app, he was able to decode the memories and sift through until he managed to find what he was looking for. He plucked it out of the pile of digital love poetry and showed it to the others outside. "Anyways, here's the data we need, while I can't seem to find the exact spot where we need to go, I can turn on a gps mode to get us close enough."
...
It had begun to lightly rain a short while after the group had left the building ruins, deciding to take shelter and rest inside the safety the giant BASIL'S overall pockets while he took them to a safe place away from the numerous ROBOHEART DRONE patrols overhead. While the bright neon was still present in this part of the city, it was mostly drowned out by the dull and drab grey of the unfinished 'Construction District' of NEON-MOONS, a place that according to HERO'S research, was where expansion of the city was underway but due to a shortage of workers, was left mostly abandoned, resulting in it becoming a home for many homeless residents and shady figures to call it home.
Kel silently sat awake on BASIL'S shoulder under the shade of his head while the giant flower boy cautiously tread through an empty street, the sounds of rain and his footsteps echoing through the alleyways and abandoned buildings as they passed through. "Hey, BASIL...you got a minute?" Kel finally said, gently tugging his friends hair to get his attention.
BASIL looked over to him and gently smiled. "Um, sure Kel, anything for you, what's on your mind?" he spoke quietly trying not to be too loud while the others slept.
The athletic boy leaned back on his friend's soft and warm neck and cleared his throat to speak his mind. "Cool, I just wanted to talk to you for a second, it's about how far we've come since you guys showed up. Look at us...we've fought evil crazy donuts, mind controlled pirates and even a shark in a suit and tie." Kel chuckled and let out a happy sigh, smiling. "We even saved the town and whole world once, and to top it off we got to do so much together that a normal kid could only dream of...even...even if my bro is...gone." His smile slowly faded, turning into a sad frown, his eyes losing that excited spark he'd been keeping up the whole trip, revealing dark bags under his eyes.
BASIL made a low humming sound in his throat, making the spot Kel was resting on vibrate a bit. "Oh...Kel, I know it hurts, but you can't keep those feeling bottled up forever..." he spoke softly and continued with a concerned look on his face. "If you want to talk to me about your feelings then go ahead...you clearly haven't been taking Hero's loss well..."
Kel hastily raised his hands in defense and put on that smile again. "No, I-I'm fine! really! I've gotten over it!...just keep moving forward am I right?" he said, clearly lying.
The giant Flower boy simply shook his head, stopping under a overhang to rest and dry off out of the rainstorm. After a moment's rest he spoke again in a whispering voice "...Hey, can I share something with you please? "
Kel nodded in response, prompting BASIL to speak. "A few months ago, when we had just first arrived to the real world, it was the time we were in the Othermart Plaza doing some shopping together so we could get to know each other, Aubrey came up to me in Fix-It and confessed her feelings about her relationship with Basil." He glanced over to the body-swapped forms of 'Aubrey' and 'Basil' sitting together in his right pocket. "She felt like she had wrongfully accused him for something he didn't do and ruined their friendship that they had worked so hard to build up...I saw how much pain she was going through, so I gave her some advice to help; she needed to let go of the past of what he may or may not have done and forgive him." He reached into his back pocket, careful not to disturb his sleeping friends and fished out a small flower between his finger and thumb and showing it to Kel. "Do you know what this is?"
Kel put on a thoughtful face and squinted closely at the tiny bud. "Uh, a flower? I'm not very good at this flower language stuff like you, Basil, FLOWER or even ROWAN are."
"A forget-me-not, it means, Loyal friendships and deep trust, yes. I told her this so she could help finally let her relationship with him heal, like a flower blossom on a tree she needed to let go of her resentment so she could be for the better and not let it eat at her...and I think you could too."
BASIL gently placed the flower in Kel's hands. "Look at you, you clearly care very very much for him, but you wouldn't have come to this place with us if you didn't. And he probably would have told you the same thing like a big brother should..." he closed his eyes, exhaling deeply.
"Chin up Kel, the world needs all the joy it can get and we need you more than ever...I won't push any further if you don't want me to, but please...if you need to talk to someone about how you're feeling, you can count on us to be there for you."
Kel sat there for a moment, not realizing the droplets of water that had been falling down his cheeks the whole time, yet his body was completely dry his face was not. "Haha! wow you really got me there, heh...but no seriously, thank you, I'm grateful for the pep talk little-, er...big guy..." his voice cracking ever so slightly.
BASIL nodded and stretched a bit and relaxed, sitting down to let the other get out. "It's no problem Kel, just want to be there for my friends just like you would..." The giant flower boy murmured peacefully and went to sleep.
Meanwhile, 'Basil' had spent his time on out of pocket doing various exercises such as jogging in place and lifting up various heavy objects. "U-um what are you doing with my body?" 'Aubrey' asked, watching in utter bewilderment. "Why are you doing that?"
'Basil' picked up a trash can over his head with all the might his little body could muster and tossed it down. He sucked in a deep breath and wrung out his sore hands. "(Huff...huff,) Getting you...in better shape...you'll thank...(huff, haaa...)...me later." he huffed and attempted to pick up a small bag of trash, which caused him to fall over from the weight. KELBREY sat nearby and held a score card saying 6 above their head with their upper arms.
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NEON-MOONS, FOOT OF THE WATCHTOWER
[Trials of ALTIMA]
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ALTIMA stood vigil over the courtyard below overlooking a massive waffle iron-like machine was being overseen by several engineers keeping the machine running, they dumped raw material and scrap into a port that melted down into slag where it would be poured into a mold beneath a large press, and every time the press came down and lifted, a dozen robotic women rose up and flew away towards different parts of the city to patrol the skies. His drone companion, SPECTRE was showing him surveillance feeds of the seven children fleeing some enforcer units into a large chemical plant building on the outskirts and a explosion from the building that followed shortly after, two figures and a giant were seen sweeping through the drones with ease, which was much more of a concern to him than to his 'mutual ally' seemed to show at the moment.
ALTIMA turned off the feed and contacted the oldest of the SLIME GIRLS. "Lady MOLLY, the interlopers were seen trespassing into a remote building in a secure sector of the city, I would recommend checking the footage with haste." he reported calmly.
MOLLY checked her notes before responding. "That place? oh that is...was MEDUSA'S special lab that she set up right here before she moved to the next sector, I think MARINA had something of a lab here too but that burned down so..." her voice trailed off when she saw the sent footage of the chemical lab being destroyed. ALTIMA shook his head, remaining solemn.
"They fled into that building to evade your forces. Afterwards, they came out altered and destroyed them with ease...something you said should not be possible." MOLLY raised an annoyed eye at him through the video feed. The galactic warrior pointed in the direction of the ruined lab. "What was inside to cause such a change?" he inquired calmy, though it was more of a demand than a question.
MOLLY threw her tentacles up in the air and groaned as she went through the list of destroyed chemical inventory the drones had reported from the lab. "Those brats must've tampered with a few of MEDUSA'S experimental formulas, and now they may as well be unstoppable..." A idea dawned on her as shown by the cunning smile that crept up her face. "Well...almost unstoppable...maybe if I get a bit more forceful and bring out the big guns..." she mused to herself, chuckling darkly as she finished tying some code on her computer. ALTIMA blinked slowly and lowered his head to hide the slight discomfort on his face.
"You would send your strongest warriors to destroy them? will it be more effective than your 'ROBOHEART' was?"
MOLLY smirked at him and clicked her tongue. "Hey you said it not me, but it's not a bad idea darling, you want these kids gone? let me do my job and you do yours, okay? come to think of it, why don't you go deal with them yourself?" ALTIMA placed a hand over his chest and grimaced. "I am a guardian of the peace, not a warmonger, My code of honor demands that I pass judgement on their character and actions first, regardless of who they are-"
MOLLY pressed a button and shut off the screen before he could finish talking, not interested in his talks of chivalry. "Whatever...just means I get to have some more fun with putting in these finishing touches..." she said and went back to her special project; fitting a experimental jet engine inside the frame of a small familiar looking robot.
"Lets go for a test run shall we?"
ALTIMA stood on the roof for a moment after the video abruptly ended before leaping off and summoning a flying vehicle to catch him mid-fall. he brought out his drone and spoke. "SPECTRE, cut off all contact with MOLLY and contact my knights to summon a squad to find the intruders before the ROBOHEART enforcers do, I wish to see these children for myself..."
...
The gang had been crossing a bridge leading to the tower that stood present overhead when the sounds of metal clad footsteps brought their attention to a squad of eight men and women covered in multicolored glowing techno-medieval knight armors approaching from the both ends of the bridge and surrounding them from both sides."Halt! you are under arrest for unlawful behavior! prepare for jurisdiction" The lead knight in red armor with glowing yellow accents called out, pointing a beam sword at the group.
"Great more things getting in our way, I'll handle this..." ROWANETTE scoffed and readied her twin gardening spades, "Odd, when did I get these?" she thought, breifly glancing down at the two smaller shovels that had replaced her old shovel. Nonetheless, she prepared to defend herself and her friends from the forces standing between them and the spire.
'Aubrey suddenly moved to the front of the group pointing at the sky. "Wait, up in the sky heading for us, is that...ALTIMA?"
A knight with a light blue and yellow lit armor wearing a twin horned helmet aggressively blocked off 'Aubrey', pushing her back towards her friends. "Do you think us daft child? how dare you use Lord ALTIMA'S sacred name in such a vain manner as a diversion tool to escape justice! we should-
"Stand down knight, I will take it from here." A voice commanded from above.
The two parties turned around to a lone figure standing there, he was a towering man covered head to toe in heavy sun kissed bronze armor, his helmet placed at his side revealed a weathered human face with a braided beard and greying hair. Though the newcomer had no visible weapons on him he still carried an aura of intimidation and authority. The knights all simultaneously dropped to a knee and bowed. "L-Lord ALTIMA?! We did not know you were coming... w-we would have been more prepared for such a occasion if it weren't for these intruders m-my lord...what would you have us do?"
ALTIMA gently raised his hand and gesturing for them to rise. "Rise...thou have done well faithful EXEMPLAR, go return to thine duties around the city and report any ROBOHEART DRONES you see, I will handle these strangers from here..."
"Hail Lord ALTIMA! hail to the savior of the cosmos!" The knights cheered all at once and marched off in different directions. Once they were alone, ALTIMA approached and placed a hand on his chest. "Salutations young ones, forgive me for the interception, it was necessary to ensure that the automatons did not reach you before I did. thou have already been well acquainted with mine name no doubt. I am ALTIMA, the Radiant Phoenix of the Seven Moons.
'Aubrey' stood gasping in awe of the comic book hero come to life while Kel grinned widely and raised his hand to offer a handshake to the warrior. "I'm Kel, good to meet you!" ALTIMA gazed down at the athletic boy's casual gesture with a stoic expression, but did not take up his greeting. After an awkward silence between the two, Kel cleared his throat and lowered his hand, skipping to introducing the rest of his friends. "These are my friends, Aubrey-"
"A-actually I'm Basil, not Aubrey..." the body swapped girl responded meekly.
"Oh right, that's Basil, and over there is Aubrey...I think, the big green haired dude with the flower crown is dream BASIL, the edgy dudette is ROWAN." ROWANETTE raised an eyebrow, looking very annoyed. "I'm not a girl! why is everyone suddenly calling me a girl!?" he protested.
"...and that's KELBREY and FLOWER. We're looking for a way out of the city to find our friend Sunny, have you seen the key?"
"Doth thou speak of this talisman? the Final Shape?" ALTIMA reached into a back pouch and brought out a glowing tetrahedron. KELBREY'S eyes sparkled as they reached out with all four arms to grab the shape. "That's it all right! now gimme gimme gimme!" The cosmic warrior moved it out of reach before they could touch it. He squinted down at the four armed fusion and gave them a look of disapproval. "No, I shall not..."
"Aw please? pretty please? pretty please with a cherry on top?" KELBREY pleaded and put on the best puppy dog eyes they had, but the ALTIMA remained unfazed. "Not even with a 'cherry on top', belligerent chimera..." he refused sternly and placed the Final Shape back in it's place.
"But we need that to get through, surely you understand ALTIMA? we're the good guys here."
"I understand thoust art already on a quest to rescue the Dreamer from his endless slumber, your quest is noble but your intention is still unclear to me, but...perhaps we may come to a partial exchange for the key you seek. Young travelers, if you may honor a request of thee? that I shall grant what thoust desire in return."
"Another fetch quest? again? awww man, we just got done with one though." KELBREY complained loudly and crossed both sets of muscular arms. ALTIMA put on his winged helmet and lifted his hood over it. "Indeed...The one known as MOLLY, hides her ill intentions behind steel and trickery, her disregard for the city's well being is much apparent though through her machines." ALTIMA points towards a heart shaped ship orbiting high. "The metal atrocities that hound you come from there, board the ship and destroy it. Once that unsightly vessel is out of the sky then I will consider granting thee my talisman as a token of the city's gratitude..."
Kel stared up at the ship descending from the sky where it eventually landed on the other side of the tower out of sight. "Are you crazy? how are we supposed to destroy THAT? but we're just kids!" he exclaimed.
ALTIMA turned and began walking towards the tower in the distance. "Have thoust not made it here thus far? to this very light bridge at the foot of the sacred WATCHTOWER? has your journey not brought you to me? the protector of NEON-MOONS and it's people? I came initially to judge you based on your merits, for a battle, and yet...I only see thine purity of heart and remarkable bravery within all of you, however, the longer the flying fortress taints the skies the more danger you and your companions will be in here...But I have much faith that you will prevail over the machine's might and numbers." he spoke solemnly, gesturing for them to follow behind him. "Come, I have not much time before the treacherous witch finds that I hast betrayed her, make haste."
ALTIMA led the gang to a massive gilded door and ran a glowing hand over the decorative designs which glowed for a moment and faded as he went along from left to right. After he was finished, the massive doors slowly swung open, granting passage inside. "Beyond this threshold lies sacred ground, untouched for centuries by the uninitiated, and home to the rest of my order." However before thy could step foot inside, ALTIMA raised a hand up to stop them from proceeding further, pointing at an statue of a knight with a sharp blade pointing down at them.
"Before I allow thee inside the inner sanctum, know that only knights and initiates are allowed within these halls." he continued and raised a finger.
"But there is a way to be permitted inside, thou must take an oath of initiation upon themselves, a vow to serve the city as it's protectors as is custom with all who seek sanctuary within the WATCHTOWER, through simple passage or initiation. However, the opportunity become a knight in of it's own is an honor bestowed upon very few, and even fewer are proven worthy of keeping the title, will you take this offer and become a guardian of the NEON-MOONS?" The comic warrior spoke, glancing at the vast halls with reverence where statues of various honored individuals lined the walls. However, the group seemed unsure of the offer being placed before them.
"We don't have time to play knights and chivalry, we need to get to that ship so we can take it down like you asked us to! we'll just rush through real quick...in and out." ROWANETTE tapped her foot on the ground impatiently and crossed her arms.
ALTIMA straightened himself to full height, looming over even the tall goth girl. he grimaced and spoke in a low voice. "Those who enter without blessing are considered tarnished by sin and are not permitted to enter the sacred grounds of the WATCHTOWER, lest they commit the unforgivable crime of trespass and meet an untimely fate for such...by the powers within, or by my hand." he warned grimly, slightly gestured down to his hand, which was crackling with a slight electric charge , a subtle threat for a grisly fate to be taken seriously, ROWANETTE backed away begrudgingly and looked over to to the others.
Kel gulped and took a deep breath in. "Well...if there's another way to that ship..." he calmly suggested.
"...It is the only way, I assure thee, fair child." ALTIMA said in a firm but gentler tone. "T'were anywhere else I would take thee to it with haste, but ancient time honored tradition and my own code of honor dictates that if thoust wish to enter, I must take thee through the trials of initiation..."
Everyone looked amongst each other, eventually come to a silent agreement to partake in the initiation process of becoming a knight for NEON-MOONS, whatever it took to getting Sunny back they would do it, if it meant getting him back. They each went up to the alter and through the cosmic warrior's instruction each cut their hand on the statue's blade and run it down on parchment of paper at the foot of the statue, leaving a blood mark. Once it was done and everyone had taken the blood oath, ALTIMA stepped aside to allow them further in.
"Then it is done..." he welcomed. "Come young initiates, let us prepare you for your initiation trials..."
TO BE CONTINUED
Tomorrow is a new day
Good Night