Featured song:
1. "Happy Working Song" from Enchanted
Mariverde's lair had been discovered, and the royal family went to search for any clues as to where she might've gone. But when they and the ECH officers arrived, the place had been cleared of the magic mirror, potions, and butterflies.
"How did she manage to get back here and clear it all up so quickly?" Kara wondered. "I know speed, and I'm pretty sure even butterflies don't move that fast."
"She's a tricky woman," said Sapphire, sniffing around. "With the damage to the school, now the kids have to spend the next few weeks homeschooling, Satine's had to up the guards to ensure Olivia's safety, and we still haven't gotten to recapturing all the escaped prisoners."
"Anakin, Gabriella, Omega and the Batch have already gone to Cid for intel." Qui-Gon said. "If she has any information on their whereabouts, she'll find it."
As Qui-Gon said, Anakin, Gabby and Omega had gone with the Bad Batch to Ord Mantell to meet with Cid.
After the incident of Omega almost being captured by slavers, Anakin told the Bad that he was not going to allow any of his kids to go on the mission unless he went with them.
As they walked through the town, Omega rode on Wrecker's shoulder, munching on some Mantell Mix. Since they started doing missions for Cid, Wrecker and Omega started their own little tradition of getting Mantell Mix at the end of every mission.
"How's the mantell mix, kid?" Wrecker asked.
"Mm-hmm. Better than ever." said Omega, feeding Wrecker a piece.
Wrecker laughed and said, "Oh, yeah."
"So, when's our next mission?" Gabby asked, riding Anakin's shoulders.
"With Mariverde on the loose and many criminals still running about," said Tech, "it might be wise to keep a low profile, given how the last ones captured you and the other children."
"Tech's right." said Hunter.
"I agree." Anakin said. "There's a lot of danger out there right now."
"That never stopped us before." Wrecker said.
"Or us." Gabby said. "I've literally been getting into danger since I was two."
Initially, Anakin was only going to bring Omega, but Gabby wanted to come this time around. For one thing, she hadn't gone on many exciting adventures since the Clone War, and because she though maybe it would be a good chance go get closer to Omega.
Now, it wasn't that Gabby and Omega didn't get along, but they didn't exactly spend the most time together because they had different interests. Gabby was a girly girl, while Omega was proving more of a tomboy kind of princess. Omega did engineering, Gabby liked trying on dresses and doing arts and crafts.
When you're in a big family, it can be hard to find time alone, or a simple moment with just one family member. In the beginning, it was just Gabby and her parents, and she would get Daddy-daughter time, or Mommy and little one special days because she had them all to herself. But then, Boba came along and Gabby had a playmate. But then, the two of them started growing up, Lamenta and her parents came along, the babies were born, and their grandparents and Omega came along and now it was a rare moment when Gabby got to spend time with just her big brother or just one of her parents. And it got even more crowded when the Bad Batch and the Heartwoods moved in.
Hunter pulled Wrecker a little closer and said, "The kids have been through enough. They need a break."
The guys put the girls down, and Omega started sharing her mantell mix with Echo and her little sister. Gabby started a game of tossing the mantell mix into her mouth, only for Maybelle to bite it in the air.
"Maybelle!" Gabby scolded.
Crosshair looked like he was trying not to laugh.
"Kids," sighed Anakin.
The horses stayed outside while the humans walked into Cid's parlor.
"I got a mission for you boys." said Cid. "A simple extraction on Raxus."
"Raxus?" said Tech and Anakin at the same time.
"That is the former center of the Separatist government." said Tech. "It has since been in negotiation with-"
"I'm not interested in a history lesson, Goggles." Cid interrupted. "You're being hired to locate and free Senator Avi Singh from his confinement. My client will meet you at the given coordinates to brief you."
Cid held up a data disk with details on it.
"Help a Separatist?" said Hunter. "Not gonna happen."
"Your debts still not paid, remember?" said Cid.
"What is she talking about?" Anakin said, looking at the Batchers the same way he did his children when he knew they were hiding something from him.
Hunter explained to Anakin a few things that created debt for them on previous missions. Supplies, docking, and a lot of cartons of mantell mix.
"Why didn't you just come to me?" Anakin said.
"That's what I asked them." Teatra said. "And then Crosshair said, we're not gonna put ourselves in deeper debt."
She imitated Crosshair when she said the last half of that sentence.
"I don't sound like that!" Crosshair said, offended.
"You do too."
"Both of you, stop acting like children." Anakin scolded.
"She started it." Crosshair said, just barely dodging Teatra nipping at his finger.
Anakin looked at Cid and reminded her that in her message, she'd said she got intel on one of the escaped prisoners.
"Conveniently, this prisoner is somewhere on Raxus." Cid said.
But then, Anakin and Hunter brought Cid a little farther to talk.
"I am not bringing my daughters to a planet where a dangerous criminal might be." Anakin said.
"So leave them here with me. I'll keep an eye on them."
"I don't exactly trust you either." Hunter said.
"Good. You shouldn't. But if keeping the princesses safe means more money in my pocket, it's in my best interest to do so, isn't it?"
"It might also be in your best interest to know, Gabby is a bit of a wild card. Still hasn't outgrown playing Tigger Tag."
"What the heck is-"
"Agh!" Tech lay on the floor on his stomach.
"And that is how you properly Tigger Tag." Gabby said for Omega.
"Do you mind getting off of me, please?" Tech groaned.
"Gabriella, if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, Tigger Tag is an outdoor game." Anakin scolded. He looked at Cid. "If anything happens to either of my girls-"
"Yeah, yeah, Princey. Just get going, will you?" Cid said.
"You're telling me, you, Lamenta, and even Boba tried to Tigger tag Grandpa, and he still didn't fall down when Boba went?" Omega laughed.
"I was surprised too. Uncle Carmine even tried to, and he only ended up piggyback riding him." Gabby said. "It was so funny!"
Both girls were laughing hard at the thought of such a thing, when Hunter came up to them.
"Ready when you are, Sergeant." Omega saluted.
"Me too!" Gabby mimicked her sister.
"Not this time, Omega." said Hunter, kneeling to Omega's level. "You and Gabriella are staying with Cid."
"But th-the mission. I'm part of the squad too." Omega said.
"Then following orders shouldn't be a problem." Hunter said.
"I wanna help fight the bad guy too." Gabby said.
"We don't even know what we're fighting." said Anakin. He looked at Cid again. "Which prisoner was it again?"
"No idea what they did to get arrested, but she calls herself Dr. Zavi." Cid said. "Only thing I know is don't look her in the eyes."
Hunter looked at the princesses and said, "Your orders, girls, is to stay here where you are safe. Got it, soldiers?"
Omega groaned. So did Gabby. "Yes, sir." They both said.
"Be good, girls." Anakin said. "Carousella, Estrella. You know what to do."
"Hey, Tiny and Tinier." Cid said to the humans. "I got a mission for you."
She gave Omega a sponge, and one for Gabby too.
"Now get scrubbing. Horses, get dusting."
Cid left the young girls to themselves. Omega looked reluctant to work with just cleaning. Gabby looked at the ponies and had an idea.
"There is a way to make work more fun." Gabby said. "We just need a little more help."
Gabby vocalized a little song, and in came some little rats from the street and a few butterflies she summoned.
"Alright, everyone. Let's tidy up in here."
Come my little friends, as we all sing a happy little working song
Merry little voices clear and strong
Come and roll your sleeves up, so to speak, and pitch in
Cleaning crud up in the kitchen
As we sing along
Trill a cheery tune in the tub as we scrub a stubborn mildew stain
Pluck a hairball from the shower drain
To the gay refrain
Of a happy working song
Omega had to admit, it was pretty sweet the way her little sister had a way of making everything fun.
Meanwhile, the Batchers and Anakin were on their way to Raxus.
"We've never been to Raxus before." said Wrecker.
"The coordinates from Cid have us landing outside the capital city of Raxulon, the home of their Senate." Tech said.
"I can't believe we're helping a Separatist Senator." Echo said.
"So you have said. Repeatedly."
"Like a broken record." Maybelle said, nipping at an itch by her shoulder.
"I always thought we'd make it to Raxus someday." Hunter said. "But not like this."
"The offer still stands to let me just pay off the debt." Anakin said.
"Thank you, General. But this is something we need to handle ourselves." Hunter said. "I know, your family is rich and won't miss a few credits, but we got ourselves into this mess."
Anakin could understand where Hunter was coming from. It was true, his family was very wealthy and wouldn't miss a few credits. The Batch's debt to Cid was basically pocket change to the royal family, and Anakin was sure his father wouldn't mind them paying it off for them, but at the same time, it was more rewarding to fix the problem instead of taking an easy way out by asking the rich royals to bail them out, even if they were willing to help.
Suddenly, there were some guard ships flying in.
"Unidentified transport, this is restricted airspace." said someone on the comm. "Transmit your clearance code."
"Input the codes from Cid's client." Anakin instructed. And Tech did so.
"Hunter, the client is a Separatist." said Echo. "How do we know this isn't a trap?"
That was when the ship was granted clearance for entry.
"Now are you convinced?" Tech asked.
"No." Echo said simply.
The Batchers landed the ship and soon got off, ready to begin their mission. The horses checked the perimeter.
"All clear." Indira said.
"I am simply stating that the transit codes worked." Tech said. "The client being a Separatist is not relevant."
"It is to me." said Echo. And he looked at Anakin. "Why aren't you bothered by this?"
"I'm more concerned with this Dr. Zavi character." Anakin said.
"Why does that name sound familiar?" Maybelle said. "I feel like I heard that name somewhere before."
"Forget politics. We're here to do a job." Hunter said.
"I am very pleased to hear you say that." said a new voice. It turned out to belong to a droid.
"Who are you?" asked Tech.
"I am your client." said the droid.
"We're working for a droid?" Wrecker and Pinto said in unison. They looked at each other. "Jinx! Double jinx! Triple jinx!"
"Enough jinx." Sapphire said, sounding annoyed. She looked at the droid. "You are our client?"
"That is correct. My master, Senator Singh, was captured by a rather beastly woman who-"
"We don't care." said Echo.
"Just take us to where the Senator is being held." said Hunter.
"Right to it. I like you." said the droid. "I'm afraid that will be difficult getting to where my master is being held, however. Follow me."
Meanwhile, at Cid's parlor...
We'll keep singing without fail
Otherwise we'd spoil it
Hosing down the garbage pail
And scrubbing up the toilet, ooh!
How we all enjoy letting loose with a little la-da-dum-dum-dum
While we're emptying the vacu-um
It's such fun to hum
A happy working song
Oo-ooh, a happy working song
Cid walked by with a drink, groaning at the sight of a spontaneous musical number.
"Do you really have to act like a storybook princess, kid?" said Cid.
"It makes me happy." Gabby said, finishing cleaning. But then she noticed Omega seemed down.
"Hmm. Unlike your sister." Cid said, approaching Omega as she was scrubbing in a rather depressed manner. "Enough moping around. You're bringing the mood down around here. Can't you find a way to enjoy yourself like your little sister?"
"You literally just scolded me for singing a happy song." Gabby said.
"Sorry." Omega told Cid.
"All right, I'll bite." Cid said, rolling her eyes at Gabby. "What's wrong with you?"
"I haven't heard back from them yet. Do you think they're okay?" said Omega.
"They better be for what this job's paying." Cid said.
"Hey, that's our dad you're talking about." Gabby scolded, climbing onto a stool.
"I should've gone with them on the mission. It's not fair." Omega whined.
"If it makes you feel any better," said Gabby. "Daddy left me behind for a lot of missions during the Clone War."
"I've got news for you, kids." said Cid. "Life ain't fair. You don't like it? Stop pouting and do something about it. Maybe if you two weren't so helpless, those five laser brains wouldn't have left you here with me."
"Don't talk about our family that way!" The girl's said angrily, cacti popping around Gabby and bright light appearing in Omega's hand.
"See? Where was that when those laser brains wanted to leave you?" Cid said.
"Let's bail." Gabby said.
"That is something I actually like to hear for a change." Omega said.
The girls got down from their seats and left Cid. No one made a sound.
Carousella and Estrella glared at Cid. The two patrons playing dejarik also looked at Cid.
"What are you four looking at?" said Cid, approaching the two kids as they sat at a bench.
Gabby let Omega hug Teddy. That bear always made Gabby feel better, but it didn't seem to do much for Omega.
"I'm not helpless." said Omega.
"Neither am I." Gabby said. "Not every princess is a damsel in distress, you know."
"Look, kids," said Cid. "I told dark and broody and your daddy I'd keep an eye on you and keep you safe."
"We've been doing more of that." Carousella said. "Last I checked, you didn't have formal royal guard training."
"How much did my dad offer you?" said Omega.
Cid scoffed. "Not enough. Shoulda asked for extra dealing with horses."
"We said we wouldn't make a mess, and we cleaned up like you asked." Estrella said, and started grumbling in Spanish.
Back on Raxus, the droid took the rescue team toward the palace, but on the way, they saw people acting very oddly.
One man was hugging everyone he saw for no reason. A teenage boy was acting scared of everything he saw, and there was one girl who was trying to eat the leaves off a plant, and another man was acting like a big chicken.
"What's gotten into everyone today?" Anakin asked, confused.
"It is my master's captor who has done this, as she says, for the fun of it." said the droid.
"Who did you say captured your master again?" Indira asked.
"Dr. Zavi, I believe she said was her name." said the droid.
Soon, they arrived at the palace.
"We have arrived at the destination."
But... the palace was unguarded.
"This is bizarre," Tech commented. "There appears to be no one guarding the palace. I am detecting only one heat signature inside the building."
"Precisely because this criminal is very dangerous. She is her own guard, and has managed to stop anyone who has entered."
"Well, she won't stop us, whatever she is planning to do." Wrecker said, running in and busting down the door with his brute strength. Or... he tried to, and just left a Wrecker shaped dent in the door. "Ow..."
The others winced at Wrecker's epic fail.
"That's gonna leave a mark." Pinto said.
Wrecker flailed around dizzily as he was seeing stars.
"Did I get it?" Wrecker said dizzily.
"Uh... no." Pinto said. "You know there's a switch to open the door right here, right?"
Pinto pressed the switch with his hoof and got the door open a little bit. Banjo came in, and together, the Cabello brothers kicked the door right out from its frame.
Indira was first to go into the door.
"I'm sensing a great deal of hunger in here." said Indira. "Hunger for power, respect, among revenge."
The rescue team walked into the palace, where they heard a lot of ticks and tocks.
"This senator may not be on my friend list, but I'm pretty sure this one was not this crazy about clocks." Anakin said.
Hunter pressed his hands against the sides of his helmet as the constant noise from all the clocks was irritating his sensitive ears.
"Either way, these things are gonna drive me crazy!" Hunter said.
"You have to learn to tune out the distraction, Hunter. Remember?" Indira said. "Focus on your target, not what lies on the sides of your path."
The team decided to split up, knowing the senator could've been being held anywhere. Everyone split up and looked around.
Anakin and Sapphire went with Wrecker and Pinto and searched all across the area for any signs of the senator.
"It's like a game of Hide and Seek at this point." Anakin said. "Gabby, you're an expert. What do you think?"
But then, Anakin looked to his side, a tumbleweed blowing by where Gabby should've been.
"Oh yeah. You're not here." Anakin said sadly, suddenly starting to miss his little girl, wondering if she and his older little girl were okay."
"Ani," said Sapphire. "The girls know you only want to keep them safe. They're smart enough to take care of themselves."
However, as the group was getting closer to another door, they heard someone laughing.
"You boys look lost," said a new voice. A female one.
And the group turned to see a woman dressed like a female version of Dr. Facilier, but with round sunglasses on her face.
"Dr. Zavi, I presume?" said Anakin, getting out his lightsaber.
"Let me at her!" Wrecker said.
But Zavi removed her glasses looked Wrecker in the eyes, a black and white swirly sensation in them.
"Now, now, dear soldier. No need for violence." said Zavi.
"What did you do to him?!" Anakin said.
"The same thing I shall do to you." Zavi said. "Oh, watch dogs."
That was when the group was suddenly surrounded by a bunch of giant pocket watches and a bunch of dogs made out of clock parts came and attacked Anakin and the horses.
Anakin quickly activated his comm and contacted the others.
"If you've found the senator, get him out of here now! We got Zavi!"
Back at the parlor...
"Haha! You've got her cornered!" said the Weequay patron.
"Oh, yeah, I'm real scared." Cid said sarcastically.
"Delay all you want, you're not getting out of this one."
Gabby and Omega looked at Cid as she was about to press a button.
"I wouldn't do that." Omega said.
"I agree." Gabby said.
"Hear that?" Cid mocked. "We got two experts here."
Cid made her move, and learned the hard way that it was a bad idea.
"She's done for!" the tall alien laughed.
"I told you." Omega said.
"Our mommy is a champion at this game." Gabby said.
"Well, experts, what should I do next?" Cid asked, not seeing any other choice.
Omega stepped up to the table and hit some buttons. And to Cid's great surprise... Omega won the game for her!
"Agh! You blew it!" said one of the opponents.
"Yeah, but you're the one who said to bet it all!" said the Weequay.
"You wanna take this outside?" said the tall one.
"Gladly!"
And the two patrons left.
"How'd you know to do that?" Cid asked Omega.
"It's a strategy game." Omega said. "I'm good at strategy."
"Mommy taught me how to play," said Gabby. "And my big sister is good at strategy."
"Hmm." Cid got to thinking. "How good? Enough to, uh, win a few matches for some money?"
"Depends. What's our cut?" Omega asked.
"Hmm... thirty percent."
"Math isn't my favorite subject, but I know that doesn't sound fair." Gabby said, crossing her arms.
"Sixty." Omega said firmly.
Senator Singh sat in a cell, under some kind of trance, when the door was opened by Tech, Hunter, and their horses.
"Senator! I followed your instructions to the letter." said the droid.
Except, the senator didn't respond.
Teatra flapped a wing in front of Singh's face. No answer. Indira sniffed him and got a good look at his eyes.
"It looked like he's been hypnotized." Indira said. "One of you with hands, snap your fingers."
So, Tech stepped up and snapped his fingers in front of Senator Singh's face. The senator shook his head and snapped out of it.
"Are you okay?" Teatra asked.
"I'm fine. What's happened?"
"That strange woman locked you in here, Senator." said IG, the droid. "And she appears to have hypnotized anyone she's looked in the eyes."
"And I just remembered who she is!" Maybelle said, running in.
Maybelle recalled her aunt telling her a story about this very villain once entertaining at one of her parties when she was small. According to Maybelle, Dr. Zavi used to be a professional hypnotist and an entertainer for children's birthday parties. But then one day, one of her hypnosis acts went terribly wrong and she was mocked by everyone around her. And then, she started using her hypnotic powers to do all kinds of crimes. Making security guards open safes filled with money and valuables, forcing people in power to pardon her for her crimes, and even just making people do humiliating things and make them look bad.
"She gives a different key word and trigger for all her victims, and apparently, Cid failed to mention that Dr. Zavi doesn't work alone."
"But there was only one heat signature." Tech said. "I checked.
"I went back outside and there is another being here helpin' her." Maybelle said. "I'd say we got ourselves a couple of hypno-sisters."
Dr. Zavi had her newest captured victims all chained up as she looked each of them in the eye and then swung a single large pocket watch to hypnotize all of them at once. She gave them each a different command or suggestion, but gave them the same trigger and stopper.
"When you hear someone say 'Mariverde,' you will do as I have commanded, and only the sound of an eagle's screech can turn you back to normal. Now, when I snap my fingers, you will fall into a deep sleep and remember nothing."
And she snapped her fingers, making all the victims fall into a deep sleep. But she wasn't alone.
"Sorry I took so long," said a new girl dressed like a gypsy.
"Phase one complete. You know what to do, Mezmira." said Zavi.
"Yes, Sister." said Mezmira.
Anakin, Wrecker, Crosshair, Echo, and every horse of theirs except Maybelle woke up not remembering anything.
"What happened?" Crosshair wondered.
The whole group looked around and saw they were outside the palace, laying on the ground. Anakin immediately contacted Hunter and Echo.
"We've got the Senator," said Hunter. "Any sign of the villains?"
"Villains?" Anakin questioned.
"Maybelle has notified us with new information about this Dr. Zavi. Apparently, she has a younger sister name Mezmira, who posseses identical abilities to hers. While Zavi prefers to use her magic to commit devious schemes, Mezmira prefers to hypnotize simply to make victims make fools out of themselves."
"Well, we're outside." Anakin said. "I don't know what happened, but I don't see the villains anywhere, or have any idea of how to help anyone else here."
"Their key words could be anything." Maybelle said. "Try snapping your fingers. If that doesn't work, shout any word that comes to mind until you find one that works."
So, the rescue team did just that, while the others looked for the villains, but didn't find them anywhere in sight.
"Where'd they go?" Teatra wondered out loud.
The flying horses looked high and low, but found nothing. It seemed the villains simply vanished. But at least they rescued the senator and were able to get him safely to Ord Mantell.
When the group got back to the parlor, they were surprised to see people rushing inside. There were sounds of people cheering.
"What's all this?" Wrecker asked.
Curious, the rescue team went inside to see what all the fuss was about.
"No one can stop these kids." said a Gotal.
"Of course." Anakin smiled, seeing his daughters playing dejarik.
Currently, Omega and Gabby were competing against a Pantoran male who was sure he could beat them. He made his move and took out one of their figures.
Gabby and Omega looked at each other. Omega whispered something in Gabby's ear, and the little one did the honors. And to the crowds great shock, they won another game! Everybody cheered!
"All right, show's over. No more bets." Cid said.
Wrecker picked up Omega and Anakin picked up Gabby.
"Kid, where'd you learn to do that?" Wrecker smiled.
"She's a natural." said Cid. "I've never seen anything like it."
"I helped." Gabby said. "Big Sister's really good."
Omega was feeling pretty good about her gift and finding something she and her little sister had in common... until Hunter spoke up.
"I told you to keep a low profile." He said. "This is the opposite."
Omega looked down. So did Gabby.
"Ease up, Bandana." Cid said. Omega and Gabby made enough money to pay off the debt you boys owe me, so try showing a little gratitude to my friends. You did good, girls."
Cid approached the Senator then.
"Senator, you made it. Let's talk payment.
While the Batchers, except Hunter, accompanied Cid, the oldest of the Batchers was still processing what just happened.
"You really paid off our debt?" said Hunter to Omega.
"I wanted to be useful, even if I couldn't go on the mission."
"Mmm. How about we put those strategy skills to the test?"
Hunter walked to the dejarik table.
"One match. If you win, then no more sitting out on missions."
Hunter and Omega sat at the dejarik table.
"You ready for this?" said Hunter.
"Are you?" Omega said.
"Go get him, Big Sister." Gabby said.
Omega smiled at Gabby's encouragement and began the match with Hunter.
Gabby had a question, though.
"Did you catch the bad guys, Daddy?" she asked Anakin.
"No... we didn't. They got away." Anakin said. "Luckily no one was hurt. But... there's something off about this mission."
Anakin sat down and shared his observations from what he could remember and piece together from what Hunter and Tech told him.
The Hypno-Sisters put the Senator somewhere he could easily be rescued from, hypnotized a bunch of people, and then vanished after someone came to the Senator's aid. Nothing was stolen, no one was seriously harmed, and the villains left no evidence of where they were going next.
"Sounds like they were some very tricky criminals." Omega said, not taking her eyes off the table.
"Oh, they are."
In a dark alleyway somewhere, Dr. Zavi and Mezmira wore dark cloaks as they went over their master plan.
Unlike her sister, Mezmira was not placed in M.A.R.E.D, as she did not prove as dangerous. Her record indicated she only hypnotized people to make fools of themselves. Making them act like animals, do something crazy, or think they were someone else. So, she was placed in a regular enchanted prison that was more like a civilian prison. She was also released from prison recently after a five-year sentence, while her sister was sentenced to life in prison over twenty years ago.
"What exactly is the plan again?" Mezmira asked.
"I've told you a hundred times," said Zavi. "You hypnotize the others as a distraction, while I took care of Anakin Skywalker so he could carry out my master plan. Word on the dark scroll is that Solaris has returned, and the legendary villain Mariverde is after their crown jewels. We are going to get them before she does."
"Why didn't we just hypnotize them to tell us where to get them?"
"Do I have to spell it out for you? That would be too obvious! Mariverde is always clavatizing someone, which keeps the royal family occupied in one way or another. If they are busy facing another problem while we have one royal family member at our disposal, he will get the jewels for us and bring them right to us before anyone will know what is happening."