I decided to immediately have a nap after entering the TARDIS, so I bid everyone farewell as I darted to the bedroom and tossed myself into my bed. Gladius was in his scabbard, and when he slid into my arms, in no time, I was out like a light. Occasionally, I was vaguely aware of Gladius shifting every so often, but it wasn't enough to kick me out of sleep.

But when the room's door opened, the light from outside splashing on my face, that did it. With a groan that sounded more like a whine, I cracked my eye open to see Majima grumbling quietly to himself as he rummaged through his bag. He didn't seem to notice I was awake, so I just stayed silent until the cycloptic yakuza left with a wad of cash.

Once he was gone, I let out a tired sigh and moved to sit up. Gladius wiggled out of my grasp and hovered by my side, stretching his wings over his head. "That was a nice rest. I needed that."

"What, was your nap when we were saving Waddles not good enough?" I joked as I yawned.

Gladius huffed. "You won't ever let me live that down, will you?"

"Nope." I shot my friend a cheeky grin, although with my droopy eyelids it clearly wasn't as effective as I hoped.

"I'll find something to get back at you with this…"

"I'd like to see you try, Gladdy", I paused to yawn and stretch, "Besides, I'm pretty sure Maria and Manolo would end up shoving you back into your rock if they caught you in the act."

The sword froze, then shivered in fear. "Good point. And I fear what Rainbow would do if she saw me."

I let out a quiet laugh as I finally removed myself from bed, heading out of the room with Gladius close to my side. The TARDIS was surprisingly quiet, so I decided to take out my headphones and put on some music. The preppy beat of I'll Rust With You by Steam Powered Giraffe helped with expelling some of the sleepiness from my body. But it only did so much, so I made my way towards the kitchen, my music giving me a slight skip in my step.

The kitchen was empty when I reached it, and I cocked my eyebrow in confusion. It was weird how I've only seen Majima so far, but I choked it up to them just enjoying some peace. I quickly took out an apple and bit into it as Gladius poured me a glass of juice. I was entirely engrossed into my music, only subconsciously reaching and taking a sip of the drink.

So much so, I nearly dropped my cup in shock when Rory suddenly walked in. Both of us jumped, staring at each other wide eyes. After we stood frozen for a good minute before Gladius intervened by pausing my music and pulling my headphones off.

I shook my head. "Hey Rory. Sorry, I didn't expect to see you here."

"Ah, it's okay", Mr.Pond waved off. "Majima's been getting us into this big poker tournament, and everyone's in the library either watching or playing along."

"Sounds lovely", Gladius droned out sarcastically.

"I said the same thing." Rory pulled out a mug and went to make himself some coffee. "I tapped out a bit ago. I was just watching, Amy was absolutely destroying everyone, but felt like doing something more productive."

I hummed. "You want to head to the main console and see if we've arrived yet?"

"The Doctor would've told us. He's been there this whole time."

I gave the man an odd look. "But he wasn't there when I was coming here."

Rory gave me a slightly confused look. "What…?"

The coffee was abandoned as the three of us all left to see where the eccentric time traveller could be. We first scanned over the central room, and he was nowhere in sight. So then we moved onto the bedrooms, then the bathroom, the pool, and then did a complete sweep of the kitchen.

With defeated looks, we slumped into the chairs at the dining table. I let out a tired sigh, burying my face in my hands. "Maybe he's at the library watching the poker tournament."

Rory groaned. "He probably is… No, actually, he has to be. I could tell he was going to crash it when he glanced at Izzy, after she said she was in." He massaged his temple. "Yeah… Yeah, I don't know what I expected."

Gladius straightened up and started to hover again, snorting. "I suppose all of us could say that. The Doctor works on another level."

"Understatement", I added with a quiet laugh.

After that was all determined, Rory poured himself a cup of coffee and made his way back to the library. I was contemplating joining him, but after a few moments of thinking, I decided to just chill in the main room. Gladius stuck close as I sat on the stairs that went up to the console, the set that faced the front door.

I returned to my music, bobbing my head slightly as the tunes bounced around my head. Closing my eyes, I simply let my music take me away, my sword companion leaning against my right side. As the song switched over to Monster by Imagine Dragons, I started to silently sing along to the melody. I was quiet and calm, almost haunting in the way I sang the somewhat sad lyrics.

I was, once again, so engrossed in the music I didn't notice Gladius moving away and someone else sitting next to me. Subconsciously, with my eyes still closed, I continued to sing as I leaned into the new body next to me, the flat surface making it obvious it was Steve. The crafter scooted closer, the warmth from him keeping me grounded. I stopped singing and turned down the volume and moved one of the speakers off my ear so I could listen as all my other friends made their way into the room.

A very slight smile formed on my face as I heard the faint dejected grumbling, all of it seemingly targeted at Amy and, unsurprisingly, Majima. Pretty clear who swept the poker tournament.

Ruby walked up in front of me with Galacta, both of them watching the others. The rag doll looked concerned and slightly frazzled, while the knight looked absolutely done with all of this.

"I'm guessing it got rough?" I asked, trying to keep my smile from growing.

"Turns out Majima bought beer back at Gravity Falls", Ruby explained. "And all the adults except Rory and Maria had some shots. Every lost round was another sip, and… well…"

Galacta groaned. "Things got very competitive very quickly. Mixed with the younger ones who were playing, but couldn't drink, and it was a recipe for a complete, as Majima would put it, shit-show."

I shot the crafter a look. "What about you, Steve?"

"Turns out beer is no different from me drinking a potion of slowness and weakness simultaneously", he explained. "So after one sip, I instantly joined the spectators. Not dealing with moving that slow for an hour."

I snorted. "Yeah, that's understandable."

I looked over my shoulder, and watched as The Doctor worked away at the console. "Alrighty then, gang! We're almost there, so buckle up!"

That was all the warning we got, as the TARDIS suddenly lurched, sending all of us flying. I cried out as Jenny stretched her arms to catch me and Steve. Barranco and Dave weren't as lucky, bouncing around like they were trapped in a vicious game of pinball. Ralph was hugging Hilda and Vanellope close as the whole ship swayed and shifted.

The Powerpuffs, Gladius and Galacta, being the only ones constantly hovering, were doing their best trying to correct everyone, but it was fruitless.

The Doctor and Zomboss were trying to operate the ship, but they were struggling to use the controls.

"Big switch, Doctor!" Amy roared over the chaos as she gripped the railing till her knuckles paled.

"What do you think I'm doing?!" The time traveller shot back. He then reached over and forced the large main switch up, and with a deep gong sound, the TARDIS ceased all movement suddenly.

Jenny stumbled on her feet for a moment before centering herself, and then relaxing. Me and Steve were set on the floor, and ran around making sure all of our friends were okay.

The biggest casualty of the spin out was Dry Bowser, who was in a head under a groaning Izzy, Flowey and Marco.

Otherwise, everyone was in one piece and alright.

"Alright gang!" I announced. "Get yourselves together and meet me outside!"

Before anyone could react, I headed outside. Gladius gripped my shoulders when I swung the door open, clearly expecting what happened last time to repeat. But we weren't at a cliff. We were in a park, which was shockingly empty considering it was midday.

"Where the heck are we?" Vanellope asked, poking her head outside as she ducked between my legs. Hilda and Twig peered out around my left side and Ruby and Iris peered around my right.

We seemed to be in a typical city. Nothing more, nothing less.

"A city, as the simplest explanation", Alfur bluntly said from his perch on Hilda's beret.

"C'mon", I mumbled, walking out into the open air. "Maybe we'll be able to find a sign somewhere."

With a nod, me and all the younger kids left to find some sense of location.

~X~

The city was very lively, which was a good sign. But we still had yet to find the name of our current stop. It was kind of frustrating. When we tried to ask, emphasis on tried, we were always ignored. It was like we were invisible.

The behaviour was really starting to get to Iris, who looked more and more uncomfortable. "So, what are we going to do now?"

"I guess we'll need to find a landmark of sorts…" Gladius mumbled. Before we headed into the more crowded and busy streets, he had tucked himself into his scabbard, and strapped it to me.

"Maybe there's a city hall nearby?" Ruby asked hopefully.

I nodded, looked across the street…

Then I froze at the sight before me.

Across the street was what looked to be a young pre-teen. She had a black and green striped shirt on with short yellow sleeves, with velvet red pants and black boots. Her hair was the most striking detail, as like Ruby's, it was entirely red, the same shade as her pants. She had large eyes with what seemed to be mascara around them, and a slight frown on her face.

She was with two other young boys. One was a bit large, with a white shirt, red headband, and black hair spiked up like tall grass. The other boy was shorter, a bit more than the girl, with a black shirt with a tuxedo styled on it, glasses, and bowl cut-esque haircut.

The girl was tapping her foot impatiently as the two boys ogled something behind a storefront window. After a moment, she barked at them about something, and the three of them were off.

I watched them leave with wide-eyes, only to snap out of my trance when Vanellope climbed up onto my shoulder and snapped her fingers in my face.

"What was that about, Glasses?" She asked me.

Iris watched the trio dash around the corner. "What makes them so special?"

"I'll explain that later, c'mon!" I began to run back towards the park, knocking the racer off her perch. "I need the others to be here!"

"Here for what?" Jenny asked as she suddenly rounded the corner.

I cried out in shock and ploughed into her, falling to the ground limply. I stared up in shock as the teenage robot leaned over to look at me with a confused expression. I leaned forward a bit to see the others all follow after her, giving me similar looks. Above, I saw Galacta perched on the roof. Dry Bowser was nowhere to be seen.

"Perfect!" I shouted in excitement. I sprung to my feet so swiftly it caught the others off guard. "I know exactly where we are! But first… Where's Dry Bowser?"

"Back at the TARDIS", Zomboss explained with a shrug. "We left a walkie-talkie with him so he can move it somewhere that isn't the middle of a park when I give the go ahead."

"Okay, cool. Second, all will be explained soon. Just follow me!" I was bursting with joy as I spun around and marched down the street, leaving the rest of the group dumbfounded. I peered over my shoulder, ready to cross the street after where the trio from before went.

The group all shared a look, then shrugged, following after me as I crossed the street. With a happy pep in my step, I led my massive party through the streets of our next stop, and as we did, I noticed a sign that confirmed where we were.

Peaceville.

Seeing that name made my heart soar as my smile beamed brighter, and for all the walk I had my head held high. We continued through the city, the sun still high above when we reached a more suburban street. The more we walked, the more confused the others became. They asked a lot of questions, but I shut them all down with ease, which only made their confusion grow more and more.

Soon, I stopped a few houses down from one that had its garage door open. Loud rock music could be heard coming from it, which made my mind race. I began to shake in excitement, so much so Manolo and Maria each put a hand on my shoulder.

"Is everything okay, mijo?" The musician asked.

"Y-Yes", I said, shaky but firm. "It's just… Th-There's a band I ad-dore in that garage, and I-I-I… I'm so excited!"

"Well let's go say high then!" Izzy cheered. She began to saunter forward, and my mind was reeling as I was dragged along. When we reached the house, looking in, we saw the three from earlier. The girl was holding a guitar, the large boy was behind a drum set, and the glasses-wearing boy was operating an electric keyboard.

On the makeshift stage that was built inside was another boy. Blue hair peeked out from under an orange toque, and he wore a black shirt with long white sleeves, burnt orange shorts and blue sneakers. On his toque was a skull logo, one that Izzy gave a suspicious look, but that didn't matter to me.

The girl was the first one to notice us. "Uhhhh, Core… looks like we got an audience."

The other three guys looked at us, and the blue haired boy beamed. "Righteous, fans!" He darted over to the front of my group. "Welcome to where the magic is made! This is the home of Grojband, and I'm your main man Corey Riffin!"

There was a beat of silence, all my friends about to introduce themselves.

Before I let out the most fan-girly scream I could muster, making everyone jump back and stare at me in utter shock.

"Oh my gosh!!!" I squealed, running up to Corey. "I am a massive fan of your stuff. Like, seriously, the songs you guys made helped get me into rock you have no idea how amazing this is just omg omg omg omg omg-"

Jenny gripped onto my shoulders and shook me violently, but it did nothing to get the stupid grin I had on my face. "Caleb, what the heck?!" She gave Corey a sheepish grin. "Sorry, I guess he's having a bit of a freak out."

Corey waved her off. "It's all cool, dudette. This is exactly what I would expect from a fan of this rocktacular band."

Manolo, The Doctor and Rory shared confused looks.

"Hate to disappoint you guys", the red haired girl said, appearing behind her friend suddenly. "But we were about to start our practice sesh. It'd be nice if you came around some other time."

"But I wanted to see this amazing band rock out in person!" I whined. "We've been travelling for so long, and this is a dream come true for me!" I dashed out of Jenny's grasp. "From lead guitarist and singer Corey Riffin, the incredible bassist Laney Penn", I pointed at the red haired girl, "And brothers Kin and Kon Kujira", I pointed at the glasses bot and larger boy, "The unstoppable duo of pianist and drummer! Together you all make up the legendary Grojband, whose songs have touched me dearly."

After I ended my rant, standing in the middle of the garage with an awestruck look, all I got was silence. Everyone was utterly floored by my rant, especially my friends, who all looked at me with such wide eyes I thought they'd pop out of their sockets.

"What the actually fuck was that?" Majima said in flabbergasted confusion.

"I think Caleb's become a fanboy…" Amy whispered in confused horror.

They all let out a sigh. "This'll be fun." Flowey grumbled.

~X~

After I was able to be calmed down, I sat on the edge of the makeshift stage explaining the basics of who we were to the band as the others all checked out the now closed garage.

"So, you guys are travellers…" Kin repeated after I finished my simplified explanation, "And you have heard about us, so you decided to just… hang out."

I nodded rapidly. "Yep! Again, I'm a massive fan of what you've done."

"Awesome!" Corey cheered. "That means my ideas have been working! Grojband is on the map, gang!"

"Hold on Core", Laney said, giving me a suspicious look. "How do you know about us?"

I shrugged simply. "You guys make such a fuss in your city that it tends to get on the news. I saw you on there once, and after seeing a snippet of one of your songs, I looked you up online and saw people have uploaded your performances on the internet. After one video, I was hooked."

Kin and Kon shared a look, then beamed. "Dude, this is awesome! This means we probably have fans around the world!"

Laney relented with a sigh and sat back down on the couch she and her bandmates were using. "Sure, I guess this is cool. Still, this doesn't sit well with me."

"Excuse me, Mr.Riffin", Zomboss asked politely. The guitarist looked at the zombie. "I was wondering if I could call our friend. He's waiting in our vehicle, and I was hoping we could spend some time here till we move on to our next stop."

"Of course, dude!" Corey agreed with no hesitation.

The zombie nodded and started talking into his walkie-talkie. I caught none of it, and just smiled as I gazed at the band. Kin and Kon had left to talk with Majima. Laney had moved to sit next to me on my right while Corey was on my left, watching my friends as they surveyed the surroundings.

"So how did you meet everyone?" Laney asked.

I gained a sad look, unsheathing Gladius and holding him out. "Gladius, it's okay."

The sword wiggled out of my grasp and turned to the two new faces. Corey and Laney's faces didn't shift to shock, but rather curiosity.

With a sigh, Gladius decided to rip the band-aid off. "There was an accident back at our home. It accidentally opened a doorway of sorts that sent us so far away that left us scrambling. All of them", the sword gestured to the others, "Decided to tag along to help us, keep us company, all of that."

"It's been hard", I added, slightly downtrodden, only to perk up immediately. "But it's been wild. The good kind."

Both band members smiled at that, only to frown when the sound of an arriving TARDIS began to echo through the room. At the other end, the blue box materialised out of thin air, and when it was stationary, Dry Bowser walked out.

"Alright, everything is in order, I'll make sure…" He trailed off when we noticed the four members of Grojband staring at him in shock. Galacta exited the police box right after, not caring about the stares and simply flying on top of our ship.

Laney and Corey shared a look, looked at Gladius, then at me. "Soooooo…" The guitarist began. "Are you guys aliens?"

I nodded and shrugged simultaneously. "In a way, yes, yes we are."

"Cool", Corey said with a smile. "Fans who are aliens. That's just amazing to think about."

Laney gave me a long and hard look, then shrugged. "We've seen weirder, so you're fine. Plus, it explains… them." She pointed at Flowey and Zomboss, who were with the Powerpuff Girls chatting.

I nodded while pursing my lips. "Yeah… They can be eccentric, but they've helped me through so much. So if you're in my place, you'll understand."

"I bet", Laney said simply.

Turning my attention away from the bassist, I watched as Kin and Kon followed The Doctor inside the TARDIS, before rushing out and over to us in utter shock.

"It's bigger on the inside!" Kon stuttered in shock. "You guys need to check this out!"

Corey and Laney shared a shocked look with each other then me, and I just smirked and hopped onto me two feet. I gestured for them to follow, and they all headed inside to explore. Maple climbed onto my shoulder as I led the band inside, nuzzling my cheek sweetly.

~X~

Nice had fallen on Peaceville, and we had decided to take residence inside of the Riffin household. Corey had warned us about his sister, Trina, and how she'd blow a gasket at seeing us. So Dry moved the Time Machine to the back corner, and the band quickly covered it with a tarp, giving us a sort of protection from, as Kon put it, "Metal-Melting Glare".

After that was all said and done, we bid the band good night and farewell, and I made my way inside the TARDIS. My eyelids were already feeling heavy, my energy spent from all the excitement I used. I didn't let it keep me down, though, because the ideas of what could happen while we were here made my mind race.

Even as I got curled up in bed, Maple snuggling into my chest and Gladius cuddling up while he was in his scabbard, I couldn't let the smile on my face fade. Something about us being here in Peaceville, meeting Grojband… it was like it was fate.

And, deep in my mind, I was gonna try and get them to tag along with us.

With a happy sigh, I finally let my eyes close, dreaming sweet dreams at the endless possibilities tomorrow…

~X~

And this the next arc begins with a bang! Yep, this time 'round we find ourselves in Peaceville, the main setting of the cartoon Grojband. Another FreshTV property, like Total Drama. This show is super special to me, and I wasn't lying about the songs being a key factor as top why I love rock.

They're catchy, okay? Don't judge me!

Regardless, I am shaking. This is it. 3 arcs to go till this story's endgame. Till we get to see the whole group go through the finale. Till we finally see this massive adventure meet its end.

I'm both not ready, and ready.

Up next: When Corey decides to rope the band into a reckless race, Caleb does the same to his friends as the fanboy within him ignites once again…

~Caleb~