Chapter 13

"HEY, JAMIIIL!" Grim shouted, running full speed toward the guy. "I got your mushroom!"

"Quit zigzaggin' and lemme catch you!" Floyd said. Finally, he managed to move in front of him and grab him. "Gotcha! One sealie snagged."

"MRAAAH! I was THIS close to Jamil!"

"Are you guys playing tag while the rest of us are working?" Jamil said, not sounding amused. "Must be nice having time to goof off."

"Ain't nothin' nice about it!" Floyd said. "This guy here..."

"Argh, it just ain't fair!" said Grim. "I want my curry!"

"Uh, Grim?" said Jamil. "Do you realize you're holding a poisonous mushroom?"

"What?! It's not a shiitake?"

"Sure ain't," said Floyd, looking at him with an annoyed expression.

"I told you to listen to him," I said.

"Lemme lay out some sweet 'shroom facts for ya. The shiitake, or lentinula edodes, is an edible mushroom of the lentinula genus, tricholomataceae family, and agaricales order. They grow on the decaying wood of deciduous trees but can sometimes be found on cedars and other conifers. They have a broad stem with a brown cap and white gills. Their earthy flavor and meaty texture make them a popular food item. Now, that mushroom you've got in your paws? Totally different. See, this mushroom possess similar visual markers to a shiitake. But it's highly toxic, and consuming it can cause poisoning symptoms, including acute stomach pain. Unlike the shiitake, there's a firm ring on its stem. You can also identify it by the red spots on the stem's interior. ...tl;dr, that 'shroom's bad news."

"Nice," I said, unable to hide my grin. "Thanks for the info." Everyone else appeared completed dumbfounded.

"Whoa, you sounded like a nature documentary," said a basketball club member. "Were you reading off a script?"

"You coulda just told me it was poisonous and saved us a whole lotta trouble!" Grim exclaimed.

"I literally said it was inedible," said Floyd.

"Wait, that wasn't just 'cause you don't like 'em? Why didn't you say so?!"

"What's this? Little Sealie's blamin' someone else for his mistakes?" Floyd smiled in a teasing manner. "If you didn't want to listen to me, you shoulda listened to Lil' Shrimpy."

"Exactly," I said. "And I should make you apologize for doubting him - and me." Grim muttered under his breath - something about never apologizing for any reason.

"Okay, all of you just cut it out," Jamil said. "I have to admit, Floyd, I'm impressed. You've really done your homework on this. I make it a point to research toxins, but even I would have trouble identifying that mushroom at first glance."

"Homework?" said Floyd. "Nah. You know studying's not my thing. I just recited an entry from this guidebook I glanced at the other day."

"All that from a glance...? Care to elaborate?"

"Jade gave me this book called Hiking Made Easy before I left for camp. Practically shoved it into my hands. He was all like, 'I assure you this will come in handy!' He wouldn't get off my case about it, so I flipped through it real quick. That's where I saw the mushroom facts."

"Ah, so I should thank Jade for saving our lives," I said.

"You memorized all that just from glancing at the page?!" Jamil said in shock. "Did you memorize the entire book that way...?"

"Yup," said Floyd. "But it's all pretty dry, so my brain'll probably eject it before long."

"Fascinating. I always wondered how your test grades could swing so wildly from near-perfect to outright abysmal. But I never imagined your memory was subject to your mood swings as well. Ona, why do you not look surprised about his knowledge?"

"Because I'm not," I said. "Floyd has a photographic memory."

"And you know that how?"

"He told me."

"Are you two friends?" Jamil had a look of disapproval that made me bristle. Was he seriously going to judge me - and Floyd - too?

"Of course we are!" Floyd said enthusiastically, slinging an arm around my shoulder.

I relaxed, smiling slightly. "Yeah. You got a problem with that?"

"It's none of my business," Jamil said. "Do whatever you want. It doesn't affect me."

"Hey, Sea Snake, is dinner ready yet?" said Floyd, retracting his arm. "All that runnin' made me even hungrier."

"Mrah... I really had a hankerin' for curry..." Grim said sadly.

"Eh, no harm in you joinin' us. You did hold up your end of the bargain, in a way."

Grim looked at him hopefully. "Mrah?! Really?"

"Then again, you DID almost poison our whole club."

Grim glared at him. "Grr... What's with you gettin' up my hopes then dashin' 'em?! That's messed up!"

"What if we said pretty please?" I said, giving Floyd my most innocent look.

"What do you think, Sea Snake?" said Floyd.

Jamil sighed. "Tell you what. You can have some if you help me clean up after dinner."

"Ahaha, there you go! You can cover my cleaning duty while you're at it."

"Rrrgh... I don't wanna do any more work," Grim grumbled. "But I guess I won't be doin' much of anything on an empty stomach..."

"You've got yourself a deal," I said.

Floyd smiled. "Great. Can't wait for some nice, hot EDIBLE curry."

I chuckled lightly. "Me too." That day, delicious curry was had by all.

Grim and I resumed checking up on the clubs. They all seemed to be doing pretty well. Perhaps no one would get disbanded this year. We finished before sunset, so Grim took the chance to take a nap against a tree. I was wandering around when someone grabbed me and pulled me into the woods. I was prepared to use my Kung Fu moves until I recognized my kidnapper.

"Floyd, what's the big idea?" I said.

Floyd grinned at me. "There's something I want to show you."

"We need to head back to camp soon."

"This won't take long. Come on!" He grabbed my hand and pulled me with him. Resigned to my fate, I walked with him, curious as to what he had in mind. We walked for a fairly long time. When darkness fell, I started to worry. "Are you sure you know where you're going?"

"Yep! We're almost there." Floyd brushed some tree branches aside. "I found this when I was exploring on my own earlier, and I thought you'd like it."

I stepped into a clearing and gasped. Flowers of every color littered the area, and they were glowing. "Wow. This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. How did you find it?"

"I read about these flowers in the book Jade gave me. They're extremely rare, but the book described their growing conditions perfectly. Unfortunately, they stop growing if you pick 'em, but they're nice to look at."

I smiled at him. "They're wonderful." Flowers were an important part of my Hawaiian heritage, so I always loved seeing new ones. "Thank you for showing them to me, Floyd." I wrapped my arms around him in a hug.

Floyd hugged me back tightly. "Aw, if you do that, Shrimpy, I'm going to squeeze you and never let you go."

"I don't mind." I nuzzled my face into his chest, enjoying his closeness.

Floyd rested his head on top of mine and chuckled. "You really are fearless."

A moment of peace passed. Then, even from that far away, we heard the distant sound of Vargas shouting. I held in a sigh. "We better get back. We don't want to get into trouble."

"Fine," Floyd grumbled. He let me go so I could walk but kept one arm around me until we got back to camp. Grim gave us a suspicious look upon our arrival but said nothing. I moved closer to him as I listened to Vargas praise everyone's efforts.

"Tomorrow is the last day of Camp Vargas," said Vargas. "Which means you'll be facing your final challenge. You'll find out more about it when the time comes. Keep your heads in the game and give it 110 percent! Any questions? If not, you're all dismissed."

"Coach?" said Jamil. "I have a concern, actually."

"Ah, Viper, with the Basketball Club. What is it?"

"Ace Trappola hasn't been back to camp since yesterday."

"Ace is still gone?" I said. I had not thought much about it earlier, but now he had been missing for more than 24 hours. That was a problem.

"Hm. Trappola, huh?" said Vargas.

"That's right, sir," said Jamil. "No one's seen him since yesterday afternoon. I'm worried something might've happened..."

"HAAH HAH HAH HAH! Relax, Viper. He's probably too ashamed to face you guys after skipping out on his assignment. He'll be back when his stomach starts rumblin'! You should be more concerned with your next challenge! Make sure to rest up those muscles— you need to be ready for anything. Dismissed!"

"Where'd Ace run off to?" Grim said to me. "If he's been gone since yesterday afternoon... Does that mean he ain't eaten for a whole day?!"

"I hope he's okay..." I said.

"Then again, we know what a schemer that guy is. Maybe he's found somethin' good and is keepin' it to himself. I'll get the answers outta him when we find him!"

"He'll be fine," Floyd said.

I sighed. "Yeah, hopefully he's just goofing off. It's too dark to search now. I'll look for him in the morning."

"You're that worried about him?"

"He's my best friend. Of course I am."

"I still say he's slacking, but if he's not there by morning, I'll help you look for him."

I smiled slightly. "Thanks."

"Record keepers!" said Vargas. "Time to head back to the cottage!"

"There's Vargas," said Grim. "We better get goin'. Aw, geez, I hope he doesn't make us sit on that bench he's using as a dumbbell to add extra weight again."

"Just as long as we can get to sleep quickly," I said. We headed to our tent, and that was when the trouble started.

Out of nowhere, we heard Vargas shout, "Ahhh! Stop! Someone, help!"

"Eep!" Grim cried. "What's goin' on?"

"Let's check it out," I said. We slowly crept out of our tent and saw a dark shadow near the cottage. Grim freaked out, so we ran back inside our tent. I was still trying to calm him down when we were visited by some of the campers: Floyd, Jamil, Jack, Ruggie, and Epel.

Grim sniffled as we stepped outside to talk to them. "I... I... I thought we were goners! MRAAAH! What took you guys so long?!"

"Ahaha! Sealie's got tears and snot all over his face!" said Floyd.

"Well, at least neither of you appear to be injured," said Jack.

"The way Grim's acting, I'm guessing whatever went down was no joke," said Ruggie.

"Could you tell us what happened?" Epel asked.

"Me an' Ona were just hangin' out in our tent when Vargas started shoutin' all of a sudden. He was all like, 'Ahhh! Stop! Someone, help!' So, we peeked out all quiet-like and saw a huge dark shadow leapin' from the cottage!"

"A dark shadow?" said Floyd. "Oh man, what was it?!"

"Sorry, no idea," I said.

"Guess I'll have to find out for myself then!"

I bit my lip. "R-Right..."

"Are you afraid? Don't worry. Stick with me, and I'll protect you."

"Thanks." Although, I wondered, if he was going to charge into danger, it was not safer to stay away from him.

"I'm glad you're both okay," said Epel.

"But what should we do?" said Jack. "Now Coach Vargas is missing."

"I think we'd better talk with the rest of the campers," said Jamil. "That shadow could come back. It's dangerous to linger here any longer."

"Good call," said Ruggie. "There's more light at camp, not to mention more people. Let's slip through the woods and head back."

We returned to the campsite and gathered all the campers. Then we explained what had been going on. Apparently, Deuce and Leona were also missing. This did not look good at all. In the end, we decided to all stay together and wait until morning for Crowley to come get us and take appropriate action to save the others. Floyd disagreed, but he was overruled.

"Hey, Epel," said Grim. "You know the time?"

"It must be past midnight by now," said Epel. "Probably around 2 a.m."

"So, we still got a while before the headmage gets here. Brrr... This campfire ain't even warmin' my whiskers. Don't we got any coats or blankets?"

"It does get cold at night here," said Jamil. "There should be a bunch of blankets in the tents..."

"A bunch, you say? That means there's enough to share with your ol' pal Grim! I'm gonna go snag one!"

"Slow your roll, Grim," said Ruggie. "It's too dangerous to go by yourself. We need to stick together."

"Aww, c'mon! The tents are like, right there! I'm freezin' my tail off! I'm gonna catch cold if I don't warm up soon. And don't think I didn't see your teeth chatterin', Jamil!"

Jamil sighed. "Okay, fine. Would a few of you come with us? We're going to get some blankets."

"I'll join you," I said.

"Ooh, I'll come along," said Epel. "I could use a blanket myself. I'll get one for you too, Ruggie!"

"I'll go and grab a few for the Equestrian Club," said a camper.

"Thank you, much appreciated," said Silver.

"I'll go, too!" said a track club member.

"I guess that's a big enough group," said Ruggie.

We all walked off to raid the tents. I had only stepped into the nearest tent when I suddenly felt very tired. I collapsed on the ground, fast asleep.

I awoke to the sun shining brightly on my face. I tried to move but found myself tied to a tree. My heart beat picked up. Oh no! What was going to happen to me now? A minute later, a ghost appeared in my face and untied me. He was gone before I could ask any questions. I wasted no time in running back to camp.

Luckily, I found Grim, Riddle, Epel, and the other members of the blanket group already in camp. "You're alright," I said in relief. "What happened?"

"No idea," said Grim.

"And where are the others?" No one had any idea, so all we could do was wait. We were all on edge until we saw Floyd, Jack, Ruggie, and Sebek approaching us.

"Hey! Team Ruggie's back!"

"Grim! Ona!" Ruggie said. "The other missing campers are here too... You're all okay?!"

"When I came to, I found myself tied to a tree in the woods," said Jamil.

"Likewise," said Riddle. "I suddenly felt faint, then the next thing I knew, I was in the forest. The ghosts just now untied our ropes."

"Where were you guys, Ruggie?" said Epel. "And what exactly happened?"

"I don't really know myself," said Ruggie.

"Shrimpy, you're alright!" Floyd exclaimed, enveloping me in a hug.

I smiled as I returned the gesture. "Sorry if I worried you."

"Don't leave us alone with him again, Ona," Ruggie said. "He was a pain."

I extracted myself from Floyd and turned to Ruggie. "And you think I can get him to behave better?" I gave him a doubtful look.

Ruggie shrugged. "He wouldn't shut up about you."

"Really?"

"Looks like everyone's here!" said Vargas, popping out of nowhere.

"Vargas?!" Grim exclaimed.

"I'm sure some of you are confused, so allow me to explain. You've just completed the final challenge of Camp Vargas! The topic of your final challenge—combat! The challenge was to keep calm and flex your minds and muscles in the face of an unknown threat. Your friends go missing! Your dependable teacher is gone! A powerful foe is hunting you! I gauged how you handled being thrown into crisis. And that was your true assignment."

"Wait a minute, back up!" said Ruggie.

"So, you were the one who took Ace and the others?" said Jamil.

"That's right!" said Vargas. "I deemed that any students who skipped out on assignments weren't worthy of the final challenge. And so I gave them educational guidance instead! It would be inexcusable to waste an opportunity to improve their muscles. So, I stuck them in a cabin and made them do nonstop squats under a ghost's supervision. Don't worry. They'll be back any minute now."

"Man, seriously?" said Floyd. "So Crabby really was skippin' out on work?"

"Geez, Leona..." said Ruggie. "Way to scare me over nothin'."

"I'm now ready to announce the results of your final challenge," said Vargas. And per my assessment...YOU PASS! It's impressive that despite going up against ME, you managed to avoid total annihilation all the way until sunrise. That goes double for Bucchi, Leech, Zigvolt, and Howl. You four are our MVPs. You might even get close to my level soon! Let's give them a big round of applause!" I clapped along with everyone else.

"I have no idea how I'm supposed to feel about this," said Ruggie. "So...I guess I might as well enjoy it? ALL RIGHT!"

"WOO HOO!" everyone cheered. "WAY TO GO!"

Now then," said Vargas, "the challenges may be over, but you can't relax just yet. You've all got a lot of cleaning up to do. Break down your tents and fold them up, and make sure you return all the pickaxes and fishing poles to the ghosts. Two hours should be enough time. Each club is to report to the cottage once they've finished. And remember, you're still at Camp Vargas 'til we get back to school. If your club members aren't all at the cottage before time's up..."

"Yes, yes, club disbanded," said Ruggie. "We know."

"That's right! Tardiness will not be tolerated. Dismissed!"

"I'm so glad our club lives on!" said Epel. You really pulled through for us, Ruggie!"

"Ahaha... Guess not running away was the right call after all," said Ruggie.

"He didn't have to tie up me an' Ona!" said Grim, crossing his arms angrily. "We're just the record keepers! Stupid Vargas... I'll remember this!"

"Sounds like you four were AMAZING," I said to Floyd, Jack, Sebek, and Ruggie.

"Thanks!" Floyd said with a grin.

"Hmph!" said Sebek. "Don't hold me to your human standards. The outcome was inevitable by my own criteria."

I smirked and rolled my eyes. "Sure. I'll keep that in mind." Grim and I stood back while the clubs got together and worked on cleaning up the campsite. Not long after, we noticed several students approach camp.

"Hey, guys!" said Ace. "Glad to be back!"

"Leona!" Ruggie shouted. "Ace!"

"You're back!" I said. I ran to Ace and flung my arms around him.

Ace chuckled as he hugged me back. "You missed me that much, huh?" I pulled away and smacked him on the head. "Ow! What was that for!"

I shot him a look. "You had me worried over nothing!"

"What?"

"Oh, Crabbyyy..." said Floyd.

"Uhhh... Hey, Floyd. Ahaha... Boy, you are a sight for sore eyes... Yup, super glad to see you..."

"Sooo... I hear you were slackin' off while I was doin' all the work. And you worried Shrimpy half to death. Sounds to me like ol' Crabby wants a squeezin'."

Ace's eyes widened. "Urk! I'm really sorry! Vargas had me doing so many squats, I feel like my thighs are gonna fall off! I've been punished enough!" He cast me a furtive glance. "Help me?"

I looked from Ace to Floyd and back to Ace. "Nope."

"I think me an' Sea Snake are gonna have a chat about this later," said Floyd.

"Augh... Curse my freewheeling charm!" Ace groaned.

"Myahaha! That's what you get for tryin' to cheat your way through this," said Grim. "If you've learned your lesson, maybe now you'll treat me with the respect I—"

"GUYS!" Jack shouted, running over to us.

"Geez, Jack, blow my ears out, why don'tcha," said Ruggie.

"This is givin' me a strange sense of déjà vu," said Floyd. "It's just like when we were talkin' with Sea Snake and Guppy last night."

"Yeah. Jack came up to us in a panic because Deuce hadn't come back to camp, and...wait." Ruggie's eyes widened. "Deuce never came back, did he?"

"Come to think about it, Vargas said he took those who were slacking," I said. "Deuce is not one to slack off."

"You mean Deuce isn't here?" said Ace. "But it was just me, Leona, and the ghost at the cabin."

"Then where's Deuce?" said Jack.

"No idea."

"Vargas mentioned somethin' when he was lecturin' us..." said Leona. "He was all like, 'You and Trappola are the only two dumb enough to skip out on a perfectly good camping trip!'"

"You mean Deuce really DID go missing in the mines?" said Ruggie.

I swallowed hard. "I don't like where this is going," I said.

"If that's true, then he's had no food or water for nearly a day..." said Grim. "I'd be a goner if that was me!"

"We'd better tell Coach Vargas!" said Jack.

"Aren't you forgetting somethin', Sea Urchin?" said Floyd. "If we're not all at the cottage when time's up, our clubs get the axe. Finding the coach, reporting this, goin' out searching, and coming back... That'll take you way past time and your whole club'll go poof."

"You can't be serious! We've got more important things to worry about than—"

"So, how's about we just find him ourselves? He's only lost, right? Let's go get Macky and bring him back. It'll take two shakes."

"Sounds good to me!" I said.

Floyd grinned. "I knew you'd be on board."

"I've got to do something. Deuce is like family, and family means nobody gets left behind."

"Hey, were you that concerned when you thought I was missing?" said Ace.

I glared at him. "Yes."

Ace winced. "Sorry."

"Floyd, you sure you're not suggesting this because you think it sounds fun?" said Ruggie.

"Ahaha, why does it matter?" said Floyd. "I said I'd help find him, so what's the problem?"

Ruggie turned to me. "Ona, keep an eye on him."

"I still don't know why you think that will help, but okay," I said.

"Welp, might as well go along if only to see Deuce shakin' in his boots," said Ace. "Besides, I wouldn't want people saying I chickened out when even Ona's going."

"I'll join you!" said Grim. "Deuce is gonna owe me big time for this!"

"I'm in too, of course," said Jack. "Us Track Club guys gotta stick together."

"I shall accompany you as well," said Sebek. "I could hardly tell my liege that I abandoned a fellow freshman in his hour of need."

Ford turned to Ruggie and Leona. "Sharksucker? Sea Lion?" I held in a laugh at the nicknames. He really called it like he saw it.

"In your dreams," said Leona.

"Nope," said Ruggie.

"Look, if we really think Deuce is in danger, we should tell Coach Vargas," said Ruggie.

"Listen up, humans," said Sebek. "Allow me to impart a few basic lessons in survival that Lilia was kind enough to teach me. They say humans can survive up to three weeks without food. But going a mere three days without water will put them in grave danger. If Deuce has traveled so far that he has not the strength to make it back, then any delay on our part could be fatal."

"Good point," I said, my heart beat quickening. "We have to act now."

"For real?" said Ace, finally looking worried.

"Hmm... Okay," said Ruggie, "but... We've got less than two hours until we need to be at the cottage, right? I still think tellin' the coach is the best call, and besides, there's nothing in it for me..."

"There are magestones," said Jack.

"Huh?"

"I didn't want to say anything about it yesterday, but... There are tons of big magestones in the tunnel where Deuce went missing. I bet they'd go for a lot of thaumarks."

Ruggie suddenly perked up. "What are we waiting for? Let's get this show on the road, boys." He paused as he looked at me. "And girl."

"How swiftly he changes his tune when money's involved," said Sebek. "His unworthiness of my esteem could not be more clear!"

I shrugged. "As long as he's helping." The more of us there were, the faster we would find Deuce.

"Well, good luck with all that," said Leona.

"What?" said Ruggie. "You're not coming, Leona?"

"Of course not."

"Oh, that's a shame. I guess you'll just have to be in charge of taking down the remaining tents and doling out instructions while I'm gone!"

Leona was silent for a long moment. "Okay, I'm in. Be grateful for my company, herbivores."

"You were just trying to decide which task would be more work, weren't you?!" said Ace.

"That's all of us, then," said Floyd. "Macky Search Party, move out!"

"That's the spirit!" I said. And so, it was off to the mines. Once inside, we walked until Jack, who was leading the group, stopped.

"Here's where we found the pickaxe," he said. "Deuce and I didn't go past this point when we were doing the challenge. It wouldn't make sense for him to go any further if he was just getting the pickaxe... But at this point, I'm pretty sure that's the only direction we haven't searched." We moved forward.

"Whoa, wait..." said Ace. "Haven't we been here before?"

"It is kind of familiar," I said.

"This is where we came looking for magestones, and then that freaky monster attacked us..."

"Hey, over here," said Leona. "Found something interesting." We all gathered around him.

"Is it a magestone?!" said Ruggie.

"Somethin' rarer. At least in these mines."

"What's this?" said Sebek. "...A cauldron? What is a cauldron doing in the middle of a cave?!"

"That voice..." said a familiar voice. "Is that you, Sebek?" Then Deuce emerged from the cauldron. "I knew it! It IS you! Whoa, and you brought a whole entourage! Even Grim and Ona are here! What are you all doing here?"

"You're alright!" I said in relief.

"What kind of question is that?!" said Jack. "We were trying to find YOU."

"Ain't you lookin' swell!" said Grim. "Why didn't you come back to camp?"

"Did you hide out in a cauldron for a whole day just to skip camp?" said Ace. "Is that the punchline here? Lousy joke, if you ask me..."

"Shhh!" said Deuce. "Quit making noise!"

"HOW DARE YOU TAKE THAT TONE WITH ME!" Sebek shouted, causing me to cover my ears. "I DEVOTED MY PERSONAL ENERGIES TO SEARCHING FOR YOU! NEVER PRESUME TO TALK DOWN TO ME, HUMAN!"

"Seriously, Sebek, keep it down! If you keep yelling..." Deuce's eyes widened. "Oh no... It's coming!"

"Something's behind us!" Ruggie said.

"It'ssss... Mmmm... Miiiine..." said a strange voice.

"What is that thing...?"

"MYAAAAH!" Grim cried. A monster trudged towards us, and he appeared very familiar.

"Not again!" Ace said.

"Myyy...stooone..." said the monster.

"A lantern and pickaxe..." said Jack. "Inky black stuff oozing from its head... That's the monster Deuce told me about!"

"Was it really all green before?" I said.

"We ain't got time to debate the details!" said Grim.

"We didn't see it on our way in," said Jack. "It must've been hiding in one of the side tunnels."

"Crud..." said Deuce. "It's blocking the way outta here. Looks like we'll have to fight our way out."

"Are you serious?!" said Ace.

"Why are you actin' like you've just met your maker?" said Leona. "I got a lotta pent-up frustration from havin' to listen to Vargas all day. And I just found the perfect punching bag."

"Samesies!" said Floyd. "Ahaha. Sharksucker pulled one over on me, so I'm in the mood to cut loose and blow this inky hulk outta the water."

"Blow it out of the water?!" said Ace. "You don't get how tough that thing is!"

"Not for me," said Leona. "That thing's easy prey."

"I'm spent just from summoning a cauldron," said Deuce. "I can't use any more magic without a magestone!"

"Don't do anything rash," I warned.

"Tch. Buncha herbivores," said Leona. "You got ME. Do I have to spell it out in crayon? Fine, if ya still think we can't handle this... Hey, Ruggie."

"Yeah?" said Ruggie.

"Put up your hands and jump in place."

Ruggie gave him a look. "Uh, we've got a legit emergency and you want me to do jumping jacks?"

"I said jump. Now."

Ruggie jumped, and something fell to the ground. "ARRRGH."

"Hey, somethin' fell outta his pocket," said Grim, bending down to examine the object. "What a sparkly stone... Hey, wait a minute..."

"A MAGESTONE?!" we all cried.

"YOU UTTER KNAVE!" Sebek shouted. "Even in this moment of dire peril, you STILL kept a magestone from us?!"

"And it's way bigger than the one you used in the swamp..." said Sebek.

"Nooo..." Ruggie moaned. "My shiny meal ticket! How could you do this to me, Leona?! You could've just kept your mouth shut!"

"You're one greedy dude," said Floyd. "I'm actually kinda impressed. You could give Azul a run for his money. But hey, now I can bring my A-game. This fight just got turned up to 11! Campin' on land RULES!"

Before I could ask him exactly what he meant, the monster spoke agian, "Stone... Stoooone..."

"Now I've got nothing to lose!" said Ruggie. "You're gonna pay for making me lose MY stone!"

"MYYY STOOOONE!"