The next morning, I trudged out of the bedroom I was sharing with all the guys. Gladius was still asleep, so I stuck him in his scabbard, strapped it to my back, and quietly walked into the central room.

Surprisingly, when I climbed up the stairs to the main platform, I was greeted with the sight of Star and Flowey chatting quietly. The princess was leaning against the railing as Flowey, still in his pot, balanced on it perfectly.

I walked up to them, giving them a tired wave. "Hey guys…" I kept my voice down for Gladius' sake.

"Hey Caleb Cat!" Star whispered back cheerily.

Flowey smirked. "Ralph's snoring finally got to you?"

I shook my head. "If anything, it helps me sleep. I've always needed a constant source of noise when I sleep, otherwise I'm gonna stay awake all night."

"Yeah, I remember when we were back at Marco's place", Star said, a nostalgic smile on her face. "There were a lot of mornings where we'd catch you snuggled up to Ralph, usually when he was snoring louder than normal."

"I'll remember to get you a jackhammer for your birthday then", Flowey joked with a goofy smile, shooting me a wink.

I snorted out a quiet laugh. "Alright, I'll make sure to remind you next year."

That made Star shoot me a curious look. "When is your birthday, Caleb?"

"September 8th", I said with a wistful smile. "It was always my day, even when my parents were at their worst."

Star gave me a sad smile, giving me a side hug. "Well, I know I'm gonna make your next birthday one to remember!"

"Thanks, sis." I smiled and blushed, Star's own smile growing as she went to noogie me. I whined and giggled simultaneously, Flowey watching the whole ordeal with a somewhat mischievous grin.

When I was finally freed, the flower cleared his throat. "So, how about we head out. I don't want to get cabin fever waiting in here till we head on out, so I say we check out that Mystery Shack you've told us about. I wanna rip into all the phoney stuff they have on display."

"Ooooo, yeah, good idea Flowey!" Star picked him up and began to skip towards the front door. "You coming Caleb?"

I didn't realise I froze, but the princess' innocent question snapped me out of my trance, and I nodded. "Coming!" I dashed after her as she stepped outside. Both princess and flower took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the unfamiliar wilderness.

"Ahhhhhhh…" Star slighted out as she exhaled. "This reminds me of when my dad would take me camping."

"Mmmmhmmm", Flowey said, giving her a glance. "I've heard about the time your dad crashed at Marco's place, and based on what I've heard… He's like Undyne. Wild, chaotic, and kind of a meathead."

Star glared at him for a moment, before her expression softened. "Yeah… I love him, but he's not the most obvious…"

I gave her a sad look as we left the alley. "His heart's in the right place. My guess is that it's hard for him to break the warrior side of him when your mom isn't there. Like when we came over, it was like letting a bird out of its cage. Free to fly around without a care in the world."

"Exactly what he said", Flowey said. "That's why I compared him to Undyne. The Underground's captain of the guards is a bit stir crazy, always there to find the next human that falls so she can turn them in to the all mighty king, Asgore."

"Mmmmmmmm…" Gladius mumbled as he stirred. "It must be hard…"

"It is… for everyone else. No one but that anime-loving scientist knew of my existence, so I just watched from the sidelines as the newest human, Frisk, would do whatever they wanted."

Star looked confused, so I elaborated. "Flowey is aware he's from a game, and has seen the player make different choices."

"Sometimes they let everyone live, giving them the happy ending everyone wants. Other times they pick off a few unfortunate souls just to see what happens. Other times, they kill everyone just to see what happens."

The princess cringed. "That seems… rough."

"Well, we're monsters. It's why we were stuck down there in the first place." He shot Star an evil grin. "So it must be surprising that the princess of a monster hating kingdom is one of my friends."

Star looked off to the side sadly. "I'm still trying to figure all of that out, but after being with you, Dry and Zomboss, plus seeing how other worlds work… I'm really starting to hate my family. I've seen other humans act out like the monsters I would beat the snot out of."

"There are always those few bad eggs", I said sadly. "Always with the loudest voices, so it paints everyone in a bad light."

"Ludo and Toffee…" Star whispered, then sighed. "Yeah, I think me and Marco are gonna need to have a talk after all of this is over." She paused. "Maybe tonight before bed, I don't know."

"Well, for what it's worth, Butterfly", Gladius spoke up, earning our attention. "You will figure it out. Your problem-solving skills are unmatched."

"Thanks Gladdy!"

Our walk fell into a calm silence after that, with us turning down a road with a sign pointing us to the Mystery Shack. Tall trees lined up neatly on either side of the road, almost forming this wall of sorts that made everything a bit more claustrophobic than I expected. It probably didn't help the massive canyon wall, the same one we landed on the day before, towered over us in front.

It made me feel a lot smaller than I expected. But it didn't help that it seemed like we were being watched. I tried to shake the feeling away, but from how Flowey would ever so slightly would cock his head to the left, as if listening for something in the woods, it made me realise we were being watched.

And probably followed.

That simple thought made my heart rate increase, and I made sure to walk closer to Star. The trees almost seemed to lean over us more and more as we walked, shrouding the road in shadow.

But that stopped when I shook my head. Star gave me a concerned look, and forced a smile. "I'm good. Just thinking about things."

"Okay… But remember you can tell me whatever."

"Same here", Gladius affirmed.

"Not me", Flowey said with a smirk. "I'm unreliable."

I let out a quiet laugh, my heart finally calming.

~X~

After what felt like an hour (Flowey complained a lot because of bees constantly trying to land on him), we finally made it to the rustic and worn down tourist trap known as the Mystery Shack. It was a massive roof, the slant so steep the sign of the building was basically vertical. There were a bunch of miscellaneous props and decorations around, obviously trying to entice those on the road to stop and check things out.

"Oh lord it looks so much worse in person", Flowey droned out in horror as we stood a distance from the front. "This actually looks worse than those trashy anime Alphys watched. Like… ack."

I gave the flower a flat look as he pretended to gag. "Oh shut up, you drama queen."

Star giggled. "I'll say this is nothing. I've seen stranger things on Mewni… and I think that's entirely because of magic, now that I think about it."

"Or maybe your home is that backwater it's just home to what doesn't matter" the flower snarked. The princess regarded him with a dark look for a moment, then began to violently shake the pot. The flower yelped as he became a blur. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry! Your home is beautiful! Now stop before I actually hurl!"

She stopped with a victorious grin plastered on her face, which only grew when the flower fainted. I barked out a laugh as Gladius, more awake than before, softly chuckled into my shoulder, enjoying the show.

Once we calmed down, we followed a group of pretty oblivious looking tourists. They crowded around what I assumed was the entrance to the main public part of the building.

There was an old man in a sleek black suit with a stubble beard, fez and eyepatch talking in this over dramatic flair, trying his best to keep up this mysterious flair.

Considering I tuned it out, it didn't work.

We all headed inside when the speech ended and began to follow this curator of the strange as he showed us all that he had. I saw a load of stuff that was laughably fake, from an employee dressed like a baby (questionable), a rock that resembled a face (boring), and the infamous horse riding a horse I mentioned yesterday (oh the horror).

In all honesty, it was pretty underwhelming. Everything was cheap and low effort, some of the lights would flicker occasionally, and one of the displays even collapsed mid tour.

It was… very disappointing.

After the tour had concluded, my little entourage had found ourselves in the gift shop. There was all the typical gift shop stuff like shirts, hats (the exact same Dipper had), snow globes, all the usual wares you'd find.

As Star looked over the different coloured shirts, clearly contemplating on whether to buy one or not, I let my gaze roll over the whole room. There was a redhead sitting behind the cash register, muddy boots kicked up on the counter as she boredly read a book. The employee that dressed up as a baby, now back in his usual uniform of a green shirt with a question mark and hat, was sweeping the floor while whistling a jaunty tune.

The owner, the green shirt employee calling him Stan, left into a back room. Getting a glimpse at the opening curtain, I saw what looked to be a living room with an old, worn yellow armchair.

"So, how was that tour, Flowey?" I asked the flower quietly as his pot was left on a small table.

"It was shit", he said flatly. "And you can thank Majima for encouraging me to use his colourful vocabulary."

Star hummed. "It was… Yeah, what Flowey said. It was so fake it actually hurt."

"That horse sculpture will haunt me forever…" Gladius whispered in terror. He shivered as the memory of the statue entered his head again.

"Eh, I thought all that added to it", I admitted with a shrug. "Made it more fun and memorable."

"Sure, whatever you say, CC", Flowey droned on in boredom. He looked around the room, no one seeming to mind that there was a talking flower in the gift shop. But maybe it was because they thought he was some souvenir I brought with me.

Internally, I was both glad and terrified. Glad that no one was questioning us, but terrified that Stan would notice and try and kidnap our friend. Considering how… protective… the group has been getting, I wasn't ready to have them rip the whole building apart because Stan was stupid.

But luckily that didn't happen. Star picked out one of the hats, and after we paid we left and started to head back to the town. We decided to take a different route that took us through a luscious forest path.

I took up carrying Flowey as Star tossed her wand between both her hands, her new hat on her head.

"This has been a lot of fun", Star said, casually casting some smaller spell so that they fluttered about around her. "It's nice that we don't need to deal with anything crazy. I'm all about the weird and wild, but even I have my limits."

"Agreed", I said with pursed lips. "We really needed this. Although those robed figures the other day… They give me a bad feeling."

"It's probably some sort of cult", Flowey spat. "They must've seen Galacta and the girls land the TARDIS, so they see our knight as an angel or something, and the TARDIS as a gift to them."

"That's a concerning thought", Gladius mused, still in his scabbard. "Best we get back to the others soon."

"Ah, c'mon guys, we should be fine!" Star said confidently. She spun her wand in her hand, only to cringe when a blast of energy shot out and took off the top of a nearby tree. We watched silently as the treetop fell down to the ground with a loud thud. Birds flapped away, and the whole area suddenly became a lot quieter.

"Let's get out of here", I whispered, grabbing Star's hand and leading her away.

Only for us to be jumped by a group of four robed figures.

I cried out in shock as they immediately advanced and apprehended Star, her wand falling out of her hand as they dragged her off. She did her best to fight back, but one of the figures forced a cloth over her mouth, knocking her unconscious.

"Star!" I called out as the figures dragged her off. Acting quick, I chased after them, with Gladius using his telekinesis to carry Flowey. I grabbed the wand as I ran, and burst out of some bushes.

Only to see my friend and her captors gone. Only an empty graveyard was what greeted me, which made my mind race. My eyes became frantic as I ran out of the graveyard as fast as I could, taking turns sharply as I headed right back to the TARDIS. I dove into the alley and swung the blue box's door open.

Everyone was grouped up the centre room, and spun to face the very frantic me.

"Kid?" Ralph was the first to call out. 'What happened? Where's Star?"

"WewenttocheckouttheMysteryShackanditwasboirngbutwhenwewereleavingfourrobedguysfromyesterdayjumpedusandkidnappedher!!!!!!!!" I heaved into a single sentence. I flailed Star's wand around frantically and tears erupted from my eyes, laboured sobs escaping through my mouth.

"What?!" Marco cried in horror.

"Son of a bitch!" Majima snarled, his fingers tensing in a strangling motion.

Twig let out a growl as Hilda gasped.

Maria was quick to dash over and force me into a firm hug as everyone else made the chaos and confusion grow, which only made me even more distressed.

"EVERYONE!" The Doctor barked, silencing everything to a stand still. Once he had the floor, he turned to me, still buried in the hug. "Caleb, repeat what happened."

I took a deep breath and swallowed. "Me, Gladius, Star and Flowey all went out to check out the Mystery Shack. After that, Star bought a hat and we started coming back here. But when Star accidentally fired a spell that took off the top of a single tree, four robed figures jumped us, knocked me aside, kidnapped Star, and vanished. I tried to chase them, but after jumping through the bushes, they were gone." I choked out another sob. "I didn't mean for this to happen! If I did, I would-"

"Mijo", Maria said calmly, not breaking the hug. "No one blames you for this."

"Doc, please tell me we have a way to track Star down", Steve asked desperately.

"As a matter of fact, we do." There was a collective sigh of relief as Doctor Who began to work at the main console. "With all of us going on the journey together, I made sure to have the TARDIS scan your biology just for a situation like this."

As he works away, Manolo slides up to his wife. "I don't like what that implies…" I weakly snorted, Gladius hovering over and petting my head reassuringly. I turned my attention back to The Doctor, who was now being assisted by Zomboss, Jenny, Steve and Dry Bowser.

Marco ran over to me and gave me a look that said clear as day that he didn't blame me for this. It made me smile just the tiniest bit, and that smile widened when Jenny called out that they found her.

"She's at the museum, apparently. Or, somewhere under it."

"Good enough for us!" The Doctor hit some switches, and the TARDIS began to take off. "It might be closed, so we'll need to be discreet and careful sneaking in." There was a shake, and the time traveller darted to the door and swung it open. "Translation: They messed with the wrong family."

We all followed him outside, and The TARDIS was dead centre in a room with fake eyes everywhere. Hanging from the ceiling, framed on the walls… just everywhere. The only source of light, an active fireplace, only made it all the more unsettling.

"Look around for some sort of secret switch, gang", Blossom said. "Places like this always have something."

We all nodded and began to search around the room, trying to find whatever we needed. As my gaze wandered around, I slowly began to realise all the fake eyes were looking at one particular spot.

"Guys! I think I figured it out." They all turned to me and watched as I walked over to a stone tablet with an eye inscription on it. I pushed it into the wall, and we all snapped our attention to the fireplace when it slid into the wall.

Jenny transformed both her hands into powerful arm cannons, Majima pulled out an AK-47 and pistol, Zomboss pulled out his heat ray, Galacta charged his sword, and Dry's mouth ignited with blue flame.

"Let's go", The teenage robot said dangerously. She led us down a stone staircase lit by torchlight, and as we got closer to some very ominous chanting behind the curtain at the bottom, I felt more tense by the second.

When we reached the bottom, she carefully parted the curtains so we could see, and we all silently gasped.

Star was strapped to a red cushioned, gold framed chair as a group of multiple red robed figures with their hoods concealing their faces surrounded her. She was struggling to free herself as they continued to chant.

Then, the chanting subsided as a robed figure with a pointed hood walked up to a heavily decorated chest.

"Society Of The Blind Eye!" The man announced in a deep voice. "We must act now! This young girl has access to something much too strange and dangerous for her own good! She came from the sky in a blue box, so we must liberate her mind!"

"Liberate?!" Star spat angrily. "Please, I'm always like this! I am a princess of a powerful royal family, with a lot of friends who will turn you to ash when they find out about this!"

"Silence, child!" The man roared. He opened the small chest, and pulled out a strange gun with a lightbulb in place of the barrel. "Soon, your life will be much more at peace. But first… what is your name?"

"As if I'm going to tell you!" She cried.

The man was silent for a moment. "Very well." He messed with a dial on the gun's side, and my eyes bugged out when he aimed it at her. "Enjoy a fresh start."

It was at that moment Majima forced his way inside and unloaded an entire clip of his AK into the ceiling. The group of cult members all cried out in terror and ducked, the one with the gun panicking. The yakuza's eye was burning with a monstrous fury, and when he got the point across he aimed both guns at the robed figures. He was joined with the others, all of them aiming their weapons at the group.

"W-What?" The pointed hooded man stuttered out. "I don't understand. Who are you people?"

"The others from that blue box", Jenny snarled. Her arm cannons were pointed at the cultists, snapping at one whenever they moved the slightest bit. "She was right. Not only is she a princess, but we aren't a group to be messed with."

The Doctor sauntered over and used his screwdriver to free Star. The cuffs on her wrists and ankles snapped open, and the princess massaged them as she was swung up into a bear hug from Izzy.

Some of the men went to go and restrain her, but Galacta shooting off some of his energy swords stopped them dead in their tracks.

"This doesn't make sense!" The pointed nodded man roared. "How can you all be here?! This place was hidden from the world!"

"That's the thing about Time Lord technology", The Doctor smugly said as he leaned on an equally smug Amy. "It's really hard to hide something from us."

"Now, we must be leaving", Galacta said firmly. "We hope you all have a good day, but remember we will be watching. Don't cross us again."

At that, we all began to leave the underground sanctuary, leaving the terrified and confused cult members behind. That was, until one of them, a very large one, scowled and charged forward, drawing a fist back.

Dry Bowser was the first to react, spinning around and unleashing all the pent up flame from within, shooting the massive stream of fire into the ceiling. The one cultist stopped dead in his tracks, frozen in fear as Dry Bowser continued for a few minutes more.

Once he was done, he looked back at the cloaked figures and snarled. All the cultists fell onto their butts, shaking in fear. At the sight, most of the group let out silent laughs as we went back through the curtain and started ascending the staircase. As we climbed, I handed Star back her wand.

She flashed me a smile. "Thanks, bro. I always knew I could count on you." She nudged me playfully with her elbow.

I nudged her back, flashing her my own smile. "Always, Star. I'd do anything for my sisters and brothers."

She beamed as we walked back into the TARDIS, and The Doctor quickly went to work, sending the police box back to our spot in the alleyway.

"What a bunch of deranged shitheads", Majima growled as he put his two guns away. "Memory wiping. God, that's awful."

"It's surprisingly effective", Zomboss mused. "Means you lose all the targets on your back. But then you could get caught in it, so yeah."

We all cringed. "Memory wipes are extremely dangerous", The Doctor said morbidly. "And knowing those lunatics have access to it, and have most likely used it on the other people in town, it just feels wrong to let them keep it."

I sighed. "They'll face the consequences of what they've done, I just know it. But that's not our problem anymore."

Vanellope shrugged. "Yeah, I'm already done with crazy cults for a lifetime. C'mon, Hilda." The racer and adventurer ran off, with the deerfox and elf in tow.

At that, everyone split off into their own activities, leaving me, Gladius and Maple on our own.

I let out a yawn, making the sword quietly chuckle. "Today wear you out that much, my boy?"

I nodded, already feeling the bags form under my eyes. "Just a lot. The whole walk to the Mystery Shack, then the dash back here was a lot for me. I'm gonna go and get some rest."

I bid my friends farewell, Maple deciding to tag along with me. When I entered the guys bedroom, I quickly put on my pyjamas and climbed into bed. Maple passed me the plush that was won at the Beach City arcade, then curled up and snuggled into my chest.

With a very content sigh, I let sleep take me over.

~X~

And thus ends another chapter! I wanted to include the Society Of The Blind Eye into this arc somehow, and I felt this was the best way to do so. Hey, when you have a cult that's all about making you forget the weird, I wanted them to interact with the weirdest group imaginable.

This arc and the previous one are definitely a lot more simplistic, but that's all because I want to add more to the chemistry of the whole group overall. I also wanted a grace period for including new additions before things went back to a sense of normalcy.

Anyway, thank you for reading!

Up next: Caleb gets roped in with the Pine twins when Mabel's pet pig is poached by an ancient reptile of the skies…

~Caleb~