After helping with cleaning up The Doctor's failed experiment, I led Baby inside the TARDIS. She gasped at the interior, endoskeleton jaw hanging open in shock as she looked around the grand central room. The TARDIS seemed to like the attention, as she let out some happy sounding ambient beeps that echoed through the room.

McGee and Gretchen, both of them also new to the Time Machine, were looking like fish out of water at the sight before them. Gretchen ran back outside, poked her head in, then back out, and did this several more times.

"We've seen some crazy things here", McGee began in disbelief as Gretchen came back inside. "But this is on a whole other level!"

"That's Time Lord technology for you!" I said with a smile. "C'mon, I think Zomboss might be at the library."

I led my little party through the hallways of our temporary residence, and soon enough we found ourselves at the library. Walking in, just as I predicted, Zomboss was sitting at one of the tables reading a book on mechanical engineering. He probably was looking to work on a machine, and I felt like that was a massive coincidence.

Clearing my throat as the two campers and bandmates broke off to explore the room a bit, the zombie scientist looked up.

"I see you brought her with you…" Zomboss said flatly. He gave Baby a professional look, so it was hard to tell what he actually felt.

"Yeah, she's doing a lot better", I responded. "Which is why all of us are here. We were hoping you could help us give Baby here a makeover!" I gestured to our newest companion, who looked somewhat shy about the attention on her.

"If it's too much to ask…" She said shyly, looking down and hugging herself tightly.

Zomboss gave her an intrigued look, standing up and looking around top to bottom. He had this look that screamed 'I can work with this'.

"Do you want a complete makeover, or just some slight repairs?"

"Ummmm…" She looked down. "Just some repairs. I'd like to not feel this exposed."

The scientist hummed in thought, then nodded. "I can probably do something. Just because we aren't too sure of the longtime consequences of this trip, I'm only going to fix up your torso and face. Follow me." He began to leave the library, only to pause. "If the rest of you want to join me and help, now's your chance!"

As Me and Baby followed after Zomboss, Gretchen and Laney were the only ones to follow us. Corey and McGee said they were going to do something else, and Maple decided to join them.

I waved them farewell as I continued to follow Zomboss into a part of the TARDIS I never explored much, mainly because I didn't need to. We were led into a room, and it was a typical workshop that looked a lot like Zomboss' own lap back at Zombopolis. He took Baby's hand and led her to a workbench, making sure to clear it off before having her sit down on it.

"The Doctor had this room set up just for me, and now I actually have a use of it!" He walked over to a 3D Printer and turned it on, then pulled out something that looked like a bar-code scanner. "Baby, I'm gonna need you to keep still. This'll help make designing your new face plates and chest plate easier."

She nodded and remained completely still as Zomboss walked around her, the odd scanner shooting out a red beam that didn't do anything at first. But looking over at a nearby TV screen that suddenly blinked on, it showed a digital recreation of Baby's torso and head. When Zomboss was done, he turned off the scanner and tossed it aside.

Walking up to the TV, he pulled out a device that looked a lot like The Doctor's sonic screwdriver. Clicking it on, it was revealed to be a laser pointer, and he used it as a type of computer mouse to rotate the digital Baby replica.

"Okay, so the big parts I want to fix are here", he circled the chest plate, "here", then the face plates, "while also using this as a chance to hopefully deal with any faulty wiring Baby has. That shock you gave her could have damaged something."

"But I feel fine!" She called out.

"That you know of right now", Zomboss chided. "I've built zombie yetis, bulls, dodos and even arcade machines that create 8-bit zombies, and all of them have eventually become faulty even though they insist they're fine."

Baby huffed and grumbled dejectedly as Zomboss brought the rest of our attention back to the screen. "Anyway… Aside from correcting the plates, I want input on what you four think is best."

I shared a look with Laney and Gretchen as Gladius hummed.

"Well, keeping the traffic lights is a good idea", I said. "They work."

"Maybe make her… shoulder things… actual fabric", Laney added. "Mare them poofy."

"Keep the colours", Gretchen interjected. "But maybe make each cheek a different colour, like her lips."

"The hair will need some work", Gladius mumbled as he got closer to the screen. "I could help with that, so it's still the same, just… newer."

"What do you think Baby?" Zomboss asked.

We all looked back at the robot, and if she could cry, she definitely would. Her glowing green eyes were flickering, her hand covering her mouth. "You guys… would do all of that?"

"Of course!" Laney said like it was the most obvious thing ever. "You're our friend, and if we want to help you get a new look, we're helping."

Scrap Baby, the second time today, broke down into static filled sobs, only this time I could hear the joy within them. Acting quick, I walked over and hugged her, the animatronic returning it instantly.

"Alright! You four are my assistants until this project is done!" The zombie faced the screen. "Let's get to work!"

I broke out of Baby's hug, and nodded, running off with Gretchen and Laney elsewhere in the room, opening some trunks to find a plethora of paint cans. We pulled out the most vibrant blues, reds, oranges and whites we could find, and then ran back just as Zomboss started up the printing of the new chest plate.

The printer worked at a lightning fast pace, while Zomboss walked back over to Baby. "Okay, Baby, because of how all of this works, I'm going to temporarily turn you off, okay?"

"But why?" she asked fearfully.

"Because if you're awake, I might end up damaging something. You and Jenny are similar, so I don't want to break something critical."

She nodded hesitantly. "Okay. But before you do, I have one request."

"Yeah?"

She was quiet for a moment. "Can you make my eyes blue? It feels like a calmer colour."

Zomboss nodded. "Will do. Now, lie down, and we'll get to work."

She did as she was told, and with a single buzz from his handheld device, she was powered off.

"Laney, keep an eye on the printer", Zomboss said as he began to give orders. "When the plate is finished, take it off so the next one can start. Gretchen, I need you to get me the welding kit." Both girls nodded and ran off to do their jobs. "Caleb, you can help me out. Come here."

I walked up next to him and listened intently. "We're gonna need to take these plates off. I can do this myself, but I want your help so it can go by quicker."

I nodded, and together we carefully took off the damaged and cracked plates. They were surprisingly easy to take off, and it exposed the mess of wires within Baby's head. When we started taking off the top plates that had her wire hair, we realised that some of her interior wires were part of the outer wires.

Zomboss sighed, but we were undeterred as we carefully fed the wires through the damaged openings in the top of the plates.

Once all the face plates were removed, me and Zomboss tag teamed and pulled Baby's chest plate off, making a bunch of loose wires to spill out.

"Alright, that should be good." Gretchen came over with the welding kit. "You four work on painting the plates. They all should be done by now. I'm gonna be busy…" He put on a welding mask, pulled out a tool box, and began to work away at her interior.

With a smile, I headed over towards the girls with Gladius, and the four of us got to work painting the blank plates.

~X~

A few hours later, we were absolutely exhausted. But it was all worth it. After the plates were finished and given to Zomboss, he shooed me, Gladius, Gretchen and Laney out of the workshop so we could round everyone else up for a hand reveal. I beamed as we split up and tracked everyone down, having them all gather outside the TARDIS.

"So, you gave the new bitch a new look?" Majima snarked.

Maria levelled him with a glare. "Do you always need to insult everyone?"

"It's just how I work, babe."

She scoffed in disgust as Manolo took up glaring at him. With the shadows caused by the sunset, it made it look so much more intense.

Flowey broke out into a fit of giggles on top of Dry Bowser's shell. "WOW, that was brutal, Goro! Better be careful, otherwise we might be down to one cyclops sometime in the future."

Iris cringed at the callout. "Yeah… please no. I'm an actual cyclops, he isn't."

"He was talking about Majima, Iris", Blossom whispered.

"Oh…"

"Even then, no one is killing anyone", Ruby said firmly. "We're all still here, and that's not going to change any time soon."

"Right you are, Ruby!" I said happily. "We've got a lot going on, but with our newest friend-"

"Seems a bit soon to call her that-" Jenny began, instructing me.

"NEWEST FRIEND", I yelled back with an intense stare, making her shiver and shut up. After a moment of tense silence, I returned to my happy attitude. "Wanting to tag along, she wanted help to show she wants to turn over a new leaf. So with help from myself, Gladius, Laney, Gretchen and especially Zomboss, she is ready to show off to the world!"

"Introducing…." Zomboss began, poking out of the TARDIS door. "The new and improved Scrap Baby!"

He walked aside as our newest companion rolled out, and a collective awestruck gasp came from the crowd. Baby looked fantastic, with a new face that was cleaner, freshly painted so it was striking. Her eyes sparkled a cool blue, with her fixed smile more friendly in appearance. Her fixed up torso was crisp, now all in one piece. Little added bonuses were the more controlled wires and gloved hand, for warmth.

"So… what do you guys think?" She asked shyly, swaying a bit so her new (now all in one piece) skirt partially bobbed side to side.

"You look amazing, Baby!" I complimented her.

"OMG YOU'RE SO PRETTY!" Bubbles squealed before dashing over, looking her over with wide eyes, especially her hair. Her hair was basically untouched, aside from looking a bit poofier.

"I'll admit, you look good", Barranco said coolly.

"How did you do this all in a few hours?!" Amy cried in disbelief. "She looks incredible!"

Jenny was silent, but had a beaming smile on her face as she looked the other robot over.

"Kid, I gotta hand it to ya'", Ralph said, patting me on the back. "You did good."

I smiled up at him as Maple scurried onto my shoulder. "Thanks Ralph."

"Baby!" Hilda called. She and Vanellope ran up to her, with Twig glued to his best friend's side. "Wanna come and check out the forest with us! I want to get a few more sketches before we go!"

"Uhhhhh… sure?" She said in an unsure tone. That didn't stop Vanellope from grabbing her hand and dragging her off. But as they left, something seemed to switch in the head of everyone else.

"Hilda's right, we should probably start getting ready to move on", Rory mentioned.

"Well, it's getting late", The Doctor mused as he squinted up at the late evening sky. "So I say we enjoy the night and get going tomorrow."

"Good idea, Doc", Steve agreed.

With that, the whole group split off, with most of them heading inside the TARDIS. Gretchen and McGee shared a look, and headed back to their cabin, leaving me, Gladius, Maple and Alfur all on our own.

"I'm surprised you didn't go with Hilda, Alfur", I said to the elf.

He shrugged as he sat on Gladius' hilt. "Well, I've written down all I needed about this place, and I guess I'm getting a bit antsy. I have so much recorded, and I want to finish it off with your home."

Gladius chuckled. "I don't blame you. The Capital is a beautiful place, and is rich with history. But there's even things I don't know about it."

I gave the sword a surprised look. "Really? You never told me that."

"Because the Capital is over millions of years old", Gladius explained as we subconsciously walked towards the lake shore. "There's many secrets that lie within that I haven't heard about. But what I do know is the city we know is just a small part of what there is."

"Like what?" Alfur asked, curiosity peaked.

"Well, there's a whole 'criminal' underworld, but that's more just for show. Rainbow cracked down hard when that thing first started to form, so there's not much truly despicable about it.

"Then there's a sort of heaven/afterlife above in the clouds that's only accessible when 'the cloud that glows with the warmth of a star' passes over the castle's back courtyard. From what I recall, it should be a fusion of all aspects of the afterlife across all religions and mythologies.

"Then, this might surprise you, but even the endless rolling hills hold secrets. I've seen them move some evenings under the glow of the setting sun, and many of the citizens of the city have said that there's this calming singing when they picnic amongst the fields. Come spring, the hills will suddenly sprout millions of multicoloured flowers that paint the planet in its entirety."

I sat down on the sand, keeping my eyes glued to Gladius as he continued to spin tales about what our home held under the surface as whispered secrets. It was honestly crazy how much this one place had.

As the sun began to get lower in the sky, Gladius continued to ramble on and on, keeping my attention for all of it. Alfur had jumped on top of my head, scribbling fiercely into his notebook to hold on to all this incredible information.

By the time Gladius had finished, the moon had just passed the mountainous ridge, the starry night sky calming and beautiful. Looking back towards the camp, I watched as Hilda, Vanellope, Twig and Scrap Baby ran (or rolled, in Baby's case) back to the TARDIS,

I took that as our cue, and after standing up and dusting the sand off my pants, I headed back to the TARDIS for some much needed shut eye.

~X~

Come the next morning, I knew it was time. We had already bid farewell to Sawyer, Armand and Rosebud, deciding it was safer to open the portal away from camp in case Buttsquat tried something. So The Doctor had moved the TARDIS to the flower filled field I took Baby to yesterday. It was perfect for our next portal, but because of the peaceful location everyone decided to spend some time to relax under the sun.

"This is the life~" Steve sighed in bliss as he lounged on the ground. Next to him was Manolo and Rory, the three men taking up the tedious task of relaxing.

The Powerpuffs girls and Gloomsville duo were busy making flower crowns, giggling and chatting as they worked.

Barranco, Dave and Flowey were investigating some very large and animalistic looking flower, which at some point snapped at them like a shark. They laughed and decided taunting it was the best course of action.

Jenny and Marco were with Star as she practised spells, Majima eyeing Diaz from afar with a thoughtful look.

Maria, Izzy, Merida and Amy were all in a group together talking about boring adult stuff, something that I thought would make the Psycho Hose Beast run for the hills.

Dry Bowser was sleeping exactly like his turtle inspiration, with Galacta hovering above him watching everyone do their activities.

The Doctor and Zomboss were doing some last minute preparations inside the TARDIS, so they weren't out here enjoying the sunshine and warm breeze.

Corey and Laney had dragged McGee and Gretchen aside to be a mini audience for their impromptu practice session.

Ralph was watching Vanellope and Hilda carefully as the scaled a nearby tree, child-like wonder exploding from their eyes and infectious laughter coming from their mouths

And what was I doing? I was with Gladius, Maple, Twig, Alfur and Scrap Baby, leaning against the side of the police box as the summer wind peppered my face with its warmth. Scrap was still in disbelief about her new face, so she was viewing herself in a handheld mirror given to her.

"Soon", Gladius yawned out as he leaned against me. "I fell it. Me and you will be home soon, Caleb."

I sighed. "I really hope so, Gladdy. I am loving what this adventure has been, but the low points just make me want to curl up in my bed and sleep for a week."

Baby winced and put her mirror down. "I'm sorry about being the most recent low point."

"It's fine, Baby", I reassured with a shake of my head. "You were doing what you were made to do, so it's all okay."

"Still…" She looked up at the sun, her blue eyes almost as deep as the sky. "Do you think Rainbow will like us?"

That made me pause. In all honesty, what Rainbow, Virus, Lightness and Darkness would think of me and Gladius bringing a bunch of chaotic misfits back after being gone for who knows how long hadn't crossed my mind at all.

"I don't know…" I said with an honest tone. "They never gave me a run down of the rules about going to other universes. Gladius?"

The sword hummed, then shook his hilt. "Not that I know of. Unless they made new rules while I was locked up in the storage room, the only rule was not to do anything malicious in a universe that wasn't your own."

"That's… not that reassuring honestly", Baby squeaked out in dread. "Me, Galacta, Dry and Flowey are gonna be in so much trouble if they find out what we did."

My face twisted in horrific realisation, so I let out a sheepish laugh. "Oh boy, that'll be a bridge we'll cross when we get to it. But when we do, don't worry, I'll vouch for you guys."

Baby shot me an unsure look, and internally I knew I didn't actually know what to do. I only knew Rainbow for three days. She could do anything, and that thought terrified me.

But all my musings were silenced when The Doctor and Zomboss walked outside, smiles painted on their faces.

"We did all the checks we needed to!" The zombie scientist called out, earning everyone's attention. "So as of this moment, all we need is that portal opened."

"So, mister Caleb", The Doctor added dramatically. "Would you and Gladius do the honours?"

I nodded and stood up, with Gladius hovering by my side as I walked out to the middle of the field. Everyone else was heading back, grouping together and watching as I headed a distance away for a new portal.

You never know what could happen.

"Ready to get going, Gladdy?" I asked my sword companion.

"I always am, Caleb."

With that I gripped him by the handle and had him aim in the right direction. Once we were in position, I slashed the air.

…

But nothing happened.

I looked up in complete confusion as the space remained untouched. No portal.

"Wait…" I slashed again, but the result was the same. Still no portal.

"Does this usually happen?" Baby asked loudly.

"No", Ralph instantly answered. "Me and the kid have been with Caleb and Gladius the longest, and this has never happened before."

"Maybe it's just being a bit difficult…?" I wondered out loud. I slashed the air three times in rapid succession. Still, the result was the same.

"Caleb-" Gladius tried to say.

"Why isn't this working?" I muttered, anxiety slowly flowing through my body. I slashed the air in a way where I traced several letters. A, C, H, V, X, T, M, Z. Each time it failed, I became more frantic with my slashes.

"Mijo-" Maria started, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Why isn't this working?!" I asked again. I slashed again and again, anxiety clogging my mind with each passing second.

"Caleb, you need to-" The Doctor called.

"WORK!" I roared. Gladius became a blur, crying out as I swung him around like a rag doll. I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth as I let my arms flail around like my life depended on it.

"CALEB!" Jenny screamed, shaking me after running up.

I completely froze, staring blankly ahead wide-eyed as a dizzy Gladius freed himself from my grasp and bobbed around in the air drunkenly.

"Thank you… Jenny", he slurred out, slowly coming to.

I shook my head and blinked, turning around so I could look a worried Jenny in the eye. I looked down and mumbled a quiet "Sorry".

"It's okay", she said reassuringly. "Maybe there's nothing there, and a portal can't open."

"But I sense home that way", Gladius explained, pointing in the direction I was slashing. "If there wasn't any universe, the portal would just default to the Capital."

"Then maybe we can't get in this way?" Ruby said, making everyone's eyes widen.

Gladius shook his hilt. "The portals I make are no different than the ones Council members use to go to and from their home universe when meetings are called. In fact, since the Vortex, the barrier around the centre was made weaker after it was destroyed. So it's not that either."

"Then what could it be then?" Izzy asked.

Gladius shrugged, and everyone sighed. Except me, who looked more helpless and confused. Gladius hovered over to me and put a wing on my shoulder.

"You don't need to worry, Caleb. It's just being a bit finicky right now, so we can wait an hour or two and try again."

I nodded sadly. "Okay." I began to make my way back to the TARDIS, my head hung low. Everyone shared unsure and sad looks but decided that was that.

Then we all heard a crack.

I froze and spun around, looking to where I was trying to open a portal. In mid air, a few feet above the ground was a crack.

"Gladius, what is that?" I asked nervously.

"I don't know…" He jolted back when the crack splintered out some more, almost like there was an invisible plane of glass in front of us.

I took a step back, Jenny and Gladius doing the same as the crack grew more and more. It webbed and splintered out in all directions, looking like a spider's web slowly consuming the world.

"Something is wrong", Zomboss said fearfully as he looked at his personal scanner. "The energy readings are going through the roof, almost ten times more than the portals we've used."

"Is that bad?" Merida whispered. Everyone jumped back when the cracking started to grow at a faster rate, even ripping the ground apart as it snaked over to us.

"Very bad. Galdius, get Caleb and Jenny away from there now!"

Gladius didn't need to be told twice, as he quickly wrapped one wing around each of us and pulled us back to the others. But as soon as we were set down, all the cracking stopped. As I was brought into a protective hug courtesy of Maria, I looked back at the shattered air.

Silence swallowed us as even the breeze froze in anticipation.

Then a tiny bit of reality popped out from the centre of the cracks…

Was sucked into the tiny hole made…

And all of it shattered to reveal a portal so loud, massive and frantic I screamed in terror.

And I only screamed louder in horror when a powerful gust of wind suddenly washed over us, trying to suck us into the seizure enduring blob of colours.

I cried out and grabbed Gladius, stabbing him into the ground to try and stay planted.

Dry Bowser and Ralph stood firm and hugged all of our smallest members close to them, their passengers gripping on for dear life.

Izzy, Merida, Jenny, Scrap Baby and the other adults shielded their faces and tried to hold their ground, but it was slowly failing.

The longer we held on, the bigger and more powerful the portal became, branches, flowers and rocks being sucked in and knocking us as they flew past.

Then the TARDIS lost its stability and was lifted into the air, heading straight for the portal. But not before taking Dry Bowser out, thus dragging him, Ruby, Iris, Flowey, Corey, Laney, Barranco and Dave with it and into the portal.

"GUYS NO!" I screamed, fruitlessly reaching out to save them.

That was when a tree, the very same tree Hilda and Vanellope were climbing earlier, was uprooted and flew right at us. It slammed into Ralph, knocking him off his feet and slamming into Amy and Rory. The wrecker, both Ponds, Vanellope, Hilda, Twig, Alfur, Gretchen, McGee and Maple were all dragged inside, screaming as the force increased even more.

It became too much for the others and I could only watch in pure horror as Jenny, Izzy, Zomboss, Maria, Galacta, Majima, Merida, Baby, Manolo and Galacta all succumbed to the pull, getting sucked into the portal. The Powerpuffs followed shortly after, the three of them attempting to fly away only to get sucked in anyway.

I closed my eyes as I gripped Gladius with all my life, but soon became panicked as he began to slip out of the ground bit by bit.

"Nononononononono", I pleaded.

But it didn't mean anything.

As Gladius was soon pulled out of the ground.

And the two of us screamed as we were pulled into the violent portal, it sealing up behind us when we were consumed.

~X~

…That was an intense end. Just when you thought things would run smoothly, something bad just had to happen. And in this case, it was a portal the likes the group hadn't ever seen before. All swallowed up and sent through against their wills.

We made it! The end of the multiverse adventure! After this is the endgame, with only one more place between the group and the Capital. That is all I will say. Until next time…

Up next: The whole group, after an especially violent portal trip leaves them shaken and the TARDIS damaged, wake up in an odd world. One which Gladius immediately recognizes. One that he fears…

~Caleb~