CJ, Keith, Priscilla, Diogo, Sun Lien, Petra, Dulce, Sisu, and the rest of the group watched in suspense.
They watched in complete and utter suspense.
They watched as the two Trollexes stared each other down...while sipping down a bowl of Hulatang soup.
They watched as they opened their mouths...and closed them...and opened them again...and closed them again...and repeat.
"Trollex?"
"YES?" The two Trollexes looked up from their standoff to find Agatha approaching with Melody, both of them donning looks of surprise and worry.
"I'm sorry. Honey?" Aggie shook her head and clarified so the second Trollex raised his hand to identify himself.
"Present."
"Just making sure," Aggie nodded before turning to DJ with an apologetic look in her eyes, "Sorry, Miss DJ. I may have confused your Trollex with mine."
"May have?" A now calm DJ chuckled, "At least you have good taste. So...do you wanna explain how you got here or do you need more time?"
"No, it's all right."
Aggie took a deep breath and began. She relayed her side of the story, followed by Trollex, and then Sisu. As DJ's group processed the information handed to them, DJ herself (as selfish it may seem to others) focused on the fact that not only Trollex ended up with someone else in another universe, she was barely mentioned to begin with. She was happy for Trollex to end up with someone in general, but it made her think about a few things. Namely, what was her part in his story with Aggie? Did she even have a part? In truth, she was ashamed over sounding rather selfish, but the mere thought frightened her.
Turning her attention to her Trollex, who was once again engaged in a standoff with Aggie's Trollex, DJ smiled before it faltered when she turned to Aggie.
"So, Aggie... These Siren Trolls... You said they took over your dimension a week after you fell in love with your Trollex and became the Master of All Music, right?"
"Yeah," Aggie nodded, "and I felt bad because most of the Tribe Leaders said I was putting a little too much pressure on myself. Trollex was taking me on a date to the beach when the attacks started."
"Did they mention something that could potentially serve as their weakness?"
"Queen Barb was enamored by the matching gems on their headbands, but they did not allow her to touch them. From what I could tell, they feed off the negativity and distrust of others and store it into their gems."
"Then we take these gems away from them and maybe destroy them," Trollex #1 laided his folded arms on the table as he leaned into the conversation, "then problem solved, right?"
"If only it were that easy," Trollex #2 shook his head, "King Quincy said that differences do matter, right? Well, with those positives will inevitably be followed by the negatives. Because the Troll Tribes separated years ago with the Strings, the negative energy wasn't strong enough for the Siren Trolls to feed off of. As such, most of the Tribe Leaders believed their power was lost."
"But because of the union of the Troll Tribes..." Priscilla nodded in understanding, "Their power came back. But how? How can the union of the Troll Tribes just make the negative energy stronger?"
"And this was recent, too," Keith began to fret, "If you guys were gone for a while, then the Siren Trolls should have gotten enough energy by that time!"
"Not if we say something about it," Trollex #2 asserted, "The Tribe Leaders and a few others managed to escape to a hideout, but Aggie and I got separated from the others and...well, here we are."
"And you came from another dimension, right?" CJ interjected, "Do you think the Siren Trolls may have followed you to ours?"
The very thought unnerved the rest of the group, but Aggie could only smile and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Of course not. But if they had done so already, I apologize for my mistake and I hope to correct it."
"I don't think there's anything to apologize for," DJ smiled as she took CJ from Aggie gently, "I mean, how else were we supposed to know about these Siren Trolls?"
"Still though..." Trollex replied, "Aggie thinks it would help in advance that she inform anyone and everyone we run into we meant no harm."
"Then we need a plan," Shang spoke up.
"And fast," Xia nodded in agreement. "The first time outsiders visit our kingdom for the past few years and what happens? The Party Crashers, the Chanty Trolls, and the Siren Trolls all want a piece of the action."
"And I just got crowned too..." Sun Lien muttered under her breath, much to Diogo's concern and regret.
"I'm so sorry about this, Your Majesty. We desired to keep this clean and mess-free as possible."
"Hmm. Well..." Sun Lien stood up and figuratively brushed the nonexistent dust off her nonexistent dress, "how else am I supposed to be Empress if the time to protect my subjects doesn't come?"
"Still a Gongzhu in our eyes, little sis," Shang draped an arm over Sun Lien's shoulders and planted a comforting noogie on her head. No doubt it embarrassed her, which unfortunately increased when Xia got in on the act. Adding insult to injury, the younger children giggled in amusement, which the Empress rolled her eyes at as she playfully sneered at them.
"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, ya little munchkins. You're gonna suffer this whenever you get crowned."
"I'm merely an accessory to your plans..."
Blue was never one to contemplate short-term decisions that would lead to long-term complications, but she found herself facing that same dilemma.
Her prior talk with that Mal Shredder and her rambling about her long-lost love made her think about a few certain things. Namely, over the course of the mission, the feared, fierce, and faithful Captain of the Chanty Trolls had caught wind of a series of troublesome conversations she had the unfortunate distinction of unintentionally eavesdropping on. She was at the center of every single one of them, and given her position as the leader of the ragtag bunch of misfits, one could easily deduce what these conversations entailed. The topic of mutiny was no stranger to her, and her recent attitude regarding the group of hostages had undoubtedly led to growing concerns that she was going soft after years of a hardened demeanor. As such, by maintaining that hardened demeanor, she had to repeatedly shoot down every and any attempt at pulling off a successful coup. Her former first mate Pistachio had came the closest to doing so, and he knew it was to be a losing battle for her, so he played every card in the game to ensure her inevitable outcome.
Suffice it to say, she had read out a chapter or two out of his book if she wished to avoid said inevitable outcome...or, at the very least, delay it.
Fiddling with her wristwatch prior to the beginning of the mission, Blue activated the device as it began to glow electric blue.
"Bring forth the Siren Trolls..."
A moment later, three figures (each reaching her height but rarely surpassing it) appeared before her. Judging by their rather youthful appearances, their ages and colors varied from the youngest to the oldest.
The youngest girl had blue skin (specifically cerulean), red eyes (specifically raspberry), and green hair (specfically harlequin) that was tied into a ponytail and swept down to the midsection of her back. She wore an outfit with the color scheme of pink and purple that teetered on an almost reddish hue, with a long-sleeve collared blouse, skirt, and leggings with custom pads for their feet, an clothing item shared among her sisters. She was perhaps the most feminine of the three.
The middle girl had pink skin (specifically fuchsia), purple eyes (specifically mulberry), and blue hair (specifically cyan) tied into two high ponytails. She wore an outfit with a color scheme far more muted than her younger sister but no less vibrant: a black leather jacket with a trio of matching bands, a spiked belt with matching gloves, and the leggings with the custom feet pads. The latter's color of purple helped her stand out from her more colorful sisters. She was the most tomboyish of the three.
The eldest girl had yellow skin (specifically gold), red eyes (specifically raspberry), and orange hair (specifically gamboge) that was puffy and styled with curls. She wore an outfit that seemed content of blending the two styles of her sisters: a purple suit jacket with a skirt, a pink spiked sash that helped the skirt remain up (not that she needed it, though), a pair of fingerless gloves, and the leggings with the custom feet pads. She was undoubtedly the most flexible of the three.
The one thing all three of them had in common? They wore headbands with coordinated colored gemstones, which were glowing moderately as much as their eyes.
"Who dares summon us?" The eldest Troll took notice of her surroundings.
"I dare," Blue's left hand motioned over to the right-side holster that housed her Beretta 90Two, "I dare summon you. My name is Captain Blue, but you may call me Captain and not Blue."
I'm blue
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di...
The Captain and the two older sirens turned to the youngest, who (after catching their gaze) smiled smugly and continued humming that little ditty to herself. The middle Troll rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Okay, okay. Captain, got it. Where are we? Because we were just in a castle high above the sky feeding off the negative energy of our prisoners. And then...whoosh! Transported to another location!"
"Try another universe," Blue smirked as she regained control after a momentary slip-up, "I brought you here for much needed assistance. There is a fellow Troll with a very hefty price on her head. As such, your task is to bring her to me and you shall be rewarded."
"What's in it for us?" The middle Troll crossed her arms in contempt before the eldest Troll elbowed her in the side.
"Kiri, were you not paying attention? This is not just another location! This is another universe! Do you know what this means?"
"Food? Actual food?" Vivace smiled genuinely this time, "I always wanted to try tacos!"
Blue, Serina, and Kiri shot her a nasty look before that smug grin returned with a vengeance.
"It means, my dear sisters..." Serina approached Blue, whose eyes narrowed at her, "this dear Captain has made us an offer we can't refuse. If what she says is true...if we really are in another universe...then the possibilities are endless. There may be other universes out there in need of our...much needed assistance."
"If the Troll Tribes exist..." Kiri's eyebrows shot up in understanding, "then the Tribe Leaders exist."
"And if the Tribe Leaders exist..." Vivace gasped and flashed a knowing smile, "so does our little Aggie."
"Aggie?" Blue raised an eyebrow in intrigue.
"A fellow "Troll" with a very hefty price on her head," Serina noted with visible disdain, "A Magical Musical Troll can harness the power and abilities of several different Trolls from any and all genres."
Processing this information given, Blue rubbed her chin in contemplation. A presumably Grey Troll who could harness the power and abilities of several different Trolls from any and all genres without assistance from the Six Strings? This...this changed things.
"Any and all genres..."