20. Vexed
The gummi ship landed as inconspicuously as such a vehicle could pull off on the outskirts of Twilight Town, where Mozenrath led his nine disciples through the woods toward his next idea of a base.
"It's no underground mountain kingdom," he sighed, "but since you're all incapable of handling that kind of responsibility anyway – "
"I did NOTHING wrong!" the Huntsman growled.
"It's not as though we gave away our position intentionally!" Snatcher argued.
"Half of us weren't even there, and you know it!" Aghoul chimed in.
"…We'll just have to get used to smaller quarters," Mozenrath concluded.
"As though I can't just add more rooms," Wuya muttered.
"I heard that," Mozenrath told her, "and you're not going to. I want to take the last base as a learning experience. We'll have to keep an even lower profile than before."
"With what we're wearing?" Even sputtered. "Cocktail dresses and dragon skull helmets? Long coats and capes? We may as well tell everyone we walk up to on the street that we're planning long-term conquest of the multiverse!"
That froze everyone for a moment.
"You know what we must do," Even went on. "That is to say…blend in."
Everyone else was clearly uncomfortable with the prospect. "We'll table the suggestion for the next conference," Mozenrath said at last, clutching his dark cape protectively.
They came upon a clearing, and the manor from which the mages had tested out the Claymore program loomed above. "Welcome to home sweet home," Mozenrath introduced.
"I suppose it could be worse," Yzma sighed. "There will be room for a laboratory, will there not?"
"The basement should do," Mozenrath told her.
"I will be requiring a workspace as well," Even brought up.
"Then you and Yzma can work out how to share the basement," Mozenrath told him coldly.
Even didn't know Yzma well enough to protest, but he was already fuming at the prospect.
"I think the real question here is how many bathrooms it has," Wuya pointed out.
"I'm guessing fewer than ten," Mozenrath informed her forlornly.
"We have to SHARE BATHROOMS?" Yzma practically screeched.
"No problem," Roman decided. "I've gone months on end without showering before. I'll just do it again."
Snatcher was rather going to miss having his own shower. It was something he'd never been granted access to back in Cheesebridge, and while he'd thought he'd gotten quite accustomed to what most would consider filth and squalor, once Mozenrath had presented him with the marvels of indoor plumbing, he'd spent fully three hours on his first shower; the water had turned black. Though now, he supposed, sizing up the building, everyone's quarters would be squeezed tightly enough together that he would be heard singing (in both voices) in there anyway.
Mozenrath, Snatcher, Roman, Neo, Yzma, Mim, Aghoul, Wuya, the Huntsman, and Even entered the building and fanned out. While the others explored the branching hallways of the manor, Mozenrath focused his attention on the atrium. It was decorated by a glass case containing a sculpture of a castle. Mozenrath magically swept that aside, letting it topple against the wall, before carving a twelve-pointed design into the floor. The Cornerstone and the Dust crystal settled in where they had been on the counterpart design in Judgment Hall. Neo had transferred the six souls to Mozenrath upon their escape from Mt. Ebott, and he removed them from his purse now, letting the canisters grow to full size. With some careful jostling for space, he consolidated all six souls into one canister, where they fluttered against the walls like butterflies in a cage. This canister settled in on one of the free points of the design. Finally, Mozenrath produced the crystals that forged the Elements of Harmony. As he swept his hand over another free point of the design, a tiny silver-white tree, a miniature version of the Tree of Harmony, sprouted up and unfurled five branches. Mozenrath steered the crystals close to the tree; the trunk absorbed the crystal of Magic, and the other branches took in the other five gems. Already, the design seemed to hum with power. Mozenrath allowed himelf a smile of pride.
That feeling was dispelled when Even and Yzma came storming out of the library. "There is NOT enough room for both of us to work down there!" Yzma hissed.
"Not my problem," Mozenrath said dismissively, putting up his right hand before turning and stalking away from the disgruntled pair.
The Huntsman descended a stairway, intercepting Mozenrath. "I've counted the rooms," he announced, "and you may want to know the results."
"Go on," Mozenrath encouraged.
"There are five bathrooms throughout the entire building," the Huntsman reported, "and seven bedrooms."
"Then I suppose some of us will just have to share," Mozenrath resolved. "Not me, of course. I get my own room."
Soon enough, a conference was held in the lounge to the side of the atrium; the ten villains gathered around a broken table that Wuya wasted no time repairing.
"You said we would discuss the issue of our wardrobe," Even reminded Mozenrath.
Rolling his eyes dramatically, Mozenrath groaned, "All in favor of dressing however we want and letting people make whatever assumptions they will?"
Every hand but Even's went up.
"You will regret not listening to me on this point," Even muttered.
"The people here dress bizzarely anyway," Mim pointed out. "I've seen my share of capes around."
"We may have to cut back on public karaoke nights in the interest of drawing less attention to ourselves, though," Mozenrath pointed out.
"Are you saying that because you mean it, or because karaoke nights annoy you?" Yzma posed.
"Moving on." Mozenrath brushed her off. "Regarding the bedroom situation, the Huntsman tells me we only have seven bedrooms. Six of you will have to partner up. And before you ask, I get my own room, and that's not for argument."
Neo seized Mim's arm, practically bouncing up and down in her seat.
"Well, that's one set of roommates decided," Mozenrath observed. "Anyone else?"
"I SUPPOSE I can take one for the team and bunk with Archie," Roman volunteered before firing a wink in Snatcher's direction.
"That sounds more than satisfactory," Snatcher replied, his tone deep and sultry.
"Not sure how I didn't see that coming," Mozenrath muttered. A little louder: "Aaaaanyone else?"
"Yzma wouldn't be that bad of a roommate, the more I think about it," Wuya suggested.
"I suppose there are worse people to room with than you," Yzma replied, looking to Wuya. "I'm in."
"We can all stake our claims later," Mozenrath concluded. "I know this isn't ideal, but I think we can make this work." He looked around the table to see if he could meet any approving gazes. The only pairs of eyes still filled with disdain were Even's, but since that was his default mood, Mozenrath counted it a unanimous agreement that the new base would suit their purposes well enough.
"On that note," Mozenrath said rather proudly, "dismissed."
...
Rainbow Dash swooped gracefully over the Everfree Forest, able to see from the tops of the trees that the Plunderseed vines were breaking through. As she skimmed over top of Ponyville, she could see the damage the vines were doing there, crawling up the sides of every building; ponies everywhere were trying to hack them down and beat them back. The damage continued far out from Ponyville to neighboring towns, forests, and fields. Through it all, Rainbow Dash could feel a tension in the air brought on by the feeling that something very important was missing, and she knew she was suffering the effects of the loss of the Crystal Heart.
Her path took her all the way back around to the central kingdom of Canterlot, where she pulled in for a landing in front of the great golden castle. She nodded to th guards as she walked in; they nodded in return.
Waiting for her in the throne room were Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack. "How'd it look?" Applejack asked.
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Not good. There are Plunderseed vines EVERYWHERE. And you can so tell the Crystal Heart is gone."
"This is the end of Equestria, isn't it?" Rarity asked in a panic.
"This is far from the end of Equestria," Celestia stated firmly. "We have seen worse."
"But last time, we always had something to hold onto for hope, like the Elements of Harmony or the Crystal Heart," Twilight stated somberly. "Those are all gone now."
"I would wager that by now, the thieves would have taken those items to another realm," Luna theorized.
"Whaddaya mean 'another realm'?" Applejack asked.
"There are many worlds in existence besides our own," Luna explained. "From what you have told me and what I have seen, Mozenrath and his allies have strange powers that were unrecorded. It is entirely possible that they came from another world. As did the harpy and the Diamond Dog we saw."
"That's right," Twilight realized. "Tirek came from another world!"
"You don't suppose Mozenrath and the harpy were working together, do you?" Rarity asked with concern.
Twilight shook her head. "They seemed to be enemies."
"Probably all just an act they put on to throw us off the trail," Applejack suggested.
Twilight wanted to retort that she didn't think so, but she didn't have any reason to believe Mozenrath's sincerity could be defended at this point.
"We must account for all possibilities," Luna decided. "Perhaps they were working together; perhaps they were of rival factions."
"Whatever's going on, we have to do something about it," Twilight said sternly. "We can't just let them get away with this! Whatever world they went to, we have to follow them and get the Elements and the Crystal Heart back!"
"That is exactly what I plan to do," Luna stated. "However, it is a journey I believe I must undertake alone."
"Are you certain, sister?" Celestia asked in concern.
"Only if it is not too much of a burden to you to take on the rise and fall of the moon once more," Luna replied. "You did so while I was imprisoned in the moon. I believe you can do it again."
"That I can," Celestia confirmed. "But will you be all right on your own?"
"Please, do not doubt me, sister," Luna replied with a glare. "I have grown into something far beyond the filly you knew."
"You can't just go out there and leave us here!" Rainbow Dash insisted. "We're coming too!"
Luna shook her head. "Equestria needs somepony to give this land hope and search for solutions on this world. And I do not doubt there are solutions to these problems that do not involve the Crystal Heart or the Elements of Harmony, even if they seem temporary. The rest of you would do best to stay here and protect this land from within. After all, we do not know how many other enemies are out there, sizing us up now that we are weakened."
"I want to help any way I can," Twilight replied. "If that means going with you, then that's what I want to do. But if that means staying here…"
"I do believe Luna is right," Rarity announced. "I've no doubt most of us wish to partake in her adventure, but the fact of the matter is that the ponies here need us. We must look for a way to hold back the Plunderseeds in the meantime. After all, Plunderseeds have existed for over a thousand years. SOMEpony must have figured out a way to get rid of them. And Equestria hasn't HAD a Crystal Heart for a thousand years!"
"Maybe there's something in the library!" Pinkie Pie chirped.
"Twilight's library, or the Canterlot library?" Fluttershy asked.
"Why not both?" Pinkie suggested.
Cadance turned to Luna. "I believe I should go with you. Before you argue (and Luna had already opened her mouth to do just that), I want you to remember that it was my empire from which the Crystal Heart was stolen. As its princess, it's my responsibility to get it back."
Luna mulled it over. "Very well," she said at last. "You may come. However, know that the journey will be strange and dangerous. I know which world I plan to seek help upon first, and it is populated by very strange creatures."
"I'm ready," Cadance said with a nod. She turned to Shining Armor. "I'm sorry, but – "
"Don't apologize." Shining Armor shook his head. "You don't have anything to apologize for. You're right. It is the heart of your empire."
"Of our empire," Cadance reminded him.
"And someone has to stay behind to take care of that empire," Shining Armor retorted. "So it might as well be me!" He gave Cadance a smile. "I think I can handle it."
"Good luck out there!" Pinkie Pie squeaked, bounding up and down.
"Thank you," Luna replied. "We shall need it."
Cadance and Shining Armor embraced one last time. Luna and Celestia gave each other a parting nod. Then, as everypony else waved goodbye, Luna opened a Corridor of Darkness in the midst of the hallway. "Are you ready?" she asked Cadance.
"As I'll ever be," Cadance replied with somewhat of a nervous smile. She then entered the Corridor, disappearing into its dark depths. Luna followed, and the portal vanished.
...
As Mozenrath made his way down through the library to the subterranean chambers of the mansion, he encountered Wuya making her way up. "I've just finished setting up the laboratory," she informed Mozenrath, shoving an object at his chest; he grasped it out of a reflex. "I'm going to go put my feet up and not do any magic for five hours. Don't interrupt me unless you want to die."
As Wuya made her exeunt, Mozenrath inspected the item he gripped a little more closely. It was a roll of purple glitter-spangled duct tape.
That was only a preview of what was to come when he passed the computer terminal room and entered the larger chamber that had been converted into a laboratory. A pair of shining metal counters with pipelines that hooked up to various burners had been installed by the ever-creative Wuya, and the counters were stocked with all sorts of lab equipment. One counter was laden with distillation equipment, a mortar and pestle, and beakers in strange, twisted shapes. The other held orderly, straight beakers and graduated cylinders, as well as microscopes and metal tools ranging from large to very fine. It was easy to tell whose side of the lab was whose, especially since Yzma was situated at the former counter and Even at the latter.
"How are my two little lab rats getting along?" Mozenrath asked cheerfully.
"Don't ever call me that again," Yzma and Even responded as one before glaring daggers at each other for even daring to reply in unison.
"We've reached an agreement of sorts," Even stated calmly. "Yzma stays on her half of the laboratory, and keeps all her effects there, and I do the same on mine. You can see the dividing line."
Looking down, Mozenrath saw where a line of purple glitter tape had been laid down across the length of the floor.
"You'll notice it is slightly off center," Even continued. "The right-hand edge of the tape actually marks the dividing line. I wanted all of that…GLITTER to remain on HER side."
"Idiots though my previous assistants were," Yzma sighed, "they at least knew how to appreciate the finer things in life."
"Are you implying that I am your assistant?" Even snapped.
"Nothing would make me angrier than having YOU for a right-hand," Yzma replied.
"The feeling is mutual," Even stated, and the two glared at each other again, now miffed that they'd agreed with each other.
"…Anyway," Mozenrath went on, eager to dispel the awkwardness in the room, "I came here to make good on a little promise that Even and I discussed." He produced from his enchanted purse a small box, the same make as the sort that held the Cornerstone of Light upstairs. "The Huntsman gave me this to present to you to do with as you will. I figured you would need somewhere to put it."
"I thank you for this," Even stated, matter-of-fact, as he swiped the box from Mozenrath's hand.
"What's going on?" Yzma asked, flustered with confusion. "What's going in the box?"
"My heart," Even answered. "I am far, far better off without it."
"I've never seen a magical heart transplant before!" Yzma practically squealed.
"I will ask you NOT to drool over the procedure," Even groaned.
"She can watch," Mozenrath said firmly. "Whenever you're ready…"
"Now is as good of a time as ever," Even told him, turning to face the sorcerer, putting his arms at his sides and puffing his chest a bit for easy access.
Yzma grinned madly, coming as close as she could to Even and Mozenrath without crossing the line of tape, eager to see how Mozenrath went about this particular spell.
"You HAVE removed a heart before, have you not?" Even snapped at Mozenrath.
Mozenrath nodded. "Many times." Not even once. Still, he held up his right hand, watching as an aura not of blue but of pure black surrounded the gauntlet. After clenching a fist and flexing it out a few times, he suddenly plunged his arm into Even, his hand pushing through skin and sternum like they were liquid. His fingers and palm seized a throbbing object, and Mozenrath knew he had found what he'd gone fishing for. As suddenly as he'd thrust his arm into Even, he removed it, taking with it a gleaming red object that pulsed subtly.
Even flinched only slightly throughout the whole procedure. As he looked at the heart in Mozenrath's hand, he forced a smile, at last satisfied that he had to put that much effort into smiling. "That will do," he said evenly, reaching out to take both the heart and the box from Mozenrath, placing the former inside the latter and clicking the lid decisively closed. "Though there is one last request I have of you. Don't worry. It's not much."
"I'll hear it out before I agree to anything," Mozenrath replied.
"I would prefer if you didn't refer to me as 'Even' anymore," the blond scientist decided. "From now on, my name is 'Vexen.'"
...
It had been no difficult feat for Maleficent to transform Grimhilde from a stone harpy into a flesh-and-blood human being. She had also restored the human form of a rather sheepish Cruella once all were reunited in the common room of Villain's Vale. However, her fixes to their ailments came at a price, and that price was answering a single question:
"What happened to you?"
Grimhilde was stoic and even-tempered as she related the tale; Cruella interjected every so often with a frantic babble. They told the truth, from the moment Maleficent had left them in charge of the castle to the moment they'd returned. Once they had finished their explanation, they waited to see Maleficent's reaction.
A grin played at the faery's lips. "I gave you but one task," she stated. "Destroy Mozenrath. You located him thrice over, and every time, he was at a disadvantage to your powers and skills. And yet…"
Cruella backed away, immediately realizing why Maleficent was smiling. She was already planning their punishment, and having fun doing it.
"You seem to be forgetting part of the tale," Grimhilde told Maleficent. "It is true that Mozenrath still lives. However, as we speak, an entire empire in Equestria dies…and you are in possession of this."
She swept out her cape, creating a small portal of Darkness in midair; the Crystal Heart appeared at its center, floating before Maleficent. Maleficent stretched out her fingers, beckoning the Heart closer to herself. Once it hovered between her hands, the very nature of her smile changed. "Perhaps you have not failed me after all," she remarked. "This will be very useful in the days to come."
"It is a stone of immense power," Jafar observed; he knew how to recognize a magical crystal when it was presented to him.
"Then I suppose you're willing to just put this whole silly Mozenrath incident behind – " Cruella attempted.
"Your sentence shall be light," Maleficent stated sternly. "Not erased."
"I think some honest hard work should teach them a lesson," Cinder suggested. "This castle is full of dirt and stains waiting to be removed. Or is the Evil Queen too proud to kneel and scrub a floor?"
Grimhilde glowered at Cinder. This woman was suggesting she do the very work she used to give Snow White to keep her busy.
"Conventional," Maleficent remarked, "but for the moment, fitting. The two of you shall take on the task of polishing this entire castle to a brilliant shine. And you will be thankful that I allow you to remain in a physical state where you can complete such a task…in the course of a week. If so much as a cobweb remains after that time, we shall revisit the state of your punishment."
"How did your little Book of Prophecies thing go?" Cruella asked, eager to change the subject.
"The Book?" Hades responded. "Not there, babe. Long gone, and everybody's lips were zipped about where it went off to."
"But not for long," Maleficent said with an enigmatic smile. "I think it is about time I gather a little more information from our sources." She turned and stalked away, disappearing down a side stairwell.
"At the least, we left Briarwood in shambles," Jafar reported.
"There were several people styling themselves 'heroes' who decided to try and drive us away," Cinder elaborated. "But while we may not have gotten the Book…we got what we needed."
"And that is?" Grimhilde asked stonily.
Maleficent continued down the stairwell until she came to a small wooden door set in the stone. Much like the Forbidden Mountains, Villain's Vale was outfitted with many a prison cell. She opened this door and entered the small enclosure, where a thin woman was chained up, her wrists bound above her head by cuffs that dangled from the ceiling and her feet firmly shackled to the floor. When she saw Maleficent enter, she began to shake her head wildly. "No…no…"
"To think this was once the queen of the vampires," Maleficent taunted. "Now little more than a broken mortal. Have you changed your mind yet?"
"I've told you, I don't know where it is!" the woman insisted.
She was immediately wracked with pain around the legs; a thorny vine was wrapped around her lower half and pressing in on her skin. "Necrolai," Maleficent cajoled, "even though you may not know where the Book itself is, you know something about it. You know where you saw it last."
"I don't…I don't remember…"
The thorns grew longer, stabbing in deeper.
"I see my efforts are in vain," Maleficent said at last. "Perhaps I simply must accept that you do not have the information I seek. Perhaps…I am better off asking your daughter the whereabouts of the book."
"NO!" Necrolai had seen Ursula drag her daughter Leelee away, the blonde girl kicking and screaming all the while. She knew Maleficent was making no empty threat. "I may not remember much…but I will tell you all I can!"
"Very well." Maleficent's eyes burned with delight.
...
Alone at last in his very own bedroom – and the one with the biggest and comfiest bed, to boot – Mozenrath decided it was time to relax. He leaned back on the bed with a book he'd taken from the manor library in hand. There would be plenty of time to observe the Datascape and select his next target world later. The job was half done, anyway; he'd had a world scoped out to provide him with a sufficient Element of Air. For now, it was time to –
His fingers froze on the first page.
The Datascape.
It was still back in the mountain.
And whose fault was that?
"SNATCHERRRRR!" The roar echoed throughout the manor. "TORCHWIIIIICK! YZMAAAAAA!"
As Mozenrath stormed out of his room, ready to give the three of them an earful for not thinking to retrieve the Datascape before booting all three back to Knightdock to go find it, he became aware of another sound filling the mansion: that of a throbbing bass. Someone was playing very loud music, and it was coming from the mansion's entryway so that it was audible throughout the whole house.
When Mozenrath arrived in the foyer, he was stunned into silence by the scene. A great stage had been set up against the back wall, with strobe lights pouring over it; heavy drapes had been drawn against all the windows in order to allow said lights to do their job. Sitting upon the stage was a pair of enormous speakers and a turntable that acted as their source of sound. At the moment, Snatcher, decked out as Frou Frou in a gown of red with a tall jet-black wig, was belting a seductive song into a microphone and shimmying along. Behind the turntable, Roman had been in charge of audio, but watching Snatcher had frozen him in place, utterly gobsmacked and practically drooling. Wuya, Mim, Aghoul, Neo, and the Huntsman stood in front of the stage, watching the show.
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Mozenrath screamed. He realized only one person could have produced that much equipment from thin air, and turned on Wuya; "YOU SAID YOU WERE ON A BREAK!"
Wuya shrugged. "I got bored."
Snatcher made an executive decision to ignore Mozenrath and keep singing.
"And you." Mozenrath approached the Huntsman next. "You let them get away with this."
"The rationale," the Huntsman argued, "was that if we were not going to partake in public karaoke in the interest of keeping a 'low profile,' karaoke would be localized instead. I know far better than to try and stop them at this point."
"Is this true?" Mozenrath asked Mim and Aghoul.
"We have to have our fun SOMEHOW," Mim told him. "And we knew you wouldn't like the idea of kidnapping random civilians to torture slowly with kitchen implements and rare diseases, so we set up karaoke equipment instead!"
Mozenrath gritted his teeth. "Technically. You're right. About that." Realizing there was only one way to get Snatcher and Roman's attention, he stormed toward the back of the stage and sent a blast of magic rocketing through both speakers, blowing a neat hole through them and silencing the music. Snatcher was stopped short mid-note.
"Wow," Roman told Mozenrath. "Just when I thought you couldn't be any more of a killjoy."
Vexen slammed the door to the library open, storming out of it in a rage.
"Speaking of…" Snatcher muttered.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Vexen barked.
Yzma scooted out of the library behind him. "Is this a karaoke setup?" she asked eagerly.
"It was before Mozenrath destroyed it," Aghoul informed her.
"Whatever," Wuya sighed. "I can rebuild the speakers whenever I want."
"WHAT is wrong with ALL OF YOU?" Vexen went on. "You waste your immense talents on KARAOKE?"
"If you and Lord Mozenrath dislike it so much," Snatcher said into his microphone, "we can give away your time slots to Miss Neopolitan."
"Neo doesn't sing," Mozenrath reminded him.
"That was rather the point," Snatcher replied, still holding up the microphone. "Very well, then. Your time onstage will go to Torchwick."
"Torchwick CAN'T sing," Mozenrath insisted. "No one wants to hear him sing."
"I do – "
"Give me that!" Mozenrath seized the microphone and crushed it in his right hand with a burst of magic. "You didn't answer my call earlier."
"You called?" Snatcher replied innocently. "Music must've been too loud."
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU LEFT BEHIND?" Mozenrath asked him, turning his gaze to Roman, then to Yzma. Yzma immediately stepped behind Wuya; Roman shrugged.
"The Datascape," Mozenrath informed them. "Our only method of discovering the elements we need for our conquest spell, and YOU LEFT IT IN OUR LAST BASE OF OPERATIONS RIGHT BEFORE IT WAS STORMED!"
There was an audible gulp from all three of the guilty parties.
"And do you know what you're going to do about it?" Mozenrath asked.
"I'm guessing…" Snatcher said sheepishly. "Use the, er, Gummi ship you recently acquired…to go back there…and attempt to retrieve it?"
Mozenrath forced a smile and nodded. "I knew I liked you for a reason. Now GO."
Snatcher, Yzma, and Roman scurried out of the room in a hurry, Snatcher not even bothering to change.
"You realize they're not going to find it," Wuya told Mozenrath. "They'll already have scoured the base by now."
"I know," Mozenrath sighed. "And they're all too valuable to maim." Though the truth was, as angry as he was with them, he really didn't want to punish them too harshly. He told himself it was just because they were valuable tools, but deep down, he knew better. "Working with the Mamluks was so much easier," he lamented. They made it hard to get attached. "They never set up karaoke stages in the middle of the lair."
"You know…" Wuya stepped up onstage gingerly. "There is an obvious way to vent your frustrations…"
"Don't tell me."
Wuya placed a working microphone in Mozenrath's hand. She then waved her own hand, and the speakers were put back in working order.
"Just give me whatever's angriest," Mozenrath ordered.
In utter disbelief, Vexen turned and stalked from the room in a huff, slamming the door to the library behind him as hard as he could.
...
Things in Knightdock didn't settle back down to "normal" after Mozenrath and his company left. They couldn't. The wounds that Snatcher had torn open were left in the form of scar tissue. People still protested outside the MTT-radio station, hoping to jail all the monsters of Knightdock in a misguided bid to "keep their town safe." While the KPD seemed to have gained a full understanding of the situation, the NVPD hovered, keeping hawk eyes out for any other slip-up a monster could make. There were even people who still believed, after the whole story came out, that Papyrus had in fact been responsible for the death of young Eddie, and that his release would only lead to more deaths. And among all of this, Asgore remained imprisoned, unable to be let go due to the severity of the crime he had truly committed.
When Papyrus informed Toriel that he was going to be leaving town with Sora and Ruby in search of adventure, she knew she could never admit it to him out loud, but she felt as though it was a good time for him to leave. Perhaps out there, he could find a place where he would be more accepted.
Undyne had told him to "Go get 'em!" with a punch on the arm. She had then leaned over to whisper to Ruby, "But seriously, keep an eye on him. If you let him get even a scratch on him, I will END YOU."
Sans had responded to the news with a smile. "have fun out there," he told his brother. "but not too much fun, okay?"
"I WILL HAVE AS MUCH OR AS LITTLE FUN AS I PLEASE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" Papyrus insisted.
"i know you will," Sans replied with a playful wink. "but i bet you're gonna miss me having a conveniently timed trombone when you need one."
"AS A MATTER OF FACT, THAT'S THE LAST THING I'LL MISS. THAT AND YOUR PUNS."
"what, you got a trom-bone to pick with me?"
"SAAAAAAANS!"
But Ruby and Sora had thought it was funny.
Once Papyrus had said all his goodbyes, he, Ruby, and Sora decided to have one more spaghetti dinner and anime marathon at his house. The food was as delicious as it could get with those three at the helm, and the anime they found had enough giant weapons to keep Ruby gazing raptly at the screen.
There was a knock at the door. Sora, Ruby, and Papyrus exchanged glances. The last time their fun had been interrupted by a knock at the door, it had been terrible tidings. Yet they knew they had to answer it this time.
"HELLO?" Papyrus greeted as he swung the door open.
"Hey, Papyrus," Officer Lyons greeted, waving with the arm that wasn't bound up in a cast and sling. "Your friends Sora and Ruby here?"
"We're here!" Sora confirmed as he and Ruby popped out from either side of Papyrus to greet Lyons.
"We found something interesting while we were cleaning out the castle in the mountain," Lyons announced. "I thought you might want to take a look at it."
"Why?" Sora asked.
"It has your name on it," Lyons answered.
...
The small computer in the police station glowed with light. Upon its screen was a view of a world suspended in interspace. Notes on the side of the screen labeled it as "Destiny Islands: home to Sora, Riku, and Kairi."
After only a moment of looking at it with Lyons, Ruby, and Papyrus, Sora gasped. "The Datascape!" he cried.
"You know what this is?" Lyons asked.
"Yeah!" Sora confirmed. "This was stolen from some friends of mine! Look. I'll show you! This is how you get to the section on Wonderland…" With a few keystrokes, he brought another world up onscreen, one labeled "Wonderland." "And this is how you get to the Olympus Coliseum!" He repeated the process for another world.
"Is this some kind of game?" Lyons wondered out loud.
"It's…more like…well, I'm not sure how to explain it, really," Sora admitted.
"I think you've proven well enough that it belongs to you," Lyons told him. "We'll let you have it. But first, I did want you to see this." He sat down at the computer, using his good hand to tap a few keys. A new world appeared on the screen. "When we first put the disk into this computer," Lyons explained, "this was what came up."
"I've…never heard of this world before," Sora admitted, looking it over. The notes that surrounded it were typed in deep royal blue, unlike the other worlds he'd displayed on the Datascape. They included phrases such as "Element of Air," "Next target?" and "A place of interest."
"Whatever this 'Datascape' is," Lyons stated, "our persons of interest were looking at this level…or whatever you call part of this…in particular. We weren't sure if it had anything to do with where they were planning to escape to. No one's found the craft they left in in the air. Anyway, we've already documented this, so you can take it home." He ejected the disk, handing it over to Sora.
"Thanks," Sora told him earnestly.
"For everything, really," Ruby added.
Lyons nodded. "I'm just trying to do what's right around here."
"Well, we should get going," Sora announced. "This should help a lot."
"OUR PATHS SHALL CROSS AGAIN ONE DAY WHEN I MAKE MY TRIUMPHANT RETURN HOME!" Papyrus told Lyons.
"I look forward to it," Lyons told the trio.
As the three left, they passed Clarence coming in. Clarence fired a suspicious glance at their backs before turning to address Lyons; "What did they want?"
"The disk belonged to Sora," Lyons replied. "Or at least some friends of his."
"You think you can trust a monster-lover like that?" Clarence asked. "Especially one who just shows up out of nowhere with no profile and no information? He was probably flat-out lying to you."
"It's innocent until proven guilty, Clarence," Lyons said sternly.
"One of these days, your soft heart is gonna get us all in trouble," Clarence said rather menacingly, fixing a glare upon Lyons. "And until then, I'm going to be the one making sure the monsters stay in line where they belong. Like you should be doing."
Lyons returned the glare in equal measure: "I think I know the difference between right and wrong, Clarence. Do you?"
Outside, Sora, Ruby, and Papyrus quickened their pace toward the Gummi ship. "WHERE TO FIRST?" Papyrus asked.
"Well, we should bring the Datascape back to Disney Castle, where it belongs," Sora resolved. "But after that, we should check out that world the bad guys made notes on. It's probably where they're gonna strike next!"
"Let's go!" Ruby laughed.
Recalling the name of the world in question, Papyrus took the lead of the charge, pointing dramatically ahead as he announced, "TO ATMOS!"