DUST AND THE SWEEPER
Chapter 5 - Cold Fusion
"I anticipated the gates of Hell to welcome me into its flames," Fuse says. "But following my demise, I somehow awoke in this very room connected to the roots of the village underbelly."
"So you're the culprit behind the whole weed infestation," Fale asks.
"Indeed, Warmblood. I was beginning to think you wouldn't figure it out. How observant of you."
"Grrr..." Matti growls, holding his mallet close.
"What's the purpose of these things," questions Fale. "To prick people with thorns?"
"I'm using these plants to grow fruits and vegetables for the village."
"Wow," Avgustin replies. "You're doin' Geehan an' the gardening club a favor."
"Then when everyone has consumed them, they will instantly turn on each other, carrying the same hatred I have for the race that took my family."
Avgustin's jaw drops. "Oh…"
"I hoped the Mithrarin and his pet Nimbat, or perhaps the alien would have come to greet me by now. But since you're here, I may as well enjoy the company."
The entrances cave in from the vines folding back in the chamber! Several more appendages grow from the ground and the ceiling, complete with razor-sharp thorns. Fuse, Matti, and Avgustin ready their tools, surrounding the Elysium Blade as they prepare for what's quite possibly a horrific battle.
"Make yourselves at home, Warmbloods."
"Maybe next time," says Fale.
A single vine snaps at the Warmblood, who swiftly sways with his torso and slices it with his clippers. A purple blood-like liquid spews out the harsh vegetation as it smacks Avgustin against the sword. He again tries to lift it but to no avail. Instead he takes his shovel, swinging it into the other two thorns coming for him at both sides!
SHING
Fale's slit in the shoulder by another plant, nearly missing Matti's ear. The blacksmith lets go of him to fight better, smashing the vine that struck Fale against the ground with his hammer, upward swinging into another beside him, and splattering another behind! A window of opportunity presents itself as Fuse remains unguarded. Perhaps occupied concentrating on the taller Warmbloods in front of him. Without a second thought, Matti rushes at him prepared to bring the hammer on his dome when he is grabbed by the ankles by two vines from above, flipping him while in the air! A few new oddities sprout from the water. Five glowing mushrooms with spikes at the tip and tentacles extending out from their roots, grabbing onto Avgustin's ankles and tripping him down before he can skewer one of them!
"Ow," he yipes, reaching for the shovel he dropped. It's swooped before he can even grab it, broken into pieces by the arms from the ceiling! He slams his fist into the dirt, "Agh, no fair!"
It's not long before he too is lifted next to Matti. Only Fale remains to clip as much as he can, shooing most of the fauna away when his tool is taken away. He's grabbed by the arm, but he pulls hard enough that the vine pops out the root from the wall! However, it's at the cost of causing him pain as the thorns pierced his flesh! He's forced to kneel over holding his injury. All the corrupted plants circle around him and his allies, with Matti still whacking some of them with his mallet.
"Yeah, get 'em Mat," Avgustin cheers upside down by the legs! "He'll have to quit eventually!"
"I give you my congratulations, specs," says Fuse. "You three had the most fight compared to all the others of your kind that I've faced." His head droops, giving off a furious gaze. "Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. And without my slayer…you are finished."
FLUSH
The mushroom enemies shrivel and shrink into the purple water. The vines converging on Fale turn their attention like Fuse towards the front of the room where 4 green humanoid shapes begin to emerge from the ground. They each take on an alien appearance, wearing a light green dress from neck to toe, ending in a purple hue. Their hair, if you could call it that, stretches upward like a curved needle, and each one where's a grey crown and an Atlantean frame hovering behind them.
"Woah," shouts Fale. "Lady Tethys?!"
"Wooowee," Avgustin flirts. "She sure is somethin' else! Er, rather they're somethin' else, and right on time!"
Both groups of two shift to either side making room for another figure rising in the middle. It's another identical creature, but this one now wears more makeup, spicing up her appearance. What was thought to be her hair had separated into two curved horns of sorts, letting loose a white flame of some kind from her dome.
In a stern tone, the real Tethys glares at Fuse and tells him, "I should have known a being such as you would interfere with the waters during my slumber. Your reckless crusade against Warmblood kind must end, or you will be doomed to repeat the atrocities of the one responsible for all people's suffering."
"I do not fear you, Tethys," Fuse replies, unphased by such words. "Not when you too have once been corrupted from war. Let's see just how powerful a goddess really is when their environment turns against them."
Haley comes home stressed. She barges in the now empty hangar seeing Blinx's phone left on a worktable, which already went to voicemail 5 times Ginger called. As easy as it is to blame the Time Sweeper for swooping her husband away, she's less irritated over him and more to do with Dust repeatedly leaving her on missions where she could be of use to them. With the exception of this morning where the extra help wasn't necessary. Is it out of fear for her safety? Most certainly. But has there ever been a day where it wasn't safe? Is she defenseless? Dust knows she can defend herself, so why not let her join him? Thoughts like this continue to dance around Haley's mind as she opens one of the closets, containing a near-perfect copy of Dust's original outfit, fashioned by Moonblood sorcery with only his hat and pants being related to the assassin Cassius, while the rest is purely Jin's. Humorously, this makes her consider if he fancied himself a superhero with the cape and vest.
"Someday hun," Haley smirks, "you're gonna need me out there and you're gonna like it."
She shuts the door and, CRASH! Haley quickly leans forward from getting startled and carefully brings herself around towards the entrance. Outside, yet another shuttle, the same one that passed Half and Half Village, has landed nastily, smashing through the side of the Warmblood's home where the forge is held. The hot liquid poured from above spills against the metal of the ship as its hatch doors slide open. The squads of sentinel bots are deployed and march outside, lining up in perfect formation in front of Haley. Behind them, another pod descends next to the diamond atop the rubble, opening the hatch to let out the marauder inside. A Cat-Sith like Duke.
He says in a deep voice, "Soldiers, bring this town to its knees."
Elsewhere, in the deep forest slowly succumbing to corruption, Fidget leads Ginger down a redwood path past the sharp thorns and dark shrubs. On the way, they look around finding insects already at work trying to quell the outbreak, such as a masked hornet using two needles like hedge clippers against a tentacle-looking vine. The rest of the way leads to exposed roots poking out the ground, enough to topple the largest tree the two have seen thus far.
"Ok, so, what exactly are we looking for," asks Ginger.
"Nothing especially," answers Fidget. "I just wanted to show you what I meant by 'alien-looking' stuff. That tree was sitting up last I was here. Figured you knew something about it."
"Not really." She touches the closest vine next to her, feeling how hard it is. "But if I had to guess…this is a bad case of photosynthesis. Probably from acorns."
"I don't think seeds can make roots big enough to bring down the largest thing here in a few minutes."
"Fidget, this world's magical. I thought you'd know stuff like this happens all the time."
"Eh, I just go with the flow with that sorta thing."
Ginger lets out a brief sigh, not at Fidget but over something else when she turns away to look at another glowing melon.
"Guess this is something we'll need to consult the Elder about then…"
"Hate to keep bringing up the obvious," says Fidget, "but something's bugging you, am I right? You told me you were OK, and here you are still sighing and it's getting to me."
The Warmblood turns back to her little friend, walking up to her. "Sorry, it's nothing to do with you. It's about what I said earlier about half of Dust being Cassius, and the other half being Jin. I said it was uncanny knowing one soul belongs to the one who killed our family and so much more. I'm just worried I might've upset him and I wish he was here so I could apologize."
Fidget tilts her head and puts her hands together, almost smiling, "Aaaaw, I'm sure he understands. He felt the same way when I spoke to him last." The Nimbat rotates back to the uprooted tree, examinine the bottom of the stump. "I still dunno how half this spirit-y stuff works, but as far as I'm concerned, Dust is still the same good ol', edgy self as Jin."
"Well, I don't know if I'd say that," Ginger replies with a smirk. "He was more of a nerdy goofball than anything."
"Wait, you mean Jin or Dust these days?"
"Yes."
SPANK
Ginger's abruptly struck in the back of the head by something light.
"Ow," she yipes while feeling her neck.
Again, Fidget this time is hit from behind, bopping her in the tail.
"OUCH," Fidget yells turning back to Ginger. "What was that for?!"
"I didn't do anythi-he-hehehehehehehehe!"
The Warmblood stumbles back feeling her barefoot being tickled by one of the ferns, startling her when she realizes its been slithering like a tentacle towards her from the start of the trail. She's again smacked in the back of the head, then so is Fidget who quickly takes notice of multiple vines descending towards them from the trees above.
Now more worried than ever, Ginger starts to shake like a leaf and asks her friend, "Did…did those plants just…?"
"Whip us? Yep. Am I gonna kill 'em? Heck yeah!"
Fidget angrily spawns two large fireballs from her palms and launches them at the plants advancing toward them, only for the flames to do nothing at all. Several more appendages sprout from the surface, beefier and larger than the last.
"Oh poop…," says the Nimbat, lowering her ears.
Ginger quickly grabs Fidget, tucking her against her and bolting as fast as possible, almost faster than the Nimbat can fly! She leaps over a fallen tree then slides underneath another one as its collapsing, along with larger creatures sprouting and crawling after them! Fidget doesn't even question her friend's sudden skill buff. She just hopes they can make it to the village in one piece.
Underground, meanwhile, Fuse advances on Tethys using the elements around them to his advantage. The rocks form into huge stone golems while the shrubs around them crawl and try biting at the Goddess' minions. Each one possesses her abilities, so they easily swipe water sabers at them, mowing the creatures down! But each time they attack or flood corners of the room, several more oddities pop up. Suddenly, the waters start separating and one side flows underneath Fuse, occupying him from executing Fale, Avgustin, and Matti, who fall back down to the floor. One of the golems tries stepping on the three of them, but Avgustin braces himself against its sole, back first!
"Not as heavy as it looks," he says confidently, allowing Tethys to blast it to pieces with a single charge shot from her palm! One more comes around, which is smashed when Matti leaps from a stone into the creature's head, bringing his mallet down! This whole time, Fale's been gathering the wood and webbings from the walls and scattered shrubs to make a bow, testing the web's strength by tugging it a few times.
"This'll do," he says with a nod.
One of the golems comes crumbling next to him from a brutal assault by one of Tethys' clones. He takes a sharp rock from it, aiming and shooting at Fuse's head! No luck. A vine quickly grabs the arrow before it even reaches the Moonblood and tosses it to the side. Suddenly, Fuse's area shakes as he begins rising from his position with his knees, forming his arms from the rocks and tentacles around him, then shaping the grey plating on his shoulders and forearms. Now fully formed, he flexes his collarbone, cracks his neck, then lifts both hands to summon two large stone arms from both sides! They slam down crushing two of the clone Tethys' while another two blast the enemies apart! This was only a distraction when Fuse sprints towards them in a circular path, effortlessly pulling the Elysium Blade Aquaritus out from its resting place and chopping them from top to bottom! Even another clone is skewered when she tries bringing a tsunami behind him!
"GRR," Matti growls, busting one of the shrub monsters and seeing the sword in Fuse's hands!
All the Goddess clones and others that were spawned had been destroyed, leaving only the original herself to fend with Avgustin and Fale, who're both slammed towards Fuse's resting spot by one of his waves!
"No fair," Avgustin yells! "You mean to tell me the bad guy's worthy for the thing but not us?!"
As Lady Tethys brings forth lightning bolts and heavy tsunamis at Fuse during his sprint at her, she focuses solely on the sword, attempting to smack it out of the Moonblood's hand!
"Aquaritus was created using Moonblood design," Tethys says while attacking. "One he is familiar with. But it-"
SLASH!
The Goddess interrupts herself. Her arm morphs into a sharp thorn that she uses to sever Fuse's sword arm as he gets inches from her face! This forces him to stumble past her, but he uses his other hand to launch a huge red beam into her back, sending Tethys across the chamber, tumbling over the floor! Seeing this, Matti hammers into the Moonblood's legs, bending them awkwardly to the side! This doesn't stop him from backhanding the short Warmblood into the water behind him and realigning his limbs, making him stand firmly in place again. With all the others down, Fuse walks over to the downed Goddess who flips herself over weakened and bruised.
"Not even a God can stop me now" says Fuse. "Soon your waters and this land you so cherish will be left in shambles, like the village I once loved."
"I see now that your second coming hasn't changed your outlook on life. You've become the very thing that almost brought your kind to extinction…!" As Tethys talks, her voice begins to distort into something rougher than her own. A distinct, fiery effect mixed with her usually calm demeanor. "When you die once more, you shall be plunged down the path of eternal damnation…"
"Not before you're sent there with me!"
BOP
Fuse responds from getting hit in the back, shooting an energy wave at Fale who runs for him with his crossbow! The Warmblood easily flips over the attack, landing firmly on his feet.
"Was that really the best you got?"
"No. THIS IS!" Not thinking, Fale grabs hold of the Elysium Blade, easily lifting and lunging it into the heart of Fuse before him! To everyone's shock, the sword's symbols activate and a heavenly blue aura briefly bursts around the Warmblood like a shockwave! All three of Fuse's eyes shrink as he wordlessly starts panicking, trying his hardest to shift himself out! Eventually, he releases Aquaritus and stumbles away from Fale and Tethys, struggling to keep his purple blood from spilling out! Quickly, he spawns two more stone golems to aid him. They corner Fale, but he calls upon the water around him to grab hold of them, giving Matti the chance to come back and hammer them down! Fuse makes an attempt at a sword fight when his arm reshapes itself into a sphere-like form, coming to blows with Fale when they lock blades.
"W-what's happening…," asks the Moonblood aloud. "Only the Mithrarin and a Moonblood wield a Blade of Elysium! Unless…" Fuse leaps backwards far across the room, getting his bearings and facing Tethys still lying on the ground. "Unless this is divine intervention. …Yes…" Fale comes over to chop him but gets brushed to the side by a tentacle from the ground! With Tethys weakened, all that's left for the Moonblood is to take aim for a charged shot from his palm. "If I destroy you, a so-called deity, even Dust's sword will fa-"
SLING!
Suddenly losing control of his body, Fuse witnesses himself flying off his neck into a wall! His vision fades thereafter into a thick haze of smoke billowing from his mask until there's nothing left of his head. The rest of his form collapses, separating the armor as his physique begins to dissipate. Matti, having been tossed by Avgustin, straps his hammer back on, quietly brushing his hands off.
"Crikey man," says Fale. "You straight up killed 'im!"
For once, Matti beams a smirk, though again, he responds with the usual, "Grr."
"I knew Dust wasn't the only cool guy around," Avgustin cheers. "That ol' jerk didn't stand a chance!"
"I'm afraid it's not that simple, my friends," Tethys says solemnly. "I can still sense his presence nearby."
"I was beginnin' to think the same thing," nods Fale. "Contrary to the damage, I can tell he wasn't givin' his A-Game. But how did-"
SLAM, and even larger appendages from before burst through the ceilings and the walls surrounding the four of them! Though, a water shield from Fale's sword easily repels them from attacking.
Avgustin falls back saying, "Woah! Vines of death're back!"
"Fuse's definitely still aroun' here somewhere." Fale darts around the room, still keeping the creatures back while helping Lady Tethys back in the air. "How're we supposed to find him now?"
"He has moved aboveground. Hurry. We must act before it's too late!"
Out at the marketplace, Ginger still holding Fidget against her stomach comes to a halt when she reaches the town square, seeing some of the stone structures crumbled and tilted.
"Thank goodness the square doesn't seem all that corrupted."
"Great," Fidget says. "Now could ya let go of me? Every stomp you made started making me gag."
The Nimbat's released when from the other end of the area, Corbin, as well as Sanjin take notice of them as they're tending to any wounded from the buildings. Among them is Mordecai, wandering beside them looking calmer than anyone else around him.
"Ah, Ginger, Fidget, thank God you're alright," says the shopkeeper.
Fidget hovers over to him, circling the Warmblood. "Mordecai? Man, I think this is the first time I've ever seen your legs."
"What're you doing outside the shop," asks Ginger. "And is everyone ok?"
"It was terrible. A chunk of the ground was uprooted and took the market area with it!"
"We've evacuated as many people out their homes as possible in case it happens anywhere else," Sanjin adds. "But without Dust and Blinx, we don't know what we're in for!"
"I'll tell you what we need," Corbin replies. "We need an army of hedge clippers, or better yet, a flamethrower!"
Fidget shakes her head. "Nice one, but nope. We already tried that. Mordo, do you have anything magic-based in stock like an ice bomb or acid?"
"Ahahaha," he laughs. "No, I'm afraid not. But may I suggest asking the Elder about that? He is a mage himself."
"Oh, I already asked him," Sanjin answers. "He can't figure it out either. None of our weapons work, and this ain't quite something a Moonblood's seen before."
Everyone silently ponders, but Mordecai breaks the silence. "…Another thought."
Ginger and Haley are joined by Corbin and Sanjin on their way to Haley's shop based on Mordecai's suggestion. Seeing she's the last option left for an outbreak like this, they eventually reach her place, however Ginger's late to notice the onslaught before her and everyone else's eyes.
"Haley," Ginger starts, "please tell us you have a weapon that can… Can… O_O"
BLAM! One of the sentinel droids comes flying into a wall, bursting on impact! Metal limbs scatter across the ground as Haley tears into the lot of them with both a large mallet and a saw blade! She grabs a trooper, slashes it in half then kicks the torso into another guard! She takes its legs, separates them with her hands and smashes them into two other soldiers! One of the bots even gets its face melted into the molten pit at the workstation when it tries flanking the Warmblood with a shield! She's struck once by an energy bolt in the back, but all it does is inch her slightly forward. Haley rips off the downed droid's arm, using its turret to mow down several of the advancing bots in a circular motion! When the marauder, already damaged from a rough fight and missing his Sweeper, attempts to ambush her, she switches to swinging her hammer deep into his stomach area, forcing blood out his mouth as he's falling backward! Again, Haley switches her arsenal with the chain gun, shooting rapidly at the Cat-Sith's armor till it quickly pops off his body! Instead of killing him, she just tosses the gun away and punches him in the nose, instantly knocking him out!
"Oh hi there," Haley says when she notices the group staring at her.
Corbin's smiling but everyone else's eyes bulge out of shock.
"Wow…," Ginger moans. "A-anyway, Haley, all those weeds we've been seeing around town are overgrowing and can't be stopped with clippers, even flames anymore! Do you and Dust have anything we can use to stop them?"
One quick glance at the fallen Time Sweeper and robots and Haley's immediately given an idea. With a smile, she says confidently, "I think I got just the thing."
…
As the environment around the village begins to warp in gruesomely unnatural ways from the corrupted fauna, citizens panic and gather at a safe zone. Colleen stands near the front looking on at the now gargantuan tentacles sprouting from the dirt, as well as the thorns shooting up. It seems all of Aurora will soon be overrun by the plague Fuse had unleashed. His final scheme to bring Warmbloods to damnation.
It is then that a familiar female voice shouts, "STAND BACK EVERYONE!" Haley, Ginger, Corbin, Fidget, and Sanjin wield the tools of the robots fought before. Including dual wrist guns, shields, a beam saber, and several arrows crafted from scrap metal.
"Be afraid, evildoers, because you're about to face the WEED EATEEEEERS!"
Nearly all glare at Haley, who's got so excited she raised her mallet to cheer.
"It sounded a lot cooler in my head."
Whatever sentience these rogue plants have causes a loud roar at the town square! The Weed Eaters as Haley calls them spring into action immediately! First starting with Haley, who brings her hammer down so hard that it causes a ripple exposing the roots of a lot of the tentacles sprouting up. With a chainsaw, Ginger slices through them like a warm knife through butter! And every time she passes one, she slowly wears a smile. Sanjin and Corbin shoot at the shrub creatures coming toward them in hordes, then blasting those going for the civilians. Seeing them defenseless, Fidget drags a cart over to them full of more equipment.
"Hey, if you wanna have some fun and not sit around like an NPC, now's a good time!"
Silence. Then… "GET 'EM" from Colleen, shouting and grabbing another beam saber! Soon everyone joins in, grabbing whatever equipment is available and mowing down the creatures Fuse left behind! Colleen even joins her brother in a game of gun and sword, slicing and shooting at the many monsters zooming around them! On the other end, a vine darts at Geehan, whose stalling even though he has a wrist gun. That is until Oneida moves him out the way and easily blows the plant to pieces with one of the micro missiles! All she does is look at him and simply calls him, "Wuss."
One of the Moonblood guards grabs a shield, slamming it into a vine crawling toward him!
"Soon the Gods shall walk amongst us," Reed mutters aloud whilst aiming a mobile turret. "But not today!"
He shoots and scores, cutting up several of the shrubs, while Fidget's flames are amplified by the strength of a beam saber on the ground, burning the corrupted grass by the farm area. One tentacle gets close to flattening her. But fortunately, a shot from an arrow made of light pierces through it and kills it! From a distance, Ori, the short white imp, was watching over their Nimbat friend, winking when she notices. At the entrance of town, even the trees start to gain sentience, angrily growing legs and bending their limbs until they tower over everyone in front of them. But behind them, the river starts to rise. Tethys and Fale with their powers lift the water so high that it completely drowns the monsters before they try to strike! Fale himself runs through the waves, slashing more of the limbs while Avgustin and Matti follow doing the same. In short time, it's clear that the villagers had won. Sarashi, Moska, Bram, as well as Corbin and Colleen are the last to fight; all five stabbing and shooting at one of the wood large creatures until it stops moving!
Ginger, in a fit of excitement, raises her weapon and begins to shoot in the air while howling. It almost confuses Haley but everyone's so in the zone, it's hard to acknowledge. One last attempt is made on Mordecai, however, Two rock monsters form behind him, but Fale quickly tosses his sword at them, slicing them instantly as it travels back towards him like a boomerang!
"We got the sword, Mordecai," Fale answers. "And…did y'all just whack those weeds?"
The shopkeeper replies by hugging him tight. A bit too tight while shaking him. "Ooooh, I knew you could! You have just as much potential as Dust and the Time Sweeper after all!"
"That's not all. Fuse is back!"
"Yeah," Avgustin starts. "He ambushed us! Almost killed Tethys too!"
Overhearing this, Ginger's ears shoot up and she almost looks insulted at such a notion. "Fuse…? But…Dust killed him."
"It's thanks to mysterious intervention that he's survived," Tethys answers. "We can only hope that he appears before us so that we may finish him. I do hope that is soon - my skin dries so quickly in the sun."
"A goddess is worried about their skin," Fidget snarks. "Heh. Who would'a thought."
As if in response, Fuse's body materializes out of the metal and dark vines around him, reforming his three eyes and the shape of his armor. He stands atop a large rock before the entire crowd of Moonbloods and Warmbloods; the latter the very enemy he sought to kill.
"If I could only crush each and every one of you Warmblood scum in single stroke…!"
"Everyone you say?"
Such a familiar soft voice out of Ginger causes the mutated Moonblood to freeze like never before. He slowly brings his vision over to the Warmblood, almost shaking as he does so, seeing her armed and angry; probably still pumped from the fight.
Suddenly, Fuse's voice no longer has the bassy effect from before. He speaks naturally, looking at her and asking, "Ginger…? You helped them thwart my plans? If I had known you were here, I would have spared you."
"You would spare me, but I'd expect the same for everyone else." She aims the severed wrist rocket at Fuse, calmly telling him, "Guess that was never an option."
BANG!
In one shot, Fuse from head to toe is completely atomized, leaving only his mask and the rest of his armor plating again. Nearly everyone besides Ginger and Haley cheers, seeing the corrupted vegetation returning to its natural colorful state.
"Well, that happened," Haley casually marks. "Sorry you had to do that, Ginger."
"Actually, that kinda helped put a bow on things," says Ginger with a slight smirk. "It's sad how he turned out, but it gave me some closure."
"I'm just confused why he's back unless he's another robot," Fidget wonders.
You're still not sure how he could've returned," Fale asks Tethys.
The Goddess simply answers, "No. That I am trying to figure out myself. He was resurrected during my hibernation and has avoided all my searches before now. I must investigate to learn if this was of a God's doing or not. In the meantime, it seems Dust was not the only one worthy of wielding a Blade of Elysium."
Fale silently examines his new weapon, trying to process the craftsmanship and how he could have possibly been considered worthy of it. Though, he doesn't ask any questions aloud. He considers saving whatever he needs answered for the Elder next time he arrives.
"Now that the Moonblood has fallen, the land will restore itself back to normal. And hopefully, we'll have answers for whatever caused all this. Until then, I bid you all farewell."
Like the wind, Lady Tethys hovers backward to the river, descending down into the water beneath her in a practical dramatic fashion.
"What a doll," says Mordecai, putting on a slight accent.
"Phew... That's a relief," says the Mayor. "Now I'm parched."
He reaches for an apple that fell from one of the corrupted trees, but Fale immediately stops him.
"WAIT WAIT! Don't eat that! Fuse infected 'em too. I'm guessin' he wanted people ta eat 'em when they're exhausted from running from all these plants."
"Ooooh. Glad you said something."
"It's a good thing Ori and I exist," says farmer Geehan. "We'll have new ones grown in no time!"
"Guess this is one story to tell the buddy cop comedy when they get back," Fidget jokingly remarks.
"I sure hope they do," says Ginger. "Or else I won't know if Dust wasn't eaten up by me talking about Cassius again."
Haley doesn't say a word this time. That name alone almost immediately rings a bell. Could he have been the reason Dust went with Blinx so quickly without consulting her? Is there more involved, or was it just the two being boys? Either way, she's hoping for the best, that eventually they'll return in one piece and won't keep them in the dark.