DUST AND THE SWEEPER

Chapter 18 - Next Course of Action

"We have arrived."

The now occupied Isle across the river has been shielded by the sea walls. The tall thick trees hollowed to make a natural watchtower lead back into the forest via the wooden bridges. Time Sweepers and Moonbloods walk along the patrol path scouting their surroundings when above the wall, Picaro spots the Administrator along with Fidget hovering beside him. The rest of the team follow behind appreciating the defenses installed in short time. Yet another fine melding of Moonblood and Sweeper engineering.

"Gee, I thought this was a tourist spot, not the national guard," Fidget commented.

"HEY, BLINX," Picaro yelled from above! "UP HERE!"

Blinx waved, "YO PICARO!"

"HOLD ON! WE'LL OPEN THE DOOR!"

Very slowly, the shield gates fold back into the other side where Pelon and Ori armed with a crossbow stand guard when they notice the gang approaching. Unannounced, Fidget tackled the Spirit for a hug, twirling around as if they were a stuffed animal before pressing her lips into theirs. How they missed each other. Ori almost cried from joy.

"Oh my God, Blinx," Pelon shouted! "Where've ya been?!"

"Had a run-in with our new supervillain," Blinx explained. "Good thing Aegis was still in town, or else we wouldn't know y'all were here."

"And just in time," said Picaro facing the sky. "I think we've got company."

The HUD of his goggles zoom closely to a dark tantacle-like figure descending from the clouds. It's lower claw pinches while its cables thrash around as if it were searching for pray.

Fidget scratched her chin. "So what's that supposed to be?"

"A dark satellite," Aegis answered. "One of the physical ways Trio can monitor our progress."

"Need a shuttle in the air," Pelon said to someone behind the gate.

Just a sec!

In moments, much to the surprise of both Haley and Dust, they bear witness to the Firebat rising from behind the walls training its guns on the target from afar. In a single shot, the creature is instantly atomized, turning it into a falling ball of fire!

"That's all! Thanks!"

Curiously, that voice that responded to the Cat-Sith sounded familiar. The ship slowly comes down to Earth as everyone enters the main gate and windshield of the cockpit slides open. Dust and Blinx are stunned to find not a soft-spoken pilot but Corbin at the helm saluting them.

"Hey Dust! Hey Blinx!"

Taken for a loop, Dust went, "Corbin…?! I knew you wanted a ride, but I didn't think you wanted it THIS much!"

"Not my idea."

Beside him, Colleen shyly poked her head out.

"Sorry Dust and Haley," she apologized. "We needed a place to hide when those monsters arrived."

Haley smirked, "Hey, I'm not complaining. You're a better pilot than these two."

Both Blinx and the Mithrarin scowled with their mouths. "Bruh…"

Overhearing the commotion, right on schedule, the Moonblood Elder along with the human Princess arrive in relief seeing everyone together after a while away. Lena, nearly in tears, ran over to Blinx and hugged him tight.

"Blinx," she cried. "You had me worried, but I knew you'd come back!"

"Y-yeah, me too," he chocked. "Think you can loosen up a little, Princess?"

"Never."

Ginger's ear twitched, "I'm sorry. Did you say, Princess?"

"What about it," Blinx asked before he realized, "Ooooh, yeah! I forgot. Lena, this is Ginga'. Ginga', this is Lena. You met?"

Palming her hips at the Cat-Sith, Ginger replied, "We have now."

Lena folded her arms, "Care to tell her how you know me, Mr. Time Sweeper?"

He stuttered, "Well, I uh…rescued her back in the day…" Bowing his head he admitted, "I thought she was hot."

"Literally the same happened to me," Ginger smirked.

Shaking her head, Lena joked, "I am so sorry."

"No no, it's fine. Now I know he wasn't lying when he said he likes to impress.

Blinx interrupted, "ANYWAY, Lady Mordo sent us to the distant past, some 200 years back."

"Ah, yes. I remember now," the Elder nodded then smirked. "And I also couldn't help but notice your astonishment over my appearance back then."

"Oh my God, yes," Fidget confessed.

Not even Dust was able to hold his tongue. "Even I gotta admit, you were shredded and yet here you are."

"Age before beauty," Gray cracked his neck. "Now, as you can see, the Time Sweepers have come to aid us after your takedown of Benito."

"Y'guys went an' brought all the goods, huh," Blinx said to Picaro.

Picaro grinned, "I mean, it is our planet too. Plus Trio's completely destroyed our factories with giant tentacle things and goop."

"Ew," Fidget scowled. "Goop…"

"Lady Tethys," Lena paused, "Er…Mina's still in recovery, but she's up and about at the lake. We should go see her when we're done getting reacquainted so we can form a plan."

"Right," Dust agreed. "I wanna see what we have right now. From what I gathered, we may need more than we're equipped."

…

The rest of the isle has been converted into somewhat of a safe haven and operation for the people of Falana. Empty plots have been converted into med bays retrofitted with mobile ready-made stations by the Time Sweepers who've helped set up shops along the paths around the park circling the main pool, all while paying respects to the wonderous environment they inhabit. Over by the observation deck at the riverside, Haley reunites with Matti sat on a boulder sharpening a dagger with a rock, greeting him with a huge hug from behind.

"MATTI," she announced jumping him up and down! "YOU'RE HERE!"

"Grr…," he grumbled, but with a smile.

Blinx visited the station to be met by Jimmy and Aniki monitoring the tremors and satellites around the planet from their computers when Dust nearly tripped on a log.

"Careful," Lena said. "Some walkways need to be cleared."

"It's a good thing I'm wearing shoes," Dust smirked. "Or else that step may have made me hit a high note."

Fidget joked, "And I thought it was to give Haley something to clean with her tongue."

"Uncalled, Fidget," Haley shouted! "Uncalled!" Haley flipped over to Dust and whispered, "But you still owe me the same thing later."

Her husband whispered back, "I didn't forget."

"Blinx my boy," Aniki smiled. "I knew you wouldn't disappear on us again!"

"Glad we won't have to go through the same song and dance like last time," the Cat-Sith replied shaking his old commander's hand. "What's the situation now?"

Jimmy directed their attention to one of the monitors displaying a map of Falana. "We're trying to track down Trio. It's like she's everywhere all at once."

Aniki explained further, "Tremors, terraforming, alien invaders, all kinds of crap's been happening since she arrived."

"Well she is a God," Blinx shrugged. "She can do anything and be anywhere liceity split."

Fale walked in the room and suggested, "Maybe she's taken shelter in the most corrupt location on the planet. Like those roots me an' the boys trailed back ta Fuse the otha' day."

"Aegis can help with that," Jimmy agreed.

The Administrator quietly hovered to the terminal to remotely access the controls. Using his cosmic awareness thanks to access to Elysium, he traces every possible area Trio has confined herself in. Being a Goddess, she theoretically cannot be traced to a single location. However, with Fale's suggestion, he approximates a single destination lit entirely in red on the computer.

"The current most corrupt area of Falana appears to be Edinmire. A former human-populated megacity along the edge of Seadale. Or as it was named prior to its fall, Airdale."

"That place's just Southeast of our airspace," Jimmy replied.

Haley paused, "We just came from the Northeast."

Dust's eyes widened, "And the only place through the South is…"

"Everdawn Basin," Aegis confirmed. "The former stronghold of General Gaius."

Jimmy pointed to all the red marks throughout the area, "And it looks like it's the second most dangerous place out there!"

So ya figured it out, huh?

Another voice chimed in, fittingly Southern but spelling bad news to Blinx and Dust's ears. Both of them looked at each other trying to work out where it came from when they realize Ori, stood next to Fidget, was staring them in the face. All besides Aegis have been frozen in time as Trio spoke through the Spirit.

"Looks like the Time Kitty an' the Blade Wolf's back in town! You an' yer folks make fer some bang-up detectives, I'll tell you what!"

Dust growled, "Trio…!"

"Who else, mah daughter? How's she doin' by the way? I didn't whoop her tail too bad, did I?"

"She's indisposed cause'a you," Blinx grunted. "Now you're turnin' the world into an alien cesspool an' talkin' through Ori?! You've lost my respect!"

"It ain't that bad son," Scoffed Trio. "I'm just doin' some redecoratin'. Besides, Whateverdoom Basin's a pretty messy place. An' Edinmire's fulla' General Garry worshippers. Lotsa smoothbrained furries up in there. Hell, didja know the island nextdoor usta float? The more ya know."

"Well tough love," Dust replied. "Now we know where you're hiding and we're coming for you."

The possessed Ori hopped on the Mitharin's chest and held on with his cape to grin close to his face. "I'm countin' on it, hun. Come visit me any time." They let go and drop down, but before cutting off, Ori darted back. "OH! An' F.Y.I…you might bump into a little bit of traffic on the way."

Trio let out a bouncy laugh before disconnecting from Ori and resuming time. The Spirit fell over landing on their hands disoriented.

"Ooow," they murmured.

Fidget flew into Ori and helped them up, "Ori…?! What was that?!"

"Trio has spoken through them and confirmed her location," the Administrator explained.

Ginger froze, "It really is through Everdawn, isn't it…?"

"It's the only way, sis," Dust said quietly. "Everywhere else is corrupted unless…maybe we go around?"

Jimmy checked the radar and saw footage of every alternate route from their position. "Nope!"

"Ok," the wolf frowned.

"Aight, look," Blinx said, "I wasn't there at the time, but Everdawn's gotta be different now than it was when General Gamma was around. Sure there's a lotta mushy…fleshy…alien junk out there probably. But nothin' we can't handle, right?"

"There is a considerable number of enemy forces staged in Everdawn," Aegis replied. "Followed by three times as much stationed in Edinmire from the skies to the surface."

Blinx shut his trap almost immediately. "…Oh." He shook his head. "But still, we got this! We made it this far on our own. But the Moonbloods, the Warmbloods, Ori, the Nimbats, you, me, the rest of our bros, Trio wouldn't stand a chance!"

He's right.

At the door, Tethys hovered over to the team with her mask missing. Her true alien-like form with a jagged mouth and a third eye on her forehead between her horns was there for everyone to see.

"My three mothers have tried everything to keep mortals like you in their place as tools. What truly baffled them was when you had worked to rebuild and when others had rose to such cosmic heights that not even they could control it. You cannot afford to let doubt take over."

"Speak English, ma'am," Fidget said.

Tethys paused and let out a quiet sigh. "…I just wanna fight."

"Shoot dude," Blinx smirked. "That's all ya had to say!"

Fale added, "And good timing. I still wanna save Mordecai, same as I thought I'd have to save Ori dere."

"And I know you're scared Ginger, but I kinda do wanna go out there to make up for not being on the field against Gaius," said Haley. "

Ginger took a moment to think. She feared going back to Everdawn, afraid to see her brother die a second time. But she brushed her hesitation aside and proudly said, "You're right. The blades chose us for a reason. We need a plan!"

Underneath the mask, Aegis grinned. "I believe we might already have one."

…

At the pool in the middle of the isle, now crowded with soldiers and civilians listening at the lake, both the Administrator and Lady Tethys/Mina arise from the water. The Elder stood near the water's edge along with the Princess and Commander Aniki.

Aegis began the briefing promptly, "As you all know, the former Time Goddess, Trio, has terraformed the planet by 88.6%. The current most corrupt location on the surface has been marked for Edinmire."

Aniki added, "From what we've gathered, our world ships were transported there as well not long after Trio made contact. But we're completely in the dark on what it's all for. Best guess is she's trying to use them to send entire armies from here to other corners of the universe. Probably cause she's still a bit weak compared to her usual self."

"If we cannot stop her in time, she could regain control of reality unless we confront her directly at her stronghold," said Tethys. "But we must journey through Everdawn to reach it."

"Could you rephrase that," Sanjin asked. "I only got about 60% of it."

The Elder Moonblood clarified, "The only viable path we can take in short time is through the ruins of Everdawn."

"That's what I was afraid of…"

Lena motioned to Ori and smiled, "Ori's charted a path through the basin's outskirts. They haven't been fully corrupted and it's a lot quicker to go through than anywhere else right now."

Fidget bounced, "That's my pal!"

"Just one problem…"

The Nimbat shouted, "AAW, WHAT NOW?!"

"Guns. Some of our ships were shot by an array of antiaircraft cannons, including mechs from below ground. They say they were retired for ages, but we're starting to see them rise up again."

"Woah, hol' up. Dere's mechs out here," Blinx nearly barked! "I thought they were from other planets er somethin'."

The Elder stood up and explained, "Eons ago, our ancestors used advanced machinery for combat and enforcement. They've long been deactivated. However, with Trio's return, she's begun to mutate them with organic matter to increase her numbers. Even young Ori recognizes much of the creatures sprouting from the surface."

"Damn…"

Dust asked, "And those are the only things keeping everyone from traveling in one piece, right?"

Aegis confirmed, "They are."

"Great… Guess it's up to us to take care of it, is it?"

"You will not be alone, Dust," Tethys chuckled. "Surely you and Fidget would know that by now."

Picaro stepped forward from the crowd. "I'll be goin' with for support. But we gotta figure out how to deal with those mechas, cause they were tough! Took us almost an hour to deal with one that was missing an arm!"

Haley stopped to think. "Y'know, this is sorta stretching it, but the Firebat's using mech parts too. That's how I was able to fix it so quickly."

"What's that have to do with," Dust silenced himself realizing, "Wait. The computer…! You borrowed one of the mech's systems, didn't you?"

"Yep! What, did you think I knew how to program everything? I needed something to teach me and that was it."

"I can confirm that the Firebat shares the same interface as the assault crafts," said Aegis. "You should be able to bypass their security. But I am uncertain if you can make it with your shuttle."

"Why not?"

Lena answered, "The monsters. You can't hack into those things."

"Oh… On foot then?"

"Again… But we're not going out there right away. We're still gathering our supplies. And I've got a feeling Haley there's got an idea."

"I do," she said. "I just need to remember who we're fighting for. That's what's keeping me going."

"She's right," Dust stepped up. "Mordecai believed in us and there's so many worlds in danger. We can't let them down. As much as I don't wanna go back to the place I could've died in, it's the only way, and I'm ready whenever everyone else is."

The crowd let out a brief cheer!

"Then I say we get ourselves prepped for an Endgame-level crossover fight," Blinx grinned.

Aegis noted, "Judging by the percentage, I would estimate two more days before complete corruption."

"Two days is all we need," said Aniki. "Everyone, eat up, get some rest and get to work as soon as possible! We have a universe to save!"

While everyone began to let out a long battle cry in their excitement, even the women and children, Dust and Haley faced each other longingly. Haley seemed less worried now like Ginger. She held her husband close and asked, "We're gonna be ok, right?"

He responded in kind, pulling her close to embrace, kissing for a long period of time as the troops surrounding them continued to chant. Pulling away, he told her, "We will."