"CRUUUUUUUUUMP!"

"GRODUS! ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW!?"

"GGGGGGHHHAAAAAAAAH!"

Letting out a cry, Grodus felt himself enter freefall. The darkness swallowed him – the light shining in from above was quickly getting further and further away. Falling on its own would have been bad enough. Falling while being unable to see anything around him proved far more horrifying.

Thinking fast, Grodus pointed his scepter beneath him and began casting. Four small, green X-shaped creatures emerged as a translucent barrier shimmered into place around him.

Then came the impact.

Cracks spread through the barrier as it strained to bear the brunt of the collision. Grodus's power wasn't quite enough to stand up to the sheer force – almost as quickly as they had appeared, the creatures he had summoned collapsed and faded out of existence.

With that, the barrier shattered and Grodus was left to fall the last smidge of distance unprotected. Thunk! His body smacked roughly against the ground.

Though he thought he could maybe hear a voice from above, it was all he could do to lay there and stare in disbelief up at the distant hole that he had fallen through. His head was spinning.

Did I honestly just let that happen? …What am I even doing? How shameful! I am better than this! I MUST be better than this!

Irritation with his own inadequacy filled his thoughts as he struggled to rise to his feet. It seemed that he'd at least avoided any major injury, though his back certainly didn't feel great. He'd have to examine himself once he got to a safer situation – he suspected there'd be some bruising. Unfortunately, he didn't have any of his medical supplies with him. He'd left one of his underlings – specifically, Peanut - to carry them so that he could instead put his full attention towards leading his crew and warding off enemies. This setback certainly had not been part of the plan.

This is not enough to stop me! Though the current situation was far from ideal, Grodus repeated these words within his mind like a mantra. Having reaffirmed his determination, he began to dig around in his pockets for the flashlight he had previously prepared.

Something moved within the darkness. Many somethings.

Grodus froze. He wasn't alone.

"Crud, crud, crud… uh… hey, Grooooooduuuuuuuus? You alive down there!?"

Crump listened as he hoped with all his heart for a response. Holy crap, he had NOT gotten ANY sort of training on what to do in this situation. Grodus was the head of this whole shindig. What the heck was he supposed to do with the unit leader gone and/or dead?

Wait, Xaido! Xaido's smart and responsible! …Probably!

Crump looked back towards the other X-Nauts, zeroing on the scientist. "Xaido! Grodus is totally MIA! What do we do!?"

Xaido jumped at hearing his name. "I… uh…! …B-backup! We should call for backup! Report to base that there's been a major setback and we're in trouble! T-though they'll probably tell us to go search for him ourselves… yes, right, that's what we'll do! Let's call in and then go look for him! We can start plotting out a map!"

The nearby Kip pulled out his communicator and began to fiddle around with shaky hands. "Dude, it's no good! There's no signal out here!"

"What!? But we should be getting one, that's not right… Um! Okay, how about this? Can you head back to town and see if you can get a signal there?"

"Roger that, dude! Agent Kip is on the case!" Kip, more than happy to have a task to call his own, jumped into action and started stumbling his way back the way they came. …For whatever reason, Peanut was already way ahead of him and also appeared to be headed back.

"I… hadn't meant that as a multiple person job, but I guess it's fine? It's good to have a buddy system, after all." Xaido fiddled with one of the flaps on his hat he pondered their next move. "Okay! Crump, Johnson! Let's do our best! But, remember… safety first! Let's go slow and stick close together."

"Got it. Let's get a move on if we're gonna, then." Johnson, taking this as the cue to get moving, resumed his crab posture. Xaido, shrugging, also dropped down onto his hands and knees.

And so the three of them shuffled their way forward.

After shuffling about for a few minutes, the trio found themselves face-to-face with a remarkably ugly cliffside. They had three openings to choose from, one on the lower level and two on a path leading a bit higher up. The openings together formed a wall-eyed and screaming countenance. Honestly, they had to wonder if it was intentional.

"So, guys," Johnson questioned. "Which one are we going through? The maw of madness or one of the creeper peepers?"

"…Can't say I'm really feeling any of these. Y'think it has an earhole somewhere we can sneak into?"

"Only if you're willing to go around the sides, Crumpy. I dunno though, this dude's wearing one heck of a long face. …I would too if I looked like that, prolly."

Unfortunately, Johnson was correct. The cliff extended what appeared to be miles in either direction with no other openings in sight. This was unquestionably where they would be entering.

"If we're trying to go further down, I would guess the one on the bottom? Though the tunnel system could be intricate, so there's no telling where we'll end up until we start moving."

"Well, Xaido's one of the masters of old rocky crap, so I trust what he's saying as much as I trust anything here. …Sure thing, surrogate boss. Let's do that."

Thus, they approached the lower path. Even if looked like there'd been people around at one point, there sure weren't anymore. None of the lanterns along the wall were lit. Clearly, none of the supporting pillars or equipment scattered about the place had received any love in years – what was there was crumbling away under the passage of time. The X-Naut's flashlights were all that guided them forward.

Crump hadn't noticed when, but at some point he'd ended up in the lead.

They walked, and they walked, and they walked some more. Xaido held out a device and took readings as he sketched something down on a piece of parchment. There really was just junk abandoned all over the place. Pickaxes, lanterns, helmets, gloves, that coat shifting around on the ground over there…

That coat… shifting around over there…?

"Hold up, whoa, what's up with that?" Crump pointed over at it. "That's… kinda weird, isn't it? Johnson, you like touching junk you're not supposed to, right? How about you do us all a solid and go give whatever that is a poke?"

"Hey man, even I know better than to touch poo. …And that looks like it goes in the "no-go" category of things-Johnson-doesn't-touch. Wild animals always get nippy."

"This is an awful place for an animal to have wandered into… I feel a bit sorry for the poor thing. Perhaps it's become trapped in that coat? Do you think we could remove it?" Xaido stepped forward, contemplating freeing it himself.

"You're another one of those softies, buh huh, Xaido? …Yeah, sure, I'll just flip up the edge and try to get it to go back the way we came. If it gets too rowdy I'm sure it's nothing a good kick in the face won't fix."

Crump teetered over and cautiously inched his fingers towards one of the coat arms. Apparently sensing his presence, the coat stopped moving.

Then, from somewhere above him…

"Smorg!" "Smorg!" "Smorg!" "Smoooorg!"

Crump looked up only to discover a pair of bright yellow eyes. …No, wait, that wasn't right. Two, four, six, eight… fourteen… twenty-four…?

"SMOOOOOOORG!"

The many pairs of eyes decided to use Crump as a launch pad as they dropped from the ceiling. One, two, three, four… seven… twelve. One after the other, the cluster dropped down on his head and bounced off into the darkness ahead.

The final lingerer let out a tiny "smorg!" and hopped along after them from underneath the coat. Crump, stunned, just let it happen.

"…So, Crump, what have we learned today?" Johnson cackled from afar.

"…That I gotta consider my touches a bit more carefully, I think. Turns out that one was a no-go."

"What were those creatures? I've never seen or heard of such a thing before… If we do find another one, I would like to take a photo. I know of a researcher or two who would be interested."

"It'd be cool if we didn't."

With that minor distraction out of the way, the X-Naut crew kept walking. And walking. Sometimes they'd follow a path and then end up at a dead end - each time, Crump watched as Xaido scribbled an "X" on his paper to mark off that area. Eventually coming across a cliff, the X-Nauts scaled down it. From there, the path split off in two directions. They took the left side.

And then found themselves back at the entrance again.

Xaido looked down at his map and laughed. "Ooooooh, I see now! So that's not what was happening… that connects there, doesn't it? Ah, how very silly of me!" He pulled out his pencil and began erasing something.

Crump peered over at the map that Xaido was filling in. …That's a closed loop! Are you seriously kidding me with this right now!?

Johnson, too, appeared to be disgruntled with this discovery. "So you're telling me there's nothing in that one? …Great, that's a few hours wasted. If Grodus didn't die when he landed he's probably bled out by now. We'll get there just in time to haul his sorry corpse out."

"…T-that's no good… aaah, we really do have to hurry, don't we? If we're not already too late… ooooh, Sir Amadeus, my lord, I'm so very sorry…"

"Shush, there's two entrances left and three of us. We're either gonna clinch the win on this or we're not, right? Stop whining." Johnson turned to Crump. "Crump, you take the left eye and I take the right. We'll get this sorted out in a jiffy, just you watch."

"Buh huh huh, that's right. We're gonna get this over with, like, right now!" Crump was tired of wandering around lost. It was time to get aggressive about this!

"Wait, no! I don't think we should split up, we need to do this carefully or- no! Hold on, come back, please!"

Crump and Johnson were already charging off in the previously declared directions. With that, Xaido found himself standing at the entrances alone.

Crump may have regretted his earlier bravado somewhat.

While he'd tried to follow Xaido's example and drew himself a map, he'd accidentally lost track of which branch he was actually traveling down at the moment. Thinking it best he just started over from the point he knew he was standing at, he had created two entirely disconnected maps. On top of that, he'd run out of space on the edge of the paper and had started drawing a third map on a second sheet, but had soon lost track of where he was on that one too… so now it was looking like a fourth map was in order.

I'm lost, aren't I?

"SMOO-OOORG!"

"I'm busy, I don't have time to deal with you right now! Go away, get!" Crump slapped at the newest angry puff that had dropped down from the ceiling. He hated that he was getting used to this.

As had become the usual on this particular path, several other angry yellow eyes shone from the same area that the first poof had emerged from. They dropped down and, after several loud protests, began hopping further into the cave. They didn't seem interested in engaging in active combat – however, that didn't stop a few of them from slipping under Crump's legs and attempting to trip him.

Crump landed a few solid kicks as they bounced on by.

"And don't come back!" he yelled as he followed along behind them.

Eventually, he came to another fork in the road. "Smorg! Smorg, smorg!" He could hear the voices of the tiny beasties he'd kicked coming from one direction in particular. They seemed to know where they were going, so maybe it'd be best to keep following them? …He made another mark on his map and continued on.

Then, he heard something strange. Why was something rumbling?

"SmoooOOOOOOOORGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!" Pained cries rang out from down the path.

This sounds like bad news bears.

Crump shone his flashlight down the way as he tried to get a grasp on what was happening. Something bright flashed from around the corner, followed by another rumble and more of the screams of the damned. There was something nasty down there for sure.

Oh no. Did I find a boss monster?

Well, he sure as heck wasn't going to be able to take something like that on alone.

…Okay. If it's able to fit in this tunnel, it can't be all THAT big, right? I'll just give it a good whack when it comes around the corner, get a quick look, then hightail it outta here before it knows what hit it… then I can at least tell the others what's what down here. Sweet, I'm the man with the plan.

Crump hid around the corner and pulled back his arm, ready to punch whatever nasty thing waited back there. He could hear it approaching… those footsteps sounded surprisingly light compared to the image he originally had in his head. But even better, he could do this for sure if it was that small.

Light shone first from around the corner. Then, motion…

There it is!

Not wanting to give it the chance to even look at him, Crump swung with all his might.

Needless to say, he was a bit surprised when his fist connected with a pair of goggles much like his own.

The creature walking around the corner had, naturally, turned in the direction of the motion that it glimpsed in its own peripheral vision. Crump got just a moment to look upon the appearance of his victim before the moment of fate came to pass. …They appeared just as surprised as he was as his blow connected with their face.

Crump had really outdone himself this time. The hapless man he'd struck fell back and caught himself before he toppled over entirely.

"Oh crud. Oh CRUD! Holy cow, I am SO sorry! Are you oka- AUGH!"

The man then proceeded to bury his own fist into Crump's face.

"What are you DOING, YOU ABSOLUTE FOOL!?" Grodus screeched. Crump, now flat on his ass, cowered up at the future X-Naut overlord. "Have you completely lost the last of your stunningly diminutive mind!? Explain yourself, NOW!"

"…Okay, I deserved that," Crump grumbled out as he held a hand to his aching nose. "But I didn't know that was you, I swear! I thought you were dead or something! I was ready to fight some big, bad monster! I didn't expect it to be you at all. Really!"

"Do you make a habit of striking blindly at everything that comes around the corner, then!? I cannot believe you! At least look BEFORE you strike in case you're hitting something detrimental to your own health! …Honestly, you are beyond all hope!"

Grodus ranted and raved like this for a while more while Crump sat meekly on the floor and took it.

Eventually, his lecture concluded, Grodus sighed in pure disappointment and impatiently tapped a finger against his scepter. "And? Why, precisely, are you the only one here? Where's Xaido and the others?"

"Uh… they're somewhere else."

"Obviously. And where would that be?"

Crump took a moment to explain to Grodus exactly how he came to this location, along with presenting to him the map that he had painstakingly drawn. …For whatever reason, Grodus appeared to freeze for a moment as he looked over the drawings.

"…"

"So. Anything else you want to know?"

"I am amazed. You truly are just naturally like this, aren't you?"

Nodding to himself as he reached some sort of conclusion, Grodus pulled a device out of his pocket. A slight pulse appeared on the screen, along with a directional marker.

"The object we came here to collect appears to be further along the direction you came from. Pray tell, did you see anything noteworthy? …Not that I can say I'm expecting much of you at this point, all things considered."

H-hey, that's really mean.

"Nah, I saw a bunch of those hoppy little cloud punks but that's about it. I'm gonna take a guess and say you've seen those too, buh huh?"

"Yes, those strange creatures that keep repeating that same word. I have killed many as I've made my way here. There still appears to be plenty about. However, I certainly am willing to fix that…"

Crump could feel a dangerous gleam from behind those goggles. Maybe this guy is actually the scariest monster here.

"Regardless, I have caught the trail and am actively working towards our goal at this moment. Follow along, soldier. We will surely reach our destination soon."

Following Grodus's command, Crump slid into a one-person line behind him. Down the path they went, the charred bodies of thoroughly electrocuted Smorgs paving the way forward. …Crump was actually starting to feel a bit sorry for them. Grodus was unrelenting in his assault of everything that moved. Is this genocide? Really, Crump couldn't help but wonder.

Eventually, the path opened up into a large room before them. Some sort of purple-ish blob… pulsed?... in the center. Crump wasn't sure what it was, but the words "gross" and "nasty" definitely came to mind.

Grodus, following his classical pattern, raised his scepter and began casting a spell.

"SMOOOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORG!"

Louder than Crump had ever heard before, the entire cavern cried out in unison.

Startled, he pointed his flashlight up towards the sky. …Stars? An entire galaxy opened up above him.

Wait, no. Those were eyes.

A well-aimed lightning bolt struck the blob in the center of the room. "Smooooooorg!" Cries of pain echoed. Grodus cackled as he raised his scepter for a second time.

"Gaaaaack ack ack ack! Come, now! Hand over the shard!"

Then, the entire ceiling dropped. A dark gray cloud of small bodies rained down from above.

Crump, having already sensed that this was about to get real hairy real fast, ducked off into a corner of the room. The swarm wasn't focused on him anyways – Grodus had made a full galaxy of enemies and they all wanted a piece of him specifically.

Grodus, already realizing the danger he was in, formed a shield and then began rapidly and repeatedly casting fire spells. Blazing blue fire filled the arena. Cries carried through the air as Smorg after Smorg burned away – the pitiable creatures were bouncing against the barrier, but none of them carried enough strength individually to leave a dent. Meanwhile, Grodus's own small X-shaped creatures were rapidly shooting towards Smorgs and knocking them out cold.

Having taken enough abuse, the Smorgs ceased activity and let out an enraged battle cry.

"SMOOOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORG!"

With that, the swarm flowed towards the focal point of the room. Bodies piled on top of bodies, forming into something else entirely…

A massive tentacle shot out of the mass, aimed directly at Grodus. It slammed into the side of his barrier. …However, the shield held.

"You'll have to do more than that if you wish to best me!"

Grodus raised his scepter again and again to continue his assault on the core. A storm of lightning wrought destruction upon all in its path. But the Smorg wasn't finished.

A second tentacle followed, slamming into the barrier once more. Then a third… the first tentacle on the scene swatted at the X-shaped creatures, slapping one out of the sky. A crack emerged.

One more strike was all it took to break through. Grodus nimbly dodged and leapt about as tentacle after tentacle swiped down at him. Yet, he did not let up on his own attack – even as he darted about the battlefield, he continued to strike at the core with magic. Crump could only watch. What exactly was he supposed to do in this high-powered situation? Something like this was way beyond his league… And besides, Grodus was doing just fine without him. The purple creatures in the center of the swarm were looking extremely rough.

But then the situation changed.

Crump stared on in horror as Grodus backed himself into a precarious situation. One tentacle swung in from the front – Grodus dodged this with time to spare, then side-stepped a second tentacle. The third tentacle simultaneously snaking in from behind him was the problem.

Crump's stomach sank as the third tentacle hit its target.

The strike sent Grodus falling directly into the path of yet another blow. Reeling under the sheer force of the attack, his scepter slipped out of his hands and clattered to the floor. Yet another tentacle swooped in but, instead of striking, grabbed the X-Naut by the arm and lifted him up high.

Then, the monster wrapped an appendage around each of his limbs. It began to pull.

Crump broke out in a cold sweat as he realized he was about to watch his boss's body be ripped apart.

Crud, crud, CRUD! This is NOT good!

Then, Crump spied the abandoned scepter on the floor. There was no time for him to think - just act.

Mustering all of his courage, he charged towards the scepter. He faced no resistance from the enemy as he took it into his hands and approached the core – all other eyes were focused on the prey being held aloft. Grodus let out a pained cry as the creature attempted to tear him to pieces.

While Crump couldn't figure out how get the scepter to do any of the magic-y tricks, he sure could take the butt end of the thing and stab it directly into the core.

And so, that's what he did.

"TAKE THIS!" Crump screamed as he thrust forth and jammed the weapon through with all of his strength. He was successful – the rod punctured the mass, becoming a makeshift lance.

In fact, he was well beyond successful. Crump was surprised to find the weapon driving in deeper than he ever expected.

"SMOOOOOOORG!?"

With that one final cry, the Smorgs making up the core burst apart. A pulse shook the entire Smorg conglomerate as it fell to pieces.

Smorgs rained down from the sky. Panic ensued as the creatures lost their will to fight and scattered in all directions. The organisms bounded through every available hole they could find, away to anywhere but here.

Among all of this, Grodus fell to the floor. …Thankfully, he still appeared to be in one piece.

A glint in the corner of his vision caught Crump's eye. He looked to the space where the Smorgs making up the core had once sat.

…Is that what I think it is?

Crump reached out to take the pretty red rock into his hands.

The lady in pink smiled to herself as she accepted the bouquet of flowers.

"Thank you for your visit and your donation! I hope you enjoyed your time here at Happy Endings!"

She could feel tears sliding down her face. It was unlikely the friendly little Toad nurse could see them from beyond her hood… though people could certainly see her bright yellow eyes peeking through, the sage's robes obscured most of her appearance. At this moment, she was thankful for that.

Should she tell them? Should she not? …She often struggled with these questions. She had sworn to become a mere observer forevermore at the moment she had left home, but times like this made her struggle with that conviction.

Though she did not know all the details, she did know that many people were to die here. That day was far away still, but it was coming ever closer.

This seemed as good of a place as any to hide away one of the shards. ...They did have some lingering power within them, even now. Perhaps, if she instilled a prayer upon it before continuing on her journey, a miracle might occur?

No. That was wishful thinking.

"Thank you so much for your hospitality. It truly was a touching experience."

The Toad continued to wave from afar as the woman walked further and further away.

If tragedy was inevitable, then she wished they could at least dream of peace. A happy, everlasting dream…

Well, now he was just disoriented and confused. One moment, he'd been reaching out for a rock. The next, he was hallucinating himself as some crying chick?

Did I just have a stroke?

If this is what exhaustion did to you, then he had to start getting more sleep. …But wow, he knew he was tired, but was he really THAT tired? And right now, of all times?

Crump heard a groan from somewhere nearby.

Oh, yeah. …Grodus is still here too, isn't he?

Crump looked over to his boss, who was clearly struggling. He attempted to rise only to stumble and collapse to his knees. "Hey, hey, you okay!?" Still gripping the scepter, Crump ran over and crouched down next to him. Grodus was breathing heavily, and yet he continued to try to move forward.

"Do not concern yourself… I'll be fine… though it appears that encounter took quite a bit out of me. …We shouldn't linger here. Let me have that back." Retrieving his scepter, Grodus began to use it like a cane. Unsteadily, he lifted himself up off the floor.

"Here, grab my shoulder. I've got you."

Though reluctantly, Grodus accepted the help. They began to limp back together. Following Crump's questionable instructions, the X-Naut leader did his best to interpret the makeshift maps as he hobbled in the general direction of the entrance.

They walked along quietly for a period. Grodus was the first one to speak up.

"You did well."

"Whuzzat? You say something?"

"…I was just thinking… that I suppose I do owe you my thanks. Were it not for your actions, I undoubtedly would no longer be standing here, so… you have my gratitude. I thank you."

"O-oh…" Crump wasn't really used to being praised like this, so he wasn't sure how to react. "Y-yeah, you got it! Of course, I always come through! Buh! Buh! Buh huh huh!"

"That said, do not become cocky. I was overconfident in my abilities during that fight and it jeopardized our mission. …It appears I have some self-reflection to do. I cannot say this has been my proudest moment." Grodus sighed derisively. If only he were stronger, more capable, he wouldn't have needed to rely on his subordinate like this…

"Hey. For the record, I thought you were doing pretty great out there."

"I suppose I appreciate the sentiment, though such words are not necessary. I must do better. For the future of the X-Nauts…"

At some point, Grodus had started putting far more of his body weight onto Crump's shoulder. His steps were wobbly and he kept faltering.

"You sure you don't need to stop and rest for a second? Like, I get that you're determined and all, but… don't you think there's such a thing as too much? You seriously look like crap."

"Truly, I am fine. If I do need to stop, then I will let you know."

"…I won't think less of you. Really."

At this, Grodus finally slowed.

"You are persistent. Fine. I will stop for a moment." With that, he lowered himself down onto the ground, but not without wincing in pain. "Ghhh... to be completely honest, my joints and muscles absolutely ache. I am loath to think of what would have happened if you had been just a bit later."

"Pull-apart Grodus-style bread and dip?"

"Ugh…" Grodus curled his hands around his body as he cringed. A particular image kept playing in his mind. It wasn't pleasant. As that beast stretched him to his limit, he'd thought for sure he'd reached his end – he didn't have the slightest amount of hope that anyone, let alone Crump, would come to his rescue. In this instance, he was more than happy that he had been proven incorrect.

Perhaps he could trust this subordinate of his a bit after all. ...Just a bit, though.

After an arduous walk back to the entrance, Crump and Grodus joined back up with Xaido and Johnson. Naturally, Xaido was more than a little freaked out when he saw the state that Grodus had returned in.

"Heavens above, are you quite all right!? Let me get you a healing potion! Crump, lay him down on the ground, please!"

Grodus huffed as he clung to his scepter and Crump for support. "Come now, I'm not in that poor of shape. You worry far too easily."

"Uh. Dude," Johnson commented. "Compared to how you usually are? Nah, you look like you're ready to keel over. You might wanna take a look in a mirror sometime."

"Yeah, this guy is crazy stubborn. I kept telling him that the whole way here but he seriously doesn't listen to anything."

"Is he actually an idiot or something? Y'know, crap like that's how people die young."

"Right? That's what I thought too. He's always acting all high-and-mighty, but here he is, looking like a-"

"I'm still here and listening to every word you're saying, you fools!"

Despite his protests, Grodus did gulp down the potion. It didn't take long for his condition to improve significantly – though he still didn't appear to be at 100%.

With that, they slowly but surely headed back to town. What they found waiting for them was not quite what they remembered.

"Buh… huuuuuuh…?" Crump took in the scene around him.

Kip and Peanut, looking defeated, sat on the ground before a large stone monument.

"Herein we remember and honor the casualties of the Happy Endings gas leak.

To the staff, thank you for your service. To all victims, your families will love and miss you always.

May all of their souls rest in peace."

There was no life to be seen in any direction - just a hollowed-out husk of a town where people once walked long ago. The inn could be seen in the distance with its collapsed roof and bereft flowerbeds. There was little to be found here.

The date listed on the monument was a full seven years prior.

Kip, snapping out of his sulky mood, leapt to his feet and looked to the group. "Did you all do it!?"

"Yes, we have been successful, but…" Grodus glanced about. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Bro, I wish I knew. Peanut and I came back to town and didn't get a signal at all, so we walked way way waaaaay the heck down the path… we never did manage to get through, so we started heading back when WHAM! Suddenly everything went real ugly."

"I-it was really surprising! We got so confused. I didn't know what to do…" Peanut clenched his fists as he blurted out his part of the explanation.

"Is it possible that… when we removed the shard, then maybe…?"

Grodus pondered to himself. Was this related to their powers somehow? Still, why? If only he had more information.

"Y'know, I have a suggestion," Crump raised his hand. "How about we talk about this while we get the heck out of here? Or, as a super sweet alternative, we could forget all this ever happened and try to get on with our lives."

Grodus supposed it could wait. He didn't exactly want to loiter about here, either. "Yes, I must say that sounds like a good idea. Let's get moving."

With all in agreement, they got out of there as quickly as they could.