Chapter 25: Extraterrestrial Pixels[]
The next morning was quiet. Eerily quiet. Pouchy blinked drowsily as he began to take in the area around him and the other group members. They were sitting beneath the ferris wheel. “How’d we..” He was suddenly interrupted by a familiar, caring voice. “Hello, dear! I see that you are awake, no?” Pouchy’s eyes widened in shock for a moment before his vision adjusted.
In front of him stood a hooded figure, dressed in a brilliant pure white cloak; there seemed to be not a speck of dirt on it. “Oh, my apologies.. I did not mean to startle you.. It is just.. I wanted to continue off where we were yesterday. ..Clear up some things.. I’m certain you know who I am, right?” Pouchy stared at the figure with a puzzled expression before his blurry vision eventually adjusted, granting him a slight peek at the white glasses and red fur of the figure. “Crim.. Crimson? What’re you doing here? ..And so early, gosh, even for me!”
She chuckled lightly. “Oh, well, you see.. I was so caught off guard by Cobalt’s.. Agreement, that I.. Forgot to help you three out of the City. And for that, you three receive a royal apology.. I was just not thinking straight, well, granted, when am I, but.. It seems it cost you three. Once again, I am terribly sorry..” Pouchy gave her a thumbs up, grinning. “It’s all good! Just.. Why so early? And what’s with the cloak?”
She shuffled with the cloak, straightening the wrinkles on it as she looked down at the Carnival’s ground, then back at Pouchy. “Hah, I am used to sleeping in, that much can be said.. Oh, you see dear.. Cobalt normally doesn’t let me out of the Castle. He.. hasn’t in a long time. But.. today is special. For he finally let me tread upon my City’s ground! ..If I keep this cloak on at all times and don’t draw attention to myself. My brother is really turning over a new leaf, hah..” Pouchy nodded, placing his wing on his fur in contemplation. “Oh, I get it! So that thing’s to cover up your face! ..And everything else! But.. Why did he not let you leave the castle..?”
She looked down slightly. “Well, I suppose what I said wasn’t entirely true.. He would let me out of the castle, yes.. But it was only after being supervised by dozens of Sapphire Knights. You don’t know embarrassment until you have an entire army following your every move, hahah.. You know, it might have just been better to stay in the castle after all! People.. Aren’t exactly confident walking up to somebody with.. Their own personal defense army..” Pouchy nodded. “Oh.. Cobalt is.. A bit overprotective, isn’t he..? I-I mean, I guess I can see where he’s coming from, but.. It really seems like you.. Missed out on a lot.. I mean, me and my friends have seen so much, and.. It only seems like you’ve seen this City..”
She ruffled Pouchy’s fur, smiling caringly as she eyed the blue portion of the Castle. “I agree, you know. But after everything that’s gone on, everything that we’ve both had to bear witness to.. I.. Can’t exactly hold that stuff against him. I care for my Brother, and I know that without a doubt, he cares for me. He is just.. A bit too—I’ll agree with you-—overbearing. But you know, thanks to you three.. I’m hoping he can really start to see that there is.. More to our lives than worrying. ..Especially not if it harms others.” Pouchy smiled. “When he hugged me, it.. It didn’t feel like the same Bee I knew before.. He acted so.. Smug about us being captured. You know, gosh, I thought he hated us!”
“..He has a problem with that. I’m lucky I.. managed to wake up to teach him some manners. He shouldn’t speak to people like that, especially if they’re children. Just because he thinks some guys are thieves does not mean they are. I apologize--for him.” Pouchy rubbed the side of his head, ruffling the fluffy fur. “Oh, it’s all good! Wouldn’t.. Be the first time we’ve had a rough start with somebody, y’know!”
He paused for a moment, continuing to eye the castle. “..And.. Why were you sleeping, anyway? Not to sound personal, but- Cobalt.. Made it sound like you were sleeping for a really long time!” She looked down, her gaze stiffening greatly. “Do you ever.. Have dreams where you.. Meet somebody? They speak to you, you speak to them.. But it eventually becomes more of a.. Problem? You’re scared, you’re frightened, and yet.. You don’t know how to ask for help?”
“Oh, yeah- Sometimes, I see this really weird slime-bear-thing in my dreams.. He tells me his name is Honeybun, and he also says that he knows you!” She looked at Pouchy for a moment, her gaze turning pale under her glasses at the mention of the name. She didn’t speak. Pouchy spoke up. “Point being, I’m used to the crazy dream things by now! Maybe ask Cobalt to comfort you? That’s what my friends do!”
She looked down, laughing. “Oh, Pouchy.. How I wish it was so easy. Well, I suppose the good thing is that.. Well, I’m not sleeping right now. I guess that is all I can hope for.” She continued, whispering to herself. “(It must be a coincidence. There is no way that.. It cannot be the same Bear. It is probably the Map playing tricks on him. Yes, yes it must be.. A fragment of what was left of him before he.. Yes, that’s right.. It cannot be the real him. Oh, how I wish I could ask them for help.. And oh, how I long to not feel these chains upon my wings.. But alas, what will they do? Go into my mind? Hah that is indeed, a silly thought, just silly..)”
Crimson paused for a moment, looking behind Pouchy at the other members of the group. She coughed slightly. “Pouchy, would you be a dear and wake your friends up for me? If it isn’t too much trouble, of course.. We truthfully do not have much time. The sun will be rising soon. It is bad enough that I got my old chatterbox started already!” Pouchy gave her a thumbs up as he leaned over to Brad and Spectacles. Brad was snoring softly, his hat nestled on his face, casting a dark shadow over his fur. Spectacles’ glasses were falling down on his face, and nestled in his wings was the drawing from the previous night.
Pouchy gently nudged both of them as they stirred awake. Spectacles looked at Pouch, seeming quite happy. His vision was incredibly blurry and he couldn’t quite make out the figure standing in front of Pouchy. “Good news, P-Pouchy.. My wing feels great!” Pouchy’s eyes sparkled with interest as Spectacles removed the cast, chunking it into the trashcan beside them. “Oh that’s wonderful, Specks! I’m so glad!”
Brad’s fur fell down around the top of his head as he swiftly pushed it back up, collecting his thoughts. Pouchy looked at his eye. “How’s your eye feeling?” Brad grumbled slightly. “Eh, it’s fine, Pouch. Nothin’ too crazy. That crazy thing just gave me a little scrape. Nothin’ I can’t handl-” He suddenly opened his eyes, his vision unblurring and giving way to the sight of a mysterious white-cloaked figure standing beside Pouchy.
he reached and pulled out his revolver, narrowing his eyes as he saw the figure standing in front of Pouchy. “You—Cloak thing—stay away from him.” Pouchy rushed over to Brad, pointing the revolver down. “It’s okay, Bullet! It’s Crimson! She showed up to help us get out of the city!”
He looked down shamefully. “..My apologies, yer highness.” She waved her wing in the air dismissively as she laughed heartily, clearly not phased. “Oh it’s quite alright! You three have been through a lot.. And besides,” She stretched out the cloak as she paused. “I do look.. Quite intimidating with this on. Much more so without any context, haha..”
“But I really am sorry, Miss. Just know that, even if ya’ were ‘n enemy.. It’s just warnin’ shots. Can’t be shootin’ anybody with these two around.” Pouchy and Spectacles both smiled gratefully at Brad. Crimson coughed. “Oh, goodness, do I know a thing or two about intimidation factors.. A bit.. Too much. Thanks, Cobalt!” She laughed, more so to herself, as she swiftly turned her gaze to the group as a whole.
“Before we leave, however.. Would you three like some food? I can most certainly pay.” She shuffled around in the cloak, pulling out three coins for the trio. “I recommend getting a Bolt-Burger! I know it’s morning, but goodness are they good.. You know, my brother—Goodness help him— cannot cook for the life of himself. But, by some miracle, he can make amazing food ideas. Now, I’ll be sitting back here.. Just.. minding my royal business..” Pouchy’s eyes sparkled as he took the coins, flying over to the register.
Rodger was sitting at it. He was sleeping soundly before he twitched lightly at the sound of gold coins clinking. “Eh, who is it- Oh. It’s you.. Three..? What’re ya’ doin’ here? Again..? Ain’t nobody up, you know.” Pouchy nodded. “We’re on a very important mission! And we’re gonna need a Balt-Burger to get to it!”
He took the coins, placing them in a register as he reached over to a pan, turning on the heat and beginning to cook the patties. Spectacles looked at the patties, shuffling his glasses to straighten them. “U-Um.. Is that going to take a while?” Rodger shook his head, flipping the patty as he talked simultaneously. “Not at all, glasses. If there’s one thing this stupid clown job has taught me, it’s that I can cook pretty darn well. Granted, I won’t ever be able to express that properly trait, but-” He swiftly flipped the patty off of the pan, throwing it into two buns, adding cheese, lettuce, and finishing off the Burger by adding a small toothpick with Cobalt’s face on a little flag, as well as two little wings on the sides. “I guess it does get appreciated sometimes. Not as much as I’d like, but eh, I’m a multicolored clown. So what else can ya’ do?”
He handed the three patties to the group as he smiled drowsily. “There ya’ are, kids. Now please, can a clown get some rest?” Pouchy looked back at him, taking a bite of the burger, smiling joyously as both he and the other group members thanked him. “You know.. Something tells me you won’t be a clown forever!”
He laughed softly to himself as they flew away, looking down as he placed the pan back up onto the shelf of his station. “(Hah, now that’s a lovely dream. Gettin’ my dream job? Now that’s a lovely dream indeed. Silly kid.)” He paused, turning his clown hat over. “(There.. Now I’m free to go to sleep..)”
Pouchy and the others returned, all with Balt-Burgers nestled in their wings. Brad took a bite out of it, savoring the cheese. “..Yum. Pretty good. Ain’t had cheese in a long time.” Pouchy spoke, even as his mouth was full. “Do you like cheese, Bullet?”
Brad nodded. “Yeah, it’s pretty good. Ya’ wouldn’t know from how much sweet treats I’m eatin’, but I actually prefer salty things.” Spectacles took a bite out of his burger. “Y-Yumm.. Bullet’s right.. T-This is amazing.. U-Um, what’s it made out of, Pouch?”
Pouchy remembered back to the small menu. “Black Beans!” He said confidently, his mouth still full. “Pretty sure there’s a whole grain option, too.. You guys ever wonder where that stuff.. Comes from? I haven’t really, seen any wheatfarms in the city.. And not at anywhere else we’ve been to-”
“Comes from Honeybucket, dear,” Crimson stated caringly. “I know because, well, I recall seeing one of the shipping containers being delivered to the castle. As far as how grains are able to be turned into..” She paused, gesturing at the patties. “I don’t know.. They taste completely different. And oh, I’ve tasted grain before. It is not pleasant. Not in the slightest..”
Pouchy’s eyes sparkled as he threw the rest of the Burger into his mouth, turning his gaze towards her as he spoke. “Woah! You ate grain? But why?-” She nodded. “Oh yes, dear.. We Event Bees all had our—Ehm.. Quirks at one point. Mine was trying weird things. Cobalt’s was.. Oh, yes I can barely recall.. He.. Well, he liked to lock himself in cages. He always knew some strange way of getting out, I’ll give him that.. I believe it was all the calculations that went into his escapes that made it such a hobby of his. I remember calling him “Puzzlemaster”, because of how fast he could solve each and every one of those cages.. I suppose you just.. Get curious, especially with all the time we have. And, I’m certain you know, but.. To put it quite bluntly, we Event Bees do not have much to worry about. ..As dangers, I mean..”
She chuckled lightly, watching as the group members eventually ate their burgers. “Now, children, shall we be on the Road? We mustn’t halt. Everybody will begin waking up soon, and oh, I suppose some already have.. But let’s not count our Chicks before they hatch?” Pouchy nodded, straightening the straps on his Pouch as he flashed a determined grin. “Right on, Crimson! Let’s blow this joint!”
Everybody readied themselves as they soon took off into the air. Crimson swiftly turned her gaze to the three. “Remember, you mustn’t fly too high. Keep at about the level I am, and you will be fine. Okay?” Everybody nodded as they continued flying around the city. While flying, Spectacles asked her something. “U-Um, Miss Crimson, not to be rude, but.. Why can we n-not fly too high?”
She continued flying, weaving between objects as she pulled the cloak further over her face. “Well, you see, it is quite dangerous to fly so high. Oh, not dangerous on its own.. But with the way our city is built, it is highly likely you could get sucked into one of the fans that we have.. I still recall one of those incidents.. Oh, he ended up fine, but boy did it hurt.. Him, I mean. After that, me and Cobalt both looked at each other and realized something must be done..” Spectacles adjusted his glasses. “H-How are you able to keep such a large place cool..? That is incredible!”
“Oh, well it is quite simple, really. They are attached to solar panels. That way, on hot days when they are in desperate need, they get all the wonderful energy they require. And, on cold days when they are not needed, the opposite happens! Of course, for the outliers we store up some extra energy, but.. That’s the simple version.” Pouchy and Brad looked at each other confusedly. Spectacles’ eyes sparkled. “H-How interesting! H-How many would you say you have? For a place this large,” He looked upwards, calculating. “Y-You’d ought to have around forty five, a-and that’s at the very least..”
Crimson placed her wing on her face. “Hm, dear, I’m not sure I recall the exact number.. I remember Cobalt putting them in, with the help of some other Bees. I recall him telling me about it, but some of his knowledge just goes.. In one ear and out the other. I certainly didn’t understand it, and I honestly doubt he did either.. Science has never been either one of our strong suits. But oh, how lucky we are to have Bluu.. Now he is one smart cookie, that much can be said. Made a Snow Machine, I remember.. Oh, what a wonder he would have been in installing those air coolers..” Spectacles laughed. “Y-Yeah, I remember that.. I r-remember me and Pouchy had to wear heavy coats.. L-Like the entire winter.. Not that I minded, but..”
Pouchy looked at Spectacles. “Oh, THAT’S what that all came from? Well darn! I remember getting snow in my fur DAILY from that stunt! I mean, the snow angels were fun, but.. At some point you begin to prefer wearing a little Pouch over some heavy duty winter gear!” Spectacles laughed. “Y-You remember how Diane used to put that hat on you? With the little floppy ears?”
Pouchy laughed along with him. “Gosh, I did not like that hat! I know Dapper Bear thinks I’m some sort of fashionista, but.. I’m really not! I don’t know a single thing about fashion.. I honestly prefer this little Pouch to anything I see others wearing..” Spectacles nodded. “R-Right there with you Pouch, sometimes I wonder how you two even became so close.. Y-You’re like polar opposites..”
“Yeah, me too.. Come to think of it, I think he was the one who mentioned my Pouch first.. He said it looked nice, and I thought his clothes looked nice too! I guess it just sort of started after that? We just got talking.. He always had such interesting stories about travelling, and-” He was soon cut off as he heard a large pop, followed by a gasp. Pouchy’s eyes widened as he spun around, soon greeted to the sight of a wide eyed Cub standing before the ruins of a red balloon.
The Cub was dressed in a blue and red bowtie, and wore a matching propeller hat from which his brown ears stuck out from. He had creamy dark fur, and now seemed to be wailing slightly. “M-My balloon..!” He called out as Pouchy soon rushed over to him, picking up the balloon pieces with his wings. “O-Oh my gosh, I am so sorry.. I didn’t mean to..”
“I-It’s.. Okay..” The Bear sniffled. “I’ll just see if I can find another one.. W-Whenever that’ll b-” Crimson flew over to him, completely hiding her face. “Oh, you mustn’t worry, child..” She lifted up the balloon pieces with a red pulse, swiftly colliding them back together with a flash. “There you are! Good as new!”
The Bear’s face lighted up as he hugged Crimson through the cloak. “Oh thank you thank you thank you! That was amazing, you’re like.. Like.. Like a Superhero!” He turned over to Pouchy, who was looking rather dejected. He smiled as he held the balloon tightly within his soft paw. “And it’s okay Mr. Basic Bee! My name is Bonzo, what’s your name?”
Pouchy grinned. “Well my name’s Pouchy! Nice to meet you!” Bonzo smiled, hopping up and down happily. “Nice to meet you too! Would you like to come to my house for a playdate? We can play balloon toss! It’s super fun!”
Pouchy sadly shook his head. “Sorry! Me and my friends are on a very important adventure!” Bonzo’s eyes sparkled with intrigue as he leaned in slightly to Pouchy. “An adventure? Ooh! Can I come? Can I come?? I’ll be sure to ask my parents!”
Crimson stepped beside Pouchy. “Oh, it is far too dangerous for a sweet child like you.. You should run along, I bet your parents are worried sick for you, out this early in the morning!” Bonzo looked down, kicking his legs into the dirt. “Yeah, they are.. Well thank you Cloak-Lady, and Pouchy, and Glasses Bee and Teal Brave Bee!” He swiftly ran in the opposite direction, the balloon trailing behind him like a magnet.
As the three group members talked, Brad stood stationary. He reached his wing onto his eye, feeling the metallic texture of the ink Spectacles had placed upon it the day before. Pouchy turned towards Brad. “Oh right your eye.. Um, how is it holding up?” Brad nodded reassuringly. “It’s fine, Pouch. ‘Boutta take this thing offa here, ‘nyway.” He reached up and took the ink off, shattering its glass-like surface with his wing to reveal his new, swiftly healed eye.
Pouchy’s eyes sparkled on the fully healed fur. “That was so fast! Brad- How did you?-” Crimson turned to Pouchy. “Oh, Gifted Bees have superb healing skills, you know! One can heal from a moderate injury in just a day or two..”
Brad looked at Crimson. “I uh.. Didn’t know that, Miss. Always thought it was a coincidence.” Crimson laughed. “Well that’s good, Dear.. It means you haven’t been hurt enough to find out.. Which is, well.. It’s quite impressive if I am being honest.. Oh, who am I kidding..? No wonder you three are the prophesied heroes! You’re untouchable!”
The group soon, swiftly, made their way to the edge of the city, just as the sun began to rise over the horizon; its orange and pink rays shining in squarish patterns throughout the large dome above all three Bees’ heads, soon giving way to beautiful sunlight. Crimson smiled as the group turned around to look at her.
She coughed lightly, adjusting the cloak as she smiled; the bags under her eyes wrinkled a bit more. “I suppose this is goodbye, hm? Well, I have most certainly talked all three of your antennas off, haven’t I..? I won’t bore you, for I know you three have things to do. Very important things. Just know.. That at the finish line, me and ‘Bolt will be waiting there for you. Okay?” Pouchy nodded. “Right on, Crimson!”
The three members hugged her. “Thanks for everythin’, Miss.” Spectacles nodded. “Y-Yeah, and um.. Can I just say, whoever designed your castle did a r-really good job..” Crimson laughed softly as she hugged the three back, soon spinning back around as she pulled the cloak above her head. “Take care, you three, for the fate of the world rests in your wings.” She said with finality as she flew away from the group.
Her words echoed through the crisp morning air, long after her departure. Pouchy turned around, gazing at the beautiful view in front of him. The grass had now adopted a beautiful warm beige color; the orange and pink glares of sunlight reflecting upon its surface perfectly, adorning the various flowers neatly placed in the meadows. “Well.. What do you say, guys? To the next destination?” Brad nodded, turning his hat around as he crinkled an eyebrow confidently.
The group soon made their way through the brilliant gold fields; as they flew, Pouchy noticed a large sum of small yellowish puffs floating through the air, and throughout the large meadow; large enough to cast shadows on the ground below. “What’s that?” Spectacles pushed up his glasses, eyeing the large puffs before looking at Pouchy halfway, continuing to keep his eye on them intently. “P-Pollen puffs, I think..? I k-know some flowers and plants make s-stuff like that, I just.. Haven’t seen them that large before..”
Pouchy looked back at Spectacles, grinning as he flew up to grab one of the large puffs, enjoying the soft feeling it left in his wings as it nearly disintegrated upon a tough ever so slightly too tough. “I guess stuff out here just grows all crazy? Like the dandelions?” He paused, watching the large sum turn into smaller puffs that floated throughout the crisp morning dissipating softly, as though a reminder of a past long since gone. “I mean, nobody really ever.. Mows it down, or anything..”
Spectacles looked at the various puffs. “I d-don’t know.. It, um.. Almost seems like a bit too much.. B-But I guess, given what we’ve seen, it’s actually n-not too out of the ordinary..” Brad looked around the two, his eyes eventually coming across a strange flower, of which he pulled out of the ground, inspecting it intricately. “Say, uh. Y'know what this here thing is, Specks?”
Spectacles shook his head. The flower seemed to be a brilliant gold, only a bit darker than the grass that accompanied it. The top of the flower had a bud, but encasing it was a large, waxy Honeycomb like structure, giving off a lightly sweet smell. “Say, do y’all two know how to make Honey?” Pouchy nodded happily, grinning confidently. “Of course, Brad! We were in a Beekeeper’s hive for goodness sake!”
Spectacles adjusted his glasses, rubbing them with his wing as he smiled softly. “W-What Pouchy means to say is um.. No, we never really learned.. W-We were too busy adventuring.. W-Well, more accurately, Pouchy was doing the adventuring.. I was more so following.” Pouchy looked at Spectacles, then back at Brad, nodding sadly. Brad smiled gruffly, refusing to show his teeth. “Well. I might know a thing’r two ‘bout it. Used t’make it all the time back in my village. ‘Course, that was a whole different buncha flowers, but.. Process should still be the same.”
He shuffled around with his bag. “Unless y’all wanna get to the city quicker, y’all could find me a Honeycomb. I ain’t know for a fact, but I’m figurin’, that these flowers got some larger versions of ‘em. If so, that’d be the perfect little honeymaker.” Pouchy grinned ecstatically, his eyes sparkling like the stars in a galaxy. “Yeah, okay! I’ll get them right away!” He buzzed off swiftly, the fibers on his Pouch ruffling with his quick movements.
Spectacles looked at Brad. “H-He really can't stay focused for a moment, can he?” Brad chuckled lightly. “I ‘spose so. It ain’t really a problem, y’know. Not ever’body’s as focused as ya’, Specks. Some people think everythin’ in life is an adventure, and I’m sure that’s the way Pouch sees it. Y’know, it’d never hurt to try.”
Spectacles nodded. “I m-mean I guess, but.. With everything we’ve been through.. I-it just.. Confuses me, I guess.. I mean there’s.. T-there’s so many things to worry about in the world..” Brad looked at Spectacles. “Y’know, you’re just a kid, Specks. I’ll make sure y’all are both safe. Ya’ don’t have to worry ‘bout nothin’. ‘Course it ain’t good to smile all the time, but,” Spectacles looked back at Pouchy as Brad paused for a moment. “Yeah, it isn’t..”
Brad continued, coughing lightly as he eyed Pouchy in the background carefully as he frolicked about in the golden fields. “As long as ya’ can, ya’ should. Life’s short, y’know, and worryin’ about it gettin’ cut short is just gonna make yours even shorter. Maybe take a page outta Pouch’s book. Ya’ got hobbies. Maybe draw the scenery ever’time your brain gets a little crowded. Let yourself take a break every once in a while. I know it ain’t a lot comin’ from me, but not everythin’ is out to get you, y’know?” Spectacles nodded slowly, looking down at the meadow and the honeycomb flowers that filled the soft grass. “Y-Yeah, you’re right, haha..”
Soon enough, Pouchy came back with a large Honeycomb Flower. His wings were shaking; the comb was clearly very heavy. And, with a rush of sweet scent, he sat it on the ground, grinning pridefully through his sweat coated fur. “THERE! Gosh, this thing took me ages to find! And, actually, I found something else, too.. But we’ll check it out after we try some,” He paused for dramatic effect, his eyes sparkling intently as he looked directly at Brad. “HONEY!!!”
Brad chuckled lightly as he effortlessly lifted up the comb, reaching up his other wing to grab a portion of the vast clouds of pollen swirling throughout the beautiful blue sky. “”Kay. Watch carefully, ‘cause it’s a quick process.” He made sure the both of them were looking before he swiftly began spinning the pollen around the Honeycomb, with the puffy cloud of powder soon beginning to turn into something more Honey-like. Eventually, with a grin, he placed the Honeycomb down; the inside of it filled with gold-yellow, sparkling Honey.
“There y’all go. I’m sure ever’body’s got some fancy smancy version of makin’ it now, but that’s the way I was taught. Ya’ just spin around the Honeycomb, and, ‘ventually, that there stuff turns straight int’Honey. Pretty neat.” Pouchy swiftly flew over to the Honeycomb, dipping his wing into the Honey as he began eating it. His eyes lit up with glee. “This is AMAZING!!!”
Brad took a bite as well. Spectacles looked at the both of them, raising an eyebrow underneath the cyan casing of his large glasses. “U-Um, what does it even taste like?” Pouchy took another bite, grinning as he spoke through bites. “Just try it, man!” Spectacles shook his head.
Pouchy waited for a moment, hesitating to take another bite. “Well, it tastes.. Sweet? And it’s got like.. A little hint of smoke to it! Kinda like those burgers we had earlier.. But sweet!” Brad nodded. “‘Bout the same as what I remember it. Kinda strange, honestly.” Spectacles reluctantly took a bite of the honey.
Brad continued as Spectacles started eating the honey carefully. ‘Y’know, I’d honestly consider honeymakin’ a dyin’ art. I mean, we’ve eaten tons’a food, but ain’t none of it been honey. Bit odd, y’know? I honestly wonder if people even know how t’make it anymore.” Spectacles pushed up his glasses. “Y-Yeah, it is strange.. U-Um, me and Pouch can’t really talk ‘cause our home was known for the Honey, but.. Even still.. It’s just a bit odd..” He took another bite of the honey, intricately tasting it this time.
“T-That’s.. Actually pretty good, I guess.. U-Um, so what was the other thing you wanted to say, Pouch?” Pouch looked at Spectacles and then back to the Honey-filled Honeycomb. “You gonna eat the rest of that, man?”
Spectacles shook his head. “You?” Brad shook his head. Pouchy swiftly latched his wings onto the Honeycomb, dumping the rest of the smokey-flavored Honey into his mouth. “S-So um.. The other thing, Pouch?” Spectacles pushed up his glasses.
Pouchy quickly finished chewing; an uncharacteristic action. “Well, basically.. I saw these cool little bricks! They’re like.. Beige ish.. Saw a little bit of these uh.. Painted gold leaves, too! The stuff looks super old!” Brad raised a bushy eyebrow in intrigue. “So uh.. Where’s this ‘stuff’?”
Pouchy gestured to the others to follow him as he soon buzzed over to a small portion of the field. It appeared to have large brick sculptures; the ruins of which littering the golden tinted grass in which they stood. Brad looked around. Spectacles seemed mesmerized. “P-Pouchy, this.. This is incredible!” Pouchy nodded, grinning as he placed his wings behind his head confidently. “I know, right! Guess we stumbled on some sorta ancient stuff?”
Spectacles nodded, looking at the bricks and running his wing on them carefully. “Y-Yeah.. I’m no expert, but.. These s-should be around.. One thousand years o-old, at the least.. I’m assuming they’re made o-out of sandstone from the color..” He began sketching in his journal. “M-maybe we should um.. Bring these s-somewhere..?”
Pouchy shook his head. “No, specks! See, what’s the point in other people adventuring if everything’s already been found?” Spectacles nodded. “I g-guess you’re right, but.. Who will see them if we don’t?”
Pouchy looked up at the sky. “That’s the thing, nobody knows! Somebody could come across these and be amazed just like us!” Spectacles nodded slowly, turning around. “W-What do you think, Brad?”
Brad shuffled slightly, taking off his cowboy hat. “Eh, I dunno. I ain’t exactly the most knowledgeable bee livin’, so.. It just looks neat, I guess.” Pouchy nodded, placing a small brick into his Pouch. “I guess it can’t hurt to take a itty bitty piece with us, though!”
“U-Um, Pouchy.. I d-don’t want to sound bossy, but.. Don’t you think we should.. G-Get a little move on?” Pouchy nodded, closing eyes as he grinned enthusiastically. “Yeperoo! But hey, we weren’t just killing time, Specks! We got to see some new flowers, make honey, TRY honey, and talk about Honey! Oh, and find an ancient brick!”
Spectacles smiled awkwardly, fiddling with his wings. “S-So, um.. Does that mean we’re heading—Whereever we’re going—Now?” Pouchy nodded, combing back his puffy fur as he began to fiddle with his Pouch, reaching around. “Sure does!”
“Well then..” He paused as he quickly reached his wings into the Pouch, pulling out the Map as it began flashing a straight green arrow. “You guys know what that means! To, uh..” He shook the Map a moment as a name swiftly appeared. “Pollenopolis!”
The group readied their wings as they shot up into the bright blue, cotton cloud and pollen puff filled skies, all of their minds laced with a sense of excitement of the coming adventure that awaited them in the aforementioned “Pollenopolis”. Soon enough, the beautiful golden fields of the meadow began to even out, as something large could be seen in the distance; the lights of which glistening brightly despite the midday sun. “See that? That’s Pollenopolis! ..Pretty sure, anyway..” Everybody’s eyes sparkled with intrigue. “Looks neat.” Brad said rather monotonely.
The group eventually arrived in the city. It was a very large place; skyscrapers and other random large buildings protruded off from the ground as though made specifically to touch the clouds. Soft, green trees stood in the middle of streets; surrounded by light gray cinderblock and adorned with bright green grass at their bases. Vast quantities of Bees and Bears walked to and fro, accompanied by the vast puffs of pollen, both hanging high in the clouds, and on the same level as the trees. “Wow.. this.. This is amazing, huh guys?” Spectacles looked at the various large buildings; the bright blue sky casting intricate reflections on the glass exteriors of each and every one of them. “(M-More sunny than Honette, that’s for sure..)” Spectacles muttered to himself.
Brad looked at Pouchy’s Map. “So. Where t’first, Pouch?” Pouchy looked down on the Map, placing his wing on his face in contemplation. “It.. doesn’t really say anything.. Still just says.. ‘Pollenopolis’..” Brad looked down sternly, crossing his wings as he began to look around the city, taking in the various diners and soft green leaves blowing throughout the crisp sun filled air. “Guess we’ll wai-”
Suddenly, the Map began to buzz in Pouchy’s wings violently as his eyes widened. “Um, guys it-” Pouchy was suddenly hoisted into the air by the Map as he began taking off throughout the large streets of the city. Brad looked at Spectacles intently as he took off into the air, pursuing after Pouchy. Spectacles lifted himself into the air, taking off after Brad. “W-What do you think happened?!” Spectacles said, sweating, both from nervousness and from the workout. Brad shook his head. “Dunno, but.. We gotta find out where-”
Eventually, his gruff eyes located Pouchy. The small Basic Bee was accompanied by a sparkling green trail as he fluttered around hastily, his eyes widened intensely in surprise. “Right over there, Specks..” He called out as he slid his wings behind himself, propelling himself forward and throughout the vast crowds of people; narrowly weaving throughout the trees and various buildings as he attempted to catch up to Pouchy.
Swiftly, the Map lit up as it jolted Pouchy into a nearby location. Brad’s eyes locked onto the green trail accompanying Pouchy as he glided across the city’s slick sidewalks, crashing through the front door of said establishment and landing standing perfectly as his frantic eyes darted around to Pouchy, who seemed to be crashed into the corner of the mysterious shop. Brad flew over to Pouchy, pulling him up by the wing. Pouchy’s eyes were still spinning around crazily, and he was still quite dizzy. Soon, a small jingle was heard at the door as Spectacles raced over to the two. “Pouchy! Are y-you-” He looked at Pouchy, sighing in relief. “W-What the heck happened..?”
Abruptly, a voice spoke up. It was heavily accented. “Ey, what be goin’ on ‘ere? Some land birds crashin’ into m’humble aboad, eh? Well I’ll tell ya’ here landlubbers, this shop ain’t for crashin’ through! Why, go to any of the other stores down the road if that be ye desire!” Pouchy dusted himself off, rubbing the side of his head. In front of him stood a Robloxian. He had a brown mustache stretched atop his mouth, and seemed to be dressed like a pirate; a small hook attached to one of his hands, yellow skin, a pirate hat, and an orangish-gold and black colored uniform, outfitted with a small crest containing a honeydroplet with bones in the background. He stood intimidatingly in front of the three with a small beige chick perched atop his shoulder neatly. “I’m extremely sorry, sir.. It’s just.. We were, um.. Told to go here..”
“Told to go here, ey? By who ye been told?” Pouchy shuffled around, pulling out the Map and showing it to the Robloxian as they looked over it intently. “I’ll be entirely honest with ye, I ain’t never seen nothin’ like whatever ye bee holdin’ in those land lubbin’ paws of yours. But oh, it reminds this old pirates of his old days.. Oh, I had a crew.. And we used to be the finest, most respected pirates in the whole ocean, ye hear?”
He paused, lifting up his hook as he attached a cheese puff to the sharp portion of it, feeding it to the small bird on his shoulder. “So what be ye request of me, ey? Ye be lookin’ for games? ‘Cause I assure ye, Captain Honeyplank possesses the finest games this side’a.. Well, ever! Ye ain’t gonna find classics like these anywhere else, ye here?” Pouchy shrugged slightly. “I.. don’t really know, actually.. What is this place, anyway?”
Honeyplank sighed. “Wisekrakin’, point to the game stock over there, for that be the treasure of this here shop!” The bird on his shoulder let out a small chirp as it pointed behind Honeyplank, gesturing towards a variety of small disc games, with the added addition of various arcade machines. Pouchy’s eyes sparkled with intrigue as he flew over to one of the games, eyeing the pixelated loading screen wholeheartedly. “Ye like what ye see, ey? Heh! I see it time ‘nd time again, ye know. ‘Th people flock in, they get bored, they leave. Ye know, pirate’s truth here, I ain’t had a lotta customers in a long time, now ain’t that true, WiseKrakin’?” The small bird chirped in agreement. “Now don’t go dissin’ on my business ye silly bird! Or it’s straight to ‘th fishes with ye! Heh. Just kiddin’, I ain’t ever hurt ye, Krakin’.”
Pouchy flew around the shop with sparkling eyes as they soon settled on a small menu. “You have pizza?” Honeyplank nodded. “Only the best pizza in the whole darn city, ye hear? I make it fresh with me old fish hook. It’s quite handy for cookin’, ye know. Well, and gettin’ things offa the shelves. Pirates can be on the shorter end too, ye know.”
Pouchy flew over to Spectacles and Brad. “You said you liked cheese, right Brad?” Brad looked at Pouchy then at Honeyplank. “Uh, yeah.. I did..” Pouchy grinned. “Then how about we eat here for the evening! Then after, we can go play some games! I mean, while we’re stuck here, we might as well have some fun!”
“W-Well Pouchy..-” Pouchy grabbed onto Spectacles’ wing as he led him over to one of the tables. They were decorated very nautically; sticking out vibrantly with the retro environment the rest of the Arcade shared. “Come on, man! It’ll be fun! I bet you haven’t even played a videogame before!” Spectacles nodded awkwardly.
Honeyplank hopped over to the group stylishly. “May I take ye order?” Pouchy looked at the rest of the group, grinning widely as he answered. “Pizza, please! Oh, and some soda, too!” Honeyplank nodded swiftly, spinning himself around and hopping over to the desk as his boots lightly clanked against the carpeted floor.
Spectacles looked at Pouchy, his gaze slightly awkward as he cycled between looking at Honeyplank and him. “(Y-You don’t think it’s a bit.. Odd that a pirate is leading an arcade?)” Pouchy shook his head, smirking. “(Nope! Are ya’ not putting the pieces together, Specks? Special games nowhere else? Pirate?)”
Spectacles eyes flashed disappointment, sighing as he soon realized. “(O-Oh, I get it now..)” Pouchy nodded, smiling complacently. “(I think it’s pretty clever, actually! I mean, a pirate having a bunch of ‘old mysterious games’ that ‘we don’t know where he got them from’. It’s genius, Specks! Absolutely genius!)”
Soon enough, Honeyplank came back with food for the three, grinning as he sat the tray on the table. “Enjoy, ye three! Don’t worry, for I took all the harshness that be in the sea outta those pizzas! Nothin’ but pure pirate cookin' in those cheesy slices!” Pouchy took a bite, relishing in the tree flavor. “This is AMAZING!!!!” He swiftly downed another slice.
Brad took a slice off the plate, placing a small bite into his mouth as he took off his cowboy hat, letting his fur fall out freely. “Y’know, I like that thing, but.. Sometimes it makes my fur ache a little bit. Kinda annoyin’.” He paused. “Hm. This stuff is actually pretty good, I gotta be honest.” He took a sip of the soda.
Spectacles reluctantly tried a slice of pizza. “Y-Yeah, it’s.. Pretty good.. I’ve never really liked Pizza if I’m being honest..” Pouchy’s eyes widened cartoonishly. “REALLY?! Man, you’re missing out, Specks! Pizza is like,” He continued chewing, still being careful to not spit on anybody as he spoke. “The best thing ever! And the cheesiest!”
Spectacles nodded awkwardly. “Y-Yeah, yeah, I know I know.. I just, l-like.. Can’t really get into it.. I think it’s the tomato more than the cheese.. It j-just.. Tastes kind of strange together if I’m being honest..” Pouchy grinned smugly. “What about Pineapple on Pizza? What do you think about that?” He giggled, taking a big gulp of the soda and nearly drinking the entire cup.
“W-Well, it’s like.. I don’t like pizza anyway, but.. I just think t-that sweet and salty things should stay separate from each other L-Like, I love Strawberries and all, but.. I wouldn’t EVER mix them with say.. T-That burger we had earlier.. Just feels unnatural, like I’m committing some unspeakable act against nature..” Pouchy took another slice of pizza, eating the entire thing in one big bite and speaking through it. “You’ve got to learn to live a little bit, Specks! Mix it up a little! Most flavor combinations are delicious! How do you think we got stuff like that burger? ‘Cause people looked at bread and thought ‘Hm, this is good, but.. What if I paired it with this? And this’? And BOOM! New, even better, food!”
“I g-guess.. So how many pizzas do we have—” He watched as Pouchy took the last slice of Pizza, eating the entire thing once more. “—L-Left.. Um, Pouchy, you uhm.. Don’t exactly have to.. Eat that fast.. A-All the time..”
Pouchy beamed. “Of course I do! Because, y’know, as nice as it is.. Eating prevents us from the true joy of life!” Spectacles raised an eyebrow underneath his glasses. “W-Which is?” Pouchy giggled. “Adventuring, silly! That’s what life’s all about, having fun!”
“Speaking of fun..” He quickly reached for his soda, drinking the rest of it with a large sip. “Who’s ready to play some arcade games?” He shuffled in his Pouch, pulling out the coins that Crimson gave them. Spectacles’ eyes widened. “P-Pouchy, you don’t um.. You don’t think that we should save those..?”
Pouchy shook his head. “Relax, Specks! We got a bunch of them! And besides,” He went on, flying over to an arcade machine and inserting the coin into it. “I’m honestly not planning on staying in a hotel tonight.. We’ve seen too many of them, y’know? We can find ourselves a nice park and sleep under the stars!”
“W-Well, if you say so, Pouchy.. That, um.. Does sound kind of nice, actually..” Brad nodded. “Yeah. ‘sbeen a bit since we’ve slept under the stars. Lookin’ forward to seein’ ‘em again.” Pouchy grinned as he began to play the small arcade game for a few minutes. Soon enough, the minutes turned into about an hour.
Pouchy got bored, and looked around for other games to play. “What should I play next, guys?” Brad and Spectacles both shrugged as something caught Pouchy’s eye intently. It was a small arcade machine; adorned with plastic replications of slime across its teal and pink surface. Pouchy’s eyes sparkled with intrigue as he hovered to it as a cartoon character hovers to a pie.”Woah.. What.. Is.. This..?” He said breathlessly.
Honeyplank hopped over to him, placing his hook against his head in contemplation. “Oh, that there screen? Why, I don’t particularly know.. It just.. Showed up one day. Ain’t a soul knows where from. Ain’t a soul can even tell me what line it’s from, nor who made it. Ye gotta believe me. I been askin’, but nobody been tellin’. I ain’t even played it yet. Got no clue what typa game it even be.” Pouchy smirked determinedly, inserting a coin into the game. “Well then, Mr. Plank, allow me to be your lab rat!”
He waved his hook around indifferently. “Yeah, yeah, ye three enjoy that. I got me some business I gots to take care of, Lads. Lemme know how it turns out.” As Honeyplank left, the game began to slowly load up; pixelated graphics filling the small screen. However, just as Pouchy was about to turn the joystick, the Map in his Pouch began buzzing violently. “Huh? What’s THA-”
Pouchy and the others suddenly felt a very weird sensation; as if all of their bodies at once shifted into pixels as they felt the large feeling of a vacuum pulling them in, their vision all going dark.
Suddenly, the world brightened up, however doing so in a very strange way. When Pouchy opened his eyes, he was greeted to a small, pixelated green and teal room that had the words “Gummy Fighters” written on a large title card, which seemed to be hovering about.
“What in..” Brad said, looking about as he furrowed his brows in confusion. He held out his wing in front of himself, noticing the pixels on it. “..What happened..” He coughed lightly.
Pouchy held up his own wing. “I.. don’t exactly know, but.. If I’m not mistaken, we’re.. in the game? THIS IS SO COOL!” Spectacles shook his head, his eyes widened in fear. “C-COOL?! P-POUCH! We are trapped in some mystery game! W-We don’t even know how we got in here.. A-And it’s COOL?!”
Pouchy nodded, grinning as he flew about the room, noticing three different weapons and outfits. “I mean, just look, Specks! We’re all pixelated, and we’re IN a game! How cool is that?” Spectacles started breathing heavy as Pouchy patted his back to calm him down. “Relax, Specks! I bet it was just something with the Map.. And, actually..” He looked about at the weapons, noticing a small wooden sword and fancy 80s-themed party outfit which had the pixelated name “Pouchy” hovering over it. “We probably just have to beat the game, then we’ll be out! Okay?”
Spectacles looked over at him, his expression still terrified. “A-and what if we DON’T beat the gam-“ Pouchy shook his head, placing his pixelated wing over Spectacles’ mouth. “Nope! We WILL beat the game! You wanna know why? ‘Cause your leader is also a video game master!”
“H-How reassuring..” He paused, looking around for Brad. “S-so.. what do we even, like.. do first?” Pouchy looked up towards the floating title card, placing his wing on his face in contemplation. “Well, most games have a tutorial level, so.. We just have to find..” His eyes scanned around as he looked for a tutorial. “Aha! There we go!”
He paused, nodding as he read the pixelated instructions. “You are a group of unlikely heroes set in the 80s, having fun, as teens usually do.. However! A mysterious alien has kidnapped the Mayor of your town! You must save him! Quick, adorn the Hero's outfits and don their weapons! Hero 1 - The Party Animal. receives a Wooden Sword. Hero 2 - The Serious Jock - receives a large blaster, found on the ground after the alien attack. Hero 3 - The Brains - Receives a recycled trash can lid.”
Almost instantly, the outfits and weapons spawned onto everybody’s body and wings. Spectacles felt his clothing, noticing that he had two large teeth. “H-Hey.. what’s up with..-“ He paused, realizing. “O-oh. I’m the NERD..”
Pouchy grinned, running his wings through the fancy Afro hairdo he now had. “Wow! I look pretty, uh.. Radical, or whatever the 80s term for cool was!” He spun around swiftly, mock swinging his wooden sword. Spectacles sighed lightly, his expression an awkward smile. “W-Well I’m glad you do..”
Brad felt around on his uniform. He had two large shoulder pads, and seemed to be wearing a white and red varsity jacket with a large “B” sown onto the front. His fur was now combed into a mullet. “Guess I’m the uh.. Jock? What’s that mean?” Pouchy grinned, patting Brad’s back. “It means that you’re, like.. a strong sporty guy! And hey, at least the first one of those is true!”
Meanwhile, Honeyplank continued to hit the arcade machine with his hook, arching his eyebrows. “Oh, work ye darn piece’a sea rubble! My, how has this even happened..? Why, ye oughtta paint me with tartar sauce and call me a boat snack, eh.” He turned towards Wisekrakin’, running his hand over his mustache. “Well, Krakin’, your plan ain’t seem to be workin’, me matey.”
“It be time for this old lad’s, then..” He paused for a moment. He looked at Wisekrakin’, flashing a grin as the small bird ruffled its feathers. “Oh, ye don’t think I’m fixin’ it, do ye? Well watch and learn!” He began kicking the arcade repeatedly. Wisekrakin’ began chirping. “Oh, shut ye beak! Those circuits’ll be workin’ in a jiffy! Just needs a little.. kick in the britches!” He continued kicking the arcade, the clank of metal filling the room.
After about ten minutes of kicking, Honeyplank was exhausted. “Well, this old sea fairer is out of ideas, it seems.. ye got anythin’ else, Krakin’?” The small bird shook its head, a look of sadness stretched across it's feathered face. “Well, eh.. I ain’t know how it works, but.. Ye don’t think callin’ the authorities would help?” Wisekrakin’ chirped. “Yeah, ye be right. I s’pose, we oughtta just.. wait this out, ey Krakin’?” Wisekrakin’ nodded his head.
In the meantime, Pouchy and the others had now been thrust into the game. They found themselves in a corn crop circle maze. Another title card hovered in front of them, reading “Part 1 - Maze Mayhem”. Above them, a bright teal, pink, and gray UFO hovered; a peculiar gray robotic arm extended from its side, holding a Bee in its grasp. From within, a bit-crunched laugh could be heard, and beside it, a small dialogue box. “*Heh heh! Look at you three, trapped in a corn maze! Well I’ve gotten the mayor! GOO-d luck on getting out, HAHAHA!” The cheap, pixelated laugh went off again. “Can it, freak..” Brad furrowed his brows, lifting up his wings as he dashed into the air, attempting to fly out of the corn maze as he was soon shot back down with an invisible wall.
He grumbled, getting back up as he looked back at Pouchy and Spectacles. “S’pose we’re gonna have to take the long way. We oughtta stay together. Splittin’ up ain’t gonna help us.” Pouchy nodded. “So, which way first..?”
Pouchy looked intricately at the different twists and turns of the corn maze; the stars casting white reflections across the dark green colored fields of corn. “I think that way!” Spectcalces grabbed onto Pouchy’s wing, his expression nervous. “Y-You don’t think we s-should um.. Plan this out a bit more..?”
Pouchy shook his head. “It’s all random, Specks! We don’t got a clue where we’re going anyway, so let’s just go anywhere!” He pulled Spectacles along by the straps of his overalls as the three went down the row of corn, Spectacles having a nauseous feeling in his stomach the entire way through. “A-Am I the only one that is absolutely TERRIFIED?”
Pouchy grinned. “Pretty much, Specks! See, me and Brad are all good. You wanna know why? ‘Cause we got this in the bag!” Spectacles shook his head. “No, no! Y-You can’t just.. Pouchy, we.. May I remind y-you, we are TRAPPED, for.. For all we k-know it could be indefinite!”
They turned another corner, a slight rustle of corn could be heard throughout the cool night breeze. “S-See? We’re stuck here! Y-You know as good as I do, I mean.. We’re.. We’re t-trapped in a corn maze,” He paused, stretching out the overalls on his outfit with an annoyed expression. “D-Dressed in these.. Ridiculous uniforms.. AND our ‘final boss’ i-is a alien monster bee!” Suddenly, the sound of goop scratching against the soft dirt of the corn maze could be heard. Spectacles couldn’t hear it, too busy in his rant.
“I-I’m not mad at either of you, I just.. I’m so ticked off at this situation! I m-mean, we literally cannot do ANYTHING without getting thrown into s-some stupid death trap! Want to have a nice day in the field? BOOM! E-evil ants out to boil us! Want to go to a l-little arcade? BAM! We’re trapped in a game! See what I mean?” Suddenly, a small, pixelated pile of goop began to slowly rise behind Spectacles. “D-do you see why I’m paranoid of EVERYTHING? I m-mean, it’s hard not to be when.. When, well heck, f-for all I know, I bet there’s a giant goo monster standing right behind me, d-drooling on my fur out of hunger!” He felt a drop on his fur as his heart rate picked up slightly, still turned towards Pouchy and Brad.
“A-And I bet it’s some evil monster, too! The worst of t-the worst!” He suddenly turned around, jolting backwards, crashing into Pouchy. Brad picked the both of them up as Spectacles began shaking. “G-Gosh, I’m sorry Pouchy, I don’t know what got into me.. It was p-probably just some..” He looked upwards, seeing a large goo clump in the shape of a robloxian.
“W-What do we do?” Pouchy pulled out his wooden sword, holding it out in front of him as he grinned determinedly. “We do what you do whenever confronted with a video game NPC.. Ask them to stop nicely!!” He coughed. “Um, Mr.. Goo monster, would you please stop..? We don’t want to hurt you, honest!” He combed his Afro to make himself seem more inviting.
The Goobloxian walked up to him, raising its hand. “See, guys? We’re gonna shake hands, and-“ The Goobloxian swiftly shifted its hand into a hammer as it swatted at Pouchy, with him narrowly dodging. “Well, darn..! I guess we WILL have to fight..” He sighed.
He puffed up his afro and colorful suit, dashing at the Goobloxian as he slashed them with his sword. The sword made a large gap in them, but was quickly patched. “Darn it! I figured that’d be the ca-” The Goobloxian lunged at Pouchy as Spectacles swiftly gripped onto his wing, blocking the punch with his trashcan lid and throwing them backwards.
Brad arched his eyebrows, dashing backwards as he took out his blaster, eyeing it carefully. “(Now how’s this thing work..)” He grumbled to himself, pressing a button that launched a small laser bullet at the Goobloxian, making them stumble backwards. “(Thought it woulda been slime, but.. That works, I guess..)” He launched another shot at the Goobloxian, followed by another. Brad narrowed his eyes, speaking over to Pouchy through his teeth. “Hey, Pouch. Think I know how’t defeat this thing. Ya’ gotta attack faster than it can grow back.”
“Right on, Brad!” Pouchy nodded, lifting up his sword as he lunged at the Goobloxian, dodging the incoming strikes with his wings, slashing the sword through the Goobloxian as Brad launched another volley of bullets at them, swiftly reducing them into a goo pile. They all flew back towards each other, awkwardly doing some semblance of a victory dance as 8-bit confetti sprinkled around them. “Woohoo!! That was amazing, guys!” Spectacles smiled awkwardly, pushing his glasses, which were slightly disheveled from the fighting, up on his face properly. “Y-Yeah, um.. Yeah! We did it!”
The group pressed on through the corn maze, hearing the repeated 8-bit chuckling howling in the distance. “What do you think that is, ‘nyway?” Brad readjusted his football pads, turning to Pouchy. “Well, um.. I don’t actually really know, Brad.. I recall Spirit telling us about Gummy Bee, which.. Is I guess who this is? But, she.. Always said that he was nice, just a bit of a trickster. I don’t know for sure, but.. This is probably just some.. Test, I guess? Maybe that’s why it was activated with the Map..”
Everybody continued flying throughout the vast, narrow halls of green, listening intently for anymore enemies. Brad looked down, his mullet slightly crinkling with the change in angle. “Hm. Pretty weird stuff..” He muttered, more so to himself than to Pouchy. “Wait, is.. Is that..” Pouchy swiftly took off in the opposite direction, buzzing down a distant pathway. Spectacles looked at Brad. “D-Do you think he found the exit?” Brad shrugged, flying backwards to pursue after Pouchy. “Dunno, but.. Couldn’t hurt to find out, y’know?”
*Party Animal acquired the Sportscar!
Eventually, the two found out where Pouchy was. He was grinning proudly, sitting inside of a fancy old-fashioned sportscar, revving it repeatedly. He rolled down the window, pushing down his shutter shades slightly. “Look at this, guys!” Spectacles flew up to the window, staring at Pouchy and then at the car. “W-What.. What is this.. Where a-are we..?”
Pouchy closed his eyes, smirking as he honked. “Well, Specks, we’re at the center of the Maze! AND we’ve got a cool car! You know what that means?” Spectacles pushed up his glasses. “T-Take the safe way out as to not damage the car..?”
Pouchy shook his head, beaming as he pushed up his afro. “Nope, silly! Now come on, hop in! I’ll show you what it means!” Spectacles looked at Brad awkwardly as the two of them sat down in the back seat. Pouchy turned over to them. “Now how cool is this thing?” Spectacles looked at Pouchy, narrowing his eyes in confusion. “H-How are.. How are you even driving..?”
Pouchy grinned. “I got no idea!” Spectacles’ eyes widened in shock before Pouchy pressed on the steering wheel, swiftly performing a peelout of the Maze’s center, beginning to recklessly drive through the columns of corn. Spectacles began screaming as the car repeatedly bumped up and down, cutting through the vast fields of corn with ease. Pouchy took his wing off the wheel, spinning it around stylishly as he grinned. “Man, I’m good at this, aren’t I?”
Spectacles noticed how nothing had broken, and they somehow hadn’t crashed yet. “I.. I a-actually suppose you are..” Pouchy grinned confidently, spinning the car around in an opposite direction as to barely dodge a large column of leaves as his eyes began looking around for something swiftly. In the blink of an eye, Pouchy located a conveniently placed leaf ramp and began to drive up it. With one swift motion, he latched onto the wheel tightly, spinning the car around as he honked repeatedly. “Hang on, guys!” Brad’s eyebrows raised as they remained hovering in the air for a moment, before eventually crashing down onto the ground in which Pouchy spun the wheel around, pulling the car to a sideways stop.
Everybody stood silent for a moment. Pouchy grinned, breaking the silence. “Man, I should become a racecar driver! That was awesome!” Before he could celebrate however, he heard a faint laugh and saw barely-illuminated teal and pink lights in the background. Within an instant, they were teleported onto the side of the road once more and Pouchy was in the driver's seat. He attempted to steer across the sky-darkened street properly but couldn’t, nearly falling off the road before he narrowly grabbed the wheel.
Brad looked at Pouchy. “I’ll drive.” He said sternly. Pouchy swiftly hopped and switched places with Brad. Brad quickly reached into his varsity jacket as he swiftly pulled out the blaster, rolling down the window. He heard the maniacal cackling grow closer as the pixelated UFO approached them, hovering over the street. “Oh, a street chase, huh? How FUN! GOO-d luck, I suppose! What do you think, Mayor?” He reached into the UFO, revealing the unconscious bee once more. “‘Well, Alien, I think that you will win this chase’! Haha, thanks, pal! You see that? Better batter up, kids!”
The pressing of a button could be heard as two gooey machine guns popped out of the UFO, aiming at the car. Spectacles covered his eyes nervously as they began shooting. Brad latched onto the steering wheel tightly, spinning the car flawlessly around the various bullets being shot, managing to fire at the UFO simultaneously. With a serious voice, he spoke. “Pouch. I’m gonna need ya’ to try’nd block any bullets ya’ can. It’ll help a lot.”
Pouchy nodded, grinning as he puffed up his Afro, rolling down the cranked window swiftly as he began swiping rapidly, deflecting the bullets as they bounced to and fro the street. “Hey Specks!” Pouchy said in between Brad spinning the car around to dodge a large gummy bullet. Spectacles spoke, his voice quivering nervously. “Y-Yeah..? What is I-it?”
“Can you—“ He paused as he narrowly deflected a gooey bullet aimed between his eyes. “—Hand me that shield? I think it’s gonna work a lot better than my sword!” Spectacles nodded awkwardly, tossing the shield to Pouchy as Pouchy threw the sword to Spectacles, with him clumsily catching it after repeated attempts.
As he began blocking the bullets more effectively, the car swerved out of the way, dodging a large gummy explosion as Brad gritted his teeth, his mullet drenched in sweat. “HAHAHA! HOW’d you like the patented.. GUMMY ROCKETS? Outfitted with their very own..” He paused, launching another as it blew up behind the car. “GUMMY EXPLOSIONS?!”
“Let’s.. TURN UP THE HEAT, HEROES! GOO-dbye!!” He cackled manically, launching a volley of bullets and rockets at the group. Through the loud sounds, it was as if the world went still for a moment. “Pouch, I think I got an idea. My bullets ain’t doin’ nothin’, but.. I think we could if..”.”
“How, though..?” Pouchy swiftly looked back as the rockets got ever closer. “Just.. block.. We’ve gotta do this together.” Brad said sternly, smirking lightly. Pouchy nodded, grinning with a slight tinge of nervousness as he held out the shield, managing to reflect most of the projectiles as Brad began spinning the car around rapidly. As soon as the projectiles had been blocked, through Alien’s insane fits of laughter, he launched a bullet at the flying reflected projectiles, launching them in a different direction.
Alien’s laughing fit abruptly stopped as he looked in front of the UFO. “What in THE-“ Suddenly, his 8-bit voice was cut short by a large gooey explosion that sent both the car and the UFO flying in opposite directions.
When the smoke cleared, both the car, and the UFO were up in flames. Brad looked at Pouchy and Spectacles through the pink and teal flames, dusting off his jacket. “Let’s get over there.” The group swiftly made their way down the street and over to the large multicolored glow of the crashed UFO. Alien tore the door off of the dilapidated piece of extraterrestrial metal, still laughing as he held the unconscious mayor in his gooey wing. “Well then, I suppose you DID take it down..” He paused, a smile breaking across his slimy face as he held the Mayor close to his ear. “What’s that, Mayor? They haven’t even seen the BEST of me? Oh, oh that’s.. RIGHT..” He began cackling.
Brad pointed the blaster directly at Alien. “It’s over, freak.” Alien showed his gleaming teeth, his body beginning to deform slightly. “Oh, oh, no it ISN’T, children.. Not even CLOSE, HAHA! I still got ONE more ace in the hole..”
His body began to grow and contort rapidly as he continued to guffaw. “ONE more challenge for the heroes.. But, oh.. I’m afraid that you’re not going to get past the final curtain.. Why don’t we make this last show.. A TREAT for our little guest, huh? All I have to say is, well.. GOO-D LUCK, HAHAHA!!!” He held up the Mayor, smiling sinisterly as he threw him down, his body stretching rapidly, his form eventually taking on something much more twisted, yet still bathed in pixels like everything else.
*The situation seemed hopeless; goo floated throughout the air in the crisp night breeze.
He resembled a snake; his squarish, pixelated head deformed into that of something with fangs and large horns, adorned with gooey scales on the underside of his stomach. Brad looked at Pouchy and Spectacles. “Guess this is the final boss. Get ready.” He swiftly hopped into the air, pulling the trigger on his blaster as he launched a large laser through Alien, through which he didn’t even flinch, instead, sliding right through it and wrapping onto Brad with his slimy tail, dashing him against the ground multiple times.
Pouchy swiftly darted onto the tail, swinging his sword against it as he knocked Brad free from the Alien’s grip, narrowly dodging an attempted bite as Brad launched another shot to his head. Pouchy slashed against the face again, being dashed against the ground with a swift jab to his chin, sending him spiraling against the dirt-filled ground.
Brad lifted up his fists, uppercutting Alien as he slid backwards slightly, hitting him with another spinning punch to the gut as his eyes began pulsating pixelated flames. He lifted his wings up, using them like a parachute as he flew backwards, firing a volley of laser bullets at Alien’s eyes.
Alien was blinded for a moment, swinging his tail around rapidly as he almost hit Brad, Brad using his wings to grab the tail narrowly, pushing Alien back ever so slightly as he punched him through the mouth; the gummy flesh near instantly regenerating. Spectacles stood in nervousness, watching the entire fight unfold as he helped Pouchy back up. “C-Can you get Brad.. I.. I think I have an idea o-on how to defeat it..” Pouchy nodded wearily. “Y-Yeah, but.. I don’t exactly know if he’ll have time..” Pouchy flew off, keeping the wooden sword nestled into his multicolored uniform as he reached his wing out in front of him, slashing Alien in the side as it nearly hit Brad. “Brad! We-“
Swiftly, Alien shapeshifted into Pouchy, countering a slash from his sword and rapidly extending his arm, throwing him into the ground as he shifted into Brad, launching a bullet onto his face and knocking him backwards as he turned back into a snake, slamming Brad into the ground with his tail repeatedly. He shifted back into Pouchy, lunging onto Brad as he attempted to slash him; Brad narrowly countered the sword with his blaster as he began struggling under Alien’s pixelated grip. “HAHA! YOU’RE STRONG, JOCK.. BUT WEAK AT THE SAME TIME..” His bit crushed voice echoed through the night sky. Swiftly, Pouchy lunged onto Alien, countering his strike and flipping him over Brad’s head as he launched him downward, helping Brad up.
“Hey, Brad?” Brad coughed lightly, dusting himself off. “Yeah?” Pouchy continued, nervously watching as Alien shapeshifted back into the snake. “Spectacles has an idea of how to beat him.. I don’t know what, but-“ Brad quickly pushed Pouchy out of the way of a large, crushing tail swing. Brad lifted himself up as his wings slightly shook, grabbing hold of his blaster and gritting his teeth as he launched a volley of lasers at Alien.
Alien began laughing as he effortlessly slid through the lasers fired by Brad, going for a bite as Brad managed to temporarily hold his jaws open, launching a laser through his mouth as he tumbled to the ground, being swatted at repeatedly from the tail. Brad landed beside Pouchy. Both were sweating profusely and were scuffed up as Alien continued to laugh manically.
*The Brains had an idea!
Spectacles adjusted his glasses and overalls, smiling awkwardly yet confidently. “D-Don’t you guys see..? U-um, how we.. How we were able to beat the UFO?” Pouchy nodded, realizing as he grinned confidently. “I’ve got it, yeah!”
*The Heroes’ hearts all shone with the great power of Teamwork! A new action; a new key was discovered!
Brad smirked. “Yeah, I got ya’, Specks. Let’s just.. do what our hearts tell us, ‘Kay?” Everybody nodded as Alien began getting closer, laughing insanely. “OH, OH.. YOU POOR, POOR SOULS! ABOUT TO SAY GOO-DBYE TO BOTH YOUR MAYOR AND EVERYTHING YOU HELD DEAR!” His 8-bit voice said sinisterly, the dialogue box shaking.
Brad smirked as he held up his blaster, pointing it at Spectacles' trash can lid. “Nah, only one of us’s gonna be sayin’ goodbye. ‘Nd that person.. Well, we’re lookin’ at ‘em right now.” He swiftly fired a laser onto the shield as Spectacles closed his eyes, reflecting the bullet as Pouchy soon caught onto it with his wooden sword, hitting it repeatedly against the lid. With one swift motion, right as Alien was about to eat them all, Pouchy hopped into the air, throwing his wings back behind himself and charging up his swing as he launched the projectile directly into Alien’s mouth, sending him flying back tremendously.
As soon as Alien began getting back up, Brad launched another bullet and the process repeated once more, eventually knocking Alien onto the ground as his eyes widened. “WHAT?! NO, YOU LITTLE-“ He attempted to shapeshift into Pouchy but was quickly slammed with another bullet through his head, falling onto the ground as he desperately tried to regenerate himself. “NO, NO! THIS.. THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING..!”
He lunged at the three as they charged up one final attack. Pouchy, Brad, and Spectacles all flew towards him, holding out their weapons tightly in front of them as Alien let out one final scream. Then, with one massive explosion, everything went silent, and the group members were thrown backwards into the pixelated grass beside the street.
Pouchy woke up first, shaking the goo off of his afro. “We.. We..” Spectacles looked at him, shaking off his glasses with shocked eyes. “W-We did it.. W-We actually..”
The three linked wings, spinning around while laughing. “We did it, guys! See, Specks? I told you we’d do it!” Spectacles laughed, his expression awkward yet happy. “Y-yeah, haha.. I really s-should’ve trusted you, Pouch..” He paused, looking around. “U-Um.. Where’s Brad?”
Suddenly, Brad flew back towards the three, holding a large glass cage that was covered in goo. “Found this in a large crater. It’s the Mayor.” Pouchy and Spectacles turned over to Brad. “Oh gosh, I hope he’s okay..”
Brad nodded as he lifted up his wing, slamming it down onto the glass cage as it shattered instantly. The Mayor blinked his eyes. He was a quaint figure; his fur grayed due to age. He looked at the three as Brad pulled him up. “Oh, oh thank you three.. thank you so much.. Oh, that alien was horrible, horrible I tell you.. I got quite sick of his laugh and his repetitive goo puns, I’ll be honest.. But you three.. you saved me.. What are your names, children?”
Pouchy grinned confidently, closing his eyes. “I’m Pouchy! That’s Brad, and that’s Spectacles!” He smiled back softly, lifting up his cane in gratitude. “Oh, wonderful names children.. Well, I.. I truthfully cannot explain how much you have done for me.. I’ll be seeing you at the city hall tomorrow!” He ended the sentence with finality, the area around the group fading to pixelated white as they now found themselves in an area with a disco floor.
*Congratulations, heroes! You have completed the game! And remember, when looking for the Bee, don’t forget to look to the skies! A small pop-up said. Pouchy looked at Spectacles and Brad, grinning. “Well, I guess we know where Gummy Bee is!” They both nodded. “Hm.. Then, I wonder when we’ll-“ As soon as he spoke, the area around them began to contort as the room went black.
Suddenly, with immense force, they were thrown out of the Arcade Machine, landing onto the Arcade’s ground with a thud. Spectacles swiftly hopped up, feeling his body and noticing a clear lack of pixels. “We.. W-We got out! Y-Yes yes yes!!” He cheered, hopping up and down. Honeyplank walked over to the three with shocked eyes. “Why, ye be back, mateys! Ye really be back!” He paused, a look of disappointment crossing his face. “Why, I be sorry to ye.. I ain’t never had any idea it’d do, well, that..”
Pouchy grinned, exhaustedly rubbing the side of his head. “Oh, well.. Its all good! Everything’s all fine and dandy now!” The group then said their goodbyes to Honeyplank and Wisekrakin’, later finding themselves sitting on the Park’s soft, green grass, looking up at the stars as they spoke.
The stars were shining beautifully; no longer pixelated. Everybody was lying down, their wings stretched behind their backs in comfort. “Wow, it.. Today was a big day, wasn’t it?” Brad nodded. “Yeah. Y’all two did good. Real good.”
Pouchy grinned. “You did too, Bullet! I never knew you knew how to use a space blaster!” Brad smiled with a tinge of smugness in his gruff expression. “Heh, there’s a lotta things ‘bout me ya’ don’t know, Pouch. ‘Nd there’s a lotta things I prolly don’t know ‘bout y’all. And Y’know, that’s fine. We ain’t gotta spill our guts all the time.” He chuckled lightly.
“Well, Bullet.. we talked about our parents a lot, but.. what were yours like?” Brad smiled, looking up at the stars as he closed his eyes. “They were great. My mom always liked the piano. My dad, well.. he’s where I got my fightin’ spirit from. Y’know, I.. I think ‘bout them a lot. I miss ‘em. But, Y’know what they say. When one door closes, another opens. I used t’think my life was over when they were gone. But now I’ve got y’all. And I couldn’t be more grateful.”
“We’ve all got eachother!” Pouchy said, grinning happily, looking up at the stars as they swiftly fell asleep.
“A Gifted Bee, eh? And two bonus Bees? Sitting out in the open? Well don’t mind if I do! What a fine pick.. What prime workers! I ought take them back to Harold’s place. He will love this!” A robotic voice said.
