Lo and behold, the base was lined with complex vehicles, weapons, and machinery that Mei was somehow able to make or afford. If Mei did make something usually only professionals can make, that says a lot about how much education has improved for these past years...or Mei just has a bunch of good tutors. Her parents are well off, and she is homeschooled.
"Mei, when did you make this?!" MK asked with his jaws agape.
"How did you make this?!" Pigsy asked in a similar fashion, with Tang scooting to Sandy in the background.
"Say Sandy, weren't you building a secret base for MK too?"
"Umm..." Sandy looked away. "No."
While everyone else looked around, you walked towards what you assumed to be your vehicle. You walked around it and ran your fingers on each and every gimmick installed, all the while Gibby tried pressing every button she could find. It's times like these when you're thankful she's intangible.
Hopping into the seat, you looked at all the levers and buttons that filled the control panel. This was definitely made for you, since this seat wouldn't fit Sandy. It probably used to, and Mei might've just swapped the seat for a smaller one, since Sandy's is also here somewhere.
After all, let's say Mei did make all this. She only met you yesterday. She couldn't have made it all in a day, right?
...
Right?
"Uhhh, didn't you said you couldn't drive?" MK asked from behind you. For how long he was there, you couldn't even bother guessing anymore.
"Well, I-I did." You stuttered, your eyes being ever so slightly tempted by the shiny control panel. "Buuuut..."
"Buuut, it comes with a manual!" Mei chimed in, handing you a little instruction booklet. Opening it, you saw blueprints and images of certain parts and mechanics. Great and all, if not for one problem...
"I...don't know Mandarin..." You squinted, looking at the amount of unfamiliar characters that filled the pages.
"Oh right..." Mei muttered, with MK butting in.
"You said you're from the Southeast, right?"
"Lucky..." Gibby murmured, grumpily crossing her arms while floating in front of you. "You guys have so much durian..."
'You like durian?'
"You know, I wouldn't mind tutoring you." Tang boastfully joined the conversation, before turning to Pigsy with a menacing aura. "All I ask is some free noodles."
Pigsy faced the scholar with an annoyed look, forcing a 'fine' through gritted teeth. "But only once a day!" He sharply added, glaring at the smug Tang. Sandy assured his old friend that he'd pay for it, while the rest continued to converse with each other.
All but you.
You looked at each and every person here, thinking about all that they did for you. As if the stuff you mentioned in the bathroom wasn't enough, turns out they bought you clothing, necessities, a whole damn vehicle, and Mandarin lessons. It just...felt too good to be true.
Do they...want something from you? Why won't they just tell you already? Why are they smothering you like this? Are they trying to love bomb you? Make you feel like you owe them? Can you even tell what's fake and what's sincere? You wouldn't know! And the worst part?!
It's driving you insane.
"W-Why are you guys doing all of this?"
Everyone faced you, cutting off the conversation as MK rose a confused brow.
"Doing what?"
"I-I mean..." You stuttered, trying to find the right words. "Why are you being...so nice to me?"
"That's an odd question." stated Tang. "Why shouldn't we help a possible orphan who washed up on a beach?"
"Because...the random orphan who's basically a stranger to you could be using your kindness?" You murmured under your breath.
"Sureee, but would that kind of person go their way to distract Red Baby from chasing MK?" Mei brought up, with Pigsy nodding in agreement.
"You haven't done anythin' to give us that impression, kid."
"But..." You looked down, rubbing the skin on your arm. "What if I do?"
"Then we'll talk it out over a nice cup of tea." Sandy reassured, only for you to get more and more confused.
"And...what if that doesn't work?"
"What makes you think it won't?"
"I-I..."
you fumbled in your words, trying to look for ways to answer MK without revealing too much.
"Maybe they won't be the family for you."
Instead, you turned to the source of the voice, and finding Gibby with a hopeful gleam in her eyes.
"But they can still be your friends."
Facing away from Gibby, you found MK holding out a hand from below.
"All we ask is to give us a chance. We're a team now, and no one gets left behind!"
Feeling uncomfortable enough with this pity party you just created, you gave in and sighed. "Fine." Holding MK's hand, you jumped off the vehicle before letting go and digging your hands inside your pockets. "You guys are gonna give me diabetes, you know that?"
"Speak for yourself!" Mei teased, pulling out one of your tamarind candy from her jacket. "Do you normally pack a lot of snacks?"
Before you could raise a finger, one of Sandy's therapy cats, Mo, raced towards your group while loudly meowing anxiously, as if trying to lead you somewhere. Following him led you all back on deck, where a certain bull prince broadcasted his message on screen.
"I have taken control of the Weather Station and will harness the very power of nature, to return my father to his former glory!" He boasted, while scanning the control panel in front of him. "This message is more of a courtesy, really."
Pushing a lever, live footages of different parts of the region show up, recording as several storms and floods engulf the areas. Everyone continued to watch, with Sandy, MK, and Mei with unreadable faces. Pigsy, not so much, more like on the verge of panic. And Tang? Well- he's in the opposite side of the spectrum.
"When I'm finished, my father will once more dominate the world!" Red Son continued to brag. "And then- Oh look! A lightning button."
"Oh yeah!" MK and Mei cheered in unison, causing Pigsy to snap at their direction.
"What do you mean 'Oh yeah'?!" He panicked, accidentally pushing the unfazed Tang's face into his new bowl of noodles. "This ain't an 'Oh yeah' moment!"
"Chill out, Pigsy! I'm invincible, remember?" MK carelessly assured, not even noticing the amount of bricks and missiles Mei was sending his way. "If he wants to tussle with the champ, then I say bring it!"
"Yeah! Cuz he's a superhero, yo!" Mei chimed in. "The Red Baby is gonna get MKO'd!"
"Ugh, you got a lot to learn, kid." Pigsy uttered as he sat beside Tang. "Don't just dive head first into danger- Wait-" He cut himself off at the sight of MK already shooting himself into the sky via staff. "WHAT DID I JUST SAY?!"
MK laughed with the same unhinged manner as before. "TOTALLY INVINCIBLE!"
"Kid, get back here- MEI, NOT YOU TOO!"
"SORRY MISTER PIGSY!" Mei shouted back in a not really sorry way, already turning her bike's engine on before speeding away. With only one child left, Pigsy faced you, daring you to run away, causing beads of sweat to form on your nose.
"W-why are you looking at me?"
In the end, Pigsy sighed. "Look kid, we're gonna go to keep the two out of trouble."
"Wait, we?"
"Yes, we, Tang." Pigsy bellowed, before facing you. "So we're gonna leave you here to look after the boat, now that it has a base, and those bull bozos might try to steal it."
You gave him a lazy thumbs up. "How am I gonna contact you guys, though?"
Pigsy walked to Tang, who was still wiping the soup from his face, only to grab his phone from his pocket and give it to you.
"Use this."
You reached to grab the phone, and shoved it in your pocket. "Bon voyage, you three."
"We won't take long, I promise." Sandy assured you, as if you were a preschool kid. You shrugged again.
"Take all the time you want." You lazily commented. "Storms and typhoons? Just another Tuesday, where I'm from."
"Hey, can I stay here too- Hey!"
Before Tang could finish his sentence, Pigsy pulled him by the ear, leading him down to the wooden deck, and to the food truck. You watch the three speed away to the Weather Station, leaving you to your devices.
For a moment, you decided to stay behind the rails, watching the people pass by and do their thing. People driving by, other seafarers attending to their duties, and a specific trio that caught your eye.
"Did you see the news a while ago?" The little girl with a pink headband spoke, watching the older teen nod.
"Yeah. I'm not really a superstitious guy, but it kinda reminded me of the Tidal Ghosts story."
"But I thought it was just an urban legend made to scare kids." The little girl pondered, only for the youngest of the bunch to speak up.
"I don't know. After yesterday, those nightmares I kept having stopped..."
Something was off about the child. Squinting your eyes, you noticed that they...
Looked exactly like the ghost child you saw....
Seeing the three walk farther away, you left them alone to their devices, before focusing back to your own devices. Yep, just you, alone, on the boat.
Wait, no you weren't.
Where's Gibby?
"What's taking him so long?" She murmured under her breath, all the while she waited, perched on the edge of the boat. "He should be here by now."
"Gibby, what are you doing?" You asked with slack arms. "And who's he?"
"Oh, hey Bell!" She waved rapidly. "And I wanna tell you, but I can't."
Not caring enough to push further, you walked to the rails where she was perched on. "Well, whoever 'he' is, why are you waiting for him?"
"So you can control your powers better? Why else, silly?" Gibby teased. "We don't want you going bonkers again, but we don't want you getting crushed like a bug either."
She then looked away with a somber look. "You will always be remembered, little ant friends."
"Okay, and waiting here helps with that, how?"
"Well, when it's someone's first time using their powers, they sometimes start with making up different ways to use it."
"I heard about one person who gave their attacks different symbols to activate them, Oh! And another person who made their own chants to use their powers better!" She babbled. "I think there's a term for it now, actually."
"...Placebo effect." You guessed. Correctly too, if Gibby's nods said anything.
"Well, how did you start with your powers?" You asked. Gibby opened her mouth, but instead spotted a peculiar looking butterfly.
"Uhh, Gibby-"
"Shhh, shh shh shh-"
She pushed her fingers against your lips. Before you could protest, she was already following the butterfly on all fours. Doing your best to catch up, you found yourselves inside cockpit.
"Behold!"
Gibby moved to the side, revealing a bamboo flute on the control panel, complete with the butterfly sitting on it.
"My flute!"
"Wowww..." You awkwardly hailed, not noticing the butterfly landing on your head. "It's...a flute."
"Not just any flute!" Gibby began to boast. "This is the flute I used to get a hang of my powers! I used to play different notes if I wanted to use them for specific stuff! I was thinking, maybe you can use it too, you know?"
"Used to? So they're like training wheels?" You raised a brow, getting a speedy nod in response.
"Well, that's great, but..." You picked the flute up. "I don't exactly know how to play this."
"Which is why I'm gonna teach you!" Gibby leaned her cheek against yours. "Don't worry, I already know a lot of cheats, so you don't have to practice for a heap of boring months."
Running your thumb on the wooden bamboo, you sighed in surrender. If it meant getting the shards faster, then who were you to argue?
"Aight, where do we begin?"
And so, you practiced.
And practiced...
And practiced...
You were getting better at playing the flute...
Not so much on the 'controlling powers' thing.
Looking from the distance to see the faraway lightning, you couldn't help but wonder what was taking the others so long. By now, Gibby was already fast asleep.
Not wanting to leave her in the rain, you lifted the surprisingly light monkey up, before moving her inside the cabin. You placed her on the sofa, where she could sleep with the cats, while you went ahead and made yourself a cup of coffee...Only to find nothing but tea.
Oh well. It's on you to assume Sandy had anything other than tea. You rummaged around the shelves and cabinets, looking for something that could grab your interest. Honey citron, peppermint, and jasmine matcha.
You shrugged. Jasmine matcha sounded interesting, and you were down for anything matcha-related. While heating up the water, you pulled out Tang's phone and turned on incognito mode. Once that's done, you began typing on the search bar.
'Tidal ghost story'
And sure enough, there were a good amount of results.
News reports, articles, forum threads...
Wow, you were popular. You and the many other passengers and crew aboard that ship. The sinking became a mystery, the likes of Malaysia Airlines flight 370. And yet...
No mention of any golden shards.
You went through a forum website dedicated to urban legends and scrolled through the numerous possibly inaccurate names and incomplete biographies of the others, including the ones you met from yesterday.
And then, there's you.
Not wanting to touch your past, you kept scrolling.
With the hot water ready, you made yourself a cup of jasmine matcha tea, and continued to scroll, looking for any kind of information that can help you. Eventually, the constant lack of results tested your patience more and more. You decided to give up once you finished your cup of tea, and went outside to check the weather. Dark, but...
No rain yet...
You pocketed Tang's phone, and picked up your tea and Gibby's flute, before making your way right just outside the cockpit. At least you'll know if you were actually making any progress with your powers if you can see the waters, all the while, having the cockpit readily available, should it rain.
So you held the flute close to your lips...
And played...
You played a melody only you and one other person knew. A lullaby to the child you never get to meet. A lullaby that you sing to yourself, every time you found yourself in your darker hours. Only when you sung that lullaby, you felt her embrace, her soothing whispers, that everything was going to be okay.
Whenever you heard that soft melody, it's like the world stood still. Like time froze itself. Like all your worries were floating away. It didn't always work, but...it was something. Even playing the melody made your eyelids heavier, and heavier. And yet, you kept playing. If it was already raining, then you were too focused on the melody to feel it. If it was flooding, you were too focused on playing to be swept away.
Thinking you played enough, you opened your eyes...
Only to flinch back at the unmoving waves and raindrops.
Bumping your head against the cockpit, golden sea creatures once again floated around, seemingly from the flute you were playing. As for the raindrops and waves? It was like they were frozen in time. Hesitantly, you slowly got closer to the wave, plunging your hand into the unmoving water.
Did you do this?
Stopping to think where a wave that big even came from in the first place, you snapped your attention to the view of the city. And just like that, Megapolis was flooded, at the mercy of nature's power. Not good.
Rushing back inside the cabin, your eyes were set on finding Gibby.
"Gibby!"
You shook the small monkey awake.
"Gibby, get up!"
"Five more minutes, Wuko..." Gibby mumbled in her sleep, only for you to lift her up and shake her even faster.
"Gibby, come on! The city's being flooded!" You urged. "I'm kinda still inexperienced here!"
"Okay, okay, fiiineeee, I'm up!" Gibby groaned. "Did the flute help?"
You nodded. That was all she had to know.
"Okay, then follow me!" She ran out, with you following from behind.
"Wait, where are you going?!"
She opened the elevator to the base. "What? I saw the look you gave your vehicle! Do you think we're gonna do hero stuff without it?!"
"Dangit, you caught me." You mumbled under your breath, before following the gibbon inside.
Wasting no time, you got inside the vehicle, looking at all the buttons on the control panel. Unbeknownst to you was a certain blue cat with a ginger mohawk, peaking from just under the panel.
"Crepes, how do I start this thing?!"
As it turned out, all it took was a blue paw pressing a button for the vehicle to work. It transformed itself into a speedboat, while the hatches below and behind it opened itself, letting you leave the base.
And with that, Mo launched yourselves into the air, before landing on the raging floods that occupied the roads.
After finding out that a cat can pilot a speedboat better than you, you grabbed the flute and played. You kept playing, any music you could play. It worked before, why isn't it working now?! The growing panic only made playing harder, as you all struggled against the strong winds, rain, and currents.
"ARGH! It worked a while ago, what gives?!" You growled, interrupting Gibby's howls of enjoyment. "Gibby, what other placebo effects do you know?!"
"Uhhh, uhhh, uhhh..." Gibby looked around, before setting her eyes on the wheel. "What if you just drive around?!"
"Drive around?!" You exclaimed. "How's that gonna work?!"
"I dunno, it's a gut feeling!" Gibby yelled back. "My gut feelings are usually right, just go with it!"
With no other options, you dropped the flute and rushed to Mo's side. "Alright nonexistent driving skills..."
You sat on the driver's seat and grabbed the wheel from said cat, who immediately put his seatbelt on.
"Don't fail me now."
Speeding through the flashfloods, nothing happened at first. All you were holding onto was a gut feeling, but it's not like you had any other choice. You didn't realize exactly what you were doing until Mo blurted out a surprised meow.
"What is it?!"
Looking through the rear view mirror, you found the floods and raindrops behind you, now frozen in time just like before. Every drop of water the speedboat passed, it seemingly froze. The citizens who were almost splashed or swept away, opened their eyes to see the water completely still.
"See, I told you my gut feelings are right!" Gibby boasted. Said boast would only fall under deaf ears as a missile exploded too near for comfort.
"Looks like we might've set matchstick off..." You breathed, looking at the source of the missile. The Weather Station.
"No need to tell me twice!" commented Gibby, seeing the amount of demon bull family owned vehicles following them. But instead of tensing up, you giggled menacingly.
"They made a huge mistake crossing the horrible driver."
More bull family speedboats blocked your way. But instead of turning around, you picked up speed, before crashing against them like bowling pins.
You cackled chaotically as you ran over more and more speedboats, destroying each and every one of them while even flinging some in the sky. One of them was flung into the Weather Station, where it crashed inside and almost landed on Red Son.
"I knew I was forgetting someone!"
Angered enough as is, he pushed several buttons, sending more missiles your way. Missiles that you would dodge, instead landing on the speedboats chasing you.
"WHO NEEDS GTA WHEN YOU HAVE THIS?!" You yelled in a deranged manner, driving in a way that puts drunk drivers to shame while Gibby continued to howl. That wouldn't last, when more missiles were sent your way, both from the station and from other speedboats.
"Uh-oh." You looked at the control panel, still having no understanding of it. Not that you had to, because the cat beside you began pressing a good amount of buttons, causing your speedboat to launch missiles of its own. Now it just got more interesting.
Nobody was there holding you back. Just a adrenaline-filled cackling child behind wheels, a trigger-happy feline who chose violence, and a bad influence of a gibbon.
After crossing every street on the list, all waters on the city were now completely still. But even then, you still crashed on every remaining bull family speed boat that was there, even making the waters move in a way only your speedboat can move around.
"Arrr, mateys! Look what I found!" Gibby peaked from the window, seeing Red Son and his minions holding on to a longer version of MK's staff. That explains the sudden lack of missiles. Lightning struck the staff, electrocuting the prince and his henchmen, falling back to the weather station at the shrink of the staff.
After some time, the flood washed itself back to sea, and the sky began to clear. Now, you could just leave it at that and wait for the others to come out.
Orrrr....
Using the remaining flood to carry your speedboat to the sky, you crashed into the weather station where the disheveled prince was, shattering the windows of one side of the station.
"So what'd I miss?"
"Bell..." Pigsy voiced with undertones of betrayal. "I thought you were different..."
"Your first mistake was trusting me with a vehicle." You smugly replied, giggling away the remaining adrenaline out of your system. Mei laughed, reeling you and MK beside her.
"Hehe, now you have three of us to deal with, Mister Pigsy!"