"Wait. That's their base down there?" Nona asked with her eyes on the base. "We have to go all the way down there to get our friends back?"
"Sorry for you hearing this, but yes." Nat rubbed the back of her head.
"Oh no..." Jonas said with a hand on his head.
"I know. A big shocker, isn't it?"
"Uh, I hate to break it to you, Natalie, but you're not helping." Ren said.
"Oh, I know. And, just call me Nat please." Nat crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Hey. What's wrong with the name 'Natalie'. Why do you hate it?"
"I don't hate it. I just find it overrated."
"Can you two just shut up?" Jonas said getting Ren and Nat's attention. "You guys can talk about names later."
"He started it!" Nat pointed to Ren.
"I don't care! Just shush!" Jonas turned back to the Dark Ones' base. "So, how are we going to get in?"
"Isn't it obvious? We need a plan." Nona pointed out.
"Thanks for the memory, Nona. Now, does anyone have any ideas for how we are going to get in there?"
"I'll think about it." Thorax said.
"Blake?"
Blake had a finger on her chin, but she let out a sigh. "To be frank with you, I have nothing in mind."
"Anyone at all?" Jonas asked, but got no response from anyone. "So, none of you have a plan."
"Actually, I do have one idea." Nat said, pulling out a light blue squirt gun. "How about we just come out of the blue and break in and--boom! Mission accomplished!"
"I doubt that'll work." Ren said with a stoic expression.
Nat gave Ren a cold glare, but she rolled her eyes and walked off. "You guys are complete idiots."
"Speak for yourself." Ren mumbled.
"Just let it go." Nona replied, hearing Ren's mumbling.
Jonas took in a deep breath, then he and the others followed Nat. For Trico, he decided to stay behind in the forest so no one can find him. Blake called him a good boy for that. The way down to the base was steep, but it was easy for them to come down when they tried to watch their step. Thorax slipped in the process, but he was okay despite almost tipping Ren over. Finally, they have reached the ground and quietly walked up to the base. Over there, most of the base was empty, but the only people that remained there were a minority of changelings and a majority of a group of octopus people Nat calls Octolings. Right now, the group was hiding behind an empty dumpster. As Nat looked beside the dumpster, she found three changelings standing in front of the entrance of the base.
"What's going on over there?" Nona wanted to know.
"Three changelings are at the entrance." Nat answered. "We need to get them out of the way."
"Even if we could, how are we going to get in there?" Jonas asked, then turned to Thorax. "Thorax. Do changelings even have a weakness?"
"Well, when I first met Ruby and Yang, they once took a picture with me." Thorax explained. "The flash from the camera did hurt my eyes a little, so I couldn't see for a week."
"Flash. That's it!" Nona got up and ran from the dumpster.
"Nona, wait!" Blake said, but Nona didn't listen.
Meanwhile, the changelings just stood there until they turned to find Nona standing in front of them. Everything was silent until she pulled out her phone.
After Nona readied the camera on her phone, she said, "Cheese!" Then snapped a picture of them.
The flash from her phone caused the changelings to fall over and cover their eyes while they screamed with pain. The others came out from behind the dumpster and rejoined Nona, looking at what she did.
"Good job." Thorax said.
"Thanks." Nona replied, then grabbed a ring holding four keys from one of the changelings' belt. "I'll be taking these."
As Nat looked down at one of the changelings, she kicked one of them on the head. Then, the group ran into the base. The group had to stay quiet since there will be changelings or Octolings roaming the hallways. While the group wandered the hallways, they found two changelings walking down the hallway they were in. However, Jonas pulled out one of his bombs and rolled it the the changelings. When the changelings saw the bomb, they just stared at it until the bomb released purple gas that put both of them to sleep. Finally, they run down the hallway.
"You know what, guys? I am really glad I met you three." Nat said while running.
"We know." The humans replied.
"So, how long until we get to the center?" Jonas asked.
"Not sure." Thorax replied. "But as long as we get there, we can get our friends back."
"Good enough." Ren said.
As the group continuously ran, they stopped to find one of the Octolings walk out from a room and sigh after closing the door behind her. The Octoling turned to find them, them she reached for her handheld transmitter.
"Code red! Code red!" The Octoling shouted into her transmitter. "We have-"
The Octoling was cut off when Nat whacked the transmitter out of her grasp. The Octoling was going to get back, but Blake chopped it with her sword. So, she pulled out a squirt gun, which Thorax snatched from her and shot purple ink at the Octoling's goggles. The group watched as the Octoling removed her goggles from her face. That was when Jonas threw a bomb at her that froze her to a wall. Then, the group pointed their weapons at her.
"Start talking, you octo-jerk!" Nat shouted. "You know who we are. Do you know why we are here?"
"Yes, I know who you all are, and I don't even want to know why you are here." The Octoling replied.
"Too bad, because you are about to learn."
"Listen. I will ask this only once." Jonas pulled out his phone, which was showing a picture of Alex and Clarissa. "We know that these two are here. Where are they?!"
The Octoling scoffed. "Like I'll tell a weak loser like you their location."
With a threatening glare, Jonas placed the front of his weapon on the Octoling's head, giving her wide eyes. "I want you to shut your trap and listen up. Your allies brought these girls here, and we're here to get them back. Now that you're here, I'm giving you a choice. Either you tell us their location or get yourself stunned."
"Okay! Okay! I'll tell you! Just put your blaster away, and I'll tell you everything."
Hearing the Octoling's plea, Jonas puts his blaster away. "Talk."
The Octoling took a deep breath. "When we capture someone, we put them in the center of our base. Those girls are in there, probably searching for a way out or are waiting for someone to break them out."
"Cell number?" Thorax pulled out a notepad and pen.
"Um...231 on the 200's floor."
"Okay. Got it."
"Thank you." Blake said, putting her sword away. "You are free for now."
After leaving the Octoling, they have found an elevator that can possibly lead them to the Dark Ones' prison. They decided to take it down to the 200's floor, which they have arrived already. Over there, all of the cells were silent, and Ren thought that all of the prisoners were sleeping. As they walked down every cell, the group suddenly heard singing from far away.
"Looks like not everyone here is asleep." Ren said. "But, where is that voice coming from?"
Nat placed a hand behind her ear. "Maybe if we just run up to it, we'll find the source."
"Well, you've been helpful all night." Nona said.
"Thank you."
"That voice, I think I know who it is, but I'm blanking on his name." Blake said.
"Well, we won't know unless we check." Jonas replied.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Thorax agreed.
So, the group started running down the cells until they stopped to find the cell they were looking for, Cell Number 231. The group heard the singing from inside the cell.
"So, how are we going to do this?" Jonas asked. "Key or bombs?"
"I say bombs." Nat replied. "Why? Because keys are overrated."
"Do you honestly think that everyday objects are overrated?" Ren questioned.
"Yes. Yes, I do."
"Okay. Bombs it is." Jonas pulled out a green bomb, which he stuck on the door and pressed the button until it started blinking. "Take cover!"
He and the others ran to avoid the bomb that was about to explode. Suddenly, the bomb exploded, sending the door flying into the cell. The group turned to find a cloud of smoke at the cell's entrance.
"That was awesome." Nona said with awe.
"I couldn't agree more." Nat replied.
Jonas let out a tired sigh. "All in the day's work."
"What the heck just happened?!" A familiar voice yelled with shock.
The group turned to find the cloud of smoke clear up. They all got up to find Alex and Clarissa step out of the cell with a man with black hair and a beard. Blake, Nat and Thorax's eyes widen when they saw the man.
"Ivor?" Blake, Nat and Thorax said, getting the man's attention.
"It can't be." The man known as Ivor walked up to them. "I'm delirious. Is it actually you three?"
"You don't look like you're hallucinating, so yeah." Nat said. "It's all real."
"It's true! It's all true!" Ivor started jumping. "None of you haven't changed at all! Except you, Thorax. You change all the time."
Thorax gave Ivor a glare after hearing his words.
Meanwhile, the humans decided to ignore them, then turned to Alex and Clarissa. Both of them had wide eyes on their faces. They looked shocked from the explosion that broke them out of their cell. But Alex just shook her head and walked up to them.
"Guys, what are you-" Alex was cut off when Jonas ran up to her and pulled her into a hug. She was stiff at first, but she melted into the hug.
"What are you guys doing here?" Clarissa asked Ren and Nona.
"Let's just say that it all Thorax's idea to come here and break you guys out of this place." Ren explained.
"And who's the creep?" Nona asked quietly.
"You mean Ivor? He's the guy who healed Alex's hand." Clarissa answered. "Also, she told him everything."
"As in everything?" Ren asked with a raised eyebrow. "Like, the whole story everything?"
"Yes."
"He also said that he was part of Delta." Alex said after breaking free from Jonas' hug. "Now, I know exactly what he's talking about now that you guys are here."
"So, what happened while we were gone?" Clarissa asked.
The others' eyes widen after hearing Clarissa's question.
"Yeah. You don't want to know." Thorax said.
"And what if I do?" Clarissa raised an eyebrow.
"You still won't want to know."
"And what if you told me already?"
"You'd wish you didn't want to know-" Thorax was cut off when Nat said...
"While you guys were away, Blake, Ren and Nona carried Jonas, Frisk and Saoirse to Delta Number 6, and they were in full recovery afterwards, then Lloyd blamed Blake for your disappearance and the two went into a really violent fight that Jonas stopped, and a while later, Thorax came up with a plan, and the group went to Macha to find out the Dark Ones' plans and after that, they went back to the base and told everyone about their plans and they decided to defend the whole island again while we flew here to get you guys back so you can help us."
The whole group went silent after hearing what Nat said.
"What's with all the awkward silence?" Ivor said. "Let's just get out of here so we can save this whole island!"
"Ivor, relax." Alex said. "It's not like anyone's going to see us."
The group suddenly heard a gasp, then turned to find one of the changelings standing in front of them. The changeling trembled while her eyes were on Blake. The changeling just stared at them, then she ran off with a loud scream.
"Congratulations, Alexandra. You jinxed it." Nat said with a glare on Alex.
"Uh...I'm sorry?" Alex said with a nervous grin.
Suddenly, the group heard the alarms blaring above them. They all looked up to find a red siren blinking to the rhythm of the alarm.
"Well, looks like we're dead." Jonas said. "We're all dead. It appears that you were right, Clarissa."
"Hey! I was only being overdramatic!" Clarissa replied.
"Can't we just make a run for it and forget about this?!" Nat shouted.
"I got a better idea." Ren turned to Alex. "Alex, you have a teleportation device. Get us out of here!"
"Ren, I would. But I think you mean that I 'had' a teleportation device." Alex scratched the back of her head.
"What do you mean you-"
"Let's just say that the little girl who took over Clarissa destroyed mine and Jonas' with just one slash of a knife."
"So, that's it?" Nat said. "We're dead."
"Yeah..."
"Oh, you-"
"Enough! I have one!" Ivor pulled out a small silver and blue orb from his coat pocket and tossed it to Alex. "Teleport us out of this prison! Now!"
"Okay! Okay!" Alex pressed the button on the teleportation device.
Afterwards, the group appeared outside of the base as they looked around. Everyone let out a breath of relief, then Alex and Clarissa were given their weapons back while Nona gave Clarissa the locket Weiss gave her. Of course, she helped her get it around her neck. Suddenly, the group heard the sound of screams from far away. The group turned to find an army of changelings and Octolings running up to them with weapons.
"Where's Trico when you need him?" Nona said to herself.
The group suddenly heard a roar from far away, causing the army to stop running. They all looked up to find a shape flying in the air. That when they realized that it was Trico once he reached the ground. The group watched as Trico roared at them, then the army started running up to him. As they did, Trico started giving them whacks from his tail and smashes from his arms. Then, he blew the rest away with a mighty roar. After defending the group from the army, he turned back to them. The group suddenly turned to the woods when they heard the sound of a revving engine, only finding someone on a yellow motorcycle jump out of the forest and land in front of them. When they saw the person take off her helmet, the group's eyes widen. It was Yang.
"Yang? It that actually you?" A wide smile appeared on Ivor's face.
"Oh! Hey, Ivor!" Yang said, getting off from her bike.
"How did you find us?" Thorax wanted to know.
"Some guy named Doggo told us where you were."
"Us?" Nat raised an eyebrow.
When the group heard wings beating, they all turned to find three others land on the ground while on other creatures' backs. One was a gold dragon that Lloyd was on. One of them was a woman with tan skin and brown hair in a purple bodysuit under a pink shirt on a pink lion. The last one was only Fluttershy on Kuro. The humans just stared at the woman on the lion, not until Yang explained that she was Stevonnie, a fusion of Steven and Connie. The humans understood ever since. As Lloyd got off his dragon, he walked up to Blake, who pointed her sword at him with a glare.
"And what are you doing here?" Blake questioned at Lloyd's presence.
"Look. I know you are still devastated because of what happened and what I said." Lloyd held one of his arms. "I only came here to apologize."
The look on Blake's face softened.
"After that fight, Weiss scolded me for it and I knew I did something I wasn't supposed to. I feel like I disappointed everyone. Ruby, Yang, Frisk, Petra, Nya, you, everyone at Delta. I couldn't believe that I was being so stupid."
"Yeah. You were stupid." Nat said, getting a slap in the back of the head from Nona.
"When you guys got information about the Dark Ones, I thought I had to stay behind so I wouldn't have to hurt anyone else. However, Sans understood how I felt and convinced me to come with these guys to find you. And what I said about you before we fought, I take it all back. That's why I'm here. I'm sorry, Blake Belladonna. So, what do you say? Call it a truce?"
Blake just stood still for a moment, but she put her sword back in her sheath and put on a small grin. "Truce."
"Okay. Does anyone else have something to say before we go to Strange City to help the others with saving the innocent?" Jonas asked.
That only gave Alex a determined grin. "Let's go kiss the Dark Ones goodbye."