"So, what's our goal?" asked Chione.

Harsemhin pointed to the ape throwing the barrels. "I would suppose we must reach that creature throwing the barrels and stop him."

Everyone agreed with this, and began climbing up the sporadically placed ladders to reach the top of the construction. Penetella had a difficult time due to his not having one of his hands. Kapeka had little trouble at all; she just flew. Seeing as how she probably needed to stick with the others, though, she waited as patiently as she could and made sure to point out falling barrels from above.

Just then, Matt noticed the first barrel they had seen fall into a vat of kerosene somewhere near the ground. As was to be expected, a sizable fireball leaped out of the barrel. But Matt didn't expect the fireball to start roving around the ground and coming up the ladder as if it had a life-force of its own. Strangely, it didn't burn the ladder.

"AAAH! Crap! Hurry up, you guys!" he shouted. The group did their best to speed up their ascent, but the barrels were still coming. They had to make difficult jumps over the barrels, and sometimes they would begin heading up a ladder only to notice that the barrel was about to fall on top of them, leading them to scurry back down.

They were almost three-quarters of the way up when two barrels came rolling dangerously close to each other. On this beam, there were only two ladders, one leading down on one side and the other leading up on the other side.

"We can't jump it!" fretted Siris.

Kapeka threw a fireball, but it helplessly broke against the barrel's side.

"I don't think attacking it will work," observed Rustopher.

"Safest to retreat," suggested Talus. He headed back the way they came, but a fireball was climbing the ladder. "Ack!"

"Oh no, we're trapped!" complained Chione.

Suddenly, something caught Kapeka's eye. She shot over to Matt. "Matt, listen!" she said shrilly. "Take that hammer!"

"Why? What good will that do?" responded a perplexed Matt.

"I have a hunch. Just DO IT!"

Matt sighed and walked over to it. The hammer was attached to a hook on one of the vertical beams. He picked it up, and was seized by a kind of panic. His eyes dilated rapidly and he began to swing the hammer as if trying to crush something. The beam everyone was standing on shook.

"Whoa, Matt, be careful!" cautioned Siris. Matt rushed over to the barrels, nearly causing Rustopher to lose his balance. He was beginning to change into a werewolf during his frenzy. CLONG! CLONG! CLONG! CLONG! CRACK! CRACK! The two barrels were splintered into pieces.

"Aahhh!" "Oh my...." came the cries of Chione and Harsemhin as the fireball drifted towards them. Matt took notice of this and rushed over, accidentally pushing Talus and Penetella off of the beam. They both grabbed the side, however, and decided to hang on until Matt was back in his right mind. WHANG! WHANG! With a couple of fast strikes, the flame was smothered into nothing. A couple of moments later, the hammer slipped out of Matt's hands. He stopped thrashing, and morphed back into a human. His eyes went back to their normal state.

"Whoa..." he said, teetering slightly. Rustopher and Siris helped the two hanging on the edge up. Harsemhin helped Matt to stand properly.

Kapeka darted ahead now that the danger had passed. Everyone, once recovered from their ordeal, joined her and managed to scale up the beams to the ape. They climbed up onto a small platform close to it. The world blacked out!

"Huh?!" said Matt with a start.

"Congratulations!" cried a voice. Harsemhin, Siris, and Matt looked up in surprise... that voice sounded familiar. "You've completed the first game!"

"Who are you?" yelled Talus into the darkness.

"I'm the announcer!" the voice responded. "And now... GET READY"

A checkerboard-like surface appeared under the group's feet, composed of two different kinds of grass. Then all heck broke loose. The whole group lost control of their feet and began running at high speed towards the horizon over the flat plain.

"AAAAAAAHH!" "What's going on?!" "I can't control myself!"

"This must be th' rule for this game, we gotta run," suggested Penetella. Not looking where he was going, he tripped over a bush. "Oof!" He didn't get any rest, though; as soon as he got back up his feet were off again.

"What's the challenge?" asked Chione. "We have to stay conscious long enough to reach the end?"

"No, I think THAT'S the challenge," responded Kapeka, pointing to the large number of bizarre tentacled plants bouncing towards them.

"How do we dodge them?" worried Siris.

Harsemhin, still running, pulled out an arrow and took aim. SHWIK! It whistled through the air and destroyed the creature with a small explosion. "We should just pick them off before they reach us."

Everyone set to work doing so. Weird rock formations floated in the sky, presenting obstacles. Siris fired off quick, weak spells to pick them off. Kapeka, flying like a bullet, shot off fireballs to clear the sky. A group of white, winged ships swarmed towards the gamers in a line. Penetella undid the safety and gunned them all down with a machinegun blast. A crop of strange pillars appeared before the group. Siris fired Crag Press at one, but nothing happened. His eyes widened, and he sidestepped before he ran into it. From this, everyone learned to just avoid the pillars. While they were dodging these, a large robot with a cannon came down and fired shots at the gamers. Harsemhin grumbled, having to dodge both pillars and the blasts of energy. He couldn't get a clear shot in. The robot glided over to Talus, which proved to be a mistake, as Talus sliced it in two with his newly gained sickle. "Man, this thing is good," he mused with a smile.

The pillars cleared, and all ahead of them was open space. Rustopher grinned, baring his abominable teeth. "Ah, good. We're done. I was getting tired of that miserable running for so long."

Chione wasn't ready to relax, though. "We haven't stopped running yet. I think something bad is going to happen."

And indeed something did. A dragon with a long body appeared before them, coiling and uncoiling. It belched fire at them, causing the group to scatter apart again.

Siris, seeing how Talus used his sickle, tried to lift his sword. "Argh... this thing is heavy." He swung it at the dragon, missing at first, but finally connecting with the flat of the blade. The dragon writhed in pain, and hissed at Siris. It flew forward to ram him, but the sorcerer dodged. Kapeka sent out a thick wave of fire, adding to the dragon's damage. Harsemhin also pulled out a boomerang and threw it at the dragon's head. The dragon, which had started out a green color, had by now shifted into a purple hue.

"Let me finish it off," suggested Chione. She hoisted up the crossbow she held and took aim. The dragon swerved at her, but she fired an arrow surrounded with energy while it was still yards away. The arrow connected, causing each of the dragon's segments to explode violently, starting with the head. The runners dodged the flying scales. Suddenly, everything went black again. The group stopped running against their will, causing most of them to trip and fall on their faces.

"Congratulation!" cried the voice.

"You forgot to add the s," pointed out Harsemhin as he lifted himself from the ground.

"No, I left it out on purpose," came the reply. Harsemhin groaned.

"Now to the next game!"

"Don't we get a break?" complained Rustopher as the next world came into view.

The group slowly walked forward in the next game world. It was poorly lit, though a distant torch lit the walls well enough to find that they were cold and made of stone. The halls were eerily quiet, with the exception of the group's footsteps.

"Where are we?" Matt asked, perplexed. As they progressed along the passage, they noticed the temperature slowly rising. "It's like some sort of castle dungeon."

Suddenly, Chione screamed. The path had ended in a pit.

Talus stared in bewilderment. "You're floating!" he said to Chione, who looked down to see her dress billowing out, just before she started falling. Luckily, Harsemhin reached out and grabbed her, pulling her back onto the ledge.

"Is that lava?" Rustopher asked in disbelief, peering down into the pit. Indeed, red lava was bubbling at the bottom. "This whole thing is ridiculous. I'm going back," he said haughtily, turning around, but stopping abruptly. A wall had appeared, preventing any of them from backtracking. "What!? That wasn't there before!"

A voice above them echoed in their minds. "Do you need encouragement? Very well, it will be done." Before any of them could figure out what that meant, Chione disappeared.

"Chione!" Siris and Talus shouted out at once. "Where'd she go?"

Kapeka flew ahead of them, landing on a platform below. "Come on, jump! She's probably at the end of this castle!"

"Easier said than done," Talus muttered, stepping forward. He got a running start, then jumped, landing roughly, next to Kapeka. After much encouragement, everyone made it safely to the other side of the pit, only to be greeted by another one. "Agh!" Penetella groaned, leaping across the next one.

At last, they reached the end of the long procession of lava-filled pits and swinging flames.

Harsemhin looked around. "Chione isn't here, and there isn't anywhere else to go. Now what?"

Matt looked down. "I think we have to go in that," he said, pointing to a large, green pipe in the floor. He sighed, then slipped into the pipe. The others did the same, until only one person was left.

"It never ends," Rustopher complained, examining the filthy state of the pipe. He reluctantly followed, sliding into the next area.

---

Now that the danger had passed, everybody on the Narcy III found themselves able to relax. After the thrill of the previous battles, everyone was looking forward to a few moments of peace. The group was hoping that the remainder of their nautical journey would be uneventful. The air was becoming significantly cooler, indicating that they were on the correct path to their destination.

Vincent's thoughts were swirling around his mind like leaves in a whirlpool. With their current position being on a ship, he couldn't help but let his mind drift back to the first ship he had seen, the one that he had found so disturbing. Oh... That's right, he finally realized, digging deeper into his memory. The image of the ship, the surroundings, the way the sunlight hit the water... It's all there, in the hieroglyphics. So, the prophecy was right, once again. He recalled the Scaraban wall, remembering the vivid drawing of the ship, the shadows cast upon the picture, dancing under the torchlight, and the way the image matched up perfectly with the reality that was in summers. Raltise, Fourmoon... It was all predetermined? Then, could the location of the path of light also be drawn upon that wall? Sifting through more memories, Vincent realized that past experiences when he had had strange feelings similar to déjà vu had also been inscribed in the hieroglyphics. It had all been accurate... What does that mean?

Vincent looked down into the water. Their ride had suddenly become turbulent. Jeff looked worried. "You don't think there's something in the water with us, do you?" he asked timidly.

Chartreuse looked down nonchalantly. "I don't think so," he murmured. Lucky raised an eyebrow; the ocean was becoming more violent. Several waves clawed at the ship's side, reaching higher with each attack. "At least, I hope not..."

In the meantime, Christina was assessing the damage done to the ship. The Narcy III had done rather well against Captain Morgan's ship but was crippled. At the moment, they were only moving at 5 knots. The rough seas weren't helping much. She turned around and shouted to Chartreuse. "Hey chartreuse, we're going to have to get that cannonball out of the main mast if we expect to use the sails on it. It doesn't look like it's going to hold for much longer."

"Yes, I know. But as I see it," Chartreuse looked up, "There's a storm coming." A rogue wave crashed over the forecastle causing the assorted barrels on the deck to go flying over the other side. "These waves aren't helping, either." Suddenly, a crack of thunder and many bright flashes of lightning erupted in the sky. Rain started falling; it stung when it hit the people on deck. "The cannonball is going to have to wait! Everybody get below!"

On Chartreuse's recommendation, everybody went below. The ship rocked violently; it was pitching 20 degrees to each side, only settling in its standard position for a few seconds at a time. The waves were crashing up on deck as the storm worsened. Vincent stood near the porthole, looking out. With every explosion of lightning, he could see that the seas were rather rough. When one particularly loud crack of thunder and lightning burst out from the heavens, he was looking out. He saw something out there.

"Uh... guys. I think we're in trouble. There's something out there!" Vincent stepped away from the window and stood near the far bulkhead.

Up on the main deck, water was still crashing over the side; the cannonball lodged in the mast was barely holding in its current position. A rogue wave about 40 feet high spilled over the ship; the cannonball was knocked loose. It crashed through the deck and passed right through the ship, eventually exiting it. Water spilled through the hole, eventually flooding the lower compartments. The ship started to sink.

Vincent walked over to the window once more and was shocked to see that the water was getting much closer. "Guys... we're sinking."

Chartreuse stepped forward and said the words that every captain wished to avoid in his naval career: "All hands, abandon ship." Each person within the group ran topside. Dan was carrying his last sandwich. He was trying his best not to lose it in the storm because, as we all know, losing a sandwich is definitely a tragedy.

Even though it was storming, the group knew that they had no choice but to jump over the side and paddle to the nearest shore in a small whaling boat. Chartreuse and Vincent prepared to lower the whaling boat lashed to the side of the ship. Christina was sitting in the boat holding the rope ladder so that her companions could get in safely. Chartreuse and Vincent started lowering her into the water. The boat eventually got there and was tossed around. Christina tried her best to hold on to the rope ladder knowing that it would save her friends.

Ness climbed down into the ship and Jeff followed closely behind him. Dan climbed down as well, followed by Kageru and Bruiser. Vincent climbed down next with Chartreuse going last. When he got into the boat, he grabbed the oars and started rowing away from the ship. The lightning illuminated the ship in a ghastly manner. It was in its final death throes. Within a minute, the ship went down.

"Well... that's that." The storm was as violent as ever yet Chartreuse kept his head squarely on his shoulders. "Perhaps we'll reach shore if we keep rowing tha-" A rogue wave caused the whaler to tip over sending the group into the water. Christina blacked out after a bit of trying to stay above the water.

When she came to, she discovered that she was in some tent surrounded by each of her groupmates. In the corner, Dan was moping even though he should be happy he's alive.

"Uhh... what happened?" Christine moved a bit but saw that her arm was bandaged up. Apparently, a piece of the whaler hit her arm and caused it to bleed.

Chartreuse got up and handed her a cup of tea. "Well, we were saved. Saved by a monster." He grinned. "Turns out that the monster that Vincent saw was Tessie. She saved us... for a fee." He looked over to Dan. "Did you know that Tessie loves sandwiches? Dan gave the beast his last sandwich in order to save us all."

"Yeah, you guys owe me BIG TIME." Dan got up and walked outside into the cold Winters air.

"Well, now that we're in Winters, perhaps we should go look for Narcy. I have a pretty good idea where she's at." With that, Chartreuse left the tent waiting for Christina to follow. She shrugged and got up slowly. After regaining her equilibrium, she followed Chartreuse. The group, reunited once again, set out for Dr. Andonuts' old lab and Stonehenge.

The group stepped outside into the air of Winters and was immediately hit by a cold blast of air. The cold weather froze them to the bone, partly because they had come to Winters wearing clothing made for the mild weather of Eagleland, and partly because these garments had been soaked by the waves.

Lucky ran back to the tent and grabbed whatever he could. There were a few blankets, which were snatched out of Lucky's hands as soon as he emerged from the tent.

Skulryk ran back and unpitched the tent in order to use it as something to keep the wind away. Dan frowned, partly because he couldn't believe Skulryk would take the tent, and party because it was a good idea that he should have thought of first.

The group ran down the path, almost wishing they had stayed in the tent. They came to a cave and entered it; it was along their path, but the group needed some place to hide from the cold.

"I know it's cold, but we can all get a decent change of clothes once we reach Narcy's place, I'm sure." Chartreuse said through chattering teeth once all the group had gotten inside the cave.

Jeff took little note of the cold, but floated behind the group with a downcast expression. Ness took note of this. "What's wrong, Jeff?" he asked. "We're so close to bringing you back! I figured you might be happy about this!"

Jeff sighed. "What about Paula and Poo! They're supposed to be with us! I don't even know what happened to Paula. She said she'd be back... but she's not. Now what will happen? Do you think she got captured?"

Ness suddenly realized this, and the cold began to feel much colder than before. His mind filled with scenarios of what might have happened to Paula. Ness knew Raltise was a madman, and had no idea what Raltise may have done with either Poo or Paula. He shuddered at this thought.

Chartreuse, leading at the front of the group, did not have his mind set on Paula and Poo. He was more concerned about getting to Narcy's laboratory, and getting to a much warmer place. As it was, he was freezing, and he was one of the fortunate people who had grabbed a blanket. He almost rejoiced upon seeing a bright light at the end of the cave.

"We're here." said Chartreuse as the group made it to the other end of the cave. They shrank back as a wind blasted into the mouth of the cave, reminding them how much colder it was outside. Chartreuse grimaced. "Don't worry, Narcy's lab isn't too far."

They stepped outside to see the large towering pillars of Stonehenge.

"I'll go down first, since this is my idea and I should be the one to take the fall if something goes wrong," Chartreuse said, approaching the hole with caution. Although the others were wary of Chartreuse getting hurt, none of them wanted to go down first themselves, so they all wordlessly agreed.

Fortunately, the group made it down the ladder without incident, only to find that the Stonehenge base had changed quite a lot since it had last been used. The freezing Winters weather had finally taken its toll, and the once glowing, active cave was now a tomb of beautiful, glittering ice.

Glacial prisms lined the walls and ceilings, leaving only a snaking path of magenta flooring along the floor to reveal the cave's previous purpose. Wayward beams of light from the mouth of the tunnel bounced through the entire length of the cavern, casting off shimmering rainbows of pinks, blues, and purples in every direction. Stalagmites of ice emerged from the floor every so often, patterned almost perfectly with the mirroring stalactites on the ceiling.

The group walked through the caves slowly, instantly forgetting the cold that had beset them as they gazed around the cavernous walkways.

"Jeff, did you know it was like this down here?" Dan asked slowly, staring at a sharp icicle sticking out from the wall. Jeff shook his head in wonder.

"No, I hadn't been down here for months since I died; Paula never liked the idea of me spelunking around down here, because she thought I might get hurt. Fat chance of that, considering my present state," He finished bitterly, adjusting his glasses. Dan decided not to further the conversation, and instead he continued to stare at the majestic ice formations along the walls.

The group reached the entrance to the core of the base sooner than they would have liked, and although no one would say it, they were all a little saddened by the fact that they had to leave the diamond-like walkway so soon. They progressed through the heart of the base much quicker, as the cold, factory atmosphere left much to be desired. In what seemed like no time at all, they finally reached a dead-end with a single, passcoded door.

"She must be in here," Skulryk mused, staring at the security device that rested next to the door's steel frame. It had a small directional pad, and about four or five letter-marked buttons. "Chartreuse, any ideas on what the password would be?"

Chartreuse stared at the coding device for a moment before a huge grin crept across his features.

"If Anna's in there, I have a pretty good idea." So saying, he pressed his hand to the keypad and pressed in five keys - Down, Y, Down, Down, and Y. A moment later, they heard a short click from the door, and without warning the door itself swung wide open.

"It's about time you guys got here!"

Standing in front of the door was a man with light brown hair, golden hazel eyes, and a marking on his forehead that matched directly with Chartreuse's. In his arms was a woman with long, crimson hair, and bright ruby eyes.

"Saffron, how did you know we were coming?" Chartreuse said as he stepped in through the doorway, giving his brother a quick hug on the way through. Saffron shrugged, but the woman he was holding answered the question before he could get to it.

"Are you kidding? This whole place is lined with cameras from every angle, and the command center is right here!" Anna pulled one of her arms out from her sides once she was finished speaking and greeted the group. She combed her hair back with her hand as she looked back on the rest of the group, standing in their wet clothes and shivering rapidly.

"Geez, you guys are soaked to the bone! Come on in, Narcy's got some heat running in here! Hey Dan, I remember you!" She said suddenly, turning her attentions to Dan. "How are things after all this time? Still playing the ol' video games?"

Dan stared around the room, barely listening. It was as though Narcy had been living in the Stonehenge base her entire life, as furniture was arranged tastefully around the room and a few pictures had even been put up on the walls. Some beds were set up in the corner, but the one of couches had also been pulled out to reveal a sleeping cot. Also, it had been a shock to see Saffron as a human, something that he had not been entirely prepared for.

Just then, Narcy and Indigo emerged from the adjoining room with some food and dry clothes. Narcy's periwinkle hair was pulled back in a French braid, and Indigo's blond locks were rested around her shoulders.

"You know, I thought there would be more of you that I would recognize," Indigo said, staring around at the room’s occupants, who were still frozen in the doorway. "Weren't there more of you before?"

"Yes ma'am," Jeff said, stepping forward. "There were more of us before, but the group split up in order to accomplish more."

Indigo stared softly at Jeff as he answered, remembering all too well what it was like to be in his position. Being a ghost was not a lifestyle to be relished, especially not for as long as her and her siblings had done it.

"Oh, who else was with you?"

"Talus, Chione, Siris-"

"Siris?" Anna said, grinning broadly. "Now there's a name I recognize!"

"Yeah, he was better than that guy who got Chartreuse and I swallowed by Belch that one time...whatever his name was," Saffron said, tapering off at the end. Suddenly, Anna made a mock expression of sadness as she leaned into Saffron slightly.

"Now Saffron, you know I love you more than any man on earth, but I'm upset that the most dashing in the world isn't here tonight...Oh Cyan, where for art thou?" She said, swooning slightly.

Saffron laughed along with Narcy, Chartreuse, and Indigo, as they all remembered their various run ins with Cyan. However, before they could start swapping stories, Kageru shot them a nasty glance.

"Please desist from besmirching the honor of Cyan," He said firmly, standing still. Anna raised an eyebrow at him.

"What are you, his son? And anyway, I think Cyan and I have done enough 'besmirching' between us to last a lifetime, so I think you're a bit late."

"Speaking of Cyan, where's the other half of the wonder twins?" Saffron asked suddenly, glancing around the group.

"You mean Anthadd? No, we never ran into him either." Chartreuse was about to say something else, but he was cut off by a loud yawn from Dan, who had been keeping himself busy by eating the food that Narcy had brought out. Narcy immediately took pity on the group, realizing that they probably hadn't slept in a long time.

"Why don't you guys hit the hay now, while I work out a few things with Jeff in the lab?" Narcy interjected, receiving several hearty nods in response. "You all can use our beds, and we'll find somewhere else to sleep around here. Don't worry, it's no problem. Jeff, once they're all down, you can come with me."

About a half hour later, everyone was all changed and in their various beds. After one quick glance around the room, Jeff hovered silently into the previously unentered adjacent room. Sure enough, Narcy was waiting for him, with a labcoat now thrown over her clothing.

"Jeff, before I bring you back, I'm going to need to ask you a few questions about your experience being a ghost, just to make sure that there are no abnormalities. Do you mind?"

"No, but I have something abnormal that I thought I might ask you. When Chartreuse and his siblings were all switched into different bodies on their last adventure, they left their ghost bodies. However, a bodyswitching spell was put on our group again this time, but Paula and I remained in the same bodies. What went wrong?"

Narcy furrowed her eyebrows slightly, thinking about what he had said. Finally, she seemed to settle on something.

"Jeff, do you mind if I give you a quick shot?" She asked, turning around to grab a needle from one of her drawers. Jeff shook his head, wondering what was wrong. When Narcy turned around again, she was pulling on a pair of white rubber gloves.

"I suppose this is as good an opportunity as any to explain the process that you've gone through, and will go through to be revived. You see, there's a dark liquid that surrounds the brain, which contains all of the essentials to who you are. Broken down simply, It's the closest thing to a core of conscious, human thought. However, it also holds certain elements of aging, which lead to the process of becoming a ghost, like you are.

"When a person dies, the dark fluid around the brain will sometimes save an image of your body the way it was before you came to the fatal harm, such as the way a computer saves a file. It stays in stasis after it stops, but there is a way to bring up the old image of your body, essentially returning you back to your original form. The only catch is that you stop aging once the dark fluid's body image has been brought up, since it's impossible to completely revive the aging process.

"However, something leads me to believe that there may be a difference in your body image state than that of a normal freezing occurrence, but I'm not sure what it is."

"How do you figure that happened?" Jeff asked as Narcy cleaned off the hypodermic needle.

"Well, after dealing with Chartreuse and the others for a few months, I've begun to formulate my own theory on that. You see, my opinion is that people only form into Stinky Ghosts after they die because they were actually not supposed to die at all, and that the step of becoming a ghost was predestined to allow them to reach the next part of their life once they are revived. Do you understand what I mean?"

Jeff nodded slowly, vaguely understanding. As Narcy was explaining this, she placed the needle against Jeff's head lightly.

"Now, I'm just going to draw some of the dark fluid from your body, but not enough to harm you. Don't worry, it won't hurt much."

Jeff gritted his teeth as Narcy's needle withdrew the necessary elements, but it was over much quicker than he had expected. Within moments, Narcy was leaning over a microscope with a sample of the liquid placed under the glass. It only took her a few seconds to see the problem.

"Jeff," She said, turning around, "I think I've figured out what went wrong. Apparently, your cells are continuing to age even in your ghost body, which means that, once you're revived, you will continue to age at a normal, human rate, unlike Chartreuse and his siblings, who have stopped aging completely."

Jeff's mouth opened wide as he tried to find a way to express how happy he was with scientific terms, but in the end the world of science just couldn't cut it.

"You mean I get to be normal again? This rocks!"

Narcy grinned widely, and then reached into her pocket. "Now, we come to the final part of this project; your revival." When Narcy withdrew her hand, a silver six shooter was inside it. Jeff looked at her in horror, but she grinned lightly at him.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. This gun has the power to shoot energy bursts, which harness mental energy to reactivate the dark body image."

"How does it work?" Jeff asked, bewildered. Narcy shook her head slightly.

"Honestly, I don't know. It has something to do with the diamond in the base, and I assume that the diamond breaks down light beams into simpler prisms to power the gun, but outside of that I have no idea. Now I'm going to leave you with the gun, switched onto the energy bursts, and all you have to do is shoot yourself with it."

"Why can't you do it?" He replied apprehensively, shaking slightly. Narcy smiled lightly.

"Because once you reform, you're not wearing any clothes, and I'm going to take the liberty of avoiding the uncomfortable situation. Also, when I was sure you were coming, I made a trip to your old lab and got a set of your clothes, which you'll find inside that cabinet. So with that piece of information, I'll leave you to your own devices." She finished, putting her handle on the knob of the door. With a quick nod, she walked out of the room. About two minutes later, the rim of the doorframe flashed with a brilliant light, and a loud crash could be heard.

The next morning, the group woke up completely refreshed. However, the biggest surprise was the greeting they got from their new, improved groupmate.

"Jeff, you look so...alive!" Dan said, patting Jeff on the back. Jeff straightened out his bowtie smartly, admiring his reflection in a nearby mirror.

"Yeah, but it's harder to get used to than I had thought."

Meanwhile, Narcy and Chartreuse were talking over at the side of the room, Chartreuse having said his good-byes to Anna and his siblings.

"So, I guess you'll be heading out now, huh?" Narcy said, her expression slightly sad.

Chartreuse nodded slowly. "Yeah, we'd better get a move on if we want to meet up with the other group before Raltise destroys everything. Besides, I don't even know where the other group is right now..."

"I'm sure you'll find them. Just remember to take good care of that gun, because you're going to need to be the one to revive Paula and Poo."

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of it."

A pregnant pause filled the air between the two people, neither one of them wanting to say goodbye so soon.

"Come on Chartreuse, we're heading out now!" Dan called out, standing impatiently in front of the door. Chartreuse was about to turn around when a lightbulb suddenly went off in his head.

"Narcy, how would you like to come along with us? I know it's asking a lot of you to leave so suddenly and all, but I thought that -"

"I would love to," Narcy said with a grin. Reaching her hand behind her without turning around, she grabbed a magenta pinstripe jacket and threw it on over her blue dress.

"Ok, Let's head out!" With that, the group left the Stonehenge lab, and made their way out into the base core once more.