Two weeks passed by, and in that time, Buzz Buzz had learned to fly fairly well. The potted plant healed a little, but didn’t become fully rejuvenated. It was a start, though. It was just too bad they had to leave before they could improve the mixture any further.

Tori stood outside the old house she had called home for a short while, Buzz Buzz hovering beside her.

“Well, this is goodbye,” Tori said. “I’m gonna miss you, house.”

Tori waved to the house, who, of course, didn’t respond, then turned away and started walking. Buzz Buzz followed beside her, buzzing as he went. He very much lived up to his name now.

The house that Tori and Buzz Buzz had been staying in was on the outskirts of a town named Stormin. The town had been long since abandoned by most of its residents, but there were a few who couldn’t afford to flee or were too attached to the town. Strangely, the town’s shops were kept in stock, but if you entered the town, you might have been able to see why.

It was being controlled by Starmen.

Behind a house just on the edge of the town itself, Tori whispered to Buzz Buzz, “See, that’s why I came in as a Starman that one time. If they see me in my uniform, I’m dead.”

Buzz Buzz peered past the house from the perch of Tori’s shoulder. They weren’t in the town yet and already he could see a Starman patrolling the streets. He wondered how many more there were.

Tori held up her hands, and sparkles surrounded then as her image was slowly replaced with a Starman’s. Buzz Buzz had to admit, it was a very good illusion.

“Come on, let’s go,” Tori whispered to him.

Tori put her hands on her hips and walked into the city. The Starman that Buzz Buzz saw earlier gave Tori a firm nod, completely falling for her illusion. Tori returned the nod as she walked by.

Deeper in the town, more Starmen roamed the streets. All the buildings had been abandoned, and were in disarray. Broken windows, chipped walls… Some even had collapsed. Not a single human soul was seen.

A dark figure quickly ducking into an alleyway caught the edge of Buzz Buzz’s eye. The alley was nestled beside an old supermarket, which clearly had been abandoned.

He tapped Tori’s shoulder and whispered, “Tori.”

Tori looked down at him with a soft inquiring hum.

“I saw someone go into that alleyway, you think we should check it out?” he asked in a hushed tone.

“Are you kidding? If we do we’re gonna be late, and I do not want to be late,” Tori hissed back.

A voice that undoubtedly belonged to a Starman broke them away from their conversation. “Soldier!”

Tori looked over to see a Starman Super looking her way, and quickly faced him in the Starmen’s default position.

“One of those humans went down that alleyway,” the Starman Super told her, pointing at the exact alleyway Buzz Buzz had seconds earlier, “I want you to go investigate. And don’t slack about!”

With a salute, Tori responded, “Yes, sir!” She then quickly made her way to the alleyway.

Once she had reached the alleyway’s mouth, she whispered to Buzz Buzz, “I think I might have done the salute a bit wonky… You think he noticed?”

With a shake of his head, Buzz Buzz replied, “Not at all. If you ask me, you did it very well.”

Tori smiled a little, though it wasn’t noticeable behind her Starman illusion, and she continued walking down into the alleyway.

The alleyway quickly became dark, and it seemed to be a dead end. As Tori stepped on a manhole cover, a bump from underneath was heard.

Not thinking, Tori immediately asked, “Are you okay?”

A groan could faintly be heard from under the manhole cover, and then a reply: “Yup, I’m fine.” There was a pause before the voice spoke up again and questioned, “What’s the password?!”

“The password?” Tori echoed. “Uh… I don’t know anything about a password!”

“That’s not the password,” the voice grumbled.

“Is it cheese sandwich?” Buzz Buzz asked.

“Nope.”

“Cheese?” Tori suggested.

“Nope!”

“Sunflower seeds?” Buzz Buzz tried.

“What? Why would it be sunflower seeds, no.”

“Uh… Being friends?” Tori was really running out of ideas.

“What the hell? No.”

“Uhh…”

After a few moments, Tori shrugged and said, “I give up.”

“That’s exactly it, come on in!”

Tori and Buzz Buzz exchanged surprised glances as the manhole was moved to the side. A man with thinning brown hair and a dirty face greeted them, but only for .5 of a second before he started screaming.

Tori slapped a hand to her forehead as she said to herself, “Aw, crap, nonononono!”

Buzz Buzz darted off her shoulder and up to the screaming man, and told him, “No, it’s okay! She’s no-”

The man screamed louder, then yelled, “OH MY GOD IT’S A TALKING FLY.”

“Please, would you listen, this is VERY important-” Buzz Buzz was cut off by the man screaming again. As he did, Buzz Buzz added, “Also I’m not a fly.”

Tori flicked her hands, and with some sparkles, her Starman illusion faded away. This got the man to stop screaming, at least - now he was looking at her with bewilderment.

Tori sighed, then explained to the man, “I just made myself look like a Starman so I wouldn’t be killed on sight by the real Starmen. I’m not here to, like, kill you or steal all of your food or whatever it is the Starmen do around here.”

“And any Starmen nearby will probably be coming over soon… You made quite the racket,” Buzz Buzz added.

“Right, right,” the man muttered. “Follow me.”

The man climbed down a ladder, and Tori followed. Buzz Buzz darted in behind her, and the man slid the manhole cover back over.

The man bent over and picked up an old lamp, then felt for the switch and turned it on, lighting the area they were now in. Unsurprisingly, it was a sewer. The water was a sickly green, and it barely shifted. It was more like sludge than water with all the junk in it. The man was indifferent to the sight.

Now that they were with him, they could get a better look at his appearance. He wore a black, hooded cloak, which came down past his knees. Underneath he wore a green shirt and a pair of worn pants. He had bags under his eyes, as well, and he was quite thin and a fair bit taller than Tori.

Buzz Buzz and Tori followed the man to a better-lit room, where several other humans lounged about. There was a busted power generator on the back wall, and an old wooden table had been dragged in. Two men sat at it in wooden chairs while they played cards, and a three others sat on the worn-down couch. There were two children as well - one sat on the floor with a teddy bear and the other was asleep on a woman’s lap. The walls of the room had peeling white paint, and there was no carpet underfoot, just the cold concrete. Several sleeping bags were laid around somewhat carelessly, though it looked like someone had tried to rearrange them and make them at least a little orderly.

“I’m back,” the man nonchalantly announced to those gathered in the room, “and I’ve got a couple of guests with me.”

The man turned off the lamp and set it down on the table as he walked in, then sat on an old chair with a sigh of relief.

“Uh, Christoph?” the woman with the child sleeping on her lap asked, pointing at Tori, who still stood in the doorway, “You said we had guests plural. Where’s the other one?”

“He’s a bug o’ some kind. Just not a fly,” the man who had led them to the room, Christoph, replied.

“A… bug. Did you say,” one of the men playing cards, who had black hair, asked, raising an eyebrow at Christoph.

“Eyup.”

The man squinted at him skeptically for a moment before returning to playing cards.

Christoph glared at Tori and Buzz Buzz for a few moments as the room was silent before asking, “Are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna come in.”

Tori blinked, then said, “Oh, sorry. I was just looking around… these are really your quarters? And they’re this small?”

“It’s the only thing we’ve got,” Christoph told her, then said, “Now quit standing there like a possum in headlights.”

Tori shuffled inside of the reworked generator room, and Buzz Buzz buzzed in with her.

“You never told us their names,” a blond woman on the couch said to Christoph.

“Couldn’t be bothered asking,” Christoph grumbled.

“Oh! I’m Tori, and my friend’s name is Buzz Buzz. Nice to meet you!” Tori told the woman. Buzz Buzz waved to her, but he was unsure if she saw due to how small he was now.

“Right, I should probably introduce you to everyone else here.” Christoph pointed at the men at the table and said, “Black-haired one’s Vandall, brown-haired one’s Ethan. Vandall, Ethan, say hi.”

Vandall and Ethan looked up at Tori and Buzz Buzz and gave short waves before returning to their card game.

Christoph pointed at the adults on the couch and continued, “Left to right, Ken, Liz and Melanie.”

Ken, a short man with light brown hair, nodded at them, while Liz, the blond woman, waved. Melanie, the woman with the child sleeping on her lap, gave them a thumbs up.

“The kid on Melanie’s knee is Ralph,” Christoph added. He then pointed at the child with the teddy bear and said, “That’s-”

“Emmie!” the child with the teddy bear nearly shouted. Despite their loudness, they didn’t wake up Ralph.

“...Yeah,” Christoph simply replied.

“Can Buzz Buzz talk?” Emmie asked, looking up at Buzz Buzz and Tori.

“I can talk!” Buzz Buzz told them.

“Woaaaah! That’s so cool!” Emmie awed.

Christoph then told Tori and Buzz Buzz, “Taco said he went out for some more water, but it looks like he’s not back yet. You’ll know him when you see him; Taco’s weird.”

Tori and Buzz Buzz stood in a confused silence before Buzz Buzz asked, “...Taco? That’s an odd choice for a name.”

“Yeah, ‘parently he has to for some reason. He said it was either that or Kragle,” Christoph said.

Tori and Buzz Buzz exchanged equally confused glances. Whatever the heck “Kragle” was supposed to be or mean, neither of them knew.

“Anyway, uh, welcome,” Christoph said, spreading out his arms unceremoniously for a few moments.

Tori looked around the floor for a second before sitting herself down on it. Buzz Buzz sat on her shoulder a moment later.

“So… what’s up with you guys?” Tori asked. “I mean, what’s you current situation? Why are you down here?”

“Currently, we’re hiding from the Starmen,” Liz told her. “They’ve almost taken away everything we had in town and they’re gonna destroy our homes soon, we’re pretty sure. We’ve come together and made a little home of sorts down here, and every once in a while one of us will go up to get supplies. Usually Christoph.”

Liz paused, then a sigh escaped her lips. “We’re not sure how much longer we’re gonna last.”

Vandall looked up from his cards and added, “There is this one place that could sustain us for years, but it’d be pretty damn hard to get the people with it to let us use it…”

Buzz Buzz hummed inquisitively, then asked, “Where about?”

“Uhh, just north of here,” Vandall said, waving a hand in the vague direction of the aforementioned place.

“It’s in the Stormin Foods Research Labs,” Ethan told them. “They apparently have a machine that clones food. If we could use that, we wouldn’t have to worry too much about feeding ourselves.”

Buzz Buzz and Tori exchanged glances.

“Yeah?” Tori asked him.

“Yeah,” Buzz Buzz replied.

Tori and Buzz Buzz looked back up at the room, and Tori told them, “We’re gonna get you that food cloning thing.”

The adults expressed their shock with wide eyes and hanging mouths.

“You can’t possibly be serious!” Melanie said.

“I am very serious about this,” Tori said to her.

“But how?” Emmie asked.

Tori inhaled as she thought for a moment, then replied, “I’m not sure. But we’re gonna do it! Right Buzz Buzz?”

“Yeah!” Buzz Buzz cheered, punching a fist into the air.

“When?” Ken asked.

Tori stood and replied, “Now.”

Christoph got up from his chair and grabbed the lamp. “I’ll lead you back out, then.”

---

After Tori had climbed out of the sewer and Buzz Buzz followed, Christoph told them, “Once you’re out of the alleyway go right after the supermarket, then go straight ahead until you’re out of town. It shouldn’t be too hard to miss the place. Good luck.”

With that, the manhole cover slid over the manhole.

Sparkles appeared on Tori’s held up hands, and the form of a Starman appeared over her. She strode out of the alleyway with Buzz Buzz on her shoulder.

The Starman Super from before approached Tori and asked, “So what was down there, soldier?I heard some screaming.”

“Nothing, sir,” Tori told the Starman Super. “I just had to deal with a human - it wasn’t too hard to stop.”

The Starman Super looked impressed by Tori’s completely made-up feat, and told her, “Well done. Continue patrolling for any rogue humans.”

Once Tori was sure the Starman Super wasn’t near, she started speed walking past the supermarket. Just as Christoph said, she took a right once she passed it, then continued walking down the old road. Within ten minutes, she had reached the Stormin Food Research Lab.

“I thought food researchers looked into what was in the food, not how to clone it,” Buzz Buzz said.

“Eh, maybe these guys are just off the wire,” Tori replied.

With a flick of her hands, sparkles appeared around her and her Starman illusion disappeared. She went up to the door and tried to open it, only to find it was locked.

“Damn,” she hissed.

“Looks like we’ll have to find another way in,” Buzz Buzz said. “Climbing through a window is the first that comes to mind.”

As Tori started walking down the right side of the laboratory, she said to Buzz Buzz, “You don’t even need to climb! You can just fly in!”

“I…” Buzz Buzz thought for a moment before finishing, “mostly meant that as an option for you. Also I’m still not quite used to the whole being a bug thing.”

Funnily enough, there was an open window right near the end of the lab. Unfortunately, there was nothing to help Tori climb up there.

As Tori rubbed her temples, Buzz Buzz buzzed off her shoulder and darted inside. The room the window was in was rather empty, and appeared to be a storage room of sorts. There appeared to be many crates in the room, as well as several red buttons lining the wall the window was on. Buzz Buzz frowned at the buttons on the wall for a second, before hesitantly pressing one. Nothing happened. He pressed another, and something shifted in the distance. The third one he pressed made something shift, but much closer.

A yell from Tori came from the other side of the wall: “I dunno what you did but it made these huge stairs up to the window!”

How convenient.

Tori climbed up the stairs then squeezed herself through the window. She landed on the floor back-first with a thud, causing Buzz Buzz to grow concerned as he watched, sharply inhaling.

“Are you okay?” he asked, buzzing over to Tori.

Tori pushed herself up and made a strange noise of mild distress, then turned her head to Buzz Buzz and said, “I’ll be fine. Nothing I can’t handle.”

Tori flicked her hands, and sparkles surrounded her as her Starman illusion faded away. He gingerly stood herself up, then said, “Right. Let's go find this food cloning thing.”

The halls were better lit, showing Tori and Buzz Buzz the metallic floors and chrome white walls. It was impossible to tell where to go, so they wandered the halls for a bit, hoping to find anything that looked like a food cloning machine. The halls were completely empty, and Buzz Buzz was starting to wonder if anyone was actually inside, apart from them.

They had been wandering around the lab for at least ten minutes when they found a strangely dressed person in a room they had poked their heads into. The person wore a deep red trench coat and a black fedora, clearly not a scientific uniform of any kind. They were looking at something in front of them, which appeared to be on a table of sorts, though it was impossible to tell what it was.

“Hm? Is someone there?” the person asked not too long after Tori and Buzz Buzz had peeked inside.

The person turned around to reveal their face, which was covered by a pair of tacky, pastel pink-framed sunglasses that didn’t fit with the rest of their outfit at all. Their long, pointy nose curved downward, and almost reached over their top lip.

“So you must be the duo who visited our base in town!” the person remarked.

“Uh- How did you…” Tori trailed off, unable to finish her own sentence, she was so puzzled.

“Ah! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Taco,” the person, Taco said, bowing a little. “I’m sure Christoph told you about me - in fact, I know so.”

Tori raised an eyebrow. “I still don’t know how you-”

“Premonition, darling!” Taco told her. “Now, what are your names?”

“Uh, well, I’m Tori, and my friend is Buzz Buzz,” Tori told Taco. Buzz Buzz waved, but again, he was unsure if who he was waving at could even tell he was waving.

“I see! Aren’t you two just charming?”

Tori glanced to the side awkwardly, and Buzz Buzz rubbed the back of his head.

Taco cleared his throat, showing a lavender gloved hand for a moment, then told them, “Now to business. I originally came out to get some water, but I sensed something strange about this lab, so I broke in. The lab seems to be completely empty, and I’ve managed to get some good intel. You want to hear it?”

Tori opened her mouth to speak, only to be stopped by Taco raising a hand.

“Don’t answer, I already know you want to.”

Tori closed her mouth and let Taco share what he knew.

“The FCT is complete and fully functional with no major glitches - however, it’s under heavy security. All the staff have left the premise for not properly stated reasons - they may return sometime, so we need to be careful,” Taco explained.

Tori nodded, and there was a moment before Buzz Buzz asked, “What does FCT stand for?”

“Food Cloning Thing,” Taco replied.

Tori and Buzz Buzz were silent for a moment before they glanced at each other. Tori mumbled to him, “I was right this whole time.”

Taco strode toward the door as he said, “Well, we haven’t a moment to waste! Come along, dears!”

Taco exited the room, and after a brief moment of wide eyed watching, Buzz Buzz and Tori followed.

Taco was even taller than Christoph - he towered over Tori. He must have been wearing boots, too, because with every step he took, a tap accompanied it. It wasn’t too far to the room where the FCT was stored. The clunky-looking machine sat smack-dab in the middle of its room on a pedestal, just waiting to be used.

As Tori, Buzz Buzz and Taco peered past the door, Taco told them, “Now, it looks easy to get the FCT, but looks can be deceiving. There’s definitely some kind of trick here.”

Taco pulled a gun out from the inside of his trench coat, and pulled the trigger. Instead of a bullet, a scanner came out, and it checked out the entire room. A message popped up on a tiny screen at the top of the gun’s handle, and Taco frowned.

“Not even lasers? Odd…”

“Maybe they have better security measures than that,” Tori suggested, a look of fear on her face. “I can certainly think of something better.”

“Hmm, you may be right, darling,” Taco mused, placing a hand to his chin. He then exclaimed whole shrugging, “Well, there’s only one way to find out!”

He strutted into the room, his hands reaching into unseen pockets. He pulled a pistol out of one and held it up. Taco stopped a few steps away from the FCT, and that was when Tori decided to jog up to his side, Buzz Buzz following.

Taco sniffed, then challenged, “I know someone’s there! Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

And come out is certainly what they did. From the shadow of the FCT’s pedestal, a humanoid figure emerged. The form gained detail as it grew, revealing itself to be at least part human.

Taco’s eyes narrowed. “Ah, there you are. Make this quick, please.”

The figure spoke, their voice wobbling like a iron sheet being flapped about. “You dare take the Food Cloning Thing…? Why, I’ll smack your guts out. And they’ll go to hell.”

“Eugh,” Taco remarked, his features scrunching at the mental image.

“I will make this as quick as you desire!” the figure exclaimed, stretching itself up over the FCT.

Taco stepped out of the way, almost making Tori stumble over. The figure growled, then swiped at Taco, who just stuck his leg up, then Taco shot at the figure. The bullet passed right through them, and they were completely unharmed. This caught Taco off guard, and the figure swiped at his face. The pain was enough to send Taco reeling, and he hissed in pain as he held a hand to his cheek.

Buzz Buzz did one of the only things he could, make a shield to protect all of his allies and himself, and watch Tori make her move.

Sparks danced at Tori’s fingertips, which soon became flames. She pointed at the figure, and flames shot at them, engulfing them in the fire of PK Fire. The figure screamed and tried to swat the flames burning them away.

“Incredible,” Taco breathed. “So it looks like it can only be hurt with PSI…” Taco lowered his hand from his cheek and muttered to himself, “Well, I didn’t want to use this, but if I must.”

Taco put away his pistol, then held his hands together, facing out at the figure, and a blob of energy built up in front of his palms. The energy transformed into a beam which shot straight at the figure, who screamed in pain.

Buzz Buzz turned toward Taco and exclaimed, “You know PK Beam?”

“Only the Alpha level, dear,” Taco explained, “but it’s enough for me. I prefer physical weaponry myself.”

The figure stretched up and landed on Tori, pushing her to the ground and harming her. Tori retaliated with more PK Fire, uppercutting them. The figure landed on their back as they writhed in pain. Different kinds of sparks danced at Tori’s fingertips, and a single bolt of PK Thunder came down from almost nowhere - miraculously, it hit the figure like Tori intended. Taco fired another PK Beam at the figure, who screamed, then melted back into the shadows.

“Well that takes care of that,” Taco muttered. He strode up to the FCT, and as his hands grasped the outside, he said, “Now, let’s get this thing back to our ba-”

A new voice cut in. “Uh uh uh!”

A short man wearing a white lab coat walked up to the FCT’s pedestal, glaring up at Taco.

“Just what do you think you’re doing, weirdo? And how did you get past our security?” he asked Taco.

“I’m taking something that will be of use - because unlike you, I’ll actually use it.”

“Also we kicked this weird shadow guy’s ass - was that the security?” Tori chipped in.

The man turned his head to Tori and told her, “Yes, the “weird shadow guy” was the security.” He then returned his attention to Taco and lectured him, “The FCT is not to just be used willy-nilly! It must only be used in times of crisis!”

“Are you kidding?!” Tori exclaimed. “When was the last time you went outside, 199X? This is a time of crisis, numbskull!”

“If Taco doesn’t bring the FCT to his base, everyone there will go hungry!” Buzz Buzz added with a frown. “Can you not find it in yourself to give up this one thing for the sake of many other lives?”

The short man was silent for a moment, biting his lip, before asking, “Are you a talking bug.”

Buzz Buzz slapped his forehead with his top left hand. “Yes, I’m a talking bug. That’s not relevant, though.”

The man then furrowed his brow in thought and placed a finger to his chin. He then looked up at Taco and asked, “You will be using it for more than just yourself?”

“Of course, darling,” Taco replied.

The man let out a hesitant sigh. “Then I guess you can have it.”

Tori let out a cheer and punched the air. “Alright! Let’s get that thing back to your home base!”

Now with the FCT in hand, Taco led Tori and Buzz out of the Stormin Food Research Lab. Taco took them down the hidden path he had found, which was longer than the route that Tori and Buzz Buzz had taken on the way to the lab, but safer.

“Say, Taco,” Tori said, looking up at Taco, “Christoph said you had to go by Taco. Why’s that?”

Taco gave Tori a smile, then leaned into her ear and whispered, “I’m on the run from the authorities.”

Tori’s eyes went wide, and so did Buzz Buzz’s, as he heard too.

“But I thought the authorities were dead!” Tori exclaimed.

“Unless you mean the Starmen?” Buzz Buzz inquired from his perch on Tori’s shoulder.

“Yes, the Starman are after my blood too, but not them,” Taco told them. “I have charges for things beyond the three dimensions held against me. I just so happened to get myself stuck in this awful world, and then...” He paused before asking, “...You’re going to keep this a secret, aren’t you, darlings?”

Both Buzz Buzz and Tori nodded frantically.

“Good, good.” Taco looked up as he entered Stormin and said, “We’re almost there. Look lively, now!”

---

“We’re baaaack~!” Taco sang as he entered the old generator room, getting everyone gathered to look up at him.

“And,” Taco slammed the FCT onto the table, “look what I brought.”

Most of the adults gasped.

“That’s the food cloner from the food research lab, right?” Ken asked.

“It sure is!” Taco replied. “But really, I couldn’t have done it without these two.” He gestured to Tori and Buzz Buzz. Tori waved.

“I had a feeling there was something more to you, Tori,” Christoph commented, making a wide, sheepish smile appear on her face. He looked over at Taco and asked him, “You did bring the water too, right?”

“I’ll… get that soon,” was all Taco had to say on the subject.

Christoph pinched the bridge of his nose, then looked back at Tori and Buzz Buzz.

“Well, thanks for all of your help. I dunno what we’d do without you.”

“It’s quite alright,” Buzz Buzz replied. “I’m just glad to see you with what you need.”

Tori nodded.

“Taco, could you lead them out of here?” Christoph asked Taco, looking up at him.

“Why not you?” Taco replied, raising an eyebrow at him.

“I’m pretty comfy in this chair, actually.”

Taco sighed, then turned to Tori and Buzz Buzz. “Come on, dears, let’s get you out of here.”

Tori and Buzz Buzz waved goodbye to everyone in the old generator room as they left, then to Taco as they climbed out of the sewer.

“So where to from here?” Buzz Buzz asked Tori as she put on her Starman illusion.

“Coastcrash Docks.”