“COME ON BUZZ BUZZ WE’RE GONNA BE LAAAAAAATE!!”

The seaside town of Coastcrash had been long been abandoned just like Stormin, but the ferries were being kept running by the last few people alive in the town. There wasn’t a Starman to be seen, either, so Buzz Buzz came to the conclusion that the Starmen may have already visited the town, ravaged it, and kept a select few alive to keep the ferries running.

Tori skidded to a halt on the dock, where a ferry marked with a pig’s nose over a Starman emblem was anchored.

“Uh… Hello, ma’am,” the ticket taker greeted, an eyebrow raised at her. “Do you have a ticket…?”

Tori fished through one of her pocket and pulled out a ticket - it was a golden colour, but had no shine to it. She handed it to the ticket taker, who punched a hole in the ticket and handed it back to her.

“You better hurry on board, the ship’s just about to leave.”

Tori nodded, then speed walked on board. The interior was quite neat, given the state that the town it was docked at was in. The back wall had tall windows that provided a scenic view of the devastated town and the dreary sky outside; definitely, 100% something everyone wanted to see. Buzz Buzz figured the boat was made before Giygas’ invasion. There was a brown rug laid out near the bar and the floor itself was covered with light pink carpet. Many people on board were drinking from wine glasses and enjoying themselves.

“There’s something about the way that these people are having such a good time that feels… off,” Buzz Buzz commented, eyeing the group over at the bar.

“I think you’re just worrying a teeny bit too much,” Tori replied with a shrug. “Whatever happened to get you pitted up against a Final Starman must have took a toll on you. Try to relax a little bit.”

With a sigh, Buzz Buzz landed on Tori’s shoulder.

As Tori walked around the ferry’s first floor, Buzz Buzz asked her, “So where is this boat going, exactly?”

“Someplace in Winters, I’m pretty sure,” Tori replied. “Like I said a couple weeks ago, I’ll be getting my orders when we get there.”

Tori approached a help desk, leaned her arms on it and asked the clerk, “Excuse me, I don’t suppose you know where I’d get the key to my room?”

“Right here, uh…” the clerk trailed off, then asked, “Which room?”

“Uhh…” Tori glanced at her ticket, then replied, “Room 12.”

The clerk opened a drawer and got the corresponding key, then handed it to Tori. “Have a nice day.”

Tori waved goodbye to the clerk as she walked away. Tori entered a living room, which was much quieter, though still had a couple of people inside watching the TV.

“I toldy ou we were going to be late if we went down that alleyway, too,” Tori whispered to Buzz Buzz.

“Hey, that Starman Super wanted us to investigate it as well, there was really no other choice in our situation,” Buzz Buzz argued. “And besides, we helped a lot of people out in the end.”

“Yeahhhh, you’re right.”

One of the men in the room looked at Tori with a raised eyebrow silently for a few moments, before asking, “Who are you talking to?”

“Huh? OH! I was talking to myself!” Tori told the man. “I… do that.”

The man nodded a little before looking back at the TV. Tori let out a quiet sigh of relief. She then snuck around the back of the chairs, not wanting to block the TV, then entered the next room. This one led to a a flight of stairs, which Tori climbed up. She took out her ticket and looked at it after she arrived in the hall the stairs led to. Said hall was line with doors - it must have been where all the bedrooms where.

“Room 12…” Tori muttered to herself. “I hope it's one of these ones.”

She walked down the hall, checking the numbers of each door, until she found Room 12. She then unlocked the door and went inside, closing the door behind her.

She flopped onto her bed, heaving a sigh of relief. Buzz Buzz had darted off her shoulder and landed on the bedside table, which had a lamp sitting atop it. Between the bed and the table was a square window.

“I am SO glad to have a good bed for once,” Tori said. “The last time I did was like… before I joined the army, I think?”

Buzz Buzz cocked his head as he gave an inquiring hum.

“Yeah… that was a while ago… It’s felt like years!” Tori continued. “I mean, it has, really, but…”

“If you don’t mind me butting in, could you explain what you mean?” Buzz Buzz asked. “I’m a bit lost.”

“OH! Of course!” Tori replied. “The army I joined has members from a whole bunch of different points in time, and from all sorts of different timelines. A lot of us came from before the time where our leader is located, but some are from even further…”

Tori shut her eyes and continued, “But for some reason, our leader is insistent on us heading to this time. What does he have against this time, anyway?”

Tori paused before adding, “We’ve been assigned a lot of missions involving Starmen, actually, now that I think about it. Most of them have been pitting us against them… What does the king have against Starmen?”

The king? Tori’s leader must have been one self-absorbed person if he was calling himself a king. And he shared Tori’s confusion as to why this “king” hated Starmen so much.

The ferry began to lurch forward, startling both Buzz Buzz and Tori, but they soon got themselves together.

The two sat in peace for a while before Tori rolled onto her side to face Buzz Buzz, and asked, “What was it like being stuck in the Starman base back in Stormin? I mean, if you don’t mind me asking.”

Buzz Buzz exhaled hesitantly, and was silent for a moment or two before mumbling, “...Not… fun.”

Tori nodded understandingly, then told Buzz Buzz, “Can’t imagine it’d be.”

Tori flopped back onto her back. Both she and Buzz Buzz sat in a peaceful silence for a while, listening to the faint sound of the waves. The peace was broken by Tori sitting up in a flash.

“I forgot my mask.”

Buzz Buzz let out a “huh?” as he looked at Tori’s troubled face.

“This isn’t even my full uniform, there’s a mask that goes with it!” Tori explained, panic rising in her voice, as she gestured to her uniform. “If I get off this boat without it, I’m gonna get chewed out real bad!”

“Where did you leave it?” Buzz Buzz asked.

“Back in Stormin!”

Buzz Buzz sharply inhaled.

Tori hopped off her bed and stood up. “We’re just gonna have to find another one.”

As she headed to the door, she called out, “C’mon, Buzz Buzz! Let’s go!”

Buzz Buzz darted after her and landed on her shoulder. Tori dashed down the hall, down the stairs, squeezed behind the chairs in the living again, then dashed over to the help desk.

Tori smacked her hands on the table and asked the clerk, “Hi, me again, don’t suppose you have a list of who’s on board right now?”

“Uhh, yes.” The clerk bent down and grabbed a tablet, tapped it a couple of times, then handed it to Tori.

The tablet displayed a list of everyone on board and their rooms, just what Tori had asked for. She tapped on one name, and it showed her more information on the person. Buzz Buzz wondered why the ferry even had such information, but tried not to think about it too much. Tori checked every name until she stumbled upon a certain piece of info - a note was added at the bottom of the page that read: “Member of the Pigmask Army.”

“Room 11? He was that close the entire time?!” Tori handed the tablet back to the clerk and ran off again, calling to them, “Thaaaaanks!”

Tori then returned to the hall where her room was as quick as possible, and this time knocked on Room 11’s door. What Buzz Buzz assumed to be a Pigmask opened the door, and despite his eyes not being visible, he glared daggers at Tori.

“What,” the Pigmask spat. His voice was gruff and deep, undeniably masculine.

“Hi! I’ve misplaced my mask, and I don’t have anyway to get it, so I was wondering if you had any spares? And if you do, can I borrow one please?”

The Pigmask squinted at Tori for a moment before slamming the door behind him. There was silence for what seemed like forever before the Pigmask returned.

“No,” he told her. “We don’t just have spares. You should know that. I’d wish you luck with the lecture you’re gonna get, but,” he tisked before finishing, “you deserve it.”

The door slammed shut again. There was a brief silence between Tori and Buzz Buzz before the latter asked, “Are most of them like that?”

“Well they’re not rare,” Tori uttered.

She went back into her own room and flopped face first onto her bed, and Buzz Buzz flew off her shoulder and onto the bedside table.

“Well, guess I’ll get lectured,” Tori mumbled, her voice muffled by the pillow.

“It can’t be that bad, can it?” Buzz Buzz questioned, though there was only concern in his voice.

Tori raised her head and muttered, “You’re right. It won’t be coming from Fassad.” Tori flung her face into her pillow again.

“Fassad? Who’s that?” Buzz Buzz asked.

Tori flopped herself onto her side and said, “A guy that nobody likes. He never shuts up and he thinks that, oh, he’d the best, of course! Way better than the guy he’s under in the Pigmask hIERARCHY!”

Tori heavily sighed. “Basically, you don’t wanna meet him.”

Buzz Buzz nodded. He had figured as much from how illy Tori spoke of him - which he hadn’t heard her do in all the time they spent together.

“I’m just gonna, like, take a nap now,” Tori told Buzz Buzz. “Hopefully I can just… sleep my anger away.”

Tori rolled over and shut her eyes. Buzz Buzz laid down on his belly and looked out the window. He just wondered where things would lead him and Tori from here, and if everything would turn out okay.

---

The ferry lurched over, throwing Tori off the bed and scaring her awake. A roar sounded from outside.

“What was that?!” Tori questioned, sitting up.

“I have no idea, should we take a look?” Buzz Buzz asked.

Tori stood up and said, “Yeah, let’s.”

Buzz Buzz flew to her shoulder and Tori ran out into the main room on the first floor. The room was completely empty, save for the clerk and the bartender. A handful of people were gathered on the decks just outside the room.

“I know what you’re gonna ask, so I’ll just tell ya - there’s this sea monster outside that’s causing a huge ruckus by the ferry,” the clerk told Tori. “Most people have gone to their rooms, but a few people went out to see the monster. I suggest you go back to your room.”

“No way, I wanna see the thing!” Tori retaliated.

“Well, suit yourself, but there’s a good chance you’ll die,” the clerk conceded. “The way to the deck’s just past me, then take a left.”

Tori ran past the clerk, sprinted down the narrow hall she found herself in, then took a left. She found herself on the deck, where wind carried the biting rain and many people had gathered, gripping the safety rail. Tori got close to the crowd as fast as she could, and held tight to the safety rail. Buzz Buzz dived into one of her pockets.

Another roar broke out, shrill and echoing. A wave hit the side of the ferry, causing it to tip over before balancing itself again. Something emerged from the murky water - a green-scaled monster with no visible eyes, a large mouth and red quills. Most people screamed at the sight of the sea monster, but Tori was strangely quiet, only staring at it with a look of concern.

“It looks… troubled,” Tori yelled over the noise to Buzz Buzz.

“It does?” Buzz Buzz climbed up Tori’s pocket and poked his head out. “It does.”

“What do you think’s bothering it?” Tori asked.

Buzz Buzz thought for a moment before telling her, “I have no idea.”

The sea monster roared again, then faced those gathered on the deck. People screamed even louder.

One man yelled, “It’s a kraken!”

The kraken scanned the crowd, most of whom were would be starting to back away if their lives didn’t depend on them holding the safety rail. Tori, however, was fixated on the kraken. The kraken looked at Tori, however it did that, for a few moments, then lowered itself down to her. It whined, then lifted up its quills. Tori grimaced at the sight under the kraken’s quills for a moment, before looking hard.

“Maybe there’s something in there causing it pain?” Buzz Buzz suggested.

Tori felt around hesitantly for anything out of place, and soon found, wedged between a quill and a scale, a small stone. Tori gingerly pulled it out, the kraken whining in pain as she did, and soon enough she had it sitting in the palm of her hand.

The kraken lowered its quills again and gave Tori a smile, chirped what seemed to be a thank you, then dived under the water and swam away.

“Okay, looks like things are all clear from here on out!” the captain announced over the intercom. “It’s smooth sailing to the Winters dock from here!”

The crowd soon headed back inside, Tori included. Buzz Buzz only dared to come out of her pocket once she had returned to the safety of her room. He sat on her shoulder as she observed the stone she had pulled out from the kraken.

The stone was small enough to fit into Tori’s hand, and about the size of Buzz Buzz’s body. It was quite smooth, and on the outside, appeared to be a pearly white. It looked like a pearl, but something told both of them that it wasn’t.

“Maybe it… does something?” Tori suggested.

“Maybe. Try shaking it,” Buzz Buzz said.

Tori shook the stone, but nothing happened.

“Rub it between your hands?”

Still nothing.

“Wait wait wait I’ve got an idea,” Tori said, “We leave it in water for a few days and it’ll hatch into something, like a sea monkey but like how they’re actually depicted on the box.”

Buzz Buzz was silent for a moment before telling her, “The trip’s only lasting for another four hours.”

“Damn.”

“Well, I’m sure we’ll find out what purpose it serves soon,” Buzz Buzz reassured her.

“We’re gonna have to see a geologist about it,” Tori stated. “And until then, we’re just gonna have to focus on the task at hand - which I don’t actually know right now, but I will soon enough!”