A Mr. Saturn.

That was the first thing Buzz Buzz saw when he awoke from his Magicant. It certainly wasn’t the first thing he thought he’d see upon emerging, but there he was, the Mr. Saturn’s nose almost pressed up to Buzz Buzz’s face.

“You with others?” the Mr. Saturn asked.

Buzz Buzz stood frozen in confusion for a moment, before buzzing up into the air and asking, “The others?”

“The others! Bandana, Wooly and Not-Piggy!” the Mr. Saturn cheerily told him.

Buzz Buzz thought on the weird names for a moment before two and two clicked together. ‘The Mr. Saturn must be referring to Leicra, Gran and Tori!’

“I am with them, yes!” Buzz Buzz told the Mr. Saturn.

“Goodie! I go tell other Mr. Saturn that you here now. You go find your others! They outside.” The Mr. Saturn then waddled away.

Buzz Buzz flew out of the spacious tent that he had awoken in to find himself someplace he didn’t recognise as somewhere on Earth. The sky was filled with stars, and multiple moons could be seen from where he was. He didn’t even bother counting the moons he could see; he knew it would take far too much time. The ground was beige, with an unearthly flatness and somewhat translucent. The other Mr. Saturns that wandered around were on blue platforms made of some strange metal Buzz Buzz had never seen. It was the most bizzare thing he had ever seen in his entire life.

Buzz Buzz was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a loud, metallic screech. Then another. Then another. Then another. They were short, but they hurt his ears a lot.

Buzz Buzz flew over to the source of the metallic screeches, then screamed. “Leicra, what are you doing?!”

Leicra paused, lowering the golden sword that was in their hands, and looked up at Buzz Buzz, “Oh, hello Buzz Buzz! I was just scratching off my emblem.” They were sitting next to Gran, who gave a friendly wave.

Buzz Buzz sputtered, then gestured to the sword with his right hands. “With- With that?!Leicra, you could hurt yourself!”

“Don’t worry, Buzz Buzz! I’m getting close to being done.” They shuffled around and turned their body to Buzz Buzz, then pointed at where their emblem used to be. “See?”

In place of their emblem was a series of scratches in the shape of a star. There was still some stray bits of their shell that needed to be filled in with a scratch, but for the most part, it looked like it had been completely erased.

“I… see,” was all Buzz Buzz could manage to reply with.

“I thought that just leaving it scratched off messily would look bad, so I decided to make it a star!” Leicra told him.

“Fair enough. But, um, two things. One, where did you get the sword? And two, is the design around your eye… also scratched on?” Buzz Buzz asked.

Leicra held up the golden sword they had been using to scratch the star onto their shell and told Buzz Buzz, “Xa and Tu gave this to me! They said it’s called the Meteoran Sword, which is supposed to be used by the Hero of the Meteorite from local legend. Apparently, that’s you, Buzz Buzz, but you are much too small to use it effectively. I was the first to wake up from Magicant, so they gave it to me.” They looked at the Meteoran Sword and added, “I don’t know how to use it, though. And yes, the design around my eye is scratched on.”

Buzz Buzz stared at Leicra for a few moments, concern written all over his face.

Gran patted the spot beside her, then told Buzz Buzz, “How about you come sit next to me?”

Buzz Buzz nodded as he flew over and landed next to Gran. He looked up at the sky and asked, “So where are we?”

“Saturn, we’ve been told,” Gran replied.

Buzz Buzz almost fell over from shock. “Saturn?!”

“Yes. It’s a very… interesting place, isn’t it?”

Buzz Buzz nodded.

To their left, Tori came over and stood beside Leicra. “Well, I looked, but this “Xa” person doesn’t seem to be around. I dunno how the Mr. Saturns are communicating with them.”

Buzz Buzz darted up into the air. “Tori?”

Tori’s face lit up. “Buzz Buzz!!”

She ran over to him, a great big smile on her face, and said, “Oh man, you’re alright! You were taking a while, and I was getting worried! Thank God you’re okay!”

Buzz Buzz let out an awkward laugh. “Well, I’m alright now, aren’t I?”

“Dude, if I could, I would totally hug you right now!”

Buzz Buzz chuckled under his breath, then made himself home on Tori’s shoulder. Tori sat down next to Gran and looked up at the starry sky. The four of them simply sat there together, Leicra adding the final touches to their new marking while Gran, Tori and Buzz Buzz simply looked up at the sky. After a few minutes, a golden speck in the sky came closer to them, then suddenly disappeared. It then reappeared in front of them, scaring them out of their wits. It was a giant golden bird with dark blue eyes and two long feathers crested on its head, looking similar to ears. It landed on the platform just below them, and a familiar man slid off its back. The giant bird then flew up to the four and smiled.

“Good evening,” the bird said. “I am Xa, one of the guardians of this planet, and all life on it. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Leicra set down the Meteoran Sword and waved, and Gran said, “Hello!”

Tori had her mouth wide open, and after a few long moments of staring, she closed it, then said, “You’re…”

“Not what you were expecting?” Xa’s sincere laugh rang like wind chimes. “It’s not the first time I have gotten that today. The man that I brought here said the same thing.”

Xa looked over her shoulder to watch the man approach. Tori gasped when he came close enough to make out detail in his appearance.

“Taco!” she exclaimed.

Taco shushed her, then told her, “I’m trying to keep as low a profile as possible. I knew that you four would come here, and I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Should we call you by some other name?” Buzz Buzz asked.

“Yes, I believe that would work best. Call me… um…” Taco smacked his cheeks in thought before snapping his fingers and saying, “Dolphin. Call me Dolphin from now on.”

“Okay, Dolphin!” Leicra replied.

Dolphin looked over at Leicra and observed them for a moment. “That star on your chest is new, isn’t it?”

“It is!” Leicra replied, their face lighting up a bit. “I carved it there myself.”

“With… what?” Xa asked, concern on her face.

“The Meteoran Sword!” Leicra held up the sword.

“Ah… Leicra… that’s…” Xa sighed. “Nevermind. What’s done is done.”

Xa smiled, and said to the four, “You must be wondering what I do here, musn’t you?”

The four all nodded.

“I thought as much. I don’t believe Tu would be back from his check-up on the Hero’s Launchpad and the Cave of Enlightenment,” Xa explained. “My brother, Tu, and I, we are two of the last of our kind. We are the guardians of Saturn, and do our best to protect all the life and treasures that reside here. We… have not been doing such a great job recently, as much as it pains me to say that. You see, this planet is the Apple of Enlightenment’s home, but it was stolen from its resting place not long ago by Giegue. I do not know how he became aware of the planet being its home, but what I do know is that without the prophetic powers of the Apple, our defenses have been severely crippled. Dolphin here has told me of his vision of the invaders that will be coming here, but without many more details, we are still weak. But I digress. With all these different invaders coming to Saturn, my brother and I have been finding it hard to keep up. We only wish for everyone’s safety. But with you here, Hero of the Meteorite, and an Agent, too - we may now have a chance of ensuring everyone’s safety.”

Dolphin then added, “I did forsee multiple Starmen and a strange mech coming to this planet, as well as you four, so I advise you all to be careful.”

A loud cackling sounded from behind Xa and Dolphin. They turned around to see a group of about seven Starmen approach. Five of these Starmen were simply standard soldiers, and wouldn’t be distinguishable from one another to the human eye, but two of them were very familiar; Elex and Captain Astra.

“Well, you won’t have to be worrying too much about your silly little apple now,” Elex told Xa. “We were sent here to put it back in its place. Lord Giygas’ orders.”

“And wouldn’t you know it! Just who I thought I’d see here, too! #3827-γ and their friends,” Astra sneered. He turned to the his squadron and hollered, “What did I tell you? I TOLD you they would be here!”

Elex huffed. “Yes, yes, we know, captain.”

Astra grabbed Elex’s shoulders and exclaimed, “I was right! I was right this whole time, Elex! You said I was crazy-”

“You are-”

“-but look! Those four who have gotten in our way so many times, right here like I said they would be!”

Elex stepped away from Captain Astra and with a stern frown, and told him, “Captain, I don’t like where you’re headed. This-” he gestured at Astra, “-isn’t like you.”

Astra held Elex’s gaze for a few long moments, then turned to Xa, Dolphin, and the four. “Ignore him! He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

One of the Starmen cleared their throat, then said, “Um, if I may, I just wanna go ahead and say that we’re also here to, like, kick all of your asses. So that’s a thing.”

Captain Astra spun on his heels to face the Starman that just spoke up. “What is wrong with you, #7269-β?! Don’t just tell them our evil plan!” he whined.

“A-Ah, apologies, captain.”

Captain Astra then turned back to Xa, Dolphin and the four and told them, “Lord Giygas no longer needs the Apple of Enlightenment, so he got us to return it. I don’t know why he didn’t just destroy it, but whatever. He then ordered us to annihilate every living thing on this planet afterwards, and that’s exactly what we plan to do!”

#7269-β squinted at his captain.

“…Afterwe scout it out. It’s very important to know what’s where,” Captain Astra added.

A series of loud clanks came from behind the squadron, slowly coming closer. Everyone - except Astra - looked at who was approaching and went wide-eyed.

One of the Starmen tapped Astra’s shoulder and hurriedly told him, “Captain, there’s… someone coming! I think we should-”

Captain Astra waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t be ridiculous, #6528-β.”

“ARE YOU FFFFFFFFREAKING KIDDING, CAPTAIN?!” another Starman yelled.

The clanking came to a halt, and the new arrival on the scene stood right behind Captain Astra and his squadron.

“I agree. It is very important to know where everything is. I’ve already been around the entire planet,” he said. He sounded strangely young, and yet, strangely elderly.

Tori straightened her back instinctively. Her mouth had opened slightly, but whatever she wanted to say wasn’t coming out. Buzz Buzz had buzzed off her shoulder, squinting at the new arrival on the scene.

“Porkey,” he growled. “What are you doing here?”

A child with elderly features and pale skin riding within a large, rectangular mech with six long legs, presumably Porkey, looked at Buzz Buzz from behind his long and scruffy grey hair, eyebrows raised. “Me? I’m just moving my reign here! Doctor Andonuts said it would be a good idea.”

Tori took a sharp breath in, and after a moment of searching for words, she said, “…That’swhat you look like?!”

Porkey looked at Tori. He stayed completely still for a short moment, before cracking a smile, then bursting into laughter. The laughter turned into a coughing fit soon after.

“Oh my God,” Tori muttered.

“And you must be the soldier that thought they’d be funny and suggest the idea to Doctor Andonuts,” Porkey said. “You must think you’re cute, rebelling against me. I would bother with getting you back in line if you were a higher rank, but losing a regular soldier to a little rebellion is no big deal. I’ve heard whispers of what you and your little… troupe want to do, however, and I can’t allow that.” Porkey coughed some more, then wheezed.

Captain Astra then spoke up, saying, “You sound very sure of yourself for a wrinkly human baby.”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST-” Porkey entered another coughing fit.

Elex turned to Captain Astra. “Captain, we should just go and scout out the planet. There’s no use in talking to…” Elex cast a glance up at Porkey for a moment, then back at Astra, “…him.”

Astra thought about this for a moment, then replied, “But, those four… they’re here… We could attack them…”

“And what will that achieve for us, huh? Wasting time that could be spent scouting Saturn?” Elex’s face turned from annoyance to concern as he said, “Come on, captain. Let’s just scout Saturn like we’re meant to.”

Astra thought for a moment more, before quietly sighing. “I guess so.” He turned to the rest of his squadron and yelled, “Come on, team. Let’s move out.”

The squadron turned and began to leave, but were stopped by a leg of Porkey’s mech stomping down in front of them.

“Not so fast. I may have lost the opportunity to have you Starmen the first time, but I’m not about to let this opportunity pass me by. You’re coming with me.”

Buzz Buzz darted right up to the glass that covered Porkey and growled, “You will do no such thing. Even if I am their opposition, they still deserve their free will. By taking them away and forcing them to work for you, you are taking away their free will. And I will not stand by and allow that to happen.”

Porkey was silent, then smirked. “…Alright. I won’t take them, then.”

He backed up, and announced, “But don’t think you won’t see me again!” He turned around and left the way he came. Buzz Buzz kept a stern frown on his face, while the others watched with bewilderment.

“What… just happened?” Gran asked.

Tori simply shrugged.

Captain Astra and his squadron exchanged glances before continuing to leave themselves.

“Well… that takes care of that,” Dolphin said.

Buzz Buzz returned to Tori’s shoulder and sat down on it with a sigh. Xa looked over at him and blinked once.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“I’m… yes. I’m fine,” Buzz Buzz replied.

Xa raised her head somewhat as she looked over at a nearby tent behind the four. “For now, you four should take a breather. I will inform you of your order of business later.”

---

The inside of this tent was more decorated than the one Buzz Buzz had woken up in. There were several coffee tables sitting by the edges of the tent and fewer in the middle, each with two menus sitting on top of them. Beanbags in a variety of colours were scattered around the inside of the tent, usually around the edges and near the coffee tables. A bench with a small oven beside it was near the entrance of the vast tent. No more than four Mr. Saturns worked to and from this bench, balancing mugs on their noses.

Tori, Leicra and Gran sat at a coffee table at the end of the tent, while Buzz Buzz sat on the table itself. They all watched the Mr. Saturns work away and serve the others of their kind.

“I’ve always wondered how the Mr. Saturns hold things,” Leicra said.

“I know, right? They don’t have any hands!” Tori added.

“When we get our coffee, we will have to ask,” Gran said.

Buzz Buzz frowned in thought. He tilted his head up to look at the others, and asked, “Speaking of their coffee, what do they put in it?! We all know what happened the last time we had some of that.”

The other three all murmured in agreement and confusion. They all went back to watching the Mr. Saturns intently.

A few minutes passed by, and a Starman, presumably from Captain Astra’s squadron, waddled into the tent, bent over and glancing around wide eyed. Buzz Buzz sat up, warily folding out his wings.

Leicra raised a hand slightly. “It’s okay. #7269-β isn’t here to hurt anyone.”

#7269-β sat down in a beanbag near the four. He looked around, occasionally daring to quickly glance at the quartet. For the most part, though, he looked around at the Mr. Saturns. They didn’t pay much mind to him. They all looked at him curiously for a couple of moments, then resumed whatever they were doing.

A few moments passed by with only the Mr. Saturns chatting amongst themselves.

“…So, #7269-β,” Leicra spoke up, “what brings you here? …To this tent, I mean.”

#7269-β sighed, then replied, “I just wanted to get away from the squadron, honestly. The captain’s been really out of it recently, and… everything’s just… so serious. I didn’t realise this is what I would be in for, being a soldier.” He looked& over at Leicra and told them, “I can see why you rebelled now, #3827-γ. I would rebel too, but…”

“But what?”

“…Nevermind. Maybe someday I’ll find the courage, like you did.”

Leicra blinked, wide eyed.

A Mr. Saturn trotted up to #7269-β and asked, “Welcome to coffee tent, zoom! Want coffee?”

“No thanks,” #7269-β replied.

“Okies!” The Mr. Saturn trotted back over to the bench and continued working.

Another Mr. Saturn, balancing a tray with three mugs of coffee and one bottle cap of coffee, walked up to the quartet and slowly slide the tray off his nose. The mugs and bottle cap slid precariously close to the edge of the tray, but did not fall off. The tray gently floated down onto the table, followed by the mugs and the cups, in a similar fashion. The four all stared in confoundment.

Tori pointed at the tray and asked the Mr. Saturn at the table, “How did you do that?”

The Mr. Saturn let out an inquisitive hum as it looked at the tray.

“How do you balance things and hold them without hands?” Gran cleared.

“Oh! Easy peasy. We use moons! I forget big words Miss Xa use, but moons have power that boost our power! Boing! Saturn have lots of moons, so we have lots of power! Use for holding, zoom. No fight. But can fight.”

Leicra thought for a moment, then asked, “Then what about the Mr. Saturns on Earth?”

“Mr. Earth Saturns silly Mr. Saturns. Many move to other planet for scenery change, but Earth not popular choice! Earth only one moon, ding. Mr. Earth Saturn power not very strong. Can only hold, I hear.”

“I see. And about the coffee your kind makes… What do you put in it?” Buzz Buzz asked.

“Lots of thing! Many are Mr. Saturn secret. But one thing that not Mr. Saturn secret is stardust! Lots of stardust. Special Mr. Saturn gather it and give to us for food making! Stardust give special taste. And sparkly! Zoom! If you talk about special thing that give talk… that biggest Mr. Saturn secret of all. No can tell. Or bad thing happen to me.”

Everyone around the table was silent.

“Well, enjoy!” the Mr. Saturn chirped before trotting back off to the bench.

The four exchanged glances.

“Let’s just,” Tori grabbed a hold of a mug. “Drink this.”

Tori and Buzz Buzz took a sip of their coffee, while Gran and Leicra just poured it on their heads. It worked it last time.

---

Musical notes, once discordant and unorganised, have been strung together to create a beautiful song. However, it is not quite complete.

You have traversed far from your homes to get to this point. Through smiles and tears, through bravery and fear, you have overcome what has been thrown at you. You have believed in each other, and that belief is what will carry you to the end.

Your power has grown as you have charged the Sound Stone. The squadron of Starmen that arrived on Saturn just before you did could stand no chance against you. The fully charged Sound Stone, and the power of yourself and others, has Giygas desperate to cling onto ownership of the earth. Now, he will do anything to keep it in his evil hands.

Now, more challenges arise. You have more enemies in one place than you ever have before. But, you also have more allies on your side. They will help you fix the timeline. Remember, when you are suffering hardships, your enemy is also struggling. Or in this case, enemies. Everyone gathered here on Saturn is fighting one last battle.

…By the way, do any of you know what that Porkey may be scheming?

When this cup of coffee is finished, your quest will continue. Your fate will pull you in the right direction.

Buzz…

          Tori…

                   Gran…

                             Leicra…

I wish you luck…