After a quick stop to Sataene to do some housekeeping at the Applechasers’ base and some shopping in the town, the Applechasers’ ship had landed in a parking area designed specifically for ships on the outskirts of a city on Saturn’s mainlands.

“Are you absolutely sure you guys wanna go down there?” Elmadan asked the Applechasers as they prepared to exit the ship. “As someone who grew up here, trust me; it’s not pretty.”

With a wave of his hand, Niiue assured him, “Don’t worry, Elmadan, we can hold our own.” His ears stood up as an idea came to mind, and he asked, “Actually, do you want to come along? We could really use a guide.”

Elmadan crossed his arms. “That’s what maps are for, aren’t they?” He pointed to Alinivar and asked, “And what about Alinivar? The city’s packed, it’ll probably scare him half to death!”

“Alinivar not that weak!” Colonel Saturn piped up, frowning at the purple Mook. “Alinivar very tough! Went out in public on Earth, boing! Big town! He did well!”

A thankful smile made its way onto Alinivar’s face.

“Besides, *click* if anything does happen, I will be able to take him out of the situation quickly,” Larice added.

“Okay, yeah, fair enough,” Elmadan huffed. “But what about Googie? Is he staying here, or…?”

Niiue and Googie locked gazes for a moment before Niiue looked back at Elmadan and replied, “I think it’d be best for him to stay here.” With a chuckle, he added, “I don’t want him getting lost.”

Colonel Saturn trotted over to the Magicant gang as Googie began to whine his objections with having to stay on the ship.

“You ready to go, zoom?” Colonel Saturn asked the gang.

While Mav simply nodded, Wil replied, “Yup!”

As Wil picked Foppiue up, Ralivil asked, “Wait, what? Where are we going?”

“Niiue said we should look for a place to stay. He suggested here first, since he just so happened to be stopping by here,” Buzzy Bol told him.

“Since when did that get decided?”

“I dunno how close we were to Saturn, but you did fall asleep before that conversation happened.”

“Oh.” Ralivil hadn’t actually realised he fell asleep. Did he do it in the middle of his conversation with Boson, Elmadan and Malik? He hoped not.

The thought was pushed to the side as Ralivil got to his tentacles and followed the rest of the Magicant gang to the ship’s hatch. They awkwardly waited in place as Niiue struggled to convince Googie to stay on the ship. He eventually had to give in to the younger Geeg’s bribe and let him wear his bandana for the time being, then handed him off to Malik.

As Larice headed for the ship’s hatch, he warned Malik, Elmadan and Boson, “If any of you teach Googie any bad words, I swear. *beep*”

Niiue, who had already climbed down the drop ladder, replied, “Come on, Larice. They wouldn’t.”

“But what if…?”

The conversation between the two continued as the rest of the Applechasers, then the Magicant gang climbed down the ladder and outside.

---

The mainlands were a lot different than the rings. Neither Ralivil nor Buzzy Bol had ever been to them back in their home timeline, so they didn’t know what to expect. As it turned out, it was a lot like Jupiter, but with blue clouds instead. Almost every building they saw was squished right next to another one, but they didn’t go that far into the city itself before the Magicant gang all decided that such a crowded place wasn’t the right place for them.

The gang had walked back to the ship then right from there. The outskirts of the city weren’t so bad. Peaceful, but not isolated. The clouds were less dense there, and the buildings were a bit more spread out. People were giving them some weird looks for one reason or another. They soon came across a small cul-de-sac of clouds with only two houses that appeared to be occupied. One, on the left side of the clouds, was only a single story, and looked rather small. The other, right at the end of the cul-de-sac, was also one story, but a bit taller, and had some gemblooms growing in a line beside the front door. Beside the gembloom house was a two-story house with a large sign that read “FOR SALE”.

Ralivil pointed at the for-sale house and said, “Niiue said we should look for a house, right? This might be a good one.”

From behind him, Wil piped up, saying, “I think it looks wonderful already.”

Buzzy Bol turned to face the rest of the Magicant gang and asked them, “So do you guys wanna go take a look?”

Wil gave a “yes,” Foppiue gave a “yup,” and Mav simply gave an affirmative grunt. With everyone in agreement, the Magicant gang made their way towards the for-sale house.

The house had a bit of rust gathering on its edges and was a bit more worn down that it appeared from a distance, but it was otherwise quite sturdy. As Wil discovered when he went to go inside, the front door was a bit squeaky. Regardless, he and Mav went inside to take a look around while Ralivil, Buzzy Bol and Foppiue checked out the backyard.

The backyard was a lot bigger than Ralivil and Buzzy Bol would have thought, and the small canopy of purple Bendbirch trees growing next-door and over the fence made for some good shade on warmer days. The picket fence, unfortunately, was very tacky and starting to wear, so that had to be replaced.

Ralivil made it a point to talk about the ugliness of that fence, to which Buzzy Bol replied, “This is all hypothetically, right? You know, we’ve still got to look at other options. We might not even move to this planet.”

Ralivil stared at him for a couple of seconds, before looking at the trees as he replied, “I know that.”

The two of them continued looking around the backyard for a minute or so before Foppiue said to someone, “Hey. You live here, or…?”

Ralivil and Buzzy Bol turned to see a very nervous-looking dull yellow Mook just a few feet in front of Foppiue.

“Uh…” The Mook’s dark blue eyes darted around for a few moments before landing back on Foppiue. They squeaked out, “Yeah. I am. R-Right next door, actually.”

“Oh, you live in that house with the gemblooms outside the front?” Buzzy Bol asked.

The Mook quickly nodded.

“It’s a nice place!”

“Ah— …Thank you.”

Ralivil slithered forward a little as he asked the Mook, “So, uh, why are you over here? We haven’t actually moved in yet.” Ralivil was silent for a moment before adding, “Forget I said ‘yet’.”

“Well, um… How do I put this…” The Mook thought in silence before telling Ralivil, Buzzy Bol and Foppiue, “I sensed you guys from my house, and uh, I kinda know you guys aren’t from this timeline.”

“Wait, WHAT?!” Ralivil cried. “Bu— HOW?!”

The Mook let out a nervous laugh, then a sigh, then replied, “Let’s just say it runs in the family.”

Foppiue, who had only arched an eyebrow at the reveal, told them, “That’s some family you’ve got.”

The Mook nervously laughed a bit more before replying, “It sure is!”

Buzzy Bol drifted a bit closer towards the Mook and asked, “So what’s your name?”

“Stello,” the Mook replied. “And you guys?”

“I’m Buzzy Bol,” Buzzy Bol replied.

“Foppiue,” Foppiue simply said.

“And I’m Ralivil,” Ralivil said.

A trace of a smile appeared on Stello’s lips. “Well, uh, nice to meet you!”

From above them, Wil called out, “Hello, everyone! Is that your new friend?”

The four in the backyard looked up to see Wil and Mav standing at a window on the top floor of the for-sale house.”

“We just met them,” Foppiue told Wil.

“I would like to meet them, too!” Wil said. He then opened the window, climbed onto the window sill and jumped down into the backyard. Everyone other than Mav and Foppiue winced, but Wil didn’t appear to feel the impact in his legs.

A few seconds later, Mav’s trashcan fell to the clouds with only a soft poomph before falling onto its side. Wil walked over to it and set it upright, then gave Mav a thumbs-up. Mav then dove out of the window and into his trashcan, his head making a bonk as he landed head-first into it. He then wriggled around and sat inside his trashcan properly, leaning on the rim with his arms dangling over it.

“Are… Are you two alright?” Buzzy Bol asked.

“I’m fine, thank you for asking!” Wil replied.

“Yeah,” Mav added.

“Oh thank the stars,” Buzzy Bol murmured.

Ralivil looked back to Stello and asked, “You don’t have to say if you don’t want to, but uh, how much can you tell we’re not from this timeline?”

Stello hummed in thought for a moment before replying, “Well, I can tell you and Buzzy Bol are from a different timeline, but the other three aren’t from anywhere… physical? It’s weird.”

‘Huh. That was strangely accurate,’ Ralivil thought to himself.

Stello cocked their head before asking Ralivil in turn, “But how did all of you end up in this timeline anyhow?”

Ralivil and Buzzy Bol immediately looked away. Meanwhile, Wil simply replied, “We woke up on Earth.”

Stello’s eyes widened.

Buzzy Bol looked back at Stello and told them, “Well, uh… That’s how it is for them. For me and Ralivil, though… a lot more things happened before that.”

“Yeah. It wasn’t fun,” Ralivil added.

Stello’s eyestalk lowered a little. “Oh… I’m sorry. I, uh— I mean, I understand. The not-fun things happening to you thing, I mean.”

Silence hung in the air for a few moments before Buzzy Bol said, “So! Stello! I did see those gemblooms outside your house, do you like plants and stuff?”

Stello’s face lit up, and they replied with a smile, “Yes! I do! I’ve studied the plantlife of Saturn my whole life, actually. I have a whole bunch of books on them at home, and I’ve read through them so many times. I’d really like to visit the rings and see the plantlife there myself someday!”

“Oh, really?” Buzzy Bol leaned over to Ralivil and whispered to him, “You think we should ask Niiue about that later?” Ralivil nodded.

“Have any of you been to the rings?” Stello asked. Wil raised his hand, while Mav and Foppiue simply nodded.

“I used to live there!” Ralivil replied.

“Is the ground actually made of dirt and rocks and stuff?”

Ralivil nodded, and Stello gasped. “That must be so different to the ground here! I bet the plants really like it there.”

Ralivil simply nodded once again.

Stello’s excitement morphed into surprise as they blinked. Ralivil and Buzzy Bol, confused by the sudden change in mood, turned around to find Niiue standing just behind the Magicant gang. Ralivil let out a scream. Wil, Mav and Foppiue, however, weren’t surprised by Niiue’s sudden appearance at all.

With a big smile on his face, Wil greeted, “Niiue! How are you?”

Niiue held a bag in his left hand, and had a can of sorts tucked under his right. “I’m just fine, thank you.” He looked over at Stello and asked, “Who’s your new friend?”

As Stello shrunk into themself, Buzzy Bol replied, “This is Stello! They live next door.”

Stello gave a shy wave.

“We were just checking out this house here? It’s for sale,” Ralivil told Niiue, pointing at the house.

Niiue looked up at it and replied, “Looks big enough to hold all five of you easily. Good choice!”

“I didn’t say we’re gonna buy it!”

Wil chipped in with, “I think we should buy this house!”

Mav only nodded in agreement, and Foppiue hummed in agreement as well. Buzzy Bol gave Ralivil a knowing glance. Ralivil sighed, then said, “Yeah, I think this place is nice and I would like to move in here.”

Buzzy Bol added, “Honestly, I’m chill with anywhere.”

Niiue chuckled, then told the Magicant gang, “Well in that case, we’ll start saving up. In the meantime, you can stay at our base in Sataene.”

Wil and Foppiue cheered, and Mav raised his arm into the air as a lazy counterpart.

“Anyway, how much longer do you guys need?” Niiue asked.

“Me, Ralivil and Foppiue haven’t looked inside yet, so I guess we’ll need… about 10 more minutes?” Buzzy Bol told him.

Niiue nodded. “You guys go have a look, then. We’ll head back to the ship once you’re all done.”

Stello cautiously slithered up to Niiue and asked, “Um, I’m just about to go back home, but uh, you said your base is in Sataene? D-Do you happen to know a Mook named Elmadan?”

Niiue smiled as he replied, “I do! Do you know him as well?”

“U-uh, yeah! Could you say hi to him for me?”

“Will do.”

---

As it turned out, the Applechasers had returned to the ship long before Niiue and the Magicant gang had. They sat near the control panel talking to one another with multiple sheets of paper spread out in front of them. Alinivar had a guitar resting on his knees as he stared between the papers and the neck of his guitar with a focused frown.

As soon as Niiue entered the ship, Googie darted over and locked him into a tight hug. Niiue simply smiled at the younger Geeg as he put down the things he bought from the mainlands of Saturn.

Elmadan waved to the Magicant gang from his corner of the ship with Malik and Boson. Ralivil waved back, then went to sit with them. Buzzy Bol followed, and Foppiue decided to sit down with them as well.

“How’d it go?” Elmadan asked.

“Pretty well, actually!” Buzzy Bol replied. Elmadan raised his eyebrows.

“We’ve, uh… already decided on a place,” Ralivil added.

Elmadan frowned. “You haven’t even been to any other cities.”

“Honestly, it was pretty unanimous,” Buzzy Bol told him. “And sudden.”

“Ya don’t say, dog!” Boson said.

Niiue looked over his shoulder at the little group in the corner, then called out, “Oh, Elmadan!”

Elmadan looked over at him with a quiet hum.

“The Magicant gang and I met a Mook named Stello while we were down there – they say hi!”

Elmadan raised his eyebrows, and after a moment, smiled. He looked back to Ralivil, Buzzy Bol and Foppiue and told them, “You’re gonna have to invite me to your house sometime.”