Majo Shojo Charlet and The Ribbons of Power

[Tenchi Masaki]

Charlet had been taken to the girls dressing room and put into a red gown of her choosing knowing of her suits functions they simply added the gown over her zero suit which the suit integrated. After a glamorous hair styling Charlet looked like a princess, and was going to let a certain boy know it. Aside from combat training she had been instructed in the ways of etiquette and protocol, she just decided to treat it like military training formation drills and that worked out great. Without realizing it she became a proper lady but carried over a drill sergeants critiquing, and Ruslan was about to get a painful lesson in it. Ruslan had been effectively told to attend this event and didn’t really want to be there, so like anyone his age he felt that telling people would cause them to do something. So working up courage he started saying, “Can you help me, I was dragged here against my will. I’m being serious you have to believe me.”

Then suddenly she entered the dining room; one of many throughout the castle and silently observed the furnishings, as she paced quickly around the room he saw her hair was at shoulder length and curled in the back with a red ribbon in her hair. She was looking down at the floor and then he heard her say, “Sanbunny! Come back here this instant!” She cornered the robot rabbit in a corner and started to shake her finger in a disappointed fashion then said, “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Don’t run away!” With that she pounded Sanbunny on the head with her fist, which caused Ruslan to gasp in astonishment. He hadn’t seen her deal out military discipline before, and quickly realized something was different about her. She scooped up Sanbunny and rose with grace and turned with poise like a ballerina; but she looked at Ruslan in his chair like he was a new recruit, ready to start berating him. As she walked around the end of the rectangular table, she casually commented, “Hmm, so are you trying to be a gentleman now.” Ruslan fired back, “I’m not trying to be anything! Where is Tenchi, I’ll just ask him if I can leave.” Charlet finished the exchange by coldly saying, “Do not speak to me directly while we are eating Ruslan.”

She then placed Sanbunny in a flower vase near her chair, and took her seat at the other end of the table as dinner service began. Charlet unlike Ruslan knew what was coming, her training had prepared her to just know when adults were going to be serious and as a lady; she had to be well mannered to not embarrass Tenchi. Whether in Tokyo, London, or New York customs of manners had to be demonstrated to the wealthy and the elite, and as such Charlet knew she couldn’t be herself and had to become “Lady Charlet”. Combining military drill formation training, the general critiquing ability of a drill sergeant, and the elite finishing school classes she was put into; Charlet became a definitive prim and proper lady. Sadly though that was only part of enduring high society there was competition with other girls to be the best in the room. Anyone they saw as a threat was targeted backgrounds were thoroughly checked; usually through parental bribing to find out anything that would give their child the edge. Making alliances was also encouraged as to better go after those deemed expendable as a group, but they quickly shied away from Lady Charlet.

Her ballet and martial arts training gave her precision and an understanding of when to strike. Mostly verbally in these situations though; violence is considered an automatic fail. Lady Charlet learned to hurl insults in a demure fashion as well as proper slapping technique. Her physical training meant other girls did not dare escalate arguments to that level. And so Lady Charlet quickly rose in prestige without her truly understanding why, not that it mattered of course this was all about image; you were to be on your best behavior and never be yourself. Ballet routines were done to relieve her boredom but that enamored the boys who began to see her as a graceful doll that could punch you through a wall. Lady Charlet practiced her ballet because practicing her kata was unbecoming of a lady. The boys begged her to dance and Lady Charlet thought that was weird, she was learning how to mask combat moves in the routine, a graceful spin would lead to an elbow to the sternum or an open palm strike to the face.

Adult observers noted her unique air, graceful dancing, and commanding presence; and the regent of Lindblum was on that list she surmised. He must have heard things from Tenchi and others around her but not everything, so it was understood that she had to impress the regent. He asked her to bodyguard his daughter and this was an audition for that as well. But Lady Charlet had been through this posh routine so often that it was effortless, and so she waited in a properly seated posture as Cid the IX and Tenchi came in and were promptly seated. Cid was very excited to meet Charlet after seeing her performance in the Grand Hunt, He had changed into a more regal attire and had been meeting with officials and Frontier personnel. The kitchen staff came into the room and began serving the appetizers, Regent Cid enthusiastically started speaking to Lady Charlet and Ruslan, “Ah! Ms. Charlet there you are just in time for dinner. And young master Ruslan welcome, glad to have you.”

Ruslan not being able to stand this any longer slammed his hands on the table and demanded to know, “Where are my clothes! Who are you, and why isn’t Tenchi saying anything?“ The staff came in and began serving the main course as Cid responded, “I do beg your pardon, I am the King Regent of Lindblum City; Cid Fabool IX and this is the assistant of Tenchi Masaki whose technology is responsible for the Cities and Towns Project being constructed, you may call her Ms. Charlet.”Ruslan still upset returned, “And you think that makes it alright to make me come here and wear clothes I don’t want to! I’m a ACME detective this is against the law!” Ruslan had failed to grasp the gravity of the dining situation, as expected he had not begun any formal training in manners or etiquette and had no clue about formal auditions or assessments. But he did at least know about the Cities and Towns Project; where new cities or towns were completely built using Home 01’s technology and engineering methods. Since they were constructed with singular vision they were highly efficient and practical, themed around various eras in history stretching from steampunk to cyberpunk. Their main goal was to address the needs of the common man, not the rich one which benefitted everyone.

There were strings of course, if people chose to see it that way, educational and work ethic standards were required to reside in these cities which followed the rules of meritocracy. The cities provided for every citizen that lived in them using highly automated systems, Artificial Intelligence, And robots to gather resources and produce products in the factories. All drinkable water and breathable air was processed and filtered in the cities as well and in emergencies the outer walls would rise and the dome to encase the cities in protective airtight armor. The cities would operate as normal on the inside and an extremely realistic image of the sky viewed by cameras could even be projected on the inside of the dome so people would forget whether the dome was up or down a lot of times. But as Ruslan studied this information he knew what that meant concerning the three cities floating around in girls minds; Alexandria, Treno, and Lindblum. They were built using more tradition means of the ancient civilizations. Massive stone blocks had to be put in place in order to match what was seen in times past and Lindblum City was the greatest of these works. It was literally built out of a mountain and the city rested snugly inside the upper seventy-five percent, with the lower twenty-five housing the entrances to the four ways in and out of the city. Under normal circumstances Ruslan would talk for hours about this stuff but he was a little out of his element currently.

For starters he was supposed to formally introduce himself before addressing the people seated at the table, secondly he was to treat Charlet like a lady; something he found quite impossible at the moment. There were all kinds of gaffes being made but that was the point, to introduce him on Tenchi’s behalf and later assess his progress. Having heard enough Tenchi told Ruslan to stop talking and enjoy the meal, with Cid seconding this motion saying the food will be delicious. It was made from the meat of the monsters that were slain today! Cid of course wanted to know more about Lady Charlet’s education emphasizing her formal classes. Lady Charlet replied, “I was given formal training by my sensei Masaki-senpai, I took various classes in the arts, manners, etiquette, dance, and the sciences. I was successfully recruited as a debutante to the Queen Charlotte’s Ball, where I debuted at The Royal Courts of Justice and later on Masaki-senpai’s reference vacationed at Kensington Palace.” Ruslan not believing this girl was the Charlet he knew said, “I thought manners and etiquette were the same thing.” Lady Charlet said with a sigh, “manners are how you behave towards other people, etiquette is what you do under various circumstances.”

Cid intrigued asked, “What is your opinion of the ton these days?” Lady Charlet knowing a trap when she heard one said, “I believe “The ton” are trying to keep in ton these days ever since Lindblum’s elite announced themselves, the Theater District has taken the world by storm. But it could not have been so without the patronage of the nobles.” Ruslan was sure they were somehow referring to weight and secretly checked the Charlotte ball thingy on his cyber sleuth, when he saw a basic summation of what it was and what they taught Lady Charlet, he was stunned. Cid satisfied with the remarkable showing by Lady Charlet looked at Tenchi and said, “I would be honored to have Ms. Charlet as my daughter’s official BFF.”

Tenchi acknowledged with a slight nod; then turned to Ruslan and said, “You would be further along in your detective studies if your grandfather wasn’t so stubborn. I built an indisputable educational system designed to give the next generation the best education possible. All he wanted to know is if there was a class where you could learn to grow potatoes. But I’m pleased you came here with me today.” Ruslan proudly said, “Of course he did, my families spuds are legendary. And its not as if I had a choice!” Tenchi continued, “I want you to gain experience at deduction by doing, not just learning from a book. ACME Detectives are the best for many reasons; none of which have to do with standard procedures.”

Tenchi suddenly found himself in a more serious mood and suddenly got up from the table and told Ruslan to come with him. Cid surprised reminded Tenchi he hadn’t finished his dinner something he rarely did. Ruslan eagerly got up and followed Tenchi, leading Charlet to comment, “That is bad form, there horrid!” She decided to follow after them and make sure she remained the center of attention, Ruslan wanted to know why Tenchi really brought him there. Tenchi told him, “Your Grandfathers a member of my archeological organization known as The Society. We found an ancient text further detailing a lost civilization in the pacific. I named Arcadia City after this civilization and founded a training academy for the Arcadian Knights. Ruslan wanted to know why he didn’t just use normal archeologists. Only for Tenchi to tell him they could not be trusted.

Their loyalty was to the establishment not science or history, whatever a government told them to censor they would; and rewrite history to fit a false narrative. The Society was successful because of its simplicity, amateur archeologists would be funded and sent on expeditions. Anything they found would be reported to The Society which would send more archeologists to excavate the site further and the true history of the planet would become known once more. But obviously governments weren’t interested in people knowing the truth, they tended to ask too many questions. So under their orders the amateurs would become ostracized and known as raiders. But this backfired spectacularly as the amateur archeologists embraced the term “Tomb Raiders” since that sounded so much cooler, causing a rush of younger people wanting to join The Society and go on adventures around the world as “Tomb Raiders”. Tenchi then felt like talking about one Raider in particular called Lara, but when they reached the elevator Lady Charlet caught up with them and ran inside. Ruslan annoyed she was back yelled, “Whats wrong with you, couldn’t wait till the next elevator came!” Lady Charlet outstretched one arm and returned, “Mind your tone ruffian, your talking to a lady.” Tenchi proceeded to take Charlet’s hand and kiss it shocking Ruslan, Lady Charlet then told Ruslan to follow Tenchi’s example and refer to her as Ms. Charlet. Tenchi pushed the button for the top floor and away they went. Ruslan couldn’t believe this girl, just because she was in a frilly dress she got treated differently as the elevator reached the top of the castle both of them ran outside to see the view. Lady Charlet was feeling very accomplished she passed her audition, brought honor to Tenchi, and got to see pretty views from the top of the Grand Castle. Ruslan wanted to continue the conversation he was having with Tenchi but feared Lady Charlet would start rambling upper class commentary.about the crown heads of Europe.

Lady Charlet ran over to the window and marveled at the view of the Theater District Ruslan walked toward the balcony and looked on with her. Tenchi came in behind them, his arms outstretched and said, “We are the ones who will bring knowledge to the world like a shimmering gift of the gods!” Lady Charlet asked if he could give off anymore anime scientist vibes. But Tenchi said to Ruslan “Science was not an occult enterprise like alchemy, it can’t be controlled by the worlds elitists or greedy corporations. Science is neither faith nor sorcery, it is provable fact that can change the world for the better. When those who are evil bring darkness to the world and suffering to the people, science can change that. But it is useless unless the brave rise up to challenge the wicked with its power. All of humanity is in need of it; they are waiting for the blessings of science to bring peace to the world!”

Ruslan and Charlet stood in awe of of Tenchi ranting like a true eccentric scientist they had seen on tv, it was truly inspiring. But all science and no theater plays makes Lady Charlet a dull girl so she wanted to go to the Theater District post haste but was reminded she had a ball to attend. Lady Charlet countered , “Boo!” And went to get ready for the gala event with a reluctant Ruslan however when Charlet gets an idea in her head, she wants to do it. She could at least go to Theater Pavilion to see the exhibits there but Ruslan would be spending his time before the Ball assisting Tenchi with an experiment. Lady Charlet was quite upset with this and marched off to the area they would be returning to and waited there. As the subterranean pod was being lifted back up to the surface Ruslan was proud of his performance he had managed to not mess anything up and was happy to get back to the surface. Once the pod docked he opened the door only to see Lady Charlet pacing back and forth waiting for them.

His annoyance returning he climbed the ladder to greet her but not say anything to her, for heaven forbid she start the princess act again. Lady Charlet not caring of course; said in a snooty manner, “I let Sanbunny play his video game console and it broke.” Ruslan deciding being professional as always was best ignored Lady Charlet and told Tenchi, “The pod is fully retracted and secure!” Lady Charlet placing her hands on her hips repeated, “Did you hear what I said? Sanbunny has his own high end gaming platform so fix it.” Ruslan replied, “Why should I fix some stupid game console for your stupid bunny?” Lady Charlet answered, “That stupid game console was made by Tenchi that’s why.”

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

Ruslan eager to see more of Tenchi’s inventions went with Lady Charlet to her room. When he got there he saw Princess Eiko, apparently the two had been talking and getting to know each other better. Ruslan on inspecting the circuit board told Charlet a wire became unsoldered when the console overheated after Sanbunny blocked its fan vent. Charlet agreeing said, “Fine get another board.” Ruslan said, “I can’t do that since it’s a board from Home 01 and other boards aren’t compatible.” Lady Charlet felt that was rather silly to design it like that but decided to use the opportunity to get another date with Ruslan. Princess Eiko approvingly nodded then covered her mouth with her hands as she giggled, whileLady Charlet suggested they go look for one at Theater Pavilion, but that meant sneaking out of the castle to get there. They both snuck out, or at least Ruslan did anyway Lady Charlet was busy being proper and sneaking around was a no no. Ruslan impatiently grabbed her hand and ran forward exiting the castle saying in a whispered yell, “Your going to get us caught your highness!” Lady Charlet upset said, “Oh really Mr. Stealth? keep showing me how its done.” When they finally got to the pavilion Lady Charlet got to see the exhibits and started to practice her ballet dance moves. Ruslan focused on the mission looked for a suitable replacement circuit board. Lady Charlet found a series of mirrors and called Ruslan over to her.

She told them they were all different shapes, and made you look funny. Then Lady Charlet took Ruslan hand and bowed to the images in the mirrors and asked, “So which me do you like the best when you look at me?” Ruslan really not liking where this was going focused on the mirrors and looked at each one until his eyes met Lady Charlet’s, her big pretty eyes. Ruslan knew he was supposed to kiss her right now but he felt that falling in love would be a criminal offense, and proceeded to change the subject. Lady Charlet disappointed moves weren’t being made commented, “You must really want your mommy right now.” Ruslan said back” “I’m nothing like that! And we should go back now.”

When the hour came for the ball to start all the guests started to arrive in their carriages whether horse or chocobo drawn was a matter of preference. They entered the Grand Ballroom and began socializing but Ruslan was more interested in the food and upon entering as a special guest wandered over to the entrees but saw they were all monster meat like before. Trying to make the most of it he began eating the parts that looked potato like when he saw the girl of his secret dreams coming down the stairs in her red dress. Next to her the Princess Eiko and other friends of the princess descending the stairs slowly and well practiced. Ruslan couldn’t stop staring at Eiko simply because he didn’t want to look at Lady Charlet and found her to be as other boys said she was. His whole class was always going on about her simply because she was smart, refined, and beautiful, and Ruslan was starting to grasp what the older boys were talking about when they said “girlfriend material”.

This was pointless of course because as a result of forgetting where he was supposed to be, he had to drop the food in hand and expertly maneuver into the boys standing at attention. Fortunately as all eyes were on the girls coming down the stairs, he wasn’t noticed. The girls began taking the hands of the boys and Ruslan started to figure out what that meant for him, though strangely he wasn’t getting butterflies I his stomach. There was apart of him that wanted to run like there used to be but the better part of him was dominant. As Lady Charlet walked towards him she extended her hand Ruslan took her hand and kissed it which was not required. His heart was racing, he thought to himself, “Why did I do that oh right because Tenchi did it! That’s it yeah it has to be! But now what? Oh right take her hand you idiot and get this over with.”

The other boys around Ruslan’s age were not about to kiss a girls hand though they did respect Ruslan’s courage nonetheless.The older kids saw a little Romeo in the making and the girls were wondering where this would lead. Ruslan took Lady Charlet’s hand in his and had reached his physical limits, if this didn’t end soon he would start physically shutting down from the stress. Too bad for him though, since Lady Charlet and the other top three winners had to dance as tradition required. They bowed to each other then Lady Charlet smiled placing Ruslan’s hand on her waist and asked, “Do you have anything to say to me darling?” Ruslan having Lady Charlet right where he wanted pulled her close looked deeply into her eyes and said, “Your under arrest, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” Lady Charlet’s face went beet red and she declared, “I will never surrender, but I may scream.” Ruslan taking her free hand in his said, “I have been known to have that effect.”

Ruslan desire to arrest Lady Charlet had caused him to regain his composure though he wasn’t sure why her face turned red, was it because of him or was she embarrassed by the situation? Either way they had to begin dancing and at least he could do that with no problems. Regular dance practice was held for the students at school of course but he danced with holograms and robots not real girls. So as the dance commenced and all eyes were on them as Lady Charlet had won the Grand Hunt. Ruslan was in another world his training took over and he danced revealing a ballroom dancer could Lady Charlet was swept off her feet and didn’t want it to end. Afterwards the other girls ran over to ask Lady Charlet about Ruslan, she said that he was a very dedicated detective and could foxtrot with the best of them. As a result of Ruslan’s performance the Ball went well, the two of them danced like it was natural and during fast dances Ruslan even brought the mashed potato dance.

However it came time for the Grand Ball to come to a close and the guests retired for the evening. The ones staying at Grand Castle made sure to let others know all throughout the Ball and which jewel room it was. Now things could start to return to normal; as normal as a bunch of kids in aristocratic areas could be anyway. Ruslan had noticed what Tenchi already knew, boys liked Lady Charlet. But Ruslan’s persistence in staying by her side so she wouldn’t steal anything gave them no chances to approach her Lady Charlet could care less about Ruslan’s paranoia and wanted to see the paintings and murals which had been integrated into frames that told the stories from ancient times. One of her favorites she had read about was “The First Fairytale”. Ruslan wasn’t interested in hearing it, but Lady Charlet said she needed to forget that stupid noble at the Ball who almost ran over little kids and a cute kitty. Ruslan said they could be looking at more interesting things but Lady Charlet looked at him getting excited and said, “Oh hush! and enjoy being cultured love. Ah! Chairs are rising up, sit with me.” The sudden sternness of that order made Ruslan know resistance was futile and as he sat in the two-seat recliner, Lady Charlet pushed a button and sat next to him her head on his shoulder and arms around his and so the story began…

Once upon a time there was a girl imprisoned by her heartless father. If she could be free she could make friends and be happy traveling to different kingdoms, and use her magic for the good of the people. But trapped in a tower she could only dream of such things. Until one day a hero appeared and fought for her freedom. He had no desire to save her for himself but to defeat the evil that would see her caged. He succeeded in vanquishing her father and together they fled the wicked fortress!

The hero fell in love with the princess, and she found freedom was better with him by her side. So they traveled the world made friends that accompanied them; and lived happily ever after… Until the gods intervened that is. They decided that the energies the people called “magic” they introduced to this realm were misused by humans and must be taken back. Their experiment had been a failure and they would leave this world and return to their own. The hero and the princess would not allow this, their powers had saved countless lives and restored peace to many warring kingdoms. But the two gods cared not; the arrogance of man was more than they could bear and the power was theirs to do with as they pleased.

They claimed that even this world was a test done to appease each other desire for fairness. One was guided by light the other by darkness thus, an exact copy had been created that allowed more negative energies to influence the land and all life that dwelled within it. But different choices were made and in it, the girl had risen against them once her beloved had died of illness. That world was destroyed by them once they saw she had turned the people against them. The girl was left a twisted abomination after she was bathed in the pools of creation, and then destruction. The hero and the princess were disgusted by this excuse and said that their lives were not toys for the divine.

The gods their minds settled, started preparing for the “deletion” of the realm. Before departing they would reset the world to begin again and would simply start their experiment anew on another world once they had rested in their realm. They pulsed out an energy in all directions that bathed the hero and the girl in bright light designed to annihilate everything on the planet. But it was not to be so, the hero and the girl were protected by a shield of energy which had surrounded them. The hero had journeyed to many lands and acquired much knowledge. One of these was a strange realm where he obtained a legendary weapon called the Monado. Its powers were many; he told them it used a magic called Ether and with it had cut down many gods.

The swords abilities even gave its master the power of foresight, thus he had seen this play out already in a vision and was prepared for the outcome. The gods were infuriated; but at the same time afraid for they had heard of a energy such as this, and Ether was an energy anyone could use and therefore feared. Mortals could become powerful and use Ether to fight anything, even gods. But in their hubris, they decided two gods would be enough to overwhelm the hero and his sword. The hero and the princess were not alone and told the gods he and his friends would defeat them together. And so the battle raged and in the end the the hero was triumphant. The Monado healed the land of its scars from the battle and concentrated the essence of the two gods into two orbs, one of light and one of dark.

A golden medallion that could be worn by one; or split in half for two was used to contain the energy that was left of them. When divided one half dwelled the of the body; in the other dwelled the power of the soul. And so the hero and the princess used the power of the medallion to bring peace to the people of the world. They gained a following, and from them a kingdom called Edenia and the stories of their adventures became legends told by storytellers around the world. And the King and Queen soon found themselves with a family they cherished dearly. They ushered in a golden age of peace and prosperity for all who lived in this great kingdom of Edenia and then they finally lived happily ever after. THE END

Ruslan had heard another story he liked but he wasn’t about to tell Lady Charlet in fact she was quite still like she had become a part of him. He confirmed his worst fears she had fallen asleep, but something kept him from waking her up and pushing her off. Could it be that he liked her? No of course not she’s… someone else not Charlet right now “Lady Charlet”. She was doing what would make Tenchi happy being a good girl; not a psychotic thief like Paper Star. So he’d be fine with this Charlet anytime, though he’s not telling her that just yet. Suddenly he felt Lady Charlet stir and start to wake up, she realized she had fallen asleep having heard this bedtime story from Tenchi all the time. She turned her gaze up at Ruslan and apologized for falling asleep, she then placed her hand on the opposite side of his face from her and then kissed him on the cheek.

Ruslan annoyed and at the same time happy, took the ladies warm hand very slowly off his cheek and chose to inform her through body language; head on my shoulder time is over.He gently pushed her head off his shoulder by using his face, causing their cheeks to touch and he could pretend it just happened that way. It was quite a cute gesture between kids in practice though, so adult observers watching would appreciate it. He helped her out of the recliner and it along with the other chairs lowered back down into the floor. They headed to Lady Charlet’s guest room; The Diamond Room reserved for the winner of the Grand Hunt. Lady Charlet told Ruslan, “Don’t worry about the size of the wedding ring you’ll be getting me one day, its not topping this room. Ruslan countered by saying, “I’m pretty sure there is no diamond that tops the sparkle in your eyes flower.”

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

Lady Charlet found her heart racing and her face flushed red she never thought words like that would come out of his mouth. Her body quivered in nervousness and she quickly countered this “Romeo Ruslan” by forcing the words out, “S-shut up! My sparkling eyes are none of your business!” Heavy breathing ensued as Lady Charlet tried to come to grips with the situation, did he sneak alcohol during the party? Regardless she had to make the most of this sweet situation, she let him know that working together in Toyland was fun. The time flew by as the two spent their talking about their time working together for the Toymaster until they fell asleep. The next morning Lady Charlet had to temporarily cut her trip short though, and go back to Home for a briefing on the Ribbons that had been found.

Charlet asked Tenchi more about the story she and Ruslan heard and he told her it was based on real events and misunderstandings. Since the people of that time didn’t understand advanced science, they saw the energy forces as magic. But they were simply from other dimensions where the laws of physics are different. If those energies enter another dimension, they defy that dimensions laws of physics and are seen as magic. Charlet then asked about the Ether stuff and why she couldn’t use that to solve all her problems.

Tenchi said, “Ether is a multidimensional energy that is perfectly quantifiable by science. The foresight ability for example, is a result of the Monado processing the data in an Ether positive dimension so that during combat the statistical probability of an enemy doing something is able to be calculated. This happens because the Monado is able to read Ether perfectly it doesn’t need to rely on what the enemy is doing since anything it does affects the Ether inside and outside its body. This also leads to visions of future events but they can be changed by doing things differently.” Charlet satisfied with his answers wanted the medallion in the story since it was real. However Tenchi told her it was used to create the Power Coil by a descendant of the hero from the story to stop a great evil army of goblins. Charlet confused said, “Wait how does that work? Did she say I wish on the medallion or something?” Tenchi, replied, “No ferret she used the light and dark energy within to access the powers of creation in another dimension. Then she forged the Power Coil, but when she realized how powerful it was she created the ribbons to act as limiters for that power and the remaining energy from the gods was used up in the process.”

Charlet begrudgingly said, “Aww, I wanted a pretty necklace to go with my cute ribbon.” Tenchi told Charlet to focus on the briefing not looking pretty. All of Charlet’s friends were told they had ribbons now, and what that entailed. The ribbons would grant them magical powers and they would have to defend the world from evil, like the Mist for example. As a result the girls got excited, they knew that they would be recognized as a task force which meant special privileges! If they passed training requirements and were certified that is.

Tenchi informed them during lunch that long ago the Power Coils saved the world and then its power was divided into ribbons. Charlet could control fire, Blitzie had the Power of lightning, Sherry had the power of water, Rumi had the power of light, Fio could control the wind, and Angela could control the earth. With training they could use their powers to exorcise the Mist from affected people and return them to normal. Blitzie Said, “That’s so cool! We get too superheroes!” Angela said, “I must of gotten earth since I’m so stable and mature.” Charlet responded, ”Are you kidding me? You probably got it for being boring like a rock.” Sherry replied, “Guys! We should learn to work as a detective team so we can help everyone.” Rumi enjoying another power gifted to her said, “Wow! This is amazing! Wait till I tell Blonde Ambition! They’re going to be like so jealous! Oh and my mom and dad! Heck my whole family! We’ll have to schedule briefings for Frontier Troops so they know proper procedure! Establish meet and greet protocols so we don’t seem full of ourselves! Practice team poses! And when it comes to-!” As Fio placed her hand over Rumi’s mouth, earning the gratitude of all those present she added, “All we have to do is make sure we succeed in our mission, this Mist must be stopped.”

With the initial explanations completed Tenchi told them that their bending training would be accelerated by the ribbons magic power but would still take a few months to reach mastery. Charlet asked Shada if she was okay with being a stick and she said yes it was fine. People would leave her alone now at least but she still wanted to talk to Kylie sometimes. Tenchi told the girls they would learn each other’s martial arts to better defend themselves but their primary bending art would be the main focus of their training. Charlet would learn Northern Shaolin, Blitzie would learn Hapkido, Rumi would learn Wing Chun, Sherry would learn Tai Chi, Angela would learn Hun Ga Kuen, and Fio would learn Bagua Zhang.

Promotional materials were already being made and the girls were told they’re identities would be semi secret. Charlet was led over to the Enchanted kingdom where she would meet her newest teacher; Shantotto. Charlet said she didn’t need anymore teachers because she had learned from Ivy to be tough and brave, Tatiana taught her to be smart and cautious, and Zack taught her to be make bad jokes and act like an idiot. Charlet then declared, “Team CZIT therefore was fine as it is, and who’s the other kid here with me?” Tenchi told her that “kid” is her new teacher Shantotto; and she’s an adult.” Charlet said I’m bigger than she is, she looks around Creams height!” Tenchi told her to be well behaved around Shantotto for her own good.

When Shantotto was done preparing she walked up to Charlet pointed her mage staff at her and said, “Well isn’t this a fright, a thief in plain sight. Now listen up pup! I’m your new teacher, and hate to be a preacher, so listen well and we’ll be sure to gel.” Charlet squeaked, “Ah! She keeps rhyming when she talks!” Tenchi told her that just how she is, so be patient with her lessons, and listen to what she says. Charlet defiantly stated, “I’ll listen when we see eye to eye.” This caused Shantotto to effortlessly lift off the ground and hover at eye level with Charlet. She then said with an authoritative tone, “Is your head full of garnish or varnish?” Shantotto then lowered back to the ground and started walking along the path. Tenchi waved bye to Charlet who pleaded, “But I don’t wanna!” But it was to no avail; Charlet followed Ms Shantotto and started getting instructed in the ways of magic and spell casting.

Charlet as designated team leader of the Ribbons would get leadership training as well as PR training to properly represent her team and ACME in general. But first before the months of intensive training commenced Tenchi asked Charlet knowing what her response would be asked her what she wanted to do. Charlet said while hugging Tenchi I’m going to see Carmen so Charlet got permission to go visit Carmen. A plane trip is way faster than train Charlet said to Shada who simply responded that train is more scenic, the longer it takes you to get somewhere the more you appreciate the destination. Charlet said stop talking like Tenchi, and get ready cause they were landing. The VILE hideout was just as she remembered it albeit with a few new additions from Virtucon.

On arrival Sir Vile greeted Charlet and... a stick who said she was Shada. The atmosphere was dreary and villainous as always but since Virtucon was there too Drusera started taking data on their operation. The thieves were being quite annoyed by Virtucon presence but they were under orders by Carmen to work with them so their hands were tied. As Charlet went inside to attempt to get to Carmen, she heard a not so nice voice behind her speak, “What are you doing back ACME girl?” Charlet her eyes narrowing coldly responded, “Being back Paper Bag.” Walking out of the shadows the figure responded,“The name is Paper Star, do I have to carve it on your chest so you remember?” Charlet annoyed replied, “You couldn’t carve your way out of a plastic bag Star, now where’s Carmen?” In strolled another of Charlet’s rivals by the name of Ginger saying, “Oh I’m sorry little wannabe she’s not happy with you anymore so there.” Charlet replied, “We’ll see won’t we? Now move.”

Though they hated to admit it Charlet was way more confident and sure of herself than before; it made them sick especially Paper. But Charlet didn’t have time for them she was there to see Carmen and luckily Carmen was actually there to see. So Charlet ran into Carmens room and there was Carmen or at least someone that looked like Carmen. Charlet asked her why she joined Virtucon and she said, “Obviously it’s the right choice VILE will do well in Morden’s New World Order. And once Virtucon rules the world VILE can be a little more aggressive in our ways. Why just steal things when we can use physical force against our enemies as well. So we have shipments of weapons coming in for our operatives to use.” Charlet couldn’t listen to anymore and taking a step back said, “Your not Carmen and I’m gonna tell VILE.”

Just then Carmens eyes started to glow red and she said you will be mine or die Charlet! This led to Carmen attacking Charlet who calmly gripped her sword and dodged Carmens strikes. She grabbed Shada staff off her back and started rapidly thrusting it toward Carmen who took a number of hits. Then rising to her feet Carmen roared and lunged at Charlet who instinctively grabbed her wakizashi and cut Carmens then head fell off! Charlet shrieked more from the sparks having realized this was an imposter. Darn it! When am I gonna get blood on my sword instead of oil? Drusera informed Charlet of her situation and it wasn’t good, “Charlet that robot was sending data to SIN Command and your… dispatching of it will raise the alarm.” Charlet indifferently said, “Like I care, were outta here anyway we gotta find out Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego!?” Drusera cringed and replied, “……Really Charlet? Lets try this again. I’m going to scan and analyze that robot, your going to then disintegrate it and I’ll keep sending the signal back to SIN Command so they wont know anything happened.

For all intents and purposes to them you will be Carmen Sandiego. However since visual confirmation is expected you must resemble her appearance. The robot had lighter hair shade so I’ll modify the nanites to change your hair color to match when you are acting as Carmen.” Charlet’s eyes lit up she was going to be looking for Carmen while being Carmen; it couldn’t get any better. Of course for the more realistic Drusera, It hadn’t gotten better and she then told Charlet worse news, “Also VILE kind of expects Carmen to be alive and since you destroyed Robo-Carmen they are not going to think too highly of you. And since there are some members of VILE who would not mind a more violent approach to their enemies as the imposter advocated; you should proceed with caution.”

While Charlet was attempting to leave she wondered why other thieves would care to stop her but she did not have to wonder for long. A pre-recorded message from Robo-Carmen came on and said No one in VILE is allowed to leave the premises unless under direct mission assignment from Carmen or authorization from Virtucon. Charlet walked through the halls of VILE while speaking via thought to Drusera, ”This is ridiculous have you got the mainframes files yet? I’m seeing for my self Sarah Bellum plans on wasting the entire food supply of India to push Virtucon GMO crap crops. Drusera while still running calculations on the downloaded files responded, “It doesn’t end there I’m afraid multiple VILE members are being given missions to endanger the public at large, while also stealing things, I calculate they are being used to cover SIN’s activities. VILE will be blamed by the world and in turn the real Carmen Sandiego.”

Charlet confidently replied, “Well we wont let that happen will we now Sera? I guess the best thing to do once we get out of here is to steal the loot before VILE does. I’ll become Carmen Sandiego and publicly steal what VILE is after; while stopping their plans to endanger or assassinate people.” But that was easier said than done, all the kids would be accounted for and after curfew roaming the halls was forbidden. Charlet determined that was the best time to escape. So she explored more of the complex to get as much info as possible.

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

She saw Vic the Slick an Double Trouble griping in a corner, Patty Larceny was trying to calm the situation. When she saw Charlet she came over and said, “Hey Charlet I missed you! Got any good glitter?” Charlet gave Patty a bottle of scarlet red glitter and a hug. She then asked, “Is it true that your full first name is Pacifica not Patricia?” Patty gasped and said “Tenchi told you that didn’t he? Well yes that’s my full name, but keep calling me Patty okay.” Charlet said sure Tenchi and Kylie call you Pacifica on occasion and Kylie said that was your name and you were rivals in Gravity Falls when they went under cover there as brother and sister. But I don’t have security clearance to see the files that’s why I asked. Patty told Charlet there are some things that your better off not knowing and if your meant to know you will one day, just be patient.

Charlet let out a small scream at hearing the “P” word for the millionth time. But friends aside Robo-Crook only followed orders and she couldn’t be sure of Contessa’s thoughts on Virtucon. The VILE faculty could be addressed at a later time for now Charlet had to wait on curfew, which meant putting up with Ginger and Paper Star. They were embracing any thing that the leaders of VILE said before and had always wanted to hurt people but now they got their wish. Ginger walked over to Charlet for a nice round of “culling the herd” she in a effort to impress the other kids most notably Paper Star went to punch Charlet in the stomach. Charlet knowing what was happening just stood there it was amazing how training to fight keeps you calm. Ginger connected with full force, and it did absolutely nothing, the zero suits impact absorption capability was phenomenal. Having witnessed this embarrassment Paper Star went over to fight Charlet almost like they fed off each other’s will to harm. But the the bell rang and the kids had to pack it up and go to bed.

This was Charlet’s chance and using the abilities of her suit she was able to quietly sneak around. Clinging to walls was so cool in the field. Rolling into a morph Ball let her go through spaces even small children couldn’t get through and soon Charlet found herself enjoying her escape very much she could fluidly switch from wall crawling to Morph balling into vents, holes or any other opening She saw it was an addiction. Roll up the side of a bookshelf travel across it hop over the gap to the wall roll down the wall to the door go through it piece of cake Charlet thought. As she traversed the premises any motion detection was rendered moot by her stealth systems any line of sight laser alarms were disabled by hacking , destroying, or avoiding them and soon Charlet found herself in a storage room. She was almost out all she had to do was avoid the pressure sensors in the floor.

This could be done one of two ways either rely on her suits grappling hook or just hover over them with her wings. But as she started walking forward a voice from behind her said, “Going somewhere?” It was Eartha Brute the strongest woman in VILE she shut the door behind her and bent the latch into a lock with her strength. Well howdy there lil ferret I don’t think I can condone you being up and about after curfew like this. Charlet sarcastically replied, “Well I had a craving for Ice cream and got lost looking for the kitchen ma’am.” Brute then cracking her knuckles said, “You know I can’t let you go ferret.” Charlet tried to hover away but was grabbed and thrown by Brute. She then tried attacking Brute but it had no affect on her. Brute easily knocked her back to the floor and told to guard herself better. Brute then told her she should not disobey Carmen unless she wanted to get spanked. Charlet panting for breath said, “You found me and brought me to VILE now your attacking me cause I wanna leave?” “Don’t even go there honey. Now if you go back to your room, I’ll even read you a bedtime story.” Brute then started to hug Charlet hard enough to suffocate her. Charlet then said with her last breath , “Not interested.” Charlet’s suit then discharged a huge shock that knocked Brute out cold.

“Thank you Drusera.” Charlet had to catch her breath after that and then made her escape. The plane she arrived in had been auto piloted by Drusera to a safe location under cloaking device, Charlet crawled inside and laid down in the seat to rest. She had gotten all these powers and she still couldn’t beat Brute easily. Drusera told her VILE obviously knows she’s not Carmen And she has limited time to stop VILE… And there is a small issue she neglected to mention. Maelstrom is essentially in charge of VILE courtesy of Virtucon and Robo-Carmen’s orders. He knows Robo-Carmen is not the real Carmen and possibly knows what happened to the real Carmen. Since he despises her, he is not going to tell the other Council members what happened.

Charlet getting where this was going said, “Oh because he’s been in charge ever since Robo-Carmen was brought in as a puppet! He’s the one giving the violent orders and setting up VILE to take the blame instead of Virtucon.” “Correct, so it is unlikely he will inform VILE of Robo-Carmens fate. Or how do you humans put it? Carmen is at a cottage in the mountains.” Charlet said she would pretend to know what that meant cause she was too tired to ask what it did. What she did know however is that she had a limited amount of time to expose Maelstroms plan.

The good news was she was going to get ACME’s help, they would pretend she was Carmen and send out information about her heists which would be broadcast around the world. They even decided to make an animated series on Netflix loosely based on what she’d be doing. This would infuriate world leaders of course when they found out a cartoon was presenting Carmen in a positive light, and would prioritize making her public enemy number one. This would serve Maelstroms plan whether VILE stole the loot or Charlet did the public would blame Carmen Sandiego. So Charlet knew Team CZIT would work better for this mission being ACME detectives after all. So they were given mission priority as support operatives Tatiana would gather information and use her public relations credentials to make sure Carmen was on the mind of the worlds elite. While Zack and Ivy would support Charlet in the field with Ivy acting as a decoy when needed and Zack, well being Zack.

Though Ivy assured Charlet Zack would contribute greatly to the teams mission. So Charlet returned to Home and and added this to her mission list. Officially she would be a normal schoolgirl; her undercover identity would be Carmen Sandiego and all loot was fair game. Carmen would steal whatever VILE was going after while trying to track down the real Carmens location. She would be classified MIA though most detectives suspected the worst they didn’t want Charlet to be sad. The other issue of course was being leader of the Ribbons but that was not as time consuming as Charlet thought it was going to be.

The Ribbons weapons had been enhanced magically and would take some getting used to, but Charlet was most interested in her Wand Sword her gunblade rapier could retract to the length of a wand for spell casting. Her Magic Bow made from combining her two wakizashi which transformed into a bow. And her magic arrows; energy bolts that could be fired off and home in on enemies instead of her fire, ice, thunder, or bomb arrows. The girls weaponry was almost identical except for any previous weapon training or expertise they had. Their primary weapon were Magic Swords and were unique in elemental power given by their bending art however. And Blitzie not to be outdone by Charlet; also had a triangular shaped electric power staff that separated along the full length of the staff into three pieces and trapped a person or monster behind an electric energy wall by simply surrounding them.

Training was going well so well in fact that the Ribbons were told they would go to Russia to see the Tundran Army and check on their status. This would be their first mission and they were excited to be deployed. The Ribbons were flown in to see Czar Gorgi, and his son and heir Marshall Nova. Though enemies at first the Tundran Army became valued allies after Marshall Nova took over command from his father so he could focus on running the company itself. The Ribbons touched down then proceeded to exit the plane, and it was c-c-cold! Except for Sherry who exclaimed, “I feel the cold, but I don’t feel cold.” Blitzy dryly replied, “Good for you Sherry now if you don’t mind the rest of us need to get back to freezing.”

Even with winter clothes on it was still frigid but luckily zero suits have climate control, they didn’t turn the heat up since it was toasty on the plane. But now the function was quite appreciated, they had to simply go into Tundran HQ and say hi to the soldiers. But as they approached there was no one in sight, as they looked around for signs of activity they did what they had been trained for. Rumi and Fio needed no extra training but their four friends were still learning but had the basics down and were deemed capable of missions selected for them. As they walked into the HQ and toward the entrance they stopped and discussed their next course of action. Charlet wanted to just yell for people but knew not to, it was so unprofessional that and you give away your position to potential hostiles. The Ribbons didn’t have to wait long however suddenly Tundran soldiers ambushed them and attacked!

The Ribbons started fighting them off making sure not to get separated. Just as the girls were finishing up the last of their attackers, the leader of the Tundran Army; Marshall Nova appeared. Over 6 feet tall, Steel-eyed, resolute, and distinguished were the first things that came to mind on seeing him. But working with him they’d learn Nova is a stern, fearless, dedicated military action man. He is very aggressive, but at the same time is courteous. He cares deeply for his country and despises Morden and General Bison ever since they threatened the peace.

He walked forward and said, “You have intruded on Tundran ground, prepare to suffer the consequences!” The Ribbons charged toward Marshall Nova and began fighting him but just like with Tenchi. couldn’t beat him but Blitzy wasn’t giving up and made another advance only to see Nova was not being serious. He then congratulated the Ribbons on their performance, and then suddenly Tenchi came from inside the HQ building. The Ribbons quickly realized this had in fact been a test. Charlet said with a mix of surprise and annoyance, “Are you kidding me! We’re still being tested! Where’s the trust Tenchi?” Tenchi happily informed them that they had passed evaluation of both Frontier and Tundran Commanders and therefore got to handle upcoming missions they were planning. The Frontier, Tundran, and Solar Armies had agreed to operate in unison going forward. The test over the group returned to Home 01.

When it came to mission deployment the Ribbons would only be sent out when a monster attacked or they were needed for diplomatic reasons. So after initial training was done the majority of their time would be spent as it had been school, training,… and boys. Two of those boys on the Ribbons list were currently battling their way through the new Pacific islands. They had been able to verify six that had appeared after the initial ones they were exploring had manifested. They were surrounded by energy shields that matched the colors of the ribbons worn by the girls.

During their time there Ruslan and Eddie had gone from surveying the plant life to fighting monsters. The research team as all but helpless in the field they had to rely on the heroic duo to fight through monster heavy areas to continue the expedition. While doing this on the first island that was secured, a wise old man had given Ruslan clues to unlocking his destiny as a descendant of the Arcadian Civilization or more precisely; their order of knights. Eddie had used reconnaissance to designate the islands in the area that were the islands they needed to visit to complete the mission; and the other islands that were optional. He wasn’t exactly interested in his heritage and was focused on completing his mission until they hit a wall literally. He couldn’t make progress so he had to go out of the mission parameters to explore islands that could have been ignored to find ancient artifacts to unlock areas on the mission designated islands.

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

Or in other words he was annoyed with the sudden fetch quests that had piled up as a result of not going when they first had the opportunities. That is until the old man named Jedrek Hagan gave them sea rifles as the small boat they were in sailed on automatic from one isle to the next, monsters would pop up. So Ruslan and Eddie had to lay down suppressing fire to clear the path in front of them. They would compete for points and then traverse the islands tracking down one artifact after another. Until Ruslan found himself pulling the Sword of Arcadia out of an ancient felled monsters giant skull. It came in pretty handy with the shields they earned from Arcadia Academy which produced an energy shield so you didn’t need to hold them to block directly unless the attack was stronger then the energy shield on its own. These were used to complete their arduous journey and they honestly did not want to get rid of the swords but they had to go into evidence lockers for analysis for two weeks at least.

Needless to say their return to home was a welcome one people had seen released video footage of them running around and blowing things up on one island. Sword fighting and monster slaying on the next. The data on what they encountered was uploaded to Arcadian Academy and Central Command as was the norm. And this is one of the reasons stopping these evil forces was so efficient and well organized. All enemies data concerning strength and weaknesses was available to everyone registered to the system in real time. The moment new enemies are detected all relevant data about appearance strengths and weaknesses are sent in.

From that Battle Strategists and A.I. create effective engagement or avoidance training modules which can be utilized immediately. Since that was the case what Ruslan and Eddie did was map and analyze a series of islands flora and fauna while retrieving a massive amount of archeological artifacts. The higher up were very impressed indeed. Tenchi assigned Ruslan to be the Ribbons body guard and he decided to use the secret identity Overalls Mask. The world leaders in the meantime were in for a rude awakening true to form they had fallen for Morden’s plan and now the Megacorporaton Virtucon was starting to control government services in certain countries. If a group spoke out against Virtucon they would be silenced through Virtucon PR staff traveling to said country and asking their government to censor or jail them.

The monsters appearing were twofold: One’s affected by the Mist and others turned into monsters directly by Duchess Cabochon or her minions. The latter were able to be made specialized for the environment or just general mayhem. Virtucon would then offer its own “solution” to the monster issue by establishing a rival division to Home called Poppers They would primarily focus on monster prevention and neutralization. The main force would be the Soda Pops six girls trained to use dark magic spawned from energy gathered from Cabochon’s piece of the coil. Their leader was Ginger and Paper Star had been recruited so far as well but the auditioning was still ongoing, Though a girl from VILE overseas operations was spotted, and needless to say they liked what they saw potential-wise. The other three girls would be temporary members rotated in and out when it was deemed necessary.

At Home the girls were going through training to be good at their job of saving the world which was not easy in the beginning. Charlet thought things couldn’t get more complicated but then Pagan started speaking to her. She had Shantotto teaching her to use her ribbons power to thank for that. Their wings had leveled up to two; enabling true flight capability. The girls discussed the different objectives they had as Ribbons and wanted to return the monsters to normal as priority they also decided to make Yan Lin’s restaurant their main hangout for mission planning mostly because they loved the food. Of course the girls did get a little annoyed or jealous from Charlet getting to then be whisked away on another mission to stop VILE from stealing the thing of the week but it couldn’t be helped.

Charlet as Carmen had successfully stolen multiple loot from the VILE faculty loyal to Maelstrom’s vision. That meant having to fight Paper Star from time to time and a few others. But as a “Heroine of Justice” she was more than happy to spend her time saving people and stealing stuff. Sherry however did comment on the duality issues going on in the fan club newsletter, but Angela reassured everyone Charlet was just trying to have her cake and eat it too. Charlet decided to settle this at their next meeting at Yan Lin’s she informed the girls, “Having cake and eating it is fun!” Blitzie replied, “That wasn’t what we were expecting to hear, can you be more serious? And where are my wontons?” Charlet returned, “I am being serious stealing loot before VILE is essential to distracting Maelstrom by making myself look good.”

Fio reminded Charlet, “Um we gotta handle the monsters first Maelstrom can wait, the Power Coil has to be reassembled for that to happen.” Charlet told the girls that Frontier Command had learned through Lord Katsuhito that the Power Coils three pieces formed a circular band when reunited, but one of the pieces had been further broken into six they had to be found and the Bravery Coil would be whole again. Then the the Coil of Strength and Intelligence could be joined together. Charlet said, “That’s the first time I’m hearing of that unless I forgot. Where’s my order of Daifuku and Dango?” Rumi answered, “Its taken this long because those new islands that appeared he’d to be researched. Basically the six islands that appeared are holding the pieces of the Bravery Coil, Ruslan and Eddie’s intel was paramount in figuring out this piece of the puzzle.

Speaking of which-” Blitzie interrupted Rumi by saying, “Can it Rumi! My brothers tech has been used to monitor SIN activity instead of the Corp. And what happens? The 3A models are marching along with Virtucon Virtu-Bots. Now we have to go to six magic islands so lets go already! Were professionals kind of, so there’s no reason not to.” Charlet happily smiling said, “My sweet honey cop does it again! He’s so cool!” The girls agreed with that option and went off for yet another photo shoot and countless interviews and Q&A sessions. But plans had finally been drawn up for the siege of the six islands, and the Ribbons were brought in to the Command Center for their briefing on the situation.

Charlet wanted to know what all the hubbub was about and Tenchi said, “You need better catchphrases ferret. I’ll put gum in your gears! Is not exactly poster selling material.” Charlet retuned, “My catchphrases require a refined taste to understand.” Tenchi said regardless their months of work was bearing fruit. The Ribbons would be traveling to the six islands starting with the the heavily forested one and island hopping from there. But Charlet had to handle exorcising monsters first. “The streets of Maine are flooded with wine, we think Chase might be the cause of that. There’s a book trapping people in its pages, the name on the spine of the book read Jacquline Hyde.” Charlet gasped and said, “She’s In VILE!” Tenchi continued, “There’s a giant Lady Justice statue that keeps trying to step on people, A swarm of bugs is terrorizing the Invader Arcade, and a giant purse is burying people in money. Not that anyone’s complaining about that in fact people are going out of heir way to see that monster.” Angela interjected, “Those idiots! Don’t they understand the rampant level of inflation that will be setting in? Plus those are Won the currency of South Korea.”

Tenchi Said, “Excellent work gumshoe! Now for 500 points can the Ribbons guess which monster should be handled last?” The Ribbons unanimously chose Chase since an ACME detective was posing as him for the Carmen missions and he wasn’t exactly able to keep up. But since the real Chase would intervene it would cause Virtucon to catch on. So the ribbons readied for their mission. Charlet said, “By the power of the color red I shall defeat this discordant chaos!” Blitzie sighing said, “No Charlet, just no.” Charlet trying again said, “The same as my clothes and the color of my blood, this shall come to an end with a thud!” Fio said, “Are you even trying anymore?” Charlet giving up said, “I want to put smiles on peoples faces!” Tenchi told her, “That worked fine now get out there girls; and may the power protect you.”

Charlet filled with resolve said, “Lets accessorize!” A convenient thunderbolt sounded and Charlet, Sherry, Rumi, Blitzie, Angela, and Fio yelled Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Green, Purple, and White! And after a power up process that took about a minute to complete the girls yelled in unison “We are Magic Ribbons!” They were teleported via Transerver to the various locations, taking down yet another string of monsters one by one. Fans could name the magic techniques by heart at this point as the girls attacked; all the people watching on tv saw were various explosions, elemental bending and sudden shouting of techniques such a as Burning Rush!, Rolling Thunder God! Light Speed Blast! Water Dragon Bullets!, Razor Wind Cutter!, And Boulder Dash! When the monsters were turned back into people they were taken by Frontier to be monitored.

All that was left was Maine, the girls flew into the area only to see Virtucon there already. They went into combat mode and carefully navigated the streets of wine. Then they came across Virtucon finest: The Soda Pops. They faced each other on the roof of a store and got acquainted by Ginger saying, “Back off Ribtards were the Soda Pops and we’ll be dealing with this bacchanal beast!” The Soda Pops introduced themselves as; Cherry, Blue Raspberry, Peach, Grape, Strawberry, and Vanilla. Ginger then said, “Get ready to feel the fizz you geeks!” The Ribbons were not to impressed with that taunt too say the least, but they began to fight the Pops since it was clear they weren’t going to work together. Of course the Ribbons had a very clear advantage since they could fly, which caused them to beat the Soda Pops quite quickly.

Cherry screamed, “Argh! You think your soooo pretty but who cares! We will return stronger than ever and then you’ll rue the day! Rue I say, rue!” Peach Pop then smirked and said, “Don’t feel too bad you weren’t good enough to make this team red, I’ll handle all the destruction and stealing from now on okay tootles!” The Soda Pops then fled the scene while the Ribbons located the bacchanal beast. It was a wine battle for the ages red and white wine were fired in all directions but the Ribbons had learned to fly as easily as they could walk and deftly maneuvered through the vicious assault. It was all over when Sherry froze the wine trapping him in his own alcoholic prison! Once chilled he was exorcised swiftly by Charlet. Chase was evacuated out of the area by ACME and sent to a safe house for the time being.

The Ribbons having cleared the mission list of monsters flew back to the Command Center and readied to go to the islands. There Tenchi said they would be sent in by ship captained by Popeye. They would be backed up by Felix and his magic bag, and any problems encountered wouldn’t be for long with Felix there to help. Charlet told Tenchi, “You only called your friends from Toyland to subtly educate me on old cartoons. We can do this faster if we go by ourselves. And who is Peach Pop? She annoys me; and I really wanna hit her more than Cherry Pop!” Tenchi said patience is a virtue she should learn; and Peach Pop is essentially the Japanese her named Momo Karuizawa. Charlet had already opened a box of pocky and was snacking on some while playing with fire between her fingers she responded, “Well that explains her love of pouting, vent crawling, and sinister smirking.”

The girls were sent to port where they met up with Popeye who twirled his pipe and said, “Well blow me down! I gotta take a bunch’a kids into a combat zone. Glad I brought me some extra crates of spinach. Alright you daisies get on the boat, we’re setting sail!” Onboard the girls met there contact Felix and their body guard Ruslan. Felix said, “It’s a pleasure to meet ya! Very quickly the girls grew to adore Felix him being a cat that talked like Pagan did, but he was a cartoon cat; with a magic bag which meant magic tricks to boot.” The first island couldn’t be gotten to soon enough the girls had to deal with Wimpy asking for hamburgers all the time, and Popeye constantly well, being a sailor man.

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

Soon though Popeye spied the island through his telescope and turned up the engines while steering singing, “Its not easy bein’ me. Master of me own destiny.” Finally the ship was able to dock and the Ribbons Ruslan and Felix disembarked. Back at Central Command Eddie was keeping a close eye on them from satellite cam. As Tenchi had guessed the barrier blocking entry came down when the Ribbons got close; Angela in particular her Ribbon was now glowing and she felt a deeper connection to nature and more power flowing into her. The island was very flush with plant life as the group wandered further they came upon the obstacle in the way, a giant large tree stump. Charlet flew to the stump and landed on it; then it suddenly and quickly grew upwards stopping at the middle area of the forest canopy. Charlet looked ahead and saw a giant tree with a face. It looked at her and asked, “What do you want?”

Charlet said she was looking for the Coil piece and the tree told her that the Bravery Coil once assembled will go to the one chosen to be its possessor, when its combined with the other two pieces it will become whole again. But to get the pieces you must find them hidden away in six temples. It would take Strength , Intelligence and Courage to survive these temples. So come back when you know how to throw a punch okay little girl? Charlet upset said, “Oh great you mean all that stuff I told Tenchi I didn’t need to learn is actually necessary? Boo.” Charlet then took Shada Staff off her back and with a flurry stabbed the stump beneath her and said, “Don’t make me shove this where the sun don’t shine, where’s the temple?”

The divine tree responded, “Oh forgive me Ms. tuff stuff I had no idea you were a girl who knew her way around a big stick. The temple is further ahead Don’t let the vines worry you they’re vegan.” The divine tree powered up Charlet by giving her energy entrusted to him for the chosen one. Charlet empowered said, “Whoa now its time to kick some butt. Onward to the temple.” The divine tree snakily said, “I could even sing a random song while you skip down the lane if you want.” Charlet said in reply, “No thank you, I’ll just flit about like a fairy in silence goodbye now.” And so Charlet and the Ribbons got to flitting about as they so loved doing. And the flitting only ended when they reached their destination.



The thick tangled branches of the Forested Isle hold up a dense canopy that spans for miles in all directions like a blanket cutting the forest off from the outside world. Ancient trees stand like gnarled wooden columns of a lost city, the gaps between forming trails like some old forgotten roads. It is in the center of these magical woods that the Wooden Temple as old as the flora that slowly devours it. Colossal stone walls overtaken in moss and ivy pediments, and corridors with empty halls from the high ceilings of which hang vines and cobwebs, silent courtyards open to the skies above. As group explore the deserted passages an overbearing feeling of isolation suffocates them. There’s something strange eerie not quite right about this place. The hands that built it are long gone forgotten just like its original purpose.



Their training had enabled them to traverse into these green halls of hollow emptiness. Slowly they solved the puzzles and disarmed the traps. In the end their prize was learning more about the feelings of loneliness, the fear of isolation, and the misery of sorrow. And then Angela took the Coil piece and decided to wear it around her neck. The team then trekked back to the boat where Popeye had been enjoying walloping anything that tried to get too close over the horizon. But the journey had just begun The next stop on their trip was the Fire Island home to Blaze Mountain.



As they arrived they could see the lava they needed to avoid. The heat would have been unbearable for everyone except Charlet, but the ribbons are connected to each other like the bonds connecting friends to each other. So with a glow the power to withstand high temperatures passed to her friends, which were upset since they were hoping for a vacation while Charlet did all the work. Felix seeing yet another opportunity to use his bag said, “Hey kids this lava is really hot; but not as much as this trick!” Felix opened his bag and transformed it into a boat that can sail over lava and use its treads to travel across the landscape. Now they could get relaxation time after all. Thanks to Felix the trip was uneventful anti air guns and artillery turrets fired on any incoming enemies. Eventually they reached Blaze Cave, the path would lead to the Flame Castle the entrance was deep in the smoldering bowels of Blaze Mountain.

The bottom levels are flooded with simmering magma the upper levels are decorated in ornate carved stone. As they entered the Flame Castle they saw billowing streams of fire pouring down the walls as if they were water. Orbs of bright flame floated in the air above lighting the rooms. Only the brave of heart would enter these smoldering ramparts. And it was only through teamwork that they succeeded in reaching the final room. Charlet took the Coil piece and placed it around her neck as Angela had and they then made their way out and back to shore.

The water island was their next destination and Sherry was a bit apprehensive about it. But her friends reassured her everything would be okay. When they landed on this island it was ice cold and snowing. Sherry agitated declared, “Why are water levels always the worst! Im freezing!” Fio confused said, “Why aren’t you cold proof?” What Sherry meant was her power was making water freeze. It was already cold enough for the Ribbons, minus Sherry who was lamenting such a hostile environment. The island from afar looked like a temperate paradise but as they got closer the area they were in got frosty cold. Outside of that the island was normal but as they walked the cold zone moved with them.

It was Rumi who told Sherry people think water levels suck because water is fluid and changes based on the conditions its in. It refuses to take a side and always adapts to change. Sherry said that was quite profound. Blitzie said, “She talks so much that she has no problem finding the right words in times like this.” The girls unexpectedly found this funny and started giggling as they remembered why Rumi is so popular, she’s always there when you need her and she never asked for acknowledgement for anything. Sherry on the other hand had had always went out of her way to seek approval by helping Charlet and Blitzie not argue, it made her feel special.

But after becoming a Ribbon she started helping others she didn’t know simply because she could by looking up to Rumi. She stopped caring about what other people think about her actions because she had leaned to help others who want your help. And so the girls trudged on through the ice and snow knowing they would reach the Water Tower. But they were being followed by a something; something that children were terrified of and soon it confronted them. The girl were horrified to see this water demon especially Angela who knew him on sight. She said as a cold chill went down her spine and her eyes opened wide, “They are the boogey men, Rawhead and Bloody Bones!” The team took defensive positions and knew they must overcome this horrific obstacle in their path. Duchess Cabochon like Morden, loved having backup plans and now the monsters she sent would tear them asunder.

Bloody bones used his bones to fight the girls he launched bones spikes and attacked with a bone sword. Rawhead viciously lunged toward the girls trying to rip the flesh from their bodies. When it looked like Bloody was going to charge Charlet and attack her, Overalls Mask leapt to the top of a pillar and threw a potato streaking through the air smacking Bloody Bones in the face knocking his head off. Blitzie wondered aloud, “Why do you keep throwing potatoes to save us!?” Charlet sick of his dancing, drew her wand sword and countered with her Ballet-fu; beautiful and graceful swordplay ensued. The fight was intense but the Ribbons faced their fears and overcame Bloody Bones and Rawhead sending them back to the depths from whence they came!.

When they arrived they could see the icy tower going up into the sky and down below the frozen lake. They made there way inside and began to navigate the cool cold hallways occasionally being hit by frigid wind bellowing through the structure. Dangerous icicles hung on the ceiling and water constantly changed from cold ice in the bottom third, to cool water in the middle third, to hot steam in the upper third of the tower. But in time they reached the final room and Sherry attained a Coil piece. When they returned to Popeye’s ship they discussed where to go next in the meeting room and had decided to take a break from arguing the next location to go. It was nighttime and raining outside Popeye of course could care less and was finishing up all necessary work on deck while singing too. “Oh I’m Popeye the sailor man (toot). I’m Popeye the sailor man (toot). I’m strong to the finach, cause I eats me spinach! I’m Popeye the sailor man! (toot toot)”

The girls all stopped and ran to hear the famous song sung by the actual sailor who they had grown to respect on this trip. They were watching him from the door working tirelessly in the wind and rain, Which Felix being a cat wanted no part of. But going back to the meeting room the girls resumed their strategy session. Fio having family on her mind said, “Guys I don’t want to go to my island next the sooner this trip is over the sooner we go back to things being normal. So if my island is last I can focus on having fun. In Frontier I’m doing my best for my parents. I am in a military family and its expected that you serve in the army. So I’m doing my best to honor my family name. But that’s gets hard sometimes especially since Morden attacks every six months or so.”

Blitzie led a logical argument about balance and after a vote It was decided that Light Island should be next since Angela, ever the mature one went first, so to balance the next three islands; Rumi should go next. Rumi full of enthusiasm said, “Yes! We are going to go to my island and totally dominate! It has no chance! Charlet take the left flank! Angela take the right! The rest charge the weak center of newly recruited monsters! Don’t falter! Cut em down!” As Rumi rambled on, the girls said meeting over and went off to a warm bed. The next morning the ship was heading in to Light Island it was very sunny beautiful and deadly.

But unfortunately for our heroes; the Soda Pops were on their way to intercept the Ribbons. Cherry screamed, “Hey! Saylor Buffoon were here to kick your butt, I hope your ready to die now!” Momo hit some tennis ball bombs at their ship and explosions started going off. Momo yelled “Knock knock wannabe me! Wake up so we can beat you down! Sara Bellum is way better than Tenchi and made me her lab assistant after I signed the PEACH Contract! So are you enjoying my tennis skills little copycat? Hahaha!”

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

The Ribbons weren’t too thrilled to see the Pops again and decided to beat them quick like the last time, but when they went topside they saw the Pops in a Blimp airship and hovering around it. Blitzie said, “Yay, they can fly now too.” Paper Star fuming at her last defeat maliciously said, “You will feel my pain and beg for death! And I will be kind enough to grant it to you!” Charlet annoyed and already having a plan replied, “Shut up and bring it Star, we still have breakfast to eat; and you’ll be good practice.” Charlet then glared at Peach Pop lamenting how she couldn’t fight her since she had to deal with Cherry.

And so another battle ensued with the Pops having gotten stronger with their jet packs enabling flight mode but though they did a better job, they still were no match for the Ribbons. Charlet’s plan was simple; burst their bubble or in this case the blimp that brought them. So with well placed attacks they lured the Pops over and Blew up the blimp. Down it fell into the sea with the balloon covering the boat it was carrying. The pops and their crew were forced to paddle back to the mainland. Cherry yelled in hatred laced fury, “You haven’t seen the last of us Red! I’ll get you and your stupid friends too!” Peach informed Charlet that, “You have violated the PEACH Contract it states that any and all doppelgängers(most likely Charlet Saylor) encountered in the field by Momo Karuizawa; will create a conflict of interest. As such said doppelgänger must return to VILE to be properly disciplined immediately! After which said breachers of this binding document will be given new images and or identities through mind wiping and retraining!”

Knowing how long winded the SCARLETT Contract was, Charlet just put her hands in her ears. The Ribbons then flew back to their boat and sailed on to Light Island. Once they landed they saw huge crystalline structures dotting the landscape focused sunlight into solar lasers. Finely chiseled black and white marble blocks shone reflections like a mirror. And everywhere there was a shadow it didn’t last long they were constantly moving as night turns to day. Mobile crystals turned in place or moved along pathways powered by solar energy. The prismatic scene was only topped by the rainbow effects on display with colored lights dancing across the path toward the Lighthouse Observatory.

Rumi’s Ribbon put reflective shields around her friends and they could reflect solar lasers for a time before the shield needed to recharge. This enabled them to shine light on switches to open the way forward. Once they got to the Lighthouse they found it hard to focus on the job at hand since the polished crystal was so beautiful to look at. As were the lighting effect going on throughout he floors of this opulent Observatory. After making the stars align and the constellation appear in the proper places in the star room the final door opened and Rumi was able to get her Coil piece. The Ribbons were a little sad to leave Light island but they knew they had their own sunshine on the team to cheer them up.

Blitzie was now all amped up as her island was next she was training extra hard and making sure everyone was ship shape from stem to stern. Or maybe she was overdoing it, but when you want to make your family proud you could get lost in procedures. Ever since she found herself fighting against an evil corporation she wanted her brother to know she could handle herself and Thunder Island would be her biggest test in her mind anyway. The girls told her to not worry about what they would face there and so when they arrived a obviously predictable thunderstorm was raging. But not just any storm, a storm of lethal electric death. The island was mostly plains for as far as the eye could see very few high spots and sand that had a high content of iron in it.

This was bad news for the team anyone or anything walking across the plain would be struck by lightning. But Blitzie’s ribbon gave her friends electric proof shields that could take several hits before needing to recharge. Thus they with sound cancelling earplugs in their ears, travelled across the land. They had another advantage as well Felix used his magic bag to create a series of lightning rods across the island but since this was a big trick the bag would be out of action for the rest of the island. They couldn’t have gotten to the Thunder Hall any sooner once inside no more flashing of lightning strikes every one instead saw the electricity flowing arcing and discharging. Walls and rooms channeling ionic potential from circuit a to b. The team had to channel electricity in the right wattage to specific areas. This was accomplished by opening and closing circuit pathways until the flow was in balance. The final switch powered up the final room opened and Blitzie attained her Coil piece.

Then they flew back as fast as they safely could before Felix’s bag turned back. Of course the entire time Blitzie was having no problem and even raised her hand to have it be struck by lightning, because it was so cool looking she knew she would miss it. The team sailed off to the final destination, Wind Island with fully recharged ship batteries. The team was confident of completing their mission which made them strangely worried about what could go wrong the wind changes direction on a whim one minute a lucky wind fills your sails the next; a dead calm halts your progress. The sails of their ship was retracted as Popeye said, “Well blow me down, there’s no wind blowin’.” The ship sailed forth under engine power for the rest of the approach to Wind Island. As the ship landed and the team disembarked fo the last time Fio was the last one to get off the ship.

There was not a breeze to be felt and an eerie quiet was only interrupted by the howling of air being blasted through stone carved pipes. The air was being moved so fast that it became red hot and could be seen flowing through the the pipes powering various machines through wind power. Though it did take a while for the team to get quite worried when they realized what was going on. The external pressure in the area was zero, which meant that they normally wouldn’t be able to breathe. Instead their lungs should be expanding from the internal pressure in their bodies which had no external resistance anymore. But as a result of Fio’s Ribbon her friends had normal pressure acting upon them as well as air to breathe.

So off they traveled through the island path admiring the stonework. Then as if out of nowhere they heard a voice say, “Good day I say.” The team looked around but didn’t see anyone. Then the voice spoke louder, “Good day I say!” The team looked down and saw Shantotto. They were quite curious as to how she got there but she simply told them she flew there. The Ribbons happy to see their magic teacher continued forward. Shantotto stated, “Children these days are ruder than ever, yet I’ll forgive you…for this endeavor. And if your wondering why I’m here, its to review the progress you make dear.” The girls asked if she should be testing them on a real mission like this only to hear back. “Indeed I can, now Don’t worry about me I’ll be watching you next to this strange man. And be sure to take the easiest route to the goal; don’t waste your time on pointless rigamarole!”

They’re teacher staring down their backs, the girls went forth knowing by now this was a pressure test. They had such respect for Shantotto, as would any of her students she had the aura of something from your nightmares. This wasn’t a coincidence showing up unexpected on an island that affects pressure; to have a pressure test on performance was something they needed. So when they reached the Windmill plant it was something to behold. A huge windmill turning in the wind no; turning from wind being generated by something powerful. Into the windmill they went inside they saw platforms and elevators all resting on over-pressurized wind currents. Doors made of concentrated wind and vehicles designed to use the air power to function were on display.

The place evoked a sense of ingenuity and only those wise enough to understand that the wind can turn in your favor through your actions could hope to progress through this multi-floored wonder of wind. The quest led them up the mill just to be lowered to the bottom where the final door opened and Fio was able to collect her Coil piece. The team had successfully completed their mission And the wind had begun blowing across the island again. They hurried back to the boat to get back to Home 01. Shantotto had left as mysteriously as she appeared and there was a feeling of having done well since she wasn’t lecturing them. The pieces of the Bravery Coil had been found, and the team returned them to Home 01 to be studied. There was a huge welcoming party waiting for them and everyone got to relax after their arduous journey.

“Hope is a fragile thing, but even a single spark can ignite a blazing movement strengthening the peoples resolve. Humanity is emboldened by the power that hope brings. Which is why I will use all my power to crush it. How does it feel to know all you have witnessed up to now has been for nothing? That your heroes have failed to save you? To know that the bonds they have formed will be severed? While they unite people against threats that loom, it matters not once divided their will is nothing for humans only notice their flaws when it is too late. They will focus on their victories in battle, and rally around their heroes. And when they fail and turn to your little spark; Understand she will meet the same fate. This is where your dream ends Tenchi. And I cant wait to watch you burn...”



The Bravery coil was pieced back together and The mundane patterns of their school lives set back in. Cream was happy to see Charlet again and gave her a flower ring to wear on her head, and wanted her to see Team Sonic when they showed up. Charlet said that would be fine and she was a very good bunny to have as a friend. Sonic in question had been running around the world seeing what was going on for himself Team Sonic per Tail’s suggestion decided to crash at Home 01 as usual. They had gotten used to the island paradise they were on but when Robotnik went missing they knew they had to find out what he was up to. Luckily Robotnik got a false read on the chaos emeralds and came back to earth where he ended up joining Virtucon more to save face than anything. But he was still a force to be reckoned with possessing a huge army of sinister robots and various assortments of advanced vehicles and weaponry.

Team Sonic knew their help would be needed to stop Virtucon and went straight to their friend Tenchi. Sonic having gotten back from investigating things zoomed in and stopped behind Charlet thinking she was Knuckles. Charlet told him a lot of people thought that since she could roll into a red ball like him and dash around. Sonic then introduced himself saying, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Charlet, I’m Sonic the Hedgehog.” Charlet greeted him in return and wondered if the weird badger girl was a member of Team Sonic. Charlet remembering back to the welcoming party said to Sonic, “We were taking photos with fans and then a badger girl showed up and nervously pointed at us ,saying It has finally come to pass! The space fairies now walk among us! Their invasion is nigh! AHHHHHH!!! Then she ran away and I think that’s her place over there.”

Charlet pointed to a makeshift bunker that had been built into a hillside with signs outside the door saying, “Help defeat the space fairies invasion fleet!; unless you’re a space fairy!” And “Those without tin hats will not be admitted!” Sonic seeing that display without hesitation said, “Yeah that’s Sticks alright. But don’t worry besides the manic fear mongering, sensationalism, and paranoia she’s a good kid.” Knuckles glided in having seen the talking from a higher vantage point and greeted Charlet Sonic said, “I figured out Charlet wasn’t you since she was acting you know smart.” Knuckles offended returned, “Hey! I resemble that remark! But point made she’s not real big in the muscle department now is she?” Knuckles proceeded to punch a boulder and shatter it to pieces.

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

Charlet commented that doing that was unnecessary since he already implied he was really strong; but Knuckles proud and experienced countered by saying, “That’s what you think, however if anyone was listening to us speak they would have seen a visual example of said implied strength giving them a scale to go by.” Charlet more curious as to who in particular was watching or listening; decided to follow Sonic’s example on handling Knuckles, and chose to just let him say things. They were going to head off to the shopping district but Charlet was worried about keeping up with them. Drusera told Charlet her speed dash function was limited since she is highly irresponsible; and anyone she hit without proper protection or shielding would be annihilated from the kinetic energy on contact. Charlet wasn’t concerned with the details, she just wanted to run faster in dash mode.

Drusera showed examples of higher levels in action, and noted the glowing and rushing through any materials that were able to be affected. Large structures would not be destroyed and the user simply stopped on contact completely unharmed. However smaller objects and enemies were indeed vaporized and the user continued running as if they had hit nothing. The Ribbons were able to utilize the first phase of the Speed Dash pre glow, but if a technique they used required it such as Charlet’s Burning Rush for example, they temporarily gained increased speed. But as they had progressed in maturity; the second and third phases could be unlocked when needed on a trial basis. Drusera informed Charlet by saying, “I will unlock more of the Speed Dash when you need to go fast but control will be semi automatic for now whether running or in ball mode.”

Charlet as she had come to do thanked her cyber “Mom” who was always telling what she shouldn’t be doing far more than what she should be doing. But as Charlet entered into a situation where the training wheels could come off out of combat, her suit registered Team Sonic as allies. and since they run fast the system would let her run faster as a result. That left only one task left to say hi to Sticks properly, so over they went to the door and knocked. Sticks opened a peep hole in the door and asked for the password. Charlet answered “What password?” And Sticks responded, “That’s the password.”

Charlet explained to Sticks that she wasn’t an evil space pixie and there was no invasion fleet. Sticks resolutely said that’s exactly what a space pixie would say to throw her off the trail. Charlet said you need to watch less tv cause that’s what Tenchi says when she gets too excited. Though looking around there was no tv in sight. Sticks ranted that television was created to control peoples minds and that all machines are evil. Stick started warning of Dr. Robotnik’s machines with fiery passion, “Especially Eggman’s they destroy mountains!, Level cities! Put songs in your head you cant get out! They all laughed when I said appliances will turn evil, but now who’s laughin’!?” Sonic answered by saying, “Um, you?” Causing Sticks in turn to lecture Sonic about how not funny the appliance uprising was.

Charlet said that was from the Mist causing chaos across the world. And Eggman would be dealt with as soon as they found out what he was up to. Sticks nervous asked, “What is Eggman doing with Morden!? Ravaging, devastating, marauding, obliterating, fleeing or scattering to the winds!?” Sonic jokingly asked where Sticks got the thesaurus she was reading all that from, only for Sticks to reply that she found it in a cranberry bog. The group decided staying in Stick’s burrow would only lead to more paranoid ranting and decided to go meet Amy in the shopping district. So off they sped to see Amy, while Tails had gone straight to the factory to immerse himself in technology and check out new designs being built. The group arrived at their destination in only a few minutes and Charlet and Amy seeing each other ran up took each other’s hands and said hello. Cream had been relaying info about each of them to each other and they were eager to finally meet in person.

They decided to have ice cream on Sonic’s tab and talk about current events and what their teams are like. The area became a hub of sorts whenever large amounts of villainy broke out heroes and law enforcement would gather and centralize their operations near Home when it became necessary. And when you are a hero such as Charlet and Amy are you don’t have the luxury of uninterrupted free time as he two found out when their respective communicators went off warning of trouble. Cutting their playtime short they received reports of trouble near Elwood City. The girls sped off to see what the trouble was informing their teams to keep the channels open. Upon arriving they saw Badniks and goblins descending into the city.

Tenchi did introduce him to Ruslan and Eddie and now they were inseparable. Tails wanted to know all about their archeological adventure; complete with magic sword and fighting a resurrected evil villain. Ruslan lamented that it wasn’t that great, instead of using combat tactics to defeat the bad guy, all he had to do was play an ancient flute which cut the control signal off and transferred it to him. But having gotten their weapons back from R&D they were finding any excuse to use them in training missions. Tails swapped stories of adventuring with Sonic and fighting Lyric who, like the villain Ruslan was describing was very underwhelming and easily forgettable. The three of them would be overseeing the Ribbons continued promotional tour and video game announcement trailer.

However Ruslan was more interested in the goblins rampaging across the world as they were focusing on hit and run attacks and general mayhem. Tenchi told Ruslan they were likely building up to something bigger and would be striking hard in the near future. Frontier forces were pretending to go along with Gundahar’s strategy but Morden would be expected to see through the ruse. Nevertheless Frontier would be on top of all SIN activity. This was going to happen sooner than expected and on SIN’s terms. Maelstroms repeated failures courtesy of Carmen Sandiego did not go unnoticed the final straw was losing their mainframe. It was kind of embarrassing to watch thieves get stolen from over and over again.

The public regarded Carmen Sandiego as a world class thief and VILE as her bumbling henchmen as a result of Charlet constantly beating them and leaving them to be arrested. The new cartoon was also a hit with Carmen fans except of course for Carmens biggest fans; VILE henchmen. They saw a show that was a bit too similar to what was happening in real life air on a weekly basis. This led to the suspicion of a mole feeding information to ACME about their plans. This couldn’t be acted upon since Maelstrom knew who this “Carmen” was, he had to rely on VILE to stop her if he wanted to maintain his position of power but they had failed completely. Now Morden and Cabochon had enough of the cat and mouse games they wanted an end, and they wanted it now.

Maelstrom had few cards left to play and knew he needed an all out showdown with Carmen Sandiego. He ordered VILE to code name her: The Black Sheep. All VILE henchmen having seen her knew it was not Carmen; but thought she was an imposter and traitor Charlet Saylor. So VILE had been played from both ends, Charlet having successfully foiled numerous heist attempts, and Maelstrom keeping Carmen’s whereabouts to himself. Until now that is, instead of ransoming just Carmen off to draw Charlet out; he would use her and Chase Devineaux as hostages. Chase had been captured at the safe house he was recovering at by SIN Special Forces and now along with Carmen he could tie up both ACME and VILE while those henchmen loyal to him would wait in ambush to capture Charlet and restore his credibility to SIN.

Sitting in his chair in the council room his rage at all the humiliation up to now ebbing away Maelstrom staring ahead focused and resolute mused to himself, “Soon all shall be set right again, that Black Sheep shall know the pain she has brought to this organization and I shall be its liberator. The new VILE shall be forever free to do as it pleases anyone who crosses me from this point onward will be destroyed. Ms. Bellum, if you please.” Sara Bellum proceeded to hack the worlds networks and broadcast the video Maelstrom had prepared and soon the world knew two high ranking members were being held hostage. Charlet was told she had to go in to free them, any ACME agents that got to close would trigger the proximity bomb that had been primed to go off.

Charlet knowing the task at hand prepared for the final showdown with Maelstrom. She and Team CZIT were air dropped into the hostage zone and stealthily maneuvered on the roof pacifying any guards they came across. Zack, Ivy, and Tatiana monitored Charlet’s infiltration, when the bomb was disabled they would give ACME agents the signal to move in when Charlet gave the signal. Zack radioed Charlet, “Were online and in record time ladies. Locating the hostage room now… Got it! Sending data now. Good luck Charlet, don’t have too much fun.” She crawled into the ventilation system and made her way toward the hostage room.

But the building was well guarded motion detection devices and lasers were everywhere. Virtu-Bots and guards were patrolling every entrance and exit; while searchlights constantly swept across the floors inside and outside building. The successful traversal of the space undetected required plenty of wall and ceiling crawling, and since she had mastered the art of blending into the shadows wherever they were, she was as well. Neither the Virtu-Bots or new VILE henchman could hope to detect this little Carmenette as she weaved from shadow to shadow room to room fluidly. Then she came to the hostage room. The proximity bomb would blow if any unregistered person got in range, the system would have to be disarmed.

Drusera could work on the hack while Charlet got in range of the device from under the floor. All she had to do now is wait for the detonator to be switched off. Maelstrom had enough he knew there was something going on when guards stopped reporting in. He entered the hostage room with a handgun at the ready, and started yelling for Charlet; or whoever was there to come out, “Come out now! I know your there! I will find you!, I will find you! And I will kill you! There is no escape! This is my world!” While Maelstrom was panicking swinging the gun wildly as his world closed in around him, the camera feed was cut off and the public stared at a black screen for the next few minutes. The bomb trigger was disarmed and Charlet fired two darts to cut the rope binding the hands of Carmen and Chase in their chairs.

She then silently approached Maelstrom and executed a well placed take down maneuver. Maelstrom was down but not out he couldn’t; wouldn’t let it end like this. The real Carmen; true to form was gone when the camera feed came back on, the public saw only Charlet and Chase there. To them Carmen had escaped and freed Chase to deal with a maniac. Maelstrom picked up his gun from the ground and tried to find carmen amidst the flickering lights. Waiting for the right moment; Chase leapt from his chair knocking the gun from Maelstroms hand and began punching him until he fell to the floor. Zack, Ivy, and Tatiana apprehended Maelstrom and Chase was escorted out by ACME agents to a very large crowd of reporters. The day was saved thanks to Team CZIT and though Chase was happy to reaffirm ACME’s commitment to stopping VILE, the press wanted to know about Carmen Sandiego.

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

The tv networks in particular were going into full Carmen frenzy. Charlet and her friends went back to Home to have a watch party and tuned “We have breaking news the hostage crisis has come to an end courtesy of none other than Carmen Sandiego. Ace ACME Detectives Zack and Ivy had managed to reach the hostage room only to see Carmen one step ahead as usual. She escaped and freed Detective Devineaux to take down a rival villain. Which caused all these people to want to know; Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego!? We’re now reporting various sources following VILE activity have reported seeing her sneak around the world from Kiev to Carolina… She’s a double dealing diva from Berlin down to Belize… She’ll take you for a ride on a slow boat to china tell me, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego!?. She goes from Nashville to Norway Bonaire to Zimbabwe Chicago to The Czech Republic and back!”

The girls danced around at home to this surprisingly catchy beat of Carmens exploits and world traveling while celebrating Maelstroms downfall and Carmens rescue. Dr. Robotnik or rather Eggman was not too thrilled by this turn of events his tech which was vastly superior to Walter Wileys had been bested by someone who was not Sonic, and he always found that to be quite annoying. He fumed in his lab occasionally pulling on his mustache with his hands in frustration, knowing that he had to take Charlet Saylor and more importantly her power suit and magic ribbon into consideration on designing new badniks to terrorize the populace with. Morden and Robotnik had struck up a friendly though highly competitive rivalry. Robotnik was able to raise an army and subjugate the masses all on his own just like Morden could.

They used their genius to lull the masses into false senses of security and even pretended to become good on occasion; just to attack with even more advanced weaponry than the time before. It was almost fun to dust themselves off and try again and then build a weapon that would finally destroy their respective arch-nemesis. But for now they had to watch another villain bite the dust. Maelstrom’s love of excessive force was his undoing, even when given a organization built to be adaptable and versatile he chose to focus on brute force above all. Paper Star did not know how to take the news as she sat on her bed with bitter tears slowly trickling down her face. It was barely conceivable that things could have gone this badly.

But in the end it was an illusion of getting stronger VILE under Maelstrom was just burning through resources without getting tangible results. So when they reached their new level of power it was quite hollow, like a paper bag. Implosion was simply the next logical step and when it happened no one wanted to touch the damaged goods of VILE. They were now failures, Maelstrom was disgraced and with it those loyal to him. Ginger and Paper could only wonder how it all went so wrong while Momo practiced her tennis serve technique. It had been like a dream, a good omen someone had shown up to replace Charlet and be a perfect fit for the Soda Pops. They were supposed to show her why they were great at being bad instead they suffered one defeat after another to the Ribbons. Now the real Carmen was back and they were in a lot of trouble.

Double grounded for one thing Carmens punishment on top of Maelstroms was too much to bear. They needed redemption but all they had was goblin stories that had swept the younger ranks within VILE. Carmen was of course not staying with Virtucon and all henchmen loyal to Maelstrom were being purged. They weren’t too upset since they immediately went to sign up with Virtucon division of their choice they wanted to rule and have power; the kind Carmen could care less about. But it would be awhile before VILE was back to active status, it was just as well, Carmen knew Virtucon had to be dealt with if order was to be restored to the underworld.

Central Command was hopping; another high profile villain had been taken down and the entire operation dedicated to it could be ended. Those resources and personnel could be shifted to other areas where they were needed. Team CZIT’s ultimate purpose had come to an end, first they were teaching Charlet to lead a team, but then they became the secret task force in charge of bringing Maelstrom down. They could now take the required time off for completion of their mission. And Charlet could hang out with other famous heroes like Amy Rose they had scheduled a meet and greet since they always kept getting interrupted by evil scheming whenever they tried to see each other. They had heard about each other’s through their fans and wanted to show solidarity to the community by working together.

When they finally met they ran up to each other and held hands while saying hello then they decided to have ice cream on Sonic’s tab. As they talked about their teams and current events they had become accustomed by now that free time is a luxury they didn’t have as both their communicators went off. They were told trouble was being reported in Elwood City and they raced over to investigate. When they arrived they witnessed badniks and goblins raiding the city, and saw a larger force coming down from the sky! Parts of the city were billowing smoke into the air and people were evacuating to safe zones. Charlet and Amy were angry to say the least this city was the closest thing to the Animal Crossing game being real,.

Charlet called in air support and was told two pilots were on their way to them. Charlet and Amy ran around town targeting the ground troops and fighting off the enemies they encountered. Within minutes a black plane entered into the combat zone and started knocking the drop ships out of the sky one by one. The commanding badnik on the ground focused on Charlet and Amy, and they soon found themselves In a boss battle. The last support bot between the boss badnik and the two was smacked by Amy’s hammer and sent flying into the last drop ship sending it spiraling out of control over the horizon.

The black plane assisting them fired a volley of missiles at the boss badnik and hovered in mid air over Charlet and Amy who both agreed they were a Radical Squadron like others in the were saying. Charlet blocked the incoming attack with her fire shield and planted herself like a football player which meant a signature technique was on the way. Amy was hammering the badnik back with each swing and then leapt into the air and smashed it right on top of the head. Charlet having charged her energy shouted Burning Rush! And shot forward leaving a fire trail and melting right through the boss badnik, which proceeded to explode. The city was grateful to the heroes on ground and in the sky.

Charlet, Amy, T-Bone, and Chance were commended for their heroism and reassured the public that wherever Eggman popped up they would stop him and that goblin attacks on civilians would not be tolerated. The rest of the Ribbons flew in to help with the cleanup process directing machines from Home to start the repair and rebuilding process. Of course they’re were two in particular who wanted to thank Charlet for saving their city, so they both raced over to her and said hello. One boy named Arthur Read made it first and said hello to the girls and thank you for saving our town. His best friend Buster Baxter was a little upset Arthur stole his words and told them it was they would be guests of honor on “Baxter Day”.

Charlet took one look at Buster and started blushing, she liked bunnies and now she was getting thanked by a bunny boy. After making sure everything was safe and sound in Elwood it was back to Home and of to mission planning. Gundahar made it clear he had enough, the Mist had been beaten back by the Ribbons and they were now attacking the world with their military forces more conventionally. Duchess Cabochon required the Power Coil to move forward but since their forces couldn’t make headway it didn’t matter the Frontier had two pieces: The Bravery Coil and the Intelligence Coil currently in the possession of Princess Garnet Til Alexandros in Alexandria City. Both pieces had been brought to Home for their protection but Cabochon would be enhancing the Soda Pops and sending them out yet again.

Gundahar decided this would result in more failure and demanded insurance. His Factory was now producing advanced weapons and he planned on distributing them to his Goblin Horde. Soon energy weapons and more advanced giant mechs would be available to the goblins. All three armies of Morden, Gundahar and Robotnik, would be capable of mass global strikes anywhere on earth. The Soda Pops had failed and so it was agreed that help was needed. An evil sea faring force would be called upon to help the Pops defeat the Ribbons, and Cabochon demanded the two Coil pieces be acquired as well.

So the villains set to work plotting the next step in world domination. Finding the Goblin Factory was a high priority for Frontier forces. Once it was destroyed Gundahar’s power would be broken. Arcadian Knights were handling the assault of all Goblin Fortresses they were locating and Spellslingers were dealing with the Grocks in the Midwest of America. Sometimes their missions overlapped and it wasn’t uncommon for Knights to deal with Grock based missions sometimes. These were easy by comparison; The goblins while dumb could go anywhere and attack where they chose. But the Grocks followed set pathways to a town; so erecting towers and shooting them with giant guns and artillery were obvious counters.

The Ribbons would hangout and assist when they could. The Spellslingers after all were using rolling devices to navigate the field quickly when the Grocks were attacking. So anyone with a Ball or Dynamo were encouraged to volunteer. The Ribbons could also go underground which was a more advanced feature that was too much fun to put into words. Like Sonic they had homing attack and spin dash capability and this meant like combat Balls or Dynamos they could grind into the Grocks to break them apart. The red colored Grocks were the worst even thought there were stronger colors the big red mountains had to be destroyed quickly.

They would target the towers first then the towns, and start erupting; launching large flaming boulders at them and being around twenty feet they were a bit more durable to attacks. Charlet loved running around fighting the Grocks as they surfaced from their spawn points and advanced along the trails to town. It was a one ranger job they could bring a spotter along but that was all that was deemed necessary. She simply had to build gun towers and put the gun type of her choice on top, then watch the fireworks. Sherry was more than happy to assist Charlet And whether they were soloing or working in teams of two the simple routine of build and shoot in the Wild West had its charm. They all bought Cowgirl hats and boots for the time spent there and considered it a semi-vacation to get authorization to volunteer. But Spellslinging was its own fun dual wielding two fully automatic Vindicators was very cool.

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

But Charlet wanted Lawgivers; because of course she did, the grown ups got to use those. The Ribbons tour of the Midwestern Front was drawing t a close and they were supporting Ruslan, Eddie, Tails, and Buster in their campaign. Buster ended up running off to join the fight against SIN since he figured Baxter Day could be better promoted… and he got out of school. Being a Cowbunny was always a plus, and he got to shoot monster rocks! But a Megagrock had appeared and it was the immediate priority The boys were rolling over to engage it and started chipping away at its defenses. When Megagrocks appear it is always on the second or third day and since this was day three when they stopped it, they were done. The fall of Megagrock however was not the end unfortunately.

Suddenly the ground rumbled and up sprung the Grock God Ultimogrock! A giant boulder shaped Grock that floated in the air. It went straight fo a town and sucked it in with its gravity well located in its mouth. Time was of the essence but fortunately the boys had learned the ins and outs of this job. They quickly separated and constructed Long Cannons at strategic points and as they shot the Ultimogrock it would be stunned and fall to the ground. They would wait for those moments to run inside to its core. They would have to attack the core while fending off Grock guards and destroy the core before it absorbed the town.

At least that’s what they read and trained for Ultimogrock was a very rare encounter indeed and honestly no one wanted it to appear. But if it did then they would fight it to the end. Racing to catch up to it before it fell they saw the Long Cannons do their job the Grock was bombarded multiple times with the last hit dropping it from the sky. The heroes rushed inside and began attacking the core true to reports the guard grocks sprang up and needed to be held off. But they only had so much time before the Ultimogrock regained it senses and expelled the intruders. When they were blown out of its core they would have to repeat the process, which having gone through it was going to be easier they just had to do what they did before until the core was destroyed.

Charlet was jumping on top of a table screaming for Ruslan to win, and the rest of the Ribbons were likewise cheerleading the boys on. And then finally rays of light started shooting from the Grock as its core was destroyed. Its body fractured and then was blown apart ending the threat to the town. There was loud cheering all around an the boys were extra cowboy inspired as they swaggered back into town for the evening. As a result they really played up the tv western motif. Ruslan greeted Charlet by tipping his hat and saying, “Howdy Ms. Charlet what brings you around these parts?” Charlet playing along answered, “Why I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers sugar. Now take me in your arms and kiss me!”

Ruslan made it a point to yell to all the people in the room that she wasn’t his girlfriend while simultaneously fending off multiple kiss attempts. Though Charlet did find time to hug Buster while the boys ate their customary bowls of Chili and Beans. Rumi however was the one boys were interested in the most as the crowd of them around her blatantly made clear. Charlet not being able to stand anymore grabbed Rumi and asked her, “How do I make Ruslan pay attention to me like the other boys do to you?” Rumi said she was just the popular type, and Charlet feeling threatened said it was because Rumi made it too easy for guys.

Rumi told her to just smile a lot and laugh at their jokes even if they aren’t funny. Then Charlet and Ruslan went out onto a terrace and Charlet was allowed a kiss, This sent Charlet into the next stage of her relationship plans. After laughing at his unfunny jokes and smiling a lot she then said, “You and I will be the most powerful couple ever; we will dominate the earth!” Having let the moment get to her she had naturally began generating fire in the palms of her hands, so this made for quite the funny and scary monologue. Ruslan decided once again it was time to escape and quickly bid her goodbye to rejoin the party inside. Charlet upset said, “Coward get back here! You win this round but the next will be mine!”

The next day brought reports of goblin convoys and with that the chance of tracing one back to the Goblin Factory. It was most likely in an out of the way place in a mountainous region; but they had to have surface or subterranean access to paths to get their tanks and other ground vehicles out. And since they were expected to make a larger strike they would be moving materials more often. Gundahar was no fool, he had risen to uniting the goblin tribes for a reason, basic barbarism came easily to goblin kind but technology required a more delicate approach. To that end he had positioned his manufacturing in hard to reach locations his goblin scientists called Cyber Goblins were creating technology in stages, first they would start with swords and arrows capable of piecing stone. Then those with technical prowess would build ten to twenty foot mechanical armor suits that goblin strength would power. But then when electrical and nuclear power systems were developed true giant robots operating on their own power could be constructed.

But this would take time and once built the machines that constructed them needed to be protected. Powerful guards were placed in strategic areas and only the most trusted goblins would know of the Factory’s location. But now Arcadian Knights were closing in these Rangers had been a thorn in Gundahar’s side from the beginning. He immediately identified these knights and they’re abilities. This is what truly gained Morden’s respect when he told them of the Rangers and the Mages differences. Rangers relied on their sword skills and secondary weapons and tools to complete their missions. While the mages used energy based techniques to do the same all while wearing their really cool hoodies. And living up to that reputation a Ranger named Jayce had been getting closer to the Factory location.

Being huge Zelda fans these knights found it quite fulfilling to be fighting goblins most foul; and minions spawned from their monster pits. Knowing they were closing in, the Cyber Goblins would simply employ their various defense systems. While technically smart and capable of making highly advanced weaponry, they weren’t competent, raising their alert status meant they would still stand around slacking off on guard duty. But Badniks would pick up the slack, inside and outside the facility. Gundahar knew it wouldn’t help to respond to the knights so he focused on the weak, sacking cities was always more fun than pitched battles; though they had their good points as well.

The Ribbons and Team Sonic were sent in to the area to help with the search and soon learned they had to be extra careful. There were strange pirates at a port area, this was most likely where the goblins seafaring vehicles were being loaded after coming rom the factory. But the pirates were of concern, Angela was able to see from her vantage point that they were very much dead yet were walking about. Charlet checked the Spiderwick Field Guide and saw to her shock they were the “Bugi Men!” ruthless Buganese pirates of Indonesia. They had terrorized English sailors centuries ago and now they were guarding the goblin port and routes most likely leading to the mountain caves. As they crept into the area they saw pirate ships off in the distance and one in particular seemed to be fighting the others. It had different markings and its own pirate flag.

Suddenly the girls were approached from behind by a pirate skeleton. He announced himself and the group screamed and readied to attack. But this pirate was not an enemy he said, “Greetings landlubbers I am the infamous… Captain Backen! And I need your help to defeat these Bugi pirates. You see they stole me ship and now they are attacking my friend out at sea with their Bugi pirate ships and he needs my help.” The heroes wondered who he was since they never heard of him but decided any help was good help at this point. Capt. Backen was upset that they didn’t know him but that was okay, from that day forward they would know the legendary Capt. Backen! Now all they had to do was secure the port once that was done they could fire on the Bugi pirates from shore. Backen told them his friend at sea was Captain One-eyed Willy and the pirates were trying to claim his ships treasure.

The group had heard of One-eyed Willy and were very excited and determined to help out. But this was more from Backen’s inspiring nature and commanding presence. Everyone felt like being a pirate listening to him talk as they went around avoiding the fog. Sherry slightly scared whispered, “Do we really need to fight zombie pirates? Ah! Look they are able to travel faster in the fog that’s around there ships and on the ground!” The fog went into the mountains as well and the heroes knew that they would probably have to encounter dead pirates in the caves. At first they thought it was good that the Bugi pirates weren’t coming out of the fog to attack them even when spotted.

But that started to make it creepier, seeing red glowing eyes gazing through the thick fog blanketing undead silhouettes lurking within; cold, unfeeling, and motionless. When they did move it was suddenly and in a uncanny, way like they were moving faster or slower than normal. It was genuinely terrifying, but they had to persevere through this, besides Charlet figured since Halloween was approaching they should destroy the factory before then. Angela asked why that was important, and Charlet turned and answered as if it should be obvious said, “Um hello Angie, trick or treating is at risk of being interrupted I just know it! I’m about to knock on my first door and all of a sudden, beep beep beep! Goblins are ransacking, Ribbons accessorize and stop them.” Angela was more surprised she expected a good reason instead of the response she received more than anything else; and decided on talking strategy instead from then on. When they reached their first destination Backen’s ship they crept on board this of course made things worse the Bugi men as if responding to a tripped alarm began slowly walking through the ship looking for intruders in the fog.

The heroes stealthily walked across the creaking wooden ship and decided on their next course of action. Everyone agreed that they needed to investigate area near the mountains more carefully. But for now suddenly putting a pirate hat given by Backen on, Charlet drew her wand sword and yelled, “Avast ye mateys! We must run those pirates through and send em back to Davey Jones Locker!” Reluctantly and a little grossed out, the two groups went toward the Bugi pirates at port and began a very rotten battle. The pirates rallied to arms and charged the heroes, which wasn’t very smart since Charlet and Blitzy could bend fire and lightning. Like two fireflies from hell, they happily ignited the ghost ships causing them to start sinking into the waves.

At sea, One-eyed Willy was driving the Bugi men back to port and the two ships were able to blast the Bugi pirates from the front and the rear. When they had routed the highly flammable forces at sea and Bugi Port. They made sure to cover their tracks and kept smoke from rising by Fio and Angela sucking the smoke down using air; then the smoke itself was simultaneously drawn in by Angela. The smoke was turned into concentrated balls of smoke that she stored in a pouch. The heroes then continued their search into the forest dodging or fighting dead pirates as they did. The leaves were the vibrant fall colors slowly falling to the ground where the fog wasn’t blocking the view. The sun shined down and the place had a nice rustic charm to it, when the fog of evil wasn’t wafting over it that is.

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

The heroes started to come across giant house-sized pumpkins along with other fall themed scenery, but they saw there wasn’t much going on. That meant any major resistance would be encountered in the mountains, the goblins and badniks saw this as more of a place to pass through and nothing more. There weren’t enough people in the area to achieve any pleasure from tormenting or oppressing, so they didn’t see the point of stationing any large group just token squads and nothing more. After they stopped at Pumpkin Café for lattes and pumpkin spice cake, they moved forward with information they had been gathering from the people. Unsurprisingly they weren’t fans of Virtucon, just like any who were directly affected by their company policy. But just as Virtucon wanted, the general public saw them as good based on advertising and press conferences to promote their company motto; “We’re not evil; and don’t want to take over the world!”

Going into the rugged mountainous region meant you always had to watch your step, the forests could be hiding an ambush. And as any Legend of Zelda fan could tell you, boulders could suddenly fall from above. Jayce was so concerned with that he felt he needed to tell the Ribbons to be on their guard for wild boulders from above. But they all Jayce included had done Grock missions so non-living boulders weren’t seen as that big of a threat. Trolls lurking in the cliffs waiting in ambush were one thing, but going into the caves was another. The large hulking goblins patrolled, quite loudly on routes they were given with smaller goblins clustering around the camps that were strewn about the countryside. They were joined by Virtu-Bots and other badniks scanning for intruders.

Then Angela had an idea; she would use the smoke balls she collected one by one to hide them. The goblins would think it was the fog and be none the wiser, Jayce decided to help using his ki training to push the smoke from around everyone but leave it above them, that way they could breathe. Using air would attract attention, and any airborne enemies would be able to see them when they flew over. Charlet took this opportunity to ask Jayce how he became a knight since Ruslan wanted to be one. Jayce said, “Well, me like all the others were minding our own business, oh right I guess I should say first; our class is the last one to be recruited. We were lucky to our credit every class after are part recruited and part application since everyone wants to join our ranks now.

That’s a nice way of saying they suck compared to previous classes during their first years at the academy, because those who come to join are all over the place skill wise and energy wise they have to in a sense start from scratch in order to learn how to use energy. So the graduates and upperclassmen can see the difference it wouldn’t be so bad but the school rates you on collective performance as well as individual skill. When I was recruited I learned that your expected to be self sufficient but you must also work with other knights as a group. And lets just say I took a little extra time to learn to appreciate working together instead of alone. The training is grueling, I thought it wouldn’t be that tough and next thing you know I’m in combat training being told all our gear must be earned through mental and physical trials.

First we get out bodysuit; which you Ribbons are wearing modified versions of by the way. I think its based off Metroid Zero Suit? Well anyway after getting smacked around I got it then you go earn your wooden sword. I complained the guy in green just had to walk into a cave to get his, and I got to do one-thousand pushups for that. After my wooden sword I had to get my shield through defense training which arguably is the easiest; at first anyway. You just stand there holding your shield and they swing a log at you, you simply block using energy sent from you into the shield. When I did that properly the energy bounced the log back using the shield bash technique, That skill comes in handy all the time when you knock an enemies attack back it always staggers them leaving them open to attack!

Next was my chain mail, my gauntlets, and then my boots; all of which involved pushing me to me limits and forcing me to get stronger. All my gear after that minus the bows and arrows are stronger versions of what I had and the tests for them them were expectedly harder. But finally we reached the point of graduation, that’s where I had to forge my twin katana swords and properly cut and shape the crystals then charge them with energy through meditation and affix them to the swords. When I did that I was awarded the White Sword as a acknowledgement of successfully completing the training and knighted.” Charlet commented, “That’s sounds a lot like what I’m doing sorta, Tenchi wont stop telling me to be patient and we have to earn everything. It stinks.” Then Jayce finished by saying, “Your very lucky to get that training, try not to fail.” Charlet did agree that she could beat up people she never could have before, and being a heroine of justice takes skills the average girl doesn’t have.

The group maneuvered around most of the goblins and crept into range of two guards watching an entrance to a cave. Slowly creeping up to the guards they attacked and knocked them out taking advantage of their easily distracted nature. From there it was into the caves large crystals of various colors growing all over the floors, walls, and ceiling they emitted a soft glow that helped light the way. Angela saw she could control the crystals by changing their shape from solid to liquid. While Rumi could alter the light being emitted making it dimmer or brighter. This could help make pathways in the caves, while Blitzy and Charlet made their own lights with their powers. They wandered through the caves interconnected tunnels and saw occasional bands of goblins marching and tanks going down the bigger tunnels to eventually get outside.

Sherry excitedly said, “Oh my gosh yes! That means if we follow the Goblins back where they’re coming from we can be closer to the factory’s location. But not before trouble came along of course in the form a large menacing Six-armed Boss Badnik and assortment of Goblin warriors were guarding the exit, so our heroes had to do battle once more. The badnik said, “Intruders detected! I am Crystal Six and in the name of Robotnik, I order you to surrender!” Charlet shouted, “You wish dumb bot, Ribbons Accessorize!” Each of the girls took a particular elemental arm to fight while Team Sonic handled the main body. As an elemental arm charged up to attack, the Ribbon with the elemental power it was weak to temporarily disabled it. Sonic was then able to run up the are to reach the weak spot and hit it with his homing attack. The goblins would rush in to attack at regular intervals but were repeatedly pushed back until the Boss was destroyed scattering the remaining goblins who fled in terror.

Finally their exploration paid off on exiting the caves they came across a path that led straight to the Goblin Factory. Jayce radioed in the spelunking was successful and gave the coordinates to the factory. The Ribbons wanted to take it out then and there but there was a possibility that it had major defense systems. But Sonic’s experience with various factories told him otherwise. There would be laser alarms and cameras to assist the patrolling guards. Drusera conferred and said, “What Sonic is trying to say in a very illogical way, is standard defenses are in place from a statistical standpoint. Higher level systems emit more Electromagnetic signature therefore the probability of finding the factory would increase. This factory was placed in the mountains to likely shield the reactor systems and other advanced technologies naturally.”

Charlet placing her hand on her head in frustration said, “Thanks mom I really needed a logic based assessment.” Angela added, “Aww Charlet, speaking with me has improved your vocabulary, keep it up love.” Charlet was pretty sure it was Drusera constantly correcting her words and saying “Be logical” as if it were a goodbye phrase. But Drusera had warmed to Charlet and would engage in more “girly” conversations from time to time. So they decided to infiltrate the factory and shut it down in a more roundabout way.

They would have to defeat elite warriors and badniks but that was par for the course, maybe even Gundahar would be there. They decided to split up and use cloaking to mask their presence from the sensors. Avoiding laser alarms and and visual sighting would be the main priority. Blitzy would handle hacking electronic doors and sensors that couldn’t be avoided. All they would focus on is destroying structural weak spots to cause the factory to collapse. They got to see what the goblins had been up to, as well as all the new weapons and vehicles in development were more than the standard armies of the world would be able to deal with effectively. And when Gundahar gave the command to start attacking in force these new weapons would cause serious damage to cities.

Of course he wasn’t there and was instead speaking to Morden and Cabochon at Virtucon Pavilion about how best to proceed. He was telling them Arcadian knights were increasing their attacks on his fortresses and at this point were seen as the goblins main rivals to the fantasy obsessed public. So when he was suddenly alerted to intruders in the factory it did not make him any more cheerful. He demanded that all forces be mobilized and destroy the intruders. Robotnik was also in the area overseeing the badniks and decided to torment the heroes from his Eggmobile. But Sonic being a master troller made Robotnik far more upset so much so that he called in a boss badnik to attack in the factories loading floor.

The goblins were getting the run around and the badniks were being taken out one by one. Apparently team combat was more effective since the goblins and badniks weren’t working together like our heroes who had learned to compliment each other. The baddies on the other hand were just sticking to basics; heavy built goblins used their brute strength up close, but were slower. Medium-build goblins used a mix of short and long range attacks, and the Skinny goblins used long ranged to attack from a distance. Gundahar was yelling orders via large monitors located around the factory but it was to no avail, Blitzy started taunting Gundahar and Robotnik rebelliously saying, “We’re scrapping your bots Eggman; and bringing this whole place down ya green goon! Zap, zap, zap!”

The boss badnik was beaten by Blitzy’s electric attack, and She then directed electricity at the Eggmobile. Robotnik getting more charged up than he wanted called in Metal Sonic, as he Burst through the roof the heroes readied for a tough battle. Metal’s eyes glowed red as he taunted the heroes then thinking fast, Jayce tried to hit him with his hookshot but Metal dashed out of the way! Charlet yelled, “We’re not losing to a fake Sonic! Get ready guys!” The Ribbons rallied and the epic battle began with Robotnik taking a more supervisory role, while also firing missiles whenever the opportunity presented itself. The factory was taking more damage from the fight to protect it as the Ribbons and Team Sonic kept redirecting Robotnik’s missiles at structural weak spots or Metal Sonic. When staggered from missiles or elemental bending he got a solid thrashing from spin dash homing attacks, until a super combination involving the Ribbons launching Sonic with their elemental powers combined into Metal triggering a chain reaction that sent the factory crumbling.

Everyone had to escape quickly so Robotnik made his last words short and to the point by yelling, “Okay do gooders you got lucky! The place is falling apart, so I’ll get you next time kiddies, see ya!” Robotnik took Metal and escaped through the roof the heroes ran out the entrance as the Factory collapsed. Leaving nothing to chance an air strike was called to turn the factory into a crater. When the heroes arrived back at Home they were welcomed back by cheering crowds. Everyone was overjoyed that the engine responsible for their suffering had been brought down and Gundahar himself would be held accountable for his crimes. Charlet could care less about the bad guys at this point and just wanted to rest; but a hero has to keep up appearances and they kept on doing regularly scheduled promotional stunts.

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

On her way back home however, she got a call from Momo and they started talking on video phone. Momo said, “I know by now you must be tired of copying me. The random mischievous nature, the pouting, and weakness to hugs must have gotten so old by now. There can be only one true Momo.” Charlet upset said, “Its you who’s copying me! We will have a proper rivalry at a later point Momo, just know this; I will be the one true Charlet!” Momo proceeded to hang up and go play tennis since she always won and left the adults to cry about their lost factory. Gundahar was without his factory but still had his army, and with Robotnik’s forces to supplement any goblin losses they could get by. However time was running out for them and the ever present idea of defeat sent chills down their spine. But now it was Cabochon’s turn. The Soda Pops were assembled and given a new mission: Prevent the ribbons from interfering with their final plan…

Morden and Cabochon sent Frontier Command a message: Surrender the Coil pieces or the world will be destroyed. For Morden this was more to the point; no war would have to be fought he would just take what he wanted, and Cabochon would get what she wanted, which is all that ever mattered. She rose into the sky unleashing the full power of her Coil piece and darkened the skies with her evil power. All of their forces gathered at Virtucon main HQ for the final showdown. The temperature dropped around the planet and it started snowing everywhere. You would think the forces of good would be rushing off to the alleged final battle without hesitation, but instead it was the opposite; careful planning and caution would be taken but time was of the essence.

Charlet wanted it over but had learned patience unexpectedly, everyone thought she would follow a predictable pattern. Complain about how long its taking to do something, demand to get it over with immediately, get briefed on the mission and eat pre-snacks, complete the mission and have a party where main snacking is carried out, then talk about how amazing the mission was while eating after-snacks. Instead she was talking and shopping with Eiko, meditating, and going over pre planning with Tenchi. This led them to discover another situation popping up, strange black pools had been detected and monsters were crawling out of them. Scans indicated they were the Grimm, ancient evil monsters controlled by the wicked witch Salem. This was somehow connected to Cabochon and it was decided to wait for Salem to appear.

The Frontier Army was mobilized to face off against Virtucon forces, since they would have to fight to the HQ to stop Cabochon they were more than happy to smash through SIN to get to her. But fighting would be kept to a minimum as it was the areas leading up to the Virtucon Pavilion where they were stationed. Charlet had learned enough from Tenchi to know how to see the bigger picture, Cabochon was insane and really vain too beating her would take fight preparation. The kind professional fighters do leading up to a fight in a ring, studying Cabochon’s moves would make it easier to win. This is one of the reasons why Frontier had always won; they actually studied their enemies and made strategies around reality not what they wanted to happen. So the Ribbons were with Shantotto drilling moves and casting spells.

The area around Home was whatever weather Tenchi wanted it to be and it was the same for Arcadia floating up n the sky, and the Enchanted Kingdom training areas. For the rest of the world it was snowy winter conditions and for people who weren’t used to that, it was extra cold. Warm clothes and blankets were being distributed to tropical areas but it wasn’t going to be enough for everyone. The world leaders wanted something done immediately and tried to criticize Frontier for not fighting as soon as possible which failed miserably. Tenchi didn’t care about other peoples schedules only his own and the strike would come when he said it would. Other nations rushed to fight with whatever they had near Virtucon Pavilion.

They were soundly defeated as expected, and the populace were infuriated at Frontier. Charlet commented that, “They needed to have patience and stop whining, you can’t just run off a fight a war unprepared you have to know your enemy and hit them where they are weakest.” Blitzy asked Charlet, “Who are you and what have you done with Charlet?” While Blitzy, and then in turn Charlet started lightly poking each other with their bo staffs; Charlet told her friends that she was tired of running around cause the bad guys wanted her to. Just because they did something they expected others to respond when they wanted. So Charlet would be on her own schedule just like the bad guys were. And she got to have snowball fights when they wanted. Tenchi said to compensate for the warm blanket shortage he ingeniously would launch huge missiles around the world that would land upright and radiate heat in all directions and have limited weather control capability. Now all Tenchi had to do was turn up the heat metaphorically and figuratively speaking.

He patronized the angry world leaders and said if they were so concerned about Virtucon they could go fight them now and show the world how much more they know than he does. The freezing temperatures were now stabilizing back to warmer levels as the missiles were launched to the affected areas where warm clothes weren’t in huge supply. Blitzy was all over the solution side of things having built combat bot for fun she called Genesix and D-Nerd and had them collaborate from ZZ’s house. Software hardware and the usual competitiveness ensued as various designs were churned out by Tenchi and ZZ. All other designs from third parties were included and once again people saw what was going on.

All critics were reminded Tenchi didn’t build his tech to babysit them; and those who wanted to help just had to know what they were doing. So it was the kids who people were paying attention to, because they wouldn’t be allowed to help unless they met the high standard. So Blitzy was excelling as expected making heating devices with defense systems added in because she’s Blitzy; she also took the chance to put on a warning sticker about the Corp’s plans to take over the world because the Corp sucks. Angela said, “Bloody brilliant you are, I mean really a child terrorist putting conspiracy theory stickers on heating devices with built in defense systems. I think this might have the opposite effect your going for.” Blitzy retuned, “The Corp and corrupt cops said we were terrorists but we showed them! We attacked various areas at nighttime with giant war robots built in my brothers secret robot lab!”

Angela made an expression clearly indicating she did not believe the world she was in, while Fio commented that if she wasn’t so serious all the time things would be funnier. Angela replied, “I’ll have you know that when we fought and defeated that horrid jigsaw puzzle monster I said, I guess his plans really fell apart!” The girls agreed that joke wasn’t funny and further joke books would have to be read, but Angie had become more easygoing and less cynical, by seeing the girls personalities under fire on missions. Together they had made each other stronger; and not just because the promotional material said so.

As the tv blared some more pro Ribbon material the girls heard how “At ACME we believe in high standards so if the Ribbons want to be out on a mission; work hard, work hard, work hard, and they do.” Then as if things couldn’t get any more embarrassing, “From the moment I stepped into the room and saw them I was amazed at how well they had bonded on day one, and how well they would handle missions.” Sherry putting her hands together begged the tv, “Please make it stop Mr. Tv.” Only for tv to counter with, “The chemistry that the girls have together is really obvious.”As the girls watched in cringe mode, they saw various clips of their missions interspersed with different people saying how amazing they are.

Fortunately mission planning was being finalized and the girls were briefed on their next mission. They would be dropped in to Virtucon Pavilion after the Frontier forces cleared a path for the plan the airship fleet would disperse any opposition and the girls could engage Cabochon. To draw her out the two pieces of the Coil they had would be going along and they would have to prove themselves stronger than Cabochon’s dark magic to gain control of the Power Coil and end this conflict. While the news networks were debating the appropriateness of Frontiers actions, The Frontier Army and their allies made a direct assault on Virtucon. Morden was expecting this and was happy to see a reminder of why They had gotten this far. Both of them had learned to ignore the mainstream and act on strategic competence not fear or opinion polls. And so another clash of the two armies commenced.

Cabochon was understandably angry as she said peaceful surrender of the Coil was required but like all of Frontiers enemies she had to learn a very important rule. The Frontier doesn’t care what you want; and will deal on their terms, since they know Cabochon is a psychopath anything she said was not to be trusted. Any threats she warned would happen she would do anyway. And so as she watched the forces of SIN blasted out of the way, she floated down to meet the Ribbons who were jumping out of their plane and doing a hard landing without parachutes, because that was more badass. Into the courtyard they fell, hitting the ground hard leaving impressions. The goblins roared and charged forward leading to a fierce melee battle, seeing the Ribbons cut them all down and turn any robots into scrap metal.

Next came the Soda Pops who weren’t about to go down easily this time. Ginger looked Charlet in the eye and said, “Today it ends Red, all the resistance will fall starting with you.” Momo greeted Charlet with a smirk quickly and made it clear she wasn’t holding back this time, well maybe just a little and then said, “After we beat you, I’ll teach Charlet to be a better me mkay? Tennis practice will start at 11:00am don’t be late Red!” Paper Star not being able to stand looking at any of the Ribbons said, “You have caused all our problems, enjoy the copious amounts of blood loss that’s about to ensue!.” The Ribbons knew they had to be the bigger team in this situation, and when the battle commenced they showed how far they had come and what they had learned during their time as Ribbons. And so by the end of their fight Charlet and Cherry had ended the fight with Cherry losing and falling to the ground.

The Ribbons then walked forward to face Cabochon with Shantotto, having fought her way quite easily to their location. Morden, Gundahar, and Cabochon were not to happy with the experience, confidence, and enthusiasm the Ribbons were exuding; so they decided taunting was a good way to start things off. Cabochon demanded the Coil pieces, but Shantotto had enough of her ego and decided to tell her she would not win. Cabochon said, “I will be victorious peasants, no one can stop me now.” Shantotto pointing her staff at the villains with confident defiance said, “They forgot that since I’m on your team, well foil their crude scheme.” Cabochon amused responded, “You think you’ll keep the Coil from me?” Shantotto: “Of course I will, you worthless shill. Now be good villains and put your hands on the wall; lest the Ribbons beat you all.”

Cabochon: “You dare speak to me as if I care who you are?” Shantotto: “I could just blast you away, but I’ve decided to let Charlet save the day.” Cabochon: “Your arrogance will be your doom you feckless imp.” Shantotto: “Were you looking in a mirror dumb cow? Your vanity is beating you worse than me now.” Cabochon: “Oh I’m sorry you must be deaf as well, Now be silent weaklings.” Shantotto: “More like your mind is so infantile, that even listening proves a trial.” Cabochon: “You will die by my hand filth!” Shantotto: “Hohoho! In the end you will come to see, you never should have fought me!” After being soundly defeated in verbal combat; Cabochon infuriated shifted to the more magical kind. She had completely forgotten her earlier demands to hand over the Coil without a fight and began one herself; to her regret.