This next world takes place in a beloved Pixar movie! Play "Mangrove Cove Underwater" from DK: Tropical Freeze!
Part 5: Swimming Aids
World 3: Luca's Lagoon
Robi and Jolene exited an old, stone tower and found their selves on a small island. Clouds covered the horizon and blocked the morning sun. They saw a town along the mainland coast, and a valley of lush green hills beyond it. Toward their left, away from the coast, was a large, dark, mechanical fortress. "The ocean's pretty, huh, Jolene? I hope we'll find a way to go underwater here."
"Just don't tease the fish, or they'll learn to walk on land so they can eat us. And, did you know seagulls are kinda like vultures? 'Cause they look for dead fish on the ocean, and then eat 'em."
"Aren't most birds kind of like that? …Hmm?" Robi saw the reason Jolene brought up that topic: a flock of seagulls were circling something in the ocean. "Let's take a closer look." They rowed the clay boat out to the seagulls and tried to make out what he figure was. It seemed to be a person with a patterned, yellowish-white shirt and short blue shorts. "Uh-oh! Jolene, pull him up, he's drowning!"
The kids quickly pulled the youth onto their boat. "Huh?!" Robi gasped at his appearance: his skin was green and scaly, hair was blue, webbed hands and feet, and he had a long tail. "Is this… a Fishman? I don't think we ever met a Fishman, have we? But what's wrong with him? Let's take him back to the island." As they rowed back to the starting island, the Fishboy's body steadily dripped dry. To their awe, his tail receded into his body, his skin turned peach, his hair turned a curly brown, and his limbs became human-like. He now had a round nose and blushed cheeks. "Wait… what is he?"
The kids lay him on the shore of the island. He was breathing exhaustedly. "Huff…Al…Alberto… i-ice cream…"
"He wants ice cream? We could get some in town, but that's kinda far. …Jolene?" Something else seemed to catch the girl's eye: a wooden ladder on the side of the stone tower. "I guess we could look up there. …Just don't fall off this time."
They climbed the ladder and found a round, wooden plate atop the tower. Robi Ground Pounded through the wood and they crashed into a room. It seemed to be full of junk, such as a hand-made, shabby wooden bike, a drawing of two boys on a Vespa (including the boy they just saw), and a bowl with a lid. Robi pulled the bowl open and found a half-melted vanilla ice cream cone. "Uh…not sure if this is good. But let's see if he likes it."
They brought the ice cream down to the boy and held it above his mouth. The scoop fell in. The boy started awake, swallowing it. "Gulp, uff, cough! See, Alberto, it was still tasty! …?!" But the kids standing over him weren't who he thought they were. "Wh-Who are you? W-Where…" He looked at the tower. "I'm back at Alberto's place?"
"We found you asleep on the ocean. I'm Robi, this is Jolene."
"I'm Luca…" He helped himself up. "You guys look different. Are those wings?" He pointed at Robi's butterfly wings.
"I'm a Nimbi!"
"You mean the sky people? I've never met a Nimbi! But what's she?"
"Jolene's a human!"
"Really?"
"Huhuhu! What about you? We saw you change a minute ago."
"Huh? Oh, yeah…" Luca almost forgot about that.
"Are you a Fishman? How did you change?"
"I'm a different kind of Fishman; we only live in the ocean close to Italy. When our bodies dry up, we morph into humans."
"Cool! Are there others?"
"Well, yeah. In fact, my friend Alberto…! OH, NO!" Luca whipped around and faced the fortress. "Alberto! We were being taken to that prison, a-and he helped me escape, and I…uh…"
"Slow down, Luca! What is that prison? Who tried to take you?"
"These monsters who looked like pirates. And it wasn't just us, they took my parents, too… I don't understand. I thought everyone accepted us now."
Robi shared a glance with Jolene, wondering what his story was. "Luca, I bet I know who's behind this: an evil witch named Gruntilda. We'd like to help you save them."
"Really? How can you do that?"
"We're Kids Next Door, of course!"
"Uh…what does that mean?"
"You don't know? Er, what it means is we fight villains and save people!"
"In that case, let's go!" Luca dove into the sea, his head rising in its Fishman form. "There's probably a way to sneak in underwater."
"Um, about that… we can't swim well."
"Oh…hehe, that's okay. Giulia doesn't swim well either. I guess I could pull you guys with me…"
"If only we had fins like you."
"…" Jolene found the shape of Luca's fins interesting. What was it like to have that thin, flabby part between his fingers? Maybe it was like the skin between her own fingers. Jolene molded some clay between her fingers to try and mimic the feeling.
"Jolene? Wait! You're a genius! That's what we were missing! Put some clay on us like this!" Jolene applied clay between their fingers and toes.
The two huffed a deep breath and dove into the water. Luca smiled at their creativity and swam ahead of them, showing them his motions. The land-dwellers mimicked him and got a good rhythm in the water. Their technique wasn't perfect, but they slowly grew used to being underwater. …Until they needed to breathe! They scrambled to swim to the surface, so Luca grabbed their hands and shot up there. "HUUUUFF!"
"Heheh! This might still be pretty hard for you. But there are Gloop Fish underwater who can help you."
"We'll try our best to keep up!"
"I don't think swimming in the ocean is healthy," Jolene said, "'cause it's the place where all the pee in the whole wide world goes…"
"At least we keep ours in our home." Luca argued.
"I'm gonna hurl now." Robi cringed.
Much of the sea was filled with jellyfish, starfish (Shuri), electric eels (Frazzles), and other creatures of the deep. Giant anemones called Blubbul were protecting bundles of notes. It was more beautiful than just looking at an aquarium… but much more dangerous. But, there were also friendly fish: the pudgy Gloops would puff out bubbles to replenish the kids' breath. "This is my farm down here." Luca led them to a field with a house and tilled ground. "When all the evil fish showed up, all our goatfish swam off. I'd like to round them up real quick."
Robi poked his head through a bubble before speaking, "We're gonna need a net! Jolene?" Jolene bent some clay to create a net. Luca beamed at the idea and led them around the surrounding sea. They found all five goatfish and returned them to their "pin." The last fish was particularly pudgy: it spat out a Jiggy! That meant it was Luca's turn to join the Jiggy Dance!
The trio swam in a vertical circle before Robi threw the Jiggy to Luca. He caught it between his feet, curled up, spun, and kicked it to Jolene. Jolene went spinning and flying a few meters before tucking the Jiggy away. The kids wanted to return to the surface to properly explore the surrounding ocean. There was a small island with a palm tree and a man stranded on it. He was tan and muscular, wearing a grass skirt and covered in tattoos, black as his frizzy hair.
"Hey, it's the Scorpion King!" Robi pointed. "Remember us?"
"You again?!" he gasped, surprised that they hadn't changed at all. "Uh, I mean, I don't know who that is, kid. The name's Maui! The mighty, shapeshifting sea spirit! Or at least I was… before a stingy crab stole my magic hook. Sigh, I'm seriously thinking about that Tooth Fairy gig."
"I hope! Jolene's is about to come out." Robi opened her mouth and wiggled a loose tooth.
"Euh. Maybe not." Maui cringed. "Say, you're a Fishman. Do me a solid and look for the crab who stole my hook. I'll make it worth your while!"
"Sounds like another Jiggy! Let's go back down."
Luca pulled the kids close to the floating prison, approaching underwater to avoid the pirates patrolling the surface on waterbikes. However, the underside of the fortress was blocked by a large, barred gate. "I guess we can't get in like this." Luca frowned. "Except… I wonder if the Dark Deep connects there? It might be scary, but it might be our only shot."
Luca guided them to the bones of a giant sea-snake, its maw opening and shutting. They swam through when it was open, the bones transitioning into a dark cave. "Glimmer! Yoohoo! Glimmer! Up here, boy!" They saw a light rise from the deep: the antenna of a small anglerfish. "Glimmer will help us see the way."
They were thankful for the light as their descent into the darkness was bone-chilling. The light glinted off air bubbles, so they could always be sure where to catch their breath. They swam around lines of Bazzas (barracudas) and evaded Shuri that ambushed from the darkness like shurikens. At the bottom of this shaft, they bumped into a pudgy yellow fish, a Gleamin' Bream. It emitted a bright, bioluminescent light, providing a better view of the following tunnel.
This light allowed them to see other Breams, so they swam to hit them to keep the light going. When all the Breams were hit, they saw a cluster of anemones retract, revealing a secret tunnel. Sharing a glance of interest, the kids swam into the tunnel and found a pink, long-earred creature swimming: a Glowbo! 'That means Uncle Raymond is nearby!' Robi wanted to say.
They returned to the main tunnel, and Luca called attention to a smiling, pudgy fish with a half-tangible body. "That's a Seemee. They like to eat pretty things. I wonder what this one ate?"
Robi recognized the gold nugget inside it, pointing ecstatically! It was a Jiggy Piece, just like the ones from Central Park! "Okay. Then I'll try to grab it!" Luca swum in circles, built up momentum, and lunged to thrust his hand through the Seemee. He punctured and pulled the piece out without damaging the fish. "Hehe! I don't really know how their bodies work, but we can get the treasures easily."
They kept swimming through the tunnel and arrived in a town area within a wider cave, and some faint lights to give it some depth. "Welcome to The Deep. My uncle lives down here, but… I don't like visiting him. Since it's so dark down here, the people have been able to hide from the pirates whenever they dive this far. By the way, are you guys hungry? They got new Jelly Patties at the Crunchy Crab. There's also an air bubble room where you can eat safely."
Robi smiled and nodded agreeably. They followed Luca to an upper tunnel, leading to a surface with a small shore on top. Robi and Jolene sat on the shore and waited for Luca to bring up three patties, with buns, meat, and jellyfish jelly linking them. The trio sat and ate their lunch with delight! "Now we gotta wait an hour before swimming…" Jolene mumbled, jelly gluing her lips.
"I think it should be fine." Robi assured. "We can't waste too much time."
"So, where did you guys come from again? What is the 'Kids Next Door'?"
"It's an organization of kids like us. We have adventures and fight bad guys. And we can get stronger with our bending when we do it!" Robi picked up a rock as demonstration and crushed it easily.
"So, you guys are benders… But I thought Nimbi could only bend air?"
"Well, my dad and grandma were master earthbenders, so I got their chi. Of course, I mostly have human traits, so I'm heavier than normal Nimbi, anyway."
"Human and Nimbi? So, other humans accept our races, too?"
"Er…the KND accept all kinds of races." Robi answered, baffled by his question. "One of our friends is an alien! She's super small, but she's just as good a bender as we are."
"I… never knew. My parents always said the Human Governments banned our races from the surface. They banned benders, too. We only started to get accepted by this town last year… and not everybody does."
"Th-That's not true at all. …I mean, our parents said it used to be that way… 50 years ago."
"Fifty… years?"
"Yeah… Luca, what year is it?"
"1960."
"HUH?!"
"And it's not just the governments my parents were talking about. The countries to the west are being taken over by the Demon King's army. It's some kind of war between them and the spirits, and it's only a matter of time before they reach Europe. Demons can't swim, so we're safe underwater. But I…I don't wanna stay down here. Last year, Alberto and I met our first human friend, Giulia. She told all kinds of stories about the world… About the Great Wall, the Big Ben, all kinds of amazing things. And she didn't even know about Skypia and the Nimbi until we told her. And we read fairytales about outer space; about Star People and aliens… I'd love it if we all got to go there someday. If we could see it all. …If this Kids Next Door thing is real, do you think we could join it?"
Even Robi couldn't answer that question. These portals weren't just taking them to different places… they led to different points in time. That explained Ancient Egypt. "What's wrong?"
Robi perked up. "Um, actually, I'm not sure you can right now. I think Gruntilda is… doing something to the world. We need to stop her and make her tell us what's going on."
"Okay…"
"But just so you know, all those things you heard about are real. It might take a while, but you'll be able to have those adventures someday!"
"Really?"
"Yeah! But first, we got friends to save! Let's search for a top-hat somewhere in town."
Once their meals were all tucked in their bellies, the kids submerged again. Luca wondered why they wanted the top-hat, or why there would be one down here… After a while of searching, they found the skull-marked hat set on a platform overlooking the town. It was also inside a bubble, so when they were sucked inside, they had the opportunity to breathe. "HYLYR, children!" the jovial uncle greeted. "That's Mermish for 'hello'! And speaking of which, looks like y'all got a new fishy friend with you."
"Yep! This is Luca. Luca, this is Uncle Raymond; he's a wizard who can turn us into things."
"A wizard?" Luca lit up in awe.
"Maybe he can turn us into Fishmen like you! We'd just need some of your hair, right?"
"D'aww, don't you kids wanna be something more creative than that?" Facilier asked. "Besides, I had something different in mind. I've been investigating Gruntilda's fortress up there and I've seen a handful of electric devices. You know any animals that could help ya with that?"
"Jellyfish!!" Robi cheered.
"I… would've suggested electric eels, but I guess jellyfish would be easier to catch. Go grab me one and I'll make the magic happen!"
It didn't take long to find a blue jellyfish near the top of the cave, leading a line of baby jellies. Jolene caught them all with a clay net. They returned to Raymond's hat and deposited them all in the magic pool, along with the Glowbo. "So, this thing can really change us into jellyfish?" Luca asked.
"It sure can! Let's show him, Jolene!" Robi took her friend's hand and jumped into the pool. Their bodies stretched and morphed, and the hat would spit them all back out to the water once the spell was complete. Robi became an orange jellyfish and Jolene a gray one, their faces depicted on top. Robi's was smiling cutely while Jolene's was as droopy as always. As an added bonus, the baby jellyfish became "part" of their form, following the parents around.
"Wow… that's incredible!" Luca beamed.
"I know! You wanna change, too?"
"I think I'll stay like I am. I am faster and stronger like this."
"Good point."
Facilier's head poked out of the hat. "Just remember you'll change back automatically if you climb up on land. Good luck!"
There was a Blubbul along one of the cave walls, and their jelly bodies allowed them to endure its electric tendrils. This Blubbul was only guarding a Sun Sand refill, but they decided to swim back to the starting sea and grab the notes in the earlier Blubbuls. They also found another Seemee carrying a Jiggy Piece. They returned to town and, from there, swam through the next tunnel, which was infested with jellyfish. It became much easier to maneuver past them without their electricity hurting. The same couldn't be said for Luca, but he at least already had the underwater mastery. …Except there was a Seemee between a group of jellies. It took Luca a while to build up momentum in this dangerous space without getting stung, but he was eventually able to get the piece from inside it.
The tunnel led to a diagonal upward shaft for them to ascend through, but this time, they had to be mindful of mines in the dark. They explored the cave carefully in search of collectables, and as expected, one of the mines was beside a cracked wall. Luca flicked it and swam away when it began to beep, blowing the wall open! This side-tunnel had a mildly-strong current, and there was a Jiggy at the edge of a turn in the tunnel, where the current grew stronger. Thankfully, they didn't need to get close to pick the Jiggy up.
The Fishman and jellyfish performed the Jiggy Dance as usual, except when Luca kicked it to Jolene, she was sent flying up the stronger current. "AH!" Luca screamed. "I didn't think that would happen!" Luca swam up the shaft. Jolene's jelly body had gotten stuck against a grate in the tunnel. Luca picked her off and mildly struggled to swim against the current, but was able to make it out.
"That was close!" Robi sighed.
"Yeah. I think this water might be getting pumped into the fortress. But we should find a safer way in."
"Don't try to kiss a vacuum," Jellene said dizzily, "or you'll face will come off, and skeletons can't kiss…"
"And worse, I don't think we have skeletons like this."
After leaving the mine cave, they found their selves beneath the dark underbelly of the fortress. They swam to explore the perimeter of the barred gate. There was a giant lever beside one part of it that Luca pushed, causing the gate to open. Now they had an easy shortcut back to the start! But as for getting into the facility… there were giant dials around a hatch. They would need to work together to push and twist the dials… except their jelly bodies weren't fit for the task. "So, we gotta change back to turn these?" Robi asked. "That's lame."
There was an Anti-form Cauldron on the seabed, releasing bubbles of its substance. The jellies swam through and turned back. They joined Luca at the first dial and pushed against it, turning until they heard a loud click. The next dial was guarded by Keelhauls—pirates driving small submarines. They shot torpedoes, but Jolene caught them with Clay Hands and threw back, destroying the monsters. However, an impulsive breath caused Jolene to choke. Luca grabbed and quickly carried her to a bubble. Robi shared a smile with their new friend. They were very lucky to meet such a nice Fishboy.
After twisting the last two dials, the hatch opened. Jolene put her head in a bubble so she could say, "The lid is open. We can go in there now."
Robi put a bubble on so he could giggle. "Thanks for letting us know, Jolene! Before we do, let's look for anything else we can do outside. We still need one more Jiggy Piece for this one."
Besides going back to the start, they could exit beyond the other side of the fortress' gate. They saw glowing lines of orange-red among the seabed: they were cracks of lava around a giant skull. "An underwater volcano!" Luca beamed. "I bet there's treasure in there… but it looks too dangerous. If you're earthbenders, can you do something about it?"
Robi shook 'no.' But he did know somebody that could. On the bright side, there was a Red Jinjo between two of the rivers, so they rescued it! The kids swam back to The Deep. Luca pointed them to the Seaweed Sanctum, a tall temple built into the wall. The door could be opened with their earthbending, and luckily, the inside was a big air bubble. There was a single, droopy seaweed in the middle of the room… and it had eyes and a mouth. "Hweeee! Are you visitors? Would you pleeeease help meeeeee?" it asked with a high, hoarse, dehydrated voice.
The three shared a baffled expression. They approached the talking seaweed. "My name is Weeeeeweeeeeee." The boys giggled at this. "I've been trying to grow out of this temple for weeeeeeks, but those darn fish keeeeep cutting meeee. Will you pleeeease beeeeat them up so I can grow in peeeeeace?"
"Hweeeee, pleeeease, meeeeeeeeeeee…" Jolene drawled this on until she was on her last breath and the highest pitch.
"What Jolene means is, sure!" Robi cheered.
"Thank you. Heeeeeeere they come now."
As Weewee began to grow, Molly Whackers came rushing out; Black Molly fish wielding weedwhackers. The trio split up to fight the fish off so Weewee could grow. When he reached the second level, more Mollies charged at him along the zigzaggy paths. The kids could reach that level by Rock Jumping up the broken pillars. They quickly KO'ed the Whackers before they could hurt Weewee too badly. When he reached the 3rd floor, the kids saw a ladder and climbed it. They only had one platform to stand on while Whackers appeared on other platforms and threw their tools. The earthbenders had to punch the walls and force rocks to shoot out toward the fish. They managed to protect Weewee enough for him to reach the ceiling.
"Thank you, kids! I can take it from heeeeeere." The towering seaweed spun and drilled through the ceiling, burrowing through to the surface. Amongst the falling rubble was a Jiggy! Before dropping to collect it, Jolene seemed to point to one of the Mollies' platforms. There was a Green Jinjo on it! Robi could clamber across a thin ledge to reach it. They all dropped down to join in a Jiggy Dance! …Except, on land, the kids plopped down on their bellies and did the "worm" in a circle. Luca would still catch the Jiggy between his ankles, roll, and kick it to Jolene.
"Hey, Luca, did you say your uncle was in this town? Can we meet him?"
"Sigh…I guess so." Luca was clearly discomforted, but he led them to his uncle's cave regardless.
Robi tensed up nervously as a pair of big blue eyes, rolled different directions, and a big smile lit up by a blue angler swum out of the darkness. "Hello, Luca. Are they new friends? You kids can come in for krill, if you like."
"Uh, n-no thanks, Uncle Ugo. We just came to say 'hello'… real quick. And, we're done."
"You kids ever see a heart before? Here's mine." He pointed at his see-through chest, Robi and Luca cringing grossly. His bones and other organs were visible, too. "Ah! You wanna touch, sweetie?"
The boys were questionable as Jolene swam up to poke his belly. They noticed a gold nugget inside it. "!" They perked in realization, "That's the Jiggy Piece! Uncle, stand still!" Luca swam back, built momentum, and thrust his hand through his uncle's belly. Though it disgusted him, he was able to pull the piece out safely. The Jiggy was fully assembled, so they danced! …But Ugo joined the dance, too, so they were weirded out of it.
They decided to become jellyfish again and reexplore the beginning area. There was a strange, sphinx-like head made of some ancient technology and tiny slots around its crown. Robi and Jellene sent their baby jellies inside them, channeling electricity as the head lit up and opened its mouth. The mouth was too small for Luca to fit, so only the jellyfish went. The throat was a portal, leaving the duo to wonder where it would go.
A familiar beat began to play in their "ears": the ecstatic music of Godlywood! "We're in Egypt?!" The lights of Godlywood and dancing Egyptians surrounded the pool they had swum into from a tiny tunnel. However, the pool was dark, for the lights were inactive. They simply needed to swim around the perimeter and send babies into the holes to light the colored lights. Once the pool was bright and lively, it was filled with Egyptians, excited to play water volley! One of the men dropped his Jiggy upon diving, so the kids took the liberty of taking it! They also found the Egyptian "P" down here.
They returned through the passage back to Luca's Lagoon. Without any other ideas, they returned to the fortress' underbelly. But before they could reach the entrance, they noticed a Captain Blackeye statue. It seemed crumbled, but their earthbending couldn't break it. There was a possible solution, though: the submarine Keelhauls shooting torpedoes. They tricked the pirates into shooting the statue until it crumbled, revealing a hidden passage. Their sense of adventure ignited once more, they swam in! Unfortunately, it led to the dry shore of a cave, forcing them to climb on and morph back into humans. Luca would assume human form as well, following them into the cave.
Their eyes were aglitter at the sight of piles of treasure! Not only that, but dozens of Jiggies spinning on the road. "Wow! We hit the motherload of Jiggies!" Luca beamed. "Bet you guys won't have to worry about these for a-"
"NO, LUCA!" Robi screamed. As soon as Luca touched one, the Triggies all ganged up, beating on the kids and throwing them out of the cave. "Ow…those are Triggies. They spin a different way from the Jiggies."
"Okay… we better not touch them." They crossed the Triggy road more cautiously, and it ended at another treasure mound. In trying to climb the pile, they slipped down. Robi had to hold their hands and Flutter Run up the treasure to reach the next path. This path was full of Snippet Misers, bright green crabs with big monocle eyes. When the kids got close, the Misers would retreat into holes in the piles. The following door would only open if they inserted a red, green, and blue gem. The Snippets were holding them. They stayed far away from each hole so the crabs would crawl out, after which Robi could stomp an earthquake and flip them over. They took the gems from their claws and inserted them in the slots.
The door opened to a chamber with a giant hermit crab, gazing at a huge hook through a big monocle. "Ner-ner-ner! Nipper have biggest hook in sea. Catch many fish."
"That's the hook Mr. Maui needs!" Luca pointed. "Um, could we have that back?"
"Stupid kids no get Nipper's hook. Nipper hook you first." The hermit swung his hook threateningly, Jolene mesmerized by the motions. She decided to craft a hook of her own to mimic him, both hooks snagging the other. As she pulled the hook in a stalemate, and Robi stomped to fling a rock at Nipper's monocle. Nipper winced and released his grip, the kids rushing off with the hook. "Nooooo. Now Nipper stuck using kiddie hook. He tired of eating krill…"
The kids returned all the way to Maui. "MY MAGIC HOOK! AW, BABY!" The spirit excitedly kissed his treasure. "A deal's a deal, kids! Here's your treasure!" He turned as his Tattoo Maui grabbed a Jiggy and threw it out of the art. "Now, who wants to see a giant hawk?"
"WE DO!"
"Here goes! YAAAA-" Maui poofed, "hoo?" turning into a little frog. The kids were both adored and confused. "YAAA-" He poofed between a termite, crocodile, walrus, bee, and Breegull bird. "Uh…Maui might be a little out of practice. But he'll get it right, just give him a minute!"
"Uh, that's okay." Robi said. "We gotta get going."
They went to change into jellyfish once more before heading to the fortress' entrance shaft. They could either surface at the top or swim through a small, jellyfish-sized pipe. "You had the right idea." Luca smiled. "I guess I can only get in this way. Hopefully, we'll stay in touch!"
Luca would have to beat up the Seaman Grublins mopping the floor around the water entrance. Luca proceeded into a hall with a metal staircase, several barrels, and see-through water pipelines. He lit up, seeing his jellyfriends swimming through the pipes, with notes to collect! Luca followed them up the steps and creaked open an exit door. He glanced for guards before slipping out. (Play "Water Temple" from Jiggies of Time!)
They were in a huge aquarium with tall tanks. Luca could see customers behind the tank they had entered behind, and his jellyfriends flowing into it from the pipe. Sharing a wave with them once more, Luca walked around the tank to the open area, filled with frail, elderly customers. "Why are there so many old people?"
"Hey, Luca, can you hear us out there?" Robi's voice faintly yelled through the glass.
"Yeah, a little bit!"
"We need to look for a large, magic clock! It's a Life Clock that turns kids into old people! All these people must be kids!"
"What? That's impossible…"
"Luuuca… is that yoooouuu?"
An old granny approached the curious Fishboy. She had frizzy grey hair with a blue knitted cap, pants with a patch in the right leg, and a red- and white-striped T-shirt. "G…Giulia?"
"I came here… looking for Alberto… and before I knew it… I turned oooold… What happened to me?"
"I-I dunno! How do we fix her?!"
"We gotta find the Life Clock and destroy it." Robi answered. "But if we don't hurry, we'll turn old, too."
"Okay." Luca put a hand to his human friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, Giulia, we'll fix this! I can't wait to tell you about my new friends!"
Snippets lurked on the floor of the jellies' tank. Jolene lured them out of the way while Robi pulled away some rocks covering a vent. The vent released a current that would blow them out of the water and above a taller tank. The kids swum down to a narrow passage connecting to the next tank, but clams called Yum-yum would try to nip them. It was no hassle to send their babies inside to electrify the clams. They would have to do something similar in the next tank by powering up a generator, causing a passage to make a bridge to the following tank. Luca would keep following alongside them, watching as they fought off Flotsams and Lockjaws. Luca could enter a door to the next room, but the jellies had no way to follow him.
There was a switch beside the door with flipper designs. Luca was unable to press it. Given its design, he formed a theory: there was a puddle a short way down the passage, with Luca could step in to gain fins. He quickly ran to the switch to press it. A pipe connected the jellies' tank to one in the next room. Luca and the jellies shared a thumbs-up (er, stingers up) and proceeded. The pipe would pour out onto a water table, where children were happily stomping about in trying to squish some flat fish. Fittingly, the label 'Squish the Fish' was posted on it. "Those are the kids who play kickball on the street." Luca said. "At least they haven't turned old, yet, but I don't think they'll make it easy for you guys."
Robi and Jellene didn't want to electrify the innocent kids, so they quickly swam around them, lest their jelly be squished out. The table branched to a river with churning, spiked walls. They could simply get around by following the churners' flow, but if they backtracked past one of them, they could save a Black Jinjo! The river led to a long aquarium lead over a watery chasm. Luca would need to grip the top of this aquarium to climb over the chasm. Snapdragons would try to nip him from the holes above or below it, but the jellies could see them through cages inside their aquarium and shock them. Luca reached a safe platform, but would have to jump several platforms with electric bars traveling over them. Also, each platform had a switch designed to close a waterfall in the pipe along the wall. The jellies were meant to swim through this pipe, so Luca had to hold the switches until they could pass, which was naturally tricky because of the moving bars.
They were able to make it across regardless. The jellyfish entered a back passage, leading to a room with a closed red clam. They tried to pry the clam open, but it was stuck tight. "I bet ya this clam's protecting something. Let's take it with us and find a way to open it."
While exiting the passage, they looked around, wondering where Luca had gone. He was further up the path, looking at two of the tanks holding captive Fishmen. They swam up the pipe for a closer look at the elderly captives. "Alberto! ALBERTO!"
Robi was aback at his raise in tone. The Fishman inside had a yellow top and orange shorts with pale-blue skin. His eyes were too squinted and weak to make out the shape beyond the glass. Luca began to punch the glass, desperate to free him. "Come on! Fishmen are 10 times stronger than humans, why can't I break this?!"
"Wait! Look at the other tank!" Robi yelled. The other captive had someone in a Hawaiian shirt, goggles, and brown shorts. "That isn't a Fishman! That's Kent!"
"Kent?" Luca looked. "Is he… your friend?" He studied the label beneath the tank. "'Ancient Lavabender'?"
"You know, I've been noticing… the water here is real funky. I think the Life Clock's power is spread through it."
"Now that you mention it…" Luca looked at his hand, revolted as wrinkles had developed. "The air feels weird, too…"
Luca walked into a narrow hallway nearby, the jellies following through the pipe. They passed the bathrooms (with pipes leading into them) and reached a sealed, metal door. Luca gripped the bottom of a small window and pulled up. He saw a strange clock with an energy circle embedded into a machine. "Guys… I think I found the Life Clock." He climbed down. "But I can't get this door open!"
"There are bars here." Robi said. "We can't get in this way. Come on, there's gotta be a different way."
They followed the pipe leading into the boys' room. "W-Wait… I'm not allowed in there." Jellene said.
"Relax, Jolene, I don't think we have genders like this—WHOA!" The jellies slipped out of a gap in the pipe, splashing into a toilet.
Gasping, Luca opened the stall they fell into, disgustedly looking into- "?!" He was startled seeing a toilet with eyes, bobbing up and down. "Howdy, friend! Name's Loggo. Care to use me?"
"A TALKING TOILET?!"
"How are you alive?!" Robi yelled, he and Jellene squished inside its mouth.
"Gruntilda uses Soul Magic to grant sentience to us objects." Loggo's voice sounded like flatulence. "Say, does the water here taste a bit funky to you? Bet ya there's some nasty junk goin' on down in the waste disposal. You think you kids could check it out for me? You can get down there through that hatch." Luca saw a hatch at the end of the room. "In fact, I once saw the boss carry a pretty-lookin' Jiggy down there."
"The Crystal Jiggy? Luca, let's go down!"
"Okay…uh, should I pull you guys outta there?"
"Actually, I can probably flush you lot down there, too." Loggo inferred.
"Wait! Luca, pull Jolene out. Her claybending could really help fight the boss. Besides, I don't want her to have to do this."
"Yeah, I wouldn't either…" Luca carefully reached in and pulled Jellene out. After dropping her on the floor, the jellyfish puffed and morphed into a human.
"You know, the weirdest part, is that my brain and eyes are still jelly… so, what if my body can't tell, and now they're extra jelly?"
Meanwhile, Luca bid Robi a disgusted wave as he was flushed down Loggo like liquid. This left himself and Jolene to climb down the hatch. The smell of disposed waste infected their nostrils as they climbed down to a lake of filth. "Ewwwwww…" (End song.)
Robi shared his sentiments, overlooking the lake from a glass pipe. Gruntilda's voice echoed in the depths: "In this grunge, you'll breathe your last. 'Cause air is used twice as fast!"
Indeed, Robi could barely "breathe" the filthy water; if he were still human, it might be even worse. They dreaded to think what kind of boss they'd face down here. A monster of dung? The Toiletnator? A toxic mermaid? These were the last things they hoped from an underwater boss. Robi's pipe would pour into the lake, where he had free roam. He could breathe clean air bubbles to replenish his health, but he saw no sign of a boss down here. He was scared to think it would ambush him from the darkness.
"Waaaaaah! Waaaaaah!" A baby's cry was heard. Luca and Jolene's stairwell led down to a large, square platform, with ramps leading into the water. And on that platform was a giant cradle. They shared a bewildered glance and approached the cradle. The baby was completely bundled up, and they couldn't unwrap it.
Jolene thought it best to find the baby's mommy, so she picked the cradle up with her Clay Hands. …That was the trigger for the exit stairway to rise, preventing their escape.
An eerie song began to play. …A giant shadow rose from the platform's edge. The kids were struck still with terror as it approached, quaking the floor. And when it took the baby, his form lit up: he was an egg-bodied old man with yellow glasses, gray beard and mustache, a red suit with a blue tie, and… a giant diaper over his bare legs.
Boss fight: Towering Toddler Doctor, LIPSCHITZ
"I am Dr. Lipschitz, vith ein baby in my hand!" He sang with a deep voice and his motions were passionate. "I vill take the baby, und I put it in a pan." He placed the cradle in a frying pan fit for its size, sizzling it as a bunch of burning diapers flew out. Luca grabbed Jolene to help her run from the raining diapers, but Lipschitz would start to chase and jump on them. The two were squished flat, taken off-guard by his first attack, but when they had time to recover, they ran close to the burning diapers and tricked him into jumping on them. "!!!" Lipschitz began cursing in German, having to set the baby down to put the fire out.
"Jolene, throw that baby in the water! I'm pretty sure it's not a real one."
Jolene would normally make the argument that babies haven't gone to swimming class, but 'non-real' babies probably 'wouldn't really' drown. She grabbed the cradle and chucked it in the lake. "MEIN BABY!" The erratic doctor dove after it. Luca wasn't at all excited about diving in that grunge, but so long as Lipschitz was in the water, the Fishboy should have the full advantage. What Luca didn't expect was for Lipschitz to be such a fast swimmer, kicking his legs rapidly and zooming about the lake. He came charging at Luca like a torpedo, the Fishboy barely dodging in time. When Lipschitz came around for the next strike, Luca built momentum himself to ram him headfirst. His Fishman strength was equal to the giant's strength, so they both stopped with mild concussions.
But Lipschitz was then electrified in the egg-tipped dome by an orange jellyfish! Luca smiled at Robi, taking advantage of Lipschitz's weakness to ram him several times. After Lipschitz had enough, the psychologist swam to one of the ramps to return to the platform, Luca hurrying after him. "Vaiting in mein diaper is another surprise, you are doing something WRONG if the baby cries!" He grabbed a rattle from his diaper and shook it toward the kids, sending its round head out. Another head would grow as Lipschitz threw more in quick succession, and each ball would beep before exploding. Jolene punched the balls toward Lipschitz, but he would swiftly sidestep away.
After Lipschitz threw the next round of balls, Jolene formed an idea: since he would slide away from the balls, she tried to punch a ball toward his right before sending one at his left leg. Lipschitz would dodge right, as expected, tripping on the other ball. His legs flailed about cartoonishly before he fell completely over it. Jolene punched the other balls toward him so they could explode on the doctor. Lipschitz recovered and grabbed two milk bottles from his diaper, attaching them to the cradle. It squirted milk like rockets, flying above the kids crush them with its powerful jets.
Meanwhile, Lipschitz did the moon walk as he sang, "Raising ein child is a serious venture. Not to be embarked by the faint of heart! Little fart." He squatted and shook his diaper. "Parents must make choices vhich are perfect under VISE, you are doing something wrong if the baby cries!"
"Jolene, can you use those big hands to throw me up to the cradle?" Luca asked. When the cradle flew away to reload its bottles, Jolene picked Luca up and threw him when it flew back. Luca grabbed and tore one of the bottles off, causing the cradle to fly out of control. Luca screamed, hanging onto it, and both splashed in the lake. A panicking Lipschitz dove after it. Luca and Robi were ready to reuse their strategy, but this time, Lipschitz would gain some distance and shoot bottle torpedoes. Luca had to swiftly evade them before headbutting the charging Lipschitz. He failed on the first round and was rendered dizzy. Robi zapped him back to his senses in time to dodge the torpedoes again, and Luca was able to stun-lock the giant this time. Robi electrified Lipschitz, allowing Luca to lay the beatdown on him!
Lipschitz still had the strength to climb back on land, forcefully jumping around the platform to squish Jolene, who evaded. By the time Luca climbed back, Lipschitz began the next verse. "Now, I put on the baby… ein fluffy big pie!" He covered the cradle with a giant, brown pie topping. "But cook the kid in the pie und the baby vill die, as I fly very high!" He flipped the "pie" upside-down, sat on the bottom, and began to bounce around with the fluffy part. He would jump to the kids' panel, but even after dodging, that panel would sink into the lake. Luca and Jolene barely jumped to another panel in time. The whole platform was made of 9 panels, but only six could be sunken at a time, after which one of the others would return.
Jolene simply reapplied her strategy from previous battles and dropped clay on the panels for Lipschitz to stick on. She needed to stick a total of three wads before Lipschitz was unable to bounce again. The platform sank beneath him, so Lipschitz decided to abandon his baby and jump onto a safe panel. "Curses! I need ein new baby! Eh?" He looked at Jolene. She had tumbled backward after that last jump, causing her dress to fold up.
"Huh?" It was the first time Luca actually noticed it as well. "You… wear a diaper?"
"LIIIIIIFE," Lipschitz snatched Jolene in his hands, gleeful as he danced and hugged her, "is a vonderful thing! A new baby is as fresh as the arrival of spring! I vill stuff you full of burgers and fries, you are doing something wrong if the baby cries!" He grabbed a giant burger from his diaper, but his efforts to shove it into Jolene were thwarted by her Clay Hands. Frustrated, Lipschitz insisted, "Everything I do is perfect und vise! You are doing something wrong when the baaaaabyyyyyy CRIIIIIEEEEES!"
Jolene's resistance overwhelmed Lipschitz, shoving the burger down his throat! He dropped Jolene, gagging on the burger as he performed his final dance. With one last quick strum, Lipschitz fell on his back. His body exploded into a bunch of cookies to refill their health.
Luca helped Jolene up, asking if she was okay. Robi climbed on one of the ramps, morphing back into a Nimbi to join them. "Robi… what was that guy?"
"I don't know, Luca… I don't know."
"Scrawk, scrawk!" They looked up. A parrot flapped down to them. "Congratulations, kids! You beat Dr. Lipschitz! Here's a banana for you." He gave them a gold banana. The parrot flapped down toward the platform the cradle sunk, grabbed it with his talons, and rose, pulling the platform up with it. "I loaned this to him months ago and never got it back. Happy trails!" He flew away.
To their surprise, he had risen the platform so high, it revealed a sapphire Crystal Jiggy embedded in its side. "Hey! That's lucky! Let's pull it out, Jolene!" They stuck clay to the Jiggy and tore it out. The exit stairway lowered, the trio thankful to leave the smelly dungeon.
"So, uh…how come Jolene wears a diaper?"
"Oh, you noticed that, huh?" Robi blushed. "She… has wetting problems. Some kids at school make fun of her for it, so we try to hide it…"
"Mmmm…" Luca saw Jolene puff her cheeks in embarrassment.
"I-It's okay." Luca smiled. "I know the feeling… a little. I still haven't showed my human school that I'm really a Fishman."
"Yeah. Everyone's got somethin' to hide. And it's hard to find people we can share it with."
"Good thing we did!"
"Yeah!!" The friends high-fived with a lively skip!
When they returned to the Life Clock's door, they realized there was a banana-shaped keyhole. They could insert the gold banana and open it. There was nothing else to stop them from smashing the clock with the Jiggy! The life force exploded out, returning to all the kids and captives of the aquarium. "I noticed the air in this fortress is salty." Luca said. "It's probably filtered from the sea."
"And the clock was still draining you like it did us." Robi replied. "So, I wonder if it was draining people through the salt?"
"Okay? How was it draining people before?"
"In the other places, I think I felt its power through the earth… Ah, what'm I thinking? We got friends to save!"
They ran outside and saw that Alberto and Kent's cages had opened, the water spilling out as they lay exhausted on the floor. "Oddio… see, Luca, I always told you aquariums were bad. …LUCA?!"
"Alberto!" Luca pulled his friend up and squeezed him in a hug.
"Kent! Are you alright?"
"Robi? Jolene? What… Where am I?"
"You were trapped in that aquarium and turned into an old man! I'm surprised you're still alive."
"Well, I am half-Imuchakk. I'm a master at holding my breath!"
"Oh, yeah!"
"Luca! Alberto!" They looked as Giulia jumped her way up the platforms, grabbing the boys in a hug.
"Giulia! Hahahaha!"
The W operatives were adored by their three-way hug. "So, who are these weirdoes?" Alberto asked.
"This is Robi, Jolene, and… Kent, right? These guys are awesome! They have earthbending, and they're part of this kid organization that have adventures and fight bad guys!"
"Really?" Giulia asked, astonished by such a sudden idea.
"Huhu, it's true." Robi blushed. "But, listen… I think there's something we gotta tell you."
"What?"
"I think… we're from the future."
"WHAT?!" Even Kent was shocked.
"I-I don't really know for sure! But it's Year 2061 where we're from, and Luca said it's 1960 right now. And earlier, we went to this Ancient Egypt place. I think Gruntilda's portals go to different places in time!"
"Okay, so you don't just look weird, you're crazy." Alberto stated.
"Hey!"
"I'm not sure if I believe it either." Kent said. "You're talking about that Mysterious Lair we saw, right? Why does it connect to different times?"
"I really don't know!"
"Time travel?" Giulia questioned. "That's only in stories… but then again, so were merpeople."
"You're not saying you believe them?" Alberto asked.
"I was just turned into an old lady. I don't know what to believe, anymore."
"Is the Kids Next Door full of things like this?" Luca asked.
"It kind of is." Robi answered. "But… I don't think you guys can join in that case."
"Why?"
"'Cause I don't think the KND exists in this time. Not yet, at least. And by the time it does, you might not get to join. They used to not allow people over 13 years old."
"Not to mention they didn't use to allow non-humans." Kent said. "There IS an Oceana KND, but I don't know if that's around now."
"But even if me and Alberto could join that… Giulia couldn't come with us? It just wouldn't be the same without all three of us."
"Well, then who needs the KND?" Giulia stomped. "We'll have our own adventures someday! We're gonna get another Vespa and ride around the…HUUUUU!"
"What's wrong?!"
"The Portorosso Cup! I almost forgot! It's starting soon!"
"AAH!" Luca screamed. "If we don't hurry, that jerk Ercole will win again!"
"Then let's book it, pronto!" Alberto yelled. The taller boy grabbed the two's wrists and bolted for an exit.
"Hey, you guys should come join us!!" Luca called back.
"Hehe, why don't we?" Robi said. "This sounds fun!"
"Don't we… have more important things to worry about?" Kent asked.
"We need to find Jiggies to keep going in the lair. I bet they're giving one away! We'll tell you about everything else on the way."
As they exited the aquarium, Jolene remembered a story she read in kindergarten. A tall tale about fish-people spotted off the coast of Italy. Legend said that local fishermen would engage in battle with the Fishmen wielding harpoons. And in that story, a little girl was "abducted" by two Fishmen, never to be seen again. But how much of that story… was true?