Kleptopolis
It was late at night. Almost everyone else had gone to bed already, but in Zetal's case, he was in one of the tower's rooms, hard at work on something special. Through all the planning, forging, wiring, welding and programming earlier that day, he was tired but satisfied with the results.
"Finally!" he exclaimed, stepping back to admire his new creation lying on the steel table. "After hours of toiling, testing and failures, I've done it! I've finally built the ultimate machine!"
"What does it look like?" Casinoir asked, startling Zetal.
"Do you ever knock?!" he shouted, clutching his chest.
"Sorry, boss, but I've been curious about what you've been working on. After all, I didn't see you today. None of us did," Casinoir reasoned, looking over at the machine. "Huh. Sorta looks like Bro."
Upon further inspection, the machine did look a lot like Bro, save for a few different color choices and no visible mouth.
"This, Casinoir, is Brobot– the future bane of the siblings, a symbol of my genius, and my soon-to-be personal servant," Zetal explained.
"Your soon-to-be personal servant doesn't have a mouth. Is it so he can't insult you behind your back?" Casinoir joked.
Zetal glared at him before replying. "No... I didn't give him a mouth because then I'd have to make a voice chip, and I'd have to give him Bro's voice, and I never want to hear that first thing in the morning!"
"You could just give him a different voice," Casinoir suggested. "Ooh! Make him sound like a chipmunk!"
"I'm not doing either of those things... for different reasons."
Brobot slowly woke up, teal pupils forming on his black eyes. As he got up from the table, Casinoir could only focus on two large glowing tubes and a small slot on Brobot's back.
"What's this thing?" he asked. "Bro doesn't have that thing attached to his back."
"That's his Radiblitz capacitor," Zetal answered.
"Radi-what?"
"Radiblitz capacitor," Zetal repeated. "I'm sure you've noticed the times when Bro zooms around in a ball of light or launches balls of light at us."
"A few times, yes," Casinoir said.
"To put it simply, he's using technology– ancient technology to do it. It's called Radiblitz, and Bro has been using it to constantly thwart my plans," Zetal continued.
"I'm still not following," Casinoir admitted.
"Alright, alright, I see... Let me put it this way..." Zetal sighed. "Radiblitz was meant to be the 'technology of the future–' physical holograms, lightspeed transportation of humanity from one place to another, centuries far ahead of their time... and our worst enemy is using it."
"Oh, I get it now!" Casinoir exclaimed. "So, what's this capacitor do, exactly?"
"As it stands right now, absolutely nothing," Zetal replied. "But if I can get my hands on a piece of Radiblitz, I can power Brobot up to be the best that he can be, both in combat and in service."
"So you intentionally made him the weakest he could be just to power him up later?" Casinoir asked. This question resulted in a slap on the back of his head and a glare from Brobot.
"For the record, Brobot is not weak in the slightest," Zetal corrected. "He's made from reinforced titanium, I've designed him to be waterproof, fireproof and shockproof, and I've programmed him with every form of self defense available."
"Point taken," Casinoir grunted. "So, where are you gonna find this ancient technology?"
"No clue," Zetal admitted, walking towards an elevator, both Brobot and Casinoir following. "But with any hope, it'll be sooner rather than later."
As the three slowly ascended the tower, a bout of silence passed before Casinoir requested to know more about Radiblitz and how it worked.
"Well, Radiblitz gets its name from the word 'radiant.' People back then used this technology to create objects or constructs out of light using holographic projections," Zetal explained.
"And how would those people be able to do that?"
"If records are accurate, the articles of clothing that civilization wore were actually supercomputers that used Radiblitz as a processor. If you wore anything that had Radiblitz in it, you could see these projections in a small space before choosing to bring them out into the real world. It was like wearing mixed reality glasses, except you could bring out whatever you wanted out here."
"Wait, if records are accurate?"
"Yeah. There are very few records about Radiblitz, and even less about the civilization. Nobody knew their name, and they vanished without a trace, only leaving the Radiblitz," Zetal continued.
"And... you knew about all of this and never bothered to create a machine that could use that technology until now?" Casinoir asked, confused.
"It didn't cross my mind until recently, okay?" Zetal said.
"Well, why not ask Bro personally, since he's using something with Radiblitz in it?" Casinoir suggested.
"I'd rather eat my own socks than talk to him," Zetal gagged.
The three soon reached the top floor, where a band of Clones were surrounding a chrome-colored, ball-shaped vehicle.
"What's that? That wasn't always there," Casinoir said.
"I built this in my spare time," Zetal answered. "It's for getting around easier. I call it... the Wingless Eclipse Mark II."
"Mark II? What happened to the first iteration?" Casinoir asked.
"Didn't need it," Zetal said. "I knew this baby would be so good, I scrapped the first version and went straight to building the second one!"
The door opened, and the Clones formed a single-file line and climbed into the Wingless Eclipse, followed by Brobot, and then Zetal. When Casinoir tried to climb in, he was stopped.
"Nuh-uh, I need you to stay here and hold down the fort while I'm gone," Zetal said.
"Boss, with all due respect, can't you put Ixin or Umbrish in charge? They're older than me, so that means they have more experience, right?" Casinoir reasoned.
"True, but that means I'd have to wake them up, and we both know I don't have the time for that. Besides, just because they're older and have more experience doesn't mean I can't count on you too," he added before shutting the door.
As Casinoir thought about the words he heard, Zetal began manning his new vehicle's controls.
"I will get my hands on some Radiblitz, and when I do, I'll bring Seallium to its knees!" he growled, taking flight.
Casinoir watched the Wingless Eclipse hover in the air before flying away from the tower and in the direction of the sun, which was peeking over the horizon.
On the way, he passed through Softener City with few people noticing. Of course, if you saw a giant floating ball drifting through your city, you'd want to record footage and head to the nearest news broadcasting station to show everyone, right? That's what several people on the streets decided to do.
After all, stories like that make interesting conversations for television...
Several Hours Later
By now, the sun was slightly higher in the sky. Most people had gotten up to start their day, and the siblings were no exception. All five of them were eating breakfast and watching cartoons until a special broadcast interrupted their show.
"Oh, come on! Why now, at the most important moment?!" Zaire shouted.
"Why not?" Lily asked. "Pop up at the most unexpected time and leave them guessing. Guess that roadrunner lives to see another day."
Bro turned up the TV's volume so everyone could hear. "We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you a special news report. Last night, a large chrome ball was seen floating through the city without explanation. According to those who recorded this footage, they claimed to have seen several people in this ball, leading them to believe that this is a time-traveling vehicle from the future," the newscaster said.
All of the siblings looked at each other. "I don't buy it," Bro said. "This has to be staged or edited or something."
"To be fair, who's to say it isn't from the future?" Zaire reasoned, half-joking.
"Get real, Zaire!" Lily said. "If that thing could time travel, why would it need to travel back to this year?"
"Maybe it's trying to travel back to the year the energy storm happened," Amelia replied. "It's still a few years off, though..."
Lily would say something, but at this point, she wouldn't be able to tell if she was being sarcastic or not.
"The origins of this ball remain a mystery, but according to sources, it was last seen heading east. In other news, there's been reports of a murder in the park," the newscaster continued, causing everyone to gasp.
"Wait, hold on... We've just been notified that it just flew away. We want to clarify that nobody was harmed. We now return to your regularly scheduled program."
As the broadcast ended, it switched to the end of the cartoon everyone was watching.
"And they wonder why we don't take the news seriously," Bro groaned.
"We should totally go after that thing!" Amelia insisted.
"Are you kidding? That thing passed over our heads while we were sleeping! Even if we went after it now, it's probably long gone," Bro reasoned.
There was a knock on the door, and when Bro answered it, Lini was on the other end.
"Hey guys!" she greeted. "Did you hear about that ball that was floating through the city last night?"
"How could we not hear about it?" Zaire said. "The Seal Island News Network reared its head on every channel to tell everyone who was watching TV, I'm sure."
"Well... I was wondering if you guys would like to go on a small adventure with me and try to find where it went off to," she asked.
"Count me in!" Amelia chirped without hesitation. "Let's track down where this ball went!"
"Guess I have to go with her now," Bro sighed.
"We'd totally go... but we're busy," Zaire declined, keeping his face glued to the TV, much like Porter and Lily.
"It's just us three, then," Bro said as he and the others walked out to the front porch. "So, where and how do we start this hunt?"
"The news said it was headed east. That's our best bet until we get to the ocean," Lini replied. "After that, I'm not too sure."
"That shouldn't be a problem. Bro could carry us in a ball of light!" Amelia said.
"I can't do that. It's not that I don't want to, I just don't want to break these things," Bro denied.
He rolled up one of his sleeves, revealing a glowing band on his arm. "My dad told me as a kid that these are made with a special kind of technology and that they're not toys," he explained. "He's the one who said not to carry more than one person if I ever had to, or else they'll break. Before we left our home in Glitchview City, I stole the bands without his knowledge, and look– they're still working, dad!"
"You stole them from your dad?!" Lini asked.
"You call it stealing, I call it 'permanently borrowing.' Besides, I use it sparingly," he said. "I only use them when I have to."
"Okay, guess that's a no on the ball of light," Amelia sighed. "Let's head to the ocean, and we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
As the three got off the porch, back in the house, Lily, Zaire, and Porter were still watching TV, switching from cartoons to morning talk shows. Speculation of the floating chrome ball was still in the air and the subject of the shows they saw.
"Sheesh, every talk show is making this a big deal!" Zaire exclaimed.
"No one has an answer for what it could be either!" Lily added. "Some say it's a flying car from the future, some say it's a high-tech train from another island, one also said it's a piece of the moon and the people inside are aliens!"
"...That's got to be the dumbest one, for so many reasons," Zaire said, turning the TV off. "What about you, Porter? What do you think it is?"
Porter, who was unusually quiet, was more curious about where it came from rather than what it was.
"I don't know, but I think something's off," he finally admitted.
"What do you mean, Porter?" Lily asked.
"I mean, if that ball is headed to the east, and if it has been going in a straight line the whole time, then that means it must've come from the west," Porter explained.
"Yes, Port, that's how directions work," Zaire joked.
"Kleptopolis is on the west side. Maybe there's a chance Zetal and company saw it," Porter continued.
"Maybe, but are we actually going to risk our lives and go there just to ask them?" Lily asked.
"We probably won't get any answers otherwise," Zaire answered. "And the whole town is in hysterics over this thing, so let's see if our enemies know anything about it."
With that, the three left the house and Zaire, taking flight, carried his two siblings to Kleptopolis.
As for the other three, they had ventured into the city and followed the path of the ball east, leading them to Halibut Harbor.
"Well," Bro sighed, half-relieved, "looks like we can't go any farther. That's a shame."
Amelia pouted at her brother. "Come on, Bro! You're not even trying! Let's split up and see if we can get someone to help us chase after that ball!"
She quickly ran off, leaving Bro and Lini to find assistance together.
"Guess we should start looking, huh?" he sighed.
As the two walked around the harbor, the duo's conversation switched from the city's reaction to the morning's news to recent shenanigans, eventually settling on the topics on their fathers.
"...Yeah, my dad would never believe any of that happened," Bro said. "Meeting mermaids in an underwater city? My female doppelganger stopped by for a visit? A mouse that I call my brother accidentally broke into a cheese factory? He'd say he'll need to be there to believe that!"
"I can always vouch for you with that last one," Lini chuckled. "Speaking of which, what's your dad like, if I may ask?"
Bro frowned and froze, glancing over at her. "My... dad?"
Lini could tell Bro probably didn't want to talk about it, so she tried to backtrack. "N-Never mind! What I meant to say was–"
"Picture a man who manages to find every flaw you have and nitpick it harder than an English teacher correcting their classroom's essays. That's my dad," Bro said.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear–"
"Imagine a man who, at his worst, has a mood worse than his jokes. That's my dad," he continued.
"Well, maybe you could try sorting things out–"
"If you will, imagine a father who only laughed when his son said he would leave his house and prove that he could build a life for himself, and when he took his adoptive sister and pet seal with him, his only response was, 'I'll be waiting for your return'– That's my dad."
"...I guess sorting things out is out of the question," Lini muttered.
"One of these days, I'll wipe that smirk off his face," Bro huffed. "But enough about my dad, what was your dad like?"
"My dad?" she asked. "Well, he was generous, he cared for those around him, loved me and my sisters and was there to comfort us when our mom passed," she said. "I wonder how he'd react if he met you, Amelia, and the others."
"If he's anything like you, probably with confusion at first. 'These are your neighbors?'" Bro joked.
"He wouldn't be like that," she giggled. "Besides, before I moved out, he told me to try and be friends with my new neighbors. Even though I was shy, helping you and Amelia move in that day was one of the best choices I've ever made."
Bro gave her a half-smile. "If that's the case, you're a good neighbor and an even better friend," he said, causing her to smile back.
As the two looked at each other, their moment was interrupted by a cheerful "Hello-io!"
Startled, the two turned around to see a young boy wearing a black wingsuit and headphones. To Lini, he was just a regular boy, but Bro knew exactly who he was.
"Oh, it's just you, Hilo," Bro sighed. "It's been a minute."
"No it hasn't," Hilo replied. "It's been at least a few weeks. And what happened to Amelia?" he asked, inspecting the girl in the orange sweater.
"This is Lini," Bro corrected. "She's a neighbor and a good friend of mine. She also likes to invent things sometimes. As for what happened to Amelia..."
The two looked around for any trace of where she went, but turned up with nothing.
"She's somewhere," he answered, somewhat disappointed. "Wait a minute. What are you doing here on Seal Island?"
"School's out, and my parents said I could go outside," Hilo replied.
"Yes, but out here?"
"I'm with a trusted adult!"
"That's not what I mean!"
"I'm sorry, could I get some context?" Lini requested.
"He's from another island called Whimsical," Bro explained. "Porter won a trip there and stuff happened– we met him, we stopped some bad guys and saved the island, kind of on par for us, really. Speaking of trips, I'm pretty sure this is the first time he's been this far from home."
He then realized something else and asked, "How did you get here?"
Hilo led the two to the end of the dock, where a familiar ferry and a very familiar woman were waiting.
"Hilo! Didn't I tell you on the way here not to wander off?!" the woman scolded loudly. "How would I be able to explain to your parents that I couldn't find you?"
"Long time no see, Claire," Bro greeted.
The woman took one look at him and let out a sigh. "Fine, I'll let it slide, but only because our friend is here."
"Claire! I made a new friend!" Hilo announced. "Her name's Lini, and she likes to invent things!"
"She invents things, huh? Could she make something that lets me steer the Tempo Tempest and catch fish at the same time?" Claire asked, half-joking.
"I mean, I could make a net that could do that... Would you be okay if I made a couple of modifications to your ferry?" Lini asked back, not realizing Claire was kidding.
"Alright, before we get off topic," Bro said, "Claire, we need someone to take us east. Think you could give us a hand?"
"Sure, but what's the reason? I can waive your fees, but I can't sail with no purpose," she replied.
Fortunately, Amelia found and rejoined the group, clearly out of breath.
"Guys... I've looked everywhere... but... I couldn't find anyone... who could help us... at least, for a reasonable price," she panted.
Bro cleared his throat and looked over at Claire.
"Oh, Claire! Long time no see!" she gasped, running over to hug her friend. "And Hilo! It's been so long!"
"It's great to see you too, Amelia. Your brother said you three needed to travel east, but he hasn't told me why yet," Claire said.
"Well, have you seen a giant floating ball?" Amelia asked.
"I just got here; of course I didn't see it!"
"Okay, this'll be a lot harder to explain," Bro added. "To make a long story short, our news station was blasting this report about a giant ball that flew through the city this morning, and Amelia and Lini want to follow it for answers."
"Of course, it'd be easier if Bro could carry all of us in a ball of light, but he said he doesn't want to risk breaking his bands," Lini added.
"What bands?" Claire asked, prompting Bro to roll up his sleeves and show her his wrists.
"I never thought I'd see anyone wearing Radiblitz Bands in my life!" Claire exclaimed in a gasp.
"So these things have a name?" Bro asked. "My dad never told me they did."
"So the legend is true..." she muttered.
"Legend? There's a legend about this?" Amelia questioned.
"Indeed. They say that centuries ago, there was a nameless civilization that used ancient technology called Radiblitz. It could be used to create objects made of light and bring them into our world," Claire explained. "This civilization integrated it into their lives, using their creations to plan buildings, communicate with each other, or move from one place to another in a blink of an eye. But one day, they disappeared, leaving only clothing with Radiblitz behind."
"Something sounds off," Lini said, growing pensive. "If a civilization like that came from the past, there'd be at least a record of some sort."
"Those were my thoughts," Claire admitted. "I thought it was just a bunch of saltwater. But then I thought, what if a civilization from the future came back to the past and left their stuff there before returning back to their own time period?"
"Even if that was the case, can it really be called ancient technology? And why go back to the past and do that in the first place?" Bro reasoned.
"Maybe they wanted to show people back then how cool their stuff was," Hilo said. "Sometimes my parents would show me the toys they played with as a kid, and I think, 'I'm glad I wasn't born back then.'"
"I guess..."
As the others were talking, Lini and Amelia came to an epiphany. "You know what? That floating ball can wait. We should find this island they left the Radiblitz on!" Amelia said.
"Who knows? Maybe we'll also find that floating ball on our way there," Lini added.
"Yay! Adventure!" Hilo cheered.
"Bro, contact your dad and ask him where he got those bands," Claire requested.
"Do I have to?" Bro whined, earning a glare from everyone but Hilo.
"Fine, let me unblock him first," he said, tapping on his phone. "857 missed calls? Persistent as ever. I bet he's still waiting for me to admit defeat."
As he started to call his father, he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. He had spent years trying to prove the point that he could survive without him, and he believed by calling his dad, he was inadvertently putting all that effort to waste.
"Hello? Dad?" he whispered.
What he heard on the other end was a long incoherent rant about "how he's got a lot of nerve not speaking to him" and that "he's noticed his bands are gone." His father was shouting so loud he had to hold the phone a distance away.
"...But other than that, how are you, son?" his father finally asked.
"Uh... things are fine?" he answered, unsure of himself. "I'm well, but I need your help."
"Oh? Is the world too much for you and you and Amelia have decided to come back home? You know, I've been waiting for the day that you admitted this, but I didn't think it'd be so long," his father said.
"I'm not coming back," Bro said. "It's about those bands. Where did you get them?"
The line went silent for a moment until he finally spoke up. "If I remember correctly, I bought them from someone from Seal Island. They said they only had 3 pairs of those bands. When I asked what they were, they just said, 'a taste of the future,' whatever that means," he said.
"I guess that technically answers my question..." Bro muttered. "But did they say where the bands came from specifically?"
"They said that's all they could bring back from a place called Griseo Island. The person selling them was also the one who told me not to carry more than one person at a time when wearing them or else they'll break, whatever that meant," his father added. "He said he broke one of them like that, trying to carry a cricket team across Seal Island–"
"Alright, gotta go, thanks, dad, talk to you later!" Bro exclaimed, quickly hanging up and wiping his brow in relief. "Claire, have you ever heard of Griseo Island?"
"I've heard of it and know where it is, but I've never been there," she answered. "Is that where we're headed?"
"Yep. Let's get going. We're gonna get to the bottom of this."
As the five hopped onto the ferry, Claire led Bro and Amelia to the front to show them something.
"Check it out! I got the radio back!" she exclaimed.
Within 5 minutes, the Tempo Tempest was out of the harbor and on the open sea. As for the other siblings, they had finally made it to Kleptopolis and were wandering around Zetal's tower, trying not to draw any attention to themselves.
"This is a bad idea," Lily said. "We're gonna get caught!"
"Please," Zaire replied. "We got this far without the Clones seeing us. All we have to do is find the Villain League and ask them if they saw a floating ball pass through the island."
Their cover was blown when they heard the sound of a small firework and saw a tiny burn mark on the wall of the tower. When they looked back to see where the mark came from, they saw Umbrish pointing his revolvers at them. Alongside him was Ixin and Final Rouge.
"Found them," Porter squeaked.
"Halt!" Umbrish growled. "You have no business being here."
"On the contrary..." Zaire said, gently pushing one of Umbrish's revolvers away. "We're here because we want answers. Like where Zetal is, and what happened to your revolvers?"
"Upgrades," Umbrish answered simply. "They shoot energy bolts now. Zetal said something about causing damage and not leaving so much waste."
"Are they going to help you hit your targets, though?" Lily retorted.
Umbrish looked at his revolvers before cramming them back in his holsters and grumbling something in return.
"Where are your other siblings? Disclose their location, or be prepared to suffer!" Final Rouge ordered.
"They aren't here," Porter said. "It's just us three."
The two men weren't convinced. "You think we're dumb enough to believe that? Tell us where they are, or we'll wring it out of you!" they shouted.
Before they could reach the three, Ixin raised a hand and let out a shout, causing the two to stop.
"They're telling the truth," she said. "Detain them and bring them to Zetal."
The three were taken into the tower and brought to the second highest floor, where Zetal would usually be sitting on his balcony. Instead, Casinoir took his place, watching the world through binoculars.
"Casinoir," Ixin said. "We're looking for Zetal. We've got some... company."
"Company?" he asked, turning around in the chair. His face shifted from curiosity to disappointment when he saw only the siblings. "Oh, it's just you guys. As for Zetal, he's out right now, and left me in charge."
"Don't joke like that," Umbrish said. "Where is he?"
"I'm not joking!" Casinoir insisted. "Earlier this morning, he built this machine and named it Brobot, then told me he was going to power it up somehow, then took off in this ball-like vehicle called the Wingless Eclipse Mark II. Do I sound like I'm joking?"
"In all honesty, yes," Final Rouge answered.
"Hold on," Lily said. "The ball that was all over the news this morning... was one of Zetal's contraptions?!"
"Guess we can chalk the idea that it's a flying car from the future out," Zaire said
"Or that it's a piece of the moon with aliens inside," Porter added.
"That reasoning is absolutely preposterous!" Final Rouge interrupted.
"What isn't though, is the evidence. They know about it, I know about it, and now you know about it," Casinoir said.
The three looked at each other in annoyance, realizing Zetal left the most irresponsible person in the league in charge, and wondering why he didn't leave them in charge instead.
"We concede... sir," Umbrish sighed. "Shall we dispose of these trespassers?"
"Not yet," Casinoir said, pulling out a deck of cards from his pocket. "I wanna play some games with them first."
Ixin stared at him, dumbfounded. "Sir, this is not something Zetal would do!"
"I'm in charge, right?" Casinoir recalled as he shuffled the cards.
"Yes, sir, but–"
"Then until he gets back, I make the rules!" he barked. "And right now, I wanna play cards! And no one's allowed to leave!"
This earned a collective groan of frustration from everyone.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish Zetal was here," Zaire grumbled. "At least he'd give us a good reason to stay."
As for Zetal himself, he was piloting the Wingless Eclipse through the middle of a storm. While heavy rain battered the ball, the strong winds made it difficult to steer straight.
"I wish I was back home!" one Clone cried. "At least if I was back home, I'd have a place to hide!"
"Pull yourself together!" another shouted. "Our fearless leader has everything under control."
"About that... I'm kind of struggling right now!" Zetal exclaimed, struggling to keep the ball aligned right.
"...We're doomed! We're gonna crash!" the second Clone screamed, holding on to the first.
Brobot, the only one who was able to keep his balance through all of the instability, walked up to the two Clones and slapped the sense into them before pointing at the window. The storm was beginning to let up, and they could see a faint light ahead.
"See? What did I say? We're perfectly fine," Zetal said.
As the ball flew through the last of the storm, they saw an island up ahead, which looked uninhabited for some time. Along with nature trying to take back the island, with vegetation covering several houses near the shore, there was a large crater in the center of the island.
Zetal landed the ball on the shore before climbing out. He had spent hours flying across the ocean, and not just because he was the only person who knew how to fly the Wingless Eclipse, either. He was determined to get his hands on the Radiblitz, no matter the cost.
"Let's go. I don't want to be here longer than I have to," he ordered.
"Sir, what's the hurry? It's just us out here, and I don't think anyone would be crazy enough to follow us out here," a Clone said.
"Because the sooner I find what I'm looking for, the sooner I can make Seallium kneel before me!" Zetal answered, walking towards the ruins, Brobot following close behind. The Clones looked at each other in concern before also following Zetal.
Even though it was unintentional, they were being followed...
Somewhere on the sea was the Tempo Tempest, heading for Griseo Island. Hilo and Amelia were observing Claire as she sailed the ferry.
"Are we there yet?" Hilo asked.
"We'll get there when we get there!" Claire replied in a shout.
Ten seconds had not even passed before he asked "are we there yet" again.
Amelia, sensing Claire's incoming fury, decided to step in before she did something rash.
"Hilo, what do you say we head outside and look at the clouds?" she suggested.
Hilo, completely clueless, simply agreed, and the two were off to the top of the ferry, passing Bro and Lini.
"Finally," Lini sighed, "I thought that was all we were going to hear for the whole trip."
"I'm kind of annoyed she didn't stop him sooner," Bro said. "He's been asking that question for three hours!"
He let out a sigh, trying to clear his head of Hilo's voice before continuing. "Sometimes I forget how annoying kids can be sometimes. Though I doubt you were like that, right?"
Lini nodded. "I like to believe my father raised me and my other five sisters well."
"Are you saying he took care of six girls in total? That's impressive. I'd like to meet him one day. Just tell me the island he's on and we can take a trip together to see him," he said.
Lini looked away and frowned. "That's... not possible," she said.
"Oh? Why's that?"
"He passed away some time after I moved out," she explained, tears in her eyes. "I got a call from one of my sisters with the news. It almost feels like I heard it yesterday..."
By surprise, she hugged Bro and began to sob. "I didn't even get to tell him how much he meant to me..."
Bro hugged her back and whispered, "I'm sorry for your loss... and while I can't speak for him, I think he knows how much he means to you."
"You think so?"
"Scratch that– I know so. What's more, I know that if he was here today, he'd be proud of the young woman you are," he added.
She sniffled and hugged him tighter, but gave him a smile in response to the words she heard.
"...Thank you, Bro."
While the atmosphere was somber inside, everything was fine and dandy on top of the ferry, as Amelia and Hilo were pointing out various clouds and what they looked like.
"I think that one looks like a cat!" Hilo exclaimed, pointing at the sky.
"Well, I think that one looks like a tree!" Amelia replied.
Hilo nodded. "Even though I've been on the sea all day, I didn't think I'd see so much! The sky changes color and everything!"
"I almost forgot Whimsical's sky stays black and doesn't change," she admitted. "How do you keep track of time on the island?"
"With a clock, silly!" he laughed. "Doesn't everyone use one?"
"That's not what I meant..." she chuckled awkwardly. "What I meant was... nevermind. What else can you see?"
Hilo looked over at the horizon and frowned. "Uh oh. The mean clouds are back. And they brought their friends!"
"Mean clouds?" Amelia asked, also looking at the horizon. Sure enough, a blanket of dark clouds was quickly approaching the ferry.
"Get inside," Amelia warned.
The two scrambled back inside the ferry, where Bro and Lini were looking at the rain already slamming against the window, and Claire staring back at the storm, irritation on her face.
"I don't need anyone to tell me there's a storm out there, I know!" she exclaimed. "Sail on this ferry, BAM– we're gonna run into a storm. Never fails. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the same storm we ran into this morning!"
The sound of thunder could be heard, the rain began to get worse, and the ferry started to rock from side to side. Through the wipers, Claire could see a terrifying large wave heading straight for the ferry.
"Shoot, this ain't the storm from earlier. Brace yourselves!" she shouted, steering the ferry towards the wave.
"What's going on?" Hilo whimpered. "I'm scared..."
"Don't worry, we'll be alright," Amelia whispered, holding him close. "I'm sure Claire knows what she's doing."
"How are things holding up?" Bro asked, running up to Claire.
"Not good," she answered. "The wave was bigger than I expected it to be. Colliding into it as it crashes down is inevitable."
"And what does that mean for us?"
"Damage. Lots of damage to the ferry. With any hope, we'll all still be together after it splits apart."
As the two watched the wave get closer, Bro got an idea. Without hesitation or words, he ran outside to the back of the ferry and climbed to the top, the rain pouring down relentlessly.
"Oh, I hope I don't break these things by doing this..." he muttered.
As the wave began to descend, everyone prepared for the worst. Amelia, Hilo, and Lini huddled up while Claire prepared for impact.
In a swift movement, Bro stretched his arms to the side and created a barrier that covered the ferry from all sides. The wave fell, and for a brief moment, all he could see was water and hear the violent roar of the wave. But after a moment, the ferry resurfaced on top of the water, completely unharmed. The rain was still pouring down, but it wasn't as bad as it was earlier.
With a sigh, Bro watched the barrier disappear in a flash and went back inside the ferry.
"What happened, Bro?" Amelia asked, still holding onto her friends. "You just ran out there, and now everything's fine!"
"That's the power of technology from the future," Claire chuckled, walking into the room. "Thanks, Bro, I owe you one."
"It was nothing," Bro said, his drenched body collapsing on the couch. "I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life... I can't feel my legs..."
Lini and Amelia rushed over to help him, but Bro waved his hand dismissively. "I'm just gonna... rest for a little while..."
As he fell asleep, Lini sat next to him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "You did good, Bro," she whispered.
While Lini kept him company, the other three returned to the front of the ferry, where Claire resumed her sailing.
"Are we there yet?" Hilo asked.
Claire didn't bother holding back her rage anymore and let out a scream.
At the same time, back at Kleptopolis, someone else was also screaming.
"I can't take this anymore!" Zaire screamed, throwing his hand of cards on the ground. "We've been playing cards for hours! I don't wanna do this anymore!"
"As much as I want to disagree with the rodent..." Final Rouge said as he slammed his cards on the table, "I have to agree. These games are meaningless! By the way, royal flush, losers."
"Zaire, are you only saying that because you still haven't won a single game?" Lily asked as she leaned over Porter's shoulder to look at his cards. "Wanna trade hands?"
Porter looked over at her before hiding his cards. "Uh, no? For all I know, you could be giving me a bad hand."
"Come on, Port, you know I wouldn't do that to you if I knew how good your cards were!" Lily said.
Not entirely convinced, Porter decided to trade his cards with Lily anyway.
"Is this a good hand?" she asked, leaning over Umbrish's shoulder and comparing her cards to his.
"The game's over, kid," he replied. "But yes, that's the second best hand you could get."
Lily smiled at her cards. "See, Porter? Now we know you had good cards."
All Porter could do was roll his eyes.
"Can we do something else now?" Zaire asked. "Something less infuriating than playing card games?"
"Sure! Let's watch a movie!" Lily suggested.
"NO!" the rest of the Villain League interjected before everyone began arguing at the same time.
"Hey! Until Zetal gets back, I'm in charge!" Casinoir reminded them in a shout. "Great idea, flower girl. What do you suggest we watch?"
As Lily and Casinoir discussed their options, Zaire looked over at Ixin and Umbrish and said, "I think your 'temporary fearless leader' has gotten his priorities mixed up."
"Don't remind us," they growled.
Back on the Tempo Tempest, everyone was asleep except Claire, who was still sailing the ferry through the calming storm. As the last of the rain began to clear up, she saw an island up ahead. Ruins were scattered on the shore, and it looked like nobody had lived on the island for years. The only noteworthy thing was a giant chrome ball by the shore, which looked out of place compared to everything else.
"We're finally here," she said to herself.
After anchoring the ferry, she walked into the room where everyone was sleeping. Bro was still on the couch, now sleeping on Lini's lap, Hilo was on the opposite side of the couch, and Amelia was curled up on the floor like a cat.
"Ladies and gents, we've arrived at our destination, Griseo Island!" she announced, to nothing but snores.
"Twenty more minutes..." Amelia mumbled.
"Also, there's a giant chrome ball here," Claire added. "Is this the same ball you were talking about earlier? The one that appeared on the news?"
Amelia's eyes sprang open, and she hurried over to the window to take a look.
"Guys, we found it!" she gasped. "We found the ball!"
Hilo and Lini woke up fast, and Bro was reluctant to get up, but when he saw Lini's smiling face looking down at him, he sat upright, blushing.
"Uh... thanks for keeping me company," he coughed. "Now, let's take a look at what we got."
Everyone else looked out of the window, and sure enough, it was the exact same thing they saw this morning.
"Huh. I take back what I said about the news staging those events now," Bro said.
"But what's it doing out here?" Lini asked.
"Only one way to find out!" Amelia replied.
The three hopped out of the ferry and walked up to the ball to inspect it. Hilo would've joined them, but he was held back by Claire.
"Not so fast, young man," she said. "I don't want to have to explain to your parents how I accidentally left you on a random island hours away from everything else."
She let out a yawn and continued, "I know kids your age should be playing outside, but they should be playing in familiar places, like the playground, or be under the watch of a trusted adult, not on the shores of an island miles from home."
"But aren't you going to watch me?" Hilo asked.
"Nope! I've spent hours steering this thing, and I'm T-I-R-E-D!" she answered, laying on the couch. "I'm just gonna get a few winks in. Let me know when they get back, and don't even think about leaving the ferry."
Hilo tried to protest, but Claire had already gone to sleep. Disappointed, he looked out the window to where everyone else was.
As for the other three, they were circling around the ball and trying to figure out its purpose.
"This doesn't make any sense," Bro muttered. "Why would this thing land here, of all places?"
"The news said it could be a time-traveling vehicle from the future," Lini reminded him. "Maybe something happened in the future, and the civilization that made the Radiblitz came back to the past to fix it."
"If that's the case, why pass by Seal Island in the first place?" he asked further. "To me, it doesn't make sense to just leave your home island if your technology is there."
"But what if it wasn't their home island?" Amelia reasoned. "What if their home island was somewhere else and Griseo Island is just a failsafe for their technology?"
"So many possibilities..." Bro sighed. "We won't get any answers from standing here. Let's make our way into the island and see what we can find."
With a nod, the three walked into the island's jungle.
As they walked, they saw many decrepit houses, a sign that people lived on this island for a while. The architecture looked off, as if the people responsible for creating these houses had an eclectic taste.
"I take it these people were into rock climbing?" Bro joked, looking up at the only entrance into one of the houses– a window below a series of poles sticking out from the wall. "For an advanced civilization, they've made some weird choices."
Still, the three climbed up and into the building, where inside was a single room with a bed, a shelf, some belongings, and a few posters on the walls, their designs sticking out to Lini.
"Hey, have any of you ever heard of 'Turquoimillio Storm' before?" she asked, looking at one of them.
"Not in my life," Bro replied.
"Guys! Whoever was here left all these vinyl discs!" Amelia said, moving a box full of giant discs from the shelf. "Maybe we can listen to them on the way back home!"
"Why would they have giant discs in the future?" Bro wondered.
"They probably wanted to revive that part of the digital era, but those are just my thoughts," Lini said.
"I'll say this again– weird choices."
"Let me see what artist this is..." Amelia responded, blowing the dust off the disc. Without warning, the center of the disc emitted a blue light and started whirring, causing her to yelp and drop the disc. To everyone's surprise, the disc continued to float in midair as a screen began to manifest above it.
They saw a video of a young boy sitting on a chair, setting a shot of himself before scooting into frame. "So, I thought I'd make a little something before I head back to the future," the boy said. "A few months ago, my entire neighborhood traveled back a few centuries to experience simpler times. Times before hover-skating and the band Turquoimillio Storm. Personally, I didn't like being here, but my Radiblitz Scarf made my time here a bit more bearable."
"So, Claire was right after all!" Lini said. "They're from the future and came to the past! They lived on this island for a while, and it wasn't a failsafe for anything."
"Everyone's been using their weaker Radiblitz articles for this trip," the boy continued. "It's less stronger and more fragile. I've constantly had to remind myself not to carry more than one person with them on and that the unbreakable articles are at home."
"I must've been using the weaker stuff this whole time," Bro said. "That explains why I was warned not to do certain things with it."
Another voice, the boy's mother, called out to him. "Son! Hurry up! We're all waiting for you!"
"I'll be down in a minute, mom!" they called back. "Some chose to hide their articles of Radiblitz on the island for past generations to find, to give them a taste of the future. I told them someone probably will... and break them by accident. I wonder if at least one Radiblitz article left in this year will last until the year we live in– forty-three-seventy– seventy– seventy–"
The video began to freeze and stutter before the screen shut off by itself.
"...Enlightening," Bro said, clapping his hands sarcastically. "Nice to know videos from that timeline can still glitch."
"That explains why there are barely any records on them," Lini said. "Apart from leaving the Radiblitz, their actions haven't been recorded in this timeline."
"To be fair, it's hard to find records of anything without a name," Bro replied.
"Well, we have a whole box full of these," Amelia chirped. "Maybe we'll find something useful out of these!"
"It's worth a shot," Lini shrugged, taking another disc and blowing on it. Just like the first one, this one also began to project a video with the same boy...
Meanwhile, Zetal and company reached the crater in the center of the island. Save for the small circle of ruins nearby, the area was nearly barren.
"Sir, we've been walking around the island for a while," one Clone said. "How do we know if there will be anything useful here?"
Zetal sighed and walked up to the Clone before headbutting him. "Idiot! Of course there's something useful on this island! I didn't come all this way to a random island just to come back home with nothing to show!"
He took out some shovels and threw them in a pile. "Well? Get digging! We aren't leaving this place without the Radiblitz!" he ordered.
With frustrated mutters, the Clones took their shovels and headed for the ruins, Brobot joining them.
Meanwhile, Hilo was waiting for everyone else to get back to the ferry. He looked over to Claire, who was still asleep, then back outside.
"What if I did?" he thought to himself. "But I shouldn't..." He was torn between leaving the ferry and staying put. Eventually, unable to resist, he got up, crept past Claire and carefully snuck outside to the shore. Before he walked into the jungle, he looked back at the ferry.
"I'll just explore for a little while..." he said.
Back at the crater, Brobot and the Clones were still hard at work digging around the ruins. Soon though, they found something amongst the rubble– a worn-out black and white sweater.
"Jackpot," Zetal chuckled, picking it up and feeling inside it.
"Jackpot?! What do you mean 'jackpot'?! We came all this way for a stinkin' sweater?!" a Clone complained.
Zetal glared at the Clone. "Have you not been paying attention? It's not about the article of clothing... It's about what's in it."
He pulled out a glowing white chip from the bottom of the sweater and smiled. "Finally... I finally did it... After everything I've been through, the Radiblitz is finally mine!"
He walked up to Brobot and shoved the chip into the slot on his back, shouting, "Now, follow your purpose and light the world with my wrath!"
As Brobot fell to his knees, his Radiblitz capacitor began to glow even brighter than before, and his eyes shut in overwhelming pain as light began to engulf him, and a beam of light shot into the sky.
Meanwhile...
"...Well, that was disappointing," Bro said, being the last one to climb down from the building. "We went through all of those floating discs and we're not any closer to finding out the name of this civilization," Bro said. "At least we know these articles are actually wearable supercomputers."
"Even if they did give us a name, it's not like putting it in a search bar would give us the results we want," Lini sighed and shrugged.
"Well, why not ask them personally?" Amelia suggested. "That ball's still here, so we still have the chance to talk to them."
"Even if that's the case, how are we supposed to find them?" Bro asked.
Without a word, she and Lini pointed at the beam of light behind him.
"But of course," he said, finally noticing.
The three made their way out of the jungle and into a barren crater, where the beam of light was starting to fade.
"Hey, I can see people down there!" Amelia exclaimed, pointing down at the crater's center.
"Those people down there look strangely familiar," Bro said, squinting at the small group. His eyes widened when he realized it wasn't a civilization from the future. "Oh my goodness– you've got to be kidding me."
"Wait a minute..." Lini muttered, collecting her thoughts. "The floating ball on the shore, and the beam of light we just saw... was him the whole time?!"
"What's he up to this time?" Amelia wondered.
"Whatever it is, I'm willing to bet it's got to do with the Radiblitz," Bro answered. "Let's go get some answers. But first..."
He turned into a ball of light and began zooming toward the group of Clones. One of them looked over and caught sight of something heading towards them.
"Uh, sir? I think someone found us..." they said before being blown away. One by one, the ball of light took out the Clones before appearing in front of Zetal and Brobot.
"Oh, this is just fantastic!" Zetal groaned. "Even in the middle of nowhere, you people still manage to find me!"
"You can thank the news for that one, pal," Bro replied. "If it wasn't for them, we would've never known you flew by Seal Island. Thanks for causing that fuss, by the way."
Zetal snapped his fingers. "I knew I should've added a camouflage feature," he muttered.
Bro then looked at the robot, a mechanical copy of himself, as it started to get up. "And who's this handsome machine?"
"This machine is going to be the thing that stops you from interfering with me ever again!" Zetal answered.
At this point, Amelia and Lini caught up to Bro, something that annoyed Zetal even more.
"Oh good, more company! Brobot, put that Radiblitz to good use and dispose of them all," he said before running off.
Brobot stood up straight and targeted the three through a reticle before creating and firing a group of light spears at them. Bro quickly got in front of Amelia and Lini and used his bands to create a barrier, blocking the spears.
"Girls, get out of here!" he yelled.
Brobot rushed forward, breaking down the barrier and pushing Bro back slightly. Bro recovered, pulling out his scythe and running toward Brobot. In response, Brobot created a matching scythe, parrying his attack.
The two seemed equally matched with their moves at first, but Bro was slowly being overpowered by his metallic copycat. With Brobot moving faster by the second, all Bro could do was jump back and rush at him in a ball of light. In anticipation, Brobot grabbed his wrist, threw him over his head and body slammed him. He then tried to jump directly on him, but Bro rolled out of the way.
In retaliation, Bro got up and created a hammer before running towards Brobot. Brobot blocked the blow with a small barrier and countered with a punch to the gut.
What followed was a series of blows to Bro before launching him up into the air. Brobot followed him up using his jet shoes before grabbing him and sending him back to the ground at full force, creating another crater where they landed.
Amelia looked back to where they had landed, horror on her face. "No..." she gasped, running back to the mini-crater.
"Amelia, wait...!" Lini called, running after her.
The two stopped when they saw two small teal lights flash red in the cloud of dust. Brobot emerged, and created a ball of light, which grew bigger as his capacitor shone brighter than ever.
Before he could throw it at them, he was hit in the back of the head by a small rock, and the ball of light disappeared instantly. He turned around to see Bro still standing, albeit in bad shape.
"I'm still not done with you yet," Bro grunted. "You still have me to deal with."
Brobot rolled his eyes before rushing at him in a ball of light, Bro doing the same. The two collided, bouncing off each other before flying into the air, where they began to collide into each other several more times. Soon, they flew to opposite sides of the crater and immediately rushed towards each other at full speed.
An explosion of light enveloped the crater and vanished as fast as it happened. Lini and Amelia looked up at the sky to see a single ball of light floating in the air. They then turned around to see Brobot on the ground, teal swirls replacing the pupils on his eyes.
"Not bad," Bro said as he descended to the ground, "but not good enough."
"Are you okay, Bro?" Amelia asked. "You're not hurt too bad, are you?"
Bro shrugged. "I'm fine. Can't say the same about Mr. Paperweight over there," he added, pointing at his robotic lookalike. "Come on, let's get out of here."
"What about Zetal?" Lini asked. "Shouldn't we catch up to him before he gets away?"
"And what? Scold him aggressively? Even though it wasn't part of the plan, we stopped whatever he was doing, and that's good enough for me," he said.
As the three turned and walked away, the pupils in Brobot's eyes returned to normal. In a last-ditch effort, he got up, leapt behind them and grabbed the wrists of Amelia and Lini before flying into the sky using his jet shoes, something that didn't go unnoticed by Bro.
"HEY!" he shouted, chasing after him in a ball of light.
Hilo, who had just reached the highest point on the island, saw the two fly high into the skies.
When they were high enough, Brobot stopped and held out his hands, letting the girls dangle in the air.
"Let us go, you brutish bucket of bolts!" Amelia yelled, trying to fight against Brobot's hold.
"Amelia! That's a very bad choice of words!" Lini yelled back.
Bro caught up to him, and Brobot glanced at each of the girls, then back to him as if telling him to make a choice... and quickly, as he was loosening his grip by the second.
It was a tough decision for Bro. Between choosing his sister, his friend, or letting Brobot get away, coupled with what he knows about the limitations of his bands, he had to act fast.
Without warning, Brobot let go of both girls before attempting to fly away. Before he could think, Bro shot a ball of light at Brobot's capacitor, shattering it. While Brobot didn't need his capacitor to fly, he wouldn't be able to use the Radiblitz until it was fixed. Sensing a major disadvantage if Bro went after him, he flew away as fast as he could.
Instead, Bro flew down to save the falling girls. At the same time, Hilo leapt into the sky with his wingsuit and flew through the air after witnessing the whole thing. Before either girl could hit the ground, Bro grabbed onto Lini while Hilo caught Amelia midair. The four landed safely, where both girls were given space. Despite still shaking, Lini looked over at Bro, ran up to him and hugged him without words.
"I'm glad you're alright," he said. "You too, Amelia. Thanks, Hilo. I don't think I would've been able to save both of them myself. At least, not without some sort of consequence."
"You're welcome! It was just like saving Lily that one time," he said before his face changed from joy to realization. "Uh oh! I gotta get back to the ferry before Claire realizes I got out!"
And with that, everyone watched as he bolted off into the jungle.
"Should we go after him?" Lini asked.
"Why not? We don't have anything else to do here," Bro replied. "Besides, it's getting dark, and we've got a long trip back home."
And so, the three followed Hilo into the jungle.
As for Zetal, he ran back to the Wingless Eclipse. As he climbed in and took off from the island, he felt a thud on the vehicle's ceiling. On top of the vehicle was Brobot, trying to recover from the attack as best as he could.
Meanwhile, the four also reached the ferry and burst through the door, startling Claire awake.
"Oh, it's just you guys," she sighed. "Almost gave me a heart attack... and I thought that storm from earlier would get us."
"Turns out you were right about that civilization being from the future," Amelia said.
"Ah, nice to know," Claire chuckled. "Did you find the civilization's name?"
The three all shrugged and shook their heads.
"Hmm... Guess that's fine. Knowing they were from the future is enough for me," she sighed, looking at the clock on the wall. "We should be heading back. If I know this thing, we've got another storm to get past."
As the ferry began to sail away from the island, the Clones that Zetal abandoned emerged from the jungle and tried to chase after it. They didn't get very far, and were stuck shouting for help on the shore.
"Hey, there's people over there!" Hilo said, looking out the window.
"Floor it, Claire!" Bro shouted.
By command, Claire sailed the ferry faster, leaving the island and steering straight into another storm.
"What did I say? What did I say?!" she yelled, sailing the ferry at full speed.
Back at Kleptopolis, the Villain League and the other three siblings were watching a movie.
"Great movie choice, guys," Porter said. "It even brought tears to Final Rouge."
"I never thought I'd see a movie series so terrible in my life!" Final Rouge bawled, tears in his eyes. "And what's worse, I'm not getting those twelve hours back!"
"Calm down, it wasn't that bad," Lily said.
"Who in the world thought it would be a good idea to make six movies about a window-washing superhero?"
"...Each to their own," she muttered.
"Well, this has been fun," Zaire coughed, "but we should be heading home now. We came here to get answers, and we got answers."
The three tried to leave through the door, but they were blocked by Casinoir.
"Ah-ah-ah! Until Zetal gets back, I call the shots!" he exclaimed.
"Does that mean we can finally deal with them?" Umbrish asked.
"Yes, it does," Casinoir answered. "Frenemy game night is officially over."
Without hesitation, Umbrish and Final Rouge drew their weapons, causing Porter and Lily to freeze.
"Well, so much for bonding," Zaire shrugged, blowing a burst of wind at the two and sending them into the wall. Immediately, he grabbed his younger siblings' hands and made a break for the exit, shoving Casinoir aside.
"Same time next week?" he called out to them. He looked back at the damage in the room and the two men knocked out. "You know, maybe we should've gotten rid of them when we had the chance."
"Oh, you think so?!" Ixin yelled. "I told you we should've dealt with them earlier, but no!"
"What's with all this shouting?" a voice asked. It was Zetal, Brobot following him.
"Boss!" Casinoir yelped. "Uh– the siblings stopped by while you were gone."
"And did you deal with them?" Zetal asked.
"Oh, of course! They didn't stand a chance! We showed no mercy!" he answered.
"...We did," Ixin sighed angrily. "To keep it simple, our 'temporary fearless leader' got his priorities mixed up."
"Well, hey– anyway," Casinoir coughed, "Did you find what you were looking for, boss?"
"As a matter of fact, I did," he said. "It was more painstaking than I thought it'd be, but it's fine. Brobot, show him what you can do."
Instead of obeying, Brobot gave his creator an angry look and pointed to his back. Zetal took a look, and his face twitched in irritation. "Of course... It's always something..."
"Can't you just fix that?" Ixin asked.
"It'll be a while, but yes, I can fix it. For now, though, I've had enough, and I'm going to bed. Good night," Zetal grumbled, trudging to his room and leaving Brobot to pout as well as someone without a mouth could.
"Hey, how about we turn that nonexistent frown upside down with a game of cards?" Casinoir asked, holding up a deck in his hand. Annoyed, Brobot smacked them out of his hand.
Eventually, the three made it back to their house, exhausted. "You know, I would've thought they'd be back by now," Zaire said.
"In the meantime, wanna watch some more TV while we wait?" Lily asked.
The brothers agreed and turned the TV on to a late-night talk show. Speculation of the floating ball was still abuzz, but they knew the truth.
After a while, Amelia, Bro, and Lini also made it home, just as tired.
"Still glued to the television, I see," Bro said. "While you were doing that, we found out what that ball actually was."
"An invention of Zetal's, yes?" Lily asked. "It's called the Wingless Eclipse Mark II."
Bro stammered. "W-well, you probably didn't know that he took another machine with him–"
"The one named Brobot?" Porter interrupted.
"How did you...?"
"While you were gone, we took a field trip to Kleptopolis," Zaire explained. "We learned everything there."
"Well, there goes our thunder," Bro mumbled.
"Hold on, Bro," Lini said. "We can still tell them about the Radiblitz!"
"Radiblitz?" the three asked in unison.
Bro rolled up one of his sleeves and showed them one of the bands. "You've all seen me with them, but do you know where they come from?" he asked.
As the moon crawled onto the sky, Bro, Amelia, and Lini told everyone of the adventure they went on– from seeing Claire and Hilo again, to setting foot on Griseo Island, and above else, learning the truth about the technology from the future.