Contributing Author: H0st

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Trey walked down the sidewalk, away from the garden, with his troupe of misfits following behind, all heading to New City’s Casino.

Tater Tot trotted along with a silly smile on his freshly grown raw potato head, green sprouts sticking out of the collar of his jacket, as he gazed up at his beloved Cratherine.

Vice Roid walked a few paces behind, his bulging figure slumped as he occasionally brought a palm to his forehead, confusion running through his expression as he seemed to struggle to put his thoughts in order. He had been mostly quiet since his heart had been soothed, and Trey figured it was better to give him space.

As for the aphids’ host, he walked with a confident strut, filled with a purpose he hadn’t felt in forever. Maybe it was the experiences of the past twenty-four hours, or perhaps the interaction with Mother Plant, but Trey felt reinvigorated, like ten thousand golden daffodils waking up from their slumber in the spring and savoring the first rays of sun in a sprightly dance.

He felt as if he could achieve anything, no matter how unlikely it might have seemed before, and he found his mind drifting towards Jill at every turn. He wondered what she was doing at that moment, and if she was thinking about him, too.

Trey smiled and considered the possibility that some of Geneva’s clockwork butterflies had lingered on, because he could swear he was feeling them fluttering around in his stomach.

Trying to focus his mind back to the task at hand, Trey looked again at the new Quest he had received as he’d stepped out of the botanical garden.

[New Quest]: Flushing the Royals

[Objective]: Infiltrate the New City Casino and stop the corruption brewing within.

[Optional]: Win a round of dice by rolling snake eyes.

[Reward]: [The Budding Blossom].

As he pondered on what he was about to take on, Trey stopped walking right before a turn on the sidewalk, looking at his own reflection on the window of a nearby Starbuds. His mind had been so lost in thought he was only now realizing that, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, it was just him at the wheel. There was no aphid co-piloting with him.

It felt almost… lonely.

A young girl stepped out of the coffee shop he was standing in front of, tall plastic cup in hand, the familiar sweet smell of a Salted Pumpkin Macchiato invading Trey’s nostrils as she passed.

It couldn’t possibly be autumn already, could it?

Just as the sense of being the one in control again was settling, a voice stirred in the back of Trey’s brain.

That smells good! What is it? Let me see!

Spazzing out for a moment, Trey experienced the already familiar feeling of his body’s control being taken away.

Oh, hey, Daizy…

“Aww, she’s gone,” the young aphid said with a pout, as they watched the girl with the coffee cup cross the street and disappear into the hustle and bustle of the crowd on the other side.

“You alright there, bud?” Tater Tot asked, catching up to Trey.

“Heeeey! Hi, Mr. Potato!” Daizy said with sudden enthusiasm again. “You got a new head. I like it!”

“Oh, it’s you again. The kid,” the other said, scratching the peel on his chin. “We were kind of on a mission here, and Trey was leading us to it.”

Yeah, Daizy, he’s got a point. We really need to get on with this. It came from Mother Plant herself.

“Don’t worry, Trey is right here with me!” She turned away from Tater Tot as if to talk to someone else that wasn’t visible. “And if Mama wants this done, I’ll help! Or do you think I’m not good enough to help?”

No, no, that’s not what I—

“Good! Because as I can see here,” she said, putting Trey’s hands on his hips and tapping a foot impatiently, “you’re the one who still hasn’t finished my side quest!”

Trey winced as the aphid forced the text back into his eyes.

[Side Quest]: Snack Break!

[Objective]: Locate and consume pancakes with maple syrup.

[Optional]: Add extra maple syrup!

[Reward]: Unlock [Daizyness].

Right. I’m sorry, Daizy. With everything going on, all the chaos, I just haven’t had a chance yet.

“It’s okay, I’m not mad at you,” the little girl said, dropping the scolding pose and going back to a warm smile like it was nothing. “We’ll take care of it now.”

Now? But Daizy, Mama’s quest…

“Oh, don’t worry, I know, I know.” She turned her attention to Vice Roid, who was still shambling along, his gaze far away. “What’s up with him?”

Erm, maybe it’s best if we leave him be for now.

Ignoring Trey’s words as usual, Daizy walked up to the mountain of muscles.

“Hi, mister,” she greeted, putting both of Trey’s hands behind his back and bending his leg back in a cutesy way. “I’m Daizy.”

“Uhm… hey,” the addled man responded. “I’m Vice. Vice Roid.”

“I just wanna say that Trey is really, really sorry for kicking you you-know-where.”

No, I’m not! He was trying to kill me!

“And he promises that he will never, ever do it again.”

“Oh, that,” Vice said with an affected smile. “I don’t blame him. I’ve probably done much worse before myself. I’m just glad that… that is all behind me now. I think…”

He continued to look confused, and Trey suspected the large goon wasn’t too sure of himself yet.

“Hey, you wanna help us with something?” said Daizy, placing Trey’s face under Vice’s gaze and smiling. “We’re all pretty hungry. I bet you are too. What if you go find us some snacks while we take care of this other thing?”

“Y-yeah… I think I could do that,” Vice Roid said, a glint returning to his eyes as he found a hint of purpose in his new orders. “I really could do with some protein, in fact!”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Great!” Daizy exclaimed with a clap. “Why don’t you find the nearest restaurant and get us some—”

Pizza! I’m dying for some pizza!

“Shush, Trey, I’m the one ordering right now!” the little aphid said in a high-pitched voice. “But fine, get us a pizza and some pancakes, with lots of maple syrup, will you, Vicey? And then meet back up with us at the destination, alright?”

“I can do that!” Vice Roid said with a muscular thumbs up before taking off to the other side of the street, looking for the nearest pizzeria.

I didn’t even know you could grow muscles in your thumb.

“Alright, onward we go, gang!” Daizy announced to the potato man and the crate robot.

The four of them cut through a local market, their trio of weirdness causing most people to steer clear of them.

“This place smells nice, like flowers and fruit. I like it,” said Daizy. “So what mean bad guy are we up against, anyway?”

I’m not entirely sure, but I think there’s some kind of evil doctor in the mix?

“Ooh, I know just what we need, then!”

Daizy spun around towards a fruit stall and grabbed a shiny red apple with one hand while tossing a couple of bills from Trey’s pocket at the fruit seller with the other.

As she shoved it into Trey’s pocket, it was automatically added to Geneva’s inventory system.

[+1 Apple]

That’s way too much money for just one apple, Daizy! Also, why on earth are you taking an apple with—

“Hey, I love your mask, so cool!” Daizy exclaimed at an odd figure standing between two market stands holding an upside-down newspaper. The oddly shaped man wore a bright green luchador’s mask and didn’t move an inch or said anything back as his eyes nervously followed Trey.

Is there some kind of wrestling match happening around here tonight or…

But as she was prone to do, the little aphid was already skipping down the market streets to her destination, not another care in her world.

A short street and an alley later, they arrived at the avenue that housed the brand new casino. It was an impressive marvel of architecture, with marble pillars and complex detail-work on its façade–all of which was only slightly spoiled by the trail of rust and decay leading up to a giant pirate ship that had crashed into the building’s front entrance.

“Eww, that looks nasty,” Daizy said.

“Oh no,” said Tater Tot in a somber voice. “Captain Corrosion is already here. This is very bad news.”

Daizy, ask him what we can expect from this guy.

“Hush, Trey, I’m the one asking the questions!” Daizy turned to the potato man. “What can we expect from this guy?”

“Terrible things,” Tater said, dark circles forming on the peel under his eyes. “Wherever he and his ship and crew go, corrosion and corruption spreads. See that right there?”

He pointed at a shipmate who had just jumped down from the main deck. The fetid looking man walked around the corner of the casino, staking out the area and stopping to look at a brass statue of a lion that sat on a base covered in vines, decorating the side of the stairs. With a chuckle, he unsheathed his cutlass, its blade rusted and missing small chunks across the edge. As if challenging the metal lion, he pointed his sword at the statue. As the tip of his blade touched its snout, the statue’s brass began to lose its shine. A wave of rust spread all over it, until it turned into a wreck, barely resembling its former self, now little more than a heap of scrap.

“Oh noes!” Daizy gasped. “We can’t let Cratherine anywhere near those guys!”

“Concern unnecessary,” the crouching robot said. “My creator has built me with cutting edge anti-corrosion materials.”

“Oh thank the Mother, that’s a relief, hun!” Tater Tot said.

Did you notice that?

“Notice what?” asked Daizy.

His touch. It corrupted everything except the vines around the base of the statue.

“Of course, silly. Corrosion doesn’t affect living plants. Mama taught me that when I was, like, five!”

“Wait, you mean that might be the trick up our sleeves?” Tater Tot said, looking down at the potato plant shoots coming out of his neck.

Daizy, the front is way too busy. I think we should check around the back of the building for an entrance.

“Nice idea, Trey, but I like mine better.” She turned to the other two. “Let’s go check around the back of the building for an entrance.”

Trey sighed and rolled his mind’s eye.

Giving the front of the casino and the giant ship sticking out of it a wide berth, the group made their way to the back of the parking lot, with its much less impressive features and row upon row of dumpsters lined up beside several garage gates and service doors.

“Darn, they got a pirate guarding the backdoor too,” Tater Tot whispered, as they all looked on from the other side of a chain-link fence.

Trey was considering their options and the best course of action when the door behind the corrupted pirate swung open and two burly figures rushed him, bolting up a series of steps.

Before the shipmate had time to react, one attacker knocked him in the back of the head with the butt of his shotgun, causing him to drop to the ground as the other proceeded to kick him viciously in the gut.

“This is our chance!” Daizy exclaimed with a finger pointed forward.

What are you doing, Daizy? These guys don’t look friendly at all!

But the aphid was already running Trey’s body past the nearby fence gate, Tater Tot following behind as Cratherine effortlessly rose one leg over the fence to cross.

“Nice one! We got him good!” one of the men said.

“We sure did!” said the other with a snort.

“Hiiiii!” Daizy greeted with a friendly smile and a wave.

“Hey! Stop right there!” said the first man, fumbling to grip his shotgun and point it at Trey. “Who are you?”

“I’m Daizy! And this is our friend Tater Tot, and that pretty box over there is Cratherine. There’s also Trey, but you can’t see him right now. What’s your name?”

The man’s brows waved with confusion at Trey’s strange mannerisms, but he kept his gun firmly trained on him.

“I’m Big Jim, and he’s Large Tom. Now, what the hell do you want?”

“Yeah! I’m Large Tom. What the hell do you want?”

“I just said that, you idiot,” Big Jim muttered between his teeth. “Stop repeating everything I say!”

“Are you guys the guards in this place?” Daizy asked.

“Yeah, that’s right, we are,” Big Jim answered with a loud sniff, before spitting onto the concrete. “What’s it to you?”

“Oooh, okie-dokie,” Daizy said with an innocent smile. “Can we go inside?”

“What?! No! No way! Why the hell would we let you fools inside?”

“Aww, come on guys,” the little aphid pleaded, clasping Trey’s hands together in front of him as she looked into Big Jim’s beady eyes. “We heard you guys had a pirate problem, and we’re like, the bestest around for clearing pirate problems! I’m sure your boss would be so happy with you if you let us in and we took care of all this nasty corrosion before he ever even found out, right?”

The guard’s eyes went hazy for a moment, and he slowly lowered his shotgun. “Yeah… yeah, that’d be great. I bet we’d even get a promotion.”

“Uh… Jim?” Large Tom asked. “You sure about this?”

Big Jim blinked twice and turned to his partner with a scowl on his face.

“Oh, now you don’t wanna blindly go along with whatever I say, huh?”

“N-no, Jim, it ain’t that! I-I just…”

“Shut up and let’s show these guys the way inside. Come on, let’s go!”

With a wave of his arm, the man signed for Trey’s group to follow them as they ran back down the stairs and in through the same door they had appeared from.

Hey, uh, Daizy? Do you think you could tell me more about this power of yours? It could be really, really useful sometimes.

“What power, silly?” she asked back. “My special power still hasn’t revealed itself yet. Mama says that when it does, I’ll know it, and I haven’t found it yet.”

I mean, it’s just that the…

Trey stopped for a moment and focused his mind on his sense of Daizy’s synchronization. Mother Plant had said he was growing closer with the aphid’s right?

[Aphid Synchronization] - 00.00% » 00.00% | (Z) Daizy

You know what, never mind, it’s not important right now. Let’s just go on inside.

Trey expected Daizy to walk, take a step forward, and start happily skipping away as she usually did, but instead, she remained still atop the steps leading to the backdoor.

What’s wrong, Daizy? We need to get inside quickly.

“Woah, are you crazy, Trey?” the aphid said. “That’s a casino. I can’t go in there. I’m fricking eleven! What kind of irresponsible adult are you?!”

Oh, that’s… that’s a fair point. I hadn’t thought of that, sorry. But we still need to get in there to complete the quest. Do you think maybe we could call another of your cousins to help? You know, one more suited for this task?

Daizy giggled.

“Don’t worry, silly. We’re gonna need vegetation, right? Lots of vegetation. Maybe even explosive vegetation!”

She eyed Tater Tot and his beloved fuel crate robot with a slightly wicked smile.

“I think I know just who you need! See you later!”

Wait, wh—

As if the power had been switched off from his body, Trey crumpled and fell down the stairs, hitting every step with a different bone on his way down, until finally his face hit the steel door.

Ow… I really wish she’d stop doing that.