Caught in a trap, no one ever wants to find themselves in such a situation. Our quartet had found themselves in such an uproar, at the mercy of this man. Stuck in a net trap at gunpoint, the group had no choice but to comply with the man’s demands.

“I’m waiting, you don’t have all day so you oughta start talking.” The man said.

“Listen, mate… we’re not here to hurt you.” Ryuu said. “We saw a signal coming from this planet and decided to check it out.”

“Signal? Who the hell sent you?” The man asked.

“No one sent us, but we’re with the Adventurer’s Guild if you want to know so bad.” Clef said.

The man slowly put down his gun and looked at the group, putting it back up quickly.

“I don’t believe you! Not just anyone can join the guild!” The man shouted.

“My bag over there, open it… my badge should be there.” Ryuu said as the man approached the bag, he started digging through it.

“What if that doesn’t work?” Flora asked.

“It has to, he recoiled after hearing Clef say that.” Kidd said. “He must have something to do with the guild.”

The man pulled out a card with Ryuu’s photo on it, a Guildee ID Badge. He looked over at the group, then back to the badge. After standing back up, he approached the group and pulled out a knife.

“I better not hear any funny business, got it?” The man asked.

“Yeah, no funny business.” Ryuu said as the rope trap got cut, the group climbing out.

“Say, old man, who are you anyway?” Kidd asked.

“Who am I? Why do you need to know?” The man asked.

“Common courtesy.” Clef said. “Besides, you already know who Ryuu is.”

“I don’t need a name…” The man said. “You all best be on your way.”

“Why? You sent out a signal, so we assumed you needed help.” Flora said.

“I never sent out a signal, no idea what you’re talking about.” The man said.

“This thing was sending out some kind of signal.” Ryuu said as he held up the locator chip. After one look at the chip, the man grew worried and grabbed it.

“This is sending out a signal?” The man shouted.

“Yeah, why?” Ryuu asked.

“They know I’m here! I need to get out of here!” The man yelled.

“Calm down old man, we don’t even know who is after you. We don’t even know if whoever they are are even here.” Ryuu said.

“Ryuu has a point, we didn’t see any other ships on our way here.” Clef said.

“Maybe you’re right, the isolation must finally be doing a number on me.” The man said.

“How long were you alone for?” Ryuu asked.

“I wanna say… about twenty years now.” The man said.

“Twenty years?” Flora asked. “I’m surprised you’re still chugging, someone your age would’ve keeled by now.”

“How nice of you…” The man said.

“At least let me check on you, I’m a medic.” Flora said.

“Fine!” The man said as Flora took out a medkit.

“We should probably check around the Block Trees for now, just in case there are other people.” Ryuu said.

“Good idea, we don’t want any ambushes.” Kidd said. Ryuu, Kidd, and Clef began to climb back up the trees.

Back on the Exceed, Doc and Scuttles were sitting in the Diner. The time that Ryuu and the others were supposed to return had come and gone, Doc was becoming increasingly worried.

“They’re still not back, how are they still not back?” Doc panicked. 

“Stop being such a baby, everything is gonna be fine.” Scuttles said. “But, I guess it is pretty bad they haven’t tried to contact us yet about being late.”

“What if they got killed? What if we get caught helping them, are we gonna get thrown out the Exceed?” Doc shouted as Scuttles stood up on the table and slapped him with his tail.

“Snap out of it! Your whining isn’t helping!” Scuttles shouted.

“Thank you… I needed that. But seriously, what are we gonna do?”

“I don’t know, you’re the scientist! I’m ten, I can barely think without getting distracted!”

Silica walked up to the table and set down some drinks for the two.

“You guys are getting kind of loud… so, why did Ryuu and the others sneak off the Exceed this time?” Silica asked.

“What!? How do you know?” Doc asked.

“This isn’t the first Ryuu snuck off the ship after suspension. Though it might be the last time he does this.” Silica said.

“What do you mean?” Scuttles asked.

“Well, you guys have done this about five times since getting here. Foosha was in here last night and he seemed pretty steamed, saying something about no more chances.” Silica said. “You guys can’t keep getting away with this.”

“Ryuu is a walking firecracker, he doesn’t exactly have sound judgment, nothing I say would convince him to settle down.” Doc said.

“I can’t guarantee he’s not gonna get chewed out by the council, but maybe this is what he needs.” Silica said.

“Are you saying that we should rat him out?” Doc asked.

“Don’t snitch on him!” Scuttles shouted.

“Don’t sell out your friends, Doc. Let Ryuu face repercussions on his own.” Silica said.

“You’re right, I shouldn’t snitch.” Doc said.

“Good! Now can I take your order?” Silica said.

Back on the strange planet, Ryuu and his group were looking around the area while Flora was tending to the old man.

“Say, Ryuu… are we really going along with all this?” Kidd asked.

“What do you mean, Kidd?” Ryuu asked.

“Well, this guy clearly isn’t all there.” Kidd said. “We could probably send him off and no one would miss him.”

“Kidd, are you really suggesting we kill him?” Clef asked. “We don’t kill people, remember?”

“I know I know, but what if we just forgot that we saw him and left?” Kidd said.

“Kidd, I know you’re having your doubts, but I just know there’s something here. There’s gotta be.” Ryuu said. “I’m not leaving until we find something.”

“About that, we’ve been meaning to talk to you.” Clef said.

“About what?” Ryuu asked.

“You see… We keep getting in trouble because we keep sneaking off the Exceed.” Kidd said. “There’s only so many times we can do that before enough is enough. Even you gotta admit that.”

“Yeah, why try so hard?” Clef asked.

“It’s just… I’ve wanted to join the Adventurer’s Guild since I was a kid. My gramps told me about it when I was a little kid. Now he’s gone and disappeared so I feel that I need to do it now.” Ryuu said. “I’ve been called a screw-up by teachers and people that I’ve called friends my whole life, maybe they’re right.”

“Ryuu, you’re no screw-up, but sometimes you gotta take the backseat and let other people take the helm.” Kidd said.

“Kidd’s right, we care about you, so that’s really all that matters right now.” Clef said.

“Thanks guys, I think I’m done with all this nonsense. Let’s head back and get off this rock.” Ryuu said. “Hopefully Doc and Scuttles are holding the council off.”

“Speaking of, how long have we been here?” Kidd asked, looking at his communicator. “Our stuff is still all screwy. We should hurry back and grab Flora.”.  

Walking back to the Block Tree wall, the group hears fearful screaming coming from within.

“What’s that?” Ryuu asked.

“That sounds like Flora, but why would she be screaming?” Clef asked.

“I knew it, this guy is bad news. Let’s go get him!” Kidd said as the group climbed onto the Block Trees, looking down, they noticed a group of Mutants. Mutants are humans who have animal ears and tails due to a change in genetics. They had Flora and the old man tied up.

“Mutants? What are they doing here?” Ryuu asked.

“Maybe the old guy was right, he was being followed.” Clef said. “What do we do?”

“We go in guns blazing, obviously.” Kidd said.

“No, if we’re gonna do this, we gotta do this right.” Ryuu said.

“What do you mean?” Clef asked.

“Careful planning…” Ryuu said as he looked down into the Block Trees, picking a large cube-shaped fruit. Kidd and Clef had followed suit, understanding Ryuu’s plan.

The trio ran back to the ship and into the storage room. They put the cube fruits on the ground and began to take out some heavy tools.

“These Block Fruits are heavy.” Clef said.

“They come from the Block Trees, so it’s no surprise.” Kidd said. “Are you sure the tools we have are gonna be enough to break open these things?”

“Nope, I’m never entirely sure about anything I do. So there’s only one way to find out!” Ryuu said as he picks up a buzz saw. “Look for something we can use to launch these things.”

“You think we’re just gonna have a catapult on board?” Clef asked.

“Just look for anything that we can use to fire these things over the Block Trees. I’m not about to be picky about this.” Ryuu said.

“Speaking of, how did those guys get here? We would’ve spotted them landing, right?” Kidd asked.

“They must’ve landed somewhere on the other side, we probably wouldn’t have even heard their ship.” Clef said. “Who do you think they are?”

“Their equipment seemed too advanced for simple bandits… if anything, they’re probably mercenaries.” Kidd said. “Who would send mercenaries after some old codger?”

“Must be more to him than meets the eye.” Ryuu said as he took the buzz saw to the fruit. “We can ask him after this is all done.”

“Are we sure that throwing these fruits at the mercenaries is even gonna work?” Clef asked.

“Even if it doesn’t, we can use it for a pretty good distraction.” Ryuu said as he knocked on the fruits, delivering a metal sound. “Besides, these things are like cannon balls, it’ll hurt like hell.”

“Are we sure cutting them down will make them lighter? These things weigh a ton.” Kidd said.

“They were light enough for us to carry here, I’m sure they’ll be light enough for launching.” Clef said as she took some out from the back of the storage room. “I think I found the perfect thing for launching.”

Clef pulled out an old cannon to show to Ryuu and Kidd. She leaned over it, pretty proud of herself.

“How’s that for a cannon?” Clef asked.

“Clef, that’s nova!” Ryuu exclaimed as he walked over and ran his hand across the cannon. “This’ll be perfect!”

“We’re just gonna need something to light it. Plus, these things need gun powder to work.” Kidd said.

“Right! We have plenty of that here, you prefer using old guns anyway, Kidd” Clef said.

“I guess I can spare some of the extra powder.” Kidd said. “We’re ready then, let’s hurry and finish cutting up these block fruits!”

Kidd and Clef grabbed some tools and went over to where Ryuu was cutting up the fruits, helping him with the rest of the fruits. 

Back on the Exceed, Doc and Scuttles were waiting near the ship bay, waiting for a call from Ryuu and the others. They would need to be careful as there were people working in the bay at the time.

“Dammit, they’re still not back… and the dock has a ton of workers.” Doc said. “What if they come back soon, not to mention, they aren’t answering any of my calls.”

“When they do answer, make sure they know not to come back until later.” Scuttles said.

“When who answers?” Foosha appeared behind Scuttles and Doc. “Is everything okay?”

“Councilman Foosha? What are you doing here?” Doc asked.

“Well, I received word that there was some sort of suspicious activity down here.” Foosha said. “Wait, what are you boys doing here?”

“Just admiring the ships is all! Is that illegal?” Doc said. 

Foosha’s gaze moved from the frightened Aquax to Scuttles, he seemed rather suspicious.

“Scuttles… would you like to tell me what exactly is going on here?” Foosha asked.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Scuttles said.

“Not even for a piece of Purberry Bash?” Foosha took out a small purple piece of candy, Scuttles’ favorite.

“Purberry Bash? No thank you, I’m not hiding anything.” Scuttles said as he smiled.

“Very well… you know, I was talking with Councilwoman Suki this morning and she said that she saw the two of you last night. Even struck up a conversation.” Foosha said.

“What of it?” Doc asked. 

“Where’s Ryuu?” Foosha asked.

“That’s easy! They went to the… one planet…” Scuttles slowly realized what he was saying.

“I knew it!” Foosha ran down into the bay and went over to the hologram of the King’s Comet, waving his hand through it. “Call him and tell him to return this instance!”

“There’s one issue with that.” Doc said. “Well, they aren’t answering… or our calls aren’t going through.”

“What are you talking about?” Foosha asked.

“Our comms haven’t been working for the past week.” Doc said.

“And you still let them go!?” Foosha shouted.

“Yeah!” Scuttles said.

“That’s not making this any better Scuttles.” Doc said.

“Sorry…” Scuttles said.

“I will be discussing this with the rest of the Council, I believe we might’ve come to a reasonable punishment.” Foosha said as he left.

“Oh no… we’re doomed.” Doc said.