Meap Me in St. Louis

Chapter 8: Preparation

UNIVERSE 525

ELLE

During our flight back to MIPS HQ, Mr. Button speaks privately with the cartoon characters in the cockpit while the rest of us wait quietly in the cabin. Personally, this whole situation is a little freaky to me. We've known about the Multiverse's existence for about a year now, but we never expected to collide with another universe.

Two hours later, Mr. Button opens the door. "Whatcha got?" Sam asks him.

"Well, after spending a few minutes debriefing with these... individuals, I've managed to establish a few things," Mr. Button replies, rubbing his hands together nervously. "For one, they are telling the truth, and they are credible sources." Him making a point of telling us this should usually means something's up, so just in case, I do a quick examination of his mind. No third-party influence over his feelings, so they're legit. Trust me, I can tell these things.

"And second, we do indeed have an Alpha-level threat."

A true Alpha-level threat. The highest danger rating we can get. Our last Alpha threat was a man who was after a group of stones that, together, wielded infinite power. He also had an army of aliens, because of course he did. That was the last mission the five of us went on together (though we weren't intending on being a part of it, we just got wrapped into it by chance), and that was over two years ago.

We walk into the cockpit area, where the five cartoon characters are standing at the helm. In Phineas' hands are a few papers, also animated. "We're sorry to just drop in here without warning, but the truth is, we didn't mean to end up here. Like I said, we were cast out here against our will," he explains, taking the floor.

"What was that guy's name again?" Heath asks.

"Mitch. Some people call him 'Big Mitch'." Phineas shows us a mugshot of Mitch, with alien text written below him. He's only visible from the shoulders up, but he does look like an alien. He has a white head with "hair" and ears that resemble devil horns, along with spiked shoulder cleats and a handlebar mustache. "He's an intergalactic criminal that was trying to take over our universe with an army of cute beings. Our friend Meap called us in to help him defeat Mitch, but we got captured, and that's how we ended up here."

Heath shakes his head, grumbling to himself. "Y'know what I think? This all sounds like the plot of some silly children's cartoon TV show."

"Well, they are characters from a cartoon world, so it only makes sense," Sam references.

"Sam, please don't break the fourth wall," Luke sighs.

"If he's attacking your universe, why would he need to come here?" Skylar asks.

Phineas fishes a small, blue miniature satellite-looking object out of his pocket. "To get this," he answers.

"That looks like some kind of transfer ray," Heath observes.

"It's part of a cuteness extractor/transfer device Mitch built," Phineas says. Ferb shows us another picture of the blue ray attached to a serum with pink liquid inside and a needle sticking out of it. "We didn't take it with us when we fell through, so it must've fallen in here by mistake. We don't know if Mitch can track us down within the Multiverse, but we've got to assume that he's coming here."

The best word I can use to describe our collective reaction is perplexed. Sam lets out a heavy sigh and facepalms, while I fidget worriedly. "How much of a fight should we expect when he comes here?" I ask.

This time, Baljeet answers. "Well, he's enslaved all of Meap's planet, and he has an entire army of robots at his disposal. Luckily, we have special inhibitors that Meap installed in us to protect us from cuteness trances." The five turn around so we can see the tiny chips implanted in their necks.