When the Water's Dried

Breakfast Club

The next morning, the Bad Guys were dropped off at Professor Marmalade's mansion. While they spent the night in the van, Diane asked the chief to take Luna to her place for the night. Thankfully, they all had a change of clothes with them.

Sitting in the front passenger seat of the chief's squad car, Luna gazed up at the estate she'd be staying at for a few days. The building appeared very refined and clean, with fresh vegetation surrounding the perimeter.

"Alright, Miss Luna," the chief said as she parked her car in front of the mansion's entrance. "You have three days for the Bad Guys to change. Do your best to help the professor with his experiment. If this fails, which I believe it will, it looks like you'll be off to South Carolina."

"I understand," Luna solemnly replied as she opened the door and stepped out of the car. I'll prove her wrong.

The Bad Guys were beginning to step out of the wagon when they noticed Luna.

"Oh, hey, Luna's here!" Shark exclaimed. He, Piranha, and Webs hopped out of the van, racing over to hug her.

"Whoa, whoa, guys!" Luna gasped, trying to breathe.

"Sorry!" Webs cried. "We're just glad you're here!" The three of them let her go, while Snake shook his head in disgust at the little reunion that was going on.

Wolf walked up to her and wrapped his arm around her back.

"Hey, thanks for playing along last night. You really pulled through for us," he whispered.

"Well, I couldn't let you guys do this without letting me come along," Luna smirked.

They looked at the doors, anxiously anticipating what could've been waiting for them on the other side. While Luna did hear about some of the good deeds Marmalade had done, the thought of going to where he lived never crossed her mind, much less speak to him.

I don't know why, but it feels like we're all about to go into Saturday detention...even though it's not Saturday.

As the six of them walked in, they were all taken aback by the mansion's interior. Much of the decor was white, and in the center of the vicinity was a white heart-shaped rock with multiple holes, held up by a statue of the professor himself for all to see.

"Wow! Big and fancy!" Webs exclaimed.

"Rodent's got taste! Okay!" Shark beamed.

"This place sure has a lot of white," Luna observed. "It looks like those backrooms I've been hearing about."

"Uh-huh," Snake muttered. "Almost makes me wanna be cute."

"They say experience is the best teacher," a voice suddenly spoke. "And they are wrong. I am!"

The voice belonged to the professor, who sat in front of his lamp, being pampered by his devoted manservant, Cuddles.

I'll be the judge of that.

"Good morning, students of goodness," Marmalade began, hopping off his chair. "And welcome to the first day of the rest of your best life!"

Heh, more like the first day of our plan to trick you.

"A giant butt!" Piranha shouted, his eyes gazing at the rock. The other five looked at him, bewildered.

"Uh, it's not a butt, it's a lamp!" Marmalade cleared up, demonstrating how it worked by clapping. Glows of blue emitted from the holes. "In the shape of the Love Crater Meteorite, my greatest–"

"I wonder whose butt it is," Piranha cut him off. Luna and the others gave him concerned looks, motioning for him to keep quiet.

"Once again, it's not a butt, thank you," Marmalade corrected again. He turned the lamp off by clapping once more. "It's a heart. Now, as I was saying..."