The Untold Story of the Tubbies [AU]

Chapter 4: Outskirts

Before long, Laa Laa and the Guardian had made out of the cave, but now they were stuck in a chasm of sorts. "Ok, Laa Laa. We're pretty much in the outskirts, just need to make it out of this canyon," said the Guardian as he turned towards her. The small yellow tubby nodded, but then looked to the side on accident and saw a splatter of something red, and looked away immediately, figuring it wasn't a good sign.

Soon, they made it to a wall; the end of the canyon. The Guardian pondered for a moment before turning to Laa Laa and speaking. "Ok, Laa Laa, I'll help you up, we're going to have to climb to get out of here," he said. She nodded cautiously and began to grab ahold of the spots where the Guardian told her to for a grip.

Perhaps surprisingly, Laa Laa didn't require his help as much as he predicted, only needing to know where to go and her body responded with a grace that even surprised the Guardian. Soon, she was near the top, and suddenly began to hear voices outside of the canyon.

"Guys? Is that you?" she asked, gripping the second to last rock. Sure enough, she heard footsteps and looked up to see a familiar red tubby staring down at them. "Guys! They're here!" said Po, shouting over her shoulders to Tinky Winky and Dipsy.

Laa Laa lifted herself out, but as the Guardian came up, one of the rocks became loose and he almost fell, but Laa Laa grabbed onto his white arm and helped pull him up. With that, everyone was reunited.

       "Oh, thank goodness all of you made it," sighed the Guardian. The four tubbies smiled, but he soon noticed their faces turn to those of curiosity. "Ok...I understand your whole worldview's sort of been shattered, but I promise I'll tell you everything."

The five of them then set off in the direction of the mountain in the distance; where the Satellite Station was.

       "Ok, so...why were we being watched?" asked Tinky Winky. The Guardian sighed. "It was my duty to observe your behavior and interactions with one another alongside those who needed me to make sure you didn't leave the mainland. Whenever you came close to leaving, I would signal some guards to knock you out, erase any memories of the outside world, and drag you back in."

The four tubbies remained silent for a while. "Why couldn't you reveal yourself to us?" asked Po. "You could've answered our questions and we'd be friends!"

The Guardian chucked at Po's optimism before looking downcast. "The thing is...the protocol prevented me from making contact with any of you. I'm so sorry you four, I wanted so badly to reveal myself," he sighed.

There was another silence for a while. "So...what exactly happens now?" asked Laa Laa. "We're going to get in there and contact the military, they'll be able to help us from there," said the Guardian.

       "And...can I have my hat back?" asked Dipsy. The Guardian chuckled and took off the cow-print hat and handed it over to Dipsy, revealing his own antennae, a peculiar shape none of the tubbies had seen before.

After several more minutes of walking, they came across ruins that had been here for a long time. Nearby, however, was a custard, which drew suspicions almost immediately. "What's this doing here?" asked Po.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think we should eat it," said Laa Laa. The others, aside from the guardian, were taken a bit aback from what Laa Laa was saying.

"Yeah, just leave it alone or we should burn it, I doubt it's here for a good reason," said the Guardian. He then took out a small lighter and lit the custard on fire. "There may be more around here, don't eat them but let me know if you find any."

Before long, Laa Laa and Dipsy went to the right from where they were and Tinky Winky and Po followed the Guardian straight ahead where they walked over some kind of bridge. Just then, they heard some kind of guttural growl to the right and saw an orange tubby, but it had a small arrow for an antenna, a grey face, dead black eyes, and a big mouth filled with bloody teeth. It eyes one of the custards nearby and picked it up and began to eat it. Just then, it roared out as it began to mutate while being surrounded by purple smoke, growing a taller and lankier figure, its limbs becoming longer, and its claws and teeth becoming more deadly.

Everyone who saw the mutation got down low as the Guardian whispered. "Ok, do not eat any custards, be quiet and follow what I said," said the Guardian. Tinky and Po both nervously nodded, terrified for their lives.

       Eventually, after telling Dipsy and Laa Laa the same news, the Guardian managed to find and burn as many custards as he could find while keeping out of view and range of the orange tubby. And after sneaking by while exiting, the group left the ruins and the orange tubby behind, hoping it wouldn't follow them.

       Before long, they reached the mountain and saw a big door at the end of a tunnel sticking out of the bottom with a giant satellite on top. "Is this it? The 'Satellite Station'?" asked Po. The Guardian nodded. However, there was a series of levers that had to be pulled in order to open the door. After what felt like forever, the right levers were pulled, and it was time to head inside to find help.