Kratogenesis

Mutter (VI)

It was night. The quiet moon was caressing everything under it with its weak white light. Inside a large light green house, the seven Beepsters were sleeping soundly on their bunk beds. They had to recover the energy they lost the day before.

Suddenly, a noise coming from under the floor was heard. Nickel woke up and looked around to check if the heating pipes had gone bad. "The heating's fine." He quietly whispered to himself, and after concluding that nothing was wrong, he got back to sleep. A series of loud noises hit the same spot, forming a crack. Each noise was progressively louder than the one that came before it. Nickel couldn't sleep through all that noise. "Ugh! What even are these noises?!" He was irritated. He grabbed a flashlight to see if the pipes had damaged. As soon as he placed his bare foot on the cold floor, a massive plant erupted from the floor and broke the ceiling. If the bangs didn't wake Beep up, the plant sure did.

Woody started screaming his lungs out. Balloony went on his bed to try to calm him, but he couldn't ignore the big green living thing that had just destroyed their house. "Where does that come from?" Balloony gasped. "Please don't hurt me."

A gigantic leaf, serving as a platform, followed suit. Someone was standing on there.

"Why, hello there!"

David looked at the plant, awe-struck, and squinted to tell who was talking. "Leafy! I thought we told you to leave the team!" David pointed at the door. "Get out!"

"You're right, David." Leafy sighed. "But I just wanted to tell you this... Remember the whole 'forever' thing? Yeah, I changed my mind."

"What's wrong with you?! You can't just summon a huge plant and destroy our home just because we oh, boo-hoo, asked you to–" A branch was generated from the trunk of the destructive plant and grabbed Nickel, squeezing him tight.

"Just what makes you think you can control me?" Leafy looked at Nickel. "And besides, you told me to leave! I'm not under your wing anymore!"

By that point, Nickel was gasping for air. "Please, Leafy! Let me go! I'm sorry!"

"Nice try, Nickel, but it's no use!" Leafy shook her head.

"What are you trying to tell us?" Nickel was wiggling out of the grasp of that branch.

Balloony intervened to help Nickel. "Let him go, Leafy!"

"...Oh? What of value would we all be losing if I didn't?" Leafy commanded the branch holding Nickel to tighten its grip, bending Nickel. "Nickel, Nickel..." She shakes her head. "Remember when you said I was gonna come back here crawling?"

"Yeah, I do!" Nickel was breathing aloud. "Now unhand me, you freak!"

"Guess what? You were almost correct..." Two more branches were generated, grabbing Woody and Rocky. "...But I only needed some of you!"

Balloony couldn't stand the thought of Leafy kidnapping his teammates. "Hey! Put them down–" His command was all for naught, as another branch grabbed him and Cloudy. "Help! Leafy's gone mad!" He was now in the same condition as Nickel.

"Yes, you'll make a fine addition to my new group!" Leafy looked at the trapped people. "Except for you, Nickel."

"What? New group? Four won't allow that!" David smirked, hoping that Four would barge in and put a stop to this madness.

"You think I care about some schizophrenic number?" Leafy laughed. "Oh, please!"

"Oh, they'll care for sure when I tell them all this!" David then proceeded to shout Four's name, in a far-fetched attempt to grab their attention.

Someone then entered Beep's house. David smiled. "Ha! Your reign of terror is going down, Leafy! You'll have to stop this madness once Four comes in!" Once the person entered Beep's bedroom, David squinted his eyes. "Oh, dang it." It was Snowball.

"What the flake is happening? I'm trying to sleep!" Snowball groaned. "Care to explain this mess?"

"Oh, Snowball! My former teammate." Leafy had the trunk generate yet another branch to grab Snowball. Once he landed on her platform, Leafy looked at him as if she had just found a long-lost friend. "Oh, how I missed you! You'd be perfect for my new group!"

"Wha? New group?" Snowball was dazed. "Sure, I'll join, but Lightning has to come along!"

Leafy thought about the condition set by Snowball. The more, the merrier! Lightning could serve as additional power for the team! "Sure thing, Snowie!" She grinned.

Snowball cheered. Leafy cheered as well, before remembering something. "Ah, silly me! I almost forgot! We have another member joining!" An additional branch, which had been created a few moments prior, contracted back to the main trunk, putting Grassy on Leafy's platform. "Wheee! That was fun!"

"Grassy! Are you disappointed by how that bossy bot is treating you?" Leafy was smirking.

Grassy stood up. "Grassy needs respect!"

"Well, mama Leafy will give you all the respect you're looking for!" The branch let Grassy go. He was now standing on Leafy's platform.

"Mommy!" Grassy began to cry as Leafy hugged him.

"Welcome back home, my child!" Leafy too began to cry tears of joy.

Nickel's shouting interrupted the touching moment. "Can you unhand me at once?!" He was getting tired of being squeezed. The branch that was holding Nickel went past the roof and threw him, off into the horizon.

"Aaaand nothing of value was lost!" Leafy chuckled.

"So, uh... Who's gonna fix the house?" David looked around and was shocked by the extent of the damage. The water pipes were spraying everywhere, and sparks of electricity could be seen.

"Well, didn't you say you were calling Four?" Leafy looked down at David and smirked. "They're always available."

(No Nickels were harmed during the production of this chapter.)