Diddy stared blankly at this ring. "... You... You CAN'T read minds over the phone... can you?" he uttered with apprehensive awe of the wizard's guess. But Stripetail knowing everything as Stripetail was want to do was the least of his concerns right now and he quickly shook off his surprise. "Yes! We are SO dead!" He claimed as the tingle of the ice cream parlor door sounded and they all walked out, to the collective relief of the patrons inside.
"Our doubles got their stupid as-... their stupid *butts* caught," Diddy said, catching himself before he swore. "Junior's double set himself on fire, and mine is in jail. We don't know what to do! I don't Jerry to be in jail because of me! And they'll KILL Marcus once he's well enough to start talking."
Junior looked over his shoulder at Wendy and the Ludwig-haired McFlurry lady she had befriended, especially the latter. She didn't look familiar to him at all, but there was SOMETHING about her that tickled something in his memory. He wasn't sure what. Instead he looked to his sister. "Where are the others?" he asked, before more specifically asking "Where's Roy? Didn't he come with you?"

Junior heard Wendy before he saw her—those high heels of hers made a clack that he could detect from about a lightyear away. As he immediately spun around to greet her, the smarmy, devil-may-care smile he was about to throw out wilted as he saw the fire in her eyes. That was not good. Fire-in-her-eyes Wendy was not a Wendy he ever liked seeing.
“Uh, Wendy?” Junior said with a confused blink. His bald, bow wearing sister was walking in with a purple cloud lady who had a hairdo that looked so much like Ludwig that he nearly though it WAS Ludwig, vaporized into a purple fart cloud somehow. But Ludwig (thankfully) didn’t have big lips or big boobs, and he realized it was someone else. He heard what his sister had to say.
Diddy was initially pleasantly surprised to see Wendy walk into the parlor. She had always been extremely supportive of him and Junior’s gay relationship, and he always saw her as a trusted confidant. That made it all the more alarming hearing what she had to say.
Diddy was looking at Junior halfway through Wendy’s speech. Seeing a smart ass little punk like Bowser Junior—THE Bowser Junior who regularly danced with the man in red and sneered in his mustached face—shrink with every word his sister said hammered home how bad this situation was. When Marcus and Jerry were brought up, the two bolted to their feet.
“What!?” Junior shouted as he dug his claws into his scalp. “You were supposed to help look out for him! You promised!”
“Jerry’s in jail??” Diddy said, flabbergasted. Donkey didn’t know Jerry all that well, but he never thought his first reaction would be to throw him in the clink just for impersonation.
But what really shook Diddy was seeing Junior turn nearly white with fear at the mention of his father. It made his fur stand on end. Bowser was a stern father, but he rarely got outright angry with Junior—he spoiled the little snot too much for that. The possibility of Junior’s father getting certain ‘information’ out of Junior’s double through torture or other means turned Diddy’s blood to ice.
“Y-you got to help us!” Diddy pleaded with Wendy. He didn’t know this Flurry lady, but as far as he knew she couldn’t help him out of this disastereous situation, so he ignored her for the moment. “Junior’s dad can’t know about… US!” He said pointing between he and Junior as Junior nodded emphatically in agreement.

Rogan and G pretended that they had nothing to do with Junior or Diddy. They did stare—pretending that a commotion wasn’t happening in the parlor would have been more suspicious than not—but they didn’t do anything to indicate that they were partied to the koopa and the monkey. Rogan heard the name Wendy, and it rung a bell. The two waited, doing nothing, but simply ate ice cream in silence, ready to make whatever move they needed to wait to help the two little brats that they were watching out for.
----

Usso sighed as he cashed in his check. Maybe Shakti was right—maybe he was over thinking this. He still felt guilty accepting such a large sum of money. A part of his mind—a very id part of his mind—assuaged him. ‘The V-2 is worth, what—trillions? This squirrel is practically ripping you off for only a million to rent it, don’t feel so guilty!’ The problem was, Usso didn’t really believe that. Maybe the V-2 was worth that much, but a PTSD-riddled pilot like him sure wan’t. Still, he knew how much good this money could do for the folks back in Kaseralia. They, if not him, deserved this money. With a conflicted heart, he deposited his first check.

Holy crap, Don Bluth just followed me on twitter... Let's see how long it takes for me to get him to unsubscribe! 

I will indeed, Rhombus! And for those who like the picture but would prefer it without the caption, Isis made me one of those too. I highly recommend checking out the rest of his stuff, btw. I picked him for the commission for a reason, the dude has made some great Land Before Time fan art, and in particular some absolutely hysterical comics. https://www.deviantart.com/isismasshiro/art/LBT-The-lesson-160412042

And thanks so much, Flathead! Yeah, on twitter it's kind of being overshadowed by the fact that it' Mickey Mouse's 90th birthday. Talk about a coincidence, am I right?

I am indeed! I got my bachelors degree in Biology with an emphasis on environmental and organismal biology. But, I want to go into a masters program and my GPA wasn't great, so I'll probably go back to school at some point for a Marine Biology bachelors degree and then ride that all the way up to a Ph. D. But yeah, right now I'm out of school and have a job as laboratory technician for an oil analysis company.

And yeah! I'll probably shoot you a PM tomorrow, since I'm doing my countdown stuff on twitter tonight, but I can't wait to get back into the swing off things!

Heya gang. I've been away from the site for awhile, but I haven't been away from the series. Far from it-- I started a new twitter account called GreatValleyGuru where I've been talking about the series, and recently I've been doing a top song listing of the series to count down to the big 30th anniversary. I've also commissioned some really cool art for when the 18th roles around. I figure I needed to get back to this place and with all of you! My kind of people! The Land Before Time obsessed ones! Great to be back!

“Sweet!” Junior declared as he accepted the money and flipped through it. “Awesome! Thanks Stripetail! You’re the best!” He turned to Diddy and lightly punched his shoulder. “Come on, let’s get to the theater!”
Diddy’s long tail waggled a little. “Right! It’s been out for awhileómaybe if we’re lucky we’ll get the whole theater to ourselves.”
“Ah that’d be awesome!” Junior agreed as the two raced out of the door just in time to miss a fifteen year old human with bowl-cut blond hair running into the tavern and checking his watch.
“Twenty five minutes,” Usso panted as he looked around the tavern. “Did I already miss them?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Defago titled his head a little as he heard the squirrel ask about the formula’s buyer. He grinned a little through the wad of tobacco. Now, more strongly than usual, he wished he was actually capable of tasting that smokey Virginia flavor again, but at least it still cooled his nerves if nothing else.
“Mind reader,” Defago commented as he tapped his head. The nubs of horns were poking out of his brown hair like submerged stumps sticking out of eelgrass in a lake bed. “Or you’ve heard me talk about that t’te baise in the past, which I never do, so I’m gonna guess mind reader. You’re not the first of them I met. Never did care for them muchóthey always know the punchlines to my jokes ëfore I can tell ëem. He ha ha!”
ëFact is, I don’t call the goddamn beast by my affectionate little nickname for it out loud,’ he thought to himself. ëAnd just fer the record, if yer listenin’, it’s never had free reign. It ain’t ever going to either.’
Defago stood up from his sitting position as a few mosquitoes that had been hovering above dropped to the ground, squirming slowly. He put his hands in his pocket and walked forward a few steps, as the sound of sloshing could be heard from the ratty old boots the Jones’ had given to him.
“…What did you mean by ëlucky I was there on hand’, boss?” he asked, trying not to sound hopeful. “Those two agents are deader n’ a doornail last I checked.”

Diddy couldn’t help but smirk as the koopaling folded his arms in a sulk, but he quickly beat it down. After all, it was his fault they were here.
“It was my idea to come here, Mr. Stripetail,” Diddy Kong said sheepishly, rubbing the rim of the sunvisor on his baseball cap. “It’s kinda of our anniversaryówell, half year anniversaryóand I wanted to do something reckless like Jay here always does. I thought sneaking in some alcohol would have been pretty hardcore. Dumb, I know…”
Junior sighed as he leaned back in his chair. “Moron. If you had waited like three seconds I was about to take the blame. Not like I’m not used to it. It’s also not like I tried to stop you or anything, I was on board with it. So…”
He shrugged. He felt far more guilty for allowing Diddy to get in trouble more than actually trying to sneak drinks, and he wasn’t hiding the fact. Diddy gave a bemused smile. “You can’t lie to Stripetail, dude. You know that.” The koopa twitched a cheek, which turned into a grin.
“I think he would have let me, just this once,” Junior said as he leaned in to give the kong a noogie. “You know, as an anniversary gift.”
Then Usso’s name came up, and the two straightened up in their seats a little.
“Oh yeah, it has been a week, hasn’t it? Half a mil…” Diddy whistled. “Geeze…” Junior looked excited at first, then seemed to quash his look and replace it with an aloof jutted chin.
“Yeah, for sitting on his ass,” Junior said as he picked at his teeth with a claw. “A sinecure, that’s what he has. Starting to think that whatchamacallit he keeps being ominous about is make believe. I mean, have you seen it, Stripetail?”
“Oh, ignore himóhe’s hoping you’ll give us information about it,” Diddy said to the wizard as he waved his hand dismissively. “Anyway, that’s great! Usso’ll be really excited about that. We actually invited him over to the tavern, so if you stick around a little you should be able to give it to him.” Junior frowned at little. “Where is he, anyway?” he said, speaking seriously for once. “He was supposed to be here awhile ago. Dude’s rarely late for things. What if he’s having one of his ëNam flashbacks or whatever?”
Diddy winced a little. Usso had once had a nervous breakdown in front of them before, so it wasn’t an unwarranted fear. Still, Diddy had a bit more faith. “I think he’s fine… But, maybe we should go look for him if he’s not here in fifteen minutes.”
----------------
Defago caught a familiar scent in the air as he followed the boy to the Winterville tavern. It was faint, and he had only ever experienced it once before, but to his wild, enhanced sense of smell it was unmistakable. It was the wizard Stripetail, the squirrel who had invited him on this ship. As he saw the boy Usso walk into the tavern, he caught a glimpse of the wizard through the window. He thought back to that day, on Mawashii…

~~~~~~~~~~
Night fell on the tiny little impoverished shack, and it’s newly wealthy inhabitants all went to bed. Before they did, Defago caught Lucy Jones coming into the living room where he was to sleep for the night, and held something out in her hand.
“I want you to have this, Mr. Defago,” she said gently. It was a simple silver ring with no gems or ornamentations. “It used to be my prized possession. You know why?”
“Why’s that?” Defago asked. She smiled and put the ring in his gloved hand to examine.
“It used to be all my family could afford for my birthday. But that’s not true anymoreómama says with this money, we can get a real life with fancy stuff. I know it’s not much, but I wanted you to have it to remember me by!”
Defago looked at the ring for a moment, examining it’s cheapness, it’s plainness, and the great polish and daily care that clearly went into it to make it glisten without tarnish like it did in such low light. Then he opened an arm up and hugged the girl. She hugged him back.
“I’ll take real good care of it,” he said honestly. “I promise you.”
“I know you will,” Lucy said sweetly before she smothered a yawn. “Maybe one day me and my family can come and see one of your plays!”
“Yes,” Defago said with a nod and a stab of guilt. “I’d love that. Now you better get yourself to bed, alright? Startin’ a new life is hard work. Yer gonna need your rest.”
The girl nodded with a smile. Defago had lived long enough to know she’d grow up to be quite lovely, just by that smile alone. He gave her one more huge before she walked to her tiny bedroom. “Good night, Defago,” she said through a tired yawn.
Defago smiled, knowing this was probably the last he’d ever see of the little girl ever again.
“Goodnight, Lucy. Fais de beaux r’ves.”

It was about midnight, when he was sure the family was fully asleep, that he walked out away from the rickety house to just the right distance away. That was to say, far enough away that the family wasn't in danger, but close enough that nothing would be able to get inside without him knowing about it. He took off the cloth covering his face and tucked it into his pocket along with Lucy’s ring. He let la b’te maudite have a tiny bit of controlójust enough to alter his appearance a bit and increase his size. The grass below him immediately died and wilted, and animals from several miles around reared their head up in alarm at the presence that had suddenly materialized in their forest.
ëWhatever fils de pute is leaving his presence in the air right now, he better know what’s waitin’ for him here.’ He grinned with large, sharp teeth. ëOtherwise he’s gonna be reaaal surprised what he finds runnin’ at him in the dark.’
Then he sat, cross legged, on the ground, and pulled out his old whittling knife to pass the time. He didn’t have to wait long.

Diddy and Junior both let out a pair of aggravated groans and were about to hop out of their chairs when they heard Stripetail stand up for them.
As Mr. Bigmouth was describing, Diddy listened, not quite understanding half the things he said. Junior, meanwhile, had enough education to know what he was saying but was merely nodding his head and pretended to listen.
ëDamn, we lucked out!’ he thought to himself. ëThough knowing Stripetail, I don’t think we’ll be able to push our luck any further than this.’
-----
“If you’re uncomfortable here, we can take this somewhere else,” G said politely to the bandaged man who had been staring at his glass of water for some time now. The man, Joshua Graham, shook his head.
“I understand not everyone shares my beliefs. Sometimes it’s good to be in a place that reminds me of that.”
Rogan nodded as he tapped a few bundled ashes into a nearby tray. “It’s my fault,” he said, ignoring Joshua’s assurances. “I wasn’t really thinking about that. I don’t think we’ll need to stay too longówhat we wanted to say is pretty brief.”
Joshua looked over at the two agents with his piercing, fire-bleached blue eyes. “Yes. I was wondering about that. Does this have anything to do with Defago?”
“No,” G said as he took a gulp of the sazerac large enough to draw a troubled look from a nearby bar patron. “We trust the wizard’s judgment, even if I disagree with him. This has more to do with our destination.”
Graham nodded, and took a sip from his glass. He had removed the bandages on his mouth to drink from his glass, and the two men could tell why he usually kept it covered. His lips had been all but burned off.
“Weyard, yes… The world of alchemy. I gathered you were interested from our earlier conversation.”
Rogan smiled disarmingly, smoke seeping out of one corner of his mouth. “Well, a little more information couldn’t hurt. Any world that Chong deems of interest should be of interest to us too.”
Graham replied in his usual slow, powerful voice, but with the politeness now belied by a hint of suspicion.
“And what in particular were you-- or your organization --interested enough that you had to come and meet with me in person?” Rogan didn’t stop smiling, but he did discard his cigar into the nearby ashtray while G motioned for his glass to be refilled. Despite how heavy the drink was and how many he’d had so far, he showed an eerie lack of inebriation.
“Well. Quite a few things. But in particular the elemental spirits.”
Graham gave a slow nod of understanding. “The Djinn. I see…”

"No, not at all," Rogan lied smoothly as he added the herbs to his tea, hoping it'd make the room stop spinning.
G didn't miss a beat. "Yes. We left almost as soon as we were conscious. G, ma'am," he said as he shook the Captain's hand and finished off the rest of his herbed tea. Rogan shrugged his shoulders. "We didn't have much of a choice. The AMS isn't going to  be able to send any reinforcements until that stuff is long, long, gone. But in any case, I'm going, even if G isn't."
"I'll see to it that Rogan stays here," G said simply to Stripetail as he reached into his pocket. "If you could bring him back here for us to question, that'd be ideal, but if you see anything that doesn't look human or Wendigo, take this."
He handed a small device to the Squirrel and tapped it on. "This PDA has files on all the creatures linked to MagZero. I doubt you'll need it, but it might come in handy."
Rogan smirked as he leaned his head back on the couch. "It's not like you to give up this easily, G."
"We're not giving up. We're being effective," G said simply.