Archive of Our Own ^beta

GRIAN

They all gathered around Boatem Central, the greatest mall to have ever existed. At least it was in Grian’s opinion. He and Joel were the last to arrive, they had to make a quick detour to Grian’s place because he was the one who was currently in possession of the task basket.

The task basket was, in fact, not a basket at all, it was a medium sized draw-string bag that held a bunch of folded papers with different tasks written on them. Everyone had pitched in to create the tasks, and then they’d spent plenty of time over the years working to make them as fair as possible.

“Glad to see you alive and well.” Skizz said brightly, patting Joel on the back as soon as he was close enough. 

Joel huffed, rolling his eyes, “I’m only here to remind you that I’m superior to all you losers.”

“Even your teammate’s a loser?” Gem asked, smiling as Joel sputtered, she leaned in and stage whispered to Tango, “I wouldn’t want to be the one teaming with him.”

“How are we doing teams this time anyway?” Mumbo asked.

“Makes no difference to me,” Grian said with a shrug, “what would you guys like to do?”

“I think we should let Joel decide,” Scar said brightly, “as a way to celebrate the rare occasion of him leaving his house.”

Joel sent him a half-hearted glare, not fully able to hide his smile. He stuck his nose in the air ever so slightly, huffing as he said, “well if you insist Scar.”

“I do!” Scar said with a nod. Smiling sweetly at Joel. 

“Well I don’t really care how we decide teams but I’m just going to claim Etho as my teammate right now.” Joel said plainly, walking to Etho and crossing his arms.

Etho turned to Joel, eyes crinkling as he looked down—farther than he needed to even with the height difference—and said cheekily, “So quick to choose me Joel,” he paused, humming as if he was deep in thought, “it’s like you’re obsessed with me.”

Joel scoffed and elbowed Etho, “I’m just here so you have a fighting chance, you’d be hopeless without me.”

Tango coughed exaggeratedly to stop whatever response Etho was about to make (those two would go on forever if there was no one to stop them), “If we’re just choosing teammates then it’s been a while since Skizz and I have teamed.”

Impulse grinned, “really Tango? You get to choose and he’s who you go with?”

“You shut up!” Skizz snarked, slapping Impulse lightly in the back of the head, he turned to Tango, wrapping an arm around him and grinning, “We’re going to beat all these jerks.”

Tango grinned back and leaned against Skizz, wrapping an arm around him as well, “we’re going to winificate so hard.”

That left six of them. 

Without saying a word, Gem walked up to Pearl and grabbed her hand. Pearl blinked, looked down at her hand in Gem’s, and shrugged.

The four remaining people looked at each other. Scar was the one to speak, “I teamed with Mumbo last time, so maybe not him.”

“You can just say you hate me, Scar.” Mumbo huffed, and it was almost believable, save for the smile he was not quite able to keep off his face.

“I teamed with G not too long ago,” Impulse hummed, “and I can’t remember the last time I teamed with Mumbo.”

Mumbo hummed, moving next to Impulse, muttering a soft, “we can’t have that.”

Grian shrugged, and moved so he was standing next to Scar.

“Took you long enough,” Skizz said, smirking. He was still half draped over Tango, who looked perfectly at ease carrying the extra weight.

Grian rolled his eyes, “just for that, you two get to pick last.” he snarked, grabbing the task basket and holding it out in front of him. He shook it a little to mix the tasks around, and before anyone could protest he reached in and snatched a paper out. “Who's next?” 

One by one, each team picked a paper from the bag. Once every team had a paper, Grian clapped his hands together to get their attention, “Okay, you all know the rules. Three hours to complete your task. Sabotaging is on the table as long as no one gets hurt, killed, or kicked out. If you do, your team is disqualified—” he paused for a moment, making sure he remembered everything, “Don’t get overly competitive—”

“Joel.” Tango hummed with an overexaggerated cough that did nothing to cover it up. Joel stuck his tongue out at him.

 “—but do give it your best shot, no matter how bad that shot may be—”

“Skizz…” Gem coughed, also making no effort to cover her words with it. Skizz sent her a half hearted glare which she returned with an innocent smile.

“—and most importantly,” He looked at each of them, suddenly growing very serious, “Anything said and done during the game is unserious and not personal, we will go into this as friends, and we will come out of it as friends. No grudges or rivalries. Does everyone understand?”

A chorus of agreement was received from the group.

“Great,” Grian said, tone suddenly much brighter, “Everyone meet back in the food court after three hours, a message will be sent at the thirty minute, ten minute, five minute, and one minute mark, if you are not back in time, you are disqualified. Go!”

GEM

They all bolted in opposite directions.

Gem and Pearl rushed across the food court, ignoring the weird looks they got and stopped in front of House Blossom . A lovely little plant store. 

Pearl grinned at her and unfolded the small paper, holding it out for both of them to read.

In messy handwriting that Gem recognized undoubtedly to be Scars, it read:

Mall Talent Show: Film a teammate doing a funny or impressive performance at the food court (like singing, juggling, or dancing). Must be performing for at least 15-20 seconds. bonus points if you go for longer or if a crowd starts forming.

Gem and Pearl exchanged a glance.

“I’ve got no reservations.” Pearl said.

“Of course,” Gem agreed, “Neither do I.” She hummed in thought, staring at the paper in Pearl’s hand. “We could both perform.” she offered.

“Ooh, yeah!” Pearl exclaimed, “we could put on a play!” Her eyes widened as a sudden thought came to her and she looked at Gem with a crazed excitement that Gem very rarely saw from her, “We could make our own props!”

Gem’s eyes widened slightly, and she grinned back, grabbing Pearl by the arm and beginning to walk toward their favorite craft store. 

ETHO

They turned the corner and stopped by a small cafe which Joel immediately walked into. Etho quickly followed after, sitting down with him at a corner table and unfolding the paper.

Vacation Mode: Find five items you’d bring on a vacation. Limit of two items per store. Items can be far-fetched if you can come up with a good story for it. Bonus points if you can dream up a planned vacation idea and get items specifically for that. 

Joel hummed, leaning back in his chair and looking up at Etho, “Got any dream vacation spots?”

Etho hummed contemplatively, folding the paper and leaning his head on his hand, “can’t say I do, you?”

Joel huffed, smirking as he said, “always need me to do the heavy-lifting for you, don’t you Etho.” 

Etho smirked back, kicking Joel under the table, “Well of course, Mister Reigning Champion, what was it that you said? You were going to give me a ‘fighting chance.’”

Joel rolled his eyes, smiling as he did, “Poor Etho, truly hopeless without me.”

“Yes Joel, I need your unmatched wisdom to guide me to victory.”

Joel snorted and Etho grinned.

“I’ve always thought Iceland was pretty interesting.” Joel said after a moment.

Etho’s smile grew, “we can work with that.”

SKIZZ

Tango’s pace didn’t falter once as he bolted through the mall, dodging and ducking around people so gracefully that Skizz couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. He stumbled after him, managing, by some miracle, to not bump into anyone.

Tango stopped abruptly in front of a photo booth. It was so sudden that Skizz didn’t have any time to react before he was barreling into the other. The two of them fell in a heap, landing on the floor of the photo booth. 

Skizz got up, muttering a quick apology and brushing himself off. He leaned against the wall of the photo booth panting.

Tango, who was still lying on the floor, smirked at him as he got up, “you okay there, old man?” he teased.

Skizz sent him a half-hearted glare, “You are literally only a few months younger than me.”

“Your point?” Tango asked, and Skizz would forever resent how he appeared perfectly fine despite having just ran halfway across the entire mall.

“Just show me the damn task, Top.”

“So demanding,” Tango taunted as he unfolded the paper, “old age has made you grumpy.”

Skizz didn’t dignify that with a response, flicking Tango in the forehead and snatching the paper out of his hands. He held it up high so that the other wouldn’t be able to see it.

“Hey!” Tango snapped, “I can’t see it.”

Skizz grinned, making a show of looking down at him, “I’m sorry, is this too high for you, little guy?”

Tango jumped on his back, and they ended up on the floor again.

“Okay, okay,” Skizz said, trying to keep himself from laughing, “let’s not break the photo booth.”

Tango grinned at him, shoulders shaking slightly with silent laughter that he was also trying to hold back. “Fine,” he huffed, “I guess we can try to be civil.”

Skizz sat up and held the paper out for them to read.

“Oh, this is your handwriting, Top.” Skizz hummed brightly, “read it for me because I can’t.”

Tango huffed, and snatched the paper from Skizz’s hand, reading out.

Friendly Strangers: Each person must create a handshake with a stranger, there must be at least three distinct movements (fistbump, high-five, finger guns, etc.) Take a video of your handshake, bonus points for the more complicated or extravagant the handshake is.

Skizz grinned, “We get to make new friends with this task, you could not have picked better, buddy.”

Tango grinned back, “I know exactly where to go.”

GRIAN

They didn’t run like the rest of the groups. Instead they walked into Peter’s Potter, a lovely shop owned by a woman whose name was decidedly not Peter but who ran the place just fine anyway. 

Grian had been in this shop many a time and was good friends with the owner.  She smiled as they entered and he waved at her with a soft, “hey Mandy.”

He then turned to Scar and unfolded the note, grinning wildly as he recognized the task as one that he’d come up with, he held it out so that they could both read it. 

Reverse Shopping List: Find an item to match each description on the shopping list. The item has to undoubtedly match the description, you can’t have something that’s primarily gray and call it blue because of one small blue spot. Additional points if you find something really weird or crazy that fits the description. The items must be found from at least two different stores.

Shopping List

• Shiny - Could be metallic, glittery, or polished.

• Tiny - Something small enough to fit in your palm.

• Fluffy - Soft and fuzzy, like a plush toy or scarf.

• Squishy - Anything pliable or squeezable, like a stress ball or a soft pillow.

• Blue - Predominantly blue, but doesn’t have to be entirely that color.

“Oh we should go to Jill and Bill's, ” Scar said, shifting his weight ever so slightly. Grian heard his cane thud lightly against the ground. “They’ll have plenty of weird thingamabobs that will match those descriptions.” 

Grian hummed quietly, nodding in agreement. A sudden thought occurred to him and he looked at Scar, grinning sharply. 

Scar raised an eyebrow and leaned forward onto his cane, giving Grian his full attention. Grian leaned in a little as well. “I don’t think just finding items is enough.” 

Scar smiled at him, “oh?”

“I think we need an explanation for each item, the shopping list needs to make sense.”

Scar’s expression brightened and he nodded vigorously, snatching the paper from Grian’s hand and walking out of the shop, “let’s go find these items then Grian, we have a very important reason for buying them.”

Grian grinned, hurrying quickly after Scar until they were next to each other again.

IMPULSE

They stopped just outside of the Boatem Central Theme Park. 

Mumbo unfolded the note and held it out for both of them to read. The handwriting was really neat and orderly, which meant that it was probably Pearl’s handwriting. 

Odd One Out: Snap a picture of the most bizarre item on sale in any store. The other contestants will vote on whether the item is bizarre enough, and it passes if the majority agree that it is. The other contestants are allowed to go into the store and decide for themselves, if another team finds an item that is collectively decided to be more bizarre, then the other item doesn’t pass.

Impulse hummed in thought, looking at Mumbo and asking, “you know any good stores we can look at?”

Mumbo glanced around the mall, thinking for a moment before responding, “an antique shop might be good, or maybe a pawn shop or something.”

Impulse nodded in agreement, grinning as he spied a map not too far from them, he brushed Mumbo’s arm slightly to get his attention and pointed it out, gesturing with his head that they should go there.

They walked over to the map and examined the various shops around Boatem Central. Mumbo lit up, jumping a little and turning to Impulse with a smile, “We could go to Jill and Bill’s .” he offered. 

Impulse wracked his brain, trying to remember why that name sounded so familiar, “that’s that weird antique shop next to the Soup Group Souphouse right?”

“Yeah,” Mumbo nodded.

Impulse grinned, turning and walking in the direction of the shop, “We could definitely find something there.” he agreed, and, just because it was so easy to get the other flustered he added, “good thinking, Mumbo.”

Mumbo blushed and sputtered, seemingly unsure how to react before mumbling a quick, “thanks.”

PEARL

They half walked, half jogged as they made their way through the Mall, stopping just in front of The Sunspot . The group’s favorite craft store. 

Pearl thought that it lived up to its name quite well, in the back they had huge windows and canvases where art classes were occasionally held. The windows allowed the sun to beam through and provide the perfect lighting for painting. 

There was also a window covered by colorful plastic bottle art. The sun shined down on the creations making them reminiscent of stained glass. Pearl and Grian had made matching sun and moon pieces a few years back, she grinned upon seeing that they still hung in front of the window. 

Gem pulled her to sit down at one of the small tables they had in the fingerpainting section. She leaned her head on her hand as she sat, green eyes meeting Pearl’s. “So what are you thinking?”

Pearl hummed quietly, looking around the room for inspiration. She spied one of the workers hanging up something new at the window. It was a dragon carefully crafted out of overlapped blue and purple plastic. It seemed to glow as the sun hit it.

She turned back to Gem, “a dragon would be a cool prop.” 

Gem’s expression brightened, “a dragon would be sick!” She agreed, “what would we do with it though?”

Pearl shrugged, she hadn’t thought that far ahead, she just wanted a dragon as a prop. “Maybe the dragon has kidnapped someone and they need to be saved.” she offered, knowing how cliche it was.

“We have to be more creative than that, c’mon Pearl.” Gem huffed.

“Yeah I know,” Pearl mumbled. 

For a moment, they sat in silence, simply trying to think. Gem’s grin grew and she pushed herself up from her chair, leaning toward Pearl, both hands braced on the table to keep her from falling. “How bout this, the prince comes to save the princess from the dragon, but it turns out that the princess actually fell in love with the dragon.” 

“Oh Gem, that's brilliant!” Pearl exclaimed. “We can give them a messy break up and everything.”

“Yes!” Gem agreed, “And then the dragon flys away with the princess and they leave the prince behind.”

Gem sat back down, expression softening into something a little more serious, “We’ll need a crown for the princess, maybe a cape for the prince? And of course we’ll need a dragon.”

Pearl nodded, “A cape for the prince would be good, and a sword maybe, ‘cause his intention was to fight the dragon originally.”

Gem nodded in agreement, “anything else?”

Pearl leaned back in her chair, thinking for a moment, “No I don’t think so,” she hummed, “we can make more later if we want but that’s good for now.”

JOEL

Joel hummed quietly, nodding along as Etho read out some vacation ideas for an Iceland trip from his phone. 

“...Iceland offers a range of outdoor activities for adventure seekers—from snorkeling between tectonic plates in the Silfra fissure, to ice climbing on glaciers, hiking volcanic craters, and even taking a dip in geothermal waterfalls. Visitors should be prepared for rapidly changing weather conditions, and pack accordingly.” 

Joel furrowed his brows, reaching for Etho’s phone, “Let me see,” Etho handed it over, adjusting his mask slightly before leaning his head on his hand again.

“Hiking volcanic craters…” Joel mumbled, slightly awed.

Etho nodded, “And ice climbing,” he added, “they have it all.”

Joel smiled, looking up to Etho with a wild look in his eyes, “Etho we’re going to win this.” 

Etho raised an eyebrow, “really?”

“Yes.” Joel said, jumping up and walking out of the cafe, Etho followed.

“How exactly are we going to win this?” Etho asked.

Joel turned, giving him a faux look of suspicion, “are you doubting me, Etho?”

Etho gasped, “I would never.”

Joel tried and failed to hide the smile on his face, “You’d better not.” He huffed. “Now let’s go find a snorkel suit.” 

Etho spotted a surf shop called Ultimate Wave not too far from the cafe they’d just been in. They wasted no time heading inside. 

Etho turned to look at him just after they entered, as if a sudden thought had occurred to him. “What if we scheduled activities for each day of the trip?” he suggested, “Nothing super specific, but just an idea of what we’re going to do.” 

Joel grinned back at Etho, he’d been thinking the same thing. He couldn’t help himself as he said, “Please try to keep up Etho I’ve already got a week-long trip planned.” 

Etho raised an eyebrow at him, eyes crinkling the way they did when he smiled, “Let’s hear it then.” 

“Day one,” Joel started, walking over to the snorkeling gear, “We land and we take it easy and explore the city and its lovely architecture. Day two, we go snorkeling in the crystal clear waters of the Silfra fissure. Day three, we go ice climbing and then sightseeing as we admire the glaciers. Day four we go hiking on the volcanic craters. Day five we take a lovely dip in the geothermal waterfalls. Day six, we explore the grand ice caves. Day seven, we go souvenir shopping until we have to leave for our flight in the evening.”

Etho had been perusing through the various snorkeling suits while Joel was talking, but he’d occasionally nod his head or hum in acknowledgement to prove he was listening. He turned to face Joel, “Wow Joel you really do have it all worked out.”

And Joel was pretty sure it was meant to come off as teasing, but he swore he detected a hint of awed surprise from the other, as if Etho hadn’t expected him to whip that plan up so fast. It made him swell with pride, despite the fact that it was a very rough idea that he hadn’t done the proper research for.

“Of course I do.” He snarked back, making a show of puffing his chest out. 

Etho jumped suddenly as if something had caught his eye, he reached forward and grabbed something that seemed to be hidden in the back, behind the rest of the snorkeling suits. 

He pulled it out and showed it to Joel. 

It was a bright pink full-body snorkeling suit, decorated with obnoxiously yellow sea creatures on the sleeves. It came with matching bright pink fins that were yellow at the tips (toes) and a bright pink snorkeling mask. The end of the breathing tube was also the same shade of yellow. 

Joel grinned and took out his phone to snap a picture, “It’s perfect.”

TANGO

“Where exactly are we going?” Skizz asked, walking in step with Tango as they navigated through the mall. 

“To the park, duh.” Tango snarked back, “What better place to make friends than the greatest theme park in the town?”

Skizz grinned back at him, slinging an arm over his shoulder, “Can’t argue with you there.”

They settled into a comfortable silence as they made their way toward the park. Tango felt Skizz shift and suddenly move his arm off Tango’s shoulder, “Well look who it is.” He stated. 

Tango looked up to see Mumbo and Impulse walking toward them, he narrowed his eyes, giving the two the best death glare he could muster.

“Fancy seeing you here.” Impulse hummed, eyes narrowed not too differently from the way Tango’s probably were. He crossed his arms, stopping in front of them. “Where ya headed?”

Tango had to admit that seeing Mumbo and Impulse, two people who were significantly taller than him, standing in his way with their arms crossed was a little intimidating. 

Or at least it would be if it was anyone other than Mumbo and Impulse, “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” He huffed, crossing his arms and meeting Impulse’s gaze. 

He saw Mumbo glance at Skizz before suddenly looking behind him, only for a split second before he was facing forward again. He leaned over and whispered something to Impulse that Tango couldn’t catch.

“You’re going to the park?” Impulse hummed, and Tango couldn’t help the involuntary squeak he let out. 

Skizz fared no better, making an incoherent sound and saying a very unconvincing, “...no…”

Mumbo and Impulse exchanged a look, and then suddenly Mumbo stepped back and Impulse rammed into Skizz, picking him up and bolting away from the park.

Mumbo shot after him, leaving Tango with no choice but to follow behind. 

“Hey!” He shouted, “You give my teammate back right this instant!” 

He could see Skizz thrashing around on Impulse's shoulder, Impulse appeared to be completely content, as if this was an everyday task for him. 

Knowing Skizz it probably was

Tango narrowed his eyes, zeroing in on Mumbo.

Two can play at this game, Impulse

Running as fast as he could, Tango lept at Mumbo, causing the two of them to tumble to the ground in a heap. Tango sat firmly on top of Mumbo, who struggled to push him off and nearly did a few times, but Tango managed to stay put. 

Impulse stopped in his tracks, turning back toward him.

Tango crossed his arms, levelling Impulse with a glare.

Impulse sighed, walking back toward them, Skizz still thrashing wildly in his arms, “I suppose we can trade then.” He offered.

“On the count of three,” Tango agreed, “You drop him and I get up.”

Impulse narrowed his eyes, staring hard at Tango, Tango stared right back.

“No funny business.” Impulse demanded.

“Not at all.” Tango agreed, he was starting to feel bad about sitting on Mumbo anyway. 

“Three…two…one.”

Tango got up, and Impulse carefully set Skizz down. 

Tango grabbed Skizz and yanked him over as Impulse bent down and carefully helped Mumbo up. Tango offered him an apologetic smile, “You okay, MJ?”

Mumbo smiled back, laughing softly, “All good, Tango,” he assured, “We started it anyway.”

They parted ways, and Tango turned and began bolting back across the mall, ignoring Skizz’s call.

He stopped running in front of the entrance of Boatem Central Theme Park, chest heaving slightly from the exertion.

He felt better as Skizz caught up with him, doubling over with his hands on his knees as he tried and failed to catch his breath. 

Tango patted him lightly on the shoulder, grinning as he spied two women getting off the G-train. 

One had short purple hair that was tied back into a ponytail. She wore a studded leather jacket over a light pink tanktop and a purple and black plaid skirt.

The other had blond hair with silver highlights that fell to just below her shoulders, she wore a cropped white t-shirt with a smiley face on it and a jean skirt over some dark colored tights.

“C’mon old man.” Tango said, ignoring the glare Skizz gave him, “Those two have great style, let’s go make some friends.”

SCAR

Scar sauntered into Jill and Bill’s Bits and Bobs , cane clutched tightly in one hand and task paper in the other. 

Grian walked in a step behind him, letting out a noise of surprise as he took in the store. Every shelf went from floor to ceiling, each stuffed full of random knick knacks. Some shelves looked so full Scar worried that the slightest movement might cause them to spill all over the ground.

“This place is significantly more full than last time.” Grian muttered, looking with a horrified sort of amazement at the stuffed shelves. 

Not a single part of the shelf was empty, everything was fit together in a sort of puzzle, one missing piece and the entire thing would come crashing down. 

“Well.” Grian said, offering Scar a smile and venturing further into the maze of shelves, “what’s first on the list then?”

Scar grinned back, following after Grian and looking down at the paper, “something Shiny,” he said brightly, “it can be metallic, glittery, or polished.” 

“Okay here’s the plan.” Grian said, turning to face Scar, “we each grab the first shiny thing we see and we decide which is better and go with that one.”

Scar smirked, eyes already scanning the shelves as he said, “That sounds like a foolproof plan Grian, it’s brilliant.” 

They parted ways, and Scar carefully perused the shelves, frowning as nothing in particular caught his eye. He eventually spied a roll of aluminum foil, which wasn’t great, but he grabbed it anyway, just in case he couldn’t find anything else. 

By some miracle, he managed to carefully slip it out of its spot in the jigsaw of the shelves without causing anything else to fall over. 

He heard Grian call to him, “Scar, I think you’ll like this.”

He came around a shelf and held out a sparkly sequined coin purse between his hands. Scar grinned, “Why that is fabulous.” He exclaimed, “All I found was this boring aluminum.” 

Grian smiled, “I think it’s safe to say mine is better?” 

“Oh absolutely,” Scar agreed, “Take a picture.”

Grian did, but he hesitated, frowning at Scar before deciding to reach over and take a picture of the aluminum as well, “It might fit better with the rest of the items.” he explained. Scar hummed in understanding. 

“Okay,” Scar continued, once both items had been safely put away, “next is something tiny—small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.” 

They switched sides this time. Scar carefully made his way to the back of the store, spotting a table near the back that just displayed tons upon tons of rubber ducks. He spied a smaller one, with a top hat and a monocle and grabbed it. 

Grian had found a lovely thimble with an intricately carved floral pattern across it. “It’s close,” Grian hummed, “but I do like yours more, what’s his name?” 

Scar looked down at the small duck sitting in his palm, thinking for a moment, “I’m gonna call him Scar junior.” he said. Grian snorted, “I like Scar Junior more than you.” 

Scar gasped in mock offense, “you don’t mean that!”

Grian rolled his eyes and snapped a picture of both items, “I don’t know… Scar junior is much cuter than Scar senior.”

“I’ll have you know that I am adorable.” Scar said, matter of factly.

Grian smiled at him, reaching up to lightly pat him on the head, “yes you are.”

MUMBO

Mumbo was still buzzing with excitement from their run-in with Tango and Skizz. He wasn’t even remotely upset that he had been sat on. He was far too focused on the fact that he had completely clocked Skizz instantly, and then immediately knew what Impulse was going to do after.

They walked into Jill and Bill’s laughing and snickering together. “That was insane.” He said, grinning at Impulse who grinned right back.

“Yeah man,” He agreed brightly, “Good job figuring that out, how’d you even do that?” Impulse asked.

Mumbo shrugged, “Skizz looked away from us for a split second, I followed his gaze and honestly just gave my best guess.” He looked at Impulse, “knowing those two there was really only one place they were going to go over there.”

“True,” Impulse agreed, he then clapped Mumbo on the shoulder, “still that was pretty sick, and their reactions man, that was gold.” 

Mumbo laughed, “Skizz looked like a kid who’d just been caught doing something wrong by his mum.”

“And the sound that Tango made,” Impulse added, “He almost never gets that high pitched.”

Mumbo shook his head, shoulders shaking with laughter, “I honestly forgot he could even go that high.” He said honestly. 

Impulse huffed, leaning in conspiratorially to whisper, “you should see him when Etho starts teasing him,”

Mumbo raised an eyebrow, “Is he—are they—?” 

Impulse shrugged, “I don’t know,” he said honestly, “Skizz and I are convinced they are, but I don’t think they’ve realized it yet.”

“Huh,” Mumbo muttered, “I thought it was just me who saw it.”

“Oh no,” Impulse replied, “they are so obvious,” he paused, “but we’ll have plenty of time to talk about it later, we’ve got a game to win.”

“Right,” Mumbo agreed, “A bizarre item.” He looked up at the huge dark oak floor to ceiling shelves that were packed so full that you couldn’t see the wood behind the shelves anymore. 

“I’m sure we’ll be able to find something here.” Impulse hummed, “I’ll go left, you go right, we’ll work our way in.”

Mumbo nodded, “how about three items each?” he offered, “so we have some options.”

“That’s a good idea,” Impulse agreed, “see you in a bit.”

Mumbo carefully navigated the store, looking at the various items lining the shelves. It was significantly more cluttered than it had been the last time he’d been here, last time there were gaps between the items on the shelves. 

He turned the corner and stopped in his tracks, spotting Grian trying to grab something on a shelf that was just out of reach.

Grian saw him, obviously, and turned to him, giving him a half-hearted glare. “Sorry Mumbo, but I’m afraid this store has already been claimed, you and your teammate are going to have to leave.”

“Oh really?” Mumbo hummed, raising an eyebrow at him, “What makes you think we’re just going to up and leave? Just because you said so?”

“Exactly!” Grian grinned, “So glad you get it Mumbo.”

Mumbo rolled his eyes and huffed, “and who's going to help you get that item down then?” He asked, “I’m right here, and I’m more than willing to grab it, but if you’re going to try and kick me out of the store…”

Grian crossed his arms, eyeing Mumbo suspiciously, “how do I know you’re not going to just steal it from me?”

“I guess you’ll just have to trust me,” Mumbo shrugged, making his way over to Grian and looking at the items on the shelf. “What were you trying to get anyway?”

When Grian didn’t respond, he turned back to look at him, raising an eyebrow. 

Grian had the look on his face that he got when he was about to propose a stupidly brilliant idea. 

Usually the idea either ended up working perfectly, or not working at all. It was always a gamble. 

“Let me get on your back,” Grian said plainly. 

Mumbo let out a startled laugh, “what?”

“You heard me,” Grian smirked. 

Mumbo frowned, “And what do I get out of this?” He asked, “You get one step closer to doing whatever it is that you have to do and I get?”

“To stay in this store, of course.” Grian replied.

Mumbo gave him the most unimpressed look he could muster, Grian shrugged, offering him a cheeky smile in return, “worth a shot.” 

Mumbo rolled his eyes and huffed out a quiet laugh. “Okay, how about this,” Grian offered, “You let me get my item and I keep Scar from trying to trip you up with his cane.”

Mumbo hummed contemplatively, mulling the offer over in his head, “Me and Impulse.” He replied, “Keep Scar from tripping both of us, and you have a deal.” 

“I’ll keep Scar from tripping both of you, and you will help me with this item and one other if I need it.” Grian offered.

“Deal.” Mumbo finally agreed, holding out a hand.

Grian shook it, “pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Jumbo.” He grinned, “Now let me get on your back.” 

Mumbo did let Grian climb on his back and grab whatever it was he needed, apparently it was a small plush llama keychain, Mumbo hadn’t even seen it when he’d looked at the shelf. 

Grian got off, calling back, “By the way, if you or Impulse try any funny business the deal is off.” before turning and disappearing behind another row of shelves. 

Mumbo looked around the shelf some more, before spotting a weird chair with one of the legs broken off, it was about double the size of his hand. On the seat of the chair, in shiny gold letters was the word ‘believe’. Mumbo picked it up and went to grab one of the baskets that hung from the sides of the various shelves. He dropped it in and continued on.

GEM

Gem checked the time, grinning when she saw that they still had plenty of time left. She turned to Pearl, who had masterfully crafted a 3d paper dragon. 

It wasn’t very big, only slightly larger than Gem’s hand, but it was very intricate, and long enough that its body could bend around quite a bit. Pearl had added three sticks, evenly spaced out underneath it so that it could be maneuvered around easily. 

Gem had worked on getting the rest of the props, she’d created a lovely golden paper crown with pink and green rhinestones glued on to create a floral pattern across it. It fit snugly around her head, perfectly fit for a princess

She frowned and turned to Pearl, “We never decided what roles we were going to play.” 

Pearl looked up from the finishing touches she was adding to her dragon, making a quiet “oh,” sound. “I kind of assumed you’d be the princess and I’d be the prince.” Pearl said with a shrug.

Gem smirked at Pearl, raising an eyebrow at her, “So you think you’re the man of this relationship, huh?”

Pearl sputtered, “I—no—you know that’s not what I meant!” 

Gem giggled, leaning back in her chair, “I made the crown to fit my head anyway.”

It was Pearl’s turn to smirk, “So you think I’m the man of this relationship.”

Gem rolled her eyes, “Using my own words against me, how creative.” she said dryly.

“Well excuse me if the creative juices aren’t quite flowing right now,” Pearl huffed, “I used them all up on this dragon.”

“Which looks beautiful by the way.” Gem hummed, admiring Pearl’s handiwork. 

“Aww, you think so?” Pearl replied, practically glowing with pride. “Thanks, Gem.”

Gem smiled at her, and then turned back to look at the props she’d had to get. The sword was just a plain foam sword they’d nabbed from a costume store across from The Sunspot called The Masked Wonder, so was the cape. Gem had also found a really pretty pink skirt that she couldn’t resist buying. 

It fell down to her ankles and was very light and flowy, it was embroidered with beautiful golden butterflies at the bottom and it was the kind of skirt that flowed out around her when she spun. Pearl had also agreed that it was made for her when she saw it. 

Pearl finished painting the last details on her dragon before letting out a satisfied hum and getting up, “I think we’ve got everything Gem!” She said brightly.

Gem grinned, following after her, “Let’s go give them a show.”

They made their way down to the food court with their newly crafted and bought props in hand. They scanned the crowd for a moment before Pearl grabbed her shoulder and pointed, “her.”

Gem followed Pearl’s outstretched hand and spotted a girl in a blue jean jacket with painted hearts on the back and black skinny jeans with a simple golden belt around her waist. Her hair was blond with bright teal highlights in it. 

Scott would approve

Gem nodded and the two of them made their way over to her, she looked up and offered a nervous smile upon seeing them.

“Hi there,” Pearl said brightly, “I’m Pearl, and this is my friend Gem.”

“Hello.” Gem said, smiling and waving at the girl.

She smiled back and responded in a tone that was slightly confused, “I’m Sam, nice to meet you.”

“Hey Sam, I really like your jacket, did you paint the hearts yourself?” Pearl asked.

Sam brightened immediately, “Yes, I did!” she said, “I like adding my own touch to my outfits, y’know?”

“Me too,” Gem said warmly, carefully tucking her hair behind her ear to show off her earrings, two small swords with a rose wrapped around the hilt, “I made these myself.”

Sam leaned in, grinning back at her, “oh those are so sick.” she said. “Do you do commissions? I’d love custom jewelry but I can’t figure it out.” 

Gem bounced on the balls of her feet, and beamed at the other, “I can give you my information.” she promised, “Though I do have to confess there is another reason we’re here.”

“You seemed like a really cool person,” Pearl cut in, “we did want to befriend you, but we were also hoping to ask you for something.” 

Sam raised an eyebrow, and then shrugged, “shoot.”

“Could you do us a solid and record something for us?” Pearl asked

“See, we want to put on a play in the food court.” Gem explained.

Sam’s eyes widened and she grinned, “You guys are so cool, yeah I can totally do that for you.” 

Gem offered a grateful smile in return, “I’ll be sure to give you a discount on that jewelry for this,” she responded, then turning to Pearl she said, “let’s do this.”

ETHO

“There.” Etho called to Joel, spotting a small shop hidden away in a corner. The bold light up letters read Adventura and in the big display windows Etho could see various hiking and camping tools.

“Nice catch,” Joel hummed making his way to the store, “I bet we can find a real funky belt in here. Or maybe some weird lookin’ gaiters.”

The store was super well organized, with big signs labelling each section. Etho spotted both a belt and a gaiter section. 

“You check the belts, I’ll go look at the gaiters.” Joel offered.

Etho gasped, “you’re trusting me to do something alone, Joel?” He asked, pretending to be honored.

Joel huffed, elbowing him for the second time that day, Etho elbowed him back, and Joel kicked him in the shin, “don’t make me regret it.” He threatened half-heartedly.

Etho put a hand to his chest, “I promise not to let you down” He said, barely able to make it through the sentence without breaking into a fit of laughter. 

Joel chuckled along as well, patting Etho on the back, “Go, prove your worth.” Joel commanded, and Etho sent him a mock solute before turning and making his way toward the tactical belts. 

Most of the belts were black or brown in color, made entirely with the idea of practicality in mind. Etho took extra care to push past the belts at the front, he’d learned from his avid shopping expertise (it was not an addiction he could stop whenever he wanted) that the good stuff was always hidden in the back. 

And he was proven right once again, grinning triumphantly as he spied a sparkly green belt with shiny red embroidery stitched through it. All the pockets had golden painted latches to match the golden buckle. It was perfect . 

“Joel!” Etho called, making his way toward him, “come look.” 

Joel met Etho halfway, eyes blowing wide when he saw the belt. He grinned brightly at Etho, “that shopping addiction’s finally coming in handy.” he remarked.

“I already told you I can stop whenever I want.” Etho snarked back, “take the damn picture.” 

“Jeez Etho you’re so demanding,” Joel huffed, taking out his phone to take the photo, “have you ever considered that maybe you should treat your teammate better?” 

Etho didn’t dignify that with a response.

Joel put his phone away, humming in thought, “you reckon we could find a variety pack of warmers?” he suggested suddenly.

“Warmers?” Etho asked, taken aback.

“Yeah, hand warmers, feet warmers, chest warmers, Iceland’s gonna be cold, lad, we’d need to keep warm somehow.”

“Where would we even find that?” Etho asked incredulously

“You tell me Mister Shopping Expert.” Joel snarked, “what did you call it again, ‘avid shopping something?’”

“Avid shopping expertise,” Etho huffed, moving to put the belt back as he wracked his brain for any idea of where they could find a variety pack of warmers.

“Yep, avid shopping expertise,” Joel agreed, “totally not an addiction.”

Etho rolled his eyes, “maybe we can find one in a sports store, or The Barge might have something.”

“ The Barge is that bulk goods store that sells literally everything in insane quantities right?” Joel asked, “Grian was super into it in college.”

“Yep, yep.” Etho agreed.

“Let’s go there,” Joel decided, “Lead the way, avid shopper .”

They navigated through the mall, heading toward The Barge , along the way, Etho spotted Grian and Scar walking in the same direction as them. 

He kept an eye on them, noting that Scar was not-so-subtly trying to get closer, he turned to Joel, mouth opening to warn him, only for Joel to let out a startled yelp as his feet were pulled out from under him, making him fall flat on his face. Etho stood over Joel’s body in stunned silence for a moment, before he too was suddenly falling to the ground. 

He rolled onto his back, staring up at Scar and Grian who were giggling like madmen at the two of them.

Joel sat up so fast, grabbed Scar and yanked him down, the man fell on top of them with a yelp. 

Grian was now the only one left standing, still giggling, he very slowly backed away from them until he was safe. 

Scar was still giggling like a maniac, and Joel was laughing too, Etho got up, carefully brushing himself off and offering them both a hand. Scar gladly took it with a quick, “thank you!” And Joel ignored it, opting to just push himself up instead. 

He turned to Scar, looking unsure for a moment, he bit his lip, hesitating before asking, “you okay?”

“I’m wonderful,” Scar assured brightly, “I have to say, I wasn’t expecting to get both of you, that was quite the pleasant surprise.” 

Joel gave Scar a small smile, “I didn’t even see you,” he admitted, “you completely snuck up on me.”

“Etho did,” Grian hummed, “but he couldn’t quite warn you in time.”

Joel sent Etho a half-hearted glare, “so this is your fault.”

“At least I saw them.” Etho snarked back. 

“And still, you didn’t think to warn me.” Joel huffed, shaking his head, “you really are hopeless.”

Etho realized suddenly that they were alone, Scar and Grian having left them. He spotted them at the entrance of The Barge . 

“Whatever you say Joel.” Etho patronized, without any actual bite, “Let’s go find those warmers.”

SKIZZ

Skizz followed Tango as he made his way over to the two women. 

“Hi there!” Tango grinned, he addressed the purple-haired woman first “I love your hair, the colors are super cool,” he said brightly, then he turned to the other, “and the silver highlights are sick!”

They smiled back at him, the one with the silver highlights responded, “Thank you! Your hair is super cool too, what brand of dye did you use to get it to be that color?”

Tango’s grin widened and he puffed out his chest, “This is all natural baby, no hair dyeification needed.”

“That’s a really neat natural hair color,” the purple-haired woman replied, “I’m Ellen by the way, they/them pronouns.” 

“Tango,” Tango replied, “and this is Skizz.”

Skizz offered them a wave, “I love your jacket by the way, the studs are sick.”

They lit up, “Thank you! I thought so too, but my sister kept claiming that they were tacky.”

“Not at all,” Skizz promised, “They make a statement.” he turned to the other person, offering them a smile, “I don’t believe we got your name?” 

They smiled back, “I’m Sasha,” and after a moment they added, “she/her pronouns.”

“Skizz and I both use he/him.” Tango replied, before faltering and adding, “at least I think we do.” He turned to Skizz.

Skizz huffed, shoving Tango playfully, “wow T, assuming pronouns huh, that’s not very nice of you.” he turned back to the other two and whispered, knowing full well that Tango could hear, “he was right by the way, I do use he/him.”

Tango shoved him right back. 

“Anyway,” Skizz continued between snickers, “we thought you guys had super sick style and we were hoping we could make some friends?”

Tango pitched in, “I know you just got off the G-Train but maybe we could go down to the Midnight Alley section and take the secret passage? Or we could go on the Swagon .”

Sasha smiled, “Actually, we were headed to the Mystery Meeting Room , but you’re more than welcome to tag along if you’d like.”

Ellen nodded, “They just recently added a new room a few months ago, we’ve been dying to check it out.” They explained. 

Tango and Skizz exchanged a look, Skizz already knew what they were going to say.

Tango turned back to the other two and smiled, “We would love to.”

The new room in Mystery Meeting Room was a weird liminal space style corporate office room. They were told that they were customers who had been informed to stay in the waiting room while other customers were being tended to elsewhere. 

The party was given three options for escape time, regular, speedy, or POTATO MAN . In typical Skizz and Tango fashion, they both suggested they do POTATO MAN mode. Sasha and Ellen enthusiastically agreed. 

They had ten minutes to find a way out of the waiting room, during that time, this creepy hold music would play in the background. As the time grew shorter, the music grew faster and more creepy.

They did not escape, but it was super fun and a super cool new room to try out.

They all came out laughing and teasing one another. 

“I don’t care what anyone says.” Ellen proclaimed, “we totally won that.”

“Absolutely!” Tango agreed, “Well, we did, Skizz on the other hand…”

“Hey!” Skizz snarked, “Don’t you start, we were in the same escape room.”

“Besides,” Sasha piped up, “He’s not the one who screeched like a cat when the lights started flickering.”

“I’ll have you know that was a very manly scream.” Tango snarked.

“Yes Tango, whatever you say,” Ellen said, their voice taking on a super sweet tone (it reminded Skizz just a little bit too much of Gem). 

They grinned and turned away from the group, pointing to the Swagon, “Let’s go ride the Swagon next!”

GRIAN

Joel and Etho continued bickering as Grian grabbed Scar and led him away from the other two. 

The moment they were out of earshot, Grian started laughing again. Scar joined in a moment later, snickering and giggling along with him.

“That was so good Scar,” Grian said between giggles, “Etho was just standing there and you just—” he mimed a motion of tripping someone with a cane.

He turned and grinned at his teammate, “Joel didn’t even see you!”

“I know!” Scar replied giddily, “I’m the stealthiest of the stealthy.” he hummed for a moment before adding, “and I also got Impulse before I was informed of the deal you and Mumbo had.”

Grian hid his smile, he’d been hoping that Scar would’ve already found Impulse before they’d made that deal and he’d been pleasantly surprised.

They walked through the grand double doors that acted as the entrance of The Barge , this had been Grian’s favorite shop during college, you could literally find anything of any quantity here. It was genuinely incredible.

“What was the next item we had to find?” Grian asked, turning to Scar, “something squishy?”

“Yep!” Scar replied, “something pliable or squeezable.” 

Grian nodded, humming softly, “same plan as last time?”

“Well of course!” Scar beamed, “why would we change such a brilliant plan Grian?”

Grian smiled back, “just making sure,” he responded, “who knows maybe you came up with something better while we were walking here.”

“How can I find something better when you’ve already thought of the best?” Scar huffed, as if the mere idea of something greater than Grian’s haphazard plan was outrageous. He laughed softly and they parted ways, looking through the various items on the shelves.

Grian’s eye caught on a medium-sized squishmallow, it was a cow with pastel colored rainbow skin and silver spots. He grinned and grabbed it, it was perfect.

They met back up near the entrance of the store, Scar had found a glow in the dark stress ball with sparkly iridescent glitter inside of it. 

Grian frowned, thinking hard about their two items, he couldn’t decide which one he liked more.

“I think I like yours more, G.” Scar said after a moment.

Grian looked up at him, eyebrows furrowing, “really? But yours is all glittery and flashy, it makes a statement y’know?”

“Yeah, but if I had to choose between the two items, I think I’d prefer to squish that one, it’s all colorful and pretty and it would definitely relieve more stress for me than this thing.”

Grian offered a smile, “we’ll call it a draw.” he suggested. 

Scar pouted but eventually nodded, “a draw it is, take those pictures then.”

Grian took the pictures and Scar read out the last description on their list, “We need something blue—it doesn’t have to be completely blue but it has to be mostly blue.”

Grian snorted as a sudden thought came to him, “Why don’t we just find the biggest thing of blue glitter this place offers.” 

Scar’s smile grew even larger, “I like the way you think, G.” he said, “I’ll do you one better though, let’s make it a competition.”

Grian grinned back, meeting Scar’s eyes, “A competition in a competition?”

“Why of course!” Scar hummed, “it’s competition-ception.”

“Okay,” Grian agreed, “three…two…one…go!”

They went in opposite directions, which was admittedly counterproductive because the glitter would be found in the same section, but it was about the principle. 

Grian knew this shop far better than Scar did, and he was able to easily navigate to the section where they would have glitter.

Scar found him trying to lug a bag of sparkly blue glitter, about half his size, off the shelf. He was at Grian’s side in an instant, easing some of the weight off him as they managed to take the bag and dump it onto the floor.

Scar heaved in a breath, grinning triumphantly at the bag. He looked back at Grian, “I think you’ve won.”

Grian laughed back, a little breathless from the effort it had taken to move the bag. He took out his phone and snapped a picture. 

He frowned as he put his phone away, looking down at the bag again, “now how are we going to put this back?”

IMPULSE

Impulse carefully stepped through the maze of shelves that made up Jill and Bill’s . If he was being completely honest this shop stressed him out a little bit, all the shelves were so full that he worried any sudden movements might just cause everything to topple over.

He took extra care as he walked around, making sure not to jostle anything and taking his time when grabbing items. So far, he’d found a weird snowglobe that had nothing in it but a cowboy hat and bright rainbow colored glitter when you shook it, and a weird mug that he’d dubbed the toilet bowl.

It was made to look like a toilet, complete with brown insides and as the cherry on top, it had a small silver flush that actually moved. 

Impulse had a lot of questions about what its creator was thinking when they decided to make this, but it might win him the game so he wasn’t about to complain. 

He was still looking for a third potential item, and so far he’d not found anything super eye-catching. 

He stopped briefly in front of a table filled with nothing but rubber ducks, hoping to maybe spot a particularly wacky looking one. 

He frowned as nothing caught his eye, turning to move on.

Grian’s voice suddenly rang out from in front of him as he shouted, “Scar no!” That was the only warning Impulse got before his feet were pulled out from under him and he went tumbling to the ground.

He pushed himself up off the ground Grian was kneeling in front of him, apologizing profusely as he grabbed his arms and helped him up.

“I tried to stop him,” Grian said sheepishly, then, addressing both of them he explained, “Mumbo and I made a deal, Scar. He helped me grab something and in return I agreed that I would keep you from tripping anyone.”

“Oh,” Scar said, “Sorry Impy.” 

Impulse offered a small smile, “it’s all good, ya didn’t know.” He assured, “snuck up on me too man, I was completely caught off guard.”

He turned to face Scar completely, expression growing serious for a moment, “I better not be the only person you trip though.” he warned, “then we’re going to have problems.”

Scar offered him a charming smile in return, “bold of you to assume I haven’t tripped anyone already.” he said with a wink.

Impulse would’ve believed it if it wasn’t for Grian snorting. Scar sent him a betrayed glare.

They left him alone after that, continuing on their way to complete whatever it was they needed to do. Impulse continued to search for a third item.

He found it next to a book set that was so dusty that he couldn’t read the titles. It was a china set that was decorated with brightly colored monkeys. All across the various cups and plates were monkeys of all shapes, sizes and colors. He spotted purple ones, red ones, green ones, blue ones and more. 

Impulse grinned and put it into his basket next to his other two items, he then went to find Mumbo.

Mumbo had found a weird chair with a broken leg, an old wind-up squirrel that just repeatedly bashed the nut in its arms to its head whenever it was wound up, and a squishy bright yellow rubber chicken that was so neon that it was hard to look at. It had a poorly knitted greyish brown jacket that had various patches in that matching bright yellow all over it.

“I like the chicken,” Impulse offered, as they compared their items.

Mumbo grinned, “It’s quite a lovely chicken.” he agreed, “but I can’t get over that mug, I mean—what possible events could have occurred that led to a person deciding to make that?”

A sudden thought occurred to Impulse and he grinned at Mumbo, “you tell me, Mister Storyteller.”

Mumbo’s eyes widened and Impulse could see the gears turning in his head as he puzzled out what Impulse was suggesting, his face split into a grin as it finally clicked, “making a story to go along with our item is brilliant, that’ll be sure to get us the win.”

Impulse grinned back, “go on then, why does this mug exist?”

PEARL

Gem reached up to carefully tie the cape around Pearl’s neck. Pearl took the sword and grinned, holding it out in front of her, “what d’ya think Gem? Aren’t I just the perfect prince?”

“The epitome of princliness.” Gem agreed, stepping back, her hands came up to adjust the crown on her head, skirt flowing around her legs as she moved. “I can’t wait to reject you.”

Pearl’s grin just grew as she handed Gem the dragon, “me neither.”

With a deep breath, Pearl followed Gem to the center of the food court, they both took their places, standing about six feet apart, facing each other.

“Ready?” Gem asked.

Pearl gave her a determined smile, “always.”

Gem turned and gave a thumbs up to Sam, and after a moment Sam returned it. Pearl grinned and stepped forward, holding her foam sword in front of her as she boomed, “My darling princess, it is I, your loyal prince, I’ve come to save you from that horrid dragon.”

Gem held the dragon behind her and stepped forward, “Prince,” she started, voice solemn, “I have something to confess.”

She then took the dragon, maneuvering it with the sticks so that it looked as if it was emerging from behind her, “I have fallen in love.”

Pearl let out an exaggerated gasp, hand coming up to her chest, “Tell me at once, who is this man you’ve fallen for? How is he better than me!”

Pearl saw Gem crack a smile, just for a second before she covered her expression, “It is not a man I’ve fallen in love with you ignorant boy! It is the dragon!” For extra effect she moved it so that it was now in front of her, as if it was protecting her.

Pearl let out another gasp, “Oh! My Princess, how could you fall in love with such a horrendous beast as that?” She cried.

“They are beautiful!” Gem snapped back, stomping her foot. Her skirt sprawled out around her as she did, “And they treat me far better than you ever did!”

“Oh but my princess I gave you everything you could ever dream of!” Pearl snapped back, “All of the most luxurious and beautiful things that you could ever ask for!”

Gem huffed, making a show of appearing regretful and downcast. “You truly are an ignorant boy if you think any material item is enough to win my heart.” 

Pearl stepped forward, swinging her sword as she did, “My princess—”

“Stay back!” Gem cried and Pearl stopped, pretending to appear startled, as if she hadn’t known that this was the plan from the start.”

Gem held the dragon’s face in her hands, looking deep into its eyes, “My love is so kind and attentive of my needs, they understand me.” she looked back up at Pearl, “Tell me, great prince, what material items could possibly be greater than a love who understands you? Who tends to your every need?” She took a breath, looking back at the dragon lovingly “You cannot, for there is none.”

She turned back to Pearl, eyes blazing with fake anger, “But you can never understand that, too caught up in your own greatness to realize my pain. I will leave you, and fly away with my love, and that is what you deserve.”

Pearl threw her sword down, “Fine.” she snapped, “Go on and become one with that horrific beast, why should I care what comes of you, you’ve made your choice.” 

Gem turned and held the dragon above her head, pretending like it was taking her and flying away, as she did, Pearl called after her, “When you become nothing more than dragon food, remember what you could’ve had, what I could’ve given you!”

She snatched her sword back up, turned, and stormed away.

For a moment there was silence. Then suddenly the entire food court filled with applause, Pearl’s eyes widened as she took in the crowd that had formed. She’d been so caught up in the heat of the moment she hadn’t even realized.

She smiled as she caught Sam recording all the people who were now clapping for them, and made her way over to her.

Gem was breathless as they both reconvened with Sam, eyes bright with excitement. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet so much that her skirt kept swishing around with the movements.

“That was incredible.” Sam exclaimed, handing Pearl’s phone back to her before wrapping an arm around each of them, “you two were incredible.”

Gem stepped back, grabbing Pearl’s arm as she did. Pearl let herself be dragged back to the center of the food court where they had just performed. 

“Follow my lead.” Gem whispered and then suddenly she was standing with her arms outstretched to the crowd, smiling brightly and blowing kisses to the various onlookers.

She grabbed her skirt, bending down into a curtsy, Pearl followed suit, placing a hand on her chest as she bowed.

They turned around and bowed to the other side as well, before hurrying back over to Sam.

Gem exchanged her information with Sam for potential jewelry commissions and then turned back to Pearl, the smile on her face so bright that it rivaled the sun itself. 

“Aren’t we just the greatest actors ever, Pearl?”

“You can’t do better than us, mate!” Pearl agreed. 

Gem wrapped her in a hug that Pearl was quick to return, then Gem pulled back and said, “Let’s go sit down and wait for those losers to get over here.”

JOEL

Etho managed to spy a huge variety pack of warmers, the box was so big it came up past Joel’s waist. He stood next to it as Etho used his phone to take the photo, this way the others could fully get the sheer scale of the pack. 

After that they wandered through the store a bit more, looking around for other potential items that would be completely necessary for an Iceland trip. 

“We’d probably need warm clothes,” Etho hummed, looking at Joel as they walked past the clothing section.

Joel shrugged, they still had a decent amount of time, just a little over an hour if Joel had been keeping track properly, “good thinking Etho.”

Etho let out an amazed gasp, something that Joel kept insisting was no longer funny to no avail, “ You complimenting me ! Who are you and what have you done with my teammate?”

Joel rolled his eyes, “It was funny the first time Etho, and never a time after. I know old age has affected your creativity, but do try to come up with something new.”

He felt Etho flick him on the head and turned to glare at the other. Etho’s eyes were crinkled in a way that indicated he was smirking, “Remind me Joel, this is the what? 378th joke you’ve made about my age?”

Joel huffed and turned around, knowing Etho, it very well could’ve been, that man had the weirdest brain ever. 

They walked through the clothing section, nothing really stood out to Joel very much. Everything was just too boring , they couldn’t bring something boring to Iceland, that just wasn’t right.

At least that’s what Joel’s justification was.

He jumped slightly as Etho grabbed his shoulder with enough force for it to hurt just a little bit. Etho winced, muttering a soft apology and taking his hand off. 

“Look over there.” He explained, pointing toward a shelf in the back that was filled with all sorts of onesies. ‘They’re comfortable and warm.” he continued, “the perfect thing to bring on a trip to Iceland.”

“Super stylish too.” Joel added as he began walking toward the onesies.

“Just the pinnacle of fashion.” Etho agreed.

They picked out a giraffe onesie that had rainbow colored spots. As an added bonus, it was also fleece lined, making it even more practical. 

Joel snapped a picture and they walked out of The Barge .

“What are we going to do for our last two items?” Etho asked as they strolled through the mall.

“Why is it always me that has to come up with the ideas?” Joel huffed, it was almost instinctual at this point, Etho made it too easy.

“Because you’re the brains of the operation of course,” Etho replied easily, “I’m simply the good looks.”

Joel turned to look at Etho, giving him a half-hearted glare, “You callin’ me ugly, Etho?”

“Well I’m definitely not calling you handsome.” Etho replied.

“And yet,” Joel said, turning to face forward again, “I’m the one with a life partner.”

Etho huffed, muttering so quietly that Joel almost missed it, “I’m working on it.” 

Joel stopped dead in his tracks, turning to fully face Etho, smirking, “Oh? Tell me Etho, who’s the lucky boy that’s caught your eye?”

“How’d you know it was a boy?” Etho joked, and Joel knew full well that he was stalling.

“Etho you came out about eight years ago,” he deadpanned.

Etho looked away, talking a little too fast as he said, “don’t we have a task to complete.”

Joel frowned, but ultimately decided to drop it for now, he’d get answers out of Etho eventually. 

He had a sneaking suspicion he already knew who it was anyway .

“Well we’re gonna be doing a lot of activities to do with water, maybe we can find something waterproof,” he offered, then, grinning, he added, “or we can get one of those floaties that kids wear, it would be great for snorkeling.”

Etho nodded, eyes sparkling, “I know just the place.”

Joel’s phone buzzed, a notification appeared on his screen indicating that they had thirty minutes left. 

They just had to find their last two items now, Etho had remembered this old store that was run by two retired scuba divers. They’d both agreed that it was perfect for their made-up Iceland trip.

Joel surveyed the messy shelves, frowning in confusion as he spotted what looked like a hammock.

It was sky blue in color, with bright purple stripes running across it. The rope was a bright, fire truck red color.

He hummed in interest, moving closer to get a better look.

“That there’s a waterproof hammock deary.” The elderly woman who owned the shop said, Joel almost jumped out of his skin, turning to find her standing behind him. She offered him a sweet smile, her name tag read in perfect cursive ‘Pam.’ “It’s also got a built-in bug net” she added, “great for all your adventuring needs.”

Joel offered her a smile, “thanks, it looks super useful.” he said honestly.

She nodded, her smile growing even wider, “let me know if you need anymore help deary.” Then she turned and waltzed off.

Joel turned back to the hammock, staring hard at it. 

He was brought back to the present at the sound of Etho calling his name, “hey Joel! Look at this, water-proof walkie-talkies.”

Joel turned and grinned at Etho, “those are great, perfect for when we go snorkeling, or even take a dip in the waterfalls.” 

“Exactly,” Etho agreed. “What are you looking at?”

“A waterproof hammock.” Joel murmured, turning back to stare at it.

He heard Etho shift, and then saw him come stand next to Joel out of the corner of his eye, “huh.”

“Yeah, and it comes with a built-in bug-net and everything.” Joel added, turning to look at him.

Etho met his gaze and then turned back to look at the hammock. After a moment he shrugged and said, “we can figure something out.”

Joel grinned and took out his phone, “so glad you’ve finally caught up with my level of thinking, Etho.”

Etho huffed, “It’s all because of your endless guidance, Joel.”

Joel snapped a photo of the hammock and then turned to take a photo of the walkie talkies only to find that Etho had left him. 

He spotted him at the check-out table with Pam’s husband, his nametag read Earl.

He smirked as Etho made his way over to him, holding a bag with the water-proof walkie talkies. “Totally not a shopping addiction, nope. Not at all.”

“Exactly Joel!” Etho hummed, “so glad you get it.”

Joel shook his head and followed Etho out of the store, “you are hopeless.” He huffed. “Let’s get out of here.”

TANGO

They got off the GREAT BOATEM DROP reeling and breathless. The drop went all the way up to the top floor (fourth floor) of the mall and then sent you flying back down to the park. It was Tango’s favorite ride in the entire park, the view of the mall was incredible and it zoomed up and down so fast that for a moment it made you feel weightless.

“I love that ride!” Sasha exclaimed, smiling brightly as she got off. Her legs were a little wobbly, and her hair was completely messed up, a huge chunk still covering her face. She didn’t seem to mind, brushing it out of the way and grinning wildly.

“Me too!” Tango exclaimed, “It’s my favorite.”

“It makes you feel like you’re flying, right?” Sasha agreed.

“Yes!” Tango shouted, “oh you’re amazing.” he proclaimed, breath heaving, “you get it.”

“I personally like the Swagon .” Elle hummed. They stood next to Skizz, carefully retying their hair to secure any loose strands that had fallen out on the ride.

“Suit yourself,” Tango shrugged. 

“I like The Treemendous Tussle .” Skizz hummed.

Ellen snorted, “really?”

Tango grinned, leaning toward them to stage whisper, “excuse my friend, he’s a weirdo.”

“Hey!” Skizz snapped. Tango turned to him and raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

When he didn’t, Tango grinned triumphantly at him and reached up to flick his forehead.

“As fun as this has been,” Sasha hummed, observing their antics with mild amusement, “we do have to get going.”

Tango’s smile lessened slightly as he turned back to them, Skizz was the one to speak, “aw that sucks, but maybe we can exchange numbers?”

“Absolutely.” Ellen agreed, immediately giving their phone to Skizz.

They slowly started making their way toward the exit as phones and information were passed around.

Sasha gave his phone back to him and Tango leaned toward her and said, “we should make a secret handshake,” he suggested, “for memories and stuff.”

Sasha smiled back at him, “sure,” she leaned in a little closer and whispered loudly, “but let’s not include those two.”

Ellen let out an offended gasp, turning to Skizz as they exclaimed, “fine, then we’ll just make our own secret handshake.” 

Skizz grinned, meeting Tango’s eyes, “may the best handshake win.”

Tango turned back to Sasha who hummed in thought before jumping slightly and saying, “we can start with a double high five—” she held both her hands up and Tango wasted no time giving her a high five, “—then we can send our hands down—” she mimed a waterfall motion with her hands that Tango copied.

He grinned, “just like the drop.”

“Exactly!” she agreed, “after that—what do you think?”

Tango thought for a moment, before balling his hands into fists, “what if we stacked them and alternated our hands like this?” he suggested, “and then we slowly climb up.”

They climbed up until each hand had moved up once. 

“Then we can end it with a fist bump” Sasha offered, bumping her fists with his, “and then we’ll step back and swing are arms out—”

“—then what if we grabbed them again?” Tango offered, bringing his arms back in and clasping them with Sasha’s, “and then we can tap our feet,” he kicked his foot out, tapping it against Sasha’s and then did the same motion with the other foot.

“And for the grand finale,” Tango hummed, “what do you think?”

“What if one of us spun the other?” Sasha offered.

“Who would spin who?”

Sasha hummed in thought, before smiling and saying, “we can play a game of rock-paper-scissors after the foot taps, winner gets to be spun.”

Sasha won the rock-paper scissors game and Tango spun her around, ending their handshake.

Skizz filmed their handshake, and then Tango filmed his.

Skizz and Ellen started by clapping their right hands together and then clapping the backs of their hands together, then they stepped back, turning so that they were facing opposite directions from each other and shoulder bumped. They intertwined arms and did a half turn around before turning to face each other again and rapidly clap both their hands together and then clap the backs of their hands together in quick succession. Then they both stepped back and bowed to each other, marking the end of their handshake.

Then all four of them decided to make a handshake together. 

This one was much simpler, they simply stacked their fists, kicked their right leg to the left and their left leg to the right, and then flattened out their hands and folding in their fingers so that only two stuck out, connecting them together and making a four pointed star.

They managed to stick Skizz’s phone on an overhang so that it was pointed down toward them and they filmed that handshake as well. 

They bid their newfound friends farewell and began to make their way back to the food court. 

Tango’s phone buzzed and he looked down at it, eyes widening as he saw that they only had five minutes left. “Skizz we have to run.” Tango said, urgently.

“Yeah I’m seeing that,” Skizz agreed.

Tango grinned, “race ya?”

He didn’t wait for a response as he took off into the direction of the food court.

SCAR

They waved to Gem and Pearl, who appeared to already be done and waiting in the food court. Grian checked the time and then sent out a quick message, Scar felt his phone buzz in his pocket. 

“Okay.” Grian said, getting his attention, “we have thirty minutes to think up a good story for these items.”

They looked through the pictures on Grian’s phone.

Aluminum foil and a sequined coin purse, Scar junior and the thimble, a plush llama keychain that they had dubbed Pizza and a bright pink feather boa, a rainbow cow squishmallow and a glow in the dark stress ball, and of course, the star of the show, the huge bag of blue glitter.

Scar looked at all the items, thinking hard before straightening, his cane thudding lightly against the ground as he said, “I’ve got it!”

Grian smiled at him, sitting back in the small table they’d managed to snag, “let’s hear it then.”

“Okay, so there’s this kid,” Scar explained, “and he goes to a super progressive hippie summer camp, we’ll call it, hmm how about—”

“—Camp Hermitcraft?” Grian offered, jokingly.

Scar grinned, he was going to take it and run with it, “Yes! Camp Hermitcraft, and for this kids final project, the camp directors have advised him to create a piece that represents himself.”

“Of course.” Grian agreed

Scar beamed, “And this list right here, is what he gave us, his loving parents, so that we could buy all the materials he needed.”

Grian sputtered, “What? We’re parents now?”

Scar paid him no mind, “See the kid believes in—what’s the word? Nonconforma–something?”

“Nonconformity?” Grian suggested.

“Yes, nonconformity, so he’s decided to take this squishmallow and change it up so that it doesn’t conform to society, just like he doesn’t.”

Grian raised an eyebrow, “and how exactly is he going to use all this stuff to do that?”

“Well, he wants to use the coin purse to stitch onto one of the squishmallows’ legs, like an elephant leg instead of a cow leg.”

“Super nonconformist.” Grian hummed

“And then he’s going to make the cow a fashion icon with that perfect feather boa. Society these days is so focused on making everyone fit in, his goal is to make this cow stand out.”

“Our son’s quite the rebel,” Grian hummed, “I guess he would be, with us as parents.”

“I’ll have you know that we are great parents.” Scar huffed, “anyway, he’s going to use that thimble as a horn accessory. Not only does this also add to standing out and making a fashion statement, but it represents his creativity and ability to use anything to create art.”

“Good for him.” Grian cooed, “I’m so proud of our son.”

“And finally,” Scar continued, “The blue glitter is for super sparkly, fancy makeup.”

“Naturally.” Grian agreed, “It will go fabulously with the boa, and it’s super good for creative expression.”

“Yes!” Scar sang, “because what better way is there to creatively express yourself than to wear it on your face.”

Grian grinned, taking his phone and deleting all the unneeded photos, then Scar watched as he quickly jotted down the short version of his story into his notes. “I’d say this is a full proof explanation, Scar.” Grian hummed as he set his phone down.

“I agree.” Scar replied, smiling back.

MUMBO

They decided that it would be best to start walking back after taking a picture of the toilet mug. 

They’d decided on the toilet mug because neither of them had been able to stop laughing at the absurdity of the detail that had been put into it. 

It was very clearly an expertly made mug, the paint job was wonderful and every part of it was intricate and well made.

Mumbo still couldn’t get over the fact that the flush handle actually worked. 

That was the best part in his opinion. 

Mumbo looked over at Impulse, who held his phone in his hand with the masterpiece picture on display. “I’ve got something,” he said.

Impulse turned to him and smiled, “Let’s hear it.”

“Okay,” Mumbo said, “so there’s this man, his name’s James, and he runs a super successful ceramics business.”

“Right.” Impulse agreed.

“And when he passes, he plans to give his business to his son James ‘Jaimie’ Junior.”

Impulse nodded along, humming quietly in acknowledgement.

“Now, Jaimie never really cared for the ceramics, or his dad’s craft. But that all changed when he discovered mugs.” Mumbo grinned, “See, Jaimie had always thought that there was so much lost potential with mugs, there were so many different shapes you could make for an item that holds liquids, but all anyone ever did was make circles and the occasional square.”

“And that’s super boring.” Impulse pitched in.

“Exactly, so when Jaimie realized that his dad also made and sold mugs, he had to capitalize on this wasted potential.” Mumbo stopped for a moment to catch his breath, “He dedicated many nights and days to perfecting his craft, vowing to make the best mugs on the planet.”

“He’s a true businessman.” Impulse claimed enthusiastically, “knows exactly how to work the system.”

“Of course,” Mumbo agreed, “he was a quick learner once he actually started paying attention to his father’s lessons.”

He took another breath, “Anyway, when Jaimie finally inherited his dad’s business, he immediately started selling his own custom made, fun-shaped mugs. And this one—” He pointed to the picture on Impulse’s “—was the first one he ever made.”

“And it was his bestseller too, right?” 

“Second best seller,” Mumbo corrected, “the first best seller was his line of animal shaped cups that had the mouth as the opening.”

Impulse let out a startled laugh, “what did he call these ‘fun-shaped mugs’”

“Statement Drinking.” Mumbo said, “Even your cup makes a statement.”

Impulse let out a low whistle, “I’d buy it.”

“So would I!” Mumbo agreed, “I mean, can you imagine, I’d be heard without ever having to make a single noise. That sounds like the dream for me.”

“Aww, but Mumbo, we love hearing your voice.” Impulse teased.

Mumbo flushed looking away, after a moment he replied, “I guess it’s a good thing that Statement Drinks is a made-up brand.”

“Straight from the mind of our resident genius.” Impulse cheered.

Mumbo glared at him, feeling his face burn, “are you trying to kill me?”

Impulse offered him a soft smile, “Sorry Mumbs, it’s just so easy to compliment you, you’re so talented in so many ways.”

“Nope—no, not again, Pearl did this to me already, not you too Impulse,” Mumbo breathed, words slurring together with how quickly he spoke. 

Impulse thankfully took pity on him, “Okay, okay, I’ll stop, he promised. But honestly Mumbo, you’re a great guy and that story was super creative.”

Mumbo offered him a small smile, “Thanks Impulse, you’re pretty great yourself.”

GEM

Tango and Skizz rushed into the food court just as the one-minute countdown began. Both of them looked breathless but they had huge smiles on their faces as if they were very happy with how things played out.

“Alright that’s everyone!” Grian said, catching all their attention, “Who would like to share their task first?”

When no one volunteered, Grian shrugged and said, “Scar and I can go then.”

They passed around their paper for everyone to read.

Reverse Shopping List: Find an item to match each description on the shopping list. The item has to undoubtedly match the description, you can’t have something that’s primarily gray and call it blue because of one small blue spot. Additional points if you find something really weird or crazy that fits the description. The items must be found from at least two different stores.

Shopping List

• Shiny - Could be metallic, glittery, or polished.

• Tiny - Something small enough to fit in your palm.

• Fluffy - Soft and fuzzy, like a plush toy or scarf.

• Squishy - Anything pliable or squeezable, like a stress ball or a soft pillow.

• Blue - Predominantly blue, but doesn’t have to be entirely that color.

“We went to Jill and Bills and The Barge .” Grian said, “SmallEtho and Mumplse can confirm that for us.” 

Joel sputtered, “Our team name can not be SmallEtho.”

No one paid them any mind. 

Scar piped up as Grian opened his phone to show the pictures of each item.

“See we as the lovely parents we are agreed to help our sweet son gather supplies for his final project.” 

“And what exactly is this final project, Scar?” Skizz asked.

Scar gave him one of his signature smiles, cane scraping lightly against the ground as he shifted, “well I’m so glad you asked, Skizz.”

Scar regaled all of them with a grand story of Camp Hermitcraft and his and Grian’s son’s final project. 

Mumbo piped up, giving Grian an accusatory look, “are you cheating on me?”

“Yes Mumbo.” Grian replied dryly, “I’m cheating on you with Scar and our very real son.”

“I knew it,” Mumbo huffed, “What about Grumbot, Grian? What am I supposed to tell him!” He couldn’t quite make it through the sentence before he started laughing.

After Grian and Scar, Joel and Etho decided to share. They passed around their task as well.

Vacation Mode: Find five items you’d bring to the beach, a ski trip, or a camping adventure. Limit of two items per store. Items can be far-fetched if you can come up with a good story for it. Bonus points if you can dream up a planned vacation idea and get items specifically for that. 

“We decided to plan a trip to Iceland.” Etho explained.

Joel launched into an admittedly pretty detailed week-long Iceland trip. 

Then, they began sharing their items and explaining them.

A bright pink wetsuit, “for snorkeling, of course.” Joel explained.

A sparkly green tactical belt, “you can connect your harness to it for ice climbing, and it’s got pockets.” 

The warmers and the onesie were also explained in a similar fashion.

“I don’t really get the hammock.” Tango hummed, frowning slightly.

Etho reached out and wrapped an arm around Tango’s shoulders, Gem noted vaguely that Etho very rarely initiated contact with anyone, she wondered when Tango had become the exception.

Tango’s face grew very red as Etho leaned in and said, “well allow me to explain.”

He pointed at the picture on Joel’s phone, “we’re going to need a place to rest when we go and take that nice dip in the waterfall, what better place to rest than a waterproof hammock? And it’s got a bug net, so it protects you from all the elements. It’s absolutely necessary.”

“Right.” Tango mumbled, choking out a breath, “I think I understand now.”

Finally Etho produced two waterproof walkie-talkies from his bag.

“It’s not a shopping addiction, I can stop whenever I want.” He defended when the accusations started being thrown.

Pearl and Gem decided to go next. They passed their prompt around quickly.

Mall Talent Show: Film a teammate doing a funny or impressive performance at the food court (like singing, juggling, or dancing). Must be performing for at least 15-20 seconds. bonus points if you go for longer or if a crowd starts forming.

Pearl took out her phone and everyone crowded around it to watch their play. When it was over, everyone broke out in applause, Impulse and Skizz even let out a few whoops and cheers.

“That was incredible, you two,” Scar gushed, “truly a breathtaking performance.”

“And that twist with the dragon!” Tango added, “I was completely shockificated!” 

“Never in a million years would I have seen that as the outcome.” Grian agreed.

“And you managed to sneak a really good message in there too.” Mumbo added, smiling bigger than he usually did, Gem couldn’t help but swell with pride.

Pearl seemed to feel it as well as she called out, “you hear that, Gem, it’s been approved by our professional author.”

Tango and Skizz went next.

Friendly Strangers: Each person must create a handshake with a stranger, there must be at least three distinct movements (fistbump, high-five, finger guns, etc.) Take a video of your handshake, bonus points for the more complicated or extravagant the handshake is.

They went on a tangent detailing their fun day at the park and then showing off their handshakes with Sasha and Ellen.

“Going above and beyond,” Joel hummed, “I respect that.”

“The handshakes were really creative!” Pearl added.

“I really liked the rock-paper-scissors game in yours, Tango.” Gem hummed.

Tango beamed at her, “Yeah I figured it would mix things up a bit,” he explained, “keep things interesting.”

“I really liked how you ended yours with a bow, Skizz.” Scar complimented.

“Thank you!” Skizz grinned, “I thought it was really neat too.”

Finally, it was Mumbo and Impulse’s turn.

Odd One Out: Snap a picture of the most bizarre item on sale in any store. The other contestants will vote on whether the item is bizarre enough, and it passes if the majority agree that it is. The other contestants are allowed to go into the store and decide for themselves, if another team finds an item that is collectively decided to be more bizarre, then the other item doesn’t pass.

Impulse held out his phone for them to see the item they found. 

“Show them the video as well.” Mumbo advised, and Impulse switched to the video.

“Oh my god the flush works.” Grian said, his tone a mix of glee and horror.

“I can’t believe they made it brown on the inside.” Etho hummed, “they really went all out.”

“Well of course,” Mumbo hummed, “Jaimie takes his Statement Drinks very seriously.”

Upon everyone's stunned silence, Mumbo went on to tell the story about James and James ‘Jaimie’ Junior and how Jaimie had a passion for creating silly shaped mugs.

“Just for that story, I’m automatically going to vote that it is the most bizarre object.” Pearl said plainly, grinning from ear to ear. 

One by one, each person agreed with her statement. 

Just like every other time before, they couldn’t decide on a winner.

Of course, they couldn’t have that, so they all spent a good hour and a half, working together to adequately explain each task in a google doc that they then sent to some friends as an unbiased third party.

The day ended with them going on The Midnight Alley Experience in Boatem Central Theme Park, then they all decided to crash at Impulse and Skizz’s house. 

Skizz cooked them pasta for dinner and made his world famous cookies for dessert.

They fell asleep in the living room while watching a movie.