Welcome back to my story!
This episode begins by checking back in with a character that we haven't seen since the first of my episodes. And, I've missed her!
The story so far:
Episode 53: On The Plain of Heroes (in 5 parts)
After the final battle with Horde Prime, the heroes regroup and go their separate ways, beginning new adventures to unfold.
Episode 54: Just Friends Ship (in 5 parts)
Settling in at Bright Moon is . . . unsettling for Catra, and the others.
Mermista and Sea Hawk battle a deadly storm at sea.
Episode 55: Sleeping Arrangements (in 8 parts)
Mermista and Sea Hawk are heroes to one another. Catra battles her demons. Glimmer prepares for Micah's return with support from Bow.
Castaspella helps Micah to understand his daughter better. And Catra and Adora fight against boredom and begin a new adventure with Swift Wind.
Episode 56: Throne Room (in 6 parts)
Sea Hawk brings Mermista home to a broken Salineas, and Mermista vows to bring her people back with Sea Hawk's help. Adora and Catra start a beautiful adventure, which is ominously interrupted. As Glimmer welcomes her dad back to Bright Moon, a terrible storm threatens Adora, Catra, and Swift Wind. With the help of Spinerella and Netossa, they make it back to Bright Moon with a dire message.
And now, beginning this new episode . . . welcome back to Dryl! :D
EPISODE 57: Missing Peace
Perched high up the side of a cliff, there crouches a circular fortress of dark gray metal, topped by many spires, and punctuated by windows that slowly pulse a dull pinkish glow.
Deep within, there is a large inner sanctum devoted to scientific inspiration both wild and beautiful.
A pale figure with glowing eyes and a serene smile surveys the panel on the back of an elegant spacecraft that fills much of the space. He stands atop a short stairway leading up from the floor and scratches his chin in thought. Then, he turns toward a group of violet strands of hair that form a gently undulating horizontal surface supporting an array of tools conveniently within his reach. He carefully selects and examines an implement with a forked end and a trigger built into the handle.
Wink: Hmmmm . . .
Then, he touches the tool to a rivet on the metal surface before him and pulls the trigger. A wickedly sharp blue arc of electricity leaps from the tool, bounces off of the surface and buzzes through the air, causing Wink to leap in literal shock! He quickly releases the trigger and clumsily drops the tool back onto the hair table, with a slightly distressed look. Holding up his hand, he blows on the tips of his gloved fingers, which are gently smoking. He composes himself and frowns slightly, looking back to the row of tools. One of them rises up a little on the living strands, which jiggle it back and forth in front of his eyes.
Wink: [smiling] Ahhh!
Picking up the tool, he uses it to deftly remove the rivet from the panel into his hand. He grins, very pleased, and moves to the next rivet. A bright voice rings out from below.
Entrapta: [sincerely encouraging] Great job, Wink! Every time you make a mistake, you also learn something! Isn’t science wonderful?!
Wink: [in happy pride] Oh, yes! I am learning so much!
Entrapta sits on a small wheeled stool beneath the stairway, facing her computer terminal, her features glowing green in the light of the monitor screen. Her expression is one of rapturous wide-eyed wonder. Her fingers fly in a blur across the keyboard.
Entrapta: [in reverent awe] So am I. Darla and I have been having a fascinating conversation about space! The data she’s gathered shows that it is far more vast and intricate than I imagined!
Her hair stretches out rigidly to either side of her head, one ponytail angling upward, one downward, crimped in a series of identical right angles. Her hair is the stairway!
Entrapta: [with rising enthusiasm] There . . . are . . . millions of planets with countless life forms, and hundreds more planets being formed every second! Cosmic explosions scattering complex materials that form even stranger worlds than our strangest imaginings!! People and civilizations with otherworldly technology based on principles of science entirely unknown to us!!! It’s all out there, and I wanna see it and touch it and make friends with it!!! Hahahahahahahahaha!!!!
All throughout while she is speaking, Wink runs up and down Entrapta’s hair with parts he removes from the ship. Entrapta doesn’t seem to notice at all as he repeatedly steps on her head.
Emily, Entrapta’s loyal robotic friend and helper, scampers around the base of the stairs, receiving each new piece from Wink and placing it carefully with the others on a long workbench in an orderly array. She also picks up tools with her many arms extending from her spherical body and hands them to the fringes of Entrapta’s hair, which ripples them up the length of stairs.
Entrapta: [calmer, in blissful reverie] Darla took us to planets that were in our immediate corner of the universe, but when you and I unlock the deeper features of her crystal matrix propulsion system, I just know that together we could go so much further! Just imagine it, Wink! The limitless horizons of discovery that would be within our reach! We could explore it together! You and me and Emily and Darla and . . .
Suddenly, Entrapta blinks and lets out a squeal!
Entrapta: Eeeeee! Hey, Wink, I can’t believe I almost forgot!
In an explosion of distracted enthusiasm, Entrapta leaps from her chair and attempts to run up her own hair! The results are very strange. In an odd whirling motion, the structure falls apart and collapses. Wink plummets, and Entrapta goes spinning.
Entrapta: YeeeAAAW!!! WOW!!! Oooff!
Suddenly, Wink is sitting on a pile of purple hair, and Entrapta finds herself lying in Wink’s arms.
Entrapta: [blinking] Oh. Hello. That was interesting.
Suddenly she beams at him.
Entrapta: We’re going on a trip! I have an old friend I’d like you to meet!
Wink smiles and gives a thumbs-up, winking.
