Two Peas In A Pod (Chapter 4)

Once again, Dreamland, that's where you were, you could tell by the feeling of walking on clouds that filled you up like a doll made with love. This dream however felt off, uncanny, like a crooked funhouse mirror that you could see tiny cracks warp into a distorted image. In this case, this dream seemed fine at first, once again with Fawful, once again being just you and him being comfortable, but something was off. The usual darkness that let you and him be liberated together seemed more bright than usual. In fact, there seemed to be a light nearby. In this light, Fawful seemed to change, his skin reverting back to goop and his form shriveling more and more, his hair bending and contorting into an antenna. Eventually, Fawful became just a small bug like creature, orb like in shape with thin jagged legs that could slice through bed. You held Fawful in panic, your partner now reduced to less than man,or even an animal, just a husk of a genius. All Fawful could do, aside from mutter weak little bits of laughter, was gently turn one of his legs into an arm and hold your cheekThe light kept growing on the horizon, and Fawful's eyes seemed to crack, and his smile changed into a horrified grimace. In the light stood a long sharply cloaked figure in blue. Your heart stopped when you saw who it was; Geno. Geno dashed and moved swiftly as if he were dancing, one of his hands changing into an arm cannon, as his dead looking eyes stared you down. You tried to escape with Fawful, only for all the darkness in the area to be washed away, with you being chained up. Fawful too shriveled up in the light, followed by Geno standing his ground in front of you and yelling "GENO WHIRL!". A bright boomerang like disk flew at you at mach speeds, slicing your neck and–

Grin woke up in a cold sweat, did Geno find him? Grin turned to see if Fawful was ok, and he was still asleep and as green as he should be. Grin got up, making sure to not wake up Fawfs, wandering through the halls of the base with nothing to defend himself but a ray gun and possibly a mechawful just wandering the halls, which isn't much with how effortlessly Geno cut through many more of those same mechawfuls. He wandered in the dark, terrified of every corner, every shadow that could light up and strike, every mannequin that could actually just be that puppet blending in. Grin could feel his heart beating through his chest, and that only worsened when for a moment, Grin thought he saw him for a second, but that turned out to just be a mechawful bumping into Grin. Suddenly, the dim purple lights of the manor are turned on, with Fawful rubbing his eyes under his glasses. "Grin? What is bringing such fear? Do you have alrightness?" Grin stood there embarrassed by his paranoid wandering, before just walking towards him and putting his head on Fawful's shoulder. "Fawfs? Are you ever scared that one day you'll wake up with your life in someone else's hands?" Grin asked tiredly, still sort of looking around to make sure Geno isn't here. Fawful looks at Grin and gently holds his cheek, "Oh trust me, even if I am having worry, there is confidence that success is at the end! You are having worry about that star, aren't you?" Grin nodded, with Fawful sitting down in the closest room nearby with him. "Do not have worry, Fawful is used to needing high protection most of the time, what is protecting one more partner?" He smiles and nudges his teeth on Grin's cheek. That calmed him down a bit, and he smiled again with him.

Fawful then got up and rang a bell that had Midbus's insignia on it, as he walked towards his chalk board and flipped it around, revealing a new plan. "Now that we are back to the status quo, and filled with betterness too, I am thinking to move onto the full course meal! KINGDOM CONQUERING! There is the issue of location however, which as leadings of Fawful to the next point! An attack that has fakeness, deceptive like cotton candy being washed in water! We strike and fight and have 'defeatings', then escape with knowledge of the prison computers! Fururu! After that? We shall find out!" Grin nodded with glee, this should be a good change of pace, it'll get his mind off of the puppet pursuing them. Midbus stood in the doorframe, looking a little peeved. "Blow our cover? Can't we just break in and out? I can sweep them under rug of defeat" Fawful would then wave his finger and smirk. "But there is problems with that too! No matter what, the surprise is ruined of our grand return! However, if we have keepings of this strike vague and uncoordinated, then suspicions will have lowness! And after our previous failings, we must have carefulness!" Fawful said confidently. Midbus rolled his eyes, still annoyed, but understanding there wasn't a better alternative. Grin then got an idea, hopping up and pointing towards the chalkboard, and pointed at a question mark near the words Kingdom Conquering. "I dunno about you, but I've heard some rumors about a crocodile kingdom that collapsed! Maybe we check there first? That could be an easy new base and some new minions! Who doesn't like a good crocodile pirate?" As Grin explained, Fawful looked a little caught up in a brainstorm, laughing from Grin's enthusiasm. "I have knowings of this, and although Fawful is having doubts, it will be in the picks of topness! For now though! Our new scheme begins!"

Grin gets his cloak and headgear on, with Grin adjusting his gear and some bottles on his belt, next to Fawful who is also adjusting his gloves and boots, preparing for his grand return. Fawful hands Grin a button, turning him towards a giant hatch in the roof. "Would you have the pleasure of such honor? Fururu!" Grin grinned and held the button, "Fly our pretties, FLY!" pressing it and watching as a legion of mechawfuls all lit up, their glowing blue eyes all in unison chanting mechanically "ALL HAIL LORD FAWFUL!". The hatch then opened as they flew out as a hive, with Fawful following as he hopped on a hover pad instead of his usual headgear. Midbus followed in the modified clown car, resembling Fawful's face, and Grin followed with his headgear. Grin watched the legion fly towards Beanbean castle and town square and cause havoc, shooting energy spheres at houses and lighting fires, with Fawful watching the madness unfold. Grin was entranced by the fires, reminded of Hoohooniversity, his liberation from his old life to the new. People evacuated town, and guards waved their swords around. "Halt! Fiends! Get down here and submit to justice!" Fawful whipped out his ray gun, spinning it in his hands before blasting one of the guards away. Grin then followed suit and got out his ray gun, firing at the other guard. Grin then laughed with Fawful, feeling free once again. However, this was interrupted when Fawful was slashed by a lance and flung off of his hover pad. Grin whirled around in shock, seeing someone else flying in front of him, they stood on a pillow with wings, looking at you with blond, beautiful hair that was complimented by their orange cape and white shirt. There was no mistaking who this was, Prince Peasley, prince of the Beanbean Kingdom. "I didn't expect to see your face again! Why don't you call off your machines and your little lap dog here?"

He should have been scared. He should have been terrified even! Locked up? For how long? Caught red handed, foiled, beaten! At least, that's what they thought. Grin sat smugly in the cell, waiting to be called for his mug shots. He'd be out in no time, it's all going exactly to Fawful's plan. Grin sat in your cell and waited, patiently co-operating with the guards as they guided Grin to take his mugshots, looking at the other inmates as they looked rather hopeless. Grin calmly took his mugshots, smiling in them and even being rather jokey in them, much to the annoyance of the guards who just want to get their jobs done. Once he was done, Grin watched as Fawful went next, who is similarly prideful in his shots. He smiles and fake yawns and even steals the camera to take a selfie, which the guards promptly subdue him after he's done. Then the guards guide both of them to their cells, taking away your gear and cloaks, leaving them both in orange jumpsuits. This made Grin nervous finally, not sure how they'd break out now without any tools? He thought he'd have enough time to hide something, but Grin was left empty handed. The guards then leave, with Peasley walking towards the cell to talk, looking rather cocky. "Last time we met, you were turning me into a freaky dinosaur creature, what now? An octopus? A giraffe? Haha!" Peasley leaned on the cell bar and joked with Fawful. "Oh no no no! I could never have such action for you! A giraffe would be having more hair than your wig of dumbness! Furururu!" Peasley gasped and put a hand over his mouth, before regaining his composure with his usual jolly laugh. "Well a wig is better than a single strand of it! Farewell!" Pealsey then left, with Fawful rolling his eyes and rubbing the back of his teeth, pulling out two little packets he hid in there, as well as a mini helicopter.

Inside the packet were two mini mushrooms, mushrooms that could shrink anyone down to the size of an ant! "With these there will be much room in their bars! Fururu! As for regrowing in size? Midbus has mushrooms under his shell to regrow us! Now is when we move!" The duo both take the mini mushrooms, with everything on them shrinking, including themselves! Fawful then merrily skipped through the now humongous gap between the bars, running between the bars just because. Grin also walked through the bars, looking at just how tall they are, looking like they could pierce the heavens and reach the sun, and these bars weren't even that big before compared to the ceiling. Fawful then got in the helicopter, way bigger now in accordance to their size shrinking. Fawful hopped in the helicopter, with Grin following as they flew near the ceiling, trying to avoid the guards, as the copter looked more like a mosquito than two small people in a small helicopter trying to break out of prison, which was much more normal. Grin took in the sights, looking at the mostly empty cells, trying to find Midbus. "Midbus is having more shrooms under his shell! We will have usings of that to find the computers, and then we shall circle back to escape with Midbus!" Fururu!" Grin nodded gleefully, adding that "Y'know, it would probably be better if we just had a chopper like this normally, that way we can all fly as one!" Fawful turned to you smiling "You are having correctness! We will need expanding, not just for us, but for the gingerbread soldiers that will be accompanying us to our gingerbread castle of fury! Duly noted!"

It took longer than it should have since they were so small, but eventually Fawful and Grin got to Midbus's cell, where his arms laid chained to the wall, as well as a metal ball around his leg just in case. Fawful landed the helicopter down on the top of Midbus's shell and began to crawl around Midbus's shell to get inside. Grin followed suit, being extra careful so he doesn't fall off and hurt himself badly. Fawful wriggles one mushroom from under Midbus's shell, and Grin smuggles the other. Climbing back to the copter and flying just a little bit out of the cell, the two mushrooms dangling from the bottom of the copter and severely weighing the duo down. This however is not a problem for long when Grin and Fawful take the shrooms and regrow in size. "HUH!? THOSE TWO ESCAPED!? GET THEM! SOUND THE ALARMS!" Some guards rushed towards Fawfs and Grin, and without hesitation Grin pulled out his ray gun, blasting away at them. Fawful seemed shocked but proud, joining in and twirling around them and shooting at them too. The guards couldn't react as fast as the two could fire, leaving them all knocked out on the floor. Grin and Fawful take off the guard's outfits and stuff them into a cell, sneaking around the prison in disguise, now with some experience from the last prison break Grin went through not too long ago. Eventually, Grin finds the room where their gear was confiscated, stealing it back while Fawful heads towards the computer room. Grin follows, looking at what feels like the whole world at your fingertips, looking at detailed information on not just the criminal records of dozens of kingdoms, but just plain useful information! Fawful puts it in his harddrive and steals all of this, leaving the computer stuck on the Fawful logo. Fawful doesn't have time to gloat however, as Grin hands him his cloak, putting on his own, and running through the halls to make it back to Midbus's cell

KABOOM! The cell door opened wide, and KABOOM! There goes the chains holding Midbus down. Midbus smirked and was able to dig through his shell again, pulling out a big orange and red mushroom. Grin was puzzled, but followed Fawful onto the back of Midbus's shell, putting on his headgear just in case, with Fawful following suit. Midbus gluttonously dug into the mushroom, before shaking a little. "You good, Midbus? What was that?" Grin asked, which was cut off by Fawful. "Do not have worry! Instead, hold ooooooon!" Hold on? Wait, why were you getting closer and closer to the cell's roof? You would be crushed! How was this–? Midbus punched a hole through the ceiling, growing massively in scale, past the building and past the trees, growing to 80 meters! Midbus was altered too slightly in this transformation, his horns growing and bending, to where they extended outwards before bending back up and inwards, in the arc of a C. Midbus's tusks also extended and protruded outwards, complimenting his shaper teeth and empty eyes. His shell grew in size and in hair, laying heavily on his longer tail, with his hands becoming sharp as knives, knives that could crush your house before even being moved to slice and dice. Midbus roared and kicked the prison away like a sand castle, his nostrils flared and let out icy air once again, as he let out a giant blast of icy wind from his snout, letting a hurricane swarm above in his rampage. Fawful cheered and held on for dear life, with Grin clinging onto Fawful likewise.

Grin rooted Midbus on as he casually brought havoc and an intense blizzard down on the Beanbean Kingdom, kicking and destroying houses and plains, as he looked down on the castle, waiting for them to strike back, waiting to see if they can compare to his newfound might. "Why isn't he doing anything? Couldn't we rule this place right now? He's throwing away a good chance!" Grin asked in irritation, with Fawful rubbing his eyes. "He is having his pride, and Fawful is unable to have stoppings of him. However, this can have usefulness to us as a message sending! So no one is wanting to mess with Fawful and Grinlee! Fururu!" Grin blushed a bit, Fawful AND Grinlee? This felt more like he was the henchman to his mad genius, the minion to his master, the puppet to his puppet master, yet he viewed him as an equal? He specifically viewed Midbus as a lackey, what made Grin special? He felt at this very moment like an important name, and that was something when he was sitting on the shell of a giant monster who was causing a blizzard so intense you wouldn't be blamed to assume you were in the North Pole at that moment. This daze was broken when cannon fire was heard, with Fawful ducking the two of them behind a spike on Midbus's shell to deflect the massive cannon balls flying at them. Fawful seemed worried, checking Grin out quickly. "Do you have okness? Your head could have been knocked clean off, like chewy food at the hands of a dog who has rabies!" Grin nods in a panic, his heart beating out of your chest from that near death shot, "Im fine, I'm fine. What was that?" he asked. Before Fawful could answer however, Both of them laid their eyes on dozens of airships, all flying around and targeting Midbus.

The fleet of ships swarmed around Midbus, a hive of bees in wood and metal flying at Midbus to try and smack him and knock him out. Midbus roared directly at the ships and swatted at them like they were nothing. One of the ships though started to fly close, carrying a wrecking ball that could possibly knock Midbus out! Grin noticed this and acted on impulse once again, jumping off Midbus's giant shell to fly towards this ship. "GRIN!" Fawful shouted, as he then jumped off as well to follow Grin. "I am having little to no understanding! Why do you have fleeing?" Grin then pointed towards the cruiser class airship with the wrecking ball. "I don't know much about Mid, but if that hits him he might be down for the count! I say we take it for ourselves!" Grin then laughed, an actual sort of evil laugh. It still needed work, but Fawful laughed too, his pride being filled up like a bucket overflowing. Due to the dogfighting targeted at Midbus, the crew's staff didn't notice they were flying directly into smoke. Purple smoke, a smoke coming from Fawful's headgear. "Hah! Now is the time to be telling me who's underling you are!" Fawful shouted, with the crew stumbling around in a daze. It wasn't before long though that the brainwashing gas had struck in full effect. "We are Fawful's most faithful underlings!" Fawful stole the captain's hat and began ordering around his new crew to swerve around and fire at the other ships. Grin would do what he had experience with, making brews with supplies on deck to make things more explosive than cannonballs and turrets usually were,

The odds were still uneven, a whole military versus one rogue ship and a giant isn't exactly a fair fight, but each side still fought on intensely. Airships fired what felt like pellets at Midbus, and Grin was blasting away fireworks and explosive gas that would knock out the people on the ship aimed at. Fawful captained and commanded who would get the taste of his giant wrecking ball, and everything seemed like it'd be a clear Fawful victory. That was until the cavalry arrived, as Peasley flew in all on his lonesome, facing Midbus with the same confident smile he always had on. He swooped and slashed away, trying to whittle Midbus down. Before Grin could take any action in shooting Pealsey's pillowy platform out of the sky, ships clad in white gold and green flew in, smaller and more like jets trying to shoot the duo down! "All the hands on deck! Focus your bolts of badness at the mosquito plans of annoyance!" Fawful ordered, trying to keep the stolen aircraft as long as possible. The blizzard got worse as Midbus was not just getting tired, but losing his power, slowly shrinking in size. "Why's Midbus shrinking!? We've been doing so well, they were going to retreat!" Grin shouted in a panic, watching as Pealsey, now with a considerable edge, slashed Midbus into the sky. Fawful focused all his attention on catching Midbus, the ship darting so fast towards the ground that it looked like a meteor. In the last moment, Midbus landed on the ship, rubbing his head as his features and size were back to normal. Grin then got an idea. "Hey Fawfs! Can I see that brainwashing gas you used before?" "But of course co-captain!" Fawful obliged and handed Grin his headgear. In what felt like hours in just the span of minutes of rapid fire, Grin put that gas into the fireworks, and blasted them at airships all cornering Fawfs's ship

The sky was a murky purple now, covered in mist that drowned out the sun. Fawful then made a break for it, with his crew flying away from the carnage. "Grin! You have excellence! Those fink rats would never have stopped biting at our getaway if not for your spray of sporadicness!" Fawful said, as he stole one of the badges of honor from one of the crewmembers, placing it on the inside of Grin's cloak. "That's not all though, look behind you!" Grin enthusiastically remarked, pointing downwards, to reveal that most of the Beanbean forces were following Fawful as his loyal minions. Fawful grinned gleefully, as a new brilliant scheme popped into his head. "GRIN! You have brought Fawful inspiration! Goonies! Set sail for the Mushroom Kingdom and Koopa Kingdom! We will be setting the grand diversion for us! Furururu!" Fawful then took off the captain's hat and placed it on a random crewmate, as Midbus rubbed his head and came back to consciousness. "Soooo, how was your fun time of naughtiness? Still worried about covers?" Fawful jokingly commentated, with Midbus rolling his eyes. "Was your 'dea anyway" Midbus uttered before going back to the left of Fawful, with Grin standing on the right. The sun started to set and the clouds darkened into a thunderstorm, a perfect backdrop for what was to come next. The fleet of brainwashed Beanish forces loaded their ships and cannons, the sky crackled with lightning, which cleared the clouds for Fawful and Grin to provoke a war.

None of the toads down on the ground realized why beanbean ships were flying above, they had no reason to assume it was actually Fawful, who had mind-controlled a fleet of beanish troops to cause an attack and kick off a conflict. Fawful cackled triumphantly, as the flagship flew overhead and towards Princess Peach's castle. Before the strike began however, Grin caught something from the corner of his eye. "Fawfs! Down there! Isn't that the Princess?" Grin had spotted the vague shape of a woman on a balcony of the castle, possibly talking to someone inside. Fawful's laughter turned into a deadly silence, as he personally checked and confirmed that yes, this was the princess. Fawful then gained his composure, and ordered an immediate fire at the Mushroom Kingdom. The cannons and chaos rained down onto Toad Town and Peach's Castle, as people below scrambled for cover and for some counter fire. The few forces that had rallied up against Fawful's ships had no true way to take down one ship, let alone dozens. They were more suited to jump on the heads of their enemies and maybe slash someone with a spear. Before Grin could properly take all of this and fire some shots of his own, the flagship had started to turn and fly away, much to the disappointment of Grin. The flagship started to change course to the Koopa Kingdom, as Fawful sat on the bow of the ship and watched Peach's castle go up in smoke, "They will have survival, I am knowing it, this however is the tasty condiment of chaos for our diversion, Furururu!"

The Mushroom Kingdom wasn't the only Kingdom to get the tasty treat that was cannon rain, the Koopa Kingdom was next, and would likely be a harder fight. That's what Grin thought, forgetting the current state Bowser's Castle was in. The rust and repair it was under was grueling for the koopa troop, They'd have no time to assemble their troops and respond, which is what Fawful was planning on. "The break out was a side dish for such brilliance as us! They would not have suspectings of the main course! Now! They will snack on our wrath! And we will snack on their ride!" Midbus snarled as he looked down, seeing Bowser inside hammering away to fix his castle, he wanted revenge for being frozen and was tempted to jump down there himself and slam him into the pavement. Grin patted Midbus on the shell seeing this "Maybe next time, but hey! We're still wrecking his house even more! Haha!" Midbus's snarling stopped and he went back to standing in a corner of the ship. Fawful then gave a captain's hat to Grin, "I had the glory hogging previously! Now it is your time of greatness to shine! Do the honors and have such chortles!" Fawful said while moving Grin to the bow of the ship, holding him by the shoulders and hyping him up. Grin laid his hands on the cannon, loaded the gun powder with an extra explosive, extra show offy ingredient, and yelled "FIRE! FIRE!"

The flagship shot showy explosions from their blasters, bright colors in the smoke that followed each impact, which let the crew of the ship start fighting the koopa troop on the ground. None of them had proper fighting experience, and were only able to manage firing off of a fleet they had built only months ago. This left the trio on a time limit to reach the Koopa Cruiser before all eyes were on them. Fawful was planning on being stealthy again, simple in and out operations had been working for them already, and while they were not his cup of tea they did work. Grin however had a more explosive idea. Grin was high on adrenaline, and his high wouldn't be stopping soon as he ran through the dog fighting, throwing the brews on his belt to see whatever they did. Fawful couldn't help but laugh and joined in, following Grin and blasting away with his ray gun. Midbus followed last, punching anyone who tried to follow Fawful or Grin, and generally just bashing the castle's walls to rubble. Grin's brews exploded into a multitude of things, some into plain ol fire, some into just liquid spills on the floor, and some into foam clouds that could put people to sleep, you name it, it's probably there! Grin then got another wild idea. "Midbus! Can you start rolling like you did on those roofs?" Midbus nodded, curling up and rolling at blazing speeds. Grin then hopped on his shell and began running the opposite direction to not fall off. Fawful would hop on too and follow Grin's lead, which didn't last long as they all bumped right into the side of the Koopa Cruiser.

The vessel stood large and proud in the hanger bay of the castle, the front of the ship had a head that was a vague resemblance to the koopa monarch himself. It was a shade of lime and cyan, with two wings on the side and a yellow under belly. It resembled a koopa not just in shape but the color pallet. Fawful climbed aboard and turned on the cruiser, it surprisingly needed not a lot of staff on board to manage it. Grin and Midbus followed aboard, and took off, flying away from the burning castle, which was now on fire in more ways than one. Grin's adrenaline rush finally wore off as he sat down and caught his breath from the intensity of the constant fighting. Fawful then lounged and sat next to Grin, also exhausted but very proud and still exhilarated. "Grin... What was that? Such fury! Blowing past with regardlessness and rush!" Grin felt a bit embarrassed, did he cost the mission, or ruin what could have been a better opportunity? "Fawfs I'm sorry, I guess I was just caught up in the mo-" Fawful then placed his finger smack dab on Grin's mouth to get him to be quiet. "Are you kidding!? Fawful has never had such fun in a long time! Such excitement! Your geniusness and cunning was the cherry on top of a punch cake of wow! Fawful could never have such fire power if you weren't thinking to fire the brain gas! You are keeping up well! Fururu!" Grin's embarrassed face lit up smiling, "Of course Fawfs! I'd never let you down!"

"WAR! In a shocking turn of events, the Beanbean Kingdom has attacked both Mushroom and Koopa kingdoms, destroying peace treaties and provoking hostility! Tensions have already been high from earlier riots from traitors in the Koopa Troop, as well as an attack on Toad Town by forces of Bowser. An unforeseen 3 way war between the Beanish, Toad, and Koopa forces is clearly on the horizon!" Almost every news channel close to or related to any of these 3 kingdoms was broadcasting this. Many opinions were aired, and tensions that had been buried or newfound resent were now coming to light. Fawful kept this on the Tv as the moving process began. Now that the trinity had a new ride that would be used for a while, they would need to move most of their gear onto the Cruiser. While moving things like beds and tables and what not, something struck Grin. "Fawfs? Do we have a team name? Or do you have a name for our group? If everyone we brainwash keeps saying 'All Hail Lord Fawful', then everyone will know it's you! If we're still trying to keep our cover that is" Grin's question at first seemed a bit pointless to Fawful, "Well no! Most will have knowings of my name soon enough! Furururu!" But then he thought about it more, and the more he realized how beneficial having an indiscreet name would help their goals if one were to get caught. "On second thought, now I have curiosity! Go on!" Fawful waited, with Grin excitedly stating "F.U.R.Y! Yknow cuz you say that a lot!" Midbus while walking by then butted in, asking "What's it stand for?", with Grin then getting sheepish. Fawful however, loved the idea, and would get the mechawfuls to paint it on the side of the Cruiser.

If you were to compare a before and after of the "Koopa" Cruiser and now, the only thing you'd be able to recognize would be the tacky spikes on the head of the ship and its engines. The face of Bowser had been defaced and changed to be a face that resembled Fawful while he was cursed with the Dark Star, with the paint job being changed to more elegant hues of purple, red, dark blue and black. The occult paint job worked well with the new logo on the sides of the Cruiser, being F.U.R.Y in a fiery blue font. The Koopa Cruiser was no more, replaced by the F.U.R.Y Cruiser in its place. Fawful slapped the side of the cruiser and proudly proclaimed "This baby is having room for so much gear and chortles!" as the mechawfuls packed up the last of the beds onto the cruiser. The trinity walked aboard, the halls looking just as elegant as the outer paint job, with a similar feel as Bean 'N Badge and the other location, as well as some stolen trinkets from the Beanish ship like a radio to keep in contact with Beanish forces and fuel the fire of the war. The mechawfuls started to man the ship, Midbus went to train, and as for Grin and Fawful? They decided to do something they hadn't had time for in all the chaos and carnage: Go on a date!

Grin had no idea what to wear or even what to do, he'd never been on a date before! He tried finding a nice outfit before the cruiser went off, sneaking around in two dark cloaks so no one could recognize him, buying a nice glittery blue suit with a purple rose to go in the chest pocket of the suit. Grin snuck back onto the cruiser, to find Fawful in a dapper red suit, hand stitched and having his logo on the back covered by a deep dark red cape which also had his logo, with one button being undone and his collar being popped. Grin couldn't help but look in awe, unable to believe he was really in the moment. Fawful then walks towards Grin, with a smile that is clearly trying to be more hot than cute, but that smile quickly collapses as both Grin and Fawful laugh awkwardly, both a bit flustered by the other."You look great!""You have such handsomeness!"The two then pause after stumbling on each other's words, Grin putting his face in his hands, and Fawful turning around and trying to regain his composure. They then both look at each other again, trying to break the silence as they both can't seem to get their eyes off each other. Midbus then promptly interjects with "My Lords, your table is ready". Fawful then grabs Grin's hand, "I have joy! Now is when the date truly begins! You will be spoiled like a cow in a field of grass tended by cows in love with the first cow! Come!"

The cruiser's deck was decorated like it was straight out of a gothic romance, roses littered around the deck and on the rails, with metal beams being built just to have vines decorate them. There were mechawfuls in suits with fake mustaches and sombreros playing nice music from their speakers, with the instruments being just for show. Fawful led Grin to the table, being a cushy booth that wrapped around the table, with pillows and a blanket for extra comfort. The moon shone down on the deck, making it look like everything around them was glistening in a nice twilight. Grin chuckled, looking at the extravagant decor and wondering out loud "How did I not expect you to outdo yourself again?" Fawful then motioned towards the table with his cape, exclaiming "We are only having beginnings! Furururu!" Grin sat down, as Fawful quickly took one of the fake mustaches off of one of the mechawfuls, as well as putting on a chef hat in red that had a crude letter M on it. Fawful then started to do a very purposely bad and mocking italian accent, asking "Mama-a Mia-a! I-a am-a being-a your-a chef-a for-a today-a! What-a is-a your-a craving-a! Mia-a Mama-a! Wahoo-a!" Grin was giggling hearing just how bad the accent was, deciding to join in on the tomfoolery with his own poor accent. "Hmmmmm-a! I don't-a know! Perhaps-a you can-a surprise-a me?" This brought inspiration to Fawful, as he replied "Your-a wishings-a are-a my- commands-a to-a be-a fulfilling-a" He then left to the kitchen to prepare

As Grin waited, Midbus walked towards him and sat down next to him. He was a bit annoyed that he had to wear such fancy clothes, as he'd rather be in more baggy clothes if he had to wear any. This time however, Grin seemed to be the one who didn't notice Midbus, he was lost in thought and just generally his thoughts going haywire. Midbus then asked a question that broke Grin's concentration, "Why're you with Lord Fawful?" It was the same question that Grin had asked Midbus, now turned back at Grin, which left Grin a bit shaken. "Well... he's just very convincing is all!" Grin stuttered and murmured, to the unamused stare of Midbus. He rolled his eyes, "I know that, but that's not why. Why're you with Lord Fawful?" Grin looked down and avoided eye contact, before mustering up the energy to be honest. "My life wasn't eventful, it was draining and it was going in circles. Y'know... sometimes I kind of just wished that... that.... Point is: Fawful changed that. It liberaterates when I'm with him. I'm not just another lowly 20 something year old going to school for no reason, or just a barista who's living paycheck to paycheck and wasting away. I'm me, I get to be passionate and wild and loose and free! I get to be myself with Fawfs, he brings out things I've had in me for a while! He's charming and smart and caring and makes me confident and–" Grin then blushes, intensely. You could mistake him for a red bean instead of a green bean, and Midbus looked with a slight smirk. "Thought so. Boss's been happy with you 'round too, more dopey than usual" Midbus then got up and went back to standing idly, leaving Grin a flustered mess.

Fawful returned with a plate of spaghetti, some creamy steak fettuccine, lobster risotto, and perfect chicken alfredo. Grin was left shook once again, to Fawful's amusement. "Fawful is also having the master chefness! No matter the supplies or what blocks in the road come in the way, I am having the 110 percenting in my work!" Fawful then lays down the food on the table, starting with the spaghetti, as he loosened his "Kiss the cook" apron, which was fawfulized to say "Make smoochings with the chef!" Grin caught on as soon as Fawful made a plain plate of spaghetti what his plan was, but found it cute and played along. Fawful slipped one strand in his mouth, and Grin did too, but Grin was played when Fawful bit down on his strand and covered his face with his apron, leading Grin to kiss a goofy picture of Fawful wearing an inflatable dinosaur costume, instead of actually kissing Fawful. Fawful laughed, "I knew you would have following of the apron! Like hungry bears have sneakings for picnic baskets!" Grin laughed too, and was going to say something before Fawful nudged his teeth on Grin's cheek like a kiss on the cheek, surprising Grin as he paused for a moment, "Two for the price of one!" Fawful seemed a bit displeased though. "My teeth of largness is not letting me give you kisses! I have sadness. Maybe if Fawful justs–" Fawful seemed to be trying to force his teeth into more of a lip shape, to the Grin. Nonetheless, the date continued on, with the two enjoying the meal

Once the meal was finished, that just left Fawful with one last surprise for Grin, as he pointed to the night sky. "Have you had the fun times? I have had plannings of this for a little bit, as well as a confession. Fawful is used to many roles, the mastermind, the goon, the shopkeeper, and more recently, the cryptid. But, you are giving something new to Fawful, not the toady, or the leader, or whatever else that may have creepings into the equation. No, Fawful and Grin, partners, equal, rulers of the world! Fururururu! You may have had some realizing of this beforehand, but I am setting the temperature cold to solidify this! Observe!" And with that, Fawful got a remote out, aimed the F.U.R.Y cruiser's main cannon towards the horizon, and started to launch some fireworks. The night sky was lit up by beautiful explosions, showing off all the trio had done so far, from the humble beginnings to the intense back to back chases and fights, all while the mechawfuls watched on, adding in little "ooooooo"'s and "aaaaaaaa"'s. Grin watched and felt his eyes beginning to water up, in no small part due to the cut onions Midbus was putting on the table that he just finished. Fawful turned to Grin confused, "Why are you having tears? Are you not not having happiness?" Fawful asked, concerned. Grin smiled and wiped his eyes, looking at the fireworks again, one being in the shape of Fawful's head, one in the shape of Grin's head, and a heart between them. Grin looked back at Fawful and hugged him, "I'm very happy, Fawful, very. Thank you, so much". The two then just stood there and continued watching the fireworks, even after they stopped and even after it was just them standing there together