It was early in the morning, and the siblings were having breakfast. Seal was munching on some fabric as he watched the five eat and talk.
"You know," Lily said as she slurped up a spoonful of cereal, "we haven't seen our friends from that other dimension in a while. I wonder how they're doing."
"Other dimension?" Bro questioned.
"Yeah, you know– Ambrose and the gang?" she reminded him.
"Oh... her," he muttered. "Now I remember. I must've accidentally blocked out the others after dealing with her."
"How did you forget someone like her?" Porter asked.
Bro didn't answer at first. He was thinking back to when he first met his counterpart. Between all the teasing, her presence, and the adventure they went on when they first met, it took a lot of strength to forget.
"I don't know, but this conversation just reminded me of her, so thanks," he replied in a mumble.
"Oh, come on, Bro," Amelia chirped. "She isn't that bad."
"Easy for you to say. Your counterpart isn't constantly trying to act like they're your partner," Bro replied. "At least your counterparts are endearing to some extent... Except Lily's, for some reason."
While they were talking, a knock on the door was heard, and Zaire went to answer it.
"You'll never guess who's at the door!" he said, looking through the peephole. Bro caught on immediately, suspecting the worst.
"Well, coffee's kicking in. Gotta go!" he exclaimed, heading straight for the bathroom. In reality, he just wanted an excuse to hide.
The door was opened, and Zaria and Portabelle were standing on the other side. Zaria was nibbling on a cookie while Portabelle was clutching a sunflower in her hands.
"Hey! It's you two!" Lily greeted. "Where's everyone else?"
"It's just us," Zaria replied. "Portabelle wanted to see more of Seal Island. Of course, there was no way we weren't going to say hi to our friends first!"
"Well, if that's the case," Bro sighed in relief as he left the bathroom. "It's nice to see you two again. So, where were you going?"
"We don't know," Portabelle replied. "I only told Zaria I wanted to visit Seal Island, and now that we're here, I don't know where to start!"
"Well, you came to the right people," Zaire chortled. "We just happen to be the best guides on Seal Island!"
"Which is totally not a self given title, by the way," Porter added.
Zaria, chuckling, looked over at her younger sister, who seemed concerned about something.
"Portabelle, wasn't there something else you wanted to ask?" she asked.
"Well..."
Portabelle looked down at the sunflower in her hands. The sunflower turned its floret to look back at her, and after a moment and a nod, she looked at the others.
"I was hoping someone could watch Sunny while we were out. I've never actually left home without him and he's always stuck by my side," she added.
"Why not take him with you so all three of you can see the sights?" Amelia suggested.
"Because people might find it weird to see a sunflower walking around on its own," Zaria reasoned. "Sunny isn't like the seals here."
"Fair enough."
"If that's the case, I have no problem staying home and watching him," Bro offered.
"I'll stay and watch him too," Amelia offered alongside him. "Maybe I could show him my garden while you're out!"
"Thanks, you two!" Portabelle giggled. "Though I have to warn you that he can be a real rascal at times! That shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Of course not, we live with Lily," Bro responded.
"Hey!" Lily interjected with a pout.
"Alrighty then, let's get going! Time waits for no one!" Zaria chimed, finishing the last of her cookie. After Sunny was dropped off, the two sisters, accompanied by Zaire, Porter, and Lily, were off to the city.
"That's gonna be interesting," Bro chuckled as he closed the door.
"What do you mean?" Amelia asked.
"People freak out when they see Zaire for some reason. I wonder how they'll deal with him and Zaria," he clarified. "Anyway, are you going to show Sunny your garden soon? He might make some new friends."
"I don't have any sentient plants, Bro," Amelia corrected.
"Plants are living creatures, aren't they?"
"Touché."
Amelia and Bro headed out to the garden while Seal followed closely behind. He stopped near the edge of the door and got confused when he noticed Amelia introducing the sunflower to the garden.
"Well, Sunny, welcome to my home next to home– my garden!" Amelia chirped, setting Sunny on the ground. "The other plants don't move much here, but I'm sure you'll get along with them well!"
Sunny approached a patch of tulips and waved at them, not getting a single response. He tried waving at a tomato patch and still didn't get a response. Between him stumbling around the garden like a toddler and waving to other plants, the two watched with amusement.
Eventually, after trying to get attention from almost every plant in the garden, water began to form on Sunny's petals.
"Is he crying or is that dew?" Bro asked.
"Beats me. I've never heard of a self-watering plant before," Amelia replied, picking up Sunny and carrying him to a vase with five different flowers.
"Sunny, this is my favorite piece in the garden. The flowers in that vase represent my brothers and sisters, whether with their favorite color and their personality, but mostly their favorite color," she explained. After placing Sunny next to the vase, she added, "No matter what plant you may be, you're always welcome in my garden."
"Just don't turn into a monster sunflower and cause trouble in her garden somehow," Bro advised. "I still remember when you bought that fertilizer and we had to fight against a bunch of sentient plants."
"Hey! How was I supposed to know the fertilizer would do that?" Amelia asked.
"Hmm, I wonder– Suspicious product, sketchy warnings, no legitimate reviews whatsoever, and you're trying to tell me you didn't see anything coming?" he questioned.
"I thought it was just a new product! New things come out all the time and I figured I would try it out at the time!"
"I'll say this again: The bag said the product– fertilizer– wasn't responsible for any damage or injury, and you expected things to turn out peachy?"
"I didn't think they actually meant it! I was expecting to get ripped off at best!"
As the two were arguing, Seal hopped to the table where Sunny and the vase were.
"Hey, nice day out today, huh?" Sunny asked. This startled Seal, who used his tail to whack the poor sunflower over the fence. By now, Bro and Amelia had finished their discussion, agreeing that those events will never happen again and that their main priority should be taking care of Sunny.
Bro's eyes widened when he noticed Sunny wasn't on the table.
"Where's Sunny?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Amelia replied. "He's right–"
She turned her head and froze when she realized why Bro asked where Sunny was.
"He was right there! Where'd he go?!"
The two searched around the flowers and under the table, but turned up with nothing, Seal quietly watching them.
"Ooh, we are in so much trouble!" Bro exclaimed. "If we don't find him before the others get back, we're dead!"
Eventually, Seal barked to get their attention. The two got in his face babbling about looking for a sunflower and asking if he's seen one wandering around the garden. In response, Seal pointed at the fence and before doing a flip.
The two climbed up and peered over the fence, where Seal climbed onto Bro's head and barked several more times.
"You're telling us that Sunny is somewhere in the forest?" Amelia asked.
"Bark bark!"
"...Uh oh."
Meanwhile, the other five were wandering around the subdivision, chatting about various subjects when the topic of everyone's shenanigans came up.
"So, what have you guys been up to?" Zaire asked. "We haven't seen each other since we stopped Zetal and Zetalina that one time!"
"Not much, really. Stopping her and the Clonettes, getting into random adventures, keeping my pockets full of cookies, the usual," Zaria chuckled, pulling out a cookie from her pocket.
"You sure love your cookies," Lily pointed out.
"Speaking of cookies," Portabelle said, "sis, aren't you gonna tell them we accidentally broke into a cookie factory–"
Zaria covered Portabelle's mouth, laughing louder than before. "Oh, Port, we don't need to talk about that out here!"
"Funny you should say that," Porter stated, "because Zaire and I accidentally broke into a cheese factory not too long ago–"
"Porter, oh, Porter, didn't anyone tell you not to air out dirty laundry in public?" Zaire laughed nervously, covering Porter's mouth.
As the two Porter counterparts let out muffled protests, Lily shook her head as Zaire and Zaria continued to laugh awkwardly.
Meanwhile, Bro and Amelia ran through the forest in search of the missing sunflower. It would probably be a bit easier if the forest wasn't so big and didn't have flowers of all kinds.
"Ugh, this is gonna take forever!" Bro groaned. "Since when did all these plants get here?"
"Bro, we're in a forest! Of course plants are going to grow in a forest!" Amelia replied, firmly but calmly.
"That's not what I meant! It feels like someone's been growing flowers here," Bro explained. He turned to look at Amelia and asked, "You haven't been planting flowers outside of your garden, have you?"
"Now, why would I do that? That's what I made the garden for," she responded. "I like growing new plants and all, but I'm not responsible for this."
"Well, who else could've done this?"
While the question was being brought up, a rustle could be heard from a bush behind them. The two prepared themselves for whatever was in the bush to come out, but instead of an animal, a familiar face popped out.
"Selva?"
A figure jumped out of the bush, and upon further inspection, it was indeed their friend Selva.
"Bro! Amelia! Long time no see!" she shouted, running up and giving them a hug. "Sorta like how I still haven't seen my family in a while."
"Still haven't found out where they could be?" Bro asked.
Selva could only sigh and shrug. "Not a clue. I don't even know where to start searching. I've been growing some flowers to keep me company in the meantime."
"So those plants were your doing," Bro concluded. "By the way, you know that if you ever feel lonely, you can hang out with us, right?"
"Speaking of plants, have you seen a sunflower run around here?" Amelia asked.
"A... sunflower... running?" Selva repeated. "I'm almost certain that plants don't run."
"This one's different," Bro explained. "We're kind of 'babysitting' it for a friend."
"Babysitting... a flower? I can't tell who's losing their mind– you two or me!" she chuckled.
"It's clearly us," Bro muttered, going through the events in his head.
"His name is Sunny," Amelia added, "and we need to find him quickly! Could you point us in the direction he went?"
"Maybe," Selva answered. "What does he look like?"
Bro and Amelia's eyes widened. "You're telling us that despite living with plants, you've never seen a sunflower before?" he questioned, trying to process the logic.
"Wait, are sunflowers the ones that face the sun?" she asked.
"Yeah, exactly!" Amelia replied.
"Then yeah, I don't know what he looks like," Selva admitted.
"Why didn't you say that earlier?!" Bro shouted. "We're wasting time here! Let's just keep moving forward and hope we see him!"
Without any more words, Bro began running again, leaving the two girls to talk for a moment.
"So serious," Selva sighed.
"He just wants to find Sunny before our friends get back home," Amelia explained. "If you want, you can help us find him. Maybe it'll be easier with you helping us."
"Ooh, sounds fun! It'll also give us time to catch up!" Selva chirped.
With a nod, the two ran as fast as they could to catch up with Bro.
As for the others, they were still in the middle of their tour. By now, they were on the far side of the neighborhood, standing in front of a certain house.
"Do we have to be around here?" Zaire complained. "I hate being on this side of the subdivision!"
"This is part of the subdivision, so if we're giving them a tour, we have to include this house, as much as I hate it too," Lily reasoned.
"Is there something wrong here?" Portabelle asked.
"Let's just say if you value your skin, you won't knock on that door," Porter replied.
"Moving on!" Lily and Zaire shouted, running to where they thought was safe. However, they stopped after they ran into Mary. Zaire was about to run the other way when she greeted him.
"Oh... H-Hi there, Mary," he said, blushing. "Nice day out, huh?"
"Yep! It's bright and sunny, and there's not a cloud in sight!" she chirped. "Say, how would you like to hang out with me, just the two of us?"
Zaire was about to accept, but he looked over at an unimpressed Lily and the other three who were catching up to him.
"As much as I would love to, and I would really, really love to," he stammered, "we've got friends we're hanging out with right now. How about tomorrow, or next week? Does next week sound good? After all, we're just hanging out as friends! We are just friends, right?"
Save for the small bleat Mary gave after hearing that, the street was so quiet that you could hear a coin drop.
"...Real smooth, you rodent Romeo," Lily stated flatly.
By now, the others caught up to the two, taking in the sight of Zaire blushing furiously and Lily facepalming.
"Did we miss something?" Zaria asked.
"Nope, nothing, not at all!" Zaire answered quickly.
Mary squinted at Zaria before letting out a gasp. "Hey, I remember you! I saw you walking with Lini and that Bro lookalike that one time!"
"Yeah... For a second, I thought you were our friend Martin," Zaria admitted.
"...Martin?"
"To make a long story short," Zaire explained, "these two are from another dimension. Mary, meet Zaria and Portabelle."
"Hiya, Miss Mary, it's nice to meet you!" Portabelle chirped.
"Aw, so adorable! It's nice to meet you too!" Mary replied, petting Portabelle's head. "So, what are you guys up to?"
"We're giving Zaria and Portabelle a small tour of the island," Lily said. "We've finished walking around the subdivision and are about to head to the city."
"If that's the case, don't let me stop you from enjoying your tour," Mary responded, stepping to the side with a smile. After a small exchange of smiles, the five continued on their way.
"Yeah, if it wasn't obvious, Zaire really likes Mary," Lily said.
"Hey!" Zaire shouted, a blush quickly forming on his face.
"You know, Zaria tends to act the same around Martin," Portabelle added.
"Portabelle!" Zaria squeaked as a blush also crept onto her face.
"I'd love to see what sparks would fly if all four of them were in a room together," Porter joked.
"Shut it, you guys," Zaire and Zaria growled in unison.
The five continued walking until they reached the fountain near the subdivision's gate. Seeds were scattered around the fountain. Before anyone could process what was going on, another familiar face emerged from the water, wielding a net.
"Gotcha now!" they screamed, swinging the net over Zaire's head.
They froze for a second before realizing whatever they caught was not the intended target.
"Hey, you're not a pigeon!" they exclaimed.
"Nice to see you too, Bianca," Zaire said.
"Oh no, not her!" Porter and Lily screamed, hiding behind Zaria.
"What's going on? Who's that?" Zaria asked.
"That's Bianca," Porter replied. "The last house we stopped at? That's hers."
"And if you value your fur, you won't go near her," Lily added.
Bianca's eyes widened when she looked over at Portabelle and Zaria. "Zaire! Porter! You never told me you had sisters!" she squealed. "They're so cute, it's like there's two of you!"
"Maybe because they aren't our sisters?" Zaire responded. "And that's probably because we weren't going to tell you, like, ever."
"What were you doing in the fountain?" Portabelle asked.
"Why, catching pigeons, of course!" Bianca said. "You guys don't catch pigeons for food or something?"
"I don't think anyone normal goes out of their way to catch pigeons in a fountain," Lily retorted.
Bianca looked over Lily's shoulder and let out a grunt. "I'm surprised there's nobody besides Lily. It makes her look like the odd one out," she said.
"We have a brother that looks similar to her," Portabelle admitted. "His name's Leo–"
At that moment, Lily covered Portabelle's mouth. "And that's all we need to hear, Port! He's not here right now!"
Bianca seemed taken aback by the response at first, but smiled at the five as Righty reached over to pat Lily's head.
"Eek! What is her hair doing?!" Zaria squeaked. "How are you guys not surprised?"
"Long story, but compared to what she's shown us, that's the most normal thing about her," Zaire answered with a shrug.
"You wanna talk about weird things? Nothing will ever compare to Lily having five versions of herself that one time," Bianca said.
"...Five versions of Lily?" Portabelle asked. "What happened?"
"Also a long story," Porter replied, running off with her in tow. Zaire and Lily also helped move Zaria away from the fountain.
"Now that we've finished sightseeing around the subdivision, what do you guys want to do now?" Zaire asked.
"Isn't it almost lunchtime? We should grab a bite to eat," Lily said.
"I don't mind sharing my cookies with you guys," Zaria offered, pulling out another cookie from her pocket.
"Thanks, but I meant actual food," he stated.
"How about Mandy's?" Porter suggested.
"What's Mandy's?" Portabelle wondered.
Zaire, Porter, and Lily looked at each other, smirking. "You'll love it. It's in the city. Let's go!"
And just like that, the five were off to the city to find the restaurant.
Meanwhile, Bro, Amelia, and Selva stopped at the same fountain to catch their breath.
"Why are all these seeds on the fountain?" Bro wondered.
After asking that, he looked over at Bianca, still in the fountain.
"Oh... never mind then," he sighed. "Hi, Bianca. Catching pigeons again?"
"You say that like it's not normal or something," Bianca replied.
Her gaze landed on Selva, and she added, "She looks like she came fresh out of a jungle. Who's this?"
"Bianca, this is our friend Selva," Amelia answered. "She's helping us look for a sunflower we were supposed to babysit."
"You two are babysitting a sunflower? And people say I'm weird?"
"It's not just any sunflower," Bro explained. "He can walk! We've lost him, and we need to find him before the others get back! Have you seen him pass by here?"
"If I tell you, what do I get in return?" Bianca asked.
With a frustrated sigh, Bro pulled a strand of hair from his head and handed it to her.
"Satisfied?" Bro asked.
Bianca looked down at the hair in her hand, then at Bro, then gave him an eerie grin. "It went that way," she said, pointing toward the city.
"Let's just hope we don't run into the others while we're in the city," Amelia mumbled.
"I spoke to them not too long ago," Bianca announced. "There was a female Zaire and a female Porter, and they were so adorable! Is there a female you, Bro? What about a male Amelia? I bet you all look super cute with your pairs!"
Without saying anything else, the three ran past the fountain and the subdivision gate, leaving Bianca to talk to herself.
"Is she always like this?" Selva asked.
"As long as we've known her," he responded, "which, admittedly, isn't very long."
As the three began their search in the city, the other five were standing at the entrance of the restaurant.
"Well, here it is, guys!" Lily announced. "Welcome to Mandy's! They serve the best burgers in the city!"
"They also serve the best and the spiciest wings," Zaire added.
"Their kids' meals are also great too," Porter added. "I love their apple slices."
Zaire and Lily glanced at each other before saying "Porter, shut up" in unison.
Zaria took a look at the health inspection rating on the front of the door. The ratings on the paper were all 100, save for one 85 on the last row.
"Did something happen that day?" she asked.
"Oh, that? Zaire walked into the restaurant while the health inspector was there," Lily explained.
"I don't understand what the big deal was! I showered that morning!" Zaire grumbled.
As the five walked inside, the employees who saw them focused on Zaire and began to panic.
"Oh no, the mouse is back," one screamed, "and now there's two of them!"
"At this rate, we're gonna get shut down!" another employee bemoaned.
"Relax, will ya?" Zaire responded. "I'm just showing my friends around the city and grabbing some food. Now, I'd like to get some of your spiciest wings, and if it makes you feel better, I'm getting them to go."
He looked over at Zaria, who probably wouldn't be able to handle the heat and added, "Scratch that– make it mild."
As the five were waiting for their food, Bro, Amelia, and Selva also stopped near Mandy's– right in front of the window where the others decided to take a seat. Selva looked into the building, saw Porter and Lily and knocked on the window. Before anyone could see them, Amelia and Bro tackled her and hid.
"What was that?" Porter asked.
"Probably a bird or something," Lily replied. "Don't worry about it."
"I don't know... I feel like something was trying to get our attention..."
Outside, Selva was recovering from being tackled and asked why she couldn't say hi to Porter and Lily. "It was just going to be a minute!"
"If they see you, they'll probably think we brought you here," Bro explained. "Have you ever been in the city?"
Selva looked around and shook her head. "I didn't even know this was outside of the forest! I... I don't feel right here."
"Don't be! Think of a city as a concrete jungle," Amelia said.
"Exactly... except the trees are replaced with buildings, the rivers are made of asphalt, and every single dangerous creature from the jungle has been replaced by a car," Bro reasoned.
"What's a car?" Selva asked.
Amelia glared at him, causing him to say, "Know what, just pretend I didn't say that."
As the three were talking, people passed by Selva, taking note of how strange she was dressed. Statement after statement, she slowly became self-conscious.
"You know, there's a fashion store nearby. Bro wouldn't mind spending a bit to make you feel a bit more comfortable here," Amelia said.
"Hold on, I said nothing about–" Bro protested, until Amelia glared at him again. "I mean, sure! I don't mind spending a bit to get the eyes off of you," he agreed, pulling out his wallet.
"I knew you wouldn't mind, Bro!" Amelia chirped. "Let's go!"
And just like that, they were off to the fashion store.
Back at Mandy's, the other five were carrying their food out of the restaurant and conversing about how fast the food got to them.
"I think they just wanted us out as fast as possible," Zaria pointed out, eating a wing. "I wouldn't exactly call that 'good service.'"
"I dunno, they've always been this fast with my food, and on top of that, it doesn't look like anything's wrong with it," Zaire said, taking a wing out of the bag.
"They're fast with your food?" Porter asked. "Anytime me and Lily get something from there, we're waiting ten minutes at most!"
"Probably because that 'something', in your case, is the kids' meal," Lily retorted. "That's embarrassing, especially at your age."
"Well, excuse me for wanting to balance my meal with apple slices!" Porter fired back.
"Okay, that's enough!" Portabelle said. "We've got our food, so where are we going next?"
"Let's go to the mall next," Porter suggested. "It's not too far from here, and you get a great view of the city!"
"I second that suggestion!" Lily agreed.
"The mall it is!" Zaire announced, taking out another wing. "We'll figure out what to do there."
As they began running to the mall, they passed the fashion store– the same one the other three were just walking out of. Selva was now wearing streetwear and looked like just another regular citizen.
"Feeling a little better, Selva?" Amelia asked.
"It's not home, but I'll adapt," Selva replied.
"That's what you do here in the big city," Bro said. "Now, back to the task at hand, we need to figure out where in the city Sunny could be."
"And we better do it before the others get home... or find us... or find Sunny first," Amelia added. "Any ideas?"
"Is there a place where plants can grow in the city?" Selva asked.
"There's a greenhouse not too far from here," Bro answered. "Are you suggesting Sunny might be trying to find his way there or something?"
"All I'm saying is that if I were a plant, I'd want to be somewhere where other plants are thriving," she reasoned.
While they were talking, a crowd ran past them, screaming and fleeing from something.
"What is with the citizens running away anytime they see something out of the ordinary?" Bro wondered. "We live on an island where the toy seals are sentient, and that's fine?"
"I don't think a tiny sunflower would cause this much panic," Amelia said. "Even if it was walking around."
"What else could it be, if not Sunny?" he asked as they ran toward the greenhouse.
By this point, the others had reached the mall and finished off the bag of wings along the way.
"So? What did you girls think of Mandy's?" Zaire asked.
"I liked it, though they were a bit too spicy for me," Portabelle admitted.
"They shouldn't be spicy, I got them mild," Zaire stated.
"That's mild?!" Zaria squeaked, pulling out another cookie from her pocket. "If that's the case, I'd hate to know how spicy the actual spicy wings are!"
As the five walked around the mall, the people they passed gave Zaire and Zaria weird looks for reasons they could only think of.
"Sheesh... even here, I can't escape these judging faces," Zaria muttered. "Do you have to deal with this too?"
"Everytime I want to leave the house," Zaire responded. "I don't understand it, either. I get they've never seen ones like us, but people don't have to treat us like we're going to harm them..."
They took a seat on a nearby bench, where a moment of silence passed before they spoke again.
"Maybe one of these days, people will see us as equals," she sighed.
"Either that, or we could move somewhere where we're accepted," he chuckled despondently.
Porter, Lily, and Portabelle quietly snuck away from the mice, not wanting to disturb their chat.
"I feel bad for them," Lily commented.
"On the bright side, apart from that, it seems like they have a lot in common," Portabelle added. "Maybe they'll bond over that soon?"
"Speaking of bonding," Porter said, "Portabelle, how do you think the others are doing with Sunny?"
At this point, the other three arrived at the greenhouse– a large, dome-shaped glass structure crowded with flowers, fruits and other flora. As they ran inside, more people ran past them, expressions of fear and panic on their face.
"Maybe you're right, Amelia," Bro said. "Sunny probably snuck in there without being noticed."
"You don't think it's something else, do you?" Amelia questioned.
"Only one way to find out," he stated, running deeper into the greenhouse.
As they reached the center, they stumbled across the unpleasant sight of a hole in the dome and Clones plucking flowers and stuffing them in heavy-looking gray bags.
"Of course it's these guys..." Bro groaned. "Well, let's send 'em packing... without the plants, of course."
As he ran towards the Clones, a hulking shadow descended upon him.
"Bro, watch out!" Amelia and Selva shouted.
The shadow's figure crashed onto the ground next to him, the force of the impact sending Bro up in the air followed by backhanding him into the wall with their large hands.
"Big Boom," Bro groaned, "you did that the first time we met! If you're going to attack, change up your moves!"
"Change... moves?" Big Boom asked in confusion, looking at his hands. "Big Boom no get it..."
"Here," Bro coughed, "let me show you."
Peeling himself off the wall, he turned into a ball of light and zoomed towards the hulking Clone, stopping right in front of him and circling around his feet several times until Big Boom lost track of him. Big Boom felt something on the back of his head, and a split second later, his face was in the dirt.
"Lesson over," Bro stated, dusting his hands. "Come on, girls, let's go take care of these flower thieves!"
As Amelia and Selva regrouped with him, Big Boom pulled his head out of the ground and roared. "Not funny! Big Boom snap you like tree trunk!"
"Oh, yeah, that was awesome!" one Clone exclaimed. "Can you do that again when we get back home?"
"Yeah, can you?" the other Clones asked, turning to look at Big Boom.
Suddenly, they froze, only noticing the three now, and began to panic and drop their bags.
"Big Boom, we've got a problem!" one shouted. "It's those guys again!"
"Big Boom knows!" he grunted, leaping into the air and slamming the ground in front of him, sending out a massive shockwave. The three got out of the way, but the four Clones were hit, sending them into the wall. The bags were also hit, various plants spilling out of them.
"One of you go and see what's in the bags!" Bro ordered. "I'll keep Big Boom busy!"
"Hey, wait for me!" Selva shouted, running after him and leaving Amelia to check the bags.
Big Boom charged at Bro and Selva, who were running towards him at the same pace. As Big Boom prepared to slam the ground again, Selva grabbed his hands, stopping them in their tracks and giving Bro an opportunity to run up and kick him square in the face, sending him backwards into a wall.
Still, Big Boom wasn't down for the count yet. He got up and created another shockwave with his fist. Bro grabbed Selva and carried her in a ball of light, barely missing the shockwave. The two flew up to the highest point in the greenhouse, then rapidly zoomed down directly at Big Boom, fists at the ready. With crushing force, they sent his face straight back into the ground, leaving a small crater where the impact was.
"There, that should give us at least a few minutes to catch our breath," Bro announced, hopping out of the crater.
"Guys, Sunny isn't in any of these bags," Amelia said, dropping the bag she was holding in disappointment.
Bro grew concerned. "This is bad. If Portabelle finds out we've lost her best friend..."
"She's not going to find out," Selva stated, determination on her face, "because we are going to find Sunny. Let's search the area again."
Just as they agreed to try again, Big Boom got up again, seemingly more furious.
"Ugh, can't you just stay sleeping?" Bro shouted, running towards him to give him another beating.
In retaliation, Big Boom clapped his hands together, blowing everyone back and shattering part of the dome.
"Ooh, Big Boom learned new move!" he hollered. "Will use more often!"
"We'd appreciate it if you didn't do that," Bro groaned.
The three looked up at the greenhouse's dome. It looked like something took a giant bite out of it.
"You don't think anyone will notice the damage, right?" Amelia asked, half-joking.
"I'm just hoping the others don't notice it, wherever they are," Bro replied.
Back at the mall, the other five had finished browsing the stores and were at the highest point in the building, where the sunset could be seen in all its beauty.
"Well guys, here's where you can see Softener City at its fullest," Zaire said. "You can also catch a bit of the coast as well."
"It's so beautiful," Zaria sighed, staring at the scene before her.
"If only Sunny were here to see this..." Portabelle said. "I think it's time we picked up Sunny and headed home, sis."
"I hope he wasn't too much trouble for the others," Zaria added.
"Too much?" Porter asked.
"You get what I mean."
"Hey, is that the greenhouse?" Lily asked, looking down at the dome with a gaping hole in it. "What happened there?"
"Why don't we go down there and find out?" Zaire suggested, flapping his arms and slowly hovering in the air. The other four grabbed onto him and formed a chain, and just like that, they flew off to investigate.
"Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down..." Zaria mumbled to herself as she held on to Zaire's legs.
Meanwhile, the other three were trying their best to subdue Big Boom, but it seemed like their attacks were starting to have less of an effect on him.
As everyone caught their breath, Amelia saw what looked like a sunflower sitting right behind Big Boom.
"Wait, is that...?" she asked, trying to run around him.
Big Boom looked behind himself and saw a sunflower waddling by the wall.
"A walking flower? Big Boom wants it!" he roared.
He leapt towards the sunflower and was about to reach for it when he was hit in the face by a ball of light.
"Guys! Don't let Big Boom get near Sunny!" Bro warned, running over and grabbing the sunflower first.
"So that's what a sunflower looks like!" Selva exclaimed, making a mental note.
Big Boom chased after Bro, knocking over trees as he ran until he finally caught up with him and picked him up by his leg.
"Give Big Boom flower! Now!" he roared.
Bro showed him both of his hands, neither of which were holding Sunny. "What flower?" he asked with a smirk.
Big Boom's eyes widened in confusion, and he dropped Bro, frantically looking around until spotting Amelia as she ran out of the greenhouse. Screeching, he followed her, leaving a Big Boom-shaped hole in the wall.
"Are you okay?" Selva asked, helping Bro up.
"Don't worry about me," he replied. "Did you grab Sunny?"
As the sunflower peeked behind her shoulder, she gave him a smile and a nod. "His head is still empty, probably emptier than the last time I saw him," she chuckled.
"That sounds like a whole lot of empty," Bro said. "Anyway, we should catch up with Amelia and make sure nothing happens to her."
"What about Amelia?" a voice asked. The two looked up and saw Zaire and the others flying into the greenhouse. "What happened to the greenhouse? And who's this next to you?"
"Come on, Zaire! How do you not recognize me?" Selva shouted, pouting.
"Selva?!" Porter and Lily gasped in unison.
"Selva?" Zaria and Portabelle repeated together.
"Hiya, guys! Long time no see!" she said. "Actually, I saw you earlier in a building, but Bro and Amelia stopped me from saying hi because we were trying to find Sunny." This explanation made Bro flinch.
"What?!" Zaria squeaked. "You guys lost Sunny?!"
"Where is he now?!" Portabelle asked.
In response, Selva grabbed the sunflower from behind her shoulder and presented it to her.
"Oh, you didn't lose him, thank goodness," she sighed as Sunny jumped into her arms. She then glared at Bro, who looked away and tried not to look back at her.
"No, we lost him," Selva admitted, "and we spent the day looking for him."
"You lost him earlier?!" Portabelle screamed.
"Now's not the time to talk about this!" Bro coughed. "Big Boom is in the city and Amelia is in potential danger!"
Lily looked around at the destruction of the greenhouse, as well as the unconscious Clones on the wall. "Actually, yeah, this would be the work of those guys," she said.
"Who's Big Boom?" Zaria asked. "He sounds... interesting."
"We'll explain later," Zaire exclaimed, running out of the greenhouse, Bro following.
As the other five watched the two brothers depart, Lily took it upon herself to explain. "Basically, Big Boom is this giant Clone with super strength..."
Meanwhile, Amelia was still running through the crowded streets, Big Boom in pursuit. She stopped at a crosswalk and hurriedly pressed the button to cross. As Big Boom got closer to her, she kept mashing the button, hoping the light changed soon. As he jumped in the air, she moved out of the way as he was about to land on her. Instead of crossing the street anyway, she continued onto the corner as the crosswalk light changed, causing those on the road to groan in frustration.
She ran into an alley, hoping the space would be too narrow for him, but immediately had to run back out as alley cats forced her to. The chase lasted until they reached the park.
By now, Amelia was getting tired and fell to her knees. Big Boom picked her up and roared in her face.
"Big Boom wants walking flower!" he demanded. "Give flower!"
"Here," she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a heart-shaped flower. In reality, it looked like a cardboard heart with a couple of plant stems attached to it. "Just be careful with it, okay?"
He looked at the flower and glared at her. "This is not walking flower!"
"It's not," she said. "It's better. Just take it and be on your way, alright?"
Big Boom dropped her and quickly snagged the flower before leaping to the coast without another word. She let out a sigh as Bro and Zaire caught up to her.
"Amelia!" Zaire called. "What happened?"
"He wanted Sunny, and I compromised with him," she said. "I gave him a flower of my own."
"Flower?" Bro echoed. "But we both know you weren't actually carrying a flower."
"I know that, but he doesn't," she chuckled, counting down from three to zero with her fingers.
At that moment, they heard an explosion, and looked up to see Big Boom in the air before disappearing over the horizon.
"Yeah, that makes more sense," Zaire responded.
By now, everyone else managed to find Amelia, while Lily finished explaining everything the others needed to know about Big Boom.
"...And I think that's everything," she said, drawing out her ribbon whip. "Now, where is ol' gorilla hands?"
"Oh, he's taking a small trip," Bro answered. "Destination: Kleptopolis. The Clones still in the greenhouse are probably apprehended at this point."
"That's a relief," Porter chirped. "I don't think a giant pair of handcuffs would've stopped Big Boom, so it's great that he's off the island."
"So that's it?" Selva asked. "We found Sunny, and now I know what a sunflower looks like! So... all's well that ends well, right?"
"Not exactly," Bro replied. "It's going to take a while to repair the greenhouse. Matter of fact, let's see if anyone else has caught wind about this."
The nine walked up to a TV store where every TV was tuned to the news.
"This just in, we've received several reports of the Softener City Greenhouse being attacked by four unknown men and one unidentified creature," the newscaster announced.
"They're getting these reports now?!" Bro complained. "Who knows how long the Clones were there?!"
"As you can see in this footage, they likely broke into the greenhouse by smashing through the glass around the dome," the newscaster continued. "These men began tearing out the plants and causing a panic. Eyewitnesses claim that three citizens ran into the building and confronted them, and the damage would likely be more severe if it wasn't for three citizens doing so."
"Likely?" Zaire reasoned. "Did they see anyone else enter through the window?"
"As of now, the four men have been arrested, with the creature missing. The greenhouse remains closed for repairs. More information will come out as this story develops," the newscaster concluded. "And now, here's Diesel and Brock with the late-night sports report."
"Something tells me that story isn't developing any further," Lily groaned.
"That's probably for the best," Bro said. "Come on, let's go home."
As the last of the sun sank below the horizon, the nine made it out of the city and back to the subdivision, passing Bianca, who fell asleep by the fountain with pigeons all around her. While they were on the way to the house, Selva, Portabelle, and Zaria couldn't stop talking.
"So you're from a different world?" Selva asked.
"That's right!" Zaria responded, nibbling on yet another cookie. "And you've met these guys before us?"
"I met more than just them– I also met some other rude people a long time ago," she admitted. "Some of them are smarter than Big Boom."
"Guess we should stick to our somewhat normal life, dealing with Zetalina and the Clonettes then," Portabelle said, petting Sunny's petals.
"Speaking of returning home," Bro asked, stopping in front of the house, "who brought you here in the first place?"
"Heya, other brother!" a voice called out from behind him.
"Oh, no..."
He turned around and saw Ambrose standing in front of him.
"Been a long time, huh? Come here and give your other sister a hug!" she said, running towards him.
"Get away from me!" he shouted, running from her and the group. Ambrose ran after him, much to everyone's amusement.
"Well, there goes our ride..." Zaria sighed. "If I knew she would do this, I would've told Bro to hide."
"Well, since we're waiting, would you mind sharing some cookies with me?" Selva asked.
"Me too!" Lily added.
"Sure! I've got cookies for everyone!" she said.
As cookies were passed and conversations flew, Ambrose continued to chase Bro down relentlessly around the subdivision.