Chapter 1809 - 1809: We. Can. Do. It!

...Poof! Poof! Poof!

Everyone remembered one thing before plumes of smoke exploded around them, along with a daunting feeling of severe powerlessness. A sweet, grape-like taste flooded their mouths as the thick floral fragrance of the Chubby Remnant Sons wafted into their noses. For a moment, the delightfulness of the experience deluded them into believing they were simply having dessert – perhaps a complementary celebration to the spring bath after the stressful day they'd had.

…But then all of them, without exception, felt their bodies lose mass, height and energy.

All that remained after the smoke plumes faded around them was a collection of neckless, bobble-headed little people with stubby arms and legs. They were all barely a meter tall standing upright. Their clothing had fallen to the ground, leaving them naked, but Skullius had accounted for that, hence why each of them was immediately garbed in simple garments of darkness.

"Oh no, now we all look like Kintar when she's ugly," said Grim dejectedly.

Yuyui punched him, though her fist could barely master the almighty strength of a feather. "That's insensitive!"

Baddan was staring at his hands, opening and closing his palms repeatedly. His silvery fur was a lot thinner, his dark eyes larger; but maybe the latter was an illusion prompted by the fact that his head was disproportionately larger than the rest of him.

"I wouldn't mind looking like this from now on," he murmured to himself and then turned to Savast. "Wouldn't you agree?"

The former Cluster General considered it. He felt light and buoyant in a way his powers had never made him feel before, and that included the time when he turned into a vapor during the battle against the masked man. For a moment, he thought he had the same sentiment as Baddan indeed, but then he turned to Kintar.

The Unlimited Star looked sullen. She too was staring at her short limbs, but she didn't derive nearly as much fascination from the change as the others. It was a mystery what she was thinking. Savast thought to creep into her head and find out, but restrained himself, reminded of Skullius' words.

The rest of the Troops and Stars had predictably unamused reactions.

"I barely retained my shape!" Timmit cried furiously. "I look like a chicken. Why?!"

Indeed he did. Somehow, his midsection was round, wings severely stunted, and his feathers were sparse across his body. The stork looked ready for cooking.

Skullius allowed only a few minutes more of the assorted reactions before creating a gateway out of the Mobile Maverick Library and calling upon dozens of Strawlers.

"The Tipser Field in front of the Hatcher is capable of replicating different kinds of planetary parameters like gravity, pressure, density, and the like. You'll spend the night there until you're all fully grown. Quick now, there's no time to waste," said Skullius.

The Stars and a few of the Troops grew radiant eyes. They remembered the flying field and its properties despite never having used it.

"So that thing has its uses, huh?" said Grim, smacking a tiny fist over his palm.

A Strawler scooped him up in its arms and began towards the gateway with him. He laughed, finding it amusing, as did Yuyui, Baddan, Savast and even Kintar. Timmit, however, was not so pleased.

"Let go of me! I'm perfectly capable of—" His resistance faltered midway when he realized that his chicken wings could barely master the strength to whack the Strawler's arm. "Fooey!"

Gerriey and Ruge sniggered at him, only to groan when Skullius gave them a healthy "Have fun" as they all disappeared into the gateway and appeared within the rich space of the Second Layer of the Hatcher.

As the Strawlers glided towards the column of light connecting all the Layers in the egg-shaped mansion, the Stars and Troops felt a collective nervousness creeping up their throats. It worsened when they finally exited the Hatcher and the Tipser Field peeked into view. It was an island topped with ever-wet green-gold grass because of the constant rain pouring from the clouds above it. But then again, the whole island was inverted, such that the rain fell upward instead of down, hence its name.

There was another reason for its namesake, however, one related to the mechanical balls floating above the grasses.

"Oof, I already feel it," said Magisa as the Strawlers laid them on the grass, the rain pelting her hard.

"Stop being dramatic," said Ruge with a grunt, but he was secretly shivering in his timbers.

"Are we sure this is safe?" Grim said, more to the Strawlers than to his peers. Of course, the Strawlers couldn't speak and would only follow directives from Skullius. "We're really fragile in this state. If we are supposed to endure the same conditions as those in the Breaking Chasm without our powers…"

"Master knows what he's doing," said Yuyui in the most unconvincing tone yet. "Well, at least when he's not making us eat babies."

"Let's just focus on scraping by." Savast, stern-faced, folded his arms cutely. The wisest baby in the bunch. "Who knows? Maybe this will even reconfigure the way our skills, Class, and bodies work, not just grant us extreme tolerance to difficult planetary conditions."

"That's very… optimistic of you," said Timmit skeptically.

"Well, if we turn into paste…" said Baddan, "…it was nice knowing you all."

"Don't say that! Aren't you guys supposed to be our leaders – our role models?" cried Gerriey. Baddan shrugged.

All the Strawlers stood around them at the edge of the Tipser Field, all except one. Striding towards the mechanical balls hovering above the grass, clicking and clanking, the Strawler began tinkering. The balls were a Treasure, one that came in a pair. As it happened, they were one of the few that the Warmoth had created for himself by studying the Treasures he snagged from the wider reality.

The Treasure essentially made the user lord of the Tipser Field, giving them unrestricted control over all its parameters. Thus, the Strawler adjusted air pressure and gravity with the Treasure, but wasn't kind enough to gently ease the Stars and Troops into the changes. Such was Skullius' directive.

The parameters within the Bosom were similar to those on Aigas, hence why the commonfolk had been able to live here comfortably while Skullius used Aigas as a battlefield.

So naturally, the Strawler worsened the parameters by tenfold in an instant.

"BWGEEH!" Timmit croaked when his body crashed into the ground, his bones exploding on impact.

The rest of the Troops and Stars had similar reactions. Daunted, scared, and in immense pain, it for sure seemed as though they would die instantly.

…But they didn't.

…!

The realization came an instant later, and it was thrilling, so thrilling that the agony from their burst organs couldn't squash it.

Slowly, their destroyed bones and flesh began mending, resisting the thwarting authority of the harsh parameters. But that wasn't even the best part.

Living things – mortal living things – were composed of body and soul. The soul couldn't be harmed by ordinary natural phenomena, hence, if it remained stalwart, a broken, weak body would force itself to learn stability from the soul.

The soul learned from the body and the body learned from the soul.

…And the Stars and Troops had strong souls for mortals, Yuyui especially. That was why they survived the immense trauma from splattering on the ground so suddenly.

The lord of the Tipser Field (the Strawler) took things up a notch. No. Ten more notches.

The Stars imploded, but they remained stalwart. Slowly, they mended, their bodies rising up to the challenge.

"WE. CAN. DO. IT!" cried Yuyui, grinning.

"I. HATE. YOU. ALL!" hissed Timmit.