//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 - It Emerged from the Beach // Story: GermBusters 1: The True Pilots // by Lukington17 //------------------------------// "Remember it wasn't my idea" "It's fine sis, tell us." "Well, you know how Electric likes to chill in here?" Cutea gestured to her belly and poked it. "Well even today my annoying coltfriend decides to host a party there, and some of our friends are with him now." "Oh, so is that where Sera went?" Quinty asked. "Yeah, she had to bring them some party supplies. Paintball guns and snacks etc, I don't know. Silly stuff." "Lol sounds like your body has become their playground, Cutea" Quinty joked. "So where are they now?" Sunshine asked calmly. "I dunno, I think they said my tummy still but I can't feel them. Oh look, Electric tried to call me. I wonder what they're up to..." Cutea pondered, as she looked down at her navel. --- Deep on the other side of that navel, farther than the eye can see, a tiny party was underway. Crowds of youthful Micronauts were dancing and cheering on the beachfront, and performers lead the way on their constructed stage. Guidalina and the gang were there too, celebrating gleefully as they danced the evening away. They were all too busy to notice that the klaxon had sounded again, and most of the beach had evacuated after the coastguards had yelled to them all. The partygoers were none the wiser, and in a matter of moments, a giant lump of chewed food came tumbling into the belly, with a large splash that caused the stomach walls to ooze and gurgle, groaning loudly as they moved. Another wave rose up, rushing toward the shore menacingly and foaming at the crest. Eventually the singer on stage turned in terror and pointed. "Sandwich Tsunami!!!!" he yelled, and instantly the partygoers panicked and fled as quick as they could in a crowd. Guidalina told the gang to head for the tourist office again, up near the shop, and although the eight ponies made it safely they noticed a few cellular companions get caught in the juices and waves. The wave crashed the side of the pier and promenade, then things calmed down and Micronauts slowly emerged from their hiding-places. Blaze noticed a few young colts looking bruised, maybe having struck something, and she ran over to see if she could help. "Blaze, be careful!" Divinity yelled. "Hold up...what's that?" Electric gestured towards the enormous pile of sandwich that Cutea had swallowed, floating in the juices like an island with patrol boats surrounding. Surmounting the isle, an unpleasant-looking creature manifested. He let out a roar and declared himself in a menacing voice that he was a stomach virus, his voice resonating all the way to their shore. The gang watched as the patrol boats appeared to try and spray the virus to subdue him, firing iced water and green tea guns. They appeared to be having little luck, and the gang watched uncomfortably. "Maybe...we should go help?" Electric suggested. "We are bigger than it." The others nodded, some more eagerly than others, and without a moment to lose they set off for the isle. As they got closer, Flushie bemoaned: "If only Cutea didn't wolf down her food so much." Electric was pensive. "No, Flushie...I don't think it was because of that. Those sandwiches I made today, I wasn't sure about the lettuce. It had been left out and I thought I might have seen a bug on it. We gotta help her!" Immediately in-flight he texted Cutea. "Don't eat the sandwiches, any of you! They're contaminated; we're on it." The gang arrived and spoke to one of the Micronauts on the nearest boat. He looked like a detective, wearing a trench-coat and fedora that Atrimy adored, and wore a badge sporting CBI. "What's the story, chief?" they asked after pleasantries, as he replied: "Stomach viruses are nasty ones. You need a hell of a lot of salt, ice, and a damn-good team down in the bowels 'cos it ain't pretty." The gang hastily assembled some makeshift weapons. Using the paintball guns Sera had brought, they loaded them with vitamins, ice-cream, salt, and potassium from the boat's cargo hold. They fired at the virus to momentarily stun it, but it stayed up. It proceeded to drag its claws against the stomach walls, leaving them seeping and stinging, and the entire stomach groaned as gastric bubbles rose up around them. The patrol and coastguard Micronauts slowly lowered their own weapons, watching as their visitors suddenly stepped things up a notch: Atrimy, using his creative streak, smeared his hat's rim with sharp salt granules, and hurling it at the virus like a boomerang he was able to strike it significantly. Seraphine filled her gun with orange juice and blasted it at the virus' eyes, blinding it for long enough to disable it. Electric then used his bullet speed to swirl around the virus, causing a mini tornado around the virus which made it incredibly dizzy. As it shook around dizzily, Chris then sneaked up on it from behind and whacked it super-hard in the privates, sending it jumping up into the air yelling! Eminence harnessed her organic nature connections to control Cutea's stomach walls, clenching them at the top and pinching the virus' head, leaving him dangling there. With this, just like a sniper Flushie then fired a perfect shot into the centre of the virus, exploding it into a spectacular firework that slowly disintegrated as it floated down into the acids to be dissolved. An immense cheer rose up from the crowd, and the gang all stood in amazement at what they just did. They all hugged each other as they were sailed back to the shore by the patrols, who exclaimed they couldn't have done it without them. They docked and found an adoring crowd who'd watched it all unfold! They shuffled their way through and found Blaze Inferno, miraculously having healed the injured colts thanks to her harnessed medical bars. "That was insane...!" Flushie shouted. "How the heck did we all do that?!" Chris exclaimed in amazement. "Guys we totally kicked ass at that" Seraphine squealed. "Great job, gang. I guess concern for our friend really brought out super-pony ingenuity haha" Electric laughed. "Yeah...except for you, Divinity, thanks for nothing" they joked. Divinity closed her eyes and looked relaxed. "Maybe I just haven't discovered what I can do yet." The gang looked at each other and shrugged, joining the crowds of Micronauts in laughter and celebration. The detective even came and thanked them, introducing himself as Chief Wartz from the Cutea Body Investigators. When they found they had a moment to themselves, the eight of them chatted excitedly about their exploits. "We were like one of those cool crime-fighting teams!" Atrimy said, as Chris and Eminence hoof-bumped. "Guys, we literally could be one of those teams!" Flushie yelped. A few of them turned confusedly, but she elaborated: "think about it! We control our sizes, and we each have special traits we can use against enemies! Any virus that tries to come into Cutea's body, we can smash 'em up!" "Actually she's not wrong," Electric agreed, "We can really do some good whenever any of us are unwell - we know what to do, and I'm sure Cutea will be grateful. She just texted me, look: "Just had an upset stomach but it's gone now. Thanks guys x" "So that's like, totally got to happen now" Eminence said, "I'm so buzzed for this, guys." Electric texted Cutea that they were gonna go on a mission to fight viruses for her, to which she sent the eye-roll and kiss emojis. "Right chaps, now what we need is a name!" After 10 minutes of 'hmmm' and thinking hard, they settled on Germbusters, and put all their hooves into the middle for a team hype. "Let's do this!" Electric shouted, as they all prepared themselves once more with their weapons, heading to find Guidalina to get some info. --- Guidalina was so happy for them, and hugged them all as they came to her office. "You guys were incredible! I've never seen such teamwork! Honestly, so much better than the CBI haha!" Sitting with cups of tea and coffee, the gang made their proposition to her. "Do you think there's a need for us? Could the Germbusters be a useful ally for the Micronauts?" Electric asked. Guidalina nodded. "Absolutely, without a doubt Electric. The police force here are good, but you guys just have so much extra to bring to the table. I always knew it would be awesome to have outside ponies come in, because look how handy you are! The law-enforcement departments would have to approve it but that should be no problem. You'd be local heroes for everyone here, and you'd be the Germbusters keeping Cutea's body super healthy!" "Well, maybe we should get some uniforms. So ponies recognise us?" Atrimy suggested, which Guidalina beamed at. "Leave that to me, I'll get us some beautiful ones" he boasted proudly. Electric smiled at him and then asked Guidalina: "Now, we need to know which sectors to target. Which are the most dangerous or vulnerable locations?" Guidalina produced a 'city map' which showed a side outline of Cuteamena, divided into various sectors and departments. "Fortunately my friend Mabel works in Evidence at Cutea PD. She keeps me up-to-date a lot, to help with tours and stuff. If I were you guys, I would keep the stomach under control yes, but Biley's not bad and knows what he's doing mostly. The ears often get some unwanted intruders in the air, likewise the nose. In fact the nose today apparently got some pollen particles we think might be contributing to Cutea's developing allergies." The gang all took notes curiously. "The kidneys is where you could go to dispose of any evildoers... but our main Prison is in the left flank. Oh, and the mouth. That plays sees a lot of action these days, Mabel says. Plaque report last night, even." "I did tell her she was due a dentist check-up" Electric said, shaking his head. Chris spoke up: "Guidalina, do the germs and viruses tend to come in groups?" "No, they come on their own and try cause havoc. Usually they're reeeeaally slippery and we can't get hold of them, which is why you guys were so impressive out there!" The team all smiled broadly and patted each other on the back, taking the map gratefully. "I'll call City Hall and see if the Mayoral team can meet you guys, I get the feeling you'll be in the news this evening! Make your way over to the brain, that's where it'll be." "Thanks so much for your help, Guidalina. Give us a shout if ever you need some germs busted!" They all thanked their guide as she made the phone call, and altogether they set off for the brain...or at least tried to, before getting lost in a long passageway. "Follow that line there, look" "No no, it's that way." "We tried that already!" "They have news reports?" "Guys guys, I got this. It's this passage, then left there, then up this one. Let's go!" Electric trusted his navigation skills and sure enough they came into a massive clearing, dominated by the enormous cerebellum above. Stormclouds and lightning seemed to surge towards the top, rising dramatically into the darkness, and the electricity shooting off in different directions must have been various nerves and messages going across Cutea's body. At the base of the brain was a building of rather grand architecture, a befitting City Hall in the British neo-classical style. They headed towards it as a few passers-by recognised them. This whole space seemed to be like a big plaza, with various suburbs branching off this central square. In the very middle was a charming fountain statue of Cuteamena, which they snapped photos of to show her later. Eventually they reached the building's entrance and the security guards blocked their path momentarily, only to be shooed away by a small elderly mare from behind. "Oh, let them in you buffoons. Didn't I tell you we're welcoming the visitors?" The mare ushered them into the reception and introduced herself. "My name is Medulla Mayweather, I'm the secretary to the Mayors. We've been so eager to meet you, the so-called Germbusters! What a delightful job you did down in the stomach, what a crisis averted! Anyway, let me escort you to the elevator." The team thanked Medulla for her warm welcome, and headed up the elevator. "Did she say 'mayorS'?" Blaze asked. "Must've been a mistake. She clearly works hard," Divinity pointed out. --- The doors opened to reveal a vast ovular office, which had lots of glass panels just like the uvula department. At the far end was the desk bureau, and what appeared to be a sofa behind it rather than a desk-chair. As the team walked further in, they noticed the walls were lined with various outlines of body-parts, showing data and updates for each one. They could hear several voices arguing loudly now, and sure enough when they reached the desk they noticed that there was not one, but five Micronauts sitting on this sofa! Each one looked like Cuteamena, but with different matching bow and skirt colours: yellow, red, pink and blue. They all stopped talking and instantly stood to attention, waving at the team. "Oh hi!" said the yellow one happily. "Let us introduce ourselves: we are the Mayors of this civilisation, who together oversee the upkeep and healthy conditions of Cutea's body!". The gang looked humbled and exchanged waves and smiles with her. "Yeah, and we don't take kindly to strangers," the red one added, but the yellow one slapped her back. "Oh hush, you. Anyway, we each represent one of Cutea's core emotions. Our actions in here control how she behaves and feels on the outside!" The pink one spoke softly, "And it would probably be the same for you guys." The team nodded as the Mayors got up and showed them to the grand window, with its sweeping views over the neighbourhood. Electric went up to the red one, who was pouting looking annoyed. "Aw hey cute little Cutea, are you done being sassy for now? Big Electric is here to he-" "BACK OFF, LOVERBOY!" The red one shouted in his face, knocking him over. The others all laughed in hysterics as the stallion harumphed. "Careful, that's Anger. I'm Miserable, the yellow is Kindness, and the pink one is Cuteness", the blue one said. "It's so great to meet you all, you're doing a fabulous job keeping this body healthy and shipshape," Flushie commented. "Thank you so much! I guess you could say we're the pilots of this fine vessel." "Yeah heh, and it's truly amazing being here and shown around," Atrimy added. Eminence raised her hooves sensually, "you guys are like, so in-tune with your host....proper connection." The Mayors all beamed until a red light flashed on their desk. "Uh oh, we've got a mouldy mango in that picnic basket. Repeat, mouldy mango!". All four of them started arguing over what to press, but Miserable seized control, "Oh my God that is GROSS" she said, switching a lever. A screen of CuteaVision nearby showed Cutea's hooves swaying away the basket, as they heard her shout to get rid of it to Quinty and Sunshine. The Mayors hi-fived at a job done, and went to the team who were surveying the view. -- "Looks like something's going on down there~" Seraphine pointed down to the plaza. Indeed, a bunch of small orange unicorns with jagged and ominous armour were smashing up post-boxes and windows with their magic. "Oh no, they've broken into the brain." The gang gave a unanimous 'huh?!', to which Kindness replied: "Cutea's allergies. She had these occasional moments where she'd need to sneeze, and it's because of those guys. They're pollen microbes." "Yeah, each day more of them came into the nose, and now it seems they're finally getting to Cutea's head...literally!" The gang looked at each other with a smirk. "Looks like a job...for the Germbusters!" Chris squeed happily, as the others all cheered. "They're no match for us!" "Oh my Goodness, that would be so so wonderful of you!" "Yes, a true favour." "Go on and prove it then..." Taking the words of motivation, the team raced out of City Hall in a flash, heading straight for the pollen gang and employing their individual skills they'd used before whilst Blaze used her medicinal magic to help any afflicted Micronauts nearby. Again, they quickly subdued the pollen germs, with tricks such as Chris' counterspells which fired to make the microbes sneeze themselves, and Atrimy's giant hat trapping them allowing Seraphine to bulldoze them into the walls with her juiceblaster. As Flushie rounded them up with a rope, the others turned thinking they'd done their job. Suddenly, one surviving microbe tried to leap onto Sera's back, but Divinity shouted "look out!" and latched onto the microbe, engulfing it with her large hugging arms, and disintegrating it. "Woah...!" Atrimy cried. "How'd you do that?!" Electric stared. Divinity chuckled, "I knew I'd find it eventually." Sure enough, her hugging was so strong that it could engulf her enemy, and further squeezing could disintegrate harmful organisms! A few passing Micronauts had seen that, and muttered how 'the white pony should be hired by the White Blood Cells defence unit'. She laughed at this, but with the pollen microbes still tangled in a ball, Eminence then used her magic to open up the nasal passage (connected to the brain via a large boulevard). Electric smashed them into the nasal passage by hitting the ball of microbes at great speed. The crowds cheered as the ball of pollen shot back down into the nose. "Let's go send them back where they came from!" Electric yelled. "Where?" Flushie asked teasingly. "Um...I dunno, the air!" He replied, and they were cheered on as they chased the germs into the nose. The nostril was still an illuminated suburb until a certain point, when the houses stopped and the path became covered in hairs and snot lying in places, dripping around them. "Cuteaslime!" joked the stallion, but the others weren't so impressed. "Okay, gross..." Sera exclaimed, as Eminence covered her eyes. "Hmm, I think it landed over there," Atrimy said, pointing to a dark shadow. Sure enough, it was the ball of dizzy pollen microbes - and as they sneered and growled at the oncoming Germbusters, the nosehairs started swaying in the breeze as Cutea inhaled. 'Uh oh' they thought; the team had all started stroking various hairs, and even plucking one or two. A large gust of air whooshes in over all their heads. "No, stop! We'll do anything!" the pollen microbes pleaded. "Nuh-uh," Sera said, poking them with a plucked nosehair, "this town ain't big enough for both of us." As the air kept coming in they heard an echoing "aaah...AAAAAH..." from poor Cutea, and grabbing tight to each other in a chain as Guidalina had shown, they stayed fixed to the passage walls on "CHOOOOOOOOOO!" The snot came gushing down the tunnel and air blew across them at infinite speed, various dust particles caught in it too. The pollen ball disappeared in a nanosecond, whisked away with everything else. The team could just about see the opening at the end of the tunnel, a blinding light from the slit which showed the picnic table's unmistakable chequers. "Uuugh, excuse me," Cutea groaned, wiping her nose clean. Inside, the team all hugged and celebrated another victory, heading back to the brain plaza and sending a group selfie to Cutea.