Back at Sandbar’s home…
“Done,” Micro Chips said with a final press of a key. On the monitor, a website was created to advertise a field trip for the students of CHS. All the parents of the students needed to do was electronically sign their names. “This will buy us some time to keep everyone’s parents from getting suspicious. What do you think?”
Both Coral and Sandbar looked over his shoulder at the monitor. It read:
SCHOOLWIDE COLLEGE TOUR PLANNED!
THE STUDENTS WILL BE SPENDING ONE(1) WEEK AWAY FROM THE CITY TO EXPLORE THEIR POTENTIAL AT VARIOUS COLLEGE PROGRAMS AT LAS PEGASUS UNIVERSITY. SIGN HERE TO GRANT PERMISSION FOR YOUR STUDENT TO ATTEND: ________
As a fellow tech nerd, Coral was visibly impressed and gave him “Wow, you came up with this in like, what--five, six minutes? Pretty cool.”
“You think this’ll fool everybody though?” Sandbar asked, questioning the logic behind it, “What if they call their kids and ask? Nobody will be able to answer their phones and they’ll likely get worried.”
“Already thought of that,” he added as he rolled up his left sleeve and started tapping on an electronic wrist-device with his right hand. It had a small screen akin to that of a smartphone but with many unique programs including the one he was currently describing. “There’s a nice little program I’ve been working on that’ll block all access to cell tower communication for the next week. Everyone’s parents are gonna be confused and focused on dealing with the cell phone companies while they assume that their--young adult aged--children are off on a college tour.”
“Oooh…” Sandbar muttered with an interested look in his eyes.
“Wait, what?!” Coral squealed as she leaned forward, gazing at his arm device, “Lemme see that. How do you have such technology when you’re not even affiliated with any of the Mayor’s secret agent resources?!”
Micro pulled his sleeve back down and cracked his knuckles with a grin of satisfaction on his face. “Let’s just say that a lot of free time spent in one’s own computer lab grants you knowledge that you may not have considered before. This will buy us enough time to figure out what we should do next.”
“Oh yeah…” Sandbar rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about what Micro just said. The idea of where to go from here was a bit lost on him. “...What should we do next? Not like we can just rush into the school and slap the lovesickness out of ‘em.”
Such a crude suggestion caused his sister to giggle. “Wow, big brother, how long did it take you to come up with that?” she replied snarkily.
“Hey! Now’s not the time for bein’ a smartass,'' he huffed and glared at his sister, “Yona’s probably gone insane by now!”
“Oh…” Coral’s expression fell into a saddened frown. “That’s right, your girlfriend is probably suffering through this too, isn’t she?”
Sandbar relaxed and turned away, leaning against the nearest wall. “Yakistan people tend to be…a bit stronger than most,” he explained, “If she starts hunting down other guys, who knows how many bones she’ll break?”
“Yeah…sorry--I wasn’t thinking about that,” Coral apologized, “But still, how are we gonna get in there?”
While they had been talking, Micro Chips had been racking his brain for an idea. Someway they could get inside and undo the effects of the hypnosis. “Come on…you’re supposed to be the smart one. Think, darn you--think!”
BZZZZ!
“Agh!” he yelped, only to realize that it was his phone going off--catching the attention of the aquatic siblings. “Oh. Just a call. Wonder who it is…” Micro took his phone out, and was instantly met with a sign of relief. “...Oh thank goodness. There’s hope here yet.”
“Wha? Who is it, yo?” Sandbar asked.
Coral got up from her seat and looked over Micro’s shoulder. “Is it someone we know?”
“You could say that, if you remember her,” he showed them his phone--it was Wallflower Blush who was calling. “Guess we have some other survivors.” He answered it, and turned on video chat. “Hello? Is everything alright?”
Video chat was turned on from her end, and they would be able to see Wallflower holding the phone with her arm outstretched. “Okay, good. You’re still here. Glad to see you, MC.”
“Same here,” he replied with a relieved sigh, “Is anyone else with you?”
“Yeah,” Wallflower turned the camera to her side. She was in her bedroom and both Keiji and Rumble were lounging on beanbag chairs nearby. “These two,” she turned her head to address them, “Guys, take a look.”
“Hm?” Keiji looked up from where he was lying, and glanced at the phone. “Well, call me shocked. Some of you actually made it out alive.”
“Don’t be mean, Keij-match,” Rumble nudged him with an elbow as he approached the camera’s view. “Glad to see you guys are alright. Any idea how we’re gonna solve this?”
Sandbar was quick to reply with a rather important question, “No ide--wait--Plant-girl here isn’t under control. What gives?”
“Huh…” Micro muttered. “What gives indeed….we were both in the school not long before the effects took place. Are you sure you’re alright, Wallflower?”
“I’m fine, yeah,” she replied with a nod, “I think it might be because almost everyone forgot about me so I don’t exactly have any relationships that could be exploited through hypnosis. Any idea what caused all of this?”
“There was this weird lady with magic that let her turn herself into somebody else,” Sandbar explained, “She shanked Flash so I had to scare her off and now we’re here at my place.”
“I see,” Wallflower muttered, “That makes things a bit easier. Good thing I didn’t fall victim to that stuff--more heads are always better, right?”
Coral meanwhile, was a bit stuck on what she said a moment ago. “...Wait, does that mean you’re so unpopular that you didn’t even fall in love with anybody?”
Her statement sucked the tension out of both rooms as everyone on the call fell silent. Wallflower simply turned her head away from the phone and sighed.
“...What?” Coral asked before suddenly coming to the realization. “Ohh…”
Plock.
“Ow.”
Sandbar nudged her with his elbow and raised a brow while looking her in the eyes with a disappointed frown.
“Erm…I mean…s-sorry!” Coral quickly tried to rectify her misstep. “T-that’s not what I meant!”
Wallflower shook her head. “It’s fine. That was my own fault. But maybe it’s actually a good thing that it happened…”
In an effort to mend the awkwardness of the situation, Micro Chips spoke up. “...Alright, we should all try to settle down for the evening and come up with a plan that we can explain to each other tomorrow. It’s been a long day for all of us, and there’s still a few loose ends we need to wrap up over here.”
“Fine by me,” Keiji called out from the other line.
“Same here,” Rumble added.
“...If you guys come up with anything, call me back immediately. See ya,” Wallflower said right before she ended the call.
“...That wasn’t nice, Coral,” Sandbar lectured his sister, “You don’t have to bring up something so sensitive, okay? Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can hurt more than you think and leave a lifetime of psychological damage in the worst case scenario, got it?”
“...Don’t I know it…” Micro thought to himself as he looked at the monitor once more. “Don’t make the same mistakes I once did, kiddo.”
“Sorry, big brother. I’ll make sure I don’t do it again. Though…I’m more interested in how you used sand to scare that weird lady off…”