Terra Academy Episode 61

Terra Academy
Episode 61: Rounded Robin
By dsguy411

Nighttime at Terra Academy was pretty quiet.  All the students and teachers were in bed and fast asleep but it seems there is still someone up and active.  In the old warehouse located on the southwest end of the island sounds of footsteps and peg legs were heard as Captain Dreadbeard and his time-displaced pirates were scavenging the crates inside for anything they could swipe.
“Yargh,” the Captain spoke, “What be takin’ you so long?  You slowpokes should have found somethin’ useful right about now.”
“All we could find are these laser pistols and these floatin’ boards, Captain,” said one of the pirates, holding up a phaser and a hoverboard.
“That thar be basic stuff,” Captain Dreadbeard said, “Sure me definition of basic be different since we be marooned in this new era.  Hell, I be still tryin' t' understand how t' toaster works.  Still, you scurvy dogs have t’ have found somethin’ useful t’ sell on t’ black market.”
One of the pirates were looking around until he and another pirate found something odd on the wall.
“Hey, Captain,” one of the pirates said, pointing to the wall, “What be this red X doing here on t’ wall?”
Captain Dreadbeard looked at the wall and saw a red X painted onto the wall.  As he was trying to figure out what it was doing here and net suddenly flew past him and pinned the two pirates onto the wall.
“What be this?” the Captain asked.
“That be me,” said Robin, standing on a crate behind the Captain and holding a bazooka-shaped object that fired the net.
“You again?” Dreadbeard asked, turning around to see the girl.
“Glad you remember me,” Robin said with a confident smile.
She set the net launcher down and leapt down onto the floor.  Dreadbeard only glared at Robin as he stepped back a little.
“What are you doing here?” Robin asked, “There is no treasure in this warehouse for you to steal.”
“Well we be thinkin’ that buried treasure is hard t’ come by in t’ 22nd century,” Captain Dreadbead explained, “So we have decided t’ plunder this here tech of yours t’ sell on t’ black market.”
“We be getting’ with t’ times,” said on the pirates, still trapped in the net.
“Well you are still going to jail for breaking in,” Robin said with confidence.
“We’ll be seein’ about that,” Captain Dreadbeard said.
The pirate reached towards behind the crate and pulled out a cannon.  With an evil smile he lit up a match, lit the fuse, and stood back.
“I’ll be sendin’ you packin’ t’ Davy Jones’ Locker,” Captain Dreadbead stated.
At the same time the cannon fired out a cannonball at Robin she took the necessary action.  Pressing the button on her uniform she inflated her suit which made the cannonball bounce off of her harmlessly and send it flying straight to Captain Dreadbeard’s face.
“Oooh,” the trapped pirate lackey said, cringing at the site with his cohort, “That will be leavin’ a mark.”
With much of his teeth knocked out and his face bruised Captain Dreadbeard fell face flat onto the floor.  Robin thought she had won but she didn’t notice that she missed one of Dreadbeards’ pirate minions, who was holding a hi-tech rifle that shot a bold of lightning at Robin’s suit, directly at the button.
“AGGGGHHH!!!” she cried, “Suit deflate!”
Her suit returned to normal size but the button on it was sparking a little.  She didn’t notice that but instead she picked up Captain Dreadbeard’s sword and threw it at a rope by the wall, which was holding a net full of flour bags which fell onto the pirate below.  With all the pirates rounded up Robin was outside with Headmaster Savage as several members of Terra Partol escorted the captured pirates to the ship.
“Great work, Miss Armando,” the headmaster praised, “You sure made me proud tonight.  Still, that warehouse is pretty old and not a lot would have been missed anyway.”
“Well, when I heard some suspicious noises out there I felt like I had to check,” Robin said.
The button on her suit sparked a little bit which caught Savage’s attention.
“Uh…did your suit spark just now?” he asked.
Robin looked down and looked all over herself.  At the moment everything seemed to be fine with her.
“Probably my imagination,” Savage said, “I suggest you get to bed, ma’am.”
“Yes, sir,” Robin saluted.
The girl began her trek back to her and Rachel’s room as the button around her uniform sparked again.

***

The next day Robin was looking through her locker and found her lunch bag.  Carrying it through the hall she was hearing whispers from her classmates.
“Did you hear?” asked on student, “She took on an army of pirates last night.”
“An army?” questioned another, “I heard there were only few of them.”
“Well I heard they were accompanied by a sea serpent,” said a third.
Its everyday Robin hears praises about what she does.  Sure they were exaggerated but she was still flattered nonetheless.  The girl entered the cafeteria where she sat right next to Marcus, Rachel, and Simon.
“Hey, I heard you threw a cannonball at Captain Dreadbeard’s face last night,” Marcus said to Robin.
“More like deflected,” Robin said with a smile, pulling out a sub sandwich from her bag.
“I heard you got shocked, though,” Simon said, a bit concerned over that.
“Oh, that,” Robin said, “I am fine, really.  That pirate didn’t charge that weapon long enough for it to be fatal.”
“Well as least you are alright,” Marcus said.
“Anyway, what is happening with you three?” Robin asked.
“Well I finally got accepted to attend a game show on Sandshore Studios,” Simon gloated, “I get to compete with a randomly selected person in a game show called Rocket Trip to win a grand prize.  And that prize would be the ultra-matic telescope.
“A telescope?” Rachel questioned, “Wouldn’t that be useless?  Ever since Earth became an open system mankind pretty much knows everything about the galaxy they live in.”
“Well I think it would look good as a decoration,” Simon said, “Best part is I get to invite one person to watch me win.  What do you say Marcus?  You said you wanted to come.”
“Sorry, but I got a huge history report to do,” Marcus spoke, “I’m afraid I won’t be able to attend.”
“Oh,” Simon said, feeling a bit disappointed, “I understand.  Schoolwork does come first.”
“I’ll go,” Rachel said, “I don’t have any assignments to do at the moment.”
“That’s great,” Simon said, “What are you going to do, Robin?”
“I guess I could stay here today,” Robin answered, “Just relax and stuff.”
“Okay,” Rachel said, “I guess we’ll be seeing each other later tonight then.”

***

Later that afternoon Marcus was sitting on Lookout Point writing his report in peace.  As he was writing the boy noticed Robin walking around the beach.  Deciding to take a break Marcus placed all his stuff into his bag and walked all the way to where Robin was.
“Hey, Robin,” Marcus greeted.
“Oh, hi,” Robin said, “Don’t you have a report to do?”
“Yeah, but I noticed that you were down here so I decided to come down here,” Marcus said.
“Ah,” Robin spoke, nodding.
Marcus looked at the uniform that she was still wearing and wondered about something.
“Say, you don’t mind telling me how you really bested Dreadbeard, right?” he asked, “I have heard from multiple sources and they were all told differently.  I just want to know what really happened.”
“Why certainly,” Robin said with glee, “So there I was, hiding myself in the warehouse because I heard some odd noises, when I saw Dreadbeard and three of his lackeys trying to find stuff to steal and sell.  I shot a net at two of them and confronted the head honcho himself.  Of course she tried to fire a cannonball at me so I inflated my suit like this.”
With a press of her button on her uniform she inflated her suit but when she did the button sparked once more and shorted out without her knowing.
“I was able to bounce the cannonball right back into the pirate’s ugly mug,” she continued, “Of course I got zapped by the one lackey that I missed so I had to deal with him.  Suit deflate.”
When she said that, nothing had appeared to happen.
“With my suit deflated I took Dreadbeard’s sword and threw it at the wall which…,” Robin continued, realizing midsentence that something was amiss.
Taking a good look at herself she still realized that her suit was still inflated.
“What’s wrong?” Marcus asked.
“I don’t know,” Robin answered, “I told my suit to deflate and it didn’t.  Suit deflate.”
Again, nothing had happened.  This made Robin start to feel a little concerned.
“Suit deflate!” Robin shouted.
Still, her uniform remains inflated.
“Suit deflate,” Robin said once more, starting to panic a little, “Suit deflate.  Suit deflate.  Suit deflate.  Suit deflate.  Suit deflate.  Suit deflate.  Su…
“Robin, calm down,” Marcus said.
“How can I?” she asked, “My suit is deflating when it should!”
“Just breathe,” Marcus advised, “Think, have anything happened that would have damaged your suit’s circuits in any way?”
“I highly doubt it,” Robin answered, “The circuits on my suit are layered with durable and highly resistant fabric to help it better endure impacts.  The only possible thing that could have hurt it is if it takes a direct from lightning.”
Then, hearing from what she said, Robin started to have an idea of what’s wrong.
“Oh, no,” she spoke.
“Is something wrong?” Marcus asked.
“When I got shocked by that pirate,” Robin spoke, “When he shocked me he must have damaged my circuits.  Damn it!  With the circuits all fried up I won’t be able to deflate unless if it’s fixed.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to poke a hole in the suit to let out all the air?” Marcus asked.
“Afraid not,” Robin said, “There are multiple air sacks sewn between fabrics all the torso area of my suit.  You would have to pop them all for my uniform to deflate completely.  Besides, that is not going to be an option because it’ll cost me hundreds of dollars to make another one.”
“Okay, I guess there is one option we can try,” Marcus said, taking out his cellphone and dialing Simon’s number.
Then a hologram of Simon appeared from the boy’s phone, which seemed to mean that Marcus was able to reach him.
“Hello, this is Simon, I am not here right now,” the hologram said, revealing to be a recording, “Please leave a message and I’ll see to it that I’ll return your call whenever I can.”
“I forgot,” Marcus groaned, “He has this trivia thing going on.”
“What do we do?” Robin asked.
“I’m not sure, but until Simon gets back you’re stuck as a beach ball,” Marcus said.
“This is not my day,” Robin said.
Marcus heard some voice so he looked past the cliff base to see some students heading to the beach.
“I am going to get such a nice tan,” said a female student.
“Well I am going to make a sandcastle,” said a male student.
“And I am going to knock down a sandcastle,” said another male student.
“Crap,” Marcus said, “This beach is going to have people over.”
“Well they can’t see me here and like this!” Robin pleaded, “You got to get me somewhere more private.”
“Right,” Marcus said.
Holding onto the inflated suit Marcus started to roll Robin away from the crowd and somewhere where she couldn’t be seen until Simon returns from Sandshore Island.
“You’re making me dizzy,” Robin said, her head spinning along with her body.
“Sorry, but this is how we can go about until your suit is fixed,” Marcus said.

***

Simon and Rachel were at Sandshore Studios and were in the building where Rocket Trip was going to take place.  They looked around the backstage as they got to see the celebrities and news reporters that worked there.
“Wow, can’t believe you get to be on TV,” Rachel said to Simon, “I am so jealous.”
“Eh, no big deal,” Simon said.
“Say, I think that’s Anna Wentworth over there,” Rachel said, pointing to the anchorwoman of the Pacific News Network.
“Listen, bud, I need my soy latte right now!” she shouted impatiently to a stagehand, “I always have one before I report the evening news.  If I don’t get one right now I am going to freak!”
The stagehand nodded fearfully as he ran off to find the soy latte for Anna as Rachel and Simon stared at awe.
“She is a lot nice on TV,” Rachel said.
Simon nodded as another stagehand tapped the boy’s soldier.
“Mr. Matthews, the show is starting soon,” he informed.
“Right,” Simon said, turning to Rachel, “Wish me luck.”
Simon walked around the curtains and waited for his name to be called as Rocket Trip was starting.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer said from off-stage, “Get ready to be launched in the cosmos as two contestants will compete for prizes from beyond the beyond.  It’s….Rocket Trip.  And now for your host, Jim Maxwell!”
A man with white hair and wearing a violet jumpsuit appeared from above on floating platform.  When it landed between two rocket-shaped podiums the man stepped onto the floor and held out his mike.
“Welcome, Jim here again for another exciting episode of Rocket Trip, that’s going on strong like the Mars rover Spirit did,” Jim spoke to the audience, “Anyway, let’s bring out our first contestant.  He’s a second-year student from Terra Academy, likes to tinker with gadgets, and loves spending time with his friends….it’s Simon Matthews.”
Upon hearing his name Simon stepped from behind the curtain and stepped onto his podium.
“How are you doing, Simon?” Jim asked.
“Very good, Jim,” he answered.
“Good, because here is your opponent,” Jim announced, “She is a first-year in Terra Academy, likes to read, and one of the youngest to attend…”
“Wait, please don’t tell me…,” Simon groaned, dreading on who his opponent could be.
“It’s Amanda Jenkins!” Jim announced.
Simon was shocked that he was competing with Amanda.  The girl glanced at Simon a little as she walked onto the stage before stepping onto her podium.
“What are the odds?” Rachel asked from backstage.
“Salutations, Jim,” Amanda said, “Before we start I should clarify that the Mars rover Spirit went inactive long before its sister rover, Opportunity, did.”
Jim pulled out his cellphone and looked up what Amanda just said.
“Ah, thanks for correcting me,” Jim said, “That’s 100 points for Amanda.”
The score on Amanda’s podium went from zero to 100 as it hovered into the air a little.
“Ugh, I don’t like the look of this,” Simon groaned.
“Hm, I didn’t know they put you up against me,” Amanda said with a smirk, “I guess they couldn’t get access to our grade records because it’s obvious that I am far smarter.”
“We’ll see about that,” Simon spoke, “This will be my chance to prove myself to you.”
“Sure, if that thing happens to be being a fool,” Amanda trash talked.
“Anyway, the rules of the game are the same,” Jim explained, “As you get points your podium goes up, up, up.  Whoever reaches 10,000 first wins tonight’s grand prize, the Ultra-Matic Telescope X900.  A lovely antique worth $14,500.”
A curtain lifted up showing a chrome-colored telescope with a small computer built in.
“It’ll look nice in my room,” Amanda said.
“As if!” Simon shouted, “I will win that telescope and use it to look up close at your disappointed face!”
“Ugh…this will end ugly, I just know it,” Rachel said, still hanging from behind the stage.

***

Marcus and the still inflated Robin were able to make it to the warehouse without drawing any unwanted attention.  On his cellphone again Marcus couldn’t reach Simon so he had to leave a message instead.
“Simon, this is Marcus,” he spoke, “I….don’t want to give out any details but Robin’s suit can’t deflate and I need a…a….”
“Micro circuit card X496,” Robin said.
“A micro circuit card X496,” Marcus repeated, “And we need one immediately.”
Marcus ended the call and looked out the window, seeing that no one was around the warehouse for the moment.
“Well nothing we can do but wait I guess,” Marcus said.
“Great, Ms. Beach Ball has to stay in a dusty warehouse,” Robin said to herself, still a bit upset of her ordeal.
“Hey, you think I like doing this?” Marcus asked, “I understand that making that suit was expensive and difficult but unless if you are willing to have it popped we have no other choice but to wait until Simon gets here.”
“Well could you at least get me something from the cafeteria?” Robin asked, “I’m getting famished here.”
“Okay,” Marcus said, “Just don’t go anywhere.”
“Does it look like I have a choice?” Robin asked, trying to shake herself back and forth to show Marcus how difficult it was to move in an inflated suit.
Marcus made it out of the warehouse and snuck his throughout the entire campus until he entered the cafeteria.  He stepped out a moment later carrying some slices of pizza and made his way through the campus once more until he spotted Coach Samson and Headmaster Savage taking a stroll.  This prompted Marcus to hide behind a palm tree.
“So, why are we going to the warehouse again?” Samson asked.
“To make sure nothing really is stolen,” Savage explained, “I know there’s not a lot but I won’t feel at ease until I am really sure nothing was taken.
“Not good,” Marcus said, dropping the pizza and running towards the warehouse where he entered through the back door.
When he got inside he noticed that Robin’s head was upside down.  While he was gone the girl decided to try moving around on her own.
“There you are, all the blood is rushing to my head,” she said, “And where’s the grub?”
“Change of plans,” Marcus answered, “We gotta find someplace to hide.  Headmaster Savage is heading over here.”
“What?!” Robin cried.
“Shhh….he might hear us,” Marcus shushed.
“Well…where can we go?” Robin asked.
“There’s gotta be some place that’s empty,” Marcus said.
“The hangar!” Robin exclaimed, “It’s closed for maintenance and should be pretty much empty by now.”
“But we are going to have to get through the campus,” Marcus said, “How can we get there without you being seen?”
The boy looked around and saw a bunch of crumpled up newspapers.  There were a lot of them which gave Marcus and idea.  Several moments later Marcus pushed out what looked like a ball of newspapers tied together with some rubber bands through the backdoor and rolled it towards the campus.  In reality it was actually Robin underneath the papers so no one could see her stuck in her inflated uniform.
“Marcus, if you are going to disguise me with newspapers could you at least cover my face with a section that isn’t Opinions?” Robin asked from underneath the papers.
“Sorry but I had to act fast before Savage and Samson got in,” Marcus said.
The boy kept on rolling the hidden Robin as someone noticed him.  It was actually Lily, the girl that was Marcus’ fan because of his position of being the star Passer in the Comets last year.
“Hey, Marcus,” Lily said.
The boy jumped, turning to see Lily.
“Oh, you,” Marcus said, his heart pounding from the scare, “You’re Lily, correct?”
“So you remember me,” Lily said, a little flattered, “I saw you a couple of times since the year began but never got a chance to talk to you.  Say, what’s with the newspapers?”
“Oh…this?” Marcus asked, “Just a…..recycling project for….Earth Science.”
Just then Robin sneezed underneath the newspapers.
“Did that ball of newspaper just sneezed?” Lily asked.
“No, that’s ridiculous,” Marcus lied, “Now if you excuse me I have to get this Geography project ready.”
“I thought you mean Earth Science?” Lily asked.
“That, too,” Marcus said, rolling the well disguised Robin towards the hangar.
Lily was a bit confused of what Marcus was doing but just shrugged as she continued on her merry way.

***

Simon and Amanda were still facing off with each other in Rocket Trip but Amanda seemed to be doing much better than Simon.  The girl’s podium was halfway to the top while Simon’s was barely off the ground.
“Alright, we are now back to Rocket Trip and it seems Amanda has taken the lead throughout the whole episode with a score of 5,800,” Jim announced, “While Simon is a bit behind at 1,200.”
“Can we get on with the second round?” Amanda asked, “I am getting tired of beating Simon point by point and I want to get this over with.”
“You better hope I don’t get up there!” Simon threatened.
“I can do more than hope,” Amanda said as her comeback.
Simon just growled at Amanda as Jim watched.
“Wow, surely a competitive episode we are having today,” Jim said, “Anyway let’s get to Round 2 where point value is doubled.  For 200 points on what day did the Russian meteor coincide with the passing of a passing asteroid and where did that Russian meteor occur?”
Simon pressed the button the podium as Jim pointed towards him.
“The date was February 15th, 2013,” Simon answered, “And the name of the Russian is…Chela….Chela…”
“Come on, it seems you know it,” Rachel said silently to herself, “Just try and sound it out.”
However the buzzer sounded, signaling that time was up for Simon.
“Oh, so sorry,” Jim said, “But you are out of time.  Amanda, care to answer the question?”
“The meteor that exploded in Russia’s atmosphere occurred on February 15th, 2013,” Amanda answered, “The same day 367943 Duende, known then as asteroid 2012 DA14, passed over just 16 hours later.  The different orbits of those two bodies show that they were completely unrelated to each other.”
“Correct,” Jim said as Amanda’s score went from 5800 to 6000.
“What a know-it-all,” Rachel said, amazed at Amanda’s memory of trivia, “I can’t even remember what numbers she said before the Duende part.”
Simon was just as shocked, seeing that he was clearly no match for Amanda’s scientific knowledge.
“I am so not looking forward to when this episode airs on TV,” he said to himself, putting his head down on the podium.

***

Marcus was able to get Robin into the hangar which was very empty except for a few aircraft vehicles parked inside.  Removing the newspapers hiding the inflated girl Marcus rolled her to some crates and checked his watch.
“Only an hour until Simon gets back,” Marcus said, “If we just chill here and not make too much noise we still might be able to fix this without anyone else know.”
“I hope so,” Robin said, “I haven’t been able to go the bathroom since this started.”
“Well it could be worse,” Marcus said, “Your suit could be filled with helium and you’ll be floating away.”
“Why would I want to put helium in my suit?” Robin asked.
“Okay, sounds like an improbable example but this situation is still better compared to it,” Marcus admitted.
Robin giggled at the thought of her floating above the islands like a balloon.  However, that funny moment was cut short when she heard some footsteps.  Marcus heard them, too, so he peeked from behind the crates to see Sergio walking with a brunette girl next to him, wearing a fuchsia T-shirt and some tan pants.
“You see, all of this is owned by my grandfather,” Sergio bragged.
“Really?” the girl asked, “Are any of these working right now?  This place is under maintenance.”
“Crap, it’s Sergio,” Marcus said, “And….who is that girl?”
“Beats me,” Robin said, “But sometimes he does like to brag in front of girls about being the Headmaster’s grandson.”
“We can’t be here, though,” Marcus said, “If Sergio sees me in here he’ll see it as another chance to get me expelled.”
“Plus there’s the whole….suit thing,” Robin mentioned, poking the fabric of her inflated suit around her hands.
“Let’s just get out of here and find another place to hide,” Marcus said.
Robin was quietly pushed through the backdoor which Marcus had trouble doing because of the door’s small size.  Thankfully he was able to push Robin through but it did make her bounce all the way to the jungle.
“Marcus!” Robin cried.
“Coming!” he said, running into the jungle.
He looked around for Robin but saw no sign of her.  Then he noticed a round-shaped shadow on the ground to he looked up to see Robin wrapped in some vines by the trees.
“There you are,” Marcus said, “How did you get up there?”
“Never mind that,” Robin replied, “Just please get me down.”
However the vines snapped and Robin landed right onto Marcus, pinning him to the ground because of Robin’s rounded form.
“Sorry,” Robin apologized.
“It’s….ugh…alright,” Marcus groaned, crawling his way out from underneath Robin.
The boy got himself up and dusted himself off when he heard more footsteps.  He rolled Robin behind some bushes and remained hidden as two Terra Patrol guards walked by, making sure that no student was in the jungle.
“So if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, but is really a chipmunk, then you have a really confused animal,” one of the guards said to the other as they walked by.
Once they were sure they had passed Marcus rolled Robin out from the bushes.  The girl had bits of leaves and berries all over her face from hiding in there.
“I am so going to need a shower after this,” Robin groaned.
“Sorry about that,” Marcus said, “But we still need to find someplace to hide.  With these guards all over the place even the jungle isn’t an option.”
He continued to roll Robin along the jungle ground and even though they were rolling over rocks, twigs, and even some sharp wood chips the suit didn’t even once puncture.
“Wow, your suit is not even damaged from rolling around here,” Marcus stated.
“Thank you,” Robin said, “This suit is made of highly durable material meant to help lessen the blow of impacts in case I fall of a high place.”
“Listen, why can’t we just roll back to your room and hide there?” Marcus asked.
“Because I could be seen,” Robin reminded Marcus, “Those students look up to me and I don’t want to let them down.  Besides I don’t think I can fit through the door.”
“Are you sure I can’t pop this with a needle?” Marcus asked.
“Not unless if you have nine hundred dollars to replace the inflation sacs,” Robin replied.
“Sadly I don’t,” Marcus said.
Eventually Robin was rolled out of the jungle and went down a slope to see that they were at a beach.  This wasn’t the same beach they were at before, but at a different, quieter beach.
“Don’t think there are any people here,” Marcus said as he stopped rolling Robin just a bit close to the water.
“Yeah, we can hide here until Simon gets back,” Robin said.
“Let’s just rest for a while,” Marcus said, sitting down on the sandy beach, “I feel completely exhausted from rolling you around all afternoon.”
Robin looked out at the horizon as the sun was starting to make its way down towards the sea.  However, the tide was starting to come in and picked Robin up as it was setting her out to sea without Marcus noticing.
“Uh….Marcus?” Robin spoke.
“You know, Robin, despite the mishaps today I actually found this afternoon to be a bit…enjoyable,” Marcus said, unaware that Robin was going out into sea.
“Marcus!” Robin shouted.
The boy turned around and realized what was happening.  However it was too late for Robin was way out to sea, too far for Marcus to jump in and swim her back to shore.
“Uh….oh….,” Marcus just said, realizing how badly he messed up this time.

***

Simon was walking down the street with Rachel, having a sad, bitter expression on his face.  The game show was over with and it was clear that Simon didn’t win.
“Come on, the final round wasn’t that bad,” Rachel said to Simon.
“Amanda’s answer had everyone rethinking Einstein’s theory of relativity,” the boy said.
“Okay, she did kinda outdid you but at least you got to be on TV,” Rachel said.
“Whatever, I’ll just let Marcus know I am coming home,” Simon said.
He pulled out his cellphone and checked a message that was left by Marcus.  After hearing it stopped which made Rachel stop, too.
“What did you stop for?” Rachel asked.
“We have to get something from the computer parts store,” Simon answered.
“Why?” Rachel asked.
“I’ll explain everything on the way,” Simon said.
The boy turned around and headed for the store with Rachel following close behind.
“Wait, the ferry is going to leave any minute!” Rachel cried.

***

Robin was just floating in the ocean, thankfully her air still in the air so she could breathe, as she looked around desperately as to what to do.  The sun was setting which meant it was getting darker and darker.
“Stay calm, Robin,” she said to herself, “I am sure that Marcus will be able to find you.”
Then she heard what sound like water roaring.  She turned her head around as much as she could to see that she was heading straight for a whirlpool.
“Not good, not good, not good, not good!” Robin cried.
Unable to swim she thought she was done for until something pushed her away from the whirlpool.  Robin looked down and saw some dolphins and saved her from her watery fate.
“Phew, that was a close one,” Robin said.
However the dolphins started to toss Robin around by their noses like she was a beach ball.
“Hey, stop that!” Robin cried.
The dolphins kept playing with Robin until they tossed her far away from the whirlpool and made her start floating towards an island.
“Well, at least I’ll be heading to dry land again soon,” she said.
The currents eventually carried Robin to the island but sadly it was too dark out for her to be able to make out what island it was exactly.  From the few lights that were scattered throughout the island her best guess was that she could be on Hudson Island.  When Robin came onto the shore she rolled over and her face fell flat onto the wet sand.
“Great,” she muttered.

***

Marcus was pacing the dock with the most nervous looked he ever had and for a good reason.  With Robin washed out to sea he was going to get a boat ready but lacked the skills to drive one so he could do little at the moment.  Eventually the ferry from Sandshore arrived at the dock and all the students walked out and back into the island, one of them being Amanda with the new telescope she won.  The last to come off were Simon and Rachel to which Marcus immediately ran to.
“There you are,” Marcus said, “We got to get going now!”
“Relax, I got the microchip you asked for,” Simon said, “We don’t need to rush this.”
“Yeah, it’s not like Robin is in any immediate danger,” Rachel said.
“Well….the thing is…,” Marcus nervously spoke.
He explained the whole ordeal of what happened from after he left the message for Simon to before he and Rachel got back.  A loud thud could be heard afterwards as Marcus was on the ground, a large bump appearing right in top of his head.  Rachel was staring at the boy angrily, being the one who had struck him.
“You let Robin get swept out onto sea!!” she yelled.
“It wasn’t my fault,” Marcus said, getting himself up, “I was trying to keep her from being seen by the students and staff all afternoon.”
“So you thought putting her onto the ocean was the best idea?!” Rachel yelled, jumping to conclusions.
“Listen, we can argue about this later,” Simon said, “We have to find Robin before something bad happens to her.  Marcus, do you know where she is?”
“No, she could be anywhere by now,” Marcus answered, “Unless…”
The boy took out his Celestial Amulet from underneath his shirt and squeezed it tight.  Mentally he kept asking over and over again where is Robin until it would hopefully show him a vision of where she could be.  He just hoped that she wasn’t somewhere bad right now.  The amulet glowed a little as he saw a vision of Robin somewhere on an island and also images of cows, sheeps, and even some crops growing on the same island.
“She’s on Hudson Island,” Marcus said.
“Then that’s where we’ll go,” Simon said, hopping on a nearby motorboat.
He hotwired the boat as it started up while Marcus and Rachel stepped into the vehicle.
“Where did you learn to hot-wire?” Rachel asked.
“Being a genius I kinda knew how from the start,” Simon said, “But I only did it because this is an emergency.”
“Speaking of genius, how did that trivia challenge thing go?” Marcus asked.
Simon didn’t answer, he just only glared at Marcus.
“I’ll take that as not well,” Marcus said.
They took off from the dock and travelled through the sea as they headed for Hudson Island.  The sky was now completely dark with the only source of light being the stars, the moon, and of course Marcus’ amulet.  Rachel was looking around through some night vision goggles she had found when she had spotting something in the distance.  Through the goggles she saw something that was round in shape with feet sticking out.
“I think I found Robin,” Rachel said, pointing straight ahead.
“Get there, double speed,” Marcus ordered.
“Aye-aye, captain,” Simon obeyed.
Robin was just lying on the island beach face down, bored out of her wits, when she heard the sound of a motorboat.  She wasn’t able to move much so she didn’t know who was coming until the boat came to shore.  Marcus got off and ran towards Robin’s line of sight and felt relieved that she was okay.
“There you are,” he said, “Are you okay, Robin?”
“I am inflated, can’t move my body, my bladder’s about to burst, nearly went into a whirlpool, got played by dolphins, and I think I ate some sand,” Robin listed, “Do you think I am okay?!”
Simon and Rachel got off the boat and rolled Robin in place until her head was right-side up.
“Sorry about the wait,” Simon said, “But I am here now to fix things.”
He opened up the patch on Robin’ suit, right where her button is, and saw the old microchip completely scorched, placed next to a speaker and were all resting on another layer of fabric.  Simon took some tweezers and carefully removed it to examine it under the light from Marcus’ Celestial Amulet.
“Wow, this thing got burnt badly,” Simon noted, “Just give me a second and I’ll have everything all fixed up.”
He took the new microchip he bought from Sandshore Island and placed it right where the old one was before sealing the patch back up.
“Okay, this chip appears to be the only thing damaged,” Simon said, holding up the scorched microchip, “The speakers seemed to be perfectly functional I would say give a try on deflating it.”
“Okay, here goes nothing,” Robin said, taking a deep breath, “Suit deflate!”
Then her suit started to shrink down to its normal size as Robin’s arms and legs started to become visible again.  The suit shrunk more and more until it was returned to its original state and Robin was able to move around freely once more.  She had a hard time walking, though, as she spent all afternoon with her arms and legs stretched out with the suit.
“Feels good to move around again, thanks for helping me, Simon,” Robin said happily.
“Glad I could help,” Simon said.
“Just keep in mind that you should check your suit’s circuits every now and then to avoid a repeat of this,” Rachel said.
“Noted,” Robin said, “I don’t want to get swept out to sea by Marcus again.”
“Oh come on!” he shouted, “It was an accident!  I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“I know, I was just messing with you,” Robin said, “Now let’s get going before someone finds out we’re not in the academy.”

***

Everyone was able to make it back to Terra Academy before they were missed.  The next day the Terra Trio and Robin were spending their afternoon in the rec room as Robin was checking the circuitry on her suit.
“Is everything fine?” Simon asked.
“Yep, everything is still functional,” Robin said, closing the patch back up, “Thanks to your help.  I was afraid I was going to have to be a beach ball from now on.”
Robin sat down next to Marcus as the boy looked at her.
“About yesterday,” Marcus spoke, “You’re not too mad about having you stuck in that suit and swept out to sea, right?  I mean it was me that made you press that button the other day.”
“Well for the inflation part I am not too mad,” Robin said, “I should’ve checked to see if my suit was still okay after that shock.  As for the sea part….”
She smirked as she pressed the button on her uniform, making her inflate and squish against Marcus on the couch.  Deep down Robin believed that Marcus did deserve that for having her swept out into the ocean.
“Ughh….,” he groaned.
“I think I can look past that now,” Robin said, giggling on the inside.
Everyone else laughed as Marcus could only just take it, completely pinned by Robin’s inflated suit and unable to get himself out at the moment.
“I am glad that you forgive me,” he just said, a bit embarrassed of being pinned that easily by Robin.

END