Number Magic

Left Behind

Tens were scattered everywhere, bringing other Numberblocks with them. The larger squares were ready as well, with their sneeze-feathers. One to Ten were standing on a separate launch pad, and as Ten counted down, One had to process everything going on.

After so long, after so many adventures, after so many friends.. they were leaving.
"... 7.. 6.."
One took a deep breath. "It's alright," she said to herself. "We may be leaving Numberland, but we're heading somewhere better."
"... 5.. 4.."
"And at least we're leaving.."
"... 3.. 2.. 1.."
"... together."

Everything seemed to happen at once. As the ground shook with the sound of hundreds of rockets taking off and square sneezes, One to Ten added up to Fifty-five. He took off with a blast as well, bringing a bag along with him.

They were headed for another adventure.. just waiting to begin.

* * *

Octonaughty hid from behind the trees, making sure nobody was watching, slowly following the dirt path that zigzagged through the forest. It had been a tiring night observing Octoblock, and it was pointless. Nothing new happened, the hero-block was simply sleeping.
Octonaughty sighed, and as sunlight peeked through the canopy, stopped walking in front of a trapdoor in the ground. He knocked eight times, and said in his nosy voice, "It's me, Octonaughty! Let me in, pretty please."

The trapdoor creaked open, revealing the Terrible Twos waiting with smiles on their faces. "Come in, come in." Said the blue-masked Two. "Amigo here made you some di-"
"Shush!" The purple-masked Two put a hand up to the other. "I- uh.. made you some pie!"

Octonaughty stepped inside the small and slightly messy, but homey, hideout. "Really? Is there a catch?"

"It's made of dirt."
"Noo! Oh, why did you tell him?" The purple-masked two began chasing his friend around, laughing and pulling amusing faces at each other.
"Hehe, knew it. Be sure not to trash up the place, you two." Octonaughty sat down at a corner of the room, where there was a small desk with a pen and pad of paper atop it. He flipped through the pages, which were full of failed plans, and found a blank page. He tried to think of something he hadn't before, but nothing came to his mind. As the Terrible Twos behind him continued their chase, he tried to concentrate.

Hmm.. Oh! Maybe a trap for the other goody-blocks so that Spiderblock comes to save them.. then.. then we'll trap him! With Octonite!
He chuckled at his plan, putting his pen to the paper to start writing it down.

Suddenly, the entire hideout trembled. Loud sounds could be heard outside.. but what was it?

The Terrible Twos stopped running around. "Woah! What the.. Octonaughty, what was that?" The blue-masked Two looked to him in concern.
"Don't know. Let's see.." He climbed back through the trapdoor and onto the surface, with the Twos close behind. "Nothing unusual, though." He looked around.
"Um.. H-hey," The purple-masked Two tapped Octonaughty on the blocks. "Look up.."

He turned to the sky.. and there it was.

Hundreds of Tens blasting off. It seemed like every Numberblock on Numberland was there, split into Tens.

"What? Where are they going?" He shouted over the noise.
Octonaughty recalled something that One had said last night, when he was watching Octoblock from the trees..
"... tomorrow marks.. a new chapter. A new land. And there's no turning back."

Octonaughty widened his eyes in surprise. He didn't think One meant that kind of new land.. "Oh no.. NO!" He took the Twos by their hands and ran, as fast as his tentacles could carry him, out of the forest to where they blasted off. "Wait! Wait, please!" He waved his 4 other tentacles up into the sky. The Twos, realizing what was going on, shouted at the top of their lungs too. "Hold on! Wait for us!" Activating his rays and dragging the Twos behind him, he tried his best to catch up. "Please! Wait for us!" Another Ten, late in blasting off, zoomed by him. "Hey- Ten, help! Help us!" But they were already behind— all the Tens had all flown past, too far to hear or see them.

He stopped there in mid-air, knowing it was too late. A tense minute of silence passes as all the Naughtyblocks looked up to the sky blankly. "Um.." the blue-masked Two said slowly. "... what do we do? Can we.. catch up?"
"Yeah," the other Two said. "Can you make a cool rocket? Or a super-fast machine to fly super-fast and carry us?"

Octonaughty floated back down to land. "Y-yes! I'll do that!" He let go of the Twos and paced back and forth, trying his best not to think of the worst scenarios. "I'll make it.. very- no, incredibly fast, and make it have three seats just for us, and make it powered by.. um.. something.. powerful..?" The purple Two shrugged as the other gave him an unsure look. Their smiles faded as they sat down.

"Ugh.. forget it! It's useless! I'll never be able to make something like that! There's not even a power source, for blocks' sake!" He sat with them, his face buried in his tentacles. "If only I had more to me to begin with. I can't fly like Ten, can't juggle like Three.. I can't do much, other than be 'naughty'. I'm.. bad at that too, aren't I?" he murmured angrily.

The Twos exchanged concerned looks. They had no experience with comforting someone, and although they tried giving him occasional pats and worried looks, nothing really helped.

Out of the silence, there was a faint twinkling sound. "What.." Octonaughty revealed his face, looking for the source of the sound. It was the What-Iffer, emerging onto the clearing. "O-oh! Look, Twos! It's the Whatever-Ball!"
"Hmm.. it seems I'm late," He could hear him say. "Better catch up with the rest."

Octonaughty stood up and held the Twos' hands once more, sprinting to the magical being that could surely help them. "Wait! Before you go, could you-?"

With no warning, the What-Iffer flew so fast it seemed like he disappeared. With a whoosh, he blasted straight into the sky, leaving nothing but a trail of glowing, color-changing dust.

Octonaughty slowed down and stopped right before the dust. Kneeling down, he held it in his tentacles, as the Twos behind him frowned in hopelessness. "Why?! Hmph!" He screamed. "If only me and my Twos could fly like that so easily!"

The dust he held in his tentacles began glowing, changing colors faster and shaking upon the words 'if only'.
"Wait! Look, amigo! The dust is doing something.." the purple-masked Two perked up.
"Oh, right! It's shining and-"

In the blink of an eye, they were all engulfed in light. When it disappeared, the three Naughtyblocks were in outer space.. effortlessly flying at incredible speeds just as the What-Iffer was. "Woaaah! Look! We're in space!" The blue-masked Two gasped.
"What the- how?!" Octonaughty threw his tentacles out in disbelief, still holding a small amount of the dust.
"I don't know," the purple-masked Two giggled. "but it sure is amazing! Wheeee!"
Octonaughty looked down at the dust still in his tentacles, which was slowly getting dimmer and shaking less, turning a dull gray. It looked like normal dust.
"It's.. It's this dust!" He exclaimed. "It came from the Whatever-ball.. of course it's super powerful!"His shock slowly became excitement, and as they zoomed past planets and stars galore, he grinned with thoughts of what this dust could do.

The Twos began racing each other, seeing who could fly faster, laughing happily. Octonaughty threw the now-useless dust away, which faded into nothingness.. but he was already planning on something mischevious..
"Finally, a way to become more powerful.." he muttered under his breath.

He was no longer content with little tricks. He knew today that that was not enough.
He needed to do more.
Have more.
Be more.
And with this new magical dust, he could do just that.

(A/N: If I had a penny for every time I wrote a 'blast-off' scene, I would have 3 pennies..which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened thrice..)