Turning to Stone 3: Acceptance (Rewritten)

Chapter 3: A New Ally

Upon awakening, Basilio had found himself inside Jolthead's shed, an open notebook in front of him. He'd spent almost all night reading up on Wublins, thankful to learn that if the eggs went back, the Wublin could just be cleaned out and more eggs could be zapped in. The mission wasn't doomed after all.

"I'll bring you to life, Poewk." He said to the statue. The statue, of course, didn't say a word, but Basilio felt like it was silently thanking him. Either that or I've gone mad from grief. He chuckled quietly to himself as he walked out.

Maybe I should spend some time cleaning out that shed while Mooper's making the ship. She hadn't even started building yet, but a white sheet and a pile of planks had already been set behind the castle.

Alright, time for a little 'Wubbox Distraction'. He went inside through the castle's back entrance and began his search for the new Wubbox. His mission was simple: find the Wubbox and then keep them occupied and away from the ship. Should be absolutely no problem at all, right?

As he wandered through the halls, he spotted Zoe walking away from the castle daycare. "Where are you going? Don't you have the young monsters to look after?" He asked, tilting his head in curiosity. "Oh, the new Wubbox told me to take a break. They said they could take care of the daycare for a while." The bowgart explained.

The new Wubbox... handling daycare duties? He scoffed at the thought, but made sure Zoe didn't see or hear it. "I'll go check, if you don't mind." He gave her one last friendly nod, walking in the direction she had come from.

As he got closer, he heard the Wubbox speaking. "Hey, stop fighting! Be careful with each other please! And please don't attack my leg either-" They laughed. It sounded almost... parental.

Now even more curious, he peeked inside. Sure enough, there they were, sitting on the floor surrounded by baby monsters. Despite the chaos around them, they were smiling wide. The young monsters seemed to like them too, pestering them with questions or begging them to join in their games.

Basilio awkwardly cleared his throat, making the Wubbox flinch slightly. "Oh. It's you. You're the one who knew the old Wubbox's name, I heard." They didn't meet his eyes, despite the fact that they were the "leader" of the island. Despite their status, the T-rox had the stance of a real leader, and they could clearly tell.

"Yep. That's me." He said, unable to keep a bit of scorn out of his voice. The Wubbox noticed, awkwardly keeping their eyes on the children instead of him. "...What's a Wubbox like you doing in the daycare? Don't you have other duties to take care of?"

"Well, everybody else seems like they know what they're doing, and they didn't really need me to interfere... Plus that bowgart-" Basilio interrupted them before they could finish. "Zoe. Her name is Zoe." He said with a huff. "Right, Zoe. Yeah, she seemed grateful for the break."

Out in public, in front of everybody else, they'd had a mask of intimidation on to please the Council, to do their job right. But here? Basilio could see right through them. They were skittish, nervous, and afraid of both the Council Leader and Basilio himself.

He almost liked it, having the Council Leader's newest pawn being afraid of him.

But they're just a pawn, maybe they could be easily swayed to join us against her?

"I wouldn't have taken you for the type to get along with kids so well." Basilio said, taking a seat next to them. The Wubbox sighed. "Yeah, I've always gotten along with kids. I was being trained on Air Island to be an Island Leader someday, but..."

"You kept getting distracted in the daycare?" Basilio finished, earning a nod from the Wubbox. "I... I honestly never wanted to be the leader of anything. I just want a peaceful life to do what I want, to help with the children. But the Council Leader... she said she'd throw me off the edge of Gold Island if I didn't listen to her." They choked back a sob, making Basilio's feelings shift. They really are just as scared of her as everyone else.

"Does she threaten the other Wubboxes like that?" He asked, and they nodded. "When I heard about what happened here, I felt... bad. Clearly the Wubbox before me had big ideas, and they were just passionate! And even if the idea of using eggs makes me a bit sick... You were close to them, right? They found a way to make life out of stone, right?"

Basilio nodded. "Yes, to both. We were partners." He was a bit caught off-guard by the sudden questioning. "And I still have notes on their experiments."

"...Are you going to try and do what they were doing? Turn the statues into living monsters?" The new Wubbox had a sudden spark in their eyes. Despite the fact that the T-rox was untrusting of them at first, he felt different now. This Wubbox was like Jolthead, but with a passion for childcare instead of scientific discovery. So, risking his life, his friends, and the success of his plan, he nodded.

"...I can help." The Wubbox said, almost reluctantly. They wanted to help, but they must be afraid of getting caught. Basilio pondered the idea for a moment, Mooper and Chomp would absolutely disapprove, but they didn't have to know.

"...Meet me at the nursery in two days. I'll explain our plan then." Basilio said, earning a nod from the Wubbox. "Just remember, you can't say a word to the Council Leader about any of this."

The Wubbox grinned, making a zipper gesture in front of their lips. They'd be quiet.

----

For once, Basilio felt good. He felt hopeful about this plan. He was supposed to just distract the Wubbox, but instead he'd roped them into the plan too. He almost felt like he might've made a new friend.

I'm not replacing Jolthead though. I could never do that.

Now, he was sneaking towards the nursery. The Wubbox said they'd make sure everyone was asleep, and Basilio had already cleaned out the Poewk statue. It had been absolutely disgusting, and he never wanted to see or smell rotten egg goop ever again, but hopefully he wouldn't. We can do this on time. I don't want to waste any more eggs, and I definitely don't want to clean the statue out again.

The Wubbox was waiting outside the nursery entrance, looking nervous as always. "Are you sure about this?" They whispered. "Yes, I'm sure. Now come on, we've got eggs to zap." The T-rox shoved past the Wubbox and into the nursery.

"We're not... stealing, right?" The Wubbox asked. "It's not stealing if they're abandoned. There should be a symbol carved into them, something like... this." He spotted a couple of Clamble eggs. "Perfect, just what we needed." He grabbed one, and the Wubbox grabbed the other.

He set the egg gently on one of the hatching nests, remembering the process from both Jolthead doing it in front of him and the notes he had read. Basilio channeled all of his elemental energy, focusing on one thing: zapping that egg.

One small bolt of lightning later, and the egg was gone. "We did it!" Basilio whisper-cheered. The Wubbox clapped quietly. "Alright Wubbox-"

"Ephex." They said, cutting him off. "Huh?" He tilted his head in confusion. "Ephex. That's my name, it's Ephex. It sounds a lot better than just calling me 'Wubbox'." They explained.

"But what about-" Ephex cut him off again. "The Council Leader? Who cares about her? If you knew Jolthead's name, you can know mine."

"You knew Jolthead's name?" He asked. "Yep. Us Wubboxes could call each other by our names if we wanted to, but not to other monsters. Most Wubboxes didn't even reveal their names to each other, but Jolthead was different."

"Of course they were." Basilio said with a wistful sight. "Okay then, Ephex, put the egg on the other hatching nest and do exactly what I just did." They nodded, doing just that. Another small lightning bolt, another zapped egg, and another quiet cheer from the new friends.

"We should get out of here." Ephex said. Basilio nodded. "Good idea." They quickly left, leaving behind no evidence of their crime.

"How are we going to avoid the Wubbox Council? They caught Jolthead last time..." Ephex whispered as they walked through the halls. "I've got a plan to leave for the other islands. You just need to act normal in front of the Council Leader if she stops by." Basilio said with a shrug.

"Easier said than done..." Ephex muttered, but didn't complain further. "What's the next step of the plan right now?"

"The next step right now... is to go to sleep. Goodnight, Ephex." Basilio began the walk back to his room. "Goodnight, Basilio!" Ephex said with a wave, going back to their own room.