bubble

The strange knocking sound, and the cordon in front of the door. This is the objective!

Then... Bubble, how are we gonna help them?

Morte says there are lots of different anxious tastes here filling his stomach right up.

There's gotta be an ultra dangerous, ultra scary environment hiding behind this door! There might be lots of enemies and wild beasts, too!

But I think, as a brave, I gotta trust myself. I'm stronger than I know. I can do much more, and I can help a lot of people...

I know I can do this. I'm a regular operator now. I'll lead the way, just like the stories of the braves I told you all before!

Bubble the Brave clears her throat.

'Bubble the Brave donned her armor, raised her mighty weapon, and charged toward her objective.'

'She knocked over a tree that blocked the road and crossed a long river, sped through the forest and the desert, and found the goal of her brave journey.'

'Just like every warrior before her, she raised her weapon high!'

—Charge!

'Bubble the Brave has overcome her trial, and the whole tribe is cheering for her!'

'The whole tribe is celebrating!'

The pipes at the end of the dark corridor are slammed hard and let out a creaking sound, followed by a cloud of dust filling the air and the spiraling pipes suddenly collapsing.

Bubble raises her head and looks at the dust-shrouded darkness before her expectantly.

*cough*! *cough*...! What just dropped down?

A medal?

Baddies?

The instructor?

Aaaaagh—

A furball falls down from the ceiling, and the little heads gather round to see what exactly it is.

Who—

Whoknocked thesepipesdown? I'vebeeninspectingthisarea foralongtime. Thesepipesaresocomplicated it'sgonnatakemeforever justtoputtogether aproposal. Whotookthemalldown?

*cough*... *cough*!

It's over... *cough*!

Did we mess up?

*cough*... Why is...? Shaw...!

Haaahhh!

Whoknockedallthesedown?

Whodidit?

...Sorry, Shaw... I...

Nonononono!

WhatI'msayingis it'sperfect! Iwasgonnaask Engineeringtohelp demolishtheabandonedpipelines sincetheywereafirehazard. Theyweresocomplicated, butyoutorethemalldown inonego!

Didyouknock'emdown, Bubble?

Youwereagreathelp!

Yeah...

Mybuttstillkindahurts, butthat'sfine. Westillhavelotsofpipes thatneedtearingdown, butthissavesus lotsoftime!

I...

Whatkindofreward doyougirlswant? EverytimeIgivelectures, Ibringsome medalstogiveout. Howaboutthose?

Shaw pulls out a small, metallic medal. Each one has a thumbs-up etched on it.

You'reabunchof littlefirefightingwarriors, contributingtoRhodesIsland's firepreventionefforts!

Thisisyourreward! Here, yougetamedal, yougetamedal, everybodygetsamedal!

This mission...

Thanks, girls, buttherearestill moreplacesthat needtobeinspected. Youcanall headbacknow. I'llgetallthese removedpipestakenaway. Don'tcomeback beforethat'sdone.

OnceI'mfinishedhere, I'lltellyourinstructor abouteverythingyou'vedone!

Alright...

So this isn't Rhodes Island's critical secret mission...?

Even though I'm a regular operator now, all I've done is... pitch in a little bit...

Bubble strokes the small medal that Shaw gave her.

Shaw was really thankful, but I wanna complete a real awesome mission...

I've been improving all this time, and I wanna show Papa how far I've come...

...I don't wanna be left out anymore... I wanna help everyone do even more awesome stuff... No, I can't. I'm a regular operator now. I can't cry!

...I want Papa to think that I'm a brave...

Shaw's so nice! I'll keep doing my best!

Vulcan's looking for me. I'm gonna show her the medal I got today!

Was that the critical mission that Bubble was talking about?

Morte just had dessert. It was sadness. I think Bubble's sad, because this didn't feel like a critical mission.

...Bubble...?

But Shaw looked very happy, so we probably accomplished something, right?

Huh? How come Bubble's still inside?

...Hm...

Ow! I got knocked back, like a little fowlbeast flying away!

Why is there a wall? This wasn't here before.

*sob*... Vulcan said not to hit my head or I'll turn stupid... What do I do?

Hold on, look at all the patterns on the wall... They're just like the patterns that Bubble told us about in her stories.

Shamare, you remember everything! I already forgot what she told us...

You girls...

There's another rumbling sound from above! Is this the critical mission Bubble talked about?

Do we need to knock this wall down to complete it?

Bubble, where are you? Is this wall the mission you were talking about?

Bubble—?

Bubble—!

—Papa?!

The little heads look back at Bubble, who was all depressed just a moment ago.

...<i>Papa?!</i>

—Papa!

Bubble wants to throw the thing in her hand away to hop into the embrace of her papa who wouldn't have come to visit until a whole lot of days or even months or maybe years later.

But she also wants to show her medal to her papa, and so her hand reaches back to grab it.

This causes her left leg to trip over her right. She almost falls onto the ground bum first, but she has very good reflexes thanks to her training at Rhodes Island. She instinctively adjusts her posture to have her shield fall onto the ground—

But instead she falls onto a big hand that's firm yet soft to the touch.

Wow...

Bubble's papa is a moving wall...!

*sob*... Papa...

Papa, why are you here so early...? *sob*...

Bubble's tears fall down her cheeks. She sniffles to shake them off as quick as she can.

(No, I can't. I'm a regular operator already. I can't be a crybaby anymore!)

She takes the medal that she treasures so much from her chest and raises it for Papa to see.

Papa, look! I got promoted yesterday! This is my medal. I'm a regular operator now!

And this!

She points at the small medal that Papa likewise caught, but all of a sudden, she also feels kinda embarrassed about it.

Would Papa think that was a stupid little mission for babies? Would he think she isn't up to completing badass, awesome missions like the grown-ups, that she can't help anybody, and that she can't call herself a brave yet?

Err... actually, I guess maybe I'll show you next time!

But Papa keeps rubbing the two medals with a smile. The circular metallic pieces look so tiny in his big hands, but he seems to be looking at them with such admiration.

These tiny metal bits are nowhere close to covering the patterns on his palm, but they are more than enough to make him crack a smile.

It's almost like he's trying to see all his young daughter's hard work and growth in these two tiny medals.

You earned both of these?

That's my girl!

Oh, Popukar! I knew I heard something strange down here...

Didn't I tell you to stay away from this place? What are you doing here?

I didn't mean to... but this is where our critical mission is...