Information

Croc has a minion!

Gobbos the Dust Matter

Croc
Legacy Name: Croc

The

Common Qrykee
Owner:

Pureflower

Age: 5 years, 2 months, 3 weeks

Born: January 24th, 2019

Adopted: 5 years, 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Adopted: January 24th, 2019

Statistics

Level: 186
Strength: 347
Defense: 10
Speed: 10
Health: 10
HP: 10/10
Intelligence: 566
Books Read: 545
Food Eaten: 0
Job: Astrophysicist

Waiting to see sweetheart qyrkee before I decide on his final color.

Introduction:

He'd been to jungles, deserts and an ancient temple literally crawling with helpless tots in need of rescue. He'd struggled his way through a devious ice maze on the top of a giant snowball and navigated an underground mine on a rickety wooden cart that threatened to dump him in lava at any moment. He'd battled skeletal pirate goons, a bomb-hurling octopus and a dinosaur that thought he was a dragon.

You'd think Croc would've learned caution after all that but when Professor Gobbo got to tinkering with his special Moon Cheese Spacecraft, the little reptile with the big nose couldn't resist poking it into the control room for a look. His tail waved back and forth, accidentally tapping the auto pilot button.

Croc was hurtled into space before those big eyes could blink. Professor Gobbo bounced around inside the tin-can-shaped contraption like a fuzzy brown beach ball, chittering a series of questions in a voice so high-pitched, it was doubtful a chipmunk could've understood.

The pair peered out warily at a world of smoke and canyons.

Level One: Darkside

Had all the color been zapped from this world with a magic spell? It seemed red and black were the only hues that distinguished sky from ground...or maybe it was all the thick smoke spewing from a distant line of volcanoes.

Before he'd had a chance to do more than turn a circle and take in this strange new world, a cluster of purple-edged, white-eyed spheres leapt up in front of him and studied him with interest. The dark matter particles been born through Maleria's power ten thousand years ago yet they had never seen a creature with a head so oddly proportioned in relation to his body.

Croc was wary. Would these be like the naughty village children that ran up to throw snowballs and laugh at him? He reached out a careful claw to touch one. It pulsed with a gentle purple light, giggling and swirling around his head. He'd made his first Subetan friend.

The other particles quickly took a liking to the stranger, swirling around his head and settling to form a hat, a moustache, a halo.

His new friends clustered together to shape an arrow, inviting him to follow them on a new adventure.

They wandered into a huge lab full of all kinds of odd objects. Croc's tail swung back and forth, knocking beakers, test tubes and random objects all over the floor. Some of the messes combined as they flowed together, creating entirely new items. Croc was quite amused when a cherry pie fell on top of a red ball and just like that - poof! - a bouncy ball that smelled of cherry pie.

A furious blue dragon charged across the lab, growling at these intruders that had so little respect for science. Croc tried to scare her away by turning quickly in a circle, smacking her front leg with his tail. It was a great defense on his home world but here, all it did was annoy the much larger dragon. She roared, sending the little reptile and his floating friends scrambling in all directions.

Mischievous as ever, the dark matters would not give up on showing their new friend all the wonders of Darkside. They startled a kumos awaiting her turn at the zapper who walked out with the head of a kanis and the rear body of a swampie. They swarmed the Sable Smithy, sending magic powders and metal components scattering all over the floor until Mathis chased them out with a hammer in hand.

The last straw was when they encouraged Croc to blunder into a dark cave that was empty save for one softly glowing book. The Gate Keeper was nearly beside himself when Croc tried to walk away with one of Maleria's treasures without paying his due in wizard tokens. Croc dropped the book in his hurry to get away, leaving quite the find for the next Subetan to step inside Blackheart Hollow.

Level Two: Arctic Frost

Professor Gobbo rolled his eyes when he heard Croc's account of the strange volcano land. He didn't want to hear about strange blue goat-men or golden-eyed dragons that practiced science. (Though he was rather impressed with Croc's description of the lab.) All that mattered was getting back home to a world that made sense, well in advance of tea time. He worked the controls, convinced that his calculations were correct. They both cheered when the world turned white, convinced they had landed in the snowy mountain gobbo village.

Then a handful of dark matter particles popped out of the hatch where Professor Gobbo was known to keep his lunch. Their forms had changed. Where once had floated little black blobs edged with purple, there were now a number of snowflakes. They were also covered in crumbs.

Croc hurried his friends outside the ship before Professor Gobbo's chittering complaints could break the sound barrier.

They giggled and swarmed around Croc's head again, taking the shape of an icy crown, a sparkling diamond, a pair of antlers. This new land was no less exciting a place for adventures...and there was plenty of trouble they could make!

They scattered stuffing, buttons and decals all over the walls and floor of Vanya's cottage. They terrorized a trio of mallarchies in the Gift Center when they popped out of gift boxes and shouted "Boo!" They swirled around Mama Mush, leaving her swatting at the empty air and roaring her frustration. Croc timidly offered a frozen cookie he'd found half-buried in the snow. While she was distracted, he ran as fast as his stumpy legs would carry him back to the ship.

Professor Gobbo couldn't wait to get somewhere with less ice. He'd forgotten how much he didn't like the mountain village on his native world. He managed to get just enough of a charge to start the ship rattling, muttering under his breath that he hoped their trouble-making friends would be too busy throwing snowballs to find their way back in. He hadn't yet gotten over the loss of the sour cream and pickle sandwich that had been reduced to crumbs and one soggy green seed.

Level Three: Omen Islands

The heat of the tropical island they found themselves on next was almost unbearable after the icy cold of the far north. Fortunately, Croc was a very adaptable youngster. His friends reappeared, this time as tiny beach balls. Was this fun-loving new form perhaps a little less ready to cause destruction and confusion?

Of course not!

They started in with the natives, scaring away the fish and making faces at Matlal until the Baron finally lost his temper and tried to capture the pests. All he got for his efforts was a squirt of sea water in the face.

It wouldn't be fair to annoy just half the island, though. The little terrors took matters into their own hands, so to speak, and went after the pirates next.

Croc had battled his share of animated skeletons but the crew of the Freyalise was a little too big and strong for simple tail tricks. Since he didn't have any clockwork trinkets to use as a distraction, he did the next best thing.

He ran like his tail was on fire.

Boss Level: Sacred Lands

Professor Gobbo swore he had it all figured out this time.

He did some swearing of a different kind when they landed in a huge mound of bluish-pink sand that was clearly not part of Gobbo Island.

They both groaned when Croc's "friends" swirled around the cabin excitedly. They'd turned light blue and sprouted little wings but their angelic appearance wasn't fooling anyone.

Croc really was starting to feel bad for all the trouble he'd caused. He found a pretty blue vase in a shop inside the local souk. He tried to convince the matters to explore the inside, planning to put a lid on them as soon as they fell for the trick.

Unfortunately, all the bright colors were driving them crazy, turning them all sorts of fantastic neon colors. They would have nothing to do with the jar, not when sending spice bowls flying and scaring a tethered trio of neelas was so much more fun!

They buzzed the Oracle's tower, making faces at the dedicated temple cleaners that busily polished the Oracle's many tile mosaics. They teased Luna's pups into chasing them around and around the doghouse. They ruined many tedious hours of excavation work at the Sacred Lands Temple.

It was this last prank that finally drew the attention of Shinwa. She appeared in a massive cloud made of sunbeams, blowing gently on the troublesome particles. They froze in place, turning white with a yellow glow. As Pure Matter, they would bother the innocent citizens of Subeta no more.

Croc was just a little sad to see his friends so changed but he couldn't dwell on it long. Professor Gobbo called to him urgently. Somehow, the coordinates had been automatically entered into the ship and the picture on the viewing screen was undoubtedly Gobbo Island.

Croc boarded the ship with one last look at this strange new world full of fascinating creatures and places to explore. Maybe someday, when Professor Gobbo mastered the design of his ship, he would return.

He's just have to make it a point to pack more sandwiches. A lot of sandwiches.

Credits:

Profile coding by Bug
Story by Pureflower
Inspired by the Croc computer games...particularly Croc 2.
Background from pixabay
Font from Google Fonts