Justin is armed to the teeth with two laser pistols, one on each side of his belt, and General Hawk’s Falcon on his back. Master Mind prepares by having two cannons come out of his exoskeleton, a different one out of each hand. Joy arms herself with a sword and a laser pistol.

Charlie and I remain unarmed. 

Justin takes us to the moon. 

We’ve been here before, months ago, when we were searching for the villains that Joy had made permanent over the years but that had evaded capture. 

All of them had been caught except one, who had not been seen in more than a year.

We head to the moon, the base of Captain Badass. 

Captain Badass’ base is a huge steel dome on the moon with massive telescopes reaching out of the dome, aimed back at Earth’s ocean. 

“Look!” Joy stands next to her father and points forward. “No ships!” 

“Why is that important?” Charlie asks. He stands next to Joy, as he always does.

“He had two flying pirate ships,” Joy explains. “That’s how he always attacked. With his crew. Oh, Dad! Last time, one of the ships disappeared but one stayed behind!” 

That ‘last time’ she refers to was the day Captain Badass tied her to the mast and struck her, before going into the depths of the infinite corridor, determined to find out its secrets. He hadn’t been seen since.

That ‘last time’ was just a few hours before Joy learned she lives in a dream, that she can make things stay permanently in the dream. The adventures she had that ‘last time’ almost killed her.

“Where’s the ship, Dad?” 

He thinks for a second. “I don’t know. I hadn’t seen it, since… you know.” 

Joy concentrates. “Oh! I left it in the ocean! It’s somewhere still in the ocean! We have to find it and destroy it and turn it to dust!” 

Justin nods. “Right after this.”

He brings Bonny’s Revenge to hover just above the moon’s dusty surface, next to the dome. He brings down the ramp and the rope ladder as well, just in case. 

“Look sharp, everyone!” he tells them. “Me first. Then Charlie. Then Joy. Then Dad. Then Master Mind.” 

Smart. He’s sandwiching Joy between two Dreamers and Master Mind, the killer robot. 

“I want to be with Joy!”

Justin looks at him. “Okay. No problem. Just be ready for anything. He’s an easy villain to beat, but we can’t allow ourselves to be cocky. You are the Dreamer here. Do anything to make sure she survives. Got it, Charlie?”

Charlie nods with his serious face on. 

“Let’s go in.”

And one by one we go through the door into Captain Badass’ base.

(To be continued…)

—Told by Grampa Walt