The close gang of friends was devastated. Which was to be expected – but it appeared that with their departed friend not around, it was all so… quiet. More than quiet.

Paulie was usually the first one to make sarcastic comments, but his sarcasm seemed to have disappeared as soon as he saw his best friend crumble down before his very eyes. Almost as if to enhance his bitter mood, the air was damp and humid, seemingly foreboding rainfall.
He walked towards Piñata Central in solemn silence when he heard someone calling out for him. He looked around and spotted Langston hopping towards him, net in hand.
"I'm taking a mental health day," Paulie groaned and attempted to walk away. But the Lickatoad grabbed him by his tail.
"No, no, no. I came to tell you something!"
The Pretztail stopped in his tracks and looked at the unusually chipper papery amphibian with a confused expression. Langston straightened his back.
"You know I know nearly everyone around the Island – even outside the main gardens, right? Well, I did some research, and I found out…" He came closer. "…Maybe we could get Fergy back."
Paulie's eyes widened. "You can do that?"
"Yep." Langston nodded vigorously. "Except it's… gonna be really tough, and it'll take quite some time to get there."
Paulie was all ears at once. "Tell me everything."
"There's this guy named Dastardos… you probably heard of him."
"Yeah." He remembered the guy alright – his mother used to tell him stories about this character, about how he would take him away and hit him with a stick if the young Pretztail misbehaved. Luckily, it seemed to stay with the stories.
"He's in charge of monochrome and colour," the Lickatoad explained. "Almost like a grim reaper. Or something like that. He lives on the other side of the island, in some creepy little glade. Say, I think we should give it a shot!"
"I dunno, Langston…"
"Say, round up the crew and we can go and see if we can negotiate with Dastardos. How's that? I'll go pack up some stuff."
Before Paulie could say anything, Langston had already hopped out of sight. Paulie sighed. There was no way of talking the Lickatoad out of this. He seemed rather confident, and unusually helpful as well. Probably had to reach a certain quota for today…
He shrugged it off and paced towards the dwelling of the first one on his mental list.

Soon enough, all piñatas in the group were accounted for. They were all gathered in a small circle, around Langston and Paulie, who told them just exactly what was up.
After Langston had explained his plan, the first one to speak was Ella.
"Who's Fergy?"
Everyone decided to ignore her.
"Y'know, dudes, I don't think this is a good idea at all," Franklin began, fidgeting with his forepaws anxiously. "I miss Fergy a lot as well, but… we don't know what's on the other side of the island. What if there's monsters about? I've heard about a creature called the Choclodocus, who eats piñatas like us for lunch."
"A Choclodocus? C'mon, Franklin, next thing you tell me is that Chewnicorns are real." Paulie shook his head and pointed his forepaw at the Fizzlybear, his expression looking annoyed. "Even if there are monsters like that about, I don't care. Because Fergy's my best friend and I'm gonna get him back. And you, all of you, are coming with me."
Silence fell for a while. But then, Ella began clapping, giggling, for she was impressed with Paulie's speech, even if she would forget it a few seconds afterwards. But it was an incentive for the others to do the same – well, if they could clap, at least.
"Hurrah, Paulie, my friend," Teddington began, shoving away his other half, Tina. She was seemingly in his way. "I'm all up for it. And I'm sure for once in her life, Tina agrees with me. Don't you?"
He looked at her with a grin, but she frowned. Turning her gaze towards Paulie, she appeared to shrug, even without shoulders. "Of course. I have no choice, do I?"
Hudson, who was unnaturally quiet this whole time, suddenly popped out his Piñatameter and began chatting with someone on the other line – probably his agent, Simone. "Well then, I'm sure that if we hurry up, I'll be back for my special appointment… Yes, yes… I'll promise!"
When he put it away, everyone looked at him. Les, the little Galagoogoo, angrily chattered something to him that would certainly make this story slightly less family-friendly if it was in English.
"…What?"
Langston gestured at the crew to get going, and the gang went on their way.

As they passed the garden's exit, into the unwelcoming plains that separated the main garden from the Other Side, as they called it, they were greeted by a loud thunderclap and a torrent of rain the moment after. But yet, it didn't seem to dampen any of their moods. Well, except for Hudson, but nobody paid his whining any heed.
The trees looked a lot wilder than the ones within the gardens. They looked like slumbering giants with their branches looking most like creepy, elongated fingers. Literally everything about them seemed antagonistic – villainous, almost.
And yet, through the streaming rain, Paulie managed a small, certain smile.
"We're on our way, buddy."