Hello, everyone, hope you're having a pleasant Sunday. I've had a nice day myself, I have not eaten nor left my room all day.

So this chapter's pretty short, but I promise that chapter 10 will be long and will probably wrap everything up very nicely, if I stick with that many chapters than adding an eleventh. There might be eleven, but I don't know, we'll have to wait and see.

Also, I'm very excited to announce that this book finally has a proper cover! I designed it myself, because a) I have no money for art commissions and b) I can draw decently. Now, unfortunately I cannot do digital art, because I do not have one of those crazy expensive tablets everyone uses to draw with. I just use my paper and mechanical pencil. I mean, I'm quite proud of the design, I was originally going to draw the PJ Masks walking through the market in Mystery Mountain, but I decided that would be a bit too much, so I stuck with something simple. I know, the way I draw is kinda weird, I have an odd art style.

I changed the summary a bit as well. I thought it was a little . . . off.

So, without further ado, I am proud to present chapter 9 of Restore the Realms.

Chapter 9—A Way to the Realms

The accident.

It was a vague memory in the back of their minds. It lingered, it haunted them, traumatized them, caused everything that was happening . . . Yet they still couldn't remember clearly. Villains were more wicked than before, their plans being taken a step further, evilness taking the extra step as well . . . And it seemed as though the PJ Masks were at their weakest, not being able to defeat the greatest evil despite doing it over and over again many times before.

As they each made their way through the city, they had this event in mind, but could not find a way to communicate it to each other. It was too difficult to even mention.

Yet all three of them yearned to speak of it.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" asked Owlette, hurrying to catch up with her friends by floating along behind them.

"I'm sure you remember the giant crystal that gave us our powers from HQ," Gekko answered, jogging beside Catboy, who was refraining from using his Super Cat Speed. "I'm scared it might have been destroyed a long time ago, but there's nothing wrong with checking to make sure. So long as no villains stole it."

"I don't think any villains are willing to dig up heavy rubble to find a gemstone, especially since that thing seemed to separate us when . . . that thing happened," Catboy chimed in. "But I'm not exactly ruling any possibilities out."

The three approached the old abandoned city park, with the old, algae-mottled moat that began to emit a foul odor, like dead fish, mold, and forgotten decay. They crossed the stone bridge which led to the totem pole's pile of sentimental rubble, tangled in vines, ivy, and fading memories.

"Start digging through. It looks like this place has been untouched for a while," said Gekko, hopping on top of the pile and tossing a heavy remainder of HQ into the moat. As the piece dropped in, some algae sank down below with it and left a portion of the moat looking like actual water, like a deep blue vortex in the center of a lush forest.

Catboy and Owlette joined him in the pile, throwing away as much rubble as possible. More algae sank down as rocks were thrown in, revealing something that resembled what the most used to be.

"Oh, PJ Robot," Owlette sighed, running her fingers over a metallic arm coated in dust. Catboy put a hand on her shoulder.

Gekko was the most successful in removing rubble, as when he stopped digging, he found exactly what he was looking for inside . . . a gleaming blue peeked through the gaps between the rubble, like the oceanic eye of a gorgeous sea dragon.

"I think I found it!"

"You did?" The other two leapt over to Gekko and peered down at the blue crystal, eyes basking in its beauty.

"I haven't seen this in years," Catboy murmured, pressing his palm against it. But as soon as his hand came in contact with the surface, a cyan shock burst out; luckily it was painless, though it left Catboy mildly startled.

"I'll try and pull it out. Super Gekko Muscles!" Gekko threw his arms down and wrapped them around the crystal, lifting it up with relative ease and uncovering the massive crystal that resembled the old totem pole headquarters itself, with a green gecko on the bottom, a blue cat in the middle, and sitting prominently on the top, a red owl with outspread wings. For a moment, the PJ Masks were absorbed in the crystal's glory, even though the thing had dust on it and had a few cracks on it.

"What did you—what did you want to do with this, Gekko?" Owlette said, leaning against the crystal and keeping her hands away from it.

"Well . . ." Gekko put his hand to his head and looked down. "An Yu told me not to tell you this, but—there are more teleportation devices than just mine." He pulled out his little teleportation device, rubbing its gleaming jade surface with his thumb. "You both have one as well. I think An Yu may as well have one. But I don't know where they are." He turned back to the crystal and lifted his foot to step on the base. "I'm not sure if this will work, but if things turn out in our favor, us touching the crystal all at once will allow us to teleport where we please. It's likely Night Ninja is holding An Yu captive in Owlette's realm, so we have to go there and save her first, then we can see if Catboy's realm is still salvageable."

"Wow, Gekko, I'm quite impressed," Catboy grinned.

"Heh. Thanks. I'm just makin' theories."

"Okay, okay, so are we ready to test this out?" Owlette said with a tone of excitement, fluttering around the crystal with energy.

"Oh, yes, of course." Catboy and Gekko both turned to the crystal as Owlette landed in front of it with a preparing sigh.

"Alright, on the count of three, we'll all press our hands against it and activate our powers, focusing on teleporting to Owlette's realm. Are we ready?"

"We're ready."

"Okay. One . . ."

"Two . . ."

"Three."

"So, Dragon Girl, where exactly are these little devices, and how do you know about them?"

Night Ninja loomed over An Yu, who was restrained against the wall of the red palace by sticky splats, with a menacing glare on his face. The hostage, however, displayed hardly any sign of fear and somehow kept calm in this situation. Earlier, her flute had been confiscated by the Ninjalinoes (they were fascinated by it and they had tried to play it with their masks on, to no avail).

"You may take my source of power and trap me, but I will not inform you of the location of the devices. They can be dangerous if they fall into the wrong hands, and you are far more than just 'the wrong hands.'"

The ninja slapped his hands over his eyes and pulled down on his bottom eye sockets, groaning in frustration. "We've been at this for thirty minutes!"

"Oh, Night Ninja, you just aren't using the correct persuasion method," said Romeo from across the room, tinkering with an incomplete robot as his circular Robot companion looked over his shoulder. "I, for one, know the perfect method of persuasion . . ."

Night Ninja raised an eyebrow. "And that is . . .?"

Romeo smirked and snapped his fingers. "Tickling."

Robot stomped over to An Yu, his single glowing pink eye burning through her, and his arms suddenly extended like rubber hoses, and his hands made their way down to the samurai. The fingers began wiggling like worms against her skin, and the girl couldn't help but burst out in laughter that ascended into screams of agony very quickly. Tickling was a torture like no other, even villains knew that.

"S-STOP IT!" An Yu writhing to break free. But she was utterly helpless. For the next few minutes, Night Ninja and Romeo watched her shriek and kick and behave much differently from her normal calm and collected self, until Romeo gestured for Robot to stop tickling her and back off.

"The only reason he stopped was because that was annoying everyone," Romeo snapped, adjusting his goggles. "Now, no more funny business. Where ARE THEY?"

"I shan't tell! I'll sooner have perished in my duty of protecting endangered worlds than lived knowing I let down so many realms by letting you take over them. I shall not tell, ever."

An Yu assumed either one of the boys would lash out at her and physically assault her, but that didn't happen. Night Ninja just stared at her, and then a look of cockiness appeared on his face (or rather, his eyes, most of his face was concealed anyway) as he slowly made his way over to her.

"I was expecting you to be quite stubborn about this, An Yu. Say, I wonder what would happen if I were to go and visit your PJ friends . . . Strip Kitty Cat of his dignity, crush the Lizard's hopes and dreams, seize Feather Brain like a tiny, insignificant object . . . You know, I probably should have kept her around, she could have been useful for more than just her pretty little realm."

"You're disgusting," An Yu growled, anger seething through her teeth. She'd never been so infuriated before. Anger was almost foreign to her. "They'll defend themselves. They'll find a way to get to you, they'll find a way through this and soon your horrible, polluting presence will be banished from this world."

"What a sweet little couple of sentences, but cliché all the same. Now, I'm willing to make a deal with you."

An Yu raised an eyebrow, signifying that she was listening. "What is your deal?"

Night Ninja placed his hands behind his back and began to pace slowly in front of her. "I'll hand you your freedom if you inform me of the location of the devices, as I need to be able to contact Luna Girl and those flea bags from this world. But, if you don't, I'm afraid I'll have to push the PJs' lives to the thin line." He smirked under his mask and lowered his eyelids, figuring he'd just backed An Yu into a difficult corner.

"I don't believe you," said An Yu, attempting to stand up while still being restrained by the sticky splats. "You'd put their lives on the line either way. I should know. Villains never play fair."

"Now, now, if we played fair, it wouldn't be as fun, would it?" Romeo quipped, walking over and being accompanied by Robot.

"Exactly," said Night Ninja. "We don't have all day, Dragon Girl. So, what's your choice, hmm?"

"I—"

Just before An Yu could give a proper response, a beaming, blinding light struck through the dim room like surging waves flooding a building.

"Stop right there, Night Ninja!" the Masks simultaneously shouted, staring into the room, silhouettes against the light.

"Well, well, well," Night Ninja chuckled, not looking shocked in the slightest. "Looks like they all decided to show up." He turned back to An Yu with a wide, horrible, invisible smile. "This will be so much fun."

So that was chapter 9. I like what happened in it, but I don't like the way I wrote it. I normally spend a few days on chapters, but this one took less than a day. I'm trying to keep a consistent writing style throughout the entire story; so far, I think I've done a good job.

Anyway, feel free to let me know what you think of the cover and new summary, or just any opinions regarding the story in general. I'll see you guys in chapter 10.