"There is no way on this earth that we would win against those monsters." Roger commented, staring at the army that was steadily advancing towards them.

"Not without help anyway..." considered Finn, "Why don't we find the Pepperlandians first? That way we'll have some backup when we fight the monsters.

"Good idea!" Exclaimed Roger, "And I think I know exactly where to find them!"

*

A short walk later, the four children arrived at what appeared to be an enormous group of stones. As she peered closer, Blue could see the faces of miserable people etched into the dull rock.

"How do we wake them up?" She asked curiously, tapping the head of a Pepperlandian.

"Play some music, of course." Roger replied, pulling his guitar strap over his head. "It's the Meanie's ultimate weakness."

As soon as they started playing, the rock began to crumble away like dust, dropping onto the floor and cracking. The faces of people began to emerge into view, laughing and crying with relief at being free at last.

When all the rocks had been destroyed, there must have been over a hundred people happily singing and sharing jokes, unaware of the danger that was still out there.

Finn scrambled up onto a large pile of crumbled stone. "Umm... Excuse me! Umm... can we... umm... can we have your attention please?" He called out to the crowd of people, but nobody was listening.

Sighing exasperatedly, Roger joined Finn on the stone. "Shut up while he's talking!" He shouted. A hundred colourful heads turned to look at them.

"Thanks, Roger." Murmured Finn as his brother jumped off the rock. "Okay!" He called to the Pepperlandians. "You might be free, but the Meanies are still out there!"

A hundred people groaned some started to cry and most of them started talking angrily amongst themselves.

"It's okay though!" Shouted Finn, trying to regain control over the crowd. "We can fight them! We have the Yellow Submarine... there's stuff in there we can use! But we need you to co-operate with us!"

Somebody shouted from the crowd "What do we need to do?"

"Umm..." Finn looked at his companions for help. As an idea started to form in her head, Blue spoke to the crowd. "If you can, split into four groups of about 25 people!"

She watched in amazement as the Pepperlandians formed into four almost exactly even groups. "Right!" She said and pointed at each of the groups in turn. "The first group, take care of the Apple Bonkers. The next group, you lot are going to go after the Countdown Clowns. We'll give you something to make sure they don't blow you up."

Blue looked at the final two groups. "The third group are going to go after the Snapping Turtle Turks... and the final group have to fight everything else because they are fewer in number."

To Blue's dismay, the crowd didn't seem particularly enthusiastic. "Hey!" She whispered to Roger, "give us some back up here, will you?"

Roger nodded and turned to speak to the crowd. "Hello, Pepperland!" He shouted. "The Meanies have taken our home now, and they think we are defeated! They think they have destroyed Pepperland! But the truth is, Pepperland isn't a place. It's a people. We are Pepperland, and we are going to take back what is ours! Who's with me?"

A surge of cheering and wild applause ran through the crowd. Roger grinned. "Right then. Follow us!"

*

The huge group of people lined up outside the Yellow Submarine as the four children rushed around, gathering anything that could be used to fight. Thelma managed to deposit about 40 swords and enough suits of armour for everyone to have at least two pieces.

The best find was a cupboard full of seemingly pointless buttons - but Thelma had explained that they triggered the Countdown Clowns before they could get too close.

They rushed to Submarine door and handed out weapons to the queue of people, who excitedly tested them. The army of Meanies was also growing on the horizon, getting closer all the time.

Roger was handing out swords to the very last people in the line when a familiar face came up to him.

"Hello, young lad!" Old Fred clapped him on the back and pulled him into a tight hug. "I knew you could do it... I knew it! That was some speech you gave back there."

Roger stared up at the Fred. He could feel tears of joy welling up in his eyes, but he wasn't going to let them show. Blinking rapidly, he called to the others "Everyone! Come here! It's Fred!"

Blue didn't know who Fred was but followed Finn and Emily as they excitedly joined their brother. An older man was stood next to them, with the outlined and angular features that all Pepperlandians share. He had bright eyes full of alertness and appeared to be wearing a huge sailor's uniform that was adorned with bright golden buttons.

Fred's arms were long enough to pull Fred, Emily and Roger into one huge hug. Then he turned to Blue. "Who's this then?" He asked, looking her up and down.

Blue self consciously itched her nose. She was never sure what to do with her arms when people were looking at her - should she fold them or dangle them by her side?

"This is Blue." Said Finn. "She helped us get here. She's... uhh... not from around."

"Well then." A jolly smile plastered itself on Fred's face, lighting it up. "A friend of yours is a friend of mine!" He strode towards Blue, who tensed up, thinking he was going to hug her too. But he just stopped and held out a hand for her to shake, which she did so politely. Fred nodded, seemingly satisfied. "You can tell a lot about a person from the way they shake your hand." He said.

Finn glanced over his shoulder to look at the advancing army of Meanies. Then he turned to the crowd. "Is everyone ready!" He shouted. The Pepperlandians cheered loudly, but Fred gripped his shoulder. "Finn?" He asked. "We need a Boob to defeat the Blue Meanies!"

Finn grinned. "We've already got one. And we've wiped out most of the Blues. It's just the Clowns and stuff that's left."

Fred's eyes lit up with excitement. "Did the Boob manage to get Lord Indigo?" Finn looked at the floor and shook his head. "No. He escaped. He'll be somewhere in the army."

"Then we need the Boob!"

"Did someone call?" Jeremy ran towards them, and everyone in the crowd who saw him gave him a huge cheer. He turned and cheekily bowed to them, winking.

"Hello, sir. I'm Jeremy!" He said to Fred. "I have finished with the Blue Meanies in the pyramid now! So I've come to help fight, but I don't know how.

In response to this, Roger just said: "Use your typewriter and magic flower-powers."

"Indeed! What an excellent plan!" Jeremy pulled out his typewriter and it became a thin sword. Then, he tapped it against the ground and a rose bloomed out of the soil. "Wonderful!" He exclaimed and picked the flower. He sniffed it before handing it to Blue, winking cheekily.

Blue was slightly taken aback but grinned anyways. Then she addressed the audience. "Our ultimate aim is to let Jeremy here get to Lord Indigo so he can make peace with them... remember, what's important isn't knowing when to take a life, but when to spare one!"

Roger lifted his sword in the air and pulled his metal helmet over his head. "Are we ready?" He shouted.

The crowd cheered.

"Okay." Said Roger, "We're ready."