"Hey, what does this button do?" Trollex wondered, staring at a big green button. At this point, the ship was in cruise mode, so it was safe for everyone to move around.

"I'll look it up," Floyd said as he opened the manual.

"Ooh!" Hope cooed as she slipped out from John Dory's arms and landed on the button, pressing it and causing a dozen screens across the ship to light up.

"Hope Willow!" John Dory exclaimed in panic, worried she was hurt. Hope just smiled at her dad as he picked her back up.

"Greetings! I am F.I.O.N.A. Your Friendly Intergalactic Operational Navigation Assistant," a voice announced overhead.

"Oh, uh, hi, F.I.O.N.A.," Willow greeted. "I'm Willow, I was named after a tree. Ugly tree, ugly kid."

"You're not ugly," Floyd reassured her. "Say, F.I.O.N.A., do you know if we're anywhere near Genesis?"

"Genesis is one of the most successful bioengineering companies in the universe," F.I.O.N.A. explained. "If you turn your vessel starboard, you will find their headquarters, the bio-formed research station more commonly known as Olympus."

"What does bio-formed mean?" Viva asked as the ship turned. They all noticed a space station that appeared to be made of pink fleshy tissue.

"Instead of being built with metal, it was grown from organic matter. And it is protected by a plasmic security shield which surrounds the entire station," the computer answered. "If you wish to enter without authorization, I recommend activating the cloaking device."

"Cloaking device," Floyd mumbled as he skimmed through the pages of the manual rapidly.

"How can you tell which page it's on?" Trollex asked the cute Pop Troll.

"I can tell," Floyd replied. "Here, it is. 'To activate your spacecraft's cloaking device, open the panel underneath your control board, make sure the black and blue wires are connected, and flick the gold switch in the ON setting.'"

"Okay, sounds simple enough," Willow said, and flew under the control board to find the locked panel. "Anyone know how to pick a lock?"

"John Dory does," Floyd answered, and turned to his brother. "We'll take care of Hope for you."

"Well... okay," John Dory said as he hesitantly handed his daughter over to her uncle. "Don't worry, Hope. Daddy'll be right back."

Once John Dory went down to help Willow, Floyd, Viva, and Trollex heard little Hope's stomach gurgle.

"I think someone's hungry!" Viva said. "Are you hungry, baby Hopie-wopie?"

Hope giggled at Viva's silly voice.

"Hey, John," Floyd called out, "did you bring any-?"

"In the bag behind her seat!"

Trollex pulled out a backpack from behind Hope's car seat and opened it up to find plenty of baby essentials, including formula mix and a container of warm water.

"Wow, he brought the works," Trollex muttered.

"Yeah, John's always been prepared to provide for anyone," Floyd said as he mixed the formula in a bottle. "Ever since we were kids. Mom and Dad weren't exactly Parents Of The Year, so he mostly took care of us. I guess it became a force of habit with him."

"But at least it shows how much he really loves his brothers and daughter," Viva added as she fed Hope the bottle. "Here, you go, sweetie."

"You're pretty good at that," Trollex praised.

"Yeah, I've helped out with lots babies back hom- I mean, at Hole N Fun," she corrected herself. "I just wish I could've been there for Poppy when she had her baby. Support her, hold her hand in the delivery room, reenact the opening scene from that animal movie."

"Well, what matters is you're part of their lives now," Floyd reassured her.

"Theirs, and Synth's," Viva added with a nod. "I love him to bits. I haven't told him yet, I've been waiting for either the right moment or for him to say it first, but I do."

"Interesting," Trollex mumbled.

"What is?" Floyd asked.

"Well," he said, "I probably shouldn't ruin the surprise, but right before he was almost kidnapped, Synth said he was ready to tell you he loves you."

"Aww, he did?" Viva said with a blush before her face fell. "Now, I just hope we'll be able to tell each other how much we love each other."

"It'll be okay, Veev," Floyd reassured her. "We have a friend in need and we will not rest until we override the kill switch."

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

"And that's how you pick a... basic t-handle lock," John Dory bragged with a slight yawn.

"It took you five minutes," Willow pointed out.

"Give me a break, I haven't been sleeping well," John Dory argued. "I just can't figure out this whole dad thing."

"Well, the fact that you're actually taking initiative means you're already doing great," Willow tried to reassure him. “Whenever my mother had another baby, she would just drop them in my flimsy little arms. And I wasn't even a year old yet when Karen was born. I think."

“Well," said John Dory, “I'm pretty sure Hope's gonna be my only kid..." Well, my only living kid. “So, I'm not gonna drop her into anyone else's arms for any reason."

“Not on purpose," Willow muttered before flying inside the control board.

“Hey, wait!" John Dory exclaimed, climbing up after her. Willow conjured up a ball of light and searched for the wires and the switch. “What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

“John Dory, you're actually pretty lucky to have people who want to help you," Willow explained. “I would've given my right eye to have someone help me with my siblings."

“Only your right eye?"

“Oh, my bangs used to cover the whole left side of my face," she said, and used her telekinesis to connect the black and blue wires. “Wires are connected, Floyd!"

“Did you flick the switch?!"

“Flicking it!" John Dory yelled, and flicked the gold switch.

“Cloaking device activated," F.I.O.N.A. announced. “You may now move your vessel through the shield."

While Viva burped the baby, Trollex and Floyd pushed on the handlebars so the ship would slip its way past the shield.

“Look, John," Willow said, “all I'm saying is that you don't have to be Super-Dad or whatever for Hope to know you love her. Everyone needs a support system."

“Then why did you look so uncomfortable when we volunteered to come out here with you?" John Dory asked the teen.

“Well, I, uh...." Willow stammered, but was interrupted when the ship came to an abrupt halt. “Floyd, why didn't we go through?"

“We did," Floyd confirmed. “It's not the shield!"