FLORONA: Hello. Welcome to my village. Here, all are safe and warm.
(Both Lance and Hunk scream as Walrus looking creatures close by.)
FLORONA: Please, do not startle our guests. I am Florona. The almighty Queen Luxia, keeper of our land, would love to meet with you.
LANCE: Wait. How did your queen know we were here?
FLORONA: Queen Luxia knows all.
HUNK: Lance, I know this mermaid thing is a dream of yours, but we really gotta go.
LANCE: We will, big guy, we will, but let's meet this queen first. Besides, maybe she can help us. And, if I just happen to find the future Mrs. Blue Lion, well, then that is all right with me.
Queen Luxia: Space travelers, I am Queen Luxia. I welcome you to our village as honored guests.
HUNK: Uh, Mrs. Queen, Your Honor, Your Excellence, I'm Hunk, and me and my buddy here, we crash-landed on your lovely planet, but we really need to get back in touch with our friends who are in space. Would you possibly have any way of doing that?
Queen Luxia: Hunk, Lance, I can solve all of your problems. Here, we are all safe and warm.
HUNK: You use magic, don't you? I bet this castle's a ship. This castle is a ship, am I right? Just don't say anything if I'm right.
Queen Luxia: Here, I've brought you these. The bubble coral will provide you with all the air you need.
HUNK: Whoa-ho-ho! Thank you, Fish Queen. Huh. Cool.
Queen Luxia: And rest assured, your space vessels will be well protected. Now, please, follow me.
LANCE: What is that? That is the giver of life to our people, the Baku Garden. When the waters froze over, we were forced to live down here. The garden provides us the warmth and food we need to survive. Because of it, we are taken care of. Here, all are safe and warm.
HUNK: Your Royalness. if I may, this food is amazing. It's even better than Balmeran cave bugs.
Queen Luxia: I'm glad you enjoy it. It was picked fresh from the Baku Garden. And I hope you enjoy the entertainment.
Queen Luxia: They are going to come. We must destroy what remains of their kind and bring Lance under our control. But first, Florona, you were in charge of watching the air-breathers. So, now, it is time for you to take a swim in the garden.
FLORONA: Yes, My Queen.
LANCE: Wait. Wait a minute. Okay. You're trying to tell me the queen is brainwashing people? But she's so safe and warm.
SWIRN: What do you remember from yesterday?
LANCE: I remember we crashed, saw the mermaids and the village, then we had dinner, and then, uh we, uh.
SWIRN: You can't remember because you were under her control.
BLUMFUMP: Our theory is, the queen controls minds by using her voice to strike certain head switches in your ear pan.
PLAXUM: And her magnetic stare locks on to your eye-to-brain pathway plug.
SWIRN: Plus, her mind-control sonar is always broadcasting through the waters. Bong! Bong! Bong!
PLAXUM: And She trains her people to use hypnotic movements to lull you under her control.
BLUMFUMP: Good, because I haven't finished my picture for that one. But you see, she was infecting your brain!
LANCE: Holy crow! I had a mind-controlling brain infection!
PLAXUM: Sit.
BLUMFUMP: The entire village is under the queen's mind control. The only reason we aren't is because we wear these jellyfish that hide our brains from her powers. It's like we have no brains whatsoever. You can't control what doesn't exist.
SWIRN: Many years ago, the queen froze over the surface by blocking the thermal vents. She forced everyone to the depths, where she began to brainwash them. They became her prisoners.
PLAXUM: What size?
SWIRN: Eight and seven-eighths aquameters.
LANCE: But what's the point? Why mind-control the mermaids?
BLUMFUMP: Well, we don't know that for sure, but hundreds of mermaids have disappeared and never come back.
Queen Luxia: Goodbye, Florona. It is time to return to the giver of life.
SWIRN: We've tried to take out the queen, but failed several times. And every attempt depletes our numbers. Now, there are only three of us left. Without you, there is no hope.
BLUMFUMP: Here's what Blumfump came up with. This is you. You act like you're still thought-swirled and get past the guards. Get your mer-cat and grab the queen. We'll mount a full-scale attack on the castle and free the people.
LANCE: "Oh, Lance, you're so handsome!" [normal voice] "And modest.
LANCE: " [high voice] "Oh, thank you for saving us. Can I kiss you?", "Maybe just a little."
BLUMFUMP: Well, now, you're just making a tree kiss a turtle.
LANCE: That's a turtle? But there's an actual turtle right here.
BLUMFUMP: We needed the turtle to play the wall. If your acting fails you, this holds three doses of antidote to use on the guards. It should interrupt the queen's mind-control long enough for you to escape.
LANCE: I don't think I'll be needing this. I missed 14 days of the third grade for a stomachache I never really had.
LANCE: Hello, mer-guards! Isn't everything just so safe and warm here? Anyway, I'm off to my lion.
PLAXUM: Let's go! What's the plan? We need to grab the queen and take her to an ice prison Blumfump built, where her mind-control powers will be trapped because of the thick ice and the jellyfish.
Queen Luxia: I wasn't controlling anyone. The Baku!
PLAXUM: She's lying!
Queen Luxia: I'm not. Please! The last thing I remember is that organism in the garden falling from space. I went to inspect it. I thought it was a plant.
HUNK: Wait a second. We've been eating that plant. And it's delicious! It's so safe and warm.
LANCE: A-ha! Mind-swishing! It was the plant the whole time. And the queen was the first one to be mind-controlled.
PLAXUM: But why?
Queen Luxia: The Baku has been harvesting us all. We are its food source.
HUNK: I think she's telling the truth. Look out the window.
LANCE: You two get somewhere safe. Okay, Hunk, change of plans. The queen is actually good and that thing is bad. Let's take it out.
HUNK: That thing's too quick for me. I can't hit it! My lion's not very good in water.
LANCE: Really? My lion's moving better than ever. There's something about fighting underwater that's making me feel extra quick and powerful. I think I know how to stop that thing.
LANCE: So, Blumfump, the jellyfish, the magnetic stare, the hypnotic dance You got it all wrong. It was the food.
BLUMFUMP: Well, I did say they were theories. Mer-science isn't always about getting the right answer.
Queen Luxia: I want to thank you all for what you've done. You've freed my people, and I will do all I can to protect that freedom. I vow to be the voice of my people. I beg of you to help. Will you be my advisors?
BLUMFUMP: Of course, Your Highness. I have some great ideas. Have you ever heard of electricity?
PLAXUM: And I wanted to personally thank you, Lance. Mwah. Finally, I can remove this thing.
HUNK: Queen Luxia, the reason we came here in the first place was to see if you could help us find our friends.
Queen Luxia: Of course. It has been many years since we have activated the energy beacon, but perhaps it is time to rebuild our civilization and reach out to interstellar travelers once again. Activate energy beacon!