Blackberry Bun's Journal: Final Chapter 1

[Blackberry Bun]

Final Chapter Part 1: Limit in The Sky


One night, I was lying down on the rooftop of my house to see the stars above. There were no clouds and it was still crescent moon so I could see quite a clear view of all the stars. It was a very beautiful view that I felt like staying there all the night. Looking at the stars, I began to wonder about the outer space and all things over there. What things could possibly exist out there? What kinds of planets could I find? I then got the idea of making a vehicle capable of going to outer space, but I immediately casted it aside because the bitter memories about the old Falcon came back to me.

I had never told anyone before, but at first I hadn't intended to make Falcon a flying car. I had meant it to be a spaceship to go to outer space, but no matter how hard I had tried, the engine had always stopped working after reaching a certain height. Because of that, I had decided to make it a flying car instead. Even though of that, Falcon had ended up nearly unusable because of various problems I still hadn't known about back then. Thanks to the trip to the Land of Dreams, my Falcon had became the Falcon I still used until then.

After having those thoughts about the past, I decided to walk around Strawberryland at night. Of course I started with Huckleberry Briar, which was a little bit scary at night, but I didn't feel scared that much. The next stop was Cakewalk, which was very quiet and dim. It was already over bedtime so I assumed that Angel Cake was already asleep. The same with Ginger Snap when I walked past her house, but then as I came closer to Strawberry's house, I started to hear someone singing. I recognized the voice as Strawberry's voice and walked closer to hear the song more clearly. Once i got a clear hearing of the song, I sat down leaning behind her fence so she wouldn't notice me.

Tell me a story
of a land full of horses, playing fun horsey games
Castles that float in the sky
Or magical horses with wings on their backs
Who takes us away as they fly

Tell me a story, just once more
Turn off the light, and stand by the door
And say ``I love you`` and kiss me goodnight
Tell me a story
I need a story
Any old story
As long as it's told by you...

Hearing her singing that song somehow made me feel something weird deep inside my heart. The song felt like she had a desire for parents, which none of us had. The question that had occupied my mind once came again, and without realizing it, some tears dropped from my eyes. Eventually I noticed it and quickly wiped the tears from my face. Then I approached Strawberry, who was still sitting by the door of her house. Both of her pets were sound asleep by her.

"Hi, Strawberry," I greeted.

"Oh, hi, Blackberry," she greeted back.

"Can't sleep just like me?" I asked.

"Not really," she replied. "What about you?"

"I just wanted to walk around at night," I replied. "By the way, the song you just sang..."

"You heard it?" she asked.

"Yeah, some of it. It was really an enchanting song. Truthfully, I dropped some tears hearing it," I replied, sitting next to her while still giving enough room for Pupcake.

"Oh..." she said.

"You know, all of us have been having a lot of fun together. So much fun, that we have been forgetting a question," I said.

"What question?" she asked.

"Have you ever wondered why we are here, without someone who takes care of us? Without someone who loves us? Without someone who... tells us bedtime stories?" I said.

"Well, now that you mention it..." she said with a brief pause. "I wonder about that too."

"You know, I also have another question," I said. "It's about your sister."

"Apple Dumplin'? What question?" she asked.

"I once saw her coming from a giant flower which had fallen from the sky. What was that actually?" I asked.

"I..." she said with a pause. "I just... don't know..."

"You don't know? Nothing at all?" I asked.

"That was the berry first time I met her," she replied. "I don't know much."

"What? That was the first time? Then how did you know that she was your sister and that the day was her first birthday?" I asked. I was very curious.

"I don't know..." she replied, pausing again. "I just... knew all those."

"You just... knew? You mean, the knowledge just got into your head out of nowhere?" I said, and she replied with a nod. "That's quite strange..."

"Yeah, but it didn't really matter to me back then," she said.

"Do you know what happened to the flower then?" I asked.

"It is no longer there. It has returned to the ground since a berry long time ago," she answered.

"I see..." I said, looking to the stars and the crescent moon above. I then decided to leave the question and change the topic. "So far away..."

"What did you just say?" she asked.

"The stars. It's a long way out there..." I said.

"Umm... yes it sure is," she said, seeming confused that I suddenly changed the topic.

"I wonder if I can ever go to those stars someday," I said. "With a spaceship or something..."

"If you keep believing that you can do it, then I think you can," she said.

"Well... I don't know," I said, followed by a pause. "I have tried, but I have never made it come true. So I gave up and made a flying car instead."

"I don't know much about spaceship or flying cars, but I do know this, Blackberry," she said. "Dreams are one thing you can't give up on."

"Do you think so...?" I said, still looking at the stars above.

"Yes, I believe you can," she replied. "I'll give you a deal. You don't give up on your dream, and I won't give up on mine. We will make them come true, one step at a time."

"Thanks, Strawberry," I said. "I think I will go home now. It's really over bed time now."

"See you tomorrow, Blackberry," she said as I stood up and walked away waving my hand to her.

At the next day, motivated by Strawberry's words from the previous day, I started the old abandoned project once again. First, I tried piloting Falcon as high as it could be to see if the problem still existed. It turned out that it still did because suddenly Falcon's engine died. However, after falling some height I was able to start the engine again so I didn't have to use the emergency parachute. Once I got home again, I wondered what the cause of the problem was. Falcon's engine did not need air to run so thinner atmosphere should have not been the cause. I then looked at the spot where Blackbird was parked and wondered if I could use Blackbird's high speed to go through the height.

I decided that using Blackbird was not a good idea because there was a risk that after the engine died the remaining speed would probably bring me to outer space for real, and if I couldn't start the engine again I would be trapped in space forever. So, I modified Midnight Eye's satellite to become a miniature of Blackbird which had the exact same functions as the real one. The mini Blackbird could be controlled by the old Eagle Eye's controller so I could fly it while still staying in my house.

I then launched the mini Blackbird to the sky and controlled it to fly upwards at full speed. There was no problem seen in the monitor, and as expected the engine died soon after. Its speed kept it moving upwards, but then a strange thing happened. The mini Blackbird's speed decreased abnormally fast that it came into a complete stop just a few seconds later. Then, it immediately started to fall down with an abnormally high acceleration. Soon, I was able to start the engine again so I could control it to fly back to my home safely, but what had just happened had left a big question for me. What had just happened actually?

No matter how hard I thought about the things that just happened, the only conclusion that I could came up with was that there was some kind of invisible limit in the sky covering the whole planet. At first the force field disabled the engine of any vehicle that came within its area, then if the vehicle's remaining speed kept bringing it up, the force field pushed the vehicle down with increasing strength the higher the vehicle went. That thought didn't make much sense. If that thought was true, then who made that force field? What was the purpose? How could I get through it? All those thoughts gave me quite a headache so I decided to call it off for then and go for a walk around Strawberryland.

I then stopped by a small river near the outfield and sat down on the ground near the river's edge. I then picked up a stone and threw it to the river. The stone fell into the river and sank, and then I lied down with a sigh.

"Hey, Blackberry. Having fun?" a voice I recognized asked.

"Not really, Huck. I'm kinda stressful today," I replied, still lying down.

"What's the matter?" he asked, sitting down next to me.

"Something got in my way, while I was chasing my dream," I replied.

"Really? You couldn't get through it?" he asked.

"I tried, but it kept pushing me back no matter how hard I tried," I replied. "Now I kinda want to give up..."

"You can't give up just like that!" he said. "There must be a way!"

"I'm not sure about that," I said.

"Keep trying! You can do it! Just believe in yourself that you can!" he said, trying to encourage me.

"That's what I have been doing, but as you can see..." I said. There was a brief pause until I continued. "But don't worry. I won't give up. I've already promised that to Strawberry."

"Promise what?" he asked.

"I don't give up on my dream, and she won't give up on hers. That's all," I replied.

"I see," he said. "Hey, I don't know what your obstacle is, but if you can't get through it, there's always another way."

"Well, I'm not sure," I said.

"Like this river. How can you get to the other side?" he asked.

"Well, I can use the bridge over there," I replied, looking at a bridge some distance away.

"That's one. You also can swim through it or find a place where the river is not too wide and then jump over it," he said.

"Maybe you're right..." I said, then I noticed something. "Wait! What did you say?" I asked, getting up into sitting position suddenly.

"Uh... swim through it?" he asked.

"Nonono, after that!" I said, shaking my head.

"Uh... find a place where the river is not too wide..." he said.

"Yes, and then?" I asked again with my hands on his shoulders.

"Jump over it..." he answered with confused face.

"Jump over it... Yes, if I can't get through it I can jump over it!" I said with excitement. "Thanks, Huck! You're my savior!"

"Uh... no problem," he replied as I ran back home. I was so excited that I got impatient, taking Time Remote Mark II from my pocket and using its dimension door to go home. When I arrived, I immediately went to my working table and started to put the idea into a real thing.

Not too long after, I came out from my house bringing a miniature vehicle similar to mini Blackbird and also a remote control for it. Right at that moment, Huck came to me.

"Hey, Blackberry," he greeted.

"Hi, Huck. What brings you here?" I asked.

"Well, I'm kinda curious about the idea you got from me," he replied. "But if you don't want me to see it I'll go."

"No, I don't mind at all. Be my guest," I said.

"What is that thing you're carrying?" he asked.

"This, is the realization of the idea you gave to me," I answered.

"That toy...?" he asked.

"Not really a toy. This is the miniature of what I will make later. This is just for testing," I replied, putting the mini vehicle on the ground.

"You're going to make another flying car?" he asked.

"Yes, but this one will be able to go to outer space," I said.

"Whoa, that's great," he said.

"Ok, stand near me. I'm going to start it," I said, activating the remote control I have been holding.

Soon, the miniature vehicle started to float. I then controlled it to fly around the area and do some acrobatic moves. All went well for a while, but the real test was just about to begin.

"How is it going?" Huck asked.

"So far so good. But now I'm going to begin the real test," I replied.

I pressed a button on the remote, and then the mini vehicle emitted a bright light. It then disappeared and one second later reappeared at some distance forward. At first I was excited to know that I succeeded, but soon the mini vehicle's engine exploded and it then fell down, hitting the ground hard.

"Oh well, there goes my dream," I said, walking to the remains of the mini vehicle.

"You're not going to give up, are you?" Huck asked, following me.

"Like I said before, I will never give up," I said, picking up the remains. "But truth to be told, failure after failure will eventually get stressful and I'm not sure if I will be able to endure."

"Well, I have had an experience like that before," he said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, that day I was learning a new skateboard trick. Man, that trick was sure a hard one. I kept falling and failing to do it," he said.

"And then...?" I asked.

"Indeed it was stressful, but everytime I failed, I told myself 'It is a new chance to try again, this time more wisely!' and tried again," he said.

"Did you succeed?" I asked.

"Yes, of course! Now I can do that trick easily! Just remember this, Blackberry: Never be afraid to try again. You will never score a goal if you stop to shoot," he said with his hand on my shoulder.

"Thanks, Huck," I said.

"By the way, why does the new car need an ability to teleport like that? I thought you could just keep flying up until you get to the space," he asked.

"Hmm, let's just say that there's a limit in the sky, and instead of going through the limit I will jump over it," I replied.

The next few days were spent studying over the failure that had happened. It took quite a lot of energy and effort, but in the end I came up with an idea to overcome the problem. Soon, I made another mini vehicle and tested it outside. Like the previous mini vehicle, all went well at first. I then pressed one button on the remote, and the mini vehicle shot a wave of electricity which made a mini dimension door right in front of it. The mini vehicle then entered the dimension door and one second later another dimension door appeared at some distance forward. The mini vehicle then came out from it and continued to fly smoothly.

"One step closer to my dream," I said, controlling the mini vehicle to land next to me.

After that, I took Replicator and used it to copy Blackbird. I then modified the copy to function precisely the same as the mini vehicle I had just tested. The result which came two days later was a new vehicle with a different look than the other two vehicles. If Falcon looked like a car and Blackbird looked like a fusion of a car and a plane, the new vehicle looked similar to futuristic planes I had seen in some books.

"Welcome... Albatross," I said, giving the new silver colored vehicle a name.

It was great to see Albatross ready to bring me to outer space. After a very long time, my dream finally came close to reality. Not to mention that Albatross had six additional seats for passengers so I would be able to share the realization of my dream with my friends. However, there was still one last problem for Albatross. Unlike Falcon and Blackbird, Albatross did not have any float engine so it would need a long runway, which was not an easy thing to find in Strawberryland. While I was still pondering over the problem, Ginger Snap came to me.

"Hi, Blackberry! How are you today, huh? I guess you are all right, am I right?" she asked.

"I'm just fine," I replied.

"Woohoo! I was sooo right! You see, none of us have seen you over the last few days. Nope, not ever! So, I thought of giving you a visit to see what you have been doing that none of us have seen you over the last few days. So, what is it, huh Blackberry?" she asked again.

"That," I replied, pointing at Albatross.

"Whoa, what is this? It looks like a plane, am I right?" she said.

"This is Albatross. It is a spaceship which I have been making over the last few days," I said.

"Spaceship? You mean, a vehicle to go to up there? To the outer space and the stars above?" she asked.

"Yes it is," I said.

"Whoa, why don't you fly it right away, huh Blackberry? I guess there is still one or two or three problems, am I right?" she said.

"Yeah, that's right," I said, then I told her about Albatross' problem.

"A runway huh?" she said, thinking. "I got it! Leave it to me for the runway! Just bring this plane to the outfield now, okay?"

After saying those words, she left without giving me a chance to say anything. I wondered how she would provide a runway in the outfield because I knew that there wasn't any flat surface long enough for Albatross to gain speed and fly over there. Also, she didn't know that bringing Albatross to the outfield was not an easy thing to do. I still could drive it like a normal car, but there wasn't any road wide enough for it to go through towards the outfield. While I was still thinking, Huck came.

"Hey, Blackberry," he greeted.

"Hey, Huck," I replied, still thinking.

"Ginger Snap went past my fort talking about making a runway for you, so I thought of coming here to see," he said.

"And now you see it," I said, then I told him what had happened before and also the problem I was still thinking about.

"Hmm, did you forget what I had said?" he asked.

"About what?" I asked back.

"About the ways to get past an obstacle," he replied.

"I remember. Like a river, to get past it I can use a bridge, swim across, or jump over it... Oh, you mean..." I said, realizing something.

"Yeah, I think maybe you can use the new car's ability to teleport to the outfield," he said.

"I thought of that too, but Albatross can only do that while flying," I said.

"Then how about your remote?" he asked.

"Time Remote II you mean? The dimension door it makes is not large enough for Albatross to go through," I replied.

"Then how about this?" he said, taking something from his pocket. I immediately noticed it as Ginger's Dimension Door Remote.

"Ginger's remote? Why do you have it now?" I asked

"I borrowed this last Christmas to invite special guests, and I forgot to return it," he replied.

"Special guests...? So you were the one who brought those... unique kids?" I asked, remembering the strangers I had seen. One of them could transform into a dragon, another could transform into weird creatures, and another could transform into a ghostly form.

"Yeah, but I didn't expect them to be that special..." he said with his right hand behind his head and chuckling.

"Anyway, I think this remote can work, although I'm not so sure," I said. "But let's try it anyway, rather than not doing anything while Ginger is over there waiting for me."

I then took the remote from Huck, gave him a few instructions, walked some distance in front of Albatross, typed the destination, and threw the remote upwards towards Huck, who was standing a few meters in front of me. After he caught it he brought the remote to me while keeping it close to the ground. As expected, those movements ended up drawing a large not-so-circular trail, creating a dimension door large enough for Albatross to enter.

"All right!" Huck said in excitement.

"Let's go quickly before it disappears," I said.

Both of us then entered Albatross. I then started its engine and drove it towards the dimension door. We knew that we ended up at the place we had wanted because we saw Ginger Snap working on building the runway she had promised.

"Hey, Ginger! Do you need some help?" I asked as I got off Albatross.

"Nope! I'm all done!" she answered, giving the last hammer drop. "Here's The Amazing Runway, made just for you!"

I looked at the runway she had made and noticed that she had made it using the same material for the skateboard track everyone had used in the Strawberryland Games. Soon, I got surprised and confused seeing that the other end of the runway was curved upwards.

"The other end is... curved?" I asked.

"Yep! You can just let your plane run and the runway will make your plane fly! Great idea, am I right?" she said.

"Well..." I said, making calculations in my head. "Yes, that can work. Didn't think about that."

"See? That's why it's amazing, am I right?" she said. Right after that, all other kids from the main five came to the place. They came because they had heard a lot of noise of hammering, and wanted to know what was going on. It didn't took long for me to explain everything.

"I can carry six more people with me, so I want to invite you all to come along with me in this trip," I said.

"That's berry nice of you, Blackberry! I'll go with you!" Strawberry said.

"Me too," Orange said.

"Count me in as well, will ya?" Ginger said.

"Yeah, me too," Angel said.

"I'm in as well," Huck said. "But what about the sixth?"

"Well, we can just go with five extra passengers," I said. "Or we can wait a little and take the first person who come here next."

Right after I said those lines, we all heard something.

"Hey, what are you doing here, and what is this... weird thing?" a voice we all knew as Peppermint asked.

"That's the one," I said, and everyone nodded.

"Hey, nobody's going to explain to me?" Peppermint asked again, and I explained everything to her, including the invitation.

"What? A trip to outer space... with this thing? You must be kidding!" she said.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"It sorta... doesn't look safe," she replied.

"Don't worry, you can count on me," I said.

"You said that line as well, before we got stranded at the South Pole for days," she said, reminding me of what happened to Blackbird at its first flight.

"Well... Umm..." I said, being speechless.

"Okay, I'll go with you," she said, surprising the rest of us. "No matter what, a trip with you is always interesting."

Because it had been settled, all seven of us got on Albatross and sat on the seats. As I was preparing to start the engine, Peppermint asked from behind.

"By the way, Blackberry, I remember how hard your other car pressed me to the seat. I'm sorta worried it will become worse with this..." she said.

"Don't worry. I put a gravity field around the seats. We won't feel a thing," I answered, starting the engine. "Everyone ready?"

I heard a huge "Yes!" from everyone behind me, and started moving Albatross to the beginning of Ginger's runway. There was a brief pause before Albatross accelerated fast towards the curve at the end. The gravity field I had mentioned worked perfectly because none of us felt the pressure of the acceleration. Soon, Albatross climbed the runway's curve and finally left the ground. I immediately increased the engine's power to further accelerate towards the sky, and still none of us felt any pressure.

"The limit in the sky is near..." I said with low voice. Nobody heard it.

I then pressed one button on the control panel, and Albatross immediately shot a wave of electricity forward, creating a dimension door which we soon entered. Soon, we were out from the dimension door and the thing we saw next was a beautiful scenery of outer space with sparkling stars, the sun far away, and our planet beneath.

"Berry beautiful..." Strawberry said.

"Amazing huh?" Ginger said.

"This is awesome," Huck said.

"Apple Dumplin' like," a familiar voice said, which surprised all of us. We all looked towards the back and saw Apple who possibly had been hiding behind the back seat. Nobody knew when she sneaked into Albatross.

"Apple Dumplin', why are you here?" Strawberry asked.

"Apple Dumplin' like Blackberry new car," Apple replied.

"Apple, this is not a car. It could have been dangerous for you," Strawberry said.

"Glad the gravity field worked..." I said, again with low voice. "Anyway, now that she is here, Strawberry, can you let her sit on your lap?"

Strawberry agreed, and soon we had enjoyment in our trip to outer space. However...

"Hey, Blackberry. Why are we going home so soon?" Huck asked, which made me wonder.

"Huh? Why did you ask that?" I asked back.

"I saw your dimension door over there, so I thought..." he replied, pointing to the right side. I looked there and indeed there was something there, very similar to the dimension door I had been using. Then, as the thing slowly came nearer, something struck my mind. That thing was not a good thing at all.

"It's not a dimension door... It's Black Hole!" I said, starting to rush Albatross away from the thing. However, the engine went off. It seemed that it had been disabled because I couldn't start it again. Soon, the Black Hole pulled Albatross into its center. All of us screamed, but there was nobody to hear our scream besides ourselves.

So...
Albatross...
Along with all passangers inside...
Was left drifting...
In an unknown space...
With nothing but darkness...

Everyone were unconscious...
I myself was not, but...
What could I do...?
There was nothing to do...
Nothing at all...
Nothing around us...
Everything was dark...
With only a little glimpse of light far away...
...
...
...
...
Wait... Light...?

--To be continued--