After leaving the theater, Emma and Leo racked their brains to figure out how to bring Balan back to positivity. They thought they were extremely lucky they found it before it spread too far. Especially after Balan was so focused on hiding it. If they caught it too late, who knows what would've happened to their maestro friend.
They ambled through town, thinking of what they could possibly do to save him. They kept exchanging ideas, and each one seemed like a flop. "What if we have Balan leave the theater? If he steps outside, it might relieve some of the stress." Leo explained. But Emma shook her head. "Balan can only leave the theater for a short amount of time. I don't think two hours would be enough to get the stress off his back." They continued to think. Emma then told Leo her plan. "How about we spend the night at the theater? Have a slumber party? We could spend the whole day playing games, telling stories, eating snacks, and watching movies. Balan could use the company, don't you think?" Leo cocked an eyebrow. "As fun as that sounds, I don't know how that would fix the problem. We're dealing with negativity here. We need something more than a simple slumber party." "Yeah, you're right."
They roamed all the way to the park, the place where Leo liked to hang out and dance to himself. They sat at a bench, gears turning in their head to figure out what they could do. "Maybe we're thinking about this the wrong way." Emma pointed out. "We're clearly thinking of bandaid solutions for just simply being sad. This is a different situation entirely. It's about balance! It's not just emotional, but it's about willpower too." Leo nodded at the notion. "Yeah, you're right. We need to think outside the box on this one." He scratched his head as he thought.
They both stood silent, processing what they could do differently. "Let's think about this in someone else's shoes. What would Balan do?" Emma suggested. Leo placed a finger under his chin. "Well... Balan is a theater guy. He likes to perform just to make us smile or laugh first. In the end, we encounter our problems head-on to restore balance... But his cause of imbalance is a fear of turning negative due to absorbing everyone's negative emotions." Emma snapped her fingers. "That's it! He's afraid of becoming like Lance. Lance said that he too loved humans until he fell prey to the nega. We need to have the opposite effect. Like, projecting out positive emotions to him." "And how are we gonna do that?" "... I have no idea."
Emma's phone suddenly buzzed in her pocket. She took it out and looked at the notification—a reminder she had for vocal lessons at 2:30. "I better go, Leo. I have vocal lessons to get to." Leo paused and blinked. "Wait, vocal lessons? You mean you sing?" He asked. "Yeah, I like singing. So?" "I never knew you could sing. You never told me." "Well, I've been having private vocal lessons for a long time now. I'm even in the school choir. I've been told I have a great voice, so I decided to take some lessons." "Huh. Nice. You know, if you think about it, singing and dancing are kind of like performances for theater."
Emma's eyes widened as a lightbulb lit overhead. She smiled and jumped up from the bench. "That's it!" She exclaimed. "I just got the perfect idea of how we could help Balan!" She turned around and hugged Leo tightly. "Leo, you're a genius!" The sudden hug caught Leo by surprise. He blushed bright red and felt like his heart was going to fly out of his chest. When Emma let go, she ran off. "I'll tell you the plan when I'm done with my lessons! We'll talk on the computer!" Leo stood there speechless, breathing heavily and sweating. Did it just get hotter out here, or was it just him?
Leo was back at home, pacing around his room. He left his computer on with screen chat open, waiting for Emma to call. He didn't know when she would be done with her voice lessons, but he hoped it was soon. He thought every second they wasted would be Balan succumbing to negativity. It was hard for Leo to feel close to anybody. And to lose Balan would be like losing a good friend. He didn't want to go through that again.
The screen chat made a beeping noise, signaling that someone was calling. He rushed over, sat down, and answered the call. Emma was on the other line. "Can you hear me?" She asked, checking if everything was working. "Loud and clear. How about you?" Leo asked. "Yeah, I can hear you."
"So, what's this plan you were thinking about?" He asked. "Well, you mentioned that singing and dancing was a bit like theater. And Balan loves to put on a show for everyone. So I figured we could put on a show for him." "Hey, that's a nice idea. Putting on a show for him would send a massive surge of positive energy towards him." Emma held up a finger. "Of course, we can't do this alone. We'll need a crew." "You mean the previous inhabitants of Wonderworld?" "Well, I once thought we could bring all the previous visitors back with us, but then I also realized they wouldn't remember."
Leo paused for a second before he spoke up. "No, wait. Yes, they do!" Emma cocked an eyebrow. "What? They do?" "Yeah, believe it or not, I've kept in touch with some of the others. Haoyu and I are actually pen pals. I once asked him if he remembered. He told me he thought it was a dream, but knowing that someone else knew the place, he remembered too." A smile lit up on Emma's face. "Wow! That's amazing! That must mean that the others remember too." Leo pounded his hand into his other. "Great! So here's what we'll do. I'll send a message to Haoyu, and he can go inform the others. He can get to them in no time with his flying bike." Emma nodded her head, agreeing with the plan.
She clicked on another program and started to type something out. She then sent it to Leo through a DM. It read, "SOS!!! Balan is in trouble and needs our help. Call us on our screen chat to join the plan to save him." Just below the text read Leo's and Emma's screen chat usernames. "Send that to Haoyu. Tell him to make copies and send them to everyone we knew in Wonderworld." Leo nodded firmly. "Gotcha. I'll call him right now. I'll see you later." He pressed the button to hang up and looked through his other contacts for Haoyu. Once he found it, he called him, hoping he would pick up.
On the other line, Haoyu was tinkering in the garage until he heard his computer beeping. When he answered it, Leo was on the other line. "Leo! It's been a while." He greeted. "Hey, Haoyu. I wish I was calling you on a happier note, but we've got a serious issue." Leo informed. "Why? What's the matter?" "You remember Balan, right?" "Of course I do. For some reason, my memory wasn't wiped upon exiting the theater." "Well, he's in trouble. I need you to send out a message so we can gather everyone to help him."
Haoyu's eyes widened. "Balan's in trouble? How? What's happening?" He asked worriedly. "He's falling into negativity. If we don't do something, he'll become just like Lance." Leo explained. "Oh no! We can't let that happen! Lance trapped us and turned us into monsters the last time we were there. Ok, I'll send the message and tell the others." Leo nodded and sent the message to him by DM.
"Print all those out and send them to the others. Our screen chat usernames are in the message." Haoyu gave a thumbs-up as he downloaded the image and began printing several copies. "Have no fear, Leo. Balan's in good hands. He helped us in our time of need, so now's the time to return the favor." "Great. Thanks a lot." Said Leo as he ended the call.
