—You don't need to go to the museum. I can buy you a new bell at the future department store.
—No way! I want that specific bell. I don't want another one.
In a Japanese-style room, three figures were sitting on a tatami mat.
The first was a thin boy with round glasses and a strange red outfit for his age.
In front of him was a plump, spherical blue figure. His rounded face was twisted in anger, and his wide eyes showed tiny pupils that were glaring at the third figure with impatience. On either side of his snout, his thin whiskers vibrated slightly, betraying his tension. With his round, fingerless hands, he tapped the tatami in a hurried rhythm. In the center of his belly stood out a white, flat pocket, attached to his body as if it were a natural part of him.
On the other side of the room, the third figure offered a clear contrast to the blue individual. Of a soft yellow tone and an equally rounded silhouette, she maintained a calm expression. A large pink bow adorned her head. She held a small plate with a half-eaten strawberry cake and, with leisurely movements, brought the fork to her mouth.
She chewed slowly, oblivious to the other's tension, while her cherry-toned eyes remained half-closed in a contentment brought on by the taste of her cake.
—Anyway, why are you getting so worked up over that bell?
—Uh... it's just that...
The blue individual hesitated, but didn't manage to respond. In the center of the room, a dark portal opened, distorting the air, and from it fell a small figure that hit the tatami with a thud.
—Ugh...
Noah sat up clumsily and looked around, still disoriented.
—Where am I? Looks like I failed to lock onto my destination.
He had intended to go to a specific world, but at the last instant an impulsive thought had come to mind, distracting him, and apparently the portal destabilized, landing him in a new world at random.
Furthermore, the cost of his little mishap had been high.
Of the 370 void energy points he had stored over the past three years, 260 were consumed in bringing him to this new world whose coordinates weren't registered in his Elder Blood.
Noah stopped thinking about it and looked up at the three figures in front of him.
From their appearance, recognizable even without context, he understood that at least he wasn't in a hostile environment.
—Who are you?
The boy with round glasses took refuge behind the blue creature while watching him uneasily.
—Was it you who stole Doraemon's bell?
Noah only picked out one name from the incomprehensible words: Doraemon. The rest was noise to his ears. After all, he didn't understand Japanese.
So he simply observed them in silence.
—Calm down —intervened the yellow figure with the pink bow—. He's just a child. And he seems more lost than dangerous.
She stood up calmly and approached.
—What's your name?
Noah shook his head to indicate he didn't understand.
She understood the problem instantly. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a gray gelatinous block. She offered it to him with a simple gesture.
Noah recognized it immediately: a Translation Gummy, a candy capable of granting linguistic understanding once digested.
He pretended to hesitate before accepting it, then swallowed it in one bite.
He closed his eyes as the language integrated into his mind like an ordered set of structures and sounds.
—Hello —he said with clear pronunciation.
The boy peeked out again.
—Hello. What's your name?
—My name is Noah.
—Noah? Are you foreign? But that doesn't explain you coming out of a portal. Are you from the future?
The boy stepped forward with growing curiosity. He wore a red trench coat and hat, held a metallic staff and a pipe; he seemed to be cosplaying as Sherlock Holmes.
—Uhh... I don't know how to explain it well —Noah said in a childish tone, looking at his own feet as he fully embraced the role of a three-year-old—. It's like... poof! I appeared here, and that's it.
Nobita leaned toward him curiously, his Sherlock Holmes trench coat brushing the tatami.
—What do you mean, "poof"? Where do you come from?
—From another place —Noah replied, shrugging—. But I don't know what it's called. I just know that in a few days... zap! I'll leave on my own.
Doraemon frowned, though on his round face it looked more like a pout.
—And how do you know you'll leave on your own?
Noah scratched his head.
—Well... I just know. Like when you know you're hungry or you need to pee. Like that.
Nobita and Doraemon looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
—Well —Noah continued, looking around with feigned childish curiosity—, can I stay here until I leave? It's just that I don't know where I am and I'm a little scared to be alone.
Doraemon shook his head, though he seemed sorry.
—I'm sorry, little one, but we can't. Nobita and I have a very important mission and...
—Mission? —Noah's eyes lit up as if he'd seen a new toy—. What mission? Can I come too? I want to help!
Nobita chuckled.
—You? But you're just a kid! How can you help with a mission from the future?
Noah made a small pout with his lips.
—Yes, I can! Look!
He raised his hand with a concentrated expression.
Suddenly, from the tatami under Nobita, green vines began to sprout. At first they were small stems, like grass, but then they grew very fast, becoming big and thick, and started to coil around Nobita's legs.
—Hey! What is this?! —Nobita shouted, trying to move his feet—. Doraemon! Dorami! Green things are trapping me!
The plants kept growing, and in a moment Nobita was wrapped from head to toe, like a giant spring roll, only his round glasses peeking out from between the leaves.
—Heeelp!
Doraemon hopped backward, and Dorami opened her mouth so wide that a piece of cake fell to the floor.
Noah, very serious with his childlike face, snapped his fingers.
The plants dissolved instantly, and Nobita fell sitting on the floor with an "Oof!" He sat there, all disheveled, his hat crooked and his trench coat full of leaves.
—Wow... —Nobita said, his eyes wide as saucers—. How did you do that?
Noah smiled proudly.
—It's my superpower! They call it... uh... Wood. Yeah, Wood. Cool, huh?
Doraemon sighed heavily, inflating his whole blue body.
—Haaay, well... —he said, scratching his head—. I suppose... we can't leave you alone, that would be really bad. Okay, you can come with us.
Dorami nodded happily, taking a bite of her cake as if this were all a show for her.
Nobita got up, brushed off the leaves, and approached Noah with a huge smile.
—Hey, hey —he said, lowering his voice as if it were a secret—. That wood thing... is it like in that ninja manga I saw once? The one with the kid who makes clones and all that?
—Who knows? —Noah replied, shrugging.
—Well, now that you've settled the Noah issue, let's get back to Doraemon's problem.
Dorami reached into her pocket and pulled something out.
—Since you don't have your bell, put this on. That way you won't stand out, okay?
—A lemon?
The lemon hung from his collar, replacing the lost bell. Doraemon looked at it with a sour face.
—Look, the problem isn't that it's yellow...
—Here. Here's the invitation to the Gadget Museum.
—Gadget Museum? —Noah asked curiously, looking up.
He knew the Doraemon anime and knew about some of his gadgets, but his world had too many episodes and too many stories.
—The Gadget Museum is in the 22nd century —Dorami explained—. It's an amazing place. All the world's inventions are exhibited there: from the first prototypes to the most advanced models. Absolutely all of them.
Doraemon extended his hand, radiant.
But Dorami pulled the invitation away at the last second.
Doraemon lost his balance and fell face-first onto the strawberry cake she was holding.
—You have no idea how hard it was to get this ticket. I'm not giving it to you for free.
Doraemon wiped his face with his long tongue.
—Fine! Next time I'll bring you ten melon buns.
—Make it twenty.
—Ugh!... Alright. You win.
He lowered his head, defeated.
—Good. Here you are.
Dorami finally handed him the invitation.
—Ha! Thanks!
Doraemon put it away enthusiastically.
—Are you coming with us, Dorami? —Nobita asked.
—I can't today. Melon buns are on sale this afternoon.
—Hm... Then, how about we invite Shizuka? Huh, Doraemon? Get the Anywhere Door, quick!
Noah watched as Doraemon reached into his small pocket and pulled out a human-sized pink door.
He set it on the floor, and Nobita opened it.
—Shizuka!
On the other side wasn't a wall, but an empty lot. Three children were sitting on concrete pipes under the open sky.
—Hey there, Nobita! —said one of them—. Where are you going dressed like that?
Gian let out a deep laugh, and Suneo started laughing exaggeratedly at the detective outfit.
Nobita blushed but maintained his composure.
—Let's go, Noah.
Doraemon went through the door first.
—Ah... right.
He stopped observing and stepped through the door.
The room disappeared behind him.