Minions Quest 10 (story + illustration + poll) (Patreon)

So she has wings! This circumstance certainly puts a different spin on things.

After spending some time in his workshop, Smart-Ass returned to the bridge with an armful of some hastily jury-rigged metal junk.

— Behold, I came up with magnificent gadgets to increase your carrying capacity.

— How sweet of you! Uh, wait a second, is this a... saddle? - responded the minion girl, visibly surprised.

Nevertheless, Minion Girl put on the gear, and shortly after all minions went up to the platform on the top of the Crawling Tower.  

— Alright, let's test this thing. To start the engines, just click your heels together three times and say "There's no place like Baalee!"

The minion girl did it immediately. The engines hummed loudly and slowly lifted her up so she ended up levitating a few inches above the platform, swaying in the air and trying to find a balance.

— W-wow, I feel so light!

— Fine! Let's move on to the second phase of testing! - said Smart-Ass, and without further warnings jumped on her back, pushing her off the edge of the platform. With a shrill squeal she flew down.

— Oh, no! We are going to crash! 

— We won't crash if you just shut up and spread your wings...

The astonished minions at the top of the tower approached the edge, preparing to see a terrifying picture, but to everyone's surprise, Smart-Ass and Girl, who fell down a moment ago, suddenly swept past them in the opposite direction, leaving a trail of blue flame behind them. 

— I'm flying! I'm flying! I can't believe it worked! - yelled Smart-Ass, as they drew pretzels in the air above the crowd of minions.

— Listen, Girl - he said, calming down a bit - Flight control is pretty simple. Just use your wings and tail rudder to set the direction and the boosters do the rest. There's enough burney in them to get through the Gate to the nearest island, and even to return, if we'll need to. Now, let's pick up our savage and start our quest!

Watching the flight from below, the minions war-chanted in unison, cheering on their test pilots. The loudest mouth, of course, belonged to the Black Minion. He was terribly happy with this turn of events, as he believed that now these two would perfectly cope with the task without his participation, especially since only one passenger could fit in the saddle.

— Go, go, go! - he yelled, raising his fist up, when suddenly the Girl Minion dove sharply, and grabbed him by this very hand, dragging him away. 

— Hold fast, we're gaining altitude! - she said, turning towards the Gate and switching the boosters to the maximum thrust. 

— Aargh, you bastards! At least give me a parachute!!

Enduring the whining and lamentations of the Black Minion, they quickly reached the border of the Gate, beyond which everything around them dramatically changed. Right after passing through the round portal, our travellers instantly lost their sense of direction, and now seemed to be floating in zero gravity. 

An empty space filled with only an iridescent pink haze stretched out as far as the eye could see, and the golden clouds swirled all around at the very edge of their vision. There was no sun to be seen, but golden light seemed to come from all directions. A strange otherworldly noise, slightly resembling the monotonous, pulsating roar of trumpets, filled the space, as if the thin air itself was vibrating, but there surely was something else. From time to time, heavy gusts of wind swooped from nowhere, whirling and hurling the pitiful aircraft around, and it took the Minion Girl a lot of effort to stay on course. Baalee islands and the azure sea, though, still were clearly visible ahead, and behind, they saw the desert of Desperation, and the Crawling Tower, like they were looking at them from above.

— Hold fast... - repeated Girl Minion over and over.

— What kind of place is this?! - whispered Smart-Ass, gazing around.

— We now travel through the C.A.O.S, the Cosmic Abyss Of Suffering, spaces separating the different aspects of the material world, inhabited only by hungry ghosts... By the way, I tried to warn you!

— C'mon, I bet you just made this up just to piss me off! Ghosts do not exist, no matter... Aaah!!! What the hell is this?!

Suddenly, Smart-ass spotted something formless emerging from the clouds behind them, rapidly enlarging as it approached until it appeared to be hundreds of square feet in size: a writhing mass of tentacles, fashioned of transparent jelly-like substance... It shot forward several disgusting outgrowths, ready to seize our brave pilots at any second!

— B-boys? What we gonna do now?