The trio raced across a meadow of tiny sock-flowers. Suddenly, a giant Socktopus rose from a pile of long socks! Eight sleeve-arms waved, grabbing any odd socks nearby. "Mismatch detected," it boomed, reaching for Stomp. Stomp squeaked and hid behind Kai.

Kai thought fast. "Maybe if we match its socks, it will let us go," he whispered to Bubbles. Bubbles nodded. "Socktopus! If we can pair your socks in three minutes, will you let us pass?" Kai shouted up. The Socktopus agreed, dropping heaps of socks all around.

Kai, Stomp, and Bubbles dived into the sock piles. "Find the twins!" Kai called. Red rockets, spotted frogs, glow-in-the-dark stars—they sorted socks and tossed each pair into the Socktopus’s basket mouth. With each match, the monster’s yellow eyes grew kinder.

Finally, one last sock was left—a golden ankle sock. "It has no match!" Kai said. Stomp brushed the mud off his tail and found another golden sock stuck to his scales. Kai paired them with a grin. The Socktopus sighed and shrank into a regular laundry basket.