Hello hello! I am JPM, and I've decided to share this story with you lovely people of the Chuckle Forums. This is also the sequel/continuation to my old story, "Bound for the Stars", which can be found here: http://community.playstarbound.com/threads/bound-for-the-stars.82304/ For all you new folks, you can find out the premise for a lot of characters and whatnot, good stuff. Just don't reply to it or anything, it's "Over 90 Days Old". To all you old time fans, I hope I can maintain this as much as B4tS, so please forgive me if I don't! Now then, for the main event! The blue skies shined brightly over the outpost, a light breeze blowing through the tall towers of the city. Numerous apex workers and soldiers walked about the city streets, whether it be to their jobs, shopping, or fun. They were not slaves of the Minikong and Big Ape; they were free, refugees from the tyranny. However, there were more than just apex refugees at the outpost. Numerous glitch and avians had also moved into the colony, fleeing their respective oppression, from hive minds to over zealous zealots. There were also hylotl citizens, mostly tourists, visiting from the nearby Gozen Empire, an ally to the outpost. A few USCM soldiers also stayed there, using the outpost as a temporary camp for long galactic voyages. A few florans also fled to the outpost, being either farmers or scholars. One notable older apex was walking through the town square. She was Madam Koko, leader of the outpost. She had dark grey fur, and a ponytail. She wore a business dress, all black with yellow buttons down the middle. She yawned as she walked to her office complex. It’s been a couple weeks since they all left, Koko thought to herself. I wonder if they’re all okay. She opened the door to the complex and entered. Inside, she greeted the secretary at the door, a young avian girl. “Good morning, Madame!” the young avian said cheerfully. “Ah, yes. Good morning, Peco,” Koko said. She continued the walk to her office, taking the stairs as she always did. When she reached the top, she pulled a key from her pocket, and unlocked her office door. She then entered, shutting the door behind her. She took off her coat, revealing a white dress shirt and black slacks. She sat at her desk, piles of paperwork stacking up once again. She sighed. “Where the hell are those guys... They make my job so much easier...” She began to file the stacks of papers on her desk, going over all of them. After a few hours, she took a break, exiting the room onto a balcony in the main hall. She looked down over the outpost, numerous citizens bustling about. How she wished she could be young again, to travel the stars. She sighed, and went back inside, but stopped in her tracks when she heard an odd noise. She stepped back out to make sure she wasn’t going crazy. A deep sound; slight echo to it. She heard it again. Loud, had to be. At least, within orbiting distance of the colony’s planet. She looked up, eyeing the sky. There was nothing she could see. She heard it again, this time it sounded closer. She searched the sky again, and spotted a black speck. She concentrated on it, watching it get bigger and bigger. This slowly-getting-bigger dot seeming flew around the sky. It did slow circles, figure eights, every interesting to see. Koko snapped out of her trance, and looked down below at the people in the streets. It seemed like she was the only one who saw the dot, but she grew concerned of what it was. She reached into her shirt pocket, and pulled out a pair of glasses, and put them on. She eyed the sky, everything now slightly clearer, including the dot. The dot, while still a black dot, or a small circle now, had a small little trapezoid coming out of the bottom, similar to an old keyhole. It also seemed to be spewing clouds from it’s top. Koko’s eyes went wide when she finally saw what it was. An old, locomotive train was flying towards the outpost. She quickly ran back to her office, and picked up a small communications radio. After turning one of the dials, she picked up the small microphone. “North wall, do you come in? This is Koko.” At first there was no response. “North wall, do you hear me?” “Apologetic. Sorry, madam. Was just on patrol.” “Never mind that, tell me,” Koko said, glancing back out hall to the open balcony. “Do you guys see a space train coming towards us?” “Confused. Space train, madam?” “Just check the skies for me!” “Confused. Right.” There was the sound the opposite mike being dropped, a loud thud, followed by a few small bumps due to it’s cord. Koko heard a muffled ‘Holy crap!’ and numerous ‘Woah’s as the glitch soldier returned to his radio. “Shocked. Yes ma’am, there is a space train.” “Can you see a plate or scan an idea on that thing?” Koko asked, reaching for a large binder that sat under a pile of papers. “Shocked. I’ll get someone on that right now.” Thud. Koko quickly turned through the pages of the binder, numerous different pictures of ships, ranging from apex military to hylotl peddler ships. She then reached the ‘other’ section of the binder, and quickly flipped through the pages, eyeing the pictures. “Confident. We could neither get a scan nor spied a plate,” the glitch said through the radio. “What does it look like?” Koko demanded. “Surprised. It appeared to be green, with gold piping and trim.” Koko stopped at a page. “What else?” “Confident. Black asteroidcatcher. Blue thrusters. Yellow headlamp.” “And no plate, you said?” Koko asked, and a loud steam whistle echoed from the radio. “Amazed. Wait, one of our guys just saw one. ‘San Diegan 399’.” Koko’s eyes widened as the glitch had described the picture that was in front of her. “Sound the alarm! Now! That ship is NOT a friendly one!” Almost immediately, Koko heard loud bells ringing across the outpost, and numerous people began screaming. Koko shut the “Book of Dangerous Ships”, and opened one of the drawers to her desk. Inside was a lever, which she pulled. A large stack of papers behind her fell over as a compartment opened out from the wall. It was full of weapons, and Koko grabbed a rifle, and a pair of machine pistols. She holstered the pistols, and slung the rifle over her back. She ran back to the balcony, and climbed up the side of the building to the roof. Overhead, the space train was easily visible, chugging our large clouds of smoke, and whistling loudly. Koko counted seven cars snaking behind the locomotive. She took the rifle, and aimed it at the ship’s light, shooting at it. After a few bullets, the light shattered, electricity sparking. The whistled angrily, and quickly sped up it’s descent. “Three minutes and counting!” Nobel called into a microphone. The varmint laughed madly as he pulled a large chain above him, and the ship’s whistle blared loudly. The door to the main locomotive slammed opened. “Damn it, Nobel!” Xenonth shouted as he entered. “Enough with the damned whistle!” “No can do, no siree!” Nobel said, puling a few levers on the wall. “A conductor must always signal passengers that the train is approaching the station!” “A train named my fist will soon be boarding the station called your face if you don’t cut it out!” The varmint laughed off the threat, and pulled the whistle chain again, the loud note echoing across the train. Xenonth sighed, and returned to the previous train car. Inside, there were a few wooden benches and tables, various playing cards scattered about the table. A few oil lanterns on chains hung from the roof, swinging as the train turned. A gambler and a bandito both sat at one of the tables, polishing their guns. “Bromire, Ivadine, you two ready?” Xenonth asked, adjusting his top hat. Bromire rose from the table, his Steadfast Nova in hand, it’s stock matching the cyan glass of his mask. Ivadine also rose, a pair of Lawmakers in his hands, their green chambers spinning. “Excellent! Without further ado, let’s get go-“ “Hey, hey, wait up!” came a voice from the back of the car. The three novakids looked to the doorway at the back of the cart, which opened, revealing a yellow novakid with a black star on his face. He was dressed like a bandit, and ran into the room, Lonestar in hand. Xenonth sighed with distress. Not quite anger, more like extreme disappointment. “Radon, why are you here?” “For the raid!” Radon said happily. “We’re still raiding ain’t we?” “Radon... Tell me, what was everyone’s job on this raid?” Xenonth asked. The yellow novakid stood there for a few moments, pondering the question. “Hmmm... Raiding.” Xenonth sighed again. “Let me help you. Bromire, Ivadine and I head out into the town.” “Yes.” “Now, what does Nobel do?” “He drives the train.” “Good!” Xenonth said, clapping his hands together. “Now, last question. What was your job?” “Stay behind and handle the bomb!” Radon cheered happily. “There you go!” Xenonth said with slight sarcasm. “Now, get to your post!” Radon saluted, and ran back out the door he came in through. Xenonth then headed back to the control room of the train. “Nobel, we’re heading out. Stick to the plan this time, alright?” “Of course!” Nobel shouted happily, pulling the whistle. “Quick question though.” Xenonth stopped as he exited the control room. “Shoot.” “That Henry kid, won’t he get blasted with bomb?” “Who?” “Radon, sir.” “Ah yes. He will get blown up. And if he doesn’t, there’s a whole town down there who could kill him.” Xenonth glanced back at the varmint. “Why, is there an issue?” “No siree, just wondering if this is was you meant by firing him.” Xenonth nodded, and headed back to Bromire and Ivadine. “Now then, let’s make some noise.” Koko fired another shot at the train, doing little to damage it. “Damn it to Heck!” She shouted. “This ain’t a standard ship I suppose.” Koko flicked her glasses. “Can you hear me?” “We can hear you loud and clear,” came a voice from her glasses headset. “Is everything ready?” Koko asked. “I can’t really find a weak spot on this thing.” “Yes madam, just say when, and we’ll open fire.” Koko glanced up at the ship, and fired another shot to no avail. She flicked her glasses. “When.” Suddenly, a volley of bullets and rockets exploded from the city wall, hitting the ship. The train shook violently, veering slightly to the left. The shots did not stop there, however, causing the ship to veer further as it slowly descended. Finally, the thrusters on the train fizzled out, their blue flames shutting off. Numerous cheers were heard from below as the train slowly began to fall. Koko flicked her glasses again. “Don’t start cheering yet, these guys are still dangerous. Get another volley going.” Koko then held her gun up again as three figures appeared on the roof of the falling ship. She began to fire at the figures, who began to run towards the front of the train. They jumped off, and Koko scoped in again, this time able to see the attackers. The moved quickly, only able to see the quick glimpse of a skull. She then hung the gun on her back, and reached for her pistols. Before she could move past that, the train blared it’s whistle again, and large, white flames shot out of the thrusters, followed by a massive cloud of black smoke to billow from the smoke stack. The train then sped on, faster than before, flying closer to the city as well, scraping the side of the office tower Koko stood on. Large cracks spread quickly through the tower roof, and much to her disdain, Koko did the one thing she could do in this. She ran for the edge of the tower, and jumped off. Unfortunately, the train flew by before Koko could land on it, sending her off the tower to the city below. She shot a small rope from her sleeve, latching onto a lower portion of the tower, which slowly began to collapse towards her. She was quickly sucked to the wall by the rope, catching her breath for a few moments. She then loosened the rope, causing her to quickly slide to the ground. Looking up, Koko saw the rubble chasing her down. As she approached the ground, she pulled on the rope, cause it to lodge itself free from the building, resulting in her taking up another free fall. As she fell, however, she took in a deep breath, and closed her eyes. She slowly felt herself shifting to her legs facing towards the ground, bending at the knees. She then felt the ground greet her feet, but she did not splatter across the floor like most people would if they fell from such a height. Instead, she rolled forward, avoiding the falling debris. As she stopped her roll, she stood up, and aimed her pistols at the three figures that fell from the train. “Impressive, primate,” the clockwork said, his small, black cloak flowing in the windy breeze. “As expected of an ex-Minikong soldier.” Koko did not respond, keeping pistols aimed at the skull-faced attacker. “However, let’s see how much of that training will actually help you.” The clockwork stuck his hands into his pants pockets, and charged forward and Koko. She fired her pistols; he shots grazing the clockwork’s clothes. The clockwork then reached Koko, kicking up. Luckily she managed to dodge the foot to the head, instead, her left pistol taking the kick, flying to the air. She then immediately grabbed her attacker’s leg, and twisted her arm, sending him spinning. However the clockwork simply spun with the attack, hitting the ground, and rolling toward the gambler and the bandito, who then pulled out their weapons firing at the apex. Koko quickly ran back, firing her pistol at the attackers. She looked up, and jumped back as a massive chunk of building rubble fell from the office complex, giving her cover. She hid behind it, and pocketed her pistol, grabbing her rifle. She then poked out from the rubble and fired at the rifle wielding novakid. He quickly dodged, firing a shot back at her. She took cover and ran to the opposite side of the chunk, and fired at the rifle wielder. She, however, was greeted by the bandito, his two revolvers firing quite the volley at her. She then rolled back, dodging the shots. More chunks of stone fell, causing the fighters to quickly spread themselves, avoiding rocks. Koko quickly fired a rope to a smaller building opposite of the falling complex, and was quickly dragged to it. On the wall, she fired to rifle at the bandito, causing to roll back. He then rolled back again, as a chunk fell where was standing before. As the dust kicked up, Koko took the opportunity to go for the rifle wielder. She quickly dodged the debris as it fell, and kicked the gambler to the ground, causing him to drop his rifle. She then grabbed her rifle by the barrel, and swung, tearing the strap across her body, and smacked the gambler with the butt of her gun. He took the hit, and grabbed the rifle, firing it. Koko shouted in alarm from the now heated barrel, and jumped back, quickly grabbing her pistol. She aimed it at the rifle wielder. She stopped as she heard an odd whistle, glancing back. She was the quickly greeted by a large, red orb. She fell to the ground, dazed, and looked at her attacker. The clockwork stood over her, a large red orb in his hand. He then held up his other hand, catching Koko’s previous pistol at it fell from the air. He quickly aimed it at her. “Checkmate, primate.” Koko held up her hands, and the bandito ran over, taking her other pistol from her. “That was fun, now wasn’t it,” the clockwork said. “You almost had me feel slight concern.” The gambler stumbled over, using Koko’s rifle as a crutch, his personal rifle in his hand. “You alright, Bromire?” The gambler nodded, rubbing his head. “See, ape? Now you hurt my colleague. That’s not okay.” “You just destroyed a chunk of my city,” Koko said. “Due to your little attack brigade. Speaking of which, where did they run off to?” Koko widened her eyes in realization. Her attack force didn’t come to the scene! Sure, only a few were actually trained fighters, and most were either merchants or farmers. But still, they should have reported to the scene! “What’s wrong, scared?” the clockwork taunted. “Now I bet you’re wishing you ran off like the rest of your army aren’t you-“ The clockwork was cut short as Koko’s pistol was shot from his hand. “Ah, here they are.” The bandito and the gambler quickly braced themselves, weapons in hand. A second shot was fired, hitting the large red orb in the clockwork’s hand. Bromire quickly fired his rifle back in the direction of the shot. “Can you see them now, Bromire?” the clockwork asked. The gambler nodded. “Excellent, guide me then.” The clockwork held up his orb, which quickly flashed red. A large bubble then lazily floated from the orb, and drifted towards the direct Bromire’s bullets went. It slowly flew towards a small alley off the main road they were on. Bromire then fired again, popping the bubble. It was not a simple pop, as the bubble exploded violently, sending small bits of napalm to scatter around. “Come on out, we know you’re there!” Suddenly, a small drone shot from the alley, firing lasers at the novakids. The gambler and bandito began to fire at the small drone, which dodged, ducked, dipped, dived, and dodged around the shots. It swooped down at the gambler, who rolled to the side. Surprisingly, his glass helmet cracked, a bullet caught in the class. The gambler shouted in shock, and gas began leaking from the glass. The bandito jumped up at the drone, smacking it with his lawmaker, sending it careening to the ground. He then rushed in the direction of the alley, firing away. Two figures then ran out of the alley, a bright green figure, and a red robed figure. One carried a large sniper rifle, the other, a tall staff with a robotic eye at the top. The bandito began firing away at the fleeing pair, the two barely able to dodge the bullets. His firing, however, was stopped as a tall, purple figure burst from the alley with a large sword, ramming into the bandito. The gambler saw this through leaking gas, and aimed his rifle as best as he could, and fired at the purple figure, hitting it in the eye. The purple figure screeched with electricity, and the bandito kicked him off, and quickly jumped back, dodging a sword swing. “Fall back, Ivadine!” the clockwork called out, and the bandito turned, and ran back towards the group, dodging shots fired from the previous green figure. “That’s it...” The clockwork said, holding up his orb. “Time for a bubble bath!” The staff flickered again, a volley bubbles floating up from the staff. They then sped forward towards the three attackers, hitting the ground around them, exploding in napalm. Another small group of bubbles floated from the orb, but before they could be sent after their target, a loud screaming was heard from behind the group. The clockwork turned, and a figure in purple jumped on him, spending him and the orb to the ground. The purple figure hissed angrily, and began slamming the clockwork’s head on the ground repeatedly. A small stream of water then flooded past the brawling pair, and wrapped itself around Bromire and Ivadine’s legs, sending them to the ground. A small stream extended from the water, and grabbed Koko, and dragged her out of the harm of the slowly falling bubbles. The bubbles hit the earth, exploding violently. The three novakids and the purple figure screamed as the napalm came into contact with them. “Tomoe! I’m sssssssstill here!” the purple figure screamed as he frantically tried to wipe the napalm from his armor and skin. “Well sorry I was trying to save our boss over you!” Tomoe shouted as she emerged from a dark alley closer to the group, a wooden staff in hand. “You alright, madam?” “Proud. Look out Charles!” shouted the first purple figure, and he charged at the bandito slowly rising behind the second purple figure. He sent the bandito back to the ground, causing him to wince. “Thankssssss Leo,” Charles said. The floran and the glitch clasped each other’s arm, and quickly hugged. “Pleased. Good to see you. How was your mission?” A bullet fired past the pair, cause the two of them to look in the direction of the green and red figures. “What the hell!” Tomoe shouted. “You almost hit them, Feather!” “That wasn’t me!” Feather shouted, adjusting her green armor’s feathers. “Max wanted to try to kill Charles again!” “You make me sound like a killer now!” the red figure said, giving Feather her sniper rifle back. “You know it’s all friendly. And if Charles’ head somehow does get it, it’s all the more friendlier.” The pair jumped from their cover, and rushed to Charles and Leo. “Tomoe, is Koko alright?” Feather asked. “I’m fine,” Koko said, getting up from Tomoe’s lap. “It’s good to see almost everyone back. I’m assuming all your missions were successful?” “For the most part,” Tomoe said. “May or may not have blown up some midgets.” “Charl ate some wood,” Charles said happily. “Sounds like fun,” Feather said sarcastically. “All we did was destroy a mutant infested laboratory.” “I think we should back on the reunion,” Max said, turning two the three novakids who slowly stood up, their clothes charred. “That was impressive,” the clockwork said as he slowly got up. “Perhaps we got too cocky here.” “What the hell do you three want here?” Tomoe asked. “You know them?” Koko asked. “Humored. Xenonth here tied her to a post and used her as bait for a giant zombie dragon,” Leo said. “He probably would’ve gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for us meddling kids,” Feather said with a smile. Suddenly, a loud train whistle was heard, and the group looked up, to see the train coming back through the city, this time, closer to the ground. “Ruh roh,” Charles said, looking at the massive train. “Look like our ride is here,” Xenonth said. “Damn shame we have to leave so soon.” The three novakids crouched, and suddenly flew into the air, landing on the train. “Oh, enjoy our gift! Ciao!” Xenonth shouted down, tipping his top hat. The train whistled again, and the caboose to the train suddenly detached, crashing towards the group. The train then whistled loudly a final time, and sped from the planet. “Run!” Max shouted, and the six frantically made a mad dash from the path of the caboose. It smashed into the ground, and shattered almost on impact, chunks of metal exploding from the car. Numerous bit of glass also shattered from the caboose, followed by a wave of tanish orangish liquid. It however did not splash; it more or less splattered across the ground. “That was close,” Feather said. “Everyone alright?” “Panic. I think I’ve gone blind!” Leo shouted, rolling on the ground. “Wait, no. My optic nerves just shut off for a bit.” “All four of them?” Max asked as he got up from his dive. “Proud. These are temporary with the armor,” Leo said, point to his second pair of eyes on his chest piece. “They look kind of like nipples,” Tomoe said with a giggle. “Damn, all that action made me hungry.” “They is a slightly unhealthy transition of sentences,” Feather said. “Charles, what’s up?” Koko asked. Charles was approaching the crashed caboose, and put his hand in the odd liquid. Well, it was kind of like a liquid, but also functioned like a solid. A losquid? He sniffed the gunk on his hand. “Charles, be careful with that!” Koko shouted. “We don’t know what it is!” The floran, however, immediately stuck his hand in his mouth. “Charles, that doesn’t mean eat it!” Feather shouted, and the group quickly ran over to the floran. “It’sssssssss okay! It’ssssssss peanut butter!” Charles said happily. “Don’t eat it off the floor!” Max said. “Five second hour rule,” Tomoe said, who also took a handful of peanut butter, and shoved it into her mouth. “Isn’t it five second rule?” Feather asked. “Somewhere in the universe, five hours is five seconds,” Tomoe said, stuffing another handful of peanut butter into her mouth. “That’s disgusting,” Max said. “Anyway, why would they crash a caboose of peanut butter into us?” “Shocked. Uh, guys?” Leo said, pointing his sword at the caboose. The group looked, and gasped in shock as a lump of the peanut butter slowly began to move. Well, they all gasped except for Tomoe and Charles, who continued to eat. Those not eating drew their weapons, and aimed them at the lump. “Damn!” Shouted the blob as it rose from the peanut butter. “That hurt.” “Who are you?” Koko asked the blob. “Huh?” the blob asked. “Oh, I’m, uh... Henry! That’s right! Henry!” He did a bow and collapsed back into the peanut butter unmoving. “Think we can eat him?” Charles asked, his face covered in peanut butter. “I don’t know who or what henry is,” Max said, lowering his staff. “But I think we should get him to the hospital. If he came from the train, he might be able to tell us exactly what those nova kids want.” “We’ll get him,” Tomoe said, her face also covered in peanut butter. She and Charles slowly walked through the sludgy food to the collapsed talking blob. They grabbed him by his wrists, and slowly began to drag him out of the peanut butter. As they dragged him from the peanut butter, he began to mutter something. “Repeat that?” Max asked. “Jelly...” Henry mumbled. “Leave me... Jelly...” “Jelly?” Feather asked, confused. “I could totally go for jelly right now,” Tomoe said. “Then again I could eat anything right now.” “Mmmmm, sssssssanwhichessssss.” “I don’t think he’s talking about food,” Koko said, pondering. “What, is there some giant jelly monster?” Tomoe asked with a smirk. “Actually, there was,” Koko said. “Though the jellies went extinct a long while ago.” “Angered. Listen, I know I have four eyes and everything,” Leo said. “But how the hell am I the only one who saw that thing fly in?” Leo pointed his sword into the air, and the group looked up and screamed. “What in Heck is that thing!?” Feather screamed. “That thing sure as hell ain’t from Heck!” Max shouted, pointing his staff. “That is the Jelly King!” Koko shouted. The large, purple, blobby creature roared, sending ripples through it’s purple skin. It’s massive eyes balls scanned the area, looking for something. “That’s the jelly?” Tomoe asked. “Think it tastes good?” “Now is not the time to be thinking about food!” Feather said, and looked through her riflescope. “We should take that thing down before it causes any problems.” The group readied their weapons, and charged forward into battle. Feather fired a few shots at the creature, the bullets piercing the clear, purple skin, and hitting the eyes. The creature screamed and looked towards the group. Its eyes glowed, and the monster shrank slightly. Smaller jellies, about the size of the average man, charged towards the group. “Leo, Charles! Get these tiny fruit baskets off us!” Max shouted, summoning his small drone once again. It flew towards the massive king, firing lasers. Leo and Charles glanced at each other and nodded. Leo charged at a flock of jellies as they came down, his sword in a vom tag pose. He cut through the flying food, sending the small creatures to scream. He turned back though in shock as the jelly haves began to repair themselves, creating more, tiny jellies. “Surprised. Careful, Charles, they multiply!” “Charl hasssss found that on Charl own!” Charles screamed, swing his axe, Vine, madly at the jellies. “If you make them tiny enough, they die!” “Grateful. Thanks!” Leo called, and swung his sword at the jellies once more. “Can you summon more drones?” Tomoe asked Max, as she controlled a pillar of water. “If I could, I would,” Max said, holding his staff up. “And I think I’d go mad if I had to control more than one of these.” “Max, can you get your little drone thing to carry some bombs up there or something?” Feather asked, firing another bullet at the monster. “This little guy isn’t strong enough to carry anything more than it’s own weight. It sucks, I know.” “Why do you use it then?” Tomoe asked. “It keeps me alive longer.” “Look out!” Charles screamed as he was launched towards the ranged fighters. Max, Tomoe, and Feather moved as Charles was thrown to the ground. A jelly then charged at him, sending him flying once again, crashing into the window of a nearby building. “Worried. Max, we need a plan here!” Leo called, cutting down another jelly. “I honestly know nothing of this thing!” Max said. “Koko, you more about this thing, right? Koko?” The group looked around, seeing that the madam was gone. “Up here!” Koko called from a nearby rooftop. “How do we stop this thing?” Feather asked. “We’ll have to cut it down! Bullets and what not won’t do enough to hurt it!” Koko called down. “Stressed. Not to be rude, but Charles and I can’t really get high enough to cut the king,” Leo said. “Any time Charl try to get clossssssse, they throw Charl down...” Charles said as he exited from the shop he crashed into, covered in jelly. Koko smiled. “You seem to forget what power I have here!” She whistled, and ropes began firing from behind the line of buildings, stabbing into the Jelly King. It roared and slowly began to descend, trying to fight against the ropes. It screeched, and the smaller jellies stop attacking, returning to the main jelly, increasing it’s size. “Alright, charge in!” Koko shouted, and dozens on dozens of soldiers from across the six races charged from the rooftop, jumping onto the jelly king. A few soldiers, instead of jumping, ran around it, continually sticking more ropes into it, and pulling it to the ground. Soon enough, the jelly was pinned to the floor, roaring. “Glad. That’s our chance to start doing some damage!” Leo shouted, and he and Charles charged at the king, weapons ready to cleave. The jelly screeched, and instead, sent out large tentacles, grabbing the attacking pair. “Charl not prepared for thissssss type of commitment!” Charles screamed as he was swung around. The tentacles grabbed numerous other soldiers, and many soldiers were losing their grip on the ropes holding the beast down. “Error. Madam, we’re losing our grip!” called out one of the glitch soldiers. “It’s trying to take off!” an avian shouted out. “Get out of the way!” shouted an apex. “There’s someone driving this way, and they aren’t stopping!” Numerous screams came from the back of the king, followed quickly by the sound of a jeep engine being pushed into overdrive. “Yeeeeehaaaaaaw!” shouted a familiar voice, and a cheer came from Max, Tomoe, and Feather. The jelly suddenly exploded as the jeep drove through it, sending blobs of the fruity mixture across the street. The jeep made an abrupt U-turn nearly hitting the piles of peanut butter. “Ooo, peanut butter,” Julia said, stepping out of the passenger side of the jeep. “You can eat AFTER we kill thing attacking our friends,” Winston said with a smile. Julia nodded, and pulled out an assault rifle from the jeep. Winston pulled out a shotgun, and the pair ran towards the piles of jelly, which slowly began to take blobby shapes. “You guys gonna stand around and watch, or are ya gonna help us?” Winston said, as the pair passed by Max, Tomoe, and Feather. “Julia!” Feather called out, running after the human girl. “Let me hug you, it’s been too long!” The two did an awkward running reunion hug, and kept running towards the blobs. “So, I’m assuming you two were successful with your mission?” Max asked running after the group as well. “You thought we’d fail?” Winston asked. “I’d thought you would’ve died or something. Death really likes following you around,” Max replied. “Yeah, well. Death would have to talk to me first,” Julia said. “You two got some new armor?” Tomoe asked, looked at Julia. “Yep, trailblazer for me, and vanguard for Julia,” Winston said. “It wasn’t easy to get, but it was worth it.” The group began to destroy the jellies as they blobbed up from the ground. Winston aimed his shotgun, and fired, the bullets piecing through the jelly, causing it to explode. He smiled, and began running down the street, blasting any moving purple he saw, except Leo, whom he nearly did blast. Julia followed behind him, assault rifle in hand. She quickly eradicated any moving blobs that did not die in Winston’s explosions. One blob, however, out flew her shots. “Winston!” she called out. He turned, and fired, the explosion missing the jelly. The small jelly screeched, absorbing a good portion of the jelly that was not blasted. Winston and Julia nodded at each other and charged the now small jelly king. Julia charged at the creature, firing her assault rifle into the goopy form, which did little to damage the king. She then threw her gun into the air, and grabbed her two holstered machine pistols, firing them at the creature, which did nothing once again. The creature then lunged a tentacle at her, grabbing her by the ankle. As the creature grabbed her, Winston charged forward, firing his shotgun at the jelly. It screeched as bits of it’s body were blown off, then turned towards him. He jumped as it lunged tentacles at him, landing on Julia’s shoulders. She shouted in pain as Winston launched himself of her, apologizing. He fired a few more bullets at the creature’s main eye, causing it to screech even more. It then threw Julia at Winston, causing the two of them to collide. They fell off the creature’s body, hitting the ground below with a thud. The creature then began flying away, swaying side to side. Charles and Tomoe then both rushed forward, climbing up the side of the buildings. Charles’ axe was on his back, and Tomoe had pulled out a pair of stringers, leaving her staff with the others. When they were in range, they launched themselves onto the creature’s back, sending it crashing back towards the ground. Leo, however, awaited it, holding his sword up. The monster screeched as it fell onto the sword, unable to flee. Finally, Max lit a bomb, kissed it, and threw it at the jelly king, causing it to explode into a mass of charred jelly. “Did we get it?” Feather asked, running with Koko, Max, and a few soldiers to the final jelly splatter. Charles and Tomoe rose out of the pile of jelly, licking their lips. “Tastes like grape,” Tomoe said happily. “Tastes like chicken,” Charl said, slightly dissapointed. “WOOOOOOOOOO!” shouted Leo, nearly bursting from the jelly. “Excited. That was so exhilarating!” He swung his sword in the air, and then quickly sheathed it at his side. “Thank goodness that’s taken care of,” Max said. “When we all got back together, I was hoping for a reunion party, not a raiding party.” “Can we party now, then?” Winston asked, holding Julia’s hand. Julia nodded, sucking the jelly off her hand. The group then quickly began to high five, hug, and handshake each other, glad to be reunited after quite some time apart. “Pleased. Charles, it’s good to fight with you again!” Leo said, high fiving Charles. “It wasssssssss fun oncsssssse again,” Charles replied, smiling widely. “Thirty-six.” Leo sparked angrily, a robotic “twenty-nine” coming from his mouth, and the pair laughed. “Julia it’s so good to see you!” Feather said happily, hugging her friend once again. “How did you and Winston do?” “What do you mean?” Julia asked, blushing a bit. “We did our mission fine-“ “You know what she means,” Tomoe said with a smug smile. “Did you two do it?” Winston choked on air when he heard Tomoe, causing Max to jump back a bit in surprise. Tomoe began to laugh before she helped, Feather’s foot making a clean hit between Tomoe’s legs. She fell over, causing Charles and Leo to laugh. “While I’m glad to see my ace team back together,” Koko said, approaching the group. “We do have a city to clean up and rebuild. And an important meeting.” The group sighed sadly, except Tomoe who shakily tried to get up. “Don’t give me that!” Koko said angrily. “We all know what would happen too. Four of you would get drunk, two will pass out, and then you’ll get a mission the day after party, and ya’ll will hate it do to the hang over. “You forgot the part where crash into the planet,” Julia said. “And breaking teeth,” Max said sadly. “Grave robbing!” Charles said happily. Koko sighed. “I swear, I will finish off what the jelly didn’t now get to my office.” “Uh, not to be rude, madam,” Winston said. “What office?” The group looked at the destroyed office complex, small bits and pieces of it still crumbling. A few of the soldiers had matter manipulators in hand, and began to repair the structure. They turned back to Koko for advice. “Do you guys have any other ideas then?” Koko asked. “There’s that little plaza by the market,” Feather said. “Ah yes, good memories of stabbing Winston in the leg,” Tomoe said. “Leg stabbing location it is!” Koko shouted. “Let’s get going, shall we?” An icy wind blew across the frozen planet, causing the burning trashcans to flicker violently. Numerous tanks drove across the frozen world, stopping at a small military camp. “Sir, our scouts have reported the Diegan in the vicinity,” the penguin soldier said. “Ah good, so they were successful then.” “It can easily be assumed, sir.” “Tell me, how far away was their ship?” “Close enough,” Xenonth said, startling all of the penguins in the tent. “Hello, Dreadwing.” “Ah, Xenonth!” Dreadwing said. “Thing went well for you?” “As well as they could have, though one of my men was injured.” Dreadwing clapped, and a pair of penguins entered the tent, carrying a large, wooden chest, full of pixel 10k cubes. “Oh dear, were some solid-state being too much for you?” Xenonth grabbed the chest from the soldiers. “Can it, at least I can fly without the need of ship.” Some of the soldiers in the tent snorted at the quip, causing Dreadwing to be slightly disgruntled. “Ahem. Yes, well. I’ll contact you once I get further orders.” Xenonth nodded, and exited the tent. A few minutes after he left, Dreadwing’s small wristwatch began to beep. He held it up to his beak. “Hello?” “Dreadwing, how did things go?” came a raspy voice from the watch. “Very well, they got the message.” “Good, good,” the voice said. “Now then, I hope they do go for the map next. Once they do, things will slowly start coming to fruition.” “I’ll make sure they wont get the map easily,” Dreadwing said eagerly. “My men are all ready for them. I’ve even sent a scout to make sure the message is sent.” “Good luck, then! Do not fail me.” “Yessir!” Dreadwing said, and the communication shut off. “I hope we get those keys soon.” “Sir, we’ve received a message,” a penguin said, entering the tent. “Your cousin has finished his super weapon.” Dreadwing smiled. “Oh this day gets better and better, doesn’t it.” “I’m glad to hear that everyone’s missions went well,” Madam Koko said, standing at the head of the concrete table. “Well, now that the first portion of business is taken care of, we can take a, hmmm, twenty minute break sound good?” “Sounds good to me,” Winston said, removing his adventurer’s helmet, revealing his messy brown hair. “Everyone else think it sounds good?” Numerous murmurs of agreement came from the rest of the crew. “Well, alright then,” Madam Koko said. “See you all in twenty minutes. I’m going to make sure the repairs are going well.” She left the group for a group of numerous construction workers. It had only been a few hours since the surprise attack by the gang of Novakids. “I cannot wait to get out of this armor,” Tomoe said, stretching. She wore reef armor, pulling the face wraps out of her face. “This crap gets all uncomfortable after longtime wearage.” “Well take off what’s easy to right now, then,” Max said, removing his bright red spy robes. “Or better yet, get your armor refitted,” Feather said, standing. She spun where she stood, her peacock armor flowing. “I mean for someone who eats nonstop, you HAVE to be gaining something somewhere.” “It seems that she’s gaining weight all over her then,” Max said, and he and Feather laughed. “I did NOT eat that much,” Tomoe said angrily, crossing her arms with a ‘hmph’. “Tell them, Charles.” The floran hung upside-down from a nearby tree. “Hmmmm, Charl remember you eating five timessssssss asssssss much assssss Charl. Normally issssss nine.” He wore a suit of mismatched gatherer’s armor. “See! It’s improvement!” Tomoe said happily, untying her headwraps. “Goodie, from twelve metric tons to ten,” Max said sarcastically. “Confused. I don’t think I’ll ever understand how the human body works,” Leo said. Leo wore no armor, as he managed to take his off easily, due to his paladin armor being like a magnetic attachment than a piece of clothing. “I always hear about living things talk about gaining weight or losing weight, isn’t it a natural thing?” “Maybe it’ssssssss a meat people thing,” Charles said. “I forget that you don’t have a lot of experience with non-glitch, other than the time you’ve known us,” Feather said. “Basically, living things have tiny mechanisms that keep their bodies running,” Winston said. “These little machines need energy, which people get from food. However, if there’s too much unused energy, it gets turned into fat for the body to store.” “Some people who do have extra fat get it stored in all the right places,” Tomoe said, surprise hugging Julia from behind, causing her to squeal and blush. “Like Julia here... Winston, you know, you’re a lucky one.” “Alrighty, let’s get this meeting going again,” Madam Koko, seemingly appearing before the group again. “Mostly to stop this public harassment. Everyone take you seats.” The group returned to their initial seats beforehand. “Now then, on to the most pressing matters. Our outpost had just received it’s first large scale attack within the city walls. This time, by a group of novakids.” “Um, what are novakids?” Julia asked. “Novakids are a race that have a unique look on life, to say the least,” Madam Koko said. “According to the reports I have, which are few and far between, might I add, they are extremely intelligent. One of the most intelligent in the universe, I’d say.” “They say that they can rebuild tech better than any floran or glitch,” Tomoe said. “They also can apparently fly better than any avian, swim better than any hylotl, and move faster than any apex.” “You seem to know a lot,” Koko said. “I’ve overheard father and my brothers talking about novakids from time to time, but even the Gozen Empire no little on them.” “Shocked. They seem extremely powerful, how have some of us never heard of them?” Leo asked. “Koko, they never talked much about them in the Minikong, did they?” Max asked. “That’s where I got most of the info I have here,” Koko said. “However, they do have one downside to all this power. They have an extremely short intelligent span.” “So, they’ll build a house, but halfway through, start building another house?” Feather asked. “Then they’d go back, and finish the first house differently, based off of a third house they were working on,” Koko replied. “Basically, major ADHD.” “So then, how did we just get attacked by an extremely organized group of novakids?” Winston asked. “That’s where I’m guessing another issue comes up,” Tomoe said. “From what I’ve heard, novakids usually isolate themselves from everything else, and when they do meet, get into fights with each other.” “Over what?” Julia asked. “They usually forget, and then just keep fighting til one of them dies,” Koko said. “Which is why a group of novakids, with working tech, as well as it being maintained, is even stranger.” “Sssssssskullfacsssssse,” Charles said. “Xenonth sssssssssseemssssssss to break this novakid mold.” “He is extremely smart, to say the least,” Max said. “Amazed. And powerful. He summoned a dragon, took down one of Gozen Empire’s strongest with a single blow, and has that orb that summons those death bubbles.” “He also knows a lot about us,” Feather said. “We ran into those novakids when we were dealing with Tomoe’s dad, they knew a lot about us.” “He knew we were from a USMC colony,” Winston said, hugging Julia. “He also did mention the outpost a lot,” Max said. “Don’t forget he knew about the history of my family’s empire,” Tomoe said. “I thought he was a creepy stalker at first, but looking back, he’s quite level headed.” “He’sssssssss probably being paid,” Charles said. “What makes you say that?” Koko asked. “Even Floran can be organizsssssed if given a leader and a goal,” Charles said, jumping out of the tree he was in. “Charl old tribe had tiessssssssss with Dreadwing, and he chossssssse a leader for usssssssss. And that guy wasssssss pretty ssssssmart.” “So, someone might have hired them?” Feather asked. “I guess it would make sense, but what would they want to be paid with? They seem to not need civilization for anything.” “Luckily, we have someone who can answer these questions,” Koko said. “Well, when he comes around.” “Who?” Winston asked. “When they dropped that wad of peanut butter, they apparently dropped someone with it,” Koko said. “A novakid, seems to be young. He was passed out in the peanut butter, and we took him to the hospital. When he comes around, we can find out more info on these guys.” “Do they need help cleaning up that peanut butter?” Tomoe asked. “Do they need help interrogating the novakid?” Max asked. “We’ll take care of it,” Koko said. “More importantly, you all should go take a break. I’m certain you’re all tired from that last batch of missions.” “I’m not sure we can take a break,” Feather said. “Half the city was hit by a train.” “Then, go out into the countryside or something,” Koko insisted. “Besides, I’ve ordered you all a new ship and some other goodies that’ll be here in a few days.” “So, we’re going out to the countryside then?” Winston asked. “What if we don’t want to go?” Max asked. Koko leaned into him. “Then I’ll hog-tie you from the back of the jeep, and drag you there.” “So, when do we leave for the boones?” Max asked eagerly, a faked, wide smile on his face. “Well, today, I suppose,” Koko said. “I had a modded jeep thrown together for your trip. Packed with enough supplies for the lot of you.” “So you planned for us to go?” Tomoe asked. “You make it sound like I did something wrong,” Koko said with a slight smile, turning to leave. “Anyway, the jeep is by the farms.” She quickly turned back. “You remember how to get there?” “Shocked. It’s like you don’t think we have common sense!” Leo said. “What possibly could’ve made me think that?” Koko said as she walked toward the slowly reconstructing city. “Why do we have to go camping?” Tomoe sighed as the group walked through the city. “The outdoors is so boring.” “Stern. I agree,” Leo said, his arms crossed. “I’ve lived by doing nothing but camping.” “You had a housssssssssssse though,” Charles said with a grin. “That’ssssssssss not camping.” “Camping is disgusting,” Max said. “Why should we have to throw away all the niceness of civilization, and live like primitives?” “What’ssssssssss wrong, Galen?” Charles taunted. “Are you ssssssssscared?” “Of what!?” “Not having your precsssshiousssssssss technology.” “Come on guys, it’s not like we’re being cut off from the world,” Feather said. “Plus it’s just a few days, nothing we couldn’t handle.” “As far as I know, most of us had to live in the outdoors,” Winston said. “I know Julia, Feather, and I have, plus Charles and Leo.” “Add me to the list,” Tomoe said, raising her hand. “I had to stay in the pagoda, away from the city down below. Freakin’ sucked.” “So, Max is the only one who hasn’t gone camping?” Julia asked. The group turned to the apex, who was now a little red. “Big Ape didn’t permit camping back when I was part of the ‘kong,” he said, trying his best to regain his composure. “I usually was lab studies anyhow.” “Well, don’t worry about it,” Charles said, draping his arm across Max’s shoulders. “Charl will make ssssssshure you don’t get hurt.” The group continued in relative silence, looking around at the outpost. It had changed a bit since they were last there. A few buildings had gotten taller, market stalls were missing, and fencing had been reinforced. It was amazing to see the gradual changes. They eventually passed through the gates to the outpost. Leo had lead the building process for the gate and the few towers around the town. Outside the town were the outpost farms, built upon dry, arid soil. Thanks to Charles, however, the farms were able to flourish, growing plants from across the stars, automato to wartweed. Up ahead, the group spied a few of the glitch farmers, around a rather large, rickety jeep. They waved to the group. “Pleased. Howdy howdy!” one farmer said. “Glad to see the local heroes back!” “Thoughtful. We have all the provided supplies back in the back of the jeep,” another farmer said, pointing to the vehicle. It was larger than the average jeep, higher off the ground, and it had a large, black tarp over the back, giving it the appearance almost like a covered truck. “Thanks,” Winston said. “We’ll take the keys and head out then.” “Distraught. Dressed like that, you’re not,” said a third farmer, holding up the jeep’s keys.” “What’s wrong with our armor?” Julia asked. “Instructional. Koko gave us specific instructions for you all,” the first glitch said. “Cyrust, go get the boxes.” The second glitch nodded, and went into the passenger seat, pulling out a few cardboard boxes. “Smug. Ya’ll can only bring your weapons and the clothes the madam provided,” the second glitch said. He put the boxes on the ground, and opened them, revealing miscellaneous clothes. “Eager. Go pick out what you like, and ya’ll can change in the farmhouse,” the third glitch said, pointing to the nearby wooden house. “Alright, ladies first.” Tomoe, Feather, and Julia all glanced at each other, and stepped forward towards the boxes. They slowly began to look through the contents, pulling out various pieces of fabric. “Oooo, this looks nice!” Feather said, happily. She pulled out a red skirt and matching red crop-top. “Reminds me of my old clothes!” “Look at this yutaka!” Tomoe said, pulling out a red robe. It had a faint dragon along the side of it. “Oh hell yes!” “I guess I’ll go with this, then,” Julia said, pulling out some light blue jeans, black shirt, and denim jacket. The three girls then walked up to the farm house, and headed inside to change. “Smug. Alright, guys, you’re up,” the first glitch said. “Question. Do I need clothes?” Leo asked as the other three went through the boxes of clothes. “Just grab some stuff,” Max said, pulling out a white dress shirt. “We aren’t going camping for fashion.” “I think he’s asking cause he’s a robot,” Winston said, pulling out a pair of black slacks. “I think you should wear clothes,” Max said. “It’ll be weird seeing you naked every where.” “Agitated. Fine, but I don’t even have anything to hide...” Leo grumbled as he went through the boxes. After a few minutes, the guys had the clothes they wanted. Winston chose a pair of black slacks, a blue shirt, and a black jacket. Leo had picked a thin, white, long sleeved shirt and matching white pants, as well as a thicker, brown short-sleeved shirt. Charles chose a long loin-cloth-like article, as well as a matching, dark green scarf, as well as a pair of copper goggles. Finally, Max chose a white dress shirt and black slacks. “Pleased. Good job, now we just gotta wait for the girls to finish up, then ya’ll can change,” one of the farmers said. “Can’t we change here?” Max asked, taking off his red head-wraps. “We don’t take too long to change.” The glitch quickly glanced at each other and shrugged. “Unsure. Go for it.” Max quickly took off his spy gear, and quickly dressed into his new clothes, tucking his shirt into his pants. Charles quickly undressed from his gatherer gear, easily tying his cloth, and wrapping the scarf around his neck. Leo simply pressed a button on his shoulder, and his paladin chest plate and legging fell off of him in two haves, thanks to the magnetic glitch armor. He then took of his helmet, and began to dress himself. “This feels weird to do,” Winston said as he removed his adventurer’s gear. “I mean changing in the outdoors.” “Just don’t think too much on it,” Max said, adjusting his suspenders. “Hurry up, you’re slow.” “Sorry for being more for close range, I can’t just throw off my armor like you can.” Winston took off his pants, white boxers now showing. He then heard a girlish scream come from the side of the jeep. Looking up, the group saw Julia covering her bright red face, and running back behind the jeep. Winston quickly got dressed and ran after Julia. “Observation. They’re an odd pair, aren’t they,” Leo said, pulling his brown shirt over his white long sleeve. “I’ll say,” Max said. “I just hope things don’t get weirder or ‘awkward’ during this little weekend out.” He used air quotes as he said awkward. Max walked over to the farmers, and held out his hand. The third glitch gave him the keys to the jeep. “Instructional. Just follow the road until you reach the mountains.” “Uh, doesn’t the road end like a mile from here?” Max asked as he spread the tarp on the back of the jeep open. “Instructional. Then keep driving in a straight line until you reach a mountain with a few trees,” the farmer said, and he and the other farmers went to usher everyone into the back of the jeep. “Who wants shotgun?” Max asked as he walked to the driver’s side door. “Dibs!” Feather called out, and quickly ran to the passenger’s side door. “Alright then, kiddos. Everyone get in!” Max called as he got in the seat, and turned the ignition. “Can Charl go on top?” Charles asked, climbing on top of the jeep. “As long as you can hold on,” Max said, and Charles put his goggles on, and gave a thumbs up. “Alrighty then, everyone in the back and comfortable?” “We’re in,” Tomoe said, climbing into the back. “But I’m not in a comfortable spot yet-“ Max slammed his foot on the gas, and the jeep flew forward. Tomoe screamed as she nearly fell out of the back, grabbing onto Leo’s arm. “What the hell, Max!” Tomoe screamed as Leo pulled her in. “Sorry, I was more concerned about “in” the vehicle than “comfortable” in the vehicle,” Max said. “Geez,” Tomoe said, sitting down next to Leo. She looked over at Winston and Julia, who were talking to each other quietly. “What’s goin’ on in this neck of the woods?” she asked with a wry smile. “Nothing important,” Winston said, and Julia nodded in agreement. “Maybe you were talking about what you saw earlier?” Tomoe teased, and Julia blushed again. “I bet you liked it, huh-“ Tomoe’s head slammed against one of the steel support bars of the jeep’s cover as the jeep’s brakes were hit. Tomoe fell over, out cold. “Feather, what the hell!?” Max shouted. “Sorry, I thought I saw something in road,” Feather said, looking into the back seat. She gave a thumb up to Julia, who nodded. “Thanks Feather,” Julia said. “Jeez, Tomoe has no restraint for talking about stuff like that.” “Observational. It might be the whole rich kid thing,” Leo said. “Back home, the nobles’ kids acted kind of similar. Though I’m surprised you two aren’t used to it.” “I am, more or less,” Winston said. “But Julia, probably isn’t.” “My head’s probably al rattled due to the chaos we had as kids,” Julia said. “A chaotic person like her probably doesn’t help.” “Intrigued. If I may ask, what chaos would you have experienced as kids?” Leo asked. “Actually, we’ve been together for a while now, and I don’t know anything about you guys before I met you all.” “Well, we’re USCM kids,” Winston said. “We had to travel from planet to planet with our dads since Julia’s was a doctor, and mine was one of the higher ups.” “Surprised. No mother?” Leo asked. “Our mothers died when we were really young,” Julia said. “Shocked. Apologies I asked.” “No, it’s fine,” Winston said. “We were told that they were killed by a cultist attack. In fact, cultists attack the USCM a lot.” “They forced us to abandon ship and crash land on Feather’s planet,” Julia said, and quickly covered her mouth. “Surprise. Is something wrong?” “It’s also when I lost my dad,” Winston said. “Stunned. That’s, uh,” Leo stammered. “No, it’s fine,” Winston said. “You asked.” “After Winston and I and the rest of the USCM crash landed on the planet,” Julia said. “We set up a small village, mostly tents and tarps. Though, in the long run, they became small, wooden shacks, and we had a kindly sized hospital-like structure there.” “Thanks to my family,” Feather said, looking into the back. “A sometime after they crashed, my dad sent their airship with supplies to them, and started becoming friends. We’ve been together a long time.” “Fascinated. That’s quite the story,” Leo said. “What happened-“ Leo was stopped as Charles knocked on the roof of the jeep. He climbed into the back of the jeep, and walked to the window in the front, doing his best to avoid stepping on the supplies or anyone. “Charl sssssspotted sssssssome desssssstroyed sssshipssss up ahead,” Charles said to Max. “Destroyed ships?” Tomoe asked, groggily waking up, and rubbing her head. The group quickly tried to look through the front, hoping to spy the wreckage. Sure enough, there were a few, large ships crashed and destroyed in craters. “What are they from?” Feather asked. “They seem familiar,” Max said. “Remembrance. Those were the cultist ships!” Leo said. The group sat for a moment before numerous “oh”s were heard. “Wow, that was a while ago,” Winston said. “Would it be alright if we stopped when we got there, and look around?” “I don’t see why not,” Max said. After a few more minutes, the group stopped at the wreckage, looking around. They got out of the vehicle and began to look around. “Be careful,” Max said. “Have your weapons ready in case anything happens.” “It’s hard to tell who did more damage,” Julia said. “Us or them.” “As far as I can remember,” Tomoe said. “They trapped all of you in a cage, and Winston and I saved you guys.” “Jeepie!” Charles screamed, and he ran over to a pile of wreckage. “By Kluex, it is,” Feather said, looking at the wrecked, old jeep Charles was hugging. “Observational. We never did find out why they came here, right?” Leo asked. “As far as I know, no,” Max said. “I’m thinking they’re just crazy freaks.” “They do follow some pattern,” Winston said. “Trust me, they don’t just attack for no reason.” “Well, whatever the reason is,” Tomoe said, climbing up the side of one of the ship’s hulls. “We are near our destination.” She pointed, and the group ran around the ship and saw in the distance what was described; some mountains with some green pine tree-like trees. The group looked back when they heard the jeep’s engine begin running, and Max drove the jeep to the group. “Let’s get going, then,” Max said, and the group quickly climbed into the vehicle. Tomoe, however, jumped on top of it, joining Charles. The group then drove towards the mountains, now eager for their vacation. “How long has he been awake?” Koko asked as she walked through the hospital, a clipboard with papers in hand. “For a few hours,” said the doctor walking with her. “Has he done anything since he’s woken up?” Koko asked. “He kept asking for calculators.” “What?” “He asked for, like, twenty some-odd calculators,” the doctor said. “I’m just as confused as you are.” “And you just gave them to him?” Koko said, stopping at the ward door. “He’s under constant watch,” the doctor said, opening the door. “We’re coming in.” Koko slowly entered the dimly lit room. She noticed, however, the room was dimly lit due to the novakid was glowing a yellow light that matched his skin. He sat there, numerous destroyed calculators on his bed sheets. “Sup,” the novakid said, his hand inside what appeared to be two of the calculators stuck together. “Hello,” Koko said taking a seat. “How are you?” “Well, I’m pretty okay,” the novakid said. “I am Madam Koko. I run this outpost.” “Nice to meet you.” The novakid had not once looked up from his calculator madness. “Um, what is your name?” The novakid put down his calculator Frankenstein monster, and picked up another calculator. “Radon comma Henry.” “Do you know why you’re here?” The novakid finally looked up from his calculator project. “You decided to bring me here out of the kindness of your heart.” He pressed a button on the calculator, and the calculator hodgepodge from before began to glow a light blue, and began to hover from the bed. “And due to the circumstances of why I needed to be brought here, I’m being interrogated.” The little flying calculator began to fly around the room slowly. “You’re smarter than described,” Koko said, writing things down on the clipboard. “Oh, did the princess of the frogs tell you novakids were dumb?” Madam Koko looked up from writing. “Ah, so she did.” “You seem to know a lot about my top crew,” Koko said. “What else do you know?” “We both know that you could care less about what I know about them right now,” the novakid said. “You want to know about Xenonth and the crew right?” “You definitely are smart,” Koko said. “Out with it, then.” “Xenonth is our leader, and a powerful mage. Uses that lil’ red orb of his. Then there’s his two body guards, can’t remember their names, but both are gun savvy. We also have the engineer, don’t know him either.” “Can you tell us anything about them in specific?” Koko asked. “I couldn’t if I tried. I was only part of their crew for a few weeks,” the novakid stopped the little makeshift spaceship. “I was in charge of baiting the big jelly.” He picked up the little ship, and begun taking it apart. “And I guess I was in charge of dying to the big jelly. I ain’t in trouble for the big jelly, am I?” “We’ll see,” Koko said. “So, I was told that most novakids don’t usually work together, normally fighting each other. Is that true?” “Normally, we rarely do see each other. We might see two, maybe three novakids a galactic year. Normally then, we’d fight two out of three for whatever reason. I guess I joined up with Xenonth is cause there were four more of my kind, not tryin’ to kill each other. But I guess I was wrong.” “Oh?” “Xenonth always ordered me to stay in the caboose and fix tiny things, or clean everyone’s armor, or whatnot. The other three underlings never even talked to me. I guess I was just a temp, then.” “I see,” Koko said, writing more things down. “And there’s nothing you really know about what your boss’s plan is?” “I’m trying to remember any other names being mentioned,” the novakid said. “Something with a D in it? I truly can’t remember.” Madam Koko finished writing and put her pencil down. “Well, you’ve been a surprisingly helpful prisoner. I think that’s enough interrogation for today.” “If I wasn’t against an ex-minikong member, I’d be raising Heck right now,” the novakid said, turning the calculator pile into something else. “Death, today, does not feel welcoming to me, however.” Madam Koko hesitantly rose from her seat, eying the novakid for his last sentence. “I’ll be back tomorrow, Henry. Have a good rest.” “I’ll be waitin’ for ya.” “I can’t believe she gave us only two tents,” Max said as he set up the second, green tent. The group had reached their destination, a small clearing in the trees at the foot of a large mountain. “It makes sense though, a guy’s camp and a girl’s camp,” Winston said, helping Max. “Yes, but these tents can only hold two people, three people would be pushing the limit.” “Ssssssso what’ssssss the isssssue?” Charles asked. “There are four guys here, and three girls there,” Max said. “We do not have enough room in our tent for us.” “Observation. I could just sleep outside. It’s not like I can feel the uncomfortable, hard ground,” Leo said shrugging. “Charl could also sssssssleep outsssside. Charl ussssssually do when at outposssssssst.” “Well I suppose that’ll be fine then,” Max said, wiping his brow, and getting up from the corner of the tent. “Ladies, how are you doing?” he asked, looking across the camp. “It’ll be a tight squeeze,” Feather said, getting out from the tent. “But it’ll work.” “And there’s always room in the back of the jeep,” Tomoe said, pointing to the parked jeep. Winston looked up at the sky. “It looks like it’s getting relatively late, should we start preparing dinner?” “We still have some time,” Tomoe said. “And coming from the nonstop eater, that should mean something.” “What should we do until then?” Julia asked. “Gamessssssss,” Charles said eagerly. “Like what?” Max asked. “Charl alwaysssssss played ssssstrength games when Charl wasssssss sssssprout,” Charles said, flexing. “That is the most barbaric thing I’ve heard,” Max said. Besides we all would know who would win a strength game here, me.” “Fact. Me” “Charl.” “Winston!” Julia said. “Me?” Winston asked. “I’d say Leo would win,” Feather said. “I’d go for Charles,” Tomoe said. Max was about to protest, but instead sighed heavily, and rolled up his dress shirtsleeves. “So how do these strength games work?” “Well, ussssssssually jussssst lift big rocksssssssss,” Charles said, thinking. “Rockssss usssually get bigger and bigger.” “Well, then let’s see if there’s some big rocks for you guys somewhere,” Tomoe said, and the group followed the foot of the mountain until they did indeed, find a big pile of rocks, boulders, and, lucky for them, stones. “Inquiry. How do we start this?” Leo asked. “Weakessssssst contender goesssssss firsssssst,” Charles said. “Ssssssso, Winnie.” Max snorted a bit of laughter when he heard this. “I’m the weakest?” Winston asked. “Well, you are a human sssssssso,” Charles said. “I’ll prove you wrong then,” Winston said. “He walked over to the pile of rocks, and found one, about a foot in diameter. He squatted down, and grabbed the rock, slowly pulling it from the ground. He struggled to pick up the large stone, but shakingly held it up. “Over your head, Winnie!” Charles shouted with eager. Winston nodded, and slowly held the rock over his head, which caused a few gasps to come from the girls. Winston smiled, wobbled a bit, and threw the rock to the ground, where it left a dent in the ground with a ‘thud’. “How was that?” Winston asked, gasping for air. “Good start,” Max said. He walked over to the rock, and picked it up with ease. “Not good enough though.” He threw the rock to the ground, and found a larger rock, about a meter across. Max spat on his hands, and rubbed them together, using the same technique Winston used to pick up the boulder. Max then slowly lifted the boulder, and held it over his head. He then threw it to the ground, causing Winston and the girls to shake. “Hoo boy, that was heavy. Sorry, Winston, but everyone know apex are smarter AND stronger than humans.” “Charl turn!” Charles said eagerly. He quickly ran over to the boulder Max had just thrown, and effortlessly, picked up the massive boulder. The group gasped at Charles’ feat. “Charles! How the hell can you lift something that easily?” Feather asked. Charles shifted the boulder to one hand, using the other to rub his chin in thought. “Dunno.” He then threw the boulder with his strength, over the group, shattering the boulder behind them, the fragments slowly rolling away. “Fact. Due to florans being plant-like in nature, their skin is like that of a plant’s stem. Almost like an external skeleton,” Leo said, as Charles searched for a bigger rock. “So, it’s almost like they have two skeletons then?” Julia asked. “I think more like bone, then a suit of armor that gives them strength. Bone armor?” Winston said, shrugging. “Found one!” Charles called out, and a large chunk of the mountain began to move. A chunk of earth, around the size of the jeep, slowly rose with Charles beneath it. He took a few steps forward, and set the rock down. He looked over at Leo, who walked over to the rock, and lifted it as well. “I think we should go,” Winston whispered to Julia. She, Tomoe, Feather, and Max all nodded in agreement. “Charles, Leo!” Winston called up to the lifting duo. He winced as he saw Leo lifting up another large chunk of mountain. “We’re gonna go make dinner! Come back to camp when you’re done playing!” The group quickly left for camp as two “okay”s were heard. “I’m glad we got out of that,” Feather said. “I’m all for a bunch of idiots hurting themselves, but I rather not get injured in the process.” “I’m just waiting for Charles to get hurt, really,” Max said. “While florans do have a tougher skin, glitch ARE in fact self aware machines that can make themselves stronger.” “Let’s forget about that,” Tomoe said as the group approached camp. “I’m hungry, let’s get some grub going!” “We have enough food to last us only the next few days,” Winston said, going through the cooler and food crate. “So Tomoe eats last, then?” Julia asked. “Can’t I get a slightly bigger portion?” Tomoe begged. Max hit her in the back of the head with a wooden spoon. “No, now, go start the stove, we have cooking to do.” “Slow down, Koko!” the doctor shouted as Koko ran through the halls of the hospital. “You’re not allowed to run in this wing anyway!” “The fate of the town lies in what he has to say, I’m not slowing down if he’s calling for me,” Koko said, flipping through her notes on her clipboard. She reached Henry’s room, and opened it. “Ah, Koko, you’re here just in time,” Henry said, fiddling with a calculator. Koko quickly sat down. “What did you remember, Henry?” she asked. “Tell me, do you remember when those cultists attacked?” Henry asked. “Yes, but how do you know? Were you there?” Henry tossed the calculator to Koko, who caught it. “It turns out, someone Xenonth works with, or for, or whatever, was in charge of those cultists.” Koko looked up, shocked. “A HEAD cultist?” “I remember seeing something about that when I was repairing Xenonth’s PDA a while ago. So I tried using those calculators to remake his PDA, complete with messages and everything. Password is 1234.” “You managed to remake his PDA, with everything programmed inside of it?” “I’ll never get this human tech at all, such bad security,” Henry said. “I get the whole ‘internet integration’ thing, but still, data is data, and that can easily be remade.” “Wait, this is human?” Koko asked. Sure enough, as the device turned on, USCM appeared, before going to a password screen. Koko input the password, and was greeted by a plethora of messages. “How could he have gotten a human PDA?” “Well, he either, bought it or stole it from a human,” Henry said. “He only used a speech to text thing on it, since only humans and apex can really use touch screens.” “Luckily, I’m an apex, then,” Koko said, scrolling through the messages. “I’m going to take this to the right people, and make sure you get the praise you deserve.” Koko quickly got up, and went for the door, before turning back to the novakid. “Why are you being so helpful to us? You technically are under arrest still, and we did label you as a villian.” “My initial excuse was that you were an ex-Minikong, and that I didn’t want to die. While that is still true, looking back, I was nearly killed by those guys in a peanut butter bomb. Novakids, we have an honor system. We want to see the face of whoever kills us before we flicker out. Not some foodstuff explosion. So, I’m hoping to show Xenonth and their crew a little bit of that honor someday.” “Hopefully, we can help you with that-“ Koko was cut off as the building began to shake. Numerous objects began to fall off shelves, and various screams were heard from inside and outside the building. After about thirty seconds, the shaking stopped. “What the hell was that!?” Henry asked. “An, an earthquake,” Koko said, regaining her balance. “We haven’t had one of those in a long time, though. But, we can worry about that in a bit. I will be back.” Koko made a dash out of the building, PDA in hand. “Everyone okay?” Winston asked as the dust subsided. Numerous “yeah”s were heard from the camp. “Julia?” Winston asked, getting up from atop his girl friend. “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Julia said as Winston helped her up. “What the hell was that?” Max asked as he got up, rubbing his head. “Did Charles and Leo cause that?” Feather asked as Max helped her up. “They were throwing some big rocks around.” “There’s no way those two idiots could have cause a quake like that,” Tomoe said, getting up from under the cooking table. “By the way, I saved the food.” She pulled out a few pots from under the table. “Let’s go check up on them,” Winston said, and the group ran for the rocks from before. When they arrived, there were more rocks than before. “Must have weak support on this side, then,” Max said as he looked across the large pile of rubble. “Charles!?” Feather shouted. “Leo!?” One of the larger piles of stone began to shake. “There they are!” Julia shouted, pointing at the moving rubble. “Let’s help dig them out!” The group quickly ran to the pile, and did their best to clear the loose rocks out of the way. Finally, a robotic arm emerged from the stones. The group quickly pulled on the arm, eventually unearthing Leo’s head. “Question. Did I win?” Leo asked. “Are you okay?” Feather asked. Leo began to shake his free arm more. “Seeing as I can’t move my limbs, no.” “You’re moving your arm right now,” Julia said, trying to stop the arm. She finally caught it, and pulled, pulling out more of Leo’s body from the rubble in the process. However, Leo’s head simply rolled off, causing Julia to scream. “Holy crap, he’s just a head!” Max said picking up the head. “How are you controlling your body like this?” “Fact. I’m not,” Leo said, and his body pulled itself out of the rubble. The front of the body was exposed, and Charles’ head stuck out. “Air!” the floran gasped as he pulled himself out of Leo’s body. As he stepped out, he grabbed Leo’s head, and put it placed it back where it should have been connected. Charles then messed with the wiring, and Leo once again had control of his body, though his clothes were now torn. “Did you guys do this?” Winston asked the recovering Charles and Leo. “No, everything sssssstarted sssshaking before we even ssssstarted lifting the biggessssst rockssss.” “Hey guys,” Feather called out to the group from atop the rubble. “There’s this hole in the mountain that I’m pretty sure wasn’t here before.” “And? You want us to explore the inside of this death trap hill?” Max asked. “I see something blue glowing down there,” Feather replied. The group looked at each other and slowly climbed up atop the rubble, and sure enough, there was a large cave that had been torn open. On top of that, there was a faint, blue light coming from inside. “I’m gonna get a closer look,” Feather said, and she slowly slid down the rubble into the cave. “Wait, Feather!” Tomoe shouted. “This place seems really dangerous-“ “It’s a door,” Feather called from the cave. The group looked at each other, confused. “What?” Winston called down. “Yeah, there’s a big stone door with these weird, blue symbols on them. I’ve never seen anything like this-“ Feather screamed and a bright, blue flash shot from the cave entrance. “Feather?” Max called down. No response. The group quickly ran down into the cave, and was greeted by the tall, stone door decorated with blue glyphs. “What in Heck,” Max mumbled, looking at the door. “Guys, Feather’s passed out over here!” Julia called out. The group quickly rushed to her side, and slowly began to carry her out of the cave. “This trip is ending now!” Tomoe said. “Observation. It is nearly sundown. It would be extremely dangerous to travel at night.” “He’s right,” Winston said. “We’ll just have to keep Feather here overnight. If she doesn’t wake up by tomorrow, we get out of here.” The group agreed, and carried her back to camp. Feather gasped as she sat up. What a horrible nightmare she had, involving camping, some door, and earthquake. She shook off the thoughts and looked around her, finding a blank, white vastness around her. She slowly got up, and glanced around. Am I dead? She thought to herself. She then heard an eerie sound of metal on metal. It was musical though, it’s tone changing. Finally, Feather gasped as she recognized the sound, finally verifying her thoughts that she was dead. She turned around and was greeted by an elderly avian, a rustic blue color. In his hand, he held a banjo and played a peppy song. Feather gulped. “Grandpa?”
