Survival

Written when I was 11 years old!

Survival

By Nico Jao

Table of Contents:

Prologue 1: Invasion

Prologue 2: Stubborn

Prologue 3: The Intro

Chapter 1: Exploration

Chapter 2: Crossing

Chapter 3: Ambush

Chapter 4: Surprise

Chapter 5: Nightfall

Chapter 6: Earth

Chapter 7: Cliffside

Chapter 8: Curiosity

Chapter 9: The Sea

Chapter 10: Colossus

Chapter 11: Azdux

Chapter 12: Forest

Chapter 13: Battle

Chapter 14: Survivors

Chapter 15: A mission

Chapter 16: Found

Chapter 17: Titanetrox

The Last Chapter: Survival

Epilogue: Reborn

Prologue 1: Invasion

“Sir, what is that?”

The director of the international space agency walked up to the nervous man on the seat, having no sense of what was about to happen. He stood behind the chair and laid a hand on the man, studying the computer screen in front of them. His eyes were full of concern.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Are we receiving any radio waves from it?”

“No, sir.”

“What about electronic or physical interference?”

“Nothing, sir.”

The director took more time to ponder at what the mysterious object could be. The screen displayed a green-line grid, with a big green shape in the centre. Even though the screen didn’t portray it moving, the director knew it was. He could feel the massive thing in space moving closer and closer. He didn’t like what he was thinking, but sadly it was probably the best theory that made the equation complete.

No, that can’t be. We haven’t had a war in thirty years. That’s not possible. We’re the only ones left in the Local Group. Unless they made the hyperdrive as well…

The fear and tension in the air made it hard for the director to focus. This was a great discovery that he and the thoughtless man found out about that would endanger the whole planet. If what he predicted was true…

He must’ve been staring too long, because the man asked, “Sir? What are you thinking about this?”

He flinched. “Nothing, nothing.” He waved the dangerous thought aside.

The man looked back at the screen. “Do we give it some time? I mean, what do we do about it? It’s not an asteroid. It’s not a planet. What is it?”

The director tried to forget about it, but the new four green objects that just appeared behind the first didn’t help. In fact, it made it a lot worse. One was good enough to pass it by, but five couldn’t be a coincidence. It could’t just be ignored too. The director was already forming plans in his head. Who would know, and who wouldn’t know about it. Of course the leader should know. Except he wouldn’t agree with what the director thought who shouldn’t know. He wouldn’t just fire him, he’d hurt him. Legitimately or not, he couldn’t take the risk. He decided that he would wait at least a couple of days. 

“How long until it arrives?” The director asked. The man typed in a few keys, the only sound filling the big room with tapping noise. 

“About twenty days, unless our sensors are wrong, which they can’t be. They’re never wrong. What are you thinking about anyway?” The man returned. 

“You wouldn’t like it.”

The man questioned no further. That gave more time for the director to plan. It didn’t matter if he was fired from the agency. Everyone would most likely be dead. But if he was wrong, or if they could defeat them after all, he would be dead… literally. Losing the job meant no further income. But somehow he knew his instincts were right. It wasn’t the fear that motivated him either. He had to trust his gut. If his plan didn’t work, it didn’t matter. If it did, then it would save countless lives.                             “Okay,” he began, “this is what we’re going to do.”

“Sir�"“

“Wait,” he paused. “Okay, do not spread this to any of the agency members, or the social media and people. This is only going to be a secret between you and I. We will tell them when the time has come.”

The man swallowed. “Not even the leader?”

The director nodded. 

The man’s eyes showed that he didn’t believe it. “Sir, you do know the punishment?”

The director didn’t give it a second thought. “Yes.” He let that sink in. 

“But sir, please just tell me what it is. I’ll understand if you do.”

The director took a shallow breath. He was determined to live, despite the odds. But the fear made it look like he couldn’t. But he knew his plan was the best chance. The world wasn’t ready to know yet. Besides, a ship would only take a few days to build with the help of the voidals. If he timed everything perfectly, he could live. 

“My good fellow, do you really want to know?” The director said. The man before him nodded.

He answered grimly, “It’s a mothership.”

.  .  .

Ten days later

“Are you crazy?” Mark yelled. “Do you want to get all of us killed?” 

Mark was holding up the director by the collar, with a murderous look on his face. “You’re fired!” He said forcefully. “Why would you even do that?” 

“I�"“

“We only have ten days before it happens! We have to call the other races!”

“Y-yes sir�"“ When Mark let go of him, the terrified director made an attempt for the phone on the table. Then Mark grabbed him and pulled him back. 

“No, I will do it.” Mark snatched his cell phone and dialled furiously.

“What will I do, sir?”

“Go to hell.”

“O-okay sir.” The director sped out of the room. He was mostly relieved.

Alone in the room, Mark didn’t know what to do. He knew that once he went to the government they’d automatically declare him leader. He longed to seek advice from his dad, the last leader. But he knew the advice wouldn’t help much. He was the leader now. And he couldn’t back down and give the opportunity away. For one, it was the opportunity of a lifetime. No, not even a lifetime. A new leader was usually elected when the race had to leave the planet. There was a good, solid few billion years in between, way longer than a lifetime. Since they had only been on Vanity for twenty-one years, he would be the next leader, since the last was his dad. That was the rule. And also he didn’t know if the person who got elected would do the job. And the second reason, was because he didn’t want to come home, call his dad, and imagine the half-disappointed, half-angry look on his face when he found out he wouldn’t be the new leader.

Mark remembered the war to gain Vanity. During a rescue mission to get him to safety, Mark helped his dad and led the hostages to their freedom. That was when his dad said he had the wits to be a leader someday. 

Mark sighed with contentment. That was also where he met Daniela. 

So, he would become the leader. Okay, but what about his next move? First he had to go to the government, tell them about the invasion, tell them to contact the other races and for all of them to build the ships as fast as they could. That, was his first move.

His second? Well, plan, obviously. He had to get to work right away. He had to create a backup plan for each  possible wrong turn, and a backup plan for each of the wrong turns the backup plans could make. And then, he had to set up all of them. 

But what was the biggest wrong turn they needed a backup plan for? Well, of course. The problem where they didn’t have enough time. He knew he’d have to defend the people if things got ugly.                                                             Mark had successfully covered everything. He gripped his hands, knowing a fight could come in ten days. He needed to prepare. He had to defend his family. 

Mark was so proud of himself. This is what his dad must’ve felt like whenever everything went his way, except everything didn’t go Mark’s way… yet. 

Mark finished dialling the number. He felt a smile forming. 

Time to claim that leadership.

Prologue 2: Stubborn

“Daniel! You know they’ll be here in two days. Get packing. We’re leaving tomorrow.” 

“Okay mom!” I yelled. I was in the basement playing video games with my friends. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Daniel! Get packing! They’re coming in two days! Why aren’t you even scared? 

Well, shut up. I’m trying to enjoy my last night on Vanity. I guess that’s what my friends were thinking too, when they invited me to their game. Heck, I’m not even a good first person shooter. 

Well, anyways, you can guess that’s where everything went bad. Well, you are wrong. That’s actually where everything went right. In fact, it probably saved my life. 

Okay, following up on the story. During the game, right when I was about to get a high score, the house shook. Like, an explosion just happened upstairs. 

My dad taught me a lockdown drill that I was supposed to do when something like this happened. But unfor-tunately… I was too terrified to do it. That was maybe because it caught me by surprise, and nothing like this ever happened before. I was always used to feeling safe and secure, but I had a feeling that that was going to be my last night I had felt that.

I waited a full minute after the shaking, and instead of doing my father’s drill, I climbed upstairs. 

I was right. There was a hole in our house! It might sound funny me telling this to you, but if you were at my current situation, then buddy, hate to break it to you. The aliens that did this would have the last laugh.

I was terrified, but curious at the same time. I looked around at the wreckage. I could see the upper floor sloped downwards from the blast. Lamps were on the floor, destroyed, books were singed and tables were in pieces like someone sliced them with a sharp blade, and the entire ground had a crater, like a giant pounded it with his big fist. Fire was in some places, but not everywhere, thankfully. 

That wasn’t the worst part. Sprawled on the floor metres away was my mother. 

“Mom?” I called out. No answer. I gulped down my fear and ran over to her. As I did I saw the complete picture. The entire neighbourhood was in shambles. 

Telephone poles were down. More craters were pounded into the crust, which wouldn’t make Mother Vanity happy. A layer of debris and ash covered the area as well as the air, which made it slightly harder to breathe. Splotches of fire were lodged on smashed cars, building windows, and the roads. But their heat was no match against my cold feeling about what I was going to happen next.

When I reached her, I almost broke down in tears. Her limbs were broken. Blood swaddled her like a blanket. Her jeans were in tatters. Her green t-shirt was singed. 

I had no doubt that she was�"dead. Except I couldn’t accept it. 

“Mom?” I asked. “Mom?!” I said more forcefully. A dark feeling washed over me. My mouth went dry. 

Run, little one. But you cannot hide. It would be easier to just let your fear take over.

  The words vibrated in my mind. It was like a ringing bell right beside my ears. I covered them as if that were the case, but it wasn’t. Someone was communicating inside my head.

Then I heard footsteps. At first I thought they were people coming to help me, but I sure wished that was it. When the alien came around the corner of an alley, I winced. Maybe jumped two meters into the air, I don’t know.

The enemy had bone armour all over himself. Two devil-like horns sprouted from the sides of his helmet. His intense, cold eyes radiated panic-striking heat into my nervous system, and I mean the other one. 

I ran away like a coward, which to be fair, it would be what anybody would’ve done too. 

I sprinted back into my house, shut the door, and locked it. It didn’t cause any relief, so I raced down the stairs to the basement. I looked at the TV screen.

Nobody was playing.

Everybody in the online game was standing still, my friends, my enemies, all as still as animated people can be in video games. Maybe the aliens got my friends too, and I figured it would be my last if I didn’t get to my dad’s bunker. 

The alien roar startled me. It was a loud, terrifying roar that was enough to pop a person’s eardrums right out of their sockets if it was right beside him even with earplugs. Not exaggerating.

Before I ran to the bunker, I quickly switched the TV to the news channel. I was not happy.

The media was talking about an invasion coming two days earlier than expected. They called the aliens Novatrons, and their nickname was Renz. I wasn’t sure what to make of that. It sounded like someone made those names like he was forced to in two seconds. 

It didn’t matter. The news showed a live broadcast of Evolotropolis, my city. My home.

It was pretty much destroyed like my neighbourhood, which wasn’t good. Not at all. I couldn’t waste anymore time. I ran to the door to the elevator, and tapped the button to the most lowest floor. The bunker. I knew that once I got in there, the base would go lockdown mode. A nearly impenetrable shield would make it impossible to get inside, unless I disabled it from the inside, but something told me I wouldn’t do anything like that anytime soon. 

The bunker that my dad set up was huge. It had everything I needed to survive, including stuff that you don’t really need to survive, like my toothbrush, a hair shaver, a shower, and other things. It had enough food and water to last three people half a year, two people one year, and one person over a year�"and that person was me. The bunker was awesome for a situation like this, but I still don’t understand why my dad had built it. Maybe he was just being paranoid. Or maybe…

Maybe he knew what was going to come. 

Now I get it. Ten days ago, he started acting different. He worked more. He made the bunker. My dad had known this was going to happen, way before us. He only told us three days ago because maybe he didn’t want to scare us, and then in two days the invasion was going to occur. Except it came two days earlier. Which was now. My new life was ahead of me. I knew it once the doors to the elevator opened. I knew that this was my best chance at survival, and not taking a risk by running to my father’s ship. This was my only hope of living.

My parents were dead. I was certain of it.

And my new path was ahead of me already.

I stepped in through the steel doors of the shaft and into safety. And then the doors closed.

I said goodbye. 

Prologue 3: The Intro

One year later 

Daniel Jones Grey here. 

From what I know so far, I could be the last person in the world. The thought scares me almost to death every day in the bunker, but hope gives me the strength to keep going. 

I have no contact with the outside world, and no reception either. So even if I have my charged Artificial Intelligence device with me, I can’t get a signal. Oh, and for your info, an AI is a like a cell phone, but it’s more meant for survival. No games, which meant that I stayed in the safe room for one year, with no absolute way of entertainment. I just sat there, waited for a meal, then sat there, waited for the next meal. It was so boring. I looked forward to getting out. 

But today I actually decided I was going to go out. My resources wouldn’t last forever. I had to go find out what happened. 

I already had a plan. I found a titanium staff my dad must’ve put somewhere in the food storage. I tested it; it could hit pretty hard. Bone armour wouldn’t stand a chance. That would be my weapon. Later on I spotted a laser dagger one night on the floor of the storage. Using it would mean survival, too. So, I thought I was ready. 

And I was. I was ready to face the global epidemic Vanity had suffered. As I packed my things, I wondered at what the surface would look like. Maybe destroyed, or maybe they’ve built some cities. Or maybe we’ve killed them all. Maybe our allies sent reinforcements, and the apocalypse never went anywhere. Whatever the case, I had to be ready. I had to also get ready for a surprise.

I grabbed a duffel bag, and stuffed in some things. The last one was a picture of my family. Just me and my parents. 

I miss them so much. 

But I knew they were gone. As in, never coming back. The most important people in my life were taken away, by a hostile alien race. 

I feel tears coming but I hold them back. My dad said be strong, no matter the circumstances. I know he said that during the ten days before the invasion, because he knew what was coming. But even though, he meant it legitimately whatever the case. Apocalypse or not, I needed to be strong.

Once I will step out the city, I knew I had to survive by hunting down animals and cooking them over a fire, because I had no more food. Yeah, typical caveman life. I had to do that if I were to get anywhere. Speaking of that, I planned to go straight eastwards, to the rexel territory. Then upwards from there, to the voidal territory, since they are the strongest race out of the five of us, they might’ve survived the best, so help was most likely there. And if you think I’m just saying a bunch of nonsense, well then, no, I’m not. The names I’m saying are the races that we formed an alliance with when we came to Vanity. First we had war, and at that time my grandfather was the leader of the human race. My dad said that even him was part of the army, and also the war was a piece of cake. Now that thirty years passed and we had to leave the planet again because of the predicted attack, my dad became the leader. I don’t know if he survived or not yet, but I will find out. 

To cross into rexel territory would mean I need sea transport. That, would be my problem.

It didn’t matter. I would solve the problems when I get there, not everything at once. I’ve always worked better under pressure anyways.

I triple-checked if I had everything I needed, and then I snatched my staff and put my blade into my bag. I found out recently that I could connect the dagger on the tip of the staff, making it a spear. I guess it used to be one weapon, but it split somehow.

I put the leather bag over my shoulder, gripping the strap. Then I planted the staff on the ground. The titanium had absorbed the coldness of the room, and it felt freezing to the touch. I would use it as a walking stick, I decided. 

I walked over to the elevator, and tapped the up button, the only one on the pad. The button shone blue, until the elevator doors opened. I stepped in, curious to see what happened in the surface. The last time I’ve seen my house, there was a gigantic hole cutting the corner from the roof to the floor, like a big bowling ball crashed through.

Now it could stay the same, or the aliens built on it, not knowing that an eleven-year-old human was right under their noses�"literally. If they were still there, I didn’t know what to do. Fight? Unlikely. Run? Unlikely.

Boom. The elevator stopped. The lights flashed. It shook slightly. 

Ding. The double-door opened. Surprisingly, my basement was exactly the same. Well, except for the cobwebs that started to form, the dust everywhere, and the chunks of fallen roof pieces all over the floor.. 

I trudged around them and went up the stairs. I opened the door slowly, trying not to make sound.

Nobody there. My house was different, though. There wasn’t a hole in it anymore. the whole house was gone. Same with all the other ones.

No Novatrons equals awesome. The destruction didn’t matter if I was safe.

I started trekking down the street. First I had to make it out of Evolotropolis, but that was the end of civilization. Then there would be a series of deserts, forests and jungles, and other environments that Vanity could offer.

I took a deep breath.

My journey for survival has begun.

Chapter 1: Exploration

I make my way through a park nearby my neighbourhood. I stepped over leaves, rocks, twigs, and small hills. The leaves shimmered in the sunlight, as it heated me up against the cool breeze. 

Vanity was a good planet. Except everything we’ve built came crashing down. The Novatrons would pay. I would make them. I need help though, which is why I took this journey. I need people who can help me take them down, if it was possible. 

If only my parents were here, I wouldn’t have to be in charge. My dad was the new leader anyway. He could totally protect us against the monsters.

From the moment I made the decision to take this journey, I always questioned myself. Do I know what I’m doing? Is this the right thing to do? I have resources still. I can finish them. A better chance at surviving.

But something in my heart told me to make this decision. I did know what I’m doing. I’m not being a scaredy-cat. I’m going to find other people. This is the right thing to do. What else is there to do? And I don’t want to finish the resources. That would mean more boredom in the bunker. I wanted to find out what hap-pened in the outside world. 

The path I was taking led to the ship we were going to take to retreat from Vanity. It was one big enough for all the five races that lived here. The thing was, it was our only hope of surviving the invasion… for three years. We have no way to get out of the borders of the Local Group, so it would only last us three years in space. Not that there’s a shield blocking us or something, but because we just had no way to travel that far. 

I’ve heard rumours about a hyperdrive that the government was working on. One that would take us out of the borders. Except I don’t know if it’s true.

I was past the park. I should’ve been able to see the ship from here, because of it’s size. But I didn’t see anything. I was almost there anyway. 

Out. I was in downtown now. I thought about checking inside the buildings to see if anyone survived, but I decided it would just waste my time. Nobody but me survived this chaos.

In minutes I made it to the ship bay. 

As I guessed… it was destroyed. The ship was wrecked to pieces. Our only transport into space was now going to stay on the ground… mutilated forever. 

Oh well. It’s not like I can drive it anyway.

It will take about three hours to get out of Evolotropolis with a car, minus the traffic. Yep. The city is that big. Five hours if the traffic is bad, and almost five days by foot. 

And my feet are killing me right now. I can’t do it, I keep thinking to myself. But I have to. I have to get out of this place, foot or not. 

As I walk, I find no signs of life. No people, of course. No stray pets roaming around. Not even one fly around a garbage disposal. The aliens�"or Novatrons�"destroyed literally every single living the city. Except me. 

I couldn’t believe how bad my chances were. Or how long my journey could take. Or even that I had to do it alone�"inexperienced. It was terrifying and impossible. 

If there’s one saying that’s the most overused to me, it would be that nothing is impossible. But I guess the person who made that up never thought about my cruel situation: aliens everywhere, days to get escape, no help, and absolutely no hope.

  .  .  .

Almost nine, and I need to get ready for the night. I’ve got no encounters with the aliens, which was lucky, I guess. I still remember the psycho look in the eyes of the one I saw last year, like a wild dog with rabies times ten. The crazy, fearsome face behind the bone helmet, which was all charred and scratched from previous battles. 

I shivered despite the warm touch in the air. Every slight thought of them makes my goal seem a thousand more kilometres away. If they kept keeping me down, soon I’ll actually think it’s impossible and I’ll give up. 

And then that’s when I scold myself. No, don’t be stupid Daniel. You can’t give up. At least try. If you don’t, you’ll die. And nobody wants that, right? I have to give it all into hope. Hope that I’ll survive. Hope that there are still people that can help me. 

For the night I chose a nice, quiet neighbourhood. It reminded me of a ghost town. 

I chose the nicest-looking house. Hey, there’s no saying never judge a house by its front, is there? 

The darkening sky covered the area with a dark shade of purplish-black, but I could barely make out the details. Dried bushes and bare trees on the dead grass. The house was cracked and deteriorated, with thick vines climbing up the brick walls. It didn’t look very pleasing, but was probably the only one still standing. 

Night was coming. I went in the house and turned on the lights, but they didn’t turn on. I sighed. No surprise they wouldn’t work. I just opened my bag and grabbed my flashlight. 

The kitchen looked like it was once a deluxe five-star, but now it looked like a dust concert. I grabbed their telephone, but I knew it was hopeless. Even if I had electricity, who was I going to call? I wasn’t sure if typing a bunch of random numbers like a prank-caller would do anything. 

The counter was littered with the usual kitchen appliances. The cupboards were strangely empty. I shrugged. They probably didn’t store anymore food because they were leaving the planet in two days. Unless they still held canned food, it mattered. 

The thought of food made my stomach belched. I needed dinner. I frantically searched all the cupboards, then the refrigerator. They were currently empty. Well, whatever. A human can survive three weeks without food anyway. One night was just the beginning. 

Upstairs I went. The stairs looked as if one of the aliens sliced it in half right through the middle steps. At first I didn’t think it was safe to go, but then again, am I ever going to be now that I live in this devastated world?

When I safely reached the top I found the best room and entered. Whoa, the place needed a makeover if I were to spend the night in here. A not-so-fancy bed was in the middle. A door to the bathroom was on the right, and a cabinet filled with dirty clothes was on the left, against the wall. I wiped the top of it with my right hand, and shook it when I saw all the dust I collected. Then I placed my flashlight on top, lighting almost the full room. It made me notice the door to the walk-in closet, the painting above the bed on the wall, the black roman numeral clock above the doorway, and the medium-sized flatscreen TV on the same wall with the door. 

Hey, whoever lived here, I’m going to sleep here for a while. Is that okay?

After placing my staff gently against the wall beside the cabinet, I gripped the covers of the bed and shook them. I watched the ripples flinging all the dust into the air from the light of my flashlight, and it made my eyes water. I couldn’t hold back the coughs. 

Once I was fully convinced it was clean, I dumped my bag beside the bed. Then I jumped on the bed, staring intently at the ceiling. Time to plan. I listed down all the things that I had to accomplish�"right now and the future.

First, wash up in the bathroom. Then I needed to find another way out of the city. Walking was unacceptable�"but a possibility. What can I say? I’m a lazy person. Okay then, once I get out of the city the east exit, I keep heading east towards the nearest ocean: the Ramento ocean. The big, fat strip of water separating the human continent of Lyneria and the rexel continent Azdux. This was my original plan. If I don’t find anyone, I head north to voidal territory. Ugh, those guys give me the creeps. I wondered if Grandpa decided to split the races up just because he was scared of the others. Or the other way around.

Grandpa…

Steve Grey was amazing. Whenever he visited, he told us stories about the history of this planet. At the same time we found it, four more races did as well. It was inarguably the last planet that any of our us could reach.

In all the epic battle stories my Grandpa shared with us, he was always bragging about my dad’s bravery�"when he was only my age. Our conversation went something like this:

“Aw, come on dad. War was inevitable. I only wanted to help.” My dad would say.

Grandpa chuckled. “Now don’t be so modest! You took that sword, I said, ‘that’s too big for you!’ But you didn’t care. The next thing I know, you’re sliced one of them in half. That was brave.”

“Awesome!” My little boy voice would cry. 

Apparently my dad didn’t care that Grandpa was teaching me grotesque violence. 

“Hey, that was easy. The quake was my backup. And are you kidding me? I was so terrified there. I only didn’t feel like running away because you were there.”

“Why’d you fight then?”

Dad looked like he was about to say something, then he closed his mouth.

“You wanted to stand out.” Grandpa said.

“No.”

“You were the son of the chief. You wanted to be helpful.”

“Yes! Thank you.” My dad approved. Grandpa would then go back to the story. “And then…” 

And then the whole time my mom would nod at everything Grandpa said. Apparently she was there at the time.

Yeah, those were the good old days. What happened after in the story? Well, the solution was to share. Voidals got a big strip of land in the north. The rexels got a round continent beside ours, only the Ramento splitting us apart. We got a big continent beside the rexels, then one off to the west a third smaller than our first. We got two because our race had the most at the time and we populate faster. Nobody argued with that. 

The martians were good diggers. They lived very deep underground the surface of Vanity. They supplied all of us with the minerals. Fun fact: that’s why we didn’t find any life on Mars. There was an atmosphere below the red dust surface, supplying the martians with oxygen underground (yes, they needed air unlike what they stereotype about aliens; every living thing in the universe needs air). Almost everything on earth was found underneath there. 

Grandpa said that during the war, the trixian population decreased way more than the others, and they were so small in numbers that they all lived in a giant space station orbiting Vanity. We humans were their biggest suppliers, but they also started growing crops and raising cattle there too. They’d even built a giant laser to destroy any asteroids coming towards our planet. My dad said they were the best at laser technology and were the best builders. Fastest ones too. 

For thirty years we lived altogether in peace… until the Novatrons took over. I don’t even get where they came from. There were no more planets left in the Local Group. 

Or was there?

Whatever. Why waste time thinking about the past if you live in the present?

The present…

Ugh. I still needed to get out of this city. I would do that tomorrow. Nobody here is left, that’s for sure. The aliens first attacked Evolotropolis. Their mothership crash-landed on the mountain near our city: Mount Skatos. 

I’m trapped here, with probably a billion Renzs in each direction. Man, why do I keep doing that? Why do I think so negative? I’m known as an optimist. But that wasn’t one of the qualities to survive anyway. 

A car. The idea just popped into my head. I’ve always wanted to drive one. Maybe I should try. It’s simple, really. Right pedal forward, left pedal brake. Turn the driver’s wheel left to turn left, and right to turn right. No cops to enforce the speed limit rules, no stoplights to stop me, and no people I can accidentally hit. Ha.

I smiled. One crazy adventure tomorrow. I would make the car go at full speed. That would be fun. 

Okay, once I get out of the city, I had to hunt animals for food.

Oh no. the aliens didn’t kill them all, did they? 

I sighed. See, this is what I get for being optimistic. It seems like every good thought makes me realize more and more how hopeless this situation is.

Oh yeah. This day just got a whole lot better. 

.  .  .

Good morning. 

Okay, I’m just kidding. I had the worst morning ever. 

In the middle of the night my AI started beeping like crazy. You see, I set it that way if it detected a Renz in the area. Yeah, it can do that. 

You probably can guess what happened now. One of them was somewhere near the house! I didn’t want to face it, especially when I just woke up. I was more in the mood for panic. 

I grabbed my staff, my bag on the floor, and escaped through the backyard door. In a hurry, I rushed out of the house to get interrupted by a wooden fence. I found my dagger and the laser sliced the wood easily, leaving a molten, burning trail. I kicked the centre down, producing a hole big enough for me to pass. I went through it to the other side. 

Shivering from the cold night air and trying to ignore my hunger, I trudged into the alley between two houses. I looked left. Clear. Then right. Clear.

Then I spotted the space grey car parked on the street. Perfect! It didn’t have one dent on it. I had to hope there was still gas left. Then I can turn on the car heaters.

Careful not to make any sounds, I slowly went over to the car, opened the door, slipped in, and closed the door. I rubbed my hands and cupped them in front of my mouth as I breathed some warmth into them. Keys, where were they?

I checked the visor. Ha, what were the chances? The keys were there. I almost fumbled them at how cold they were, but I held together. I may or may not also have been freaking out at the thought that the aliens were watching me. I looked behind me and half expected to see one. Nope. I felt a sense of relief. 

I plugged the keys into the engine starter, twisted, and started the car. It made that loud sound cars always do of the engine starting.

I yelled at the car to be quiet inside my head. I switched on the lights. Yep, still had a half-full cast tank. Lucky, I guess.

I put on my seatbelt and exhaled. My first time driving, and I’m only twelve! Pushing my foot at the forward pedal, the car lurched forward. Suddenly I thought I was going too fast, so I stopped. Then I went forward again, then stopped. Wow, this was going to take some practice. I had to keep a steady pace.

Driving froward again, I didn’t stop. I drove through the dark, creepy streets and into downtown. I felt like I was the victim of a horror movie. A zombie apocalypse horror movie. 

I decided if I found any aliens I would smash the car into them, then escape as fast as I could. Okay, that was the escape plan. 

On and on I went. I was focused on driving, but I also looked around me. The big buildings of the city were destroyed. Some from top to bottom. Others tilting into the ones beside them. 

I stopped the car to connect my AI to the screen of the car. It displayed a map of the city on the screen in front of me. I was going the right direction. 

I felt my muscles relax. if I could ever feel safe in my journey, it would be in a car. It was like the walls and windows protected me. And inside was the heater. Ahh. 

I wished I could fall asleep. My sleep was intercepted by and almost-alien-encounter anyway. But I had to keep driving. 

Wait a second, I don’t have to. My AI can automatically drive the car! I traced a line on the screen which was my route. It was basically a straight line. 

Now I could rest. I pushed back in my chair until it was as low as a bed, and snoozed off peacefully. 

.  .  .

It’s twelve… and I’m hungry.

The good news was how far I went. Three hours with no traffic, right?

I made it out of the city. And I need to hunt for food. Whether or not the aliens killed them all, I needed to eat. 

Suddenly the car slowed down and came to a complete stop in seconds. Uh-oh. It was out of gas. 

I stepped out and closed the door after I grabbed my stuff. Then I looked at my surroundings. The road I came from went so far I couldn’t see the city anymore. It led all the way over here, the plain old desert. But not your average ones with cactuses and dead bushes. A Vanity one�"which was all red sand hills and pretty cold winds, despite the bright sun in my eyes. Good thing I packed shades.  

After I put them on I snatched my staff up against the car door. Immediately it absorbed the coolness of the air. It felt cold. 

Okay, keep heading east. I had two more provinces to pass before I get to the ocean. And then I have an ocean to pass. Plus two more continents. 

Ugh, why did I make my journey so long? 

Through the desert I go, following the road the car was going to take before it ran out of gas. 

That’s funny. Or maybe not. My dad showed me some maps of the city before sometimes. He said there were absolutely no roads out of the city. So where was I going? This road wasn’t supposed to be here. 

Maybe I wasn’t updated. But whatever. The road is obviously going to take me to some form of civilization. Maybe another destroyed city. 

I felt so energetic from my sleep, but also dazed. Using my staff as a walking stick, I entertained myself by concentrating on the beat.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Each implant made a tiny burst of sand from the force. I looked at those too. It was the only thing that kept me from being bored to death. 

Sooner or later, I realized I was right. As I got closer I made out the faint details of civilization�"a city. 

A big cylindrical skyscraper jutted out from the centre, shrinking into smaller cylinders until it became a needle, slicing the air in the cloudy, blue skyline. Four smaller buildings each a rectangular prism were at the corners of the biggest, with curves running down their corners. They looked like big tissue boxes with the curve edges like thick cable lines streaking down from the top of the building to the ground. All buildings in the city were windowless, and as I got closer I saw that they were all navy blue with a tinge of purple, with bright neon orange lines going down there in a tech pattern. 

A lump formed in my throat. Nothing was familiar here.

I started walking faster when I saw it. I was eager to cross it already. That was my goal for today.

That seemed kind of slow. Back in the bunker, I was so confident, I thought I’d make it to the ocean by now. But now I get the true size of Vanity. It was so huge, three earths could fit inside. Maybe that’s why five races could fit in it. It didn’t seem fair how the Novatrons could kill us all and take the oversized planet for themselves. And I keep wondering, how the heck did they even beat the voidals? Those guys were freaks, but they were the most powerful ones. They used magic for their form of combat.

I came to the top of the hill and saw a herd of animals. Wait, what?! 

No way. The hill was blocking the view of a wide river circling the city, with trees and animals I was used to eating at the edge. 

Finally I can kill one and eat it! Oh man, I’m so excited! I’d fill my stomach before I head into the city. Nothing will prepare me better for that than a great meal and a refreshing drink from the river. 

Running down the hill, my hunger was replaced with relief that soon it would be gone. I didn’t even look for the healthiest-looking one. I just went to a close one, gripped my laser dagger, and stabbed it in an uppercut arc right in the fat animal gut. It screamed as the searing laser cut through the soft flesh, with the blood spilling and all.

Gross, right? I licked my lips. I was already planning how I would cook it. I would cut the ribeye, then wash it over the flowing currents of the river, then build a wooden contraption from the trees nearby, and stick the meat in a stick and roast it in my lighter-lit fire and then eat away…

Mmm. My own lunch cooked by me. This was going to be awesome. I’ll cook more food if I’m not full, then fill my belly so much I’ll get a food coma. And then when I wake up, I’ll eat more, and more, and more, maybe the entire group, then I’ll be so energetic and strong from the protein I’ll barge in through the Novatron mothership and kick their boss in the face…

Okay, I was exaggerating. A lot. I wouldn’t go in their base even with rexel skin, trixian lasers, voidal magic, human intel, and martian strength. It’s not like I’ll be an expert to use them either. With the best qualities of the five races, I still don’t think I’ll survive anyway. I know the power of the Novatrons. And if I didn’t, I never underestimate my enemies anyway.

After my amazing lunch and the difficult cross over the river, it turned four. I rubbed my belly as I trekked towards the city.

Perplexed by it’s vast complexity, I studied everything about it. I felt a wave of dreadfulness. The city seemed so distant�"it was a weird feeling. Like when you see a glass of lemonade, but as you get closer you suspect it’s yellow venom. 

I tried my best to find signs of humanity, or even any of the other races.

There were none.

The dread began to rise as my suspicions grew. When I finally confirmed what I was walking into, I froze in total fear.

Chapter 2: Crossing

A Novatron city. 

I felt like wetting my pants. No, seriously. I wasn’t about to walk in that death trap. That would undeniably be suicide.

I checked my AI map. Of course I was going to go around it. It was a miracle they haven’t spotted me yet right outside their city. The map showed the enormous city in my way. The hill that I crossed also blocked the view of a massive wall as high as half the big skyscraper forming a big uncrossable line blocking basically the whole east side of Lyneria. If I go north or south around it, then take some kind of sea transport to Azdux, that would take probably over a month. Even if that choice was safer,  I didn’t like it. My worst chances was go through the city stealthily�"which would mean death.

Heck, I’m probably going to die anyway, not to be a pessimist. But my chances were slim, like super slim. Maybe even slimmer than an atom. So slim it seemed impossible. A whole race that destroyed five, and all that’s left of that five is one little boy. There’s probably not even a tiny chance I could have. Just plain impossible. 

But yet, there was a chance. The chances were slim enough for me to get by, though. Even if they were so small, I think I can do it. I was going to take the risk. I am going to make them pay. And I’ll take death out of the equation. 

Moving along, I gripped my staff tighter and went through the opening in the wall. Funny that they didn’t think of putting doors, like two huge gates or something. Maybe they were planning to, or they just did that to welcome kids that wanted to die. 

I quietly trekked through the dirt roads of the Novatron city. I put on my sweater. I kept thinking that this was the most stupid mistake I have ever made in my life, which would cost my life. But it was the fastest way to get to Azdux. 

I wished I could just turn into a bird and soar above the city and yell at them, “Suckers!” 

Maybe my reply would be: Boom! Shot out of the sky!

Yeah, maybe that wasn’t such a great idea. Besides, if I stay on the ground, I get cover to block shots and to hide. It’s not like there are a bunch of floating buildings in the sky to cover you. Huh… has my Grandpa ever thought of floating cities?

I heard a grunt nearby. I almost yelled for help. The aliens! They’ve found me!

Hide. I went through an alley and flattened myself against the wall. The Renzs were coming from the other side. Once I knew they turned down the road I shifted over to the backside of the building. I ran into a wall blocking me from the side the aliens came from. 

The aliens turned right to the wall I was last at. It was like they were following me. If I could just climb the wall blocking the last side, I can go unnoticed.

The aliens basically did a full u-turn around the building. If they kept walking, they would soon spot me!

Too late. Before I could counteract my problem, the aliens showed up.

If I recall, they were even more hideous than the first one I saw one year ago. Their reptilian eyes were bloodshot. Their helmets seemed spikier. They seemed half a metre taller. Their shoulders protruded two big, long banana-shaped bone spikes in an upwards curve. Their whole body was rippled with huge muscles (I know that sounds cool, but it wouldn’t be if you’re in this situation). They were almost twice my size. They held no weapons, but I didn’t think of it as fortunate. They looked like they could twist me in two pieces with their bare hands. 

I jumped when I first saw them. “Whoa!” I must’ve went up two metres high, because the aliens looked slightly startled as well. 

One quickly reacted. He punched in my direction, but the result was a cracked wall and me escaping under his arm and running for my life. My heart was beating so fast it felt like it could leap out of my chest.

Down the road, I risked a backwards glance. The Novatrons weren’t after me. One gazed at me with intense, cold eyes. One roared with all the power in his lungs, like a call or something.

I sprinted again once I realized what they were doing. 

A loud engine noise started as a ship ascended in flight. I looked up. A shuttle had departed from its pad from the roof of the building. Two intimidating laser machine guns were attached to the sides. Their target was me.

At first I thought why would they send a ship after me already? Why not a running chase first? Just one small failed attempt to hide and suddenly I have the entire Novatron organization after me. Every single Renz was probably out to get me now. I might’ve just set off the biggest chain reaction of the year. Great job Daniel! Your award is your doom!   

The lasers heated up, like a high-pitched tweet from a bird. 

Then they fired. 

I flinched. The flak of light pounded everywhere around me. I ran faster.

I turned a sharp left, hoping to confuse the pilot. I slipped in between a narrow street, and the rainfall of beams started blasting the rooftops. 

I had to get inside. I sliced through a wall of a one story building with my laser knife. I used both my hands to cut faster. I started to sweat, and my hands kept slipping. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my pursuer getting closer. My jaw clenched as I made a full circle in the wall just enough for me to get through. I dashed in. Luckily, there were no aliens inside.

It looked more like a storage room. Crates were sacked in pyramid piles. Shelves were lined up with more clumps of big and heavy boxes full of who knew what. I wondered what nefarious things that the aliens kept in them. Maybe devastating bombs of destruction? Shipping live beasts to other cities? Captive humans?

I stopped at that thought. What kind of person am I anyway, to think like that?

The lasers were still rapid-firing on the rooftop. I tried to shallow my breathing and calm down. I took note that they didn’t stop firing. 

What was I thinking anyway? Crossing through one of the alien’s bases was the most stupidest idea stupid me can make. 

If there was an article about me someday, it would go like this: twelve year old kid thought it was a great idea to cross a Novatron city. He thought that a month of travelling was way worse than suicide. What a pathetic little boy. 

Yep, totally a thing that Daniel Jones Grey would do. 

There was no turning back. I think I’ve made it pretty far into the city anyway. And if I did turn, they’d be after me. With nothing but a red sand desert to help me, that would be my end just as well. 

Then the lasers stopped. At first I though they were going to dismount and enter the building themselves, but then I heard another mechanical noise. 

Shroom. Clink, clink, clink. Ba-dunk!

Then the charging sound again. Oh no. I knew what they were going to do. I’d better get out of here.

I raced to the opposite end of the wall and began cutting another escape with my dagger. The laser was the only thing that produced light in the warehouse room. The heat calmed my nerves down.

Abruptly a giant missile shot through the first hole I’ve made in the wall. I ducked at the last second, covered my ears, and closed my eyes. 

No explosion.

Bracing for a sudden surprise, I slowly got back up again and opened my eyes. 

No way. The projectile had soared over my head, and through the second wall I’ve made. I had precisely devised a plan to dodge it, and I didn’t even know it! 

Swatting aside the smoke from the rocket’s thruster, I looked through my first hole. Novatrons were storming in! 

I ran through my second escape hole and out into open sunlight again. I saw the explosion that my almost-doom made on the wall of a building. I didn’t have spare time to look inside. I turned left. 

The engines of their ship started up again. 

I could feel myself slowing down as my energy was drained. I had to keep going though. I had to get out of this city. 

The cold wind streaked my face as I ran, billowing through my hair. I reached into my bag pocket and brought out my AI, whited showed me a map of the city. I connected it to my staff (yeah, I can do that). The only thing I could do with it though is attract my staff to me with a magnetic field. At least I won’t lose me staff now. 

Still running, I grabbed my laser dagger, then attached it to the tip of my staff into a fierce-looking spear a half more than my height (yeah, I can do that too). Now I was ready for battle.

Putting my AI back in my bag, I focused on what’s happening. The Novatron ship was going to kill me. One landed hit on my back would surely kill me. But the rays can’t go through titanium, so I could block the blasts. 

I looked up at my chaser. Uh-oh. They were loading another missile! I sharply turned to the right, and the explosion shockwave from the rocket hitting the ground gave me a boost forward. Unfortunately, I landed on my face. 

My spear clattered away from my reach. I needed to get it back. I felt so defenceless and exposed without it. 

Gathering my strength and giving it all into my arms, I pushed up. My face was covered with beads of trickling sweat. Any second now, a laser would sear through me while I was helpless. 

I heard the enemy shuttle advance. I quickly slapped the pocket where my AI was, and it beeped in return. My weapon shook furiously, clanging on the floor. Then it shot towards me. Wasting not even a millisecond, I snatched it, and spun around falling hard on my back, in a quick effort to block the solid light gleams in time.

As I spun my spear with both hands randomly, the lasers were deflected and headed for the floor. 

I got up and ran again. I needed to destroy that ship. I weaved through the buildings, trying to shake it off my tail. Once I was sure they’ve lost me, I stabbed my spear into a wall of a building, the sparks splattering all over. I used it to climb up. There was a platform just three metre above me, and I wanted to get to it. Connected to it were stairs that led to the rooftop. 

I heard footsteps. I had to hurry. They’ve sent ground troops after me. Probably deployed the entire nation when they realized one human survived. 

I balanced on my spear impaled on the wall. I leaped, and just barely grasped the platform. My hands slipped from my bodyweight, and my hands got a few cuts from the jagged surface of the platform. Shifting my weight upwards, I pulled up and shuffled my feet against the wall on the right, which twisted my body at a weird angle. 

When I slowly made it to the platform, I tapped my AI again, and my weapon placed firmly into the wall came to my hand. 

Up the stairs I went. Faster and faster, I raced up. I figured if I got high enough, I could attack the shuttle, although I sure don’t know how. 

The Novatrons showed up. They stared up at me. Oh shoot, I’ve realized I’ve trapped myself. If I didn’t manage to destroy the shuttle, I’ll be suspended in the middle of a deadly-ranged aircraft and a group of soldiers on the ground to give me a warm welcome if I went back down. 

A surprise came when I got to the roof.

Another missile erupted and collapsed the whole corner of the top of the building. Luckily I kept my firm grip on my spear, so I didn’t lose it. I still fell though. I could feel the cuts and bruises everywhere on my body. What hurt the most was my face. It was scorched. I touched my right cheek, wincing as I did so. When I pulled away my hand�"it was soaked with blood. 

The lasers continued firing. I blocked some of them with my spear, cringing and having trouble in doing so. When they stopped because of overheating, I felt a flush of relief. I got ready to attack. 

With all my force, I ignored my pain and just concentrated on the aircraft I was going to destroy. For once I could finally look at it properly.

It was a sleek, dark beige shuttle shaped like a narrow intricate helicopter. Two gigantic turbo engines were on the sides, which replaced the wings. They were two turbines that spun so fast it kept the craft airborne, making so much noise and blowing everything including my face and clothes backwards. It smelled of oil and gasoline, like the smell of exhaust fumes. The windshield was so dark there was a glare on it, a bright reflection of the sun on the left side. The missile launchers were right under the turbines. 

Here was my chance. I flipped my spear around until it was more of a javelin. Then, as my remaining strength pumped up�"I threw it. 

I threw it so forcefully it zipped through the air like a bullet, over the gap between me and my enemy, and sliced successfully in one of the turbines. 

An explosion sent a shockwave, blowing me down. When I opened my eyes, I saw my javelin stuck in the turbine. A hot fire was on the spot, with the smoke flowing out into the sky. 

And the next thing I knew, the ship was falling.

Before it reached the ground, I called for my weapon another time, and when I blinked it was in my hand. I immediately dropped it. It was sizzling hot. 

Boom. The craft fell to the ground and exploded. Chunks of the hull flew upwards as glass was sprayed as parts of the turbines and engines was shot outwards from the expelling burst of fiery energy. Metal pieces as big as a shoe to as big as a table thrusted through the air in all directions. The erupting flames were rising, spreading heat everywhere. 

I couldn’t believe it. I’ve just destroyed on of their ships, and I’m only a freaking twelve-year-old with a titanium staff! 

The smile on my face formed automatically. But it quickly disappeared when I realized that the ground troops were following me up the stairs. 

I looked around me. A couple of buildings were about the same height as the one I was on. Hmm…

I disconnected my spear, then swallowed down my fear. One wrong jump�"I’ll be as good as dead. I took my grey hoodie off and tied it around to my waist. I can do this.

Somehow my self-reassurance helped me get over the fact that I was most likely going to die. 

Sprinting as fast as I could, I leaped over the gaps between buildings. I felt like I had jumped further than normal each time, but I didn’t care. Run, run, run, leap. That was the pattern. I had to keep that steady pace if I were to make it out of the city�"alive.

One leap didn’t have a very good start. As I went through the air, I was so sure I was going to fall and die. 

That’s why I was surprised to see me holding myself at the edge of the roof of my destination. Carefully, I put another hand on the ledge, and hoisted me over. I laid on my back on the floor, panting and wheezing so much I’d thought I’d never recover again. 

Going through this city was a living nightmare. Once they spot you, it’s game over. Unless you can run across the whole mega-sized skyscraper land without even a one-second rest, you’ll die. 

This was so impossible. I barely escaped with my life tons of times. I totally regret crossing here. Just bear one month you stupid kid! Go around the city! Take the most logical route!

Never in my entire life have I felt so alone. Like everybody was on another planet and I was left here to face certain doom. Like somebody invited the whole class to a birthday party except you. Nobody was left. Nobody was here to help me. I am the absolute last of my kind. 

This was too much. I’m sorry Vanity. I’m sorry race. This burden is crushing me on my shoulders. If I die it will be over with. 

Goodbye planet. Goodbye people. I have failed you. My impending doom approaches. 

It’s time for Daniel Jones Grey to die.

My wheezing didn’t feel like it got any better. My limbs ached so bad I’d never be able to walk again. My mind ached from the shining sun. 

It was all going to be over anyway. 

I closed my eyes.

No.

At first I thought it was some sort of body spasm, but then I realized�"this was my body fighting against the pain. It was fighting against my fate. It was trying to get up, urging me to move forward. 

Stupidly wandering into a Novatron city was a thing that Daniel would do.

But giving up was not. 

Not even collecting my power, I shot upwards, and ignored the pain.

Oh yeah, I was back up.

I depended on my staff to stay up. Limping, I soon transformed into fast-paced running. I was back in action again.

I did my first backwards glance. Half a dozen Renzs were following me. The scariest part was that they were one rooftop behind. 

I spun around and continued leaping. It was time to calculate and plan. My chain of rooftops ended shortly. I had no way to get down, or no way to run into a loop. 

Just then, another mechanical noise roared. I turned to three o’clock. 

Great. Just, great.

Another one of the shuttles started up. I just didn’t have enough strength to fight another one. 

The next thing I know, an explosion rumbles beneath me, and the I’m falling in a rockslide. I wasn’t about to let that happen. I reconnected my spear, and stabbed the ledge. Before I could fall to my death, I clung onto my life-saving weapon firmly fixed in the rooftop. Okay, it didn’t matter if I didn’t have the strength to fight another one. I had to survive. 

I formulated a plan. But it was probably as crazy as jumping into hell. Climbing up the ledge again, I expected the lasers to start firing again.

And they did.

Okay, first part of my plan: shoot my pursuers. I sprinted towards the Renzs following me through the building rooftops. They had made progress fast, while I only made one leap, so soon we were on the same roof.

Not one tinge of surprise were on any of their faces when they saw me running to them. They wee probably thinking, oh, what a loser this guy is. He knows he’s going to die, so he just helps us by killing himself. 

“Come and get me!” I yelled at them. I know I can’t take even one by myself, but that wasn’t the plan. When we were closer than two metres, one of them was ready to throw a punch�"but I swerved to the right so abruptly the aliens turned…

… and a barrage of laser rained down on them as they yelled in rage and agony. 

Just as I suspected, the craft didn’t stop firing. Round after round, the lasers kept killing the aliens. That’s my proof that it was a programmed robot. My first suspicions came earlier when it didn’t stop firing. And when it had a pattern of attack, like this one. Fire the lasers at me until they’ve overheated, then launch a missile. They wouldn’t stop unless the target was down. That was the programming. 

When all the Novatrons on the roof hit the ground, I had to execute part two of my plan before the missile fired: jump at it with my spear. If there were no pilots, the bridge in the ship was empty. And that was my amazing plan. I’ll drive the ship out of the city. 

Huh, I guess I really am smart.

The lasers stopped after a moment of me dodging them, and then it was my turn. Gathering the last of my newfound power, I leaped ferociously at the automated craft, yelling the most vicious, loudest, battle cry ever as I skyrocketed through the blowing winds offering nothing but air resistance while I was suspended above. 

I shouted as the spear crashed through the windshield, and the sound of a million black glass pieces shattering and falling resonated. 

When my staff was pounded to the floor of the interior, it helped me to stay up. If I fell the glass would seep a ton of cuts on me. I couldn’t afford to lose more blood. 

The inside was as big as an outdoor swimming pool. One door at the end led to the other rooms of the ship. One seat was lodged into the centre of the room, with the controls at the front. I shuffled to it, shivering. I had claimed this ship now. For once I could actually relax. I wasn’t on the run anymore.

As I slumped on the singular black leather seat, I exhaled. Then I strapped on my seatbelt. It was a good thing I made the giant hole in the windshield. I couldn’t see through the dark glass. Maybe only Renzs could. Except that left me more vulnerable. 

I put my sweater back on. The winds up here were cold. Then I gripped the controls. It was a W shaped driver’s wheel. I switched off the robot programming and turned on manual mode. Once I did that, the ship started falling!

I pulled up hastily on the controls, and the ship regained its level. Okay, this was going to take some getting used to. I figured the two red buttons on the top of the wheel under my thumbs were to fire the laser guns. A screen in front of me showed a bar to tell when I’m close to overheating. There were words in the alien language there I didn’t understand the slightest bit. Okay, time to ride out of this nightmare.

Oh yeah, I was driving a Novatron aircraft. 

Pushing the controls slightly, I started to move forward. I placed my AI on the control counter and it produced a hologram map of the city.

Uh-oh. More enemies were coming at me. Three of their tanks were going shoot me out of the sky. More ground troops were going to climb and attack the ship.

I looked at the screen. Apparently, from my analy-zation, I can transfer laser energy into a force field around my ship. But then I wouldn’t have enough energy for my guns. I would have to stick with my missiles. 

Okay, that was fine with me. Rockets would do better than energy blasts anyway. Except I only have four of them left. I would only have four chances at clearing enemies if I were to keep up defence.

A loud fire noise vibrated through my ears. I wasn’t paying attention! Luckily my shield deflected the tank missile. The whole ship shook. I maintained my sky borne balance and regained my fast pace. I pushed as hard as I could at the wheel, driving the craft forward. I streamed through the skies ten metres a second. 

It was an amazing feeling. I was going through their city with a protected flying shuttle. 

I was nearing their tall skyscraper. Turning the controls, I expected to just change direction of my path, but instead the whole craft tilted to the left and I was diagonal. I kept turning around in circles.

“Whoa,” I said, “how do I stop this?”

As I turned a complete circle I saw a glimpse of all my enemies. A few tanks were roaming through the streets. Troops were on the roofs and the ground. They all either aimed their tank’s missile launchers at me or their laser guns. And they were firing.

The shield held unexpectedly well. Nothing was getting damaged, except the shield. 

I kept flying around in a circle, until I stabilized it and kept moving forward. Okay, so a simple left was pretty complicated. 

When I got to the skyscraper, I turned just slightly to the left. It wasn’t enough. I crashed through the side of the building. 

I flinched. Everything still held gratefully. 

Oh well. It’s not like I care about their structure they’ve built anyway. They’ve destroyed tons of ours.

The Novatrons didn’t care about me either. The tanks that were chasing me were slow, but everywhere I went, there were more of them.

I heard another automated noise. Uh-oh. They’ve started another ship. I searched the sky desperately for a shuttle taking off, but I didn’t find any. I checked the map. A red dot suddenly appeared right in front of the green dot�"which was my ship! Glancing ahead of me again, I saw it. A mechanized armed craft of doom. Twice the size of my ship, it carried four missile launchers. Two on each side of a wing. Yeah, this one actually had wings. Mine had only turbines on the sides. Six laser machine guns were aimed directly at me! 

From the way it operated, I knew this one wasn’t programmed. This one had a Renz crew inside.

They fired.

Lasers attacked my blue energy shield, shaking my craft violently. Two missiles fired as well. 

I reacted faster. On the screen, I tapped the two rockets targeted at me. Instantly I shot two of my own and they clashed against each other, blasting into shrapnel. Two used, two left. 

Swerving and twisting to avoid more lasers, I got around the big, flying enemy vehicle and we went into a wild goose chase. If I wasted my last two missiles, I would have no way to defend myself. I had to take down my shield, turn my ship around, then shoot at the enemy. Then it would be a full-fledged dogfight. Ugh, why are animals always involved in metaphors?

Before I could keep thinking about that, the ship lurched forward again. The shield was taking a beating, and I had to get away from them.

My ship made a dive. I knew going near the tanks wasn’t a good idea, but right now I had to escape the ship holding my tail. I did a series of spins, turns, swerves, loop de loops, zigzags, and random speed-ups to try to confuse the enemy. One time it almost worked, and I hid behind a building for cover, but they also had a map. They found me again in seconds.

That’s it. Time to do one of my tricks. I tapped the ship following me on the screen and target-locked. And then…

I spun the wheel. 

My ship immediately rotated clockwise so fast, my lunch almost came out involuntarily. I counted the quick spins. One, two three… ugh, too fast!

Outside, I was probably looking stupid right now. What kind of pilot is this guy? They would think. 

When I though the time was right�"this was just a pure guess by the way�"I launched one missile at the enemy. It was target-locked, so I didn’t need to get lucky. I just needed to spin to get the angle right. The missiles weren’t tracking ones. 

I heard an explosion, which means I’ve hit something. I grasped the controls and the ship went to a sudden stop. It increased my dizziness even more. I put my hands on my head, desperately trying to stop the nausea. My eyes were rolling. My head was spinning faster than my stunt. When my vision cleared, I felt a sense of relief. 

Not for my stomach though. It contorted like a crumpled piece of paper. I had to get out of my seat and grab my staff to regain my undivided consciousness. I held my stomach and gagged, but managed to hold my meal in and not fall on the thousands of glass shards on the floor. 

Okay, I was never going to do that again. I looked at my hand. The blood from my cuts recently was mostly dried. I had to find some way of washing myself when this was over.

I scrambled back to my seat, dropping my staff which produced a clang. I stared at the map while holding the controls again. The aircraft was gone which meant… I had destroyed it! Oh man, this was such good news my head was getting dizzy again. I wish I could look back at the remains, but I had to keep going. I had to get out of the city. 

I flew high and pushed as hard as I could again. The ship travelled so fast, it made my stomach slightly worse. I hated the feeling. I think I’ve just developed a sickness to air travel. How would I ever go on a plane trip again? Well, okay. That was different.

I was so sick and tired of fighting I glanced at my map with high hopes to see if I was close to escaping the city. 

Oh yeah. Two kilometres and closing. 

Kaboom!

My ship suddenly stopped going at full speed. And I looked out the hole I made through the windshield. 

The blue wall disappeared.

Oh no. They’ve shattered my protection! I suddenly felt so defenceless. So exposed. So… unsafe. To make things worse, my laser guns were coming back online in an hour. An hour.

Something whipped in the air. If I was right about what they were doing, I’d better get out before�"

The ship abruptly stopped and shook, as if some invisible force was holding it as it tried to squirm free. Too late. 

Unstrapping my seatbelt again, I peeked my head out of the windshield. From the angle I was in, I couldn’t see what had happened, but I was pretty sure. I went back in and looked at my AI map. 

Four long grappling hooks were embedded in my upper hull! They prevented me from moving along. Frantically searching for an option, I tapped my AI and my staff flew to my left hand. I had to abandon ship. There was no other choice. I had to run across the city again, for two more kilometres. the thought drives me crazy. I couldn’t bear that again. They’d kill me for sure!

I thought all my problems were solved when I breached this ship. I thought passing through with it would be as easy as pie. That it would grant easy access to freedom, like a doorway with the exit sign above it in a boring windowless room. But now I had to go through the agony of running two more aching and painful thousand metres, with every Novatron in this substantial city after me.

Or maybe…

Entering the missile section of the screen on the ship controls, I saw a diagram of the rocket I was using in the middle. All around it were the stats. Current amount: 1. 

I looked around the screen until I’d spotted what I wanted. I could set a timing sequence, like how they programmed this ship to attack me. I set it to one minute. The countdown began. This was probably going to be my all-time most stupid and dumb idea ever. My high-score record. The best and last mistake that this Grey has ever made. I’m probably going to be laughing at it even when I’m dead. 

This was so going to get me killed. But it was worth a try, even if it costs my life. 

I grabbed my AI and put it in my bag. I started climbing outside the windshield hole and headed for under the turbine for the launching rocket. I crossed the point of the curve, so my body didn’t feel like it was being pulled down by the gravity anymore. I went for the launcher. 

I heard two landings and turned quickly. A double of menacing bone-plated brutes had made their way somehow to the roof of my held-in-position ship. I looked around for more of them. You wouldn’t believe how much of them there were. Thousands lodged on the buildings, aiming guns, but not yet firing. Tanks covering every spot on the streets, and a few more shuttles over the skies. I was completely surrounded with a million of them in each direction. 

Who knew that one kid could stir up all these Renzs? This was most likely every one in the city. One little kid was one big problem to them. 

My only hope was the missile. The only escape out of this wretched place. 

I grabbed my dagger in my bag and attached it to my staff. Then I cut a thick strip of cloth from my black long-sleeve shirt. I tied a really tight knot sticking my hand to the spear. 

I worked faster because I knew every wasted second was one leap to the doors of death. I tugged the spear to make sure the cloth knot would hold securely. And then I jabbed the stub of my weapon into the missile that I set to launch in one minute below me, hoping so badly that I didn’t break anything inside it. 

The flames in its thrusters still sputtered, so I felt relieved. Tugging my spear again, with both hands, it didn’t budge. It held strong. 

I heard the footsteps of the Novatrons getting closer. I gulped down my fear. Stay calm. I was about to escape. 

There was one flaw in my plan though, that I had failed to realize until now. The missile was aimed at forty degrees. It would hit a building or something. I needed it to aim up or I wouldn’t get out of here alive. 

I thought of something.

I looked far down at the Renzs holding their firearms steady at me. I yelled at them, “Shoot at me!” I taunted them, retaliated, tried whatever I could to get them to fire. Either they didn’t understand a word I’d said, or they were smarter than I thought, because they didn’t follow me. I needed their lasers to attack the hull and turn it upwards. 

Blast it. It wouldn’t work anyway. I whacked my head desperately for another idea. I was running out of time. I looked around frantically, my mind calculating each possibility. 

Then my eyes caught the two enemies walking towards me ever so close. 

Of course!

Since my spear was stuck in the missile, I detached my laser dagger from the top and cut a large piece of the roof of the ship. When I was done I reattached my spear and threw the metal chunk at the Novatrons’ feet on the roof of the ship, hoping they would jump.

They did.

This was the extremely lucky part. As both of them dodged my metal chunk it rolled off the ship. Then they landed�"hard. Their combined weight made a strong enough impact to push the ship up like a seesaw. As they went down, they pushed me up. 

Then I claimed victory. Right on that moment the missile fired with a loud boom, followed by thousands of more booms when the aliens on the ground fired at me.

But I the missile was faster. When it launched a sudden yank pulled my body as the rocket I was holding onto soared over the Novatron city, bringing me along with it.

The wind whipped my face as I realized I had done it. I escaped! It gave me so much happiness I bursted with overflowing joy.

“Woohoo!” I yelled over the din of the wind. “So long suckers!”

My ride brought me over the tall wall of the city. Once I was already out, I was still hundreds of metres above the surface. 

I looked back at their city. It was amazing from the view up here. The Novatrons had fired down my ship, but it didn’t matter, because I outsmarted all of them. All the pain and sorrow that I’ve felt upon the run in the city was replaced with the joy that it wasn’t all worth for nothing. 

I had successfully crossed a Novatron city.

It was awesome.

I glanced above me at the rocket carrying me upwards. I grabbed it with both hands to feel safer. Then I looked below me.

My eyes saw a beautiful jungle that stretched on for hundreds, maybe thousands of kilometres. The view was real, not some photo I found on the internet. I was actually seeing this from this far up. The winds gave me air resistance, and slowly… I experienced the feeling of falling. 

“Shoot,” I said. “No, no, no!”

I skyrocketed downwards�"literally. The rocket was at full speed, forcing the process of gravity up by a load. Okay, honestly I didn’t think I’d get it this far so I didn’t plan all the way here.

Gripping my ride tightly, I zipped through the air like a bullet. The ground was coming closer each second, the view getting bigger and bigger. I needed to get slower. I didn’t fully get what I was doing, but I started untying my knot on the spear. 

As I got closer to the ground the view got clearer. I had to time this right, or I wouldn’t survive. When I got about ten metres to the ground, I untied my knot completely and jumped away, rolling off to the side to avoid the explosion.

I felt like a movie stuntman right now.

I somersaulted down a small hill in the forest, tumbling and tumbling, hitting my head and elbows countless times, until I spread out my body and started rolling vertically. When I finally stopped, I became a mess of bloody cuts, bruises, splotches of mud and dirt, and was tired, hungry, thirsty, and in a lot of pain. 

I pushed upwards and got up, looking at the wreckage at the top of the hill. I called for my spear, and it came into my hand.

I yelped as I instantly dropped it. It was searing hot. I took a quick glance for water to cool it down, and found a few muddy puddles near me. I wasn’t going to use that.

Treading across the forest I found something that would really help me.

A waterfall.

Going to it, I ducked under the roaring sound of water and soaked myself, rubbing my sleeves and washing my face. When I was done I walked out of the river, very wet. And cold.

I called for my spear and threw it in the water. steam rose into the air from it out of the shallow stream. 

After grabbing it again, I slumped against a tree to rest and plan my next move.

Wow. I crossed a Novatron city. The pride swelled in my chest. That was like, what, one in a billion chance? Maybe negative billion out of a billion? That must’ve took way more guts than whatever my dad did. I bet the aliens are strangling each other with their frustration right now. How did that kid get through us? 

I’m just so happy right now. 

Okay, back to the planning. I passed the city and now I’m in the middle of this huge jungle. Still a province and a half to cross. No more cars or flying ships anymore. I was suspended in the middle of nature. I had to go by foot. And I had to hope I wouldn’t find anymore Novatron cities, because I was never going to do that again. And I also haven’t devised a way to get past the Ramento Ocean.

It didn’t matter. Well, it did… but not right now.

Right now it was turning dusk.

.  .  .

Time to get to work.

I gripped my spear with both hands, then charged. I sliced a row of trees and as each one fell down I said, “Timber!”

When I was exhausted I fell on the floor. That was fun. It made me think: I didn’t need to say that.

I was the last human in the universe.

I was in a good mood anyway. Whatever.

I sliced up about half a dozen trees into big, long rods of wood. I grabbed four of them and walked around, stabbing my weapon into the clear ground, marking the corners I was going to put the wooden bars in. I jabbed them in, and soon I made a shelter frame.

I took a long-minute break, breathing the fresh, clean air of the forest. Ahh. Vanity was a paradise. no wonder we all wanted this planet. 

Next I attached more wooden rods to the four wood poles I stood up in a square, tying them together with vines I grabbed from the trees. The work was a bit tiring, and I stopped to wipe the sweat off my forehead sometimes. Phew. Now I felt like an architect. 

I hoped the Novatrons didn’t follow me. Or worse, contact every Renz in Lyneria. Then all over the continent they’d be searching for me. But mostly here the jungle, because this is where they saw me land in the rocket. 

I shuddered. Maybe I shouldn’t rest right now.

I checked my AI for the time. Ten. Funny, I didn’t pack a watch. Should’ve had.

After I was finished with my constructed, custom-made shelter for the night, I went in. Inside felt as big as a dog house, which would be like one metre by two metres, approximately. 

It was warm inside. I placed my spear on the edge, and detached it. I put my laser dagger in my bag, while I checked the contents in it. Amazingly, everything I had before I ended up here was still there. 

I put my bag on the side too, using it as a pillow. As I laid down on it, I felt the cold, damp mud floor through even my sweater. Or it could’ve been that I was still freezing from my quick shower. The sweater had been on my waist still, and I cursed myself for bringing it with me under the waterfall. It had gotten wet. 

I decided to take it off and put it over me like a blanket. 

Then I shuffled to make myself comfortable. I started rubbing my eyes. 

Exhaustion took over.

Chapter 3: Ambush

I’ve slept for fourteen good hours. I guess crossing an alien city took more out of me than I expected. 

I got up feeling cold and still sleepy. The wet sweater didn’t help either.

I grabbed my staff and went outside. There was a cool breeze. Sunlight streamed in as fragments shattered by the leaves high up in the air. I rubbed my arms for friction heat.  

I took me still alive as a sign that I wasn’t spotted in the night by the Renzs.

I used my staff to destroy my little wood home. it was better that way so that the aliens would think that one of theirs has already been here and they wouldn’t search this area. Or make them think I was dead and they destroyed my hut. 

I gripped my leather bag strap. Then I started walking. My staff was in my right hand now. 

I looked at every direction simultaneously. Better to feel safe than sorry�"no, dead. 

In front of me, There was flat land full of trees. Tall Vanity ones higher than one story. Room-wide streams cut through the dirt with fist-sized pebbles dotting the surface of the water of all shades of grey. It made a slight noise of trickling water. It swished around the stones, turning white at acceleration, and normal greenish-blue swampy colour when not. Vines sprouted from the branches of the trees, curling around the thick and narrow branches holding up the leaves. Blotches of grass were edged around the base of the trees, and more random spots on the ground. Moss grew on the fallen bare logs and giant stones. Fungi were on the rim of them, some as big as a book and some as tall as a french fry. Some as wide as a plate and some as small as a coin’s surface. Ferns grew around the area, basking me in a mass of stalks and green leaves.

As I went a steep downhill, I walked beside a gigantic rock basically the whole hill beside me. It was a massive stone as big as an elephant. I traced my hand along it. It had a rough texture but a smooth, mossy surface. It would take a crane as big as eight houses in a cube formation and a claw as big as the backyards to lift the thing. Or a few voidals. Maybe some Renzs too.

When I reached the bottom of the hill I spotted a few animals. Hey, it was lunchtime anyway. 

Dashing to one, I gripped my dagger. I was going to cook it the same way I did the last. 

.  .  .

After I filled my stomach, I kept walking. I checked my AI constantly for how far I still needed to go until I get out of the forest. Right now, about five more kilometres.

A scent of nature hung in the air. The sun made the leaves vibrant. I listened to my footsteps, making a cracking sound on the dirt-floor. I felt so free, I could run from here all the way to the end of this continent. There was nothing to bother me here. I mean, I was scared of the aliens, but this was my planet now. Whether they liked it or not, I lived here. 

That peace was ruined when my AI started beeping.

The noise scared me. Not because it was so sudden, but because I knew what it meant. Looking at my AI, three red dots were in front of the green one, which was me. 

They were here. And the most weirdest thing? They were just standing there. Watching, and waiting.

Then there was a stone-crunching noise. I don’t know how I heard it, but I did. It was very far away from me. It sounded like something punching through rock, like an excavation.

I saw a big spherical object coming towards me in the air. I squinted to get a better look, then an alarming chill went up my spine when I realized what it was. 

I quickly jumped to the side, and the huge boulder crashed on the ground in pieces, almost flattening me into a pancake. 

Whoa, can Novatrons even do that? 

One of them came to my view as I got back up. He easily snatched a big tree off its roots and smashed it upon me. Blocking it with my arms… it fell.

But it didn’t crush me. Opening my eyes, I saw the miracle. My arms were holding up the tree! Wondering at what kind of power this was, I was distracted as the alien lifted the tree and knocked me off to the side. A painful surge went to my right side. I was thrown and slammed against another tree so hard, the poor plant was bent against the power. Sorry tree, I hope that’s not permanent. 

I picked myself up again. If I couldn’t fight, I had to escape. 

I raced around the alien still clutching the tree as easily as a baseball bat. The one that almost broke my ribs. Yeah, I said almost. Somehow the strange power the made me strong also enforced my body.

My brain tingled. It told me to stop. The reflex occurred, and a boulder crashed right where I was going to run into. It was so close I stood on my heels and almost stumbled to the floor. 

The boulder was supposed to hit me. But I knew I had to stop. How did I know that?

I kept running. Dashing through the trees, they started to blur in my vision. Suddenly my legs weren’t visible anymore. My arms were swaying faster, like I was rapid-punching. I thought I was running too fast, which didn’t make sense. I had to run as fast as I could!

I forced my body to a very sudden halt, and the speed just didn’t stop. I flew over a hill and started heading towards a tree headfirst. Faster than a chameleon’s tongue, I lashed out my staff and knocked the tree out of the way, then landed on the floor, barely hurt. Okay, what the heck is happening? Do I have some kind of weird new body reflexes or something?

Then the earth rumbled. Yep, it just gets weirder. There’s no such thing as too weird in my world. 

Then the quake stopped. The ground started to get lifted up. Yes, lifted up. It literally rises up on one side, making the whole forest floor a slanted incline. I stumbled, then made my spear and stabbed it on the ground. Holding on it tightly, the whole ground shifted in place, then got thrown vigorously. It made an acute angle, and my spear made a complete flip, as my feet touched the ground. 

My feet slid against the ground as I held up my spear under the weight of the land. I had to time this right or I’d be crushed. 

I quickly grabbed my spear and sprinted to the other end of the sandwich. As I escaped, the ground crashed against the�"well, ground. It had flattened the whole landscape full of trees. Dust seeped out from the massive land-flip, covering my sight and making my eyes water. I couldn’t hold back the coughs. 

I looked above it. The Renz who flipped the land stood at the other end. Okay, I don’t remember them being that strong. 

I heard a grunt behind me, and I turned. Another Renz was about two metres away from me! 

I ran again. Soon the super-speed started up again. The next thing I know, I’m outside of the forest. I’ve made it to the yellow grass prairies. Once I was about a kilometre from the forest, I dared to look back. I was panting very densely as I put my hands on my knees, dropping my staff to take a rest. I was so tired.

No sign of the aliens. I’ve completely outran them. 

Sighing with relief, I relaxed. My muscles ached. I stretched my hand and wriggled my fingers. What just happened? Did I randomly get super strength? Or did I have this with me the whole time? 

Once again I lifted my head to look at the forest, expecting one of them to appear any second. Then I looked the other direction, my path.

A city.

Scanning with my AI, it told me there wasn’t much Renzs there, so it wasn’t one of their cities. Ever since I’ve found out that they’ve built their own I’m always scared to go in cities. I would never always expect them to be human ones ever again. 

Drenched in sweat from the afternoon heat, I made my way towards it. 

.  .  .

I was in. I studied it. 

There were tons of holes and craters through the buildings, like giant ice cream scoops carving the corners and the sides. Cars looked like they were flipped over and rolled over ten times. Some were smashed at the roof, with a large dent at the top. The roads were cracked and ruined from old age. The windows were all shattered like there was a high-frequency bomb detonation.

Parks that used to look nice now looked like a garbage dump. Destroyed cars, telephone poles, lampposts, trampled fences, and huge chunks of buildings were all over the grass-less field with bare trees.

Some buildings as tall as three redwood trees were leaning on others, like something cut it from the bottom and it became a slanted tower.

The air still smelled of the smoke and debris spilled during the day the city was destroyed. Cold breezes from the upcoming autumn stroked my clothes. It felt weird, like it was once hot in the prairies and now it was cold here. 

I started walking faster. This place was so quiet. No sound, no people. It was a bit creepy, like a Novatron can just come out of a dark alleyway and flip land over me again. 

Hurrying up, I looked for a nice hotel to spend my night in. I picked one and shoved the double glass doors open. 

The lobby must’ve looked nice, but I didn’t pay attention. I ran to the hotel restaurant. Checking my AI, it told me it was still five. But I was hungry for dinner. 

I glanced around at the restaurant. Round tables were covered with white cloths everywhere. Some were flipped to their sides. Others looked like they were slammed to the wall, and they remained as a crumpled heap on the floor. The walls and ceiling were demolished, the chandelier had fallen, and the place looked chaotic. 

That’s not what shocked me. People�"adult or children�"were dead everywhere. Some were on the tables, while dried blood streaked down their foreheads. Some had twisted limbs and blood seeping out of their clothes like something had shot them. Some�"that was gross�"were decapitated.

I hated the Renzs. More than ever now. I was beginning to realize what they had done. They massacred every single person from the five races, and now they owned the planet. They were cruel and ruthless and probably didn’t care about themselves either. They were the most barbaric race in the universe. They hunted without purpose, killed without mercy. They kept no prisoners.

And no survivors. Except me.

I wondered if taking the planet for their home was really why they invaded. Vanity had so much space, we could spare them an inch and their race would fit in.

It made me think what would happen if that happened. They would be awesome on our side. Any more races that threatened us would fall into the hands of the five races plus the Novatrons, which I was starting to believe there was no other race that could defeat them. So we would be unstoppable.

Unless the enemy had a big laser that can blow up a planet as big as Vanity, then we would be in trouble. 

I was wondering where my thoughts lead to. What was I thinking? I was thinking about having power. That’s what I was thinking. The Novatrons have power. They don’t need to imagine it. We do need it, of course, because the humans only have intelligent minds, not bodies only meant for killing other races. 

Even after the disgusting vision of the dead people, I managed to keep my appetite. Rushing to the kitchen, I opened the big fridge. No food. And even if there was, it wasn’t preserved because of no electricity running.

I was so hungry!

I took a rest on the ground and studied my staff, because I could. It was titanium, found in the bunker I was in three days ago. The fortified shelter that had kept me alive for one year after the invasion.

Kept me alive…

I threw my staff in frustration. Stupid bunker! Stupid life! I should’ve just accepted my fate and died with the rest of the human race. I should’ve just acted like an average eleven-year old during the invasion. Why did I have to survive and keep suffering from the pain? Why did I get those powers back in the forest? I should’ve just let myself get crushed by that huge tree! I’m pretty sure where I got myself was worse than death. I’d rather die if I knew this was going to come. I mean, miracles keep happening. I was ready to give up during the crossing of the Novatron city. But then I jolted back up against my will and kept going. I was supposed to get crushed by those boulders, the tree, and that land-flip. Except suddenly I get powers to save me. 

What were they anyway?

I punched the white cabinet behind me. I felt the splinters, but I had destroyed the mini doors to shreds and pieces.

Why do I have this? Is someone playing a joke on me? Did I just randomly turn into a monster? Is this some virtual-reality game and the creators are giving me abilities to survive so I can suck up more pain? Am I a pain sponge?

I don’t have time for this. I’ll just have to spend the night hungry and thirsty�"again.

I got up and snatched my staff, then made my way to the rooms. 

I didn't dare glance at the carcasses.

.  .  .

This morning, I wanted to plan, plan, plan. I looked at my AI map hologram. I was surprised I’ve already crossed one province and a half. That was not possible by foot for three days. Vanity was a huge planet.

I was on a bed in a room still in the hotel, sitting cross-legged with the AI light projector in front of me. The morning sunlight streamed in and lit up everything like a flashlight. It gave warmth through my body, a nice feeling. 

I relaxed back on my pillows. I had dusted it last night, because of course everything wasn’t regularly cleaned since the hotel janitors were probably dead. No, certainly dead. There’s no hope in finding another human. They’re all dead. I had to keep that in mind.

It was a good thing I chose the highest floor. No aliens would ever know I was up here. But I had to use the stairs.

That got me to think, why the elevators, the fridge, the lights and everything else wasn’t working. The electricity power plants were probably destroyed by them. No plants, no energy. No energy, no running water or working stuff. No water and working stuff, it made living a whole thousand times worse.

Once again I get the feeling like I’m in a zombie apocalypse. I went in here for the night because I don’t like traveling when the moon is up. It’s just a whole lot darker. It just seems more scarier than daytime for some reason. Especially if Renzs are worse than zombies.

Shuddering, I tried to forget the crazy inhuman face I got terrified by one year ago. Or when my cover was blown by those two ones that notified the whole city of my presence. Or the ones who could could flip land over in the forest. 

And then I think, are they scared of me? Do they think I’m some sort of god because I escaped one of their cities in a rocket or got random powers when I was in the forest? Do they think I can topple their empire just because they can’t defeat me? Or even catch me?

I laughed. No way. Not, ever. They’d never think I’m better than them. Not by a long shot. So what if I got powers? There’re still billions of them. So what if I managed to squirm through their base? They’ve got dozens all over the world.

I sighed. Why do I even try to plan? I’m the last boy in the world and I still try to survive? I should just give up. I’m going to die sooner or later. And I’m not going to deny it this time. I’m already dead. This is worse than dead, actually. I don’t have to worry about anything for eternity if I just give up. That’s a paradise compared to this.

Whatever. I’ve already went this far. I had to keep going.

I grabbed my duffel bag and my staff. I stuffed my AI in the bag, then slid off the bed and walked out of he room.

Walking through the hallways, I tried to remember the way out. It struck me: Daniel Grey, a twelve-year-old kid that died of slow starvation because he could not find a way out of a hotel. Poor child.

I smirked at that. Then I finally found the lobby. I pushed through the doors and stepped out to see a Novatron staring at me.

Wait, what? I jumped and got scared so badly I almost tripped. My pulse quickened.

I felt like smacking my head. I forgot to turn the life signature scanner on my AI this morning! I don’t know why I turn it off every now and then. It just conserved more energy, I guess.

I didn’t have it on so it never told me there was a Renz outside. And I’ve just walked right into it.

I ran to the left of the hotel and the Novatron pursued. He stopped at one building at started punching at the bottom. I was like, okay?! Then he lifted it in the air with no effort.

Then he threw the whole building at me.

I was surprised. I jumped at the household in the air and bashed through the door with my staff. I ran through the slanted hallway. I smashed through the wall on the other side just as the airborne dwelling crashed on the ground in a heap of destroyed wooden planks, shattered glass, furniture and roof tiles, like a watermelon being crushed. 

I realized my jump out of the wall left me suspended in the air. I saw this as a chance to attack. I attached my spear and threw it at the enemy.

It clanged off his armour, which it shouldn’t have, leaving him not even stunned. As I fell he jabbed me in the stomach. I collapsed once I got to the floor. Then he landed a painful blow with so much force, I rolled away and slammed into a building. Yep, I had no chance of beating him.

The pain was excruciating, but I managed to stay conscious. Blood seeped out of my huge gash on my side, and I ignored it. I should’ve been dead from the force. What is this?

The alien grabbed me by the neck. At least he didn’t call for reinforcements. But he didn’t even need them. He could take me out all by himself.

He just continued to torture me. As I was picked up, my spear came to my hand, but I didn’t expect that he would throw me. I used my weapon as a stabilizer. I fell face-first towards the pavement, but thrusted my spear to stop my fall. I landed on my feet sideways and stomped hard for friction. 

When I came to a stop, my enemy raised both arms, then pounded the ground. I ran away from the vibrating land. The whole area shook as the catastrophic force caused massive ripples across the floor, like stormy waves in the ocean. 

As I ran faster, panic gave me adrenaline. Adrenaline gave me stamina. Stamina gave me strength. Strength kept me running even though my body felt like brittle breadsticks. 

My brain told me to stop again like last night with the boulder. I abruptly stopped. 

Another Novatron stood in my path. He cracked his knuckles. 

I was stupid to charge first. At a fast pace, I slashed, and he blocked it with an arm. I jabbed, and he dodged to the side. I spun to add momentum to my slicing arc, he blocked with his forearm. I thrusted at his face, he swatted it aside like it was a toy. It fell to the floor far away. Before I could call for it back, he punched me in the gut. I had a lower centre of gravity so I didn’t go flying. I tried to return it, but huge and powerful muscles covered by thick and spiky bone armour wasn’t as easy to punch through than a wooden cabinet. 

I basically gave myself pain. I stumbled. The alien fixed his serpentine eyes on me. My spear came to my hand, and I flexed it. I maintained my footing. 

I’m not going to be afraid. I’m not that scared boy I was one year ago. That guy was a coward. I’m not. I don’t care what I thought last night. I’m never going to give up until I get my revenge. 

I’m going to kill this creature. I’m going to prove my power to their empire. I’m going to make them fear me.

Just then the other alien I’ve fought showed up. I yelped. Never mind, got to run.

I sprinted as fast as I could�"which wasn’t very fast in my condition. 

I have to get out of here, I kept thinking. Racing through the buildings, it was all I could do to survive. I ran out of breath so quickly, I had to take a couple of walks before I could start running again. The spear wasn’t much help either. Its extra weight was like dragging my arm down. Which it felt heavier than usual, since titanium was supposed to be light. 

Once I was sure they were gone, I rested. Putting both hands on my spear, I panted for breath and sweated crazily. I couldn’t afford to close my eyes and rest for a moment because I was afraid of the Renzs. 

That jolted me. I had to keep moving. Wincing in pain, I depended on my spear to keep me up. I’ve been so attached to it lately; it’s like my best buddy.

My sweaty and bloody palms slipped and almost fell, but I sustained my grip on my staff and kept moving slowly. I moved one hand to where that Novatron punched me. I rubbed it, causing a bit of relief. 

Almost collapsing gain, I kept myself up and opened my eyes wide, trying not to go unconscious. I was scared I’d fall and lie on the floor until the Renzs would kill me. I kept my feet at a straight pattern. Right foot, left foot. Right foot, left foot. 

I felt so betrayed by my powers. Right when I needed them most, they go and cut me down. They’ve left me all alone with two murderous aliens and a lot of pain.

I went slowly. Five seconds for two metres. 

I am so dead.

When the Novatrons find me, I’ll just prepare for death. I wouldn’t try anything. I can’t argue with fate anyway.

I urged myself to go faster so it wouldn’t come to that. What was I thinking anyway? That a kid can beat a Novatron? That nothing was impossible? That seemed like a joke now. 

My life was a big joke. It was so sad, anybody watching would laugh their heads off. Everybody I knew was dead anyway. I should go join them.

I barged through a broken down restaurant and slumped on a chair. I laid my weapon on a table. I looked around. When I saw a paper towel dispenser near a sink and grabbed as much as I could. I dabbed them at my bloody gashes and bruises. I grimaced each time. 

I wished I could keep going. I wished I could find another car and take a nap in it while my AI did the rest of the job. I probably really depended on my AI. Whoever made it was brilliant. Only adventurers would use it, and it was expensive. I bet nobody ever thought of using it for the wreckage of an alien invasion.

After cleaning myself up, I felt as good as bad. I relaxed on the cushions of my chair.

Then I unexpectedly dozed off.

Chapter 4: Surprise

I shouldn’t have done that. 

I’ve wasted so much time. I needed more time. 

When I realized my mistake, I shot up from my chair. I felt slightly renewed, like somebody had injected me with a strength serum. I snatched my spear, then pushed the doors out of the destroyed building.

I quickly looked left and right. I continued on my original path through the city. The sun was still bright. The temperature heated me up, so I took off my sweater. 

Honestly, I didn’t know why I was still alive. Even if the aliens were rubbish at finding, shouldn’t they have trackers? I don’t mean the old ones�"the one that needs a separate device stuck to the prey to send the signal back to the pursuer�"I mean the ones that senses the life signatures. Maybe they were old-fashioned. The old ones were so last billions of years ago. 

Suddenly, I stirred at a gruelling noise and froze in fear. When I realized it was just my hungry stomach, I relaxed again. Man, this avoiding the aliens thing was making me super aware of everything. 

I was very hungry. I haven’t ate since those animals in the forest two days ago. 

My mouth watered. I needed food. But where would I find food in a trashed city like this? 

No. My priority was getting to Azdux. I had to quicken my speed or I was going to take the same amount of time as going around a Novatron city wall.

I risked another speed run. When my vision blurred, I didn't stop. My super senses would make me anyway. 

Step after step, I began to feel something I haven’t felt in a long, long time.

Fun.

Sprinting like this made me feel unstoppable. No alien can stop me now!

When I finally decided to slow down, I ended up at the edge of a neighbourhood. My AI told me it stretched along to the end of the city. Wow, I’ve went far. 

I tried not to be too surprised. Anyway, I still have time to travel. On the other hand, I was tired from my run. 

I decided to take a rest�"for the night, who knows�"at one of the houses. I picked a random one and opened the door.

The inside was trashed, as usual. The stairs to the upper floor was gone. Maybe the basement had a couch or something. I shrugged, then headed for it. 

Maybe I would spend the night here. It was already half past four. 

It was a nice basement. Oak bathroom door, paintings, lamps… 

I stifled a scream.

A girl was sitting on a beige couch facing the far end of the wall. All I could see was the long dark hair on her shoulders. She was writing something.

I felt overjoyed. I found another human! Another one that survived, like me. Suddenly my idea that I was paranoid and there were still a ton of us left didn’t seem as crazy anymore. 

I wasn’t the last one on Vanity after all. And the chance of picking this house out of the rest was unbelievable. Or maybe there were people in all the houses. 

She was just lying there, not noticing me. That was the best part.

Time to have some fun. 

I crouched low and sneaked up behind the couch silently. Once I crept right behind her, I stood up.

Then I said, “Boo!”

She screamed and jumped out of the couch, dropping her notebook. She was so startled she grabbed a pillow and hit the floor.

I thought this was extremely funny. I laughed so hard, I almost choked.

When she recovered form the shock, she glared at me. She had amber eyes that gleamed with anger. She threw the pillow at me.

“Whoa,” I said, “easy there.”

“Why did you do that?” She retaliated. 

“Just some fun,” I said casually. “Are you the only one here?” 

She relaxed. “Yeah. I thought I was the only one left before you came.”

“Can I get a thank you?” I asked.

“Shut up. I’m totally fine without you.”

“I’m totally fine without you too,” I said, not sure if that was true. “I’ve crossed a Novatron city all by myself.”

She seemed to have a puzzled look. “What’s a Novatron?” 

I felt like face-palming. then I considered the fact that not everybody watches the News. 

“You know,” I said, “the name of the aliens that invaded.” 

“Did you make that up? It sounds stupid.” 

I suddenly felt embarrassed. “No, no, no, the media did. They also made up the nickname�"Renz.” 

She stared at me. Then she laughed. “Remind me to never watch the News.” 

I was glad to see she had a sense of humour. “Okay. What’s your name?”

“Jasmine. I’m eleven. Yours?” 

“Daniel. I’m twelve.”

“Are there any more with you?”

“Nope,” I said. “Just me.”

She didn’t say another word. 

I drew closer to the couch. “Hey, what’s wrong.”

“It’s just…” her voice broke. “It’s so hard living by myself. Those�"whatever you call them�"took everything from me.” She frowned. “Scaring me didn’t help.” 

I almost laughed at that again. Then I scratched the back of my head and said, “Yeah, sorry about that.”

There was an awkward moment of silence.

“So…” I said, “are we good?”

She smiled. “Sure, we’re friends.”

I sat on the couch next to her. “Where are you headed?”

She looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“Where are you going?”

“Nowhere,” she said. “My dad worked for the space agency. He said there was some secret leaked from his co-worker�"which was the invasion. My dad’s pretty paranoid, and he likes to be safe than sorry. He made a bunker deep underground. I hid there until I ran out of food about a week ago, so I came up. Plus, it’s creepy down there.” She shivered.

After all that, all I could say was, “You’re afraid of the dark?”

I was thinking about teasing her about this, but I thought I’ve already hurt her enough. Besides, I didn’t want to travel at night either.

I think I already did. She put her face in her hands, and I just felt more guilty. 

“Hey,” I comforted, “it’s all right. I’m here now.” 

“I don’t need comforting,” she said when she looked up. “And I want to come with you.”

“What?” I asked.

She wiped her nose with her red hoodie sleeve. “I haven’t seen you around here. You’ve obviously came somewhere. And something tells me this is not where you’re going to stop.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “I mean, clearly you’ve been through hard times…”

“No harder than crossing one of their cities,” she said. She had a point. “So where are you headed?”

I imagined her action when I told her. “Azdux. Then Belladan.” 

Her eyes widened. “Are you crazy?” 

“Little bit. Yeah.” I said without the slightest hint of sarcasm. “That’s why I asked if you’re sure you want to come with me. I mean, you’ve got resources here, don’t you?”

The truth was I really wanted her to come. If a martian supercomputer tried to calculate the chances of finding another human in this new disaster, it would surely explode. 

“No, I don’t,” she answered. “I’m coming with you.”

“Great,” I said. “Get packing.”

.  .  .

I went in a room on the upstairs floor and Jasmine went in the other. Apparently she had a ladder to get up there and that was where she slept when she ran out of food in the bunker.

From all the other houses I’ve been to, this one looked rather so… nice. 

There was no dust. The clothes were clean. Everything was prepared and neatly done. 

Wow. Jasmine was such a chores queen.

The room I was in must’ve been her parent’s because the only other room was Jasmine’s which meant she was an only child, like me. 

I dumped my bag on the bed. Then I detached my spear and clattered them on a computer table that wasn’t sliced in half. I don’t know why it surprised me. 

I placed my AI on a lamp table beside my bed. I picked my new clothes. They were too big, of course. I decided to just wash my old ones. 

But again, I made another mistake. There was no running water anymore. I was forced to stay in my natural state�"dirty, smelly, hungry kid. 

Oh well. I just had to deal with it. I relaxed back in the bed. I checked the time. It was only quarter to six. 

My stomach grumbled again. I groaned. I hoped Jasmine still had food left. 

I went out the door. Coincidently, Jasmine came out of her room too. She had a new backpack and a bright look on her face. 

“So,” she said, “ready to go?”

“Uh, aren’t we going to stay here for the night or something? Isn’t that why we had the�"“

“No, I thought we were going to�"“

“But I thought�"“

“But we were going�"“

“Okay, okay, stop. Can we just eat dinner first? I haven’t eaten in like, three days. Do you have any left?”

She sighed. I guess she was really eager to go adventuring. “I have some canned food downstairs. No more.” 

“Why?”

“Because I have no more!” She said.

“Okay, let’s go. I’m starving.” I started for the stairs. Before I knew it, I had found the can and the can opener and was already working on it. 

When Jasmine saw me, she said, “What are you doing?” 

“But you said I can�"“

“No, give me that.”

She took it from my hands without the can opener. With no effort she popped the lid off with her bare hands. 

It really surprised me. “You know about the�"“

“It’s called evolution,” she said. “Don’t you read any books?”

I felt a bit offended. “Yes I do. But they all said they were myths or conspiracies.”

“All those stories about Mark Grey? You think they’re fake?” 

“Dad never told me about powers.”

Just then I realized I’d never told Jasmine that fact. She put a hand to her mouth.

“You’re�"you’re his son?” 

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. It’s not such a big deal, really. Now please, hand over the food.”

She ignored me. “Sorry for being rude to you! If only I knew�"“

“No, it’s fine, really. I don’t care.”

She handed me my dinner and I put it in a bowl, preparing it for the microwave. Yeah, I know, pretty low tech. Billions of years into the future and we still have microwaves.

“You must read lots of books then.” Jasmine said.

“You bet,” I said as I punched in the numbers.

Chapter 5: Nightfall

“Ready?” I asked. 

She nodded. “You lead the way.”

We abandoned the house and started the trail to Azdux. 

We walked past the neighbourhood and into a forest. Well, that’s three cities I’ve already past.

On the way, I told Jasmine every single detail of my past adventure. When I crossed one of their cities, the battle in the forest, and the battle in the city right before I found her.

I explained how a Novatron looks like. I explained my plans. Basically, she listened to me blabber all day long. In fact, my throat was starting to get dry. 

“Hey um,” I said, “did you pack water?” 

“You forgot, didn’t you?” She shook her head for disapproval. “You’re so lucky you found me.”

She tossed me a plastic bottle of water from her bag. I chugged it halfway. 

“Did you think of bringing a weapon?” I asked, closing the cap. She had a disgusted look on her face.

“No�"what kind of weirdo do you think I am?” She eyed my staff. “I suppose that’s not one.”

I took out my laser dagger and attached it to my staff, making my complete spear. I smiled at her. 

“You are as crazy as you told me.” She said. 

“Yep. Found it in my bunker.”

A breeze sent a chill up my spine. We were walking on a dirt road through the forest. Whenever we went an uphill, the wind tried its best to push us back down. 

“It’s summer,” Jasmine grumbled, “why is it so cold?”

“It’s almost Autumn.” I explained. 

“I just wished the Novatrons didn’t attack earlier than expected. Inside the ship, there’s no seasons. Oh, and we wouldn’t be facing them right now.” She started shivering.

“Hey, if you want, you can have my sweater over you.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“No, I insist.” I said. “I’m used to the cold anyway.” I took off my sweater and placed it around her.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

After a moment, I asked, “Starting to rethink this trip, huh?” 

“Not one bit,” she was obviously lying.

“You didn’t have to come.”

“But staying back there wasn’t going get me any-where.”

My staff started feeling colder, so I had to keep switching hands. Our movement was slowed down in the wind, blowing my face. Jasmine didn’t stop shivering.    

“I wish I could do more.” I commented.

“Geez Dan, I’m not that cold.” 

I smiled. “I like that nickname. My friends call me that.”

“And I suppose I’m Jaz now?” 

“Sure.”

“Oh, shut up.”

Soon it began turning dusk. I knew it. We wouldn’t get enough time to travel that far. I was thinking about going back to the house for the night, but that was being too careful. Jasmine didn’t say a word about it.

“Hey,” I said, “aren’t we going to camp?” 

I saw her smirk. “Why, you afraid of the dark?”

I grinned. “Okay, now you shut up.”

“You,” she returned.

I laughed. Jasmine was like the annoying little sister I never had. She was a real pain in the butt. 

Step after step we continued through the forest, during the night. Creatures croaked and chirped in the night. All kinds of animals howled. And in fact, I felt like taking my sweater back. 

I saw Jasmine having a frightened look on her face. “Oh, shoot! You weren’t kidding!”

She shook her head and put on her hood. 

“Hey,” I said, “it’s only a fear. You can overcome it.” 

I put my arm around her and she kept her hood low. We continued wandering through the dark woods. I should’ve set up a camp, or suggested going back. I’m supposed to take care of Jasmine, not bring her more nightmares. 

As much as I didn’t want to admit it, the place started to creep me out too. Not entirely because of the darkness, but because of the fact that creatures hidden in the shadows can pounce on us at any moment. Or Renzs could strike at any moment. I don’t think I would be able to protect us.

The soft, warm glow of my spear’s laser provided our path with the light needed. It was settling in an unnerving kind of way, too. 

I thought I saw glowing eyes staring directly at us, but when I turned my head in that direction, it disappeared. Or it was never there at all. Maybe I was insane. Yeah, that must be it. 

It was almost completely dark. I was scared to check what time it was because the AI light might just attract more attention. I started to think twice about my spear, too. But without light, we would go aimlessly.

I started shivering. Okay, maybe I wasn’t as used to the cold as I thought I was. 

More tension hung in the air. For the hundredth time I glanced around us. My mouth tasted like I ate an ice cube. I could feel Jasmine shaking. She didn’t look up.

“Ugh, how much longer until we get out of here?” She said. I got surprised. Maybe because I thought her voice was going to draw more anxiety. I was being too distressed and cautious. 

“I don’t know,” I said. “but we will.” 

“I’m scared.”

“I can tell. Just bear with me.” There it is again. Another statement associated with animals. 

Once again I thought I saw glowing, yellow eyes with black slits for pupils. Either I was really insane, or they open their eyes when I blink. This is why I don’t travel at night. 

I flinched. I was sure I saw something.

“Run,” I said, “run!”

“What?” She replied.

“Go! Go! Go!” I started nudging her to go faster. 

We started running as fast as we could. Either it was our evolved powers, or Jasmine was full of panic, she was ahead of me, and I didn’t have to slow down. Actually, I had to catch up. 

Racing through the depths of the jungle, I spotted a rock that could cover us. I led Jasmine behind it. She pulled back her hood, and it revealed her expression full of fear. 

“Dan…” she faltered, “what’s happening?” 

“Let’s just hope Renzs don’t have night vision.”

“Renzs… what?!” 

“Can’t you hear them?” I said. “You have improved senses too.”

“I had my hood on.”

“Shh… not too loud. They’re everywhere. They’re hunting for us. If we use the darkness to our advantage, we can escape unnoticed.” I whispered.

She looked at me like I was drunk. “What kind of plan is that? It’s too dangerous! We have to hide until they leave. I’m not wasting my life on your account!” 

“That plan is worse than mine. Got a better one?”

She contemplated for a while. “No.”

“Good.” I said. “Now follow me. We run, but not on the path. That would be obvious. Don’t make a sound. And don’t do anything that attracts attention.”

Considering that, I shoved my laser dagger from my spear deep into my bag silently. 

We did my plan accordingly. We went stealthily through the forest, and away from the road. I could smell them. They were scouring the area like they knew we were here. My ears picked up every single step they took. The sound told me the distance between each one. I didn’t like what I got.

I saw one ever so closely, so I grabbed Jasmine and hid ourselves behind a tree. I heard the alien grunt and puff. We kept going slowly around it. I saw another one and I guided Jasmine again behind another tree. I certainly hoped we weren’t trapped.

We went the opposite direction of the second. I spotted a third further than the others, and I brought us around another tree facing the clear path.

We kept going. I made sure Jasmine was in front of me. If she was�"I don’t know, taken? Killed? I would never forgive myself again. 

Treading through the soft grass was easy. Staying unnoticed was not. Soon we were going at a fast pace. When we got out of here, I had to find a way to get shelter for the night. 

Going through the forest with so much stress and pressure felt like hours when in reality, less than a minute.  Each step was producing more tension because of the fact that any second now one of them would spot us.

And then we had to run for our lives.

Finally, we reached the outer rim of the forest. The alien stench lessened. I heard no more footsteps. It was like they left, disappointed. 

I took a long swig from my water. Still, I didn’t feel safe yet. Maybe another suburban area would work.

Jasmine stopped when she realized I stopped. “Are they gone?”

“Sort of.” I firmly implanted my spear on the ground. Then I risked a look out of my AI. “Yeah, all clear. We went far.”

Jasmine didn’t look relieved when she took off her hood. “Travelling at night was not a good idea.”

“I agree.”

“Time?”

“Still nine.”

She groaned. I could feel her pain. We weren’t anywhere close to the end of night. We had to keep going. I didn’t want to build a shelter here. It was dark too.

“Hey, we’re not staying here.” I said. “It’s too dangerous. Let’s keep going.”

“I want to rest.” She sat on a log on the ground. She started drinking water. 

I kept standing, keeping an eye out for danger. And shivering. I cut Jasmine off before she could say anything.

“You need it more than I do.” I said.

Either she smiled for being thankful or frowned at how stubborn I was. I couldn’t read her expression even with my super senses and dim moonlight. Even with the light we shared from my dull sky-blue laser at the top of my staff. 

I scanned the area. As ghastly as it was, no more aliens were giving a sign that they were there. They might be lurking in the shadows somewhere.   

Even if Vanity was not light polluted one bit, there wasn’t a single star in the sky. I knew why. My dad taught me they were all the systems we have been to. And everybody knows what happens when humans visit a planet. They live there for billions of years before it runs out of resources, or dies, or even the sun dies. Either in a big supernova billions of years ago, or a black hole still sucking in light and planets to who knew where. Maybe another area with more great planets. Maybe another universe itself. Or, the most likely answer: you’ll be stuck in time for all eternity, not able to age or do anything forever. That seems like a happy thought.

Vanity was a big planet and therefore it had about five moons. I heard the trixians started colonies there. This one in the sky right now was the smallest�"at least I think�"and it doesn’t reflect Remedie’s light very well. And the canopies of the forest’s tall trees covered most of the light. All that reached the ground was an eerie glow, that made everything slightly dark blue. 

I relaxed. Even if school didn’t tell me in geography class, I would know. Vanity was the best planet. A home paradise. The colony we started here, the regions, everything else�"it was amazing. Everything we’ve built, everything that’s happened, it was all to preserve and have this planet. The wars that were started, the commitments that were made, this planet was worth beyond an infinite fortune. 

I looked at Jasmine. “Done resting?” 

A moment passed. “Yeah… okay.”

We kept walking on and soon we made it out of the forest. We arrived to grass plains that stretched on for very long. I saw a big mountain in the distance. Going around it or above it would be tomorrow’s project.

Tonight’s project was getting to the mountain… I guess. I hoped we’d get that done by the morning. 

In our path looked like another forest and a series of hills and plateaus. We’d need to do a lot of hiking to get past them. Off to the right was a river snaking through the plains. To the left was a rocky slope that went high above the clouds. It wasn’t far beside us. 

My shoes landed on softer ground once we hit the plains. The high grass tickled my arms and face. they covered my sight of what was ahead of me, except for Jasmine. She led the way through the yellow field. 

I kept imagining something would slither by my foot, or grab my neck, or trip me. Anything undiscovered could be lurking underneath here. Vanity was a new planet anyway. Strange creatures could’ve inhabited this planet way before us. I just had a bad feeling something would catch us off guard. Maybe even the aliens.

Jasmine kept slowing down sometimes. I almost ran into her each time. One time she turned around. 

“Dan,” she said, “can you lead?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” she replied. “Now please get in front of me. I have no idea where I’m going.”

We switched places as I thought, to be honest, I don’t know where we’re going either.

I took the lead. Every few seconds I jumped up to check where we were headed. I wanted to go for the mountain. I knew that when we got there, Jasmine and I would have an argument about climbing it. I just had a good feeling that if we did, maybe a beacon message would attract attention from any survivors. If we knew there were survivors, it’d totally be worth the risk. 

I glanced at my AI from time to time. Thirty minutes had passed. Still not much time has went since our rest. If it turned day, that would be better for Jasmine. 

I don’t even understand phobias. The only things I’m scared of are the things I know that can hurt me. The dark? Harmless spiders? Clowns? Why would you be scared of things like them?

I wondered about our future too. If Jasmine and I were really the last ones on Vanity, how would we defeat the Novatrons? There was nothing we could do. Might as well give up now. 

I was doing it again. Thinking like that. Maybe the aliens worshipped a god, and that god was feeding me dark thoughts. Huh, I oughta punch that god in the face out of my head then. 

Suddenly my AI started beeping loudly.

Panic spread through me like a taser. I had to shut it off. I grabbed it and hurried to turn off the noise. But it was probably no use. Every single alien in the whole plains expanse probably knew we were here. 

Jasmine looked at me sternly. “Seriously Dan?”

I ignored her. Then I shut off the sound. 

Then another started beeping.

I smirked at Jasmine. Her jaw dropped. She took off her backpack, zipped it open, and turned off the noise immediately. 

“Seriously Jaz?” I mocked.

She looked very annoyed. “Shut up. I forgot, okay? And do not call me that.”

I rose higher and tuned my ears to the sounds in the night. As I suspected, aliens were rushing around to find us. I didn’t see any flashlights of any sort, so they must’ve had some sort of night vision. 

“Run.” I ordered. She didn’t question me. We ran through the plains using our enhanced speed.

I heard a crackling noise, and then all I see is a flying tree.

“Duck!” Jasmine yelled. 

Duh. We hit the deck just as the plant was forcefully thrown over our heads. It got crushed by the impact with the ground. 

I helped Jasmine back up and we kept running. Then the floor shook, and we almost fell off balance. We kept going. 

We froze when we saw a a Renz carrying literally the whole mountain we were heading towards to. Hell no, they shouldn’t�"they couldn’t�"be that strong. 

The monumental peak full of billions of pounds of massive rock soared through the air, right on our heads. Wow, I guess just call a Novatron if you want to fly. They can make anything fly. 

I did the most logical thing I could do at the time. I covered Jasmine and placed my spear on the ground, and it loomed over our heads nearly twice our size. I dug it into the grass very firmly, and got ready for it.

When the mountain crashed, I almost collapsed. I was surely dead. 

But I used every bit of my power. I held the spear in place as it cut through the rock in the mountain, the impact hitting my spear instead of us because it was higher. 

The unthinkable happened. When I opened my eyes, I saw that the spear created a hole big enough for the both of us in the huge boulder that almost crushed us. It was plain darkness inside. The warm glow of my laser at the top of my spear gave us a tiny bit of light. 

“You okay?” I asked Jasmine. 

I didn’t think Jasmine expected us to live, so after a moment she asked, “What happened?”

“We survived!” I exclaimed. I’ve experienced a land-flip before, but a mountain-chuck definitely took me by surprise… probably because it was impossible, but hey�"the Novatrons can do the impossible. 

And apparently I could too.

I turned on my flashlight. The hole we were in was no bigger than a quarter size of an elevator interior. I touched the walls surrounding us. they were jagged, rough surfaces that traced to the top like a dome. My spear was jammed in a mound of rock above our heads. I could barely move without accidentally stabbing myself against the rugged barrier around us. 

“Dan…” Jasmine said.

“Oh no,” I said, “don’t tell me you’re claustrophobic too.”

“No,” she replied, “but how are we going to get out of here?”

I considered that. I searched my bag for my AI. “the Renzs are gone,” I noticed, “probably think we’re dead.”

Jasmine tried to sit but almost knocked me over. “Sorry.” 

“S’okay.” I tried disconnecting my spear but it just wouldn’t budge. But it kind of gave me relief. I suspected the whole cavern would collapse on us if I moved my spear. 

“What are we going to do?” I asked.

“Why are you asking me?”

“Because I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

Using all my evolved strength, I tried lifting the spear off it’s jammed position. I barely managed to pry it off one rock point. 

“Oh crap, we’re dead, aren’t we?” Jasmine said.

Suddenly our little interior shook. Big vibrations that moved the rocks above us. It felt like a landslide was occurring outside. If that was what this meant, then we would be trapped for sure. The rocks from the slide will block our path to the open world even more. 

A rock fell on my foot. “Ow!”

Then the whole wall opened up from the top and revealed the night sky outside. The whole wall we were stuck in just magically broke down. I was shocked.

“Well,” I said, “I guess that’s how we get out.”

Jasmine leaped outside and breathed in the fresh air. I swatted the dust off my clothes and planted my spear. 

Jasmine looked at me. “They’re gone, right? So we’re safe?”

“Yeah.” I said. “The mountain saved our lives. Go ahead and thank it. You owe him one.”

“Shut up.”

We kept going around the mountain. It was midnight. And I really felt like taking my sweater back. 

It was so late I was starting to get tired and sleepy. I thought I should ask Jasmine we should camp, but she looked restless for adventure. Well, she was too cooped up in her home anyway. I could tell she’d been wanting the outdoors for days.

“How did you do it?” She asked. I was so fazed from weariness I blinked, then held my full attention to the real world. 

“Uh…” I said. Then I spilled it. “I knew my staff was indestructible so I put it against the ground and when the mountain crashed all I had to do was keep the spear in place and the ground was just as strong as the force being applied to it in this case the mountain so the spear wouldn’t be pushed down or it wouldn’t break because it’s titanium�"”

She pretended she was snoring. I punched her in the arm playfully. 

“Sorry,” she said sarcastically. “Do you always talk this boring?”

“You’re a real pain in the butt, you know that?”

“Coming from you?” 

I laughed. Past the huge mountain was more of the forest. I remembered what I’d thought earlier. passing the mountain was tomorrow’s project. But it got thrown at us anyway. 

I don’t recall the aliens being that powerful. They were starting to get unbelievable.

And the mountain actually did us a huge favour. It made it look like we got crushed. The Novatrons hunting us were probably going to report back to their leader and say we’re dead, and we’ll have a ton of bounties removed off our heads. Now, instead of all of them after us, there were none after us.

They should think we’re dead. How�"how, did we survive? Nobody just survives a mountain thrown at them. That seemed more impossible than crossing a Renz city. My evolved powers can’t be that strong, can it?

One Novatron could throw a mountain half the size of Mount Skatos, near Evolotropolis. Imagine what five of them could do�"throw Skatos over the whole capital. They could’ve done that to any of our cities. 

I wonder if the city shield would protect us from that. The trixian-designed force field to protect our city from any form of apocalypse. 

Imagine what fifty of them could do. Throw a whole island on all our cities. Imagine what all of them could do. 

I shuddered. No wonder they beat us. I couldn’t think of anything else in the universe more powerful than them. The only hope was escaping their wrath. And that hope was gone already.

I concentrated on the present. The forest got a little humid, and it calmed me down. The darkness was like there was a shadow over us, and where've we went we couldn’t see ahead of us. Vines or low branches hung above us, streaking through our hair. The ground was covered with nothing but ferns and plants and tall grass. They tickled our arms and legs as we walked through them silently in the night. The sounds of rustling leaves stirred me every time I tried to fall asleep. Each stalk was taller than us. 

Soon the repetitiveness bored me so much, I almost longed to fight a Renz.

I couldn’t keep track of how far we’ve went. In my sleepy condition, I couldn’t keep track of anything. My eyes were getting heavier and I felt my movement slowing down. 

I mean, I sometimes stay up really late to play video games, but that was because I had something to entertain me. And I might’ve had an addiction to caffeinated soda…

I wished I could drink an energy drink right now. I’ve done so much things already�"all just to be defeated by an unbeatable enemy: sleep. Step after step, each time I hoped we’d get out of the forest, but I knew we were far from the breach. 

For once my staff wasn’t much help. It felt like extra luggage to me. But it didn’t feel like extra weight, thanks to titanium’s light properties. 

Maybe I could just fall on the soft grass and doze off…

I shook my head to keep me awake. Then I turned behind me to see how Jasmine was doing.

I don’t know her secret, but she looked like she drank ten cups of coffee. Her restless spirit made her look ready for anything. I wished I had that kind of energy. 

I must’ve been staring, because she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said. “Aren’t you tired?”

“No,” she said. Then her face flushed apologetically. “Sorry! I should’ve known! Come on, let’s camp here.”

I shook my head. “No, I can keep going.”

“At least take a rest,” she insisted. “You’re beat, aren’t you?”

I couldn’t resist her offer no matter how much I wanted to. “Okay, let’s rest,” I said. “But no camping.”

“You’re going to doze off anyway,” she said.

“Yes I am.”

Jasmine tried to hide a smile. Then my eyes widened.

“Uh, I mean�"no, I’m not going to sleep. Only rest.”

“You don’t have to do this for me. I have things to do, like being on guard duty.”

“I don’t trust these woods.” I looked around as if something would happen. Nothing did, thankfully. 

“I’ll wake you up when something bad happens.” Jasmine said. 

“I’m not going to sleep. I told you already.”

“Don’t deny it. You’re tired. I’ll be fine. Here.” She handed me my sweater.

“If a Renz comes and I don’t wake up, run.”

“No, there’s not going to be an alien encounter, Dan. You worry too much.”

It was turning four. Why does time pass so quick?

I sighed. “Okay. It’s getting late anyway.”

“You mean�"it’s getting earlier?” She joked. 

“Yeah, I guess so. But if a Renz comes and I don’t wake up�"leave me.”

She rolled her eyes. Then I slept. 

Chapter 6: Earth

Before I even woke up, the next day was horrible.

I dreamt that I was on a different planet. I was on one of the green hills on a huge field of many. They were luminous bright green, like they were artificial. The sun was powerful, and as bright as one on a hot summer day.

Behind me were a ton of people wearing clads of shiny purple armour. They had short, bright magenta hair and held polished spears as tall as them and lances twice their size. They were spread all over the hills covering each and every spot in the fields. 

I didn’t know where I was or what this was all about. An army in an artificial world, okay? How weird can dreams get? I suppose this wasn’t my weirdest one…

In front of them were two people. One was a buff man with two abundant swords latched on his back in a cross. His armour was radiant, and it was an intricate pattern of sharp metal cuffs ringing around his arms and legs. He had a serious look that made him very intimidating. I guess he was the general.

The other was a girl about fourteen or fifteen. She had a dark purple shirt and blue jeans that fit her snugly. She seemed to be arguing with the general. I tuned in to their conversation. 

“Dad,” the girl said, “you do know what’s going to happen when we face the Venoqs?”

The man didn’t seem to be interested. “Yes, I know. But they’re not coming here. They’re heading for earth.”

Earth?

“I already know that,” the girl said. “I know the plan too. Just not the part of how were going to get there.”

“Kerry’s going to make a portal.”

The girl looked frustrated. “Dad, you know we can’t go against them. We’re a peaceful race. even with the weapons and armour the humans taught us how to make, we can’t fight the Venoqs. They’re too powerful.”

Humans? These guys looked exactly like humans. 

The man turned and placed his big hands on the girl’s shoulders. “Eve, we have to. Even if you helped them with the apocalypse, they would do the same for us. They’ve taught us countless things. They’d help us no matter what, I’m sure of it. And what if I listen to you? What if we don’t help them? We’ll lose their trust. We’ll lose our alliance. We’ll lose the only friends we have. And what does that lead to?”

The girl called Eve said, “What?”

The man’s eyes shimmered with sadness. “Wars. And come to think of it, they need a new planet. Theirs is already damaged enough. And they populate faster than us. Do you really think we can stop them?”

Eve crossed her arms, still strong on her point of view. “Dad, if we help them our race will go extinct.”

“If we don’t help them,” the man returned, “the Venoqs will go for our planet next. We’ll go extinct that way too. If we combine forces with the humans now, we have a better chance.” He exhaled. “Plus, it was your Terran friend John’s idea.”

Eve scowled. “I hate his idea. His Herohat can do the job anyway. I really don’t think it’s a good idea to help the humans.”

The man raised an eyebrow. “You’re not going to tell him that, are you?”

“No,” Eve said sheepishly, then looked away. “Of course not.”

Her father nodded. “Exactly. this is our best shot at revenge to the Venoqs, Eve. We have to try, at the least. We can’t just escape them. We have to make a stand, or all is lost.”

“But we know the Venoqs, Dad! We know them better than anyone! And for one thing I know how powerful John’s Herohat is. He can take care of it.”

Her father looked annoyed. “Apparently I know them better than you. And the elders. I have studied that game for years, Eve. No matter how powerful that crown is the Venoqs are stronger. They’re going to need help. We’re doing this okay? Why did you tell me to help them in the first place, huh? John didn’t tell you to come here. We’re doing this whether you like it or not, okay? If you had wanted to stop me, you’re too late.”

Suddenly a spark crackled over in one of the hills in front of us. Then it kept crackling until it expanded into a huge purple portal. Ugh, more purple and my eyes were going to bleed. 

It became a swirling mass bigger than an aircraft carrier, full of pure energy that felt like it was rippling between dimensions. It made me feel like I was slipping away from this world. I didn’t know how it was affecting me in a dream. 

This dream was nonsense anyway. It was okay though. When I wake up I was going to forget it all. 

“Here it is, my people!” The general’s booming voice startled me. “Let us charge into battle and return the blood loss of our race to the Venoqs! Let us return the pain and suffering they had inflicted upon us and take it to their home!”

His yell was nothing against the colossal roar from the army as they charged at their transport to the first ever home of the humans, into the clutches of an alien race that would promise them their deaths. 

Then it faded. I stared into back emptiness. 

Only a voice spoke. It was soothing but irritating. Warm and soft, but full of malice and cold. A vibration that sounded deep, coming from the true centre of the universe. 

You cannot win. Laseronix will arise. When I invade your puny little planet earth, the future will break down. You will cease to exist. You will perish under the rule of time that my master controls. And when you don’t exist, as well as your father, the team will not be complete. My armies shall take down your race just like all the others. 

I tried to talk back, but my voice wouldn’t work. A strong mind-splitting force kept interfering with my thoughts. 

Muddling your mind is only one of the powers Titanetrox has. But it would only be a fish in the sea for the abilities of Laseronix. 

And an atom in the universe for my master’s.

I felt like I was being stretched in a black hole�"only ten times stronger. Not only my physical consciousness was turning into spaghetti, but also my inner spirit. I have never felt such pain�"in a dream, especially. 

I was spiralling towards the centre of the void, and somehow I knew this was the guy speaking to me’s doing, whoever it was.

This guy was powerful. It was proven already. The excruciating pain was unbearable. 

I had to wake up. I had to wake up now. 

The voice ringing inside my head and everywhere at once laughed maniacally. I already see your grim fate young one! Zen awaits on your new planet!

As I got twisted through a couple of dimensions, my body went limp as I forced myself back into reality.

.  .  .

For once I have never been so happy to come back into the world I live in.

My body jerked up so suddenly Jasmine screamed and jumped up. My dream didn’t fade like I thought it would. I remembered every single detail, which was killing me. 

Zen…Laseronix…Eve? My father? 

An invasion towards earth?

It didn’t make sense. Earth was eons ago. If an invasion happened, it already did. 

But unless that guy’s master controls time. It said the future will break down when his armies win the invasion. 

Then the invasion was lost. I was still here. The future didn’t break down yet. I patted my body, hoping I wouldn’t randomly cease to exist. I sighed with relief. I was still here. 

The dream was just full of shenanigans and crazy nonsense. It wasn’t real. Just a nightmare. 

A nightmare that felt really real and vivid. 

I reassured myself that everything was fine… until Jasmine threw an outrage. 

She stomped her foot in frustration. “Dan! What was that for?!”

“What�"“

“You scared the crap out of me! One second you’re sleeping, the next you almost give me a heart attack!”

“Sorry.” I apologized sincerely. “Had a nightmare. About an alien invasion and�"“

“We’re living in an alien invasion.”

As if I needed to be reminded of that again. “Oh yeah.”

She had a murderous look on her face. “That’s two times now.” She fumed. 

I tried to look innocent. “Okay, but you’re not being fair. This time I didn’t mean it.”

She relaxed. “Yeah, I guess…”

“How long was I asleep?”

“Long enough.”

“Please specify.”

“About ten hours.”

“How do you even stay up that long anyway?” I asked.

“I told you I had things to do, didn’t I?”

I wondered if she stayed up all night on her social media with her buddies or something, but I didn’t think it was possible.

I got up and grabbed my things. “Okay, let’s go.”

The forest had a big chill and a foggy mist, but it was rather warmer than last night. I felt refreshed after my energy recollection. I could hike through ten provinces if I wanted to now.

The area we reached clear of the wild plants making up the floor. A big collection of different trees of different sizes made up the ground. 

Then a memory washed over me. “Jasmine, I had a nightmare.”

“I know,” she said, “it was pretty obvious.”

“No, but�"listen. So I was back at the time of earth, and I was in a different planet. There was a huge army ready to defend earth from these aliens called the…the…”

I whacked my brain for the answer. It magically came. “The Venoqs! That’s what they were called. So, anyways, after they went to war, there was this voice speaking to me. It told me we were going to go to another planet by this guy… this guy called Zen.”

Jasmine looked at me like I was talking gibberish. “That,” she said, “is the most lamest excuse for a nightmare.”

She completely misunderstood me. “No, it was scary, before I woke up. It was painful.”

“How can a dream be painful?” She stated. “You’re making up those names.”

“No, this voice spoke to me. He has powers. He was able to hurt me, inside the dream.” 

Then it hit me like a big rice sack to my face. The voice… The same voice… The same voice one year ago.

I remembered the exact words. Run, little one. But you cannot hide. It would be easier to just let your fear take over. 

“Dan,” Jasmine said slowly, “it was just a dream.” 

I must’ve looked spooked.

“I�"It felt real.” I stammered. 

“But it wasn’t,” she assured me.

“It was, I’m telling you.”

She sighed. “Honestly, why do I even travel with you?” 

“Because of my horrible jokes.”

I saw a smile tug at the corner of her mouth, but it disappeared. “That’s not funny.”

For most of the trip we walked in silence. My head still ached from that guy in my dream, but everything else was as good as new.

The whole night we went to the halfway point of the last province before departure from Lyneria. 

I thought about our sea transport. “Jaz,” I began, “do you know how to drive a boat?” 

“What kind of question is that? I’m eleven, and yes, I have a license and the knowledge to fully operate a functioning sea vessel. I obviously do.” She had an annoyed look on her face. 

“What?” I asked.

“I hate it when you call me that.”

“Because nobody listens to jazz music?”

“Ha, ha, vey funny,” she said bitterly. Although I almost thought she meant it.

“You need to practice your sarcasm.” I said. 

“You need to learn how to stop talking.” 

I didn’t say one word after that, to prove her wrong. 

We walked through the forest that felt bigger than Evolotropoils, which is to say, huge. It expanded as far as a mountain range beside it. It was a big line of light grey mountains as tall as the sky, capped with some snow. No matter what season it was, the snow would be there, from the extreme cold weather of the heights of Vanity’s atmosphere.

The only sound I heard was my staff being posted on the floor every few steps. I realized the true reason I fell asleep last night. Walking was so utterly boring that I’d rather get stabbed by a Novatron helmet horn. Listening to the thumping sounds of my hiking staff can get so repetitive that you would think school is more fun.

I kept myself alert for any sudden attacks or dangers. But if the aliens thought we were dead and stopped searching for us, I couldn’t think of anything else that can hurt us. I mean, there aren’t any wild, carnivorous animals that I have heard of in Vanity. I’m pretty sure Vanity offered not a lot of human predators, especially if they knew their prey had evolved strength and is just as capable of fighting back. 

I glanced at Jasmine. To my surprise, she actually looked depressed. 

“Hey,” I said, “what’s wrong?”

She blushed. “Nothing. Just my parents. I miss them.”

A ton of memories of my family flooded into my mind that instant. 

“Hey, we’re both missing our family. At least we found each other, right?”

She sniffed. “Yeah, I guess.” She looked down at her feet. “Don’t you�"I don’t know, like, sometimes want to take a knife and start over?”

Boom. She hit a sensitive subject. “Oh man, if I had a nickel for every time…”

“You’d be a very poor man, wouldn’t you?”

“No, I’d have enough to buy my own planet.”

It was true. I never thought I would think of thoughts that dark but ever since the invasion came I regretted surviving it. I had wished my life ended there. And I considered ending my life after that too. 

But no matter what, I knew it was wrong. I had to keep going. That’s what a non-average person would do. I had to never give up or all hope is lost. The tiny spark of rebuilding Vanity’s society was lost if I wasn’t up to the task.

And I would feel so guilty. Even in the afterlife. I would feel so ashamed of myself for doing something stupid I’d never forgive me for my mistake. I’d stay there with the endless pain of guilt for eternity. 

She looked a bit relieved when she found out that she wasn’t alone with what she thought. 

Not one more word was said during our long trip.

.  .  .

It seemed like forever until we made it out of the dense woods. By lunchtime we found… well, nothing. And I get a bit grouchy for not getting my usual bacon breakfast. And if I find out I get no lunch too, that was crossing the line already. 

I was glad we made it out of the forest. I felt so tired and thirsty. And bored. 

But the next terrain was harder. 

It was a series of valleys, cliffs, and plateaus. Even with my evolved powers, I couldn’t exactly say, well, no problem. They valleys were as deep as big ravines. The cliffs were bout three buses apart. Some plateaus were steeper than ninety degrees. They were taller than four stories high. And they stretched on as far as the eye could see. 

Being in the afternoon, it was hot. The blazing sun scorched the area as the sandy red cliffs they are. It was making my throat dry. The ground had a soft surface with the dust but had a hard crust full of billion-year-old rock. Layers upon layers of igneous granite made up the tall mountains with flat surfaces. They went different colours�"from light red to white and tan brown to dark chocolate. they lined over the valley horizontally. 

On the other side was a brutally scorched and sandy land, also known as the desert. It looked like it once held vegetation to sustain life, but currently it was a bunch of withering plants over the red dust. Hooray, more sand.

“Water,” Jasmine muttered. 

“Lots of it,” I said, while I started to dehydrate. I walked right up to the cliff and looked down, half expecting to see some sort of river. My hopes went down when there wasn’t one. I couldn't just jump down there anyway. 

I raised my head and calculated the distance. It shouldn’t be too hard to try a jump. If I failed�"well, I failed. But a jump would probably make it. 

“Come on�"” I said, then stopped when I realized Jasmine didn’t follow me. She was still at the edge of the forest, watching.

“Aren’t we going to jump?” I asked. 

She shook her head.

“Oh man,” I muttered, “how much fears do you have?” I walked back to go get her. 

“Listen,” I said, “do you want to climb down the cliff and climb up the other side?” 

“No,” she replied. “that would take too long.”

“Exactly. Now we can surely make this jump. We have to make it. Trust me, we’ll be fine.”

“I don’t trust you.” 

“That’s why you don’t achieve anything in life.”

She glared at me like I went too far. Then she took off her backpack and handed it to me. 

“Hold this,” she said.

Then she cracked her knuckles, which was something even I didn’t know how to do. Then she charged straight at the cliff. 

At the edge she leaped into the air and landed on the other side flawlessly. She turned and smiled.

I walked to the edge of the cliff, gripping Jasmine’s bag at the strap, I spun around a complete circle, then let go. It was thrown vigorously to the other side into jasmine’s waiting hands. Then I took off my leather bag and did the same. I impaled my spear over there too.

I kneeled low and tied my shoes. I watched Jasmine on the other side giving me a look like: you can’t delay the inevitable, Dan. 

The truth was, I was really scared out of my mind right now. Now I wasn’t so sure I could make it, because the pressure was on. It seemed like a whole extra train track was added to extend the distance. 

It was my idea though, and if Jasmine could do it, I can too.

I got up and dusted my jeans. I turned around and jogged to the end of the forest. I rolled up my sleeves and wiped sweat off my forehead. I was pacing on the spot, getting ready. I took a deep breath.

I sprinted faster than I could ever imagine. Racing towards the edge, I leaped at the last second. 

I already started falling. Knowing I wasn’t going to make it, I reached out my arms and they grabbed the ledge on the other side. I heaved myself up. Now came the embarrassing part.

“You barely made it.” She teased.

“At least I did,” I said. “And you’ve known about our evolution all along. You’re experienced with it more than me. And at least I don’t have a fear of heights.”

“Me too.”

“Yes you do.” Annoyed, I snatched my bag from her hand. We continued through the valley. 

“Man, I wish I could find another person to talk to. You’re so annoying. My birthday wish didn’t really work, did it?”

“It’s your birthday?” She asked. 

I didn’t think she meant it as a joke. “Oh, no no no. Today’s not my birthday. It’s in the winter. What about you?”

“The eighteenth of  February.”

“Cool. You know, I was surprised my bunker had a cookie in it. That’s when I ate it.”

“That sucks,” she said. “The best treat I had was a whole pizza.”

“What? Are you serious? You got a pizza?!”

We started climbing down a not so steep plateau. The sun was baking me like a pie. Each step I had to find the right spot to place my foot on, and I thought I would fall each time. There were lots of mini ledges to step on, but most of them were too tiny or they broke when I stepped on them.

Jasmine said, “Okay, let’s talk about our journey. We’re going to Belladan, the voidal continent�"which is plain crazy by the way�"and�"“

“Why?”

She looked at me like I was stupid, which was possibly true. “Do you know how to drive a boat?”

“Maybe we’ll find a person that can.” I said.

“You can’t just hope on that. Plus, it’s not going to happen. I say we change our route and stay in Lyneria.”

I froze. “Are you crazy? We would at some point have to cross that Novatron city again! And I want to get to Belladan. It’s my original path. I’m not going a different direction.”

I hoped she would just give up on her idea. But nope. “What if we find nothing there?” She said, like she almost wanted it. 

“What if we find nothing here?” I replied. 

“We haven’t checked everywhere here.”

“We haven’t checked Azdux and Belladan at all. And better yet, they must’ve survived. They are way more powerful than us anyway. They should’ve fended off the Renzs.” 

She kicked a fist-sized stone all the way down the valley somewhere in the middle of another lower forest that I just noticed by now. 

“What?” I asked hastily.

“You don’t get my point. Why are you making my life so hard?”

“But you’re the one that wanted to tag along with me. The one who agreed with my route.”

She had a pleading look on her face.

“Fine.” I said. “Explain your point.”

“Okay,” she began, “I think we should stay in Lyneria because one, it’s probably going to be a dangerous sea trip to Azdux, and two, Lyneria is human habitat. We don’t know what kind of foods or things are in the other continents, or what kind of surprises are waiting. Here is the safest.”

I had to admit, she had a great point. But I wasn’t convinced.

“Okay, my turn.” I announced. “One, if we stay in Lyneria, there are tons of Renzs here. And sooner or later we’ll have to cross their city. And I’m telling you, it’s not going to be easy the second time. Two, I intend to get out of here. My plan at the start was to explore all continents. Plus, I want to explore places I haven’t been to before. And if we stay here, I’m telling you, I don’t want to experience the city again. And Lyneria is where Vanity’s capital is. Evolotroplis is where their mothership came. It’s where the invasion began, because it had the biggest population and it had all types of races, not just one. They’re probably swarming Lyneria. There’s probably, no�"certainly, the most of them here. And three,” I took a breath, “I want to drive a boat.”

“Your reasons are mostly about desire.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Everything. And it doesn’t matter how much Renzs are in a continent or not. It only takes one to kill us both,” She said. 

“Whatever. Here’s some advice: no matter how much you plead, I’m still going to Azdux, with you or not. I can bear it. Really.”

She didn’t looked convinced. “Dan, I’m not suggesting my idea for me, I’m suggesting it for us. It’s the safer route. You want to wing it and explore all over the world, try new things, and get yourself killed.”

“And so I will.”

She started to get angry. “Fine. Travel alone.”

“Fine.”

“Fine!”

She stormed off down the path into the forest way below in the valley, off in her new adventures in a different direction.

“No wait�"“ I said. She didn’t listen. I felt guilty.

But I was extremely angry. What’s her problem anyway? I want to go to Azdux. Can’t she just deal with it?

I kicked a tree to share my pain. It bent off its roots. 

“Augh!” I threw my hands in the air. What have I done? Even if I didn’t need her, she still needed me. She hasn’t travelled by herself yet. She would get herself killed.

No, I would get her killed. This was my fault. I should’ve been nicer. I just hoped she forgave me.

I felt like slapping myself. Of course she wouldn’t. I had to let her cool down first, like an overheated laser gun. 

.  .  .

I shouted her name once more.

I couldn’t find her. All I was doing was sending a beacon signal for every Renz in the valley. But I didn’t care. I’ll just tell them to go away with a language called violence. 

My super senses picked up shuffling somewhere. I tracked the sound. 

I found Jasmine sitting on a hill. She had her face in her knees. 

“Aw, come on Jaz.” I said as I sat beside her. “I’m sorry.”

Her voice was muffled. “Apology not accepted.”

“What will make you accept it then?”

“Nothing.”

“How about I stay in Lyneria with you?” I regretted it once it came out. Yes, after all this, I still didn’t want to stay here.

Jasmine sighed. Then she looked up at me. “Okay, the truth is, I’m sorry.” 

“What?”

“I was the one that overreacted. It was my fault.”

“But I�"“ I had this whole speech prepared and I didn’t even get to use it.

“Yeah,” she said, “my fault. Get over it. I want to go with you. That’s what I agreed to in the first place, right?” 

“Yeah, but�"“

“No, I’m not staying. I’m going to Belladan.”

I felt relieved. “So…” I said, “you forgive me?”

She nodded. “But do you forgive me? I mean, for being a jerk?”

“Yeah. At least you confessed that my idea was better.” 

“Shut up.” She punched me in the arm playfully, but smiled. 

“Hey!” I said. “I’m just kidding!”  

I stood up. “So, let’s keep going then. Come on!”

She laid back and groaned.

Chapter 7: Cliffside

It turns out, the cliffs didn’t take that long to cross. Okay, maybe it took the whole afternoon, but otherwise it was short. A couple of times Jasmine slipped and I had to reach out with my staff to haul her back up�"which she owed me a life debt now. I actually slipped and screamed like a little girl while I fell… and landed on the ground half a second later. I wasn’t paying attention to how close the ground was. Jasmine wouldn’t stop laughing at that. And I was steaming with anger.

We reached the inner forest between a huge mountain range and a lake. It was a great thing that neither one was in our path. The huge forest below us was the big part of the whole thing. The small part was the one we crossed. 

Yes, I meant below us. We were on a really high cliff. At the peak, actually. Jasmine’s fear of heights stopped her from nearing the edge. I sill went.

The view was spectacular. The huge forest surrounded the lake, like a bunch of green bushy shrubs huddled together. The lake was so vast, it covered the whole left side as far as the evolved eye can see. The mountain range tops were covered with snowy icecaps, like one giant snowball was dropped at their peak. Over them was unseeable. The range went not very far, for it started way past the start of the forest. 

Ahead in our path were the trees. And… a huge city in the distance! 

I missed it the first time. It was a tiny speck not too far away. 

If I could focus and squint really hard, I can see the borderline of Ramento. It sparked hope in me. Just a few more trips, and we would get off this wretched continent. I tried seeing the docks or at least a beach but it was just too far. Far enough to beat my enhanced eyesight. 

I glanced back. Jasmine didn’t move any closer. 

“Come on,” I said. “The view’s amazing.”

She buried her head deep in her sweater. I went behind her and gently pushed her to the ledge. She barely struggled. 

When I got her close enough, I pulled down her sweater.

Her amber eyes glinted in the sunlight. “Wow,” she breathed. 

“See? Worth it huh?” 

It had gotten cooler since it was turning night. Sunset was coming, but we still had time left. I wanted to make it to the city already.

Suddenly, the whole mountain shook. At first I didn’t know what was going on, but Jasmine lost balance and tripped over the ledge! 

Shock jolted me. I dashed over the ledge and grabbed jasmine’s foot in the nick of time. She was screaming her lungs out. 

I tried not to focus below us. It was about a six second drop. The jagged cliff side offered not a lot of small ledges, and the ground had no high trees to latch on to if we fell.

The earthquake kept rumbling as I concentrated on pulling Jasmine up. It wasn’t easy with her constant screaming and flailing of her arms. 

Gravity got ahold of her backpack and it fell to the ground way far below. She seemed to start screaming louder after that. 

The shaking continued more fiercely. Trees were vibrating, shaking off their leaves in a mass storm of more distractions for me. Rocks tumbled down over the edge, which was not helping at all, and my heart was doing exercises. My brain felt all mushy from the shaking. My eyesight was blurring. I couldn’t stop my teeth from clattering. 

But after all that, I focused one hundred percent on saving Jasmine’s life.

The whole cliff seemed to start tilting. I was starting to freak out. It went the backwards direction, so I got Jasmine up into safety easily. But I wouldn’t really call it safety.

My stomach did a twirl as the whole column of rock we were standing on was shaking and getting lifted. I didn’t know what was happening for sure, but I did have my suspicions. And if the whole thing was flipped we would fall to our deaths. 

Jasmine looked more angry than scared. “This was not worth it.” 

“I didn’t know this was coming,” I said. The shaking didn’t fade the slightest, so I sounded like I was sitting on a massaging sofa. “Ready?”

She barely had time to say for what before I grabbed her and threw her to the nearest tree on the cliff as a handhold. Then I jumped to another one.

I held onto it for dear life as the root of the stone we stood upon was vibrating violently. Then I finally knew what was happening. 

“Listen Jaz, you’ve got to trust me.”

“Do I ever?”

I realized I called her Jaz without her even noticing. It was probably because of the current situation.

“We have to jump off,” I said casually, like it was something people did every day. If someone tells you to jump of a cliff, would you do it? Yeah, no problem.

“Okay, but we jump off that way.” She pointed to the ledge she almost took a headfirst dive into.

“No,” I said, “you don’t understand. We have to jump this way.” I looked at the tilted ledge. 

“No,” she said. “No, you don’t understand. My bag fell that way!” 

“It’s just a stupid bag!” I yelled over the noise of the cracking rocks. “This is a life or death situation!” 

She shook her head. “My bag has all my possessions! We have to get it back!” 

In some way I almost let her go. I understood what she meant. If I lost my bag, I would do anything to get it back. There were a lot of connections that were in there to my dead family. Photos, gifts, you name it. 

But that wouldn’t cut it. The Renz lifting the cliff was that way. He was going to throw it that way too, I was certain.

Before I could react, Jasmine ran towards the ledge. 

“No!” I shouted. I ran towards her. I followed her over the cliff. 

She grabbed a mini ledge as she started climbing down, determined to get all her stuff back. 

I slid downwards fast, the rough rocky surface scraping and burning my hands. When I got to Jasmine’s level I grabbed Jasmine on the waist. I stabbed my staff into the side to hold our combined weight as we slid down the tilted side of the cliff, towards the ground hundreds of metres away. 

“Let me go!” She hollered, then stopped when she realized what I was doing. “I thought you wanted to go back up,” she said nervously, like I’ve lost my mind.

“Whatever.” I replied. We kept sliding down the shaking cliff. I aimed my eyes on the prize�"Jasmine’s backpack hanging on a tree. 

Then I felt the whole landmass shift, and it was heaved forcefully from the face of Vanity. It was being thrown by the Novatron holding it at the bottom!

“Jump!” I yelled, unsure of what was going to happen next. I didn’t have a plan.

We detached from the airborne mountain and landed safely in the trees. My body hurt like I got hit by a bus. My bleeding arms and legs felt like wild animals mistook them for a snack. 

I was losing so much blood, I was a red mess. During the fall, I took a whip in the head from a branch. The twigs scraped my skin on the hard crash to the floor. 

Log story short�"I should’ve been dead.

In pain, we both got up slowly. Jasmine groaned. She didn’t look much better. She had so much cuts and bruises on her face I wouldn’t have recognized her if not for the clothes.

“What were you thinking?” Jasmine mumbled weakly. I ignored her. I willed my body to rise, but fell and got surprised by how weak I was. I tried to stand up again but my arms and legs didn’t cooperate. They went useless. 

I’d felt this before, during the Novatron city. But this time, I didn’t have my staff. I’d lost it somewhere during the fall. It didn’t matter right now.

I was so injured, hungry, thirsty, and tired, I couldn’t think straight. 

I tried again. every bit of strength. But I just fell again. Wow, an even more worse situation than last time in the forest and I don’t get new powers or something. And this situation was worse because I couldn’t get up and I knew the Renz that almost killed us was coming to finish the job.

When Jasmine tried to get up, her eyes rolled over and she laid on the floor, unconscious�"or asleep. I prefer it that way.

I was more alone than ever. For once, I felt the loneliness. I was all by myself now. Nobody to help, nobody to talk to. And nobody to annoy me. I would trade anything to have her annoying me again.

My staff flew to me somewhere from the trees and it gave a lot of help getting up. I shuffled to the tree holding Jasmine’s bag and kicked it. It shook as the prize fell into my waiting hands. I almost crumpled when it came. I hooked it onto my back and walked in slow-motion towards Jasmine.

There was no getting out of this. I had to carry her and everything we packed�"on my shoulders. I didn’t know�"no, I probably knew that I didn’t have the strength to do that. I had to carry them all and escape from the alien after us.

I grabbed her and hauled her over my left shoulder. The weight of everything made me want to cry. I was going ten centimetres a second, like a turtle. 

I must’ve been breaking a rib every minute. The pain was already bad enough. Now I had to carry everything while making sure I escaped a murderous Renz after us, soon to come at any moment. And we’d probably be dead. 

I already felt dead. 

As if to make things worse, I was right. The Novatron who single-handedly threw the cliff of in the distance was coming to us. It didn’t make sense. To be something that strong that can throw something that big that far for something that small, it was impossible. And I mean it this time. The Novatrons defied every law of physics. 

The alien was gaining. I dropped everything gently to the floor. There was no way I would outrun this thing. 

I held my stance, made my weapon, and got ready for a battle. I was going to die anyway. Might as well do it while fighting. 

I barely had time to even see it come. When I got ready it punched me in the gut and I soared into a tree. Ouch. I called for my spear.

As it rushed towards me my enemy swatted away like a fly. It clattered far away. 

The Renz charged. It had neon blue energy veins around his armour and it turned into a blur. He body slammed me into the tree so hard a huge air shockwave blasted every tree in the area like a powerful sandstorm. The pain was indescribable. But I wasn’t dead.

Yet.

The wind knocked out of me tried to make up for it as I panted heavily. My sweat stung on my blood. I felt like going out. Good night world.

No, got to stay awake. Got to. 

It grabbed my neck and drew me back. Then it started smashing me against the tree. It sent chips of wood flying in all directions. 

I coughed up blood. How was I not dead? I was just as shocked as my attacker.

It backed away to give me space to fall to the ground. This was it. I was dead. I was closer than ever. 

The Renz grabbed the wrecked tree and swatted it at me�"and missed. I ducked low and grabbed my spear, then made an effort to stab the enemy. 

It blocked it, then slammed his hands together. A supersonic wave blasted me backwards. My ears were ringing. I stumbled, then stood back up. 

Intense anger radiated from its eyes, melting me until I felt like a puddle of goo. They were reptilian eyes with sharp slits that made it look more ferocious. Its hands were four thick fingers, rough and calloused, and midnight purple, covered by sharp bone gauntlets. Its helmet revealed nothing but its eyes. It held malicious bone horns on the side like of a rhino.  Its chest and lower body was engraved with intricate designs of bone and cloth. 

It was one scary dude. 

I jabbed my spear, and when it blocked it I spun and aimed for the face. When it ducked I quickly detached my spear, threw the dagger to his face at the same time I whacked his leg with my staff, hoping to trip it somehow, but it didn’t work.

I didn’t stop there. I grabbed my dagger again, attached, then sliced with all my might, before I detached, switched hands, and doubled my staff hits after a laser slash before I attached them once more and brought my weapon forcefully downwards with all my arm power. 

The alien wasn’t even fazed. It penetrated all my attacks until I was out of breath. Then it punched me in the stomach and I flew into a hill. Dust spilled everywhere, watering my eyes and making me wheeze for air. 

I was on the floor crawling slowly to the lake behind me. I didn’t care if it was contaminated by them. I drank like I’ve never drank before. I washed my blood into the soft water.

The water was soothing. It refreshed my damaged throat and washed away my blood as well as my sorrows. 

I was not about to give up. I picked myself up and stumbled to my attacker. 

I gave it a nice jab in the arm. It looked like he just got a mosquito bite. It grabbed my spear and watched me try to pull it out of its grasp. I pulled and pulled, then it suddenly let go and I fell on my rear.

I was really angry now. It was just taunting me. Taunting me before my death .

It approached to give me just that.

For the millionth time I got up. But it was the first time I tried to escape. Pain flared around every joint in my body as I ran.

I grabbed Jasmine and our stuff and ran as fast as I could. At least I felt like I was getting stronger again. My breathing eased. My footsteps were in shape, not wobbly. I ran fast. 

My evolution was making me heal quick. I felt all my injuries starting to fade or mend itself.

I weaved through the trees super fast, the weight on my back getting heavier and heavier as I got slower and slower…

No. I had to keep running. I leaped over streams and dashed under the shade of the trees. I had to get far away from this place. 

Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I collapsed and panted heavily on the ground. I had pretty good hopes that I ran far enough. Hopes, not certain facts. 

I laid Jasmine against a tree and slapped her face. Yes, it does seem a bit harsh, but that’s the point. 

“Wake up!” I said. “Come on! You’ve got to help me! There’s a Novatron after us! Wake up!”

I was talking to nobody. She was as useless as extra weight. 

I shook her shoulders forcefully. She didn’t stir. She was really in a coma.

Well, that sucks. I had to keep carrying her. 

I looked in my path. For some reason the city seemed closer than ever. Evolved speed?

Then I glanced behind me. The alien was in sight, but not close yet. I grabbed Jasmine and all our stuff and kept going.

I wondered if I should’ve brought Jasmine back up, back at the cliff when she was going to get her bag. I wondered if that was the better choice. When the Renz threw us along with the mountain we would get far away from him anyway. Now we were trapped with it. 

Maybe it would’ve thrown us to the city. But by jumping off the cliff, we were left with tons of pain and were still in range of the alien. 

My heart pulsed like a machine gun. My limbs swayed almost as rapid as a hummingbird’s wings. My brain was the problem though. It made me feel the pain. It was trying to persuade me how nice it was too take a rest and doze off peacefully. It kept reminding me I had the option to just relax and cause me no more pain. For a second I almost believed it. 

The part I believed was how it reminded me of how much trouble I was in. An alien with the strength to throw mountains, crush them, or lift them, was after two hopeless kids outmatched like a fly to a tiger. The fly can run fast, but the tiger always wins, as it is stronger, bigger, and smarter. 

Once I was out of breath gain, I stopped. And before I knew it, I’ve made it to the city. 

It was quite big, and already I can tell that just from the edge. It was a dock city after all. 

The worst: it was turning nighttime. Already dark, it was around seven, maybe. Even if it was still summer, it was turning dark early. I can’t believe we’ve already crossed the valley. 

If it turned dark, I couldn’t see. But that could be a good thing if the alien followed us. 

I needed to feel safe first. I considered hiding in one of the tall buildings, but I settled for transportation. Escaping is always better than hiding. And plus, that would get us closer to the bay, where we can find some way to get to Azdux. 

Ahem, I mean me. Jasmine was still peacefully dozed while I was struggling to keep us both alive. Thanks a lot, Jaz.

I wanted a car. Fortunately, I found one. It wasn’t crushed or singed or mutilated or crashed or exploded. I busted the lock door open and put Jasmine on the opposite seat. I put on her seatbelt. Hey, safety first! 

I scrambled to the driver’s seat and shut the door. I put on my sweater, rubbed my hands, and connected my AI to the car. 

It started to move. I laid back in my chair and started to relax�"when a huge chunk of stone slammed right in front of the car, cleaving the front bar off!

I jolted upwards.

The Renz was here. I disconnected my AI and slammed my foot on the forward pedal. The car made a screeching noise at the sudden burst of speed.

I was hoping I wouldn’t get smashed anytime (yes, I meant I this time, not we. You’re a real help Jasmine). 

Luckily I wasn’t. I took a glimpse at the rearview mirror. 

It was right there. Like, right there. It was somehow catching up to my vehicle, running as fast as his strong legs can carry him. I pushed on the pedal harder, wishing to go faster. 

It was a bumpy ride. As I went faster the car was getting more uncontrollable. I was losing control. I bumped against sidewalk steps and shaved off stoplights. I was zigzagging around the street, going faster and faster each second. The car jerked upwards and downwards like I was driving over a wavy road. Soon the Renz was failing to catch up to me. 

I held my foot on the pedal until I was sure we got away. Then I let my AI do the rest. 

And I fell asleep.

Chapter 8: Curiosity

I was afraid to get another dream. Luckily, before it even started, something shook my shoulders. I awoke groggily. A bright sun lit up the whole car. It was a nice shade of dandelion, warm and comforting. It spread the warmth all throughout my body. I suddenly felt hot in my sweater. 

The car had stopped in the middle of the city. I breathed in that clean, fresh car smell. 

Jasmine was the one who woke me up. When she realized I was awake, she said, “Explain.”

I looked at her. She looked better since last night. She was fully healed, which meant I should’ve been too. She was also cleaned up. 

“How did you�"“

“There was a fountain nearby. How did you get cleaned up?”

I was confused for a moment, until I realized I did get cleaned up. Last night actually. “Uh, I took a swim in the lake.”

“What even happened last night?” She gasped. “What about that Novatron? The one that threw the cliff? Are you okay?”

I was pretty sure I looked okay. “Yeah. I had to carry you and all our stuff while escaping it. The car helped.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Hey,” I said, “not your fault. I should be the one that’s sorry.”

“Why?”

“If we stayed on the cliff we would’ve gotten away from him.”

“But we would die.”

“Yeah,” I scratched the back of my head. “That too.”

“Duh, why do you think he was going to throw it in the first place?” She said. “And if we survived we would’ve gone backwards, maybe. Or in the middle of the ocean right now.”

“Well,” I said, “I guess you’re right. I made the right choice.”

“I am right.”

“Change the subject,” I suggested, “we’re almost to Ramento. Isn’t that awesome?”

She opened the door and got out of the car. I went out the other side. The sun was blazing. I took out my shades. 

We met at the front of the car. It was damaged badly from the boulder. 

I looked at Jasmine’s bag and said, “You’re welcome.”

“Yeah, thanks,” she pulled her bag strap and brought her own sunglasses.

I looked ahead. “We just have to cross this city and then… rexel land, baby!”

Jasmine brought out a map from her bag and unfolded it until it was half her size. “Not yet. This city is pretty big.” She started reading from the brochure. “Senolis,” Vanity’s second largest human city. We’re right on the edge. It goes all the way to the ocean. The car barely got us close.”

I wasn’t paying attention. “Seriously? You bring a map when you have an AI?”

She glared at me. “Jeez Dan, you depend too much on your device. The AI doesn’t have facts about the city, does it?”

“I’m pretty sure it does.”

“Nope.”

“Wait a second,” I said, thinking, “why do you have a map of Senolis anyway?”

“Nothing.” It was almost like she was embarrassed.

After she folded it we started walking through the streets. Just like all the other cities, this one was completely obliterated. But it was like this one had suffered more destruction, like the whole city was levelled. If I was right, I predicted there was some sort of flood, with the ocean being nearby and all.

I didn’t know the aliens could do that. What, they have some sort of wave projector? Maybe like, they planted an air-blast bomb at the bottom of the ocean? Man, I was really creative.

I wondered if the docks had a boat that we could use. One that would make the trip. I mean, the Ramento was the smallest ocean in Vanity, but it was still big, because of Vanity’s size. Like, humongous. 

Jasmine looked like something was troubling her. She was nervously looking all around us, like she expected something. 

“What up?” I asked.

“Nothing,” she said instantly. She was obviously hiding something. “It’s just, why are we walking on the road? That’s what they expect, right?”

Well, we were walking on the road because the sidewalks were littered with the building fragments from previous explosions and�"wait, Jasmine was distracting me! It didn’t work. 

“What’s wrong? Seriously.” 

“Fine. I’ll tell.” She said. “One of my friends moved here, okay?”

I got it now. “So that’s why you have the map?”

“Yeah. When I visited here.”

I wanted to say, she’s probably dead. But that would make her feel worse. Instead I said, “So you’re worried about her, right?

“Him,” she corrected.

Okay, I’ll admit that made me feel a bit awkward.

“He gave me his phone number so we could talk from far away,” she explained. “He wrote it on the map. That’s why I still have it. It’s the closest thing I have.”

But he’s dead, I thought. “We can check.” I offered, which made me feel really stupid. “Where does he live?”

“That’s the thing,” she said. “I don’t know where. Our families were hanging out in the city when I visited. I don’t know where he lives.”

“Well, he’s probably�"“ I caught myself.

“Dead,” she said grimly. “I know.”

I didn’t want to push her limits. 

We went on through the city. Every step closer the skyscrapers got higher, nearing the heart of the city. Some were crumbled to dust. No, seriously. Where one should’ve been, just a pile of rubble laid there. Like they blasted it with a vaporizer. Man, they had all kind of weapons. Just another reason to fear them more.

And Jasmine had all sorts of problems. She missed her family. She missed her friends. She missed her old life. 

Did I have any problems? Oh, yeah. 

But am I okay with them? Totally. Well, not totally. I would do anything for things to go back to the way they were. But at least I was still optimistic. I never showed my fear; I hope not. And ever since I found out about my evolution powers, I felt safer than ever. It made me capable of surviving the world I live in, ruled by Renzs who could do a real beating. I mean, I got punched in the stomach like a million times by a Renz or got land flipped or got mountain flipped and here I was, still alive.

I wondered if that was the same for the people my dad led against the invasion. Could they survive anything the Novatrons threw at them? Why did we lose the war?

My senses also sharpened from my evolution. But I didn’t feel any physical change. Sure, I can survive mountains thrown at me. But I didn't feel any buffer than I used to be. 

Probably because I’ve had this evolution for my whole life. I’ve never noticed it until now. My dad had a really good one, and I guess that’s why mine is strong too. So does that mean he can’t survive a mountain thrown at him? No. He was the best fighter I’ve ever known. Nobody can beat him. 

I can imagine a fight going on with little kids. My daddy can beat your daddy! No, mine is the strongest. Then I just come in. No, no, guys, my daddy is the best. He’s the strongest too. 

But it was possible I was stronger.

For some reason my dad never decided to mention it to me. I didn’t know why. Maybe he thought I was too young still, or I would learn it in school sooner or later. Or I’d just find out earlier. Or I wouldn’t even notice it because the new generations were already born with it. I’d just think it was normal to not get hurt if I got smacked by a giant tree by a barbarous Renz or something.

Who knows. Maybe the day after the invasion, he was going to tell me. Maybe I would’ve learned it if the aliens didn’t interrupt. 

I resented them so much. If I ever got the chance to strangle one of them, I wouldn’t give it a second thought or a first thought. I would gladly do it anywhere, anytime, under any circumstances. 

Except killing one wasn’t enough for revenge. 

I’ve lost everything to them. They took my parents’ life, my friends, my home, my city, my planet, and my video games.

I wanted to return it. I wanted to make a rebellion, and go for their planet and blow everything up. And then live there. See how they like it. 

Anger swelled up in me. I knew I would get my revenge. It would be the last thing I did when I died. 

Wait, but I wouldn’t die. I would let down the whole human race. All the five races, for crying out loud! Even if they’re all dead, they depended on me to avenge them from the Novatrons. The only ones who hasn’t suffered yet is them. 

Yet, how do I defeat them?

“Jaz,” I said. 

She kept her eyes on the road. “Yeah?”

“What’s going to happen…” I gulped. “I mean, after we go to Belladan and still find nothing? What’s going to be our future?”

“Our future?”

“Sorry didn’t mean it that way. I mean, what are we going to do?” 

She looked a bit disappointed. “If it’s okay with you, I’m just going to give up.”

I pictured that. Jasmine lying on the ground waiting for her death while I was dragging her and telling her to get up until I dragged her across the whole way to�"who knew where? Going to Belladan was enough exploring for me. I had to forget it. There was absolutely nobody left. That’s my last statement about that. Only Jasmine and I, nobody else.

Nobody else. 

It was a sad but oddly compelling phrase. It meant that we were alone. We had nobody else. And it also meant our doom. 

“Why don’t you just give up now?” I asked her. 

She frowned. “Are you testing my confidence?”

“Maybe.”

“Because of certain reasons.”

I stared at the sun. The sky was a shade darker through the vision of my sunglasses. The sun glinted through my lenses and blinded my sight a bit. 

Jasmine tugged my shoulder. I looked at her a bit annoyed. She pointed in front of us. My eyes followed in that direction. 

I was completely surprised. 

Just ahead a few blocks, something was parked at a crossroads. I recognized it immediately. A Novatron aircraft. 

I was drawn to it with curiosity. Jasmine knew better. She dragged me into an alley, where we couldn’t be seen. I don’t think she even knew what it was, but she dragged me here anyway. 

When we were at a safe distance, she whispered, “What is that?” 

“One of theirs. I fought, like, three of them in their city.”

She looked at me with disbelief. “No way. Those things have like missile launchers and laser guns and all kinds of stuff.”

“Yes way,” I said. Then a bright idea popped into my head. I smiled. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

She frowned. “Obviously not.”

“If we steal it, we can ride it across the ocean.”

She looked shocked. “Hell no, I’m not getting into that thing.”

I glanced at it again over the corner. Only now I saw two Renzs loading crates out of the shuttle cargo hold and placing them in a pile on the ground. They didn’t have the neon blue armour lining, so I knew they weren’t the strong ones. The super strong ones always had that neon lining. Nevertheless, I was still scared. They looked just as hideous. I found no weapons near them, but there could be some in the ship or in the crates. 

Thankfully neither Jasmine or I turned on the AI scanning mode. We’d probably be dead right now if I heard that stupid alarm sound again. 

Was it just me, or did they all look identical? I wondered if they were clones or something. These ones could’ve passed as the same two that had spotted me in the city. I decided not to think too much about that. I looked back at Jasmine. 

“Let’s fight?” I asked.

“No way dude,” she said instinctively. “Do you want to get yourself killed?” 

“Listen,” I said, “we need that ship. Don’t deny it.”

“Just because you did it once, doesn’t mean you can do it again. If you do, I’ll kill you.”

I felt like laughing. Poor old Jasmine, being protective. She sounded just like my mother.

I gritted my teeth. “We’re getting that ship.”

“Well, you’re alone on this one, buddy.”

I contemplated on that. If I was alone, I wouldn’t care so much about that, but somehow I did now. 

On the other hand, I’ve faced an entire army of them and survived. And I was so confident that we needed that ship. Our best hope�"no, out best chance at going across the Ramento. And I knew how to drive it. It was their smallest shuttle. The one that I drove through their city. 

But Jasmine made it clear. She wasn’t going on it. She wasn’t about to risk her life for it, and she wasn’t about to risk mine either.

I sighed. “Fine. I’ll let you be the captain for now. What’s your plan?”

She must’ve gotten surprised when I gave her the initiative, because she needed some time to think. She was always taking the safer way. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but sometimes risking something was worth it for the reward in succeeding. 

“We go around,” she finally said. “At a safe distance.”

I felt like smacking my face. Of course that’s what she was going with. I should’ve expected it. 

I calculated the distance open between the Renzs and their sight length, to the length of going around them. They were in the middle of two intersecting roads, so if we get spotted if they looked left or right we’d be dead. We couldn’t jump the rooftops, because then we’d have to climb the skyscrapers. And even with my evolved agility, I don’t think we could jump that far. And Jasmine was afraid of heights, no matter how much she denied it. 

Our best chance�"excluding stealing their ship�"was to get really far left or right, then sneak quietly to not get noticed, or go fast but have a better chance of getting spotted. 

I explained the details of my plans Jasmine. She nodded approvingly at the parts she liked and shook her head for the ones she didn’t. 

“So we sneak like, four blocks, then cross quietly?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she confirmed. “But run if they see us.”

I peeked over the side at the two aliens still loading crates off their ship, and I got another idea. 

“Or,” I began, “we could wait until they leave.”

“No,” she said, “we don’t know how long they’re staying or what they’re even doing.” She started walking the other way. “Let’s do your plan.”

I followed her through the buildings. Every time we crossed a road, I didn’t look both ways for cars, but for the fact that there could be more Novatrons. 

I didn’t know what Jasmine was doing, but she kept going even though I thought we were certainly out of earshot or length of sight. 

“Jaz,” I said as she turned, “this is far enough, I’m sure.”

We crossed quietly, staring intently at the two aliens still unloading. They didn’t look as far away as I’d thought they’d be. I wondered if I had made a mistake. 

Then I saw one of them turn its head to us.

“Run!” I said. 

We dashed across the street, under a shadow of a skyscraper blocking the sun. I was so fun of adrenaline. When we got tired we stopped. I started my usual check for enemies while I was breathing heavily. 

“Why,” Jasmine said between puffs, “did we run?”

I looked at her in confusion. “You didn’t see it see us?”

“Yes, I did,” she replied. “But it didn’t see us. It just turned and grabbed another box.”

I felt completely stupid. “Oh, well, sorry about that.”

I couldn’t see if she was annoyed through her glinting sunglasses. “Check how far we went.” 

My AI map showed unimpressive news. We barely closed any distance between the sea. 

“The city’s as big as you say.” I said.

“What does that mean?”

“It means let’s keep going.”

We kept going. So far, we had not spotted any Renzs yet. It was a bit uneasy. No Renzs either meant they've left this area, or they were doing some sort of ambush. 

And I wondered what those two Renzs were doing with unloading stuff. Maybe they were setting up a facility, like a base outpost. Whatever it was, I didn’t have to worry about it. I was getting off this continent anyway.

Speaking of soon, there were only hours left until nighttime. I didn’t think we’d have enough time to cross the Ramento today. 

I did some researching on a geography project once. It takes at least a day to cross the ocean with a regular modern boat. So we would eventually get bored there. 

So in about two days, Azdux here we come!

Even if that wasn’t much time at all, I was impatient. It seemed forever to me. 

But I was a bit scared too. Of what would happen on our voyage. Maybe we would hit a storm and our boat would flip under the massive waves. Maybe nothing will happen at all and we’d have the plain old view in every direction.

But I was afraid about the crossing too. What if something goes wrong? We’d be stuck in the ocean forever. What if I get seasick? What if I fell overboard? What if I lost my sense of direction? What if I get terrified by having no land around me for kilometres? 

Nah. Like I said, I’m only afraid of dangers. The only thing I’m scared of is a great storm. 

And the only other possible thing: a giant sea monster. But, who would think of that? Everybody knows that’s just a myth.

Right?

Tonight would be spent here, then a day of travelling. Sounds like a plan to me. 

When we get to Azdux, at an ongoing point eastwards in the rexel continent, we would go upwards, getting into Belladan in… I don’t know. But the journey would take weeks, give or take. 

I kept my eyes and ears alert to the area around me. My eyes couldn’t spot the end of the long way we still had to walk. And I was getting hot and tired… and hungry. 

I realized the last time I ate was before we left Jasmine’s house, which was about two days ago. I needed energy to fight back and to keep walking. This wasn’t healthy for my body. This wasn’t good for my body at all.

My stomach groaned as if it read my thoughts. Ugh, I was really pushing my limits, weren’t I? I’d become weak without food energy. 

“Jaz,” I said quietly, “do you have any food?”

She opened her bag and passed me a bag of chips. It was junk food, but I was starving. I opened it and started munching out of it like a vicious barbarian. I must’ve looked stupid. I offered Jasmine, but she shook her head.

“Why aren’t you starving?” I asked. 

“I guess I didn’t mention,” she said, “when you were sleeping in that grass field, I found a fruit.”

“Seriously? I didn’t get some?”

“Okay, I only found one in the tree. Plus, you were asleep.”

I wasn’t mad at her anyway. I opened another plastic water bottle and chugged it down. 

“Do you think,” I said when I put it down, “that we will have to eat rexel food once we reach Azdux?”

“No,” she said, “maybe they’ll have the same animals there as over here.”

I tried remembering the last regular meal I had. Like, one in a normal day in a normal life. It wasn’t easy. From what we’ve already been through, and living in that bunker that was ages ago, I had trouble remembering. All I knew was the food I had in the bunker was kind of disgusting. Even the cookie of my birthday was stale and bitter.

I wanted dinner. A bag of chips wasn’t going to cut it. We were in the city. There wouldn’t be any wild animals here. I wished I could just waltz in a restaurant and eat food there, but with power for fridges being gone, with all the wrecked buildings, it was hard to find a good place to eat in town. 

“I’m still hungry,” Jasmine said. 

“Yeah,” I replied. “Have any idea where to get food?”

“We might find some on Azdux.” She said.

Ah, poor Jasmine. Always thinking ahead, and never right now. Didn't she know that our boat trip was one day long? So, we were going to starve all day long? And all night long? And the next day too?

I couldn’t take that. 

I kept munching on my snack, happy for what I had. It filled my stomach with hunger satisfaction… for now. 

The night was coming fast. The sunset was mesmerizing. A bunch of warm colours underneath layers of cold clouds streaked the horizon. Vanity’s sun Remedie was fading beneath the skyscrapers, sinking towards the other side of the planet. 

“Are we�"“ 

“No,” Jasmine replied instantaneously. “We’re not.”

I was glad she made that decision. “Travelling through the dark was dangerous, and we learned that the hard way. Especially since we found out there were Novatrons nearby. And no, I wasn’t scared… maybe.

.  .  .

Through the city we went, until it was completely dark. We made it halfway through Senolis. Another half to go tomorrow, then rexel land here we come.

We were in another building, way up in the air. We had to use the stairs, of course. 

There was a hallway filled with rooms along the sides. I picked the one parallel to Jasmine’s. We said good night and parted into our rooms. 

I had to get used to no electricity. I kept forgetting the lights wouldn’t work. I also had to get used to living in random places from now on. This was a life of a traveller, I guess. 

I cleaned up around the room. It was small, with one bed and a table. A door led to the bathroom and there was a small balcony. I decided to hang out there for a while. 

I rested my staff on the wall, took off my shades, and followed the cool breeze from outside. And that was because the glass doors leading outside was smashed. It made me regret picking this room. 

I rested silently on the ledge and gazed out into the city skyline. I was higher than most buildings and I saw the borderline of the ocean we were going to cross tomorrow. 

I smiled. That meant Jasmine got the boring view, if she even had a window at all. 

Yeah, I was scared of tomorrow. It was scary crossing an ocean. For the sake of finding survivors I was going to risk my life and own ship across the Ramento. It was the easiest challenge if talking about ocean size, but the hardest accomplishment for two kids who absolutely don’t know what they’re doing. 

And the biggest question yet: what will we find there? People? More aliens? More destruction? 

Death?

I sighed. What am I thinking? My brain’s more messed up than the whole concept of this situation. 

Sometimes I feel so scared. Okay, maybe not sometimes. Like I felt like humanity wasn’t depending on me. I was carrying an imaginary future for the five races. 

I missed my family. I longed for my friends. I would even have the people I hate the most by my side right now, if I could.

That reminded me that I wasn’t alone. I found Jasmine. But it was more like I was here for her. She was younger than me. More terrified. I had to be brave for the both of us or all is lost.

All is lost… 

I had nothing to lose anyway. It wasn’t fair. They just walked right in, bumped us off the face of Vanity, and they don’t care. I didn’t want to control my temper. I wanted to unleash it at them. 

I stared into the night sky, full of stars we’ve probably been to. Ones full of planets with wastelands created by us. It was dotted everywhere with white stars of all sizes, with some red ones for red supergiants, and blue ones for blue giants. Then there’s the dim ones meaning it could only be a white dwarf. The ones radiating such little heat that the planets in the system are super cold and inhabitable, if there are even planets in white dwarf systems. They’re so small they have a weaker gravitational pull than others. 

I envisioned the worlds beyond the Local Group. They could be jungles, ice worlds, desert lands, but nothing that could beat Vanity. Vanity was by far the best planet we’d ever come across to, from the birth of the humans to the end of us, which was now.

It made me ponder about our history…. scientifically, of course, because I’m a nerd.

Earth was three times smaller than Vanity. It would mean an earth human would not be used to Vanity’s gravity, which was three times stronger than earth’s. Luckily for a modern human, they wouldn’t feel any different because of their evolution. But an earth human would feel like he was carrying two more of himself if her or she ever visited Vanity. 

And that was probably why we have this adaptation. Extra strength for us to resist Vanity’s gravity. But even with the gravity, I have more than regular strength with this evolution.

Which meant… if I ever visited earth, I would be three times stronger and lighter. So, I could jump a kilometre or something. Wild guess. 

All this thinking about earth, it reminded me of my dream. 

The Venoqs, Eve, invasion, I tried to recall all of it. If there was an invasion on earth, then it was never mentioned. All I know is that we survived the invasion because humans are still here today. Well, two of them at least. 

It was this guy’s idea… John. He had a hero hat of some sort, and the girl called Eve said it would take care of the invasion. It was a bit scary meeting someone that powerful then. I wished I had that kind of power. Like I could kill every single Renz with it. 

I was definitely going crazy. It was some random dream. There was no invasion, there was no John, it was all cuckoo. 

But that voice… it was spooky. It gave me the shivers. Something told me that was a real vision, and not a dream, because it had a connection to reality. The voice. 

It had a friend of some sort. I whacked my brain, trying to remember. Lasrix? Lonix? No, Laseronix. And it also had a master. One with tons of supernatural powers. 

I came to a brief decision: I was never going to think about this again. I was going to try and forget my fate on the new planet. 

I went inside to relax. I closed the curtains. I took a swig of water and placed it to the lamp table beside my bed. I placed my flashlight shining upwards for light. I knew what I was going to do with the lamp. I grabbed it and carried it off outside. 

I threw it as far as I could. I hoped it would hit a Renz in the distance. It was useless without power anyway. 

I watched with satisfaction as it landed soundlessly somewhere in the city. I took one last look at the ocean. 

The vast amount of water stretched as far as I could see, left, right, and beyond the city. There was a dock full of run-down boats drifting in the bay, floating aimlessly while being pulled by ropes. We would use one of them tomorrow. 

I went back inside. It was cold. I sat on my low bed and drifted through my things. Everything was still there. Still nothing lost from the beginning of this journey. 

I was still worried about tomorrow, or even when this whole trip was done, and we still didn't find any people. Or maybe I’m just paranoid and there are still a ton of people left in the other continents. Maybe, just maybe, we weren’t the last ones. 

I better stop dreaming.

That’s never going to happen. I just needed sleep, that’s all.

Unfortunately, I didn’t stop dreaming. 

Chapter 9: The Sea

The setting was one year ago, during the invasion. Smoke flowed through the air, with fires still crackling and burning. Somehow in my dream, I smelled it. I heard the high-pitched blasts and lots of screaming. Explosions and crumbling buildings resonated around the city. All so vividly.

The sun was dim in the air. A low sheet of light against a wave of shadowy darkness levelled the horizon.

The Novatron mothership. 

It was as massive as I remembered from TV, although not as big as ours on the ground, which was supposed to carry five races. 

Ours was a smooth craft, not fully operational yet because of the surprise attack. Despite that, it was our best hope.

The leader of the human race�"my dad�"was in the middle of the chaos. He was surrounded by a squadron of troops in full battle gear, fully equipped with weapons and all sorts of stuff they used to fight back the impending force. 

Sirens wailed in the distance. Screams filled the air from the people desperately trying to board the ship�"our only chance of survival to escape Vanity, our planet, our home. 

Dad, in the middle of it all, was wearing barely any battle armour, not even a helmet. He wielded nothing but a laser rifle. He looked brave and confident as always. His sleek brown hair ended at a sharp edge at the front that looked like it could cut an alien clean in half. He was taller than the rest. Out of everything, he looked pretty intimidating. 

He blasted the attackers with flawless aim. I didn’t know he would rather use a gun over a melee, but whatever. He was still cool. 

He lowered his firearm and yelled to a person beside him over the noise, who looked like some sort of general. 

“Where are the other race leaders? I need them now!”

The man looked very concerned. It was hard not to cower under my dad, the leader of the human race, and  even without that title he was scary overall. 

“You mean the new elected ones?”

“Yes!”

“They’re not here at the moment. They’re defending different parts of the city. Their generals are defending their own continents.”

“What about the space station?” My dad asked. “Did they try shooting the ships?”

“The trixians? Yes, they did sir. They have a shield protecting them, just like us. Even the trixians' laser can’t penetrate it, and they can’t even identify it.”

Dad looked angry. “I need some backup here! Call the other race leaders. We have to protect Evolotropoils. The ship out of this mess is here! Not in the other continents! So why are they even defending them?”

Sadly, I thought, Evolotropolis was where the invasion started.

An explosion shook the ground, and the two covered their heads from falling chunks of limestone. One hit my dad, but his enhanced strength kept him up. 

“Go!” He yelled.

In a blur, the man ran into the ship. My dad faced the crowd and continued barking orders. 

A voice behind me said, “Horrible, isn’t it?”

I whirled around and saw a thirteen-year-old with dirty blond hair, a coppery skin tone, and eyes with a colour I couldn’t quite place my mind on. It was a strange new one that befuddled my mind. I don’t think we have ever discovered this new colour before. He wore a beige shirt and jade cargo pants, like he was a military unit. He had his hands behind his back. In the scene, people ran through him and his image flickered like he was a hologram.

“Who�"“ I began. 

“Tony Quback.” He said casually. “Listen, I don’t have much time. I’m not allowed to interfere with dreams of people in the Fire Eon.”

“The�"say what now?”

“Whatever. Okay, my job is to try to bring the four of you together. I’m the one that’s been giving you your dreams.”

“My dreams?” I remembered my first dream. The voice, the invasion on earth… this kid was the one giving me them?

“Yes,” he said, “but your friend woke you up in the car. I was supposed to talk to you there.”

I remembered Jasmine waking me up. I was supposed to have this dream there, but… okay, hold up, all this nonsense was confusing. 

“So you were that voice then?” I asked. Then I suddenly jolted backwards. “I can’t trust you! You’re the enemy!”

Tony put his hand to his forehead and shook his head. “No Daniel, I’m not the enemy.”

“How do you know my name?”

He was suddenly serious. “Listen, I don’t have much time. The voice you heard in your dream and one year ago was Titanetrox, okay? He interfered with your first dream.”

“One year ago… how do you know all this stuff? Are you psychic or something?” I asked suspiciously.

“Yes, no. Kind of…” He waved it aside. “Back to the point. Remember, I don’t have much time. I only came here to give you the message.”

“What is it?”

“Earth is in danger,” he explained. “I showed you in the first dream. The reason why you’re still here is because earth is in a time-freeze. It means that it is trapped in time. The future still exists, but when the time-freeze ends only then the calculations of the past affect the future. You have to change the past before you don’t exist. If you don’t, the team won’t be complete.”

“What team?”

“The Epic Four�"“ He put his hand to his mouth like he wasn’t supposed to say that. “Just, listen. You have to�"“

“Who did the time-freeze?” I interrupted. If he was here for a limited amount of time, might as well get information out of it.

The world around us seemed to be silent as we talked. Tony was trying to decide if he should tell me or not.

“The Novatrons’ master… I mean, uh, my master. No! I mean… ugh!”

“I knew it!” I exclaimed. “You work for them!”

He looked very desperate right now. “Look Daniel, you don’t understand. Please, just please, trust me. I don’t work for the Novatrons. My master did the time-freeze yes, which is also the Novatrons’ master, but please, listen. The Novatrons’ master is helping them. This super-powerful being has all sorts of powers. It told the Novatrons that Evolotropolis had the ship. That’s why the invasion started here, right where we’re standing.”

I decided to trust this guy… for now. 

“Daniel, you have to know this. Remember that thing they were doing back in Senolis?”

“I’m still in Senolis.” I said.

“Whatever,” he said frantically. “They were setting up a cloning facility.”

My jaw dropped. 

“Yes Daniel, they are all male clones. They look the same because they are the same. I don’t expect you to stop them from making the facility. You just need to know they are clones.”

“Why?”

“For something in the future,” he said. “Daniel, one more thing. Please don’t kill Titanetrox. You’ll just make it worse. Try to delay his death for as long as possible.”

That voice in my dream? “But, wait, who’s that again?”

“The leader of the Novatrons.” 

Okay, maybe I wouldn’t trust this guy. He was telling me not to kill the leader of the Novatrons, when that was exactly what I wanted. He pointed to something over in the battle. I almost forgot it was going on.

The leader of the Novatrons was bigger than a regular one. He wielded a giant staff with an orb of fiery inferno at the top. He had devilish wings that sprouted from his back, twice his size, flapping in big motions in the air. He looked epic, I’d say, and was decorated entirely like molten magma, his bone armour crests the colour of pure darkness, with a background of blazing hot lava. Just by being close to him I felt like I was melting. His reptilian eyes full of pure hatred for all living things were as scarier than ever, and regular Novatron eyes were no match in an intimidating contest. He was a beast of brute force and extraterrestrial power, descending from the clouds almightily from the mothership…

…and landing on the ground with a boom so powerful he created a massive crater on the ground where he stood knees bent, sending a shockwave bigger than ever before, that made an echo blast that hurt my ears while levelling the entire area, and frying every tree to a crisp with its compelling heat. He was so massive up close and personal he stood like a building in front of my dad on the ground. He placed his staff on the ground with a loud clang, and folded its wings. 

He was ripped with muscles from head to feet, with a helmet like of a warlord, with the obsidian spikes coming out, and his intently staring eyes glared at the leader of the human race with intense hatred. The huge dark spikes recoiling from his shoulders just added to the humongous look of the colossal creature. 

And this whole time I was thinking, man, why do the Novatrons have to look so epic and all buff and stuff, but they’re not on our side? That’s not fair. What do we have? Not power, but intelligence.

What kind of smartypants can defeat a thing like Titanetrox? The lord of the most powerful race, the king of the Local Group, the beast of brute force, the creature of celestial divine power, and the servant of the most powerful supernatural being in the universe. 

“This is the version where nobody comes for backup.” Tony said. “The version I showed your dad was the one where you were there. The version you’re going to experience is with the other blood type z’s.” 

“You gave dreams to my dad too?” I asked.

“Only one,” he said. “I didn’t have the guts to do it a lot that time. Now I do. I’m trying to make you understand.”

“Understand what?”

“I can’t tell directly, or I’ll mess up the future.” 

“Wait,” I said, “you said the version you showed my dad was where I saved him.”

Tony nodded like I was starting to get it. “Daniel, remember when your dad said earlier, he needed backup?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re his backup.”

My mind was blown. I looked at the approaching Novatron. He was going straight for my father. “What? But this was like, a year ago. Tony�"“

He was gone. When I turned he wasn’t there. Maybe his timer was up or something. Maybe his master had caught him. 

My dad finally saw the intruder. The leader of the Novatrons was marching towards him. My dad faced him and tensed. He threw his rifle away�"which I was not expecting�"and braced for the oncoming battle. 

I was scared of what was going to happen. My dad was going to die. We didn’t win the invasion. This was just a replay.

But this was also my dream. I can control it. 

My dad took out a metal cylinder as big as a pencil. It extended into a long pole, longer than mine. Then a blue laser flashed at the top, coming outwards into a curved, long blade.

A laser scythe. One of Grandpa’s stories included a scythe that my dad borrowed from him during the voidal war, where Grandpa was hurt and couldn’t do anything. This must’ve been the same one. 

My dad was also big and tall, and he always, no matter what, looked like he wasn’t scared. I could tell he was on the inside, but he wasn’t on the outside. He had a very serious face, and one that looked brave and courageous. 

He wore a blue suit with black combat boots. He had a belt of gadgets on his waist. He had shoulder armour pads, but after that, nothing else, which I thought he was being stupid here. No armour into a fight with the leader of the Novatrons, that’s horrifying. 

They circled each other. Then my dad charged. He knew if he killed this beast the strongest of the Novatrons would be over. He had to win against it. 

They couldn’t nuke Titanetrox because he was in the middle of the city. They couldn’t fire him with lasers from an aircraft because there were none available and there were tons of people running around everywhere. My dad knew he had to face him one on one, while his soldiers took care of the other Renzs.

My dad sliced an arc at the beast. Faster than I could ever imagine, he had a totally different style of fighting that nobody would expect. He jumped behind and slashed again, and kept doing that. He was going to different spots and attacking from there. I understood what he was doing. He was trying to confuse TItanetrox, knowing he had more speed.

But it didn’t work. Titanetrox blasted him with fire from the orb of fire at the top. While evolution protected you from physical damage, I didn’t think it would be very effective for scorching flames.

The hot fire sputtered endlessly from the staff. My dad was blocking it with his arms, but soon the heat was going to get the best of him. He tried dodging it, but then Titanetrox grabbed his neck. 

No, this is my dream. Mark Grey is supposed to win. This can’t happen!

My dad dropped his weapon, choking at the extreme grip of the creature. 

Then he spoke. Again, as that ringing voice. It made me want to find the nearest bed and hide under it. It made me cower like a terrified little boy. It sounded like a beast’s voice but robotic at the same time.

Don’t delay fate, First One. The team will not be complete once my master’s plan is in action. Your race will perish, at the very start of it all. All you have built and done will crumble.

The human race will go extinct.

Blast it. It hurt my ears like they were bleeding from intense air pressure. I wanted to rip them off. 

Then my dad’s face went purple. 

And he died right there.

I felt like crying. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. I didn’t want to see this, but I did. This was the beginning of our extinction. When our leader died. 

Then the unexpected happened. 

I’m coming for you next, Second One.

He called me Second One, like how he called my dad the First One. What did that mean?

Titanetrox was coming straight towards me. Dad fell to the floor, dead. 

No, no, no. I had to wake up. This can’t be happening. Somehow I couldn’t run away. Something held me back, like an invisible force. I remembered my first dream, when Titanetrox told me he had lots of powers. 

Tony. I’m not following him. I’m going to kill this creature the very first second I get. He took everything from me. 

Titanetrox grabbed my neck, and I tried to resist. 

Don’t resist, Second One. This is only a dream. 

He was studying me. Those flaming eyes bore straight through my skin. 

Great. Now I know where you are. 

He began choking me. My eyes bulged out. I was terrified. 

Then I heard Tony’s voice inside my head. 

Stupid Dan. You shouldn’t have thrown that lamp. And you certainly shouldn’t have let Titanetrox see your face. One of his powers is finding you by going into your dream and looking at you. It’s a gift from his master.

What? 

This whole thing was crazy. I was going mad, that’s all. When I wake up nothing was going to happen. 

I tried glaring back at my enemy but he had such a strong grip I was choking furiously. I couldn’t breathe. The air was trapped inside of me. 

The pain was even worse than the last dream. It was unimaginable. I was literally on the verge of death. 

The last I hear was Tony’s voice: 

Brace yourself!

.  .  .

Ka-boom!

I heard a scream. My mind was foggy and couldn’t process everything yet, after just waking up. 

I was flung into the wall, feeling a scorch on my face as I slammed into the wall with so much force I went through the whole thing.

Finally my blurry vision was cleared. A bright sun was shining from outside, but, how was that possible?

I saw it. An explosion had destroyed the whole building. It was about to collapse with me. 

Titanetrox said he knew where I was. The truth came to me. He had found Jasmine and I over night.

Jasmine.

Luckily I forgot to put my AI on the table last night. It was still in my pocket. I called for my staff to help me up. I made my spear. I ditched my stuff and ran over the rubble to the other room.

I kicked open the door. Jasmine was sitting up on her bed, just as confused as I was.

“What was that?!” She asked, terrified.

I didn’t even have time to answer. I turned and saw the Novatron shuttle that had fired a missile at us, hovering in the air.

Then it shot another one. 

With my fast reflexes, I hooked Jasmine’s bag through my spear, then covered her. 

Boom!

The explosion shook the entire building as Jasmine and I were thrown through the wall into a parking lot outside. 

I crashed through the hood of a car and almost blacked out.

I couldn’t take this much longer. Without food, sleep didn’t give me any help. Without energy, my evolution was failing. I was feeling so weak, I couldn’t lift a feather. 

Jasmine, who was protected by me, helped me up. We stepped off the car and ran.

We went for the docks. We both knew we had to escape with a boat. 

Except they had a ship, which messed a lot of things up for us. I couldn’t defeat it in my condition. I couldn’t do anything in my condition. 

Jasmine was more energetic than me, as usual. “Come on, Dan! Hurry up! We have to get to Azdux!”

I felt sick from running without energy and right when I woke up from that horrible dream. I felt like throwing up.

I stayed there for a while, resting. 

“What’s wrong?” Jasmine asked.

Ugh. Lots of things were wrong.

“This is my fault,” I said. “My dream. Their leader knows where we are. But he wants me. If I give myself to them, you can run.”

She looked horrified. “You know I can’t do that. You’re coming with me. Come on!” 

She started tugging me on my arm. I decided that that wasn’t the best choice either.

I looked everywhere for a car. I was so tired. I asked if Jasmine could carry me. After all, I carried her. 

“Fine.” Jasmine said, and with her tone I just felt more guilty. She hooked my arm around her and we raced to the docks. 

.  .  .

We made it in half an hour. The Renzs were right on our tail, so I picked a random boat and we hopped on. 

It was a fishing boat. A small one though. There were rooms under the deck and the controls were above.  

I started it up. There were tons of confusing buttons so I pushed a lot of them. 

Our boat was speeding away when the Novatron ship appeared. I was so scared that they might blast us with a missile and we’d go down in the ocean. 

But the craft seemed to hover around there, searching for us. It didn’t know where we were. 

We sailed away into the ocean. I told Jasmine about my dream and the leader and everything. She told me to not worry about it.

“That was close.” Jasmine said. 

I was exhausted. Running away from Novatrons early in the morning, while I was so tired and hungry. I needed food. Now. 

“I’m hitting bed.” I said. I felt so drowsy. The lack of food was really getting to me. 

“Okay. I’ll drive.” Jasmine started manning the controls.

Before I went downstairs I took my last look at Lyneria. It was beautiful. The skyline full of skyscrapers went as far as I could see. The sunrise was completed, and the Novatron ship was still going around in the city. I wondered if their tracking device shut down or something.

  I also knew Titanetrox was somewhere near. I now know that he can enter my dreams and find out where I am in reality that way. I had to be careful with that.

But I still really needed sleep. I was so exhausted. Two explosions in the morning, and still no food. 

Man, I’m going to starve to death, aren’t I?

Or…

Holy cheese! Water! I forgot all about water! We were now stranded in the middle of saltwater, with like, two bottles of freshwater left to last over a day! What was I thinking?

And we couldn’t go back! The aliens were searching for us there. We were dead.

I had to tell Jasmine. I walked back to her at the controls.

“Jasmine!” I exclaimed. “We forgot about water!”

She looked at me. “Whoops.”

“Oh no. No, no, no. We’re going to die!”

“Relax,” she said. “We can survive. We have two bottles left.”

“No, we don’t. I lost my bag.”

Her eyes widened like she just noticed that now. “Where did you lose it?” 

“Back at the hotel.”

“Oh no. No, no, no.”

“That’s what I said!”

“We only have one left!” She said.

I opened her bag on the floor and took it out. It was there, one plastic bottle full of warm, freshwater. 

I laid on the ground and moaned.

“Hey,” Jasmine said, looking at the controls, “it turns out there’s automatic driving. I don’t even need to connect it to my AI.”

I got up. “Cool. Let’s hang out downstairs and plan our next move.”

We walked down the stairs. There was a big room with a big round table. An empty water dispenser sat in the corner, sadly. There were a few round windows over-looking the view of the boring ocean. There was an iron door probably leading to a washroom with no sink.

Four chairs were around the table. I pulled one back and sat down, resting. We were going to die during this trip, I was sure of it. 

“What are we going to do?” Jasmine asked, sitting down. I shrugged. I could already feel my energy fading into nothing from the long isolation from food. Everything on my mind was about eating now. And sooner or later, drinking too. 

Jasmine got up and went through the door. She obviously had more energy than me. I don’t think I even had the energy to get off my chair, all thanks to that unexpected attack. The explosion shocked as well as broken me. The best I could do right now was rest and rest and rest. 

Just then I heard Jasmine gasp. “Dan! Come here, quick! You are not going to believe this!”

I lifted my aching body to the room she was in. I wondered what it was. 

My jaw dropped at the sight of it all. 

There were tons of rations of food and water stacked on shelves in the small room. I craved to start eating them at once. They didn’t look delicious, but I was so hungry I grabbed a ton of packs and brought them to the table. 

I dumped them all in a pile. There were packs of beef jerky, rice, and dried beans, all designed to last for years. I started eating away at them. Jasmine walked over to the other end and started eating too. I couldn’t believe we just found food. In the middle of the sea we found food. 

“So glad,” I said, between mouthfuls. “You know, I was going to resort to fishing if that was our last option.”

“I’m pretty sure we both don’t know how to fish.” She said. She paused. “But wait, if that room was actually the food storage, where’s the bathroom?”

“There’s no bathroom.”

“What?”

“You go in a jar.”

“No way.”

I laughed. “Yeah, you do. It’s disgusting, but this is a small fishing boat.”

She gagged. “I’m not doing that. Might as well not go in a full day. What about the sleeping quarters?”

“There’s none of those too.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” 

“I am.”

She looked befuddled. “Good one. But seriously, where are they?”

“There should be a hallway in that storage room, leading to to the quarters and the bathroom.” I hoped.

She went in the storage room again. “Oh yeah, there is. There’s another door.”

I sat back and relaxed. We were going to survive. There was food and water here and we were going to stay here for a day until we reached Azdux. And I felt so safe now since we were now far away from Titanetrox, still back on Lyneria thinking, where’d those little runts go? From here on, life was pretty sweet. But I still didn’t know what we were going to encounter once we reached the rexel continent. I wasn’t completely sure if we were safe. 

I went upstairs to the deck. I felt the cold sea wind blow against my face. The sun was still high up in the cloudless sky. 

I walked to the controls and studied them more carefully. They were still pretty complicated. 

I tested the radio. Nothing happened. Then I heard a static noise and a spark of hope lit up in me, but it died when the static was gone. It lasted no longer than a second. 

I looked ahead. I couldn’t see Azdux yet, but I was patient. We would get there. And when we did, we’d be ready for anything. 

I yawned. I was still tired. My whole body ached. I longed for my stuff back at the hotel. I visualized the destroyed contents in there. 

There were photos of my family. There were keep-sakes to remember my friends by. There were prized possessions. And without them, I felt lonelier. There were no more connections to my old life now.

I was reborn anew. 

This was my life now. Sea expeditions and fighting aliens who took everything from me.

Chapter 10: Colossus

The past thirty hours felt like I was in a time-freeze. 

They went by so slow. There wasn’t anything I could do to entertain myself. Luckily Jasmine brought a card game from her house. We played until we just couldn’t take it anymore. There wasn’t anything to do when you’re in the middle of the ocean. 

We were now on the deck, overlooking the ocean for any sign of land. I knew crossing the Ramento was going to take some time, but I was starting to freak out. What if we couldn’t reach the shore? What if there was no shore? 

We were in our second day in the ocean. The boat was running out of fuel, and we soon got sick of the rations. We ate the same thing each day. The jerky, the beans, I was losing my mind. With nothing to do and nothing else to eat, I wasn’t so sure my life was sweet at that point on anymore, even though we were safe.

I was leaning on the railings over the edge of the boat, looking at my laser spear. The smooth, dim light of the dagger was powered by an infinite source of energy. It was a crystal vital to the survival of the humans. We used the laser for war, for energy, science, tools; there were a ton of uses for it, especially for an infinite source of energy. It was only found very deep underground, at the point near the crust and the mantle. Scientists predicted it was on every planet, as a result of the creation of our universe. Space expands indefinitely, and laser shines forever too, so there was some similarity with that. The start of our universe sent chunks of this stone everywhere. Scientists also predicted that this mineral was on earth too, but we just didn’t dig deep enough. And it was extremely versatile too. Take my dad’s scythe, for example. The laser substance could be turned into pure energy, with no solid form. Once it transforms into that, it can’t change state of matter anymore. They use this to expand and retract the laser into a insulator handle so it would produce more space. So my dad’s scythe can fit into his pocket but expand into a full length scythe whenever he wanted to by connecting it to his AI. 

My eyes moved down to my spear handle. Or, my staff. It was made of titanium. Titanium was common in planets in space, but rare to find in those planets. It was an extremely light metal, and a very strong one too. The most expensive last weapons used in war were made of titanium. I was glad to have one. 

Jasmine’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “Dan, we have something over here.”

I walked over to the control bay. There was a screen with a green grid. A green dot symbolized our ship, moving along the ocean peacefully. 

What I didn’t get was the red dot about ten cells away. 

“What’s that?” I asked. 

“That’s the thing,” she said. “I don’t know. It just appeared a few seconds ago. It could be some sort of Novatron boat.”

The idea made me sick. Didn’t they ever rest and stop searching for us?

Then I heard thunder boom in the distance. I hadn't noticed it, but the sky had turned stormy grey. It was gloomy everywhere I looked. The boat was starting to rock more violently. 

“Storm?” Jasmine asked.

I nodded. “Storm.”

We put on our sweaters and went under the roof of the control bay. Droplets of rain were starting to pepper the deck in pellets, making everything on board wet. 

“You can go down to avoid the rain. I have to control the ship, and make sure we stay in one piece.”

“No, I’ll stay here.”

“Oh, thank goodness. I’m really freaking out right now.”

She laughed. “Yeah, so am I.”

I looked through the window. The rain was blurring my vision of the clearing, but my enhanced eyesight spotted it. A tiny speck very far in the distance. I got excited.

“Jaz! I think I see�"“

Boom!

The whole boat rocked fiercely as a giant wave as big as a car lapped against the hull, knocking us both off against the deck while the ship’s point was aiming for the sky, then dropped down again in a big splash. 

A shower of water splayed out onto us, making me wet… and angry. 

“Stupid storm,” I muttered under my breath. 

This kept happening and soon the waves got so big the ocean was like one big carpet being flapped up and down in a wavy movement. They got so colossal they began to overlap each other, forming little tsunamis. They slashed against our boat with such force we stumbled into the railing or slipped on the wet metal floor every time. 

I got up slowly and used my spear as a balancing tool. Jasmine used the railing. 

The storm was getting worse. To be exact, Vanity storms at the sea were about two times worse. This was going to be a rough day. 

My AI told me it wasn’t the worst kind of storm, but any kind of storm would be bad for us, really. 

I took Jasmine’s hand and we carefully walked to the controls again. We grabbed onto handles and held on for dear life. 

Then a massive wave pushed our boat so forcefully, I felt like I was going to flip. But then it crashed down, and we were heading in the wrong direction.

“Hold on!” I said. I grabbed the wheel and started steering our boat back on our path. It didn’t help that the waves were coming from that direction. 

We were on a bumpy ride as each wave was doing its best to push as backwards. We were holding off okay, as the modern boat engines were designed to face waves like these.

More bad news occurred. The red dot was getting unbelievably closer. It was sliding towards our ship with incredible speed, while I felt like we were going to take forever to get to Azdux. 

Not anymore. “Dan! Look ahead!” Jasmine called above the noise of the crackling thunder and the whooshing of the waves. Sounds were more sensitive if you were an evolved person. 

I followed her directions. In time, I saw what she was so excited about.

The coast was getting nearer. Very slowly, but nearer nonetheless. It was a big speck getting bigger and bigger.

A firework of hope was set off in me. Just a few more hours, and we’d make it. We’d get to the dreamland we’d been hoping to reach. 

Suddenly I heard a gargantuan roar. I heard a large smacking sound at then same time our boat lurched forward unexpectedly, as forceful as if another boat crashed into us.

A massive shadow rose above the surface of the ocean in front of our ship. It was dripping with water, and when it cleared I saw what it was. It was a big dark green leviathan head with glowing yellow eyes and gleaming white fangs. It had fins at the back of its head and at the top. It was a scary sight.

Great. A giant sea monster was just exactly what I needed right now.

It roared again, a vast, monstrous screech that blew a ferocious blast of its breath at us, and scaring the stuffing out of me. I almost stumbled, then got back up and realized it was close enough for me to attack.

I yelled and stabbed at the green scaly hide. It sliced through as easily as a knife through butter. Blue blood poured out, and the creature smacked its tail at the boat as a response. I toppled over and slammed into the railing. 

Jasmine was looking over the edge of the boat. “Dan, it’s circling around our ship. We can’t escape!”

I got up and took a look myself. Jasmine was right. It was very long like a snake, and it encircled our ship like a boa constrictor around its prey. 

I had no ideas. No plan. We were almost to Azdux, and this leviathan was blowing it. What were the odds one from kilometres away would come all the way over here and attack our ship? It must’ve been really hungry. 

It roared again, the sound mixing in with the thunder as the lightning flashed, lightening up the sky for a second, and the creature bared its fangs. 

Then it crashed down on our deck.

I heard the sound of splintering wood and bending iron when the monster chomped down on our boat. The floor was cracking into a funnel where it bit, and we were sliding down. The boat was not in one piece anymore. We had to abandon ship.

The creature kept smashing and thrashing through the deck. It sent another tail whack and the collision forced the boat to tip over. I regained my balance and tried to distract the monster from tearing apart our ship.

“Hey!” I shouted. “Come over here!” 

It looked up. It was even more terrifying closer. Its yellow eyes gleamed with malice and thirst for destruction. Fins were flapping in the wind of the storm around its dragon snout. The fangs were about as big as me. It looked like it could swallow a tractor whole. The spot where I stabbed him was already starting to heal, as the blue blood was washed away in the deafening roar of the giant dark blue waves, the torrent rain, and mighty thunder. I felt like an ant staring at a lion. I was so tiny in comparison the big cut I made on the creature’s neck looked no bigger than a pimple. 

It bared his teeth to show his deadly inside. It was welcoming me to his stomach. I gagged as I caught the scent of ages of rotting fish and dead carcasses drift from its cavernous mouth. 

I said something like, “Uhh,” when it bashed its snout against me, propelling me into the railing. I stood up and attacked it. I swiped with my spear and sliced off one of its fins. It screamed in outrage, then burrowed its head into the water. I thought I was momentarily safe until it boosted out of the water and spun like a tornado, hitting our boat several times. The whole ground we were standing on was shredded to pieces until only half of it remained. The creature dove into the water again and lashed its tail onto the deck, splitting it in half. It was going to keep destroying our boat until we had nothing to stand on. 

The rain was soaking us, and we huddled under the roof of the control bay. We both knew what was going to happen next. Our boat was in smithereens and we’d never reach Azdux. We’d be dead if we made it. 

This was our last stand. 

The monster slammed into the ship until it finally tipped over. I grabbed Jasmine’s bag resting on the deck and we started climbing over the edge of the boat. It was com-pletely turned over, the deck facing into the ocean and the rest of it floating aimlessly everywhere, the result of the image the leviathan had done. 

It wasn’t done with us yet. It swam in a circle around us, splashing water everywhere and trapping us. We had nowhere else to go anyway. There was no land. 

Was this how I was going to die? Were we going to drown in the sea because we thought we could make it to Azdux? Was this my only sealed fate? Was this the best choice?

Is this the end?

The thunder boomed constantly as the waves got bigger. It carried our boat through the endless ocean, with a giant sea creature ready to devour us. I didn’t know what to do. 

The monster struck our boat and it tilted. That’s when the unthinkable happened. Jasmine was thrown over the edge and into the water, while screaming. 

“No!” I yelled. There she went, dead now. I was more stranded than ever. 

This was so unfair. Why must fate do this to me?

I remembered Tony. I had let him down too.

Earth is in danger. You have to change the past before you don’t exist. He had said. If you don’t, the team won’t be complete.

He had also told me about my dad. He said I was his backup. I didn’t get it. It was one year ago. My dad was dead. 

It didn’t matter. Whatever Tony was planning, I had failed. I couldn’t stop the invasion on earth. I couldn’t help my dad to beat Titanetrox. 

Tony had said his job was to bring the four of us together. He had said the other blood type z’s. And Titanetrox called my dad First One and me Second One. Were we part of the team? Some elite force Tony was planning?

The clues were starting to add up. Tony told me facts about the Novatrons I needed for the future. Why would I need them if my job was to stop an invasion on earth from another race? What was happening? It didn’t make sense. Did he expect me to defeat the Novatrons too? Was he giving me clues to defeating their leader?

But one main thing didn’t make sense, and it would if it was possible. Time travel. My dad was dead. How could I help him? Earth was in a time freeze… three eons ago. There was no way I’d survive and stop those occurrences from happening if they were so long ago. He was asking me to do an impossible task.

I was overthinking it. The boy was crazy, that’s all. And I was too. 

The creature snapped its jaws endlessly at the strip of iron I was standing on. This was the end. 

But I wasn’t going to go down without killing the beast first. I jumped at it, and stabbed my spear into its forehead, the blue liquid gushing out. It screamed in pain and started thrashing around. It flicked its head so forcefully I lost my grip on my spear and I flew into the ocean deep, feeling the harsh impact of the water. I gasped for breath as I was swept away with a big flood. I bumped against something that scratched my back, and I started bleeding, staining the water red.

I felt the creature’s smooth body curl around me, feeling for me, looking for me. I began to float. 

I ascended into the surface, gasping for air. I wheezed until the waves pushed me back down again. 

I was so out of breath. I couldn’t keep this forever. I broke through the surface again, and caught a glimpse of Azdux’s beach. We were so close, yet so far.

When I went under the waves I grabbed a fin on the creature’s skin. It broke through the surface and I gasped for more air. I started climbing back up the creature’s hide. 

It must’ve felt it, because it whirled its head and grabbed me with its teeth. I was in a state of panic right now. Drowning was better than getting eaten for me.

But it didn’t eat me. Instead it turned its head, and threw me into the air. I was flying for a while when I landed far away from the shipwreck and the monster. 

I was still underwater, half conscious. I was drifting in and out of sleep. I thought I saw a glimpse of Azdux’s beach, but it must’ve been a dream. We were still far away from the coast. 

I looked up and thought I saw Renzs standing there at the edge of the beach.

And that’s when I passed out. 

Chapter 11: Azdux

I woke up feeling horrible.

My head was screaming. My bones were weak. My muscles ached. My eyelids were so heavy I couldn’t keep them open for longer than a second, so I closed them again.

But I caught a glimpse. I was in some kind of room. I breathed in the fresh fragrance of medicine and plants. I felt around me. I was in a bed, under mass layers of blankets. It was very comfortable. But I couldn’t move myself. I was still too weak. 

I had a stomachache. Water crawled up my throat and I coughed it out. It was mixed with a green liquid. Gross.

My head was in so much pain. It was like somebody was drilling a hole through my skull. It must’ve been Titanetrox screaming at me or something.

I drifted to sleep again.

When I gained back consciousness I was feeling better. My whole body eased and relaxed. I finally had enough strength to keep myself awake and study the room. 

There were bookshelves on the walls, made of oak wood. A high window let sunlight stream in, illuminating the room. There was a large oak desk filled with stacks of paper and a lamp turned on.

Wait, a lamp turned on?

This must’ve been a dream. I was in the afterlife, probably. This was a hospital room or something.

Plants were in big vases on the ground nearby. The ground was littered with chairs full of electronic stuff I didn’t understand and small laptops with orange lines streaking them. There were wires connected in a big circuit plugged into an output, which again, didn’t make sense. The room was a mess. It looked like some kind of project workplace or lab. 

My eyes widened when I saw my spear resting on the wall on the far end. How did that get there?

But then my jaw dropped when I saw Jasmine’s bag resting on another chair next to my staff. That got me instantly thinking.

Where was Jasmine? If whoever saved us had her bag, Jasmine must’ve been here also. She must be safe.

But that didn’t shake the bad feeling I had about all of this. I decided to just rest and relax until my body was ready to get up and explore. And find out what happened.

I closed my eyes and let the blankets warm me up. I was shivering from the cold, from the terrifying waters of the ocean. 

Then more memories flooded into my mind. I remem-bered the leviathan that attacked us. It was so impossibly big and powerful, it must’ve been sent by the Novatrons. I recalled vividly of the cold eyes that stared at me on the deck. I shuddered. 

I reassured myself that everything was okay. Just rest and let everything happen. See how it was going to go�"

Then the door opened. 

My eyes opened and I saw an orange figure at the doorway. I screamed.

“Ah! Get away from me!” I backed up quickly in my bed. This guy was definitely not a human.

Then I remembered I wasn’t in Lyneria anymore. 

“Wow, wow, wow,” he said, which absolutely shocked me. “Don’t have a heart attack here. I just recovered you.”

“Ah!” I said. “Y-you speak English?”

He looked bored. “Yeah, most people from the other races get that shocked. I know all the race languages. I have to learn them if I’m the chief’s son.”

I got even more shocked. “You’re Leroy’s son?!”

He rolled his eyes. “Adopted son.”

I got super excited. “So, wait, you’re a rexel, right?”

“Duh.”

“So,” I said, “you have poisonous fangs or something?”

“Yeah,” he said casually. “But don’t worry about it. I have a ton of Raede’s cure in the kitchen.”

I knew about Raede’s cure. It was during the Vanity war, where my dad’s best agent got poisoned by a rexel so a scientist called Kyle Raede invented a cure for anything from Vanity’s plants. 

I studied the rexel. He looked about my age, and his head resembled kind of like a shark. He had slits in his neck for gills, and a dorsal fin at the back. He had some horns sprouting from his head. His hands were three-fingered with claws, but I knew what they were capable in doing. He had more strength than me, even if I was evolved. I heard rexels can bash through buildings as easily as someone smashing through a paper wall. He was wearing a faded red sweater with the sleeves rolled up and black cotton pants. 

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Rex Thain,” he answered. “Yours?”

“Daniel Grey.” 

His eyes widened. “You’re lying!”

Yup. I expected his reaction anyway. “Nope. I’m really his son.”

“No way.” But as he looked at me he got more convinced. After all, I did look a lot like my dad. Same hair, same eyes, same brave and courageous wits. 

I realized something about Rex’s name. “Wait, isn’t it kind of funny your name is Rex and you’re a rexel?”

He looked like he expected it. “Yeah. I get that a lot.”

I looked again at the electronic stuff on the ground. “You have electricity?”

“Yeah. I’ve got a generator running down in the bunker I survived the invasion in. My dad was a genius. He taught me how to build an electric wiring to move the electricity over here.”

I did have a generator in my bunker too. How else would I charge my AI? How else would I get my light? But I never thought of transporting the power over to the surface. 

“Just like me,” I said, “you survived in a bunker. Typical.”

He sat down on an empty chair. “It’s the only way to survive. The Novatron ships blasted the trixian base to pieces. You couldn’t survive there.”

I realized he just used the word Novatrons. “You watched the News on the night of the invasion?” I asked.

“My dad was watching it. Although I better stop calling him dad. First of all, he was old enough to be called a grandfather.”

I remembered my own Grandpa. He was in his sixties, and he was a kind-hearted gift-giving wise old man. It’d kill me to see him being murdered by the Novatrons. 

Suddenly my eyes saw Jasmine’s bag sitting on a chair. I bolted upwards. “Where is she?”

Rex looked confused for a moment. “You mean your friend?”

“Yes!”

“She’s still resting in my dad’s room. You’re in my room right now.”

I relaxed. She was safe after all. That got me thinking about last night.

“Wait, what about those Renzs?”

“What Renzs?” He asked. 

“The ones on the beach. Before I went out I saw a few of them.”

“Took them out.”

I made sure my ears were working. “What?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. Kicked their butts, grabbed you guys washed up on the shore, and dragged you to my house.”

“You can knock them out like that?”

“Yeah. I just sneaked behind them. Two’s no problem for me.”

I was suddenly aware I was sitting near a rexel that was way more powerful than me, claiming that he can take out two Renzs as easily as that.

“What happened last night with you two anyway?” He asked.

“We came from Lyneria, trying to get here. There was a storm and a giant sea monster that attacked us. Our ship got destroyed and we ended up here.”

“Wait, you came from Lyneria?”

“Yeah.”

“I was going to head there. Just today, actually. What’s over there?”

I shrugged. “Not much. Tons of Renzs, destroyed cities, nobody left. You get the idea.”

He looked disappointed. “That’s too bad.”

“What happened with your continent? What happened with you? You’re dad was in the house the night of the invasion, watching the News. How’d you survive and not him?”

He looked somber. “He left to help the fight against the invasion. Since he didn’t have a real son and I was too young to become a leader, he had to attend as the formal leader of the rexels. They didn’t have time to choose another leader.”

“He knew the invasion was coming? Is that why he built the bunker?” I asked.

“No. He said the bunker was used during the Vanity war. I just went there when it happened.”

“Oh.”

“What about you? So your dad knew about it?” Rex asked.

“Yeah, but it came two days earlier than expected. The bunker was made for that purpose.”

“How did you find your friend?”

I remembered the long journey I took to get to her. “Nothing. I just found her.”

“You’re lucky,” he said. “I’m so lonely out here. That’s why I was planning to explore Lyneria, because I knew there was nobody left here. Good thing I found you guys.”

I thought about Tony. “Hey, you don’t have some sort of guy talking to you in your dreams, do you?”

“What are you talking about? That’s crazy!”

Uh oh. 

He settled down. “But sometimes, I get these whispers in the back of my mind during my dreams. It repeats the same thing: bloody typical z or something.”

Something sparked in my brain. “Wait, did you say blood type z?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Something like that.”

A rush of relief came to me. I wasn’t crazy after all. Tony said I was a blood type z, whatever that was. And here I found another one. I wasn’t alone here. Something involving fate was going on around here.

I remembered Jasmine. “Can I see my friend?”

“Sure. She kind of got some sickness when the monster attacked your boat. Seasickness or something. Nothing a little Raede’s cure can’t handle.”

I got off the bed and suddenly felt how weak I’ve become. My bones barely held me up. I felt like throwing up. 

“Whoa, easy there.” Rex jumped off his chair and grabbed me. He led me out of his room and into Jasmine’s. 

She was resting on the bed. When she saw Rex she screamed and jumped up.

“I can’t be that ugly, can’t I?” He said.

“No, it’s just that you’re a rexel and we’ve never seen one in real life before.” I reassured him. “Let me handle this.”

“Dan, who is this?” She asked. 

“He saved us.” I said.

For the past hour I explained everything to her. I also explained everything to Rex. The whole story. How we were planning to go to the voidal continent, how we were trying to find anybody left who survived the invasion. When we were finished we were trying to figure out what we would do.

“Do you have food here?” I asked Rex.

“A ton. We could bring some to eat on the way to Belladan.”

“Transportation?” I asked.

“Nah. I’ve got electricity but our Razors don’t work.” He explained.

“Razors?”

“It’s a type of rexel flying vehicle.” Jasmine said. I got surprised she knew that and I didn’t. She looked at Rex. “Do you have working hover boards or something?”

“Nope,” he said. 

“Anything useful?” I asked.

“I have running water,” he said. “You guys could take a shower. And I’ve got a new bag for you, Dan. It won’t have all your stuff in it, though.”

“That’s good enough,” I said. “So, let’s get cleaned up, then we pack, and then we start our way to the last continent we will ever reach. Sounds like a plan to me.”

.  .  .

“This is extremely exhausting.” Jasmine complained as we were hiking through hills in the rexel continent. Each place we passed Rex explained everything since we were new to the place. He told us which mushrooms provided which vitamins, which plants were edible, which rocks were which, and which which was which. Literally, there were two different synonyms for the word which in the rexel language. Everything was so utterly confusing, I felt like I was in school again. 

“Man,” I said, “why are you so boring?”

He looked hurt. “I’m just a highly educated person. I’m the adopted son of the chief after all. He forces me to learn the five race languages, educates me to learn every subject, and you know. Doesn’t your dad do that to you?”

I shook my head. “No. Not as serious as you.”

“Oh come on. I feel totally ripped off.” Rex said. 

“Have you ever found your real parents?” Jasmine asked.

Rex aimed his head at the floor. “Yeah. They died when I was six. Leroy’s the closest father I could get.”

“Hey,” I said, looking in the distance. “Look.”

There was a city up ahead. Rex said it was his downtown. Then he started babbling about all his visits there, the tourist attractions there, his dream of living there, and yeah, pretty much everything about it. 

“Rex,” I said, and he stopped talking for one moment. 

“Yeah?”

“I’m so bored. I’ll race you there.”

He smiled. “May the fastest one win.”

Jasmine groaned. “Hey,” I told her, “just try to catch up, okay? It’s just one little race.”

“Fine,” she said. 

“Ready? Set, go!” Rex said alarmingly quick. 

“Hey!” I said, but he was already down the hill running towards the forest.

I dashed at my full speed, desperately trying to catch up. I sprinted through the trees, travelling like the wind. I picked up speed on a clearing, and my muscles ached. When I couldn’t run any faster, I stopped, when I realized I had already caught up to Rex. He was staring openmouthed at something ahead. I was too tired to even look up.

“Rex…” I panted, “you… cheated.”

Then Jasmine showed up and took a look a Rex. “What’s he looking at?”

I looked in his direction. There was the city. I didn’t understand what was wrong. There was the wall, and the buildings, I didn’t know why Rex was so upset.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him, still in his trance staring at the city. “Are you mad because I said you cheated or something?”

“Everything is different.” He pointed at the city.

Total shock filled my body. I realized he was right. The wall was as tall as the sea monster that attacked us. It expanded as far as I could see in both directions. The buildings were made of a sinister black metal with orange lines streaking down them. I recognized every detail instantly.

Apparently I went into the same trance as Rex, because Jasmine walked up to us and asked, “What is wrong with you two?”

“Don’t you get it?” I  asked, then felt stupid for asking, because clearly she didn’t.

“No.”

“It’s one of theirs,” Rex explained.

She was overcome by total fear. “No, no, no, this can’t be.”

“Yes it is,” I said. “It looks exactly the same as the last one.”

“I’m not going. No way. You guys go without me. I’m going back to the house.” She turned and started walking back the direction we came. 

“Wait, Jasmine!” I called. “We have to. This is the only way. The wall blocks the whole coast, like the other one. I get their plan now. They built these cities around the continents because they don’t want us to trespass through the borders. If we want to get to Belladan, this is the only way to go.”

She looked back. I had hope that she was convinced. But then she turned and said, “Nope.”

I was really desperate now. Jasmine was going to spend the rest of her life in Rex’s house. She was just too scared to cross one of their cities. 

I looked at Rex. “Dude, you’ve got to help me here.”

He shook his head. “Sorry, I agree with her. I’m not risking my life.” He turned and started to go.

Oh no. We were giving up, that’s what we were doing. Whatever Tony’s plan was, I had to do it alone now. I knew we had to cross this city. It was fate. If we gave up now, we were doomed. Earth was doomed. 

“Hold on guys,” I said. I caught up to them and grabbed their shoulders and brought them back. 

“Let me explain.” I said. They listened intently. 

“You,” I pointed at Jasmine. “We’ve done the impo-ssible before. This is no different. What you’re doing is letting fear take over. We can do this. And if I did it, then the three of us would obviously accomplish it again. You’re going to hide from them and stay in the house forever, just because of one choice. A choice that was controlled by fear. And fear is not even a physical thing. It’s all in your mind. We can do this and you know it. But you won’t because you’re scared of dying.”

I looked at Rex. “You, you are planning to stay cooped up in your home just because it’s safer. I mean, for a whole year you’ve been staying in your house. You didn’t dare to explore what’s around you. You didn’t dare to try and make contact with the rest of the world. You think staying home for the rest of your life will help you more? If we get past this, your life is going to change. Better or worse, it doesn’t matter because then your life gets more exciting. We don’t know what’s past the borders. But we now that it’s different from here. We’re going to run out of food soon. We’re going to die either way. Don’t you want to go down knowing that at least you’ve tried?”

He had a blank face. “I guess.”

“He’s got a point.” Jasmine told Rex.

“Yeah,” he said. “A good one.”

“Come on, guys. We can do this. What if there are more people on the other side?”

Jasmine crossed her arms. “Fine. I’ll go with you.”

Rex was still thinking. He looked at the menacing metropolis blocking our path to the one place we wanted to go.

He sighed. “Okay, I’m in.”

“Good,” I said. “Let’s go.”

We walked towards the impending city that was most likely going to be the last place we were ever going to see.

.  .  .

“Duck!” I whispered. 

We crouched low behind a fat pole holding up a giant highway, where subways sped like bullets above us. The highways were like a maze, curving around buildings and twisting around other highways. But those were only for the trains. 

High above was the bustling flying cars running around the city in a network of imaginary roads in the air. They sped around buildings, slowed down in traffic, and flew around the air with invisible energy boosters keeping them airborne. Much like hover board technology.

This was definitely different from the last city. This one seemed more huge, more vibrant, more alive. And more busy. Novatrons�"I’m guessing the guard patrol or something�"were patrolling the area. Always in a pair, they roamed the streets, keeping their eyes peeled, making it virtually impossible to travel in the streets without getting spotted.

“It’s too crowded in here,” Jasmine said like she knew what I was thinking, “there’s no way we can pass through the streets.”

I pushed them back behind the pole when another pair of patrolling guards walked by. “It’s a miracle we haven’t been seen yet,” I muttered, “I have an idea where we can go.” I had my eye on a particular subway on the highway. It was speeding through a curved road, then zoomed into a tunnel underground.

“There,” I said, “if the subway goes in a tunnel there has to be some stations.”

“No, you’re not thinking straight,” Jasmine said. “There are more of them down in the tunnels than up here. We can’t take that path.”

“Well,” I said, “got any ideas?”

“This was a stupid plan.” Jasmine muttered. 

“Yes,” Rex said, surprising me. I faced him as he was looking above, past the highways, past the flying cars, and into the infinite sky. 

“What? What are you looking at?” I asked. 

He pointed upwards. “We can go through the buildings. There are tons of bridges running from one to another. We can walk through those.”

“No, that’s even more stupid.” Jasmine said. “The Renzs in the flying cars will see us. There are also a ton of them walking on the bridges.”

“Rex, that’s brilliant.” I said. “There are no guard patrols there. There are lots of them here and probably more in the subway tunnels. We’ll take your path.”

“No!” Jasmine said, frustrated. “It’s too dangerous. The patrol aren’t the only ones looking for us. If one of them above there spots us, then the whole city will be after us.”

“Shh,” I warned. “And why won’t you agree with us for once in your life?”

Rex smiled. “Yeah. It’s the safest possible route, believe me.”

“No, it’s not�"“

I saw a Renz patrol from across the road turn and look at us. 

“Shut up!” I said. I pointed at the Renz. 

Jasmine panicked. Rex growled. I did the most intelligent thing to do.

“Run!” 

We ran. While we were sprinting through the streets, I yelled at Jasmine. “See what you’ve done?”

“Me? You’re the one that told me to shut up!”

“Only because you’re too loud!”

“Guys!” Rex yelled to get our attention. “Was this all the time before I came along?”

We stopped bickering for a moment. I sighed. “Yes.” I admitted.

“Well, it ends now. The whole patrol is looking for us. We have to take my path now. They won’t expect it.”

We followed him to a building entrance. A Novatron was guarding the way.

“Stay here.” Rex growled. He pounced on the Novatron and knocked him out with one big punch of his powerful fist. 

I was marveled. “Wow.”

“Follow me,” he said. He ran into the building. 

Jasmine and I exchanged glances. I didn’t know how I felt about Rex being the leader from now on, but okay.

We ran into the building and followed him through an empty lobby. We were stopped by two Renzs blocking our way to the elevator. 

Rex engaged battle on one. I threw my spear at one as a distraction because I knew he would knock it out of the air like swatting a fly. I kicked him in the chest and he stumbled backwards more than I expected. 

Rex was already done with his, which was emba-rrassing for me. He knocked mine out as fast as the first one.

“How do you do that?” I asked.

“Easy explanation,” he said. “I’m a rexel, you’re a human. Now come on.”

I grabbed my spear and our party of three went into the elevator before any more Renzs spotted us. 

We waited in the elevator. Leaning against the glass wall, I looked through it to see another stone wall blocking my sight. 

“Why did they make this a glass wall when the view is so boring?”

Then we were out of the basement, and the wall disappeared revealing an epic view of the whole Novatron city. We all said Wow! slowly at the same time. 

From here in the elevator, we got the full amazing view of the bustling metropolis. We were higher than the flying cars, although there was a whole new network of them way up in the clouds. They circled the buildings, flying around everywhere. There was a big grid of bridges connecting floors to floors from buildings to buildings. They were long and short, and tons of Novatrons walked on them to other buildings. 

From down below, it was getting smaller and harder to see since we were going up. There were tons of Novatrons walking around the place, and the maze of subway paths curved around the are like perplex web. 

I looked up. We were nearing the highest section of the city. There not many flying cars were roaming, not many more bridges, and not many more people. 

“Rex,” I said, “you are a genius.”

“Yeah,” he answered. “The highest part is always the less busy part. We have the best chance here.”

The elevator shook slightly as it said ding! The doors opened. 

I flinched as I saw a whole brigade of Novatrons waiting there the moment they opened. 

“Crap�"“ I began.

“No time!” Rex yelled as he grabbed us and bashed through the glass casing of the elevator and pulled us along with him. Shock filled my body as I realized what he was doing, but before I could ask we were already flying through the cold air of the sky, falling down from the peak of the building.

Jasmine screamed. I yelled at Rex some very hurtful things. He had dragged us out of the elevator and into the sky. 

But before I knew it, something hit my back with mind-splitting pain. I hit something some kind of floor hard. I laid back and groaned. 

When I recovered. I got up and took a look around. We had landed on one of the bridges. I looked above at the elevator we jumped from. Renzs were overlooking us. We had survived the jump.

“Ha! Take that stupid aliens!” I yelled. “We survived!”

I saw one of them get near the edge almost like he was going to�"uh oh.

I helped Jasmine and Rex up as they landed on the bridge, shaking the entire thing. 

“Guys, we have to go now!” I said as I pulled Rex up. 

The Novatrons chased us through the bridge network. We jumped off the first one and landed on one below us. We climbed up another one and raced across it. I even suggested splitting up, and soon we each got lost in the bridges. 

I saw one of the Renzs stop at one spot and kneeled. He brought out something hooked on his back. It looked like a laser crossbow. He aimed it at me. 

I dove to on side as the bolts blasted the floor near me to bits. Each impact on the bridge made a mini explosion, cracking the stone beneath me. It was going to collapse. 

I jumped on another one as it fell to the ground, probably crushing some unfortunate Renzs while I was thinking, oh shoot, they’ve got laser crossbows. 

We reunited at a bridge and quickly decided to go into the building to hide. We spotted a door on the wall inside and opened it quickly. We shuffled inside.

I laid my AI on the ground, and it produced a big three- dimensional hologram of the city. There was a green dot singling where we were. We still had a long way to go.

The red dots were the Renzs. And man, there was a lot. We focused on the ones hunting us. There weren’t as much Renzs at the top section of the city as below, which was our only advantage. But we also didn’t know how to escape the patrol. 

“The bridges end here.” Rex pointed out, marking a spot on the map. “If we don’t get down before they surround us, it’s too late. We’re dead.”

“What are those big yellow dots in the air?” Jasmine asked. I studied them closely. 

And unsettling feeling fell over me. “They’re ships.” I said grimly. 

“No way man, they’ve got flying war machines?” Rex asked.

I nodded. “The other one had a ton of them. Some tanks too.”

The map told us the Renzs after us were coming closer. 

“We have to move,” I said, “now.”

We rushed out of the room and ran through the hallways of the building. Surprisingly there weren’t much Renzs around. We were lucky, I guess.

We came to the edge of the skyscraper, a big wall of glass with a grid of metal beams running through. Through the glass I saw the city. 

That wasn’t all I saw. Two ships were hovering around the wall. One fired a missile. 

“Find cover!” Rex yelled as the rocket reached its home. An immense explosion erupted the hallway. The heat was enough to tell me I almost got scorched. The blast wave sent us in split directions. 

I fell on the floor, hurting all over. There was blood on the ground, and I didn’t need someone to tell me it was mine. Shattered glass was spread all over the floor too. When the explosion settled, the room had a makeover. 

I got up. My evolved healing started working imme-diately. I looked around for my friends. 

I spotted Jasmine near me and helped her up. Rex was on the other side of the destruction. The rubble collapsed to make a wall. I had to get through it to get to Rex.

But then Rex smashed through the wall because that’s how awesome he is. He told us to run while he ran the other direction. He didn’t need to tell me why. 

A whole crew of Renzs with laser rifles were firing at us. One almost gave me a new haircut. Another singed my sweater sleeve. 

Rex put me ahead of him because he was able to take the shots. Rexel skin was virtually indestructible. While I was covered he absorbed all the blasts and deflected them like they were no big deal.

We caught up to Jasmine and the three of us ran for our lives. A laser bolt blasted the doorway to the elevator. It crumbled to bits, blocking our path.

“Where are we going to go?” I asked Rex.

We turned and faced the Novatrons. Rex growled. I got ready my fighting stance.

“No, we’re not going to fight. There’s too much of them,” he said as he blocked a laser with his arm aimed at Jasmine’s head. “Run to the window. I’ll catch up. We have to go through there.”

“Rex,” Jasmine said, “the ships!”

“Let’s go!” I said before we overthought it. We ran to the glass wall while Rex covered us. I bashed through it with my spear. When I saw how high up we were I started to regret the idea. 

“Go! Jump!” Rex yelled. “What are you waiting for? We’re surrounded!”

Jasmine was too frightened. I guess I had to be the hero again. I went behind her and pushed her. She screamed. I guess we had to talk about it later, because right now we were in trouble.

I jumped right after. Rex followed closely behind. 

We free-fell on the side of the building. We weren’t going to land anytime soon.

“Uhh, Rex?” I said nervously over the blowing wind. “There aren’t any near bridges to land on!”

“There! That car!” He yelled. I quickly spotted a flying car zooming by. 

I grabbed Rex’s hand while he grabbed Jasmine’s leg and I held out my spear until it would hook onto the car.

When it came my spear lodged itself deep into the hull and our combined weight flipped the car over. The  vehicle was flipped and the Renz driver fell out into the infinite abyss of the city. Funny, they don’t have seat belts.

We were dangling from the hovering car for just a moment before it started to incline downwards from our weight.

“It’s going to crash! What do I do?” I said. 

Rex didn’t answer. Instead he switched places with Jasmine so he was on the bottom of our dangling human/rexel chain, and then he started swinging forwards and backwards. I saw his plan. Together we swung and swung until we gained enough momentum to swing over to flip the car into its right position, all three of us landing perfectly on the seats.

“Nice.” I complimented. 

He didn’t care. As he looked back he ordered me, “Drive!”

I hesitated because I didn’t know I was in the driver’s seat, but soon found the controls and sent our speeder forward. 

We got lost in the big speeder activity in the city. We also didn’t have time for traffic, so we flew over and under the cars, the wind shooting by as if we were in a rollercoaster, the sounds of the city mixing in a blur as we went full speed. I didn’t dare look back at our pursuers. I just kept my full focus on the road. 

“Dan, I’m going to go to the back of the car and block their shots.” Rex told me. He switched seats with Jasmine. 

“Hey, Jaz, I’m kind of busy here. Can you check how far we are from the end of this place?”

She started looking at her AI.

“Dan, the aircrafts are here! Swerve on any direction I tell you to. They’re going to fire missiles at us.”

I groaned. “Aw, screw this. Jasmine, take the wheel.”

“What?!” She barely had time to say it before I handed my spot to her and I jumped over to the back to help Rex. 

There were about half a dozen speeders and the two aircrafts chasing us. The speeders had laser guns at the front shooting at us. Rex was doing his best to deflect them. I blocked some of them with my spear. 

“Dan, you see the missiles from the ships?” He pointed at them.

“Yeah? What about them?” I deflected another blast.

“Those are heat-seeking missiles. It won’t follow the Renzs because they are cold-blooded.”

“How do you know all this stuff?” I asked.

“I told you, my dad was a genius. A military expert, actually. Now, we have absolutely no way of escaping them.”

I got shocked. “What?! What are we going to do?” I felt like Rex really should be the leader because I was the one always asking him for answers. 

He didn’t seem to be bothered though. “When they launch it, we have to let the missiles follow us until we are ready to abandon the speeder. They will most likely be too fast to turn in time before we jump off.”

“What if�"“

“It doesn’t matter what if!” He growled. “I need you to drive. You have to keep dodging them until we get a safe landing spot. I’m warning you, this is going to be the most dangerous and fastest ride of your life if you want to outrun those missiles.”

I thought about it. I drove one of their ships before, so I was probably more experienced than Jasmine at doing this. I was the most qualified, actually. But the task seemed hard. Too hard for me.

It didn’t matter. We only had one shot. “I can do it.” I said. “Won’t let you down Rex.”

I jumped back to the front seat and told Jasmine I was going to drive. She seemed relieved. 

“What’s the plan you guys were talking about back there?” She asked.

“Nothing. Just keep your eyes open for missiles.”

“What?!”

“Shh.” I hushed. “I need concentration.”

I drove steadily. When Rex told me they fired the missiles, I took the absolute most crazy ride of my life. I spun around, swerved randomly, went in circles, went up and down, and did a bunch of insane moves to dodge the rockets.

Right when we got close to a building I turned so sharply I almost flew off the car. The missile couldn’t do quite well as me, so it exploded on the edge of the skyscraper. Hey, that was a bonus.

We zoomed through the buildings at top speed. I heard the hissing of a rocket following closely behind. I smelled that intoxicating oil and gas smell from the engine, as well as that burnt scent of the smoke coming from the heat-seeking rocket pursuing us until it reached its home. 

Finally, I dared to look back. I regretted instantly. The missile was so close, its tip was almost touching the back of our speeder car. 

Panic made me react fast. As soon as possible, I turned at a building. 

Mistake. Another missile met us on the other side, nearly exploding us to bits if I didn’t quickly swerve up from adrenaline. 

My heart was beating faster than galloping horse’s legs. I was sweating from panic and fear. One second ago we would all be blown up.

“I have a confession to make.” I told Jasmine. “I don’t really know where I’m going.”

“Aw man, why couldn’t you have told me earlier?” She said. She opened up her AI map and guided me. 

“No, go over there! Wait, move there, over there! Turn left! No, I said turn right! Turn there! Watch that area! Go over here!”

It sounded like bossing to me. 

“There! A bridge wide enough to land!” Jasmine called.

“Jaz,” I said, looking at the enormous amount of Renzs walking on it. “There are Renzs there.”

“What, all of a sudden you care about the stupid aliens? Run them over!”

I smiled. She was as stubborn as usual. I was about to veer our speeder towards that direction before Rex yelled, “Wait!”

I turned. “What?”

“We have to jump off, remember? If we land the missiles will take down the bridge along with us in it.”

“Okay.” We neared the bridge. I already saw some Renzs on the bridge�"probably the patrol�"taking out weapons to fire at us. “Ready?”

“Now!” Rex said. I spun the wheel. As the car flipped over, we fell on the bridge painfully. I heard an explosion occur, which must’ve been the missiles hitting our car. 

I felt dizzy. When my vision cleared I gained balance as I got up. I called my spear and it flew to my hand.

And that was when I realized a Renz was aiming his sidearm at me, before Rex whacked him on the head.

Unfortunately it was only momentarily dazed. When Rex attacked again, the alien grabbed his neck. I tried to help. I sliced my spear downwards, leaving a burning mark on his bone-plated crest armour on his forearm. He screamed in agony as he stumbled backwards. Rex dropped to the floor, gasping for air. 

The Renz regained its balance and struck at me. Rex blocked it with his arm. The Renz growled. Rex returned it with a glare. 

I jumped at it but he kicked me in the sternum. I felt all the air knocked out of me. 

Then the alien whacked Rex on the forehead. He fell, injured. 

Just then the aircrafts arrived. They began firing their lasers at us. I spun my spear like a propeller, deflecting the shots. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jasmine trying to help Rex up, but he was too hurt to even stand.

Fine. I had to distract the Renzs alone. I hid behind the bridge’s railing for cover. The blasts harmlessly bounced off the stone, cracking into it and sending flying chips everywhere. When they overheated I sprang up and threw my spear at the ship. It broke through the black window of the craft, then I called for it back and it flew to my hand. 

Suddenly I felt a sharp pain on my back. Oh yeah, I forgot about that dude. As I crumpled, he grabbed my neck and bashed me into the bridge railing, which really hurt. 

Rex finally saw that he had to help me. He grabbed my spear and stabbed it into the back of the Renz.

I expected him to die or at least cry out in pain, but my spear stuck into his bone spikes in his armour and he turned, angrily growling at Rex. Rex backed away slowly. 

I saw my chance. I jumped and kicked the Renz in the face. Unfortunately, he saw it coming. He grabbed my leg and twisted my body back on the ground. 

He turned on my friends. Rex tried to strike at him but he dodged it. He grabbed Rex’s arm, and twisted him, flipping his whole body over. 

And then he went for Jasmine. Oh no, we didn’t have anybody left. I thought we were dead for sure, until Jasmine picked up my spear and drove it into the Renz’s face so hard, it produced a large scar on his right cheek. A burning one. The laser cut through his helmet and into his skin, and as it was burning through his flesh, he cried out in torment, holding his hands to the mark on his face. 

I would never admit it to Jasmine, but I was impressed. She helped me and Rex up. 

Boom! An explosion shook the entire bridge, sending sparks of fire and heat in every direction. The shockwave blasted us off our feet, as I felt the whole bridge falling down. 

“Run to the end!” I yelled to my friends. We tried to outrun the collapsing bridge, but it fell too fast. I reached out to grab the ledge of the end, but I was already too far away.

I tried to think. Novatrons appeared out of the building’s openings from either end, trapping us and watching us fall to our doom. I looked up. The crafts weren’t too far away. 

“Jump on them!” I said. 

“What?!” Jasmine cried. 

“Do it! It’s our only way out!” Rex supported me.

We crept up to the end of the collapsing bridge, and at the last second, we jumped. 

Evolution saved us. We jumped high enough to land on the ship’s top. I watched the bridge we were on fall to the depths of the city in smoking flames. Wow, Novatrons must be really serious about hunting us if they’re willing to destroy their own city for it.

I saw the other ship next to us rise above. It was going to blast us off the ship we were standing on!

“There! Run into the building!” I called. There was a skyscraper next to us with a framed glass wall like the other one. We got ready to jump. 

When the ship fired its lasers at us, we jumped into the building. Rex at the front, he smashed through the glass with his head, which I didn’t quite get. 

The sound of sharp glass breaking and scattering all over the floor sounded as we entered the building. I landed on the hard ground, rolling until my head hurt. Thankfully for my sweater, it prevented me from getting scratches on my skin. 

I laid on the floor, groaning. We had to stop doing that.

I painfully picked myself up. My spear flew off somewhere, so I had no choice but to get a ton of cuts on my hand. They started bleeding terribly. I felt awful.

Fortunately for Rex, he didn’t get a single cut on his body. “Wow,” He said when he took a look at me and Jamsine, “you guys look like you need a doctor.”

“Shut up,” I said, “no fair you get indestructible skin.”

“But it wasn’t my fault you guys weren’t born a rexel.” He said, smiling. Rex was tough both physically and emotionally. He just refused to get offended. Much like you know who. 

But even though he was tough on the outside and inside, his clothes weren’t. His red sweater was covered in soot from the explosions and his pants were almost torn and ripped apart. I realized that my clothes looked probably the same. 

“Phew,” Jasmine said as she rested a hand on a wall. “I can’t take this much longer. How far are we? And I only want good news.” 

My AI told me we weren’t far from the far reaches of the city. “The speeder actually took us further than I expected.” I said.

Rex rested his hands on his knees. “What’s the plan?”

I picked up my spear from the floor. Then I rolled up my sleeves. “Keep going.”

“I’m hungry,” Jasmine moaned. 

“Oh come on,” I said. “We ate lunch at Rex’s house. You can’t possibly be hungry that fast.”

“Well,” Rex panted, “we did use up a lot of energy.” 

“Simple workout for me,” I said. 

“Stop being so arrogant,” Jasmine said. “I know you’re tired.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I’m beat.”

“Guys, hide!” Rex drove me to the wall near Jasmine. I heard the humming of the craft’s engine as it hovered by us. 

“We’re unseen for now.” Rex explained. “We have to use this to our advantage.”

“What are we waiting for then? Let’s not waste any more time. The longer it takes the less time we have until sundown. It gets hard when it’s dark.” I pointed at Jasmine. “And she’s afraid of the dark.”

She punched me in the shoulder. “Shut up. No, I’m not.”

“Don’t worry, I used to be afraid of the dark too.” Rex said.

“Really?” Jasmine and I said at the same time.

“Yeah,” he replied. “It was my most natural fear. It became stronger when the invasion happened. It made me realize that supernatural and paranormal things were possible.”

“But you’re not scared of it now, are you?” I asked. 

“No. Aliens are real, monsters are not.”

I pointed my thumb at Rex. “See, you should listen to this guy.”

“How old are you, anyway?” Jasmine asked.

“In rexelian years, I’d say not even one. But in human years, That would be about twelve point six.”

“How can you add a decimal?” I asked. “There are twelve lunar months. Decimals are up to ten.”

“Not in rexel terms.”

“You still can’t do that, unless your months add up to ten�"“

“Will you two nerds stop talking?” Jasmine interrupted, “We have to escape as fast as possible!”

“She’s right,” I told Rex. “Stealth mode everybody. They’ve lost us, so let’s use it to our advantage.”

We quietly crept around the building. Whenever we were sure there was a Renz around the corner, we went the other way. Dodging them was pretty easy. The skyscrapers were so huge, we could walk for ten minutes and not find any Renzs. 

Still, it was getting harder. We saw Renzs come out of the elevator, probably coming from outside. As the day ended they grew more populated in the buildings. 

When two Renzs walked out of an elevator, we sneaked behind them and used the elevator. 

“Down,” Jasmine said. We didn’t argue. 

Our pod slid down the big shaft, with the sounds of the mechanisms and shifting gears. It drifted smoothly with a shoom kind of sound. 

Once we hit the bottom we braced for any Renzs, but we were lucky. None of them roamed this floor.

We kept going. Every time a Renz came over we hid in a room or behind empty counters. We didn’t dare knock them out because that would cause suspicion. 

I had to say, I thought the Novatrons were some barbaric race that took planets for their cause, but actually they were pretty civilized. I was surprised. I always thought their weapons were futuristic, but you didn’t get the full view if you didn’t see their city. 

Of course, there were those neon blue ones that could throw whole mountains. But if they weren’t the leader, then I couldn’t imagine what the leader could do. The winged devil of the skies, the lord of fire, the almighty king of the Novatrons. 

And Tony said it like I needed to fight him, which was possible, but also said I was my dad’s backup, which wasn’t possible. Time travel wasn’t possible. Everybody knew that.
But a person who can send dreams to me wasn’t possible either.

I began to get angry. He set me up all along. His master was the Novatrons’ master. No wonder the has powers like that. The Novatrons have the physical abilities, he probably has the mental. Maybe he has a whole other race with the same powers. The Novatrons are one whole race.

I don’t think I can trust him anymore.

Chapter 12: Forest

Hungry, tired, and in pain, we made it out alive.

Just kidding. The city became long and boring. We couldn’t rest from the fear of being seen. We were so lucky so far, I didn’t think it would last, so we had to be careful for the rest of the way. 

It wasn’t too hard… except when we got to the wall.

It was massive. There was no opening or gate anywhere to be seen. It must’ve been on some other part of the wall, but we didn’t have time to check. For all we knew, the gate we entered was the only one in the entire wall. 

It was made of tough but smooth concrete, with towers stationed at points in the walls. Probably some scouts looking out over the city walls. It made me think there was some kind of rexel rebellion attacking them, but they were just wasting their effort. Nobody was going to attack them�"anytime soon anyway. 

“We can climb it,” Rex said, breaking my thoughts. 

“No way,” Jasmine said.

“No,” Rex said, “I’m not suggesting it, I’m saying we can do it. It’s possible. Well, at least for me it is.”

I studied the wall. The only boundary between this nightmare and freedom.  

“Let’s do it,” I said. “It’s the only way.” 

Jasmine gave up complaining. I stabbed my spear and tested it’s connection to the wall. “Good,” I said. I started up. 

“That’s a long way.” Jasmine said, looking up. I didn’t want to look at it. I just wanted to get it over with. 

We took an hour. Literally. Rex went up the front, punching into the cement and creating holes for our hands and feet to hook on. It was long and tiring work. I was the at the bottom, repeatedly reminding Jasmine to not look down. 

Sooner or later we managed it. We took the last couple of steps to the top of the wall. 

When I reached the top I stretched. That was long work. But now we had to climb down. 

“Aw, we made it!” I said, stretching my muscles. “That was�"“

Suddenly an alarm rang. It wailed through the city, like the crying of a child. 

I looked around hastily for what started it. I saw a wall tower in the distance. The Renz on it was aiming a sniper at me! A narrow, red beam of light was aimed at my chest! I looked at it, suddenly afraid of a bullet striking there any second.

I pointed at the Renz. “Guys! The scout! We’re spotted!”

Rex saw the beam on my chest. He instantly put himself in front of me. Shik! the sniper fired, and Rex screamed in pain.

“Augh!” He yelled. Okay, more like fury. 

“Rex, are you okay?” Jasmine asked. 

Novatron aircrafts were already rising from their pads. Ground troopers were coming at the edge of the wall, forming a line and aiming up at us. 

“Duck!” I called, tackling Jasmine. 

They fired. A hundred shots per second, the pellets started wrecking the wall. All in an attempt to kill us. 

“Start climbing down!” I said.

“No!” Rex shouted. “There’s no time! Get on me!”

Under different circumstances, I would’ve laughed at that, but I trusted Rex. Even with my life. So with our confused faces, we each hooked ourselves around his neck and he jumped off the wall.

I mean, seriously. We have a tank with us. And that’s how you use it. You climb on its back and jump off a cliff, hoping your indestructible friend will absorb any impact you might encounter.

He landed with a boom. A crater formed around him, with dust spreading into the air and making us cough. When it cleared we got off Rex. 

“That�"“ I said, panting, “was crazy. I like it.”

I took a look around. We were in a desert wasteland. There was no city outskirts or anything, not at least a neighbourhood of some sort. Everything was inside the city walls. Evolotropolis had some big walls, but not anything like this. 

I missed the city. My dad said all the five races lived there together. The city was made during the war, and the trixians destroyed it after a betrayal, but when we made an alliance with the voidals they helped rebuild the city with their magic. Ever since, it was the capital of Vanity, symbolizing the unity of the five races. There were five sectors for each race, and the humans and the rexels had the biggest ones because they started the city. Anyways, the sectors were pretty big, so I never got to see any of the other races. That’s why I got surprised to meet Rex, who was a rexel.

But the city was gone. And I couldn’t change that.

“We have to go,” Jasmine said. “They set the alarm. They’re coming for us.”

I looked ahead. There was bare and desolate desert for kilometres to be seen, and we had run out of water in Jasmine’s bag. I wasn’t so sure about getting lost there.

Then I heard a roar that instantly urged me to run. It was an inhuman roar so deafening, powerful, and thundering it boomed across the landscape with blusterous effects. I recognized almost immediately. 

It was the terrifying roar of the Novatron beasts. The ones that were so powerful, they could go up against one of our armies and crush us. They could throw mountains over cities. They can snap a rexel in two and defeat the best of our combat technology. They were the ones lined with neon blue laser. 

And I was terrified of them. 

Boom! An immense, dynamic shockwave thundered in the city. A ring of visible air blasted from a point in the skyscrapers. It blew back dust along the sides of the buildings. And from that point was a tiny figure in the distance. It soared above the spot where it jumped, coming towards us from an impossible distance.

“Run!” I yelled. We dashed across the hot sand in the ground. The late afternoon sun was baking me into a crisp. Sweat streaked down my face, stinging the cuts on my face from the glass that cut me. I didn’t have time to take off my sweater, but it was burning me from the inside. It just added to being more thirsty and tired from the heat. 

Still, I didn’t want to be squashed like a bug. And Rex knew too. Back in his house, I told our whole adventure to him. He knew what they were capable of. If we didn’t escape now, we were already dead. 

Soon we made it far with our evolved speed. Far enough that I could barely see a detail of the city. I thought we were safe from danger until I remembered the Renz that jumped from the city. I didn’t know where he went. I looked around for him.

Boom! I covered my face from sand blowing into my eyes. There seemed to be a sand explosion occurring near us.

When it cleared I saw the Renzs beast kneeling with one hand on the floor, who had braced from the landing. And now he was coming for us.

I swiped with my spear, but he grabbed it and pulled. Still hanging onto my spear, he pulled me with such force I was yanked behind him. I rolled in the sand dune, getting sand in my mouth and face.

I heard Rex snarl and attack the Renz. I couldn’t warn him not to because of the sand in my mouth. I spit it out.

I looked back from the top of the dune. Rex was locked in combat with the Renz, although the alien was just taunting him. It was just standing there, watching poor Rex try to punch through his bone-crested armour.

Jasmine was running down the hill to me. “Rex said to run. You know what we’re going to do, right?”

“Of course,” I said. “Do the opposite he says.”

She smiled while helping me up. “Yeah, we’re not good listeners.”

We ran back up the hill to help Rex. The Renz had him by the neck and was bashing his skull on the soft sand. He was about to twist him into frail bones and sinews before I shot my spear with expert accuracy at his head. My enhanced strength worked better than expected, because the Renz dropped Rex and the rexel kicked him in the painful spot.

The alien recovered quickly. He grabbed Rex and threw him at me. I dodged to the side. Rex smashed into Jasmine.

“Sorry!” I called down the sand dune. My spear flew back to my hand just in time to block the Renz’s punch, but he was too powerful. His fist slid off my spear and punched me in the stomach. I shot down towards the end of the dune and pounded into the sand so hard, it made a crater. 

I made a comeback. My spear came back again, and I used my enhanced strength to jump back up the dune and attack the Renz again. The annoying part? He just punched me again back down the dune and I made another crater. 

Rex was already up the hill. The Novatron roared at him, and stomped his foot on the ground so hard it made a sandstorm. Rex got blown back down the hill. 

The alien roared again, jumping high into the air. He was aimed straight for me. I rolled in the sand, dodging it in the nick of time. His fist slammed into the sand beneath me, and it was so powerful he made a mini crevice open in the whole desert. It opened up as sand fell into it, bringing me along with it. 

“Dan!” Jasmine grabbed my hand before I fell in. But the Renz yanked me by the shirt and threw me. 

I flew a whole kilometre! I soared in the air, bracing for my impact.

It came.

Painfully.

.  .  .

Waking up, I felt more worse than ever. 

My head was stinging in pain. My backbones and muscles felt like they were torn apart, and they were still being stretched now. 

My spine felt fractured, although it probably wasn’t because I could move it. I could feel my enhanced healing starting to mend my body to one piece. 

I felt dreadful. Not a moment ago we would’ve been dead.

Wait, we? Where were my friends?

I took a look at my surroundings. It was nighttime. The pale, white full moon was vibrant in the sky. I was lying in a bed of tall green grass, overlooking the edge of the forest. Trees hung over me like looming shadows. I heard crickets chirping nearby.

I was afraid to move out of my cozy spot or make a sound that signalled my position to the alien that was after us. Maybe I was thrown into the jungle and he killed my�"no, I couldn’t think about it.

I tried moving. A painful throb went to my back, and I fell back down. Okay, so I couldn’t move yet. 

Then I spotted Jasmine’s bag sitting next to a tree nearby. I suddenly got relieved. They weren’t dead. Unless… the Renz put that there to trick me. 

Okay, I was thinking crazily now. Renzs aren’t that smart. 

A voice from behind me made me jump.

“See? He’s awake.” Jasmine said.

“Yes,” Rex’s voice went, “Dan, are you okay?”

“I can’t move.” I said. 

“Just a little more rest.” Rex said, sitting in front of me. “You got knocked out pretty cold back there.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“We escaped.” Jasmine answered. “Rex carried you, we ran to hide, the Renz couldn’t find us.”

“Do you have water?” I asked, my throat feeling dry.

“Yeah, that’s kind of what we went searching for.” Jasmine handed me a bottle of water. It was super warm, which I didn’t like, but I drank it anyway.

“Where’d you find this?” I asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” She said. “We dug.”

I instantly spit the water out. “You what?!”

“We dug in the sand,” Rex said.

“Do you know how dirty that is?” I asked him.

“Yeah,” he answered. “But we purified it. We made a fire and boiled it until the bacteria died.”

No wonder it tasted warm. “What about food?” I asked.

“That’s our problem.” Jasmine said sadly. “We’re in the middle of the forest. No animals. No food. Not even one  sign of edible vegetation.”

I groaned. “I’m hungry.” 

“Me too.” Rex said. “And you’ve got a nasty bump on your head.”

“I do?!” I said. I felt around my forehead.

“No,” Rex said, “I’m just kidding.”

Jasmine laughed. “You should’ve seen your face.”

“Very funny,” I said sarcastically. “Can we focus on shelter?”

“We have none.” Rex pointed out.

“Exactly. But we can make one. Has anyone seen my spear?”

“I’m pretty sure we should just sleep outside,” Jasmine said, “you guys stink.”

“I’m sorry Jasmine,” I said, annoyed, “but do you see a shower anywhere?”

“I can purify more water.”

“Whatever.” I tried to get up, but failed again. I saw Rex trying to smell his armpits.

“Aw come on man,” I said, “it doesn’t really matter.”

“No, really,” he said. “I’m not used to being this dirty and unorganized.”

“Because you’re the chief’s son, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. What about you? Aren’t you uncomfortable?”

“I’m the former chief’s grandson, so technically my dad is the one going to a bunch of political meetings while I live like a normal kid.” I explained.

“Found it,” Jasmine said, handing me my spear. I used it to try and get up. It actually worked. My body still ached, but rest made it anew. 

“Ah, that feels better,” I said. “Let’s build.”

We got to work. We figured we only needed beds to sleep on, and the trees would do enough for shelter. Rex’s house did have a set of sleeping bags, but we decided we didn’t want to carry them. Now I regretted that decision. 

Here in the jungle we had nothing but the vines from the trees and the twigs and branches on the ground to build with. I decided to make a wooden bed frame with branches running across it for the mattress, and then I would pile up leaves on it to see if that would make it more comfy.

So we went to work on our beds separately. It turned out my idea was the most bed-like out of us three. It was a bit high up from the floor, and it was very comfortable.

Rex was going to make a basic shelter where you lay branches against a tree and make a triangle around you, but he didn’t like how you would have to sleep on the floor. If you ask me, I think he was just too used to being a fancy and formal kid. This was the wild! If you’re surviving out in the wild, then you have to get wild! 

Jasmine was going to tie vines between two trees and make a hammock, but it wouldn’t work. 

I suggested we just all make my bed, and we all agreed. Rex got to work right away because he saw how good mine looked. And of course, Jasmine needed help.

“It’s going to take a lot of work, so don’t get mad.” I said.

“I won’t,” she promised.

“Gather a bunch of sticks.” I ordered.

“No.”

“Are you kidding me right now?”

She smiled. “Yes, I am. How much? What size? Where do I find them?”

I face-palmed. “Look around you.” I said.

We got to work. Jasmine brought me sticks and I began to build the bed. I stabbed four holes with my dagger to mark where the wooden poles for the bed would go. I started on the frame, tying them together with strong, thick vines.

“You know,” Jasmine said while she brought me a bundle of sticks, “I asked for help, not do it for me.”

“Fine,” I said. “You do it.” 

I held her hand on where to place the branches and how to tie them. “You put them here.” I instructed.

“I know. You’re controlling me.”

“But you know how to build it now?”

“No.”

Sitting on a stump, I took some of the bigger branches and started polishing them with my laser knife. I sliced the bark off, carving it into smooth logs.

I looked over to Rex, who was almost done his bed. 

“See?” I told Jasmine. “Rex is doing better than the both of us.”

“Okay, you do it,” she said. 

“No, I want you to learn. It’s the simplest thing in the world, and you can’t do it.”

I took the branches from her hands and placed them in a horizontal order, the branches being held up by the frame. I was about to tie them with the vine before Jasmine took them from me.

“No,” she said, “we should make the mattress out of vines.”

“But that won’t hold you up. You need sticks.” I said, holding up one.

“But that’s too hard. Vines are softer.”

“No, give me that.” We had a tug of war over the ropy, leafy vines. In the end we both fell on our rear ends. We laughed. Then we stared into each other’s eyes for a moment.

“Hey guys, what do you think?” Rex asked, breaking our trance. I looked at his bed. 

“Looks good.” I said, getting up and dusting my pants. 

With Rex’s help, we finished Jasmine’s bed early. We reset the campfire and boiled more water. Without anyway to cool it, it felt like drinking fire. It was better than nothing though. 

We sat around the campfire telling very corny stories we heard from our childhood and sharing human and rexel nursery rhymes. We shared riddles and jokes between us. We also talked about how we survived going through a Novatron city, second time for me. Rex and Jasmine said they never wanted to do it again which was funny to me because that’s what I said when I crossed one by myself too. Anyways, we had a lot of fun that night. It felt very much like camping. That night I could just relax and enjoy the company of my friends around the campfire, not caring about the invasion, not caring about all my loss and despair, not caring for a thing in the world.

Tonight I could just let go of everything I worried about. Tonight I could just forget every sorrowful thought left in my mind. I was to have fun tonight. 

But it was only one night. And it went by so fast. Soon Jasmine got tired and went to sleep early. Rex and I decided we needed some rest too.

“First night not spent in my house.” Rex said under his leaf blanket on his bed, his serpentine eyes glimmering yellow amber in the campfire light. Despite the heat from it, I shivered from the cold night. 

“Yeah,” I replied, “I don’t like it, but somehow I’m used to it now.”

I stared up at the stars, remembering something. “What happened the night of the invasion? I mean, like�"“

“Don’t talk about the invasion!” He yelled. 

I shut up, thinking I’ve reached a touchy subject. We were silent for a moment. Then Rex said, “I’m sorry. I’m just bummed out. I miss my dad. I missed my old life. Just, what was your question?”

I continued cautiously. “The night of the invasion, my dad set the alarm message for everybody to come to Evolotropolis right away, because the invasion was here earlier than predicted. Why were you and your dad still in your house, watching the News?”

He sighed. “I tried telling him. But he said it was a trap. It’s not like he didn’t trust your dad. He said your dad was a great fighter in the Vanity War, and a natural born leader when he lead those abducted martian guys.”

I might’ve blushed.

“But his logic was that if the invasion started there, then staying here was the best choice. We had a bunker. And he also said we would be stuck in space if we actually escaped with the ship because we didn’t have a hyperdrive yet. Do you want to know what I think?”

“What?” I asked. 

“He was too stuck up to this planet. He didn’t want to give it up. He said this was his home and it shall forever be his home. It was the best planet we’ve ever encountered, and he just wanted to not let go of it all. He wanted Vanity as his last home.”

He waited until that sank in.

“But then your dad’s general called. He said my dad had to be the leader of the rexels to defend the invasion. I was too young to be a leader yet. So he got his coat, got to the door, and told me before he left, don’t worry, son. We will get through this. I will be back. And then I never saw him again.”

Silence. All I heard was the cool winds of the night, howling like wolves. The crickets mixed in, chirping along with the crackling fire next to us. It suddenly reminded me of Titanetrox, and I shivered at the thought, wishing I forgot about it.
“What about you?” Rex asked. 

“Are you kidding me?” I asked. “I barely see my dad. He’s always busy doing all that political nonsense. The night of the invasion he was at work. The last time I saw him was the day before when he told me about our bunker.”

“You don’t miss him?”

“Of course I do. But he probably wasn’t thinking about me when the invasion happened. Your dad is too stuck up with this planet. My dad is too focused on protecting the people. The ship wasn’t finished yet and he went up ahead to call the signal for the departure.”

He sighed. “It’s funny how messed up our dads become.”

“I don’t see anything wrong with yours. MIne’s the one that I couldn’t talk to for longer than a minute.”

“Mine’s the one that wanted to stay here, give up, and die when our bunker was depleted of food.” He said.

“He actually said that?”

“No. But it sounded like that because he didn’t want to escape in the ship.”

“It wouldn’t matter anyway.” I said. “We’d be stuck in space forever without the hyperdrive technology out of the Local Group. Even the martians are confused with it. Their the ones with the advanced tech.”

“I know. They keep saying those; We are so close! We are researching as hard as we can! We are on the verge of figuring it out! But I bet you they’re really far from figuring it out.” Rex said.

I wished that were the case. I didn’t want a new home, if I would end up dead anyway. This planet was our home. We should just protect it.

“We need food tomorrow.” I said.

“And a shower.”

“Oh, come on. I can stay dirty for a week!”

“That’s disgusting.” Rex mumbled, turning in his bed.

After a while I said, “Rex, do you think�"“

I gut interrupted by a snore. Rex was fast asleep. I realized I should try to get some sleep too.

I had this time to think about my rexel friend. He said English was his second language, but he was as fluent at it as a human. And he was a great friend. He could be trusted. I was glad to have him and Jasmine with me. I didn’t feel alone anymore. I mean, three’s a crowd, right? 

If this invasion never happened I would have never met them. Now they were my closest friends. And we had all one thing in common: we were survivors. 

We were closer to Belladan than ever. And then our journey would end. And then I wouldn’t know what to do. Maybe just live there forever, because there was no way I was going back to Lyneria.

I sighed. Home was so far away now. I was never going to see it again. My new life wasn’t going to change. 

I really didn’t know what we would do when we searched the whole planet and found nothing. I felt so pressured and scared. Mostly scared. 

I guess the only thing for me to do left is do what Tony asked. Whatever he wants, I would do it because there was nothing left for me in my life. I had no goal. So my goal should be Tony’s goal. Unless he really was lying and was working for Titanetrox’s master. 

Huh. I found myself really wanting to talk to him. I didn’t understand anything that he said anyway. And he never visited me once after he gave me my last message and disappeared. 

It was a long day. I needed rest. There were no Renzs around. I could relax.

I put out our fire, so the beacon of smoke would stop. Then I rolled up in my leaf covers and slept uncom-fortably. 

Not another surprise in the morning, hopefully. 

.  .  .

“Get up Dan, we’re leaving.”

I woke up groggily. There was a cool, misty fog in the jungle. Everywhere was moist and wet. I felt cold and tired, and mostly hungry. 

I sat up in my bed, ruffling through my hair and looking around eyes half-closed. Jasmine was packing her stuff and putting on her sweater. Rex was breaking the beds and kicking our campfire to pieces, which still smelled of faint smoke and ashes. 

“Why are we leaving so early?” I asked sleepily.

“What do you mean? It’s almost lunchtime. You stayed up late, huh?” Jasmine asked, now writing in her notebook.

“Yeah. Can’t I sleep more?” I rolled back in my bed.

“Nope, sleepyhead.” Rex said, shaking my shoulder. “We’re going. You can’t sleep through the whole day. We need to find food.” 

I finally agreed. I didn’t take a bag from Rex’s house, which I was starting to regret, so I laid my things on the floor beside my bed. Bottled plastic water, my AI, my spear laid against a tree, a pocket-sized flashlight, a lighter, a bottle of Raede’s cure pills, and other stuff that all fit in my jeans pockets. I didn’t have an AI charger because Jasmine had one. 

When we were done packing and we were ready to go, Rex asked, “Okay, which way were we headed?”

I used my AI compass mode. I loved my AI. It was the best survival tool ever. It served kind of like a phone, too.

“Let’s see,” I said, turning it on. There was a notification on the screen. “What is this?” I said. I tapped it, wondering what it was.

My eyes widened. “Holy cheese!”

“What?” Jasmine asked. She and Rex came closer to get a look on my screen. 

“It’s a beacon message!” I said happily.

“What?! Really?” Jasmine asked, looking at it closer. 

I read it aloud. “Any survivors who are still out there, please come and find us, or we’ll come and find you. This is Raymond, the leader of a group out of ten. We are in the city of Yolis in Belladan. If there is anybody who survived the invasion please know that you are not alone.”

“Wait, what?” Rex said, amazed. “You got a beacon message?”

“Yeah!” I said. “And these people are in Belladan! That’s where we’re going!”

“We know they’re human,” Jasmine said, “they wrote in English.”

“Can we send a message back?” Rex asked.

“Yeah,” I answered. “But we have no idea if it will reach them.”

“How did it reach you then?” Rex asked, not knowing a thing about beacon messages.

“You need to get really high up to get a reception for a message around the world. It’s like a broadcast, like the radio. Obviously we got it because we are close to them. And they probably climbed a mountain or something to send this message.” I explained. 

“Let’s climb a mountain and send one to them then.” Rex said.

“It’s not worth it,” Jasmine said. “We don’t even know if it will reach them.”

“Aw, this is great guys!” I said, very excited. “We’re not alone! I bet you these guys have some laser guns and a fort to keep out Renzs or something! We’ll be safe once we get there. We’re not alone guys! We’re not alone!”

“We have to reach Yolis first.” Rex confirmed. 

“No, we need food first.” Jasmine said. 

“Okay! Let’s go!” I said, feeling more pumped up and alive once I read the message. 

I was wrong! We weren’t alone! There were more people out there! Even though they said their group was only ten, it didn’t make me less confident that there were more groups. Maybe everyone survived in a bunker. 

“Where are we going to find food?” Rex asked. I could hear his stomach grumbling.

“We can find some on the way,” Jasmine offered.

“Oh come on guys, why aren’t you excited?” I said, feeling all my bursted energy draining.

“They’re really far away,” Rex explained. “And I’m starving.”

“I’ve starved longer than you,” I said. “And at the route we’re going, we’re not that far away. How much longer do we have to go?” I asked Jasmine. 

She gave an educated guess. “Like, a whole con-tinent.”

I put my hand to my forehead. “No, I meant check your AI.”

“But it’s true,” she said. “A whole continent.”

“Not at the route we’re going. Come on!”

They finally gave in to my compelling burst of energy and excitement and followed me back on our trail through the jungle. I wondered what Rex carried me through when I passed out last night, because a jungle next to a desert wouldn’t make sense. 

I was leading our party through the ferns and leaves of the biome. I held my spear in one hand as a walking stick, and hacked and sliced through the thick bushes with my dagger. It was very humid in here, and I could feel the moisture solidify on me, or it was just my sweat. Now I really did feel like taking a shower. 

I could imagine what this forest looked like from above. A bunch of dark green shrubs huddled together, with a big, misty fog drifting from above with a tinge of sky blue. It would span out maybe as big as a lake. Or it would have a lake beside it, one that I could use to drink and clean myself, if I could find it. My AI could find it, that’s for sure. 

I remembered the sea monster that attacked us on the  banks of the Ramento. With those huge fangs, those glowing yellow eyes with no pupils, I was a bit afraid to be near vast amounts of water now. Maybe the lake I was hoping to find had a brother leviathan or something. I shivered at every thought of that sea adventure. It wasn’t really something I wanted to do again. Once that monster attacked us and almost drowned us, I finally knew how terrifying the sea was. Who knew what kind of bigger monsters lurked in the depths of Vanity?

“Find anything yet?” Jasmine asked me, and I went out of my daze. The whole time I had been involuntarily slashing my dagger through the bushes, not even thinking about it.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Any food.”

I looked around. There were no animals. I looked at the trees. 

“There! Some fruit!” I said. We stopped at this area. I cleared the rest of the bushes with my dagger. 

When I was finished I connected my spear and tried reaching for the fruit, but the tree was just too tall.

“What if I ask the AI the best way to get it?” Jasmine asked.

“No,” I said climbing the tree with my tongue sticking out of my mouth. “I can do this.”

Jasmine asked anyway. I was attempting to climb the tree and grab the fruit with my spear. I must’ve looked ridiculous, but I knew how hungry my friends were. 

“It says you can cut down the tree, or shake it until the food drops.” Jasmine read from her screen.

I felt dumb. “Oh yeah.” In one clean swipe, I completely sliced the tree from its bottom. It fell to the ground, with all the fruits rolling on the floor. 

“And we have a bench now!” I said happily, pointing to the fallen log. 

I reached for a fruit but Jasmine said, “Wait!”

I froze. 

“How do you know it won’t hurt you?” She said.

“Seriously? You depend on your AI for everything.” 

“No, you do. I’m just being safe.” She scanned my fruit. Hmm, scanning my fruit. I thought that was a pretty awkward sentence. What a random one too. 

“Clear,” she said.

We sat on the log and peeled away. The fruit tasted good. It was sweet and flavourful, and not too sticky or messy. More like juicy.

When I finished my breakfast I asked, “There, you happy now?”

Rex smiled. “Yes. It’s delicious. My favourite.”

“You know this fruit?” Jasmine asked him.

“Yeah,” he answered. “It’s a rexel fruit. Only grows in Azdux.”

“Huh,” I said. “Could’ve told us it was safe to eat.”

“I just wanted to see how it would turn out if I didn’t tell you,” he replied.

“Hey!” I said.

After we finished our little snack break we kept going. I was getting more tired and tired as I kept hacking through the bushes with my dagger. 

“I want to get there already.” I said. “What if it will take weeks to reach Yolis?” 

“It won’t.” Rex said. “Azdux is smaller than your continent anyway. It’s like an island compared to Vanity’s oceans.”

“How long do you think it will take to get there?” I asked. 

“Days.”

“Duh,” I said. “How many?”

“Dunno.” 

We wandered through the forest for what seemed like forever. My back and legs were aching, so we took a lot of stretches. We took breaks to rest in the humid environment and eat a couple more of the fruits in the trees. I got a little uncomfortable when Rex said that the fruits we were eating had nutrients that voidals couldn’t digest. There was a story of one eating one and getting a bad case of stomach flu. Voidals were weird anyway. They couldn’t do a bunch of stuff that we could. 

I got even more uncomfortable when Rex said there were wild rexelian animals known to attack people here. They could rip apart your flesh in seconds or suck tons of blood from you without you feeling it or�"ugh I was going to stop listening to Rex from now on.

Going through the jungle was harder with each step. And bugs were really starting to make me angry, trying to bite into my neck and all that stuff. It was annoying. There were hordes of flying insects at some areas, and from Rex telling me some could carry painful diseases or just simply poison you, we decided to go around them whenever we came across one. 

It took the whole day to cross the big place. At lunch we were lucky enough to find a wild animal wandering around, making us lick our lips. At dinner we were miserable. There were no nearby water sources to wash or drink from, and I had to go to the bathroom. And not to pee.

“What would you rather have,” I said, sparking a new conversation, “civilization or this�"wild kind of land?”

“City,” Jasmine said automatically, making disgusted faces and swatting away insects.

“Obviously the city,” Rex said. “You know me. I’m not used to this.”

“Me too.” I said. “I guess nobody likes the wild outdoors. It sucks. I mean, where’s the bathroom?”

“You’ve asked us for the millionth time,” Jasmine said, rolling her eyes, “either you go here, or we wait until we reach Yolis.”

I made a face. “I don’t want to go out here! That’s disgusting! What do I do? Dig a hole and cover it up when I’m finished?”

Rex shrugged. “Actually, that is the proper way to go in the woods�"“

“I don’t care!” I said. “Let’s just hurry up.”

“Dan, this jungle is probably so big we can’t even cross it in one day. We can take a rest and you can go.” Rex said.

“No,” I said. “And it’s only nine. We can sleep at ten.”

“Why do you always sleep late?” Jasmine asked. “That will just make you even more tired.”

“Ten is usually when I fall asleep anyway.” I said. 

Then I saw a light. Rex was faster. He whispered, “Get down!” 

We hit the floor and covered our heads. The humming got closer. It whizzed by us, whipping the air around it like a leaf blower. 

“Was that a Razor?” Jasmine whispered. I could barely see her face in the moonlight, especially when we were down in the ground under all the shadows.

“Yeah,” Rex grunted. “Renzs. They’re here.”

“Crawl until we hit a safe zone.” I said.

“No!” Rex warned. “They’re crawling all over the place. There is no safe zone! We’re trapped!”

“Play dead!” Jasmine suggested. We did her plan and tried to hide under the leafy bushes. If they found us, I was hoping they would assume we were dead and leave us alone. 

I was afraid I would fall asleep, in the middle of all these Renzs. It seemed like I would, until I heard another speeder come by. I heard the Renz getting off his vehicle, and doing an inspection around the area. Or whatever Renz scouts do out here. 

I heard him come closer. I was terrified. I was frozen in fear that he would stab me with a sword on the back or something. 

I felt his hand grab my hair. I was lifted up. Without my eyes open, I could tell I was right up to his face. I could smell him anyway. You know, that rotting flesh and bone kind of smell? 

I tried not to whimper, or gag, or show any sign I was dead. Now I really wish I did fall asleep, so I wouldn’t have to be awake this moment. The alien took a while inspecting me, then when he was sure I was dead, he shoved me back to the floor�"hard. Like backbreaking hard.

A few moments later I was sure he was done inspecting my friends and was gone. I slowly opened my eyes, in case I was wrong. It wasn’t any different than closing them. It had turned so dark, I could only see the outlines for the tall grass around me. I looked around. 

“It’s safe guys,” I said. We all got up and dusted our clothes. I instantly noticed something wrong the moment Jasmine pouted.

“He took our stuff!” She cried.

“No! I had precious stuff in mine!” Rex claimed, putting his hands to the sides of his head. They started freaking out that way. 

“Guys, relax!” I said.

“No, you relax! Not just our stuff gone, all our supplies and our water!” Rex said.

I just realized I was the only one who hadn’t lost anything since I had everything in my pockets. Good thing the Renz didn’t check them.

“We can find supplies on the way.” I suggested. 

“No, we’re in the middle of the jungle!” Jasmine complained. “How are we supposed to find supplies here! We’re so dead!”

“I didn’t lose a thing.” I said, trying to stay positive. “We’re okay out here. Look�"“ I looked around, “we’ve got food, we’ve got wat�"“ I stopped, realizing the only water we had was our bottles in our supply packs.

“See? We’re dead!” Jasmine exclaimed.

I sighed. “What do we do?” 

Rex looked weary. “Sleep.”

“No! I’m too mad to sleep!” Jasmine said in a sudden outburst. “Keep moving! Let’s just make it out of this place!”

“Shh!” Rex said, putting a clawed hand on her mouth. “They’e still here!”

I picked up the sounds of their Razors. “Go!”

We ran through the dark forest. Without our stuff we ran faster. Rex seemed to be okay about it now, but Jasmine looked really bummed out. 

Jasmine tripped on a branch and fell while I thought, oh come on! We helped her up as the speeder lights were flashing around like a lighthouse, searching for us. I ducked as one nearly flashed to my head.

“Go! Come on! They’re getting closer!” Rex said. 

We kept running. I ducked under trees and branches as speeders followed. I hacked the twigs in our way with my dagger, the brightness in the dark like a moving wisp of light in my vision. I mostly hacked randomly because I couldn’t see. 

They still cut me on my face. It was cold in the night, and I shivered as I ran. We were running blindly. 

I suddenly stepped off a ledge, and my next step was in the air. I said, “Whoa!” before I tumbled down the hill full of dead, crunchy leaves and hard twigs.

When I stopped rolling I rested there for a while, tired. But then I knew I couldn’t stay there for long.

I lost track of my friends too. I wasn’t sure if they were behind me because I couldn’t hear them, which creeped me out a little. I got up, dusted my sleeves, and called for my spear. I spotted my glowing dagger next to me on the floor and picked it up. 

I heard a roar somewhere in the forest. I whipped my head in that direction. Someone yelled my name. I ran in that direction.

I arrived at a huge clearing. It was an open field where I found my friends. 

“Guys, where are they?” I asked.

Rex pointed to a group of trees. Before he could answer, two Renzs holding cool-looking laser rifles came out into the clearing. Then a big one showed up, with all its glowing neon lines on his armour and all his glory. 

Without a sound, the three of us slowly crept backwards. Nobody made a sudden move. 

The big one had expectant power coursing through his veins. He breathed heavily, puffs of steam coming from his nostrils. He narrowed his eyes and curled his fists. 

I had to tell my friends we were going to run away. “Guys�"“

Whoom! In a sonic boom, the Renz leaped at me. My evolved reflexes told me to duck quickly. I heard Jasmine yell at Rex, “Watch out!”

In a split second, Rex put up his arms in a cross for defence. The Renz pierced it, followed by a blast of wind. I was overcome momentarily with shock. 

Rex wasn’t able to hold his ground. The powerful blast blew him back somewhere in the trees. 

“Rex!” I yelled. 

One of them aimed his rifle at me. Before I could react, he shot my side. I didn’t have enough time to deflect it with my staff.

I screamed in pain as the laser steamed through my flesh. I held my side as I knelt. When I withdrew my hands, they were soaked in blood. 

“We have to go, now!” Jasmine said, tugging my arm. “We’ll have to find Rex on the way!”

I wasn’t sure if I could run. Jasmine helped me as we lost ourselves in the forest. The murderous aliens followed closely behind. I heard laser bolts fly by us, creating explosions and crashing trees in our path. 

I spotted Rex nearby a stream. We ran to him and knelt down. Something I never thought would happen surprised me.

Rex’s arms were bleeding.

“How?” I said, staring openmouthed.

“We’re not invulnerable, you know. Our race fell to them.” He groaned. Jasmine and I helped him up.

“The bandages were in your backpack.” I told Jasmine.

“Yeah, but that’s gone,” she said. “What are we going to do?”

I took a deep breath. “Wash it first.” 

Before we could put his arms in the stream a bolt of laser exploded nearby.

“There’s no time!” Jasmine said. 

I dipped his arms quickly and handed him my staff to use. We helped him across the stream. I used my dagger for light in the big forest. The pain in my side was getting worse as I ran.

“We have to lose them!” Rex said. “Hide behind that rock!”

I found out that the rock was actually a small cave. We shuffled inside, and hoped they wouldn’t find us. 

There wasn’t a lot of space inside. Without any food, or water, or even a guaranteed safe spot, we were forced to stay there until we were sure they were gone. Rex was injured. We were cramped in a tight space. 

“You guys okay?” I whispered.

“No.” Rex answered.

At least he was honest. Me? I was hungry and tired.  My side was killing me. And I still had to go to the bathroom.

“Don’t worry guys, we’ll make it out of here tomorrow, okay?” My pain made it sound like it wasn’t true.

It was so dark, I felt like I was talking to myself. I leaned back against the cave wall. For all I knew there could be insects creeping around there, with a straight path to my neck.

I shivered. 

Then I saw a light almost point at the opening of our cave. Jasmine whimpered.

“Shh.” I said quietly, and put a hand to her mouth. 

A moment or two passed by. There was lots of tension in the air. We were so scared, we couldn’t move.

Time was still.

The light was still there.

 Then it moved. I was filled with relief. We wouldn’t die tonight. I took back my hand. 

Even if we wouldn’t die, I could tell we were all scared to death right now. 

“We’re making it out tomorrow.” I comforted.

“Alive?” Rex said.

“Yes.”

“Okay…” Jasmine whispered. 

Silence.

Chapter 13: Battle 

Once again Tony didn’t speak to me. My back felt like mush. Morning light blinded me.

I took out my AI. I swiped up a map of the area. 

It was clear. I sighed. They had moved somewhere else. With our stuff. 

I didn’t hesitate to get out of the cave. I stretched and breathed in the fresh air. I brought up my shirt to check my side. All the blood dried up. I realized I hadn’t applied pressure to it last night.

Then I remembered Rex. I grabbed my dagger and went to work. In a couple of minutes I built a hammock for him. I went in the cave and put a sleeping Rex on it. I examined his arms. Not good.

My AI told me there was a stream nearby. I walked there and washed my side. Taking two big leaves, I soaked them in the water. Then I brought them back.

I saw Jasmine leaning on a tree beside Rex. 

“Poor Rex.” She said. Then she looked at me. “How’s your side?”

“Good.” I lied. I flexed my back to make it feel better. “We need to get to Yolis fast.” I said while wrapping and tying the soaked leaves onto Rex’s arms. I hoped the water would somehow wash the blood away. ActualIy, I had no idea what I was doing.

The AI didn’t give much advice on this either. It all needed medical stuff like alcohol or antibiotics, which we didn’t have as we were in the middle of the jungle. Raede’s cure was not an option either, as it didn’t heal physical injuries, only cure stuff.

Jasmine’s eyes lit up like she got a bright idea. 

“What if,” she began, “we make them reach us instead?”

“What?”

“Send a message to them!” She exclaimed.

I shook my head. “That’s not such a good idea, remember? We have to climb a tall thing to send a beacon message. And it might not even reach them.”

“It doesn’t matter. We have to try. It’s our only hope. If they find us it would be a lot easier,” she said, strong on her opinion.

I considered it an option. I mean, she was right. If they found us it would be a ton easier. If we kept going at this rate, we would all be dead. No supplies, no food or water, and an injured person.

Jasmine coughed. “Uh oh.” I said. 

“I’m fine,” she said, but I got suspicious.

I studied the ground. “So are we really sending a message? I mean, Rex may not be able to climb.” 

A voice behind me said, “I can.”

I turned around�"and suddenly Rex was off the bed standing next to me. 

I jumped. “Whoa!”

Jasmine broke into laughter. Then it ended abruptly with coughing. 

She got teary-eyed. “Oh, Rex, you finally got him back! If you didn’t know, he got me twice.”

“How did you do that?!” I shouted. “You’re a ninja!”

“Whatever,” he said. “I think I can climb. We’ll send a message.”

“No way.” I wasn’t about to allow it. “Even if you can climb�"and you can’t�"I’m not going to risk my time going up there.”

“Oh, come on Dan. Majority wins.” Jasmine said.

I stared at the two of them for a moment, thinking for a while. I didn’t know what the better option was.

“Well?” Rex asked.

I sighed. “Fine, we’ll climb.” 

I was getting tired of not eating for days at a time. The last meal we’d had was the lone animal in the morning. 

All the while, we kept eating them and keeping a look out for animals. I kept hacking with my dagger, hoping at every turn, every slash, and every step would lead me somewhere. But it didn’t.

I gave Rex my staff to use. He looked kind of better now. I’m not sure if he was just trying to hide all the pain, or he was really okay. I’m not even sure what would happen to his arms. I didn’t know if rexel arm shells regenerate. 

Jasmine kept coughing the whole way. One time she was in such a fit we had to stop and get water for her�"which of course we had none. 

“You’ve got something here,” I said. “Something serious.”

“I’m fine!” She said, and I thought her face looked a bit pale. 

“Uh, no you’re not.” Rex said.

“I am,” she defended.

“If you say so,” he said, putting his hands up.

I studied her. “I think you’re sick.”

She glared at me. Then finally gave up. “Fine. I am. But we don’t have Raede’s cure.” She looked at Rex. “How did you get some anyway? Those cost thousands of dollars.”

“My dad was the chief,” he said.

“Oh yeah, leader of the rexels and all blah blah blah whatever,” she rolled her eyes.

Rex looked offended… kind of. He never does.

“Jasmine, what are you doing?” I asked.

“What do you mean what am I doing?” She said. “What are you doing? What are we all doing?” 

“She’s losing it.” Rex told me. “She can’t take this situation any longer.”

“No,” I said, thinking. “It’s her sickness. It’s getting to her.” 

“What sickness?” She asked, looking around her. “Where is it?”

Rex slapped his palm on his face. 

“Jasmine, stay put.” I said, taking out my AI.

“Who’s Jasmine?”

I ignored her. I scanned her with the AI, the blue light coming out of the tip while I swayed it up and down.

“What’s that?” She pointed at it.

“Something you used to know.” I said.

I looked at my AI. “Renokilasicofironod�"ugh, I can’t read this. A disease that affects the brain. Most commonly found when exposed to too much wilderness in Vanity. Symptoms include stupidity, coughing, hallucinations, and random blackouts.”

Suddenly Jasmine’s eyes closed and she fell. Rex caught her with surprising speed. I jumped over to her.

Rex laid her down gently. I checked her pulse. 

“Dan…” she muttered. “What’s happening to me?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Just try to get your cons-ciousness back. We have to make it out of here. This place is making you dumb.”

“Ahh! Get away from me bug!” She punched me in the bottom of the jaw.

“Ow!” I said. 

“Wow, you okay?” Rex asked cautiously.

Jasmine jolted up with a worried look on her face. “Oh, Dan, I’m so sorry. What did I just do?” 

“I’m fine,” I said, holding my jaw. 

“Rapid memory loss.” Rex read from my AI he picked up. “Huh.”

“Hey!” She said. “Gimme that! That’s mine!” 

She got a hold of the AI in Rex’s hands. They had a tugging war. Of course, Rex won easily. He pulled Jasmine as she fell to the ground. 

“Whoa!” She said as, of course, she fell right on top of me. 

“Ow!” I said as we fell to the ground. “Jaz, can you stop?!”

“No, I can’t,” she said whacking her brain. “Get this thing out!”

“We’ll have to deal with her,” Rex said. “Let’s keep going.”

We kept moving through the jungle with the new Jasmine. Man. she was so annoying. Sometimes Rex and I had to stop her because she was too loud and it could’ve put us in danger. One time I thought she gained back her consciousness was when she said, “Hey remember that time when you screamed like a little girl when you fell off that cliff but the bottom was only a foot away?”

“What?” Rex asked me.

“Nothing,” I said instantly.

By the afternoon we were lucky enough to find some animals resting by a river. It was a sad life for them. We decided to follow the river because it was headed in our direction anyway. Well, Rex and I decided it�"Jasmine was busy petting a flower. 

We were keeping an eye out for anything tall enough to climb to send the message. There was a large peak in the distance that I thought was good enough. It looked very steep, like a finger pointing out of the ground.

We were tired already. I was eating another fruit while slashing the leaves. Rex was limping on my staff, and trying to keep the annoying Jasmine at bay.

“How much further Dan? I can’t take this anymore.” Rex asked while Jasmine was picking up bugs on the floor and placing them on him. 

I took another bite. “I dunno,” I said with a mouthful,  almost laughing, “Just keep going. We might be almost there.”

The peak was so close it blocked away the sun. I couldn’t wait to climb it. We would be safe from the aliens and we would have such a great view. Oh yeah, and the message.

When we reached the cliff we rested. I tied new leaves on Rex’s arms. The old ones were bloody.

“Eww,” I said.

“They’ll heal.” He said. He looked at Jasmine banging her head against the cliff wall, creating cracks. “Her too.”

“I hope,” I said. “Wouldn’t be much of a difference anyway.” 

Rex laughed. “Okay, maybe we shouldn’t make fun of her while she’s in that�"state.” 

“What state?” I asked.

We both laughed.

“Oh man, she’d be so mad right now,” Rex said. 

I smiled. Everything was better with a friend.

I got up. “Let’s keep moving. It’s my turn to lead her.”

Suddenly I heard a grunt. We both froze. I looked deep into the jungle and listened carefully. My enhanced ears heard something.

I looked at Rex with worry. “Hurry!”

Rex went first up the cliff and I took Jasmine’s hand and led her up the slope. We trekked upwards quickly. They were coming. I was so scared I was tempted to climb back down and run. I didn’t want to spend my morning like this.

In mere minutes we made it to a small ledge off the cliff. It led around the mountain.

“Rex! Walk around the ledge! We’ve got to hide!” I said quickly.

We traced around the ledge and hid behind the rocks. Jasmine was actually quiet now. All was silent, in fact.

I heard birds chirping. The high winds up here were cold. 

A moment passed, then we kept moving up. Tracing along the steep slopes, my shoes found grips on the mountain and propelled me forward. We kept inching along the face of the cliff slowly and carefully.

“Dan,” Rex began, “how high do you need to be to send a message?” 

I peered upwards. Then I pointed to a ledge. “That’s high enough.”

Rex breathed. “How are we gong to get back down?”

For a moment Jasmine gained back consciousness. Her eyes opened wide. “Wow! Where are we?!”

I put a finger to my mouth. “Shh! We can’t be heard!” 

She shut her mouth and nodded. “What’s happening?” She whispered.

“Don’t ask any questions!” I said.

“I have the right to know!” She shouted angrily.

I took a deep breath to explain. “We’re climbing this peak to send the message, remember?”

“Why do I have no memory of that happening?!” She asked with a scared voice. 

“Because something’s wrong with you!” I yelled over the whipping wind.

“What?”

Then the wall of stone beside us bursted out, and smoke and debris went into the air. I slashed a rock about to hit us with my dagger in the nick of time, but the smoke got in my eyes.

“What was that?!” Rex yelled from above us.

I almost lost my grip. My hands were sweating. I coughed out the dust and looked for the reason.

There. A Novatron aircraft aiming its cannons at us. It had missed the first one, but it was loading its second. 

“Faster!” I yelled at Jasmine below me.

“What is happening?!” She was so confused right now, but I didn’t have time to explain.

“Ten metres until the ledge. Hurry!” Rex shouted over the blowing wind.

So many things were happening at once. Just after he said that the ship fired its second shot. The rocks exploded next to me and I shielded myself. I felt the blast to my chest, and it knocked the wind out of me. 

I grabbed a rock in midair about to hit my face. Somehow I knew it was going to hit me with my eyes closed from the debris. 

I looked for the ship in the air. There.

I was about to try something dangerous. “Jasmine, catch me, okay?” 

“What?”

Before she could answer, I jumped off the wall of the cliff, and threw the rock in midair at the ship as hard as I could. Jasmine below me caught my hand as I almost fell to my certain death.

“What the hell, Dan!” She screamed, being scared to death. 

“Sorry,” I said. “Had to get it.”

I saw my rock hit the hull of the craft, barely even making a dent. 

“Guys, come on!” Rex yelled, way above us.

We kept climbing as fast as we could. The ship fired another shot that popped my ears. The side of the whole mountain exploded into big rocks that tumbled down. 

“We’re too slow,” I said. “We’re going to be hit. I’m going to throw you to Rex.”

“Are you crazy?!” She yelled. “You know I’m afraid of heights!”

“Ha! You admit it!” I said. 

She glared at me.

“Okay, you’re right. Now’s not the time.” I went above her and grabbed her arm. “Ready?”

Her eyes widened like she couldn’t believe it. “What, no�"“

I threw her upwards will all my strength. She screamed in the air until Rex grabbed her by the waist.

“Got her!” He yelled.

I had to make it up alone. Nobody left to throw me up to the ledge. I looked down just to see what’s was down there.

Bad idea. It was a long way down. I was scared out of my wits right now. 

Not just that, I saw Renzs beginning to grapple their way up with hooks to get to me from the floor. I gulped. 

Up on the ledge Rex saw me. “Dan! I’m coming!” 

He grabbed the cliffside and slid down to me. He handed me my staff.                 “We do this together, bro.” He said.

I smiled then looked down. “Here they come!”

Two hooks embedded themselves strong into the wall beside one of us each. Rex was strong enough to pull the one next to him out. It popped, and I saw the Renz fall.

When one came up next to me, I put my staff on his chest and pushed him off, but he grabbed my staff at the last second, dangling. I sliced his hand off with my dagger, and blood squirted everywhere.

Well, now I have a Novatron hand stuck on my staff.

Another blast came from the aircraft. This one closely missed Rex. He covered himself from the smoke. 

Another Renz came up next to me, pointing a gun at my head. Rex quickly covered my face when he fired. I grabbed the gun off his hand and shot him instead. 

“Whew, we make a good team.” We did a high five.

“Ow!” He menaced in pain.

“Oh, you’re hand!” I said.

“Fine,” he replied. “Let’s just get through this first.”

I looked up and saw Jasmine watching us from above. “Here! Take this!” I said. I threw her the gun. She caught it carefully. “Try not to shoot us!” I yelled.

“I’ll try!” She smiled.

The Renzs kept grappling night next to us. One came up but Rex reacted as fast as lightning. He punched the stone beside the Renz and it cracked, providing no support for the Renz’s feet to land on, and so he slipped and fell. 

One came up to me and I tried to punch him, but he blocked my fist. With one hand on a ledge, and one blocked with my spear in hand, I jumped in the air and kicked him in the chest, sending him toppling over into the void. Rex grabbed my hand quick. 

One tried to grab my leg but Jasmine shot it right in the head with a high-velocity bolt. I set a reminder to thank her later.

I looked down and saw one grappling nearby.

“Rex, drop me!” 

He didn’t need to ask. He let go of me, and I soared downwards at full speed with my arms clutched to my body, and when I came to the Renz I got a hold of his grappling rope and pulled it. My weight brought it down, and I stabbed my spear into the rock to prevent myself from falling, but not the Renz.

I kept climbing up. Jasmine covered me, firing at any Renz who got close. When I reached Rex the aircraft fired again. But this time they were missiles. 

“We’re dead.” Rex said.

“No,” I started to think. “Time to do something reckless. I’ll bring you up.”

“What�"“

I grabbed him and threw him to Jasmine.

He peeked over the ledge. “What about you?” He yelled. 

I didn’t answer. The rockets came at intense velocity, so I didn’t know if I could pull off this feat.

I could imagine Rex and Jasmine up there watching me, going like what the… 

I jumped off one in midair. I landed on the second one with a split second to jump off. 

The last rocket came, and I stepped with one foot on the front this time, and stopped the rocket in midair, then jumped off it and to the ledge where Rex and Jasmine were on. I heard its explosion rock beneath us. 

I grabbed the ledge, and my friends helped me up. 

“Daniel Jones Grey, that was amazing!” Jasmine tried to hug me but coughed.

Rex slapped me on the back. “How in the world did you manage to pull that off?!” He said.

I tried to be modest. “Oh, you know, just based fully on luck.” 

“Oh come on! That’s was not luck! You took some kind of spy acrobatic school!” Rex said.

“How did you know?” I said.

They looked confused.

I laughed. “Joking. I have no idea how I did it.”

“How do you keep doing these impossible stuff? Like the mountain and now this. You have a gift.” Jasmine said.

“Okay, first of all, I didn’t hold up a mountain. Second of all, I�"“

“First of all, duck!” Rex yelled, tackling us both into the ground. 

A cannon shot fired at us, nearly missing us. If Rex hadn’t seen it coming…

“There’s a cave in the mountain around this corner. We have to get to it!” Rex said. “I saw it earlier! Hurry!”

We went along the ledge and around the huge mountain. We narrowly dodged the cannons and missiles, and when Renzs grappled next to us we took care of them.

We made it to the cave. Finally standing on firm ground we rested inside the shelter. 

Rex had no choice. He had to seal the entrance. He punched the walls and caused the top to collapse on itself. 

The soft glow of my dagger barely gave us light inside. I wondered if there was some kind of cave monster lurking beneath the shadows…

“Ah!” Rex yelled. I rushed to his side.

“What happened?” I asked.

“My stupid arm! I can’t punch anymore!” He threw a fit. 

“Relax,” I said, “they’ll heal, right?”

“I can’t take the pain!” He said. “Ugh!” 

“You have to!” I said. “We’ve got nothing here! Okay?!” 

Rex quieted down. I felt as bitter as him. In here we had no food, no water, no supplies, no light, nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I was so tired. I slumped on the ground next to Rex. Jasmine sat down too.

Here we were. Three friends who were stuck in a cave surrounded by murderous aliens thinking they could send a message to the remaining survivors of the invasion.

“Well at least you can do what we came here for.” Rex said. Then he hissed in pain again. 

I opened my AI. We all watched the blue light from it. I slowly typed our message. I included our situation, our coordinates, and the direction we were heading. Then with a deep breath, I sent it.

“Wish it luck guys.” Jasmine said. “We risked our lives for it.

I laid it on the floor and crumpled up in the cold floor of the cavern. 

After a moment of silence, Rex asked, “How far are we still from Yolis?”

“Still, very, very far.” I sighed with despair. 

“No, at least we’re a bit closer,” Jasmine said, trying to stay positive. “Baby steps, right?”

“I’m done with this,” Rex said. “We’re never going to make it at this rate.”

Jasmine was stunned. “Rex! Don’t think that way!”

“It’s true,” he said. 

I fell asleep before I could listen further.

Chapter 14: Survivors

I woke up feeling damp and cold. I was having a nice dream where I was still back home with my family like nothing happened. Until it turned into a nightmare. The Novatrons came, and we fled for our lives. We were helpless against them. 

I felt like I relived the terrible night. I was there, looking for my parents, then Titanetrox spoke in my head. Fire was everywhere, buildings were crumbled, and it was as cold and dark as a horror movie. I ran in the bunker, and everybody else perished above. I was the only one to survive. 

I shivered in my sweater. It was horrible. This whole thing was horrible. So much death. Billions dead. Races slain. Too much destruction inflicted on an innocent paradise planet. It was too much. 

I got up to do something other than sleep. Instead I took my staff and walked up to the entrance of the cave. I bashed through it. I felt the fresh air come in as I sat down to watch the sunrise, my legs dangling off high up in the air. It was a brand new day. 

I relaxed there thinking about the other survivors. How were they? Probably doing better than us. We were only kids. And did they have all the resources they need? Because I knew that we didn’t. 

Our rescuers were our last hope. The only thing standing between us and their base? The aliens. 

I took a rock beside me and threw it just to make me feel better. It went further than I expected and landed somewhere in the trees in the distance. I hoped it hit some Renz in the head. 

“What are we going to do now?” A voice behind me caused me to jolt my head into a wall. 

Jasmine laughed. “Relax! It’s only me.”

“That was revenge, I guess.” I exhaled, rubbing my head. “The truth is, I don’t know. It seems impossible to try and reach the survivors. I mean, we’re pretty close to the border of Belladan, but they’re in Yolis. Rex said that’s far.”

She leaned against the wall, taking in the view. “We can do it.”

I thought about her sickness. “What happened to your sore throat?” I asked.

“I’m feeling better. I don’t think it’s gone, though. I’m having these big headaches, and sometimes I feel like I’m going to pass out.”

“Drink lots of water,” I suggested.

“Like I didn’t think of that,” she said. Then she groaned. “Gosh, just realized how thirsty I am.”

“Me too,” I said, my throat suddenly feeling dry. “When we climb down we will�"What is that?!”

She looked surprised. “What? What?”

Even with my enhanced eyesight, I had to squint. But I was a hundred-percent sure. In the distance was a tiny group of specks, not as big or bunchy as Novatrons. They were riding vehicles, military-class jeeps. They were speeding through the jungle.

Heading in our direction. I was speechless.

“Do you think�"could it be�"“ Jasmine stuttered.

“We’re saved!” I said.

“There’s no way that’s them!” She hollered. 

“Wake up Rex!” I said. “We got to get moving, quick!”

  I got up. The sun kept shining brightly in my eyes, but it wasn’t fully up yet. We had to climb down the mountain quick, so we could cover the distance between us and the rescuers before any of the Renzs showed up.

“C’mon!” I said, turning around, excited. Jasmine needed help waking up Rex. That guy was a heavy sleeper for sure. I started by shaking his shoulder harshly.

“Wh-what?” He asked, his eyes half open. 

“They’re here! Let’s go!” Jasmine blurted.

Rex asked while rubbing his eyes, “Who? I’m so hungry.”

“The survivors!” I yelled in his face.

Suddenly he jolted upwards. “What?!”

Minutes later we were already climbing down the cliff. Rex kept pestering me with questions, because he didn’t have enhanced eyesight to see the jeeps as Jasmine and I did. And they already went under the trees of the forest.

“Are you sure? Are they real? Is this a trick?” He said  almost simultaneously. 

“Yes times two.” I said. “Now, shut up. I’m trying to get down here, you know.”

Rex and Jasmine were already way ahead of me. I agreed to let them go down first, even though obviously I was the most excited. Yippee! 

When it turned completely morning, my foot touched the ground. We made it safely, but by that time we were so hungry and thirsty we were on the verge of death.

“It rained last night.” Jasmine said. “Look, moisture in the leaves.”

I was so thirsty I didn’t care. Just by that mentioning I took a leaf and sucked on it.

“What the�"Dan?!” Rex said. 

“Mph-Mmm?” I said intelligently. 

We found water after that. Literally inches away from me was a pond, but I was so thirsty I didn’t recognize it. We slurped up the water like we’ve never drank before. 

Wiping our mouths, we were satisfied. “Are you guys done?” I asked.

“Yeah, why?” Jasmine asked.

“Cannonball!” I jumped into the water to clean myself. 

“Dan!” Rex said with a tinge of worry. “You might’ve just attracted every alien in this forest!” 

“I don’t care! The survivors are here!” I started floating in the water.

I was dripping wet by the time we got back on our trail. 

“Is that why you’re acting so strange?” Jasmine asked me. 

“Yeah,” I said. “For once in our lives this is the only hope we have. I’m so happy!”

Rex’s stomach grumbled, as if on time to remind us we were low on food. “I’m not.”

I just realized how hungry I was. Eating a little bit every day has made me so weak. I remember starting out this journey feeling so confident and energetic. Now I was hungry and tired. I felt so thin in my stomach, I could almost throw up, with nothing being in there so I wouldn’t know how that would work. 

It was a horrible, sickly feeling. I loved food! But I had to deal with it… for now.

We took the whole day walking in the woods. I know, boring right? We took lots of rests anyway. In a forest like this, I expected to see tons of animals around. But the Novatrons really exterminated virtually everything on this planet. 

It was smart, you know. They were probably aiming to destroy the food chain. Without food, we wouldn’t survive. So even if there were survivors, we would die off. It was a smart strategy.

I had to hope the survivors have food. Like, tons of it. Maybe a farm. At least enough to feed the ten of them and the three of us.

I was still thinking of food when I felt a big push come from my right. I just then realized I had been tackled by Rex.

We rolled on the bottom of the hill, and Rex said, “Shh!” before I could say a word. 

“What?” I whispered, a bit angry I had been tackled harshly by my friend.

“Novatrons!” 

It didn’t take a sentence to explain the situation. There were aliens blocking our path, and it wasn’t going to be easy to get past them.

I peeked above the hill. Through the trees that limited my sight, I saw pairs of unmistakable armour on legs. Bone armour. The blood-stained beige bone armour harvested from who knew what. Humans? Animals? Themselves?

They seemed to be guarding something. Who would know what. They stood there facing the other way, holding rifles and giant blades as long as the trees. The laser cutlasses were steaming, and they were huge! 

I saw no neon guys, so I knew we were a bit safer than usual.

“What do we do?” Jasmine asked when she peeked up beside me.

“We wait. Don’t make a sound.” 

I thought I saw one turn around at us, but it must’ve been my imagination. 

But it wasn’t. He was coming at us. Straight at us.

We slid down the hill. “Not good,” I told Rex. “Stay quiet.”

We all sat there, trying to be as silent as possible. 

But Jasmine couldn’t help it. Her sore throat got to her. She got into another coughing fit. 

“Uh-oh�"“

Something grabbed my shoulder. 

I was thrown ferociously over the hill. I had a second to see the Renz’s face. His eyes were gleaming with malice. I tumbled fiercely on the dirt, rolling. I was sure I broke a few bones. 

Rex had it worse. He was lifted up by his arm�"which both were injured and hadn’t healed yet�"and was about to get decapitated.

I reacted faster than a cheetah. I had to, or else Rex would die. As I picked myself up every muscle in my body spasmed with pain. But I didn’t care. 

Before Jasmine yelled, “Rex! No!” I threw my my spear with my full force. Anger powered me. I didn’t want my friend to die.

The spear impaled the Renz right on his head, but it didn’t do anything but stick on his bone helmet. At least he was distracted enough�"as he looked at me with glistening hatred�"for Jasmine to sneak up and aim for his legs.

Like a karate expert, she was successful. She kicked the back of his legs and he tripped, but he didn’t drop Renz. The poor rexel fell on his back painfully with a yelp.

Jasmine thought this was her fault. “Oh! Rex, sorry I�"“ 

The Renz landed his fist on her. I dove at the last second to catch her. She was in pain too.

The Renz got up, just as reinforcements came. They focused their rifles at us. 

Kneeling next to Jasmine on the floor, I raised my hands. Done. Just like that, we were dead. There was no escape now. We were completely surrounded. My life really flashed before my eyes. 

I remembered all the good times with my family. It was gone now. They were never coming back into this world.

And neither was I.

A Renz came up to me and landed a blow on my head. I crumpled to the floor, as I saw a pool of blood spill out of my gash in my head. It hurt so badly. It hurt so much I couldn’t imagine how painful my death would be. 

After the blow, I couldn’t remember much of what happened. I was half-conscious at the time. My vision was blurry, and I was gasping for air as I weakly crawled. I heard the sounds of men shouting. Then, explosions. Lasers firing, screams of pain and torment. Slashing, blood spilling, blades slicing. Violence.

Explosions rang in my ear. Suddenly I couldn’t hear anything but indefinite ringing. I didn’t know what was happening. All I knew was that I was in a lot of pain and I was crawling blindly and aimlessly. 

I was scared to death right now. I felt as if I was so vulnerable. I couldn’t defend myself.

Finally, for once in my life, I didn’t have any strength left. I was unable to get up. I just laid there, wishing it would go away. Wishing it was just a nightmare. All the pain, the ringing, the feeling of isolation from my friends in the middle of a blood-spilling war. 

Death was painful. I waited, but I was already dead. It was torture.

The ringing wouldn’t stop. I had such blurred vision from my tears and pain I couldn’t hold back the wave of nausea. My head was killing me.

And then it stopped. Just like that, the violence stopped. The explosions, the guts being sliced, the lasers firing, it was over. 

A man in a red cap bent over me, holding my shoulders, trying to keep me awake. He was saying stuff I couldn’t hear, like get up! or something. Another man was standing next to him, holding a device like a scanner with a transmitter. I heard a beep. 

The voice was muffled by the ringing, but I could barely make them out. He was leaning over me.

“We’ve found the right ones.”

Chapter 15: A mission

I had passed out. 

By now I was feeling better. I woke up with an ice pack on my head, and I felt bandages wrapped all around me. My injury was still painful every time I moved my head, but it was okay.

I rubbed my eyes as I sat up. I immediately felt pain in my backside. Ouch. At least the ringing was gone. And I was conscious again. I took a moment trying to shake my headache away. Then I studied where I was.

I was in a vehicle, because the floor was moving. I was sitting on a chair in a military cargo truck, covered in a blanket. Jasmine was beside me, half-awake, with no injuries whatsoever. She hugged me for warmth. Rex was on the opposite bench, still sleeping. 

I saw blood in a squashy bag�"called a drip, I think�"like they were going to do some blood transfer but nothing was injected into my skin and the bag was full, like they didn’t do it after all. I wonder why.

There were more medical stuff in the truck. Raede’s cure, alcohol, cotton ball bags, bandages, and a first-aid kit. I guess we were put in here because we needed medical assistance. 

I relaxed in my chair. Jasmine squeezed me tighter. Everything was going to be all right. The survivors rescued us. They must’ve went overnight. And now we were driving back to whatever base they have in Yolis. Long drive or not, we were going to Belladan, my goal. 

Long live the humans. We weren’t all dead. No matter what, in every story I’ve heard, humans always come back from near extinction.

It was dark in the truck. I felt the floor bounce as it went through the terrain. For once in my life I felt safe. And I didn’t have to travel by foot anymore. We were done surviving alone. We had people�"not kids�"by our side. People who knew what to do. People who could bash through a Novatron defence and wreck through them.

I exhaled. It was a long day. Most of it I was knocked out. I felt tired again anyway.

I fell back asleep.

I woke up in a bed. I was in a room high up in a building. In a city. Yolis, I think. I was kind of used to waking up in stranger's apartments. I woke up in Rex's bed after all.

I tried to recall what happened yesterday. Or what time it was. I just remember the survivors rescuing us from the aliens. And the bloodshed.

I decided to find some answers. And go meet the survivors. I got off the bed and saw a note on the door: Meet us at the lab.

Since I had no idea where that was, I was just going to explore the building. This was where the survivors lived. I pondered at how good its security is, because they've been here for over a year. I wondered why they couldn't go to a safer place. 

The door out led to a hallway right on the edge of the building. There was a huge glass wall overseeing the epic city. It was a huge voidal metropolis! So cool! 

By the looks of it, the building was a workplace. Like, a tech research facility or something. The rooms were labeled Technicians, Software Engineering, Mechanics, Control systems, Aircraft designs, all that nerdy stuff. Signs pointed me to the lab. 

It was amazing! As big as a warehouse, there were tons of wires running around, desks stacked with papers as high as the ceiling, cool tech projects, testing chambers, powerful computers, and a shelf filled with vials of a bunch of different coloured bubbly liquids. Just a bunch of experimented stuff.

But the thing that caught my eye was the giant chamber in the middle of the room. Plugged with fat wires into computers, ringed with modules, powered by high-energy laser generators. I wondered what kind of project would take that much energy.

I looked at a digital clock. It was nighttime! I was asleep the whole day!

I was still staring at the clock dumbfounded when I heard a voice down the hall, “Dan!”

Jasmine and Rex tackled me in a group hug. I almost toppled over. 

“There you guys are!” I said, smiling. “Are the survivors asleep?”

“What?” Rex said. “No! They're all awake. Some are guarding the base, Ray said. Some are on a mission.”

“Ray?”

“Yes!” Jasmine said. “The leader! They saved us!” 

“Where is he?” I asked.

“Down the hall, actually.” Rex replied.

I heard talking from around the corner. A middle-aged man with a fedora and a leather coat was talking to another guy wearing a white t-shirt and a red cap. I recognized them both instantly.

“We just need a�"“ He stopped talking abruptly when he saw me. “Oh, he's awake.”

“Professor Raymond Smith,” he introduced. “Nice to meet you�"er…"

“Daniel,” I said.

“Ah, yes. You can call me Ray. I'm an Archaeologist-Scientist. We're working on a�"“

The other man put a hand on his shoulder. “At dinner, remember?”

Ray sighed as the man walked away. “Ah, yes, that's right. That's my son Michael. He's never been the same since the invasion. Always serious now. Always one eye open. Anyways, I suppose you're from somewhere else than these two?” He gestured to my friends.

“Yeah. From Evo.” I said, which was the short term for my home city. 

“You're a long way from home kid. It's a good thing that you made it this far.” I had a feeling there was something more to what he said.

Then he stiffened. “The men will be back soon. Meet us in the dinner room. Don't, touch anything.” 

“Funny guy,” Rex said after he left. “I told him we owe him a life debt, and he said it should be us they should be thanking.”

“Thinking about dinner is making me hungry,” I said.

“They said we could eat whenever we want.” Jasmine told me. “After all, we're the ones starving.”

“They said we eat whenever we want when they get food. That's what they're out for.”

“I've been to the kitchen Rex.” Jasmine retorted. “The cook's been cooking.”

“Then what are the men out for?” I asked, feeling something weird going on.

“I don't know!” Rex said. “We're in the middle of the city. And we already have food. What's with these people?”

“And why are they so secretive?” Jasmine asked, looking in the direction of the mysterious chamber in the centre of the room. There were so many notes and plans all around it, it was like their most important project. It hummed a low vibe, and seemed so otherworldly.

“Maybe it has something to do with this. He did say don't touch anything.” I said.

“For our safety.” Rex already knew what I was thinking. “Don’t.”

I slowly stepped forward to it. The light was strange, and soothing. I felt like I was slowing down, or speeding up when I went near it.

“What is it?” I was about to touch it when I heard the cook coming around the corner. I froze.

“They're back,” he said. “Better come, guys.”

He led us to the lobby of the facility. Ray and his son were helping load a box into the building. The rest of the guys had weapons and were bloody and messy. They looked like they just came back from a fight.

“Where'd they go?” I asked.

“Somewhere. Come on, let's eat.” Ray said.

I was beginning to get angry why they wouldn't tell us what we were doing. Like they just picked us up on the way. Oh hey, three kids. We'll bring them in, whatever.

But that wasn't the case. I remembered Ray's words when he found me. We've found the right ones.

At the table we explained more about ourselves and our journey. They were all impressed we'd made it this far, having a lot of alien encounters and even a battle with a colossal sea monster. Ray said it must've only been a baby one from my details about it. I shivered at that.

The survivors were pretty awesome too. I mean, even though they were only all scientists who worked in this facility, there were a few fighters, and they weren't all humans. But I didn't see a voidal, which disappointed me as this was their home continent.

They didn't even hide in a bunker this time! They got lucky�"the ten of them were sent to a private trixian space station high above the atmosphere, and then the invasion happened. They sent the distress call there, and only one year after we got it. Ray said after they went back down to Vanity from the wrecked space station in space�"by the Novatrons�"they found weapons and supplies. Then they changed their distress call into a rescue call for any survivors.

“Why did you go back down?” Rex asked, with his mouth full�"with real food this time! It was amazing! I haven't felt better in days!

“For something.” Michael muttered.

I remembered something I was going to ask Ray about. “Ray?”

He looked up. “Yes?”

“When you guys rescued us from the Novatrons, why did you call us the right ones?”

Someone dropped his fork. “He was awake?”

Ray stood up. “Of course he was awake! He's Grey's son! It'd take more than a Novatron punch to take him out!”

Jasmine's jaw dropped. “You know about that?”

“Of course! It wouldn't take a DNA scanner to figure that out! Even the rexel, too!” Ray said.

“Okay Ray, calm down, I didn't want you to get mad.” I said, standing up.

Michael got up too. “Dad, just tell them.” 

He shook his head slowly. “They wouldn't. They're only children.”

“That's it, I'm tired of these games!” Rex banged the table. “Tell us what? What is going on with you guys?”

Someone stood up, and I was almost sure I'd started a big argument. “Show some respect kid!”

“Sit down!” Ray yelled. “He's right. They deserve to know. It's about them anyway.”

Everyone calmed down. Ray started to explain.

“The reason is…” he began slowly, “Coincidently, amazingly, all three of you are... special.”

“What do you mean?” I asked a bit impatiently.

“What I mean is that you three are all blood type z’s.”

That's when I remembered. Tony's voice in my head, the dream, it all came back. Someone here sitting in front of me was talking about the same stuff Tony had said. It made me feel relieved I wasn't crazy after all. 

“What does that mean?” Jasmine asked.

“More than what you'd ever understand,” Michael said.

“Most importantly, blood type z's are the only ones who could time travel.”

I started to sweat. “Wh-what?”

“You heard him. Time travel.” Ray said seriously.

Suddenly I wasn't so hungry anymore. “The�"the chamber…”

“Time machine.” Ray said. “Working on it ever since we came back down. It's been our most important project. We risked lives to get the materials for it. It's our only hope.” Ray rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, it may sound unbelievable kid, but this isn't a sci-fi movie. The time machine will work.”

I was as cold as a statue. 

“You…” Jasmine started, “you want to send us?”

“Told you they wouldn’t.” Michael said, leaving the table. “It’s a suicide mission.”

Ray was thinking, stroking his chin. “It's called ProjectXX4. Simple. Time machine will send you one year ago, then you find some way to stop the invasion from happening. That’s why some of us didn’t want to tell you. It won’t work. No offence.”

I couldn't hold my fear. I remembered his words very clearly, which all made sense now. You're his backup. 

No way. It wasn’t possible. My family was dead. Nothing could change that. 

Everybody had left the table except Ray. He started off and said, “It's your choice. Remember, you three are the only ones who can do it. The races depend on you.”

His echoing footsteps lingered until he was gone. We were left bewildered. Worried. Confused. Unsure of what to do. 

I didn't know what to think of it. One way or another, we were all dead. I couldn't kill a single Novatron. Not the three of us, either. 

“What… what do we do?” Rex asked quietly. 

I didn't answer. 

Because I knew exactly what I needed to do. 

Chapter 16: Found

I was hoping it wouldn’t come to it, but it did.

Yep, another dream. And this time, it wasn’t Tony. I was still in my bed, but I knew it was a dream. I could feel it. I felt something else too.

Darkness clouded my vision. And from the stairs, came a tornado of fiery hot flame. The inferno melted my room to ashes. I couldn’t bear the heat either. I wanted to melt too, so the pain would go away.

His feet landed. He was here�"again. The mighty leader of the Novatrons, holding his kingly staff of  magma, where death and destruction inflicted wherever he stepped. His giant wings folded, and he relaxed his muscles. Suddenly the room cooled down a hundred degrees, and there was no more fire.

With supersonic speed, he grabbed my throat. I barely had time to react. His blazing eyes studied my face.

You can’t do it. This is my last warning. Don’t do the project, and I will spare your life.

Yeah, yeah. How many villains had used that phrase? I tried looking for anything with my arms to use against him. I felt a flower vase. Water… yeah that would be good.

But it wasn’t. As I cracked the vase on his head it vaporized into steam in less than a second. Then his grip tightened on me, and I started to burn, too.

Why did Titanetrox always torture his victims by heir throat? 

Moment of realization. I remembered what Tony had told me. But it was too late. 

He dropped me to the floor. Or, threw me. I gasped for air. How could I have been so stupid? I let down the entire group! I just hoped they were ready. 

But he had already seen his face. We were as good as dead.

See you in the real world Second One. 

He took a bright, multicoloured portal out of my dream. I had to wake up. I had to warn them! I shook my head hard. I hated feeling trapped. I pushed myself awake, no matter how tired I was, to wake up at this very moment.

I gasped in my bed. I already heard commotion noise down in the building. I was worried, and terrified.

I grabbed my spear and raced down the stairs. I was still in my trusty black t-shirt and jeans, because I was too lazy to change. I ran through the hallway�"maybe bashed against the wall and hurt myself on the way but whatever�"in an effort to get to them. 

Jasmine popped out of the door in her room just in time as I came. “What’s going on?” 

“Just follow me! We have to help them!” I said. 

As we got closer I heard screams of terror and pain and a few roars. I was hoping it wasn’t what I thought it was.

It was worse. When we got to the lobby, there was a giant Novatronian monster tearing up the place. It jabbed its claws at counters and pillars and spilled the stone pieces everywhere. It spat acid at unsuspecting people. It bashed up tables and lights, making them blink and spew sparks everywhere. The flashing lights just made the whole scene scarier. 

I saw the survivors dragging their fellow comrades off the battlefield. Some where using their weapons to draw back the monster. I saw Ray’s son fend off one of the gigantic arm full of sharp talons with a laser sword and shield. Ray was tackling the other side with a rifle and a jetpack. Rex�"who was surprisingly awake at the time�"was using himself as a shield to defend the others.

I was stepping in the danger zone ready to advance with my weapon when Ray saw me and shouted to stay back. I stopped in my tracks. 

“Get to the lab! I’ll meet you there!” He yelled over the monster’s screeching. He ducked under a claw and sliced at it. The monster roared again, and it sprayed acid at him. He did a mid-air roll to dodge it.

A big tail swopped by and I pulled Jasmine down as we ducked under it. It bashed against a wall, destroying it and spilling the debris.

Then Novatrons scattered into the field. They jumped over the cracked pieces of limestone walls and fired their arms at the survivors. 

We covered our ears from the monster’s screeching. I didn’t know what Ray’s plan was, but we followed him. We were about to go back down the hall when one of the Renzs fired a rocket at us. Rex dashed and yanked us by the collar to the ground as the rocket exploded, causing fire to spread. 

“Ray said get to the lab.” Rex said. “Go!”

We raced to the room as Renzs followed closely behind. They fired lasers behind us. Rex shielded us. He yelled in pain every time, which made me feel sorry for him. 

When we ran in the lab a scientist by the door pushed a button. A metal wall slammed down on the ground, and we were safe. Red lights flashed, like we were in some kind of lockdown mode. 

“How did they find us?” Jasmine asked over the banging on the gate. 

“My fault.” I muttered. I felt terrible. “I let him find me.”

The scientist looked at me like I was crazy. “Listen Daniel,” she said, “It doesn’t matter if you let them find you or not. We’re doing this now. When you complete your task, all our deaths won’t count, and you can forgive yourself. Because this whole time between the invasion and now, it won’t exist. So whip yourself into shape, and get on with it!”

She was right. I couldn’t fail the races. I couldn’t fail Tony. This was my chance to redeem myself. 

The scientist did some preparations for the time machine as Ray came in through another door. He was holding his left arm, all bloody and cut. He looked like he was in so much misery and pain, looking at all those bruises and scars. 

“Listen, you three,” he called to us. We listened closely. “The time machine is a teleportation device as well. You will be transported near the ship a second before the invasion starts. Don’t worry about producing a copy of yourselves. I designed this thing to not do that. It will be just like going back in time not in a duplicate body, but in your very same body, just teleported. Don’t do anything but the mission. One small change can affect the future greatly.”

After more warnings and things we shouldn’t do, I heard an explosion detonate. A loud crash came from the lab wall at the far end, and there he was. Titanetrox.

The ringing voice in our heads caused our ears so much pain. Stop, Second One. Death is your final fate. You cannot go any longer or time itself will rip apart. This is your last stand. Fight me! 

I didn’t know what he was talking about, but all I knew was that Ray was yelling at us, but I couldn’t hear over the ringing. It was pretty obvious�"get in the time machine. 

We went in as the scientist shut the door. Just as a fiery supernova came. It blasted the whole lab into steaming flame. They spread everywhere, burning the papers, causing smoke, exploding the flammable stuff, tipping over tables and chairs, charring the walls. Earthquakes began to rise, and lava sputtered out from the walls and floor. It was like a scene from hell.

Then Ray takes out something my father had, and I couldn’t believe it. It expanded into a full laser scythe. 

The scythe… the jetpack… Titanetrox… the memory of the dream instantly comes back, and this is the most powerful one because it’s exactly how I remembered it. But this time, the victim is Ray.

It was inevitable. When his fire staff blasts a piercing flame at Ray, the most powerful headache rushes to me, and I drop to the floor. It was like halves of my brain were in different dimensions. All I remember next is the loud humming of the time machine vibrating and Rex grabbing me as I fell. Then Jasmine was yelling something, but it was so faded I wasn’t sure what it was. 

“Dan…”

The ringing was killing me from the inside.

Chapter 17: Titanetrox

“Dan…”

A boom in the distance. Ringing in my ears.

"Dan... Wake up!" 

I awoke instantly. “Whoa! What happened?”

“We’re here!” Rex said in alarm. “Get up, quick!”

We bashed through the door of the chamber. We were somewhere on the outskirts of the city, where nobody saw us. That would be weird if they did, seeing the giant chamber and three kids and all.

The city was different. It wasn’t a barren wasteland anymore, but a city I grew up in. It wasn’t destroyed�"yet.

I remembered it exactly, their ship crashed in different parts of the world. One in each continent, to be exact. We had the mothership, the biggest one. It crashed on the top of Mount Skatos, sending an explosion shockwave that shattered windows and made cars beep uncontrollably. It was so powerful already people started to cower in fear. 

It took an hour before they came. In that hour my dad realized what it was, and started the evacuation. They only had an hour to plan how to get all the people in the planet into the ship. It seemed impossible.

When they came, they started slaughtering. One by one, ten by ten, they were going for nothing but the ship, killing anybody in their way. The leader lead them, in all his fiery majestic glory. 

My dad knew his soldiers were busy. He was all by himself to stop the leader. And that’s the exact scene my dream were in. The leader of the humans against the Novatron king, defending the ship for our future.

Right now, we were in the hour we were preparing for the invasion. And I’m pretty sure we were in the later part of the hour, because I saw them coming. 

“Come on,” Rex said, “we’ve got to get to the heart of the city.” He started to trail off before he stopped. “Uh, where is that, exactly?”

That’s right. Rex has never been to Evolotropolis. My AI lead us around the streets until we reached the centre. It wasn’t a far run.

Around the massive ship almost blocking out the sun, it was loud. People were blabbering and being worried about the incoming force. They were rushing to get in the ship.

I spotted my dad in the chaos. He was leading his armies into formations to defend the area. They were coming, quick. 

I couldn’t believe it. I felt tears in my eyes. I’d never forget Ray. His time machine worked! My family was still alive!

I ran up to my dad and hugged him. “Dad!”

He looked down at me. “What the�"Dan, you’re not supposed to be here!” 

“Isn’t that what Grandpa said to you during the first voidal war?” I said. 

He sighed. “Yes. Yes it was.” He stared at me. “Why do you look older?” 

“Um…”

He looked at my friends. “Are these your friends? I’ve never seen them before.”

“Yes, sir.” Rex said. “Uh, actually that’s because…”

“We’re from an alternate future!” Jasmine finished.

“What?” My dad said. 

Suddenly the sirens started ringing. “You guys better get in the ship! Quick! Dan, where’s your mother?” My dad asked.

Uh oh. My mom was still in our house, probably looking for me or something. 

My dad put a hand on his forehead after I told him. “What did I tell you about your AI limits? No going everywhere with the map mode. I have to call her that you’re here, so she can bring all our stuff in the car. We’re leaving Vanity.”

I already knew that, but I couldn’t tell him that. Jasmine already did anyway. “But… that’s our mission. We’re not leaving. Us three were sent to stop the invasion. We’re not supposed to leave.”

“Dan…” My dad said, “I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. You three can’t stop an invasion. Stop talking nonsense, and get in the ship. Now.”

This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. Even Tony told me. We weren’t supposed to evacuate. I felt like I already failed. 

Then he spotted my spear. “You’ve been to the bunker… but you’re here now!”

Jasmine cut in. “Sir, we don’t have much time to explain but�"“

Then his head jolted up. “He’s here.”

I didn’t sense anything, but apparently my dad’s enhanced senses were stronger.

“You mean Titanetrox?” I asked.

“What?”

“His name. Leader of the Novatrons.” 

“You’re not making any sense. Just get in the ship.”

The war started without warning. A colossal boom erupted from the ground, billowing in a fume of dust. One of the big Novatrons had landed, his giant chest lined with the same neon blue serum of some sorts. 

“Get back!” My dad covered us as the giant beast roared and smashed around tons of the soldiers. People screamed and ran for their lives. That’s when the chaos started. 

It was full bloodshed. The Novatrons were making their way toward the ship. They sliced through people and hurried on with their way. They had already flooded the heart of the city, where everybody was, including from all over the world. 

I saw them rip apart or fire at planes in the sky carrying people from a vast collection of nations to the ship. They exploded in midair, killing everybody on board. 

My dad left us and went into the battlefield, and started yelling orders and saving lives. 

In the river next to Skatos, boats were transporting people from around the continent, trying to get to here, where the ship was. It was too late for them. The Novatrons began ripping those up, too. They were stopping any more people from getting onto the ship. 

A barrier was generating around the ship. My dad said it was trixian technology. Only the five races could get in, but not any others. It scanned the DNA to tell which was which.

“We have to help him fight Titanetrox.” I said. My friends just nodded. We went and followed him. I ducked under Renz punches and sliced away rocks thrown in the air, spinning my spear. Flaming Renzs were tearing down the buildings. They probably got the fire from their leader. I didn’t know they were flammable. A bunch of missiles and lasers were in the air. One got me slightly in the leg, and I winced in pain. Another got Rex straight in the back of his head as he yelled in pain, a spot my father had told me there would be a chance the rexel would go unconscious. Luckily, Rex took it in and moved on.

I was afraid we’d lost my dad, until I remembered about my AI. I turned it on, and we kept going. 

We finally rounded to a spot where it was cleared. The Novatrons were running around chasing the people, or some fighting reinforcements. But the area where my dad was was cleared. I didn’t know why.

Then I found out. The leader of the Novatrons descended in his giant form with his wings, blazing in the sky. He looked like the stuff from legends. So giant and glorious, a beast with raw fire power. 

He landed with a boom, exactly how I remembered it in my dream. 

Then I remembered Tony’s words. Please don’t kill Titanetrox. You’ll only make it worse.

“Stupid Tony.” I muttered. “I’m not following you.”

“What?” Jasmine said next to me.

“Nothing.” Suddenly I tensed. We had to take action. The leader was here.

“Uh… Jaz, clear the area around so that nobody will get hurt. Rex, go with her and defend the people.”

I knew how much pain Rex was in, as we were abusing his dense armour. But he knew it was the good of his people, so he nodded. Still, I felt like the worst friend ever. I felt sick. It was already bad he couldn’t get to see his dad anyway, as he was all the way in another continent. 

And Jasmine… I didn’t even know what would happen to her family. And I didn’t want to find out. 

They followed me, surprisingly. I went to help my dad with Titanetrox. He obviously couldn’t slay him himself, and I didn’t see how much help I could be either. 

The two brought out their weapons. Steve Grey, with his extending scythe and jetpack, that left a trail of laser wherever it went. Then Titanetrox, with his epic staff of sublimeness. Just how I remembered it. 

My dad didn’t know I was close. They circled each other slowly, getting ready for an epic fight. 

Something I would never do�"my dad charged first. He knew the first blow was an advantage. Their weapons clashed, but the leader of the Novatrons was way stronger. He pushed forward, and blew his enemy backwards into a building, cracking it.

That’s how I knew I had to help. I looked for something nearby I could use. A tree. Unused cars. 

I sliced the tree off the floor and carried it like a javelin, and threw it at Titanetrox. He didn’t even see it coming, but his hand instantly shot up and grabbed it in the air, the leaves instantly crackling in flames as it fell into ashes to the floor. Then his head turned and spotted me. 

My eyes widened. He shot a column of flames in my direction, and I rolled out of the way. It exploded a gasoline tank from the car it hit, tossing it up in the air in shards. The heat almost roasted me.

I had to save my dad. Titanetrox lost interest in me and went for him. I realized I couldn’t make it in time. Even if I did, what could I do to stop him?

I did everything I could. I threw my spear. It bounced harmlessly like he had a shield. I grabbed a fallen lamppost and ran up and started whacking him. The force kind of blew him back, and I was surprised. But then he detonated a miniature supernova that blew the lamppost back at me like a spear. I quickly swerved backwards with my head, it being a couple of inches away from my face. It crashed into an unfortunate building, breaking a hole through it.

The blast blew me back too. I was swept off my feet, landing on a tree, on my spine. I winced in pain. I felt like I couldn’t move, and I had a fear I was paralyzed. 

I couldn’t do anything to stop him now. I didn’t know where my friends were in the middle of the chaos, and my dad was going to die. This was my one chance of saving him. I guess the future can’t change. If someone is meant to die, he will no matter what. 

Titanetrox rang in our heads again. I saw everybody around the area collapse and cover their ears, their faces showing pain. It was unbearable to me. 

He was laughing. A terrible, mechanical, maniacal laugh of evil. He was standing on my father’s back, crushing his propulsion pack on his back. He couldn’t escape.

This, is your leader? He said in our minds. I couldn’t take the headache. I wanted him to stop, so badly. I never wanted to experience his voice ever again. What a race so weak! Never before, have I encountered five races, yet here they are, unable to stop countless deaths. 

He took a pause. I am the king of the universe! I am the most powerful! The one below The All-powerful. Bow down before me, and your deaths will be painful. Nobody can stop the almighty�"

“Shut up!” A man unaffected by Titanetrox’s voice jumped out from out of nowhere and punched him with a hook so hard it blew him backwards with unimaginable force. It allowed my dad to breathe, which made me relieved. I thought it would take a billion megatons of force to move the leader of the Novatrons one inch, but I guess I was wrong.

I watched in amazement as he engaged battle with the beast. His flames and punches didn’t affect the man, like he was invincible. I was just as surprised as Titanetrox, who apparently couldn’t hurt the man.

Another rose from the other end. He flew high up in the air, creating a storm of wind that carried rocks and trees in a tornado. He had glowing white eyes and�"I couldn’t mistake it�"crystal diamond armour with a tinge of blue.

The two powerful people went in battle against the monster. Titanetrox had a hard time keeping the two at bay. One was punching him with incredible force, one was charging up rocks with lightning bolts from the sky, then firing them at him with full speed.

Titanetrox finally managed to knock the rock-hard one with a blow. He was sent off like a bullet and smashed into the road hard next to me, creating a sliding crater. 

“Who are you?” I asked the mysterious person. 

“No time kid,” he said. “Got to kill this guy.”

He was about to rejoin the fight when the other guy in the air was thrown next to me as well. He moaned like he wasn’t feeling so good.

“Aw, come on. Get up John, we have work to do. And then you’ll have your pizza.”

John?

“Stupid Herohat. It doesn’t protect me from everything. I wish I was like you, Nathan.” He said. 

I got a closer look at the two. They were both teens, maybe fourteen to fifteen. The strong guy had red eyes. He had no injuries from the battle, which totally befuddled my mind. He wore all black, kind of like my t-shirt. The other was wearing an unmistakable armour made of diamond. It was reshaped and refined to match his body, and it was definitely bluer than usual.

It was the first thing that came out of my mouth. “What are you wearing?!”

The guy with the armour looked at the other guy. “See Nathan? Nobody from the future takes me seriously just because I play a game that people think is meant for five-year-olds!”

“Don’t be harsh on yourself.” The Nathan guy replied. “Just keep it on until we kill him.”

The two of them completely ignored me as they went back into battle. I pushed myself up and called my spear to my hand. 

I saw the two of them charge into the fight while my dad was already up and on him. For some crazy reason, my guts told me I had to get in there too. It also reminded me of something Tony had said. You’ve got to complete the team. 

I charged into battle fearlessly. With these two epic beings and my dad at my side, I actually thought we had a chance. 

But that was before Titanetrox got angry. He bursted into a giant fire colossus, at least double his original size. We had no choice but to keep at him. We had to kill him, by the looks of it, or else there would still be a threat to the ship.

My dad hacked and slashed furiously. The flying dude attacked him with the elements. The strong dude fought with tremendous punches. They were keeping him at bay. 

I couldn’t get close enough into the epic battle. All I did was slice things off the ground and throw them at the beastly menace or throw my spear at full force. 

It must’ve been my imagination, but I thought I saw Titanetrox hesitating on purpose. Like my lobs always landed, or he didn’t try blocking a punch by the strong dude even though he definitely had the chance. And he pretended to be fazed after my dad threw one of his laser grenades, even though it was completely obvious. I was starting to take Tony’s words seriously. Was there a reason why we shouldn’t kill him? 

We kept protecting the ship from him. He couldn’t advance forward because of us. We were starting to weaken his inferno and speed. My dad activated his trapping gadgets. He threw two discs on the ground and they each slung a rope made of pure energy onto each of Titanetrox’s arms, tying themselves around. They held him back so tightly he was forced to kneel down. He was trying to rip them off his arms but they just adjusted tighter every time he tried. His fire even started to die off. 

The two new guys stood back as my dad walked up to him and delivered the final blow. It knocked his head sideways, which from my view it must’ve hurt.

Ha ha ha. His voice was still evil, but it didn’t hurt as much this time. Tell me, First One, do you have ancestors on earth you know? 

Dad looked confused, like Titanetrox was planning something devious and he was trying to crack him. “No, I do not. Why would I?”

It looked like Titanetrox smiled behind his lordly helmet, but it was impossible to tell.

Prepare. Was all he said.

“I’ve had enough of this.” I said as the others looked at me. I jumped next to a fire hydrant and sliced the cap off, and pushed my foot against it, aiming it at the leader of the Novatrons. The water sizzled, but it didn’t evaporate. It drained him of his energy, completely deriving him of his flame power. He was now as cool as an ice cube.

He screamed as I kept spraying the jet of water at his chest. He couldn’t escape.

He began to scream louder. His eyes went into pure orange light, streaming out of his sockets. His mouth blasted steaming flame. His whole body ignited into a bright, orange light as powerful as Remedie, and we shielded our eyes. I still heard the endless cries and screaming of the people around us. Something was happening.

Boom. He imploded on himself, leaving nothing but a giant crater where he stood. My dad had turned on his shield to protect himself. The other guys were fine.

“What was that?” John said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Cause we’re from the past, remember?” Nathan said. “You owe me five bucks. I told you the future was going to be crazy.”

“Wait, what did you guys say?” I asked, beating my dad to it. 

“That’s right, kid! We’re from earth! We were sent by Kerry to here, because his tech was sensing something big going on here. We didn’t know it was a whole invasion!” Nathan answered me. 

“What about your powers? Where’d those come from?” My dad asked them.

“It’s a long story, sir,” John said, knowing he was speaking to somebody important. “So is this the way the human race ends? An alien invasion? Is this the only aliens you guys have discovered?”

“Actually�"“ I began.

Suddenly my friends showed up. 

“Dan, we have to go, now!” Rex alerted me. “They’ve loaded everyone they could on the ship. Stronger Novatrons are coming. They don’t need their leader to continue the invasion.”

“Aah! What is that?!” John jumped at the sight of my rexel friend.

Rex just sighed and put his hand to his face. “Who is this guy?”

“Listen everybody,” Dad said. “We don’t have time for explanations. We have to get on the ship.”

“Um… with all due respect sir, we don’t belong here. It was a pleasure helping you with the invasion but we have to return to earth.” Nathan said. 

“Wait!” I said. These guys had to be important. They couldn’t just leave now. “Do you guys know a guy named Tony?”

Something clicked in the diamond-plated guy’s head. “Tony… wait, you know him?!” 

“Silence!” My dad ordered. “You two, go back to your home planet. Dan, go with your friends into the ship.”

“What about you?” I asked him.

“I’ll be right behind you,” he said.

That’s when an unexpected earthquake happened. There was a rumble in the ground. It felt as if the whole planet shook like one big guitar string. Buildings crum-bled. We were swept off our feet. Cracks in the world started splitting open. 

I was the only one to not notice them. As I crawled aimlessly I suddenly felt no ground under me, and I almost fell. I grabbed a ledge at the last second. My trusty staff I’d used in my adventures fell into the abyss. 

Jasmine spotted me first. “Dan!” She screamed, grabbing everyone’s attention. 

I couldn’t hold my grip for long. The rumbling made me let go and crash on another ledge deeper into the ravine, just before Jasmine reached for my hand. 

I was as scared as I could be. This was it. I was going to die by falling in a deep crevasse in the planet leading to who knew where. 

Everybody except the two past people were leaning over the ledge. My dad’s jetpack was busted. He couldn’t get me. And the flying dude had already left. 

“Don’t worry, Dan! I won’t leave you!” My dad yelled. “We’ll get you!”

The shaking made me unable to stand. I could’t climb back out. Even if I could, there was no time. And rocks were tumbling down the cliff as I dodged them. 

“No!” Rex said. “Come on, Dan! You’ve done the impossible before. Climb out!”

I was too deep to climb out. I barely saw a sliver of sunlight. I was chilled to the bone. What if I never made it out?

The crevasse started to close just as fast as it opened. My friends were still shouting at me. My dad began climbing down. But I already knew my fate. 

“Don’t just stand there, Dan! Get out!” Jasmine cried. But I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. The shaking blurred my vision, and I could barely see her face. 

“That ravine leads deeper than Martian Territory!” Dad shouted. “You have to make it out now!”

Jasmine started crying. I can see my dad had tears too. I understood why. I was his only son, and I was supposed to carry the family leadership, but now I was going down the drain. I didn’t know how I could ever make it back out. It seemed impossible. 

And Rex. My good, rexel friend. He was loyal to us no matter the circumstances. I’d never forget him.

And Jasmine actually liked me. From the very first day I met her. Only now I found out. She was going to be the hardest to say goodbye to. She was the first person that gave me comfort that I wasn’t alone. 

But now I was going to be alone forever. The crevasse was closing, and finally the sounds of terror and pain left. Final shouts from the people who loved me, trying to help me climb out of my death in the darkness. But it was useless. I was gone.

I said goodbye to Vanity. My home. And my family. And my loyal friends, who never left my side even until now. They had to run back to the ship but they stayed here with me to make my last moments in this world the best ones. I just had to hope everyone was safe. And they made it out alive. 

And I fell. 

I knew I wasn’t going to survive.

But at least I died knowing I sealed the future of the races. 

Mission completed.

The Last Chapter:

Survival

I made it.

Above the barren wasteland once again, my very few breaths weak but life-sustaining. I again did the im-possible. 

Three years in the deep crevasse. Three years! I was alone, trapped, in the darkness, for three years. All I felt was pain, torment, and misery. I had to climb my way out with barely any food, water or supplies at all. My AI was long dead, and I felt like I was too.

I was afraid I’d lose my sanity. I’d go crazy as an old man in that cavern. But I kept myself together. I told myself there was a way out. There was always a way out. 

I felt like I’d achieved the most greatest accom-plishment of mankind. I’d survived three years in the darkness living off Martian rations, and climbed a cliff as high as the planet’s crust could go. And here I was, fully alive and well. 

I made it.

No rest, no food, I felt so frail and weak. I would never recover from my nightmares in the dark, but finally I felt the light of day. I was alive.

For three years, or as much days I could count, I thrived in that place that couldn’t sustain a single cell of life. But somehow I came out. I didn’t know how I did it. I just did. And it was all worth it.

I barely remembered my friend’s faces now. I barely even remembered mine! It must’ve changed. But without a mirror and in the darkness, I could have never told. I barely remembered the details of that terrible day of the invasion. Both versions of it. 

But I didn’t care. I was alive. And I was going to make sure it stayed like that. I still have memory of the past, but it was as faded as cold night fog. But I still remembered.

I was free. Standing alone on a planet taken by aliens. Overlooking the sunset in winter. Surrounded by death and destruction. People’s lifeless bodies all over the place, not seeing the beautiful sun slowly sinking into the horizon. Ashes and snow covered the decay. They spread a sheet over the entire city.

I had tears. Tears of joy. I must’ve been the last human on Vanity, but not the last human.

They hadn’t even left me yet. Thank you Ray. The man that saved countless lives, including mine. I didn’t have to deal with Renzs anymore, if I could only find the time machine.

It was a port machine too. And I scanned the controls. It was possible it could transport me billions of light years onto the ship. I laughed with joy. I didn’t have to fight a single Renz again. I was saved.

The only catch was that it would still send me one year into the future. It was the only program it would set to. I sighed. That added one more year my family and friends didn’t see me.

The time machine had the energy, since it was only used once. I stepped in, and took a deep breath, hoping it didn’t leave me stranded in the middle of space. Yes, even after three years living in darkness I kept my sense of humour, only because it made me happy even though  there was nothing to be happy about.

The machine sparked with electricity. It rocked back and forth, and I sat back and relaxed. It sizzled everywhere, tingling my nerves. 

And I warped. In a flash of blue light, I suddenly felt like I was falling. Then the chamber crashed onto ground. 

The scene where I was changed. It was no longer a sunset, but curious people looking at me through the glass. I must’ve looked horrible to them. After all, there were no showers beyond Martian territory. 

One person caught my eye, as she was making her way through the crowd to find out what they were looking at. When she saw me her jaw dropped. 

Minutes later Rex arrived at the scene. He spoke with Jasmine and left. Jasmine peeled off the chamber door and grabbed me, helping me up.

“I can’t believe it. This isn’t you.” She said. “The Daniel I knew was dead. You’re a clone.”

“No,” I said, surprised at my own voice. I hadn’t spoke in so long that it croaked, but there was definitely a deeper vibe to it. And I felt older. 

Jasmine looked older too. Much different. We’d spent so much time apart I could only slightly recognized her. 

“It’s me,” I said. 

“I sent Rex to get your dad. We have to get you to the medical station immediately. You look awful.”

“Of course I do. I survived three years in the abyss. Impressive, huh?” 

“Yeah, I guess.”

“You don’t sound impressed.” 

“Three years in the abyss and you still won’t stop talking,” she said.

I smiled. Exactly. 

I looked around. There were giant screens everywhere in the lobby of the ship. News and stuff. I read the date. February eighteen.

“Wow.”

“What?” She asked.

“Happy Birthday.”

She looked so surprised. “You still remembered.” 

“Hopefully I don’t have to get you a gift anymore, because I’m your gift, right?”

“Oh, shut up.”

“How old are you?” I asked.

“Fifteen. Why?” 

I just stared at her as she realized it. 

“You took the time machine!” 

“That’s right. We’re the same age, now.”

Then Rex arrived at the scene. He smelled clean, like he always wanted. He always hated being dirty. He was the rexel chief’s son, and Leroy taught him to be clean and elegant and fancy. 

“Rex!” I said. “My good old, rexel buddy.”

He was older, as usual. And taller. He just stared at me, eyes widened. 

“Yes, it’s actually me, best bud.”

“What the�"“ He still couldn’t believe it. “How did you�"how did�"“

“Did you get to see your dad?” I asked him.

“Yes. He docked at our station just after we left the planet. He came in his private ship with a ton of rexels, along with the rest of what’s left of our race.”

“That’s good,” I said.

“Talking later. We have to get him to the medical centre.” Jasmine said, still supporting my weight. 

“Right,” he said. “But first, you have to see them.”

He stepped out of the way for my parents to come forward. My mom caught her breath as she saw me. My dad just stood there in plain shock. 

My dad finally spoke. “Daniel… you’re back.”

Epilogue: Reborn

It was a new eon. 

The Novatrons had claimed Vanity. But it wasn’t their home. It was never supposed to be. People thought that that was the reason of their invasion. They needed a planet, and Vanity was the only one left in the Local Group. 

But they never fought for the planet. If you’ve analyzed closely, they were heading directly for the ship. If they wanted the planet they would let the races leave. But they wanted to stop them from leaving. And what about Daniel? They fought so hard just to get one kid. They chased him throughout cities, battled him in forests, followed him through deserts. What was the reason for that? They couldn’t allow one person to live?

They surrounded one particular spot. The place where Titanetrox had deceased. No, they weren’t mourning for their fallen leader. They were awaiting for something new. Something to arise. 

The generals lead them. The vast blue armies of neon blue lined beasts and regular bone-plated soldiers. There were only three generals. And they had neon red lines of energy streaking their bodies like giant, bulging blood veins. 

They waited on the same spot for days. They waited. And waited. 

Until he arrived. Their new master. In a swirling cloud of dust, a wind tornado spun in the centre of the spot, and all the Novatrons looked up. They saw Titanetrox des-cend, but this time in a different form, sent by The Creator. 

His element was air. He wielded a deadly and powerful double-axe spear. He rose above his army, as they bowed down and praised him, in his almighty glory. 

He was ready to show what he could do to the races. He was… reborn.

He descended until his feet touched the ground, and the swirling cloud of dust cleared. 

Bring me contact with him. He said to his general beside him.

The Novatron opened a communication portal in the air. 

Get ready your armies. Prepare the invasion on earth.  And send your guy to hunt down the Second One. Do not fail me. Air Titanetrox said to the mysterious black-plated figure on the other side, wearing a helmet of deep darkness, a visor like a pure black pool of tar.

Will do. The figure said. Then the portal disappeared. 

Titanetrox laughed an evil laugh. One so deep and menacing even the Novatrons cowered slightly in fear. 

He shouted into the sunset, raising his arms, as if they could hear him light years away.

The First and Second One! How nice of you to reunite! You will perish! I will personally slay you myself if I have to! Your very existence will crumble!

He paused. Then he turned around and walked down the hill, the evening sky slowly coming into the lovely horizon. It was a new eon. The Air Eon. 

Titanetrox’s last words were barely heard.

I will be waiting.  

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