COLD❄BLOOD/Story Mode: Zinfestation

The story mode for COLD❄BLOOD, also known as Zinfestation, serves as the game's main single player campaign. When Silver Zin awakens from his unconscious state and discovers himself aboard the unfamiliar world of Satellite 15, he's left on his own to discover the answers as to just who he is and where he is. He isn't given much room to do this though, as Lord Kýrios finds a familiar link between him and his rebellious sister (who's been causing quite a ruckus) and commands the boy to evacuate his kind from the satellite while reversing the damages all under a one-year time limit. Eventually unwillingly taking the role as Kýrios' mercenary, Silver must deal with the likes of the Mallorian Church, the C.O.T.S. organization, and many other adversaries of the satellite's government. But as Silver's memories begin to recollect and as the weight of everything that's been happening begins to crush him down, things start to make many gradual changes for the worse.
The player almost exclusively plays as Silver Zin in the main campaign missions (with twelve exceptions), with everyone else serving as NPCs or enemy characters. The story is split into three main sections;is The Mercenary, The Rebel, and The Threat. COLD❄BLOOD's own dedicated anime, Incubus Eyes, takes place sometime during the Rebel phase. Ranks are awarded upon clearing each stage; getting higher ranks will net the place stronger rewards.
If you need more context to characters, settings, etc., please check around COLD❄BLOOD's subpages. Here are quick links to character profiles (#1: Main/Playables · #2: Assists · #3: Bosses · #4: Species), the game setting, and the satellite cuisine. It's recommended you read up on at least a bit of these pages before reading the story. If you like this story, check out the story expansions if you want more. They are presented in chronological order.
==Zinfestation: Main Story==
===Welcome to Satellite 15!===
"Welcome to Satellite 15! My name is Blossom Forger, I'm an author and I've been chosen to write a biography about someone that hasn't even woken up yet. So, as I intend on this story being passed around the cosmos, let me discuss what Satellite 15 is and what it's like, and what sweet people you can find there.
We're one of sixteen satellites revolving around this huge strange planet named Zaxina, ours being ruled by Kýrios and Zodiez, and we each serve as trading ports where we transfer goods between each other, to the ringmaster planet, and to infinity and beyond. Our colony's split up into six sectors that vary immensely environmentally, meant to suit humanity's different needs and to house many different kinds of animals, and we've got one more in the back where royalty lives. And right in the middle of our satellite is New Naxaz City, a huge metropolis that stretches for thirty miles across its diameter where maybe thirty percent of our population thrives. The mayor, Valerie Heartgold, oversees us all and works directly with the authorities, having control over the multi-purpose company Valco which itself oversees satellite trade and satellite resources and produces tens of thousands of everyday items. We navigate this satellite through air trams that lead us around here at almost supersonic speeds, do our part in society by paying taxes to keep the satellite able to bring in more resources, and stick together because we're weaker alone. Also, we live in a very strange society, so things you might or might not be accustomed to could be here. Beware!
There's a number of people I'd like you to accustom yourselves to seeing! As I've already said, Valerie's the mayor of New Naxaz City and manages a lot of important business aboard the satellite, and Kýrios and Zodiez rule the satellite like a democratic republic or something. Besides them though, there's General Scotch who controls and manages the satellite's defense squad (the Vinegar Troops), my husband Hector Forger who leads the satellite's offense squad (the Shooting Stars), and Admiral Millicent who keeps an all-seeing eye on both. Zonas B. Trayd and the Nature Warrior work directly with the authorities and are capable of arresting criminals, Oyster Moore runs the acclaimed but slowly failing Moore Lounge, Syinara Wyne watches over all the satellite's plants and flora, Frink delivers packages across the satellite, and a group of musicians named Black Haze (Devina Kilmister, Black Eyes, Vizole Cole, and Pierce Hazel) are the satellite's most recognizable band. Oshelia Eau studies plant life, Smartie Caramel likes to spy on people, Junkhead is always getting in trouble with the police, the Electric Eye keeps his eyes everywhere he can on the satellite. Yeah, what normal people.
We have been having to deal with some nasty threats, however. The authorities are suspicious of folks like Gonzalo Dorado, who has a strange mischievous flair and has a notorious history with mistreatment of women, and Ms. Replicate, who operates the illegal C.O.T.S. organization (Clone Operation Testing Squad) with assistance from Noise Lindemulder, Yama Velvetrot, and Abraham Mason. These two haven't been caught yet by the authorities, and no direct evidence exists yet to prove their misbehavior, so they remain trusted with operating Naxaz's bank and keeping DNA files on satellite citizens respectively. But we do deal with people who are clearly issues; the Razorback Supertzar is a public nuisance and threatens to take the spotlight from Valerie every now and then, Vitch Trayd likes to cause trouble across Naxaz and do a whole lot of thieving with help from her children, and we deal with people like Beck 82-99 who take on anonymous assassination missions and the [[Methademic who leaves poison wherever he goes. But we've gained two new threats lately that might outclass all of them, and we don't know their names.
We don't know much about this some strange, sleepy boy except that he's likely the brother to the person that's been giving us a load of reasons to be worried about the future state of the satellite. We've been giving her a bunch of codenames, like Purple Falcon, Purple Punk, Purple Menace, she's been on a rampage through the satellite, randomly bursting through people's doors in a frantic search for someone that she keeps calling Silver. We don't know what's going on with her, but we think she means serious business, so we gotta put together the pieces of the puzzle and stop this madwoman from rampaging before it's too late. Here's hoping that the boy I'm writing this biography about will have answers for us, he's gotta be our mercenary for this mission, so he can strike the threat down. But if he chooses to rebel, it could all be over for us..."
===Phase One: The Mercenary===
====Prologue====
:5:15 A.M. · MONDAY December 20th, ZXE-219
:Amour Clinic, Sector 5
Spade Amour was sitting at her desk in the Amour Clinic, busy writing away inside the pages of a black hardcover book. Sitting before her was a really tense-looking, shaken Sarona Collin, who couldn't seem to stop fidgeting and clapping her knees together. Spade eventually raises her head up from her work, her eyes level with Sarona's.
:Spade: Apologies for the wait, Sarona, you seem really tense today. [hands her a chocolate bar] Now, please tell me what the matter is, I've finished transferring your personal information into my contacts book.
Sarona nervously chews a chunk off the chocolate bar off as Spade slides Sarona's ID tag back to her.
:Sarona: R-Right. [takes a deep breath] I've come to talk about a very peculiar person that walked into the Collin Shop today. I don't know her name or where she came from, all I know is that she's a problem.
:Spade: Tell me more, Sarona. Keep taking deep breaths, they'll help.
Sarona takes deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling slowly as Spade keeps her eyes on her.
:Sarona: She didn't do anything wrong to me, but she attacked my sister randomly with shackles that doubled as nunchucks. [shivers] We managed to scare her away with pepper spray, but it didn't change what happened. I've trusted Valerie Heartgold to safely house Epica during the night while we get to the bottom of this.
:Spade: I see. [picks up her pen] Please tell me what she looks like.
:Sarona: Right. She looked sickly pale, had empty white eyes, had purple hair, and had two long horns that reached a bit above her head. [folds her arms] I don't want creeps like that around here.
Spade nods as she writes down the appropriate information.
:Spade: I wouldn't want people like that around here either. I promise that by the time our appointment is over, I'll report this information to the authorities, and she'll be placed on the wanted list.
:Sarona: Thank you, Spade.
Sarona gets off her seat, finishing the rest of her chocolate bar.
:Sarona: It's not just my sister I'm concerned for, though.
:Spade: Oh?
:Sarona: I'm concerned for everyone else too. You know she's not the only one doing bad things aboard the satellite- the authorities haven't taken care of that very suspicious organization running our hospital wing yet or bothered with the misdeeds occurring at the bank.
:Spade: I agree that our authorities aren't the best at taking care of criminals, but I promise we'll eventually manage to do something about it. [smiles at her] It'll just take some time, that's all.
:Sarona: I hope I can trust that.
:Spade: You will, eventually. I hope. [writes away] Is there anything else you wanted to talk about, Sarona?
Sarona shakes her head at Spade.
:Sarona: No, I can take of everything else from here. [turns away] I'll come back if I need to talk about anything else, but in the meantime, just protect yourself.
Sarona walks out of the office, ending her appointment with Spade.
:Spade: This woman sounds nothing short of horrifying.
Spade spins around in her swivel chair, dialing a number on her office telephone before picking up the receiver. It takes a while for her to get response, but a fancy man's voice responds on the phone.
:Hunjan: Hello there, who is this? Do you have any idea what time it is?
:Spade: Greetings, Hunjan. I've called you up to keep your eyes peeled for a specific creep. It's important that we watch out for unwanted trespassers, so to protect our people and our reputation.
From outside one of Spade's windows stood a pale-skinned woman, whose icky hag-like hands were pressing on the glass, one of her eyes peeking from behind the curtain. A pair of shackles were being twirled around her right index finger, which looked bitten and cold.
:???: Someday.
:Spade: ...and she had tall hor- Hey, is someone else on your end?
:Hunjan: Pretty sure not, nobody responded to my anime night text message on Risquord.
Spade sharply turns around to make sure she's alone. The woman had disappeared from the window, as if she were never even there in the first place.
:Spade: It's nothing. [yawns] Still, keep your eye out for her.
:Hunjan: Got it. Now go to sleep, I have work to do in the morning.
Hunjan hangs up. Spade returns to writing in her hardcover book, flipping some pages. She didn't know it, but the woman returned to watching her from behind the curtain.
:10:00 A.M. · MONDAY December 20th, ZXE-219
:Main Street, New Naxaz City
We get a top-down view of New Naxaz City, where people are living their everyday lives; people can be seen walking around, talking to others, going shopping, going to school, and generally having a pleasant time. Unexpectedly, a loud voice plays over the huge loudspeakers found near the top of the city's steel dome:
:Kýrios: Attention, attention! This is an emergency broadcast directed towards every citizen and guest aboard Satellite 15, and I'd like everyone to pay utmost attention to it! Thousands of complaints have been raised against us from every chamber of the satellite's living space and we are now taking action on them! My wife, Zodiez, will seize the mic and give you instructions on what you must do!
Everyone stops doing what they're doing. The space pods zooming around the satellite activate their emergency breaks and come to a halt midair and people on the streets (with few exceptions) raise their heads to glance at the dome ceiling. The camera focuses on a few residents- particularly Valerie Heartgold, General Scotch, Syinara Wyne, Pierce Hazel, and Devina Kilmister, who were all hanging at a table together.
:Valerie: Oh, they didn't tell me about this announcement. [looks up] What's going on?
:Scotch: Kýrios hasn't released an emergency broadcast in years, so I assume he's finally came to realize how many problems are plaguing the satellite now. [sighs] Hopefully this won't be too overwhelming.
:Valerie: You'd think that with all the reporting I've done as the mayor of New Naxaz City and as the satellite's only real multi-billionaire that it'd already be addressed.
:Devina: They've probably been looking for concrete evidence, but photo crops and videos of some sinister-looking purple haired woman have been appearing all over the ZaxNet, so they're run out of excuses.
:Syinara: Quiet down, I can hear Zodi coughing.
Zodiez was indeed coughing over the microphone.
:Zodiez: Listen to my instructions really closely now. By night, please remember to lock your doors, keep your windows shut, and have noise-cancelling tape placed over any holes or cracks in your walls. By day, keep your eyes out for a purple-haired woman with long horns, pale skin, and empty eyes.
Syinara swallows.
:Syinara: Oh, t-that woman. The same one that attacked me a few days back.
A flashback plays of this woman leaning over Syinara's bed, her wrinkled fingers stretched out for her.
:Pierce: I swear I've seen someone just like her. Was practicing with my band and the lights got turned out, and I saw some ghostly white face gleaming in the darkness. [shivers] I thought I was just seeing things!
:Kýrios: All individuals found to be associates of hers will be questioned and held hostage until proven innocent. If they can't be proven innocent, they will be locked up in prison. We must also address that we cannot prove individuals like Gonzalo Dorado or Ms. Replicate as guilty currently, but please keep a sharp eye on them. We will bring them up to our office and question them, however.
:Devina: Those zoinkers don't have any evidence that Gonzalo and that Replicate person are terrible people?
:Valerie: Those names leave a really bad taste in my mouth.
Valerie spits dramatically on the ground.
:Pierce: Hey, at least they're asking us to keep an eye on them, that's something.
:Scotch: That's being really optimistic, Pierce.
:Zodiez: All festivities and events that were supposed to be held over the next week have been cancelled by yours truly. This is because throughout the oncoming week, we will be sending soldiers and agents out to capture any creeps out on the streets and we don't want to ruin events with our allies' overwhelming presence.
Syinara points to the top of the dome.
:Syinara: Look there, they're immediately getting out the big guns.
A bunch of soldiers and agents, all wearing shiny black badges, were suddenly falling out from the ceiling. They begin to drift down towards the ground, equipped with tasers and elemental arm cannons. Men in pink, women in blue, all others in purple.
:Scotch: They couldn't look any stupider than this.
:Pierce: Hopefully this works out, three of the concerts I was supposed to have with my band were cancelled for this. It's a horrible feeling.
:Kýrios: If someone with a shiny black badge asks to search your home for any evidence, it is recommended you let them in so we can acquire as much evidence as possible, although you can deny them access if you have a good enough reason to do so. [coughs] This is our announcement for today. Please do not panic and stay on alarm, we will try to take care of our business as soon as possible so the satellite may return to its usual shenanigans. Thank you for listening in. Kýrios n' Zodi out!
:Zodiez: Be sure to trash your script dear.
The microphone clicks off, leaving everyone to continue their day-to-day lives for the moment.
:Scotch: It's too bad that Gifting Day's been cancelled, I always look forward to eating at the same table as the lord every December.
:Valerie: I'm sure some of us will get special invites Scotch, I just think that Kýrios doesn't want to put any normal citizen's life at risk right now. [looks at him] That woman, and likely many more creeps, are waiting to see what they can get their dirty hands on.
:Devina: I don't think we can really make any complaints. The authorities are trying the best they can right now to track down the satellite's most problematic individuals so we will be as safe as possible. It'll just last a week.
:Scotch: Right, I was just taking some notes.
Syinara gets up from the table, tugging on Valerie's shoulder.
:Syinara: I think the best thing we can do right now is go home and take the precautions Zodiez brought up. [folds her arms] I'd rather not see that monster anywhere in my immediate vicinity.
:Valerie: Yeah, Syi's right. [gets up] I'm going to go back home and take the precautions I need to. I also need to hold a meeting with my cabinet so we can determine what needs to be done to improve safety in this city.
:Scotch: I'm going to keep my eye out for that woman and shoot her on sight.
Pierce and Devina get up, with the latter picking up her bass guitar and wrapping an arm around the twink.
:Devina: We'll be off practicing music back at my house. Good luck you three with your work!
:Scotch: Thank you, I'm going to need all the luck I can get to take that creeper down.
Everyone at the table parts ways. The camera follows Scotch as he walks down Main Street, moving past walking soldiers and walking citizens as he walks up to a pod station, calling one of those flying vehicles over to him.
:Scotch: I wonder if that blank-eyed woman has anything to do with "The Boy Who Cannot Wake"?
A quick flashback plays of Scotch looking over a pale-looking boy sprawled out over the ground, his empty white eyes wide open but his body unresponsive.
:Scotch: I just wonder...
:7:40 P.M. · WEDNESDAY December 22nd, ZXE-219
:Kýrios' Throne Room, Admin Sector
At Kýrios' throne room, we see Gonzalo Dorado, Ms. Replicate, and the Leper Messiah all buckled down to their knees on the floor, with Zodiez looking down upon them all as her husband laid snoring next to her.
:Zodiez: All three of you must understand that I brought you here over a very serious, deep-cutting dilemma that's been hurting the satellite lately. [sits up] All three of you have been linked with abuse, torment, and really serious crimes coming from complaints made from citizens. You understand, right?
:Leper Messiah: Yes, ma'am.
:Zodiez: There may be no concrete evidence towards you three doing such nasty and horrific deeds, but today we are entering a new era of justice with Satellite 15. [glares at them] There will be more security, more cameras, whether you three or doing this crap or not, we are going to extensive monitor your behaviors.
:Leper Messiah: I suppose I understand this. With the holiness of the church at stake, I must take the proper measures to ensure none of my fellow clergymen are participating in such misdeeds.
:Ms. Replicate: Just cut me a little bit of slack here, the hospital wing's been very busy lately, people are constantly being flung in and out through the doors, and my limited team of doctors and nurses can only do so much at a time. [folds her arms] And I'm being accused of being abusive!? No! We've just been tired.
:Zodiez: We have received reports about you misusing your responsibilities as both a DNA organizer and a nurse, so you need to be doing everything as you're told to do it with no compromises.
:Ms. Replicate: Well, what in Sam Hill are you going to do about the limited amount of staff then?
:Zodiez: How about you stop treating the rest of your staff like they're worthless rodents? Lindemulder's complained about your behavior to me at least six times!
That was enough to shut the nurse up.
:Zodiez: We don't have time to deal with your petty crap, we already have a dangerous woman to be looking after. [looks at Gonzalo] Any additional comments?
:Gonzalo: What do you want me to say other than I'm doing my job well, sweetheart?
:Zodiez: Red flag alert right there, gross. [shakes head] According to some reports I've been receiving, you've been scamming people out of money and you've been blamed for some instances of people going poor. Is this true?
:Gonzalo: You know how people are, they'll lie about anything to get their hands on just a little bit more cash. [holds two fingers up, like if he were pinching something] Just a little bit more.
:Zodiez: Professional businessmen don't blame their reputation on their concerned customers.
:Gonzalo: But p-please understand me! [begs with his hands clenched together] You don't know my dilemma! They're all racists, they knew I was raised out in the harsh desert sands in Sector 3 and have been teasing me for as long as I can remember with condescending insults! You must listen to me, th-
Ms. Replicate rolls her eyes.
:Ms. Replicate: There he goes again.
Zodiez presses a button, causing the chains on Gonzalo to start crazily electrocuting him.
:Zodiez: That'll be enough of that.
:Leper Messiah: Can I please go home now? I really need to go home and support my wife and children.
:Zodiez: That you don't have?
:Ms. Replicate: How in the world do you know all of this? Do you spy on us?
:Zodiez: Enough!
Zodiez stomps the ground, making everyone go quiet again.
:Zodiez: Just listen to me, for once. Our satellite is in danger, it is being exploited right now and taken advantage of by some horrible, horrible people. All I'm asking is for you three to be on your best behavior while you're working. You are each being recorded from now on- and believe me, we'll know if the camera systems go offline. I've gotten the Electric Eye to watch over you all. Y'know, that Hunjan guy.
:Gonzalo: Alright, I suppose I'll accept that this is a necessity for improving the state of the satellite and that we will have to bear with the changes until future notice. [looks up at Zodiez] I will handle my job as a banker responsibly, no strings attached! You can trust me, sweetheart.
Zodiez shocks him again.
:Zodiez: Don't give me names like that, gross.
:Gonzalo: How racist for you to shock the only black guy in the room!
:Zodiez: I don't think you know how racism works.
:Leper Messiah: I'm getting real sick of this Gonzalo guy's circus act, so I'm just going to start talking now. [silence] Uh, I understand the message you're bringing across here and I assure you that sinning will never occur in any of my churches from this point onward. The cameras will help me fulfill this promise.
:Zodiez: Then leave now, Messiah. I don't want to see you here ever again, you got that?
The Messiah tries to get up, but he's still chained to the floor.
:Leper Messiah: Well, I can't move.
:Zodiez: Oh, oops.
Zodiez breaks his chains with a hammer, letting him slowly get up and awkwardly leave the room.
:Ms. Replicate: Alright, I guess I'm willing to abide by these terms and conditions. But on one condition of my own, and it's an important one.
:Zodiez: I'm listening.
:Ms. Replicate: Please do not install any cameras inside my living space, I'd like to have at least some space where I can feel alone and secure.
:Zodiez: There will be one watching your doorway then, does that work by you?
:Ms. Replicate: I can live with that.
Zodiez nods, hitting a button to free Zodiez from her chains.
:Zodiez: You're free to go.
Ms. Replicate smiles, getting up and slowly walking out of the room on her high heels.
:Zodiez: It's just you left, Gonzalo.
:Gonzalo: I will be willing to abide by these terms and conditions under two conditions, because two is always better than one when you consider where I'm from.
:Zodiez: And what would those be, may I ask?
:Gonzalo: You will admit to being a racist, for one. And for two, you will be called out in the Hollow Newspaper and everyone will get to see you're a racist scumbag.
:Zodiez: How about you just file a lawsuit instead?
:Gonzalo: Sure, sure, whatever.
Big mistake, Zodiez thinks to herself as she lets Gonzalo go.
:Gonzalo: I'm going to file a lawsuit as soon as I go home, you hear me? They're gonna listen to me, and I'm gonna make sure you get what you deserve!
:Zodiez: This'll be funny.
Zodiez hits a button on the back of her remote, which makes a huge spring pop up under Gonzalo and throw him through a hole in the ceiling. It launches him all the way to New Naxaz City, supposedly. Kýrios slowly wakes up, looking a little groggy from oversleeping.
:Zodiez: There you are hon. I took care of the situation, you don't have to do anything now.
:Kýrios: Script I never wrote so, thank gods. [cackles] To me, affirm all is okay?
:Zodiez: Everything's going to be fine you goofball. [kisses his cheek] Just, listen to me for a moment. Things are going to change a lot on this satellite, and uh, things will become a lot tougher on all of us as we finally begin making the efforts necessary to take out all the bad people aboard.
:Kýrios: Understand you. [places an arm around her] Changes we must have. Peace we must have. Understand you in all the directions.
:Zodiez: Right, I just want you to be careful too. [frowns] What if she goes after you? What are you going to do, Kýrios?
:Kýrios: The lord am I. [cackles really loudly] Stand a chance, she? No!
Zodiez just nods as she keeps her husband in a tight grip.
:Zodiez: Just think about it, though. She's attacked several dozen people over the past few days, and hundreds of other attacks have been reported. [folds her arms] I think they all might be related.
:Kýrios: ...Burning.
:Zodiez: Huh?
:Kýrios: In time. Coronas see them all burning together. Two special ones burning forever. Fear not. Get all of what they really deserve, they will, is my promise.
:3:30 P.M. · SATURDAY December 25th, ZXE-219
:Secret Laboratory, Hospital Wing
Deep underneath Satellite 15's Hospital Wing was a secret laboratory that supposedly only Ms. Replicate and some of her assistants had access to. There are no cameras to be seen, as the area isn't known to anyone but Replicate, who drilled it out herself. She walks down the main path with Noise Lindemulder and Yama Velvetrot.
:Ms. Replicate: Now that I've acquired more information about the events that have been happening over the past week, I must know something.
:Noise: Know what?
:Ms. Replicate: You'll see, Lindemulder.
Ms. Replicate walks to a giant green status pod, holding photos of the alleged purple menace threatening the satellite's citizens. Yep, that was her alright, with all the known red flags present on her.
:Ms. Replicate: She's so uncannily similar to "The Boy Who Cannot Wake", huh? [glances up] Are they related?
Inside of the status pod was an unconscious, somewhat crooked-looking body. He had the villain's eyes, horns, and pale skin, though he had shorter, frazzled black hair and some very strange-looking clothes.
:Noise: I have no reason to doubt they'd be related, I mean look between the photos. [taps on the glass] Very similar genetic makeup, according to our findings.
:Ms. Replicate: I just have to make sure.
Ms. Replicate lights up, like she had a brilliant idea.
:Ms. Replicate: Oh, I have an idea. Yama, can you be so kind to open his status pod and look through his pockets? I need to see if he's carrying anything.
:Yama: Why me?
:Ms. Replicate: I'm your boss, silly!
Yama sighs as she opens up the status pod, reaching into his pockets for any bags. She could only find one. She felt weird looking through a stranger's pocket, let alone while they're dead asleep. She handed the bag to Yama.
:Ms. Replicate: Thank you, my dear.
:Yama: Remind me to never follow you back here again.
She heads over to the next room to look through the bag Yama gave her.
:Ms. Replicate: What's in here?
Ms. Replicate dumps it all onto the table. An iPod classic with a black set of headphones lands on the soft table, while an ID card from the nearby world of Zaxina drifts down to it slowly. There was also a recipe book for different kinds of pasta and a rulebook for learning how to cooperate with civilization. There was also a bag of copyrighted spicy chips in there.
:Noise: Wonder what kind of music he listens to?
Noise places on the headphones.
:Ms. Replicate: Interesting.
Ms. Replicate picks up the ID card, putting everything else back in the bag and putting it inside a pocket in his robes. She looks at the ID card, placing on a pair of reading glasses.
:Ms. Replicate: Silver Zin, age twenty-nine, assigned male at birth. Six-foot-four and weighing a hundred and twenty-two pounds. Hmm.
:Yama: That's an unhealthy height-versus-weight balance, he must have a pretty terrible BMI.
She smirks as she pockets his ID in her pocket.
:Ms. Replicate: This is worth bringing up when he wakes up. Wonder how he got here and why he's not awake yet, he's been asleep for a week or so now.
:Yama: Yeah. Hopefully he'll wake up soon, I hate having anything to do with someone that isn't even conscious to see what we're up to. [sighs] I mean, I guess we're not doing anything too terrible.
:Ms. Replicate: Mhm. Let's get out of here.
She and Yama begin walking out of the room, but Noise doesn't follow. Ms. Replicate turns around to see Noise, who looks pretty stunned.
:Ms. Replicate: Noise?
:Noise: He listens to this Slipknot band! I love him already!
She quickly turns off Silver's iPod, putting it back in his bag and zipping it shut. Replicate closes the pod.
:Ms. Replicate: So, that's Silver Zin. [grins wide] I think we have a lead on who he is. We don't know much about his personality or what he's capable of, but I strictly order you two to never let him out of the laboratory until I say it's time for him to go. Understand?
:Noise: Yes, Ms. Replicate.
:Yama: Of course, Ms. Replicate.
:Ms. Replicate: Whenever he wakes up and I happen to be awake, I will take him to Kýrios to see what needs to be done, because it's obvious he's a foreigner and that he's related to that purple stranger.
:Noise: Can we just call her Ms. Zin or something?
:Ms. Replicate: What if she's married?
:Noise: That's assuming anyone would want to marry this shuzzbutt!
:Ms. Replicate: Fair assessment, Noise. [laughs] Miss Zin it is until we learn anything more about this vile woman.
:Yama: Hey, at least we know a little more about this person now.
:Ms. Replicate: Let's go back and prepare the Hospital Wing again for its grand re-opening. I promised some of Zodiez's bodyguards on the way out that I'd do my part as a high-ranking citizen of the satellite to assure everyone's safety so I can gain back as much trust as possible.
:Noise: Alright.
The three walk upstairs, leaving Silver alone.
----
:12:30 P.M. · MONDAY December 27th, ZXE-219
:Moore Lounge, New Naxaz City
The stage has been set. The complaints were made, the public service announcement was made, the baddies were questioned, the mysterious boy's getting his identity figured out. Satellite 15's approaching the dawn of a new age, where security and control are getting maximized in a world whose weaknesses are becoming more and more exploited by its worst enemies, and where more and more mysterious events keep happening to place people on their toes. The authorities have sworn to protect their citizens, including some questionable people in power, and you have trusted heroes like Valerie Heartgold and General Scotch watching different corners of the satellite.
But very few people know the fun is only beginning. Things would be a lot worse right now if no action was taken, but even with the actions that were taken, the lives of several thousand people are still at risk.
Please listen to the multiple brief interviews done by Anchor Emcee at the Moore Lounge in New Naxaz City.
*beep*
:Syinara: I was busy reading in the dark when I felt something loom over me. I think my girlfriend was in the bathroom or something, so I knew it wasn't her. When I looked up, I saw her cold eyes stare right down at me, her hands reaching out for my face. [shivers] She got away when I screamed.
*beep*
:Veronica: When I was delivering a package to a shady house in the middle of Naxaz, I found her attempting to receive my package. Called the cops, she wasn't there anymore. That house wasn't hers and it was ransacked. I looked in the package she attempted to order from me, and it was just a bread recipe. Could bread be sinister?
*beep*
:Paprika: While working with my good friend Crymsia Rose, I found that same woman sneaking around the shop, looking through the wedding clothes. We chased her out, but by the time we could contact the authorities, she was gone. As well as 12000 ValCoins' worth of clothes!
:Crymsia: That damn barnaclehead ain't gonna get away with this, ya hear? I'm gonna gouge her eyes out!
*beep*
:Keil: I know that I have hardly any significance and whatever, but when I was at the gas station a week back—mind you, before I accidentally blew it up—I saw her face staring straight at me. She was impatient, so I threw a lighter at her, which she threw back towards the station.
*beep*
:Sinicini: I didn't personally see her, but I woke up one morning in a bloody puddle. I looked over at my boyfriend Zonas and found that he was attacked in his sleep! Dunno if it was because of his race or because of his job, but he's healing with Adexene's help at least.
:Adexene: I try my best. [t-poses] I assert dominance over pain and displeasure.
*beep*
:Mr. Dick: Now that's a lady I'd lock up in m- I mean, what a hoe! No further comment. Wait, no no, don't take me away!
*beep*
:Waxy: She stole some kid I was taking care of named Zinos. [takes a deep breath] She then dropped him back here, severely injured. He said that she confused him for someone far more important. There's a grudge I think she's holding against someone on the satellite.
*beep*
:Cabinet Man: I almost captured her, but she was too fast for me to catch her. Can humans apply cheat codes to themselves?
:Chance: They cannot, this violet drama queen's just someone out of this satellite's league. Interesting. Chances are, we're just not going to capture her if we don't know someone in her league. Perhaps we should call upon The Boy Who Cannot Wake? No?
*beep*
:Oyster: She... she came in h-here and asked for a tall glass of al-alcohol. [swallows] She went on and on about how she wanted to ki-kill this white boy, I never called the cops because I was too afraid to do anything to her. She let me live unscathed, t-though, for some reason..
*beep*
:Hector: Matey, lemme just tell ye that this purple menace's no good ter be 'round! Saw 'er on me ship once, never saw 'er again. Me lass Blossom Forger apparently got struck in the neck by her, aye!
*beep*
:Vizole: My darling, I have never seen this woman, but it took hours to calm my friend Pierce back down. He saw this woman a few days ago while rehearsing alone, and she kept sliding her fingers down a chalkboard to intimidate him.
:Pierce: N-Never going out alone again.
*beep*
:Valerie: We haven't seen that person at my place since Syi got attacked, but we know it happened and we know several many people remain in danger. So much footage of her was captured, and so many reports were made against her, yet nobody did anything about her because she's just too smart for us. Who in the world does she think she is, rummaging through a place she doesn't belong and attacking a lot of people for seemingly no reason?
Valerie lifts The Bird.
:Valerie: You better watch out, girl! When we catch you, you won't like what happens to you next!
*click*
:???: They'll never catch me, and that includes you, Valerie.
The accused woman gets up from her chair in a darkly-lit house, walking over to a window.
:???: They don't know anything about me, and nobody will ever get to learn anything about me, because I will make my leave as soon as I get what I want.
She grins like the Cheshire cat.
:???: There's just one thing I must do.
====Chapter One: I Can't Remember====
:5:53 A.M. · MONDAY JANUARY 17th, ZXE-220
:Main Street, New Naxaz City
Roughly one month has passed since the "Purple Incidents" (which refer to the Mallorian Attacks, as they'd later be renamed) have begun haunting Satellite 15. The authorities haven't gotten any closer to discovering her identity, many lawsuits and countersuits have been filed back and forth between businesses and the satellite law branches, and soldiers now rest at corners overseeing the daily lives of innocent citizens. In exchange for the rate of violence sharply dropping, everyone's privacy now is instead at stake. The cameras everywhere detect the stranger every so often, but nobody's fast enough to catch her. The satellite remains in a state of panic.
The attention turns to Main Street in New Naxaz City, where lots of policemen could be seen surrounding a shiny black skyscraper. They had all their guns out, pointing them up high.
:Officer #1: In the name of Lord Kýrios, we order you to get down here and explain yourself!
:Officer #2: You're under arrest, uhh... [reads note] Purple Falcon!
:Officer #1: We'll go up there if we have to, Purple Punk!
:Stranger: Whoever said the authorities had to be responsible for what I do or don't do around here?
:Officer #3: We did, Purple Witch!
:Stranger: Aren't you all a little old for aimless name-calling by now? [shakes her head] I'm not here to play games, do you understand? I'm looking for a peculiar boy with skin just like mine.
:Officer #2: If your dilemma's really that simple, why were you committing crimes like elderly harassment? Why were you in possession of illegal drugs? Why did you ransack every place we know you've gone to?
The stranger smirks.
:Stranger: You know, just because they say those things in the newspaper doesn't mean they're all true. [flashes a grin down at them] Really, I'll tell you what I've been responsible for: physical assault. Nothing else, I'm not that kind of monster, I have desires but I don't act on them.
:Officer #1: How should we trust someone with a reputation like yours, Purple Liar?
:Stranger: I can't deny the photo or video evidence that exists of me, but have you double-checked your sources? There's no proof I've done any assault, besides me owning up to the fact I'm guilty. That's like going on Zikipedia and calling me a Nazi with the only credited source being Fox News.
The stranger begins to walk off, much to the annoyance of the officers, who begin to climb the building.
:Strange: Look, I'm done wasting time here.
:Officer #3: Oh no you don't, get back here!
The Stranger leaps up high, front-flipping before crashing through the ceiling of a convenience store with her feet. She pulls out a strange staff-like weapon from her pocket, holding it to the owner's neck as she keeps an eye out for the officers descending from above.
:Stranger: Have you seen or heard of a pastel-colored boy anywhere on this satellite?
:Owner: N-No, miss.
The stranger lowers her weapon, leaping over the countertop.
:Stranger: You better duck low, things are going to get fairly dicey in here. The honest people don't deserve to be hurt.
As the officers drop down through the hole the stranger made in the ceiling, the convenience store owner drops down on the floor, curled in a ball. The officers shoot bullets at her, who dodges elegantly to the left and right to avoid them.
:Officer #2: What's going on? Why aren't our bullets working?
:Officer #1: If only my wife was bulletproof.
:Stranger: Look. I'm a little apologetic at the very least that I wrecked the mall downtown in my search for that boy, but that's the only empathy I feel for you boys.
'The stranger kicks over the counter, which goes over the convenience store owner and fatally crushes the three officers.
:Stranger: Hey, they have actual evidence that I do more than just mere physical assault now. Not that they'd care for the facts, though!
The stranger leaps back up through the hole in the ceiling, looking around. Suddenly, she finds herself pinned down from behind, her knees buckled together as she hits the floor.
:Stranger: What the hell? Who did this?
The camera shows Zonas, who just iced her knees together from behind. She scowls at him, hissing like a snake.
:Zonas: Y-you deserved that for what you did to my body. [walks over to her] Drop your weapons, it's time you cut this crap out! Let's get this over with already!
:Stranger: See, I had a reason for attacking you. The authorities in the satellite cannot get in my way. You understand me? I'm looking for that boy!
:Zonas: Why didn't you j-just file a missing person report to the a-authorities then, instead of causing so much damage and hurting s-so many innocent people?
:Stranger: Hmmm, that is a good point.
Zonas just shakes his head as he begins to drag the stranger across the floor.
:Stranger: Just heed these words. [crosses her arms] If I don't get what I want within exactly three days, I may start doing REAL damage to the satellite. I wouldn't have much to scream about if somebody bothered trying to point me in the right direction!
:Zonas: W-Who the heck are you, even?
:Stranger: That's none of your business, ice pop!
The stranger manages to build enough friction between her legs to melt the ice keeping her legs together. She quickly gets up and grabs Zonas by the arm, flailing him over her head and into the floor bottom-first.
:Zonas: OWWW!
:Stranger: Look, I felt bad when I saw your red-haired girlie sweetheart about me and what I've done to you some weeks back. I'm not going to kill you. [begins to walk away] One of these days, though? I might change my mind. You better find out a way to help me while you still can, ice pop.
The stranger walks off, leaving Zonas and his sore bum above the convenience store building. It was a real wreck now, just like the mall downtown. Who is this person, exactly? Is she just a woman of deceit? Or is she as honest as she claims herself to be? Zonas tries to figure it out for himself while calling the cops to escort him off of the building.
Meanwhile, back at street level.
:Officer #4: Uh, those three officers haven't come back yet.
:Officer #5: Rats, I think they've gotten distracted by donuts. [sighs] Well, let's go home. We'll clean this place out tomorrow, I suppose.
:Officer #4: It's a bit of a risk with that Purple Rat still in town, but I'll call upon Waxy and her healer team to see if they can fix up as many people as possible. But how're we gonna fix up the buildings?
:Officer #6: That's an easy fix.
The officer whistles, calling in a team of Rollies and Bullies.
:Officer #6: They're not intended to be construction workers, but they can help quickly repair the convenience store and mall while we're busy tracking the Purple Whatchamacallit down.
One of the Rollies does a soldier salute, its pinchers snapping together.
:Officer #4: That'll do, that'll do.
:Officer #5: Alright you special vermin, go fix up things. We got a Purple Thing to catch.
The Rollies and Bullies get right to work as the officers continue trying to give the stranger chase. They haven't been able to find her anywhere, however, and quickly gave up.
:Officer #4: I think she managed to get away.
:Officer #6: Ohhh man, Zodiez is gonna be sooooooooo pissed off.
:Officer #5: Thank god for that Mayxine woman or we'd be in even deeper trouble.
From a distance, the stranger looks at the officers, hanging from a really high area of the Valco Vortex.
:Stranger: Silver Zin. I know you're somewhere in this satellite, and I've grown tired looking for you. Look at what I've had to endure because of you. People spread lies about me now, they know nothing about me but what you might have told them.
The stranger angrily glares at the officers from high above.
:Stranger: You think I was joking when I said that one day this would all happen to me? And then you said it wouldn't? You're a little liar, little brother, and I'll make sure you won't get away.
The stranger hisses.
:Stranger: I was thinking you'd be able to resolve the problems of our world and rule it fair and square. But no, you lost that battle to your grandfather. You lost on purpose, you have never been able to follow through on any of our promises.
Some officers finally discover that she's up high through binoculars.
:Officer #58: She's up there!
:'Stranger ': And now because of you, I'm in so much debt that I never deserved. [grits her many teeth] I am responsible for some of my mistakes, but if you don't come out of hiding within three days, I will make life hell for you. And that's a promise I'm willing to keep.
The stranger turns around and retreats, much to the dismay of the officers.
:8:35 A.M. · MONDAY JANUARY 17th, ZXE-220
:Secret Laboratory, Hospital Wing
But luckily for the authorities, not everything's been especially awful. "The Boy Who Cannot Wake" (or Silver Zin, as we've learned) has finally recovered from his unconscious state, eyes wide open as he stares at the inside of C.O.T.S.' secret laboratory from within his lime-green status tube. He curiously taps on the glass, but it wouldn't budge for him. He looks somewhat dull, like he doesn't really have any thoughts or feelings about being trapped inside this status pod.
:Silver: Uhh, hello? Is there anybody out there?
In the hospital wing, Ms. Replicate was hanging out in her office, where you could see all kinds of DNA tubes and the like hanging from the shelves, and lots and lots of paperwork scattered on her desks. She jumps for a moment when she heard Silver's weak, somewhat shrill voice emit through her hidden speaker (right above her head).
:Ms. Replicate: That voice, he has finally spoken!
Ms. Replicate switches on an intercom.
:Ms. Replicate: Noise Lindemulder and Yama Velvetrot, report to my office please. Lindemulder and Velvetrot, report to my office please. Something really special is awaiting both of you. Thank you!
Noise and Yama come barging in merely seconds later. Ms. Replicate was holding a stopwatch.
:Ms. Replicate: Not bad girls, you've arrived three seconds faster than you usually do. But guess what?
:Noise: What?
:Ms. Replicate: I heard him!! [shakes her torso with glee] I heard the voice of The Boy Who Cannot Wake! He's awake!
:Noise: Oh nice, we better go down there then, huh?
:Yama: Yeehaw!!
The three of them are barely able to keep their balance as they almost trip down the staircase from their excitement. They run all the way up to Silver's status tube, where they find him awake and rubbing his hands around the inside of the tube.
:Silver: Hello, uh, where am I?
:Ms. Replicate: Hi! I'm Ms. Replicate, the delicate and exquisite leader of the C.O.T.S. organization! Found your body lying around in the Docking Haven, and uh, I decided to preserve your body in case you never woke up!
:Noise: What's your favorite Slipknot song??
:Yama: Do you think a hot dog should be considered a sandwich?
:Silver: I, uhh, what?
:Ms. Replicate: Quiet down girls, give him a chance to speak.
Replicate's two assistants calm down as Silver goes into a state of deep thought.
:Silver: I can't remember a thing. I can talk fluently, but, nothing's really clicking together in my head. I don't even remember my own name!
:Ms. Replicate: That's okay sweetie, no pressure. So, it turned out that you were carrying your ID with you when I found you unconscious. Your name is Silver Zin, you're 29, and you were born on April 15th.
:Silver: Am I a guy?
Ms. Replicate looks at Silver's ID again.
:Ms. Replicate: Uhhh, nope!
:Silver: This is a little awkward.
:Noise: Do you think if I gave him one of those Corey Taylor masks that he'd remember who he is?
:Yama: Noise, remember when you showed me one of those masks? My computer screen went black, what if Silver's eyes went black and he didn't go to Heaven?
:Noise: You're such a child Yama, I love you.
Ms. Replicate sighs as she looks at Silver's eyes.
:Ms. Replicate: I'll release you from your status pod, but I need you to listen to me. [wags her finger instructively] Don't ever leave this hidden room until I say you can, alright? You have a lookalike out there that's nowhere as attractive and is in a LOT of trouble.
:Silver: Fine by me, I like the darkness.
:Ms. Replicate: Hey, we do too. Look at Noise, who doesn't even have any of her original parts anymore besides her brain.
:Noise: Boss...
Ms. Replicate unlocks Silver's pod, letting him walk out. He stumbled a little bit, as he hasn't walked in a long while, but he was able to quickly find his balance.
:Silver: Thanks.
:Ms. Replicate: You're welcome! I'll take good care of you for now, but when the right moment comes, maybe today, I have to take you with me to Lord Kýrios so, uhh, we can help you get your life back to normal. And resolve some things related to you that don't really concern you right now.
:Silver: Are you my mom?
:Ms. Replicate: No, but nice try. [jabs his shoulder] Wherever your parents are, I hope they're dead.
Silver doesn't really have a good response to that. He didn't remember anything really, including other people. For all he knew now, his parents were terrible people.
:Noise: So, should Yama and I go back upstairs and resume our positions in the hospital staff?
:Ms. Replicate: Yes, yes, run along. [rubs her hands] I'm gonna bake him a pie and talk to him a bit, he's probably feeling really lonely right now and I'd like to help make things better for him.
:Yama: Can we have some pie?
:Ms. Replicate: Go upstairs before I decide to add you to the recipe.
Yama nods, going upstairs while dragging Noise up the stairs with her.
:Silver: Ummm, well, it's nice meeting you, Ms. Replicate! Can I call you Repli instead? It's a bit cuter.
:Ms. Replicate: Alright dear, but only because I'm being so nice today. [pulls a recipe book out of her pocket] I'll go bake you some pie. I'll be right back Silv!
Ms. Replicate runs off to a kitchen. Silver scratches his head as he looks around. He didn't really know what to do, as his lack of memories meant he didn't really remember his interests or anything personality-wise. He walks into what looks like a living room, laying himself out lazily on the couch.
:Silver: "Zin".
Silver looks at himself. His skin was strangely pale. He had strange long nails. He looks up into a mirror, where he sees his horns and empty, blank white eyes.
:Silver: I look hideous.
Silver stretches himself out. He quickly finds that his head can go between his legs, he can turn his head almost all the way around, and that he can bend his fingers backwards. Disgusting, he thought to himself.
:Silver: I feel kind of inhuman. Why am I like this? What mother would want this?
Ms. Replicate walks in.
:Ms. Replicate: No need to stress yourself out, Silver. We're just as clueless as you are, but I'm sure everything that composes you right now will make sense later.
Ms. Replicate frowns.
:Ms. Replicate: You're not hideous, either. Don't ever say that again about yourself.
:Silver: Sorry.
Ms. Replicate's frown makes a complete 180, followed by her making a loud laugh.
:Ms. Replicate: God, you're so naive, it's kind of cute. [pinches his cheek] It's alright, though. I'll go back to finish the pie, but you take good care of yourself, alright?
:Silver: Fine, have it your wayyy.
Ms. Replicate walks off to finish the pie.
:Silver: Mmm.
Silver kicks his legs, humming and waiting. Wait, how did he just remember how to hum? Doesn't matter, he thought to himself, it's good to have something to do at least and it doesn't seem to be too annoying. Little to his knowledge, he was humming Blue Öyster Cult's "Astronomy", his favorite song prior to the moment where he went unconscious.
:Ms. Replicate: Pie's done!
Silver snaps out of his humming, getting up.
:Silver: Alright, I'm coming Repli.
Silver walks off to the kitchen slowly, almost like in an animal way as he's still adjusting to his surroundings. Little did he know that outside the laboratory basement, the Purple Menace was looking for him, ready to deliver the bad news right to his face...
:Ms. Replicate: Ta-da!
Ms. Replicate is holding a cheesecake pie, dolloped with whipped cream and served with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream, complete with layers of blood raspberries and halved strawberries between the layers of cottage cheese.
:Silver: It looks delicious, thank you.
Silver sits down at the table, with Replicate handing him a fork to eat the ice-cold cheesecake with. Silver slowly begins to eat at it as she takes a seat across from him.
:Ms. Replicate: After you finish your breakfast, I'm going to have to train your reflexes, alright? [smiles reassuringly at him] I have a really crazy idea, and I think it'll keep you more than occupied during your time here on the satellite.
Silver has already eaten about a third of the pie, much to Ms. Replicate's delight.
:Silver: Hmmm. [speaks with his mouth full] That being?
:Ms. Replicate: Luckily, my assistants and I set up an obstacle course for you to rush through, it's somewhere below this room. [claps her hands] And if you do well, we'll drag you out to Kýrios and see what we can do with ya!
:Silver: Sounds good.
Silver was almost crying, because the cheesecake pie was nothing short of delicious. There was something about the pie that struck his nerve and reminded him of a home he can't even remember, but he dared not embarrass himself.
:Ms. Replicate: You'll do just fine, I swear. [laughs] If you're related to that Purple Menace roaming around the satellite, surely you have some superb skills to show off!
Silver nods as he takes the last bite. Ms. Replicate picks up his bowl and brings it to the sink, rinsing it clean, smiling back at him.
:Ms. Replicate: Now, go downstairs! We'll meet you in a bit.
Silver nods, walking away from the table and beginning to walk down the stairs.
:Silver: Why do I know nothing about who I am besides what I've been told? [looks down at his hands] Who is this "Purple Menace" she speaks of? ...Am I a girl?
:9:10 A.M. · MONDAY JANUARY 17th, ZXE-220
:Moore Lounge, New Naxaz City
The scene switches to the Moore Lounge in New Naxaz City, where General Scotch could be seen sitting at a table with his siblings; Snickers Caramel and Smartie Caramel. Oyster walks up to them with three menus, which she scatters across the tabletop for them.
:Oyster: Anything I can get you three today?
:Smartie: Erm, da Cheddar Chow n' Oystashake seem goodie. [hands the menu back to her] Sorry, Smartie's just not all dat hungry terday.
:Snickers: Don't worry about serving me hon, I bought my own lunch. [pulls a bag out on the counter] It's, uh, got a ham-and-cheese sandwich and bagged milk.
:Scotch: Just a Gaia Latte for me.
:Oyster: Are you three doing okay today? [brings all their menus back] I-I don't want to feel like I'm b-bothering any of you three.
:Scotch: Oh no, don't worry, you're not the reason why we're kinda out of it today. [looks up] We're just worried for the satellite's future, that's all.
:Oyster: G-Gotcha.
Oyster walks away.
:Oyster: By the way, I got a m-message on Risquord earlier today. [turns to face him] Ms. Replicate would like to talk to you, she made an outstanding discovery earlier.
:Scotch: I'll check up on things with her, thank you.
Scotch makes a phone call to Ms. Replicate's office, hanging back against the cushions of their table seats while Smartie and Snickers take some time to talk to each other.
:Smartie: Scotchy's been a lot busier lately, dunno how Smartie should feel 'bout dat.
:Snickers: Yeah he doesn't really have much time to do anything these days but handle his job and get really drunk here. [sighs] Poor dude, his life's gotta suck.
:Smartie: Da satellite's military kinda sucks anyvay, dat's vot I dink 'bout all 'dis. [hangs back] Ven's dat girlie of Smartie's gonna come 'round 'ere, eh?
:Snickers: Rubelline will probably arrive sooner or later, just keep your brain screwed in.
Scotch suddenly leaps up, crashing down on his seat and shaking the table.
:Scotch: WHAT?
Snickers and Smartie stop talking as Scotch looks rather excited, his body shaking.
:Scotch: Holy crap, he's awake? ...Really? You'll take him to Kýrios' throne room later on and introduce us to him? Thank you for letting me know about this, this helps matters significantly!
Scotch hangs up, taking a sharp glance at his two siblings.
:Smartie: Vhoa Scotchy, vot da 'ell just happened? Snicky n' Smartie vere vaitin' ter see vot vos up n' ye didn't say nuthin' 'bout anythin' loud 'nuff fer 'em ter both 'ear!
:Scotch: Y'know "The Boy Who Cannot Wake"? He finally woke up! We're going to get some answers in this place!
Scotch puts his phone away in his pocket.
:Scotch: Here, let me leave some ValCoins for my latte, either of you two can have it. I gotta be there now!
Scotch drops some ValCoins and goes right out the door before Snickers has a chance to say anything.
:Snickers: Jeez, that might have been the most excited and peppy he's been in a long time. [kicks back] He didn't even act that way on his birthdays, then again that was 'cos those were the worst days.
:Smartie: Smartie's hungry fer sum of dat knowledge, ya sees, so she's gonna svoop 'er vay outta 'ere! Ye drink dat latte n' save 'er cho'der or she's gonna kick yer ass! Also, tell Ruby dat Smartie's gonna be home later, 'cuz I can't be 'ere!
:Snickers: Wait, don't leave me here-
Smartie flies out of the window for her sibling, spreading out her wings and flying far. Oyster comes back to their table, holding trays of food while giving Snickers a strange glance.
:Snickers: Well, this is awkward.
:9:17 A.M. · MONDAY JANUARY 17th, ZXE-220
:Secret Laboratory, Hospital Wing
The camera goes back to Ms. Replicate's secret laboratory, where Silver is shown facing a long dirt road deep underground, where many gaps, walls, and barriers could be seen waiting his way. He gulps.
:Ms. Replicate: Here we are!
:Silver: Uhh.
Silver swallows.
:Silver: This looks a bit intimidating, don't you think?
:Ms. Replicate: I promise it's not gonna be that bad, Silv! [claps her hands together] All you really gotta do is just run along the dirt road and use your reflexes as best you can. It won't be that hard!
:Silver: I suppose that doesn't sound too bad, huh?
Silver leans down on his knees, preparing for takeoff.
:Ms. Replicate: On your mark, get set! [waves her flag up] Wait, hold on.
Ms. Replicate takes a mint breath out of her pocket and throws it into her mouth. Silver twitches an eye impatiently, as if just wanting to get all of this over with.
:Silver: What're you doing?
:Ms. Replicate: Sorry, having bad breath gives me anxiety. [waves her flag down] Go!!!
Silver rushes down the dirt road, moving at high velocity as he approaches his first skills test.
::
::
After roughly fifteen sweaty minutes (about a few minutes real time), Silver kneels down, exhausted as sweat drips down his pastel-colored face.
:Ms. Replicate: Excellent work, Silver Zin! I think you're ready to be taken up to Kýrios' throne room now, there's no way my plan's gonna fail if you keep up the hard work!
:Silver: Thank you, Repli. [sighs to himself] Why don't I remember anything, though?
:Ms. Replicate: I wouldn't know, to be honest. [scratches her scalp] Maybe your memories are still with you, but they got knocked around somehow. Let's not keep thinking about the past though, or we're not gonna move forward.
:Silver: I understand, I'd just like to figure out why I feel so... different.
:Ms. Replicate: Different?
:Silver: Yeah, I don't feel like I really belong here. [nervously twitches his fingers together] I feel like all the other faces I can think of, I can't remember anyone else looking remotely like me.
A strange flashback plays in Silver's mind, showing him staring around an empty void, looking at hundreds of blurred faces.
:Ms. Replicate: Don't worry your little head about it. C'mon, I'm sure you'll get your answers sooner or later if you just follow me outta here.
:Silver: Alright, I suppose that'll be good for me.
:Ms. Replicate: Then let's go!
Ms. Replicate impatiently grabs his hand, pulling him up some staircases and forcibly dragging him along. Silver looked startled at first and tried to wretch his hand free, but when she made it clear they were moving, he stopped budging. She made some swift turns through the hospital, throwing her assistants off guard.
:Noise: Where're you going, boss!?
:Ms. Replicate: To Kýrios' throne room, that's where! We got work to do!
:Yama: Watch where you're going, I'm on my period!
:Ms. Replicate: Sorry!
She drags Silver into a room with a white light. Silver closed his eyes because it was so bright in there, he didn't even feel Ms. Replicate stop moving, all he could concentrate on was how bright the room was.
:Ms. Replicate: We're almost there, Silver! We're going in!
:9:40 A.M. · MONDAY JANUARY 17th, ZXE-220
:Kýrios' Throne Room, Admin Sector
Back at the throne room, Kýrios was waiting there with his wife Zodiez and the recently-arrived General Scotch. They were eagerly anticipating Silver's arrival with Ms. Replicate. To them, he was just "The Boy Who Cannot Wake". But to Ms. Replicate, he was something much more.
:Kýrios: Moments from now, arrival! I see.
:Scotch: Thanks for the heads up, I've been getting real anxious over here.
Scotch's body was shaking, squirming a bit with great anticipation.
:Kýrios: Problem not! Problem is gone. [cackles] Worries, no no no.
:Zodiez: Just be thankful Kýrios isn't your husband, he gets a lot of terms mixed up when we're alone together. [chuckles a bit] He's kinda cute that way.
:Kýrios: Protection! Right?
:Scotch: Do you, Kýrios?
:Kýrios: Yes and no.
Zodiez manages to stifle her laughter when a large flash of white light appears before them, with crackling electric noises emitting from the sun-bright light. Scotch covers his eyes while Kýrios sits up straight with strong anticipation.
:Scotch: What the...
Suddenly, Ms. Replicate and Silver drop down from the light onto the floor, making a thud as they both hit the ground at once. As the light disappeared, Scotch moves his hand away from his eyes, looking cautiously at the two.
:Scotch: Is that him? The boy?
:Zodiez: No Scotch, clearly it's a girl.
:Scotch: I mean, for all we know...
Silver gets up from the ground first, stumbling backwards a little bit as he attempts to regain his balance.
:Zodiez: Can you speak, boy?
Silver looks around the room as Ms. Replicate gets up from the floor too. He looked at the colossally-sized Kýrios, the tall and uncompromising-looking Zodiez, and that beefy general hanging near them. His cheeks grew pink a bit from embarrassment, not knowing why he's here or who these people are in the slightest.
:Silver: U-Uhh, yeah?
:Scotch: I can't believe it. [murmurs] It really is him.
Scotch looks right at Silver, making him flinch a bit.
:Scotch: What's your name, twink?
:Silver: S-Silver Zin, I guess.
Ms. Replicate places an arm around Silver, grinning up at Kýrios and Zodiez.
:Ms. Replicate: Don't worry too much about the awkward way he's behaving, he's just a bit shy.
:Scotch: Silver, huh. [looks up at Zodiez] This is the boy, alright. And he looks pretty similar to that Purple Menace that's been damning our satellite for a while now. What do we do now?
:Zodiez: Hmmm.
Silver looked pretty tense, quivering. It didn't help that Replicate felt so damn cold!
:Zodiez: Alright. Kýrios, read off the script you planned for the boy if he woke up.
Kýrios reaches to his side, grabbing a pair of reading glasses and putting them on. He then reaches for a piece of paper, which he picks up. He then clears his throat.
:Kýrios: Boy, I have some good news and bad news for you today. It involves someone that looks kinda like you, and we believe you might be the brother she keeps speaking of. Understand, you?
:Silver: Uhh, yeah. You can just call me Silver.
:Kýrios: Suppose so. Silver, we must request that you leave this satellite with the rest of your kind, if more family members than you and her happen to be aboard here. We are giving you a year to do so.
Silver nods slowly.
:Kýrios: We must also request that you take responsibility and clean up the messes your kind left behind. This is all assuming you two are related, but because we know very little about you and we were warned you might be an amnesiac, we'd like to keep a special eye on you.
:Silver: I understand, I guess. [folds his arms] Not sure how I feel about it, but I guess I have no choice.
:Kýrios: Not all is gloom and doom for you though, my soapy friend. [pulls out an outfit] We were thinking about making you a mercenary for our forces and making you only do part-time cleaning, if you're more interested in that than doing a bunch of heavy-duty cleaning.
:Silver: A mercenary?
:Zodiez: A mercenary's a professional soldier that's hired to serve in a foreign army. I mean, that's kinda you. Did you train his reflexes before he came here, Ms. Replicate?
:Ms. Replicate: Yes! He was so fast, makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside thinking about it!
:Zodiez: Right then. Would you be interested in this, Silver?
:Silver: I don't know. [folds his arms] I'm not s-sure how I feel about this. I woke up hardly more than an hour ago, and you're expecting me to make such important decisions right now?
:Scotch: That's a good question, but the problems we're up against can't be held back by you being indecisive. Do you want to be a mercenary or a janitor?
:Silver: What's a janitor?
Scotch looks up at Zodiez.
:Scotch: Don't let him have the displeasure of finding out, just make him a mercenary. I'm sure we'll get along fine.
:Zodiez: Alright. [looks at Silver] You're a mercenary for our forces now. You'll need to do a bit of training with Scotch before we give you the suit, but welcome to our forces.
:Kýrios: The first task we'll be assigning you with is. [tweaks glasses] To find, capture, and drag the Purple Menace here, dead or alive. She has long horns stretching high her head, she has long purple hair, she has super-pale skin, and dead white eyes.
:Silver: She sounds like she's related to me.
:Zodiez: And hopefully you're nothing like her.
:Silver: I gotta ask though, why are you all making my decisions for me?
Not even Ms. Replicate is able to keep a straight face. This is REALLY awkward for everyone, especially Silver, who felt like he got kicked in the crotch thirty times by thirty different people and had to handpick who started it.
:Zodiez: What choice do you have? We can't trust you out there on your own, what if you are like that woman and this is some ploy you're setting up?
:Silver: So you're saying that, but you're trusting a complete stranger to make for a great mercenary? Are you out of your mind?
Zodiez looks at Kýrios.
:Zodiez: You didn't really think this plan through.
:Kýrios: Script's not from me.
Zodiez tries not to explode.
:Zodiez: ALRIGHT, you can make up your mind on this Silver. [sighs] Would you like to be a mercenary, a janitor, or would you like to be ejected into space to face certain death?
:Silver: Repli, can you help me out here? I'm not sure how to handle any of this.
:Ms. Replicate: Silv, I don't think either of us are getting out of here alive if we make a run for it, so... [looks at him] As a mercenary, you'll get trained by Scotch to handle some important missions for the government. You'll have their full trust and you'll only do work when you get called to do it. As a janitor, you clean up the messes the Purple Wind left around and it's not much more than that.
:Silver: I guess I'll be a mercenary then, doesn't sound like it'd eat up all my time.
:Zodiez: Thank god you made up your mind.
Zodiez looks at Scotch.
:Zodiez: Take this guy to your military base, he's going to need some training before he does any mercenary work. Ms. Replicate, I want you to go along with them, because Silver sounds like he's really fragile.
:Scotch: Of course.
:Ms. Replicate: Got it.
:Kýrios: Repeat, must I: Silver Zin, the first task we'll be assigning you with is to find, capture, and drag the Purple Monkey here, dead or alive. She looks a bit like you, with wider proportions.
Silver nods slowly as Scotch approaches him, holding his hand. Scotch smiles a little.
:Scotch: My name is General Butterscotch Cornbread Caramel Jr., but you can just call me Scotch and I'd prefer it if you called me that or "sir".
:Silver: Yes, sir.
Silver slowly holds Scotch's hand.
:Scotch: Are you afraid, Silver?
:Silver: Just a little.
:Scotch: Well, just know there's nothing to be afraid of as long as I have my eyes on you. [looks at Ms. Replicate] How did you two get here? There was a bright white light, and..
:Ms. Replicate: I used a teleportation device to bring us here in a mere instant, it's pretty wonderful, isn't it? [pulls it out again] I can use this to get to the military base!
Much to Silver's (and Scotch's) dismay, Ms. Replicate triggered the device again, creating a flash of bright white light.
:Silver: My eyes!
:10:26 A.M. · MONDAY JANUARY 17th, ZXE-220
:Vinegar Base, Satellite Lobby
Silver Zin, General Scotch, and Ms. Replicate drop into the Vinegar Base. It was a dark, quiet place, but you could see dozens of soldiers hanging around in cold, cramped prison-like cells and there are even some walking around. These soldiers appeared to be exercising and training their muscles, men and women alike.
:Scotch: Good to see that you've all been following schedule, keep working out those muscles! [flexes his muscles as he walks by] Keep building those body tones! Hey Jeremy, you better be bending metal!
:Jeremy: Y-yes sir!
:Silver: Where are we going?
:Scotch: We're going to an unoccupied back room where I train all new recruits, and in this case, that'd be you. [smiles a bit] It's not going to be that hard, especially if I've been told you excelled at the reflexes test.
:Ms. Replicate: He did! He can really twist and turn that form.
:Scotch: Then it'll be no problem.
:Silver: Suppose that's the work I need to do to be a mercenary, hah.
Silver sweats a little, looking at the MUCH stronger-looking people around him, trying to avoid making eye contact with any of the women soldiers.
:Silver: I'm not sure if I'm gonna be cut out to be here.
:Scotch: Oh you're not going to be spending most of your days in here, you're more like a volunteer worker. [looks back at him] Though if you're below my expectations, you might have to spend a few weeks here.
Silver gulps.
:Ms. Replicate: Oh relax, he's not going to flunk that test.
:Scotch: He better not, if that Purple Pastel Thingamajig is related to him.
Silver walks inside a rather large room. It was even darker than the main area of the Vinegar Base. Scotch was quick to flick a light switch though, which activated all the lights all across the room.
:Scotch: Alright Silver, I've been waiting a while to do this to the Purple Menace, but I think you'll do nicely for it instead.
Scotch pulls off his gloves, putting on some real boxing gloves, making Silver jump in nervous anticipation.
:Scotch: Now because I can't prove anything about you being a threat to the satellite, I'm going to go easy on you. [does some light jabs] But believe me when I say that I want you to give it your all against me. Even if you fail, I'm going to teach you the basics of battle!
:Silver: A-Alright. Do I need gloves?
:Scotch: Your frail body probably won't be able to handle their weight, so you can fight just the way you are. Excuse me for one second though, you're not ready just yet.
Scotch walks to a box on the other side of the room, carrying out what looks like a long staff. He gives it to Silver, placing it in his right hand.
:Scotch: I don't know what this is, or how it works, but it was found in your right hand when we found you for the first time. So I believe it's yours.
:Silver: It's strange, I feel a familiar connection to it, you must be right. [grabs his weapon tightly] Alright Scotch, looks like this is a fight you're going to have to prepare for!
:Scotch: Bring it Silver, I've been waiting for some time.
:Ms. Replicate: Go kick his ass, Silver!
Silver rushes in towards Scotch with his staff, who rushes at him with his gloves held out.
::
::
Silver and Scotch keeps exchanging blows, appearing to be neck and neck though Scotch is definitely pulling his punches a little. Then, without warning, Silver releases a magical black mirror from his fingertips, which comes Scotch's way and smashes him in the gut. Scotch is hit with so much energy that he gets sent through a wall and several more, winding up nearly unconscious on the floor. When Silver catches up to him, Scotch spits a bit of blood.
:Scotch: Damn, if you put that power to fine use, you're gonna make for a damn fine mercenary.
Scotch does the thumbs up, even though he feels nauseous and totally beaten down by Silver.
:Scotch: Alright Silver, I'm gonna take some time to recover, I'll try and, woof, fetch you shortly. [slowly gets up] Maybe you are the one guy that the Purple Menace can't take down.
:Silver: Thank you for your kind words, Scotch. [smiles a little] What should I do next? Also, are you OK?
:Scotch: Yeah I'm alright, you just totally nailed me to the floor, which I wasn't expecting haha. [leans against a stable wall] There's some authoritarian forces meeting up in the middle of the satellite lobby just outside my military base. I think you'd like to meet them, some nice names, like Valerie, Zonas, the Nature Warrior, and Admiral Millicent.
Scotch mutters the last name with a growling tone.
:Scotch: You'll also meet some people there that I'd like you to bond with. Their names are Syinara Wyne, Pierce Hazel, and Devina Kilmister. It's just a hunch, but I think Hazel would really like to meet you, he always asks me questions about if anybody knows anything more about you yet.
:Silver: Gottt ittt.
Silver hugs Scotch a little bit. Scotch looked surprised, but returned it. He then let go of Silver.
:Scotch: Alright, leave me to my recovery now, go make some friends out there. I'm sure nobody's gonna have a problem with meeting you.
:Silver: Alright. [smiles] Thanks for the little confidence boost, I appreciate it.
Silver walks away from Scotch, joining back up with Ms. Replicate.
:Ms. Replicate: God damn, when you threw him through the wall like that, that was a real spectacle. Do you mind if I steal a sample of your DNA later?
:Silver: What's DNA?
:Ms. Replicate: Damned Necrotic Ailments. You probably have them.
:Silver: You can take it all away then, if they're a bad thing.
Ms. Replicate laughs as she grabs Silver's hand tightly again and drags him out of the Vinegar Base. Just barely missing them, Smartie finally manages to waltz her way into the Vinegar Base, resting her wings and looking at Scotch.
:Smartie: Awwh, did Smartie miss on all da fun?
:Scotch: Yeah, I think you came here just a bit too late.
Scotch starts to limp his way away from the debris.
:Smartie: Oh come on! Smartie left 'er cho'der ter see vot Scotchy's been up ter, n' vot does she find? Nuthin'!
:Scotch: The twink's going to the satellite lobby I think, you'll find him there.
:Smartie: Ooh, dat'll be fun. Danks fer tellin' Smartie, Scotchy! She appreciates it.
Smartie haphazardly flies her way out. Scotch stumbles along, trying to get back to his work station.
:11:05 A.M. · MONDAY JANUARY 17th, ZXE-220
:Nightshade Inc., Sector 5
In a dark room, you could see Azrail Neos and Clair Voyell working together in a crowded space, with lots of junk everywhere to be seen, with their eyes looking at a big computer screen.
:Azrail: It's interesting that Valerie trusted me with monitoring duties, but I haven't found any anomalies on the screen yet, so it's a little boring. [takes a sip from a juice box] What a weird month it's been, though, with all the reports about this purple-haired woman, that weird unconscious boy, and all the lawsuits occurring because of them.
:Clair: Right?
Both of them keep looking at the computer screen. Nothing fantastic was really showing up for either of them.
:Azrail: I suspect that the woman we're after just isn't out in the main space yet.
:Clair: You never know though, we've had people try to slip by the Electric Eye's radars before and they can sure as well to find ways to slip by your inferior technology. [shrugs] No offense, of course.
:Azrail: I know my stuff's not foolproof, so I don't take any offense.
Azrail types "funny cat videos" into his computer's search bar.
:Clair: What're you doing?
:Azrail: I'm bored stiff, I'm just gonna have nice background music while we wait for something to happen.
:Clair: Funny cat videos, as background music?
:Azrail: Why not?
Clair rolls her eyes, looking away as Azrail clicks around on KoolTube for a video of suitable length. He clicks on it, watching some kittens roll along in grass.
:Azrail: Aww.
:Clair: Alright, let's turn back to the monitor tab.
Clair seizes the mouse from him, clicking off. Her eyes widen a little.
:Clair: Oh god.
:Azrail: What? What's...
Azrail's eyes widen too. The woman's red dot, not present on the screen before, was racing towards the satellite lobby at alarming speeds!
:Azrail: Ah crap, I look away for one second and...!
Azrail picks up a phone, dialing a number on it.
:Azrail: Here Clair, you take the phone, I need my anxiety medication!
Azrail tries to quickly get off his seat, but he instead crashes into the ground. Clair waits as patiently as she can for a response while the sounds of cats blast from Azrail's computer.
:Clair: Valerie, we have a problem.
:Valerie: Do we?
:Clair: The Purple Menace is very likely heading its way from somewhere in New Naxaz City and is going to head up to the satellite lobby as soon as we can. Let me see if I can slow her down. Get everyone else ready to tackle this potential threat!
Clair hits a button, closing off the way into the satellite's lobby from the main intersection.
:Clair: Be careful, Val!
:Valerie: ...Where's Azrail?
:Clair: Oh, uh, he'll be alright.
Azrail manages to get up from the floor, opening his "anxiety medication". It was just discount Lifesavers candy, which he slowly begins to gobble up.
:Clair: I know there's a meeting going on there, get to work on protecting yourselves pronto! We don't know what that weirdo wants from us, still!
Clair hangs up.
:Clair: You're such an embarrassment, Azrail. C'mon, your big break to be important and you go rushing for candy?
:Azrail: Yeah you're right, it's only bittersweet when you're anxious like this. I'll get chips next time.
Clair facepalms.
:11:09 A.M. · MONDAY JANUARY 17th, ZXE-220
:Main Plaza, Satellite 15 Lobby
Silver and Ms. Replicate arrive in Satellite 15's lobby. Well, they were already there, they just managed to catch up to the main plaza where everyone else was at. Valerie, Zonas, Nature Warrior, Millicent, Syinara, Pierce, Devina, and others could be found sitting in a circle with Arikan Chan looking over them. Silver, again, felt really nervous as he approached them through Ms. Replicate's guiding.
:Silver: Uh, hi there.
Everyone else turns to face Silver at the same time, almost making him trip backwards out of sudden embarrassment.
:Pierce: Oh my god, guys! He's adorable!
:Syinara: I wouldn't say that, but compared to the Purple Menace, he looks pretty harmless.
:Silver: Haha, thanks.
Silver awkwardly sits down with them. He really didn't feel like he belonged with them. He hasn't been awake for that long and now he's sitting among the authorities? The Nature Warrior gives him a weird look.
:Nature Warrior: So you're that person, "The Boy Who Cannot Wake". Nice to meet you, I'm the Nature Warrior, I'll cut you into little bitty bite-sized pieces if you mess with any of us.
:Silver: Uhh, nice to meet you too! I guess?
:Pierce: I'm Pierce! [shakes a bit in excitement] I'm your, biggest fan...?? I'm the vocalist for this band called Black Haze, I write books about feelings, I really like strategy vid-
Devina slaps a hand over Pierce's mouth.
:Devina: I'm Devina Kilmister, I play bass and hunt ghosts.
:Silver: G-Ghosts?
:Devina: You're afraid of ghosts? That's kind of cute.
Silver moves her hand off of Pierce's mouth.
:Silver: Nice to meet both of you.
:Zonas: I'm Z-Zonas, a member of the polite forces on this s-satellite. [breathes a bit] I-I may not be t-too talkative because I had to s-struggle against that woman earlier.
:Silver: What's the big deal with her?
:Nature Warrior: She's looking for her brother, and I'd also like to cut that woman into little bitty bite-sized pieces.
Silver winces. What if he was her brother?
:Millicent: My name's Admiral Millicent. I demand that you always call me with the admiral prefix until you get to know me better, which you probably won't 'cuz you're shy as hell.
:Syinara: Oh, and I'm Syi. Hey.
:Arikan: Hey cutie, name's Arikan, I manage the motel here.
Silver isn't really sure what to do at this point except be quiet.
:Silver: Umm, nice to meet the lot of you. I'm Silver Zin. I'm probably amnesiac.
:Nature Warrior: That's fine, but if you forget about me and what I can do to you, you're going to be dead.
:Ms. Replicate: Alright, chill with the threats. He's harmless.
:Nature Warrior: That's what you said about Azrail.
Valerie remained silent until now, putting her phone down.
:Valerie: Sorry about that, had to make two phone calls just now. Both of them were really important, so listen up. [stands up] We're probably going to have to fight in this room.
:Zonas: W-Why?
:Valerie: According to Clair and the Electric Eye, it seems that the Purple Menace is heading in our direction. [pulls out some ninja stars] We're all pretty important, so we can't afford to be separated.
:Syinara: I'm not important.
:Valerie: Whose girlfriend are you, Syi?
:Syinara: Y-Yours.
:Valerie: That's right! That makes you mighty darn important to me!
Silver looks up at Valerie curiously. He hadn't met her yet, and he knew that she had a different energy from the rest.
:Silver: What should I do?
:Valerie: ...Oh oops, I didn't even see you there! [grins wide, showing her feline teeth] Name's Valerie Heartgold, I'm the richest person here and I'm the mayor of New Naxaz City. And you are...?
:Silver: My name is Silver Zin, it's nice to meet you.
:Valerie: That's a cool name, I like it. So tell me, can you fight?
:Silver: I-
:Ms. Replicate: Yes! Yes he can.
:Valerie: Alright good, we're going to need all the help we can get. [smiles down at Silver] Stand up! Everyone else, you stand up too!
Everyone stands up. Silver takes out his unnamed weapon, Valerie pulls out her claws, Syinara drags out her vines, Pierce assembles his wheelchair, Devina pulls out her tasers, Zonas pulls out his guns, the Nature Warrior pulls out her blade, Arikan pulls out a magic wand, and Millicent pulls out a really special-looking whip. Ms. Replicate pulls out a mirror.
:Silver: What's that, Repli?
:Ms. Replicate: It's a mirror. I use it to make clones of myself for battle.
:Silver: Huh.
The Nature Warrior looks at Silver again, tauntingly making a slit-neck motion with her sword.
:Valerie: Alright everyone, we don't want the gates to get damaged, so we're going to have to raise the gates to let them come in now that we're ready.
They then hear a somewhat far-off coughing. Silver turns his head, seeing a really badly-looking Scotch limp towards them, holding a box of explosives.
:Millicent: Oh jeez, you alright there?
:Scotch: I'm fine.
:Silver: You can go back, I think we got this.
:Scotch: Something I want to teach you Silver is that, no matter how hard you get beaten down, there's no harm in standing back up and giving it your all. [limps over to the side a bit] Even if that Purple Sucker takes you down to the floor, you can always stand back up as long as you're putting all your energy into doing it.
:Silver: I understand.
:Scotch: I don't think you really understand because you seem to be having trouble grasping the direness of some situations. [coughs a bit] Listen 'ere. Maybe there's a future that you'll have with us all, where we can all rely on each other and have each other's backs. But if you were to ever lose any of us, maybe all of us, you'll need to have a sense of self to keep going.
Scotch smiles at him.
:Scotch: I know you have a lot going on inside your mind right now, and believe me it's tough talking all this stuff out with you, but I encourage you to break free of your limits. You might have to, on the turn of a dime, when the gates open and that witch comes barging in.
:Arikan: Nothing wrong with witches.
:Scotch: ...When that pathetic cockroach comes barging in.
Silver nods to himself. He chose not to answer- I mean, what could he really say to any of that? He didn't remember anything apart from what happened during the past couple of hours.
:Valerie: The door's going up! Three, two, one.
The gateway separating the satellite lobby from the main intersection opens up. Much to everyone's shock, however, they discovered that the Purple Menace wasn't alone. She was being hoisted up on a black carpet by a bunch of purple-colored individuals, and leading them was none other than the Leper Messiah, who was disgusing himself from Zodiez's eyes. She also had Mania Metallurgy following her trail, hovering slightly above the ground.
:Valerie: Damn, she's not alone.
:Stranger: Surprise, everyone! [laughs to herself] Your favorite Purple Menace is back in the house, and this time she's ready to actually fulfill this prophecy she never asked for! This is your last chance to do the right thing! Hand over my little baby brother!
:Ms. Replicate: Over my dead body!
:Stranger: Oh I can do it myself, I see him back there.
The stranger woman looks into the crowd of authorities, discovering Silver's shaking, shuddering body among them. She filthily smirks, pulling out her own weapon, which looks similar to his.
:Stranger: You guys really were hiding him the whole time? Not only that, but you made him into a valueless coward? It's a shame, he had potential.
:Valerie: What are you planning to do with your brother?
:Stranger: Easy! I'm going to kill him!
Silver's heart sinks right there, making him back away a bit.
:Valerie: You know, maybe we should hand him over to you so you can stop doing so much goddamn damage to our society, but you know what I think? You're a dirty brother killer!
With those words, the rest of the authoritarian figures pulled their weapons forward, even the Nature Warrior who was acting pretty antagonistic towards him.
:Nature Warrior: You wanna kill him, huh? I'll kill this twink twenty times before you touch him!
:Arikan: Darn miss, what's your grudge?
:Nature Warrior: I'm gonna kill both of them!
:Arikan: Let's just focus on the bigger priority here, sweetheart.
:Stranger: You know, I was going to be nice and just let you all live your normal lives. [smirks evilly] Now I think you've just sealed your fate Valerie Heartgold, as well as the fates of every single civilian here. Hope you're proud of yourself!
The stranger spreads her arms.
:Stranger: Come upon me, my purple children! Join your hands and make a chain!
Scotch and Valerie exchange glances at each other, then Silver.
:Valerie: Look, this is going to be really dangerous, and we don't want to lose you. [gulps] But while we take care of things from over here, we want you to rush in and take out your sister. You gotta be as strong as her!
:Scotch: We'll watch you. If something bad happens, someone will rush out and try to help you.
The Messiah glances at his master, then at Mania.
:Leper Messiah: Mania, they're plotting a strategy against us, so I will give one of my own. [points at Silver] See him? That's the brother our master tells us about. I want you to distract him while my master and I lead the charge against everyone else.
:Mania: Sounds good to me!
:Leper Messiah: Good. Give that twink a taste of what being, uhh, a loser is like.
:Mania: Pronto!
Mania rushes off in Silver's direction, much to Valerie's concern.
:Valerie: The first shot's been fired! Silver, now's your chance!
Silver nods, rushing off towards Mania.
:Ms. Replicate: Don't die!... please...!
:Scotch: It's like you're his girlfriend or something, Repli.
Ms. Replicate turns to him, flustered.
:Ms. Replicate: I am not!!
::
::
Silver rushes over to Mania, holding his Mind Weaver at the ready.
::
::
:Stranger: I thought I had it this time.
Silver walks over to the mess of villains, looking down at them.
:Silver: Who even are you?
:Stranger: Do you not recognize me, little brother? [coughs] My name is Mallory Zin, just in case you really forgot for whatever reason. I made a promise to you hours ago, and I plan on keeping it.
:Silver: What promise?
:Mallory: You dirty little liar, thinking you can get away with something more. [gets up from the floor] I won't repeat myself, I'm tired of repeating myself. Just expect things to get so much worse for you later.
:Silver: What do you even have against me?
:Mallory: This is goodbye now, Silver.
Mallory vanishes into thin air, as do the rest of her troops and her comrades. Silver looked rather startled by the sudden disappearance.
:Silver: Oh no.
Pierce catches up to Silver, panting hard in his wheelchair as he tiredly turns his head to face Silver.
:Pierce: You alright? Everyone else is still busy doing some cleanup back at the plaza.
:Silver: Yeah, I'm alright, I'm just really confused. That woman's name is Mallory, Mallory Zin. And she's my sister! I'm so ashamed.
:Pierce: You've got nothing to be ashamed of, as far as we're concerned you're nothing like her. Don't worry too much.
:Silver: Right, right. [walks to him] Should I wait around for Miss Replicate, or...?
Pierce grimaces at the idea, like he hated Ms. Replicate or something.
:Pierce: No no, don't worry about her either. [leans in his chair] Would you like to stay at my place for a bit? I've gotten the impression that you don't really have a proper home.
:Silver: I don't think I'd mind that too much.
:Pierce: Fun!
Pierce excitedly spins around in his wheelchair before looking down the satellite lobby.
:Pierce: I'll have to pay double to house you, but it'll be worth it, alright? [gently grabs his hand] I'll be willing to teach you some basics about the satellite and how to make the best of your time here.
:Silver: I'd like that very much, I don't really know what to do here besides, uh, be a mercenary, I guess.
:Pierce: Hey, I've got nothing against teaching you how things work around here. [smiles at him] I know it's been an awkward start for you, it's like the first chapter in a new story for you and you're unsure if you're going the right direction.
:Silver: It is kinda like that.
Silver winks at the screen.
:Silver: Uh, what do you plan on teaching me?
:Pierce: Oh, I just plan on showing you around, showing you what things we do on the satellite, and helping you get a proper ID at the Docking Haven. [hugs him gently] You're safe with me, alright?
:Silver: I trust ya.
:Pierce: Cool! [slowly wheels himself down the hall with Silver] Is it awkward being around so many authoritarian people for you?
:Silver: Yeah.
:Pierce: Hey, it's not the worst situation you could be in. [locks his fingers around Silver's] I've seen worse, believe me. Hey, is this too awkward for you?
Silver gently loosens his grip on Pierce's hand.
:Silver: Just a little. Don't feel embarrassed, I dunno what to think of most people right now.
:Pierce: I'll try to treat you right when we get home. Okay?
:Silver: Okay.
In the next scene, they're shown approaching Room #13, which Pierce unlocks with a key. When Pierce pulls open the door, Silver walks in and looks in awe at how nice and pretty the room is.
:Silver: Wow.
:Pierce: Pretty neat, eh?
Silver walks around the room, amazed by just how clean and refreshing everything was, when compared to the grimy and dark basement of the C.O.T.S. Laboratories.
:Silver: You mind if I sleep here for a bit? I'm kind of, tired.
:Pierce: Oh of course, go right ahead.
Silver nods as he heads into the bathroom to undress. He pulls some hidden crimson pajamas from his pocket, which he places on before coming out to lay on Pierce's bed. In moments, he falls asleep, not having had proper rest in a long time. Pierce smiled as he looked down at the sleepy Silver.
:Pierce: Gonna have to keep him here for now, then I've got a big job to do tomorrow that requires taking him around town. [scribbles notes down on his paper] Guess I better save some contact numbers from the authorities so that I can tell them where Silver is and ask for advice, I should also tell them the stranger's real name.
Pierce yawns.
:Pierce: After I sleep, of course!
Pierce lays down on the floor, giving Silver the room he needs as he falls asleep.
:9:30 P.M. · MONDAY JANUARY 17th, ZXE-220
:???
Mallory was breathing slowly somewhere outside of the satellite's limits, being given a shoulder massage from behind by the Leper Messiah. She growls a little bit as the lights of her room grew a bit brighter, revealing not just Mania, but new recruits like Beck 82-99 and Ferris Rock as well.
:Leper Messiah: May we do anything to help you out, Mallory?
:Mallory: Forget it.
:Leper Messiah: Doesn't it seem a little harsh to be willing to cause massive damage to the satellite just because you don't get to kill your brother in cold blood?
:Mallory: Mmmm. [folds her arms] Yeah, it does sound a little over-dramatic. But an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, you know? I'm not letting Silver live in goddamn luxury while I'm here, burning in hell because of him and his foolish malarkey.
:Leper Messiah: Sounds reasonable enough to me. [looks at her] When do you want me to start with the Mallorism schticks?
In the background, Beck can be seen carrying some stuff over to Mallory.
:Mallory: Begin carrying them out every Sunday. I know Sunday was just yesterday, but you can use the time in the meanwhile to make a pretty convincing goddamn Bible and at least pretend to follow it for a few weeks.
The Leper Messiah nods as he keeps giving Mallory a deep massage.
:Ferris: Mom, I'm hungry.
:Mallory: Ask the Methademic for some assistance, I'm a bit occupied right now.
Mallory was just pathetically lounging around, not doing anything.
:Ferris: Alright.
Even Ferris knew better than to mess with Mallory. Beck manages to make his way over, placing some stuff down on the table next to Val.
:Leper Messiah: Listen to me, Mal. Not everything's going to be so bad if you just look at the bright side. Silver's pretty pathetic, I don't see how you won't be able to take him down.
:Mallory: I'm pathetic too, as far as I'm concerned we're both on the same level when it comes to that. [smirks a bit] But unlike him, I'm not mentally challenged.
:Beck: That's a bit much, Mallory. [folds his arms] Anyway, I thought I'd bring up something to you, Mallory, because it's rather important.
:Mallory: Spit it out, Beck.
Beck lays out a few things before Mallory.
:Beck: While the authorities were meeting up in the lobby, I nicked some things from Valerie's office and a few valuables from Scotch's.
Beck presents blueprints of the satellite to Mallory, who gazed upon it in wonder.
:Beck: This is a very detailed blueprint of Satellite 15, but it's actually a magical one too. Anyone with an ID will be tracked on the blueprint, it's a tool that's only really allowed in the hands of the authorities because they fear it'd be easy to misuse in the wrong hands. Names you care about, you can tap to make them gold.
:Mallory: Interesting, can't believe they'd just leave that lying around.
:Beck: Maybe the next one will impress you more.
Mallory unwraps the second thing brought before her. It was Niki, tied up in a box, growling angrily as she sees her captor again but cannot move enough to attack him.
:Beck: This is some wild creature that I kidnapped from Sector 1, I don't know what her name is but I was able to bring her down. [hands Mallory a remote] The collar on her neck is connected to this remote via bluetooth. Hit it to shock her and make her do work. Be sure to give her plenty of beef.
:Mallory: That is impressive, yeah. She's kinda cute.
:Beck: I was thinking you could use her to track down and terrify Silver and then have her hold him down until you can take him out of her hands. Then you can give her, uhh, whatever meat you want to praise her with.
:Mallory: I'm impressed by your findings so far.
:Beck: Good. Now here's something from Scotch's office.
Beck pulls out a Capricorn zodiac stone.
:Mallory: What is this, Beck?
:Beck: It's a zodiac stone, and one of twelve aboard the satellite. If you were to collectively have all of them, it's rumored that you'll get-
:Mallory: A transformation?
:Beck: That's the most anime-like answer you could have possibly come up with. I was going to say that if you were to have all of them, that something really powerful could be crafted from them. And I know Mania would be happy to work with such rare and magical materials.
Mania salutes.
:Mallory: Excellent work, Beck! Blueprints to the satellite? A professional Silver tracker? Magic stones that can somehow one way or another be merged together to make an awesome weapon?
Mallory lets out her first of many, many evil cackles to come.
:Mallory: There's no way that Silver can stop me from taking what's mine, I will fulfill my promise!
====Chapter Two: Last of My Kind====
:10:26 A.M. · TUESDAY JANUARY 18th, ZXE-220
:Main Street, New Naxaz City
Silver and Pierce were walking together on Main Street in Satellite 15's New Naxaz City. More accurately, Pierce was using his wheelchair to go around while Silver followed behind.
:Pierce: ...And that's New Naxaz City for ya! I know there's a lot to absorb, but with time I think you'll get used to the layout and everything.
:Silver: It took us four hours to get all the way around town even using those fast flying vehicles, that says a lot about this society.
:Pierce: Yeah, it's a pretty big city, but once you know what parts are worth going to it's never too difficult traveling around these parts. [yawns] Are you having an alright time so far?
:Silver: Yeah. I've been kind of quiet because I'm kinda afraid of my job as a mercenary.
:Pierce: I can see that, you haven't really been conscious for all that long. [laughs a bit] Sorry about all the stuff that's been piling up on you since you woke up.
:Silver: It's alright, I just really wanna have a good time and relax 'til I have work to do.
:Pierce: Yeah, that makes sense.
Silver and Pierce keep going down the street. Pierce makes a sudden turn out onto a sidewalk, with Silver quickly pursuing him.
:Silver: Where're we going, Pierce?
:Pierce: We're going to a place where I think you'd like to relax at for a while. I have a feeling you'd like it a lot!
Pierce leads Silver into a somewhat large city park, with all the pathways and walls made from sleek marble. Several giant lime-green statues representing Stenographer Stones stick out from the ground at varying angles, and many stone wells are scattered across the area. Several crumbly ledges rest above poisonous pink waters, with a big lake in the middle featuring a giant statue of Kýrios looking down upon the city's residents.
:Silver: Whoa, what's this place?
:Pierce: It's the Stenographer Garden, one of the metropolis' prettiest areas, but also one of the deadliest if you go too close to that pink lake. [wheels over to a bench] C'mon over here Silv.
Silver nods, following Pierce over to the bench and taking a seat down in it.
:Silver: I was worried that I'd have to find my own way around these parts, so, thank you.
:Pierce: Oh hey, it's no problem! [blushes a little] Uh, just me trying to be friendly!
:Silver: I'm sorry, am I embarrassing you?
:Pierce: Absolutely not! Don't worry about that, please.
Pierce looks away, pulling a cigarette out from a pocket on his clothes even though he looked terribly fragile as is.
:Silver: Alright, I believe you.
Silver smirks a little bit before returning his eyes to the scenery around him. Wonderfully cut limegreen grass, a pristine-looking pink lake, and shiny white architecture, what wasn't there to love?
:Silver: Hey, do you know how I'm supposed to be notified if there's work for me to do?
:Pierce: While you were asleep yesterday, I made a phone call to Scotch telling him where you are, and I asked what I should do to make sure you do what you're supposed to do. He told me that he'd call me, and then I'd tell you if you had work to do.
:Silver: Oh alright, thank you for looking after me.
:Pierce: Anything I can do for you?
:Silver: Nothing really, I'm doing alright just relaxing here.
:Pierce: Fair enough.
Pierce mumbles something under his breath.
:Pierce: I really wanna take you to the Moore Lounge sometime.
Suddenly the floor thumps hard underneath them, shocking Silver.
:Silver: What was that, Pierce?
:Pierce: I said I wanted to take you to the Moore Lounge, 'cuz there's some things I'd like to do with ya there.
:Silver: No I mean, what was that just under me?
:Pierce: I dunno!
They both found out really quickly what was doing the rumbling; a giant Gorm breaks its way free from the ground, letting out a bloodcurdling scream as its eyes are focused on Silver. He gets up quickly.
:Pierce: Oh no, run! I don't think the Gorms recognize you as a citizen yet!
:Silver: What is a Gorm?
Silver elegantly moved out of the way of the Gorm as it swallowed up the bench he was just on, drilling its way back underground.
:Pierce: Let's move! Sorry about this!
Silver nods, rushing forward after him as fast as he can.
::
::
It took a bit, but Silver and Pierce eventually escaped the Stenographer Garden, being all tuckered out by the time they reach Main Street again. They were so fatigued from that surprise attack that Pierce forced himself to make a phone call for help.
:Pierce: Hey, Scotch, is it alright if you escort Silver and I back to my room in the satellite lobby? We got surprise attacked by a Gorm or more and we can hardly move.
:Scotch: I'd be happy to escort you Pierce, but I actually have a job for Silver to do! I'll pick you up and take you back home while I assign Silver to his first real task and suit him up for the job.
:Pierce: What? I just told you that Silver's a bit fatigued!
:Scotch: Soldiers don't make any excuses on the battlefield, Pierce! I'm sure Silver will be able to overcome his lack of stamina within a short time, 'cuz his sister sure can move at great speeds without slowing down!
:Pierce: Are you hard of hearing, Scotch!?
Pierce sighs.
:Pierce: Alright, take him to the military base, whatever.
Pierce hangs up on him without giving him time to respond.
:Pierce: So, I have some good news and some awful news, which do you want to hear first?
:Silver: Uh, the bad news. Would hate to be happy and then have my mood ruined for the rest of the day.
:Pierce: Right. [looks weakly at him] Scotch agreed to pick us up from here, but you have to go do some mercenary work the moment he drops me off.
:Silver: Didn't you tell him I was fatigued?
:Pierce: I tried, but he's a stubborn and strict man that doesn't really care about anyone as long as they're doing what they're supposed to be doing without compromises.
:Silver: Well, what's the good news then?
:Pierce: You get to be back home with me later today after this crap.
:Silver: Y'know, that is pretty good news.
Silver and Pierce wait around together for Scotch. Time fast-forwards to twenty minutes, where Scotch finally manages to drive there and halt his vehicle.
:Scotch: Alright, get in here boys.
Silver and Pierce nod without hesitation as they get into Scotch's vehicle. Within just a minute or so, they already managed to arrive back at Pierce's house.
:Pierce: God. [looks at Scotch] If this dude dies because of your uncaring nature, I'm gonna show you a world of hurt.
:Scotch: Why the hell are you and Ms. Replicate so protective of him already, you hardly know him!
:Pierce: Don't you think you're being a bit too harsh on him? He's new and he's still trying to figure things out for himself. I don't understand why you're so quick with putting him to work.
:Scotch: Haven't we gone over this last night, Pierce? [folds his arms] The authorities are telling Silver what to do because we don't trust him. Those Gorm creatures attacked Silver because they don't really recognize him as a citizen, they couldn't detect his ID because he doesn't have one.
:Pierce: What are you, an xenophobe?
:Scotch: Look, I don't have time for this.
Scotch pushes Pierce outside of his pod, making him fall over. Scotch throws his wheelchair near him.
:Pierce: I-
Before Pierce could respond, Scotch began steering his vehicle back to the Vinegar Base, leaving a crippled Pierce laying out before his home. He coughs a bit of blood, exerting some energy from his brain to psychically drag himself across the floor.
:Pierce: Asshole.
-----------
:11:00 A.M. · TUESDAY JANUARY 18th, ZXE-220
:Vinegar Base, Satellite Lobby
Scotch led Silver back into his military base, down into a rather large theater-like room. Scotch sent Silver to the stage, where he looked down rather lifelessly upon hundreds of soldiers. Scotch would follow up, placing an arm around Silver's shoulder.
:Scotch: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience today. This is Silver Zin, the lord's mercenary and possibly the only thing that can get rid of that Mallory person.
There is massive applause from around the theater, making Silver feel a bit embarrassed as he tries to avoid eye contact with the crowd.
:Scotch: We understand that the satellite's been in danger for weeks, maybe months, if we include the dozens of other threats that have been popping out of nowhere over the past year.
:Soldier #1: He looks really skinny.
:Scotch: We just haven't gotten around to giving him a proper feast yet, I'm sure we'll be able to fatten him up later. And if we don't, it's not like he isn't already enough as is.
:Soldier #2: He's not even keeping direct eye contact with us!
:Scotch: It's a pretty big undertaking to stand on a podium before dozens of idiots like yourself, Jeremy.
:Jeremy: Sorry boss.
:Scotch: Alright, anyway, so today I'm going to give two things to Silver that none of you loyal soldiers have.
Scotch pulls out a mercenary suit for Silver, which appears to be designed after Kýrios' very image.
:Scotch: For one, a professional suit that I got Crymsia Rose to design just for him, it shows you all that he means business and he's going to beat the crap out of anyone if necessary.
That's a big stretch, Silver thought to himself.
:Scotch: And an anti-drug bracelet, which will repel any and all drugs away from him. It'd be pretty bad if someone managed to dope up Silver, because he's really our only shot at defeating Mallory. Or the Purple Menace, as some of you know her by.
Scotch tightens the bracelet around Silver's wrist.
:Scotch: Don't take that off Silver, it's for your own good.
:Silver: I don't see a reason to.
:Scotch: Sometimes it can be tempting. I dunno if you ever had any experience with drugs or things like that, but this is a safety measure that Azrail Neos designed just in case.
Silver murmurs to himself as he takes the suit.
:Scotch: Alright Silver, you can go backstage briefly to place on the new suit. You might find it'll suit you terrifically. I'll keep discussing plans with the others.
:Jeremy: Can I go watch?
Scotch takes out a gun, shooting Jeremy through the forehead and instantly killing him.
:Scotch: Any more stupid questions?
Silver goes backstage, sighing to himself as he looks at his mercenary suit. He still wasn't really on-board with being a mercenary, and even less on board with Scotch's stretched claims about him. But he supposed it'd be better for everyone else if he just stopped whining. He took off his robes and placed on the suit.
:Scotch: Today, I will have Silver fulfill his first task. He's going to go to New Naxaz City to eliminate a lower-level threat, so to test his skills a little bit. He's going to take out an arms dealer named Ginger Nail.
:Soldier #3: Is Silver gonna kill her?
:Scotch: Uh, only if he wants to, really. [shrugs] She's not a big threat, she just needs to be stopped.
Silver takes a breath of relief. He wasn't sure how he'd feel about actually killing someone, yet.
:Scotch: Come on back Silver! We still gotta see you in the new suit for a picture!
Silver nods, rushing back onto the stage wearing his new suit. Get used to it- it's the Phase 1 getup.
:Scotch: Oh, whoa, you look great. [looks at him, top to bottom] You should probably wear a top or something though, the suit's unintentionally a bit provocative on you.
:Soldier #4: Is he a girl?
:Scotch: Uhhh, what do you think, Silver?
:Silver: Does it really matter? Just call me whatever, I'm not picky.
:Soldier #5: Hi whatever, I'm your daddy!
Scotch makes sure to shoot that soldier's brains out as well. Damn, thought Silver. He just blew out two people's lives without really hesitating. And nobody else gave a fudgenugget.
:Scotch: Alright, it's time to get your picture taken, Silver. [steps to the side a bit] Alright Ariel, can you get a good picture of him? Silver, try to look cool.
Silver does a Tricep Extension as a soldier gets a good picture of him.
:Scotch: Alright.
Scotch takes the picture, stuffing it in his pocket for later.
:Scotch: So did you hear what I've planned for you today?
:Silver: Yes, ma'am.
:Scotch: What was that!?
:Silver: Uhhh, yes, sir!
Silver had a little bit of fun messing with him like that, especially as Scotch's face quickly grew red with the comment.
:Scotch: Just in case you're just messing with me, I want you to go to New Naxaz City and either arrest or kill this woman called Ginger Nail. [lifts his hands, making different shapes] She's got white hair, differently-colored eyes, and what I think is a black trenchcoat? She's an arms dealer, and supposed a drug dealer too.
:Silver: Alright, that sounds like it'll be easy enough.
:Soldier #3: I recommend killing her so she can't hurt anyone else!
:Silver: Actually that brings me a question, has she really hurt anyone?
:Scotch: Uhhh, no, there aren't any reported cases of her hurting people from what I'm aware of. But it's the potential of the danger that makes her a target.
:Silver: Why can't we use our time and resources to target people that matter?
:Scotch: Don't question me! I know better about my job than you do, Silver!
Silver shrugs. No you don't, thought Silver to himself, clearly frustrated.
:Scotch: Besides, you haven't really been shown to be capable of taking down some of the bigger threats, so I'm starting you off small so you can build your rank and prove to be that capable.
:Silver: Do you think this is a game or something? Fine, let me take care of this, "threat".
:Scotch: Hurry back once you're done, I'll need a report from you on how well it went.
Silver grumbles to himself. Ginger hasn't even been proven to do anything wrong. How is he going to actually advance as a mercenary if he's taking out people that don't matter? Silver walks outside the stage, heading outside the military base and calling upon a space pod. He's already learned a bit about how the satellite works by just observing things around him.
:Silver: Can't tell if he's a human or if he's a clown.
Silver hops aboard the space pod, taking himself to New Naxaz City.
:Silver: Really wish I was the last of my kind on this satellite, so I wouldn't be in this situation.
:3:24 P.M. · TUESDAY JANUARY 18th, ZXE-220
:Valco Vortex, New Naxaz City
Valerie and Syi were hanging out together back at Valerie's home, inside her spiraling Valco Vortex building. As you can see by the billboards and advertisements surrounding the exterior of the building, Valco is an important company that specializes in the production of several important goods.
:Valerie: Mmmm. [drinks a bit of alcohol] Things have been going downhill lately.
:Syinara: What do you mean, Val?
Valerie sighs, looking at her girlfriend's cute beady eyes.
:Valerie: I'm getting overloaded with so much paperwork, I'm having to deal with so many lawsuits, and there's just so much pressing down on me right now it's hard to breathe.
:Syinara: I understand. Since that purple creep boarded the satellite, things have been going south economically and demographically. The reputation of this satellite's just kinda been, dropping.
:Valerie: Yeah, I don't know what I can really do about her. Every time we get so close to catching her, she slips out of our grip again. Many lives are at stake now, especially since yesterday's events. Mallory called me earlier to tell me that the amount of work I'm going to be doing is about to evolve tenfold as she starts living up to the reputation we've been giving her.
:Syinara: How did she even know your number?
:Valerie: Who wouldn't know my phone number? It's on every Valco billboard!
Syi nods as she leans back on Valerie's gold-glitter couch.
:Syinara: I promise we'll eventually make it through this, alright? It's tough right now but, you always told me that things would be alright in the end, even when I didn't believe it.
A flashback plays of Syinara getting stood over by Hene and June, two scarecrow friends she used to have. They evilly glared down at her as she laid back across the floor, looking weak, before Valerie's beautiful face cuts through the flashback.
:Syinara: Even during my demon days you were there for me. I'm gonna be here for you not just because of that, but because, well...
Syinara sighs.
:Syinara: I'm your friend.
:Valerie: I know our relationship's still a bit shaky.
:Syinara: Right, but I think things will eventually work out between us. [smiles] Made me blush a bit when you called me your girlfriend yesterday, that was cute. And a good wake-up call.
:Valerie: You better believe that I'd protect you no matter what happens between us.
Valerie walks over to the couch, sitting next to Syi and taking a long sip of alcohol.
:Valerie: You think Silver's going to be alright?
:Syinara: Just give him some room to breathe, I think he's just trying to figure out how to be like the rest of us. Y'know, I bet right now he's just sitting back, watching MTV even though it's a garbage-tier channel, and having a gay old time with Pi-
Suddenly, Silver winds up falling through their open window, sliding across the floor. Miraculously, nothing was broken.
:Syinara: Speak of the devil.
:Silver: Hey Val, I was wondering if you knew anything about this Ginger Nail person? I can't find them anywhere.
:Valerie: Would it have killed you to knock first?
:Silver: Guard didn't let me in 'cuz I didn't have an ID.
Valerie shakes her head before having a nice, hearty (but drunken) laugh.
:Valerie: You're kinda cute, I'll give you that. [takes another swig of her drink] Uh, Ginger Nail seems to hide behind back alleys and hang out in dark places. Sometimes she's drawn to rich places, I think. Why're you after her?
:Silver: Scotch gave me an order to arrest her.
:Valerie: Why though? I haven't heard any reports about her particularly, besides one.
:Silver: ...What was on the one report?
:Valerie: It just said, "Ginger is stinky". It was never signed.
:Silver: For all we know Mallory probably filed that one in as a distraction. [folds his arms] I'm only dropping to that conclusion because of stuff she said yesterday.
:Syinara: Hey, uh, good to know, but, would it kill you if I went back to having some private time with Val?
:Silver: It wouldn't kill me, only dishonesty kills me.
Silver leaps out the window, falling down a loooooong way.
:Valerie: That was awkward, but hey I had a good laugh, so I feel a bit better. [smiles at Syi] So, uh, before I began going on a tangent, what were we doing before?
:Syinara: Chilling!
:3:30 P.M. · TUESDAY JANUARY 18th, ZXE-220
:Main Street, New Naxaz City
::
::
Silver manages to crawl his way across the rooftops, doing seven front-flips before landing down in an alleyway, scaring the hell out of Ginger who was napping right there.
:Silver: Wake up!
:Ginger: Whoa, what the heck is wrong with you?
Ginger backs away a bit, surprised by Silver's presence.
:Ginger: What do you want?
:Silver: Just be honest with me, Ginger. [stares at her blankly] Have you been engaging in any criminal activities lately? Have you been hurting anyone, Ginger?
:Ginger: How do you even know my name?
:Silver: It doesn't matter, I need you to tell me so I can do what I think is right.
Ginger looks at him, before backing away a little more.
:Ginger: No. [leans back against the wall] Maybe I've thrown a few punches once in a while, but I've never tried to hurt anybody outside of self-defense. I just deal arms and deal drugs. You want some?
:Silver: I'd rather not.
Ginger rolls her eyes and just looks at him.
:Silver: Are you sure you haven't done anything wrong?
:Ginger: I swear on my mother's grave! I swear it, I swear it.
:Silver: Have you passed off any of your weapons or drugs to anyone who looks mighty suspicious? Y'know, like a certain purple-haired creep roaming around these parts?
:Ginger: No, I haven't done any business with M-Mallory, fool! I've never encountered her. I swear it!
:Silver: Anyone else, then?
:Ginger: Mmm, I might have given weapons to a woman in a purple mecha suit.
:Silver: Is that so?
:Ginger: Look man, if she did anything dangerous with them I wouldn't really know. I told her that, like with everyone else, she was responsible for how she used whatever I gave her.
:Silver: Alright, I'll leave you alone.
:Ginger: Why'd you go looking for me, again?
:Silver: General Scotch told me to investigate you and either arrest you or kill you. I'm out here trying to make sure you're not a threat so I didn't have to do any of that.
:Ginger: Well, thank you for the generosity.
Silver hears some loud rumbling underneath him again.
:Silver: Mmmm, I don't like the sound of that.
Silver moves out of the way, suddenly grabbing Ginger as a huge Gorm pops up before them, roaring nice and loud as it has Silver and Ginger cornered in the dark alleyway.
:Silver: What the heck, I thought I was done with these things already!
:Ginger: You don't have an ID!?
:Silver: I'll work on that later! An ID's not gonna matter if I'm eaten alive!
The Gorm advances towards them, its huge body slithering out of the ground.
:Ginger: I'll try and bomb it down to a weaker state, then you can fire away with whatever weapon you have! These Gorms have a weak spot in their mouth. Trust me, I used to be a criminal 'round here!
:Silver: Right. Let's get busy, then!
::
::
Silver watches as the Gorm lies over, defeated. Ginger was crying after that battle, much to Silver's concern.
:Silver: What's wrong, Ginger?
:Ginger: I lied to you... [takes a deep breath] I never hurt anyone, that much is true, but I've carelessly given people cigarettes and alcohol so I could steal their money, I lied because I didn't wanna go to jail for the eighth time! Then I almost died right here.
:Silver: Well, you know that means I have to arrest you now. [sighs as he grabs Ginger's hand] I really suggest looking into therapy or whatever would help you get through this once your sentence is up.
:Ginger: Fine...
Ginger doesn't really resist as Silver walks over the defeated Gorm with her hand locked in Silver's. She looks up at him with a small amount of admiration before returning to look at the ground.
:Ginger: Thank you for saving me back there.
:Silver: Kinda drew the beast to you myself, so thank you for cooperating and helping.
As the two leave, we see Mania Metallurgy pop her head out of a trash can.
:Mania: Damn it, I was thinking the Gorms would be able to prevent Silver from feeling safe in the city. [scratches her scalp, shaking off some bugs] Sorry about that Mallory, we'll work with a new plan.
:4:50 P.M. · TUESDAY JANUARY 18th, ZXE-220
:Vinegar Base, Satellite Lobby
Silver returns to the Vinegar Base, walking to Scotch's office and knocking on his door.
:Scotch: Come in.
Silver opens the door, walking into his office with a report he wrote.
:Silver: Sir, I've managed to arrest and imprison Ginger Nail for trickery and deceit. [looks at him] My first task has been fulfilled.
:Scotch: That took you long enough, Silver. [wheels around] How do you feel?
:Silver: Honestly, it's not like it was that big of a deal. She still didn't hurt anyone.
:Scotch: I'd say that tricking and deceiving people kind of counts as hurting them, Silver, I dunno about you. [turns around to face him] Either way, congrats on fulfilling your mission.
:Silver: Thanks.
Scotch looks around his desk, as if looking for something to give Silver, but didn't find it.
:Scotch: Hey, by chance did you ever steal a Zodiac Stone from this office?
:Silver: What's a Zodiac Stone?
:Scotch: Never mind, I guess that already proves you haven't. I'll look into that matter for myself later, but for now, let's concentrate on your future as a mercenary. So, there's still some work to be done.
:Silver: Is there any useful work worth doing?
:Scotch: Yeah, there's some priorities that the military and authorities have on their minds right now, but if you're talking about going after Mallory, don't even bother. You won't stand a fraction of a chance against her while you're still inexperienced.
:Silver: Right, I guess. [folds her arms] Not like you can do any better, apparently, if she's still out there.
:Scotch: Hey, don't get snarky with me, I know that I can't take her because I'm not properly equipped. And while you are properly equipped, I've yet to see you do anything better than taking down a girl.
:Silver: Are you implying women can't fight?
:Scotch: You're right, that was foolish of me to say. Uhh...
There was an awkward silence between them for a few moments.
:Scotch: Anyway, we're not going to get anywhere by continuing to argue, so let me assign you to your second and final task for today. I want you to now check out the home of Snickers Caramel for a supposedly large stash of cocaine.
:Silver: What?
:Scotch: You heard me!
Silver looked baffled.
:Silver: Okay, so what's the big deal about drugs on this satellite? Why do you care that I stay away from them? Why do you care that Snickers has a big stash of them? Is it your business, hmm?
:Scotch: There's a rule against possession of bad drugs like cocaine and heroin, Silver! [points the finger out the door] And I'm going to see through with your ability to fulfill the duty I've just given you!
:Silver: Now you wait just a minute here!
Silver crosses his arms, looking annoyed.
:Silver: Tell me how in the world exposing Snickers' cocaine stash will bring me any closer to taking down Mallory. Look, if you think about it, it just might be a massive waste of time.
:Scotch: Why the hell are you being so passive-aggressive towards me?
:Silver: Because you're being kind of a donkey right now!
Scotch went silent for a moment.
:Scotch: ...Right, I put my personal grudges and worries before real responsibilities I should be giving you to take care of, Silver. [sighs] Sorry.
:Silver: Grudges?
:Scotch: Yeah, I wanted to protect my family from drugs and stuff and I was thinking that you helping resolve the problem for me would make you better at dissolving conflicts for others. [sits up] But I lost the plot because I've been overwhelmed with a lot of responsibilities.
:Silver: I don't think that really excuses you for going so hard on me over trivial matters like this, but I'm willing to forgive you because I don't have anything better to do. [holds out his hand] It's fine.
The two shake hands.
:Scotch: Let me assign you with a different task, one that, might actually be useful. I'll take care of Snickers' cocaine stash myself. [clears throat] There's a cruel, vile lady in New Naxaz City named Voetrice, who's been notorious for booking venues and hypnotizing crowds of audiences and thus forming hiveminds out of them. Any hiveminds on the satellite interfering with us can overwhelm us and prevent us from focusing on main issues.
:Silver: That sounds more like it, Scotch.
:Scotch: Yeah. So, Voetrice is a punk-looking octopus lady with one human arm and a tentacle arm, she's got a really violent and evil look to her. You'll know who I'm talking about when you see her.
:Silver: That'll be who I go after. Sorry for being rude, I've just been pulled and pushed around since I've woken up, and I haven't had my morning coffee at all 'cuz Pierce doesn't have coffee.
:Scotch: I think we just need to act calmer and try to understand where each of us are coming from better, because if we keep having fights like this, things will get a lot worse between us. [shakes his hand] Good luck out there, okay? If you need help, I'll send reinforcements.
:Silver: I'll keep that in mind.
Silver leaves Scotch's office, back outside of the Vinegar Base. Scotch is left to his own.
:Scotch: Maybe I really am an asshole.
:6:50 P.M. · TUESDAY JANUARY 18th, ZXE-220
:Damage, Inc. Studio, New Naxaz City
Silver finally manages to arrive at Voetrice's venue, after finding billboards advertising her location and what time the show's going to start.
:Silver: Voetrice's show starts in ten minutes, I have to get in there and take her out before she does some real damage to all those innocent civilians.
:???: You need any help, perchance?
Silver turns his head to his side, finding Chance Roulette standing there suddenly.
:Silver: Who're you?
:Chance: My name is Chance Roulette, I don't think we've met before. [snickers] Funny how we both decided to come here and take out Voetrice, what a coincidence! An unlikely chance.
:Silver: Cut it with the puns grandpa, I really need to get to work here. Though, I'd appreciate your help.
:Chance: Excellent.
Chance points inside the theater.
:Chance: There are walls of water that Voetrice magically set up that'll block you from going right through. I can help you go through each blockade, but you need to be quick on your feet.
:Silver: That sounds good to me, thanks for the warning.
:Chance: Isn't that right, Cabinet Man?
There was a huge arcade cabinet-like man standing near them, shocking Silver who couldn't even see him in the poor lighting.
:Cabinet Man: Yep! You just gotta take this game nice and easy.
:Chance: Cabinet Man and I will help dislodge the barriers while you run through and catch Voetrice.
:Silver: Why did you even come here to do this, anyway?
:Chance: Voetrice flooded over my whole casino, so I'd say it's fair game to ruin her show!
:Cabinet Man: And get all the quarters she stole from my belly button.
:Chance: That's your slot, you useless machine.
Cabinet Man looked fairly sad, but got back into his spirits as he rushes inside with Chance. Silver follows in after them, starting to pick up speed as he heads in to confront Voetrice.
::
::
Silver manages to make her way up to the top platform, his eyes firmly on Voetrice, who was about ready to begin performing.
:Voetrice: Hey, get off the stage you freak!
:Silver: Not a chance, I'm not going to let you hurt anyone else! [walks over to her quickly, pulling out his staff] I'm going to arrest you for your crimes!
:Voetrice: What? What crimes, knucklehead?
:Silver: I dunno, maybe the fact you've been making hiveminds out of your audiences and that you've done some real damage to Chance Roulette's casino?
:Voetrice: Yeah, as if I'm going to stop performing just because you want me to. Security, come here!
Security guards that look similar to Voetrice slither across the stage to try and grab Silver, but he dodges them.
:Silver: Do you really want to fight the hard way, Voetrice?
:Voetrice: I swear, if Arikan has anything to do with this, I am going to kill her.
:Silver: ANSWER ME!
Voetrice angrily tackles Silver, slapping him in the face with her tentacle arm, slapping him upside the head repeatedly with her head tentacles.
:Voetrice: You're embarrassing me in front of everyone over things you can't even prove!
:Silver: Errmmm, yeah, I suppose I don't and it's hypocritical of me, but believe me when I say there's at least some truth to all this! The audience is unanimously booing me and you're overreacting to my accusations!
:Voetrice: You're the one that's overreac- AUUUUUUUUUGH!
Chance Roulette managed to board the stage, having knocked a giant pinball attached to a chain against her backside.
:Chance: There is evidence, Voetrice. [smirks] There is water flowing everywhere in the Lucky Casino thanks to you, and real footage of you executing that crime exists. You also have a criminal record for this kind of thing, I'm afraid.
:Voetrice: Curse you, Roulette! I'm just trying to have fun and you're ruining it all for me!
Silver gets up, grabbing Voetrice's arms and chaining them together.
:Silver: Alright, let's wrap this up.
:Voetrice: No, let me go! Let me goooooo!
As Voetrice screams and attempts to writhe out of Silver's arms, Chance takes the mic, snickering.
:Chance: Welcome to E3, everybody. The second BowieQuest game is on its way.
:Audience Member: Is it?
:Chance: Yes, and so is Half-Life 3.
:7:35 P.M. · TUESDAY JANUARY 18th, ZXE-220
:Satellite Lobby, Room #13
Silver knocks on Pierce's door.
:Silver: Hey Pierce, are you home? I'm back.
Pierce opens the door, smiling when he sees Silver.
:Pierce: Hey there, come on in.
Pierce moves himself and his wheelchair out of the way, giving Silver enough room to get by. Silver walks back into his motel room, taking deep breaths as he relaxes against the wall.
:Pierce: Long day?
:Silver: Tell me about it.
Silver takes a deep sigh, trying to relax himself.
:Pierce: Don't worry about me by the way, I got some help from Ms. Replicate on fixing my shattered bones. Kind of reluctantly.
:Silver: Oh yeah, how's she doing?
:Pierce: She said something about being regretful that she couldn't get you to spend the night at her place, I told her that I can take good care of you. There's nothing to worry about.
:Silver: Is she fine otherwise?
:Pierce: Well she's not dead, so.
Silver nods and hangs back against the wall.
:Silver: So, did you want to do anything tonight, or?
:Pierce: Nah, I'm kinda tired after Scotch made me fall like that. [wheels over to the fridge] I did make dinner though, I was thinking you'd like a bit of pasta after a long day. Do you like ravioli?
:Silver: What's ravioli?
:Pierce: It's a type of pasta, which is edible. You can eat it.
:Silver: I'll be willing to try it.
Pierce smiles as he looks in the fridge. Silver watches him carry out a big blue bowl with his psychic powers, which he sets on the counter. Inside of the bowl was a bunch of refrigerated ravioli.
:Silver: How are you doing that?
:Pierce: I don't really know, it's something I just kinda learned.
:Silver: You don't know!?
:Pierce: Oh man, you have no idea how jacked up my body is.
Pierce laughs to himself as he scoops out some pasta onto a plate, which he proceeds to place in the microwave. Silver waits patiently for the food to reheat.
:Silver: Are you ok?
:Pierce: Yeah. Don't worry 'bout me.
Silver waits for his food to heat up when he hears something tap on the window glass behind him.
:Silver: Does ravioli pop like popcorn?
:Pierce: It doesn't, why?
:Silver: I heard a weird kinda noise.
Pierce looks behind Silver. For a moment, he exchanges a glare with a pair of eyes staring at him through the window. He couldn't make out the individual in the poor lighting.
:Pierce: Silver, can you come to the kitchen table, please?
Silver nods, getting up and walking to Pierce's kitchen table. Pierce takes his plate out of the microwave and serves it to Silver, giving him a fork.
:Pierce: Eat up, I'll be right back.
Pierce turns back to the window. Still there, he realized. He goes over to his door, opening it.
:Pierce: What do you want?
:Mallory: Oh hey there, twink.
:Pierce: What in tarnation are you doing here, Mallory?
Mallory laughs to herself, stepping back from Pierce.
:Mallory: I was just checking up on Silver, you know how I am, don't you? [smirks] You haven't given him up to me yet. I'll keep my eyes on him and bring hell wherever he goes.
:Pierce: Well stop it, I'm trying to let him relax and eat after a long day that had absolutely nothing to do with you.
:Mallory: You can't demand that from me, Pierce. Now, I know that you had a pretty hard fall earlier today, so I won't bother with crushing you against the wall or anything for answers. I don't stoop to your level.
:Pierce: What do you mean by that? Wait, how did you even know I fell?
:Mallory: Let's just say that I have my ways, Pierce.
The screen briefly switches to show the Electric Eye's body hanging limply in a chair, a bunch of purple spider-like objects attached to his many wires.
:Mallory: Anyway, you remember when word of me began spreading around of me that you would all do absolutely nothing but chastise me? Nobody made any note of the right things I was doing. You'd all do anything to hurt me, and I find it only fair in turn to do anything to hurt this boy for ruining me.
:Pierce: God, you're such a manipulative creep. Stay away from my house!
Pierce wheels himself back inside his house, pulling the blinds down.
:Mallory: You can't hide from the truth for long, Hazel!
Pierce wheels himself back over to Silver's table, where Silver was really quickly eating through the ravioli on his plate. Given the huge size of the plate, it's impressive that Silver already managed to eat through at least eighty percent of it.
:Pierce: Damn, you must really be a pasta lover.
:Silver: I'm sorry, it's just really good.
:Pierce: No no, I'm really happy you like it!
Pierce smiles as he sits down across from Silver, watching him shovel in the rest of his ravioli.
:Silver: Who was that?
:Pierce: An imbecile, that's all.
Silver nods as he takes his last bite. Pierce takes his plate and rinses it off in the sink. Unable to bring himself to actually wash it, he just gets all the sauce off and leaves the plate in the sink. Silver looks up at Pierce.
:Pierce: Hey, is it alright if we share the bed tonight?
:Silver: I never objected to it last night, so.
:Pierce: Is that a yeah?
:Silver: Yeah, it is. I don't have a problem with it as long as we're clothed and all.
:Pierce: That's what I meant, yeah. [sighs] There's someone really bad that's just outside our window, so I want to make sure that if they come in that we'll be harder to separate.
:Silver: I got it.
Pierce nods as he climbs out of his wheelchair, limply leaning on the bed. Silver helps hoist him up onto the bed, following in after him. Silver can see Mallory's silhouette just outside.
:Silver: I don't like that silhouette.
:Pierce: It'll be fine. [tosses a spare blanket over Silver] Do you want to sleep right now, or do you want to watch a bit of TV instead? I'm fine either way.
:Silver: I'll just sleep now, I guess. Good night, Pierce.
Pierce snaps his fingers, turning all the lights in the house off.
:Pierce: G'night, Silv.
Pierce and Silver fall asleep together separately, but still in the same space. The camera switches to Mallory, who hisses as she takes some steps back, looking as if she was gonna charge through the window. Then she sighs.
:Mallory: Whatever, it'll be more satisfying to have my way when he's actually giving his all against me, not when he's dead asleep. I'll see you later, Silver Zin.
Mallory walks away from his window.
:8:00 P.M. · TUESDAY JANUARY 18th, ZXE-220
:Valco Vortex, New Naxaz City
Back at the Valco Vortex, Valerie and Syinara were sitting in bed together, holding hands as they watched the stars soar way above them. Being at the topmost room in the Valco Vortex, they got a wide view of outer space.
:Syinara: The stars are beautiful tonight, Val.
:Valerie: You say that every night, Syi.
Valerie giggles a little bit as Syi rolls her eyes, blushing.
:Syinara: I suppose I do, huh. It's just nice to be hanging out with you.
:Valerie: I feel the same way Syi. [leans on her shoulder] You know, it's just nice to have a break from all the trouble and turmoil we've been having to deal with lately.
:Syinara: Yeah. [looks down] Everything's been horrible lately, so when the chance comes up for us to hang together, I'm just really happy to be able to take it.
:Valerie: I promise that once Mallory's gone and I take care of all those lawsuits and papers, I'll find a lot more time in my schedule for you. I'm sorry that my work's been a top priority.
Syinara nods, placing her arms around Valerie's belly.
:Syinara: Well it's not your fault, Val.
Syinara smiles at Valerie, who smiles back towards her just a bit.
:Valerie: I know sweetie, I just don't want you to feel neglected, especially because you seem to have panic attacks whenever I'm away from you for too long.
:Syinara: That's my fault Val, I'm just having trouble recovering from those bad relationships I've had several months ago. [leans closer to her] It's pathetic that I'm still struggling.
:Valerie: No it's not! 
Valerie hugs Syinara tightly, who returns the hug.
:Valerie: Eventually we'll both be in a better place where we're not dealing with these problems anymore. [kisses her cheek] I just have to work with Silver and the other authorities to take Mal down.
:Syinara: I believe in you!
:Valerie: I believe in you too, and don't you dare forget that. [smiles] Alright?
:Syinara: Alright! I'll always remember.
Both of them separate from each other, going back to watching the stars.
:Syinara: You know, sometimes I wonder if I did something wrong to make those people that wronged me act the way they do. [looks into her eyes] Did I do anything to deserve that breakup? Or that attack Mallory did on me?
:Valerie: I mean, for all I know, you could have done something wrong to agitate those people. [rubs her hair] But in the end, they're responsible for how they behave individually, so as long as you learned your lesson and won't do it again everything's gonna be fine.
:Syinara: I see.
Valerie and Syinara turn to each other.
:Syinara: Well, I feel a bit sleepy now, thank you for everything you do. [kisses her cheek] Good luck with your work okay? Even if I'm not doing too well, I'll support you from the sidelines like I always have.
:Valerie: I'll do whatever I can to make the satellite a better place, you know that's my priority. [smiles] However, I'd like to make it my second priority soon, so you can be my top priority.
Syinara blushes a little and smiles, hugging Valerie.
:Syinara: Good night Val.
:Valerie: G'night, Syi.
Both of them fall straight to sleep.
:3:00 A.M. · WEDNESDAY JANUARY 19th, ZXE-220
:Kýrios' Throne Room, Admin Sector
General Scotch walks into Kýrios' Throne Room at three in the morning. You'd expect most residents of Satellite 15 to be asleep by then, but the authorities pretty much work around the clock. You can see the red in Scotch's eyes as he shares a report paper across the table.
:Scotch: Hey Kýrios and Zodiez, sorry for my tardiness, I overslept.
:Zodiez: You're right on time, actually. [glances down] So you have Zin's first day report card ready?
:Scotch: Yeah, that's something I need us to evaluate together, Zodiez.
Zodiez nods, picking up the paper with her inky fingers, shaking it and flattening it out on the table. It was crumpled from sitting in Scotch's pocket.
:Zodiez: Seems like he's doing fine if he's managed to do two tasks for you today. [looks over the paper] Mm, yeah. I'd say he can start handling some tougher missions, but I'd still advise against pitting him against Mallory.
:Kýrios: The boy good. The woman better.
Scotch nods as he takes a seat with them.
:Scotch: I'm concerned about Silver though. I'm not sure if he'll remain a mercenary for that much longer.
:Zodiez: Yeah, I can see you gave him a "C" in attitude.
:Scotch: Yeah, that's why. He did pretty well with everything else, but, I'm not sure how well he's going to hold up mentally.
:Kýrios: Boy just depressed.
:Zodiez: I'm sure his bad attitude is just a side-effect of being pushed and pulled everywhere all the time, you'll have a grip on him eventually.
:Scotch: For the citizens' sake, I hope you're right.
Scotch waits patiently for more commentary from Zodiez.
:Zodiez: The only thing I'd suggest from you is to not go too hard on Silver. He still needs help getting settled in, and if any of us get too rough towards him, he might jump ship.
:Scotch: Right. I'll try to be a bit less, "loud" with him.
:Zodiez: Yeah.
Zodiez passes Scotch's report paper back to him.
:Zodiez: He seems fine, just keep an eye on him and don't get too rough with him. If you want to have a chance of shooting the Purple Menace down, you'll both need to cooperate.
:Kýrios: Lifetime goal.
:Zodiez: Just keep your cool.
:Scotch: Alright. Thank you for evaluating his progress with me. Now I must discuss another important matter, and it could be a lot more consequential than Silver leaving our side.
Scotch brings out a pretty cubical case.
:Scotch: Remember the zodiac stone you gave me to look after?
:Kýrios: Yes.
Scotch clicks it open. There isn't anything inside.
:Scotch: It's gone!
:Zodiez: What!?
:Scotch: Zodiez, ask the other holders of the zodiac stones to keeps theirs locked away. [folds his arms] If Mallory gathers even three of them, she can do some horrible things.
:Zodiez: I know that, the zodiac stones were my creation.
Zodiez takes his case.
:Zodiez: There's a chance that the one I entrusted you with is with Mallory now. Though I'm not angry at you, I am disappointed that you couldn't put it in a safe enough space.
Zodiez walks back over to the throne.
:Zodiez: Scotch, we don't know who else we can rely on but Silver. Please try your best to get him to a point where he can take on and defeat Mallory, or we will all be in grave danger.
Scotch nods, beginning to walk away from the table.
:Scotch: I understand. I won't let you down, Zodiez. You too, Kýrios.
Scotch leaves the throne room. From way above, Mallory can be seen glancing over them, holding the Capricorn zodiac stone firmly in her palm.
====Chapter Three: Check My Brain====
:10:00 A.M. · WEDNESDAY JANUARY 19th, ZXE-220
:C.O.T.S. Laboratories, Hospital Wing
Azrail was holding a big box of tools as he walked into a darkly lit lab somewhere at the back of the Hospital Wing, walking up to Ms. Replicate, who was dressed in overalls and a helmet that kept her hair hanging free.
:Azrail: Alright mothe- I mean, Ms. Replicate, I got the tools we need for this next experiment! I think.
:Ms. Replicate: Excellent work, Azrail. [takes it out of his hands] I've been feeling kinda lonely without Silver here in the lab, but this should double as a way to make him visit and as a way to restore his memories.
:Azrail: Yeah, I know, you told me 'bout that over the phone, remember. [pulls some blueprints out of his pocket] So, this is gonna take us a little while to build, but we can do it if we stay focused.
:Ms. Replicate: Lord, I'm so ready to get started. [grins] Gonna get Pierce to give that boy back to me, 'cuz there's still a lot of work I need to do with him.
Ms. Replicate smirks.
:Ms. Replicate: He'd be perfect for my future plans, Azrail. My one goal.
:Azrail: Isn't that one goal something you gave up a while ago because you didn't have the right vessel for it?
:Ms. Replicate: Oh, he is the vessel I've been working for.
Ms. Replicate goes to the back room to pick up some materials for her and Azrail's experiment.
:Azrail: I dunno how I feel about that, honestly.
:Ms. Replicate: No worries, I'll spare you some of the details.
Ms. Replicate continues gathering materials, leaving Azrail to begin working on the invention himself. He smiles, taking the box of tools for himself and beginning to build the foundations for the experiment using some scrap metal lying around. He sticks his tongue out as he begins working.
:Azrail: So, have you heard from Silver at all lately?
:Ms. Replicate: No, he's been spending time with that Hazel boy.
Ms. Replicate says Pierce's last name with a bit of an angry hiss.
:Ms. Replicate: This is gonna be my way of getting him back here, where he belongs, he's not going to be safe out there if Mallory's going after him.
:Azrail: ...Our way.
:Ms. Replicate: Whatever. [shrugs] Anyway, let's keep going, we need to get this done.
:Azrail: That's what I was saying, mot- Replicate!
Ms. Replicate returns to Azrail's post, starting to construct the invention with him. Mallory watches them from behind the doorway, having been spying on them.
:Mallory: So they're going to make a machine that'll try and restore Silver's memories? That's an interesting idea, but it won't work if I get Mania or Beck to sabotage it. [smirks to herself] Maybe I'll send Ferris and the Violet Reaper here to do it instead, as they're my lesser troops.
:Ms. Replicate: Hey Azrail, I've been trying to talk to the Electric Eye lately, but he hasn't been very responsive. What's up with that?
:Azrail: That's odd. I'll take a look at his station later.
Mallory keeps watching them.
:Mallory: I sabotaged him so I could discover what all of you idiots were up to, now I'm the all-seeing eye on this satellite.
:Azrail: Hey, uh, do you suppose he was sabotaged by that purple thingamajig?
Mallory swallows, thinking he's heard her.
:Ms. Replicate: I dunno, I keep his room locked, there's no windows leading in there or anything. She would have been caught by security if she tried sneaking in.
:Azrail: Ah, okay.
They return to working. Mallory turns away from the doorway, thinking to herself.
:Mallory: It's so disgusting honestly that they're working together to do something good for my sibling, another gift to his name that he doesn't deserve. [takes out a cigar] I'd like Silver to know how much of a ruthless monster he was to me, but I think I'd feel better killing him while he's still naive.
Mallory lights the cigar and smokes it, thinking it over to herself.
:Mallory: Yeah, looks like I have to be the hero again.
Suddenly, Mallory hears a loud blaring noise above her. She winces as she realizes she's set off a smoke alarm by spacing out and smoking.
:Azrail: Why's the smoke detector going off?
:Ms. Replicate: Gimme a moment. [pulls out a mic] YAMA VELVETROT! FIX UP THE SMOKE DETECTOR BY THE BACK LABS!
Mallory begins to run away from Azrail and Ms. Replicate's doorway back to the vent she crawled out of, but before she could, she heard a door slam open- there was Yama, holding a knife!
:Yama: GET OUT! NOW!
:Mallory: Wha-
:Yama: YOU'RE NOT AUTHORIZED TO BE BACK HERE!
Mallory crawls right back into the vent, crawling backwards to try and get away from Yama. However, before Mallory can crawl too far back, Yama cleanly throws a knife her way. Mallory screams as the knife strikes her in the forehead before falling back down there like a flailing bug. Yama then quickly bolts the vent back shut.
:Yama: Good lord, the nerve of some people.
Ms. Replicate: What was going on out there, Yama?
:Yama: Oh, Mallory attempted to sneak into the building through the vents system. You two were a fair bit of danger. Now if you'll excuse me, uh, my period's killing me!
Yama rushes off, leaving Azrail and Ms. Replicate to their work.
:Azrail: I'll do something with the vents later, no worries about it Replicate.
:Ms. Replicate: Mmm. [takes a deep breath] Mallory might be a much more persistent and resistant force of nature than we made her out to be, if she's already found out how to sneak past our security systems.
:Azrail: I'll go check on the Electric Eye, because now I'm paranoid she sabotaged him. There are definitely vents leading into his room.
:Ms. Replicate: Alright, hurry back.
Azrail runs off to go check up on things. Deep down in the vents of the C.O.T.S. Laboratories, we can see Mallory attempting to move through the vents at a snail's pace, bleeding pretty hard from the head but now holding the scalpel that could have killed her if the shot Yama made was any cleaner.
:Mallory: It's too late to do anything about me.
Mallory holds a bunch of photos she's taken in the Electric Eye's office.
:Mallory: With all the camera manipulation I've been doing, I can see every possible route through every vital area of the satellite. [grins wide] The admin sector, this hospital wing, the military base, the docking haven, the Valco Vortex, and even the city hall. Game over, Silver.
:10:50 A.M. · WEDNESDAY JANUARY 19th, ZXE-220
:Main Street, New Naxaz City
Silver and Pierce were walking along Main Street, with Silver once again suited up in his mercenary suit. Silver was looking down at the sidewalk pavement as he trudges along rather slowly.
:Pierce: You haven't been acting very well today, what's up Silver?
:Silver: Nothing really, I've just been worn out from yesterday's events.
:Pierce: That makes sense, Scotch did seem to put you through quite the ordeal yesterday.
:Silver: And y'know what really bugs me, Pierce? I get to do something even worse today.
:Pierce: ...What is it?
Silver led Pierce around a corner, where they got a look at the mall that Mallory destroyed back in the first chapter.
:Silver: After I finished my final task yesterday, Scotch told me that I'd have to spend the whole of today cleaning up after this mess Mallory made!
:Pierce: That's... a lot.
:Silver: I don't think he can make up his mind on whether he trusts me or not!
Silver walks over to the destroyed mall, with lots of Rollies and Bullies around already helping (albeit slowly) clear the area the mall once took up. Silver grumbles as he grabs a shovel, getting right to work.
:Silver: The authorities are just a bunch of xenophobes, aren't they?
:Pierce: That's what I called Scotch yesterday before he hurt me, so I wouldn't be surprised if that happened to be actually true. Do you want me to stick around, or?
:Silver: You don't have to Pierce, I'm gonna have to concentrate on my work or I'm gonna wind up in trouble I don't want to be in. [looks at him] I'll be back home later, you do what you have to do.
:Pierce: Alright, I'll make dinner in advance. But before I go.
Pierce gets up from his wheelchair, shakily walking to Silver and hugging him. Silver hugged him back, smiling as he patted Pierce's back. He lifted up Pierce in his arms, like he were a bride, and put him back in his wheelchair.
:Pierce: I'll see you later, alright? Don't get too angry, you don't want wrinkles on that smooth skin of yours.
:Silver: I'll see you later. Don't worry about me, I can handle myself.
Pierce nods, turning around with his wheelchair and revving his engines, like he doesn't want to actually leave, before driving down the sidewalk. Silver sighs as he gets to work.
:Silver: Do any of you bugs know where to get a decent shovel around here?
A Bullie bug throws a massive shovel at him, which hits him face-first and knocks him to the ground. After getting up, he grabs his shovel and glares at the bug.
:Silver: Thanks for that.
Silver digs up whatever broken material he can of the mall, throwing it into individual dumpsters. He walks around, doing his janitor duty with not a smile or a frown, but the most painfully neutral look.
:Silver: This is frustratingly uninteresting to me. I agreed to be a mercenary, why make me do this secondary crap, especially if you seemed to be against me doing this kinda thing in the first place?
:???: I feel your frustration, dear.
Silver turns 180 in a near instant, surprised by the sudden voice. He looks down to see the shorter Arikan Chan, who was holding a shovel and also doing this kind of work despite her flashy costume.
:Silver: Who are you again?
:Arikan: Don't you remember, silly? I'm Arikan Chan, I own this satellite's motel-like lobby. We met at the meeting there!
:Silver: What're you doing here?
Arikan smirks as she drops the shovel.
:Arikan: Alright, I guess I just gotta drop the act and get right down to what I'm here for. [looks at Silver's eyes] You know, I think you could use a bit of help getting that memory of yours back, come around to my office later, and I'll see what magic tricks I can do to make everything crystal clear for you again.
Arikan flutters her eyes. Silver looked rather unfazed.
:Silver: Uh. Alright. Is that all?
:Arikan: I was gonna ask if you could help me clean my office too, but I wanted to see if you'd agree to my offer first.
:Silver: I'll consider it, I don't really have a lot of free time I can spare to you though.
:Arikan: Tch. Boys, you're a boy, aren't you?
:Silver: Why do you people care about that?
:Arikan: I don't like men.
:Silver: What are you, some kind of creep?
:Arikan: How dare you, I'll-
:Scotch: Does there seem to be a problem here?
Both Silver and Arikan turned to see Scotch, who had just arrived there.
:Scotch: Arikan, I didn't permit you to be on these grounds or harass anyone here. Please leave before I make things get a lot worse for you.
:Arikan: But Mr. Butterscotch, I wanted to help Silver get his memory back. You know he's not going to kill off this Mallory gal without his memory, do you?
:Scotch: Look, it's a nice offer but you know that it's not the only thing you'd want from him.
:Arikan: Silly Scotch.
Arikan turns to face Silver, laughing a little.
:Arikan: Sorry for the trouble hon! But really, all's forgiven, just meet me down at my office later and I'll try and help you out. Okay? Okay. See ya!
Arikan warps away, leaving Scotch and Silver face to face.
:Scotch: Don't trust Arikan or anyone else on this satellite that claims they can help get your memory back or otherwise do something very favorable for you, chances are they're looking to use you for other priorities.
:Silver: Yeah, I figured something was up with her.
:Scotch: Right then. I caught you just in time, so I have some very important news to deliver to you. [pulls a paper out of his pocket] According to the Electric Eye, there are some suspicious-looking fellows heading for the Hospital Wing and we need you to make sure they pose no threat. He suspects they have something to do with Mallory.
Silver sighs.
:Scotch: Look, I know this work is kind of monotonous, but they don't look very innocent. One's carrying a scythe, of all things, so I need you to go check it out. The mall will get cleaned up without you.
:Silver: Thank the heavens, there's no way I would have been there for long. I'll take on your mission. Take me to the Hospital Wing.
:Scotch: That's much more in line with our military code, I like your spirit Silver.
Scotch calls up a space pod, changing its destination to take them to the Hospital Wing.
:Scotch: I'll just repeat this, if you don't know the individual, don't follow them. Try to get to know them first, and if they sound suspicious, try to back away from them. It's easy for you get manipulated.
:Silver: Right. Thank you for looking after me.
:Scotch: Hey, it's what Oshelia would have wanted out of me.
Scotch scoots over, pulling Silver's hand to bring him in the vehicle. He starts to drive off the vehicle to the Hospital Wing.
:Scotch: You may not like the sound of this, but the two individuals look like little kids.
:Silver: I'm not even surprised at this point.
:Scotch: Yeah, I'm not happy with it either, but, when one's got a strange big robot following him around and the other's carrying a glowing scythe, you know there's a problem.
:Silver: I'll take care of them both. Maybe not kill them, but I'll hand them over to the authorities.
:Scotch: Thank you, Silver. Hopefully I'll make you take missions that aren't so absurd sometime soon.
Silver leans back against the seat of the space pod, leaning his head on Scotch's shoulder.
:Silver: Why were you making me do janitor work even when you were against the idea in the first place?
:Scotch: It's classified information, not even I know about it. [hides his face a little] Just know that you'll be doing janitor work to start each morning, then I'll pick you up if I have work for you to do.
:Silver: Bizarre, but okay.
Silver stays quiet for the rest of the ride. Eventually, the vehicle stops at the Hospital Wing.
:Scotch: This is your stop, Silver.
:Silver: Alright, one question for you. Why can't you or your soldiers do this work?
:Scotch: This'll sound stupid to you, but my military forces are designed to take care of threats outside of the satellite's exterior, meaning that I excel in combat outside of the satellite. However, we have no such team on the inside, because we underprepared for scenarios like this. You're the only one I know who can match Mallory.
:Silver: That's really stupid, yeah. Well, I'm gonna go do my job. See ya.
:Scotch: Good luck Silver.
Scotch drives his pod away as Silver enters the Hospital Wing.
:Silver: In less than twenty minutes things have went from zero to a hundred on the turn of a dime, good lord.
Silver rushes inside.
::
::
:11:28 A.M. · WEDNESDAY JANUARY 19th, ZXE-220
:C.O.T.S. Laboratories Exterior, Hospital Wing
Silver breaks through to the end, where he finds one of the kids about to crawl into a vent. The kid turns around when he sees Silver, throwing out a purple cube which expands in size to reveal itself as a huge robot.
:Silver: Where do you think you're going?
:Ferris: Are you asking where I, Ferris Rock, am going? Hahaha! I'm not going anywhere now that I've found you!
Ferris turns around, looking up to his robotic partner, whose name appears to read MLY-44.
:Ferris: We got him in our sights, let's kick him down!
:MLY-44: Complying reluctantly.
:Silver: This'll be interesting, won't it?
::
::
After a rather short battle, Silver's made quick work of the robot, leaving Ferris on his own.
:Ferris: No! How could you, you bastard?
:Silver: Watch your language, kid.
Silver pulls Ferris forcibly by the arm, pulling some shackles from his pocket and handicapping his arms and legs, leaving him still on the floor.
:Ferris: Heh heh.
:Silver: What's so funny?
:Ferris: There's still another kid in the building you haven't taken care of yet.
:Silver: Oh right, crap.
:Ferris: Heh heh. We knew one of us was going to get captured, but I didn't bet on it being me. Guess that means I owe the Violet Reaper fifty bucks.
Silver throws Ferris to the floor, shacking his arms and legs twice over.
:Silver: Try escaping that trap then while I go fetch your partner in crime!
Silver goes down the vent to go find the Violet Reaper, knowing he can't take Ferris with him because he's too much of a weight to drag around when he's in this much of a hurry. He rushes through the vent, hoping he can find a shorter path to the Violet Reaper.
:Ms. Replicate: ...So Azrail, give me that screwdriver, I got something important to do here.
:Violet Reaper: I'm gonna kill the two of you right there. [snickers] Just a few more hallways to go.
Silver, having heard both of the voices through the vent walls, scrambles his way through. He winds up in the Electric Eye's office. Sneaking around him, he looks for whichever vent would bring him right to Ms. Replicate or the Violet Reaper. He sees the Electric Eye napping.
:Hunjan: Why'd you spoil MHA for me, darn it, zzzz...
Silver sneaks his way into a vent, winding up in a dark hallway. He can hear the Violet Reaper's laugh much better, meaning they're within each other's sight distance now or at least somewhere close.
:Silver: What's going on here?
He catches the Violet Reaper freeze right before turning to a corner. Just in time, Silver seemed to think, as he could hear Ms. Replicate and Azrail on the other side of the wall.
:Violet Reaper: Dang it, I was really hoping I'd be able to go in and kill those two and get away with it.
:Silver: Don't you dare go any closer to them
Silver walks over to her, carrying out his staff.
:Violet Reaper: What business is it of yours, Silver? You'd never understand, even if you weren't brain damaged!
:Silver: Considering how much of a grudge Mallory seems to hold against me and how you guys are very likely affiliated with her, I think I have every right to know.
:Violet Reaper: Well, it's a good thing that you ended up catching me in the act! [pulls out her scythe] C'mon Silver, I've been waiting for ages for a new doll to play with!
Before Silver could react, the Violet Reaper jumps way up, ready to give Silver a taste of her own skills.
::
::
Before long, Silver has the Violet Reaper down too, and places shackles on her arms and legs. He also tapes the Violet Reaper's mouth shut and breaks her scythe, leaving the debris on the floor as he takes the squirming young lady with her. He picks up the still struggling Ferris as well, carrying both kids on his shoulders.
:Silver: You know, Mallory may have way overestimated what two kids were capable of. You just spoiled your secrets and you got swept off your feet because of that!
Neither could respond, as Silver had taped Ferris' mouth shut too. He calls upon a space pod at a station outside the Hospital Wing, and goes inside with them, ready to take them to the Naxaz prison.
:Silver: Don't mess with me anymore. Repeat those words back to your mom when your sentences are up.
Silver drives off with both of the kids to the Naxaz City Jail.
:1:23 P.M. · WEDNESDAY JANUARY 19th, ZXE-220
:Moore Lounge, New Naxaz City
Valerie and Syinara were hanging out at the Moore Lounge with Devina and Black Eyes, all of them sober at the moment. They were each drinking a Gaia Latte and looking over a board game that heavily resembled Monopoly.
:Black Eyes: If each one of these game pieces is supposed to be based on a pizza topping, where's the pineapple piece?
:Valerie: Black Eyes, you're the only person in this goddamn satellite that would play the pineapple piece.
:Black Eyes: You're all cowards.
:Valerie: Meh, you're just a bit gross for their tastes. And ours.
Black Eyes looks slightly humiliated as he chose his piece.
:Devina: So I wanted to play Pizzopoly here because there's been a bunch of ghosts taking residence in my home lately, and I can't seem to get rid of them all that easily. [picks her piece] They've been acting rattled for a month or so and I can't seem to shake off the thought that something's up.
:Valerie: It probably has to do with Mallory, a lot of bad things that have been happening lately seem to only be a thing because of her, actually.
:Devina: It's odd though, because it's very obvious that she's not a ghost.
:Valerie: Yeah, that is pretty strange.
:Syinara: Mallory just seems to bring back luck wherever she goes.
Syi chooses a piece that looks like a sausage.
:Syinara: I can't believe she's really, like, a thing. [picks up two dice] Just think about it to yourselves. This is a woman that managed to sneak her way inside, avoid capture for over thirty days, and now seems to have an idea of what's going on all the time.
:Valerie: She seems pretty magical, huh?
:Black Eyes: And outrageous in the best way, you can't forget that. Wouldn't surprise me if some of her affiliates were drawn to her by the way she looks.
:Devina: I dunno, I'd probably find her attractive if she didn't have so many layers of yuck on her.
Syinara nods as she rolls the dice. She got a six. She moves her piece across the board.
:Syinara: Valerie, we need to figure out what the Electric Eye sees and doesn't see, see if there's any blind corners we haven't placed cameras at that would be mighty good places for someone like her to hide at.
:Valerie: Yeah, I'll try and ask Penny and Azrail for their help on that later. We have to figure out a way to corner Mallory, and part of that is figuring out where she lives.
:Syinara: Scotch sent me a message on Risquord telling me that Silver managed to stuff two of Mallory's troublemakers in prison, but they wouldn't give any answers to Scotch when he came by. We need to do something to get them to spill out their secrets.
Valerie nods, going deep in thought as Devina takes her turn to roll the dice, using some fake money to buy an unreadable street name.
:Black Eyes: I can torture 'em, it wouldn't be a biggie.
:Syinara: I dunno, I don't think torturing kids like them who probably don't know any better would be the smart thing to do.
:Black Eyes: Sometimes you gotta draw a line, though! Letting children running around with scythes and giant robots isn't a common thing, nor should it be! Anyone else think this scarecrow's crazy?
:Devina: I think she's right though. What good would it be to torture the kids, especially if we don't get any useful answers out of them?
:Valerie: I think I disagree here. [sighs] Just hear me out, and I guess Black Eyes as well. I try to be a reasonable and moral person when I can, but we can't just let someone get away with something just because they don't know any better. They gotta be confronted about it at some point!
:Syinara: But from my experience, when you bark down at someone for something small, they'll just grow to be worse people!
Valerie throws the dice. She got a four.
:Valerie: ...What's an income tax?
:Black Eyes: Pay 4000 fake ValCoins, Valerie. Ya gotta play by the rules.
Valerie sighs as she passes over the money.
:Syinara: So do you agree with me or...
:Valerie: Right, sorry, I got distracted. [looks up at Syi] Honey, what choices do we really have?
:Syinara: Can we at least not directly torture them, but just try and be there until we get some sort of answer from them? We don't have to hurt the kids to make them say anything.
Black Eyes nods.
:Black Eyes: Yeah I won't directly torture 'em then, but I will try to press answers out of them. Believe me though, if they cross toe outta line, I am gonna do things they won't like.
:Valerie: Alright, we'll leave you to it Black Eyes.
Black Eyes gets up, walking off.
:Black Eyes: I'd keep playing, but I gotta do this now. I'll let ya know what happens when I come back. I just want all of this to be over, so I return to my old ways. Heh heh heh.
:Devina: You know our alliance isn't going to end until after we're done with our duties, Black Eyes.
:Black Eyes: Heh. I promise things will return to the way they were soon enough, just call this part of our treaty.
Black Eyes walks outside, leaving the gals to continue playing their game.
:Valerie: I have some work to do later gals, so after this game's done, I'm gonna go out to take care of that priority. Syi, I want you to stick around with Devina so she's not too lonely, alright?
:Syinara: Right.
:Devina: Thanks Val, you're the best. [looks down a bit] Though, some of the ghosts I've been seeing lately? I don't think you're gonna like some of the ones that escaped.
Silhouettes of three huge spirits show in a flashback, escaping Devina's home while she's unconscious on the floor.
:Devina: Please be careful out there tonight.
:Valerie: Don't worry, I'll be fine.
The gals return to playing their game. A camera spies on them from a windowsill, which a damaged and bruised Mallory looks through at her home.
:Mallory: You better worry tonight, sister.
:2:32 P.M. · WEDNESDAY JANUARY 19th, ZXE-220
:Vinegar Base, Satellite 15 Lobby
Silver and Scotch were sitting together in the general's office, this time on a couch together. Silver was leaning up against Scotch rather tiredly, while the general had his arm around him in a light embrace.
:Scotch: Are you ready to hear about tonight's plans Silver, or do you still want to relax a bit more?
:Silver: I can take the instructions now. Thank you for letting me recover from that two-in-one mission, it really exhausted me.
:Scotch: It's not a problem Silver, I'm just trying to be a bit more considerate. [smiles] So, here's what's going on. Tonight, you're going to take on a mission with Valerie, who's going to refer to herself as the "Sweet Invader" and that's what I'm instructing you to call her by.
:Silver: I can handle that. What's the mission about, sir?
:Scotch: In case you're wondering if Mallory can hear any of this, there's no way she can. There are no cameras in the military base that she can use to spy on us, and our soldiers crush anything that looks very suspicious. Now, the mission requires that you try to follow Valerie's instructions very carefully.
:Silver: Which are...
:Scotch: I'll tell you the gist here, but Valerie will give you the exact directions when you get there with her. She's going to lure a zodiac stone down from a rope, then you're going to attack Mallory or anyone else that comes trying to touch it. We found the stone when we cleaned up the mall debris. However.
Scotch looks into his blank, white eyes.
:Scotch: You're going to do this from very high up, meaning you're going to have to do a considerable amount of climbing and jumping to reach her location. This is so that there's minimal interference between you, her, and everyone else. I heard that she might have sabotaged the Electric Eye, so it'll be a good thing if the cameras watch you go up, it'll lure her or someone from her forces out of hiding.
:Silver: This sounds pretty risky, especially if Mallory gets ahold of the stone.
:Scotch: Yeah, it's a pretty big risk and I'm not sure if we should really be taking it, but you and Valerie are both athletic enough to do something about this. I have firm belief in your abilities, Silver.
:Silver: Yeah, I can try. What do I do if they get the stone?
:Scotch: You chase them down. You chase them as far as you possibly can. They may go out of the city limits, but I need you to keep following them until you just cannot anymore.
Scotch folds his arms, smirking.
:Scotch: But you won't be too handicapped for this mission, because I decided I'll let you borrow a very rare armed space pod. It's equipped with dual-shoulder homing guns that can easily shoot down any pod, and it'll detect the IDs of anyone inside any pod. You should be able to figure something out about them that we haven't yet.
:Silver: What if the rope trick works?
:Scotch: I'll give the pod to Azrail for his birthday, which is in three days I think.
Scotch pulls a list out of his pocket.
:Scotch: Mallory may think that she knows a lot more than we do, but your sister might be a bit overconfident. This list has a bunch of names that are related to her. Read 'em out.
:Silver: Mallory Zin, Cody Birch, Mania Metallurgy, Beck White, Meth Coke, Ferris Rock, and Violet Reaper. Interesting. Thank you for this.
:Scotch: We found that the Electric Eye recorded quite a bit of footage using Mallory, so that's how we made the list. Whether or not Mallory recorded that on purpose or if the Electric Eye did willingly, we'll never know, but it's ours regardless.
:Silver: Do you guys know how you're going to protect the Electric Eye yet from another sabotage?
:Scotch: Ms. Replicate said something about installing laser systems from this Shredder guy, which is her boyfriend or something. [takes out a cigar] Don't worry about doing your job right now, you're gonna go out at 8PM. And that's a little ways off.
Silver nods, leaning and chilling on Scotch's side. Something about his skin just seemed so warm.
:Scotch: So, besides all the pulling and pushing that's been going on with you, how do you feel about Satellite 15 so far?
:Silver: It's a pretty nice place alright.
Silver sighs.
:Silver: Just wish I got more time to enjoy it.
:Scotch: I understand. Hey, maybe when Mallory's gone, I can convince Kýrios and Zodiez to let you stay here. You don't seem even half-bad to me.
:Silver: You mean it?
:Scotch: Yeah, of course I mean it. [leans back a bit further] I've been kinda mean to you at first, but you've proven to be pretty worthy as a citizen of the satellite, twink. Here's something I got for ya, it'll make the Gorms hate you less.
Scotch slaps an ID tag reading "SILVER ZIN" and all his known credentials into Silver's palm.
:Silver: Thank you!
:Scotch: Don't mention it, haha.
Silver and Scotch keep sitting together when suddenly their doors open. They see Crymsia Rose walk in, who looks kinda tired and grumpy. She wobbles her way over to the two, flopping on the other side of the couch.
:Scotch: What's up, Rose?
:Crymsia: Hic, oh good Silver's here, wanted to give something to him.
Crymsia throws a pile of miscellaneous clothes into his lap.
:Crymsia: Uhhh, I can't really explain why I'm giving you those clothes, just t-take them and don't mention it. Ever. Hic. I was thinking you'd appreciate being able to wear more than just that s-suit and your r-robes.
:Silver: Thanks, I really appreciate it. But why?
:Crymsia: I'd explain but then it'd be awkward!
Crymsia sighs, relaxing herself on the couch.
:Crymsia: Anyways, I also came here to discuss somethin' with ya, Scotch, regarding the boy. [leans back on the couch] So this gal called Whiskey Lager, I got in a fight with 'er, and then I suggested her to train the boy some real good techniques.
:Scotch: That's a pretty sick idea actually. Her stadium's in Sector 3, right?
:Crymsia: Yeah man. I think she said she'll be able to take care of it once her month-long tourney's over, which she said will take a while 'cuz it's just started. But she'd be interested in helping him toughen up against some rivals.
:Scotch: You think that'd be good for ya, Silv?
:Silver: I like the sound of that, it'd probably mean I'd get to use my time battling stronger and more efficient enemies. Who's Whiskey though?
:Crymsia: She's, the owner of the [hic] Champion's Ring stadium in [hic] Sector 3.
:Silver: Ohh.
:Crymsia: She's got so much muscle and she'd easily stand over you. She's so strong she'd bust your spine!
:Scotch: I'm not sure if Silver should take a shot against Whiskey, but I think he's a worthy foe for some other people in the ring. I'll try and see if I can get some people I know over there to help Silver learn some new techniques. Hector.
:Crymsia: Agantuk!
:Scotch: Vizole.
:Crymsia: Throw Werine in the ring too.
:Scotch: I might take a crack shot at it just because I wanna see Silver succeed.
:Silver: I don't know who most of these people are, but it all sounds good to me. [yawns] I just gotta, y'know, take on some more mercenary work first.
:Scotch: Yeah, there's still a ways to go, but you'll get there eventually. I think Whiskey would be pretty disappointed if you tried right now. I mean, not to say you're not skilled, but you'd definitely be unprepared.
:Silver: Yeah, that's fair.
:Crymsia: I'll set this up down the line or try to convince Whiskey to start it up as early as possible, 'cuz if Mallory ain't out within a month, we gotta do something to get Silver good enough to kick her down! [hic] God, I drink too much. I'm blaming the Nature Warrior for that.
:Scotch: Aren't you two the sam-
:Crymsia: SHUT UPP!!
Crymsia hics and calms down.
:Scotch: Anyway, Silver. You think you can do all of this? It sounds like a lot, but-
:Silver: Absolutely, Scotch. You can count on me.
Silver does a thumbs up.
:Crymsia: Can someone get me a beer?
:3:16 P.M. · WEDNESDAY JANUARY 19th, ZXE-220
:C.O.T.S. Laboratories, Hospital Wing
Azrail and Ms. Replicate were still working each other back at the C.O.T.S. Laboratories, thankfully undisturbed by either of Mallory's sent menaces, allowing them to work on their machine in peace.
:Azrail: Hmm, this is looking pretty solid so far, moth- Ms. Replicate.
:Ms. Replicate: I dunno, it looks fine, but something's missing I think. [looks over the machine] I think we're missing something, Az.
:Azrail: Besides the fact that it's unfinished, I don't see what you're talking about. We have everything according to the project's blueprints.
:Ms. Replicate: What if the blueprints are missing something?
:Azrail: Then we'll just have to find out, this isn't the type of project you can just let go of. It could be life-changing if it works out the way we hope it will! [screws in some nails] C'mon, keep your hopes up.
:Ms. Replicate: Alright, you're the boss.
Both of them continue working on the machine, trying to place it together as soon as possible before it becomes too late at night. Azrail does his very best to try and get things rolling while Ms. Replicate helps instruct him using the blueprints.
:Ms. Replicate: If all's going according to plan, we only need to build the antenna that the laser will be emitted from.
:Azrail: That shouldn't be too hard if we have the rest of this thing put together already.
Ms. Replicate nods, pulling out some discount Lifesavers candy and chewing it to calm her nerves.
:Ms. Replicate: Yeah, I just hope Silver comes around here tonight. I'll steal him from Pierce if I have to.
:Azrail: Calm down Ms. Replicate, let's just take this one step at a time. We'll finish the machine, and if Silver doesn't come around tonight, we'll wait until tomorrow or later to take care of it.
:Ms. Replicate: It'll get stolen overnight, we really should try to scan his brain as soon as possible.
:Azrail: Oh, leave the security oversights to Shredder. He knows what he's doing.
On the other side of the wall, Shredder was seen working on fortifying the defenses of the C.O.T.S. Laboratories, sealing vents and building laser emitters that block entry from outsiders. He's shown running off from the Electric Eye's room to the entrance to this secret area of the Hospital Wing, closing it off by making a rotating door that looks normal until you walk into it or push it.
:Shredder: All's going according to plan, heh heh. [rubs his robotic claws together] These laboratories are sealed off from the public now. Though, I won't be getting my payment from Ms. Replicate, because the funds are going towards something pretty sinister.
Shredder chuckles as he walks inside of the laboratories, walking into his boss' office and looking around the DNA tube-filled room. He leans against a wall, looking for stuff to do. You can now see that he's speaking into a phone.
:Shredder: Ms. Replicate, a woman of deceit. The love of my life, but a pretty scary person to be around. We all think that she's all for just improving Silver's image and knocking Mallory out of the satellite, but what if I told you that this simplifies her character far too much?
:???: Shredder, please cut to the chase and tell me what my ex-wife plans to do. I can be helpful!
:Shredder: Yes yes, I know you're very willingly wanting me to cut to the chase. Listen mister, Ms. Replicate plans on killing nearly everyone aboard so the satellite can become grounds to a secret breeding experiment. And she plans on making some shady deals with the Mallorian forces for some resources she chose not to name.
:???: I've always known my ex-wife would turn out to be a horrible human being, but not that horrible. Heh heh! Maybe I was right about leaving her to die back there.
A flashback plays of a silhouette of a man looking over Ms. Replicate, whose clothes were ragged and her body dirty as he left her to thirst to death all the way out somewhere in Sector 3.
:???: But someone must have saved her from that, because she came right back and seems to be worse than ever. Clearly we must work together. You know how her place works and how to disable the security systems on your own, correct?
:Shredder: Yes.
:???: And you know what Ms. Replicate's plans really are, right? Careful: she's a woman of deceit.
:Shredder: I believe I know, yes, I have her files. I even know her real name.
:???: Excellent. You keep doing what you're doing Shredder, I'll check back in with you later. [cackles over the phone] By the way, you might want to make sure you're not being overheard, or this whole conversation will have been pointless. Good luck, I must return to my duty: piloting a ship of gold!
The mysterious man hangs up, leaving Shredder there on his own. As soon as he begins to take a step out, he sees something looking at him from the corner.
:Shredder: Ah, Abe. Nice to see you!
Abraham Mason silently walks into Ms. Replicate's lab, approaching Shredder.
:Abraham: How interesting. I've overheard a lot. Shredder, I cannot be responsible for your death, but I'd advise you to leave and never come back while you still can.
:Shredder: Overheard what?
:Abraham: I'm not a fool. You know what you did.
Abraham's voice sounds very dry, very dead, making it really hard for Shredder to find a way to tip the scales in his favor this time around.
:Abraham: What Ms. Replicate is doing is none of your concern.
:Shredder: I have a job to do here, Abraham.
:Abraham: A job that she's not even paying for.
:Shredder: I mean, for someone else.
:Abraham: Meddling in Ms. Replicate's plans is ill-advised, Shredder. I don't have an opinion about it, but you know the consequences for double crossing her. Don't bother.
:Shredder: You don't understand man, I need to tell this guy this info so he can pay me.
:Abraham: Does he sound remotely interested in paying you?
:Shredder: ...Neither of them do, now that I think about it.
:Abraham: Leave, Shredder. I will not tell you this a second time. You know what will happen if someone else were to catch you. You will not have a pretty death here, nor a grave.
Shredder slowly begins to go around Abraham, shivering a little bit as Abraham's eyes keep focus on his.
:Abraham: Shredder.
:Shredder: What, old man?
:Abraham: If what you know goes out to the world, you will regret it for the rest of your life. You will burn, like the profits you may or may not earn.
Abraham walks out of the room slowly, returning to his work. Shredder shudders a little bit before scampering out of the laboratories, unable to feel right in the room anymore.
:Azrail: I think I just heard him leave, that probably means he's finished installing our security systems.
:Ms. Replicate: Excellent, that means when my vessel is properly prepared, there's little of a chance anyone will be able to stop the next step in my plans! Mee hee hee hee.
:Azrail: Yeaaah. We'll see.
Both of them continue working on the final part of the machine, as the stakes continue to go higher and higher.
:4:32 P.M. · WEDNESDAY JANUARY 19th, ZXE-220
:Black Haze Studios, Kilmister Labs, Sector 1
Pierce is shown walking into a dark, cobwebby area, joining up with Vizole, Devina, and Black Eyes, who were respectively managing guitar, bass, and drums.
:Pierce: Alright you three, it's been a while since we've last played, so we'll probably be a bit rusty today. [tweaks his mic] But after all the bad stuff Mallory's been doing lately, I've come up with some new material for our first demo tape.
:Vizole: That's cool Pierce, I didn't think anyone was gonna come to this session with new stuff. [yawns, strumming a bit] Now sugar, let's hope that stuff's pretty tough.
Pierce hands Vizole a notebook, which he gladly accepts and begins looking through.
:Vizole: Yoooooooooo.
:Devina: Is it good?
:Vizole: Yeah, plenty of this will be perfect for the demo tape we'll send to Black Records down the line. [cheerfully strums] Now if we all just manage to cooperate, this session will go just fine.
Devina takes the book for herself, flipping through it. She saw page after page having blocks of lyrics.
:Devina: This is pretty cute, though I think the little doodles you did of Silver stick out the most.
Pierce tries really hard to not comment on that remark as Devina passes the book over to Black Eyes. Black Eyes takes a pair of reading glasses and looks up and down the pages of the notebook.
:Black Eyes: Damn, this is the edgiest goth stuff I've ever seen, but I love it.
:Pierce: Thanks guys, glad it works out for you three. Ignore the little Silver sketches if you can.
Pierce takes his mic again as everyone gets back to their stations.
:Vizole: I didn't really come up with anything new, but maybe if we play a bit something will come outta the blue. [giggles over his rhymes as he strums a bit] Maybe we should do a cover to start the session off?
:Devina: Well, what do we cover?
:Vizole: Uhhh.
:Black Eyes: I'd say we should cover Limp Bizk-
Devina throws a bottle of anti-depressants at Black Eyes' face, knocking him back a bit.
:Black Eyes: Nice shot...!
:Devina: Fudge berries, I don't know.
:Pierce: Hmm.
:Black Eyes: This is gonna sound really stupid, but maybe we should cover a Nickelback song. I mean, if we master one of them, we've mastered every single one of them. Am I right?
:Vizole: No, let's try for some serious suggestions guys. [shakes his head] You know how much time flies.
:Devina: I have a really unbiased pick. How about 5/4 from Gorillaz?
:Vizole: That's a pretty deep pull, Dev.
:Pierce: I don't have a problem with that one, let's do it.
Black Eyes looks a bit disappointed by this choice, but was willing to roll with it as he began practicing the rhythm on his own, getting a feel for it.
:Pierce: You know, what direction are we gonna even pull the album in?
:Devina: I was thinking we'd just play whatever was on our mind and decide whatever sounded the best to throw on the album. It's not like we had a very specific image of what we were gonna do when we signed up for this together.
:Vizole: Yeaaah, I was thinking the same.
:Black Eyes: I was thinking we'd be a heavy band, but I don't really care as long as we feel like the payoff is worth it. Hopefully we'll figure out the sound together.
:Vizole: As long as we don't ditch the guitar, I'm fine with whatever direction we pursue.
:Devina: We'll just have rock instruments at our core and pull in things like synthesizers if we need to.
:Pierce: Alright, we might as well start 'cuz Black Eyes has the beat going. Let's pretend we're the Gorillaz. I'm 2-D, uh, Vizole would be Noodle and Devina would be Murdoc.
:Black Eyes: What about Russel?
:Pierce: Literally nobody cares about Russel.
The band starts playing, with Black Eyes glaring childishly at Pierce as they begin practicing. Outside the studio, some of the ghosts Devina was talking about earlier were flying freely throughout the Kilmister Labs, making Devina shiver a bit as she concentrated on playing.
:Devina [mentally]: They're out there, I can feel them. Three, there are three particularly strong energies roaming the labs. Why are they inside here?
Devina keeps playing her bass as elegantly as possible in rhythm to the song, Vizole clearly bouncing up and down a bit as he was having fun. Pierce sounded a bit hoarse, Devina thought, but he sounded alright even if he didn't really relate to 5/4's lyrics and had trouble mouthing the choruses.
:Devina [mentally]: I don't know what they want. Or what they're looking for. Please just leave me alone, bad thoughts.
The camera focuses on the three spirits Devina was talking about. They were all hanging at the bottom of the labs' basement, namely The Manipulator, The Echeno, and The Devil's Mask. They were all sitting there around a glowing crimson circle, staring at the floor silently. After the 5/4 cover gets wrapped up, Devina looks at Black Eyes.
:Devina: Did you ever confront those two kids?
:Black Eyes: They refused to tell me anything, even after I almost strangled them to death.
:Devina: Uhh, I thought you said-
:Black Eyes: They kept making fun of my rust!
:Vizole: That was a surprisingly decent cover. Pierce, you kept acting up whenever you said "dad", so try to work on that a bit if we ever cover this random song again. [yawns again] Damn, I'm tired.
:Devina: Do you think we can play another song?
:Vizole: Oh of course, I just gotta warm up silly.
Vizole plays around with his guitar again, retuning it.
:Devina: Y'all alright with covering another Gorillaz song?
:Vizole: Alright. Which one?
:Devina: Dirty Harry, I guess? I don't have a lot of ideas today.
:Pierce: I guess that means I don't have to change my voice much. Let's roll with it.
As they begin playing, Devina couldn't help but still hear things lingering around in the basement. She noted how clean the band's sound was getting and how they were more in sync with each other this time around, but felt a lingering feeling in the pit of her stomach that wasn't gonna go away.
:Devina [mentally]: What's going on...?
Down in the basement, the spirits were holding hands. There was an uneasy breathing between them.
:The Manipulator: Brainwash.
:The Echeno: Devour.
:The Devil's Mask: Control.
:All: Repeat.
They all look at each other, then together between them. An image of Mallory seems to manifest between them, with all three spirits pointing a hand each at her.
:The Manipulator: Mercenary.
:The Echeno: Rebel.
:The Devil's Mask: Threat.
:All: Repeat.
The image of Mallory seems to grow in age as they say those words, looking pleasant and young in the eyes of the Manipulator but looking ugly and stressed in the eyes of the Devil's Mask. Then the image turns to Silver.
:All: Same fate.
The image of Silver seems to go through a similar progression. Young and naive, to fresh and free, to ugly and withered.
:The Manipulator: Wait.
:The Echeno: Seek.
:The Devil's Mask: Destroy.
:All: Repeat.
They all disappear into the ground. Devina may not have been there to witness that strange incident, but she could hear it from where she was sitting. It rings in her ears in a nasty way.
:Devina [mentally]: They say that every afternoon, but it grows louder and louder as the days pass. Is something wrong with me?
:Vizole: Good job you three, we knocked that one out of the park. Sure it didn't sound as good as the original, we don't have all the proper instruments and all, but we did the best we could in the dark.
:Devina: Thank you. [takes a deep breath] Is it alright if we, move to your other studio for the time being, Viz?
:Vizole: You're still afraid of this place being haunted, dear? Nonsense, don't shed a tear!
:Black Eyes: I think we should move though, I kinda know what she's talking about. Things are getting worse here by the day, it seems.
:Vizole: Alright, fine.
The four pack their bags, but Pierce gets up, shivering a bit.
:Pierce: I should probably get home, I need to make dinner for Silver when he gets home after an exhausting day from work. You know, it'd be kinda terrible of me if he had to make it himself.
:Vizole: You sure you wanna leave?
:Pierce: Yeah, you guys can just make instrumental tracks and stuff, I just need to spend my time on another priority right now.
:Vizole: Aight. See you around, Pierce!
Pierce leaves the room quickly, picking up his purse and getting out of the room. The rest walk out of the studio too, heading outside. The three spirits watch everyone leave the building from the depths of the basement.
:The Manipulator: 
:8:03 P.M. · WEDNESDAY JANUARY 19th, ZXE-220
:Northern Side, New Naxaz City
::
::
Silver climbs his way up the Valco Vortex, managing to find a good amount of safe ground somewhere close to the top. He finds Valerie dressed up in her Sweet Invader getup, which is skintight and covers all of her but her eyes. She's been waiting with a fishing rod and a zodiac stone, which poses as the bait.
:Sweet Invader: Hey hot stuff.
:Silver: I'm just here to do the job.
Silver kneels down next to her.
:Silver: So can you instruct me on what I'm supposed to do again?
:Sweet Invader: I'm going to lure down this zodiac stone with this fishing rod. I need you to be really fast, Silver, because we can't let the zodiac stone fall into the wrong hands. Alright?
:Silver: Got it.
:Sweet Invader: Alright. Don't worry about my identity being foiled, I destroyed the cameras that can hear this conversation so that we'd have minimal attention.
:Silver: Isn't it illegal to break cameras in this satellite?
:Sweet Invader: Not if you're the one who set them up. Now, I need you to be really quick and leap down to snatch the stone when I tell you "go", alright? I can see someone coming up here, let's back in the shadows a bit.
Silver nods as he goes back in the shadows with the disguised Valerie. They don't hear Mallory's voice, but they hear a very deep, disgruntled-sounding voice that doesn't sound anything like one of Mallory's comrades. But they can tell it's at least one of them through its loud snorting.
:Methademic: Where're you Silver? [snorts] Man, must've been too slow.
:Sweet Invader: She sent the Methademic? Interesting.
:Silver: This'll be a cinch then, because of the anti-drug bracelet.
:Sweet Invader: What?
:Silver: Look, you can ask Azrail how it works, I don't give a damn how it works as long as it helps me.
The Sweet Invader rolls her eyes. Both of them crawl up to the ledge, where they see the Methademic slowly walking about, snorting up meth like it was nothing.
:Methademic: C'mon out Silver, I have your dinner ready.
Valerie casts her line down, motioning for Silver to wait for the perfect moment. Silver quickly makes his leap when he sees the Methademic wordlessly grab the stone, with Silver crashing his face against the concrete.
:Methademic: Yay!! I have one of these stone thingies!! [snort] I'm not high, I'm not high!
:Sweet Invader: Silver! Get up! Go after him!
Silver gets back up, just in time to see the Methademic jump off the building. Silver decides to begin running down the wall, just to give himself enough time to see where the Methademic plans to go. Silver pulls out a remote as he leaps down to the sidewalk, pressing the button to summon the pod Scotch trusted him with earlier as soon as he sees the Methademic summon a pod.
:Silver: Damn it, Scotch is gonna kill me if I don't get the zodiac stone back!
The Methademic throws some meth crystals at Silver, which his bracelet deflects. The Methademic responds by trying to get away.
:Silver: Oh no you don't!
Silver climbs into the vehicle, commanding it to give chase to the Methademic's pod. Silver winds up chasing the Methademic out of the city, shooting at the Methademic's vehicle to try and blow it up. However, the Methademic keeps avoiding his attacks, mainly because the satellite's space pods are programmed to avoid collisions. Silver chases the Methademic into Sector 5, the lush jungle setting.
:Silver: You get back here!
Thankfully, Sector 5 doesn't permit space pods to go very far beyond the entrance, as it's a quieter and more nature-friendly place. However, the Methademic gets out of his pod first, running into the sector as he makes the run of his life.
:Silver: Stop!
The Sweet Invader catches up in a space pod of her own, hopping out. Both stare at each other wordlessly as they begin to chase the Methademic into the swampy area of Sector 5.
::
::
With all their best efforts, neither Silver nor the Sweet Invader were able to catch the Methademic. They last saw him sink into a very muddy lake. They couldn't tell if Mallory lived somewhere deep beneath all that mud or if he was using it to hide himself. Either way, it was too deep for them to check, and the Methademic's too heavy to just drag out.
:Silver: We were so close.
:Sweet Invader: No worries Silver, it's going to be fine. At least we have a better idea of where Mallory's hiding at, though. She must like the peace and quiet of this place.
:Silver: Yeah. I think we should just turn around now and return home.
:Sweet Invader: Before you go home, I need you to check in with Ms. Replicate first. [wags her finger] She has something that she wants to show you tonight, so I want you to go there now.
:Silver: Alright. I hope we can bond together better Val, your name kinda reminds me of my sister's but it sounds more sistery than her name does.
:Sweet Invader: Oh Silver, you're going to make me blush.
The Sweet Invader laughs as she watches Silver leave her.
:Sweet Invader: Maybe I should go check in and see how Spade's been doing.
:8:51 P.M. · WEDNESDAY JANUARY 19th, ZXE-220
:Satellite Lobby, Room #13
Silver's vehicle directs him to Ms. Replicate's location, which appears to be right in front of Pierce's house. That's unusual, Silver thought to himself, and he was surprised to see a huge machine sitting next to her as well.
:Ms. Replicate: Hey Silver, welcome home!
:Silver: Thank you!
Silver gets out of the vehicle, hugging Ms. Replicate. She smiles as she hugs him back, rubbing his back in circles before letting him go.
:Ms. Replicate: So, I've been working with an inventive lad named Azrail Neos today. You haven't really seen him yet, at least I don't think you have, but we've been working on this machine all day together. This is supposed to help you gain your memories back.
:Silver: So you're gonna check my brain?
:Ms. Replicate: Yeah, exactly. [gets behind the machine] Alright Silver, sit down on the stool on the machine's pedestal. You'll need to stand perfectly still.
Silver sits under the beam of the machine's light. Ms. Replicate begins to scan his brain, which pops up on a screen for her as a bunch of confusing and strange images. There are some memories that show clearly, but they're only ones from after his reawakening. The rest are scrambled.
:Ms. Replicate: Well this is somewhat unfortunate. [sighs] We have all your brain data in this machine now, which I'm going to upload to my computer later, but some of the memories here are super scrambled. ...Wow, you were sleeping with Pierce?
:Silver: Look, it was a defensive strategy and he came up with it.
:Ms. Replicate: I see.
Ms. Replicate keeps looking through the data.
:Ms. Replicate: I'll unscramble as much of this data as possible. Luckily, there are strands of memories that seem to be better put-together than others, so there are little bits and pieces you may have vague memory of but don't recognize as memories. I'll explain this science of this another time. At least it is working as intended, so I just worried over nothing.
:Silver: It's a shame that the results aren't what you wanted, but you tried and that's what matters, right? Thank you Ms. Replicate for your help.
:Ms. Replicate: No problem, Silver.
Silver goes to knock on Pierce's door. Ms. Replicate looked like she was going to grab him from behind, but hesitated, and chose to instead roll her machine back to the Hospital Wing. Pierce opens the door, seeing Silver standing there.
:Pierce: Oh hey Silver! How've you been?
Pierce invites Silver into the house, which he happily walks into with a skip and a hop.
:Silver: Uh, I accidentally let Mallory get ahold of the second zodiac stone, but it's alright because I have a better idea of where she lives now. Maybe a bit of universal bug spray in Sector 5 will take care of her.
:Pierce: Wow, did you just tell a joke?
:Silver: Yeah, was it funny?
:Pierce: I mean, it's probably true!
Silver and Pierce laugh a little bit.
:Pierce: There's some ravioli in the fridge that I made just for you. Just be warned, I accidentally went a little overboard with the spices.
:Silver: Did you?
:Pierce: Eh, I think you're gonna like it anyway.
Pierce walks into a back room as Silver gets his dinner out of the fridge. Pierce dials up a number on his phone.
:Pierce: Hey, Zonas.
:Zonas: Oh hey, is this Vizole?
:Pierce: Nah, this isn't Viz, this is Pierce. Pierce Hazel.
:Zonas: That rings a bell.
:Pierce: Yeah, I'm the guy who thought you were just as bad a demon as all the others in your bloodline when I got it all wrong.
:Zonas: I'd be really damned. [chuckles a bit over the phone] Why're you calling me so late? Sini's pissed off that I had to take the phone, so I'd like to get off as soon as possible.
:Pierce: I don't have anything serious on my mind, but when you got together with Sini and Adexene, what'd you do with them to treat them just right? This is a question that I'm not asking for any particular reason.
:Zonas: I just took these two gals everywhere with me. We lived on the streets for a bit, but we took advantage of that by adjusting to our environment and trying out new places. I think we had the most fun at restaurants.
:Pierce: But, how did you let them know that you loved them?
:Zonas: I never really said it to them directly 'til after we got in the relationship, but they knew that even though I was a shy boy that I'd do anything to protect them and I just accepted them for who they were. And that was enough for them.
:Pierce: Did things ever get like, weird while you three were trying to form your relationship?
:Zonas: Well, as you can expect from a three-way, it was a bit of a mess to pull together.
Zonas chuckles as Pierce grips his phone tighter.
:Zonas: But sometimes you gotta stick through the bad times if you wanna get where you wanna get. Nothing's gonna roll smoothly all the time. Remember when Azrail and Crymsia hooked up?
:Pierce: Oh yeah, that was a real train wreck wasn't it? [laughs] Yeah, that didn't work out so well, huh?
:Zonas: No it didn't, but neither were capable of rolling through the bad times and they didn't accept each other's flaws. Relationships and friendships suck if you don't really feel like the other person is doing their part as your partner or as your friend. That's what we did together, though- we played off each other's strengths.
:Pierce: Right, so even though you had some rocky moments, you're doing well with your girls.
:Zonas: Precisely! So if you wanna have a good relationship, you just gotta accept who you are, what your partners are, and move through the good times and bad times together. If things don't work out, drop it before it gets toxic. If things do work out even if things get rocky, stay pushing through. Got it?
:Pierce: Got it.
:Zonas: Anything else? Sinicini is tugging on my shoulder now, you might be hearing her growl.
:Pierce: I'm good now, I think. Thank you.
:Zonas: No problem bro. Good night!
:Pierce: Good night Zonas, stay good.
Pierce hangs up, smiling as he turns his head to Silver.
:Pierce: It's too early to act on it now, but, one of these days Silver, I'll swear we'll be together.
:9:40 P.M. · WEDNESDAY JANUARY 19th, ZXE-220
:???
Mallory was sleeping on a black couch in an undisclosed location, with her other assistants being near her and being ready to take action if necessary (though they'd like to go to sleep soon). The Methademic steps out of the shower, having been covered head-to-toe with mud.
:Methademic: Guys, guys! I just got the stone! [snorts] The stone!
:Beck: Did you?
Beck walks over to the Methademic, looking at his zodiac stone.
:Beck: Excellent.
:Mania: Heil Zin!
Mallory wakes up from her little nap.
:Mallory: What are you idiots doing up?
:Methademic: Stone! I have a stone!
The Methademic gives Mallory the zodiac stone he has. The cancer stone, it seems.
:Mallory: Impressive! I'm pretty sure that at this rate, nobody's going to stop me...
====Chapter Four: Bleed the Freak====
:4:08 A.M. · THURSDAY JANUARY 20th, ZXE-220
:Satellite Lobby, Room #13
Silver and Pierce are shown sleeping together on the latter's bed in his motel room, both dressed up in pajamas. They were holding hands in their sleep, though whether they planned on that is unclear. The satellite's lighting was dim, giving the area an appropriate nighttime atmosphere.
:Pierce [sleeptalking]: Silver you're drunk.
Silver, dead asleep, was completely oblivious to Pierce's comment. Silver turned over in his sleep, leaning on his side as a light suddenly flickered outside. It didn't wake them up, but it's shown that a figure is watching them through their room window, their hands pressed against the glass.
:Pierce [sleeptalking]: Those teeth are shiny, good lord.
:???: Someone's having a good dream over there, hehe. But looks like I gotta ruin it.
The figure's black gloves gently pushed the window up, with such precision and care that no sound was made. As if they knew how everything works around here.
:???: This'll be quick and painless.
:Pierce [sleeptalking]: Get out of the room Medea.
The figure tip-toes their way across the room, its gloved fingers flexing and twitching as they hover over the sleeping Silver. Their hands were raised high, with the figure taking deep (but quiet) breaths to prepare themselves for the next action.
:???: Good luck getting him back, Mr. Hazel. I'm taking him with me.
The figure's hands stretch down at lightning speeds to snatch Silver's body, suddenly turning out of the room and carrying him out. Silver woke up immediately, starting to make noises of panic, but the figure pulled out what looked to be a wand to magically zip his mouth shut.
:Silver: Mffphhh?? Whhh??
:???: Let's leave, sleepyhead.
The mysterious figure jumps out Pierce's window, gently shutting it and leaving Pierce alone in the room. Miraculously, none of this woke up Pierce, who just rolled over in his sleep.
:Pierce [sleeptalking]: Are you done with Silver yet?
:9:00 A.M. · THURSDAY JANUARY 20th, ZXE-220
:Kýrios' Throne Room, Admin Sector
Valerie, dressed up in a business suit and tie, walks into Kýrios' throne room, where Scotch, Kýrios, Zodiez, and Ms. Replicate were all waiting for her around a round table. She sits with them, straightening out her pink tie.
:Valerie: Alright ladies, what'd you call me in for?
:Scotch: Valerie, this is a serious meeting. I have to talk to you about the zodiac stones, because we've run ourselves into a corner yesterday and we'll be in serious danger if things continue happening the way they are.
:Ms. Replicate: I've done some heavy work over the past few days, and discovered that the Electric Eye was sabotaged by Mallory and that she has access to some top-secret information. If she continues collecting information by taking advantage of our new security systems, we're good as doomed.
:Scotch: Though you and Silver managed to discover that Sector 5 is likely where Mallory's hiding herself at, she now has access to two of the twelve zodiac stones. And through footage she's stolen from the Electric Eye, she might find where the rest remain.
Valerie nods.
:Zodiez: If she gathers the zodiac stones, she will become able to craft an incredible instrument that can and will doom us all. The zodiac stones, when together, not only grant the user the ability to conjure highly powerful and dangerous magic, but also see the past and future and purge anything that gives her fault.
:Scotch: We have the zodiac stones on this satellite because of a meeting that Kýrios and Zodiez had with the other lords of the other satellites. They all came to an agreement that if the current master of the universe were to ever threaten or destroy anything vital in this system, that we would use the zodiac stones to purge them.
:Valerie: Alright alright, chill, I already know how the zodiac stones work. [pushes her hands aside] I'm sorry that I ended up giving Mallory the second stone. Don't chastise Silver too much though.
:Scotch: Oh we won't, I'm just acknowledging it. We need to be careful with the remaining ten stones.
:Ms. Replicate: Where are they?
Scotch looks around the room first to make sure that Mallory isn't recording them and that nobody else was for that matter. Scotch then pulls out a sheet of lined paper, writing down a list of locations in cursive.
:Valerie: I love your penmanship, Scotch.
:Scotch: Thanks. So, there is one zodiac stone in every sector, including this one, three in New Naxaz City, one in the hospital wing, and one in the military base. One of the Naxaz ones and the one in the military base were stolen, so we only have ten left. Luckily, though.
Scotch grins at all of them.
:Scotch: Mallory will need all twelve zodiac stones to let her plan take effect; otherwise the zodiac stones are fairly worthless. She can conjure light magic if she has specific groups of stones, but it won't be very strong.
:Zodiez: That doesn't mean we can't be careful though, Mallory is still largely on the loose and she has a mechanic with her that might have as much potent as our Penny does.
:Scotch: Right, I'm just saying that we haven't reached the worst-case scenario yet. Let's not jump to conclusions when we've barely even started.
:Zodiez: Sorry, I've just been on edge because of how much stress all of this has been placing on me and my husband.
:Kýrios: Zodiez no fun, rock sleeper. Eyes away when she lie.
:Zodiez: At least what I perceive to be stress coming from him, anyway.
Valerie nods to all of this as she taps her fingers on the table, going deep in thought with herself. She stuffs the list of zodiac stone locations in her pocket.
:Valerie: So, I'm glad that you four decided to call me in for this discussion, but besides knowing where the zodiac stones are, what exactly did you call me in here for?
:Ms. Replicate: They called me in here because I had a proposition, and I was curious if you'd be willing to accept it, Valerie. [grins sharply] I think it'll be able to help us take out Mallory.
:Valerie: What is it?
:Ms. Replicate: So just hear me out, right? Mass-Produced Clone Corps, whereas I take individual DNA samples from willing participants and clone it to make armies upon armies of grey clones.
:Valerie: I don't know, something about that seems really sketchy to me.
:Ms. Replicate: Well how else are we going to protect the zodiac stones? You can't expect the Electric Eye to do anything more than scan locations for threats, and we can't have someone real standing there 24/7.
Valerie sighs.
:Valerie: What else can they do?
:Ms. Replicate: They can replace the guards on the street corners and be fed table scraps.
:Valerie: Doesn't this sound kind of obscene to you? Not even a little?
:Ms. Replicate: Look, they're not the real thing, nobody's going to care unless they're the real thing, and nobody will think they're the real thing because they don't look like the real thing.
:Scotch: I hate to say it, but I'm not sure what we're going to do otherwise, Val. Everything we've tried to do has failed to prevent Mallory from progressing her goals.
Valerie pulls out her hand, rolling her eyes.
:Valerie: Fine.
:Ms. Replicate: I know you'd see it my way, Valerie Heartgold.
Ms. Replicate shakes Valerie's hand, a devilish glint in her eyes.
:Valerie: What does that mean?
:Ms. Replicate: Oh nothing, you can trust me!
Zodiez looked at Ms. Replicate suspiciously. She just reviewed her about a month ago over suspicious behavior. Was it starting to finally take form, or is she being genuine but showing it through her strange personality?
:Zodiez: I suppose that ends that. Miss Replicate, you're excused.
Ms. Replicate gets up from the table, blowing a kiss to Valerie before silently leaving the room on her high heels.
:Valerie: Is there anything else you want to talk to me about, Scotch? Or Zodiez?
:Scotch: Not really, Val. But I do want you to know that I've managed to get Zodiez to tear up a lot of the lawsuits and cases you've been having to deal with in your office.
:Valerie: Thank you so much, that was killing me.
:Zodiez: No problem, Valerie. We need you focus on what's important right now, rather than what's not just unfair, but also really a low priority in the grand scheme of things. We trust you to win some of the people's trust back by helping take more action against Mallory.
:Valerie: Got it, Zodiez. Thank you, again.
:Zodiez: Of course. Love ya, Val.
Zodiez winks at her before leaning back in her seat.
:Zodiez: Both you and Scotch are excused, I don't have anything more to comment on.
Valerie and Scotch leave their seats, waving goodbye to Kýrios and Zodiez before heading down the hallway. They both quickly catch up to Ms. Replicate, who was almost outside the sector by that point.
:Valerie: If you do anything beyond our expectations, Ms. Replicate, you're gonna be knees-deep in awful crap. I don't like the look you gave me back in the office after I shook your hand.
:Ms. Replicate: Oh, don't worry about that. I've just been excited to get to work.
Ms. Replicate smirks as she takes a pod back to the hospital wing. Scotch takes the next available pod, climbing into it, but takes a look at Valerie before he leaves.
:Scotch: Valerie, I just want to say that you've been such a big inspiration for me lately. You've been kicking ass, taking names, and playing no games, and, your attitude is what's helping me keep doing my job without getting all too riled up.
:Valerie: Thank you Scotch, it really lights up my day to hear that. [smiles as she takes a different pod] I'll see you at Penny's workshop later, alright? I know you have plans to go there soon and I'd be happy to join ya!
:Scotch: Cool, let's make it happen. See you later!
Valerie and Scotch go their separate ways.
:9:28 A.M. · THURSDAY JANUARY 20th, ZXE-220
:Main Office, Satellite Lobby
Silver wakes up, but all he can see inside is a black bag. He's been stripped from his pajamas, now wearing his usual robes but also a strange new necklace. He tries to break out of the bag, wiggling around on the floor.
:???: Thank you for calling the lobby office, have a great day!
That voice, Silver thought. It was the kidnapper. He could faintly remember its voice in his sleep. But he can now tell the voice had an old lady kind of flavor, somewhat sultry but somewhat dry.
:Silver: That voice, I remember.
:???: Hello, this is Arikan Chan. ...No, we do not have a Silver Zin here. Thank you for calling, though!
:Silver: That lady.
Silver pokes his head out of the bag. He sees Arikan with her electric-blue hair, sitting next to a bigger and more muscular-looking redhead that also appeared to be a witch.
:Zia: Hey Arikan, I see Silver's head poking out of the bag.
:Arikan: Oh, he's awake?
Both witches turn around to see Silver, who's managed to crawl out of the bag. He learned that his wrists and ankles were chained, so he was kind of crawling along on the floor.
:Arikan: Good morning there, sunshine!
:Silver: ...Why am I here again?
:Arikan: Oh right, I had you captured for a reason.
Arikan cackles to herself, leaving Silver confused as he tries to break out of his shackles.
:Arikan: Now Silver, I had two things in mind for you, and I'm gonna see to it that both of those things are fulfilled.
:Silver: Look, I don't know about you, but I have some really vital work I need to do this morning.
:Arikan: That can wait, Silver!
Arikan lets out a high-pitched cackle, much to Silver's annoyance.
:Zia: Turn that frown upside down boy, it's not going to be that bad if you just keep your cool.
:Silver: Well, what do you want?
:Zia: We just need you to clean out this house a bit, alright? Then we'll let you go.
:Arikan: Oh come on, we agreed to him being a permanent maid here, Zia.
:Zia: Does he look like he wants to do any of this stuff, Arikan? Let's just do what I promised him. Besides, I think you'd like to feel thanked and appreciated after you do that brain magic on him.
:Silver: I suppose that's a fine compromise.
Arikan takes a sigh before letting off a small smile.
:Arikan: Sorry for kidnapping you Silver, it was rude of me to snatch you out of your motel room the way I did. But we've had a problem here and I thought you'd be the most appropriate person for helping us clean it up.
:Silver: I don't really care about being kidnapped, what's the mess about?
:Zia: Hmm, I think you'd be best seeing it for yourself.
Arikan and Zia get up, motioning for Silver to follow them down the hall. Silver follows them down, watching some maids clean out a bunch of rooms near Arikan's office. Did she live here?
:Silver: Are those maids?
:Arikan: Yeah, they were hired by me and they live here. I pay them to be here and live here, otherwise they'd probably prefer to be somewhere else.
:Silver: Why can't they help you clean up your mess?
:Arikan: Because it's not something we can just explain to them. But you have involvement with it, in a way, so we decided to snatch you out of Pierce's room as soon as we could.
:Zia: Arikan wanted you for more than just this, but I convinced her to get her head out of the gutter and just bring you over here for one job and one job only.
Silver nods as he follows them down to their basement.
:Silver: Oh crap.
Before Silver was an overwhelming amount of trash, with thousands of hordes of bugs feasting around a bunch of garbage spread out across the basement floor. What captured Silver's eye most, however, was what looked like a dead body on the floor. And it looked kind of familiar to him from some dozens of feet up.
:Arikan: Do you know anything about this body, Silver?
Silver takes a closer examination. He finds Mallory's body on the floor, looking pretty dead. Silver looked really shocked, his hands shaking as he looks down at her.
:Silver: What the hell?
:Arikan: She looks pretty dead, doesn't she?
Silver runs down the stairs, picking up Mallory's dead body and hoisting her up into his arms. Blood oozed out of her corpse. How long was she down here?
:Silver: This is really disgusting.
:Arikan: Do you mind if you clean up this mess, and the one surrounding her?
:Silver: I mean, yeah, I guess. Might as well get this mess cleaned up.
Silver drags Mallory's body to a bathroom below the office, placing Mallory's deceased-looking body in a tub. He sighs, unsure of how he was going to clean up the mess. He just leaves her there, going to clean up the rest of the basement.
:Silver: Is my sister really dead...??
::
::
Silver goes back up the stairs with Mallory's deceased body, looking totally wrecked by the experience.
:Silver: I, uh, cleaned the basement. Can I go now...?
:Arikan: Just one more thing! Stay right there, hocus pocus!
Arikan fires a beam of light at Silver's brain. He jolts for a second, but nothing really seems to happen.
:Arikan: Oh, uhhh. Huh, I guess my spell didn't work after all.
Silver didn't respond. He could feel just how jumbled and jigsaw-like his memories are now, and it gave him a head-splitting pain. But we get a quick glimpse into Silver's mind, where a single image manage to form: a view of his sister in his youth. Smiling. Innocent. The rest of his old memories were blurred and painful to think about.
:Silver: Mallory, she is my sister, isn't she? I got to see her young, just for a second. It's so strange.
Arikan looked confused, but Zia bumped her elbow. It's time to let Silver go.
:Arikan: Alright, I'm gonna let you go now, Silver. Uh, sorry that didn't really work out like how I was wanting it to work out, but at least I don't have to go to the basement now to clean it out.
:Silver: Don't you two have magic, anyway...?
Both were too silent to answer that.
:Silver: I thought so. Thanks for giving me my sister's body, though, god, this is weird.
Silver walks out of the office, holding Mallory's lifeless corpse across his arms.
:11:00 A.M. · THURSDAY JANUARY 20th, ZXE-220
:Vinegar Base, Satellite Lobby
:Scotch: You have what??
Silver and Scotch were sitting together in the general's office, with Mallory's corpse laid out across the table.
:Scotch: How?
:Silver: Look, this is going to be really awkward to explain, but someone invited me over to their house and they directed me to their basement, which is where I found her body like this.
:Scotch: But, it can't be the original, can it? How did she die?
Silver shrugs. He was just as clueless about this as Scotch was.
:Scotch: It's too early to call off the search though, with how advanced technology is getting on this satellite it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to say that somebody tried to fake Mallory's death.
:Silver: Right, and she still has a bunch of assistants that remain on the loose too. It just seems too odd to believe that Mallory is actually dead.
:Scotch: I'm going to ask Ms. Replicate if she can provide a DNA test on this body later before its organic components rot away, we need to compare it to a sample we collected from Mallory earlier in the week.
:Silver: That sounds good. I'm just bewildered, honestly.
Scotch looks down at the dead body. Something looked so good about seeing Mallory's body dead, but he couldn't help but feel like something about this is very off.
:Scotch: Me too. But we can't concentrate on this mystery case right now, because we have two of Mallory's assistants on the loose in Naxaz that you need to take care of. I know that it's kind of hard to believe, especially with this thing we have on our hands, but the game still isn't over.
:Silver: I'll take care of it right away, Scotch. [hops to his feet] I really need to figure out why this is all happening, anyway, because this all just seems too good to be true.
:Scotch: Right. Well, good luck Silver, I'll be right here looking over her body.
Silver nods, leaving Scotch's office. He comes across a fairly tall-looking soldier, who was decked around the waist and over the shoulder with LOTS of carelessly-placed weapons. She also had pinkish-white hair, and wore a name tag reading "MY NAME IS ןıǝʞ".
:Silver: Hey. [turns head upsidedown] ...Keil, do you mind moving out of the way?
:Keil: What?
:Silver: Didn't you hear me, miss?
:Keil: Huh? I’m Keil. Like Shaquille O’Neal, but horribly uncoordinated.
:Silver: I'm asking if you can move outta the way, I have a job to do. [points to the black badge on his outfit] I'm a mercenary! I need to do some work.
:Keil: Uhhhhh. Sure. But I really need a glass of lemonade, I'm freakin' perched here.
:Silver: You're not gonna make it easy on me, are you.
:Keil: Hmmm. [lulls eyebrows] No.
Silver rolls his eyes and tries to dig some change out of his pocket. This attracts a brown-haired boy nearby, who runs over to him while holding what seems to be a wooden stand with glasses of lemonade set on its counter, the lemonade swishing and splashing without tipping over somehow.
:Dusty: Hey, I can hear change! Are you interested in a glass of lemonade?
:Keil: I'm broke.
:Silver: Darn it, why me?
Silver stands there in frustration, giving Dusty change for a glass of lemonade and giving it to Keil. She shakes her head, passing it back to Silver.
:Silver: What?
:Dusty: What's wrong with the lemonade, miss?
:Keil: The glass isn't big enough.
Silver looks really pissed off as the camera pans away from him, showing Beck and the Methademic looking down at him from above. Beck does a bit of an evil chuckle under his helmet.
:Beck: Looks like the operation is going just as planned. If Keil keeps Silver stalled, Ferris and the Violet Reaper will be able to have enough time to go back home. Good job using your meth to distract the officers.
:Methademic: It was easssy. [snorts] Silver gonna get high on testosterone down there.
:Beck: Personally I would have just tried to assassinate Silver right there, but it's fairly amusing to watch him get torn apart by an innocent boy and girl. Brilliant planning on the Messiah's part.
:Methademic: Yeeeeeeeeeep. [snorts] This is funnny.
Silver manages to finally get Keil a tall-enough glass of lemonade with the appropriate amount of ice cubes and the perfectly-bent bendy straw. Silver managed to spend 400 ValCoins, or $20, on lemonade alone.
:Silver: Kill me.
:Keil: Thanks! Just what I wanted.
Silver bumps by them, storming outside the room. Beck looked shocked and got to his feet.
:Beck: Damn it, she was meant to keep him stalled!
:Methademic: Motherfu-[snorts]-er.
Both of them leap down and run outside before Silver can catch up, taking a pod and zooming off to New Naxaz City. Silver didn't see them, luckily for them, but he's going right their way as he takes a pod, heaving off to the city. Keil and Dusty are shown just chilling.
:Keil: You know, this drink was perfect until I noticed the sugar's a little bit off.
:Dusty: Who are you, Gordon Ramsay?
:Keil: I'm Keil, like Shaquille O'Neal, but horribly uncoordinated.
:11:20 A.M. · THURSDAY JANUARY 20th, ZXE-220
:Southern End, New Naxaz City
::
::
Silver manages to corner Beck, Ferris, the Methademic, and the Violet Reaper all into a dark alley, where Silver intimidatingly stood before all of them.
:Silver: If you don't answer this question for me, I'll make sure you're in for a whole new world of hurt, because I really need answers right now.
Silver takes out his weapon, which he finally called the "Mind Weaver", as can be seen engraved on its handle.
:Silver: Is Mallory dead?
:Beck: Uhhh, no?
:Silver: Then why the hell did I have to see her corpse this morning, in someone's random basement?
:Beck: I don't believe that Mallory is dead, Silver. But you might be if you don't let us go.
:Silver: Maybe you should see it for yourselves, but I know neither of you are going to go down without a fight.
:Beck: You have that right, Silver.
Beck charges at Silver, prompting Silver to pull his Mind Weaver before him in defense.
::
::
Silver and Beck come to a standstill, but Beck eventually goes down when Silver shoves his foot into his chest, bringing him down. Silver then proceeds to shackle his arms and legs. The Methademic holds his hands up.
:Methademic: No spirit. [snorts] Only meth. Want some?
:Silver: I'll pass on the offer.
Silver walks over to chain up the remaining three, dragging them out of the alleyway and sitting on a trash bin, looking down at his chained-down prisoners.
:Silver: Explain to me what Mallory is up to and what she's going to do, if she really is alive.
:Beck: I haven't seen Mallory in a while, she said that she went off on vacation. But I believe she is alive.
:Silver: What?
:Beck: Yeah, Mallory said she was taking a vacation from all of this crap and that she'd be back in a bit. She said that she was gonna go meet up with some crazy lady or something on a note she left on her microwave.
:Ferris: I'm pretty sure I'd hear about it really fast if my mom really was dead.
:Beck: Mallory isn't your m-
:Ferris: Shut up! My real mom's stupid compared to her!
Silver looks at Beck curiously, then the Methademic.
:Silver: How about you, meth man?
:Methademic: Mallory's alive. [snorts] She can't die.
Silver sighs, shaking his head.
:Silver: I'm taking all of you to prison. Have fun there for me, will ya? Can't have you guys making more trouble than there needs to be.
Silver wraps a net around them, beginning to drag them along back to prison. Little did he know how interesting things were going to get for him today.
:Beck: You sure the dead body was Mallory's?
:Silver: Sure looked like it. Her skin's just as smooth as mine is.
:Beck: Yeah. [quietly] Mmm.
Ferris was trying to fight his chains, but to no avail, beginning to sweat and pant as he attempted to bust his way free.
:Ferris: Let me go...!
:Silver: Not a chance. All four of you are remaining in prison until further notice.
:Methademic: This kinda sucks. Don't you agree, Beck?
The snorting coke addict looks to his left, but Beck's eyes were affixed on Silver's head.
:Methademic: Beck??
:2:49 P.M. · THURSDAY JANUARY 20th, ZXE-220
:Penny's Workshop, New Naxaz City
Much later in the day, Scotch and Valerie were seen inside a steel workshop, where Penny Wisyneat could be seen writing down blueprints for future satellite innovations. Scotch and Valerie were seated very patiently, as if waiting for a chance to speak.
:Penny: Alright, sorry about being so busy, I've just been trying to come up with ways to better the satellite's defenses after all this wild and crazy Mallory stuff's been happening. I haven't been able to come up with much though, unfortunately, because it seems like Mallory's current offensive strategies very easily break anything I can come up with!
:Scotch: No it's fine, we really appreciate that you're on top of this.
:Penny: Mallory is an exceptional nemesis, that's for sure...! Eventually we'll figure out how to dismantle her current plans, but if we want to dismantle anything beyond those, we need to get our hands on some Mallorian tech.
Penny scratches her head.
:Penny: But I don't even know who's responsible for building all those mechs! I never got the impression that Mallory was a tech god, at least.
:Valerie: According to our findings, she has a mechanic named Mania Metallurgy, who specializes in inventing and destroying all the same. She's kinda like her sister Mindy, but way more destructive.
:Penny: Ah, I see. I should meet this Mania person.
Penny hums as she passes off some blueprints.
:Penny: The only possibly ideal thing I could come up with is this blueprint for a special robot, which could go around the satellite and attach laser systems to the Electric Eye's cameras, but the problem is that Mallory can use them if she hijacks him again. [folds her arms] Unless we go with the facial recognition thing, permitting only the Electric Eye's open eyes to use the lasers, but that'd be expensive.
:Scotch: I don't think we can really invest money into that at the moment, we're already in a bad states of affairs financially because most of our money was used on defenses and we owe a LOT of money to Satellite 7, which we borrowed soldiers from a month back.
:Penny: Understandable. We're not really in a situation to ask other satellites for help at this point.
Penny keeps looking through her blueprints for something she can salvage for her guests.
:Penny: I'm afraid the only solution I have is to simply blow up Sector 5, which would be really risky considering we don't know how fast she can travel or if she can escape the wreckage alive.
:Valerie: Yeah, that's not a good strategy. Are you sure you have nothing else?
:Penny: Nothing. But if you were to ever get those two zodiac stones back from Mallory, we could gather the rest from their usual locations to make a weapon that can purge her out of existence with a single shot.
:Scotch: Considering we know very little about where Mallory actually lives, we can just hold that thought for now.
:Penny: Mhm.
Penny sighs, leaning her elbow on the table.
:Penny: According to a report from the Nature Warrior that I just got on Risquord, she currently has Beck 82-99, the Methademic, and those two brats in jail. That means that we have yet to find the Messiah, Mania Metallurgy, and Mallory herself. The thing is, where could they be?
:Valerie: They're obviously in Sector 5, judging from that little accident trip Silver and I had, but we just don't know where.
:Scotch: This conversation just isn't going to go anywhere, is it?
The conversation paused when Scotch said that.
:Scotch: The most interesting thing to me is that Mallory's dead body was brought to my office today, but there's still chaos going amok on the satellite and we can't clarify it's actually her. What the devil is going on here?
:Valerie: Hey, your phone's ringing.
Scotch's phone was indeed ringing. He picks it up, hearing some giggling on the other end.
:Scotch: Who's this?
:Ms. Replicate: Surprise Scotch, it's me! It's Ms. Replicate, with a report ready for ya!
:Scotch: What's the results?
:Ms. Replicate: They're one and the same, so I think you have found the one and only Mallory.
Scotch looked pretty bewildered.
:Scotch: Are you sure?
:Ms. Replicate: I'm positive. Why would there be more than one Mallory?
Behind Ms. Replicate at her lab, one could see several clones of characters like Valerie, Scotch, Devina, Crymsia, Hector, and Zonas.
:Scotch: Wait a minute, you said earlier that you wanted to make these clone corps or whatever to protect us. Did you clone Mallory of all people?
:Ms. Replicate: No, no! When you showed me that image and that body sample, that was Mallory in full color. The clones I was talking about earlier would be all greyscale!
:Scotch: Right, you did say that. Still a mystery, I guess.
:Ms. Replicate: Give up while you're ahead. I'm pretty positive that Mallory is dead!
:Scotch: You have a bad reputation, Ms. Replicate, I wouldn't be so-
She hangs up on him. Valerie and Penny look at him.
:Penny: Well?
:Scotch: Uh, Ms. Replicate said that the sample of the Mallory I gave her and an older sample of her hair have the exact same DNA strands.
:Valerie: That doesn't sound like a straight lie, but something's still off.
:Scotch: Yeah. I'm gonna find out soon, I hope.
:5:32 P.M. · THURSDAY JANUARY 20th, ZXE-220
:Peppertown, Sector 5
The construction of a purple stone church was happening over in Sector 5, with the Leper Messiah and Mania Metallurgy being left to oversee its construction. Rollies and Bullies wearing purple construction gear were on the scene, helping place it all together.
:Leper Messiah: Sunday will be an important day, Mania.
:Mania: Yeah.
:Leper Messiah: I wish I knew where Mallory was though, I knew she wanted to see the grand opening of the Mallorian Church for herself. At least we already have some devoted fans.
Not even Mallory's own messiah knew where she was hiding. Nearby was Gonzalo from New Naxaz City, who was laying back in a beach chair and helping observe this church, which he funded according to the advertising billboards surrounding the building.
:Gonzalo: I'd tell you where Mallory is, but I'd rather not get in trouble. Nyeh heh heh.
:Leper Messiah: What do you know, Gonzalo?
:Gonzalo: I can't tell you, I just know. I've had a nice, long talk with this sweet little angel, we'll call him Shredder. [snickers] He won't tell you either. But we know where she is.
:Leper Messiah: How helpful, I'm building a church in her name and you're not bothering to help even a little?
Gonzalo laughs as he stretches his limbs out, using his Devil's Mask paper mache toy to fan himself.
:Gonzalo: Nobody but us know where she is, Messiah, and it's going to stay that way. [smirks] It's amusing how there's a story running in the newspaper about Mallory being dead in someone's basement.
:Leper Messiah: What?
:Gonzalo: You heard me. Take a look at the news for yourself! It's not my job to teach you everything, you know.
:Leper Messiah: You're just tricking me, I know it.
The Leper Messiah takes a newspaper that Gonzalo passes off to him. It's indeed true- there are a lot of real photos of this deceased Mallory's corpse. The Messiah looked disgusted, but you couldn't tell it by his mask.
:Mania: I can keep an eye on this church, Messiah, you can do some observing if you want.
:Gonzalo: If you look closely, you can see Silver's name, he's involved in all of this.
The Leper Messiah looks at the paper. Indeed, Silver was in the newspaper, and was the one that found the body. The Messiah gets up, walking away from them.
:Gonzalo: Where are you going?
:Leper Messiah: I'm going to his current residence in the satellite lobby. I need to talk all of this out with him, because this is all really confusing to me.
:Gonzalo: Alright, I'll watch over this thing with Mania.
:Leper Messiah: If you see Mallory around here, tell her I'm not in the mood for any of her crap tonight and to go back home. Thank you.
The messiah storms off, leaving Gonzalo and Mania alone together.
:Gonzalo: So, Mania, are you single?
:Mania: Uhhh.
:Gonzalo: That wasn't a question.
:Mania: I'm gonna follow the Messiah out, see ya later!
Mania follows the Messiah out to the satellite lobby, leaving the Messiah there alone.
:6:03 P.M. · THURSDAY JANUARY 20th, ZXE-220
:Satellite Lobby, Room #13
Silver was sitting on Pierce's bed, waiting for him to return.
:Silver: I really wish Pierce didn't have to go rehearse with Black Haze, because I could really talk to someone right now about how odd and confusing things are getting.
Silver looks at a picture of Pierce on the wall. It was the only photo in the house, and it was just of Pierce in prison with Ms. Replicate.
:Silver: Like, I'm starting to really sick of all the mysteries surrounding Mallory, they keep building up and I'm left to deal with all this pressure. How is any of that even remotely fair?
Silver sits down, thinking about it all.
:Silver: I just wake up randomly and I'm put right to work, and I've been having to do the same repetitive work over the past couple of days while questions surface way more frequently than answers. Who am I, why am I here, and why is my sister ruining this beautiful place?
Silver grumbles as he hops off the bed, pulling a bowl of ravioli out of the fridge and microwaving it. He sits alone, waiting for Pierce to come back as he sighs in boredom.
:Silver: I just wanna go home, but I don't even know what home is. This place, I guess, but they don't want me here after my sister disappears. Do I even want to know what home is?
Silver takes his food out of the microwave, vacuuming it up in his mouth. He sighs, going to look at himself in the mirror. He looked better than he did when he woke up, but to him, he still looked hideous.
:Silver: Disgusting. I look revolting.
Silver places his hands on Pierce's mirror, sighing and looking unhappy.
:Silver: I wonder if I make anyone happy.
:???: Can't tell you now.
Silver opens his eyes. He sees himself in the mirror begin to animate independently from him. What made this mirror self look differently from him was the glowing white eyes, which shone really brightly.
:Silver: Wha?
:Mirror Silver: Silver, you make me so angry, so restless. Three of us, all three. But... there are those who smile when your name is spoken.
:Silver: What's going on here? Who are you? Leave my reflection!
The eyes of Silver's reflection lull, but it doesn't budge, keeping its hands on Silver's.
:Mirror Silver: Silver, Sector 1. Kilmister Labs. We wait with open arms.
:Silver: Who is we?
:Mirror Silver: Can't tell you now. No names.
:Silver: Are they, good people?
:Mirror Silver: We have reason.
Silver takes a deep breath, keeping his eyes on his mirror self. It eventually lets go of Silver's hands, looking at him directly in the eyes.
:Mirror Silver: Mercenary.
:Silver: I'll think about it. Do you mind if I just try to think this all over?
:Mirror Silver: No time. Tomorrow.
:Silver: Tomorrow?
:Mirror Silver: 
Suddenly, there was a knocking on Silver's door. Silver's reflection turns back to normal as Silver runs away from the mirror to answer the door. Before him was the Leper Messiah, who immediately pinned Silver to the wall.
:Silver: Wha-??
:Leper Messiah: What the scallop did you do with Mallory? Where is she?
:Silver: I took her corpse up to the military base...! It should be in Scotch's possession!
The Messiah releases his grip on Silver, dropping him down to the floor.
:Leper Messiah: Can you explain to me what went on?
:Silver: I didn't really want to talk crap about her, but Arikan kidnapped me early this morning and made me clean out her basement, explaining there was a random dead body down there. It was apparently Mallory's body? I got freaked out, so I took it up to Scotch. That's all I remember.
:Leper Messiah: I don't think that was Mallory's real body, then. [looks at Silver] Hmm. Do you mind if you invite me in?
:Silver: Promise you won't do anything bad here?
:Leper Messiah: Yes, yes, I'm not here to start a ruckus, my friend.
Silver nods, letting the Messiah into his house. He takes a spot on Pierce's bed, sitting on it and taking a deep breath. He looks at Silver, who shuts the door and sits on the bed next to him.
:Leper Messiah: Sorry about the aggressive hold I gave you, I'm just concerned for Mallory's well-being. I haven't seen her in several hours now and she hasn't responded to any of our calls.
:Silver: That's so weird Messiah, I thought she would have trusted someone like you with her future plans.
The Messiah sighs, taking off his mask. He had a lot of scars on his face and was missing his right eye. He sits closer to Silver.
:Cody: Yeah, I thought she would have too, because we're a couple for lord's sake. [sighs, pulling a beer from his pocket] You can just call me Cody by the way, I don't really want you to call me Messiah.
Silver nods.
:Silver: Alright Cody.
:Cody: We've been together for a month.
A flashback plays of Mallory finding Cody on the streets, who looked starved and malnourished and unable to find a job, with Mallory's wrinkled hand being stretched out to him.
:Cody: Mallory isn't the sweetest woman I've ever met, but she paid me well and she had a weird charisma that I'm not able to explain really well. [leans his head down] She's really poorly understood. I don't think it'd be good for me to tell you about her thoughts and feelings though, so I won't.
:Silver: I won't pry for anything that I don't need to know.
:Cody: Thanks.
Silver looks up at Cody's face.
:Silver: Are you alright, Cody?
:Cody: I'm fine. I got in a knife fight with an anti-Mallorian folk that attacked me on sight for who I was. The political factions here are messed up.
:Silver: I don't know enough about this satellite's politics to agree, but the authorities here are pretty weak. They're very demanding and I feel like there's no payoff from whatever I do.
:Cody: You never feel happy when you punish somebody from Mallory's forces?
:Silver: I don't want anything to do with Mallory, the authorities are just making me do that stuff just because.
:Cody: Maybe you should just learn to think and speak for yourself, you know?
:Silver: Aren't you a messiah?
:Cody: Yes, but I've never been interested in making a hivemind. Mallory has been, though. Still... [smiles] I definitely think you should think for yourself. You're a smart kid.
:Silver: You're not bad yourself, you know?
Both of them bump fists.
:Silver: Just so it's clear, I know you're from the side I'm working against, but I have nothing against you really. Or any of the others, if I'm being honest. My gripe is with the authorities.
:Cody: Why? We annoyed you pretty hard, haven't we?
:Silver: What's more annoying to you, fighting someone neat for the first time or being told to investigate someone that hasn't been proven to do much if any damage whatsoever?
:Cody: I suppose I can see what you mean.
Cody lays back on Pierce's bed, sighing as he places the mask back on.
:Cody: You know Silver, I don't think you're that bad either. You just seem really confused and unsure of what to do. I'd be happy to get to know you better in a safe space at some point, where nobody would bother us.
:Silver: That'd be really cool.
:Cody: You mean it?
:Silver: Of course I mean it man.
Cody grins under his mask.
:Silver: Man, people have trouble thinking for themselves, huh?
:Cody: Yeah. You're different than the people you work with. I like that.
Suddenly, a loud rasping on the window shakes both of them up. As they get up, they see Pierce looking through the glass!
:Silver: Ah crap.
Pierce gets on his phone, making Silver start to hyperventilate a little. Oh no. He let the Leper Messiah in Pierce's home, there's no context for Hazel as for why he's here, and this is probably toying with his little heart.
:Cody: Calm yourself, Silver. Let's get the hell out of here.
Silver nods, letting Cody grab him as the messiah opens up the window and begins to run away from Pierce. Pierce was panicking, trying to call Zonas.
:Pierce: Zonas, ZONAS. Wake up! I see the Leper Messiah out in the satellite's lobby, and he's got Silver with him! They were on my bed of all places!
:Silver: Move!
Cody nods, running through the lobby with Silver under his arm.
:Cody: This is gonna be a rough ride Silver!
::
::
The messiah successfully runs off with Silver, hopping inside a space pod.
:Cody: Hey, Silver, I recommend closing your eyes. I can't let you see where we're going. Open your eyes when I don't say so, and I'll probably kill you.
Silver nods. Cody drives the space pod away before Zonas and Pierce could catch up to them with the rest of the police, taking them into Sector 5. Pierce looks really shaken particularly.
:Pierce: ...Is that how it's gonna be...?
Pierce looked like his eyes could water up. He wheels his way back to his house in feelings of shame and humiliation, his cheeks red. Zonas tried to stop him, but couldn't. Mania isn't early enough to catch them leave, and is frozen by Zonas on the spot. Just Cody and Mallory need to be caught now, but things are still looking glum.
:8:00 P.M. · THURSDAY JANUARY 20th, ZXE-220
:C.O.T.S. Laboratories, Hospital Wing
Ms. Replicate smirks as she sits at a table with Noise, Yama, and Abraham, with the nurses look uncomfortable and Abraham looking typically stoic.
:Ms. Replicate: So if I gave you this zodiac stone, how much more of your family's DNA will you be willing to transfer over to me? [wiggles the Scorpio stone tauntingly]
A loud snickering could be heard from the other end of the table, which the game camera moves to, showing Mallory in fancy purple robes.
:Mallory: Mine, Silver's, our parents' and our grandparents'. We have a very rich family history you can make use of, Ms. Replicate, so I don't see the harm in letting you access as much of it as you want.
:Ms. Replicate: Excellent. I knew I was making the right choice when I made that full-color clone of you earlier, there's so much potential I've yet to tap into.
:Mallory: Oh you don't have to go make me blush like that Repli, I know how much potential I have. [smiles wickedly] When are you going to give me that stone, though?
:Ms. Replicate: Oh, if you don't mind, I really need you to be here longer so I can sample more of you. You know how rich your DNA is? It's also unstable, I need a lot of backups, and I'm talking lots!
Ms. Replicate grins wide.
:Ms. Replicate: Now, I'd use Silver's DNA, but I haven't gotten a chance to have him in the lab in a while, so I'm gonna have to use you instead, is that clear?
:Mallory: Now just wait a minute here. [leans back] I'm not sure how I fee-
Mallory hears her phone vibrate. Grumbling, Mallory pulls it out and sees the Messiah having messaged her while she's in offline mode on Risquord. She rolls her eyes, but jumps up when she sees what the Messiah sent her- an image of Silver at her home!
:Mallory: On second thought, yes, I will be happy to stay here a bit longer for the stone. [folds her arms] Then when I go back home, I'm going to bring Silver straight to you, because he's actually at my place now! He can't back out of this.
:Ms. Replicate: Excellent proposition Mallory, I like the way you think. [holds out her hand] C'mon, can you shake my hand a bit?
:Mallory: My pleasure.
Mallory reaches her hand out to shake Ms. Replicate's hand, shaking it. She practically crushes the Zin's hand, with the bone crackling really making Yama look uncomfortable.
:Mallory: Good lord, what's in that hand?
:Ms. Replicate: Ooh, I just have an iron grip, that's all. Excitement builds a lot of iron, don't you know?
:Mallory: I guess, I never cared much for science.
Mallory smirks as she gets up, looking at the widely grinning Replicate.
:Mallory: Alright, I'm going to your guest bedroom for the night, I'll be up for more experiments in the morning. Then I want to go back home and move on with my plans. Alright?
:Ms. Replicate: You're in such a rush, it almost hurts. But it'll be fine by me! I get to have my hands on Silver later, too.
Noise looks up at Ms. Replicate. She can't shake off something was off about her boss- sure Ms. Replicate was always weird, but she's been acting almost bloodthirsty for the Zins' DNA over the past few days.
:Mallory: See you tomorrow. Heh.
Mallory walks off into the guest bedroom, leaving Ms. Replicate and her assistants at the table.
:Noise: You alright Ms. Replicate?
:Ms. Replicate: Ooh yeah girls, I'm fine, I'm just really looking forward to my secret schemes. You know the ones, I can't tell them around this Mallory woman, but you damn better know how much I look forward to executing them!
:Noise: I see.
Ms. Replicate smirks, getting up.
:Ms. Replicate: The breeding project's time is near, I can feel it. It'd be like Chimera Hazel, but if I executed it correctly.
:Noise: Do you need anything before we go to bed, Ms. Replicate?
:Yama: Yeah, can we do anything for you?
:Ms. Replicate: Mmm, no. Run along girls, I have some secret plans I need to do alone tonight, oh ho ho. When I'm done doing what I want to do, everyone's gonna be so messed up, besides you three.
:Abraham: Exciting.
Ms. Replicate smirks, watching the three of them go out of her office, leaving this insane mastermind alone to work. She opens up her purse, looking at a picture of Silver.
:Ms. Replicate: Soon, you're going to be mine.
:9:17 P.M. · THURSDAY JANUARY 20th, ZXE-220
:Ocean Manor, Sector 2
Scotch is shown sitting alone on a bed, looking kind of glum as he sat down weakly on a cot. He saw Oshelia Eau, his ex-wife, walk over to him with a glass of water.
:Oshelia: Hey Scotch, is something wrong? You look kinda off.
:Scotch: I'm fine, I'm just not sure what to do anymore. It seems like every path just leads me to nowhere, mmmm.
:Oshelia: I'm sorry about that.
Oshelia sets down his glass of water, walking away from him to turn on the light.
:Oshelia: It must be really hard commanding a whole army on top of helping handle a lot of administrative matters.
:Scotch: I mean, definitely, but I just feel helpless because I don't know how to help Silver get any answers and I don't know how to get rid of Mallory, and a lot of issues are just stacking up on me.
Scotch sighs.
:Scotch: I don't mean to bother you with this stuff though, I came here just to relax.
:Oshelia: Don't worry, I'm over our fight.
A flashback plays of Scotch and Oshelia fighting each other with broken ends of beer bottles.
:Oshelia: I don't really mind having you around anymore as long as you remain sober.
Scotch nods. He's been abstaining from alcohol for several weeks and was proud of himself for staying sober, but he worries that he'll eventually get back into the habit of things keep getting worse.
:Scotch: Yeah, I think you can count on me to remain sober, Oshelia.
:Oshelia: Good, I really don't wanna go through that ever again.
Oshelia sits down at a desk, writing down notes on a sheet of paper. A quick overhead view shows they're about a specific undersea dwelling species from Satellite 14.
:Oshelia: Scotch, I don't know what's really going on because I've been trying to stay away from all the chaos that's been running amok the satellite, but I promise things are going to eventually wind up being okay. You'll just have to stick through the chaos as best as you can, and don't take your life.
:Scotch: You don't have to add that last part in there anymore.
:Oshelia: I know, but sometimes I still worry you'll do it. You weren't the easiest husband to take care of, you know.
Both of them share weak laughter.
:Scotch: Yeah, sorry about that, my head wasn't in a good place then.
:Oshelia: So, how's your boyfriend?
:Scotch: He's still on vacation at Satellite 3, he says he's having a lot of fun here. I've heard that place has a lot of historic memorials and vaporwave walkways, but I've yet to see any images from it. I miss him.
:Oshelia: Yeah, I can see that. Sorry that you haven't been able to see him lately though.
:Scotch: That's fine. That's why I'm here, actually.
:Oshelia: Well, it is good to see you again, Scotch. I'm glad you're looking healthier, even if you don't sound that much better since last time we spoke.
:Scotch: Same back to you, it's good to hear from you again.
Oshelia smiles as she keeps working. She then jumps a bit in her seat.
:Oshelia: Oh, by the way. My distant relative Clair wanted me to give this to you.
Oshelia gets up, handing Scotch a silver bracelet. He looked confused, but smiled quickly.
:Scotch: What's this?
:Oshelia: It's a good luck charm. I know, it sounds really cliché, but, we feel bad for you, we just wanna do whatever it takes to put a smile on your face. I can't focus on you much because of this special species, but...
Oshelia smiles again, a bit wider.
:Oshelia: I still care for you. I'm glad we're still on good terms.
:Scotch: Me too. Thank you for this, Oshelia.
:Oshelia: No problemo, I'll pass the message to Clair. Good luck out there, Scotch. Do you wanna spend the night here?
:Scotch: I'll take my leave, but. [gulps the water] Thank you for the water and kind words. Your voice is really soothing and refreshing to hear after spending hours of hearing Zodiez's grating voice in my ear.
:Oshelia: Of course! Glad I could help.
Scotch gets up.
:Scotch: See you later.
:Oshelia: See ya!
As Scotch leaves, Oshelia returns to her paper.
:Oshelia: Now to finish writing this commission for this mysterious Medea Neos person...
====Chapter Five: So Far Under====
:6:57 A.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:???
Silver stirs on some purple sheets, yawning as he tiredly sits up.
:Silver: Hey Cody, thanks for letting me hang around here. [shivers a bit] It's really cold in here though, how do you guys survive when it's like this?
:Cody: We all wear some pretty outrageous outfits, which happen to protect us from the cold. Mallory's been complaining about getting a heater though, as trying to sleep here can be an unforgiving experience.
Cody laughs a bit, flicking on the light.
:Cody: Sorry if it was weird to sleep on your sister's bed though. We don't really have a guest bedroom here.
:Silver: Now that you mention it, that is weird.
Silver hops off the mattress.
:Silver: Ew.
:Cody: I don't really know if Mallory is alive or not because she hasn't been responding to any of my text messages and all the theories sprouting about her wellbeing, but I think her vacation is supposed to end today.
:Silver: Oh cool, maybe I can finally give Mallory a piece of my mind.
:Cody: That's if she's still alive, and for all we know, she might not be.
Cody yawns and walks out of Mallory's room. Silver follows him out, where he sees Cody make himself a bowl of cereal. They looked like knock-off Cheerios, only cherry red.
:Cody: You're free to do whatever around here really, because nobody else is home to otherwise scold you, but I wouldn't take anything outside the house. [looks at Silver] You understand that, right?
:Silver: I'm not here to make trouble, so yeah I understand.
:Cody: Good.
Cody walks over to Mallory's fridge, pulling out a red-capped milk jug and pouring the milk in the bowl before the cereal. Something about that looked off to Silver.
:Silver: You sure you don't pour in the cereal first?
:Cody: It's a family tradition to pour the milk first.
:Silver: How am I supposed to trust someone that's so wrong?
Cody shrugs as he places in his spoon and begins eating.
:Cody: Silver, I have to instruct you to not leave Mallory's house until I say it's okay for you to. Right now the police are looking for us, your career as a mercenary might be over.
:Silver: What?
:Cody: Look, if the police find us, there's no way you're going to be trusted again as a mercenary because you were caught hanging out with me. [shakes his head] I'm sorry, I should have been more considerate of whose place I was at.
:Silver: I'm pretty sure if I just explained to the authorities what was going on, I can continue doing my work. I don't think it's going to be that big of a deal.
:Cody: I'm just cautious, Silver. I don't want either of us to wind up in prison, Mallory would be pissed if she found out that all of her elite soldiers were imprisoned.
:Silver: Right, I'll stay here. I guess.
:Cody: Coolio, don't feel afraid to look around a bit.
Cody finishes his bowl of cereal, placing the emptied bowl of cereal in the sink. Cody walks off to what looks like the living room. Silver decides to wander back into Mallory's room.
:Silver: There has to be something of value here.
Silver looks under the bed, seeing a tied-up and taped-over policemen that was writhing underneath the bed. Silver ignores his muffled pleas for help and turns his attention to Mallory's bookshelf.
:Silver: Aha.
Silver walks over to the bookshelf, looking through the books. The books were in alphabetical order by book name, making it easy for Silver to find keywords that matter to him. He eventually stumbles across a name that struck a chord with him: "DIARY".
:Silver: Do I...
Silver takes the diary out of Mallory's bookshelf with a bit of hesitation. He then pries it open, flipping through the pages. He didn't look really satisfied with what he was looking at, mainly because not a lot of this diary's material was related to him, but he did come across something interesting to him: an image of him listening to music with his sister on a date that he recognizes as being roughly thirteen years ago. The headphones extended out of his robes.
:Silver: I wonder?
Silver reaches into his robe pocket, finding a bag inside his robes that he hasn't opened since reawakening. He pulls out an iPod, a set of headphones, and a charger. He looked fairly baffled as he clicked his iPod on, showing he was last playing some Blue Öyster Cult.
:Silver: Maybe when I get back home, I should listen to what's on this device with Pierce. If Pierce is willing to trust me after that little incident, of course.
Silver places his iPod away after shutting it off, looking further through the diary. He now finds a picture of him training before a strange four-eyed figure with strange clothes and feet. The caption read, "Silver training with his girlfriend". Silver had a love life?
:Silver: What could I have been training for? This little diary reveals so much, but so little.
Silver continues flipping through the diary, hoping he'd find something that'd really change things for him. But only one more image captures his eye: a strange-looking figure with his skin and hair kneeling and crying while holding two babies, surrounded by seven strangely-dressed individuals and having a really tall and threatening-looking reaper standing over him. The caption read, "Saliva vs. Morticia and the Virtues".
:Silver: Who in the world is Saliva?
:Cody: Having fun over there?
Silver wheels his head around, realizing Cody was watching him fumble through Mallory's diary. He has his arms folded.
:Silver: Okay, look, I'm sorry, I got really curious.
:Cody: Just put that back on the shelf. Let's hope you didn't ruffle up the book.
Silver places the book back on the shelf.
:Cody: Look, I know you're really curious about your past, but I wouldn't go looking through Mallory's possessions for answers. Surely there has to be a more sensible way of finding them.
:Silver: You're right. [looks away] Was I really a mercenary back then? Who was I dating? Who's Saliva and who're the Virtues?
:Cody: Not to sound like an unhelpful douchebag, but I don't know anything about your past because Mallory keeps all that information to herself. The most I know is that you really hurt her.
:Silver: I suppose you don't know how?
:Cody: I don't. I'm sorry, I don't really know how I can help you. I just don't want you to get caught by and punished by Mallory for doing these kinds of things.
:Mallory: Caught and punished by me for what?
Silver and Cody both jump as Mallory suddenly walks into the bedroom. Her pupils narrow when she sees Silver in her bedroom, the forked tongue in her mouth sloshing as she stares intensely at her sibling.
:Mallory: You.
:Silver: Me. Aren't you dead?
:Mallory: No, I'm not.
Mallory advances on Silver, looking at him. She stretches out her hands, showing her wrinkled and shriveled hands, which looked much worse than Silver's perfectly smooth ones. Cody backs out of the room a little.
:Mallory: I knew you were here, I just wasn't expecting you to still be here. Well what are you waiting for? Aren't you going to shake your sister's hands out of gratitude for her letting you be here, out of trouble?
:Silver: Uhh.
Silver holds Mallory's hands, looking at her. Silver looked kind of petrified.
:Mallory: Silver, it is so nice to see you again.
:Silver: I guess it's nice to see you too?
:Mallory: You better listen to me right now, Silver. [lets go of his hands] You are going straight to Ms. Replicate's lab as soon as you can. Is that clear? I will hurt more people than just you if you mess this up.
:Silver: Sounds... good to me. I don't know why you're not killing me right now.
:Mallory: I made a deal with that Replicate person, and it requires you be alive, so I can't do anything I've been wanting to do to you for weeks.
Mallory turns her attention to Cody.
:Mallory: Where is everyone else, Messiah?
:Cody: They're all locked up in prison, miss. I couldn't do anything about it.
Mallory turns her head to Silver.
:Mallory: You little troublemaker.
:Silver: It's not my fault I was chosen to be a mercenary, Mallory! Either I became a mercenary, became a janitor, or got chucked out to die in space!
:Mallory: Maybe you should have died.
Mallory grabs Silver's hand, taking him to a back room, throwing him into an escape pod.
:Cody: Wait, the police are looking for him!
:Mallory: I don't give a crap. He's not welcome here, he never will be. Next time we meet Silver, I'm going to kill you.
Mallory slyly grins as she hits an eject button.
:Mallory: That's a promise.
Mallory launches Silver out of her home. Cody tries to run over to stop her, but he was too late. Silver was gone.
:7:40 A.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:C.O.T.S. Laboratories, Hospital Wing
Ms. Replicate and her assistants were hanging out together in Replicate's lab, sitting around a table and discussing plans for the future.
:Ms. Replicate: It looks like the experiments I've done with Mallory over the past twenty-four hours have been a success! I think we've managed to perfect our cloning technique.
:Noise: Good work, boss. You just need Silver's DNA samples, right?
:Ms. Replicate: Oh, I already have some samples of Silver's DNA, but I need him to be here physically. [giggles, playing with Noise's chin] Things are going to get much more interesting from here.
:Noise: Right.
:Ms. Replicate: What really intrigues me is the state of the satellite right now, they're still working on improving the satellite's defenses and making it Mallory-proof, but I must ask something. [sharply beams] How much pressure can they take until they crack?
Ms. Replicate lets off a hard laugh.
:Ms. Replicate: Now if you two gals pay close attention to me, I'll tell you my plans and what we're going to do. [rolls out a list of things to do] Little did Scotch and Zodiez know how little I was on board with their plans and how I was just using my status as a high-ranking team player to get what I want.
Ms. Replicate snickers as she lets go of Noise's chin, picking up Abraham's instead.
:Ms. Replicate: They're all fools, aren't they Abe?
:Abraham: I guess.
:Ms. Replicate: Tch, you're really no fun.
Ms. Replicate lets go of his chin, returning her eyes to the paper.
:Ms. Replicate: I've gathered as much material as I possibly could for the breeding project, and it turns out that I'm just about ready to carry those plans out. [rubs her hands together] But I'll wait on showing you three what I've been up to until I've read out everything on this list.
:Noise: What's on the list?
:Ms. Replicate: We need to break all of Mallory's associates out of jail first, because we need to apply as much pressure against the authorities as possible.
:Yama: How do you w-want us to help with that, Ms. Replicate?
:Ms. Replicate: Oh neither of you girls will have to get involved, I'm gonna frame Silver for it.
Both gals gasped as Ms. Replicate reaches under the table, pulling out a greyscale clone of Silver out on the table. He was awake and breathing, but he wasn't making any movements.
:Ms. Replicate: I've used up all the ink in my ink machine, so he's doesn't look completely like the original, but you're not gonna be able to tell them apart in the dark.
:Yama: So he's gonna break Mallory's crew out of prison?
:Ms. Replicate: Yes! That's the plan; to pressure the authorities into taking care of this Silver imposter to keep the spotlight on him while I seize the chance to enter the throne room and steal some of Kýrios' DNA.
:Noise: That's really risky.
:Ms. Replicate: You have to take risks if you wanna be anywhere as successful as I am, sweetie. [rubs Noise's hair, cackling] Now for the second thing, ooh, that'll be fun to say.
Ms. Replicate grins as she gets up, stretching out her arms.
:Ms. Replicate: With the funds we'll steal from my ex-husband's bank, I'll begin my plan to merge the satellites together with Zaxina and form a big enough breeding ground for my masterpiece. Then I will get to do as I wish to the cosmos, too hard to stop, impossible to kill. It's perfect!
:Noise: I don't see what there's to gain through this plan.
:Ms. Replicate: A world where we, Silver, and Mallory are the only ones left alive. We may live in a free world without distress or discomfort, and never have to worry about anything ever again. No more hurt.
:Noise: I really don't think you're going to like the outcome of your plan, but I'll still help.
:Yama: ...I, uhh.
Yama gets up.
:Yama: I'm gonna excuse myself, if that's okay.
:Ms. Replicate: Run along girl. But if you do anything against me, I'll leave you out of my image of a perfect world.
Yama scrambles out of the room, into a door labelled "YAMA" on it.
:Ms. Replicate: You're the only one left in here with me, Noise. How do you feel?
:Noise: Uhh, awkward.
Noise tilted her head.
:Noise: You sure this is going to get you your ideal paradise? You're gonna be killing off so many people and making so much disaster, and none of it may be worth it in the end. I know you're having trouble with your emotions, but this might be a stretch too far.
:Ms. Replicate: Have no qualms, Noise. You'll still be alive. Only those who won't hurt me will still be alive.
Noise knew that Replicate was out of it. Noise sighed as she got up.
:Noise: I'm worried about you. But I'll still help.
Noise hugs Ms. Replicate. The crazed scientist looked surprised before hugging Noise back. It was a tight hug, but it was a friendly one.
:Ms. Replicate: Don't be. Now, let's go down the hall, shall we?
Noise nods, walking down the hallway with Ms. Replicate. They wind up in a strange room together, where arms of individual characters can be seen on a surgery table.
:Noise: What's going on here, Ms. Replicate?
:Ms. Replicate: When I get my hands on a healthy dose of Silver's DNA, I'm gonna make a perfect arm based on his, and with all these arms holding DNA from individual members of Silver's family, I can make something really interesting from the breeding project! Ehehe.
:Noise: I don't like the looks of this at all.
:Ms. Replicate: Oh, don't worry. Nothing wrong is going to happen.
:8:23 A.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Main Intersection, Satellite 15
::
::
Silver eventually manages to climb back up to the satellite lobby after having spent a good chunk of time trying to avoid getting caught by the police. He takes a space pod to quickly get to the entrance to the Hospital Wing, then stealthily makes his way inside. He knew if he didn't reach the labs, he'd be in trouble. He manages to make his way over to the labs, making his way to Ms. Replicate, who was sitting down in a chair.
:Ms. Replicate: There you are, Silver Zin, come sit down, dear.
Silver nods, hopping on a chair next to Ms. Replicate.
:Silver: I was told by Mallory to come here and see you. I'm sorry I've been away for so long, I didn't know you've been wanting for me to come back.
:Ms. Replicate: Silvie it's fine, I promise.
Ms. Replicate smiles as she pulls Silver's seat closer to her.
:Ms. Replicate: I'm just glad I get to see you again, Silver.
:Silver: It's nice to see you too, Ms. Replicate. [looks around] What'd you need me for?
:Ms. Replicate: Oh, nothing much. [smirks] So, Mallory must've gone home and told you to come here, excellent! She was such a darling patient, she helped me perfect my cloning technique for a zodiac stone.
:Silver: Did you give the zodiac stone to her!?
:Ms. Replicate: Yes! But don't fret Silver, I'm sure you'll maybe get it back.
Silver sighs as he buries his face in his hands.
:Silver: Things have been so wild lately, it's crazy. I found Mallory's body in Arikan's basement yesterday, all of Mallory's associates but the Messiah are in prison, and now I'm framed for being a Mallorian associate. And I don't know what to do.
:Ms. Replicate: That's a shame, but maybe you'll like being here. You're safe here.
:Silver: Well, thank you for letting me be here at least. [smiles] It's good that I can rely in and trust someone like you with my concerns.
Ms. Replicate didn't look too sure about that, but smiles and hugs Silver.
:Ms. Replicate: Lookie here, Silver. Things are kind of challenging right now, and they're gonna get tougher, but I'm sure that if you have enough willpower that you're going to pull through just fine!
:Silver: Thank you.
Then something strikes Silver really hard. Wait a minute.
:Silver: Wait, why was Mallory here?
:Ms. Replicate: Just for some experimenting, of course! [winks] Nothing too special, I've just been having to gather some DNA... if I gathered DNA from your sister, I could use it for a DNA-search machine!
:Silver: That makes sense. Did you hear about how she was dead?
:Ms. Replicate: No, I had her here.
Ms. Replicate grins. Something was up, Silver thought to himself as he looks at Replicate in the eyes. There was a hint of malice he didn't really see before in her.
:Silver: Maybe there was a mistake or somethin- WAIT A MINUTE your name is Ms. Replicate! You replicated Mallory and set a decoy!
Ms. Replicate looks as if she regrets her name for a moment, biting her lip.
:Silver: You did decide to mess with me, didn't you? You set this up!
:Ms. Replicate: Surely I'm not- Well, no, I- hmm, I don't think I can get out of this o-
:Silver: Look, please, stop talking.
Ms. Replicate zips up.
:Silver: Why in the world would you clone my sister, in the basement of the lobby's owner, and have Mallory over here for the experiment. Something's up, Repli, and I'd like to hear your reasonings!
:Ms. Replicate: Calm down Silver, I know you've been having high stress levels lately. [takes a deep breath] I wanted to perfect my cloning arts, but Mallory wanted a zodiac stone, so we had to make a trade. I told the messiah where you lived when he asked me where you lived, and now a grey copy of you is breaking Mallory's minions out of prison.
:Silver: WHAT?
:Ms. Replicate: Listen, jeez, I didn't think about all the impact it could have on you, please forgive me, Silver. I just wanted to improve my skills.
:Silver: That was a bad mess-up from you, Replicate. Now because of you, everything I've come to know and love over the past few days probably hates me. [gets up] I'm...
:Ms. Replicate: I understand. [sighs] Please come here and let me sample a bit of your blood. That's all I care to ask for right now.
:Silver: I want you to earn my trust back first before I do anything for you ever again. [walks away] I'm going back home. I need to talk to Pierce about what's happened.
:Ms. Replicate: I see how it is, Silver.
Ms. Replicate points to a steel chute for Silver.
:Ms. Replicate: That way's the fastest way out, I, uh, promise.
Silver rushes towards the exit, not even saying goodbye to Ms. Replicate. Silver jumps through the chute, but rather than taking him right into the lobby, it drops him into an underground passage. This place looked really unfamiliar to him; it was like a dirty sewer in a way.
:Silver: I don't think I was meant to wind up here, what a liar.
Suddenly, he hears something tumble down from above. He sees Ms. Replicate fall through the chute, scramble to her feet and run over to him.
:Silver: Of course.
:Ms. Replicate: Silver, I can't do what I need to do without you. Please! I'll do anything for your DNA sample. Even if it means never talking to you again.
:Silver: Replicate, it's not that I don't want to talk to you anymore or never see you again. [turns around] I'm just disappointed that you tried to use me for something I never even consented to, then tried to hold onto my trust. You used my family's blood against me.
:Ms. Replicate: I should have been more considerate, you're definitely right about that. [walks next to him] But, Silver, I need your DNA sample really badly. I'll leave you alone after this.
:Silver: Here's my idea that I want you to follow if you really wanna make me trust you again. [turns around] You're going to lead me out of this underground passage, then you're going to take me up to Kýrios and explain what the devil you were doing so I can have my slate cleared.
:Ms. Replicate: But then I'll get in trouble.
:Silver: I'd rather not have you lie, so.
:Ms. Replicate: Silver please, ughh. Alright. I guess I need to make a right turn back to square one. I'll take you up to Kýrios, okay?
:Silver: Thank you.
Silver looks down, frowning.
:Silver: I'm sorry for being so rough on you, I thought I could trust you, I'm just so angry but it's so hard to feel angry at you because you weren't thinking.
:Ms. Replicate: Right. Let's go back up to the surface and figure things out from there.
:Silver: Alright.
::
::
Silver and Ms. Replicate reach a dead end of the dark labyrinth, now being face to face with a gigantic Diamond Driller, who growled noisily as it made its approach against the two.
:Ms. Replicate: It looks tough, but you can beat it Silver! You just have to keep pushing it back and strike its jaw- that's the weak point of these things!
:Silver: How do you know that?
:Ms. Replicate: I've sent Yama down here for being a bad girl more times than I can bother counting.
The Diamond Driller edges closer to Silver and Replicate, its mouth whirring like a chainsaw as it closes in on them.
:Ms. Replicate: Alright Silver, good luck! Take it down!
:Silver: I'll try.
Silver gets in a battle ready stance, ready to take down this beast.
::
::
With a great howl, the Diamond Driller falls, with its sawblades no longer moving.
:Silver: Let's get out of here before it gets back up.
Silver and Replicate take this chance to quickly crawl their way outside the sewer.
:8:54 A.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Penny's Workshop, New Naxaz City
Valerie and Scotch were once again at Penny's workshop. This time, Penny was sitting at a table with them, the three of them having coffee together.
:Scotch: I haven't seen Silver since he was caught hanging with the Messiah in Pierce's home.
:Valerie: I'm not sure if Silver was meaning to double-cross us, what if he was tricked?
:Scotch: Yeah, I'm sure there was just something we weren't really understanding. Obviously Silver wouldn't trust anyone he didn't like. Maybe we were missing something?
:Valerie: It's still really questionable behavior from him though, so next time I see him, I hope I get a lot of answers because I'm really curious about what was going on back there.
Penny nods, pushing some blueprints across the table.
:Penny: Eureka, I managed to come up with some really cool stuff! [claps her hands together] Those are plans for a new anti-Mallorian defense system. Because of some trust issues we've been having with other people, the system can also work against her associates, against Silver, against Miss Replicate, among others.
:Valerie: Blueprints for a new security system? You sure this'll work?
:Penny: Yeah, we'll just need to upgrade the Electric Eye's security systems. Now, I know that we discussed yesterday that this plan wouldn't be the most ideal, but the buttons to detect certain faces will only activate or deactivate if the Electric Eye's face goes under a facial scanner. And when the cameras detect unwanted faces, those people will get blasted to smithereens!
:Valerie: Alright, I'm willing to move forward with this plan, it's not like we have much of a choice now. Mallory's only growing progressively stronger, and according to some camera scans the Electric Eye took earlier, she's still alive.
:Scotch: Yeah, even though I had Mallory's body decompose right there in my office, I heard from Valerie that new footage of Mallory exists out there. I don't even know anything anymore at this rate.
Scotch sighs, leaning back in his seat and looking really tired.
:Scotch: I just hope that, whatever Silver was doing, that it was a good thing and that we had no reason to be so concerned.
:Valerie: Let's not jump to conclusions Scotch, we both know that the Messiah wasn't a very trustworthy man when he was making a religion out of Black Eyes, that went really poorly.
:Penny: Silver will be fine, he might get imprisoned for a bit but I'm sure he'll get back out if he's proven innocent. That said, the idea that we don't even know where he could possibly be makes it hard for me to believe we're going to get answers any time soon.
:Scotch: Yeah, it'll take a bit, but I doubt Silver ran away permanently. [yawns, checking his phone] Speak of the devil, I got a bad report from Devina.
Scotch pulls up his phone, reading a text message on Risquord. His eyes widen.
:Scotch: Excuse me?
:Valerie: What?
Valerie leans over Scotch, looking at his phone. They were looking at a photo that Devina shared them, showing a greyscale clone of Silver setting free all of Mallory's associates, reverting Silver's progress back to zero essentially.
:Valerie: Something's very wrong here. He wouldn't go and erase all that work, would he?
:Scotch: This calls for a confrontation.
Scotch looks at Penny.
:Penny: Yeah, I'll start working on amplifying the defense systems now, just gimme a bit to work it out with the FDX robots and stuffs. [gets up] You two go check on that stuff.
:Scotch: Gimme a sec.
Scotch swigs down all that hot coffee in a single gulp. He yelps as he runs off with the burning sensation down his throat. Valerie smiles sweetly at Penny.
:Valerie: Anything else before I go check up on things?
:Penny: Not from me no, but Syi said that there's an important report from Kýrios that he sent to her because neither of you two were around.
Scotch moonwalks back in the room.
:Scotch: What was it?
:Penny: The satellite is under attack by an outside force.
:9:03 A.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Satellite 15 Docking Haven
Hundreds of soldiers are shown rounded up in the Docking Haven together, standing together side by side, looking combat ready as Hector Forger and Admiral Millicent look over them.
:Millicent: Alright you scallywags! Captain Ryona, our nemesis from Satellite 4, is sailing her ship all the way over here to launch a direct attack against our satellite! This is an unusual occurrence, yes, but it's also what we trained you for.
:Hector: Ahoy, lads! Ye buckos can't take any chances against this wench, she'll be lookin' to steal our loot! Anyone that tries to backstab us will have to walk the plank.
:Millicent: Aye!
The soldiers all salute one by one.
:Soldiers: Aye!
:Millicent: Batten down your hatches and hide your booty, because we all know Ryona's soldiers will be lookin' for it! Not your butts, your treasures.
:Hector: Mateys, ye all know that Ryona's a mid-level threat, so we can't stall or hesitate. Anyone who does will get blown down! We're likely to drive her off, but if she plays her game well, we're all going down to Davy Jones' Locker!
:Millicent: What does some of this lingo even mean though? Who's Davy Jones?
:Hector: Aye, Davy Jones was, erm...
Hector sighs and shakes his head.
:Hector: He was an underwear thief, that one.
Millicent laughs.
:Millicent: Anyway, if we put up our best effort, we'll beat Ryona's socks off! Let's move out, lads!
:Hector: Hold up, should we get that Zin boy up 'ere first, matey?
:Millicent: Not a bad idea.
Millicent pulls out her phone, opening Risquord and sending a text message to Scotch.
:Millicent: We should get Silver over sometime soon if Scotch is willing to lend him over to us.
:Hector: I'd appreciate if we had his help, 'cuz some of that Zin magic can really come in handy.
:Millicent: We'll see. Just sent a message to Scotch, hope he sees it.
:Soldier #1: So what do we do in the meantime to get ready?
:Millicent: Lock up yer homes n' barricade the entrance to the Docking Haven, things are about to get real spicy in here, aye. [looks at Hector] Anything you'd recommend, lad?
:Hector: Make sure ya don't try to cross paths with Ryona, if ya get in her way yer as good as dead. Instead, shout out a help so we can take of 'er. I have some serious business to discuss with her personally, aye.
:Soldier #2: Alright, we'll get outta here and begin preparations.
The soldiers scatter to begin doing some work. In moments' time, Ryona could attack, so they had to work fast. Millicent jumps when Scotch responds to her message.
:Millicent: Apparently the boy's broken some bad people out of prison? Aye, this can't be any good, we'll have to do it ourselves Hector. Our resources are spent, so we'll have to strategize with caution.
:Hector: Makes sense to me. Kinda a shame though.
:Millicent: Well we don't have much else we can do Hector other than get ready ourselves. If we keep stalling, Ryona's gonna find her way in without even trying!
:Hector: Then let's go take care of 'er before someone's gotta walk the plank!
Millicent and Hector rush to the front lines.
:9:24 A.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Hidden Room
Shredder is shown sitting down in a chair inside a dark place. Shredder had a big goofy grin on his face while a shadowy figure stood over him in a menacing, somewhat intimidating way.
:Shredder: I've done a bit more spying on Ms. Replicate, sir, and I'd like to say that maybe we can put ourselves in the good spotlight for once. [snickers] Nobody would suspect a thing.
:???: Enlighten me, Shredder.
:Shredder: Ms. Replicate was rather reliant on me for cleaning out her office early this morning, I saw Mallory leave her place at 3AM, and discovered some strange clone of Silver under her table. I've found her back-up plans for things just in case things went wrong.
Shredder lifts his phone, showing a photo of Ms. Replicate and Silver in the office together.
:Shredder: I was sent this photo by Noise and she said something to me about how your ex-wife was missing and that she took Silver with him after a small fuss. [pockets his phone] Something's up, sir, but we know the truth.
:???: I see.
Shredder watches his silhouetted partner get up from behind a desk, walking to a coffee maker and making himself some coffee.
:???: What did you have in mind for clearing our reputations, Shredder?
:Shredder: Judging from something I've learned only a handful of minutes ago, that strange clone of Silver found his way to jail and freed all of Mallory's associates. [smirks wide] But my target isn't Silver. Clearly this is something that Ms. Replicate elaborately planned, and she's got the real thing with him right now.
:???: Are you suggesting we confront Kýrios about this?
:Shredder: Oh he won't trust you, so I'd rather you not come along, but I'd make your case for you and I'd make sure that she got arrested for her crimes. This can be your way of getting back at her for all the terrible things she's done for you, sir!
:???: Very well, I will allow you to do so. When my ex-wife becomes imprisoned, I will begin taking matters into my own hands, transforming the satellite into the legend of El Dorado.
The figure's golden-tooth smile could be seen even though most of his body was darkened.
:???: With her namesake out of the way, I can buy out her location after it goes on the market, then use it as a workshop for my own plans. Can you imagine how much money we can roll in, Shredder?
:Shredder: Oh please, you're making me really hungry just by making me think about it.
:???: Heh.
The figure fades his smile, giving Shredder a notebook, which he struggles to hold between his two unorthodox arms.
:???: Shredder, feel free to take all the notes you need, then expose that woman for the fraud she is. Then we can have riches, and so much more. Can you believe all the potential we have?
Shredder and the silhouette look up to a camera in the corner, which made a whirring noise.
:???: Shredder, do you mind taking that camera out? Who knows how much information about us it's been able to steal over the past couple of minutes or so. I'd be appreciative of that.
:Shredder: I can do that, boss.
Shredder throws his notebook at the camera, disabling it. Yama is shown squirming on the Electric Eye's lap, having been listening in on them through headphones.
:Yama: They're up to something.
:Noise: It's a good thing Shredder left the camera on his place, or we'd never have found out of this scheme.
:Yama: We need to go beat Shredder to Kýrios' throne.
Both nurses scramble away, leaving the Electric Eye's room and scrambling for the throne room as fast as they possibly could. Back in the dark room, Shredder and the silhouette continued to talk.
:Shredder: Things are going to get a lot worse from here, sir, so I'd advise that you stay calm and focus on the plans we've been making over the past week or so. [gets up] I don't think I've taken the best security measures about our secrecy, so I need to make sure I reach the throne room as soon as possible.
:???: Good luck, Shredder. Remember, if you see any of Ms. Replicate's associates, take them out. They can't afford to disrupt with our plans for satellite-wide conquest.
:Shredder: Yes sir.
Shredder leaves the room. The mysterious figure smirks, letting out a little cackle.
:???: "Our" plans, as if.
:10:18 A.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Kýrios' Throne Room, Admin Sector
Silver and Ms. Replicate are shown arriving in Kýrios' Throne Room, where the king himself and Zodiez were shown sitting peacefully. Zodiez glared when she saw Silver, having recognized him from the news. Or at least, some greyscale-like version of him.
:Zodiez: Ms. Replicate, why have you brought the boy here when he should be in prison?
:Ms. Replicate: Well, I-
:Silver: I'll answer this, because I'm really sick of all the attention that's on me right now.
Silver walks away from Ms. Replicate, pointing his finger to her, making her flinch.
:Silver: Ms. Replicate made a full-color clone of Mallory and hid it in Arikan Chan's basement, which forced her to confront me over the finding of her corpse. Then she made a greyscale version of me and used it to free all of Mallory's troops from prison, then she handed her Scorpio zodiac stone to Mallory.
:Zodiez: Is this true?
:Silver: I wouldn't lie to you, Zodiez, not with my life on the line like this. Look at her.
Ms. Replicate looked like a really nervous wreck, shaking terribly as she's being outed by Silver.
:Silver: But, as much as I'd be in favor of punishing her, she did sound like she was genuine when she told me that she didn't plan out the consequences. I'd like to ask if you can spare her.
:Ms. Replicate: I did do a lot of what Silver said I did, and I'm very ashamed of my actions. [looks down] I should absolutely be punished for what I've done, there should be no way around it.
:Silver: See? I don't want to punish her, she's not inherently trying to be a bad person.
:Zodiez: I'm afraid that I don't really have any evidence of Ms. Replicate doing any of these things though, yet we have evidence of Silver freeing Mallory's associates.
:Ms. Replicate: That was a clone!
:Zodiez: If you're attempting to prevent your boyfriend from going into prison, then we have to suspect that you've been comitting fraud as well. We're not taking any chances, Replicate.
:Silver: This is really unfair.
:Zodiez: You can't prove anything!
:Ms. Replicate: At least take me to prison! There's no reason for Silver to go to jail!
:Zodiez: Then what the hell was he doing with that Messiah, then?
Silver takes a deep breath. Holy crap, everyone on this satellite was so difficult, and everything is so damn confusing. This can't be real, can it? Silver clenches his fists tightly.
:Silver: He stopped by asking me where Mallory was because he was worried about her disappearance. We just hung out for a bit until Pierce came back and saw it all out of context.
:Zodiez: And how exactly do you think you're gonna get out of this one, either?
:Silver: Can you stop being a stuck-up asshole and try listening to me? What do I have to lose, Zodiez?
:Zodiez: Your freedom! I'm gonna get the police here in a few minutes to take you both to prison.
As Zodiez picks up a phone and begins to call the police, Shredder and Noise and Yama all enter the room at the same time, much to Zodiez's surprise.
:Zodiez: Come on, do I have to arrest the three of you too?
:Noise: I'd like to make a case against Ms. Replicate's arr- oh, Shredder just arrived.
:Shredder: Hey Ms. Replicate, you're toast!
Shredder runs in the room, pulling out a sheet of photos from behind his back and snickering.
:Shredder: Here's a bunch of photos I took of things in Ms. Replicate's office!
:Ms. Replicate: We had a deal, Shredder!
:Shredder: Not anymore! I'm gonna point out the kind of person you are!
Noise and Yama run into the room.
:Noise: Hold up, we have video footage of this guy speaking with some shady man!
:Yama: Shredder's gonna show off as some stupid crap!
:Noise: Bite your tongue with that language Yama.
:Yama: Sorrry!
Zodiez looks frustrated as Shredder points out and explains each image while footage of Shredder is being played to her. Silver and Ms. Replicate looked really confused at the sudden presence of these three and how loud the atmosphere was getting.
:Kýrios: SHUT UP!!!
The bellow was loud enough to push everyone against a wall, disrupting everyone's talking.
:Zodiez: Alright, good lord, we get there's support for and against Ms. Replicate, I get the point. So here's my final verdict, I'm gonna throw Silver in prison, hold Ms. Replicate and Shredder back here, and keep these two nurses here so they can explain things to me peacefully.
:Silver: But-
:Zodiez: No buts, Silver! Get your fraud act out of here!
Silver turns around, seeing two officers roughly grab him by the shoulders.
:Silver: Let me go!
Silver wretches free of their grip, running out of the throne room. The officers begin to chase him down.
:Zodiez: After him! Don't let him get away with anything more!
Zodiez watches them disappear, sighing.
:Zodiez: Damn alien creatures ruining everything.
:Ms. Replicate: Be strong, Silver.
::
::
Silver makes it to the satellite intersection, but stops dead short of walking off into a sea of flying space pods. The policemen catch up to Silver from behind, handcuffing him and looking down at him.
:Officer: Good luck escaping prison, traitor.
Silver grumbles wordlessly as they drag him along, his escape plan having failed.
:10:50 A.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Satellite Lobby, Room #13
Pierce is shown sitting down on his bed, crying into his arms, sniffling as Zonas places his hand on his back, rubbing it soothingly. Accompanying Pierce were Sinicini and Adexene, who looked somewhat worried for him.
:Zonas: Pierce, it's going to be fine. [hugs him gently] I know you're sad that Silver, didn't turn out to be the guy you wanted him to be, but it's not the end of the world.
:Pierce: I know, but, I really had my heart set on him, you know? He trusted me, he loved my cooking, he liked walking with me. I don't know what I did wrong to have him hang out with the Messiah!
:Zonas: I think what happened was a big misunderstanding. I gave it some thought, and, does Silver look like the kind of guy that would betray you at the turn of a dime?
:Sinicini: Yeah, he seemed pretty nice. [smiles] When you and Silver went out to the Collin Shop for a bit while you were showing him around Naxaz for the first time, he was super sweet and considerate.
:Zonas: Who knows what was going on with Silver, but I don't think he meant to hurt you or anyone.
:Pierce: You're right, it's just that I really wanted him. [sniffs] I hope that wherever he is right now, he's safe and sound, and that everything's going to be okay for him.
Zonas keeps his arm protectively around Pierce.
:Zonas: I'm sure everything's going to be just fine in the end, he just needs to figure out how to get a clean slate again after that.
:Adexene: I have my suspicions about the accusations made against Silver, as most of them do not make note of small but nevertheless important details that give away his innocence. Silver's clothes are not completely grey.
:Sinicini: He also has strange dried, blood under his eyes.
:Adexene: It is a Zaxinian tradition to have dried blood beneath your eyes, as it signifies and defines your role as a member of Zin Blood, a legendary family from an unknown area of Zaxina.
Everyone's eyes turn to Adexene out of curiosity.
:Adexene: I know nothing about Silver or Mallory beyond what we know, do not ask me about any juicy details on either of them. I'll go all 404 on you if you do.
:Zonas: Still interesting to know something about their family, heh.
:Pierce: I just want Silver to be okay and, to just be honest to me about what's going on. [smiles a little] I'd trust him. I want someone to be able to tell him that next time they see him.
:Zonas: Oh, I can tell him that next time I see him.
:Pierce: Thank you.
:Sinicini: Hey, least we can do to help.
Sinicini hugs Pierce, followed by Adexene. Pierce hugs the three of them.
:Pierce: Thank you three for your help.
:Zonas: Any time Pierce. [pecks his cheek] We're here for you, alright?
:Pierce: Heh.
Pierce pulls the thumbs up.
:Pierce: Got it.
Zonas smiles as they sit around, relaxing. Pierce calms down a bit, leaning on Zonas' shoulder.
:Zonas: Hopefully wherever Silver is right now, he's in good hands. Even if he's been captured by the police forces, he better come back here as soon as possible.
:Pierce: Are you advocating breaking the law?
:Zonas: Eh, I'm all for it if the reason for someone's captivity is pretty unjustified.
Pierce nods.
:Pierce: I hope he's doing well. I love him.
Pierce looks down, sighing.
:Pierce: Yeah, fudge it, it's really early to say something like that. I don't even know him that well. But, sometimes you just kinda fall in love with someone out of nowhere, you know?
:Sinicini: I knew two lesbians that kinda got together out of nowhere. They've been together for three and a half years now, and they couldn't be any happier. They didn't even know each other closely for more than a matter of days.
:Zonas: Yeah, I'd say it's kinda valid as long as you trust the person you're in love with.
:Pierce: I do trust him, I just had a panic attack when I saw the Messiah. God, I feel so bad for calling the police on him.
:Zonas: Hey, you didn't know any better. He could have been doing some bad stuff for all we know, anyway.
:Adexene: We doubt he's done anything wrong, but we can't blame you for what you thought.
Pierce nods.
:Pierce: Thank you. I'm going to talk to Silver.
Pierce gets a notification on his phone. He pulls it out, looking at it.
:Pierce: According to Dev, I think Silver's in prison. [puts his phone away] I'm going to prison. I'm gonna talk to him, then I don't know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do something.
:Zonas: You need a ride?
:Pierce: Before we go?
:Zonas: What?
:Pierce: Ohh. I get it. Yeah, take me to the prison.
Zonas gets up, opening Pierce's door and unveiling his cop pod. Pierce hops inside it with him, with Zonas' girls going in the back.
:Pierce: I'm gonna go save you, Silver!
:11:11 A.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Moore Lounge, New Naxaz City
Valerie, Scotch, Syinara, and Devina were sitting around a table together at the Moore Lounge, with Crymsia Rose drunkenly sitting near them.
:Valerie: I have no idea what's going on at this rate, I have such a headache.
:Scotch: Let me try to recap. [pulls a slip of paper] Silver's gone to prison after being accused of setting Mallory's comrades free and becoming one of her associates, Ms. Replicate and this guy called 'Shredder' are being held under questioning by the authorities, and Ryona's about to attack the satellite.
:Valerie: Thank you, I felt like I was going to die from just how awfully confusing everything's becoming.
:Scotch: Yeah, I feel you, it's not easy to be kept up with all of this. It's like someone's badly-written fanfiction brought to life.
Scotch winks to the screen.
:Devina: I've tried to let people know what was going on with Silver, because it's kind of hard to track what's going on with him lately. I know that he's in prison right now. That's why we're all here right now, actually.
:Scotch: Thank you for alerting us about Silver's situation, because there's no way I would have found out alone.
Devina nods.
:Devina: Something's not right, so I wanted to try and contact you all as soon as I found out anything important.
:Scotch: Well, we really appreciate it. I haven't been able to assign him work today and yesterday's been a really strange and unpleasant experience, so I'm glad I know where Silver is right now.
:Syinara: I feel bad for Silver because it doesn't seem like he really wants to be here dealing with any of this. [sighs, taking a sip of tea] I want all this Mallory-related crap to be over already.
:Scotch: Speaking of Mallory, she's absolutely alive.
:Valerie: God.
Oyster walks over to them, smiling as they serves them all messy-looking spaghetti. Not her best dish. The spaghetti looked overcooked and the amount of sauce on each dish was uneven. She walks back to the kitchen, shaking as her guests pick up their forks and begin eating at their pasta.
:Valerie: I think it'll all be over soon. When we get the next update on Silver's location, I'd like to have Hector and Millicent focus on keeping Ryona at bay while I go and write an excuse slip for Ms. Replicate so I can talk to her myself. I don't trust Shredder, because he keeps talking about going gold.
Valerie shivers.
:Valerie: He carries the vibe of my ex-husband, who was a disgusting and really abusive person. But I'll try and dismiss Shredder myself so I can talk to him. Zodiez will just throw them in prison if they can't come to a conclusion she can feasibly see for herself.
:Devina: Yeah, they're both pretty gross people, huh? [sighs and yawns] But I like this plan a lot. I'll try and talk to Pierce when I can so we can write music against Mallory and direct people's attention to the crisis at hand.
:Scotch: When I reunite with Silver, I'll get him back on track and we'll return everything back to a semi-normal state.
:Syinara: I just wanna sit around with Valerie and watch anime in peace, is that too much to ask for?
Valerie laughs a little.
:Valerie: I promise we'll get plenty of time to spend together soon, Syi.
Syinara smiles at Valerie.
:Scotch: Alright, we have something of a plan here at least.
:Valerie: Yeah!
:Devina: In the next chapter of this convoluted story, we'll be bringing Silver back to the spotlight if we discover he's innocent. And to be honest, I'm pretty damn sure he is.
:Scotch: Let's get that boy back up on the stage where he belongs.
:Syinara: Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, Oyster prepared this wonderful meal for us.
Everyone nods, beginning to eat up their spaghetti.
:Devina: We need to do some future planning too, while Penny's installing the new security system updates, we need to do a full satellite scan. I think we can do that in a matter of weeks.
:Scotch: That'd be good, we can figure out where Mallory's hiding. Why not right now, though, or at least within a few hours?
:Devina: We need to wait for Mallory's team to go silent, then we'll initiate the movement without warning across the satellite. We can't let Mallory get away, so we need to get her on the spot.
:Valerie: Sounds good to me, we can't let her get away or she's going to figure out how to hurt the satellite and its people even more than she already has.
:Scotch: We also need to keep an eye on Ms. Replicate and Gonzalo. We, we don't know much about what either are really planning, but I have a really good feeling they've been up to no good.
:Syinara: I've always had doubts about them, but what's made you think this?
Scotch shovels a bunch of spaghetti into his face.
:Scotch: You know, with Replicate being held under suspicion by the authorities and with people growing increasingly more and more impatient with the bank's faults to do as the consumers command, it's not too hard to start assuming things about them. They already have bad reps, as Zodiez's said before.
:Valerie: Yeah, I can see where she's coming from.
:Scotch: Yeah, we're keeping an eye on them.
:Devina: I think we got this in the bag, all we have to rely on is Silver being in an easy place to reach, then we'll get his involvement and ask him some questions, then he'll return to a normal life. Assuming our assumptions about him are correct, of course. But, I have a theory.
:Syinara: What's that, Devy?
:Devina: I feel like Silver's going to go to Sector 1.
Devina takes a big bite of spaghetti.
:Devina: My reflection wasn't in the mirror last night.
Somewhere else, we get a view of the Manipulator, who's still in the basement of Devina's house, its white eyes glowing fiercely.
:Devina: I can't help but feel like while things will be fine for us, Silver's got something nasty waiting for him. And he's really not going to like it.
:11:44 A.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Naxaz Prison, New Naxaz City
Silver was shown sitting down alone in prison, tapping his foot impatiently as he waits to escape his imprisonment. He looks really tense, hurt, and angry, looking distressed inside his prison.
:Silver: I hate the authorities around these parts. The Mallorian people I've been capturing should be behind bars, not me! Why would I release Mallory's associates from prison?
Silver rattles his bars.
:Silver: Damn it, this is really frustrating!
Ginger Nail, who was imprisoned earlier, looks worriedly at him.
:Ginger: Hey Silver, I'm sorry about this.
:Silver: It's not like it's your fault, Ginger.
Silver sighs, looking around the rusted walls of his prison cell.
:Silver: The authorities, I don't think I should really trust them anymore. They never listen to me and they just make me do a bunch of work they should be doing themselves!
Silver folds his arms, looking really frustrated.
:Silver: The only reason why I'm a "trusted mercenary" is because they're taking advantage of my amnesia and lack of ability to do anything on my own. They're using me!
Silver pounds his jail cell wall.
:Silver: They're treating me like I'm an alien and that everything they perceive to be wrong from me is worth punishing me big-time over! This is a really terrible place to be in.
:Ginger: Can I help in any way, Silver?
:Silver: No, I don't think either of us can really do anything. I have my weapon, but it doesn't mean anything because the prison cells here prevent any and all weapons from actually working because of some magic.
:Ginger: I'm sorry you're so frustrated.
:Silver: They won't know it, but eventually, I'd like to snap their necks and get someone actually good in power. Why isn't Valerie the queen of the satellite or something? She's actually a decent person!
Ginger nods. Silver sighs as he sits back down, looking kind of defeated.
:Silver: Feel good, feel good, mmm, that's not gonna work on me.
:Ginger: I feel like the satellite really needs a new government. We've had Kýrios and Zodiez for years, and while they do mean well, they're out of touch with the satellite's people and what priorities they should be focusing on.
:Silver: Yeah, I don't have the impression that the satellite's being run really well. [grips his weapon tightly] I hate this place so much, I want to be free and just do something that matters to me. But instead I'm trapped in here for crimes I didn't even commit!
Silver tightly grips his weapon, sighing.
:Ginger: Maybe you should quit as a mercenary when you get out of here and get recognized as innocent?
:Silver: Mmmm, I don't know. I don't even know if I'll get recognized as innocent, and if I do, I want to use my mercenary position to get a lot of insight about what my sister's up to so I can stop her.
Silver looks down.
:Silver: But at the same time, I don't even know if she's that bad anymore. What if she's misunderstood? What if all the people I've been after are all misunderstood and the people I need to question are those from positions of power?
:Ginger: That's... a good point. I know Mallory's done some awful things, but I mean, we've let Ms. Replicate stick around as a nurse even though it's been proven she's a dirty piece of sugar honey iced tea.
:Silver: I'll put more thought into it. But I'm going to get away from the authorities and go to Sector 1 as soon as I possibly can, I need whatever answers I can get, and I've been told to go there by some strange voice.
:Ginger: I understand. Good luck, alright?
:Silver: I should have really thought twice before bringing you to prison.
The doors to the prison open up. Pierce was standing at the doors.
:Pierce: Silver? Where are you?
:Silver: Hey, I'm over here.
Pierce rushes over to Silver's cell. He places his hands on the bars. Something felt different to Silver, not just how tightly he was gripping the cage, nor the tears in his eyes, but the fact he wasn't in his wheelchair. He was standing up, shaking, trying to keep himself up.
:Silver: Holy crap, are you okay?
:Pierce: No, Silver, are you okay? What happened? Why are you in jail?
:Silver: I've been accused of setting all of Mallory's associates free, so I've been thrown in this cell. I don't think I'm gonna get out for a while, haha.
:Pierce: Why were you with the Messiah? I'm really confused about that...
:Silver: Listen, I don't really want you to get the wrong feeling about that, so let me explain myself. I... I wasn't hanging out with the Messiah because I liked him. He was just looking for Mallory.
:Pierce: Why did you leave my house so early in the morning?
:Silver: Arikan kidnapped me to make me go clean up her basement of the dying Mallory corpse that was inside. It was super gross, sorry for not talking to you about any of this. It's been frantic lately.
:Pierce: A Mallory clone? I heard of this, but, tell me more.
:Silver: Ms. Replicate mad-
Pierce uses his psychic energy to close his mouth.
:Pierce: Say no more. That witch of a woman, I'm gonna break you out.
:Silver: Listen here, I'm on good terms with Replicate, I'm not mad.
:Pierce: It doesn't matter. I don't trust her, at all. I'll tell you why later.
Pierce snaps his fingers, snapping Silver's bars apart. This attracts the attention of guards, who turn their way.
:Pierce: Silver...
:Silver: Let's get the hell out of here!
Silver picks up Pierce, rushing out of his cell and speeding down the hallway with his best friend in arms.
:Silver: I'm going to Sector 1, do you have any objections?
:Pierce: No, I don't! I wanted to talk to you privately anyway.
Pierce blushes a little as they make a getaway inside the prison.
::
::
Silver breaks outside the prison with Pierce, soaring inside a space pod and clumsily managing to get away before the police can catch up.
:Officer #1: Damn, he got away!
:Officer #2: Keep on the chase, guys!
Silver hugs Pierce closely as they fly outside of New Naxaz City, pulling him close.
:Silver: It's going to be alright. I promise.
:Pierce: I believe you, Silver. Let's make it through this mess together.
:12:16 A.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Outside Satellite 15
A limegreen ship is racing towards Satellite 15 at alarming speeds, surrounded by a huge air bubble. Captain Ryona stands on deck, looking at the entrance to the satellite, a wide grin across her face.
:Captain Ryona: Here I come, Hector! Arr har har har!
====Chapter Six: I Stay Away====
:12:27 P.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Dead Man's Park, Sector 1
Silver and Pierce are shown sitting together behind a tree in a small local park where the grass is grey and the trees look weltered and dead. Several gravestones could be seen stuck in the ground, meaning the park also doubles as a cemetery. They were still hiding from the police.
:Silver: I'm sorry that things have been such a mess over the past few days. [sighs, looking at Pierce] Now I have to be on the run because nobody trusts me anymore, apparently.
:Pierce: It's alright Silver, things have been largely out of your control. [holds his hand] I'm not mad at you, Silver. You're trying your hardest in these troubled times and I think that's commendable.
:Silver: You're really sweet, thank you Pierce.
Pierce smiles. Policemen were still patrolling around the park in search of them, but given how wide the trunk of their tree is and the amount of bushes surrounding them, they weren't about to get caught all too soon.
:Pierce: I don't know why you wanted to come to Sector 1, Silver, but I'm willing to follow you wherever you go and help you do whatever you feel like you need to do.
:Silver: I'm really happy about that. I could really use your help.
:Pierce: R-Really?
:Silver: Really! Why would I decline your help?
:Pierce: Nobody's ever relied on me for help before, it's just refreshing, honestly. [looks down] People used to pick on me when I was a kid because I was so different from everyone else.
:Silver: Why?
Pierce takes a deep sigh, looking at Silver's eyes.
:Pierce: Because I've always been so skinny, I could hardly move back then, and people kept calling me lazy and handicapped and all these awful names. They treated me like an alien.
:Silver: I know how that is Pierce, I don't blame you. [holds out his hand] I won't judge you.
:Pierce: There's something about me that would be easy to judge, you promise you won't judge?
:Silver: No, I won't.
:Pierce: I'm, uhh... halfway male. Uhh, do you get my drift?
There was a small pause.
:Silver: I mean, why would I care if you are or not? Whose business would it be to care besides yours? [hugs Pierce] I don't mind, Pierce.
Pierce sobs into Silver's shoulder as he hugs him very tightly, his arms clutched around the Zin's chest and practically squeezing him. Silver rubs his back.
:Pierce: I know that was kind of, strange of me to burst out, but...
:Silver: No worries. I kind of have odd things going on with myself, too.
Silver rolls up his sleeve, showing a bra strap. Pierce looked fairly surprised.
:Silver: It's a bit hard to tell when I'm in my usual clothes, but I have some contradicting features myself.
:Pierce: So are you a...
:Silver: Just call me a boy, that's what I sound like.
Pierce nods, hugging Silver tightly and sticking by him as Silver rolls down his sleeve.
:Pierce: We really aren't so different, are we?
:Silver: We're not that different, no. I'm glad I got to talk about this with you because I never really had anyone else to talk about this to myself. [kisses his cheek] You're safe with me.
Pierce blushes just a little as he leans on Silver.
:Silver: Now then, we need to head over to the source of this spirit that's been calling out my name last night.
:Pierce: Huh? What spirit?
:Silver: Some spirit in your mirror told me to come to Sector 1, so that's why I'm here, to go and confront it about what it wants. Do you know anything about this spirit?
:Pierce: No, but Devina's been complaining about strange ghosts in her house. I'm kind of timid around ghosts, but, I'm willing to go to her place if you need to go there! Chances are those spirits are there.
:Silver: It's a necessity for me. [gets up] I need to get some answers.
Pierce holds Silver's hand, getting up with him.
:Pierce: I don't think I could have asked for someone as thoughtful and open-minded as yourself, Silver. You're really not bad, not bad at all.
:Silver: Good to hear. [lifts up Pierce] You should have brought your wheelchair with you, but I don't mind carrying you until we get back to your place.
:Pierce: You don't?
:Silver: You're practically weightless, I don't mind at all!
Silver laughs as he pulls Pierce up, spreading him across his arms. Pierce holds around his neck, finding secret appeal in being carried as he keeps his arms around Silver's neck.
:Pierce: You really are the best, you know that?
:Silver: Surely not, I'm not that great, honestly.
:Pierce: Sure you are! You're the most levelheaded and reasonable person I've ever met! I mean, maybe the amnesia has something to do with it, but you speak your mind and that's what I like about you. And you're really, supportive and kind. What makes you not great?
:Silver: I don't know, it's just that I feel like I've let everyone down as a mercenary.
:Pierce: Fudge tha police, who cares?
Silver smiles, but not for long as a huge light flashes upon them both.
:Silver: Speak of the devil.
:Officer #1: Silver Zin and some random twink, you're under arrest!
:Officer #2: Hands up in the air or we'll shoot you there!
Silver smirks as he elegantly avoids a round of gunfire, slipping out of sight.
:Officer #1: Damn, where'd he go?
:Officer #3: I don't see him anywhere!
They turn around, finding Silver standing there, a big grin across his face.
:Silver: Capture this!
Silver slaps his behind before leaping down a hill.
:Officer #2: Damn it crew! After him, now!
The officers scramble to chase Silver, with Silver still holding Pierce as he looks for a way out of the park.
:Silver: Alright Pierce, hopefully it won't be that long before we find a place that we can use to summon a pod and get over to the Kilmister Labs.
:Pierce: Hopefully so, watch out though, the officers are still after us!
:Silver: That's a mistake they're going to regret pretty soon, heh.
Silver dashes off as the police remain hot on his trails, Pierce being bounced around in Silver's arms.
::
::
Silver rushes over to a space pod summon station, panting as he hits a button to summon a pod.
:Silver: Alright, we've made it, let's get the heck out of here.
:Pierce: You're so fast.
:Silver: Oh trust me, it's nothing.
Silver boards the space pod, taking Pierce with him as the pod zooms off. The officers fail to catch them, and arrive when the pod's totally gone.
:Officer #1: They got away!
:Officer #3: This isn't gonna make Zodiez happy, ain't it...
:1:02 P.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Kýrios' Throne Room, Admin Sector
The focus returns to Kýrios' throne room, where Ms. Replicate and Shredder were still being held by Zodiez and her husband. Noise and Yama were looking fairly nervous, not sure of how things were going to turn out.
:Zodiez: I've given it some thought, and I decided that the only way I'm going to let you two go is to have a full examination done of your workplaces. We need to see where both of you two work and see if you two are really guilty or anything or not. You've both been non-stop arguing until I told you two to shut up.
:Ms. Replicate: So you're going to go through our workplaces and check through everything for evidence and stuff like that?
:Zodiez: Yes, I will be getting off my seat so you two can direct me to your workplaces. No funny stuff though, you know that the punishment for messing with me is imprisonment or even death.
:Shredder: Ummm, uhhh.
:Zodiez: Do you have any objections to this, Shredder?
:Shredder: ...No! I... I don't.
:Ms. Replicate: So what exactly are you going to be looking for?
:Zodiez: I'll be looking for as much footage as possible of what you two have been reporting about. The more honest you are with me, the more likely I'll be to let you off the hook, because I'm not in the mood for this crap.
Ms. Replicate nods. Noise and Yama looked at each other with worried glances.
:Zodiez: Listen to me, both of you. We're under attack by this Ryona person that Hector and Millicent are currently holding off, and we're still dealing with Mallory on the inside, so we can't mess around for long.
Zodiez jumps up off her seat, her boots making a squishing sound as they hit the ground. Shredder hyperventilated a little as he noticed how tall Zodiez stood above him, which wasn't helped by her possession of inky tentacles and her abrasive personality.
:Ms. Replicate: Should I warn anyone about the house scans before I let you in my home? Some people have personal possessions right there in the open, and I don't want them to be seen by the wrong people.
:Zodiez: Like what?
:Yama: Noise has a collection of severed heads out on a tray in the garden room.
Noise rolls her eyes as Zodiez looks down, tapping her chin.
:Zodiez: Alright, you can give them a 5-minute warning.
Ms. Replicate picks up her phone, quickly dialing a number and placing the phone to her ear.
:Abraham: Who is this.
:Ms. Replicate: Hey Abraham! You're the only one back in the labs, so I'd like it if you hid some of everyone's personal possessions and stashed some of our anti-Mallorian papers in a place where I can conveniently find them later.
:Abraham: Your papers are actually abo-
:Ms. Replicate: Shut up you know what they're about! Just hide them for me, pretty please?
:Abraham: Alright. As you request, my lady.
Abraham hangs up, Ms. Replicate's point having been made clear.
:Zodiez: How about you, Shredder?
:Shredder: Uhhh.
Shredder quickly dials another number.
:Shredder: Hey, uhh, friend, can you clean up the office a bit? No, this is really important. Do you want to get cau- I mean, do you want to confuse our guests?
:Ms. Replicate: He sounds just like my ex.
:Zodiez: All men are like this, I'm used to it by this point. Then again, every woman I've ever met is a bi-
Shredder hangs up with a hack and cough that interrupts Zodiez, looking kind of paranoid but trying to keep his smile up.
:Shredder: Let's stop wasting time and go...! How about we go to Replicate's place first?
:Ms. Replicate: I like that idea, kills the stress for me quicker. Let's go, I'll show you where the labs are. Do you mind getting a bite to eat somewhere first, Zodiez?
:Zodiez: What'd you have in mind?
:Ms. Replicate: Uh, this place called Dairy King. There's an outlet in the satellite lobby.
:Noise: Get me a bloody sundae Repli!
Noise and Yama catch up to their boss.
:Zodiez: You're not just buying time, are you?
:Ms. Replicate: Nah, it'd get me brownie points to take you out and then show a cleaned-out home. Right girls?
:Yama: Yep!
Shredder looked really nervous about all of this. Replicate definitely had this in the bag, while he and Gonzalo don't really have much time at all to clean up their place. And if Gonzalo showed her the wrong place, he'd be dead. He had no excuses.
:Zodiez: Alright, then let's go. Hey honey, will you be alright on your own?
:Kýrios: Will be alright, 'tis middle of my name. Luck shall be in you!
:Zodiez: See you later! Remember that there's a dead whale corpse in the back room if you're hungry. It should last you quite a while!
:Kýrios: Remembered! 'Course.
Zodiez walks off with Replicate, her assistants, and the nervous wreck that Shredder became.
:1:45 P.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Kilmister Labs, Sector 1
Silver, still carrying Pierce in his arms, is shown walking towards a building shaped like an upright bass guitar. Silver smiles a little as he walks up to the strange building while the Manipulator, the Echeno, and the Devil's Mask glance on from the shadows for their arrival.
:Silver: Is this place it, Pierce?
:Pierce: Yeah, this should be the Kilmister Labs building.
Silver walks up the stairs to the building, looking down at Pierce.
:Silver: How're you supposed to know if someone's home or not?
:Pierce: Just ring the doorbell, if someone's inside they'll come out. This doesn't work on ghosts, though, they'll just retract further into the house with loud noises like that.
Silver nods, hitting the doorbell. There's no response.
:Pierce: You can just go in, I'm Devina's friend. I'm sure she'll understand if she finds us in here later.
:Silver: If you say so.
Silver walks inside of the desolate-looking Kilmister Labs. While the music studio looked perfectly fine, the rest of the building didn't. The floorboards looked rotten and disgusting, the walls were rotting away and had a lot of bullet holes in them, and lots of cobwebs could be seen everywhere. Silver flicks on a light switch, but there's no response; the electricity just didn't work.
:Silver: This place is a real mess, isn't it?
:Pierce: Devina's been unable to clean it up or call for help, as everyone she tries to call in here runs away as soon as they figure out the place's haunted. Several people have complained about the insides of this house looking like a disturbing landscape in a ruined painting.
:Silver: That's strange. I've never seen a place like this before.
Silver walks slowly across the fungus-filled floorboards. He looks around cautiously, shuddering as he feels the clammy air get to him. He jumps a bit as he hears the door shut right behind him with a LOUD slam.
:Pierce: Yeah, that happens sometimes. Probably means you're in the right place.
:Silver: Good, they told me to go here. Just wasn't sure where it was or what it looked like.
Silver keeps walking. Lots of bats look upon the two from above, with larger-than-life spiders crawling along the walls. Their eyes were all fixated on Silver, who hardly knew what he even came here for. Eventually, he stumbles upon the basement, its door being open by a crack.
:Silver: Do you think I'm supposed to go down there?
:Pierce: Devina's always told me that she's heard some really creepy things from the basement, so, uh, I guess so? I'm worried for your safety though, because we don't know what's down there.
:Silver: I don't know why I'm trusting people I don't know, I'm such a freak.
Silver begins to step down the stairs. Silver looks really unsure about something.
:Silver: ...Pierce, I don't want you to be hurt. In case something's down there, I don't really think I should be bringing you down with me. Do you want to stay up here in the recording studio?
:Pierce: But what if you get hurt? I can't help you from here.
:Silver: I'm fine, I'm the one they have a bone to pick with.
Silver gently puts Pierce down on his feet. Pierce clumsily walks back to the recording studio, with Silver gently pushing Pierce along so he didn't fall or lose his balance.
:Pierce: I'll be safe here, Black Eyes is sleeping here.
:Silver: Oh how convenient. Wake him up if you hear any girly screaming from me.
Silver smiles.
:Pierce: Good luck Silver, don't get hurt, please. I can hardly bear the thought.
:Silver: You hardly know me, it's fine. I don't even know why you trust me this much.
Silver walks off, returning to the basement and beginning to go down its steps. He hears some strange noises in the basement; not breathing, just some strange whistling noise that passes through his ears.
:Silver: They're down here.
Silver felt his heart beat as he climbs down the basement stairs. They spiraled down to the bottom. When Silver made his way to the floor, he felt his boots make contact with liquid. He couldn't see the color in the pitch-black darkness, but he was sure it was just water as it didn't smell of copper down there.
:The Manipulator: Silver Zin. You have arrived.
:Silver: Who and where are you?
A bright light flashes from a corner of the stonewall basement, showing the Manipulator in all its glowing glory. It sits upon a stack of crates, while the Echeno and the Devil's Mask laid nearby in inactive states.
:The Manipulator: I was your reflection, now I am just me. I am, whoever you want to call me.
:Silver: I'll just call you stranger, if that's cool by you.
:The Manipulator: Do not worry about names. Look below me.
Silver looks below the spirit. He sees a box of alcohol bottles on the floor and some airtight containers in an open crate. The Manipulator looks at his eyes.
:The Manipulator: Silver, something will be done.
:Silver: What do you mean by that?
:The Manipulator: Something will be done about your kind. The mercenary, the rebel, the threat, all of it is designated to perish. It is inevitable, any attempts to deny will be seen as futile.
:Silver: I don't know what you're talking about.
Silver begins to turn away, confused, before the spirit warps in front of him.
:The Manipulator: 
Silver stops moving.
:Silver: Jeez.
:The Manipulator: Your purpose, is to exile the one you call Mallory. Then you shall be exiled. But we have something for you to take back to your home. Something you might like.
The Manipulator shakily points to the crate of substances on the floor. Silver curiously picks it up.
:Silver: What's this? Why this?
:The Manipulator: The mask, it has sought out your inner values, your balance of moods. It detects a world of blue in your mind, the spirituality of alcohol will help drown your sorrows.
The Devil's Mask winks from its dead-still status on the floor.
:The Manipulator: However, your bracelet is a detriment to your success. You must exile Mallory, but you may only do so by being in good spirits. Thus, all detriments must die!
The Manipulator snaps its fingers. Without warning, the Echeno rushes right by Silver, its teeth snapping off Silver's anti-drug anti-alcohol bracelet.
:The Manipulator: It's up to you, Silver, to free the satellite of its three evils. Mallory Zin.
:The Echeno: Gonzalo Dorado.
:The Devil's Mask: ...And Medea Neos.
:All: If these three are not exiled, horrible things will begin to happen, and you will face a fate far worse than death. A fate so obscene it will completely obliterate any chance of you being able to escape or otherwise return to a normal world.
:The Manipulator: 
Silver nods, taking deep breaths as he holds his crate of alcohol rather shakily.
:Silver: Thank you.
:The Manipulator: Do not thank us. Thank yourself for obliging with us. Go home.
:Silver: You won't attack Pierce?
:The Manipulator: No reason.
Silver begins to walk up the basement stairs again, holding his crate of alcohol confusingly. Didn't Scotch tell him to stay away from substances like this? ...Could the authorities be hiding something from him?
:The Manipulator: One more thing.
:Silver: What is it?
:The Manipulator: Do not come back unless we tell you to.
Silver goes back up the stairs and walks into the studio room, where he finds Pierce sitting patiently for him. He gets back up, smiling at Silver.
:Pierce: Uh, how'd it go?
:Silver: It was strange, to say the least. I got this crate of... he never said what was in here besides that it was alcohol.
:Pierce: We'll look into it when we find a place where we can spend the night, alright?
Silver nods, placing the bottles and containers in his robe pockets as he picks up Pierce again, walking outside with him.
:Pierce: Let's go find a quiet place.
:2:32 P.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Valco Vortex, New Naxaz City
Valerie and Syinara were sitting together at a desk in Valerie's living space, huddled close together. The businesswoman's hard at work, writing out notes while her phone's out nearby and the radio is on. Syinara looks concerned for Val as she tries to keep up with the mounting pressure to keep things under control.
:Syinara: Are you okay, Val?
:Valerie: I'm fine Syi, I'm just trying to figure out what the hell's going on with Silver and trying to prepare the satellite for an area-wide scan and figure out how I'm gonna keep Ryona's forces from coming inside.
:Syinara: Oh, I'm sorry about being a bother hon.
:Valerie: You're not a bother! I'm just, really panicky right now.
Valerie keeps writing down as many notes as possible. Syi looks over her shoulder, seeing Valerie write about plans dedicated to getting Silver back as well as plans about getting rid of Mallory. At the same time, she was writing a script and a basis for what the satellite scan would be about.
:Valerie: I'm just worried for Silver, you know?
:Syinara: Yeah, I'm a bit afraid for him too. [looks down] Poor guy, I'm sure he just wanted to have a fun time before he got mixed up in all this bullcrap.
:Valerie: We probably deserved this madness from treating him so poorly. Well, I never really tried to treat him poorly, but as much as I respect Scotch and Zodiez they're pretty much who's to blame.
:Syinara: Ehh. Let's not blame any of the authorities for this, everyone's really stressed out right now and a lot of misunderstandings and misconceptions are being thrown around. Everyone's kinda confused right now. I bet even Mallory's having a tough time getting a grasp on what's going on!
:Valerie: I can't imagine being Mallory and figuring out that everyone thinks I'm dead. That'd be so damn bizarre, reminds me of the old Black Haze frontman though, where he was in such bad shape that false reports of him being dead or losing limbs were commonplace on the news.
:Syinara: Yeah, I'm gonna miss that guy.
Valerie nods as she keeps writing. She was making a considerable amount of progress, but you could see through her sweating and the wrinkles on her forehead that the stress was really getting to her.
:Valerie: I think Kispel's still around, just... not in good shape.
:Syinara: I'm just worried that you're gonna go down his path with booze and crap and that you'll lose your mind, like that's how that guy went down, and it might be how Silver goes down too. I've seen Zonas crack open some alcohol after abstaining from it for some time, and the Nature Warrior couldn't possibly be in a worse condition.
:Valerie: I won't, honey. I can't stop those people from drinking, but I won't let any alcohol take me down. I certainly didn't achieve anything by becoming wasted and uncoordinated.
:Syinara: Thank you.
:Valerie: I just do a bottle a day or so, sometimes two if real bad crap goes down. No need to worry about me until I say it's time to start worrying about me.
Valerie takes a break from her writing to hug Syi, patting her scarecrow's back and rubbing it. Syi returns the hug, taking a deep breath and sighing.
:Syinara: I'm so proud of you, Valerie, don't ever forget that.
:Valerie: Honey, there's no way I'd be feeling as good as I do without you. [wheels around in her seat] My work has always been about supporting you, people like you, and everyone of every targeted demographic out there. I like money, but I like love better.
:Syinara: Valerie.
Valerie pulls her in closely.
:Valerie: Syi!
:Syinara: I love you. I'm not sure if I'm ready to commit to a relationship just yet, but, I think about it every day and I think it'll happen one day. Just keep being the gal I know.
:Valerie: You keep being the little darling I know...!
Valerie giggles and rubs her hair playfully before returning to work, a smile back on her face.
:Valerie: See, thanks to you being such a supportive cutie, I have all the motivation I need right now to get this stuff out the window! I'll remember you forever if this goes well, not that I wouldn't if this didn't work out, but damn it I just wanted to say something really positive about you in the moment.
:Syinara: That's the ticket, Val! Good luck!
Syinara smiles as she watches her wife work again in higher spirits.
:3:01 P.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Blackstar, Sector 1
::
::
Silver and Pierce run outside the city of Blackstar, with them taking shelter in a ditch just outside town. Silver carries a piece of wood over them that's just wide enough to cover the hole, sealing them in and preventing officers from finding them.
:Pierce: Looks like Blackstar wasn't the right place to run off to.
:Silver: It's alright, it was a pain in the neck to get out of there but I'll find a better place to hide out at sometime in the future. [laughs weakly] I hope.
:Pierce: Running away from the authorities is pretty tricky on this satellite, hah.
:Silver: I've been considering just going back to your place, gathering what I have, and then leaving.
:Pierce: I don't know Silver. [sighs] I know you're finding this place to be a real pain in the neck, but I'd rather if you didn't leave because then it would mean I wouldn't be able to have you.
:Silver: Why don't you just come with me, then?
:Pierce: I still have family and friends here that I talk with here, and communication between satellites is pretty difficult. [looks away] I don't think you should give up on us yet. Besides, other satellites might already know of the Mallory thing and they'd be willing to treat you just as badly if not worse.
:Silver: Right, I've just been, considering it because I don't feel welcome here.
:Pierce: Maybe that'll change with time, Silver. We just need to get some things under control right now, that's all.
Pierce clenches his fists, looking red in the cheeks as he sighs.
:Pierce: I'm gonna beat the lights out of Ms. Replicate and Gonzalo for messing up everything and making everything so goddamn complicated, then I'm gonna kill Mallory for causing so much trouble.
:Silver: Wait.
Silver looks at Pierce, one eye half-closed and twitching.
:Silver: What damage has Mallory even done?
:Pierce: She has possession of three zodiac stones and has done a lot of harm to a lot of citizens aboard the satellite, so she definitely is a threat, Silver. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise.
:Silver: Right, I wasn't really awake for some of that, sorry. She's definitely gotten quieter since I woke up, I guess.
:Pierce: It's alright. We should probably get out of this ditch.
:Silver: Sure. I don't like feelin' dirty, anyway.
Silver and Pierce crawl out from the ditch, standing up and going between some bushes so they could have a view of the Sector 1 skies. Silver and Pierce laid sprawled out on the ground, holding each other's hands.
:Pierce: So, I wanted to talk to you in private about something, but I've just been worried that you'll make fun of me for it.
:Silver: What do you have to lose really, Pierce?
:Pierce: I don't know, the one person that can understand how I feel and how I think and take me absolutely seriously? [grips his hand tighter] I have family and friends, and they're friendly with me, but they don't understand some of the things I go through. Because I'm not... I'm not a normal person.
:Silver: What's not normal about you to you? You not being completely male?
:Pierce: I mean, that's just a fraction of the full picture.
Pierce takes a deep breath.
:Pierce: I've tried to hide this from you in case it'd destroy your opinion of Ms. Replicate, because my grudges aren't yours to bear and it'd be unfair to destroy any chance of you getting a relationship with her. But...
:Silver: But what?
:Pierce: ...I was never really meant to be born. I'm a single-parented child that was birthed from an experiment that Ms. Replicate was conducting, looking to make something that could let her accomplish her goal of having a safe haven for herself and her inner circle.
Pierce shudders a little, which Silver responds to by gently pulling him closer.
:Pierce: I was supposed to help in the making of sinister, genetically-perfect children that could bring Replicate's plans to fruition. But, my mother died a really quick and painful death, and these plans fell apart because she could no longer finance the project. She broke up with Gonzalo sometime before that.
:Silver: Who's Gonzalo?
:Pierce: He's the owner of Naxaz's bank, he's a rotten person you should never be around. He acts nice, but I don't think he manages anyone's money the way he should. At least, that's what Replicate had me believe.
:Silver: I see. [sighs] I'm sorry that you have to put up with those memories.
:Pierce: I've been around for three decades now, so I'm a lot closer to your age than that hag is anyway. But if you choose to go after her or anything, I won't be complaining as long as you know what you're doing.
:Silver: Why would I invest in a relationship with her? I hardly know her and she had the gut to lie to me.
:Pierce: ...Because I thought you wanted a relationship with her!
Pierce squeaks those words out so loud that Silver almost had a heart attack. He sounds really frail. Silver gently pulls Pierce closer to him, giving him a tight hug.
:Silver: I haven't thought about relationships the whole time I've been on the satellite. I've been too busy trying to watch out for my own skin.
:Pierce: That's good to hear. [sighs] I'll just be open about it, Silver, I...
:Silver: I've been thinking about going out to eat with you at some point, what do you think?
Pierce almost had a stroke right there.
:Pierce: You mean it?
:Silver: Yeah! I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and I think it'd just be really cool to have some more private time with you. [holds his hand tighter] I couldn't ask for a more trustworthy ally.
:Pierce: Silver...
Pierce's face flushes pink.
:Pierce: Alright, yeah, I'm cool with your plan! I'll just need to get my dress and...
:Silver: We just need to make my innocence clear to the authorities so we can actually be allowed to walk wherever we want again. After that, though? Yeah, I'll definitely take you out.
:Pierce: You're the best.
Pierce rolls into Silver's side, Zin holding him closely as a smile runs across his face. Maybe his time on the satellite won't be so ghastly after all, he thought to himself as he holds Pierce closely to himself.
:Silver: Heh. You're pretty good yourself, you know.
:4:49 P.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Main Street, New Naxaz City
Walking down New Naxaz City's main street were Zonas and Crymsia, who were walking down together to the liquor store, which can be seen about a mile ahead of them.
:Zonas: An unusual gesture for you to go on a walk with me, but thank you.
:Crymsia: Don't mention it, bub. [sniffs] I gotta, get something to drink and ummm, bunch of creeps on the streets tonight, my eye-hand coordination sucks mate so I needed the company.
:Zonas: You sure you're gonna be alright there, Crymsia?
:Crymsia: Hell yeah, I'm just pullin' through. What've you been up to?
:Zonas: I've been trying to get to the bottom of this Silver rabbit hole before things reach another notch in intensity, because I think it's become clear to some of us that Silver is innocent.
Crymsia hics as she leans on Zonas, who places an arm around her to prevent her from tripping face-first.
:Crymsia: The authorities don't really care about Silver, they just wanna have an excuse to beat him up, ey. He's an alien, an alien that maybe deserves a biiiiit better. The Nature Warrior would... [hic] disagree.
:Zonas: Yeah, the authorities' treatment of Silver is just gonna bite them in the ass at some point. In fact, what might have just happened might have pushed Silver over the edge.
:Crymsia: Zodiez treats people like trash, no wonder he hates us all.
Crymsia tries to keep her eyes open, but finds it difficult to do so.
:Crymsia: That Scotchy guy's tryin' to figure out a way to call Silver back, but I'd be real surprised if Silver came back. Then again, if he didn't, the Nature Warrior would go after him and cut him up into little pieces.
:Zonas: You sure you and the Nature Warrior aren't the exact same person?
:Crymsia: We're different, we're different, I swear it. [hics] God, AHH.
Crymsia holds her mouth, her face turning green before she takes a deep breath. Zonas looks down at her, totally concerned.
:Zonas: Whoa, are you alright?
:Crymsia: Just almost threwwww up, that's all. [hic] I just gotta get some beers for the Nature Warrior, I'll try to abstain from drinking, the Nature Warrior just needs the drinks to get by. I can be sober.
:Zonas: I'm worried for you Crymsia. Look, like it or not, it's painfully obvious to me that you two are the same person. I used to be a detective, you know.
:Crymsia: Alright, finee. [sighs] I'll try and learn to abstain from this crap or I'm gonna just get hit, lordy. Anyway, still gonna buy the beers, just in case.
:Zonas: As long as you don't drink any more than you have tonight, I'm fine with getting you more beer. [pats her back] I just don't want you throwing up 'ere.
Crymsia takes deep breaths as Zonas guides her gently down the sidewalk, helping keep her steady so she didn't lose her balance and try to prevent her from throwing up.
:Zonas: Anyway, I got a text message from Scotch earlier today telling me that Zodiez is looking through Replicate's workplace after several repeated delays. Replicate wanted to eat at Dairy King, then she got lost and apparently wandered her way into the Vinegar Base. I think she was intentionally stalling.
:Crymsia: They should probably get straight to the point.
:Zonas: Scotch watched Zodiez go into the Hospital Wing with her and her assistants and some weird dude with a yellow headband and glowy electric arms, so I'd assume they're already getting to the point.
:Crymsia: Any news on the Ryona stuff?
:Zonas: Ah. We're losing on that front because Ryona came much more prepared than we expected. I want you to be sober tonight so that when you wake up tomorrow, you and I can go help fend off Ryona.
:Crymsia: DAMN IT. [growls] We really need Silver back to help us, 'cuz Mallory's gonna do some screwy stuff if nobody takes care of it quickly enough.
:Zonas: Yeah, I hope he can find his way back soon. [sighs] Because if Ms. Replicate can provide some proof of Silver's innocence, we can get him back on track to help us before we have to spend all our resources on Ryona and her only.
Crymsia and Zonas arrive at the liquor store. Zonas looks inside, sighing.
:Zonas: Alright, I'll get you your beers and I'll get some for myself. [pats her shoulder] I'll be out in a jiffy, alright?
:Crymsia: Alright, crackhead knucklehead.
Zonas walks inside the liquor store. He's in there for two minutes, helping pick out something not overkill for Crymsia and something more his speed. Suddenly, Crymsia hears a hissing noise.
:Crymsia: Hey, who's there?
Crymsia wheels around with her blade, making someone back away.
:Crymsia: Back off bub, I'm armed and you don't wanna mess with me!
But her weapon gets knocked to the floor as she witnesses a taller figure capture her in a bag, suddenly beginning to drag her away!
:Crymsia: Hey, let me go! Don't [hic] mess with me, mate!
The figure does not respond besides by just dragging her away from the liquor store, vanishing into thin air. Zonas walks back outside, dropping his drink when he notices that all that's left of Crymsia is her sword.
:Zonas: Crymsia? ...CRYMSIA?
Zonas looks down at the ground. He finds little furs of a purple winter coat.
:Zonas: Neos.
 
:5:24 P.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:C.O.T.S. Laboratories, Hospital Wing
Four hours after the dissolving of the throne room confrontation between Zodiez, Replicate, and Shredder, they have finally managed to move on to investigating the C.O.T.S. Laboratories. It looked much emptier than it did last time we saw the lab, with the floors and walls scrubbed totally clean and with many suspicious items locked away. The only suspicious place was Replicate's own lab, but no proof of anything bad could be found there.
:Zodiez: This is a pretty clean place, Replicate, I don't see how you could have been responsible for the things we've been framing Silver for doing lately.
:Ms. Replicate: I think it'd be good if you decided to go and talk to the Electric Eye, he knows a lot about our current situation and I think he'd be helpful for guiding you in the right direction.
:Zodiez: The Electric Eye...?
:Ms. Replicate: He's the one who manages all the spy cameras across the satellite, and his responsibility is to make sure people like Mallory and Gonzalo aren't causing trouble. I think you'll find some real proof of Silver's innocence there, as he tapes everything by law.
:Noise: He's in a small room behind that curtain over there, y'know the one where there's no walls but just endless televisions that he observes with his incredibly advanced eyes.
:Ms. Replicate: Yeah! He's in there.
:Zodiez: Right. I'll take a visit right away.
Zodiez walks off into the Electric Eye's room. Abraham catches up to Ms. Replicate, placing folded clean towels on the counter.
:Ms. Replicate: Thank you for doing this place such a great clean-up Abraham, I'm really proud of you.
:Abraham: No problem. When you don't feel anything anymore, it really is just easy to do endless amounts of chores and not feel exhausted from doing them.
:Ms. Replicate: You're so good to me.
Ms. Replicate pats him on the back, to which he had no real response to.
:Yama: What's going to happen now, boss?
:Ms. Replicate: I might have to go to prison for a bit if I don't get off the hook completely, but I should be able to get Silver's sentence cleared, and after my potential prison sentence ends we'll be back in business.
Ms. Replicate looks down, sighing.
:Ms. Replicate: Yet again though, I'll have to delay my big plans to make the ideal paradise out of Satellite 15.
:Noise: Hey, the chance will rise again at some point, we just need to not get people we like in trouble. [looks up at her, frowning] Teaming up with, you know who was a bad mistake. When Zodiez figures out that that deal you made with her really did happen, you will probably be due to repay in damages.
:Ms. Replicate: I was being such a greedy fool, I didn't even realize the consequences as I should have. [folds her arms] Now I have to do it in an all-new way.
:Noise: Mmm, to think you've been trying to fulfill these plans since before we were born.
:Ms. Replicate: Your mothers were very helpful to me...
:Noise: Yeah, that's why we got stuck in this scummy low-paying job.
Noise, Yama, and Replicate share weak laughs between each other before the latter sighs.
:Ms. Replicate: We'll see about giving you two a raise.
:Noise: Thirteen years too late, but I appreciate the sentiment anyway.
The screen moves to Zodiez, who's sitting before the Electric Eye, positioned on a railing.
:Hunjan: Ah, Zodiez, so we finally meet at long last. [extends hand] My name is Hunjan, or as others know me as, the Electric Eye. As the lyrics to the Judas Priest song go, "you think you've private lives, but think nothing of the kind, there is no true escape as I'm watching all the time".
:Zodiez: Pleasant to meet you, Hunjan.
Zodiez shakes his hand.
:Zodiez: So have you been hearing about the reports about Silver setting free all of Mallory's comrades, or...?
:Hunjan: Yes, I have been hearing about all those reports, and I'll be the first to tell you that all those reports saying that Silver did that action are completely untrue.
:Zodiez: That's blasphemy. It's a shame, because liars aren't usually very attr-
:Hunjan: There is solid video evidence of what was going down over there, and there is solid video evidence of how it started here. You cannot dispute the truth, unless you are an anti-vaxxer or a flat-earther, in which case nobody should care what you think.
:Zodiez: Some people think the satellite is round, isn't that hilarious?
:Hunjan: Admittedly, yes.
Hunjan reaches over to his station, where he switches on footage of Ms. Replicate working on a greyscale copy of Silver on a table. Really god-awful early 2000's rap metal can be heard in the background, with Noise jamming out to it while Replicate and Yama directly work on the body.
:Hunjan: As you can witness in this video, Replicate is working on a clone of Silver that doesn't precisely have the same colors as him, with the alarming difference being the lack of color on his clothes and on his cheeks. All other footage of Silver prior to this date show him with red streaks on his clothes.
:Zodiez: I thought the footage I was seeing just captured him in poor lightning.
:Hunjan: No, that isn't the case. [changes to another tape] This shows Replicate throwing this Silver out into the streets from early this morning. She was alone, and you can see Mallory picking her nose there. Ew.
:Zodiez: She stoops so low, but what about Silver? Where was the real Silver then?
:Hunjan: No footage of him has existed since the moment he ran away with the Messiah, unfortunately, but in this same footage... [rewinds] Mallory shows excitement that he messaged her telling her that Silver was at her home. So Silver was at Mallory's place, wherever that was.
:Zodiez: God, I feel like such a fool.
:Hunjan: Have you even considered what Replicate's name even means? She can clone Silver, that should have been enough of a giveaway to what was going on.
:Zodiez: Why didn't you say anything to me about this!
:Hunjan: Because you blocked me on Risquord because I talked too excessively about anime.
Zodiez looks down, facepalming herself.
:Zodiez: Wait, which account is yours again?
Hunjan hands her a paper reading "HunjanEE(HatsumeStan)#OWWO".
:Hunjan: It's too complicated to voice out.
Zodiez nods and pockets the paper, sighing.
:Zodiez: Alright.
Zodiez walks out of the Electric Eye's room, looking at Ms. Replicate.
:Zodiez: You're excused. We will have to take away your ink machine, as I've connected the dots and figured out that you can use it for some serious damage, but your place can remain operational.
:Ms. Replicate: Thank you so much.
:Shredder: Hey, she's still guilty of-
:Zodiez: Oh yeah, twerp. I'm gonna have to scan your home next.
Shredder looks terrified as Zodiez tightly grips his hand, dragging him out of the lab.
:Shredder: This isn't over, Replicate, and I'll make sure of that!
:Ms. Replicate: Whatever.
Ms. Replicate shuts the doors to the establishment, smirking as she crackles her fingers.
:Ms. Replicate: Now we can just focus on Silver coming back so we can figure out what to do next.
:Noise: Good luck on getting him back here after all that fuss you and him had together.
:Ms. Replicate: Mmmm, I hope he finds it in his heart to come back here at some point.
:5:40 P.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Death Mountain, Sector 1
::
::
Silver and Pierce were hitchhiking up Death Mountain to get away from the authorities as fast as they could, but much to their dismay, they were still getting tracked down.
:Pierce: Darn, we're not being given any room to be on our own!
:Silver: I'm sure if we keep running we'll eventually be far enough away from them.
:Pierce: T-This is Death Mountain, Silver! It's gonna be way too d-dangerous to go any further up!
:Silver: Yeah, I read the thousands of warning signs leading up the hill. [stops] I guess we're going to have to face some cops head on if we're going to turn back around.
Pierce looks really timid as he clutches hard onto his boyfriend from behind, with Silver getting surrounded by lots of officers.
:Officer #1: Freeze, you black-tongued freak!
:Officer #2: Don't move, pretty lady. You don't wanna get hurt.
:Officer #3: Another movement and I'll be racist!
Silver shook his head in disappointment as he prepared to run forward, but would get sprung upon by another officer, who made him step back out of surprise.
:Silver: Damn, we're surrounded!
:Officer #2: Come on, let's make this painless. Let's take you to prison!
:Officer #3: If you retort, I'll show you something fouler than your mouth!
:Pierce: You're all vile and disgusting people! [holds Silver] C'mon honey, we have to push them aside!
:Silver: Honey?
:Officer #2: Hey, I wanted to make him mine!
Silver glares at that officer.
:Silver: You're going to remain a virgin if you don't bite your tongue.
The officer bites his tongue as the others try to advance on Silver, who pulls his weapon out.
:Silver: I guess the Sector 1 authorities aren't the cleanest bunch, are they?
:Officer #3: You're white!
:Silver: I'm Silver, you're a bit off.
Silver swings his weapon around to knock them all backwards, but a huge machine descends from nowhere, sending Silver and Pierce tumbling backwards on the mountain of trash.
:Silver: What?
:Chief: Freeze, Silver Zin! Another movement and I'll not just be racist, but also impolite and stinky!
:Silver: I was about to be outta here because this game of aimless bullying is boring, but now that a real challenge has decided to show up, okay, bring it on!
:Pierce: Silver, don't tempt him.
:Silver: That thing's packed with missiles Pierce, I don't think we have a choice!
:Chief: You asked for it, you twink!
The chief looms in on Silver with his huge mech, complete with enormous legs and several dedicated missile compartments.
::
::
After breaking down the chief's machine, Silver smirks and begins to run away when he hears Zodiez's voice over the intercom.
:Zodiez: Silver Zin is innocent, Silver Zin is innocent. Please do not pursue him any longer; he has been proven to be innocent and the truth has been discussed between me and parties that matter. Thank you for your time.
Zodiez clicks off the mic. Silver takes a really huge sigh of relief.
:Silver: Man, I'm glad I trashed that guy's vehicle before my name got cleared.
:Pierce: Let's... go home now, hehe.
:Silver: God, today was so long. I'm so sorry, Pierce.
:Pierce: It's okay, sweetie. All is forgiven!
Silver smiles as he begins walking down Death Mountain with Pierce, with both ready to go back to the lobby. The camera turns to Valerie, who sighs in relief.
:Valerie: Thank the lord.
:6:52 P.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Docking Haven, Satellite 15
Millicent is shown sparring with Ryona on the deck of what looks to be Hector's ship, with both battling with neon-lit swords on her deck.
:Millicent: You're not bad, Ryona. [sweats, grinning] I've been having to alternate battling you with Hector all time, all my comrades are almost dead, what do you have to say about this, huh?
:Ryona: You're really off your game lately, Millicent. I gotta say, it's really disappointing.
:Millicent: Maybe if we weren't investing so much time into dealing with alien threats, I wouldn't be so damn off! [pushes against her] You chose to attack us when we were clearly down. Kind of pathetic, no?
:Ryona: It's not me being pathetic, it's me seizing advantage of a perfect opportunity. [grins at her] Not only am I going to plunder your satellite at long last, I'm gonna make it mine after we overwhelm your forces!
:Millicent: Well you're certainly an annoying piece of crap, aren't ya?
Millicent and Ryona keep bearing their full strength against each other, with Millicent almost growling as she tries to stand her ground.
:Millicent: Lookie here, you thoughtless bastard. We sent out that message warning about Mallory to the other satellites so nobody else had to deal with her, it was a message of care. [looks fiercely into her eyes] But you saw it as a chance to attack us?
:Ryona: Why should I care about matters that don't concern me? I'll just make Mallory my mate!
:Millicent: You're still just a spoiled little brat, aren't you?
:Ryona: Maybe you should stop underestimating what I can do to your puny body!
Ryona unhinges her jaw to swallow an apple whole, using the subsequent form she gets from it to form herself sturdy armor and make an anchor that she uses to throw Millicent into the wall of Hector's ship.
:Ryona: What do you think of that, Millicent?
:Millicent: God, screw off with your cocky attitude. [gets back up] We're trying to actually take care of important business, and here you are like the greedy crackhead you are trying to take toys that aren't yours again. Go home!
Ryona doesn't budge; instead she moves forward for Hector.
:Hector: Oh no ye don't, lass!
Hector pulls out his Amor Claws and slashes at her to knock her back, but this barely scratches her armor. She smirks as she slams her anchor into Hector's ship, destroying the wheel and its platform.
:Hector: Watch it, woman, that equipment's expensive ye know! Wanna walk the plank?
:Ryona: I think it's time I made you shut up, Hector.
:Millicent: Hector, we're screwed!
:Hector: Not quite lass. Under the poop deck!
Millicent hesitated for a second, but when she took a second look at Ryona, she reluctantly follows Hector under the deck of the ship. They close up the door that would let her down, but her anchor smashes through it pretty easily.
:Millicent: Hector, what do we do? She's gonna tear this ship to pieces!
:Hector: We can hardly fight 'er, so we gotta keep runnin'. I dunno where, but this ship is pretty darn big, so.
:Millicent: Right.
:Hector: The further down we go, the longer it'll take for her to get us.
:Millicent: We have to hide somewhere deep enough where we can sleep without her trying to kill us.
:Hector: Aye lass! That'll be hard, but we can try!
Ryona knocks her way down, holding her anchor firmly in her hand.
:Ryona: I'm not leaving this ship until both of you are dead! This rivalry is over, Hector!
Hector pulls Millicent along, dragging her along inside the ship as Ryona begins to chase them down.
:Hector: Let's find a place we can send a distress signal from, or we're gonna die!
Millicent looks back at Ryona before picking up Hector and running down the hallways as fast as she can with him in tow. Ryona chases them down some stairs, but Millicent's quick enough to make herself and Hector hide inside a closet and take a chute down to a hidden room.
:Hector: Alright lass, I got this.
Hector dials up a number on his phone as he pulls it up to his ear.
:Hector: Ahoy Scotch! We can really use some help!
:Scotch: I'll send troops over as soon as I can, but we're currently under attack ourselves by Ryona's pirates. We'll let you know if we have any spares!
:Hector: I sure darn hope that Silver boy can get around soon.
:8:34 P.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:Satellite Lobby, Room #13
Silver and Pierce are shown hanging out in Pierce's room after a long, long couple of days. They were laying together in bed, holding hands, down to their pajamas. They were both finally relaxed.
:Silver: Thank you for being here for me, Pierce. I'm really happy to be in a private place with you now, thank god that Zodiez found out I was innocent before we had to find somewhere to sleep tonight. It was jarring that she just figured it out, but maybe the authorities aren't so bad after all.
:Pierce: Mmmm. [holds Silver's hand] I'm so happy that we're here again tonight, I really liked spending time with you during the few nights you were here. I was wondering if you even liked me anymore last night.
:Silver: Of course I really like you Pierce, you're like the one person that really understands me. [smiles at him] And, that adventure we've had this afternoon really cemented my opinion of you.
:Pierce: Which is...
:Silver: Umm, we haven't known each other for very long, but I've never really met anyone that was so dedicated to being by my side and understanding me. [smiles, taking a small sip of alcohol] You really mean a lot to me.
Pierce felt his own heart race. He looked so happy, yet so anxious as his heart skipped plenty of beats.
:Silver: I know you've been really self-conscious about how I think of you, and I know that you really don't like the image of you hurting me or you neglecting me. But I don't think you have anything to worry about.
:Pierce: Nobody's ever said anything like that to me. [blushes a little bit] The most love I've ever gotten was from a friend of mine named Nomila Rouse. I haven't seen her in a long time, but she gave me a reason to be around. To be here for my friends, and you're the one I want to die for.
:Silver: Pierce.
Silver gently squeezes a bit tighter on his hands.
:Silver: Pierce, I don't think we're really friends. I've been thinking about it for some time now, and...
Pierce's heart sunk like a rock. Oh no. His whole life flashed right before his eyes.
:Silver: ...What I really see of us is really different from that.
:Pierce: What do you mean?
Pierce figured that he knew what Silver was going to say, but he was so bubbling with anticipation that it was KILLING him to not ask. His whole body kind of twitched over and over, waiting for Silver to respond.
:Silver: Pierce, I see us together.
Silver smiles at Pierce, who looked like a nervous wreck, his cheeks roses.
:Pierce: Silver...!
:Silver: I can't guarantee I'm going to be the best partner or anything, but I can try and make it work. You won't really be asking much from me to make it work, because I want to make it work.
Silver pulls Pierce in for a hug. Almost immediately, Pierce begins sobbing into his shoulder, his arms around Silver's neck as Silver gives him a protective squeeze.
:Silver: And, I know this is what you've been wanting, you're really not subtle about it. [kisses his cheek] But I kind of want it too, so I'm willing to do it. Not just for you, but for me. I need you so I can be strong.
:Pierce: Did you just...
:Silver: Hey, it's not like I'd kiss you if I didn't like you.
:Pierce: I...
Pierce squeals as he hugs Silver tightly, wrapping his arms around him as he kisses Silver's cheek. Silver smiles as he holds Pierce as closely to him as he can, letting Hazel embrace his warmth.
:Silver: Look, this relationship might come off to you as weird because you've only gotten to know me over just a matter of days, but I don't really care about that if you don't. It was love for me at first sight. You're so caring, fuzzy, and, god, where do I even end this?
:Pierce: Let's make it work, S-Silver. [holds his hands] I know I'm annoying, but, it really means a lot for you to confess that to me. I wouldn't have said something.
:Silver: Why do you think I offered to take you out to eat earlier?
Silver winks at him.
:Pierce: B-Because it was a friendly gesture?
:Silver: Heh, no. I'm not really good at giving off romantic hints yet, huh?
:Pierce: No, I'll say that for sure.
Both of them laugh as they snuggle up together.
:Silver: Good night Pierce. I'll be up in the morning and do a check-up with Scotch, but, I promise we're going to be right here twenty-four hours from now. Okay?
:Pierce: Okay. [kisses his cheek] Good night, honey.
Both of them smile as they drift to sleep in each other's arms. Pierce actually stays awake for a bit, staring at his new lover, before slowly going to sleep himself. If it lasts, he thought to himself, he would have a hell of a life ahead of him.
:9:20 P.M. · FRIDAY JANUARY 21st, ZXE-220
:???
Mallory was relaxing at her home, sitting in bed as all of her comrades walked around the house and were at work.
:Mallory: Messiah, can I speak to you please?
:Leper Messiah: Yes, ma'am.
:Mallory: Please get on the bed.
He hops on the bed as Mallory commands, sitting next to her.
:Mallory: Put your arm around me, then pull me down to bed, then put the sheets over us. I really need someone to sleep with tonight because I'm afraid of the dark.
:Leper Messiah: I can do that.
The Messiah crawls into the sheets, placing his arm around Mallory and pulling the sheets over them, throwing his cross to switch off the light.
:Leper Messiah: That's the only good thing the cross is useful for.
:Mallory: I've heard that Ryona's been trying to break into the satellite and begin wrecking our crap up, if she succeeds, there's going to be a lot of focus done on her by the military.
:Leper Messiah: And?
:Mallory: I'm going to make Mania use our zodiac stones to make a stone radar detector so we can track the rest of them down, using her and Beck to track them down and using the Methademic to help shield them. [snuggles with the Messiah] Then, mmm, gonna make the kids blow up old stone sites so they can't be returned to their original places if they're taken from us.
:Leper Messiah: Sounds like a good plan to me.
The Messiah didn't look too comfortable sleeping with Mallory, but he wasn't really against it. He just took a deep breath and returned the snuggle.
:Leper Messiah: What do you want me to do, boss?
:Mallory: Keep building the church, we need it open by Sunday or it's not going to be too easy to distract the public from our crimes. The more people that don't look out for me and my team, the better. I can't have most of you in prison a second time.
:Leper Messiah: What do we do about Silver?
:Mallory: I dunno, maybe I'll make Beck invite him on a date or something. I don't know.
Ferris walks into Mallory's room.
:Ferris: Hey mom, have you seen my toy train?
:Mallory: Probably in the same place where you always leave it. The meth room.
:Ferris: Oh right. Thanks!
Ferris leaves. The Messiah turns to Mallory.
:Leper Messiah: A meth room? What?
:Mallory: The Methademic keeps producing and using so much meth that I had to dedicate a whole room to its storage. The room itself is probably worth hundreds of thousands of ValCoins by this state, and you can probably sell the Methademic at a high price because he's a machine. A sentient one, but still.
Mallory clings onto the Messiah tightly, hating the darkness of the room.
:Leper Messiah: I see. I had no idea that room even existed.
:Mallory: A-Anyway, you have to make sure that you build that church, and I have to make sure that those stones are getting gathered so I can do my ultimate plan!
:Leper Messiah: What will you be doing, Mallory?
:Mallory: I'll be figuring out what exactly I want to do with the zodiac stones. I had a plan before, but the stones are so versatile with how they can be used that the possibilities are limitless!
Mallory cackles loudly. From the doorway, the Manipulator watches, its eyes glowing menacingly.
:The Manipulator: 
The Manipulator is holding a crate of beer bottles.
====Chapter Seven: Rooster====
:7:37 A.M. · SATURDAY JANUARY 22nd, ZXE-220
:Nightshade Inc., Sector 5
Crymsia was shown strapped to a steel tabletop, her mouth bonded shut and her arms tied together as she struggles to move from the table. You can see Azrail Neos sitting at his computer in his cluttered lab, working on something fairly important judging by how fast he's typing.
:Crymsia: L-Lemmephh go!
:Azrail: I promise I'll let you go in a while, but I really need to get this plan of mine working or we're all goners. [wheels around to face her] Now shut up and let me work!
Azrail maddingly types away on his keyboard, thousands of characters being entered into the computer screen per minute, highlighting his work ethic when concentrated.
:Azrail: You were a perfect target, but you're going to be an even better cure. I promise I'm not up to something actually nefarious; actually I wanted to do something pretty awesome.
Crymsia manages to loosen and spit out the gag in her mouth, deep breathing.
:Crymsia: Why did you kidnap me particularly?
:Azrail: Phh, since you're going to talk anyway, do you mind confirming a few things for me? Do you really have the capability of self-producing aloe vera, Crymsia?
:Crymsia: What business is it of yours?
:Azrail: You know that Ryona's gonna make her way into the satellite at any given moment, right? Do you think I have time to argue this crap with you?
:Crymsia: ...Well, yeah, I still do produce it. I don't know why you'd really care though.
Azrail cackles like a low-level villain as he types up what looks like a bunch of complicated coding.
:Azrail: Don't worry, when you see what I'm up to, you'll understand why I kidnapped you in the first place. [looks at his screen, sighing] Sorry about actually kidnapping you though, I probably should have asked if you could help me with this first.
:Crymsia: Probably should have, huh.
Azrail tries his best to not look guilty as he steps back from his computer, watching a huge download progress bar appear on his screen. He takes a deep breath, watching it slowly and agonizingly count up from zero percent.
:Crymsia: You do know that I was supposed to meet up with Silver if his innocence was proven, right?
:Azrail: Why would I know that?
:Crymsia: You'd know if you asked me if I wanted to come along for this ride!
:Azrail: You are right about that, Crymsia, and again I'm sorry. [pulls out a remote] Well, it's time for you to do your part!
Before Crymsia could object or ask what he meant, Azrail presses the one button his remote. Suddenly, Crymsia's body gets covered in a plastic case, with a metallic appendage accompanied by a needle coming down from the ceiling.
:Azrail: Hey, I don't want you to really be screaming or flinching in pain, so, do you want me to numb the spot that thing's going in? It's not too personal, I'm not in the mood to be anything but professional.
:Crymsia: What the hell is that?
:Azrail: It's a needle that's going to extract as much of your aloe vera as possible. Where do you store your aloe vera?
:Crymsia: From under my fingernails.
:Azrail: ...Really?
Azrail cringes a little. He sure doesn't like thinking about the needle going under HIS bitten fingernails. He sighs, summoning nine more needles from the ceiling.
:Azrail: I'm just going to numb all of your fingers, then.
:Crymsia: This isn't what I thought you were going to be doing... [grits her teeth] Gross!
Azrail walks over to her, rubbing numbing alcohol under each fingernail with a miniature cleaner, trying not to whimper or make faces as he numbs her fingers down.
:Azrail: I wouldn't have asked if I knew it was under your fingernails.
:Crymsia: It's why I don't fight barehanded, because dirt and blood can mess it all up.
:Azrail: How in the world do you have room for the vera, where does the blood stop flowing?
:Crymsia: I think you and I would be more comfortable if I didn't explain anything more about my body works.
Azrail nods, sighing as he covers his eyes as the needles slowly go under her fingernails. He looks as if he's about to vomit, walking out of the room and trying not to think about it.
:Azrail: Cupcakes, muffins, pastries, hey, is it going okay over there?
:Crymsia: Yeah, it's just a weird sensation.
:Azrail: Uh, good! ...Good, the needles will be pulled out when the progress bar on my computer screen reaches 100%.
:Crymsia: Remind me to never do this ever again.
:Azrail: Remind me to think twice before kidnapping women with secrets under the fingertips.
Azrail walks over to his desk, his cringing expression changing to a smile as he looks down upon his plan sheets. It shows a huge beam of light eclipsing upon hundreds of bodies, but because Azrail's drawing style isn't very clean, it's hard to tell which bodies.
:Azrail: Maybe the way I'm going to help is very unconventional and it's almost making me vomit from disgust, but I'm ready help ya at long last after that failed memory restore project, my friend Zin.
:8:14 A.M. · SATURDAY JANUARY 22nd, ZXE-220
:Vinegar Base, Satellite Lobby
Silver was sitting in Scotch's office again at long last, dressed up in his mercenary suit as he sits next to Pierce and Zonas. There was a vacant seat for the Nature Warrior, but she never showed up.
:Scotch: Good morning, Silver. [leans back in his chair] I'm sorry about how confusing and dreadful things have been around the satellite lately, and I'm even more apologetic about how poorly you've been treated by the authorities and some of your old friends. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.
:Silver: I forgive you Scotch, I just have a bone to pick with Zodiez.
:Scotch: Yeah, she's been very on edge lately, but she's had no excuses. [holds out his hand] It's good to have you back on board, Silver, I really appreciate that you decided to come up here today.
:Pierce: I'm glad that you recognize that the authorities around here aren't perfect, Scotch. [leans on Silver] Please tell me that you're going to try to treat him better from this point onward.
:Scotch: I'll try my best Pierce. I need to stop doing things out of impulse.
Scotch throws an explosive behind Silver, which ignites and immediately kills a white man that was trying to heckle Silver from a distance. Unsurprisingly, his name tag read Jeremy.
:Scotch: Silver, I promise none of this crap will happen again.
:Silver: Don't make any promises with me Scotch, just... just try to be honest and patient with me, I'm still not really sure of what I'm doing and I'm still needing time to adjust to everything around me.
:Zonas: Hey, I understand that Silver. [holds his hand] Everything's gonna be fine, alright? I'm not gonna go after you anymore unless I know you're doing something wrong.
Pierce death glares at Zonas from Silver's other side. Zonas immediately drops Silver's hand, whistling.
:Scotch: Yeah, I've scolded Zodiez pretty hard this morning about fairness and the like, so hopefully she's gonna take notes and become easier to deal with. She should be helpful, not xenophobic.
:Silver: Mhm. [holds Pierce's hand] Well, I really appreciate the work the authorities have been doing to clear my name over the past fifteen hours or so. I'm really happy about that.
:Scotch: As you should.
Scotch smiles, getting up and going to a whiteboard, picking out a red marker.
:Scotch: Now, we can't get too behind on mercenary work, so are you ready for your next assignment Silver? I promise that I will be right behind you, observing to make sure nothing involving you gets screwed up.
:Zonas: I know I'm ready to go help him kick some ass.
:Pierce: Me too! I wanna help any way I can.
:Silver: Yeah, I'm ready for ya. I've been long overdue for a big mission anyways, and besides, I'm ready to do whatever it takes to help out the satellite reach a more peaceful state of affairs.
:Scotch: Then you're going to like the next mission.
Scotch draws a fairly crude chibi version of Ryona on her toy boat, drawing Hector and Millicent pretty realistically on a much more detailed ship, showing their conflict in space.
:Scotch: If you head out into the Docking Haven, you can take a raft and head to Hector's breaking ship, where he and Millicent are trying to fight off Ryona all on their own. You'll be needing to be courageous and brave if you want to take her down!
:Silver: That shouldn't be too tough considering how long I've been running away from capture, and you guys are really difficult to get away from that's for sure. Right Pierce?
Pierce laughs as he leans on his new boyfriend, wrapping his arms around his neck. Scotch raised an eyebrow.
:Scotch: Are you two dating?
:Silver: Yeaaah. [laughs a bit] I don't see the issue with it, besides he's been by my side the whole time.
:Scotch: Ay, 'grats. [cleans the whiteboard] Let's see.
Scotch draws up a realistic image of Silver heading down to attack a (yet again) crudely drawn Ryona from above. Scotch then draws Pierce, Zonas, and the shadow of the Nature Warrior supporting Silver, while drawing the slug-like leader of Ryona's satellite T-posing while upside down.
:Scotch: Your target is some blue-haired freak that doesn't wear enough clothes for my liking. Please be sure you give it your all against her, because I think she'll like you and take you as a captive if you lose.
:Silver: Aye-aye, captain.
:Zonas: Don't worry Scotch, he's not gonna go get kidnapped by this woman. Doesn't she hate men anyway?
:Scotch: We don't know how Ryona's gonna see him, though. She kills men, saves the women, bad fates happen to both as the rumor goes. Silver probably has enough junk on him to not properly constitute as either gender to her. She probably uses Bumblr.
:Zonas: That's a pretty unfair generalization of that site, Scotch.
:Scotch: Yeahhh, alright.
Silver gets up, smirking as he pulls back his suit. Thanks to adjustments that Crymsia made to it during Silver's absence, the suit now is more suited for Silver's body type.
:Silver: Whatever she thinks of me, it's not gonna help her bring me down. If she whines about that kinda crap while I'm around, she's not accomplish a thing while I'm kicking her ass.
:Scotch: That's the spirit!
:Silver: C'mon boys, let's go make her walk the plank!
:Pierce: You've been acting really perky lately, Silver, you alright?
:Silver: 'Course I'm acting nice and perky, I feel good! [grasps his hand] And it's all thanks to you. And, uh, an ally we're not gonna discuss right here.
:Scotch: What do you mean?
:Silver: It doesn't really matter. Let's go!
:Pierce: Alright!
:Zonas: Finally, a chance to show off my talents!
:Scotch: Right, I'm right behind you.
Silver and the boys leave Scotch's office. The camera quickly switches back to Pierce's room, showing that one of the alcohol bottles has gone missing. Silver is shown falling behind the others for a second, taking a drink while facing his back to theirs.
:Pierce: Hey honey, we're going this way!
:Silver: Right, coming!
Silver throws the bottle to the wall, following the boys.
:8:40 A.M. · SATURDAY JANUARY 22nd, ZXE-220
:Valco Vortex, New Naxaz City
Valerie is shown at a higher elevation than normal, sitting in a high-up office somewhere at the top of the Valco Vortex, where a lot of the ground windows look down towards the city. There was recording equipment everywhere, wires hung loosely from walls and ceilings, and cables were found lying everywhere on the floor. Most importantly though, there was a desk in the very middle with an intercom that reaches across everywhere in the satellite.
:Valerie: Alright Syi, it's time for me to announce the satellite scan plan I made overnight. With Penny's help in completing the plans, this should be a cinch!
:Syinara: I believe in you hon! You've been at this all day yesterday, so.
:Valerie: Yeah, I think I absolutely have this in the bag. [smiles, holding her papers] I talked to Kýrios and Zodiez about this plan first too, and they're on board with it, nothing's gonna go wrong.
:Syinara: I really hope the satellite scan does something about the likes of not just Mallory, but, also all the bad people lurking on our streets and taking advantage of whoever they come across.
:Valerie: Mhm, it won't take care of all of them but the satellite will enter an era of peace once we get rid of Mallory and that Ryona pest that's trying to break in through our front door.
Valerie sits down at the desk, smiling at Syinara.
:Valerie: Hey Syi, you're okay to do whatever you want while I take care of some important business today. I know you don't like doing things without me being around to protect you, but, you can do whatever makes you feel good, alright?
:Syinara: You sure you don't need me around for anything?
:Valerie: Syi, I know you're still feeling kind of icky over some of the horrible things that have happened to you over your lifetime. And, I can understand that. But I want you to have some fun instead of sticking around her and watching me struggle.
:Syinara: I don't know Val, I don't like thinking about you struggling while I'm away.
Valerie laughs a little bit, leaning back in her seat and looking up at her.
:Valerie: Have I ever fallen apart on you, Syi?
:Syinara: No.
:Valerie: Exactly. I'll be fine, hon! I'll be watching after this place while you're gone, everything's gonna be alright because I've got my eye on everything. I'll let you know if anything bad happens on Risquord.
Syinara smiles down at Valerie.
:Syinara: Well, what do you think I should do, Val?
:Valerie: Why don't you go out and see what you can do on the front lines? If I'm quick enough with my announcement, I'll hook up with you soon and we'll all have a hand in the fight against Ryona.
:Syinara: Oh honey, are you asking me to fight? I don't know.
:Valerie: Oh no, not exactly. Why don't you ask Scotch if there's something supportive you can do for the troops and for Hector and Millicent? You can fight if you want, but you damn better know I prefer you in one piece.
:Syinara: I can do that then, Val. [clasps her hands together, smiling] I'll try to see what I can do. I'll let you know if anything big happens out there, alright?
:Valerie: Okay honey! Stay safe, love you!
Syinara energetically takes the elevator down and out of the Valco Vortex. Valerie grins to herself as she prepares to turn on the mic.
:Valerie: God, what a sweet little angel. I hope we'll be able to be together someday.
Valerie smiles as she turns on her mic, taking a deep breath.
:Valerie: Good morning everyone across the satellite! Rise and shine, because today we're going to do a full satellite scan and it requires everyone get out of their houses and leave as much untouched as possible! We are getting rid of what we deem suspicious items and looking for wanted criminals, including the likes of Mallory Zin and her associates.
Down in New Naxaz City, you could see Vizole playing acoustic guitar to a mailman taking a small nap on their picnic table. He glances up upon hearing Valerie's announcement.
:Valerie: Everyone across the satellite is required to show up at the New Naxaz City check-in field, which we are about to unearth from below the city. Everyone make sure that your gravity switches in your homes are on, or that you're laying down on the sidewalks, or you're gonna get shaken around! In five minutes, the check-in field will come. All appointments meant to happen today will be cancelled so we can do a check-in on everyone with a scanner. Anyone found still within the sectors will be brought in and questioned.
The next scene shows New Naxaz City's boundaries stretching outward, with the Valco Vortex elevating a massive platform that goes between both sides of the city, stretching almost the whole length of the Naxaz dome.
:Valerie: If you are not at the check-in field within an hour, you will be promptly punished for it if we don't find you there. Luckily, the check-in field has a bunch of buildings we can unfold and very quickly stock with food, water, shelter, etc. You won't be able to get out of the check-in field until the satellite scan is complete.
Valerie grins.
:Valerie: The one exception is Azrail Neos, who can finish what he's doing uninterrupted.
Valerie then hits a siren button, causing a loud noise to whir throughout the satellite for five seconds.
:Valerie: That's your wake-up call to get to the check-in field as soon as possible. We will do a much louder siren noise that may or may not result in potential deafness for those not inside the check-in field's dome, so we strongly recommend you getting to your recommended destination as soon as possible. Thank you!
Valerie switches off her mic, sighing.
:Valerie: Now all there is to do is to make sure all these plans go through.
:9:08 A.M. · SATURDAY JANUARY 22nd, ZXE-220
:Docking Haven, Satellite 15
Silver was rushing into the Docking Haven area, holding his Mind Weaver weapon tightly as he's joined by Scotch, Zonas, and a wheelchair-racing Pierce. Ryona's pirates blast beams of energy at them, but everyone dodges out of their way as they aim to get to Hector's endangered ship - the Rustbucket Express.
:Scotch: Hector's ship is outside the satellite, so we're going to have to take a cruise to it on a smaller boat. [ducks below an oncoming beam] We need to be really careful though, this is the most agitated Ryona's forces have ever been.
:Silver: I got it. Looks like it's still intact, if the ship I see from over here is Hector's.
:Scotch: It is, but it probably won't last that much longer if we don't get over there pronto. Silver, I need you to do the right thing this time around and kill Ryona. She's going to only get in our way again.
:Silver: I'll have to see who she is for myself first, but if she doesn't look to be like someone worth salvaging, then I will kill her because she hasn't bothered relenting her attack it seems.
:Pierce: I think that Silver and I should head over to the ship, and you two should stay here and help break down as many of Ryona's comrades as possible. [looks at Silver] I want to help him out.
:Scotch: You're handicapped Pierce, I don't know if it's safe for you to be over there where you can easily get crushed.
:Pierce: After you just about killed me through pushing me out of your space pod, I don't think I really have a reason to care for your safety advice. [hops aboard the mini-boat] C'mon Silver.
:Silver: I'll take Pierce with me, but only because he wants to go. I'll send him back if things get too troublesome for him over there. I think you two should do what Pierce suggests.
:Scotch: Alright.
Silver smiles as he leaps onto the boat, stretching out his limbs.
:Silver: But, once everything here is settled out, you two can come after us and help me finish off Ryona if I haven't already crushed her to a bloody pulp. Does that sound fair to you?
:Scotch: Yeah, that sounds good to me. Just, good luck out there, alright?
:Silver: Of course man, I'll be able to take her on fine. Have I ever failed you before?
:Scotch: Well, yes.
:Silver: Well it won't happen again!
Silver grabs his ship's wheel, but doesn't budge. He looks kind of embarrassed, looking at Pierce.
:Silver: How do you steer this thing?
:Pierce: I got it.
Pierce takes the wheel of the ship, preparing to drive it off through the cosmos. Silver stands up on deck, holding his arms out to achieve balance as Syinara catches up to Scotch, hugging him from behind.
:Syinara: Scotch! Long time no see!
:Scotch: Whoa Syi, it's been a while hasn't it? [turns around to face her] How are you?
:Syinara: I was wondering if I could do anything to help?
A pirate blasts a thick beam of energy in their direction, almost burning Syinara to smithereens.
:Scotch: You can help me by helping me take care of those pirates!
Syinara stretches out four vines from her back, whipping them about.
:Syinara: I'm not sure if I'm ready, but I'll help out!
Pierce starts up the engines, driving the ship out of the Docking Haven as a bubble surrounds their ship.
:Silver: Hey, what's that bubble?
:Pierce: It keeps a supply of air around the ship, preventing people on board from dying from a lack of air in the middle of space. If ships come close enough, the bubbles will kind of merge together. It's a required feature on satellite ships.
:Silver: I got it. Well, full speed ahead, Pierce!
Pierce drives the ship off forward, with Silver's confrontation with Ryona going to take place soon.
::
::
Silver reaches Hector's ship, hopping aboard. Pierce climbs up too, with both looking around the ship for signs of Hector, Millicent, or Ryona. There are none, but the ship looks really damaged.
:Silver: They have to be somewhere inside the ship. C'mon Pierce, we don't have time to lose.
:Pierce: Got it!
Both Silver and Pierce scramble to get below deck, looking for Ryona or either of their friends.
:9:11 A.M. · SATURDAY JANUARY 22nd, ZXE-220
:Nightshade Inc., Sector 5
The scene switches back to Azrail's lab, where his experiment is almost complete, with the progress bar at 99%. Crymsia looks really annoyed with the needles still under her fingertips, where they've been for over an hour and a half.
:Azrail: Ha ha ha! At last, my plan is almost complete!
:Crymsia: Great, I would really like to get out of here.
:Azrail: Oh trust me, I've had to deal with your attitude for far too long, so I'd like to see you out of here as soon as possible. Dunno why it had to be my ex-girlfriend with the aloe vera under her fingertips.
:Crymsia: Dunno why it had to be me with the shady kidnapping ex-boyfriend. This is so embarrassing!
:Azrail: Quit your whining already, you're going to really drive me nuts.
Azrail sees the progress bar reach the limit. Azrail smirks as he hits the button, laughing to himself.
:Azrail: Finally! [laughs, pulling out a new remote] Time to activate!
Azrail slams the button down. The game camera turns to the Docking Haven, where a hidden compartment on its ceiling opens up to show a purple laser emitter. It then spreads a massive amount of energy all over the area, reviving fallen soldiers from Kýrios' side and cleaning up a lot of wounds. The energy spreads around the outside of the satellite, healing Hector and Millicent as well. Azrail laughs loudly as he releases Crymsia from her position, taking the needles out from her.
:Azrail: I think it might've worked out, hah! [leaps up] I did it Val, hope you're proud!
:Crymsia: What the hell was that all about?
:Azrail: See, I used your aloe vera and an ID tag template to restore the health of everyone that's bearing an ID tag that's been proven to be from our satellite. This might've healed some of our enemies, but Ryona and her pirates are likely at a huge disadvantage right now!
:Crymsia: ...So you just used my aloe vera for that? You do realize you could have gotten into Sector 4 and gotten one of those really rare herbs, right?
:Azrail: I didn't have time to do that, Crymsia, if I went looking for that Ryona might've gotten in already!
:Crymsia: How about antibiotics then that you could have easily gotten from the Hospital Wing? You could have very easily gotten some vitamins from the store, too.
:Azrail: Uhh, crap. I have no excuse there.
:Crymsia: I thought not, Azrail.
Azrail gets out of his room, doing a triumphant laugh as he looks texts up Valerie.
:Azrail [typing]: All of Scotch's soldiers should be fully healed up now, as should all of Hector's comrades! The satellite forces are in a better state than they were ever in before! Everything is perfectly fine!
:Valerie [typing]: congrats ;) i'll be down at the docking haven eventually gimme like 5 min or less i just gotta brush my teeth and all that and put on my best dress
:Azrail [typing]: Why don't you use proper grammar like the rest of us?
:Valerie [typing]: too inconvenient when i'm busy lmao
Crymsia picks her weapon up off of the counter, slowly walking over to Azrail with her hilt in hand.
:Azrail [typing]: Anyway I'll come around as soon as possible, I just gotta gloat a little bit more and take my anxiety medication and I'll be all set.
Crymsia holds her blade up high.
:Azrail [typing]: OH GOD
:Valerie [typing]: what
:Crymsia: This is for kidnapping me and making me miss my appointment, Azrail!
Crymsia cuts the back of his neck and begins beating him up. Azrail drops his phone as Valerie's left in suspense.
:Valerie [typing]: azrail?
:Valerie [typing]: lol ok
Crymsia sighs as she bandages the back of Azrail's neck, throwing the unconscious boy on his own bed and leaves his place. She begins to venture her way out of the jungle-like sector.
:Crymsia: Hey, at least my stuff was put to good use.
:9:20 A.M. · SATURDAY JANUARY 22nd, ZXE-220
:Hector's Ship, Satellite 15 Outskirts
::
::
Silver and Pierce break through the last door in the Rustbucket Express, coming across Ryona, who just about had Millicent and Hector finally cornered.
:Hector: There he is!
:Millicent: Oh, bless the lord. Silver!
Ryona swerves around.
:Ryona: Look who finally decided to show up.
:Silver: Let's make this quick.
Silver and Ryona now face each other.
:Silver: I've been having to put up with a lot of crap over the past 48 hours, and now I've been told to wipe your kind from our world, so I'm gonna take care of you now while I still have the chance.
:Ryona: I've heard a lot of things about you, Silver. [walks over to him, holding out her sword] I'm impressed that you decided to crawl out of your hole and fight me!
:Silver: You listen up, and you listen good. [holds out his weapon] I'm not impressed that you decided to attack us while our defenses were down. I'll show you and your kind to not mess with us.
:Ryona: And I'll show you not to mess with mine, boy!
:Silver: Right. Pierce, I want you to back out of this. Hector and Millicent, you stay quiet and against the wall. I have this.
Silver and Ryona walk over to each other as the others nod to Silver's requests, giving the two plenty of room to fight.
:Ryona: What are you, Silver? Are you a man or a woman? I can hardly tell.
:Silver: You can call me a man, because if that's what's going to make you fight at your hardest, then that's what I'm going to call myself. I'm going to knock you down.
:Ryona: You hardly look the type.
:Silver: It's a shame that many of the people I've gotten to know focus on what's insignificant about a person and judge them based on that alone. Why don't you stop caring about my gender and start caring about what I'm here for: your life!
:Ryona: I was just playing around, now you're just making me mad!
Both rush to each other, beginning their awaited battle.
:Hector: Ooh, this is gonna worry me, lass.
:Millicent: He'll be fine, he's got a lotta spunk.
::
::
Silver is unable to land much of a scratch by Ryona, being pushed back by her as he skids across the floor.
:Ryona: You're really not that bad, Silver. But, as you might have noticed, your attacks don't even scratch me!
:Hector: Silver! She's impervious to your attacks, arrr!
:Silver: You wanna fight with honor, Ryona? How about you actually make it a fair fight, then?
:Ryona: I don't care about having honor, I'm here to plunder your goddamn satellite and all you're doing is just slowing me down. [stomps over to him] This is your goodbye, Zin!
Silver dodges out of the way of her attack, rolling across the floor as he gets up. Ryona swings an anchor in his direction, but he jumps on it and uses it to spring himself to a higher area of the room.
:Ryona: You realize that I can just kill your friends right here before your eyes, right?
:Silver: I have a different idea.
Silver swings down, grabbing both Hector and Millicent and running out of the room with them as Pierce quickly wheels in his direction. Ryona turns around, baffled.
:Ryona: You can't escape me for long, Zin!
:Millicent: Run as fast as you can!
Silver, Pierce, Hector, and Millicent quickly scramble their way back to the top of Hector's ship, while Ryona follows in hot pursuit. She looks really angry now, steam emitting from her nostrils as she walks over, brandishing her sword on the deck.
:Hector: Dead end, boyos!
:Ryona: It looks I've got you four right where I want y-
Suddenly, a flashing light blinds everyone on the ship. In the background, Ryona's ship is seen violently exploding, blowing up. Ryona gasps as a bunch of strange translucent flakes peel from her skin, falling to the floor. Silver looks further, seeing a small ship piloted by Scotch, with Valerie standing on deck!
:Hector: Ayyyy!
:Ryona: Noooo! My ship!
Valerie grins at Silver from high up, doing the thumbs up.
:Valerie: Alright kiddo, you bought us enough time to take down Ryona's ship while she wasn't lookin'. Finish her off for me, brother!
:Silver: ...Brother?
:Valerie: Just... roll with it, haha.
:Scotch: Thanks to some strange explosive tech that Crymsia stole from Azrail's lab, we were able to quickly nuke her ship. It was made easier by the fact that our whole team got healed up and Ryona's forces got quickly depleted.
:Valerie: Yeah! We'll see you at the Moore Lounge when you've given her an ass kicking!
:Silver: Thanks you two. I got this now.
Silver turns to Ryona, licking his lips as he pulls out his Mind Weaver, a wide grin crossing his cheeks.
:Silver: You're a goner, Ryona!
:Ryona: But, my elaborate plan, my porcelain armor. [growls] I'm gonna really screw you up now, Silver!
Ryona leaps up, ready to slice him into halves.
::
::
With a great cry, Ryona crashes down to the floor, with Silver standing over her. Hector and Millicent were cheering and clapping their hands, while Silver carried a rather expressionless look.
:Ryona: Spare me Silver, please...
:Silver: After all of what you've just done? No. I have enough justification to bring you down.
:Ryona: You don't know a lot about me, Silver. I have more depth than these fools would like to believe.
:Silver: I've spared who I've spared because those people have potential. You've killed dozens, if not hundreds, of people. I don't see a reason to spare you.
:Ryona: If you're not going to spare me, then maybe I should finally tell the truth about who I am.
:Silver: I can give you enough time for that.
Silver lowers Ryona's sword, which he was holding in preparation for killing her.
:Ryona: When I was a baby, my daddy ran away and left my mommy to raise me alone. I never got anything as a child, I've been fighting for years to just get something of my own. When my mommy disappeared, I had to learn how to do so much work all on my own, and I don't have any friends because nobody thought I was pretty.
:Silver: ...Huh?
:Ryona: I've been fighting for years to get something valuable that I can treasure as my own, but every time I've tried to find a place I can call home, I'd get beaten up and tossed aside.
:Silver: I see.
:Ryona: Nobody really cared for little Ryona or her ambitions or goals, so she had to resort to nefarious misdeeds to get what she wants. [sighs] And I'm sorry for bringing my wrath in a place where it didn't belong.
:Silver: ...Yeah, I'll spare you.
:Hector: Ryona's just lyin'! She's trying to trick ya, matey!
:Silver: What do you know of her life, huh?
:Hector: What do ya know of hers, eh?
:Ryona: Don't interrupt me, Hector. Oh god, I'm dying, I think some of my armor managed to wedge itself into my skin. [takes deep breaths] Silver, all I ever wanted was a place I could call home, and you screwed it up for me. How could you do something so selfish and absurd?
:Silver: I didn't realize, but you were doing all that, and in turn you were...
:Hector: I swear to god if ye let her go yer gonna regret it!
:Ryona: I'll never hurt you again, I promise.
Silver sighs, throwing Ryona's sword off the ship. Hector was really livid.
:Silver: You're free to go, Ryona. Don't come back.
Ryona nods, walking off and taking a spare mini boat, driving it off. You can hear her lightly snickering as she leaves Silver's sight, implying she's a dirty little liar.
:Hector: Silver, what the heck is wrong with ya?
:Silver: I can't hurt her, Hector, she's misunderstood.
:Hector: She ain't misunderstood!! You saw her with that ship of gold and all those prized valuables and I've seen her parents a year ago! They said that they gave her child everything she ever wanted!
:Silver: What if there's some truth to what she was saying?
:Hector: Boy, yer gonna die one of these days from being overly forgiving. I swear.
:Millicent: Yeaaahhh.
Silver hops in a miniboat with a shaken-looking Pierce, Hector and Millicent joining in as they tug Hector's destroyed boat back to the satellite.
:Silver: Lunch time, I guess, hah.
:11:05 A.M. · SATURDAY JANUARY 22nd, ZXE-220
:Moore Lounge, New Naxaz City
After an intense battle out at space, Silver and Pierce were sitting down at the Moore Lounge with Valerie, Scotch, Syinara, Devina, Crymsia, and Azrail. Everyone looked kind of quiet as Oyster came by.
:Oyster: Um, w-what can I get for all of you?
:Valerie: Let's just make this simple. One gluten-free carnivore's pizza, please, extra large.
:Azrail: Thank you, I can't eat gluten.
:Silver: Just a peppermint tea for me.
Oyster nods, writing down their orders and taking them to the kitchen. Silver smiles a little as he wraps an arm around Pierce, but he definitely felt a bit uneasy. He stopped Ryona's plot, but he let her go free too.
:Pierce: Mmm.
:Silver: I'm sorry Scotch for messing up.
:Scotch: Hey, I'm not holding any grudges against you Silver. You probably should have killed her, but you have a kind heart and I think that's a good asset for you to have. But maybe you're too considerate.
:Silver: Thank you for understanding, at least.
:Scotch: The moment Hector got home, his wife told me, he drank so hard that he went unconscious. That was his rival, so respect that he just hard a hard time getting over the fact that you spared her.
:Silver: Yeah, I can see that.
Crymsia yawns as she leans on Scotch's shoulder, nodding away on it as Valerie helped braid Syi's hair. They were just hanging out together; no tension, things were just quiet.
:Devina: The ghosts in my house have been getting quieter lately. Last thing I heard was a thank you to Silver, so... thanks, Silver.
:Silver: Uh, you're welcome I suppose. [leans back] God damn, what a series of days.
:Azrail: Yeaaaaah.
Azrail leans his neck back against a tissue drenched with rubbing alcohol.
:Pierce: Hey, at least things have finally quieted down and everything's back to normal now. I was wondering if things would even return to normal just twenty-four hours ago.
:Scotch: I wouldn't count on it for long, the satellite scan didn't show where Mallory was at, like at all. We assumed she left the satellite to avoid the scan and find a better place to be, but we got a report about Ferris doing a drug robbery not that long ago.
:Azrail: Oh great.
:Silver: That's just par for the course for you guys, I guess. [sips a glass of water] Hopefully whatever happens, I'm still going to be together with Pierce and we're going to be just as strong as ever together.
:Pierce: Awww.
:Valerie: I'd like to get to know you better, Silver. Maybe sometime next weekend we can hang out a bit at my place? It'd be kinda a shame if I didn't get to know you more.
:Silver: Oh I'd be totally cool with that, I have a lot of respect for you even as a high-ranking authority figure.
Valerie smiles as she finishes braiding Syi's hair.
:Syinara: Things might be getting tough, but, hey, if we keep sticking together, things are gonna turn out just fine. Let's try not to have any bad blood build between us, or things are just gonna get ugly.
:Scotch: Absolutely. We're only gonna get rid of Mallory if we stick together.
:Devina: Don't forget about the likes of Ms. Replicate and that Gonzalo guy too, you know. Mallory might be someone we have strong distaste for, but those two are more prominent and can do a lot more damage.
:Scotch: I only mentioned Mallory because, well, I don't want to throw you all into a panic, but Mallory used the post-scan opportunity to steal some zodiac stones. The remaining two in Naxaz are now missing, and their respective sites were blown up.
Everyone gasped.
:Valerie: Good lord, she's really on top of her game, isn't she?
:Devina: Right, so we have to watch out for all three of these people.
:Pierce: We really need to keep the stones in more secure places or they're all gonna get stolen at this rate. Only the ones in the seven sectors are remaining, I think.
:Scotch: Hmmmphh.
:Silver: Alright everyone, let's calm ourselves. We've been reckless, but we have enough time to take care of them later. Let's just finish our little celebration here.
Oyster comes over with drinks and a really huge pizza. Oyster shoves the pizza tray across the table, smiling as she gives everyone their respective drinks.
:Oyster: Do you all need anything else?
:Silver: No we're good, thank you Oyster.
Oyster smiles as she walks away, humming as Scotch picks up his glass.
:Scotch: Here's a toast to our rooster!
Everyone clinks their glasses together, drinking away. Silver leans happily on his boyfriend, holding him closely.
:Silver: A toast to the rooster indeed. [looks down at Pierce] Things can only really get easier from here, right? If we took down Ryona and managed to resolve things between ourselves and some of those people, it can't be that bad.
:Pierce: Mmmm.
:Devina: Yeah, I can see that.
:Crymsia: Here's hoping.
Silver drinks down his peppermint tea, pouring some alcohol into the cup from under the table.
:Silver: We got this.
:4:40 P.M. · SATURDAY JANUARY 22nd, ZXE-220
:Unclear Place
Mallory was sitting down inside a purple church-like building, sitting on a bench.
:Mallory: With the recent satellite scan that's happened, I need to make some things very clear between us. We are not allies, we just happen to be sharing the same residence.
Gonzalo and Ms. Replicate are shown to be sitting opposite of her, seated as far away as possible from each other.
:Mallory: If any of us three want to accomplish what we want to accomplish, we can't be getting in each other's way, so I need to make sure I know what you two are up to.
:Gonzalo: My dear, then you'll need to tell me what you're up to, so we can stay out of your way too.
:Ms. Replicate: Mhmm.
:Mallory: I've chosen to come to this satellite so I can seek out my brother Silver and crush his skull, that's all I've wanted to do since coming here. However, I am now interested in seizing a sizable chunk of the satellite for myself, and that means I can't afford to get in either of you's way.
:Ms. Replicate: Hmm, I've been considering killing you all and taking the satellite for myself so I can make a peaceful paradise for those I love and care for, but I may spare you two or just use another satellite for it when I can actually afford to move out of here.
:Gonzalo: My whole plan was to lure in as many people as possible to my schemes so I can use their money and tip the balance of the economy, allowing me to get the tools I want for universal conquest while leaving nothing behind.
:Mallory: ...I was thinking maybe it wouldn't be such a wise idea to confront you two because you two were probably violent, but I never considered how genocidal either of you would be. Good lord.
Ms. Replicate cackles, slapping her thigh.
:Ms. Replicate: Hmmm, I suppose you're right that my plan did sound a bit genocidal. But given how abusive my ex-husband was towards me, and how awfully I've been treated by my family, it's all good by me.
:Gonzalo: If my ex-wife weren't so hostile and racist towards me, and if my brothers let me have my family fortune, I would have never turned out to be this way!
:Ms. Replicate: Ughh. [whispering] I was never racist, you attention-grabbing scumbag.
:Gonzalo: Uuggghhuuugghhhuuuuggghh. [whispering] You're a loser, like all women are.
Mallory hisses, making the two back away from each other. Mallory folds her arms, tapping her foot against the ground.
:Mallory: Enough complaining. So here's my revised plan, I'm going to kidnap Silver as soon as possible, smash his head so hard against the ground that it splits open, then leave with his corpse or just continue occupying whatever I already own. Then you two can do whatever you want, I guess, even though I really don't like your ideas.
Mallory shrugs.
:Mallory: Then again, the authorities and civilians of this satellite kinda suck, so I guess I won't care too much if it burns away. I won't give that much of a crap if it does.
:Ms. Replicate: Mmm, I can wait, I've already waited thirty years or so to take care of my plan anyway.
:Gonzalo: I don't know, what's in it for me?
:Mallory: The fact you can spend more time handling personal hygiene. You reek over there.
Replicate tries to stifle her laughter as Gonzalo sniffs his armpits.
:Gonzalo: Bleh. Fine.
:Mallory: Just a reminder for the two of you, though. If you two dare do anything with Silver that would make it harder for me to get to him, you will be sorry. [turns to Replicate] I'm never working with you again. I wasn't planning on working with a genocidal maniac when we made that arrangement.
:Ms. Replicate: Right.
:Mallory: Did I make things clear with you two? I'm not going to cross your paths, and you're not going to cross mine. If you two cross each other's, I don't give a fudge.
:Gonzalo: What do you plan on seizing control over?
:Mallory: Mmm, I'm just considering taking control of the admin sector, it's pretty. I just gotta slay that slim god up on the throne and his crusty wife.
:Ms. Replicate: Considering I plan on staying in the lab and that my ex-husband plans on remaining in the city, yeah, I don't think we're gonna get in each other's ways. [sharply grins] But if you ever do something to me, one of my assistants, or hit my lab, expect me to hit back.
:Gonzalo: If you ever mess with the bank, I'm going to make a call-out post on Bitter dot com using your full name and expose all of your personal information and start a bunch of rumors about you. You'll never recover!
:Mallory: What kind of threat is that? Literally nobody likes me!
Gonzalo lowers his hands.
:Gonzalo: You have a point.
:Ms. Replicate: If things are clear between us now, I'd like to return to the labs.
:Gonzalo: I'm gonna return to the bank if you have nothing else to talk about.
Mallory folds her arms.
:Mallory: Don't spy each other like sore losers, god damn it. Let your grudges go and try to exist independently of each other, or you're just gonna make things worse for yourselves. I know that Shredder's in jail and that Replicate's had to reorganize her whole base.
:Ms. Replicate: That's actually pretty good advice, thanks. [gets up] Hopefully Mr. Stinky over there will actually listen!
:Gonzalo: As if it isn't a woman's job to snoop around, I'm watching you, white woman!
:Ms. Replicate: I'm watching for you too!
:Gonzalo: That's racist!
Ms. Replicate and Gonzalo leave the place their own separate ways. Mallory stays where she is, holding five zodiac stones, gently rubbing them between her fingers.
:Mallory: I will avenge my innocence, Silver.
:The Manipulator: You will.
Mallory takes a sip of alcohol, unwary of the ghostly being behind herself.
:6:50 P.M. · SATURDAY JANUARY 22nd, ZXE-220
:Main Plaza, Satellite 15 Lobby
::
::
Silver and Pierce make it to the latter's satellite lobby room, closing out the blinds and turning out the lights, with Silver yawning and smiling as he looks at Pierce.
:Silver: It's been, a really rough past three days. Thank you again for being so supportive and protective of me.
:Pierce: No issue, Silver! You know I would do whatever it takes now to help you. [gets out of his wheelchair] We can have a little talk if you want, we finally have a moment to ourselves.
:Silver: I'd love that, hon.
Pierce smiles, sitting down on the bed and pulling Silver to him. Not through psychic powers, but through actually grabbing his hand and pulling him onto the mattress. He winced from hurting his arm, but he smiled through it.
:Pierce: Silver...
Silver smiles.
:Silver: Can you turn away for a second? I gotta get in my jammies.
:Pierce: Alright.
Pierce turns around. He relaxes himself, taking deep breaths as he thinks about how lucky he is. He feels like Silver's gonna be with him forever and that there's nothing Mallory can do to take him away from his arms.
:Silver: Alright, I'm done now. [wraps his arms around his torso] So, you wanted to have the talk?
:Pierce: Yeah.
Pierce slides himself into the sheets, watching Silver do the same.
:Pierce: I don't mean to sound like a broken record, and I know I've gotten annoying with it, but I really do love you so much. [looks down] It meant a lot to me already that you'd choose to stick with me, but you've put so much time into being with me.
Pierce sighs, leaning on him.
:Pierce: I've never really felt so validated my whole life by anyone.
:Silver: Hey, ever since I've woken up, I've been treated like trash, like an alien, and like a slave and I've had to face a lot of really unfair situations. But even after misunderstanding something that happened between me and someone else, you continued to stick with me and show faith in me. I have never felt treated that well before.
Silver wraps around Pierce using his legs, hugging him.
:Silver: My first missions as a mercenary were so difficult, and my first days on this satellite have been really tricky and complicated, but thanks to you things have been getting better. [rubs his hair] You're important to me!
:Pierce: You really pulled through and saved our asses, so I think you're important yourself. [grins and snuggles with him] Just, don't hurt yourself, ever.
:Silver: What?
:Pierce: I don't want you to do anything that would hurt you or bring you down. [rubs his hair] I want you to just be happy and live a good life on this satellite. I hope I'm not asking too much of you by asking that.
:Silver: No, I think that's a reasonable request. And... I never planned on hurting myself. [sighs] I've only really thought about killing the queen, and that was during the moment I felt the most frustrated in; getting thrown in prison.
:Pierce: Okay, just take care of yourself. You matter not just a lot to me, but people around the satellite. You don't have a mail address yet or anything, but I've been receiving letters written to you from others showing their appreciation and support for you.
:Silver: ...Really?
Pierce laughs, reaching over and opening a draw to pull out a mess of envelopes.
:Pierce: Yeah. I won't read you all of them, but you can read them sometime in the future. In general, the letters were written by people who are looking up to you as their hero, you've been praised for your responsiveness, your empathy, and your get-along factor. Then again, half of these emails are the same person who keeps calling himself Zinos.
:Silver: I appreciate it.
:Pierce: You've gotten praise from Valerie, Scotch, Dev, my pal Vizole, Noise, a particular nurse I won't name, and even the Nature Warrior. Though, the letter from the latter person has a rather reluctant tone, like she hates to admit you impress her.
Silver smiles a little bit to himself as Pierce places the envelopes away.
:Silver: You're mine.
Silver cheesily grins at Pierce, who blushes just a bit.
:Silver: I mean it!
:Pierce: I'm happy about that Silver. [closes his eyes] I feel so blessed to have someone like you with me. We're gonna kick some ass together from this point on, alright?
:Silver: Got it!
:Pierce: Now then, good night, Silver.
:Silver: Niiiiight.
Silver and Pierce slip to sleep. A huge timeskip plays, showing Silver flailing around in bed during the night, like he was having a bad dream. He then gets up.
:Silver: Mmm, I'll be right back.
:Pierce [sleeptalking]: Hurry back.
Silver dizzily gets up, walking over to the fridge. He picks up a bottle of alcohol, opening it quietly and beginning to sip away at it. He takes deep breaths to himself.
:The Manipulator: Mercenary, that part of you is breaking.
:Silver: Mmm.
:The Manipulator: You can't see the front line.
:Silver: Shuttt upp.
Silver swings his fists backwards, but he doesn't see anything. He finishes the drink he has, downing it all in a single go before setting the emptied bottle under the bed. He took deep breaths, feeling a little bit better than he did.
:The Manipulator: You set yourself on fire.
:Silver: Hey Pierce, I'm comin'.
Silver goes over to the bed while the Manipulator watches from a mirror, again manifesting Silver's reflection. Silver hops in next to his boyfriend, starting to sleep.
:The Manipulator: Next comes the family.
====Chapter Eight: Pretty Done====
"Things have been shaking up significantly for everyone's favorite incubus since his take-down of the nefarious Captain Ryona (which he let get away...). Though Mallory, Replicate, and Gonzalo have yet to be taken care of, Silver's been really busy at work. He's been helping Kýrios and the satellite authorities dispose of numerous dangerous threats, taking them down one by one while the great evils keep getting shifted back and back further into their corners as he comes closer and closer to taking them out. Everyone that stands in his way, he'll take down, as Scotch would say over and over again. And for the next few weeks, Scotch's word has been kept true by Silver.
But that streak wouldn't last very long, because of numerous factors. According to something he wrote in his little journal, he felt like a 'sludge factory'. And I can't blame him; it seemed he was having a battle like every day and thus he had very little breathing room in his schedule. He could only manage so much of his personal life, he wrote, he could only really hang out around Valerie and Pierce and a few others before being forced to return to the front lines or otherwise go straight to bed so he had enough energy to do even more of the same old same old."
Blossom Forger, a biographer and the wife of Hector Forger, is shown writing into what would become a biography of Silver Zin, entitled "The Life and Crimes of Silver Zin: Some Kinda Bitch", based on a journal Silver's been writing in since his arrival during his off-screen time.
:Blossom: ...It became too much.
:1:45 P.M. · SUNDAY February 13th, ZXE-220
:Historical Grounds, New Naxaz City
Silver was running down the twisted and torn-up grounds of Naxaz's main historic district, with him avoiding huge ice blasts and avoiding onslaughts of missiles. Scotch was wailing at him from his walkie-talkie, communicating with him. Silver was visibly grinning as he sees the ice-breathing Vitch Trayd get pissed off at her inability to hit his elegant self, all of his sixty-four teeth showing.
:Scotch [walkie-talkie]: You might have trouble reaching that cavern of hers from the streets, but if you do a far glide from a high platform, you might be able to reach her and give her a piece of your mind!
:Silver: Gotcha, she's not gonna last much longer after I burn up her plot and put her behind bars!
:Scotch [walkie-talkie]: That's the ticket, Silver! Good luck out there, she's gonna breathe another wall of ice at ya.
Silver leaps out of the way of a cryogenic blast, jumping off between some street lamps and reaching the top of a drugstore. After he takes a running start, Silver does a leap of faith and heads down for Vitch's platform.
:Vitch: Stay away from me, you wretched child!
:Silver: Looks like you need an incubus to bring you down, eh?
Vitch blasts some ice from her hands to try and slow him down, but he bounces off of them like he were a ricocheting rubber ball and slams down on her platform.
:Vitch: You're not going to get a piece of me, Silver!
:Silver: Oh don't worry, I came here to get your whole.
:Vitch: Stay b-BACK!
Vitch spreads a lot of icicles along the walls and ceiling, but Silver simply jumps between all the hazards and heads in Vitch's direction. She panics and turns around, fleeing down the cavern as Silver snaps a huge icicle apart and jumps on it to slide down the cavern with it like it were a skateboard. He rides down her way.
:Vitch: I'm going to bring the age of anarchy we all need, you're not going to be enough to crush me! Stay away or you're going to get hurt, Silver!
Vitch whistles to summon her children, who climb out of their hiding holes. Whole demons, Silver thought to himself, seeing them with bigger horns and long tails.
:Vitch: Get him, my children!
Winston, one of the children, comes after Silver with a huge spatula. He had a huge, bulky look to him.
:Winston: I'm gonna mow you down, punk!
:Silver: Hoo boy, you're asking for it.
Silver flexes his arm up, hitting Winston in the chin and making him lose several teeth, continuing to race down the hill.
:Vitch: Winston! Uuggh. [points in Silver's direction] Sola, Vio, Pepper, Brinston! AFTER HIM!
Sola, a rather lanky-looking demon with two ridiculously long batons and too much makeup, came after Silver through a leap. Vio, a serpentine-like demon with tentacles in place of legs, raced across the floor to take Silver down to the ground with him.
:Sola: Stay away from my mummy, white boy!
:Vio: I'm gonna suffocate you like how I suffocated Zonas' little girl, you rat!
:Silver: Using your children as disposable heroes... kind of cute, kind of not.
Silver stabs Sola hard in the stomach, sending her flying at the wall as he begins to use Vio as his ride instead, using his slippery tentacles to slide down the cavern.
:Vitch: H-hey, that's my child!
:Silver: If you really cared about them, you'd just be fighting by yourself, right?
:Vitch: PEPPER! BRINSTON! TAKE HIM OUT, NOW!
Silver sees an exercising girl jump at Silver with a thorny jump rope while witnessing a huge zombified like creature with huge hands, darkened by the lack of light in the cavern, reach up with him with a hard stone hand.
:Silver: Looks like daddy's come out to play?
:Pepper: Don't make fun of my daddy, you little brat!
:Brinston: Stop resisting, y-you vile creature.
Silver just shrugs as he leaps over Brinston, kicking him in the back of the head as he grabs Pepper and tightens her jump rope around her neck before throwing her at Vitch like a projectile. Silver leaps down, having easily taken down a lot of Vitch's crew in a matter of minutes.
:Vitch: H-How could you be so heartless?
:Silver: Can you please reconsider what you just said?
Silver pulls out some handcuffs.
:Vitch: But my dreams of anarchy, I can still.
:Silver: Not in this timeline you will, Vitch. I think you can consider your time here, gone!
Vitch groans as she flees deeper into the cave. Silver grins as his walkie-talkie picks up again.
:Scotch [walkie-talkie]: Silver! Make sure you catch her and bring her back to us!
:Zonas [walkie-talkie]: I-I'm rooting for you! Good luck, my family's kinda tough.
:Silver: Ehhh, they really weren't that bad.
Silver and Zonas laugh over the walkie-talkie.
:Silver: Hopefully if Sinicini ever finds her petrified brother on the ceiling again, it'll just be a prank.
:Zonas [walkie-talkie]: Y-Yep! I can actually sleep easy tonight.
:Scotch [walkie-talkie]: Go go go, Silver! We don't know what Vitch's got down there!
:Silver: Right, here I go!
Silver quickly zooms from member to member of Zonas' wretched family, chaining all their arms and legs up before chasing after Vitch.
::
::
Silver reaches the core of Vitch's temple, stepping closer to her as Vitch looks really frightened. Silver grins cheesily, snapping his fingers as huge pillars of lava burst from behind him, highlighting the sparkle of his smile.
:Silver: Dead end, you Vitch! I've got you right where I want you!
:Vitch: N-No, I'm not going to go down like this, I'm going to finish you off, Silver! This place is about to blow, once I completely melt the Valco Vortex, this place will be without its mayor!
:Silver: You hurt Valerie, and I'll make you go bald. You don't want to be bald while you look as sad as you already do.
Silver smirks as he pulls out his weapon, walking towards Vitch, who groans as she forms ice in her hands. She goes back inside a darkened, cool cave room where she can actually use her ice more reliably.
:Vitch: G-Goodbye, Silver Zin!
:Silver: Say hello to the fat man in the sky for me, won't you? If I accidentally kill you, that is.
:Vitch: What?
:Silver: It's just material Azrail gave me to make me sound cooler than I actually am. You should say goodbye to your career of evil, though!
Vitch forms a bunch of ice in her hands, dashing towards Silver.
:Vitch: NOT A CHANCE!
::
::
Vitch screams as she flails on the floor, trying to prevent Silver from handcuffing her but ultimately failing.
:Silver: That's enough.
:Vitch: Silver... let me gooo...
:Silver: Pfft. Nah. Let's get outta here.
:Azrail [walkie-talkie]: You gave me just enough time to get down there and shut off the boiler explosion that Vitch was planning down here, so good work on distracting her! Don't worry about dragging the other bodies out, I got this big sea monster to help me out.
:Silver: Excellent.
Silver bonds Vitch's mouth up as the lava in the temple cools and hardens unreasonably fast, giving Silver a path to walk across.
:Silver: Another day's work done.
:9:59 P.M. · FRIDAY March 11th, ZXE-220
:Supertzar Tavern, New Naxaz City
Silver is shown running to the Supertzar Tavern in New Naxaz City, taking a long sip of alcohol and leaning against the wall. He was grinning like he was on his quest to stop Vitch, but he looked a little tired and you could see just a little bit of red around his eyes. Standing near him was the Sweet Invader- or Valerie, as you better know her.
:Scotch [walkie-talkie]: Alright Silver, we can't let her gain an audience that's too massive or she's going to figure out a way to bring everyone under her control. Think that whole Voetrice thing, but dialed up a notch because she's trying to put her rival out of business too!
:Silver: Mmmm, this isn't going to be much of an issue. Don't you worry Scotch, I'm gonna break her down just like I have with everyone else by this point.
:Scotch [walkie-talkie]: Good! Get in there and show the Razorback Supertzar what you're all about!
:Silver: She's gonna bite the dust, she can't fight with us, I'm gonna kill the inc. [smirks] Alrighty, Silvie out. C'mon Val, let's go raid her of everything she's got before she raids us of everything we've got.
:Sweet Invader: You alright? You're not supposed to drink alcohol down that fast.
:Silver: It's just my method of coping and pretending things aren't really as bad as they actually are. C'mon, let's go!
Silver rushes into the tavern. The Sweet Invader quickly follows him in, making sure Silver's doing what he's supposed to be doing. Valerie uses some of her golden shurikens to unscrew a vent, picking up Silver's (very light) body and pushing him in. She follows him in very quickly.
:Silver: We gotta get to the podium she plans on using for her scheme or she's gonna do her little dance of death and bring along some chaos.
:Sweet Invader: It shouldn't be too tough if we're fast, keep moving!
:Silver: Right. [hics] Let's go!
:Scotch [walkie-talkie]: The Supertzar tries to block your moves, Silver, but she's completely helpless against projectiles. You noticed how one night someone threw a bunch of tomatoes at her and she never ceased dancing because she needed to? You can hurt her and bruise her that way!
:Silver: Thanks Scotchy buddy, I got this.
Silver and the Sweet Invader crawl quickly through the vents of the tavern. Silver crawls ahead of her, very quickly crawling up through the tunnels. Valerie tries to keep in close pursuit, but gets pushed back a bit when Silver accidentally slides down the vent, pushing her head back with his behind.
:Silver: Sorry!
:Sweet Invader: Remind me to stay in front next time.
Silver and Valerie push off a vent cover, both feeling really dizzy as they see this HUGE dome that the Supertzar built below her tavern. They could see all the surfaces of the dome, but it was so utterly massive. The podium that Silver was looking for was on the very other side, with the Supertzar going to perform from very high up.
:Silver: Crappp.
:Sweet Invader: This is a very steep drop, god damn. I'll tell you what, Silver: we're gonna slide down to the bottom of the dome, move across the audience, then crawl up the wall on the other side. Looks like there's enough platforms for it.
:Silver: How do you think she got a dome this big?
:Sweet Invader: I don't know, maybe I'm getting too old because I don't understand how people can manipulate physical space like that. [sighs] You ready to go down?
:Silver: ...Here?
:Sweet Invader: Not like that!
She slaps Silver's face. Silver laughs.
:Silver: I'm just joking, Val.
:Sweet Invader: You really have been drinking, huh?
:Silver: Why else do I feel so heckin' good?
Silver grins as he begins to slide down the wall of the dome. The Sweet Invader follows suit, rolling her eyes.
::
::
Silver and the Sweet Invader land on the Supertzar's platform right before she begins playing, with Silver grinning as he takes out his Mind Weaver.
:Silver: On a scale from 1 to 10... [hic] How quickly do you want this to be over with?
:Razorback Supertzar: Oh Silver my darling, how kind of you for you to visit me so high up. [laughs, fanning herself] But you need a VIP card to be up here, dear!
:Silver: Oh no, I didn't come here to watch, I came here to play. [grins] Play some good ol' cops and robbers!
:Razorback Supertzar: Tch, there's not gonna be any time left after my show ends tonight. But maybe I can play with you later, my dear, if you catch my drift?
:Sweet Invader: You're in your mid-80's, fudge off.
:Razorback Supertzar: Old women can be attractive too, sweetie!
:Sweet Invader: Okay boomer.
:Silver: I've thought long and hard about all the people I could toy around with, but if it makes you feel any less pity for me, you've never made the list.
The Supertzar looks offended.
:Razorback Supertzar: Oh! [steps back] Naughty boy, I'm gonna break you like I'm gonna break everyone else in the stands below!
:Silver: I don't know, you look more like a stick than I do.
:Razorback Supertzar: You people have no respect for the elderly!
:Sweet Invader: Okay, red elephant.
Silver clapped for Valerie's two perfect roasts (that he didn't understand) as the Supertzar stretches out her arms, starting to dance a little bit.
:Razorback Supertzar: That's enough from you two! How about we just cut to the chase and make you two fall under my little dancing spell?
:Silver: Alright, I'm willing to be your babysitter and play around a bit. [stops] Azrail, that's probably the worst line you've come up for me yet.
:Azrail [walkie-talkie]: Listen man, I'm kinda burnt out tonight. Anyway you should totally tell her the satellite is round.
Silver turns off his walkie-talkie as the Supertzar starts to dance towards him and Valerie, in a very Pennywise-like way.
:Supertzar Supertzar: Here I come, you little troublemakers!
::
::
After throwing the Supertzar to the wall, Silver dusts his hands off as he pulls out some shackles.
:Razorback Supertzar: You won't get away with this, Silver Zin! One day, my dancing empire will take over New Naxaz City, then I'll bring a new order by my dancing likeliness!
:Silver: You want some advice? Don't use predictable pop trash to determine your flow, pick up extreme metal or something that's harder to keep up with.
:Razorback Supertzar: But I hate metal...
:Silver: I'm indifferent to it personally. But okay boomer.
:Sweet Invader: Alright Silver, let's take her back before she begins to get all pissy and dramatic again.
:Silver: I'm on it!
Silver handcuffs the Supertzar, who whimpers and tries to break free as Silver begins to drag her along.
:Scotch [walkie-talkie]: Congrats, Silver! You nailed it.
:Silver: Thanks. [hic] Wasn't an issue!
:Scotch [walkie-talkie]: ...Have you been drinking?
:Silver: Naaaaah. [hic] I wouldn't do that, man.
Valerie glares at Silver from behind as they drag the Supertzar along and out of the building. Suddenly, the dome vanishes, as do all the people in it... funnily enough. Silver doesn't hear their screams.
:4:32 P.M. · WEDNESDAY April 27th, ZXE-220
:The Never, Satellite 15
Silver took a long sip of alcohol as he sat in what looked like an underground casino, swinging around his weapon as he drank away. He was sitting with Syinara, who volunteered to go on this mission with him, who looked concerned with the three emptied alcohol bottles on the floor.
:Syinara: Hey Silver, you haven't forgotten what we're supposed to be doing, right?
:Silver: Nah I haven't, I've just been thinking about things a lot. [clumsily gets up] We just gotta take down Lyric and Kasdeya, that's what Scotch told me to do today. I've just been considering quitting this job.
:Syinara: Why? You've been doing pretty great.
:Silver: It's just super monotonous and it's getting really frustrating. It's just not fun to do the work at this point, and Scotch seems to be digging up more and more excuses to get me to do work.
:Syinara: I understand. [holds his hand] It wouldn't make Scotch happy, but I want you to do what's best for you. Just go easy with the drinks.
Silver pulls Syinara up, sighing a deep sigh.
:Silver: Thank you for looking after me, Syi, but... [hics] It doesn't really matter to me anymore, I've been doing this for months and there's no pay-off or anything. I still get treated like crap.
:Syinara: Right. I remember when Zodiez barked at you for not going after Ferris when he stole some toys from the store, that was upsetting because you were working all month and she really went down on you like that.
Silver nods, leaning back against a casino machine.
:Silver: Scotch gave me a lot of crap the next day even though we came to an agreement some months back that I shouldn't be wasting my time clearing cocaine out of his brother's house. That Ferris thing was on an even lower level.
:Syinara: Mhm. [walks over to him] Let's not linger on this too long though, we have a few villains to catch.
:Silver: They're not much. I've been told to go after them just because they've been pulling some pranks and whatever. [grumbles] It's not worth making trouble. I used to have reasons to go after some of these people, but now it's just getting ridiculous. Think about it, Syi.
Silver looks down.
:Silver: Vitch might have been one of the few valid threats I've had to actually deal with since getting the job, same can be said with Ryona. But the Supertzar could have been very easily stopped by someone else, and I know for sure that these two could have been dealt with by Zodiez herself.
:Syinara: I think the reason why Scotch's making you do all of this is because, well...
:Silver: Spit it out, Syi.
:Syinara: Sorry, it's just that I don't know how to tell you this? [looks at him embarrassingly] But, Zodiez has been organizing a lot of these plans for you of course, and unbeknownst to Scotch, she's been getting professional cameramen to record all these performances for satellite television. As entertainment, I think.
:Silver: What? [spits out drink] Really?
:Syinara: I mean, I could be getting some of these details wrong, but I remember walking to go ask Zodiez for a favor and I found her talking things out with a strange floating mask.
:Silver: I really am being used, huh. I'm just a clown to them...
:Syinara: I would've told you this sooner, but I really didn't want you to find out from me. [hugs him] I'm sorry I didn't say anything.
Silver gently returns the hug, looking ticked off but giving her a genuine hug.
:Silver: It's not your fault, I'm pretty timid myself when it comes to talking about things I don't want to talk about. But now there's some really serious crap I need to talk to Zodiez about. [hic] That's horrifying abuse of power.
:Syinara: Do you still want to, fight them? There's cameras waiting there for you if you want to try and sabotage the performance or anything. I don't care what you do in there really.
:Silver: You know what? Yeah. I'm gonna go in there and screw things up on purpose just to show those creeps how I feel about this treatment.
:Syinara: Let's go, then. I'll watch.
Silver and Syinara hold hands gently, walking off to their destination.
::
::
Silver and Syinara land together on Lyric and Kasdeya's platform. They themselves were pretty wasted, with Kasdeya out cold while Lyric was barely managing to stand up on her own. She blinks a bit before poking her demon partner.
:Lyric: Mmmm, dear, they're here, just like Scotch warned us about.
:Silver: Alright, what the hell's going on over here? What have you two been up to?
:Lyric: Sorrryy. I'm Lyric, and my girlie Kasdeya's asleep. Uhhh. [gulps] You can come back another time if you waaaant.
:Silver: Nonsense, I've made it all the way from Clownsville and I'd really like to introduce myself. My name's Silver Zin, local satellite performer, and I'm gonna bet you two are gonna lose. ...Did Azrail give me those "cool lines" as things to say on live TV...? I hate all of you.
:Lyric: Are you trying to start a fight, 'cuz I'm really not in the mood for it. [looks tiredly at Kasdeya] Sweetie they're threatening me.
:Kasdeya: Whu...
:Lyric: You passed out hon, there's some people you'd probably like to see. And they were targeting me!
:Kasdeya: Oh, it's just that white twink guy. He's a celebrity, isn't he?
Kasdeya rolls down her sleeves while Silver begins to look rather agitated.
:Silver: Celebrity!?
:Kasdeya: You haven't seen yourself in the Zinology action series on TV? [leaps towards Silver] That's too bad, maybe you won't see the pilot episode before I end your pitiful life for scaring my girlfriend.
Syinara looks down in personal embarrassment.
:Silver: Can we talk this out? I never asked to be a celebrity, I had no idea I was being recorded. What happens on Zinology?
:Kasdeya: The pilot episode showed you taking out Captain Ryona, if that refreshes your memory at all. Uh, I think there's an episode of you taking out the Panty Thief coming up next.
:Silver: This is going to outrage me. Look, I have nothing against either of you two personally. Look up there- do you see those goddamn cameras? They're recording you too! And eating your privacy!
:Lyric: Crap, how long has that been up there?
:Silver: I don't have a heckin' clue, but how about we team up and take them out?
:Lyric: I'm alright with that, oh god, how much did it record?
:Kasdeya: That lapd-
:Silver: It's probably recorded enough to make a whole Bitter dot com series of Zinology Funny Moments. [pulls his weapon close] Let's trash them all up!
::
::
After Silver, Syinara, Lyric, and Kasdeya break the cameras, Silver quickly goes over to the "villains" and shakes their hands.
:Silver: I really didn't want to trouble you two today. Thanks for helping me out with that.
:Lyric: No problem, to be honest, if I was feeling more awake, I'd have consumed your soul right now with Kasdeya's help. But don't worry about it now because you saved our privacy. Syi should be careful though.
Lyric snickers, showing some of her emaciated teeth.
:Lyric: Good luck out there, Silver.
:Silver: Thanks.
:Syinara: I'll talk to Valerie about all this when I get home, alright? You get the rest of you need, Silver.
Silver nods as they take a rift back into the satellite lobby. Silver walks back to his room, where Pierce is waiting, taking out a new drink for himself to drink down.
:5:30 P.M. · WEDNESDAY April 27th, ZXE-220
:Kýrios' Throne Room, Admin Sector
Zodiez looks somewhat frustrated as she watches The Devil's Mask scramble with the cameras that she's been using to spy on Silver, crossing her arms.
:Zodiez: What's going on?
:The Devil's Mask: The show cameras, all destroyed, all wasted, all ruined! My expression, sad.
The Devil's Mask turns blue, having a really sad and hollow look to it.
:Zodiez: Just as soon as I thought I had a way of revitalizing the satellite's entertainment industry, it gets ruined so fast. Those cameras held all the tape.
:The Devil's Mask: Little white boy responsible, taking the show away.
:Zodiez: I should have figured that Silver would have found out about all of this. [slams her fist into her throne armrest] Mmmm, I thought I was going to have a bit more fame there, then Silver totally destroys it.
:The Devil's Mask: To be fair...
:Zodiez: Don't "to be fair" me, you know what I wanted out of that and I've gotten some really high ratings for the first few episodes I was able to put out! [growls] Now it has to be cancelled, damn it I am going to strangle him.
:The Devil's Mask: The point is gone. Now I am eternally sad.
:Zodiez: Quit your blubbering and fix it!
The Devil's Mask whimpers as it tries to find a way to fix it. It then thinks back to a previous incident, where it and the Echeno were placed at desks by the Manipulator.
:The Manipulator [past]: My eyes will see Silver crumble. The mask's eyes will see Silver shy away. The beast's eyes will seal him away. This is the work, the work we will do for the Zins. It is for their own good.
:Zodiez: Hey, if you don't find me those tapes again, I'm going to break your mache spine!
:The Devil's Mask: Spine? I'm mask.
:Zodiez: You get the damn point.
Zodiez grumbles as she waits for the Devil's Mask to collect more information, but it's not able to find anything. Frustrated, she sits down in her chair, covering her eyes with her hands.
:Zodiez: Mmm. I'll just redo this plan, and confront Silver about my plans to revisit the idea so he doesn't fudge it up a second time.
:The Devil's Mask: He won't listen.
The mask eerily smiles, its face glowing red.
:The Devil's Mask: It'll be over soon.
:Zodiez: Yeah, yeah, get back to work before I throw you in the scrapyard. Can you do anything right?
:The Devil's Mask: You can't rush art.
The Devil's Mask returns to work. The Manipulator watches from above, with the Echeno watching from another corner. The Manipulator smirked and chuckled to himself. It was all going as planned.
:10:04 A.M. · THURSDAY May 12th, ZXE-220
:Satellite Lobby, Room #13
:Blossom: According to Silver's journal, he wrote that May 12th of ZXE-220 was a life-changing moment for him, one that he supposed then would lead him along a road of victory.
Silver struggles to get up from Pierce's bed. He looked tired and grumpy in his jammies, groaning as he rubbed his eyes. He snoozed the blaring alarm clock next to him and looked around. Pierce was nowhere to be seen.
:Silver: Overslept again. [holds his head] Auuugh.
Silver covers his eyes from the bright strobe lights of the satellite with his arm, dizzily getting off his bed.
:Silver: Gotta get to the Vinegar Base in less than an hour, that's gonna be fun. [hic] I'm gonna go.
Silver walks over to the bathroom, leaning hard against the wall as he pulls his suit out of the closet and quickly slips himself into it. He takes deep breaths, trying to let his eyes adjust to the light.
:Silver: Should've reconsidered being a mercenary, all it's been doing is driving me crazy.
Silver lurches over to drink some water. He then covers his mouth, his cheeks turning green.
:Silver: Ahh, f-fudge-
The camera goes outside of the restroom as Silver throws up into the sink, wheezing a little. Silver takes a much longer sip of water, attempting to keep his thirst down.
:Silver: I feel terrible. [hisses] Owww!
Silver hops up a bit, stepping out of the restroom. Silver looks at his foot. He sees a shard of a broken alcohol glass in the sole of his foot, which was beginning to bleed profusely.
:Silver: C-Crap, I was drinking hard last night, that explains a lot. [groans] Good thing I have a first aid kit here.
Silver cleans his opened wound, hissing hard as he winces in pain, starting to adjust a bit better to the atmosphere around him as he bandages his foot. He'll remember this awful morning later.
:Silver: Really wish Pierce was here, but I would've seen him if I didn't sleep an hour past my alarm clock. He's at Vizole's little studio, I think, somewhere in Naxaz or whatever.
Silver makes himself another big cup of water when his walkie-talkie cranks on.
:Scotch [walkie-talkie]: Hey Silver, you're late for our appointment. I told you to set the alarm clock back so we didn't run into this issue. Make sure you come here anyway though, alright?
:Silver: What were you going to make me do anyway, chase some low-rate criminal that's been stealing candy from babies?
:Scotch [walkie-talkie]: No, we've sighted Mania Metallurgy at the Collin Shop, we really need you to take care of her.
:Silver: What's she doing wrong, Scotch?
:Scotch [walkie-talkie]: She's one of Mallory's assistants, remember?
:Silver: Leave me alone if she's not doing anything bad.
Silver grumbles as he sits down on his bed.
:Silver: How many times have I told you that I'm uninterested in pursuing threats that aren't actually threats? How many times have I told you that I'm tired of this mundane, straining, zero-payoff job?
:Scotch [walkie-talkie]: We're making you work as a mercenary because you chose to be a mercenary, right? Didn't we discuss this months ago?
:Silver: It was either that I worked as a mercenary or a janitor or I'd get chucked in space. [leans back against the wall] Then again, if I can't be my own, then I'd feel better dead.
:Scotch: Look, I know that things have gotten really rough for you lately, but I'm not trying to antagonize you over here. Why are you acting so angry today?
:Silver: You know what's going on, Scotch. And I'm tired of playing this little game that you and the authorities are playing against me, and maybe I'm just a bit sick of this me-against-the-world gimmick my life's become.
Scotch sighs on the other end of the walkie-talkie. He goes quiet for a moment.
:Silver: I'm going to the military base. Don't bother giving me any empathy or apologies, I'm just going to do straight what your task requires me to do then I'm going to go home.
:Scotch [walkie-talkie]: No, feel free to take a vacation, Silver. I understand you've been overw-
:Silver: I'M COMING OVER THERE BECAUSE YOU'RE JUST GOING TO CHASTISE ME IF I DON'T!
Silver switches off the walkie-talkie. His teeth were angrily gritting together.
:Silver: Goddd.
Silver takes deep breaths before going outside, heading over to a space pod summoning station and taking one to the Vinegar Base. He slowly moves his way inside, teetering back and forth as he tries to make his way to Scotch's office.
:Soldier #1: Whoa, you lookin' alright there, Silver?
:Soldier #2: There's some coffee in the office if you need a wake-up call.
:Silver: I'm fine, thanks.
:Soldier #1: ...You sure?
:Soldier #2: Can't we help you in any way?
:Silver: I'm fine.
Silver moves his way to Scotch's office, slamming the door open. When the door hits the wall, two of its hinges break off, leaving the door hanging in a bad state. Scotch looked surprised.
:Soldier #3: What a little girl.
The soldier in Scotch's office leaves.
:Scotch: Hey Silver, feel free to take a seat. We need to talk, clearly.
:Silver: Fine.
Silver walks to take a seat on Scotch's brown couch, folding his arms as he holds his weapon. Scotch's eyes widened when he saw Silver's state- his eyes looked slightly pink around the rim, he looked oversensitive to light, and he was making himself a cup of coffee. The last thing was particularly unusual, as Silver didn't usually get coffee at Scotch's office.
:Scotch: We need to talk about your behavior and the grade of your performance lately, because it's been slipping over the past month and your behavior has reached a new low with me this morning.
:Silver: Mmm.
:Scotch: You've become less proficient at fighting your targets and you've become much more prone to letting them get away, and your eye-hand coordination seems to be falling apart. [folds his arms] You've become much flirtier and talkative around your enemies, sacrificing progress to be an attractive man instead. I'm not paying you to be an attractive man, Silver.
Silver lulls his eyes at Scotch, looking at him rather angrily.
:Silver: You're not paying me to be anything or do anything, so no matter what I'd be doing on the satellite that isn't having a regular job like everyone else, I'd be getting the same benefit of nothing.
:Scotch: Right, I'm not paying you, because this is volunteer work that you've been signed up for.
:Silver: I wouldn't even be volunteering at all if I wasn't threatened to be sent out into cold space.
:Scotch: You're making it really difficult for me to communicate with you, Silver. I'm just trying to do my job as your partner, I'm not completely responsible for why you're in the position you're in.
:Silver: Mmm. Alright.
Scotch sighs as he leans back in his seat. He wasn't sure how he was going to argue with Silver this time.
:Scotch: Look, I don't think you should quit your work as a mercenary or lose faith in me, I'm trying to do whatever I can under Zodiez's orders to bring us closer and closer to getting rid of Mallory and all the evils on the satellite. I would be seriously be paying you if Zodiez didn't force the work to be volunteer work.
:Silver: Everything about the life I'm living right now is so ridiculously unfair, do you even know the amount of crap I've been having to put up with lately?
:Scotch: Yea-
:Silver: NO YOU DON'T! [springs up] Listen here! You're not an alien, you're not universally hated, you're not being broadcast against your own will across the satellite, and you're most certainly not living in a life-or-death situation!
Silver takes deep breaths. Scotch sighs.
:Scotch: Take deep breaths, Silver.
:Silver: ...Alright.
Silver sits back down, taking deep breaths as he tries to calm himself down.
:Scotch: I'm not any of those things, you're right, and I'm sorry if you thought I was implying I was. I was going to say that since my youth, I've been trying to follow my father's shoes as an army general, and I've had to put up with a lot of substance abuse to get through it because it was so tough on my young teen brain. It's not the same situation you're going through, but the shoes I've had to fill were so needlessly massive.
:Silver: I'm sorry for getting angry with you, I've been trying to reserve my anger for Zodiez but she keeps declining my requests for an invitation and it's getting to my head really hard.
:Scotch: I'm not angry with you Silver, I'm just shocked. I didn't think things were going this terribly for you.
:Silver: You couldn't have known, it's fine.
Silver gets up, shakily walking over to Scotch. Silver sits next to Scotch, taking a deep breath as Scotch places his arm around him.
:Scotch: I've known a little bit about the Zinology thing, but I didn't think about what consequences it could have on your being. [pats his back] I'm going to meet with Zodiez later to try and get her to stop it.
:Silver: Thank you.
:Scotch: Hey, I'm just trying to do what I can to help out.
Silver sighs.
:Silver: Can you apologize for being rude to me, at least?
:Scotch: I'm sorry, that was really uncool of me.
:Silver: That's all I needed to hear, really.
Silver leans on Scotch's shoulder, gently kissing his neck as he wraps his arms around the general's torso. Scotch looks somewhat stunned, but he returns the embrace.
:Silver: What did you want me to do today, Scotch...
:Scotch: Like I said earlier, I was going to assign you to take care of Mania Metallurgy, who's been spotted at the Collin Shop. But last I checked, she was gone and no thefts were reported, so feel free to just stick around with me.
:Silver: I'm really relieved I don't have to go.
:Scotch: For once, I'm kind of relieved that you don't have to go either. [looks down at him] Please don't quit as a mercenary, though. You really are the only hope we have at defeating Mallory.
:Silver: I'll consider it, at least.
:Scotch: As long as it's not a definite answer yet.
Scotch picks up Silver, resting him on his lap as he keeps embracing him. Scotch's office door opens up, showing Minute Hourglass entering the room.
:Minute: Hello Scotch, thought I'd drop by to check in on you. How's Silver?
:Scotch: He's not in a great place right now, but I'm sure at some point things will get better for him. [holds him a bit closer] How're you doing, Minute?
:Minute: Oh I'm fine, I've just been helping gather some of Earth's last remaining vital treasures.
Minute takes a seat next to Scotch, smiling a little as he begins to wind his wristwatch.
:Scotch: Hey Minute, I know it sounds like a big favor, but I was wondering if you'd be willing to help Silver and I out later today? We're going to have a pretty busy meeting with Zodiez, and we think your time travel ability can really help in a pinch in case a mistake happens.
:Minute: I can only really rewind time by upwards of five minutes, but hey it'll probably do.
:Scotch: We need to make sure that things work just as planned for Silver this time around, rather than for myself or for the authorities. I hate to think of myself standing against Zodiez, but.
:Minute: Zodiez is a pain to deal with, especially if you're working against her, but hey we can at least avoid the prison crisis that Silver had to deal with before.
:Silver: Please, I'd like to never deal with that ever again.
All three of them share a bit of weak laughter. Silver rolls off of Scotch's lap and sits down in a chair opposite from Minute's.
:Minute: But yeah, I'll help out.
:Scotch: Alright, we have a plan.
:Silver: Hopefully when my appointment with Zodiez comes tonight, it won't be too terrible. I'm going to go home first though, alright? I need to prepare myself for the meeting.
:Scotch: So soon?
:Silver: Yeah, yeah, I just need to take care of something.
:Scotch: Alright, see ya at 6 PM.
:Minute: Good luck out there, Silver.
Silver smiles as he gets up, leaving the room. Minute warps forward to him, tapping on his shoulder.
:Minute: Don't hurt yourself, alright?
:Silver: I won't.
Silver leaves the room. Scotch yawns as he takes off his shirt, stretching.
:Minute: Oh my.
:Scotch: I'm going to the gym, wanna go with me?
:Minute: Sure.
Both of them walk together into a back room, holding hands, with Minute's cheeks slightly pink.
:Scotch: I'm just mildly worried about Silver.
:Minute: Oh he'll be fine, you just need to give him some room to think on his own.
:Scotch: I just hope that things recover for him soon.
:3:52 P.M. · THURSDAY May 12th, ZXE-220
:Valco Vortex, New Naxaz City
Valerie was sitting at this time in a dark candlelit room, yawning as she sat across from Vizole, who looked pretty shaken.
:Valerie: You paid a thousand ValCoins for a one night stand but, aren't you gay?
:Vizole: Look Valerie, I know that I'm in this bedroom for all the wrong reasons, but I needed to talk to you about something in private and it, concerns my best friend Pierce. I was wondering if you'd be able to help give me a lead.
:Valerie: Oh, what's up with him?
Vizole looks away for a second before returning his eyes to face Valerie's. Valerie moved over to her bed, sitting down on it and opening her laptop. It wasn't just a laptop; it doubled as a phone and notepad as well.
:Vizole: Pierce's been really worried for Silver and I don't know how to help him clear his mind. Scotch told him that Silver was supposed to be at his place, but he wasn't there at all, he just found his mercenary suit laying loosely off the edge of the bed. He's super panicked about Silver's condition, do you still do your daily Thursday calls with Silver?
:Valerie: Oh yeah, I was just about to do that in a couple of minutes actually. [looks down at her sheets] Huh. I'll check in on my bro's current situation when I call him.
:Vizole: Thank you Val, you're a good friend. [twitches his fingers together] Do you mind if you stay here and wait for the results of the call?
:Valerie: If you want to hear Silver's voice on the other end, you can climb up here on the bed.
Valerie covers up her lingerie-covered self with her sheets, patting the spot next to her on the bed.
:Valerie: I'm covered up, you can get up here.
Vizole nods as he gets up on the bed, with Valerie starting to dial in Silver's number.
:Valerie: Hello?
There wasn't much of an answer on the other end, but Valerie could tell that Silver picked up as she could hear him on the other line. Silver is shown on the other end, sitting in a dark alley with lots of copyrighted spicy chip bags and with several emptied bottles of alcohol.
:Silver: Hey, is this V-Valerie?
:Valerie: Silver? Oh thank the lord you're alright. Where are you, Pierce has been worried sick about you!
:Silver: I'm fine. I-I'm just taking some time to breathe.
:Valerie: What're you doing right now? Please don't try to dance around the question.
Silver sighs. Valerie can hear some bottles clinking as Silver drinks another bottle of alcohol down.
:Silver: I-I've just been trying to take my mind off of the meeting I have to do with Z-Zodiez later. I'm trying to only cross that bridge when I come to it, Really, don't p-panic, please.
:Vizole: Just because you tell us to not panic doesn't mean we're not gonna panic, Silver! Please do something to show you're still alive and kicking!
:Silver: I-I'm not telling anyone where I am right now, but I'll come out of here later, I p-promise. Please, leave me aloneee. [hic] I'm not going to be hurttt.
:Valerie: Silver, look.
:Silver: L-Leave me alone! I-It's going to be o-okay!
Silver attempts to hang up on her, but he can hardly touch his phone as his body seems to have a hard time really responding to his command. He throws the phone at the wall, which doesn't break thanks to its hard case, as he slides down to the concrete.
:Valerie: Silver? SILVER!
Valerie listens for him, but she can't hear him after that.
:Valerie: I don't think he's there anymore Viz. I mean, I can hear him flailing in the background alone, but he definitely doesn't have his head to the phone anymore. [sighs] I should have seen this coming.
:Vizole: It's f-fine. It's just going to be tough to talk about with Pierce.
:Valerie: Silver's become a really heavy drinker after all the crap he's been given by the satellite authorities and all of the heavy-duty work he's had to do that doesn't really earn him anything or help him with discovering his purpose.
:Vizole: He really needs to get off the alcohol, it's going to probably kill him at some point.
Valerie frowns, gripping her laptop-like phone.
:Valerie: I'm gonna buy Silver and all his related properties off of Zodiez's hands. [hangs up] I don't really wanna "buy" him, but I'm gonna make him my problem.
:Vizole: ...Buy him?
:Valerie: This is going to sound ridiculous, because it is and it should be illegal, but Zodiez treats Silver like a foreign object and claims to own him like he was her slave. If I have him instead, he can quit that job and live a good life. I'll be a really nice sister model to him!
:Vizole: I hope you're ready for the jokes that are going to run around on Bitter dot com about a sister purchasing her brother off of the alien slave market, but because I know you're do him justice, I'm in on this plan.
:Valerie: I'm sure some people will be very fine with this plan. Some won't.
Valerie takes her usual clothes off of the bedside table, slipping them on from inside the sheets before getting out to look through her window.
:Valerie: I'm gonna help him find a home, have friends, and live a more casual life. I hope that's going to help him get on track and reach a better mental state. Then he can get a job, live life like a normal citizen.
:Vizole: Be sure you talk about this all to Pierce. I think he'd be very willing to help.
Vizole weakly grins. It's not as wide as his usual grins, but it was enough to show a bit of restored confidence.
:Valerie: Of course.
Vizole gets up, sighing.
:Vizole: Sorry to waste your time Valerie, I just got very concerned. I'm gonna leave now.
:Valerie: No no, you didn't waste my time at all! I'm glad you said something, because now I'm worried for him. He sounds like he wants to become his own, he's begging so hard for it, I'm gonna help get him his own life. After I talk with Pierce, I'll talk with Zodiez and see when I can talk to her.
Vizole nods a little, walking to the door.
:Valerie: I'll save him, damn it.
:Vizole: Good luck.
Vizole leaves the room. Silver is shown writhing, trying to get up with several bottles of alcohol around him, but he sees like a thousand other things as he tries to adjust himself to the air around him. It was impossible under the influence, but he saw the three spirits looking down at him just fine...
:The Manipulator: So close.
Silver falls unconscious right there. The three spirits leave his presence when Frink comes along holding a huge package.
:Frink: Package for Mr. Stu- what? Is that.
Frink leaves his package down at the doorstep for some strange unknown man, scooping up Silver into his arms.
:Frink: You awake?
:Silver: Hic.
:Frink: I'll just package you to the address on your ID tag, hmm.
Frink shows Silver into a box, writing down the address on his tag and throwing him into his mail truck. Frink gets in, where his heavy chain smoker girlfriend waits him inside.
:Cherry: Who the hell is that?
:Frink: An alcoholic that lost his way, I guess? I'm gonna take him home real quick.
:Cherry: Hurry, the oven's been left on broil, and you still got 353 packages to deliver in the next twelve minutes!
Frink swerves his mail truck around, speeding it at lightning speed through the air.
:5:23 P.M. · THURSDAY May 12th, ZXE-220
:C.O.T.S. Laboratories, Hospital Wing
Ms. Replicate and Mallory were overlooking a table together, working on something together even though the latter swore she'd never work with the mad doctor again.
:Ms. Replicate: Thank you for complying to help me with this little experiment, Mallory. Aren't you a wonderful sister?
:Mallory: Hardly. At least this plan looks like it's going to work.
Together, Replicate and Mallory were working on a collar-like device on a table.
:Ms. Replicate: I wasn't expecting to be commissioned by that Hazel brat to make an anti-alcohol shock collar, but I suppose it's the least I can do.
:Mallory: So lemme get this straight, if this gets finished, Silver can't have alcohol again right? It'll stop him from being able to cope with his job through substance abuse and it'll make him way less likely to actually take action against us.
:Ms. Replicate: Mhm, I wanted you to help me with this because you're a pretty experienced drinker and I wanted you to help me determine what limit would be able to shock Silver. I'd drink but I'm pregnant.
:Mallory: Drink anyway, I'd rather not deal with two of you.
:Ms. Replicate: You know, I'd rather not deal with a less intelligent version of myself either, so I'll wash a drink down.
:Mallory: That's a 180 if I've ever seen one, Replicate.
Mallory takes a long sip of champagne.
:Mallory: ...Who were you pregnant with?
:Ms. Replicate: I think I'm pregnant with Shredder, the little bastard.
Mallory laughs so hard as she keeps helping marking down alcohol levels and different drinks onto a sheet of paper, which Ms. Replicate reads over.
:Mallory: Kinda glad you're just not trying to make him go completely without alcohol. It'd probably kill him if he couldn't have any all of a sudden. I mean, I hate his guts, but who deserves such sudden withdrawal?
:Ms. Replicate: I remember when I was a smoker, I felt so betrayed when Noise made me try to instantly quit just like that. I got really annoying for a few weeks.
:Mallory: Sometimes the Messiah would tell me when I'm drinking too much and I'd just drink with him. It's funny watching him try to withstand as much alcohol as I can, because he can't. [laughs] But I know when to stop because he'll look so timid when I down a whole 6-pack.
:Ms. Replicate: I've abstained from smoking since Noise made me quit, but I used to have smoking contests with Gonzalo when we were still together. I bet if you walked into his office then, it'd make you suffocate in seconds.
Mallory nods as she keeps sampling different drinks, using a different machine from Replicate that lets her instantly drain all the alcohol out of her head once she's reached a threshold where everything changes for her.
:Ms. Replicate: Thank you for helping me, even after that little meeting we had a month back.
:Mallory: Yeah, you're welcome. I kinda like you anyway, because you're so open to things like this. Makes me feel a lot more welcome on this satellite, even if it's just in this particular laboratory.
:Ms. Replicate: Awww, you're so sweet. You and your brother have so much in common!
:Mallory: I'm this close to retracting my statement.
Mallory sighs as she takes a sip of absinthe.
:Mallory: Wouldn't it be funny if we just ignored absinthe in the testing process and let Silver find that one on his own? There's no way he's gonna get back up if he takes any of that down.
:Ms. Replicate: Mmmm, I don't know, Replicate. That's a really strong substance.
:Mallory: Fineee.
Ms. Replicate and Mallory finish the collar.
:Mallory: So, how're we gonna give this to him?
:Ms. Replicate: I'm gonna mail this to Pierce as soon as we have someone to test it on.
Mallory thinks to herself.
:Mallory: Oh crap, wouldn't it be funny if we did that on the Methademic? He has iron lungs.
:Ms. Replicate: Ooo! Yeah, he'll do. Let's see if we can get this working by tonight.
Mallory nods, running to her desk to look through her purple purse and pull out her phone. Replicate smirks from where she is, tapping her fingers against the counter.
:Ms. Replicate: Silver's gonna get that freedom, while we get a taste of our own, oooh, you're a devilish one, Ms. Replicate.
 
:6:02 P.M. · THURSDAY May 12th, ZXE-220
:Kýrios' Throne Room, Admin Sector
Zodiez was sitting with Kýrios on his throne, checking her wristwatch to see when Silver would arrive. He was two minutes late, as were several others.
:Zodiez: I don't have all damn night to wait, you guys.
Soon enough, Zodiez heard the front doors open. She saw Scotch lead a drunk-looking, somewhat wasted Silver into the room, with Pierce, Valerie, Syinara, Devina, the Nature Warrior, Minute, Ms. Replicate, and Mallory following them right in. Zodiez looked shocked at who was in attendance.
:Zodiez: Good lord.
:Kýrios: Needed?
:Zodiez: I wasn't talking to you, go back to sleep lazybones. [turns to Scotch] I see you have a strange party with you. So we want to talk about Silver, don't we?
Nobody looks like they really want to have this conversation. Silver looks too wasted to really look at her, Scotch looks angry, Pierce looks anxious, Valerie didn't look so hot, and the rest look tired except Ms. Replicate, who was faking her best smile.
:Scotch: I've come here to talk to you about Silver, the way you've been treating him, and give suggestions to turn things around. I've collected a number of people who are tired of your bullcrap, including some I wouldn't normally pick up.
:Silver: Nnngghh. [raises his head] Oh crap, u-uuhhh, I'm up.
Silver stands up straight as best as he could, nearly tumbling right back down but managing to stand on his own. Zodiez stood a few dozen inches above Silver's head, so he felt like a dwarf even standing at full height. And he was six-foot-four.
:Zodiez: The way I've been treating him, Scotch? Don't be ridiculous. You know he's been falling behind on his responsibilities and I'm not about to let you defend him for skipping out on his chores.
:Scotch: I think the issue is that the chores you're giving him usually aren't all that meaningful. Sure you always appoint him when there's real danger to be had, but you've given me some frustratingly minor crap to give him to deal with. Crap the police should do on their own own.
:Syinara: A-And you're hurting him with that Z-Zinology crap, you're making him an unwanted celebrity. No wonder everyone here knows his name! You're exploiting him!
:Zodiez: It doesn't matter how you all see Silver, I see him as an alien and nothing short of that. If he's going to be here, he's going to abide by my terms and by my conditions. So should his cute sister.
:Mallory: You know, after seeing how you treat him like crap, I don't think I'd ever want to do anything for you.
:Zodiez: Tch, I know we've been chasing you for months, but I didn't think you were gonna stoop to his level.
:Mallory: I hate Silver with every single fiber of my body, but bitch please. You're probably at the lowest level of anyone on this hilariously mismanaged satellite.
:Valerie: Hate to admit it, but Mallory's right. I don't think you have room to talk here.
Zodiez growls in contempt as Pierce steps forward. He limps; he left behind his wheelchair again. Ms. Replicate watches his bones kind of squeak as he walks forward.
:Pierce: I don't care how you see Silver, but to me and everyone else in this room, he is a human being and should be treated just like the rest of us. [folds his arms] You're overworking him, making him do stupid crap, and you're making him a clown on television! I've sent you many letters asking you to take that crap down, and you never did, because you're a greedy pig!
:Zodiez: Is he really just like the rest of us if he has that ridiculously pale skin, those horribly soulless white eyes, and unnatural body parts? Look at him; he's hideous!
:Scotch: All my respect for you just went down the drain, Zodiez. You're a hypocrite, you know that right? You're gonna really point out that Silver's got different body parts when that's also your damn deal?
:Syinara: What does it matter what parts you have or what you look like, as long as you're a good person inside?
:Devina: My partner Black Eyes, I may not love him and I struggle in my band with him, but just because he doesn't look handsome or anything doesn't mean he's lower than me. He can be reasonable and understandable when he wants to be. [slaps her face] Are you even considering how much Silver's done for you to gain your respect?
Zodiez bangs her fists down against her armrests.
:Zodiez: Enough! How about Silver then? How does he feel about this, huh? Stop putting words in his mouth!
Everyone falls silent.
:Zodiez: And, General Butterscotch Cornbread Caramel Jr., if you dare question me again, I'm going to take your cap and suffocate you to death with it like the traitorous general you are!
Scotch looks embarrassed, slinking down a little bit. That hit him pretty hard.
:Mallory: You should probably be replaced by someone who can actually be reasonable and levelheaded. Why isn't Valerie the queen? Maybe I don't see eye-to-eye with her at all but she'd make a better and fairer queen than you.
Valerie blushes a little bit, trying not to let Mallory see as Zodiez growls.
:Zodiez: SILENCE! Let Silver speak, or I'm going to break your necks!
Mallory steps back, looking cautious but not afraid.
:Silver: Z-Zodiez, you've tampered with my heart strings for long enough. I've tried so hard to get so far, but as it turns out it didn't even matter. Not only did you waste my talent, you exploited my privacy in exchange for profit, over and OVER again until I've become the celebrity I never asked to be and have never wanted to be! [stands up] And here you are still being this sadistic, abusive piece of crap today!
Silver pulls out his Mind Weaver, making everyone around him back off. Zodiez stands up, looking down at the cue-impaired but angry and half-heartedly ready Silver.
:Silver: You've done long term damage to the way I view relationships. You've screwed with me, you've screwed with my friends, you're an effing monster. I'm so angry that I don't even know how I'm supposed to hold it in.
:Zodiez: This is honestly rather pathetic, Silver. You're not accepting your role in life? Get a grip on yourself. You're either going to keep serving as a mercenary, or I'm going to kill you.
:Silver: M-Mercenary!? You think this is still about me being a mercenary?
Silver swallows his air. Mallory looks almost terrified of her brother in the moment, admittedly.
:Silver: I've never been a m-mercenary, Zodiez. This was just a ploy you set up from the very beginning, to use me as a source of entertainment for audiences across the satellite.
:Zodiez: Don't be silly, you're still doing some real work here and there.
:Mallory: I just thought it'd be worth mentioning that you didn't even bother telling him to seize me, I'm right here. You haven't sent him after me in a few months, even when I went out in public and did some thieving crap. Instead you made Silver chase after the ticket to your fame. That's really messed up.
:Silver: Are you meaning to tell me, Mallory, that the w-whole time I was chasing down smaller and less significant threats, THERE WERE REAL THREATS OUT THERE?
:Mallory: Yeah! I was wondering where the hell you were to stop me!
Silver growls as he swerves his head back at Zodiez.
:Zodiez: The anti-Mallory missions aren't very profitable.
:Scotch: Not very profitable!? Mallory is a hazard to everyone on this satellite! She's always been!
:Zodiez: I've been sending my children after her, what's the deal?
:Silver: Then what's the point of me being a mercenary when you're going to dispose of your own children to do the real work? Even if you killed all your children, there wouldn't be a point as you'd still use me like a toy. A possession. At least I now know who I really am: a toy for the satellite authorities! Wanna fill these shoes, Zodiez?
:Zodiez: You know, instead of trying to waste my ti-
:Silver: YOUR TIME?
Silver looks like he was going to explode. Ms. Replicate stands there, still completely silent.
:Pierce: No wonder you've never made Silver take care of any nightly threats, this was all a stage you were planning for him, taking advantage of minor inconveniences to make Silver your little Hollywood star.
:Silver: Your time, huh? I only have a few hours every single day of my life to spend home and relax and do crap I actually want to do! Even when there's nothing for me to do, you keep me around in the Vinegar Base until a certain hour with nothing substantial to fill in the time gap!
Mallory steps forward, looking up at Zodiez.
:Mallory: Maybe I'm too much of a child to really take care of the satellite properly, and I know nobody would be on board with it, buut even I would be more reasonable than you if this satellite was in my clutches.
:Silver: You know what? I'll tell you two things, Zodiez. The first is that I actually agree with Mallory.
:Zodiez: And...?
:Silver: I'm pretty done with this mercenary crap.
Silver throws a beer bottle at the Devil's Mask, having him slam into the Zinology station and ruining what was supposed to go up later.
:Silver: I'm. Done.
:Scotch: B-But you can't quit, Silver! I need you to help me with Mal-
:Silver: THEN KILL HER! SHE'S RIGHT THERE.
Mallory backs away a little bit as Zodiez begins to look really steamed.
:Mallory: Alright, uhh, he has a point.
:Zodiez: Never before have I seen such a pathetic, worthless scumbag in my life. You lack dignity and honor, Silver, and that's going to be enough to make me throw you into the cold, cold reaches of space.
Silver closes his eyes, embracing the worst, but suddenly he feels something warm around him. He feels Valerie hug him from behind, hugging him as tightly as she could.
:Valerie: Here's how this is going to work out, Zodiez. I'm going to buy him from you. How much can I pay to take him out of your hands, completely free of your shenanigans?
:Zodiez: I'm going to request two hundred million ValCoins if you're going to buy him from me, Valerie. Stars don't come cheap-
Valerie opens up her laptop, scanning a card before giving it to Zodiez.
:Zodiez: WHAT?
:Valerie: That's a ridiculous amount of money you're requesting from me, Zodiez.
Valerie smiles, taking Silver into her arms.
:Valerie: Aaaaaaaand he's mine now.
:Silver: Thank you Valerie, how can I ever-
:Valerie: Hold up one sec!
Valerie tears off Silver's mercenary suit, slapping a pair of crimson robes on his body.
:Scotch: But, Mallory's still...
:Mallory: I'm still going to go for Silver, just so it's clear between everybody, and you better keep a good eye on him. Scotch, actually do your job and try and stop me with your soldiers. Zodiez, go wander off and die. Thanks.
:Syinara: Hey Val, I'm gonna take him home and braid his hair, do you mind, Pierce?
:Pierce: I'm going to come with you. We need to find a new place for Silver to stay, anyway, so he's not just cramped in a hotel room.
:Zodiez: I-I refuse to accept this! Nature Warrior! Take him down!
The Nature Warrior shakes her head.
:Nature Warrior: I've been observing the whole time, and I think I've come to the conclusion that Silver's fine and you're just crazy. I'll fight you, if you want.
:Zodiez: Then I'm going to take him down myself!
Zodiez leaps from her throne, the ground crumbling under Zodiez's weight as she faces Silver. Huge inky tentacles spout up from the ground, surrounding herself and Silver alone inside a huge black bubble. Silver looks around this claustrophobic black landscape, before focusing his attention on Zodiez.
:Zodiez: I won't have you humiliate me further than you already have! I'LL CRUSH YOU!
Zodiez forms a narwhal-like horn on her head, drilling in Silver's direction.
:Silver: I'll teach you to never mess with me again!
::
::
Silver washes out her battlefield in pastel white, wrapping up Mallory in mummy-like bondage and pulling her down to the floor. Silver will dash through her over and over again, covering her in streaks of crimson before doing a final cut, with every single gnash exploding to damage her internally.
:Silver: It's over.
:Zodiez: No, why.
Silver stamps his foot through her chest, possibly killing her.
:Minute: U-ummm...
Everyone turns around. Oh yeah, Minute.
:Minute: Just gotta turn back t-time here, and...
Silver knocks him away with his Mind Weaver, sending him straight to the wall and knocking him unconscious.
:Valerie: Holy crap, did you kill Zodiez?
:Zodiez: No, I think you've all forgotten how sturdy I am.
Zodiez remolds herself, slowly because she really was hurting. Zodiez's heart is shown having moved its position in her inky body, the inky dome around Silver collapsing as she struggles to get up. She gasps vilely, trying to climb back onto her throne.
:Zodiez: N-Never again. Silver, before I do anything further to kill you, I'm going to ask you to leave this room. You're done with mercenary work, as far as I'm concerned. Valerie has you now.
:Silver: I want you to apologize for being such a rude, disgusting, vulgar waste of a person.
:Zodiez: No. Go away, I promise I won't have anything to do with you no more.
Silver nods, turning away.
:Silver: Yeah, I'm pretty done myself. I hope I can trust that you'll pull yourself together and learn your lesson. Good goodbye.
:Zodiez: Bye.
Silver leaves the room with everyone else in tow.
:Zodiez: By the way, you're off your one-year contract. Do whatever you want.
:Silver: Thank you.
Silver exits when Scotch storms up to him, looking angry.
:Scotch: What the hell is wrong with you, Silver? You knocked Minute to the wall like he was a ragdoll, and you've betrayed the mission you were supposed to be doing!
:Silver: That's none of my concern anymore. I'm a rebel now. [smiles] I appreciate that you tried to help me in this particular situation, but if you're going to trouble me like how she's troubled me, goodbye to you too.
:Scotch: Rebel?
:Silver: Yeah, you heard me! I'm done with you! Goodbye!
:Scotch: No wait, come back here! [slows down] Come back...@
Silver pulls Valerie and Syi ahead with him, with Pierce running to catch up to them. Devina sighs, shaking her head as she takes herself to the Moore Lounge with a tired-looking Nature Warrior. Mallory and Ms. Replicate walk out together, leaning back against a wall together.
:Mallory: So, you ready to go?
:Ms. Replicate: Oh yeah, I've gotten to record the whole incident so I can remember this moment permanently. Not because I'm a freak or anything, it'd just be nice to keep it documented.
:Mallory: Wonderful. Once we got this collar thing taken care of though, we're going right back to being separated and doing our own thing.
Mallory grins.
:Mallory: Then, when the system sleeps in total darkness, I'm gonna find Silver and bring him down. Getting him to quit the mercenary crap was a good start, because now I don't have to worry about him looking for me too.
:Ms. Replicate: And I'm gonna try and continue my plans, in what ways I can. Good luck, Mal.
:Mallory: You too, Repli.
The two villains hold hands, wrinkled hands in wrinkled hands, walking off.
:Zodiez: What've I done...
The Devil's Mask giggles, fleeing away from Zodiez and leaving her alone with her conked-out husband and the bleeding and unconscious but still alive Minute.
:Zodiez: The whole satellite is in more danger than ever.
:Minute: No shit, Sherlock.
:8:30 P.M. · THURSDAY May 12th, ZXE-220
:Valco Vortex, New Naxaz City
Silver was relaxing at Valerie's home with her, Syinara, and Pierce.
:Silver: Heh, I can already feel all that tension beginning to drain out.
:Syinara: That's good Silver, I'm really glad we were able to help you come to your senses and break out of that mercenary scam that Zodiez set you up with. [braids his hair] Now you're in the right hands!
:Valerie: Silver, I know this is going to be all too soon, but I was wondering if you'd like to consider me your sister? I know that you don't really have any family besides Mallory, and she doesn't even want to be family. [sighs] I know this is a strange thing to ask, but I used to have a brother and I don't even know who he is.
:Silver: Yeah why not, I think it'd be cool to have somebody on that kind of level with me. Somebody I can pop open bottles with, somebody I can walk around with.
Silver smiles, keeping an arm around his tense-looking boyfriend.
:Silver: Somebody that I can raid stores with.
:Valerie: Hold up, you want to raid stores?
:Silver: Do you got a problem with that, pussycat?
:Valerie: Oh no actually, I'll be able to help you out with that. [giggles] Admittedly my reputation isn't so clean either, but few know. I'm telling you 'cuz you're my bro!
:Syinara: And neither of you two have a mom that cares.
Both Silver and Valerie laugh as a bit as they clink light champagne bottles together.
:Pierce: I'm just glad in any case that we're going to help Silver find a new home, I've already rented Silver a new home in the Stenographer Garden down in Naxaz using all of Black Haze's earnings.
:Valerie: You WHAT!?
:Pierce: The whole band got kinda pissed off at me for using their earnings like that, but they became chill with it when they realized that we weren't getting anywhere with that Death Plain tape or whatever.
:Silver: Aww, Piercy, you're so generous.
:Pierce: Just for you dear.
:Valerie: You two are so gay.
:Silver: Hey, I have alright taste in women too.
:Valerie: Like...?
:Silver: Just your usual women, I think Replicate's kinda h-
:Valerie: Alright, stop right there.
Silver snickers to himself, wrapping an arm around Pierce as they take the time tonight to relax.
:Syinara: You're free to do anything you want to Silver, as long as it doesn't invade my privacy or Valerie's or really anyone else's for that matter. It's gonna be tricky helping you move in, so you're free to spend as long as you need to in this tower! We just expect you to do your part every now and then.
:Silver: Just like, simple chores and stuff?
:Syinara: Yeah, just dishes and cleaning. No way you're going to return to your life of being Zodiez's entertainer.
:Silver: I'd rather die than do that again. [leans back] Man, I'm really looking forward to what the future's got in store, right? I'm gonna drink less, I'm gonna be my own, I'm gonna finally stop being a useless virgin.
:Valerie: You're welcome, Silv.
:Silver: Oh, right, thank you Valerie! [hugs her] I really wish I had family like you, you saved me from doom right there.
:Valerie: Heh, it was no issue. I've lost a lot of money taking you for my own, but Zodiez at least obliged.
Silver grins.
:Silver: The mercenary days are over! Enter: the rebel! Silver the Rebel! No more Mr. Nice Guy!
Silver pulls his arms around Pierce, kissing him as Valerie and Syinara giggle. You can hear Valerie go "so you two wanna play a less creepy version of Spin the Bottle?" as the camera view goes out of Valerie's window, turning to three spirits. Yes, those three. Hello.
:The Manipulator: The rebel, the rebel is real!
===Interlude: Facelift===
Two months would pass since Silver Zin's decision to quit his mercenary role and begin living the life of an average citizen. Well, at least as average as it could possibly get.
Deciding to take a whole 180 with his lifestyle, Silver goes from being Kýrios' trusted mercenary (and Zodiez's circus act) to becoming a rebel of the system. No longer interested in doing what's right according to the satellite's rulers, Silver now takes actions to plunder the rich, hang out with the controversial folks, and actively protest the lord's orders if he feels threatened by them. Though he sometimes continues to fight for sport, Silver no longer instigates fights or tries to get involved with them, preferring to instead jaunt and jeer at people he doesn't like. He's been using his status as an attractive man to try and get something out of life (and is miserably failing to do so), but thankfully he's slowed down with his alcohol abuse, with the new collar developed by Ms. Replicate and Mallory having helped him stay mostly sober. Silver's new motto is "all judgments reserved 'till we meet"; if you've wronged Silver you will become a target of his street pranks, but if you're good friends with Silver, he'll chill out with you while smoking and reading some astronomy books.
:Silver: Welcome to the jungle baby, we've got fun and games!
Silver's changed considerably as a person since he resigned as a mercenary. Though he remains an amnesiac that still has very little clue about the life he used to lead in his youth, he's become a rebellious and mischievous boy that's willing to do whatever it takes to please himself and his friends. Silver despises violence and will not commit to it under most circumstances, only acting it out if he believes his friends are getting hurt by someone else. He's also become way more experimental and curious about the environment around him, willingly dressing up and taking up new aliases not just to challenge other people's perceptions of him but also to see what'd make him feel the most like himself. With all the looting and thieving Silver's been doing, sometimes he gets thrown into prison, but he never lasts in there long because he just annoys the Nature Warrior enough until she lets him leave. Silver does still deal with some issues though; he now deals with existential crises and he sells so much of himself off to others now that he feels like he's destroying his own privacy. He now deals with alcohol withdrawal, which sometimes makes him try to destroy his collar. Eventually, he found a place to live:
:Silver: Kinda dirty down here, hehe.
:Pierce: Oh we just gotta clean it up a little, that's all. Less expensive than living directly on the streets.
:Silver: Fair enough.
Silver now lives in New Naxaz City's acclaimed landmark, the Stenographer Garden, with Silver living inside a cavern underneath one of its many wells (#66). This home was gifted to him by Pierce, who spent Black Haze's earnings on the place. He's already managed to deck it out with lots of posters sponsoring numerous 70's/80's/90's rock bands, and he has several bookshelves dedicated to crappy romance novels, astronomy books, and whatever books he can steal from Mallory's old hideout before getting chased away by its new owner. Unlike before, Silver is now more in line with everyone else aboard the satellite, communicating with his friends through Risquord and having consistent access to the Zax-Net. He also operates a liquor store in southern Naxaz and makes a decent amount of legitimate money there; though Silver likes to plunder most places, he's still gotta pay his rent and he likes to use his well-earned ValCoins to pay people he actually likes. Silver's taken up interests in stargazing, playing the grand piano, and looking for the spiciest food across the whole satellite. Pierce lives with him, but continues to use his motel room as a storage space.
:Scotch: We can't let them get away with what they're doing. 
Since the day Silver left the authorities in search of a more appealing and rewarding lifestyle, they've been trying to get a better grip on themselves so they can focus more on protecting the satellite's people and getting rid of those who're just on the satellite to cause harm. After much consideration about the ways she behaved towards Silver and everyone else earlier in the year, Zodiez decided to make a lot of decisions that would improve the satellite for the better. She'd give more funding to police forces across the satellite's sectors, build an indoors army for Scotch to dispose of internal threats, and close herself off to solicitors and those who wish to make business with her, not wanting to repeat what happened before. Though Zodiez continued to hold a grudge against Silver for the events of that day, she dropped her xenophobic attitude and decided to focus on trying to make the satellite a better place for everyone. Though Scotch would also reconsider how he's acted towards Silver, he's built a new grudge against him because he's not a fan whatsoever of the new direction he's taken with his life and now Silver just acts like an asshole to him.
:Valerie: Hey Syi, you ready for our weekly Sunday visit to Silver's?
:Syinara: Sure.
With a lack of immediate threats on the horizon and with the authorities' improved attitude, the satellite's citizens couldn't be getting along any better. Valerie's been doing a substantial amount of work in helping the authorities carry out new plans that she knows or feels would benefit the satellite's people, and has worked considerably on improving the satellite's defenses and its partnerships with other space stations in the Zaxina system. Azrail and Penny are currently engaged in a relationship together, and have sworn that even if they broke up that they'd continue using their combined knowledge to help the satellite's people. Crymsia (as the Nature Warrior) and Zonas may not be in a relationship, but they're taking out plenty of crime together and light up the mood at night. Pierce would head off to Matchon in Sector 3 to resume his old career as the owner of an adult convenience store to restore Black Haze's funds; they're currently recording a new album and perform every week in New Naxaz City to bring hype for their new album. With extra money given to her by Valerie, Oyster's been able to bring the Moore Lounge back in business and give it a much-needed overhaul.
:Mallory: Don't think I'll hesitate because I've been a little nicer to you, Silver Zin!
Mallory Zin continues to seek what she believes to be hers: her brother, and she continues to desire to kill him out of revenge even beyond all the steps she's taken to defend him a few months back. She could have very easily brought down Silver there and then, but she doesn't believe in cheap shots and clearly had bigger fish to fry in the moment. She's sitting with Cody, Mania, Beck, Niki, Ferris, the Methademic, and the Violet Reaper down on her couch, her arms around them all like they were her only real family left. Mania was holding a real-time map of where the remaining zodiac stones were on the satellite, Beck was writing down a to-kill list, Niki was hugging Mallory around the waist, Ferris was assembling a bomb, the Methademic was snorting meth while the Violet Reaper participated, and Cody was writing out the next draft of the Mallorian Bible. Though Mallorism had a slow start, it's getting a lot more publicity because Mallory's beliefs are getting a lot of attention and now there's a divide across the satellite wondering whether she's actually evil or not. Just what she wanted; perception challenge.
:Silver: Hello, is anyone there?
:Ms. Replicate: Hey Silver, I was wondering if you'd like to hang out with me a little today?
:Silver: Sure!
When you see Silver and Ms. Replicate begin bonding together like that, you know you're in for a really exciting second phase that defies everything you knew about the characters in the first phase. Say goodbye to Mercenary Silver, and say hello to Rebel Silver! The question is, how's Silver going to cope with all these new changes? And better yet, what's going to come out of his rivalry with Mallory?
===Phase Two: The Rebel - Prequel===
====Prologue====
:5:30 A.M. · THURSDAY July 14th, ZXE-220
:Amour Clinic, Sector 5
Spade Amour was again sitting at her desk in the Amour Clinic, busy writing away inside the pages of a black hardcover book. Now sitting before her was a twitchy, on-edge Clair Voyell, who was having staying still as Spade wrote away in her little book. Spade eventually raises her head up from her work, her eyes level with hers.
:Spade: And you're here, because...
:Clair: I've had a nightmarish vision lately, Spade, and I really hope I'm not going to be too much of a bother by talking about what I've been seeing. I know you don't believe fortune telling and all that, but do you mind if I talk a bit?
:Spade: Darling, I may not believe in fortune telling, but I believe everything you think about is worth talking about.
:Clair: Even my feelings for someone else? I mean, that's not what I'm here for, bu-
:Spade: Yes. Now, let's stop stalling and begin taking deep breaths.
Clair takes deep breaths, relaxing slowly as Spade keeps a close eye on her. Spade slid Clair's ID tag back to her as she did so.
:Clair: Alright, so I've been envisioning a sudden attack on the Day of Remembrance Parade. Y'know that event, right? It's supposed to take place three and a half hours from now.
:Spade: Mhm, I do remember. [sighs] My son was a soldier, and he died. Enough about him though, continue.
:Clair: According to my visions, Kýrios will be in grave danger as soon as he attempts to arrive at the parade for its climatic event. When I discovered this information, however, I panicked so hard that I fogged up some of the vital details. I don't know who or what will bring him down, or the immediate aftermath, but it's concerning.
:Spade: Tch, you could have done without the worrying, maybe I would have a solid reason to worry about what's going to happen later on today then. It's alright, though, I'd be worried sick too if I believed in your bullcrap.
Clair sighs as she leans back in her seat. Spade slides a chocolate bar across the table.
:Spade: Cheer up. I have the feeling you're thinking of Mallory, anyway. Wouldn't surprise me.
:Clair: What makes you say that?
:Spade: Who else would want to deliberately attack the parade? I'd be really surprised if it wasn't Mallory.
Clair nods as she unwraps the chocolate bar, taking a big bite out of it.
:Spade: You still look concerned, so I will contact the authorities over this, but you really have nothing to worry about. [keeps writing] She doesn't really seem like she really wants to take a big bite out of us, nor does anyone else as far as I can tell.
:Clair: I appreciate that you're still going to help me, but I think my reasons for worrying are well-founded. [sighs] I've been a fortune teller for as long as I can remember.
:Spade: I have to close my office in the next thirty or so minutes so I can watch the parade for myself, so let's not spend too much time squabbling over this.
:Clair: Okay, fine.
Spade finishes writing in the hardcover book, placing it to the side as she keeps her eyes locked on Clair's.
:Spade: Look, maybe I'm being ignorant and foolish, so I'll look into what you're saying. We don't live in a time where we can be so doubtful and untrusting of anything we're told anymore. If you think we're in danger, we're in danger. Right?
:Clair: That's always the first thing my Mom told me about psychics. If we sense danger will happen, it will happen, but we'll only know what the danger will be if we concentrate on it.
Spade looks down at her desk.
:Spade: Then I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to call up the authorities once you're excused, I'm going to tell them to keep their eyes on the parade, and rig Kýrios' vehicle with something that'll prove helpful.
:Clair: What would that be?
:Spade: I don't want to say too much. [closes her eyes] It's gotta be a secret, or your vision may be interfered with. But if there's no danger, well, there'll be no danger, but I'll feel pretty crappy about bothering the authorities over it.
:Clair: I understand. Thank you for helping me, Spade.
:Spade: Sorry for being difficult on you, I'm a boomer and I'm still trying to get used to all these fancy words and actions and gizmos and whatever. [pats her shoulder] I'll see you around, alright?
:Clair: Alright, see you later.
Clair leaves Spade's office, leaving her there. Spade sighs as she dials up Hunjan's number again, lifting her phone to her ear. She turns around, making sure she's alone. However, he doesn't return the call.
:Automated Voice: Please leave a message after the beep!
A very crappy-sounding .wav file of an anime girl squealing plays and hits Spade right in the ear, grating her eardrum and making her hold the phone a considerable distance away from herself until it stops. She then sticks the phone back to her ear, looking mildly annoyed.
:Spade: Hey Hunjan, it's your problematic fave again. Thanks once again for having the worst "leave-a-message" beep on the damned satellite. Anyway, I've had a patient called Clair Voyell come up to me at around 5:30am today talk to me about her vision of the Day of Remembrance Parade getting sabotage. I want you to keep a good eye on the parade as it's going on and look for anything suspicious, and talk to Penny about incorporating the "secret switch". Yeah, we've finally come to a point in time where we might actually need it. Thanks, asshole, and if you don't change your phone beep I'm going to strangle your neck with my old lady fingers. Bye bye.
Spade hangs up the phone. She turns around to face her window. The strange vision she saw of Mallory months ago didn't show up there this time, but someone else did this time.
:Spade: Hey, can you at least be courteous enough to go through the front door rather than hang at my window? I've got a really important two-hour nap to take.
Spade turns on the lights in her office, exposing Silver's freezing and shivering body. His cold fingers pressed up against the glass.
:Silver: Do you mind letting me in there? It's freaking freezing!
:Spade: Damn it, Silver. [walks over] Alright, you might as well drop in.
Spade pushes Silver inside her office. As you can clearly see now, Silver's wearing his standard Phase 2 clothes, with any and all traces of him being a mercenary completely gone. He looked like a mischievous little runt now, except he stood at six-foot-four and looked decently powerful.
:Spade: What in the name of Kýrios do you want from me at this hour, on this holiday, and at this part of the satellite, Silver?
:Silver: Hello there, Ms. Therapy, I was wondering if it'd be too late to check in? I've got a case of the blues, y'know, as opposed to the pinks. I'd like there to be a balance and all that jazz.
:Spade: You really couldn't have gone through the front door and make an inquiry, Silver?
:Silver: Uhhh. [shrugs] Meow?
Spade facepalms herself, sighing as she shook her head.
:Spade: No, I am absolutely not talking to you right now, Silver. I need to go to sleep right now or I'm gonna oversleep and miss the day of Remembrance Parade. [walks past him] Go back home!
:Silver: Y'know, I could help you with your sleep schedule if you didn't repel me like I was the devil or whatever.
:Spade: How do you plan on helping me, you dirty little freak?
Silver grins at the screen, winking at the player. In the immediate next screen, Spade is shown back at her desk, with Silver standing up to his maximum height as he gives Spade a shoulder massage from behind.
:Spade: Really appreciate the generosity, Silver. Kinda needed that for some time now, but my husband's a monster.
:Silver: Heh, no prob Spade, sleep's just a concept to me so I don't mind helping out.
:Spade: So what're you worried about then, Silver? [lulls her eyes] Be quick or I'm gonna change my mind on ya.
:Silver: I'm kinda worried about a letter I've gotten this mornin'?
Silver drags a letter out from behind his back, placing it right before Spade's eyes as he digs his left hand's fingers into Spade's left shoulder. She grabs it, looking at it curiously as she smokes on a cigarette.
:Silver: Have you ever been sent random unsigned threatening letters in the mail before?
:Spade: Well, once I made the mistake of calling Valerie a bit overweight on social media, so yeah. [rolls her eyes] They were right to criticize me because it's not my place to judge people over weight, but that response was real extreme. Woof. Anyway let's look at this.
Spade overlooks the letter.
:Familiar Voice: You have mere hours to turn yourself over to me, as you should have done months ago. You have mere hours to recognize everything you've done to me as wrong. If you choose to screw with me again, I am going to destroy everything you've come to know and love. I'm not joking; you make amends with me or I'm going to do some serious damage.
:Silver: Looks like a fun matter to deal with, huh?
:9:33 A.M. · THURSDAY July 14th, ZXE-220
:Day of Remembrance Parade, New Naxaz City
Every July 14th, running from 9AM to 11AM, was the Day of Remembrance parade. It's a parade dedicated to the memories of the soldiers who died protecting Satellite 15 from outsider threats, with thousands of slow-moving space pods hovering through main street throwing candy at children and adults alike while playing military music with strings and making gunshot noises every once in a while. Pierce and the Nature Warrior were sitting down at a table, enjoying themselves at the parade as they sipped some really strong tea.
:Pierce: Keep your eyes out for danger today, Nature Warrior, but I think Clair's brain's screwed a bit loose. She really believes that her silly crystal ball's capable of predicting whatever's gonna go down today.
:Nature Warrior: You never know, Pierce, with all the random crap we're managing to come up with by the day, I wouldn't be surprised if the crystal ball was telling the truth. [looks at him] You're gonna apologize to her for being rude if her prediction's correct?
:Pierce: Yeahh. I probably should apologize either way, really, I was just having a bit of fun with her. [leans back] Still not sure about the accuracy of the crystal ball, but I don't think today's gonna be great myself.
Pierce and the Nature Warrior sit around idly for a bit. Even if there was immediate danger afoot, neither of them would know, because of all the parade-related explosions and flashing confetti going on. It was too bright to see most things besides the parade, anyway.
:Pierce: These parades and marches really mess with my senses. So bright, so loud.
:Nature Warrior: Yeah, I see what you mean now. How are we supposed to watch for anything bad happening when the parade's this flashy and loud? Christ.
:Pierce: Christ?
:Nature Warrior: I think that's just a new synonym for crap.
Suddenly, they're joined by Clair, who had turned her hearing aids way down before reaching their table. She unwrapped her big burger and took a huge bite out of it, sighing.
:Clair: Did anything bad happen yet?
:Pierce: Nah, not really. Sorry for making fun of you, by the way, I should have a bit more faith in my friends.
:Clair: What did you say? [turns her hearing aids up] Sorry, it's REALLY hard to hear you over all this noise.
:Pierce: I said no, not really, and that I was sorry for making fun of you.
Clair smiles, sitting a bit closer to Pierce as she took another huge bite of her burger. She cut off a chunk, giving it to Pierce as she placed an arm around him.
:Clair: For that bit of forgiveness I'm giving you a piece of this burger, it's way too big for me to eat on my own.
:Nature Warrior: You're not offering me any of that beef?
:Clair: Uhh, no, I can eat the rest of it.
The Nature Warrior grumbled as they heard the intercom switch on from overhead. Everyone looked up.
:Valerie: Thank you for waiting for the king to make his appearance! If you wait just eight more minutes, he'll appear and provide us all with an inspiring and powerful speech!
:Clair: Mmm. [takes a deep breath] Crap.
:Pierce: Yeah, this is the part you said where things are gonna mess up, right?
Clair nods.
:Clair: Pretty much, yeah. Just keep an eye out.
From up high, three pairs of eyes watched them. One held a missile launcher, a wide smile stretching across their blackened face.
:Clair: We don't know if there's gonna be any fallout, and if there's any to face, we need to be ready for it. I mean, I know there's going to be some fallout, but I'm just hoping for some reason that my prediction is wrong.
:Pierce: According to what Valerie told me, she told me that the king was gonna be perfectly fine because they've done a whole city scan this morning and found no immediate danger. I sure hope she's right. Then again, she told me that she didn't know the specifics, and that only Hunjan did.
:Nature Warrior: Yeah, let's not get too worried.
Clair nods, responding by biting into her burger again and stretching a huge chunk of it into her mouth. The Nature Warrior looked really twitchy for a moment, as if trying to restrain herself from stealing the burger.
:Nature Warrior: You sure you can eat all of that?
:Clair: Burgers are real expensive around these parts, you go get your own, silly!
The Nature Warrior looks really pissed off with that comment, but sighs and walks off. Within a few minutes, she came walking back with a HUGE burger- one that was triple the size of Clair's.
:Clair: That's had to cost you-
:Nature Warrior: Shut up, I'm not willing to think about how much I paid for a burger of this size.
The Nature Warrior snaps the burger in half with just one bite, chewing through the thick meat easily. Pierce and Clair just awkwardly stare at her.
:Nature Warrior: Stop staring at me, it's distracting!
:Pierce: Oh hey, I think I can see Kýrios' vehicle out in the distance.
All three turn themselves around to see a huge golden-black space chariot vehicle fly its way inside New Naxaz City, with Kýrios leaning in the back seat as some of his lookalike children are packed inside the vehicle with him. The sinister grin we saw earlier only widens.
:Nature Warrior: Hail to the king!
:Pierce: Hail to the king!
:Clair: Hail to the kiiiiiiiing, hail to the ooooooooooone!
Pierce and the Nature Warrior turn around to give her awkward stares.
:Clair: Look, I know heavy metal references are getting pretty cliché, I'll stop with them.
:Pierce: Thank god.
Suddenly, a huge booming noise could be heard, with Kýrios' chariot blowing to smithereens almost immediately afterward. No debris could be seen falling after the explosion; it was completely demolished. In equally sudden response, a booming intercom turns on somewhere from up high in New Naxaz City.
:Pierce: What? What the hell just happened?
:Valerie: This is breaking news! It appears that Kýrios' personal vehicle was shot down at a high altitude above New Naxaz City this morning by a sleeper cell of rogue terrorists firing a stinger missile!
:Clair: Oh no.
Citizens immediately began panicking, looking terrified as they tried to figure out what to do in the middle of this sudden chaos. Pierce, Clair, and the Nature Warrior look up, seeing the three silhouettes- one had a missile launcher that's smoking out from the business end.
:Pierce: You monsters!
:Valerie: The pilot and all passengers are unaccounted for, the lord's whereabouts are presently unknown and he is presumed missing or dead. Our queen, her secretary, and the admirals of the Vinegar Base will soon assemble, please seek immediate shelter while we tune our defenses to a high and dangerous level!
Valerie immediately shuts off the satellite's intercom as a long series of organic-melting lasers surround the outside of the metropolis, starting to close their way in as citizens rush in a panic to make it to public shelters. The Nature Warrior leaps from the twink's table and makes a landing on the building the villains are standing on, swallowing down the rest of her burger.
:Nature Warrior: Mallory! What's the deal with you this time, purple brat?
:Clair: Oh no, I knew something terrible was going to happen!
:Pierce: Let's go, we don't have much time!
Clair nods, both of them taking a space pod to a shelter.
:Mallory: Listen to me, little girl, it's about time I ran a little rebellion to achieve exactly what I want. [grips her neck] With my naive little brother finally off the front lines and with the satellite still refusing to give me what I want, don't you think it's time I stopped being nice?
:Nature Warrior: Way to permanently ruin any chance of your slate getting cleared, you rancid piece of crap! [squirms] Let me go, or I'm gonna really cut you into itty bitty bite-sized pieces!
:Mallory: You want to hand my brother over, then?
Mallory pins the Nature Warrior to the wall, forcing her body up against it. The Nature Warrior grits her teeth and attempts to fight back, but it wasn't of any use considering her surprising physical strength.
:Mallory: I don't understand why you haven't yet, considering how horribly you authority freaks treat him anyway.
:Nature Warrior: I ain't handing over anybody, not even that rotten little twink! He's been a good boy lately, so why don't you go leave and fudge off somewhere else rather than try to do this crap again?
:Mallory: I'm gonna let you go, but only because we're going to both get incinerated if we just keep standing here. But your king is dead! I'm going to take that damn throne for myself sometime soon, you know, there's nothing you can do to prove who did this little surprise attack!
:Nature Warrior: We'll see about that little bold claim of yours, Mallory.
Mallory drops the Nature Warrior, kicking her to the floor as she and her assistants warp off. The lasers come to surround the Nature Warrior, trapping her in a deadly situation.
:Nature Warrior: Crap.
The Nature Warrior closes her eyes, ready to embrace death head-on. However, right when she can begin the lasers getting real close to her, she begins to feel lightless and wind sheer race off her body. When she opens her eyes, she sees Silver carrying her and jumping off the building with her body in his grip.
:Nature Warrior: Where did you--? How did you--?
:Silver: It's nothing really, just takes a bit of satellite security sabotage to save the day!
Silver grins as he lands safely with the Nature Warrior. When she looks up, she sees that all the lasers were disabled- not just disabled, but straight-up broken.
:Nature Warrior: What the hell, Silver? How are we going to capture those bastards now?
:Silver: You wanted to die back there, hun?
:Nature Warrior: Maybe I would have rather died than forfeit the security of everyone else!
:Silver: Don't be ridiculous like that, honey smacks, nobody really deserves to die.
The Nature Warrior grumbles as she shackles Silver's wrists, much to his shock.
:Silver: I just saved your skin, miss!
:Nature Warrior: Let's go to prison for a little talk, Silver Zin. I think I can convince the guards to let you stay in there for a long while until we figure out how to make you pay back for the damages you've done.
:Silver: You speak utter nonsense! Is this how you people are still willing to treat I, Silver Zin, after just barely managing to save your skins?
She doesn't answer that question, dragging him with her to the nearest New Naxaz City prison. The parade was pretty much finished, with all the parade carts having disappeared as New Naxaz City suddenly went from being a roaring beast to a sleeping giant.
:Silver: This is stupid! Ah, I guess I understand.
:11:00 A.M. · THURSDAY July 14th, ZXE-220
:Kýrios' Throne Room, Admin Sector
Back at Kýrios' Throne Room, a really worried and shaken Zodiez was sitting twiddling her thumbs, taking deep breaths as she faced Valerie Heartgold, General Scotch, Zonas B. Trayd, Mayxine Kinney, and a really grumpy-looking Nature Warrior.
:Zodiez: That parade was a critical disaster. [lowers her head] My husband, gone from the face of this satellite. That parade? Too loud, too flashy. New Naxaz City? Now an open zone for criminal activity. Who's responsible for all of this?
:Nature Warrior: It's Mallory. I can tell you that straight-up.
:Zodiez: What proof do you have of the culprit being Mallory, miss?
:Nature Warrior: You really wanna call me a liar?
:Scotch: Yeah, why wouldn't it be Mallory? She's got a bad reputation already, she's done a lot of really horrible things aboard the satellite, and she keeps looking for her brother and turning the satellite upside down as she does. Though, I'm starting to think we should just hand him over just to get this over with.
:Zonas: We're not going to comply with anything Mallory desires from us just because she's gonna keep doing awful crap to us. We have to keep figuring out how we're gonna capture her instead.
:Zodiez: Excuse me, but why are you here, Zonas? You're not the chief of police.
:Scotch: He's not, but I specially invited him here because he knows a fair bit about Silver and Mallory at this point from having had to chase them around so much. Forgive me.
Zodiez rolls her eyes, but you couldn't really see it behind her mask. She sighs as she looks at the people she's invited into the room, covering her face with her hand.
:Mayxine: Miss, I have a suggestion.
:Zodiez: Yes, my little secretary?
:Mayxine: We should ask the Electric Eye if he knows anything about Kýrios being alive or not. He does keep his computer eyes all over the satellite, right? Wouldn't he have seen the event for himself?
Zodiez sighs.
:Zodiez: I already asked him. He for some reason giggled while I was talking to him about the incident, but he said he couldn't confirm nor disprove Kýrios' death.
:Scotch: That blows, that means we gained absolutely nothing from that sudden parade disaster. Great!
Scotch passive-aggressively smiles, a forced grin stretching across his tired cheeks.
:Valerie: Luckily, roughly 99.97% of the people in New Naxaz City were able to escape unscathed by any threats or by the laser system. Any of the casualties would have been in the chariot explosion.
:Zodiez: Thanks for reminding me again that Kýrios died!
:Valerie: I'm just telling you facts, miss.
Valerie hics as she leans on Scotch. Scotch let her, using his bare hand to crush the zinfandel bottle hanging loosely in her hand.
:Nature Warrior: Anyway, let's get down to the real question here. Why wouldn't it be Mallory, Zodiez?
:Zodiez: We have no proof and we can't do crap about her because we have no proof. If we make false accusations against her, she might take actions against us that we wouldn't like!
:Mallory: Too late!
Mallory laughs as she steps into Kýrios' Throne Room, much to the disgust of everyone else. She lacks armor, she lacks weapons, her hands look clean, she wore absolutely nothing but two towels around her tall body.
:Mallory: So, Kýrios is dead now, right?
:Scotch: Because you shot him down with that stinger missile, Mallory!
:Mallory: Oh that's nonsense, you don't have any proof of that! [giggles] I know how quickly you all want to kill me off, but there's no footage of me doing any bad crap!
:Nature Warrior: Because you hid out of the sights of the Electric Eye's cameras, Mallory.
:Mallory: There's no way you're all going to be able to spy on every single inch of the satellite without making everyone else uncomfortable, so you might as well stop trying to fortify the satellite's defenses before you go broke on defenses that haven't brought any of your enemies down!
Mallory cackles, placing an arm around Scotch. Scotch looked enraged at this and attempted to squirm out of her grip, but gave up trying when Mallory made it clear she wasn't going to move her arm off of him.
:Mallory: Besides, I didn't come here to do any real damage! I was thinking about making a proposition instead, there's no point getting all violent and all that over things you can't even prove!
:Nature Warrior: Don't listen to her, Zodiez! Kill her!
:Zodiez: ...No. I learned my lesson with Silver, I'm not going to hurt her or kill her off just because she's different from us.
:Nature Warrior: What!? Have you gone mad, Zodiez? Silver and Mallory are completely different orde-
Mallory claps her hands together, returning all the attention back to her in an instant.
:Mallory: You know what, I was just thinking about how ineffective Kýrios really was as a king, and how ineffective you are at resolving crises. [smirks] So I was thinking that, with Kýrios now out of the way, I was thinking about taking Kýrios' place? You gotta go through some Olympic crap and all that, right?
Valerie and Zonas felt pits in their stomachs upon Mallory saying that. This strange person as a lord for the satellite? She must be joking.
:Mallory: Come on, let me run.
:Valerie: You can't accept this, Zodiez, can you imagine how many lives could be at stake if you do this?
:Scotch: Let's say this terrorist won the S15 Olympics. She'd be the queen! And there's nothing we can do about her after that, because we can't trust her to not start using her new role as satellite lord to her advantage!
:Zodiez: Mmm.
Zodiez sighs. Thank god, the Nature Warrior thought. She's giving it thought.
:Zodiez: You can run, Mallory.
WHAT!? Everyone else looked baffled at Zodiez's decision, even Mallory, who looked as if she didn't believe her stupid plan would actually work out in her favor.
:Mallory: Thank you! I'll set up my campaign crap and all that back home, do some more research, then challenge whoever runs for satellite lord. Not that I expect to have much competition. You know how many people love me?
:Nature Warrior: Literally nobody loves you, Mallory. You're going to lose.
:Mallory: I think there's a certain group of three hundred thousand people who'd like to disagree with you, to them, it would be an honor if their goddess became the satellite's lord! ...Or lady? Would it be lady?
:Scotch: Come on Zodiez, do you know how much damage she's capable of doing?
:Zodiez: It's not like Silver was a bad person in the end. I'm giving her a chance, because I'm sure like Silver, Mallory can prove me wrong about her. [smiles] We have to give her a chance.
:Nature Warrior: Silver is in prison for messing with our security systems!
:Mallory: You didn't have to be so generous with me, Zodi, but I strongly appreciate it. [blows a kiss] Looking forward to sharing custody of the throne with you!
Mallory leaves the room, laughing.
:Mallory: By the way, Zodiez, I recommend shielding your eyes.
Mallory does something off-screen, absolutely disgusting Scotch and making the rest look scarred for life.
:Scotch: Euugh! Creep!
:Zonas: I'm gonna need eye bleach after that.
:Nature Warrior: ...So, why do we have winning random Olympic sports as the criteria to becoming the satellite's lord?
:Zodiez: I don't even know at this point.
Zodiez clears her throat.
:Zodiez: All of you, please keep tightening up the satellite's security and keep an eye out for my husband. I refuse to believe he's down, please report him as missing.
:Valerie: Got it. I'm gonna prepare some new security systems for the satellite with help from Penny and Azrail, see ya later.
:Nature Warrior: See you around later, hopefully you're going to be sane the next time we meet.
Zodiez sat down, sighing as the room began to empty out.
:Zodiez: Kýrios...
====Chapter Nine: Sunshine====
:11:00 A.M. · SUNDAY July 17th, ZXE-220
:Heartgold Park, New Naxaz City
Located before the Valco Vortex is a really beautiful, lush city park, complete with marble water fountains and statues of Valerie assuming different poses. A big river runs around the edge of the park, which you can only cross by taking quarter-mile bridges. But the beauty of the park, at least for this morning, is ruined by a plague blanket of purple-robed followers of Mallorism hanging over it, a religion that's been gaining steady popularity over the past few months. Kýrios lost his status as the satellite's lord merely a few days ago, so in search of a new role model, many people turned to Mallory Zin, who appeared to have turned over a new leaf. Or did she? The Leper Messiah walks onto a podium set up at the side of the park that's closer to the Valco Vortex, holding a black bible book under his right sleeve.
:Leper Messiah: My friends, family, and every citizen of Satellite 15. Since the sudden passing of Kýrios a few days ago, everyone's been in a deep panic about the future state of the satellite, and I'm sincerely apologetic that things had to be this way. However, rest assured that we will be making things right again for the satellite soon, as I'm proud that I have a promising solution.
All the Mallorism followers in the audience turned their heads to each other, speaking to each other about this news announcement. The Leper Messiah places his hands in his pockets, looking over his sloppily-written script.
:Leper Messiah: Some of you may be unsure of her capabilities as the satellite's leader, but I think you'll be pleased to know that she's cleared her name and all and. [pausing] Awkwardly enough has Zodiez's trust. Here's Mallory, the God we speak of from our bible! A quick reminder it's available for just a hundred ValCoins at your local market.
The audience claps vigorously as Mallory Zin walks onto the stage, wearing a really tight-looking business uniform, complete with a purple tie. She smiles as she wordlessly invites Mania and Beck to stand at her sides as she takes the mic.
:Mallory: Thank you all for the really enthusiastic response, we really appreciate it! We've been overworking ourselves for the past few days and nights to clear our names, make amends and fulfill every promise we've been laying out to all you lovely followers over the past few months!
:Leper Messiah: We promise that from this point forward, there shall no longer be any prejudice, discrimination, or the like against any satellite citizen. You want your privacy? We'll aim to give it back.
:Mallory: As your God, it is my duty to ensure your protection and your wellbeing, and if I were ever to be promoted to the satellite's ruler I'd start rolling out much-needed changes immediately. No bullcrap!
:Leper Messiah: We desire Satellite 15 to be a safe place for its citizens and residents, and thus that will be our main goal. But we'll also be rewriting the constitution, changing up who's in charge of what, and ensuring the satellite has a happily ever after type of ending. And all we really desire is your trust and honor.
Mallory's followers all nod their heads, like in hivemind synchronization, keeping their eyes directly on her. The Leper Messiah looks a little sweaty, unsure of this plan is actually going to work. He turns to Mallory.
:Leper Messiah: I ran out of lines.
:Mallory: You fool!
:Leper Messiah: Sorry, God, I should have spent a bit more time preparing.
:Mallory: Mm, I'll just take the mic for myself.
Mallory seizes the mic.
:Mallory: We've still got some rough edges to smoothen out before we can do anything, but by the time next week happens, I'll have more crap to say and I'll be partaking in the Electolypmics!
:Leper Messiah: Be sure to subscribe to our ManiaRadio channel on BroodTube and hit the like button on the video if you're watching this live! Don't worry about our videos getting pulled down, COPPA loves us.
:Mallory: Now, while I'm very interested in aiding the satellite's people, I do have a request that I need to bestow upon my followers before we continue. [smirks] Listen up. I promise that as long as Silver Zin is off this satellite, I'll start making it free to attend my church sessions. Find the boy, seize him, then bring him to me. I'll offer him as a sacrifice, to myself?
:Leper Messiah: I'll, uh, willingly sacrifice him to our God because she is so great. And a little hot.
:Mallory: You're embarrassing me, Messiah!
:Leper Messiah: We promised our followers we'd be as honest as possible to them! And I'm just being a little honest...
:Mallory: Uggh. [facepalms] We're live, you idiot. Don't worry my lovely people, it's just Silver's interesting aura cursing the Messiah. This is one of many reasons that boy needs to go.
The audience again nods in agreement. Mallory gives the Messiah a glare as she holds her arm up.
:Mallory: This has been a rather short meeting but, you're all dismissed. If you want, you can stick around and pig out on some cake and ice cream, you can find them on the covers. Share and be nice, please.
Mallory drags the Messiah into a back room, shouting explicatives at him as it's shown Valerie was watching the talk from her bedroom, with Syi plopped up in her lap. Both looked really disgusted with what they just saw.
:Valerie: Good god, if she's actually going to try and run as the satellite's ruler. [grimaces] Syi honey, I've got a job to do. I'm gonna run against this monster and seize the throne for myself!
:Syinara: I like that.
:Valerie: But first, I'm gonna go get really wasted because good god that was awful.
Valerie hits the dislike button on the video before putting her laptop clumsily aside, getting up. Syi keeps her eyes on the video, which is still playing.
:Mallory: And by the way, if you see Valerie Heartgold, tell her she's a cutie and I'd like to talk to her!
:Syinara: ...Welp.
A quick montage plays showing what happens over the rest of the day. Silver is shown still rattling bars in prison while some of the prisoners around him start placing up Mallory-supporting posters on their walls, much to his visible indifference but also hidden infuriation. Followers of Mallorism begin walking all over town, painting their homes or businesses purple and in some cases begin selling items inspired by Mallory, the church, or her announcement speech, and her name goes from being widely detested to being somewhat liked and popular. Some do retain a strong hatred for her, especially those who were attacked or threatened by her, and a lot of street scuffles happened in the afternoon to pass the time. The scene eventually turns to night, showing Silver starting to bend those prison bars.
:3:36 P.M. · MONDAY July 18th, ZXE-220
:Naxaz Prison, New Naxaz City
:Nature Warrior: Stop him! Bring him down!
Silver is shown fleeing down the prison hall, grinning filthily as he escapes the clutches of the guards and the authorities, a rose in his mouth that's clearly been nicked from the Nature Warrior's hair. Plenty of guns open fire on him, but Silver slickly dodges each bullet and takes a missile to ride his way to the other side of the prison. The Nature Warrior remains in hot pursuit, trying to swipe at Silver's back with her Rose Ripper, but it was hardly of any use considering his speed.
:Silver: Come on, can't you run just a little faster?
:Nature Warrior: I'm going to scrape your face against the floor when I'm done with you, Silver!
:Silver: Relax, you're gonna make your deodorant run by packing that much heat.
Enraged, she attempts to bring her Rose Ripper crashing down on Silver, but he dodges to the side, blowing a raspberry at her as he hops to the side again. He chews on the rose in his mouth, prompting her to try and cut his knees off, to no avail as he flips over her.
:Silver: Maybe it was a mistake to do what I did back there, but come on, give it a rest already.
:Nature Warrior: Not when you're being such a persistent asshole, Silver!
:Silver: I like your attitude.
Once again, the Nature Warrior misses her mark, with Silver now located a good distance behind her. He leans against a prison wall, his fingers tightly clenched around the neck of a prisoner who attempted to kill him through choking. He smirks at the heroine, spitting the rose out of his mouth.
:Silver: ...But you're gonna have to calm down a bit if you wanna have a piece of me. Anyway, you want the rose back now?
:Nature Warrior: You're so insufferable.
:Silver: You know what's really insufferable, babe? Being thrown into prison over and over again just for doing crap you don't like or don't think through all the way. [smirks] Why don't you see it once my way?
:Nature Warrior: Jeez, what made you such a goth monster over the past few months?
:Silver: Hey, I've got a better question: are you always on your period?
The Nature Warrior attempts to hit him again out of pure rage, but misses her target again. Silver deviously laughs like a little imp, leaning back against a steel beam near the ceiling as he stretches out a leg.
:Silver: You know, I can understand feeling offended at that joke, but you should really loosen up a little and look at the facts. Is it worth getting pissy over little remarks like that when there are bigger fish to fry?
:Nature Warrior: Piss off!
The Nature Warrior throws her Rose Blade way up high, attempting to hit him with it like it were an axe. Silver counts the seconds it takes for it to reach him after she threw out the explicative, one, two, three, four. Silver smirks as he grabs the sword by the handle.
:Silver: If you wasted less time being pissy, you'd probably be getting somewhere by now. You know, all of the authorities on this satellite spend way too much time getting offended by half-assed remarks and some fairly harmless troublemakers. I understand the need for authority, but you're all terrible at your jobs.
:Nature Warrior: This isn't a game, Silver! You're gonna serve your sentence like you should for breaking expensive satellite equipment!
:Silver: Don't get your Kýrios-worshipping panties in a twist, ma'am. Anyway, I'm outtie.
The Nature Warrior tightens her belt up, growling as she gives chase to Silver, who manages to race his way outside.
:Nature Warrior: I've had enough of your bullcrap!
:Silver: I've had enough of yours, what's your point?
Silver keeps rushing away, but finds himself in a sticky situation: he's now surrounded by Gorms, Spoldiers, Pumpkids, Spidors, and Poninks, which surround him.
:Silver: Oh yeah, sure, just gang up on someone you don't even know, real cool guys.
:Nature Warrior: This is the end of the line for you, Silver!
:Silver: Nahhh. Bye!
Silver leaps over what he can of the satellite's forces, running away as fast as he can as the Nature Warrior gives chase.
:Silver: If I can make it to Valerie's place, maybe I can convince her to let me have my sentence end, I just gotta race there as fast as I possibly can and avoid all this crap as I go!
:Nature Warrior: I'm coming for you, Silver!
:Silver: Hey, you wanna skip this chase and head to home base?
:Nature Warrior: Gross!
:Silver: Teasing you's never gonna get old at this rate.
::
::
Silver rushes up to the Valco Vortex with his boots riding the broken exterior of a Pumpkid, scaring the crap out of Brook Arsen when he bumps into him. As they get up from the confusion, the Nature Warrior catches up, looking red hot and FURIOUS under the mask.
:Nature Warrior: You know, I thought back when you were a mercenary that I'd have someone to actually train with and battle crime with, and that I'd finally seize the chance to have a friend that didn't mess around with me or play games with me. But no, you're just like all the other losers I have to spend every night catching!
:Brook: ...Who's this broad?
:Nature Warrior: Excuse me?
The Nature Warrior grips Brook by the neck, giving Silver the ample opportunity to rush past the security guard and up into the Valco Vortex.
:Brook: Let go of me or I'm going to have to ask you to leave!
:Nature Warrior: You better apologize to me then, you son of a binch! You don't want to have to deal with me either!
:Brook: Have you thought about calming down? Talk to me about what happened back there and we can settle this.
:Nature Warrior: Alright. [drops him] So, it goes like this.
The camera returns to Silver, who's taking an elevator up to Valerie's room. He looked sweaty and displeasured, looking tired as hell after having dealt with the authorities' shenanigans.
:Silver: I guess I'm just not gonna help anyone after that, that woman really wants to kill me and for all the wrong reasons.
Silver sees the elevator open up. He sees Valerie working on a huge poster on a big working desk, with Syi curled up in a ball on the bed trying to sleep. Silver walks in, trying to place on his best smile.
:Silver: Hey Val, are you too busy right now?
:Valerie: This is probably the first time you've ever came in on your own without going through the window.
:Silver: I know right?
Silver and Valerie share a nice laugh together as Val gets up, giving him a big hug and keeping him close.
:Valerie: Nice to see you! What's up, Silv? You've been a little quiet lately.
:Silver: I've been stuck in prison thanks to the goddamn Nature Warrior, and in fact she was still chasing me by the time I made it back up here. Remember when Kýrios died and those lasers were set up?
:Valerie: Yeah, I remember.
:Silver: I broke those lasers trying to save her life, and she got super pissy and imprisoned me over it?
:Valerie: Mmm, you shouldn't have done that, but I don't think it was worth imprisoning you for that considering we can repair them fairly easily. She's been on edge lately, sorry about that.
:Silver: Over what?
Valerie backs away a little, sitting down in her chair as she offers another seat for Silver to sit down on. He takes it quickly.
:Valerie: She's been getting really pissed off lately because she's gotten pregnant by someone else and she's not taking it well. I don't know who's responsible for making her pregnant, but she doesn't wanna talk about it, so let's not speculate too much.
:Silver: Ooh, maybe I shouldn't have joked about her being on her period.
:Valerie: She'll get over it, just try to watch what you say around others because it's pretty easy to be insensitive in times like these.
:Silver: Alright, alright. I'll watch out for my behavior more often. I apologize for doing that to her.
:Valerie: It's fine, Silver. [smiles] Here.
Valerie makes Silver a cup of coffee, passing it off to him. Silver takes the mug, a big grin stretching across his pale face.
:Silver: Thanks sis, you're the best.
:Valerie: You deserve to relax a bit Silver, the authorities seem to have a lot of trouble leaving you alone. Believe me, I've been trying as hard as possible to calm down everyone and make them let go of you, but it's not easy.
:Silver: I understand, I don't blame you for any of my personal troubles. [kisses her cheek] You're really sweet, that's a quality that a lot of authoritian figures don't have. Yet, you're very levelheaded and reasonable when compared to all the other people I can think of. I respect it.
:Valerie: I haven't met anyone as fun-loving as you in a long time, and you're honestly a really down-to-earth and honest person. You ask the questions that should be asked that a lot of people wouldn't dare to ask. You're nice.
:Silver: You're gonna make me blush, Val!
:Valerie: Hey, you're making me blush too, call it payback!
Both share another laugh together, clinking their coffee mugs before sipping at their coffee.
:Valerie: Have you seen my maid anywhere, Silver? Her name's Yemen, she's pretty tall, got a nice outfit, she's not overcompensating for anything, and she's just pleasant to be around. Kinda dark skin, but I'm not trying to be racist.
:Silver: Oh yeah, I saw her with the Nature Warrior. She cleaned my jail cell a little bit.
Valerie looked a little quiet.
:Valerie: ...Anyway.
:Silver: What, is there something I'm missing here?
:Valerie: No, no, nothing at all, I just think it's odd that she ditched her duties with me to work with her instead. Maybe I'll learn something about her later.
:Silver: Speaking of the Nature Warrior...
The Nature Warrior's made it up the elevator, sweating and looking really angry as she makes it up.
:Valerie: Oh hey there, sweetheart. Don't worry about Silver, I decided he gets to be freed of his sentence.
:Nature Warrior: You can't be serious!
:Valerie: I'm dead serious, Nature Warrior. Look, Silver didn't really mean to do any harm, he was just trying to save your life and whatever.
:Nature Warrior: Fine. [sighs] But I'm not gonna go after everything he's done to hurt me the way he did! Come here, you, so I can tear you apart!
The Nature Warrior steps forward to take care of Silver, but Syinara stretches out a bunch of vines and suspends her midair. She looks really confused.
:Nature Warrior: What the devil--?
:Syinara: You're really loud, I just want my nap, alright?
:Nature Warrior: What are you going to do about it, you little runt?
Syinara's eyes narrow. In the immediate next shot, the Nature Warrior is shown getting tossed out of their bedroom window, free-falling to the ground.
:Valerie: I don't think her baby's gonna make it.
:Syinara: Let's be real, if she had the baby, she'd be much worse to deal with.
:Valerie: No doubt about it, I can speak from experience. The one baby I have is luckily being taken care of by, uhh, what's her name, Kitty!!
:Syinara: That was your first mistake, that's your stalker.
Valerie nods and smiles, leaning back.
:Valerie: Anyway, Silver, did you hear about the Mallorism event in Naxaz?
:Silver: Yeah, but to be honest, I don't really care about it. You don't mind if I just chill here, right?
:Valerie: As long as you know that everything on the satellite's gonna get more political, and that I'll be talking with Syi a lot about the political climate of the satellite, you can stay here more if you want.
:Silver: Thanks, I appreciate it.
Silver hums as he climbs up Valerie's bed, sitting next to Syinara.
:Silver: What're you doing, Syi?
:Syinara: Thinking about whatever apple trees I can grow back at my little garden shop in Sector 5. It's pretty interesting how many types of apples there are, when there's the common misconception that there's only like two different types.
:Silver: Mind if I hang out a little to learn more? I was thinking of maybe growing my own tree, just to take my mind off things.
:'Syinara smiles.
:Syinara: Sure, Silver. I'll be glad to have your company.
Syinara pulls out a nature book, opening it and reading through it with Silver. Valerie smiles as she looks back at them, before getting a text on her phone.
:Valerie: What's this?
Valerie picks up her phone, looking down at it. It was from Arikan.
:Valerie: Oh what now...
:Arikan [typing]: some deeckheads r putting up posters of this purple egghead in the lobby, lol
:Arikan [typing]: i think u better hurry up with ur campaign crap or she might win
:Arikan [typing]: i sent u evidence but i deleted it bc i wasn't exactly dressed srry lmao
:Valerie: Oh my god, I better get back on track!
Valerie texts her back.
:Valerie [typing]: ty also drop by later i miss you
:7:17 P.M. · MONDAY July 18th, ZXE-220
:Main Plaza, Satellite 15 Lobby
In the satellite's main lobby, we see Beck walking about holding a bunch of Mallory-supporting posters, followed around by a man whose clothes are stained in tomato sauce and a miserable-looking boy in a wheelchair that appeared to have ALS, both also holding posters of their own. They were being scouted by a busy-looking Arikan on her phone and a lobby deputy, whose name tag read Parabola.
:Parabola: What the devil is going on over there?
:Arikan: Probably nothin' too special. I'm gonna head to Val's in 10, she says she's missing me and all that, so I trust you to take care of the lobby for me while I'm gone, alright?
:Parabola: Oh yeah, I can handle it, no problem.
Beck sticks a poster advertising Mallory's upcoming presence in the Electolympics and some contact information related to her up on a wall of the lobby.
:Beck: I didn't sign up for this, Quade! Kispel! Help me out here!
:Kispel: Mmm, I'm trying my hardest.
Kispel moves his mouth, making a claw from his wheelchair extend out and start plastering posters on the walls, moving his mouth to adjust the angle he prints the posters at. He very gently leans his neck up and down to help out, softly breathing.
:Quade: Really excited to see Mallory take on the goddamn Electolympics, we haven't had one of those in years! My stupid ass wasn't even born then, I think!
Quade helps place some posters on the walls. Parabola looks annoyed, her fingers twitching as she tries to not take any hasty actions against them.
:Kispel: If our God were to win the Electolympics, the satellite would become perfect and pure, because her wisdom and power will shower us all with pleasure and thankfulness. I only hope enough to dissolve every conflict.
:Beck: Yeah, we just gotta help make her look good. Maybe we should have less posters on the wall so it doesn't look like we're trying to scream to people to make them vote for her.
:Kispel: Yes, it would be wrong if we went overboard with the advertising. Our God wouldn't be pleased with us if we were to dishonor her name like that. Do you agree?
:Beck: Yeah, sure, whatever. C'mon, let's strip down our approach a little bit.
:Quade: We've got to do as much as we can before Sunday, but there's several miles of the lobby walls we gotta travel around before we make the message clear over here. It's gonna take a while, though.
Beck nods as he flattens another poster against the wall, nailing it down.
:Beck: It'll take ages, yeah, but it'll eventually get done with and hopefully we'll profit off of all this hard work. Mallory agreed that even if she failed, she'd still take us out to eat with her, and that can only mean good things.
:Kispel: That is because our God loves us, and adores us, a message that can be interpreted through the Mallorism Bible. She is a perfect divinity who will help us prosper, and she will be there for us every step of the w-
:Beck: Look, I know you have strong feelings for Mallory, but can you keep them to yourself?
:Kispel: We are discussing her at the moment, I do not see what's wrong with me praising this flawless figure. I do wonder what Heaven is like, it's like I can taste it every time I lean my head up. Even though it hurts.
:Beck: Alright, but please, we need to concentrate on this. It'll help our, uh, "God" progress further.
:Kispel: I will dismiss this talk for now, but I shall return to it later. It is important that I remind you two who we're working for, and how grateful we should be for a natural beauty like her to be aboard this satellite.
Beck and Quade groan as they continue working, only working faster because Kispel just can't shut up. Kispel works a bit faster too, smiling as he cups his hands together very gently and slowly. You can see the scars on his wrists as he places them together.
:Kispel: O Mallory, please help us all.
Parabola grumbles as she keeps spying on them, folding her arms.
:Parabola: I don't really know what they're up to, but it's not gonna be any good. Hopefully Valerie gets a head-start on putting up those posters soon.
:10:05 A.M. · TUESDAY July 19th, ZXE-220
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
Deep underneath the Stenographer Garden, Silver's living inside a cavern that can be accessed by dropping down through the well labelled sixty-six. He's been living there for a few months now, and he's making great use of it. Plenty of bookshelves with crappy romance novels, plenty of posters depicting old-school bands like AC/DC and Blue Öyster Cult, and several tools related to astronomy. He's sitting on a chair with a half-conscious Pierce Hazel next to him, with newcomer Vilicus sitting in a chair across from them.
:Silver: Thanks for stopping by, who're you again?
:Vilicus: I'm the Rhapsody Facade, but you can just call me Vilicus since we're having a rather civil meeting this morning. Nyeh heh heh. So, I came along to interview you a little, if you don't mind, because you're getting thrown into all sorts of trouble.
:Pierce: Interview him? [raises eyebrow] No funny crap, alright? Silver's had enough to deal with.
Vilicus glares at Pierce, scaring him into shutting up, before turning his head back to Silver and grinning.
:Silver: Alright, well, nice to meet you Vilicus. I'm Silver Zin, as you already know, and I'll be happy to take a little interview. And if you want, you can hang around as a guest however long you want.
:Vilicus: Excellent, I'm glad you could agree to the interview. And no worries, I'm not going to sell this information off to anyone else. It's just curiosity tripping up my brain.
:Silver: Alright, I'm willing to begin when you are, darling.
Vilicus plays with the back of his mask strings, pulling them out straight. Silver feels like he's seen Vilicus' face before, noting how the skin on his face was all different colors. A masquerade mask...
:Vilicus: How do you feel you're being treated by others around you? Do you feel like you're being treated fair and square, or do you think people are neglecting and eating up your privacy?
:Silver: I've met some wonderful people during my time here on this satellite, and of them, Valerie and Pierce and Syinara are some of the best people I've ever gotten to meet. And that's largely because their heads aren't straight up their asses. And speaking of which, I really despise the authorities. They're mean, they're bossy, and they don't have their priorities straight.
:Vilicus: I'm tempted to agree with you there, Silver, the authorities here are god-awful! Don't you think by this point they would have already gotten rid of your scrawny figure and Mallory's?
Vilicus' neck snaps a bit as his head tilts at a frightening angle. Pierce looks thoroughly intimidated, but Silver looks as if he's seen this kind of thing before many times.
:Silver: Yeah, if they were actually smart, they would have managed to get rid of us by now. But for whatever reason, they haven't managed to, and that's surprising. Besides Valerie, has anyone here even tried to be useful? Do you know?
:Vilicus: From my experience, the authorities spend so much time worrying about matters that don't matter while there's much bigger fish to fry! Woo, hoo hoo hoo! Delightfully disgusting.
:Pierce: You know what they're actually after though, right?
:Vilicus: The authorities are attempting to get rid of Silver, when in fact they should be worrying about Mallory first! There's so much unrest and hate lying inside her heart, and it needs to be destroyed before it spreads to the rest of the satellite! What do you think, Silver Zin?
:Silver: What do you expect me to do? I don't care about going after her. I just want to be understood and be left in peace, so I don't have to deal with any of this cowabunga anymore. If she's trying to be the ruler, why should I care?
:Vilicus: Are you not aware that she's ordered her followers to kidnap you and drag you over to her? You are in very grave danger, Silver Zin, and I think you need to step up for yourself and prevent her from securing the throne. If you want to live in peace, you have to do this to save yourself!
:Silver: There is no way I'm going to help out anyone with getting rid of her. They've all treated me like crap, with only a few exceptions, I don't think I have any favors to owe.
Vilicus pretends to pout. Pierce sighs, covering his face with his hands.
:Pierce: Are there any easy solutions to getting rid of her, Vilicus?
:Vilicus: Kill her.
:Silver: Are you out of your mind? No!
:Pierce: ...Preferably through non-violent means, Silver's had enough violence in his lifetime.
:Vilicus: Alternative means, hmmm. [scratches chin] I highly suggest going to the Ocean Manor. I think there's some clues there that will help you out with an alternative plan.
:Silver: That sounds good, I'll check it out later. Anywhere else?
:Vilicus: You should go to the bank too to collect as much money as possible. [snickers] I'll fill you in on what to do with that money when you come back, but don't come back until you go to the manor first.
:Silver: That's really puzzling, why?
:Vilicus: Because I said so. Be careful Silver, you might be getting spiiied on.
A bunch of voices that seem to be coming from Vilicus snicker and cackle, as if making fun of Silver, while he sits there looking a bit confused. He then shrugs and throws on a coat.
:Vilicus: I recommend staying away from home for a few days, people will be looking for you, and you need to keep on your best guard while going out in public. Watch out for those in purple cloaks.
:Silver: ...Really, who are you?
:Vilicus: Trust me. [grins] Look, I'm telling you all of this stuff for your own good.
:Pierce: I'm going to stay here, Silver. I don't trust that Vilicus will leave on his own or do something wicked while I'm gone, so I'm going to keep an eye on him. [smiles at Silver] I know this seems fishy, but...
:Silver: It's alright, I'll trust him.
Vilicus grins wickedly wide.
:Silver: I'll see you guys in a bit.
:Vilicus: Accomplish both tasks, then come right back to me.
:Pierce: I love you, Silver!
:Silver: Love you too, sweetie!
Silver goes up the elevator leading outside the well. Vilicus wraps an arm around Pierce.
:Vilicus: He's gonna like what happens next, I feel.
:Pierce: ...What do you mean by that?
Vilicus licks his lips.
:Vilicus: You'll see when I'm done with my visit.
:12:55 P.M. · WEDNESDAY July 20th, ZXE-220
:Vinegar Base, Satellite Lobby
Scotch is shown at the Vinegar Base, where he's met up with Hector, Millicent, Zodiez, and Minute. Minute looked terrible, still bruised from Silver's attack against him from two months prior.
:Scotch: Alright ladies and gentlemen, we've gone almost a week without Kýrios' presence, and it's terrifying me that we still haven't found him when Mallory's threatening to run at the Electolympics and screw everything over. If only he let us change the rules when he's away, damn it.
:Hector: Aye, Scotch.
:Zodiez: G-God, I miss him so much. [sniff] I don't think the sheets have been this cold and barren since I was a young child. W-Why did he have to leave us so soon?
:Hector: Aye, lass, it'll be alright.
Hector pats Zodiez's back with a hook, which doesn't really help matters that much if we're going to be honest.
:Zodiez: Get your hook hand off of me, it's metal and cold.
:Hector: Sorry!
:Scotch: I wish I knew where Kýrios was myself, but for now, we'll have to manage without his presence. Because he hasn't turned up anywhere, I'm going to organize three important search parties.
Zodiez nods, sniffing black tears onto her arm as Hector instead rubs his arm on her back. She quietly whispers "much better", leaning her head on the pirate's head.
:Millicent: Fire away, gen.
:Scotch: So, I'm going to organize a search party for Kýrios because it's important we find him as soon as possible. I'll call off the search by Sunday- hopefully we'll know where he is by then. The second will be a search for Mallory's hideout, because we don't know where she's hiding and we need to keep a special eye on her.
:Millicent: Aighty, I can set those up for ya. What's the third?
:Scotch: I really hate to do this, but. [grumbles] After damaging some of our satellite equipment, raiding several stores for food, and getting into all sorts of trouble, we're also going to have a search party go out for Silver and then keep an eye on him. Not capture him, but keep an eye on him so he doesn't get in our way.
:Zodiez: I don't know, I don't want to cause him more trouble than we already have.
:Scotch: We can't risk anything, Zodiez. We need to keep an eye on him.
Zodiez sighs, nodding.
:Zodiez: I suppose you're right, we can't really trust either of the Zins after seeing how much strange crap they've been doing lately. [looks at him] I'm still not sure if we should be targeting Silver though.
:Scotch: I know you're paranoid because you messed with the Zins in ways you shouldn't have, but you need to look at what's going on now and what threats they pose to the satellite. We can't sit here thinking about the past when that's all over and done with, we need to look at what's going on now and focus on that. And right now, rather than worrying about how we treated these two, we need to take care of what's important.
:Zodiez: You're right. Let's initiate those plans, then. Send the three search parties out for Kýrios, Mallory, and Silver. We can't risk any more bad things happening to the satellite or its people, so let's try to make it snappy.
Millicent nods.
:Millicent: Aye, I've got this for ya queen. C'mon Hector, let's go.
:Hector: Aight, I'm comin'.
Hector winks and does a thumbs up to Zodiez.
:Hector: Good luck, matey. Hopefully ye can get yer babe back, but if ya don't, yer always welcome to board my brand-new S15 Shooting Star and have a good ol' time there if ya want.
:Zodiez: Thanks for the offer, I'm not sure if I'll take it but I appreciate it nonetheless. You go take my orders now.
:Hector: Can do.
:Scotch: Good luck you two, we're depending on you two to help make things right for the satellite. Please message me on Risquord if you figure out anything about their whereabouts.
Both Hector and Millicent nod before leaving the room, leaving Scotch alone to deal with Zodiez and Minute, the latter of whom has been mostly silent.
:Scotch: I'm really pissed, so I'm sorry if I come off as mean or overly angry, Zodiez.
Scotch places a comforting hand on her shoulder.
:Scotch: We'll find him eventually, alright? Keep your chin up, I don't really think he's dead and I think Mallory has largely to do with all of this. I don't think anything's ever been solved by panicking, just take the actions you feel you can feasibly do under our current ruleset, and try to relax.
:Zodiez: Thank you, Scotch. Do you think I've improved as a ruler for the satellite, in all honesty...?
:Scotch: You're not xenophobic anymore, which is a relief, but you do sometimes overreact and take things too personally. You seem to have trouble letting go of grudges, too, when the events surrounding those grudges have long since been discussed and done with.
Scotch smiles up at her, keeping his hand where it is.
:Scotch: You're free to remain angry at someone if they've done something that's really messed you over, and you can stay angry for as long as you want. But don't let it override your day-to-day life and mess with you if the matter's been solved.
:Zodiez: You really are one of a kind, Scotch. Thank you. I'm sorry for getting aggressive with you some months back. If Mallory decides to keep me as queen, or hopefully if Kýrios returns, I'm going to try to be a better and kinder person to everyone.
:Scotch: Little steps help, Zodiez. Just accept yourself first, then concentrate on everyone else. You have a lot of power, but I think with a bit of practice, you're gonna get better. It's cheering me up to talk to you like this, if being honest.
:Zodiez: I'll do that. Good luck with your work, alright?
Scotch nods, doing a thumbs up.
:Scotch: Thanks to some of your advice, I don't think the military's ever been better before. [smiles] We now have a real military dedicated to helping out citizens and taking out bad guys inside the satellite, we've got our eyes on every corner of the satellite, and everything's in such a better state of affairs now. And it's thanks to you, because you have improved.
Zodiez looked like she could cry, sniffling as she picks up Scotch and hugs him tightly. Scotch was caught off guard, mainly because he's being lifted two feet off of the ground by this much taller person, but he hugs her back.
:Scotch: Uhh, you mind if you let me go? I'm a bit afraid of heights.
Zodiez laughs a little bit, setting him down as she wipes the tears from her eyes.
:Scotch: Alright, I'm gonna get back to work now, but don't pressure yourself too much Zodiez. I know you can do it! Just give yourself another chance to make things right.
:Zodiez: I will. I'm gonna go back and see what I can do to be more helpful. Thanks so much!
:Scotch: You're welcome. See you later!
Scotch waves her off, with Zodiez finally smiling as she walks out of the base. Minute then takes a deep breath.
:Minute: Hey Scotch, sorry I've been quiet, you know how I get really anxious when there's a lot of important people in the same room at the same time. [takes a deep breath] So I got a strange text message today.
Minute lifts his phone. It's a message from Vilicus.
:Vilicus [typing]: Go to the Ocean Manor tomorrow. It's important. Also you're kind of gay.
:Scotch: How dare- actually, it's not like he's wrong. [turns to him] The Ocean Manor? Why?
:Minute: I don't know, he just sent me that out of the blue. You suppose it's a trap?
:Scotch: Hmmm, eh, I think Oshelia will be happy enough to see me again. Still trying to remain sober.
:Minute: I'm surprised you've gone that long without drinking, honestly.
:Scotch: You didn't need to rub it in, Minute.
:Minute: Well I'm proud of you, that's all. [blushes] So anyway, I'm gonna go back and watch over your dog Hero and then watch some CRE, y'know, the Champion's Ring Entertainment channel. The one Whiskey keeps accidentally naming "WWE" on TV.
:Scotch: You go do that, I'm gonna take care of some important business.
Both walk off their separate ways. Vilicus, hanging from way above, snickers as Minute sends a text message back.
:Minute [typing]: No, what makes you think that? I've never been happy. :)
:Vilicus: Eugh, that's depressing.
:2:43 P.M. · WEDNESDAY July 20th, ZXE-220
:City Bank, New Naxaz City
Silver walks inside the City Bank, whistling and humming as he walks his way over to the reception desk, where he finds Gonzalo just chilling. Silver had no idea about who this man was or what his deal was.
:Silver: Hey, I was wondering if I could retrieve some money from my bank account? Under the name Silver Zin...? How does this crap work, do I even have money?
:Gonzalo: Ah yes, Silver Zin, what a peculiar name, yet I recognize it from the files. You do have a bank account, which Pierce Hazel alone operates to pay the rent for your place. But you can retrieve money from it, if you like.
:Silver: Cool, so, can you tell me a bit more?
:Gonzalo: What I need from you is your wallet or purse, if you have either, then you give me a number of ValCoins to withdraw. Then, I will pass them over the counter for you.
:Silver: Alright.
Silver passes his purse over the counter to Gonzalo. Gonzalo reads Silver's ID.
:Gonzalo: Are you a boy, or you are a girl? This ID cannot make up its mind.
:Silver: Call me what you want.
:Gonzalo: Are you a tranny, per chance? If so, get the hell out of here.
:Silver: No, I'm not? What the hell's your problem with them anyway?
:Gonzalo: Let me tell you what I think of them, Silver Zin. I believe that what you appear to be from the moment you're born is who you're destined to be. If you ever alter with your identity in any way, I lose all my respect for you. This isn't just prejudice I hold with trannies, this is prejudice I hold with people wearing make-up, restyling their hair, shaving themselves, and the like, you accept yourself as you are, unless you need to make changes to stay hygienic. Do I make myself clear?
:Silver: No, I think you've lost your mind. Anyway, I want, I don't know, a thousand ValCoins from my account.
:Gonzalo: I don't hand money over to liars, Silver Zin. The ID needs to be crystal-clear, we need all of your information, Silver. We need to drain all of it from you, so we can give you the services you desire. Never mind that we already spy on everyone all the time through an electric eye, we need to know more from you.
:Silver: What am I lying about? What?
:Gonzalo: You are a BOY, or you are a GIRL. You cannot CHOOSE to be both, because you were NEVER both. Which binary, Silver Zin? Choose one! Which are you?
:Silver: I think someone's spent too much time on Shreddit for my liking. No thanks, if you're gonna be such a minute-detail freak like that, I'm going to take my business elsewhere. I don't understand why all the authorities feel the need to have access to everything that makes us who or what we are.
:Gonzalo: Guards, seize this tranny at once! Then kick him and beat him up!
:Silver: Can I at least have my purse back?
Gonzalo throws the ID tag at him, knocking him square in the head. Gonzalo just smirks as red sirens blare, holding Silver's purse to himself.
:Gonzalo: I think not, take the fake ID back with you if you like, but I think everything that's in here is mine for the taking. Goodbye, you little freak.
Rose Razz and Azul Frost run into the room, holding their weapons as they prepare to engage in battle with Silver Zin.
:Silver: Damn it, thanks a lot!
:Gonzalo: No problem, loser!
:Rose: Alright, you're not moving any further, Zin boy. En garde!
:Azul: I'm gonna cool you off, then give you a permanent brain freeze!
:Silver: If you're both going to be cheesy and to-the-point yesmen, I'm outta here.
Silver does a front flip over them, attempting to run away.
:Gonzalo: No! Rose, Azul, bring him down! [slams his fists into the counter] Now!
Rose and Azul give chase to Silver as he attempts to escape the bank.
::
::
Silver attempts to reach the exit, but he's stopped dead in his tracks by Rose and Azul, who stop him from moving onward.
:Silver: Get outta my way, I don't have time to play around!
:Rose: No, damn it! You've been running away from us for far too long, now we have to bring you down!
Rose pulls out his Flawless Cutter weapon, while Azul gracefully pulls out the Cold-Steel Whip.
:Rose: This is the end of the road for you, Silver!
:Azul: Now I'm gonna have to freeze you to death, a pity, you seemed so fun when you were running away from that Nature Warrior person. Y'know, with all the teasing and such.
:Silver: I'll tease you two alright, with death, if you don't get out of my way!
::
::
Silver manages to finish off both of them, walking his way out of the bank.
:Silver: I don't like having to resort to violence just to get a point across, please don't cross my path like that again. [sighs] If you head over to the Hospital Wing, you can get a quick refreshment. See ya.
:Azul: Wait! G-Get back here!
:Silver: Not a chance!
Silver leaves, much to Gonzalo's disdain, who begins shouting at his assistants to return to him. They ultimately leave him to go heal up. Silver can hear his desk being pounded from a distance away.
:Silver: I suppose I can take a hotel... wait, I have no money. God damn it, where am I gonna go sleep tonight?
:???: I can help you with that.
Silver turns himself around, suddenly finding himself looking eye-to-eye with a really tall demon, with one eye missing. He snickers, poking some worms back into his socket.
:Silver: Whoa, who are you?
:Junkhead: Name's Junkhead, I've been told by some random motherzoinker to come meet up with a cutie like yourself and I was thinking it'd be fun, so I took up the offer. Your name's Silver, right?
:Silver: Yeah, that's me! Now this is more what I'm talkin' about. [grins] So, where do you live?
:Junkhead: All the way in Sector 3. I've been told you've been struggling a lot in this world, and y'know what I feel the same way, so, I'm gonna help you feel real good tonight. Ya know why I'm called "Junkhead", right?
:Silver: Uhh, nah, why?
:Junkhead: I'm a junkie! I was thinking of hookin' you up with some real good crap that'll make you feel good, crap you won't be able to regret or feel any bad feelings about, you wanna take a crack shot at it? ...Get it? Crack shot? Heh heh heh.
:Silver: Hilarious. But yeah, I'll take your offer up. Hey, you don't care about me being a boy or a girl, right?
:Junkhead: Psshh, nah, I really don't as long as you've got some respectable opinions. For example, uhh, if you say heroin should be legalized, and that cocaine should be brought back to stores, I respect ya enough to accept you for whoever you are. I mean, I'd respect you no matter what, I just wouldn't give a single damn shit if you were on board with drugs and stuff. Yaaaaaaaa diiiiiiiiig druuuuuuugs?
:Silver: You alright there?
:Junkhead: I'm hiiigh! [giggles] Alright Silvertongue, that's your new nick now don't sweat it, I'll house ya for the night n' you can stay as long as you want. I don't care who you bring over as long as they're freakin' wild. Alright, motherzoinker?
:Silver: I don't zoink my mom. What does zoink even mean?
:Junkhead: Eh, I just use "motherzoinker" as a synonym for friend. It's alright, heh.
:Silver: Oh, that makes sense. [grins] Take me with ya!
:Junkhead: That's the spirit Silvertongue, let's bring ya to Dream Land! I'm gonna show you the wildest and most awesome things at my place, you're gonna see boys and girls you've never seen before, and best of all, there's a game going on there. The person who downs the most alcohol wins a hundred thousand ValCoins! What a steal.
:Silver: I look forward to it! Admittedly, the extra cash could be nice.
:Junkhead: If ya don't have anythin', I can lend you some of my ValCoins. I really don't buy anything than junk, soooooo.
:Silver: Thank you so much.
:Junkhead: No problem Silv, let's get things moving! If the authorities find me just standing right in the open, they're gonna bust me right open, there's cocaine inside my eye socket if you wanna snort somethin' before we get home.
Silver laughs as Junkhead forces him inside a crimson space pod, with Junkhead getting in the driver's seat, both of them zooming off.
:Junkhead: YEAAAAAAH!
:5:31 A.M. · THURSDAY July 21st, ZXE-220
:C.O.T.S. Laboratories, Hospital Wing
The scene switches to the C.O.T.S. Laboratories the next day, with Ms. Replicate working on a new invention with help from Noise, Yama, Abraham, and a new assistant named Love-Love. They seem to be constructing a human-like creature, only massive to the point where her 17-foot-body takes a whole bed. Pictures around the operating room show pictures of a deformed subject from over 25 years ago, named Chimera Hazel, whose identity is unknown.
:Ms. Replicate: It's a good thing that Mallory chose to try reigning over the satellite when she did, because all the attention's been brought on her, I finally get to try to live the life I wanna live! [snickers] Let's get rid of everyone that's ever wronged me and remove them from this satellite!
:Noise: Are you sure you still want to go through with this plan, Replicate? I don't know, something seems... wrong about doing this plan. I'm not sure what made my mother and Yama's go nuts enough to help you out with the original.
:Ms. Replicate: I am a hundred percent certain that I want to go through with this! With everyone but a select dozen or so gone, I can make what I want from this satellite and finally make something I can care about!
:Noise: Look, I know you're kind of irritated by what people have done to you in the past, but, don't you think this is taking it a step too far? I'm worried for you sometimes, Replicate.
:Ms. Replicate: Do not question me Noise, I know what I'm doing, and I've known for over half a century!
:Love-Love: Don't get too worried about this situation, Noise, all of us are going to be safe and sound.
Love-Love places her fingers on Noise's chin, lifting it up.
:Love-Love: Ms. Replicate promised us that as long as we all chipped in to help her and stick with her, we'd remain alive after Purging Day. And I think that's a good thing. She's going to spare us all, Silver, and perhaps Mallory.
:Ms. Replicate: Speaking of Silver, it's important that we try to capture him as soon as possible, because we could be beaten to getting our hands on him if the authorities exile him first! ...I dunno if they will exile him, but because of all the controversy surrounding the Zins, you never know!
:Yama: We're on it, ma'am, we're just trying to make sense of all of this. You don't have to make people suffer just to get a point across, especially if they've had nothing to do with you before.
:Ms. Replicate: I'm going to bring death upon everyone, Yama! [turns to her] Look at me, do I look like I care about the lives of the civilians? Who's going to be left to care about the lost ones when there'll be nobody left?
:Yama: What about us, Ms. Replicate? There's family I like to see on Sundays, and-
:Ms. Replicate: I don't care about your grandma!
Yama whimpers a little bit, backing away from the project. Noise looks annoyed at Ms. Replicate, but didn't dare speaking against her as she keepsworking on the body. Noise sighs as she feels her fingertips come loose while working on the new body, sewing them back together with grimy, unclean hands.
:Noise: Chimera Hazel will soon be brought back to life. I think by Sunday, she'll be ready for launch, Ms. Replicate. She has, the perfect DNA now.
Noise places some of the DNA samples aside on a countertop. Silver's DNA, Valerie's, Pierce's, Ms. Replicate's, and even Mallory's. And some samples of individual other characters, but there's an abundance of Mallory's DNA in the mix.
:Ms. Replicate: I look forward to seeing her in action. My little girl. [kisses her forehead] She's going to be a nuclear warhead birthing machine, and I can't wait to see what wonders she'll be able to do for me.
Ms. Replicate pulls her filthiest grin yet, complete with a questionably wide grin.
:Ms. Replicate: Behold, Zodiez! This will be the body to challenge your handle on the satellite and its citizens. And Kýrios, wherever you are, be a good boy and lay low for me.
:4:32 P.M. · THURSDAY July 21st, ZXE-220
:Ocean Manor, Sector 2
Silver is shown walking through the Ocean Manor, not alone as he's surrounded by a bunch of soldiers, who keep their eye on him. They were tracking him wherever he went now, much to his discomfort.
:Silver: Can you all please go somewhere else? I really want to have some time alone.
:Soldier #1: Nope, sorry about that, we've been ordered to keep a really close eye on you.
:Silver: Oh great, so you're just gonna track me everywhere I go now, huh?
:Soldier #2: I know it's not something you're happy to deal with, Silver, but we have to do this. It's important that we keep a close eye on you, because the authorities don't trust you.
:Silver: I don't trust you, but I don't go after you with live cameras everywhere you go! Leave me alone!
Silver runs off past the soldiers. They immediately give chase, surrounding him just as fast.
:Silver: Look, I understand that you're under strict orders to torment me like this, but can you at least try to leave me alone? Maybe you can order like one bodyguard or something? You all don't need to waste your lives like this!
:Soldier #1: We're being paid a lot of money to keep a watch on you, we're only gonna stop whenever you go to your home or if you need to be alone inside a room we can guarantee has no windows or other methods of escape.
:Soldier #2: We do this a lot to some other folk too, it's no biggie really.
:Silver: You don't even sound remotely concerned about my privacy! Remember a few months back when I said I felt like my privacy was being invaded? This is exactly what I meant! [folds his arms] And you're responsible for doing this to more people than just me?
:Soldier #3: We've done it to Azrail, Rhett, Shredder.
:Soldier #1: Just be quiet, alright? We need to check for background noise, too.
:Silver: That does it.
Silver attempts to run past them again, but they keep him surrounded. But the bottom line for Silver was when he saw Scotch rear his ugly head from the back of the hallway he was trapped in, looking cross.
:Scotch: Silver, we have to keep an eye on you. Nobody trusts you enough to be alone, because you keep getting into trouble and making things worse. [pumps his fists together] You should stop resisting and learn to know your place!
:Silver: Look, I've done some thievery and crap before, and I know I should regret that, but I wouldn't be doing it in the first place if y'all bothered making a better society! How many times will it take for me to say that before it runs through your thick skulls? [blows a raspberry] You're all so pathetic, really. I'd rather tune in to Fred Durst than Mr. Caramel over here.
:Scotch: You watch your mouth, Silver, we're armed!
:Silver: See, this is what I was talking to the Nature Warrior about! You're all getting so angry over me teasing you and doing these miniscule things when you're being trashy and gross to people you don't like! Why not concentrate on real problems, I think Mallory trying to become the new ruler is a problem!
:Scotch: What makes you think we're not trying to take care of that already, Silver?
:Silver: Alright, because you're going to be such an asshole, I'm gonna deal with you later, even at prison if I have to. JUNKHEAD! Come out of hiding and help me get outta here!
:Soldier #2: Prepared to engage in battle sir!
Junkhead laughs as he leaps out from the ceiling, throwing a smoke bomb to set the place up in black fumes. The soldiers and Scotch cough, with Junkhead carrying Silver and turning some corners, as fast as they could...
:Junkhead: Alright mate, we gotta get outta their sight, let's show those barnacle brains we can lose 'em!
Silver and Junkhead turn another corner, making Scotch and his soldiers just miss him.
:Scotch: After him! Don't let him get away!
::
::
Silver and Junkhead jump inside a huge, dark water tank together, with Junkhead holding Silver closely to his bare chest, winking at the camera but looking a little worried as they're surrounded by tentacles really quickly.
:Junkhead: I've seen some real good crap on a screen before, but damn I wasn't expecting it to actually happen to me. Nice!, actually, we might be real screwed. How am I talking underwater?
:Silver: I don't like this constricting feeling, not now anyway... what's going on??
Junkhead turns his head around, flashing his only working eye like a flashlight. He doesn't see anything for the first couple of light shots, but he eventually sees the face of a blue sea creature looking deep into his own, making him reel back in fright with an uncharacteristic yelp.
:Silver: What? What's wrong?
:Junkhead: Mate, that's Jezebeth! We're gonna be eaten alive, boyo! Agagagagagagagag!!
:Silver: Who's Jezebeth?
Silver worms his way up a bit, able to squeeze his way out of Jezebeth's grip as he just narrowly avoids an aggressive tentacle swing. Jezebeth hisses, choking Junkhead by the stomach.
:Silver: Whoa, leave him alone!
Jezebeth growls, lunging for Silver. Silver grits his teeth as he avoids getting slammed down by one of her tentacles, with Jezebeth attempting to compensate by pushing him against a wall. However, he manages to swim his way up and avoid getting squeezed. Silver takes a good moment to look at her eyes.
:Silver: You've really seen some crap, haven't you?
Jezebeth hisses, attempting to lunge into him but only colliding with the wall. She quickly recovers, turning around and flashing her eyes at him.
:Silver: You know, maybe in another timeline, we're a couple or something. Would that calm you down?
Jezebeth bears all of her teeth. All six rows of unevenly sized teeth, thinly slotted together.
:Junkhead: H-help me, Silver! I'm feeling like dirt over 'ere!
:Silver: Alright, I don't got a choice, I gotta free him. Sorry babe.
Jezebeth advances on Silver, all of her tentacles spread out. It's feeding time, and Silver's on the menu.
::
::
Jezebeth gets brought down by Silver, gasping as she falls to the bottom of the tank. Silver untangles Junkhead from her tentacles, going over to the sea creature's head.
:Silver: No hard feelings, Jezebeth. I didn't really want to hurt you, I just had to fight back so I could make it out alive. [hugs her by the neck] What's wrong? Why are you so... angry?
Jezebeth attempted to hiss to drive him off, but she couldn't after having been brought down so badly. She hugs Silver back, her tentacles locking around him gently. By the time the soldiers came around, neither Silver nor Junkhead could be seen by them- Jezebeth's whole body was covering them.
:Scotch: God damn it, they got away.
:Soldier #4: Eventually, their silly hoplophobia will come to a close.
The soldiers walk off, with Silver huddling up to Jezebeth a little bit.
:Silver: See, I was trying to hide from those soldiers, because they misunderstand me and they wanna exile me from the satellite and all of that... why are you in this cage, Jezebeth? Why are you so angry?
:Junkhead: I can answer some of those easy questions, Silv. Jezebeth's been a lab rat for Oshelia and the rest of the people in the Ocean Manor, she's like an unwilling research experiment, her freedom is restricted and she's just a zoo creature to most. We were almost eaten up because she saw us as intruders.
:Silver: You're a captive??
Jezebeth silently nods her head, sighing as she looks at Silver's eyes.
:Silver: I know how it feels too, in a way I guess, so don't feel too alone in all of this. [lays down] You might be wondering why I'm talking to you, well, I suppose when I see someone so angry or upset, I just feel a great temptation to try and help them out in any way I can. I'm empathetic, I can't help it. Unless they're an asshole.
:Junkhead: They've used her DNA for a lot of research, I think she feels like her privacy's been invaded. [pokes her belly] This belly ain't lyin', look at how much fake food they're givin' 'er. That's a livin' 'ell.
:Silver: I'm sorry.
Jezebeth just pulls them both up to her, hugging them as tight as she can.
:Junkhead: Ya've got friends 'ere, Jezzy. You're cute as hella.
:Silver: One of these days, try not to count on it too much, I'd really like to set you free. Would you want that? Would you like some much-needed freedom?
Jezebeth nods her head "yes" wildly. She looks really desperate.
:Silver: Then I'm gonna try and make my life worth it by doing one thing that'd not just make me happy, but someone else. [smiles] I'm gonna dedicate a portion of my life to trying to set ya free without them ever getting a chance of bothering you again. I want to help you.
:Junkhead: Silver, that's gonna be real hard, they've got her locked up so well and she can't fit through the top of the tank. You'd have to try some REAL magic to break her out!
:Silver: I know that, but I just wanna try for her anyway.
Silver kisses Jezebeth's cheek, patting her shoulder.
:Silver: Look, I need to get going, but I want you to know that I'll be thinking about you and trying to help you escape. I don't want you to suffer, as a fellow person that was born somewhere else but was unwillingly dragged aboard the satellite, I'm gonna set you free.
:Junkhead: Yea! I might not be of any use but ya have my support, Jezzy! Just don't make me your dinner again please, yikes!
Jezebeth smiles, squeezing them both before letting them go. She then slinks back a little, watching them begin to surface.
:Silver: Bye Jezzy, we'll see you another time, alright?
Jezebeth smiles, waving goodbye and twinkling her fingers. When Silver and Junkhead climb out of their tank and run off, Jezebeth opens up a treasure chest to begin feasting on some human meat, confirming what could have happened to Silver and Junkhead if they didn't begin calming her down...
:Soldier #2: There they are!
:Soldier #1: Get 'em!
:Junkhead: Alright Silver, we're gonna scamper home now! Hope this is what ya needed to do!
:Silver: I was never given clear instructions, I sure as hell hope so!
Silver runs away again with Junkhead following right beside him, Scotch and the soldiers on their tails. The Devil's Mask watches from a distance, grinning nice and wide.
:8:30 P.M. · FRIDAY July 22nd, ZXE-220
:Purple Keep, ???
Mallory now lives inside a giant battered white-and-purple castle that looks rusted and ruined, surrounded by a huge black void. It's unclear where this keep is, but we can see Mallory running on a treadmill somewhere inside with her full gang watching her. She's accelerating fast on the treadmill, with Mania, Beck, Cody, Ferris, Quade, Kispel, a chained up Niki, the Methademic, and the Violet Reaper watching her. The whole gang.
:Mallory: Alright, I'm almost ready for those Electolympics!
:Kispel: God, please! Run faster! Break the unholy threshold set by the previous record setter!
:Mallory: Who's this kid again?
Kispel faceplants. Cody sighs as he puts Kispel back in his wheelchair.
:Cody: Oh, this is Kispel, he's a new member of our team. We also have Quade on board, he works primarily as a pizza delivery boy and really nothing more.
:Quade: Hello, gorgeous.
:Mallory: Welcome aboard you two. I don't know why Kispel's so damn fascinated with me, but I love hearing him talk, so keep letting him talk to boast my goddamn ego!
:Kispel: I will happily oblige, O Great One! It is an honor for me to dutifully serve my God by cheering her on for the holy Electolympics! My praise shall bestow upon you great power! Another goat went down for the O Great One today.
:Cody: He's a bit of an oddity in our team, as he seems uninterested in our activities and more interested in just you. So, he's kind of your maid, except not really because he's in a wheelchair? He has like ALS or something.
:Mallory: You know, if the satellite's technology and magic are getting so great, how come we don't have cures for cancer or ALS yet? Why isn't Noise working on that stuff?
:Cody: ...Good question, Mallory. You could really make for a great satellite ruler.
:Kispel: It shouldn't be a priority to help me recover from my disease, I shall only accept if my God finds it truly necessary for me to heal so soon! But I'm willing to die with my honor served.
Mallory smirks to herself, muttering Kispel's name under her breath and rolling her fingers around as she keeps running on the treadmill.
:Mallory: Alright, Kispel stays with me, I think he's going to be a really fine person to sit and chat with. The little bastard deserves as much love as he can get, especially when he's stuck in that wheelchair.
:Kispel: It would be such an honor! But, my God, do not forget! I am a Bishop too, and I shall work every Sunday to make all bow in your name!
:Cody: Believe it or not, he tried to steal the stage from me last Sunday, but security dragged him away before he could. But I made a deal with him, so that's why he's a higher-up here now. He loves you.
Kispel smiles at Mallory, his knees wobbling as he does so.
:Mallory: I think he's gonna REALLY like it here, I have a lot of holy services for him to do here, and I think he's going to be willing to take part in every single one of them. Depending, of course, on how willing he is to do any of them.
:Kispel: All of it! Please, God, doing the Lord's work makes me proud!
:Mallory: Haha, alright, you can do as much of it as you please. As for the rest of you, though? Get to work! Cody, I need you to help me write an election speech to go along with my dramatic Electolympics entrance and make sure you help with the church crap. Mania, Beck, Ferris, and Kispel! You're going to be on my support team. Niki, you're gonna watch out for strangers and lock them up if they come back, somehow. The Violet Reaper, you're still grounded, go up to your room young lady! Methademic and Quade, go stone-hunting if you can. And by the way Beck, there's still more posters to put up tomorrow.
:Violet Reaper: Waaaaaaaaah!!!
The Violet Reaper runs out of the room at lightning speed.
:Beck: Jeez, alright, I'll try to help out as best as I can. [grumbles] I signed up to be an assassin though.
:Mallory: I'll slug ya if you resist, Beck! I'm paying you way harder than any of the other folks ever did!
:Kispel: I-I can put up the rest of the posters! Don't feel the need to rely on anyone else, my dear God, I can help! I can h-help.
Kispel's neck twists a bit the wrong way. Mallory shakes her head.
:Mallory: No you silly goof, I'm going to take care of you. I care way more about you being safe than you being vulnerable and doing work for me someone else can easily do.
:Kispel: But...
:Mallory: No buts!
:Beck: Alright, I suppose I'll do the work for you Mallory. [grumbles] Damn it, this is only because I'm fast.
:Mania: We're with ya Mal. You can kick some ass!
:Cody: I'll be honored to write up that paper for you. You can bet it'll be finished at some point tomorrow, I think you can trust me enough to believe that.
:Kispel: Miss Mallory, please, I'm at my knees, I can do anything for you, real-
Mallory places a finger over his lips.
:Mallory: I've saved far more important work for you, and none of it includes physical labor. Please relax, I know you're willing to do some big work for me, but I'd rather you be cured before I start making you do work that'll hurt you.
Kispel looks down.
:Kispel: If it pleases you, O Mighty One.
:Mallory: Alright, I'm done exercising, I've managed to burn thirty pounds in less than a week!
Mallory gets off the treadmill, sweating in her skintight Olympic outfit, gasping as she catches her breath. She uses her foot to shove the machine to the side, picking up Kispel's body gently.
:Mallory: Alright, all of you sleep well tonight. I'm gonna try and calm Kispel down.
:Beck: 'Night, Mal.
:Quade: Nighty! I'll go stone-hunting beginning tomorrow.
:Cody: Good night, my lovely girlfriend.
Everyone scatters from Mallory's room, leaving her alone with just Kispel. Mallory sets him on her bed, laying down next to him, being careful to not move his body too much. She could tell he didn't really have severe ALS- not yet, but she still wanted to be careful.
:Mallory: It's so strange to see someone who cares about me so much.
:Kispel: O Mallory, there is no doubt in my mind that I care about you. My soul, again and again, weeps for your presence. I've always wanted you to hold me since when I first heard about you, I felt something ethereal spark inside of me. Even when your reputation was at its lowest, I was attracted to you.
:Mallory: Why?
:Kispel: You seemed misunderstood, you were in a terrible state of affairs, but you were fighting so hard to resist everything. [shakes his head] I know that you're not necessarily a "God", but it is so nice to believe that as the truth, and I happily accept it as such because you are my model. I've always wanted to break free of the restraints I've had to deal with since early on in my life, and you're why I'm continuing to be around still.
:Mallory: Man, you're so sweet. [holds his hand] Do you need anything from me? A glass of water, perchance?
:Kispel: I just want an honest opinion from you, O Great One, do you want me alive?
:Mallory: Huh?
:Kispel: Look at these wrists for me, will you? If it isn't too much to ask.
Mallory looks at Kispel's wrists for a bit. They had huge scars across them.
:Kispel: I've tried to escape this Hell before, infuriated by all the problems I was facing and with the mysteriousness of my past, but to no avail. I was saved by the devil, some helpless boy. The Devil must have been possessing him to make him save me from my agony. I've had to deal with years upon years of hell since developing ALS, and now I can't so as much as hold a knife any longer. But I have stopped these suicidal thoughts since learning of you, and how you chose to live through it, it was inspiring to me.
:Mallory: You poor soul.
Mallory gently wraps her arms around Kispel's body, trying not to squeeze him but still trying to comfort him.
:Mallory: The only thing that should be able to work against you now is yourself. As long as you remain here, under the roof of the Purple Keep, you are safe. I may not be a perfect being or anything, but you are safe and that is what matters to me. I've, always longed for that kind of support from someone, even the Messiah.
:Kispel: I'm aware that you've always wanted to be told those words, O Great One. This is why I'm telling you of all of this right now, in exchange for all your moral support, I wish to bestow upon you all my holy support. I couldn't, give that to anyone else, because nobody else matters that much to me.
:Mallory: I appreciate it. I'll try to find you a cure, not right now, but at some point soon before your condition worsens much more. Please know that killing yourself isn't the answer, and it won't be. I know that you know now, but I want you to remember that from someone that now cares about you.
Mallory grips his hand a bit tightly. It hurts him a little, but he gives a slight (even if awkward) smile.
:Kispel: Thank you. Good night, my God. I shall be there for you, tomorrow, on Sunday, every week, every month, every year! Until my day of passing comes, in which I'll spawn once more in your purple heaven.
:Mallory: Good night Kispel, sleep well, okay?
:Kispel: Mmm, you too.
Kispel goes right to sleep. Mallory smiles, placing a pillow behind his bed as Cody peeks his head in.
:Cody: Hey Mallory, do you need anything from me? I'm gonna go to bed.
:Mallory: Two glasses of water, please!
:9:57 P.M. · SATURDAY July 23rd, ZXE-220
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
Silver returns home, barely escaping the hands of Zinos- AKA, his biggest fan, by jumping over a wall. He sweats, looking really angry. He texts up Junkhead, telling him what's up.
:Silver [typing]: hate to leave ya hangin' sweetie but that was my biggest fan zinos and he's kind of an annoying little brat and i need to go home anyway ........, thanks for the nights i've spent at your place tho, i really had a blast 'til the effin cops raided the place and ruined everything lol
:Junkhead [typing]: that's fine silvertongue, just text me up any time if you wanna spend the night here again. love ya pal here's to an effing fantastic future for ya pls store your heroin in a safe space
:Silver [typing]: ty i will heh
Silver goes into his well, looking really pissed off, stomping past Pierce as he swings open the door to his room, throwing himself onto the bed. Silver screams into his pillow, looking really pissed as he bangs his head into the pillow.
:Pierce: Whoa, you alright Silver? What happened?
:Silver: I'll talk about it when these authorities stop ruining my frickin' life!
Silver throws a photo of Scotch at the wall, which shatters into a bunch of pieces.
:Silver: Someone should really play some Feel Good Inc up in this satellite, that's how bad the authorities stink this place up!
:Pierce: Alright, well, I'll join you in a bit. Good night SIlver- Vilicus is still here, he'll talk to you whenever you're feeling in a better mood. Please don't stress too much.
Vilicus smirks and giggles from the guest bedroom, with the door locked. Actually, Vilicus was asleep, so it was actually the Devil's Mask smirking and giggling. The Manipulator looks at Silver's angry body through leaving his spirit body through the wall, while the Echeno's managed to break the guest bed into halves with his heavy body.
:The Manipulator: Excellent, he's gotten his purse stolen, he's gotten enough money though to pay for drugs, he already has drugs on-hand he can try, and he's gone to the Ocean Manor so he can meet up with Scotch against his own will and build even more animosity. What a fool.
:Silver: What was that? Are you laughing at me, Vilicus? Screw off!
:The Manipulator: Oh, no no no. [mimics Vilicus' voice] I was just commenting on how beautiful and precious you are, and that you shouldn't be stressing yourself out like that. It'll sour your performance.
The Devil's mask giggles by the mimicry while the Echeno really doesn't look impressed at all. But there was something impressive alright- deep underneath Silver's well, there's a secret chamber, and someone's stuffed down there. Stuffed with a radio playing Rage Against the Machine, a bunch of spare cornbread, and a little TV. There was also a miniature Electric Eye camera watching him.
:Electric Eye: Soon, Kýrios, we'll try to help you escape your little peril. The teleportation coordinates were a bit off, so I ended up trapping you inside that miniature little chamber by complete accident. But we have to keep your location a secret, or my sabotage plan against Mallory and the authorities will be a complete disaster. Have no worries though! You'll see Zodiez again fairly soon.
:Kýrios: Effin' Mallory. Euuuugh.
:Electric Eye: In due time, I think the sunshine and rainbows will be dissipating for the Zins. I think you'll be interested in seeing how that plays out, my lord.
:Ms. Replicate: Who are you talking to?
:Electric Eye: Mother! I mean, Ms. Replicate! You're not my mother!
:Ms. Replicate: Hunjaaaaaaaaan!
:Electric Eye: Just a stranger, Ms. Replicate! Wait, what're you-- I'll be back!
Kýrios' camera feed and audio feed cut off. The lord sighs, eating his 550th slice of cornbread while watching MTV. Did you know that MTV is actually still good in this universe?
:Kýrios: Revenge. See it, shall I. Nyeh heh heeehhh!
====Chapter Ten: Choke====
:11:00 A.M. · SUNDAY July 24th, ZXE-220
:Electolympics Stadium, New Naxaz City
The next Sunday has finally come, meaning the Electolympics have begun. Kýrios remains nowhere to be seen, but all four candidates are present on a huge podium together, with Zodiez anxiously watching from her throne. Who was going to join her as the satellite's lord? Would it be Mallory, Valerie, Gonzalo, or the Supertzar? Zodiez cried into the palms of her hands, only recognizing one good option out of the four.
:Zodiez: Ladies and, gentlemen. [sighs] Welcome to the Third Electolympics.
The stadium audience claps hard in great anticipation, with all three guests bowing. Valerie admittedly feels a bit nervous, having a strong hatred for all three of these people and not wanting to lose to any one of them.
:Zodiez: Like with the previous two Electolympics events, there will only be one winner, and each challenger has to try and succeed in fourteen different sports over the fourteen following days, with one sport done per day. The person with the highest amount of accumulated points will seize the role as the satellite's lord. There will also be campaign speeches from these competitors held every two days, which contribute to the amount of points they gain.
Some of the audience members looked really confused, making Zodiez swallow her breath and twitch her fingers nervously.
:Zodiez: Look, I know this sounds incredibly dumb to the youngest generation of folks down on the bleachers, but, this is how it was from the beginning, I think. And only the lord can change that, and we're kinda trying to get one right now.
:Valerie: Don't worry, when I manage to seize the throne for myself, I'm gonna change up how everything works in these parts! These will be the last Electolympics!
:Mallory: Hey sweetheart, don't get your hopes up too high. [smirks] You don't know what I'm capable of, so I think it's a bit too early for you to be making such bold claims.
:Valerie: I may not know enough about what you can do, but I'm still gonna try my hardest. Zip your lip for me, will you?
:Gonzalo: Do you two really think you stand a chance against me, the Great Gonzalo? Heh heh heh. You fools wish you had anything close to my level of awesomeness.
Gonzalo secretly injects himself in the elbow with a drug, trying to make it look as hidden as possible.
:Gonzalo: One of you is a sibling to an ugly transvestite, and the other is a highway accident that shouldn't have become famous.
:Valerie: Let's agree on one thing, Mallory. Let's make sure we get Gonzalo eliminated first.
:Mallory: Sounds like a plan, I've been getting tired of his shizzlefrizz. [folds her arms] This is a compromise I'm willing to make with you.
:Gonzalo: Hey, are you two being racist against me over there? I don't appreciate it!
The Razorback Supertzar smirks, dancing rapidly in place and keeping herself concentrated on the rhythm.
:Razorback Supertzar: You three haven't even considered that I could win this little competition! When I get my hands on the throne, I'm going to bring an optimistic and energetic landscape to the satellite. Everyone will become part of my empire of dancing!
:Mallory: You don't mind if we get rid of her too, right Val?
:Valerie: Yeah, yeah. Let's be real, I think you're the only worthy competition here.
:Razorback Supertzar: You're really underestimating the power of my dancing! Does this count as elderly abuse?
:Mallory: I have a feeling way too many people on this satellite get offended over absolutely nothing. [shakes her head] It'd be a different thing if we were actually being mean to them, but we're not. Have the people on the satellite always been this way?
:Valerie: Mhmmm.
:Zodiez: Alright, let's cut the chit-chat now. Introduce yourselves to the audience, everyone. Then the Leper Messiah will give out his speech and all that, good luck, everyone. I'm going to be watching, out of fear.
Gonzalo excitedly takes the microphone before Valerie can, ready to introduce himself.
:Gonzalo: I'm the Great Gonzalo, as all of you should know by this point! Hah, hah hah hah! [bows] As you already know, I'm the magnificent owner of the satellite-wide city bank, and your money's safe with me! Just a reminder to everyone that we're going to reach an economic crisis, and I'm willing to help out if people flock to the bank before the year ends! You'd rather not have your money left to burn, right?
There is no clapping or any kind of empathetic greeting from the audience. You can see Dusty stand up from his seat though, causing Keil to tip her popcorn over.
:Dusty: Boo, you suck!
:Gonzalo: Well you've only got one chance, and it's too good to miss! Place your investments in me, and count on the legend of El Dorado finally becoming a reality! Streets of gold! A ship of gold! You've got one last chance to try!
:Dusty: Umm. [leans to Keil] This is a load of barnacles.
:Gonzalo: I heard that, you swine!
Dusty looks intimidated as hell, slumping down in his seat. Poor kid.
:Gonzalo: Tch, well, I hope you'll all learn what jeopardy the economy will soon slump into later!
Gonzalo angrily hops off the platform. The Razorback Supertzar takes his place next.
:Razorback Supertzar: Never mind the legend of El Dorado being an obvious hoax, here's a special reminder that I'm here to help everyone dance and waltz their sorrows away! Hehehe! [giggles] When I start partaking in the events related to the Electolympics, I hope you're all watching and learning something from me!
The audience wasn't particularly receptive to the Supertzar either, but there was plenty more clapping. It's more because she's more unknown compared to Gonzalo, who is recognized universally as a bastard.
:Razorback Supertzar: Hopefully within days' time, many of you will be swooning for me and being in favor of me over the rest! Would you really like to invest your money in that scumbag named Gonzalo?
:Gonzalo: That's rac-
:Razorback Supertzar: Look, no matter who or what you look like, you're not exempt from being criticized for anything beyond your physical appearance, which shouldn't even matter in the grand scheme of things. Nobody's falling for that crap anymore, Gonzalo.
There was a huge round of applause, just for that.
:Gonzalo: T-That's hypocritical, you just asked if, Val and Mal's comments counted as... fudge, you have a point.
:Razorback Supertzar: Alright everyone, wish me luck! I'm gonna show you all that I'm really more than just a big ol' pile of them bones.
The Supertzar steps off the podium, with Valerie taking the mic and taking a deep breath.
:Valerie: Hey you lovely folk, how are you all doing tonight?
There was a much more tremendous amount of applause for Valerie. As the satellite's most well-known celebrity, there would obviously be a lot of people applauding for her. Those who didn't were mostly just people in Mallorism-related outfits, but a small handful of them clapped too. Most notably Mallory herself and Cody.
:Valerie: I know that between the hundreds of thousands of you out in the audience that everything's been very messy and difficult to understand lately, and I'm really apologetic about that. But never fear! Valerie Heartgold is here and she's going to fix as much of this disaster as she possibly can if she takes the throne! Who's with me!
The audience again gave her a big round of applause.
:Valerie: Come on everyone! Sing my name! Valerie! Valerie! V-A-L-E-R-I-E!
:Audience: VALERIE! VALERIE! V-A-L-E-R-I-E! VALERIE! VALERIE! V-A-L-E-R-I-E!
:Valerie: Alright! [flashes a smile] Love you all, I'm gonna do what I can to bring these tyrants down!
:Audience: VALERIE!!
Valerie backflips off the podium as the cheering for her continues. She flashes a grin to Mallory as she passes by her.
:Mallory: Looks like I'm up, heh.
Mallory takes the podium, grabbing the mic. Like with Valerie, there was a lot of excitement building in the crowd just from seeing this Zin take the podium. The satellite's thoughts on Mallory changed significantly over the past few months.
:Mallory: Hey everyone, I understand too that everything on the satellite's been kind of going crappy lately, but I swear that if I were to take the mantle as your ruler, I'd try my hardest to govern you all fair and square. [grins] Now, I'm not sure where Kýrios disappeared to, but I'm willing to govern you all in his steed. If I were to be elected, expect to see a lot of changes for the better.
Mallory spreads her arms out.
:Mallory: Something I'm going to strive for is the restoration of your privacy. I know what a lot of you lower-class people have gone through, and I'm going to run the satellite with a lower-class mindset in mind. That's more my style than that pop star drama queen that was just on the stage. I'm going to save you all from the grave the satellite's digging itself into. That's all I really wanna say. Vote for me, if you want!
Mallory sweetly smiles and leaves the stage. The round of applause for Mallory was nearly as strong as the applause that Valerie received- they both got much better reception the Supertzar and especially Gonzalo, but it was hard to tell who was liked more.
:Valerie: May the best woman win, Mallory.
:Mallory: Heh. You too.
Mallory walks past Valerie, sitting with her assistants, picking up Kispel and placing him on her lap.
:Kispel: You bring a great personality to the audience, God. [kisses her cheek] Mmm.
:Mallory: Not that hard when I've convinced as many people as I could with my admittedly sweet philosophies.
The Leper Messiah sighs, getting up as he takes himself over to the mic.
:Leper Messiah: Greetings, everyone. Here's a small speech before we move to the first sport today, the thousand-meter run. All four of the competitors tonight will be trying their hardest to win both your hearts and your trust, but try to think about who matters more to you. Do you trust Valerie simply because you know her more, or do you trust Mallory simply because you believe her ambitions are more important. Leave Gonzalo and the Supertzar out of the equation, they don't matter and there's no way they're going to receive as much support as either Valerie or Mallory.
The Messiah takes a deep breath, bending down to have his head be on level with the mic.
:Leper Messiah: Personally, I'm going to hand my support over to Mallory, but I want you all to think about what they each offer to the table over the next few days. Basically, I'm saying feel free to step out of your comfort zone for the Electolympics.
The Messiah bows as the audience claps a bit for him.
:Leper Messiah: That's all. Thanks.
He goes off to use the bathroom, trapping himself in a stall.
:Leper Messiah: Damn it, that Kispel kid ruined my speech mood, I didn't even use the term "God" as I should've, now that little zoinker's gonna kill me.
Back with Mallory and the others (Mania, Beck, Ferris, and Kispel), Mallory was holding her arms around them, grinning.
:Mallory: Just two more weeks to go before I get to deal all the damage I really wanna do.
:Kispel: O Great One, what do you mean by "damage"?
:Mallory: Oh, I meant that I plan on taking down Silver as soon as the chance surfaces, then the satellite may live in harmony!
Mallory snickers.
:Mallory: As much harmony as it can possibly absorb from my upcoming reign, that is.
:8:29 A.M. · MONDAY July 25th, ZXE-220
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
Silver is shown sitting on a chair in the living room of his underground home, looking exhausted as Vilicus hangs near him on a chair of his own. Silver's chair appeared to, cosmetically, be on fire, to reflect his pissy attitude.
:Silver: So you're going to leave now, Vilicus?
:Vilicus: Oh yes, I'm going to leave within the next five minutes. But do not worry too much about how much worse things are becoming for you, because you now have a remedy for your depression and anxieties. [smiles] You know the cocaine and heroin you have stored away?
:Silver: Yeah, considering how much Junkhead handed me.
:Vilicus: Those should help you through trying times, let the substances drown your sorrows and help fix you up. You will not feel regretful. The drugs are the one thing that cannot turn against you.
:Silver: Alright. [scratches his head] Why did Scotch build that anti-drug bracelet, then?
Vilicus smirks, leaning back deviously in his seat.
:Vilicus: He is likely frightened of you, Silver. He likely believes that restraining you from drugs is vital to keep you doing what you're doing. Because with the drugs, you become more rebellious. That's why I told you to get rid of it.
:Silver: You...? But this strange ghost-like entity told me to.
:Vilicus: Oh, my mistake, I haven't been awake for very long. Woo, hoo hoo hoo!
Silver yawns, starting to calm his nerves. He was feeling angry over the past few days, but now knowing he has an escape plan from this pain, he feels relief begin to settle in.
:Silver: Thanks for the help.
:Vilicus: No problem, if you wish to contact me, you can do so on Risquord. Replies may be slow though, I'm not very used to human technology and the like. You know?
:Silver: Sometimes I hardly feel human myself, so it's not a big deal. I don't know why this phone doesn't have a headphone jack, you feel like you'd expect that with phones of this size.
:Vilicus: Corporate bullcrap, that's all, yeah.
Vilicus gets up, straightening out his clothes.
:Vilicus: Now before I leave you alone, Silver Zin, there's something that I feel a desire to tell you about. [smiles sweetly] You can take this following advice with a grain of salt, but I think there's someone else that really loves you.
:Silver: What?
:Vilicus: You're so naïve and oblivious to even the most obvious things, aren't you.
:Silver: I thought plenty of people loved me.
:Vilicus: I mean, you're not wrong, Silver Zin. But would you believe me if I told you that someone loved you just as much as Pierce Hazel does, if not harder?
:Silver: What do you mean?
Vilicus smirks, placing his two index fingers together and moving them in the shape of a heart, forming a portal.
:Silver: What's this?
Ms. Replicate is shown dead asleep on her bed, cuddling up on a huge pillow while trapped under a huge pink-and-white patterned blanket. She's fidgeting on the bed, turning around.
:Silver: What's Ms. Replicate got to do with this!? Are you just playing the random guessing game with me?
:Vilicus: I know Ms. Replicate really well for reasons I cannot tell you right now. [smirks a little] I'm just telling you this for your own good. She is very clearly craving you, longing for you to be where she is, and I think it wouldn't hurt if you talked to her a bit. I think it might be beneficial for you if you talked to her and made a friend out of her, at least.
:Silver: I don't know, she's caused me a lot of trouble before.
:Vilicus: Mmm, but has she ever meant any ill will particularly to you, Silver? I think it's worth giving some things a chance, even if they don't sound like they'd be good ideas to most. I'm not saying like, try being a disgusting or horrible person for a change, but just try out new things and see where they take you, you and her would benefit off of you two trying.
:Silver: You're right about that at least. [looks away] I guess I can try? I'm not sure.
:Vilicus: That's more like the Silver I know, heh.
Vilicus walks to the exit.
:Vilicus: Try out something with Ms. Replicate, see you later, Silver Zin. I'm gonna be there for you whether you would like me to or not, you don't have much of a choice if you wanna get somewhere.
Vilicus leaves Silver's home. Silver hears the toilet flush and sink run, and then sees Pierce walk to him.
:Pierce: ...How'd it go?
:Silver: I don't really know what to make out of a lot of this crap. I've only been listening to him because he actually seems to be patient with me and seems to care about me, and, uggh. [covers his head] I'm such a mess!
Pierce pats Silver's back, hugging him.
:Pierce: Do you want to go on a walk or something to cool yourself off?
:Silver: I don't mind, I like the idea.
:Pierce: Alright, let's go. Where do you want to go?
:Silver: I'm going to go visit Junkhead again, but I want you to come with me. [gets up] I want to get some answers and decide what I want to do with myself. With so much of the world against me, what else can I do?
:Pierce: I'm willing to go with you honey, but I want you to be careful. I don't want you to hurt yourself just because everyone else seems to not be willing to give you a chance.
:Silver: I'll try.
Silver pulls out a spoon, placing wet heroin tar into a spoon and heating it up, attempting to suck up the smoke through a straw. Pierce interrupts the moment after a couple of seconds, knocking Silver's spoon away.
:Pierce: Come on, let's not do that crap until we're with Junkhead. I don't want you to be impaired before we make it there.
Silver whimpers a bit, before nodding.
:Silver: A-Aight.
Silver and Pierce walk outside. In an instant screen switch, they're shown parking their space pod in Sector 3, near some shady alleyways. Silver jumps out of the space pod with Pierce following suit, now in a wheelchair like he's usually in.
:Silver: Junkhead's down this way.
:Pierce: Be careful, okay? I'm with you.
Silver nods.
:Silver: Yeah. It's gonna be fine, I just need to get my head on straight.
Silver walks into the shady alleyways, with Pierce following him in.
::
::
:1:32 P.M. · TUESDAY July 26th, ZXE-220
:C.O.T.S. Laboratories, Hospital Wing
Ms. Replicate is shown still hard at work with her Chimera Hazel project, shown stitching up the body. Noise and Yama were reading magazines, Abraham was hooking himself up with an iPod (still looking really bored), and Love-Love was handling a patient in another room. She then gets a text message on her phone.
:Ms. Replicate: Knock it off, Az.
When she picks up her phone though, her eyes widen a bit. She's gotten a message from Vilicus- she scratches her head, trying to figure out who this person is.
:Vilicus [typing]: hey you, i was wondering if silver ever came around
:Ms. Replicate [typing]: no but i really wish he dropped by
:Vilicus [typing]: i was wondering if you'd be interested in talking to him and getting to know him better, because i can easily hook you two up. you'd go together better than peanut butter and jelly
:Ms. Replicate [typing]: who are you??
:Vilicus [typing]: my name's vilicus, i used to be one of your doctors before changing my name because my old name was stupid. i don't even remember my old name lmao. anyway you can trust me to help out
Ms. Replicate scratches her head before turning her head to her girls.
:Ms. Replicate: Do any of you know who or what a Vilicus is?
:Noise: He sounds like the type of person that'd be a solicitor. But no, I've never heard of him.
:Yama: Not me, sorry Ms. Replicate.
:Ms. Replicate: Interesting.
Ms. Replicate starts typing into her phone again.
:Ms. Replicate [typing]: alright vilicus, i'm ms. replicate, from the hospital wing. do you think my selfie is spicy or what?
:Vilicus [typing]: sure you look very nice
:Vilicus [typing]: anyway whenever the moment is convenient, i can get you hooked up with silver and then you can know each other better. i think you'll really like what happens next
:Ms. Replicate [typing]: okay! call me up if you need me to say crap fam, i'm working on a secret project
:Vilicus [typing]: i know,,,
:Ms. Replicate [typing]: how could you know??
Vilicus stops texting her after that. That left Ms. Replicate totally confused, but she looks happy nonetheless because she was finally going to be able to know Silver better.
:Ms. Replicate: Alright gals, we're still going to place our highest priorities into finishing the Chimera project, but I'd like to make it clear that once we're at a stopping point, I'd like to bring over Silver Zin!
:Noise: ...Huh? I thought you were done with trying to bring him over.
:Ms. Replicate: One of the doctors that I apparently used to work with knows a fair bit about me, and he told me that he knew a way to bring Silver and I together! I'm back at my old tricks again!
:Noise: Ohh, no.
:Yama: Another doctor...? Ms. Replicate, are you sure our privacy is secure enough? We should be the only people aware of you having an interest in Silver and all that.
:Ms. Replicate: I tried to ask him who he was, but he hasn't responded to me yet for some reason. Oh well, well, let's try to get this body complete as soon as we can, so it can start giving birth to sentient nuclear warheads!
:Noise: Aaaaaaand she's lost it. [sighs] Can you at least ask him if I can hang out with him for a few hours if you bring Silver along? I don't have anyone to nerd out about Slipknot to.
:Ms. Replicate: Oh no, you know how things are with me. Silver's all mine!
Ms. Replicate lets out a villainous cackle, a wide grin stretching across her face as she starts working much faster on Chimera's body. Abraham sighs, looking at the spider crawling up his right arm.
:Abraham: You're the only pure lifeform in this room, little spider.
:4:54 P.M. · WEDNESDAY July 27th, ZXE-220
:Junkhead's Hideout, Sector 3
Silver's taken the time to chill out at Junkhead's hideout. Though Silver's already spent some time here before, this is the first time we get to take a look at it for ourselves. It's a candle-lit place with demons boys and girls practically everywhere, resting on termite-eaten couches and really going all out with the drugs and substances. It's really not a place you'd consider safe unless you were specially invited there by Junkhead, and Silver knew he was always welcome. Though Pierce has managed to stay clean, as he knows better for himself, Silver has pretty much completely lost it. Completely overwhelmed, Silver's been overdoing substances he's not had much experience with and he's almost become someone else in the process.
:Junkhead: Ya alright there, motherzoinker? Ya've been pretty quiet lately, and it's makin' me feel like crap.
:Silver: I'm fine, I'm just, kinda gone.
:Junkhead: Oh I feel ya, the authorities on the satellite kinda suck, so I understand why ya're feelin' those blues. [sits with him] Ya don't feel too bad over 'ere though, right?
:Silver: I'm fine being here sweetheart, it feels nice to have a haven where I can feel free to be myself.
Silver snuggles up to Junkhead's side, with Pierce keeping his eye firmly on the two of them from a seat across from them. Pierce was contemplating getting in his wheelchair and taking Silver out of there, but he didn't want to risk making his loved one feel miserable back at home.
:Junkhead: I'm glad ya feel at home 'ere, Silv, couldn't ask much more from ya. [rubs his hair] Things're gonna be alright though, life can be kinda crappy at the moment but ya can pull through. Just a bit of advice, though.
Junkhead turns his head to him.
:Junkhead: Don't get too crazy on the substances, man. They've helped this hardcore depressive loser get through life, but they've had wild consequences on many n', as much as I hate to admit it, they're illegal for a reason. This isn't just a drug thing, have too much of anythin' and it'll start eating at you like a parasite.
:Silver: Yeah, I'll try to monitor myself a bit, I'm just glad I found out about the cocaine and the heroin and crap otherwise I wouldn't be feeling so much clarity in my head right now.
Silver wraps his arms around Junkhead's stomach, making him lusciously beam down at the Zin.
:Silver: I wouldn't have met you without meeting up with Vilicus, whoever that motherzoinker is, but I really do feel like I have an ally in you. [smiles] Thanks Junkie.
:Junkhead: Heh, no prob. I haven't met anyone down to earth like yaself in ages, like hot damn. I've known all these people since zoinkin' grade school, with maybe two exceptions. Good to have some new blood in the house.
Junkhead then flinches a little.
:Junkhead: Wait a min, did ya say... Vilicus?
:Silver: Yeah, I met Vilicus last week, and he's why I came out here to begin with. Why?
:Junkhead: Aye, that might've been the rando motherzoinker that's told me to pick ya up n' take you home. [looks down] Whoops, I think ya've mighta fallen into a trap 'ere. Lemme tell ya somethin', I don't know much about Vilicus myself, but I don't think he means any good. So I'm gonna recommend ya talk to a special friend o' mine.
:Silver: I'm listening.
:Junkhead: His name's Agantuk. He's a Dearthbringer or some crap like that, he has a lot of really strange memories n' crap goin' on in his big brain, and he knows some offputtin' crap 'bout Vilicus. He hasn't told me what, 'cuz I kinda gossip admittedly, so I don't have any dirt to dig up on that zoinker. But I do know that he has a bunch of random contacts.
:Silver: That's absolutely not a name I've heard before.
:Junkhead: It don't matter really, but I think it'd be worth talkin' to him. He knows a lot of crap 'bout the past, and his psychic crap can cast out a lotta memories. I'm not saying he's the solution to everything, he ain't no RPG McGuffin, but he's knowledgeable n' I think he can help ya out with a few things. Trouble is, I'm a forgetful bastard, n' he hangs out in some random lobby room usually by himself.
Silver nods, leaning back against the couch as he snuggles up on Junkhead's side.
:Silver: I'll try and see if I can figure out how to find him, because he sounds promising. But, there's some things that Vilicus told me that I've had concerns about for a while now, and he might be telling the truth with a few of them?
:Junkhead: Like what? Let's see what I can do to help ya out.
:Silver: Uhhh, so, according to Vilicus, drugs are gonna keep me from going insane, this Ms. Replicate lady actually loves me, and that Mallory's followers are after me. Can any of this be true?
:Junkhead: Hmm, I'm not really all that smart, mind ya, but...
Junkhead starts smoking some heroin, taking a deep breath.
:Junkhead: Don't ever over-do the drugs. They can maybe be helpful if you monitor yourself and have them in limited supply, never have too much in a place you can easily reach, and always watch for changes in your behavior. You really don't wanna begin dealing with withdrawal, Silv.
:Silver: I'm willing to try and slow that stuff down, yeah, but what about the other two things?
:Junkhead: Ermmm, well, I don't know much 'bout your sister except she's real hot crap, sorry 'bout that, but maybe it'd surprise ya if I told ya that I worked for that cold woman once upon a time. I did a bunch of drug-testing and helped get rid of really bad crap that's way worse than the drugs everyone keeps giving crap to. I was a guinea pig for drug testing n' crap, and I withstood anything they threw at me. I also helped her assistant Noise make some cures for some addictions, but they're mostly programs and not instant remedies.
Junkhead spits out his heroin.
:Junkhead: But I can tell ya, Ms. Replicate likes to attach to anything that she grows a desire for, and she had a desire for me once upon a time. [cackles] I denied her 'cuz she didn't want to really resort to my lifestyle, which is fine and reasonable, but I ended up being shut out of her life in the process. So, if she loves ya, she probably wants to see ya. That's just my two cents though, and they don't mean much.
:Silver: I think you've been really helpful to me, Junkie, so I'm not devaluing any of the help you've been trying to give me lately. [kisses his cheek] I'm gonna try to see what I can do about the Replicate thing.
:Junkhead: Just be careful, she's not gonna like it if she finds out that you're a helpless addict. I recommend trying to clean yourself up before you meet her, and leave all traces of that crap behind.
:Silver: Thank you, the advice means a lot.
Pierce smiles as he watches them bond, leaning back comfortably in his seat.
:Pierce: I know I've been quiet, but it's really nice seeing you two bond, I've always had an agenda against drug addicts because I swore they were just a bad influence on the population, but I guess it really helps to take a different perspective every now and then.
:Junkhead: Aye, I wasn't so hot on ya at first Pierce, but ya've been pretty good for a clean fella. I should come 'round sometime and visit, ya two are lovely zoinkers n' I'd love to just throw a more casual party. Depends on how willing my girlfriend's gonna let me go though, she really gets naaaaaaaasty if I leave for way too long.
:Silver: You have a girlfriend?
:Junkhead: Aye, yeah I do, her name's Astaroth. She ain't 'ere at the moment, but she's really aggressive n' like to start up a lotta crap. I haven't had very good luck with partners, if you couldn't guess. They say all the boys are pretty bad, but there are some really crappy women out there too. I've got no agenda against either though, it's something I just notice sometimes with this socie!
:Silver: It's alright, we can make it out of here, it's gonna be fine. You should probably consider letting go of her though, holding onto people you don't like just because you don't want to disappoint them will probably lead you down a worse road.
:Junkhead: That is good advice, n' I'll definitely consider it 'cuz my relationship with Astaroth is going nowhere. Here's a spoiler, I really don't want kids!
:Pierce: Me neither, that'd be awful.
:Junkhead: You know how easy it would be for the cops to bust this hideout if I had kids needing freakin' heroin of all things? I ain't ready to take on that type of responsibility!
Silver laughs, but the laughing gets cut off when, funnily enough, the cops do show up! They break open the doors, scaring the crap out of Junkhead, but he gets really pissed off when he sees Scotch somehow with them.
:Junkhead: Oh effin' hell, how?
:Scotch: This is the Satellite 15 Military! Put your hands up in the air, and stand straight up, or someone here is going to get hurt!
:Officer #1: We are going to raid this place of all illegal drugs and substances. Do not make any attempts to hide, keep, or destroy evidence. You will all be leaving single file straight for prison!
:Officer #2: Who owns this place? They will be met with strong penalty.
:Junkhead: Hey fudgefaces, get outta my house, what business is it of yours to raid this place that's waaaaaaaaaaay out of the way of civilization and steal what ain't yours? This is a consensual place!
:Officer #1: Rhett Reed, you are once more under arrest for illegal possession of cocaine, marijuana, heroin, absinthe, and methamphetamine.
:Junkhead: This freakin' blows!
Silver and Pierce look at each other. Clearly they were caught up in a mix, but how did the police know NOW was the time to expose them being at Junkhead's place? What gives?
:Scotch: Silver Zin, I cannot believe you'd stoop so low, after I handed you an anti-drug bracelet and helped you try to abstain from this crap, this is what you wind up doing? For shame, and I thought my grudge against you was maybe a bit heavier than it should have been.
:Silver: Awww, sweetheart, you don't have to be so mean to me.
Silver leaps up, picking up his boyfriend and jumping on a shelf while some of the demons in the room get handcuffed with magical shackles.
:Silver: Listen to me Scotch, I don't care what you think about me, and I especially don't care about what you think about what I do! All I'm trying to do is relax, and here you are ruining things for me again!
:Pierce: What danger are they posing to each other here? I'm sober, and I can tell you that I've seen you act way worse under the influence under these same drugs. Remember when you beat your wife?
Scotch's eyes widen a little. We see a flashback of Scotch and Oshelia fighting in a kitchen with broken ends of absinthe bottles, and just how awful Oshelia looked, glass shards lodged deep in her forehead.
:Scotch: I remember, that was horrible. I've already regretted that, Pierce.
Scotch lifts up a rifle, pointing it in their direction.
:Scotch: The reason why I support these drug raids is because I don't want that thing to happen to anyone else. I've lived through that trauma, and I am going to make sure history doesn't repeat itself. And screw you for making me remember that!
Scotch attempts to pull the trigger, but he looks a little hesitant to do so. Junkhead takes some deep breaths, taking a bit of time to tickle a lady officer's chin.
:Junkhead: This is really silly, guys. There's no harm being done here. If there's someone being an abusive piece of crap over here, I knock 'em out and jail 'em in an underground prison. I keep it clean here.
:Officer #2: It's still against the law, Junkhead, so we're going to clean this place out. What are you waiting for, Scotch?
:Scotch: I don't know.
Scotch attempts to squeeze the trigger, closing his eyes to finally do it. But he's many seconds too late, as many of the officers ran outside to chase down Silver and Pierce, who got a really nice headstart.
:Scotch: Ah what the hell, my timing wouldn't have been so bad if Pierce didn't make me remember that@
:Officer #2: We'll chase down the rest, just take Junkhead to prison.
:Junkhead: Goodbye house, this is takeaway number twenty-eight! Smooch!
As Scotch begins to drag Junkhead away, Silver and Pierce are fleeing the authorities that are now on their chase. They were now out in the actual city of Matchon, trying to run away as fast as they possibly can.
:Silver: This is gonna be real tough, you ready, Pierce? We're gonna split up and try to get away.
:Pierce: You sure?
:Silver: I'd rather not have you caught up in the middle of this crap, you were sober and I want you to go home and wait for me. I'll try to be there tonight, I hope.
:Pierce: Alright, I love you Silver, stay safe.
:Silver: I'll try!
Both boyfriends split ways, with Pierce running to take a space pod while Silver runs down an alleyway, chased by the majority of the cops now.
:Silver: This is gonna be close.
Silver dashes far away, as fast as he can.
::
::
Silver, absolutely tired of the cops' bullcrap, raids a closed convenience store of its spicy chips because he can't help himself and feels petty. You can see it in his facial expression, he looks pissed. However, the cops caught up to him, and made it through the ceiling.
:Silver: Rats!
:Officer #1: Take him down, you two! Zonas and the Nature Warrior, let's go!
Immediately, the Nature Warrior and Zonas jump down. Zonas looks a little reluctant, but the Nature Warrior didn't hold anything back; you can hear her heart beat.
:Zonas: Sorry Silver, we have to do our job, and uh, say hi to Pierce for me, alright?
:Nature Warrior: This is for killing my motivation, killing my reputation, and for killing the baby I didn't even want in the first place! I'm gonna rip you apart after all the crap you've put me through!
:Silver: God damn it, you two.
Silver leans back, ready to defend himself once more.
::
::
The Nature Warrior struggles to get up, hissing at Silver Zin as she gets a good look at his eyes.
:Nature Warrior: Why did I lose to you again, god damn it.
She falls unconscious on the floor, overwhelmed by Silver's prowess, but he still finds himself getting chained up and shackled. The two were just used as a distraction to get Silver chained in.
:Officer #2: We were just going to really hurt you before bringing you to prison, but I think the fact we have you up in shackles at all is enough. Consider yourself lucky, Silver.
:Silver: Let me go--!
:Officer #2: Another time, perhaps.
As the officers walk out of the store, with Silver flinching and cursing, the Manipulator is shown laughing from a nice height, having watched those events unfold.
:The Manipulator: That didn't really go as I planned, but I have just the perfect scheme to help him get out of prison.
:The Devil's Mask: Didn't you intentionally try to bring him to prison??
:The Manipulator: No worries, I planned for something like this. I've been very... nauuuughty.
:11:58 A.M. · THURSDAY July 28th, ZXE-220
:Undersea Passage, Sector 2
Deep undersea, Quade and the Methademic were walking way underground in search of the zodiac stones. Remember them? Neither do I. They apparently managed to nab two in the midst of all the confusion, and are looking for the one in Sector 2.
:Quade: Alright, my man, we've got a handful more stones to collect. We only need to find five more now before Mallory can use the stones to fulfill her dreams and do what she really wants to do.
:Methademic: Mmm. [snorts] Good. We're progressing.
:Quade: This is really easy, surprisingly. [grins] The Electolympics are happening again as part of a scam that Mallory set up to distract all the satellite's civilians, simply by killing off Kýrios. Nobody has any good footage of her, either, so nobody can prove it's her. And all the authorities are too distracted with Silver.
:Methademic: Gee, our future lord Mallory sure is smart. [snorts] We're gonna be the kings in no time.
:Quade: Yep! It won't be long before Mallory finally gets her hands on the throne, and when she finally does, everyone will have to bow down to her! There's no way things are gonna mess up for her at this rate.
:Methademic: I dunno, I'd exercise just a little bit of caution. [snorts] Things don't always go well for her.
:Quade: Look, even if things don't work out and she doesn't get the throne, she's still gonna have her hands on all of the zodiac stones and that's what's important. We're trusted with this task, Methy!
:Methademic: E-Even then. [snorts, coughing] There's some things that we can't always account for or see before us, so we need to really think wisely going forth.
:Quade: Gee, when you'd get so thoughtful and introspective?
:Methademic: I just keep having sinking feelings.
Both Quade and the Methademic keep walking through the underwater glass tunnel, looking for what would be the eighth zodiac stone- if they snatch this stone, they'd only have to look in the Admin Sector, Sector 1, Sector 5, and Sector 6 for the rest. The race is on!
:Quade: Was that an intentional pun, Methademic? Because I don't appreciate you having sinking feelings while we're in a dry tunnel deep underwater. You expect all that water to start cascading right in?
:Methademic: No no, I do not.
:Quade: Then let's just concentrate on what Mallory wanted us to do, steal the stones! It's really promising that we've been getting this strange anonymous help from someone else. I like it!
:Methademic: Someone else? [snorts] Who?
:Quade: They've never told me their name.
Vilicus watches them from outside the glass tunnel, his hands firmly down on the glass.
:Vilicus: Excellent.
Vilicus snickers, the magic from the mask letting him breathe underwater and under so much pressure.
:Vilicus: Nobody has come to realize yet that I'm the reason why everyone's going to sink so goddamn low, I've messaged all the people I could to make all these events tie together, I've got everyone revolving around me, there's absolutely no way any of this can mess up. Except if Kýrios were able to return, which I wouldn't bet on.
Vilicus sneers to himself, licking the glass.
:Vilicus: Some circumstances weren't exactly under my control, but now I've got Silver, Mallory, C.O.T.S., and all the authorities under my thumb. And all it took was some simple manipulation and sweet-talking! I'm so clever.
Vilicus crawls across the top of the tube, his androgynous partless body sprinting across the top of the tube, his nails grinding against the glass as he goes.
:Vilicus: They're all like chessmen, but if I could bend the rules and bend them over to my will. It's incredible.
:???: I don't think you're going to be left in that position for long, Vilicus.
:Vilicus: Who said that?
Vilicus turns his head around, where he finds himself face to face with someone in a diver suit.
:Vilicus: ...Who are you?
:???: My name shouldn't concern you, Vilicus. What should concern you is that I've been looking for you all this time and I'm going to stop this plague you've started upon the satellite. Stay down!
:Vilicus: What business is it of yours to try and take me down, fool? Do you even know who I am?
:???: You don't even recognize me, Vilicus? I think that's really alarming.
:Vilicus: I find it really difficult to believe that you would know who I am, travel all the way underwater just to find me, then confront me while I'm attempting to deal with some prey! I've said too much. Tell me your name!
:???: If you haven't guessed it yet, you can just call me the Holy Diver until you know.
The strange metal diver pulls out a strange machine, pressing a button on it that starts to activate some sort of vacuum.
:Vilicus: A v-vacuum? Don't be foolish!
But just as he says that, the Echeno disappears out of Vilicus' body, getting sucked into the little metal device. Vilicus gasps, starting to feel limp and strange.
:Vilicus: You cheater! I'm going to get to the bottom of this!
:Holy Diver: Run away from me, I'm going to keep chasing you down!
From under the tunnel, Quade and the Methademic glance up.
:Quade: What do you think those two are?
:Methademic: Forget it, let's go for the eighth stone while they're squabbling.
Quade and the Methademic rush through the tunnel while Vilicus and the Holy Diver clash.
:Holy Diver: Vilicus, you aren't going to get away with your bullcrap for much longer! Your reign of terror will come to a close! And stay the fudge out of my basement!
Vilicus gasps as he attempts to swim to shore, the Holy Diver on his trails. The plunge is only getting deeper!
:2:50 P.M. · FRIDAY July 29th, ZXE-220
:Valco Vortex
Back at the Valco Vortex, Syinara and a much taller-looking scarecrow figure were hanging out on a podium extending from the Valco Vortex. Syinara wasn't at the tournament, instead tending to a nice and big apple tree with her mother nearby. Her mother looked much like her, but with big tree-like limbs growing from her back.
:Syinara: ...So this is the apple tree I chose to grow with Silver! It's a Celtic welsh apple tree.
:Syinara's Mom: I love it, it's so precious!
:Syinara: Thank you. [blushes] This apple tree didn't take long to start growing thanks to the fantastic fertilizer we scarecrows use for our plants, but it looks so gorgeous because it's so rare. It's, it's so nice to just appreciate what little things life has to offer every now and then.
:Syinara's Mom: I'm glad you're taking time to make new friends, honey.
Syinara's mother rubs her daughter's cheek, making her smile.
:Syinara: Heh, yeah. We're gonna make this tree rise up way up high!
Syinara's mom smiles, watching the tree grow up by an inch.
:Syinara: I haven't gotten to talk to Silver a lot, but he seemed really happy to help me plant the seed. He helped me gather some nutrients, watered the tree, and always came up here every once in a while to watch it on that swinging bench. He hasn't come up here yet today, but I heard he's in prison, so he's asked Zonas to help in his stead.
:Syinara's Mom: Silver always seemed to be troubled, whenever you would talk about him on the phone. [sighs] I hope he's alright, he does seem like a really nice person.
:Syinara: He's strange, but I guess all my friends are strange, and that's what makes them so appealing to me.
:Syinara's Mom: When I met your father, he was a strange man. [smiles] But even though he's done some really strange things, like he'd always be angry around children and show that he's very dyslexic, he meant well and I was happy to have a child with him. And he loved you! Then, uh, he got set aflame and that was the only crucifixion the satellite cared about.
:Syinara: Why?
:Syinara's Mom: He ended up setting himself aflame while smoking a cigar? Then when he was found set aflame, some children dragged him over and nailed him to a giant wooden cross. Pretty creepy, but I just thought it was just them celebrating some strange holiday early.
:Syinara: Well, that's kinda fucked.
:Syinara's Mom: Honey!
:Syinara: Sorry Mom, I've become pretty vulgar since last time we've been together. A lot of bad things have been going on in my lifetime, and I've adapted that language to my vocabulary as like, words I can use to express my stress though. Does that make sense?
:Syinara's Mom: It's alright, I really hate trying to pretend I don't swear from you anyway.
Both of them laugh, hugging each other, Syinara climbing a branch to give her mother a nice, familial hug.
:Syinara's Mom: I love you.
:Syinara: I love you too. I'm sorry that I ran away from home to spend time with those two girls, and I'm even more sorry that I chose to not listen to your advice. [sits on her shoulder] Umm, you know Hene and June, right?
:Syinara's Mom: I faintly recall the names.
:Syinara: They were abusive to me, mom. I thought I was looking in the eyes of brilliant people, but before my eyes, they transformed and became monsters. They ripped my innocence straight from me, and ruined my perception of the world. And then Hene cheated on me for that reckless bastard.
:Syinara's Mom: Honey, it's okay. [kisses her cheek] Look, it was foolish of you to run away from home, but the past is the past, isn't it? And besides, they're long dead, I got Wick to take care of them.
:Syinara: You knew of this?
:Syinara's Mom: Oh honey, I had Valerie talk with me about you. [smiles] She told me everything you've told her, and I'm here to support you every step of the way. Alright? She just wanted to give me closure as to what happened.
:Syinara: Thank you.
:Syinara's Mom: Keep supporting your friends, alright? They're there for you in your dark times, or at least that's how it should be, and even if you lose them all, I'm here for you. But if you want to feel happier by helping someone else, I recommend trying to help out your girlfriend in any way you can.
:Syinara: You sure you don't need me to help you back home?
:Syinara's Mom: Honey, that's cute, but you know what I want? I want you to stay back here and stay with Valerie. She loves you and I can guarantee you that I have an image of her that she'd only like you to see.
She smiles, pulling out an image of Valerie sitting down in a chair next to a fireplace, sniffling and crying into her elbow. Real tears.
:Syinara's Mom: She cried while talking to me about what you've gone through. Please give her all the love and support you can, and maybe take a crack at a relationship with her. Yeah, you might have doubts after Hene and June, but, I think it's easy to see how much more Val has to you. She's not a dumb teen.
:Syinara: ...I'll consider it, thank you for coming here, Mom.
:Syinara's Mom: Of course! I'm here for you baby when you need help, alright? Just feel free to call me up any time, but in the meanwhile, take care of Silver and Valerie for me. I've got some plants to keep alive back home, and myself.
:Syinara: Alright. I hope to see you soon!
Syinara hops off her body.
:Syinara's Mom: Goodbye sweetheart, I love you!
Syinara's Mom goes back into the building, taking the elevator down. Syi smiles, looking down over the rest of Naxaz.
:Syinara: I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna be stronger, for not just my Mom, not just Valerie, or even Silver, but for myself. That's what they would all want out of me, I'm gonna take a bigger role! I'm gonna get back at Hene and June for all the terrible crap they've done to me by doing everything I can to be a better person!
Syinara chokes on her tears.
:Syinara: That was cheesy as hell, but it felt so good to say, damn it...!
:7:55 P.M. · SATURDAY July 30th, ZXE-220
:Naxaz Prison, New Naxaz City
Silver is shown, once again, stuck in prison. And he looked really irritated about it this time- and worse yet, the bars to the cage were actually fixed this time around, causing him to rattle them in pure frustration.
:Silver: Ahhh. Looks like I'm not breaking out of here any time soon.
:Junkhead: Heh, don't worry 'bout it Silver, I just gotta keep throwin' my limbs until they hit the gate switch. That's how I keep getting out of here, but they seem to keep moving the switch further away.
:Silver: I appreciate that you're making a valid effort to try and help me out here, but don't worry about it. Surely enough, someone will very conveniently come along and help me break out of here.
:Junkhead: What makes ya say that, motherzoinker?
As if to throw Junkhead off guard, they hear a loud sound behind them. They then see Yama Velvetrot, couching down and smiling as she lasers the window bars apart and reaches out for Silver's hand.
:Yama: C'mon Silver! We don't have much time to waste, Ms. Replicate's wanting you at her labs!
:Silver: Whoa, how'd you know I was stuck in here?
:Yama: Uhhh, Ms. Replicate somehow got ahold of the information that you were stuck in this particular prison. [laughs] I'm here to free Junkhead too, just because it's really convenient right now.
:Silver: Don't mind if I do!
:Junkhead: Thanks ya binch, I was wonderin' how long I'd be stuck in prison this time. Last time? A whole year! This time? It was supposed to be five. This might be the earliest I've escaped this place.
:Yama: Keep your voices down though, it's nighttime and there's plenty of people on the lookout for prison escapees. Please keep your voices down and just follow me to the labs! There's, some important stuff going on and Ms. Replicate wants you to be there for it. Alright?
Yama grabs Silver's hand, pulling him out, then she pulls out Junkhead. Junkhead kisses Yama's cheek in appreciation as he gets right back up.
:Junkhead: Awesome, real happy to get out of that stinkhole again. [grins toothily] I'm gonna go hide out somewhere else though, Silver, it was nice to see ya, I'm gonna go see if I can discover some info about this Vilicus person. I'm gonna try and see what I can do against 'em. Aighty?
:Silver: Alright mate, see you around.
:Yama: Probably a good idea if you went Junkhead, 'cuz the cops will definitely be on your trail and my boss doesn't want to see you ever again. Good luck, though!
:Junkhead: Heh, well, I'm just appreciative of you helping me get the fudge outta there. Now I'm gonna go screw off, stick some needles in, get high, and find some answers. Bye Silver, see ya around.
:Silver: See you around friend.
Junkhead shakes Silver's hand before pulling him in for a hug, kissing him square on the lips. Silver kisses him back, winking at him.
:Silver: Or should I say, see you around cutie? Heh heh heh.
:Junkhead: Alright!
Junkhead vanishes into the distance, rolling down a hill in a somersaulting formation. Yama looked baffled.
:Yama: Are you two boyfriends, because that's so gay.
:Silver: Nah not really, we always do that crap when we're high. I ain't right now though.
:Yama: Ohhh. [laughs quietly] Sorry, I always get so jumpy and happy because I've always wanted to date Noise, but she's never really wanted to talk to me about my feelings for her, and I don't know why.
:Silver: Maybe she's not ready yet, or she has some real thick skin.
:Yama: She does have several layers of skin over some parts of her body.
:Silver: Heh, I think you misunderstood what I meant.
Silver hooks an arm around her elbow.
:Silver: She just might be super introverted and she might find it hard to talk about feelings like those. You just gotta let her have some space and take some time and all that.
:Yama: It just feels like it's taking forever to get somewhere with my feelings for her.
:Silver: Well, don't give up! The opportunity will rise eventually. I say this as someone who got into a relationship really quickly, but man giving up just ain't gonna cut it! [does a thumbs up] You've got this! When there's a moment where you and Noise can have a private chat, you can talk to her about those feelings.
:Yama: You're right Silver, I won't give up!
Some spotlights begin to turn on in the area.
:Yama: Oh yeah, we should stay quiet, heh heh. [takes his hand] C'mon, if we take it slow, we're going to be just fine. Alright?
:Silver: Alright. Let's go.
::
::
Silver and Yama make it back to the C.O.T.S. Laboratories, where Ms. Replicate was waiting for them on a bench.
:Silver: Hey Repli, what's up? Been a while.
:Ms. Replicate: Just who I needed to see tonight! [grins wide] Hey Silver, I was wondering if you'd be interested in something really interesting.
:Yama: I'm gonna leave you with her, Silver, good luck!
Yama runs into another room, leaving Silver alone with Replicate.
:Silver: Uh, alright, what'd you have in mind? I was asked to, uh, talk to you about something. What would that be?
:Ms. Replicate: I'm glad you asked!
Replicate pulls out a tuxedo outfit, putting Silver off guard as a luscious look covers her face.
:Ms. Replicate: How about a date, Silver?
:Silver: A what?
:Ms. Replicate: It's just like how it sounds, Silver! I've been really wanting to take you out ever since I released you from your little prison, and, I just really want to know you better. You alright with this?
:Silver: I'm just bewildered because I'm already in a relationship with Pierce, you do know that, right?
:Ms. Replicate: Meh, I knew that already, but I wanted to talk to you about a lot of things and, I was hoping if we could do a date sometime next week? Maybe in the meanwhile you can stay with me and we can talk about some of the things we're going through together?
:Silver: Look, I should get home sometime soon, and... [sighs] What about Pierce?
:Ms. Replicate: I'm sure that if Pierce knew what was best for you, he'd be willing to let me into the relationship as long as all my focus is directed on you. [smiles] He can stay around here if he would like, or I can spend time at your place. What do you think?
:Silver: I like the idea of spending time back here in the lab, but I just wanna be home. If we're gonna date, or at least just go out and eat together, I'd like to do it back home.
:Ms. Replicate: Alright, alright. [smiles] I've got a really cute date outfit to wear, so I didn't want it to go to waste! I spent about a hundred thousand ValCoins on it, it's so freakin' cute!
:Silver: You what?
:Ms. Replicate: I did spend that much money on it! I was told to, ahem, I thought I'd be considerate of what clothes I'd choose for the occasion. It's gotta be as cute as possible!
:Silver: Alright Replicate, I'll go on a date with you. [smiles] It can't be that bad, can it?
:Ms. Replicate: Let's wait and see! Heh, I hope Pierce doesn't have a heart attack when he sees me walk in.
:Silver: I'll try and sort something out between both parties, I'm sure I can make something work out. [takes her hand] C'mon, let's go home.
:Ms. Replicate: Alright, I'll follow you out.
:Silver: Thank you.
Silver smiles as he and Ms. Replicate walk out the door, holding hands together.
:Ms. Replicate: Sorry if this is like really very sudden, and I know that it's not easy to digest what's going on, but, I do feel a lot of affection for you Silver. I always have been, because you always seemed so different from everyone else. I'm not sure if I straight-up love you, but I've had my eyes set on you for a long time.
:Silver: I just feel conflicted because I already have something going on, actually, there's a lot of things going on in my life.
:Ms. Replicate: Yeah, and I know that it sucks that you've gotten caught up in all of that. But I want to help you see life from my perspective a bit and help you press forward.
:Silver: What do you mean?
:Ms. Replicate: Someone brought up to me how we seem to have some things in common, and how it might be calming to both of us if we talked out our flaws and crap together. I was acting so nice and I was grinning so wide back there, but, I was just hoping you'd accept my offer. I was, so close on the verge of tears, thinking you wouldn't take it. But you did!
:Silver: Repli, I'm taking you on because, I don't know anyone that wants to help me the same way you do. I really appreciate your support, and I'm willing to take on your little, challenge. [grins] We just gotta be careful, though, cops are everywhere.
:Ms. Replicate: Believe me, I know.
Both of them get in a space pod together.
:Silver: Looking forward to hanging out with you, Replicate. By the way, I'm doing this willingly because, I want to give you the chance you deserve. You did awaken me after all and try to help out.
:Ms. Replicate: Heh. I'm willing to try and do more to help you out this time, let's save the chat for when we get home, alright?
:Silver: Alright, sweetheart.
Ms. Replicate blushes a little, some red showing across her pale cheeks as she laughs happily, leaning on Silver as he takes her home.
:11:00 A.M. · SUNDAY July 31st, ZXE-220
:Electolympics Stadium, New Naxaz City
Midway through the Electolympics, we can see that only Valerie and Mallory managed to survive through the first seven days. The Supertzar and Gonzalo were long gone, having been dropped from the tournament after receiving poor results. Mallory filthily grins at Valerie, looking very confident in the future.
:Mallory: We're halfway in the Electolympics, Valerie! Don't screw up now!
:Valerie: I know that, heh. [grins] I'm still gonna kick your ass.
The audience cheers excitably as the games are still going on, with the stadium ground going out of sight before coming back up to show a huge obstacle course. Two huge plastic balls are shown on the track.
:Valerie: Thanks for that cooperation to get the Supertzar and uh that Gonzalo freak out of the way, they were really beginning to get on my nerves.
:Mallory: Sometimes, you just need a little bit of aggression to win, that's all. Heh.
Mallory ventures forward, trapping herself inside a plastic ball as Valerie does the same, with both being pushed onto huge wooden half-pipe tunnels by huge Bullies (the species).
:Zodiez: We're halfway through this now, where the hell is Kýrios? He better not be dead, I'm going to be so pissed off if he's actually dead, because I really have the feeling Mallory is going to win this.
:Mayxine: Hey, don't be too sad Zodi, we don't really know. They seem to be neck and neck.
:Zodiez: Mallory has a four to three lead over Valerie, I'm really not sure at this point.
Zodiez sighs, rubbing her eyes.
:Zodiez: I appreciate your support, secretary.
:Scotch: Things haven't been getting much better outside of the Electolympics. We've lost three more zodiac stones, Silver and Rhett are again out of prison, and there seems to be a lot of behind-the-scenes manipulation as a lot of random events have been linking together over the past few days. Topped off by Mallory holding a lead.
:Zodiez: That sucks, it's like, no, it couldn't be Mallory, because she wouldn't free Silver and she doesn't usually lie to get her way. [hisses] God, this is hell!
:Mayxine: Calm down hon, things are going to be okay.
Mayxine holds Zodiez's hand, looking up at her as her fingers clasp around the inky queen's fingers.
:Zodiez: I sure hope so, because it doesn't seem like they're going to get much better. Especially if Mallory wins the rights to the throne.
:Scotch: Luckily, we do know a few good things. For one, I've gotten a report from Devina Kilmister that someone's been tampering with some key people through online communications. So maybe we'll figure out how to slow things down outside of the Electolympics. And for two, I've managed to clean out Rhett's house completely of its substances.
:Zodiez: Those are good things, at least. What did Devina find out, exactly?
:Scotch: She told me that she couldn't say anything, at risk of her messing up her research. But she says that she's befriended someone called the Holy Diver, and that she's going to be reliant on that person for more information. Maybe that diver's going to be the rainbow in the dark.
:Mayxine: I hope so.
:Zodiez: Bah. We'll figure out something over time, hopefully with the Holy Diver and with a bit of luck, things will turn out to be pretty alright after all. Where's Silver?
:Scotch: Who knows? Last time I saw him, he was with Rhett.
:Zodiez: Well, I'm going to ask that nobody bothers looking for him. Let's focus on trying to identify the background threat and deal with them first, then we can worry about Silver. The Electolympics last a whole another week, and these people aren't allowed to go until the event is over.
:Mayxine: Why are the people forced to be here?
:Zodiez: Uhhh, I've spent way too much on public housing for every single audience member, and I don't want them to leave? I'm glad I spent more money on getting people to get those rooms cleaned up.
:Scotch: Dmn it, if you hadn't done that, maybe these background threats wouldn't be showing up as much. Oh well, they'll get taken care of, eventually.
Vilicus is watching them from a really high pillar, folding his arms as he watches Mallory and Valerie race each other in giant plastic balls across a huge obstacle course. He smirks.
:Vilicus: The "Holy Diver", huh? Maybe I need to manipulate that person myself, a good third of me is gone, anyway, so I need to keep a close eye on them. [looks down] But the rebels, the rebels will be going down no matter what happens now. Even if they manage to wipe me clean, I'll have already won.
Kýrios is watching the event from his TV, still trapped way underground, when he gets a call from Hunjan- or the Electric Eye.
:Hunjan: Just a week longer, Kýrios! We can't set you free just yet, or my plan's going to be ruined! We're going to turn the tables out on Mallory, and you're gonna do just fine. One more week!
:Kýrios: Week, more one. [pulls on eyelids] Nuuuuuuuuuu.
:Hunjan: Things are looking real dicey this time, heh! We'll show everyone what you're made of!
Kýrios nods.
:Kýrios: Aight.
Kýrios sees the camera pan up. He then sees Vilicus standing up high, seeing the Devil's Mask reflected in his face.
:Kýrios: Vilicus! Zoinker ya!
====Chapter Eleven: Fly====
:7:03 P.M. · SUNDAY July 31st, ZXE-220
:Golden Gate Bridge, Sector 6
Vilicus stood high above the Golden Gate Bridge, looking down upon the busy streets under the dark dome lights.
:Vilicus: Do not fear for much longer, the citizens of Satellite 15. Soon, the rebels will become the threats, and then they shall crumble under my fingertips. [smirks deviously] A part of me is gone, so my strength has long since left me, but I've done enough.
Vilicus walks down a long railing of the Golden Gate Bridge, one of several American setpieces erected across Sector 6. He didn't obey the law of gravity, walking down the slope without slipping or showing signs of losing his balance.
:Vilicus: When Saliva Zin finally fell, the idea of an omnipresent deity threatening the universe was rightfully buried. But these two children, Silver and Mallory, pose such an incredible threat to our society, it makes me shiver, just how strong they could be if either's potentially was fully tapped into.
Vilicus cackles as he keeps moving forward, starting to walk up to the next support pillar of the bridge.
:Vilicus: The first to crumble shall be Silver, as his innocence and amnesia can be easily worked against him. [smiles] I've never met destructive deities so gullible or easy to fool before. When he succumbs and becomes alone, with all others left out of his life, he will inevitably kill himself through overdose. Luckily, he has no friends to tell him what the limit is.
Vilicus walks up to the next pillar. Nobody bothered doing anything about this strange person, even when security spotlights caught him clear in the open. He didn't really look threatening, to be fair.
:Vilicus: I'm impressed by Silver's complete lack of confidence in himself. Does he even know how strong he can be? Does he ever think about that, at all? Or does the truth remain out of his reach? [chuckles] Woo, hoo hoo hoo! It's so fun to speculate what's going to happen to him, but what about Mallory?
Vilicus looks down, grinning wide as his blue and red teeth could be seen at the sides of his mouth.
:Vilicus: Yes, it was excellent that Mallory set up the Electolympics, because of all the behind-the-scenes action I've been able to do. Gather those stones, little angel, because I have a plan next week that'll have YOU as the star.
Vilicus looks up to the fake moon setpiece hanging over the sector.
:Vilicus: That is, presuming you'll win. But who in their right mind would lose to Valerie when they have the arsenal of a god? That will be a battle for the ages if Valerie can hold her own against her, but I can see it all falling into place for me. It's so easy!
The Manipulator escapes Vilicus' body, leaving him at the top of the support pillar of the Golden Gate Bridge as he looks over the cold blue seas below the bridge.
:The Manipulator: My plans to cleanse the Zaxiverse of its worst enemies are coming closer and closer to succeeding, then I shall finally be able to sleep again with my fellow brethren. But I do worry about the "Holy Diver".
The spirit looks around, as if expecting their presence to be there.
:The Manipulator: I've no time to deliver a solemn goodbye to the Echeno, because he was a quiet and destructive bastard to begin with, but it is vital for me to retrieve him from the enemy. Or I cannot rest.
:The Devil's Mask: Manipulator!
The Devil's Mask escapes Vilicus' body, leaving his poor magician body limp out on the bridge top.
:The Devil's Mask: One week, tee hee hee! We've one week to finish the circus act!
:The Manipulator: I'm very well aware of this. I'm merely reflecting on what's happened thus far so I can make my next move, but I know a handful of things that will happen. Tomorrow, Silver and Ms. Replicate shall date at the Moore Lounge, as they planned. They also made mention of heading to Sector 5 later in the week, bundling Silver together with Ms. Replicate not just lets me kill two birds with one stone, but it will help strain his relationships further.
:The Devil's Mask: Ooohh!!
:The Manipulator: He's going to feel so alone, he might as well end up a big old pile of them bones, with his sister hopefully soon to follow suit.
:The Devil's Mask: Let's kill 'em! Kill 'em!!
:The Manipulator: Yes, soon. My time's almost up, but soon enough they'll be gone.
Both ghosts merge together back into Vilicus' body, readjusting his head to be on straight.
:Vilicus: Judgment Day soon to come.
:5:20 P.M. · MONDAY August 1st, ZXE-220
:Moore Lounge, New Naxaz City
Silver and Ms. Replicate are shown getting two tall glasses filled up to the brim with absinthe. Silver smiles lovingly, dressed in a loose tuxedo and having roses above his ears, while Ms. Replicate sits across from him wearing a really nice black dress and a bunch of really expensive jewelry. The two clink their glasses together.
:Ms. Replicate: Sorry about what happened last night.
:Silver: It's alright, Repli, Pierce just needs time to adjust to what's going on and I can't blame him.
A brief flashback plays, showing an angry Pierce yelling and pointing fingers at Repli, who began screeching at him back and crushing the wine glass in her hand.
:Ms. Replicate: I'm just glad to be here with you right now. I've been waiting for this day for a long, long time.
:Silver: I can't say I've been anticipating this day at all, but it does feel refreshing to try something different. Tonight's going to be fine, alright? I've talked to Pierce about what's going on and, it wasn't easy... because I don't really know how I feel about all of this once again, but I've tried.
:Ms. Replicate: I'm just happy that you really took my silly offer up. [sips her drink] So, what are you feeling? How can I help you out with your feelings, Silver?
:Silver: I feel really misunderstood, that's what's been bogging me down a lot over the past few months or so. The authorities are always after me, I'm always being thrown in prison, and I think I'm starting to lose my mind.
:Ms. Replicate: I can feel you on that. [picks up her menu] Everyone thinks I'm just some kind of monster, bent on abusing and hurting people, but they don't really understand why I think the way I do. I've always wanted to be helpful and resourceful, and that's why I work part-time as a nurse and part-time as an ID manager, but people see me in some bad light they don't explain.
:Silver: That really sucks, being seen in a bad light and nobody wants to tell you why they see you that way. [sips his drink] You sure that nobody's tried to talk to you about why they think you're a monster?
Ms. Replicate sighs, leaning back in her seat.
:Ms. Replicate: There is some truth in that, which is where I become kinda conflicted.
:Silver: You don't have to hold back anything.
:Ms. Replicate: I'm not sure how much I can trust you to talk to you about this, Silver. [looks to her side] I'm just now sure if you'd sell off my personal information or anything, because, I don't like having anything about me publicized.
:Silver: I understand, but, do I look like I'd do that to you? What would I have to gain?
:Ms. Replicate: I guess you're right.
Ms. Replicate takes a long sip of absinthe, placing it down before sighing.
:Ms. Replicate: Don't let my youthful looks deceive you, I'm over sixty years old, so I've had a long past behind me. I used to be a good deal happier, Silver, I used to be seen as such a great voice for this satellite. Then something happened.
Ms. Replicate closes her eyes.
:Ms. Replicate: People always looked up to me as the satellite's leading nurse and trustworthy ID manager until this abusive sack of crap Gonzalo came along in my life. He promised me riches, love, happiness, and sillier things like immortality and a lifetime supply of anti-depressants. Before him, I was working under immense pressure and I was trying really hard to not let my old habits bite me, and he promised he'd help me escape those pains.
:Silver: Old habits?
:Ms. Replicate: When I was a good deal younger, Ihadn't a sense of privacy or personal space. I mistreated maybe eight to nine people then, I was a fool, a fool that didn't consider what consequences or long-term damage she could leave on others just by being as open and reckless as she was. And I let those mistakes eat me up, I've never been able to fully separate from my past self because I hold onto those memories so tightly. And that's where Gonzalo came in, some years later.
:Silver: Being foolish and reckless? That sounds like me, baby.
:Ms. Replicate: It's deeper than that, and I don't really want to get further into why right now. [looks down] But the point was that I lost several people I would have considered family at the time, which really hurt because I was already dealing with severed relationships with my other family members. And that's when Gonzalo came into my life.
Silver sat straight up, listening to her intently.
:Ms. Replicate: I thought that he was going to be my solution to escaping my private hell. I was under so much mounting pressure that I didn't bother seeing the red flags that would have made me avoid him under normal circumstances. [breathes deeply] But I took his hand, because I firmly believed he was going to be my escape.
Ms. Replicate smiles insecurely, her head tilted at a strange angle. Silver was trying to process all of this as slowly as he could.
:Ms. Replicate: Gonzalo, in fact, was not my solution. Instead, he continued what my uncle had done to me, and let me relive my memories as a victim rather than as an instigator. [grits her teeth] I already knew for so long that I was awful, a cancerous limb attached to the satellite's society, but the last straw was actually seeing what those people saw through their own eyes.
:Silver: Replicate, you know these things are all in the past, right? Don't get too worked up over this.
:Ms. Replicate: It's true that this is all crap that's happened in the past, but I still feel horrible over all of it. I've lived long enough to be the victim, be the instigator, then be the victim all over again. [looks at him] Gonzalo destroyed everything I could have ever hoped to have, besides my private companies. He stole so many of my companies' funds, he made me go through several abortions, he never relented on his attitude and always treated me like shit. The straw that broke the camel's back was when he let everything I've told him go viral.
Ms. Replicate pulls a newspaper out of her purse, shoving it across the table.
:Ms. Replicate: He wrote a column about me in the Satellite News, exposing all of these private stories out to the public. The only reason why I'm still working is because Kýrios gave me mercy and chose to let me keep working, but promised that I would be removed from my job if I was caught doing something unspeakably awful ever again.
:Silver: Gonzalo's the same bastard I've met last week, who stole all of my ValCoins and called me a bunch of ugly names and whatever. [sighs] I didn't know his bad blood ran that deep.
:Ms. Replicate: What matters is that it's all over. I've met up with all the people I've potentially hurt and I've made things up with them, some of them don't want to speak to me anymore, but as long as we're on peaceful terms, I don't really mind that much. [holds his hand] Thanks for listening to me, Silver.
:Silver: Hey, no problem. I wasn't expecting you to be so open about things as deep as those, but, I'm here for you now. Makes sense you want some new blood in your life, honey. [holds her hand back] I'm here for you!
:Ms. Replicate: I'm relieved.
Oyster comes by, placing two plates of spaghetti on the table. Ms. Replicate grins up at Oyster.
:Ms. Replicate: Thanks, Mrs. Moore.
:Oyster: N-No problem, ma'am! You alright?
Ms. Replicate was crying just a little.
:Ms. Replicate: I'm fine, yeah! I've just had a moment.
:Oyster: There's tissues in a box on your table if you need them. [smiles] Bon appetit!
Oyster walks away as both of them start digging into their spaghetti with their forks.
:Silver: Anything else I should know about this Gonzalo person?
:Ms. Replicate: He was a colossal douchebag to Valerie as well, he's partially responsible for why she's as rich and famous as she is, but he too would hurt her just like how he hurt me. Have you ever heard Valentine's debut album? Almost every track on that record deals with the trauma Gonzalo handed her.
:Silver: That zoinker, I'm going to kill him.
:Ms. Replicate: No wait, don't kill him! I'm sure that, uh, there's an easier way of getting rid of him without getting you arrested. I don't want to feel responsible for something else, alright?
:Silver: Alright, if you say so. I'm just really confused as to how he's still running the city bank?
:Ms. Replicate: Because Gonzalo used to be known by a different name and looked very differently from how he does now. He changed his name and image as soon as I released my own story about him, so I wasn't able to really get him in any trouble. His family may not recognize him anymore though, thank god.
:Silver: Good lord.
Silver takes a big bite of spaghetti. Ms. Replicate picks at her food a little bit before starting to cheer up enough to take bigger bites. They eat slowly though no matter how much spaghetti they shovel in.
:Ms. Replicate: How about you, Silver?
:Silver: Huh?
:Ms. Replicate: Do you want to talk to me about anything you're feeling?
:Silver: Oh. I've still got a question for you though, with everything you've just said, it would be really clear why everyone would see you the way you say they see you, right? Try saying that five times fast.
:Ms. Replicate: I've apologized, numerous times, and I've made an attempt to talk things over with everyone that was seeking closure and whatnot from me. I just don't understand why I'm not allowed to move on. But I'm done talking about this, I'm building a bit of a pit in my stomach from thinking about it, how are you feeling?
:Silver: I feel alright...? Like I said, I still feel really misunderstood by the satellite's people. People keep treating me like I'm an alien that just wants to hurt and torment people, and it really upsets me because I can hardly do anything to change their minds. Since I made my choice to quit as a mercenary, I've lost a lot of trust from the satellite's people. Now whenever I do anything that looks remotely suspicious, or if I'm close to crime scenes, I get blamed immediately.
Silver bangs the table with his fist.
:Silver: And damn it man, those were the same people that were trying to turn me into a TV celebrity.
:Ms. Replicate: I didn't like what I was hearing either, Silver, believe me.
:Silver: And I suppose I feel like I really just amount to nothing really? There's no way I can feel like I can belong on this satellite as it feels like everyone is after me at this point.
:Ms. Replicate: Just know you're safe with me, alright? I know that you've been mistreated a lot, but you know that Pierce and I would be willing to do anything in our power to help.
:Silver: Of course, Repli.
:Ms. Replicate: Don't call me that.
Ms. Replicate fumes, looking away.
:Silver: Huh? Why?
:Ms. Replicate: ...You promise to keep this a secret, Silver? I, I don't want people to say anything about it if you bring it up, I want it to be a secret between you and me and Pierce for now.
:Silver: Alright, you already know I'm not going to circulate your stories anyway.
:Medea: For as long as we have privacy between ourselves, I want you to call me by my real name, Medea. I'd rather not tell you about my last name for now, but... [swallows] I've hidden my real name for so long because I've become so embarrassed to go by it, and I didn't want to stir up bad memories with that name ever again.
:Silver: Alright Medea. [smiles] I promise I'll try to call you that for as long as we're alone.
:Medea: That's the first time I've heard anyone say that name to me in thirty years.
Silver smiles at her.
:Silver: I'm going to use the restroom, alright? I'll be right back, Medea.
:Medea: Hurry back!
Silver grins as he runs off to use the restroom. Silver immediately pulls out a silver spoon.
:Silver: Really need this bit of anxiety out of my system.
Silver flicks a lighter as you can see him reach into a jar with some kind of tar inside of it.
:Silver: She sounds like the perfect woman to be with, but I've still got Pierce. God damn it, what'm I gonna do... there's gotta be a way, I'm not gonna be a sore loser and cheat.
Silver smells something burning, and it isn't the heroin.
:Silver: Hey, the hell's going on?
Silver shrugs, thinking he's just seeing things and keeps with his business. But he doesn't keep that mentality for long, though, when he sees some flames start to seep through the wall in front of him.
:Silver: Whaa?
Silver pockets his drug, running outside and discovering that within moments' notice, the whole restaurant was set aflame! Medea was surrounded by plenty of active flames while the place was starting to completely fall apart.
:Silver: I was hardly in there for five minutes, what the hell?
:Medea: Silver! It just... started around me!
Silver dives right in, picking up Medea and saving her from a flaming piece of wood that was just about to fall on top of her. Oyster and Snickers were panicking, trying to use fire extinguishers to douse out the fires.
:Oyster: God damn it, this place just got a fresh paint job! Quickly spray this crap down, Snick!
:Snickers: I'm trying honey, but I don't know how this thing is supposed to work!?
:Oyster: Honey...
Oyster pulls the pin on the fire extinguisher.
:Oyster: It's as simple as one-two-three.
:Snickers: I'm an idiot!
Silver dashes outside the flaming tavern with Medea in his hands, only to land right before the authorities. Vilicus can be seen in the background, snickering before throwing some lighters at the back of Silver's vulnerable head and retreating.
:Silver: Hey, watch it buddy!
Silver turns around, but he doesn't see anyone.
:Silver: Why is it on fire all of a sudden?
:Officer #1: Hmmm.
Silver watches the officer pick up some lighters. Silver hisses, knowing what he's in for this time.
:Officer #2: ...Silver looks like he's the arsonist here.
:Silver: Nope!
Silver wastes no more time, running off and away from the officers, still holding Medea in his arms.
:Silver: I've no clue as to how the restaurant went up in flames, you alright?
:Medea: I feel wonderful in your arms, mmmm.
:Silver: That means you're not hurt at least, thank the lord for that. [kisses her lips] I'm taking you home, alright? That was a cute date while it lasted.
:Medea: Alright honey, I look forward to it!
Silver grins, running off as the police once again give him chase.
:Vilicus: Run while you can, Silver Zin, you're either gonna head to prison again or you're going to have a crisis in the household tonight. Heh! ...For someone controlled by two cosmic beings, I sure sound like an evil witch! I should work on that.
Suddenly, huge thudding noises can be heard.
:Holy Diver: I watched every movement you've done, Vilicus! Come back here!
:Vilicus: Oh dear.
Vilicus begins to run away himself, with the Holy Diver giving chase.
::
::
:Officer #1: We've lost sight of him!
:Officer #2: Damn it, turn back! Let's stop the Moore Lounge from burning down!
:Officer #1: Let's make sure to call up Zodiez to tell her the hunt is on for Silver again, for the umpteenth time!
:Officer #2: Being an officer really sucks.
:Officer #1: Once of these days I'm gonna go slightly mad and start running through the streets in my speedos, I really, really feel that primal instinct to do that.
:Officer #2: I was thinking the same thing, really, Just doing something that Zodiez would totally shun us for because we're not able to do anything right for her.
:Officer #1: I was thinking about dating this boy Jeremy after quitting my job, but, he's dead.
:Officer #2: Really? My Jeremy is dead too!
:Officer #3: You two make me really uncomfortable.
:10:11 A.M. · TUESDAY August 2nd, ZXE-220
:Matchbox Flat, Sector 3
Junkhead was being cornered up against a wall of the fragile Matchbox Flat motel, with the officers having finally found him. And this time, they meant business, holding enchanted shackles.
:Junkhead: Hey, can ya pick up, man?
Junkhead was holding his phone to his ear while a bunch of silent, robotic officers with Penny and Azrail's insignias on their shoulderplates attempt to corner him. He looked really frightened.
:Junkhead: Buddy, damn it, c'mon! Can't hold my own for much longer, motherzoinker!
He finally hears a voice pick up on the other line.
:Agantuk: What's up, Junkie? I can hear ya loud and clear now.
:Junkhead: Agantuk, me macho amigo, I'm just about to get my ass handed to me again, and I dunno when I'm gonna escape prison again so, I need ya to write somethin' down before I forget!
:Agantuk: Hold up. [looks around] I've got paper and pencil now, what do you need to say?
Junkhead crawls up what he can of the wall, watching the robot officers climb up after him at speeds that just slightly outmatch his own. He takes deep breaths, scrambling to the roof of the Matchbox Flat.
:Junkhead: Heh, I've made some discoveries about this Vilicus person, so I'm gonna give ya a flashback and then ya're gonna take notes. Ya better do it fast, motherzoinker, because these new effin' officer robots mean serious business!
:Agantuk: I'm ready when you are!
Junkhead gets up, running as fast as he can when the officers start chasing him. Junkhead looked rather fatigued, his body looking a little numb, as if he's been running since we've last seen him.
:Junkhead: Aight, so I found this Vilicus person in a dark alleyway last Saturday, and he bein' a real bastard! He was talking to someone on the phone about how he's been holdin' Silver by some puppet strings or some crap like that, and how he's been lead to a road to self-destruction, so I've got some words I need ya to say to the boy!
:Agantuk: Don't hesitate!
:Junkhead: Alright br- I mean Agantuk, heheh, so he's been sayin' that my purpose was to help Silver get on the road to self-destruction so he can effin' die or some crap and he was planning on effin' over Mallory too in a similar way. He's gonna wipe them clean off the map and I don't feel good about helpin' him move forward, want ya to tell Silver I said sorry and I'd like to help him come clean some day, 'cuz I feel like an irresponsible bastard!
:Agantuk: I've got that all written down mate, you need anything else from me?
:Junkhead: Also write down that Vilicus is a manipulative bastard and a piss-poor friend that's really effin' things over for him, and that when I'm next outta prison, I wanna beat the crap outta that madlad with him!
:Agantuk: You sound really angry, I really hope you can take him down.
:Junkhead: I'll freakin' try when I'm outta here, I'll smash his skull in 'cuz that's how much I care! I feel like a freakin' demon!
:Agantuk: I mean-
:Junkhead: Shut up! I know what I said!
Junkhead yelps as the officers all jump around him, ready to piledrive him.
:Junkhead: Alright zoinker, I'm 'bout to get captured, you have any last words for your big brother?
:Agantuk: Good luck mate, sorry you're in this situation again. I won't do drugs, I'll try to keep a grip on myself.
:Junkhead: Excellent! I'll see ya next when I can. Make sure that news travels to Silver, whenever ya see him anyway, I dunno where that boy lives and I never tried to figure it out.
:Agantuk: Love you, stay safe.
:Junkhead: You too, you egg.
Junkhead hangs up on Agantuk, seeing the officers surround him.
:Junkhead: Hey ya banana bunches, ya don't need to act so pissy 'round me, how 'bout ya bring it? [limps over] Give me, give me yar best shot, you miserable piles of junk! I'll trash ya! I'll trash ya!
The robotic officers wasted no time placing shackles on Junkhead, bonding him down and carrying him off the roof of the Matchbox Flat.
:Junkhead: The officers back on Cyaneth fight better than ya oversized calculators!
Junkhead gets injected with a sleeping drug, immediately numbing him.
:Junkhead: I'm gonna--- euuughh.
Junkhead passes out, the robotic officers dragging him to prison.
:9:01 A.M. · WEDNESDAY August 3rd, ZXE-220
:Main Intersection, Satellite 15
Silver was driving via space pod all the way to Sector 5, hanging in the back of the vehicle, looking really tense. He was accompanied by a sour-looking Pierce.
:Silver: Hey Pierce, what's up? You haven't been acting like your usual self lately.
:Pierce: I'm still feeling really sour about the fact that you really went out on a date with Medea. [looks down] I'm sorry I'm acting so pissed off over it, but you understand why I'd be a little upset, right?
:Silver: I understand that. [holds his hand] We'll think of something that'll be able to work between the three of us.
:Pierce: I hope you're right. Look, I love you too much to not give this a chance, but I'm just being cautious because I've had a really bad history with her. And even after I talked about it with you, we're still following her.
:Silver: I don't plan on leaving either of you behind me, like I still feel unsure about some things but I think I can handle both of you and treat you both equally. [smiles] You know I care enough about you to not give you up.
:Pierce: I really appreciate that, I guess I just need to give it a shot and see what happens.
:Silver: That's the spirit, Pierce. [hugs him] I wouldn't leave you behind for anything, right? You're the reason why I even have anything remotely good happening in my life, and I have a home because of you.
:Pierce: Awww.
Pierce hugs Silver, wrapping his arms around him. He still looked a little frustrated, but definitely a little more mellow as he keeps Silver closer to him.
:Pierce: I shouldn't be trying to bring out my frustration on you, because I know you mean well. Besides, I know her story's actually true, and I think you might be able to gain something from her that I can't give? But I hope that I'm good enough for like, essential crap.
:Silver: It doesn't matter if you're good enough or if you're a mess, if I love you, I love you. It's as simple as that to me. I love you so much not just because you've done so much good for me, but you're also a reasonable and levelheaded person and you've done everything you could to help me and get people to understand me. The one thing I'll thank Scotch for is giving me the chance to meet you.
:Pierce: Silver, you're gonna make me blush, but really, I do appreciate your kind words. [grins] I think I can trust that you'll find a way to make a relationship between you and I and you and Medea to work.
:Silver: I will!
Both smile at each other before being lurched forward, crashing against the windshield. The pod came to a sudden stop above Sector 5's swampy terrain.
:Silver: Oh yeah, we didn't buckle up. Haha.
:Pierce: Heh, hey, we're still alive.
:Silver: And you're still really cute!
Pierce grins as he gets outside the space pod, with Silver quickly following suit.
:Pierce: So, where are we going again?
:Silver: We're gonna go to Spade's office so I can talk out some of my problems with Spade with Medea, but she didn't want me to arrive until now because she wanted to take care of some private business first. Let's get to the Amour Clinic as soon as possible, we've got a lot of ground to cover.
:Pierce: Right, let's go.
:Silver: I don't wanna be late.
Both of them begin rushing forward into the lush jungles of Sector 5.
::
::
Silver makes it to the Amour Clinic, breathing as he keeps holding Pierce's hand.
:Silver: That didn't take much time!
:Pierce: No crap, we should be early enough. Let's go in.
Silver and Pierce head in, where they see Medea talking to Spade. The nurse turns her head around, 180 degrees, when she hears the door open, grinning when she sees Silver.
:Medea: Silver! Pierce! Glad you could make it!
:Silver: Absolutely means I'm on time then, hah. [grins, walking in] You ready?
:Medea: Of course!
:Spade: Alright you three, follow me into my therapy room. Try to keep on your best behavior.
Silver, Pierce, and Medea nod, following Spade into her candle-lit office. The same once you've seen at the beginning of this game's story.
:Spade: When this appointment got organized by Ms. Replicate over here, she told me that she was getting into a relationship with Silver, but wasn't sure how she'd go about it considering she doesn't get along with Pierce and Pierce is already his loved one. However, because Silver was willing to try things out between the two of you, here we are today.
:Medea: Yep.
:Spade: So, because Pierce seems to be reason why this is all so tricky, how do you feel about these two getting together, Pierce?
:Pierce: What's preventing me from being completely comfortable about these two dating is that I feel like Ms. Replicate's not to be trusted, she's done so many terrible things to everyone across the satellite regardless of how crappy her past was.
Spade nods, leaning back and scribbling words into a little notebook.
:Medea: But if I've improved from who I was before, and if I've shown no signs of mess up like that again over the past few years or even just over the past few decades, I should be given a second chance right?
:Pierce: How can I trust you won't destroy Silver's mind or use him for your own gain?
:Medea: That's what Gonzalo did to me, why would I want to do that to Silver? I went through so much hell and I don't wanna put Silver through any of that. Sure I've made that monochrome clone of Silver, but, I've acknowledged that as a mistake and I think I've made it clear I won't do that again.
:Silver: Yeah, I don't really think Repli would do anything like that to me again, especially if we plan on going through with a relationship. I don't really see what's so tough to understand about someone improving themselves and changing.
:Pierce: If you leave really damaging impressions on others, then why should they care if you plan on changing or not? Doesn't change the fact that you hurt them.
:Silver: I can see that, but, I don't think it's completely Ms. Replicate's problem that she's the way she is. There's more underlying factors than you're implying there to be.
:Medea: I admit that I've done some really insane and trashy things earlier in my life, and I've already expressed my apologies and regrets for the people I've made suffer. [looks at Pierce] I've apologized to you, too. Did you ever get my letter?
:Pierce: If you think a letter is going to resolve the crap you've put me through, you're out of your mind.
:Silver: Why do we have to live in so much hate every day? Can't you two try and find some kind of compromise between each other or something?
Pierce sighs, taking a deep breath. Medea buries her face in her arms. We're off to a good start.
:Spade: So what I've gained thus far from this conversation is that Pierce and Ms. Replicate really don't get along at all and that there needs to be a bridge built between them to allow this relationship to work. As both characters love Silver exclusively, someone either leaves without this twink holding their hand or you both leave holding one of his hands. Or he breaks up with both of you.
:Silver: Really unlikely that I'll leave Pierce any time soon, and I'd rather not give up on Ms. Replicate so early because I haven't had enough time to determine whether we should be permanently together or if we should be separated.
:Medea: I'm willing to share the same living space as Pierce and give him privacy while I take care of Silver while he's gone, come on, there has to be some kind of compromise!
:Pierce: No way! You're a sick, abusive piece of shit and I'm not going to share the same household as you for a second time!
:Silver: Ladies, ladies, chill.
Silver holds them both by their wrists.
:Silver: Here's my personal suggestion. Pierce continues to have the privilege of being able to sleep with me and I continue to have full privacy with him, but if Ms. Replicate can prove herself to be a better person, I can start making better arrangements that'll make things more fair between both of them.
:Medea: I'm willing to roll with that, admittedly I'd rather have instant trust, but I understand if I have to build that first. [looks at Pierce] Would you settle for that?
:Pierce: I'm willing to roll with this plan, I guess. [sighs] But you better give me the space I need with Silver, Ms. Replicate, or I'm gonna make sure you go through a great deal of pain.
:Medea: Then it's a deal?
:Pierce: I suppose.
:Silver: Hey, if you two mange to work things out between each other, maybe the relationship between you two will improve. [smiles] At least we have, some sort of plan right now.
:Spade: Be sure to report to me next week about how this goes, next Wednesday. Ms. Replicate, I recommend until further notice that you give Silver and Pierce the space they need. Pierce, I recommend taking deep breaths and taking long hot baths to meditate yourself if you feel stress getting to you. Silver, try your best to be good to both of them.
:Silver: Alrighty, I guess we've got something in the bag.
:Spade: Alright, cool. Out!
Silver, Pierce, and Medea walk outside.
:Pierce: Sorry for being as rude as I was, Medea. But you have to understand that, it may be a long while before I can trust you. If you can make Silver happy though, and keep to your word. [smiles] I don't think things will be all that bad.
:Medea: I'll try to keep you happy too, I don't have enough room in my life to keep building grudges and whatnot. Let's see where life takes us next.
:Silver: I was thinking of doing something I wouldn't consider doing, just to make you two get along a bit better and test to see if things can actually improve between you two. Let's drop by Azrail's workshop by, hm, Friday, alright?
:Medea: A-Azrail's?
:Pierce: Alright, sounds good to me.
:Medea: Alright, I can do t-that, I think.
:Silver: Then it's on!
Silver, Pierce, and Medea begin walking to Peppertown, where they plan to stay at a hotel.
:12:49 P.M. · THURSDAY August 4th, ZXE-220
:Deep Caverns, Sector 4
Deep in the underground caverns of Sector 4, Quade and the Methademic can be seen juggling eleven zodiac stones. Just one more out there, likely in the Admin Sector.
:Quade: There's just one more zodiac stone out there.
:Methademic: Holy crap. [snorts] We're so close to having them all now.
:Quade: The way the Electolympics are set up is so stupid, I guess the adults aren't always better than the kids, huh? [wickedly grins] Amazing, I don't know where the last one is, though.
:Methademic: The Admin Sector. [snorts, several times] We're so close, I can taste it.
:Quade: If we get one more, Mallory will be able to make something really incredible from the stones. [sticks his tongue out] She'll be able to make something that'll destroy everything that irks her, and with the throne in her possession, she'll be unstoppable!
:Methademic: I'm so excited, everything we've been working for is almost done!
:Quade: Mallory promised that we'd all get to live the best lives ever once she begins her reign over the satellite, and everyone else with just a few important exceptions will get to live safer and neater lives. Imagine a world where you have more privacy and more room to move around! The religion of Mallorism will ensure the satellite lives a positive and empathetic future.
Mallory watches them through a screen while waiting for the next game to begin, watching from a small room with Kispel placed firmly on her lap. Mania, Beck, Ferris, and Cody were dressing up to cheer Mallory on for the next game.
:Mallory: Oh yeah, we're really close if we already have eleven zodiac stones, just one more to go. Thank you for supplying me with that tiny microscopic camera tracker Mania, it's come in handy.
:Mania: No problem Mallory!!
:Mallory: Hmmm, you know, I was planning to be just a pain in the ass whenever I got my hands on the zodiac stones and the throne, but I really do kinda wanna make this satellite a better place. I really wanna snap all the necks of the authorities apart, I should have my hands on the wheel.
:Kispel: Mmm, I love hearing my Goddess talk about her wants and desires, it makes me feel warm inside.
:Mallory: As it should, you little earworm.
Mallory laughs and ruffles his hair, hugging him a bit closer to her. Kispel takes deep breaths as he leans back on Mallory, smiling and looking pleased with himself.
:Cody: Now Mallory, the next game begins a bit over an hour from now. You'll be swimming against Valerie, so be sure the swimsuit you're wearing now is nice and snug for you. Hopefully not too tight.
:Mallory: It looks fine to me!
Mallory pulls on her skintight black swimsuit, feeling it snap against her pure white skin.
:Cody: Alright cool. Looks really good on you, too.
:Mallory: Thank you babe!
Mallory pinches his cheek. Cody laughs, hugging Mallory. The two huddle up, with Kispel trying to huddle as close to Mallory as possible. Mania and Beck come over, hugging them too. Ferris keeps himself out of the hug, instead reading a book simply titled "COMMUNISM".
:Mallory: Family! I think...?
:Kispel: My God has a happy family and that's what makes me happy.
Kispel smiles, nestling against Mallory as everyone gives each other a supportive hug.
:Mallory: Alright, you're all gonna be there to watch me beat the crap out of Valerie on Sunday, right?
:Beck: Yeah! We're gonna watch you crush her, then I'm gonna finally get my payment, and, I might be able to gain enough money to fix my face.
:Mania: When I get my payment, I can finally move my family out of the slums and give them a proper place to eat and sleep!
:Cody: I'll keep preaching Mallorism until the whole satellite's happy and willing to cheer you on, Mallory.
Mallory grins fiercely. Suddenly, she didn't look so hot, looking away.
:Mallory: Thanks, everyone. Heh, there's one thing that bothers me about all of this. Maybe I shouldn't have shot down Kýrios when I have, because, mmm, that's something I'll talk about some other time.
:Cody: You sure you don't wanna talk about it?
:Mallory: I'm sure. Now head out everyone, you need to show yourselves as cheerleaders! I'm gonna stay behind and chill with Kispel until it's time for me to go out.
:Cody: Alright. Stay safe!
Everyone but her and Kispel go outside. Mallory and Kispel lay back on the bed, not talking, just holding each other.
:Mallory: I fuckin' cheated, in more than one way. [sighs] Ooh, that doesn't feel good for my gut. Mmm, 
:Kispel: What do you mean, my God?
:Mallory: It has to do with you and to do with the Electolympics.
:3:08 P.M. · FRIDAY August 5th, ZXE-220
:Nightshade Inc., Sector 5
Silver, Pierce, and Medea were now hanging out at Azrail's messy and crowded laboratory, with Clair Voyell hanging nearby and Penny Wisyneat sitting on a group of boxes. Azrail turned his head when he saw the three walk in.
:Azrail: Talk about not knocking before you come in, you three! I could've been, y'know!
:Silver: Yeah, we probably should have said something before barging in. [smirks] Well, let's cut to the chase and talk about something I've been having on my mind for a few nights now.
:Azrail: Wait a minute, mother!?
:Medea: A-Azrail!
:Silver: Wait, you're his mom? [turns to Medea] How?
:Medea: That's a long story and I don't think you're ready for it. [sighs] Anyway, come here, Az, missed ya.
Azrail runs over to Medea, giving her a big hug. Medea returns the hug, ruffling up his hair.
:Azrail: Damn, I didn't think you'd ever join me up in this place. Sorry it's kinda trashy, I'm too scatterbrained to bother shoving things into drawers, let alone throw yogurt canisters where they belong.
:Medea: Don't worry about it, I don't really plan on punishing you for having a dirty room. [laughs] I've come up here because Silver wanted come up here for some reason, and, I was wondering if you were going to be mad at me.
:Azrail: Why would I be mad at you, Mom? We both fucked up a bit, it's okay.
:Silver: So I came up here to your workshop because I was planning on doing something really awesome and epic, but it's a bit complicated. Are you willing to take it on for me?
:Azrail: Sure, what's it about?
:Silver: I want you to build, this huge freakin' rocket. It needs two people to move it around, someone needs to move it in all directions and the other person needs to adjust the rocket's speed. I'm gonna strap myself to the rocket and then I'm gonna have these two steer me around.
:Medea: That's crazy!?
:Pierce: That sounds really dangerous and reckless, can we not have you do things like that Silv?
:Silver: Believe me, I really wanna do something awesome tonight and I'm reliant on you two teaming up to help me with my next plan. I was thinking of getting my slate cleared and showing the satellite I ain't such a bad guy. I don't wanna spoil what I'm up to, though, it has to be a grand entrance.
:Azrail: ...Yeah, I can work out some blueprints with Penny and build a final model by Sunday.
:Silver: Perfect! That's just what I need, hehe.
:Pierce: You sure you want to do this, Silver?
:Silver: I'm absolutely sure. If you two are gonna get along, you need to control my fate for me! I think it's the most moronic thing I can think of, but it's really entertaining in my head and I wanna try it out.
Pierce sighs, facepalming. Medea looks totally confused, but smiles for her new boyfriend.
:Medea: I'll do it! I call dibs on the handling!
:Pierce: Then I'll control the speed!
:Silver: See? You two are already showing you can work in perfect sync.
:Azrail: You two can stick around for as long as you want, I'll try to set up this rocket crap as soon as I can, on Sunday, you'll be able to get the rocket, as I promised. You can check in for updates as long as you care to.
:Silver: Alright, thank you!
Silver jumps up and down excitably.
:Silver: If you two cooperate, I think I'm going to be able to get my name cleared! No more cops chasing after me, no more misunderstandings, and no more pointless framing! I'm gonna be free, or so Lord Kýrios help me!
:Medea: Let's hope so! Don't get too full of yourself though, sometimes things don't work out.
:Silver: I can dream, damn it!
:Pierce: I'm with Ms. Replicate here, this has me a bit on edge.
:Silver: We'll see!
Silver winks at the screen, going to a nearby room. What's he got planned?
:11:02 P.M. · SATURDAY August 6th, ZXE-220
:Valco Vortex, New Naxaz City
Syinara was laying in bed all by herself. She had skipped out on going to the Electolympics because she didn't want to see Mallory face-to-face, not after that horrific first encounter she had with her. She was sitting up in bed, knowing tomorrow was going to be the big day.
:Syinara: God.
Syinara suddenly hears Pink Floyd's "Money" blast from her cell phone. She quickly picks it up, listening for someone on the other line. She was surprised to hear a tear-choken voice pick up on the phone.
:Syinara: Hewwo?
:Valerie: Syi. [sniff] It's me, Valerie. I don't think I've got this in the bag. Everything's been falling apart for me lately, and I don't know how I'm going to make my comeback tomorrow. I'm sorry if I'm calling you too late.
:Syinara: Valerie!? [holds her phone tighter] No, it's okay, I don't care if you call this late because I'm your friend. What's going on, Valerie? You don't usually sound this upset.
:Valerie: I don't know, I feel like I'm just... [takes a deep breath] I don't feel like I'm going to overcome Mallory.
:Syinara: Why not, Val? You've made it so far already, I don't see why you're feeling like throwing in the towel, what's Mallory doing to you that's making you feel so poor?
:Valerie: It's not Mallory making me feel crappy, she's a really good competitor and there's plenty of proof she hasn't been cheating during the Electolympics, but.// [sighs] She's just really good and I don't know how I'm going to take her down because she's won the past three games unscathed.
Syinara can hear Valerie whimper a bit through the phone. She felt her heartrate speed up as she sat up, crossing her legs together. She wasn't sure what she can do, being strong for someone wasn't her strong point. In fact, that was usually Valerie's strong point. She felt upset as she tried to think of what she could do for Valerie.
:Syinara: I know that things seem hopeless. But don't you dare give up, Val, especially when you've come this far. How many games have you won?
:Valerie: I've, won six games, and she's won seven so far. She's flattening me and it's really crushing, because I thought I was going to go in and kick her ass, but she's handing mine back to me and that's what's upsetting.
:Syinara: Valerie, wake up! You can make it a tie!
:Valerie: Yeah, I know I can make it a tie, it just doesn't seem really likely because of how much I've been struggling to even come close to besting her. [breathes] And her campaign speeches are so strong, while mine are just dipping in quality because she's killing all my motivation to continue.
:Syinara: Don't let this worthless tyrant bring you down, Valerie! You've made it through a lot of really tough crap, you can break her down and come out on top! And even if you don't, listen to me.
Syinara smiles a little, loosening her grip on the phone a little bit.
:Syinara: You know that no matter what, you'll always have me supporting you from home, cheering you on and praying you'll kick everyone else's asses. And you wanna know why?
There was a bit of silence, but Syi could tell Valerie was still there, because she was still tear-choken and sniffling.
:Syinara: You've always been strong for me, you've helped me become stronger, and now it's my turn to be strong for you too. Because I love you, and I wouldn't want anything less for you.
:Valerie: Syi...
:Syinara: I'm not going to hang up until you tell me you're going to go out there and kick her head in for me! Show that trash-eating menace a piece of your goddamn mind and take the throne from her!
:Valerie: You're right, Syi. [gets up] I'm, I-I'm not going to get anywhere by being down and unsure like this. Thank you for that little pep talk, I wasn't expecting it. I love you so SO much.
:Syinara: I love you too, honey! Even if it feels like the whole world is against you, and this applies to everyone really, there's always going to be at least one person that loves you and cares for you. And for you, that's me. Alright?
:Valerie: Alright. I'm going to take her d-down, Syi. [closes her eyes] Thank you.
:Syinara: You're welcome. [smiles] Good night Valerie, please get some much-needed rest. I'm going to try and appear there in person so I can give you visible support. I'm sorry I didn't show up in the first place, I just didn't want to see Mallory and I feel bad for leaving you to go alone.
:Valerie: It's okay, Syi. You don't have to go if you don't want to.
:Syinara: I want to! [gets up] I'm gonna show up there tomorrow first chance I get, and I'm gonna cheer you and watch you kick her ass! You're my Sweet Invader, god damn it!
:Valerie: Oh my god, I can't believe how incredible you are...
Valerie cries into her pillow, her tears soaking it up as she clenches her cell phone.
:Valerie: I'm going to go to sleep, thank you, Syi. You're perfect, don't forget that, please.
:Syinara: If you ever believe you're anything less than perfect, I'm gonna be real mad! [grins a little] Good night Val, I'll see you tomorrow! Don't worry, things are going to be just fine.
:Valerie: I got it.
Valerie hangs up. Syi smiles, crying a little herself as she sits back down on the bed.
:Syinara: She's flawed, just like me. [looks at her hand] It's so easy to forget that even someone like Valerie can need help sometimes, but I'm glad to be the force that drives her.
Syinara feels a tear roll down her cheek.
:Syinara: I'm w-worth it.
Syinara pulls herself into Valerie's sheets, falling asleep. From a split-screen perspective, we see Valerie and Syinara sleeping with tear-soaken faces, cuddling up with pillows that match the form of their girlfriends' bodies.
:11:23 A.M. · SUNDAY August 7th, ZXE-220
:Electolympics Stadium, New Naxaz City
At last, it has come to this. Scotch, Syinara, Devina, Crymsia, and many other characters were sitting in the bleachers tonight, seeing Valerie and Mallory standing face-to-face on a giant battleground. Zodiez looked nervous. Vilicus, who stood nearby, grinned wide.
:Zodiez: Welcome to the last match of the Electolympics! Valerie and Mallory are nearly neck-to-neck, with the latter bearing more points overall, but the winner of tonight's match will be able to gain enough points to take the lead and come out victorious! And today's match? Just a fight, go as nasty as you want!
The audience cheers loudly. You can see Syinara throw up a big sign that reads, "I LOVE YOU VALERIE!!!".
:Mallory: Alright Val, you might as well sing your prayers now, because we've finally come to the moment everyone's been waiting for. [twitches her eye] Who's going to come out victorious, you or me?
:Valerie: Don't even bother trying to scare me, I'm going to take you down!
:Mallory: Someone's got an attitude boost, hmm, I wasn't expecting that.
:Valerie: If you really think you've got what it takes to bring me down, then bring it all out at me, Mallory! I'm ready for you. [pulls on some gloves] Here I come!
:Zodiez: Three, two, one, FIGHT!
The bell is rung. Valerie dashes at Mallory with a flying kick, which she dodges and grabs to slam Valerie's back into the floor, some crackling noises getting heard.
:Zodiez: Things are off to a bad start. Fuck!
:Mallory: Is this the best you can do, Valerie?
Valerie growls, moving her leg and flipping herself backwards to send Mallory flying into a concrete wall, standing back on her own two feet as the Zin gets back up, dusting herself off.
:Mallory: If only you had that confidence yesterday, huh? You wouldn't be having to deal with me at what I do best!
Mallory rushes over to Valerie, dragging out her Mind Weaver staff. Valerie dodges her, rushing at her with a bump from her chest, another from her thigh, and then finishes it with a knee to the crotch. Mallory gets flung into another wall, making her growl.
:Mallory: You're really just asking for hell, huh?
:Valerie: I don't care what I'm asking for, I'm just going to end your campaign and take what's not yours to have!
:Mallory: Maybe you're right, the throne isn't something I should really be in possession of.
Mallory tries to get off from the wall, but Valerie throws rows of ninja stars to keep her pinned to the wall, with a bunch of flaming American dollar bills in her claw-equipped hands ready to be used.
:Mallory: ...But I'm not going to lose it to you just because you're so desperate!
Mallory detaches herself from the wall by kicking off of it, tackling Valerie into the floor and punching her rapidly in the face. Valerie pulls her wrists back, lurching them forward to slash at Mallory's face and force her off. Valerie then uses her feet to kick Mallory up high, leaping up to roundhouse kick her into the ground. Mallory winds up going six feet under the stage, making her cough.
:Mallory: You're so angry, holy crap!
:Valerie: You sicken me, Mallory, I was going to play nice with you, but you became a really mean-spirited heartless bitch, so I don't feel any obligation to be nice!
:Mallory: I only played nice with you so that we could get those two competitors out of the way, Gonzalo and Supertzar would have prevented me from going full power against you. I'm going to do whatever I can to make you and the authorities sorry for choosing to mess with me!
:Valerie: Then bring it! Stop holding back!
Mallory starts to look really pissed off, pulling up her Mind Weaver. It's now glowing a really bright red, with a fire symbol now present on the body.
:Mallory: I wasn't wanting to use my strongest assets against you, because I was thinking I'd take you down through just physical means, but I don't think I have a choice now. BLISTER ARTS!
Valerie looks around herself, seeing several rings of fire shuffle around on the floor, causing her to panic as she tries to figure out what they mean. Then Mallory raises her weaver high, with every single ring of fire now containing a high-reaching flame pillar! Valerie is surrounded by all of them, unsure of Mallory is while she's surrounded by the wall of fire.
:Mallory: RIPPLE ARTS!
Valerie suddenly feels herself starting to get pushed around, with bunches of whirlwinds pushing Valerie around into the fires, with Valerie screaming as she tries to gain control of herself and find her footing. She's finding this immensely difficult, however, as the fires lick at her and her outfit.
:Mallory: Can you feel everything burning away for you, Valerie? Your riches? Your clothes? Your weak wooden doll?
:Valerie: Fuck offff!
Valerie suddenly comes rushing out from the flames and winds, slashing her heated claws into Mallory's neck to grievously injure her, her anklets helping propel her movement.
:Mallory: Acccck!
:Valerie: Don't you dare make fun of my friends when you have a bunch of yesmen that don't realize how shitty of a friend they have in you, Mallory!
:Mallory: Aren't your friends just yesmen too? Do you know what you're talking about?
:Valerie: What are you talking about, Mallory?
Both of them rush at each other again, grabbing each other's hands and squeezing them tightly. They looked into each others, fires in their eyes as they rushed at each other.
:Mallory: What am I talking about, huh? You've never done any research on me, you can't tell how I think and feel about my friends, nor how they think or feel about me, but I can tell you're all the same cruel monsters!
:Valerie: You've never done any research on me either it seems, I get into plenty of fights with the higher-ups!
:Mallory: What do you know about me, Valerie?
:Valerie: That you cheated on the Leper Messiah?
Mallory felt her grip slip, letting Valerie clearly slash at her face to force her down.
:Mallory: Hey, that was really cheap, Valerie.
:Valerie: Is it cheap if we have video footage of this nonsense?
:Mallory: Ohh.
In the audience, the Leper Messiah looks shocked, turning his head in shame. Kispel looked a little twitchy by this unveiling, taking deep breaths.
:Mallory: So you might have learned more from spying on us, huh?
:Valerie: The fact that you have eleven zodiac stones? The fact that you uttered Kýrios' name in vain multiple times in some of our captured footage and apparently killed him for your own personal gain? Did you forget you were being monitored, Mallory?
The audience gasps. Well some didn't, it was really obvious to some, but to most, it was a huge oh no.
:Mallory: Let's be real, Kýrios could hardly speak and Zodiez was doing most of the work for him. I know that I can still rule this satellite pretty fair and square regardless of whether or not I killed him.
:Valerie: You lied.
:Mallory: I did, huh? Well, according to the rules, only the lord can punish me. And there isn't a lord yet! I've still got enough room in my schedule to take you down!
Mallory grabs Valerie's leg, swinging her down.
:Mallory: VIOLET RUSH!
Mallory flashes her eyes white, rushing in Valerie's direction and grabbing her neck so she can throw her into a wall. Mallory then rapidly beats up Valerie with her fists, roughing her up hard before throwing her at the ground.
:Zodiez: ...1, 2, 3.
:Syinara: Valerie, get up!
:Valerie: G-good lord, you really are a monster.
:Mallory: It wasn't your business to spy on me, now I just want you out of my way!
:Zodiez: ...4, 5, 6.
:Syinara: Don't give up here, Valerie! Please! You've got it in you.
Valerie groans, trying to get up but screaming as Mallory shoves Valerie's claws into her gut, trying to bleed her out enough to make her incapable of standing up.
:Zodiez: 7, 8, 9-9.
:Syinara: VALERIE!
:Zodiez: ...1-10.
Valerie did not get up. She fell on the floor instead. Mallory grinned.
:Mallory: You were a worthy adversary, Valerie, but that crap was cheap.
Zodiez takes a deep sigh.
:Zodiez: Mallory Zin has won the Electolympics.
There was a moment of silence among some of the audience members, but plenty still cheered for Mallory's victory. Mallory bows.
:Mallory: Alright everyone, when I seize the throne, I'm going to reinvent this society and retool it how I can. [smiles sweetly] I'll be sure Valerie gets healed up at the hospital, I'd like it if someone came here quickly because she might die if unattended to.
:Syinara: VALERIE PLEAAAAASE!
:Mallory: She's down, there's no point yelling for her to struggle!
Suddenly, there's a rumbling noise from underneath the fighting platform, making Mallory nearly lose her balance.
:Mallory: The Electolympics are over, if someone's trying to sabotage the performance, it's way too late. Kýrios is gone, I've won, and there's nothing more to be said. Let's go home.
The ground continues to suddenly rumble under their feet. But then the rumbling stopped.
:Mallory: ...Does anyone know what that was?
:Zodiez: No, come on, let's wrap this up.
In the distance, Silver was shown with his back strapped to a rocket. He grinned wide, with Pierce and Ms. Replicate riding a jeep together and chasing after the rocket-strapped twink.
:Pierce: Just move him up a little more, Medea!
:Medea: I've got it! Just slow the speed a bit, then bring him crashing right down! He's got this, Hunjan's plan is going to come through, I have a strong feeling about it!
:Pierce: I hope so. [smiles] Hey, this is kinda fun.
:Medea: It is, isn't it? [smiles at him] Thanks for trusting me enough to do this with me.
:Pierce: Hey, we had to do this at some point.
::
::
The attention returns to the Electolympics.
:Mallory: What the hell is that in the sky...?
:Silver: I'VE GOT THIS!
Silver dives really fast into the stadium, busting through the roof. The rocket comes right off- when Silver turns around, he finds his sister standing next to a severed-looking Valerie.
:Silver: Hey, what the hell did you do to Valerie?
:Mallory: Did you really come here and make a dramatic entrance to try and stop me, Silver? It's too late, I'm already the lord of the satellite, and I now command you to stand down or you're really going to get hurt!
:Silver: As if I'd listen to anything you say!
:Mallory: You're really developing into the same motherzoinker that hurt me so bad, just a bit stupider.
Mallory pulls up her Mind Weaver.
:Mallory: No really, I'm going to hurt you JUST as bad as I've hurt Valerie if you don't step to the side. RIGHT NOW. I need to move past you to claim my crown.
:Silver: You really think I'm going to believe that just because you won some ridiculous games that you've got the rights to the crown?
:Mallory: Like it or not, that's how it works here!
:Silver: Oh, you're such a bore, I think you've got one more challenge!
The ground rumbles hard again. Then again and again.
:Silver: Hey Mallory, have you ever heard of a plot twist? How many people here can define a plot twist?
:Azrail: A plot twist is an unexpected development in a book, film, television program.
:Silver: Nice Joogle search, Azrail. Anyway.
The ground breaks up. Seemingly out of nowhere, Kýrios breaks the ground apart, his eyes bulging from their sockets as he lets out a terrifying screech, having been held underground for way too long. His wings spread really wide, standing nice and tall as his wings fluttered hard.
:Silver: Game over, Mallory!
:Mallory: What?
:Zodiez: KÝRIOS!!! SWEETIE!! OH MY GODDDDD.
:Kýrios: Hehehehehehe. [pulls up a script] Mallory Zin, you're no longer able to partake in any satellite tournaments or try to take the throne ever again, because of your aggressive behavior and how it's been proven that you attempted to actually try and kill me. Luckily, we were prepared.
Clair faints over in the bleachers.
:Mallory: NO! THIS SHOULDN'T BE HAPPENING!
:Valerie: Kýrios!
:Kýrios: Valerie...
The real satellite's lord let out a nasty snarl, rounding on Mallory, with Zodiez throwing the crown onto his head.
:Kýrios: PULVERIZE YOU I SHALL, MALLORY!
:Mallory: Silver Zin, I'm going to break not just his neck, but YOURS too! Come here, you little troublemaker!
:Silver: Gladly! I'm going to cut you down!
Silver and Kýrios bump their knuckles together, ready to show Mallory a piece of their minds.
:Vilicus: ...Crap, I didn't think, no!
:Valerie: Mmm. [grabs a mic] Everyone, escort the stadium and be on the lookout for the Methademic, Quade, and any other of Mallory's known assistants! We cannot let them get ahold of the last stone.
:Mallory: I'm not going to hold back n-now.
::
::
Mallory breathes hard as Silver and Kýrios overwhelm her as a tag team.
:Mallory: C-Crap, I better get out of here.
Mallory goes and scampers, with a lot of her followers and her assistants being quick to follow. You can hear Mallory and the Messiah begin arguing as soon as they head outside, but that's something that'll be resolved another time. Much of the audience applauds Silver and Kýrios' incredible performance.
:Zodiez: How did you--?
:Silver: According to Hunjan, or the Electric Eye, he's been hiding Kýrios the whole time after teleporting him away from Mallory's assault on the Day of Remembrance parade. He purposefully kept Kýrios hidden because he didn't want anyone but himself to know until the end of the Electolympics came. He wanted to expose a lot of Mallory's bullcrap and take advantage of the situation.
:Zodiez: But how would he know to teleport Kýrios away from the parade in the first place..?
:Silver: Someone named Clair Voyell managed to get that information across to him, she predicted it was gonna happen, so Hunjan took action. It wasn't the best thing he could've done, I'll admit that.
:Zodiez: These past few weeks were really miserable, but I have Kýrios back, Mallory's bullshit has been exposed, and now I know how I can feel about everyone involved. Silver, I fully forgive you for everything you've done. Please take it from me, you'll no longer be imprisoned unless you do something we deem unforgivable.
:Silver: Thank you so much. [sighs] What a relief.
:Zodiez: Now honey, come up here! I missed you!
Kýrios grins wide, racing over and climbing up to Zodiez's throne. Zodiez waves goodbye, holding her husband close as they teleport themselves (and the throne) back to the Admin Sector.
:Silver: Alright, that was what I wanted to do.
Pierce and Ms. Replicate walk in, holding hands (lightly) as they walk in. Syinara leaps from the seats, going to Valerie and immediately healing her on the spot, while Vilicus looks paranoid.
:Vilicus: No, n-no, I've been bamboozled!
Devina's eyes turn up from the bleachers, seeing Vilicus standing on a support structure.
:Devina: You're here too, huh.
:Pierce: Silver, that was really awesome!
:Medea: It worked out just fine! [hugs them both] Aaaaaa!
Silver hugs them both, grinning wide. Valerie and Syinara hug together on the floor, even as Valerie bleeds. Zonas, Vizole, and Azrail all cheer from the audience before coming over to start talking to them. The camera turns up to Vilicus, who suddenly jumps as he sees the Holy Diver next to him.
:Vilicus: G-good gracious, leave me alone!
:Holy Diver: Thought you could cause more trouble, huh?
:Vilicus: Noooo!
:Holy Diver: It's all over, Vilicus.
The Holy Diver turns on a vacuum, making the two spirits in Vilicus panic and spread out from the body. Vilicus' body falls limply to the ground, which Syinara winds up tending to.
:The Manipulator: This can't be possible, but listen to me. The damage has already been done, you can take me in and suck me up, but I've already done my part. You can't stop what I've managed to do.
The Manipulator grins horribly. He has a point. Silver's still a helpless addict, he's in a relationship with a potentially dangerous woman, Mallory has most of the stones, and a lot of Silver's relationships are strained kind of awkward at the moment. Still.
:Holy Diver: But I can stop you from doing any further damage!
She moves her vacuum out, managing to suck the Manipulator and the Devil's Mask into it. All three masks have been captured. She turns off her vacuum, taking a sigh of relief.
:Holy Diver: They're gone now.
The Holy Diver removes her helmet. It was just Devina.
:Devina: Now to make sure that damage doesn't worsen much more.
Silver is laughing and hanging out with his friends when he gets a text message on Risquord.
:Silver: Ay, who's this?
Silver checks in. He finds a message from Mallory.
:Silver: Ey? What's she want now?
:Mallory [typing]: Congratulations, Silver Zin! You've been invited to eat at the Purple Keep. Please come along in two weeks for dinner. You will be escorted by Cody. You must come alone.
:Silver: Oh, that's interesting. Hm.
:Medea: Don't do it, Silv.
:Silver: I'll think about it, at least.
Everyone was uniting together- and for the better. But remember that this isn't the end- now there's some cleanup to do. Stay tuned for next chapter, when the cleanup happens. And we don't just mean a satellite cleanup.
====Chapter Twelve: Your Decision====
:8:00 A.M. · SUNDAY August 21st, ZXE-220
:Kýrios' Throne Room, Admin Sector
Two weeks ago, Satellite 15 was in immediate danger of getting reigned over by Mallory Zin. Though her desires to improve the living conditions of the satellite were genuine, she would be a mighty unfit ruler, considering how easy it is for her to crack under pressure or resort to violence. She would've taken the satellite one step forward, two steps back, and then some whenever she'd gain possession of the last zodiac stone. Luckily, Kýrios appeared seemingly out of nowhere with Silver Zin, and together they overwhelmed her and sent her packing. Vilicus was nowhere to be seen, with the spirits drained from his body by a cleverly disguised Devina Kilmister. If you keep in mind all the changes to the law that have been brought upon by Kýrios and Zodiez, things looked like they could be okay, for once.
:Zodiez: Morning honey, get up, sleepy.
Zodiez pokes her husband awake, who opens his eyes and sleepily grins at her.
:Kýrios: Morning good. [snickers] Demanding?
:Zodiez: I'm not demanding anything honey, I just like seeing that you're awake. [smiles] Thank you, again, for showing up when you did, because I was starting to get really worried.
:Kýrios: Worry not, Kýrios here!
Kýrios hugs her really tightly, surprising her as he pulls her into a tight hug.
:Kýrios: Reorganize parade plans in the year next.
:Zodiez: You make me feel so happy even when I feel like utter crap. [sighs] Thank you for the work you've done since you've returned. The Electolympics no longer being a thing is such a relief.
:Kýrios: Not dynamite-proof. Electolympics went, boom!
:Zodiez: You've been doing much more since you came back, and I no longer feel such an enormous workload sitting on my shoulders all the time. And thanks for helping me feel less like garbage. [kisses his cheek] It surprises me that even after all the horrid crap I've done, that you're still keeping me around.
:Kÿrios: Good you are, Zodi. Improved? Yes. [smiles] Bad things done? Yes, must admit. Yet, changed have you and proven so. Never angry. Confused sometimes. But me now? Proud.
:Zodiez: I'm glad that you think I've changed enough. Thank you.
:Kýrios: Mention never, heh. [kisses her cheek] That, what!?
Kýrios points to a monitor in their room, which has a blaring red light above it. Zodiez gets up from the throne, bending down to look at the monitor. She sees a portal open up in Sector 5.
:Zodiez: Seems like a portal's been made right inside of the satellite, but we don't authorize that type of thing on the satellite. I wonder if someone's going to pop out of it, or...
Zodiez watches the Leper Messiah leap from the portal, landing down on what looks to be a big tree.
:Zodiez: Looks like one of Mallory's associates, I think that's the Leper Messiah. What's he doing here? Might as well try to send the authorities to question him or something-
The Leper Messiah looks up at the monitor staring down at him, holding up a peace sign to Zodiez and Kýrios.
:Zodiez: Ah, it's just him trying to do something peaceful. I hope so. Satellite security level 1 activate.
Over the past few weeks, a lot of changes have been made to the satellite's security systems to both make it more effective and to grant its citizens much more privacy. Thousands of cameras have been shut down in people's homes, allowing the Electric Eye and authorities to only focus on select important locations, but they will trigger at Level 3 if too much hostile activity is detected. Level 1 will make cameras actively look out for suspicious targets, Level 2 will allow these cameras to have their lasers activate when targets are spotted, Level 3 will enable all cameras without weapons, and Level 4 will give all cameras across the satellite the ability to shoot lasers. Because the security level is at 1, cameras in vital spots are looking for suspicious activity now.
:Zodiez: I've made a truce with Mallory just last week that I wouldn't attack any of her comrades unless they were actively spotted doing something bad, so I'm just gonna let the Messiah do what he needs to do then go back, but I need to make sure he's doing the right thing.
:Kýrios: Me know you're smart.
Kýrios laughs, leaning on his wife as he hugs her.
:Zodiez: Heh, I'm just saying this stuff so you know what's going on.
:Kýrios: Me know, oh.
Both Zodiez and Kýrios hear a knocking on their door. Zodiez turns off her Suspicion Chaser monitor and clears her throat.
:Zodiez: Come in!
Scotch opens the door to Kýrios' Throne Room, walking in. He looked grumpy and somewhat pissed off.
:Scotch: I've got my daily report for you, Zodiez. Sorry that I wasn't here earlier to deliver it, I got distracted by Silver and I've had to retrieve all my papers from the roof of a twelve-story building because he's a dick. [rolls his eyes] Anyway, I'm ready when you are.
:Zodiez: Fire away, Scotch.
:Scotch: I haven't been able to locate the entrance to Mallory's headquarters, yet again, but I've reorganized the military and we're ready for anything that comes our way, from the inside or from the outside. I've also managed to figure out Silver's home life, and discovered that he now lives with Pierce and Ms. Replicate. And after two weeks of seeking one out, I can determine that there is no background threat lurking on the satellite.
:Zodiez: It's a relief that we no longer directly dealing with Vilicus, to think it's taken us this long to catch onto what he's doing is pretty amazing. He's currently imprisoned after attempting to deny his wrongdoings, many times.
:Scotch: I don't know, I recognize that Vilicus did some crappy things, but something's just off to me.
:Zodiez: What do you mean?
:Scotch: When I decided to confront him, he looked like a pale-skinned freak that wailed that he didn't do anything wrong, his face had no funny characteristics or anything, contrasting with the footage that we have of him. You could argue that our cameras might be out of date, but Silver looks totally fine.
:Zodiez: Hmmm, well, we don't know for sure, so we need to keep him isolated from everyone else until we figure out what's going on with him. But what's going on with Silver and Replicate? I thought they hated each other.
:Scotch: They're dating, and I'm not really sure how I feel about that. I suppose it's not any of my business, though.
Scotch rolls his eyes again, sighing.
:Scotch: Besides some oddities, I am relieved to say that we're nearly done with the cleanup. We haven't retrieved back any of the zodiac stones, but the one that remains has been locked away and hidden in a very secure location, and hopefully Mallory will never find it. And all our main threats, besides Mallory herself, are in prison. Why aren't we chasing her down again?
:Zodiez: Because while what Mallory did was really morbid and disgusting, and it's something I would have very quickly jailed her for, I let her off the hook because, I was admittedly too occupied by my husband's sudden return to really do anything about her. Now we just have a treaty.
:Scotch: ...This would be the part where I'd begin chastising you for being a fool, but now that I think about it, you might have been thinking for the better. If you concentrated on her specifically, we'd still be going through the cleanup process and her minions would still be running about. Was probably best to not provoke her while we were in such a vulnerable position.
:Zodiez: Those are all admittedly just side-effects of my actions, but I'm pleased that we're alright at the moment.
:Scotch: Right. Well, I'll come back tomorrow morning with my next report.
:Zodiez: Sounds good.
:Scotch: Just a quick heads up though, before I go. [folds his arms] Silver and Mallory are dangerous, and right now, I can't tell who's more dangerous. Silver might not look dangerous, and Mallory might be calmer, but I think they're both completely capable of destroying this satellite. You should be lucky there's been no serious fatalities so far.
:Zodiez: I understand that they're both dangerous individuals, but I just can't take action on them right now. Silver just saved our skins and he's been through way more than enough, and Mallory's not within our attacking range anyway.
:Scotch: I'm not saying go and take them down right now, but I just want you to keep that in mind. But we do need to discuss what to do with them at some point, even if it takes years for them to finally do some real damage to the satellite, you need to keep a sharp eye on them. As will I.
:Zodiez: I don't think things are going to turn out that badly if we just keep them at bay.
:Scotch: Zodiez, at any point in our immediate futures, dangerous fallout can happen just from keeping them here. I'd be really pleased if we can trust them at some point in the future, but I'm full of doubt. Please understand that I'm worried.
:Zodiez: What fallout?
Scotch gulps, sighing as he turns around to face away from her.
:Scotch: What the fallout will turn out to be doesn't matter, what does matter is that they need to be taken care of at some point. If we keep them around, they will damage our community, whether through by themselves or through others manipulating them. I think that Mallorism and Vilicus are early signs of what disasters will befall upon the satellite in the distant future.
:Zodiez: Right.
:Scotch: So, you promise that you're going to take care of Silver and Mallory and exile them from the satellite as soon as they prove to be worthless scum not worth keeping around?
:Zodiez: I promise. At least as far as Mallory is concerned.
:Scotch: Alright, good.
Scotch begins to walk out of the room.
:Scotch: See you tomorrow. If you need to ask more questions on what could happen, I recommend contacting Clair Voyell and her family. They gave me some horrible examples of what will come to us all, and many bad timelines that could come as a result of the authorities' actions.
:Zodiez: Right. [sighs] See you around.
Scotch exits the room, leaving Zodiez and Kýrios alone. Kýrios had nodded out on Zodiez's shoulder.
:Zodiez: I don't know what to make of Silver and Mallory at this point.
:3:32 P.M. · SUNDAY August 21st, ZXE-220
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
Silver was snoozing the day away on his bed, accompanied by a sleepy Pierce on one side and a knitting Medea on the other. Though many differences still existed between Pierce and Medea, they have found some common ground between each other and are willing to get along because neither wants to separate from Silver. At this point, they were both sleeping with him in the same bed, and had adjusted their schedules to work around spending time with him. Medea's always gone in the mornings and Pierce spends some time alone in the evenings, and that's how it's been working out over the past two weeks.
:Silver: Rrrfphhh.
Silver sleepily gets up, hearing some knocking outside the bedroom door.
:Medea: I'll get it, Silvie.
Medea gets up from the bed, still knitting as she opens the door. Surprise! Of all people, the Leper Messiah was right at Silver's bedroom door, holding a gun and pointing it right at his head!
:Silver: Whoa, what the fudge?
:Leper Messiah: Silver Zin! I've come upon you to personally escort you to the Purple Keep, where Mallory awaits, or I'm going to blast your brains out! This is a personal request that you've accepted two weeks ago!
:Silver: Good lord, alright, let me get up.
:Pierce: Put that thing away man, you're gonna hurt somebody!
:Leper Messiah: I'm not going to drop the gun until Silver is fully dressed and right next to me. [looks at Pierce] Do you like sharing your bed with a woman that's twice as old as you are?
:Pierce: I don't feel like I should give that question an honest answer.
:Medea: You do realize that Silver's not fully dressed , right? Can you give him, a clear path?
:Leper Messiah: My apologies, I will close my eyes.
The Leper Messiah closes his eyes, turning the golden cross-eyes on his mask to grey. Silver mad-dashes past everyone else in his pajamas, while Pierce and Medea remain under the sheets in just as much clothing.
:Leper Messiah: Is he gone?
:Pierce: He should be dressing up in the bathroom.
:Leper Messiah: Thanks, cutie.
The Messiah walks out of Silver's bedroom. Pierce and Medea just share each other awkward glances.
:Pierce: I forgot that Silver had to go to Mallory's place for a bite to eat. I don't know why he keeps doing this stupid crap to himself, I've asked him to stop but he doesn't listen to me.
:Medea: He's done stupid crap even I wouldn't consider in a million years. Do you think I'd go out for a bite to eat with Gonzalo again any time soon?
:Pierce: You probably would if this was twenty years ago, because you had a hard time getting over your losses.
Pierce winks at Medea, pissing her off a little bit.
:Medea: I'm gonna gouge your eyes out eventually.
:Pierce: That burn is probably melting your cold, slimy skin right now.
:Medea: Yeaaaaaaaaah, I think your humor has a ways to go before it starts being funny.
Silver is shown dressed up in whatever clothes he could find to make himself look as unprofessional as possible. He's wearing an Iron Maiden tank top, he's got his hair all frizzled out like it were the 80's, he's wearing some really tattered and torn leather clothing, and he's got zippers all over his clothes.
:Silver: I don't give too many craps about how she'll think of me when I show up, so why not look as hilarious as possible, eh?
Silver laughs to himself, but stops laughing when he opens the door, finding the Messiah once again right in front of him.
:Silver: ACK!
:Leper Messiah: Are you ready to go or not? [holds gun] You've spent ten minutes in there!
:Silver: Yeah, sure. Just drop the gun.
The Leper Messiah kept holding the gun as he made Silver back to the elevator.
:Silver: Love you Pierce, love you Medea, I'll be back as soon as I can. Goodbyyyyeee!
:Pierce: Goodbye honey, we'll see you soon! You look cute in the tank top.
:Medea: Byyeeeeeeeeee!
Medea waves goodbye to Silver, winking as the elevator doors prevent Silver from seeing either of his loved ones anymore. As the elevator moves up, the Messiah drops the gun.
:Leper Messiah: It's just a prop.
:Silver: You asshole!
:Leper Messiah: Sorry.
:Silver: Nah, I thought it was pretty funny. [grins] Couldn't have gotten me up easier.
:Leper Messiah: Oh, who's really being the asshole now, huh?
Both of them laugh, giving each other a hug in the elevator.
:Leper Messiah: I'm going to escort you to the Purple Keep, and hopefully you'll have an alright time over there. Uhh, if you see me and Mallory arguing, don't worry about me, we're just sorting things out.
:Silver: Right, I got it.
:Leper Messiah: I'm gonna make a new portal outside, but we have to be really stealthy, because I don't want the government to start thinking of you or I as super-suspicious individuals. If we're caught together, that'd suck for our reputations.
:Silver: Got it, I'll play stealthily.
As the elevator heads up, Medea turns her head a complete 180 degrees again to face Pierce.
:Medea: So, you want to continue our little game of Pillows and Razors?
:Pierce: I'm ready, motherzoinker.
Pierce picks up a huge metal razor blade, picking up a pretty battered-looking pillow while Medea did the same.
:Medea: Come here, you!
:Pierce: Yaaaaah!
Medea holds her pillow up to avoid getting hit with Pierce's razor blade, then she tries to hit back. Yes, this is something they do when Silver's gone, and it's the way they get their hate out for each other. Luckily, they're proficient enough at healing each other to not care about the consequences. It pisses off Silver when he catches them though...
::
::
Silver arrives inside of the Purple Keep right after the Messiah, falling right on top of him after the Messiah collides with the ground. He hisses in pain, but Silver looks thankful he had a pillow to use to go down with.
:Silver: Thanks for letting me drop in, Cody.
:Cody: No problem...!
Cody gets out from under Silver, taking off his unforgivably tight messiah outfit and taking deep breaths, sighing. Silver looked around himself, realizing that the Purple Keep was in the middle of a black void, and he was inside one of its hallways.
:Silver: So, is this the graveyard that Mallory planned out for me?
:Cody: Pretty much, yeah. But tonight you're here for dinner.
:Silver: I find it interesting that Mallory decided to, of all things, invite me out to dinner after I kicked her ass last week.
:Cody: Let's not talk about that, that's a topic she finds really sensitive to talk about at the moment.
Silver nods, taking Cody's hand.
:Cody: Try not to be a relentless douchebag to Mallory, as far as I'm concerned this is her trying to genuinely have a good time with you.
:Silver: Suuuuuuuuure it is. There's no way this is just a trap that she set up and chose to not let you in on.
:Cody: You never know if she's right around the corner, Silver!
:Mallory: Is there a problem?
:Cody: N-No there isn't a problem h-here Mallory, I'm just talking to a f-friend!
Cody cowers a little in surprise as Mallory indeed does come out from right behind the corner. She looks straight at Silver's eyes, they're just as pure and white as her own, his horns and warrior blood reminiscent of hers, and with the purest white skin in the Zaxiverse. A look of hatred ran through Mallory's expression.
:Mallory: I'm surprised you decided to come along after all, Silver. I was frightened that you'd be too cowardly.
:Silver: Hey, if you're willing to just have a nice night out with me and your closest pals, why would I wanna pass that down? I mean, I don't really trust you or anything, but I like what I've gotten to know of your partners!
:Mallory: If you pull any funny stunts while you're here, or do anything that you're not supposed to do, I promise that your little night out with us will turn into a date with the reaper. I'm sure Morticia will be happy to suck out your soul.
:Silver: Hey, do I look like I wanna be a malicious little troublemaker tonight?
:Mallory: No, not yet. [turns around] But if you do betray what you've promised, I won't hold back on you like how I did two weeks ago.
:Silver: Alright, alright. So, what's for dinner?
:Mallory: Follow me.
Silver and Cody together follow Mallory through the rusted, crumbly hallway of the Purple Keep, winding up in a huge room together. Lots of glass chandeliers hang loosely from the ceiling, lit up with purple flames, and lots of windows overlook the two islands of factories out in the distance away from the Purple Keep. Sunshine appeared to filter through the stained glass windows, but the source of the light is unknown. The dining room looked really neat, with pristine and sleek marble floors being accompanied by purple mats and a long wooden table. You can see Mania, Beck, Quade, Kispel, Niki, the Methademic, and the two children seated down at this table, while several unnamed individuals can be seen doing the cooking in the kitchen space surrounding the table. The room looked ancient, lacking modern cooking essentials like ovens. No, everything was cooked over open fires.
:Mallory: Silver, you're going to eat between Mania and Beck, because I think you're slightly fond of those two.
:Silver: Alright.
:Mallory: Cody, you're going to be seated to my left, while Kispel's to my right.
:Silver: This kitchen looks really awesome, who designed it?
:Mallory: Yeah, it does look awesome, Mania designed it based on my old home.
Mallory looks down at Silver.
:Mallory: Our old home. Do you not recognize it?
:Silver: I don't really, but it looks really cool. As if you could do dark magic in here.
:Mallory: So there might be traces of memory left in your head.
Silver scratches his head, then reaches a finger inside his ear before pulling it out.
:Silver: I dunno, I don't really see what you're talking about. I suppose I could use a history lesson from you then, Mallory, what do you mean that this looks like our old home?
:Mallory: As you're fully aware, we're siblings, and we grew up together in the same home. But you don't seem to remember any of the events that happened before Ms. Replicate woke you up. It's unfortunate, because you'd know why I hate you so much if you did remember, but I can't tell you those events right now.
:Silver: Why not? I'm starved to learn this information, Mallory!
:Mallory: This will sound insanely stupid, but... [grumbles] I don't want to feel any empathy for any guilt or pain you would go through upon regaining those memories. Doesn't change that I want to put you out of your misery eventually, but, I'd rather have you killed while you still have an innocent train of thought.
:Silver: Man, that's just not helpful at all. [sighs] Alright, I'll just go take my seat.
:Mallory: Feel free.
Silver goes to sit down at the table, sitting between Beck and Mania and sitting across from Niki, who herself was positioned between Quade and the Methademic. Beyond Beck and the Methademic to the right were Ferris and the Violet Reaper, and beyond Mania and Quade to the left were Cody and Kispel and Mallory herself.
:Mallory: Tonight's dinner is going to be skewered scorpion, fried tarantula, and nocturne burgers. Our slaves will hand them over as soon as they're ready to. Please feel free to tip them if you liked your meal, or just slap them.
:Silver: You have slaves?
:Mallory: They're white slaves, it's fine.
:Silver: ...I still find that really questionable, but I won't argue. Especially if you're bothering to let us tip them.
Mallory shrugs. All of her assistants turn to face Silver, surprised by his presence at the table. Niki looked really excited particularly, with her tail thrashing against the back of her chair.
:Beck: Nice to see you here, Silver, I wasn't thinking we'd ever get to hang out at any point in our lives.
:Silver: Me neither, really? [bumps his fist] It's cool though.
:Ferris: I'm Ferris Rock, remember? The one that tried to go kill Ms. Replicate or whatsherface?
:Mania: I'm Mania Metallurgy, uh, we met a while back if you remember. And you handed my ass to me.
:Kispel: I'm your worst nightmare, Silver Zin. If you lay a finger on my God, I shall tear you to shreds through my uncompromising psychic energy until you apologize to Her and pay her back through sacrifice. I will destroy everything you know and love if you ever decide to hit Her. Eventually you will be begging for me to stop, crying uncontrollably and crapting yourself while you tug at my robes for me to go easier on you. My God is here to save us all, and if you get in the way of Her holiness too frequently for me to continue choosing whether to forgive you or not, I shall take you down six feet underground in immediate response. My name is Kispel, nice to meet you.
:Silver: Yeah, I can see Mallory's got her fans here. [smirks] As you all know, I'm Silver Zin. The celebrity that never wanted to be a celebrity, seen as a priceless troublemaker and the source of all the satellite's problems that don't relate to any of you. Nice to meet you!
:Mallory: Alright everyone, a moment of quiet, our dinner is coming its way.
A bunch of slaves walk around each person sitting at the table, giving everyone a plate of scorpion, tarantula, and nocturne burger. Silver realizes how much food's present on his plate, becoming wide-eyed in surprise.
:Silver: That's a lotta food.
:Slave: Do you have a tip?
:Silver: Sorry man, my purse was stolen a while back and I don't have any backup money on hand.
:Slave: Oh no, I won't be able to support my family tonight. I suppose this is the end for me.
:Mallory: No begging at the table, slave! Go whine and beg elsewhere until your next shift tomorrow begins!
:Slave: I can't make it, I'm sorry.
The slave runs off out of sight. You can then hear a gunshot and the sound of screaming babies.
:Silver: Did he just...?
:Mallory: Don't be too concerned about the slave's death, Silver. In actuality, he uses the money to purchase heroin for him and his buddies to smoke. I don't even know who that fucker even is besides that he's a slave.
:Silver: I have a lot of questions.
:Mallory: Swallow them like the rest of your food.
Silver takes a bite of his burger, ripping the whole damn thing into his mouth and chewing through it rapidly. Beck helps Silver cut up and peel the scorpion, while Mania helps him split up the tarantula.
:Silver: Why're you two helping me?
:Beck: Sometimes the food gets overcooked or they don't handle the finishing touches like they should. For example, they didn't cut off any of the scorpion tails.
:Mania: Just showing we're more than a bunch of yesmen, which Valerie accused us of being.
:Silver: I appreciate it, I don't think I've had any of this food before.
:Mallory: You've never had a nocturne burger?
:Silver: Now you see, I'm more of a squash burger fan.
:Mallory: You disgust me.
Silver and everyone continue eating. While Silver noisily and rather quickly chowed at his meal, everyone else took it slowly, especially Cody. Cody shot dirty glances at Kispel, which he was more than happy to fire back.
:Silver: Excuuuse me, talkin' with my mouth full, but, why're those two glaring at each other?
:Mallory: Ermm, look, they're going through a bit of a rivalry phase right now, and I'm trying my best to stay out of it until I decide what I want out of the aftermath.
Cody and Kispel then began arguing, though tried to keep their voices low and in hard whispers.
:Cody: You think that just because you worship her that you deserve to be her girlfriend, even though I've worked my ass off with this Mallorism bullcrap in the first place? Do I deserve to be cheated on in favor of you, even though you're handicapped in a wheelchair and you hardly do anything for her?
:Kispel: Maybe it's because you're too much of a needy and whiny asshole to deserve the love she's been giving to me instead? When you attempt to talk to our God, you spit venom and hiss with rage, signs of you being a poor influence on Her corroding mentality. She doesn't want to talk to you.
:Cody: Doesn't excuse the fact that she straight-up cheated on me, Kispel. And you're defending her for cheating on me!? Are you for real? Are you versed in the teachings of the bible or not?
:Kispel: I don't see what's wrong with cheating on someone that wasn't good for you in the first place. You're so harsh and cold-hearted, you're a steel machine in the workings of the system that should just be that.
:Cody: Really, what does she see in you, Kispel?
:Kispel: She sees somebody that cares enough for Her. Somebody that won't question Her. Somebody that won't stop Her from becoming what She wants to become. You must understand.
Cody scowls and looks angry, but Mallory cups their mouths.
:Mallory: After dinner is done, you two, we will be meeting in my bedroom to discuss this rivalry and how we can resolve it. Remember the seventh rule in the kitchen is to not be a whiny loser at the table.
:Cody: Alright.
:Kispel: Apologies, my God. I won't do it again.
Silver continues eating. He couldn't help but feel like something was off about everything here. Mallory doesn't look strong at all, she looks down and just picks at her food, her fingers only occasionally violently twitching. Silver already knows that she has eleven zodiac stones and was close to achieving her one goal, but perhaps the Electolympics fiasco really gave her enough of a shock for her to feel helpless.
:Silver: That was delicious.
Silver places down his plate. He was the second to finish, with Niki having beaten him several minutes ago. Niki was actually under the table, eating whatever scraps of food she could find.
:Silver: Is this little demon a dog or something?
:Mallory: No, she's just,= strange. She's rational and can clearly think, but she's got strange tendencies. I guess.
:Silver: Are you alright, Mallory? You don't sound really good.
:Mallory: Considering that Valerie exposed a lot of personal crap about me at the Electolympics, that all my secrets became known, and that the first step to my plans to become the satellite lord never went through correctly after all, yeah, sure, I guess I'm alright. Clearly.
Mallory sarcastically grins at Silver before sighing, covering her face with her hands.
:Mallory: Look, I need to talk to you about something. If you're done eating, please get up.
Silver gets up, following Mallory as she gets up and walks into a back room. Quade throws some crumbled up napkins at the back of Silver's head.
:Quade: Hah! Nerd!
Silver picks up a piece of loose stone and throws it at Quade's head, making his head fall down onto the table.
:Silver: Heckler!
Silver follows Mallory into a small storage room. Mallory sighs, pulling out a silver spoon and lighting up some heroin of her own.
:Silver: ...You too?
:Mallory: Yeah, sorry if you were expecting me to be completely sober, but... [sighs] Look, Silver, I need to talk about something to you. And I want you to consider it a warning.
:Silver: Sure?
:Mallory: Throughout my whole time on this satellite, I've tried to make things right and try to make my points nice and clear, but if you couldn't tell as of lately, I've been losing my grip.
:Silver: Losing your grip, yeah, I feel like I've been kind of going down the same kind of road.
:Mallory: I've made it nice and clear that I've wanted the authorities to hand you over to me so I could kill you and take what was mine, and that's still true. I could very easily kill you, right here, if I really wanted to. But I've invited you here for dinner because I really quickly needed to vent something out to you. There is a fraction of me that still cares about you and your wellbeing, and that fraction has control over me right now.
:Silver: Yeah, I was always confused why you never just killed me as soon as you came within twelve feet of me. But I suppose that's just how life works out sometimes.
:Mallory: As much as I'm unwilling to forgive you for the things you've done to me in the past, the things I don't want you to remember, and as much as I want to get my vengeance... [inhales some smoke] I'm advising you to stay away from me. I'm starting to become what I was fearing before: what you used to be.
:Silver: What I used to be?
:Mallory: I can't tell you what I mean. But you need to understand that I'm not going to be safe to be around. You've ruined my life in the past, and together with these authorities, you've ruined my life again. And I think I'm starting to crack.
:Silver: I'm so confused.
:Mallory: It's alright, there's nothing I can really tell you without feeling like I'm giving you needless and pointless crap to think about. Sometimes it's just better if you're in the unknowing about some things. It sucks to not know, but sometimes it's better if you just look ahead. And that's what you need to do.
:Silver: No, I want to know why I don't remember anything, I want to know what connections I have to you as a sibling! I mean, I already know we are siblings, we look so much alike, but my past means a lot to me.
:Mallory: Silver, you don't want to know the past. It's awful. You'll just become what you were before, while I'm becoming what you were before, and together we'll both make a mess out of the stars.
:Silver: Then I won't ask further questions. I'm sorry, I'm just really frustrated not knowing more than I do.
:Mallory: I think there are a few people on the satellite that might be able to help you regain some of your memories, but for your own sake, I don't think you should go searching for them. But I remember when you left home, you threw some miscellaneous stuff into your robes. If you look in your robes, you might find that you have an iPod device.
Silver reaches into his robe pocket. He felt something cold and metal, yeah, it was his iPod. He pulled it out.
:Silver: I saw this before, I actually saw it while I was at your house months ago, but never fooled around with it.
:Mallory: You used to listen to songs that would help you calm yourself from... from things. That's what your iPod should be full of: music to help you cope.
:Silver: Interesting.
:Mallory: If you find yourself feeling alien feelings, things that don't feel right to you, place on your music and try to drown the sound away. This may sound contradictory, but listen to the heaviest, hardest shit you can find. It doesn't sound like it'd help, but the heaviest, harshest noises pounding in your ears can really drown out some feelings.
:Silver: That's strange, I always thought metal was just about men screaming into their mics.
:Mallory: Even the most obnoxious-sounding crap has some meaning to it, you just need to distinguish the voice from the noise. Why else do you think people like Slipknot so much?
:Silver: What in Sam Hill is Slipknot?
:Mallory: Noise Lindemulder got me into them, I don't know much about them.
:Silver: I think she asked me if I was into them when I woke up or something.
:Mallory: Probably, she never shut up about them while I was there. Before I forget, though, please try to talk things out with your friends if you're feeling horrible or cope with music. Do something good for yourself, Silver. Because the part of your sister you might sympathize with is probably going to die.
:Silver: Alright.
Silver takes deep breaths. He wasn't sure what to really say here.
:Mallory: ...Sorry if this is awkward.
:Silver: I mean, you're not wrong, it is awkward. But I'm kind of relieved for some reason.
:Mallory: Alright. Just in case, I don't get to have another chance to do it, do you want a hug?
:Silver: Sure.
Silver walks over to Mallory, giving her a tight hug. Mallory immediately returns it, her head over his shoulder as they clench onto each other tightly. Mallory feels a tear run down her cheek as she squeezes him tightly.
:Mallory: But the part of you that I recognize as good, it's still there. Don't let it die, Silver.
:Silver: I won't.
:Mallory: You better not.
Mallory closes her eyes.
:Mallory: I need you to leave now. Please don't contact me or do anything to do so, because this is the last I want to see you. If I see you again, I will... I'll probably kill you.
:Silver: Likewise, if you mess with me and my family, I'll do something back to you. I don't know what, it depends.
:Mallory: Goodbye, Silver. Thank you for coming out to eat, I appreciate it. You can keep in contact with anyone here that you care about besides me. It's worth having friends like Cody in the long run, I think.
:Silver: See ya, Mallory.
Silver leaves the storage room.
:Mallory: ...Silver.
:Silver: Yeaaaaah?
:Mallory: This sounds crazy but... I love you.
:Silver: ...I think I love you too.
Mallory smiles a little as Silver turns around. Cody gets up- just about everyone had packed up by this point.
:Cody: Ready to go home, Silver?
:Silver: Sure.
Cody makes a portal back home. Silver steps into it, winding up on his bed. Cody smiles at him, looking at Silver through the portal.
:Cody: Good luck, Silver.
:Silver: You too, Cody. Make sure Mallory's alright for me, will ya?
:Cody: I'll try, it gets harder by the day, but I can try.
Cody closes the portal, leaving Silver alone with Pierce and Medea.
:Pierce: Holy crap, you're back in one piece.
:Medea: Don't worry about the wounds on our bodies, we were just painting each other with ketchup.
:Silver: Were you two really playing Pillows and Razors while I was gone?
:Medea: Fine. [pouts] Yeah.
Silver turns around to face the camera, clicking a button.
:Silver: I'm turning on censor mode so you don't hear me go all out with my expletives. Trust me, you'll need it.
:Medea: What?
Silver starts screaming censored expletives at Pierce and Medea, throwing the dangerous razor blades again. Pierce and Medea look really embarrassed as Silver goes out on them.
:Silver: %*$@#*^*@%#$#*%@#%&$#@#*$#@@#%#@&$@#*#@$*%@*#$&%@*#$*@#*%#&@#*$@$#*@#$!!!
While Silver continues to yell at them, little did he know what was to come in the future. Mallory's seemingly at the end of her rope, ready to give in under all that intense pressure, and Clair warns that danger could arrive if Silver and Mallory stayed on the satellite. Though things have calmed down considerably, danger remains and it's becoming more concerning than ever.
:9:05 P.M. · MONDAY August 22nd, ZXE-220
:Estrogen Rock Venue, New Naxaz City
After a good night's sleep, Silver and Medea were hanging out together at a Black Haze concert held in New Naxaz City. Silver had a lot on his mind as he sat down and listened to his boyfriend and his band play, with lots of people surrounding them. Right near Silver were Valerie and Syinara, while a handful of others surrounded them. Whiskey, Minute, Arikan, Oshelia, Agantuk, Zonas, Sinicini, Adexene, Koffina, Dusty, and Keil could be seen too.
:Silver: You know, Valerie, I was thinking about leaving the satellite. At least for a bit.
:Valerie: Huh? Why?
:Silver: I've been thinking about a lot of things lately, I've been thinking about how I've been living my life on this satellite and how I've been getting along with everyone else, and, I just wanna take a break.
:Medea: Silvie, nooo...
:Silver: Don't worry too much Medea, it's just temporary. I just feel like all the stress that I've been having to face on the satellite is kinda eating me up from the inside, and I'll come back within a week or so.
:Medea: Oh, I'd be chill with that then!
:Silver: 'Course you'd be chill, you've already got ice-cold skin honey.
Silver and Medea laugh, placing arms around each other.
:Silver: But in seriousness, I just wanna find my peace of mind, seeing Jezebeth locked up in a place where she doesn't belong, having talked to Mallory at her own keep, and seeing so many people deal with so many woes here just isn't making me feel all that nice.
Silver leans on Medea's side. Pierce smiles down at his boyfriend, grinning as Silver flashes his teeth back at him.
:Pierce: Alright you guys, let's get to the next song.
:Black Eyes: Hold on, I'm leaking oil all over my set, ah crap.
:Pierce: I told you to go before we went on stage, you dipshit!
:Black Eyes: Hold on, I've gotta seal myself up.
:Devina: This is so embarrassing, why must you be like this?
:Vizole: Man, imagine if we played in front of a crowd with hundreds of thousands of people, and you just do that.
Silver snickers to himself, enjoying the on-stage commotion as Black Eyes leaves to go clean up.
:Silver: But yeah, I just need to break from all my personal traumas and just have a good time. I don't like feelin' like crap and that's what I've been feeling for more than half the time since I've woken up.
:Valerie: I understand, where do you plan on going?
:Silver: I've learned how to make portals somehow with the Mind Weaver? I made a rip through universes or something, because I got to see some strange blue bear, he looked like a joke, I could probably crush him like a soda can.
:Valerie: That sounds really strange.
:Silver: What, the fact I can just make portals now, the universe rip, or the blue bear?
:Valerie: All three of them? We discourage making portals on the satellite, just so you know.
:Silver: Look, it's not like I attempted to make those portals, they just happened. I'll try and see if I can remember what made that portal open, then travel off. Maybe I'll take some friends with me?
:Medea: As long as you feel like this will help you feel better, Silv.
Medea hugs him tightly.
:Medea: You should give up being a junkie too, I think it'd be good for you to clean your system out and come back refreshed. If you're gonna drink I mean, fine, just get rid of the coke and heroin and crap.
:Silver: Right, I guess I did learn that music can help with coping too. That's something I wasn't expecting to learn from my sister, honestly.
:Syinara: I'll watch the apple tree for you, I'll promise to take good care of it.
:Silver: Thanks Syi, you're a real pal.
Silver grins as Pierce comes down from the stage, hopping on Silver's lap.
:Pierce: Sorry, uh, Black Eyes is taking a while, what're you talking about?
:Silver: I was considering leaving the satellite for a short time to take a little vacation on Earth, an Earth from an alternative universe, that is. I've been feeling really stressed, you know? And I was thinking of taking several people with me.
:Pierce: I'll go if you really wanna do that, I wouldn't mind going somewhere else for a change. How long do you want to be gone?
:Silver: Uh, three days maybe? Perhaps a week?
:Pierce: I'm on board with it then.
:Valerie: You mind if I tag along? After Mallory almost killed me last time we faced up against each other, I'd like to try and become a little stronger.
:Syinara: You wanna go with them, Val?
:Valerie: I won't leave you hanging for long, honey. Do you wanna come with me or stay back?
:Syinara: I'm gonna stay back and take care of the tree, continue your work by telling Yemen what to do and how to do it, and then stay with her as support. I'm gonna keep your work going strong!
:Valerie: Alright honey, that's good to hear. [smiles] I'll head with you, Silver!
:Silver: Perfect! How about you, Medea?
:Medea: I'd come along, but I have some vital work to do at the Hospital Wing and I can't skip out on my responsibilities or anything. But I want you to have a good time, alright honey?
:Silver: Aww, okay. [kisses her cheek] Good that you're going to keep your responsibilities going strong, though.
:Valerie: When do you want to go?
:Silver: Tomorrow.
:Pierce: On a Tuesday of all days...? Huh.
:Silver: I just wanna go as soon as possible, but I wanna have a good sleep with my boyfriend and girlfriend before I leave and then take a hike. That sounds pretty damn fine, right?
Pierce and Medea turn to each other, then smile.
:Pierce: Alright, that sounds good to me.
:Medea: Yeah!
:Silver: Here, lemme go back for a second.
Silver gets up, placing Pierce back up on his feet as he goes to a back room.
:Silver: Fat chance they'll go, but.
:Silver [typing]: Hey, you wanna go with me to another planet in another universe for three days or for up to a week? It's your decision, I just wanna see if you wanna join my party or not.
:Zonas [typing]: sure
:Zonas [typing]: fudge the police #ftp
:Silver [typing]: Those are really agreeable words! Sorry police, but I just wanna eat my spicy chips in peace.
:Zonas [typing]: i mean ill still arrest you for that but i just wanna take a break from my racist crewmates
:Silver [typing]: Oh okay that makes sense, see you tomorrow.
:Zonas [typing]: tomorrow!?
:Zonas [typing]: youre joking right
:Silver [typing]: Nope !
:Zonas [typing]: oh ok
Silver snickers to himself.
:Silver [typing]: Meet me up at the Stenographer Garden tomorrow at 10AM, handsome.
Silver starts texting to someone else.
:Silver [typing]: Hey, you wanna go out to another universe onto another planet for a week or maybe just three weeks? You joining my party or not is your decision.
:Crymsia [typing]: Have you lost your mind!?
:Silver [typing]: No
:Crymsia [typing]: I've tried so many times to cut you down and get my vengeance on you, and now you're inviting me to some random picnic trip in a world that isn't even my own? No!
:Silver [typing]: What if I told you...
:Silver [typing]: That you could beat me up in a fight while we're there owo
:Crymsia [typing]: Sounds good to me uwu
:Crymsia [typing]: But I'll block you if this is just a scheme to come any closer to dating me!
:Silver [typing]: Don't count on us dating LOL anyway meet me at the Stenographer Garden tomorrow at 10
Silver places his phone back in his pocket.
:Silver: Holy crap, what have I brought myself into?
:7:33 A.M. · TUESDAY August 23rd, ZXE-220
:Naxaz Prison, New Naxaz City
Meanwhile, in Naxaz's prison, you can see Junkhead and Shredder sitting across from each other in different cells.
:Shredder: I'm getting really sick of getting stuck in these cells. [rattles his bars] I just wanna get my money's worth and help Gonzalo out man, I'm feeling really nauseous just being in here!
:Junkhead: Ya think that's bad mate? I'm in here for pretty much forever, motherzoinker! Ya know how sickening that feels?
:Shredder: Look, you're just a helpless junkie that can't do anything but complain when you get your drugs stolen away from you, over and over again, just as you deserve! But I'm in here for just doing my job!
:Junkhead: Ya're here because you've been proven to be doing some shady crap, ya freakin' numbskull! Ya're a piece of crap n' that's all ya'll ever amount to!
:Shredder: Alright, stop harassing me and listen to me. Soon enough, even if it takes a couple of years, Gonzalo is eventually going to suck enough out of the economy to destroy it. Then, he'll begin his new empire, and I'll be out there riding ships of gold while you perish alone in that little cell!
:Junkhead: I can tell the officers what ya're up to, matey, ya can't just shout that crap and pretend I won't do crap 'bout it!
:Shredder: They won't listen to you, Rhett, because as far as they're concerned you're always high and you're always going to be desperate for more junk in your system. You're stuck, man.
:Junkhead: If only they didn't remove all the goddamn windows in these jail cells or prevented us from moving any part of our bodies out of our cells, I would've effin' strangled yar neck by now!
:Shredder: We're stuck until Gonzalo finds a way to overtake the economy. Or until Ms. Replicate finds a way to fuel her plot for the demolition of mankind, one or the other will come first. Mallory doesn't matter in the equation.
:Junkhead: Ya're just making cringe, Shredder. Shut the hellers up!
:Shredder: I'm just saying it's worth noting that, even if it takes some time, the satellite is coming close to a disaster. And it'll be a disaster I can profit off of, while you sit back in here and rot. How long's your sentence again?
:Junkhead: Fifty years, heh.
:Shredder: You're going to be dead long before your prison time is up. Gonzalo's told me that he's planning on making an immortality elixir, and that while he'll drink it for himself to render himself impossible to kill, he'll give it to others so they may endlessly suffer without being able to fall apart.
:Junkhead: Sounds pretty bold to claim that Gonzalo will be handlin' this motherzoinkin' satellite within years' time. He's still got plenty of obstacles to face, mind ya. And, there's still Silver.
:Shredder: Silver gave up being a mercenary a long time ago, Rhett.
:Junkhead: It ain't like Silver has to be a mercenary to stop some crime and all that, ya know. No, Silver's still a rebel, he's written to me a bit ago that he still don't trust the government or anyone that isn't close to him. But he's told me too that he'll help out with dismantling threats if they threaten him or his friends.
:Shredder: Even then, you have no proof that Silver's going to even be a good friend to you or not. Let's face it, Rhett! No point having any hope for things that won't happen.
:Junkhead: Ya're just tryin' to make me suffer, eh? Screw ya, man! Screw ya!
:Shredder: I'm just saying to not hold hope in anything right now. I don't even know if Gonzalo will prevail, but if he doesn't, Ms. Replicate will. The age of the honest man is about to come to a close.
:Junkhead: Ah, so ya think that once either of those two brats come about and take their hold on the throne, that it's gonna be a business-oriented world and ya gotta be rich to survive? What're ya, a trump supporter?
:Shredder: I believe in trumping the poor, yes.
:Junkhead: Ya're a sack of crap.
:Shredder: You can either choose to believe in a world where you need to have lots of money to get by or there won't be any room for you and your kind, or you can choose to believe in a world where if you're close to Ms. Replicate, which I'll try my hardest to be and leave others out of the picture, you won't die. There's no room for the distant.
Shredder smirks.
:Shredder: It's your decision.
:Junkhead: I personally believe in a third view, where none of these people are gonna have a grip on the satellite. Ya're too overconfident in the fact that the authorities won't do crap to stop 'em.
:Shredder: They won't, and that's their decision. If they wanted to stop those people, Gonzalo and Replicate would have been out of business a long, long time ago.
:9:59 A.M. · TUESDAY August 23rd, ZXE-220
:Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
Silver's made his decision. Mallory's made her decision. So many people have made their decisions. Silver's going to become clean, change, and live a happier and more fruitful life. Mallory's accepting that she's become dirty and has changed for the worse, and has prepared to live a more destructive life. Valerie has made the decision to become stronger, a decision that Syinara has shared with her. Devina's made the decision to keep the spirits contained, and will keep further spirits from haunting the satellite. Scotch's made the decision to stay as general and do what he can to keep the satellite safe. Pierce's made the decision to stay by Silver's side, no matter what. Gonzalo and Replicate have chosen to stay by their goals, decisions of their own. Kýrios and Zodiez made the decision to keep going and improve the satellite for the better. Everyone's growing and changing, not always for the better but not always for the worse. But who you're going to believe, who you want to be with, who you want to see come out on top, that's YOUR decision. And you can change it any time.
Why does this message matter, you might be wondering? Because the time to change in this story is coming, and soon it will be gone and over with. Several characters will watch their fears become their gods, several characters will watch their interests diminish and fade, and in some cases those circumstances may be reversed. Some characters will be overwhelmed so much that they choose to run, and some will simply be apathetic to the stunned. Some will take the paths that bring them lower, with nobody to follow, and some will stand before us all and claim it's over. Some will have afterthoughts of relief, afterthoughts of regret. Things will change greatly from here, and it's all through the decisions they make from here and onward. Silver is seen standing near a portal he's opened up in the Stenographer Garden.
:Silver: Alright everyone, it's almost time for us to go.
:Valerie: I don't think I've ever been outside the satellite before.
:Crymsia: I don't remember why I was crazy enough to take your offer, but I'm a little interested in this road trip. So, count me in for this refreshing and new experience.
:Valerie: Yeah, I'm really excited. [looks down] Gonna miss Syi though, hopefully she'll hold up without me.
:Silver: She will, haha, don't worry.
:Zonas: Thanks for inviting me along, I was surprised that you wanted to take me along for the ride. My girlfriends will be taking care of some elders and helping them out, so I'm free for the next week.
:Pierce: I know you were going to invite me along because I'm your boyfriend, but I'm really appreciative that you did anyway. [smiles] I'm ready when you are, Silver. I wanna see this new world with you.
:Silver: Me too. [grins] I mean, it ain't really new, but it's a place I haven't seen before and I don't think any of us have from what I've gathered over the past twelve hours or so. Thanks for coming along on time, everyone.
:Crymsia: I plan on using this chance to improve my relationship with you, and... to just have a good time.
:Zonas: I'm personally planning to use this visit to get away from all my stress and just take a nice, long vacation.
:Valerie: I just wanna bond with Silver a bit more, because he gets trapped in prison all the time and gets his ass kicked too much I don't really get to have as much time with him as I'd like to. That's why I'm coming along!
:Silver: Awesome, cool beans, everyone. I think we're gonna drop in, Seattle?
:Valerie: Oh yeah, there's some setpieces of Seattle in Sector 6! From our Earth.
:Silver: Really? I don't think I've ever been there except on that tour I did with Pierce months back.
:Pierce: We should really do that again now that you're in a better state of mind and have more friends Silver.
:Silver: I'd love that, no crap.
Silver grins, hugging his boyfriend tight.
:Silver: Alright everyone, who's ready to hop in?
:Pierce: I am!
:Crymsia: Let's go!
:Valerie: Mhm!
:Zonas: I've got it- LOOK OUT!
Zonas pushes them all out of the way of a sudden attack. Silver looks up, seeing a huge Diamond Driller having tried to attack them while they were down.
:Silver: Damn it, leave us alone! We were just about to leave!
Silver points to the portal.
:Silver: Everyone go! I've got this!
:Zonas: Alright, we'll see you there, alright?
:Silver: Alright! I've got some ass to kick!
Everyone leaves into the portal besides Silver- after Valerie makes it in fourth, the portal that was used to get in there gets destroyed by the Diamond Driller. Suddenly, there turns out to be more than one.
:Silver: More people after me, huh.
Silver squints, seeing Mallory's insignia on one of them.
:Silver: She wasn't lying, huh?
::
::
Silver manages to escape the destroyed footing of the Stenographer Garden, but still shivers as he gets confronted by these drillers from all angles. Suddenly, they begin to merge together before Silver's eyes, becoming a much larger, more significant enemy that uses a bunch of chainsaw arms and legs for footing and attacking. Silver looks at its singular head, which has a huge shield top and really angry-looking eyes. It also has a really huge number of icy spikes lining its backside, which extend far from the creature's body.
:Silver: Good lord, I just want to get outta this satellite already!
Silver pulls his Mind Weaver out, ready to attack this huge monstrosity that Mallory sent out for him.
:Silver: I really deserve better.
::
::
Once Silver takes care of this enormous threat, letting it fall and shatter apart on the floor, Silver takes a moment to breathe.
:Silver: Goodbye Satellite 15, I'll remember you when I go to therapy.
Silver makes a portal, escaping to Seattle through it and closing the portal. And that was that. Silver's off the satellite now. But we're not done here yet.
:5:05 P.M. · SUNDAY August 28th, ZXE-220
:Purple Keep, ???
Mallory is shown at her home, twitching rapidly while sitting in a chair. She looks really shaken, shown to be alone in her room, with a bunch of anti-depressants shown over on a countertop and with lots of papers spread around on the bed and around herself. She looked angry, frustrated, and tired, deep breathing.
:Mallory: I haven't a touch of empathy in me anymore, all my innocence is gone. [breathes] Everything, everything I didn't want to be is going to become me. I can see it in the glass.
Mallory stares at the mirror before her. She looked considerably worse than she did just a week ago. She could see herself twitching and making rapid movements, and she could see the wrinkles show where they weren't before.
:Mallory: I should've known what was better for me, to stay away. I had such good ambitions, I knew what I was in here for, but I never got it. And now I can feel everything Silver wanted a long time ago to build up in me.
Mallory softly breathed, trying to keep her heartrate at a decent level, but it wasn't of much use. She could only feel her heart race faster and see the face in the mirror become more distorted. She wasn't pretty anymore, or at least she couldn't see herself that way.
:Mallory: Silver only wanted more and more, and drew so much to himself, and now I'm starting to feel that same craving. Now I want more and more, and when I got denied the crown.
Mallory hisses as she continues to stare into the mirror.
:Mallory: I felt anger scream inside of me just now. I can remember it like it were yesterday, the amateur demon-child made a servant out of me, he berated me and talked me down, stole my purity, ran me up the wall, oh my god. [covers her forehead] Now I want to do the same to him, after he took that crown back.
Mallory scratches her knees.
:Mallory: To see him look so innocent and pure made me so angry, because he was hardly that when I knew him then. He was a monster. He was the epitome of who nobody should be. And now, after he destroyed everything I cared to be, not once but twice, now I want to destroy his purity.
Mallory shakes her head.
:Mallory: But I told myself I wouldn't do things that way, I didn't want to become like Silver. But to be denied that shot at feeling good about myself, to feel like I could help others again, it all fell apart for me because of his influence. And him.
Mallory covers her eyes.
:Mallory: All those years he spent abusing me, tormenting me, throwing me under the bus, and here he is doing it to me again! The little menace! HE'S HURT ME, never before have I felt so... angry... those years of servitude just for him, those years of inferiority to him, those years of having to deal with his vanity...
Mallory rolls her hands up into fists.
:Mallory: You think you're such hot stuff, don't you, Silver?
Mallory looks up at the mirror again. She sees her sibling in the reflection.
:Mallory: My innocence is all gone thanks to you, you've hurt me so hard, you've done things you claim you wouldn't do now but you most certainly effin' did a long time ago! You... you were a cheater! A schemer! And you taught me those things about you were okay! Because I didn't know any better!
Mallory gets up from her bed, walking over to the mirror.
:Mallory: I'm going to fucking kill you, Silver.
:Silver [reflection]: Try me, Mallory! Hit me as hard as you can! Your father would have loved to see you manage to make a dent in me!
:Mallory: Shut the fuck up, Silver! I'm going to kill you!
Mallory throws her hand into the reflection. The mirror shatters and breaks apart, falling to the floor. Mallory breathes, holding her fist.
:Mallory: It was your decision to be such a sick, twisted fuck, and guess what you have to deal with now? A sick, twisted fuck that's going to mow you down the same way you ran her down, what are you going to do about it, Silver? It's not going to be your decision, Silver! It's going to be MY decision!
Mallory breathes, looking down at the shattered panes. She sees pieces of herself and Silver in the same reflection.
:Mallory: Piece by piece, I am going to bring you down, Silver. I love you, but love hurts... You, you make me hurt. I DON'T WANT TO HURT! I don't want... I don't want to hurt.
Mallory closes her eyes.
:Mallory: I'm not going to relent on you anymore.
===12.25: Long Gone Day===
:7:03 P.M. · SUNDAY August 28th, ZXE-220
:Seattle, Washington, New Fantendoverse
Silver was walking all by himself through the well-lit streets of Seattle, dressed up in some fancy skintight summer getup with a towel wrapped around his shoulders. He had just left an outdoor pool where his friends were to go get himself a snack, whistling as he walked. A smile ran across his face, he was having fun
:Silver: Alright, so I wanna get a chili dog with cheese and a crapload of crackers. Gotta see how much United States of America Cash Money I have on hand, though.
Silver opens his fist, flattening out the dollar bills he held in his palm.
:Silver: I think I've got enough to cover that, radical.
Silver finds a hot dog stand and skips over to it, leaning his front against the stand and grinning up at the stand's owner. The owner in question, whose name happened to be Jeffery upon close inspection of his nametag, looked a bit taken aback by his sudden movements. Jeffery had a lot of facial hair, looked a tad bit overweight, and had his pants somewhat loosely dangling from his hips.
:Jeffery: ...Uh, can I help you today, ma'am? Sir?
:Silver: Yeah, I wanna get an effin' hammered bossy ripper on a split raft with dogs and maggots to the side, topped with sweepings and a goddamn sea of red. Ya got me?
:Jeffery: Excuse me, what the crap? Can you repeat that?
:Silver: You know what I'm talking about, boy.
As Jeffery races his hands through his pocket for a phone to translate Silver's alien-like lingo, Silver takes a seat and smirks. Jeffery finds his composure and starts getting to work, looking up at Silver from behind the stand.
:Jeffery: Can you please try to use more understandable language when you order stuff from my stand please? I've got your order, I just need to translate it.
:Silver: Hey buddy, it ain't my fault you don't know your diner lingo!
:Jeffery: You're lucky I'm even taking your order, man, I've got too many bills to pay. [rolls eyes] What do you even do for a living, huh?
:Silver: I wouldn't say selling myself on the streets makes all that much money either, really.
:Jeffery: Isn't that, y'know, illegal here?
:Silver: I don't handle that kinda business here, I only do it back home in my own universe. Besides, it's really not all that fun anyway when you consider all the side-effects and exhausting physical labor that come with that line of work.
:Jeffery: Suuuuure.
Jeffery starts making Silver's order as requested.
:Jeffery: Personally, I'd love to have a different woman in my mattress every night, telling me how much they love me while giving me great money for special services. I'd love to have a bunch of housewives, you know? They'd be able to do all my cooking and cleaning and validate me an-
:Silver: Oh my god, please shut your misogynistic trap. [shakes head] Just make me my goddamn bossy ripper already with all the lingo I gave you to work with.
:Jeffery: Suit yourself, bro. I do gotta say though, you're pretty interesting.
:Silver: Uh, thanks?
As Silver waits patiently and silently, he sees a strange blonde-haired woman slowly walk up to the stand. She wore strange one-way glasses and was dressed in strange white clothes. She looked rather angelic.
:???: I just want a plain hot dog tonight, that's all.
:Jeffery: Is that all you want tonight, Zellen? That's a little surprising considering your track record of harassing the crap out of me.
:Zellen: Never mind that, I just want a plain hot dog.
:Jeffery: Alright, alright, I'll take on your order after I finish this twink's monster of an order. You wanna know what he ordered?
:Zellen: What was it, Jeff?
:Jeffery: A real well-grilled beef chili dog with corned beef hash and split toast as buns. With crackers and cheese to the side. But the lingo, though.
Silver grins, folding one leg over the other in his chair.
:Silver: Have you never heard of a hammered bossy ripper on a split raft with dogs and maggots to the side, topped with sweepings and seas of red? Personally, that's how I like to have my chili dogs, but that's just me.
Zellen turns around. Her rather sullen face perks up a little bit when she sees the energetic-looking Silver just kicking back, relaxed and in total control of himself.
:Jeffery: That was it! Boy, when'd you ever learn that lingo?
:Silver: I live in this amazing place called Satellite 15, where I make these kinds of orders all the time. You ever heard of Bubble Bass' order? I regularly order that kinda crap at restaurants for my two loved ones.
:Jeffery: Oh right. ...You want pickles to go with your order, or?
:Silver: It'd be shameful if there weren't any, so yeah, add 'em. Dunno the lingo for pickles but who cares now. Anyway.
Silver looks up at Zellen.
:Silver: You wanna take this seat?
:Zellen: Sure. I was honestly meaning to talk to you anyway, you've been making the news since you won that Spice Festival contest a couple of days back.
:Silver: I love spicy food girl, it's in my blood to win that kinda thing. Anyway, I'm Silver Zin, self-proclaimed hot incubus. Nice to meet you!
Something inside Zellen's brain clicks and she pauses.
:Zellen: Oh!
Zellen took a moment to recollect herself, smiling as she takes the seat next to him.
:Zellen: Uh, my name is Zellen, if you must know. It's Zellen Harley Quimbleson, if you wanna be exact! I think I'm a pretty chill person.
:Silver: That's strange, that name sounds very familiar to me.
:Zellen: I was just thinking the exact same thing when I heard your name.
:Silver: Well, that's mildly unsettling. Have we met before?
:Zellen: I... I don't know but I have a child that looks a little bit like you. Her name is Bronzelle, she's doing okay in foster care. Does that ring a bell?
:Silver: No, not really. [scratches his head] Don't worry about it, I'm sure that we'll get to the bottom of this mystery later. You looked glum earlier, are you okay?
:Zellen: Yeah, it's just... [sighs] Okay, I'm going to assume that we really have met before. Will you promise to me that you won't tell anyone about what I've gotta say? It's, important to me that I hide some things about me.
:Silver: I'm not a douchebag Zellen, I wouldn't do that. Wouldn't tell anyone that my boyfriend's 50% male or my doctor's a serial killer. ...Wait a minute.
Zellen tries not to laugh even a little at Silver's foolishness. He looked embarrassed, hiding his face in his towel.
:Silver: Anyway the point is that I'm usually good at keeping secrets.
:Zellen: Right. Well, uhh, I.. god, never mind.
:Silver: No, no, it's okay, you can tell me.
:Zellen: Hhhhh. [sighs] Fine. It's... it's about my mom, really. There's just so many bad memories I have of her that I'm just struggling to repress. She made me feel like I wasn't good enough for anyone, including myself.
Zellen sighs as she leans back in her seat.
:Zellen: Last time I was around her, she said I was really nothing more than a worthless cupboard rat and that she regretted making me.
Zellen presses her glasses closer to her face just as tears began to run down her cheeks from under them.
:Zellen: I'm so effin' ugly that just remembering that cuts me harder than anything else ever could. These glasses make me feel a little better, though.
:Silver: Okay, let's get some things straight first. You're not ugly, you're goddamn beautiful and I don't know why people hate themselves so unfairly. Second, your mom's a total idiot and you shouldn't let destructive criticism bring you down.
:Zellen: I know, but it's hard to not feel so shameful when your mom says those things about you. [swallows] It's not like she was really wrong, either.
:Silver: Well, let's see about that. what do you usually do, Zellen?
:Zellen: I don't really know, I just like to hop in and out between worlds and watch havoc get wreaked across the multiverse. It's fun for a while but it gets stale fast when you start getting bored of playing the same chess pieces, you know?
:Silver: What do you mean?
Zellen sighs.
:Zellen: I don't really value anyone but Heralds like myself. I'm only talking to you because I know you're a Herald, how else could you have gotten here alone?
:Silver: I see now. Well, what's something you always wanted to do as an adult?
Zellen thought a little bit on that one. She hadn't thought about that in a while. Her mother had given her such a bad time that she never really thought about what she wanted to do with her future.
:Zellen: I always wanted to kinda do something that could be really useful and meaningful with these powers, but I just... I never really knew how to bother myself enough to actually try. Is it worth it?
:Silver: Yeah, I'd definitely say it could be worth it. I could really see your powers coming in handy for organizing events and the like. You could also technically make prisons for super threatening figures and lock them up. And knowing that you're kinda indifferent to non-Herald folk, you could also hunt down potentially very dangerous characters and kill 'em off. And Heralds for that matter, I suppose.
:Zellen: What would be the payoff, you think?
:Silver: I imagine you'd be able to feel a good source of pride from just trying to help make the multiverse a better place. Remember that having and living a meaningful life is not impossible, you just gotta play with the cards you're dealt.
Zellen nods. Silver gets up for a second, walking over to Jeffery and picking up their orders, paying for his meal and Zellen's. He then walks back over with two plates, giving Zellen her plain hot dog and sitting down with his intriguing-looking one.
:Silver: I know that you're having difficulty overcoming all the crap your mother's given you, but you can't let people like her keep you down forever. If I let all the crap my sister's said to me get to my head, I wouldn't be able to give you any of this advice. Making people happy, is what makes me happy.
Silver smiles at her.
:Silver: Just listen to me, alright? You deserve to give yourself another chance. Like me, both of us need to stop brooding and start making the best out of our lives.
:Zellen: I can't do this alone, Silver.
:Silver: Who said you had to do this alone, Zellen?
Silver smiles, holding out his hand.
:Silver: When it's time for me to return to my homeland, I want you to come with me. I'm not perfect, but, if you're aimless and have nowhere else to go, I'll try and help you be the person you want to be.
Silver then thinks to himself.
:Silver: I understand if you don't want to though, we've literally just met.
Zellen looks at him hard in the eyes, chewing through her hot dog.
:Zellen: No, I'll go because I feel like we have something together that we just can't see yet. [stares harder] You promise?
:Silver: I don't think I've broken any of my promises so far, and this is a promise I'm definitely willing to keep. Yeah.
Zellen smiles, her half-eaten hotdog dropping to the ground (much to Jeffery's annoyance) as she hugs Silver tightly. Tears run down her cheeks as she starts to sob openly into his neck. Silver keeps his arms firmly around her back, chewing through his mess of a chili dog as he uses a free hand to rub her back.
:Zellen: Thank you, thank you, thank you...
Zellen burrows her nails under his skin. Silver hisses from that sensation, but he lets her. As he finishes up his hot dog, he picks up Zellen.
:Silver: I've gotta go back to the pool. I'll introduce you to some of my friends, alright? Welcome to the family, I've got your back.
:Zellen: I'll always be in your debt, Silvey.
:Silver: Silvey? I like that. Gonna add that one to Pierce's dictionary.
Silver laughs a little as he picks up Zellen and carries her off. She adjusts herself quickly in his arms, immediately finding herself comfortable in them as she smiles and burrows up against his chest. And this concludes the first half of our story!
:Jeffery: Heh, I've got all that recorded, now to shamelessly gloss over their bodies with my friends!
:Silver: One more thing, Zellen!
Silver turns around and throws his towel at Jeffery, who drops his phone. He groans as it hits the floor, shattering it into a bunch of little pieces.
:Jeffery: God damn it!
===Midway Point===
I recommend watching the Incubus Eyes anime based on this game. You can write your own episodes, or see what the characters are up to when the story's not quite so plot-heavy. There is a three-year timeskip that all these episodes occur in, and after it is when this story continues.
----
Anyway, the interlude. Three years have passed since Silver's return from Seattle, and much has changed within that time period. Satellite 15, true to everyone's word, has become a much more dangerous place to be in. This is because Mallory, Replicate, and Gonzalo all remain aboard the satellite, and they've been overworking themselves to set up their grandest of schemes. Though Replicate and Gonzalo previously overshadowed Mallory as a threat, she's since taken precedence over them and threatens the satellite and its people as a whole, particularly targeting Silver and everything he knows and loves. Mallorism has taken a significantly sharper turn from the worse, having gone from being a fairly wholesome religion to becoming a dark and evil cult that's become her soldiers of choice. Silver was never safe on the satellite's streets before, but now he must be extra careful, because Mallory's ordered her comrades and soldiers to catch Silver on sight and has particularly ordered them to be aggressive and assertive about it. After a few years of managing to slip out of her clutches, again and again, Mallory begins to writhe in more and more anger to the point of absolute agony.
:Mallory: Kill him, Cody.
:Cody: Mallory, you said I could just capture Silver, I don't want to-
:Mallory: I WANT YOU TO KILL HIM!
Mallory never recovered from her humiliating loss at the Electolympics, nor Valerie's decision to unveil her secrets and desires, and since then let the memories of Silver's terrible doings to her in the past overcome her ability to make safe and rational decisions. Mallory has indeed become a character that's wanting more and more, just like Silver before her, and has begun targeting people besides him. Valerie, Scotch, and Syinara are each at great risk, as she desires to kill the former two and do horrible, horrible things to the latter. Kýrios and Zodiez overcame another Day of Remembrance parade attack together and were forced to make their public appearances much more rare from then on, limiting Mallory's ability to interfere with them, but she can still target any authority she feels like as she feels like they're all scum for going against her causes. Besides authoritarian figures, Mallory targets lesser-knowns like Penny Wisyneat, Azrail Neos, Crymsia Rose, Zonas B. Trayd, and every member of Black Haze because they've gotten in her way before and they will likely get in her way again, and they have ties to some of the people she hates.
:Mallory: Capture Valerie, Scotch, and Syinara on sight. I have big plans for each of them.
:Cody: So you want more people than just Silver now?
:Mallory: Really, if you look at the Wanted list hanging around in the planning room, you'll know exactly who I won't mind capturing. [sneers] It won't be a problem if you don't make it one.
:Kispel: Look at it, on God's command!
Even though it's been made clear that Mallory was a terrible person from the start and that she didn't always have good intentions to aid and support the satellite's citizens, Mallorism's been growing continuously over the past three years. Its population has tripled since Silver returned from his Seattle shenanigans, effectively letting her have control over roughly thirty-seven percent of the satellite's population. Indeed, Mallory has an iron grip over the satellite that Replicate or Gonzalo have yet to achieve for themselves. Yet, she has yet to uncover the twelfth and final zodiac stone, which happens to be the Leo stone that Kýrios and Zodiez protect with all their lives. The race for the stones is still on, and she remains in possession of eleven, but on that frontier nothing's changed in a long time. Even though Gonzalo and Replicate continue to be of great threat to the satellite's future, Mallory is making a name for herself and she has become the main target for the authorities after destroying their treaty live. In direct retaliation, the Balmism philosophy (thought up by Spade Amour) was made as Mallorism's direct competitor, and thirty-one percent of the satellite's population take part in its practices.
:Spade: With Mallorism on the rise and quickly swallowing up a huge percentage of the satellite's population, I can only recommend that you take on the Balmism philosophy! It's the only cure I can think of.
:Syinara: Your self-worth is important, everyone! Get right to the books!
They may be overshadowed by Mallory, but Replicate and Gonzalo remain really notorious threats. Replicate may have already finished her Chimera Hazel project a long while back, but now that she's fertile and ready to give birth to nuclear children, Replicate must seek someone who can handle this task for her. If Replicate succeeds in wiping out the satellite's population, she can make the satellite collide with Zaxina and begin pulling all the other satellites close to it so they can collectively become the breeding grounds for Medea's new experiment. Gonzalo, recently promoted to be the chairman of the Satellite 15 Stock Exchange with Nicholas "Shredder" Dennis as the president, is planning to lead the satellite to its stock market crash so he can bring the El Dorado legend into the mainstream and begin tricking the satellite's residents into handing all their money over to him. Then, afterwards, Gonzalo would like to begin universal conquest and begin capturing the entirety of the Zaxiverse, wanting to have as much as he possibly can in his possession. And though the spirits are captured courtesy of Devina, they can be released with one wrong move and bring Vilicus' captured body out of prison.
:Medea: If we can get someone to impregnate Chimera Hazel, I can bring my plans out.
:Noise: I think you're going to regret that, Ms. Replicate. I don't think you'll like how it's gonna turn out.
:Medea: Silence! Once I've accomplished my goal, I'll be unstoppable!
Together, Mallory and Replicate and Gonzalo pose immense danger to the satellite, and if left to do what they wish to do, everything bad that's been theorized to happen will happen. But luckily, there's still plenty of time remaining to stop all three of them from having their plans work out as they should. This is where the authorities come in. Though they've been under much stress over the past three years, Kýrios and Zodiez have been trying as hard as they possibly can to protect their citizens and prevent any damage from being done to the rest of the satellite. Under the assumptions at the moment that Replicate and Gonzalo are doing them big favors (they're not), they're mainly targeting Mallory and have been trying their damnedest hardest to prevent her from doing anything too horrible. New rules and regulations on the satellite permit every metropolitan area to have a curfew, inexpensive property-protective shield mechanisms are being sold off, all IDs need to be re-registered, cameras shoot at Mallory or her companions on sight, and the authorities have much better security overall, making sure people like Valerie and Scotch stay safe from ambushes.
:Syinara: I can't sleep tonight.
:Valerie: It's okay honey, Mallory won't be able to come in the building tonight. Kýrios devised these new defenses and Mallory hasn't been able to breach them sense.
:Syinara: Alright, good night. I'll try to sleep.
What's been going on with Silver then, you ask? Silver's still living in his underground home underneath the Stenographer Garden, having been clean for three straight years. Though he continues to deal with a lot of crap, especially with Mallory trying really hard to bring him down, Silver's found peace through music and love. He's definitely become extra-dependent on his friends to bring him through his hard times, and he's especially begun to loathe being alone, but he's alright living on the satellite as long as his three partners with him. Over that three-year timeskip, Zellen Harley Quimbleson's become his third and final partner, and they regularly chill out together. Pierce and Medea get along much better than they did before, even if they still shoot each other dirty looks from time to time, and Silver finds all three of them to be wonderful people. Silver sometimes hangs out with Valerie and Syinara at the Valco Vortex and has taken up a job as an alcohol store owner on New Naxaz City's Main Street to pass the time. Silver hasn't managed to learn much about his past, because he has yet to find or meet Agantuk, but he doesn't care as much about it anymore as he's become much more focused on the present.
:Silver: Bottoms up, girls!
:Zellen: Hell yeah!
:Pierce: I'm a girl?
:Silver: Sure.
Alright, so Silver still occasionally has a nice drink with his partners, whatever. As for how his friends and rivals alike are doing? Valerie and Syinara are getting along exceptionally well. They've legally married somewhere in that three-year timespan, and are currently raising a baby that came together with help from the DNA expert Replicate. Scotch's since married Minute Hourglass, but the two are currently going through divorce proceedings over something that both of them would like to keep classified. Devina's been really happy lately, having managed to sell two albums with Black Haze so far, but she gets paranoid over her job sometimes and really dislikes going after ghosts now. Crymsia Rose, or the "Nature Warrior", has managed to hook herself up with Azrail Neos again and they're dating once more. She's still really grouchy and angry, but she's softened up considerably after becoming something of a celebrity from running beauty pageants from time to time. Oyster Moore's had to close the Moore Lounge because of her inability to keep it running under Gonzalo's control of the economy, but she continues to run a privately-owned bar in the Stenographer Garden and Silver frequently visits it. She's also raising a child of her own with her husband Snickers.
:Rabbi: You may now kiss the bride.
Syinara gets dunked low by Valerie, who gives her a really hard kiss on the lips, both dressed in perfect white wedding gowns.
:Rabbi: Now might be the time to get a room!
Did you know that Silver has a baby of his own, too? And her name is Rogue Zin.
:Silver: G'night, Rogue. I'll see ya in the morning!
:Rogue: I'll slice your throat in your sleep.
:Silver: You talk just like your mother, honey!
And from here on out, things get much more interesting. With Mallory's insanity fully realized, Silver's life story finally made out for him, and with everyone having babies now, you can really tell how everything's shaping up now. But not just that, the threats on the satellite are much more present than ever, so there's plenty of danger to face up against as well. What's going to come of all of this? Will Silver ever learn what made him the monster Mallory made him out to be? Has Mallory just lost her mind? You're about to find out for yourself.
Please feel free to suggest episode ideas for Incubus Eyes in FuchsiaPanacea's DMs if you're interested on what else has happened during the timeskip. These are just the essential details!
===12.75: Wake Up===
:5:28 A.M. · TUESDAY August 31st, ZXE-223
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
Silver woke up. We're now looking at him three years later, sleeping with the likes of Pierce, Medea, and Zellen, all of which he was in romantic relationships with now. If it were anyone else, they would have struggled keeping together such a unique "love rectangle", but not Silver. He personally thought they were equally adorable and worth loving.
:Silver: Aahh. [yawning] I should probably get up and make breakfast.
As Silver leaps off his mattress and yanks a bathrobe off a hook on the wall, he hears Zellen yawn herself and follow him out of the bedroom in a robe herself. She smiles sleepily.
:Zellen: Whatcha doin', Silvey?
:Silver: I was gonna make everyone some good ol' BLTs, that's all. I know that Medea's gotta get up pretty soon anyway and head to work, so I wanna make sure she goes something to eat before she goes.
:Zellen: Ooh, I like BLTs!
:Silver: If someone doesn't like a BLT, there is something seriously wrong with them. [laughs] You want guacamole with your BLT like always, Zellen?
:Zellen: Eh, I'll pass on that. I'm only ever in the mood for guacamole if we have some watermelon to go with it.
:Silver: ...Come to think of it, you Earthlings have some really bizarre tastes in cuisine. I suppose that sounds ironic, considering large quantities of human meat are consumed on this satellite every day, but you get what I mean right?
:Zellen: I mean, you like to eat corn flakes in soda.
Silver pauses for a moment. He knew he can't actually counter against that. Now that he's thought about it enough, that actually did sound pretty disgusting to outsiders.
:Silver: Yeah, on second thought, Azrail probably shouldn't have introduced me to that concept. It really sounds gross now that you had to put it into perspective. Let's go to the kitchen though, I gotta get started.
Zellen nods as she follows Silver to the kitchen. Silver throws on an apron and opens a slider embedded in the wall, looking into a chilly and cool space where he stores fruits and vegetables. He takes out lettuce, tomatoes, and bacon, opening a drawer to take out some homemade bread and pulling out a toaster as well.
:Silver: You're not usually awake at the crack of dawn, so, how are you doing honey?
:Zellen: I'm doing pretty great. In fact, I've been meaning to tell you just how grateful I am for everything you've done for us, especially me. I couldn't have gotten over so many of my childish behaviors if it weren't for you.
Zellen slyly smiles a bit.
:Zellen: That's not to say I won't have some fun every now and then, I'm still going to make a bit of trouble, but I've never felt so actually great about myself. You really are my panacea, Silver.
:Silver: Awww, you. You're too sweet.
Silver hums as he puts a couple of bread slices in the toaster, smiling for Zellen.
:Silver: I'm glad I was able to make a good difference in your life! As someone that struggles to believe they really mean anything to the rest of the world, it makes me smile to hear that I've been a good influence on you.
:Zellen: I just don't feel so bothered anymore by my mother's words. The little job that I've been handling for the past couple of months was just a nice change in pace for me.
:Silver: The ice cream parlor we set up for you?
:Zellen: Yeah, that! It felt good just making people smile and thank me. I don't know what I'd be doing right now without you, so, thank you for everything you've managed to do for me. Sorry if I'm awkward at being, genuine.
Zellen was blushing a little bit as Silver grinned at her, pulling out some toast with his bare hands and starting to dress it up with bacon, lettuce, and tomato.
:Zellen: If there's anything I can do for you, you can always let me know.
:Silver: Honestly, I'm happy with you just the way you are. Thank you for waking up and realizing what a wonderful person you really are. If I didn't have you, I'd still have trouble trying to have fun and be myself.
Silver finishes a BLT, setting it to the side as he begins to toast more bread for the next sandwich.
:Silver: You came into my life shortly after I stopped working for the government, and you helped me understand that there's a lot more meaning to life than just trying to be serious and headstrong all the time.
Flashbacks of some Incubus Eyes episodes play. We see Silver and Zellen drinking at a huge lake of Dr. Pepper through huge bendy straws, flying around a boiling-hot volcanic region while tied to the feet of a dragon, and pranking everyone in the Fantendo Firehouse through Silver dressing himself up as Nycho Invalidez.
:Silver: I mean, that's not to say everything we did was in my comfort zone, but I definitely feel a lot more open-minded than I used to be. You introduced me to how many great things there are to live for and I can't thank you enough for it.
:Zellen: Oh it's no issue really, I love doing that kind of thing for you.
:Silver: Well, I love making things better for you. Guess we really are a perfect match after all.
:Zellen: Yeah. [smiles] I didn't think we'd gel that well at first, but you never really bored me or made me think I was wasting my time or energy. I just feel a lot more purpose now, because of you.
Zellen walks over to him and kisses his cheek, smiling. Then she looks down a bit.
:Zellen: I can't help but feel a bit down about past trauma, though. I feel so happy, but there's something in the way of me being able to enjoy life to its fullest, and it's remembering I was an accident...
:Silver: Remember that your mother hasn't had contact with you for years, you've made so many improvements since we've met up at Seattle a couple of years ago, and that you live with three loving and caring individuals.
Silver pulls out the toast and starts making the next BLT.
:Silver: Just remember that we're here for you and we'll be right here to support you.
Silver smiles and kisses her cheek.
:Zellen: Thank you Silver, that really means a lot to me. You're right too, I've been improving so much, I don't think I should be worried about that, remember that I'm here for you too, okay?
:Silver: 'Course honey.
Silver finishes up and starts making the third BLT. He knew that Medea and Pierce liked to eat smaller portions, so he's going to have to split this last one in half when he's done.
:Silver: Everything's gonna turn out alright in the end.
He had a bad gut feeling that there were going to be some really tough calls to make down the line, though. Oh well, he had the best people he could ever ask for right there with him! Silver pulls out the toast half-assedly while it's in the middle of cooking and throws both slices down onto the cutting board, blowing his fingers off.
:Silver: I mean, plenty of things could go wrong, but, I like to be a bit optimistic.
:Zellen: Thanks to you, I like to be optimistic myself.
:Silver: Heh.
Silver beams as he quickly puts together the last BLT, cutting it in halves with a long knife. He then hands Zellen her BLT on a plate.
:Silver: Enjoy! Thanks for the talk, babe.
:Zellen: Thank youuuu for this delicious-looking BLT, ooo!
Zellen grabs her plate, looking down at her food hungrily before looking up at Silver.
:Zellen: And no problem! I'd do anything for you.
As Zellen begins to eat up her BLT, Silver takes his plate and his other lovers' and makes his way back to the bedroom. He's grinning wide as he walks over to the awakened Pierce and Medea, but he had a small pit in his stomach. He felt like bad things were really going to happen, but he just thought to himself...
:Silver [mentally]: What could possibly go wrong?
===Phase Two: The Rebel - Sequel===
====Chapter Thirteen: Deaf Ears Blind Eyes====
:2:18 P.M. · FRIDAY September 5th, ZXE-223
:Penny's Workshop, New Naxaz City
Still in the future, we see him hanging out at Penny Wisyneat's workshop, where he was celebrating her 51st birthday out on her patio with everyone else. Silver was accompanied by Pierce, Medea, Zellen, and his child Rogue, and together they were all resting on folding chairs with plates of chocolate cake on their laps. Also present at the party were several more guests, including Valerie, Devina, Oyster, Vizole, Clair, Nomila, and surprisingly enough Abraham.
:Silver: Happy frickin' birthday, Penny. [grins] Fifty-one, eh? You hardly look your age.
:Penny: Heh, thanks Silver. Older ladies like me have ways of looking younger than they actually are.
:Silver: No wonder Replicate looks smokin' hot then, huh?
Medea laughs, slapping her boyfriend's cheek playfully. He winks at her, half of his super-sharp teeth showing.
:Zellen: Damn, how old's Replicate then?
:Medea: I think I'm sixty-seven?
:Zellen: Whoa.
:Silver: Man, I've really got it lucky with my partners. [cackles] One's a nice little twink that can't mean any harm, one's a batshit-crazy doctor that I love very much, and the other's a dimension-hopping troublemaker that's free to trouble me any day of the week.
Pierce blushes, leaning on Silver and laughing a bit himself.
:Pierce: You're crazy Silver, but I think in the end that's why I'm attracted to you. You're just unlike anyone else.
:Zellen: Yeah, I'm gonna be real, I didn't think I was gonna bother with any of this love stuff and then the knight in shining armor I never asked for appeared out of nowhere when I was down.
Zellen tickles Silver's chin, making him fiercely beam.
:Zellen: What was gonna be a lonely dinner instead became my ticket to an love life! Funny how things work, huh?
:Penny: You keep holding onto those Stenographer Stones for as long as you can Silver, you never know when any one of them could suddenly vanish from your life. [smiles] Hope the cake's good! I baked it myself.
:Silver: The cake's delicious! And also, yeah yeah, I'll keep my eye on these powerful rocks.
:Medea: And I'll keep my eye on him too.
:Pierce: I think the three of us made a point to keep our eye on Silver, Ms. Replicate.
:Medea: True, but I thought it was still worth pointing out.
Medea rubs Silver's hair. You can tell that Silver loved these three immensely, and you can easily judge that based on how hard he's beaming from all the attention he's getting from them. Rogue was napping on a little chair of her own, dressed in a little magician outfit. She was just two years old.
:Silver: Hey, Rogue's still asleep, right? I was thinkin' of nappin' myself.
:Zellen: Yea, she's still asleep. I've been thinking about this for a while now, uhh, aren't babies supposed to be whining pedsts? How come she hasn't cried, like, once since Replicate gave birth to her?
:Medea: I haven't a clue. Probably because she's kind of spoiled.
Medea gets hit in the forehead with a soda can. As she covers her forehead, she looks to see who threw the can. Rogue was standing up.
:Medea: Never mind, she's awake.
:Rogue: Mommy, I need another soda!
:Silver: Daddy's gonna go get it sweetheart, you stay down and stop throwing things for me, alright?
:Rogue: Yes papa.
Silver swings off his chair, pulling Medea down to kiss her forehead before spinning over to a table to grab a soda can for his daughter. Pierce smirks as he watches Medea bandage her forehead.
:Medea: Kids, right?
:Pierce: Kids indeed. I think Rogue's got a great life ahead of her though, by the time she's an adult she's gonna have four wonderful adults to confide into.
:Zellen: I dunno, I don't think I'm really cut out to be parenting material. [shrugs] But I suppose because she's a Herald just like me, I can teach her my ways!
:Pierce: If you make her summon a giant kraken in the house like you did last week, I'm gonna break your fingers.
:Zellen: Awww. [swoons] Piercyyy!
:Rogue: C'mon Piercy, I wanna summon big octopus thingy!
:Pierce: Nope! Nope, nope nope nope. C'mon Replicate, you can understand where I'm coming from right?
:Medea: I think he's got a point, you two. [blushes] We've had to spend two weeks fixing up the house and clearing it of all that water. Do you think Silver would wanna deal with that again?
:Zellen: Meh, maybe you're right.
:Rogue: C'monnnnnnn!
Silver walks back to them, balancing five soda cans across his five fingers, lulling his eyes at his partners as he shakes his hips. All of them turned to him, waving and looking excited to see him there.
:Silver: I've got my five cans, boys and gals! Pick one, and pick one quickly, before they all tumble down!
Pierce immediately snatches the Dr. Dipper can, with Replicate quickly picking the Tipsi can and Zellen grabbing the Spite can. Silver takes his can of Mountain Goo and drinks it in one gulp, giving the Banta can over to Rogue.
:Silver: There you go Rogue!
:Rogue: ...I hate Banta!
Rogue throws the can of soda at his crotch, making Silver wince and fall to his knees. Penny tries really hard not to laugh while she's opening her present, and Silver manages to pull a pained grin and a thumbs up to his partners.
:Silver: I'm okay, I'm okay, ooohh.
:Medea: I'd sure hope so after seeing that.
:Zellen: Guess you're off my "to do" list today.
:Silver: Thank god for that, heh heh. [gets up] Ooh.
:Penny: Hey Silver, don't worry too much, there's still plenty of the party for you to enjoy! I'm really looking forward to going bowling in a few hours with you guys.
:Silver: Hella! Love bowling.
Silver gives it a bit of thought.
:Silver: Just don't let Rogue play, I have a feeling she can do way worse than with a soda can.
Rogue smirked. You know that she would throw a bowling ball at Silver's crotch.
:Silver: She's like two and already the devil incarnate, I'm so proud of her.
:Pierce: Hey, I'm not sure if we're gonna actually be able to celebrate this party for long.
:Silver: What do ya mean, handsome?
:Pierce: Over there!
Silver swings his head around. To his horror, he sees Mania and Beck rushing to the party, equipped with plenty of weapons at their immediate disposal. They have their eyes focused on Silver. Penny panics, heading inside.
:Silver: Oh boy! Looks like I've gotta juice, Penny, and you might wanna too!
:Pierce: Everyone here! Mania and Beck are gonna trash this place, let's get a move on!
:Valerie: ...Huh?
Valerie, who's been invested in cooking soup for the party, turns her head to see the Mallorian folks coming their way. Panicking, she turns off the stove and places the pot of soup to the left before rushing to the front lines. Devina, Oyster, Vizole, Clair, and Nomila run off, but Abraham sticks around, nodding off against the wall of Penny's workshop.
:Valerie: Hey, who gave you the right to crash the party?
:Silver: Yeah, you don't gotta fight for your right to party! Settle down, take some seats, and maybe we'll blow out some candles? Eh? Eeeh?
:Beck: We don't have time to screw around, Silver!
Beck leaps, diving towards Silver and pinning him against the wall, his knife clear up against his neck. Medea and Zellen immediately get up, wordlessly grabbing Beck from behind and trying to pry him off. Pierce veers off in a wheelchair, letting Mania turn her attention to Rogue as Valerie's taken her moment to disappear.
:Silver: Hey mate, I didn't consent to this! You've gotta ask if I'm in the mood for masochism.
:Beck: Look at me, Silver, look at me in the eyes. Do I look like I want to fool around with you any longer? Mallory's placed our lives on the line, and if we don't kill you, she's going to kill us. Let this be easy!
:Silver: Why don't you guys just quit then? What's she gonna do about it?
:Beck: We're in too much trouble with the authorities for us to just go wherever we want here, you idiot! Shut up and let me do my job!
:Silver: Rude.
Silver leans his head to the side then swings it, knocking back Beck's head with his arms and making him lose his balance. Silver gets released, but he witnesses Mania charging up a shot to use against Rogue, who looked indifferent to the situation.
:Silver: Hey Rogue! That lady's gonna give you a mouthful of Banta!
:Rogue: Banta? I hate Banta.
Rogue gets off the chair right before Mania blasts it to smithereens, pissing her off as she turns her head to Silver. Rogue then bites her leg, making her lose her balance and whimper. Valerie then comes in from behind a table to kick Mania's bottom from behind, and Zellen and Medea manage to beat down Beck. But they quickly get back up.
:Beck: We planned this to be a simple operation, but you're just making things tough as always, Silver!
:Pierce: Chaaaaaaarge!
Pierce, now in his wheelchair, speeds his way across the floor, picking up Rogue and Silver and making it off the patio with them. Medea and Zellen give immediate chase, while Valerie runs off in a different direction.
:Valerie: What the heck was that all about? I've better talk this out with Penny later.
Beck and Mania are giving chase to Silver again, with Silver jumping off Pierce's wheelchair to keep running alongside them.
:Silver: What're the odds?
:Pierce: I don't know, but we better get out of their sight!
:Silver: How dreadful, I thought I could just party a little, then Mallory ruins that moment of bless for me. Because of course she would. I suppose that's to be expected of her by this point, though.
:Rogue: I wanna go back for cake!!
:Silver: Later, sweetheart, we're on the run from some bad guys. Let's have our priorities straight!
:Rogue: Meh, alright.
::
::
Silver, Rogue, and his partners manage to make it out of their sights.
:Silver: Looks like Mallory's wanting a piece of me, eh?
:Medea: It seems like the further we stray from the day you had dinner with her, the more frequently she attacks us. [scratches her head] I've got the impression she's really angry with you over something.
:Silver: Wonder what the deal is, I haven't contacted her for years.
:Medea: Well, you still wanna do anything today?
:Silver: This is normally the point where I'd just like to go home, but, we haven't had a day in a while where we've been able to spend much time together. So I'd still like to go shopping.
:Pierce: Looks like we're going shopping then. [hugs Silver] Sorry about that little party crash, I wasn't anticipating that.
:Silver: Me neither. No biggie though, we've still got several hours we can have to ourselves.
:Pierce: Alrighty. Let's go, then!
:Zellen: Maybe I can finally get some new clothes, summoning that kraken ruined all my clothes by stainin' em all.
:Silver: Guess you wanna get crackin', then. Get it? Crackin'? Kraken?
:Zellen: Silvieee, that was awfulll.
The four of them laugh, sharing a hug together while Rogue grumbles and mumbles to herself while sinking back in her seat.
:2:49 P.M. · FRIDAY September 5th, ZXE-223
:Public Workshop, New Naxaz City
Meanwhile, at the Public Workshop in New Naxaz City, Crymsia can be seen relaxing with Azrail. She was laying down on her front, watching her boyfriend work on a new invention.
:Crymsia: Whatcha doin', Az?
:Azrail: I'm working a flying machine! [grins] I mean, those already sorta exist on the satellite, but if we have a flying machine of our own, we can fly over the pretty waters of Sector 2 together! It's just a nice image I had.
:Crymsia: Ooh, I like that imagery. It sounds really pleasant.
:Azrail: It should! Sector 2's known for its aquatic beauty, and I wanna take you there for our honeymoon!
:Crymsia: I'd love that!
Crymsia smiles as she watches Azrail work away on his little invention.
:Azrail: I'm taking your criticism of my previous machines in mind, so I'm gonna make several prototypes before I come up with a finalized version, but in less than a week we should be able to take flight.
Azrail smiles back at her.
:Azrail: Thanks for giving me another chance, I know we haven't been together long, but-
:Crymsia: Don't stress yourself out, Az, I've forgiven you and you've forgiven me. I'm more interested in the now than in the past, and I think you've proven to be a changed man. And I like that about you.
:Azrail: That makes me feel good about myself. [looks to the side] Especially because my father Gonzalo was such a trashy person and was a particularly bad influence on me.
:Crymsia: I'm glad you've found it in yourself to make those important changes, Az.
:Azrail: You'll forgive me for still liking Limp Bizkit then, right?
:Crymsia: See, I'm going to have to give that fact more time.
Both Crymsia and Azrail laugh together.
:Crymsia: But besides that little thing, I think you've improved in every sense. Don't think even for a second that you're a terrible person because your father was one. You're responsible for your own path and making your own changes, and you've finally went through with making the changes that matter. And I think that's why I love you again.
:Azrail: I love you too. [beams] You wanna know what I'm proud of you for? For changing your behavior. You used to be really angry and pissy, as yourself or as the Nature Warrior, but you've long since calmed down and I couldn't be happier having you with me.
:Crymsia: Aww.
Crymsia gets up, walking to her boyfriend and turning him around, embracing him in a tight hug.
:Crymsia: I don't wanna lose you. I'm sorry that things didn't work out for each other the first time.
:Azrail: It's alright. I regressed into some of my old habits, and you breaking up with me brought some sense into me.
:Crymsia: That makes me happy to say the least. [rubs his hair] Jeez, you're getting some real nice hair.
:Azrail: You think my hair's neat?
:Crymsia: Yeah! You've done a much better job keeping it clean since last time we were in a relationship.
:Azrail: Heh, thanks. I've tried to cut everything out of my life that reminded me of my father. I've gotten rid of all my strange collectibles and I've become just an inventor and nothing more. Gonzalo... I hate him so much.
:Crymsia: Yeah. Didn't you say something about your mother being forced to let go of you to save herself and her home?
:Azrail: Yeah, Gonzalo didn't give her the money she needed to be able to take care of me.
Azrail sighs a little before returning Crymsia's hug.
:Azrail: I've gotten along better with my mother since though, it's not like she had much control over the situation. I think she felt regretful that the orphanage eventually sold me back to my father, but she's helped me learn a lot more about body science and all that, that's why I helped her make that brain checker for Silver!
:Crymsia: Oh yeah, that was a thing. What happened to that?
:Azrail: Uhhh, I think we were saving it so we could check Mallory's brain at some point.
:Crymsia: Huh.
Crymsia sits back down on the workbench, watching Azrail work away.
:Crymsia: Hey, do you see what's going on outside?
:Azrail: Uhh, lemme check.
Azrail turns his head to the window. He sees Mallory chase down Silver and his family down a sidewalk.
:Azrail: Nothing you should be too concerned about.
:Crymsia: I swore I saw Mallory out there.
:Azrail: Sometimes it's just not worth involving yourself with the enemy because sometimes they can be a lot more prepared than you are for direct confrontations. Have you ever tried to confront someone in a public space and then you get your ass kicked?
:Crymsia: That's happened to me a lot as the Nature Warrior.
:Azrail: Yeah. Just wait for them to try and involve you before you go out after them. No point showing up in places you weren't invited to.
Crymsia nods, watching Mallory go and chase them the other way.
:Crymsia: I think that makes sense, I've always had horrible luck with confrontations. Especially that one time where Silver escaped prison and then I got myself thrown out a window, thankfully it stopped me from having a baby.
:Azrail: Who'd you get down with!?
:Crymsia: It's embarrassing to say.
:Azrail: You know, I probably wouldn't have minded if you had a baby, because I wouldn't mind proving my worth by raising a child and showing them how cool this satellite is.
:Crymsia: I'll consider it with you, at least.
Suddenly, the door bursts down. Mallory steps into the room, looking around in there.
:Mallory: Where the hell are you, Silv- [turns her head] Hello, Azrail and Crymsia.
:Azrail: Jeez, can you knock before you enter?
:Crymsia: Stay away from my boyfriend!
Crymsia pulls out her Rose Ripper, jumping out at Mallory and attempting to slash her down. Mallory swerves out of the way, hissing as she grabs the Nature Warrior by the wrist.
:Mallory: I was just looking for Silver, but I don't think I mind taking away her instead.
:Azrail: Oh no you don't! Eat these!
Azrail throws muffins at Mallory's face. She twitched her eye at him.
:Mallory: What are you doing, Azrail?
:Azrail: Uhhh, just eat them, damn it!
Mallory shakes her head, rushing at Azrail to grab his wrist too.
:Mallory: That makes two captives.
:Crymsia: Let us go, Mallory, or you're gonna be dead meat!
:Mallory: I don't think I feel very obligated to do that.
Mallory tapes their mouths shut, bonding their arms and legs together as they're too helpless to break out of her grip.
:Mallory: Let me take you to my keep, so I can ask you two some very important questions. I'll be sure to take the little girl for myself if Azrail doesn't comply with me.
:Azrail: Mmfffffff! L-lleephh mmeeehph gggooophh!
:Mallory: If I see Silver, I'll let you two go. But if I don't, heh, your private lives are over!
Mallory walks out of the workshop. She sees Silver and his gang run up into a shopping mall, just in the nick of time.
:Mallory: I've got him.
Mallory lets go of both of them right outside the workshop, going to chase down Silver. They can't move their bodies around, squirming helplessly on the ground. Several minutes would pass before someone else would show up to help them.
:Gonzalo: Ah, wonderful to see you two alive and well. My daily walks always manage to bring me such great surprises.
Both look shocked. Gonzalo, of all people! And they were just talking about how Azrail's finally been separated from him!
:3:34 P.M. · FRIDAY September 5th, ZXE-223
:Great White Mall, New Naxaz City
Meanwhile, Silver and pals were hanging out at the mall, going shopping. They looked slightly out of breath, having spent time running around the aisles for items, and now they're waiting rather impatiently in a checkup lane.
:Silver: We're almost done, gals! [rattles his cart] Plenty of pasta and spicy chips to enjoy back home! But damn Mallory has it out for me today! First that party crash, then she chases us as we're walking here!
:Medea: Yeah, I've never seen her act this aggressively before. Makes you wonder...
:Zellen: Is it because we're all out at the same time?
:Silver: Nah, that should make her less wanting to attack us, I'm not sure why she bothered with us today of all days. Especially when I've got three bodyguards and one handicap.
:Rogue: Hey!
:Silver: Sorry baby, but you know your dad's right. [snickers] Oh man, these jokes are gonna bite me in the ass one day.
:Rogue: Mhmmmm.
:Pierce: It's strange, isn't it? Let's concentrate on the matter at hand, though.
Silver and his partners move forward, checking out their own items. Medea and Pierce were placing items on the belt, Silver scanned the item, and Zellen put them (unorganized) into bags. Zellen just wanted to see which bags would be the most colorful if placed together.
:Silver: We might have to split up if Mallory attacks us again, because there's a lot of vital food I'd like to save from today's shopping trip. All those pasta noodles, they'll be important!
:Pierce: Can't wait to go another week with just pasta for dinner.
:Medea: I'm sure we'll find creative ways to use all this excess pasta.
:Zellen: Honestly? I'm okay with there just being pasta as long as there's guacamole to go with it. It goes well with pasta, just about as well as it goes with watermelon.
Pierce gives her an awkward stare.
:Zellen: It's not that weird! C'mon!
:Silver: Don't fret, everyone, those forty boxes of spaghetti and those thirty boxes of penne will be gone before you know it. Did anyone remember to bring their ValCoins, cuz I'm still almost broke.
:Pierce: Uh...
:Medea: I'll pay for it, no worries!
:Pierce: You do realize you're also paying for a hundred and twenty-seven jars of pasta sauce, right?
:Medea: Yep! I'm a rich woman, what can I say?
:Silver: I'm really excited to get home, make a pot, smoke some pot, then give everyone a bowl of spaghetti. Plenty of seasonings to try out on all this pasta too, thirty-seven canisters!
:Zellen: You think we can pour all that pasta over Silver in the bathtub and he'd be completely buried in it?
:Pierce: I'm willing to do it to hide Silver if Mallory were to ever come to our house for some reason.
:Zellen: Wait, you're considering it?
:Silver: That's a waste of food. You know how much Americans would charge for all the pasta you'd lay over me? Well over five-hundred dollars, which would amount to ten thousand ValCoins.
:Medea: You know, maybe pasta sauce could be a vegetarian's way of enjoying some of the human-based cuisine dishes on this satellite. [cackles] Now that I think about it, it'd make Mashed Human Pie more enjoyable.
:Pierce: Mashed Human What?
Silver and his partners get all their food items scanned, about ready to go. Just as they're prepared, though, they suddenly find themselves surrounded by Ferris and MLY-44!
:Silver: Whoa, how did you two get in here so quickly?
:Ferris: Mallory called me up to do some Silver skull-crashing action! We've got a month to crush you before Mallory kills us all and takes worse action against the satellite!
:Silver: How about you screw off then, little kiddy. Do you know how much pasta costs nowadays?
:Ferris: Uh, how much?
:Silver: Way too much. Look here man, can I at least get one of us to escort all this food home, then you can give chase to me?
:Ferris: Meh. Fine, I suppose.
Pierce smiles, taking the cart.
:Pierce: I'll go take all your pasta and sauce home, then I'll come join up with you later Silver. Uh, good luck escaping Ferris and that robot thing, I'm sure you can outrun a little kid.
:Ferris: We ready, then?
:Zellen: As ready as we can be.
Pierce takes up Rogue, laughing.
:Pierce: I've got the kid too.
:Ferris: GO!
Ferris and MLY-44 give chase to Silver, Medea and Zellen, who rush out of the building. The little kid fatigues really quickly, so he gets picked up by the robot before giving further chase to the three.
:Silver: I knew she was just gonna attack me again, that's why I had that little back-up plan. Hopefully I get to see that twink at the movie theater, there's no way in hell everything I've wanted to do today is gonna go to waste.
:Ferris: Get back here you oversized lotion bottle!
:Silver: I don't think you were supposed to be born, little dude!
:Medea: Man, you're just savage to little kids, aren't you?
:Silver: I'm generally less savage to children who don't pilot giant killer robots or happen to be my own little hellspawn. [cackles] Anyway, let's get the heck away from those two before they crush us. We'll have pasta to eat when we get home!
::
::
:4:04 P.M. · FRIDAY September 5th, ZXE-223
:Statue of Liberty, Sector 6
Way up inside the Statue of Liberty, at the observation deck, Valerie and Penny can be seen hanging out together after the party crash. They have just gotten there.
:Valerie: There's been several sudden attacks today ordered by Mallory. Mania Metallurgy, Beck 82-99, Ferris Rock, and Mallory herself have been scrambling around Naxaz. What do you think's going on?
:Penny: I don't know, but I don't like it. Way to ruin a birthday party.
:Valerie: Yeah, that was really rude, wasn't it? I don't like what's going on here. Mallory's been quiet for some months now, but over the past few weeks, she's been carrying out more and more attacks. Besides the birthday crash, she also stopped by the Public Workshop and laid out an attack on the mall.
:Penny: That's so crazy. And according to the citizens that have been able to see her go around, she's been muttering Silver under her breath, so it turns out that they're after Silver wherever he goes.
Penny pulls something out of her pocket.
:Penny: I found this tracker device lying around on the ground at my patio once Beck and Mania left, it seems to track Silver's exact location. It's running off of one of his DNA strands, but it can't seem to detect him right now.
:Valerie: It's probably because he might be too far underground for the tracker to find him. The signal must be lost.
:Penny: That makes sense. Huh, I wonder what Silver must've done to make her so mad.
:Valerie: I don't think he's even done anything. As far as I'm concerned, Silver's been spending most of his days either working at his alcohol shop or staying home, and he's never interested in looking for trouble from her.
:Penny: Hmmm, what do you suppose we should do?
:Valerie: I think it'd make sense if I contacted Scotch over all of this, he's not available at the moment but I can at least leave a message for him to listen to later. Besides, it's probably time the satellite went down into another lockdown if Mallory's been spotted doing all this crap.
:Penny: Lockdown...?
:Valerie: Yeah, the satellite's gotta be on lockdown if we wanna limit Mallory's approach. I'll try to see if I can find Silver later and talk to him about what's going on, because Mallory's become more dangerous than ever.
Valerie sighs.
:Valerie: Just a few weeks back, Mallory attempted to kidnap Syi.
A flashback plays of Mallory having bonded Syi up in tape, completely constricting her mouth and being ready to carry her out of the room before she gets ambushed and severely injured by a very tired Valerie.
:Valerie: I think she's becoming desperate for something, but she hasn't made it clear what exactly. She's targeted Syinara, Crymsia, Devina... a number of people really and we need to stop her from hurting anyone else.
:Penny: I understand, I think it'd be a good move if we placed the satellite on lockdown just to prevent her from getting anywhere vital. I really don't want Mallory to make any good progress, so I see this as a good move on your part.
:Valerie: It's gonna be tricky to prevent Mallory from outright causing a lot of damage, but we can at least try. How're you holding up over there, Syinara?
Syinara was also up in the area with them. She was reading a Balmism book with reading glasses, turning her head up to look at Valerie.
:Syinara: I'm doing alright, I'm just taking deep breaths and meditating.
:Valerie: Good, just want to make sure my lovely wife's doing swell.
:Syinara: As swell as I can be, haha.
:Valerie: Now to call up Scotch.
Valerie dials up Scotch's number. No response.
:Phone: Hi, you've tried to reach this number, but there was no response. Please leave a message after the beep. AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
:Valerie: Hi, this is Mrs. Heartgold, and this is an important message so please heed it. Mallory Zin's been laying down several attacks across New Naxaz City, and I think we need to discuss some sort of lockdown plan with Kýrios and Zodiez so we can limit the amount of damage she's causing. She's trying to go after Silver, again.
Valerie hangs up.
:Valerie: Hopefully we can find out what's exactly going on.
:5:32 P.M. · FRIDAY September 5th, ZXE-223
:Blue Theater, New Naxaz City
In the Blue Theater, Silver and his pals were watching a movie together. The movie was Illinois Bones and the Temple of Boomers. Silver shakes his head as he watches the titular character argue with some old Republicans.
:Silver: This movie reeks. Why're we watching this again?
:Medea: I just thought it'd be funny.
:Pierce: Of course you'd think that, boomer.
The three of them laugh, but are forced to quit when people give them angry glares.
:Silver: Look, Zellen.
Zellen looked sad, her head hanging down. She was sniffing a little bit.
:Silver: We'll watch the odd Japanese film another time.
:Zellen: Why'd you take Medea's suggestion and not mineee?
:Silver: 'Cuz I've seen that film like nine times already and the only other film playing was A Different Toy Story, which I'm really not interested in seeing and neither should you.
:Pierce: Pfff. [leans back] It's just a relief to have some time together.
:Silver: Oh yeah, where's Rogue?
:Pierce: I tucked her away in bed because she bit my finger.
:Medea: She's just super rebellious, isn't she? I think she'll become more like her father when she gets older, taking on his rebellious personality and fighting against the authorities.
:Silver: Hopefully she won't become too rebellious, I've had to spend enough time in prison as is. I've only gotten out just a month ago after stealing a bunch of spicy food because I lacked the funds to get them legitimately.
:Pierce: Yeah let's not teach her to be a thief.
:Zellen: Speak for yourselves, I wanna teach her how to be real bad.
:Pierce: Heh, of course you would.
:Zellen: You know me too well, Piercy. [cheers up] Come here, we can leave those two be boomers and we can be zoomers. I think that'd be a fair compromise.
:Pierce: Can do!
Pierce goes over a seat, sitting with Zellen. Zellen grins at him before sticking her tongue out at Silver.
:Silver: Heyyy, I just wanted to watch a movie Medea wanted to watch for a change! Go easy on me, please.
:Zellen: Tch.
:Silver: Least I can do is do something for everyone! I've done your shopping, I've done Medea's theater thing, and uhhh I've done Pierce's request to go to Penny's party.
Silver kicks back.
:Silver: Hey, at least Mallory can't ruin this one event, right?
:???: I wouldn't be so sure of... [snorts] That.
:Silver: Oh of course she would...!
Silver turns around, seeing the Methademic standing above them while everyone else panics and runs away.
:Silver: How do you all keep finding me? What've you got against me? What's your agenda? You showed up literally the moment I said that Mallory couldn't ruin this event. Asshole!
:Methademic: I'm gonna have to.... [snort] Capture you.
Medea looks really steamed, punching down the Methademic.
:Silver: I suppose we've gotta go back home, there's no way we can enjoy ourselves until we figure out what the fudge is going on. [grabs Medea's hand] Pierce! Zellen! Let's move!
The four begin moving out of the theater, with the Methademic getting up.
:Methademic: You can run, but you can't [snort] Hide.
The Methademic begins to chase them.
:Silver: This is starting to get really frustrating. We've been getting chased around all afternoon!
:Pierce: It's just convenient that they just know when to show up and ruin everything, huh?
:Silver: Yep!
:Zellen: Maybe if we went and saw that strange sushi film instead...
:Silver: I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have gotten away from the Methademic if we saw that film instead. C'mon, let's get a move on. I'm real sick of this crap!
Silver moves as fast as he possibly can.
::
::
:7:00 P.M. · FRIDAY September 5th, ZXE-223
:Kýrios' Throne Room, New Naxaz City
Scotch walks up to Kýrios and Zodiez, seating himself down on a chair. He's grown more facial hair since last time we've seen him, and he looks a lot rougher than he used to. He looks really cross.
:Zodiez: It's good to see you again Scotch, but what brings you here so late?
:Scotch: I've gotten some bad news from Valerie earlier, who attempted to contact me while I was away. It turns out that Mallory's been laying out many attacks across New Naxaz City. And she's trying everything she can in her power to piss us off.
:Zodiez: Intriguing, I didn't think that Mallory would be responsible for all those sudden attacks considering she's been keeping a low profile for some time now. I guess she's just giving up on remaining silent?
:Scotch: I don't know, but it might be time to place the satellite in another lockdown.
:Zodiez: Hmmm, you sure she's the one carrying out all these attacks?
:Scotch: She's been sending out her minions to handle most of this work, but she's been reported to be chasing Silver down the sidewalk earlier by other people who've called me during my break period.
:Zodiez: Interesting.
Zodiez sighs, looking at her husband. Kýrios looked just fine and dandy after three years, but he wasn't really smiling much, knowing that Mallory's out on the loose again.
:Zodiez: I'll try to do something about it, I was hoping she'd listen to my treaty and try to keep herself but I guess she just couldn't help herself. I wonder if it has to do with the Electolympics thing from three years back?
:Scotch: All I really know about Mallory's recent communication efforts is that she's been sending threatening letters out at me and other people she despises. And I've had them all redirected to me because the recipients wanted me to look at them.
Scotch pulls out a bag of letters.
:Scotch: They've gotten so excessive that Frink's stopped delivering letters from her.
:Zodiez: What do those letters consist of, then?
:Scotch: The letters seem to be mostly the same, just with slight adjustments to accommodate for different names and pronouns for each recipient. I don't really want to read any of them aloud, because they'd probably guilt-trip you into doing the wrong thing, but basically she's asking for people to hand Silver over to her. And you know, at this rate, I think I'd be willing to hand over Silver over to her so they can get off the satellite.
:Zodiez: We're not going to hand Silver over to the likes of Mallory. It's not the ethical thing to do. Sure I was the xenophobe that attempted to exile Silver a few years ago, but I'd know better than to stoop so low again.
:Scotch: What choice do we really have? Mallory's been getting more and more aggressive, and it seems like it's only going to stop if we hand Silver over to her. It's not like Silver is benefiting us in any way, at least not anymore.
:Zodiez: Here's the thing though, Scotch. If we hand Silver over to her, there is a chance she'll go away. But she might still stick around even after we give him over to her, and she'll continue doing more damage. It'd just be unnecessary homicide.
:Scotch: You do have a point. See, you have matured, stop doubting yourself.
:Zodiez: I'm not doubting myself anymore after you made that comment about Silver.
:Scotch: Look, I'm just concerned. Everyone's lives are at stake here! Mallory's a madwoman, Silver's just there, and-
:Zodiez: I know you're concerned, I'm concerned too. I'm going to do whatever it takes to save the satellite citizens, besides through risking more lives. I'm going to do the satellite lockdown, and hopefully it'll slow her down.
:Scotch: Right. Do you need Silver?
:Zodiez: No. I don't think Silver is of any threat to us, and besides, if we took him here, we could risk Mallory having the idea to come over here and kill him and us in just a few shots.
:Scotch: Right.
:Zodiez: I recommend re-evaluating yourself, Scotch. You've hurt him, you've hurt me, you've hurt Oshelia, you've hurt Minute. There's no guarantee you're going to be with Vizole for long, either.
:Scotch: What does that have to do with anything?
:Zodiez: You're so quick to blame people and point fingers when you're trying to resolve this kind of stuff with me. You're really adamant and that's something you need to work on changing. Believe me, I was adamant myself. But you need to stop thinking of Silver as a target, he's just a low-level troublemaker.
:Scotch: Even though he should still be in prison for all those little schemes?
:Zodiez: You're doing it again! Leave him alone.
Scotch sighs.
:Scotch: Alright, alright. Just if he does something horrible, I'm just warning you that you had it coming!
Scotch leaves the room in a hurry. Zodiez looks at her husband.
:Zodiez: I'm going to begin the satellite lockdown tomorrow, at eight in the morning. Any objections?
:Kýrios: Nope!
:Zodiez: That was easy. Well, let's go to bed, dear.
Zodiez clasps his hand.
:Zodiez: Good night, Kýrios.
:Kýrios: Nighty good!
The two head to bed, pulling themselves under the sheets and going to sleep.
:Scotch: Hm.
Scotch texts Valerie.
:Scotch [typing]: The satellite lockdown will begin tomorrow at eight in the morning. Keep your eyes peeled!
:Valerie [typing]: im in bed
:Scotch [typing]: Oh sorry. Keep your eyes peeled, tomorrow!
:Valerie [typing]: who do you think i am? lol
:Scotch [typing]: Valerie Heartgold!
:Valerie [typing]: ok ur cute gn
:8:13 P.M. · FRIDAY September 5th, ZXE-223
:Kilmister Labs, Sector 1
Back at Devina's place, she's sitting down alone in her basement, overlooking a huge status chamber. You can see the Manipulator, the Devil's Mask, and the Echeno drift around inside of it, attempting to bang their way out but not being capable of doing so.
:Devina: You three aren't getting out. Don't even try.
:The Manipulator: To think that you could keep us inside this prison for three years, impressive, Devina Kilmister. And without the help of your furry robot friend? Most excellent indeed.
:Devina: I'm not scared of you three.
:The Manipulator: You should be, Devina. Now, I don't know where the Holy Diver's run off to, but she seems to have trusted you to keep us captive, but you alone? You won't be a challenge.
The Manipulator attempts to escape the status tube by reaching for the opening, but to no avail, as it's sealed shut.
:The Manipulator: ...If I can escape, that is...!
:Devina: No, the Holy Diver's constructed this capsule to keep you three trapped inside, and I've promised her I wouldn't let any of you three outside of it. And you have no way of making it out either.
:The Manipulator: Do you not realize how depressing it is to be trapped inside this claustrophobic space with these two fellow spirits? It's sickening! Almost disgusting, even.
:Devina: And you're expecting me to care, why? You three stole Vilicus' body and attempted to manipulate much of the population into having your way. I have a job to do, buster.
:The Manipulator: Listen to me. We've done all that manipulation for the benefit of the satellite's population, see? Even if we can never escape, we've already done all we could do to help anyway.
:Devina: What do you mean?
:The Manipulator: Hehe, I don't trust you enough to tell you what we were up to that whole time. But, if you paid attention to clues, you might figure out what we were up to.
The Manipulator snickers.
:The Manipulator: You know, when you knew me at first, I acted so lifeless, but the people I've had to be around have given me so much personality that it's rubbed off on me. And because you couldn't catch me fast enough, I can't give you the blunt truth of what I was up to! You failed, Devina.
:Devina: It's a little gross that you're trying to manipulate me into releasing you just by telling me that I've failed to capture you guys way earlier. It sucks that I've gotten to get, someone else to capture you, but believe me, I was trying.
:The Manipulator: Then you weren't trying hard enough. The moment our tasks have been fulfilled, we'll disappear endlessly once more, and leave the Zaxiverse until the next biggest threats have arrived.
The Manipulator turns its back on Devina.
:The Manipulator: That all said, I'm willing to tell you what I've been up to, if you let us go.
:Devina: No!
:The Manipulator: For shame, Devina. You could have learned so much by just letting go of us.
:Devina: I'm not going to let you three do any more damage than you've done before! Consider your time to be over, what do you want to call yourselves, anyway?
:The Manipulator: I think the Holy Three sounds neutral enough. Or Unholy Three, depending on how you personally view us.
:Devina: Unholy Three it is then, because you three are really not helpful.
:The Manipulator: Suit yourself.
Devina walks up the stairs, closing the door on them.
:The Manipulator: I can feel something inside of me, like the end is near! It makes me feel so warm.
:9:35 P.M. · FRIDAY September 5th, ZXE-223
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
::
::
Silver manages to avoid his last threat of the day, avoiding getting his soul reaped out by the Violet Reaper, taking deep breaths as he hops down his well. He hits an unassuming brick to open up a hidden elevator, then uses it to get right home. He opens the door, finding Ms. Replicate sitting on the stove.
:Silver: What's good, everyone! Why's the stove on, Medea?
:Medea: I'm just warming myself up.
:Silver: I don't think that's safe.
:Medea: Feels hella good to me! Welcome home Silver, when the stove's warm enough I'm gonna get some pasta cookin'. Pierce and Zellen are asleep, they passed out while reading some strange horror magazine.
:Silver: What's up with all the entertainment in this world being based on bizarre magazines we shouldn't be handing out like they're candy to the whole population?
:Medea: It's because that's what's considered groovy in today's media.
:Silver: Do people really still say groovy?
:Medea: Uhhhh...
:Silver: I didn't think so. So, I think I decided that I'm going to stay home until I decide what moves I should make whenever I venture into the outside world. If Mallory's gonna attack me every time I go outside, I just better not go outside.
:Medea: That makes sense. It's good to see you're home honey, what held you back?
:Silver: I just wanted to take a visit to Jezebeth and make sure everything was going well with her. I had to help clean out some of the mold growing in her cage, because it was bothering her. Otherwise, nothing really.
:Medea: Oh, is that your fourth partner?
:Silver: No!
Silver laughs, throwing off his robes, just hanging out in his tank top and light jeans. Medea hops off the stove, placing her spaghetti pot on the burner and starting to cook up the noodles.
:Medea: In seriousness, I'm glad you had a good time. I really hope we figure out what's happening, that seems to be what we've been saying all day, really. We haven't been able to figure much out.
:Silver: I've found out a little information through Valerie, to say the least.
:Medea: Really? What's going on?
:Silver: Valerie texted me earlier on Risquord about Mallory apparently intentionally trying to seek me out, she gave her minions trackers to hunt my location down and capture me. Luckily, as long as I'm home, she can't get me. The satellite's also going in lockdown tomorrow, meaning we won't be able to visit any of the sectors and we'll only be able to go from here to the lobby and back.
:Medea: Lockdown mode, again? We just went through that like a month ago!
:Silver: That was a brief lockdown they've done to prevent a plague spreading through the satellite's sectors. Only the citizens of this city were infected by it, fortunately.
:Medea: I suppose this can't be all that bad then, it's just a cautionary thing.
:Silver: Yep. ...You sure you're not burning yourself by sitting on the stove?
:Medea: I'm gonna sit on the burner as many times as I want, Silver! My bottom's never been burnt to a crisp, not even once.
:Silver: If you say so. Anyway, I'm gonna go catch some z's, I need to be ready for the morning when the satellite goes into lockdown mode. I had some ideas for what I could do tomorrow, 'cuz it's the weekend, so it's a good time for me to try to do things that're important.
:Medea: You sure you don't want some pasta first?
:Silver: I've eaten some calamari before I've come here, I'll have the leftovers tomorrow. [grins] I'll be over on the couch, see ya in the mornin'!
:Medea: Oh right, you had a lot of seafood to eat in Jezebeth's cage. That makes sense.
Silver just cheekily smiles as he goes to sleep on the couch. Medea keeps working on her spaghetti.
:Medea: As a self-proclaimed genius, I can't fathom why Silver would have some stranger's calamari before my spaghetti, it's not something he usually would do. Am I thinking too hard about this? Wait... SILVERR!
Silver slyly grins, sleeping himself into the sheets and falling asleep, winking at Medea's unamused face from the couch.
:Medea: You lucky bastard, you're still the perfect vessel I have in mind for my own scheme.
Medea continues cooking up the spaghetti. Tomorrow was going to be a big day...
:11:09 P.M. · FRIDAY September 5th, ZXE-223
:Secret Cellar, Satellite 15 Stock Exchange, New Naxaz City
Crymsia and Azrail are still captive by Gonzalo, held inside the Satellite 15 Stock Exchange building that Gonzalo happens to be the chairman of. They're inside a secret cellar, surrounded by a bunch of alcohol bottles.
:Crymsia: Mmphh! [spits off tape] Finally!
:Azrail: Oh, you're awake? [turns head] Can't believe that the minute Mallory dropped us for Silver, which I was almost thankful for, we get swept up and caught by Gonzalo instead.
:Crymsia: Right? I don't even know why he bothered dragging us all the way over here, but if we can set ourselves free, we can get outta here and not waste much time.
:Azrail: I can try, Rosy, but it's gonna take a while to make an invention out of anything in this room. [sighs] Man, I can't believe that he's starting to become as annoying as Mallory too!
:Crymsia: If we're down here for twenty-four hours, we'll be reported as missing.
Crymsia sighs.
:Crymsia: I don't know what crimes are happening outside right now, but I feel sick to the stomach knowing I can't be even remotely useful or helpful tonight.
:Azrail: You don't have to be, Crymsia. You've done so much work for the satellite already, you can afford to have a little vacation. [shuffles over to her] It's fine to take a break.
:Crymsia: Thanks Az, I appreciate it.
:Gonzalo: So, has my son found a girlfriend?
Both look above them. Gonzalo's huge figure loomed over them, a Cheshire's cat grin spread across his face. He looked like one of those clowns you'd find in a horror game whose 3D graphics didn't age very well but still gave you nightmares as a young kid.
:Gonzalo: Interesting. How many bases have you traveled, Azrail?
:Azrail: Keep your creepy self away from me, freak!
:Gonzalo: That's no way to talk back to your father, Azrail. You don't want to be punished further, do you?
:Azrail: Isn't being trapped in your basement enough of a punishment as is? [struggles] Let us go!
:Gonzalo: Heh heh heh. You can't run from your dark legacy, Azrail. You were built to conquer and plunder! If we ruled this world together, and I gave you a high seat in my little empire, you could finally be seen proudly by your loving and caring father.
:Crymsia: What kind of caring father would mistreat their child, throw them around and auction them off more than once, then try to get back on their good side later without apologizing? [writhes] If I could get up, I'd slap your face!
:Azrail: You had your chance to be proud of me, Gonzalo. I struggled so hard to get those high marks, to help you out with chores, and do everything I could to get on your good side. But you never thought I was good enough.
:Gonzalo: Now, now, I think I simply misunderstood your potential, Azrail. I was always a horrible father, because I hadn't enough time on my hands to raise you. I was so busy dealing with other matters, you could forgive your dear old dad for once, couldn't you? What kind of son rejects his father's letters?
:Azrail: These are all lies. You had plenty of time to raise me, but you chose to instead hurt Medea and Valerie and so many more women. When I heard Valerie scream that one night, about eleven or twelve years ago, I couldn't sleep.
:Gonzalo: That was just a "good"scream, Azrail. That's all it could ever be with me. People have started agendas against me simply because they weren't able to agree to some of my terms and conditions, you know? Look at me. I'm not the insane one, you are. They're all gaslighting me.
Crymsia and Azrail took deep breaths, trying to get up.
:Gonzalo: There's no point troubling you, I suppose, if you're going to reject everything I throw at you. But please believe me, I'd be willing to give you a position of high authority. I can reset this relationship, and let you live the legend of El Dorado with me. Don't you see?
:Azrail: No, I don't see. You're a liar. That all you've ever been good at being. Why must you be so twisted and warped?
:Gonzalo: Ah yes, you need to know my backstory?
:Azrail: Knowing you, you'd fabricate it to position everyone else in a bad light, so how about no?
:Gonzalo: How am I supposed to tell if you're not lying to yourself about YOUR past, Azrail?
A very crooked, wide carnival-esque grin crosses Gonzalo's face. He picks up Azrail's face by the chin, looking deep into his eyes with a sinister grin.
:Crymsia: Leave him alone! He hasn't done anything to you, and he doesn't want ANY business with you or your stupid circus!
:Gonzalo: He's going to want to deal business with me if he wants to stay out of the way of the aftereffects of the stock market crash, sweetheart! Maybe if you both cared, I can make you and Azrail scream the same way I've made everyone else scream before. To make a long story short, there would be money ringing in your ears.
:Azrail: You're really sick, get your fingers off of me!
Azrail bites his fingers, making Gonzalo wail like a coward. And he doesn't let go.
:Gonzalo: You fucking reta-, I mean.
:Crymsia: What were you just about to call him?
:Gonzalo: I suppose I'll leave you two here to decide what you wish to do with your lives. Oh me, oh my, you're just going to let your father do all the work in ruling the world. And you're not going to help me out, Crymsia? What a pity, I could use your family fortune to speed things along!
:Crymsia: Stop talking already! None of us want anything to do with you!
:Gonzalo: Mmm. Suit yourselves. But when I begin to rule the world, you'll regret not joining me.
:Azrail: I've already lost all faith I could have possibly had of you being a dad. Are you Satan? Are you even man?
:Gonzalo: If it gives you any pointers, much of your family on my is of "royal blood". Let that sink in.
:Azrail: You're going to blame your ancestors for all of this?
:Gonzalo: Oh, didn't you know? I'd dive deeper into my family blood, but it's so all over the place and it just loops around and around and it might just make you cringe a bit too hard for your liking. I'll spare you all the details, because I might get sick too.
Azrail looks as if he could puke.
:Gonzalo: Anyway, I'm going to go take the world for myself, my parents would be really proud of me if I succeeded with my goal! Then I'll make them scream, too! You'll scream, too, but in actual agony when I finally get around to killing you both for refusing my offers!
Gonzalo leaves, laughing maniacally as he goes up the stairs.
:Azrail: How are we going to get out of here, Crymsia?
:Crymsia: I'll figure out a way, Az. Just, give me some more time. Mallory isn't the only person off their rocker, apparently, so when we get out we need to warn Scotch about this Gonzalo freak too.
:Azrail: If we can get out.
They're surrounded by plenty of cameras, staring down at them.
:2:00 A.M. · SATURDAY September 6th, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep, ???
The screen changes to show Mallory sitting up on her bed. Over the years, she's gone over some dramatic changes. She had four horns, she had several wrinkles on her face, elongated fingernails and toenails, and several scars on her body. Namely, hesitation marks.
:Mallory: EVERYONE! GET YOUR FUDGING BUTTS IN HERE!
Immediately, Mallory's room became flooded with her lineup of assistants. Cody, Mania, Beck, Quade, Kispel, Ferris, the Methademic, the Violet Reaper, and the new recruit Cameron Forger come in her room at once. Niki was gone, but because she had been let back out into the wilderness. They all look virtually the same as before, besides Kispel, who went under a visual makeover and now had Mallory's hair color and some of her makeup.
:Mallory: WHY THE HELL HAVEN'T WE CAPTURED SILVER YET?
Mallory throws a glass angrily to the floor.
:Mallory: You all have a thirty day limit to capture him before YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!
:Cody: Calm down Mallory, it sucks that we haven't managed to capture him, but he just keeps slipping out of our grip for one reason or another. I don't think he's really interested in doing anything to you, unless...?
:Mallory: Alright, alright, let me calm down for a moment. [breathes] Look here you dumb fudges, we need to get capture Silver within the next thirty days because I've been given a message saying that something bad will happen if we don't.
:Cody: Why will we need to die if we don't capture him!? That's where I'm getting confused.
:Mallory: Now, usually I don't take advice from people outside of my league. But every now and then, I like to go to Devina's basement to talk with a special ghostly figure that refers to itself as a Holy Divinity. And it's told me that it sees the end of the world coming within a month.
:Cody: Hold up, who is this Holy Divinity creature?
:Mallory: Remember that time where a strange grey and purple ghost visited my house? It was what gave me the alcohol I needed to push myself through the grievances of my past.
:Cody: Well, why do we need to die, then? Back to the question.
:Mallory: It's just a personal preference. Most of you aren't going to matter to me anymore if you don't capture Silver. It's been nearly FOUR years, you guys, and you haven't done crap to pull him here.
:Mania: To be fair, you've come close a couple of times, but every time you've taken the moment to be up close and personal with Silver you choose to never do anything to him. You had the perfect moment years ago.
:Mallory: ...I did. Those were mistakes, mistakes I do not like to look back on. But most of you have lost your worth to me. The only ones that'd bother saving are Cody and Kispel, because they're the only people that I feel can really satisfy me at this rate.
:Beck: Jeez, I knew we weren't really managing to handle our main priority all that well, but there has to be a better consequence than death. We can do anything for you Mallory if we fail this mission within a month, you just can't let us die! What will happen in a month?
:Mallory: Silver will discover the truth within a month. I never wanted him to seek the truth, and I don't want him to seek the truth. We need to kill him before he finds the truth.
:Cameron: Mallory! If you give me time, I will bring bits and pieces of the Great Wall of China to fortify your walls!
:Kispel: Please, my God, have mercy upon your fellow soldiers. Death isn't the answer for them. [rubs her shoulder] Please, for me. For them.
:Mallory: Fine, there won't be any deaths. [sighs] But, you will all do an extraordinary amount of work if Silver isn't captured before then, because there will be a lot more work to be done against him if he learns the truth. You know how I look right now, everyone?
:Ferris: D-Depressed?
:Mallory: I look insane. I'm... not actually there yet, but I sure feel like my time is close. But Silver too will come close to reaching that breaking point if he discovers the truth, because he will not handle the truth well. It will crush his innocence and bring him down, just like how he brought me down before. We will come to our breaking points eventually if he finds out who he was before.
Mallory looks at Ferris.
:Mallory: And I'm not about to let that happen.
:Cody: Thank you for at least choosing to not let us die.
:Mallory: Honestly, I only made the irrational decision to make you all die because I hadn't considered who I'd get to replace you all if I did go through with killing you all. Thank you for questioning my thinking. But you better be prepared for what hell's going to shower upon us all if we don't get to action as soon as we can.
:Cody: Right.
:Kispel: We will be ready, my darling. [sits next to Mallory] Everything will be okay.
:Mallory: I hope so, handsome. [looks at Cody] You better start making those Sunday speeches count, Messiah. I'm not calling you Cody again until Silver is captured.
:Cody: That's... [sighs] You really don't like me, do you?
:Mallory: No, not really anymore. You just don't really satisfy me enough, you would've remained alive because you're a valuable tactician, and that's about it.
Cody feels something hit him in the chest. Physically too. He kind of looks numb for the moment.
:Mallory: If it makes you feel any better, only Kispel really satisfies me. None of you give me enough, and that's why I made the irrational choice I made. Consider working harder, and maybe I'll change my mind.
Mallory glares at them all.
:Mallory: Don't let relief settle in. I might have changed my mind about the slaughter plan, but you all need to get moving. If you don't cut Silver down, you're going to all your value get cut down.
:Cody: ...Y-Yes, ma'am. O-On it.
:Mallory: Good. Now get out of my sight.
Cody sniffles, leaving Mallory's bedroom. Mallory watches the rest of her assistants leave before turning her attention on the leaving Cody.
:Mallory: I don't like you. You were always focused on more people than just me.
:Cody: W-What?
:Mallory: You'd leave me hanging out to dry for hours and hours, visiting people that don't have any connection to me and steering off the main path. You would spend plenty of time talking with my assistants and partners when I needed you most. You weren't there in my hours of need, at least not enough.
:Cody: I couldn't be with you for every waking moment of my life, Mallory! I have family and friends to take care of, too! You literally scraped me up from the streets and gave me a job, and I wanted to use my money to support myself and my family. All my spare time was dedicated to being with you, Mallory, but I had other vital things to do!
:Mallory: You didn't give me enough, I'm just saying. I've... I've suffered for so many years, at the devil's hands, yearning for someone that could take care of me and heal me. And you did neither. Or at least, you never did enough of either.
:Cody: I never said I'd dedicate my whole life to being with you! I... I've tried to do what I could for you whenever I had the moment to do it! But I can only do so much to be with somebody every second!
:Mallory: Then maybe I shouldn't have scraped you off of the streets.
Cody looks frozen.
:Mallory: Stay out of my sight!
Cody avoids a glass beer bottle that gets thrown at him.
:Mallory: Don't come back to me unltil Silver is in your goddamn arms!
Mallory sighs, sitting with Kispel on the bed. Mallory squeezes her hands together, hissing with rage.
:Mallory: Silver, you may be blind to what's coming, and you may be deaf to what's going on, but you better stay that way! Because I'm going to drag you right into my private hell and I wanna do it nice and easy!
====Chapter Fourteen: Rotten Apple====
:8:05 A.M. · SATURDAY September 6th, ZXE-223
:Kýrios' Throne Room, Admin Sector
Just as promised yesterday, the satellite's now in lockdown mode. After a warning broadcast, every satellite sector's entrance and exit got closed off, preventing residents from moving to or from them. Shields are up everywhere in the satellite, preventing Mallory or her allies from breaking through them, or most others for that matter. Valerie, Penny, Syinara, Scotch, Kýrios, and Zodiez are shown overseeing the lockdown from a huge monitor.
:Penny: How long is the satellite gonna remain under lockdown?
:Scotch: We're going to keep the satellite under lockdown for a week, because we don't know where Mallory's coming from or how she's making her way into the satellite and we need to ensure the safety of our residents.
:Penny: What about the people that need to fast-travel to New Naxaz City or any of those sectors? The people that need to get to the Hospital Wing as soon as possible?
:Scotch: You've probably forgotten, but ration shelters pop up in the satellite's sectors during times like this. If people need to get healed they can heal there.
:Penny: Oh yeah, but how about those that have jobs? Sorry, these concerns are only just popping up in my elderly brain now. You've gotta forgive me for that, I can't help it.
:Scotch: They're gonna have to be postponed until lockdown mode expires, sorry.
:Penny: Huh, alright.
:Valerie: Don't worry too much, everything's going to turn out just fine.
:Scotch: Yeah, what she said. [turns to Zodiez] So, how should we use this time?
:Zodiez: I've asked the Electric Eye to update the satellite's security level to Level 2, so he's going to keep on an eye on mainly key locations and shoot at anything that appears to be suspicious. In the meantime, we can relax and relish in the fat that Mallory can't reach us.
:Scotch: That sounds like it'd be a good idea, I've gotten really tired of forcing the military around to try and catch Mallory. I'm already occupied enough as is dealing with the Satellite 7 forces on the outside.
:Valerie: The Satellite 7 dwellers? Aren't they supposed to be a peaceful bunch?
:Scotch: Yeah, but I've made someone raid the satellite of their "Power Gems" or whatever so we can enhance the DNA of our soldiers and make them harder, better, faster, and stronger in catching Mallory. So, they got really pissed off at that.
:Valerie: We could take care of it ourselves, Scotch, not sure why you decided it'd be a good idea to go raid another satellite for what belongs to them.
:Scotch: We don't live in a time where we can be picky about anything, Valerie! You want Mallory to slice and dice us to itty bitty pieces or not?
:Zodiez: I don't know, I don't think annoying other satellites for our own personal gain is a good idea. Now you're just going to make the next Zaxina System Meeting pretty awkward.
:Scotch: Mmmm, look, I know, maybe I shouldn't have done that. I already regret it, considering that satellite's occupied with a bunch of creatures you'd see in Dungeons and Dragons. And way too many Onis.
Zodiez sighs.
:Valerie: Let's just focus on what we have for now. Now that you have those strange gems, you might as well power up your army and send them after Mallory any time you see her. Also please try to make amends with Satellite 7's leader. She's very ferocious.
:Scotch: Yeah yeah. Sorry.
:Zodiez: No more satellite raids! Or I'm going to have to replace you with Jeremy!
Scotch turns his head to his right. A really thin-looking man that looked way more like an airplane pilot than a general was standing there, toothily grinning and waving at Zodiez.
:Scotch: How many Jeremys are you going to torment me with, Zodiez?
:Zodiez: There will be one Jeremy for every time you make a mistake, Scotch.
Valerie looks to her wife, Syinara. Syi was sitting down in a chair, reading through her very same Balmism book. She looks to be a bit further into it than she was yesterday.
:Syinara: What's wrong with the name Jeremy?
:Valerie: It's a slur on the satellite that's synonymous with "idiot". All soldiers who just barely pass the exam needed to be enlisted are sent first as disposable heroes, and are all named Jeremy.
:Syinara: Why Jeremy?
:Valerie: I don't know, but it makes Scotch feel horrible every time he thinks he's being bested by someone named Jeremy.
:Scotch: Shut up!
:Zodiez: In all seriousness, I might have to replace you with your uncle Samson if you mess up again. Jeremy, return to the front lines to be used as a human cannonball.
:Jeremy: Yes ma'am! [salutes] I, Jeremy, will take your request with pride and dignity!
Jeremy marches off.
:Scotch: What a worthless prick.
:Zodiez: Hey buddy, I'm gonna rename you to Jeremy if you screw up again. You got me? Do the right thing.
:Scotch: Jeez, alright.
:Valerie: Let's focus on the matter at hand. With the doors to the satellite's sectors closed, we can use all the time we need to devise a new plan. We can also figure out where she's emerging from by determining where the most damage happens.
:Scotch: Right, it'd be important to know where Mallory's coming from.
:Syinara: The issue is that Mallory is using a portal to make her way inside the satellite, but it's unclear if she can just make them wherever she wants or if there's just one location.
:Zodiez: We haven't figured that out for ourselves, but we do know every time a portal gets made in the satellite. We've only been able to catch them once using a portal, and that was in Sector 5, but whenever our monitors head to places of interest they don't seem to pick up where exactly the portal is.
:Syinara: Huh, that must mean that Mallory's attempting to make sure she's never seen boarding the satellite.
:Scotch: Wait, you can detect whenever portals get opened?
:Zodiez: We can detect any portal openings across the Zaxiverse, it's a vital and important tool that all satellites are treasured with. The Zaxiverse may be mostly self-contained, but we've had invaders from other worlds before, and we need to be ready to take them down if they happen to pose a threat.
:Syinara: Right, we need to figure out a way to find where those portals are being made at.
:Valerie: When you'd become so invested in our affairs all of a sudden, sweetheart?
:Syinara: Oh, I just feel bad that you've been doing all this work for as long as you have, so I'm trying to become more involved and help out because you've all been very good to me and I want to do something in kind.
Syinara smiles.
:Syinara: So I'm gonna do the best I can!
:Valerie: Eeeeee, my lovely wife's growing up.
:Zodiez: That's very touching. Maybe she could be your secretary or something.
:Syinara: I've had a bit of experience with secretary work whenever Valerie would be sick or be needing a day to herself, so I think that's a natural progression for me. [grins] I think she'd love getting that work taken care of twice as fast.
:Valerie: You don't have to, honey! I don't mind doing my job.
:Syinara: I want to, though. Because even if it's not work I like doing, I'll do it to be with you as much as I can.
Syinara places her book down on her lap, placing in a sardine-shaped bookmark as she holds Valerie's hand, smiling.
:Syinara: We can talk a bit more, too.
Valerie smiles at her.
:Scotch: Okay, this is cute, but I think this is a good time to suspend the meeting and return to it tomorrow. Take care of yourselves everyone, and I'll see you all tomorrow to discuss what more we'll do about Mallory and her goofs.
:Penny: Whuuu... [wakes up] Huh?
:Valerie: Why'd you fall asleep, Penny?
:Penny: Old people do that, Val.
:Valerie: Anyway, I'll see you all tomorrow to check in.
:Syinara: See y'all later!
:Zodiez: Goodbye gals. And uh, boy. We'll let you know if we see any changes.
Everyone but Kýrios and Zodiez leave the room. Now to see what everyone else is up to...
:10:08 A.M. · SATURDAY September 6th, ZXE-223
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
Silver, Pierce, Medea, and Zellen are seated around their round kitchen table, with Rogue asleep in the background as Pierce pours everyone a full mug of coffee.
:Pierce: Mornin', folks. You all slept well?
:Silver: You can say that. [winks at him] It was a pretty nice night, yeah.
:Medea: I was really exhausted last night, so I fell asleep pretty easily.
:Zellen: I would've slept better if you let that squid stay on the bed.
:Silver: Zellie, honey, that squid would've died because it needs water to live and thrive.
:Zellen: Who cares? I can summon squids from practically any dimension that houses them, there's an infinite amount of them out there! Then again, you pay for the house bills, so heh heh, never mind.
:Pierce: You two women are crazy, you know that?
:Medea: Watch it, you could develop ALS like your brother.
:Pierce: What was that?
:Medea: I said nothing!
Pierce gives her an awkward glance, then just shrugs as he drinks down his coffee. It's a nice, strong, black coffee. The others put creamer in their coffee mugs, but Pierce? He'd just drink it raw.
:Pierce: Anyway, it's really clear that Mallory's been becoming extra aggressive and she's been a deliberate pain in our asses since yesterday afternoon. Because of the lockdown, though, we can probably use the time to figure out what to do without worrying about getting ambushed.
:Silver: That sounds good to me, I'd like to know why Mallory's being the way she's being right now, 'cuz it's just strange to me that she'd start rampaging against me all of a sudden. Maybe there's an underlying reason to it, but I don't know what it would be.
:Pierce: Hmmmm... I don't know myself, Silver.
:Silver: Well, in the meantime, I guess we can all act like demented animals until we know what to do. Besides Rogue, I mean, let's not ruin her purity.
:Rogue: Too late, papa.
Rogue is holding a gun in Silver's direction.
:Silver: That's a prop, honey.
:Rogue: Darn it! I thought I had you.
:Pierce: I've got this, girls.
Pierce taps his brain, lifting Rogue up with his psychic powers and dropping her back into her crib, placing a shutter over the top to prevent her from getting out this time.
:Rogue: You may have won this time, father. [giggles] But I'll get ya yet!
:Silver: I love her, just look at how dazzling she is. So violent and chockful of personality.
:Pierce: You know I love her too, but let's concentrate on what needs to be concentrated on. So, as I said, we should spend some time figuring out what to do during the lockdown. What do you all plan on doing besides Mallory-related stuff?
:Silver: I'm gonna work at the alcohol shop and run it 'til it's not safe to anymore, otherwise I plan on being just as lazy and unsophisticated as ever. I may or may not travel the streets tonight to bang out a few bucks.
:Pierce: Do whatever makes you happy, king. I'm just gonna stay back and take care of Rogue.
:Medea: I'm gonna head to the Hospital Wing in hours and start figuring out how I wanna handle the final stages of my ultimate plan. [snickers] I'll give you more juicy details another time, Silver.
:Zellen: Personally, I'm just gonna round up a bunch of Untens and have them partake in a 32-man tournament. It'll be like the Hunger Games, kinda.
:Silver: ...You really have the strangest priorities, Zellen.
:Zellen: I'm way more interested in abusing the space-time continuum than having a salary, Silvie. I mean, there is that ice cream parlor that I work at, but that's closed on the weekends.
Silver just snickers, drinking all of his coffee.
:Pierce: So everyone's pretty much going to do what they usually do, then. Great. So, Silver, I just wanna know what you think would be the ideal course of action?
:Silver: I'm not really sure? I was thinking about going outside to think about it alone, then return around midnight or something. I don't have any real big plans today, just so it's clear.
:Pierce: Be careful, going outside could still be very dangerous.
:Silver: It'll be fine, 'cuz of the lockdown. If I head outside and take an average walk, something might sprout in my head. We'll see. Take care of Rogue for me, will ya?
:Pierce: Of course.
:Medea: See ya around, Silver!
:Zellen: Goodbye Silvie, come back soon, okay? I'll have a cake baked by then.
:Silver: Can't tell if you want to genuinely make a cake or...
:Zellen: I'll leave you to figure that one out on your own!
:Silver: Alright you lot, I'll be back shortly.
:Pierce: Good luck!
Silver springs his way to the elevator, taking it up.
:Silver: Hmmmm, I dunno what I really wanna do. Damn it, why must making rational adult decisions be so difficult? Does anyone else ever have that feeling?
Silver looks around himself in the elevator. Yeah, he's the only one going up.
:Silver: I'm gonna take a walk 'round the garden and see what I can do or think of to pass the time. Maybe I should crank up something on my iPod. [picks it up] Sort through artists, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Lou Reed, ooh, Mad Season.
Silver winces.
:Silver: Did I really listen to Limp Bizkit before all this amnesia crap happened?
Silver climbs out of the well, ready to go on his walk.
::
::
:11:19 A.M. · SATURDAY September 6th, ZXE-223
:Satellite Lobby, Room #66
Agantuk was snoring away on a bunk bed, with the likes of Parabola, Blake Cooper, Olcia Divinix, and Luka hanging out in his motel room just going about their average lives. Parabola was shining out her badge, Blake was smashing away at a punching bag with his baton, Olcia was worshipping quietly to a statue, and Luka was working on making new equipment. Agantuk stirred a little bit when he heard a beeping noise in his ear.
:Agantuk: Huh, eh...
:Parabola: You've slept in again, Agantuk. Someone's been trying to contact you for the past two hours.
:Agantuk: That's embarrassing, alright. [sits up] Thanks for telling me that.
:Parabola: Just stop forgetting to set your alarm clock, you forgetful oaf.
Olcia blinks and sits up, turning to face Agantuk.
:Olcia: Lupin, he's awakened!
:Blake: You've got any better Valerie punching bags, Agantuk?
:Luka: You wanna see what I've been up to?
:Agantuk: I really appreciate the attention, everyone, but I've got an important phone call to take care of first. Then I can catch up with everyone else. [beams] Did you take your vitamins this morning, Olcia?
:Olcia: Yep!
:Agantuk: That's good, then, proud of you honey for staying on track with those. Parabola, you're not usually in the house when I wake up, don't you work outside?
:Parabola: I'm taking the week off because of the satellite lockdown, which means only Arikan has to keep an eye on everyone.
:Agantuk: Sweet. Good to have you here Para, stay cool and take all the time you need to relax.
Parabola smiles as Agantuk pulls a device out of his ear, pressing a really tiny button on it with a sharp demonic fingernail.
:Agantuk: Hello, who's this?
:Junkhead [voice]: Hey, little brother. It's me, Rhett, remember? I've been in prison for so motherzoinkin' long, I wouldn't really care if ya actually remembered me or not, I just thought I'd ask.
:Agantuk: Rhett? You alright?
:Junkhead [voice]: Ya, I'm alright. Besides being given the same motherzoinkin' stale bread on a daily basis, I feel real starved. These officers won't let me go just 'cuz I loved my coke and heroin. These authorities are getting real good at pissing me off. Anyway, so ya know how the satellite's in effin' lockdown mode?
:Agantuk: Yeah, I know that. Hold up, how are you talking to me to begin with?
:Junkhead [voice]: I've been allowed to use the phone to call ya up and do a check-in 'cuz the authorities are at least nice enough to let me effin' call up family and all that. But listen to me, kiddo. There's nothin' I can do from my little prison, but there is crap ya can do to help me clear my mind. Do you mind?
:Agantuk: My recovery period from the adult life transition is just about over, yeah, so I can do whatever you need me to do.
:Junkhead [voice]: Oh right, I forgot us Dearthbringers go through a mighty tough transitioning process once we become adults. We lose our grip on our innocence and memories almost entirely and became hellbent on destroying planets, right? Glad ya were able to break outta that crap with Olcia's help.
:Agantuk: Yeah, it took all my friends a considerable amount of effort to prevent me from turning out that way. And I'm thankful for that, because that stuff seems to happen with every life I've lived so far.
:Junkhead [voice]: Yea. Speaking of that, I wanted to tell ya to keep yar eyes peeled for this Silver Zin boy. He's gotta get that memory of his past back, or we're all gonna be in a huge heap of trouble. Without Mallory to get in his way, ya can spend time searchin' for him.
:Agantuk: How will I find him? You never really told me where he lived and he's never had an incentive to go out and meet me.
:Junkhead [voice]: Yea, I ain't good with remembering things, sorry 'bout that. I can sure as hell do better 'bout that in the future, if I can make it past this 50-year sentence or whatever. But I think ya've just gotta keep yer eyes peeled out. I think Silver will make himself pretty prominent on the streets sooner or later.
:Agantuk: Alright, I'll keep that in mind.
:Junkhead [voice]: Goodie! Mate, I just wanna say thanks for bein' a good pal. I know ya don't know much 'bout Silver and maybe ya're getting a bit tired of me askin' ya to talk to him, but I appreciate ya're still taking on the offer. So, just figure out where to find Silver, that's what I've been tryin' to frickin' tell ya.
:Agantuk: Got it!
:Junkhead [voice]: Alright, thank ya.
:Agantuk: Good luck, Junkie.
:Junkhead [voice]: Ah ha ha ha ha ha! What a zoinkin' joke. But thanks. Love ya!
:Agantuk: Love you too, bye!
Agantuk hangs up on Junkhead.
:1:50 P.M. · SATURDAY September 6th, ZXE-223
:Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
Silver is still in the Stenographer Garden, walking around and just admiring the scenery. He hadn't gotten too far, but he's now on his phone and sitting on a bench.
:Silver: I know, why didn't I think of it before?
Silver decides to dial in a number on his phone. He hears it ring a few times before throwing it to his ear.
:Silver: Hi, is Cod-
:Phone: I'm sorry, but there was no response from this number. If you're still interested in leaving a message, feel free to do so! If your name is Silver Zin, don't fucking bother! Beep!
:Silver: Hi Cody, Mallory might have left a really rude message meant to scare me from calling you somewhere on your phone to deter me from calling you up. Anyway, I was wondering if you'd call me back as soon as possible? I'm interested in learning more about Mallory, an-
:Cody: Hey, is this Silver? Sorry for not picking up the phone sooner.
:Silver: Whoa, hi Cody! Yeah, it's your best buddy chum pal friend pal Silver. You wanna talk?
:Cody: Sure, I'm currently locked up in my room and I can use someone to talk to right now.
:Silver: Locked up? What the devil is going on there, pal?
:Cody: Yeah, you see, ever since you left Mallory's been getting a lot meaner and harsher to everyone around her, and you can tell that she's been trying to attack you all afternoon. She's getting really impatient, we could only distract her for so long before she started to not be satisfied by anything we do anymore. I'm locked up in my room, by her, because she doesn't like to see me when I'm on break.
:Silver: Some girlfriend you have there, huh?
:Cody: We're not really a couple anymore, we used to be but she cheated on me for this younger dude named Kispel, who's helplessly obsessed with her and is absorbing all her attention. [sighs] He can make her happy, but nobody else can, unless any of the rest of us deliver absolute perfection.
:Silver: Wow, I wasn't expecting her to stoop so low.
:Cody: Yeah, I'm not happy about it either. Everyone that's proven to be disappointing to her gets locked in their rooms until it's time to eat, time to talk, or time to do something for her sake. Sometimes when she's feeling generous we get whole days to roam around or just a few hours, but, we used to be able to free roam the castle.
:Silver: She sounds like she's really getting off her rocker. So, do you know why she's suddenly been chasing me around and all that? I've never seen her get so angry with me before.
:Cody: Mallory wants to attack you in less than a month's time because she's convinced you're going to learn the truth to your past by the end of the month. In other words, she doesn't want you to wake up when September ends. Yeah it's a Green Day reference, roll with it. But I wanna convince you to do what she doesn't want you to do.
:Silver: You mean, discover my past? I've wanted to do that, but Mallory's never wanted me to do that and I don't really find it important for me to do so considering I live in the present and the past doesn't seem to matter anymore.
:Cody: Even if you've moved on from the past, sometimes it's necessary to learn something from it or look back for something and then keep it in mind later. You shouldn't be living in the past, ever, but sometimes it's worth a look backwards.
:Silver: Oh, I kinda get it. Yeah, maybe that info can be useful, that would help tell me why Mallory's such an asshole right now.
:Cody: I'd tell you all about your past, but it's really deep and I won't ever have enough time to tell you about it before Mallory attempts to communicate with me. Just know that it's probably nothing you want to know.
:Silver: Huh? Did I suck at baseball or something? 'Cuz I still do.
:Cody: What does baseball have to do with this...?
:Silver: You know, running the bases.
:Cody: Oh. Listen Silver, I don't have time for your jokes. [coughs] Good one, though, I almost laughed. Anyway, I'm leaving you to find that out on your own. Mallory might be the only person here that knows the full extent of your past, but there might be others here that know a little bit about your past.
:Silver: How would I know how to find those people? And why wouldn't they approach Valerie or someone in the authorities with that information?
:Cody: I don't know, alright?
:Silver: Alright, that's chill. Maybe I'll find someone that does know, who knows?
:Cody: I think there's a good chance someone knows. But I wouldn't know where to point you. Why not advertise yourself or something during the satellite lockdown? Place up posters? We can't come back until the lockdown's over.
:Silver: Eh? Why not?
:Cody: You see, we can theoretically just jump out anywhere at any time, but security's too high to risk anything right now. So, until the lockdown's over, we'll be away. Do whatever you need to.
Cody hears his door rattle, and now his hands have gone cold.
:Mallory: Who are you talking to, you wretched worm?
:Cody: I've... I've gotta go. [sighs] I've wasted too much time, talk to you later friend.
:Silver: Hey, same to you too Cody. I'll talk to ya another time, alright?
:Mallory: I'm going to come right in your room, and if you don't tell me what's going on, I'm going to beat the answers out of your body when I break it down to a bloody pulp.
:Cody: S-Sure. Bye!
:Silver: Bye-bye, handsome!
Silver hangs up, whistling.
:Silver: Guess I should walk into town and see if there's anything I can learn from there. Maybe someone will give me pointers? That'll be neat. Maybe drop by the public workshop to see if Crymsia and Azrail are there, maybe they can use my DNA for something.
Silver grins.
:Silver: Yeah, that sounds like a perfect idea!
Silver rushes off into town.
::
::
Meanwhile, back with Cody...
:Cody: Mallory, I promise it was just an old friend of mine!
Mallory breaks open the door to Cody's room, looking down at him with her cold, mean eyes.
:Mallory: Tell me, who were you just talking to, worm? You know that I don't like it when people aren't being honest with me, or when people aren't giving me exactly what I desire.
:Cody: ...I was, talking to... [sniffs] An o-old friend.
:Mallory: You know, worm, let me tell you something.
Mallory pulls him up by the neck, looking up into his eyes.
:Mallory: You should be thankful you have a place to stay, at all. If you're not going to be honest with me, then I will hurt you harder than I did last time you weren't honest with me. And you know how badly I hurt you last time. I'm sure you remember, considering how you couldn't walk straight for a week.
:Cody: Mallory, h-have you just thought about the fact that I could just be talking to an o-old friend? Please, don't h-hurt me! Don't, please, I can hardly bear any more of your pain...!
:Mallory: I could hear you talking to my nemesis through the walls. Telling my master plan to Silver, huh? Telling him to do something that I explicitly don't want him to be doing? Whose keep do you think you're in, you worm?
:Cody: Y-Yours. [looks down] I'm sorry.
:Mallory: That's right! Now stop lying to me whenever I'm demanding the truth out of you!
Cody shakily steps back as Mallory pulls out a giant bat-like weapon, with a huge nail going through the bigger end.
:Mallory: You like baseball? Because you're about to be the ball!
Mallory swings her weapon behind her, making Cody cover himself with his arms. Cody shakes uncontrollably, bracing himself for impact, unsure which end of him she was going to strike.
:Cody: Don't! P-Please!
:Mallory: I'm... going to swing it!
Mallory swings it straight at him, but stops just short of hitting him.
:Cody: H-Huh?
:Mallory: ...I can't.
Mallory drops the weapon.
:Mallory: Stop lying to me. I-I can't deal with that c-crap, Cody. If you were just honest about you t-talking to Silver, I would've been a little n-nicer. [looks down] Please, come out and help me put away dishes.
:Cody: ...O-Okay. [sniffles] You scared me so badly.
:Mallory: When I saw your eyes, I saw mine s-stare back at me. It hurt.
:Cody: I see.
Mallory gently hugs Cody. Cody was reluctant, but cautiously returned the hug, crying into her shoulder. Mallory starts crying herself, tears rolling down her tired cheeks.
:Mallory: I'll try to get a better g-grasp on myself. But l-listen, you need to c-cut your contact with him.
:Cody: Alright.
Cody sighs. He blocks Silver's contact on his phone, looking a tinge guilty as he does.
:Cody: I'm s-sorry.
:Mallory: Let's just try to p-put this behind us.
Mallory and Cody walk out of the room. You can see the beast that's attempting to snarl and bite inside of Mallory, but it doesn't have a complete grasp on her yet. But for Cody, that was a really close call.
:3:20 P.M. · SATURDAY September 6th, ZXE-223
:Secret Cellar, Satellite 15 Stock Exchange, New Naxaz City
Azrail feels his phone go off while he's still bonded to the floor, making him groan.
:Azrail: I can't answer that phone, I don't know who's calling me, but someone might have found the workshop and discovered we weren't there. Our contacts must've been left behind.
:Crymsia: That sucks. Well, I guess we're stuck in here for all eternity. Especially with those two losers.
Crymsia half-assedly points to Rose and Azul, who were sitting on the steps and thus preventing them from getting out even if they could escape their tight bonding.
:Rose: You're calling us the losers?
:Crymsia: For working with a man as repulsive and disgusting as Gonzalo, you might as well be called losers! Do you not know how disgusting Gonzalo is? Jesus Christ.
:Rose: Well excuse me, princess!
:Azul: I don't know, he's treated us very handsomely since we've begun working for him, I don't see what there is to be against him for. He just does his job, that's all.
:Azrail: Mmm. Sure he does.
:Crymsia: You two do realize that Gonzalo's probably not going to actually pay you in the end, right? He just might be exploiting you for his own personal desires? Have you heard a single word from him that implies he's any good?
:Rose: Look, we're not concerned about who Gonzalo is or what he does, we separate work and employer. As for us, we're getting handsomely paid by the day, so we don't care who he is.
:Crymsia: You think this is about separating art from the artist, Rose? That argument would make more sense if we were talking about art, but we're not. Do you even know what you're saying?
:Rose: I have morals, Crymsia, but we didn't get much money from other employers so we're not picky about who we work for.
:Azul: Besides, isn't Azrail the "Panty Thief"?
:Azrail: You're choosing to acknowledge that old part of my life but not just how horrendous of a person Gonzalo is? I don't think it's right to put me down for that when you work for a goddamn madman! A really morally reprehensible madman, no less!
:Crymsia: Does Gonzalo mistreat either of you two? It's not like you have to hide the fact that he is.
:Rose: No, he does not. It's not any of your business to gauge how we feel about any of this. We're just trying to do our jobs, which right now would be preventing you from leaving this room, so SHUT UP!
Crymsia sighs. Azrail starts to roll away from them.
:Crymsia: Where are you going, Azrail?
:Azrail: Hold up, I've gotta find something important that could very well be in this room.
:Crymsia: ...What makes you think it'd be here?
:Azrail: All the pictures on the walls, they're of my ancestors. Those pictures were in my house. There's other belongings I recognize too, like that noose hanging from the ceiling and some of the mats on the floors.
Crymsia rolls away from Rose and Azul. They shrug, sitting on the steps and drinking together while Crymsia catches up to her boyfriend.
:Crymsia: You recognize some of the stuff in this cellar from your house!?
:Azrail: Yeah! I see a lot of crap here that reminds me of my childhood, actually. That's not to say they bring back pleasant memories, because trust me I don't like remembering I lived with this man. But you can see the guns in the cases hanging from the walls, you can see some of the disgusting wedding photos hanging up, and you can see Gonzalo's dozens of receipts of medical prescriptions.
:Crymsia: Must say a lot about how much he cares about his family if he's hidden most of this stuff away inside a beer cellar.
:Azrail: He was never much of a family person, no matter how much he claims to try to be one. Anyway, I'm looking to see if there's that really embarrassing... uh... I don't really wanna say it, I wanna keep it ambiguous because the details on the photo are so disgusting that it's not worth showing to you.
Azrail slyly grins, just a little.
:Azrail: But it'll make them cringe if I show it to them.
:Crymsia: But how are you gonna reach for the photo you're looking for, Az?
:Azrail: Use your toenails to cut off the tape on my arms.
:Crymsia: ...Ewww!
:Azrail: Look, do we really have much of a choice here?
Crymsia sighs, rolling around until she's in a position to swing her legs around, snapping the tape off of Azrail's hands. He snickers, using his own nails to set his legs free.
:Rose: Hey, what do you think you're doing?
:Azrail: Oh, I've got the perfect evidence about how gross of a person Gonzalo is, and it will perfectly convince you into letting me go!
:Rose: You can't do anything against me, Azrail.
Azrail pulls out a photo. We never see it, but Rose and Azul get a really good glimpse of it.
:Rose: M... Mother?
:Azrail: This was a Christmas photo that Gonzalo kept hidden away on his shelf. Never knew what it was 'til I got older and, y'know, got the "full picture", pardon my french.
:Rose: Why are there so many ladies...
:Azrail: That's probably the one party your mother had a tough time remembering. You see that strange-looking milk on the counter? That was my third-grade experiment that let someone forget everything that happened in recent memory. I always wondered where it went, really. This is my horrible secret, and it's yours to relish in.
Rose straight up faints to the floor. Azul look petrified by the photo.
:Azul: My mother too!? What's going on here?
:Azrail: May I remind you both that his girlfriend at the time was not present there?
:Azul: That's disgusting!
:Crymsia: I'm really glad he's not showing me it, because good lord, last thing I want to see is Gonzalo beyond his fashionless clothes. You sure that's not too much torture for them, Az?
:Azrail: People really gotta know the truth behind this man. He's not a good person. He's a cheater, a liar, a scumbag, he's irredeemable and trashy, and that's all there is to his name. And everyone on the satellite deserves to know!
Azul looks really sick.
:Azul: Put that gross photo away, god damn it! I don't want to see it anymore!
:Azrail: Then will you let us go?
:Azul: N-No!
Azul blasts them both with ice, making Azrail fall to the ground. She then ices up every part of their body around the heart, neck, and lungs, keeping them solid.
:Azul: You're not permitted to leave. Look, I'll reconsider this, because, well, our mothers died in a suicide pact. They never went into detail, just saying it was over something they had a horrible gut feeling over. And...
Azul sighs.
:Azul: I guess it makes a little bit of sense now. Thanks.
:Azrail: You really think the money's still worth it!?
:Crymsia: Come on, we've tried to tell you to let him go! He's not good for you, or anyone for that matter! I don't understand why you people continue to hold faith in him!
Azul just starts sobbing, crying into her arm.
:Azrail: Now what?
:Azul: You're right, he is a really horrible person and we shouldn't be working for h-him. We tried to keep ourselves at our job, because we get pretty well paid, but he whips us and beats us and it's the same cycle over and over again, you're right. But I can't let you go, I'm sorry, I need the money for my rent...
:Crymsia: ...It's fine, I guess
.
:Azrail: Look, I'm not going to be too forgiving if we get hurt by him, but I'm realizing that you're in a world of hurt too. Welcome to the club. [sighs] Did you and Rose meet up because of your mothers' deaths?
:Azul: ...Y-Yes. We never knew what happened, he was taking it worse than I was. That's why he fainted, he was always so angry about her death, and that just shocked him enough to put him to the floor.
:Crymsia: If you set us free, we can team up against Gonzalo together. I know that Azrail could use a pair of mechanics to help him out with bigger tasks, to check his stuff and all of that. I'm sure you'll get paid well.
:Azrail: Yeah, like, I'm honestly willing to put all of this behind us if you just let us go! Things don't have to be this way, Azul! [breathes] Please, it's not like I have a reason to hurt you. I have a reason to hurt him.
:Azul: Even if, he goes after me?
:Crymsia: I'm the freaking Nature Warrior, I'd absolutely protect you.
:Azul: You are!?
:Crymsia: No shit, Sherlock!
:Azrail: Let's be real here, it's really impressive how long it's taken for some people to finally recognize Crymsia as the Nature Warrior, or the other way around.
:Crymsia: Right?
:Azul: Then I'll set you two free.
Azul shatters their ice. Rose gets up, shaking his head as he runs over to them.
:Rose: What's going on, Azul?
:Azul: We're taking our lives back. Remember when Gonzalo just suddenly managed to find us and take us under our wing, and how he claimed to know us? He did, through our mothers.
:Rose: No wonder we seemed like a perfect pair, our heads were lost over what happened. [shakes his head] Do you mind if I get a recap?
:Azrail: No time. We have to get out of here, maybe fight back against Gonzalo, if we need to. Maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to expose him for what he is and-
:Gonzalo: Not so fast!
All four of them get hit with an electric net, which shocks them and forces them to coil up together.
:Gonzalo: My cameras were watching this whole event, do you idiots not realize how much I can hear with all these cameras scanning over the room? Azul and Rose, I'm so disappointed in you two. I'm going to incinerate you four tonight, and there's nothing you can do to change my mind. The truth must not go out there to the public.
:Azrail: You are a sick creep, Gonzalo!
:Crymsia: Let us go! We've got a score to settle with you!
:Gonzalo: Another time.
Gonzalo pulls the Cheshire cat grin, showing his obnoxious clown smile.
:Gonzalo: If you didn't pull that card, Azrail, you might have all gotten the chance to go home. But you just prematurely killed yourself and all your friends in advance. I hope they're willing to forgive you for that.
Gonzalo walks off. Nobody looked angry with Azrail, but Azrail couldn't help but feel his heart sink like a stone.
:Azrail: ...Crap.
:2:19 P.M. · SATURDAY September 6th, ZXE-223
:Valco Vortex, New Naxaz City
Valerie and Syinara are resting together out on a high patio of the Valco Vortex. They were as high up as they could get on the vortex while being outside, meaning they had a really nice and solid view of the city from below. The patio stretched around the building, giving them a 360 view of New Naxaz City.
:Valerie: You know Syi, it's good seeing you so happy nowadays.
:Syinara: Yeah, I've come to forgive myself for my mistakes and move on.
Syinara smiles at her wife, snuggling up close to her. They were sitting down on a lawn chair together, drinking orange juice while overlooking the city through their heart-shaped glasses.
:Valerie: You've grown and changed so much, and I can't begin to tell you just how much I appreciate you and everything that makes you what you are. I know it wasn't easy for you to change your attitude, but, you did and I'm so proud of you.
:Syinara: I'm just happy you stuck by me when I needed you most.
:Valerie: You've been really helpful lately. It was always nice for me to do things for you and make you happy, but it's so heart-warming to see you do the same for me. [rubs her hair] You're the best, honey.
:Syinara: Heh, I'm not the best person I could be, still, but it's nice that you think that of me. You're really the best, though.
:Valerie: Everyone says that, and I do agree I'm pretty stunning myself, but your down-to-earth attitude really does it for me. It serves as a foil to my inner party animal when it needs to be a foil.
:Syinara: What can I say? I only like to party when the time calls for celebration. [smiles] No, but you're such a hard worker and you take responsibility when you need to. You're awesome!
Valerie hugs her wife tightly, pulling her in. Syi drinks up some of her orange juice as Valerie practically bathes her in her warmth.
:Syinara: Just so this doesn't just turn into a conversation about us endlessly complimenting each other, I love you. I don't know what I'd do without you sometimes and I always feel safe around you.
:Valerie: I always feel safe around you too, Syi. I've always felt safe just being alone, but you give me that extra layer of protection that really helps me sleep. And with you around, I feel less like I'm strictly around for business. I've got a lovely wife to take care of and a nice baby to raise.
:Syinara: I feel less like a scarecrow or whatever the fudge I'm supposed to be and more like an actual person whenever I'm around you. I always forget, in the heat of the moment, that I'm not a human like you all are. I'm a humanoid, but that doesn't exactly mean I'm human. You know? I have my own problems.
:Valerie: I'll always treat you like how you should be treated, Syi. As a queen!
Syinara giggles to herself, just resting up with her.
:Syinara: And I'll treat you how you want to be treated, like a person. Not a person of high power, just a person. You may be a celebrity, but in my heart, I know you're more than that.
:Valerie: God, I can't stop thinking about how much you've grown sometimes.
:Syinara: Heh. I can't imagine a world where I'm not with you, nor a world where we're not throwing pins and needles at giant Hene dolls hanging from the walls.
:Valerie: Wasn't expecting you to bring that up, haha.
:Syinara: It does make me feel really good to think about dunking on those cheaters like that. Just bringing them down, tearing them up, with my lovely wife. That makes me feel insanely tranquil.
:Valerie: Whatever floats your boat, honey. You know I'll be riding it with you.
Syinara laughs, drinking down all her orange juice as she swings her arms around her wife.
:Syinara: Let's just relax like this, for now.
:Valerie: Mhmm. [lulls eyes] I'll go back to working as soon as I can, but I just wanna have this nice, worry-free day with you. And that's all I could really ask for.
:Syinara: You're so sweet.
Both snuggle up together, arms around each other as they take a short nap under the artificial heat flowing down from the top of the dome.
:4:58 P.M. · SATURDAY September 6th, ZXE-223
:Public Workshop, New Naxaz City
:Silver: Hewwo? Oh double-you oh? What's this?
Silver picks up the Rose Ripper, Crymsia's weapon.
:Silver: Huh, I wonder what this is doing here? This is the Nature Warrior's weapon, then again, Azrail's girlfriend does look a hell of a lot like her. Hmmm. Eh, I don't really see the connection.
Silver pockets the weapon.
:Silver: Y'know, I thought I'd find them here by now, but I guess not. I was thinking maybe I could ask Azrail to use my DNA to build a contraption that'd let me figure out if someone of my blood could be on the satellite.
Silver shrugs.
:Silver: Meh. Maybe I'll go with the ad plan after all, gotta ask for someone to help me regain my memories and pray to some foreign deity that they'll help me out. But first, I'm honestly really bored, so I'm gonna walk over to the other side of town and go to the casino and get some time there to myself.
Silver walks out of the workshop, but not before picking up Azrail's invention.
:Silver: Wonder what this thing does?
Silver looks at the buttons on the contraption. One switch reads "Take to Azrail", another reads "Take to Crymsia", another reads "Go Straight Up" and another reads "Go Straight Forward", and another lets you set your coordinates. Silver flicks on the Azrail switch, watching the machine fly while he's still holding onto it.
:Silver: Whoaaaaaaa!
Silver goes flying way high into the air. The machine, not being finished, janks around sharply while Silver holds onto it. He starts getting flung around town, whizzing through the air.
:Silver: What's thiiiiiiis?
Silver barely manages to duck beneath an incoming space pod, getting whizzed out of the way of several others. Silver shivers, afraid to let go because he's already up in the air by a few hundred feet. He tries not to look down.
:Silver: Don't look down handsome, don't look down, don't look down baby- ACK!
Silver closes his eyes as he gets flown all the way across town, spinning around midair.
:Silver: Jeeeeez!
From a high patio on the Valco Vortex, Valerie could be seen braiding Syi's hair. They clearly see Silver janking around in the air, just barely avoiding getting hit by high speed traffic at every second.
:Valerie: What a dork.
:Syinara: You suppose we should help shoot him down? Not with a gun, I mean, uhh...
:Valerie: Meh, he'll find his way back down.
Valerie keeps braiding Syi's hair as Silver gets flung around. Eventually he smacks body-first into Mindy Metallurgy's window.
:Mindy: Get off my window, you twink!
:Silver: Hey Mindy, a grouch slouch like always. Do you think you'll have an easier time if you just let the testosterone out of your room? Open the window for some fresh air, and send me back down.
:Mindy: You little gremlin!
Mindy rushes over to Silver, smashing her horns into the window to thrust it open, sending Silver back on his way.
:Silver: Thanks for the heeeeeeeeeeelp!
:Mindy: This is why I don't like twinks. They're all annoying attention-grabbers.
Silver eventually manages to crash-land right outside of the Satellite 15 Stock Exchange building. The machine breaks down and falls apart. Silver took a nice, deep breath.
:Silver: Well, that was convenient. It's like something that'd happen in a game with a hedgehog that can run at the speed of light. Critics whose names are Brandon beware, these conveniences will bring you in for a scare!
Silver stretches his arms out, winking at the screen.
:Silver: Only one Brandon will get the joke!
Silver looks up at the building in front of him.
:Silver: So Azrail's here, huh? One way to find out, anyway. Or that machine would've been a lying piece of shit the whole time.
Silver walks up the stone stairs of the building, beginning to venture his way inside.
::
::
After enough searching, Silver manages to make it to where the four captives are, rolling down the stairs. Unaware that he is too being watched, he ventures into the room where they're all being kidnapped, grinning as he pulls out the Rose Ripper.
:Azrail: Silver!?
:Silver: That's me, baby!
:Azrail: You've got to help us, man. There's no time to explain why we're all trapped in this net, just try to help set us free and we'll get out of here to fight off Gonzalo.
:Silver: Isn't Gonzalo that annoying... hmm, how do I put it in a way that doesn't sound inconveniently racist...
:Crymsia: Don't worry about that, just get us out of here!
Silver uses Crymsia's weapon to slash up the electric net, pulling everyone up to their feet. Crymsia, Azrail, Rose, and Azul all stand up immediately with Crymsia snatching her weapon out of Silver's hand, looking lightly embarrassed.
:Crymsia: Thanks for the save, Silver.
:Gonzalo: So, you've already found a savior, huh?
Silver smirks.
:Silver: NERVE CHOPPER!
Silver turns around with his Mind Weaver pulled out, creating three waves of purple energy that travel from his weapon and pass through Gonzalo's body, making him gasp as he starts coughing up blood. He growls a little bit, getting up almost as soon as he hits the floor.
:Gonzalo: How'd you get here so quickly, you disgusting transvestite? Didn't your mother take you to conversion therapy like she should have?
:Silver: That's your go-to upon seeing me again? You're a dick.
:Gonzalo: Enough persistence! I'm going to smash you up, Silver!
Gonzalo springs back. Crymsia holds out her Rose Ripper defensively, Azrail pulls out some gears in his pockets, Rose carries out his own Flawless Cutter, and Azul brings out the Cold-Steel Whip. Gonzalo hissed, seeing how they're all armed.
:Azrail: Look, just think about it to yourself, Gonzalo. Do you really think you don't deserve this? Think about it to yourself, all the people you've hurt and all the lives you've stained. You lied, you cheated, you stole. But this isn't just about money, it's about the costs and effects of your relationships. And now, with this one photo, we can disgrace your leg-
Gonzalo just smirks, rushing right past Azrail to grab the photo.
:Gonzalo: Ahh, this photo brings back the fondest of memories to me. Back when the securities of the satellite weren't as good, and during a time where I could get away with treating women like objects. But, thanks to some special snowflakes up in the government, those good times just couldn't last.
Gonzalo crushes the photo in his hand, ripping it up to shreds.
:Gonzalo: That said, I can't let you five have access to it. My reputation matters- VERY much, OWW!
In angry retaliation, Azrail had jabbed his own father in the jaw.
:Azrail: You think your money and your wealth matter more than the things you've done to others? Do you realize how shameful your actions really are or how much damage you've done to some of our youthful minds?
:Rose: I never thought my mother would have been a victim of your schemes, nor Azul's. You knew our connections with our mothers and you used us to your own will. Never again!
:Silver: Whoa, is Gonzalo really this much of a dick?
:Gonzalo: Heh, as if you know the full truth about why I've done the things I've done. Oh you know, I was raised in an orphanage! Everyone abused me. If you're going to blame anyone, blame them!
Silver tries not to snort with laughter.
:Azrail: Even if it was true that you were abused, you show no redeeming qualities as a person. Most of the people on this satellite that have abused someone, or more than one person, can at least show remorse or regret for their actions. But there's a reason why I choose to never see you as my father. I grew up! YOU DIDN'T!
Gonzalo's eyes widened with shock, before returning to their sinister glare.
:Gonzalo: Heh, yeah, my actions are honestly pretty inexcusable, and I can't change that. I'm not going to lie though, I enjoy doing what I do. It makes me feel good, and that's why I will never change my ways.
:Azrail: You disgust me.
:Gonzalo: Right back at you, son.
:Azrail: I'M NOT YOUR SON!
:Crymsia: Alright, I've had enough of hearing about your bullcrap, Gonzalo. I'm going to take you down!
Crymsia rushes at him with a very fast, swift swing of her Rose Ripper. Gonzalo smirks, throwing a shiny blue diamond object at her head, knocking her right over. Gonzalo juggles some diamonds, bells, melons, and cherries in his hands, smirking.
:Gonzalo: Anyone else?
:Rose: I've seen more than enough!
Rose attempts to attack him in the same way, but Gonzalo throws a bell at his head, sending him right to sleep as he falls on top of Crymsia. When Azul attempts to whip him for a surprise attack, he fires a bunch of seeds at her head to pin her down to the floor.
:Azrail: Silver! We're a little out of shape, I hate to rely on you, but can you take this creep down?
:Silver: Yeah, I'm kind of bored watching his mouth flap.
Silver pulls out his Mind Weaver.
:Silver: Come and get some, Gonzalo!
:Gonzalo: You delight me with your ignorance, Silver. I am much stronger than you.
:Silver: We'll see about that, with you bleeding internally!
:Gonzalo: I'll take care of that later, I suppose.
Both Silver and Gonzalo charge after each other.
::
::
After a considerably long battle, Gonzalo gets thrown into the wall too much. He growls, getting up and managing to scamper away. Silver attempts to bring him down, but Rose and Azul jump in front of him last second.
:Silver: What are you two doing!?
:Rose: ...Look, I've given it some thought, and... [sighs] He did do one good thing, and that was being able to save us from having to live on the streets. I can't bring him down knowing he was courteous enough to do that.
:Azrail: I could have easily brought you two out of that rut myself!
:Rose: I know, but, I don't want to hurt him anymore. We're getting paid so much here and it's not worth it for me.
:Azul: I don't know. [closes her eyes] It's probably the wrong thing to do, but he's helped us move out from rock bottom and I feel like I just can't let him go to waste like that.
:Azrail: No, god damn it...!
Gonzalo manages to travel onto a lift, smirking.
:Gonzalo: Looks like I'll have to keep Rose and Azul alive after all. [coughs] That was a good fight Silver, but next time we meet, you might not be so lucky. That quick shot you got on me hurt, but it won't last.
:Silver: No, come back here!
Silver tries to chase him, but Azul freezes them up. Without too much hesitation, she pushes the frozen-up bodies of Silver, Azrail, and Crymsia out of the building, closing the doors on them. Silver sighed as the ice thawed away around them.
:Azrail: Damn it, we were so close!
:Silver: It's fine. [looks at Azrail] Sorry about that. At least everyone's alive at the moment, right?
:Crymsia: You're cool, Silver, you did what you could. You were going to kill him, and that's what we would have wanted. It's those two. Gonzalo brainwashed them.
:Azrail: It's a pity too, because they were looking like they could see the light, just for a moment. [swallows] But I guess I've learned today that some people might be willing to forgive the worst people if they've done enough good for them. I don't agree with that philosophy, but whatever.
:Crymsia: Yeah, they were close to seeing what was good for them. I guess they just have more tolerance than we do.
:Silver: Sorry about crashing your little engine, Azrail. That's how I found you.
:Azrail: No worries, the fact that it took you here at all is a wonder. That means I just gotta work on the engine a bit more and adjust it until it works perfectly. Thanks for the test run, I guess?
:Silver: No prob. Let's go home.
:Azrail: Yeah. We'll worry about Gonzalo another time. Coincidences aren't going to be on our side if we just barge in there again, it's a shame I couldn't walk out with any proof of what he's done, and those two won't affirm anything.
:Crymsia: They'll have a lot to think about, for sure.
Azrail nods. The three walk off to go find ways to go home.
:Silver: Forget the casino, I'm gonna go home and take a looooooong nap.
:7:12 P.M. · SATURDAY September 6th, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep, ???
Mallory was sitting down on her bed. Kispel was sitting next to her, looking down a little bit.
:Mallory: I've been all over the place lately, Kispel. My bones are rattling inside of me. I can feel my hatred for Silver grow further and further, I want to kill him so badly. Destroy him. Rip him to pieces.
:Kispel: My God, you are free to do as you shall. There is nothing stopping you once the lockdown ends.
:Mallory: Don't you see what's wrong with me, Kispel? Look at me! I look like a mess. I'm rotting at my core here and I can't stop whatever remains of my ability to rationally think fade away!
:Kispel: I don't see what's wrong with you, Mallory.
:Mallory: You don't see anything wrong with me becoming the genocidal monster that I criticized Ms. Replicate and that Gonzalo freak for being years ago? You don't see anything wrong with me becoming more abusive and cruel to people who once considered me their friend? I'm more than a title, Kispel!
:Kispel: But by the way the Bible is written, you cannot be a bad person. That is simply what you're not. As a God, you can do as you desire, without needing to fear feeling guilt or committing treason.
:Mallory: ...Mmm, crap, Mallorism was the worst idea I've ever had wasn't it?
Mallory runs her nails into her face.
:Mallory: Listen to me, Kispel. It's a lie. For a long time it's been a lie. The Bible's fake!
:Kispel: You're showing too much self-doubt, Mallory. You're not being a good influence on yourself by painting yourself as a coward and as a horrible person. You are more than that. You are a God, and there is nothing wrong with what you're doing.
:Mallory: Listen to me! I lied to you!
:Kispel: You haven't, my God. You are simply not sure what to do.
:Mallory: God wouldn't want to get caught with her train of thought derailing, Kispel!
:Kispel: Relax, and take deep breaths. It is not going to be impossible for you to recover. You are simply going through a tough time, because Gods have a lot on their minds. You know?
:Mallory: Y-You're not listening to me. You're really ingrained in your beliefs, aren't you.
:Kispel: Yes.
:Mallory: Fuck.
Mallory scratches down her face.
:Kispel: This isn't a good time for that right now.
:Mallory: SHUT UP WITH THE SNARK!
:Kispel: Oh, apologies my God, I did not intend for that to come off as snarky.
:Mallory: Look, you've got it all wrong. I'm not the Mallory you're studying intensely from the Bible. That Mallory is pleased, happy, and willing to do whatever it takes to better the satellite. She's interested in restoring privacy and peace to the satellite. Do I look like I want to do any of that anymore?
Kispel takes a deep look at Mallory's face. He sees the scars running down her face, the bleeding, the wrinkles, he just sees how much she's lost it without realizing that she's lost it.
:Kispel: Your tension and anxiety are getting to you, Mallory. You are capable of giving us what you promised in the Bible. Now isn't the time to give up and retreat. You will do as you promised, when the time comes.
:Mallory: You've lost it, I thought I made the right choice by falling in love with you, but maybe I shouldn't have, because you've been convincing me that everything I've been doing is fine. And I know for a fact that it's NOT fine. I almost killed my ex and you didn't bat an eye at the suggestion when I made it. What the hell is wrong with you?
:Kispel: I'm only doing what I should be doing: worshipping you. Because you are my God. And that's something you won't change about me no matter how much you attempt to break my faith in you.
:Mallory: Please, open your eyes! There is no point believing in a god if they're not going to do their goddamn job! There is no point in blind faith! You're seeing something that's NOT THERE! OPEN YOUR EYES!
But Kispel didn't budge.
:Kispel: My God, please, let's go to sleep.
:Mallory: Do I look like I want to sleep?
:Kispel: You're tired. You're stressed. You're angry. You need to calm down, my God. Your anxieties and fears are overcoming you. You are a fine God. Do not do this to yourself when you will just hurt yourself.
:Mallory: Kispel, I don't... why would I... uugghh. Forget it.
:Kispel: That's right. Go to sleep. Even Gods need it sometimes.
:Mallory: Your God's going to get some sleep, night.
Cody watched that whole scene unfold from behind a crack in the door.
:Cody: Mallory... [closes his eyes] Tomorrow calls for a confrontation with that little bastard. I'm going to get my Mallory back, even if she almost killed me, because she deserves better.
Cody feels his eyes water up as he turns away from the door.
:Cody: This can't be happening to her anymore!
====Chapter Fifteen: Love, Hate, Love====
:9:32 A.M. · SUNDAY September 7th, ZXE-223
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
Silver had spent all night being awake. Having spent much of yesterday wandering about aimlessly and being unsure of what to do, and having become super anxious about what was to come, Silver had his eyes open all night. He was sitting at his computer, attempting to type up an ad and looking frustrated he couldn't do so. Pierce and Zellen were sitting nearby, having just woken up; Medea had taken off to work (as could be told with a letter on his fridge).
:Silver: Man, what the hell am I supposed to type?
Silver sat there, sighing as he placed his hands on his head.
:Pierce: Hmmm, well, you're wanting to have someone meet up with you so you can catch some juicy details about your past, right? I think it'd be worth a shot.
:Silver: Mhmm. Maybe I should fetch some people from the World Tournament, maybe they'd be helpful. There was a stupid blue bear that I don't remember the name to that had sliiiight memory of me, apparently.
:Zellen: Honestly, sometimes I forget his name too. It was like, Ashe, right?
:Silver: You're not going to get any clear answers from me on that. I was thinking maybe I could fetch over Reten, Aero, maybe Mynis and some of the other people I've seen at the tournament.
:Pierce: You know, who won that tournament, Silver?
:Silver: I lost interest the moment I was eliminated completely. [cackles] It wasn't that interesting, the people on that planet honestly aren't really all that exciting or memorable. I'm glad to be in a stranger place.
Silver throws his hands down on the counter.
:Silver: Alright but I should really get this ad going. What the hell do I type on it?
:Zellen: Outta my way, I got this!
Zellen pushes Silver away, making his swivel chair spin him around as she types up a really quick ad.
:Zellen: What do you think?
Silver makes his way back to his monitor. He squints his eyes.
:Silver: You know, I wasn't expecting you to actually take this seriously.
:Zellen: Hey, I'm at least a little curious about your past myself! I swore I knew you before, so I just wanna find some answers myself. Just in case that hunch of mine happens to be right.
The ad read: "Hay, mai name iz Zilver Zin. Mai addrezz is Stoan Well #66 at tha Stenographer Garden in Neu Naxas Sity. I need help in retreving mai memorees and wanna talk 2 someone about them. U can alzo reach mai Riscord contakt, "Zilver Zin#9991". Thx!"
:Silver: I appreciate it. Besides a lot of spelling mistakes, which I can correct myself, I can roll with just this and maybe post a photo of myself to go with it. Thanks Zellen.
:Zellen: No problem. [kisses his cheek] Don't mind the mistakes, I never really had any education, so I just type words as how they sound to me. And I'm not gonna get any education, because I don't need no thought control.
:Silver: Nice reference.
:Pierce: I'll just fix up the mistakes really quick.
Now the ad reads: "Hey, my name is Silver Zin. My address is Stone Well #66 at the Stenographer Garden in New Naxaz City. I need help in retrieving my memories and I want to talk to somebody about my past. You can also reach my Risquord contact, "Silver Zin#9991", for more information. Please be sure to bring home some spicy chips. Thank you!"
:Pierce: There we go, now I'm going to print it.
:Silver: Pierce, can you leave out the spicy chip stuff? You're making me come off as a beggar.
:Pierce: No, I want someone who cares about you to contact you, damn it.
Pierce quickly wheels off to go print the paper. Zellen leans sleepily on Silver.
:Silver: Alright then Pierce, take your time. [grins wickedly] I suppose the chances of getting somebody who'll actually give enough of a crap about me to bother interviewing me will be higher with that little tidbit added.
Silver sighs to himself, leaning back in his chair.
:Silver: But something that's really bothering me is that I don't know what Mallory really wants out of me. Sure, she doesn't want me to go discover my past, but she's doing a poor job communicating with me. And Cody hasn't contacted me any further, I wish I knew what was going on there...
:Zellen: Don't stress yourself out Silver. [smiles] I mean, stress is kinda lame. Y'know? Focus on the good crap and just ignore everything else until you have a reason to start caring.
:Silver: I think that's good advice to go by, no need to stress myself out about things that aren't important right now.
:Zellen: You're welcome. Can I summon a big squid in this house now?
:Silver: I'll consider it, because Rogue is off at Sunday care with Syi. But right now, no. I'm way too tired to deal with it.
:Zellen: At least you're considering it.
Pierce comes back, holding a giant stack of printed copies of Silver's ad.
:Pierce: I've got 'em ready, Silver! Because Mallory's still gone, you should be able to start spreading these around town without her direct interference. I'd love to go with you, but I agreed to go to a sushi restaurant with Zellen.
Pierce rolls his eyes.
:Pierce: I was convinced really easily. I woke up to the sound of canned cheeseburger being opened. That was enough to horrify me and I ended up agreeing to go with her.
Zellen nastily grins at Pierce.
:Silver: Alright, I'll go alone then. [takes the stack] I'm gonna start spreading these around town. Thanks for the hand, you two! I love you two so much, even Cupid would get sick and die!
:Zellen: Love you too! By the way, when you get back home, you're probably not gonna be alone.
Zellen winks powerfully at him. Silver looked taken aback.
:Silver: What do you mean by that, Zellen?
:Zellen: You know I don't like ruining surprises, Silver.
:Silver: I'll have faith in you, I suppose. You did drop several really nice angels home once and those were fun to talk to and walk back home to wherever they came from.
:Zellen: Huh, I don't remember that. Anyway, bye Silvie! Good luck!
:Pierce: Bye Silver! I promise this place won't be a disaster, I locked away some of your most valued possessions so they wouldn't get tampered with.
:Silver: Thanks. Bye-bye!
Silver springs to the elevator, taking it up. Silver groans, holding his ads in his hands as he leans back against a wall.
:Silver: Hopefully there's at least a small handful of people on this satellite who care. I can only hold in what I feel about my past being completely shrouded in mystery for so long.
Silver climbs his way out of the well, walking up to go place his ads up around in New Naxaz City.
::
::
:Silver: That should do it.
:10:48 A.M. · SUNDAY September 7th, ZXE-223
:Valco Vortex, New Naxaz City
Valerie was working hard at her work station, furiously typing away at a report while Syinara filed papers and overlooked her wife's work schedule. They were working as hard as they can to resolve whatever matters they could with the satellite while the lockdown was in place.
:Valerie: How're things looking right now, Syi?
:Syinara: Things are looking fine, I don't see any Red Alerts and damage reported on the satellite appears to be zero percent. Scotch managed to make a treaty with Satellite 7's military and they're no longer bothering us. Mallory is nowhere to be seen, but there is no damage being done with or without her.
:Valerie: Excellent, looks like things are becoming slightly more peaceful while the lockdown's in place. Do all the sectors have enough stock in their rations? What are the mood percentages for each one?
:Syinara: Sector 3 may need a stock refill, but the rest have enough to make it through the week. Everyone seems to be feeling neutral or pleased from each sector, though some Sector 3 residents are complaining about the cooling in their houses having weakened considerably since the lockdown.
:Valerie: Alright, I'll ask the Hospital Wing team to prepare rations and electricity fixes for Sector 3.
Valerie smashes a button, picking up a mic.
:Valerie: Abraham Mason, please prepare emergency rations for Sector 3 and send electricians out to that sector to fix the cooling system. Abraham Mason, don't forget to hit the repeat button if you missed what I just said. Thank you!
Valerie hangs up, ruffling her secretary's hair.
:Syinara: Looks like we've gotten more than half your workload taken care of today, and we haven't even reached lunch break yet. [flexes her arms] I feel stronger than ever, Val!
:Valerie: As you should, honey!
:Syinara: I don't have anything new to report on besides that Chance Roulette is asking for our contact. Here's the message he has to give us, he's giving it to us by holographic mail.
Syinara hits a button on Valerie's phone. A hologram rises out of it, showing Chance Roulette hanging out on a tall seat in his nice and beautiful casino. It's finally gotten cleaned out of the water that Voetrice flooded it with some years ago.
:Chance [hologram]: Greetings, hello, salutations! My name's Chance Roulette, as you should know, and I just wanna mention that I've been talking things out with Zodiez and I've got some things over at my place you might find really helpful for putting a stop to that Mallory hag's bogus plans. I'm from the older, more crippled-looking side of town, at the Lucky Casino. I've got nothing to hurt you two with, so don't be afraid to visit!
Chance cackles maniacally, with Cabinet Man dabbing next to him.
:Chance [hologram]: I know that last time we met up, Valerie, that I almost sentenced you to the electric chair for cheating one of my rigged slot machines, but don't be afraid of that happening again. All my machines were doused in a flood incident by Voetrice, anyway, so they need to be replaced.
:Smartie [hologram]: Hey Chance, can I show me pretty face on da cam now?
:Chance [hologram]: It's too soon for you to show up, my darling! Catch up with me later at 6, Valerie, I bet you that you're going to like what I've got in store for you. And chances are, it'll be useful! It's a strong probability.
:Smartie [hologram]: N' ya've got m-
Chance covers Smartie's mouth, waving hastily at the camera before running off. The hologram cuts off, going back into Valerie's phone. Valerie folds her arms, laughing.
:Valerie: That old coot wants me to meet up at his casino, huh? You wanna go there with me later, Syi?
:Syinara: I wanna ensure your protection around men that are nearly triple your age, yes. [folds her arms] Wait, isn't this satellite hardly fifty years old? How's he so old?
:Valerie: We all used to live on Zaxina; several millions of people were moved to the satellites orbiting Zaxina because the planet was becoming increasingly toxic to live in both from a physical and society standpoint. Only those deemed hardy enough to live in the poisonous atmosphere stayed behind. These satellites are much safer for us and our kind.
:Syinara: Oh, so everyone that lived on Zaxina was a boomer then, right?
:Valerie: Nah. If anything, we're the boomers. When families moved to the satellites, there was a huge baby boom.
:Syinara: Ohh.
Valerie holds her wife's hand.
:Valerie: Love you, sweetheart. We'll go to Chance's at 6PM, alright?
:Syinara: Sounds good to me!
Valerie and Syinara keep doing whatever they can of their work. With a potentially exciting meeting with Chance ahead involving plans that can be taken in the future against Mallory, the tension for Mallory escalates.
:12:22 P.M. · SUNDAY September 7th, ZXE-223
:Main Street, New Naxaz City
Silver is walking through town, slapping up his ads on the street walls and whistling as he does. He's spent the past few hours placing his ads around town, hoping there's some way in hell someone will respond to him and be willing to help him out.
:Silver: I've done as much as I can here, that's like every ad, I think.
Silver checks his hands. Yep, he's used every sheet of paper that he could.
:Silver: Alright cool, now to just sit around and wait for calls- oh hey, my phone's going off.
Silver picks up his phone. He doesn't recognize the number, but he recognizes the song playing.
:Silver: Oh Staley, you left us too soon. Thanks Pierce for this awesome ringtone.
Silver opens his phone.
:Silver: Hewwwwwwwwo?
:??? [voice]: Hey Silver, you're a useless twat and a dead motherzoinker! Nobody wants to bother with your ad, hah! Snort! Hissss! Who the hell do you think you are to place those worthless ads around town?
:Silver: Is this some random sixteen-year-old? Sorry, but I only appreciate this kind of behavior from adults. When it's a tryhard little kid trying to be a douchebag, it's not as funny.
:Mr. Dick [voice]: I'm not a kid, I'm Mr. Dick! You don't wanna mess with me, you worthless wanker!
:Silver: You don't wanna mess with me either. If you were within twenty feet of me, you'd already be dead.
Silver hangs up on him. Mr. Dick winces, being around a street corner as he keeps his eyes on Silver, who in fact was twenty-five feet away from him.
:Silver: I wasn't kidding.
Mr. Dick winces, scampering off.
:Silver: Alright, hopefully someone good will bother me now.
Montages of still photographs of Silver Zin waiting around waiting for responses are shown, talking to different people that pass by him on the streets.
:Silver: Hey, you know anything about me?
:Mouser: No, but I just nicked a 100-piece ValCoin from your pocket.
:Silver: Crap.
Next scene:
:Silver: How about you? Have you seen me four years ago or more?
:Thermas: I was wondering if you wanted this deodorant? It attracts ladies.
:Silver: Nah, I'll pass.
Next scene:
:Silver: What're you supposed to be, a superhero?
:Blake: I don't know anything about you, but do you know any of Valerie's weaknesses?
:Silver: She doesn't like mayonnaise.
:Blake: Heh, that'll do it! Thanks! [flicks him a 100-piece] There ya go!
:Silver: Bless your soul.
Next scene:
:Silver: Oh, not you again.
:Zinos: I just want your autograph, man! How do you do the things you do? What're your secrets!?
:Silver: Get away from me kid, I got lice!
Silver crab-walks away from the kid.
:Silver: Aaaaaaaaaah! Head lice!
:Zinos: Can I have a taste of your head lice??
:Silver: No, what, the fuck?
Next scene:
:Silver: You look really tired, but also pretty damn sweet.
:Nomila: It's a look, huh?
:Silver: Here, here's my contact card, because I really doubt you know me and I wanna know you better.
:Nomila: Oohh. [takes it] Thanks!
:Silver: See ya one of these nights! Tehe.
Next scene:
:Silver: Really adore your colors, dude.
:Lance: This is the first time someone's ever complimented my pink and pastel colors, they look real nice on a man, yeah?
:Silver: Oh hella, dude. Do you know anything about me or are you just showing off how fabulous your armor is?
:Lance: I wanted to be validated by my hero, Silver Zin! You inspired me to keep myself part of the Empire Knights in Sector 6 and I really appreciate how skillful and down-to-earth you are!
:Silver: Oh, I'm glad that cash-grab television show Zodiez attempted to air meant something to someone, at least. [smiles] You go about your day, man. Go kick some ass for me.
:Lance: Can do!
Lance pulls his sword out of his chest. Silver looked really stunned.
:Silver: Are you okay!?
:Lance: My heart's the scabbard for my sword! You like it?
:Silver: I... I don't know what to say about that.
Next scene:
:Silver: Man, nobody knows anything about me, huh? I've sat here for an hour and I don't think I've learned anything other than how strange random people you meet on the streets can be. [sighs] That's frustrating!
:???: Right?
Silver turns to his side. He sees a really beaten-up looking green teddy bear wearing ragged sheriff clothes and having a really chewed up hat. The mouth lining was peeling from his face.
:Silver: W-who are you?
:Bowie: They used to call me... [tips hat] Sheriff Bowie.
:Silver: Have we met?
:Bowie: We might've in another timeline or somethin', pardner, who knows. Anyway, you should get goin', spend too long out on the streets and you'll get yourself in a mess.
:???: Stop running away from me, Bowie!
:Bowie: Aw, rats. Look pardner, look out.
Bowie wobbles off as a huge, towering lady with an eyeball squirming over her head pops in. She looks around for the teddy bear, seeing Silver.
:Silver: Whoa.
:Priss: Hi there, Silver! I'm Priss Wormsround, nice to meet ya. I've come from the temporary lockdown shelter in this metropolis, because I do know something about you and wanted to help you a bit. My teddy bear keeps running away, though...!
:Bowie: You'll never take me alive, copper!
Priss picks up Bowie, shoving him into her bag as she pulls Silver up from the floor.
:Priss: My family lived on Zaxina for the longest time, avoiding the clutches of the authorities there.
:Silver: Was I was born on Zaxina? That would make sense.
:Priss: Look, I don't know many details, my father Joe Wormsround knew Spittle Zin personally and she discussed to him how difficult it was to raise her two children. I was thinking maybe you were one of them?
:Silver: I don't recall a Spittle Zin, but at this point, I'm so starved for information that I'm willing to believe it. Wait, how did your father know my mother? Where's the connection here?
:Priss: Spittle and Joe worked as grave diggers in their youth. Joe had a disability that made it difficult for him to dig up bodies, so Spittle helped him with that on her free time. He always recalled her calling her children, uh, not pleasant names.
:Silver: That explains a little.
:Priss: And that's about it, really. Spittle never really said much about the children themselves.
:Silver: It's a bummer you don't know much more, but at least I got to learn something interesting today.
Silver thinks to himself.
:Silver: Do you remember my dad's name?
:Priss: His name was Saliva Zin, I think.
:Silver: Saliva!?
A flashback plays of Silver flipping through Mallory's diary years ago: seeing a strange-looking figure with similar features to himself kneeling and crying while holding two babies, surrounded by seven individuals and being stood over by Morticia. Silver shivered.
:Silver: I'm starting to draw a few connections at least.
:Priss: Could I could help! I don't know anything else, though.
:Silver: No, it's alright. I'm glad you were able to help at all.
Silver sighs, smiling.
:Silver: I'm gonna go walk home. See ya around, Priss!
:Priss: Bye!
Silver starts walking home.
:Silver: I haven't learned too much today, there's still a lot of questions left to be asked. Particularly, I learned nothing about myself or Mallory, just a bit about my parents. I wonder what the heck was up with Saliva, though.
Silver's mind keeps tuning in to the same image.
:Silver: So strange. I'll find my answers soon enough!
Silver rushes off.
::
::
:Silver: Alright, time to head home!
Back with Priss- Priss walks off with Bowie stuffed into her bag. He pokes his head out of the bag, gasping.
:Bowie: God damn, it's so dirty in that bag! There's organs everywhere in there!
Bowie whines as he gets dragged off with Priss.
:Bowie: This is the price I pay for being a wanderer...
:2:56 P.M. · SUNDAY September 7th, ZXE-223
:Satellite 15 Stock Exchange, New Naxaz City
Rose and Azul were sitting around in the Satellite 15 Stock Exchange building together, with Rose vacuuming up a vacant room and Azul sitting on a bench flipping through the Yellow Pages.
:Rose: I feel so sick inside, Azul. [tenses] I'm not sure if I want to keep working here, because now every time I think about where I work, it's just kicking me in the gut.
:Azul: You're not alone with that, Rose. I'm sorry you don't feel all that great, I don't really feel great either.
:Rose: Mhmm, I know. [vacuums up a rug] Now every time I vacuum up a rug with Gonzalo's face on it, I just feel a strange level of guilt I wouldn't have felt before.
:Azul: Now that I think about it more, it is a bit insulting to work with the same person who hurt our mothers. That's why I'm looking through the Yellow Pages, to see if there's something we can do that's high-pay.
:Rose: Good luck, I want to get out of here as soon as possible.
:Azul: Me too, Rose. Come here.
Rose walks over to Azul, sitting next to her. Azul places a really cold arm around his neck, but he doesn't mind, because to him it's warming and comforting in a way he can't explain. He leans on her shoulder.
:Rose: Thank you, Azul.
:Azul: Not a problem, Rose. I want what's best for the both of us.
Azul flips through the Yellow Pages more.
:Azul: I love you more than anything on this satellite, Rose. [tickles his chin] And you know that I mean it. I couldn't ask for a better partner to help me get through the loss of my mother.
:Rose: Right back at you, Azul. You were always there when I needed someone.
:Azul: I know that I've been really tough on you, and I know that we haven't always gotten along well, but I really do adore your company and it's been an honor teaching you in place of your mom.
:Rose: To think our parents traveled across the cosmos together, taking on missions everywhere they went, and their exploration ended here because Gonzalo found them and seized advantage of our mothers. [closes his eyes] I'm so disappointed.
:Azul: Me too, Rose. But it was worth meeting up with you upon our mothers' deaths. We were born as Satellite 15 dwellers, we lived independently of each other, and we only really met up at their collective funeral.
:Rose: I couldn't ask for someone better than yourself.
Azul smiles.
:Azul: Do you think we'd work better as bodyguards for Valerie instead?
:Rose: I've heard great things about Valerie. If she has vacant spots, I'd be happy to take up the job with you.
:Azul: Mmm, then we should work to that point. [grins wide] We just have to figure out how to excuse ourselves without Gonzalo stalking us and taking us back. How do you think we can do that?
:Rose: Hmmmm.
Rose thinks to himself.
:Rose: I'm not sure. But I think we should make it a point to try and escape, because I decided to go spy on him last night, and I don't like what I saw.
:Azul: Wait, you told me you weren't going to do that...
:Rose: I know, but I couldn't help myself. Listen, I'll tell you what happened.
We see a flashback of Rose spying upon Gonzalo and Nicholas "Shredder" Dennis, who were sitting together in the former's office in very formal, but flashy attire.
:Gonzalo [past]: ...And then I'll disband OPEC!
:Shredder [past]: So let me get this straight, you're gonna set up the scene for a stock market crash, pretend to fix it, then bring the El Dorado legend to the mainstream? Then you'll leave everyone behind and start taking control of businesses across the Zaxiverse to keep showering yourself with money and make the universe get shaped into your own image?
:Gonzalo [past]: Precisely! I want the whole universe to take the shape of my head, and I can't wait to become the god it takes to make such a dream come true. [guffaws] All the women in the universe will be on their hands and knees, doing all the housework that needs to be done around the universe! All the men in the universe will be fighting those who resist! And finally, racism will be disallowed! Racism isn't funny!
:Shredder [past]: Hmmm, I like the way you think, boss! I promise you that at some point or another that your dreams will become accomplished. But you know what you need to succeed, right? You need the zodiac stones.
:Gonzalo [past]: No worries, Shredder. Little do the authorities know that I have the last one, they think they stored the last one where nobody could find it, but I swapped it out with a fake last minute!
Gonzalo deviously giggles, throwing the last zodiac stone up and down in his hand.
:Shredder [past]: And Mallory has the other eleven.
:Gonzalo [past]: I'll just beat them out of her eventually! She'll be joining all the other women that'll be at my knees, begging me for more. Especially her, she's really got a nasty habit of wanting more.
Gonzalo's grin stretches wide.
:Gonzalo [past]: That's the type of attention women should be given. And I'd be willing to please her, AND Medea, if Medea bothers to commit to me again. I've really got this in the bag.
:Shredder [past]: But how are you going to steal the remaining stones? How are you going to beat her up?
:Gonzalo [past]: I'm going to pry them from her, in exchange for ALL the stones, I'll kill Silver myself. [drools] Then I'll have all I need to begin shaping the Zaxiverse into my image.
Gonzalo snickers.
:Gonzalo [past]: I'll tell her, "so come over here now, I've got a vision for you!", and then I'll steal everything she's got. It's my personal snake oil, it's just something I do.
Gonzalo cackles hard, with Shredder joining him as they squeeze each other's hands tightly. Rose shivers.
:Rose: And, that's when I learned we have to get out of here. They have the last zodiac stone, Gonzalo has horrible plans for the universe, and we were only helping him get closer.
:Azul: ...I'm with you.
Azul pulls Rose, kissing him hard on the lips.
:Rose: Mmm??
:Azul: I love you, Rose. Let's get out of here.
:Rose: Te amo mucho.
:Azul: Awww, sweetheart. [kisses his cheek] Speaking in your native tongue is really hot.
:Rose: I only do it for you.
Azul blushes a little, grabbing his hand and running out the building with him. They sound the alarms, racing out of the building as fast as they can.
:Rose: Run! Run! As fast as you can!
Both away from Gonzalo's place as fast as they can.
:3:57 P.M. · SUNDAY September 7th, ZXE-223
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
Silver returns home with a bag of Oystachips, whistling as he makes comes down the elevator. He finds Zellen napping, an unfinished plate of sushi next to her. Silver finds the Dream Weaver sitting at the same table, looking down at her.
:Silver: Whoa, who are you?
:Dream Weaver: Oh, so you're the person who owns this place? Pleased to meet you, I'm the Dream Weaver.
:Silver: Nice to meet you. So, did you make Zellen fall asleep, or?
:Dream Weaver: She invited me here and told me to wait for you, then annoyed me too much so I made her drift to sleep. So, yeah. C'mon over here.
Silver walks over to the Dream Weaver, sitting down next to him.
:Silver: Were you invited over here for an important reason?
:Dream Weaver: I come from the Realm of Dreams, a relic from Satellite 7, and am in charge of overseeing dreams from across the Zaxina system. I also observe the suffering of others. Zellen informed me that you have trouble going to sleep.
Silver nods, looking up at the Dream Weaver. He looked cute, but Silver kept that thought to himself.
:Silver: Yeah, I do have trouble going to sleep. I just think about how little I know about myself and the world around me, and I was wondering if there'd be a way to make me sleep easier.
:Dream Weaver: Being unable to sleep thanks to personal anxieties is common, so I can instruct you on what to do to help yourself sleep easier. You should have some kind of background ambiance to drown out your thoughts, try to write off a checklist of things you've done for the day, and have plenty of water.
Silver sits up straight, clearly listening to him.
:Silver: What if I've done terrible things? What if I've done things that are horrible and mind-numbing? Things I can't clear my mind of? That's helpful advice if I'm just having normal anxiety, but I don't even know what I did wrong and Mallory keeps giving me the impression that something's wrong with me.
:Dream Weaver: Oh, you may not like what I have to say, then.
The Dream Weaver closes his eyes, forming a dream bubble above himself.
:Dream Weaver: Listen to me, Silver. I can not only see your dreams, but I can see her dreams too. And they're not pleasant dreams, either. Please, how about you enter my thoughts?
:Silver: You mean, like, walk across the table and jump in?
:Dream Weaver: Mmhm.
Silver climbs up on the table, running across it and jumping into the dream bubble above his head. Silver crash-lands into what appears to be one of Mallory's dreams. The Dream Weaver rematerializes inside the dream, closing the exit.
:Dream Weaver: Mallory is currently taking a nap, so that explains why we're able to invade her dreaming space. This is what your sister's state of mind has conjured. And I don't think things here are the brightest.
:Silver: Yeah, no shit.
Silver looks around. He sees an endless flesh-like desert around himself, with a wooden house perched up somewhere in the middle. The Dream Weaver looks around the area. The skies were a dark purple.
:Dream Weaver: Remember that Mallory can interact with us in the midst of her dreams, so try not to come in contact with her. She can be really tiny, or really huge, and her powers and others' powers shapeshift in accordance to the story her dreams try to tell. You can lose your powers any minute.
:Silver: I got it.
Silver looks around himself more.
:Silver: Jeez, I didn't know that Mallory had such a bare-bones imagination.
:Dream Weaver: Seems to be the case, doesn't it? No, this is your childhood home with Mallory. It's a reoccurring theme in her dreams for them to take place here. Look at the partially-eaten moon overhead. Everyone has a moon in their dreams no matter the time of day. If that moon is lost from your dreams, they say you've gone insane.
Silver looks up. The moon did appear look partially eaten. Over half of it was gone.
:Silver: I don't like that.
:Dream Weaver: Yeah, if that cuts off a slice of your own moon, I'm willing to blame myself. But it's a good way to know how stable you are. It's a concept that was introduced hundreds of years ago.
:Silver: That's so strange.
:Dream Weaver: There are other ways you can tell what's going on. The colors of the skies judge your morals. If the skies are clear blue without clouds, you are free and there is little wrong with you. If they are grey skies, you're kinda in a grey zone. But if they are red skies, you are with error and it should be corrected. Having clouds or weather that isn't sunny will judge your emotions.
The Dream Weaver looks up. The skies were mostly cloudy.
:Dream Weaver: The skies here are purple. That's because I'm here. Without me, the skies would likely be red.
:Silver: So, if you have nightmares, will the skies be red? Do blue skies only occur during good dreams?
:Dream Weaver: Oh no, that's not precisely how it works. Listen to me for a minute, Silver. Imagine that you've completely lost it... you can still have good dreams, you can be partying with all your friends, but the skies might be red and you'll have no moon to stare at. Yet, you can have blue skies and still have horrible nightmares that you would never deserve.
:Silver: This is really strange, I didn't think that dreams could be so telling.
:Dream Weaver: I can't tell you what your skies are, what your moon is like, or what your weather is like. That's something you'll have to discover for yourself. But the results could be surprising.
:Silver: But let's say I go to sleep tonight. Would... would I be able to figure out if I'm guilty or not by just dreaming?
:Dream Weaver: Yes. Pay attention to the moon. It will help your mind return to a lucid state.
:Silver: What if I don't have a moon at all?
:Dream Weaver: Then you are probably better off dead.
Silver swallows.
:Dream Weaver: Those without a moon are likely close to death. But I'm not interested in you dying, so try to keep that moon together somehow.
The Dream Weaver chuckles to himself.
:Silver: What's so funny?
:Dream Weaver: Oh, it's just that you're so curious. It's charming, really.
Silver and the Dream Weaver watch the house blow up. They turn their heads back to it, where they see Mallory look outside with huge machine guns. Ridiculously huge. Funnily enough, they were her arms now.
:Mallory: Silver Zin! I'm going to kill you at long last!
:Dream Weaver: ...She can kill you here if you don't escape alive. Kill her to wake her up!
The Dream Weaver grips Silver's hand.
:Dream Weaver: We need to get good distance from her, though!
:Mallory: Silver! SILVER! WHY ARE YOU HERE? I ALREADY KILLED YOU! You... YOU DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE, SILVER! You're like a cockroach, no matter how many times I step on you, you just don't fucking DIE!
Mallory screams as she charges at Silver.
:Silver: Wake up, young woman!
Silver starts to run away from Mallory. Silver winces as he hears an ear-shattering glass break sound effect. A slice of the moon breaks up, crumbling and hitting the floor, breaking up the fleshy desert into fragments like it were tectonic plates in the Earth's surface, leaving a black void for Silver and the Dream Weaver to jump around in.
:Dream Weaver: I need time to make a way out!
:Silver: Why did she look so much younger than me? She looks 12!
:Dream Weaver: No time to explain! If we don't get out of here, we're going to get our butts kicked!
The Dream Weaver looks behind them. Mallory jumps after them, ready to fire away at them, a wicked grin crossing her face. To her, Silver looked like a monster. It was starting to affect her real memories.
:Mallory: I will break you like how you've broken me! ME!
:Silver: Later!
::
::
Silver manages to make his way to the top of a huge desert slab. The Dream Weaver makes a portal leading back to Silver's room; Silver aims his Mind Weaver down at Mallory.
:Silver: Even in your dreams, I won't let you touch me, Mallory! Stop messing with me!
Silver charges up his weapon.
:Silver: NERVE CHOPPER!
Silver sends several waves of energy in Mallory's way, causing her to bleed internally. The whole dream flashes bright white, kicking Silver and the Dream Weaver out into the former's kitchen.
:Silver: Aughhh...
:Dream Weaver: We, we just barely escaped that one. But Silver, you shouldn't have said what you said.
A bigger chunk of Mallory's moon breaks up as she wakes up with an agonizing scream of pain.
:Dream Weaver: That's something she will remember later.
:Silver: Ahh, crap. [covers his eyes] Yeah, that was really stupid.
:Dream Weaver: Do you know how hard she's been wanting her revenge on you, Silver? You now just denied her that freedom in her dreams.
:Silver: Yeep. [sighs] I'll... I'll try to see if there's something I can do about it.
:Dream Weaver: No need, Silver. The damage has been done, you can't revert that decision now. The dream has ended, that's why we have been expelled from it. But take deep breaths, just realize it was an honest mistake, and try to be calm. Your moon remains intact longer if you don't give in to depression or anxiety.
:Silver: Right, well, thank you for stopping by, man. I didn't think I'd learn so much about dreams.
:Dream Weaver: You can be a little hopeful in that her moon will piece itself back together. Maybe when she gets the closure she deserves, from you or someone else, it will start to build up again. But...
The Dream Weaver's mind flashes back to the moon. Only a seventh of it remains.
:Dream Weaver: It's almost all gone.
:Silver: I understand.
:Dream Weaver: You better. I'm leaving now, tell Zellen that I envy her ability to just dream about octopi and her boyfriend and that's about it. That's been her go-to for like a month.
:Silver: Really?
:Dream Weaver: Yeah, she's pretty predictable as far as her dreams are concerned. [laughs] Bye, Silver. I can talk to you again in the future, and hopefully by then you remember what I've told you. And remember that neither of you are allowed to die.
The Dream Weaver opens up a portal, taking himself into what appears to be someone else's dream.
:Silver: Huh, I guess I learned something new today.
Silver turns his head to his girlfriend. He grins.
:Silver: What a heavy sleeper.
:6:00 P.M. · SUNDAY September 7th, ZXE-223
:Chance's Casino, Old Naxaz City
Valerie and Syinara showed up at Chance's casino together, where he was waiting by himself. He grinned when he saw the satellite's richest celebrity walk in with her cute scarecrow secretary.
:Chance: Greetings! Welcome! Salutations! It's a pleasure to see you two tonight, Valerie and Syinara! You know my name, it's Chance Roulette, and I've got some great tools for you tonight! Let's not waste any time and bring them right out!
:Valerie: Hey, nice to see you tonight. Who was that cutie that tried to smother you in that hologram?
:Chance: None of your business! Well, actually, it is of your business now! Smartie, come out here sweetheart!
Smartie excitedly flutters her way in with her vampire bat wings, waving and grinning cheesily as she flaps her way in.
:Smartie: Hey Valerie! Long time no see, huh?
:Valerie: Oh hey, I don't think we've met before! Nice to meet you, I'm Valerie Heartgold!
:Smartie: Ve haven't met befur? Me name's Smartie, I'ma cutie n' all dat! I've been doin' security verk fer dis Chance lad fer sum monfs now, n' he's suggested givin' me ter ya as a spy ter see vot Mallory's up ter! I don't mind da idea, it sounds very groovy ter me n' I'd love ter help ya!
:Valerie: Whoa there girl, slow down, I don't understand a thing you're saying. [laughs and shakes her hand] It's pleasant to see someone that's so enthusiastic to meet me, though!
:Chance: Smartie's saying that she'd like to help you and the authorities spy on this Mallory Zin person, and that she'd be a good asset because she's already been spying on people for years and years. And until now, she's been helping me protect the casino from guys with poor taste and all that.
:Valerie: Wait, which people has she been spying on?
:Smartie: I've been spyin' on poor saps from 'round town, peekin' in through vindows n' all dat, pokin' me head through vents and snappin' pics of scenes I really like! [winks] N' if I see somefin' concernin', I pass it up ter da higher ups! N' dey analyze it n' all dat. I've been helpin' da vhole time n' nobody knew!
Smartie cackles, assuming a sleeping position midair and shaking her torso around midair.
:Smartie: Dis is me mockin' dose vho don't know vot help dey've been gettin' from me. [pretends to snore] Dey sleep on me, dammit! Don't ya know? Me's ready ter help out fer real!
:Valerie: You sure you don't speak any simpler English, Smartie?
:Smartie: Frack dat sheet, mate! I only find satisfaction in frackin' up da language!
:Valerie: Well, sweetheart, you're hired. [grabs her hand] I like you! You're straight up and honest.
:Smartie: Sorry 'bout spyin' on yer honeymoonie vith Syi tho, I vos just super curious in vot ya two vould do together, ya know? [turns her cheek] Dat's sum of da spyin' I've been doin'.
:Valerie: You what?
:Smartie: Nothin', dearie, nothin'! Ya just heard guilt's dirty tongue!
:Chance: Besides Smartie, I've got other things to give to you two.
:Syinara: Like what, a pair of socks?
:Chance: That'd be unjust of me, scarecrow.
Chance snickers as he reaches into a box on his table, pulling out three devices and placing them out on the counter, winking at Valerie as he shoves them her way.
:Chance: I've got three inventions for you to take home. One of them is very specifically geared to finding Mallory or her teammates; we took a tracker device from Penny and altered it so that it finds her and those partners instead.
:Valerie: Ooh, that'd be helpful!
:Smartie: I nicked da device from her house n' all dat, it vos really interesting ter me!
We see a flashback of Smartie spying on the conversation where Penny pulled out that Silver tracker.
:Smartie: N' it's yers now, me friendo! Me friendo amigo!
:Valerie: You don't ask before taking people's toys, Smartie?
:Smartie: Nope!
:Valerie: Oh, you're just like me.
Valerie laughs as she pockets the tracker.
:Chance: Secondly, I've got a machine that's actually an add-on for that machine. It tracks how fast everyone's moving if they're moving at all, it determines if they're close to others the machine can detect, and it plays beeps in different keys if it detects any of those characters. It can also play Johnny Cash, because Mallory hates boomer music.
:Smartie: I suggested da last fing! I vos gonna suggest somefin' good, but I could only fink of stupid silly southern music n' all. Sorry ter da few southern muricans still alive on dis satellite.
:Valerie: Johnny Cash? Who in Sam Hill is Johnny Cash?
:Chance: You don't know Johnny Cash!?
:Valerie: Not at all!
:Chance: Thank god, I didn't know what the fudge Smartie was talking about.
:Syinara: He was a popular Earth musician.
:Valerie: Huh. Maybe he was a country musician or something, the satellite's always been way more into rock music and metal music than other genres. That's why I'm the only platinum-selling pop artist on the satellite.
:Chance: It takes no talent to make a rap song.
:Valerie: That's actually not tru-
:Chance: Old men are never wrong, Valerie Heartgold!
Valerie shrugs as Chance slides along the last piece of equipment.
:Chance: Here's the last machine, which isn't an add-on to the first machine. It scans IDs immediately and lets you log their information instantly. Use it naughtily or use it to foil disguises.
:Valerie: Yeah, this sounds like a machine you'd use for dirty reasons.
:Chance: Fitting for you, I'd say.
:Valerie: Ehh, you're not wrong. [smirks, pocketing it] Thanks!
:Smartie: I came up vith da idea! [rubs her hands together] I used it a hella lot. These should be cloned.
:Valerie: You have a lot of involvement in his thinking process, huh?
:Chance: Look, I'm a casino man at my heart. The highway surrounding this building just has giant pinballs running down it and through gates with bingo numbers on them. [cackles] I can be good with high stakes if I wanna be though, and that's why I'm giving you that crap, for high stakes crap.
:Valerie: Thank you for helping me out, Chance!
:Chance: No problem, Valentine.
Chance waves them off.
:Chance: Goodbye!
:Syinara: Goodbye, strange old man that doesn't know anything about Johnny Cash.
:Valerie: See ya!
:Chance: Good luck with her, Smartie.
:Smartie: Aye-aye, captain! 'Course I vill. Ya know me purty damners vell!
Smartie swoops Valerie and Syinara out of the place.
:7:24 P.M. · SUNDAY September 7th, ZXE-223
:Satellite Lobby Plaza
::
::
Silver leaps off his ride, holding Zellen close.
:Silver: You ready to eat, sugar?
:Zellen: Ya bet!
Silver goes to sit at a nice burger joint with Zellen, both sitting across from each other at a table. Medea hadn't left work yet, and Pierce was off doing god knows what. They were given service instantly.
:Silver: So, you know where Pierce went, Zellie?
Silver shoves a whole piece of nocturne burger into his mouth.
:Zellen: Pierce said something about rehearsing with Black Haze, he meant me to tell you that, but I forgot because I'm a klutz. Sowwy! [kisses his cheek] You forgive me though, right?
:Silver: Is a relationship a good relationship if you're going to crumble over the smallest thing?
:Zellen: Nah.
:Silver: Yeah, that's what I thought, girlie.
Silver smiles at Zellen, rubbing her cheek as he takes another bite of his burger.
:Silver: I'll give Mallory a little bit of credit, nocturne burgers are delicious. Maybe they are better than squash burgers after all.
Silver gets a notification on his phone, which he picks up.
:Agantuk [typing]: Hey Silver. I just learned of your dilemma. I went into Naxaz for a bite to eat at the Supertzar Tavern when I saw all those posters up on the walls. I've been waiting a long time to talk to you.
:Silver: Oh crap!
:Zellen: What?
:Silver: I think the right person's contacting me!
Silver types into his phone.
:Silver [typing]: Your name rings a bell. I think Rhett/Junkhead wanted me to talk to you, but I've never found out anything about you nor have I ever found your contact information.
:Agantuk [typing]: That's my brother, yeah. Lol. If you give me three weeks, I'll be ready to talk to you. I need to contact someone that can see the past and someone that can see the future first. It'll be important.
:Silver [typing]: Do you know much about me? How much?
:Agantuk [typing]: I'd honestly have to see you in person to gauge that, but with help from someone who can see backwards and someone who can look forwards, I'll be able to help you exponentially.
Silver looks a little hopeful. A little anxious, but relieved that someone's talking to him about this. He was thankful for Priss and the Dream Weaver earlier, but Agantuk looks to be on a whole new level.
:Agantuk [typing]: Be warned, though, the three people that've told me what I know about you have implied that you have a really deep, mysterious past. So, the meeting might be heavy if I pry out the right information.
Agantuk pauses a little bit before continuing to type.
:Agantuk [typing]: Give me the time I need to make a portfolio about you and what you've been up to and what we can interpret about your past. Don't tell me anything about yourself, I want to gauge everything about you from others. Don't worry too much, the past is the past, so I won't bite you if there's awful stuff in there. Not too hard, anyway.
:Silver [typing]: Good luck man, let me know when you're ready for me to come over. I've been super anxious for this.
:Agantuk [typing]: I can tell. Good luck, alright? Don't get too anxious.
:Silver [typing]: Alright mate!
Silver pockets his phone.
:Silver: I've got an appointment with this Agantuk person in three weeks!
:Zellen: That's awesome, Silvie! [pinches his cheek] Can we come with you?
:Silver: I'll think about that, I'm not sure if I want to go there alone or if I want to have company. I think I'd be alright with having you guys there, but, maybe it could be a little overly personal? I'm not sure.
:Zellen: Whatever works for you! I've still got that Hunger Games-like experiment I wanna try out when the damned weekend comes.
:Silver: I can only hope that whatever goes on by that point, it'll go perfectly fine.
:Zellen: It should go smoothly, yeah!
:Silver: I hope so...
:8:23 P.M. · SUNDAY September 7th, ZXE-223
:C.O.T.S. Laboratories, Hospital Wing
Medea Neos smirks, walking through her laboratory with her assistants on standby.
:Medea: Hmmm, I've been having trouble convincing Silver to go the labs with me lately. So, sorry that I haven't been doing much here. But, I think it's time to let the new experiment breathe!
Medea snaps her fingers, opening a door. Chimera Hazel slowly walks away from the closet-like space, looking at her creator and breathing slowly. She twitches her head, looking around the room.
:Chimera: C-Chimera Hazel, reporting for duty.
Chimera looks really pretty, looking slightly like her two children Pierce and Kispel, but considerably more feminine. She also looks relatively healthy too, but she looks nervous and kind of afraid.
:Medea: You look considerably nicer than your predecessor did, that's for sure. [shakes her hand] My name's Ms. Replicate! And you're going to work here, for me and my assistants!
:Chimera: N-Nice to meet you, Ms. Replicate. [turns her head] Who are they?
:Noise: My name is Noise Lindemulder, but you can just call me Noise. I like Slipknot, I like dressing up, and I like operations. I take no bullcrap from anyone. I'm surprised you somehow have a sentience already.
:Chimera: I feel very self-aware. [looks at her smooth hands] Hmm. Nice to meet you, Noise.
:Yama: I'm Yama! Last time I saw you, I was helping find the smoothest skin for you.
:Abraham: I'm Abraham.
:Chimera: Nice to m-meet you, Yama and Abraham. You sound slightly deadpan, Abraham.
:Abraham: Because I don't really give a damn about anything.
Ms. Replicate smiles, walking in front of her very own Frankenstein's monster.
:Medea: Now that you're awake, I've got to tell you what I'm expecting of you! So, go ahead and feel my arm.
Chimera places her very warm hand on Medea's cooler, cold-blooded limb.
:Medea: You should be able to read my DNA. Can you?
:Chimera: I can read your DNA, Ms. Replicate.
:Medea: So, what I need you to do is to touch someone's arm, preferably a man's. If they appear to be radiant with power, that is the man I need you to be with. Remember your goal is to make babies.
:Chimera: What?
Ms. Replicate laughs, closing her fingers together.
:Medea: You are a very special war machine, Chimera. You can create children with nuclear power, because you carry a special genetic that I invented just for you. I need as many of them as you can throw out.
:Noise: Have you considered that she is, in a way, a child? Ms. Replicate?
:Medea: She's a full-grown adult, I designed her that way.
:Noise: But her mentality, Ms. Replicate! You just let her wake up! You think maybe you should slow down and let her adjust to her surroundings? She is actually sentient!
:Yama: Yeah, she seems to be really confused and lost-sounding. I don't think this is right, Ms. Replicate.
:Medea: She is mature from the get-go, she has all the knowledge she needs, she is no mere child. She can easily crush any of you three if I commanded her to. Leave me to do what I feel is right.
:Noise: What do you think about this, Chimera?
Chimera looks a little nervous and tense, unsure of what to make of the atmosphere around herself.
:Chimera: P-Please give me some time to think about this, Ms. Replicate. They have a point.
:Medea: Bah! [covers her eyes] After years of having to adjust you, change you, and twist you to make you perfect, you're just going to betray me so soon? I think not! Go out there, Chimera!
:Chimera: Give me time, t-time.
:Noise: Ms. Replicate, calm down. She's still slightly unstable. Let her take it easy.
Ms. Replicate grumbles, folding her arms.
:Medea: Fine.
:Chimera: Thank you.
:Yama: I'd say give her a month or so to settle in and then we can talk about this. Does that sound alright by you, Chimera?
:Chimera: Yeah. T-Thanks, Yama.
Yama smiled at her. She couldn't help but feel a strange connection to Chimera. She wasn't sure what it was, though.
:Medea: Damn it, we'll talk about this in a month, alright Chimera?
:Chimera: Got it, creator.
:Medea: Someone go show her where to sleep, give her food, water, and shelter. Read her her nursery rhymes, while you're still at it! Rock her to sleep!
:Noise: God, shut up already. Ever since you've gotten together with Silver, you've been getting obnoxious and more aggressive with us. We've been slowing down because of you, and you're gonna treat us like we're the problem here?
:Medea: I took out your mother's tongue for talking back to me, Noise.
:Noise: So what? I can just get a new tongue! Just chill out, things will come for you in due time. Why not think about how catastrophic the impact of the things you plan on doing might be in the meantime?
:Yama: I agree with Noise!
Yama grabs Chimera's hand, walking off with her.
:Yama: Good luck, girl!
:Noise: You know, I've always wanted to kill everyone aboard the satellite myself, Ms. Replicate. You don't have the right of going about it, though, you're going to kill everything I've been standing for. The nuclear experiment isn't going to work, Medea.
Ms. Replicate hisses upon Noise using her real name. The first time she's done that in a long, long time.
:Noise: To think I used to be in love with you. Look at yourself right now. How can I love you when you're such a panicky, angry mess? How can I love you when you talk crap about your boyfriend when he doesn't agree to come up here?
Ms. Replicate was taken aback.
:Noise: I'm sorry, Ms. Replicate. I don't like talking back to you. But I'm going to tell Silver what you're up to at some point, not right now, it's too late in the evening. You don't deserve what you're getting from him.
Noise starts to turn away from her.
:Noise: You talk crap about me, you talk crap about Yama, you talk crap about Abraham, and you even talk crap about your boyfriend. And Pierce obviously, as you always do. Can you reconsider the way you're acting?
:Medea: If you effing tell him anything about what I'm up to, I'm going to make sure this place will be your grave. Y-You can't tell him about me saying things behind his back. It's cowardly of me, I know, I'm sorry, I'll...
:Noise: I won't say anything if you just apologize to me and everyone else for being an asshole. Look, I know you honest-to-god love Silver and I don't really want to break your relationship with him. But you better prove your worth.
:Medea: ...R-Right.
:Noise: And don't threaten me, either. I'm going to disband from this group if you treat me like crap again.
:Medea: You can't, you're my... right.
Ms. Replicate takes deep, deep breaths.
:Medea: I'm sorry for treating you and everyone else like idiots during that whole time gap. I'll try to have a better grip on my attitude and reconsider how I treat the only people I have left in my life.
:Noise: I accept this apology for now, Ms. Replicate, but do it again and I'm out of here. Don't mess this up.
Noise feels tears well up from her eyes.
:Noise: (Why am I crying...?) I still love you, and it just pains me to see you act that way because you were one of the few people to care about me. You made me question if you were ever being honest with me. [closes her eyes] I know you still have good left in you. Stop screwing up and let's destroy all these zoinkers together responsibly!
:Medea: Then let's d-do it.
Medea grabs her hand, shaking it.
:Noise: Thanks.
:10:01 P.M. · SUNDAY September 7th, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep, ???
Mallory is shown sitting up, her hand shaking as she tried to down her anti-depressants through coffee. She breathed tensely, looking around the room with fogged-up eyes, unsure of what to think of herself. Cody stood before her.
:Mallory: C-Cody. You're here.
:Cody: Yeah, I'm here for you, Mallory. I'm ready to listen to what you have to say.
:Mallory: Mmm.
Mallory swallows her breath.
:Mallory: Cody.
There was a slight pause.
:Mallory: I love you. I need you again, I need to feel your embraces again. I need to feel something to bring me through all of this. And, I misjudged you as a person. I was wrong to act the way I acted, Cody.
:Cody: I'm glad you realize that the actions you took against me were... were not okay. [walks closer] What about Kispel, though? Aren't you two still, doing alright together...?
:Mallory: I broke up with Kispel. He's a mindless FUCK. [takes a deep breath] He doesn't recognize me as a person, he just sees me as a God and that's a-aaall I am to him.
:Cody: That was for the better, I feel like he was just a p-puppet to the Bible. [holds out his hand] I don't know, how am I supposed to trust that you won't hurt me?
:Mallory: I-I don't know.
Mallory closes her eyes.
:Mallory: All I can tell you is that I know what I was doing to you was wrong and that I need to pull myself back t-ttogether because I'll only be h-hhappy if I have you again. You pulled me through.
:Cody: Mallory.
Cody swallows his breath.
:Cody: I... I can't commit to this.
Mallory's eyes widen. Her hands shake on the armrests of her seat.
:Mallory: W-what?
:Cody: Mallory, you have to understand that you've placed me through a huge amount of hardships and that I can't commit to being in an abusive relationship anymore. I can only still be your friend, isn't that enough?
:Mallory: Cody, no, let's talk, p-pplease.
:Cody: We've talked before, and we came to the conclusion that we can't be together. [looks away] You've hurt me so badly. You've treated me like crap. Pulled me under three goddamn years of absolute negativity. You c-cheated on me.
Cody was shaking, looking nervous in front of Mallory, who looked shaken and horrible.
:Cody: I can't. Mallory, that's just h-how it has to be.
:Mallory: I thought, I thought you would've... I thought you would've WANTED this. [hisses] C-Cody, please give me another chance, that's all it could take. P-Ppplease. You can't leave me l-lllike this!
:Cody: It wouldn't be healthy for either of us, M-Mallory. Open your eyes!
:Mallory: I wanted someone that could u-understand. [claws her armrests] You're, y-you're i-innsane for rejecting the one p-ppersson you have left. The one person who ss-scraped you f-ffrom the streets. L-loook at yourself and what you're saying. My friend of m-mmisery...
:Cody: Mallory, there has to be someone else out there for you. Please, you can't just expect me to crawl back to you just because you want me to c-crawl back to you. I'm speaking to you as a friend!
:Mallory: I'm... o-oohh...
Mallory gets up, slowly stepping her to Cody, wobbling a bit to the left and right as she stepped to him.
:Mallory: C-Come here, Cody, you n-need to... understand... w-what I need to f-ffeel, I can't be a-aalone!
Mallory attempts to grab Cody by the shoulders, but she misses and falls to her knees. She gets back up quickly, with Cody starting to run away as Mallory begins to give chase to him.
:Mallory: G-Get back here C-Cody!
:Cody: No! Mallory, p-please wake up!
Mallory attempts to chase him. She outruns him and pins him to the wall. The next thing you know, Mallory kisses him hopelessly on the lips. Cody swallows his breath before shoving his knee up at her crotch.
:Mallory: OWWWWW!
:Cody: Stop i-it!
Cody knees her crotch again.
:Cody: L-leave me alone!
Cody runs off to his room. Mallory attempts to get back up to run to his room, but he locks it on her. She bangs on his door.
:Mallory: L-Let me in!
No response.
:Mallory: L-Let me in...
Mallory slumps to the floor. Everywhere around her were just bunches of doors, or that's how her mind perceived it to be. Every one of them open, showing Silver looking down at her. Mallory looks up at the sky, seeing her moon begin to crack again as she hears laughing. All the laughter she could ever hope to not hear.
:Mallory: C-Cody, don't... leave me like t-tthis.
Mallory attempts to crawl her way to her room. She stands up, clearing herself of the illusion as she opens her door. She twitches as she walks into her room. It's empty. Kispel was off in another room, she realized. She just left herself with nothing again.
:Mallory: K-Kispel...? Kispel...
Mallory opens up her blanket. Nothing.
:Mallory: Come back... why can't anyone come back, or see me for what I am...
Mallory hears snickering behind her. She sees a nightmarish, four-horned Silver looking down upon her, an evil grin across his face. He snickers, laughing uncontrollably as he grabs her shoulders.
:Silver [hallucination]: Reality or dream, I won't let you touch me, Mallory. You can't touch anyone. Nobody wants you to be near them. Nobody wants to be near you. You're going to die.
:Mallory: No! Stop it! Stop it!
Mallory swings her arms. She knocks over Cody. She didn't know why he was there, but picks him up, trying to sluggishly carry him somewhere else. Her whole body jitters with awful excitement.
:Mallory: Cody...? YOU... YOU SON OF A BITCH! CODY!
Cody quickly realizes what's going on and begins scampering out of there as fast as he can. His screams ring throughout the halls, with Mallory starting to chase him down.
:Mallory: COME BACK, OR ELSE!
But Cody outruns her. She crawls back to her bed, where the Dream Weaver waits for her.
:Dream Weaver: Fancy seeing you, darling...
====Chapter Sixteen: All Secrets Known====
"Little did anyone anticipate what hell would come to rise upon them all. Things would get so much rougher for not just Silver, but pretty much anyone who happened to be close to him. Mallory's thirst for revenge is only getting stronger, Gonzalo is becoming a growing threat, and the atmosphere of the satellite is taking a downturn for the worse. Silver was about to discover his past, but before that would happen, a number more awful things would begin to take place. So, basically, all secrets were to become known, not just from Silver but from the people around him. Silver had a lurking thought that all would turn out to be fine and well from here, judging from his journal entries, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
Silver may have been freed of his mercenary duties a long time ago, but he wrote here that he was unsure what to think about anything anymore. He was so curious about what evils could be lurking in his past, but at the same time, he was a little nervous to confront the secrets to his origins. When he wasn't thinking about this, he was feeling kind of down, not having done very much with his life beyond selling himself out, alcohol sales, and spend time with his family. He was starting to see some changes in his body; his teeth were turning a bit darker, a new set of horns was beginning to grow in...
Blossom Forger kept writing in her biography of Silver Zin.
:Blossom: Things were about to get dirty.
:5:20 A.M. · SUNDAY September 28th, ZXE-223
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
Silver is shown sleeping under his sheets, gripping them tightly as Pierce, Medea, and Zellen snuggle around him. He writhes back and forth a bit in his sleep, closing his eyes tightly as he squirms uncomfortably.
:Silver: Nnn...
We get a glimpse into Silver's own dream. Silver was standing alone, stranded on a barren and beaten landscape that seems to exist on an infinite plane. Surrounding him were endless plateaus and sunbaked grounds, with the skeletons of his friends surrounding him. Nametags were on their skulls, labelled with Valerie, Scotch, Pierce, Medea, Zellen, Mallory, Rhett, and the like. He squirms, looking around himself for an escape.
:Silver: Where have my friends gone? How did I lose them?
Silver attempts to get up, but he feels huge sand-composite arms reach up from the ground and drag him back down, tying him down to the ground by his bottom. He's forced to see his friends' skeletons, the skeletons of thousands more surrounding him, and the many identity-less skulls turning his way.
:Silver: Calm down, Silver, this is just... a common nightmare. [closes his eyes] It's just the orange sands again, I've got to keep remembering this isn't real. It can't have a c-connection to anything.
Silver glances up at the red skies above him. His moon was mostly intact, with his anxiety and paranoia having eaten a little at it over time. But on the ground around him, everyone looked angry and restless with him.
:Silver: There has to be a way out of here. I'm probably just hallucinating because I'm anxious for the meeting I have to take on today. [writhes] Nghhh! You're stronger than this, Silver!
Silver rips his limbs out of the strong hold of the sand arms trying to weigh him down, taking deep breaths as he keeps his eyes on the moon above. He throws his arms out, knocking skeletons to the ground as he finds his footing. He looks at the area around himself.
:Silver: You can't bring me down!
Silver feels himself get piled upon by skeletons, but he just knocks them off of himself. He closes his eyes. The only way he was going to get out, he realized, is if he focused on raising his spirits.
:Silver: Those skies may be red, and I don't like the look of them, but I fully believe I'm innocent! There's no way I'm as disgusting as others imply me to be, this can't be the reality I'll have to deal with later...z!
But he didn't wake up. That's because his words didn't match with his feelings. Silver clutches his chest, feeling something pain him with every word he attempts to utter, much to his agony.
:Silver: Why am I not waking up?
Silver looks around himself fearfully.
:Silver: Let me wake up! W-Why isn't it working for me this time?
Silver feels himself get pinned to the floor from behind, making him groan as he falls onto the skeleton of Pierce. He looks into Pierce's empty eye sockets. He saw two perfect hands, pastel white, hold him by the neck.
:Silver: L-Let go!
Silver looks up. The skies were now purple.
:Mallory: If I could do it, I would kill you right here and now, Silver. You're lucky it's impossible for me to kill the dreamer within their own dreams. But I've come to tell you that you're imperfect, you're not going to live for much longer if I can help it, and that you are really disgusting.
Mallory slides her sharp nails across Silver's neck, making him hiss as she draws out some of his blood, making him flinch painfully.
:Mallory: You think this is all a game, don't you? You think it's okay to mess with me, don't you? You think everything you've done to me is okay? You're imperfect, Silver. You've done so much wrong.
:Silver: And you never effing tell me, time to time again! I'm going to get to the bottom of this crap today!
:Mallory: You better not, Silver. [chokes him] I'm going to kill you before you ever learn the truth. You mustn't learn it, ever, because I care to ruin your innocence the same way you ruined mine!
:Silver: You're just a hallucination! Y-You're not real!
:Dream Weaver: I can attest to that, Silver.
The Dream Weaver walks from behind Mallory, looking down at him.
:Dream Weaver: If that moon of hers completely cracked, Silver, everyone would be in considerable danger. So I decided to let her invade your dream to give you a bad time, she's here until you can leave.
:Mallory: I'm going to slice you to death, Silver!
Silver feels Mallory sink her fingers into his neck, making him gasp and scream in agony as he squirms to get out of her grip.
:Mallory: I-I'm going to return all the pain and agony you've given me!
Silver, sensing weakness in Mallory's voice, rolls out from under her. Silver starts to run away, making Mallory give chase.
:Mallory: No, I'm going to hurt you the same way as you did in my dream, Silver! T-The dream where I thought I could kill you, I'm going to achieve it here!
:Silver: I'm sorry, I didn't think about the consequen-
:Mallory: IT'S FAR TOO LATE FOR APOLOGIES, SILVER!
Silver avoids a fatal barrage of Nerve Chopper attacks from Mallory's Mind Weaver, running as fast as his legs could carry him. Mallory grins wickedly as she gives chase, hovering over the ground as she chases him across the desert. Her hands stretch out for Silver, ready to grab him and grind his back against the floor.
:Silver: Maybe I've done something wrong, and I'm willing to accept that. But I'm not about to let you get petty revenge on me over an honest mistake! Y-You're a creep! Goodbye, Mallory! I need to learn the truth!
A huge, blinding white light happens.
:Mallory: Nooooooo! Get back here, you f-foul demon! I'm going to crush you! CRUSH YOU!
Mallory attempts to lunge at Silver, but the dream has expired. Mallory gets flung back out of the dream, crash-landing against the wall of her bedroom with the Dream Weaver while Silver woke up between his partners.
:Zellen: Are you okay, Silver? I heard screaming.
:Pierce: I was really worried for you man, you weren't responding when we were shaking you! You scared us half to death. Can I get you a glass of water? Anything!?
:Silver: I'm fine, hah. [stretches] Sorry about that, you three.
:Zellen: That's good. [hugs him tightly] Don't scare me like that again, please. That, that really shook me.
:Medea: I'll go make him pancakes, give me a second.
Medea rolls off the bed, tiredly thudding against the floor. She gets up, hurrying her way to the kitchen. Pierce flicks on the light, ruffling up Silver's hair.
:Silver: Didn't mean to scare you guys like that. I didn't have a really good dream, if that wasn't immediately apparent.
:Pierce: If you've scared the crap out of Zellen, that should be enough of an indicator that we're all very concerned. Lucky that you woke up though, we have to leave this place in an hour. You want to talk about your dream?
:Medea: He should!
:Silver: I suppose I will, my ladies. [sits up] See, what happened was that I was in the orange sands and all that, you all know I still sometimes deal with those kinds of nightmares. But it multiplied, the real Mallory showed up, courtesy of the Dream Weaver, and I almost died. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it out.
:Zellen: Maybe I shouldn't have summoned the Dream Weaver, thought he would've helped you go to sleep better and show you what Mallory thinks of you in her dreams, but I wasn't thinking the reverse could happen. [looks away] Hope there was something to gain out of that, at least.
:Silver: Don't blame yourself, I learned a fair bit from him and there's things I can keep in mind whenever I go to sleep now. [hugs her] Thank you for your concerns.
Zellen keeps hugging him, rubbing her head up against his neck.
:Zellen: Yeah, no prob.
Medea rushes in with pancakes, grinning as they're absolutely drenched in maple syrup and butter. She places the plate on Silver's lap, kissing his cheek and smiling.
:Medea: I have to run off to work honey, but I hope you like your breakfast and, good luck healing from that traumatic nightmare and crap, alright? I don't want you to be too down for your appointment today.
:Silver: Thanks Medea, you really are sweet.
Silver smiles as he eats up a pancake. She smiles - a little guiltily - and waves at him before heading off to work. Pierce gets up, moving himself into his wheelchair and playing Blue Öyster Cult's "Astronomy" on a radio to help bring Silver into a better mood. Zellen hics.
:Pierce: Alright Silver, we've got fifty-five minutes before we have to leave to go see Agantuk. Remember that Mallory will be looking out for you today, Cody gave us a warning last week that she knows what's going on.
:Silver: How'd you know that? He dropped all contact with me.
:Pierce: I decided to go to the Mallorian Church last Sunday. [laughs] I knew he'd show up there, and I talked to him for a bit. He didn't want me to tell you any of this until today because he didn't want you to be too anxious while going about on the streets, because Mallory saved her worst damage for today.
Pierce sighs.
:Pierce: Yeah, she's going to get buck-wild today. If she already started out the day by attacking you in your dreams, you better watch your back. Zellen and I will do our best to protect you, but be sure you pay attention to where you're going.
:Zellen: Yeah! We've got your back, Silvie.
Silver smiles as he eats up the rest of his pancakes, with Pierce using his psychic powers to guide the plate to the sink.
:Silver: You two are so good to me, it makes me feel really warm.
Silver grins, his cheeks flushing pink a little.
:Pierce: As we should! Come on, let's go out to eat, I think Oyster would appreciate it if we visited her private stand out at the garden before business gets busy for her.
:Silver: Alright, let's make a break for it.
:Zellen: Ooo! We're drinking?
:Pierce: Yeah why not, it's been a while since we've had a drink together and I think it'd help Silver wake up a bit.
:Silver: You guys are the best.
Silver grins as everyone dresses up and heads for the elevator.
:Silver: Though, I'm unsure how well things are going to turn out for me today.
:Pierce: Don't worry too much, Silver. Just keep your head up.
:Silver: Right! I'll try to.
Everyone makes it to the elevator, leaving the underground confines of Silver's home.
:8:54 A.M. · SUNDAY September 28th, ZXE-223
:Valco Vortex, New Naxaz City
Two weeks had passed since the end of the lockdown placed into effect by the authorities, and for that long, no real damage had been done across the satellite. This is because Mallory's been rather quiet since, but today things turn around. Valerie and Syinara were up and working on their usual tasks when everything changed.
:Valerie: Alright Syinara, what's next for me to do today?
:Syinara: Hmmm, I don't see any glaring issues with the satellite today. The floods in Sector 2 were quickly fixed, the tundra expansions in Sector 4 were paused, and the forest fires in Sector 5 were doused.
Syinara does a thumbs up, beaming.
:Syinara: I think you've done all the vital work you needed to do, Valerie!
:Valerie: That's great! Maybe we get to kick back for a change.
:Syinara: Yeah, I'd like to ha- ON SECOND THOUGHT LOOK OUT!
Syinara springs forward, grabbing her wife just in time and ducking to the floor as a machine gun fires through their windows. Syinara rolls backwards, letting her wife get back up on her feet as they avoide the attack.
:Valerie: Hey, what gives? I just got those windows in!
:Syinara: That's what you're worried about!?
Beck can be seen standing outside the building, riding a purple eagle-shaped robot, which appears to be piloted by Mania. They were moving their way around the building, shooting rapid fire through the panoramic window structure of Valerie's office. Syinara spread her vines out to swipe the bullets away from her girlfriend while Valerie picked up her rifle of choice.
:Beck: You two aren't going to last for much longer when we're done with the town sweep!
:Valerie: We'll see about that!
Valerie begins shooting at Beck and Mania, but they continue to swoop out of the way of her shots. They sometimes fly straight through the middle of the wide office, but Valerie keeps fending them off with her bullets while Syinara shields Valerie with her vines.
:Beck: While you're dealing with us, there's other damage being done across town! Are you going to do anything about that, Valerie?
:Valerie: This is an emergency!
Valerie goes to hit the emergency panel, but Beck shoots it apart, much to her horror.
:Beck: You're not going to get ahold of everyone so easily now, Valerie! Look, we're out here to take out Silver and everyone that's affiliated with him, and we're going to start with you two because you're always getting in our way!
Beck gets off Mania's vehicle, pointing a gun at Valerie.
:Beck: You're going down first, Valerie!
:Valerie: As if you can really hurt this divine goddess, Beck!
Syinara shields Valerie with a bunch of vines, swinging her vines out at Beck to make him fall back. As they get up and continue exchanging blows, gun against vine, Valerie sees that groups of Mallorism followers are walking to the Valco Vortex and starting to infiltrate the tower. Quade and Kispel ride in on giant purple hawks, shooting down any security they find, including Brook Arsen and Manikin Man. They don't die, but they fall.
:Brook: Stop! Stooop!
Brook uses his hands to hammer some of the Mallorism followers' heads in, but he only gets trampled. Manikin Man attempts to send out several of his manikins to go save the townsfolk.
:Manikin Man: Save them, my pretties!
Manikin Man gets knocked out with a shot from Ferris Rock, who comes in riding a huge radioactive tiger. He attempts to climb his way up the tower, but is forced to fall back when the Violet Reaper nearly snatches his soul.
:Violet Reaper: Come ON, I want to have new dolls in my bedroom! Valerie's life isn't worth it.
Manikin Man growls as she lands on his feet.
:Valerie: Damn it, I don't have enough time to make a call to Kýrios to tell him about the emergency at hand!
:Syinara: It's okay, Valerie, we'll be able to fend them off like we always have.
Valerie nods, shooting down as many Mallorism followers as she can. The Methademic crashes his way in, firing crystal meth missiles at Valerie that she stealthily avoids. She taps him to send him falling, but Syinara grabs her just in time to prevent Beck from shooting her down.
:Beck: Stop resisting! You can save so many lives by just stopping!
:Valerie: I don't have a reason to believe you!
Valerie spits on his helmet, blinding him a little bit. Syinara comes in charging, bashing Beck with her full weight to push Beck off the tower. He lands safely on Mania's eagle-like robot, growling a little bit. The vortex was starting to get infiltrated by purple masses, and outside of it, Mallorism followers were wreaking havoc across town via thieving stores and shops.
:Syinara: There might be too many of them.
:Valerie: I like what you said about not giving up, Syi!
Valerie and Syinara see Quade and Kispel board their floor, holding guns of their own.
:Kispel: By the o-order of God, I c-command you to s-stop.
:Quade: Fall to your knees so I can make you both bleed as much you two need to!
:Valerie: Never! You're not going to bring us down, nor is nobody from Mallory's crew!
While they're distracted, Beck boards the tower. He fires a round at Valerie, but Syinara again deflects his shots.
:Beck: Stop that!
:Syinara: You think I'm going to stop defending the one woman that means everything to me? You're dumb!
Valerie gets fired at from all directions, which she elegantly dodges.
:Valerie: You can't bring me down!
:Kispel: I'll contest that.
Kispel hits her in the same guts that Mallory damaged three years back, making her gasp in pain. Syinara looks wide-eyed.
:Syinara: VALERIE!
Syinara grabs Valerie, looking around wildly as she takes what remains of the staircase leading further up the vortex and climbs up it. She gets chased by several of Mallory's goons, locking the door on them as they attempt to go up. Syinara tenses, breathing hard as she lays Valerie out across a table.
:Syinara: What am I going to do, what am I going to do...
:Valerie: Syi, it's okay.
:Syinara: IT IS NOT FUCKING OKAY! [opens some cabinets] I am not going to go on without you, Valerie!
Syinara rushes her hands through cabinets for healing supplies. Syinara helps pull the bullet out of Valerie's side, making them both twitch painfully as Syi tries to help heal her up. The goons keep banging on the door.
:Valerie: It hurts so bad, I'm going to be okay though... I've lived through crap like this before.
:Syinara: Here, I'm going to give you the mic that's still up here! Quickly, before they rush in!
Syinara scrambles to give her that mic.
:Valerie: Emergency in New Naxaz City! E-Emergency in New Naxaz City! Valerie Heartgold is severely injured and the Valco Vortex is taking a considerable amount of damage! Authorities, please respond! Full military assemble! Kýrios and Zodiez, all hands on deck! H-Hurry!
Valerie gasps as Syinara attempts to keep her down and heal her to the best of her ability. Syinara sweats as she attempts to take care of Valerie while the goons bang on the door.
:Beck: We have to bring you two down!
:Syinara: Screw off!
Syinara panics as she wraps Valerie's body in vines. Meanwhile, below in the vortex, Mallorism followers were wreaking havoc in the rest of the building and doing a considerable amount of damage while lots of buildings around town get sabotaged and pillaged. Syinara shakes hard as Beck bangs open the door.
:Beck: Good night!
Beck shoots a bullet through Syinara's backside, making her lurch over.
:Syinara: Owwwwww!
Syinara falls over, gasping. Beck comes over to take her out for real, but Syinara squeezes the vines together in her back to shoot the bullet back out at Beck's helmet. Beck's helmet glass breaks, exposing his scarred, gruff-looking face. His eyes looked a little yellow, and his mouth looked emaciated.
:Syinara: Oh.
:Beck: You sonna bit-!
Beck covered his face, trying to shoot at Syi, but his bullet missed and instead ricocheted back to hit a line of Mallorism followers, sending them falling down the staircase like dominoes.
:Beck: C-Crap! My aim!
Syinara whips him hard, sending him tumbling back too. Syi kisses Valerie on the lips before stealing Beck's helmet, instantly placing it back together with glue and tape and such, placing it over Valerie's head.
:Valerie: What's this?
:Syinara: No time to explain. [holds her] Honey, we're jumping.
:Valerie: What!?
Ferris and the Violet Reaper manage to make their way up, ready to take them down after Beck's fall.
:Syinara: LET'S SCRAM!
Syinara breaks through an emergency hatch with Valerie. Syinara lands down on a platform, wrapping her vines around Valerie's entire body and holding her tightly. Syinara groans as she tightens the vines as tightly as she can around her wife, sealing her up tight.
:Syinara: Valerie, consider this my parting gift, if I don't make it.
:Valerie: WHAT?
:Syinara: Don't panic! Please, I need to time this jump. You're going to be alright, but you need to call the Hospital Wing as soon as you can, because you might take a bit of recoil once we... hit... the ground...
Syinara sighs, but gulps as she sees Ferris come down at them with a blade.
:Syinara: I LOVE YOU!
Syinara jumps off the railing of the support platform, her vines wrapped tightly around Valerie. She kisses Valerie hard on the helmet as they fall to the ground at a high velocity. Ferris snaps his fingers as he fails to reach them. They plummet down to the ground of the city...
:Valerie: I LOVE YOU TOO S-SYINARAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Syinara lands smack-down in Heartgold Park. Valerie was able to embrace the impact, thanks to Beck's helmet absorbing the recoil from her head and thanks to Syinara's vines keeping the rest of her landing rather cushiony. The vines retract from around Valerie's body, and with the helmet split in two, Valerie could see she was deep in some bushes with her wife.
:Valerie: That worked, that really worked! [coughs] Thank you, Syi.
Valerie hugs her wife tightly, keeping her close.
:Valerie: Really, I really appreciate all the lengths you've been taking to grow stronger and help me whenever I need help the most.
Valerie kisses her lips.
:Valerie: You're the best.
Syinara doesn't respond.
:Valerie: ...Syi?
Valerie shakes her shoulders a little.
:Valerie: Syi? Syinara? Honey!?
Syi didn't respond at all. Valerie looks at her body, realizing that her fingers are deep inside the really sticky, gooey innards of her wife. She retracts her fingers, then rolls over Syi's back. Her back was completely smashed up from that landing.
:Valerie: NOOOOOO!
Valerie immediately dials up the Hospital Wing.
:Valerie: H-Hospital Wing, Valerie Heartgold calling. I'm behind a bush at the southern half of Heartgold Park. I'm waiting to be picked up with my wife. Please, take us as soon as you possibly can!
:Abraham [voice]: We will assist right away.
:Valerie: T-Thank you.
Valerie hangs up. She looks down at her beautiful wife, whose back was smashed up as part of her sacrifice to protect Valerie's life during the most sudden terrorist attack there's been in a long time.
:Valerie: S-Syi...
Valerie picks her up, sniffling.
:Valerie: Please wake up, I don't want this to be real...
Valerie looks up. Just in time. Scotch's military helicopters were opening fire on the Valco Vortex, and Scotch himself was entering the building to fight off Mallory's goons. Kýrios and Zodiez were ordering the evacuation of Valerie's building minutes after it got attacked thanks to the late call to the authorities. Valerie sniffs, then starts crying into Syinara's neck, sobbing uncontrollably.
:Valerie: I... I don't even know what to say anymore.
:9:39 A.M. · SUNDAY September 28th, ZXE-223
:Main Street, New Naxaz City
Silver, Pierce, and Zellen were rushing along the main path through New Naxaz City, being sure to travel along the shadows so they didn't get spotted by Mallory or her troops. They did realize that the city was under attack, so they couldn't be seen out in the open as much as they wanted to help in battle themselves.
:Silver: I'm not surprised that Mallory chose today of all days to lay out an attack against the city. Pretty sure she threatened it.
:Pierce: Yeah, watch out for the Mallorism followers, they'll make things get much tougher for you if you let them. They're trying to catch you so you can be brought over to Mallory, and well, you know how she feels about you.
:Silver: Mhm. That's why I'm gonna try and stay out of her way.
The three pick up the pace.
:Silver: We have to show up by 11 A.M. or I'm going to be late for the meeting, so let's try to get out of here without getting spotted. I really hope that Valerie and Syinara are alright, looks horrible up there.
:Pierce: I'm sure they're going to be alright, they're impossible to bring down as far as I'm concerned.
:Zellen: I dunno. [swallows] If Mallory had to be such a monster to Silver in his dreams, I dunno, she could do anything against any of these people. She sounded like she had a vengeance in mind.
:Silver: Yeah, I'm admittedly a little worried for everyone right now. See, I'd go and fight those zoinkers off myself, but I've got more important things to do and it looks like Scotch is already on it.
:Pierce: Yep, just leave it to the authorities to get things under control.
Unbeknownst to them, they were being followed by the Leper Messiah. He follows them shakily, twitching nervously as he takes deep breaths under his helmet. He didn't like what was going on.
:Silver: Right.
Silver gets a message on his phone. He answers it.
:Silver: Hey, who's this?
:Valerie [voice]: Silver, please be careful when you're moving through town. N-Naxaz is under attack, Syinara's d-dead, and... [swallows] I want to make sure you're c-careful now.
:Silver: Syi's dead?
Silver winces, looking at Pierce. Pierce looks shocked.
:Silver: Don't worry, I know this place is under attack. I'm heading to Agantuk's as fast as I can. I hope you can figure out how to cope with her loss, I'd try music or reading. Take deep breaths.
:Valerie [voice]: T-Thank you, Silver, you're a good b-brother.
:Silver: You're my sister, it matters to me that you can cope with anything that happens to you.
Silver smiles a little, but is forced to hang up when a portion of the sidewalk ahead of him crumbles. Silver turns around, seeing Mallory with a really powerful-looking gun. She shakes ferally, grinning nastily.
:Silver: You again!
:Mallory: Who were you calling your sister, Silver? You only have one!
:Silver: It doesn't matter. It's not like you're really willing to be anything like a sibling to me.
:Mallory: Watch your mouth, Silver! You're probably not wrong about that, but I'm really willing to crush you now for bothering to make someone else your sibling.
Mallory blasts the sidewalk behind Silver. The Messiah panics, running away from the collapsing sidewalk. Silver, Pierce, and Zellen get stranded on a single piece of stable sidewalk together. Mallory hops across the street, holding her gun at the three of them.
:Mallory: I've been having a lot of fun this morning, Silver, leading a storm over this city! I-I'm afraid your time is up, brother! You're not going to make it any further than you already have, t-this satellite will be mine!
Mallory fires a bullet at their feet, but Pierce closes his eyes and telekinetically lifts them onto the rooftop above. Pierce starts to wheel away really fast in his wheelchair as Silver and Zellen waste no time in following him. Mallory leaps back to them, chasing them down.
:Mallory: I'm tired of having to d-deal with you everywhere I-I go! I'm going to take out e-everyone that you know and love! Y-YOU'RE NOT GOING TO LEARN THE T-TRUTH! I WANT TO CRUSH YOUR INNOCENCE WHILE IT'S FRESH!
:Silver: You killed Syinara, isn't that enough?
Mallory widens her eyes. She feels her veins twitch.
:Mallory: I-I was going to make that scarecrow mine, she's dead...? I didn't ask for that...
:Zellen: This way, Silver!
Zellen tugs on his neck as the three attempt to escape Mallory as fast as they can.
:Mallory: NO!
Mallory screams with vengeance as she begins to chase them on all fours.
:Mallory: I'M GOING TO CRUSH YOU THREE!
::
::
Silver gets cornered against some fences, with Mallory stomping towards him and his two allies.
:Mallory: This isn't over yet, Silver!
::
::
Silver manages to escape New Naxaz City, finding a stable sidewalk with a pod pick-up point. Silver takes up the pod with his boyfriend and girlfriend, escaping to the satellite lobby. Mallory doesn't catch them, much to her annoyance.
:Mallory: Whatever! [twitches] W-While... while you're gone, I will k-kill everyone here that you continue to know and love. V-Valerie's next! Maybe the Nature Warrior. Azrail? Devina? S-So many choices.
Mallory walks off in a confused daze, grinning sharply as she looks at the place around her.
:Mallory: I could have s-saved everyone, but I chose to hurt e-everyone instead. [glances up] Oooh, I can feel the blood rushing to my head, it's hurting really bad.
Just when Mallory looks up, the Messiah manages to make it to her platform, panting.
:Leper Messiah: T-they got away, ma'am. Our forces are retreating, we've done catastrophic damage to the Valco Vortex to the point where recovery will be difficult but we can't do anything else.
:Mallory: V-Very well! Tell the troops to fall back. We will prepare for another attack. You keep f-following Silver. Stop him from carrying out his plans, you little worm! S-Stop him, right fucking now!
Mallory tries to keep her head on straight, groaning in agony.
:Mallory: I feel my head hurt so much. It's like everyone hates me, Cody. It's like everyone likes to watch me suffer. Whenever they hit me, nobody complains. When I hit them, everybody complains because it's me that did it.
Mallory holds her head as she walks past him.
:Mallory: T-To think that I could've ruled the satellite so well, now the only thing I can do is hit back as hard as they've hit me. T-Together, we'll destroy the entire satellite, Cody.
Mallory turns around, expecting to see Cody. He wasn't there.
:Mallory: Cody?
Mallory looks around again.
:Mallory: E-Everyone's trying to ignore me, huh.
Mallory feels another small fraction of her moon break off. The outer perimeter was no longer there. Just a piece of her core. She was starting to lose it, and according to her, nobody cares.
:Mallory: I thought, I thought I could've... n-no matter. I'm going back home.
:9:30 A.M. · SUNDAY September 28th, ZXE-223
:Forbidden Tundra, Sector 4
Out in the harsh, biting tundra in Sector 4, we can see Noise, Yama, Abraham, Rose, and Azul together in very thick winter coats, sitting around a campfire together on wooden benches.
:Abraham: Before we begin our meeting, I'd like to ask that we all pay respects to Syinara Wyne with a moment of silence. She was a well-respected secretary of Valerie's and did an honorary amount of services for the satellite. Without her, we will need a more efficient way to control plant life across the satellite.
Noise, Yama, Rose, and Azul nod. A good few moments were spent quiet.
:Abraham: Now, we've met up today in the coldest, hardest-biting area of the satellite to discuss the damages our bosses are bringing upon us, and the consequences they might leave on the rest of the satellite. I have no opinion on Medea and what she's doing to me, but I know the rest of you feel differently about your bosses.
:Noise: Medea has violated my privacy and Yama's and has been mistreating us horribly over the past few weeks. She's quick to snap at whatever mistakes I make, whatever mistakes Yama makes, and is harshest with whatever mistakes Abraham makes because she knows he doesn't give a crap about her opinions.
:Abraham: To clarify, I do care about Medea's opinions because she is my boss, but I don't care for her attitude. Even if it was a professional attitude, I wouldn't care.
:Yama: She's violated a lot of promises she's made to Noise and I, and we haven't been able to have much time to ourselves since Medea insists on asking us to work even while she's gone all day.
:Noise: She's very violent too, turning a complete 180 on the turn of a dime.
:Abraham: These are the problems we're dealing with. What are you two dealing with?
:Rose: Gonzalo is a monstrous, treacherous being that's invaded our privacy, killed our mothers, and has done whatever it takes to satisfy himself and only himself. I've had to sacrifice my innocence to him several times.
:Azul: Thanks to Gonzalo, I've gained ideals and philosophies that should be considered inappropriate. [folds her arms] He taught me some of those things were okay, and Rose was affected the same way.
:Rose: He was a negative influence on us and he continued to hurt us until we ran away from him.
:Abraham: And he's been doing this for how many years? How long have you two been working for him?
:Azul: Eight.
:Abraham: If I could feel, I'd probably be really shocked at that news, but I'm honestly not.
:Rose: Well, no need to rub it in.
Abraham nods, moving his head up and down.
:Abraham: Apologies for that, that wasn't my intention.
:Yama: So, who'd you drag us all the way out into the cold again?
:Abraham: Because I think it's time we fought back against our abusive owners and made an attempt to stop their senseless violence. We're not going to accomplish anything but letting them succeed.
Abraham turns to Noise.
:Abraham: I understand your lack of empathy for the satellite's people, but we need you to cut all attempts to lay genocide upon the satellite's people, because said genocide will not bring us anywhere.
:Noise: I accept. Maybe I can understand what it's like to be alive by the end of it all.
:Abraham: What do you two bank workers think?
:Rose: I'm in. I don't like what Gonzalo brings to the satellite and I'm completely interested in stopping him now that I've learned the truth from Azrail. Y'now, his traumatized son.
:Azul: I'm in too, not just because Rose is in but because I have some ass to kick!
:Abraham: Then I propose the creation of the Shutdown Squad. We will be the five initial members, and we'll work in whatever ways we can to prevent our bosses from obtaining complete control over the satellite.
:Noise: I'm in on this. I don't want Ms. Replicate to be the way she is anymore.
:Yama: I'm in too!! I wanna save Chimera and stop these plans from going through.
:Rose: Looks like we're all in, Abe.
:Abraham: Then it's settled. Over the next month, which is when Medea and Gonzalo will carry out their goals most likely, we must stop them from doing what they plan on doing. We'll meet here in the tundra.
:Yama: You sure we can't meet somewhere else?
:Abraham: I like it here.
:Yama: Well, looks like this is where we'll meet up then.
:Noise: Sometime in October, all their secrets will be known.
:10:14 A.M. · SUNDAY September 28th, ZXE-223
:Oyster's Stand, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
Oyster Moore stands at her stand at the Stenographer Garden, with a bunch of people seated at wooden tables drinking alcohol. With her place having been shut down months ago, Oyster's been having to do her business outside and sleep outside, with Snickers and Yemen on standby.
:Oyster: Hey Snickers, you feeling alright?
Oyster noticed how down and depressed her husband looked. He sighed, covering his face with his hands as he dragged his nails down his cheeks.
:Snickers: No, not really. Things seem to be hella stressful across this satellite lately. Valerie's injured, Syinara's dead, Mallory's somehow not dead yet, and we're still serving our alcohol without a proper shelter.
Snickers looks at Oyster.
:Snickers: I just have a lot on my mind, that's all.
:Oyster: I'm sorry, honey.
Oyster hugs her husband.
:Smartie: Me too, pardners.
Smartie was hanging out nearby, drinking a long glass of absinthe.
:Smartie: Had ter flee from da Valco Vortex da moment it got hit. Too much violence, vanted ter stick nine inch nails through each one of me eyelids.
:Snickers: I feel you sis, things have been only getting worse. Did you learn anything more about Mallory?
:Smartie: Over da past few veeks, I haven't managed ter find da entrance ter her place, but I've found out from da messiah dat befur dis year ends it'll be da end of da satellite!
Everyone's eyes widen.
:Oyster: W-what?
:Smartie: Didn't ya know? Don't react too soon, but Mallory vants ter make dis giant fireball dingy n' slam it down on da city! It'll go "boom" n' lots o' damage vill be done!
:Oyster: Oh sweet lord. [sighs] We won't take immediate action, but thanks for the heads up Smartie.
:Smartie: No prob! Stay on yer toes though, 'cuz Mallory vants ter make a Zinfestation!
:Snickers: We all have to be careful, I think. Whatever Mallory's been doing in the meantime since the lockdown, I don't know, but you can tell that she's not relenting much anymore.
Snickers takes a long, long sip of beer.
:Snickers: And if she continues to be the way she is, well, Armageddon is just around the corner then.
:Oyster: J-Judgment Day!
:Yemen: Hey, don't get too worried. We've got plenty of time to prepare.
:???: I wouldn't say so.
Everyone turns their head. They see a mummy-like figure make her way over to them, riding inside a coffin that seems to be able to move on its own. She looked a little grouchy.
:Yemen: What're you doing here, Koffina? Better yet, what do ya mean?
:Koffina: Mallory doesn't want to give you guys too much time to prepare, trust me, I've heard talk from the afterlife that something ridiculous is going to happen.
Koffina slides some money across the counter.
:Koffina: One absinthe, please.
Snickers nods, preparing one for Koffina.
:Oyster: What e-exactly, Koffina?
:Koffina: I've been talking with Devina about this. Devina's told me that the friends in her basement have a plan and they weren't letting anyone know. We dunno what they're up to.
:Snickers: Lemme guess, the spirits?
:Koffina: Yes. But we don't know what they're up to nor do we know what they know about Mallory. They were just making implications that something truly awful was going to happen.
:Snickers: That blows.
Snickers gives Koffina her bottle of absinthe, which she takes and uncorks as Snickers pockets the money.
:Koffina: We're in terrible danger, everyone. Mallory has something up her sleeve that we don't know about. And I think of everyone, Silver is in the most danger, because all of today's calamities happened because of her grudge with him.
:Snickers: I hope for his sake, Silver stays careful. Or that he leaves. He was always one of our most valued costumers.
:Oyster: Generously overtipped.
A flashback plays showing Silver playing triple for absinthe, the most expensive drink from the bar, while his legs were up on the table, annoying the crap out of the Nature Warrior.
:Snickers: Yeah, he's a good dude. Hopefully whatever he's doing right now, he's going to have a good time.
:Oyster: Mhm.
Koffina sighs, throwing her emptied bottle of absinthe away.
:Koffina: Mhm.
:10:49 A.M. · SUNDAY September 28th, ZXE-223
:C.O.T.S. Laboratories, Hospital Wing
Ms. Replicate was sitting in her office, being on the phone. She was writing an apology letter while waiting for a response.
:Medea: Hey, can I speak to you for a minute?
:Gonzalo [voice]: Is this Medea?
:Medea: Yeah. Do you mind if we talk about something?
:Gonzalo [voice]: Oh, so you're trying to talk to me, huh? You think I wanna talk things out to you, Medea, after you decided to call it quits on me and leave me stranded?
:Medea: You're the one who left me stranded! But I'm not here to talk about that.
:Gonzalo [voice]: Then what the hell are you calling me about? I'm really busy.
:Medea: I'm calling you because I care just a little bit about you, and I'm telling you that you have until the end of October to shut your plans down before I attack the stock exchange building with my newest scheme.
:Gonzalo [voice]: You can try, Medea.
Gonzalo guffaws sinisterly over the phone.
:Gonzalo [voice]: I don't care about you at all, so I won't tell you when I'm going to be ready to take you down. The fact you're telling me what you're telling me is just telling me that you're feeling weak and want me back.
:Medea: No, that's not what... what...
Gonzalo snickers.
:Gonzalo [voice]: Don't deny your instincts, Medea. You miss me. I can hear it in your tone. You want to feel something from me again, is that it? You're not interested in threatening me, you want me to take care of you again.
Medea goes quiet for a minute.
:Medea: I...
:Gonzalo [voice]: Silver just doesn't cut it for you, does he? Nor Zellen? Not Pierce? Then again, I suppose it'd be weird if you got satisfaction out of Pierce, but I'd welcome it only because you're fucked up.
:Medea: N-No. Stop trying to manipulate me, Gonzalo. You know I don't have much to hold onto, even if you are partially correct, Silver is too nice. He's almost too innocent. He can think straight.
:Gonzalo [voice]: Am I manipulating you, or are you manipulating yourself? You've gone too long without me, I can hear the withdrawal crunching your sweet vocal cords, the thirst squeezing your throat.
Medea squeezes her phone. The camera perspective turns to Gonzalo's.
:Medea [voice]: Stop it! I-I'm telling you to watch out for me when I ruin your business and take everything for myself!
:Gonzalo: I'm sure you're going to see it my way eventually, Ms. Replicate.
Gonzalo smirks, keeping his hand gripped tightly on the phone as Medea whimpered.
:Gonzalo: If you knew what was better for you, you'd join me and quit all this nonsense. I'll even fund your project and help find someone that can help you out with it. Maybe I don't care about you, but I like watching hot lesbians make out, and this other woman I just picked up today would like your company!
Valerie sat up, sick and tired, bandaged in the side, looking really devastated.
:Gonzalo: Are you sure you don't want to give me a chance, Medea? We can merge our empires and become one.
:Medea [voice]: I'll... [swallows] I'll do it. I have nobody to lean on, S-Silver won't understand my hidden cravings, that's why I went to you in the first place. You understood how I worked.
:Gonzalo: And I'll learn you all over again, as I'm doing with this peculiar Valerie woman right now. Heh heh heh.
:Medea [voice]: I'll... I'll come by in some hours. I just have to be ready and take Chimera with me.
:Gonzalo: Good! See you soon. I've been craving you for a long time.
Gonzalo hangs up on her, laughing so hard.
:Gonzalo: That was so easy that I almost feel guilty.
Gonzalo grins at Valerie, who looked down. She looked horrible.
:Gonzalo: You're mine again, Valerie. That scarecrow woman isn't there to love you anymore. And that pastel-white transvestite named Silver isn't going to get in the way of your new roommate, either.
:11:00 A.M. · SUNDAY September 28th, ZXE-223
:Satellite Lobby, Room #66
Silver, Pierce, and Zellen were perched up on a big purple couch together in Agantuk's motel room. Agantuk was sitting up on a wooden chair, perched up next to Minute and Clair. Cody was recording audio from behind the couch. It's time.
:Agantuk: Silver.
:Silver: Agantuk.
:Agantuk: You've probably been waiting to hear the truth about yourself for several years now, and I apologize that it's taken this long for you to get your whole life evaluated. [sighs] I've done a considerable amount of research on you. I've asked some people about what they personally think about you.
Agantuk opens his portfolio, placing on a pair of reading glasses.
:Agantuk: Most people I've interviewed that claim to have known you have had great things to say about you. And while most of this crap doesn't pertain to your past, many people right now have positive judgements of you.
:Silver: That's pleasant to hear, at least.
:Agantuk: I've taken my research beyond the satellite and have looked around Zaxina for answers. I can't stand the disgustingly thin air of Zaxina for long, but I've discovered several people that know your name and some of your personal backstory. Only some select folks, though. I've had Minute help me with more.
Silver, interested, sits up straight and crosses his legs together. He looks really anxious to learn as much as he can.
:Minute: Silver, you were born on Kosmoxeth to Saliva and Spittle Zin, the second of two children with Mallory being your elder sister. You were born during one of the Zaxiverse's greatest calamities, when your father was the supreme ruler of the universe and bestowed all the tools necessary to rule the world.
:Agantuk: He was on the verge of completely dominating the world. He was a fearless, bold commander with unrivaled technique and skill. Had he not let his cockiness get the better of him, he could have easily won.
:Minute: He was destroyed by the Virtue Seal. Kosmoxeth's "Heroes of Virtue" would seal away all his power into the earth, restoring it from its dying state, and his children would be placed in just Spittle's care. Spittle immediately moved to Zaxina because the Virtues attempted to kill her almost instantly.
:Agantuk: This happened around three decades ago. [tweaks his glasses] We learned from Spittle that he had ADHD, which played a role in his failure. This can be reflected in his lack of self-control and overall twitchiness.
Silver takes a deep breath, sitting back on the couch. Did he have ADHD? What is it?
:Silver: Not to sound uninformed, but what's ADHD?
:Agantuk: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. It's a common mental disorder and it's a pain in the neck to deal with for those who have it. Your father included. It was a vital character flaw.
:Minute: Anyway, we decided to talk to Spittle for more information about how you two lived in her household. She was, very calm, but she expressed immense distaste for you and Mallory for things she wouldn't mention to me.
:Silver: This is my mother, right? I guess I can understand that.
:Minute: Yes. She told me that you were both very troubled children, Silver.
Silver gulps. Pierce and Zellen share awkward glances at each other.
:Minute: Silver, you weren't a gracious child, we'll put it like that.
:Agantuk: She did tell me that she did mistreat you two with torture devices and trashed your prized possessions whenever you didn't listen to her, and that she'd only go easy if you two had good school grades. You lived through the pains with a smile, while Mallory screamed for the agony to end.
:Minute: You used to be Mallory's best friend, overcoming obstacles with her and getting involved in her interests up until you two went into your mid-teens. Mallory became very clingy and relied much on others for her happiness while weaseling her way around dilemmas that'd hurt her. You, however.
Minute swallows his breath.
:Minute: You hurt everyone you touched.
Silver sinks back into the couch. Shivers reach under his skin.
:Agantuk: You became very independent and very interested in conquering the world, ready to follow your father's footsteps. To get there, though, you needed help. You pretty much used blackmail against Spittle and Mallory to get there.
:Minute: I'm not sure if I can mention some of the precise details without hurting you.
Silver sits on edge, twiddling his thumbs idly. Pierce and Zellen sit up straight, placing an arm each around him.
:Clair: Let me. You probably can't remember it, Silver, but you've hurt people in horrible ways. Let's say there was a lot of creepiness, a lot of screaming, and a lot of condescending behavior from you.
:Minute: Spittle told me how you never liked to be questioned or disturbed unless you had specifically invited others in, and you were always abusive to those that were in your way. You took your father's ambitions and twisted them in horrible ways. So did Mallory, who liked her father's path, but you becamwe worse.
Agantuk closes his eyes.
:Agantuk: ...We learned that Mallory's always felt greatly inferior to you, because you down-talked her and sapped out all her sentiments and innocence. [looks away] What made this so sickening to learn is that she thought you would end everyone's suffering across the Zaxiverse if you became a god.
Silver was unsure how to unfreeze himself from his current position. Did he really hurt her like that?
:Clair: I've looked into the future from the perspective of your mother. She thought you could have become a dangerous, destructive monster that wanted more and more until nothing remained for you. Though Saliva wanted to hold full control of the universe, you were going to destroy it and absorb it. And you still hold the potent.
:Silver: This can't be real.
:Clair: It is!
:Agantuk: The horrible thing to learn was... [gulps] How much Mallory relied on you to be brought through the worst pains. Spittle admitted to abusing her and torturing her for being a spoiled daughter, but you never made things better; instead, you contributed to her issues. No wonder she's trying to kill you, Silver. You were the scum of the universe. At least, at that time.
Clair closes her eyes.
:Clair: Look at me.
Silver looks up at Clair. Tears were welling from his eyes as he tried everything he could to not burst out crying.
:Clair: This is something you have no control over. The past is the past. [looks away] But you've done long-term damage to how she views relationships and friendships, and you ruined any chance of yourself returning to your kind. Your mother was worried sick, but after internalizing everything you've done, she never wants to see you again.
:Silver: This is... r-real. [looks at his hands] I... I feel so dirty.
:Agantuk: Look. That's the truth to your past. You were attempting to follow your father's lead, but with twisted morals and philosophies, and you ended up getting your butt kicked when you tried to take the throne from your grandfather. Medea found you, and here you are today, far removed from your past.
:Silver: I-I see.
:Clair: And it doesn't look like the future is going to be any better, either. If Mallory learns of what you've learned, everything will worsen and steepen. And, I see death for you, Silver.
Clair looks into her crystal ball.
:Clair: I could've said something else if this conversation never happened, but... death it is.
:Agantuk: I'm sorry that you're feeling horrible by the revelations brought upon by you. Just accept that it's the past, you've only hurt two people, and that you're living a much different life now.
:Silver: R-Right.
:Agantuk: By the way, you were in a relationship with someone named Vindozz, who you treated well and with plenty of respect. I think she was planning to take over the county you lived in, and you fell in love with her for her destructive tastes or something. She doesn't know where you are anymore though, and assumes you're dead.
:Silver: ...I'm cheating on someone too??
:Agantuk: Yeaaaah. [sighs] I don't know what to tell you, man, besides just don't take this stuff too hard. You wanted to know the past, and this is what your past is. A long series of abusive years that swallowed up a good percentage of Mallory's life as well as your own.
Silver shakily gets up.
:Silver: Thank you for this meeting.
:Agantuk: You're welcome. Just be calm about everything, man. Even after having learned as much as I have, I don't hold anything against you because there's no way you mean any of that now.
:Silver: I... I know. [smiles weakly] T-Thank you. Goodbye.
:Agantuk: Good luck, Silver.
Silver and Agantuk hug each other tightly. Silver immediately begins sobbing into Agantuk's shoulder. He responded by patting Silver on the back, squeezing him tightly.
:Silver: I-If you learn a-anything else, t-ttell me on R-Risquord I g-guess.
:Agantuk: Alright. Bye-bye.
:Clair: See you, Silver.
:Minute: Best of luck, man.
Silver tightly grasps Pierce and Zellen's hands as he walks out of Agantuk's room. Silver felt his heavy heart weigh him down hard, feeling his eyes well up as he could hardly exhale air from his lungs right.
:Pierce: You going to be okay, Silver?
:Silver: N-No. [twitches] I-I need to go to bed.
:Pierce: Can we help you, Silver?
:Zellen: Silver sweetie, you're a changed person. It's okay.
Silver wretches his hands away from them, sniffing.
:Silver: I'm sorry, I just c-can't forgive myself right n-now!
Silver runs away from them, making them chase him down.
:Zellen: Silvie, no!
Silver summons a space pod, taking it back home. Pierce and Zellen just barely missed him.
:Pierce: After him!
Pierce and Zellen summon another space pod, taking it to chase Silver. In his pod, Silver was crying really hard into the dashboard, the tears slipping off the dashboard as he tries to deal with what's going on with him.
:Silver: T-This isn't happening, i-is it?
Silver sobs into the dashboard.
:Minute [past]: You hurt everyone you touched.
Silver chokes on his tears as he goes back home, whizzing past the authorities repairing the Valco Vortex.
:2:02 P.M. · SUNDAY September 28th, ZXE-223
:Kilmister Labs, Sector 1
A few hours after the appointment, Mallory heard learned what happened from Cody, and had ventured all the way to Devina's basement. She shook and shook.
:Mallory: H-Help me, p-please.
:The Manipulator: You've finally decided to turn to us, Mallory?
:Mallory: Y-Yes. [swallows] I can't bear a-anything anymore, I need h-help. I need something to s-satisfy me, and I need h-help because you knew the tricks to help me b-before. Please bear with me.
:The Manipulator: We can help you, honest, you look like a mess. You took orders through our little communicator pretty well, so we must commend you for attacking the Valco Vortex and knocking Valerie off balance.
The Manipulator chuckles darkly.
:The Manipulator: Set us free, Mallory. The time has come for you to do. With the mayor gone, I can take Vilicus' body and seize her position. Valerie is no longer the mayor, and people finally learned why Vilicus did what he did, so we can seize his vessel again. With me in power, I shall skew things in favor of you.
:Mallory: Y-You'll draw me to whatever will help me g-get over this horrible, s-sickening feeling inside of me? Please tell me you can h-help me as you've helped me b-before. I need everything I can have.
:The Manipulator: That's guaranteed, Mallory. Just release us, once I take back Vilicus' body, I will do a convincing job running for mayor and seize the satellite under my control. Then I'll place you and Silver at peace.
:Mallory: T-Thank you.
Mallory takes out her nailed bat, swinging it into the prison the spirits are trapped in. They escape from their little prison, surrounding Mallory and lifting her up into the air. They are now free again.
:The Manipulator: As our token of appreciation, let us show you what substances you'll like the most. When you're looking as down as you do, there's so many things you can choose from to help you reach tranquility.
:Mallory: T-Thank you.
:The Manipulator: Of course.
The Manipulator wraps its hands around Mallory, kissing her on the lips. She returns the kiss back, closing her eyes as she shows affection for this clearly deranged spirit. The Echeno and the Devil's Mask look very disgusted.
:The Devil's Mask: Need bleach now...
The Manipulator releases from Mallory, rubbing her hair.
:The Manipulator: Let me show you a brand new world, Mallory.
:Mallory: O-Okay.
The spirits walk out of the laboratories. Little did Devina know she'd have to hunt down Vilicus down again, but she knew they had escaped. While rehearsing with Black Eyes, she felt herself shiver.
:Black Eyes: You alright there, Dev?
:Devina: I felt something unreal just fill the air.
:Black Eyes: You're probably just tense because you're working with the best robot ever.
:Devina: I think I might have to take on the Holy Diver guise again.
The spirits escape Devina's laboratories, holding the weak-looking Mallory as they all cackle mischievously.
:5:54 P.M. · SUNDAY September 28th, ZXE-223
:Satellite 15 Stock Exchange, New Naxaz City
Gonzalo was sniffing the wads of cash stuck together in the palm of his hand, snickering.
:Gonzalo: How are you two ladies feeling?
:Medea: I feel... [shivers] At home, in a way.
:Valerie: I don't think I could honestly feel any worse.
:Gonzalo: Heh, I'm sure you'll find yourself at home here eventually, Valerie. [holds her chin] You were always an entertaining, lovely housewife. I regret letting you go when I did, because we could've been together for so much longer.
:Valerie: Please, let go of my chin. I need to take things slowly.
Valerie wasn't sure what to think. She was in the same room as her abusive ex-husband, in the same room as one of her least-liked individuals on the satellite, and she was practically trapped. With Syinara dead and her resignation from mayor, she was done for. She couldn't bear the stress any longer.
:Gonzalo: Now, while you two are feeling upset, you're free to do whatever you like in my humble home. Look through the drawers, open all the doors, and glance through the scrapbooks. I'm sure you'll find something excellent of note.
:Valerie: Alright.
:Gonzalo: I suppose with Syinara dead and Silver distracted, you two have me for as long as I'd like to have you two. I suppose my maids have run off elsewhere, so you might have to resume work in their stead.
:Valerie: Look, I agreed to seeking shelter here, I didn't agree to doing slave work for you. Just because I lost my wife doesn't mean I'm weak enough to listen to your commands, Gonzalo.
:Gonzalo: Heh. Maybe it's too soon to ask you two to do something for me. I have to earn back that trust, don't I?
Gonzalo laughs like your friendly uncle, but you can tell he's much more sinister than your average uncle.
:Gonzalo: Here's a proposition I'm willing to make for you two. If I do my part and be a wonderful, caring, soft-hearted husband by letting you two receive your desires, you two will do my bidding. I'll give you days to think on that.
:Medea: I don't know how I feel about this.
:Gonzalo: That's why I'm giving you days to think about it.
:Valerie: I see.
:Gonzalo: And now that you two are with me again, I'm willing to "have a go" any time you two desire! As far as I'm concerned, you two were always looking forward to doing that kinda crap with me, and now with my friend Nicholas, the parties can get much more intense!
Shredder grins wide, sitting at a corner of the room reading up on Gonzalo's planning book. That grin fades the moment Gonzalo isn't looking at him.
:Gonzalo: Don't bother attempting to escape my place, by the way, the doors leading outside auto-lock unless they recognize my hand on the handle. So, because of that, you're free to remember everything you want about me!
:Valerie: We might as well get up, Medea.
Medea nods, getting up and hugging Valerie. Valerie REALLY didn't like her, but she decides to hug back anyway. When she drew the connection that Medea was abused by him too, she wraps her arms around tighter with a touch more sympathy.
:Gonzalo: Aww, what hot lesbians.
:Medea: Shut your mouth, Gonzalo.
Gonzalo just shrugs, watching them hug. His cheeks go a little pink, much to Shredder's disgust.
:Shredder: Hey, I'm gonna pretend I'm deaf.
Shredder moves to the other side of the room, sitting down.
:Medea: Let's get used to the environment, Val.
Medea grabs her hand softly. Valerie clasped her fingers around Medea's. They were cold fingers, but she was willing to adjust. They walked out of Gonzalo's room, walking down the hallway together.
:Valerie: Do you want to talk somewhere private, Medea?
:Medea: Yeah, sure.
Valerie opens up the door to the secret cellar, going down there with Medea. She holds Medea's hand, taking her down there. She sees that the floor's slightly flooded with melted ice and very cold water, but steps into it anyway. Medea follows suit, unaffected. Valerie shuts the door.
:Valerie: I'm embarrassed that I let myself get drawn back to Gonzalo, he's a disgusting and vile person and I shouldn't have accepted his offer when I did. [breathes] I wish I died with Syi.
:Medea: Noise made me rethink a lot of the things I've been doing to myself and my friends. I keep chastising Silver behind his back for not coming to help me with my illegal projects, and I ended up crawling back to Gonzalo over Silver when I remembered how much more brutal and forceful he was. Which is, embarrassingly closer to my style.
:Valerie: Don't feel too terrible.
Valerie sits down in a chair. She was starting to feel a little better being around Medea; she seemed to have more layers than she really let on.
:Valerie: When I had Gonzalo, he was always super rough and gave me the adrenaline boosts I needed to power through the day. Syinara made sure to give me every bit as much power as he did. When she died, I remembered the one quantity that made it hard for me to separate from Gonzalo, which was that.
:Medea: But the thing for me that made me not like him was that he was very intrusive of my privacy and grossed me out. He'd bring girls into the house I didn't recognize, cuddle with them, kiss them, even while I was watching.
:Valerie: Something I didn't catch onto was that he was way too old for me. Several years ago, we were partners, and I wasn't even in my 20s by the time we were together. That was a time where I was still finding my success.
Valerie fumed from her nose.
:Valerie: And he got so envious, he tried to steal a good chunk of my fame, I'm the only reason why he has any position of power right now. He used to be a beggar and a trespasser until he met me.
:Medea: When I met him, he was a pathetic lowlife that I pitied and took under my wing until he proved to be too much of a bearing on me. Azrail doesn't even like to remember he had a dad.
Valerie pulls in Medea, hugging her and wrapping her arms around her back. Syinara was gone. Was she going to have to start confiding in Medea about her woes and worries? Where was Valerie going to go? Much of the fame and success she had at the Valco Vortex got plundered. She's not rich anymore.
:Valerie: I didn't like you at first, Medea, but you're honestly a much different person than you let yourself on to be.
:Medea: The feeling's mutual, Val. But I like you a lot. I didn't realize how much we have in common.
:Valerie: I hope one day I'll be able to return to the position I had before. I gave up my whole life in less than a day. [hangs her head] God, what am I? I let Mallory get in the way of everything and now I'm at an all-time low.
:Medea: Things aren't going to be horrible forever, Val. [holds her hand] I'm sure if you talked with Zodiez, she'll recognize what happened and what you're going through and you'll be back on your feet.
:Valerie: I don't know. It just wouldn't be the same without Syi. I lost interest in the fame when I realized how incredible my wife was. [sniffs] I was dedicating all my work to making her happy!
:Medea: I understand. I understand.
Medea wraps her arms around Valerie as tightly as she could. She felt a sudden passion to squeeze Valerie as tightly as she could. Valerie smiled a little as she held her new friend closely.
:Medea: I should p-probably apologize to Silver whenever I get out of h-here. But I need G-Gonzalo's help in setting up my plan and all. [closes her eyes] Is it even worth it?
:Valerie: I don't know, I'll talk to Silver as soon as I can. [looks down] This was supposed to be his big day, and I don't want to interrupt him right now. Maybe later.
:Medea: Yea, I get it.
Gonzalo suddenly opens the doors, grinning as he sees the two ladies sitting together.
:Gonzalo: Ahh, ladies. I was wondering if you'd like to take matters up to the bedroom?
:Valerie: Get lost, please.
:Gonzalo: Don't you dare talk back to me like that! I just gave you both a new home!
:Valerie: I want to be given some alone time with Medea, I'm trying to talk to her alone and we'd rather not have to deal with you right now. [folds her arms] Out! Shoo!
:Gonzalo: Heh.
Gonzalo steps over to them, holding rope.
:Gonzalo: I'll just take you up there by force.
:Medea: G-Get away!
Medea pushes him away.
:Medea: Now I remember why I didn't want to be with you! You spent so much time manipulating me into remembering the good times that I forgot how terrible you really were!
:Valerie: We want to be left to ourselves!
Gonzalo growls. He seizes them both, tying ropes around their mouths and their limbs, dragging them up the stairs to his bedroom. He snickers, a wide grin passing over his face.
:Gonzalo: I'll teach you two who exactly you're talking to! Come on Shredder, it's time for a bit of business!
Shredder shakes his head.
:Shredder: Not interested.
:Gonzalo: Fine then, you're just missing out then, haha!
Medea and Valerie attempt to wiggle their way out of Gonzalo's grip as he slams the door behind him. And that's the last we see of these two for this phase.
:7:11 P.M. · SUNDAY September 28th, ZXE-223
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
Silver's laying down in bed. He looks absolutely dreadful and weak, much worse than he did when he was at Agantuk's room earlier. An extra set of horns was growing out from his head, the blood from his eyes thickened, his clothes look ragged, and the walls around him look scratched and beaten. Silver was alone in his room, having locked himself in from the outside.
:Pierce: I'm worried for him Zellen, I wish I knew what I could do for him. [shivers] He hasn't said a word since we came home. I wish I knew what I could do for him.
:Zellen: M-Me too. [taps her fingers together] Medea hasn't come back yet, either.
:Pierce: Everything's been changed on its head today. Have you seen what Silver's been doing in there?
:Zellen: N-No.
Pierce is shown looking into Silver's room a few hours back. He sees the scratch marks on the walls, the alcohol bottles on the floor, bloodshed on the sheets, and a bedside note that he tried to vent into but couldn't write coherently.
:Pierce: I think it's just best if I don't tell you for now. We have the guest bedroom for now.
Pierce swallows.
:Pierce: God, I wish I knew what was going on with him. I've never seen him this down in my life.
:Zellen: I didn't think someone could scare me so badly. [bites her nails] I've been proven wrong.
:Pierce: Poor Rogue, she's been acting pretty quiet today as well.
Rogue, Silver and Medea's child, was sitting all alone in a play pen at the corner of the living room.
:Pierce: I wish I knew what I could do.
:Zellen: Me too.
Inside the bedroom...
:Silver: I didn't think that Mallory could be right about me being a monster. [breathes] I'm responsible for her doing the things she's done. I-I can't believe I could be so foolish to believe I was right about her being wrong.
Silver grinds his nails across his upper legs, hissing.
:Silver: If it weren't for me, none of this bullcrap would be happening to the satellite's community. Valerie wouldn't have lost Syi, Scotch wouldn't be stressed out so much, and my sister wouldn't be suffering. [sniffs] I brought ruin to the universe, it's all my fault.
Silver sits up, looking at himself in the mirror. He looked horrible. Tears were actively flowing from his angry eyes. He couldn't forgive himself for what he had done.
:Silver: Maybe it's true that Mallory ultimately made the decision to hurt others using what I've accidentally taught her, but who am I kidding, you reap what you sow and that's what I'm going to have to deal with.
Silver stares into the mirror hard. He looks so fragile. Everything he's learned today had considerably hit him hard. He didn't know what to think of himself anymore. He looks weaker than you could ever believe.
:Silver: I'm pathetic. I don't deserve what I've been given. I can't live peacefully knowing what I've done to hurt others. Whether they were doings in the past or not, they still happened!
Silver slams his knuckles into the mirror, shattering it. He twitches horribly, taking some heroin onto a spoon and starting to suck up the smoke through a straw.
:Silver: I'm glad Vilicus was able to bring this crap back into my life.
A flashback is shown of Vilicus showing up through the mirror, offering Silver trays of alcohol bottles and plenty of heroin tar. Now Silver's room has substances stuffed around it. He's returned to his destructive ways.
:Silver: I'll never be able to forgive myself for the things I've done. [sniffs] I'm not worthy of being here.
Silver twitches really hard, looking at the shattered mirror fragments.
:Silver: I'm too cowardly to die, though.
Silver takes deep breaths, trying to reassure himself everything was going to be okay. The blood ran down his cheeks like it were makeup. He looked down, looking miserable.
:Silver: I can't believe that people have been able to be so nice and good to me, I've received more friends than I could ever hope for, and in the end? How much of that is worth it if you know you're a monster?
Silver look to the side. His teeth clench. He saw a photo of himself and a bunch of his friends. Silver walks over slowly to it, peering at the photo.
:Silver: Friends...
Silver picks up the photo.
:Silver: I wish I could feel comfortable with calling anyone my friend a-anymore. Because I want to b-believe they're my friends, but I can't help but feeling like they have inner judgment they're waiting to h-hit me with later.
Silver throws the photo at the ground, watching the glass shatter.
:Silver: It feels like I'm wearing a facade.
Silver felt his chest heave and jump as he clumsily made it back to bed, throwing his spoon away. He decides to wipe off the bloodshed, burying his head into the bed and pulling a pillow over his head.
:Silver: I hate myself. [breathes] I've failed so many people. My mother will never forgive me for what I've done, my sister will forever hate me for what I've done. And, I can't turn back time. It's something I can't escape.
Silver twitches, trying to bury his head down further.
:Silver: I can feel all the memories flood back into my head, like puzzle pieces clicking together. [feels his eyes water] It's hurting me so much, feeling all these horrible memories piling back in my head.
Silver grips his pillow tightly as he remembered every individual moment of abuse. Every part of his body shivered with displeasure as they remembered movements they haven't felt in years.
:Silver: I've failed everyone. And most people don't even know it.
Silver feels his heart sink like a stone.
:Silver: I can't say anything about it either, because it's too personal. And the more people that know, the more people that might cut ties with me upon seeing me for what I really am. [scratches his knees] WHY AM I LIKE THIS? WHY?
Silver deep breathes, trying to get ahold of himself but failing miserably. Pierce swallows, opening the door to his room with Zellen. They close the door after Zellen tosses Rogue a pacifier, both slowly jumping onto Silver's bed.
:Silver: I can't, I can't...
:Pierce: Honey!
Silver gets up. Silver's eyes look really soaked, his cheeks red, his mouth agape in disappointment.
:Pierce: You really don't look good. [holds him gently] Please, calm down.
:Silver: B-Buttt! [sputters] B-B-But!
:Pierce: Stop. [holds him gently] You need to rest.
:Zellen: It's for your own good.
Both Pierce and Zellen hug Silver. The former clicks off the lights as they wrap their arms around Silver, one person on each side, hugging him as tightly as they can.
:Pierce: Good night Silver, we'll talk when you're feeling more, sober.
:Zellen: Please sleep well.
Zellen kisses his lips.
:Zellen: My heart is racing just wondering if you're going to be alright. Make it through this for me.
Silver sniffles, then goes to sleep.
:Pierce: He's not going to have a good October, is he?
:Zellen: No.
:Pierce: Let's make sure we carry him through that month the best we can while things escalate.
Zellen nods as they sleep with Silver. We get a glimpse into Silver's dream.
:Silver: H-Here again, right?
Silver was inside the orange sands again, but a huge torrent of rain was cascading down onto him. Rain flooded the space around him. The moon he saw earlier was down to a couple of slivers. He had lost much of himself to the touch, and he felt all the memories burn him from the inside.
::
::
:Silver: No, i-it can't be mostly gone now. [sniffs] No.
Silver gets held onto by three skeletons. The skeletons of Mallory, Saliva, and Spittle. They had a really tight grip on him, and they didn't want to let go of him. But they were dead. It was a vengeful grip.
:Silver: Everything... everything's going wrong.
Silver shivers under the red thundering skies, surrounded by sand that threatened to drag him under far.
:Silver: Y-You.
Silver sees his past self staring down at him. A younger Silver with blood-stained hands, wearing Saliva's crown, holding Mallory and Spittle by leashes.
:Silver: You... you are s-so special.
Silver attempts to pry himself from the sands, but he can't. The guilt and treason he felt kept him buried under.
:Silver: You have the t-talent to make me feel like dirt.
The younger Silver smiled deviously at him.
:Silver: I want you to kill me and dig me under, I wanna live no more.
Silver sinks under the burdens he carries, the skeletons of his family clenching around him underground. But even while buried, he can see red beams of light flash from the empty eye sockets of his family members. They stared at him with hatred. Vengeance. He couldn't escape the madness he brought himself under.
:7:40 P.M. · SUNDAY September 28th, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep, ???
Mallory herself was sitting on a throne-like chair, surrounded by several emptied bottles of alcohol. Mallory was smoking heroin, having succumbed to the same fate as Silver. All of her associates survived the risky Valco Vortex attack and were sitting before her.
:Mallory: Silver knows now.
Nobody responds right away.
:Mallory: Silver knows, and now I can't reap the innocence from him myself. Please kill everyone you know to be his friend and make it q-quick. [hisses] Cody, Cody you are so special to me right now.
:Cody: I know. [sighs] I couldn't stop him.
:Mallory: I-It's okay, Cody. It's okay. [swallows] I'll never be able to get my revenge back on Silver and have it feel as meaningful, I can feel everything inside of me snap and crackle just from that realization.
Mallory feels her final moon fragments crack. It's over.
:Mallory: S-Still, there is no excuse to slack off. Kill him as soon as you s-see him.
:Cody: Yes, ma'am.
Cody walks off shakily. Kispel wheels away too, wordlessly.
:Mania: We'll try to bring him down as soon as we can.
:Beck: On it. I just need to get a new helmet first.
:Mallory: D-Do what you need to.
Mallory watches everyone leave her.
:Mallory: H-Heh. Silver, Silver Silver Silver Silver Silver. [hisses loud] I wish you never found out.
Mallory swallows her breath.
:Mallory: Come back, ghosty.
Mallory watches the Manipulator rise up from the floor. He floats over to Mallory.
:Mallory: I need you.
Mallory's eyes looked empty and cold. Like every spark of energy that was in them before has gone.
:Mallory: Make me feel good.
Mallory and the Manipulator kiss. Mallory gives in to her dealer as Cody and Kispel watch with disgust from a distance.
:Cody: I feel like she's going to become a much greater threat soon. Silver too, from the looks of things.
Kispel nods.
:Kispel: It's over...
===Interlude: Dirt===
One week would pass since Silver Zin discovered the ugly truth to his past. Everything had greatly changed on the fateful day of September 28th, ZXE-223. And now everything's changed for a deeper, darker direction.
Silver once again goes under a dramatic change with his lifestyle. Known for being a dirty, mischievous city rat in the past, known especially for extensively annoying the police forces (especially Zonas B. Trayd and the Nature Warrior), Silver has given up that lifestyle. Unable to recover from the truth he learned from Agantuk, Silver's been home ever since, attempting to wash his sorrows away through self-abuse and dirty substances to help him ease his sorrows. Feeling responsible for the downfall of the satellite's economy, Silver can't bear the thought of going outside, knowing that sooner or later he'll have to reap what he sows. The collar he was given to wear by Ms. Replicate and Mallory in the past has been shattered, and he has been going all-in on what he's got. Many of his key characteristics do remain; he continues to be flirty with his partners and tries to have a good time but his humor's become slightly more suicidal and self-aware, making it sometimes uncomfortable to be around him. He no longer feels rebellious, he just now feels desperate for help.
:Pierce: Do you need anything, Silver?
:Silver: N-No.
:Pierce: Let me know if you do, alright?
:Silver: Give me detergent to clean out my throat.
Things have greatly changed for everyone else as well. Since Syinara sacrificed herself to protect Valerie from a fatal bleed-out, Valerie's been trying to drown her sorrows through drinks and cigarettes, and now lives with her abusive ex-husband Gonzalo until she can figure out where to move. Ms. Replicate (Medea), feeling betrayed by her teammates which all left her, has been living with Gonzalo since as well. Valerie and Medea, having faced a lot of trauma together at the likes of his hands, released the grudges they held against each other when they realized how much in common they shared. Meanwhile, Abraham Mason's formed the Shutdown Squad with Noise, Yama, Rose, and Azul, all of whom felt they suffered from trauma at the hands of their respective bosses. Working with the authorities, Scotch's been working on cleaning up the disaster that Mallory's assistants left behind for them to deal with, and he's managed to get Wick and Waxy to temporarily do the work that Valerie and Syinara had to do before. They're not perfect nor as fast as those pair were, but they're trying their best.
:Valerie: No matter how many times Gonzalo brings us down, we're friends, alright?
:Medea: I trust you.
...
:Rose: Shutdown Squad, unite!
:Abraham: Yay.
...
:Scotch: Try your best to do this work, alright?
:Wick: You can count on me, general! If my name ain't Wick!
:Waxy: Thank you...
Mallory has been doing considerably worse. Having been driven to the point of insanity, things have been worsening over at the Purple Keep. Mallory's spending plenty of time with Vilicus, her latest crewmate and a necessity for any success Mallory would like to have in the future- they're also a new couple and have been getting along fantastically. As in, Vilicus is intentionally playing the role as yesman to please her and only choosing to not be one when Mallory needs him to not be one. Thanks to the Manipulator, Mallory's heart is being kept beating and alive by someone, even if it's for the completely wrong reasons- you know that the Manipulator wishes to see the Zins destroy each other. Mallory's Cody and Kispel have been hanging out together a lot, trying to figure out what they can do to bring Mallory to a more stable state. Mania, Beck, and Mallory's other associates aren't really sure what to do besides try to help track down Silver. Mallory's in hell right now, and she's not sure if she'll escape it. Not that it matters, she doesn't have a moon left to stare at. She's lost in a fever.
:Mallory: V-Vilicus, hold me.
:Vilicus: You're going to be fine, everything's okay!
:Mallory: Y-You know everything's not okay, Vilicus, right?
:Vilicus: Correction, they're not okay, but I'll help you live it out!
How is everything going to turn out this time? Could this be the end of Satellite 15? These two threats, one externally and one internally, feel like dirt. Shall they cover the satellite with it?
===Phase Three: The Threat===
====Prologue====
:5:30 A.M. · SUNDAY October 5th, ZXE-223
:Amour Clinic, Sector 5
Spade Amour hums as she bites down on a fat cigar, writing away at a small black hardcover book. With the authorities taking time to reorganize the satellite and with Gonzalo hitting the economy hard in negative ways, many businesses and residences across the satellite were hit hard, and places aren't in as good shape as they used to be. Spade's office didn't look that much different than it did last time, but the painted peeled away in some places and Spade sold some of her personal belongings to get by. Sitting before her was a teary-eyed Cody.
:Cody: Sorry that you've had to sell off your big fancy chair.
:Spade: It's fine, I'm starting to get used to the authorities' apathetic attitude to those in business. I'm also getting used to the tax increases set upon by Gonzalo. [sighs] Anyway, what are you here for, Cody?
Cody looks a bit reluctant to tell Spade anything. He looked really shaken by something.
:Spade: You're the silent type, it seems?''
:Cody: No, not r-really. Sorry, I've been t-trying to figure out a way to talk about it.
Spade nods, sliding a chocolate bar across the counter for him to take.
:Cody: What's this for?
:Spade: I think everyone knows that for as long as chocolate continues to be in production, there'll always be a way to bring a smile out of someone. [smiles a little] Unless they're allergic, like that Scotch fella who came in a while back.
:Cody: Scotch is allergic to chocolate?
:Spade: It's probably why Scotch doesn't get along with his brother all that well.
Spade and Cody share a little bit of laughter.
:Spade: Anyway, enough distractions, I want to know why you're here and what you need to help me with. Let's cut it with the stalling and get right down to what's important.
:Cody: Right. [twitches his fingers] I'm worried for my, ex-lover. The past week has been a nightmare.
:Spade: Tell me about it, we still don't have a known replacement for Valerie Heartgold. She just... quit her position of authority. No warning, must have to do with that scarecrow's death. [sighs] Continue.
:Cody: Mallory has been really abusive to me over the past few months and a-all of her teammates.
Cody chomps into the chocolate bar.
:Cody: What I've been w-wanting for the longest time for Silver is for him to f-finally remember his past and accept that it happened. [gulps] I had to unveil this information to M-Mallory, or she'd behead me for lying. And, it's been a n-nightmare living with her since.
:Spade: Oh, that's probably why Silver hasn't dropped by in a while. Must be busy taking care of himself.
We get a shot of Silver huddled up alone on his bed, curled up and twitching horribly.
:Cody: I sure hope so.
:Spade: What are those marks on your wrists, Cody?
We get a glimpse of some recent-looking marks on Cody's wrists.
:Cody: I-I don't want to tell you about them, because I don't want you to t-take any action on me.
:Spade: Suit yourself. But, do continue.
:Cody: S-Since Mallory learned that her brother finally remembered everything about himself, she's been drugging herself up and drinking excessively, g-going through a downward spiral. [looks away] And, s-she's found a new love life in some strange spiritual being, who seems to be the one r-responsible for giving her those t-things.
:Spade: Where does the abuse come in, Cody?
:Cody: I was trying to get to that p-part.
Cody's face looks red as a beet.
:Cody: B-Besides some obvious quirks, Mallory used to be a fairly reasonable person that would be lenient with punishments and allow plenty of room for error. S-She wasn't a super-strict boss, she just cared that we tried to help her out and s-she paid us handsomely for our work even if we missed our target.
Cody places his chocolate-covered hands over his face.
:Cody: Y-Yeah, Mallory's done some her fair share of terrorism and treason aboard the satellite even back then, but she never tricked any of us into joining her cause. S-She just saw us as interesting individuals that could be valuable assets to her during her times of need, and she t-took the time to heal us and unroot us of our troubled pasts.
:Spade: I don't like Mallory one bit, but it is interesting how she isn't a completely terrible person, I'll give her that. Continue.
:Cody: B-But something none of us really s-saw in Mallory then was just how much s-she wanted us to give back to her. O-Over time, she'd begin to demand more and more out of us, to the point of exhaustion.
Cody unscrews his metal bottle of water, drinking excessively from it.
:Cody: As things c-continued to stack up against Mallory, her p-patience began to run thin. We weren't the problem, she r-recognized that at least, but the a-authorities amounted a lot of p-pressure onto her.
Cody sits as straight up as he can.
:Cody: I-I've listened in on that conversation that Silver had with Agantuk that let him see into the past. If Mallory's a-assumptions about her sibling being a b-bad influence on her mental health are correct, t-then Mallory's a lost child.
:Spade: You suppose she should see a therapist? T-That isn't me?
:Cody: I-I don't know if she can be redeemed, Spade.
Cody finishes his chocolate bar, sighing.
:Cody: Mallory has t-threatened to hit me, over and o-over again with whatever weapons of her choice, and she's gone through with it a couple of times. [gulps] The first time I saw her attempt to do it, she didn't do it. I-I was hoping she wouldn't consider that e-ever again.
Cody takes off his shirt. He turns around on his chair, showing his bare backside to Spade. Spade looks curiously at the many long, thin risen welts across his back, cringing a little as she gets a closer look.
:Cody: I-I can't look at my backside anymore. It looks awful and it only gets worse as the beatings continue.
:Spade: ...Good lord. [breathes] Does she do this to her other assistants, Cody?
:Cody: K-Kispel- poor dude's in the hospital right now, his super-frail body can't handle beatings well. I used to d-detest him so much until I realized that he fell into the same trap I did. I don't know about the rest, I j-just know that Mania and Beck don't like talking about her anymore.
:Spade: I see. [sighs] Is there anything else you need to tell me about, Cody?
Cody takes his shirt back down, turning back to her. He looked even worse than he did when he came in.
:Cody: N-No. [looks down] Even though she's -cheated on me, hurt me, and treated me like dirt, I can't h-hhelp but wish for her b-best recovery. She doesn't deserve any of the pain she's g-gone through.
:Spade: Even after she's treated nearly a dozen individuals like crap, barring the satellite's standard citizens?
:Cody: Please don't kill me or anything, b-but... [nods] Y-Yeah. I can't help it, she was the one that brought me out of my personal hell nearly four years ago. I can't feel anything but my strongest pities for her.
Cody feels tears roll down his sore cheeks.
:Cody: I-I don't care what happens to me anymore, I want her to get better. And that's why I'm s-still with her. I'm not g-giving up, I only came here because I needed, to have s-someone I can comfortably vent about this to.
:Spade: I understand. [closes her eyes] Thank you for talking to me, Cody. You take care of yourself, alright?
:Cody: I will.
:Spade: Don't give in to the crap that Mallory's giving you, try your hardest to not bring up any potential triggers to her, and if possible go outside to take a break if needed. [swallows] If you keep getting hurt, you're going to get yourself killed. Understand?
:Cody: I'll die if that's what'll make Mallory feel happy. Thank you.
:Spade: Don't say crap like that, please. [trembles] I'd hate to see you go out like how my mother did.
:Cody: ...Yeah, that sounded really stupid. [sighs] Sorry. I'll see you around, a-alright?
:Spade: Check in within a week, sweetheart. You're always welcome here.
Cody nods, leaving the room, looking at Spade one last time.
:Cody: Thank you.
:Spade: No problem. See you next week.
Cody nods, leaving the room. He heads over to his space pod when he sees a familiar face hanging out against the side of the space pod. It turns out to be Mallory, who had been patiently waiting for him. He looked a bit taken aback at first, but realizes that she is sober and calm.
:Mallory: There you are. Where have you been?
:Cody: Sorry, I was just getting therapy.
Mallory nods.
:Mallory: It's alright, I know that. [gulps] Things haven't been the best lately.
:Cody: Let's just not talk and go right home.
:Mallory: Okay.
Mallory and Cody climb into the space pod, with Mallory typing in some coordinates.
:Mallory: You sure you don't want to talk about it, at least a little? I don't even remember what happened last night.
Cody sure did. We see a shot of him attempting to keep his bedroom door shut on her while Mania and Beck were busy playing a Mario Kart rip-off in the background. Mallory can very clearly be seen holding a shiny steel whip.
:Cody: It's fine. I forgive you.
:Mallory: You s-sure?
:Cody: Yes. Let's just go home, please.
Mallory nods, making the space pod take off. Spade watches from her window.
:Spade: You fool, staying in an abusive relationship just to try and make that person happy is just going to hurt you more than it'll help her. [sighs] I can only hope my appointment with Silver next time I see him goes better, he skipped out on last week's appointment.
Spade decides to close her office, sighing to herself as she goes straight to bed in an adjacent room. She looks over the bedside counter, seeing an image of her once-proud mother.
:Spade: I know abusive relationships all too well. My father... my father was what you were describing to me. Please, for your own sake Cody, make the right move and get the fudge out of there. If the person is hurting you, it's not worth it.
:9:48 A.M. · SUNDAY October 5th, ZXE-223
:Satellite 15 Stock Exchange, New Naxaz City
From his office desk, Gonzalo saw his one zodiac stone shining and glistening inside a glass cage attached to the wall. He was kicking beck in his lounge chair, as Valerie and Medea reluctantly swept up his floors in unreasonably tight maid outfits. They sweated as they swept the floors, the bright lights of Gonzalo's office not helping them at all.
:Gonzalo: So what that Mallory knows where you are, precious stone? I will seize all of the stones from her possession, then use them all to my might to begin my universal conquest. A masculine paradise!
Gonzalo cackles obnoxiously loudly, coughing over his desk as he lost a grip on himself.
:Gonzalo: Valerie! Medea! Do you two wish to return to your stardom roles?
:Valerie: There is no way on this satellite that I'm going to return to my former glory with you as my manager, Gonzalo.
:Gonzalo: Oh, that's too bad. You want to test me again like that, bad girl?
Gonzalo wiggles a sheet of paper from his hand, holding a lighter below it. The light helps us see that it's a plan for reviving Syi from the dead, something that's illegal on the satellite for spiritual reasons but can still be done.
:Gonzalo: We made a deal, Valerie. If you partake in my misadventures, I will be a generous gentleman and give you back what you desire, Syinara. Who can then also join you! We can have a lesbian freakshow!
:Valerie: You m-monster.
Valerie isn't sure what to say after that. Gonzalo laughs, waving his light beneath the sheet of paper.
:Gonzalo: Which is it, Valerie? Your innocence or your wife? Because you can't have your cake and eat it too!
:Valerie: Hmmphh. [sighs] Fine, I'll partake in your sexist schemes.
:Gonzalo: That's more like it, Valerie. We care about you being feminine, cute, fun, flirtatious, promiscuous, fit, and... hmmm, spicy. [winks] And I'm sure you're going to make loads of money off your stardom duties alone!
Valerie tries really hard to abstain from calling him a creep, and decides it wasn't worth taking more bullets than she already has to take. She glances at this evil man before her, who flashes a menacing grin down at her, which was loaded with a disgusting amount of malice. As if he knew how bad this was hurting her.
:Medea: Don't w-waste her life like this, Gonzalo. Take mine instead. [looks away] I'm more appropriate to be your circus freak, anyway. I can clone anyone I touch, with enough concentration.
:Gonzalo: Don't be ridiculous, Medea! You'll be able to enjoy the circus with her! And when Syinara gets involved in the picture, it'll be an excellent show for the whole world to see! Because the ZaxNet sees polys as nothing more than relationships waiting to fall to abuse!
:Valerie: Mmmm. [mutters] Zonas should kill him.
:Gonzalo: What was that, my darling?
:Valerie: Nothing, dear.
:Gonzalo: Excellent. But let's make something clear right now, if I catch you saying anything about me, anything that could possibly be used against me, I am going to torture you in ways you don't like.
:Medea: What would the authorities have to say about it? Didn't you think of that?
:Gonzalo: Oh, I have a high position of power in the authorities. By abusing Zodiez's uncertainty and ability to be persuaded so easily and by bringing up every detail I possibly can against Scotch to make him ineffective at making any arguments against me, I can make you both suffer!
Gonzalo snickers, his hands in his pockets.
:Gonzalo: That is, if you're unwilling to play by my rules. I'm afraid that if you want to have the best possible experience, you're going to need to be on your very best behavior! Or you'll become zoo exhibits.
:Medea: Exhibits!?
:Gonzalo: Correct! If you two ever get thrown into a cage together, the world will just see you two as animals. They'll laugh at you, mock you, take photos of you, and you might have to pose with some of our guests! Including my many children that I've popped out of the dozens of women I've had relationships with.
Valerie and Medea just glanced at each other with nothing but disgust.
:Gonzalo: So, you two promise to make everything go the way it's supposed to go? The exhibit crap is only going to occur if you two decide to mess up before me. If you promise, pinky promise I might add, you might be able to get away with minimal harassment.
:Medea: You're admitting this is harassment!?
:Gonzalo: I mean, I suppose calling it valuable entertainment would be too obvious a lie.
Valerie sighs, looking really frustrated.
:Valerie: If I partake in this, you are going to promise me that not only will I avoid the whole exhibit bullcrap if I go along with the base plan, I'll get my girlfriend revived as promised. These are the circumstances I need you to understand.
:Gonzalo: It's a deal, Valerie! I reckon you might be beginning to understand what women are supposed to actually be like.
:Valerie: What?
:Gonzalo: Oh, you know. Women aren't supposed to be resistant, they're supposed to obey men's orders. That's the role of the housewife, don't you see? Maybe it's better if you don't retort back at me.
Valerie rolls her eyes.
:Valerie: Alright.
:Gonzalo: In turn, I shall give you the easiest course through these troubled times and I'll additionally take some time to lose some weight. Men aren't supposed to be weighty, unless the weight is pure muscle.
:Valerie: I see.
Gonzalo smirks to himself.
:Gonzalo: You two women run off, that floor's sparkly clean. You have an hour of recess. Go!
Both run out of his sight. Gonzalo snickers, looking at the zodiac stone on the wall.
:Gonzalo: If I can just get my hands on the remaining stones, I can finally bring chaos about the satellite! [sneers loudly] Just you wait and see, Mallory! You're my only competition now!
Valerie and Medea run off together, going outside into a caged backyard. They can't escape it while it's in this condition.
:Medea: We have to get out of here, or Gonzalo will do some real craptastic things.
:Valerie: I know, but I don't know how I can do that and have Syi back. [covers her forehead] If I don't comply, I'm not going to get her back. I can't move on without her. If I leave, he'll burn the one paper that exists that shows evidence of how she can be properly brought back.
Valerie's face fumes.
:Valerie: Guess I'll figure out how things are going to go the hard way.
:11:00 A.M. · SUNDAY October 5th, ZXE-223
:Vinegar Base, Satellite Lobby
Scotch was sitting by his desk at the military base. He looked unsure of what to do, just how to pass the time. With Valerie nowhere to be seen and with Syinara dead, with so much work stacking upon him as a result of the terrorist attacks, and with so much guilt weighing down on him, Scotch couldn't look worse. Attempting to cope with the trauma, he started smoking heroin some weeks ago. He was the one that told Silver to not do this so long ago, but when he realized the depth of the madness he's fallen into, he couldn't help but follow his lead.
:Scotch: I don't know anymore, lady. With so much pressure weighing down on me, I don't know if things are going to work out or be okay anymore. [deep breathes] Is my job worth it if I can hardly solve anything and if the people I attempt to help out only get hurt in the end? Is it worth watching people die when I stumble?
Scotch didn't have an immediate response. He felt a soft, soft hand rub down his back. Five magical fingernails danced on his backside, making him take a deep breath as he kept his hand held firmly on his silver spoon. It's revealed that he's sitting with a lady that's a few inches shorter than him. She had strange hornet-like features and an appealing yellowjacket color scheme, but she looked sweet and caring. This was Scotch's third relationship. Both his previous relationships ended miserably.
:Oshelia [past]: You're out of control, Scotch! Stay away from me!
:Minute [past]: I didn't think, that you would hurt me with that bottle, I can't be with you if you're going to be like this. I can't be in that kind of relationship, Scotch. I'm sorry.
:Oshelia [past]: H-Help me, Snickers, there's glass shards on my face.
:Minute [past]: I'm glad you realized your mistakes, Scotch, but it's too late. It's over. G-Goodbye.
:Oshelia [past]: What kind of m-man would hit their wife with a b-beer bottle for forgetting about their anniversary! It's... it's crappy that I didn't remember, b-but you can't just t-take it out on me that way!
:Minute [past]: You were just thinking about going back to Oshelia all along? Why, why were we together, then? Were you using me, Scotch? D-Did you not really care about me the whole time?
Scotch sniffs, burying his face in his new girlfriend's neck. Her name tag read, "Lily Horn".
:Lily: There there, Scotchy-kun, it's going to be fine.
Her hornet-like wings flutter as she runs a hand through his hair. Scotch was always a man with more standard tastes than the rest of his satellite brethren. He usually didn't like being around those that struck him off as strange or otherworldly, and persists that he likes to be with normal people. But with few things left to hold onto, he didn't have much choice anymore.
:Lily: You just needed someone a little more interesting in your life, that's all.
:Scotch: You don't understand.
Scotch sets aside his spoon and straw.
:Scotch: I always let the small things get to me, Lily, I-
Lily places her finger to his lips.
:Lily: Shh-shh-shh. [rubs his hair] Look at me, Scotchy. You just needed someone that could be strong enough to withstand your short temper and lack of ability to make rational decisions in national crises.
:Scotch: But if I hadn't been forced to take this job because of my parents' death, and if I hadn't started drinking, I wouldn't be here right now. I'd be doing better! I'd be able to cope with stress, and-
Lily cuts him off again. She looks at him sternly with her bug-like eyes.
:Lily: You can't turn back time, Scotchy. I cannot deny that you messed up horribly with your two exes, but we need to make you move forward and make the changes you need to make. It's not like you can mess up with me like you could with them.
Lily shakes her stinger. Scotch gulped a bit. He wasn't sure if he was used to having a humanoid partner yet.
:Scotch: Right, I don't think I want to be on the business end of that thing.
:Lily: You really don't want to be, considering that I'm much faster than any mere hornet and I sting way harder. [rubs his hand] Look, you're going to be fine. I just need to help you get ahold of yourself.
:Scotch: Thank you, Lily.
:Lily: No problem Scotchy-kun. [kisses his cheek] You know things are going to be okay with me around here, right?
:Scotch: I don't kno-
Lily places her finger up to his mouth, slipping it inside. Scotch feels her grip the inside of his jaw with four of her fingers, making him unable to speak back, especially as one sneaks back to his throat.
:Lily: I don't want to hear you retort to me, young man.
:Scotch: I'm twenty-six, Lily.
:Lily: Young enough to me! I'm twice your age, sugar.
Lily drags her fingers out of his mouth, letting him gasp.
:Lily: You're going to be calm and tell me that you know things are going to be alright, right?
:Scotch: Everything is going to be alright.
Scotch looks at her pretty bug-like eyes.
:Scotch: There are, things I'm still not going to feel great about, and things I'll spend plenty of time regretting about, but everything's going to be alright in the end and that's the lesson I learned.
:Lily: Good. Don't downtalk yourself, Scotchy sweetums.
Lily laughs. Scotch weakly chuckles, feeling a cold sweat take him over as she places her hand around his shoulder. She pulls out some ValCoins from her pocket, chucking them into his hand.
:Scotch: How'd you get this money?
:Lily: Oh, I'm the queen of my hive. [chuckles] Don't you remember, Scotchy-kun? You have many of my wasp warriors working as predators to take down wild creatures threatening society, and they pay me to have the honey I can very easily make for them. I'm filthy rich, I'm surprised you don't remember that.
:Scotch: Sorry, my mind's been all over the place, even the smallest of details can slip my mind. [shrugs] But what're you giving me this money for, Lily?
:Lily: Buy yourself something nice. [winks] Though, if I find you've bought something pretty bad, I'm going to sting you for it, just treat yourself, Scotchy-kun. It's your day off, there's no work to be done right now.
Lily drinks from a tall glass of wine.
:Lily: It's not like crap is going to go down every time you leave the military base. That's ridiculous.
:Scotch: What if it do-
:Lily: Honey, stop being ridiculous! [laughs] I'll whip those motherzoinkers back in line if I have to! Go, shoo! Have fun!
Lily laughs as she pushes him off.
:Lily: You know, if your exes were just a little more capable of holding their own ground, maybe you wouldn't have gotten to the point of hurting them. If you're going to try and be in a relationship with someone that's unstable, is that their fault?
Lily sips from her wine glass.
:Lily: I'm just saying, if I were Oshelia or Minute, I would have managed to keep my relationship with you by telling you when to back off when you're being a tarty little shit.
:Scotch: It's still my fault that I abu-
:Lily: Hush! Now go and get yourself a sundae or something. Alright Scotchy-kun, see you later!
Scotch walks off with the money that Lily gave him. She smiles, placing her black nails on her hips.
:Lily: Man, what a handsome man.
Lily leans over Scotch's desk, her whole top body hanging over the table as she brushes her nails across the table.
:Lily: It makes me feel just a little pitiful about making him one of my own kind. Once he's just like me and my fellow hornet brethren, he's never going to feel worse than natural instincts.
Lily turns her face to the camera.
:Lily: Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt him too bad, as if I need to make the presses say more than they need to.
Lily picks up some of the newspapers from Scotch's desk. We can see headlines such as "ARSON INCIDENT AT VALCO", "ZODIEZ PRESENTS WAR ON TERRORISM", "REACTOR CORE FOUND UNSTABLE", "GONZALO DORADO RECEIVES ACADEMY AWARD FOR PUBLIC TRUST", "VALERIE HEARTGOLD STILL MISSING", "MALLORY ZIN HELLBENT FOR DESTRUCTION", "NATURE WARRIOR X AZRAIL NEOS CONFIRMED!?", and "DEMON WRITER DENYING MAKING EVERYONE INTENTIONALLY MISERABLE IN LATEST STORY".
:Lily: He just needs to feel something that isn't terrible for once.
:9:51 P.M. · SUNDAY October 5th, ZXE-223
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
Pierce walks up to the dinner table, setting down two plates of pancakes on the table- one for him, one for Zellen.
:Pierce: I haven't found out anything more about Silver's disappearance, Zellen. I'm sorry.
:Zellen: It's okay. [kisses his cheek] Thanks for these pancakes, though.
Zellen spreads guacamole over her pancakes. Pierce attempts to not question the appeal as he sits down, spreading maple syrup over his pancakes like any normal person would.
:Pierce: I don't see any notes left in Silver's room, so I assume he's just on a walk or something. He always comes back around this hour, but he probably got caught up in something else.
:Zellen: I just dunno why he doesn't answer my phone calls.
Zellen shakes her amiibo phone, but it doesn't do anything.
:Zellen: I know he's been feeling really sickly and frustrated and all that crap, but you can't tell me that he doesn't want to call me! It's not in his nature to avoid me like that!
:Pierce: Honestly, I think he just wants some time to himself. Us trying to talk to him is probably just making him feel worse.
:Zellen: I knoww, but.
Zellen whimpers, stamping her foot against the ground. She drops miniature baby octopi over her guacamole-slathered pancakes, looking bitter as she fills her cheeks with the confusing combination of foods.
:Pierce: All I can say is that I think everything'll turn out alright in the end. We just have to rely on Silver coming back sometime within the next hour or so. And if not, I'll go look for him.
:Zellen: You can leave it to me, Pierce, I can just call up some wolves to sniff him out again.
:Pierce: You never told me why exactly you summon wolves to go find him.
:Zellen: He told me that he likes wolves!! Then again, I guess they don't like him much, 'cuz they go bite him and crap, but whatever, all that matters is that we find Silver by any means or foul!
Zellen pockets her face full of food as Pierce sits back, looking exhausted.
:Pierce: I never thought I'd say this, but I really miss Medea. I don't know where she ran off to.
:Zellen: I can always summon another.
:Pierce: I don't know, I just think it'd make more sense if we had the original. The one we've associated all our memories with. I think you have good intentions, but if you have the same thing but it's not the same body, is it the same person you know and love?
:Zellen: I guess not, damn it you're right, I thought I grew past that train of thought.
:Pierce: That's what I thought.
Zellen looks a little hesitant with something. She swallows the mouthful of food she has.
:Zellen: I remember when, I lost my house, and my mom tried to get me a replacement, oh, whatever.
Pierce looks stunned.
:Pierce: You had a family?
:Zellen: Duh!
:Pierce: That's strange, I've never heard about you talk about yourself besides in complete present tense. What were you going to say, though? You got me really curious.
:Zellen: It doesn't matter. Guess it was sometime before I figured out how this portal bullcrap works.
:Pierce: You don't have to be hesitant to talk about anything about your past with me, Zellen. Especially if it means drawing connections with Silver, who as far as I'm concerned, is like the only person you really really care about.
:Zellen: I really don't wanna talk about it.
:Pierce: Alright, that's fine by me.
:Zellen: Thank you, I really appreciate your kind gesture.
:Pierce: You wouldn't dare now, would ya?
Pierce chuckles a little as he eats up a big piece of his pancake.
:Zellen: Don't ask me about my family crap, I shouldn't have said anything.
Zellen looks away, looking embarrassed.
:Zellen: I'll maaaaybe talk about it a bit more when Silvie gets back. But only with him. [looks away] Or, maybe... no. I don't wanna give him more crap to think about than he's already gotta think about, but I've also gotten over that trauma, why do I still feel so upset? And I have work tomorrow, too.
Zellen holds her head. Zellen, usually the cheery one and the most apathetic character you've ever heard of, was starting to feel a little bit of frustration herself.
:Zellen: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
:Pierce: Shh, shh, it's going to be fine.
Pierce holds her hand. She calms down, looking up at him.
:Pierce: We just need Silver to come back, then we can watch a movie or something together. Don't stress yourself out Zellen, you're maybe the only reason why we're pulling through this with any positivity.
:Zellen: Okay.
Zellen holds his hand. Even though Pierce to her could easily be replaced, she at least held some value for this one. It probably had to do with the fact that he held a relationship with Silver, who on the contrary cannot be replaced, but even then she felt some kind of sentiment for him and Medea.
:Zellen: Thank you.
Pierce tightly grips her hand. It pained him, because his bones hurt him as if he were Mr. Glass, but he didn't relent when gripping her hand. Zellen beamed at him. He beamed back at her.
:Pierce: No problem.
Pierce hugs her, placing his fork down.
:Pierce: Let's hope that wherever Silver is, he's doing alright.
Elsewhere, though...
:Silver: Heh.
Silver lies down in a dark alley behind a supermarket somewhere in New Naxaz City. It was well past curfew, he shouldn't be outside his home, but he wasn't willing to listen to the authorities this late. He looked up at the very dim lights of Naxaz's ceiling dome, looking weak in his ragged-up rebel clothes. He felt his hands twitch.
:Silver: I should probably go home before I give Pierce another heart attack.
Silver climbs up from the floor, looking at the back wall of the supermarket. He spent a while spraying graffiti there, with traces of his own lyricwork found between the chunks of graffiti. It's also revealed that he was hanging out with a gang of junkies, many of which you saw before with Junkhead.
:Silver: I'm going to go. I-I need to go back home. [hic] S-See you all later.
Nobody responded. Everyone else was too stoned to, or perhaps he was too stoned to hear them. He wasn't sure if he was the one making the wall of noise, or if they were. He makes it out of the alleyway unscathed though, yet starting to teeter in his step as he tries to find his footing.
:Silver: I can remember everything that I've done to e-everyone several years ago. All the horrible things that I've done are clearly in my head now, I can remember what these horrible fingers have done.
Silver looks at his twitching hands. He didn't like remembering himself as a monster, but he felt like he had no choice but to see himself as such. Those were the hands that did dirty work, dirty work he'll never forget.
:Silver: I'm some harvester of sorrow, huh...
Silver walks alone on the streets. He walks in the shadows, not just to hide from the eyes of officers, but also so that he can sink into his depression unquestioned. His eyes lulltiredly.
:Silver: I shouldn't be forgiven for the things I've done, I don't deserve the people or friends I have. You're not supposed to forgive the monster hiding under your bed, you're supposed to avoid it or if possible kill it.
Silver cackles sarcastically.
:Silver: And that's what these fools have done to themselves. You know what feels really fantastic? I still have yet to talk things out with Medea, and she's the only person I can tell any of this crap to because this crap's too personal to bring up to anyone else. [darkly chuckles] Once all of that crap reaches the public eye, I'm finished.
Silver looks at a reflection of himself on a puddle on the sidewalk.
:Silver: I don't really feel like I recognize myself anymore. What is this shaggy-haired four-horned person I'm looking at? Oh, it's a monster. And the monster is me. The killer is me.
Silver stomps on the puddle, ruining the reflection. He moves along, looking up at the dome.
:Silver: I killed the two people I shouldn't have killed. Sure they're still alive, technically, but I destroyed their innocence. The bodies they live in were so perfect until I reaped them of their worth.
Silver hangs his head in shame.
:Silver: I can feel this aching pain in my chest. I feel some kind of fire inside of me.
Silver keeps walking forward.
:Silver: Maybe I should do what Mallory did, if I'm going to think of myself as something, then I'm going to act upon it and become that very thing. [closes his eyes] It'll maybe make me feel worse, but I can't stand to be something I'm not.
Silver laughs. It's a very dangerous-sounding laugh.
:Silver: I can't be the monster I was before, that'd be insane, but I have to be some other kind of monster. Something you still don't want to shake the hand of. I don't want people to see me for what I'm not.
Silver turns his head up, facing the screen.
:Silver: Maybe these authorities weren't so wrong about me being a potential threat after all.
====Chapter Seventeen: The Killer is Me====
:10:05 A.M. · THURSDAY October 9th, ZXE-223
:Kýrios' Throne Room, Admin Sector
Some days have passed. Kýrios, Zodiez, and Scotch have met up in the lord's throne room together, ready to discuss the future of the satellite. Scotch looked really stressed out as he sat down in a chair, facing them.
:Scotch: We really need to talk about what Mallory's been doing to the satellite over the past couple of days.
:Zodiez: Mhmm, I've been noticing the damages she's been doing to the metropolis. To the whole of the satellite, really.
:Scotch: For the past week or so, she's been laying down one attack on New Naxaz City per day, setting a different section of the metropolis aflame and requiring all our soldiers to douse the damage before it gets any worse. There have been dam breaches around the outer rim of the city, collapses of major skyscrapers, and lots and lots of reported sewer damage. Our citizens don't have access to clean water.
:Zodiez: Mallory's been acting way worse than usual lately, that much can be figured out. [sits up] We're going to have to take some strong precautions if we don't want this crap to happen again.
:Scotch: I don't know, it feels like every time we increase everything to max defense, we restrict everyone's privacy and we don't learn anything more about Mallory's whereabouts. You sure that's a good idea?
:Zodiez: Scotch, everyone's lives are at stake right now, we can't afford to let any more civilians die. Several dozens of people died over the past couple of weeks, that's unacceptable and we need to think of some solution fast.
:Scotch: I know.
Scotch sighs, leaning his elbows down on the table.
:Scotch: I guess you're right, we don't really have much of a choice. The satellite is going to have to undergo another lockdown, and this one has to last significantly longer. The last one should have lasted longer.
:Zodiez: I'm sure many people won't be happy about this, but if we do another lockdown, we need to have it stay in effect until we can get rid of Mallory. Limiting transportation and privacy is going to damage people's trust in us, but if Mallory's going to keep doing this level of damage, we can't take any chances.
:Scotch: That's probably the only solution we have. [sighs] Do you want me to exile Silver, too? We've, been having to deal with him plenty over the past couple of days too. He's obviously not as extreme an issue as Mallory, but...
:Zodiez: I'll think about that, but we need to prioritize getting rid of Mallory above all else.
:Scotch: You sure you don't want me to do anything about him?
:Zodiez: He's trapped in New Naxaz City's prison, I've entrusted Zonas to keep an eye over him so he doesn't escape. I'm hoping that Spade responds to my text message to come do her work in New Naxaz City so she can give Silver therapy.
:Scotch: I hope you're doing the right thing, Zodiez.
:Zodiez: ...Yeah, me too.
Zodiez thinks to herself for a second, tapping her fingers on her desk as she tries to think of what else to talk about. She looks at Scotch, as if waiting for him to say something else.
:Zodiez: Sorry if this is really awkward right now, I've never felt so stumped before.
:Scotch: I feel stumped too, you're not alone.
Zodiez sniffs, black tears dripping out from behind her mask. She shakily gets up from her seat, hugging her husband tightly, who returns it silently.
:Kýrios: Therey, therey...
:Scotch: It's not your fault you're stumped Zodiez, we couldn't have anticipated the damage getting this bad.
:Zodiez: Shove the pity talk down your throat and come hug me, you little man!
Scotch nods, getting up from his seat, coming to join their hug. He hugged Kýrios and Zodiez (especially the latter) as tightly as he could, holding them tightly.
:Zodiez: Alright, I feel a little better.
Zodiez disbands the hug, looking at them.
:Zodiez: Scotch, I want you to initiate the lockdown immediately. Announce what needs to be announced, make it clear it's going to be permanent until Mallory is off the satellite, repurpose your whole military to go after her.
:Scotch: What if we get attacked by outside threats?
:Zodiez: We won't, I took the time to call the individual leaders of every satellite to warn them to not attack our satellite. I've also resolved every conflict we've had with their leaders, just to be safe.
:Scotch: That was rather mature of you, Zodiez. Thank you.
Zodiez nods, watching him start to walk off.
:Scotch: I'll go back to my base to warn everyone of the permanent lockdown. Don't worry too much, Zodiez, I'll try to take care of everything I can from here. Just focus on deep breathing while I'm out doing work.
:Zodiez: O-Okay.
Scotch smiles a little.
:Scotch: We're going to catch that motherzoinker, one way or another. I'd rather die than give her control.
Zodiez nods.
:Zodiez: She's going to get what she deserves.
:Scotch: That's the spirit.
Scotch leaves the room, leaving Zodiez alone with her husband. Zodiez turns to him, giving him another tight squeeze.
:Zodiez: You promise you're going to be there for me?
:Kýrios: Course!
:Zodiez: You really promise that? You're the only one that's getting me through this, you promise you're not going to leave me, ever? Am I worth your time?
:Kýrios: Not ever worry, dear Zodiez. [kisses her cheek] Worth it, to me.
:Zodiez: You promise?
:Kýrios: Pinky!
:Zodiez: Alright. [kisses his cheek] I couldn't possibly maintain this position of power if I didn't have your support, honey. It's so tiring to watch over people for things you've done and been through before.
:Kýrios: Understood. Sweetie.
Kýrios pecks her cheek.
:Kýrios: Unconditional love, from me. Flawed you are, regretful past actions, but beautiful anyway. No worry, dearest. Victors us, losers they. Strong rise up, like rainbow in dark. And strong us!
Kýrios does a thumbs up to her. She smiles, holding him close.
:Zodiez: Thank you.
:Kýrios: Keep head up. Over it, no, not over.
Zodiez nods, walking over to her window. This window overlooks New Naxaz City, which is recovering from a fire in the Valco region. She folds her arms over her shoulders as her husband walks next to her.
:Zodiez: It's on, Mallory. There's no holding back from us anymore!
Zodiez takes a deep breath.
:Zodiez: And... [grits teeth] You too, Silver. We can't have you getting in our way.
:10:33 A.M. · THURSDAY October 9th, ZXE-223
:Naxaz Prison, New Naxaz City
The scene switches to New Naxaz City. We witness once more the closing of all the satellite's sectors, every camera on the satellite becomes active, and we see the Electric Eye in his office working to keep an eye on every place in the satellite, sweating as he keeps an eye on every possible place. The view turns to New Naxaz City's prison, where we see Threat!Silver locked away in a prison cell, looking rather glum and down.
:Zonas: Why'd you do it, Silver? Why'd you commit arson on the Stock Exchange building?
:Silver: Just a personal hunch, captain. [shrugs] I felt like something was off about that place.
:Zonas: We don't just burn down places because we don't like them, Silver.
:Silver: Doesn't Gonzalo run that place anyway? Why do you people still have him in any position of power?
:Zonas: Look, I don't know why, that's a question you're better off asking Zodiez about. [sits down] Why'd you attempt to set fire to the Valco Vortex, too? Or to some random theater the Marmalade Masquerade was going to play at? Or to Junkhead's old home? What's gotten into you, Silver?
Silver shrugs again.
:Silver: I'd tell you, but I don't think I can trust you enough with anything I have to say.
We get a look into Silver's mind. We see Vilicus escaping an election platform near the Valco Vortex that's been set aflame, we see Gonzalo attempting to place out the flames on his building with numerous women firefighters helping him out while Silver runs away, and we see the Silver surrounding himself with flames at the aforementioned theater, preventing anyone from coming in and using it. He's also seen burning up Junkhead's whole drug supply.
:Silver: I have my reasons for doing what I do.
:Zonas: I'd advise finding another way to handle your hatred and distress, Silver, because I've been told that we're going to have to exile you from the satellite if you don't get yourself under control.
:Silver: Right, I'll keep that in mind.
:Zonas: You better, the satellite lockdown that's going down right now is to prevent people like you or Mallory from doing exceedingly more damage. We can't take any chances.
:Silver: I understand that, but there are bigger fish to fry here and soon you will know that.
:Zonas: I know that Mallory is the bigger threat, Silver, who else could you be referring to?
:Silver: Oh, a number of people. You'll see.
Zonas looked really annoyed.
:Zonas: You know it'd be more helpful if you told us what was on your mind, right? You don't need to keep crap secretive because you don't trust the authorities. We can help, Silver! That's our job!
:Silver: As if I'm going to cooperate with a bunch of nosy people that'll probably try to convince me I'm not going after the right targets. You have to have my word that I'm only doing the damage that I think matters.
:Zonas: How about you do no damage at all, Silver?
:Silver: Sometimes it's necessary to cause some damage to make progress happen. Sometimes things have to happen the way they do. I made sure no innocent citizens burned in those flames, it's not like I'm heartless.
Zonas shakes his fist, looking rather peeved now.
:Zonas: Why are you like this? What happened to the funny, witty Silver I knew before?
:Silver: I'd tell you, but then I'd just be in even more deep crap. Leave me alone, Zonas. Let me do my time.
Zonas just sighs, getting up.
:Zonas: Fine, you'll be out again in a week.
Zonas walks away, leaving Silver alone in his cell. He rolls his eyes as he sits back down in his cell, laying down on the floor. He played with the dust bunnies on the floor, looking not just bored but devoid of expression.
:Silver: Pierce and Zellen are worried as hell about me, I haven't seen Medea in some weeks now, and Rogue doesn't even bother teasing me anymore. [closes his eyes] I wish I could tell them why I'm being this way.
Silver pulls something out of his pocket.
:Silver: This bracelet...
:Scotch [past]: Don't take that off Silver, it's for your own good.
:Silver: It reminds me of an easier time, where I didn't know anything about the damage I've caused and was just blindly doing work that would be at least somewhat beneficial in the end.
Silver hangs his head down.
:Silver: The only reason why I've become what I've become is because the curiosity killed the cat, and I've let that damage everything in my life. I'm so embarrassed about what I've become.
:Scotch [past]: Well, just know there's nothing to be afraid of as long as I have my eyes on you.
:Silver: I long for the days where I didn't remember anything about who I was before. My independence was important, but I wish I had gained it in a less selfish and more peaceful way. Is Mallory really that bad if I'm responsible for her transformation? What if I'm actually worse?
Silver had nobody to answer those questions for him. He sighs.
:Silver: Pierce told me that I've since changed and I've become a better person, but I can't help but let these memories pull me under. Why pretend to be somebody I'm not? I'm rotten at the core.
Silver was about to drag himself to bed when he heard a loud boom right outside the prison. He could hear a bunch of prisoners begin talking; he picks up his weapon (the use of which is impossible inside the prison) and gets into a ready stance. He wasn't sure what was outside, but he was not happy with it.
:Silver: I can't even complain for long without someone conveniently finding me.
Silver witnesses the walls of the prison get busted apart, seeing a huge wrecking ball completely destroy his cell, sweeping away his ceiling and walls. Silver gets up, looking at where that thing came from: he sees a huge crane-like machine about to come in and run him over!
:Silver: Convenient timing, Mallory.
Silver jumps off the wall, leaping over another wrecking ball swing and just barely missing it. He blows a raspberry, seeing the cockpit turn around to face him. When it opens, he sees an insomniac-looking Mallory staring down at him, with the redness in her eyes perfectly clear.
:Mallory: There you are, Silver.
:Silver: How'd you get in here, Mallory? The lockdown's begun!
:Mallory: They set up the lockdown with me still in the metropolis, so I can't return home. [grins wide] I figured I could use this time to wreck as many buildings as I could until I could fucking find you!
Mallory swings her wrecking ball at him, which he rolls under and gets up from. When he gets up, the wrecking ball swings back to knock him up into the air.
:Mallory: Interesting to see that you are back in prison, Silver. Why are you in prison this time?
:Silver: That's none of your business, Mallory.
Silver sweeps dust off of his clothes.
:Silver: What matters is that an end is placed to your terrorist schemes. You're the reason why I can't catch a break.
:Mallory: You're the reason why I'm broken, Silver! I'm going to kill you before you hurt anyone else!
:Silver: I've had nearly four years to improve and change as a person and you're going to treat me like dirt? Even after all the work I've done to make sure I wouldn't take that kind of path? Fuck you.
:Mallory: What you've done to me and our mother outweighs any possible chance I could have of forgiving you, you ugly twat!
:Silver: You've had years to learn from the mistakes you've made and change, and you know what you chose to do? Only get worse and worse until you've reached the lows I've set so long back!
Mallory growls, leaping out of her machine. She picks it up rather easily, throwing it at the prison Silver was just in to make the roof collapse in on all the prisoners. She then turns around, facing Silver.
:Mallory: Enough!
:Silver: You really wanna have a go now, huh?
:Mallory: I'm going to take you down!
Mallory rushes at him, attempting to grab him. Silver dodges to the side, turning around to face her. Mallory growls at him, looking pissed off, the veins in her forehead throbbing.
:Mallory: I'm the dark messiah, Silver! I'm going to fulfill my prophecy to destroy you!
Mallory pulls out her Mind Weaver weapon as Silver does the same with his own, both staring straight at each other's eyes with vengeful attitude. Silver looked angrier than he could ever be, while Mallory looked freakishly confident, red veins visible around her tired and wrinkled face.
:Silver: We'll see about that, Mallory!
Silver attempts to fire a Nerve Chopper streak at Mallory. She widens her eyes, retaliating with her own, their beams of energy exploding midair.
:Mallory: Oh bah, you must have remembered all your skills.
Mallory avoids a pink burst of flames that he spits from his mouth, swinging around her Mind Weaver to begin creating her Art of Conjuring. Silver bites his lip, recognizing the spells from the Electolympics.
:Mallory: Fear not, I've learned many spells just to take you down!
Mallory swings her weapon.
:Mallory: BLISTER ARTS! VOLTAGE ARTS! RIPPLE ARTS! GRAVITY ARTS!
Silver avoids bunches of flaming pillars rising up from the ground, fighting heavy winds as he parries through an electrical ball and attempts to avoid letting himself getting sucked towards Mallory. Silver breaks out of all the simultaneous attacks, but Mallory lunges at him.
:Mallory: This is for everything you've ever done to me!
Mallory grabs Silver, pinning him right down to the floor, setting her heels down where it'd hurt the most as she grabs his shoulders and starts to swing his head wildly into the concrete floor. Silver's face looked in great pain as he attempted to get up from the assault, with Mallory's skin twitching with every successful slam she can pull off.
:Mallory: HAVE A TASTE OF YOUR OWN MEDICINE!
Silver grins uneasily up at her, blood dripping through his black hair.
:Silver: N-Not bad, Mal.
Silver gets up from the floor, stabbing her stomach with his Mind Weaver as he corkscrews into her, propelled like a tortured motor as he rams her against a concrete wall, making her fall down. Silver backflips away from her.
:Mallory: If you knew what was better for you, you'd let me finish you off. I felt like I was so close!
:Silver: Why don't we just leave this satellite together to finish this battle, Mallory?
:Mallory: I would, but I'd rather kill all your friends and make you watch first. You don't deserve any of the crap you got while I was stuck having trouble breathing and sleeping just from how much damage you've done to me.
:Silver: You're really determined to make me feel as horrible as possible, huh.
:Mallory: As deserved vengeance for everything you've done to me before, yes!
Silver and Mallory point their Mind Weavers at each other.
:Silver: I'm afraid that I can't die, I have unfinished business to take care of here!
:Mallory: I'm afraid that I can't die, merely because I don't deserve it!
:Both: SCUM!
Silver and Mallory attempt to throw Nerve Chopper beams at each other, but the explosions rebound once more. They then hear the police coming, hearing the all-too familiar sirens.
:Mallory: Ah, the police are on their way. [frowns] I'll take of you later. But mark my words, you're going to die soon.
:Silver: Damn it.
Silver hops to his feet, pulling out his Mind Weaver. But Mallory was nowhere to be seen, yet, he could see the police.
:Silver: Yikes, I better get out of here.
Silver skids off.
:Silver: I'd only get imprisoned for longer if I get caught, I'm coming after you, Mallory!
::
::
:Silver: Damn it, I just missed her, better go home then.
:11:48 A.M. · THURSDAY October 9th, ZXE-223
:Satellite 15 Stock Exchange, New Naxaz City
Valerie and Medea are seen together in an orange bedroom that clearly had Gonzalo's aesthetic all over it. Most of the portraits and pictures on the walls had him in them, several statues of the women he's been with stood in the corners of the room, and a huge chandelier hung above the bed. They were perched together on the bed.
:Valerie: You alright, Medea?
:Medea: Yea, I'm just still dealing with some of my bruises.
Both look at the black bruises on their arms and legs. They stuck out horribly.
:Medea: We're gonna have to cooperate together if we want to escape him, Val.
:Valerie: I know.
Medea places an arm around Valerie's shoulders. They were wearing very expensive, gold-laced outfits designed by Gonzalo or someone else with his horrible tastes, and neither were clearly feeling them. They clashed horribly with their moods and bruises.
:Medea: We have different goals and all that, but I wanna take you with me. [holds out her hand] I wanna do my plans, then take you and a few others with me to live a better, happier life. I want to spare you.
:Valerie: I just want to have Syi back, it's not fair that I had to lose her so soon.
:Medea: I understand that Val, but I've given it some thought. Even if you've done just what he wants you do, he might just backstab you anyway and reveal he had nothing to really give us.
Medea grabs Valerie's shoulders.
:Medea: Lemme tell you something from personal experience. When I lost my mom, I tried to bring her back to life, because you know that someone with my level of genius can do that. She looked horrible.
Medea breathes slowly.
:Medea: She was in such great pain, she lacked memory, and she wasn't the same. There was too much to fix about her to make bringing her back to life worth it. I'm sure if Syi was brought back to life...
:Valerie: ...She wouldn't be the Syi I know.
:Medea: Yeah.
Medea looks down.
:Medea: You only bring someone back to life if you want to make someone suffer, and I think that's what Gonzalo would like to do to you. The Syi you know is no longer there. No revival will make her the same.
:Valerie: Thank you Medea, I really appreciate you trying to talk to me about these feelings.
Medea smiles, hugging the old mayor tightly, smiling as her head rests on her shoulder. Valerie hugs her too, both women embracing each other fully.
:Valerie: We just need to find a way out of here.
:Shredder: I wouldn't advise escaping right away.
Valerie and Medea turn to see Shredder. They weren't expecting him to be there, but he wasn't grinning or smiling.
:Shredder: Please take part in the event.
:Valerie: As if we're going to listen to you, you rotten man!
:Shredder: No, I can't say anything about the event, but... [sighs] There's going to be a good reason to do it.
:Medea: Like...?
:Shredder: If what I expect to happen doesn't happen the way it should, you two are allowed to kill me. [lights a cigar] Don't suspect anything. Try to go about it normally until you know what's going on.
:Valerie: What's up with you?
:Shredder: Mmm.
Shredder twitches a bit, then runs out of the room.
:Medea: I think he's up to something, but I don't think I can trust him enough to follow his lead. [looks at Valerie] Do you suspect anything, Valerie?
:Valerie: He's been acting very quiet over the past couple of weeks, I keep forgetting he's supposed to be keeping a watch on us. [scratches her head] He's been letting us get away with a lot of dirt.
:Medea: Interesting.
Medea smiles, looking at Valerie.
:Medea: No matter if we take his lead or not, let's stick together, alright?
:Valerie: Absolutely.
As the two hug each other, we see Shredder sitting alone in the bathroom, sitting on a closed toilet seat. He pulls out his phone, placing it up to his ear.
:Shredder: Hello?
:Abraham [voice]: Is this Shredder speaking?
:Shredder: Yeah, it's me.
:Abraham [voice]: You sound distressed. What's going on?
:Shredder: I've just been thinking about Gonzalo. Seeing the captives here deal with the pain that Gonzalo dealt to them, that I had to witness firsthand, made me feel something.
Shredder's memory is seen. We see in his vision a giant Gonzalo looking down upon him, sitting on a throne made completely from gold and platinum. Shredder was naked from the belly up in his vision, beaten over and over, with his robotic arms completely missing.
:Abraham [voice]: Guilt? Treason?
:Shredder: I've always been a petty worm, I'd do some tattletale-worthy stuff if I wanted to, but getting a better glimpse of how those two suffered from his actions told me how wrong I was about how well I was treated.
Shredder looks at his arms.
:Shredder: You were right, I shouldn't have been meddling in others' businesses. I regret what I've done.
:Abraham [voice]: You remember that little talk from three years back? Most impressive, really.
:Shredder: Seeing how those two had their arms bruised, I had mine so bruised and damaged that I had to get them amputated. These mechanical arms were designed to resist his assaults. Soon I'll need my legs redone.
:Abraham [voice]: Gonzalo abused you?
:Shredder: He hurts everyone around him. It's clearer to me now than ever. He overexaggerates his promises just to bring people to work for him. No wonder Azul and Rose ran away when they did.
Shredder shivers.
:Shredder: I'm ready to run away, too.
:Abraham [voice]: Why are you telling me all of this, out of curiosity?
Shredder sighs.
:Shredder: I want to join the Shutdown Squad. I was sent by Gonzalo to determine what you were all doing in Sector 4, but I just feel inspired to join your cause and help destroy this bad man. Please, give me a chance.
:Abraham [voice]: Meet up with us at the Hospital Wing later.
:Shredder: Alright.
:Abraham [voice]: You know me, I cannot commute personality. But even someone with a voice as dead as mine can tell that you're worthy of redemption and a second chance.
:Shredder: Thank y-you.
:Abraham [voice]: Arrive by 5PM. Good luck, Shredder.
:Shredder: You know what? Call me Nicholas.
:Abraham [voice]: Nicholas...?
:Nicholas: That's my real name. I haven't played guitar in years because Gonzalo sold off some of my possessions to get himself out of bankruptcy once, including my guitar. So that nick hasn't fitted me in forever.
:Abraham [voice]: Right. Good luck, Nicholas.
Abraham hangs up on him. Nicholas gets up from the toilet, flushing it even though there's nothing to flush, placing his phone in his pocket as he washes his hands.
:Nicholas: I'm going to break him like how he broke our hearts.
:1:00 P.M. · THURSDAY October 9th, ZXE-223
:Vinegar Base, Satellite Lobby
Scotch is shown hanging out at the military base, sitting down behind his desk as his troops were all nice and lined up outside the base, ready to counterstrike against the terror happening outside. Mallory was still on the loose, causing infrastructure damage on her own. Lily was right next to him, her fingers on his chin.
:Scotch: Attention, my Vinegar Troops! During the lockdown, we've managed to trap Mallory within the confinements of New Naxaz City, an enormous metropolis with a 30 mile diameter. You're all going to go out on the front lines to seek out Mallory and put her down!
All the Vinegar Troops turn to the intercom, saluting. All the Jeremys in the troops tried too hard to look cool while saluting, all while Silver knew they were probably going to die first.
:Scotch: We can't let Mallory get away with anything anymore, we need to break her down before she does any more major damage to the satellite! Do you motherzoinkers understand these orders?
:Vinegar Troops: Yes sir!
:Scotch: Good! The time to counterstrike against Mallory is here, so I want you all to try your hardest to bring her down before she does any more damage to the satellite and its people. Don't let me down!
:Vinegar Troops: Got it, sir!
:Scotch: Half of you will go out to work 14-hour shifts during the day, and the other half of you will work 14-hour shifts during the night. When you see many more troops arrive, it's time to go home and sleep to prepare for your next shift. No holidays until Mallory's brought down!
:Vinegar Troops: Yes, siree!
:Jeremy: Can I use the bathroom?
Scotch shakes his head.
:Scotch: Use Mallory as your urinal on sight or something.
:Vinegar Troops: Yes sir!
:Scotch: No, no, I meant that one Jeremy!
:Jeremy: Oh.
:Scotch: Though, I personally won't judge anyone for weaponizing piss if they run out of bullets to reload with. This is ZXE-223, by this day and age I don't think there's any room left for judgment in this political climate.
Lily snickers as the Vinegar Troops salute.
:Vinegar Troops: Yes sir!
:Scotch: I want the half of you wearing sunshine vests to go outside and work until 9PM, and then I want the other half of you wearing moonlight vests to go out by 7PM and work until 9AM. This will be a cycle we'll be repeating over and over again, with the sunshine vest-owning folks beginning work at 7AM after today.
:Vinegar Troops: 'Course, sir!
:Scotch: Then let's move.
Scotch watches his sunshine troops dispatch themselves outside, while the moonlight troops spread out and go home.
:Lily: Hehe, you really did well with your troops this morning, Scotchy-kun.
:Scotch: It's afternoon, Lily.
:Lily: Oh sorry, I'm a bimbo. [laughs] So, sweetums, what're you planning on doing after this?
:Scotch: I have to take care of Valerie's paperwork, she hasn't come back yet so I have to keep taking care of it until someone I can trust can take care of it. Sorry, any time between us will have to w-
Lily places his finger to his lips.
:Lily: Shh-shh-shh. I can take care of it, Scotchy-kun. You really need a secretary around here, 'cuz Jesus.
:Scotch: Who's Jesus?
:Lily: Do you know anything about Earth?
:Scotch: I honestly couldn't care less about that place. Anyway, I'd appreciate your help, but only if you're really wanting to dedicate your time to helping me.
:Lily: Of course stupid, I'm your girlfriend!
Lily kisses his cheek.
:Lily: I used to work as a bank accountant anyway, so I know a lot about business. You really need your beauty sleep anyways, so I'd like to lessen your workload. Probably something your exes weren't capable of doing.
:Scotch: Oshelia was a fine secretary for me.
:Lily: And look where she is now, huh? She doesn't matter, she wasn't strong enough to keep a grip on your temper.
:Scotch: That's a bit rude of you to say, don't you think?
:Lily: Not really, I mean, they're the ones that treated you like horeshit!
:Scotch: I mean, I'm responsible for why I'm not with Oshelia or Minute anymore, it's not their problem they couldn't keep up with my sudden temper changes.
:Lily: That just means they were weak.
:Scotch: What?
:Lily: They were weak people! They couldn't handle you for who you were, so they weren't worthy of your love or attention because they couldn't return the same to you! Why have a love that doesn't care enough to put up with you?
Scotch picks up a bottle, smashing the end against a table.
:Scotch: You're really pissing me off!
Scotch swings his bottle at her, but she just smirks and grabs him by the arm.
:Lily: I told you, they weren't strong enough to just do this to you.
Lily forces the bottle out of his grip, shoving her stinger into his side to make him topple down to the floor.
:Lily: I'll do your secretary work, alright? Don't worry too much about anything besides whatever your original responsibility was. Military work, right? I can take care of it.
:Scotch: Don't talk about my exes again, I don't want to hear you mention their names.
:Lily: Alright, jeez, Scotchy-kun.
Lily flutters her wings, picking up his work and looking through it.
:Lily: Gimme some hours and all this paperwork will be done and gone.
Scotch nods.
:Scotch: Good luck.
Scotch groans as he gets up. The sting pained him, but not enough to prevent him from standing up. He walked over to his desk, sitting down as he looks through his military papers.
:Scotch: Mallory, and I suppose Silver too, you better watch out. My eyes are on you two now.
Scotch winces.
:Scotch: God, this stinger pain!
:Lily: Sorry!
:Scotch: It's alright, just get to work! I'm gonna prepare a plan to capture these two idiots at the same time!
Scotch winces again, holding his stung flesh as the screen goes black.
:Scotch: Fuuuuuuuuck!
:1:28 P.M. · THURSDAY October 9th, ZXE-223
:Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
At the Stenographer Garden, we see Silver dressed in nothing but a Grim Reaper-like hood as he walks around the park. You could note certain things, like how he wasn't wearing shoes, how he wasn't wearing a bra, and how his horns poked out from the costume. He was sitting with Pierce and Zellen, who were dressed in similar outfits to hide themselves from the authorities.
:Silver: It's so incredible how quickly things have changed within the past couple of weeks.
Silver whimpers a little bit as he holds an arm around each of his partners. Rogue was sitting in a crib nearby, sleeping but also dressed up in black blankets.
:Silver: Look around town...
:Pierce: I can see the damage clearly.
:Zellen: It's sad to see.
New Naxaz City went under several changes since the day the Valco Vortex was attacked. It went under so much devastation; several buildings were charred or gone altogether, half the Valco Vortex was burnt up, and lots of dangerous smoke rose from the parts of town that continue to burn. Some areas of the city were flooded due to dams breaking open, some collapsed buildings are on the verge of falling into the heated chasms below, and there are some broken lights on the dome surrounding the city. Much of the fragile older part of town burnt to the ground too, being impossible to recover.
:Silver: To think I'm responsible for most of this, huh?
:Pierce: To be fair, you didn't start most of those fires. The fire you caused at the Valco Vortex didn't add much.
:Silver: Yeah, but if I never made it to the satellite, none of this crap would have ever happened.
:Pierce: You didn't have any control about coming here, Silver. It's not really your fault.
Silver sighs, looking down at the sidewalk.
:Silver: I'd rather not repeat my regrets to you two, you already know what I feel and I don't feel good about bringing up the same crap over and over again. It's a chore to explain over and over again.
:Pierce: Hey, we don't mind if you have to keep talking about your problems to us over and over again. We're here to help you until you can get over that bullcrap and live a happier life.
:Zellen: Honestly, I'm just glad I get to hear your voice at all.
Zellen buries her head into Silver's shoulder.
:Zellen: I was surprised at how lonely I felt without you around, you know? It didn't even come to me that I could have very easily busted you out, because I was too busy just feeling awkward.
Silver smiles a little as he holds them both closely to his body.
:Silver: Wouldn't trade you two in for anything in the world.
:Zellen: Awww.
:Pierce: Silver, it's not like I'm a perfect human being either. I mess up too, maybe I never messed up as hard as you have, but I can empathize with you for feeling the way you do and I wanna help you the same you've helped me.
Pierce takes a deep sigh.
:Pierce: You've made me feel comfortable in my own skin.
:Zellen: You're irreplaceable, sweetie.
Zellen laughs a little.
:Zellen: Literally.
:Silver: Oh yeah, I forgot that I'm a Herald and all, pffft. You're right, Zellie.
Zellen giggles as she nuzzles his neck. Pierce smiles and looks up at his boyfriend.
:Pierce: I love you, Silver.
:Silver: I love you two more than anything. I'd say the same thing to Medea, but I don't know where she is.
:Pierce: She keeps refusing to answer my calls, even when I call from Silver's phone. I'm not sure what's up, sorry I haven't found out anything more about her. It's unusual for her to leave like that.
:Zellen: She'll be fineeeee.
:Silver: Hope things are well for her.
Silver leans back in his seat, holding his boyfriend and girlfriend close to him.
:Minute [past]: You hurt everyone you touched.
Silver holds his forehead. Pierce looks at him.
:Pierce: Are you alright, Silver?
:Silver: I just can't get that meeting out of my head.
:Pierce: It'll be alright, everyone needs to take time to heal from these kinds of things.
Pierce looks to the floor.
:Pierce: I wish Mallory would take the time to heal too, but I guess there are some people that just can't heal when they feel the way they do. Some people will hurt forever and will only feel relief when they handle whatever prophecy they set their heart upon.
:Silver: I think I'll heal, but I just feel horrible over that kind of crap.
:Pierce: I think anyone would if they went through that crap, I don't blame you.
:Zellen: It's at least way more interesting to listen to than Unten's repetitive complaining.
Silver couldn't help but snicker at that roast.
:Pierce: I want you to remember that you're worth it, Silver, you're worth every second of my life.
:Zellen: M-Mine too!
Zellen pulls Silver closely to her, almost strangling him with how hard she's squeezing him.
:Zellen: I'm never letting go, Silver!
Silver laughs as Pierce piles on him too, both of them holding him tightly.
:Silver: I don't know how I'd make it through this if you two weren't here for me...
:Zellen: Before I had you, Silver, I didn't feel like I really had much worth. Don't get me wrong, I live a very fun and wild life, I'm definitely a party animal, but you made my very existence feel justified. Y'know, after my mom told me I was pretty much a useless cupboard rat.
Zellen smiles brightly, kissing his cheek.
:Zellen: Anyway, I wanna have your next baby!
:Silver: Uhhh, we'll talk that out sometime in the future, Zellie. [giggles] You're a party animal alright.
:Agantuk [past]: No wonder she's trying to kill you, Silver. You were the scum of the universe.
:Silver: ...You two wanna take a walk?
:Zellen: Sure!
:Pierce: Yeah, why not?
When they get up, they're suddenly sent flying back against the bench, falling backwards.
:Silver: Whoa!
As Silver gets up and dusts himself off, he sees Mallory lower her Mind Weaver, and immediately pulls out his own in response.
:Silver: There you are!
:Mallory: Silver, what the hell are you doing out here in the open? Are you trying to get you and your little dolls killed?
:Pierce: Oi, screw off Mallory, we're trying to relax and have a good time and here you are ruining the moment again!
:Mallory: We haven't finished our confrontation, so I'm here to settle the score with him! [lifts her weapon] And take care of you two, since you're here as well!
:Silver: Tch, you've caught me off my guard, Zellen, make a distraction.
:Zellen: Hey, is it true that you have ligma?
:Mallory: What?
Mallory was taken aback enough for the three of them to get a running start.
:Mallory: Oh, that was cheap. Hilarious, Zellen!
Silver, Pierce, and Zellen were moving away from Mallory as fast as they can, who was beginning to chase after them. Zellen pushes along Rogue's cart, looking very sweaty.
:Silver: Changed my mind about taking a walk, we're gonna take a run instead! I'd fight her right now, but she caught me off guard and I'd rather fight her when I manage to get a minute alone with her.
:Pierce: We can go home and leave you to her, but she looks dangerous, I don't want you to be left out alone with her.
:Silver: I'll try to bait her into the city later, I'll be fine.
:Mallory: I'm going to break you three idiots down!
:Silver: We'll see about that, Mallory!
Silver runs away as fast as he can, avoiding her attacks as they race out of the park.
:Silver: The faster we run, the more likely it'll be that she'll tucker herself out!
:Pierce: Let's scram, then!
::
::
:3:34 P.M. · THURSDAY October 9th, ZXE-223
:Public Workshop, New Naxaz City
Crymsia, Azrail, and Penny were together at the Public Workshop, having pulled down blinds to protect themselves from being spotted by Mallory and her kind. Paprika's with them, designing clothes nearby while the three geniuses are shown working together.
:Penny: I've gotten feedback from Devina that she's working with Clair, Koffina, Priss, and Black Eyes to keep an eye on the three spirits that have escaped their containment by mysterious means. That means we can just focus on what we've figured out about the other threats.
:Crymsia: Okay, so they're already focused on the Vilicus case. That means we can just focus on the Gonzalo and Ms. Replicate bullcrap and figure out what's going on with them.
:Azrail: Next Saturday, Gonzalo plans on setting up a special concert at the Estrogen Rock Venue, according to the Shutdown Squad. We're all a team now... what unlikely forces, right?
:Crymsia: I wasn't thinking I'd be teaming up with the likes of Noise or Abraham or Rose or even Azrail, honestly.
:Azrail: Funny how times of crisis make us team up with unlikely allies.
:Penny: Alright, so we've got the Regrets division working to expose what they can of his plans and Medea's as well. The Reaping division will expose what they can of Vilicus. Us, the Rose Division, will try to take care of Mallory. Are you following all this?
:Crymsia: Yeah, I'm following it to the best of my ability.
:Azrail: Roses, Regrets, and Reapings, I like it.
:Penny: So let me recap who's part of the Shutdown Squad, so that everyone remembers, Crymsia, Azrail, Penny, and Paprika make up the Rose division. Noise, Yama, Abraham, Rose, Azul, and Nicholas make up the Regrets division. Finally, Devina, Clair, Koffina, Priss, and Black Eyes make up the Reaping division. That's a total of fifteen people working together.
:Azrail: So, we're taking care of Mallory, the Regrets division is going after Medea and Gonzalo, and the Reaping division is going after Vilicus. Alright, good. I'll keep that in mind.
:Penny: I'd like to make a meeting so that I can guarantee everyone has the right information, but it's much too risky for us to all be in one place at the same time. We're really easy to crush that way.
:Crymsia: Yeah, I understand.
:Penny: What we need to do is to form a machine that can take down Mallory. She's trapped here in the metropolis, so this is probably going to be our only chance to actually kidnap her and prevent her from getting out of our grasp again.
:Azrail: Here's my plan. If the Zins are addicted to spicy foods, believe me I've been doing my research on looting statistics, then I know what's likely to draw Mallory in.
Azrail quickly scribbles up a mountain of spicy chips. It looks, uncomfortably detailed.
:Azrail: Behold!
:Penny: Are you joshing me?
:Azrail: Absolutely not! Look, this is all Silver likes to steal, and I've seen Mallory get away with it a few times. I think that spicy chips, like Takis, are going to be their respective Kryptonites.
:Crymsia: See, this is why I got back together with my boyfriend. He's just as funny a zoinker as ever!
:Penny: It's so stupid, it just has to work. [places her pen on her chin] Yeah, you know what? Let's make a mountain of spicy chips somewhere in town and treat it like a festival.
:Azrail: I need all night and the whole next day to plan this out, so we'll have to plan this on Saturday. I guess Saturday's gonna be the day where everything's gonna collide, huh.
:Crymsia: It'll be the right turn everything needs after all the hell we've been through as a nation.
:Azrail: Oh yeah, I completely agree. I just think it's interesting how everything's going to happen on Saturday, I've heard that Vilicus plans on spreading posters around town for mayor that day too.
:Crymsia: Huh, interesting.
:Penny: Back on focus, let's get this crap done. I'm sure the satellite authorities would appreciate it if we caught her as soon as possible. How are the Shutdown Squad sweaters coming along, Paprika?
:Paprika: Very well!
:Penny: Good.
Azrail pulls out some blueprints, beginning to plan his next scheme while Crymsia and Penny stand over him to give him pointers.
:5:57 P.M. · THURSDAY October 9th, ZXE-223
:C.O.T.S. Laboratories, Hospital Wing
Not too long later, the Regrets division of the Shutdown Squad arrived in the Hospital Wing. Abraham led the group, followed by Noise, Yama, Rose, Azul, and a reformed Nicholas, who looked fairly tense.
:Abraham: Remember, we're here to find Medea. She hasn't been out of here in a while.
:Noise: Right, let's try to make this visit a quick one. This place brings back so many bad memories just upon sight.
:Abraham: The plan we made at the tundra yesterday was that we'll need to investigate the headquarters, attempt to convince Medea into giving up her ways, then kill her if she resists. It's important that Medea's plans are placed at a halt.
:Nicholas: Oh, this place.
Nicholas breathes.
:Nicholas: Damn it.
:Abraham: What's wrong?
:Nicholas: Gonzalo told me that he was going to use this exact address for something.
:Abraham: What do you mean?
:Noise: I don't think we can waste much more time, let's just check it out now.
Rose nods.
:Rose: I'd like to see more evidence of Gonzalo's crimes.
:Abraham: Then let's not waste any more time, like Noise suggested.
The six open the entrance to the C.O.T.S. Laboratories. Shockingly, the place was completely taken over. All of Gonzalo's personal possessions were moved here some time ago. Some places like the DNA lab were left completely intact, but otherwise, Gonzalo's face was smeared over what was previously Medea's home.
:Rose: Oh dear.
:Abraham: Mmm, not liking the looks of this. What happened here, Nicholas?
:Nicholas: He never showed me the outside of his new home, he took over his ex's laboratory!?
:Noise: Gonzalo completely transformed this place while we were living in Sector 4...
Noise walks around, finding her room. All her possessions were gone; in their place was an exercise room.
:Noise: Ah crap, my iPod's missing now isn't it?
Yama cautiously walks to her room. All the dolls she liked to play with, all the gadgets she liked to mess with... they were all replaced with Gonzalo's personal memorabilia.
:Yama: Disgusting.
Abraham looks in his room.
:Abraham: Completely barren, then again, that's the way it was before.
The three C.O.T.S. doctors just stared at each other.
:Noise: You reckon Medea's still here?
:Nicholas: Ehh. [swallows] I dunno.
:Rose: So, Gonzalo lives here now?
:Azul: Seems so, that probably means he cleaned out the Stock Exchange building. Not everything's here yet, though. I don't see his signature bedstead anywhere and a lot of his creepy statues are missing. Probably gonna be used for Abraham's room.
:Abraham: Joy.
:Noise: Hmm.
Noise walks into the cloning laboratory, where Medea would usually be sitting. She wasn't at her desk like she usually would be, and her place has gotten rather dusty and cobweb-filled. Noise looked around the place, as if looking for signs of Medea.
:Noise: Hallo?
:Yama: I don't see Medea anywhere.
:Noise: I wonder if the Electric Eye knows anything?
Noise walks over to his room, opening it. Sure enough, he was still there, eating potato chips.
:Noise: Hey, stinky!
Hunjan drops his chips.
:Hunjan: Noise! Good lord, it's been so long since I've seen you or Yama or.... anyone, really.
:Noise: It's been a while, hasn't it, do you know where Medea went?
:Hunjan: Holy crap, the outside looks completely different.
:Noise: You didn't know the whole place was changed up?
:Hunjan: I have no reason to get up, ever, so no. I eat here, I sleep here, I crap here, and I wash my hands here. I also shower here, and exercise here. I live a very simple life.
:Noise: Wow.
:Hunjan: Anyway, the last thing I remember her telling me was that she was going off to have a night with her ex, and she never came back after that. Dunno where she went, because I don't have any cameras that look into the Stock Exchange building.
:Noise: ...God, this woman.
:Hunjan: You better go find her fast, I have captured footage of Gonzalo eating at a Burger Queen stating that everything's going to fall into place for him on Saturday, and I'd hate to think she has something to do with it.
Noise shakes her head.
:Hunjan: Now let me get back to my illegal entertainment, alright?
:Noise: ...Alright, have fun.
:Hunjan: I was having fun until you opened the door.
Noise rolls her eyes as she shuts the door on him. She takes a deep breath, looking at Yama and Abraham and the others.
:Noise: I think Medea got kidnapped by Gonzalo or something, because apparently she went off to go take him out and she hasn't come back from that. I'm so sick of her monkey antics!
:Nicholas: That's... not surprising.
:Yama: Me too.
:Abraham: Then we need to go to the Stock Exchange building. If she's not here, she has to be there.
:Rose: Alright.
Rose sighs.
:Rose: Can Azul and I just go home? We don't want to risk getting captured again...
:Abraham: I wouldn't want to put you through that again, so, yes.
Abraham gives them a strange circular device.
:Abraham: This is a special invention that Medea made. It allows the user to teleport. We need to carefully use that invention to travel around the sectors while they're closed off, so don't break it.
:Rose: Thank you.
:Azul: We'll meet up back in Sector 4 later, alright?
With a bright white light, Rose and Azul disappear to Sector 4.
:Noise: Just us four now.
They leave the laboratories together.
:Noise: Let's go to the Stock Exchange building tomorrow. If we do it tonight, we might risk getting caught. I want Nicholas to still be working there tomorrow when we come by so he can sneak us aboard.
:Abraham: That sounds like a good idea to me.
:Nicholas: Yes, I'll sneak you three into the Stock Exchange building as soon as I can, nyeh heh. [sighs] It'll be a little tricky, though, so just trust me if it looks like I'm doing something suspicious.
:Abraham: If you mess up, you will be executed.
:Nicholas: I know that, but the way I'm gonna handle things? It'll be tricky. Let's go stop by Oyster's for a drink or something, I really need a nice glass of wine right now.
:Noise: Alright. Tomorrow, we'll get to the bottom of this.
:7:16 P.M. · THURSDAY October 9th, ZXE-223
:High Rooftop, New Naxaz City
Silver was seen sitting atop a high rooftop, holding his phone.
:Whiskey [voice]: Howdy, who's this?
:Silver: Hey, this is Whiskey right?
:Whiskey [voice]: Yeppers! You sound like that Silver Zin folk.
:Silver: I am that Silver Zin fol\.
Both of them share a nice laugh over the line.
:Silver: You hold a tournament every season, right? And your next one begins on October 18th?
:Whiskey [voice]: Yeppers! Were ya wanting to sign up, Silv? The lockdown's kinda chokin' the sector from getting anyone else inside, but if y'all can find your way in, you're more than welcome to give it a try!
:Silver: Yeah, I was thinking of signing up, thank you.
:Whiskey [voice]: Aren't ya a bit lackin' in muscles, though? Ya might get your ass kicked.
:Silver: That's alright, I just want to bring out my frustrations in a healthy way. Through, fighting for sport, I guess.
:Whiskey [voice]: I reckon you'll do just fine if ya keep your chin up, hon. Ya sound ready for it.
:Silver: Probably because my voice has gotten a bit gruffer over time, I sound like Marilyn Manson out of his prime.
Whiskey laughs.
:Whiskey [voice]: Sweetheart, you sound just like him! In his prime, even!
:Silver: That explains why I really get on the nerves of old people, I guess, heh.
:Whiskey [voice]: Anyway, when you're ready to join the tournament, meet up at the Champion's Ring by October 18th! The tournament lasts a whole day, so you should take all the time to prepare for it!
:Silver: Thanks Whiskey, you're a real angel.
:Whiskey [voice]: Naw, you're just sayin' that.
Silver smiles.
:Silver: No, really. Talk to you soon, might do so sometime before the 18th if you're not too busy.
:Whiskey [voice]: Shoot me up a DM on Risquord any time! See you on the 18th, yeehaw!
:Silver: Yee, haw.
Whiskey tries to stifle her laughter from the only mildly enthusiastic yeehaw Silver gave as she hangs up. Silver yawns, sitting next to Pierce. Zellen and Rogue were home this time.
:Pierce: You're in?
:Silver: Yeah, I'm supposed to go on the 18th. Thanks for the suggestion by the way, it didn't occur to me that I could just take out my aggression issues through sport. Gonna hate being on TV again, though.
:Pierce: Don't worry too much about it, it's not gonna be anywhere as bad as the crap Zodiez attempted to do to you a while back. It'll absolutely be way better than that, that's somethin I feel like I can promise you.
Pierce looks to his side for a second.
:Pierce: ...So, are you accepting my offer too?
:Silver: Oh yeah, sorry, slipped my mind.
Pierce laughs a bit.
:Pierce: Don't worry about it. When we were home earlier today, I asked you if you wanted to make an album for me that'd let you clear your mind and channel out your frustrations mentally. You wanna take a crack shot at that later this month?
:Silver: I don't think it could hurt to try.
:Pierce: What a strange direction I'll be taking Black Haze's second studio album in, having you be the mastermind behind the lyrics and all. [smiles] But it'll be great, because it'll have you on it.
:Silver: It sure sounds like a good idea. Now I've got two productive things to look forward to, thanks for the help, Pierce. Means a lot to me that you'd help set up two completely different things just to help my psyche.
:Pierce: I'm your boyfriend, I'd do anything for you!
:Silver: Heh, I'd do anything for you too. I'd even die for you, really, if it came to that.
Silver ruffles his hair, snickering.
:Silver: You're a good boy!
:Pierce: You're the good boy!!
Pierce runs his fingers through his hair instead, making Silver laugh as Pierce tickles him. Pierce digs his nails into Silver's ribs, making him laugh hysterically as his body rattles and squirms on the floor.
:Silver: Ahh, ahhh! Pierce!! This is so embarrassing!
:Pierce: Haha, sorry, I got a bit carried away!
Pierce laughs, ruffling up Silver's hair before pulling him up onto his knees.
:Pierce: You're really cute though, just a nice tickle does the trick for you sometimes.
:Silver: Sometimes just giving you a shoulder rub works.
Silver prepares to rub his shoulders, but Pierce just giggles as he tickles his boyfriend's ribs, making him squeak and laugh as Pierce double downs on him, making him shake and roll around on the rooftop, much to his delight.
:Silver: Ahhhhhhh, ahhhhhhhhh! Stop the tickling, Pierce, it's almost too much!
Pierce laughs as he stops. Just in time, they feel something loom over them.
:Silver: Oh come on, just when we were getting settled down...
:Mallory: How many times are you going to hang out in the open with someone else, Silver?
Silver gets up, holding his Mind Weaver, standing before his boyfriend.
:Silver: Jeez, you just wanna show up whenever I have a fun time? I know you hate me, but I didn't think you hate me that much, damn! [folds his arms] You wanna settle this now, huh?
:Mallory: I'm tired of you getting in my way, Silver!
:Silver: If anything, you're getting in my way.
Just as Mallory grits her teeth, Silver takes the opportunity to push her down to the ground, but she quickly gets up and pushes Silver back. This sends him off the rooftop.
:Pierce: Silver!
Silver grabs the rooftop with five fingers. Mallory smirks, bending down to her knees and crushing Pierce's hands together with one clammy and crusty-looking hand.
:Silver: What do you think you're doing, Mallory?
:Mallory: The killer is me, Silver.
Mallory smiles as Pierce struggles to escape her grasp, with Mallory picking off one finger of Silver's at a time.
:Mallory: You know what they say, Silver?
Silver heavily breathes, unsure of how to respond.
:Mallory: Long live the king.
Mallory pushes his hand off the roof railing, watching Silver make his fall. But her smug face turned to one of shock in an instant, because she saw him levitating midair with his Mind Weaver staff.
:Mallory: What the hell?
:Silver: As if I'd go down that easy, Mallory.
Silver tackles her, making her hiss as they begin to slap each other in the face, grabbing and biting at each other's shoulders and necks. It gets pretty bad, especially as Silver begins to bash her head into the roof and Mallory starts trying to aim her heels for where it'd hurt the hardest. Pierce gets up, looking mortified at the sight.
:Pierce: Oh jeez.
:Mallory: You've always been a thorn in my side, Silver!
Mallory manages to kick him in the crotch, making him hiss as she gets out from under him, picking him up and pinning him into the wall. She holds him by the neck, tightening her fingers against it.
:Mallory: You're really getting on my nerves! I-I'm starting to lose my patience with you!
:Silver: Your eyes...
Silver looks deep into them. He sees something in them.
:Silver: You know that spirit too, don't you?
:Mallory: What spirit?
:Silver: Eh? You don't remember the purple ghosty thingy that likes to hand out free "candy", we'll call it?
:Mallory: I-Is it cheating on me, Silver? Are you c-cheating with it?
:Silver: What?
Mallory twitches hard as she loses her grip on Silver. He gets up, pinning her to the wall instead.
:Mallory: You know the purple ghost too, that is most concerning, you know? I-It means, it knows more than me.
:Silver: You're losing it.
:Mallory: What do you m-mean? I'm just fine.
:Silver: I recognize the words you said to me before your feeble attempt to kill me, I remember all those times we watched movies like Lion King in our youth. Are you feeling nostalgic, Mallory?
:Mallory: Pheheh, you really have regained your memory. So tell me something I've been curious about for months, what was your favorite way to torture me, Silver Zin? What made you the most satisfied?
Silver narrows his eyes, slamming her back against the wall.
:Mallory: Oh I see, you feel guilt, don't you?
:Silver: ...I took no pleasure in anything I did.
:Mallory: Eh?
Silver smiles slyly.
:Silver: Y-You were always an annoying, whiny person. Sure I feel regret for my behavior, and I certainly carry some guilt, but man you misinterpreted how much of a nuisance you were to me too. Especially now!
:Mallory: I guess you have a point, I was always the weaker of us two. But I bet it makes you swell up with pride inside that you destroyed me, you're turning the tides in your favor by exploiting my weaknesses.
:Silver: I don't take pleasure in anyone else's pain. Sometimes I misinterpret what others are really feeling or they don't come clean about things to me. You're really twisted for believing I'd really relish in your pain!
:Mallory: Y-You used to, I know you did.
Silver looks at her fiercely.
:Silver: I NEVER RELISHED IN YOUR PAIN!
Mallory feels fires grow in her eyes. Pierce was forced to watch as Mallory pins him to the floor, slapping him several times in the face as she keeps him pinned down with her heels.
:Silver: With my memories restored, I can tell you that from what I can remember, I never once relished in your misery. I used you, and I used our mother too, but you know what the honest truth was?
Silver looks up at her face with a nasty expression.
:Silver: I was using you two to climb into Saliva's shoes and take the universe by storm. Nothing more.
:Mallory: Y-You must not remember everything yet, t-then.
:Silver: That is true, but I absolutely think you're overexaggerating. As if I'd believe you weren't, after all the damage you've done to me and my friends on this satellite! As if I'd have one reason to believe you weren't.
:Mallory: I can't be overexaggerating, y-you hurt me so bad, you don't r-remember half of it yet, or maybe you're twisting what you're really seeing, you are LYING to my face!
Mallory prepares to slam his head into the ground again, but Silver pushes her off of her. She responds by picking him up and swinging him into a wall.
:Mallory: I've had enough of this, Silver! I'm not going to take your lies anymore! I-I need to f-finish up this u-unfinished business! You're... y-you're over! Goodbye!
Mallory picks up a huge butcher knife, pulling it back as she prepares to stab him in the chest.
:Silver: It's... It's probably that I am misremembering some things, Mallory. But I have such a clear memory of some of the things that have happened, I don't think I can believe you.
:Mallory: P-Please, understand that I don't have reason to lie about what you've d-done to me. You KNOW so much of what happened, admit it! You relished in my pain! You might have been working to gain something, but the point is that you took pleasure in what you did!
:Silver: Mm...
Silver shivers.
:Silver: I might've...?
Mallory smacks his head into the wall.
:Mallory: YOU DID!
:Silver: ...I-I did?
:Mallory: WHY WAS THAT SO HARD TO ADMIT, YOU L-LIAR?
:Silver: I...
Silver doesn't really have an answer ready for her.
:Silver: I-I've been trying to lie to myself so I didn't remember things that way. It might have been too-effective, because I was believing my story until you broke me through.
:Mallory: Fuck you for trying to l-lie to me, with bullshit you knew was bullshit. I hate you, I hate you more than anything else. By lying to me right there, you proved you haven't changed.
Mallory pulls back her knife.
:Mallory: GOODBYE!
Mallory attempts to stab him, but she feels herself get stopped. Pierce is standing right behind her, using his psychic powers to pry her off of him. Silver gets up immediately, grabbing his boyfriend. Mallory attempts to get up, but Silver kicks away her knife and keeps her down.
:Silver: What the hell does that violet spirit have to do with you, Mallory?
:Mallory: It's... n-none of your business...
Mallory gets up. You can tell that her sanity is completely fractured, just by the way she shook and by the fact that she stares at Silver with such a stoic, expressionless face.
:Mallory: I-I'll take pleasure in killing you.
Mallory attempts to dive at him, but she misses. Silver picks up the knife, ready to throw it at her. But, he drops the knife instead, choosing to run away and leave her behind.
:Mallory: GET BACK HERE AND HURT ME, HURT ME AGAIN SILVER! C-COME BACK HERE AND R-RELISH IN H-HURTING ME!
Silver doesn't attempt to talk back to her as she chases after him, now holding the knife as she races after him. Pierce winces as Silver holds her. Now they have to escape Mallory's grasp, but they have little time.
:Mallory: I-I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU Y-YET, SILVER! Y-YOU'RE NOT DONE WITH ME, EITHER!
::
::
Silver takes a brief moment to look behind himself, looking at the sister he's corrupted so hard.
:Mallory: Fuck you! F-Fuck you! Burn in hell!
:Silver: I'm so sorry.
Silver runs off as fast as he can, heading home.
:9:42 P.M. · THURSDAY October 9th, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep, ???
Smartie is shown far away from the action in Sector 5, chasing Cody through a portal and entering the dimension the Purple Keep is at. She made it because of her excellent bat wings, which let her fly in at lightning speeds.
:Smartie: Looks like I'm in, Val n' Meddy. Dis place don't look even da slightest familiar. Sum black void I found through a portal or vot not, but it led me ter dis huge-lookin' violet castle or somethin'. Looks purty.
Smartie waits on a response, but she's got nothing.
:Smartie: Val? Medy? Huh, maybe I'm too far avay fer dese valkie-talkies to verk. I vish they vere here.
Smartie flies her way inside the Purple Keep. She swoops above all the residents stealthily, hiding herself in the shadows of the kitchen ceiling. She perches herself up high, looking below. No Mallory, she noted, but she saw the likes of Cody, Kispel, Mania, Beck, etc. waiting in her castle for her.
:Smartie: I dink Mallory ain't here, she probs in N.N.C., but I do see sum of 'er comrades n' vot not. Me gonna spy now...
Smartie keeps her eyes on everyone below. Everyone down there didn't look particularly great. The Methademic was doing what he did best (smoking meth), but everyone else was just sitting around the cafeteria looking rather glum. Nothing looked great here.
:Smartie: Darn, vos hopin' dese vippersnappers vould be a more interestin' bunch, but dey look depressed as fudge. Kinda borin', vanna switch da channel, but vot can I do really sugars... I'll keep me eye out.
Smartie looks down at two subjects of interest; Kispel and Cody.
:Cody: Uggh, I can't believe Mallory managed to rope me into a relationship with her again. [covers his eyes] She won't let me go, so I feel like I'm being punished for trying to be independent for once in my life.
:Kispel: I suppose that God- I mean, Mallory, just isn't willing to be alone anymore. She looked happy with that spirit thing, but we couldn't get away scot-free, so now we're her permanent slaves.
:Cody: To think Mallory used to be so mighty and powerful, so willing to treat us like family, now it's just become her miniature monarch. [holds Kispel's hand] I'm sorry that things are turning this way.
:Kispel: God- I mean, Mallory, so sorry, is so angry and reckless now, oh how the mighty have fallen.
Kispel closes his eyes.
:Kispel: To think I was such a devoted and faithful follower, and in the end, it all meant nothing. Blindly believing in anything without questioning peculiar things or paying attention to other perspectives is toxic.
Kispel looks down.
:Kispel: And that's something her bible never taught. I suppose Mallory wanted me to believe one perspective.
:Cody: Mallory seems to believe that everything's black and white, but I think I'm starting to see the flaw in that kind of logic. I think... I think that Silver is a lot more than the villain she's been painting him to be. Similarly, I think Mallory is less of a heroine than she's been painting herself to be.
Ferris looks up.
:Ferris: When Silver wiped the floor with the Violet Reaper and I a while back, I thought he was the baddest boy that could ever exist. But then I realized I was gonna murder someone. I mean, I've been murdering people all my life, but he kinda had a reason to do what he did.
:Mania: When Mallory started beating us and whipping us and started to become stricter, I was starting to lose faith in her as a friend. She started using all of us, and I've been meaning to draw the line.
:Ferris: But it's so difficult 'cuz she doesn't listen to any of us anymore, she spends so much time locked away in her room, never coming out unless it's a necessity or if she's in a real bad mood.
:Mania: She gained a bit of weight too, it's rude to point that out I know, but it's something I noticed.
:Cody: It's interesting how she's using us when that's what Silver did to her years ago. It's like everything bad he's done to her, you all know the story now, it's starting to unfairly bite us in the ass because she's spreading the disease over to us.
Kispel takes a long, long breath.
:Kispel: So, do we blame it on Silver?
:Cody: Silver's absolutely done some actions that are super trashy and perhaps even irredeemable, but I don't think blaming it all on Silver is the smartest idea. I mean, she chose her fate aboard this satellite.
:Mania: Even after Silver learned the truth and supposedly gained his memories back, it's not like he's been trying to be that way again. I think he's just trying to move on, but Mallory won't let him.
:Beck: The way that Mallory screamed and lost it earlier this morning, storming her way out of the house after Cody and Kispel denied to consent to her malicious behavior, that told me she's worth separating from.
:Cody: I don't know, it's not like I have control over this dimension. Mallory can still open and close the portal to the outside at will, and if she finds that we're not doing what we're supposed to be doing, she will have her way with us.
Beck sighs, covering his eyes. He had been helmetless for a while now.
:Cody: Speaking of, we're supposed to be helping her come up with something to destroy the Reactor Core with.
Everyone pauses.
:Mania: Do what?
:Cody: You heard me. Mallory wants to destroy the satellite's reactor core. It would deal catastrophic damage to the satellite and activate a self-destruct program. She no longer cares for the satellite.
Mania looks rather weirded out.
:Mania: I have family back there!
:Quade: My cousins...
:Cody: If she activates this self-destruct program in November, as planned, Silver will perish in the resulting fire. Almost everyone else on the satellite will escape, but Silver will somehow have to be left behind.
:Mania: I can't help you do this, Cody. Think about the long-term effects of this, how much would be lost by doing this!
Cody closes his eyes.
:Cody: I don't have a choice. I can't influence Mallory's opinion on anything anymore. Whenever I try to talk to her, she wants to use me for something personal.
:Cameron: To be honest...
Oh right, Cameron. Everyone forgot about him. Everyone turns their heads to him.
:Cameron: It would be easy enough to lure almost the whole satellite population out of there, by spreading poisonous air through the satellite. They would need to evacuate just about everyone to clean it.
Mania looks really steamed at Cameron for coming up with that plan.
:Cameron: We would have to trap them first, trap them somewhere where they can't hear the evacuation plans or would otherwise become aware of it.
:Cody: I hate to say this, but Cameron's right.
Cody looks down, fuming and looking regretful.
:Cody: Looks like the satellite's hardwired to self destruct.
Smartie cups her mouth.
:Smartie: Valerie, Valerie!
But she didn't respond. She had forgotten her walkie-talkies don't work here.
Smartie bites her nails.
:Smartie: Dis is gonna hurt...
====Chapter Eighteen: Rain When I Die====
:8:50 A.M. · FRIDAY October 10th, ZXE-223
:Satellite Lobby, Hot Burger Joint
The next day, Silver is shown at the Hot Burger Joint, the place he was at shortly before his revealing and heart-piercing past reveal with Agantuk. Silver's sitting with a nocturne burger on his plate, accompanied by Pierce. They're both wearing their reaper-like hoods to hide themselves from the authorities, now wearing Slipknot-like masks to prevent their faces from getting recognized. Yes, Silver ordered food under the name Corey Taylor.
:Pierce: You're going to be fine, Silver. You probably shouldn't have lied to her the way you did, but I understand that you're having trouble figuring out what to make of your situation.
Pierce places a comforting hand on Silver's shoulder. It'd look cute if Pierce wasn't wearing Chawn Crahan's clown mask.
:Pierce: It's going to be okay.
:Silver: I want things to be okay, but I'm not sure if things will be.
Silver leans his head down on his open palm, looking kind of bored. Silver hicced a bit.
:Pierce: It'll take a long time for everyone to heal, but I want you to try and remember that you're not the same person you were before. You're not a threat, at least not anymore, you're a good friend that's cleaned up his act.
:Silver: Thank you.
:Pierce: Just try to relax and figure out a way to move on.
:Silver: I'm not sure how easy it's going to be to just move on, but I appreciate your support.
Silver takes a bite of his burger, getting his mask a bit dirty.
:Pierce: You need to understand that there's nothing you can do to change the past, and it'd be slightly immortal to anyway considering you'd be only doing it for selfish reasons. What happened had to happen.
Pierce closes his eyes.
:Pierce: The past does not have to define you.
:Silver: I just wish I co-
:Pierce: For the love of Kýrios, shut it!
Pierce holds his finger to Silver's lips. It'd look iconic if it weren't for the fact Silver looked like he could be screaming the lyrics to Slipknot's "Psychosocial" any minute now under that mask.
:Pierce: You're not going to get anywhere by whining all the damn time about what you could have been! Be thankful for what you have today and be thankful that the majority of us see you as a changed, responsible, loving person!
:Silver: Alright, alright..
Silver takes another bite out of his burger, calming down as Pierce returned to eating his burger as well.
:Pierce: Thank you. Your mental health matters a lot to me, honey.
:Silver: You matter a lot to me, sweetie.
:Pierce: Awww.
Silver couldn't see it very well, but Pierce was blushing pink under his clown-like mask.
:Silver: We probably should have gotten you a cuter mask, though.
:Pierce: The rest were sold out.
:Silver: That make sense, I don't know anyone that likes clowns enough to bother buying one of those Crahan masks. I thought I saw a Thomson mask though.
:Pierce: I'm not too bothered with what I got, really. I'll probably give our masks to Noise when we no longer need to go in hiding. She keeps posting about this band on Risquord and how much it means to her.
:Silver: Neat.
Silver gets a notification on his phone.
:Silver: Oh, I better check out who's trying to contact me.
Silver picks it up. He sees he's getting a message request from Arikan Chan.
:Silver: Oh great, not her.
:Pierce: Who?
:Silver: Arikan.
:Arikan [typing]: Silver, wanna come over to the satellite lobby's office? I have something devastating to show you, and I think it'd matter a lot to you and your friends. I'm... shocked with my findings.
:Silver [typing]: why cant u just tell me now nerd?
:Arikan [typing]: Because it's important. It's like, serious levels of important and I can't share the details on Risquord because they're too private. Remember that Gonzalo owns this service!
:Silver [typing]: u sure u can't just give me a hint?
:Arikan [typing]: No. Please come over as soon as you're able to.
:Silver [typing]: aight, u better not waste my time tho lmao
Silver pockets his phone, sighing.
:Silver: She wants me to see her in her office, as soon as I can, so.
:Pierce: Really? Right when we have a moment of peace between ourselves?
:Silver: Don't jinx anything, Mallory could be around any corner with that Zin tracker of hers.
Silver gets up, shoving the rest of the burger into his mouth. Pierce grumbles as he gets up, feeling cheated out of time with his boyfriend. Pierce lifts up his mask and Silver's before giving him a deep kiss before anyone can recognize who they are.
:Pierce: Good luck honey, that Arikan woman gives me the creeps.
:Silver: Thank you sweetie.
:Pierce: If you're getting any headaches, push your fingers gently into your eyes. It's probably the only thing that slowly stops the ache.
:Silver: Was that a Slipk-
:Pierce: Yes.
Silver giggles as he pushes his mask back down.
:Silver: You're such a nerd, I love you.
:Pierce: I'll go back home, alright? I gotta make sure Zellen hasn't accidentally drowned Rogue or whatever anyway.
:Silver: See you there in some hours!
Silver leaves the burger joint, but as soon as he makes it out the doors, he suddenly gets attacked by a huge mace! This nails him right to the floor. Mallory! But when Silver got up, he didn't see her- he instead saw Scotch.
:Scotch: I know it's you, Silver!
:Silver: No, I'm pretty sure I'm Corey Taylor.
:Scotch: This Zin tracker I have-
:Silver: Oh, of course you have a Zin tracker too. Did Mallory leave one around as free candy?
:Scotch: I've got Penny to reprogram this Zin tracker for me a while back to not just track you, but also Mallory. I'm looking to exile you both from the satellite, and I'm going to make sure you go with her!
:Silver: Hmm, well looks like I've got no choice but to run, right?
:Scotch: No, you're under arrest!
Scotch reaches his hands forward to try and get Silver in his grip, but he just barely slips out of his reach. Silver then pulls out his Mind Weaver, pointing it down at him.
:Silver: Nerve Chopper.
Silver fires three purple beams through Scotch's body. They pop open his veins, starting to make him bleed internally.
:Scotch: Y-You motherzoinker! YEEEEEEEEEEOOOOW!
Silver begins to run down the lobby hall. Angered, but also hurting horribly, Scotch picks himself up from the ground and begins to give chase to Silver. But he's already outrun; to compensate, Scotch calls upon his troops:
:Scotch: Sunshine troops, chase Silver through the satellite lobby! Don't let him get away!
Pierce sneaks out the restaurant doors when Scotch isn't looking, whistling guiltily as he takes a space pod back to the city. Silver begins to run away from the troops, who begin to surround him. He's got a gauntlet to take care of now.
:Silver: Alright, you all want a piece of me? Y'all could've made a single-file line with cash already in your hands.
Silver sighs as they begin to circle in on him.
:Silver: Looks like I'm going to have to dish out some pain, don't say I didn't warn you!
::
::
Silver narrowly escapes Scotch's troops, barging into Arikan's office and locking the door behind him. He looks at Arikan, who looked stunned to see him so soon.
:Arikan: Silver!
:Silver: Hey baby, there's a bunch of soldiers trying to go at me. Don't question my mask. What'd you want me here for?
:Arikan: Umm, follow me.
Silver nods, following her down to the basement. He couldn't believe his eyes.
:Silver: What!?
Mallory was lying down on the basement floor again; a dead, lifeless-looking Mallory.
:Silver: ...I don't buy this, Arikan.
:Arikan: I don't know what to make of it! This is the second time this has happened!
Silver picks up the body. Sure, it's got guts and blood and bone. That means it's a clone, but Medea is nowhere to be seen, and the C.O.T.S. Laboratories went under some drastic changes since he last visited. He's not sure what's going on here.
:Silver: Ms. Replicate couldn't be responsible for this clone, and I'm sure that Mallory didn't set this up all by herself. She isn't nearly smart enough to place something like this together without outside help.
:Arikan: I don't know why this body is here, but, I did have this.
Arikan passes him a note that was found with the body.
:Silver: A suicide note?
Silver looks weirded out.
:Silver: But she didn't seem like the suicidal type.
:Arikan: Just don't ask me anything. I don't know w-why this is happening again. Am I just cursed or something?
Silver reads the note.
:Silver [reading]: To Silver Zin, I cannot overcome the long term damage you've done upon me, my family, and my friends. You've got a lot of nerve to believe you're in the right. No matter what I do, no matter where I go, you are there to hurt me, and that fact has never been proven false. You haunt me in this reality, you haunt me in my dreams, and I'm sure you'll haunt me in the afterlife. Eff you for everything you've done to me. From: Mallory Zin.
Silver just drops the note.
:Silver: I don't believe it, you can't just pull the same trick twice.
:Arikan: Feel free to sit down here for as long as you want, I'm sure you have a lot on your mind.
Silver sits down on a bench in Arikan's basement.
:Silver: Why would she pull this trick a second time...?
:9:33 A.M. · FRIDAY October 10th, ZXE-223
:Public Workshop, New Naxaz City
Meanwhile, at the public workshop in New Naxaz City, Azrail's shown grinning with big sparkles in his eyes. He's holding up his finished blueprints, but from the looks of his eyes, you could tell he spent all night coming up with his new plan.
:Azrail: I... It's complete! The blueprints for the Spice Chip Mountain Plan, or "SCMP" for short, is finished!
:Crymsia: Aaaaaa! I'm proud of you, Az!
Crymsia kisses his cheek, making him blush a little. Paprika's just finished making her sweaters while Penny's shown with her laptop open, typing away furiously.
:Paprika: All the sweaters have been finished, ma'am! I'll be sure to ask Frink to deliver them to the right locations.
:Penny: Looks like we're ahead of schedule, that's great! What're your exact plans, Azrail?
:Azrail: That's easy! I'm going to make a huge pile of spicy chips where the Heartgold Park stands right now, make a quick festival out of it, then capture the Zins if they attempt to loot the huge pile at any given moment!
Azrail claps his hands together.
:Azrail: The Zins are addicted to spicy foods, based off of their thieving history and the fact that it's been proven that Silver and Mallory are particularly huge fans of that type of food!
:Crymsia: This plan is so silly, I can't believe I'm endorsing it as an authority figure.
:Penny: Me neither.
Penny walks over to Paprika, picking up the sweaters and folding them while Paprika leans back in her rocking chair and relaxes.
:Azrail: It is an absurd plan, yes, but it should work! It's not like any traditional schemes are gonna work at this point.
:Crymsia: See, the fact you have such overthetop thinking and knowledge is what gives you so much charm, Az. [pinches his cheek] I really look forward to chopping up Mallory into a bunch of itty bitty bite-sized pieces!
:Penny: I've got some updates myself!
:Paprika: What're they, ma'am?
:Penny: I've got confirmation that most the Regrets squad will check out the Stock Exchange building today, while Rose and Azul plan on spying on the Spiral Tower in Sector 4. The Reaping squad will give us a video call momentarily!
:Azrail: So, are we calling them squads or divisions?
:Penny: Doesn't really matter, you get the point.
Crymsia smiles, sleepily leaning on Azrail. She hasn't gotten a bone to pick with anyone for a while, but she's fine with that, because she has Azrail to hang out with and appreciate. It's a change of pace to feel good!
:Penny: I think we might have everything in the bag!
:Crymsia: There's no way that we're going to fail now that everything's going our way. [smiles] Mallory? She's going to get baited by this unlikely kryptonite. Gonzalo? We're about to expose his ass. Vilicus? No problem now. Ms. Replicate? ...I dunno where she is, but I'm sure we can take care of her too.
:Azrail: Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, it's so easy to believe everything will roll smoothly but I'm sure that what we're going to do may make extra trouble if we're not careful enough.
:Penny: Azrail's right.
:Azrail: However, I've gotten a text from Zodiez that tells me that she's giving everyone that can be trusted special cards that can be used to access the emergency chutes that can lead into every sector. So, they'll be available beginning tomorrow.
:Crymsia: That'll be convenient during this lockdown!
:Penny: That's good to know, where're we supposed to get them, though?
:Crymsia: She's gonna send them secretly by mail.
:Penny: Ooh.
:Azrail: Hey, I think the Reaping squad's trying to call us up.
Penny grabs her laptop, setting it down on a table as she takes a seat down in a rocking chair. She accepts the call when Crymsia, Azrail, and Paprika seat themselves down with her.
:Devina [video]: Hey, can you guys see me?
:Penny: Yes, darling.
:Devina [video]: Okay, cool!
:Black Eyes [video]: I wanna take up 80% of the camera, move it!
:Devina [video]: Can it, Black Eyes!
Devina pushes him over, making him fall onto a trash can. Koffina, Clair, and Priss can be seen at a table together, playing what looks like Uno together. They laugh at Black Eyes' lack of grace as he gets up, shouting expletives at them.
:Devina [video]: Anyway, as you can see, we're still struggling to get along perfectly well. But we've come up with some plans to capture the three spirits again, we've got vacuums, we've got freezing weapons, and we've got the lowest-class nu metal music.
:Black Eyes [video]: Ooh wa ah ah ah!
:Devina [video]: We'll wait for Vilicus to get out into a public space, then we'll suck the spirits out of him, I've contacted Rose and Azul since they're already back in Sector 4 to check his home address and look for suspicious activities.
:Koffina [video]: Things are going alright, I've worked with Clair to perfect the arts of ghost-hunting and I've also improved the Holy Diver suit. It used to be a more ordinary suit, but now she can fire beams that'll stun any form of matter.
:Black Eyes [video]: We'll be making 'em crawl in their skin, 'cuz with the lasers we've developed, their wounds will not heal. Fear is how we fall, but they'll be confusing what is real. Whoaaaaaaaaah!
:Penny: Great updates, everyone! Glad to see you're still in tip-top shape.
:Devina [video]: I guess you could say that. I'm going to go into the recording studio by the 12th to record a new album with my band Black Haze, it'll be a strange one alright.
:Penny: You're still gonna do what you're supposed to though, right?
:Devina [video]: Yeah, just by night.
:Black Eyes [video]: Ya know what a day is like with Black Haze? It's just one of those days when you don't wanna wake u-
:Devina [video]: Shut the hell up, Black Eyes.
Black Eyes does indeed shut up.
:Devina [video]: So, tonight we'll be doing some spying around the Valco Vortex for Vilicus, he said on social media that he's gonna start putting up posters tonight and we need to keep a special eye on him. Azul and Rose will spy on his home.
:Penny: Sounds good!
:Priss [video]: We've got this in the bag, Penny!
:Bowie [video]: Help me, I don't think I'm in Kansas no more!
Priss stuffs Bowie back into her purse.
:Devina [video]: I think now's a good time to click off. We'll see you later, alright?
:Koffina [video]: We'll be sure to share our results! Maybe we'll turn the three spirits into portraits? ...That sounds familiar.
:Devina [video]: Either way, we'll get 'em captured!
:Penny: See you all later!
:Crymsia: Bye, lovelies!
Penny hangs up.
:Penny: Alright, let's get ready to do this. Let's show those creeps the real power of teamwork! And coordination.
:9:57 A.M. · FRIDAY October 10th, ZXE-223
:Main Plaza, Satellite 15 Lobby
Silver was walking down the lobby hallway.
:Silver: Mallory can't possibly be dead, Medea wouldn't dare clone my sister again, right?
Silver makes his way down the hallway. The whole lobby was cleaned of soldiers now; it's like they weren't banging on Arikan's door and walls hardly an hour before. He knew he had to stay on his guard though, because of Scotch.
:Silver: I just don't understand what you would achieve from making another dead Mallory.
Silver had the note clearly on his mind.
:Silver: But that note, whether it was real or forged, it hurt to read. Someone's going to some wild extreme to hurt me, and I'm not sure who that someone is. Could be Mallory for all I know, but I doubt she has the resources for cloning.
Silver ponders this all to himself.
:Silver: It's clear that someone's after my blood, but I have no reason to believe it'd be Medea. I haven't done anything to her, at least, I don't think I have.
Silver takes a break to stop against a wall, leaning back against it. He closes his eyes, bringing us to a flashback in his head. It takes us way back to the past, where Silver and Mallory were in their early teenage years. Silver had some golden teeth fillings and looked overly edgy, while Mallory had freckles on her cheeks and looked kind of indifferent to the world around them.
:Mallory [past]: I don't think there's any point in killing yourself, you're not resolving any of the problems you're dealing with. It's an escape that leaves you with unfinished business in the afterlife. What's the point?
:Silver [past]: I'm thankful you're not gonna act upon that kinda crap, you know I love ya.
The Mallory of the Past nods at him.
:Mallory [past]: Personally, if something really terrible were to happen to me, I'd like to resolve the issues by any means necessary so I can be at peace when I finally die.
:Silver [past]: Yeah, I see what ya mean.
:Mallory [past]: Thank you for being here for me, I really hope you turn the universe into a better place.
:Silver [past]: Can't promise that, Mal. You know how tricky it would be to resolve all the issues in the universe as they stand. It'd probably be easier to destroy it so that nobody's gotta suffer anymore.
:Mallory [past]: But what about the people who don't deserve to die?
:Silver [past]: That's the tricky part. I don't know how I'd handle that. I wanna take the universe by storm, but, I dunno how I'd personally go about making peace. I'll let ya know when I come up with somethin'.
The Silver of the Past grins at his young sister.
:Mallory [past]: Sorry that I scared you by telling you I didn't want to see this house anymore.
:Silver [past]: It's aight, mum's kinda tough to deal with, I feel ya.
:Mallory [past]: Just know that even when things get horrible, and if we're no longer friends, I'll always love you and admire you for who you are. Even if, you were to hurt me.
Silver feels his heart sink in the present.
:Mallory [past]: ...I wouldn't lose any attachment to you. I'd still love you, but I'd still burn.
The Silver of the Past hugs his sister. The Silver we know lurches over in pain.
:Silver: She couldn't kill herself, she said it herself that there was no reason for her to do it. She has unfinished business to take care of first before she goes to the afterlife, and that business is me.
Silver starts moving again, trying to clear his head of his thoughts by knocking his head from the side.
:Silver: Maybe if I choose to believe she's dead, which is what they want me to believe, I can get by soundly.
Silver takes deep breaths. He knows that Mallory is, in fact, not dead because it would be against her nature to kill herself. But he wants to believe it just so he doesn't have to worry about her every waking moment. Silver can't help but think about her all the time, how he's hurt her, how the several years of damage have caught up to her. Silver closes his eyes, trying to rid of her image from his brain.
:Silver: I better report Mallory's deceased body at some point, maybe the authorities would like to believe I'm not a threat and appreciate me trying to help them out. [closes his eyes] But it'd be wrong!
Silver looks down at himself.
:Silver: But I can't let that frightening sight go unreported.
Silver pulls Mallory's suicide note out of his pocket. He looks over it.
:Silver: There's no way I can tell if this is forged, this is her handwriting. It just seems so hard to believe.
Silver closes his eyes again.
:Silver: If I believe she committed suicide, I'll be able to get by without thinking of her, at least for a while.
:???: That's unhealthy, Silver.
Silver turns himself around. He sees a woman taller than him standing right behind him; Nomila Rouse. She smiles at him, just faintly.
:Silver: I remember you, you're Nomila right? Didn't we meet a couple of weeks ago?
:Nomila: Yeah, I remember that voice, you gave me your contact card! My good friend Pierce Hazel sent me to go find you, because he's a bit worried you haven't come back. And you sound very distressed.
:Silver: Yeah, you could say I sound distressed alright.
:Nomila: Do you want to talk about what you're feeling, Silver?
Silver looks away a little bit.
:Silver': I don't know, it's very personal and I don't want to make someone feel pity for me when they really don't need to.
:Nomila: You can tell me, it's not like I'd share your story to anyone else. Pierce wouldn't like it if I did anyway.
Silver sighs as he takes off his mask, wheezing a bit from the smell inside the Corey Taylor mask.
:Silver: It's very personal, I'm not sure if I feel comfortable talking about it right now. I just... do you ever hurt someone really bad and now they hate you and you don't know what you can do about them?
:Nomila: No, but I can see why that'd sting.
:Silver: I just, uh, I don't know how to deal with them. They don't know how to deal with me, either. We're stuck in this endless cycle of abuse and hatred where neither of us are winning and both of us are losing our minds.
:Nomila: We can talk about it somewhere else if you want.
:Silver: I don't know where I wanna go, actually, I wanna go somewhere, but I need you to accompany me there because the risk of getting attacked is pretty high.
:Nomila: Where?
:Silver: My instincts are telling me to go to the Stock Exchange building. I need to get there.
:Nomila: I can take you there!
:Silver: Thank you, I'd like to do what I want to do there then go home. Don't ask me what I want to do there, I just feel an instinct to go there, I just need someone watch over me.
:Nomila: Some of my friends are suspicious about that building, so I wouldn't mind taking a trip with you there.
:Silver: Thank you, let's not waste much time!
The two head off. But even as Silver focuses his energy on running there, he still heard many voices in his head.
:Minute [past]: You hurt everyone you touched.
::
::
:10:17 A.M. · FRIDAY October 10th, ZXE-223
:Satellite 15 Stock Exchange, New Naxaz City
While Silver's rushing over to the building, Nicholas already has managed to enter the building with Noise, Yama, and Abraham in tow. Rose and Azul were back in Sector 4, so it was just these four members of the Regrets division going inside.
:Gonzalo: Welcome back Shredder, my dear boy! It looks like you've got guests? Very, peculiar ones?
:Nicholas: Yep, I've rounded up the rest of C.O.T.S. for you today, master.
:Gonzalo: Excellent, take them back to the master bedroom.
:Nicholas: Aye-aye!
Nicholas turns away, starting to lead Noise, Yama, and Abraham down the hall. Nicholas' sinister smile turns to a glum expression as he leads the three down the hall.
:Nicholas: By the way, Gonzalo, I need you to disable the cameras and audio feed for me. When I begin tormenting these prisoners, the sounds are going to become obnoxiously loud.
:Gonzalo: No need for such, Shredder. Besides, I'd like to see the action happen live, it'll be fun to watch.
:Nicholas: I beg of you, the sounds of torture are going to become real grating on your ears.
:Gonzalo: Hm, what are you afraid of, Shredder? Are you afraid of me going deaf? Or are you afraid of me finding out about something I'm not supposed to find out about?
:Nicholas: I promise you Gonzalo, that I'm not planning anything out against you. I'm your only friend left.
Gonzalo hisses. Nicholas told a solid fact.
:Gonzalo: Mmm, very well. I'll give you a little bit of privacy, sweetheart.
Nicholas tries hard to not respond to that last quip by Gonzalo as he leads Noise and the others back.
:Nicholas: Sorry about that, Gonzalo acts really gross to people he's built any kind of positive relationship with. I've noticed after seeing some of his captives get tormented, live. Right in front of me.
:Noise: It's alright, I chose to be quiet so you didn't have to deal with more than you already had to.
:Nicholas: What might not be alright is that, I've known where Medea and Valerie have been for a while now. I didn't want to say anything in case Gonzalo would somehow be able to hear me.
:Abraham: They're, here?
:Nicholas: Yeah. Hunjan wasn't lying, Medea did take herself out here for a night with Gonzalo. And now she's in deep shit.
Nicholas sighs.
:Nicholas: When Syinara died, Valerie chose to join back up with him too. He doesn't let go of people so easily- Rose and Azul had a hell of a time escaping this place, Valerie and Medea are having trouble leaving, and if I help anyone directly leave, I'll have to bite the worst bullets.
:Noise: It's a good thing we're heading to the right place, though.
Noise sounds very bitter, like she doesn't really want to really see Medea.
:Yama: I just want this long, long nightmare to be over already.
Nicholas opens up the door to Gonzalo's room. Valerie could be seen lifelessly spinning a countertop globe while Medea could be seen in the middle of shaving her legs.
:Valerie: ...Hello?
:Medea: Oh my darlings, I can't believe you're here!
Noise, Yama, and Abraham step into the room with Nicholas, who shuts and bolts the door behind him.
:Noise: I'm not here to rejoice, Medea. I've come here to wonder what happened to Chimera, why you let Gonzalo take over your whole establishment, and why you're back here.
Noise stamps her foot down.
:Noise: I'm not interested in anything but answers.
With Noise's voice made clear, Yama and Abraham decide to not speak up. Valerie sighs as she returns to playing with her globe.
:Medea: I'll try to answer your three questions really fast. Chimera's dealing with, hmm, difficulties somewhere in the basement. Gonzalo locked her away, he has the key, and... he... uhh...
:Noise: If you let that moron complete your experiments with Chimera, I'm going to kill you.
Medea whimpers a little bit, sinking back on the bed.
:Medea: Y-Yeah.
:Noise: God damn it, Medea.
Medea looks rather afraid as Noise's back teeth can be shown. Noise didn't have a thoroughly consistent body, but all of her teeth were taken from different animals; some deep sea teeth can be seen at the back of her maw.
:Medea: I-If you didn't confront me, none of this would have had to happen!
:Noise: You could have contacted Silver! He's been going through a lot of bullcrap without you the whole time you've been here! Do you know how much that stings for him?
:Medea: He thinks too straight! He couldn't possibly understand my greed, I need someone strong, someone that hits hard, someone that can satisfy me mentally and carnally!
Noise growls.
:Noise: I talked to him a while back. The crap he's had to go through is significantly worse than anything you've had to put up with. I've lost a lot of respect for you, personally.
:Medea: Gonzalo couldn't possibly let me get away, Noise! I've been trapped here for ages because he won't let me free!
:Noise: You could have avoided all of this by just going to Silver. He could have helped you, especially after everything he's gone through over the past few weeks. I'm just saying you're losing your touch with reality, Medea.
Noise closes her eyes, sighing.
:Noise: Why did you let Gonzalo take over your place?
:Medea: I told him that we could move in there together like nothing ever happened, I'm starting to regret letting him take control of my life again because I can just feel everything going south from here.
:Noise: No crap things are going to move south! You roped yourself into this predator's trap again!
:Medea: If you hadn't been trying to change the way I do things, I wouldn't be doing this crap!
:Noise: YOU'RE NOT WILLING TO CHANGE, MEDEA! THIS IS WHAT'S GOING TO KILL YOU!
:Medea: STOP YELLING AT ME!
:Valerie: SHUT UP!
Valerie throws her globe between them, making them stop.
:Valerie: We are trapped in the building of an ultra-masculine predator, you're all reunited now, why can't you just use your heads and put your differences aside to come up with a way out of here!
:Nicholas: She has a point, but I've had a plan.
Medea turns her head to him.
:Medea: What is it, genius?
:Nicholas: I'm gonna convince him to prevent anyone but Valerie and Medea from taking part in his naughty little act, have Noise stitch up sleeping fakes of herself and her two friends, then while I'm distracting him someone can set the place aflame and let him burn in his own fire! Maybe the three doctors can do it?
:Valerie: This is a plan I can get behind.
:Nicholas: With the correct setup, maybe the crowd would first believe it's just part of the act, then I'll announce there's a serious fire and I'll give everyone just enough time to run. [cackles] It feels good to be able to start making plans that benefit people rather than hurt them.
:Noise: Sounds like a good plan to me.
:Yama: Sign me up, I like smoking!
Noise turns her head sharply to her.
:Yama: I mean, smoking up establishments!
:Noise: I'm going to hurt you if that liver turns a darker shade, Yama.
:Yama: I-I don't smoke!
Nicholas claps his hands.
:Medea: I'll do it, I think. As long as I have Valerie on the stage with me, I won't feel too terrible.
:Valerie: Same back at you, lesbian.
Valerie bumps Medea's fist playfully, smiling.
:Valerie: Look everyone, I know that there's plenty of tension between you all, but the only way this plan is going to work is if we work together. Nobody gets left behind!
:Noise: Understood. Sorry Medea, I let my anger get the better of me.
:Medea: You have every reason to be upset, I was just... not prepared, hah.
Medea holds out her arms. Noise looks reluctant at first, but sighs before returning the affection.
:Noise: From the bottom of my black heart, I do deeply care for you, Medea. I just want you to understand where you've gone wrong and try to become a better person from now on. I know you're not happy with what you have, but learn to accept what good you have and make use of it always.
Noise kisses her cheek.
:Noise: I'll take back my comment about losing respect for you if you can better yourself.
:Medea: Then I'm gonna try to become better.
Nicholas nods.
:Nicholas: How about we all spend the night here, girls? And boy?
:Abraham: I don't think we have much of a choice.
Little did they know, Gonzalo was spying on them the whole time. But no audio seems to emerge from the cameras, so he has no idea what was really going on in there.
:Gonzalo: I don't know what you're doing, Shredder, but if you're about to betray me, I'll be ready for you, lying scum! I don't see any torture going on in there, I just see someone disobeying my commands.
Gonzalo snickers.
:Gonzalo: Maybe someone pulled out the audio cords from the cameras, doesn't matter, I'll figure out what happened later.
Gonzalo stares at the zodiac stone on his wall.
:Gonzalo: The other zodiac stones are in this very metropolis, I wonder if I can get my hands on all of them soon...
Gonzalo pulls an evil laugh, cackling to himself maddeningly as his fingers twitched with devious glee. Meanwhile, outside, Silver approached the Stock Exchange building at the front doors with Nomila.
:Silver: This is the place.
:Nomila: What'd you wanna do with it?
Silver pulls out a match.
:Silver: I have the strong instinct that Medea is here. I can feel this primal energy pounding in my veins, telling me she's here. I remember something about this Gonzalo person.
:Medea [past]: Gonzalo, in fact, was not my solution. Instead, he continued what my uncle had done to me, and let me relive my memories as a victim rather than as an instigator. I already knew for so long that I was awful, a cancerous limb attached to the satellite's society, but the last straw was actually seeing what those people saw through their own eyes.
:Silver: Clearly, there is something about Gonzalo that I can see reflected inside of me, and it's the kind of thing that would make me want to destroy him.
:Nomila: So, why are you pulling out a match instead of going straight inside?
:Silver: Because there's no reliable way to get inside without Gonzalo detecting me.
Silver sighs, pocketing his match. He instead begins to climb the building by ascending one of the massive pillars holding up the roof of the Stock Exchange building.
:Silver: Maybe climbing up here and listening for her would be a better idea instead.
:Nomila: Right after you.
Nomila climbs up after him.
::
::
:Silver: Here we are.
:Nomila: It's... cold up here.
:Silver: We'll just make this ceiling listenin' real quick then!
Silver places his ear down to one part of the ceiling.
:Gonzalo [muffled]: At the celebration party, I'll hide myself inside a giant cake, then pop out in the flesh when I can hear Valerie and Medea, I'll be covered head to toe in delicious cake!
:Silver: Ewww. That's not Medea.
Silver places his ear down somewhere else.
:Chimera [muffled]: Gonzalo, I feel some really strong, heavy pain in my stomach, please help me...!
:Silver: Doesn't sound like her.
Silver places his ear down on another spot.
:Valerie [muffled]: When we get out of here, I'm going to take all of his wealth and use it to get myself back in the running as the mayor of New Naxaz City, nobody will take this goddamn city away from me!
:Silver: Valerie!
:Valerie [muffled]: Silver??
:Noise [muffled]: That was sudden.
:Valerie [muffled]: No, I mean, I think I heard Silver's voice.
Silver charges up his Mind Weaver, ready to blast his way through the ceiling, when he hears Nomila scream. Silver hisses as he turns around, seeing a bunch of Scotch's soldiers hold her up by the wrists.
:Silver: Give me a break!
:Soldier #1: Don't step any closer, Silver, or we'll shoot!
:Soldier #2: You're under arrest for arson crimes and for avoiding serving your sentence!
:Silver: Since when did soldiers get the ability to arrest me?
:Soldier #1: Zodiez made the whole army into authoritarian figures.
:Silver: Crap.
Silver doesn't move, not wanting Nomila to get hurt.
:Nomila: Forget about me, just run!
Silver isn't so keen on that, but he stands still, only for a soldier to come up from behind and shackle his wrists.
:Silver: God damn it, I was so close.
:Valerie [muffled]: Silver, we're down here! We're down here!
Silver sees the Zin trackers equipped on all four soldiers.
:Silver: I hate you all.
:Soldier #2: Now, because the New Naxaz City prison is totally destroyed, because of an assault proven to be Mallory's, we're instead going to have to take care of you by taking you straight to Zodiez.
:Silver: You have to be kidding me.
:Soldier #2: Nope!
:Soldier #3: Save all comments for Zodiez, you little knucklehead.
Silver grumbles as he's taken away.
:1:05 P.M. · FRIDAY October 10th, ZXE-223
:Vinegar Base, Satellite Lobby
Scotch is shown back at his base, looking over the Moonlight troops that have to be sent out by night. There are no more traces of alcohol in his office; Scotch has been away from alcohol for several hours now thanks to Lily Horn, it seems.
:Scotch: That blasted Zinner, I was really close to seizing him earlier this morning. And while my back was turned, Mallory attacked one of the biggest school districts in the city, chased the easier target, missed, then let the harder target do awful crap.
:Lily: Don't get too worked up over it, Scotch, you know that you have little control over what damage she does.
Lily laughs as she grabs his shoulders from behind, starting to rub his shoulders.
:Lily: Since you've deployed your troops yesterday, the damage Mallory's doing is starting to become more minimalized, Scotchy-kun. [smiles] You don't need to get so upset.
:Scotch: Lily, I hate to inform you about this, but Mallory killed a number of innocent children today. I have every right to be grieving and upset and fucking miserable, because I couldn't prev-
Lily places her finger to Scotch's lips.
:Lily: Shh-shh-shh. Gee, you're a wreck.
:Scotch: You don't have to point that out to me, I already know that.
:Lily: See, the thing is that while you're feeling horrible and nauseous all the time, you're not getting much done. You really need to relax and sit up straight so you can respond to bad situations faster.
Lily keeps rubbing his shoulders.
:Lily: C'mon, Scotch, you think you can sit straight up for me?
Scotch rolls his eyes as he sits straight up for Lily.
:Lily: Good, slouching is bad for your posture, and you don't wanna ruin your posture when you're a man with fine shape. [laughs coaxingly] Now, you need to raise your chin up, and pick up your pen.
Scotch does just that, looking up at her.
:Scotch: You don't have to treat me like I'm seven, Lily.
:Lily: I am not, I'm attempting to get you back on track because every single time you feel as down as you do, you don't get anything done, and you're not doing anybody any favors!
Lily stamps her foot down. Not the first character to do that this chapter!
:Lily: You might have messed up, but there's no point stopping when you've made it so far. Now, get to work!
Scotch starts to write in his logbook again, sighing as he starts trying to catch up.
:Lily: You need someone strong like me, Scotch, or you're not going to make it through with anything in life! No more booze, no more complaining! Look less like an annoying little moth and a little more like a threatening wasp!
:Scotch: Alright, alright.
Scotch gets straight to work, scribbling through his logbook. He knew that if he kept having this strange type of motivation, he could possibly catch up on his logbook and have enough time to sort all his files.
:Lily: I used to be a bank accountant, you know. If you don't finish all this work today, I'm going to have to start taking on these responsibilities, if you're going to tell me you're going to do all this work by yourself, then own up to your claim!
:Scotch: A-Alright.
Scotch had to admit to himself that Lily as the only person that could really break him down like that. He wasn't sure if he made the right choice, Lily liked to act really sassy about Scotch's exes and she can be overwhelming, but she can sure as hell be a motivator because she's unaffected by his words.
:Scotch: Leave me alone for now, I'm going to try and finish all of this before the day is done. Now, why don't you go back to your hive until I tell you that I'm ready to have you back.
:Lily: Nope! I'm absolutely not going to leave until you can prove you're good enough to do all of that work before midnight tonight. I'm staying here the whole while- besides, I'm not needed for the moment.
:Scotch: Suit yourself.
As Scotch works away, Lily pulls some papers out of her pockets. They were some of Scotch's completed paperwork; they show that he plans on countering all the Mallorism freaks roaming about town and that he plans on chucking the Zins out into the middle of space. She cackles.
:Lily: Ooh, I didn't realize Mallory's followers were such a disgraceful bunch.
:Scotch: They always like to head around town on Sundays, that's when church gets set up and all.
:Lily: Excellent.
:Scotch: Why do you care?
Lily laughs almost evilly.
:Lily: Nothing.
As Scotch returns his eyes to his work, we get a glimpse of what Lily's thinking.
:Lily [thinking]: Sunday, I think I can do something with all those Mallorism freaks roaming the streets. I'll send my hornet workers out in the streets, and bring them all to the hive.
Lily grins at her boyfriend.
:Lily [thinking]: Scotch, too. He'd make a fine king.
:3:24 P.M. · FRIDAY October 10th, ZXE-223
:Spiral Tower, Sector 4
We get a glimpse of the Forbidden Tundra; we see a huge spiraling tower in the middle of the fierce snowstorm that's going on inside what's basically a giant steel freezer. The camera scrolls up, showing Vilicus inside the top floor of the Spiral Tower. Rose and Azul can be seen watching him through his window, observing him.
:Vilicus: Aha, the Marmalade Masquerade is back home baby!
Rose cups his mouth when he sees three spirit-like creatures rise up from the floor.
:The Manipulator: Welcome home, Vilicus. We continue to be impressed that you're willingly choosing to run for mayor, we wish you luck with your endeavors. It was what we wanted after all, you running as mayor.
:Vilicus: I'm surprised you three were able to rope me into taking such an excellent opportunity. I look forward to becoming New Naxaz City's mayor, taking the seat in honor of Valerie Heartgold!
:The Manipulator: You appear to be in great spirits, Vilicus.
:The Devil's Mask: No pun intended!
:The Manipulator: We'll be keeping a close eye on you and helping you out in any way we can. It is very important that you win, you see, because the satellite needs someone strong to help them defeat Mallory.
Vilicus chuckles.
:Vilicus: It won't be very hard, I don't think I'll have any serious competition by the time the 19th comes. [grins sharply] I can find this election nice and easy!
:The Manipulator: Thankfully, the destruction of the Electolympics means you don't have to do any exercising to win this time around. You just need to sound convincing, and we're here to help you with that.
:Vilicus: I'd strongly appreciate it! I'll take anything, then mold it into a stage performance!
:The Manipulator: Excellent. 
:Vilicus: I'd hope so!
The Manipulator cackles.
:The Manipulator: Actually, why do you trust me? Why do you trust someone like me to help you out? I just think it's intriguing that you're trusting everything I've been telling you.
:Vilicus: Personally, it's just great knowing I have such excellent fans wanting to help me out.
Vilicus grins from ear to ear.
:The Manipulator: You could say that, yes.
:Vilicus: I'll be the one to save New Naxaz City! I'll bring the satellite back to its former state of glory, before the Mallorian Incidents began to occur! I shall face my other competitors head-on, then seize the Valco Vortex by force!
Vilicus grins.
:Vilicus: I even have a new name for the place, the Marmalade Middle!
:The Manipulator: Sounds good.
The Manipulator lets off a sly, sly smile.
:The Manipulator: Vilicus! Tonight, you need to get to New Naxaz City and begin spreading your posters everywhere. You need to make your agenda clear, and make it even more clear that you're not going to take no as an answer! Good luck, my star student!
:Vilicus: Thank you, eeee!
:The Manipulator: Don't mention it. Here's what I promised.
The Manipulator pulls the same trick again: setting down a crate of alcohol on the floor.
:The Manipulator: Yours for the taking. Goodbye.
The spirits sink back into the floor. The Echeno gives Vilicus an extra-sharp grin before disappearing down with the other two. Rose and Azul stare at each other, their hearts beating. Oh crap...
:Rose [whispering]: He's being tricked!
:Azul [whispering]: We'll warn the rest of the Shutdown Squad about this.
As Rose and Azul grind their way down the Spiral Tower, they can hear some strange chanting from the inside of the tower.
:The Manipulator: Mercenaries beaten, Rebels over, Threats never to take over.
:The Echeno: Mercenaries beaten, Rebels over, Threats never to take over.
:The Devil's Mask: Mercenaries beaten, Rebels over, Threats never to take over.
:5:50 P.M. · FRIDAY October 10th, ZXE-223
:Kýrios' Bedroom, Admin Sector
Silver was sitting on a chair in Kýrios' bedroom, looking up at Zodiez and Kýrios. The sharpest of eyes could see that the door was locked, but that Silver was supposed to be comfortable, given just how soft his seat was.
:Zodiez: Don't get too worked up, Silver, I'm sure that everything that's going on with you right now is a huge misunderstanding. There's a lot of bullcrap happening left and right, so take your time to explain.
:Silver: I understand.
Silver looks around himself. The room had dozens of lit-up candles, a chandelier swung breezily overhead, and most importantly, these two satellite lords looked wonderful in pajamas.
:Zodiez: You are going to be here overnight, because we cannot trust you to be outside of our range of vision right now. Please do not be alarmed, we just don't want you to deal any more damage at the moment. We will send you off to Pierce tomorrow unarmed, if you just stay calm.
Zodiez takes off her mask, setting it down on her desk. She had dark grey sclera, complete with vivid sapphire irises.
:Zodiez: I am going to take you as seriously as I possibly can, so the mask's off. How do I look?
:Silver: You look better without the mask on, honestly.
:Zodiez: You don't mean that.
:Silver: No no, I do!
Silver smiles up at her a little bit, before pulling it back. He had almost forgotten for a moment why he was here.
:Silver: We should probably cut to the chase, though.
:Zodiez: Yeah. Why'd you attempt arson several times?
:Silver: This is going to be a little bit of a wild story, but I just do not trust Gonzalo at all. I've been told many ugly things about him by Medea, and I heard Valerie's voice through the ceiling of the Stock Exchange building. I have every reason to believe that he has both of those women captive, and it's not like he's a positive influence on us.
Silver folds his arms.
:Silver: You have to pay 1000 ValCoins monthly to get any sort of privacy on Risquord, a service which he operates. You have to pay at least a tenth of that to even be able to use the service without risking your device getting hijacked by malicious programs. Gonzalo is degenerate scum that has openly stated his distaste for women, transgender people, gay people, non-binary people, and all of that. Even with everything that's been revealed about him, people still continue to treat him like he has no flaws.
Silver pulls out his phone, showing Gonzalo's social media page on Bitter dot com.
:Silver: Look at this horsecrap.
:Silver [reading]: If you are not a straight man by birth, you are more worthy of death than anyone else. No questions asked.
:Zodiez: It is true that Gonzalo is something of a bigot, and I don't blame you for being so distasteful of him, but he's the most efficient person there is to handle the job he handles. And he does it well. I can command a raid of his place, but I cannot straight up get rid of him.
:Silver: Then do the raid, it would be good to have that bastard's crap exposed.
:Zodiez: I have to give him a warning in advance though, because it's against the satellite policies to do sudden, uncalled-for raids. Those were banned a year back, when we decided that some drugs were legal to have once more.
:Silver: Oh great.
Silver sighs.
:Silver: Do the raid tomorrow, but keep an eye on where he moves. He CANNOT keep getting away with what he's getting away with, and I personally feel like you people are half-trying to let him get away with his crap.
:Zodiez: You're right Silver, I'm sorry.
:Silver: Now I need to bring up something else, and I kinda wish I brought it up earlier, but I found Mallory's dead body in Arikan's basement. Do you know anything about it? I'm very curious.
:Zodiez: Hmmm, when'd you find the body?
:Silver: Early this morning.
:Zodiez: That doesn't make any sense, Mallory attacked a school earlier. What if it wasn't Mallory?
:Silver: Oh great, you don't know anything about this either. How many supposed Mallory sightings have you had today?
:Zodiez: Just the one.
Silver clenches his forehead, looking annoyed.
:Zodiez: I'll raid Gonzalo's place tomorrow, and keep an eye out for Mallory, but I need you to not get yourself involved in these matters anymore. You are risking getting yourself thrown off the satellite by being so reckless.
:Silver: I'm sorry.
:Zodiez: It's fine, really.
Zodiez looks to her side for a second.
:Zodiez: ...This is gonna sound strange, but while you're here tonight, do you want to take a spot on the bed? Kýrios and I seriously wouldn't mind your company, and besides, maybe you'll feel a bit calmer.
:Silver: It... couldn't hurt?
:Zodiez: If it makes you feel awkward though, you really don't have to. It was just a suggestion at the most, nothing serious.
:Silver: I mean, I'd rather not sleep in a chair, so... gladly!
:Zodiez: We're sleeping with a peasant, Kýrios.
:Kýrios: Ooh. Social status awkwardness.
:Silver: What're you two whispering about?
:Zodiez: Oh, nothing.
Zodiez laughs as she gently takes Silver's hand.
:Zodiez: Now, do you mind if I see your Mind Weaver?
Silver nods, passing over his weapon to her. She places it on her bedside counter.
:Zodiez: You'll get it back when we can trust you again, I'd like to say within a week at least.
:Silver: I think I can work with that. I need to take a break from all this stress anyway.
:Zodiez: By the way, Silver, maybe you don't want to hear this, but I am fully aware of your talk with Agantuk. All I can say is that I haven't told anyone else but my husband, we're forgiving of you, and that we're going to keep it secret. You're not the problem.
:Silver: ...Where did you learn this information?
:Zodiez: Agantuk personally sent up to us and told us about it. He felt upset that he had to talk about it with you, and asked that we stay aware of what happened but not give you crap for it because he knows you're a different beast now.
:Silver: ...I see.
:Zodiez: Yeaah. I just wanted you to know that we know, but that we don't plan on using this information to hurt you. We really appreciate the context, if anything. Your sister's out of control.
:Silver: If it's alright with you, I'd rather not talk about her at all.
:Zodiez: Yes, yes, I understand.
:Silver: Thank you.
Silver climbs onto the queen-sized mattress slowly, Zodiez helping pull him up onto their ridiculously large bed. She sets him between the two.
:Silver: I'm really appreciative that you two are willing to trust me even after learning all of what you know. You sure that knowing what you know and not sharing it won't hurt you two later?
:Zodiez: It'll be fine.
Zodiez smiles at him.
:Zodiez: You're free to come up here any time you need to Silver, I don't want to place you through more than you already have to go through. This is your new prison.
:Silver: No more of that silly jail space?
:Zodiez: Yes.
Zodiez looks at him harder.
:Zodiez: With everything we know now, you're going here instead of the average prison because we need to keep a protective eye over you. We need to treat you seriously and understand your point of view because, I never thought I'd say this, but we need your help more than anyone else's.
Zodiez grabs his shoulders.
:Zodiez: You know more about her than anyone else if your memory is fully restored. We can't take her down without you. We are taking away your one weapon, but we'll give it back when the time comes, for now, we need your voice.
Zodiez raises her fist.
:Zodiez: You've got this, Silver.
:Silver: Thank you so much.
Silver sniffs, before crying as he buries his head into Zodiez's neck. From hating the crap out of Zodiez to finally being able to tolerate her; from hating the crap out of Silver to loving him for who he is; the two embrace. Silver feels the blood markup on his face flow loosely, sliding down Zodiez's neck.
:Silver: I'm going to do what I've always wanted to do, I'm going to help you guys do your job!
:Zodiez: T-That's it! Silver, we've gotta break down these evils together!
Zodiez squeezes Silver closely.
:Zodiez: I'm so sorry for treating you like crap!
:Silver: I'm so sorry that I didn't really communicate with you well, it's all alright.
Silver looks up at her.
:Silver: I'm on your side.
:Zodiez: That's the stuff I like to hear! Alright, let's get some rest now. Night, Silver!
:Silver: Niightt...
Zodiez turns out the lights, the three starting to go to sleep.
:9:26 P.M. · FRIDAY October 10th, ZXE-223
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
We finally see Silver's home again. Zellen was sleeping at the table, her face buried in Frosted Mini Wheats as Rogue naps quietly next to her. Pierce was drooling as he slept on his front, his head hanging over Silver's bed. We see a huge silhouette move through the dark living room.
:???: Where could it be...
The silhouette moves through Silver's home. An uninvited guest, it seems like.
:???: Ahhh, h-he must have it here.
Two clammy-looking hands slide over Silver's counter. These hands grab ahold of a journal- the same one that Blossom Forger talked about many chapters ago.
:???: This... i-it's this, isn't it?
These hands open up Silver's journal. Pulling out a flashlight, the silhouette begins reading out what Silver last wrote out in his journal. They move their hand over THURSDAY, October 9th, ZXE-223. Yesterday.
:???: Hmmm, he must keep t-this journal updated d-daily.
The light shows it's Mallory, because who else could it be? Pierce and Zellen must be too deep asleep to know that she's infiltrated their home. She picks up the journal.
:Mallory [reading]: I feel horrible for what I've done to Mallory. Every time I remember more of her, the deeper the hole I dig myself into. I hate remembering all the places my hands have felt. All the places I can remember seeing. Please, let there be rain when I die, to set my spirit free.
Mallory chuckles darkly to herself, holding the journal close to her eyes. Her skin tremblesfrom reading her sibling's guilt. But it wasn't guilty trembling. It was a very positive, satisfied trembling.
:Mallory [reading]: If I could change anything, anything at all, it would be my birth. I would kill my fetus, to erase myself in the present and erase myself in the past. If Mallory were raised without me, she would have been much happier. Maybe my parents wouldn't have been so strained. Hell, she might've had her dad if it weren't for me.
Mallory licks her finger, being careful to turn the page as Zins don't have very thick skin and easily cut.
:Mallory [reading]: Nothing I can say would be able to convince her to change her ways. It is clear she wants me dead. It's not too hard to figure that out. But I'm not sure if killing myself would be the best course of action, because then she'd probably go on a complete rampage. I don't know what to do. I don't want to die.
:Mallory: If you don't die by my hand, S-Silver, ooh, I can't even imagine what I'd do.
:Mallory [reading]: It was a mistake to believe she'd honestly get any better. I thought she was going to turn out to be a fine person some years back, but she's lost it. I lost my chance to help her. She's falling apart.
Mallory feels the veins under her skin mercilessly pump.
:Mallory: As you s-should feel, you p-piece of shit.
:Mallory [reading]: The only people I can rely on now are Pierce and Zellen. Not sure about Medea, I think she left me for dead. I'm not sure why, maybe it was just because I wasn't on board with everything she wanted to do for the future of the satellite. This crap hurts.
Mallory licks her lips, stuffing Silver's journal under her arm. For a brief moment, we see a black void.
:Blossom: Anything else we know about Silver's days, no more written accounts exist, so rumors and facts would spread by word of mouth. It's because Mallory stole his journal.
Mallory is shown getting up when the bedroom door gets slammed open, with Mallory shrieking from the sudden light.
:Pierce: 
Mallory winces as she avoids a butcher knife attack from Pierce, turning around to scram her way to the elevator leading out of Silver's home. Pierce keeps throwing things at her; pill bottles, pens, bottles, and even beer glasses. Mallory rides out of the place, with Pierce looking frustrated.
:Pierce: SHIT! DAMN IT!
Pierce takes deep breaths, collapsing to the floor as his psychic powers fail him.
:Pierce: Silver won't be happy when he gets home.
:9:58 P.M. · FRIDAY October 10th, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep, ???
Smartie wakes up from her long, long nap. She looks below her, seeing Mallory's minions together. Well, just a couple. Tonight, she only really saw Cody and Mania together down there. Everyone else must've been asleep.
:Mania: Please, Cody! We can't do this! Think about what could happen!
:Cody: I'm sorry, but I'm not in a position to fail Mallory's orders. Mania Metallurgy, you have to understand that what I'm doing is, it's not right, but I can't dare let her down!
:Mania: Is there not another way?
:Cody: I'm afraid not.
Smartie sighs, leaning down on the beam as she gets a good look down at them.
:Smartie: Ruh oh.
:Cody: The satellite will be set to self-destruct next month. I'm not happy about doing this, but I can't let Mallory down anymore! I'm tired of her hurting us, I'm tired of us letting her down.
:Mania: I don't think your head's on straight! It's not about Mallory anymore! It's about the fate of the whole satellite!
:Cody: Yeah, as if I'd care for most of the people on the satellite if all they do is just give Mallory more and more trouble to deal with! They're the reason why we're, being treated this way.
Cody frowns, looking at Mania with a sad, sad expression.
:Cody: I'm afraid I can't let any of you leave. I can't accomplish her plans without your help.
:Mania: I don't want to help, you obsessive creep!
:Cody: Do you know what Mallory would say if she found out you said that?
:Mania: I don't care, I was here to be part of a family and to feel respected and proud, not to be treated like crap and to be used like a slave! Nothing I've been doing for Mallory's felt worth it for months!
:Cody: I can't break my promise. So, I can't let any of you leave, whether you like it or not.
Mania looks really pissed off now.
:Mania: What happened to you, Cody? You used to have a mind of your own, you were funny and nice! Now you've become stripped of everything that made you likeable!
:Cody: You think I'm going to dare disobey her again with these rods in my back?
:Mania: Oh my god, are you placing your own physical health before the whole satellite?
:Cody: ...I guess.
:Mania: Maybe you do deserve to take more beatings from her, I've had enough of your crap!
Mania throws an ice bag at his head, which knocks him over.
:Cody: Even if you did kill me, Mallory would just kill you if you escaped. It's not worth getting on her bad side.
:Mania: Sure feels worth it to me! I wouldn't kill everyone, and if I died, I'd be one target! The satellite has hundreds of thousands of people that I don't want to willy-nilly kill!
:Cody: I thought I would have been able to convince you to see it my way, Mania, but I suppose not. It's noble to oppose her, but we won't accomplish anything by fighting against her or by running away.
:Mania: Cody, you've gone mad!
Cody presses a button, having a huge claw come right out from the sky to pick up Mania.
:Mania: W-wha-?
:Cody: The satellite is going to self-destruct on November 4th. You need to construct a device that will penetrate the satellite's core with great efficiency. Mallory will return sometime within the next week, so there is no excuse for slouching off.
:Mania: This is wrong, Cody!
:Cody: And there's nothing I can do but apologize for letting you think things were going to be so simple.
:Mania: ...Are you at least going to take Cameron's advice?
:Cody: If Mallory allows it. It's merely a suggestion at the moment.
Cody looks up at her with sad, regretful eyes.
:Cody: I'm sorry. This isn't what I want either, but I have no choice.
Cody watches the claw take Mania back to her room, watching her struggle to escape the claw machine. Cody sits down on one of the dinner tables, taking out a cigarette and smoking it.
:Cody: The things I do for my loved ones, maybe I'm losing it too. Each of us has enough of a moon in our dreams to make up just one. Only one.
Cody looks down.
:Cody: If I don't convince Mallory to turn things around, then this will be our future. Beginning on November 4th.
:Smartie: Oh god, oh fudge. Dis'll make Val crap her pants ven she gets back ter me!
====Chapter Nineteen: Right Turn====
:6:52 A.M. · SATURDAY October 11th, ZXE-223
:Satellite 15 Stock Exchange, New Naxaz City
Gonzalo opens up the door to his bedroom. Sure enough, Nicholas was there, and so were Valerie and Medea. They were sitting on his mattress, having been waiting for Gonzalo all morning. Noise, Yama, and Abraham were laying with them.
:Gonzalo: Good morning, my pretties! Did you all sleep well?
:Valerie: Hardly.
:Gonzalo: You better have gotten as much as sleep as you could, because today's the big day! [smirks] Tonight, you're going to perform in my own personal theater and make loads of money.
:Valerie: Mhmm, we've been over this.
:Gonzalo: You've been on such good behavior, Valerie. Syinara's body is in the basement, when the time comes closer to showtime, I'll bring her up here and you three can do lesbian things live. In front of thousands of incels!
Medea attempts not to bring up the hypocrisy of his words as he cackles.
:Gonzalo: But you two very well know that if you two attempt to mess with me, you two will become permanent exhibits at my upcoming zoo! Yur best performance is mandatory, so keep in mind the values of being a woman: being nice, being sweet, being, y'know... complete morons.
:Valerie: We'll get ready for this, Gonzalo.
:Medea: Do you have outfits for us to wear? And what do you plan on doing with the other three?
:Gonzalo: I was thinking of having foot mass-
:Nicholas: I was thinking they could go outside and do important guard work, we can't have anyone sabotage the show! Besides, I don't think they can be trusted by themselves.
:Gonzalo: Excellent plan, Shredder!
:Nicholas: You concentrate on getting the theater ready and making the necessary preparations, I'll work on notifying everyone on our invite list to come over and stay in the theater.
:Gonzalo: Hmmm, hmmm, you must really be a man after all.
:Nicholas: What?
:Gonzalo: Oh, nothing.
:Valerie: Again, do you have outfits in mind for us, Gonzalo?
:Gonzalo: Oh right, I got sidetracked. [cackles] There's some really excellent costumes in the closet.
Nicholas grimaces. He knows what's in that closet, and he sure as hell knows that neither Valerie or Medea would be pleased to wear them. Nicholas quickly clears his face up, shaking his head.
:Nicholas: Yeah, there's some interesting costumes in the closet!
Valerie could read the sarcasm on Nicholas' face. She goes over to the closet, pulling out two black suits that look extremely tight and uncomfortable that seem to be capable of revealing a lot of skin.
:Valerie: ...God.
:Medea: Those really uncomfortable.
:Valerie: Euugh.
Gonzalo cackles.
:Gonzalo: You'll be seen by an audience of thousands wearing these tight costumes! I think they'd rake in a lot of cash.
:Medea: I suppose...
:Valerie: Alright, we'll get ourselves dressed up in these. Can we ask everyone to get out?
:Gonzalo: I think I won't leave, but I think the rest may.
:Nicholas: Why don't you let them be alone, Gonzalo? They're probably going to place on their clothes faster if you leave them alone. Besides, you have a very busy schedule today.
:Gonzalo: You want to watch them instead for me, then?
:Nicholas: No, but I don't like this obsessive personality you're showing!
Gonzalo spits in his direction.
:Gonzalo: Don't question anything about me, you imbecile!
Nicholas holds up his arms in immediate response, looking defeated.
:Nicholas: A... Alright.
Everyone else was kind of hushed over that.
:Gonzalo: OUT! All of you!
Gonzalo watches Noise, Yama, Abraham, and Nicholas leave the room. He turns his eyes back to Valerie and Medea.
:Gonzalo: Now, I'm going to keep a close eye on you two.
Nicholas looked really peeved as he led the three former C.O.T.S. doctors down to the basement of the Stock Exchange building, looking at them as he leans against the wall.
:Nicholas: You three stay here. When the power goes out, I want you three to take Chimera and escort her out of the building. Then I need you three to come back so Gonzalo can give his orders without believing you three left the vicinity of his building.
Nicholas turns to Noise.
:Nicholas: Any way you can, you should make full body fakes of yourself and your friends, so that when Gonzalo does his final check to make sure you three are locked away in his room, he believes you're all still there.
Nicholas turns to go up the stairs.
:Nicholas: I'm going to shut the power out.
:Noise: Good luck, Nick.
:Nicholas: Nick?
:Noise: Sorry, I just thought that sounded kind of cool, kinda like your old name in how it sounded cool.
:Nicholas: I like it.
Nicholas goes up the stairs, starting to go down the hallway.
::
::
::
Nicholas makes it to Gonzalo's engine room, throwing one of Valerie's shurikens at the engines to shut them out. He eliminates power all across the Stock Exchange building, making all the lights go out.
:Nicholas: There.
Nicholas tries to look panicked, looking like he's trying to pull out the shuriken while severing some of the cords with his electrical hand claws. Gonzalo eventually comes to check in on him, having quickly noticed what's happened.
:Gonzalo: What the hell are you doing?
:Nicholas: Someone attempted to sabotage the engines powering your place, sir!
:Gonzalo: That can't be! Well, I can't check my security footage, I'll try to place the power back on myself. You go back out there and continue working on invites, I got this. Go away before I come up with more nasty names for you.
Nicholas nods, going to Gonzalo's office. He uses his electrical claws to completely sever the camera system, then goes through another hallway and rushes as far as he can before finding a bench, starting to work on sending invites at last.
:Gonzalo: My cameras are all sabotaged too!
Gonzalo growls.
:Gonzalo: No matter, I'm so close to finishing these plans, when I make all this money tonight, people will continue paying more for more nights of those women for their own disgusting gains. Hehehe! Whoever sabotaged these systems, I'll still be making millions and making success!
Nicholas smirks.
:Nicholas: We'll see about that, uncle.
:9:45 A.M. · SATURDAY October 11th, ZXE-223
:Kýrios' Throne Room, Admin Sector
Silver was sitting down with Kýrios and Zodiez, feasting on sliced Beorn meat served with fluffy gluten-free pancakes and blackberry syrup. They were seated around a fancy table together.
:Silver: Thank you for the wonderful stay I've had, Zodiez, and you too Kýrios. I'm going to stay out of the spotlight until I finish my promised projects and whenever Mallory shows up in the vicinity again, but I promise that when she does, I'm going to take her down and I'm not going to give up until she goes down.
Silver smiles, doing the thumbs up.
:Silver: I still feel doubts about myself, and I think it's reasonable for me to feel those doubts, but I'm not going to let what happened years ago overwhelm me or control the present me. I have to do what I have to do, I'm going to take care of my priorities while you folks focus your time on bringing Mallory down.
:Zodiez: Thank you for talking sense into me years ago, Silver. I'm still trying to become an efficient satellite ruler and all, and I have you to thank for bringing my flaws up to me.
Zodiez pinches his cheek as she takes a huge bite of what might have been red Beorn. A plate of metallic parts can be seen in the middle of the table, supposedly picked from the Beorn.
:Silver: You've become a much better person, that's for sure. Hey, why's there metal in my Beorn?
:Zodiez: Uhh...
:Silver: Meh, whatever, the meat at least tastes fine. You can probably make teeth braces out of that metal.
Zodiez laughs as she finishes up her meal, picking up her plate and taking it to the sink.
:Zodiez: Aha, maybe. You're going to do great Silver, take the break you need, we're going to work as hard as we can to stop the likes of Mallory, Gonzalo, etc. I want you to be safe whenever Mallory starts chasing you again.
:Silver: I'm glad you're finally understanding that I too am just as much a person as you are, haha.
Silver gets up, going over to wash his plate.
:Silver: After years of getting kicked down by satellite royalty, I had almost forgotten what friends are or what they actually do together. Looks like we're finally understanding that together.
:Zodiez: When you take a position of power, it starts to mess with your head. When you screamed at me, I remember how I had screamed at the elders of my society for treating me like crap because I was different. I don't want to talk about what exactly made me different, but...
Zodiez sighs.
:Zodiez: I realized that you too were different and just trying to fit in with everyone else, I had become like my elders and what you said to me broke the cycle. And I couldn't appreciate what you did until I internalized everything that happened.
:Silver: You're sweet.
Silver looks down.
:Silver: I still have bad memories of what you've done to me in the past, but I'm willing to throw all of that behind me because I'm uninterested in letting all that crap keep hurting our friendship. So, we're friends now, right?
Silver holds out his hand.
:Zodiez: We're friends.
Zodiez takes his hand, shaking it and smiling at him.
:Zodiez: Leave everything to us, Silver.
:Silver: I got it, so, you mind if I go home? I don't want to keep my partners waiting.
:Zodiez: Of course. We decided that you're not a viable threat.
Kýrios nods, handing Silver back his weapon.
:Zodiez: Look, it looks anticlimatic to hand you back your weapon after everything you've gone through over the past 24 hours, but I think if you're friends with us then we're going to trust you to not do any damage with your weapon.
Zodiez kneels down, hugging him tightly.
:Zodiez: Good luck!
:Silver: Thank you, you too!
Silver leaves the room, blowing a sultry kiss and twinkling his fingers at the two.
:Zodiez: What a stunner.
:Kýrios: No peasant, secret king!
:10:55 A.M. · SATURDAY October 11th, ZXE-223
:Vinegar Base, Satellite Lobby
Scotch was sitting before his desk, looking up at Lily, who looked smug and pleased with herself.
:Lily: Remember Scotch, tomorrow is going to be the big day! When Mallory's followers all show up in town tomorrow, I'm going to give them a taste of my special medicine, right when nobody's looking!
:Scotch: Yeah, yeah, I know.
Lily laughs as she continues doing Scotch's paperwork.
:Lily: It's interesting, Scotchy-kun, that you really thought you could do this massive stack of paperwork overnight.
:Scotch: Yeah, I know that I thought I could do it, you don't have to rub it in.
:Lily: I'm your secretary now, so you no longer need to worry about it! Just sit down, relax, and keep your eyes on the military, tomorrow will be a very big day for everyone! I want you to focus on getting ready for that.
:Scotch: I guess I can try to look excited.
Scotch doesn't even try to place on a smile.
:Scotch: Seriously though, I'm going to be really happy when you become the mayor of New Naxaz City, so I can have my office back to myself again. I like you a lot, but I prefer working alone.
:Lily: Tch, I'm sure you'll still see me plenty, Scotchy-kun, even after I become mayor.
Lily confidently laughs.
:Lily: I really don't think that Vilicus or Azrail are going to be worthy-enough opponents to bring me down.
:Scotch: Azrail is running for mayor?
:Lily: Yes, the little monkey, what a disastrous choice, it's like every time the satellite has an event like this, we get some stupid candidates running. I might be the only person who stands a real chance.
:Scotch: Well, if those two idiots are running, looks like we're not really going to get back on our feet any time soon. I mean, I'm sure Azrail would make for a fine mayor, but his chances are uncomfortably slim.
:Lily: You would want me to win anyway, right?
:Scotch: Of course.
Scotch didn't sound too confident with that answer, but knew that he wasn't strong enough to bring someone like Lily down. Silver or Zodiez could be brought down no problem like houses of sticks and leaves, both his exes the same way, but Lily was like a brick house. He wasn't going to be able to blow it down so easily.
:Scotch: You need the best of luck, Lily. I'm here to support you in any way I can.
:Lily: Heh, I applaud you for having the gut to tell me good luck.
Lily pinches his cheek, giggling.
:Lily: What a strong little man.
:Scotch: Stop babytalking me, it's kind of creepy.
:Lily: Ah, as if you're not a baby? You always throw fits when you don't get what you want.
What a dick, Scotch thought to himself in his head.
:Scotch: You do realize that I don't really want to see you when you say things like that, right? You're downtalking me and it's making me feel very uncomfortable. I get that you're restraining my behavior, but it's a bit much.
:Lily: I'm sorry, I'll try to cut down on that, hah.
Lily laughs.
:Lily: You're a fine grown adult, Scotchy-kun.
:Scotch: Not what I had in mind but that's already a huge improvement.
:Lily: It's a start, at least.
Lily rubs her hands together.
:Lily: I hope you're ready for the surprise I plan on doing tomorrow.
:Scotch: I'm sure I'll be, looking forward to it.
Lily smirks as she looks at her phone, which has a bunch of dried crystalized honey on its protective shell.
:Worker Hornet #1 [typing]: Sunday Storm Operation 95% complete!
:Worker Hornet #2 [typing]: All worker hornets on standby for tomorrow!
:Worker Hornet #3 [typing]: Honey is out for the feast!
Lily snickers to herself while Scotch watches her eyebrows move up and down.
:Lily: It's almost time.
:12:32 P.M. · SATURDAY October 11th, ZXE-223
:Heartgold Park, New Naxaz City
Azrail and Crymsia are sitting down together at Heartgold Park, hiding behind a huge stone.
:Azrail: Now we just need to wait for her.
A huge mountain of spicy chips were held on this massive rug spread out across the park. A festival was set up around this mountain, not yet visited by anyone as it wasn't officially open yet.
:Azrail: God, I don't even know if this ridiculous plan is gonna work, it's not like I advertised this festival very well, I haven't had enough time to put up enough posters around town!
:Crymsia: It's alright, I think there's enough.
Azrail nods. Then they both stay quiet as they see Mallory swoop from overhead using her Mind Weaver- she lands down feet-first, walking over to this huge mountain of spicy goodness.
:Mallory: Perhaps if I steal enough of the chips from this mountain, I can make a trail for Silver to follow because he can't get enough of this crap, then capture him!
:Azrail: Ooh, I think she's here.
:Mallory: Gonna have to begin stealing as much as I can.
Mallory conjures up a plastic container, displaying her ability to make certain objects at will, and starts stuffing it full of the spicy chips. She starts to lick up some of the chips into her mouth too, hardly able to resist the flavor herself.
:Mallory: The satellite folks really know what they're doing when it comes to cuisine, it's so good...
:Azrail: NOW!
Azrail throws a net over Mallory. She looks confused for a moment, then grins as she easily breaks through the net.
:Mallory: So, was this your plan all along?
:Azrail: Uhh, yeah.
Azrail gulps as Mallory snickers, starting to walk over to him.
:Mallory: You really thought you could trick me like that? You set up this whole festival crap just to capture me? What kind of fucking fool are you, Azrail, to believe you can capture me so slickly?
:Azrail: I should have really thought out a different plan.
:Mallory: You think?
Mallory laughs maliciously as she steps ever closer to him. Crymsia holds a remote, taking deep breaths as she can hear Mallory's weapon begin to charge up something rather powerful.
:Mallory: You're going to die, Azrail! You should have died a long time ago!
Azrail holds his hands before his face as Mallory continues getting closer and closer to him, her feet stepping over wires on the ground as she prepares to kill him with some Nerve Chopper beams.
:Mallory: You're a fool, Azrail, for thinking you can defeat me with this foolish scheme of yours. Y-You're a fool for thinking you can beat me at all! I'm not as weak as you think I am. I'm... I'm not weak!
:Azrail: Is that so?
Mallory breathes heavily, picking him up by the neck with her cold, clammy fingers, Mallory's feet stepping directly some of the wires laid out on the floor as she holds Azrail in a tight grip.
:Mallory: Y-Yes, you're going to die!
:Azrail: Now, Crymsia!
Crymsia smashes the button on her remote. Mallory starts to scream in anguish, dropping Azrail almost immediately as strong electrical currents flow through her body. She feels her hair raise straight up as she screams in obnoxious pain. From behind, Oyster shows up and attaches an electrical leash to Mallory. When she begins resisting, Crymsia pressing the button, making her stay down.
:Mallory: Y-You bastards! I'll f-fucking estroy you all!
:Crymsia: Check and mate. We can set up the festival later today, guys.
:Mallory: What the h-hell?
Mallory attempts to break out of her leash, but she just gets shocked again when she tries.
:Oyster: You're going to kill yourself if you keep doing this to yourself, Mallory. [sighs] Sit.
Mallory feels humiliated, but she decides to take the order and sit down.
:Mallory: This is humiliating...
:Oyster: I dunno what else we can do, Mallory.
:Azrail: Mallory, you've been a thorn in everyone's side for the longest time. You've killed hundreds of people at this rate, you've caused mass destruction, and you're responsible for a lot of trauma you've inflicted upon others with your recklessness and foolishness. We needed you to get captured somehow.
:Crymsia: We're going to drag you over to the Admin Sector so you can be brought before the satellite's rulers for questioning and for some kinda trial. But I'm pretty sure you'll be given the death penalty, after all of that.
:Mallory: No! This is w-wrong! I'm not r-responsible for the way I'm a-acting!
:Crymsia: It's your responsibility to control how you behave to others! Bad influences don't excuse your actions!
Mallory wants to get up and punch her in the face, but she can't, as she's restrained by her leash. She then sees that Crymsia is holding her weapon, examining it. Crymsia sees her insignia on it.
:Azrail: Your time's up, over!
Crymsia and Azrail grab her by the hands, overpowering her.
:Azrail: Mind leading the way, Oyster?
:Oyster: Y-Yes. Don't worry about the festival, I've got S-Snickers running it.
Snickers winks, shaking his hips.
:Oyster: Don't embarrass me Snicky!!
Mallory growls as the three drag her off. She notes where she's going, deep breathing as they're all taken inside a space pod.
:2:44 P.M. · SATURDAY October 11th, ZXE-223
:Satellite 15 Stock Exchange, New Naxaz City
Meanwhile, Gonzalo had managed to restore power to his building. However, the cameras were all shut off because they were thoroughly trashed by Nicholas, and Gonzalo didn't have enough time to replace them. We take a look at Noise, Yama, and Abraham, who were each outside.
:Noise: We've escorted just managed to escort Chimera back to the old C.O.T.S. place, so let's take the time now to prepare to make the detonations that'll set the building on fire.
:Yama: Thank god that all the cameras of this place got disabled.
:Noise: Yep, we should be able to do the damage we need to do. Let's see you two try to plant these bombs in the ground; I'll handle planting explosions right underneath the stage.
Yama and Abraham nod.
:Abraham: I'll try to do my job planting these bombs as best as I can. Good luck planting bombs inside, be sure you avoid Gonzalo's eyes and do your work as fast as you can. The show begins at like, 8PM.
:Noise: Yeah, I got it.
Noise sighs.
:Noise: I suppose there'll be something good done tonight... Gonzalo will be done for, Valerie will be freed of her imprisonment, and maybe just maybe Medea will try to become a better person!
:Yama: I sure hope so.
Yama gently grabs Noise's hand.
:Yama: Things are gonna turn out alright, right?
:Noise: I hope so Yama, things have gotten so crazy since the Zinfestation started.
Yama nods, kissing her cheek.
:Yama: Good luck, honey!
Noise looked stunned.
:Noise: Yama.
:Yama: Did I screw up?
:Noise: No. [smiles] This is a bit sudden, but you just reminded me of who I think I really love. My heart used to be set on Medea, but I think I've figured out who I really wanna spend the remainder of my days with.
Noise touches Yama's heart.
:Noise: You!
:Yama: M-Me?
:Noise: Yeah. I'm not sure how well things will work between us once we begin living together, but I'm sure we'll figure something out, Yama. [pats her back] I'll be back, alright?
:Yama: Kick some ass, Noise!
:Abraham: Cute.
Noise smiles, running her way inside the Stock Exchange building, her pockets lined up to the brim with explosives. She makes her way to the theater, which is getting worked on and getting refurnished as we speak.
::
::
::
Noise finishes planting bombs underneath the stage. She's planted all six, grinning evilly to herself. If she were still doing Medea's commands, it'd be a rather malicious grin, but this is a hero's grin.
:Noise: Mission complete.
Noise climbs out from underneath the stage, leaving it. She goes back outside to continue pretending to work as a guard, while Gonzalo's stuck in his office talking to Nicholas.
:Gonzalo: So Shredder, how are things looking right now? I thought I've heard rattling underneath the stage, but I suppose it was nothing, because I never found anything suspicious.
:Nicholas: Things look great, boss!
:Gonzalo: I suppose Medea's deformed r*****s are guarding this place well?
Nicholas shivers a little at Gonzalo's offensive comment.
:Nicholas: Yeah, I'd say so.
:Gonzalo: Seeing that green-haired woman sing and spin around while doing her job earlier... really peeved me. No woman deserves to be happy or sing freely, she's supposed to have a role in society. Is she a child in an adult's body?
:Nicholas: Erm, I dunno.
:Gonzalo: I suppose you can just sign up to be anything these days, even though that's not how biology works.
Nicholas attempts to ignore him. Gonzalo is apathetic. He isn't going to change, because he refuses to. Almost everyone deserves a chance to change, but Gonzalo blew through all of his chances.
:Nicholas: Mmm.
And as Nicholas knows, saving Gonzalo isn't worth the energy. He sucks the life force out of everyone around him. His role in society to be a predator that preys on the weak and exploits them for his own gain.
:Nicholas: Your time here is almost over.
:Gonzalo: What was that, Shredder?
:Nicholas: Nothing. I'm just observing how you have never changed, and that's an accomplishment.
:Gonzalo: Heh, changing myself would mean losing my identity, Shredder. It's not fit to be anyone but yourself. Why change if you're going to just lose who you are?
:Nicholas: Change isn't a bad thing, Gonzalo.
:Gonzalo: I don't need to live a lie.
:Nicholas: I'm saying maybe changing your morals and the way you view society would mean less people would be against you. I'm just warning you that your apathy may come to bite you in the butt later.
:Gonzalo: Nonsense, I think I'm just perfect the way I am! My life's taken me so far, no need for me to slow down now! I don't need your depressing downtalk, you stupid f**, how about you leave my office and let me prepare for showtime?
:Nicholas: Alright.
Nicholas leaves his office, rolling his eyes as he goes outside to check on the other doctors. Valerie and Medea are sitting down together in Gonzalo's bedroom, holding hands. They were dressed up in their super uncomfortable outfits, waiting for the day to be over so they can go home and relax.
:Valerie: I'm not looking forward to the performance.
:Medea: Don't be too down about it, Val. Besides, maybe tonight if things can go as planned, you can use this one performance to bring yourself back into the spotlight! Dance in the flames baby, look gorgeous!
:Valerie: I appreciate your sentiments, Medea. [smiles] I just don't want to do all of that in front of him.
:Medea: I understand that completely Val, but here's the thing, because the cameras are all broken, and because there won't be a great place for him to watch the action from, he won't get a good look!
:Valerie: So like pouring salt on the wound?
Valerie grins, showing her mouth full of sharp feline teeth.
:Valerie: That's an excellent plan! If he's gonna not have a good seat, and if this place is just gonna burn down after it's all over, I'm gonna place on the hottest performance I can!
:Medea: There's the Valerie I know!
Medea holds her closely, burying her head into her neck. Valerie smiles as she rubs Medea's hair. Medea's hair wasn't braided up, so she's just playing with a lot of loose hair.
:Medea: We're gonna do this for ourselves, alright? None of the cameras can even capture this performance, and the audience members might be too traumatized to want to be excited by what they saw!
:Valerie: Alright, we're gonna do this for ourselves.
Valerie grins.
:Valerie: You're a good gal, you know that?
:Medea: I suppose sometimes I know that.
Valerie and Medea hug each other as tightly as they can.
:Valerie: Tonight's our night!
Back outside, Nicholas was meeting up with Noise, Yama, and Abraham.
:Noise: All the bombs are planted now!
:Yama: They'll trigger midway through the show.
:Abraham: We've helped Noise prepare our lookalike models; they'll be in the bed so we as prisoners look like we're still where we need to be. I don't think anything wrong is going to happen tonight.
:Nicholas: Excellent, good to hear that everything's on schedule.
Nicholas narrows his eyes.
:Nicholas: That loser's going down!
:3:53 P.M. · SATURDAY October 11th, ZXE-223
:Valco Vortex, New Naxaz City
Zonas is shown scanning the charred-up Valco Vortex building, looking around it with his two girlfriends Sinicini and Adexene. Zonas was looking around the wreck for something, it seems.
:Zonas: Considering the destruction done to this building, and how few things here are going to be useful considering how much was burnt up, feel free to take what you want gals.
:Sinicini: Isn't that steaaaaling?
:Zonas: You two have explicit but private permission from me to take what you want from here. Most of what's here has been scorched up and I don't think you're going to find anything too important.
:Sinicini: What're you here for, honey?
:Zonas: I'm looking for the path that'd take me underground. There's a reactor core under the vortex.
Zonas lifts up some of the debris, trying to look for a path that'd lead him below the foundation of the building.
:Adexene: Disturbance detected.
Zonas manages to pull open a steel door, leading below the vortex.
:Zonas: What disturbance, Adexene?
:Adexene: Right through the chute.
:Sinicini: Let's not hang around, then!
The three slide their way down the chute. They arrive at New Naxaz City's power generator, this isn't the core Mallory was talking about, but it's one of the main storage compartments for the power that core generates. It's very loud and noisy down in the Valco Vortex's basement. They see Vilicus, who's kneeling down on his knees while overlooking the core.
:Zonas: What are you doing unauthorized on restricted territory, Vilicus?
:Vilicus: Oh, hello Officer Zonas! And your dazzling girls!
:Zonas: Answer my question.
:Vilicus: Ummm, I've been writing my speech here because I'm inspired by the imagery of the Valco Vortex to write it! Valerie was a great mayor, you see, and I wanted to look around this landscape to get a feel for just how good she was to the people.
:Zonas: That's great and all, but this is dangerous territory. How'd you even get in?
:Vilicus: I phased through the ground...?
Zonas raises an eyebrow.
:Vilicus: It's hocus pocus work, Zonas! You know just how dazzling a magician I am. Y'know who I am, right? I'm the Marmalade Masquerade! I have to show off my cool tricks every now and then.
:Sinicini: How would we know you weren't trying to mess with the core, Vilicus?
:Vilicus: Hmmm, that is an excellent question.
Zonas looks down at the core. It's super dangerous down there; a magma-like substance surrounds the huge machine covering up much of the floor. But it's nothing to worry about; it's just pulsating energy.
:Zonas: Alright, but we're onto you, you know. We've been having to deal with damage to the satellite's core at the back of the satellite. Speaking of, do you know anything about that damage?
:Vilicus: I do not, I don't have interest in damaging the satellite's interior design. But Mallory might! Ehehe!
:Zonas: Considering we just captured her, I don't think we can really see her as a viable threat at this point. Oh, who am I kidding? Do you ever read the works of Ms. Ana Peca? She likes to pull out the rug under your feet at any situation that feels favorable for the authorities, and it feels like we're living that kind of story.
:Vilicus: Didn't she die?
:Zonas: She died?
:Vilicus: I think I've read somewhere that she died of alcohol poisoning. Anyway, beat it. I'm trying to write 'ere!
:Zonas: I'm afraid I need you to drag you off this property, just because you claim that you're not gonna do any major damage doesn't mean I'm going to assume you're not going to do any of that damage.
:Vilicus: Phhh, fine. But I might get some friends to take photos for me!
:Zonas: Not after we block the entrance.
Zonas drags Vilicus by the back of his neck, dragging him outside the room. Sinicini follows, but Adexene feels her sensors run wild.
:Adexene: Disturbance still detected.
:Zonas: I'm sure it's nothing, Adexene. The intense energy is probably messing with your sensors.
Adexene doesn't look too sure.
:Adexene: Alright.
As the four move up and away, the Manipulator comes down with a camera, who smirks as it begins to take photos of the scenery around itself for Vilicus' work. They're still in collaboration...
:5:02 P.M. · SATURDAY October 11th, ZXE-223
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
We take a stop by Silver's home, seeing Silver drinking some nasty-looking beer as he writes down some lyric sheets. Silver hasn't stopped with the drinking, but he does look a bit better than he did before. Pierce, Zellen, and guest Whiskey were hanging out with him in his home.
:Whiskey: So Silver, ya like writin'?
:Silver: Yeah, I do, that's why I haven't been super talkative lately yeah.
Silver places down his lyric sheet.
:Silver: It's nice to have you here Whiskey, I haven't had guests in a while.
:Whiskey: Nice ter see ya! Ya look like a big ol' pile of them bones, but damn if ya ain't the purtiest lookin' man I've seen in a while... or are ya a woman?
:Silver: The ages-old question: is Silver a man or a woman?
Silver laughs at his dumb joke.
:Silver: No seriously, I'm happy you're here.
:Whiskey: Yer still gonna show up at the tourney on the 18th, right?
:Silver: Yep! I'll prepare for the tournament next week, it'll help me release my physical stress and prepare to take down Mallory when the time comes. [smiles] Thanks for letting me join, even though I look like a thin-ass junkie.
:Whiskey: And a twink but ya never know when those squiggly motherzoinkers will rise out from the ground and take the crown. Ya might just join the league of 'em that've taken the crown!
:Pierce: I'm sure with his unlocked potential, Silver can take anyone down, no matter whether they specialize in magic or pure strength. He's gone through so much, there's no way he'll be brought down so easily!
:Whiskey: I don't doubt him! He's just gotta show me his full potential a week from now!
:Silver: It'll be easy, I think.
Silver grins.
:Pierce: Before he shows up, we're gonna take five days to record Silver's album with Black Haze, so if you don't hear from him he's just getting ready and delivering vocal lines.
:Whiskey: Five days? Sometimes I had to wait a effin' year for an album when I still lived on that small fertile patch in Texas! Bands take forever to record albums, what makes you think you can do it in five days?
:Pierce: In truth, I've been recording some rather somber instrumentals for a while now, I just want Silver to throw some vocals over them and make the tracks his own. We might improvise a little to make the record feel more like his own.
:Silver: Also, record companies are less of assholes on this satellite cuz good music defines a lot of this satellite's culture. They can't afford to pressure bands when it could damage sales!
:Pierce: Otherwise, bands risk becoming the next diasterpiece for the public to make fun of.
:Whiskey: Huh, I'm surprised. No wonder bands keep churning out albums so fast, TOOL actually releases albums yearly now.
:Silver: These satellites work way better than whatever clusterfudge of a system existed back on Earth.
:Pierce: Agreed with that.
Zellen hics, having passed out after drinking way too much liquor.
:Silver: By the time this record is released, I'll be ready to fight in the tournament, then I'll be ready to take on Mallory. I can't procrastinate anymore.
:Pierce: Didn't you hear that Mallory's gotten captured?
:Silver: I heard about that from Azrail, but I told him I'm sure she'll find a way out. Also told him I raided a good percentage of that mountain and now it's all stuffed under my bed in some plastic container.
Silver cackles.
:Silver: If Mallory escapes and comes to find me, though, I'll be ready to take her out!
:Whiskey: Aye, that'd be really cool! Wanna see you throw out some moves first though, so when you're done recording your record, come by and I'll see you tackle not just me, but my greatest warrior!
Whiskey winks.
:Silver: It's on!
:6:48 P.M. · SATURDAY October 11th, ZXE-223
:Kýrios' Throne Room, Admin Sector
Mallory is dragged into the Admin Sector by Oyster, with Crymsia and Azrail immediately following her in. Zodiez and Kýrios are sitting up at their throne, looking at the captured Mallory.
:Crymsia: It took several hours for us to get here because of Mallory's persistence and stubbornness, but we finally managed to capture her and bring her here. It was a strong effect by the Shutdown Squad.
Mallory growls as she's thrown to her knees, forced to look up at Kýrios.
:Mallory: I suppose I've finally gotten caught.
:Zodiez: Mallory! I think you know why you're here right now.
Mallory swallows her breath.
:Mallory: Oh, no worries, I know exactly why I'm here. Save your breath, I know what you want to do to me.
:Zodiez: You've committed so many crimes, Mallory. You're responsible for the killing of hundreds, you're responsible for much of the damage done to New Naxaz City, and you're especially responsible for, many other things. We've had Spade Amour, therapist from Sector 5, send over reports of Sarona Collin, Clair Voyell, and Cody Birch facing abuse and trauma at your hands. We've had Silver Zin's conversation with Agantuk recorded and sent to us.
Zodiez takes looks down at the elder, evil Zin.
:Zodiez: Mercenary of Terror, Rebel of Babylon, Threat to Society.
:Mallory: I get the point!
:Zodiez: Then I don't think we need to waste any more time in telling you that you will be executed tomorrow night, when we attract the audience we need to witness your live execution. I'm sure that with your reputation, loads of people would be ready to watch you die.
:Mallory: You're going to make it a public execution, huh, you want people to feel joy from watching me suffer?
:Zodiez: It's not about us feeling joy, Mallory. It's about us feeling relief.
:Mallory: Y-You don't understand! If Silver were killed for everything he's done to me, I-I would be a better woman! I'm not the issue, h-he is! He's the reason why I'm like this!
:Zodiez: Listen to me, Mallory.
Zodiez clears her throat.
:Zodiez: Let's say that you were taught by your father that it was okay to do a mall shooting. And you decided that it'd be okay to do and proceed to kill dozens of people. Should I excuse you if you told me it was your father's idea?
Zodiez leans against the side of her throne.
:Zodiez: Should I banish somebody for outside drama that they've never repeated on this satellite since?
Mallory swallows her breath.
:Zodiez: Should I believe that you are capable of change, when you've had your chances to show you've changed your ways and that you want to be like the rest of us? Should I still believe that after everything you've done?
:Mallory: Yes!
:Zodiez: 
Zodiez spreads out a bunch of inky tentacles from her body, using them to snatch up Mallory and hold her in a tight hold.
:Zodiez: Mallory, I understand that you have lived a horrible, horrible past, and I'm apologetic that you've had to go through so much bullshit. But your actions are inexcusable. You are way worse than your sibling. You have reached the lowest point you could reach, that, in our opinion, is what makes you worthy of sudden death.
:Mallory: This is unreasonable!
:Zodiez: It really isn't. It's completely reasonable that we want to take you down when you've done as much damage as you have.
:Mallory: It's not fair!
:Zodiez: Considering you were the one who tried to kill Kýrios three years ago, I'd say it's perfectly reasonable for me to want your death. I'm not going to do this all day Mallory, you have to deal with the reaper.
:Mallory: You'll be sorry that you're trying to get rid of me.
:Zodiez: Talk like that is why we need to be done with you.
Zodiez looks to her side for a second.
:Zodiez: Look, if someone does something that is completely stupid, but they have good intentions, maybe just maybe I'd be able to go a bit easier on you. But as far as I can tell, your only intentions when coming here were to kill your sibling for what they've done to you.
:Mallory: I-
:Zodiez: NO MORE!
Zodiez chokes Mallory midair.
:Zodiez: You can sing your last words tomorrow, Mallory! I'm giving you the punishment you actually deserve!
Zodiez swings her into another room. Mallory hits her back against the wall, sliding down it and falling unconscious. In Mallory's dream, we can still hear Zodiez talking to Crymsia and Azrail. Mallory looks up at her sibling Silver in her vision- red glints were in his hollowed black eyes. He had two scythes, one in each hand, and his cheek-to-cheek grin flashed menacingly above her. There was no light overhead, there was no moon as we must repeat. Mallory is rapidly losing it.
:Mallory: Silver, S-Silver, I'm coming for y-you... I'll d-destroy this satellite if it's the l-last thing I do.
:8:00 P.M. · SATURDAY October 11th, ZXE-223
:Satellite 15 Stock Exchange, Dream Theater, New Naxaz City
Things are going to take a right turn tonight. Welcome to the Dream Theater, Gonzalo's personal stage inside his Stock Exchange building. A large circular crimson platform with a huge rose-themed rug spread over it was in the middle of the theater, with a huge queen-sized bed in the very center. Approximately 710 people were attending to see the show, and the audience clapped vigorously as we saw Valerie and Medea in their BDSM suits, sitting on opposite ends of the bed. Gonzalo was stuck in one of the back rows, with Nicholas sitting right behind him. The bombs underneath the theater, and outside of it, ready to explode within 15 minutes.
:Gonzalo: Welcome everyone to the Dream Theater tonight!
Gonzalo cackles over his megaphone.
:Gonzalo: Tonight, you're going to see absolutely gorgeous women place on quite the show for you! Prepare to feast your eyes on this absolutely fabulous performance they'll do together!
:Nicholas: However, because the cameras in this place are temporarily broken, this will be a private show. So, everyone that's in this theater are the only people that will watch this soon-to-be-great performance.
:Gonzalo: Yes, yes, but soon in the future, these women will be touring across the satellite with me! They will make millions and millions, they will become the next Gagas, they're unstoppable! And they're completely under my contract!
Valerie and Medea bow to the audience surrounding them. They didn't look so bad, really; they were just interested in seeing a good show. With Gonzalo in the back row and not having the best view, these two knew that they could place on a wonderful performance together and come out on top.
:Valerie: My name is Valerie Heartgold.
:Medea: My name is Medea Neos.
:Valerie: And tonight, we will bring you a special performance!
:Medea: We've got some fancy moves to show tonight.
:Valerie: And we'll steal the show from our sponsor, Bonzo Orlando!
Gonzalo looks particularly offended as the audience shared nice, brief laughter. Valerie begins to flash her signature grin as she grabs Medea's hands.
:Valerie: You ready, Medea?
:Medea: Yes! My heart is pumping with rebellious excitement!
:Valerie: Keep that heart pumping, girl!
Soon, they began to dance together across their platform, holding hands as they twirled each other about, bending back and forth and showing their expert usage of their excellent postures. Sometimes Valerie would bend Medea real low, sometimes Medea would do the same back to her, and other times they'd spin around together.
:Valerie: Ooh, you have a strong grip Medea!
:Medea: Oh dearie, you don't need to flatter me like that. [snickers] Your grip is way smoother and more natural feeling than Gonzalo's is. He has this robotic, clammy and cold one!
Gonzalo was starting to look enraged as the audience began to clap, watching these two dance together so elegantly and gracefully. Valerie was starting to thoroughly enjoy herself, smiling at Medea as they steal the stage- not only are they disobeying Gonzalo's commands to come off as "spicy", they are insulting his name!
:Gonzalo: You girls better stop disrespecting me and get right down to what you're supposed to do!
Gonzalo growls.
:Nicholas: Hey, it's alright boss. Maybe they're just too good for you. I think I found someone more suited for your tastes.
Nicholas points to Lyric, who was sitting in the audience watching them go.
:Lyric: What?
:Gonzalo: You're seriously recommending me a transvestite, f******?
People in the audience gasp. Nicholas tries to hold back his snickering as people give Gonzalo some pretty nasty stares. Then Gonzalo realized, Nicholas must've invited the people he wasn't supposed to invite!
:Nicholas: Oh, I might have invited the queer community instead, sorry!
:Gonzalo: What?
:Nicholas: Face it Gonzalo, you're toasted.
:Gonzalo: You traitor!
:Nicholas: Nobody calls me that ugly word three times and expects me to still be their assistant!
Nicholas laughs.
:Nicholas: After all the abuse and suffering you've put others through, do you think I wanna still work with you?
:Gonzalo: You enjoyed a lot of that suffering, you hypocritical piece of shit!
:Nicholas: Only because you twisted what friends and family are to me. Screw you!
Nicholas avoids getting grabbed by Gonzalo, just barely dodging out of the way.
:Nicholas: You go girls!
:Valerie: Thanks for the help, sweetheart!
Valerie laughs as she spins around with Medea, the audience getting super excited as they dance around together, eventually spinning and colliding together. Gonzalo angrily throws Syi's unfinished body onto the stage, but Valerie chooses to ignore it, keeping her smile on and her eyes on Medea.
:Medea: Did ya notice what Gonzalo threw at you?
:Valerie: Honestly, yeah, but that's not gonna deter me from giving you a great dance!
:Medea: Keep up the pace then, ma'am! Mmmm!
Medea cackles as Valerie swings her over, giving Gonzalo a fit to deal with when Valerie kisses the cold doctor on her cheek.
:Valerie: Would've gone for the lips, but you got a boyfriend to take care of when you go back home...
:Medea: Aww Val, you didn't have to.
Medea kisses her cheek, both gently hugging each other as the audience celebrates.
:Gonzalo: They're ruining what was supposed to be a really really nice night!
Gonzalo growls as he calls upon his guards.
:Gonzalo: NIGHT GUARDS! Seize these two motherzoinkers, I want to have a word with them up here! They are ruining my perfect performance! I-I CAN'T LET THEM RUIN THE OPENING NIGHT!
A bunch of guards respond to Gonzalo's call, starting to jump on the stage.
:Medea: Are you thinking what I'm thinking Valerie?
:Valerie: Oh, absolutely.
Valerie pulls out her claws, equipping them as she brandishes them together. Medea blushes as she sees this former superstar get back in gear, slashing her claws.
:Valerie: Let's kill these zoinkers! Let's make this show extra exciting!
:Medea: I've got your six!
Gonzalo watches them surround Valerie, looking even more frustrated as Valerie's preparing to fight them.
:Gonzalo: Don't fail me this time!
::
::
::
Valerie and Medea destroy the last of Gonzalo's guards. Gonzalo screams and stamps the ground.
:Gonzalo: This is absurd!
The audience claps generously for Valerie and Medea. Suddenly, smoke alarms begin to be detected when smoke begins to rise from underneath the platform Valerie and Medea are standing on. Nicholas takes Gonzalo's megaphone.
:Nicholas: FIRE ALERT! FIRE ALERT! ESCAPE THROUGH THE BACK EXIT! ESCAPE THROUGH THE BACK EXIT!
People begin to scream and run for their lives as the bombs are mere seconds from going off. When Nicholas ensure that almost everyone's gone, he attempts to get pushed to the side by Gonzalo, who's trying to get out of there, but instead Nicholas grabs him by the collar.
:Nicholas: Oh no you don't!
:Gonzalo: Let go of me, Shredder!
Nicholas pushes him down onto the stage with Valerie and Medea. Valerie and Medea grin at each other as fire begins to engulf the platform from the outside, with fire quickly spreading along the walls as the walls begin to peel apart.
:Gonzalo: W-What is happening?
:Nicholas: It's over, Gonzalo! Your time is up!
Gonzalo growls as he stands up, looking at Valerie and Medea.
:Gonzalo: My money empire, it's starting to crumble and fall apart around me. [bites his lip] All the work I've tried to do to get here, all the fortunes I've stolen, all the families I've broken... it turned out to not be worth it.
Gonzalo stamps the ground like a child.
:Gonzalo: It's your faults, isn't it? Turning my boy against me, turning the world against me! You and Shredder embarrassed me, you ruined my chances at taking the world by storm.
Gonzalo feels his eyes flash.
:Gonzalo: If I'm going to burn and die here, I'm taking you two down with me!
:Valerie: You're still not accepting what you've done wrong, after seeing all the signs that nobody even likes you and you're still nothing but an abusive and apathetic scumbag? I don't feel any empathy for you!
:Medea: You've hurt everyone you touched, and you were never planning to stop!
Gonzalo clenches his hands together.
:Gonzalo: I suppose that my last resort has to be done now.
Gonzalo snaps his fingers together, summoning an enormous slot machine. He climbs up it, retreating from Valerie and Medea. More fire begins to erupt, blocking any way for anyone to exit.
:Gonzalo: Even if you're going to completely ruin my life like this, I will at least have a shot at taking you down! You're... y-you're both finished! I will have the l-last laugh!
:Medea: He's starting to lose his grip.
:Valerie: I knew it, my ex-husband was a coward, he's still a coward! Afraid of being caught, afraid of facing the consequences, and most afraid of change. [closes her eyes] I think I want the pleasure of taking you out, Gonzalo!
:Gonzalo: Heh, we'll see about that, after I break you two down to nothing! As I burn up with the rest of this place, I'll at least be able to smile knowing I killed two horrible traitors like yourselves.
Gonzalo grins uneasily as he places his hand on the slot reel.
:Gonzalo: I want to give you two a taste of my latest and greatest creation yet! The Death Dealer!
:Valerie: Then bring it on! Keep stalling and nobody's gonna land any scratches!
Gonzalo slams his machine down, ready to do what he can to defeat them both as Valerie stands in a fighting pose, surrounded by a hellish landscape that the Dream Theater became not even five minutes earlier. Medea stands behind her with support.
:Gonzalo: Your lives are now bankrupt!
::
::
::
Gonzalo screeches, crashing down to the ground as his machine falls apart. The fire's only gotten worse, and the Death Dealer's caught aflame. Nicholas uses a fire extinguisher, making a path for Valerie and Medea to jump on through. Nicholas smiles down at them, placing his hands on his hips.
:Nicholas: Alright you two, you have hardly moments to escape! [throws the Syi body into Val's hands] Let's go!
Valerie nods, kicking Gonzalo in the head one last time. Enraged, he begins to get up, but Nicholas jumps in to hold Gonzalo down. As Valerie and Medea jump out of the ring, they look back at Nicholas.
:Valerie: What are you doing!?
:Nicholas: Don't worry about me! Just get out!
Valerie nods, pulling Medea as a huge chunk of the ceiling misses them. They escape the burning theater together as Nicholas is left to hold his old boss down. Gonzalo attempts to get up past Nicholas, but the grip is too strong.
:Gonzalo: Shredder, get off of me! Get off, get off!
:Nicholas: I can't let you hurt anyone anymore, Gonzalo. You've done enough damage, stay down!
Gonzalo attempts to push up, but it was hardly any use. Gonzalo rolls himself and Nicholas out of the way of a falling, burning piece of wood. Nicholas winces as his metallic arms begin to melt under the unbearable heat, especially as his body gets hit with another piece of wood.
:Gonzalo: Aww, are your arms melting, Shredder?
Nicholas tries to look unfazed, pushing down his former master.
:Nicholas: I'm so angry that I hadn't done anything to take you down in the past. I'm so unbelievably hurt that you'd do these horrible things to others around you and treat those actions like they were the right thing to do.
Nicholas tries to keep Gonzalo pinned as hard as he could, but his arms were starting to lose their form.
:Nicholas: I cannot redeem myself, so instead of bothering to try, I'm going to take you down instead!
Nicholas grins in spite of the unbearable heat.
:Nicholas: Because I can change! Everyone can still do something good no matter how horrible they are! That's something you never chose to do, and so, I'm going to use my one act of goodness to put you down!
:Gonzalo: You're so full of yourself, it's hard to believe.
Gonzalo grins evilly as he kicks Nicholas off of him. Nicholas gets thrown against a wooden support beam as Gonzalo weakly gets up, picking up a flaming piece of wood and sticking a big enough nail through the fiery end.
:Gonzalo: I'm not going to let you take the joy in killing me, Shredder.
:Nicholas: MY NAME IS NICHOLAS!
Gonzalo walks over to him, swinging his flaming piece of wood back and snickering. It was an uncontrollable, kind of hectic-sounding snicker, one riddled with wrath and anger.
:Gonzalo: I don't care what you call yourself, I'll let you die with no real good deeds under your belt!
:Nicholas: It's... t-too late for that.
Nicholas can't even feel his mechanical arms anymore. They have melted too much to respond to his muscle movements.
:Nicholas: I helped Valerie and Medea set up this whole firestorm, I ruined your career! I ruined it because it deserved to be ruined. Your career of evil is over, Gonzalo.
:Gonzalo: Born a r*****, die a r*****, I suppose.
Gonzalo slams him upside the head with his flaming wooden weapon, sending the nail through his skull. Gonzalo then steps on his stomach, pushing him beneath the stage. He watches as Nicholas' flesh begins to distort and melt under the intense heat. He smiles an unbearably clownish smile, picking up his machine with anger-infused energy and throwing it through the wall of the theater. He uses the opportunity to climb to safety (though hardly, considering his damage), contacting a space pod.
:Gonzalo: S-Sector 5, I have my card.
Gonzalo gets sped off to Sector 5. The roof of the Satellite 15 Stock Exchange building falls right in, crashing through. Nicholas, the only casualty besides Gonzalo's guards, burns intensely in the flames, his body turned to nothing but bone.
====Chapter Twenty: Scalpel====
:4:29 A.M. · SUNDAY October 12th, ZXE-223
:Satellite 15 Reactor Silo
We finally see it for ourselves. At the back of Satellite 15, there is a Reactor Silo that protects the satellite's energy core, which keeps the whole satellite running efficiently. Through massive wires in the walls it transmits its energy to the rest of the satellite, keeping all systems online, and the many creatures part of Kýrios' forces have the job of keeping it well protected. And unfortunately, there was some bad work being done there.
:Beck: Can't believe that we really have to do this.
Cody is holding a real gun this time, keeping it pointed at Mania as she works on making an efficient explosive that can penetrate the silo's defenses. Kispel, Beck, and Quade watch Mania work, forced to surround her by all sides so she can't run away.
:Mania: Mindy sis, I'm so sorry.
Mania continues assembling the explosive. Everyone had to be a good distance from the Reactor Silo, as it was burning hot in that room and you could start melting away if you were too close to an engine of such raw power. Cody's hand shook as he held his gun. He didn't want to hold it, but the fear of screwing up with Mallory was too strong to make him not hold it.
:Mania: I'm almost done, Cody. I've studied the whole of the Reactor Core, and have determined that this bomb will not melt in the immense heat emerging from the silo. Once I throw it in, we'll just have to wait for it to blow up on November 4th, as promised.
:Cody: Throw it.
Mania looked hesitant.
:Mania: Once we throw it in, there won't be a chance to change our minds.
:Kispel: Please reconsider what Mallory's wanting us to do, Cody. If that explosive lands inside the silo, there's no way we're going to be able to retrieve it. It will be stuck inside, and if plans don't go like how they should, we can't change the course of fate this bomb promises.
:Mania: You know this is true!
Cody closes his eyes.
:Cody: Mallory never said, "let's develop the weapon and throw it in later". She said, "develop the weapon and throw it in now". I don't agree with her, but let's not make this difficult.
:Mania: You're out of your mind!
Cody shoots the floor just before Mania as a warning. She steps back, the bullet going between her legs.
:Mania: Alright, asshole.
Cody looked mortified at what he was doing.
:Cody: Uggh. [sighs] You're right, it's not a good time to throw the explosive in. I'll lie to Mallory, tell her the weapon is not yet complete, and that we were caught in the middle of our plans.
:Mania: ...Really?
:Cody: I'm giving her too much control over me.
:Kispel: Good, it's getting really hot in here.
Cody looks at them.
:Cody: All of you, move before me single-file, I will follow you out.
Cody leads them over to an elevator, but much to their surprise, Zonas had managed to track them down! He steps out from the elevator, holding his Freezer guns.
:Zonas: What in hell's name are you doing down here?
:Cody: Crap.
Zonas looks at them, noticing the explosive in Mania's hand.
:Zonas: Hand it over, or I'm going to freeze you half to death.
Mania was about to throw it over to him, but Cody snatches the weapon and bumps Zonas out of the way, taking the elevator with the rest in close pursuit! All except Mania, who looks very peeved.
:Mania: Heeeeeeey!
:Zonas: I can't let them get away!
Zonas scrambles into the elevator, riding it up with Mania by his side.
:Zonas: Do you know where he's going, ma'am?
:Mania: T-To Sector 5!
Zonas nods, grabbing Mania's hand as they call upon a space pod.
:Zonas: Then we're going to give chase, because that explosive looks dangerous!
:Mania: I was forced to create it. [sniffs] I'm sorry!
:Zonas: Forgiven. Just help me take those zoinkers down before they get away!
::
::
::
Zonas and Mania rush through Sector 5, but they're too late; Cody manages to make his way to the wormhole leading back. Cody looks at Zonas and Mania before he heads in.
:Zonas: Hey, drop the explosive and get down!
:Cody: Mania, I know that you're not really looking forward to what we've got planned out, but please take it from me, it's not all going to be bad. We just, we need to figure out how to convince Mallory into stopping her plans.
:Mania: She's not going to change, Cody!
:Cody: I still hold faith, it's not impossible, she just needs people she can trust in again. [closes his eyes] That's why I've been blindly following her. She needs someone she can hold faith in.
:Mania: Then aren't you lying to her anyway because you're not doing this genuinely? You're doing it out of obligation?
Cody sighs.
:Cody: Mallory doesn't want anyone missing from her crew, so it looks like I have no choice but to drag you back with me.
Cody raises his hand, turning his portal a crimson color as he summons an enormous and veiny Mallorian fist from it to grab Mania. Mania screams as it takes a very strong grip on her.
:Cody: I'm sorry that things have to be like this.
:Zonas: Hey, drop her now!
Zonas attempts to shoot ice beams at the huge monstrous hand, but they can't keep it frozen for long enough for Zonas to make her slip out of its grip. It pulls Mania back into the Purple Keep.
:Zonas: No!
:Cody: If I were you, Zonas, I wouldn't bother with us.
Zonas attempts to run up to Cody and blast at him with his Freezer guns.
:Zonas: Hiyaaaaaaaah!
Cody bounces into the portal, closing it as Zonas crashes into bark.
:Zonas: ...Crap, this is a serious dilemma!
Zonas stands up.
:Zonas: Gonna have to report this to Zodiez, right away!
Zonas dashes off like he has rocket shoes.
:8:40 A.M. · SUNDAY October 12th, ZXE-223
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
We see Silver home, writing some lyrics while eating Cheerios and playing Uno with Pierce and Zellen and Rogue. Rogue might be very young, but she has bested them in Uno several times now and they greatly fear her.
:Rogue: Una! Una!
:Silver: God damn it, haha.
Silver pinches her cheek.
:Silver: You're an evil little girl, aren't ya? You're an evil little genius, that's at least one good thing you inherited from me.
Rogue giggles while Pierce and Zellen look fairly annoyed with their loss. This isn't the first time!
:Pierce: Wonderful job, proud of you.
:Silver: Don't be a poor sport Pierce, she's playing fair and square!
:Pierce: I wouldn't be too sure about that.
Rogue giggles. We see from her viewpoint that she can see through the cards to see what her opponents have.
:Silver: Anyway...
Silver drinks down some absinthe.
:Silver: Did you hear Gonzalo managed to make it out of that wreck?
:Pierce: Damn it, really?
:Silver: Yeah, but he looked horribly injured man. There were so many burn marks across his body, his flesh has been burned right through. I dunno where he is right now, but he was reported to be alive.
Some drops of liquor fall onto his paper; we see the lyrics "This is my masquerade, lie of a life well played; I wore the facade, I've proven a fraud; My masquerade blended me in, safer in this skin; I wore the facade, my secrets outlawed".
:Silver: Just hope that zoinker never makes it back.
:Zellen: Considering his whole place burnt down, and that Nicholas handed over a bunch of his memorabilia over to the authorities, I don't think he's ever going to rise back to power any time soon. El Dorado will remain a legend.
Zellen sticks her tongue out.
:Zellen: Though it's certainly nowhere as legendary as my lovers are.
Pierce grabs her shoulder.
:Pierce: You're sweet.
:Zellen: Heh. I try these days.
Silver smiles as he drinks from his alcoholic bottle. He sets it next to the other five on the counter.
:Silver: At least none of you are like not Scotch, who just throws his bottles at anyone who even slightly displeases him. [snaps his fingers] Ayyy.
:Pierce: Okay, that's pretty funny.
Zellen puffs out her cheeks, folding her arms.
:Zellen: I wish I knew how to be funny...
:Silver: I think you're funny, Zellie! [rubs her hair] Don't get down like that!
:Zellen: Aaaaaaaaaaaa!
:Silver: Haha, you never fail to crack me up.
:Rogue: Daddy's an egg?
:Silver: Uh, sure, Silver Zin is an egg. I don't think you want a taste of Scrambled Silver though, that sounds metallic and very nutrient-deficient. It'd be bad for you!
Rogue giggles, but everyone becomes alert when they hear the elevator running. That shouldn't be running! Only Silver, Pierce, Zellen, Medea, and Rogue should be acknowledging of how to get in and out of their home, unless...
:Silver: Wonder who that is...?
Silver picks up his Mind Weaver, feeling like he's going to need it. When the elevator doors open, Medea springs from them, her nails spread out as she dives at Silver.
:Medea: SILVER!!
:Silver: Medea!?
Medea pins Silver down, hugging him tightly and kissing him on the lips. She wraps around his limbs quickly, burrowing herself into his warmth. She looks very burnt up and blackened.
:Silver: Long time no see, Medea!
:Medea: Haha, yeah! I'm here for you now, sweetheart.
Medea gets off of him, pulling him up on his feet.
:Pierce: Where were you this whole time? You just went up and disappeared!
Medea looks ashamed.
:Medea: I don't really wanna talk about it right now. Don't want to cut this reunion short, but I want Silver to come along with me alone to a special place. It's really important.
:Pierce: Not so fast, you just came back! You sure you can't tell us what was going on?
:Medea: I need to speak to Silver alone for now, plus there's something I need to show him and only him. [breathes] Please, trust me when I say that I'll give the news to you two lovelies later.
:Silver: I'll come along, but I am a bit worried for you Medea. You're acting very hasty, very hyper, I might add.
:Medea: I-It's nothing! [giggles] I haven't seen you in ages and need to catch you up on what happened, because you deserve to know, and there's some extra details that I need to discuss.
:Silver: Alright, I'll go with you.
Silver kisses her cheek.
:Silver: It's been such a long time, I was unsure of what happened to you.
:Medea: You look so different... you didn't have four horns last time, or such ragged clothes for that matter.
Medea whimpers a little bit.
:Medea: D-Did you go through something troublesome?
:Silver: Yeah, but I'll discuss what happened later. You weren't there for my talk with Agantuk, because I think you were really busy doing something else. [holds her hand] Ready to go when you are, honey.
:Pierce: Good luck, Silver.
Pierce kisses his cheek. Zellen slides off her seat, going to pile herself on Silver's back to hug him, but she just topples everyone over.
:Medea: Zellie! Did you gain weight?
Zellen's smile curls to a frown.
:Zellen: No! Silver did!
:Silver: I lost weight if anything.
Silver pokes Zellen's belly.
:Silver: You're just fine the way you are, no worries!
:Medea: You're all so cute.
Medea hugs them three, standing up.
:Medea: Let's go Silver, there's no time to w-waste.
Silver nods, getting up and taking his lyric notebook with him.
:Silver: I'll be back as soon as I can. Stay safe, love you three!
:Rogue: Love you too papa!
:Zellen: Bye Silvie!
:Pierce: Don't, don't do anything stupid.
Silver takes the elevator outside with Medea. What's going to happen? Silver takes one last look at his boyfriend for the morning before focusing on Medea's eyes, giving her a deep hug.
:Medea: If only you knew what I was bringing you along for...
:9:24 A.M. · SUNDAY October 12th, ZXE-223
:Valco Vortex, New Naxaz City
Valerie walks out from the Valco Vortex. She's holding the tree that Syinara planted with Silver in one hand, and holding Syinara's limp body in the other.
:Valerie: You never got the burial you deserved.
Valerie takes one last look at Syinara's hollowed eyes. Hollow as a mountain.
:Valerie: You've done so much for me over the past decade or so. You were always there as a sincere voice that could reason with me when I was being silly or perfectly counter my wild, wacky nature. You saved my life, too, but most importantly of all, you knew me for who I really was.
Valerie rubs the deceased scarecrow's hair. You can now tell that it's not real hair, just a bunch of strings.
:Valerie: I couldn't have made it this far without you. You, you made me so happy.
Valerie kneels before the Valco Vortex, before a huge patch of dirt. She gently lays down Syi across the dirt, burying the roots of the tree that she was growing with Silver right behind her head.
:Valerie: I'm so proud of you. You may have been weak at the start, incapable of fighting your fears, but you made the strides to change and you overcame your trauma. [closes her eyes] It wasn't easy for you, but you learned to move on from what hurt you and that was inspirational to me.
Valerie sniffs as she starts to bury Syinara by the feet.
:Valerie: I thought that for the rest of my life, I wouldn't be able to ease the lasting pain that Gonzalo and my parents left upon me. But you encouraged me to release my pain and focus on the now. And that... I will never forget that!
Valerie closes her eyes once more as we see a flashback.
:Syinara [past]: Valerie, I know it's tricky for you to move on from the long-term damage others had left upon you. But you have to understand that everyone deals with pain, some hurt way more than others do, but you cannot let the past linger and affect your future. If it's all gone and dealt with, why not focus on being more productive?
:Valerie [past]: I don't know Syi, I don't know if I can just let that pain go.
:Syinara [past]: Then do something that will help you let that pain go. Write a book. Record music. Letting yourself keep all of that bottled up inside of you is unhealthy, and it will only hurt you more in the long run.
A younger Syinara from years past grabs this younger Valerie's hand.
:Syinara [past]: You're incredibly talented, drowning in your sorrows would be a waste of the potential you have. When you sung out there in the woods where we met, I knew I found a special woman.
:Valerie [past]: Syi, y-you're the best, you know that?
:Syinara [past]: I wouldn't say that, but I want to use my experiences to help you escape this awful, awful trauma you're trapping yourself in. I hate seeing others suffer, it reminds me of the hateful people I've met in my youth.
:Valerie [past]: Then I'll try and move on, for you.
Past Syinara laughs, squeezing her hands.
:Syinara [past]: Don't do it for me! Do it for yourself!
Valerie cries a little bit, her tears dropping over Syinara's inanimate body.
:Valerie: I'll never forget you.
Valerie buries the rest of the body into the earth, besides her head. Valerie takes one last look down at Syi's head, rubbing her hair as her eyes soak up.
:Valerie: Just being able to see you, one last time, was all I wanted. [kisses her lips] If you can hear me, if you can hear me at all, do not feel anguish or regrets about your death. Your mother's taken your responsibilities away and is handling them herself.
Valerie pushes Syi's body in a little more, before covering her head with dirt. The dirt flows through her hollowed eyes and body, seeping its way inside of her. Once a person, now a hard shell. But a beautiful one.
:Valerie: I'm going to take back my crown. I-I know that you wanted me to become s-stronger, so that's w-what I'm going to do. [covers her eyes] I'm such a fucking mess, but, I love you. Please sleep peacefully, I'll take care of things from h-here.
Valerie pulls some tulips out of her pockets.
:Valerie: These were your favorite flowers.
Valerie attempts to make her grave look as beautiful as possible. She evens out the dirt, buries tulips around the edges, and chokes on her tears as she slips off her wedding ring.
:Valerie: This is yours now.
Valerie buries the wedding ring in the middle of the dirt. She feels her hand reach inside Syi's hollowed chest, setting the wedding ring deep inside. She was trying to not lose it as she covered up the hole she made.
:Valerie: No other lover would matter as much to me as you have. [hangs her head low] I love you. I'm going now, this is my goodbye, Syinara Wyne. Hopefully one day, we'll meet again, lurking in the dark.
Valerie leaves the burial site, shaking horribly. She kept looking back at the grave.
:Valerie: It's so hard to say goodbye.
:10:15 A.M. · SUNDAY October 12th, ZXE-223
:Spiral Tower, Sector 4
In a notably less pressing situation, we see Vilicus preparing himself back home to run for mayor. Several photos of the Valco Vortex were spread across his walls, including the city core underneath.
:Vilicus: Running for mayor's going to be pretty easy!
Vilicus cackles to himself as he continues to be busy, writing out his campaign speech for the 19th. He's going to be running against Lily, Azrail, and now Valerie. He looks up at the spirits, grinning.
:Vilicus: You three cuties are gonna be my one ticket to winning! Thank you for helping me out, I really appreciate it, I'm going to run this satellite with dignity and all that!
:The Manipulator: Don't mention it Vilicus, we're just here to help. We're glad you're taking this on for us.
:Rose: Hands up, Vilicus!
:Vilicus: Ack! Hide!
Vilicus turns himself around as the spirits squirm up through the all, phasing through as Rose and Azul charge over to him. He looks absolutely dumbfounded, pointing a finger at the two who barged in.
:Vilicus: What are you two doing here!?
:Rose: We've had our suspicions about you for a while now, but we know you've had third-party involvement setting up your campaign! Some, very suspicious third parties!
:Vilicus: My dear darling, what do you speak of? The Marmalade Masquerade never cheats!
:Rose: We're not buying your words! We've seen those spirits with our own two eyes!
:Vilicus: Your own four eyes.
:Rose: Right, but don't deny anything!
:Vilicus: Okay, so I work with some ghosts, so what? They've been helping me place together my speech, helping me figure out how to run, and protecting me from solicitors and all that!
:Azul: Those spirits have been responsible for a lot of damage. Haven't you seen the news?
:Vilicus: I do not pay attention to politics, politics are for those who wish to torment themselves!
:Azul: Sometimes it pays to stay caught up, you twink.
Vilicus raises his eyebrow as he's handed a newspaper.
:Vilicus: So, these spirits have been responsible for passing drugs and drinks around to seemingly random targets? How do you know of this, where's the proof, my darlings?
:Rose: Right there!
Rose points to the crates of alcohol bottles laying against his wall.
:Vilicus: Do not be silly, I bought those with my own moola.
:Azul: Open your eyes! Those things are trying to use you!
Vilicus looks up.
:Vilicus: Hey bubs, is this true? My darlings, are you trying to use me?
They don't respond, as if to hide the fact they're there.
:Vilicus: Hmph! If you're going to be that way, maybe you are trying to use me! [stands up straight] Come down here right now or I'm going to mess with ya zoinkers!
They still don't respond.
:Vilicus: Interesting. [swerves his head] I'm still gonna run for mayor, sweethearts, I've just managed to finish my final draft, but I will keep all of this in mind!
Vilicus cackles as he walks away.
:Vilicus: Away with you guys! I need to be alone!
:Rose: Alright, but we're onto you Vilicus.
:Vilicus: Pheh! I'll talk things out with those ghosts, but don't expect me to be stopped from running! I do wanna make New Naxaz City a better place, can you imagine all the crazy things I can do to it?
:Rose: I'd rather not, haha.
:Azul: You try to win that seat fair and square, and nothing crappy will happen to you. Peace out!
Rose and Azul walk down the tower. Azul pulls up her wrist, opening up a hologram of Devina.
:Azul: Vilicus confirmed he's had involvement with the three spirits, but we're going to wait and see how things play out, because he doesn't seem to know whether or not they're on his side or not. They didn't come out when he called upon them twice.
:Devina [hologram]: Alright, we'll just wait and see.
Devina scowls.
:Devina [hologram]: We'll only know what's up when the time to see who'll become mayor comes.
:Black Eyes [hologram]: I have a suspicion though, the mayor crap that everyone's getting hyped about is gonna let something take us by surprise when we're least expecting it. Just call it a hunch.
:Devina [hologram]: Yeah, I've been expecting some ugly stuff to happen, no doubt about it. Zonas reported to me that he saw some suspicious individuals by the satellite's core, let's keep a sharp eye out for disaster.
:Azul: You got it!
:Rose: I'm so glad that Gonzalo bastard is finally dead, or at least heavily injured, I didn't stick around to see what happened to him. I've heard his place burnt down.
:Azul: Oh yeah sugar, we're free.
Azul kisses him right on the stairs leading to the next floor below, closing off the hologram.
:Azul: Love you!! Now that bad man is out of our lives, let's make the best we can out of 'em!
:Rose: That's a plan I can certainly get down with.
:Azul: I was thinking maybe we could have a baby or something later? I think raising a child would be a good morale boost for both of us, I don't know, what do you think?
:Rose: Sounds good to me, I wanna call the kid Blue.
:Azul: ...Blue?
:Rose: If he's anything like your frosty self. Or Red if he looks a bit more like me.
:Azul: Heh, those names are stupid but sweet, I love them.
Azul grabs his hand.
:Azul: C'mon, let's go home and relax 'til the mayor stuff happens.
Rose smiles as he takes her hand, walking down the steps with her.
:11:03 A.M. · SUNDAY October 12th, ZXE-223
:Heartgold Park, New Naxaz City
Away from the spicy chip festival going on, a bunch of Mallorians were wandering around the other end of Heartgold Park. The Leper Messiah wasn't there today.
:Mallorian #1: Where is the Messiah?
:Mallorian #2: I suppose with our God unfairly in prison, the reason for coming here has been defeated.
:Mallorian #3: God isn't smiling down upon us all?
:Mallorian #4: Maybe there was some omen we didn't take seriously enough.
:Mallorian #5: I wanted to take pictures of the Messiah, he's kind of hot.
:Mallorian #6: We were promised cookies for today's meeting and I don't see them anywhere!
:Mallorian #7: I suppose God is displeased because I had a go with my cousin.
:Mallorian #8: Maybe G-- wait, what?
Everyone turns their heads to Mallorian #7.
:Mallorian #5: No wonder this religion has such a bad reputation, people like you keep giving it a bad name!
:Mallorian #2: God is very ashamed in you, little one!
:Mallorian #7: This is a free country!!
:Mallorian #1: Our God doesn't like bigots.
The other Mallorians pick up #7, quickly running with him held up high.
:Mallorian #7: You don't understand, we are a royal-blooded family!
:Mallorian #3: God isn't happy with this!
They immediately hurl #7 down towards the boiling, hot steaming energy fueling New Naxaz City from below. He immediately incinerates inside the fires.
:Mallorian #2: I guess I did abuse my wife with a broken bottle, so I'm taking the plunge too!
#2 joins him immediately, going to burn with #7.
:Mallorian #1: Any of you other zoinkers have sins to te- ah crap, I just swore.
#1 goes overboard.
:Mallorian #4: Stop killing yourselves, brothers! There is no need for this reckless suicidal behavior! We are brothers in arms, not Lemmings! [shakes his head] God wouldn't mind if people slipped just a little bit.
Suddenly, they heard a bunch of screaming from the collected hundreds of Mallorians. #4 swallows any words he had left to say as the Mallorians around him panic and jump overboard. Before he knows it, he has his chin grabbed by someone.
:Lily: Hello, darling.
:Mallorian #4: Are you Jesus?
:Lily: Pfft, nah! [laughs] With your precious God in prison, I'm going to take you all to my hive and make you my own worker hornets! And there's nothing you can do to stop me!
:Mallorian #4: Oh my... I'm going to get reincarnated!
:Lily: I guess you could technically say that?
Lily puts him down, stinging the inside of his elbow with her stinger as he screams. She then picks him up, carrying him to the pile of stung-down Mallorians she's made. She's stung at least a dozen or so so far...
:Lily: Do not worry, my fellow purplenecks! I promise I'll let you see a God that truly is wanting to give you a second chance!
As Lily continues doing her business, Scotch runs to the scene minutes later, screeching to a halt as he sees Lily do her damage. She's piled up more than a hundred bodies by this point; she's on quite the roll.
:Scotch: What the devil are you doing, Lily?
:Lily: Oh, didn't you know? I'm stinging up all these conveniently packed-together Mallorians, so they can vote for me in the mayor election when I transform them into mindless hornets!
:Scotch: There's no way I'm letting you get away with that!
Scotch then looks confusedly at her.
:Scotch: Wait, how are they going to be able to vote?
Lily laughs, picking up one of the fallen Mallorians and swinging around their ID.
:Lily: They still have their IDs, so they're still satellite citizens, just with a bit of a hornet flavor to them.
Lily cackles as she snaps her fingers, making a bunch of hornet-like men come down and capture a thousand or so Mallorians in this huge cage. Scotch growls as Lily manages to get away with this dirty work already.
:Lily: You're next, Scotch!
Lily grins hard, pulling her stinger out from between her legs and pulling it forward, winking as the stinger shines.
:Scotch: I don't know if I should even be having you in my life if you're just going to keep pulling dumb crap, I'm not going to let you take control of me!
:Lily: Heh. So, have you figured out yet why I want you to make the king of my hive? You're aggressive, you're powerful, you've got nerve, and you are pretty much helpless to my commands.
Lily licks her nails, which are wet with honey.
:Lily: Think about it Scotch, what else are you going to do with your life? Go back to your exes?
:Scotch: You do make a point about me being aggressive and being unafraid to do the things I do. I'm realizing that maybe, just maybe, my exes saw me the way I'm seeing you.
Scotch clenches his fists.
:Scotch: This relationship's cancelled, Lily. If you're going to do horrible things like this, I don't want any involvement with you. What were you even trying to get out of me anyway...?
:Lily: Oh, I was thinking you might've been looking for some dangerous love, considering your exes' inabilities to keep up with your personality. [rubs her hands together] I'll be real, I was just wanting to make you my king. I never really, loved you.
Lily just snickers to herself as Scotch looks at her crossly.
:Lily: You were vulnerable and that's why I tried to make things work out with you. But maybe you're not as weak as I thought you were, considering you're daring to stand up to me.
Lily laughs as she cleans up her stinger, making it shine more.
:Lily: I'm still going to go after you anyway, I just wanted you to see this excellent surprise first!
Scotch moves out of her way as she dashes over to him with her stinger, watching her get stuck on one of Valerie's statues as he begins to retreat away from her. He looks back at her.
:Scotch: Everything you said was just to make me feel closer and closer to you, huh? Didn't work!
:Lily: I see, you've broken the loop.
:Scotch: The loop!?
:Lily: I didn't really think you were that smart.
Lily dives at him again, but she misses. Scotch picks out some weapons from his backpack.
:Scotch: Take away those Mallorians if you want, but if you want to still be alive, you're best leaving me alone. I'd rather have nothing to do with you ever again!
:Lily: Then how about you best me, little boy?
::
::
::
::
::
::
Lily looks horribly hurt, laying on the floor before Scotch.
:Lily: Auughh, you're much stronger than I thought.
:Scotch: Good luck as mayor, Lily, but I can't let you be a threat to anyone anymore. Including myself.
Scotch takes his hand, noisily grunting before slamming it across Lily's stinger, slicing it off.
:Lily: A-Ack!
:Scotch: It was a necessity for me to strip you of your one weapon, Lily. I'm sorry, but I can't let you keep doing crap like this.
:Lily: You... Y-You!
:Scotch: I'm going to head off and take a break to internalize everything that's happened, good luck running as mayor. Hopefully you've made enough hornets to last you for a lifetime.
Scotch walks off, leaving her there.
:Scotch: I'm not interested in killing you. I have more important things to be concerned over.
Lily gasps as she gets herself up, despite the pain. She gasps hard, trying to pull herself together. She's still alive, but she's struggling to stand back up.
:Lily: When I become mayor, I'm t-taking you in as my k-king first thing! Mark my w-words, you motherzoinker!
Scotch walks off without her, ignorant to her words.
:Scotch: Going to make things right tonight.
:1:51 P.M. · SUNDAY October 12th, ZXE-223
:C.O.T.S. Laboratories, Hospital Wing
Silver and Medea are at the Gonzalo-transformed laboratories together. They have been there for hours, but just finished taking everything that was Gonzalo's and throwing it into a giant fire with Chimera's help.
:Medea: Okay, I think we've burnt up everything that Gonzalo tried to litter this place with. [smiles] We can get to what I've been wanting to showing you for hours now.
:Silver: Good to have been of service, it's great having burned up so many of that evil man's items.
:Medea: Mhm. Follow me, Silver. You too, Chimera.
:Chimera: Alright.
Medea leads them both to her laboratory. She dims out the lights when they walk in, sitting down at her desk. She smiles almost innocently as she takes her seat, pointing to two other seats.
:Medea: Sit down, please.
They take their seats, Medea taking a cigarette and lighting it up.
:Medea: Silver, now that my deranged ex-husband is out of the picture, it's time that I started taking on my plans at long last. For many long years, I've been wanting to seize the chance to make paradise.
:Silver: Continue?
:Medea: I remain determined to see my plans though, and I'm uninterested in having anything fail this time around. Silver, my lover, I need you to help me with these plans of mine.
:Silver: What are the plans, particularly...?
Silver raises his eyebrow. Medea's talked about this "perfect paradise" plan many times, but never went into explicit detail with him.
:Medea: Gonzalo didn't help me support Chimera when I was with him for some weeks, so I'm asking if you can help Chimera "create" the sentient nuclear warheads I've been trying to get her to make for weeks. [beams] It's not that much of a request, is it?
:Silver: You were with Gonzalo the whole time!? Why?
:Medea: That doesn't matter!
A smile crosses Medea's face. It was a bit of a sinister smile.
:Medea: Silver, the prophesized time is near. You just need to do this thing for me.
:Silver: Isn't this kind of dirty? I don't know if I like the moral aspects of this or where this is going.
:Medea: Are you about to tell me that after years upon years of waiting for this opportunity, when I have all the ingredients to this recipe for peace in front of me, you're going to deny me this one chance I get?
:Chimera: I... I...
:Silver: Where does this peace come in Medea, out of curiosity? Because I'm not seeing what you're getting at.
:Medea: Basically, we're going to use nuclear weapons to kill everyone across the satellite besides a dozen people or so, then I'm going to crush life out from all the other satellites so we may be the last survivors.
Medea looks at Silver dead in his pupil-less eyes.
:Medea: We can then have this part of the Zaxiverse all to ourselves! We don't have to worry about anyone beyond each other, and that's what I want. Everyone that's ever bothered me or disliked me will be gone!
:Silver: I don't see the appeal in this plan, who even is Chimera? Why would I want to have an affair with a complete stranger?
:Medea: Ah, she's an experiment I've worked on with Noise, Yama, and Abraham, fairly fine people that I suppose I'm not going to spare simply because they don't appear to care about me anymore. Also, you had a relationship with Pierce even though he was a total stranger to you at the time, you hypocrite!
Silver shakes his head, thinking about this thing to himself.
:Silver: No, this is wrong.
Medea's eyes narrow.
:Medea: What?
:Silver: It'd be one thing if Chimera were willing to consent to this ridiculous plan, and she doesn't even know what's going on so I won't bother asking, but as much trouble as the satellite's given me... it's not worth destroying. Many innocent lives would be put at stake.
Silver looks at her.
:Silver: This is selfish, I refuse to help you with this. I love you, but there's only so much I'm willing to do for someone before I figure out they're crossing the line. I'm sorry.
Medea gets up from her seat.
:Medea: It's fine, Silvie.
Medea reaches behind herself for something, eventually grabbing and taking a scalpel.
:Medea: I'll just have to take you apart and conjure what's necessary for my experiment. I'm sorry, Silvie, but I've made it this far and there's no way I want to back down now.
:Silver: Come on, can't we just talk this out?
:Medea: I would, but...
Medea looks away.
:Medea: You know how important this peaceful isolation would mean to me, Silver, so I'm going to have to take it by force from you whether you like it or not.
Silver attempts to run out of the room, but she hits a button on the wall, locking him in.
:Medea: I thought that by awakening you, by being with you, by giving you all the love and support I possibly could, all of which was completely genuine, that you would be able to help me. I feel betrayed, to say the least..
:Silver: Medea, I just don't want to commit genocide.
Silver sighs, picking up his Mind Weaver.
:Silver: I don't want to hurt you, I love you too much to want to fight back like this. Please, all I want now is a happy life with my three partners, is that too much for me to ask?
:Medea: I-I always planned to spare Pierce and Zellen! We can still live happily together!
:Silver: But I don't want to kill the thousands upon thousands that might be living happy lives, I don't want to see myself become the monster I was years ago. I don't want to regress as a person.
:Medea: G-Give me what I want, and I won't k-kill you!
:Silver: I love you, but I have to do what's right. Even if it means fighting.
:Medea: T-Then this is goodbye, Silver. I can't give up, not here, not when I'm so close to g-getting what I want!
Chimera gets off her seat, backing up against a wall as Medea rounds on Silver.
:Silver: Not like this, please not like this.
::
::
After a long, drawn out battle, Medea's down on her knees. Her bloodied scalpel falls to the floor, as she and Silver look at each other. Medea tenses hard as she tries to stay up, with Silver dropping his Mind Weaver as he attempts to do the same.
:Medea: I can't.
Medea sniffs, looking at her bloodied, scarred-up boyfriend. Silver took several cuts with the scalpel, looking horrible in some places. Silver had a lot more blood flowing under those eyes now.
:Medea: I can't hurt you any more than I have.
:Silver: Medea, don't you see?
Silver coughs up some blood, trying to crawl his way over to her on the reddened tile floor.
:Silver: This is why I don't want to do any genocide. When I see people hurt, like yourself right now, it makes me feel regret and hurt. Look at me, this unbearable pain is what thousands more would face.
Medea cries, sniffling a bit. Silver crawls close enough to her, placing his arms down on her upper legs and looking up at the mad doctor. Water welled up in those desolate eyes.
:Silver: Please, drop your plans.
:Medea: B-But, but...
:Silver: The satellite is an imperfect world, there are a lot of things wrong with it and I can agree wholeheartedly with that opinion. [rubs her sides] But all worlds are imperfect.
:Medea: B-But all the people that have hurt me that I never want to see again, I don't want to see them anymore...
:Silver: What if the last few people you had in your vision turned on you?
Medea gently holds Silver closely, lifting him up on her lap as she places her bloodied arms around him. Her blue blood trickles down her damaged lab outfit.
:Silver: If you lost those last people, you would be left truly alone. Nobody to talk to, nobody to converse with, nobody to have fun with. You couldn't ask for help, you couldn't get your questions answered.
Silver looks up at her eyes.
:Silver: What about the people you talk to frequently who have family and friends to look after? Would they want to still be with you if you just spared them and nobody else?
:Medea: I don't want to see the people I hate anymore.
:Silver: Honey, you're freed from Gonzalo's clutches. Actually, what happened between you and him?
Silver was doing a good job ignoring his pain. One of his main arteries is bleeding, making him hiss as he leans more on his cold-blooded girlfriend. She shakily brings over a first-aid kit from where she was sitting.
:Medea: I became very weak when Noise called me out for something, I don't even remember anymore, I was so intoxicated that day that I don't have any clear memories. Gonzalo convinced me and Valerie into coming over, we took his hands again for marriage before we realized what trap we stuck ourselves in.
Medea closes her eyes.
:Medea: I admitted to myself that you weren't really as wild as I would've preferred. I wanted someone that could be strong, throw me down, roll me up, break me in, toss me out. And I made a huge mistake going back to my ex.
:Silver: It's okay.
Silver rubs her shoulders gently.
:Silver: Usually I'd be angry if somebody ditched me for someone else, but I care for you so much that I don't feel obligated to blame you for succumbing to bad habits, especially because I'm trapped in my own.
:Medea: W-What habits?
:Silver: I had some meeting with Agantuk, I learned I was an abusive twat that spread misery everywhere I went like I were the fuckin' plague, and I got way back into drinking and I'm doing more heroin than ever.
Silver flashes an uneasy grin at her. Some of his teeth were rotting a bit, but he at least kept his teeth well brushed.
:Silver: I need you though, Medea, to help me break outta these habits. You were my best medic.
Medea starts to clean up Silver's wounds, crying a little as she fixes him up as best as she can. Silver hisses as anti-bacterial spray goes into his wounds, but he's smiling through the pain.
:Silver: This place is doing you more harm than good. I'm going to ask Zodiez to shut down this laboratory, then ask her if she can appoint more doctors in your stead. I wanna take you home.
:Medea: That would... be lovely.
Medea grabs his hand.
:Medea: I'm done.
:Silver: You promise you're not returning to these shenanigans again?
:Medea: Y-Yes.
:Silver: Then let's go home.
:Medea: One last thing first, Chimera, come here p-please.
Chimera walks over to them, having been listening the whole time. Medea passes a phone number to her.
:Chimera: What's this?
:Medea: Ask Noise and Yama if they can take you in and raise you, and tell them that I'm done with this crap. I've finally found my peace in Silver Zin. [laughs weakly] It sounds cheesy, but...
Medea turns her eyes to Silver.
:Medea: I've found help.
Silver picks up Medea, even though he's still fairly grievously injured. He smiles as he takes his DNA bottle from Medea's desk.
:Silver: Think I might need this later? Who knows.
Silver walks outside of Medea's office, holding her closely to his chest. No more of this bullcrap. Medea is finally free.
:Silver: I love you, Medea. Thank you for coming to your senses, I know what you would have ideally wanted, but I'm glad you saw what was wrong with what you wanted and learned something from it all.
:Medea: Wouldn't have learned anything if it weren't for you,Silver, I'm so sorry I hurt you so badly.
:Silver: They do say that love hurts.
Medea smiles as a little as she pinches Silver's cheek.
:Medea: Promise you'll take me out later?
:Silver: Of course. I still need to tell you everything, and I'd like to do that: a 1-on-1 talk.
Silver pinches her cheek, grinning as he takes a space pod and slides himself inside with her.
:Silver: You wanna eat at Dairy King later?
:Medea: That'd be lovely.
:Silver: We've figured something out, then!
Silver starts up the space pod. The days of Medea's genocidal scheming are over. Three threats are now shut down.
:4:50 P.M. · SUNDAY October 12th, ZXE-223
:Naxaz Prison, New Naxaz City
Junkhead was snoring away on a bench when he hears some footsteps. He then hears his cell bars open up.
:Junkhead: Eh!?
:Crymsia: We've legalized the drugs you were in for, and we decided it was no longer just to keep you imprisoned. You're free to go and get as high as you want, just uhh, be careful of who you're with!
:Junkhead: Thank god missy, I was wonderin' when I'd get outta this dumpster fire!
Junkhead gleefully bumps her elbow with his own.
:Junkhead: So, what'm I gonna do now?
:Crymsia: Agantuk wanted to talk to you about something urgent, you can find him outside.
:Junkhead: Ooh yeah, my bro's here! That's some terrific news missy, thanks for openin' my cage!
Junkhead springs right out, slapping himself on the posterior.
:Junkhead: Comin' out of me cage and I've been doing just fine, gotta gotta be down 'cuz I want it all! And by "it all", I mean my drug of choice, junk! God damn does it feel good to be free!
:Crymsia: You alright?
:Junkhead: I'M ALIVE!
Junkhead starts somersaulting his way his way outside, jumping right up when he sees Agantuk sitting still, his index finger embedded in his chest.
:Junkhead: Junkie's here, mate!
:Agantuk: Brother!
Agantuk squeezes him tightly. Junkhead grins as he squeezes him tight.
:Junkhead: Didn't think I was gonna get outta there sooner, took forever for 'em to let me go.
Junkhead laughs, placing his hand on his brother's shoulder.
:Junkhead: What's up? You're super still.
:Agantuk: Uhh, well, I've got bad news.
:Junkhead: Oh brother, 'course as soon as the clouds part there's some earthquake to deal with.
:Agantuk: Don't worry, it's nothing we've gotta deal with right now or anything, it's just worth noting for the time being. Would you like to take a look at my clairvoyance, man?
:Junkhead: Absolutely! What do ya see, zoinker?
Agantuk pulls the gemstone off his belt, holding it up as he sticks his tongue out. It shows the outside of the satellite.
:Junkhead: Damn our satellite sure is pretty!
:Agantuk: Yeah, that white-and-purple color scheme honestly makes it stick out really well in space. But pay attention to what happens next.
Suddenly, right before their eyes, the satellite explodes! It scatters into millions of pieces, bursting apart as its debris falls upon Zaxina as deadly rain. Junkhead swallows his breath.
:Junkhead: That'll be a fuckin' yikes from me, mate!
:Agantuk: Yeah, I'm, not sure how I feel about this.
:Junkhead: When'll this happen?
:Agantuk: November 4th.
Agantuk looks at Junkhead, taking a deep breath.
:Agantuk: There's no way around this. No matter what any of us do to change things, the satellite will blow up regardless. [bites his fingernails] I don't even know how it starts! This gemstone only shows the important things.
Agantuk places it back in his belt.
:Junkhead: Dearie me. I'll try n' talk to the authorities later about yer findings.
:Agantuk: They already know. I just don't think they're going to take me absolutely seriously because they're sure they have things under control.
:Junkhead: Mmmm, only with time we'll tell.
Junkhead scratches his head.
:Junkhead: Let's wait until the time comes closer before we take any action. Whatever perpetrators are doing this might do this explosive thing sooner if we just evacuate everyone at the moment, we gotta ambush them by surprise.
Agantuk nods.
:Agantuk: Yeah. Hopefully we figure out how this is gonna work out.
:6:32 P.M. · SUNDAY October 12th, ZXE-223
:Execution Chamber, Admin Sector
Kýrios, Zodiez, and a hundred others were standing around this huge magma pit that could be found inside this deep, deep diamond well. A wooden structure with a rope tied to it could be seen, but Mallory wasn't there. She was texting away privately on her phone while shackled to a wall, something they haven't taken from her.
:Chance: Hey there, unlucky one.
Chance takes her phone, chucking it into the magma pit.
:Mallory: Gaaaaaah!
:Chance: Ooh, you must've gotten really close to getting your escape plan sent out.
:Mallory: Auuugh, gaaaaah...
Chance winks, unshackling her from the wall and grabbing her by the hands.
:Chance: Do you young people have clammy hands like these?
:Mallory: Are those your last words to me?
Chance didn't respond. He thought it'd be funny if those were his last words to her.
:Mallory: You're a dick.
Mallory yelps as Zodiez picks her up, tying her to the rope that's dangling above this lava pit. Mallory attempts to break free from her rope, but Zodiez keeps her tied up well.
:Zodiez: Mallory, this is your execution time!
:Mallory: I hate you all!
:Zodiez: I think considering everything that's gone on, I think we hate you too.
Zodiez walks to the lever, grabbing it with one hand.
:Zodiez: We're gonna dunk you deep far, but we need you to answer some of our questions first. What exactly were you trying to accomplish by being a haphazard maniac? Weren't you trying to get Silver?
:Mallory: You zoinkers wouldn't let me get him, so I decided to lash out my anger against the satellite because you zoinkers didn't let me get ahold of him! I might've had him near my clutches a few times, and I've spared him a bit because I wanted to show I was more than what you made me out to be.
Mallory smiles.
:Mallory: You still treated me like shit, no matter what I did.
:Zodiez: Wasn't it your problem that you tried to shoot down Kýrios and cheat on the Messiah, though?
:Mallory: Yes, admittedly, but you mornos saw me try to be nice and change up. I-I tried so hard to make changes, but nobody noticed, and you all kept holding this hilariously dumb agenda against me.
:Zodiez: You're not winning any sympathy from me, Mallory.
Zodiez starts to lower her gently towards the magma.
:Zodiez: Who are you going to blame for all of this?
:Mallory: M-Myself, but I think it's very important to point out that you're still letting Silver be here! S-Silver is an abuser, he's a monster, and he's a threat to society! Just thinking about what he's done to me makes me sick.
Mallory breathes in and out, slowly.
:Mallory: You idiots aren't doing anything about him!
:Zodiez: I'd say you lack any proof, but considering I know the full story, I think it's clear who's changed for the better and who hasn't. For those who still don't know, the person who did change for the better is Silver!
:Mallory: If you're going to get rid of me, get rid of him too!
:Zodiez: He's not even doing anything wrong!
:Mallory: I just think it's so absurd that you're letting the man who's responsible for my current state stay here and do whatever he wants!
:Zodiez: Again, who changed? Who learned what they were doing was wrong?
Mallory looked up at Zodiez glaringly, her body resisting descent briefly.
:Zodiez: Who?
:Mallory: You all know nothing. Not even Agantuk's willing to admit the worst of the worst, get down to the scummiest things that Silver's done. I'd tell you all, but I think I'm better off leaving you all in the unknowing.
Mallory shrugs.
:Mallory: Judging from how horrible Silver's been feeling about what he knows, I'd just like to say for the record he might've killed himself if he knew about the worst of the worst.
:Minute: Ummm, can I speak?
Zodiez turns around. Minute was in the audience.
:Minute: I was in that meeting with Agantuk, and we've uncovered everything we've needed to know about Silver. There is nothing left to uncover. Silver is dealing with every last detail.
:Mallory: How about my abortion, huh? What do you have to say to that?
Some people in the audience gasped. Minute started to laugh almost immediately, however.
:Minute: Abortion!? Are you just attempting to slander Silver now? I saw that abortion and someone else completely unrelated to this situation had to do with that! I forget their name, but if you're gonna try and pin that on Silver, whew!
:Mallory: Well, I, uh-
:Minute: If you want people to see things your way, you don't lie to the people who've seen some of those events for themselves! I can look back in the past, and I can confirm what really happened with that abortion! Was nothing of Silver's doing.
Minute continues to laugh, looking completely paralyzed with the giggles.
:Minute: As far as I can tell, Silver's mostly used you for indentured servitude and has whipped you and your mother more than once. That crap is horrible, don't get me wrong, and it's very questionable and hurtful things to think about. But isn't it a bit unnecessary to stack crap that never happened on top of that?
Mallory just hangs there, stunned.
:Zodiez: Awkward. Maybe we should consider revoking Silver's rights at some point and escort him safely off the satellite, but...
Zodiez looks down at Mallory.
:Zodiez: We should probably drop you down there before you make us die of laughter.
:Mallory: Hmph! Don't you have any more questions, Zodiez?
:Zodiez: I could ask where all the zodiac stones are!
:Mallory: They're all mine, besides one, and I won't tell you where.
Mallory smiles.
:Mallory: After I heard of Gonzalo's place having burnt down, I asked one of my assistants to head to his place to steal his zodiac stone, but I don't know where it is because it wasn't there anymore.
Mallory cackles.
:Mallory: 'Course, I'd only be able to make effective use of all those stones if I remained alive, so maybe I won't get to enjoy the power of the zodiac stones after all...? Hehehe, I don't really know.
:Zodiez: I'll kill you before you even get the chance to try.
Zodiez starts to reel her towards the magma at an alarming rate. Mallory closes her eyes.
:Zodiez: Oh, wait!
Zodiez stops reeling her down.
:Zodiez: Any last words, Mallory?
:Mallory: Goodbye!
Just then, the doors to the Execution Chamber are opened up. The Methademic steps in.
:The Methademic: Everybody [snort] freeze!
The Methademic spreads vapor clouds around everywhere. People start coughing as a smokescreen comes into effect. Some are unable to resist and get high, while Zodiez tries to keep her eyes on what's going on.
:Mallory: Methademic!?
:The Methademic: Here to save ya!
The Methademic throws a red hot match at Zodiez, who screams and moves out of the way as Mallory's structure is set aflame. The Methademic jumps right on over, releasing a lot of vapor below Mallory. This creates an explosion that makes her rise up into his arms.
:Mallory: Oh, wow, my hero...
:Zodiez: Get them!
People around the room attempt to dive at the Methademic, but he keeps spreading more vapor clouds to make people cough, starting to run out of the room. Zodiez looks baffled.
:Zodiez: Minute! Stop them!
:Minute: My pleasure, your honor!
Minute starts to give chase to them.
::
::
::
Minute attempts to chase them down, but snaps his fingers when he loses track of them. He picks up the Zin Tracker.
:Minute: Damn it, they got away! They're probably going to go after the last zodiac stone.
:Zodiez: Ahh, jeez.
Zodiez sighs.
:Zodiez: Only thing we can do is hope that won't happen! Where is it, anyway...?
:9:02 P.M. · SUNDAY October 12th, ZXE-223
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
The last zodiac stone was in much safer and more capable hands; it was now hanging on Silver's wall, courtesy of Medea Neos who managed to get it from the wreck sometime.
:Silver: Damn, I've heard that Mallory escaped execution and has managed to find her way back home with the help of the Methademic or whoever. Cody texted me that almost everyone was annoyed that she returned, and that November 4th is gonna be a seriously troublesome day, would hate to think of anyone having their birthday by then!
Silver sighs, leaning back in his chair.
:Silver: I know that Mallory's not done with me, but I think we can rejoice in that Gonzalo's gone and that Medea's given up those schemes of hers for good. [smiles] I'm gonna take Medea out next Sunday, I've got an album to record and some fightin' to do but I'd like to have a nice evening with one of my two favorite girls.
:Rogue: Is that second favorite me, daddy?
:Silver: No sweetheart, that would be Zellen. You're my third favorite.
Silver laughs like an asshole while Rogue throws a little fit.
:Medea: I'm really looking forward to our date Silver, I'm... I've never felt more excited for a day in my life, honestly. [grins] I feel so light, if that makes sense? I feel freed of my restraints.
Medea leans happily on her boyfriend, grinning as she pinches his cheek.
:Medea: Now that I'm back here for good, I just want to try living like a normal woman for a change. [smiles] I mean, I'll always be Silvie's doctor, but you know what I mean.
:Pierce: I'm glad you've given up that profession, Medea. I'm proud of you.
Medea grins, picking up Pierce and pulling him in for a close hug.
:Pierce: Whoa! I love you too.
Pierce hugs her back.
:Medea: I couldn't possibly feel happier.
Medea kisses their cheeks.
:Zellen: Good knowing that I'll have three people to trouble with my needs instead of two!
:Silver: Oh hush it, Zellie.
Zellen sticks her tongue out at Silver as she hugs Medea too. Medea picks up Zellen, nuzzling the Herald's cheek.
: Zellen': I'm not self-conscious, I swear!
:Medea: Alright Silvie, I'll try not to bother you too much when you get down to recording that album with Black Haze, but I'll be home waiting for you every night, alright? I wanna feel like a real person again.
Medea looked down.
:Medea: I haven't felt like a real person in decades.
:Silver: Good to hear that I'm helping you get to feel real again. You're sure as hell real to me though, Medea!
Silver playfully pinches her cheek as she laughs.
:Medea: Oh Silver, you always know how to make me blush...!
:Zellen: When're we all going to have Zetflix and chill?
:Silver: Patience, Zellen!
:Zellen: I don't got any! I think you can blame that blue Beorn guy for draining it all outta me! He makes me wait and wait and wait for something interesting to do, like the little bastard he is!
Zellen slumps down, her cheeks puffing as she looks annoyed. Very entertaining woman to have a relationship with!
:Silver: Nah don't worry Zellen, I hate having my patience tested too.
:Pierce: I remember when Silver was still a mercenary, it felt like it'd be forever until he got home, and I'd be like, "bruh when're you gonna get home!?" because I'm just get so tired waiting for him.
:Medea: When I'd be at the labs for so long, I'd ache waiting for Silver to come back.
:Silver: Well jeez everyone!
Silver laughs hard, taking a long sip of alcohol.
:Silver: Didn't know that I'm that popular!
:Pierce: You don't gotta out us like that Silver, hehe.
Pierce kisses his cheek.
:Pierce: Look, we're just happy to all be here for you, and that we no longer have any excuses to be separated for so long. Things are gonna be like family now! We're gonna be Rogue's four adorable parents.
:Rogue: Two daddies, two mommies!
:Pierce: Yep!
Pierce then looks at Silver.
:Pierce: ...That is a bit strange now that she brings it up.
:Silver: Meh, not that strange to me. She does get a lot of support though.
:Pierce: Yeaaaaaah.
Pierce beams happily.
:Zellen: I wanted to have the baby.
:Medea: Didn't you say you didn't want it because you didn't want to deal with nine months of labor?
:Zellen: Looked easy to me then!
Medea laughs.
:Medea: It wasn't that easy for me, I'll tell you that much! Having to abstain from doing anything particularly evil to my body is much harder than it sounds, because you had to keep a nearly perfect record. I still might have had some drinks, so what?
:Silver: You drank with Rogue in there!?
:Medea: I don't think it hurt her, so I don't feel too horrible about it. Don't worry, I won't do that with the next baby.
:Zellen: All this baby-making talk is making me lean on the edge of my seat!
Literally, we might add. She was just about to wobble off of it.
:Zellen: Let's go!
:Silver: Aha, alright Zellen.
Silver laughs as he walks to the bedroom, turning out the lights and placing Rogue in her crib. He places a soundproof net over her.
:Silver: G'night Rogue. Wouldn't count on you getting a sibling, though...
When they all get in the bedroom, Zellen grins until Silver actually turns on the TV.
:Zellen: What're you doing?
:Silver: Sweetheart, I've had a long day, Medea and I are all cut up and Pierce's psychic energy is totally wasted. You think you can give us a rest tonight? I just wanna watch something cool on TV with you all.
:Zellen: That sounds good, actually. I guess I got a bit hyper again, sowwy.
Silver grins, turning on some animated special as he gets in bed with his partners.
:Silver: You three are the greatest, alright? Many new adventures for us down the road!
:Pierce: I can't wait man.
:Zellen: I'm taking your word!
:Medea: I sure hope so.
Silver kisses all of them on the cheek and slips under the sheets.
:Silver: Good night!
:Zellen: Night night, sweetheart.
Zellen snuggles up close to him, but Pierce attempts to pull at Silver to bring him closer. Medea starts to tug too.
:Silver: Not this crap again!
Silver laughs.
:Silver: Alright, Zellen goes on top, Pierce and Medea can snuggle up into my sides. That's how it's always worked!
:Medea: Sorry hehe, it's been a while since I've been here.
Silver smiles as he holds Zellen directly on top of him, wrapping his legs around his fellow Herald, his eyes glued to the television as his arms go around Silver and Medea, holding them by the necks.
:Silver: Good night now!
As everyone next to him and on him goes to sleep, Silver looks at his clock. Today was the 12th, if the explosion happens next month, on the 4th...
:Silver: Mallory's up to something, gonna have to stop her sometime...
:12:50 A.M. · MONDAY October 13th, ZXE-223
:Mother Nature Corridor, Sector 5
Meanwhile, all alone, Gonzalo drags himself into the Mother Nature Corridor of Sector 5. He looked brutally beaten up, torn up, and burnt up. Yet, he was still alive...
:Gonzalo: By cutting up the mother plant for some much needed aloe vera, I can heal up my wounds and figure out how to get back in tip-top shape. I can't go down now, ehe.
Gonzalo smirks as he drags himself across the floor. It's taken him forever to get here, even though this corridor isn't very far from the entrance to the sector, as he had to rely on his slow crawling to get here. You can look at the dirt on his chin, he's been eating bugs to get through the day.
:Gonzalo: I am still going to become the one dominant force, and nothing can stop me!
Gonzalo walks over to the mother plant. Syinara used to have control over this place, he knew, but because she was dead, he figured he could reap whatever he wanted from this place.
:Gonzalo: Looks like I'm free to take as much of this aloe vera as I want, maybe I can eat off the plants here to get myself back in shape. I've still got an empire to make, I've still got dreams to fulfill.
Gonzalo starts to cut at the plant through the middle. He starts to get some aloe vera poured into his hands, which he uses to desperately rub over his burns. But he also finds himself being doused with a strange liquid from the same mother plant, strange, he thought, but he thought nothing of it.
:Gonzalo: With Syinara deceased, and with her mother having just done her weekly tethering duty, I can steal as much of this substance as I want. My time to heal is almost here!
Gonzalo rubs himself clean with the aloe vera, letting the scentless liquid cover him over too. He suddenly hears a rupturing noise underneath him.
:Gonzalo: Eh?
Gonzalo looks around himself. This huge overgrown jungle room and its sole long steel platform are violently shaking now, much to his surprise as he falls to his knees.
:Gonzalo: What is the meaning of this?
:???: I don't think I'm going to let you escape, Gonzalo.
The entrance to the corridor gets sealed up with huge, thick vines, as several more rush out from underground and begin grabbing him by the limbs. Gonzalo yelps as he's yanked around, attempting to escape the grip.
:Gonzalo: Who's talking to me?
:???: All that matters is that your life is forfeit.
Gonzalo winces as he sees the mother plant figure ahead of him split up into halves, peeling apart like a banana as a huge wooden head pushes itself from the wall. Pulling forth massive wooden limbs and an appropriately sized upper body, two hollow eyes stare down at Gonzalo. Dirt pours from the eyes and maw.
:Gonzalo: E-Excuse me?
:???: It felt like almost as soon as I died, you took advantage of the one woman that mattered so effin' much to me and you broke her. Hadn't she planted that tree into my soil, I wouldn't have realized what any of her words would've meant.
This monstrously sized plant figure grabs Gonzalo, squeezing him tightly.
:???: You will pay dearly for hurting her! I know everything that's happened! My mother told me everything she's gone through, and it's all your effin' fault that she's hurt!
With swift, sharp swipes, she strikes Gonzalo several times across the face as she begins to wrap him up in more and more vines, starting to restrict of his movements.
:Gonzalo: S...Syinara?
:Syinara: I will rest in peace when you burn!
Syinara squeezes him as tightly as she possibly can, rubbing her hands so much that she creates the friction necessary to create a fire. She then picks up her hands, then grabs Gonzalo with them, spreading the fire to his body.
:Gonzalo: T-This is impossible! Let me g-go!
Syinara doesn't.
:Gonzalo: Let me be! I have places to be, people to prey on!
Syinara doesn't relent. The flames rise higher and higher.
:Gonzalo: I-I'll change! I'll change, I'll change!
Gonzalo starts to feel the fire burn away at him, screaming loudly as he kicks in Syinara's grip.
:Gonzalo: I'LL CHANGE, I'LL CHANGE MY W-WAYS! LET ME G-GO! I DON'T W-WANT TO DIE!
:Syinara: You'll get no sympathy from me.
:Gonzalo: I'LL C-CHANGE! I'LL, CHANGE, NOOOOOOOO...
Syinara burns him up. The skin of Gonzalo melts right off, the vines constricting and burning through his skin. Blood pours out from his body as his bones begin to drop to the floor.
:Gonzalo: N-NOOOOOOOO-
The flames have taken his heart.
:Syinara: Peace.
Syinara pulls herself back into the wall, snapping off the burning vines to keep Gonzalo's skeleton burning. Syinara sinks back into her state of peace. Back in the city, we see Valerie's tree get uprooted, then set aflame. Syinara may finally sleep peacefully.
====Chapter Twenty-One: Take Her Out====
:9:10 A.M. · SATURDAY October 18th, ZXE-223
:Statue of Liberty, New Denver, Sector 6
The next week, Crymsia and Azrail were hanging together at the Statue of Liberty in Sector 6, sitting together at the base and overlooking the rest of this Americanized world. They hold hands together.
:Azrail: It's so nice to finally have this quiet moment with you, after weeks upon weeks of heavy-duty work. [grabs her hand] You're the sweetest woman I know.
:Crymsia: Oh, Az.
Crymsia smiles as she interlocks her fingers with his, looking at him with a smile.
:Crymsia: I know I haven't been the kindest to you, I've always been a really rude person.
Crymsia laughs as she pulls her shy boyfriend closely.
:Crymsia: I've hated touch for as long as I can remember, but you honestly make me feel safe enough to accept it from you. Thank you for taking it upon yourself to improve and prove to me you're more than what your antics suggest.
:Azrail: Hah, no problem.
Azrail kisses her cheek gently.
:Azrail: I know that, back when we were a couple in the first place, that I wasn't giving you much privacy, I've learned to give people the room they need to breathe. [leans on her] Thanks for putting up with me.
:Crymsia: I didn't do a great job communicating with you, so that's partially my fault anyways.
Crymsia pulls him closely, mewling a bit like a kitten as her cat-like ears wiggle.
:Crymsia: I'm just glad to have the love of my life be so smart and caring.
:Azrail: I'm glad the love of my life is so strong and determined, you were always my role model back in junior high.
:Crymsia: Heh, you don't need to flatter me like that. [laughs] I was a pretty angsty kid and got in loads of trouble, so I was probably a bad influence in some ways. You definitely got into your fair share of trouble, heh.
:Azrail: Hey, those junior high years were fun. Remember when we would jump from the swings when we got as high as we could?
Crymsia laughs.
:Crymsia: I remember when you'd scrape your knees and I'd have to drag you over to one of those candle nurses for special treatment. [giggles] Actually, now that I think about it, you got a lot of injuries.
:Azrail: I was pretty accident-prone!
Azrail laughs as he rubs behind Crymsia's ears, which she does to him back.
:Crymsia: We weren't particularly the most well-behaved kids, I remember when my mom would scold me for picking fights with older girls because I wanted to be one of the popular kids. That's when I crafted my first blade!
:Azrail: Out of curiosity, did you hit any of them with it?
:Crymsia: Nah, I'd get in a hella lot of trouble for bringing a weapon to school grounds.
:Azrail: Ahhh, that makes sense. I remember when my mom would come over to school and be the substitute teacher, she was always a strange teacher but she was effective. She had an affair with my high school math teacher.
:Crymsia: Huh, Medea never struck me as a teaching type.
:Azrail: She taught... let's just say a strange subject for a grade once.
Azrail mimics making a vomiting notion as Crymsia laughs trying to imagine how nuts that must have been.
:Crymsia: That sounds like one of those King of the Hill episodes.
:Azrail: Must've been, because by the time the year was over, I was ready to kick her ass.
Crymsia giggles as she grabs her boyfriend by the chin.
:Azrail: Oh?
:Crymsia: I love you so much, Azrail, you mean everything to me right now.
Crymsia pulls him by the shoulders, kissing him on the lips. Azrail looks surprised, but he gently places his hands on her shoulders and returns the kiss. They lie down onto their star-patterned blanket, sharing a long kiss.
:Crymsia: Mmm, Az...
:Azrail: I like the taste of your cherry lipstick.
:Crymsia: Hah! You noticed!
Azrail gives her a deeper kiss, which she happily returns as she wraps her arms around his upper back.
:Azrail: You're great, you know that?
:Crymsia: Hell yeah I'm great! But you better believe you're great too, cuz I wanna fight for ya! I'm not just any warrior, I'm the Nature War-
Suddenly, the hear could hear a HUGE rumbling noise, the lights of the sector starting to flicker on and off rapidly as the whole place appears to shake. Azrail falls flat on his girlfriend.
:Azrail: Whoa, what in Sam Hill is happening?
:Crymsia: I don't know, the satellite doesn't have a rumble feature!
Azrail and Crymsia shakily get up as the sector violently rumbles. The beautiful oceans around Sector 6 splash up and start flooding the streets as windows break and buildings with weaker foundations begin to tumble over. An earthquake! But, how? They're on a frickin' satellite!
:Azrail: Let's high-tail it out of here!
:Zodiez [intercom]: EMERGENCY IN SECTOR 6, EMERGENCY IN SECTOR 6! PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY WITHIN 49 MINUTES; TAKE YOUR IMPORTANT BELONGINGS AND HEAD TO THE SATELLITE LOBBY FOR MORE DETAILS, DO NOT WASTE TIME!
:Azrail: Oh crap...!
Crymsia and Azrail begin to run away from the Statue of Liberty, running along New Denver's main street. They both become trapped by numerous buildings, which begin to topple over like dominos as the sector continues to violently shake and sway. All Wi-Fi communication is disrupted, all screens play static, and all vital systems begin to fail.
:Crymsia: What in tarnation is g-going on?
:Azrail: I don't know!
Crymsia climbs up above the building after grabbing her boyfriend, ascending it and starting to look around for available space pods. Much of them are already beginning to leave the sector as people run around screaming, they have to find a pod fast!
:Crymsia: Let's find a space pod before they all disappear!
The two race forward, just avoiding getting crushed by the Statue of Liberty as it falls and breaks up main street.
::
::
::
Crymsia and Azrail escape the sector in the nick of time in a red space pod. Right behind them, the entrance immediately shuts, and all the wires and engines leading to the sector close off, cutting off communication with Sector 6 entirely. It detaches from the satellite, falling to Zaxina as huge debris before crash landing, resulting in a huge explosion on the planet's surface. Zodiez watches this explosion from a distance.
:Zodiez: What the fuck just happened?
:Mayxine: Ma'am, the damage that's been done to the satellite's core has tampered with its ability to deliver the necessary power to keep Sector 6 stable. [looks down] I'm not sure who tampered with the core.
:Zodiez: Good thing all the sectors have a rumble feature to warn people when they should leave it, that was my doing. It was probably a bit counter-productive, that rumbling looked insanely violent. But that's the first time it's ever been put to use, so.
:Mayxine: I'll ask for our engineers to reprogram the rumble feature to be less powerful, but we need to figure out who's been causing the damage. Luckily, all the other sectors are getting power just fine. Not sure why Sector 6 just drifted off like that though, it was connected pretty strongly to the satellite.
:Zodiez: I believe the designers made it so that if a sector became too unstable and affected with the efficiency of the rest of the satellite's components, it could be automatically released. Luckily, we can use the excess energy to keep the other sectors running perfectly. I'd like to ask if someone can investigate the core.
:Mayxine: I'll ask Hector to take a break from his schedule and take a look at it.
:Zodiez: Aye, thank you lady.
:Mayxine: Any time, mistress.
Mayxine drinks her coffee.
:Mayxine: I believe the population was roughly 290 prior to the sector's breakaway. There were 55,381 residents, so I'd say we did a pretty good job making most of 'em leave.
:Zodiez: That's still a lot of casualties, though.
:Mayxine: Yeah, but I wouldn't worry too hard. They had plenty of time to evacuate.
Zodiez nods.
:Zodiez: I just hope we figure out what's going on. Hopefully Arikan will take all the sudden refugees and figure out what to do with them, thank god she's decided to eat the Mallory corpse to get rid of it, otherwise she'd be stuck dealing with two unpleasant situations.
:Mayxine: ...Do you want me to get started on asking for a replacement sector from the Space Repair Crew?
:Zodiez: No, one thing at a time. If that core isn't fixed, more damage could possibly be brought to the other sectors. I doubt it personally, because the other sectors now have more energy they can use to run more efficiently, but you never know.
Zodiez scratches her head.
:Zodiez: The builders of this universe are so strange.
:Mayxine: That's why we don't let boomers make satellites anymore.
:Zodiez: Oh yeah, the builders of this satellite were old, that's why Sector 6 was super Americanized. Unfortunately, the destruction of Sector 6 means that we don't have any of those artifacts.
:Mayxine: Guess you could say somebody's trumping us.
:Zodiez: Pffft.
Zodiez just thinks to herself.
:Zodiez: Wonder if Mallory has to do with this.
:2:58 P.M. · SATURDAY October 18th, ZXE-223
:Champion's Ring, Sector 3
The audience is roaring wild at the Champion's Ring, meanwhile. Silver had just managed to pin down Millicent, who coughed out blood as her shades fell off her head. Silver holds up his fist, swinging his hips dominantly.
:Whiskey: And Silver's made it to the finals! Y'all, throw your hands up and chant his name!
The audience claps and cheers for him. Silver grins, showing some of his blackened teeth as he bows. Pierce, Medea, and Zellen were watching him from the crowd, with the latter shoving popcorn into her mouth like a squirrel would shove nuts into its mouth.
:Whiskey: Silver gets to move up to the freakin' finals! Look up!
We see this was a 16-person competition. The first round? It was Vizole v. Agantuk, Devina v. Junkhead, Valerie v. Blake, Nomila v. Lance, Silver v. Niki, Minute v. Mindy, Millicent v. Werine, and Snickers v. Dream Weaver. The second round? Agantuk v. Junkhead, Valerie v. Nomila, Silver v. Mindy, and Millicent v. Snickers. The third round? Agantuk v. Valerie, Silver v. Millicent.
:Whiskey: Ladies and gentlemen, the last round is just about to go underway! We're gonna heal up last round's victors, Silver and Agantuk, and have them go heal up before they can beat the crap outta each other!
Silver blows a kiss to Millicent.
:Silver: You were a fine challenge, I've just met better.
Silver walks off, laughing as he goes into Room #09 to prepare himself for the next fight. Pierce comes down from the bleachers, using his psychic powers to lift himself over to Silver like he were a ghost.
:Pierce: You're doing great, Silver!
:Silver: Haha, thanks!
Silver pretends to flex, but we know Silver doesn't have any muscle to show.
:Silver: Guess I've gotta go against Agantuk next.
:Pierce: Don't worry too hard, I know you're kind of anxious about facing him considering he's the one that taught you everything you needed to know about your past, but, just try to push those anxieties aside.
:Silver: I won't let that crap stop me! I came this far, only thing I can do is win!
Silver snickers cheesily as he gets up, kissing his boyfriend hard. Pierce grins as he takes some ointment, rubbing it all over Silver's wounds. He was bleeding in several places, but this special ointment can heal even the deepest of wounds very quickly... it stings really bad, but it works!
:Pierce: You can do it!
Pierce grins, pecking his cheek.
:Pierce: I looooove you!
:Silver: I love you too Piercy, thanks for your support sweetheart.
Silver gets up, pumping his fists together.
:Pierce: Of course! Always, Medea and Zellen are rooting you on, too!
:Silver: That's delightful, I know I can always count on them!
Silver goes into the changing room, before coming out in a Flatbush Zombies tank top. Silver dabs.
:Silver: I'm gonna go break him, wish me luck!
:Pierce: I already have, but I'll wish you luck again!
Silver laughs as he hops onto the stage. Agantuk jumps on the stage, making the floor shake under his feet.
:Silver: Hello there, Agantuk!
:Agantuk: Wasn't thinking you'd make it to the finals Silver, I'm pretty impressed. We've had some pretty weak competitors today, so that's probably why you've made it so high. Then again, Millicent isn't an easy foe.
:Silver: Guess you're one of those seriously competitive types, hah?
Silver pulls out his Mind Weaver, licking the sharp tip off like he were cleaning it.
:Silver: I didn't make it this far because I'm mediocre, I made it this far because I wanted to kick your ass!
:Agantuk: I'd rather hear the sound of your body breaking as I take you down!
:Silver: I'll break you down first!
Agantuk rounds on Silver, pumping his fists together as Whiskey watches with excitement.
:Agantuk: You've got a lot of spunk in you for someone of your weight class, Silver! But considering everything that I know about you, maybe that isn't a surprise.
:Silver: Low blow, mate!
:Agantuk: Actually yeah, that is a pretty low blow, sorry. [chuckles] But you've gotta be really foolish to wanna take me on, I can crush your skull in! Don't underestimate what blows I can give ya, man.
:Silver: Heh, "blows".
:Agantuk: You very well know what I meant, Silver!
Silver snickers proudly to himself. He may not have the most esteem in the room, but that was just too good an opportunity to make fun of Agantuk. He levitates backwards, winking at Agantuk.
:Silver: Only the baddest of boys are gonna make it hard in these competitions, Agantuk! If you're gonna claim I'll be easy to break down, why don't you shut your mouth and throw a fist in my mouth?
:Agantuk: Psssh, you really think I'll listen to twinks like you?
:Silver: Damn man, you don't got any words to fight me with!
Silver uses his Mind Weaver to itch his shoulder.
:Silver: You're really boring me over here!
:Agantuk: Then how about we stop wasting time and get to the exciting part?
Silver shrugs at him, grinning like a freak.
:Silver: Sure! That's what I've been wanting, zoinker!
:Whiskey: Alright both of you, get into your corners!
Silver takes the blue corner, leaning back against it as Agantuk takes the red corner.
:Whiskey: Here's our two final competitors, Silver Zin and Agantuk the Last Dearthbringer! Silver Zin, as you've heard several times by now, is some strange alien boy from Zaxina that packs quite the punch! He's screaming for vengeance, a defender of the faith, the angel of retribution!
Silver bows.
:Silver: Guess you could say I've got some firepower left in me this afternoon!
:Whiskey: And we have Agantuk on the other side! He's from the wrong side of Heaven and from the righteous side of Hell, he could bring a whole decade of destruction, Agantuk will teach you the way of the fist!
Agantuk bows.
:Agantuk: When it's time for me to fight, there'll be justice for none!
The audience claps for both characters as Whiskey hits the bell.
:Whiskey: 3, 2, 1... FIGHT!
Silver and Agantuk stare at each other. It's time for them to fight!
::
::
Silver manages to knock down Agantuk. He gasps, groaning before falling unconscious. Whiskey claps hard, grinning as she jumps down onto the stage, staring Silver down.
:Whiskey: Looks like ya've taken down the last one, Silver!
:Silver: Damn, what're you doing on the stage?
:Whiskey: Ya've got one more challenge ahead of ya before you take home the gold!
Whiskey laughs to herself, flashing a light on a door that was underneath her platform the whole time.
:Whiskey: In secret, I was hoping that Silver would win this tournament! I wasn't completely sure if he would, but I had a surprise planned just for him if he took down the last foe! It's my champion, of course.
:Silver: Eh?
:Whiskey: Alright Agantuk, you might wanna scram before you get your head squished.
Agantuk gets up, shaking Silver's hand while smiling a bloodied smile.
:Agantuk: Good fight, mate!
:Silver: Thanks, you too.
Silver bumps his fist with Agantuk's.
:Silver: No hard feelings man, aight?
:Agantuk: Heh, of course.
Agantuk leaves as Whiskey starts to reel up the surprise door. Somebody holding a Mind Weaver-like weapon begins to walk forward from inside, making Silver stand alert.
:Silver: Eh? You brought Mallory!?
:Whiskey: Not quite!
No, it wasn't Mallory. Think Silver Zin, but he looked explicitly feminine, had green shades, pink hair, and had a pretty light aesthetic overall. That's what you get when you see this woman walk forward.
:Silver: Talk about stealing my style.
:Whiskey: This is Platinum Zin! We... we don't know where she came from, probably a mirror world or somethin' freakin'stupid.
Platinum winks to the audience as she steps on the stage, facing Silver. Silver took a good look at her...
:Silver: Hands off my style, buddy, I copyrighted these clothes.
:Platinum: Hey there, cutie. You're Silver, huh? Not as masculine as I was expecting.
:Silver: Meh, who gives a shit what gender you all think me as by this point?
:Platinum: Anyway, I'm Platinum, and I'm gonna team up with Whiskey to crush your bones!
:Silver: How is this fair, Whiskey?
Silver looks up at her with pleading eyes as Platinum circles him, getting a good look at him.
:Whiskey: Oh, I've gotten someone to help you out.
Whiskey winks as Medea jumps down from the bleachers, holding her needles.
:Medea: I've had some fighting practice with Val a while back, so I'm gonna be your supporting partner Silver!
:Silver: Oh that's really cool, I've always been dying to share a fight with my girlfriend.
Silver grins and pulls her in close.
:Whiskey: You ready, you two? We're gonna crush you!
:Medea: Not if we crush you first!
Silver and Platinum look at each other.
:Platinum: You're the inferior version of me, Silver.
:Silver: I don't know you came from. Remind me?
:Platinum: Mania Metallurgy pulled me out from my world so I could fight you and kill you, but when I saw your face, I lost all interest because you looked like a twink. Twinks are too cute to kill!
:Silver: Is that so?
:Platinum: Yes.
:Silver: Huh.
Silver passes her a card.
:Platinum: What's this?
:Silver: Come over sometime, I like you.
Platinum crushes the card.
:Platinum: Nah, I think taking you down will be good enough for me.
:Silver: Suit yourself!
:Whiskey: 3, 2, 1, FIGHT!
Everyone gets prepared for the next battle.
::
::
Whiskey gets beaten down by Medea, who's drugged her up too badly for her to fight back. Platinum gets knocked out by Silver, who gets picked up and taken to an in-stadium ward. Whiskey coughs.
:Whiskey: Damn you two won, congratulations!
Whiskey hands them a golden trophy of herself dabbing.
:Whiskey: Be sure to come here next year!
Silver grins.
:Silver: Thank you, see ya later!
Silver takes the trophy and starts to head out with Medea, Pierce, and Zellen close behind.
:Silver: You know, Platinum was strange. Wonder why Mallory would resort to pulling another version of me from another world, which I thought was supposed to be impossible, she might just be as vulnerable as I am!
:Pierce: I dunno, but hey, hope your morale was brought up.
:Silver: It was!
:Pierce: Sweet! That's great to hear.
Pierce kisses his cheek, making Silver grin.
:Zellen: I'm hungry.
:Silver: Hey, speaking of hungry, where's the baby?
:Zellen: Oh, I gave her off to my "friend" Quinn Fooly, y'know, from the, uh, the dimension we met up at. Dunno what to call it.
:Silver: ...What?
:Pierce: What?
:Zellen: C'mon, I didn't wanna watch the baby and miss Silver kick some ass.
:Silver: You're a funny one Zellen, hopefully she wasn't delivered in a pizza box.
Zellen shrugs, laughing as she places an arm around Silver.
:Zellen: We'll worry about the damned baby laaaaater.
:Silver: Alright, well, gonna go home and finish that record then. Let's go!
The four dash off, ready to head back home. None of them were aware of what had happened to Sector 6, though...
:5:18 P.M. · SATURDAY October 18th, ZXE-223
:Hospital Wing, Satellite Lobby
Meanwhile, at the Hospital Wing, we see Noise, Yama, Abraham, and Chimera working together as regular doctors. They're doing a heart transplant on a patient together- it was messy, but hey, it was more normal than what they were doing before.
:Noise: It feels nice to finally be doing some normal work again.
:Yama: Yeah!
Yama smiles as she helps lower down a fresh heart to replace this patient's gross, blackened heart that's about to kill him.
:Yama: I mean, I guess it's normal as it's gonna get, but...
:Noise: At least we're not doing any strange world eradication schemes anymore.
Noise smiles at her girlfriend from under the mask, starting to work on removing the old heart. She didn't cringe at all as she cut away at the organs; after all, her whole body is made of organic transplants.
:Noise: I love you so much Yama.
:Yama: Careful there!
Noise laughs as she takes out the diseased heart, placing it in Abraham's plastic-covered hands.
:Abraham: Ewww.
:Noise: You don't usually respond to crap like that Abe, what's going on?
:Abraham: I gave myself a personality again.
Abraham smiles as he throws the heart into the trash, watching Noise begin placing a new heart in.
:Abraham: With Medea no longer being my boss and frustrating me, I could make myself enjoy life again. So, I got a surgery by Yama that gave me back my ability to feel. And I gotta say, it's really great.
Abraham does a thumbs up before helping Noise give the patient his new heart.
:Abraham: I feel very tingly inside, like my heart grew three sizes.
:Noise: I'm just glad we're all feeling much better.
:Chimera: Hey Mom, can I use the restroom?
:Noise: Which mom?
:Chimera: Uhh.
:Noise: Nah I'm just teasing you, you can go.
Chimera hurries off. Noise grins at Yama.
:Yama: I wasn't thinking we'd raise an adult experiment that can birth literal nuclear weapons, but eh, what're you gonna do? She's pretty sweet, I'm glad some sense was talked into Medea.
:Noise: I suppose as long as the person wasn't always total trash, and they bother trying to change, they're worthy of some kind of redemption...? I don't know, I've been working with a villain for a really long time so maybe I have no say, though I'm really proud of Medea anyway.
:Yama: Me too!
:Abraham: Can I be the uncle?
:Noise: Yes, you can be the cool step-uncle. Think we could use a serious man in the house.
:Abraham: Oh no, I was gonna show her how to ski and how to hike and...
:Noise: Oh I see. Hey, that was stuff you were originally into!
Abraham smiles as he starts to stitch the patient's skin back together.
:Abraham: I wanna return to my life the way it was before I ruined it, so I'm gonna start taking weekends off again to do what I like to do best. Exercising and staying fit! Probably going to practice Sikhism again, too.
:Yama: It's so glad to see you happy again, Abe.
:Noise: It's nice to see us all happy!
:Chimera: Help me, I'm dropping a nuke!
:Noise: Chimera honey, at least turn on the fan! Jeez!
:Chimera: Okay!
Noise laughs.
:Noise: I'm classy, I know, at least all the sewers lead into outer space.
:Yama: Wait, we're polluting space?
:Noise: Don't worry, every year there's a huge sweep that's done by the Space Cleaner that takes all the trash left in space onto some hidden planet made out of trash.
:Yama: Ohhh.
Noise smiles, placing an arm around her girlfriend as they've finished repairing this man's heart.
:Noise: I love you Yama.
:Yama: Love you too!
The three begin to push out their patient, placing a bottle of Advil between his legs.
:Chimera: H-Hello? I'm going to drop a n-nuke!
Noise has left the room.
:Chimera: IT'S GONNA BE BI- ohh, okay. That wasn't so bad. I recommend staying out of here for a while, there's like Level 8 contamination in here. I'll clean it up, I promise!
:Patient #38: Shut UP about your nukes, I'm gonna freakin' vomit!
:9:50 A.M. · SUNDAY October 19th, ZXE-223
:Black Haze Studios, Kilmister Labs, Sector 1
The next day, Vizole and his fellow bandmates of Black Haze (including Silver) are sitting back in chairs, waiting for the news. They had spent the week writing the record "Don't Follow", which was released under the alternate name WASTE because it was very different from the band's first record.
:Vizole: Gotta admit, I'm pretty impressed with what we've done, it's helping undo all my stress.
Vizole lights a cigarette as he sits back, placing his arm around Silver.
:Vizole: We've spent the past day mixing that record, so I'm glad the result left you floored!
:Silver: I'm really happy that record's finally done, I spent seventeen straight hours a day on it as I was very affixed with finishing it, and spent the remaining three hours every day with my partners.
Silver looks away.
:Silver: They didn't like how affixed I was with the work I was doing, they thought I might've been ignoring them a wee bit much, so I do feel bad for that. But it's all good now, I got yesterday to spend with them.
:Vizole: I've been neglecting eating while working on those songs, but now that I'm done, my priorities are back where they belong! [smiles] I'm pretty pleased.
:Devina: Our albums are hitting the shelves now!
:Silver: Oh crap, are they?
:Devina: Yep! We can finally take a break from songwriting for a while and just focus on other priorities.
Devina takes a glance at Silver.
:Devina: What're you gonna do, Silvs?
:Silver: I was thinking that maybe next time I see Mallory, I'll give her a piece of my mind and get her off the satellite so I can start living a normal life with y'all. I'm hoping I can anyway, if I don't do something to stop her soon, she might continue doing more damage and we might end up in an even deeper rabbit hole.
:Black Eyes: I'm not too worried about Mallory honestly. Don't you all ever consider shooting her with a gun? Why didn't we stop Gonzalo that way, or Medea I guess? Why do you all suck at killing the right people?
:Devina: Jeez, when'd you get so pissed off at other people being inefficient?
:Black Eyes: If I had it my way, I would've had all of them shot a long time ago!
:Silver: Alright ladies, let's calm down.
Pierce was napping on his boyfriend's other side, kind of purring as he burrowed up against his boyfriend.
:Silver: I mean, fair point, but guns are generally banned on the satellite and for good reason, aren't they?
:Devina: If everyone had guns, the bullets would bounce around the walls and possibly deal damage to the wrong spots... yeah, no. There's no way that kind of thing should be legalized by the authorities.
:Silver: Yeah, that's what I was thinking.
Black Eyes grumbles.
:Black Eyes: Just give me a gun. I can use guns correctly.
:Silver: I'm gonna go take my sleeping boyfriend with me and pick up a copy of the album, see you guys later, alright?
:Devina: Alright! Let us know if you think it was worth the work.
:Silver: I'm sure it'll be, heh.
:Vizole: Goodbye, my darling boy! Come back sometime soon and we'll again play with these toys.
:Black Eyes: If you give me a gun, Silver, I can make this new beatbox beat for the next album.
:Silver: I'll pass!
Silver jumps up, picking up his boyfriend and making it out of there.
:Black Eyes: Shoot.
:Devina: You guys wanna see what's going on with the elections?
:Vizole: Yeah, we should probably check in.
Devina nods, clicking on the television. They see a split-screen of Vilicus, Valerie, Lily, and Azrail each wearing expensive business suits. Valerie looks once more determined, Lily looks deep in pain, Azrail looks a bit puzzled and nervous, and Vilicus looks awkward but pulls on a smile.
:Black Eyes: Ah yes, my favorite parties: the Clown Party, the Lesbian Party, the Bitch Party, and the Incel Party.
:Devina: It's at least considerably more entertaining than watching documentaries of the dumbass Democrats and the rabid Republicans on Earth fighting.
:Black Eyes: Hey, at least the Republicans were embarrassingly horrible. The Democrats were just zoinkin' tiring man, they were my least favorite part of the American Drama documentary series that aired some months back.
Black Eyes folds his arms.
:Black Eyes: Kinda funny how the Democrats kinda have the right idea in ways, but if they aren't the cringiest motherzoinkers I've ever seen, I dunno who are. Is cringiest even a word? I'm inventing it right now.
:Devina: Remember when you used to scare the crap out of me and horrify me, and now you're acting like my grandpa?
:Black Eyes: Good times.
Black Eyes sips a cup of black tea, eating the cup just to look cool.
:Black Eyes: Anyway, who are these zoinkers? Besides Valerie, everyone knows who she is.
:Devina: Top-left is Vilicus, everyone's known about him for a while now, he's been in jail once but people are seeming to side with him as a potential candidate because he's got this supposedly great speech prepared.
:Black Eyes: Why does he look kinda feminine?
:Devina: Is that a problem?
:Black Eyes: I just think it was worth pointing out really.
:Vizole: Vilicus is kinda handsome though, not gonna lie? Like, his belly's so hot that I'd probably fry an egg on it, whew!
:Devina: ...You actually want to fry eggs right on his belly?
:Vizole: Precisely!
:Black Eyes: Do I even know you people? What the hell is going on here?
:Zodiez [voice]: Our first speech is coming from Lily Horn!
The live audience claps for Lily as she steps up to the stage, taking the mic. She looks really torn out, wincing as she tries to sit down in her chair. We see a brief shot of Scotch trying to stifle his laughter as he packs some bags and prepare a vase of flowers. What's he up to...? The game camera returns to Devina and her bandmates watching TV.
:Lily [voice]: My name is Lily Horn, I used to be a bank accountant and I used to be some rotten person's secretary, but now I think it's time I tried to run for mayor! If you were to bring me to power, I'd do everything in my power to fix the damage that's been done! I'll introduce my worker hornets to the horizons so that they can help rebuild our society, I'll make this place my hive, and soon there'll be a new order!
Lily straightens out her tie, trying to ignore the pain that came from having her stinger chopped off.
:Lily [voice]: The whole metropolis will become covered in honey goo, but it'll be used to piece this lovely city back together! Just with a new spring touch, you know? Sometimes you need a change in scenery! Once everything's over and done with, I'll make everyone into hornets, and we'll have communism! I think?
:Black Eyes: I don't know about this one, chief.
:Devina: Would you say that this first candidate kinda... stings?
:Black Eyes: She's... unBEElievably bad.
Black Eyes pulls out his phone, writing a rant on Bitter dot com.
:Black Eyes: As luck would hive it, Bitter has a word limit, that's its most buzzare feature.
:Devina: Okay, enough awful puns!
:Lily [voice]: If you know what's better for you, vote for me today! I'll see you Tuesday, hopefully you people know who'll be best for you. I'm watching you, punks!
Lily winces as she gets up.
:Lily [voice]: Join me under my communism wing!
There wasn't much applause for Lily, but there was enough. It was Azrail's turn.
:Black Eyes: He looks like he's gonna have a stroke.
:Vizole: He doesn't look like much but he was our album's producer, let's give him a fair shot!
:Black Eyes: Phh.
:Azrail [voice]: Um, hi.
Black Eyes waits. VERY PATIENTLY.
:Black Eyes: C'mon kid, hurry up, I don't have all morning.
:Azrail [voice]: Citizens of New Naxaz City, citizens of Satellite 15! My name is Azrail Neos, I'm a genius and I'm probably adequate for the job. I believe in a positive future for the satellite.
:Black Eyes: This is promising.
Azrail takes a deep breath.
:Azrail [voice]: The first thing I'm gonna do? Uhh.
:Devina: C'mon...
:Azrail [voice]: When I become mayor of New Naxaz City and therefore gain that vital position in power, I'm going to apply all taxes towards fixing up all this metropolis' infrastructure and improving quality of life around the satellite! I will focus efforts on rebuilding the satellite and possibly applying a new Sector 6!
:Black Eyes: Isn't this the incel kid?
:Devina: Nah, the incel kid already died.
:Black Eyes: Oh yeah, that Gonzalo guy. Thank god.
:Azrail [voice]: Besides that, I wanna take down all the baddies populating this satellite, take them in my mouth, them spit them right out! We're gonna make our forces actually way better at taking these pests down!
:Black Eyes: Promising.
:Azrail [voice]: Everyone has a right to defend themselves, so I've developed bullets that'll stick to walls upon hitting them so they don't bounce around all over! If you connect the dots, you know I'm now in complete support of the right for everyone to own guns!
:Black Eyes: TAKE MY MONEY, MY KING!
Black Eyes throws his ValCoins haphazardly at the television.
:Black Eyes: GUNS!!!
:Devina: Huh, wasn't expecting him to be pro-guns.
:Black Eyes: Gonna prematurely vote tonight just to get my hands on some AK-94s again! Oh my god, I can own Soviet guns again! Eeeeeeee!
Black Eyes' head about pops off.
:Devina: Pull yourself together, Black Eyes.
Black Eyes grabs his mechanical head, throwing it back onto his shoulders and screwing it back in.
:Vizole: I have a bad feeling about what'll happen if Black Eyes gets a gun... of us alive, he'll probably remain the only one!
:Black Eyes: Guns! Guns...
:Azrail [voice]: Thank you all!
Azrail heads off his stage. Valerie takes the mic next.
:Valerie [voice]: Hey, how's everyone tonight?
:Zodiez [voice]: I'm fine, thank you for asking!
:Valerie [voice]: Hope everyone's having a fantastic night! Let's get down to business.
Black Eyes yawns as he watches her organize her papers.
:Black Eyes: That thot ain't getting my vote, there's no way she's gonna top the Incel Party candidate.
:Valerie [voice]: First of all, I'm completely against enabling gun rights! We don't know who we'd trust with the guns, even if we required people to have gun licenses to use them.
:Black Eyes: I'm canceling this moron immediately on Bitter.
:Valerie [voice]: I'm going to restore the satellite to what it was before, after redirecting all taxes a bit towards repairing the satellite and promising quality of life changes. We're gonna live the same way we did before, but I'm gonna make a more vigorous effort to take out threats and keep all parts of the satellite running functionally! There'll be less security looking over you all, so you can live freer lives, but in exchange we'll be trying to do our jobs better. That's my promise!
:Black Eyes: I dunno, this ain't much different than what the incel was promising. Personally though, she's better than the Bitch Party of Lily Horn and her Stupid Little Hornet Men. Still goin' Azrail.
:Devina: I'll probably vote Valeri-
:Black Eyes: Let me have my gun dammit!
:Valerie [voice]: That's all, but I'll be sure to make a huge celebration party happen if I win! Thanks, and good night!
:Vizole: That was disappointingly short.
:Devina: Meh, at least she stuck right to the point.
Vilicus takes the stage.
:Vilicus [voice]: H-Hey! Hello.
:Black Eyes: Oh no, does he have stage fright? Must be a Democrat.
:Vizole: I thought we agreed he was a Clown Party candidate?
:Black Eyes: Oh yea, I'm gonna clown on him on Bitter if he keeps looking scared.
:Vilicus [voice]: Heh, uhh, let's see!
Vilicus pulls up his papers.
:Vilicus [voice]: U-Uhh, my name is Vilicus, or the Marmalade M-Masquerade. Uhh, I want this satellite to be the best, the best there ever was. To fix this satellite is my real test, to get it back in order is my cause.
Black Eyes looks amusingly unentertained.
:Devina: ...Y'know, he's acting pretty terrible. Rose and Azul told me about what he was up to, but none of that's being translated into his speech tonight. Oh jeez, look at him.
Vilicus is flailing his arms to something that's not visible off the screen, like he were trying to get cues from someone off-screen.
:Vilicus [voice]: Ah yeah, that's right. I'm gonna restore this satellite to what it was before, e-enable gun rights I guess, and bring communism because that's j-just right for us.
:Black Eyes: Eck. Gun rights are a dream, but he's a communist? Kick him off the stage.
:Vilicus [voice]: Look, I'm having trouble communicating my messages, but I absolutely promise I'll get everything back into gear and I'll make this satellite an equal and fair place.
Vilicus quickly hops off the stage.
:Vilicus [voice]: Thankyouandgoodbye!
:Black Eyes: Did you guys waste time trying to figure out what he was trying to amount to?
:Devina: I think he might've chickened out, maybe the other candidates intimidated him too much? He was copying their notes pretty much and I've heard that he got scared when Rose and Azul confronted him.
:Black Eyes: Huh. I dunno what the fudge happened to him.
With a screen switch, we see Vilicus fleeing off the stage, hiding behind the Valco Vortex where the event was being staged at. Vilicus shakes as he looks at the three spirits.
:The Manipulator: We gave you our advice, our words, and our sympathies, and what do you give us in turn? A notoriously poor performance. We were hoping you'd do well, so we could be helpful in the grand scheme of things.
The spirit pokes him in the chest.
:The Manipulator: The satellite is doomed if you don't win.
:Vilicus: I'm not very c-competitive, all apologies!
:The Manipulator: We were counting on you, Vilicus. People know how to recognize our faces on your body, we cannot stress enough that we trusted you to work independently to keep yourself together.
Vilicus whimpers as the Manipulator slides a cold finger up his neck.
:The Manipulator: If you remember, the plan was that once you became mayor, you'd use the zodiac stones to give peace and justice for all, you'd get rid of all those with evil hearts and destroy all those that oppose you. I could give you the other eleven, if I trusted you to win, but if you fail, I might have to take yours and place it in a less fortunate place.
Vilicus winces.
:The Manipulator: That's right, I can give all the stones to Mallory. She will then wipe you clearly from existence, and she'll use her power to destroy the rest of the satellite. What do you think, Vilicus?
:Vilicus: I-I can try again!
:The Manipulator: A little too late now! Perhaps tonight, you can redeem yourself and announce on social media what you wish to do for this place, but votes end by midnight! You must hurry now.
Vilicus feels the Manipulator stick its cold, disgusting fingers in his mouth to restrain his jaw. They really did not taste great.
:The Manipulator: Or your life will be over very soon.
The Manipulator sends him off. The spirit looks back at the Echeno and Devil's Mask.
:The Manipulator: If we hand Mallory the remaining stones, we must remember to take her out before she does anything more with the stones but after she destroys the rest of this satellite.
:The Devil's Mask: Oooooh! Party!
:The Manipulator: Party indeed.
:7:19 P.M. · SUNDAY October 19th, ZXE-223
:Satellite 15 Reactor Silo
Hector goes to investigate the Reactor Silo, wearing a very impressive and thick heat protective suit that lets him withstand the impressive temperatures of this secret place. He looks around the enormous cords that sway back and forth on the floor, leading to different sectors. The one for Sector 6 was severely damaged, but severed from the core to prevent it from corrupting the rest of the satellite.
:Hector: Aye, wonder what happened 'ere?
Hector follows this damaged wire over to a work station. For perspective on how huge the Reactor Silo room is, it's a three mile walk to the core from one side of the room. The sector work stations have to be far away enough to withstand any level of heat in the room, and are shielded by thick glass windows.
:Hector: Ohh.
The work station for Sector 6 had blown up HARD. It looked completely busted, possibly as a result of an energy blowout. Hector took a close enough look, he didn't seem to find any signs of human interaction.
:Hector: Must've been an actual accident then, aye. [scratches his head] Motherzoinker, we get so much strange crap to deal with by the night every frickin' night. Whoever damaged the core better walk the plank!
Hector grabs ahold of a ceiling lift, using it to lift himself at a high speed (120MPH, slowing down near stations to check on each one. None of them were damaged besides Sector 6's. You did need to have keys to open up these stations, anyway, but Sector 6's place was just completely wrecked.
:Hector: Aye, everything here's looking fine 'cept 6's space. Yikes!
:Cody: What are you doing here, Hector?
Hector turns himself around, seeing Cody hanging out on a stool. He wasn't dressed in his messiah clothes, he wore a more casual adult male outfit today. Cody wasn't holding that bomb, luckily enough.
:Cody: I thought you were supposed to fight off outside combat?
:Hector: Aye, that's not a problem at the moment. Do you know happened to the core, lad?
:Cody: I'll just be out with the truth, I took a stab at it a while back and the core malfunctioned. I might've damaged the wires leading up to Sector 6, maybe, I'm honestly not sure what happened there.
:Hector: Ye little fucker! Why'd ya do that?
:Cody: Doesn't really matter, you know it's enough of a reason to imprison me.
Cody leaps away, kicking the stool to knock Hector back.
:Cody: Listen, I didn't want to damage the core, but I work for someone that wants to destroy it. We're waiting for the right time. I've been spending time down here, observing the core so I could prevent any more unnecessary damage until it's time to bring her plans out.
:Hector: Gonna have to stop you right here, then!
:Cody: Try me.
Hector actually does try, managing to run ahead of him and stop him in his tracks.
:Hector: Chasing people around gets kinda tiring, you know?
:Cody: Hector, even if you did capture me, it wouldn't really matter.
:Hector: Ay? Why wouldn't it, you criminal?
Cody's frown curls into a grin. A sad grin, one that holds no real power.
:Cody: Against my will, and more for my leader's, I've thrown an explosive into the core. It'll explode on November 4th, and it's embedded so deeply that there's no way you can get it out now.
Hector takes a step back.
:Cody: You have until November 4th to... to do something. But if you tell everyone to evacuate the satellite so soon, it will interfere with her plans, so I'd rather you not do anything. I'll give you a heads up when it's alright.
:Hector: W-Why the fuck are ye going to blow this place up?
:Cody: This wasn't my plan, it was some friend of mine's.
Cody prepares to walk past him, but Hector easily picks him up and stuffs him underneath his armpit.
:Hector: Yer fucked, kid! I'm gonna take ya to jail!
Cody sighs.
:Cody: That's a proper punishment, thank you.
:Hector: Eh?
:Cody: Let me make it clear that I didn't want to do any of this. Take me to jail anyway, but we're all in grave danger even if you do. And if I told you anything, we'd be in even deeper trouble. Take me away.
:Hector: Aight.
Hector takes a lift to the core's exit.
:Hector: Let's go.
::
::
::
:9:03 P.M. · SUNDAY October 19th, ZXE-223
:Ocean Manor, Sector 2
Scotch slowly walks his way up to the Ocean Manor. He was holding a bouquet of roses and dandelions, dressed up in a tuxedo. He had just shaved off his facial hair and cleaned up his face generally. He takes a deep sigh as he knocks on the door, his knuckles rasping gently against the wood.
:Scotch: Lord Kýrios, help me.
The door opens up slowly, with Oshelia parting open the wood.
:Oshelia: Scotch? What're you doing here?
Scotch looks to his side, avoiding direct eye contact.
:Scotch: I've taken a week away from military work to think about the kind of person I am and think about all the things I've done. [closes his eyes] And somewhere along the way, I realized that, I'm not all that great, to be honest.
Oshelia parts open the door a little more. She can see the artificial moonlight from above beaming off his tuxedo.
:Scotch: For a few weeks, I was dating this woman called Lily Horn. She probably meant well for me in the beginning, but she became too aggressive and controlling, and it made me think about how I used to act.
:Oshelia: Wasn't she one of the mayor candidates?
:Scotch: Yeah, I'm the rotten person she was referring to, no shocker there.
Both of them share a healthy laugh.
:Oshelia: Continue on, sorry.
:Scotch: No, no, it's fine. When she got me started on the road to sobriety, I learned what kind of damage I was doing to not just myself, but also my family and friends. Especially you and Minute, who faced some of the worst of it.
Scotch sighs, looking down.
:Scotch: It's not a strong apology, but I'm sorry that I hurt you as hard as I have. I was very stubborn, demanding, and very co-dependent on you, and that very behavior was borderline parasitic and toxic. It was even worse when I wasted myself.
Scotch looks around himself, as if expecting someone there.
:Scotch: When Lily treated me the way she did, it made me appreciate how gentle and sweet you had been to me, and how patient you were with me. Made me realize what kind of monster I was. And... when she made fun of you and Minute for being "weak", in her own words, I felt so fucking angry because you two weren't weak and I knew it.
Scotch extends his hand out, letting the bouquet touch her hands.
:Scotch: I picked these flowers just for you. I remembered your favorites.
:Oshelia: Scotch...
Oshelia smiles a little as she takes the bouquet of flowers away from him, holding them close to her chest.
:Oshelia: I accept your apology!
:Scotch: That's a weight off my chest, happy to hear!
Oshelia pulls him into a tight hug. Scotch looks a little surprised, but returns it, even picking up Oshelia so she could meet his head height. Oshelia takes a deep breath of relief herself.
:Oshelia: I'm not sure if I want to just jump back into a relationship right away or anything, if that's alright with you. I still need to think about it, but I am more than happy to accept you back in my life.
:Scotch: Oh, take your time, I'm in no rush really, I was thinking that someday I should retire from my job and just do something simpler with my life. Maybe I'd be happier if I got to spend more time with family and friends for a change, I've been at this job for eleven years.
:Oshelia: Oh yeah, you've been kinda working as a general since you were 15, huh?
:Scotch: Yeah, because my parents burnt together in this massive fire, I had to take my dad's responsibilities. It was supposed to be temporary, but I became too good too soon and I've been stuck with it ever sense.
:Oshelia: I remember when we met a decade ago, I was drowning and getting pulled down by a squid, and you skinny dipped to come save me. [smiles] It's such an awkward memory, but it's fun to reimagine things sometimes.
:Scotch: I remember that! I was using a portable shower and I heard someone screaming to my right, I looked outside and lo behold! I saw the panic in your face as you were being dragged down.
Scotch smiles.
:Scotch: Ah, to be young again.
:Oshelia: You're 26.
:Scotch: I know, I know.
Scotch laughs as he hugs Oshelia. Oshelia returns it again, smiling.
:Oshelia: So, you can make use of one of the guest bedrooms I have here while I go make dinner, alright? Do you still like cheddar chow, Scotch? Does that sound good?
:Scotch: That would be lovely, thank you.
:Oshelia: Did you just thank me!?
:Scotch: Yeah, I might've read a book on how to be more polite a few days ago. That's what I've been doing for the past week.
:Oshelia: You goofball! Okay, I'm gonna go make dinner, I'll be back soon!
Oshelia skedaddles, going to work on dinner. Scotch smiles as he takes a seat on a couch. He pulls a photo out of his pocket, it was a picture of himself, with Oshelia, Brook, Smartie, Snickers, Keil, Nicholas, Mega, and Penny.
:Scotch: I'll never forget that summer back when I was 18.
Scotch smiles as he sees himself and Oshelia posing for the camera, Brook and Smartie playing together, Snickers getting carried by Keil, Nicholas and Mega talking things out, and Penny working on blueprints.
:Scotch: I'm lucky to still have as much as I have. Thank you Oshelia for having made my life as wonderful as you have, I never would've met so many great people if we didn't meet up in the first place.
A teardrop falls on the photo.
:Scotch: Wouldn't come as far without you.
:6:12 P.M. · MONDAY October 20th, ZXE-223
:Dairy King, Sector 3
The name of this chapter is "Take Her Out". We haven't forgotten what we were planning to do, no. Silver heads inside the doors of a Dairy King outlet with Medea, holding her hand and smiling up at her..
:Silver: Here we are sweetheart!
:Medea: Oooh.
:Silver: C'mon, let's take a seat!
Silver smiles as she holds Medea's hand, walking her over to a table. Red-tiled floor, white wooden walls, an obnoxious-looking ice cream mascot on each table, he felt at home. He squeezes her shoulder, smiling at her as a waitress walks over to take their orders, giving them both small menus. To their surprise, it was Spade Amour, who spread out menus across the table.
:Silver: Spade!?
:Spade: Hey Silver.
:Silver: You're a waitress here?
:Spade: Yeah, I used to be a therapist as you know, but it became too stressful on me trying to deal with other people's problems. I lost my grandmother some weeks back, who was giving me the motivation I needed to keep going. I think the amount of creeps I had to deal with got to me too hard.
Spade smiles, rubbing Silver's hair.
:Spade: Don't worry though, you're not a weight on my shoulders, so you can chat me up any time you're down.
:Silver: You're sweet, thank you.
:Spade: Yeah, yeah, no problem. Anyway, what can I get you two lovebirds today?
:Medea: I think I'll take a vanilla ice cream scoop, maybe spread some Oreos over it if you can please?
:Silver: I'll take a banana split, thanks.
Spade nods, walking off to the kitchen. We get a small shot inside the kitchen, where a woman literally made out of Oreos squirms as the chefs cut off parts of her body to grind up and cut up and use for food.
:Medea: Silvie, thank you so much for taking me out, not just for that, but for changing my life and helping me become a better person. There is just some eerie charm to you that makes me willing to do anything to better myself as long as I have you with me.
:Silver: No problem! Of course I'd be willing to do something like this for you, honey.
Silver grins cheekily at her. We can see that he's still not been cleaned up; some of his teeth were a bit darker than they were last time we saw this smile.
:Silver: Because I love you!
Medea grins wide at him. Then she stares at his smile, and her own fades.
:Medea: I've been meaning to ask you something, but because you've been so busy last week, I've never really gotten the chance to. What's happened to you, Silver? You look wildly different than you did before.
:Silver: Ah, I never said anything, right...
Silver closes his eyes, sighing.
:Silver: You weren't there for it, but I visited Agantuk a few weeks back. He was the same guy I bested in the finals at the Champion's Ring, by the way, I learned that I had a grimy, disgusting, gross past.
:Medea: What do ya mean?
:Silver: In someone else's words, I hurt everyone I touched.
Silver cowers a little bit in his seat. Those words stuck with him, and they still brought shivers up his spine every time he remembered them. They were hard to draw out of his head.
:Silver: I wasn't the best person to Mallory, let's say, and she's become a way worse person because of me. I have conflicting feelings about it all, honestly, I dunno whether to feel like I should move on or... bleh.
Silver shrugs.
:Silver: It's in the past, so I'm trying not to think too hard about it.
:Medea: I see, I won't judge you, I don't think I'm in much of a position to anyway.
Medea looks to her side before returning her gaze on Silver.
:Medea: Continue.
:Silver: When I learned how much damage I've done to my family, I started to just, kinda stop caring about everything for a bit? Started drinking hard again, I've gone back to all my old shenanigans, haven't gone a day without my buddy pal heroin.
:Medea: We worked so hard to make you stay away from that crap... though I suppose it couldn't be helped.
:Silver: I didn't have a really reliable way to cope with the pain that was building up inside of my system. I was scratching the paint off the walls, aggressively itching my wounds to kill the time.
Medea nods.
:Medea: Don't worry about making changes right now. We'll work on changing you for the better again, only because I wanna see a smile that isn't full of cavities or rotten teeth. I miss your flashy white grin.
:Silver: I just missed having you generally, missing one of my partners for so long made me feel horrible.
:Medea: I'm sorry I was gone for so long.
Medea sighs.
:Medea: I shouldn't have let Gonzalo manipulate me into his arms, I just felt massive guilt every waking day I was there.
:Silver: It's alright, I've forgiven you.
Silver smiles up at her.
:Silver: I want this to be a happy date, alright? We've gone through a lot of pain, and as far as I'm concerned, it's all behind us for the moment. Mallory may still be around, but...
Silver places his fingers on her chin. It was something she did to him a lot when she wanted his attention, he was gonna do the same back to her. Not to be an asshole, just for her attention.
:Silver: This is a day where we're supposed to be happy, okay?
:Medea: Okay, Silvie. [grins] God, you're the best, mmm...
:Silver: I'm glad I have someone as absolutely fudgin' nuts as you are in my life. You might be a strange nutcase, but that's a quality about you that I enjoy a lot. [grins] I've always liked digging the good out from the bad.
:Medea: You saying I'm bad, hon?
:Silver: In a good way!
Medea laughs as she pulls her boyfriend by the shoulders, kissing his lips.
:Spade: Aheeem.
Both of these ridiculous lovebirds squeak as they lean back in their seats. Spade laughs as she sets down their requested dishes.
:Spade: There you two go. Be sure to leave your ValCoins on the counter when you're done.
Spade smiles and leaves. Silver and Medea share an embarrassed giggle together as they start to dig into their ice cream.
:Silver: You're beautiful, Medea. The fact you're still wearing your nurse outfit everywhere you go is just too cute to not mention, though. Maybe it's cuz you haven't completely given up your nurse occupation, heh.
:Medea: Somebody's gotta take care of my Silvie's when he's got boo-boos!
:Silver: Medea, you're embarrassing meee.
Silver laughs as he squeezes her fingers, starting to dig into his ice cream. Silver goes quiet for a bit as he starts to shove scoops of ice cream into his mouth. As an incubus, he had a hot mouth, so the ice cream did wonders to cool it down. Any ice cream that went above his lips he would almost immediately catch with his snake tongue, which was deep black and eerily long.
:Medea: Sure, you're flawed and kinda prone to regressing, but you're so gracious and kind with everyone around you. That's a quality about you that I admire, and it's something I've never been able to replicate.
Medea smiles sweetly as she scoops some vanilla ice cream into her mouth.
:Medea: Even though for the longest time I was Ms. Replicate.
:Silver: I've never had much trouble with you really.
Silver shrugs.
:Silver: Maybe I'm just very tolerant of people. I remember that once I headed down to the same Earth that I met Zellen on, and I ended up meeting this Vindozz person, those were an excellent three days and that was cuz I thought she was awesome as hell.
:Medea: You've met a lot of strange people, but you've definitely gained a lot of awesome friends because of that!
Medea grins as she finishes up her ice cream, picking up her bowl and licking it clean. She watches Silver messily eat his banana split. He was absolutely decimating it.
:Medea: You're amazing, Silvie.
:Silver: Youuuff too!
Medea smiles as she places down her bowl, setting down a bunch of ValCoins on the table.
:Medea: Thank you for taking me out.
Medea gets up, watching Silver stretch himself out as the second banana slips down his throat.
:Medea: I appreciate it deeply from my cold heart.
:Silver: Of course.
Medea picks up Silver, walking out the door with him. A good date well spent.
:10:40 P.M. · MONDAY October 20th, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep, ???
Back at the Purple Keep, Mallory was hanging out alone. With Cody in jail, but with the news unable to be told, Mallory had no idea where he was. She sighed, looking at the Manipulator.
:Mallory: Where's Cody?
:The Manipulator: He hasn't returned yet? Curious.
The spirit floats over to her, setting itself down on Mallory's lap. It was clear at this point that this creature, though having a meaningful role in the Zaxiverse, was merely using Mallory in a parasitic way.
:The Manipulator: I'm not sure where he is, but I am unconcerned. If he had dealt with putting the bomb inside the Reactor Silo, then as far as I'm aware, he is no longer a necessity.
It tilts its head slightly as it looks up at Mallory.
:The Manipulator: Though, I shall fetch him as soon as I learn his whereabouts. I must ask now, how are you sweetheart?
The voice of this spirit is so bitterly cold, it makes the word sweetheart sound foreign and unnatural. It definitely didn't come off as genuine, because that's not a mood the Manipulator can pull off.
:The Manipulator: Don't be shy, I'm here for you all night.
Its cold breath brushed against Mallory's face. Everybody she's mistreated or given little respect to has left her or lost all faith in her, so her only friend now is this strange spirit being that in actuality wishes to kill her but is unwilling to tell her the truth. It breathes silently, waiting for her answer. It knows that Mallory has nothing to lie about at this point.
:Mallory: I feel empty in a way, I feel really alone and I've got nobody left.
Mallory sniffs as the Manipulator wraps its hands around her. They were cold hands- Medea might be cold-blooded, but the Manipulator was as cold as the inside of your freezer.
:Mallory: I've messed up so horribly, but I refuse to admit that to anyone else, you're the only thing that likes me.
It nods as it brings a tray of wine down onto Mallory's lap. It opens up the first bottle, taking deep breaths as it stares at Mallory. It hands it over to her.
:The Manipulator: Drink. Your pain will be eased away.
Mallory shakily begins to drink down the wine. She was drinking it in big gulps, too used to this evil to take it slowly anymore. Mallory quickly finishes it as it watches her with cold, cold eyes.
:Mallory: These don't make me feel much better, I remember when life was so much simpler for me. My brother was so supportive and brave, my hobbies were at their most enjoyable, and I really thought that peace could be brought across the universe like the naive little child that I was.
:The Manipulator: Drink the next bottle.
Mallory sighs as it opens up the next one. Mallory takes it down like she were sucking on a baby's milk bottle, her mind having been brought down to that point. She looked stable sometimes, but at home, she just felt horrible, she abstained from alcohol too much when she was trapped in New Naxaz City.
:Mallory: O-Okay...
:The Manipulator: Do you feel any clearer, Mallory?
:Mallory: Just, that I can't help but remember when things were better, when I didn't have to spend every f-FUCKING moment of my life trying to kill somebody I once admired and loved, before I started giving them bad ideas.
The Manipulator looks unfazed.
:The Manipulator: Must I wonder, did he know that you were giving him bad ideas? Does he remember?
:Mallory: No, I don't want him to, I-I don't want somebody else angry at me right now.
:The Manipulator: Hmmm, interesting.
:Mallory: S-Stop talking about it.
:The Manipulator: You were the one that brought it up. Drink.
Mallory drinks down her next bottle of wine. She felt really woozy and light, but even though her vision was starting to not work, the Manipulator was clear in sight.
:The Manipulator: More?
:Mallory: I'm, g-good, too much.
The Manipulator breathes.
:Mallory: Another would probably... hurt.
The Manipulator places the other bottles out of reach.
:The Manipulator: I see. Mallory, do you feel better?
:Mallory: No, I feel sick, I feel cold and l-lonely and I just w-want to see my m-mom again.
:The Manipulator: Eventually.
:Mallory: P-Promise?
:The Manipulator: Promise.
The Manipulator sinks its cold, icky, slimy translucent tongue into her neck. The air has become so cold around her, she can hardly feel any part of herself, all her movements felt so slogged. It chokes her of words with its tongue, seizing advantage of her inability to tell what real love is anymore.
:Mallory: Go away... s-stop! L-Leave me a-alone.
Mallory attempts to jerk her head to the side, which works and throws the Manipulator off, but she couldn't even tell for a second.
:The Manipulator: I thought you wanted love.
:Mallory: Not like this, not like this, I want Cody back, find Cody.
:The Manipulator: Do I need to stop buying you drinks?
:Mallory: N-NO! Don't... don't stop buying me drinks, stop torturing me like this, it hurts to f-feel, I'll do what you want, I'll do anything you ask, anything you desire, just don't [hic] t-take away the one thing that helps...
The Manipulator shakes its head, before continuing what it was doing before. Mallory makes no work to fight back. As far as she was concerned, this spirit was the only thing she had left to keep her going- nobody else wanted to touch her.
:Beck [past]: I remember when you were trying to treat us like family, where you were giving us the respect we deserved and we were more than happy to give you that respect back. But you've fallen apart so hard, I don't know if I can trust you anymore.
:Mania [past]: I swear to Kýrios, if this satellite gets destroyed by your bare hands and I'm somehow alive, I'm going to strangle you to death next chance I get! I-I don't want this place to go!
:Kispel [past]: My faith in you was misplaced.
:Cody [past]: I only do what you want now because it's obligatory for the safety of my skin.
:Quade [past]: I'm shaking... I didn't think someone could be so cruel.
:Methademic [past]: Can you go fug off, please?
:Ferris [past]: The Violet Reaper killed herself, you were really hard on her menal state. She was, like, I don't know... 14? She couldn't bear to deal with the aggressive belting of your commands anymore, nor the physical abuse you put down on her.
Then Mallory's mind blanks out. The cold wrestling of the Manipulator's tongue against her neck could no longer be felt.
:Silver [past]: Mallory, I'll always love you, no matter what. You know that I'll never change my mind, even if you were to become the worst of the worst or if I became that instead. I'm not just saying that because I'm your sibling and it's obligatory, I just... I feel something incredible for you deep in this heavy heart of mine.
:Mallory: S-Silver?
:Silver [past]: I'm sure you'll go on to do great things. I'll always cheer you on.
Mallory feels her eyes tear up as she reaches her hand out to him in her blurred vision. Silver wasn't there. It was just a memory that played randomly to her while hell breaks loose inside of her mind. Besides him, everything else was taking her out of her misery, preying on whatever remained to be enjoyed. Her memories picked at her brain, the Manipulator picked at her heart, and the cold air picked at her skin. Eventually, the Manipulator stops, lifting itself off of her.
:The Manipulator: Goodbye for now, Mallory.
Mallory didn't respond. She aches horribly, her body twitching feverishly. The Manipulator left her alone, switching off the lights. Mallory hit the mattress beside her drunkenly- there was so much swarming hatred inside of her. Just like what Silver had to go through, just taken to a whole new extreme.
====Chapter Twenty-Two: Angry Chair====
:9:30 A.M. · TUESDAY October 21st, ZXE-223
:Valco Vortex, New Naxaz City
Before we reach a timeskip for this chapter, it's key that we know what happened at the elections. When the date of October 21st rolled around, the results came in, and Zodiez was looking at them.
:Zodiez: With 279,318 votes, the winner is...
Valerie looks lightly hopeful, standing near Zodiez with the other candidates. Azrail looks slightly nervous, Lily was biting her nails, and Vilicus looks really shaken.
:Zodiez: AZRAIL NEOS!
Azrail looks like he's going to have a stroke. He was easily taken aback by those results. Valerie smiles at him proudly while Lily looks down and Vilicus starts to fidget uncomfortably.
:Azrail: You sure you've read that right?
:Zodiez: Yes! Congratulations, Azrail Neos, the Valco Vortex' mayor office is yours for the taking. It might be a lot to process right now, but don't get too overwhelmed. If you have any questions, you can just ask Valerie Heartgold, who I'm going to appoint to throne room duties.
:Valerie: Really?
:Zodiez: Yes! Considering all your previous experiences being part of the authorities, I was thinking you'd enjoy deeper involvement with satellite plans and further more much more privacy.
:Azrail: To think I'm gonna start taking part in huge meetings for the satellite, I can't wait!
:Valerie: Honestly, having much more privacy would be appreciated. [smiles] Looking forward to spending time with you, Zodi!
Zodiez hugs Valerie and Azrail tightly, holding them up to her body as she hugs them. Lily buzzes off, placing her hand over her face as she looks super embarrassed. Vilicus just panics, running off.
:Valerie: I'm gonna retire from much of the crap I was doing before just so I can have better time management and have enough free time to take care of my personal needs. Az, if you need anything, let me know okay? I know everything about managing New Naxaz City.
:Azrail: Don't stress yourself out, Val. I've got it, I've been doing a lot of research.
Az grins up at her. Crymsia dashes up to Azrail from behind, pinning him.
:Crymsia: Congrats Az!!
:Azrail: Crymsia! We're live in front of hundreds of thousands of people!
Crymsia and Azrail laugh as they pull each other up, hugging each other.
:Valerie: Seeing these two together makes me feel warm, hopefully soon they'll be able to live a normal life together.
:Zodiez: Me too, come now, my victors! Let's go eat some freshly cut Beorn at the throne room!
:Valerie: Coming!
:Crymsia: You mind if I come along?
:Zodiez: You're Azrail's girl, you are absolutely welcome to join the celebration party!
Crymsia grins, pulling on Azrail's hand as she and Valerie follow Zodiez off the podium at the Valco Vortex. Meanwhile, behind the building, we see Vilicus' face running in a cold sweat.
:The Manipulator: The speech you gave last night was well-received, but it was not enough, Vilicus. You are frightening me with your inability to do anything of value. Therefore, you must be punished.
The Manipulator rises up from the floor, terrifying Vilicus as it makes its way up from the ground.
:The Manipulator: That means that I cannot give you the stones, because they would interfere with my original plans. In due time, I will have to hand them to Mallory instead. You knew what would happen if you weren't convincing enough.
:Vilicus: I-I'm sorry! I didn't do well because I'm not very c-competitive!
:The Manipulator: The fact that absolutely nobody on this satellite is competent enough to do anything correctly is almost tempting me to start doing damage beyond what's necessary, but I do not want to anger the... hmm, the... one day it'll be known.
:Vilicus: The...?
:The Manipulator: It's something you cannot understand, Vilicus.
The Manipulator swoops past him.
:The Manipulator: It is beyond my ability to explain to peasant species like yourself.
:Vilicus: I... I see.
:The Manipulator: There is one thing you can do to redeem yourself, and that would be to wait until the time drags closer to November 4th, then, when I hand out instructions, I want you to take them.
It stares at Vilicus cold in the eyes.
:The Manipulator: I cannot tell you explicitly what I need you to do then. Just go home and do not disturb me until I tell you it's time to take action. You think you can handle that much, Vilicus?
The Manipulator places a cold, cold grip on Vilicus' chin, holding it up.
:The Manipulator: There is one reason why I'm using you and nobody else for this work, Vilicus. You are so suitable for our plans, because your abilities and stage persona reflect such. We look too suspicious on anyone else.
:Vilicus: I just want to go back to being a regular performer.
:The Manipulator: When my terms are met, that's when I'll go back to slumber.
The Manipulator drifts away from him.
:The Manipulator: You cannot fail me anymore, go home! Wait until later for new instructions!
Vilicus nods as it drifts away from him, ascending high into the sky.
:Vilicus: It was using me after all...?
Vilicus starts to walk away.
:Vilicus: Looks like the Marmalade Masquerade needs time to think.
:10:41 A.M. · TUESDAY October 28th, ZXE-223
:Kýrios' Throne Room, Admin Sector
A week later, we see Valerie and Azrail seated together in Kýrios' throne room, with him, Zodiez, Scotch, Crymsia, and Mayxine sitting down with them at a round table.
:Zodiez: Surprised to see you come out of your basement for a change, Mayxine.
:Mayxine: Times are getting more dire, this isn't time to be a stubborn introvert. I'm up here more these days for a reason.
:Zodiez: It's great to see you interacting more with us, that's always a positive.
:Scotch: Apologies for cutting this little happy moment short, but I need to bring attention to why we're here today. I've been attempting to prove the damage Lily's done some while ago, but the Electric Eye hasn't been responding.
:Mayxine: He hasn't been giving me any footage at all to work with, we haven't figured out who destroyed the security gates leading to the core, and our mechanic team isn't responding because they never get deployed. The Electric Eye is responsible for all these things, and he hasn't posted on social media in some weeks.
:Zodiez: Right, he hasn't been doing shit.
Valerie raises her hand. Zodiez nods at her, letting her speak.
:Valerie: I've heard that the place he was working in was abandoned, but I'm not sure if he left or not. I've heard that Noise attempted to drag him out after forgetting to let him know that the place was gonna get taken down, but she couldn't get his door opened. We're not sure what's up with him.
:Mayxine: This is a serious issue, because this means we're not getting any security footage. That means that virtually every single place on the satellite is vulnerable to being attacked.
:Valerie: Yeah, this is bad news. What do we do?
:Scotch: There has to be another way inside of his room, if his door won't open and he won't respond, then we need to figure out how else we're going to get in there. Thing is, only those doctors know how to navigate that space, and for the longest time it was private grounds for Medea Neos.
Azrail scratches his chin. He's trying to come up with how to contribute meaningfully.
:Azrail: You sure that just barging into his room is a good idea?
:Mayxine: I'm afraid that we don't have a choice. That door is reportedly two feet thick in diameter, and it's made out of a very heavy metal according to Noise, so we can't just bust through it. Otherwise, I'd send Whiskey along.
:Azrail: Hmmm, I suppose I'll go, then.
Azrail gets up from his seat, placing his chair back.
:Azrail: There's no way the Electric Eye can breathe in there if he doesn't have any vents, so I think that'll be the only way I can reach him. Well, still depends on how the vents are structured.
:Scotch: The thing I'm afraid of is that even if we break inside, there might be a serious problem, and it might result in him having to be taken down. Considering his vital role as an all-seeing eye, getting rid of him would spell massive danger.
:Zodiez: We don't have a choice.
:Mayxine: If there's even the slightest chance that the Electric Eye is being manipulated or controlled, we're likely thoroughly finished because it might mean that too much information lies in the hands of evil ones.
:Valerie: I can go-
:Azrail: Don't, Val.
Azrail smiles at her.
:Azrail: You've gone through enough, you've had way too much go on over the past couple of months. Leave it to me!
:Crymsia: Good luck honey, hurry on back as soon as you can!
:Azrail: Got it, my lady.
:Crymsia: You're such a dork...
Azrail runs off. Time to see what's going on!
:11:57 A.M. · TUESDAY October 28th, ZXE-223
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
That whole week later, and we see Silver home. He looks like he's doing fine, but he is tensely breathing as he sits up in bed, in a cold sweat. He shivers as Medea sits next to him, placing an arm around his neck.
:Medea: What's wrong Silver?
:Silver: Blehhh. I'm just thinking about Mallory and all the things I've done to her. Frink passed me a letter earlier that was from Cody, who told me that if there's anything I need to do on the satellite, I should do it fast before Mallory comes back around.
Silver shivers as Medea keeps her hands protectively around him.
:Medea: Things are gonna be alright! You know you've changed.
:Silver: I know, I know, it's just that... euugh. I've been trying to do better for you guys, but it's just so difficult with all this anxiety building inside of me. I don't think I'm going to be able to overcome Mallory.
Silver hangs his head on Medea's shoulder as she rubs his back. Her fingers were cold, but any back-rubbing that Medea does has to be thousands of times better than what the Manipulator does to Mallory.
:Medea: There there, I'm here for you.
Pierce walks into the room, having just gotten done using the bathroom. Silver smiles at him, that smile is only getting worse. Once a proud smile is now just an immediately obvious facade, with its beauty and appeal long gone. It used to be pleasant to see Silver smile, but everyone who sees it now feels a terrible gut feeling.
:Pierce: I'm here for you too, Silver, sorry for the wait.
:Silver: It's aight Piercy, it's just good to see you here. Where's Zellie?
:Pierce: Zellen's not doing very well.
Pierce sighs, looking at Silver.
:Pierce: I'm trying to keep your substances out of her reach because I don't want her to ruin herself the way I've seen you ruin yourself. It's strange, because I wouldn't have ever expected her to take after you like that.
:Silver: Is she okay?
:Pierce: Yeah, she apologized for smoking one of your joints. I think just the severity of everything that's going on right now is catching up to all of us. I've temporarily passed over Rogue to Koffina, because I don't want her to deal with us while we're like this. I don't want her to start seeing things she's not supposed to.
:Silver: I understand, Rogue shouldn't be having to look at her father's black smile.
:Medea: Everything's going to be okay.
:Pierce: I'll tell you what, Silver. I'm going to try and make the next few days worth it, I'm going to go to the store and pick up some goods for you and the whole of us. Fast-working sleep pills, Takis, Advil, you know.
Pierce holds Silver tightly.
:Pierce: When I come back, we're going to spend the next few days just relaxing.
:Silver: Alright.
:Pierce: I know that you're worried, and trust me, you have every reason to be. [closes his eyes] Mallory is probably the scariest thing I could ever think of. She's extremely messed up and on the verge of breaking considering everything that's happened to her. Terrible person or not, her reign of terror must come to an end soon.
Pierce closes his eyes.
:Pierce: I'm sure that it will be a tough confrontation, considering everything you remember regarding her. As immoral as it sounds, there is something you need to do in that confrontation.
:Silver: What?
:Pierce: You know that if you head to Mallory's place on November 4th, as Cody wrote in the letter, that it would be a really good idea if you just straight-up killed her. She will try to kill you, Silver, and all of her assistants will as well.
Silver's eyes widen.
:Pierce: Hector didn't tell me why out of some fear he never explained, but he told me that when you're done killing her, to go to the core and shut it down. He said that he didn't want any debris to hit Zaxina, whatever that means.
:Silver: I understand.
:Pierce: And we can't go with you, because we don't want to be in Mallory's crossfire or get in your way. I don't want to scare you before you do what's necessary, and I don't want to tell you what to do, but.
Pierce sighs.
:Pierce: I believe in you.
:Medea: I believe in my Silvie too!
:Zellen: Silvie, I also believe in you, don't give up!
Silver smiles.
:Silver: I'll be ready to go when the time comes. Cody told me that I should use this time to do what I need to do, and I have a small list of things I want to do. That includes freeing Jezebeth from her little glass prison, destroying that purple bastard that put me on these drugs, and thieving as many snacks as I can.
Silver gulps.
:Silver: Cody is hinting towards such specific things, and telling such specific people these specific things. I don't know what he's up to, but I hope I get to know soon.
:Pierce: Me too. I'm going to go now, please, take all the time you need today to relax, but you need to work hard when I say the time comes. Let's spend the next few days staying together and trying to get clean.
Silver nods.
:Silver: Let's do this.
Pierce nods, walking off.
:Pierce: I'll be back.
::
::
::
:Pierce: T-There.
Pierce is holding several bags of Takis, some bottle of Advil, some sleeping pills, some Rubik's Cubes, and some fidget spinners for Silver to play around with.
:Pierce: Let's get outta here.
:1:32 P.M. · TUESDAY October 28th, ZXE-223
:Former C.O.T.S. Laboratories, Hospital Wing
Azrail manages to make it to the former C.O.T.S. Laboratories. Inside, everything looked wrecked, there were many black explosive marks on the walls, the tiled floor looked broken up, and many of the interior windows were shattered. Medea's old cloning lab is a mess now; lots of DNA fluids were spread over the floors.
:Azrail: Looks horrible in my mom's old laboratory, I wonder what the hey happened here.
Azrail jumps out of the way of laser fire from the cameras around the room, which spot him and detect him.
:Azrail: I can immediately determine that the Electric Eye is here, but he's never this hostile, so what the fuck?
Azrail looks around for a vent, running and narrowly avoiding a bunch of laser shots, sliding on his knees across some slippery tiles to have a laser just go above his nose, just getting the hairs shaved clean off.
:Azrail: Hmmm.
Azrail manages to find a vent. He finds that it, too, looked pretty shot up. Azrail slips himself inside of it, crawling his way through it. He manages to worm his way through, moving his slightly pudgy body along the walls. He was super determined to figure out what was going on, it was making his heart race.
:Azrail: Jeez, it's getting hot in here...!
Azrail slips himself out of the Electric Eye's vents, slipping down into the television-liked sphere that was the Electric Eye's room. He sees him still in his seat, beginning to run over to him. He notices how super hot the room is and how only a select few of the televisions were turned on, showing very sensitive locations.
:Azrail: There you are, what's going on?
The Electric Eye turns himself around. We see that his body suit's been highly damaged, his titular feature hyper-focused right on Azrail. We see a bunch of wires leading up into the ceiling that didn't look anything like his usual ones- when Azrail gets a closer look at his eye, we see Mallory looking through it.
:Azrail: Ohh, you've become a host, huh?
:Electric Eye: Azrail, I've become highly dangerous. I don't have any control of my body.
:Azrail: H-Huh?
:Electric Eye: Mallory managed to break her way in here and try to take control of me. I was only person remaining in these laboratories, and because I have the cameras in there usually shut off to give them privacy, I never knew that I was alone. Mallory figured out where I was and took my ability to move away from me.
The Electric Eye pulls out a bunch of wires from his back, which begin to whip the air.
:Electric Eye: Mallory knows you're here now. I'm not consciously trying to attack you.
The Electric Eye would have bent his head low, but he had no control over any of his muscles besides his jaw.
:Electric Eye: She knows too much about the satellite's inner workings now. I watched in horror as she destroyed the core entrance and began to deal damage to the core. Damage I couldn't do anything about, because I had no way of dispatching repairmen. I watched all the Sector 6 cameras go off before my eyes.
:Azrail: Hunjan...
:Electric Eye: She is planning to use her power to blow up the satellite, Azrail. There will be a gas attack on November 1st, please try and tell everyone to make sure they have everything they need before a mandatory move-out happens on the 1st.
:Azrail: Blows up!?
:Electric Eye: I'm sorry. I can't even close my eyes and avoid shame. There is only one thing you can do, Azrail.
He swallows, his wires starting to whip out and lash freely, his body rising into the air as Mallory begins to use his body to prepare for combat against Azrail. A bit of a delayed reaction- Mallory's not hearing what he's saying.
:Electric Eye: You need to kill me.
:Azrail: Isn't there another way?
:Electric Eye: KILL ME! We don't have time for this!
Azrail swallows his breath. He looks upon the Electric Eye, pulling some machines out from his back.
:Azrail: There has to be another way...
::
::
::
The Electric Eye buzzes horribly as he collapses. He bangs his fist on the floor, a maneuver that Mallory made him do. He attempts to get up to continue fighting, because Mallory told him to, but Azrail steps close.
:Electric Eye: I wish this wasn't how it ends...
:Azrail: Me neither, Hunjan. I'm sorry this happened.
:Electric Eye: Destroy all my wires!
Azrail looked hesitant, but he picked out a blade and slashed it across all the wires stretching across his back and around his body. He felt awful doing this to the Electric Eye. It wasn't even his fault.
:Electric Eye: I'm weakening so fast.
Azrail scoops him up into his hands. The Electric Eye looks shocked, but Azrail keeps him close.
:Azrail: I... I can't bring myself to kill you. I'm going to take you to Noise or Yama or someone that can get you healed up, you don't deserve to face death like this. [smiles] Let's go.
:Electric Eye: Make it quick, my whole energy supply is draining. I can at least... move again.
:Azrail: Don't worry, I'll make it quick.
Suddenly, a massive explosion happens inside the room, with several million particles of glass breaking apart as fire begins to spread around the room rapidly.
:Mallory [voice]: AZRAIL!
Azrail jumps, spinning around to see the one still-active television.
:Mallory [voice]: IF YOU'RE GOING TO FUCKING RUIN MY PLANS LIKE THIS, THEN I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU B-B-BURN TO ASHES! HAVE FUN, YOU WORTHLESS AUTHORITY FIGURE!
Mallory sets off some explosives in the room. These make the Electric Eye's extremely dense door fall over where it's revealed that the rest of the laboratory is beginning to explode as well!
:Electric Eye: H-How is she doing this?
Azrail grabs him, taking him out as the fires begin to consume his room. The camera system would be no more...
:Azrail: Never mind that! Let's get out of there!
:Mallory [voice]: C-COME BACK HERE AND BURN! YOU D-DDESERVE IT FOR F-FFUCKING WITH ME!
::
::
::
Azrail and the Electric Eye leave the laboratories as they violently explode, detaching themselves from the satellite and blowing up in the middle of space. When these two made it, the entrance to those laboratories got permanently sealed off. Azrail takes the Electric Eye over to a hospital bed, leaving him there and ringing a bell, winking at him before leaving.
:Azrail: God.
Azrail calls up Zodiez.
:Azrail: The Electric Eye is going under recovery, he is no longer under Mallory's control. I can confirm that Mallory was making use of everything but his voice to make sure that no damage about the satellite got reported. No repair squads could be brought out, no logs could be given, no evidence could be provided. Mallory likely has a lot of very sensitive data now.
:Zodiez [voice]: That's very bad news, but I'm glad you were able to save him after all. Good to know that we have a much better clue of what's going on, I think the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together.
:Azrail: Mhm. [sighs] This really sucks though.
:Zodiez [voice]: I know... with no cameras remaining, everything is at considerable risk now.
:Azrail: Make a warning for everyone to pack their bags as soon as they can, because November 1 is going to be a busy day. I don't want to explain why, because if we interfere with Mallory's plans in the ways we like, we'll be the ones who're sorry.
:Zodiez [voice]: Right. I'll get started on that now.
Zodiez hangs up.
:Azrail: I haven't even been mayor for that long and crap's already going really downhill.
:3:52 P.M. · TUESDAY October 28th, ZXE-223
:Naxaz Prison, New Naxaz City
Back at prison, Zonas and Hector were keeping their eyes on Cody. Zonas brings bread and water to him.
:Cody: I can't directly explain what's going to happen, but things are going to get really, really bad on November 1st. I recommend giving a hint that everyone should be evacuated that morning, or you will severely regret what will come. Hector, I've heard that Zodiez already has such plans underway, but know that as long as everyone acts perfectly.
Cody gives a smile. It's not much of one, but it's slightly reassuring.
:Cody: Not many people are going to be hurt. Make sure they've taken as many belongings as they can. Make sure they have packed enough food and water. I've heard that Satellite 10 will be a great place to drop everyone off.
:Hector: That super nice one? I doubt they wanna deal with all of us.
:Cody: They will make an exception for this satellite, you guys are on fantastic terms with them. Be aware of the November 1st attack, I'll tell you what it is shortly before it's time for everyone to go.
Cody closes his eyes.
:Cody: I have some very personal regrets about what's going on right now. Just take my word for it that the instructions I give you will be used for the better of the satellite and its citizens. You don't have much reason to trust me, but.
Cody looks to his side.
:Cody: I'm the only one that can give you enough of a hint on what's going to happen. Lemme put it this way, if you guys don't take my advice, so many of you will die, then the bodies will never be found again within days.
:Hector: Aye, I've got it.
:Zonas: You won't be in trouble if you tell us what's going on, Cody.
:Cody: Oh yes I will. You'll all be in trouble.
Zonas sighs.
:Zonas: I see. We're not going to let you out of here though, you understand?
:Cody: I suppose that'd be fair, but I'll find a way out of here later.
:Zonas: I doubt it.
Cody smirks.
:Cody: I've asked somebody to help me out during the 1st, heh.
:Zonas: I'd be impressed, considering how very tightly built this prison is. There's no way you're going to be broken out so easily, I'm afraid. Have fun thinking that, though.
Cody walks away in his cell.
:Cody: By the way, I need to make it clear where Mallory's keep is. You know that Silver needs to get there, you wouldn't have guessed where it is, considering it's surrounded by a shield that blocks communications and makes it very unapparent where it is exactly.
:Zonas: You're going to tell us where it is?
:Cody: Yes. It might've sounded like we were always in another dimension, but we never were really. We were always living underneath New Naxaz City, deep underneath everyone else, using portals to escape this metallic prison that we set the Purple Keep in. Silver can reach it through a special staircase that'll open up soon.
:Zonas: It was underneath this place the whole time?
:Cody: Yes, but the special shield that Mania developed meant that you couldn't detect it or see it. But we couldn't really escape from it without portal powers, and we were using Sector 5 for the longest time because Mallory mapped the portal there by default. After all, it's the hardest place to get caught in.
Cody kicks back on his barebones bed, eating white bread.
:Cody: Don't bother attacking it now though, or as I've said countless times now, things will be ruined for all of you.
:Hector: I see. Well laddy, we'll be sure to tell Silver where ter go. Where would the staircase be, though?
:Cody: Once we open up the staircase, the poison lake at the Stenographer Garden will drain itself down there.
:Zonas: Thanks.
:Hector: Thanke.
:Cody: Yeah, no problem.
Cody just sighs, rolling over.
:Cody: Anything to get these plans over at long last and out of my head...
:6:58 P.M. · TUESDAY October 28th, ZXE-223
:Satellite 15 Reactor Silo
The Holy Diver runs through to the satelite's core. With the knowledge that nobody's protecting it anymore, Devina's gone down with food rations and plenty of water, she must guard it instead.
:Holy Diver: I can't let any more damage happen to the satellite's core.
She begins to run to the core.
:Holy Diver: I need to check to make sure there's nothing there.
::
::
::
She reaches the core. It looked fairly stable for now, besides Sector 6's power being completely gone like it's been for a while now, just when she was going to start wondering what to do, she feels something lurk over her.
:Holy Diver: Freeze!
The Echeno screeches as it gets pushed back by a huge source of light. The Holy Diver pockets her flashlight, folding her arms.
:Holy Diver: You freaks are here now, huh? What were you planning to do?
The Manipulator was nowhere to be seen, but the Echeno was present, and so was the Devil's Mask. They join up together, looking down at the Holy Diver as she pulls out a ghost-sucking ray.
:The Devil's Mask: Master left us here to see nobody bothered protecting the core, but I see somebody chose to clown around here! Nyeh heh heh heh! I will crush you between my teeth, human!
:Holy Diver: I don't think you have what it takes to kill me, that goes for both of you!
The Holy Diver cranks her weapon.
:Holy Diver: I don't think I'll let you two take me down a second time!
We get a flashback in the Holy Diver's memory. We see her cowering in a black tank top as the Echeno chewed up a baby that bore a resemblance to Devina, its head snapped clean off its neck as Devina watched in horror. The Devil's Mask jeered at her, attempting to push her over to the Echeno whose mouth was agape with Larry's flesh and blood covering its sharp teeth.
:Holy Diver: You ate my baby!
The Holy Diver points her weapon straight at them, much more rigidly than she had before.
:Holy Diver: Ghosts, spirits, supernatural entities, they've ruined my life from the beginning! My grandfather's killed himself at the hands of his own miserable experiments with otherworldly creatures, you took my baby away from me and ate it while making me watch, you trapped me with this robotic grandpa who didn't know how to be a decent person for years!
:The Devil's Mask: Calm, calm, my dear Holy Diver! No need to be so angry!
It snickers as it attempts to drift close to her, but she shuffles away.
:Holy Diver: No! I've seen you three spirits do damage for far too long, I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago and suck you all into this! [sighs] I could've done this a long time ago, but when you did what you did to me, I didn't have the drive to bother doing what I was supposed to do!
:The Devil's Mask: Eh?
:Holy Diver: Now it's your turn to have the life sucked out of you!
The Holy Diver springs over to these two. The Echeno dodges and moves away, before stretching itself up and trying to bite Devina into two. She rolls out of the way, scrambling backwards across the floor before getting up and punching the mask in the jaw. She then grabs it, throwing it like a paper airplane into the Echeno's mouth. It absent-mindedly closes its mouth on the mask, but this doesn't kill the mask, rather it just captures it.
:Holy Diver: No more screwing around!
::
::
::
When these two spirits go down, the Holy Diver manages to suck them up for good. She twists the cap on her spirit-catching canister, then processes them into printed paper. They cannot be turned back to normal.
:Holy Diver: Just one remains.
The Holy Diver turns herself around. There was nobody else down there.
:Holy Diver: I should probably be able to relax for the moment.
:9:32 P.M. · FRIDAY October 31st, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep, Secret Underground, New Naxaz City
We're back with Mallory after a small timeskip; there is not much else that can be shown before this. Mallory is sitting on a burning hot chair, her head hanging low as the Manipulator's right behind her, rubbing her back with its eerie cold hands. There is less than a week before the satellite's predicted explosion.
:Mania: We're done making the super-poisonous gas plan.
:Mallory: Excellent.
Mallory looks down. No enthusiasm remained in her voice. Any sense of cockiness or esteem left in her was gone.
:Mallory: Tomorrow, the whole satellite will be flooded with this poisonous gas at high noon. Ideally, we will be using this gas to clear out the satellite, with everyone either staying in or leaving. I don't care what happens to these people.
:Beck: High noon?
:Mallory: Yeah. Then with Silver left, and with nobody else to stand in my way, I can take care of him singlehandedly and make sure he doesn't escape the satellite.
Mallory holds up a strange remote.
:Mallory: Modeled after Zodiez's dashboard, this completely functional remote will become capable of trapping Silver inside the satellite. I'm going to make sure he'll have a hard time escaping... thanks, Mania.
Mania looks down. She had to build most of this crap.
:Quade: How will we escape, Mallory?
:Mallory: You won't.
Quade looks taken aback.
:Quade: Excuse me? We've been doing all this work for you, and you're not going to let us escape the massive satellite explosion? What an asshole you are, Mallory, we've been stuck with you for years.
:Mallory: You're all going to use your lives to try to hold off Silver so I can finish creating my brand-new Mind Weaver whenever I get my hand on that last zodiac stone.
:Quade: Are you out of your mind? You're just going to use us as meat shields?
Mallory looks at him glumly. She looks at her whole crew glumly.
:Mallory: I... I don't know.
:The Manipulator: Don't let them leave, Mallory, they're not the boss of you.
:Mallory: You're not going to leave.
The Manipulator icily smiles, placing a bottle of wine in Mallory's mouth. Must be her third one this night, considering the two to her sides. Mallory's "allies" look fucking pissed off.
:Mania: Excuse me!?
:Mallory: GO BACK TO YOUR ROOMS! I'll make a final decision by the 4th, leave me alone!
Mallory watches them all scram. When Mallory's voice starts to stutter, that's when she begins to go off her rocker, and that's when nobody wants to deal with her. Mallory's left alone, besides for Kispel and for the Manipulator.
:The Manipulator: Mallory, there there, don't be too upset.
An icy, cold set of fingers strokes down her spine. Mallory's mouth can be seen; it's starting to dry up in there as well. Her teeth were blackening too, there isn't too much different between her and Silver.
:The Manipulator: Reserve your energy, you want to be nice and energized when you finally get the chance to kill your brother for all the horrible things he's done to you. All the abuse, all the trauma... it will end.
:Mallory: Mmm, I know...
Kispel just sat on a bench. He watched Mallory without directly looking at her. He felt heartbroken, his little religious and loyal heart having been played with too many times in the last year.
:The Manipulator: You've come so far, soon you will live a wonderful future. You will see a world without Silver, a world without anyone that you hate, a world you can love in peace.
:Mallory: I want it.
:The Manipulator: You'll do it for me, right?
:Mallory: Hic...
Mallory wheezes, the alcohol not being very pleasant on her sore throat. While Mallory coughs, the Manipulator turns around to face Kispel, flashing a sinister and almost otherworldly grin straight at him.
:The Manipulator: Mallory, would you like another bottle?
:Mallory: Mmmnn, yeahh...
The Manipulator gives her a fourth to take down.
:Kispel: You're going to poison her if you keep making her drink.
:The Manipulator: That is true.
It pulls the bottle from Mallory just middrink. Mallory attempts to reach out for the bottle, but the spirit keeps it just out of her reach. She attempts to reach up for it, but it tantalizes her by holding it high enough for her to not be able to touch it.
:The Manipulator: You've taken down enough Mallory.
It sets the bottle to the side, looking over Mallory's twitching, poorly-faring body.
:Mallory: No...
:The Manipulator: You need your rest now. Go to sleep. Don't feed them, they will learn from messing with you and will be begging to do anything you want tomorrow. Don't let them do anything but what you want them to.
Mallory nods as she goes to sleep. The Manipulator perches itself back on top of her, holding her in its cold grip. We take a look inside of Mallory's head, in a world that you'd feel better dead.
:Mallory: Oh...
Mallory isn't having a good dream. There's no moonlight in this pitch-dark wasteland to be seen. Rolling black thunderclouds roar overhead, showering endless hailstones onto Mallory. Surrounding her was this massive graveyard with olive-green grass, and lightning struck frequently from the clouds above. These hailstones were so heavy that they pushed her down, forcing her to her knees. We see a gravestone before her.
:Mallory [reading]: Here lies Silver Zin, lived April 15th ZXE-191 to November 4th ZXE-223.
Mallory feels the hailstones start to fall down around her, starting to surround her and cover her up. Mallory attempts to pull herself out, but two silvery hands begin pull her down by the knees.
:Silver [dream]: If I'm going down for the abuse I've given you, I'm pulling you down with me for all the abuse you've done to my friends and all the torment you've done to everyone on the satellite!
:Mallory: You don't understand, you d-don't understand, Silver! Leave me be...
Mallory looks into his empty skull sockets, staring at them thoroughly.
:Silver [dream]: You've seen what my hands and eyes have done and inflicted this damage upon others, blaming me for every little thing you've done even though you introduced these ideas to me. You reap what you sow, you bastard, and when you live alone you will have this to think about until the end of time.
:Mallory: B-But I didn't know how bad the things I've found were, I couldn't have possibly predicted what consequences I would be met with for these actions.
:Silver [dream]: I AM IN HELL BECAUSE OF YOU! I'm in this special hell because I had hurt you, because you had hurt me, because you've pulled us both into the worst futures possible.
Silver pulls her close, but not affectionately. We get a vision of things from Silver's point of view. He is in the flesh now, but the Mallory pulling on him is a skeleton instead, and he is being crawled over by worms and getting eaten up from the backside.
:Silver: I-I've seen so my reflection so many times that I've cried, there's so little hope that I might as well die. But you can keep feeding me those lies, you know my mouth's open wide, add more weight to this heart if you fucking please.
Silver smiles up at her as the maggots and worms crawl across his skin. They squirm all over his body, his eye popping as a sea of maggots spills out from it and flows all over his face. The maggots were crawling over his skull in Mallory's vision.
:Silver: You are so special, you use your talent to dig me under and cover me with dirt!
:Mallory [dream]: I-I'm sorry, Silver, I really am, I-I'm in hell too! I don't even feel like I carry any weight anymore, I'm hurting all my friends and I have no way to escape this prison I've trapped myself in.
Mallory grabs his hands, staring at him. The hail pushes Mallory down more, the weight of a thousand sins crushing her, while the thousands of bugs squirming under Silver push him up, his whole body light from his excessive drug abuse and his body fat having been completely trimmed. They were practically laying across each other now.
:Silver: I don't know what to tell you anymore, I've had to place up this facade for so long, trying to act like someone I'm not, trying to have this sweet and energetic exterior that hides the darkness inside. And it h-hurts.
:Mallory [dream]: Pretending that I was perfectly fine, bottling in all that pain, it hurt m-me too.
:Silver: I can't shake off the truth that's been given to me, I feel so angry at myself for letting you do the damage you've done, and for doing the damage I've done to you. But I'm so angry at you for everything you've done, too.
:Mallory [dream]: I-I wish I could escape this pain.
:Silver: It feels horrible to live a terrible lie, I've tried to keep up my image by occupying myself with three partners, getting into all the substances that're supposed to help, trying to contact as many people as I could to help me deal with my pain.
Silver exhales a lot of air, feeling the maggots and worms crawl around his dirty skull.
:Silver: The only reason why I'm even h-here talking to you is because I need to f-fucking kill you when the 4th comes. I hope you understand that I can't let you stay here any longer!
:Mallory [dream]: I have to kill you-too, you've done so much d-damage to me, and you've done that d-damage to me first, you deserve everything for what you've done to me.
:Silver: Yeah, you never h-hurt me as bad as I've hurt you, but you've hurt SO MANY more people and I have no interest stooping to your level. You know I've c-changed. You don't want to change.
The perspective switches back to Mallory's.
:Silver [dream]: YOU DON'T WANT TO CHANGE!
:Mallory: I-I want to change, I r-really want to change, but it's too late for me to, I've gotten bad ideas since I've come to the satellite, and those bad ideas came from a close friend.
:Silver [dream]: What friend?
:Mallory: Some purple floating... ghost thing.
Silver's eyes widene He wakes up in a cold sweat, breathing hard.
:Silver: W-What?
The Manipulator phases through Silver's ceiling, dropping the glasses of wine it was going to bring over to him. The Dream Weaver walks into Silver's bedroom from the living room, looking at him as he walks in.
:Dream Weaver: Did you and Mallory get to talk?
:Silver: Yeah, I just put two and two together.
Silver closes his eyes.
:Silver: It's a bit personal. You can leave now.
Pierce, Medea, and Zellen were awake, taken by surprise from Silver's waking.
:Dream Weaver: I'll take my leave then, I'm glad I was able to help you two communicate. Heh, like I was hoping... hopefully you said what you've wanted to so you can face Mallory without fear when you arrive at her place on the 4th.
Silver nods.
:Silver: I've got it. Thank you.
The Dream Weaver leaves the room.
:Silver: Sorry about that, I'm going to go back to sleep. Everything's going to be alright, you three.
Silver looks at the TV. He had fallen asleep watching some strange Japanese anime that happens to be Zellen's favorite. Little did he know this was going to be his last comfortable night in a while...
:Pierce: Hey, as long as you're okay.
:Zellen: Yeah, you scared me.
Zellen snuggles up close to Silver.
:Zellen: Please don't scare me like that, you're starting to really unnerve me.
Zellen kisses Silver's cheek as she wraps around him tightly.
:Silver: I'll try not to. [looks at his phone] You three will be going away tomorrow to go with everyone else when the move-out begins. I got texted by Azrail telling me that everyone had to leave besides me. I need to take out Mallory.
:Pierce: I know.
Pierce frowns as he hugs his boyfriend tightly. His last night with Silver in a while, he thought. Make it worth it.
:Pierce: We'll pack up our personal belongings in the morning and go. We hope to see you at Satellite 10 when you're done, alright? Remember, you've got this, Mallory's gonna be a pushover. She's weak, ain't she?
:Medea: I'd be disappointed if Silver didn't bring down that terrifying monster. You gotta take her out, Silvie!
:Silver: Shhh, I've got it. [smiles] It'll be lonely spending the next couple of days without you guys, but over the next couple of days, I'll do what I can to handle unfinished business on the satellite! Then when it's time to visit Mallory, I'll go take her out! Remember what I said last Tuesday.
:Medea: Yeah.
Medea looks uncomfortable. She'll spending at least three nights away from Silver? She didn't like that concept.
:Medea: Good night honey. C'mon you two, let's get him on the lips. We'll get him again in the morning, but still.
Medea kisses Silver hard on the lips, holding him by the shoulders. Zellen smiles as she grabs him, kissing him too. Silver laughs a bit before Pierce takes his lips last. The three snuggle up with Silver.
:Silver: Nighty.
:Medea: Good night!
:Zellen: Nighto.
:Pierce: ...Be safe, Silver...
They go back to sleep.
:4:48 A.M. · SATURDAY November 1st, ZXE-223
:Docking Haven, Satellite 15
Early morning on November 1st, we see Xihuitl at long last. He's got this huge evacuation ship ready, affectionately titled "KÝRIOS' ARK", and 11AM it'll need to be filled up with almost all the satellite's residents. Several rows of escape pods were prepared for specific individuals that'll only open via face recognition.
:Xihuitl: We're almost ready.
Xihuitl rubs the side of the Kýrios' Ark ship, ready to launch it anytime. There was already a huge crew on it, ready to pull it outside when the time comes. He looks concerned, looking back at the satellite.
:Xihuitl: Hector, Millicent, make sure you call everyone by 10:45AM so that I can start bringing people aboard the ship. We need to start bringing people outside the satellite soon, before the prophesized attack happens.
Xihuitl sighs.
:Xihuitl: I wish I was back on my home planet, I don't wanna be responsible for dragging nearly a million people out of this satellite, this should be big enough to carry everyone though.
Xihuitl looks at the crew.
:Xihuitl: You know we've gotta pack everyone in those locker-sized standup cabinets, right? Does each one have an auto-feeder? An auto-drinker? An auto waste taker? An air refresher? An auto-shower? Plenty of cabinets to store valuables in? And finally, waterproof headphones to hear a bunch of pirated music from?
:Crew Member #1: Yes, sir!
:Xihuitl: Problem one solved. Hopefully the fact everyone has to be down to their basic clothes for the several-day journey to Satellite 10 won't be too much of an issue, we won't be spying on them or anything.
:Crew Member #2: You sound like you would, sir!
:Xihuitl: I wouldn't, do you think I care about these humans? I'm only in it for the pride!
Xihuitl folds his arms.
:Xihuitl: Make sure that the authorities and high-class figures are boarded first, that means I wanna see Kýrios and Zodiez first followed by the likes of Valerie, Azrail, uhh, you catch my drift. Then everyone else.
:Crew Member #2: Yes, sir!
:Xihuitl: Okay, so here's problem two, have we loaded enough food and water onto the ship? And most importantly, is that water mostly clean? I can't afford to lose my job, god damn it, I have three hundred children to feed!
:Crew Member #3: Yes, sir!
:Xihuitl: Okay...
Xihuitl sighs over the phone.
:Xihuitl: We're ready, Hector, when the time comes.
Xihuitl hangs up, stuffing the phone in his pocket.
:Xihuitl: Looks like the fun's just about to begin.
====Chapter Twenty-Three: What the Hell Have I?====
:10:55 A.M. · SATURDAY November 1st, ZXE-223
:Docking Haven, Satellite 15
The time has come. Everyone's been walking to the Docking Haven, ready to board Kýrios' Ark and leave the satellite until it's been cleaned up. Xihuitl watches everyone walk over to him, meeting the lords first.
:Zodiez: Hey Xihuitl, thanks for remembering to handle the satellite announcement. I'm a bit nervous about leaving this satellite alone for a little while, but I trust that Silver will have everything under control.
:Xihuitl: No problem, my lady. I will make sure everything will go smoothly. Please, step forward.
:Zodiez: Good.
Zodiez grabs her husband's hand.
:Zodiez: Come on Kýrios, let's go...
:Kýrios: Funny lockers!
The two walk onto the ship together, holding hands. Valerie, Azrail, Crymsia, Mayxine, Scotch, and Hector show up. Not long after, they're followed by Silver and his partners.
:Xihuitl: Silver, you know you're not going to be getting off the satellite, correct?
:Silver: Yes sir, I'm just going to see my partners off.
:Pierce: Let us be gay for a second.
:Xihuitl: I'll turn the other cheek, Silver.
Xihuitl looks away from Silver, uninterested in their romance. Silver smiles as he looks at Pierce, Medea, and Rogue, the latter of whom is being held up in Zellen's hands.
:Pierce: We're going to miss you Silver, but we pray that you're going to do well by yourself over the next couple of days. Hopefully when you crush Mallory you figure out what's going on with the core.
Hector sighs. He hasn't yet told the satellite's population that the core's going to blow up soon.
:Pierce: I want to see you at Satellite 10 by November 4th, so try to finish up your business as quickly as you can. We've still got many days to spend together, you know?
:Silver: You act like I'm gonna die, man!
Silver laughs as he squeezes Pierce tightly, hugging him.
:Pierce: Oh, it's just my paranoia getting the best of me. You know how much I care about your safety.
Pierce pats his back.
:Pierce: We'll be waiting for you, alright?
:Medea: Silver, it's not much, but...
Medea passes a strange white device into his hand.
:Medea: This device will let you call us no matter where we are, and it'll let you return back to the middle of New Naxaz City by default for convenience. I dunno how far you'll have to travel, but.
:Silver: I really appreciate it Medea, thank you.
:Zellen: Silvie, I... I don't really want to leave you alone.
:Rogue: Poppa, your teeth are going grey!
:Zellen: Just know that I really do genuinely love you, Silvie. You know that I can replace just about anyone, but I can't replace you, there's only one of you. ...But even if I could, I wouldn't, because you're really one of a kind.
Zellen worriedly kisses his cheek.
:Zellen: You're something of an inspiration to me, you know? I think there is some kind of value to others, even if they can be replaced, guess it'll probably be a bit easier to make friends and build relationships.
Zellen shakes her head.
:Zellen: Heralds that mean well are hard to come by.
:Pierce: Yeah, Zellen's right, you really are something special Silver. I've never felt more comfortable around anyone else. You understand what I am, what I like, and don't judge. Well, you only judge when someone's doing something really immoral, but still.
:Medea: We love you because you've changed our lives for the better and you've brought so much positivity into our lives.
:Pierce: Yeah!
Pierce leans on Medea. They weren't such friends in the beginning, but they're getting along well now.
:Zellen: Good luck, Silvie, we'll be waiting for you.
:Pierce: We appreciate everything you've done for us. When you come to Satellite 10, I'll bake ya a cake.
Pierce grins at him, pulling him close and giving him a hard kiss on the lips. Silver returns it, holding his boyfriend closely as he gets a really strong kiss from him.
:Pierce: It's gonna be hard to be without you for a few days, but I can manage.
:Medea: You stay good, Silver!
Medea kisses him on the lips too, pulling him up so they can be actually face to face.
:Medea: I'll see you later!
:Zellen: Bye-bye, Silvie.
Zellen kisses his lips. It was a weaker kiss, but it was still fairly genuine.
:Zellen: Rogue, you got anything left to say to him?
:Rogue: Watch your back.
Zellen looks at her strangely.
:Zellen: Huh?
:Rogue: Be safe.
Rogue hugs her father. Silver smiles as he moves a hand through her hair, smoothening it out.
:Silver: Thank you four for your support, I deeply appreciate it. [smiles] I'll see you four at Satellite 10 later, alright? I'll take out Mallory then use that escape pod over there to join you all there.
Silver points to an escape pod with his name emblazed across the top. It was one-seated.
:Pierce: Okay. By the way, Valerie has some stuff to talk to you about, she refuses to talk about it at all to me. Make sure you ask her what's going on. [closes his eyes] Good luck, Silver.
:Silver: Thank you sweetheart. [yawns] I'll keep in contact using my phone.
:Pierce: Sounds good.
:Xihuitl: The gay time's lasted long enough, you're holding up the line! Go, motherzoinkers!
Xihuitl shoves Pierce, Medea, and Zellen along, sending them on their way to Kýrios' Ark.
:Pierce: Goodbye, Silver, love you!
:Silver: Love ya!
Silver watches them wave and blow kisses at him as they board the ship. Rogue looks at Silver with concerned eyes before they go inside to get seated.
:Silver: Gonna miss 'em...
Silver watches more people go by him.
:Scotch: Good morning, Xihuitl, I've rounded up my crew. I don't know where Smartie is, but I assume she'll catch up later.
:Xihuitl: No one gets left behind, Scotch. That's our policy!
:Scotch: I'm aware, but I don't want to hold up anyone. I've searched the places I know she checks out. [shrugs] There's an escape pod made just for her, so I'm somewhat confident she'll escape whenever she begins to understand what's going on.
Scotch is holding Oshelia's hand, who smiles at her shaven, cleaned up ex-husband.
:Oshelia: We good to go?
:Xihuitl: I suppose so.
Scotch and Oshelia walk forward, but Scotch stops when he sees Silver.
:Scotch: Good luck, Silver. I don't think bringing the giant down is going to be easy, but I'm somewhat confident you'll be able to do it. [smiles] I'll be praying for your safety on the ship.
:Silver: You sound calmed down, man.
:Scotch: Yeah, I really am. I'll see you at Satellite 10.
Scotch gives him a hug. Silver returns it, holding him closely as Scotch does the same back to him.
:Scotch: Looks like I'm off.
:Silver: Good luck, you two lovebirds!
Scotch smiles at him as he walks off with Oshelia, Snickers, Keil, Brook, Oyster, and many more. Valerie smiles as she hops her way over to Silver, giving him an intense kiss on the cheek as she picks him up.
:Silver: Whoa!!
:Valerie: I'm going to miss you, Silver!
Valerie laughs as she sets him down, looking mildly embarrassed.
:Valerie: Thanks for that game of billiards last night, it was super fun just getting to talk to you again.
:Silver: No problem! I might've kicked your ass, but that's besides the point.
:Valerie: I know you don't have a lot of self-confidence to beat up Mallory, but if your crazy nurse girlfriend taught me anything, it's that you can in fact beat the crap out of loved ones if they're being insane assholes!
Valerie throws several punches and kicks, which she was probably reserving for a potential rematch against Gonzalo.
:Silver: I'll keep your fighting spirit in mind Val. It was fun doing all those little thieveries with you.
:Xihuitl: What was that?
:Silver: Oh I mean, that furry club we visited with Werine was so exciting.
:Valerie: Oh yeah, I remember that. That was a doozy.
:Silver: Where is she?
:Valerie: I think she's still in Sector 4, she refused to leave the satellite with me, so she's back there. There's a space pod here just for her though, so hopefully she changes her mind soon. I know a bit too much about what's gonna happen.
Valerie sighs, kneeling down and whispering into Silver's ear.
:Valerie: The satellite's going to blow up, I'd appreciate it if you took as many of the missing people possible and guided them here to use escape pods. Try to be ready to take on the poison attack that Xihuitl mentioned minutes past...
:Silver: Oh, that makes sense...
:Valerie: These people don't know both because we didn't want to make a pani, and because Cody kept threatening that if we made it clear the satellite was gonna blow up that unwanted chaos would unfold. He didn't tell me what chaos, but the poison attack I suppose is to drive people off the satellite.
:Silver: Got it.
Valerie places him down. She heads back to pick up a big coffin.
:Silver: What's that?
:Valerie: It's a coffin holding Syi. I don't want her soil to get contaminated.
:Silver: Ohh. I understand.
:Valerie: I've moved on from her, but I care that she has a sweet resting space.
Valerie smiles as she moves past Silver.
:Valerie: See you later, okay?
:Silver: See you on the flipside, Val!
Several characters move past Silver as he begins to walk out of the Docking Haven.
:Junkhead: Ayy Silver! Give your feckin' bestie a kiss!
Silver grins, kissing Junkhead's cheek as he holds him.
:Junkhead: Lookin' forward to gettin' high with ya in the future, Silvertongue!
:Silver: Me too!
:Junkhead: Cool, see ya 'round!
Silver smiles as he moves forward. Azrail jumps a bit before running back, tugging on Silver's arm.
:Azrail: Silver!
:Silver: Az! What's up?
:Azrail: Here.
Azrail slaps his number into Silver's hand.
:Azrail: If you need anything, you can just ask, alright?
:Silver: I probably won't, I think I've got this... but thanks for your support, Az.
:Azrail: Keep my baby Naxaz safe, I wanna be a good mayor.
:Silver: Cool beans! I'll try my hardest.
Silver moves past him. Devina smiles and waves at him, her pocket stuffed with the paper of the two spirits she destroyed. Black Eyes is smoking weed and is being extremely obnoxious about it.
:Black Eyes: Smoke smoke smoke smoke, smoke weed. (Damn son.)
:Silver: I'm not much of a weed person, sorry.
Silver keeps moving forward. Manikin Man is moving to Kýrios' Ark with a bunch of miniature children, Priss is keeping Bowie stuffed in her purse, Arikan is holding Zia's hand while slapping her backside, Zonas is being lifted up by his two girlfriends, Vizole is chewing gum while holding Minute's hand, Whiskey is throwing around a whip, Chance is snickering while pulling the Ace of Spades rapidly from his hands, Dusty is attempting to catch up to Clair but continually bumping into other people, Silver smiles. He knows all these people.
:Silver: Damn, it's gonna be lonely without these people.
Silver witnesses Nomila picking up a drunk-looking Abraham, Noise and Yama holding hands while Chimera stays between them as she's gun-shy in public, Spade shoving a bottle of anti-anxiety pills down her mouth, Lucifer moving forth with a swarm of Satanists by his side, Agantuk traveling with Blake and Olcia and Jynx and Parabola and Luka, Waxy and Wick holding hands, Epica and Sarona skipping along, Penny pushing a sleeping Cabinet Man along, Voetrice being held by a leash as a spider-like human called Honey brings her along, and finally Niki holding Mouser and growling at everyone she passes by.
:Silver: Wonder where some of these people were in the action...
Silver makes his way out of the Docking Haven when he has to push through a number more people.
:Silver: I think just about everyone's off now.
Silver does finger guns to Aero and Beam as he passes them by (much to their disgust), makes gun-cranking motions with his fingers to Reten, weakly flexes an arm just for Bril, throws a blunt to Melissa Dust, makes kissy-faces to Nyxiel, and high-fives Zephon on the way out. He also remembers to do the middle finger to Mynis as he passes him by. These were all Zellen's guest characters...
:Mynis: I didn't even do anything, man!
Silver makes his way out. Still more people were making their way into the Docking Haven; Silver begins to march against the rest, starting to march his way back into the satellite. Hell was going to await him...
:Silver: Alright, looks like it's time for things to get serious.
:12:00 P.M. · SATURDAY November 1st, ZXE-223
:Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
Meanwhile, at the Stenographer Garden, we see the huge poisonous purple lake that's served as an obstruction every now and then. Suddenly, it begins to bubble and boil, quickly boiling over. It begins to evaporate into the air, starting to spread around New Naxaz City at an alarming rate. With Mallory disabling the lockdown, this poison was able to begin spreading to the other sectors. It moves along incredibly fast, especially considering there was a machine that was rapidly generating this poison underneath the garden. We see Mallory in her bedroom, watching the poison rise from a monitor from the top of New Naxaz City's dome.
:Mallory: The satellite seems to have been mostly emptied out, but I know for a fact that Silver's still here, I suppose he does want to challenge me after all, or he would've left.
:The Manipulator: The satellite's set to blow up in a matter of days now. I think Silver knows the true value of the zodiac stones, though- if he were to gather all of yours, he could theoretically banish the explosive from the silo.
:Mallory: That won't happen, Cody will only let him come to me on the 4th this month.
:The Manipulator: I suppose so. I've noticed that Vilicus left the vicinity, ah well, he had done his part.
:Mallory: What would that be...?
:The Manipulator: I've told him where to hide his zodiac stone... by the time you make one of your minions go grab it, you can surprise Silver during the confrontation by being able to crush him in an instant.
:Mallory: That sounds... good.
:The Manipulator: It does, doesn't it?
The Manipulator picks up a bottle of wine, guiding it into Mallory's mouth. Mallory downs the substance without any resistance. If you couldn't already tell, Mallory's lost much control over herself.
:The Manipulator: The poison's managed to move its way across the satellite already, Silver will have to be a sitting duck until it's time for him to face you. Then you can take him out while he's ill.
:Mallory: Got itt.
:The Manipulator: By the way, I've ensured that there's no way for Silver to turn back- I've shut the door leading outside the Docking Haven. He will have to face us, or die alone in his room. Not sure what will come first.
:Mallory: You sound bent on killing him.
:The Manipulator: Ah, but only for you.
While the Manipulator talks things out with Mallory, we see Smartie hanging up close to the ceiling. She takes deep breaths. She's been up there for weeks now, having been surviving by stealing dinner scraps.
:Smartie: Repulsive how I haven't had da chance ter escape fer veeks, I really vanna get outta 'ere befur me body breaks up into a hundred thousand pieces. [breathes] Feeeeck.
Smartie keeps her grip on the upper support beams. Smartie's managed to quietly make a room there, having stolen some kitchen cloths and rags to make a make-shift bed. She's using a candle to keep her night lit up, looking at a picture of Rubelline. We learn that this universe's Rubelline looks extremely bloodthirsty and feral. Charming!
:Smartie: Hope somebody'll come ter save me, 'cuz I don't vanna be 'ere no more.
:Mallory: I'm hearing voices.
Smartie stays very quiet. If Mallory were to find her, she'd be dead.
:The Manipulator: It's nothing. You're hearing Silver's bloodthirsty desire to kill you.
:Mallory: I suppose you're right.
Smartie takes a very light sigh of relief.
:Smartie: Vanna leave dese veirdos as soon as me can.
:12:48 P.M. · SATURDAY November 1st, ZXE-223
:New Naxaz City
Meanwhile, in New Naxaz City, Silver was racing along the emptied streets. It was a strange sight for him; there are no space pods flying about anymore, there's no buzzing noises, all the lights were turned out, all the businesses were closed, there were no people on the streets. Very peaceful-sounding, but it was super eerie for Silver. It was this huge 30-mile space inside a giant dome, so he felt super small. Especially under the dense purple smog.
:Silver: Gotta admit this place gives me the creeps when it's this empty.
Silver coughs as he races his way through town. He stumbles upon New Naxaz City's prison; it looked way better and more efficient than before considering how notoriously easy it was to break it before.
:Silver: I think Cody's here.
Silver makes his way inside the building, coughing hard as the poison starts to get to him. He should've probably been more prepared to take on the poison, but it was too late to turn back now. He makes his way to Cody's cell.
:Cody: Ah, you remembered.
:Silver: Yes, yes I did.
Silver helps Cody escape from his prison cell by hitting the button next to his cell. The bars go up in an instant.
:Cody: Great. Hey, did any of the authorities tell you that by this hour there should be giant cleaning robots going through town cleaning up the poison? Like, have any of them told you about that crucial detail?
:Silver: Nah, must've slipped their minds. That's great though.
:Cody: Would be, but they were made to be super aggressive so Mallory didn't tamper with them.
:Silver: Ah, crap.
Silver grabs Cody's hand as a huge cleaning robot pulls off the roof to the prison like it were a lid on a jar, its red visor glancing down at them. It lifts up its huge hands, which were lined with scrubbers, sprays, and air contaminant vacuums. It thuds as it attempts to attack them with its huge hands.
:Silver: Yikes!
Silver avoids the scrubber hands as they slide after him, just barely dodging them while holding Cody. The cleaner robot, just having barely missed them, places the roof back on the jail and slides onto the sidewalk outside the jail. It begins to dash after them.
:Cody: Ohhh, jeez. They're all over town, Silver, so be careful!
Silver begins to run as more cleaner robots begin to showing themselves. Silver jumps over their cleaning limbs as they come to run him over, avoiding getting sucked up as he bounces his way around town. He had more room to breathe now, but they were violently chasing him and attempting to run him over.
:Silver: Looks like someone in the authorities didn't trust these robots' reputations to be too clean while they were gone!
:Cody: That was a really terrible pun.
Silver gets pinned against a tree by one of the cleaner robots. Cody pulls out his cross, using it to pry the robot's cleaner hand off of Silver before the machine punches a hole through the tree with its other hand.
:Cody: Yeah, I may not entirely be on your side, but...
:Silver: Thanks for that little save.
They nearly get hammered by another crushing robot. These huge, thick humanoid robots are still after 'em!
:Silver: Let's focus on getting outta here!
::
::
The two manage to make it to Silver's home. They jump down Silver's well before it gets swept off the hole, punching a hole through the bricks to open up the hidden elevator and taking it down before a toilet cleaner gets shoved through the well. When the doors open, Silver uses a specialized vacuum to clear any of the poison in his home, then injects himself with a needle that gives him the antidote necessary to overcome the poisons.
:Silver: I remember when I fell in that poisonous lake once while going on a walk with my partners, Medea made an antidote just in time, here, here's a clean needle for ya, Cody.
Cody takes the needle into his elbow, healing himself of the poisons too.
:Cody: We really need to come up with a way to not get poisoned every time we go outside. It's my job to keep you contained until it's time for you to go see Mallory, but I really do want you to take the chance right now to do all you can before then.
:Silver: Thank you.
:Cody: I'm super regretful about many of the things I've done. I've only been doing things for Mallory's sake, but I'm the one who threw an explosive into the Reactor Silo, and so I'm more or less responsible for Sector 6 detaching.
:Silver: Eh, wouldn't be the first time America's been wiped out in the dumbest way possible.
:Cody: True.
Both of them share a quick laugh.
:Cody: You won't believe how horrible things have been going for Mallory and her crew lately, though. Mallory's become extremely abusive and lashes out when even the slightest of things go wrong, any moment of sobriety and calmness for her just comes off as eerie and jarring. Everyone wants to leave her, but she won't let anyone leave.
Cody looks the other way.
:Cody: And damn it, she's hurt me the hardest but I find it so hard to let go of her. I love her so dearly, but she's clearly lost it. It's mostly because of this strange spiritual thing that's taking advantage of her.
:Silver: Strange spiritual thing...
:Cody: It's kinda purple-ish, it keeps giving Mallory drinks and crap, it keeps telling her that what she's doing is right, but scolds her when she doesn't let it talk to her or make love to her. It seems persuaded that what it's doing is right.
:Silver: Oh, that sounds familiar!
Cody looks at him hard in the eyes.
:Cody: Please try and resist that thing as best as you can, it's nothing but trouble, I have a hunch it's trying to kill her or something because it is clearly such an unhealthy partner for Mallory. Yet, she believes it's being helpful and sweet and all towards her, when that couldn't be further from the truth.
:Silver: Yeah, I will.
Silver sighs as he places his hand over his head.
:Silver: I can't help but feel really anxious.
:Cody: You've got this. I'm not sure how well I'm going to handle it, but there's no point in you giving up now. The state of the satellite is at stake, and there's no room for you to back down now.
:Silver: Right, sorry.
:Cody: It's alright, I don't think blaming you for your anxieties will get us anywhere.
Cody hugs Silver gently, which he returns gratefully.
:Cody: You know what Mallory wants above all else, Silver? She just wants to be able to live in peace. That's why she's been trying to kill you, because she feels once she's taken care of the one thing that matters to her, her soul will rest in peace.
Cody sighs.
:Cody: But sometimes she doesn't even want to kill you, it's hard to explain because she doesn't make all her feelings apparent. She has trouble unbottling what she really feels... she wants to feel pure, she says sometimes, but it's impossible.
:Silver: I kinda understand in a strange way.
:Cody: She hates being a failure and that's what she feels like by being unable to get rid of you.
:Silver: No wonder Mallory's followers are so fragile, you just point out a simple issue they have and they get super defensive and scared. Mallory being afraid of being a failure, being afraid of being impure... it makes sense.
:Cody: God, I know how great Mallory really is and how strong her potential is, that's why I still love her so much, but she very rarely follows that path of greatness anymore. We used to have a reason to love her.
Some flashbacks play, showing Mallory during her prime with her assistants.
:Mallory [past]: Hey Mania, whatcha doin'?
:Mania [past]: Making a silly trap for Silver. It'll hang him upside down so you can talk to him and get what you want outta him. It shouldn't take much time, I just need some rare steel to make the trap bite hard.
:Mallory [past]: There's some steel materials you can borrow from the cellar, sweetheart.
:Mania [past]: Really? It took us forever to get the metal.
:Mallory [past]: I insist!
The Mallory of the Past smiles as she hugs Mania. We cut to another scene, where Beck's tweaking his helmet.
:Beck [past]: Ughhh.
:Mallory [past]: What's up, Beck?
:Beck [past]: I was taking a walk with Niki, I tripped over and broke my helmet. It really sucks that it's broken up like this, because my head is so zoinkin' ugly and gruff, I hate looking at my yellowed eyes.
:Mallory [past]: No worries!
The Mallory of the Past picks up his helmet pieces.
:Mallory [past]: I'll take the pieces to Mania, I'm sure she'll be able to fix it up and make it good as new! But take it from me, Beck, if there's anything I've learned from Silver, it's that you're beautiful no matter what you look like. It's the inside that counts.
She smiles and hugs Beck.
:Beck [past]: Thank you, I just didn't want to disturb Mania.
:Mallory [past]: You don't need to be shy! Just knock first.
:Beck [past]: Got it.
We skip to another scene.
:Mallory [past]: Hey, what's up, you two?
:Ferris [past]: The little reaper's crying.
:Mallory [past]: Awh, why?
:Ferris [past]: She accidentally left Silver get away.
The Mallory of the Past kneels down, hugging the Violet Reaper, who was crying.
:Mallory [past]: There there, nobody's perfect, little girl, it's hardly your fault, I shouldn't even be making you do this work to begin with because you're so young. [kisses her cheek] You only wanted to help.
:Violet Reaper [past]: Thank you Mommy.
:Mallory [past]: I'm trying my best for you, okay?
Mallory gently grabs her hand.
:Mallory [past]: Let's go get some ice cream! That helps me feel better sometimes.
:Violet Reaper [past]: Okay.
:Ferris [past]: Calling dibs on vanilla!
Finally we see a scene between Mallory and Cody from the past, sitting on swings.
:Mallory [past]: I don't know what I'd do without you sometimes, Cody. You've always given me the best treatment, never given me too much or too little, always there for me nonetheless.
Mallory smiles at him.
:Mallory [past]: I'll cherish you forever in my memory.
:Cody [past]: Thank you, Mallory. I love you too, I never want to leave your side.
:Mallory [past]: I just hope things can last, because I can see a bright future ahead for all of us in the next three years.
:Cody [past]: I hope you're right...
Cody sighs as he leans back in his chair. They spent a good hour talking about Mallory.
:Cody: ...And that's why I care for Mallory so much. She used to be so sweet and gentle, she really was such a powerful friend, she was someone that you could rely in as long as you were close to her. I have a feeling that if she didn't take after you in some ways, that she could have become one of the best people in the universe.
Cody looks down.
:Cody: But that didn't come to fruition.
:Silver: That's a lot to process, but with all the knowledge I have of the past now, that all lines up. Mallory was destined to do great things, she wanted to advance technology and make colonization of the universe be more efficient. She wanted to place an end to all wars. She was relying on me to rule the universe so that I could help her get a headstart on all of that, and it never happened because we didn't know what we were doing and we fucked up sometime before we even got close to doing all that.
:Cody: It sucks that Mallory couldn't live her vision, but sometimes shit happens.
Silver nods.
:Cody: It's a shame that the only solution there'll be to stopping Mallory from doing any more damage is to straight-up kill her. I'm starting to think that it's probably going to be good for her, I think living is enough suffering for her now.
:Silver: Mmm, I suppose.
Silver goes over to some cabinets, getting out as much as Advil as he can, pulling out his old mercenary suit, and bringing out his Corey Taylor mask. Silver starts to get things together.
:Silver: I am angry at her for a lot of things she's done, and I'm angry at myself for even more stuff, so I suppose it'll be fitting for me to just get this over with already. It'll be good for both of us, I think, even if I still feel a tinge of guilt about killing her.
:Cody: Don't let your guilt stop you. ...I'm going to join you on the 4th. Do what you need to over the next couple of days, I'll be patient.
Silver nods.
:Silver: Thank you. I'm going to start going around the sectors to gather as much as I can, whatever I think will be necessary, and see if I can learn anything about the location of the final zodiac stone. Wish me luck.
:Cody: You can do it, Silver. Good luck.
:Silver: I'm going to sleep first, I need a lot of rest.
Cody nods.
:Cody: Take as much time as you need. I recommend wrapping up stuff over the next few days.
Silver goes to his room, holding a backpack and placing all his stuff. Things were going to get big...
:3:10 A.M. · SUNDAY November 2nd, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep, Secret Underground, New Naxaz City
Early on November 2nd, we see the Manipulator staring down at Mallory, who was preparing all her allies for what's going to happen the day after tomorrow and how they have to prepare. It was up in her ceiling with Smartie. They were across from each other, fully aware of the other, yet doing nothing about each other.
:The Manipulator: Look down there, little vampire.
Smartie looks down. Mallory was busy shouting commands at her teammates.
:Mallory: Today, you're going to take your positions and begin figuring out how the hell you're going to get rid of Silver, or at least stall him for long enough for me to prepare to make my weapon with all the zodiac stones in my possession! There will be no objections, if you don't conform I will make you conform!
With all the Mallorian followers having been taken off the satellite, Mallory's had to rely on her allies harder than ever to do work, which was considerably dangerous given how she's been acting to them.
:Mallory: DO YOU HEAR ME? No more bullshit, you are going to work to take that motherzoinker down, or I'm going to begin screaming your names for you to come over her so I can fucking make you cry!
Mallory is holding her all-too-familiar bat, complete with the nail at the tip. If Cody were here, he'd be traumatized by that weapon, considering how many times it's been used against him before.
:Mallory: I don't want to hear any complaining. START WORKING!
The Manipulator darkly chuckles under its breath as it stares at Smartie.
:The Manipulator: Soon, very soon, there will be beautiful chaos in this little dimension. How do you feel?
:Smartie: I ain't talkin' ter ya.
:The Manipulator: Ah, you must be up here to spy on Mallory's commands, that sounds like something I should consider tattling on you for. But there's no point. Soon enough, you will die.
:Smartie: Vot're ya tryin' ter do ter Mallory, ya sick fudger? I've had ter spy on y'all fer veeks now n' I've learned dat yer da most twisted evil mutherzoinker I've ever laid me eyes on! Vot's yer deal, matey?
:The Manipulator: Speak English.
:Smartie: Don't even dink 'bout insultin' me language ven yer da one dat's bein' a feckin' arsehole!
:The Manipulator: There's nothing you can really do about your life, so I suppose I'll tell you who I really am. I am a special deity known as the Manipulator, it is my duty to guide great evils towards personal self-destruction through messing with their wants and needs and exploiting their weaknesses. It has been my goal for three long years to take out Silver and Mallory, the two biggest threats to the Zaxiverse, shall I not handle my goal responsibly, I shall face against my master. You shall never see my master, it transcends the processing capabilities of the human brain and will render anyone who sees it instantly insane.
The Manipulator drifts itself around her.
:The Manipulator: I have two partners, which I personally call the Devourer and the Reality Bender, even though they have their own preferred aliases. I am the Brainwasher, and the leader of this little troupe.
:Smartie: Ehhh. [shrugs] I don't get it.
:The Manipulator: What?
:Smartie: Ya vasted yer mouth on someone vho couldn't pay attention ter crap in history class.
:The Manipulator: Ahhh, what a waste of an explanation, then. Very well.
It drifts away from Smartie, breathing quietly.
:The Manipulator: If my master doesn't see that Silver and Mallory are deceased, he warns that soon enough, they will unlock their full potential and gain an uncontrolled grip over the universe. They will become nearly unstoppable, like their father was.
:Smartie: Don't care.
:The Manipulator: To cut this conversation short then, I'm doing what I'm doing to Mallory because she needs to die. She and Silver need to die together, ooh, it'll be messed up if they don't.
The Manipulator smirks. Mallory's managed to clear out her room. She returns to her throne, sobbing. It drifts down to her, Smartie watching with disgust as it lands itself on her lap.
:Smartie: Lord help me.
:8:32 A.M. · SUNDAY November 2nd, ZXE-223
:Skull Valley, Sector 1
Silver makes his way into Sector 1, running his way through Skull Valley. There were no savages to be seen, which would usually occupy places like this, letting Silver get the run through. He's wearing his repaired mercenary suit, wearing a better Corey Taylor mask that protects him from breathing in the poisons.
:Silver: Gotta get to the Kilmister Labs, there's some crap that I gotta pick up that I think will help me out.
Silver runs his way through the valley. We see Munira as he runs through. She scratches her head.
:Munira: Oh right, silly me, I've gotta get out of the satellite! Hopefully that dude, forgotten his name I guess, appreciates the fact I've made all the maps this satellite uses. Made 'em all in my youth!
Munira laughs as she gets up, ready to go take an escape pod out of the satellite. Silver rushes his way through- he's got to be quick or he's not going to be able to get all the resources he needs from each sector today.
:Silver: Let's... get... moving...!
::
::
Silver quickly arrives at the Kilmister Labs, breaking his way in through the front door and entering Black Haze's studio.
:Silver: There's absolutely some tools I'm gonna need for later.
Silver heads down to the basement where he initially met the Manipulator. Silver burns a candle, the same he'd use to light his heroin spoons, to light up the room. After switching off the light, he grabs what he was able to see: a spirit sucker, a stone detector, a Mallory detector, and an air freshener.
:Silver: Wonder how this stone detector got left here?
Silver moves over to Devina's fridge. He opens it up, lighting up the room. He sweats as he sees a number of untouched energy drinks in there, holy crap. Silver begins to stuff his backpack with like all twelve of them.
:Silver: No way I'm gonna be able to pace through all the sectors without these, I suppose I should leave some in here but I'm gonna be rude and make Devina buy all her energy drinks again 'cuz I need these way more than her.
Silver casually zips up his backpack, climbing up the spiral staircase and going into the studio room. He steals as many of Devina's records as possible, some of her own music but many of her personal records. He also manages to find a black glass of liquid on the counter, he gets too curious.
:Silver: What's this?
Silver sips it, then spits it out.
:Silver: I really hope that wasn't Black Eyes' oil waste.
We see Black Eyes dabbing inside his locker back on Kýrios' Ark.
:Black Eyes: I felt it! Silver fell for the prank!
:Devina: What... what are you talking about...?
:Black Eyes: I can feel my oil anywhere, left a bit out for Silver. Heh heh heh! Ahhh.
Silver breaks his way out of Devina's house, having raided whatever he could.
:Silver: Sector 4 next!
:9:10 A.M. · SUNDAY November 2nd, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep, Secret Underground, New Naxaz City
Mania and Beck are readying themselves for their confrontation for Silver on the 4th, fully aware he's going to visit since Mallory doesn't show any sign of changing her mind anytime soon.
:Mania: I really don't want to destroy the satellite, Beck.
:Beck: Can't believe she saved me from smashing my own face in, but she's gonna make go Silver do it instead.
Beck sighs.
:Beck: I'm really sick of Mallory's behavior, it's driving me nuts.
:Mania: Yeah, if only Cody wasn't such a sell-out for her or that spirit never showed up in the first place...
Beck nods.
:Beck: I'm the fourth meat shield, you're the fifth, it's even more fucked up that Ferris has to be a meat shield too.
:Mania: Mhmmm.
Mania turns around to look at her master. Mallory was attempting to get ready for Silver's eventual attack, drinking down a huge quantity of wine as the Manipulator licks at her neck with its cold tongue. A tongue with no meaning or emotional attachment.
:Beck: My potential's being wasted, this is so embarrassing...!
:Mania: Her potential is being wasted too, honestly.
:Beck: I wanna tell Ferris to run, but I greatly fear what that'll mean for him.
:Mania: She has us so well under her thumb, but she's so well under that thing's thumb, that's why... if only Kispel didn't start worshipping Mallory the way he did. That's when her balance started to slip.
:Beck: No use in complaining about him, I suppose.
Beck closes his eyes.
:Beck: Time to die a soldier.
Mania nods. Not because she agreed, but because she knew she had no choice in the matter. What were her choices? If she disobeyed Mallory, she'd be placed in a prison cell on permanent suicide watch. If she fought Silver, she'd likely die anyway or at least die in the explosion. The effects of the satellite explosion would be able to destroy this place...
:Mania: I guess.
:10:23 A.M. · SUNDAY November 2nd, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep, Secret Underground, New Naxaz City
Silver makes his way into Sector 4, running down the long caverns. He slides down them down on his ass, as many of them have sharp downwards-leading inclines. He uses his Mind Weaver to stop his momentum now and then, using it to drift around corners. He makes his way off a ramp, landing into the deep snow of the Forbidden Tundra.
:Silver: Looks like it's time to look around for that super-rare root.
Silver looks around as wildly as he can, kicking up the snow. Once again, there were no humans near him, then again, there were rarely any down here. He comes across the Shutdown Squad's tent.
:Silver: Funny how this squad disbanded shortly after Mallory's capture, then she escaped again so most of that work was pointless.
Silver shakes his head.
:Silver: That's why they trust me to do this instead.
Silver runs off into the snow- it's time to find that root as soon as he can!
::
::
After venturing deep into the tundra, Silver gets his hands on the rare root, plucking it out of the ground. He pockets it quickly, smirking as he looks proud of himself, shrugging the snow off his four horns.
:Silver: Glad Syinara taught me about this rare root, it should come in handy with that confrontation with Mallory.
Silver stretches himself out. Even though he was alone, he felt something strangely great about being by himself. No annoying strangers, no annoying authorities, he might not have his partners with him, but sometimes you need a break from your lovers. Make sure you have enough personal space!
:Silver: Alright, guess I better start going to Sector 5, there's some really nice stuff I bet's waiting there for me.
Silver leaves the sector, sliding down an icy hill on his butt. He hisses a little bit as he does this, because it really was super cold, but he's used to any chilling sensations at this point because he's spent three and a half years around Medea.
:Silver: Let's not waste much more time.
Silver makes his way out of the tundra, starting to run his way back up. Werine storms her way outside of a cavern, watching Silver go up. Seeing his backpack, she pants ferally as she begins to spring after him. Looks like she's going to escape the satellite before it blows up, too.
:11:02 A.M. · SUNDAY November 2nd, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep, Secret Underground, New Naxaz City
Quade shakes nervously as he holds his bombs, waiting for further instructions from Mallory. He looked like a nervous wreck, Mallory was placing him up to a task he wasn't sure was possible. Mallory is unstoppable, but Silver kind of is, too. Neither looked like they were gonna go down any time soon. Was he to die?
:Quade: Scotch, my cousin, please save me from this terrible mistake I've made.
Quade felt cold. It wasn't even particularly cold where he was standing, he just shivered because he wasn't sure how he was going to deal with the obstacles ahead of him.
:Quade: I'm sorry for doubting you, Scotch. I know you can't hear me, but you were right about me chasing the wrong woman. I thought that by serving her, I'd get what I wanted, but I didn't really see the signs.
Quade looks at his hands.
:Quade: When you denied me a position in your army because I was an immature spoiled brat, you weren't lying. I thought I was doing myself justice by turning the other cheek, but I trapped myself in hell and I don't think I'm leaving it anytime soon.
Quade looks back at Mallory. The Manipulator was licking her cheek as Mallory drunk away at another bottle of wine. Mallory was barely able to move, she was being babied so much by this foul, alien creature...
:Quade: In an alternative timeline, I would have just tried to improve my behavior instead of trying to "act cool" the way I did.
Quade feels his eyes tear up.
:Quade: Cousin, if I could change anything from back then, it would be the way I treated you. The way I threw fights when I didn't get what I want, the way I hurt people when they talked back to me, I learned these mistakes from her.
Quade breathes as the Manipulator has an arm around Mallory. Its unfeeling tongue reaches inside of her ear. It cannot feel anything, there is nothing the Manipulator can feel from this. Mallory can feel it, and it is simply awful- her face actively cringes as it does this.
:Quade: Save me from this embarrassing nightmare!
:12:40 P.M. · SUNDAY November 2nd, ZXE-223
:Foggy Swamp, Sector 5
Silver dashes his way inside Sector 5, making his way across the swamp. Silver makes his way across moving logs, keeping his filled-up backpack with him as he breathes hard in the mask. There was still poisonous air everywhere, but as long as he kept injecting himself with Medea's needles now and then, it didn't matter. The Slipknot mask helped in blocking some of that air from reaching his throat.
:Silver: I've got a couple of things to save from this sector, let's make this trip worth it.
Silver rushes over rushing rapids, swinging from vines and avoiding getting snapped alive by some gators as he makes his way through. Oh yeah, Silver realized to himself. There was still plenty of wildlife.
:Silver: Not much more to go. Peppertown, here I come!
Silver rushes his way across the rapids as fast as he can.
::
::
Silver manages to make his way over to Peppertown. He breaks his way through to the Amour Clinic, breaking through Spade's window and glancing around her office.
:Silver: It's ya bad boy, Silver!
Silver looks around the office. Oh yeah, he remembered. Nobody's home.
:Silver: Oh yeah, that's right. Spade left this job anyways.
Silver pulls open Spade's drawer of records. He reaches in, pulling out his personalized folder. He opens it up, looking through it for anything that'd be useful. He finds all the things Spade's recommended to him to get over his problems, including Advil, which he already has. Silver takes one now anyway.
:Silver: Probably was good to open this up, but there's nothing here that'd help me. Considering all my health records are on this courtesy of Medea sending my health checkup reports to her though, I should still pocket it.
Silver places it in his backpack. It's getting heavy, but he doesn't care. He turns his attention to the counter, Spade's (probably stale) chocolate slabs catching his attention. They were inside a plastic case, so they're still fresh.
:Silver: Ooh, I love that stuff.
Silver pulls out a Ziploc bag, shoving as much of that chocolate as possible inside of it.
:Silver: Time to pay Sector 3 a visit!
Silver breaks out one of Spade's windows. I mean, there was no way she was gonna care at this rate.
:1:39 P.M. · SUNDAY November 2nd, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep, Secret Underground, New Naxaz City
Kispel shakes horribly as he anticipates Silver's arrival on November 4th. He closes his eyes, feeling guilty as the Manipulator licks Mallory's belly behind his eyes. Kispel is joined by Cameron, who's looking fairly malicious but you can still see some kind of regret in his eyes too.
:Kispel: What have I done, I was so foolish to follow Mallory so blindly. I was so foolish to ensure her she was flawless and do absolutely nothing to point out her mistakes. Now she won't listen to anyone who defies her.
:Cameron: Heeeeehh, I kinda regret all of this.
:Kispel: What do you have to regret, Cameron? As far as I'm aware, you were always unconcerned for the satellite.
:Cameron: I dunno, just seeing everyone just not happy about this... makes me regret the poison plan.
Cameron walks off.
:Kispel: Where are you going?
:Cameron: Gonna do what I should've done a while back.
:Kispel: What?
Kispel hears the faint sound of a gun going off. Kispel knew what happened, but didn't strongly react considering he didn't know Cameron well. Still, it wasn't pleasant to him, especially considering the Violet Reaper already died through the same way.
:Kispel: Hhhnng. [swallows] I'm alone now, where's Cody...
Kispel sits alone.
:Kispel: I remember when we had Niki with us, when we would play fetch with her and all. It was so strange, but it was so relaxing and Mallory had a great time. God, I remember when she was stable and so wonderful to be around.
Kispel closes his eyes.
:Kispel: I made her believe she was perfect. This is my fault.
Kispel falls to the floor as the Manipulator gives Mallory another wine.
:2:46 P.M. · SUNDAY November 2nd, ZXE-223
:Downtown Matchon, Sector 3
Silver's managed to make his way into the superheated Sector 3's capital city, breaking his way in. He smirks as he looks at the long, long downhill road ahead of him.
:Silver: This might be a bit stupid considering I'm wearing such a heavy backpack, but I'm gonna skate down this street! Good thing that Junkhead taught me everything there is to know about street life.
Silver holds his skateboard down on the concrete road, glancing down the long road.
:Silver: Alright, guess if I'm gonna go to Junkhead's as soon as possible...
Silver begins to take off, grinning as he gets to gain some serious momentum.
:Silver: ...I'm gonna have to go rolling around at the speed of sound!
Silver jumps up high, landing on the road with his board and beginning to go down with it.
::
::
Silver manages to make his way to Junkhead's hideout, opening the way inside. Silver grins as he sees that there's plenty of drugs left to loot, turns out there's been some unconscious people in here. Just three. Silver moves over, picking the three of them up and starting to shake them.
:Silver: Wake up!
Silver watches them barely become conscious.
:Junkie #1: Whu, what happened?
:Silver: Y'all, you have to leave the satellite! You might've missed the memo that the satellite's been poisoned! Head outside, quickly summon some space pods, and take yourselves to the Docking Haven!
:Junkie #2: You're cute, you wanna go out?
:Silver: Sorry, but I don't have time for this.
Silver rummages through Junkhead's drawers. He manages to stock up on as much heroin, cocaine, meth, etc. as he can, and stuffs them inside airtight containers. He places them in his backpack, taking a deep breath.
:Silver: Alright, that about does it for this place.
Silver turns around, seeing the junkies have fallen back asleep.
:Silver: Guys? C'mon.
Silver attempts to shake them awake.
:Silver: Fine, whatever, you three can die. I've got some really important business to do.
Silver leaves them alone. He really didn't have time for this bullcrap, can you blame him? Hopefully they remember to get up and get to the Docking Haven, or they might just blow up if all doesn't go the way Silver intends.
:Silver: To Sector 2 I go, I've got one last stop to do.
:3:52 P.M. · SUNDAY November 2nd, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep, Secret Underground, New Naxaz City
Ferris sniffles as he plays with the Violet Reaper's outfit, which hasn't been worn in a long while. It was stained in blood, and there was a hole leading straight through the stained glass bit.
:Ferris: Villie, why'd you have to leave me like that...
Ferris sniffles into her clothes.
:Ferris: Y-YOU WERE MY ONLY FRIEND!
Ferris holds her ragged clothes. Fragments of glass laid on the floor before him as his hands clutched right onto the glass. His hands were cut up from holding onto those fragments so tightly, she didn't die that long ago and he was still having trouble taking it well.
:Ferris: I miss you Villie, this place is so much darker without you...
Ferris sniffles as he tries to let go of her robes.
:Ferris: What would Morticia say if she found out her daughter died...
Ferris was a rotten child, but that was starting to be dialed back for him. Mallory didn't really have enough room in her head to process she's dead, Morticia doesn't know her daughter is dead, and Ferris has to deal with all of this privately.
:Ferris: Considering Villie died at the hands of Morticia's worst enemy... ahh, lord.
Ferris tries to calm down. The Manipulator is shown gripping Mallory's neck as she breathes hard, her heart thumping wildly as the Manipulator swallows her attention span in its blisteringly cold air.
:Ferris: I wish Villie wasn't taken away from me. She d-didn't deserve to die.
Ferris looks back at Mallory, seeing the horrible state of pain she was in.
:Ferris: Mallory probably doesn't even remember she's dead, or that she's the reason why she killed herself.
Ferris sniffs. We see a black-and-white flashback in his head where Mallory's shown yelling at him and the Violet Reaper for screwing around, screaming at them and coming after them with their Mind Weaver. The amount of stress that they've had to go through as just teens was too much, and soon, the Violet Reaper took her life by overdosing on midol.
:Ferris: Someone please kill Mallory already.
:7:08 P.M. · SUNDAY November 2nd, ZXE-223
:Main Path, Sector 2
Silver rushes into the water-filled Sector 2, looking for the Ocean Manor. Silver breathes hard as he moves forward, his backpack becoming pretty heavy on him.
:Silver: I promised myself I'd help Jezebeth escape, so it's time to bring her out.
Silver dashes his way through the sector, using his air freshener to clear out the poisonous air. He sees the sea life around him beginning to die, taking a deep breath.
:Silver: If I can manage to save this satellite from its demise, there's gonna have to be a lot of work done to save this poor sea life. I can see all the water turning purple.
Silver gulps. He knows what this means for Jezebeth.
:Silver: Crap!
Silver dashes on as fast as he possibly can.
::
::
Silver manages to make his way to the Ocean Manor. Stepping inside, he uses his air freshener to clean up the air before storming over to Jezebeth's tank. It looked horrible in there, and Jezebeth looked horrible.
:Silver: Whoever did this poison attack wasn't thinking straight.
Silver pulls up Jezebeth. She looked surprised as she came onto land. Silver pulls out the root he took from Sector 4, having her eat it up as he sticks some needles across her body to drive the poisons out of her.
:Silver: There there, you'll be fine.
Silver smiles at Jezebeth, who breathes hard as he helps inject the poison out of her.
:Silver: Alright you, I promised you a long while ago that I'd like to take you home. It takes a considerable amount of energy to make a portal, so I'll be unable to make another one for a couple of days, but I'm doing this just for you.
Silver smiles at her. Jezebeth returns a smile as she curls up around his legs, watching Silver pull out his Mind Weaver.
:Silver: Let's get ya home!
Silver opens a rift in the air with his weapon. It takes a considerable amount of his energy to make portals, so he can't make these more than one without draining most of his vital juices, but he manages to make one leading to Jezebeth's homeland.
:Silver: I've learned a good amount of knowledge from Zellen on how to make portals anywhere, this one should lead to the coordinates to your homeworld. I'm so sorry that you had to be dealing with this crap.
Jezebeth smiles. When Silver picks her up, she smacks him clear on the lips.
:Silver: Awww, you.
Silver smiles as he hoists her inside the portal, dropping her back in with the rest of her kind.
:Silver: Goodbye, Jezy!
Jezebeth smiles, waving at him, going to swim off with her fellow beasts. Silver closes up the portal, taking a deep sigh.
:Silver: Was gonna use the root if Mallory hurt me too badly, but I made a promise and I intended on keeping it.
Silver walks away, breathing hard as he had a massive migraine. He takes another Advil and takes a break.
:Silver: Gonna have to stop here for the night.
Silver texts Cody.
:Silver [typing]: i'm gonna sleep over here at the ocean manor, u can do whatever at my place
:Cody [typing]: okay got it
:Cody [typing]: btw
:Cody [typing]: got a text from vilicus telling me that the violet ghost thing is a binch-ass motherzoinker and that he pissed on his life, so the last stone's in sector 4 when u feel like picking it up
:Silver [typing]: oh nice
:Cody [typing]: he told me to tell you to give him the middle finger
:Silver [typing]: i'll remember XD
Silver pockets his phone. He goes to sit down on one of the guest beds at the Ocean Manor. He tried not to look at the deteriorating life around him as he goes to sleep on the bed that Scotch was using last time we saw him here.
:Silver: Oh? What's this?
Silver picks up a letter from the bedside counter.
:Silver [reading]: Dear Silver, I apologize for my outrageous and completely awful behavior. I was thinking that we could hang out sometime at Oyster's place in the Stenographer Garden and talk things out? I'm uninterested in being the grouchy militaristic asshole I was before, I was hoping we could rekindle the friendship we had before you ceased being a mercenary. Dunno if you'd be interested, but-
Silver scratches his head.
:Silver: ...Huh, must've been Scotch's letter. He never finished it.
Silver smiles.
:Silver: Someday I'd like to, old chap.
Silver writes that down on the letter before stuffing it into his backpack.
:Silver: Alright, time to sleep. Gonna need the rest I need for tomorrow.
Silver drifts himself off to sleep on the guest bed.
:12:00 P.M. · MONDAY November 3rd, ZXE-223
:Kýrios' Ark
Meanwhile, way out in space, we see Silver's partners. They were inside the same giant locker spaces that were discussed at the end of last chapters. We can only see their faces, as their bodies are all down to their basic garments for the sake of having easy showers. Zellen's locker was between Pierce's and Medea's, and right across from the likes of Valerie, Junkhead, and Agantuk.
:Pierce: Silver hasn't said much on the phone, hope he's alright.
:Medea: I'm sure he's just super busy, this shit would drive me crazy too.
Medea cackles as she uses her finger to draw funny faces on the glass of her locker.
:Pierce: I hope he's doing fine.
:Valerie: Everything's going to go perfectly fine, Silver should be able to bring himself to Kýrios' Ark by either November 4th or 5th depending on how early he leaves on the former day.
:Medea: That day's tomorrow, damn, so strange to think I've been away from him for as long as I have!
:Valerie: See? We're over halfway through this. I'm sure whatever Silver's doing right now, he's almost ready to take on Mallory, then he'll come after us. [smiles] Don't worry too much.
:Pierce: These restraints keeping me inside are killing me, ooh god, this is horrible for my posture.
:Valerie: Did you try cranking the lever to your side?
:Pierce: Oh, haha, I should have realized that.
Pierce sits in a much more comfortable position, taking a deep breath and relaxing.
:Pierce: Ahhh.
:Zellen: Silvie just sent me a text telling me he's gonna do something awesome that'll get him the upper hand! [rattles her locker] I'm really anxious, but excited to see what comes out of that!
:Pierce: You know Zellen, you don't really have to be here for the ride if you don't wanna be.
:Zellen: Are you kidding? Do you think I'd miss a ride through space wearing no clothes?
:Pierce: I knew what answer what I was going to get, yet I'm still disappointed.
Pierce and Zellen laugh. Junkhead's snoozing away in his locker as Agantuk tries really hard to not look at the gemstone he's got on the floor. He knows what's going to happen, and as such, this conversation is making him feel horrible.
:Agantuk: Can you all keep it quiet, I wanna catch some Z's...
:Medea: Alright, fineee.
:Agantuk: Thank you.
Pierce sets up a private conversation host from his locker. Medea, Zellen, and Valerie connect.
:Valerie: Convenient that we can have private conversations like this! Interesting how that second layer of glass that goes over our windows can completely isolate our voices into our lockers.
:Medea: These lockers are pretty well constructed.
:Zellen: You think I can turn myself upside down in this seat?
:Medea: Zellen! Probably not recommended.
:Zellen: I'm gonna do it! I'm gonna turn upside down!
Valerie watches Zellen try, but she crashes down on her back.
:Zellen: Ack! Slippery seats!
:Pierce: I'm looking forward to spending some time with Silver, I bet he'd be interested in how these seats work. Especially because he could get Takis dispensed in his mouth literally any time he wanted.
:Valerie: He would love that, wouldn't he?
:Pierce: Yeah, absolutely.
:Medea: Really hoping he makes his arrival soon, I'm having horrible hugging cravings right now. Like, it really doesn't feel right to not have any physical contact for days!
:Zellen: Me too, Meddy.
Zellen sits back up, cleaning the cuts on her legs.
:Zellen: I wanna see him soon.
:12:51 P.M. · MONDAY November 3rd, ZXE-223
:Spiral Tower, Sector 4
::
::
The Methademic climbs the stairs to the Spiral Tower. It sees the final zodiac stone resting on the pedestal. If he grabbed it, Mallory could make a weapon instantly that could destroy Silver...
:The Methademic: Looks like the stone's mine. [hic] Don't see Silver gettin' it.
The Methademic walks over to it, but when he attempts to grab it, he sees it disappear right before his eyes.
:The Methademic: Whomst'd've'ly'yaint'nt'ed'ies's'y'es!?
The Methademic snorts hard after trying to utter that mess of a reaction. He sees Silver smirk, keeping the stone tightly grasped in his fingers. He grins hard at the Methademic, using his air freshener to clean up the room.
:Silver: Heh, you really thought you had the stone? You're a bit overconfident, mate!
:The Methademic: Not [snorts] yours! Give it back!
:Silver: I'm afraid not today!
Silver winks at him.
:Silver: This is mine now!
The Methademic snorts angrily as he attempts to take Silver down, but he slides to the side like a slippery skeleton, retaliating by throwing a couple of Nerve Chopper beams his way.
:Silver: Looks like you've asked for a... hm, not a great time!
:The Methademic: You're such an annoying [snorts] little meanie!
Silver avoids a slew of meth crystals, sticking his tongue out at him.
:The Methademic: I hate you!
:Silver: I hate you more, what's your point?
Silver gets himself battle-ready, pocketing his stone as the Methademic steps towards him.
:Silver: Alright, buddy!
::
::
Silver manages to beat up the Methademic, sending him sliding across the floor.
:Silver: Give up. I want you to go to the Docking Haven, and wait. I'm not going to hurt you any more than I have if you just follow my advice, you want to leave Mallory's abusive reins right? I took some time earlier this morning to reverse-engineer some space pods to accept different faces. So you can take one of them when the haven gate opens.
:The Methademic: I can't betray [snorts] Mallory.
:Silver: I'm sorry, but you're better off doing that than not doing that. You should do that.
The Methademic sighs and begins to drag himself off.
:The Methademic: You have [snorts] a point.
:Silver: I'm uninterested in hurting anyone or making anyone miserable. I just want to do what I think is right, and that is placing an end to Mallory's plans. Don't worry too much, you'll be able to escape soon.
As the Methademic leaves, Silver texts Azrail.
:Silver [typing]: thx for helping me learn how to reverse engineer some of the escape pods lol
:Azrail [typing]: No problem, Silver. Your empathy transcends any other being's that I can think of.
:Silver [typing]: ur cute
Silver pockets his phone.
:Silver: I guess I better head home, I think I've taken care of most things, I have a strange plan tonight, it'll hopefully work out.
:8:50 P.M. · MONDAY November 3rd, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep, Secret Underground, New Naxaz City
Mallory sighs as she sits alone in her room. Less than 24 hours remain until the explosive goes off.
:Mallory: Hhh.
Mallory just closes her eyes as her record player goes off. Her personal iPod was attached to it, playing what appeared to be music off of Silver's still-new "Don't Follow" record. Mallory slumps her head down, sighing.
:Mallory: I really miss having everything the way it was before.
Mallory sniffs. She looks around herself. She didn't see the Manipulator anywhere. It must have left her alone.
:Mallory: Silver, it hurts to hear your voice on this record...
Mallory looks around herself. She felt so much shame, so much loss, so much despair. She couldn't have a strong grasp on what else was going on around her; her friends couldn't touch her and she no longer cared about her own privacy.
:Mallory: I wish I could turn back.
Mallory sighs as she sits down, starting to cry a little bit as teardrops roll down her cheeks.
:Silver [record]: Allium flower, why are you hiding scars, underneath your stars?
Mallory sits up on her bed, listening intently.
:Silver [record]: Allium flower, why won't you bloom, even when the chance looms?
Mallory takes a deep breath. Allium flower. That's a strange name for her, but it had a special kind of ring to her. It's not a flower she knows well, but she knows it matches up with her color.
:Silver [record]: Allium flower, why starve your bees, why sway alone in the breeze?
Mallory closes her eyes.
:Silver [record]: Allium flower, you're rooted to the past, you need to break free at last...
Mallory listens to every word that Silver says. He has points, she's been hiding her inner turmoil, she's not changing a thing, she's pushing away her friends, and she's letting the past keep her down...
:Silver [record]: Listen...
Mallory listens intently.
:Silver [record]: Hey sister flower if you can hear me sing, it's never too late to change a thing! Hey sister flower if you can see me grow, your time to thrive is here you know! Hey sister flower if you can see me open wide, it's your turn to bloom with pride! Hey sister flower if you can see me smile, every smile brings you forth another mile.
Silver plays elegantly on his keyboard, Pierce wailing a soft melody in the background. Black Eyes' drums were upbeat but soft and friendly, Devina's bass carried the melody, and Vizole's acoustic guitar carries everything forward.
:Silver [record]: My allium sister it's alright if you fucked up, I fucked up too and I'm burning up, but sister there's always another shot for you, leave your past behind and march on through! My allium sister you might lose everything you've got, and you might not be doing so hot, but sister if you've absorbed everything I've taught, then stand up now and give life another shot!
Then the song ends. It was a short song, but it was to the point.
:Mallory: He really wrote those words for me, did he.
Mallory closes her eyes.
:Mallory: I... I appreciate the sentiment, Silver, but...
Mallory narrows her eyes.
:Mallory: There's still a job I have to do, and you know what job that is. This music, though sweet and I appreciate it, isn't going to save you from death.
Mallory then feels her eyes widen.
:Mallory: But, what if it wasn't supposed to...?
Mallory just thinks to herself.
:Mallory: Ghh, I can't waste my time.
Mallory switches off the record.
:Mallory: It's time for me to begin preparing for the next step.
:10:33 P.M. · MONDAY November 3rd, ZXE-223
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
Silver was sitting alone on the side of his bed.
:Silver: I don't know how I'm going to cope with the immense stress I'm going under, I have to face up against Mallory tomorrow, and I don't know how I'm going to make things work out. [closes his eyes] God, I'm going to die, that's going to be so heartbreaking, if I fail before my partners, oh god, what would they begin saying about me!?
Silver breathes heavily.
:Silver: This is h-horrible feeling, oh god, this feeling in my s-stomach. Aaahh.
Silver is alone in his room. Cody was snoring away in the guest bedroom.
:Silver: God, I know what Mallory wants to do tomorrow, and I haven't thought out how I'm gonna take her down!
Silver bangs his fist against his table.
:Silver: What's the point...
Silver bangs his head hard against his table. He goes ahead and breaks it, knowing that crap's probably not going to matter in less than twenty-four hours. He clenches his fists.
:Silver: I really don't wanna do anything, I wanna have my partners back, I need help, I need love, I need respect. It's so lonely in here, it's so cold, it's depressing!
Silver shivers.
:Silver: If only I had a drink, it'd probably make me feel better.
Silver grips something in his pocket. He's still fully dressed, taking deep breaths.
:Silver: Heh, I really hate how horrible I feel tonight, like this might have been my worst month in a long time. If only I had Medea's cold hands to massage down my back...
Silver groans, banging his head against the wall. The one furthest from Cody, to prevent himself from waking him up.
:Silver: Fuck! Fuck...
The Manipulator slips itself through Silver's roof, holding several alcohol glasses. It smirks as it floats its way down to him.
:Silver: God, if only.
:The Manipulator: Silver, I've got just what you want...
Silver nods quietly.
:Silver: Yeah, you have that right. SIKE!
Silver pulls out his spirit sucker gun, making the Manipulator freeze.
:Silver: YOU FELL FOR IT!
:The Manipulator: What? What do you mean? I saw the look in your eyes...!
:Silver: I KNOW WHAT YOU REALLY ARE!
Silver springs to his feet, stepping to the Manipulator as it begins to go backwards.
:The Manipulator: Impossible!? You have broken the loop.
:Silver: I've gotten a lot of complaints about you, you sick bastard!
Silver pulls the middle finger to him.
:Silver: That's from Vilicus!
:The Manipulator: Tch! No matter, I cannot let you share any more information about me, I'll make sure you die tonight! Or at least, I'll do what master commands...
Silver thunders across the room, attempting to corner this beast.
:The Manipulator: Nooo, you're not going to get your way, Silver!
Cody stands at the doorway, making the Manipulator squeal as it's cornered.
:The Manipulator: E-Enough! Silver Zin, Cody Zin!
The Manipulator closes its eyes.
:The Manipulator: Your deaths come tonight!
Silver looks at Cody.
:Silver: You two married?
:Cody: Yeah, it was a private wedding.
Cody sighs.
:Cody: I'm your brother-in-law.
:The Manipulator: NO MORE TALKING!
Silver turns his attention back to the Manipulator.
:Silver: THEN LET'S END THIS, CREEP!
::
::
The Manipulator collapses, starting to scream as it attempts to resist the spirit sucker in Silver's hand.
:The Manipulator: S-Silver Zin, you foul, f-foul creature, NO REST LIES FOR THE WICKED! You haven't seen the l-last of me, those machines d-don't hold me for l-long!
Silver just smirks to himself. The Manipulator's being turned into shredded paper out the other end.
:Silver: I mean, the ones from three years ago could hold you temporarily, but Devina's upgraded these a while back. THEY'LL SHRED YOU!
:The Manipulator: N-NO! C-CEASE THIS AT ONCE!
The Manipulator screams as it attempts to escape the machine, but its grip slips.
:The Manipulator: SILVER ZIN, T-THERE IS NO R-REST FOR THE W-WICKED, THIS WORLD IS A W-WORSE PLACE WITHOUT ME, STOP DOING THIS TO ME, I-I NEED TO SAVE, THIS, WO-
The Manipulator gets turned completely into shredded paper.
:Cody: Holy shit!
:Silver: It's gone.
Silver laughs as he hugs his brother-in-law tightly.
:Silver: Guess it couldn't do much after that.
:Cody: The others are destroyed, too.
Silver picks up the shredded papers. He smiles as he takes out his lighter, using it to completely incinerate these papers.
:Silver: Let's go to sleep. We have a big day ahead of ourselves.
Cody nods.
:Cody: Can... Can I just sleep with you, Silver? I could use the snuggles.
Silver nods.
:Silver: Yeah, get over here.
Silver drinks down one of the last bottles of wine that the Manipulator left behind, with Cody taking another as they climb into bed. They don't stay up for long, eventually going to sleep.
====Chapter Twenty-Four: All I Am====
"You know, I wouldn't have been able to write this biography in full if I didn't receive that mysterious package one day. At one point, his journal got stolen, and thus it never received any updates after October 10th. But some mysterious (and anonymous) person left a bunch of notes on my package tracking down what's been going on at Mallory's place, and wrote the last known details of Silver's life, there was a lot that person uncovered that I couldn't have otherwise. Anyway, as you might have guessed, November 4th was a massive and groundbreaking event that changed the lives of people forever. It was a do or die situation, Zin against Zin...
I was very impressed by how far Silver had come, the fact he was able to get his crap back together, and the fact that he could be an even match for Mallory. But I wasn't exactly prepared for what would come out of the confrontation, let's say..."
Blossom Forger continues what she does best in her office.
:Blossom: Oh my, it wasn't what I was thinking it'd be.
:4:55 A.M. · TUESDAY November 4th, ZXE-223
:Stone Well #66, Stenographer Garden, New Naxaz City
 
Silver was deep asleep, snoring away with his arms wrapped around Cody. We see the Dream Weaver sitting up on a high shelf, with a strange pink pulsating object inside a flask in his hands.
 
:Dream Weaver: Making sure he keeps having the perfect dream, he needs something beautiful before it's time to wake up.
 
:???: D-Dream Weaver, you've done excellently with this s-setup.
 
:Dream Weaver: They've done well in proving their worth to stay alive, but it isn't something I'm capable of, lifting them outside of this. I feel just a light tinge of guilt that I've tested them the way I have, but as we both know, this was all intentional from the start...
 
:???: Ah, y-yes.
 
The pulsating object in the flask appears to breathe.
 
:???: My creations, the Brainwasher, the Devourer, the Reality Bender, it's intriguing that t-they couldn't last. There is some u-undeniable worth in Silver, perhaps he's not as bad as I envisioned.
 
:Dream Weaver: It is somewhat unfortunate that things have to come to the conclusion they're coming to, though. Soon enough, this whole place may cease to exist, unless something very fast is done.
 
:???: Still, shall Silver prevail t-this battle, the universe shall be in good hands. S-Silver has earned redemption in this timeline. I-I know everything about him, my eye sees over him all the time, I know everything about everyone. Ultimately, I feel like my trials were overcome with great responsibility.
 
The object, revealed to be sphere-shaped, falls flat to the bottom of the flask.
 
:???: Mallory, though, shall she continue to be apathetic and weak, she shall deserve the death I foresee. She has caused so much destruction, it baffles my all seeing brain... ah, yes, I do hold slight responsibility.
 
:Dream Weaver: Mhmmm.
 
:???: My desire to see the boundaries of redemption, the minimum and maximum one's reputation can reach, that experiment has been completed tonight. I see now, the concept of change.
 
It breathes wildly.
 
:???: My two sides can rest together easier knowing this place is in good hands.
 
:Dream Weaver: Of course, Creator.
 
The Creator's sphere-like form is shown to look silver and violet.
 
:Creator: Being able to test these rebirths of ourselves the way we have was pure genius.
 
:Dream Weaver: Yes, let us go, Creator. They shall wake up in the next minute.
 
The Creator's sphere rolls around, as if to nod as the Dream Weaver picks up its flask. The Dream Weaver then disappears, leaving Silver and Cody alone as the alarm goes off. Silver wakes up, looking a bit tired.
 
:Alarm: INTO THE FLOOD AGAIN, SAME OLD TRIP IT WAS BAAACK THE-
 
Silver shuts up his alarm clock by hitting the snooze button, yawning and getting up. Cody starts to get up too, the two starting to get themselves dressed. Silver wore his mercenary clothes today, but wore his usual robes over them. He wanted to really feel like himself today.
 
:Silver: Good morning Cody. We've got a big day ahead of ourselves.
 
:Cody: Yeah.
 
Cody sighs as he closes his eyes and rubs them tiredly. He looked rather glum.
 
:Cody: So, you're going to face off against Mallory today. Do you want me to take your backpack over to the Docking Haven so that it doesn't weigh you down when you go pay her a visit?
 
:Silver: Sure, that sounds like it'd be a good idea. Make sure you open up the back zipper and lay out some of the drugs and drinks I've packed in there, I think anyone that's into them can use 'em to pass the time.
 
Silver picks up his backpack and sets it out before himself.
:Silver: I've got some crap to take out first, though.
 
Silver pulls out some of Devina's energy drinks, stuffing them into his pockets. He then takes some of Spade's chocolate, eating up half of it just to have the energy to carry himself through today.
 
:Silver: That's it, this should be good to go now.
 
:Cody: Alright. I'll try to make this quick, then when I come back, I'll lead you to where Mallory's hiding.
 
Silver nods as Cody goes to leave with Silver's backpack, which dangles loosely off his shoulders. He can still hearing the cleaning robots running above the surface, so Silver half-prayed that Cody wouldn't suddenly die at the hands of them any second now.
 
:Silver: Alright, guess it's time to call up my partners and tell them I'm off to see Mallory.
 
Silver begins to call up his partners, one by one. Considering it's November 4th, it would be a little messed up if he didn't say anything to them before heading off to go face Mallory. He breathes gently into the phone.
 
:Silver: Hey, Zellie!
 
:Zellen: Silvie! I've been getting super worried about you, I don't like it when I'm away from you for so long. Are you doing alright sweetheart, is there anything I can do for you? I'm desperate!
 
:Silver: Nah, there's nothing much you can really do for me at the moments. [laughs] Don't worry too much about me, Zellen. I'll be back by, roughly 6PM. That's a promise from me to you.
 
:Zellen: Okay Silvie, I love you so much, stay safe.
 
:Silver: Love you too, very much. Talk to you later. [blows a kiss] Mmmm.
:Zellen: Mmmm! [blows a kiss] Stay sharp, Silvie!
Zellen hangs up. He sighs a little, calling up Medea.
 
:Silver: Medea, are you awake?
 
:Medea: Oh my gosh, it's so wonderful to hear your voice Silver, you have no idea. [shakes head] Crap sorry, I mean, hello darling! Hearing your voice again made me so peppy that I forgot to say hello properly.
 
:Silver: It's so great to hear your voice too, honey.
 
:Medea: Aww, you have me smiling from ear to ear, it's giving me the chills just knowing how happy you make me.
 
:Silver: You make me super happy. I'll see you by 6PM, alright? That's what I'll strive for at least, I really look forward to squeezing in some quality time in with my partners today when I take care of Mallory.
 
:Medea: Alright sweetheart, I'll let you concentrate... love ya, thanks for the call!
 
Medea blows kisses to him, which he returns while grinning.
 
:Silver: 'Course, honey. I'll be back before you know it! Bye bye, babe.
 
:Medea: Byeeeee!
 
Medea hangs up on him. Silver begins to dial up Pierce's number.
 
:Pierce: Huh? Silver?
 
:Silver: Hey honey, I just wanted to call you to tell you that as soon as you hang up, I'm going to concentrate on taking out Mallory today. I've finished everything else, I'm a little anxious, but I'm going to kick ass for you. Love you.
 
:Pierce: I love you too Silver, more than anything. When do you plan on showing up?
 
:Silver: 6PM.
 
:Pierce: Ahhh. We're halfway through our journey to Satellite 10, by the way.
 
:Silver: Oh great, I'm happy to hear that. [smiles] How much of the satellite's culture has managed to survive onto that Ark thing?
 
:Pierce: I'd say a huge chunk of the satellite's culture is present aboard the ship, you know that everyone's packed a number of things to take with them before leaving. Why're you asking that?
 
:Silver: I'll talk about it later, alright? I'd like to explain when I get off the satellite.
 
:Pierce: I see. Well I love you honey, but I better let you concentrate. Please, have good luck with taking down Mallory. I am totally rooting for you, you know I am, and I look forward to your return!
 
:Silver: I'll see you around too, sweetheart.
 
Silver blows many kisses to him, as he does the same.
 
:Pierce: Good luck, it won't be easy, but I know you can do this.
 
:Silver: Thank you. I'll get ready now.
 
Silver hangs up. He knows that, once Cody comes back, it'll be time for him to face up against Mallory. At this point, he really has no more excuses. First, he just needs to get something to eat...
 
:5:40 A.M. · TUESDAY November 4th, ZXE-223
:Reactor Silo, Satellite 15
 
Down at the satellite's Reactor Silo, we see that the poison hasn't yet managed to reach this place, but it's still in very obvious danger. Our camera looks inside the burning inferno that the core is, and sees Cody's bomb in there ticking off. There are six hours and twenty minutes before detonation, a high-noon explosion. Silver has that much time to defeat Mallory and either shut off the explosive or escape to Kýrios' Ark. The real question was, could he make it?
 
:Mallory: There's not much time left before it blows up.
 
Mallory's shown staring at the core from a portal she's made that would lead herself to it. There goes her Herald energy for the day. She was alone now, the Manipulator was no longer with her, there was nobody to stand by her.
 
:Mallory: Once I've brought down Silver, I can quickly snatch up the last zodiac stone and use it to finish him off, then I'll leave the satellite with maybe Kispel and Cody if he comes back.
 
Mallory closes her eyes. We see she's sitting down on a throne-like chair, in this wide and spacious room. She breathes calmly, trying not to think too hard about what challenges are going to lie ahead of her.
 
:Mallory: I don't know where that ghost thing is, but I'm glad it's gone.
 
Mallory attempts to resist the substances that are near her and in easy reach. The Manipulator, for some years, has been giving Mallory much alcohol and wine to last a decade and has given her a number of experimental drugs. Her train fell off the tracks a while ago, but she's trying to resist getting into this bullcrap ever again. She can't beat Silver drunk.
 
:Mallory: The only way I'm going to beat Silver is if I stand up for myself and don't let anything control me. That, strange thing is gone, all my assistants are going to slow Silver down, and my plans are going to go as planned.
 
Mallory closes her eyes.
 
:Mallory: I've managed to gain the upper hand, I don't think there's anything that could stop me, but at what cost? All I've been trying to do is kill my younger brother for the misery he's given me and I've set the satellite on its way to self-destruction. Millions of species will be wiped out, hundreds of thousands of homes will disappear, so much culture will be lost. I've managed to alienate all my friends, I'm alone, nobody even wants to be around me anymore because I'm such a helpless control freak.
 
Mallory sighs angrily as she folds her legs over.
 
:Mallory: Silver, I don't really feel like fighting you, but when you're ready, I'm ready. I-I'm going to take you on and take you down for everything you've managed to do to me over the years. All that long-term damage will finally be returned in kind.
 
Mallory lets out a loud, high-pitched cackle. It's not because she feels any kind of pleasure or feels particularly advantegous. It's hard to explain- it's a very defeated, dry-sounding cackle, with the sound of hollow pleasure ringing through her tone.
 
:Mallory: Ahh, if only laughing could feel good again.
 
:7:15 A.M. · TUESDAY November 4th, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep Exterior, Secret Underground, New Naxaz City
 
At long last, Silver steps his way inside of the Purple Keep's anti-communication shield. All Wi-Fi gets disrupted from here on out, so if Silver doesn't have Mallory's online access (and fat chance he will), he won't be able to contact his partners. Silver stares at the three gravity-defying islands, surrounded by several miniature isles with rusted lighthouse and cracked towers sitting atop them. Many wrecking balls and maces hang loosely from these loose gravel/bone platforms, and a battered-looking purple and white castle sits on the biggest island. Silver has to make his way inside of this place, and fight Mallory at long last.
 
:Silver: I know she's here, I can feel it in my gut.
 
:Cody: This is where Mallory's been living for three and a half long years, undetected, unvisited, unseen. Mallory's throne room is on the highest floor, meaning that you're going to have to ascend all the way to the top.
 
:Silver: Right, I suppose this is her way of stalling before the explosive goes off.
 
:Cody: Wouldn't surprise me, Mallory's no stranger to fighting dirty like that.
 
Silver closes his eyes. He pulls out his Mind Weaver, striking it against the floor. He stares up at the intimidating structure of the Purple Keep, which towers above him.
:Silver: What a spectacle! The crumbled, destroyed look of the castle seems to be symbolic of Mallory's psyche. Here's hoping that it won't be too much of a hassle to get inside.
:Cody: I think it's likely that Mallory did some changes to the castle to prepare for your arrival. Mallory wants to see you for herself, but strangely enough, she's trying to kill you at the same time. Wonder which will come first?
:Silver: Guess I should expect the castle to be littered with traps, huh?
:Cody: That's a safe bet.
 
Silver begins to walk up to the castle with him.
:Cody: A couple of years ago, we would be frolicking outside the castle, having picnics and cookouts and just having grand times. But when Mallory lost her mind, those stopped. We'd still have some fun if she was sober, but she'd rarely partake in the action, and as time went on it became rarer and rarer for her to be sober.
:Silver: I don't blame any of you all for loving her, she sounded so sweet to you all.
:Cody: She might have done some really stupid crap to the rest of the satellite's citizens, but back when she was in her prime, I had every reason to love her and support her. I still do, but only because I'd be killed otherwise.
:Silver: Sorry that I have to kill her off, then.
:Cody: As much as I hate to say it, she probably deserves it at this point. She's cheated on me, cheated on Kispel, killed so many, and no longer seems to care about anyone but herself. I wonder if she even cares about herself anymore, last time I was here she hadn't used the shower for a week.
:Silver: I guess I sort of understand those self-destructive tendencies...? After all, I was mistreating myself for a long time, I'd suddenly fast myself and refuse to take care of my hygiene for days. And whenever I figure out that I fucked up, I just lock myself up in my bedroom and start beating myself up.
:Cody: Have you stopped doing that?
:Silver: Only because I learned just how much it would mean to my partners to stop doing that to myself.
:Cody: That's good. [looks down] I wish Mallory knew how much it would mean to me if she stopped.
Silver and Cody walk up onto the castle's bridge, but things got problematic when Quade and Kispel step their way out of the shadows, blocking their path. They looked mighty exhausted, looking rather unfit to fight these two, Kispel's head wasn't even directly facing them when they came out of hiding.
 
:Silver: I don't advise getting in my way, you know what I need to do.
 
:Kispel: I'm afraid that we're not allowed to simply let you proceed, Silver. We're only stopping you because we would face horrible consequences if we were to just let you on through.
 
:Quade: K... Kispel is right. L-Let us do what we need to do: stalling you.
 
:Kispel: I would've liked to keep things simple myself, but you know that Mallory's punishments are just the worst to deal with. Besides, I'd rather die trying to kill you than face more pain.
Cody sighs, placing his hand on Silver's shoulders.
 
:Cody: You have no choice, Silver, you're probably going to have to take them out if you want to move forward.
 
Silver looks irked as he holds out his Mind Weaver.
 
:Silver: I'm very uninterested in battling anybody but my main target today, so how about this? While I'm trying to run through Mallory's front doors, you two should attempt to take me down from a distance. Does that sound fair?
 
:Kispel: I guess...? I mean, I suppose that means we've still placed in an attempt to stop you.
 
:Silver: Then catch me if you can.
 
Silver begins to dash off, with Cody in close pursuit. Kispel begins to use his psychic powers to attempt to take them down while Quade attempts to throw a bunch of bombs to slow them down. Silver and Cody manage to get a fair distance away from them, it's time for the getaway.
 
::
::
 
Silver manages to outlast Quade and Kispel, who sweat and pant as they catch up to him, unable to hit him with anything anymore. Cody catches up to Silver, standing by his side.
:Quade: Damn it, how can a muscle-less t-twink be so fast?
 
:Silver: I've reverse-engineered some of the escape pods some time ago, so you two can escape the satellite whenever the Docking Haven opens next. You better understand that being with her won't be good for your health.
 
Quade sighs. He knew that there was no point fighting back against him.
 
:Quade: Alright, Silver, I guess we'll go. [closes his eyes] Make sure you find some way to spare the others inside, I'd deeply appreciate that. We were all forced to try and hold you back.
:Silver: No worries, I will.
 
:Kispel: Best of luck to you, Silver Zin, you know you're going to need it. Mallory won't let you go through so easily, you know, there's much to consider when jumping inside.
 
:Quade: Don't stay any longer than you need to, Silver.
 
Silver nods.
 
:Silver: I understand. Go along, I'll eventually catch up.
 
Silver watches them leave, starting to makes his way through the front doors to the Purple Keep. He sees the rusted, wrecked, crumbled walls of the place, and how there are enough holes in some places to show the interior of the communication-blocking black void that the keep's trapped in. Silver marvels at the sight of the castle as he steps inside.
:Cody: Welcome to our nightmare, Silver.
Cody grumbles as he takes some steps before Silver, looking at him. Silver could see that something about him... felt off. He looks very sickly, as if he were about to vomit.
 
:Cody: This is where we've been doing these operations for so long. In case you never heard, Mania designed this keep and the anti-communication force field surrounding the place, it's a visual marvel, truly.
 
:Silver: Yeah, I'd say so.
 
:Cody: It's a wonder that nobody knew for the longest time that we were all scheming right underneath New Naxaz City, sure, we couldn't be detected and all, but we felt so lucky to have never been found out. Mania did a great job making use of all this unused space.
Cody sighs.
:Cody: I'm not sure how she found about it though, because you had to drain the purple fluids at the Stenographer Garden to make your way inside.
 
:Silver: Funny to think that if I dug too far down in my own home, I could've just landed right on the keep. Probably would've saved me some time if I thought about doing that in the past, if I knew this place was even down here then.
 
:Cody: Yeah, funny how things work out sometimes.
 
Silver looks forward. What a castle, when he looked up, he saw the many other floors that made up the keep, just because there were enough holes in the ceilings to make out at least a dozen floors.
 
:Cody: Scared?
 
:Silver: Just a little.
 
Silver gulps.
 
:Cody: Me too, Silver. Me too.
 
:Silver: I really want to spend more time marveling, but, there's only so much time I can waste now. Let's keep getting a move on, there's quite the castle to climb up. I'm ready for the challenge.
 
:Cody: Right then, let's make our way over to Mallory now. No more stalling.
 
::
::
 
Silver manages to make it to the top floor of the Purple Keep, with Cody in close pursuit. Cody sweats, looking at Silver and smiling just a little.
:Cody: You made it up to the highest floor, Silver, I'm rather impressed.
:Silver: Yeah me too, it's like Mallory actually attempted to stop me this time.
:Cody: Mhm. [stretches] We spent about two hours trying to get here, so, you have a little less than three hours to settle things with Mallory before this whole place goes bye-bye.
:Silver: I see.
:Cody: I'm really sorry that you have to put up with the consequences of my actions. [looks down] In retrospect, I really wish I hadn't listened to her to do that.
:Silver: I'm not really angry with you, I promise.
:Cody: I... I see. Still, though, it sucks to think about what I've done. We have no time to waste though, so let's go. I think that Ferris is up this way.
 
Silver steps down a stone staircase with Cody, seeing Ferris sitting criss-cross across the floor.
 
:Ferris: Ah, Silver is it?
 
:Silver: Ferris...
 
Ferris was waiting immediately ahead of him, sitting on his robot guard MLY-44. He waved somewhat enthusiastically at Silver, but Ferris looked less than happy to see him. He grumbled pretty hard.
:Silver: You don't look so good.
 
:Ferris: Silver, I hope you realize right now that it's in my best interest to kill you. I lost my best friend over this whole silly conflict, at the age of fourteen. [sighs] It's not that I want to kill you, it's that Mallory is forcing me to, and if you don't she'll hurt me harder than ever!
Ferris closes his eyes.
:Ferris: Someone my age shouldn't be having to deal with this. Then again, I suppose I'm the one who killed my parents and devoured them for treating me like crap, so maybe this is the fate I deserve.
:Silver: Why can't I just deal with Mallory and guide you outside afterward?
 
:Ferris: The doors ahead of me aren't going to open unless you kill me, Silver. Mallory said it herself, she doesn't want to see me alive if Silver's still alive. If you kill me, you can head on through.
 
Ferris cranks a lever on his robot.
 
:Ferris: You really don't have a choice, I'm sorry.
:Cody: Ferris is correct, Silver, none of these doors are going to open up unless you beat up Mallory's assistants. She's stalling for time, so she's using them to try and hold you off from facing her.
 
:Silver: Then so be it. I don't really want to be fighting you again, Ferris, but...
 
Silver marches over to Ferris, Ferris grabbing onto MLY-44's reins and driving him forward.
 
::
::
 
Ferris gasps as he falls to the floor, with MLY-44 busted and blowing up, throwing the battered and beaten Ferris into Silver's hands. Silver walks over to a window, whispering something into his ear.
 
:Silver: Ferris, I want you to go to the Docking Haven. An escape pod waits for you.
:Ferris: W-Why are you s-sparing me?
:Silver: Doesn't matter. Leave, you don't deserve any of this treatment.
 
Silver drops him down. He uses his Mind Weaver to slow down the teenager's descent. Mallory opens the doors for Silver, showing him that Beck's been waiting for him.
 
:Silver: Alright, looks like I can move on ahead now.
:Cody: Impressive, I didn't think that you were going to be able to spare him and open up those doors.
:Silver: It's all part of being a good deceiver.
 
Silver walks his way into the next room. Beck 82-99 was standing there, without his helmet, looking really gruff and pissed off. He stares at Silver with his paled, ugly-looking eyes, they were an unpleasant sight.
 
:Beck: Looks like I'm up to face against you now. Silver, I have no problems with you as a person, but upon Mallory's request, it is my job to assassinate you and I don't want to face the punishment she offers. I'm really sorry about this, but if you already killed Ferris, then I suppose this'll be easy for you.
 
:Silver: Hey, I didn't actually kill 'em.
 
:Beck: What?
 
:Silver: The little zoinker's running off, he didn't deserve to die. Especially not after what he told me he went through. I haven't killed anyone yet this morning, because I'm reserving all my fatal blows for the last person.
 
:Beck: I see, but I'm still going to do my best to take you down, because I don't want to be face-to-face with Mallory again, you know? She's got all of us under her thumb, or at least the ones that haven't killed themselves yet.
 
Cody shivers a little when he says that.
 
:Beck: I'm sorry that I've hurt your step-sister, by the way. If I could have changed anything in the past, it would be the moment I laid an assault on the Valco Vortex. It's clear to me that I did much irreparable damage to a lot of people, and to me, that makes me worthy of death at your hands.
 
:Silver: It's fine, Beck, no need to be over-dramatic. I'm really not after your blood, anyway.
:Beck: Well...
 
Beck pulls out some shiny knives, staring at Silver grimly.
 
:Beck: I have to be after yours- how well do you think you can take me?
:Silver: I don't know, I'm not really looking forward to finding out.
:Beck: I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to it myself.
Beck does a dash at Silver, reluctantly ready to do battle.
 
::
::
 
Beck got hit particularly hard this battle. Silver picks him up, whispering something into his ear:
 
:Silver: You can head over to the Docking Haven, a little escape pod awaits for you. I reverse-engineered many of the space pods so that you all can escape...
 
:Beck: Oh, well, thank you...
Beck's beaten face blushes a little.
:Beck: I'm flattered...
:Silver: Gonna slide you off now...
 
Silver sends his limp body sliding across the floor. This lets the next door open for Silver, which he's quick to run his way through. He's getting closer and closer to Mallory, he can clearly feel it.
:Cody: Just two more people left, Silver.
:Silver: I see.
Silver steps into the next room, where he sees Mania.
 
:Mania: I knew you were going to have to come here at some point, Silver. If you've killed Mallory's other-
 
:Silver: I haven't killed anyone tonight, I'm just merely pretending to.
 
:Mania: You really are empathetic and caring, I really wish Mallory was anything like that nowadays. She used to be just like you, wishing the best for everyone and trying to help them out, then she began bringing herself down because of her past and she's become a much more negative and harmful person overall. She's damaged so many of us, and you are the link to all of this.
 
Mania closes her eyes, shaking her fists angrily.
 
:Mania: Even though I don't personally advocate for extreme violence, I feel a bloodthirsty urge to fucking crush you, Silver. It's probably because that's what Mallory's been demanding for so long, and I just want to fucking shut her up.
 
:Silver: I see, I don't blame you for how you're feeling, not even a little.
 
:Mania: I'm really happy that you're here, so I can finally begin doing everything in my power to destroy you. [breathes hard] You're not going to have a fun time here, I'm going to make it a living hell just for you!
 
:Silver: I understand, but know that I won't be holding back if you're going to stand in my w-
 
:Mania: Enough talk! There's no way you'd be able to hold back Mallory from doing what she wants to do anyway! Do you know how fucking hard she's trying to break you down? Your empathy and positive thinking aren't going to work on her, Silver, you're not a savior or anything like that!
 
Mania charges up the huge laser-like device on her helmet, starting to levitate up.
 
:Mania: This is it! Once I'm done with you, hopefully Mallory will have some goddamn sense to take out the explosive before the whole satellite goes because of your petty fucking sibling rivalry! I've had enough of you!
:Cody: Mania's been taking this the hardest. Take her out as best as you can.
Silver nods as Mania begins to charge at him, screaming with vengeance.
 
::
::
 
Just like the rest, Mania manages to stumble over. She staggers as she attempts to get up, but Silver stops her with his foot on her head, preventing her from getting up.
 
:Silver: Stop wasting your time fighting me. Go to the Docking Haven and take an escape pod.
 
:Mania: I can't be stopped now...! You know that I can't let this satellite blow up...! You know if I kill you, Mallory just might be able to save us all! There's just that small possibility!
 
:Silver: It doesn't matter anymore, enough damage has been done to the satellite as is, it'll take forever to restore the satellite to its former glory considering how much damage has been done to it. Your sister probably took everything that mattered to you and her, why not join her?
:Mania: Ugh, fine...
:Silver: Thank you, I'm sure she'll appreciate having you in her company.
 
Silver picks up Mania, swinging her around before tossing her outside. She begins to use her jet shoes to escape the satellite. Smartie then realizes that there was an escape the whole time Silver's been down here, and suddenly swoops past him.
 
:Smartie: Sorry Silvie, I've gotta go bye-bye...! I'll talk vith ye later!
:Silver: Whoa, how long were you here?
:Smartie: Been 'ere for long enough, I've spied on 'er fer da longest time, I've got stories ter tell! Good ter know dat da black void can just be phased right through. See ya at Satellite 10, Silvie!
Smartie flies after Mania.
 
:Silver: Looks like there's just one more set of doors, Cody.
 
Cody goes to walk in front of Silver, blocking him from reaching Mallory's doors, which were marked with a purple icon of Mallory's head. Cody sweats as he places on his Messiah mask, pulling out his cross weapon.
:Silver: Whoa, what the heck are you doing?
 
:Cody: Mallory knew that I would come crawling back to her today, and I knew that she trusted me with guarding these two front doors to her room. You know this means that you have to fight me, Silver. It's not an easy choice to make, but it's mandatory if you want to progress. I'm the last thing between you and her.
 
:Silver: God damn it Cody, don't get in my way!
 
:Cody: You say that, but none of us are allowed to move out of your way. You know that neither Mania, Beck, or Ferris were able to move out of your way, because Mallory didn't approve of that.
Cody closes his eyes.
:Cody: My job was just to guide you here and bring you to Mallory's doors, and I've finished it. Let me kill you, so that Mallory's health will recover and she'll see what a big mistake she's made with the satellite's core.
 
:Silver: Are you joshing me right now, we were just snuggling up last night! Youwere just going to double-cross me like this the whole time? I have a job to do, man!
 
:Cody: I really do genuinely love and respect you, Silver. You're so much better than Mallory is, as a person and as a role model. I speak this knowing your whole backstory.
 
Cody carries out his cross, extending it like it were a lightsaber.
 
:Cody: But I know that it's my duty to kill you, so that we may look forward to a brighter future. At least make it a good fight, I need to have something to remember you fondly by.
 
:Silver: Cody, I can't fight you!
 
:Cody: Silver, you know that the doors behind me won't open unless Mallory knows I've killed you or you've killed me. If I just let you through, Mallory will make sure our futures are painful ones.
Cody steps over to him.
:Cody: Let's quit stalling! If you really want to stop Mallory, which you probably should, you will have to try and take me down! I... I'm sorry that it has to be like this, but I have no choice!
 
:Silver: If you insist.
 
Silver prepares himself for his battle against Cody. This was going to be a messy one...
 
::
::
 
After a drawn-out battle, Cody gets flung against the wall. This breaks his mask as he falls to the floor. But he scrambles up, continuing to protect Mallory's doors. Silver attempts to pry him away from the wall.
 
:Cody: Silver, I've gone through too much... I led a religion full of lies, I let Mallory torment and torture dozens of innocent souls, and I've let her abuse me for three long years.
Cody coughs blood up into his elbow.
:Cody: I-I'm a social parasite, please kill me.
 
:Silver: That's not worth death, though, at least not to me.
 
:Cody: D-Don't give me more chances, S-Silver, you know the amount of d-damage I've managed to cause. [wheezes] I can't g-go on knowing how much I've d-done. You've weakened me enough, kill me.
 
Cody breathes hard as he looks into Silver's unchanged eyes.
 
:Silver: I can't kill you, it's not necessary. Please, go back to the Docking Haven and take an escape pod. You know that I'm willing to spare you, because I care about you. I care about all of you, even Mallory in a way.
 
:Cody: Son-of-a-gun, it is absolutely necessary, Mallory isn't opening that door until I'm either dead or you're dead, and I know who's come out on top now. Buddy, Mallory has abused me for years, and I've been having people chase misprinted lies for as long as I can remember, let the pain end.
 
Cody begins to tear up.
 
:Cody: I can feel such great pains in my back from where she's whipped me, even greater pains in my heart knowing how many people I've watched suffer under her. Mallory is a shell of who she used to be, the great god that I highlighted in the Mallorism Bible used to really be here. [sniffers] Silver...
 
Cody whimpers into his ear.
 
:Cody: End my days now, I can't stand it anymore.
 
:Silver: I... I can't just do that to you, you know that would h-hurt-
 
:Cody: God damn it, Silver! I love you, b-but you know I don't wanna be here no more.
 
Cody grabs his Mind Weaver, making Silver scream and flinch as he attempts to pull the weaver off of Cody.
 
:Silver: Cody, what are you doing!? Stop!
Silver attempts to take his weapon away from him.
:Silver: STOP IT! GO TO THE D-DOCKING HAVEN, CODY! THERE'S A M-MUCH BETTER LIFE WAITING AHEAD OF Y-YOU!
 
:Cody: I CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS FUCKING INNER TURMOIL ANYMORE!
 
Cody's raw, fast thinking energy while holding the Mind Weaver gets transformed into a bullet, pushing through his own heart. Silver takes a moment to breathe as he sees Cody begin bleeding out on the floor immediately, having killed himself right there and then. Silver watches him die in his arms.
 
:Silver: Cody! No, noooo!
 
Silver wipes the tears from his eyes, setting Cody's body aside.
 
:Silver: I really can't believe this is really happening!
 
Mallory's doors begin to open. Mallory was sitting at the far end of her room, lurched over in her throne seat. Silver felt massive anger surge through his body. Not just the fact that Mallory being abusive is why Cody ended up like this, but also the fact that Mallory's pretty much responsible for the deaths of hundreds and for causing enough trouble for him to last a lifetime. Anger flows harshly through his veins, as do sorrow and pain.
 
:Silver: Is this all I am? A plague?
 
Silver felt his heart beat hard. He knew the time to face off was just around the corner.
 
:Silver: Guess I can't waste any time thinking about it... all I know now is that it's over, Mallory. It's over now!
 
Silver walks forward, his heart hammering as the time for the final confrontation has come.
===Final Chapter: Over Now===
:9:53 A.M. · TUESDAY November 4th, ZXE-223
:Purple Keep, 7th Floor, Secret Underground, New Naxaz City
Silver steps his way into Mallory's throne room. Silver took note of how everything in this room was purely pastel white, the same color as their eyes, and how empty the place was besides for Mallory, her chair, and the chandelier above. The door shuts behind Silver, blending in with the white space.
:Mallory: Silver Zin, how nice of you to drop by.
:Silver: Let's just cut to the chase.
Silver takes three long, deep breaths. Mallory looked horribly weak and depressed, her arms limply hanging over the sides of her chair as her tilted head stared at Silver with curiosity.
:Silver: You know what I'm here to do. No more games, Mallory.
Silver dashes over to Mallory madly with his Mind Weaver held out. Mallory immediately gets up, pulling out her own Mind Weaver as she rushes over to Silver. Their weapons collide as they struggle against each other, handle over handle, with Silver and Mallory actively pushing against each other.
:Both: NERVE CHOPPER!
Silver and Mallory blast each other with purple beams from their respective weapons, beginning to bleed internally. Silver quickly gets up, drinking down an energy drink from his pocket to try and outlast the pain. Mallory breathes hard as she gets up, taking a gulp of wine to try and overcome her pain.
:Mallory: We're evenly matched, Silver. But I've been "alive" for longer, I'm more than a match for you.
:Silver: I don't care about whether you're stronger than me or not. I came here to take you down for everything you've done to me and my friends. The amount of damage you've done riddles me with anger and guilt that you'd never understand.
Silver rushes at her again, at lightning speed.
:Silver: BECAUSE YOU REFUSE TO CHANGE YOUR WAYS!
Mallory pulls her weapon up, blocking Silver's attack as she throws him off.
:Silver: I gave you so many fucking chances to change, we all did, and yet the only changes you made were for the worse. Just think about how much damage you've done to your friends and to innocent people. Hundreds died just because of you.
:Mallory: Who do you think convinced me that being that way was okay?
Mallory breathes tensely as she watches her sibling stand up.
:Mallory: You've taught me everything that I know. Everything that makes me what I am now, is what you've made me. I regret so much of what I've done, but you were the one who fucked up first.
:Silver: I took my chance to change, even after I learned about everything I've done to you.
Silver pounces towards her, holding his Mind Weaver straight up towards the chandelier as he prepares to swing it right through Mallory's skull.
:Silver: I DON'T SEE YOU TRYING!
Mallory steps back, tripping backwards over her throne seat and making it topple over. As she crawls backwards and away from him, Silver walks to her.
:Silver: My empathy and kindness can only go so far before those limits are tested, Mallory. Replicate was able to see the errors of her ways and change for the better. All your assistants, though they sided with you before, knew what was better for them and have recollected at the Docking Haven. Those who died on your side, died because of you.
Silver stands over her.
:Silver: They took their lives because you bullied them into taking their lives. You treat them all like they're just bricks in the wall and don't amount to anything more important.
:Mallory: The violet spirit, Silver, you know that's been killing me, tempting me with drink after drink, keeping my temper cool with reassurance. Kispel taught me that everything I was doing was okay. Cody never resisted me enough to tell me what I was doing was wrong.
Mallory breathes hard as she scrambles back to her feet.
:Mallory: I'm not entirely to blame, am I? People exploited me for what I could give back to them.
:Silver: I don't want to hear any more excuses. Your days end here, now!
Silver charges up a Nerve Chopper, pointing it at Mallory. Mallory charges up one of her own, jumping out of the way of her brother's attack as she fires back at him. He gets thrown down to the floor.
:Mallory: You used me, you abused me, you groomed me for this horrible future you left me to deal with alone. The fact that you really think you hold no responsibility for my actions is fucking laughable.
:Silver: Maybe when people were telling you what you were doing was wrong, you should have figured out that what I was doing was wrong. You, again, had so many chances to fucking redeem yourself!
:Mallory: I assumed they had their heads screwed on backwards, I thought what you were doing was ensuring a peaceful, loving future for humankind. Some loving god you turned out to be.
:Silver: Some person you turned out to be.
:Mallory: YOU DON'T GET TO USE THAT ON ME!
Mallory dashes at Silver, swiping her Mind Weaver up against his chest to send him flying high. He lands down on his back, Mallory following up by storming her way over to him angrily.
:Mallory: I-I'VE WAITED LONG ENOUGH FOR THIS M-MOMENT TO FUCKING CRUSH YOU FOR E-EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE TO ME! I-I DON'T WANT TO F-FUCKING SEE YOU ALIVE A-ANYMORE!
Mallory attempts to stab her Mind Weaver through his heart, but he just barely manages to swing his chest out of the way. She breathes frantically as she attempts to do it again, and again, before Silver kicks her off.
:Silver: I won't let you kill me, I'm killing you not just to pay back the hundreds of lives that have been lost by your hand, but to fucking redeem myself. You've stolen my journal, you know how I fucking feel about how I've treated you.
:Mallory: N-Not even considering t-talking things out to me, huh?
:Silver: What's the point? YOU WOULDN'T LISTEN TO ME!
Silver and Mallory stand back up, holding their weapons at the ready again.
:Mallory: H-Hah, you're, really starting to piss me off.
Mallory closes her eyes, charging up an extremely powerful attack with her Mind Weaver.
:Mallory: Y-You've been bringing up very good points, I-I'll admit that much Silver Zin. But you know who made the problems, you know who you hurt.
:Silver: I've hurt only two people to the depth you have, and those would be you and our mother. I wish I didn't do what I did, because it led to you doing so much damage. But I can't sit here and regret things endlessly anymore.
Silver sprints to her.
:Silver: Because you know that I have to fucking KILL YOU to put all that damage to a halt!
:Mallory: T-This is all just because I couldn't change myself for the better...
:Silver: You're scared, aren't you?
:Mallory: I-I'm scared of myself. Thanks for that.
Mallory launches an assault of elemental attacks at Silver. Silver dodges through tornadoes, flaming pillars, and lightning bolts to reach her, swiping at her to knock her against the wall.
:Mallory: Enough!
Mallory fires a Nerve Chopper at Silver, sending him flying backwards. They both start to get up, now on even ground again.
:Mallory: This is the end. Let's settle this!
:Silver: It's over, Mallory. I'll make sure of it.
Silver and Mallory rush to each other, ready for one final confrontation.
::
::
Mallory screams as she falls to her knees. She attempts to get up, but Silver knocks her backwards into the wall.
:Silver: We have less than an hour before the Reactor Silo explodes. I can't waste more time having you still be alive.
Silver holds up his Mind Weaver. Mallory attempts to stand up, but slumps back down to her knees. She keeps trying to get up, but the injuries she's sustained aren't letting her get up.
:Silver: You're going straight to hell!
:Mallory: S-Silver...
:Silver: NO MORE!
Mallory whimpers hard as Silver begins to charge up a final Nerve Chopper. This would be enough to kill her.
:Mallory: I-I... I-I... I-I-I...
Mallory feels her eyes water up. Her whimper escalates to crying, starting to break out into tears as she wails. Silver looks deep into her eyes as he prepares to land the final blow.
:Mallory: W-Why does it have to be this way, S-Silver?
:Silver: I-I wish it didn't.
:Mallory: P-Please, don't hurt me!
Mallory looks up at him. She sees him in the same light she saw him in four years ago. Standing over her, ready to hurt her for her wrongdoings with a twist and twirl of his weapon. She breathes hard.
:Mallory: I-I'm sorry! I-I-I'm s-ssorry.
Mallory tears up hard as Silver looks down at her. His hand shakes as he looks into his sister's eyes.
:Mallory [past]: Silver, I love you, I don't want you to ever forget that. I look up to you because you make this home a better place. I couldn't ask for someone more supportive and gentle than you.
Silver feels his hand shake violently with uncertainty.
:Mallory [past]: Mom's gone back to watching sports, do you want to listen to Blue Öyster Cult with me? I just want to have some quality time with my sibling, would that be okay with you?
:Silver [past]: Sure.
:Mallory [past]: I'm glad I have you, if I didn't have you, I'd have nobody.
:Silver [past] Me too.
Silver shakes his Mind Weaver hard. The concentration begins to break up inside of him.
:Mallory [past]: You make me so happy, when we grow up, I wanna support my younger brother and watch him save the universe from everything hateful and unjustified. You like that, little bro?
:Silver [past]: You know I wouldn't throw that away for anything.
Silver drops his Mind Weaver, falling to his knees.
:Silver: I-I can't do it.
:Mallory: S-Silver...
Mallory shakily gets up, then pins him down instead. It's a very shaky grip, one that's not strong, but holds him down nonetheless.
:Silver: What's the meaning of this!?
:Mallory: I-I'll undo all the damage, but I can't fail on the one thing I promised myself I-I'd do.
Mallory pulls up her Mind Weaver, ready to charge up an attack of her own as her sibling lies helplessly. He feels his eyes beginning to water too, his vision fogging up as her tears splatter on his weathered face. They could each see each other's blackened, dried up mouths.
:Mallory: I-I'm sorry, I need to do this for myself!
Mallory looks into his eyes.
:Mallory: I-I'm sorry!
:Silver: I-I know you are.
Silver weeps below her, realizing even further how much he had messed her up. She looks horrible herself as she prepares to kill him, breathing tensely.
:Silver [past]: Mallory, you sure I should do this?
:Mallory [past]: I'm sure there'll be nothing wrong with taking advantage of our mother. Besides, she's hurt us so much and brought us down for so long, so I see no problem with letting it happen.
:Silver [past]: I don't know.
:Mallory [past]: Only a couple of other people are going to see, who cares?
Mallory feels her own grip on her Mind Weaver shake.
:Silver [past]: I don't feel great about what I've done, it doesn't feel right seeing her do our crap like that. The whip doesn't feel natural in my hand, and I've angered some of our guests with it. What do I do, sis?
:Mallory [past]: See, if we teach these people that it's wrong to abuse us, we'll free of ourselves of one more threat! And that'll be another person that'll join our cause.
:Silver [past]: That doesn't sound like it'd work.
Mallory staggers as she attempts to hold her Mind Weaver up high.
:Silver [past]: Have I been hurting you and mom too much, Mallory? I'm sorry if I yelled at you too hard.
:Mallory [past]: No, it's okay! Keep going, keep going, I'd hate to disappoint you.
:Silver [past]: Then I'll keep going, you really are the best sister I could ask for.
Mallory drops her Mind Weaver too. She looks down at her sibling with guilt and hurt in her eyes.
:Silver: I-I'm so sorry for everything I've done to y-you.
:Mallory: I'm s-sorry for t-teaching you the w-wrong t-things!
Mallory hugs him tightly, deeply breathing as she hugs him tightly on the floor. Her arms wrap around him. She sobs really fucking hard as she keeps her grip on Silver as tight as she can.
:Mallory: I-I don't want to hurt you a-anymore!
:Silver: I-I don't want to hurt you anymore, e-either.
Silver shakily gets up from the floor, picking Mallory up. They looked battered and bruised together.
:Mallory: Take them.
Mallory passes the remaining zodiac stones into Silver's hands.
:Mallory: U-Use these to somehow make something that can stop the satellite's core from blowing up. We can't let that blow up, how much time do we have left?
Silver pulls out his one zodiac stone. He places them with the others, creating the Stabilizer- this strangely shaped weapon should be capable of purging anything back to its original completed status.
:Silver: ...T-twenty minutes.
Mallory feels her eyes widen.
:Silver: Open the Docking Haven gates, Mallory. There are too many people waiting at the entrance.
:Mallory: Right.
Mallory picks up her remote, using it to open up the Docking Haven gates. Mallory's remaining assistants, Munira, Werine, and the three junkies make their escape.
:Mallory: L-Let's go!
Mallory grabs her weakened brother and jumps out her castle window. She's still breathing tensely as she lands outside her castle. She runs with Silver, knowing she needs to be really fucking quick.
:Time Unknown · TUESDAY November 4th, ZXE-223
:Reactor Silo, Satellite 15
Silver and Mallory run together to the satellite's core. They breathe together as they see it's still active and stable, but they know they don't have much time. They were in the Purple Keep just twenty minutes ago; they had to take a space pod to get to the back of the satellite and run here as fast as possible.
:Silver: We don't have much time. Give me the Stabilizer.
Mallory doesn't even deny him the chance. She passes it over.
:Silver: Thank you, sis.
:Mallory: No problem.
Silver gets out of Mallory's grip, walking over to the satellite's core. He picks up the Stabilizer.
:Silver: My allium flower, just know that I'm really happy that you're noticing where you've went wrong. [closes his eyes] I probably shouldn't have spared you, but I can't kill you, not after remembering what I remembered.
Silver holds up the Stabilizer.
:Mallory: You can do it.
Mallory holds her breath as Silver turns on the Stabilizer, pointing it at the core. Silver walks up as close as he can to it without getting fucking burnt up, knowing that he has one shot.
:Mallory: Here we go...
Just as Silver pulls the trigger, there was a great flash of light that blinded their eyes. The Reactor Silo blows up, its metallic shell bursting everywhere and pushing Silver back to Mallory. This causes the whole satellite to begin rumbling violently, and the Stabilizer is trapped in the heat, way out of reach.
:Mallory: FUCK!
Silver gets up shakily, but slumps down right afterward, having sustained severe injuries from his long fight with Mallory. Mallory swoops him back up into her arms, watching all the machines for each sector explode and burst open, with the wires blowing up as smoke begins to fill the room.
:Automated Voice: The satellite core has been destroyed. Thirty minutes to self-destruct. Please evacuate immediately. All systems offline, all hatches closed, emergency escape rooms opened in every sector. DO NOT HESITATE!
Mallory picks up Silver. It's too late to save Satellite 15. Mallory picks him up, starting to run away from the smoke that's starting to fill up the room where the Reactor Silo once stood.
:Mallory: I'm taking you to the Docking Haven! We have to get out of here before we fucking burn up in here!
:Silver: W-What about the Stabilzer?
:Mallory: Forget it, that's buried in the fumes!
Mallory begins to rush her way forward, holding her severely injured and burnt-up sibling closely.
:Mallory: Let's go!
::
::
Mallory's managed to make her way into the rumbling, collapsing New Naxaz City, just barely managing to find a space pod out in the open. Mallory stuffs herself and Silver inside of it, turning it on manual pilot. Without wasting more time, she begins to drive the pod over to the Docking Haven.
:Automated Voice: Five minutes to self-destruct.
Mallory has the space pod grind across the floor. She gets out of it, dragging Silver out with her as she runs over to the few space pods that remain.
:Silver: Can't believe we managed to make it here in time, you really cared after all...
:Mallory: F-Forget the talk, let's get out of here.
Silver closes his eyes. He looks grimly at her.
:Silver: I can't reverse-engineer any of these space pods in a measly five minutes.
:Mallory: So what? We can take one together!
Silver feels his lips curl into an even sharper frown.
:Silver: They're one-seated.
Mallory widens her eyes.
:Silver: Let go of me, please.
Mallory lets go of Silver. Silver uses his face to open the space pod that's meant for him. The face recognition works, and the glass opens up. Silver puts his backpack inside the space pod compartment.
:Silver: Get in.
:Mallory: What?
:Silver: You heard me, Mallory.
:Automated Voice: Four minutes to self-destruct.
:Mallory: You... you can't be serious, Silver.
:Silver: I've taken some time to think about this, and though you've been a bad influence on me in ways, I think ultimately you're the one that's worth salvaging more. [closes his eyes] One of us has to stay behind.
:Mallory: You're mad, you're m-making the wrong choice! All I've d-done is hurt p-people!
Silver shakes his head.
:Silver: You wouldn't have done any of the damage you've done if it weren't for me. You might've ignited these fires, but I kept them burning, and I left widespread destruction in my wake.
Silver closes his eyes.
:Silver: Maybe you've done many more worse things than I have, but I don't feel comfortable being the one that's allowed to escape when I'm the root of all of your problems.
:Mallory: I'm the root of all your problems, Silver! I made you put up with a lot of crap! You go! You have love lives to catch up with, you have friends to see, you have, you have so much more shit to do!
:Silver: I can't forgive myself for what I've done to you, Mallory! Take the fucking escape pod!
:Mallory: I can't forgive myself for any of this shit, Silver! You take the escape pod!
Silver takes a deep sigh.
:Automated Voice: Three minutes to self-destruct.
:Silver: I can't bear the thought of leaving you here to die.
:Mallory: LET ME DIE! YOU HAVE A LONG LIFE TO LEAD!
Silver gulps. He shoves Mallory inside the space pod, closing her inside in spite of her protests. Silver looks over the cockpit, looking at Mallory.
:Silver: I love you, Mallory.
Silver feels a tear roll off his cheek.
:Silver: Assure yourself that I've done enough good for me to think this was all worth it. I've saved so many lives, I've done so much good, I've seen all I need to see. You haven't lived long enough to see what life gets to offer.
Silver rubs the cockpit. Mallory sniffles as she looks up at him.
:Silver: I-I know it's hard. Just know that I'll always remember you in the dark.
Silver squints his eyes shut.
:Silver: When you arrive on Kýrios' Ark, tell everyone my last goodbyes and that I love them all. If you really want to change, this is your f-final chance. R-Reinvent yourself.
Silver slips his hand through the glass, turning on the ignition before setting the glass cage to lock over her.
:Mallory: S-Silver, you know this isn't right.
:Silver: And I don't care. Goodbye, Mallory. I love you.
:Mallory: G-Goodbye, Silver.
Silver gives her escape pod one push. Mallory gets pushed into space, zooming away from the satellite.
:Automated Voice: Two minutes to self-destruct.
:Silver: I guess I better do one more thing...
Silver calls up Pierce. He waits for Pierce to respond as explosions happen behind him, with the satellite beginning to collapse inwards as he waits for his boyfriend to respond.
:Silver: Pierce.
:Pierce [voice]: Silver! You must've finished killing Mallory, huh?
:Silver: N-No, listen...
Silver takes a deep sigh, his legs hanging off the ledge of the Docking Haven.
:Silver: The satellite is set to explode in a minute and a half, the core's been blown up because someone had thrown an explosive into it weeks ago. I should be the last person aboard.
:Pierce [voice]: W... W-What?
:Silver: I've given Mallory my escape pod because I've decided that all the damage I've done to her wasn't worth having me survive over her. [closes his eyes] It's a foolish choice, I know, but I'm counting on her to change. We've had a long, long talk. I'm about to die.
:Pierce [voice]: N-No! You can't die! Please tell me you're fucking joking and that everything's okay!
Silver smiles.
:Automated Voice: One minute to self-destruct.
:Silver: I'm afraid I'm not joking. Please, do one last thing for me.
:Pierce [voice]: W-What?
Silver feels his eyes well up. He felt tears choke his throat as he pulls out one of Devina's energy drinks, taking a long sip.
:Silver: T-Tell Zellen, Medea, and V-Rogue that I love them. And just know that, even when I'm dead, I'll always be watching over you all. [sniffs] I love you Pierce, more than anything.
:Pierce [voice]: I... I will.
Pierce heavily breathes over the phone. Silver closes his eyes.
:Silver: I made a promise that I would be back, but I can't justify letting myself live when I've done so many horrible things to my sister. [sobs] Never forget the things we've done together.
Pierce deeply breathes.
:Pierce [voice]: I-It's okay.
:Silver: Don't cry, Pierce. Please.
Silver feels his eyes water up harder.
:Automated Voice: Ten, nine, eight.
:Silver: G-Goodbye forever, Pierce.
:Pierce: S-See... see you, S-Silver.
:Silver: It's over now.
Silver hangs up.
:Automated Voice: ...Three, two, one.
:Silver: The cold blood's been finally dissolved.
:12:30 P.M. · TUESDAY November 4th, ZXE-223
:Outside View, Satellite 15
The satellite explodes violently in the distance, breaking up as its debris begins to fall down to Zaxina. Mallory sniffles hard as she watches the explosion occur from her escape pod.
:Mallory: S-Silver, what have I d-done...
Mallory's escape pod floats in limbo. The blood runs down her cheeks.
:Mallory: I... I.
Mallory returns to sobbing as her space pod heads up to Kýrios' Ark.
:Mallory: I-I guess it's over... it's over now...
Credits
*FuchsiaPanacea // Storywriter, game designer, project owner
*Exotoro // Illustrator, live-reading critic
*PabloDePablo // Live-reading critic
*Sr.Wario // Critic
*Pyrostar // Critic
*Dr. Drebbles // Critic, co-producer of original project (Zaxinian Lifts)
*Fantendo // Constant, never-ending support, thank you all
===Extra Chapter: Black Gives Way to Blue===
:6:03 P.M. · TUESDAY November 4th, ZXE-223
:Kýrios' Ark
Following the credits, Mallory's escape pod manages to locate and attach itself to Kýrios' Ark. When the vehicle confirms it's attached to the side of the ship, the door opens up, allowing Mallory inside the ship. She picks up Silver's backpack and walks inside the ship, looking horrible. She immediately gets surrounded by a bunch of officers.
:Officer #1: Mallory Zin, you are arrested for mass genocide and for excessive damage to satellite property!
:Officer #2: Hold your hands up in the air and get down on your knees!
Mallory does just as they say, but she immediately begins to sob as they step over to her.
:Mallory: I-I'm not a threat! L-Listen to me, I know what happened back on the satellite and what I have to say about what happened is too invaluable to go u-unheard!
:Officer #2: Then explain to us what happened!
:Mallory: I-If you like, I'll explain i-it, but only if in f-front of Silver's p-partners. Y'know, Pierce Hazel, Medea Neos, and that strange blonde w-woman. [sighs] They d-deserve to know what happened the most.
:Officer #3: Officers, hold some doubt, but direct her over to these people.
:Officer #1: Aye. C'mon kid.
Mallory follows officers #1 and #2 down some long hallways inside the Ark, walking by hundreds of body lockers. Mallory looks down as many people stare her down; they know who she is and what she's done.
:Officer #1: Why didn't Silver arrive?
:Mallory: Y-You'll learn soon enough. Please tell me you didn't hear what was h-happening to the satellite.
:Officer #1: What happened?
Mallory sighs.
:Mallory: I-I'm sure that for the safety of everyone on the satellite, it was kept a secret by the a-authorities, but the satellite was d-doomed to blow up. [closes her eyes] Silver, uhhh, look, c-can we wait?
The officers nod as a judge steps forward. We don't see his name, but he expresses anguish in his tired face..
:Judge: Wait, the satellite blew up?
:Mallory: God damn it Azrail, you didn't let these people know earlier!?
Mallory sighs as they drag her over to where Silver's partners were. Medea was busy crying alone in her locker, Zellen's nails were burrowed into her skin, and Pierce just looks mortified. He was frozen still.
:Judge: Pierce, Medea, and Zellen, we're going to stay here for a while, because we need to make sure Mallory doesn't do any damage aboard the Ark. She would like to talk to you three about what happened, get your clothes on and get out.
After a few moments, Pierce, Medea, and Zellen walk outside their lockers, wearing shirts and pants with "#15" embedded in their fabric. Pierce was quiet, Medea was sobbing, and Zellen wasn't sure what to say.
:Pierce: We've heard about what happened. [breathes] The satellite blew up, and Silver sacrificed himself to save your skin for some reason. What in the world went on over there, Mallory?
Mallory looked down, sighing as Pierce wrapped an arm around Medea, patting her back as she sniffled. Zellen sat down on a bench, looking up at Mallory unhappily. None of them really knew how to respond to Silver's death.
:Mallory: S-Silver and I had a long, long battle earlier this morning. We tried to kill each other, but, w-we couldn't do it for some reason or another. We just broke into tears and gave each other tight hugs, then we tried to save the satellite together before it was too late. [looks away] W-We were too late.
Mallory heavily breathes.
:Mallory: F-For some reason, and I'll never understand w-why, Silver saved my life and gave me his escape pod. It was a very selfless s-sacrifice, but, w-why did he do it?
:Pierce: I've known for the longest time that Silver's felt deep guilt and treason inside of himself, believing he's things that he really isn't, or at least wasn't anymore. I... I think he might've did what he did considering what he did in the past.
Pierce keeps Medea in a tighter grip.
:Pierce: I still think it was an unnecessary sacrifice, but you know it wasn't unlike him to do something like that.
:Medea: He risked his life to save me from the deep, deep hole I dug myself into. I could've killed him.
:Zellen: Silver was the first person I ever cared for. [pockets her hands] Irreplaceable and cute, but meaningful and honest. I felt like I had become someone better because of him.
Zellen looks up at Mallory.
:Zellen: I can't place you at fault for Silver's death, because he clearly did that sacrifice intentionally, but I'm so angry that he didn't... didn't make it. [sniffs] I-If he had called moments e-earlier, I could've s-saved him.
Zellen sobs to herself. Pierce sits down with her, inviting Medea down. He was responsible for both girls now, keeping his arms around their necks.
:Medea: I-I suppose though, Silver wouldn't want us to get t-too angry with you if he was still alive.
:Pierce: Right, I'm respecting his wishes and trying to be rational.
Pierce looks up at Mallory.
:Pierce: Did you learn anything from his sacrifice?
:Mallory: I-I have to change myself, so I don't hurt anyone anymore.
Mallory feels a teardrop roll down her cheek.
:Mallory: If Silver saw a reason to keep me alive, maybe it was because he believed I could change. [closes her eyes] I don't care if I have to reap what I sow to get there.
:Pierce: I'm glad you've found it in yourself to be a better person.
Pierce closes his eyes.
:Pierce: I hope I can trust that you'll never hurt anyone else like that ever again.
:Mallory: A-As if I want to walk through the nine circles of hell all over again.
:Pierce: Right.
:Zellen: I can tell that you're really regretful about all of this, Mallory. [looks at Pierce] How about we give her a hug? I'm sure we could all do that, I can kinda feel Silver's aura rubbing off on her.
:Medea: Sure, come here, Mal.
Mallory kneels down, hugging the three of them tightly. They respond with hugs of their own. Pierce looked the most reluctant to hug her, but did so anyway, believing Silver's personality was rubbing off on her to a degree.
:Pierce: I sincerely wish the best for you, but I think that it'd be better if we didn't speak to each other anymore.
:Mallory: I understand.
Mallory lets go of them. Mallory takes off her backpack, giving it to Pierce.
:Mallory: Silver left this in the escape pod. I think I'm supposed to give it to you. Please take it.
:Pierce: Thank you.
:Mallory: N-No problem.
:Pierce: Goodbye.
Mallory gets grabbed by the arms by two officers as the judge glares at her.
:Judge: Mallory, you are going to receive life in prison for your nefarious misdeeds, unless you help serve 30,000 hours of harsh community service. That service will include helping us reconstruct Satellite 15, and we will be pushing you as hard as we possibly fucking can if you agree. Otherwise, you shall be imprisoned until death.
:Officer #1: We hope you understand that this is the punishment you deserve for your actions.
:Mallory: I-I understand.
:Officer #2: We hope to see you change.
Mallory is taken away by the officers.
:Mallory: I'll move somewhere far out in the cosmos one day to begin a new life, you'll see!
Mallory is then taken out of sight.
:Officer #4: Alright, back in your lockers, you three.
Pierce grabs Silver's backpack, locking himself back in. He sits down, with Silver's backpack between his legs. He grabs ahold of it, unzipping it to take a look inside.
:Pierce: Oh.
Pierce pulls out some interesting things from Silver's backpack. Plenty of Advil for one, a pack of cigarettes, a bottle of sleeping pills, some Rubik's Cubes, and some fidget spinners.
:Pierce: Hey, I remember getting these for him. Not the cigarettes, but...
Pierce digs deeper. He finds some music albums inside- not just his Black Haze record and WASTE record, but a number of music he recognized as Devina's favorites. Digging deeper though, he finds a box with Silver's favorite albums inside.
:Pierce: Oh my god, he even left in a little record player.
Pierce looks through the albums with his fingers. Nirvana's "Nevermind", Alice in Chains' "Dirt", Guns N' Roses' "Appetite for Destruction", Nine Inch Nails' "Pretty Hate Machine", Judas Priest's "British Steel", Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Californication", Coldplay's "Mylo Xyloto", Marilyn Manson's "Lest We Forget - The Best Of", Metallica's "Load", Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours", Gorillaz's "Humanz", and most importantly, Blue Öyster Cult's "Secret Treaties".
:Pierce: All his favorites in one place...
Pierce smiles as he continues to dig deeper.
:Pierce: Oh, his medical folder!
Pierce holds it tightly to his chest.
:Pierce: It's packed!
Pierce opens it, showing a photo album inside. It reads on the front, "The Life and Crimes of Silver Zin: Some Kinda Bitch".
:Pierce: No wonder!
Pierce opens it up. He sees several pages of photos inside. Curious, he turns the pages, finding several photos that Silver's saved of himself, his partners, and his friends. Pierce particularly pays attention to the picture that shows a younger, healthier Silver high up on the Space Needle in Seattle, standing with Pierce, Medea, and Zellen. A tear rolls down Pierce's cheek.
:Pierce: This zoinker really had enough time to put together a full photo album, h-huh.
Pierce smiles a little.
:Pierce: I remember this photo, it was just after Silver managed to get romantically involved with Zellie.
Pierce pulls out more things still, including the unfinished apology letter that Scotch had started.
:Pierce [reading]: Someday I'd like to, old chap.
Pierce snorts a little.
:Pierce: S-Silver, you ain't fuckin' British.
Pierce laughs as he wipes away his tears.
:Pierce: He was the one boy that knew how to make me laugh, just by being himself.
Pierce reaches into the backpack. He knows he's seen almost everything.
:Pierce: Oh? ...W-what're these...
Pierce pulls out three rings: a Peridot ring, an Aquamarine ring, and an Emerald ring. Pierce almost immediately bursts into tears as he realizes what they were supposed to be for.
:Pierce: HE WAS NEVER GOING TO CHOOSE...
Pierce drops Silver's backpack, crying hard as he grips the rings tightly.
:Pierce: T-These are our birthstones...
Pierce releases his grip on them, studying them on the palm of his hand. He lifts up the rings, seeing that their names were engraved on the metal surrounding each gem. Peridot for himself, Aquamarine for Medea, and Emerald for Zellen. Silver had clearly planned on marrying them all at some point...
:Pierce: You bastard, why did you have to s-sacrifice yourself for h-her?
Pierce takes a moment to calm down. He places the rings back inside Silver's backpack, only to come across just one more thing. He comes across an audio player. Curious, he turns it on, seeing there was one saved message.
:Pierce: ...
Pierce plays it.
:Silver [voice]: Hey, if you're hearing this, that probably means I'm dead. If I escaped the satellite alive, I would have destroyed this recording because I would've liked to say all of this to you and my partners in person.
Pierce sits down, listening.
:Silver [voice]: In the event that I didn't make it, well, I'm sorry that I didn't make it. I know that I made a promise that I would arrive and we would be able to continue our lives as they were before, but as you might have guessed by now, that's just not happening anymore. By the time I recorded this, I'm just hours from going to face off against Mallory, so here's hoping I take her down or at least come to some agreement with her.
Pierce breathes. He knew that Silver didn't keep his promise, but he also realized that perhaps he knew all along he might not have had the chance to.
:Silver [voice]: I'm wondering who would be able to deliver this message, I'm thinking Cody might, but maybe one of Mallory's other goons will. I plan on having them all escape anyway. Anyway, I'm rambling, let me just get straight to the point. You know that, no matter where I am or what happens, I will always love you.
Pierce smiles, some tears rolling down his blushing cheeks.
:Silver [voice]: At least, I want to assume Pierce is hearing this. Medea or Zellen hearing it is just as good. If your name is Jeremy, go fuck yourself.
Pierce laughs a little, wiping tears off his face.
:Silver [voice]: But yeah, if you're one of those three, I'll always love you no matter what, and I will rest peacefully in the afterlife if you three continue to live fantastic lives. Don't follow me into my grave, you have no excuses to.
Pierce: I-I won't.
:Silver [voice]: You know that I've been rotting away and feeling kind of sickly over the past month- I went through so much shit and I've been struggling trying to deal with all these memories I'm digging back up from years past. But I want to apologize for dragging you three so far down under with me. It was uncool.
Pierce nods.
:Silver [voice]: Just know that, even though I've struggled to be a good person, I had a fantastic three years with you three and our gorgeous daughter. And you know that, as far as our relationships were concerned, I hold no regrets. You three were always super supportive of me and knew when to be level-headed and reasonable. Even Zellen sometimes.
Silver coughs over what might have been a microphone.
:Silver [voice]: Let me stress this, don't let my death stop you from being the person you want to be or living the life you want to live. I want you three to be able to stick together and work something out between yourselves.
Silver laughs a little.
:Silver [voice]: Slow suicide is no way to go.
:Pierce: Then you sacrificed yourself...
:Silver [voice]: Well, Cody's come back. Gonna use my portal energy to drop this in my backpack. I'm honestly rather confident I'll be able to make it back, so I'm not sure if this message will mean anything but, just...
Silver sighs.
:Silver [voice]: Life's a bit too short. Make the best you can out of it. If you can make changes for the better, do the changes. Don't wait, don't fuck around, get going and get back up when you're down. Members of my kind can live for 700 years or something, according to a talk I had with Agantuk like a week back, but still. If I still do live, however, I left something inside my backpack, stole it from Medea's lab.
Pierce reaches into the backpack. A capped needle with Silver Zin's name on it.
:Silver [voice]: There are three needles with my collected DNA on them, I nicked it from Medea's lab as soon as I helped her out. If you, for some reason or another, want to live seven hundred years together, take the needle in your arm.
:Cody [voice]: Are you ready to go, Silver?
:Silver [voice]: Oh yes, yes, my apologies Cody. Uh, I've gotta go. Love you, Piercy, Medea, Zellie, and Rogue.
The voice clicks off.
:Pierce: Unbelievable, he left all this crap in here for us, having some kind of foreknowledge of what was going to happen...
Pierce looks at the needle.
:Pierce: I'm gonna wait until I ask Medea about what the hell this'll do to me before putting it in me, but interesting how he thinks that he can live inside of us. That's a concept if I've ever heard one. WAIT!
Pierce starts to laugh. His laughter quickly ramps in volume as tears flow down his cheeks.
:Pierce: Silver, you fucking g-genius!
:11:14 A.M. · THURSDAY November 6th, ZXE-223
:Docking Haven, Satellite 10
The scene turns to Kýrios and Zodiez, who were sitting together around a table with Valerie and Azrail to their sides. They were sitting near three unorthodox creatures. One was a monstrous-looking wax lady with a Satellite 10 crown on her head, one was a lobster-human monster with a Satellite 4 crown on his head, and one was a monstrous German shepherd tarantula hybrid with a Satellite 13 crown on her head.
:Azrail: ...And that's what happened to Satellite 15. We're just kinda figuring out where we should stay.
:Kýrios: Inconvenience apology?
:Azrail: That too.
:Tyrannos: As the ruler of Satellite 4, I am open to allowing your kind on my satellite under the condition that everyone spends several hours of community service scrubbing my ship clean!
:Episkopas: I shall be open to allowing passage of your kind on my precious Satellite 13. [grins] But there is much work to do in the colonies of my world! Many babies to save, many habitats to clean!
:Hippocratas: Assuming your citizens are nice, patient, and respectful, I will allow your like on Satellite 10.
:Azrail: I see.
Azrail looked really unnerved. He had never seen these people before, so he felt nervous talking to them, but Valerie looked perfectly content. Valerie's been in several meetings with these folks.
:Zodiez: I propose dividing our population into thirds and distributing them evenly to these satellites. Are you three comfortable with having roughly 160,000 new people enter your homes?
:Episkopas: If they're willing to comply with my requests and with the terms and conditions of my satellite, yes. We are very understaffed, so we could really use a population boost. Don't worry, we have Wi-Fi.
:Hippocratas: We are perfectly content with your requests, just be sure to be gentle and nice. We do not tolerate outside drama, arguing, fighting, or the like. I mean, it's fine sparingly, but we try to be peace-advocating.
:Episkopas: On the other hand, if you're a real bitch, we'll let ya do whatever you want as long as you contribute to our society on a weekly basis! Fill out your 40 hour quota some way or another!
Tyrannos rolls his eyes.
:Tyrannos: Just come to my satellite, we already have six million people aboard and we can make room for more.
:Kýrios: Six million!?
:Tyrannos: We didn't choose a dumbass-looking bug to carve our moon into, we turned ours into a cockroach-like battleship with a huge labyrinth inside, you all fucked up.
:Kýrios: Wasn't original ruler.
:Hippocratas: No fighting!
Hippocratas pouts a little before Episkopas places a huge tarantula leg on her back.
:Episkopas: No worries dear.
:Azrail: You two are together!?
:Episkopas: What? No, I call everyone dear.
Azrail looked a bit embarrassed.
:Valerie: So did we all agree on splitting the population into three thirds and giving one to each satellite?
:Zodiez: I believe we have. I'll go host a survey inside the Ark, asking people where they wanna go, I'll determine which satellite will be best for them and then they'll be driven to those satellites. Satellite 10 folk will jump off before we go anywhere, 'course.
:Azrail: That sounds good to me. Personally I'd like to stay here, I like Hippocratas.
Hippocratas smiles at him, the fires on her crown raising higher with passion.
:Azrail: I think it'd be best if the authorities stayed here, so we can all keep in contact together.
:Episkopas: Fools, fools! Bleh, no matter. I'd like to have my hands on Silver's partners.
:Tyrannos: Your legs, so to speak.
:Episkopas: Shut up, Tyrannos! Just shut up! Let me enjoy things!
Episkopas folds her front legs together as Zodiez laughs.
:Zodiez: Alright, before Episkopas dies of being flustered, I'm gonna go set up the survey.
:Tyrannos: Sounds good. Hey, do you guys still have Hector Forger in your forces?
:Zodiez: Yeah, why?
:Tyrannos: Captain Ryona's invited him to some, "friendly competition" on the deck of our ship. I think she'd like Millicent to be there too so that she can try to kick them both down, up to you, though!
:Valerie: That sounds like fun, I'll get him in on that.
:Kýrios: See all later! Guide Hippocratas' immigrants outside later.
Kýrios gets up, grabbing Zodiez by the hand.
:Tyrannos: See you three later.
:Episkopas: Lemme know who'll stay at my place!! I need to salivate over the whole list!
:Hippocratas: I love you, Zodiez!
Hippocratas blows kisses to her. Zodiez blows kisses to her back, winking and waving at her.
:Azrail: Oh jeez.
:Valerie: They used to be in a relationship, but it didn't work out. They're still on great terms though, they like to flirt every now and then and sometimes Zodiez would go here for vacations.
:Zodiez: Oh, hush it, Val!
:Tyrannos: Hah, gaaaaaaay!
:Zodiez: You hush it, crabby!
Kýrios, Zodiez, Valerie, and Azrail pack up, going back to Kýrios' Ark.
:Tyrannos: Alright, now that they're gone, who wants to continue spin the bottle...?
:Episkopas: Any satellite ruler's most proficient use of time!
:7:38 P.M. · THURSDAY November 6th, ZXE-223
:Unspecified Room, Kýrios' Ark
Meanwhile, inside Kýrios' Ark, people were seen clapping and sitting around tables, seeing Pierce, Vizole, Junkhead, Devina, and Black Eyes on stage. They bow; they were respectively handling vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums.
:Pierce: Thanks. It's been a long time since we've played at one of these shows, and what better time to do it after the hardest thing everyone's had go through in a while? Now, we're gonna play one more song, and it's a tribute to, maybe not one of the best people that's ever lived, but a great friend and a huge inspiration to me.
Pierce smiles as he adjusts his mic.
:Pierce: This is a cover song, so it's not something I've written myself, but I feel like it's a fitting tribute to him. [closes his eyes] It's a song by Alice in Chains, titled "Black Gives Way to Blue". Just one more chapter for Silver's biography.
Blossom Forger nods, writing Silver's biography with a chained up, sniffling Mallory next to her.
:Pierce: I'd like to give a special thanks to Junkhead, who is playing keyboards for this song.
Everyone claps for Junkhead, who blushes a little as he squeezes his keyboard passionately.
:Pierce: Three, two, one.
As the song begins, the room grows quiet. Pierce feels a teardrop run down his cheek as everyone watches. Valerie watched from her table, where she was sitting with Medea, Zellen, Rogue, and Genesis.
:Pierce: I don't want to feel no more, it's easier to keep falling ♪
:Junkhead: Imitations are pale, all tomorrows, haunted by yer ghost ♪
:Both: Lay down, black gives way to blue, lay down... ♪
:Pierce: I'll remember you ♪
As the band continues playing this quiet, eerie song, Medea leaves the table, walking up to the stage.
:Pierce: Fading out by design, consciously avoiding changes ♪
Medea takes Junkhead's mic calmly.
:Medea: Curtain's d-drawn, now it's done, silencing all tomorrows, forcing a goodbye ♪
:Both: Lay down, black gives way to blue, lay down... ♪
:Pierce: We'll remember you ♪
Pierce and Medea break down into each other's arms as the song ends, with applause in the room erupting. Valerie smiles at them from the table, sliding her business card to Genesis across the table.
:Pierce: That was unbelievably cringey on my half, oh g-god, sorry if I ruined the n-night with that, hah.
:Medea: No, I think it was a fitting send-off.
Medea squeezes him tightly.
:Medea: Thank you. Thank all of you for tonight's performance.
:Black Eyes: Next time I have to cover Fleetwood Mac, I'm gonna vomit.
:Zellen: Y'know, I'm so bothered by Silver's loss, but...
Zellen looks up at Valerie.
:Zellen: I think I'm gonna stick around, I think I've found enough value in this Pierce and this Medea to make this place my home, at least for a long while. Besides Silver, those two are just the sweetest.
Zellen wipes her eyes clean of tears. Pierce and Medea get a clean view of her eyes for a moment, but we don't see anything.
:Medea: Let's stick around together, Piercy. [smiles] Yeah, we still have our differences, but I've learned so much from Silver and I wanna help take care of you and Zellen. Y'know, be a responsible woman.
:Pierce: I wanna stick around, too. [smiles too] I love you, Medea.
:Medea: I love you more!
Medea picks him up, hugging him. Zellen runs from her seat, scrambling her way onto the stage as she hugs them tightly.
:Pierce: Hope that everything's gonna be great ten years from now! I sure hope so.
:Zellen: I sure hope so! Let's go backstage and discuss what we wanna do.
:Medea: Sounds like a plan to me.
As the three walk backstage, the screen flashes to white.
:3:20 P.M. · SATURDAY February 16th, ZXE-234
:Across the Zaxina System
Ten years later, things have changed drastically across the Zaxina System for the lives of our citizens. Let's take very quick looks at what all these people are up to a decade after Silver's death.
:Pierce: Surprised that all the work we've been doing at Satellite 13 has been paying off, thanks girls for getting us all the way to this absolutely wonderful aquatic paradise!
:Rogue: Looks wonderful, I guess.
:Pierce: I'm sure you'll get excited once we start seeing giant krakens, sweetheart.
:Zellen: Real live krakens that I don't just pull out of nowhere!
:Medea: Guys, I'm fishing one up!
Pierce and Zellen turn their eyes to Medea. You couldn't see it on Medea, but Pierce's eyes became much like his lost boyfriend's. Their skins were pretty paled out, and everyone's holding Mind Weavers. They may not have Silver with them, but they do have him inside of them now.
:Medea: It's coming up, it's coming up, it's coming up! It's there!
Medea yanks a huge kraken out of the sea. She looked a bit worried as it crashed down on her body. Pierce, Zellen, and Rogue levitate over to her, helping yank the kraken off of Medea and zapping it with Nerve Choppers form their weapons.
:Medea: Jeez, krakens are kinda heavy, haha. Someone of my age shouldn't be having that crap sit on me.
:Pierce: Yeah, be careful.
Pierce smiles as he hugs Medea tightly. If you noticed something, he has no fold-up wheelchair anymore.
:Pierce: After decades of having to place up with broken bones, broken limbs, I'm really glad you helped me fix my body Medea. So, this is what body fat feels like, huh?
Pierce rubs his belly.
:Pierce: So nice to be healthy.
:Medea: It was no problem sweetheart.
:Zellen: I think I've come to appreciate all the people around me now. That's something I can blame on Silvie.
:Rogue: I'm just glad I have three amazing parents that take care of me and support me.
Rogue pulls her three parents in for a long hug.
:Rogue: So many amazing adventures for us wait!
Medea grins as she holds her daughter close.
:Medea: Yes!!
:Pierce: Of course.
:Zellen: You guys wanna go egg F.A.N.T.'s headquarters back on Earth? Someone from there's been giving me some hate texts, so I feel massively obligated to go kick their asses. Rogue, you wanna go?
:Rogue: Yes!!
:Pierce: We just got here.
:Zellen: Pssh, we can just do it and come back in like an instant. I've mastered how to conserve my body energy at this point.
:Pierce: Oh, that's right.
:Medea: You're welcome, Zellie! It was great actually, y'know, giving you extra endurance too.
:Zellen: Guess even the people you would think you'd be able to replace are all unique and wonderful in their own ways. Could have gone with a different Medea, but would she be an epic healer like you?
:Pierce: Nah, probably not.
:Zellen: Could be! But maybe not the same way?
:Medea: Hmmm.
:Zellen: Anyway, you two wanna go do the egging?
:Pierce: Let's go!
Zellen grins, forming a portal for the four of them to jump into. Even though they're still remembering Silver and missing him, they're all doing just fine without him, having taken his advice to move on. Meanwhile, elsewhere...
:Valerie: You know, I never thought you'd make for a good father figure, but.
:Junkhead: Pssh, no biggie. Ya know I'm perty perfect at me job.
Junkhead rubs the hair of Valerie's children Ramana (Gonzalo-born) and Takeo (Syinara-born), grinning.
:Junkhead: Babe, ya know I wanna be good at somethin' besides gettin' high.
:Valerie: Oh, Junkie, you're adorable.
:Junkhead: Heh, I know lass, Junkie knows.
Valerie smiles as she stands up, giving Junkhead a hug. He grins as he hugs her back, squeezing her body tightly with his huge muscular hands. He winks at her.
:Junkhead: Ya still feel good bein' with this high motherzoinker, right?
:Valerie: 'Course I still feel great. If you're asking about if I feel comfortable dating someone after Syinara, well, I moved on. I'm sure that she would want me to move on and find new soil to plant myself in.
:Junkhead: Glad I can help ya out, missy!
Junkhead pours himself a glass of alcohol. He accidentally overpours his glass, so some of it kinda spills to the floor.
:Junkhead: Don't drink that crap up kiddies, it's bad for ya!
Junkhead sips down the absinthe, pouring his wife a glass. You can see a ring on Valerie's hand if you look closely.
:Junkhead: 'Ere ya go!
:Valerie: Thanks.
Valerie sips down the absinthe, winking at her husband, who cackles with glee. They have a lot of fun together, but they're doing things responsibly now and going at a slower pace.
:Takeo: Hey mommy, when're we going back to school?
:Ramana: I've gotta study for an essay about Satellite 15.
:Valerie: You two kiddos are going back on Monday, so if you've got anything to bring back to school, better do it while you still can! You want Junkhead to slip his isolated fingers under your mattresses again?
Junkhead snickers as he disembodies his fingers, then his hand, both halves of his arm, and his whole right hand. His children squeal a little before laughing as Junkhead fixes himself back up.
:Junkhead: Study hard!
:Valerie: Alright, go run off to the living room and study, I'm gonna go back in the bedroom with Junkhead and go watch some crappy action movies with him.
:Ramana: Okay, mom.
As Ramana and Takeo head off to the kitchen, Valerie gets her hand grabbed by Junkhead, who leads her into the bedroom. He shuts the door, Valerie smiling as she lays down across a coffin. She still has Syinara's coffin after all this time, protecting it from raids by sleeping directly above it. Junkhead sits down on a bed that's just enough to fit two people in.
:Junkhead: Love ya, Val.
:Valerie: Love you too, Junkie.
The two kiss as we look elsewhere.
:Oshelia: Hey Lakea, not to sound impatient, but have you fixed up the sushi yet?
:Lakea: It's coming right up, mom!
Lakea finishes preparing her sushi. She walks out into the living room, where we see an older but smiling Scotch down in a rocking chair with his once-again wife Oshelia. We see Snickers and Oyster hanging out together on the couch, Smartie relaxing with her chained-up feral Rubelline near them, and Crymsia sitting on Azrail's lap on some other rocking chair.
:Lakea: I've finished all the sushi!!
On the floor were Alex Arsen (who Smartie adopted from old boyfriend Brook), Skittles Caramel (SnickersxOyster), and Ignis Neos and Asimi Rose (AzrailxCrymsia), who were together playing some rip-off of Pokémon on little handheld devices.
:Lakea: Ta-da!
:Scotch: Excellent job, those look delicious!
:Oshelia: Mhmm!
Oshelia kisses Scotch's cheek, holding her arms around him as Lakea begins to serve the sushi out on plates. Oshelia smiles up at him.
:Asimi: These look really interesting, I like the way they look.
:Ignis: Heh heh heh! I can probably make some really crazy invention outta this! I'll call it: the Buljumulator!
:Asimi: You call everything the Buljumulator. What even is that?
:Ignis: A sign that my genius is showing!
Azrail just grins as he leans on his partner.
:Azrail: He's got such great parents, thankfully he doesn't have to deal with his grandpa's bullcrap.
:Oyster: Look at them playing so nice, sweetheart.
:Snickers: I'm noticing...
Little did they know, they were rapidly mashing their buttons in a highly complicated real-time Pokémon rip off. Alex was sweating really hard, looking really concentrated on the game at hand.
:Alex: How come your type doesn't have any weaknesses?
:Ignis: Because... I am awesome!
:Skittles: Mommy, he's cheating with Gameshark!
Oyster laughs as she watches them play. Lakea places a plate of sushi in the middle for them.
:Lakea: Sushi for your nonsense competitive affair!
:Ignis: It is not nonsense! Dorkémon is a work of art!
:Asimi: That name sounds like that one unclassy YouTube channel, now that I think about it.
Skittles begins hogging up some of the sushi like the little hog he is, Snickers trying not to laugh out loud as he sees Skittles' cheeks fill up with food really quickly.
:Snickers: Skittles! Ah, hahaha! That's my son!
:Oyster: So cute.
Oshelia smiles as she rubs Scotch's upper back, taking a bite of sushi as Scotch wraps his arms around her.
:Scotch: Love you forever, sweetheart.
Scotch smiles, his glasses gleaming in the light.
:Oshelia: I love you too!!
:Crymsia: All's well that ends well, didn't think we'd ever get peace together like this.
:Smartie: Purty sure me gal vould agree vith y'all, but I'm afraid of 'er eatin' yer other children n' I say dat 'cuz Alex isn't purrfect at dat Dorkémon dingy yet. Ah, poor son o' mine, havin' ter deal vith me mouth n' me girl's lack of vocabulary.
Rubelline attempts to wrestle her way out of her chains, growling viciously. Smartie places a finger to her lips.
:Smartie: Shh.
Smartie cackles a little.
:Smartie: Ya vanna hang out vith adults or not? Ya agreed ter dis.
The Zaxiverse's super wild variation of Rubelline calms down, whimpering as Smartie hugs her.
:Lakea: How's the sushi, everyone?
:Scotch: Delicious!
:Oyster: I don't think you could get any better.
:Crymsia: Great!
:Smartie: 'Tis delish!
:Skittles: Mffffff.
Everyone looks at Skittles, who had stuffed way too much into his cheeks.
:Snickers: Chew and swallow, lad!
Everyone laughs as he attempts to stuff more sushi into his cheeks. As Scotch and Oshelia kiss lips, we look somewhere else; particularly a bar at Satellite 4.
:Beck: Hard to think it's been ten years...
Beck sighs. He's the owner of the bar, while Mania and Ferris (now an adult) work under him. Rose is washing dishes, Azul is operating the pool, and the Electric Eye is managing security. Platinum is a regular patron, as is the Methademic, who funnily enough is still wearing the same armor he's always been wearing. The Razorback Supertzar, now retired, is hanging out with Vitch, a drunk Ryona, and the older and grumpy Lyric and Kasdeya.
:Beck: Couldn't have racked up a better support group than you all. This is the tenth anniversary of the Beck Tavern, and I just want to take this time to thank you all for sticking together with me. All our pain, all our suffering, over now.
:Rose: Yeah, it's nice to have been working with you for so long.
:Beck: My pleasure too, mate.
Mania is currently serving Kispel, who was positioned on a high bar stool. Quade's also up on a high stool too, clinking mugs together with the former Mallorian lover.
:Kispel: H-How the hell have I l-lasted this long?
:Ferris: I dunno how you have either, but it's nice that you're still around.
Ferris sighs.
:Ferris: There are a couple of people who didn't make it though. Villie is a very personal loss for me, but, Cameron's death and especially Cody's really pack a hard punch for me.
:Electric Eye: Pour one out for each, let's drink to those old friends.''
:Ferris: Aye.
Beck pours out three glasses, walking over to a little cell that has three drains in it- he dumps a glass in each one.
:Platinum: Why do you just dump the drinks down the drains...?
:Beck: I've preserved their remains underneath those drains. I can hope they appreciate what I'm giving them. Well, I've preserved Villie's and Cameron's, I didn't even know Cody passed away until I heard the satellite blew up, so I used makeshift dirt for him.
:Ferris: I'll never forget Cody, he was always strange and he did so much damage to us in the end but he began innocent and he had good intentions. I heard he tried to help, god, I forgot his name.
:Mania: I've forgiven him, just took me a long time to.
:Ferris: Yeah, I've forgiven him too. Dude was probably super stressed out. Can we agree what the worst thing was from that time period, though? That stupid manipulative spirit?
:Beck: OH YEAH, that thing was the worst. I felt genuinely bad for Mallory just watching it poison her.
:Rose: I don't know, that thing was bad, but Gonzalo will always be the worst in my heart. He got away with so much bullshit, he caused so much destruction across several families, and he never got the death he deserved at Nicholas' hand.
:Azul: Yeah, I think Gonzalo was worse.
:Kispel: Mallory will always be the worst one to me. Gonzalo was bad, and the Manipulator was a cruel bitch, but Mallory had a chance to become something better and never took advantage of it.
:Electric Eye: Even if they were all pretty bad, can we just be thankful they're all gone?
The Electric Eye sighs.
:Electric Eye: I just want to use this day to acknowledge and appreciate that we've made it so far together as friends.
:Ferris: Oh, of course. I don't wanna go home and tell Dusty we've really been feeling down over things long past us.
:Rose: You married the little sand man?
:Ferris: I don't make enough money to get an engagement ring, and he's a bit too much of a numbskull to make that kinda money, but I do kinda plan on it. He's so simple and friendly to me.
:Rose: Huh.
Azul smiles at Rose, holding her engagement ring up.
:Azul: Well sweetie, I've gotta go home, it's almost closing time for the pool and I've gotta feed Red and Blue.
:Rose: 'Course! I'll keep getting these dishes clean, sweetie.
Both of them share a kiss as Azul heads out, winking at him.
:Azul: Good luck!
:Beck: God, I'm glad we've all managed to find love in this place.
Kispel smiles at Beck.
:Kispel: You can say that again...
:Beck: Don't fluster me, damn it!
Noise, Yama, Abraham, and Chimera make their way inside the bar. As Beck goes to seat them, Lyric and Kasdeya are seen cuddling up and Mania's shown sitting down with the Electric Eye.
:Mania: You tired, hon?
:Electric Eye: Yeaaahhh.
The Electric Eye yawns, placing an arm around Mania's shoulder and smiling sleepily at her.
:Electric Eye: Can't be too tired with you, though!
:Mania: Awww, Hunjan!
Mania nuzzles his neck.
:Noise: So glad to be here with you, Yammy.
Noise is holding her sleeping baby Boop in a coat, trying to keep her hidden from the adults. Noise looked really hyper-energetic, she didn't age much, mostly because she can't with her altered genetics, but she still looked positively young. Yama, on the other hand, looked a bit more like a mother.
:Noise: Why'd we have five kiddos again...?
:Yama: I dunno, you're the one that figures out how to make that crap work, sweetheart.
Yama elbows her, making Noise laugh.
:Noise: You're not wrong, I'm just, uhh, kinda tireddd?
:Yama: Thank goodness we have Abraham babysitting our children once in a while, heh. Right now they're being protected by some crazy person, what's her name? Yickie?
:Abraham: If you two have another child, I'm going to probably begin cutting down the amount of times you two can go to the bar.
Yama tries to hide the fact she's pregnant again.
:Noise: I thought she was ALREADY pregnant again.
Noise hics.
:Noise: It's all good, I'll start working towards quitting drugs, haahh.
:Abraham: Noise...
Everyone in the room laughs a little bit. Things are going well for this band of reformed criminals! Now, let's rush through time a little bit and show what's happened to everyone else.
:Pierce: Black Haze is online tonight! Today we're promoting our fifth record, and for the first time ever, we have Minute on keyboards and Love-Love on violin! We've got a really interesting direction for our record.
:Vizole: I'm very excited!
Vizole kisses Minute hard on the cheek. They were together now.
:Vizole: Let's wreak havoc, everyone!
[scene cut]
:Chance: Hey Cabinet Man, you've got any sevens?
:Cabinet Man: D'oh!
Cabinet Man hands Chance his two seven cards. They were playing Go Fish with Clair, Spade, and Vilicus, who now work at his casino. Chance was in even worse form, but everyone else looked fine.
:Vilicus: Hah, the Marmalade Masquerae's about to get you cornered!
:Spade: Vilicus, do you have any threes?
:Vilicus: Noo--!
Vilicus hands Spade his three threes. She smirks as she lays down three "books".
:Spade: Alright, that game was mine.
:Clair: Damn.
A photo of Priss on the wall with her (also deceased) Bowie can be seen. "In Memory of Priss Wormsround"...
[scene cut]
:Agantuk: Alright boys, we've got 'em surrounded!
:Mr. Dick: L-Leave me alone, I'll give you whatever you want!
:Agantuk: Drop my wallet, nice and easy.
Agantuk tips his cop hat.
:Agantuk: Kill em, boys!
Blake, Olcia, Luka, and Jinx jump down on Mr. Dick, beating the crap out of him while Parabola watches, moderating the action. Agantuk smirks as he snatches his wallet from the confusion.
:Agantuk: Take 'em away!
:Olcia: Yessir!
Agantuk takes a deep breath. He bumps fists with Zonas, who was standing behind him the whole time.
:Agantuk: Demons work well in the police business, 'ey?
:Zonas: Awww yeah.
Sinicini and Adexene giggle. They, too, have become police officers themselves, but Sinicini had a bit of a dominatrix look to her. Zonas grins at his girls as they cheer excitably.
:Zonas: Phoebe's being babysat, right?
:Sinicini: Yeah, she's with Noise's, five children?
:Zonas: Someone was thirsty!
:Agantuk: Yeah, heh heh. My kid's a handful, I think one's enough for me. His name's Keiron, he's very attention-demanding.
:Zonas: To be fair, that's like every kid.
[scene cut]
:Seraphina: Daddy, why's my suit so... sticky...?
Kýrios shrugs.
:Zodiez: I made it myself! With my ink.
:Seraphina: Oh my god, all of this stuff's gonna cover the floors of my school!
:Zodiez: How were you two even satellite rulers in the first place!?
:Kýrios: Mother worked hard. Respect! Walk.
:Seraphina: Fineee, I'll wear it.
Seraphina pouts as she runs off.
:Zodiez: She'll grow into it eventually.
:Kýrios: You're cute mom.
:Zodiez: Okay babe, I love you, but your strange speech patterns made you sound like you were calling me mom.
:Kýrios: Just mistake!
Zodiez laughs as she rubs his hair.
:Zodiez: I know what you meant! I'm a pretty cute mother for these children, yeah.
:Kýrios: Indeed!
[scene cut]
:Penny: Everyone, get back to work! We've gotta fix up this piece before midnight tonight! We've managed to construct the main metropolis, but if we don't finish at least the ground portion of this satellite sector, we'll be behind schedule!
:Xihuitl: That's what we're aiming for, don't rush me woman!
:Penny: I'm too old to get yelled at!
They're placing together a new Satellite 15 together, and were getting started on what would be a rebuild of Sector 3. You can see the brand-new New Naxaz City foundation in the distance, with a huge statue of Silver standing in the middle of it; it was renamed Silvopolis, which was more pleasant-sounding from the tongue.
:Penny: The deadline for rebuilding Satellite 15 is a year from now, so let's not waste any more time!
:Xihuitl: Why can't we just reuse old assets?
:Penny: Well, we've learned a lot of lessons from how strangely the old satellite was designed, so...
:Xihuitl: It wasn't that strangely designed.
Penny laughs as she watches the progress.
:Penny: We're going to make four sectors, have the core in the body, and have our bases of operations closer to the front of the satellite. The huge, long durable tail will be where the majority of the people will live.
:Xihuitl: Huh. Well, it better be good.
:Penny: That's the point, dumbass!
[scene cut]
Somewhere out in space, a reaper watches the reconstruction of Satellite 15.
:Morticia: It's good to know that things have changed for the better.
Morticia sits off the edge of a skyscraper from her home planet of Kosmoxeth.
:Morticia: The last Zins are in captivity. Guess that means the galaxy is at peace.
:9:35 P.M. · SATURDAY March 16th, ZXE-234
:New World, Deep Zaxiverse
Meanwhile, somewhere else, the Dream Weaver was holding the Creator as they sat together on a grassy cliff overlooking a huge ocean. They could see many coral beds, clear plastic tubes, forests of seaweed, and the like in the ocean.
:Dream Weaver: Look down there, Creator.
The creator's silver/purple orb drops down in its flask. We look deep underwater, inside the thick plastic tubes, where we see some familiar feet making their way across the water covering the bottom. As the camera works its way up, we see a reformed Mallory, who's wearing black reading glasses while walking with three healthy children, with a very tall jellyfish-human hybrid walks by her.
:Mallory: We're almost home, my children.
Mallory smiles down at them, holding a hardcover purple book under her arm. Her children resembled her, but looked much like the woman Mallory was walking around with.
:???: C'mon Milo, Finn, and Beau, don't slow down too much!
:Mallory: Don't rush them, Altha.
:Altha: Hah! Sorry.
Mallory smiles as she leads her children inside a nice, clean home. Rather than a crumbly keep, it's a well-furnished home with a water-soaked floor and several chandeliers swinging overhead.
:Altha: Welcome back home, kiddos!
:All Three: Yay!!
Milo, Finn and Beau scramble inside, scrambling to go play some video games on their chairs.
:Mallory: Hold it, you three! You've got homework to do.
:Milo: Awww, man! D'oh!
:Mallory: No worries! Just do the work you're supposed to and you'll be able to play as many video games as you wish! Until it's time for you to go to bed, of course, I'm still kinda new to this mothering thing.
Mallory sighs happily as she leans on Altha.
:Mallory: Can't believe it's already been five years since they've let me out. [wiggles her hand] Can you believe I've done roughly 1,250 days' worth of service? My hands still hurt.
:Altha: That's a while back, isn't it?
Altha kisses her wife's cheek. Sometime during all that, Mallory married her.
:Mallory: Yeah it is, thank you for helping me chance Altha, I appreciate everything you've done for me.
:Altha: No problem, you know I'm here for you!
Altha smiles.
:Altha: You can go back to writing now, let me know when you've finished the next chapter of your story, alright? I'd love to see what else you can come up with for it, you're having a great start.
:Mallory: Awwwh, thanks Altha, I appreciate it.
Mallory's changed up a little bit. Her horns have stretched out a little bit, she's gained some reptilian skin, and little trickles of fire release from her mouth every now and then. She's even gained a bit of a draconic tail. This is the result of her genetic makeup beginning to take effect and deviate her a little from most other humans.
:Mallory: Alright, gonna go work on my twenty-first chapter of WARM🔥BLOOD, I think there's twenty-six chapters planned out for it? There could be more. It's interesting.
Mallory laughs as she rubs her smooth cheeks. Her wrinkles are gone, and her teeth look great again.
:Altha: Oooh, I think that sounds great considering what I've read.
Altha kisses Mallory hard on the lips. Mallory places her hands on her jellyfish-human wife's shoulders, kissing her hard back. Her children are shown working at the table, working on completing their homework.
:Altha: God, I didn't think I was gay until I saw you at the bar, I'm glad you've left your past behind you.
:Mallory: I'll never forget my past, but considering how great things are working out right now, I think I have every reason to be able to look past it and live the best future I possibly can.
Mallory sighs happily as she begins go up the stairs to her home.
:Mallory: Good luck making dinner! I'll be out as soon as I can!
Mallory goes up the stairs and goes into what's apparently her room. There's a queen-sized bed, a bedside counter, nicely organized shelves, a nice big plasma television, and a big photo of Silver and her from times long behind them hanging on the wall. Mallory smiled.
:Mallory: If you didn't put some sense into me, Silver, I wouldn't have gotten the great things I have today.
Mallory weeps a little bit.
:Mallory: Thank you.
:Altha: Honey are you crying again?
:Mallory: No, it's just the faucet honey!
:Altha: Sureee.
Mallory runs down after Altha. We just look at the photo of Mallory and Silver together. They were holding hands, holding each other by the shoulders as they smiled for the camera. We take a closer look, the picture frame disappearing. We see a bunch of Silver and Mallory's friends, alive and deceased, standing around them. Valerie, Scotch, Syinara, Pierce, Devina, Crymsia, Azrail, Zonas, Junkhead, Medea, Cody, Mania, Beck, Kispel, Zellen, and more stood around them.
THANK YOU FOR PLAYING
:??? · ???
:???, Zaxina
Our attention turns to the planet of Zaxina, where we see the wreckage of Satellite 15.
:???: HYRIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! HISSSSSSSSS!
A long, slender white arm pulls itself out from under the wreckage, its sharp black nails pushing out. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, the top half of Silver's body can be seen, alive and well as his long black tongue sticks clear out. His eyes glowing a menacing red, his wild hair flows messily behind his back as his horns have twisted and grown massively.
:Silver: A-AHAHAHAHAHHH!
The screen cuts to black.
If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. This story has a lot of personal value to me and I'm proud of having finished this opus of mine. Thank you for reading!
Check out the DLC episodes here.
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