Book Two - Adjustment

## Chapter 13 - Escape

Darkness, all around. It was impossible to see. There was something heavy around the head, but it was impossible to tell if the helmet had eyeholes. Wrists and ankles were tied together, and the kind of pressure a full body mummy wrap would create was felt. She had been there for a while, and waited. She waited and waited for something to happen, but to no avail.

Andromeda had been there for a while now, she knew by common sense that it must have been years. She remembered why she had done it, to save Jack's life. Now that she was older, she realized what she felt for Jack. Yet she couldn't put it into words, or pretend she still wanted to do this. Surely, by now, they had healed him. So why...why keep her there?

She knew the answer, it was dumb to ask that in her head. They only did that to manipulate her. She was their science experiment, so they could continue their terrorism. She helped these evil humans continue their evil. She wanted nothing more than to escape, and she knew she needed an opportunity. Right now, she couldn't focus. She had been thinking about her lesson, and she believed...once she focused, she could form the Psychic Weapons and destroy Darkstar.

Or at least...she hoped she could. She needed to make up for lost time, and get revenge for what happened. Humankind was...evil.

There was indeed a scientist willing to walk towards the base, in fact, this scientist did so. He put his hand on a special pad that doubled as both a fingerprint and DNA scanner, which let the doors open. Now Andromeda could see. She was wearing a Sallet Helm, or something like it. She could tell. She also saw the scientist, and realized Darkstar had given her this opportunity.

In a split second, the headless, armless scientist fell to the ground, as Andromeda's cuffs broke off and she landed on her feet, ignoring the pain.

Andromeda didn't smirk, she didn't feel accomplished yet. That could wait until she had escaped this base completely. She began to walk out of the door, which she head close behind her. There, standing there, was a Darkstar soldier. She remembered the first time they encountered one of those. This time, she would not give him a chance. She grabbed the Darkstar soldier with what she made her Psychic Weapons out to be, hands, and twisted him around. She managed to grab a bullet he had fired at that time, but was still shocked as to how he could have fired it at all. Then, she finally noticed the horrific thing standing there. It looked like a loosely detailed amalgamation of flesh and metal. The skin and metal were very slightly green and shiny, and yellow tubes were connecting various parts of its body. It had wicked claws that looked like interlocking knives, and its face looked like a distorted Samurai helmet with six eyes. It had real, rotting teeth behind the metal mask it had for a face.

"Takes a monster to side with one." Andromeda muttered, as she prepared to grab the monster, but grabbing wasn't enough. And despite how frail it looked, she was struggling to twist it. It ran towards her, powering through her strength, as it takes a swing at her face. She raises her real arm to block, and feels it get cut. The agony was indescribable, and she loses control of her Psychic Weapons for a moment as she roars in pain. The monster prepares to slash her again, as she sends a Psychic Weapon into its mouth and down towards its heart to punch it out. The monster falls dead behind her, as Andromeda continues to walk while holding her bleeding arm. Her blood was green.

Alarms were sounded, as Andromeda looked around for an exit. She took a few bandages off of her wear to use for their intended purpose, and hopes she doesn't bleed to death, as she sees more soldiers, but no more of those monsters. "Fire!" One of the soldiers shouts, as they all take fire at Andromeda, who tries her best to catch the bullets and throw them back. Plenty of soldiers were taken out, as she grabs the last one and rips his head off.

"Did you have regrets?" Andromeda asked, as she continues walking. Soldier after soldier was slaughtered, barely getting shots in as Andromeda got better and better with her Psychic Weapons. She was amazed at her own improving skill. She continued this walk for a while, as she saw a few people dressed in normal clothing being marched towards somewhere and walked towards said march.

"Please, we have families." One of the people pleads, but he is awarded with a prod from the soldier next to him. "We don't care." The soldier says bluntly, before they hear an additional set of footsteps and turn to see Andromeda standing there. "Please, save us!" Another one of the people shouts. "I will." Andromeda says, feeling a shock in her heart as the person's head falls off and her lifeless corpse falls on its knees. "Wh-what did--" Andromeda starts, feeling a small shock in her head.

"What the Hell?! That's not saving!" The other person yells, as he feels his heart be punched out. The soldiers try to stop Andromeda, but she rips them apart, before noticing light at the end of the corridor. "There..." Andromeda remarks, as she walks towards said light, not quite aware of the assassin that was following her.

She kept walking as she exited the building. Any skin that could feel the cool, fresh air did so. Andromeda felt relieved and calmed by this. She felt free for the first time in her life. Then, she put her hands on her helmet and began trying to take it off. It was hard, and painful. She didn't notice the assassin still, said assassin aiming a rifle at her. "Goodnight, child." The assassin says, Andromeda realizing too late as the bullet pierces through her hand and helmet, exploding the helmet and shearing her skin as it disintegrated from its own force. She stumbles back towards a cliff and tries to keep her ground, as the assassin rushes in to kick her in the face and knock her off. At least...she was free...she thought...

...as she fell towards the ground far below.

## Chapter 14 - War

"Stop him!"

"He's moving too fast!"

"I can't dodge the bullets!"

The Darkstar soldiers were trying and mostly failing to fight off against Jack, who, despite some wounds, was carrying on firing at the soldiers, killing each one in a few shots, or rather killing the ones who he tried to kill. Some were merely disarmed. "Where is Andromeda?!" Jack yells as he fires through another soldier's shoulders and kicks said soldier to the ground. The soldier doesn't respond, and within seconds goes completely limp. "What?! No!" Jack shouts, as he remembers the existence of cyanide pills. He gets up off the soldier and turns to run from the offsite base.

He was running so fast towards the bakery that he didn't notice the man he had crashed into, stumbling said man. "Sorry! I'm in a rush!" Jack shouts. "Quite understandable!" The man responds, as Jack keeps running.

The bakery's holo-sign this time around was talking about the bread quality. Jack only saw it superficially and ignored it otherwise as he stumbled into the bakery, out of breath. "A soldier in training and you come to a baker for support?" The baker said. Jack saw the family photo and the snapped gun. He also noticed the locked wooden chest. And, of course, the bread, which apparently was honey wheat with more honey concentrated into it.

"Yeah, and you know you can go back to your family, right?" Jack asks. "Oh, right. I always forgot to tell you every time. My family does come here usually." The baker responds. "They should've been here around now, but they haven't yet arrived. I wonder if my daughter's making friends with a doorknob or something."

Jack laughs. The baker's three-year-old daughter tried to make friends with anything she could. He also looked back at the gun. "You know you didn't need to have resigned, right?" Jack asks. "Yeah, I know, I resigned because it felt right. Rosenstock's heart is in the right place, but I'm not bullying the bullies anymore. This is an equal-opportunity bakery. Even the Socqreath can come whenever they want." Jack ponders the baker's words, and begins to remember Andromeda. She was a Socreath and she seemed the least like a monster. Then again, she was his only perspective of them.

"Is it possible for there to be a good Socqreath?" Jack asks the baker, who waits a few moments before answering. "I mean, they're parasites, but they've got their own sentience and they seem to care just as much about their instincts as we do. I don't like 'em, but I'm sure they're not all killers and rapists." The baker says. "Oh yeah, why not tell you my name so you can distinguish me among any other bakers around? Mr. Chapman."

"Ah." Jack responds. "You know what? I'll try this honeybread. How much is it?" Chapman smiled a bit, as his strategy clearly was working. Even Jack knew what it was, but he still wanted to try it. "A couple dollars. No need to keep buying it if you don't like it. If someone goes broke, they're getting something good to stuff their faces with in exchange." Chapman responds, as Jack nods and puts down a few dollars as he is handed a loaf of honeybread.

As he walks out of the store, he takes a bite out of the honeybread. It did taste more like honey than normal, but not quite as much so as he was expecting. "I guess this is a fine alternative." Jack remarks, as he sees a civilian running his way. "Y-you're a soldier, right?!" The civilian asks in a panic. "Uh, yeah. In training. Why?" Jack answers and asks. "B-because we're under attack! The butcher tried to fight it, but..." The civilian trails off and keeps running. Jack runs in the opposite direction to check it out, his hand on his gun, ready to draw it.

When he gets there, what he sees surprises him. It was a girl around his age, with blue skin, darker blue hair and yellow eyes. One eye was covered and she was wearing a full-body bandage suit like a mummy, although one sleeve and the cran were wrapped around her other arm as a cast. There was somewhat dry, green blood on the side of her face, and one of her horns was cracked. "Wait..." Jack breathes, as he remembers where he saw that color scheme before. "Are you..."

## Chapter 15 - Reunion

"...Andromeda?" The boy asks, which shocked her. "...How...how do you...know my name...?" Andromeda asks, as she sees the boy look almost heartbroken, before seeing his eyes and realizing it. "...J...Ja..." Andromeda kept involuntarily cutting herself off. Jack was standing right here, completely fine. She felt relieved, like she could finally collapse.

"Stop!" A soldier's voice shouts, shocking Andromeda awake. She sees the platoon standing there and preparing to fire. "Wait! Don't shoot!" Jack shouts. "Why the Hell not?! This thing has been terrorizing us!" "Th-...thing? That's...that's my friend." Jack responds, as Andromeda replays this word in her head. Friend...friend...she was...his friend...he was her friend...they...the must still be...

Andromeda collapses where she is, as she wakes up in a hospital bed to see Jack sitting there. "Th...thank you..." Andromeda says to Jack. "Y-you're welcome." Jack replies, as Andromeda feels more and more reassured. "Is...it really you, Jack?" Andromeda asks. "I was...going to ask you the same question, and you already answered." Jack answers. "Yeah, it's me."

Andromeda smiles a bit, she hated how it felt forced. She never hated it before, but she never had anyone who'd like to see her happy. She then extends her arm to Jack. "Can I...can I..." Andromeda didn't know how to ask the question, but Jack gently moved her arm to touch his cheek. "...Does...that answer your question...?" Jack asks while blushing.

"I just...didn't know what to say..." Andromeda whispers. "How about...'can I touch your cheek?'." Jack suggests. "Wait, no, that sounds wrong." Andromeda chuckles a bit, as she begins to feel drowsy again.

"Letters for 'Andromeda' and 'Jackson Holland'." A postman says, making Jack jump and yelp. "H-how long have you been standing there?" Jack asks frantically. "Just got here." The postman responds. "This batch of letters may very well be the last delivered in the world. I'll have to find another way to pay for my children's education." The postman hands the letters over to Jack, who hands one to Andromeda.

When they open the letters and begin to read, they finally process what they were reading. "...An invitation? To school?" Andromeda asks. "Why would someone want me there...?" "I dunno, but I do know that there are still people willing to give you another chance." Jack answers. "I sure as Hell am giving you as many chances as I possibly can. I think you could be better if you were just allowed to improve."

Andromeda smiles and leans her head on Jack's arm, as he blushes harder. "Oh yeah, my children actually attend that school. If you can, could you possibly make friends with them? It's their first day too and I'm afraid I won't be able to buy all of their supplies." The postman says. "Sure thing." Jack answers, as the postman smiles and leaves the room.

Andromeda felt more sleepy as she finally noticed she was hooked up to something, and felt the casts on her head, arm and stomach. She didn't know why, but these people at this hospital were helping her.

She wasn't quite ready to change, but maybe, just maybe...

...humanity was redeemable.

## Chapter 16 - School

It had been a few days since the invitation. Jack had been waiting for Andromeda to recover, and was a bit shocked to see her wounds having healed so quickly. They walked out of the hospital together, and began to make their way towards the location. About halfway there, or or what Jack thought was half way, he noticed that Andromeda's head was leaning on his shoulder, and she was holding his hand.

"Ah!" Jack exclaims, as his face turns red. "Huh? What's wrong?" Andromeda asks. "I-I didn't notice..." Jack answers nervously. "Neither did I, I was just thinking about...my old hopes. You helped me start seeing the good in humanity, and I--oh..."

They had arrived at the school, a rather large building, and noticed other students getting out of busses. "Why didn't we take one of those?" Jack wonders. "What are those?" Andromeda asks. "Oh, right." Jack remarks, as they notice two students walking towards them. A boy with almost pale blonde hair and green eyes, wearing what looked like a white frilly shirt underneath a black collared cloak that went down to his feet with golden buttons holding it closed. He also wore a black cap, and his hair was partially covering one eye. He was barely looking at them, and seemed to mostly be focused on a console in his hands. Next to him was a girl with a similar shade of blue skin and hair to Andromeda, although the hair was ever so slightly a purplish tint. She wore a pink ribbon headband thing around her horns and her eyes were a deep blue, like the ocean, and wore a plain school outfit.

"Wow...sh-should I..." The girl trails off, as she then excitedly shakes Andromeda's hand with both of hers. "I'm Candice! Candice Distler! This is Kasper, he's my boyfriend!" Candice almost shouts, making Kasper slightly blush as he continues to focus on his game. "I'm...Andromeda. This is Jack." Andromeda replies, sounding a bit nervous and annoyed. "Hi." Jack says. "You seem excited." "Yeah, of course!" Candice replies. "I'll get to make new friends and learn new things, here!" She then looks back at Andromeda a bit nervously, her words also being a bit shaky. "I-it's amazing to meet you, Andromeda! You have great horns!" "...What...?" Andromeda looked very confused as she raised an eyebrow. But before Candice could answer, the school bell rang.

As everyone walked inside, they saw plenty of teachers. A large, orange-haired muscular man wearing a tank top and a cap. An obscenely withered old man with the palest skin possible and next to no hair wearing a toga and sandals. A man with a bit of a dark skin and black hair and beard, with very dark red eyes, wearing a labcoat. A woman whose skin was not visible beneath her long, black hair. Only one of her eyes, which glowed bright red. She was also wearing a jacket and jeans. A woman with blonde hair and the same blue eyes as Candice, who had a shapely figure yet was not as endowed as the Socqreath. She wore some kind of mesh on her torso and her pants had bullet-strapped belts covering them. There was a sniper rifle on the woman's back. A man with yellow and red hair, along with odd, dark green eyes with lighter green pupils. He wore an orange shirt and indigo jeans, along with red shoes. He had a curved, white and orange sword strapped to his side, and his brown leather belt had chrome studs embedded in it. There was a man with pale, yet actually a bit darker than white, skin, almost like stone. He was wearing black overalls with golden buttons, a white undershirt and a sleeveless purple shirt above that but beneath the overalls. His shoes were fancier than most of the others, and he had shaggy black hair and almost soulless black eyes. He also had a small smile on his thin face, a head on a thin, somewhat tall frame. He also had golden buttons on the purple shirt. Standing on a raised portion, no doubt the principal, was a large, plump yet seemingly muscular man, with dark skin and blond hair, although only on his moustache, as he was balding. He wore a grey suit through and through, and had an impressive looking device in his hand that looked like something from a science fiction alien race. The most astonishing thing about this man was the piercing silver eyes that commanded respect and yet inspired peace and order. Jack felt that if not for Rosenstock, this man could be the king.

The man then clears his throat. "Please, everyone, be seated for this procedure. I won't make you be uncomfortable." Everyone sits down on the seats present, as the man continues. "I'm Adriaan van Kooji, the headmaster, or principal, here. This is some of the school staff who will teach you what you need to know. Bertram Bartrop, a genius in all things regarding light and the electromagnetic spectrum. Asaka Kazuyuki, a genius in every field of coding and programming imaginable. Fiora Distler, considered a candidate for a hypothetical 'pinnacle of humankind' thanks to her tactical genius as the world's greatest sniper. Arthur Grant, the master biologist who, once and for all, managed to cure all types of Cancer. Maya Gill, a chemist whose knowledge in the materials of our world is unparalleled. Aaron Reynolds, a man with immense strength, and a master of boxing. He knows how best to train someone even if it must be harsh, but he is a kind man. And then there is Axylus, an immortal, whose very existence as such is still astounding. No one knows how he is still alive, so far science has failed to explain it."

"That was a lot of talking..." Kasper remarks quietly as he, still playing his game unconsciously, was actually looking up at the teachers, although not too much. Candice looked excited as ever to learn the teachers' names and professions, as Andromeda almost seemed to be glaring at Asaka. "Andromeda, what's wrong?" Jack asks. "He's not right...I can feel it." Andromeda answers, as Kooji, looking very slightly annoyed, then continues to speak. "My profession is my vision. I am immensely creative, and am always thinking of the future." Kooji says. "Now, please, all of you. You'll be assigned to face off against some of our teachers as a first lesson. We will adjust all future lessons for each student according to this. Is this understood?"

Everyone nods, as Bertram looks down at Jack, Andromeda, Candice and Kasper. "I'm thinking that you four could come with me first. We'll cycle through, so I want the first turn. I've been meaning to test this baby out anyway." Bertram unstraps his sword, which looked a bit blunt, and brandishes it at them. "Follow me, to your first day of training." "But isn't one of them already training to become a soldier...?" Arthur remarks, as they walk out of the room with Betram.

Who knew what would be waiting for them, on the other side of the next door.

## Chapter 17 - Versus: Professor Bartrop

As they walk through the door, they see somewhat large arena with water pistols resting on a table next to the door. Bertram walks ahead of them and presses a button on his sword. "Your goal here is to defeat me using water guns." Bertram says. "...What...?" Jack exclaims. Kasper looks down at his game, which appeared to be a fighting game, as he pressed SAVE and turned off the console before setting it aside. "He gets it, please set any other weapons aside and pick up the water guns." Bertram says, as Jack puts down the gun he was holding and picks up a water pistol, as do Kasper and Candice. Andromeda looks at Bertram with an annoyed look, before suddenly looking confused.

"Wh-what...? Why can't..." "I'll answer for you, I am a teacher after all." Bertram says, cutting Andromeda off. "You see...this sword here can, like a Socqreath, interface with the Cosmic Microwave Background. You might call it 'Aether' or 'Psychic Aura'. Right now, I've taken all the Psychic Aura from this arena, meaning while you're in here, you won't be able to make Psychic Weapons. So..." Bertram twirls his sword around with a finger. "Please, choose a water pistol."

Andromeda growls and picks up one of the water pistols, as she fires it at Bertram, who tilts his head to dodge. Candice fires at his knee, but he bends his leg backwards to dodge. Kasper looks at Bertram's other leg and prepares to fire at it, as he notices Jack firing at it first and changes to go for his eye. Bertram puts his raised leg on the ground and bends back his other one as he bends his head backwards to dodge the water shot from Kasper.

"Haven't even made me move from my spot..." Bertram says, as Kasper notices a small spot on Bertram's jeans where he was, in fact, hit by the water. Candice tries to blast the sword, as Andromeda, looking angry, rushes at Bertram and continuously fires at him. He dodges most of the water until she gets in close enough to aim the water pistol directly at his eye and fires. "Agh!" Bertram shouts, as he swings his sword to knock Andromeda away.

Kasper thinks he sees sparks coming from Bertram's eye, as he takes advantage of the confusion to fire at Bertram, Bertram being hit but staying on his feet as he still doesn't swing his sword at them unless they get in too close. Jack fires at Bertram to knock his sword out of his hand. Bertram, immediately noticing this, leaps backwards with a small sound of his bones slightly cracking. He grunts in pain as Kasper notices Andromeda walking towards him.

"Well...you all pass..." Bertram says a bit breathlessly. "I'll have to...see a doctor after this..."

Andromeda glares at him for a moment, before deciding to walk back to everyone else. "We did it!" Candice shouts happily, as she grabs Kasper's hands and begins to hop up and down. "We did it! We did it!" Kasper feels himself blush as Candice does this, as he notices Bertram getting up. "I think you should go and see which teacher is next." Bertram says, as he walks towards a table with ice packs on it.

"Let's go see, then." Jack says, as they walk out of the arena and towards the next. In said arena, there were various hiding spots. Standing in the middle was Fiora. "Mom!" Candice squeals, as she runs over to hug her mother. Kasper looks on, as he and the others wait where they are. "Candice, the best daughter in the world!" Fiora shouts, hugging Candice back. "You go on over to your friends real quick, okay?" "Okay!" Candice shouts enthusiastically, as she runs over to bump into Kasper and hold his hand. "Have you all got your weapons ready?" Fiora asks, to which they nodded. "Good, because...you're going to need them."

Fiora then aims the sniper rifle at them, Kasper's eyes widening in shock.

They now knew who their next opponent was.

## Chapter 18 - Versus: Professor Distler

Candice sees her mother pull the trigger, and the instant that happened, she saw only a flash of light from the rifle, before there was a burn that went straight through her horn. "Gh!" Candice exclaims out of pain. "It's a laser. Invented by Bertram." Candice's mother says, as she fires another blast at Candice's leg. She then turns to dodge gunfire from Jack, who was running at her to try and hit her point blank. However, she kicks Jack in the leg to knock him over and fires at his wrist. "GAH!" Jack yells. Candice sees Andromeda walking towards and glaring at her mother, her mother responding by shooting Andromeda in the horn and in the knees, causing her to buckle over. "Guh!" Andromeda growls, as Candice's mother then turns to fire at Kasper, who had apparently created a barrier ahead of time. "You need us to beat you?" Kasper asks, as he creates a few floating rifles by pressing a few buttons on his console, the rifles firing at Candice's mother, who dodges the bullets and turns to fire at a higher power, breaking through the barrier before she kicks Kasper to the ground and fires at his wrists and ankles. "AGH!" Kasper shouts, as Candices' mother blows her whistle.

"Well, you all lasted a few seconds longer than I thought." Candice's mother says. "That means you'll be getting a better grade than the last team." "Yay." Candice says, still feeling the pain in her knee and horn. "Don't worry, those burns are very light. I fought you using the lowest level of this rifle. The highest would have turned you and this arena into ash." Candice's mother says. "There'll be medics to escort you soon enough, if you'll just hold on." Candice's mother then walks out of the room to go inform the medics.

"We lost...that bad?" Jack breathes, as he walks over to help Andromeda up. Candice feels her leg having mostly healed as she runs over to Kasper and hugs him. "You did the best out of us, Kasper! I'll help you up!" Candice nearly shouts, as she sees Kasper blushing again, and wincing from his injuries. "Oh..." Candice breathes, as she gently puts her hands on one of Kasper's. "Is it better?" Candice asks as sweetly as she can. Kasper seemed to be breathing easier, and nods, before shakily picking up his console and fiddling around with it, creating medical supplies.

"Say, how long have you two been together?" Candice asks. "U-us?" Jack asks. "Yeah, you and Andromeda." "Uh, total or..." Jack trails off, as Candice finishes for him. "As a couple." "Err, I think only a few hours, maybe a day ago? We haven't seen each other for a long time since we were little kids." "You were childhood friends?!" Candice shouts, becoming more excited by the second. "That's so romantic!"

Candice finally notices a bandage on her horn, which was still healing, as she saw Kasper applying medicine and bandages to Jack and Andromeda as well. "How did you afford that console?" Jack asks Kasper, bewildered. "I'm the heir to the Maibaum Gaming Company, and I made this myself." Kasper answers, with a small smile. "It uses hard light pixels to create physical holograms of whatever I want. And it can also do this." Kasper has a small devious look in his eye as he shows Jack what looks like an 8-bit version of him. Candice tries to cover her giggles, as Jack looks very confused.

The door then opens back up, as four of the teachers walk in, those four being Kooji, Candice's mother, Professor Bartrop and Professor Kazuyuki. "You again..." Andromeda mutters, seemingly glaring at Professor Kazuyuki. "Me again." Professor Kazuyuki replies jokingly, as Kooji claps. "You are all exceptional students, able to last a good ten or so seconds against Professor Distler. Please, don't take that as me being condescending, it is genuinely impressive. She is after all the combat genius, and would be probably the pinnacle of human fighting potential if not for the king himself."

"Not to mention..." Candice's mother then shows a small wound on her arm left by a grazing bullet, from either Jack or Kasper, Candice had no way of knowing. "You actually did hit me with your onslaught." "Go figure..." Andromeda remarks, as the medics attempt to help them out of the room, before they get up themselves. "Kasper treated us." Candice said with a smile, as they began to leave the room. Candice sees Andromeda glaring at Professor Kazuyuki still. "You're a psychopath. I can tell." Andromeda growls. "So?" Professor Kazuyuki asks. "I'm really just the coding teacher here. Believe what you want about me, but, I don't really have any weapons to even attempt killing you with. If I'm a psychopath, I'm smart and logical, not dumb enough to think I can fight a Socqreath."

Professor Kazuyuki gave them a small smile. It looked normal enough, but it as a bit creepy. Candice couldn't put her finger on it, maybe she would just have to take the Professor for his word. Still, they apparently did really well, which meant they were starting school off well, maybe they'd be treated better. Regardless, things were looking up. And she hoped they would stay that way. Maybe...

...her father would pay more attention to her if she got good enough here.

## Chapter 19 - Astro Field Trip

"GAH!" Andromeda roars in pain. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" "It's Saint Patrick's Day." Jack says with a small laugh. "What...?" Andromeda had no idea what Saint Patrick's Day was. "Oh, you don't wear green, you get pinched." Jack answers. "Well, I don't like that." Andromeda responds.

"Hey, everyone!" Candice shouts, as they turn to see her wearing a shiny green dress with a golden buckled belt and green tophat with a similar belt, the dress exposed her cleavage, and she was wearing clover earrings.

"...What...?" Andromeda, even more confused, demands, her eyelids drooping from looking at Candice's ridiculous costume. "I wanted to wear something festive for Saint Patrick's Day!" Candice answers, as Kasper, wearing a green clover on his hat, walks to stand next to Candice.

"Hold on, you're not wear--" Candice cuts herself off when Andromeda cuts her own arm open and smears her blood across her outfit. "...ing green." Candice finishes. "The next person who pinches me loses their hand." Andromeda growls.

"Alright, everyone!" Bertram shouts from atop a lamppost. "What?! How did you?!" Jack shouts. "I'm always called a frog because of how high I can jump. It gets annoying after a while, but maybe it'll help me not get pinched today." Bertram answers. "Anyways, we're gonna' go on a field trip as our first real lesson."

"A field trip to another planet."

Andromeda, Jack, Candice and Kasper stare at him, dumbstruck for a few moments. "What do you...?" Andromeda trails off. "Another planet, a couple lightyears away from here. It'll be a quick trip with the warp drive we invented. Even keeps the universe from aging too rapidly while we move." Bertram answers.

Everyone was walking into the spaceship. "This is a space elevator, it moves along through warped spacetime to go from Point A to Point B without speeding up outside time." Kooji says. "It's the fastest, and the only, method of interstellar travel currently."

"What's the planet we're going to, anyway?" One of the students asks. "Rinnagua. It's a central hub for the Galactic Federation, which is actually currently at war." Kooji answers. "War? With who?" Another one of the students asks. "Galactic Axis, I think." Bertram answers. "And there it is."

The planet looked like a desert, with many city-looking structures covering it, along with large oases. They flew towards one of the structures through the warp tunnel, which was so fast it almost made Andromeda puke, as they reach the planet.

Andromeda helps Jack out of the spaceship, Jack looking even more nauseous than her, as Candice happily walks out, holding Kasper's hand. "I'm gonna' go and get some gold." Asaka says. "Why?" Bertram asks. "Just because." Asaka answers, as he walks away and towards a shack.

"I...I'm good, now..." Jack says dizzily, as Andromeda continues to help him around. He was able to move on his own by now, and seems to notice something. "Uh, you guys go on ahead." Jack says, as he runs into an alleyway, Andromeda turning to follow. Jack seemed to me moving much faster than her as she quickly lost track of where he was going, but that may be attributed to her walking. She notices a more lizard-looking person looking at her. "Hey, girl--" Andromeda cuts the lizard person's head off the instant she hears that sentence, and continues to follow Jack, thinking she hears crawling. "More of them..." Andromeda mutters.

She keeps walking until she hears a gunshot. "Jack!" Andromeda shouts, as she runs along to try and get to him. She needed to protect him from whatever it was...

## Chapter 20 - Scales or Spikes?

Jack was fighting off a small man with a point nose, sharp teeth and a lizardlike tail. "I've gotta' take you to Boss!" The man says. "What boss?" Jack demands. "Come with me and I'll show you." The man says, before his head abruptly flies into the air. "Ah!" Jack shouts, as he turns to see Andromeda standing there, covered in blood. "Why did you--" "I could tell he was going to get you killed." Andromeda says. "The people around here must be criminals."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm right here if you're looking for me."

Both Jack and Andromeda turn around to see a man standing there, or rather squatting. He wore leather boots, leather pants, and a sleeveless leather jacket with fur on the collar. His skin was tinted orange and looked scaly, and his hair looked something like a pinecone. His nose was only two slits, as were his reddish orange eyes. His cocky smile was full of sharp teeth and his fingernails on hands covered by fingerless gloves and spike wristbands were claws. He also had a tail identical to the others, but slimmer. "My name's Hask, and I'm a Qhaikra." The man, Hask, says. "What's a Qhaikra?" Jack asks. "A Humanoid-Reptilian Class 'Alien', although I shouldn't need to tell you that humans and Socqreath are the aliens to me." Hask answers. "Hask'Torba is actually my full name. Although I'm also known as Number 5892."

"What?" Andromeda demands, as Hask sighs and takes off one of his wristbands. Jack sees a marking there that could only be caused by a cuff. "What...?" Andromeda asks. "Yeah, the Qhaikra are really, really good at fighting, mining, and building, so our kind is usually enslaved." Hask says. "I left that crap a few years ago. After all, It was the 'elegant' Socqreath who were ruling over my family."

Hask then stands up, his expression becoming more serious. "Actually...was it your family who enslaved mine?" "I wouldn't know. I don't remember my family." Andromeda says. "She's been an orphan all her life." Jack says to Hask. "Neither of us know who enslaved who." "Oh well." Hask says with a bit of a groan. "Guess today isn't the day of my revenge, so I'll cut you two a deal."

Hask gets closer to them and holds out his hand with his pointer and middle fingers outstretched. "You see, I want way more than just revenge. I'd like to see my family again, but that's never happening. I want to explore space, I want a nice woman to sleep with. But more than all that, I want the crown jewel of this place. It's in a casino that normally sells gold, but also has a platinum medal--woah!"

Hask had caught a bullet from Jack, his hand now somewhat resembling a pinecone. "Sheesh, you could've warned me before you did that." Hask snarks. "H-how did you..." Jack trails off, as Hask smiles again. "This is why we're enslaved. Our scales can morph into a hyper-protective armor that absorbs damage and lets us support things plenty of times our own weight." Hask answers. "As I said, perfect for fighting, mining and building." Hask seems to sniff the air, as he leaps over something. "Forgot I got too close. What is with you guys?" Hask jokes. "Oh yeah, and we have an excellent sense of smell!"

"Grr..." Andromeda growls, as Jack aims at Hask's face and fires, Hask's face becoming covered in those same platelike scales. "Didn't I tell you? I'm bulletproof! Bring a laser if you wanna' fire at me!" Hask shouts, as he supposedly covers his leg in the plates as he kicks the ground hard enough to crack it and send a sand and dust cloud up.

Jack coughs hard as he feels his eyes tear up from the pain, dust and sand. Andromeda grabs him and runs him out of the dust cloud after Hask, who was nowhere to be seen. "D-Dammit!" Jack yells, remembering what Hask said. "Professor Kazuyuki's in that casino!"

## Chapter 21 - Bar Fight

Kazuyuki was sitting down at a table with an octopus-looking creature and a ferret-looking creature, along with a Socqreath bunny girl. "A Secoi, an Olgaih and a Socqreath..." Kazuyuki remarks, thinking of what strategy would get him the amount of gold needed. "If I can charm the Socqreath, who clearly works here, I might get the game rigged in my favor..." Kazuyuki thinks to himself as he lets out a small smile.

"Say, what would be your name?" Kazuyuki asks the Socqreath, who blushes a bit and chuckles. "That's a nice voice you've got there! I'm Helen. What's your name?" The Socqreath, Helen, answers and asks, as Kazuyuki's smile widens. "Asaka Kazuyuki, I'm new here so I don't really know how to play." "Well, don't worry, we'll give you the basics." Helen says as she puts her hand under the table for a few seconds.

"There, now who wants to start?" Helen asks. "I'll go." The Olgaih says, as he puts a card on the table and carefully detaches it from his sucker. "Can I go next?" The Secoi asks. "Absolutely." Helen answers. The Secoi, holding back a blush, puts her paw on the table, and beneath it is another card. Kazuyuki feels something enter his hand. "Your turn, love." Helen coos, as Kazuyuki chuckles slightly and his smile widens further. He places the card on the table.

"Oh! Where did you get that card?! It trumps everything else!" Helen shouts. "I almost wanna' call this cheating, but I feel a bit too nice today. You get one hundred pounds of solid Rinnaguan gold!" "This game's rigged." The Olgaih growls, as he slides off the chair and looks for something else to play.

"Well, of course it's rigged! Everything's rigged in a casino!"

Kazuyuki turns to see a man with plates for hair and tinted orange scales for skin, with reddish orange eyes and claws for fingernails, wearing leather clothing with fur on the collar of the leather jacket, which had no sleeves. Kazuyuki also noticed the slim tail. "You're not wearing green." Kazuyuki says. "Wha?" The man says. "Oh yeah, I'm Hask'Torba!" "So you're a wanted criminal..." Kazuyuki remarks, as the Olgaih sends a tentacle at Hask to fling him through the air and slam him into the table, Kazuyuki leaping away as Helen is crushed under it. "Well, better hope they kept track..." Kazuyuki remarks again as he lands on the ground with a grunt and sees plates shred through the Olgaih's tentacle. "GAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!! THOSE TKE FOREVER TO GROW BACK!" The Olgaih shrieks, as Hask leaps out of the rubble and lands both feet on the bar table. "Your fault for attacking me, slimy! Whatever I'm worth, you can just get here!" Hask shouts snarkily.

"What are you here for?" Kazuyuki asks. "The platinum medal, of course!" Hask shouts. "Okay, well I just want 100lbs of gold." Kazuyuki responds, as he notices the Secoi running away. A few of the people at the casino pull out laser rifles and point them at Hask. "That medal'll be mine, and the gold from taking you in!" One of the people shouts. "How much gold?" Kazuyuki asks. "About a million pounds or so, why?" Hask asks. Kazuyuki makes little effort to keep his grin from widening to levels others would call creepy, as he steps forward. "Sounds like more than enough gold for me." Kazuyuki says, as he is immediately kicked in the face by Hask. "Some decrepit guy like you? Take me in? Ha!" Hask yells, as he grabs one of the laser rifles and fires it at the people aiming at him before they can react to him.

Kazuyuki begins to get up and wipes blood from his nose as he observes Hask's fight. "I'm going to claim my first reward, now." Kazuyuki says to Hask, knowing the latter doesn't hear him, as he gets up fully and walks towards the vault, seeing no one standing in front of it. "Well, I can't exactly steal from this place..." Kazayuki remarks, as he turns around and notices Jack and Andromeda running into the casino, which was a complete mess at this point, as they rush to help restrain Hask. "You guys again?!" Hask roars, as he sends plates at them, Andromeda barely blocking them and Jack barely dodging them. A large diagonal cut then appears across Hask's torso as he roars in pain. "Dammit!" Hask screams. "That's what happens when you get too close. No time to smell air changes." Kazuyuki remarks once more.

Before anything else can happen, a long, glowing pink sword cuts Hask clean in half, again, diagonally, before it retracts. Kazuyuki turns to see a man wearing a while lab coat over a blue V-neck shirt and hakama, with some sort of boots. He was holding a sword with a titanium hilt and a platinum blade guard, which held the glowing pink blade that, normally, didn't seem to be much longer than a Wazikashi. The man was skinny, and his white hair covered one eye. The eye not being covered was closed upwards, as he had a perpetual grin on his face that made him look like he was wearing a fleshy drama mask. The man then waves.

"Hello! I'm a member of the Galactic Defense Force passing through." The man says. "My name is Sanjuro Akibara." "Wh...what the...Hell...?" Hask groans weakly from the ground. Andromeda glares at Sanjuro, as Jack looks shocked at him. "Why did you kill him?" Jack demands. "Why not? He was wanted dead or alive, so I guess I'm going to claim my million dollars." Sanjuro answers. "And maybe also confiscate this casino, which is known for rigging its games, while I'm here."

"Great..." Kazuyuki moans, as he walks over to Sanjuro. "Thank you for saving us from that thief, Mr. Akibara." Kazuyuki says, extending his hand towards him. "No need for handshakes, Mr. Kazuyuki. I'm just passing through, like I said. I'll report this back to headquarters as I wait for my reward." Sanjuro replies, as he walks away, still waving.

Kazuyuki then sees Kooji and the rest walk into the casino, as Kooji looks down at Jack and Andromeda with a somewhat mad expression. "You two are going to be in detention for all of tomorrow for this." Kooji says. "Kazuyuki, I think we should explore something else." "Right..." Kazuyuki says, as he, Jack and Andromeda follow Kooji and the others elsewhere.

"Damn...I guess the money's now Sanjuro's to do as he likes..." Kazuyuki thinks to himself, trying not to lose his composure and scream. Yet his curiosity outweighed his anger...

...just what was Sanjuro really up to?

## Chapter 22 - Maibaum Manor

"WOOOOOOOOAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Jack nearly screams, hurting Kasper's eardrums. "Ow, can you keep it down? I thought I told you I was rich." Kasper groans, as Candice holds his hand. "Are you okay, Kasp?" Candice asks sweetly. "I th-thought I asked you not to call me that!" Kasper shouts, flustered. Candice giggles and grabs hold of his other hand, as she takes him over to the door of the mansion.

The door is opened from the inside by a butler, who had one eye closed and metal ring glued onto that eye. "Young Master Maibaum, welcome home." The butler says with a bow. "Good to see you again, Gerald!" Candice says to the butler. "Yes, it is wonderful to see you again, companion of Young Master Maibaum." Gerald says.

"You won't even call us by our names?" Andromeda growls. "It is not my requirement. And now that I do think about it, perhaps I should train you two for when Darkstar resurfaces." Gerald says, taking out a pocket watch and pressing a button on it, the watch turning into twelve rings with lenses in them. "I can control tachyons with these, thanks to the chip in my eye." Gerald says. "Both of you, with me now." Jack and Andromeda reluctantly follow.

"I still remember the day." Candice says. "A few years ago, there was a get together for a charity. We met there." Kasper nods, remembering the day himself. "You looked like a princess at that party." Kasper replies. "And I think I was just wearing something like this." "Yeah." Candice says with another giggle. "You have like a full closet of that exact outfit."

"I don't remember what the charity was about, but I do remember that I was tinkering with this." Kasper says. "I never thought someone would ask me to dance, considering how bad I am at it. Especially not someone like..." "You looked lonely sitting over there. I wanted to cheer you up." Candice replies. "I don't quite remember, but I think I pestered Dad over wanting to see you more often. I liked hearing about the game you were making."

"You mean the game I'm still making." Kasper tries to joke, but he thought he failed because of his low energy. Candice still laughed. She was always happy and carefree, even though Kasper thought she might be richer than he was. He didn't quite know himself why he wasn't happier. He'd be given everything, even things he didn't ask for or know about. Which was the reason he worked so hard to make a game, and one of hard light at that. He wanted to make something.

And of course, his admiration for the Headmaster of the school, Professor Kooji, was a part of that. He knew who Kooji was for a while, seeing him on plenty of science shows. He always wanted the chance to learn from and stand alongside that genius. He felt happier than he had in a long time, having someone who loved him, learning from the best, making something with his own hands. But he also worried about Darkstar, and those rumors, were largely what kept him down.

"Young Master Maibum, Companion of Young Master Maibaum, the phone is currently ringing." A maid says. "Can you please call her by Candice now?" Kasper asks. He had been meaning to ask this for a while, and didn't know why he hadn't until now. "Of course, Young Master Maibaum." The maid says, as Candice takes the phone and puts it to her ear. "Oh, Dad!" Candice nearly shouts. "It's your father?" Kasper asks. "Yup! He's always been distant, I've wanted a way to please him." Candice answers. "Oh...okay. I'll get to that, I've gotta' tell Kasper first though--oh...alright." Candice looks a bit sad.

"What happened?" Kasper asks. "I can't tell you right now, I'll fill you in later." Candice answers, sounding very deflated compared to her usual personality. "Okay." Kasper replies. "Whatever it is, it must be important. Should I call the training session off?" Candice pauses for a moment, before nodding. "Alright." Kasper says, as he calls Gerald over the phone. "Young Master Maibaum?" Gerald asks. "Please, call off the training session for now." Kasper asks. "Yes, Sir." Gerald replies, as the phone hangs up.

"Candice...what is going on?" Kasper asks, knowing Candice had left the room by now.

Why did he have a bad feeling about this?

## Chapter 23 - Socqreath Battle!

Candice didn't know why her father wanted her to do this, but she walked and walked. Jack walked past her, as she turns around. "Where are you going?" Candice asks. "The bathroom." Jack answers nonchalantly "Where are you going?" "I'm gonna' go talk to Andromeda for a little bit." Candice answers. "Ah, good luck with that." Jack replies, as he continues walking. Candice walks as well, until she opens the door and sees Andromeda sitting on the staircase.

"It's so hot out here..." Candice remarks. "She must be lost in thought..." Candice walks over to the staircase and stands beside Andromeda. "Andromeda?" Candice asks, shocking Andromeda out of her trance. "What? I was thinking..." Andromeda says. "About what?" Candice asks. "...Darkstar just up and vanished after Jack tried to question one. I have no idea where they are or what they're doing, but..." Andromeda trails off.

"...They're the ones who hurt you, for years." Candice replies. "I heard they mounted an assault on the castle but retreated when they found themselves outmatched. Thanks to quick interventions from the Royal Guard and King Rosenstock himself, they were forced to retreat before they could kill more than one general."

"They made me lose my faith in humanity." Andromeda says. "I never knew creatures so horrible could exist." "Yeah, I try to lighten the mood and stay happy. It isn't too hard if I keep smiling, makes me get more dopamine, Professor Grant said. But...I can't pretend the world doesn't have some bad. I just like to focus on the good, and it would be great if you would too."

"Jack helps me focus on the good. He saw me as a person from the start." Andromeda says after a pause. "I...am not sure I deserve him." "Don't say that." Candice replies. "He loves you enough to stay with you after whatever you've done, and I think you might have started to love each other eve back then. I won't pretend I know for sure, I wasn't there."

Andromeda smirks a bit. "Back then I was more sympathetic, and trusting. Now, I can't stop worrying, about what would happen if Jack were killed." She says. "No one will let him be killed. Even a psychopath would see him as useful, and everyone else would like him for who he is. I like him as a friend, and you love him as a partner. We won't let him die. He has us, the school, and the government on his side. And we will take out Darkstar." Candice replies.

"...You're not just here to talk with me, are you?" Andromeda asks suddenly, making Candice jump back a bit. "...You're right. My father wants to meet you for some reason." Candice replies. "Not 'some reason'. I'll bet this father wants me dead. I only have so much trust, and that doesn't extent to a father I never met." Andromeda growls back.

"Wait! Let me ex--" Candice's sentence is cut off, as was her arm, but while she cut herself off from her sentence, her arm was cut off by Andromeda. "I knew there was something wrong with you. You always seemed like you were being absurdly happy on purpose." Andromeda said. "It's not an act! I am really happy all the time! Please, listen to reason!" Candice yells, trying to bite back the pain.

"Reason? I've only been here a few days and your stranger father suddenly wants to meet me." Andromeda growls. "If he's a Socqreath, that means he might want to put me in some sort of army!" Andromeda sends her Psychic Weapons, which resembled tentacle-like arms, at Candice, who throws down her own, silk-like psychic weapons on the ground to lift herself up into the air. "We can do that?" Andromeda demands, as she does the same, uses the momentum to leap towards Candice, and slash her in the stomach.

"G-guh!" Candice begins to cough up blood, which was terrifying to watch. "Now I understand! I'll bet you never had to endure this kind of pain in your life!" Andromeda yells, as she punches Candice to the bottom of the plateau hard enough to crack the pavement, and lands with enough force to leave handprints. Andromeda lands herself on the ground as Candice gets up and tries to run away.

"Dad, why?!" Candice thinks to herself, or tries to think past the pain, as she feels her leg come off, and her fingers go next, along with her arm. When on the ground. She feels her last leg ripped off as well. "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Candice screams in agony, no longer able to think clearly.

"You stopped screaming?" Andromeda demands, she and Candice not noticing the crowd watching. "Th-the shock pain is g-gone..." Candice tries to reply, not thinking about what she's saying. "Then I'll cut out your stomach, next." Andromeda replies, walking towards Candice and preparing to cut off her head, Candice closes her eyes.

The next thing she hears is a shout of agony. She opens her eyes and sees one of Andromeda's horns flying through the air. "I thought you were training your ability, Young Mistress Distler." A somewhat elegant male voice says. Candice uses all her remaining strength to turn and see Lynx, a man with long, light blue hair and deep blue eyes. He had no horns, and like the others was wearing a suit beneath another suit, with six buttons forming a rectangle shape on it. He also held his gold and chrome longsword and gold and chrome blast shield. Alongside him were a woman with curled, Chinese dragon like horns, and a Chinese haircut, Qian, along with a man with his horns as his fingernails and a yellow mohawk on his head, with spike bracelets on his wrists, Acrux, and a younger boy with feminine features, and very large, warped, winding horns, with a cyan right eye and a blue left eye, Caelum.

"Qian, heal Young Mistress Distler. Caelum, keep Andromeda trapped as we bring her to His Majesty." Lynx says. "Yes, Sir." Qian says, walking over to form a circle around Candice that heals everything but her limbs, although Candice was still close to passing out. "Sure thing." Caelum says, as he walks over to Andromeda and points his finger at her. "Don't bother trying to move, unless you wanna' be spaghetti." Caelum says to Andromeda, who growls. "What can I do?" Acrux asks. "Accompany us back to the palace." Lynx answers, as Acrux slumps a bit. "Ugh..." Acrux groans, as Candice sees the world begin to fade in and out.

"Don't worry, you're in good hands." Qian says to Candice, the last thing that happens before everything goes black.

## Chapter 24 - King of the Socqreath

Andromeda wakes up from her nightmare, which was once again about the horrific experiments preformed on her by Darkstar. She then notices she is resting on a flat, cold metal table, although it had been warmed up somewhat by her own body heat. "What...?" Andromeda wonders. "Where am I...?" Andromeda feels her head for her horn, it had healed by now.

What was this place? She had never been here before, it looked like nothing she ever saw before. It looked like the walls may have been painted white. She couldn't make out the color in this darkness. She looked around and saw the shapes of maybe a desk and some drawers. She still felt the dull pain of her horn being sliced off by that man with the long hair. "A Socqreath without horns..." Andromeda muttered, having just realized that.

She gets up off the table and looks around, trying to find a light switch. She then remembers what she did to Candice earlier. "Why did I...do that...?" Andromeda growls. She must have been too scared to think. Too scared of going back to Darkstar. She barely remembered what she herself said, and felt bad about hurting Candice. Then that led her to another thought. Jack wouldn't like this. What if he...left her for this?

The door then suddenly opens. Andromeda expects it to be the man with the long hair, but it turns out to be...Jack. "You...came for me?" Andromeda asked warily. "I saw you spare Candice, and I think I need to keep an eye on you anyway." Jack answers, sounding as if he's joking a little. "Seriously though, please don't ever do that again."

Andromeda nods shakily as they walk out of the room and through a tunnel, which was lit much better than said room. "I've...never been here before." Andromeda remarks. "Jack, how did you find me?" "I followed those other guys." Jack answers. "I saw them take you and tried to be sneaky. I may have beaten up a few of their goons on the way here." "Where did you enter from?" Andromeda asks. "I...don't remember." Jack says with a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his head.

Andromeda's eyelids droop, before she realizes she is wearing a full body straightjacket that didn't seem to be buckled yet. "Great, I was going to be their lab experiment." Andromeda growls, as they then see an open door. "Maybe that's the way out?" Jack asks, as they walk towards the room, which was dimly lit from what they could tell.

Inside, standing there, was Candice, who appeared to have new limbs. "We do heal fast..." Andromeda remarks, as Candice turns around and waves at them nervously. "So, the gang's all here except Kasper?" Candice jokes a bit. "You're not dead." Andromeda says, trying to bite back her hatred for this place. "Nope. And uh, my dad's in here right now." Candice replies.

Andromeda and Jack turn to see a man with the same hair, eyes, skin and horns as Candice sitting in a broken old throne, which was connected to numerous pipes. The man was wearing a blue and yellow cloak, and golden chest armor, which was worn beneath a small white cape that only covered the top of the man's torso. The man looks up at them.

"So, we had an unexpected guest..." The man remarks. "Who are you?! Candice's father?!" Andromeda demands. "My name is Copernicus, and I am the king of the Blue-Eyed Clan. And yes, Candice here is my daughter." "He's always been distant with me, I think he spends most of his time here." Candice says. "Dad, you still haven't told me what you want with Andromeda."

Copernicus lets out a sigh, before standing up and taking a few steps towards them. "I heard of you, Andromeda. And I brought you here because I see you as a threat to my goal." "Let me guess, world domination?" Jack asks. "No. I want to unite the Socqreath under my rule, a rule where all will be treated as equals and citizens. Of course, I cannot promise that those with blue eyes won't have a larger role." Copernicus answers.

"Unite?" Andromeda demands. "Yes, clans of different eye colors wage war on each other for dominance. I want to unite all Socqreath under the blue-eyed clan because, to be honest, everything else about us is blue already." "So it's like enslaving people for their skin?" Jack demands. "What?" Copernicus asks in disinterest. "Slaves should be that because they are good at their job, the color of someone's skin is rather inconsequential."

"We met someone enslaved by a Socqreath family." Jack says. "Did you enslave the Torba family?" "What? We have not enslaved any Qhaikra." Copernicus answers. "What about humans?" Jack demands. "Humans?" Copernicus asks in response. "Yeah, I bet you see us as monsters that need taming or something." Copernicus's expression changes to one of slight shock, as he puts his fingers on his chin and seems to think for a moment.

"Do you humans see ants as monsters?" Copernicus asks nonchalantly, shocking everyone in the room. "Wh...what...?" Jack breathes. "I know there are some exceptions, but for the most part, humans see ants as inconsequential, and do not have any need to judge them as friends or monsters. That would be an accurate summation of my view on you creatures." Copernicus answers.

"D-Dad..." Candice stutters. "Y-you m-married M-Mom..." "Yes, to birth you. I needed an heir with blue eyes." Copernicus replies. "I see Fiora Distler as necessary to my goal of preserving our eyes and species, and uniting it. However, I have no real romantic attraction towards her, even if she seems to have felt such towards me from the moment we met, although that is our primary characteristic."

"What...?" Andromeda asks. "Socqreath can reproduce with each other, however, it's disadvantageous considering we want to ensure the survival of our genes, and to perfect our species, to expand our empire...when it existed, that is. We can mate with any other humanoid-class life form, and have bodies seen as attractive by said life forms." Copernicus answers. "No wonder...everyone keeps calling you guys parasites..." Jack says. "I have no real intention of supplanting you humans, so I won't tell you to give up on Andromeda because of that." Copernicus says.

Copernicus walks closer to Andromeda. "However, I see a Yellow-Eyed Socqreath as a threat to my goal, especially one with those horns. Because of that, I must terminate you, Andromeda." Copernicus says. Andromeda leaps back and growls. "I knew it!" Andromeda yells, as she sees Jack draw his gun and aim at Copernicus.

"I won't let you kill her!" Jack yells, as he begins to fire bullet after bullet at Copernicus, putting a new magazine in the instant the first runs out. However, Copernicus casually stops the bullets in their tracks using some sort of fuzz that was surrounding said bullets, and crushes Jack's gun. "Gh!" Jack shouts, as Copernicus throws him back. "If you had used a photon firearm, I may not have been able to react to it." Copernicus says to Jack.

"DIE!" Andromeda screams angrily, as she sends all the Psychic Weapons she could muster, which was about four, at Copernicus. Copernicus watches them come, closes his eyes, bows his head down and sighs. "This is a waste of time." Copernicus groans, as he taps his foot on the ground to spread his Psychic Weapons throughout what felt like the entire country. Andromeda watches in horror as her own Psychic Weapons almost seem to be blown away by Copernicus'.

"Wh...wha...what was...h-how did..." Andromeda was unable to form sentences from the shock. She kept remembering her Psychic Weapons being literally blown away, as she falls on her ands and knees. Copernicus walks over to stand in front of her and looks down at her with his eyes hidden in shadow. "Your power is something I sense is immense, yet you use none of it. I am disappointed in your threat." Copernicus says with contempt in his voice.

"Dad! Please, stop!" Candice yells, running to Copernicus. "She's my friend!" "Even after she tore your limbs off and was going to tear out your stomach? I am lucky she did not." Copernicus replies. "Yes! She was scared! And I...I had no idea this is why you wanted her here!" Candice shouts, trembling. "I'm-I'm begging you not to kill my friends!"

Copernicus stops to think, as Andromeda feels Jack limp to be beside her. Copernicus looks down at all three of them, before stopping at Candice and sighing again. "Very well, then. I assume you'll threaten me with suicide if I do kill them, and I cannot lose my heir." Copernicus says with a bit of a groan. "Be very lucky you are my daughter, Candice."

Candice smiles again, as Copernicus calls for people named Lynx, Qian, Acrux and Caelum, who appear minutes later from an elevator, Andromeda recognizing them as the Socqreath from before. "What have we been called here for, Your Majesty?" Lynx asks politely as he gets down on one knee and bows. "Please escort these three to their school." Copernicus orders. "It will be done, Sire." Lynx replies.

He and the others walk over to help Andromeda, Jack and Candice into the elevator, which begins to go up. "How can you follow that man?" Andromeda demands. "We have blue eyes, and pledge our loyalty from birth, that is why." Lynx answers, as they reach the top. "You'd better not cause any more trouble, or I'll turn you to ashes myself." Acrux says.

"Hmph." Andromeda replies, as they walk back to the school. "Kasper!" Candice shouts, as she runs over to hug and kiss Kasper, who had been waiting at the entrance of the school. Kazuyuki was standing at the top of the building and looking down at them with a small smile. Andromeda hated that smile, but she wouldn't rip it off. She made a promise to Jack.

They walked into the school again, explaining what happened to Kasper, as the other students gave them funny looks. Andromeda tolerated these looks, and by doing that she realized they weren't evil, but confused.

She'd keep this path up, and try to see the good of the world.