"The patriot's blood is the seed of Freedom's tree," Chill whispered to himself, quietly.

He was leaning against a massive boulder as cover as the unending sounds of assault rifles and grenades roared in the background. He was clutching his own service rifle against his chest, and was covered in mud. He was cold and wet from trudging through knee deep water in a river to get to the vantage point he currently owned. He had all but lost feeling in his toes, and any kind of direction on where Nick or his brother had gone to through all the chaos. The sounds of people screaming and dying sounded from all around him from both sides, as he struggled to regain his resolve.

"May the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country…," he continued, closing his eyes as he heard another barrage of bullets fly over the top of his head.

He took a deep breath as he heard the sounds of hurried footsteps approaching his location. In one swift movement, he shifted his body around the boulder, where he saw an enemy troop trudging towards him, shouting words he didn't understand. Upon making eye contact with the man, the enemy rose his own rifle and aimed it at Chill, his shouting growing ever louder.

BANG

Chill froze, his gun still aimed forward as the man in front of him slouched to the ground and fell forward.

"If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace…," Chill whispered, as he lowered the gun and began moving himself forward.

He stepped over the body and surveyed his surroundings. Bullets were still being fired off, and he saw many of his comrades moving forward and firing at the enemy. This was good. They were moving up. They were pushing them back.

His spirits rising slightly, Chill trudged forward, stumbling slightly in the thick mud in front of him, as he approached a hill in front of him. Aiming his gun cautiously, he circled the base of the hill, watching for any signs of foreign military, before he noticed something off in the tall grass before him.

It wasn't long before he saw that it was the body of another American soldier he didn't immediately recognize. Still watching his surroundings, he glanced down at the corpse and noticed it was someone called Jim from his squad. He had never spoken with him directly before, but he immediately felt a tinge of emotion at the sight.

Choking it down, he shook his head and stepped over the body and continued forward.

"Yet America is a poem in our eyes; its ample geography dazzles the imagination, and it will not wait long for meters."

Several more bodies began coming into view as he moved forward. Some of them were Iraqi soldiers, some were American. He tried not to look down at them as he continued forward, muttering his proverbs to himself and preparing himself for another encounter.

However, just as it looked like he had passed over the graves, something caught his eye. It was a tiny glint of something devastatingly familiar. Chill looked down to see another body thrown haphazardly over another corpse. The face was covered by a gas mask with a very distinct bullet hole through the forehead, but what Chill noticed was the pendant that around the neck.

In that instant the sounds of bullets all stopped for Chill. He stared at the body for a long moment with an expression of dead emotion. He crouched down, and moved his hand towards the gas mask, gently tugging at it.

Unable to properly remove the mask, Chill was forced to drop his M16, where it splashed into the mud beneath him as he used both hands to remove it. He had to know what was on the other side.

His worst fears were confirmed when he saw the lifeless eyes of Nick staring past him. A flood of feelings exploded into Chill's mind as he stared down at his fallen friend. It was that moment that the man questioned everything he had ever believed.

"Nick," he deadpanned, continuing to stare down at the body in silent shock. His eyes moved up towards the bloody spot on his face where the cause of death was very obvious to be seen. There was no time for reaction. There was no time for any final words. There was no time for any kind of justice. He had been alive in one second and dead the very next. Meaningless retribution against a family man with no sins. He didn't deserve that.

Chill stared into Nick's lifeless eyes for what seemed like minutes. All the while, new questions were popping up in his head. What was the point of his death? Did his death affect America in any positive way at all? Was there even a point to himself being there? Why were they here? Why had they sent him and his friend to die?

Suddenly, the sound of a bullet whizzing pass Chill's face snapped him back to reality, and he immediately dropped to the ground, as he heard more foreign screams and orders. Over the commotion, he heard the very faint sound of another voice. This one was in English, and was distinctly shouting the same thing over and over again. The words "fall back" rang out through Chill's head for a moment, as he looked through the tall grass in search of who had shot at him.

Weighing his options for a moment, he cast another glance at Nick, before he reached forward and grabbed the pendant off of his neck, pocketing it. He then began frantically searching Nick's pockets, before he found a wrinkled and slightly soaked folded up paper. Examining it for a moment and finding it was the paper he was looking for, he pocketed it, and crawled through the grass away from the carnage until he came to a group of trees where he stood up.

Panting and trying in vain to wipe the mud from his face, he threw another glance in the direction of his friend, who's image, although was no longer in sight, still bore deeply into Chill's mind as he raced for what decision he was going to make now. As he heard the sounds of footsteps approaching from the hill, he finally made his choice.

He ran.


Calvin and Hobbes were still eluding their kidnapper. The car had followed them along the roads, so they'd resorted to cutting across yards and through buildings, trying to lose him at some point, but somehow, no matter where they went, the car never left them.

By now, they were out of breath, gasping and wheezing as they ran for their lives.

"How the heck are we going to stay ahead of him?!" Hobbes cried.

"I don't know!" Calvin replied. "I really wish Dad had taught us how to carjack! It'd make this a lot easier!"

As they ran further into town, however, they finally saw it. The enormous mothership that floated over their neighborhood. Using it like the star over Bethlehem, they were able to find their way back towards their neighborhood. Already, they could hear some sort of commotion. They were just coming around a corner when they saw people pounding against a pulsating blue wall, trying to get out.

"Looks like they've cordoned off our neighborhood," Hobbes said.

"Dad always said I'd cause this one day," Calvin muttered. "Come on. Maybe there's a way in…"

"Such as?"

Calvin looked around, scratching his head thoughtfully. Then he remembered that these were creatures from Zok he was dealing with, so he experimentally touched the force field. Upon finding it wasn't electrified or anything, he slipped his fingers under the bottom and lifted it up. Much to his non-surprise, that section rose like a bedsheet. He beckoned Hobbes over, and they both slipped underneath.

"Well, that was a gyp," Hobbes remarked.

Going unseen by the panicked people, they wandered down the streets, stunned by all the destruction that had been caused in the hysteria. All the houses were still standing, but there'd been considerable damage to many of them, from broken windows to roofs ripped off. There were massive holes in the road from laser fire, there was mailboxes with bullet holes in them, and cars had been left deserted in the street.

"We've gone from the suburbs to the boonies in less than a day!" Calvin complained. "I hope those rotten aliens are satisfied!"

The sound of laser fire was getting louder. As they zeroed in on their particular neighborhood, they could hear shouting going on. They turned the corner towards the street that their house was on and spotted a rather large battle going on.

Dr Brainstorm and Jack were firing laser guns at the aliens, with Rupert and Earl at the front while the rest of the crew tried to fight as well, but they were clearly not doing very well as they kept accidentally shooting the scenery instead of the targets.

"… Of all the things to come home to," Hobbes murmured.

They shrugged and made tracks for the battle, hoping to get some answers without getting blown up. As they passed Susie's house, however, they heard a noise that sounded like a front door being opened very quietly. They turned to look and saw Susie herself was beckoning from her doorway, looking very terrified.

"I think she wants something," Calvin whispered.

"A hug, by the looks of it," Hobbes suggested.

"Yeah, well, she'll be lucky if she gets a handshake. I'll go see what she wants. You go find out from Jack what's going on."

"Jack?"

"Yeah, he doesn't look all that busy at the moment."

Hobbes saw that the robot was indeed leaning against a bullet-ridden stop sign, reading a magazine while occasionally firing perfect shots at the aliens. Shrugging, he nodded and headed in that direction.

Calvin hurried across the street to Susie's house and joined her inside.

"What about your tiger?" she asked.

"Don't worry. Hobbes can look after himself. What're you doing here? Where're your parents?"

"My dad went to look for supplies. My mom's upstairs, trying to find something to defend us with. Where have you been?! Your parents said you'd been kidnapped!"

"Was, and technically still am. He's out there somewhere, looking for us, so I probably shouldn't stay long. What about my parents? I saw them on TV."

"Last I saw, the crazy guy and the robot let them go before they started fighting the aliens."

"Good, good… How about Andy, Sherman and Socrates? Have you seen them?"

Susie blinked. "Andy called here a few hours ago…"

"What'd he say?"

"Something… something stupid. It was nothing."

"Well, what was it?!" Calvin insisted.

Susie hugged herself, trying to hold her grip on reality together. "He said… that they were trapped on an alien planet."

Calvin's eyes widened. "Oh no…," he whispered.


Hobbes managed to keep hidden in the bushes as he made his way over towards Jack. The robot had budged from his spot, continuing to fire casually over his shoulder every few seconds. His gun was set to 'non-lethal', so none of the aliens were actually harmed by his blasts. They seemed to be getting used to it.

"Psst!" Hobbes hissed.

Jack glanced up from his magazine. "Oh! Hey, Hobbes," he said pleasantly. "Was wondering when you guys were going to turn up."

"Yeah, it's been a long couple of days," Hobbes replied. "What's going on exactly?"

"Well, Frank and I are busy fighting the alien hordes before they take over the world. Seems they're only set on taking over this neighborhood in particular. Haven't figured out why, yet…"

"Yeah, we noticed the world wasn't exactly freaking out about this."

"We only found out because Frank monitors this neighborhood to see if you guys are up to anything. Might be info you'll have to get from Rupert himself. Anyway, we're trying to keep the aliens at bay before they can move onto the rest of the world."

"Much appreciated. We'll try not to take too long."

"Don't worry. Frank's having the time of his life right now."

They looked over at Dr Brainstorm, who was laughing maniacally and firing shots from his Servant Ray in funny poses. It was utterly ridiculous, and yet, it was totally working. Rupert and Earl couldn't nail a shot, and yet he was striking them every so often.

"He's weirdly in his element," Hobbes commented.

Then he glanced over his shoulder and saw Calvin beckoning him from Susie's front step.

"Gotta go. I'll check back in later."

"Roger Ramjet," Jack replied, taking another random shot as he returned to his magazine.


Hobbes soon rejoined Calvin and informed him of what was happening, and Calvin did the same for him.

"So our friends are trapped on the planet Zok?" Hobbes asked.

"And I'm willing to bet Rupert had something to do with the MTM malfunctioning, or else they'd have come back by now," Calvin said ruefully. "We need to rescue them somehow."

"How? We don't even know where Zok is or how to get there!"

"True… Maybe we can get up to Rupert's ship and find out… Heck, maybe we can steal the ship! We'll strand them on Earth, and then Brainstorm and Jack can deplete their weapons until they're defenseless!"

"You can barely steer the wagon, let alone a gigantic space battle cruiser!"

"Well, what the heck else are we supposed to do? We're kind of low on options here!"

"You!"

They both turned in surprise at the voice, and their mouths fell open in shock when they saw who it was.

It was the kidnapper. He was soaking wet, his clothes were stained, and he smelled awful. He was glaring furiously at them.

"What the…?" Calvin gasped. "How did…? How the heck did you get here?!"

"You mean the weird wall thingy?" the kidnapper replied, stepping unsteadily towards them. "Just opened a manhole, climbed down through the sewers, and then came up through one on the inside."

"Ah… that explains the smell… I'm strictly anti-bath, but could you possibly shower before you start attacking us?"

The kidnapper let out a furious growl before lunging for them.

Calvin grabbed Hobbes and started running up the street. The kidnapper followed, reaching wildly for them.

"I don't know if you've noticed," Calvin yelled over his shoulder, "but we're currently in the midst of an alien invasion! See that great big spaceship above us? The pitched battle between the lunatic and the slimy creatures with tentacles? See it? Not a good time to be so insistent on kidnapping me!"

The kidnapper didn't answer. He kept trying to nab the boy, but he was just a bit too fast for him. They were heading straight for the battle ahead.

Dr Brainstorm was still dancing and firing madly while Rupert and Earl attempted to fire back, hiding behind trees and mailboxes as they did so. They couldn't understand why they were having such a hard time blasting the mad scientist to bits.

Calvin and Hobbes found themselves having to run through the crossfire, dodging the blasts that went over their heads. The kidnapper didn't even seem all that aware of it as he followed them, seemingly dead set on finishing his kidnapping.

However, just as they were running past, Rupert stopped firing in shock. He emerged from his hiding place and bellowed in a furious voice.

"What are you doing here?!"

Everything and everyone ground to a stop. Calvin and Hobbes stopped running. The kidnapper stopped chasing them. Dr Brainstorm stopped firing. Jack looked up from his magazine. Even the alien crew seemed to register that something was wrong.

Rupert looked absolutely livid. "What are you doing here?" he repeated, quieter but still clearly angry. "You're ruining everything!"

Calvin blinked. "Well… this is my neighborhood you're blowing up. I would think that I would – "

"Not you," Rupert hissed. "Him."

It took a moment for Calvin to realize that Rupert was referring to the kidnapper.

"Wait a minute…," he said slowly. "Are… are you two working together?!"

"Plot twist!" Lenny cried excitedly.

The kidnapper actually looked afraid of Rupert, as if noticing him for the first time. "I… I've never seen him before in my life!" he exclaimed. "I don't… I mean… What the heck is going on here?!"

"Battle over the future of the planet," Dr Brainstorm said irritably. "Try to keep up, bozo!"

Rupert snarled. "This human was supposed to kidnap you and hold you hostage until I'd successfully taken control of the planet," he said. "Short, sweet and simple."

Calvin was very confused. "Wait… what?! Why go to all that trouble? Why didn't you just shoot me?!"

"Thank you!" Earl shouted sarcastically. "That's exactly what I said!"

The kidnapper was really confused now. "I… I kidnapped him for the ransom money…," he stammered.

"You kidnapped him because we brainwashed you to do it," Rupert replied flatly. "You were just supposed to keep him out of the way, and you couldn't even do that."

"That would explain why he's been so dead set on chasing us all over the place," Calvin mused. "But… why this guy? What's so special about him?"

"You mean you don't recognize him?" Rupert asked, looking baffled. "I admit, it's a bit difficult to tell you humans apart, but…"

Calvin and Hobbes looked at each other, and then they looked at the kidnapper. They looked him up and down, trying to place where they had seen him before. The clothes weren't familiar. The pendant around his neck wasn't familiar. The eyes weren't familiar. Still, there was something…

Then, Hobbes tapped Calvin on the shoulder and indicated something else they hadn't seen before. Some dog tags were dangling from the kidnapper's pocket, and the first thing he thought of when he saw them was Camp Pine… so long ago now… they had belonged to…

Calvin mentally added a shorter haircut, a goatee and sunglasses to this guy's appearance. Add in the demented stare, and his mental picture showed him…

"Rupert Chill?" he gasped.

The kidnapper stared back at him, clearly stunned. "… No…," he said nervously. "I told you… My name is Nick."

"An alias. Obviously. You're the human Rupert Chill."

Chill blinked, confused. "Human, as opposed to what?"

"As opposed to me," Rupert replied, smirking smugly. "I am your namesake, Rupert Chill, ruler of the universe and future ruler of this puny little planet."

Dr Brainstorm threw a confused glance at Jack, who merely shrugged in response. "What the heck is going on?" he demanded.

"Long story short," Calvin said, "there was a once a collective of aliens named Chill who used a calculation to fling their names across the universe in some hare-brained overcomplicated scheme to let the universe know that they'd be ruling them one day. Beat them. Moving on, Rupert the alien defected from them, and this guy's the human who got saddled with his name."

"Indeed," Rupert said, slithering over towards the human Chill. "How… poetic, really. No matter what happens, Rupert Chill – man or me – will destroy you."

Chill, however, looked far too confused to comprehend all this. His head was really beginning to hurt, and he slumped over in a flurry of emotions.

"Hmmmm," Rupert said, observing him. "Well, since it's clearly not going to be him… Just can't get good help these days."

He loaded his gun and aimed it at Calvin and Hobbes, all set to blast them.

"Might as well just get it over with," he sighed.

Before anyone could do anything, there was a sudden blast not too far away from them that totally destroyed someone's lawn, making them all jump.

Then, they all heard the sound of a plane overhead, and they all looked up to see a rocket was coming in for a landing.

"What the heck is that?!" Earl shouted.

"That the heck is my crazy family!" Dr Brainstorm replied triumphantly.

"And they're packing heat," Jack added.

The rocket roared low over the neighborhood. They watched as it skirted the edge of the force field before the whole thing lit up in a cascade of electricity, finally disappearing completely.

"They shut the force field off!" Earl informed Rupert. "We need to get it back up again!"

"One of you!" Rupert shouted at the crew. "Get the force field back up!"

"Okay!" Lenny replied cheerfully before turning to the others. "Who was the one who got the force field working?"

"I think it was me…," Erne said uncertainly as he raised a tentacle.

While this was going on, the rocket came in for a rather bumpy landing on the far end of the street, and it skidded down the entire three miles until it finally came to a halt not but twenty feet away from the group.

"SHEILA!" a familiar voice shouted. "WHERE THE HECK DID YOU LEARN HOW TO FLY?!"

"Cram it, mother!" Sheila replied. "I'm a way better pilot than Frank is!"

"I heard that!" Dr Brainstorm replied angrily. "Knock it off, Sheila!"

The aliens watched all this in bemusement.

A moment later, the embarkation ramp descended and hit the ground, putting a large crack in the pavement, and out came Sheila Brainstorm, holding a large metallic laser gun. "We've arrived to save your sorry butt, brother!" she shouted.

"Only because I told you to!" he shouted back.

"Kids, come on now," Father Brainstorm said as he climbed down the ramp, carrying a similar gun. "We're trying to wipe an alien species from the face of the planet. This is no time for bickering."

"Sorry, Dad," they both muttered.

Jacqueline came jogging down as well, doing a somersault as she joined the group, and a few guns popped out of her arms that she aimed at the aliens. "Come on, family! Let's beat these aliens together!"

Sheila mimed gagging behind her.

"Well!" Biff said, looking them all over. "They seem like a nice family!"

Then they all heard very heavy footsteps stomping down the ramp. The entire rocket seemed to tilt a bit as out came the enormous figure of Mother Brainstorm, toting the biggest laser gun of all – so big, it balanced on her shoulder as she held it.

"What… is that?!" Earl shouted.

Father Brainstorm shot him a look. "That's the missus," he replied, putting an arm around his wife.

"C'mere, boys," Mother Brainstorm growled as she aimed the gun. "Mommy's got a little treat in store for you."

The tip of the gun glowed bright red, crackling with electricity, and then the brightest laser bolt they'd ever seen sprayed out and zapped at some of the alien crew, sending them flying like bowling pins. They cried out in pain before dropping to the ground, startled.

"… Ow!" one of them said.

Rupert stared at the crazy family before him in stupefied silence before noticing something.

Calvin and Hobbes were gone.

His compound eyes looked around, and he was just in time to see them disappearing into their house. He was all set to chase after them when a blast fired by Jacqueline cut off his path, and he was forced to focus on her instead.

"Come, Brainstorm clan!" Dr Brainstorm bellowed. "Attack!"

The battle was soon flaring up again, much more intensely this time. The mad scientist family battled the aliens with everything they had.

During all this, Chill was backing away. With everything he had just learned and seen, he was not eager to stick around. Every instinct he had was telling him to run. Just run. Get away from here, and never look back. This was way too out of control. He just had to flee during the chaos and find a safe place to hide.

He heard the front door of Calvin's house slam shut. He stared at the door. Something in his mind would not let up. Some sort of overriding command would not let him abandon his mission. The boy needed to be captured. He needed to be kidnapped. Thanks to those dumb aliens, he had no choice but to continue chasing after this kid.

Chill ran towards the house.