The door to the bedroom burst open, and Chill came tumbling inside. He looked around frantically, stepping over the mess on his way to the closet, which was empty. He looked under the bed, pulling out a bunch of garbage. He still couldn't find any sign of the boy or his stuffed tiger.

Grumbling to himself, he wandered out of the room and searched the next room, which was his parents' room. It was empty as well, so he decided to search there as well. He dug through the closet, tossing the clothes aside, but he found nothing interesting. He looked under the bed, but found only old shoeboxes full of things like photos and receipts. He searched the dresser, finding only his mom's jewelry, which he pocketed for a rainy day. After all, he was a criminal.

"Might be worth a couple hundred…," he murmured. He held one up to his eye for inspection. "Or maybe a hundred…"

He set off downstairs, looking around. Maybe the kid had snuck around him when he wasn't looking.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are…," he singsonged, craning his neck to get a good view of the living room. "Where the heck are you, you little son of a…?"

He looked at the TV, which was a small one with rabbit ears. He looked it over from all sides.

"Might be worth something on the Antiques Roadshow…"

He was just starting to fiddle with it when something caught his eye on the coffee table that really threw him for a loop.

It was a flash drive.

Chill stared at it in confusion. That couldn't be right, could it?

Abandoning the TV, he walked over and plucked it off the table. Yes, this was definitely a flash drive. It was a fairly new one, too. Hardly any scratches on it, and the casing was still firmly attached. He looked for any sort of identification on it, but nothing could be found.

Curious as to its contents, he looked around the room for a computer. He checked for one in the kitchen as well, but nothing. It wasn't until he found someone's tiny little home office that he spotted one.

Walking inside, he was discouraged to find that it wasn't really that modern of a computer. It was covered in dust, suggesting it was only used sparingly. The monitor was large enough for a house cat to take a very comfortable nap on top of it. What's more, instead of a USB port, he saw the ancient slot that would be used to house floppy disks.

"Man, this kid's parents are lame," Chill muttered, glaring at the ancient piece of tech.

He tossed the flash drive up and down in his hand a few times. He muttered to himself, figuring it probably wasn't important, so he started to set it down on the desk. Before he could let it go, though, a thought struck him.

If the only computer in this house couldn't support flash drives, what was it even doing in this house?

Fascinated, he picked it back up and pocketed it. Might be worth investigating later. He turned and strode outside for more stuff to steal. He glanced out a window and saw that the sun was setting, and the great big fight outside was showing no signs of stopping. He might crash here for the night, seeing as how no one was home.

Except, now that he listened carefully, he thought he heard voices from inside the house.

"… don't know what we're going to do. We don't know where he is, we don't know where his friends are… What about your sister and the boys? Are they okay?"

"Yes, they're just outside of town," said a woman's voice. "Managed to avoid getting trapped under that force field thing."

"Man… never thought we'd be saying 'force field' so casually…"

"I've been trying to call someone on the outside," said a third voice. "Tried calling, texting, video calling… Can't even send a dang emoji."

"Max, please stop using that thing in my house…"

"Aw, c'mon, bro! Can't you lighten up for all of two seconds?! We've got aliens out there!"

"I know… I just… I just can't…"

"Dear, calm down," said the woman's voice. "It's going to be okay."

"Yeah, hang in there," agreed the other man. "We just gotta persevere. We gotta hang in there in case he comes back."

There was a long silence. Chill strained to listen. It had sounded like it was coming from the kitchen – the one room he hadn't been in yet. He peeked around the corner and saw Calvin's parents sitting at the kitchen table while Uncle Max stood behind them, his arms around them consolingly. They were slumped together, holding onto each other for security. He could hear one of them crying.

Realizing what a perilous position he was in, Chill reversed course and slipped back around as quietly as he could until he was at the front door. It might behoove him to find someone else's house to sleep in.

Andy looked at all the various aliens that surrounded him.

They were all sat down a long narrow table, of several different species, all authority figures of some kind. So far, they had disclosed to the group that they were here to speak on behalf of their people. Socrates and Sherman were sat on either side of him – they'd somehow produced a chair small enough for the hamster to sit on comfortably.

The leader of this band of aliens was Captain Rumple. At least, that's what his name sounded like. Andy figured that logically his name wouldn't be something so silly, but it was simply the way his human ears interpreted it. That was the best explanation he could come up with right now.

Rumple leaned against the table with his long green scaly arms. "Many centuries ago," he said calmly, "Zok was a very peaceful planet. Not much in the way of technology – just a harmless little planet with your average everyday life forms."

"But something happened that changed all that," Sherman stated.

"Yes… Rupert Chill arrived on the planet."

"We knew he wasn't strictly a native," Andy said awkwardly. "He'd arrived some time ago and became like the people of Zok."

"Indeed. He came from a place outside the universe itself. He happened upon Zok, finding its people all too easy to manipulate. He abused them, made them work for him. Killed any who dared resist him. The rest were cowed into following him, and over the many centuries he has ruled, the beings of Zok have devolved into the moronic numbskulls you are now familiar with."

Socrates let out a low whistle. "Dang, talk about the mighty falling."

"Makes me feel a bit better about the human race," Sherman muttered.

"During that time," Rumple continued, "he transformed these creatures into conquerors. They've taken over planet after planet in an effort to build him an empire. He's held us all in an iron grip, keeping us as part of his kingdom. He claims he will stop at nothing until the entire universe is serving him."

"We need to sic him with a team of psychiatrists," Sherman remarked.

"I wonder if he was ever hugged as a child," Socrates added.

"So what's changed?" Andy asked. "If he's managed to keep you all down for so long, why are you all just now starting to fight back?"

"He is very skilled at keeping his authority. But in recent years, he's… become distracted."

"Gee, I wonder why…"

"His pursuit of the Earth Potentate seems to have become all-consuming. Not to mention the fact that he downright disappeared a while ago for several months. When he came back, we took a chance and attempted negotiations with those commanding in his place."

"How'd that go?"

"Not so good. There weren't any."

"No one?"

"Nobody. Not even his second-in-command was there. We tried to take advantage of it, but his military started fighting back. They're not dumb, they're just mean. They went crazy on us, and we had to defend ourselves. By the time Rupert returned, our combined forces had almost assumed control. It was only through his leadership that they managed reclaim some, but not enough to stop us completely. We've been in this war ever since."

Andy cleared his throat. "So where do we enter this?" he asked.

"The Earth Potentate is clearly the only one able to truly defeat Rupert," Rumple explained. "He's distracted Zok for so long, he's given us our only way out. We need him to actively join our crusade to remove Rupert from power once and for all. He wants to run his own planet? Fine. But that's all he gets. He has to let us all go free."

Sherman nodded. "So you want us to get Calvin to join the band, as it were?"

"Correct."

"He's totally the lead vocals of any band," Socrates said with a smirk.

Andy picked the MTM off the table. "How about it, MTM? Any chance you can reach Calvin and Hobbes?"

"I'm still being blocked," MTM replied.

"Of course, you are," Sherman sighed.

"However…," the CD player continued irritably, "it occurs to me that a ship full of super-advanced tech might be able to help us."

"We can certainly try," Rumple agreed.

"Take me to the nearest life form scanner. I can plug in and expand the parameters all the way back to Earth and scan for them."

"Are you compatible? Do we need an adaptor?" Socrates asked.

"Please. I am universal."

Rumple picked up the MTM with his long scaly fingers and carried him through the ship with the others following him. He passed him off to some technicians before some large computers that took up half the room. He set it down on the main desk.

The MTM extended a long electrode that snaked out and felt around the room like a crazy snake until it finally latched onto a large terminal. There was a spark of electricity before a massive screen began to cause all the graphics on the screen to go into a flurry of pixels. They all watched, mesmerized.

"There, I'm in," MTM announced. "Just give me a few minutes to expand the search all the way back to Earth, and I should be able to pinpoint exactly where they… Oh."

"Oh, what?" Andy asked.

"… They appear to be not too far from us."

"What, really?!" Socrates exclaimed.

"Yeah, they're in a small ship headed in this direction. Coming at us from the rear. Putting it onscreen."

They screen flickered, and they saw a 3D image of the ship they were in, and a tiny little dot was zooming along, some considerable distance away but gaining ground.

"He's already coming?" Rumple asked, surprised.

"Not surprising," Andy said with a knowing grin. "He always comes."

Calvin and Hobbes were sitting listlessly in the cockpit of their escape pod, growing increasingly bored. It had been several hours since they'd commandeered it, and without any kind of mental stimuli, their brains were turning to tapioca.

"… I don't think we thought this through," Hobbes sighed.

"No," Calvin agreed. "I forgot that Zok was so dang far away."

"Not that we've ever been there before, so we have no way of knowing."

"Oh hush."

He got up from his seat and peered out the window at the stars zooming past.

"Man, why'd they have to make the universe so gosh-darn big?! Where are all the shortcuts that are supposed to be in space? Not a single wormhole!"

"Right, because all wormholes lead straight to wherever it is we need to go," Hobbes grumbled.

"I swear, if something doesn't happen, I'm gonna freak out!"

WHAM!

They were both thrown to the floor when the entire ship jolted, sending the ship into a tailspin.

Even though he was upside down against the wall, Hobbes still managed to glare at his friend. "Do you want to freak out first, or shall I?"

Calvin glared at him and peered out of the window. "What the heck was that?" he demanded. "Some kind of asteroid?"

"Well, I'll just roll down the window and have a gander, shall I?"

"Are you going to make yourself useful or just spout smart remarks?"

"Okay, okay… Why don't we use the onboard computer thingamajig?"

Calvin looked over at a computer at the pilots controls, which were operating on their own. He went over and scanned the buttons. "Let's see… let's try this one…"

He pressed a button, and a green beam of light lit up over him, scanning his head.

A female voice emitted from a speaker grille. "Language designation determined – Sol 3 English."

"As opposed to what?" Calvin asked.

The voice continued as if he'd never spoken. "Please state the nature of your distress."

"We got hit by something!"

"Please clarify the nature of your distress."

"A thing crashed into us! Do something!"

"Please clarify the nature of your distress."

WHAM!

The ship went into yet another tailspin as something else collided with them, this time putting a large dent in the wall.

"What the heck was that?!" Hobbes cried.

"Scanning exterior of ship," the computer said. "Collision with species designation – Shadowfax."

"… Shadowfax? Isn't that a horse?"

"What kind of creature is it?" Calvin asked.

"Space-dwelling creatures that live primarily on metal. Danger to shipping. Beings with jewelry should avoid Shadowfax."

"Not the best creatures to be around if you're into heavy metal," Hobbes muttered.

WHAM!

There was a third crash that knocked them down once again.

"Computer, how long does it take a Shadowfax to eat a ship this size?" Calvin asked worriedly.

"A single Shadowfax would take approximately ten hours to devour this ship," the computer replied.

"Oh… Well, maybe we can hold out long enough to get to Zok."

"Negative."

"Negative? Why?"

"There are currently three Shadowfax eating away at the ship."

WHAM!

"Four Shadowfax."

Calvin and Hobbes gulped as they picked themselves up off the floor again.

"Is there any way to get rid of them?" Calvin asked hopefully.

"Regretfully, this ship has no such defenses against Shadowfax."

"Maybe we can try to shake them off by steering very badly," Hobbes suggested.

"Shadowfax possess the ability to cling to their prey until it is devoured."

"Ah, so they're basically fast-acting barnacles…"

WHAM!

"Five Shadowfax," the computer intoned.

Calvin and Hobbes just lay on the floor this time and stared at the various dents in the ceiling. They had no idea what these creatures even looked like, and they were going to be the cause of their demise.

"So…," Calvin said at last. "Which is it going to be? Are we going to lie here like lemons and wait to die in the cold void of space, or do we go over to the controls and try to defeat them before inevitably dying in the cold void of space?"

"Hmmmm… Grabbing the controls sounds a lot more interesting."

"Agreed."

They got to their feet.

WHAM!

"Six Shadowfax."

They got to their feet again and made a dash for the controls. They switched off the auto-pilot and did whatever they could with the controls. The whole ship jerked left and right as they fiddled with it.

WHAM!

"Seven Shadowfax."

They dipped up and down, trying to at least avoid whatever swarm they were caught in.

WHAM!

"Eight Shadowfax."

WHAM!

"Nine Shadowfax."

WHAM!

"Ten Shadowfa…"

WHAM!

"Eleven Shadow…"

WHAM!

"Twelve Sha…"

WHAM!

"Thirteen…"

"OH, SHUT UP!" Calvin bellowed furiously.

The hull was beginning to crumple like paper, and they could swear their heard the munching outside.

"Life support failing," the computer announced.

"You know," Calvin said as he wrestled with the joystick. "We've almost died so many times now, you'd think we'd be numb to this by now!"

"There's just so many new and interesting ways to die nowadays!" Hobbes replied, as he pressed all the buttons.

There was a loud crunch from above, and they noticed a large pair of teeth had bitten through the ceiling. Yelping, they both abandoned the controls, causing the ship to fly completely unsupervised.

"What is with these dang things?!" Hobbes wailed.

More and more teeth were beginning to appear around them.

The two friends hugged each other and waited for it to be over.

They heard a loud whooshing sound that resembled air escaping.

"You guys okay?" Andy asked.

Calvin and Hobbes both opened their eyes in surprise. They hadn't been expecting that voice.

They also weren't expecting to be sitting on the floor in a giant metal room that was definitely not the escape pod.

Andy, Sherman and Socrates were front and center, but they could see various other aliens in the background working the equipment.

"… Andy?" Calvin asked slowly.

"Where are we?" Hobbes asked, looking at the aliens with trepidation.

"Well…," Andy said awkwardly, "to cut a long story short, we're in orbit around Zok, standing with some kind of Universal Liberation Front."

"Huh?"

"Basically," Sherman said, "the creatures you see before you are all from the various planets that Rupert took over, and now they're at war with them to try and free themselves from his power."

"And they were hoping that we could convince you guys to join their little team," Socrates added. "So they helped the MTM to find you and teleport you here."

"Just in time, by the look of it," MTM added from Andy's hand. "Those metal munchers just about guzzled down your pod."

"I hate people who gulp their food," Hobbes grumbled.

Calvin got up off the floor and approached the group. "So… these guys want me to come up with some kind of plan to defeat Rupert for them?"

"More like, give them a nudge in the right direction," Andy clarified. "They're not looking for a leader or anything."

"See yourself as a consultant in this scenario," Socrates agreed. "You're being hired to help them think outside the box."

"But you don't have to use the word 'paradigm'," Sherman added.

Calvin scratched his chin in thought as Hobbes came over to join them.

"Hmmm…," he contemplated. "Any weaknesses we can exploit?"

"Just the fact that he's absolutely bonkers at this point," Hobbes said. "Full on Captain Ahab mode in stopping you. That just makes him more dangerous."

"True… However, it also makes him less predictable. Even Earl didn't seem to know what was going on in his head, which tells me that he's basically just firing wildly in the dark, hoping he hits the target."

At that, a small smile split across Calvin's face.

"Take me to the head of this operation," he said to the others. "I think I've got a plan hatching as we speak."