Howdy to you, Friends !
I honestly didn't think I'd be able to update this soon, but the few days off duty I had were of great help in this, I can tell !
So I'm able to publish before my birthday, just like I planned to.
I'm most satisfied with this one, even more than I was with the two previous ones ! It's a pleasure to be writing this story… and reading it as well ? Let me know !
Here it is, Buddies : dessert's served ! N'joy !
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IX _ FRIENDSHIP NEVER DIES !
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They all jolted as a familiar detonation was heard. And the next second, the metal ball which commanded the whole control room, that same ball that had scanned all of them to check whether they had been cleared of alien residues, came crashing on the ground, smoke emerging from its side.
The white pod then flickered several times and vanished into thin air. And the robotic voice was heard once more :
« CLEARANCE POD DESINTEGRATED – PROTOCOL ZX23 ABORTED – QUARANTINE PROCEDURE ONGOING »
All heads but one immediately turned towards the source of the noise and all eyes grew wider when they saw what was there.
Danny's body was in the classical position of the shooter, legs spread wide, arms stretched in front of him, head cocked to the side, one eye closed, eyebrows frowned for concentration. His blaster was aimed at where the metal ball had been floating a moment ago.
They all were unable to speak for a while, during which the red member put his head up again, opened his eye, put his blaster back to his side and his legs in the usual position. He then remained there, arms calmly kept down, and stared intently at Cathy.
She was the first one to talk… or rather, to scream : « Danny… what have you done ? You… you have destroyed the only chance we had to stop the clubhouse from crashing into the sun ! What will we do now ? » Her tone was not really angry, more like desperate. She was completely taken aback about what had just taken place, and felt unable to hold back the panic growing fast within her.
The Jock blinked then replied to his alien friend : « Cath', I did the only honorable thing left to do : save my best friend from a death in outer space, stuck in a small pod ! » And his look was more serious than it ever had been. He was self-confident in the action he had just been performing, and anything that Cathy could argue wouldn't convince him.
« Danny, I am going to die anyway if I stay here ! If I had left from this room, I could at least have saved all of you ! Wasn't it worth the sacrifice ? » The blond girl was now overwhelmed by distress. But then again, what could save them now ?
« Cathy, we'll never get rid of you like this ! We told you we preferred to die with you rather than have you condemned while we saves ourselves ! If you are going to die, then we want to be by your side : it's no fun dying alone, is it ? » And this being uttered, he smiled a little and winked at her. He had the courage to make a joke in such a critical moment ? Danny really was the same hothead he had always been, and if Sam was a model of resilience, so was he but in his own special way.
« Danny is right, Cathy ! » Sam confirmed as she took a step forward. « If you really can't avoid death, then it would be unfair from us to let you die and return safely on Earth without you. We are not going to do that, neither now nor NEVER ! It's either we all end up together or we find an escape we haven't figured out yet… and it's still a slight possibility ! » She wiped off the remains of her sorrow from the sides of her golden eyes and sketched an encouraging smile to show her best friend she would never be on her own !
« But… but… I don't want you to die ! If I can save you, I will ! You are not doomed like I am, so why should you have to die ? » Cathy didn't know what to do now… what to say…
« We will have to accept our death if we can't have the clubhouse returned back on Earth. For we certainly won't let you end up your life alone in order to live on. Danny was right to shoot the control center's unity to prevent you from leaving us. We won't let you down, Cathy, whatever the seriousness of the problem. Be sure of that ! » And Chris did just as Sam minutes ago : he dried his eyes and started to smile, a comforting smile which showed that the tech was confident again, despite the menace still hanging over their heads. He was confident because friendship had been preserved, and that was a great concern of the moment.
Cathy looked at him, then at Danny and finally at Sam. She had decided that she would save their lives, for she wanted them to go on with their existences, above all other considerations, and now… now her dear companions refused to go on living, just for the sake of her. Therefore, she had been willing to sacrifice herself for them, and now they were willing to sacrifice themselves for her. Tables had been turned. Cathy felt a strong force stem from within, as she fully realized the power of Friendship, which was so tremendous that not even the Grim Reaper could spoil it down. Friendship was a truly huge support and strength.
« Friends… » the young Rhapsodian began, then she took a short break and gave a quick glance around, and went on : « I can tell I haven't got a single chance to make you change your mind and accept my initiative, just like you had no chance to make me change my mind a while ago. We're all determined, as I can see. But I've got three people against me, four if Grandpa thinks like you, and so I guess I can't win. So if you want me to stay and us to die all together, so be it ! I'm sad because I wanted to save you, but I don't want to force you if you have decided to value myself more than yourselves. »
Sam walked up to Cathy and put her hands on her alien friend's shoulders, then it was eye-to-eye. « Cath', believe me, we won't regret out choice. And you know what ? Because Friendship is more important than death. We will all pass away eventually, that's for sure, and there's nothing we can do to change that fact. We are helpless about it. But what about Friendship ? About this, on the contrary, we are not helpless : we have the power to preserve it and make it last as long as possible. We just have to want it. And Danny, Chris and I want to preserve Friendship at any cost, even if that means dying earlier than planned. We absolutely don't want to break our little group. We are a team, remember ? (A/N : i believe she said exactly this last sentence in ACTING OUT, right after Chris was complaining that Danny prevented him from shooting the alien… just a lil' wink to the classics ). And a team mustn't ever be torn apart ! We are to stay together, until the end ! »
It was Danny's turn to talk : « Sam is right. We are a team, Cath'. And team spirit has the upper hand over all the rest. Death ? Death is of little importance compared to intimate bonds like those we share. We have to remain grouped all together as long as we can, even if that means going to the other side all at once. We have been fighting so many aliens together, we have been helping each other up and saving each other's life every now and then, we have been working together in a strategy to counter our foes… That's what team spirit is about ! »
Chris couldn't remain mute on hearing such wise comments, so he started his own stuff : « Exactly so, Cath'. We have been united both in private life and in MBC missions. Always supporting each other, always there for each other. I've got your backs, you've got mine ! And that applies to everybody : each one backs up the other three ! So if you are in trouble, we will do all we can to help you, like the caring teammates we are. We've faced so many dangers together : the Octovores, the Sticky, the Frogs, Wedge, the Pincher Bots, Prosgar, the Caveman, the Rocket Pig, Nosidda… even swarms of fierce insects ! So we are used to danger. Death is nothing more than a greater danger, but… we can handle it ! » The tech pronounced these last words in a very decided and encouraging tone, and his face lit up with a smile. He was obviously convinced that team spirit would prevail, whatever the nature of the obstacle. Human faith can be so communicative…
Cathy remained silent for a while, reflecting on all that had been uttered, on Friendship, on team spirit, on the possibility to deal with death. When they were speaking, it all seemed possible. It all seemed within reach. She knew that human will could be so powerful that it almost could move mountains, as they said. She still felt disappointment for not having the opportunity to save her friends, but she also felt something new dawn within her heart. Something bright and powerful. It was Hope's light shed over her fears.
She again gazed at the now smiling faces of her buddies. She could tell they had regained confidence now that they knew they wouldn't lose her. The fatal end lying ahead seemed not to worry them anymore. And she felt just the same : suddenly calm, collected, as if the strength of their bonds made everything possible, anything acceptable, even the ultimate scourge. That was peculiar : forgetting about the now close end of their existences. Did Love and Friendship, along with Hope, really have such power ? That could be a question to ask oneself, but the young alien now knew what the answer was…
« It's strange… » the pink member said « I don't feel any fear anymore. I still realize we're on our way to the final destination, but… I feel curiously cool-headed, and even… self-confident. How is that ? I don't have a clue, but your Love and Friendship certainly are at work here. I didn't suspect that these feelings had such magical influence over humans, but now I can see it and I understand. If we stay together, we will maybe all die, but we will die happy. If I had left, true you would have been spared, but would have had sad lives and only regrets for the rest of these. If we are happy until the end, then death is of no importance ! »
« Yes, that's the spirit, Cath' ! » Sam cheerfully let out. « You've got it all ! It will be over of us soon, but at least, we'll be all together and happy this way ! »
The stretchable girl answered to her best friend with a grateful smile. And she was about to add something when…
« CRITICAL MASS REACHED – OVERHEATING OF PREMISES – DISINTEGRATION HAZARD »
They all looked at each other and felt shadows of fear appearing again inside their hearts. The warning was serious now. The clubhouse wasn't very far from the sun now. If there was one last desperate solution to find, one they hadn't thought of yet, it was now or never !
Chris turned to the old Rhapsodian : « Mr. Smith, apart from Protocol ZX23, could there be any other last-resort procedure that could be activated to get Cathy cured ? Another spell ? Another technical possibility ? Anything ? » His tone was hasty, his eyes stared intently at the white-haired man. He wanted to believe in a forgotten key to open the exit door.
« Hum, let me think… I'll search my memories, but honestly, I'm not sure I can find something. Right now, I have no idea of any left-behind solution… » And he stopped talking to better focus on all available emergency processes. He even closed his eyes for that.
The four kids were also reflecting on the situation, doing their best to seek any option they would haven't figured out yet. Five intelligences at work, five brains in quest of the missing answer, five minds looking for the last piece of the puzzle, five hearts full of hope and courage. Was that enough to force open the gates of salvation ?
Time passed by, as in slow motion. The clubhouse worked its way towards the giant gas ball which enabled life on Earth but was now to bring death. And the five people inside that clubhouse were desperately invoking the magical help of memory or ingenuity to escape their doom.
A sparkle ! Deep within. A sparkle ! At last. A sparkle ! The one that would perhaps save the day. Their day. God bless the last-chance sparkles !
« Mr. Smith… I recall Cathy once mentioning that Rhapsodians had the ability to chase parasites from their bodies by making their organisms so hostile that the parasite is forced to get out ! I don't know how that works, but… could Cathy manage to chase the alien traces this way, do you think ? »
The eyes of Hugo Smith grew so wide just at this moment. And his mouth slightly opened. He couldn't believe it. There it was ! The last possibility ! Brave Chris ! « But yes ! Yes, of course ! How could I have missed it ? You are right, my dear boy : that's something we can try ! I should have remembered it earlier ! Ah, poor memory than mine ! »
« Hey, don't blame yourself too much ! » Danny let out. « After all, you're not that young anymore, so your memory isn't as good as it used to be… with all due respect ! »
They all laughed when they heard this. Laughter… the sound of it hadn't been around for what seemed an eternity. It was more the sound of sobbing, lately. But Friendship and Hope had changed it all, and the eventuality of an « emergency exit » now eased it up. It was reassuring to hear all these laughters. MBC was on the right track again !
« Yeah, true ! I remember this ! » Cathy yelled with optimism. « I indeed said that to you, Chris ! It was this winter, I believe ! You're right, that's the last option we can take ! Oh, we gotta do quick : there isn't much time left ! »
« You're right, Cath' : we have to hurry, otherwise it's over with us in less time than we could tell ! Come on, we can still make it ! We can still save all of ourselves ! MBC can win this one as well ! Let's be positive and try this thing ! » Sam's voice vibrated with confidence again, and it was much more pleasing a sound than the doubt she had spoken with before.
Cathy suddenly paused as she seemed to be recalling something. And she appeared hesitant. « Hum, to make myself the most hostile possible, I need to change back to my alien form. Is that okay with you ? »
« But of course it is. Besides, we have already seen you in your alien form, when Nosidda came around and messed up aliens shapes. So no prob', right, friends ? » Danny asked. Sam and Chris nodded in unison and gave Cathy reassuring smiles. The latter smiled back and simply replied : « Okay then ! »
And the bubbly girl joined her hands, entwining fingers, and pointed her forefingers up to the ceiling. A bolt formed on top of these and grew larger, larger, larger… and the whole room was lit up for a while !
When the gigantic flash ended, Sam, Chris and Danny, who had turned away from the blinding light, looked back to their friend… and found the human gone ! Where a blond girl with blue eyes, wearing a pink and black suit, had been standing a few seconds ago only, there now was a pretty intriguing creature.
It was bigger than the teens, light blue with darker blue spots scattered every now and then on the body, long triangular ears, no nose but two holes in its place, two pairs of tentacles for the arms, one for the legs, a long tail that looked a bit like a fox's for the general aspect (furry-looking). The creature was pretty thin and tall, and the only outter sign who reminded of Cathy was its blue eyes.
« Well, there I am again… » the alien spoke up, and her voice was strictly identical to Cathy's. There were therefore two elements that were common to both the extraterrestrial shape and the human shape : the eyes and the voice. Not much indeed.
That's when the robotic voice filled in the control room once again :
« OVERHEATING REACHING CRITICAL LEVEL – DISINTEGRATION HAZARD SOON TO THE MAXIMUM – DANGER – DANGER – DANGER ! »
Mr Smith talked in a hasty voice : « Quick, Schloumba ! We're running out of time ! You have to make it on the first try ! You can't allow to miss : we haven't got enough time for a second attempt ! Come on, I know you can make it ! I trust you ! » And he gave his granddaughter a confident look and smile.
Cathy smiled to him and nodded, then looked in front of her, took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It was all on her shoulders now. Their five existences were in her hands (A/N : …or rather : in her tentacles, eh eh !) and she was on her own this time. Her teammates couldn't be of any help in this particular situation. Everything was as stake in her own organism, and only her could have an effect over it. And the first attempt had to score : just like her grandfather had insisted on it, there wasn't any time left for a second one ! She had to make sure to pass quickly, otherwise it would be over of them all…
Her three friends and her grandfather were fixedly gazing at her, innerly praying that she would succeed in expelling the last alien residues, those tiny traces that were currently condemning them to their last journey. They relied on Cathy, but still felt a small core of fear resisting deep within. One only try… just one, not two… ONE attempt left, nothing else ! They all knew the young Rhapsodian would do her best to chase the residues immediately, but would her best be enough for that unique endeavor ? It was really a tight one, this time…
And then Cathy opened her eyes and arched her back. She began shaking uncontrollably, but her buddies ignored that this phenomenon was totally voluntary : making her body unstable was the condition she knew she had to comply with in order to make her organism uninhabitable for the alien parasites.
She started yelling on top of her voice, but it was a very hoarse voice she had, all of a sudden. She had actually changed her vocal range in order to sound more inimical. And with that, she began agitating her tentacles fiercely, yelling on hoarsely. Her moves became so swift and messy that she seemed to have lost control of her own body, and her companions feared that something unexpected – and very bad – was happening right now.
Sam took a step forward and held out her arm towards Cathy, but a hand was laid on her shoulder just in that moment. She turned to see Mr Smith staring at her with a serious look. He had guessed that the yellow member was worried for her best friend. « There's nothing wrong with Cathy ! She's simply doing her best to get rid of the alien presence hidden inside. Trust her, Sam ! » And with that said, he sketched a gentle smile. Sam stared back at him, then smiled back. Yes, she had to trust Cathy ! And she would, anytime !
« DISINTEGRATION HAZARD MAXIMAL – OXYGEN LEVEL RUNNING LOW – EMERGENCY PROCEDURE TO BE ACTIVATED – DANGER - DANGER – DANGER – DANGER – DANGER… »
The hectic alien screamed a long, powerful, extended shout and opened her mouth wide. A tiny particle fell on the floor. It was mottled with several colours. And it was starting to move away !
« That's it ! That's the mass of alien residues ! » Sam shouted in the loudest voice. « Quick, get your blasters, guys ! » And the boys, following their leader, aimed at the miniscule thing trying to crawl its way out. Three shots reached the mass of colours almost simultaneously. The little foe was trap in a concentrated ball of energy. But still it resisted and refused to vanish from the room.
Cathy was exhausted from her efforts and was catching with her breath while looking at her teammates uniting the rays of their weapons to clear the alien residues for good. But it still didn't work.
So the blue alien took a look at her tentacle, where her human hand normally was, and she knew she had to help her friends. Maybe a fourth ray would put enough pressure on the micro-organism to make it explode ?
A few seconds later, once the flash of light was gone, Cathy Smith put her hand on her blaster and pulled it out from its holster. And a fourth shot joined the other three, making the energy ball that imprisoned the tiny enemy grow bigger. The fight went on, but the parasite resisted on and on.
« DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER »
The small colourful particle blew up with an horrible shrieking sound. Smoke raised from where it had been struggling for its salvation. The four teens stopped their blasters and looked at the place where the residues were, their eyes round with disbelief. Had they won, really ?
A line appeared at the bottom of the supercomputer, worked its way up and… Cathy's silhouette changed from multicolored back to normal !
« ALIEN RESIDUES ELIMINATED COMPLETELY – QUARANTINE PROCEDURE RAISED – PREMISES UNSTABLE – EMERGENCY PROCESS NEEDED »
« We made it ! We made it ! » Cathy cheerfully yelled. Her grandfather rushed to hug her : « I was sure you could make it, Schloumba ! I never doubted that ! My trust in you was intact ! You had to make so many efforts, but you succeeded ! I'm so proud of you, child ! »
« Phiew, yeah, many efforts, you said it ! Never been moving that much ! » And Cathy stuck out her tongue to mean she was exhausted from all her frantic moves.
« Quick, there's no time to lose ! » Chris energetically said as he ran to the supercomputer, quickly sat down and typed swifter than he had ever been in his entire life. A message quickly bipped on the screen, and the next minute, the information they all had been longing for was heard :
« PROCEDURE OF RETURN TO BASIS ENGAGED – TRAJECTORY MODIFIED »
And they could all feel the clubhouse move, then they all lost their balance to end up messed together on the floor. A gigantic humming sound echoed throughout the control room.
Outside, the piece of ground on which the building lay started a long but fast loop, escaping the boiling hot embrace of the sun to dive back into the cold depths of the stars. The clubhouse was now shooting straight back towards the third planet of the solar system, each second moving danger away from the humans who had looked at Death straight in the eyes. But once again, Hope, Love and Courage had countered the plans of the Grim Reaper. And Friendship was safe, and that was crucial. Friendship never dies !
« OXYGEN LEVEL RISING – TEMPERATURE LOWERING – PREMISES STABLE – DISINTEGRATION HAZARD NULL »
Those were even more positive words than before. They all had hated the mechanical voice from the very moment it had indicated that Cathy's curing had failed. But now, they were delighted to listen to it, as it brought always more encouraging news. The system had sounded like an enemy at some point, but it had regained a friendly aspect now.
« Waow, that was a close call, I'd say ! » Danny enthusiastically clarioned. « But well done to you Cath' for succeeding in one attempt. I admire you, really ! »
The bubbly girl bowed in a comic way. « Thank you, thank you ! True that it wasn't easy, but the main point is that it worked out ! I'm so happy ! Happier than I've ever been ! »
« Yeah ! And you see, Cath', we were right not to let go of you, weren't we ? » Sam pursued. « We managed to save ourselves, and you're still with us. Even more : it was YOU to save us all, while you were decided to leave moments ago. Bravo, Cath' ! And thank you ! »
Cathy smiled at her leader. « Well, you're welcome. And you're so right : it would have been the most awful mistake if I had left you ! Hum, you still would have been saved, but our friendship bonds would have been broken. Thanks for insisting that I stay with you ! »
Chris turned on his hovering chair and said : « I must say you impressed me, with all your efforts to chase that alien stuff from your body. I didn't suspect you could be that fierce ! It took a lot to pass, but it passed ! You've got all my gratitude, Cath' ! »
The blue-eyed girl chuckled. « Ah ah, I'm sure I must have been impressive, with all those hoarse yells and shaking. It was very demanding. I feel like sleeping for a full week now ! »
And all of them guffawed at this. Laughters again, laughters to celebrate their victory and proclaim Happiness's superiority over Fate. Sorrow was gone, doubts had been swept away, fear was but a memory, hesitation had ceased existing… Everything had turned bright all of a sudden, as if the sun had come out from behind the clouds. That same sun which may have brought their existences to an end…
Now was time for Happiness indeed, for Love, for Serenity, for Confidence. Now was time for Friendship. It had always been time for Friendship, this had never changed, but in this moment it was Friendship within Happiness, unlike before.
Mr. Smith hugged his granddaughter so lovingly. « I knew you would succeed in the end. You may look fragile, but you are stronger than it seems, Schloumba ! We all owe you life today ! I'm so proud of you, child ! »
« Grandpa, thank you so very much ! I'm happy like I've never been that we are all safe now. But please, Grandpa, stop calling me child : I'm a teenager, remember ? »
And once again, they all laughed in unison at this. And their joy had never been greater.
Sam gave a look at each one in turn and opened her mouth : « Alright, we'll soon be back home. Back to normality. Back to aliens. Back to holiday. Funny that this incident happened on the last school day… Well, we'll have two months ahead to forget it ! I don't know for you, but I'd be glad to bust a few aliens. Ah, can't wait to be back home for that ! Come on, Chris, lead us home ! » (A/N : the leader asking someone else to lead, uh uh…)
Then she stopped and looked confused. She remembered how Danny had joked on her habit to give orders and decide for them all. So she couldn't help checking the matter with her buddies : « Hum, I hope this wasn't too authoritarian for you… bad old habit of mine… »
Danny of course couldn't miss the line that Sam had just thrown him, so he came closer, stood between Sam and Cathy, hands on their shoulders, and exclaimed : « Well, normally, I would have said : yes, it was too authoritarian… but, given the circumstances, I'll just say that it's ok and we'll let it go for this one time, right ? »
He winked to Sam and turned smiling to Cathy. The two girls burst out laughing, so did he, and Chris finally joined in, while Mr Smith just laughed up his sleeve. And those laughters were the most delightful music to listen to, in the immensity of space, where a human building was shooting towards a well-known blue planet that soon was in sight…
T H E E N D