Angel: I just wanna get some misconceptions out of the way, which I should've done earlier. But last Friday's episode did not help matters because it's fucking awful *blank look*
First off, Final Space's third season does not have only 7 episodes. There have been only been 7 episodes confirmed, and a quick search will confirm that it's 13 episodes in total like the previous season.
And second, there has been no confirmation that the third season IS the last season. And even if there was, the creator has a series finale planned if the show ever gets cancelled. So far, I haven't heard any news about a fourth season or that it will end after season 3.
This is why people need to do their research before they send reviews out underneath anonymous accounts ^^'
I saw the new episode yesterday and MIND. BLOWN!
The Crimson Light was currently lightfolding. Nova paced around in her own room, rubbing her chin. Clarence insisted that his 'little star' get her own room, so he purposefully gave her Fox's room, leaving him having to share with someone else...if she didn't have enough problems to worry about, she'd be creeped out.
"Bolo said I could track those Dimensional Keys, but how the fuck am I supposed to do that? Am I supposed to just detect it naturally or is it a restrictive thing that comes to mind?"
She then felt a tingle in her body, causing her to freeze. "What?" Then her hair started to move in all directions as she zoned out, just standing there. Flashes of the Crimson Light appeared in her mind...and then Ash appeared, along with a weird tattoo.
As soon as it came, the visions stopped and she fell to the ground, confused. That definitely had to be a premonition...it wouldn't appear for no reason. And it had to do with the second Dimensional Key, but one question remained in her mouth.
"Ash...is the clue to the next Dimensional Key...?" She murmured to herself.
Meanwhile, Gary and Clarence were arguing. "Not talking to you."
"I'm not talking to you," Clarence retorted back as the two walked side-by-side.
"You're talking to me right now to me!"
"Well, stop talking!" Clarence shouted at him.
"I'm trying to do that!"
Nova slammed open the door to her room. "Oh my god, shut the fuck up! Your yelling is obnoxious as hell."
Ash then opened the door from her own room that she shared with Nightfall. Leaving Fox to share with Little Cato.
Yeah, that would help with their thousand-year feud between their races.
"What are you arguing about?" Ash asked the two in annoyance.
"We don't know!" They both screamed in unison.
"Well, on Serepentis, the only way to solve an argument was through a good game of Thimbles," She walked back into her room, Nova raising a brow at her. Ash didn't seem to have any knowledge about the key, so why would the voodoo or whatever it was hint about her?
"I...don't even know what that is," Gary stated after a few seconds.
"Perfect! Loser leaves the ship immediately," He laughed as he ran off.
"I said I don't know how to play!" The blond repeated himself, Nova walking back into her room as well. If she was going to get involved, which she was now thanks to their screaming, she might as well prepare herself for the game.
The door to Little Cato's room opened and he was standing there wearing a scanner over his left eye. And he was wearing a purple suit over himself. "We got this," He told Gary with a smirk. "I'm Ventrexia's Thimble Elite Junior Champion."
"Oh yeah?"
He glanced to his right as Nova slowly stepped out of the room next to Ash's. Her hair was in a waterfall braid over her right shoulder as she was wearing a black tank top underneath a red leather jacket. She had on a white knee-length skirt, showing her legs as she wore red ankle boots. She also had a scanner, but it was over her right eye.
Little Cato opened his mouth wide at her appearance, suddenly looking a bit less smug.
"You'd be surprised at how many times I played Thimbles being on the run for three years," She smirked, hands on her hips.
"Ah...ah..." He stammered and then she took in his outfit.
"Cute," She winked at him and he blushed, now a bit embarrassed. He felt like he was wearing his pjs in front of her.
Ash held up some weird devices while also having a matching scanner to Little Cato and Nova's. "Smashers all around!" She tossed one to Clarence and then to Nova.
"You versus us, winner takes all," Clarence challenged Gary as even Nightfall was equipped with the same equipment.
"Queued for play!" Little Cato called out.
"Game go!" Clarence hit a triangle bean bag over to Little Cato, who smacked it back. Clarence hopped on Fox's shoulder and hit it back. Tribore just made some stupid moves while not participating. The bean bag soared past Little Cato and Nightfall, and it hit HUE in the chest.
"Queue four!" Little Cato pointed out from the ground.
"Thimbles for Clarence!" Then Clarence threw an axe into HUE's chest, but the robot just laughed it off.
"Oh, you hound!"
Gary looked over to Nightfall, confused as ever. "What in the three rings of hell is going on?"
"Gary, it's like you don't even know how to play Thimbles," Ash responded back.
"That's what I keep trying to tell you," He reminded them and Nova sighed.
"Time out."
Clarence walked over to him. "Two to four players equip themselves with smashers." As he was talking, he glanced over to Little Cato walking over to Nova. He held out a drink for her and she smiled slightly, taking a sip. He leaned in and whispered something, causing her to giggle. "AHEM!" He cleared his throat loudly to get their attention. "Players use said smashers to gather Thimbles. Thimbles are gathered by the hitting of thimbles across the playing field through the other players' smashing window."
"Thimbles may also be gathered by other means!" Fox shouted at Gary.
"For each limb you remove from the opposing players, you receive four thimbles and ownership of detached limbs," HUE added in from the ground. Clarence then pulled out the rulebook.
"However, if the other player fails to clear their limb in a timely manner, they lose four points, in addition to losing a limb."
Ash popped up next to Gary, scaring him a little. "The game is won by reaching 54 thimbles."
Gary grinned widely as he put on a scanner. "Queued for freakin' play."
Nightfall struck first, and then it turned into an intense game. Nova jumped over her and Little Cato as she swung the bean bag back. Nightfall shot off two fingers from Clarence's left hand, disgusting Gary. Little Cato chuckled as they watched them grow back.
"Oh ho ho, gross!"
"Ugh," Clarence flexed his fingers. "Four thimbles for you."
"Queued for play!" Ash stood in front of Fox, rolling up her sleeves. Nova gasped as she saw the same tattoo from her vision on Ash's left arm.
"Hmm. Facticulating," HUE zoomed in on it. "Ah. Fact-checkulating," Then he scanned the tattoo, finding that it was a match to downloaded images of the Dimensional Key. And Ash's tattoo matched the second one. "Ash, that tattoo...is that a Dimensional Key?"
"So it's true..." Nova murmured, confusing them all.
"What are you talking about?" Gary asked her and she looked towards Ash.
"Ash...that tattoo...I saw it in a vision that I'm fairly certain was telling me that you were a clue to the next Dimensional Key," She stated slowly, shocking all of them.
"Everyone has one on Serepentis," Ash replied, dodging the statement.
"So...there's a key on Serepentis," Gary walked over to her, eyeing the tattoo.
"...I've never seen it," She replied after a few seconds. Nova raised a brow at her. If she was saying was true, then she couldn't know where it was, but it was still a lead.
"That key can help me save Quinn," Gary stood up, walking past her. And the former bounty hunter couldn't help but notice Ash's saddened expression. "AVA, put up the star map."
"Ugh," The AI let out a groan. "Now?"
"Yes, now!"
AVA put up the planet of Serepentis, which sort of looked like Saturn if not for the different colors. "Serepentis, a planet best known for worshipping a fire serpent not from this realm."
HUE pulled out the axe from his chest, wanting to feel important. "Star Travel Online ranked it worst place for a honeymoon, but best place for venom soaked viper waffles."
"That's great, HUE," Gary smiled a bit at him. "Pack your duffle sack. We're going."
Ash suddenly took off her scanner and grew enraged. "If any of you dare go there, I will reign down destruction the likes of which you've never seen!" She started firing bolts, Fox dodging them, but HUE got affected by one.
"Chookity!" Mooncake flew over one as Nova ducked her head. He hid in a dish.
Ash landed down safely, as HUE was now on fire. She seemed a bit more calm now, but they were a bit on edge. "So none of you are going, kay?"
"Huh. Seems like she really doesn't wanna go," Gary blinked, Nova dusting herself off.
"No shit, Sherlock."
"Is it hot in here?" HUE asked before he fell to the ground. "Or is it just HUE? Oh..."
Ash sat at a table, looking away from everyone. Nightfall was putting out HUE while Nova and Little Cato lingered nearby. Gary and Mooncake were next to the girl.
"Ash," Gary spoke up. "Look at Gary." She did so reluctantly. "I'd never make you go to a planet you didn't feel safe on because-"
"You're trying to kill me?" Ash incorrectly assumed.
"What, no," Gary denied immediately. "I want the best for you. That's why I'm try-"
"You'll stop at nothing to destroy me?" She glared up at him.
"No!" He decided to back out before he accidentally made things worse. "Okay, oh my...okay, you two." He gestured to the two and walked away.
The two stepped up and sat on both sides of her. "Ash, you don't have to answer, but...what happened to you on Serepentis?"
She didn't answer and he looked at the former bounty hunter for help.
"Ash...look, I get it," Nova sighed a bit, rubbing a temple. "I've gone through hell on my home planet and off it too. I might not know exactly what you've been through, but...at least give us a reason why you don't want us to go there so bad. Because at the end of the day...we need that key."
"Chookity," Mooncake flew over and nuzzled her face in comfort. She smiled at their efforts and took a deep breath.
Ash removed her cloak with a small smile as she was in a room with snake symbols everywhere. A large staircase was in front of her as she and her family were surrounded by dozens of people.
"It was supposed to be the greatest day of my life."
"That's usually how the worst day of your life starts out," Gary pointed out.
Ash's younger sister, Harp, turned to Ash with a smile. She smiled too and they held hands. She then looked up to her father.
"Thank you for everything you did to get us here," She told him thankfully and he hugged her briefly.
"Don't thank us, thanks Werthrent," He gestured to a large open mouth at the top of the staircase.
"Mom, Dad?" Harp spoke up to them.
"Yes, sweetheart?" Her mother asked kindly.
"What were we chosen for?"
"Glorious things!" Their father announced with pride. "Your blood will erase the darkness."
That raised red flags in both of the daughters. "Wait..." Ash glanced at her sister. "What?!"
They were approached by two guards, and then Harp was taken away from her hand. "Harp?! NO!" She tried to get her, but was held back by her father. Harp was then forcibly brought over to Werthrent.
"I fought to get to her." Harp looked up to her.
"Harp, come back!"
Werhrent appeared, spouting fire.
"No! Let her go!" Either Ash was unheard or she was ignored, because her parents didn't seem inclined to stop this, or anyone else really. "HARP!"
"They held me back."
Harp knew her fate as she stared at the large snake in front of her. She couldn't fight back either because the guards were nearby. "Harp! No, Harp, get out of there! HARP!"
She braced herself and then Harp was EATEN.
"They made me watch."
Devastated by the sight, something sparked within Ash as she started to sweat, racked with sadness. "Something became unleashed inside of him."
"Oh, your thingy thing."
Ash's eye glowed black as her powers activated.
"Yes, dude, my thingy thing."
As the guards approached her, the girl pushed them all back with her power. She landed on the ground and turned back to normal. She gasped as she looked at her hands.
"Oh, wow. Okay, so you killed your parents?"
She turned around in realization as she looked down at her parents' bodies. She looked scare and truly horrified at what she had done.
"Yeah, and that makes me a bad person, right?" Ash turned around to see the snake disappearing. "Oh, look at me, I'm a parent killer. Watch out."
"Ash! Cool it," Nova warned her. "Gary and the rest of us are just trying to help."
"Uh, oh. Sorry, my bad. I didn't mean parent killer in a judgmental way. After all, Nova's job probably required her to kill some parents too."
Ash ran off as her people chased after her and she ran up a bridge. "Oh, so when you said parent killer, you meant 'Great job, Ash!' How is that not judgmental?" She managed to reach all the way to the Crimson Light, which was undergoing repairs. "That's when I found Fox and Clarence."
Fox looked up and saw her approaching.
"What the hell, Fox?" Clarence demanded to him from the ground. "Did you-?" He saw Fox's direction and looked up ahead.
"My new family."
Ash panted as she glanced over her shoulder. She then activated her powers again and slid back, knocking them off the bridge and taking it out in the process.
Nova's eyes saddened as she took in the story. She knew that her life was fucked up, but nothing could top watching someone you love get eaten by a snake. And with no one bothering to do anything about it. They all just thought it was...normal.
"What happened to your sister?" Little Cato questioned her.
"I never saw her again," Ash answered softly.
"Oou," Mooncake responded in sympathy, frowning.
"Whoa!" She glanced around as everyone had been listening. "Haa, I'm still talking. Whew! Whoops. Okay, well, uh, anyway...night!" Nobody moved however, and she just felt awkward now. "I'm still here. Okay!" She jumped out of her seat. "For real, bye!" She then raced to her room.
A snake circled around the Crimson Light while everyone was asleep. Suddenly Werthrent broke in and Ash woke up startled. She yelped and ran out of the room. "Everyone!" However, there wasn't any answer as she looked down the hall. Then Werthrent appeared in front of her again. She tried to blast it with her powers.
Nightfall woke up as she heard Ash and jumped down to the bottom bunk. Ash was blasting uncontrollably while her eyes were closed, clearly going through a nightmare.
"Ash! Ash, wake up!"
She sat up in bed, startled. She looked towards the holes she had just created. "Did I...?"
"Yeah," Nightfall confirmed to her quietly. Ash hugged herself, squeezing her eyes shut. Clearly she couldn't avoid this...and she couldn't ignore it either. As much as she didn't want to, she had to face it head on.
"I'm going to Serepentis."
"...Are you sure you're ready?" Nightfall questioned her carefully. "If you go...your mind has to be clear."
"It is!" Ash insisted to her.
"Those walls say otherwise," The woman looked to the mess around them.
"It's my call!" Ash glared towards her blanket, a bit irritated. "I don't need you mothering me."
"Hey, just looking out, okay?" Nightfall replied, slightly offended.
"I'm sick of being afraid," Ash clenched her blanket in her fists. "And I'm finding my sister!"
"How do you know she's even alive?"
"...I have to try," She murmured back to the woman.
HUE walked up to them from the hall. "Right after you try fixing this Ash hole."
The ship arrived at the planet.
Serepentis
Once they landed in a swamp, the planet seemed dark, with minimal lighting. It didn't seem all that colorful, but they only had one purpose. Well, most of them except Ash. She looked really nervous as her hands were shaking, trailing behind the others.
"Good luck, Ashy!" Fox called out to her next to Nightfall. "I'll hold down the fort."
"Hey," Nightfall said to the girl. "Do you want any help on this?"
"I told you, I'm fine!" Ash growled at her. Nightfall glanced away skeptically and decided to sit this one out. She looked at her brother one last time before walking over to Little Cato and Nova, who were both back in their regular clothing.
"Everyone, follow me!" Clarence ordered the group.
"How do you know where the key is? Starlight's the one who can sense them with freaky visions," Little cato jerked a thumb to her.
"Ooh, can you tell me my future then?!" KVN floated next to her face and she smacked him away.
"Not those kinds of visions, idiot. And I only know that it's here, they didn't tell me where to find it. I can't just turn it on and off."
"What is up with you two and not being able to pop things on?" Gary glanced between her and Ash, a bit annoyed at the answer. To him, it just felt like they COULD just turn them on to make things easier for them.
"If I did, it'd be less of a challenge," Nova smirked a little, a hand on her hip.
"I don't know where it is, but my money compass does," Clarence reveled the thing, taking it out of the front of his pants...and then putting it back. Everyone groaned in disgust at this because it once again looked like he had a boner.
"Can you...stop slinky-ing your money compass out?"
"Seriously, I thought we were past this," Nova grumbled as they continued to walk.
"I have three money compasses. Does that get confusing?" Tribore said to himself. "Very."
"You gonna be okay?" Little Cato asked Nova, who waved it off.
"Yeah. I've actually been practicing in my room more so that I don't get affected by darkness anymore."
"I thought you hated them," He smirked in amusement. "Miss 'I prefer my guns'."
"You know, I've learned recently that it's time to change my perspective," She smirked back at him. "And in time, you'll see just what I mean," She held his cheeks and he blushed. "Because some things are worth earning," She then gave him a head pat and walked off. He stared after her in awe before running after the girl to catch up.
"I recommend the snake sandwiches, snake burgers, snake shakes, snake cakes, but not snake flakes," Ash recited as most of them were very put off by the people and the food around them. Thankfully, none of the people from the planet seemed to be paying attention to Nova to either kill her or want to turn her in. Either that, or they didn't seem to care.
"Makes sense," KVN agreed with her.
"Those will make you projectile-vomit your kidneys," Ash told him.
"Oh really?"
"And you'll bleed for days and days out of your eyes," Ash pulled down an eyelid, both Little Cato and Gary looking a bit uncomfortable.
"Ooh!"
"It's amazing," Ash whispered and held some snake cakes out to Nova. "Want some?!"
"Yeah, I-I'm not really a scales person," Nova slowly pushed Ash's hands away with her finger. "Or whatever unexpected side effects those will give me."
"Oh, these will just make you sneeze and then vomit out your heart!"
"Great..." The girl sweated a little. "Sounds...nice."
"Ooh! That sounds amazing! And look, forever balls!" KVN gushed a bit at the sight of them. "I've always wanted one, they bounce forever!"
"Too bad!" Gary pushed him away into Clarence, who then bumped into a monk. He turned around and saw Clarence.
"Hey, friend. Think you can just show up and sacrifice yourself to Werthrent? There's a line," He gestured to the line of people in front of him that went on...forever.
"How long a line we talking?" Gary wondered as they stood behind the monks. Mooncake took a quick glance.
"Chookity."
"Eight hours?" Gary asked and Nova shook her head.
"That's not what that means."
"Chookity pok," Mooncake corrected him.
"Eight years?!" Gary exclaimed in disbelief.
Little Cato groaned a little. "Ugh, how do we get these fanatics to leave?"
"To get all of those guys to leave, you're gonna have to really pull off something big," Nova turned to Ash. "What's it gonna take, Ash?"
"If only...Sentella appeared. The serpent goddess of good fortune. People wait their entire lives in hopes of seeing her just once," She explained to everyone.
"Well, you're in luck, because they're about to get their wish. Right KVN?"
"Do-do what?" KVN turned around as he was holding more food and wearing a snake plush on his head.
He faced the line as he was wearing a ridiculous costume, made to make him look like a snake. "Great news, insane worshippers! It's me, KVN!"
Nova facepalmed at this. "Sentella!" Gary called out from behind a vendor's booth.
"Sen-tah-time-nella!"
"Sentella!" He corrected the robot again.
"Salmonella, goddess of fortune, not here to trick you! Whoever catches me achieves fame and fortune, and uh...uh...you can't catch me!" He flew off and the monks began to chase him, all of them getting out of line.
"It's really Sentella!"
"Forever ball, forever ball!" KVN sung as he was being pursued. Gary glanced back at the other monks, smiling.
"It's working! Way to go—oh, no!" He dropped his praise as he saw that KVN was leading them to a waterfall. "Oh no, KVN, no! No, bad KVN! KVN, no! Oh, bad! Oh, no!" The monks started to fall towards their death by the spikes below or by the fall itself.
Fox and Nightfall were having a drink in the mess hall, Fox staring at his plant. "Good news for a change," HUE approached them. "Now that I have a body, I scored my own room. Any of you wanna chillax it up?"
"Translation: do you wanna squat on a paint can in the janitor's cupboard?" AVA snickered a bit.
"AVA, will you just give me this one thing?" HUE argued back. "Please? Please!"
He got no answer as an alarm sounded. "Intruder on board."
"What?!" Nightfall exclaimed as she and Fox armed themselves.
"Intruder." They ran past the robot, who waddled after them. The two slid around the corner, running down the hallway. They pressed their backs against the wall, nodded at each other, and then went into the bridge. They saw someone sitting in the captain's chair, who was a blue lobster alien. He turned his head to see the two and then Nightfall pointed a gun at him, Fox holding him down.
"Give us a reason we don't blast your guts all over this ship," Nightfall growled out.
"Because unless I hijack your ship...I'm going to miss my own wedding," He told them and Fox gasped.
"All my life I've dreamed of saving another dude's wedding..."
"We can throw the bachelor party in HUE Town!" HUE suggested eagerly; he just really wanted to be a good host. "Come on, y'all. Get up. Get up. Get up." He walked off while doing a little dance.
They could only watch as innocent, relatively innocent, people fall to their deaths, while KVN was just singing. "Forever ball, bounce, bounce, everybody now!" A purple bouncy ball landed on his head and then started bouncing next to him. "OMG, a forever ball!" He caught it and started bouncing it in glee. "I am the goddess of good fortune!"
"A lot of people just died," Gary stated as the others joined him. "We can't forget that, okay? So everybody just keep, uh...just a short moment of silence...alright, let's go."
The others walked off in the other direction, Nova and Little Cato lagging behind. KVN bounced that dumb forever ball and Nova gave an irritated look towards him. The cat-boy watched as she kicked it away from him and it bounced away.
"My forever ball!" KVN flew after it.
"That'll get him to shut up," She mumbled in annoyance as they watched him leave. Little Cato cleared his throat, hands behind his back.
"J-Just so you know, I don't...like Ash in that way. I'm just trying to help her, you know?" He smiled nervously up at her.
"Oh, I know," She waved it off, silently relieved. Thankfully Ash had cooled it down with the creepy factor with how she treated Little Cato. She couldn't take anymore of that.
"So you weren't jealous?" He raised a brow.
"W-What? Jealous-I don't even know what that word means," Nova sweated a little, hoping that he wouldn't be able to tell that she was lying out of her ass. He knew her, but hopefully not to the point where he'd be able to know that she lied.
"Hmm," He stared at her for a few seconds and then smirked. "Okay."
"...Okay as in...?"
"Just okay," He replied and walked up ahead, confusing her even more.
"The hell does that mean?!" She called out as she caught up with him.
The janitor's sign had been crossed out to leave the words Hue's Room in paint. The alien was talking to Nightfall and Fox while HUE was dancing in the small, cramped space. "The woman I love most in the universe is going to be left standing at the altar, humiliated for the rest of her life."
"Hooray," HUE continued dancing as Nightfall stared him with a blank look. She reached up and turned off the music. "Hmm. Very lame."
"You ever think maybe there's a reason you're late for this wedding?" She turned back to the alien.
"Yeah, like I said, I misplaced the directions. Because you know, because...because..." Then he broke down crying. "Is too belied."
"Because deep down you feel like you don't deserve to be happy?" Fox asked with a sad look in his eyes.
"I love her so much, but...am I the husband that she deserves?" After wiping his face, he resumed back to crying.
"Hey, hey..." Fox spoke up softly. "Look at me. Look at me!" The alien sniffed and stopped with the bawling. "Cause, right now, I'm staring into the eyes of a wonderful, caring man. And guess who that man is?"
"...Me?" The alien asked after a few seconds.
"You. I'm gonna help you get married. And I'm gonna be your best man!"
He had never met Fox, one, and two, Fox was...not the best looker all because of his cannon hand, so he felt scared enough to let him.
"Or, you could just get me there, and perhaps not come?"
"Right," Fox got into his face. "And be your best man!"
"Oh!" HUE held up a dart. "What's that? Sure, we can have a game of darts," He walked up to the wall and simply planted it there. "Sweet sixteen."
Gary felt a bit uneasy as they got to the temple. Maybe it was because of all of the snake statues around them. It felt like they were watching the group's every move. "Yo, I'm no scientist, but that looks weird." They reached the room where people were sacrificed, and the statue of Werthrent was definitely much bigger than the other statues. "It must be where we need to go."
Ash stared into the eyes of the statue, recalling the memory of losing her sister like it was yesterday.
"HARP!" Ash shouted as the statue came to life. Harp gasped in fear.
"If the Dimensional Key is anywhere...it's inside Werthrent," She explained to them.
"It's inside the snake guy?!" Gary pointed at him, not feeling pleased about it. "Oh..."
"Nova."
The girl blinked as Ash spoke her name, and she looked over her shoulder. "With me. Werthrent seeks those with power or with pure defense."
She nodded in understanding and lifted herself up into the air. Her wings appeared behind her back as both girls activated their powers at the same time. Ash fired energy bolts while Nova fired a star bolt at Werthrent. Both of them had no impact.
"Werthrent! Show yourself! But you won't because all you are is fear and hatred and weakness!"
A few seconds later, the statue's eyes came to life, flames surrounding the group. Some flames flew over to them and Nova created a shield above their heads to deflect them. Then the statue became a snake just like before when it ate Harp, and its scales were coated with fire. Nova opened her mouth in disbelief, but didn't lose focus.
"Oh my god! That's a huge snake!" Gary shouted at the sight.
"I've seen bigger," Tribore commented, unfazed by it.
"You ate my sister!" Ash accused the snake angrily. "Give her back or I will flay you!"
The snake narrowed his eyes. "But she serves me so well."
"Give her back!" Ash demanded again.
"But why, when I can have you both and your little friend too?" He opened his mouth wide and Nova flew backwards a bit.
"Hey! Listen!" Gary shouted, interrupting them. "Hey, pal! Hey, will you look at me?" The snake slightly hissed at Gary. "Alright, okay, uh, if you eat them, you gotta eat the rest of us! Cause we're a combo pack!"
"What?" Nova turned to him, baffled.
"A combo pack?" Clarence raised a brow, just as confused.
"A combo pack!" Little Cato pointed up at the snake.
"Like the fries! We're the fries," Gary jerked two thumbs to himself.
"Chookity pok," Mooncake added in.
"You wanna be the dipping sauce?" The blond smiled up at him.
"I've been told I would make a great dipping sauce," Tribore smiled, looking back up to the snake. "By whom? None of your business."
"I'm an onion ring!" Little Cato pumped his fists. "Starlight can be the drink!"
"As long as it's got alcohol in it," Nova shrugged a bit, deciding to roll with it.
"And I can be a napkin!" KVN popped up behind him. "Hooray!"
"Oh, geez, alright, great, okay. Now it's the combo pack from HELL!" Gary glared towards the robot. "But...okay, Werthrent, are you in or are you out?"
The snake licked his lips. "In," He opened his mouth to reveal a esophagus on fire.
"What's the plan?" Little Cato wondered to Gary as the mouth got closer.
"I didn't think that far ahead," Gary screamed, earning a wide-eyed look from Nova. "That's not good at all!"
Werthrent swallowed them all whole and they were dragged down a portal of some sorts. Then they landed roughly on the ground as they seemed to be in a chamber made out of stone as torches were lighting up the room.
Ash sat onto her knees, looking around. "Harp? Harp!" She stood up to see that the group weren't the only ones there. Other people were there too, but they looked like zombies with skin that looked sort of decayed. They also had yellow eyes. "Harp...?"
"Kill us..."
"Please kill me."
"Oh," Gary got onto his feet, feeling very creeped out. "Good times."
Clarence threw KVN off of him. "Who are these putrid wisps of ectoplasm?" He asked with little care in his voice.
"The Surrendered," Ash answered in horror, looking as if she had been lied to. She walked up to one of them and bent down to him. "We were told being offered to Werthrent was beautiful. That we would go to the embrace and live eternity in joy."
Nova glared down at Clarence and then smacked the back of his head for being so uncaring towards them.
Tribore pushed one of them away as they were starting to touch the others. And they looked very uncomfortable around them, even Nova. "Can we all agree that they stretched the truth, hon?" He grabbed her hand and pulled her away.
"Yes, not sure this was worth the wait," Clarence pushed off KVN and then another one of the Surrendered off. "No, I'm sure this was definitely not worth the wait."
The 15-year-old girl glanced around in pity. She did kill people, yes, but a place like this was just sad. None of them were expecting this kind of lifestyle when they were sacrificed...did they accept their fate? Was something this abhorrent really ode to those who hadn't been sacrificed?
They pushed their way through the Surrendered, which was not easy to do, but then they found a group of people staring at Werthrent's heart. They didn't do much of anything, they just watched it beat. And inside of it was the Dimensional Key.
"The key!" Clarence and Gary exclaimed as the reflection of the key showed in their eyes. But obviously for vastly different reasons. They pushed past two of the Surrendered and made a break for it. Nova rolled her eyes as the two ran, pushing each other to get it. However, both of them were swatted away and landed at the end of the staircase.
"Who...dare approaches Septim, Keeper of the heart of Werthrent?" One of the Surrendered stepped up, but unlike everyone else, he was wearing a dark purple robe, and his staff had a snake skull at the end of it.
Ash stood in front of Clarence. "Ash Graven, child of Werthrent."
"Rejoice, child," Septim held her hand. "For you have been surrendered." He looked past her shoulder. "Who are the unworthy that engulf you?"
"Piss off, Bones!" Clarence snapped at him while trying to push past Gary. He just wanted to get the key and leave. Gary then leaned on his head.
"Yo, Gary Goodspeed."
Ash looked very pissed at the two as Mooncake popped in behind them.
"Chookity."
Nova stepped up to Clarence and Gary from behind and then pressure pointed them. They twitched uncomfortably and landed on the ground, unable to move.
"What the hell, Nova?" Gary glared up at her.
"I think I can speak for everyone when I say that your inane squabble bullshit has reached its peak," She swept her hands while looking down at them. Both of them were slowly pissing her off more and more by just today alone.
"Okay, pipe down," Septim stopped everything. "What brings you to the innards of darkness?"
"Shut up and give us the heart," Gary ordered, only to get kicked in the leg by Nova. "Ow, what the freak!"
"Okay, both of you are being assholes, and it's not being helpful. I don't think it ever was. So why don't you two get a grip already?" She placed her hands on her hips, disregarding his comment. Ash smiled at her gratefully because to her, this was a delicate situation. And neither of them were really helping right about now. Little Cato smirked at her taking charge.
"Oh, Nova, you rascal~ You know the way to my heart. Just so you know, you can incapacitate me anytime you like," Clarence blew a kiss to Nova. She lunged, but Tribore held her back. She huffed and slightly pushed him off, dusting herself off.
"Over my brittle weak bones I'll give you the heart!" Septim denied to Gary. "To touch it, you must answer me three riddles."
"Riddles?" Gary let out a laugh after a few seconds. Ash strayed from the group, which only Nova seemed to notice. "This is the best thing you could come up with?"
"Harp?" Ash glanced around for her, walking down the steps further.
"If I agree to not be an ass, will you make my body move?" Gary looked up at Nova, who crossed her arms.
"And mine, too. I'd like the feeling back in my body again," Clarence spoke up. She raised a brow at them skeptically.
"Mm. Alright. But if it happens again, I won't show any mercy."
She bent down and pressure pointed them again so that they could get up.
"Riddle number one!" Septim suddenly announced.
"Oh! Okay, geez. Okay, so no buffer or warm-up. Alright. We're just going for it," He took a few deep breaths and jumped up and down. "Shake it off," He stretched a bit, his legs moving in place. The others just stared at him.
"This is..."
"Stupid," Nova finished for Little Cato.
"Oh, get your game face going, Gary. Okay, okay, I'm ready!"
"Yes!" Septim coughed a little before starting with the riddle. "What is blue on the belly, coated with jelly, happens to be quite the smelly jelly, but often quite smitten with shelly?"
Gary put on a thinking face. "Got it!" KVN raised a hand, still bouncing his ball.
"A cloud," He and Nova answered at the same time.
"How the hell did...Correct!" Septim looked shocked at the two of them.
"A cloud?!" Gary glanced at both her and KVN. He never would've gotten that, and how KVN knew that answer was beyond him.
"Rest assured this next one will send you hurling on a roller coaster of the mind," Septim explained, the girl rolling her eyes. She had been through way worse than what he just described in her former life of crime.
"Hey, how 'bout you stop bouncing the freaking ball?" Gary hissed at KVN.
"Can't, Gary," KVN whispered, floating over to him. "It bounces forever. Got it off a dead guy."
"I'm gonna blow up every forever ball store because of you, KVN," Nova mumbled to herself.
"Riddle two!" Septim shouted to get back their attention. "Harry had two friends, one of which had three friends, who then had seven friends, who then had two friends, who also had ten and a half friends, who happened to have twelve friends."
"Harp?" Ash looked at another Surrendered.
"What did Harry have for dinner?" Septim finished the riddle.
"Got it! That would be a conversation," KVN and Nova answered together again.
"Son of a...correct!"
"How are you so good at this?" Ash stopped her search to ask.
"Because I'm a deep space insanity avoidance companion!" KVN explained to her. "I've been programmed to know all games, puzzles, and riddles to keep my best friend Gary always entertained," He hugged Gary, irritating the man. "Right?"
"Nothing he has ever done," Gary pushed KVN off of him. "Has ever, at any juncture in time, entertained me!"
"And to get through some planets to...earn money," Nova glanced away knowingly. "I've had to bypass them with riddles, as ridiculous as they are."
"This final riddle will induce brain spasms, from which your frontal cortex will never recover! A caramel candy drops in a pool of grundle handwicks which wick the hand from which the wicking has handed. Did the caramel grow in hand wicking? Or, did it get stolen by the three blind grundle snackers?" There was a small pause as they just stared at him, not knowing whether or not that was a serious question. "Answer correctly or begin dying a thousand deaths!"
KVN thought about it while bouncing the ball, Nova scratching her head in thought. "KVN, I know you're gonna let us down in the time that we need you the most," Gary glared up at the robot.
"...No one programmed me for that total crap that dude just made up!"
"Hey, wait a minute, you just pulled that riddle out of your ass so you wouldn't have to give us the heart!" Nova shouted at Septim angrily. KVN threw his forever ball out of frustration.
"Called it!" Gary stated as the ball bounced on the wall and then hit Septim. He fell to the ground as the ball kept bouncing onto his body, breaking his bones.
"Oh, my bones! My fragile bones!" Blood spurted out from him as he kept being hit in the face. "Oh, the hurting pains! My bones are being destroyed."
Nova blinked down in disbelief. "Wow, bones breaking broken by a bouncy ball...who knew?"
"Grab the key, yo!" Gary told everyone and they ran for the heart.
"Harp! HARP!" Ash shouted, but she still couldn't find her sister. Little Cato and Nova managed to reach the heart before everyone else. Nova gagged a little at the key inside of the thing.
"Oh...oh, gross, we have to reach in and get it? I'm sitting this one out, I draw the line at reaching into someone's organs. Even if it is from an evil alien-eating snake..." She waved a hand in disgust. Little Cato perked up as he found this an opportunity to impress her.
"Then allow me, my lady," He winked up at her and reached in. He pulled away two walls and saw the heart covered in a substance he didn't want to know what. He grabbed it and pulled it out, to Nova's surprise.
"Nice job," She smiled slightly at him, and he smiled back, but then the place started to burn in flames to break the moment. Werthrent started bursting out flames, as this was the consequence of taking out his heart. Septim was still crying out in pain as Gary looked to Tribore.
"How do we get out of here?"
"That feels like a question for Richard," Tribore took out his communicator. He pressed a button and a hologram of two people appeared.
"This is Richard."
Tribore looked annoyed by the other person. "Who is that next to you?" He was referring to the alien dog next to Richard.
"Dan."
"What's Dan doing there?" Tribore narrowed his eyes.
"Nothing."
"Well, when he stops doing nothing, call me back, okay?" Then he hung up as the ceiling crumbled above them. A portal opened where the key was taken out. "Richard's calling me back when he's finished with Dan."
"Oh wow, okay, there's a minute I'm never getting back," Gary gave Tribore a blank look.
"Go through the portal!" Ash called out to them.
"Time to go!" Gary shouted as they all made a break for it, but not Ash. She wouldn't rest until she saw Harp again. Mooncake realized she was still there and looked back.
"Chookity!"
"Ash!" Clarence called her name. Nova and Little Cato glanced back to her still looking for Harp. They couldn't help but feel bad, since...they watched Avocato die. Little Cato frowned a bit, glancing to nova.
"Together?"
"Together," She nodded in confirmation.
"Gary!" Little Cato stopped him as he passed by the duo. "Take the key," He handed it to him, grabbed Nova's hand, and they ran back down the staircase.
"Oh no! Little Cato! Nova!" He tried to stop them, but he had to go through the portal. Otherwise the key would be in danger.
Ash stared at someone she recognized, holding out a hand. "Harp? Is it really you?"
However, when Harp turned around, she looked just like the rest of the Surrendered: like a zombie. "She's gone. Gone. She's gone."
"Oh no," Ash murmured in horror.
"Ash!" The duo caught up to her.
"I hate to be that guy, but it's really time to leave!"
"You have to leave her behind!" Nova urged Ash, not that she wanted to leave Harp. But Harp herself wasn't really Harp anymore.
The snake breathed out more flames, the others already on the ground. Gary looked around, but three people were still missing.
"Where's my Spider Cat? Ash? Nova?" He stood up, KVN flying from the ground and dropping Clarence.
"They are not here," KVN stated the obvious. Gary looked back up at the snake in hope.
"Come on, you guys. Come on!"
"Harp," Ash ignored her friends, some tears in her eyes as she tried to get through to her sister. "It's me."
"GO!" Harp screamed, pushing her off.
Tears continued to form as Ash stared at her sister. "Don't you remember?" She held her sister's cheeks, a tear rolling down one of them. "Come back to me."
"She's gone. Gone. She's gone, gone," Was all Harp would say.
"I came to save you..."
"Gone. She's gone. Gone. Gone, she's gone!" Harp insisted and Little Caro looked around them. Nova pulled him out of the way from a falling piece of flaming debris. If they didn't get out now, they'd all die here.
"Ash, I don't know much," Little Cato placed a hand on her shoulder. "But I know that's not a person anymore."
"That may be Harp, but...her mind is too gone for her to really be your sister anymore," Nova stated sadly. She didn't want to tell Ash that, and she was definitely not thrilled to have to be the one to say that, but it was the truth. And unfortunately, Harp had already proven that she was beyond help at this point...
"I can't leave her again!" Ash landed on top of the two, looking back to Harp.
"No! NO!" Harp then screamed as she held out a hand, engulfed by the flames. Ash looked even more horrified than when she saw her sister get eaten. The two grabbed onto her and fled. Then they jumped out of Werthrent's mouth just as he exploded. It was so big that it reached out into space.
The three landed next to the others face-first. Then they stood up, looking towards the sky.
"Ow..." Little Cato rubbed the back of his head.
"Okay, chalk that up into 'never try to do again'," Nova placed a weary hand on her face, cracking her back.
Then blood and guts from Werthrent rained down from the sky. All of their heads got drenched with blood, some guts hitting their heads. One slid slowly down Tribore's head and after it was over, Clarence snatched the Dimensional Key from Gary.
"Oh! That should cover your rent."
Little Cato gave him a small glare as the others watched Gary and Clarence fight for the key.
"Gimme the key!"
It bounced over their heads until it somehow ended up in Clarence's mouth, which did not do his tummy any good...
Ash started to sob over her sister, and then the forever ball landed in KVN's hand. "Wow! They really do bounce forever. Hooray!"
Nova snatched the ball and then threw it behind the group, causing it to go out of sight. "Stop throwing my forever ball, Nova! You're just jealous!"
"No, but you're being stupid," Nova deadpanned, annoyed with him today. Now she saw what Gary didn't like about him...
They left the planet, the others seemingly okay with the whole wedding thing as they were headed to drop the alien off.
Nova and Little Cato opened the door to Ash and Nightfall's room. Ash had been sitting there silently as Nightfall was doing something.
"Hey," Little Cato greeted, Nova waving with a small smile. Nightfall glanced over to them, frowning a bit. Ash had told her everything that had happened as soon as she came back... "You can't save someone who doesn't know they're lost," He took a seat next to Ash. Nova leaned against the wall.
"I thought the whole reason I got these powers was to get her back," Ash clenched her fists.
"Maybe you got them for something amazing down the line," Nightfall spoke up with a small smile.
"You mean...something that hasn't even happened yet?"
"Yeah," Nightfall stood up. "So great job. You're gonna be awesome," She then left the room.
"That freaks me out even more," Ash stated once the woman was gone.
"Well, take it from me," Nova gestured to herself. "I was born with these powers, and they're mainly for combat. Even though I don't prefer using them, I know that if the situation demands it, they have to help me."
"I know, but..." Ash looked towards the ground.
"How come it freaks you out?" Little Cato wondered to her.
"Because...it means on the other side of this, there might actually be something...good."
"Ooh, that is terrifying," Little Cato wiggled his fingers like he was telling a scary story, causing both girls to laugh. "No, I-I'm there too. I think there's a word for that..."
"...Hooope?" Ash dragged out the word.
"Heh heh. Yeah, hope. Pathetic that only Starlight knows that."
"Well, when we were in prison together, you made things...not shit," Nova rubbed her arm with a bashful look, clearing her throat to snap out of it.
"Maybe I'll try it on for size," He suggested while smiling at her.
"Well, how was it?"
"Eh, it's a little tight in the crotch," Little Cato rubbed the back of his neck. "But...good. Oh wait, no, I-I didn't mean crotch," He whipped around to Nova nervously. "Please don't take that the wrong way."
"I didn't, but thanks for telling me how you felt in your pants. That's really something you wanted to elaborate on," She smirked, crossing her arms. He blushed in embarrassment, even more so when he noticed Ash smirking a bit at the two.
"Ha...ha..." He breathed out slowly, trying to change the subject. "W-Wanna give it a go?"
"Maybe after you leave..."
"Oh...okay," He stood up from her bed and she turned to him.
"Hey...guys...thanks," She gave them both a smile and Nova walked over, kissing the cat-boy's cheek to his surprise.
"Yeah, good job, Cato."
He gave a dorky squeal while touching his cheek, the girls giving each other knowing looks. Nightfall, who had been listening, smiled as she walked down the hall. Nova turned around to leave before Ash held out a hand.
"Wait, Nova!" She looked over her shoulder. "You...have a sister too, don't you? I could tell by your eyes."
"...My sister Ascella and I...we're not close," Nova started off, sitting next to her. "In fact, she pretty much hates my guts now. My family...they just see me as someone expendable. Someone to exploit just for money and so that they won't have to admit that I'm a mistake to them."
Ash's eye went wide at that confession. "What...happened with you?"
"My family isn't dead, but they feel like that to me. They gave me up to a guy who wanted to tear a breach into space just for power. With no warning or with any regrets. The last time I saw my sister, she didn't seem to care where I was going. But...while both of our families are messed up now...sometimes I do wish that I had a sister like yours," Nova looked up with a small smile. "I don't know what would've happened if I had that kind of bond with her."
"...Maybe...we could be each other's sisters then?" Ash asked slowly, earning a wide-eyed look from the girl. "N-Not that I wanna be like your sister or I'm asking you to be like mine! It's just...a trial of some sorts, you know?"
Nova blinked and then smiled a bit. "Well, it's better than being your stepmother like Clarence wants," She looked away in disgust, gagging. "Which would be just weird since I'm younger than you."
Nightfall walked past KVN, who was bouncing his new ball happily. She then went past HUE's room, where he placed in another dart. Fox started bawling for the alien, who patted his shoulder in comfort. Clarence stepped into the bathroom, where he was trying to get the key out. "Take...that!"
Gary hugged Bolo's cube as he looked out the window. He closed his eyes, hoping that they'd find the other keys soon...and get to Quinn.
Little Cato passed by Ash's room, where the two girls were still talking. Nova turned to him and he gave another dorky smile, walking off. The two snickered a bit as he left, as if they were giggling schoolgirls.
They managed to reach the planet of the wedding, the ship sliding to a stop. "Attention, we are directly over the wedding." The ramp opened up.
"Remember, you tried to hijack our ship to be with this special, special lady," HUE told the groom.
"So now, you just have to hijack her heart," Fox gave him a bear hug.
"Thanks for the bierstein of wisdom."
"Hey, what are best men for?" Fox wrapped an arm around him and then slapped his back. "Cause I am your best man!" However, he hit the alien too hard and he sent him flying down the ramp. "Oh no! Best friend! Noooo! My best friend!"
He flew down towards the ground, screaming.
The eight-eyed bride was saddened over her husband-to-be late. "He isn't coming..."
"Wait! I'm comiiiiiing!" The groom shouted as he started to catch fire at the speed he was going. "I love you!"
However, he splattered onto the ground since he didn't have a way to land, and his bodily fluids landed all over his bride and two other aliens.
The bride started bawling out loud. Fox and Nightfall could only wince. Nova walked up to them and cringed.
"Ooh! Poor bastard..."
HUE threw down some rice. "Rice. Now the birds will also die."