Chapter one:
On Gareth's Hideaway…
Gary was sleeping peacefully in his room as he hugged his dear Mooncake.
It was a perfect time for KVN to sneak in and doodle on Garry's face.
"Gary, hey Gary. Gary." KVN whispered as the Titan was still snoring, fast asleep in his bed.
"Are you sleeping?"
"Zzz."
Taking it as an answer, KVN presented a green marker and began to doodle on his face. He needed to be careful though. The last time he did this, Gary drop kicked him into the stratosphere with his furry Titan foot. It took three whole weeks to return to the planet and HUE had to repair him.
He should know better, but he couldn't help playing pranks on his best friend. But as he was about halfway there, Mooncake began to stir. The small round green critter awoke to see the annoying robot KVN messing with the Titan.
"Chookity!" Mooncake shouted as it startled the one-eyed robot.
"Chookity-pok!" Mooncake scolded as he scared off the annoying insanity avoidance companion, causing the robot to chuckle nervously as he did once he did.
Mooncake then grabbed a washcloth and scrubbed his master's face then returned to bed with him. But as soon as they were sleeping the alarm went off.
The titan in the form of a man moaned from the noise as he forced himself to get out of bed by rolling over. He would have hit the floor if Mooncake didn't catch him and he didn't summon tiny wings on his back.
"What is it, HUE?" He moaned as he was slowly waking up.
"GARY, AN UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT IS MAKING COURSE TOWARDS THE PLANET." HUE explained while Gary got dressed.
"Okay, let's go and check it out. I'll get Avocato." The blond man yawned.
"THAT WOULD NOT BE WISE TO DO SO, GARRY. HE IS A DANGER TO YOUR SAFETY AND AN INTRUDER." The AI warned but the young Titan didn't listen.
"Don't worry, HUE. I'm sure it was all just a mere misunderstanding. I bet he's a lot calmer now." He smiled.
In the small cell…
Avocato was growling as he was trying to find a means of escape. But with S.A.M.E.S. everywhere, no ships to escape to and his weapons taken, it would be difficult. But that's not the only reason for his stay here, he still had a mission to do. He needed to get E-351. But he can't risk upsetting the Titan.
The titan…
That guy was a titan…
Avocato has heard about the legends of the titans. All they had to do is think it and they can obliterate an entire universe. The Ventrexian shivered at the thought. Now he was stuck with the very last Titan, on his planet, in his prison.
"Hey, buddy!" Said titan greeted brightly as it almost made Avocato jump out of his skin!
"You!" He gasped.
"Yep, Gary. How are you doing, buddy?" Gary wondered as the blue Ventrexian was giving him a look.
Avocato wanted to snap at him or even attack him, but he knew better than to challenge a creature powerful enough to shape reality. He would be even more powerful then-.
Then the idea came to him.
"I am doing well. But I need to talk to you about something very important. Can you let me out, so we can talk?"
"Sure." Gary smiled as he pushed in the codes to open the cell door.
"GARY, I ADVISE LEAVING THE PRISONER IN HIS CELL."
"Don't worry, HUE. He's my buddy, now." Garry grinned as he led Avocato through the cabin, "What can go wrong."
In the cabin's dining room…
Mooncake hovered over Gary as the Titan gave his newly acquired friend a small tour of his home.
The tiny green creature was somewhat nervous to be around the blue alien as his best friend, Gary was leading the way.
"Uhh… Gareth was it?" Avocato spoke.
"No, no, please. Don't call me Gareth. Call me Gary, everybody does or-or 'Thunder Bandit' or 'Manticore of Coolness' or-!" The blond spoke with excitement.
"I'll just call you Gary. So, Gary, there's something I need to tell you about your friend and who's after him." The fluffy bounty hunter began as Gary sat down and listen with his little budding in his arms.
"Ooh?" Mooncake cooed as he snuggled into Gary's arms and the titan lifted him up into the air.
"Mooncake is no ordinary creature, he's a planet destroyer. He has unlimited power and his abilities are still unknown. The Lord Commander himself has sought after him." Avocato explained as Gary tilted his head.
"Who's the Lord Commander?"
Avocato was choking on air right now by the blond's comment. Mooncake began to hover around until a strange object appeared and began to scan him.
"GARY!" Avocato shouted as Gary turned to see the weird device.
Without thinking, he grabbed KVN and repeatedly smashed the device into bits! It was the most fun Gary had with KVN.
"You okay, little buddy?" he wondered as the planet destroyer rubbed faces with him.
"Chookity." Mooncake assured as the bounty hunter came rushing in and examined the device that laid in pieces.
"We're too late. The data has already been sent to Terk. That double-crosser probably on his way to the Lord Commander now!" Avocato explained, "We need to stop him."
"Then let's go then!" Gary cheered as this would be the second time, he leaves this planet.
"GARY, YOU MUST REMAIN ON THE PLANET WHERE IT IS SAFE," HUE advised.
"Come on, HUE. It's just one little space trip. It sounds like fun." Garry whined to the AI.
Avocato just watched the AI and the Titan get into an argument and couldn't believe his eyes. A cosmic, omnipotent being that could create and destroy universes on a whim was acting like a child. The AI that housed him should've been turned to dust for speaking to Gary like that. Yet the conversation they are having is like an overprotective father and a rowdy teenager.
The Ventrexian cringed a little at the thought as his memories of…
Those memories reminded him of his true mission. E-351 must be collected and maybe Gary will add incentive too.
"HUE, listen," Avocato intervened, "Terk has scanned Mooncake knows about the planet. If we don't stop him, the Lord Commander will find both Gary and Mooncake. That is the last thing you want."
The AI took a moment to respond.
"VERY WELL, IF IT WILL KEEP GARY PROTECTED." HUE conceded as the titan's eyes lit up like stars.
"Really!? Awesome! Yeah-!" Gary began but then felt something around his neck, "Ah, what the crap, HUE?"
The blond man turned around to see that a S.A.M.E.S. had collared him.
"THIS DEVICE WILL ALLOW ME TO LOCATE YOUR WHEREABOUTS AND ALERT ME IF YOU ARE IN DANGER." HUE explained, 'I WILL ALSO COPY MY CONSCIOUSNESS INTO THE SHIP'S MAINFRAME TO "KEEP AN EYE" ON YOU."
Gary grumbled with complaints that he could take care of himself.
"AS FOR YOU, I WILL ADD AN INCENTIVE." The planet's digital security system explained as he injected something into Avocato.
"What did you do to me?" The blue bounty hunter demanded with fury in his voice.
"HUE, what the crap? You can't just inject people!" Gary scolded his caretaker.
"THIS WILL MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE RETURNED SAFELY. AVOCATO, WHAT I INJECT IN YOU IS A CAPSULE CONTAINING VENOM FROM AN INSECT KNOWN TO THE HABITAT OF THIS PLANET, THE SPUTATOR ARANEOLUS UMBRA OR SHADOW-SPITTER SPIDER."
"Ah oh." Gary let out, "You wouldn't."
"What? What did he do?" Avocato demanded as he didn't like what he was hearing
"AVOCATO, YOU HAVE FIVE HOURS TO RETURN TO THE SHIP TO REMOVE THE CAPSULE OR IT WILL DISSOLVE INTO YOUR BLOODSTREAM. THE VENOM WILL CAUSE PARALYSIS AS YOUR ORGANS FILL ITSELF UP WITH A COMBINATION OF FLUID AND BLOOD UNTIL THEY BLOAT AND EXPLODE. THIS WILL CAUSE THE REST OF YOUR BODY TO BURST INTO A PUDDLE OF RED SLUDGE."
"Are you insane, HUE?!" Gary questioned as he gave the AI the look.
"YOU'RE SAFETY IS MY TOP PRIORITY, GARY. DO NOT TAKE LONG, AVOCATO. BOTH LIVES ARE AT STAKE."
Avocato knew a threat when he heard one and so he dragged Gary onto the ship and began their journey.
On Earth…
Quinn was investigating a down cruiser while Tribore was being a pest.
If this meant what Quinn thinks it means, then things were much direr than they thought.
On Gareth's Hideaway…
KVN was messing around while Mooncake was having a huge pile of fruit for lunch.
What neither of them could see that a mysterious machine appeared in a flash of light underneath the cabin, where HUE couldn't detect it. A blind spot in HUE's all-seeing eye. A stranger emerged from the ship and made her way into the mainframe. She was fast enough to shut down HUE and the security defenses, then headed upstairs to do what she needed to do.
"Ooh! Hello there, are you another one of Gary's friends? Me too!" KVN annoyingly cheered.
The stranger said nothing as she shut KVN down then forcibly moved KVN around and inserted a chip into his processor.
"You'll be back up to speed in a few hours. Gary and I may find you annoying but you will save the universe." The stranger sighed as she walked towards the computer.
She had work to do.
On Tera Con Prime…
The Galaxy One, the ship Gary once used to save his planet landed on the home planet of the Lord Commander.
"Gary, before we land, there is something that we need to talk about before we land." Avocato began as he landed the ship, "You can't tell anyone who you are, you can't transform, and you can't show your powers."
"Okay, I can do that. Now, let's go get that Butthole, Terk." Gary answered as he was eager to see another planet.
Avocato sighed as he knew that he was going to have a hard time keeping an eye on Gary.
Gary marveled at the sights of Tera Con Prime, to him it was like going on a vacation to an amusement park as a ten-year-old. Avocato admittedly found it adorable, but he would never admit it to Gary. But he shouldn't be thinking about that right now, the sooner he does his job, the sooner he'll save him and get the poison out of his body. Hopefully, the medics should help him.
"Gary, hold on. Before we continue, we need to get your papers. The people of this planet are not friendly to humans." Avocato advised.
"Ah come on, so I don't have my papers. What will they do, fine me?" Gary chuckled but then stopped when Avocato pointed to a person who didn't have papers.
He watched in horror as that person was liquified!
"Okay, so let's go get those papers," Gary spoke as the look of horror didn't leave his face.
"We need to find Clarence first to- Gary?"
The bounty hunter turned to see that the titan was no longer with him but getting street meat.
"Stay. Close. To. Me." Avocato growled in frustration as he was dragging Gary and his street meat.
"But street meat, I got you some too," Gary explained.
"We'll eat later."
On Gareth's Hideaway…
The stranger began to hack into the mainframe, looking into Gary's personal files.
"So, Bolo was right. The egg landed here, and, in this reality, you became a titan. I don't know rather be happy or sick to my stomach." The stranger sighed as she copied everything onto a flash drive.
That was when Mooncake.
"Mooncake." The stranger spoke as she revealed her face to be an older Quinn, "Hi, I'm Nightfall. Don't let Gary die because of what you are."
"Ooh." The green creature whined as Nightfall left.
On Tera Con Prime…
After the disgusting meeting with Clarence and wearing that awful skin suit, Gary found Terk with Avocato.
"Thought you could rat us out, huh? Dingus?" Gary mocked as Avocato was wrestled with him.
"Who the hell are you, you old bag?" The three-eyed bounty hunter sneered as it somewhat hurt Gary's feelings.
"Old bag?" Gary whimpered as the wrestling between hunters caused Gary to fall over!
"Avocato!"
The titan dressed as a woman was then on a conveyer belt and being sent to his "Family." That just leaves Avocato alone with Terk.
"You left me to die on that planet!" Avocato snarled as he pointed a gun to the traitor's face, "Give me one good reason not to kill you!"
"Because I know where your son is," Terk warned him coldly.
Avocato's eyes widened as his heart skipped a beat.
"My son? Little Cato? Where is he?!" The bounty hunter demanded.
"Holding cell 43. Now, you got what you want, now let me go." Terk demanded.
"Sure, I'll let you go."
With that, Avocato blasted the alien as he spasmed with pain until he burst into chunks!
"Little Cato, hang on," Avocato whispered as he made his way to the hold cells.
In Holding Cell 43…
Little Cato sat upon the bed given to him as he feared for his father's safety.
The Lord Commander knows that he will come for him and his father will be walking right into a trap. The young warrior wished that he could warn him the dangers and certain that was coming for him if he did not stay away. With fear and slight happiness, his father had come. Avocato came out to free his son from his prison.
"Dad! No Dad, it's a trap! Stay away!" Little Cato tried to warn but it was too late!
Avocato was captured and brought to the Lord Commander!
"DAD! NO!" Little Cato screamed as his father was taken away from him, to meet the Lord Commander.
In the home of the Dewinters…
Gary was caught in the middle of a family crisis as his disguise was ripped from him and the children and father were scarred.
In an act of vengeance, David Dewinter tried to slice Gary to bits! Gary sensed the weapon coming and incapacitated his assailant, causing the knife to cut David's hand. In an act of pity and empathy, the titan used his tears to heal the wound.
"That's all I can do for you. I'm really sorry about your wife." Gary apologized then left with the small wings of the titan.
He wished he could stay longer and help that family, but he was the accidental cause and his friend Avocato needed him, he could feel it. He smelled his scent and followed it to the castle of the Lord Commander.
In the domain of the Lord Commander…
Avocato was forced to kneel for this demonic and short force.
"Avocato, I see that you have failed to retrieve E-351." A dark voice sneered as he floated to his captive.
"I have not failed, Lord Commander! I know where the creature you seek is and much more! E-351 is housed by Gary!" Avocato began with pain in his voice, "But that's not all! I have the last Titan with me!"
"Impossible! The Titan never leaves the planet!" The Lord Commander boomed.
"No, I have him. He left his home." Avocato struggled.
"I will find him as well as the Gary and E-351." The small but powerful alien sneered.
"Someone mentioned Mooncake?" A voice wondered.
"Gary, no run!" Avocato screamed but Lord Commander caused more pain.
Then Gary appeared to see the conflict.
"Avocato, I've been looking everywhere for-oh hello, are you a friend of Avocato too?" Gary wondered.
"Ah, the Gary comes." The Lord Commander smirked as his eyes glowed.
"Um, no, it's just Gary." Gary stuttered, "Listen, Avocato and I gotta go."
As Gary was about to leave, Avocato was freed but now the Lord Commander had him!
"Where is E-351?" He demanded as he began to hurt Gary.
Avocato was about to leave, but something in his heart to stop him. Even after all the things Avocato had done to him, Gary was ready to come to his help. He had to help, so Avocato came back for his friend.
"Ha, friendship mode, activate!" Gary cheered as the alien laughed at him.
"Friend? He was willing to betray you."
"Not true, we played cards, we clasped hands, right buddy?"
"I was desperate, man. I was trying to save my son." Avocato admitted.
Then the screaming began as Lord Commander tore off his arm! A moment was all it took to realize what the Lord had done before Gary screamed in agony and blinded the wicked alien with his own blood. Avocato stopped the bleeding but the Lord Commander was ready to kill.
"I WILL MURDER YOUR FACE OFF!" Gary bellowed as his powers summoned a blast of power that can only be described as the roar of a lion!
The Lord Commander was blasted backward as his throne was destroyed! Once he picked himself up the realization came to him.
"The titan."
"Oh no." Avocato gasped as he snatched up Gary and Gary snatched up his arm!
"AFTER THEM!"
Through crises and terrors, they barely escaped the armies, but were falling to their doom! They landed on the Dewinter's car but were quickly swatted away by the windshield!
"Avocato! Hug me!"
"What?"
"Just do it! I have an idea!"
With hesitation whilst they were falling, Avocato hugged him and Gary wasted no time in transforming into his manticore-like Titan form with the limb he lost restored! With the power he wielded, Gary broke through the barrier and began to fly back to the ship.
An hour later, on Gareth's Hideaway…
Once it was revealed that the venom was just a bluff by HUE, the two returned to the planet to assist Gary's situation.
It seems that in titan form, Gary can regrow his limbs, but his human form was another story. Though the two are connected, they still separate in transformation. So, Gary, by the idea of his green little friend will need a robotic limb. While KVN was trying to tell them what happen today, Gary was too excited to have the mood ruin.
"SOMEONE WILL HAVE TO PREFORM THE OPERATION, GARY." HUE pointed out as Gary tried to think about what to do.
"I'll do it."
Everyone turned to Avocato.
"You?"
"Gary, I have wronged you and betrayed you. Let me restore you as my penance." Avocato insisted as Gary hopped up on the operating table.
"It's okay, man. You were just trying to save your son. But you could've just asked me for help, I would've helped."
"You would?"
"Of course, you're my friend, one of my two best friends. I'm looking at you Mooncake." Gary smiled as he pointed at the green creature with his arm.
"But why would you want a friend like me?" Avocato wondered.
"You and Mooncake saved me from a life of loneliness. Before you two, the only friends I had were animals and robots. So, I'm sticking to you one hundred percent." Gary smiled at the operation was complete, "Friends?"
Avocato smiled as he clasped his hand, "Friends."
That was the birth of their friendship, and something more.
For they needed it for what was to come.
