AC: I want to thank my Beta-Reader for the time and effort he gave to re-read and correct some mistakes I made in my story so far. I'll always upload them once he is done.
Tom walked toward his school, slowing down slightly to give a glance at the black car that seemed to follow him, keeping itself as just the right enough distance to be inconspicuous. No matter where he went, that car remained behind him.
He was still nervous, but somehow it had become normal. A thought which was worrying enough in and of itself. Unless he learned how to manage this situation now. He still wasn't sure.
Somehow though, he always felt safer when Kaz was around. An odd thing given they were both in the same situation. He still remembered his friend telling him that he started to develop some Underworlder instincts. The boy didn't like that little joke, even if it made him chuckle a bit.
Still despite even that the situation was still nerve wracking, especially given that his parents didn't notice the car wandering around. Maybe they weren't trying to search for it. His mother did bring it up a few times, wondering who it might be. It was often the same black car that parked not far from their home. Only he knew about what was going on.
"Hey Tom." Kaz said as he ran and joined him.
"Hey Kaz. Sleep well?"
"Yeah." he crossed his arms, "Still a little annoyed that you lied to me and Sarah about exploring Al-Mipedim."
Tom scratched the back of his head nervously, "Sorry. Peyton didn't want Sarah to be with him and he asked me to tag along. Pretty sure he would have asked you instead if you came before me."
Kaz sighed and nodded, "Still. Theb-Saar is at Chaotic today and we'll definitely hear Sarah thoughts on the matter, that's for sure."
"I'm not waiting for that." Tom replied, frowning slightly.
The red-haired boy checked on the two black cars. One was driving away while the other one remained at its spot, "This is getting more annoying than scary." Kaz commented. He looked forward and asked, "What do you think will be next?"
"I don't know." Tom hesitated to bring up what he received from Codemaster Crellan. It was best that he still kept it to himself for now, "Anyway. We should go to Chaotic. We can't let Peyton handle Sarah on his own."
"Yeah. Hope Sarah is the only problem today." Kaz replied.
"Don't jinx it Kaz."
"Dammit. I had to say it."
The two boys were nervous as they pressed the buttons on their scanner, sending their code to Chaotic.
Chapter 43: An Active Day At Chaotic
When the two boys ported into Chaotic, they saw Peyton on his own, eating his breakfast. The two joined him.
"Hey Peyton. Is Sarah here yet?" Tom looked around.
"Not yet. I'm eating before she and Theb-Saar get here, because the calm is going to run away the moment they get here." Peyton replied with a smirk.
The two sighed.
"We better prepare ourselves Tom. Because hell is coming soon." Kaz said as he sat on the table and asked for something to eat.
"Why isn't she here already anyway?" Tom wondered as he crossed his arms.
"I think she is busy with stuff at home. Maybe her parents saw someone following her in the car and called the cops. They could think a creep is after her. I know she is going to school in her parent's car." Peyton crossed his arms, "And she had to discreetly put her scanner in her bag. They want her to get over Chaotic or something."
"Don't talk about stuff like that Peyton," the girl in question grunted as she joined them and sat at her chair, "because it's not that they want me to get over Chaotic!" Sarah turned her gaze away, "They want me to focus on my studies more." She avoided looking at them and grumbled, "Grades aren't always good."
"Mine also dropped, but that's because of those guys stalking us." Peyton said.
"No doubt." Sarah sighed before gazing at Peyton.
The two other boys knew the storm was coming. Especially Kaz when he saw Theb-Saar appearing in Chaotic.
The king of Al-Mipedim noticed the boy and walked towards the group, "Hello Peyton." Theb-Saar said before nodding at the other boys. Turning slightly, he faced the girl.
Sarah was already frowning, crossing her fingers.
"Hello King Theb-Saar." Peyton replied.
They noticed a few people were looking at the group. A king like Theb-Saar would get the attention of everyone. Few people had a scan of the creature and no one so far had managed to get one in Perim.
One big disadvantage with the creatures being in Chaotic was that they couldn't scan them. The scan function was automatically disabled there as some people used the light of the scanning on the face of other people. Those that had tried had discovered that really early on.
"So, you're here." Sarah started before standing up.
"Sarah." Peyton started.
"Remember what we said yesterday." Tom reminded her.
"You didn't tell us where you went and you want me to stay calm?" Sarah demanded, looking at the both of them.
"If there is a problem, do tell me. I would rather end this now than let it get more problematic for the both of us." the blue Mipedian said.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Tom saw Attacat observing them. He had good ears and was obviously listening to them. He sighed when he had to admit his friend was right. He was getting more alert to his surroundings than before.
Sarah didn't need more than that to say what was in her mind, "I don't know how you managed to convince Peyton to forgive you, but I am not gonna do that. I know you want to use him for something and I am not letting my friend get used like that."
"Sarah. I decided that on my own." Peyton replied as he put his hand on his forehead, "And chill out bro."
"This is nothing Peyton" the king replied with a small smile before turning to Sarah "I have no intention of using Peyton. Yes, I befriended him and I need him for something, but I don't intend to pressure him. The time hasn't come yet anyway. We are in a stall to reach the Cothica for now."
The humans knew it was about the Earth and using Chaotic for it. Sarah had to admit that no creatures had asked anything yet. No Overworlder or Mipedian.
"Hey there." Someone else said as he joined them.
"Hey Alexandre." Tom said first, before his friends nodded at him.
Alexandre took off his white coat and put it on a chair, "Always forget to put it aside before coming in." He sighed and gazed at the Mipedian king.
Theb-Saar decided to wait before talking to The Messenger. He preferred to explain everything before he doing, as simply leaving the conversation now would annoy the girl to no end and the problem would remain for a long time, "As I said, I won't force him or try to manipulate Peyton." Theb-Saar stated, crossing his arms.
"I'll make sure you won't try anything on my friend Theb-Saar." Sarah warned him.
The argument continued for a while before the two reached some kind of conclusion already.
Tom asked Alexandre, "How's it going over there?"
"Well… It's cold. I mean, it's the south pole, so it's cold as hell. I thought we have cold days during winter, but this is nothing compared to what you can have over there. Still, I saw some emperor penguins on my arrival. Can't touch them though." Alexandre gazed at the side, "And nothing else so far. I'm surely doing more tests and stuff like that. My father is okay and still the same." He chuckled, "Even in the next ten years, he would be the same. It's true that intellectuals live a longer life." Alexandre snickered and gazed at Sarah and the creature as they continued their argument. The king handled it pretty well while Sarah was about to give up and grabbed something.
"Good to know." Kaz added.
Sarah grumbled and simply to a sip from her drink.
Once it was done, the king turned towards the Messenger and asked, "I didn't have the opportunity to talk to you last time I've seen you M- Alexandre," he remembered what Mudeenu told him.
The human nodded and replied, "Not really. You just came in and created panic. We port in after the mess. Put me in trouble too."
The blue Mipedian nodded, "Apologies for that. It is good to know that you came back after all those solans. Even if I might never understand how you did that."
The other four still really didn't understand how the man did that, but they wouldn't explain that to the king.
"Stuff I can't say." Alexandre replied.
"I see." Theb-Saar commented.
The Overworlder approached them as he said, "I see what you are trying to do Theb-Saar." The humanoid panther crossed his arms and looked at the king.
"And what am I trying to do?" Theb-Saar asked.
The five humans could feel the tension between the creatures. The Mipedian was obviously in control of his emotion while the other was struggling a little more. It was obvious that they won't fight against each other.
"You are trying to get close to the Mess-." He was interrupted by the human.
"Just Alexandre." The man asked as he gazed around. They were getting the attention of the other Chaotic Players.
"Alexandre." The Overworlder nodded as he accepted this demand. He wasn't certain of the why, but looking around, he guessed it wasn't something publicly known.
The king looked at the human and asked, "I'm curious about you Alexandre. We know very little of you and only from the tablet found in Kaizeph. As for the rest, we have very few witnesses. Najarin isn't with a Mipedian and we cannot ask him anything for now." he crossed his fingers.
"I don't mind sharing what I can say." Alexandre thought back. He noticed that Attacat was also curious, "What do you want to talk about?"
"Just about what happened in Kaizeph. I am curious about my ancestors and what they did during that time. The M'arrillians erased a lot of our past with their power," The Mipedian king rested his jaw on his hands.
"I am too." the Overworlder agreed. It was an opportunity he couldn't miss.
Tom remembered that the Overworlder who was friends with Alexandre in Kaizeph looked a little like the creature. Maybe he'd get an answer to that question he hadn't thought to ask.
"Well…" Alexandre thought back. It was long ago, but it got easier to remember a few things since he came back, "There is still a lot I don't remember, but I remember a little about my friends. I remember when the Overworlder tried to teach me how to paint. It's different from our world, so I failed epically. I had no talent in painting at the very basic. The Underworlder laughed loudly for a long time about how much he failed to show me how to paint something so simple. It went on for a while. He never let that one up." He snickered, "Half the time, Gosh was the one who brought this up and the other, it was the Underworlder."
"That poor Overworlder." the Mipedian snickered.
"Great," Attacat grumbled.
"It kept my morale up." Alexandre concluded that little story, "As for the Overworlder… I can't remember his name. It's only Gosh I remember, because I was almost always with him. Still, he got his revenge on the Underworlder," Alexandre had a grin on his face. He turned to the four players and nodded negatively and closed his eyes, "I… I just can't tell that. You're still not old enough and I don't want Cassandra on my back."
"What?" The teenagers asked with curiosity. They really wanted to know what his revenge was, but they got nothing out of him, no matter how many times they asked.
"The result was both funny and painful for him." His smile remained on his face. After a while, his smile became melancholic as he remembered it was all in the past. His friends were gone forever.
Tom checked on Attacat as the man continued with a few more stories of his time at Kaizeph. He saw a small smile as if he realised something. The boy wondered if it was about his ancestor being a friend of Alexandre. He wondered what would come next.
The good news was that Sarah was calm now. The stories that the man told diverted her anger away from Theb-Saar.
The two creatures were listening intensively at the human and the few things he remembered.
That came to an end when they noticed the machines that went to the port station. Everyone followed their gaze.
Kaz was the one who paled among them when he saw that Chaor showed up with the Telebracers on his wrists, "Oh god."
"Chaor of all creatures," Tom muttered.
They barely had time to get over the fact that the ruler of the Underworld showed up that just behind him, the High Muge of Mount Pillar, Lore, was there with the Telebracers too.
"Two at the same time," Sarah whispered as she crossed her arms.
Chaor and Lore made eye contact while the machines pointed their weapons at them.
The group gulped and the other players did the same. At least, it wasn't a M'arrillian.
AC: This is the end of this chapter. All the four tribes can reach Perim now. Danians catch up to the other tribes quickly.
Next Chapter: Hot In Chaotic.
With the creatures showing up, Kaz knew the problem would come as Theb-Saar was there and knew his hero had a grudge against him. It went as he expected as the two rulers headbutt with words. Worse, Kaz and Peyton get dragged in this mess.
