Author Comment: I want to thank my Beta-Reader of everything he did for this chapter to come out.


In Chaotic, the creatures present were grumbling. No one knew what was going on Earth or in the expedition and that worries them.

Within their room, the Codemasters continued to relay the information between Earth and Chaotic to Queen Aszil and Marquis Darini.

The marquis crossed his arms, "Nothing has changed on Earth. Everyone is getting restless around here. You should let them know that nothing has happened on Earth."

Codemaster Hotekk grumbled, "Sure. I can see that there is no change every minute. That will annoy everyone, including myself. I'll just use a pre-recorded message that everything is the same instead."

Imthor sighed, "This is no time to joke or be sarcastic."

Codemaster Crellan said, "A creature ported back. Chaor."

"Codemasters! I got those wire things to fix the portal!"

Everyone gazed at the creature as he marched forward. He waved at the other creatures of his tribe, but explained nothing about the others.

This made everyone with the Codemasters uneasy. There were creatures left behind.

Chaor joined in their room and put the wires to the side, "Want to know what happened?"

"Yes," everyone replied at the same time.

"We found what we needed at the island. There was a creature guarding the place. We convinced him to let us go deeper in and found an abandoned city. There we found a portal, but it wasn't working anymore. It turned bad when other creatures from his tribe showed up and tried to prevent us from leaving," he only guessed they were another tribe given how they were all made of one element, "I ported back to Chaotic with the wire so we could fix the portal quickly. Maxxor will handle the rest."

They all quietly gazed at him.

"Theb-Saar is going to be pissed at what happened to his son," Darini commented.

"His nephew?"

"Who my king personally raised after his father died in an Underworlder attack," the Mipedian explained.

"Anyway, we will fix the portal," Crellan told them, just in case it might turn into a conflict, "Theb-Saar and the others are still trying to safely collect the crystal and maybe more."

The Danian queen asked, "You really think the others will come back?" She crossed her arms suspiciously.

"Maxxor is there. The only one who is going to crush him is me. He'll come through," Chaor replied as he left the room.

They all heard how confident the Underworlder was.

"I guess he knows his enemy better than his friends," Hotekk concluded.

Imthor got the wire, "I'll begin fixing the portal right now."

Chaor suddenly came back, "And be careful. Those creatures took them prisoners and saw me using the battlegear to port back here."

"Some of them might show up," the Codemasters sighed.


Chapter 106: Tom vs Aval'par

On Earth, things weren't progressing either since the group had escaped the M'arrillians and brought along a prisoner. It had been a few quiet days at the base.

The families were together in the cafeteria and talked about their children. There were few people around, as most were training or checking equipment. The base was on high alert and ready to deploy at any moment.

The four had their heads on the table as a few embarrassing secrets were brought up.

The eight creatures snickered as more was revealed about the humans.

Eventually, Sarah was the one who ended this, "Stop it mom! You can't just tell them about that!"

"What? It was your greatest accomplishment as a pianist," Pamela replied innocently.

"I didn't know you played piano," Tom replied.

"How is that embarrassing?" Kaz asked.

Peyton replied, "It wasn't. It was just getting really close to it," he let out a small grin. He huffed when Sarah hit his arm with her elbow.

"And what is it?" Wamma curiously asked. He gulped when Sarah glared at him.

"They all have done something really embarrassing," Cassandra chuckled, "I remember when my father used to talk about the time I went to a concert and ended up ruining it because I caused a power outage in the middle of their best song. It was also the most popular group and I never said anything about it until I hit my twenties. Even my best friends didn't know it was me who caused it."

"Talk about something embarrassing," Justine replied, uncertain if it was really embarrassing or not.

"Tom went to the-"

"Mom!" Tom interrupted her.

"S-sorry. I know you don't want me or Kaz to talk about it," Annie apologized for that.

The creatures continued to snicker as more came. One man noticed this and went on the offensive, to spare the teenagers from further embarrassment.

"And what about you creatures? I'm certain you did a few embarrassing things in your youth," Donald asked them.

"Leave us out of this!" They yelled together.

With that the creatures proceeded to be interrogated on the matter by the parents. Those who had the most pride was the most obstinate to remain quiet in the matter.

As this went on, Tom said, "I'll go see dad. I won't bother him mom," he stood up and waved at them.

"Be good," Annie replied.

The others watched him escape the torments of the creatures and those of his friends.

The questions began to focus on Agitos, who seemed the most nervous of all the group. The teenagers wondered where this would go, as Agitos was one of the smartest creatures along with Intress.

"I remember Rothar lost to a short creature and never went over it," Agitos pointed out, trying to deflect some curiosity he was slowly gaining.

The minotaur's face turned red as he stood up, "What did you say?"

"Everyone saw it at the colosseum," the blue lizard replied.

"D-Don't bring this up," Kaz didn't want to remember how much trouble he was in.

"And Kaz defeated him, but not you," Agitos concluded, before he was grabbed and his face ended up buried in the ground.

Rothar cleaned his hands, "This is enough."

Gathup raised his finger, "You shouldn't prey on us that much. You wouldn't want to end up like Agitos."

"Since you found it funny, I thought we should make it fair," Donald replied, not letting them get away with it.

Ario suddenly stood up, "There is something I need to check out," he turned invisible and left.

Agito's face popped out of the ground and coughed a few times, "Worth it."


Tom saw his father in the middle of training. He was hoping he wouldn't be busy, but it wasn't the case.

He decided to watch him and waited until he got the chance to talk to him. He let out a small smile as his father trained. He remembered the time they spent together, putting him in a good mood.

Tom gazed to the side, seeing where the M'arrillian was imprisoned. His thoughts came back to Phelphor then. He wasn't certain of his fate. He closed his eyes and sighed, "Hope he's okay," he wouldn't know until it was over.

He put his hands in his pocket and wondered what he should do. He had many questions for Aval'par and he wanted the answers. That's why he decided to ask the Chieftain questions. Maybe he might get a few answers on his own. All he knew was that they wanted to control the Cothica and conquer all of Perim. Still, there were a few things lingering in his mind. He approached him and asked the guard, "Can I talk with the prisoner?" He would leave if the answer was a negative.

The soldier shook his head, "Sorry Tom. We cannot let you enter there on your own. Aval'par might try something."

The boy sighed and nodded, "Okay."

Ario suddenly turned visible by his side, "What if I'm with the boy? I'll protect him. I'll be invisible and maybe the M'arrillian will get a little confident and speak a little more."

"Well…" the soldier was a little uncertain.

Another one of a higher rank came, "Let them through. He will be safer with a creature than with one of us. If we can get anything, we have to try."

"His father won't agree."

"I outrank him. I will accept any punishments if anything happens to them," the man replied. He gazed at the two and nodded at them.

Ario turned invisible.

"Thanks," Tom replied before he went inside. It was a little reassuring that a creature was with him.

He entered inside and walked until he was in front of the jail where the M'arrillian was.

Aval'par turned his back. By his side was an empty bowl. The creature kept his stomach full, but seemed pissed off as the bowl had a crack on it. Rather, the impression he gave. He tiredly grunted, "Leave human. I have nothing to tell you."

Tom wondered if others tried to interrogate the creature before, "I'm Tom."

"And you are coming here to mock my situation. Me. A Chieftain. A powerful M'arrillian who lost with his troops in a battle against weak humans and eight creatures! Go on and laugh! In the end, my tribe shall laugh last as you bow to them."

The teenager was horrified that the M'arrillian had already accepted his death. It reminded him of Phelphor. Still, the two ended up that way for different reasons, "H-How can you say that?"

"Because I know you will eventually kill me. I am not telling you or the creatures anything. Death is the last thing awaiting me. I am useless to you, but a threat if I escape. Milla'inn won't come to save me. I know I will die and I won't betray my own tribe," he lightly turned and gazed at the human.

"You're acting like Phelphor," Tom sighed.

"P-Phelphor? That traitor!" Aval'par turned around and stood up. His face pressed on the glass that imprisoned him, "What do you know of him?"

Tom was taken aback for a second. He felt Ario's hand on his back. He knew questions would come later. Still, the tone in the voice of the Chieftain wasn't as harsh as he expected. Even when he said traitor, it wasn't that vicious. Maybe a little bit of disbelief in the reality of that accusation, "I…he saved my life when I was your prisoner. He found clues about his father. When his father was a friend of the Messenger of the Cothica. He was ready to face execution, but I convinced him to leave, somehow. Met him a few times and talked together before he was arrested by the Overworlders. I know nothing of his fate, just that he's fine."

The purple creature frowned as he sat down. He muttered to himself in acceptance, "He did betray us," there still wasn't a vile reaction to that, "No wonder."

"No wonder?" Tom asked.

"Not of your business. I'll keep that even in the afterlife. Dying in the Cothica is a blessing anyway," the creature replied.

Tom wondered if the creature was a little more cooperative. Maybe just less uncooperative. He also sat down, "They won't kill you if you don't cooperate. You are under protection until the war is over… and other technicalities I don't get."

The M'arrillian grunted, "So I am not worth killing. I am that insignificant to you?"

"Would have done the same to a ruler. Unless he is killed in action. You weren't, so you are a prisoner and must be treated as one, even if you live on another world," the boy sighed. The big detail he didn't quite understand.

"You are the weirdest being. Soft and weak. No wonder you have rules like that," he turned around.

Tom had a feeling that this part of the conversation was over. He hadn't gotten anything about Milla'iin's plans, but did get a clue that he might have nothing, since he was left behind. He decided to try something that Phelphor told him, "Why are you so fixated on conquering Perim and the Earth?"

Aval'par gazed at the boy, his head turning a little while his body remained stationary. It was kinda creepy, "Because it is our right to rule over Perim and the Cothica. Why are you even calling it Earth anyway?"

"Because it is the name of our planet," Tom replied.

"To hide the fact that it is the Cothica," he concluded.

"No!" Tom was annoyed. He tried to explain, "No one here knew about Perim for a long time. Maybe a few, but almost no one knew about Perim until Chaotic came around. The game. The Messenger, as you call him, was the first one to come to Perim and the creatures thought he came from the Cothica. He never said it."

"Lies," Aval'par growled.

He sighed. He knew he couldn't convince the creature or change his mind. He wasn't here for that anyway, he was there to get any information possible, but that was already a failure. Tom crossed his fingers together as he prepared to ask an important question. It was more personal and not about the original reason he came here about. As he thought back about Phelphor, that thought came. There was something he needed to know. His thought came into words, "Is there anything else your tribe does?"

The chieftain was confused by the question. He guessed it was a mind game of the sort and ignored the boy. He gazed at the wall once again, as if there was something more interesting than their conversations.

"I mean, what do you do besides planning to conquer Perim? Do you have anything else in your life than that?"

The creature didn't reply. He looked a little confused by the question. He crossed his arm and tentacle together.

"Do you have any knowledge of music? Do you do any art stuff?" Tom asked. He continued to ask about more possible things the creature could do in his life.

Aval'par yelled, "Enough!" He calmed down, "I don't get anything you are saying! The only thing important is to conquer Perim and the Cothica," he gazed at the boy and only saw pity on the face of the human, "Don't look at me that way! There is nothing pitiful."

"You have nothing else," Tom stood up, "If you lose the war and you cannot fight again it's all over for you. No wonder you fight that way."

He stood up and turned around. He put his hands and face on the glass wall, "I don't want your pity human!"

"Aval'par…" Tom closed his eyes for a few seconds. Once he opened them again, "What will you do when you conquer everything then? What's after all that?"

The chieftain gazed at the boy. He never thought about it and neither did he care. Still, it began to linger in his mind. He had nothing else to do right now. If the boy was honest, he wouldn't die right now. He didn't answer. He turned his back at him and sat down.

Ario materialized by the side of Tom, "Nothing hum? You got nothing in your life?"

Aval'par glared at the Mipedian, "You were here!"

"To make sure you wouldn't try anything towards Tom or anyone else," he replied at the purple creature.

"Get out!" The M'arrillian ordered and said nothing else.

A few minutes passed by and no words were said between them.

"I'll be back. My name is Tom by the way. Tom Major," Tom said before he left.

"If you have something else in your life you would have mentioned it already. Gal'drad already has a few things to look forward to. Bring back everything Aa'une took away from his own tribe," Ario told him before he left the prison.

The creature gazed back and was quiet. That lingering question began to hunt him. No distraction from that question. Still, he felt uneasy about the possible answer to that question.

Tom and Ario returned to the cafeteria where they left the others. Once he entered the room, he noticed the creatures gazing strangely at Tom, just like his friends, except the parents and Kaz.

Tom noticed Sarah and Peyton were snickering a little. Rothar was on the ground and seemed out of breath. Wamma nervously avoided the gaze of the boy. Gathup turned invisible, but had a grin on his face. Arias had a full-blown smile. Intress tried to look understanding, but seemed to have a laugh before he came back. He quickly made two and two together, "Mom. You didn't tell them! Tell me you didn't."

Annie gazed at the side, "I'm sorry Tom. I accidentally told them about the ballet camp you went to."

Tom just wanted the day to end now.

"I never imagine you would do something considered feminine," Intress commented.

Ario grumbled about what might have occurred between them. It was obvious a secret was out and he missed it. Still, he was glad none of his were revealed.

Sarah went on, "That is surprising. I never thought you went to a ballet camp. Still, I'm sure we all have more embarrassing secrets."

Alexander let out a small smirk, "Should I tell yours sis?"

"No! If you do, I'll tell yours!" His sister replied quickly.

Tom sighed as he sat with them. For a while, he explained how he ended up in the ballet camp and hoped his friends would quickly forget about it. Also, he wished it wouldn't spread around the world.


AC: This is the end of the episode.

Next: The Prisoners

Maxxor and the others are in jail and need to find a way out of there, before they are transported far away.