"Hey hey hey! On your left! No, left! Not right, you idiot! Left! LEFT!"

A loud explosion could be heard through the headset as the screen faded to black and red words appeared across the screen.

YOU LOSE

Timmy slumped back into the chair in front of his computer screen and took off his headset. With both of his hands, he ran them across his face as he and his friends lost their mission yet again. They just couldn't get past this level and Timmy was starting to lose patience with his friends. He loved them but goodness they were terrible gamers. Then again, all he did was game and mess around on his computer. Came with the territory of being a computer engineer student. Still, why did his friends have to be so bad at this?

He placed his headset back on and restarted the game, hoping that this time they would be a bit more successful.

"Hey, sorry about that, guys." Nabu's voice came from the other end of the headset, "Aisha was messaging me that her team made it back to town and her messages kept blocking my screen as they popped up. They came third in the tournament."

"Well, congrats to Aisha but we were about to win." Riven's gruffy and upset voice came through.

"Um, do I need to remind everyone of the time two weeks ago when you suddenly logged off because Musa-"

"Hey, it was my birthday!"

"Yeah," Nabu chuckled, "and how awesome would it have been to finally win on your birthday? Instead, you would rather have your-"

"Can we focus please?" Timmy groaned, trying to get the guys back on track. "I would actually like to win this game at some point in my life."

"At least we don't have to worry about Timmy ever being interrupted by a girlfriend." Riven laughed.

"Riven!" Nabu shouted.

"Geez, I'm just sayin' that-"

"The game is starting again," Timmy announced as the game came to life and his character respawned. The music began to play and Timmy exhaled a contented breath as her heard nothing on the other end of his headset, signaling that Nabu and Riven had finally focused. They were going to win this game if it was the last thing that he did. He already banned Helia, his roommate, from the apartment on game night; Timmy would not hesitate to place new rules on his friends to make sure that they were successful.

"Okay," Nabu announced through the headset, "I am on top of the warehouse and overlooking the field. Locations?"

"Basement." Timmy replied.

"Um, not too sure but I'll...looks like the storeroom. I can grab some more ammo and med equipment."

"Thanks, Riv." Timmy replied before jumping back in his seat when he saw a monster appear in front of him. With a quick tapping of his fingers on his keyboard, he made quick work of the monster and made his way up the stairs and out of the basement.

"Ran into a monster in the basement. I think they are spawning inside of the warehouse instead of the field this time around."

"Noted, Timster."

"Riven..." Timmy hated that nickname and Riven knew it.

"Yeah yeah yeah," Riven replied, "don't get your panties in a bunch."

"Can we just focus?" Timmy asked, not wanting to respond to Riven's comment. He would yell at Riven after they beat this level.

"Okay okay, I got the ammo and the medical equipment. Let me just access my, oh shit!"

"Another monster?" Nabu asked as he maneuvered his way around baracades to find his way into the warehouse.

"Big ones too! Are you sure they didn't start us on the next level?" Riven groaned as he fought a large, pale green monster.

Timmy shook his head and laughed, but the laughter didn't last for long as he watched Riven continue to fight the monster, his energy levels low.

"Hit the Y button, Riven!" Timmy shouted, "Use the med equipment, you are about to die!"

"You don't think that I am already trying that?" Riven huffed, "I have been hitting the Y button and nothing is happening. Ugh, I think my connection is weak."

"I told you that I could have enhanced your router and connection." Timmy shook his head and smirked.

"I don't think that my internet provider would have liked you tampering with my shit, Timmy. Plus, I am already on thin ice with my landlord after you upgraded the light fixtures in the kitchen."

"Hey, those lights were ancient." Timmy defended as he made his way up the basement in an effort to find Riven and help him with the monster in the storeroom.

"Well did you ever stop to think that maybe I liked the dingy lighting?" Riven asked.

"Not to interrupt this home improvement talk," Nabu interjected, "but I don't see the key box on the top floors, have you two found anything?"

"Um, been a bit busy trying to take down…ha! Gotcha, ya ugly bastard!" Riven exclaimed triumphantly as the pale green monster collapsed on the screen and disappeared from the game.

"Nic work, RIv." Timmy said, "I'm gonna check the first floor for the key box if you want to take the second and third floor. It looks like you are already on the third floor if you just came out of the storeroom. Nabu can check the fourth floor and we will meet on the second floor to regroup. I'll let you know if I find anything. If not, we can head out into the field and search there. I hate it when they put it out there."

"You got it, captain." Riven affirmed as his avatar began to move across the screen, running along the dark corridors of the warehouse."

"Oh!" Nabu exclaimed, causing Timmy to sit upright in his chair, "I found a door that has a lock on it. I'm gonna bet that this is the door that we will have to use to move onto the next level. It is on the fourth floor."

"Great! Just keep your eyes out for anything else. I will report if I find anything."

Timmy pushed up his red-framed glasses up his slender nose, his eyes focused on the large screen in front of him. They were so close, and Timmy was bound and determined to complete this level tonight and then all they had to do was defeat the final level and then they will have officially completed Doomsday Battalion IV in preparation for the fifth edition to come out later that month. They only had a few weeks, but the way that this round was going, Timmy was certain that they could reach their goal. He had already pre-ordered Doomsday Battalion V and he and his friends already had big plans to stay up all night and play. Timmy had even let Helia know in advance and Helia had planned a vacation with Flora to visit her family. Nothing could ruin the release date.

Sure, Timmy was busy with his schedule as a PhD student in computer science but gaming with his friends was his only real social interaction. He didn't really do well with people, either they failed to understand him, or he failed to understand them. His only friends were his gaming group from high school, his friends that he had met in college, and Helia who was an old coworker of his when Timmy worked at a smoothie shop during college. Nabu and Riven were the only people from high school who he stayed in touch with, all three of them winding up at Magix University, Brandon and Sky were part of his freshman group at orientation and for some reason, despite their massive popularity, became friends with Timmy and his high school friends, and Helia was a coworker who also attended the university but was a classics major; verry different from computer science but they became fast friends and roommates nonetheless.

Timmy was lucky to have a great group of friends but that didn't mean that at times he didn't feel lonely. Nabu, Riven, and Helia all had girlfriends whereas Brandon was engaged and Sky had gotten married and was expecting a child already. Timmy would never say it to Riven that he cherished the time that they spent together gaming for fear of Riven's taunts. Nabu, he might tell. They tolerated Timmy's headstrong approach to gaming that some people may have found annoying, and Timmy was grateful. He knew at those moments he was not the easiest to deal with.

"Oh hey, I found a flashlight and a crowbar. Ooo, and some more ammo." Riven remarked.

"I haven't found the key box yet but I…oh no, guys!" Nabu exclaimed catching the attention of Timmy whose eyes shot to the small square on hi computer screen that showed what was happening on Nabu's screen. There, Timmy saw that Nabu had been surrounded by a large hoard of monsters. There was no way in Hell that Nabu would be able to fight them all.

"Location?" Timmy asked.

"Stairway between the third and fourth floor. North end." Nabu replied.

Timmy nodded and abandoned his search to make his way to the north end of the warehouse and ascended the stairs."

"I'll head there too." Riven announced as his avatar moved from the third floor up to the fourth.

"Thanks, guys. These monsters are something else. Nasty bastards."

Turning the corner in the game, Timmy came to the monsters, Riven right beside him and got straight to work. Pulling out a large gun from his inventory, Timmy began to shoot at the monsters. He watched as their life bar went down but Timmy also saw his own life bar go down as well.

"Riven, drop some med packs." Timmy instructed.

"Got it…shit…"

Riven took a hit and his life bar went down exponentially, and the mission began to look bleak.

"Riven! The med-"

"Christ, Timmy! I hear you! Calm down!" Riven yelled back. "You're not the one who just took a huge hit!"

"Ugh, sorry…just drop them."

"Yeah yeah," Riven rolled his eyes.

"Hey," Nabu piped in, "you two are worse than a married couple. Let's beat these monsters, find our way out of this level and then you two can kiss and makeup."

"Shut up, Nabu." Riven hissed as he focused on defeating the monster and dropping the med packs. Riven utilized a pack himself and his life bar rose from red to a light orange, it would have to do for now. Timmy also took a med pack and saw his life bar shift from dark orange to a pale green.

Back to work.

"Got one!" Nabu exclaimed. "Just gotta get…a lot more."

"Hey," Timmy smiled, "we can do it. Let's just buckle down and focus."

"How are you so confident here but you are the biggest pus-"

"Riven!" Nabu yelled, "Shut up and focus."

Riven didn't respond but even from across town, Timmy could tell that Riven was rolling his eyes and mouthing something insulting towards Nabu.

"I heard that." Nabu said.

"I didn't say anything." Riven countered.

"You didn't need to. I've known the two of you for years, I know when you are giving me sass, Riven…like right now."

"I swear your psychic or something." Riven chuckled.

"No," Nabu laughed, "you are just predictable."

It was silent save for the noises of the small battle going on in the computer game. All three of the men were too focused on their task at hand to say anything or If anyone did say anything, it went unnoticed. Timmy's eyes were glued to the computer screen as he took down monster after monster. He saw them fall one by one and he began to think that they might actually be able to beat this level tonight and they would be in great shape before the release of Doomsday Battalion V.

As Timmy focused on the screen, he was oblivious to the bright light that had passed behind him. It illuminated the room and was reflected on the computer screen, but Timmy paid it no mind. Perhaps it was a light from a car that passed by his apartment building or maybe it came from an airplane; the apartment was relatively close to the airport but not that close. But both of those options seemed to be the logical explanation and Timmy knew better than to argue with logic. There was a slight rumble and Timmy decided that it must have been a plane that might have had to take a small detour before landing; that too was a logical explanation.

"Holy…we might actually win." Timmy gasped into his headset, "Come on, come on, come on…"

Just two more monsters and they were in the clear. Just two more monsters and they could gather their items and get out of the level. Just two more monsters and-

The power went out.

"COME ON!" Timmy yelled as he watched in horror as his screen went black. He pressed the power button to his computer frantically in hopes that it would quickly boot back up. Nothing.

Timmy grabbed his phone on his desk and quickly dialed Nabu.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up…" Timmy repeated as he heard the dial tone on the other end.

"Yo," Nabu's voice rang through, "what happened?"

"Power went out." Timmy replied, "The game?"

"Shut down when you did."

"Damn!"

"Sorry, man."

"I'll try to check what is going on."

Nabu chuckled, "I told you that you needed to stop messing with the wiring in your apartment."

"It's not my wiring…" Timmy groaned as he stood up from his desk and made his way to the kitchen where he rummaged in one of the drawers and pulled out a flashlight.

"Sure, sure," Nabu said, "anyways, I am going to head to bed. I am spending the day with Aisha tomorrow but she has work tomorrow night so I can definitely log on tomorrow. I'll check with Riven, but you just focus on getting us back up and running."

"Alright, let me know what he says. I'll let Helia know. Talk to you tomorrow."

"Talk to you then. We'll beat that level eventually."

"Hopefully tomorrow."

"Yes, hopefully. I will let you know what Riven says. Night, man."

"Good night, Nabu."

Timmy hung up the call with Nabu before dialing Helia's number to let him know that the power was out at their place. He was with Flora right now so the chances of Helia answering right now were slim to none. Still, Timmy wanted to at least leave a message.

No response.

"Hello, you have reached Helia. Sorry I couldn't answer, please leave your name and number after the beep and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Have a wonderful day."

Timmy always laughed at Helia's voicemail greeting. None of the other guys took the time to come up with such a structured and appropriate greeting, most preferring to say, "It's so-and-so, I'm not here." It was also easy to tell that Helia had been influenced by Flora when creating the greeting. There was a running bet that they would be the next to announce their engagement.

There was a loud beep.

"Hey, Helia, it's Timmy. Just letting you know that the power is out at our place. There was a rumble that I think came from a plane that might have knocked something. Anyways, just letting you know but I am going to go check it out. I'll probably head to bed right after so I will see you tomorrow morning if you come back tonight."

Timmy, satisfied with his message, hung up his phone and turned on the flashlight in his hand. He was thankful that Helia was also a fairly tidy person and the only thing that he had to maneuver around were a pile of cushions used for meditation, a few potted plants, and his small pile of computer parts. He took a look out of the window to the outside world, and it appeared that his small apartment building had been the only apartment affected by the power outage.

Making his way through the apartment building, Timmy made his way down the stairs and through the hallway. Timmy found the electrical box near the mailboxes and opened the metal door to look at the small black switches. Everything looked to be in order, but he flicked the main switch off and then back on again, but nothing came of that. There was a faint ringing sound that caught Timmy's attention. He placed his ear near the switches to discover that the noise was not coming from the box. He shut the metal door and turned the handle to lock it back in place. Following the sound of the noise, Timmy made his way outside where the noise became louder and higher pitched.

Timmy walked around to the side of the building, where the ringing had become the loudest. At the side of the building, there was an empty lot that would become home to another apartment building in the next few months. The construction had been halted due to the cold, winter months and all that had been completed was excavation where they would eventually lay down the foundation. But all Timmy could concentrate on was the loud ringing that seemed to come from the large hole in the construction site.

Coming nearer to the hole, Timmy began to smell a faint burning; a burning that reminded him of soldered metal and wires. He covered his nose with his mouth as he carefully came closer and closer, the ground becoming more and more uneven and weak. The last thing that he wanted was to fall into a giant pit and be stuck out there all night. But he was curious; he had always been curious.

Nearing the edge of the hole, Timmy shone his flashlight at the bottom of the hole and craned his neck and his eyes widened as he saw a large, crumpled, metal container. It looked big enough to hold a person and Timmy shook his head. There was no fucking way that this was really what he thought it was. The ringing, the smell, and the smoke that came from the metal container? Ship? Pod? Looked like a scene out of one of his favorite movies that he would watch with his father when he was younger. Timmy might be a giant nerd, but he didn't believe in aliens. While the universe might be vast and even if there were aliens, there is no way that they would crash land in the giant hole next door. It was too cliché and highly illogical.

There had to be another explanation. Maybe a part of a plane fell off and landed in the construction pit? Maybe it was satellite debris? Hell, maybe someone just dropped a very large and fancy refrigerator in the hole instead of taking it to the dump.

Well, it wasn't his problem and he had to figure out the electricity situation. Sure, he could call the electric company but there was no telling when they would be out. Could be tomorrow, could be a week from now.

Timmy walked back into the apartment building and made his way back up to his apartment to grab a few tools and make his way back to the electrical box to hopefully reconnect some wires that would bring electricity back to the apartment building. He climbed up the stairs back to the second floor and opened the door to his and Helia's shared apartments.

He made his way back through his apartment, his flashlight illuminating his path when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. He was frozen in place as he looked ahead to see a slender figure standing in the middle of the living room. He would have taken in the petite frame of the figure covered by a skintight, metallic, purple jumpsuit. He would have admired the lights and design of the helmet that the figure wore. His eyes would have followed the long legs(?) of the figure up to the smooth curves of its form. He would have normally done all of that. But he couldn't.

All he could take in was the gun-like object in the figure's hand pointing right at him.

Eeee, I have been wanting to write this story for a while! I hope that like with any other story that you will go on this journey with me. This is my first long TecnaxTimmy story so definitely let me know what you think. In an effort to impose some discipline on myself, I am going to say that I will update every Friday (but I was excited to drop the first chapter lol). I am no longer in school and am working full time so if there is a week that I won't be able to update, I will definitely let you know. You can check for those announcements, other updates, polls, ramblings, and other shenanigans on my Instagram at starrynights513.

LET'S DO THIS!