Here it is, the last chapter. None of this belongs to me, and I'm not making a cent. Enjoy.
Juno opened is eyes. All around him was white. There were no Drones, no Spawnship; no scenery of any kind. It was a plane of white that stretched on to infinity.
He realized he was sprawled on the ground, and attempted to sit up. He was met with difficulty, for it seemed all his limbs had been nailed down. He couldn't move even the slightest fraction. Having no way to explore his surroundings, he was left to his thoughts.
/Am I dead?/ he asked himself. /No,/ he answered. This was no Heaven. But then where was he? He thought back to the events that had brought him here. It was all quite hazy, and the last thing he truly remembered was Jeff and Barry killing each other. Then there was something about him running through the ship, and a large explosion. But why was he here? And why couldn't he move?
JUNO!
/What was that?/ he thought. He had heard it, but he hadn't. Some form of telepathy, perhaps.
DO YOU WISH TO LIVE AGAIN, JUNO?
Perhaps this was Heaven after all. But then why was he being asked if he wished to live? He found out he could move his mouth, and answered the voice in his head.
"Am I dead?"
Juno heard laughter in his head.
NOT QUITE.
Well, know he knew one more thing. He decided to probe this being.
"Where am I?"
YOU ARE BETWEEN TIME AND SPACE, CAUGHT BETWEEN THE FABRIC OF THE UNIVERSE.
That was something.
"How did I get here?"
I BROUGHT YOU HERE.
"Who are you?"
I AM THE ONE WHO KEEPS TIME AND SPACE FROM COLLAPSING ON EACH OTHER.
"Do you have a name?"
YOU MAY CALL ME KROHNOS.
"Okay… Krohnos, why have you brought me here?"
I HAVE MY REASONS. WHEN THE SHIP EXPLODED, I BROUGHT YOU HERE RATEHR THEN LETTING YOU GO TO THE AFTERLIFE.
So in a way, he was dead. But that brought up an interesting question: Krohnos had said afterlife, not Heaven. But Juno hadn't been that bad, had he?
SO, JUNO. DO YOU WISH TO LIVE AGAIN?
"Yes. Of course I do." A thought occurred to him. "Wait, what about the others? Where are they?"
THEY ARE ALL HERE SOMEWHERE. BUT WHY SHOULD I LET YOU LIVE AGAIN, JUNO? YOU FAILED YOUR FRIENDS.
"What are you talking about?!" Juno raged. "I failed them?! How do I fail someone by warning them? How do I fail someone if they sacrifice themselves? How do I fail someone who makes a mistake, while I'm already gone? Tell me that!"
Juno again heard laughter in the voice, and realized he had been manipulated. He cursed himself silently.
YOU ARE CORRECT, JUNO. YOU FAILED NO ONE. YOU ARE INDEED COURAGEOUS.
"Wait, what about everyone else? If you bring me back to life, what will happen to them?"
Laughter again.
THEY ARE ALREADY AMONG THE LIVING, JUNO. YOU ARE THE LAST ONE LEFT.
"Oh," was all he could say.
NOW LIVE, JUNO.
Juno closed his eyes…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
… and opened them again. He was on Goldwood, lying in the middle of the village. This time, he could move, but not without pain. Slowly, he sat up, rubbing his throbbing skull. Tribals milled around him, oblivious to the fact that a man had just appeared in their midst. He climbed to his feet, and sought out Jeff's royal hut.
Upon reaching it, he heard voices coming from inside. They were familiar voices, voices he had thought he would never hear again. He pulled back the curtain and walked inside. There in front of him were all those faces he had believed to be gone. Jeff stood near the center, looking into the fire. Nova and Vela stood in off to the side holding hands. Lupus stood at their feet, whining. Castor was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed across his chest. The group looked up to face Juno.
"Juno…" began Vela, in a whisper. "I thought… I thought you…"
Tears came to Juno's eyes, and his legs buckled. Vela rushed over and caught him before he fell, and he held his sister in a long embrace.
"I'm back," he said. "We're all back."
Epilogue
And so ends the story. Jeff continued in his role as Tribal King, although Barry was not returned to the living. Jeff's brother was too dangerous to be left alive, but his memory was to be held as sacred and infamous in Tribal history forever. Castor, along with the whole crew of Jet Force Libra, received special commendations from Jet Force Command. He continues to be as reckless and careless as ever. Jet Force Leo also received commendations. Lupus remains faithful as ever, always by Juno's side. Juno was offered countless promotions by Command, but turned down every one. He remains leader of Jet Force Gemini, which received special commendations, as well as a new ship. And Nova and Vela? They have no serious plans as of yet, but who can say what the future holds?
And so, it is finaly finished. No song this time, but you'll be fine without one, I assure you. My thanks to all who stuck with me through this.
In Memory of Douglas Adams, who showed us all how screwed up the idea of time travel really is.
Juno opened is eyes. All around him was white. There were no Drones, no Spawnship; no scenery of any kind. It was a plane of white that stretched on to infinity.
He realized he was sprawled on the ground, and attempted to sit up. He was met with difficulty, for it seemed all his limbs had been nailed down. He couldn't move even the slightest fraction. Having no way to explore his surroundings, he was left to his thoughts.
/Am I dead?/ he asked himself. /No,/ he answered. This was no Heaven. But then where was he? He thought back to the events that had brought him here. It was all quite hazy, and the last thing he truly remembered was Jeff and Barry killing each other. Then there was something about him running through the ship, and a large explosion. But why was he here? And why couldn't he move?
JUNO!
/What was that?/ he thought. He had heard it, but he hadn't. Some form of telepathy, perhaps.
DO YOU WISH TO LIVE AGAIN, JUNO?
Perhaps this was Heaven after all. But then why was he being asked if he wished to live? He found out he could move his mouth, and answered the voice in his head.
"Am I dead?"
Juno heard laughter in his head.
NOT QUITE.
Well, know he knew one more thing. He decided to probe this being.
"Where am I?"
YOU ARE BETWEEN TIME AND SPACE, CAUGHT BETWEEN THE FABRIC OF THE UNIVERSE.
That was something.
"How did I get here?"
I BROUGHT YOU HERE.
"Who are you?"
I AM THE ONE WHO KEEPS TIME AND SPACE FROM COLLAPSING ON EACH OTHER.
"Do you have a name?"
YOU MAY CALL ME KROHNOS.
"Okay… Krohnos, why have you brought me here?"
I HAVE MY REASONS. WHEN THE SHIP EXPLODED, I BROUGHT YOU HERE RATEHR THEN LETTING YOU GO TO THE AFTERLIFE.
So in a way, he was dead. But that brought up an interesting question: Krohnos had said afterlife, not Heaven. But Juno hadn't been that bad, had he?
SO, JUNO. DO YOU WISH TO LIVE AGAIN?
"Yes. Of course I do." A thought occurred to him. "Wait, what about the others? Where are they?"
THEY ARE ALL HERE SOMEWHERE. BUT WHY SHOULD I LET YOU LIVE AGAIN, JUNO? YOU FAILED YOUR FRIENDS.
"What are you talking about?!" Juno raged. "I failed them?! How do I fail someone by warning them? How do I fail someone if they sacrifice themselves? How do I fail someone who makes a mistake, while I'm already gone? Tell me that!"
Juno again heard laughter in the voice, and realized he had been manipulated. He cursed himself silently.
YOU ARE CORRECT, JUNO. YOU FAILED NO ONE. YOU ARE INDEED COURAGEOUS.
"Wait, what about everyone else? If you bring me back to life, what will happen to them?"
Laughter again.
THEY ARE ALREADY AMONG THE LIVING, JUNO. YOU ARE THE LAST ONE LEFT.
"Oh," was all he could say.
NOW LIVE, JUNO.
Juno closed his eyes…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
… and opened them again. He was on Goldwood, lying in the middle of the village. This time, he could move, but not without pain. Slowly, he sat up, rubbing his throbbing skull. Tribals milled around him, oblivious to the fact that a man had just appeared in their midst. He climbed to his feet, and sought out Jeff's royal hut.
Upon reaching it, he heard voices coming from inside. They were familiar voices, voices he had thought he would never hear again. He pulled back the curtain and walked inside. There in front of him were all those faces he had believed to be gone. Jeff stood near the center, looking into the fire. Nova and Vela stood in off to the side holding hands. Lupus stood at their feet, whining. Castor was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed across his chest. The group looked up to face Juno.
"Juno…" began Vela, in a whisper. "I thought… I thought you…"
Tears came to Juno's eyes, and his legs buckled. Vela rushed over and caught him before he fell, and he held his sister in a long embrace.
"I'm back," he said. "We're all back."
Epilogue
And so ends the story. Jeff continued in his role as Tribal King, although Barry was not returned to the living. Jeff's brother was too dangerous to be left alive, but his memory was to be held as sacred and infamous in Tribal history forever. Castor, along with the whole crew of Jet Force Libra, received special commendations from Jet Force Command. He continues to be as reckless and careless as ever. Jet Force Leo also received commendations. Lupus remains faithful as ever, always by Juno's side. Juno was offered countless promotions by Command, but turned down every one. He remains leader of Jet Force Gemini, which received special commendations, as well as a new ship. And Nova and Vela? They have no serious plans as of yet, but who can say what the future holds?
And so, it is finaly finished. No song this time, but you'll be fine without one, I assure you. My thanks to all who stuck with me through this.
In Memory of Douglas Adams, who showed us all how screwed up the idea of time travel really is.
