Chapter 4: The Joy of Being Free

"Well? Come on!" Coop called, looking into his garage, with Jamie and Kiva waiting nearby. Slowly, Kit walked out to join them. Instead of Kiva's old overalls, she was now wearing a new assortment of clothing, which Coop and Jamie had gotten for her. The outfit consisted of a light blue off-the-shoulder blouse and a pair of capris, along with a few accessories Kiva had picked out to help her hide her Alien features. Her twin dreadlocks were concealed beneath a beret that matched her blouse, a pair of arm-warmers covered the patches of fur growing out of her elbows, and her tail was hidden by a silver scarf that was tied around her waist. In addition, the tribal markings on Kit's face had been concealed under a thin coat of face-paint. Kit's feet, however, remained bare, as she had refused point-blank to wear shoes.

"Okay, tell me honestly," Kit glanced over at the others warily. "If you didn't already know the truth about me, would you guess I was from another planet?"

"Don't worry, Kit. You just have to keep your tail wrapped around your leg, and that hat on your head, and no one would ever guess." Kiva noted. "I just hope it doesn't rain. If it does, that face paint might wash off and reveal those tribal markings of yours. People on this planet don't usually have markings on their face, so yours might lead to a lot of questions."

Sometime later, the group was at a small arcade, complete with a pizza parlor. Coop and Kiva were sitting in one of the booths, while Coop was eating a large pizza, when Kiva began to look around.

"Coop, did you see where Kit went off to?" She asked. "She could get lost, and she doesn't know much about Earth yet."

"Jamie's showin' her around."

"Hey, Coop!" Jamie suddenly ran over to the table, looking amazed and impressed.

"What?"

"Where's Kit?"

"That's what I wanted to show you! Come on! You guys won't believe it!" Jamie led them to a large crowd gathered around a shooting video game. Currently playing the game was Kit.

"WHOAH!" Coop stared at the screen. "She's already on level 15?"

"Yeah!" Jamie laughed. "Once she figured out what she had to do, she just flew through the levels. I think she's actually gonna' beat the game!" However, just as Kit was about to defeat the final boss in the game, a loud shot rang out, and a laser blast hit the game, which blew up instantly. The crowd instantly went into a panic and ran off. Coop, Kit, and the others turned to the door, where four heavily armored Glorft were standing.

"Aw, not today!" Coop groaned. Kit, however, was starring at the Glorft in a mixture of hatred and shock.

"No." She whispered. "Not here."

"Hey, Kit. Come on." Jamie turned to the Alien female. "Let's watch Coop smash these guys again."

"No, Jamie," Kiva ordered. "You have to find a place to hide Kit."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it! The Glorft can't find her." Without another word, Kiva went after Coop to get MEGAS. After hesitating a moment, Jamie led Kit behind the skeeball lanes. Moments later, the Glorft walked by.

"Fan out!" One demanded. "Search the place. Find the Tygrin female."

"What?" Jamie blinked, turning to Kit. "They're after you?" Kit crouched up into a ball, and looked up at Jamie sadly.

"I'm sorry, James. I hoped they'd never find me here. I really hoped I could stay here."

"Stay here? Why wouldn't you."

"After I escaped the Glorft, I tried to find a planet that I could call home. I couldn't return to Shegrath, after the Glorft destroyed it." Jamie stared at Kit in surprise. So Kit did know about Shegrath. "Since I no longer had a home planet, I wanted to find a new one." Kit continued, "but I could never get one to stick. I'd find a planet where I was welcomed, and just when I'd start to think, 'wow, this is my new home,' the Glorft would always track me down, and demand I was handed over. Same old story: I'm on the run again. Now, the same thing's going to happen again."

"Hey, it won't come to that. Coop can take care of these guys."

"What?"

"We do this all the time. You won't have to run this time." Suddenly, a shadow fell over them. The two looked up to see one of the Glorft aiming a blaster at them.

"Slave Number 47418!" He demanded. "Come now, or die." Kit responded by hitting the Glorft with one of her Energy Balls

"I won't be taken by force." Kit snarled at the Glorft's charred remains.

"I wouldn't try that again, if I were you." Kit turned to the second Glorft, preparing to let off a second Energy Ball, but froze at the sight of The Glorft holding a blaster to Jamie's head. After a slight hesitation, her hands fell limply to her side.

"Only monsters like you would use an innocent to get to me." Just then, the front side of the Pizza Place exploded. Jamie, Kit, and the Glorft looked up to see MEGAS standing in front of the demolished entrance.

"Let my pals go!" Coop cried out upon seeing the danger Kit and Jamie were in.

"This does not concern Earthers," The Glorft replied. "We are here only for Slave Number 47418. We have no intention of dealing with insignificant fools like you."

"I knew it," Kiva whispered. "These aren't the same Glorft we've been fighting. They're the Glorft from this time. And they've come for Kit."

"This time, your time, who cares?" Coop grinned in anticipation. "I can smash these guys just as easily."

"We warn you Earther," The Glorft sneered. 'Interfere, and we will bring the entire armada here, and destroy this city."

"Bring it on."

"NO!" Kit stepped forward, and sent an Energy Ball at MEGAS. The attack hit home in the hood of Coop's car, frying the engine. After a moment of glaring up at Coop, she turned to the Glorft.

"I'll come back with you, and I'll go quietly, if you promise you and your kind will never return to this planet ever."

"Kit, no!" Jamie cried. "You don't…"

"Yes, I do. You might be able to beat the Glorft from Kiva's time, but from what she told me, only a handful of their forces went back in time with her and MEGAS. But in this time, the Glorft have their entire Armada at the ready, and that's ten times as large. I'm tired of running." With that Kit walked to the Glorft and allowed them to place manacles on her wrists. As she was lead off, Kit looked back at MEGAS, where Coop and Kiva were watching in shock.

"Thank you, Coop." Kit smiled up at him. "Thank you for helping me remember the joy of being free. I am grateful to you for that." Without another word, Kit left with the Glorft, leaving the three friends behind in the now deserted and half-destroyed pizza place.