Once we had left the Woolies after saying our goodbyes, Jack and I continued our journey north by following Lazzor's directions and a week had passed by after that until we eventually came across a river in a forest before Jack scooped up water with his hands and drank from it while I simply enjoyed the sights before I spotted a doe coming out of the bushes and my eyes widened as I gently nudged Jack to get his attention.
"Jack, look," I whispered and pointed at the deer, causing the samurai to look at what I was pointing at until he scooted out of the way and I realized what he was doing so I slowly moved aside a few steps to not startle the doe.
The doe approached carefully until she started drinking from the river and I couldn't help but take out my sketchbook and start drawing a picture of the animal while I smiled softly at the nice sight, then I recalled my parents and little sister before my smile gradually went away and I never thought I could ever feel this homesick before but I just had to stay strong for them and I would find a way home, but I just needed to enjoy the beauty this world still had left so that I would stay sane.
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion that erupted nearby and it caused all three of us to quickly turn our heads in the direction of where the loud noise was and saw birds fleeing into the air in the distance before Jack took off in the opposite direction and I followed him as we moved past trees and darted through bushes until we arrived at a cliff before Jack jumped off, forcing me to gasp in horror and I quickly looked down to see him grab a branch and spun impressively until he let go and landed onto the ground safely.
"Um, Jack, I can't make that jump so hold on!" I called down to him while I merely climbed down and made it down as Jack waited patiently.
Then I heard something being shot at me and I ducked with a yelp as an arrow nearly hit me in the head, then we ran as the arrows that were fired at us exploded when they hit something and I unslung my bow while pulling out an arrow to get ready to shoot back until Jack and I made it into a clearing before coming to a sudden stop when we encountered what appeared to be a space shuttle of some kind with science equipment and buildings scattered around it as men and a woman in spacesuits with different colored helmets stopped what they were doing and looked at us in surprise while Jack was appearing bewildered at the sight.
"What the-" I started to question and was cut off when the ground started rumbling and something smashed through the trees behind us, causing me and Jack to look back and my eyes widened at the sight of three massive robotic mantises.
"Shit, not good," I choked in paralyzing terror as areas of their bodies opened up and I sucked in a breath at the sight of missiles and guns popping out.
"Oh crap," one of the men muttered and it got the robots' attention as they looked at the people in spacesuits while I knew that things have gone from bad to worse.
"You have been found guilty of breaking Aku Law 101 and 203; habitation, unauthorized facility, and construction of an escape vehicle so your punishment is extermination," one of the mantises droned and it caused the people in spacesuits to start clamoring in a panic while they immediately ran around like headless chickens.
The robots went past us and attacked the people in spacesuits by smashing up buildings with their forelegs and shooting at the people with their guns while I was horrified that Jack and I were responsible for this and needed to make things right as Jack was also shocked by what he was seeing.
"Oh Christ, we need to help these people," I gasped and Jack looked determined with steely eyes as he nodded at me, then we ran to where the chaos was happening and Jack pulled out his sword before leaping up at one of the robots.
Jack slashed through the robot and it fell to the ground before exploding as it got the attention of one of the robots until it fired at him, causing Jack to run from the gunfire while I got ready and pulled back an arrow as Jack dived past the other robot and it got pelted from gunfire before it exploded, then I shot arrows at the last robot and they struck it before the robot twitched with sparks coming out from getting shot by me and Jack ran up to it in preparation to deliver the final blow until he jumped up at the robot with his sword raised.
"Wait, don't!" one of the scientists shouted just before Jack decapitated the last robot and I was confused as to why the man didn't want the samurai to kill it, then the head of the robot blasted off into the air from some kind of rocket engine and I understood perfectly that it must have flown off to get reinforcements and I swore under my breath at the thought that Jack and I made things worse just before one of the men who had glasses started typing on his calculator or PDA until he looked up at everyone.
"According to my calculations, our chances of escaping are now 6,3000,271 to 1," the man said and the first scientist gripped his helmet with a look of panic.
"Oh shit...after all these years and to go back to work for Aku, I can't do it anymore!" the man cried out in horror before he started sobbing distressfully and I felt guilty that we were responsible for this as Jack holstered his sword and appeared regretful for what happened as one of the other scientists with a yellow helmet approached the sobbing one with a reassuring smile.
"Calm yourself, Fredrick," the man reasoned as he rested a hand on his shoulder and Fredrick pushed him away with a glare.
"Oh, easy for you to say because you were just a baby when the rest of us were forced to use our scientific knowledge to build Aku's robot armies and other horrific technology," Fredrick snapped as he shuddered and the other man looked irritable.
"My age is irrelevant here because we shouldn't just give up, we still have a chance," the man with the yellow helmet stated and another scientist with a green helmet frowned thoughtfully.
"Well, actually, there is substance to that theory so if we launch our escape rocket before the failsafe warning head informs Aku of our whereabouts, then we will succeed but on the other hand...Aku is quite brilliant and knowing our position would not only have him send his ground troops to kill us but would also block our escape route, thus forcing us to surrender," the man pointed out logically and the woman cleared her throat.
"Gentleman, the orbital guard has begun to close into our escape route," the woman with the pink helmet informed everybody while she was sitting in front of a scanner and I could see dozens of red dots approaching the green one in the middle while Fredrick didn't appear to take that well.
"You see, there is no escape for us now!" Fredrick shouted hopelessly and the man with the yellow helmet frowned.
"No, there has to be a way!" the man argued as Jack and I looked at each other, then we nodded at one another before he got onto his knees and put his hands together before he bowed humbly while I placed my hands in my pockets and looked down as we had gotten the scientists' attention.
"Please, we humbly apologize because it was not our intention to bring such troubles upon you," Jack said and I nodded.
"He's right, we didn't mean for this to happen so we're really sorry for this," I agreed with a grimace and cringed at the angry look Fredrick shot at us.
"Yeah, this is all your damn fault for getting us into this situation in the first place!" Fredrick shouted in outrage and the man with the yellow helmet placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.
"Come on, that's not fair because we were bound to be discovered eventually so, if anything, they saved our lives and didn't you see the way they destroyed those robots?" the man questioned optimistically while the scientist with the PDA typed on it before he looked at us again.
"Yes, it was quite impressive and the odds of two people with a sword, as well as a bow and arrows, destroying three mantis droids is 6,323 to 1," the man stated and the optimistic scientist perked up as an idea seemed to have popped up in his mind.
"Hold on, I think we found our solution so if we follow these warriors through Aku's blockade, they might create enough of a distraction to give us a chance to slip through!" the man exclaimed excitingly and my eyes widened in disbelief while Jack looked utterly confused by what the man was talking about as Fredrick spoke what was on everybody else's minds.
"That's impossible because no one can do that, so let's just surrender," Fredrick chimed in and the man with the PDA walked over to him with a smile.
"Actually, Fredrick, the odds are promising and are 5,437 to 1," the man with the PDA pointed out and everyone started looking more hopeful while the younger scientist with the yellow helmet beamed.
"Yes!" the man with the yellow helmet cheered and the man with the green helmet tapped his helmet thoughtfully.
"This is quite a predicament because, on one hand, we have to trust two strangers to fight for the fate of our future while on the other hand, the inevitable capture by Aku and a lifetime of slavery so I say that we give these strangers a chance," the man with the green helmet said and the man with the yellow one smiled.
"Alright, we can do this!" the man with the yellow helmet exclaimed happily while Jack and I shared a puzzled look since we didn't know how we were going to go with them and Fredrick seemed to have figured that out.
"Forget it, it's pointless and they probably wouldn't even do it," Fredrick stated cynically before Jack stepped forward.
"Wait, we would gladly help but from what we understand, your battle is in the sky and we are grounded so we can't fly," Jack pointed out and I didn't like the way the men with the green and yellow helmets looked at each other while I realized that to fight off the blockade, we would have to go into space and I started feeling highly nervous since I've never been in space before and just the thought of being up there was nerve-wracking.
"Leave that to us," the man with the yellow helmet reassured and I cleared my throat to get his attention.
"Um, while I'm fine with helping, I'm not sure my arrows will be useful since they are made of wood and will just simply float in space so how am I supposed to help exactly?" I pointed out and the man with the yellow helmet walked over before he took my arm.
"Just leave it to us, my furry friend," the man assured me before he started guiding me somewhere as Jack followed us while I was uncertain about this.
After that, the scientists put us through a training regiment that was similar to the one I heard on TV back in my reality but different, and the part with the machine spinning me around nearly made me throw up while Jack also didn't look well from his experience with it until I was given a rifle that looked futuristic and I was taught on how to use it before Jack and I were fitted with spacesuits and helmets by a machine until Jack strapped his sword to his side and I held my new rifle as I examined it by tilting it this way and that since this was the first time I have ever fired a gun, much less one that looked like something out of Star Trek.
Pretty soon, two small rockets were strapped to our backs and now the man with the yellow helmet was looking at his computer while I was moving my shoulders around to get used to the bulkiness of the suit and I wondered if this was how those astronauts at NASA felt the first time they wore the spacesuits before the man with the yellow helmet looked back at us while we were standing on a platform.
"Um, how the hell do we fly these things that are strapped to our backs?" I questioned uncertainly before the man looked back.
"First, everything looks functional and, secondly, It's easy so let me explain your hand guidance control system," the man told me just as Jack went to touch one of the buttons and before I could stop him, he pushed it and went rocketing up into the air while letting out a yell of terror.
"Fuck, tell me how to control the rocket before he crashes into a tree!" I exclaimed in alarm and the man hurried over to quickly teach me until I pushed the button to fly up after Jack while I yelped at the speed of taking off, then I flew over to Jack while he was looking utterly terrified until I grabbed him.
"Hold on, I got you!" I assured loudly while Jack was hyperventilating.
"Bradley, how do I stop this thing?!" Jack exclaimed in a panic before I gestured at one of the buttons on his right hand.
"Push that button to stop!" I instructed frantically, then Jack complied and we came to a sudden stop before we looked at the setting sun that was in the sky and I was amazed by the view until we looked down to see that the scientists had sent drones up for us to practice on so that we could see what it would be like to fight in space.
Jack and I nodded at each other, then we separated with Jack pulling out his sword and slicing three drones apart while I shot the other three with my rifle, liking how that there was no kickback as the laser blasts blew up the drones while the remains fell to the ground until I helped jack on how to fly back down and land before we met up with the scientists.
After that, we relaxed for tonight as the scientists threw a party in the round buildings and invited us before we got out of the spacesuits, then we accepted and I was drinking a bottle of beer while I was enjoying the sights of seeing crowds of scientists having a good time either by dancing, chatting, or taking it easy on the alcohol while Jack was sitting in the middle of the room with me as Fredrick walked over with a more pleasant smile as the other joined us.
"Oh, I am so excited because we will soon be at our new home," Fredrick stated happily.
"We'll finally be able to use our science for good," the man with the yellow helmet added before the woman with the pink helmet cleared her throat to get their attention.
"No more protection against the polluted air," the woman sighed in relief, and the man with the green helmet nodded in agreement.
"Agreed and no more Aku robots," the man with the green helmet pointed out.
"Yeah, and best of all, no more Aku," the man with the PDA finished before Fredrick let out a sigh of content.
"Home," Fredrick muttered while he and the others sighed happily, and I smiled at how hopeful they look until I noticed that Jack's eyes were closed with his face showing a solemn expression.
"Jack, what's up? Aren't you going to have fun?" the man with the PDA asked in confusion before the samurai opened his eyes and looked at him.
"I too desire to find my home because in days long passed, where rockets and robots were nowhere near creation, a warrior forged into battle with Aku to where victory was imminent but he tricked him and flung the warrior from his own time to this one in the future.
So, to reclaim his own by undoing the evil of Aku and for another warrior to find his way back to his own reality, they still must keep searching for a time passage home...but such magic is difficult for them to find," Jack explained, then my good mood went away before a depressed look appeared on my face.
"So, those warriors are you and Brad?" the man with the PDA asked before I nodded.
"Yeah, everyone I know back home is probably scared half to death that I'm missing by now," I confirmed with a solemn look as the scientists sent me sympathetic looks.
"Wow, I'm sorry to hear that," the man with the green helmet told me, then I sent him an appreciated look as the man with the yellow helmet started appearing thoughtful until he started smiling.
"Hmm...time travel so what do you say, everyone?" the man with the yellow helmet suggested to the others, who made noises of agreement before Jack and I sent each other looks of confusion until our eyes widened in realization.
"Excuse me, you know of a way to travel in time?" Jack inquired curiously until the man with the green helmet nodded as he held up a wine bottle.
"It's quite simple really, let's say that this is the rocket so if you both get into the escape pod at the nose of the ship and jettison when we hit light speed, that should put you two faster than light," the man explained as he demonstrated by removing the cork and holding it away from the bottle.
"Which would easily send each of you back to your own time and reality," the woman with the pink helmet pitched in, though I still didn't know about this.
"So, this would actually work?" I questioned and the scientists all agreed before the one with the green helmet cleared his throat.
"Just make sure that you two are still in the pod before we hit light speed and the rest will take care of itself," the man with the green helmet said while he held up the bottle and cork to empathize it.
"We will," Jack stated seriously until the man with the yellow helmet clapped his hands together, though my sharp hearing picked up a faint noise that seemed to be getting closer and my eyes narrowed into a puzzled look.
"Wonderful, so we're on for tomorrow-" the man said, then he was cut off from saying anything else when Jack held up his hand and tilted his head up slightly to listen before his eyes hardened.
"Perhaps sooner," Jack told us, then I realized what he meant before I started swearing up a storm quietly.
"Dammit, seems like those Aku drone reinforcements are close so we need to go quickly," I announced, causing the scientists to look tense before they all nodded and started packing up and getting everything ready as Jack and I slipped into our suits while I grabbed my rifle.
After that, hours had gone by until we had gotten everything set up and took off into the sky while we were in the rocket just as more Aku robots showed up before I looked out the window next to me and felt very nervous as we moved through the atmosphere with everything shaking slightly while I started breathing heavily and noticed Jack clenching the seat in front of him tightly as he had his eyes squeezed shut and was gritting his teeth stressfully.
After what felt like hours, we finally entered space and the cup of coffee on a console started floating with the liquid inside leaving the cup and moving around as Jack stared at it wide-eyed while it passed him and I let out a sigh as I started relaxing slightly.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are entering Aku's blockade," the man with the yellow helmet informed us after he and Fredrick typed on the console.
"They are going to launch the first wave, so we better get Jack and Brad to the airlock," Fredrick stated, then Jack and I unbuckled our seatbelts before we started floating up and were guided to the airlock that was covered by a glass shield to prevent oxygen from escaping until we looked at the scientists.
"Don't forget, you two must be in the pod when we make the jump to warp drive and the odds will be against you if you're not inside the pod," the man with the green helmet warned seriously.
"Don't worry, we'll make it into the pod in time once we deal with most of the resistance outside," I assured while Jack also nodded until the man with the yellow helmet sent us a smile.
"Good luck, you two," the man with the yellow helmet told us before the airlock opened, causing me and Jack to turn around to gaze out at the endless darkness as I started gripping my rifle nervously.
At that moment, Jack and I jumped out into space and activated our jetpacks before flying alongside the rocket and I gave a thumbs up to one of the scientists that were looking at us, then a bunch of red robot ticks with drills landed onto the ship and Jack sliced them off while I didn't shoot since I didn't want to damage the ship but I did focus on the other ticks that were flying in to attack us before I opened fire and shot several while Jack continued to slice up the rest.
"Jack, Bradley, they're continuing to dig into the hull!" Fredrick alerted us through the comms, causing me to quickly turn around to see that more ticks had landed onto the ship and were drilling into it.
Jack and I quickly flew over and landed onto the ship before we alternated between slicing and ripping their bodies off the ship, only I noticed that their decapitated heads were still drilling into the ship and I scowled at that since I can recall that ticks' heads can still stick onto things even after their bodies are removed from them.
Suddenly, Jack flew up and I was confused by what he was doing, but then I witnessed him using his jetpack to heat his sword's blade and flew back down before jabbing the sword into one of the heads and the head rose out of the ship before exploding.
I was very impressed by Jack's improvisation as he destroyed the robotic tick heads, then we had another problem once the ticks were gone as robotic mosquitoes landed onto the ship and proceeded to attempt to drain the fuel out of the ship, causing Jack and me to slice and shoot our way through them until one robot flew at Jack and tried to stab him through the helmet with its sharp proboscis while Jack had grabbed it and was struggling, then I reacted by shooting it off him and Jack sent me a nod of appreciation just before swarms of robotic bees approached and shot their missile-like stingers at us.
"Come on, when the fuck is this going to end already?!" I exclaimed incredulously as I fired at the missiles and Jack dodged a few of them.
"Um...Jack, Bradley, those are what we like to call guided missiles!" Fredrick warned urgently just before the missiles that hadn't been shot by me started turning around and flying right at us, causing me and Jack to widen our eyes.
"Oh shit!" I yelped before we flew away with the missiles chasing after us and saw two bees in front of us open their rear compartments and shoot several more missiles at us.
Jack gestured for me to stay with him and I was alarmed that we were flying at the missiles in front of us with the ones chasing us from behind while I wondered what the hell he was doing, then he halted and flew out of the way before I quickly followed and the missiles collided into each other before exploding.
I was relieved that we survived thanks to Jack's strategy, but now I was pissed as we flew at the swarms of bees and started destroying them before they could fire any more missiles but a few did launch more missiles and we used them to blow up some of the bees while slashing and shooting more until only a few dozen were left, then our glares seemed to scare them since they quickly retreated and we smiled at each other at the knowledge that another threat was gone.
"Jack, Brad, we are approaching top speed so forget them and get into the pod," the man with the yellow helmet suggested, prompting us to fly back to the ship and land on the pod until Jack opened the hatch so that we could get inside until we got into our seats and sat down before metal clamps strapped us in to secure us for the rough ride.
Suddenly, alarms blared before a screen slid down and showed that the remaining bees had combined into some kind of big gun that would most definitely destroy the ship, so we broke out of the straps and left the escape pod before flying at the bee gun.
"Jack, Brad, what the hell are you two doing?! We're almost at top speed!" the man with the yellow helmet exclaimed in disbelief through our comms.
"The robots must not fire that gun," Jack stated seriously.
"The odds of them hitting us at this speed are three hundred and twenty-five to one," the man with the PDA argued.
"I'm sorry, but we cannot take that risk," I said darkly with a focused look.
"But neither of you will make it back in time," the woman with the pink helmet pointed out worryingly.
"We know...don't worry about us, we'll find another way to get back to the past so get out of here," I assured until I ignored the scientists' protests as Jack and I flew at the robot gun.
I could see the combined gun charging up and we flew as fast as we could until the gun fired, just before we flew up into the laser's way as Jack pulled out his sword and I held my rifle up before the sword and rifle were hit by it and they glowed brightly until the rifle blew up and the laser bounced back at the robot bee gun until the laser entered the gun, causing it to explode and the shockwave sent me and Jack flying backward at a high rate of speed until we entered earth's atmosphere and, the next thing I knew, everything went black for who knows how long until I regained consciousness and could see that we were laying in a crater back on earth.
"Ugh...god," I wheezed out as pain ran throughout my body before I noticed Jack laying next to me until he moved and sat up while shaking his head.
"Bradley, are you well?" Jack asked in concern before I sat up with a groan of pain.
"I'll live, but I feel like shit and I genuinely have no damn idea how we survived that," I muttered as I noticed that our suits were torn beyond repair, then we removed them and just left the tattered outfits in the crater as we climbed out.
"Even still, we must continue our quest to locate a time passage," Jack stated before we started walking and I looked up at the sky while I thought about the scientists.
'Wherever they are, I hope they find what they're looking for,' I thought as Jack and I continued our journey to get back to the past.
A/N Hey, sorry it took so long, but I'm back and here's another chapter for you, which shows one of my favorite episodes and I did wonder how Jack was able to survive falling from space of all things, but we may never know and the next chapter is where Brad encounters Aku for the first time, so I hope that you're excited since Brad gets to learn a bit more about his new form and the abilities that come with it while also knowing true terror for the first time.
Well, let me know what you think and stay tuned.
