Chapter 92: Radical Rescue

The following day, Nebula carried a box over to Rad. "Here you go honey" she said and she placed the box near him. Rad thanked her and she went quiet. Rad opened the box to reveal containers of 'Lazer Chips' and he felt the area getting colder. "Babe? You alright?" he asked when he saw her tense up. Rad followed her gaze to the chips he was setting into a display. "Oh yeah! You never told me what happened the other day" he pointed out. "I'll tell you later. Now's not a good time" she said and she quickly walked off. "Hey Rad, want some help setting up the display?" Ko asked. "Sure. Thanks little buddy" he said and the two set up the display.

"Hey Ko, do you know what happened the other day? Nebs saw these and she tensed up" Rad asked. "Yeah… but that's for her to tell you. I promised her that I wouldn't tell anyone" Ko responded. "Looks like we're running low on the chips. I'll go get another box" Rad then left and came back moments later with a box.

"Alright little man, here's another box of the canned 'Lazer Chips' for the display" Rad said as he brought over a box and set it on the ground. "Thanks Rad! These are the best 'Lazer Chips' yet! It's the snack of the future, today!" Ko said happily as he took one of the cans out of the box.

"And they're in a tube which is cool" he said as he removed the lid and ate a few of the chips. "Come on Ko, it's all marketing really" Rad said casually. "Marketing?!" Ko asked. "They're just like the regular bag 'Lazer Chips' but in a tube" Rad responded as he held up a bag of the snack and ate one of the chips. "Doesn't matter what container they put it in, it's just the same old junk" he explained. "Ooh, you're right Rad! Tubes are so overrated" Ko said. "I'm always right" he responded proudly. "No your not!" they heard Nebula say from behind them as she was stocking a nearby shelf. "Come on, have I ever steered you wrong?" Rad asked and Nebula crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

"See? I haven't. That's why it's a good thing you got me around! I'll never lead you astray" Rad said proudly and Nebula rolled her eyes. The door's bell chimed and they saw Mega Football Baby and Bell Beefer walk in.

"Yo brozingas! Chumps and nerds around the nation!" Bell Beefer said. "Prepare yourselves for humiliation" Mega Football Baby said. "Hey bromigos, what's up?" Rad greeted. "¿Por qué tengo un mal presentimiento sobre esto?" Nebula mumbled.

"We're here to show you a new game we just made up" Mega Football Baby said. "Ooh, I love games! How do you play?" Ko asked. "We pull up a random photo on your phone and decide if it's cool or lame" Mega Football Baby explained. "Like this" Mega Football Baby took out his phone and he showed a picture of him with a megafootball. "Cool" he and Bell Beefer said and he went to the next picture. It was of him falling and Bell Beefer said "Lame", the next photo was him on a motorbike with his arms and legs in a cast. "Cool" they said at the same time. "Pretty fun don't you think?" Mega Football Baby asked. "Yes! Me next! Do me next!" Ko said happily and he handed Mega Football Baby his phone. "One diaper full of judgement comin' right up" Mega Football Baby said and he opened Ko's photos.

The first photo was Ko holding up an assignment with an A++ on it. Next, was Ko with a wizard figure, and Mega Football Baby and Bell Beefer said "Lame" to them. Finally, there was a picture of a very young Ko with his mom. "Super lame!" Mega Football Baby and Bell Beefer said as they laughed. Nebula saw this and she walked over to them. "I didn't realize how many of the things I like were actually lame" Ko said with a laugh. "You're welcome" Mega Football Baby said.

"Hey Nebula, do you wanna go next?" Bell Beefer asked as he reached for her phone that was in her pocket. Nebula glared at him and Rad stiffened as he knew that a lot of her photos were of them together and that his friends would call them lame. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, she hates having her phone in someone else's hands" Ko mentioned and Rad let out a sigh of relief when Bell Beefer quickly brought his hand back to his side.

"Okay Rad, your turn" Bell Beefer said. "Unless you're too chicken" Mega Football Baby taunted. "Huh? No way! I'm not scared! Let me just, uh, give you my phone here" Rad said as he took out his phone and deleted all of his pictures of kittens and him with Nebula. "Yes, I think that you'll find my pics perfectly typical of for a young man of my demographic" he said as he handed his friends his phone. "Let's see about that" Mega Football Baby said as he pulled up Rad's pictures.

The first that said was cool and the next picture was of Nebula and Rad sharing a kiss at the beach as the sun was setting. "So, cool or lame?" Nebula asked rhetorically with a smirk. "Uh, c-cool" Mega Football Baby said nervously as he noticed her icy gaze.

After that was a picture of Rad and Witchy Simone. Nebula placed a hand on her head as a headache started as she remembered what had happened the first time they were in Rhyboflaven. "Alright dude" Mega Football Baby praised. "Score one or should I say two for Rad" Bell Beefer praised. "What can I say, The Radicles does it again" Rad gloated and Nebula felt her heart sink in her chest.

The final picture was of a grey kitten with yellow eyes, white fluffy chest, and a blue bow in a white teacup that had a blue flower on it. "Lame" Mega Football Baby and Bell Beefer said as they laughed.

"Wait, you don't actually like kittens do you, Rad?" Bell Beefer asked. "Kittens are so not cool" Mega Football Baby commented. "Kittens are for babies" Bell Beefer said. "Come on man, we talked about this" Mega Football Baby warned. "I mean weenies. Only weenies like kittens" Bell Beefer said quickly. "Uh ...Totally! Ha! I was just holding onto the photo for for uh, my girlfriend! You know, the hot one in the photo. She's the kitten weenie. I definitely don't like cats 'cause I'm not weenie" Rad said quickly and nervously. "Isn't Nebula your girlfriend?" Bell Beefer asked. Rad gulped as Nebula glared at him "That's what I thought too Radicles" she said coldly. "We uh, we got into a fight earlier and we broke up. We're just acting friendly when we're here so we don't uh, stress anyone out" Rad said with a nervous laugh. Nebula clenched her fists and she let out a sigh. "I see, I guess with your pride and ego there's no room for me" she said softly. She held up three fingers and Rad's eyes widened when he knew what she meant. "Goodbye Rad" she said and she walked off.

"Hey Nebs, you okay?" Enid asked as she saw her storming past her. Enid glanced over to Rad and Ko with Mega Football Baby and Bell Beefer. Enid stopped what she was doing and she followed her. "Come on dude, talk to me" she said as Nebula was organizing something in the back. Nebula huffed and told Enid what had happened. "Yikes! How about you take your break now so you can calm down. Wouldn't want you losing your cool and you know" Enid suggested. "Good idea" Nebula said and she went into the break room and clocked out.

"You know who to hang out with, you have well had, not one but two babes, and you know that kittens are for weenies" Ko said as Nebula rounded the corner to leave the store. Rad froze when he heard the rapid clicking of her heels on the tiles of the floor. "I'm going on break Ko" she said as she stormed past them. "Actually Ko...I, uh… I need to go to practice after all!" Rad said quickly as he raced after Nebula.

"Nebula, wait!" He called as he tried to catch up to her. When he caught up to her, he grabbed onto her arm. "Please, just listen. I can explain" Rad pleaded and Nebula held out a hand. "You know, I should have been Aiden's girlfriend! At least he would have loved to tell his friends that I was his girlfriend!" she said angrily. "But the dude was obsessed with you! Didn't that creep you out?!" Rad said and Nebula scoffed. "If anything it was kinda sweet that he was so fixed on getting me to be with him! I'm sure he would have been a wonderful boyfriend! Or at least better than you!" she yelled and she yanked her arm out of his grip.

She then held up one finger "Strike one, Ryblophlaven. Also known as our first break up" she then held up two fingers. "Strike two, flirting with Drupe when she was going to compete against Raymond" she then held up three fingers. "And now, strike three. Remember what I told you when we were at your place with Drupe working on the commercial?" she asked and Rad nodded."Look Rad, I'll forgive you but this is strike two. One more and I'm gone. Got it? That means I walk away and you will never hear from or see me again" her words from back then repeated in his head. "This is strike three. I'm on break now and after my shift, I'm gone" she said seriously and Rad sank to the ground as he watched her walk off.

As he watched her figure vanish into the horizon, a question plagued his mind.

"What have I done?"

¿Por qué tengo un mal presentimiento sobre esto?" is "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" in Spanish