Kaz was waiting at the table nervously. Today was the day they returned to Kaizeph. His friends Sarah and Peyton were finishing their friendly match in the Beta Drome. The red-haired boy was nervous. Tom was late. He didn't see or heard anything about him today. He was certain his friend would be here early. Since he was taking his time, his two other friends had a match in the drome.

"I cannot wait any longer. I know he is here. He told me back in school," he took out his scanner and decided to call him, "You better answer me Tom. Because I am getting angry," he pressed on the switch to open communication. Nothing happened. The boy was nervous. He pressed again and nothing. He tried another time and it didn't ring, "Oh no."

He knew how the scanner function. He knew that when you tried to begin communication, the receiver scanner would ring, or vibrate when put in mute. The one who made the call also saw a ring on his scanner, letting him know that the link between the two scanners functioned. They problem was when the little ring wasn't there.

For Kaz, he had many reasons to be worried. It wasn't working right now. There was no ring or anything like that. His screen didn't show the ring. It meant a few things. One, the player was coded. It wasn't the case. Two, the player scanner wasn't functioning. Possible. Third, a creature held the scanner and it automatically stopped functioning for safety purpose. Four, it would be if the scanner break, but he never heard of such incident or what happened after it broke.

Sarah and Peyton came out and joined him. The teenage girl asked, "Where is Tom?"

The red-haired boy replied, "I don't know… but he doesn't have his scanner on him," he tried to contact him again and got no answers.

The two worryingly gazed at each other's.

Kaz looked at them and asked, "You think the M'arrillians got him? They tried once."

"Are you telling me he went to get a scan on his own? I told him it was better if we don't go alone!" Sarah yelled furiously. Her fury was soon overwhelmed by the dread thought that something might happened to him.

"We should check it out bro! We cannot stay here and wait for him to call us. Maybe he just lost it. It happens sometimes," Peyton took out his scanner.

"Does any of you even know where he went?" Sarah asked her friend and then gazed at Kaz.

The boy nodded negatively, "Last time I talk to him was before we port to Chaotic and he was already there."

"Dammit!" she grunted and sat down.

Peyton sighed. Perim was way too large to find him. It was best to wait and hope for the best.

They all wished they knew where he was. They could help him if they knew.

Chapter 11: Prisoners Of The M'arrillians

MajorTom was painfully grunting as he massaged the back of his head. He sat on the ground and scratched the back of his head, "W-what happened?" He tried to think back, alas nothing appeared in his mind. His headache didn't calm down as he tried to stand up. He felt a little dizzy and didn't stand up. He put his hand on his forehead and waited for everything to clear up. The pain on his skull began to subside. His could clearly think once again.

He took a deep breath and managed to stand up this time. The player looked around and the first thing he noticed were bars. The bars looked like it was made of coral. He checked his surrounding and only dark walls greeted his gaze. The boy quickly realised that this only meant that those were prison bars.

He wondered how it happened. His memories began to collaborate with his demand. He remembered that he was getting a scan for another match and suddenly it was black. He sighed, "I should have listened to Sarah," he admitted. He wasn't used to that new rule and forgot about it. That was the last time he forgot. Because he might never return home.

A sound was made. It wasn't as the metallic jail where he was put last time. Good old time when he first met Maxxor and the disappointment that came with it. No footsteps either. That didn't sound good for the boy.

"Looks like you are finally back Chaotic Player," a voice said in his mind.

"Damn," the boy was now certain which tribe got him. It was the M'arrillians.

A semi-transparent being with a golden glow coming from his body floated towards him. It's large pale-yellow eye with pale blue iris gazed at him. His eight tentacles were waving while his green body stood near the bars. Milla'iin wore green shoulder plates with a transparent cape on his back.

"What do you want?" he asked even if he had an idea. Last time, Rath'tab made it clear. He wasn't about to avoid wasting their time.

"You know very well what we want," the M'arrillian replied.

The boy frowned and raised his shoulders, "No."

Milla'iin revealed a blue scanner one of his tendrils hid behind his back, "I could break this on the spot if you try to play me like a fool."

The Chaotic Player grunted and replied, "I assume it's about this stupid thing I heard about."

The M'arrllian hit the bar with one tentacle, "You better watch your words MajorTom!"

"It is. You believe we came from the Cothica. This is ridiculous!" he yelled back.

The glowing creature grunted before turning back and taking some distance. He grumbled in displeasure. He wished he could read the minds once again or even control the mind of that boy. One cannot be done without the others. Many of their abilities died with Aa'une. He preferred to gain some cooperation, willingly or not, from the one affiliate with Maxxor, one of those who murdered their Oligarch, "Chaotic Player. You either not believe it or you are lying in front of me. I don't care. Many creatures of the other tribes found many suspicious things about your tribe."

Tom thought went back to the tablet with the human on it. He also remembered the message. Of course, they could assume something like that. Sarah heard rumors about it from the Danians. Although they were mostly not taking it seriously.

"However, Aa'une felt the weight of this Chaotic Player," Milla'iin spoke. He gazed at the boy and seemed to grin, "This Chaotic Player of Kaizeph was known as The Messenger Of The Cothica. He came from the Cothica to bring our tribe to shame once! And then, before our return to Perim with Aa'une's plan! Guess what was back? You! Chaotic Players! You came back once again! The little we obtained and heard of is clear! You came from the Cothica with a purpose! It will end! We will reach the Cothica and claim it's power into our hands!" he showed the scanner, "And this is one of the tools containing great power!" he pressed on it. It wasn't functioning. It wasn't the player who held it, "And you will tell me how this works! Because we are sure it isn't broken. You are looking at it, wanting to snatch it from my tentacles."

"It's made so only me can use it and no one else," the Chaotic Player answered with a small smile. He was glad it was made that way or Milla'iin would have ported back to Chaotic a few times.

"So, this is the tool that can bring you to the Cothica but only you," the M'arrillian was pensively replying.

The boy gulped when he made that wild guess.

"Tell me about the Cothica," the M'arrillian ordered. His voice was obviously thirsty for power and a hint of revenge. Probably against the Chaotic Players.

If they could reach it, they would enslave us. That's obvious.

"Tell me now MajorTom."

The boy had to answer about the rules, "I can't answer that question. It's forbidden."

"You should forget about those rules," he approached the bars and two tendrils approached the boy.

Tom backed away. His back hit the wall and prevented him from getting out of the tendrils reach, "Those rules cannot be forgotten or broken."

"Are you going to die if you break that rule?" Milla'inn.

Tom looked at the side and replied, "No. I won't be able to break them and… they will be aware that I tried."

"Do not lie to me! They cannot know what you are saying," the creature said furiously.

"They know when a rule is broken," MajorTom replied.

The boy remembered when someone tried to break it. That boy had been brought to the Codemasters and judged for this offense. They were very few of them. He remembered it was a slip-up and he couldn't go to Perim for two days. It was easy to avoid trouble. They couldn't say anything about their own worlds.

Most of the times, they weren't feeling like talking about their own worlds, as if some of their thought were modified in Perim. They were codes now. Sarah guessed that their code would avoid breaking the rules and wanting to talk directly about the Earth on Perim. Even now, he didn't feel like talking about cars, sports, video games etc. None of those things wants to come out of his mouth. He would have to force himself to say it. He will never understand how it worked and just lived with it.

"You are lying to me!" he raised the scanner, ready to smash it on the ground.

Tom gasped when the creature wanted to do anything for answers.

Suddenly, a pincer came and squished the tentacle. His hand grabbed the scanner and the new M'arrillian said, "Breaking the scanner is a foolish to do Milla'iin. We need this if we want to reach the Cothica. Let me remind you that the interrogation for the Chaotic Player will wait."

"Do not interrupt me Bahrakatan!"

"Are you challenging me?" his four eyes shrink to a small size.

The yellow creature grunted and freed his tendril. He turned around and flew away. He stopped and chuckled, "Next time MajorTom. We will break you. Those lies won't work on my tribe anyway."

The new M'arrillians was a Kha'rall. He had purple shell on his body and walked on his four legs. His bronze pincer had some jelly from the tentacle on it while his bronze hand held the scanner. His four blue eyes went to the boy, "I am… a little sorry for Milla'iin behavior. MajorTom. Were you lying about your claims?"

"No," he looked at the calm M'arrilllian.

The creature nodded. It was difficult to see his head moving, as it barely moved with its little flexibility, "Can you tell me how they know you break the rule?"

"No."

"A shame. One last question. Why are you certain your world isn't the Cothica?"

"Because it just doesn't. We have no power like you and we cannot do any great thing," the human answered.

"Maybe you lived there for so long that it doesn't feel like the Cothica," he brushed any doubt aside. He obviously assumed that it was just ordinary in the eyes of humans. His eyes went at the scanner, "I want to open this thing and see what's inside."

"Don't!"

"I can't MajorTom. I already tried," that almost gave the human a heart attack, "It is indestructible somehow. Yes, they are some rumors it could be broken. Very few rumors," his head was near the bars, "The Chaotic Player must be dead first for it to break."

The boy paled as his legs were about to give up.

"I won't kill you Chaotic Player. I only kill enemies. Anything coming from the Cothica… cannot be my enemies or killed. It is a sin," he turned around and walk away. The last thing he said before leaving was strange. Bahrakatan seemed tired suddenly, "And I will quiet those rumors. There is no need for bloods to spread over rumors."

He was gone with the scanner.

Tom sat on the ground. Nothing happened for a while. No one came. His friends weren't here. The M'arrillians were all around him. Maxxor couldn't save him. The Codemasters won't be able to reach him, even if he broke the rule to escape. He couldn't save himself. All he could do was wait for the worse.

A few hours later, he heard footsteps. Someone was coming. He raised his head. He won't break the rules put on Chaotic Players. They usually got those after their first match, but he got them later since he was send to Perim by Klay.

He faced the M'arrillian. He recognised him.

One he met when he challenged Sarah when she scanner him. The one who began the M'arrillian invasion. The second war against the tribes. He was a pink creature with a lighter shade of pink for his underbelly and chest, green eyes, long pointy dark pink ears, horn on his forehead and spikes on his back. He wore a dark green loincloth and bronze shoulder plates.

"Phelphor," the boy whispered.

The creature nodded as he said, "We need to talk MajorTom."

As he heard those words, the human noticed someone wrong on the face of the creature. It wasn't like Bahrakatan who felt tired in his words. His face wasn't like when Sarah took his form in the Beta drome. He couldn't put what was the problem. Maybe he would die right now in the end.

To Be Continued

AC: This is the end of this chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

Next chapter: Behind The Cracked Mask.

The inside the mind of a disillusioned M'arrillian or more. Tom discover the true face of one of them and the chaos of that tribe.