Peyton and Tom sat, looking at the port circles, waiting for their other friends to come.

"What's going up in there dude? You look a little stressed out?" the brown-haired boy commented as he leaned against his chair, gesturing at his head.

"It's just stuff on Earth. I saw a car following me for a while and I thought they were going to get me. The government is scary when they want to be… if it's even them." the Overworlder player replied anxiously, tapping the table surface.

"You too? I noticed it too, but I don't get too nervous. I walk around often, just when it's crowded." Peyton replied, his voice light and easy.

"Yeah. It's not that much in the morning. I only felt better when I joined Kaz though. I really hate this mess." Tom said, not wanting to tell his friend that it might be because of the project file he had obtained from Code Master Crellan. He did wonder why Codemaster Crellan hadn't told him to delete the file after he had read it. Still, it was best for everybody if he kept it to himself for now.

"Oh yeah. Alex passed by earlier. He got a match right now, so you can tell him hi later." Added Peyton, randomly, trying to change the glum mood.

"Anything about what he saw in Antarctica?" Asked Tom, trying to hide his eagerness at the possibility of news.

"Not yet. He said that he reached it and it is cold as hell there. Like, being way too chill that it's literally cold." Said Peyton.

"Going there is not one of my plans in the future." Tom commented offhand, imagining the freezing cold. Glacier Plains was bad enough.

"Me neither." Peyton agreed.

The both said nothing for a while and look back at the port circles and waited. After a few minutes they turned to screens to see the start of Alexandre's match. They both watched as Alexandre fought against someone else in Al-Mipedim.

"What's your plan for today Tom? Better not go anywhere alone. Kaz and Sarah will literally strangle you if you do that again." Peyton warned him, waving his fingers.

"Nothing like that." Tom replied, slightly defensive. He looked at Peyton for a bit before letting his shoulders sag. Looking he sighed and added, "It was a risk I needed to take."

"Just tell us next time and keep in touch with us at minimum!" Peyton exclaimed, waving his hands.

"Okay. I get it. And what about you?" Tom asked.

"Since you asked, I want to visit Theb-Saar. There are a few things I want to talk with him and- maybe you can come with me." Peyton asked, hoping his friend said yes.

"You know I'm friend with Maxxor." Commented Tom, slightly nervous.

"I'm sure it won't be dangerous- a lot safe." Peyton chuckled.

"Not completely." Tom countered.

"Come with me please. You already met him when he appeared here." Peyton begged.

"I know." Tom replied, thinking over Peyton's request before he nodded, "Okay. But isn't it something that you might prefer to do with Sarah? You visited him last time with her."

"Yeah, but I don't want her to blow up furiously. She can be like a giant fire sometimes." Peyton replied, which Tom couldn't help but agree with. He clapped his hands, "And please don't tell her we are going to visit Theb-Saar, she'll just want to go."

"Of course, she will." Tom absently agreed.

Peyton asked, "So really, don't tell her where we are going? Just say that we are going to Al-Mipedim to get a scan?"

Tom thought about it and looked at his friend. He did hide things from them occasionally, and certainly now, but he couldn't help but think this might be a bad idea. He sighed and replied, "Only if we tell them what we did later today."

"Sure dude!" Peyton said, already getting up.

And their day was planned. Tom thought, joining him.

Chapter 42: Second Chance

Tom and Peyton ported in Al-Mipedim, not too far from the castle.

"It's great that Sarah and Kaz doesn't suspect anything right bro?" the Mipedian player asked with a confident grin.

"I don't know. Sarah was really eyeing on you for some reason. She might be wondering if you are trying to see Theb-Saar or not." His friend replied.

"She won't know and it's my decision. I know she's really worried for me, but that one is on me." Peyton replied, sounding sure of his decision.

"You sure about it? I can't really blame you. The other tribes are surely thinking the same as Theb-Saar." Tom replied.

"Maxxor too?" Peyton asked, a bit surprised.

"Yeah. He was as honest as he could be." Tom nodded.

"How?" Peyton asked as they approached the castle.

"I don't remember if I told you or not about how the Telebracers were made?" Tom thought about it and didn't remember saying anything about it.

"I don't think so bro. When you came back from visiting Maxxor, you were still shocked and looking at your scanner for some reason." Peyton replied. He held it in front of him with his face trying to look like he saw something that changed everything. It was a terrible face that made the other one chuckle.

"I'm sure my face didn't look that ugly. Still, I forgot to tell you." Tom retorted, crossed his arms. He checked around and sighed, "Mipedians know already anyway. They use something in our scanner to make the Telebracers work."

"W-what bro? That's like muncho impossible!" Peyton waved his hands and stopped as he thought more, "That's what I would believe if they didn't come to Chaotic."

"They also somehow got the coordinates to Chaotic in our scanners." Tom said no more. Just in case spies from the other tribes were around, hidden, and waiting for an ambush. They were close to the castle and spies could be around.

"No wonder they managed to come to Chaotic." Peyton said, nodding.

They stopped talking about it as they reached the entrance of the castle. The guards at the entrance gazed at the boys. They waited.

"Peyton. You think they will be fine with me going inside?" Tom questioned, uncertain.

"I'm sure Theb-Saar have no problem with that bro." Peyton replied.

"Peyton. You are back." One of the guards commented, looking interested. He gazed at the boy, "Is he going to be as troublesome as the female?"

The other guard gazed at the first one, confused. For the humans, it was clear that one of the guards was the same one who guarded the entrance last time. Tom was not there that time, but could easily guess that.

"I-I won't." Tom nervously replied.

"What's going on?" The other guard asked.

"She was an angry human." The first guard replied. He turned towards the boy, "Wait. Here, I'll announce your arrival to our king." He turned around and walked inside.

Tom gazed at his friend and asked, "You think he's happy to see you?"

"I don't know." Peyton admitted, "I just hope he is in a good mood. You can't ever really be sure with kings." He gazed at the guard, silently asking.

"He is." the Mipedian guard replied.

"Then we're good." Peyton gave his friend a thumb up.

"Great," he replied.

The guard came back and said, "Come with me. He is eager to see you Peyton," he pointed his claw at the other human, "And you are also welcome here Tom Majors."

"T-thanks." Tom replied, surprised.

The two followed the guard as they went in the castle.

The boys were a little nervous about what would come next. Peyton was uncertain if the king would be that open to meet him after what happened for a while. As for Tom, it was mostly his affiliation with Maxxor that made him nervous. His hero almost fought against Marquis Darini in Chaotic and it might be in the mind of the Mipedian king.

They reached the throne room and saw the king sitting on it, and by his side was Tiaane.

The High Muge gazed at his king and let out a small smile and said, "I told you he would come back." Turning towards the humans he nodded at them, "Welcome. It's been a long time since I saw you two together."

Tom let out a small smile, "Sure. Peyton told me you were alright after you saved us but I don't know how."

"Explanations will wait another time Tom." The muge chuckled as he gazed at the larger boy.

Theb-Saar nodded at the Overwolder player and turned towards the other one, his friend, "Welcome back Peyton. I hope you took your time to think of everything."

"Yeah. I was gone for a while." Peyton chuckled nervously. He had been thinking that both in Chaotic and on Earth. So, he did a two on one in a way, "About everything you said and how I felt."

The king just gave a sign for him to go on, not wanting to pry.

Tiaane was also curious about the conclusion of the boy.

"I wasn't sure if I should forgive you for what you did. You were using me for something I'm not even really sure what about." Peyton grabbed his left arm and gazed at the side, "What did you want from me? What did you want to gain from befriending me? A whole lotta other people are after us because of this here and on Earth. I mean and even here, the M'arrillians might be interested in getting us, they tried twice MajorTom and got him the second time. I mean… coming at Chaotic like that and with everything going before and after, I just had my mind all numb for thinking about everything that happened and that." Peyton played with his hair as he spoke and his haircut was put to waste.

The Mipedians held back any snickered they might have with how weird his haircut was right now.

The king was quite pensive. The consequence on the Cothica, which they called Earth. He didn't know it had such an impact on his friend back to his own world. The Cothica might prepare for them, or something else.

"It took me a while but I talked with a friend for a while. I didn't really want to talk about a you and me problem, but I said I mentioned it and we talked about it. I said how I felt, etc. Not all of my problems to not worry her. She then told me about the time I did something a little…a little like that." he didn't explain with detail, "I tried to use her for challenging a Codemaster and things ended up badly for me. Still, we're friends now."

"She gave you another chance." Tiaane concluded.

Tom nodded, Lulu did come to him and forgave him.

"And with that, I know what to do." Peyton looked into the bright in the red eyes of the king. He let out a small smile and declared, "I have to give you another chance. No one is always doing the right thing and… you are the king. You are thinking about your tribe too. I… I know you told me the true."

"Are you sure?" Tom asked his friend quietly, making sure no one heard them. He didn't want his friend to make a mistake. Still, he wasn't against it.

"I'm sure about it bro. I know King Theb-Saar isn't a bad dude." Peyton let out a reassuring smile, "And I'll be careful if he tries something like that again." He put his hand on his chest as he made a promise to watch over himself.

That satisfied Tom who turned towards the ruler of Al Mipedim. He was about to say something that could be viewed as a threat but changed his sentence. Guards were surely around, and politeness was a better option, "Please. Don't try that again."

"Do not worry. I do not want to lose a friend like him. I should have been more honest with you Peyton. Maxxor was much more with you Tom Majors. I should follow his example a little." Theb-Saar stood up form his throne and approached the humans, "I am honestly relieved that you gave me a second chance. I will not waste it." He spoke with the boys for a while and eventually, his red eyes went to the boy with black hair, "and Tom Majors, thank you for helping Maxxor and Darini avoid any problem with the Codemasters. I am happy that it wasn't Mudeenu or some other Mipedian who were there when Maxxor came to Chaotic."

"N-no problem." Replied Tom. Looking at the king of Al-Mipedim and he wondered, "You know Maxxor, right?"

Peyton knew the conversation went elsewhere, but he didn't mind. He had nothing else to say for now. Besides, he had to mentally prepare himself from the backlash Sarah was going to give him once he was back and they told her and Kaz what went on.

Theb-Saar replied, "Of course I know him. I knew him before he ruled over the Overworld. He grew up so much as a leader." Theb-Saar let out a very small amusing grin, "He's not that easy to read anymore."

The humans gazed at him and wondered what he meant by that.

"Tomorrow, I'll be visiting Chaotic again." The king told them. He crossed his arms and added, "I expect Sarah to cause me some trouble."

"Good to know." Peyton nervously chuckled. Sarah would give both them and him a piece of her mind, but it wouldn't cost her code at least.

The group continued to talk until the boys had to leave. Their friends were calling them and checked if everything was alright. After this, the humans ported out.

Theb-Saar and Tiaane gazed at the empty space. They said no words, but the two creatures felt one problem off their shoulders. Peyton could still be their guide to the Cothica.

The king knew that he would tell the boy when the time came. He wouldn't hide it anymore. Still, there was a lot to prepare. For now, he wondered which tribe would come to Chaotic next. He hoped it wouldn't be the M'arrillians.

AC: This is the end of this chapter.

Next: An Active Day At Chaotic.

Theb-Saar visits Chaotic once again and when he sees Alexandre, he hopes to learn more about the boy, while being under the watch of the Overworlder.