A/N: This really did NOT want to be written. But I provaled over it! Y'all know the rules, I don't own anything. I'd be rich if I did.
Meet the Family Ch 4
Diego stared at the strange beings that came through the portal. Four groups of three, each of them were carrying a bag full of…something. No one had been brave enough to even break open the bags, though they had been relatively light despite the bulk. This lead to suspicion on the base's part and took the bags to be scanned. The belts and wrist gizmos that were attached to each other were taken away and went with the bags. That didn't stop Diego from being curious about their impromptu "guests."
The first group of three was led by a tawny lion man with an armored arm, legs and shoulder. The other two were a white furred, antlered man with tattoos on his right arm and eye and a giant pig man looking like an Australian outback ranger. They looked at the black machine guns pointed at them with distain.
The two groups that came after them consisted of slightly-taller-than-human sized lizards and ants. The lizards followed an old alligator lizard while the ants' momma duck was a two legged red ant with four arms, grey hair, and a red goatee. The other two lizards were both sandy yellow, but one had fins by his ears and the other had spiked wrist guards. The ants looked the same, but one was grey and old and the other was jet black with red hair. Diego didn't think that it was possible for insects to have hair.
The last group came a little later than the others, a hunched over blue dragon with yellow eyes in front and followed by a large fat green ogre with a vest and a four armed man, yellow green skinned and only arm having an actual hand. They viewed the weapons with amusement and chatted amiably among each other and the other three groups.
Anamaria appeared at Diego's elbow and growled. "I don't like them. I don't like them at all."
Diego shrugged and said hopefully, "They speak English. Maybe they're friendly."
Anamaria watched as the white furred man yawned and leaned against a nearby tree, presumably to take a nap. The others in his group nudged him upright and he threw them what could only be described as a scowl. She shook her head. "I still don't like them."
Her brother gave her a look. "Give them a chance. They just arrived and probably have no clue about our customs, weapons, or anything," Diego chided. Then he made up his mind. "I'm going to take them to the mess hall. Get them something to eat, make them feel welcome."
Anamaria looked at him like he'd lost his mind as he reached for his cell phone.
"No! Are you crazy? They'll kill us!" she hissed franticly in Italian. "They'll kill us all and take our heads to their leaders!"
"Colonel Smith? It's Majors. It's about the visitors. Yes, I know that the bags haven't completely cleared yet but I was thinking that it would be a better welcome than what we have now. No, sir, my sister didn't give me a concussion. I was thinking the mess hall, sir. Plenty of men there to keep an eye on them so they can't get into much trouble. Yes, sir, thank you, sir," Diego talked into the phone. Anamaria glared at her older brother.
"He had better have said 'no'," she snarled. Diego looked grim for all of five seconds before a smug grin broke out and he strode over to the beings. Anamaria stood there, shocked, before her scowl returned and stomped away him. "If I don't give you a concussion, then Mama will!"
Diego just rolled his eyes and motioned for the guards to bring the groups. One guard pointing his gun at the old ant asked, "Where too, Captain Majors?"
"The mess hall. Colonel's order by my request," the captain answered. The guards glanced at each other, one shrugged, and the rest began to push the guests to the mess hall. Diego stopped the lion man as the guards escorted the beast passed him. Human and beast scanned each other up and down, carefully assessing everything from muscle mass to hairstyle to whisker.
"You look familiar," Diego stated, running a hand through his spiky short dark brown hair. "I've seen your face before, I just can't place where."
The lion searched as well, then smirked. "At least I have a face to place a name."
Then he went past as Diego frowned in confusion, trying to make out what the being meant.
...
"This can't be the real world now!
I don't believe it when I can't see the truth
Welcome to the real world now!
When all our carried in now just to poison you!"
Nebres flinched at the loud human music blaring into the place called the "mess hall." The human captain wasn't prepared for it either; he winced at the wild screeching as well. Pausing, the captain looked around before moving to a free table. Benches served as seats, which also served a problem to Ekuud.
"Jones! Pass me that chair, will ya? Come on, kiddies! We have guests," the captain barked out and a flurry of movement began, ending with all occupants facing their table and an extra chair pressed against a bench for Ekuud. The music was turned down and everyone began to whisper. Ekuud looked over the impromptu Danian resting chair, then tentatively sat on it.
It held, and by the look on Ekuud's face, Nebres could only guess that he was impressed. The Battlemaster nodded slowly and the humans grinned.
"Seat down, please," the captain requested politely. Tangath allowed Owis and Nebres to go first before sitting down himself. Agitos, Dardemus, and Khybon had a bit of shuffling to do before taking their own seats. Lore and Raznus took up on either side of Ekuud while Ario let Qwun and Zhade sit first, like Tangath did. Once the Tribal representatives had seated themselves did the captain sit down and fold his hands.
"I am Diego Majors, Captain of the United States Marines," the human began. Nebres watched as Tangath nodded solemnly.
"I am Tangath Toborn. This is Nebres," Nebres nodded his head as Tangath introduced him, "and this is Owis."
"Hi!" Owis waved cheerfully, his pointed ears twitching the only thing betraying his nervousness.
Ario began next. "Ario. These are Qwun and Zhade." Both Mipedians nodded as well when they were introduced.
Ekuud picked up on the introductions. "Ekuud. This is Ambassador Raznus and this is Lore." Raznus gave a small wave while Lore, looking bored, just nodded as well. The captain raised an eyebrow and whistled. "Ambassador? Impressive."
Agitos finished up. "I am Agitos. Khybon and Dardemus are my companions." Dardemus grinned a toothy grin, showing off his sharp teeth. Khybon nodded like most of the Creatures introduced.
"I apologize about the welcome, but we're on high alert now," Majors started again.
"Because your children are missing." Ario made his statement sound like a question. All human eyes snapped toward him, most of them smoldering, some inquisitive.
"You know?" a woman with pale skin and platinum blonde hair in a blue camouflage uniform whispered. "You have our children?"
Nebres began to feel uneasy as Agitos nodded just as uneasy. "Yes, they have been visiting us for a long time now."
The dragon Creature chuckled uneasily. "They probably know Perim better than us, no doubt."
An unholy shriek tore through the air as the woman flew at Nebres, trying to reach his throat. Tangath barely had time to pull him back as the woman was caught by a couple of men.
"Thieves! Thieves! You steal our children like they are fruit on a branch! They are not yours to take!" she screamed. "You stole my daughter from me!"
Nebres took deep breathes as the woman was carried away by the captain and two others, one of which was another woman. Cothica, please don't tell me that all the mothers will act like that! he thought. Well, most of them, at least!
Owis looked at the rest of the soldiers as they watched as Captain Majors talked in a hushed whisper to the enrage woman.
"It was an accident," Owis muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear. Raznus picked up on the Overworlder's thoughts.
"One of our more…massive…Battlegear had several cases of malfunctions. One of the gear keepers was attempting to fix it, but it malfunctioned again."
"Sending your children's Earth selves to us," finished Lore. There was silence after the explanation. The humans were staring at them like they suddenly grew extra appendages, Khybon excluded.
Captain Majors took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, the brown eyes seemed thoughtful.
"Have you eaten yet?" came the erupt question. The Creatures looked at each other shocked. Was that it? Did the adults know and were just testing them?
The captain's answer came from Qwun's stomach. Qwun blushed bright red while Majors smiled gently.
"Good. We can talk about the kids' 'Earth selves' over lunch. Be right back. Don't let Johnson attack them again," he ordered his men before disappearing through a door where meat cooking over a flame emerged. Nebres had to admit, it did smell pretty good. He looked toward Tangath, who shrugged. When the captain entered, he was carrying several trays of looked to be like bowls of thick creamy stew with noodles.
Quickly, the Tribal representatives rised up to help…only to be seated again by the men. Nebres looked curiously at the soldiers.
"You are our guests. It's our custom to serve the guests first before serving ourselves," a dark man explained, his skin as black as smoke and his hair wiry. Then he grinned, showing off white teeth. "Be grateful you faced Johnson rather Cap's sister. Now there's a devil."
Raznus perked at the statement. "Sister?"
The dark man jerked his head to the glowering woman with ice blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. They all just stared at her, perplexed at the similarities and vast differences. She had his nose and general shape of his face, but that was it. How can the captain call her his sister?
"She's related to the captain?" Lore said, astonished. The dark man laughed.
"Believe it or not, they are. She takes more after her father than her mother, though she has her mother's temper. We would've had trouble getting her off of you. Name's Richard Smith," he introduced, holding out his hand. Nebres shook it, surprising him with his firm grip.
"Let me guess, her name's Anamaria?" Dardemus shrewdly said. Again, the humans stared.
"Knock it off, guys. Quit staring," Majors reprimanded, apparently not hearing Dardemus and setting the trays down and passed out the bowls. Steam wafted off the cubes of meat, and the sauce was a red pink shade. Pitchers of water, ice water, and hot water were placed along the table with cups, and packets of tea leaves were placed next to the hot water. Silverware appeared next to the hot bowls. Another soldier, black haired and brown skinned, smirked.
"Nothing for us?"
Majors gave her a look that said "What do you think?" She laughed.
"I'll get my own bowl. By the way," she turned to the Creatures, "I'm Maya Gomtez."
With that, she turned and marched to the kitchen and the rest of the soldiers followed. The captain shook his head and took his seat, grabbing his own meal from a tray. The only ones left in the room were the Creatures, Anamaria, Johnson, and the captain.
Tangath took a deep breath. "Captain…"
The captain raised his hand. "If we're going to have lunch together, we might as well use our names."
Tangath nodded, stabbing a piece of meat. "Diego, you want to know how there is an 'Earth self' in the children who went missing. Each player gets a code, which when entered, provides a second self that cannot truly be harmed. This second self can still be killed, but not the first self. The second self is essentially memories that they obtain by being with us."
With that, Tangath ate the meat. Nebres and the other Creatures watched as Tangath carefully felt the texture and juiciness of the meat and the tanginess of the sauce. At last, he nodded.
"This is good. What is it?" the Overworld general asked. With praise said, the rest of the representatives dug into the strange stew.
"Beef stroganoff," answered Maya as she returned with her bowl.
"What I want to know is how you," Anamaria appeared growling behind Dardemus, startling everyone, "know my name."
Dardemus grinned, showing off his teeth again. "I've heard of your brother."
Immediately, the angry woman did a 180 into a concerned sister.
"Tom? You know him? How? When? Where?" she asked in rapid succession. Dardemus shook his head.
"I've heard of him. From what I understand," he boldly said, glancing at the Overworlders, "he's Maxxor's boy."
Anamaria seemed to seize up in shock. Shallow breathes were taken, and it took a whack on the back by Richard to get her breathing normally.
"Maxxor's boy?" she screeched. Tangath, Nebres, and Owis nodded, and Agitos snarled at Dardemus. "Thank you for starting up trouble!"
Diego looked between the Underworlders, the Overworlders, and his little sister, who looked like she was going to rip someone's head off. Finishing up his bite, he risked asking, "What do you mean, 'Maxxor's boy'? Who is Maxxor?"
Nebres couldn't help but swell with pride over his leader. "He's the greatest Overworlder hero ever. Chaor is the Underworlder's hero," he added for good measure.
Diego still had a dead expression, clearly having no clue about the game.
"Sweetheart, I know that you think you're making sense, but really, you're not," Maya said, taking another stab of her stroganoff. Nebres, not pouting, growled at the Hispanic woman.
SLAM!
Every head turned to the doors as a secretary ran after…a moving pile of paper? Qwun and Zhade began to laugh when the paper pile attacked Diego with a squeal of delight, knocking him off of the bench. Then it began to bounce up and down on his stomach, chanting "Diego, Diego, DIEGO, Diego!"
Ario finally took pity on the poor captain and lifted from the paper pile a little girl around six. Qwun and Zhade laughed all the harder and even the other Creatures allowed a little chuckle to escape. Diego groaned in pain from the little footprints that had danced on his gut, sitting up slowly. Once he was sitting back on the bench, Ario set the girl down gently and took his seat again with his giggling companions. The captain glared at the beaming child and was about to scold her when the secretary wailed.
"Captain Majors, she," pointing to the giggling girl, still clutching some of the papers, "just barged right in the check point room, nosed right into four bags, and grabbed whatever was inside!"
Richard snorted in his bowl in annoyance of the secretary. Maya raised a brow as the rest of the soldiers grumbled and returned to their meal, used to the secretary's rants of insubordination. The girl, olive skinned and black haired like Tom but with brown eyes, was still clutching several papers to herself and bouncing up and down like a Mexican jumping bean, or rather, an Italian jumping bean. Diego and his soldiers had a "We're used to this" expression on his face while the Creatures just stared at the hyper child. The secretary continued to go on about the child's actions.
"She's a menace! She shouldn't even be allowed on base!"
Maya rolled her eyes. "Ian?"
"WHAT?" The secretary screeched.
"Shut up," came the tense reply. Ian snapped his fat mouth shut. Diego returned his attention to the girl.
"Talia, what is it?" he asked patiently. "Talia" seemed to bounce even more and squealed, "Letters! They're all LETTERS!"
A pregnant pause captured the mess hall, leaving only chirping birds outside to echo in the halls. Talia continued to jump up and down with a little less energy while pulling out a folded paper sealed in red wax.
"It's true," Qwun spoke up.
"Most of the players were still in Chaotic, but the ones that stayed with us we made write letters," Khybon said.
"This one's for you, from Tommy!" Talia exclaimed, thrusting the letter under Diego's nose. Diego gingerly took the letter while Talia's papers were taken back by Ian. She only kept two others to herself, hugging them to her chest tightly.
"Corporal Hinder, round up some other secretaries, take all the letters in those bags and mail them to their respective families. I'll be in to help you soon," the captain ordered tensely. The secretary nodded and saluted, which the captain returned before running off after saying that the captain better not join or else.
Suddenly, Nebres noticed that Talia kept glaring at Dardemus, her chubby face hard around her button nose.
"Great," she said sullenly. "Where is the boys' bail, Dardemus?"
...
Talia knew all the Creatures sitting in front of her. Tom and Kaz had told her stories about Chaotic, Perim, and their inhabitants. Many of her older family members didn't believe them, but she did. She always did.
Her older cousin cleared her throat and asked, "Uh, Talia? How do you know them?"
Dardemus rolled his eyes. "The boys are not in jail."
Talia snorted. "Dardemus is the warden for the Pits, the Underworld Prison. Kaz told me about him."
"Kaz told you about whom?" Talia whirled around to see Kaz's mother, Marietta Kalinkas, striding over to look at the Creatures.
"Hey, Marietta," Diego called casually over his shoulder, reading Tom's letter. Talia just turned around to scowl at Dardemus again, placing both letters on the table for safekeeping. Poor Dardemus looked like he was about to be attacked by some rabid beast. Agitos perked at the sight of Marietta. He slid out from his spot on the bench and stalked over in his usual style, hunched over and glaring. Talia watched as he examined Marietta carefully up and down. Finally, he nodded.
"She's it." Talia looked confused at the dragon Creature as the others looked at the red head.
"You sure?" Khybon asked, standing as well. Dardemus was about to stand as well. Talia stopped him with a growl. Dardemus gave a half-hearted glare at her, but she didn't care.
"I'm positive. Look at her! He's almost a copy of her." Agitos gestured to Marietta, who looked at him huffily.
"You better be talking about my son," she growled, poking Agitos in the snout. Agitos held his hands in the surrender position. Talia giggled at the adviser of Chaor backing down to a female so fast.
"Your son is Kaz?" Tangath asked rising as well. Marietta nodded, eyes fixed on Agitos.
"Kaz is Chaor's favorite," Dardemus grinned, starting up the conversation from before. A tiny shoe whacked him in the head. Snorting, the ogre turned to have a glaring contest with Talia.
"Well, well. The boys are fine, apparently, and their homework done." Diego looked up from his letter. Talia didn't hear him, still in the glaring contest. "They seem fine."
"They are fine. We know how to take care of our humans," Lore assured him. Talia broke the contest with Dardemus first. She turned to Marietta and snatched up one of the letters.
"Aunt Marietta! This is from Kaz!" Talia happily waved the letter in the air, handing it over to the respective receiver. Marietta grasped the letter with reverent fingers and broke the seal. Quickly, she skimmed most of the letter and twisted to see all of the Underworlders.
"So, Kaz is safe?" Talia looked on nervously as Khybon nodded.
"His homework done?" Dardemus nodded.
"Madame, all Chaotic players are safe and sound. No true ill effects were reported, and most are anxious about their families and their opinions," Raznus politely explained.
"Are you sure she's Kaz's mother? She looks a bit…young to be his mother," Khybon doubted. Talia shook her head, making panicky motions to shut up. Tangath came to her the rescue.
"So, what has Tom told you about us, Talia was it? For one so small, you probably can't guess all of our names by rank," the great lion man challenged. Talia turned to him with a smirk.
"Are you sure?" she challenged back.
"Have at him, Punkinator!" Maya cheered as the soldiers settled in for was going to be a good show.
A/N: Here's to hoping that Ch 5 won't be a pain the caboose as this one. Please review! The song used was "Real World" by The All-American Rejects. I was listening to it while writing this.