Chapter 6

Io stepped in.

"Whoa wait, you can't detonate explosives here! It can tear the space station apart!" Io shouted as she glanced at the explosives and quickly looked up at Ridley. Ridley gave Io a smug looked.

"Got a better plan there tin-hands?" Ridley said as he folded his arms. Ellipsis stayed quiet during this confrontation. It kind of reminded her of the old Ridley and Io and with that she reflected on those memories with a smile, but something dark came up to her in that moment. 'Where are they right now?' Ellipsis thought to herself.

"I propose that we take refuge in one of the escape pods." Jane suggested. It seemed like the most logical solution next to explosives going off in a space station. Ridley slowly turned his head towards Jane, maintaining the smug look.

"And where do you suppose we go from there?" Ridley said in a condescending tone. He was intrigued at where this was going but he was a little disappointed since it didn't seem like he was going to be able to use his explosives.

"Earth…" Ellipsis chimed in. Io and Jane gave her an odd look and then they looked at each other with concern on their faces. Ridley looked at her and his smug looked changed to a more positive look as he put his arms down.

"Alright, that sounds good." Ridley said as he started to put the explosives back around his chest. Io stood up.

"We can't go to Earth. It's not safe for us there." Io said as she looked at Jane and then at the rest of the group. There was a bit of a pause as both Ellipsis and Ridley turned towards Io and Jane.

"What do you mean by 'not safe'?" Ellipsis said with a concern look on her face.

"Well a long time ago, the Earth fell into a state of panic. Wars broke out between multiple nations and the end result was a nuclear holocaust. Many of the people took refuge in spaceships. Their priority was to leave the Earth and never come back." Jane said. Ellipsis and Ridley's eyes widen with surprise.

"Wow, you guys really fucked up didn't you?" Ridley said with shock in his eyes. There was another moment of silence. Ellipsis was captivated at what had happened to the planet and couldn't help but feel guilty that this was somehow her fault. Five thousand years changed dramatically for not only her friends but the rest of the world. The group had evaluated in on their options while they sat in silence. Ellipsis gave a sigh.

"Well I'd rather take my chances in a nuclear wasteland than on a crippling space station with the gate of the Umbral Sphere next door." Ellipsis said as she looked at everyone with a determine look. Jane and Io looked at each other for a moment and shrugged. Ridley looked back at Ellipsis, Io and Jane; anticipating a response. It wasn't an easy choice for Io or Jane. None of them have been to Earth at all. Reports would come in every now and then and told them of the radiation levels in certain areas but no signs of life. If they were to go down to the planet it would be a different experience for them. Both have lived on the space station their whole lives. They have never touched the surface of another planet before. Jane was the most hesitate out of the two. Io looked upon the situation with not only fear but also with a bit of curiosity. As they sat in silence Ridley decided to be the one to speak up.

"Well chop, chop eh; time to get a move on. No time for second guessing here eh?" Ridley said as he started to head towards the door. He suddenly paused and turned around. Jane and Io were still contemplating, while Ellipsis seemed ready as she started to give the sword a few practice swings.

"We're really doing this?" Jane said with some concern. She was still unsure about the whole plan. Ridley looked at her for a moment with slight frustration and yet understood where she was coming from. It's a scary thing going to a whole new world. Ridley remembered his first time being tossed into a new planet with new species. It wasn't easy for him. Ridley turned back and walked towards Jane. Io sensed something was up and quickly stood up to protect her. Ridley stopped and looked at her and then back at Jane.

"Look, I get it. It's not an easy choice. But in the end would you rather die up here or down there?" Ridley said. It was obvious he was trying to comfort her but the thought of death one way or another didn't strike Jane as a positive note. Jane soon stood up.

"Well, I suppose we don't really have much of a choice in the matter now do we?" Jane said in calm and authoritarian voice. It appeared for a moment she managed to conjure some level of confidence despite the odds. Both Ridley and Io were surprised at Jane's sudden change. One minute she seemed to be lost in thought and the next she was up and ready to go. Jane took a hold of the pistol in her right hand and inspected it before looking back at Ridley.

"Alright, we can get to the escape pod through the lobby outside, through the far left corridor, passed the emergency exit near the library." Jane said in a very calm voice. Ridley looked at Io and Ellipsis and then back to Jane, a wicked smile stretched across his face. As they gathered their supplies and prepare themselves to head out there suddenly came a huge roar. Chills ran down everyone's spine and prior to that thought it was gonna be an easy trip out the door. Turns out it wasn't.

As the door lifted itself up, Xeth was still standing right in front of the doorway. A few marmalits were crawling around him. He didn't seem bothered by it nor did the marmalits. Io and Jane passed by him without even looking at them. Both Ridley and Ellipsis stopped and looked at Xeth with questionable looks.

"They can't see them, can they?" Ellipsis said as she shooed off the marmalits from Xeth. Ridley shook his head.

"Creatures of the Umbral Sphere cannot be so easily seen by people from the photonic sphere, unless they've been to the Umbral Sphere." Ridley said as moved passed Xeth. Ellipsis followed and Xeth followed behind her. The loud roar came once again. Io peeked over the ledge and into the darkness she was greeted by several yellow eyes that all seem to simultaneously look directly at her. Suddenly large green tentacles covered in yellow spikes shot up into the air and attempted to grab Io. Io jumped back in time as the tentacle swiped at her. More unusual sounds came from all around them. Out of the furthest corridors came creatures with hellish red eyes. They had horns protruding from their heads and their backs. Some had tails while other did not. They were carrying weapons and charging at the party. Some had swords while others carried large clubs and shields. The tentacles made another swiped and smashed into the ground. The creatures got closer.

Ridley acted first and pulled out two pistols and started firing at the creatures that were quickly approaching. Some of the creatures were hit and fell while others were hit and continued to move forward. Ellipsis moved forward, gripping the sword she prepared herself. Jane lifted the pistol in her hand and fired. The sound of the bullet bouncing off in the distance echoed through everyone's ears.

Ridley knew what kind of creatures these were; he fought them before in the Umbral Sphere near the Visconeian Mountains. He continued to fire as the creatures got closer. Shots echoed all around them. The swarm was met with Io and Ellipsis carving their way through them. Io quickly punched and threw some off the ledge while Ellipsis took her sword and made quick clean cuts through the mob. Black blood painted the floor. Many creatures gave out a holler as they were either stabbed in the chest or tossed off the ledge. As the fighting went on the creature down below would raise its tentacle again and swiped at the group. Io got knocked back and then took a club to her face. Io shrugged it off; the pain only made her angry, as she hoisted a creature above her head and threw them at the creature down below.

Ellipsis started to get winded as the creatures continue to attack her with their weapons and block her attacks. At one point a creature with a great long black sword pinned Ellipsis to the wall only to be shot in the back of the head by Ridley. Jane continued to stay in the back and at one point panic and shot at Ridley. The bullet skimmed his shoulder and he let out a hollering scream. Ridley clutched his shoulder in pain as blood seeped through his fingers. The tentacle came up once more and slammed into the ground, breaking off a chunk. The ground below the group shook with great intensity. Sounds of concrete breaking could be heard from beneath them. As the floor began to give way the group tried to grab hold of whatever they had around them.

Io clamped down her robotic hand on the ledge just in time as the floor beneath her disappeared. Dust and debris littered her face and her hair as she hung onto the ledge. Down below her she saw some of the creatures fall to the first floor and get buried beneath the ruble. Ellipsis backed herself off to the wall and was standing on a very narrow path as the floor crumbled. Sword still in hand, she continued to block several attacks. Ridley on the other hand was not as lucky as he griped his shoulder in pain; he fell with the floor and landed on the bottom floor. He dropped his pistols and got hit with fairly large chunks of debris. Ridley let out another loud scream as a large chunk landed on his right leg. Blood trickled from his shoulder, his leg and his head as he laid there on the floor.

"Ridley…!" Ellipsis shouted as she looked down and saw Ridley lie upon the floor. Ellipsis picked up her sword and thrusted it into another creature. As the creature let out a roar Ellipsis grabbed hold of the creature and pulled it down with her to the first floor. In the last moment she spins the creature around and landed on top of it suppressing the fall. The tentacles took another swipe, this time landed onto of Io's metal hand, breaking it off. Io let out a scream as she too fell to the first floor. Her robotic arm was torn from the hand up to her elbow. It was now useless. Jane looked on the scene with horror.

Jane was still on the second floor with a large gap between her and the rest of the horde who decided to taunt her. Jane made the decision to quickly make her way down slowly. Just as she approached the ledge the tentacle creature stretched out and grabbed a hold of Jane and lifted her up. Jane let out a blood curling scream as the tiny spikes dug inside of her. She could feel the tiny spikes dig right into her body and with each sway of the tentacle. She could feel it rip and tear inside of her. Io heard these screams and picked herself up and saw before her Jane fly across the open space, wrapped in the tentacle's barbed spikes. Io acted quickly and with one hand jumped from the ledge where the tentacle was coming from, grasped on and with one hand started to climb. As Io climbed up the tentacle with one hand, the creature suddenly noticed her and the tentacle began waving back and forth with speed. Jane continued to scream in pain as she felt the spikes move back and forth inside her.

All this going on Ellipsis moved over to where Ridley was. She could hear the taunting of the creatures from above her as they started to throw their clubs at her and Ridley. Ridley opened his eyes and looked at Ellipsis. He had a wicked smile on.

"On a scale of one to ten, how dead am I?" Ridley said in a calm voice. He was lying in a pool of his own blood. Ellipsis said nothing as she attempted to pick him up. A club came whizzing by and landed right next to them. Ridley grabbed a hold of the club and used it to hoist himself up. He was barely able to stand on his own. His cloak was torn and gone, his pistols were damaged. Ellipsis knew their chances of survival now. As she heard in the background Jane's screams, she looked at Ridley who was wobbling on a club. The future was looking bleak but Ridley still had a smile on his face. Ellipsis could not figure out why. Ridley started to move forward towards the hole in the ground where the creature laid. The air was foul and smelled of moldy sweat socks. Ellipsis reached out and grabbed a hold of him.

"Ridley, what are you doing?" Ellipsis asked with a bit on concern in her voice. Ridley turned to Ellipsis. He was still smiling but not with his usual wicked grin like he was up to something, no this was more of a kinder, gentler smile. It scared Ellipsis.

"Oh I'm just gonna go for a short walk. Maybe take a few pictures. See my sister." Ridley said as he stared out towards the giant hole in the ground. Ridley took a few more steps forward before turning back to Ellipsis. He reached out for her hand and held it.

"It's been fun kid. See ya around." Ridley told her as he looked deeply into her eyes. In a flash Ridley took off running. He was there for a moment and then he was gone. It all happened so fast. Ellipsis stopped for a moment and realized that he cupped something in her hands. She looked at the contents in her hand. One was the queen of hearts and the other was a grenade pin. Ellipsis's eyes suddenly widen as she dropped to the ground.

What happened next would be forever sketched into her memory. Ridley was there, he was smiling. Then he was gone; queen of hearts. Pin, realization. Suddenly Ellipsis felt the ground rumble and roar. A huge column of fire shot up into the air from the large hole. Chunks of large purple and green mush rained down and landed right in front of Ellipsis. There was a loud scream. The horde of creatures screeched out in terror and retreated to an unknown origin. The tentacles swayed back and forth. Jane was holding on to the spikes that were still in her. Io gripped with her hand as the tentacle finally collapsing to the ground.

Io jumped off just in time as the tentacle crashed onto the ground. Jane landed with a thud. She continued to scream out in pain. Io rushed up to her and pulled her out of the tentacles grasp. There were several small spikes jammed into her back, stomach and arms. Blood stained her while coat. Io lifted her up and held her as best as she could with one hand and a torn robotic arm. Io moved over to where Ellipsis was.

Ellipsis was now standing in front of the hole, thunderstruck. She could not comprehend what had just happened. She just stood there in silence. Ridley was gone. And that was it. Suddenly Io came into her view.

"Ellipsis….Come on, we got to keep moving." Io said as she was struggling to hold Jane up. Jane had her arms wrapped around Io's neck and was holding on as best as she could despite the spikes protruding from her arms, back and stomach. Ellipsis turned to Io with a blank face.

"Where is Ridley?" Io asked. Ellipsis said nothing. She just dropped the grenade pin at her feet. Io looked down at it with some confusion at first. And then it suddenly hit her and there was a look of terror on her face as she turned towards the smoldering tentacles. Ellipsis walked back and picked up her sword. There was nothing left for her here. A cloud of guilt hung over Ellipsis's head as she marched towards the escape pod hanger. Guided by Io and the partially conscience Jane, the group moved through the narrow corridors, slaying anything and everything in their path. Ellipsis didn't say anything during the encounters through the corridors; she just let out a scream with every swing of her sword. It got to a point where she would drop her sword and began punching the creatures in the face. Her fists were tainted in their black blood. It wasn't her screaming that scared Io and Jane. It was the silence that came from her when they were heading to the pod. For Ellipsis, she was hunting.

Finally they came to the escape pod hanger and outside was Xeth. He stood there in silence and opened the door to the hanger. Ellipsis remained silent, she was lost in thought. There were still serval escape pods inside the hanger. The escape pod was fairly large; originally designed to house a large amount of people. It was equipped with a control panel as well as a small medical center. Jane was placed in the medical center, while Xeth was task by Io, with great frustration, to pilot the escape pod out of the hanger. Io rushed between other escape pods grabbing extra supplies like food, water and medical supplies.

Ellipsis sat in the corner in the medical center. Black blood dripped from her hair and onto the floor as she stared at her sword. Io looked over Jane's injuries as Xeth piloted the escape pod out of the hanger. The quick, sudden shakes and sharp turns made Io leave the medical center and forced her to co-pilot. Jane and Ellipsis remained in the medical center in silence. Jane still had several spikes stuck in her. Io managed to get to most of them out but not all of them. Jane would eventually get tired of waiting and with a pencil in her mouth she pulled the remaining spikes out and cleaned her wounds. Jane then slumped down on the cot and rested. It wasn't long before the adrenalin ceased and she was writhing in pain. Io would come by and check up on Jane and Ellipsis. After looking over Jane and giving her some anti-biotic pills she approached Ellipsis but stopped as Ellipsis stared at her with grief and anger in her eyes. Io left Ellipsis to her thoughts.

When they were both alone again, Jane heard the sword hit the ground and the soft sounds of weeping. Ellipsis gripped the queen of cards as her tears blemished the floor. She felt completely empty inside. As if all color in the universe suddenly turned grey. She remained in the corner softly crying. Even though she only knew him for a short time, the pain she felt in her heart was great and heavy. She had lost a friend and it pained her now as it always has.

Jane sat on the cot in silence as well. She didn't see what had happened to Ridley but she can make a pretty good guess. He was a bit of a stuck up ass but he helped them escape. She didn't get to know Ridley as Ellipsis did but she understood what Ellipsis was going through and left her alone to grieve. Io was the sitting in the co-pilots chair, doing whatever she could to keep herself busy. But in moments of pause she stared off into the blackness of space and couldn't help but feel melancholy. It was a long day for all of them. As quiet hours rolled around, Io walked around and checked up on Jane and Ellipsis. Jane had fallen asleep in the cot when the pain pills had started to work and Ellipsis was still awake, staring at the queen of hearts that she placed on the floor.

"Hey…Ellipsis…" Io said with hesitation. She knew Ellipsis was going through a lot right now and was not sure how she was going to respond. Ellipsis picked her head up. There was a blank expression written on her face. Ellipsis said nothing, just stared at Io with her soulless eyes and her teared stained blank face. Io had a plan, she didn't know if it was going to work but she figured she might as well try.

"Want to see the stars?" Io said with a smile. There was a brief pause before Ellipsis stood up. She gave I small smile but it was a start. Ellipsis had only seen a small glimpse of outer space earlier on the space station but at that point she was paralyzed and didn't get much a look. Now here she was in the control room. Xeth was sitting in the co-pilots seat while Io sat in the captain's seat. As she stared out into the vastness of out space she felt a sense of relief within her. She was completely captivated by the sight. Stars painted across the sky. Unknown planets ripped with colors. Rich beautiful colors that danced across space, with mixtures of purples, yellows, blues and greens. Nothing like Ellipsis had ever seen. Five thousand years and she thought she'd seen everything. It gave her a funny feeling that anything was possible. As she gazed out into the great unknown in silence, Io was making slight adjustments to the ships position.

And soon there it was, right before Ellipsis; planet Earth. Ellipsis's jaw dropped at the sight. She knew it was Earth but it was still incredible. Here she was, on top of the world, looking down on everything.

"Welcome home Ellipsis." Io said as she looked at Ellipsis.