Perry skidded to a stop and gazed up at Danville Mountain.
It was completely covered in lightly-colored wood shavings.
"There you are." Said a metallic voice. Remy appeared in full robotic armor, followed by a broad-shouldered goat who was holding a large stungun.
"Wonderful, a fellow male." The goat mumbled.
"Sorry?" Perry said.
"He hates girls." Remy said, playfully nudging the goat in the side. "Perry, meet fellow O.W.C.A.S.F.W.C.A member, Boris."
Boris gave a nod. "So, are we scaling this mountain?"
"You tell me. You two are the ones who found it."
"The slime leads upward." Remy said, using her robotic hand to illuminate the goo. "So I'd say yes."
"All right then." Perry said.
It was difficult to climb. The wood chips kept giving way, and Perry was annoyed with Boris's heavy breathing.
Twice Boris stopped to rest. Perry held out a hand to him, but Boris waved him away.
Remy was the only one who seemed to be able to scale the mountain with no trouble. She reached the top before either of them.
"Uh-oh." She suddenly said, her voice no longer electronic.
Perry stopped and nearly slipped as Boris crashed into him. "What?"
"Strange growths everywhere. And my electronics just gave out." Remy pulled out her raygun and tried to fire it. "Nothing's working."
Perry reached the top and pulled himself up.
Strange flowers were scattered all over the top of Danville Mountain, which appeared very marshy. Plants that looked like tentacles inhabited the spots where grass had once grown.
"I don't like this." Remy whimpered.
"Me neither." Perry said.
Boris clambered up and tried to stun one of the plants. "This stunner isn't working, either. Use caution, you two."
"A boat?" Perry said. "What the heck is going on?"
A river that hadn't been on the mountain the last time Perry scaled it had suddenly produced a small wooden boat, which bobbed ominously on the dark shimmering water.
"Can't analyze it." Remy said. "No electronics."
A huge wind blew. The mountain began to disintegrate under their feet.
"Guess we have no choice now." Perry said.
"You go first." Boris shoved Remy into the boat and hopped in after her.
Perry pushed the boat off and jumped in.
The boat floated past the flowers and tentacles. As they drifted, the strange plants seemed to get taller, darker and slimier.
The mountain had straightened out into a flat surface. The sky was completely blocked out by the plants.
"We're drifting toward that metal cave." Remy said.
Two large doors slid open. The boat cracked into pieces on a cement floor. Perry, Boris and Remy all fell on their faces.
Perry heard the doors slide closed behind them. He pushed himself into a sitting position.
They were in a small, dimly lit steel room. A few cabinets were against the walls. Something was printed in red on the wall. Perry didn't understand the language.
Two doors slid open to their left, and a tall human woman walked in. She had short, grey hair and small green eyes. She looked at them.
"Hello there." She said.
Perry stared at her. Her voice was friendly, yet cold.
"You don't appear to be the same as the majority of them." She said. "Who are you?"
Perry gave a meaningless chatter.
"Oh." The woman said. "You don't speak in this tongue."
She picked up a rusty box and rubbed what looked like chalk on it.
Perry watched her suspiciously.
"I am Gretalyn." She said. "And you are?"
"Why does it matter?" Perry asked. "Why are we here?"
To his surpise, it came out as "Phizlet coinatlox? Phizmixtuo leerbiz?"
The woman smiled as though she found him amusing. "You're here because you came here. Now. Who are you?"
"Perry."
"The other ones?"
"Remy. Boris."
"Ah. I am Gretalyn." Gretalyn made a strange motion with her head that seemed to be some form of greeting.
"Are you the one causing the slime?" Perry attempted to ask. Instead he asked, "Mixneeo xindry treboxatim?"
"Slime? Are you referring to this?" Gretalyn squeezed an invisible substance in her hand. "It is a nice thing, isn't it? Created by top scientists from where I come from. Makes humans go bonkers."
"Mitleerneeo codaetis? Fi… neeo zix human?"
"No, I am not human." Gretalyn gave him another evil smile. "And I come from the planet Trizbaale, to answer your first question. And to answer all other questions that seem inevitable, I will explain. I have come to reinvent my own city. Mockery and scorn drove me from my own planet. I gathered my own followers- thousands of what humans call 'aliens', studied up on human life, and got scientists to create this goo. It will make the humans unable to defend themselves. I shall take over. I shall enslave the humans of Danville. And as soon as I figure out some things about your species, since you don't seem like the kinds of humans I studied, I shall prevent you from uprising as well. And Danville shall become Gretalynville."
Perry narrowed his eyes. "Neeo zix catakia!"
"I WILL get away with it." Gretalyn said, her eyes glowing. "We Trizbaaleans are far superior in both technology, psychological manipulation and physical strength. If I showed you my true form, you would cower in fear."
"Zix reeo spickzentis!"
"In a moment, I shall transfer you back to your native tongue. In a moment. First you must answer some questions." Gretalyn said. "What is the main weakness of your species? Answer truthfully. I detect lies."
Perry remained silent.
"And that creature there, what is his? I don't care about your robot. I know how to defeat robots. But what would you say would cause you to… lose it?"
Perry said nothing.
"I would never enslave you." Gretalyn said. "Answer truthfully, and you will be rewarded."
Perry folded his arms.
Gretalyn's eyes gleamed. "Do you need to be persuaded?"
Perry watched her.
Her eyes began to glow bright red.
Perry wailed in pain and fell to the ground, holding his stomach. Boris rushed to his side.
"Answer me!" Gretalyn said, her eyes returning to normal. The searing pain vanished.
Perry shook his head.
Gretalyn's eyes grew red again. Perry saw spots forming in front of his eyes.
"Agent P, stop looking at the bird outside and pay attention!"
Perry stared at Monogram. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the bird pecking a flower.
"You need to focus. I am training you how to resist torture. You see, all animals, when in fatal situations, go into a shock that prevents them from feeling any pain or being aware of what is happening. Even though that stops them from having a painful death, it doesn't exactly help them get away. I am going to train you to voluntarily go into shock without losing consciousness or your ability to move."
Perry drove the pain away from his body. He felt serene and peaceful, as though he were floating.
He slowly walked over to Gretalyn, who was swimming in front of his eyes.
Her eyes were still red, but they were dimmer than before. They seemed to be growing tired. They faded back to normal.
The world stopped spinning. Perry felt all feeling return to his body.
"Strange." Gretalyn said. "Strange. You resist pain. If a scientist could experiment… find out how you do that…" She licked her lips.
Perry pointed to the door.
"Let you out. I think not." Gretalyn said.
Perry took out his grappling gun.
"I am far more powerful than you think, earthling." Gretalyn hissed. "Your resistance to pain cannot help you."
Perry fired.
Gretalyn leapt. A giant bang sounded.
The room exploded into green flames. Perry was blown backward. He felt himself falling from a great height.
He hit the pavement of Danville Central. The wind was knocked from his body.
"IN FIVE MINUTES." Gretalyn's voice boomed, echoing through all of Danville. Perry didn't see her anywhere. "IN FIVE MINUTES BEGINS THE INVASION. EVERY SINGLE CREATURE IN DANVILLE SHALL BE TAKEN TO MY NEW HEADQUARTERS. MY FOLLOWERS ARE TAKING POSITION BESIDE EVERY HOUSE. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE."
Perry sat up. He looked to his right.
Remy was lying motionless on the ground, her armor broken up around her.
Very carefully, Perry removed the shell of metal from her. He sucked in his breath.
He had expected Remy to be at least a year old. But without her armor, her size was barely large enough to be more than six weeks old.
Remy was a baby.
"Remy." Perry whispered. "Remy. Are you okay?"
Remy gave a shuddering breath and opened her eyes. She looked dizzy.
"Where do you live?"
"I don't know the address." She breathed.
"What's your last name?"
"I don't know."
"Full name. Any name. I need to figure out how to get you help."
Remy coughed.
Perry picked her up. She was shaking.
"Boris…"
"He'll be fine."
"Remus."
Perry frowned. "I'm sorry?"
"Remus. That… is my full name. Remy… is short for Remus."
Perry felt as though the breath had been knocked from him again.
"Are you sure?" He whispered.
Remy nodded. "Remus…"
...
Perry ran up the stairs, trying his best to keep Remy from moving too much.
He reached a hallway and passed almost all the doors. He knocked on the second-to-last one.
"Open." He whispered. "Please open."
The door opened.
"What?" Prince asked irritably, rubbing her eyes.
Without a word, Perry grabbed her and kissed her.
After a long moment, he pulled away. Prince was gazing at him with tears in her eyes.
"You came back."
Perry nodded. "Later… later… she needs help."
He handed Remy to Prince. Prince stroked Remy's forehead.
"Come in." She said.
"Thank you." Perry said. "For keeping your promise. For letting me name our next child."
"Always." Prince said. "Come in. Help me figure out what's wrong with her."