Great! One piece of advice would be to slow the pace down to build more tension. ;)

Goodbye, man. You will be missed :(

​The thought process behind this masterpiece​: ​Nostalgia: Hey. Me: *sighs* What is it? ​Nostalgia: Remember Pokémon? ​Me: Yeah... ​Brain: Well what if you combine Pokémon, and Tanks? Genius! ​Me: ... Nostalgia: Hey now. What's a bit of fun going to do? ​Me: okay... alright, you win. ​I *might* turn this into a series. ​Pie presents: ​PokeTanks ​I wanna be The very best ​Like no one ever was ​To capture them is my real test ​To train them is my cause ​I will travel across the land Searching far and wide ​Teach PokeTanks to understand ​The power that's inside ​PokeTanks! A blatant ripoff​ Gotta catch 'em all It's you and me ​I know it's my destiny ​PokeTanks! Oh, you're my best friend ​In a world we must defend ​... ​PokeTanks! ​The autumn wind scattered a few leaves across the empty playground. Empty that was, save for a group of kids intensely watching by the side of the basketball court, as if there was some fight that was about to go down. Which there was. The two kids stood on opposite sides of the court. The taller one was called Raptor. He had slick black hair and sported a backwards baseball cap, a T-shirt featuring some band logo, ripped jeans, and a smug grin. He was cracking his knuckles gleefully. ​The shorter one was called Phoenix. Much like his namesake, he had gold-auburn hair. He wore a blue jacket over his shirt, khakis, and sneakers. Not too fancy, as if he didn't want to stick out. His face was contorted into a scowl. ​Raptor coughed. "What's that, Birdy? You're too scared to fight me?" ​"I hardly think a rematch will be necessary. I'm sure we all know how well your last fight against me went." ​There were a few whoops and cheers from the crowd and Raptor took a step back and sneered. "That was because I wasn't prepared. I'll take you down a few pegs today after I crush you!" ​Phoenix smirked. "I don't know, man. I'm number three in the rankings right now. You're not even top ten." ​Raptor turned bright red and glared at the giggling crowd. "Shut up! I'm probably still better than all of you combined! I'm still one of the best in the school!" ​"I'm surprised. Your dad pays for all your modifications and you still don't have your name on the scoreboard? What are you, a really bad Trainer or something?" ​Raptor was fuming. "Enough of this! Let's see if you can beat my Viking!" ​There was a loud snapping sound, and a crack formed in the ground. Various members of the crowd gasped. "So this is what an A Tier Tank looks like..." ​Slowly, a blizzard of pieces began flying out of the crack and forming into a tank. It was about the size of a small car, but looked much meaner. It had metallic paint and various attachments that defied any attempt to assign a name to them. Resting perfectly on top of the tank was a fierce cannon. The Viking sat still, awaiting orders. ​"See this? My Viking is a Hammer class Tank. One round can shred right through your pathetic hulls." ​Phoenix took a step back. "That may be true, but I doubt you'll be able to catch up to my Hornet." ​As soon as the sentence was finished, a blinding circle of light appeared on the basketball court. Despite looking away, a member of the audience could hear the sound of skidding treads screeching to a halt. A few moments later, the light was replaced by a slightly battered tank, with the turret cocked slightly to the side. ​"Firebird class. Best close range class there is." ​"Whatever," Raptor spat, gesturing with his hand as if bored. "Blow that wannabe flamethrower right off, Viking." ​The barrel of the Hammer lit up with a high pitch squeal. Sensing the danger, Hornet quickly accelerated sideways, and Phoenix dove in the opposite direction. ​The shot was unleashed a moment later. Where the Tank was once standing was now a series of craters in the ground. Dirt and pieces of the court had been flung up and were strewn around the edges. The audience had quickly dispersed, many of them in search of a safer place to watch. ​Phoenix got up, cursing. "That thing is a monster! I don't remember the Hammer class being quite so strong." ​Raptor laughed. "I modified it a bit. So what if it damages the landscape?" ​"You could seriously injure someone. That's against the rules." ​"Wasn't aiming for you. Whoops." ​As if finally realizing that its shot missed, Viking turned around to try and shoot again. Its turret slowly turned around in a 360 degree rotation trying to find Hornet. After finishing its search, it was even more bewildered. The elusive tank wasn't in sight. ​"Where did it go?" ​As if on cue, Hornet burst from behind a nearby building and rushed towards Viking. Viking quickly turned around, charged up, and fired, but Hornet was too fast. The shot went wide and succeeded only in uprooting an unlucky tree that happened to be in the line of fire. ​Hornet had moved to the back of Viking and was now giving the rear a good roasting. The metallic paint had begun to turn a sooty color. Although the exterior was undamaged, everyone knew that Viking would soon overheat and explode if it remained that way. ​Understanding its predicament, Viking spun around and tried to fire at Hornet again. Unfortunately, as Viking moved, so did Hornet. ​"It's too slow!" cried a spectator. ​Viking tried to rotate its turret to be able to fire a shot off at Hornet, but Hornet was faster. An unfortunate consequence of the heavy-hitting Hammer class is that it is unable to rotate very fast. As the turret slowly spun around, Hornet just ran circles around Viking faster, slowly barbecuing it the whole time. ​"You useless piece of scrap metal," cried an outraged Raptor, "if you can't even hit a fly, how are you going to go up against the stronger opponents?!" ​It seemed the battle was over. If Viking was unable to get a shot off, then it would eventually overheat and explode. The audience was disappointed. They had expected an epic fight, but this was just a mere game of tag. ​However, as Hornet continued to spin around Viking, it suddenly backed up. Hornet quickly swerved out of the way, but it was no use. With the sudden burst of speed, Viking managed to clip the back of Hornet. Although this might not seem like a big deal, it is. Hornet is very light and fast. Its biggest strength is its biggest weakness, though, and it is unbalanced easily. Against any other Tank, barring Wasp, the clip in the back would have been trivial. But Hornet was now wobbling at a dangerous angle. See, a Hornet must be very careful. It must take extra caution not to flip over, and this Hornet was no exception. It was desperately trying to regain its balance. ​There was a collective intake of breath from the audience. ​Viking had the perfect opportunity for a shot. While Hornet was distracted, Viking had been able to line up for a shot. This was almost certainly game over. ​"Over here, you big Norse leviathan!" ​Viking turned around. Phoenix was waving and futilely punching its hull. "Yeah, you! What are you looking at?" ​Viking backed up a little bit. It twitched, and began to charge up. Phoenix's eyes widened as the situation dawned on him, and he scrambled to dodge to the side. ​There was a loud explosion and a crunching sound. Pools of blood began to form on the ground. ​Phoenix had been a little too slow. Where his hand once was, was now a useless fleshy lump. He lay on the ground, convulsing in pain. ​Raptor laughed. "Finish him off." ​The shocked crowd watched in horror as the turret slowly turned towards Phoenix. Desperately, he tried to crawl away, but he might as well have been not moving. ​"Uh... Raptor? Don't the rules forbid killing innocent people?" asked a spectator meekly. ​"What? This guy's fighting. He obviously will do anything to win. I don't know what your definition of innocent is, but I don't think he counts in my book." ​Viking began the charge up. ​There was a loud explosion. Shouts of shock and surprise came from the audience. They couldn't see clearly through the cloud of dust and smoke, but the end result was evident to everyone. ​As the cloud cleared, an almost indignant looking Hornet stood behind the ruins of Viking. He continued to roast the remains, as if making sure that the Tank was dead, before backing up and coasting over to his Trainer. ​"Wha...?" Raptor asked, dumbfounded. ​Phoenix slowly got up, leaning on Hornet. "You're going to pay for this." ​That snapped Raptor out of his shock. "Look! I... I didn't mean it okay? I wouldn't actually try to kill you or... or anything!" ​He began to back up. Not only was Phoenix glaring at him, but so were several members of the audience. He coughed and tried to look confident. "Anyways... Uh... you won, so congrats. I don't need to stay around here anymore... Got to go, bye!" ​He dashed away. Many pairs of eyes followed him as he turned the corner, then they focused on Phoenix as he slumped down beside Hornet. ​"Sir, are you okay?" ​Phoenix opened his eyes. "I'm fine. Go get the Doctor, will you?" ​"Sir, your hand..." ​Phoenix looked at it. "Oh." ​His link was gone. When a trainer receives their Tank, a link is also created on a part of their body. They are then able to use that to summon and unsummon the Tank. It is a sort of connection, that binds the Tank and Trainer. When the Tank is not in use, it is able to repair and improve itself in a separate universe. After a battle, as long as it has not sustained an incredibly serious injury, a Tank will be able to get in shape for the next fight. ​At least, that's what the organization running the whole affair claims. Without a link, Hornet would not be able to be unsummoned and would remain in the world until its destruction. Then it would be destroyed forever and unable to return. ​So the situation was very grave. ​A student came running over with a man with graying hair and spectacles. ​"Fighting again?" ​"Sir, Raptor... he broke the rules, they were fighting... but he-" ​The Doctor raised a hand and the student fell silent. "I don't want to hear it." He observed the lump. "Hammer shot... You're lucky it was indirect or it would've blown your head off. Come on. We'll take you to my office. The rest of you, disperse."

It worked! I got banned :lol: Funny read. Would recommend to certain people I know <_<

I'm glad to be back again! :D

Very well done, though I prefer my steaks medium rare. I liked the dialogue and characters, although I do feel that you could potentially flesh out their backstory and motives a bit more.

Flower Cascade Then one day I checked back in and realized that "Oh shoot, a lot of time's gone by!" Then I sort of felt nervous about returning and started putting it off. I'm in 8th Grade now and a lot has happened and if you're reading this and you understand who this weird "Pie" person is then all I can say is that you've been here and stuck with the Amateur Writing for far longer than I have and for that I applaud you. So anyways, I'm here again and let this story be my gift to you. When I was little, Summer was my favorite season. Summer was the time when the Fair would come to Woodshire and there would be ice cream and carnival rides and my mother would take me and my brother to the movies. I can still remember my first time. It was a warm day in July, and the car broke down. While we waited for it to be fixed, my mom bought me and Harry a piece of chocolate. Harry took his half and wolfed it down. I was about to eat my share when a magician walked up to us. He wore bright red and blue trousers and had a top hat and an immaculate mustache. "Young man, would you like to see a trick?" I nodded. The magician put his hands up. "See? I have nothing in my hands." He rolled up his sleeves. "Nothing up my sleeve." The magician held his hand out. "Now hold your hand out like this." I copied him, and held my hand out. "Alright." The magician put his other hand over mine. "I want you to close your hand like this," he said, motioning with his free hand. As soon as I curled my fingers in, I felt something fall into the palm of my hand. "There's now something in your hand. On the count of three, you're going to show us what it is. Ready? One... two... three!" I opened my hand. Inside was a small origami swan. "You can keep it," the magician said, smiling. He turned to my Mother. "There's a Fair that way if you want something for your kid to do." And so we began spending summer days at the Fair. Eventually, like all my childhood activities, I grew out of it. My favorite season was no longer Summer. Summer was too hot, and there were too many mosquitoes, and I was responsible for babysitting Harry even if friends came over. That was years ago. I sit on a bench. It's early Spring, and the trees in the park are blossoming pink and orange and yellow and flower petals are everywhere. I run my fingers over the petals of a particularly pretty flower, lost in thought. In a few months, I'm going to be leaving Woodshire. I've never really thought of what I wanted to be, but in a few months, I'm going to be going to a college. It's scary. No, it's terrifying. Over the past year, I've been overcome with an increasing sense of what am I doing with my life​. Everywhere I look, kids are getting scholarships for the likes of being top ten in the nation for basketball, or being incredible at science and STEM, or composing entire scores of music. Now, I'm not terrible. I can certainly dribble and shoot, and I can do chemistry, and I used to play piano, but I'm not particularly excellent or anything. I guess you could say I'm not very good. I am top of my class in chemistry and biology, but it's not really my calling to sit in a lab all day analyzing samples or whatever scientists do. I wanted to be a cartoonist, but whenever I draw I get the proportions and facial expressions wrong. And I can't draw basic items I see everyday without a reference image. A voice jolts me out of my thoughts. "No, Sakura. It's rude to ask strangers to move over. We'll find another bench for you to rest at, okay?" "How much further do we have to go? I'm tired..." I look up. A young girl is tugging at her mother's hand. It looks like she wants my seat. The mother doesn't seem too keen on letting her daughter have it, but I don't mind, so I say, "You can have it if you want." The girl looks at me. She's really small compared to me. It's scary to imagine how much I've grown, but I could see myself once being her height. "Thank you sir." she says timidly. "No problem." I get up. The mother runs over and apologizes on behalf of her daughter for inconveniencing me, but I wave it off and say it's fine. I'm about to leave, but I feel a nagging feeling that I've left a bad impression. I sometimes feel that I'm just not a very memorable person. Sure, I'm polite and all, but no one really notices me. I could drop dead and the world would go on much the same, more or less. So I turn around and face the little girl. "Was your name Sakura?" She nods. I smile. "Sakura, would you like to see a trick?" I also look questioningly at her mother, and she motions for me to continue. "A trick, sir?" "Yeah, a trick," I say, pocketing the flower. "Here, hold out your hand." She holds out her hand. I show that I have nothing in one hand, but then I put it into my pocket and palm the flower while revealing that I have nothing in my second hand. "Okay, I'm going to put my hand over yours." I say, doing so. "Now, curl your fingers up and you should feel something appear in your hand." "I do feel it." I nod. "Good. On the count of three, I want you to reveal what has appeared in your hand. One... two... three!" She opens her hand and observes the flower resting there. "It's very pretty." "You think?" "Yeah. You could be like a famous person." "I wish. This is the only trick I know." She raises an eyebrow. "But this is so cool! You can summon unlimited flowers. Who wouldn't want that?" I sigh. "Unfortunately, if only I could create a cascade of flowers, I could solve all my problems. But I can't." "Why not?" "Because... well it's because I can only do the trick in Spring. I can't make flowers grow any other season." "That's too bad." "Well, no," I say. "I'm going to practice really hard from now on, and when I see you again, I'll be able to create flowers even in the middle of Winter. Have a nice day, Sakura." I smile and walk away, feeling a little better. I mean, I could go around making other people's days. What more could I want? But solving other people's problems won't solve my own. I'm not a magician. I can't magic away my problems and live happily ever after. I realize that now, when I'm about to leave home. I've come to rely on others so much for support that I can't imagine what I'm going to do with myself. It's just like the trees in the park​. Trees don't have legs because they don't need to walk. They get everything they need from their surroundings. But because of this, trees aren't able to do much. They just sit around all day soaking everything in and providing shade and beauty to everyone. If a tree wanted to become a sprinter or a scientist, it couldn't. My phone rings. It's my mother. "Hello?" "Hey Sammy. Listen, your brother's soccer practice is almost over, so can you go pick him up?" "Sure thing," I say. "Oh, and how's the whole college thing? I know it's tough, but you'll get used to it. You always have." I sigh. "I don't think I'll know what to do with myself once I get there." "Just find something to do. What do you want to do?" "That's the thing! I don't know. Everyone else has something they're focusing on but I've just been doing a whole lot of nothing for the past twelve years. I need a miracle or an epiphany or something to find my calling. I've being throwing a whole lot of stuff at the wall but nothing's sticking." "Sammy-" "Listen. I just wish things could be simpler. I know I'm getting too old for this, but I didn't appreciate how much you did for me until it was too late. Mom... could you please pretend like I'm little again and you're tucking me into bed, and tell me that you love me. One last time?" There's a pause. "Sammy..." "What's wrong?" "Sammy, I'm only going to say this once, so listen because it's very important. You're too old for me to always be there for you and-" "I knew it." "No, listen! You've always been a nice kid, Sammy, and your teachers keep telling me that you're always very nice and considerate of others..." She trails off. "What I'm trying to get at, is that you need to stop worrying about all that and learn to love yourself."

Nice concise series although I thought a few ideas could be elaborated a bit. In particular, there was one nagging question of what exactly was the blue sphere and why didn't the General want to give it to Mammonth. Of course this could be easily resolved with a sequel (hint hint). Another minor complaint is that the ending felt a little like a cop out but that might be just me. Overall, really enjoyed.

Agreed. I'm the team supplies manager (keeping the team supplied with pizza) or just the all around noob. It's actually a very taxing role and not for the faint of heart. There are multiple rules I must follow such as pushing teammates off the map in Monte Carlo.

I'm afraid I lack the um... patience to write a full book. As you may notice, the next chapter is taking a little while due to procrastination and/or length.

*Air horns blare. ... Teach me how to roast plz Neither can you, apparently! :P No? Okay, I'll stop being a Grammar Nazi and leave.

*grabs popcorn. You have successfully mastered the art of cliffhangers (pun intended). Can't wait for more! :)

Only problem is the logical fallacy of how I would get my chapters approved xD. Probably best to stick by this method and s p a c e each chapter apart.

a) One would assume that after spending much time on Earth, one would achieve basic understanding of Earth vocabulary, communication, and slang, especially considering that one must communicate effectively with humans. Oke probably would not have understood if Annie said something like "By the seven moons of Selenium" b: it's an um... parody? Mona Liza instead of Lisa, The Last Super instead of The Last Supper, and Edward Hunch's Shout instead of Scream. xD Nice catches :P .

Hunted: Chapter 3 Millis flipped the page. The next page was full of yellow highlighter splotches, as if some child had found a yellow crayon, and was told to draw random symbols for a cookie. That was what it looked like. Random symbols. Despite having mostly mastered twelve languages over the course of two centuries, Millis couldn't decipher the symbols, although it vaguely resembled Selenite numerals. Millis had pretty much given up at this point, and resigned himself to continue reading, after staring at the symbols for awhile. Oke heard a zapping sound, followed by some beeps. He felt like a hot spike had been removed from his head. He opened his eyes. He was sitting in some sort of chair, except his hands and feet were pinned, unable to move. He was now able to turn and lift his head, and his eyes were functioning normally. The girl, Annie, had brown hair and matching eyes. She wore a lab coat, and in her hand was a clipboard. Oke was shocked to find that Sam had changed too, not just the clothes but also his hair and eye color. "It was just advanced dye. Camouflage." explained Sam. "And yes, we are reading your thoughts. This machine is illegal by Intergalactic Law for non-law enforcement purposes, however, since the criminals all make them illegally, we are allowed to use them too to keep up with them." "What... what happened?" asked Oke. "Where am I?" "That's confidential." replied Annie. "Now, we will ask you questions, and you will answer them. No point in lying. The machine will know if you do. Understand?" "Yes." Annie looked at a monitor. "Good. Who are you? I want full name, personal info, that sort of thing." "Why?" Sam whistled appreciatively. "He's smart. If you got something to hide, just don't answer." Annie turned on Sam. "Shut up! I don't even understand how you got them to promote you, but I'm telling you, if I hear another word from your mouth, I am going to wipe that smile off your face." "Okay. You're the boss." Sam grinned. Annie huffed for a bit, giving Sam the I'm-going-to-kill-you-but-not-here look. "Sorry about that. Right. Who are you?" "I'm Oke. I'm an orphan. Mr. Gondola's House for Orphans. Umm... my friends are Carl, Freddy, and Max?" Annie pressed a few keys on an old fashioned keyboard. "Logic circuits working... Temporal Extractor on... yep that's not helping." She smiled at Oke. "Sorry, could you give us a bit more information about yourself? Our computer is drawing a blank." Oke was worried that something bad was going to happen. He trusted Sam, but wasn't so sure about Annie. After thinking it through a big, he decided to press his luck. "Where am I?" Annie frowned at Oke. "We're the ones asking the questions." "Yes, but you need me to answer them. So... let me guess. You sent Sam to get me the moment I saw through that Disperception Apparatus, right? You wanted to know who I am. Why I could see through it if I hadn't encountered alien technology before. Or if I did, what the technology was, because you are looking for alien technology on Earth, aren't you? Or are you enemies of the masked things? Oh! You're both, aren't you? So if I reveal whatever information I have, then I'm no use anymore, right? So why should I give away the information keeping me alive? So... here's the deal: a question for a question. Otherwise, you get nothing from me. Got that?" Sam clapped enthusiastically. Annie glared at him. "What? I wasn't talking!" Annie rolled her eyes and looked at the monitor. "You don't have any tricks up your sleeve. A question for a question, confirmed." Oke grinned. "Righty-o. What is this place?" Annie bit her lip. "This is the Armory. A few centuries back, the Intergalactic Government passed a law saying that all planets Level 7 or lower, which means they haven't yet achieved interstellar travel, must be protected from wars, terrorism, criminals, etc. All the races agreed, so now we have been keeping X52, or the Earth, out of all major galactic conflicts. We're called Trackers. It's the most boring job out there, so all the 'aliens' here have basically no other choice. They go through a rigorous physical and moral training session and get deployed onto planets like these to protect the inhabitants. We've been keeping this planet safe from behind the scenes, with the help of a Disperception Apparatus. Even the Royal Family of Sanskar can't put a single tentacle on this planet without us rushing to the scene and arresting them. Although to be fair, we've had a few close calls. A tetrapod crash landed here and the public got wind of a photo before it was taken down..." "Not my fault!" interjected Sam. "I told you to quit talking, pudding brain! Anyways, recently, we got notified to the fact that the Galactic Emperor itself has set course for here, which brought with it the Masked Men." "He's a human." whispered Sam. Annie glared at Sam. "Right. You probably don't know what the Galactic Emperor is. It's the most luxurious starship out there, the fact being that it is actually a system of planets in perpetual orbit around one another. Pudding Brain here claims to have worked there. Although, the question is, why would he sink to a job like this?" Sam shrugged. "It's fun?" "As if. The Galactic Emperor was built three centuries ago, and Pudding Brain's been here for five. Anyways, the Galactic Emperor sent a distress call as soon as they were within distance of our planet. Turns out there was an accident in the laboratory that created the Masked Men. They stole a bunch of equipment including a time vortex, which by the way, is illegal except for government purposes and can time travel, so god knows what they've done. Anyways, they struck the main planet containing all the tourists. It was the large brown one, by the way. The staff were unable to evacuate a lot of the people, only about a third before they were forced to put the Galactic Emperor under lockdown. That means a forcefield was placed around the main planet. No one can come in or out, except through a small, heavily patrolled gate. They are still admitting survivors through, and sending parties in to discover more about the Masked Men. However, the Masked Men mysteriously spread to Earth, which is what we are investigating. Now, for my question: How could you see through the Disperception Apparatus?" Oke's brain felt like it was going to explode, so all he could manage was an "I don't know". Annie looked at her monitor and pounded her fist on the keyboard. "You really don't, do you? Oh well, we were gonna have to shoot you anyways." She pulled out a small silver object from her pocket. It began whirring and flashing blue. "Wait!" Oke cried, not sure what to do next. "I have useful information!" Annie clicked a button and the light flashed red. Sam looked bored. "The Selenites are at war with the Thurrs!" Annie raised her eyebrow. Clicking another button, the whirring died down, along with the light. "How on Earth did you know?" Sam, too, looked genuinely impressed. Oke was confused. "I... I don't know. It was a guess." Sam scoffed. "Some guess. I'd say there are unknown forces at play here. Until we figure out what they are, we need to keep Oke alive." "Thanks for calling me by my name." "No problem. Anyways, Annie, we can't let Oke out, or kill him, so we have to keep him here until we figure him out. In the meantime, I'll give him a tour, get him set up on the basics, etc. We could use an extra hand around here. Afterwords, I'll shoot him." "Not so thanks." "Anyways, upload the result. Everyone will probably understand. Then, you can catch up on your quality sleep. I'll handle the rest." Annie seemed a little peeved by how Sam and Oke wiggled their way out, but she didn't want to spend the rest of the day interrogating Oke either. "Alright. But if anything happens, I'm reporting it to Sarah." ******* Sam was surprisingly good at giving a tour. He showed Oke where the bathrooms, cafeteria, and elevator were, along with the Interrogation Room (obviously), and the library. The other people paid them no mind. "And over here, is Reception." Sam gestured, pointing to a modern marble and glass area. "Don't worry about those glass doors. They push, pull, slide, or rotate, whatever you prefer. And the entire military forces on this planet couldn't break down that glass. It's Validium. Over there are some sofas for when you're waiting. WiFi is complementary. That office block area is where visitors check in, and staff receive awards and promotions. Although there's a ceremony usually in the cafeteria where you invite your friends. It's informal. Anyways, this is also where you get assigned missions and stuff." A tall woman with flamingo-colored glasses walked briskly towards them. "Hello Oke, I'm Sarah. Head of the Armory. Welcome! I would like to inform you that we have a very strict policy on discipline, and I expect the same of you as I would any Tracker." Sam and Oke watched as she marched off, having a conversation with someone on a fancy phone. "She's clearly not thrilled about you." mused Sam. "What's up with that black stripe on her uniform?" asked Oke. "Oh, standard military rankings. You'll get a uniform from Laundry too. It'll probably be in your room tonight. Anyways, blue stripes are for visitors and recruits. When you pass the basic training test and medical examination, and receive your tour obviously, you'll get a green stripe. That's for trainees. You can choose whatever you want to train to become, unless there's a vacancy that needs to be filled. However, a silver stripe has to agree to take you on as their apprentice. Once you learn how to do your job and pass a final examination, you get your bronze stripe. Then, if you commit a particular act of honor or valor, you get a white stripe along with your bronze one. For Trackers, that would mean completing a mission. After four months and three white stripes as a bronze, you get your silver stripe. That means you are a qualified master and can take on a green stripe as your apprentice. To reach a gold stripe, you have to be appointed. If you are deemed an extraordinary silver, then you get promoted, but that's rare. Diamond stripes are for the head of any department. They get appointed by Sarah from silver or golds. The head tracker is Russell. The main thing about diamond stripes is they run the department and appoint gold stripes. The black stripe is obviously given to the head of the Armory. That would be Sarah. There is an election every year, but between you and me, I think it's rigged in her favor." "Okay, I understand." Oke quickly said, preventing Sam from ranting on. "Continue the tour." Sam cleared his throat. "Anyways... look at the glass doors again." "Uh huh?" "Now turn around. See those glass stairs up ahead? They're positioned so you can see the reflection in the doors. Go up those stairs and to the right will be the rooms. You'll get a key later. To the left is that red door. Whatever you do, don't open it. We're not gonna go up the stairs right now. We just came from the right side, so now we are going to continue left." Oke followed Sam as he jogged around the corner and up a stair painted entirely yellow. He noticed that most people, Sam included were bronze, although there were a few silvers. Occasionally, they would bump into a gold, but any other color was yet to be found. "This is the main hallway. You'll notice it's huge. Most of the other stuff branch off of this, so if you ever get lost, find the main hallway. The floor is unique. Some parts are a mosaic of marbles, while others are glass with an aquarium underneath full of alien fish. Come with me." Oke and Sam turned onto a smaller flight of stairs, entering a room humming with the sound of machinery. It was full of random bits scattered here and there, along with stacks of boxes mixed with white contraptions. A hand painted sign read "Laundry". A boy was walking towards them, holding a package. He looked younger than the rest of the people in the Armory. "Jamie!" Sam called out, beaming. "Hello Sam." Jamie responded. "Congratulations! I heard all about it. Intense mission. How's the silver stripe?" Jamie held out the package. "It's right here. I was just coming to pick it up." Sam made a fuss of observing the package. "Looks good. I was just showing Oke here around. Oke, meet Jamie. Jamie, this is Oke." Oke and Jamie shook hands. "Nice to meet you." "Same here." Jamie turned back to Sam. "Alright then. Take care." "You too." Sam watched as Jamie retreated back up the stairs, before turning to Oke. "You know, he is the youngest ever silver stripe at fourteen. Impressive, isn't it? Anyways, we came here for a stripe too. Thought you might like your uniform now." Sam led Oke towards the back of the room where a portly man sat listening to music. Sam tapped on his desk. "Hello, Cole." The man pulled out his earbuds and turned around. "Hello, how may I help you?" Cole smiled at Oke, who was staring at his diamond stripe. "Ah, Head of Laundry. Not exactly the most impressive diamond stripe. I was only promoted because the last one quit of boredom. I'm thinking of doing to same to be completely honest. Anyways, what do you want? Just stopping by?" Sam beamed again. "Actually, I was giving Oke here his tour. We just thought we'd stop by to get Oke his uniform." "Sure thing." Cole replied, handing a small brown package to Oke. "Fresh out of the Atom Condenser. You'll notice they changed the color of the stripe, made it a shade lighter to sky blue from navy. Sarah thought it would brighten up the Armory. They made green lighter to a lime too." "Alright. Thanks, Cole." Oke took the package. It was slightly hot, but he could manage. Sam bid farewell to Cole, and they returned up the stairs. "You know, I can speak for myself." Oke whispered to Sam. "I don't need you to say everything for me." Sam glanced back at Oke. "Just making sure. I can never tell with humans if they're shy. Put that uniform on; let's see it!" "Won't I stick out like a sore thumb?" "I think that's Sarah's point. Better than making her angry, though." Oke reluctantly put on the light brown uniform and khakis. The blue stripe was harder, Sam explained that it was supposed to be worn over one shoulder and under the other so that it crossed your chest. Oke fumbled with the pin for a bit, but eventually got the hang of things. "Alright!" Sam exclaimed, "Let's continue!" Sam led the way to a section of the hallway that was made of glass. Left, right, above, and below was a giant room full of swimming pools, exercise equipment, tracks, and obstacle courses. The hallway, which looked huge, now felt like a tiny bridge spanning a giant chasm. "Behold, the training center! You can find everything here. This is the physical health section. There's a tiny door down below that leads to the mental training area. If we follow the hallway, it will bend and there will be another glass passageway where we can observe the sculpture of the alien brain, along with the mental health facilities. In the meantime though, let's visit the Infirmary for your medical examination." The infirmary turned out to be a large well-lit hospital ward right where the hallway bent. It was run by a friendly old man called Dr. Moss. He struck up a conversation with Oke while he was checking him for diseases and such. It turned out Dr. Moss had recently turned one thousand years old, and was coping well. He expected to retire in a few years and live on a quiet planet near the edge of the galaxy, away from the Selenite-Thurr Conflict. After checking Oke for contagious viruses, and making sure he was in good physical condition, he gave Oke a bag of teeth-friendly alien candy and sent him on his way. "Well." Sam said, checking off a box on a to-do list he had created while Oke was getting his health checked. "We still have to get your basic training test in the mental facility, and then I have to show you the Arsenal and Treasury, and be back in time for dinner. Hopefully you'll get your green stripe." Oke followed Sam around the bend and into a small glass elevator. "You do realize that this is all completely safe Validium glass forged in the volcanoes of Rath Karur? I know it looks bendy and is slightly faster than your average Earth elevator, and it is relatively high up, but it only takes at most a minute to make the journey down." Sam said, as the elevator hurtled downward on a twisty path like a roller coaster. Oke just tried not to lose his lunch, even though he didn't have any. The elevator made a pleasant ding sound as it arrived and the doors shattered open. "It'll repair itself." explained Sam. "Come on. We need to find Tyler and Miranda." Oke and Sam walked out of the doors, which had already begun to reassemble, and into a giant white room full of sculptures and paintings. Rather than a mental training facility, it looked more like a museum full of alien moving sculptures, hologram paintings, and strange things that wouldn't have been called "art" on Earth. Oke noticed Sam was admiring a particular hologram painting and walked over. "It's called '2 Ponds and a River'." Sam remarked. "I never thought they would've been able to buy a copy of this." "It looks like a frowny face, sorta." Oke said, tilting his head sideways. "That's not the point. This isn't some child's drawing. Notice how one pond is masculine and another feminine? And how the river flows like a song?" Oke frowned. "Not really." Sam cleared his throat. "You should watch more TV. Anyways... moving on." "You say that a lot." "It's become my catchphrase." Sam and Oke walked between the rows of artwork towards a relatively simple neon desk at the back. They would occasionally bump into people admiring "The Mona Liza", or "The Last Super". One person was staring intently at Edward Hunch's "Shout". The neon desk turned out not to be a desk, but rather a box made of neon. Similar boxes were arranged along the perimeter of the room. "Antigravity boxes." explained Sam, jumping on one. "Flip yourself so you don't land on your head when the gravity switches." Oke copied Sam, spinning as soon as he touched a box, but unfortunately hadn't had much practice and landed on his back. "That's a good first attempt." Sam said, strolling over. "I wish they'd get rid of these. But they need to cram more people into more spaces. I know it looks real trippy, but unless the artificial gravity holds, we won't plummet to our deaths. Come on, I found them." Oke followed Sam to a corner of the room, where two teenagers were conversing. The boy had a black T-shirt and some ripped jeans, and looked about as unprofessional as you could get. The girl on the other hand had elegant clothing and spoke in long, seemingly complicated sentences. "Tyler, Miranda, meet Oke." Sam said, pushing Oke forward. "Nice to meet you, Oke." Tyler said, shaking Oke's hand. "You too." "Very happy to finally meet you." Miranda said, shaking Oke's hand vigorously. "Uhh... same." Oke said, unsure of what to do. "Have you got any spare Virtual Reality Links for Oke? He needs to take his test." "Of course." Tyler replied. "Hold on, they've changed the training test protocols today. They reduced the time for the written questions by 25%, and they added a few requirements including beating the computer at chess and knowledge of garden shrubs." Oke raised an eyebrow. "That's a big coincidence." "Don't worry. The passing grade was only raised from a 70% to an 80%. Sarah has a reputation to keep as a fair leader." Oke scoffed. "Yeah right. Maybe that's why my blue stripe somehow reflects the light while every other stripe doesn't." Tyler shrugged. "Miranda, would you mind fetching me a VRL?" "Get them yourself. It was my turn last time." "Okay." Tyler got up and walked towards a corner of the room. The other people blocked Oke's vision of him, so he couldn't see what Tyler was doing. "Whatever you, don't let him give you any of his new sugar raisins." Miranda said to Oke, smiling. "I made the mistake of trying one. They're absolutely awful." "Don't worry. I hate raisins." Oke replied. "I'm back!" Tyler announced, holding a bulky helmet-like object. "Oke, this is a VRL. It scans your body for your entire DNA and memories, stuff like that, then uploads them to the helmet in a virtual reality world. The whole time, you are dreaming, so the virtual world seems real. The point of this is so that we can see your reaction to actual events, like getting chased by a water buffalo, without actually getting chased by a water buffalo. After each test, it wipes your memory, so the whole test seems real. Then it gives you a score and wakes you up. So... ready when you are." "Good luck." Sam whispered. "You'll do fine." Miranda said, as the helmet slid over Oke's eyes, plunging him into darkness. ******* After about an hour, the test was over. Oke popped the helmet off his head and groaned. "There's an hour of my life I'm not getting back. How'd I do?" Sam grimaced. "Seventy-nine. Just barely failed on the last course." Oke threw his hands. "I failed on I test I can't even remember. That's a first. What happens now?" "Well, you stay a blue stripe forever unless you pass this test. And you're unlikely to improve since you don't even know what's on the test. In fact, no one except Sarah does." Oke fought tears as he realized Sarah had won. "Okay." "Don't worry." Sam said halfheartedly. "I'm sure there's a place for you here. Next election isn't that far away. Maybe we can elect a different leader than Sarah and change the rules." "Yeah, maybe. You said it yourself. 'The election is rigged'." Oke was about to throw the VRL at the wall when he heard a whooshing sound. He turned around. Right before his eyes, four Masked Men appeared behind him. Tyler and Miranda stood up, shocked. Before Oke could say anything, a fifth Masked Man appeared behind Tyler, strangling him. Miranda shrieked and backed up. The Masked Man held Tyler briefly, almost as if it was shocked by what it did, before tossing the lifeless body onto an anti gravity box. The body was suspended for a brief period of time, before shooting upwards. There was a brief silence, and then everyone surged for an anti gravity box. A second wave of Masked Men appeared, picking off stragglers and extinguishing the life out of them. Miranda was bashed against the wall, before the strangest thing occurred. She began to glow a ghostly white, and a Masked Man emerged from her body. "C'mon!" Sam shouted, pulling Oke with him. Oke was too stunned to react, but he realized that he couldn't help anyone and followed Sam. Most people had already fled somewhere, and only a few slow people were left. Oke followed Sam, sprinting for a small red box, but he couldn't keep up. Oke stopped to catch his breath, and when he looked up again, Sam was gone. "Sam!" Oke called. There was no response. "Sam! Sam! SAM!" Oke realized that he was truly alone, and felt a surge of adrenaline, bolting for the box. Twenty steps. Fifteen. Ten. Nine. Oke leaped for the box, stretching his hands. He could almost taste victory. There were no Masked Men in front of him. He could hear a few behind him sprinting to catch up, but there was no way they would reach him in time. And then he noticed Sam's inanimate body on the ground, glowing. Oke felt a momentary confusion before a Masked Man appeared in front of him, knocking Oke over. Oke struggled to get up as the Masked Man had a hand on Oke's foot. There was a cracking sound, and Oke screamed. Partly out of pain, partly out of frustration. He had been so close to the box. The Masked Man looked momentarily liked it had regretted something, before swinging Oke around by his foot and bashing him against the nearest wall. Oke slid onto the ground, but as the Masked Man closed in, he felt the strangest sensation like he was waking from a dream. ******* After about an hour, the test was over. Oke popped the helmet off his head and groaned. "There's an hour of my life I'm not getting back. How'd I do?" Sam smiled. "A ninety-four. The computer says you failed the last test horribly, but you passed the rest, save for chess against the computer and garden shrubs." "See? I told you you'd do well." remarked Miranda. Sam frowned at Oke. "Are you okay? You're all clammy and pale. You look like you saw a ghost." Oke looked at Sam. "Maybe I have." Sam smiled. "Don't worry. The memory will fade in a few seconds, and you won't remember any of it." "I hope so." ******* "The Arsenal and the Treasury!" Sam exclaimed, waving his hands wildly at two doors. "The one on the right is a vault door made of Individium. Makes the Validium glass doors at the entrance look like paper. Nothing in the entire universe, save for an antimatter spectrum and a few other illegal weapons could bust through that. Behind there is the Treasury, storing not just all the gold for the Armory, but also food, water, and stuff if there's a shortage." Sam turned on the spot. "You'll notice that the main hallway bent around the Infirmary. It's kind of shaped like a horseshoe. If Reception was one end of the horseshoe, the Arsenal is the other. It contains all our weapons and tools and gadgets and stuff, which are infinitely more cool than any Earth sci-fi gadgets." "What's that?" Oke asked, pointing at the ceiling. "Oh, that's an image of the Entity Black Hole. Largest in the known universe. See, the ceiling and floor sort of form a reflective dome, meaning that we are standing on the largest telescope on Earth right now. So that is a high quality picture of the Black Hole. On a good day, you can see a dying nebula going out it all its glory. Once we saw a supernova. Another time, we saw the destruction of the Selenite home world. It's a shame the Thurrs had to come in and ruin it though with propaganda speeches and the likes." "Okay. Continue." Sam pushed open a thick cement door. "Follow me." The Arsenal looked like an aircraft hangar. Except for the fact that it was huger, made entirely of concrete, not as well-lit, and instead of aircraft, it had what suspiciously looked like nuclear warheads. Scattered equipment was everywhere. "There are three parts to the Arsenal." explained Sam. "The first part is equipment we use everyday. Tasers, walkie talkies, blasters, electromagnetic pulses, drones, that kind of stuff. There's also a few alien technologies, like a Disperception Apparatus, AKA a DA. Ever since the Intergalactic Government cut our funding, most of our equipment has been manufactured on Earth. We have a company called 'Military Productions' supply a dummy company, 'Ross and Co.' with all the equipment. Then a team goes to the Ross and Co. building and picks up all the stuff." Sam walked among the equipment, explaining what everything did. "Don't you have a system for security in case anyone steals anything?" Oke asked. "Sure. There's an electrical field surrounding all the equipment. It stuns organic matter. It's the same principle that me and Annie used in the Interrogation room when we had pulses passing through your arms and legs to keep you from moving. So in order to get equipment, you have to check out a robot to get it for you. And the robots are a lot easier to guard than a giant hangar." "Alright. What's the second part?" "It's past that yellow line. All the stuff over there is Restricted. We can't use it one a day to day basis, for various reasons. You'll notice the nuclear warheads are obviously Restricted. We also have various vulgar weapons and advanced technology that can't fall into human hands if one of the Trackers gets caught. Some of the equipment is also really expensive and gets worn out easily." Sam stepped over the yellow line and came to a garage door at the back of the room. There was a loud humming sound. "Don't touch it. The electrical field is at its most potent here. Behind that door is Illegal. All weapons and equipment are banned by Intergalactic Law." "So why do you have it if it's illegal? I thought you were deployed to enforce the law." "We do." Sam sighed. "Unfortunately, criminals smuggle illegal weapons. In order to keep up with them, we have fight fire with fire. Behind there are some of the most terrible weapons known to man--I mean alien-kind. There's Stinging Venom." "What's that?" asked Oke. "Ever heard of the human weapon anthrax?" "No." "Well, you can always Google it. But I'll explain it anyways. Anthrax is a bio-weapon. It is a strain of bacteria that can linger in harsh conditions for decades. You can get anthrax by just inhaling it. It's a deadly bacteria but the scariest thing about it is you could be sitting in a room full of anthrax right now and not even know it." "Oh." "Well, see, it's very unlikely for someone to use anthrax on you. It's not very common, and it is pretty inefficient and doesn't kill you instantly. Stinging Venom, on the other hand, is bio-programmable." "What's that mean?" "I was just waiting for you to ask. Bio-programmable means that you can edit the DNA of Stinging Venom to whatever you like. Now, in its natural form, Stinging Venom just gives you nasty stinging pains, hence the name, but the DNA of Stinging Venom is so accessible and editable that scientists have created a million strains of it by just bombarding it with radiation and causing it to mutate. It's cheap and effective. Some strains kill you almost instantly, but that's not all. Some incinerate their victims and remove all evidence and prevent police from performing an autopsy. Some replace cells with hydrogen pockets as they murder their victims. The benefits of this for a terrorist are twofold. Hydrogen is explosive and flammable. A side effect of this is that the victim inflates and floats up to the ceiling-" "Okay, that's enough." Sam glanced back at Oke. "Oh." "What?" "You're upset." "No, it's fine." Sam narrowed his eyebrows. "No, you aren't. You've had a hectic day. You came out of the test looking like you saw a ghost. Is there anyone you want to talk to?" Oke half-smiled. "Well, my parents, but they're-" "No problem!" Sam insisted. "I can just-" "No, you don't understand. They died when I was little." Sam grinned. "No, you don't understand." He pulled out a large green orb from his pocket. "This is a Reanimation Sphere. I stole it, don't tell anyone." "You stole something?!" "Uhh... I wanted to figure out why something went wrong. Anyways, you know how when you were taking the test, a VRL uploaded you to a dream world?" "Yeah...?" "Well, a Reanimation Sphere can upload deceased minds to a dream world, too. Don't worry, they stay sleeping in there. Until, of course, you decide to upload your mind to have a chat with them. If you need comfort, or advice, or anything. The Reanimation Sphere is different from the VRL. It doesn't wipe your memories. Of course, you are still dreaming, so when you wake up you forget the dream, but with enough practice, you can still retain a message. It stays in your subconscious. You don't know it's there, but it helps guide you, knowing that your ancestors are watching over you." "So how do I start?" Sam tossed the orb onto the ground. "You look at the Sphere and focus. By the way, look at the clock. It's 4:00." Oke looked at the Sphere and tried to focus and imagine his parents. He turned back to Sam. "Nothing. It didn't work." Sam smiled. "Are you sure? I'm standing in a different spot than I was earlier, I'm holding a cup of coffee, which I didn't have, and the time is 5:00. You just spent an hour chatting away. You've just forgot. So... what message did you retain?" Oke frowned. "I... don't know." "Don't worry. You're still new; you just need practice. But regardless, we have to hustle back to the cafeteria for dinner. They're serving Selenite Stew today, and you're ranking up to a green stripe." ******* The cafeteria was a noisy place. It was like a gym, with tables haphazardly set up. You sat at a table based on your rank. Oke was the only blue stripe and sat at his own table, which was evidently unused in a very long time and was incredibly dusty. There was no green table, as trainees sat next to the silver that was training them. Sam was laughing away at the bronze table. It was the largest by far, containing most of the staff. Oke recognized Tyler and a few other people he met in the hallways. Annie sat talking to Miranda at the silver table. It was about half the size of the bronze table, so there were still a sizable amount of silvers. Oke didn't recognize anybody else except for Jamie. A few golds sat at their own table. They were all very quiet and disciplined, not raising their voices to talk. The final table was the most extravagant, containing all the diamonds and Sarah (who apparently didn't want to sit at her own table). Oke recognized Cole and Dr. Moss, who were talking to each other. "What would you like to eat?" Oke looked up. A drone was hovering next to his left ear. "Um... is there a menu?" The drone flew away. A minute later, it flew back and dropped a small packet in Oke's lap. Oke didn't understand what most of the menu items were and ended up ordering a Selenite Stew and some cookies. The stew was pretty good, but the cookies tasted suspiciously like sawdust and, not wanting to be rude, Oke put them in his pocket "to eat later". He ended fiddling with his spoon the rest of dinner. "Everyone, may I have your attention please?" Everyone turned around and stopped eating. Sarah bowed. "Thank you. As you all know, we will be welcoming a new recruit to the Armory." She gestured towards Oke. Oke stood up and gave everyone a wave, trying not to think about the half-eaten cookie in his pocket, and sat back down. "We also have multiple stripes to hand out. As usual, we will be only stating the last initial of each person for secrecy reasons. Starting with the white stripes, we have one for Sam S. and Annie H. on an excellent mission and the successful rescue of Oke unscathed!" Everybody clapped as Annie and Sam walked over to the diamond table and received their white stripes. Sam gave a little speech about how Annie was incredibly annoying to work with, which received a few laughs and a dirty look from Annie. Once they sat down, Sarah called up a man named Dennis M. for his gold stripe. Oke tried to pay attention, but he was getting increasingly nervous about his own green stripe, especially since Sarah was sure to have something nasty in store. Unable to focus, Oke zoned out for the remainder of the speech, instead daydreaming about the boring life back at the orphanage. Despite making a few friends, there wasn't anything Oke really missed save for a few personal possessions. "... and our only silver stripe for today, Tracker Sam S. who received his third and final white stripe required for the rank on his most recent mission. Everybody, let's welcome Sam back up with a generous round of applause!" Oke sat up. Sam walked up to the stage and received his stripe. "Umm... there isn't anything I want to say that I haven't said earlier." Sam remarked. He seemed to be pretty popular within the Armory, as he received a few chuckles from the bronze table. "I feel incredibly honored to be receiving this stripe. I know most of our Trackers come and go before completing their three missions, always off to better jobs elsewhere. I think it is a true demonstration of perseverance in achieving this honor, before skirting off to work at Space McDonald's. In other news, I would like to announce that I am the same rank as Annie now. Some of you may recall that earlier I was punished by having all my missions supervised by a higher rank. I'm glad to say that I don't have to be working with her again! Now, some of you may be wondering what Gold I will be working with, but rest assured, I had a chat with Sarah and we agreed to cut my punishment short. Thank you for listening." Sam did a little bow and retreated to the bronze table, where he was surrounded by people congratulating him. Someone handed him a marker, which he used to write his signature on the table. Sarah cleared her throat. "May I have everyone's attention please? Thank you. Our final stripe of tonight goes to Oke E., who I have been told is qualified to rank up to a green stripe. We are pleased to welcome our newest trainee. Everyone, let's give him a fabulous round of applause!" Oke rose and walked up to the diamond table. As he shook Sarah's hand, he stifled a shout as he felt his hand being squeezed like a lemon. Sam had told him that Sarah despised him, but Oke hadn't realized it was this much. It was like Sarah downright hated him. "Any words? Do you have a speech you want to give?" Sarah asked grinning, handing Oke the green stripe. "Uhh... yeah." Oke said, trying to look cool. At least he was in his uniform, not his orphanage rags. "I would just like to thank... uh... Sam for saving my life earlier today from the Masked Men and giving me the tour. I would also like to thank Annie for sparing my life earlier today instead of shooting me with a blaster. I feel honored to um... receive this green stripe. Yeah." There was a scattering of applause. "I'm sure we all feel very happy for Oke," Sarah announced. "By the way, Oke, have you put any thought into what you wanted train for?" Shoot. Oke had forgotten to think about what he wanted to be. Luckily, however, it wasn't that hard of a choice. "I want to train to be a Tracker." "Oke dear, has Sam explained to you training?" Sarah asked politely. "Uhh... yeah. A silver has to agree to take you as their apprentice." "Good." Sarah lowered her voice. "Then you'll realize that none of the Trackers seem to be interested in training you, right dear? They don't deal with humans very well, do they?" She raised her voice again. "I'm sure there is a spot for you in the Laundry Department. Cole would be pleased to have you working under him, am I right?" Cole looked slightly uneasy. "Yes ma'am." "Then I'm sure he'll find a-" "Umm... actually, I'll train Oke to be a Tracker." Everyone turned to the source of the noise. Sam stood up slowly. "If that's fine with all of you... I, Sam S., take Oke E. as my apprentice. From now on, I take full responsibility for Oke's actions until he has completed training. I will do everything in my power to help Oke through training. I solemnly swear to this on my honor. That's the oath, isn't it?" Sarah frowned. "Close enough." Sam sat back down. "Well then. Training starts tomorrow." Oke started to walk back to his seat too. "Wait!" Sarah handed Oke a red slip. "What's this?" "Official Warning. Insolence. Three of these and you get kicked out of the Armory." Oke stood there, shocked. "Now you may sit back down." Oke returned to his seat, still recovering from the turn of events. "Dinner is over. Everybody may return to their quarters. Curfew is at 9:00. If I catch anybody wandering about, they'll get an Official Warning too." Everybody got up and walked out the door, murmuring. "Oh, and could I see Sam S. for a second?" Oke watched as Sarah handed Sam a red slip. "Official Warning. Talking out of Turn." Sarah whispered something in Sam's ear, before raising her voice again. "Kitchen Staff may return to their quarters too. Sam and Oke have cleaning duty today." Oke looked on, horrified, as Sarah waltzed out the door and closed it behind her. As soon as she was out of earshot, Sam gestured for Oke to come closer. "I can't believe it. Talking out of Turn isn't even on the list of things that can land you an Official Warning. Neither is Insolence." Oke gaped at the amount of stuff he needed to clean up. "Does the curfew apply to us, too?" "Everyone's too scared to say anything to Sarah, so yeah." "We're screwed." "Well observed, Einstein. Mind if I make a note of that?" _______________________________________________________________________________________ Questions? Thoughts? Predictions? Room for Improvement? Comment below!

A few clarifications: Is Corvexx or Akul the highest rank? Because normally very few people are at the highest rank (like very few generals in the military, but a lot of privates and sergeants), which suggests Corvexx, but from the information, Corvexx is only rank 1 while Akul is rank 7. Also, second question. Krul uses a Bi Tonic, right? so this part doesn't make sense. :huh: Looking forward to the new series, though.

Hunted: Chapter 2 Millis Embers was a dying man. Ever since the mysterious amnesia when he turned four hundred and two, his health had been deteriorating. His dreams had become increasingly strange. Not just night-dreams. He would often pass out during the day, for no apparent reason, and have these dreams too. At first, it was bearable. But after hitting quadruple digits, things went downhill. Now, at twelve hundred and three, he could barely manage. He constantly felt like his veins were inflating and burning. Millis sighed. Pulling the curtains to his room, he observed the atmosphere. The blue-green planet with swaths of white had emerged from behind the Galactic Emperor. Planet X52, but the inhabitants called it Earth. Poor thing. Millis thought. The planet will have to be eliminated and the primitives won't even know what hit them. Millis sat down in a reclining chair and picked up the only book he had, a worn leather bound tome titled Wake Up! He had read the book multiple times, and knew almost every word by heart. It was a confusing read, but Millis was quite fond of it. Deciding to skip the first chapter, he flipped to the next one, "The Masked Men Attack", and began to read: Oke was terrified. Purely, properly terrified. It hadn't happened since when he was seven, when a snake snuck into the orphanage (it turned out NOT to be venomous). He'd almost forgotten how it felt. Now, as his heart thumped in his chest and adrenaline coursed through every single vein in his body, his only thought was I'm gonna die. It was hard to describe how a masked abomination could project pure, abject, terror into someone, but that was exactly how Oke felt. It was almost like waking up and seeing a puppet on your bed, and knowing that that wasn't supposed to be there. That it couldn't have been there. After Oke calmed down a bit, he began to reason with himself. The masked thing hadn't moved. It was probably a prank. Then again, he had locked the door last night, and nothing was in the bathroom last he checked. "Help." Oke jumped. The masked thing had not only turned its head, but also spoke. It wasn't in any human voice. It was like sandpaper, raspy and dry. Oke managed a small cry, and quickly backed out of the bathroom before slamming the door in the thing's face. It pounded on the door, but didn't seem to be able to open it for the time being. Oke checked the lock to his main door. Despite remembering locking it, it was still apparently unlocked. His clammy hands fumbled with the handle before pulling hard. Nothing. He pulled again and again, grunting and pushing and pulling like his life depended on it, which, admittedly, it did. After a few fruitless attempts, he had a sickening realization: it was locked from the outside. He kicked the door in frustration. He was surprised that no one came to check on the racket, but paid it no mind. Realizing that his only escape was through the window, he bolted to the sill and prepared to dive out, but before he could do so, a hand appeared on the window. It rapped once on the window, and somehow instantly shattered the glass. Oke backed away, horrified. An arm emerged, then two. Both arms struggled to pull up the head and the rest of the body. Eventually, the entity managed to fit its entire body into the fractured window and push itself through. "You have got to be kidding me." muttered Oke. It was identical to the masked thing in the bathroom. Cloth head, silver suit. It too, groaned in a raspy voice, as though it ached all over. Oke ran back to the door and tried it again. It was still locked. He considered calling for help, but had seen enough movies to know that it did pretty much nothing if you were getting attacked by psycho creeps from outer space. Plus, all he could really manage was a constant whimper. He realized that he had a pretty good chance of diving out the window once the thing started chasing him. It was slow, after all, and he was pretty sure he could lead two of them to the other side and then sprint to the window. Before he could formulate a plan, his bed sheets started moving, as if there was something hiding underneath. Oke would have been less frightened if they had spun about like a tornado. Instead, the center slowly rose higher and higher, though whatever was hiding refused to show itself. Oke watched as the sheets reached their apex and morphed into a third masked thing. With three, he wasn't so sure his plan would work. Plus, seeing how they appeared, he wouldn't have been surprised if his clothes turned into masked things too. The pounding on his bathroom door was getting louder, and the first masked thing had started to mutter phrases that made no sense to Oke. Despite Oke's mind racing, he wasn't sure what to do. Fortunately, he didn't have to. About to collapse in despair, Oke saw his door open. The fourth masked thing was shorter than the others. However, Oke didn't notice this as he almost barreled it over sprinting out the door. "Woah! Watch it." Oke skidded to a halt. It's voice wasn't raspy like the others. The masked thing tore off its mask, revealing a human face underneath. "I'm Sam. If you want to live, then run." ******* Oke panted from sprinting through the orphanage. Despite the time, no one seemed to be up. The only organisms other than themselves were a few pigeons and a few people walking their dogs. Oke found a bench and sat down. Sam was off to the side fidgeting with a device out of Oke's sight, but he didn't appear to be fazed at all. "Funny." "Sorry?" Oke asked, confused. "You're funny. Who or what are you?" "I'm Oke. Hi." Oke replied. "No, no. It's not that simple. You saw through the Masked Man's Disperception Apparatus. That's why they attacked you. So who are you and why could you see through it?" Oke snapped. "Seriously? You just burst in my room when I got attacked by some creepy dudes who could materialize out of nowhere. Not to mention there are planets in the sky. I'm not one to demand explanations, but honestly. Who are you? What were those things? What the hell is even going on?!" "Oh." Sam replied. "What?" "That's anger. I have trouble with angry humans. Always say the wrong things and they get even more angry." Oke looked at Sam. "You mean you aren't human?" Sam glanced back. "No... I didn't say that." "No, but you implied it." "Huh?" "You are an alien though," reasoned Oke, "right?" Sam paused. "Suppose there is no point in lying. The extraction team is coming, so yes." "Cool!" Oke hesitated. "Who or what are you, and what is going on?" "I am an alien. You just got attacked by other aliens. My job was to keep you alive until the extraction team got here. Now tell me. Who or what are you and how could you see through the Disperception Apparatus?" "What's a Disperception Apparatus?" Sam looked Oke up and down, sizing him up. "A Disperception Apparatus is basically a device that keeps aliens invisible to humans. You can't see through it unless..." "Unless what?" "Have you encountered alien technology before?" "No, I don't think so." Oke replied, although he was pretty sure he was wrong. "What type of alien are you? What type of alien was that? What are you doing on Earth? Are you from Star Wars?" Sam frowned. "You ask a lot of questions. I'm a Tracker. Can't tell you what species. That was a Masked Man. Hard to explain. Can't tell you what I'm doing. What's Star Wars?" "Well, it's kind of like a-" "Look out!" Oke turned around. He was about to ask what he was looking out for when the tranquilizer dart embedded itself into his neck. ******* Oke woke up in a bright room in the middle of nowhere. His head felt heavy, like someone had turned it into a rock, and his eyelids refused to open. He heard two people arguing off to the side. "-did you reveal who you were and what your name was?!" "For god's sake, Annie, it isn't that big of a deal. He was coming here anyways!" a voice replied. Oke recognized it as Sam. "You... amateur! If a human knows about us, we have to shoot them! Were you even paying attention in training?" Annie fired back. "No..." admitted Sam, "but what was I supposed to do instead? He had already figured out I was an alien." "No, numbskull. He thought you were an alien. You could have just told him otherwise, or acted stupid. You're perfect at that." "Hey! Just because you're one teeny little rank higher than me doesn't mean you get to boss me around." "Shush. I think our little friend is awake." ___________________________________________________________________________________ Predictions? Questions? Flaws? Comment your thoughts below! Sneak Preview (spoilers, unless I change the plot):

Not going to spoil anything, but unless I make major changes to the plot, the next chapter will raise more questions than answers :P

Hunted: Chapter 1 The student observed the silvery surface of the water fountain. The reflective surface gave him just enough time to observe the Masked Man who walked briskly down the hallway without alerting him to his presence. He was a tall man with a white cloth wrapped around his head to form a mask, like no human could do. He seemed to glide across the floor, a large silver robe covering the mechanical parts underneath. The other students in the hallways paid him no mind as a Disperception Apparatus prevented them from doing so. As soon as the Masked Man turned around the corner, the student burst into action. He followed the Masked Man, secretively pulling out a small silver device out of his pocket and waving it every few steps. Most of the humans who watched him neither understood nor cared what was happening, but a few people snickered or stuck out feet to trip him. The student followed the Masked Man out the door and into the road. If the Masked Man knew he was being followed, he didn't show it. He followed the man onto a cobbled sidewalk, pushing past shoppers and tourists. Eventually, the Masked Man turned into an alleyway, which too, also had a Disperception Apparatus. After hesitating a moment, the reluctant student headed down the alleyway. It was a dark place, full of creaking houses with creaking doors, and creaking mice crawling in the creaking pipes. As soon as he entered, the creaking apartments spun around the student, encircling him. The Victorian apartments loomed over the student, and he was worried, for he was lost. "Having a little trouble?" a voice called out. The student turned around. It was the Masked Man from earlier. "You're a Tracker, aren't you? No human could possibly see through the Disperception Apparatus." The student gave a curt nod, and backed up against a cold, slimy wall. "I'm Captain Jacob Sainsman. Executed by firing squad four years ago. In short: I'm a Tracker's worst nightmare." The student had prepared for a fight. What he did not prepare for was the squelchy wall to suck him inside like a vacuum, leaving only his pristine white socks and a scream behind. Satisfied, the Masked Man looked at the large planet-like spheres in the sky, completely concealed by yet another Disperception Apparatus. ******* Oke woke up with a yawn. He drew the curtains and looked out the window. The planets he had seen earlier were still in the sky. They had been there for the past four months, but no one seemed to acknowledge them. It was almost like his friends were playing a big prank on him. He would have believed it, if he didn't know that his friends were terrible actors. The shiny silver one had ducked behind the hazy brown sphere. Oke had grown accustomed to the sight of random planets in the sky, and even gave them names. The silver metallic one was Mercury. The green one that seemed covered in forests was Venus. The crimson red one was Mars. The hazy brown one, twice as large as any of the others, was Jupiter. There was no Saturn or Uranus. The blue, ocean-like one was Neptune. The tiny white probe orbiting Neptune was Pluto. Finally, the moon-like planet covered in craters was the Death Star. Oke had been a big Star Wars fan growing up, and even went to a Padawan Academy Summer Program, which turned out to be a huge letdown and left a sour taste in his mouth. Nonetheless, Oke still kept his collection of mostly broken lightsabers. He sighed. No one had noticed the disappearance of Carl, Anna, and Hazel at school yesterday. Even some of their friends, who would have been sure to report their disappearances to the headmaster acted like they didn't even know who those people were. It was almost as if someone had been secretly controlling the lives of everyone on Earth. Although Oke had enjoyed playing around with the idea when he was younger, he wasn't having as much fun as he had hoped when it became a reality. Life wasn't really that bad, though. The orphanage was nice enough to give everyone their own room, and even had decent food. Oke was too young to remember his parents when they died. He knew some kids who still cried every night about it, though. He felt bad for them. Although, secretly, he felt jealous that they actually got to know who their parents were. Oke pushed these thoughts out of his mind, as he chose a drab T-shirt and some jeans out of his small collection of personal possessions. The orphanage allowed each orphan to collect some pocket money to spend on food, clothing and toys each year. Oke had saved enough money to purchase some decent clothes and a toolkit, the latter of which he used to create a secret compartment under his bed. He'd needed someplace to store candy stolen from the vending machines. Feeling down, he took a pack of Skittles and ate a few. Despite being under Oke's bed for god knows how long, they still tasted relatively good. Admittedly, Oke had a problem with Skittles. He craved them. They made him extremely hyper whenever he ate them for some reason. It baffled everybody. He would eat a few and then act like an monkey who was promised one banana too many, hopping about and rattling off thoughts. Now they made him march to the bathroom humming "I am the Doctor", while juggling socks. Everyone called Oke strange and alien, after all. His good mood didn't last, though. As he pushed open the door, he caught of glimpse of a silver suit, and then a white cloth. There was a masked thing looking at itself in the mirror. Chapter 2: here

Y U NO WATCH DR WHO? then again, that's coming from a Whovian who is in the middle of binge watching season 7 whilst having no life :P

I'm sorry but Savage beat you to that joke. :P He and Pie were both delicious.

The Puppet When I was little, I read a book about a puppet. Back then, it was my imaginary friend. We ran around the house, ate dinner together, even going so far as to have him sleep beside me. He wasn't exactly the most physically pleasant puppet. It was as if the illustrator had given up on drawing the puppet, and gave him the most random features. Half of his height was constituted by a head of white porcelain, with black depressions for eyes and a mouth. The rest of his body was flimsy with unnaturally long limbs, stuck in a tuxedo two sizes too tight. Most of its strings were missing as if it had somehow escaped a circus, ran halfway across the country, and plopped itself inside a picture book. Then I grew up, and the puppet came back. It was the night before the winter solstice, with a cool draft through the window. It was chilly, and I had a hard time sleeping. My older sister, Sarah, on the other hand, could sleep through a hurricane and was snoring loudly next door. After an hour of fruitlessly attempting to fall asleep, I decided to take a little walk. Sitting up, the first thing I noticed was the figure at the foot of my bed. It was the puppet, but this time, it was real. Naturally, I screamed, pinched myself, realized that I wasn't dreaming and scrambled outside. "Sarah!" I barged into her room. She continued snoring. "Wake up!"I shook her. Nothing. I surveyed her room for anything I could use to wake her up. An alarm clock, hockey stick, and her goldfish bowl."Sorry about this." I mumbled, before dumping the bowl, goldfish and all, onto her face. She spluttered awake."Why the- Was that my goldfish bowl?!" "Yes! I'll explain later. Come on!" Sarah grabbed me and shoved me onto the bed, before pinning my arms behind my back. "I demand an explanation. Now!" "Now's not really the time-" I began."Is this your idea of a joke? You're gonna be so dead when Mom comes home. That was my fish!" "Yes, poor fishy. Please let me-" I didn't get the chance to finish my sentence. I was extremely ticklish, and that was something Sarah enjoyed exploiting. By the time she was done, I was left gasping for air. "Fine!" I shouted. "It's the puppet. He's real. Okay? See for yourself." "Look, you need to understand the difference between imaginary friends, and real friends, which you don't have." Sarah said, smirking. "I'll prove it to you." She got out of bed and opened the door. I waited a few seconds before she gasped and ran back inside."What's it doing outside my room, staring at the door?" she cried, slamming the door shut. I looked up. "No, I swore it was on my bed-" "It's outside my room. Now if you think this is funny, then boy are you wrong." Sarah snarled, making the tickle motion with her fingers. I involuntarily squirmed. "Why won't you believe me? We don't have a puppet, much less that specific one, and it's not like I took a midnight trip to purchase one just so I could freak you out!"She held her gaze for a few seconds, before going limp. "Okay, what do we do then?" "I dunno. Aren't you supposed to be the one with all the answers?" "Well clearly this is beyond AP Latin!" she fired back."Okay, okay. Can't we call the police?" "What, and tell them we're being stalked by an evil puppet? Do you really think they'll believe us?" "Run to the neighbor's house?" "In the middle of the night?! You're kidding yourself." "I give up!" I sighed, sitting down on the bed."Tell you what, we'll wait till Mom gets home. Her shift's almost over. It'll be dawn then. In the meantime, we need to find a good place to hide from the puppet." "Can't we hide in here?" "Since when did a door stop monsters in horror movies? If it gets in here, we'll be trapped." "So where do we go?" "In a game of hide-and-seek? The big shed out back, of course!" "Fine by me. We'll just sneak out the window."I moved towards the window, only to jump back. "It's-it's outside. I can see its face. It's right outside the window." "We'll just sneak out this door then." Sarah whispered. "Come on." We tiptoed out, slowly sneaking down the wooden stairs. We managed to make it down without creaking, but there was something eerie about a house at night that still unsettled me. The photographs on the walls seemed unearthly in the fading light.At the foot of the stairs, Sarah motioned for me to follow her. We walked across the hallway and into the kitchen. I couldn't see much more than my hand in front of my face, and had to feel my way around. "Ouch!" I cried. "What is it?" "Nothing, I just stepped on something. Continue." I replied. "Okay, we'll take flashlights from the cabinet, but nothing else. We don't want to spend too much time here." Sarah whispered."Agreed." I felt my way around the kitchen, occasionally stumbling until I thought I found the cabinet. Inside were pots and pans. I continued searching, finding another cabinet full of china plates, and another full of spices. After a few minutes of searching, I finally found the right cabinet. I opened it and took out two flashlights and some spare batteries. Clicking my flashlight on, I shone it around the kitchen. I inhaled sharply. There were brand new, miniature muddy footprints all over the ground, and on the table. Even in the sink. A few cabinet doors were ajar and their contents were strewn all over the floor. Among those were a carving knife, the handle of which I had stepped on earlier. "Woah." I muttered. "Well observed, Sherlock." Sarah replied. "Let's get moving." "Wait. Those footprints are wet. It's almost as if-" "-the puppet was in here with us." Sarah finished. "Yes, and that's why we need to get a move on!" "Why didn't it kill us?" "Dunno, but be glad it didn't." Having nothing else to say, I followed Sarah into the main hallway. The muddy footprints were everywhere, even on the walls and ceiling. The puppet was nowhere in sight."Suddenly this doesn't feel like such a great idea." I murmured.Sarah ignored me and tried opening the door. "It's locked." "Well, find the keys, Miss AP Latin." I retorted."No, from the outside." Sarah fired back. "Oh." I said. "Umm... Try the back door?" "Yeah, try the back door." Sarah agreed. Mercifully, it was unlocked. Why we didn't think of trying the back door in the first place, I have no idea. However, more pressing matters were on our minds as we stepped into the warm night.The shed was built about twenty years or so ago. It was a huge wooden structure, so large that a better term would have been "warehouse", except it didn't serve any purpose these days except storing tools. I hadn't been inside it for years, so when Sarah unbolted the door, I was once again in awe at its size. It was almost as if it was bigger on the inside.Sarah bolted the door, and I observed the interior with my flashlight. There weren't any muddy footprints. A few tables were full of saws, drills, and other power tools, but most were empty. It was incredibly dusty, but not the most uncomfortable place to spend the night. "Sarah!" I whispered, shaking her. "What?" she answered groggily, sitting up. "I was just about to doze off to sleep. It's an hour until dawn. Get some rest." "Yeah, well, you should know by now I hate cool drafts. I have a hard time sleeping with drafts in my room." "Why don't you call Mom then? Warn her about the puppet so she doesn't waltz into the house and get butchered?" "You have a strange sense of humor." I remarked. "Today is a strange day." Sarah shot back. "Fine." I said, dialing Mom's number. Nothing. "No WiFi." I exclaimed. "Useless thing. Wish Mom would let us have a cellular data plan." "Great." Sarah tutted. "I'll go back inside the house and call her." "You can't do that!" "Why can't I? If Mom comes home and gets killed, all this waiting will be for nothing. Plus, I'm not putting you in any danger, and I can text you to tell you how I'm doing." I couldn't see any counterargument, so I agreed. Sarah unbolted the door and stepped outside, blasting me in the face with the cool air. SARAH - 1 new message Sarah... What? Nothing. Just checking to make sure you were safe U had me scared for a sec >:c Mwahaha Not funny Y ??? Back doors locked. Course it is Try the front Okay This shed is darn creepy as all Something I can't quite put my finger on Sarah? What? Oh nothing Just thought you know You died Course not :3 I killed the puppet with my taekwondo skillz Did you get in? Yeah its creepy... front door was unlocked More muddy footprints Call her Doing so right now Success Yay now you can come back Except... Plz don't say front door was locked Front door was locked I'll tell you when I find a way out Sarah... I'm seriously creeped out being alone by myself in a large shed Speaking of which... this shed is really rlly creep I'm sorry... Nothing. Probably me being paranoid. I'm sorry I really am Nothing to worry about Y U say your sorry? I'll tell you later where r u? Still in shed, why? Knowing u, you'll go and find me. Don't. Have you got out yet? Nope Nada ZIlch Can you climb window? That's genius! Hold on. These footprints on the stairs Something seriously wrong with them It's as if... I don't know What? Sarah? These footprints look exactly like my own That's impossible FIne. I'll continue Don't you worry; whatever you do, don't leave the shed don't wander off :) Sarah. This shed creeps me out I think I know why now. Yes! What? I got out. Woohoo! But u better check out this shed How can there be a draft if the door is closed and the walls are sealed? I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry. I'm going to tell u some very bad news, and whatever I say, stay in the shed ok? Don't worry. I wont leave Why tho? U called mom and got out rite? No. U didn't call mom? No. I didn't escape. The puppet snapped my neck. Not as painful as I thought. Wait. If ur dead. THEN WHO AM I TALKING TO??? I'm so sorry I tricked you Sarah? SARAH? SARAH!!! Goodbye old friend The End. Helpful feedback is appreciated :) But wait. If Pie is dead, then who is typing this article? Dun dun dun *Edit: O probs should mention I don't really have a sister named Sarah

At this moment, Pie is running around screaming his head off. Please excuse him as he attempts to comprehend the nature of the situation and respond accordingly. But seriously, SOC3 is back?

I want one...