Episode 7

Wayward

A giant beam of light streaked through the sky and crashed into the ground near one of the many Feldnaut City construction sites. Crew members gathered around the point of impact to see something they'd never quite seen before.

“What is that thing?” one of the workers asked.

“Looks like a monkey,” said another.

“Yeah, an alien monkey that fell from the sky!”

“Are you crazy? There's no such things as aliens.”

“Well, normal monkeys don't crash into the ground as beams of light, now, do they?”

The small brown monkey sat on the ground and looked at his surroundings.

This wasn't the jungle.

He then looked at the various people surrounding him. Humans. And lots of them.

He pushed his way past the circle of people and took off.

“Hey, it's...going somewhere!”

“Call the animal shelter! Or the cops! Or the FBI!”

The otherworldly monkey's eyes darted all around the city. So many humans! So many tall buildings! Nothing like the lush, sparsely-inhabited jungle he called home. Where was he? How did he get there? Who were all these people? Why were they staring at him? His mind whirling, he cut around to a street with fewer people. But no matter where he went, the humans were everywhere. He just needed a minute to be alone. A minute to catch his breath. A minute to think.

He skidded to a halt as two menacing figures loomed in front of him; a knight-like creature with a spear, and a floating being made up of flat blocks piled on top of each other.

Other Creturians! He wasn't sure what kind of Creturians, but he knew one of his kind when he saw one.

“Thank goodness I'm not the only Creturian here!” he blurted out. “Please, tell me where I am!”

“You're on the planet Earth, my friend,” the knight hissed. “But you don't seem to have a reason for being here.”

“Huh?”

“The only Creturians that are on this planet are those brought here by Lord Clonar,” the block Creturian said. “Those who exist outside of his control are not allowed to roam free.”

“W-What are you talking about? Who are you guys?”

“I am Armorostel, great knight of Creturia.”

“And I am Diamondos. You are...Ookta, correct?”

“Y-Yes. Listen, I just want to go home. Please help me.”

Armorostel shook his armored head. “How sad, wandering an unfamiliar planet with no purpose. We will help you find the best purpose you could possibly have: that of servitude to Lord Clonar.”

Dark auras formed around the two evil monsters.

Ookta backed away. “N-No, please don't! Please!”

“We will set you free from your pain,” Diamondos said softly. “Do not resist.”

“No, I won't let you! I won't let you!” Ookta about-faced and ran for his life.

The chase was on.

---

Not far, at a grocery store, Brittany handed a woman her bags. “There you are. Please come again.”

“Yo, Brit, you about ready to go?” a girl from another register called to her.

“Just about. Are you sure you can handle the store by yourself?”

“Of course, no biggie. The store's practically dead. Why don't you go ahead and go?”

“I still have a few minutes. I don't mind sticking around a little bit longer.”

She turned to look towards her car, and out of the corner of her eye, caught sight of Ookta being pursued by Armorostel and Diamondos.

“What are you staring at?” her workmate asked her. “Something going on out there?”

“No, it's nothing,” Brittany said, her eyes fixed firmly on the creatures. “Can you get that customer for me, please?”

She ran outside to get a better look. Those weren't kids in costumes.

Whatever they were, they were heading straight towards her.

A very disturbing reminder came to her. They couldn't be...could they?

She hid behind a car as she watched them. Oh no. Those have to be the monsters that guy was talking about before! What are they doing here? I hope they're not coming for me!

Ookta stopped and turned back towards his pursuers. He pulled a massive bone club from behind his back and flung it at the two Creturians. “Bone Cracker!”

Armorostel staggered back in pain as the bone smacked him in the face. “Gah, that hurt!”

“How could that hurt?” Diamondos asked. “You're wearing a full suit of armor.”

“My body is the armor, you idiot!”

While the two bickered, Ookta made a break for it.

Brittany watched the creature carefully. What's that thing doing...? Uh oh!

Ookta dove behind the same car she was hiding behind.

The monkey hadn't noticed her, as he was covering his head with his eyes clenched shut. This was the first time Brittany had gotten a good look at one of the so-called monsters. This one didn't seem so scary.

She tapped him lightly on the shoulder. “Um...excuse me.”

Ookta jumped and screamed in alarm, scaring Brittany and causing her to scream as well. “Don't scare me like that!” he said. “Can't you see I'm being chased by bad guys? Hey, are you hiding, too?”

“Please be quiet,” Brittany whispered. “They'll hear you!”

“Too late.”

Brittany and Ookta looked up and screamed. Armorostel stood atop the hood of the car, with Diamondos hovering above him.

“What have we here? It looks like our little friend has led us to a Dimensional Guardian! The energy signature is unmistakable.”

Brittany squeaked.

“Don't hurt us!” Ookta wailed. “We haven't done anything wrong.”

“We won't hurt you,” Diamondos said, “but we can't make any promises about the girl. You are going to join us, and I can promise you it won't hurt a bit. Hold still, now.”

Before they could do anything, both monsters were swept off their feet and tumbled off the car. When they stood back up, their prey was gone. “Now where did he go?” Diamondos asked.

On top of a nearby building, Brittany and Ookta clung to each other, shivering. Brittany opened her eyes to see Wyn standing over her and Ookta. “Why is it I'm always stuck playing babysitter?” he muttered.

“Hey, I remember you,” she said. “You saved us. Thank you!”

“My name's Wyn, by the way,” he said.

Despite Wyn's unfriendliness, she couldn't help but be glad to see him. “Ah. I'm Brittany.”

Wyn glanced down at Ookta, who stared up at him with his round black eyes.

“Who's the monkey?”

Ookta flashed a smile, his huge teeth gleaming. “My name's Ookta. Thanks for saving me!”

“I watched you being chased by those other Creturians. What's the story?”

“They want me to join their army or something,” Ookta responded. “I don't know, I was too scared to really pay attention.”

“Join their army...?” asked Brittany.

“Yeah. They're bad Creturians. I don't like 'em, nope, not one bit.”

“What's a Creturian?”

“We're all Creturians, all of us. But I think there's something wrong with those guys.”

This was the first time Wyn had ever talked to a Creturian without it being between punches. Now was the time to get answers to some questions that had been festering in his mind for so long. “And where exactly do you Creturians come from?” he asked.

“Creturia, of course. I want to go back there, but I don't know how. Can you help me?”

“Aw, you poor thing,” Brittany said.

“It was fairly obvious you monsters aren't from around here, but how did you end up in this world?” Wyn asked.

“I don't know! I was just at home minding my own business, and the next thing I know, I'm here.”

“Huh. So you just...randomly appeared in this world against your will?”

“Yeah, that's what happened.”

“Okay, so answer me this: every Creturian I've ever encountered has tried to do me in.” He leaned in towards the monster. “How do I know you won't do the same?”

Brittany put her hand on Ookta's shoulder. “C'mon, Wyn, this little guy just wants to go home.”

“Well, there's nothing we can do about it,” Wyn said. “There's plenty of nice, big jungles in the world you could live in. One thing's for sure, you can't stick around here.”

“We can't just leave him on his own,” Brittany argued.

“We can't, huh? Then what do you propose we do?”

Brittany paused. “He...he can come stay with me.”

“What? You can't be serious.”

“He needs a friend now more than ever. I'm willing to make the sacrifice to make sure he's well taken care of.”

“And if he gets loose in the city, he'll cause a panic.”

“I can handle it. Don't worry, I'll keep him well-hidden.”

Wyn grunted. “Mmm, this is a really bad idea.” Brittany looked up at him like a child begging for their parent to reconsider a decision. How could he argue with a face like that? “Fine. But if something goes wrong, don't expect me to come around and clean up your mess.”

“No problem.”

Wyn shrugged. It was her funeral. And so, he jumped away, leaving Brittany and Ookta alone.

“Y-You'll really let me stay with you?” Ookta asked happily.

Brittany smiled. “Sure! At least until we find a way to send you back to your world. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror again if something bad happened to you.” She paused. “Well, okay, I could, and I'd be beautiful, but I'd feel pretty bad, that's for sure. Hey, I have a great idea!”

She looked around. “But first, let's find a way to get off this building.”

---

The lone crag sat in the middle of the forest clearing innocently.

The squad of policemen knew better, though—or at least Derek did. They peeked their heads out from the trees they were hiding behind. “That's it. Right there,” Derek said. “I'm sure of it.”

“I've seen my fair share of weird stuff this week, Derek,” another officer said, “but I dunno if I can believe the monsters have an invisible base in the middle of that clearing.”

“You're in for quite a shock, then.”

“Our mission is simply to take a quick look and head back,” the commander said. “We'll determine our next move back at HQ.” He examined the perimeter. “It doesn't look like any of the monsters are around right now.”

“What if they're...invisible, too?” an officer suggested with a shudder.

“Yeah, maybe they're all watching us right now...thinking of ways to cook us and laughing maniacally,” said another.

“Simmer down, Jeff,” the commander said. “We have our trusty weapons if we need them. Let's move in slowly, stay on guard, and make this job as quick and painless as possible.”

The squad slowly skittered across the open clearing towards the crag that hid the fortress. Derek pressed his head up against the crag and felt around for the spot he was looking for.

The other officers gasped collectively as his hand went straight through the rock. “Ha. Told ya.”

An officer looked around, half expecting something to jump out and attack them. “No alarms so far.”

The commander spoke softly and smoothly. “All right, men. Let's crash this little party.”

“I just love your witty comments, sir,” an officer said as they made their way inside.

“It's a gift, Terran. It's a gift.”

---

Brittany instantly regretted her shortsighted decision to look after Ookta. It wasn't that she didn't want to protect him, but rather that she wasn't sure exactly what she was supposed to do with him. Thus, she turned to her friend Tami for help. Surely she'd be more than willing...right?

“You want me to what?!” Tami yelled at her.

“Please, Tami, you're the only person I can turn to,” Brittany pleaded. “I can't keep watch over him by myself.”

Tami sighed. “I don't know, Wyn's jungle idea isn't sounding half bad.”

“Don't say that! Ookta doesn't belong in this world. We're the only ones who can help him.”

“But how are we going to do that? Unless you have some method to open a portal to his home dimension that you've been keeping a secret, I don't think there's much we can do.”

Ookta whimpered and looked down at the floor. Tami's expression softened. “Hey, I'm sorry,” she said sweetly. “I know you miss your home, and I promise we'll do whatever we can to make your stay here comfortable.” She turned to Brittany. “I guess I can watch over him a little bit.”

Brittany clapped her hands together. “Oh, thank you so much!”

“Yeah, thanks!” Ookta said. “I promise I won't be a burden.”

“Of course I'll keep him at my place tonight,” Brittany said. “We can talk more about it tomorrow. Is that okay?”

“Sure.”

Brittany made her way up the stairs to her apartment and slowly opened her door. Her parents would be home at any time, and her younger sister was home, though hopefully she was too occupied with watching TV to notice their new guest.

“Heya, Brittany,” her sister said, not taking her eyes off the screen.

“Hi, Lacy,” Brittany said, keeping Ookta behind the open door. “Is mom or dad home yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Ah, good. Er, I mean, what'cha watching?”

“It's--”

“Ooh, that's great. Glad you're enjoying it.” She darted into the apartment, pressing Ookta down behind the couch as she went. “You just keep watching it, and I'm going to go to my room to do some homework.”

“Homework? But it's summer.”

Whoops. The perils of her mouth moving faster than her brain. “Why, right you are! Just checking to see if you were paying attention. Gotta keep that brain sharp during the summer, you know. You just keep enjoying your show and don't pay any attention to little old me.” She scrambled into her room and slammed her door behind her. Lacy shrugged and kept watching TV.

Thinking it safe to speak, Ookta yelled, “Yay, we made it!”

Brittany shrieked and covered his mouth. “Ookta, remember what I said about keeping your voice down? We don't want Lacy to hear you.”

“Gotcha!” Ookta yelled.

Brittany sighed. “This is going to be a long, long day.”

“Ooh, pretty buttons! Whadda they do, whadda they do?”

She looked up to see Ookta pressing random buttons on her stereo system and pulled him away from it. “No, Ookta, that's my stereo system, and it's really, really expensive! Please don't touch it.”

“Okay, sorry. Ooh, what's that?” He hopped over to Brittany's open closet and plopped one of her many hats down on his head.

“No, that's one of my favorite hats!”

“Does it look good on me?”

Brittany swiped it from him. “Please, if you're going to stay here, you're going to have to...not touch everything.”

“I'm sorry,” Ookta said sincerely. “Hey, you got any food? All that running earlier made me really hungry.”

“Sure. You like bananas, right?”

“Yeah!”

“Great. I'll be right back. Please don't touch anything.”

“Okie dokie.”

Lacy watched Brittany carry the bushel of bananas to her room. “What are you doing with all those bananas, Brittany?”

“Oh. Well, I've discovered my potassium levels are far too low,” Brittany said. “Gotta get 'em up there, heh heh.”

Ookta shoveled the bananas down like he hadn't eaten anything in weeks. “Ooh, these are so good,” he said between bites, spitting up chunks of banana into Brittany's face as he spoke. “Almost as good as the ones I find in the jungle.” He burped as he finished off the last one. “Mmm, yeah! Now I'm sleepy. Good night.” Almost immediately he fell to the floor, fast asleep.

“Thank goodness,” Brittany said to herself. “He's been here for ten minutes and he's already worn me out. Still, he's pretty cute for a crazy monkey from another world. I just hope he's not a light sleeper.”

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Maybe she could handle it.

Her hopes faded as the day wore on and a well-rested Ookta attacked the remaining hours with unparalleled vigor.

“Ookta, please be careful with that!”

“No, Ookta, that's not food!”

“Get that thing out of your nose!”

By the time evening hit, Brittany was completely exhausted. She plopped to the floor and ran her fingers through her frazzled hair.

“I'm boooooooored!” Ookta whined, having been barred from touching more or less everything in the room.

Brittany looked around frantically for something to occupy the hyperactive primate, then pulled out a lava lamp and set it down in front of him. “Ooh, the colors,” Ookta said, mesmerized.

“You just stare at that for a few hours,” Brittany said, inching her way towards her door. “I'll be back in a minute.”

She scuttled into the bathroom, closed the door, and pulled out her cell phone.

In another apartment, Tami's phone rang. She was fairly certain who it was. “Hey, Brit, how're things going?”

“I don't know how much more I can take of this,” Brittany said softly so no one would overhear. “I feel sorry for the little guy, but to be perfectly honest, he's driving me...”

“Bananas?”

“Cute. Anyway, I can't keep him here much longer. He's eaten half the food in the fridge, trashed my room, and--and--”

“And what?”

“He...he got fur all over my favorite beret.”

“Aww, no! That hat was so cute, too.”

“I don't know what to do. It's only a matter of time before something really bad happens.”

“I had a feeling this wasn't going to work. There's got to be some way we can help him out without keeping him here.”

The girls pondered over the matter.

“And I think I know just what that 'some way' is,” Tami finally said. “I'll call you tomorrow morning, and we can set things up.”

Brittany sighed. “I don't know if I can survive the night.”

“Sure you can. Don't worry, my plan is foolproof.”

“But is it monkeyproof?”

As Brittany trudged back into her room, Ookta was still staring intently into the lamp. “So, you like that, huh?” she asked him.

Lost in his own little world, Ookta didn't respond.

“Ookta? You okay?”

No response. Good. The less he moved, the better. “Well, you just keep enjoying that. I'm going into the front room for a while.”

She dropped down onto the couch next to her dad, barley having the energy to keep herself from sliding on into the floor.

“You look like you've had a busy day,” her dad said.

“You have no idea.”

Surprisingly, Ookta stayed fixated by the lamp on into the nighttime hours. Then, he flinched as the lamp suddenly turned off. “Hey, where'd the colors go?”

“Sorry, Ookta, but we need to get our sleep for tomorrow,” Brittany said, her nightgown flowing around her.

“Ooh, all right! What're we gonna do tomorrow?”

“You'll find out. You'll be much happier, though, trust me.”

“Ooh boy, a surprise! I like surprises. Lemme try to guess what it is.”

“No, no, no guessing. You have to get to bed.”

“Okay, I guess. I am getting a little tired.”

“Let me just get a plastic sheet and you can sleep in the bed.”

“Oh, that's okay. I can sleep on the floor.”

“Er, really? Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

Brittany silently sighed in relief. She'd spent the whole day taking care of that little ball of energy at her own expense. She figured the least she deserved was a nice soft bed to sleep in. “That's great, then!” She began getting into her bed. “I'll see you first thing in the morning then, bright and early. Don't get up and start doing things if I'm not awake, okay?”

“Um, actually...”

“...what?”

“I usually sleep in a nest of branches and leaves.”

Brittany's eye twitched as she glared at him.

Going outside, filling a trash bag full with leaves and foliage, then dragging it back upstairs to her apartment was not Brittany's idea of a good way to end the night.

As long as Ookta was happy, she supposed. And he apparently was as he spaced out the foliage on Brittany's floor just the way he liked it. “This is perfect! Thanks a lot.”

Brittany fell down on her bed, the last of her energy having left her. “No problem. Goodnight.” She rolled over and pressed her head against the soft pillow. The bed had never felt so good as it did right then. She sighed happily and let her eyes fall shut.

Her eyes were promptly jarred open again as Ookta began snoring loudly. She groaned as she stuffed her head under her pillow and tried to get some precious sleep.

---

Ookta stumbled along the park's cobblestone pathway, straining to see through the thin fabric of the bed sheet covering his body. “Hey Brittany, Tami, I can't see anything.”

“Sorry, Ookta, mom would kill me if she found holes cut in her good sheets,” Tami said. “It's going to be hard enough explaining where all the monkey fur came from.”

Brittany winced at the rather lazy disguise Tami had come up with for Ookta. It made him look like a hobbling ghost. “Shouldn't Ookta's disguise be a little more...I don't know, elegant?”

“It's elegant in it's simplicity,” Tami said proudly. “If this was a cartoon, you could put lipstick and a hat on a monkey and expect people to be fooled. But not in real life. You have to get a little more creative.”

A passerby stopped and turned at the odd sight. “Hey, ladies, it's a little early for Halloween, isn't it?”

“Heh heh, sure is,” Tami said.

“...good cover,” Brittany muttered to her.

“I think I'm suffocating in here!” Ookta shouted, flailing about under the sheet.

“Just a little further,” Tami said. “We're almost at the spot.”

“Where are we going again?” Ookta asked.

“We're taking you to a secluded place where you'll have some room to move around a little.”

“What? You mean you're abandoning me??”

“No, of course not. We'll visit and bring you food every so often. Believe me, this is best for--”

A sudden barrage of flat stone blocks crashed to the ground in front of them, stopping them in their tracks. Ookta took off the sheet to see what was happening.

“So, we meet again, Guardian, Ookta,” Armorostel said, rays of sun emitting through the trees reflecting off of his metal body.

“Impressive, Ookta,” Diamondos said, hovering faithfully beside his partner. “You don't even have Guardian-sensing abilities, and you've led us to not just one, but two Guardians! You'll make a fine addition to Clonar's army.”

“Clonar...?” Tami echoed in confusion.

“Why won't you just leave me and my friends alone?” Ookta growled, stepping forward. “We don't want to fight.”

Armorostel stood poised, ready to attack. “Then just stand still and let us do our job. Knight Spear!” Armorostel chucked his long metal spear at the three of them, barely missing them. The trio fled down the road, and the two dark Creturians followed.

“You sure are popular, aren't you?” Tami said to Ookta.

“If this is what popular is, I don't like it!” Ookta said.

“You can't escape your destiny,” Diamondos called. “Block Crusher!” Several of the flat blocks composing the creature shot off and almost hit their mark, but crumbled behind their targets.

“What're we gonna do, Tami?” Brittany asked in a panic.

“I don't know, I don't know!” Tami said. “We can't just keep running forever.”

“Then what can we do?”

“We have no choice. We'll stand and fight.” Tami stopped and turned to face her attackers, who stopped, as well.

“Did you realize how futile your flight was?” Armorostel asked.

Tami didn't answer as she held her Guardian band up in front of her. “Dimensional Guardians, power up!” She transformed and turned to Brittany, who looked hesitant. “You know we have to do this, Brit.”

Brittany inhaled sharply. “Yes...I know.” She let it out, then held up her Guardian band slowly, almost ruefully. “Dimensional Guardians, power up.”

“Cool!” Ookta exclaimed after her transformation was complete. “You guys never told me you could do that!”

Brittany pushed Ookta behind her. “Stay back, Ookta. We'll protect you.”

“This should be interesting,” Diamondos said.

“I'm a monster of chivalry,” Armorostel said in an almost noble-sounding voice. “You may make the first move.”

Tami nodded, her muscles tensed. “All right then. Let's do this.”

Tami launched an ice blast, and it missed Armorostel completely. Brittany followed her lead by throwing her hammer at Diamondos, who simply floated above it.

Armorostel stood silent. “That's it?”

“I think we're in trouble,” Brittany said. Things were off to a really bad start.

“Now it's our turn. Knight Spear!”

“Block Crusher!”

The girls barely managed to jump away from the attacks, but the Creturians didn't let up on their assault. Tami scrambled away from the heavy stone blocks as Diamondos tried to hit her. Brittany, meanwhile, strove to avoid getting skewered by Armorostel's spear with some quick ducks and sidesteps.

Ookta, having been told not to get involved, simply watched, his fur standing on end.

“I'll give you one thing,” Armorostel said to Brittany between thrusts, “you're pretty nimble.”

“Run all you want,” Diamondos said to Tami. “I can keep this up all day.”

“I was afraid you'd say that,” Tami jumped backwards again, her back pressing up against a tree. Trapped, she shrieked as several blocks piled on top of her, covering her in rubble.

Brittany took a moment to catch her breath as Armorostel ceased his onslaught. “Perhaps a spear isn't the best way of dealing with you,” he said, sounding no less tired than he was when the battle started. “The mace is much more effective, I think.” Then, like some sort of robotic appendage, the knight's left arm morphed into a massive ball and chain dangling from his arm socket.

“Uh oh,” Brittany said.

“Mace Hurl!” The monster slung the mace downward, and Brittany narrowly dodged. As he hurled it sideways, the chain seemed to grow in length as it wrapped around Brittany's body, completely binding her. Armorostel detached the chain from his body, and a replacement left arm formed in his empty socket, which he used to pick up the chain and fling Brittany into a tree.

“Pathetic,” Diamondos said, drifting up to Armorostel.

“That'd be giving them too much credit,” Armorostel said. The two monsters turned their attention back to Ookta. “It would appear we're right back to where we started. It's time for you to join Clonar's army.”

“No! I'd never join anyone who hurts my friends like that,” Ookta snapped. “They took me in and cared for me. They tried to protect me.” He pulled out his bone club. “And now I'm going to protect them!”

Neither monster appeared intimidated. “You're welcome to try,” Diamondos said calmly.

“I'm sorry for all the bad stuff I've put you guys through,” Ookta said softly to Brittany and Tami, though he knew they couldn't hear him. “I'm going to make up for it, I promise.”

“You really think you can take both of us on?” Armorostel scoffed.

“I dunno, but I'm sure gonna try! Bone Cracker!”

Diamondos knocked the flying bone away with one of his blocks. “You're even more pathetic than the ones you're trying to protect. Still, Clonar can help you become a valuable asset to our team.”

“I don't care what happens to me, as long as my friends are safe!”

Armorostel suppressed a snicker as Ookta charged at them. “You make this all too easy.”

Dark auras surrounded them.

Brittany wriggled around helplessly, the chain squeezing the breath out of her. “Tami, are you all right?” she tried to call out to her friend.

“I've felt better,” Tami responded, still slumped against the tree.

“We have to do something! They're going to get Ookta!”

“'Going to?'”

The girls looked over.

“Ookta!”

“Oh no!”

The normally-peaceful primate struggled to free himself from Armorostel's steel grip. But Brittany could tell he wasn't directing his malice towards the two Creturians.

He was directing it towards her and Tami.

“Your little friend is Clonar's new servant,” Armorostel said with a sick pleasure. “So sorry.”

“Ookta, snap out of it!” Brittany yelled. “You're our friend, remember?”

“No! You're my enemies,” Ookta said, his face contorted into an evil snarl. “It's my job to destroy the Dimensional Guardians!”

“He's...really gone,” Tami whispered.

Armorostel's piercing yellow eyes curved upwards in what seemed to be a look of dark glee. “How ironic it would be, you being destroyed by the same person you tried to protect. I love it.”

“I'm not about to let these girls get destroyed by some silly monkey.”

“What? Who's there?”

In an instant, the chain around Brittany fell to pieces, as did the blocks covering Tami. Wyn appeared between the two factions, his eyes focused intently on the dark Creturians. “So, it's you guys again. You never quit, do you?”

“Who are you?” Diamondos asked, having not seen the mysterious warrior the last time he appeared.

“Does it really matter?” Wyn said with disdain. “I'll be finished with you guys before your brains can even process the information.”

“What did you say?!”

Wyn finally turned to the girls. “I guess your previous battle was a fluke. You didn't do quite so well this time.”

The girls chuckled uneasily.

Wyn turned back to his opponents. “I think I see what's going on here. Some twisted freak out there is corrupting your minds and forcing you to attack us. And now you're spreading it to others.”

“Sounds like you've figured things out,” Armorostel said. “We won't rest until we've destroyed every last one of you Dimensional Guardians. And we're willing to do whatever it takes to win, even corrupt the minds of innocent Creturians.” He gestured to Ookta, who was salivating like a rabid animal. “As you can see, we're quite skilled at what we do.”

Wyn shook his head. “I had a feeling something like this would end up happening.” To the girls, he said, “A shame it had to come down to this. It looks like you girls will have to take him out now.”

“Wha—What?!” Brittany exclaimed. He said it like it was no big deal! “We can't do that! He's our friend!”

“Not anymore he's not. His mind has been poisoned, and there's no way to cure it. If you don't stop him here and now, he'll hunt you down later. There's no avoiding it. In the end, it's going to boil down to either him or you.”

Brittany felt her stomach lurch, the notion making her feel almost nauseated. “I—I can't do it.” She looked at Wyn hopefully. “Wyn...can you?”

“You're a Dimensional Guardian now,” Wyn said matter-of-factly. “I can't hold your hand every step of the way. If you're going to be a good warrior, you're going to have to do whatever it takes to get the job done, no matter how hard it may be.”

“No...Tami...?” She looked at her friend for some kind of support.

Tami rubbed her arm. “I...I don't know, Brittany.”

Brittany put her head in her hands. “This can't be happening...this can't be happening.”

Armorostel groaned in boredom. “I'm tired of this. Get them, Ookta.”

Armorostel let go of Ookta's arm, and he charged at the girls in an eager rage.

“Ookta, no!” Brittany screamed.

Wyn's words echoed in Brittany's ears like a voice through a thick haze. “Get him! Now!”

Ookta had leaped at Brittany first.

There was no avoiding his attack.

There was only the one recourse.

I'm sorry...Ookta.

Brittany threw her hammer--

--and Ookta disappeared in a roaring wave of energy.

He was gone.

Brittany gazed straight ahead, a blank look on her face.

“H-He's gone...I...vaporized him...”

Tami let out a breath, unsure whether it was a sigh of relief or one of sorrow.

“T-The girl destroyed him in one shot!” Diamondos exclaimed, slowly floating backwards in newfound fear.

“If one scrawny human girl can be that strong...then imagine how strong the three of them must be together!” Armorostel said, his composure shaken.

“I don't like the sound of that. Let's retreat for now.”

“So be it. You win this round, Guardians,” Armorostel declared, trying to sound confident, “but when you least expect it, we'll be back!”

And thus, they were gone.

Brittany slumped to her knees, as if the sadness she was feeling was weighing her down. She de-transformed as tears welled up in her eyes. “I really destroyed him...”

Wyn, not one who was used to offering sympathy, simply said, “I'm sorry,” and walked off.

Tami uneasily walked up to her sniveling friend and put her arm on her shoulder. “Brittany...are you okay?”

The dam of emotion burst. “No, I'm not okay!” Brittany wailed, tears streaming down her face. “I just destroyed a living, breathing creature! Ookta counted on me to help him, and I destroyed him!”

“Brittany, there was nothing you could've done. Like Wyn said, if he wasn't dealt with, he would've destroyed us. We had no choice.”

Brittany wiped the ever-flowing stream of tears from her face. “I just don't understand...why did things have to end this way? Why are these monsters doing this?”

“I don't know. But listen...we may not have been able to save Ookta, but if we've learned anything from this whole ordeal, it's that there are more monsters out there that need help, and we need to use our powers to stop any more from suffering the same fate.”

Brittany sniffled. “I...I know.”

Tami helped her friend to her feet. “It took a lot of strength to do what you did. A lot of strength. We need all the strength we can muster if we're going to help these creatures.” She paused. “It's what...Ookta would want.”

Brittany's tears dried. “You're right, Tami. I need to be strong. I'll do everything in my power to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”

Tami smiled warmly. “'Atta girl. We'll show those bad guys whose boss, right?”

Brittany nodded and returned the smile as best she could.

“Now, let's go home.”

---

Meanwhile, deep in the dense jungles of Creturia, a familiar monkey-like Creturian slowly opened his eyes and sat up. The last thing he could remember was getting attacked by those two bad Creturians. His memories after that point consisted of near total darkness with the occasional blurry vision of those two nice girls interspersed.

He gazed around at his surroundings. No buildings. No humans. “Where am I?” he wondered, picking himself up. “Could it be...?”

A grin spread across his face as it dawned on him. “I'm home! I'm home, I'm home, I'm home!”

He didn't know how it happened, but he was pretty sure who was responsible. “Thank you, Brittany! Thank you, Tami! It's so good to finally be back home! I'll never forget you, my friends!”

He bounced across his jungle home happily. Life was finally back to normal.

It looks like this story has a happy ending after all. But what happened to Ookta? When will the mystery of the dark force be revealed? And will the five Guardians ever unite? The answers are forthcoming, in Dimension Heroes!

TO BE CONTINUED...