Revenge and Resistance: Part Three

*** “You wanted to see me, my lord?” the Kougra asked, eyes twinkling with worry, though his master didn’t notice.

     “Yes, Gormos. Sit,” Sloth commanded, indicating the chair opposite the intricately carved desk he sat behind. “We have matters of the greatest importance to discuss.”

     “Yes, Master?” Gormos asked after he was seated. Though he was slightly slouched in his seat, he was paying the utmost attention. If this conversation was what he thought it would be, he’d need to steer carefully.

      “What is your report on the Grundo situation on Kreludor? How goes the captures?” Sloth asked, watching the Kougra’s face for any change.

     Stiffly, Gormos replied. “It goes well, m’lord. They are coming rather easily. I’d even go so far as to say your plan’s working like a charm.”

     “Good, good. Just what I like to hear,” Sloth replied. The two sat across from each other, eyes locked into each other’s, neither backing down. Though this had the pretense of a conversation, both knew this was a war of personalities.

     Finally, Sloth broke away and reached for a sheet of paper. “Would you mind telling me, then, what this means?” He looked down and began reading from the sheet.

     “‘My lord--

     The Grundos are becoming wiser. It is harder to get any of them to trust us. A few weeks ago, we were able to capture two to three hundred a week; now it is hard to manage fifty in the same time period. It is my personal opinion that someone from our side is feeding the Resistance on Kreludor with locations on future attacks. I believe the person we discussed earlier has been compromised.’”

     Sloth set the paper down and looked up at Gormos, eyes still coldly unemotional. “I have reason to believe that person is you. Is this true?”

     Gormos shifted slightly, keeping his features calm. Inside, however, his stomach was churning. He had been caught; he was dead.

     Sloth smirked. “Your silence speaks volumes.”

     “Who sent the message?” Gormos asked suddenly. He was a goner anyways; he wanted to know who ratted him out.

     “I don’t think you need to know that,” Sloth shot back. “Traitors don’t get things they want.”

     He pressed a button next to a speaker on his desk and spoke into it. “Gorchax, Zolix, we have trash to dispose of in here.”

     The door behind Gormos slid open and two Mutant Grundos stepped forward, eyes dull and lifeless. They grabbed the Kougra by the arms and awaited more instruction. Sloth smirked again as he watched Gormos hang limply from the muscular arms of the Grundos.

     “Get rid of him.”

     Gormos was suddenly dragged out of Sloth’s office and through the halls of the upper Space Station, past legions of mutant Grundos and random robots. None of them stared at the Kougra; they had all seen this sort of thing before. Nevertheless, the Kougra was ashamed of himself. Why hadn’t he been more careful?

     A blue Acara walked by them, but stopped as she noticed Gormos. When the Kougra realized he was being watched, he struggled to turn around. He managed to turn his head far enough around to notice the smirk on her face.

     “YOU!” he shouted angrily. “Skyfire! I should’ve known!”

     The Acara simply stared, but Gormos continued screaming. “I will get revenge, Skyfire! Don’t forget about me!”

     By now the Acara had chuckled and continued on her way. Gormos had begun to sob. His chest heaving, Gormos’ eyes widened as he realized what the Grundos were going to do with him--they were simply going to toss him into space and let him try to survive, a near impossible task. He now knew there was no way out of this one.

     The Grundos tossed him into the airlocks and shut the door behind him. He was sprawled on the floor when the airlocks opened up into the vacuum of space. Instantly, he was sucked out.

     He would be dead in mere seconds. He shut his eyes to await the oncoming pain, but it never came. Suddenly, he was rocketing sideways, in the grasp of someone’s hand. His breaths came to him and he gasped for air as he opened his eyes.

     “You,” he gasped.

     The Space Faerie glanced down and smiled. “Hello, Gormos.”

     “How do you know my name?”

     “I have been watching you. It’s not a very smart thing to get caught by Sloth, you know,” she said with a wink.

     “It’s not my fault! It was Skyfire!” he said angrily. Silently, he made himself a promise to get back at Skyfire no matter the cost. This was all her doing.

     “Yes, I’m aware. Don’t go for revenge just yet, though,” she said, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. “For now you need to hide. Sloth may not know what happened, but he may find out eventually. Lay low for a while. It’s in your best interest.”

     Gormos nodded. What the Faerie said made sense. “Alright. But where?”

     His question was answered as they landed on the moon of Kreludor. “I figured this was a very fitting choice, no?” The faerie smiled.

     The Space Faerie was about to leave Gormos when she paused. “Oh, I almost forgot. In case something like this happens again, I want you to send me a signal.” She held her arms out and formed a yellow and blue orb in between her hands.

     Gormos was entranced by the magic. “That’s beautiful,” he said. “But how could I do it?”

     The Space Faerie blinked and smiled. “Go on, try it. Just think about your goal.”

     Gormos held out his hands and sure enough, a sphere appeared. He smiled with glee. “Thank you, Space Faerie, for everything. I’d be dead by now without you.”

     “No need to thank me. Just promise me you’ll stay safe.”

     He nodded. “Of course. Will we see each other again?”

     She had zoomed up into space, but turned quickly and stared down at Gormos. “I have a feeling we will, yes. Goodbye, Gormos.”

     ***

     Gormos returned to his containment unit deep in thought. If this help signal was for real, the Space Faerie was in trouble. But where? And how was she in trouble? And most worrisome to Gormos, how could he help? All these questions and no way to find the answers.

     “Gormos...” a voice blared. The Kougra jumped at the voice; it had been a long time since he had contact with another person. The noise was strange to his ears.

     “Gormos...” the voice repeated.

     The Kougra realized it was coming once again from outside and he reemerged from his unit to find the orb pulsating with the voice. “Gormos...” it said again.

     “Space Faerie?” he asked of the orb, his voice scratchy with disuse.

     “Gormos... now is your time,” the voice, which Gormos recognized to be his faerie savior, pleaded.

     “Time for what?” Gormos asked.

     “Time to get back at Sloth! I am in his clutches now. Please, you must stop Sloth before he gets too powerful.”

     “He’s back?” Gormos gulped. Would Sloth be coming for him? “What must I do to stop him?”

     “A resistance...” the faerie said. The voice had begun to waver, as had the orb. The colors dimmed, the pulsating seemed to turn in on itself. The sphere was imploding.

     “Wait!” Gormos said. “How am I supposed to form a resistance against Sloth?”

     “A resistance...” the voice repeated. “A resistance...”

     The orb had all but disappeared now. There was a small flash of yellow and it was gone.

     So this was his calling, his return to the front lines. He was to get back at Sloth with a resistance. Revenge was calling for him; tugging at his heart and mind. He could finally finish this once and for all! He grinned as he thought of the look on Sloth’s face when Sloth realized Gormos had survived all those years ago. It would be truly worth it.

     But his first step was to form a resistance. And that wasn’t going to be easy.

     ***

     Kreludor was a changed city. Since its rediscovery by Neopia a few years ago, it had become a bustling outpost of trade and tourism. Neopets flocked to visit the moon every day and shops had sprung up everywhere to part Neopets with their money. One stall even offered portable air packets in case of air emergency (even though it was perfectly fine to venture outside of the Grundo compound without fear of suffocation). Gormos took it all in with a boyish awe. This was astounding to see the change in only a few years. It was a completely different place, which made it easier to start a resistance here. But first, he wanted to make a quick stop at an old haunt.

     He arrived at the Kreludan Mining Corporation after a short walk. From what he could tell, it was deserted, presumably since Sloth was defeated the last time. With a severe case of trepidation, he stepped into it. His heart quailed as he thought of the thousands of Grundos he had “enlisted” to work in these mines. While it was true that he helped many of them escape, he had still captured plenty of them to have a guilty conscience about it.

     A sharp blast behind him shook him out of his thoughts. Whipping around, he found a tiny blue Grundo and a scrappy Cybunny running straight for him.

     “Run for your life!” the Cybunny screamed as she sped past Gormos. Behind the two was a gigantic robot. It held two blasters and shot them rapidly at the heels of the two fleeing Neopets. Gormos didn’t wait much longer. He darted out of the mines after the duo. They emerged from the mines gasping for air. Gormos, pulling a blaster he had found in storage, took aim at the entrance where the robot would appear in a few moments.

     The robot’s head appeared first. As soon as he saw it, Gormos shot his blaster repeatedly. When the smoke cleared, the three found a strange sight. The head had come completely off the body. It fell to the rocky ground, deactivated. Its sensors and life systems flickered into death.

     Gormos’ chest heaved as he turned to the Grundo and Cybunny. “Who are you?” he asked.

     “We’re adventurers!” the Cybunny said proudly. “I’m Cylara, and this is Gorix. We were seeing if there was any treasure in the mines.”

     “There wasn’t any, though,” the Grundo added. “To spare you the trip. Lousy Sloth had to clear it all out.”

     “What?” Gormos said. “Oh--I wasn’t looking for treasure, I was just... never mind.”

     “Who are you?” Cylara asked.

     “I’m Gormos,” he replied, an idea forming in his head. “And I’ve got a question for you, coincidentally.”

     “You do?” the Grundo asked, instantly curious.

     “Yes. You’re probably unaware of this, but Sloth--he’s back. And I’ve been commanded to form a resistance by the Space Faerie. Thing is, I can’t do it by myself. I think you two are the perfect candidates for the resistance. I need help. Are you willing to help me?”

     Cylara’s eyes widened. “A real life war? And you want us to help? For sure!”

     Gorix hesitated, and then nodded. “I’ve heard rumors about Sloth’s return, and I want to get back at him for what he did to me last time. I’m in too.”

     Silently, Gormos wondered if he had a helping hand in whatever Sloth did to Gorix. He shook off the thought and smiled. “Great. You’ll be perfect.”

     The Grundo pointed to the mines. “You know, I’m sure those mines would be perfect for a headquarters. They’re deserted, and now that the robot’s gone, no one would be able to listen in! What do you think?”

     Gormos looked to the mines shaped like Sloth’s head and smiled. “I think that’s perfect.”

     The Resistance had begun.

To be continued...