The proudest species in the universe is one that has things to be proud of. They have wealth, they have power, and they have the trust and respect of all species both higher and lower. The proudest species in the universe is also the most impulsive, the most demanding, and the most stubborn of all. Ryan did not like these types of species. But here he was, being dragged around by one of them. He was running for his life because one of them decided she was above it all.

“Out here!” Anya ran across the white room, pushing past the few aliens who had been waiting around, watching curiously. Ryan and Jamie were following close behind. The three of them rammed through the door and were greeted by the blinding light of the Day Star on the horizon. Ryan squinted as he looked around. There was nothing but expansive fields of grass and flowers. The grass went almost up to his knees, and as he breathed in, the air was of the purest quality that he had ever felt. There was no wind. Ryan had never set foot outside of the buildings of Origin. He had never actually seen and been on the planet, or experienced the stories of its beauties. Many young children come to see Origin’s beautiful planet on school trips, to learn its history. But Ryan had always opted out of these trips. He looked up at the sky, the swirls of the cotton candy clouds looked so close, he almost reached up to snatch a piece. The air and beauty of the planet was hypnotizing, so much so that Ryan almost felt the urge to lie down in the field and gaze for hours. The only thing keeping him grounded was the blaring siren still going off in the building. Anya continued running across the field.

“We need to get as far from here as possible so we have time to Transport back before they catch up to us!” she yelled. Jamie turned around, the gun still in her hands, and shot the door two times to ward them off for a bit. Since the human gun was still new to the beings of Origin, they’d exercise caution before coming after them too quickly. Still, they were bound to figure out that the bullets in this gun wouldn’t be able to harm them in the slightest.

Ryan took off, following her despite his furious desire to push her off a cliff.

This will probably be my last chance to ever step foot on this planet and it’s all because of this idiot. What makes her and her people so idiotic? And of course Chameleon girl doesn’t know how to do anything but follow orders! After running for a few yards, his feet getting tangled in the roses and dandelions, they finally came to a stop. Anya dug into her jacket pocket and flung the Transport disc into the grass. Ryan pulled his out and did the same, feeling the jingle of the empty vial as well.

Damn it, I didn’t even get to ask about this thing!

There was a thud as the three of them looked back to see that the doors of the Registration center had been burst open. This time, diamond-hat was chasing after them, followed by hordes of other white faceless beings. Her limbs were scrambling across the field like a spider’s. Ryan could almost see her cracked smile glittering in the light. His heart started racing as he threw his disc onto the ground.

“Thank you for using the I-Transport—“

“REDEEM RETURN TRIP!” Ryan yelled.

“Redeeming return trip to these coordinat—“

“YES! NOW!” Ryan could feel the vibrations on the ground of them stampeding closer. The blue circle on the ground lit up and Ryan jumped in. He stood stock still, squeezing his eyes tight, and felt a whoosh of air by his right ear. He didn’t dare open his eyes to see what it was. He felt the familiar sensation of being a floating pair of eyeballs. His fingers, his toes, his stomach, all were gone. He kept his eyes closed until he felt a solid surface underneath the soles of his feet. As feeling started to come back to him, he opened his eyes slowly. He was face to face with the lumpy couch in Anya’s living room. Anya had collapsed on top of it, breathing heavily. Jamie’s boots could be heard clip-clopping around as she paced, her chest heaving up and down as well. Ryan stepped out of the blue circle, kicked the tiny disc to the side and plopped down onto the hardwood floor. He rubbed his temples with his hands.

I can’t believe we just did that. We just made ourselves public enemy number one. And for no good reason! Why am I even still here right now? This is insane. I’m getting away from these idiots.

Ryan waited for his breathing to calm down. Nobody said anything at all. Anya looked to be staring at nothing, idly. Jamie’s face seemed to disappear behind her black hair as her boots continued to clip-clop around.

I feel bad about it, but they’re gonna have to deal with this by themselves. There’s nothing else for us to do now. We have no chance against all of Warrior with just the three of us, and no one is going to want to support us or help us out now that we have a giant target on our backs. There was a chance before, but now without the support of Origin, there’s just no way. I’ll go see Jasper one last time…and then go home.

Ryan pushed himself off the floor, stood around for a bit, and then made his way towards the door.

“Whoa, whoa, hey where you goin’?” Jamie asked, stopping her circling.

“I’m sorry. I’m opting out,” Ryan said, putting his hand on the door handle.

“Opting out? What do you mea—“ There was a large rustle, squeaking sneakers, and just as soon as Ryan pulled the door open, a large hand slammed the door back closed.

“No.” Anya said with a straight face.

Who does this chick think she is?

“No? What do you mean no? Get out of my way!” Ryan was getting irritated with her.

“You’re giving up. I didn’t know Pyrotanians were such cowards. Even when we were on Origin.” Anya’s brows were furrowed.

“What did you expect me to do? We didn’t have any powers. We still don’t have our powers!” Ryan exclaimed.

“Oh, don't worry about that. We’ll get them back in 24 hours at the least. The gas can’t take away something you were born with. Not for long.” Anya said. She pushed him back a little. “Anyway, you’re in this now whether you like it or not. They have your face, and they have your records. You can either leave and face them alone, or face them with people on your side.”

“The people who got me into this mess? No thanks.” Ryan said.

‘That may be so…however, we’re the only ones on your side now. You may not like it, but it’d be smarter to stay with us.” Anya finished.

She has a point. I wouldn’t last long on my own.

“Besides, we’re not finished yet. I’m still willing to go for it.”

“Go for it? We don’t have the support of Origin! That means no weapons, no access to Vial, and I didn’t even get to find out about this.” Ryan said. He pulled out the empty Vial bottle he had in his hoodie pocket. Anya looked at it and Jamie came up closer to get a look as well.

“What is it? ” Anya said.

“I picked it up from that Gargoyle’s apartment when I was tracking him down. I found this there, except that it’s meant for someone of the Metallion species. There were more bottles there, all addressed to the same one. That’s what I meant that night when I said that Gargoyle wasn’t even a real Gargoyle.” Ryan said.

Anya snatched the bottle out of his hand. “You’re sure this was his? Why would he choose to shift into a Gargoyle?”

“And even if you shift into another species, you don’t suddenly become that species. He shouldn’t have had the urge to eat like that.” Jamie said.

“You got me,” Ryan said throwing his hands into the air. “Maybe we’d know if we did what we were told, and waited on Origin.”

“There was no point…they wouldn’t have told us anything anyway. They’ve basically handed over Earth to Warrior. They would’ve kept us there to make sure we didn’t get in the way or inspire others to back us up.” Anya said. She tossed the bottle back to Ryan. “And if this did change the behavioral patterns of a Metallion, that means it’s been tampered with.” Anya walked up to Ryan. “Look, it was the only way to get out of there on our free will. Who knows how long they would’ve kept us there.” She sighed. “Fine, leave if you want. But I’m telling you, you’re better off here.” She dragged her feet and plopped back down onto the couch.

She’s right. It may be just as dumb staying here, but at least I’ll have a chance of surviving if I stick with these two. Great.

“Fine.”

Ryan took a seat on the farther end of the couch and slumped back. Jamie, who had continued standing, pulled up one of the plastic chairs and sat down with her leg crossed over the other.

“So…what are we going to do now?” she asked.

There was a deafening silence as everyone sat down and pondered over their current situation.

Well if I’m stuck with them, I guess we should first find out how many species have been alerted to our existence. Oh. My. God. What if Origin put a bounty on us? Everyone and their registry are going to be after us! We need to find out how much people know. We need to get Vial and change our appearances! We need to be prepared. We need…

“Ahem.” Ryan cleared his throat before speaking. “We don’t know how long it’s going to take for the other species to be told about us. Or whether they’ll come after us or not.”

“Warrior will come for my head, for sure.” Jamie said.

“Well, if we don’t want to get ambushed, we should probably try and get some stuff to protect ourselves before it gets impossible to move around, and I don’t think that thing is going to cut it,” Ryan said, nodding at Jamie’s gun on the table.

Anya looked at him in confusion. “You said it yourself, we can’t get weapons from Origin anymore.”

“We can get them from sellers from other governments. I’ve heard that the Achiellites were pretty generous.” Ryan said.

“Yeah, good luck convincing anyone to send us any. They’ll be the first that Origin notifies.”

“We don’t need to get them from a Government.” Jamie spoke up. A mischievous smile danced on her lips.

“What...like smuggle them in?”

“No way! That’s illegal.”

“Any legality has been thrown out the window you guys.” Jamie said. “Besides, it’s not as hard or uncommon as you’d think. Warrior used to have us smuggle them in for them lots of times. And they’re not the only ones that do it. Every Open Conquest is a huge time for black market sellers, and I know someone who might be able to help us.”

“You seem to know a lot of people.” Ryan said.

Jamie ignored him. “I can probably get to him tomorrow, it has to be done fast.”

“I don’t know. I don’t feel good about it.” Ryan said.

“Well, it’s the only way we’re gonna get any weapons right now. And it’s better to get them now ‘cus the prices can go up real fast during wartime.”

“Alright.” Anya suddenly said.

“I do have to warn you though, these operations can get pretty risky and since he’s going to think that he’s selling to Warrior, he’s gonna ask for a pretty penny.”

“Why would he think—?“

“”Because he’s not gonna risk his life for three yahoos on Origin’s bad side. Trust me, he’s going to want to know why he’s risking his life and if it’s for Warrior, at least he knows they’ll be good on payment. They always are. And it’ll guarantee that we get good weapons, and I mean GOOD.”

“How much?”

“I’ll see him tomorrow and then we’ll know. But you might want to start getting all your savings together.”

Okay, we have something to do. We’re doing something.

“In the meantime, we’ve had quite an exciting day.” Jamie got up from her seat and skipped towards the front door to pick up the door keys. She jingled and twirled them on her pointer finger and said,

“Anyone want to go out for ice cream?”