MISSY MORENO
Okay, I was officially freaking out. In the good way, don't worry. We had finally crossed into the rocky mountains and the purple glow was finer than ever! The sky was already light now, so we decided to take our breaks, as we both were exhausted, and drank some water. My lips felt like they had been pressed against an active volcano while it erupted and lava squirted all over me. Noodles and I didn't talk much for the rest of the journey because our voices sounded like scratchy poo.
"How close?" Noodles whispered.
"We're close... I can feel it," I whispered back.
I laid down, letting the light from the sun reach my skin. It was like the dawning of a new day. The day the Velocrian King went down and so did his stupid kingdom of Velocrians. Velocrysis was going to be gone. No inhabitants. And if it wouldn't kill anything around it, I'd like to blow that trashy planet up. It was unappealing anyways, so you couldn't sell it to anyone else.
It was like a warm glow was spreading across my skin. It was hard to keep camouflage at night the closer I got to it. Was it just me being too excited? Or was that my internal organs withstanding so much pain they can't take it? I have no idea but hopefully it's me being super excited because I don't wanna end up on a hospital bed having surgery on parts that should never be touched with latex gloves.
And most of all, I thought about seeing Wildcard again. After we blew the planet up we could laugh like maniacs because we hated this place so much! We could eat nachos on the spaceship Ojo had parked on a nearby planet and stay up all night watching the dumbest movies in existence. We could kiss and not feel like we needed to run from any invaders. I wouldn't have to fight any PTSD flashbacks I had from last year's mission because I would feel useless. I would be safe in Wildcard's warm embrace.
"Missy." Noodles pulled my arm. "I don't see it!"
"Well, it's daytime, so the gem isn't glowing. We can't find it until night. We might as well just explore the place and get to know it."
"So it's... like a hiking thing?" Noodles raised his eyebrows.
"I guess."
WILDCARD
I was alone. By myself. Wandering around a thick marsh with wet red sand all over me. I looked like a melting snowman on the beach, but the beach was red like blood. I continued traveling, ignoring the burning sensation in my lungs, my eyes, my nose, my whole body. I wanted to lay down and curl into a ball, letting the world suck me into its depths so I'd die a quick death. But as tempting as that sounded, I couldn't leave Missy.
And I hope she felt the same way.
So I kept going, struggling against the harsh winds. And I saw it. A black mountain. Ahead of me. It was so beautiful, but it seemed so dangerous at the same time. I saw so many jagged cliffs and steep drops, and I don't know if it was my imagination or not, but I thought I saw a skeleton hanging off of a ledge.
I couldn't help but feel proud of myself for that one moment. I was so lost without people around me, but here, I faced that challenge, and here I was. Still alive and breathing the air. Waiting to see Missy again. To kiss her again. To hug her again. To feel her beating heart next to mine. I took a turn to my right. Bad idea. I saw beady eyes and before I recognized them, I was grabbed.
And I knew this was my end of my adventure.
So as they dragged me away, I screamed into my bracelet for dear life. Because I had to say those words one last time.
Back with the Heroics...
They all watched as Wildcard was captured.
"Wow, stupidest capture ever," Facemaker scoffed.
"Shhh!" Fast Forward hissed.
"Mildcard is cute," Wheels was trying with A-Capella.
"I don't like mild spice. I like full on blast or no blast at all," Marcus said, still clueless.
Or he was just trying to deny it if he had gotten a small hint. Fast Forward rolled her eyes and stared at the two make-belief marriage counselors, who happened to be in their own relationship.
"I thought Marcus Moreno was smart," Guppy said next to me, "But watching this right now made my thoughts on that go--" she made a 'woo' noise "--down."
Suddenly, Wildcard pressed his bracelet to yell something to Missy. You'd expect it to be like 'Missy! I'm captured by these Velocrians! Keep safe!' or 'Missy they've got me!' or 'I'm at the foot of this dangerous-looking black mountain' but instead, guess what he said?
"I LOVE YOU MISSY!" he screamed before he was thrown into a hole.
Marcus Moreno's face froze as he stared at the screen. A-Capella and Wheels took steady steps back, not wanting to witness the exploding of Marcus Moreno against Wildcard. Tech-no stared, uneasy by the sight of Marcus Moreno finally getting mad for once. Normally, he was the chill dude who did nothing about poop. And when Wildcard fell into the room with broken bones, gashes, and dirt all over him, Marcus Moreno had to scream at him above everything else.
"YOU LOVE MY DAUGHTER?!"
Wildcard jolted, staring at the monitor.
"Were you guys just watching..." he looked back and forth from the humans in the room to the TV.
"Yep," A-Capella sighed, "We've been trying to get him to understand you and Missy are dating for a while now--"
"YOU'RE DATING MY DAUGHTER?!"
"Chill, Marcus." Miracle Guy put a hand on his shoulder. "It's a good thing! Your daughter is growing up and so is Tech-no's son! They've been through a lot together--"
"TOGETHER?! YOU HAD A SEPARATE MOMENT TOGETHER?!"
"Thanks for trying, Dad." Wheels winced at the sight of Marcus' face turning redder than a ripe tomato.
"Look, we can sort this out..." Wildcard started.