Chapter 7
[Day 1]
It has been a while since the explosion occurred. Inside the Green Section, Gerard and his friends decided to find the others as well. They had to tell them about King Skull, that they needed the Axuko Crystal to rescue Earth, and deliver the badge to their teammates for protection. It was the first of the 21 days that King Skull had given them to find the crystal.
"I wonder where our teammates are," Andres muttered, "Just hope they are not killed by the explosion we just heard."
"Why don't we search them at the apron?" Gerard suggested, "I always believe in my instincts and if something happens to them, we will know it."
"Okay," Cesc agreed, and hesitated as they arrived to the exit of the area, "Let's hope the aliens aren't behind the doors."
In the meantime, the four Spaniards in the secret storage room were flabbergasted until Fernando's statement broke the silence, "I guess it would be better if we go outside, just to see what had happened. I mean, if anything happened to our friends..."
"But you have to rethink if anything happened to us own..." Xabi eyed Fernando a frowned sight.
"Nando is right," Iker carefully opened the door of the storage room, "We have to check out on the others and gather up. They might be finding us as well. If anything happens to them when they are finding us, we are going to regret that."
"As the captain says," Sergio was the first one to rush out from the room.
"Clear!" Sergio whispered, telling the Spaniards that they could set out within a secured environment.
"Are you sure nothing dangerous is waiting for us downstairs?" Xabi asked, apparently abashed.
"How can I be sure if we don't check it out?" Sergio scampered downstairs before he halted behind the pillar next to the staircase. Two aliens, guarding the front door, so be careful, his hand signaled.
The others tiptoed downstairs, but no matter how quiet they were, the footsteps of three men together were never to escape from the guards' notice. A one-eyed Axuklian looked over the wall, the next second he was blind when Fernando hit him in the eye hard with metal stick. The other Axuklian was conscious of its vengefulness. Sergio tried to attack, but miserably missed.
Gritting his fangs, the alien hunted for another target, and Xabi Alonso was incapable to avoid this. Xabi flung his weapon towards his head, knocking his fangs out. Unfortunately, one of those shards of his teeth ricocheted right into Xabi's arm.
"You bastard," Iker pushed the attacker away while he stabbed his weapon into his chest, sending him to death.
"My arm..." Xabi whimpered in pain from behind.
The three Spaniards bent down to check his injury. It was clear that his right arm had been stabbed deeply by the fragment.
"It's alright, Xabi. It's alright," Iker reassured, "We're going to pull it out okay? It might hurt a little but just stay calm. You can do it."
"Okay... I guess," Xabi winced.
"Let me pick it out for you," Fernando took his arm as he slowly pulled the tooth fragment from the midfielder's wound.
"Ow!" Xabi shrieked, "Can you please do this faster?"
"I'm just being careful," Fernando mumbled, "I think he needs some bandages."
"Where can we find bandages though?" Sergio frowned, "Don't forget this is a UFO-like place and none of us know what's happening. What we only know is that we need to survive from those putas while finding the others."
"Here, use this first," Iker offered, tearing his sleeve out. The white cloth was soon wrapped around the wound.
"Got to find some water to clean it too," Fernando suggested, "Besides, we are thirst to death."
One of them had already got hurt and they didn't want more injured teammates. Sergio took a deep breath, and opened the door eagerly. No aliens were out there currently, instead, smoke and fire were visible.
"Oh dear...oh dear..." Sergio muttered, "The cockpit outside the spaceship...is on fire..."
"Coach Vicente is inside, with two staffs!" Fernando whispered. "Oh my..."
"Joder," Sergio cursed, "Those putas must have bombed the cockpit!"
"I doubt that there will be survivors. This is going to be a disaster..." Xabi shook his head, "Secondly, we can never find water for my wound."
"Mama mia!" Someone yelled from behind, "The cockpit!"
"Guys," It was the same person again.
"Cesc, is that you?" Sergio asked. Three people were running towards them and Cesc was the first to appear in sight.
"We heard an explosion and we came out. I hope that no one is inside the cockpit. But the way I'm so happy to see you!" Cesc rushed beyond his words, hugging Sergio tight like he was going to suffocate him.
"Are you crazy? You're yelling and the aliens might find us here." Fernando glared at Cesc.
"Oh yeah...sorry I forgot," Cesc apologised, "But it's really, really exciting to see you okay? We got very important things to tell you guys! Anyway, no one is in there right?"
"Bosque and two staffs..." Iker muttered.
"What?" Gerard dropped his jaw, "You mean...coach?"
"Yeah, we feel so sorry about that..." Fernando sighed.
"Why...why do the aliens have to kill them?" Andres' mind went blank at the time he took the news. Although they will never appear again in front of our eyes, they will still be remembered inside our hearts...
"Xabi, is your arm okay?" Gerard asked, surprisingly concerned, and at the same time changing the sorrowful topic.
"Less pain, that's all I can say." Xabi shrugged.
"Do you know where the others are?" Iker asked Andres worriedly, "Are they safe? Are they still alive?"
"I don't know..." Andres exhaled, "No one wants to lose their teammates. They are our family."
Speaking about family, his tears welled up when the image of a destroyed Earth flashed inside his mind.
"Andres, what's wrong?" Fernando asked him, patting him on the shoulder.
"We'll tell you later..." Andres closed his eyes, hiding away the misery, "Wear this badge first. The alien king gave us and promised that the ones who wear this badge wouldn't be attacked."
"The alien king...you saw the king?" Xabi asked, looking up from the bandage.
"We'll talk about this after we find the others," Gerard told him, "I hope they are fine. Remember who else are still missing?"
"Are they Xavi, Villa, Diego and Silva?" Cesc shrugged, "Am I right?"
"Yeah, I saw them running towards the yellow section while I was on the panel yesterday," Fernando said, recalling the scene when they were running for their lives from invaders.
"The yellow section is right over there," Sergio pointed at his right, "Let's go there, quick! With this badge, we are fearless."
---
"We are discussing how to execute the last clan of humans. I've told them that food and water are supplied if they find the Axuko Crystal for us in 21 days. However we need a more comprehensive plan. Any of you have more constructive ideas?" Sitting comfortably in the conference room, King Skull asked.
"To get the Axuko Crystal is suicidal. And if we really get the crystal, we can be unstoppable. Good idea, my majesty," One of the ministers said.
"If they find the crystal, let's kill all of them after they hand it in. That'll be easier," Another minister mumbled.
"Hmm...any better ideas?" King Skull asked. "What if they can't find it? Death is too little for their punishment."
"We can give some guides for them to find the crystal, and at the same time we can kill them secretly. Make some traps for them." Izhitha advised.
"What traps?"
Izhitha whispered something to his father's ears, something that the ministers couldn't hear.
"Well done, Izhitha. That's my son," King Skull smirked, "Those humans will soon be the puppets in our claws..."
---
"Xavi, Silva, Villa, Diego?" Cesc yelled, "Are you there?"
"Shh... Don't shout! You're too loud," Fernando whispered, "It's dangerous."
"We have our protection badge on. Don't worry. We should give some trust to the aliens if we want to go home."
"I know that we can be protected from the aliens, but Xavi's gang doesn't!" Fernando explained. "Your voice attracts aliens and they could be in danger. Please lower your voice. I'm sure they can still hear you."
Cesc rolled his eyes in defeat.
"Guys...we're...here..." Villa huffed as he slid down the stairs with feeble legs, "Chased...by the lift...just then..."
"We ran...100 floors...again..." Silva panted, "We found water...on the 66th floor..."
"And... We got some...for you guys..." Xavi handed two trays of water to Gerard, exhausted.
"Thanks. We owe you much," Iker gave Xavi an embrace, "Where's Diego?"
"He...couldn't make it... I'm sorry..." Silva said, holding back tears, "By the way I've heard that the cockpit had exploded. Is there anyone inside?"
"Vicente and two staffs were inside..." Sergio replied, staring at the ground, "They can't make it as well. Blame those putas!"
"Speaking of aliens, wear these." said Andres, while helping them to wear the protection badges, "They can protect you from the aliens. Sit down and we'll tell you something."
"Be well prepared for extremely bad news and extremely good news." Cesc told the seven Spaniards. "We are in Axuklians' spaceship. Axuklians come from the Axuko planet. Their planet was destructed by meteoroids, so they came to destroy Earth for, one of the reasons, relocating their clan. Another reason is unknown by now."
"What do you mean by destroy Earth?" Terrified about Cesc's speech, Xavi asked for more explanation.
"They fired the planet with their missiles and yes, Earth is done." Gerard replied, rather in a light way, "But..."
"The good news is," Andres continued, "It's not too late to save Earth. We can still rescue the planet by their invention, the Time Machine. The King of the Aliens, King Skull, has a condition: We have to find the Axuko Crystal for him in 21 days if we want to use the Time Machine. Today is the first day. And so the fate of humanity lands on our hands..."
"Then come on!" Iker leaped up, "Let's go and find it!"
"Wait...where's the crystal?" Xabi asked suddenly.
"The King knows someone who can help us," Cesc added, "Trust him. It is our last chance and our only hope."
There was a sudden silence.
"I am a minister of Axuko. The King wants to find you."