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| The Forgotten |
| Episode Thirty-Six |
| NOTE: About three days have passed since they returned from Aquador. Over Flame, Inferno, Tarn, and a few Koopas were sitting around the living room. They had just finished breakfast. They were discussing plans for the day, which included some repairs to the house and other buildings. AXEM OVER FLAME: Aww, that�s lame. I don�t wanna do stupid carpentry work. Why can�t I just burn stuff? AXEM INFERNO: Well, you could be the blacksmith� AXEM OVER FLAME: And why would I want to do that? AXEM INFERNO: You�d get to melt the metal� AXEM OVER FLAME: Okay, I�m in. TARN: Okay, we really should check out this possible mineral deposit. It could help us get an economy going, and maybe build a blade, heaven knows we need one. Over Flame waved it off. AXEM OVER FLAME: We don�t need a blade. Nobody�s attacked us yet. TARN: That�s only because we- AXEM OVER FLAME: I said we don�t need a blade. What part do- A Toad stumbled through the door. He looked around quickly, then saluted Inferno. TOAD: Axem Inferno, Sir. We�ve got an Axem that came through the Arch. He says he wants to speak to you. AXEM INFERNO: And who would this Axem be? TOAD: I don�t know sir� AXEM INFERNO: Very well, go back to your post. The Toad ran off, followed by Inferno, Over Flame, and Tarn. They walked to the Arch, not hurrying in the least bit. AXEM INFERNO: Don�t want this guy to think we�ve got nothing better to do than to come at his beck and call� Standing at the entrance to the newly built building that immured the Arch was an Axem. He and Inferno knew each other, and he was none other than Axem Ice. AXEM INFERNO: Whoa, what brings you here? I thought you hated the heat� AXEM ICE: I do, but I was bored, and I wanted to check something out that�s been nagging me for a while. AXEM OVER FLAME: You�re that Ice guy, right? AXEM ICE: Yeah� AXEM OVER FLAME: Cool�uh�no offense, that pun thing wasn�t on purpose. Anyway, I�m Over Flame. I came from Earth with Inferno. AXEM ICE: Pleased to meet you. Over Flame reached out to shake Ice�s hand, but Ice shied away. AXEM ICE: What are you, crazy? I�d rather keep my hand intact� AXEM OVER FLAME: Yeah, that�d make sense. Want to sit down? They walked back into the building that was holding the Arch (A.K.A. the Containment Center, or CC). Inside the CC was a room where they sat down and listened as Ice explained why he had come. AXEM ICE: Okay, there have been rumors of� something weird on this planet. He pointed to a planet located on the starmap next to them. AXEM ICE: People have disappeared there before. Not just a few, at least 100 since Smithy was destroyed. There were search parties sent out after them, and they either didn�t return or said that they found nothing besides a normal forest. AXEM INFERNO: And you want to go see what�s up there? AXEM ICE: Yeah, pretty much. There is one more part I haven�t told you yet, occasionally one of the people who disappeared will show up at some random place, without any knowledge of how they got there or where they�ve been for the past weeks, months, or even years. AXEM OVER FLAME: Cool, kind of like the Bermuda Triangle. Let�s go! AXEM INFERNO: I don�t know. Something could go wrong. AXEM OVER FLAME: No it couldn�t� Let�s vote, then. Who wants to go? Three hands went into the air. TARN: Sorry Fern-o. ELAPSE TIME AND PLACE: An hour later, on the �Bermuda Triangle� planet: They were standing near the Arch. The environment was of a typical forest. It was the same type of forest as the majority of the ones on North America. There was some bird and insect life, but there didn�t appear to be any mammals. AXEM ICE: Okay, let�s split into two groups. AXEM INFERNO: Right. Over Flame and Tarn, you guys go together. AXEM OVER FLAME: Okay, let�s meet back here in�oh, say 12 Pyrodorian hours. AXEM ICE: Okay. Axems Inferno and Ice marched off to the east, while Over Flame and Tarn went to the west. Inferno and Ice had a pretty boring time. AXEM ICE: Okay, it�s been about 6 hours of walking, and we haven�t seen anything. Let�s turn around so we can rendezvous. AXEM INFERNO: This was rather unexciting. Maybe the others have found something. MEANWHILE: TARN: Okay, so how does this Earth marching song go? AXEM OVER FLAME: Shouldn�t we turn around and go back now? TARN: Yeah�It�s been about 6 hours. VOICE: No, you shouldn�t. Tarn and Over Flame spun towards the sound of the voice. There was a figure standing on top of a small cliff. The thick canopy made shadows, which hid its features. However, it appeared to be tall, but rather scrawny. VOICE: You are mine now. You cannot hope to win, and once you do you will be under my control. AXEM OVER FLAME: �Cannot hope to win?� Totally clich�... Tarn thought he heard some twigs break behind him. He spun around to face the new adversary, or adversaries. ELAPSE TIME AND PLACE: Several hours later, back at the Arch: AXEM ICE: This isn�t good; they�re over two hours late. AXEM INFERNO: I knew this wasn�t a good idea. Just as Ice and Inferno were contemplating the idea of going in after the other two, they emerged from the underbrush. AXEM ICE: Where have you guys been? Tarn�s response was inhumanly fast, but no one noticed. TARN: Looking for anything unusual. AXEM INFERNO: Why�d you take so long? AXEM OVER FLAME: We were attacked by some monkey-like creatures. AXEM ICE: I didn�t realize there was anything like that here. AXEM OVER FLAME: We were attacked by some monkey-like creatures. AXEM ICE: Okay, sorry. They decided that since they had found nothing, they would head back to Pyrodor. AXEM ICE (thinking): Hmm� Something was weird about that �monkey-like creatures� thing� I know there aren�t any animals like that on this planet. Unless�they�ve been brought here� AXEM INFERNO (thinking): Well, it doesn�t appear that anything bad happened, but appearances can be deceiving. On the other hand, maybe nothing did happen. It�s not like every planet we go to will be full of adventure and excitement� End of Episode 36 |