The valley between Satralia and Sataene was filled with danger. It should have been called Danger Valley, but it didn’t actually have a name. Boson was pretty confident in his abilities, and he had every right to be – he was much stronger than Ralivil could have ever hoped to be. Many of the enemies they faced were Gemblooms that uprooted themselves from the ground and these weird sparks jittering from the ground. The occasional Mr. Sicko, as Boson said their unofficial name was, came to fight, too. But there weren’t that many of them.

In the middle of crossing the valley, Boson asked, “Dude, ain’t you a Mook? Why aren’t ya usin’ your PSI?”

“I- Uh-“ Ralivil thought for a moment, a bead of sweat rolling down his head, before replying, “I’m just not very… confident- with it yet. I feel better using tentacle kung fu.”

“Well, suit yourself.”

The trip from the Satralia end of the valley to the Sataene end took about 15 minutes in total. There weren’t too many enemies to face, fortunately. There was a great noise coming from the Sataene end of the valley that only grew louder as the two of them got closer. And just when they had finally made it to the end, they found out what was making it – a protest.

Multiple Mooks and Mr. Saturns were crowded together and chanting at the top of their lungs. Some carried signs, all of which with messages with their sheer anger at Elmadan, whoever he was, written on them. A short distance from the crowd was a light pink UFO wearing a square, brown backpack, watching them chant.

“Buzzy Bol! Dude! What’s goin’ on here?!” Boson shouted.

The light pink UFO, Buzzy Bol, turned around, and said, “Huh? What was that?”

Ralivil’s body tensed from shock. His voice was unexpectedly loud, yet with no effort into making it that way. He nearly fell over when Boson soon replied, matching the exact volume of Buzzy Bol’s voice, “Buzzy Bol! What the hey’s goin’ on?”

Buzzy Bol hovered over to Ralivil and Boson and replied, quieter this time, “Oh hey Bo! There’s this big protest going on because everyone in Sataene hates the mayor for not caring about the epidemic. I’ve tried to get past them so I can make this delivery, but they just won’t budge! I had to turn my mic up to max volume and everything!”

Boson frowned. “Well dang. That ain’t good.”

‘Couldn’t he just… fly over them…?’ Ralivil thought to himself.

“Sure isn’t,” Buzzy Bol replied. “So anyway, why are you and this Mook I have literally never seen before here?”

“This is Ralivil!” Boson introduced. “Me n’ him are goin’ to Sataene to see the Doc from Satralia.”

“Why?”

Boson glanced over at Ralivil, wide-eyed with panic.

“I- I got this weird tattoo on my back overnight, and PSI too, so I thought I’d let the Doc check it out,” Ralivil explained.

“Huh?” Buzzy Bol said. “You’re gonna have to tell me later, I can’t hear you over the crowd.”

Buzzy Bol drifted back towards the crowd, Boson and Ralivil following behind him. “So first thing’s first, how’re we gonna get past the crowd?”

Buzzy Bol and Boson hummed loudly in thought together for a few moments before Buzzy Bol said, “I got nothing.”

“Same here, dude,” Boson replied.

Ralivil suddenly felt a sharp pain from where the tattoo was. The pain shot from under his arm and through it. It reached the end of his tentacle within seconds. A bright flash burst out from it, blinding everyone in the area and instantly hushing the crowd. Shards of ice then fell all around. Thankfully, none of the shards hit anyone, but there were a few close calls. It was kind of hard for Ralivil to tell, since the effects of the flash made him uncontrollably cry. A few people were dizzy, some were sick, but thankfully, no one was dead.

Boson and Buzzy Bol glanced at Ralivil, and the former exclaimed, “What the hell?!”

Ralivil looked at Boson with an expression of confusion.

“That- What- HOW??”

Ralivil couldn’t find any words.

Boson hesitantly sighed. “Well I see why you don’t like usin’ your PSI now.”

The crowd shuffled to the sides, forming a path for the two UFOs and the Mook.

“Go on. You freak,” one of the Mooks among the crowd snarled.

Ralivil cast a glance to the ground, and Boson took his tentacle as he followed Buzzy Bol into the cave that lead to Sataene. Buzzy Bol and Boson took care of the bats that blocked their way, murmuring to each other, and soon enough they had arrived in Sataene. It looked… awful.

No one was outside. Not even the Mooks. The trio assumed it was for their safety. Fungus had started seeping into the town from Old Sataene and spreading all across the ground. There was quite a bit of it, but it thinned out as went further into town. Boson lead Ralivil and Buzzy Bol into town.

“So, uh- It’s Buzzy Bol, right?” Ralivil asked. Buzzy Bol gave a thumbs up.

“So, Buzzy Bol, who are you delivering to here?” Ralivil asked.

“The Doc. Sataene’s Doc, that is. I think there’s some doctor-y stuff in this here package,” Buzzy Bol replied.

Buzzy Bol caught sight of the hospital, and he flew up to it and knocked on the door. Ralivil wasn’t exactly in the mood to follow. The door of the hospital was opened by who he assumed to be Satralia’s Doctor Saturn. Buzzy Bol gave a quick greeting, then flung the brown bag off his UFO with a metal arm. He handed it to the Doc, who held it with telekinesis. The two of them talked for a few mintues, and once they were done, the Doc then closed the door, and Buzzy Bol darted back over to Ralivil and Boson.

“Got it done!” he announced. “I also asked about some other stuff, like the tattoo you’ve got, Ral.”

“Don’t- Don’t call me that-“

“The Doc just thought a ghost did it, maybe. His second guess is that you’ve got some really weird strain of the Sicko virus,” Buzzy Bol explained.

“WHAT?!”

“Yeahhhh. I also asked about the mayor! Apparently he’s still out and about looking for some weird person that’s got him less concerned about the Sicko epidemic and the fungus problem than ever. So there’s that.”

Everyone was silent for a few uncomfortable moments.

“How about we go talk some sense into him?” Boson suggested.

“Sounds like a plan,” Buzzy Bol replied.

“Wait, what about my tattoo? Are we just gonna ignore that the Doc thought it could be a strain of the Sicko virus?” Ralivil asked.

“For now, yeah,” Buzzy Bol replied.

Ralivil sighed.

“He’s gotta be around here somewhere,” Boson said. “Come on!” Boson then flew off into town. Buzzy Bol and Ralivil followed.

Boson suggested to knock on the doors of every house, to cover more ground quicker. There were very little replies from the townsfolk. They then regrouped once they found their search fruitless.

“Okay, so what are we gonna do?” Buzzy Bol asked.

“What does this Elmadan person look like?” Ralivil asked. “It would be a lot easier to find someone if we knew what they looked like.”

“He looks like a total fool. A straight nasty guy. Like if evil could barf,” Boson told him. “…But that’s what I think, anyway.”

Ralivil sighed.

Buzzy Bol pointed at a tall, grey building sitting on a hill in the distance and said, “We haven’t been there yet. He’s probably there.”

The trio began to head towards the strange grey building. They had only walked over up to a gate to the lower right from where they were when they heard a voice call out, “Hey!”

A purple Mook wearing a suit and tie, sunglasses and spike shoulder pads ran into view, then climbed over the gate. He scowled and hissed to them, “What the hell do you think you’re doing here? You do realise that it’s unsafe, right?”

“Because of the epidemic?” Buzzy Bol asked.

“They always think it’s the epidemic,” the purple Mook muttered to himself. “Well, aside from the epidemic! None of you are Mr. Saturns anyway!”

“What else is there that could be a threat to us?” Ralivil asked.

“There’s this… this offworlder, this really suspicious-looking offworlder, and they’re REALLY creepy,” the purple Mook explained. “They talked to me once, not too long ago… I think it’s been a day? They talked to me, and they wanted me to GET NAKED! Like, what is their deal?! Do they not not know how offensive that is? I’m pretty sure they wanted to f-“

From atop the hills, a hooded figure gracefully leapt down to the ground and said, “Hello again, Elmadan.”

Elmadan screamed at the top of his lungs.

This new arrival wore a black hooded robe that obscured their face. A long, white snout poked out from the hood. The robe ended at their knees, showing their thin legs. A thin tail came out from under the robe and curled up slightly behind them. They were currently standing on their tip toes.

“Have you found the Bearer of the Prophet’s Mark yet?” the hooded figure asked. Their voice was low and relatively monotonous.

“I wasn’t even looking, you weirdo!” Elmadan replied.

The hooded figure flattened their feet, and padded closer to Boson, Buzzy Bol and Ralivil. They studied their faces closely, quietly humming in thought. They then padded around to their backs. They stared at Ralivil’s for a moment, paying no regard to the two UFOs.

“I found it,” the hooded figure said.

“Found what?” Elmadan asked.

“The Prophet’s Mark. And the Bearer, by association.”

“Wait- …What?” Ralivil asked, looking over his shoulder at the hooded figure.

“That marking on your back is the Prophet’s Mark. You are the Bearer,” the hooded figure explained. “Tell me, have you experienced anything unusual since you got it?”

“Well, I have PSI now when I didn’t for my whole life…” Ralivil told them. It felt kind of odd to just tell this person such information in their first conversation.

“And it’s wicked strong, too,” Boson added. “He let out a whole nasty PK Flash earlier!”

“Was that his intent?” the hooded figure asked.

Ralivil played with their tentacles. “No…”

The hooded figure was silent for a moment before quietly replying, “…I see.”

The hooded figure bowed to the trio and told them, “My name is Anue. I have been looking for the Prophet’s Mark for a few days now. Now that I’ve found you, maybe you can help with something else, Bearer.”

“Help? With what?” Ralivil asked. “And, uh, will this, uh… Prophet’s Mark… kill me?”

“Maybe. It depends on what happens next,” Anue simply replied.

They raised their head slightly and asked, “Do any of you have a place to stay in this town?”

Elmadan raised a gloved hand slightly and said, “I have this new base on the hill.”

“That will do nicely. Come along.”

“I didn’t say you could use it!”

Anue ignored him, leaping from their current spot to next to the gate, then onto then off it. Ralivil was the first to follow, scrambling over the fence and rushing after Anue. Boson and Buzzy Bol exchanged glances before catching up. Elmadan sighed, then climbed over the fence and followed behind them.