The Timechasers’ ship hovered above Earth’s surface, just below the clouds.

“This is the place, right?” Buzzy Bol asked Anue.

Anue nodded.

“Where are we gonna park?” Buzzy Bol followed up.

“Near the Sigismundo, perhaps,” Anue replied.

“Wait, near the what?”

Anue pointed out the ship’s window at the larger ship parked just a few hundred meters away above the forest. It appeared to be made of the same materials as the Celine and the Hagbard, being smaller than the former but larger than the latter. It was shaped like the tip of an arrow.

“…Is that why Malik stole Deepsea’s ID?” Arix questioned aloud.

Everyone but Elmadan nodded.

“Wait, the old guy stole the Deepsea guy’s ID? Was I asleep for that?” Elmadan asked the Timechasers.

“You must have been. *click*”

Buzzy Bol parked the ship so the Sigismundo was in sight, but far enough so it couldn’t take a shot at them. The dropdown ladder was lowered, and the Ralivil and Arix began to climb down. As they did so, Anue sniffed the air.

“What is that horrendous smell?” they inquired.

Ralivil shrugged.

After a moment of thought, Anue said to the Timechasers, “Please move out of the way.”

Ralivil and Arix climbed back into the ship, allowing for Anue to jump through the open hatch and onto the soft, green grass outside.

Anue sniffed the air again. Their tail flicked at the grass tickling it as they looked out into the distance. They took a few steps forward, then hovered above the trees and into the air. They sniffed again, then returned to the ground.

As they climbed up the ladder and back into the ship, Anue stuck their head in and said, “It is from the Point of Power nearby. Mooks have senses of smell, correct? Ralivil, if you follow the smell, it will lead you to the Point of Power.”

“Got it,” Ralivil replied.

With that, Ralivil and Arix climbed back down the ladder again, and Boson and Buzzy Bol followed. Once they were all outside, the ladder was lifted back into the ship and the hatch closed. The grass tickled at his tentacles, causing him to squirm a little.

Buzzy Bol looked at Ralivil and asked, “I’m guessing we’re not going to the Point of Power right now?”

“Yeah, I wanna see more of Earth. There was a guy in Satralia who had a game imported from this planet – he really hyped it up, so I wanna see if the planet holds up.” With that, Ralivil headed off to find the exit of the forest. The other Timechasers followed behind him.

It took a while before they found an edge of the forest. The first thing Ralivil did was look up. The sky overhead was blue, and the clouds stood eerily still. The other Timechasers watched the unmoving sky alongside their team leader.

“Do you think Malik got the Point of Power here?” Buzzy Bol quietly asked.

“I don’t think he’s all that interested in gettin’ ‘em,” Boson replied. “If he was, we’d be as good as gone by now.”

Ralivil scanned the area with his upper eyes, then headed down a dirt path formed by repeated use. The dirt and grass quickly turned to concrete. The Timechasers now stood in an area completely unfamiliar to them. Tall oblongs of brick stood in the sky proudly, but those in between them less so. There were two different species on the paths – Starmen of the regular, Blue and occasionally the Deluxe rank, and bipeds with skin coloured similarly to the Martians’ – except these creatures had long fur atop their heads, and wore clothes. The clothes they wore looked stained, but with what, it was hard to tell. The Starmen barked orders at the bipeds, who could barely raise their arms to make another chip at the marble or take another step on the devices that were hooked up to every building in multiple places.

One of the Blue Starmen walking about the paths spotted the Timechasers, then trotted up to them, calling out, “Hey, uh…! Arix, right?”

Arix replied not with words, but with a simple flash of a green tick from his eye.

“You probably don’t remember me from that time Captain Deepsea went nuts and *click* attacked you back on the mothership, but I’m Telescope,” the Blue Starman said.

“I do remember hearing Deepsea mention your name *beep*,” Arix replied. “I don’t suppose you know where we are? Other than on Earth, I mean.”

“That’s beyond me, too,” Telescope replied. “Captain Deepsea’s been calling it ‘another useless town on another planet waiting for its demise’, though. He’s been acting way more out of it than he *whirr* was on the mothership.”

“Believe me, I’ve known.”

“Yo, wait, hold on,” Boson looked to his teammates, “we only saw the Sigismundo when we got here. These Starmen are from the Celine, right? Where is it?”

“Not tooooo far *beep* away,” Telescope replied. “It’s in this other town with a bunch of stuff called ‘snow’.”

As he raised a tentacle to point at one of the bipeds, Ralivil asked Telescope, “Uh, what are those things? Also, have you seen an old white Mook around?”

Telescope looked over at the biped Ralivil pointed at for a moment, then replied, “Oh, those things? Earthlings. I think they’re called ‘humans’? Captain Deepsea *click* ordered them to do a bunch of stuff, like make a statue of… I’m not even sure, and run on these *beep* things they call ‘treadmills’ to power the town. They aren’t very effective, though. They keep stopping and starting. Moreso stopping. It’s very unnatural of them.”

Telescope turned back to Ralivil as he continued, “As for the Mook? No. But *click* Captain Sudis said he saw one that matched your description running around the outskirts of town. Couldn’t *beep* catch him, though.”

Ralivil nodded.

“I’m… *whirr* really supposed to be on patrol right now, and Captain Deepsea’s orders were to bring anyone who could mess up what he has going on here… whatever it is… so…”

---

“Captain Deepsea, sir! I’ve brought in a group of four who *beep* dared set foot in town!” Telescope yelled at the door.

From the other side, Deepsea’s voice replied, “Bring them *click* *whirr* in.”

The double doors were opened by the two Blue Starmen standing guard on either side of them. Sitting inside on a leather couch, his arms resting on the top, was perhaps the Timechasers’ least favourite person.

Captain Deepsea.

Captain Deepsea looked smugger than Arix had ever seen him. Now that he was no longer part of Commander Inpue’s army, he truly was the highest ranking Starman – at least, in his circle. The static in his eye had built up; it was now so dense that no spark of life, or his past self, could be seen. He wore a cape now. A grey one.

Deepsea smirked – or, well, got as close to smirking as a Starman could get.

“Thanks. Now get back to your station. *whirr*”

Telescope saluted, then teleported out of the tower. The doors were closed.

“Just who I was hoping to see. How’s your pathetic little quest to save everything going? *click*”

“It’s going…” Ralivil looked to his teammates for words, who looked to each other.

“Not *whirr* all that well, I take it.”

“But we’ll still save the world!” Ralivil retorted.

Deepsea cackled. It was different from the last time Arix had heard it. It seemed to have an accent to it, but the closest it could be compared to was Ralivil’s. It was also sharper. Much sharper. “You really haven’t figured it out yet, have you? You can’t do anything to stop this. I’ve already got the timeline under my control!”

Wait…

Deepsea laughed to himself again. “I can see it on your dumb *click* *click* faces – you’re awfully confused. Good! It’s *whirr* more entertaining that way.”

“Wait, I thought the RPG-maker was the one tearin’ everything up! What do you–“ Boson’s voice became barely louder than a whisper as he asked, “…Did you make it, dude…?”

“Did Deepsea make me? NO! Of course not! He’s not even half as smart as the person who did. But that’s not saying that much!” Deepsea began laughing like it was the funniest joke he had ever heard. Or rather, like it was the funniest joke the RPG-maker had heard.

Deepsea’s laughter was cut by his glare; one that, if looks could kill, would have done so in an instant. “Get out.”

“Wh-What…?” Ralivil stammered, his brow furrowed in confusion.

“Go on! Get *click* *whirr* out of here! Get out of my tower!” Deepsea boomed. His voice crackled with the strain put on it. “If you're so sure you can *whirr* *click* save everything, I'd like to see you prove it!”

“Okay, we will!” Buzzy Bol replied. Under his breath, he added, “Sheesh… Does he want us to die or not…?”

The doors opened again, and the Timechasers hurriedly shuffled out of Deepsea’s room and out of the nearby exit.

The Timechasers slowly made their way back to the forest, mulling over the events that transpired at the top of the tower Deepsea called his base and what Telescope had told them before that. Whenever the humans could move, they glanced at the Timechasers with wide, fear-filled eyes. The Starmen glared at them as they walked by.

As they reached the edge of the forest they had exit from, they found Anue standing nearby. Their tail slowly swayed as they looked around.

“Oh, hi Anue,” Ralivil greeted. “What are you doing outside the ship? Does Elmadan know?”

“Greetings, Ralivil. I am looking for Malik. I sensed his PSI momentarily while aboard the ship. I have told Elmadan of my whereabouts, do not fret,” Anue replied.

Buzzy Bol told them, “Try to avoid the nearby town if you can help it. It’s really not so hot down there.”

“The Celine’s crew and Deepsea’s down there. *beep*” Arix added.

“Noted,” Anue replied with a small nod.

“Actually, speakin’ of Deepsea, he– well, the leakage, really, mentioned the RPG-maker’s creator,” Boson squinted at Anue as he finished his sentence.

“Boson, don’t,” Ralivil hissed.

“Don’t suppose you’d know who that is, Anue…?”

“I do not, Boson,” Anue replied. “Though I feel it appropriate to mention now that I have used it myself. That is how I knew of the peril we are faced with much before you did.”

Anue trotted away from the Timechasers, then looked over their shoulder. “Are you headed to the Point of Power next?”

“We are,” Ralivil replied.

“Excellent.” With that, Anue zoomed into the air, becoming but a speck of black on Earth’s blue sky.