I break into the spaceship, causing a large explosion in the process. I land my feet solid on the ground, starting to look around the spaceship. I see several robed creatures in front of me with what appears to be magic spells. I keep my sword more tightly in my hands before starting to use energy to fight back. I kill many of them as I do, showing signs of their robes falling off of their bodies.
I use my sword to slice many of them, eradicating them. Once I clear my way, I continue forward. I see many species in the cafeteria, all in fear about what is going on. I attempt to search for either the unicorn or Hank and Hoy. My search fails as I can’t find them anywhere. At least until Ethan comes up to me.
“Ethan!” I go over to him.
“Floyd, it’s nice to see you not dead.” I also see Sparkles beside him.
“Where are Hank and Hoy?” I ask him.
“The headmaster has him, you have to hurry. I don’t think he has enough time.” I nod in understanding.
“I want you two guys to try and get out as soon as possible. All right? I am going to end their terror on planets.” Neither Ethan nor Sparkles replies, but they do head back into the cafeteria. They attempt to get everyone else’s attention, leaving me to my main task of finding Hank and Hoy.
I turn around and continue my search, gently tapping my sword, causing me to disappear instantly as I run quickly through the hallways. I stop once I see the same unicorn that was in the medical room. He seems to have a glowing magic spell around his mouth and a device around his horn.
I make myself appear in front of him, making him jump a bit from my sudden appearance. He slowly slides down the wall until he is fully sitting on the floor. I can see that his nose is bleeding badly. I kneel down in front of him, staring down at him. “It’s okay, I am back to help,” I tell him, although, the unicorn is eyeballing the device wrapped around his horn.
I look at him for a second before carefully taking off the device that is wrapped around his horn. I toss it away from him. This allows the unicorn to light up his horn, taking off the spell that covered his mouth. He looks up at me. “Floyd, you need to kill the headmaster. He is the source . . .”
“I know. Where is he?” I ask him.
The unicorn points his hoof toward a hallway, with a hologram sign above. The sign reads, “Headmaster’s Office.” I stand back up, about to head toward the office, but the unicorn’s hoof wraps around my leg. “Wait. Hank and Hoy are in there. I think the headmaster is manipulating them. Be careful. Please,” he tells me.
I nod, beginning to head toward the hallway, but once again, I get blocked off. This time, it’s a magic field. I turn around toward the unicorn, who has the device wrapped around his horn. There are several robed creatures coming out from the hallway, with high-technology weaponry. I soon feel a sharp pain of something touch my arms, preventing them from touching the sword behind my back.
I look down to where I feel the pain. I see that it is some kind of electric telekinetic energy wrapping around my arm and pulling it down toward the ground. The robed creatures look at me. “Floyd, it was a foolish move to come back here. You have just declared your species officially ext—”
Before one of the robed creatures can finish, they all get pulled back by a tongue. It wraps around their bodies disgustingly, until they get vored down by what appears to be Sparkles. With them gone, my hands are freed, and I see Ethan appear right behind Sparkles. “Are you guys okay?” Ethan asks us both.
I nod to them, looking over at the unicorn. “Take him with you, you two.” Ethan and Sparkles go over to the unicorn and help him up. “Thank you, guys.” I turn around and start heading down the hallway. Once I arrive at the headmaster’s office, I take a deep breath before going in.
I walk into the room and look around. I see the headmaster’s desk near a large glass window. I look outside and see Earth below, but no sign of any life inside. Right as I am about to walk out of the room, I get pushed several feet back from an unknown force behind me.
I look up as I spin 180 degrees in the air, landing on my feet and looking back at where the force originated from. When I look up, I see Hank and Hoy once again. This time, they have two weapons at their disposal. Their weapons appear to be exactly what they had described a few days ago.
I stand up fully to my feet once again, looking up at them. “Hank . . . Hoy . . . you don’t want to do this. He has taken control of you both.”
“They can’t hear you,” Hank says in a darker voice than normal, showing the possession of the headmaster controlling him. Hank has chains with flames coming off of them, and it is not long until Hank starts swinging them. After a few minutes, he tosses the chains over to me, which begin to wrap around my leg. Then he starts to pull me closer to him.
I tightly grip my sword in my hands, getting ready to block the knife that Hoy has. Right as Hoy is about to swing his knife down at me, I hold out my sword in front of me to block it from stabbing my chest. I jerk my foot forward into Hank and Hoy, causing them to get knocked back a few feet.
I use my sword to break the chains, snapping them in half. Hank looks down at his chains and notices the shorter length. But before he or Hoy can attack again I start to remember what the unicorn told me—that the sword is strong enough to annihilate even gods. This gives me the idea that I can do more than just speed.
I hold the sword tighter in my hands before placing the tip into Hank and Hoy’s chest, not harming them, but poking them. I attempt to use the sword’s energy to remove the headmaster’s control that is possessing Hank and Hoy. I take a deep breath, feeling myself start to get calmer and more comfortable. I look up at Hank and Hoy and see the blackness in their eyes fade away, revealing their normal eyes once again.
I lift the sword away from them, holding it firmly in my hands as I look up to them. Hank looks down at his chains. Hoy looks down at me. “Floyd? You returned,” Hoy says, causing Hank to look down at me. Before either of them can continue talking, I speak up.
“Yes, I need you both to leave as soon as possible.”
Hank and Hoy glance at each other for a moment and then nod. “What about you?” Hank asks me before leaving.
“Don’t worry about me,” I tell him. “Now go!”
Hank nods, as Hoy helps Hank leave the room. Once they leave, I continue to look around the room. I wait for the headmaster to arrive, which isn’t that long. Right as I am about to head over to the window. I hear the noise of movement behind me. “Floyd, you have been nothing but trouble since you got here.”
I turn around, seeing the headmaster levitating from the ground. He slowly falls down to the floor, staring straight at me. I look at him with a look of confidence. “Then why did you pick me?”
“We didn’t. The sword picks the one who is the most deserving to wield it.” The headmaster starts to slowly walk closer to me. “It’s more my fault that I have created such a weapon of mass destruction.”
I continue to stare at him before I leap forward, although, before I can use the sword to slash him, I feel a strange sense of magic around my body, causing me to be slammed against the wall of the spaceship. I continue to hold the sword in my hand tightly, but I struggle to get myself on my feet again.
“You have only caused yourself to die. There is no such thing as heroes on my spaceship,” he declares. “Now, I must end this foolishness of betrayal.” More magic appears around my body, causing me to get yanked around the room. My body hits, then slides against the wall.
Eventually, the magic disappears and I break through the window. I catch on to the ledge of the window, then place the sword in my mouth as I keep my hands tightly hanging onto the ledge. I look beneath me to see space and the planet, which is a scary sight. It is something nobody wishes to see who might be afraid of space.
“How ironic, Floyd . . . “The headmaster appears above me, still inside the ship. I look up at him, attempting to pull myself up. The headmaster uses more magic to prevent me from doing so. “You are about to die from your own home planet, when you were simply trying to save it.”
I stare up at him, “You think a simple fall can kill me? I don’t think so.” My voice is a bit muffled from having the sword in my mouth.
“Maybe with the sword, yes . . . but, without it . . .” Another spell forms around the sword, causing it to vanish from my mouth. “No . . .”
Right as the headmaster is about to force me to release myself from the ledge, a large light appears behind him, causing him to be blown out of the window, and down toward Earth. I watch the headmaster start to burn up in the atmosphere before finally obliterating seconds later.
I pull myself up through the window, climbing back inside the spaceship. I look up to see the unicorn once again, but within a magical field around his body to give himself air to breathe. I also see him with the sword inside another magical field beside him. He comes over to me, letting me go into the magical field with him. He hands me the sword, which I take into custody.
“Thank you . . .” I give him a smile, showing my gratitude. He slightly smiles back, starting to move us out of the room and back inside the spaceship. He removes the magical field once he notices that it’s safe. I see Hank and Hoy helping to lead everyone else onto pods.
Once Hank looks over at me, his eyes widen. “Floyd! Oh my gosh. You all right, my man?” Hank and Hoy come over to me.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I tell them. I look back over to the unicorn, who I thought was behind me. When I see that he isn’t, I look back up to Hank and Hoy. “Wait, where is the unicorn?” I ask.
“Oh, you mean Joraline?” Hank asks.
“Wait, he has a name?”
“Of course, everyone has a name, after all,” Hank says.
“Well, where is he?” I ask.
“We don’t know, we thought he was with you,” Hoy tells me, causing me to head back to look for Joraline, which is a name I wasn’t expecting to hear. He never once told me what his name was. Unless, that was for a good reason?
Eventually, I find him looking down a hallway that may start to fill up with more robed creatures. I rush over to him, but not closely, just in case. “Joraline? What are you doing? Aren’t you coming with us?”
“No, I must stay.” When he says this, I run over to him.
“What are you talking about? You are coming wi—” Once I see his face, I notice blood around his ear and nose. He seems to be really messed up from whatever the robed creatures did to him. “You don’t seem like you are cut out to fight,” I tell him.
“I am fine,” he declares.
“Then stop. Don’t you want to go home?” I attempt to convince him. “You are about to kill yourself over something extremely risky to do alone.” He stops me with a hoof, telling me to stop talking.
“I’ll be right behind you. Just trust me on this. I want to release my anger. Can you let me do that?” he asks me.
I give him an unsure look. “I don’t know,” I admit. “You saved me numerous times, so let me do the same for you.”
Joraline gives me a long look, not sure what else to tell me. Eventually, more robed creatures start to appear from the hallway, with advanced weapons. They all seem to be armed and ready to fire on us. Joraline looks at them for a minute before using his magic to push me over to the hallway. Before I can leap back toward him, a large shield appears around Joraline.
He turns back toward me with a look that says I should go. I stare at him for a bit before turning around and joining the rest of the species. Hank and Hoy help me inside a pod, adding the coordinates into the control panel.
“Thank you, Floyd, for your bravery,” Hank says.
I nod toward him and Hoy. “Be safe,” I tell them both.
“I hope we cross paths again.” Hoy smiles at me.
I do the same. “I hope so too.” I take my seat in the pod, buckling myself in. “Goodbye, guys.”
Hank presses the button for the pod to be released. When it does, the pod yanks into action and heads straight toward earth. I look out the window, seeing many pods leaving the spaceship and into the blackness of space.
As I start getting closer to entering the planet, I look back up at the spaceship I left not long ago. I watch as I see more and more pods leaving at extremely fast speeds. I smile back up at the sighting, hoping that Hank and Hoy, as well as Joraline, have left safely. If it hasn’t happened yet, then I hope they leave soon.
I look back as I start to feel the pod beginning to shake upon entry. I grab the buckle tightly as I patiently wait and watch as the pod comes closer and closer to the planet’s surface. The pod finally starts slowing down until it finally touches the ground. I open the pod door and look around as I breathe the air around me once again.
I breathe deeply, taking in the air around me. I look around, seeing the military start to surround me like they did before. This time, I don’t react. I allow it to happen, letting them come in. I look back up into the sky, seeing the last few pods leave the main spaceship. I grow a bit nervous, hoping that Joraline has escaped in time because as I watch the sky, I see the spaceship starting to blow up. The light of the fire and the explosion spreads throughout the sky. The spaceship that is next to it follows suit, as though it is a chain reaction. I watch the explosions and the bits of fire beam throughout the sky. Once the military has surrounded me, I look at everyone.
It isn’t long until I spot what appears to be the captain, walking up to me. “Hello! I am Chief Markus Lenardo. I saw you fighting back against those aliens. I just want to
ask . . . are you a friend or a foe?”
I give him a look of comfort, showing complete trust and bravery in myself. I begin to remember the people who I’ve met: Joraline, Hank and Hoy, Sparkles, Ethan, and the rest of the aliens. I take some deep breaths, looking over at the chief.
“I am a friend,” I admit.
AzLean Soldier Speech
“My name is Floyd Lorence. I am the one responsible for taking the sword and destroying the aliens,” I announce to the public. “Many people might be wondering what to call me, or wondering if I am god upon humanity.” I gulp saliva as I try to continue speaking bravely to the crowd. “I am just a normal guy who found out he could hold this sword . . .”
“Excuse me? Mr. Floyd!” a person asks in the crowd.
“I’m sorry, but no questions until after the speech,” a military officer says.
“Actually, it’s okay, what’s your question?” I ask the person in the crowd, who appears to be woman.
“Sorry for interrupting but . . . how did you find out you could hold such a weapon?” she asks.
I think back to the moments when I first touched the sword with my own hands. The energy that went through my veins. I snap out of my thoughts, looking firmly at the crowd. I clear my throat, looking at the woman in the eyes.
“I didn’t. I just followed what my gut told me.”
I look around at the crowd, each person staring up at me.
“I’m the AzLean Soldier, and I swore to protect the earth.”