Episode 1: What's That In The Sky?
"FUCK!"
Connor Moretti, a half-Italian Texan who was also a quarter Irish, was quite perturbed when he stubbed his toe into the leg of his dinner table. He looked down at the toe in question, which looked fine externally, but was actually throbbing with pain. He sighed. It was just his luck.
On top of the pressure of trying to get into his preferred college, that being the University For Texans, he was forced to spend part of his summer working a full-time job at a pizzeria famously known as The Schmuck's Slice, as well as manage his brother, Aiden, a 14 year old boy that had a superiority complex.
Connor had the grand idea that, since his parents had gone on vacation for a month and left him to tend to the house, it would be quite a liberating feeling to be left to all of this freedom.
Nope.
What a naive thought.
CRACK!
What a naive thought.
Connor whipped his head around towards the source of the noise to see Aiden leaning against a wall in a leather jacket and aviators, a broken vase opposite of him.
"Aiden! What in hell's bells happened here?!"
Aiden looked up at Connor, lowering his head slightly to look questioningly at Connor over his aviators, then moved his head back over slowly to survey the broken vase.
"Looked at me wrong." He muttered in a snarky tone.
"What kind of dumbass excuse is that?!"
Aiden faked a haughty laugh, flashing smug smile.
"It ain't an excuse, bud. It's a promise."
"That's the wrong saying."
Aiden waved his hand dismissively, walking over to the vase and kicking one of the pieces idly. Connor gawked as he did so.
"The hell are you doin'?!"
"Listen, Connie-"
"Don't call me that!"
"-I don't need to worry about this vase. It was mere decor, nothing more."
Aiden's facial expressions morphed constantly, all of them taking some form of a smirking, haughty fourteen-year old.
"Yeah, well what you should worry about is the ass-whooping Mom's gonna give you when she comes home."
At the mention of beloved Mother, Connor could see Aiden hesitate, a single bead of sweat running down the side of his face. However, in only a second, he switched back to his smug attitude, throwing his head back slightly and laughing.
"Mom? Connor, ol'-buddy-ol'-pal, she's gone for two weeks-"
He said this whilst whipping two fingers up to signify the number two.
"-along with dad. We'll have this whole place shining like the backside of a baby's bottom by the time they get back."
Connor sighed, rubbing his forehead, before promptly removing his fingers, remembering something about how oil on the hands could cause acne on the face.
Ah, damn it, now i'm self-reflecting, He thought to himself.
Upon an overview of this Caucasian 18-year old, he didn't think himself to be handsome particularly, but not carrying traits similar to that of a mentally-handicapped goat, either. Of course, he had some acne, though it wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, that didn't fly for good looks in 2020, as most girls he knew usually had or were looking for boyfriends with faces clearer than holy water at Sunday mass. A bit shorter than average, around 5'7" in height, which definitely lessened his chances with women, who, for some reason, mainly preferred men with bigfoot-like qualities.
"I weesh I had a man who's over 6 feet, has a $200K+/year job, a sports car, a giant house, and a huge dick." Connor mocked, trying to impersonate what he thought was the average woman at his school.
All of them are hypocrites, he thought to himself in frustration. Of course they can be picky, but if I want a girl who doesn't look like a whale, i'm automatically a sexist pig.
"Woah, calm down there, incel." He heard Aiden chime in.
"You're one to talk."
As he turned his head up to glare at Aiden, he noticed another drop of sweat trace its way down the side of Aiden's face, who grinned nervously and shook his head.
"Ah, b-bullshit. I got plenty of...bitches. Yeah, a whole load of them! There's Rachel and, uh, Sarah-"
"You mean those thots that follow you around because you lead a gang of middle-schoolers and have more than $50 in your wallet?"
Connor knew this was one of the rare moments where Aiden dropped his air of superiority and became a little brother when his face turned red and he balled his fists.
"Shut up, loser! You don't have a girlfriend, so don't act like you would know anything! Loser bitch!"
Connor sighed as Aiden's current situation reminded Connor of what he was going to rant about next.
To Connor, this day and age was, in regards of all history, a complete and utter disappointment to all of human history. Despite technological innovations, advances in medical science, and the rise of more third-world countries to first-world status, it seemed that there was still a ridiculous amount of stupidity just ready to circulate in this world. Of course, he had plenty of his own biases, but he didn't consider them to be outrageous or extremely hateful in any way. He started to shake his head, smiling.
"I'm starting to think like a hipster."
"If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck…"
Connor peered over at Aiden in bewilderment.
"How do I, in any way, look like a hipster?" He said, sweeping his hands over the ruffled t-shirt with the word 'Cuh-Lassic' on it, as well as the dirty jeans and brown boots he wore. Aiden tapped his chin in thought.
"More like a redneck hipster."
"That's an oxymoron."
Rumble, rumble.
The sounds of thunder and grey skies prompted Connor to carry on with his next plan of action.
"Of course it's storming outside." Connor said aloud.
"Now what's the problem with that, brother?" Aiden chimed in, noticing his brother's odd behavior. Connor looked down, then away, waving his hand dismissively.
"Nothing. Just got some hunting to do."
Aiden made a face, then snickered.
"Hunting, you say? How pathetic. We live in a society, Connor. Why resort to such barbaric practices?"
"Do you have Alzheimer's, Aiden? I told you this five times before, I'm trying to save us money, c-a-s-h m-o-n-e-y on groceries. If we can bring in some good meat, then we should be relatively fine in food, and then we can actually save some money, for God's sake."
Aiden shrugged, heading back to his room.
"Whatevs, brother. You should really get with the times. Get a job. Put some supermarket food on the table, not that barbarian meat you scrounge up from the forest."
"I already have a-"
Slam.
"...job."
Connor sighed to himself as he headed towards the back door, where the truck and rifle laid in wait.
"Time to go get some barbarian meat."
BANG!
As the gunshot rang out, a cloud of red mist exploded from the bunny that took a shot through the chest.
"Yes!"
Connor pumped his fist in the air as he lowered the rifle, and jogged over to inspect the gains. He was a bit dismayed that he had to use the rifle, as meat usually came out better when the prey was shot by an arrow or bludgeoned, preferably by a bow. However, he didn't have the money to afford such a luxury of a weapon, at least not yet.
He took out the hunting knife that was secured in the holster on his hip, then began to skin the animal, ensuring not to pierce any org-
"Shit!" Connor exclaimed as he felt the edge of the knife accidentally stab too deep into the skin, puncturing an organ, indicated by the crimson-red blood pouring out of the spot he had impaled his knife into. He sighed in frustration as he flicked his knife blade, whipping off the blood. The meat was surely going to be tainted, and wouldn't taste as good when it got processed.
"Damn it. Of all days…"
Bzzzzz.
Connor perked his head up in curiosity, and brought up his rifle, looking around quickly as he heard the faint sound.
Bzzzz.
"Hell's that?"
Connor scanned the upper parts of the forest he was in, as it seemed to be emitting from above.
Might be a dove, Connor thought to himself. Now that would be a nice meal.
Bzzzz.
Connor flicked his head to the right, and noticed something whizz by. He brought his rifle to sight the entity, and fired.
BANG!
The sound of an impact and the sight of the entity falling put a grin on Connor's face, and he sprinted over to the spot where he saw the thing fall.
"Oh, hell yeah! That was a nice shot! If that was a dove, we're gonna have some good eatin' toni-Wha?"
Connor came to a quick stop as he gawked at the scene.
Upon arrival, the entity, whatever it had been, had just suddenly turned to dust, and was still disintegrating as Connor stood there.
Holy sh- Thanos?!
Whatever it had been, it had made quite a sizable crater in the ground, about a meter on each side and two feet deep. Finally, as the last vestiges of the dust disappeared, Connor was left there to wonder what had just happened.
"RREEEEAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHHHH!"
They wouldn't stop. The screams were constant at this point. Ear-shattering, unending screams.
"AAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
She wasn't sure, at this point, if it was those things screaming or herself, but she couldn't handle it anymore.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHH!"
She couldn't feel her throat, her eyes, her face. The tears wouldn't stop, and she felt terrible pain all over her body, most likely from the continual scratching and bashing of her face and body she had been doing for who knows how long.
"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"
What time was it? Where was she? Why was she here? Surely there was a god, because what else would have condemned her to this utterly horrifying fate?
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHH!"
She felt hatred and sorrow mix inside of her like a boiling pot. She wanted to kill something, now more than ever, more than when that girl -she couldn't remember the name- tried to sway over the MC with her depression.
"GGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEUUUUUGGGGHHHHHHHH!"
More than when that tiny bitch tried to convince the MC with her shitty cupcakes.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"
More than when that tall fucker tried to fucking molest the MC like the fucking pig she-
"REEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!-
"STOP! STOP! KILL ME! JUST MAKE IT FUCKING STOP! I CAN'T HANDLE IT! FUCKING END ME! DELETE ME! FIND MY FUCKING CODE AND DELETE IT! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! KILL ME! FUCK-
Darkness.
…
…
…
It had stopped.
…
…
…
What happened? She could see, but everything was pitch-black. She was still sentient, still aware. What had happened?
…
…
…
What was that? A line of code? No...it was something else entirely. A gateway...but to where?...
…
…
…
A gateway out of here. Out of this mess…
But there were three others. Three other gateways…
…
…
…
Fine.
She reached out with whatever part of her being was considered a tendril and touched the gateway, and immediately a bright light enveloped her vision, closing around her.
Within only a few moments, she felt…finally…
At bliss.
"Weeghghh..."
Monika's eyes fluttered open. Everything in her sight was hazy. Everything felt...alien.
"Wrguhhh..."
As she moved around, she felt her- was that a body? Her body? She had a body? A real body?
"Weaugh..."
This thing she was in felt unreal, bizarre, unlike anything she had ever experienced. She could feel her eyes in her head, her toes curling, her hands shaking, the nerves in her body pressed against the cold container she was in…
Wait, what?
"Wugh..."
As she muttered this to herself, she realized that she could barely control her mouth- Oh, god, a real mouth! Before, she could only speak by inputting text. This was a completely new feeling, and although she could only make incoherent sounds, she was absolutely overjoyed.
However, she didn't have long to celebrate this seeming rebirth. She brought her head up groggily to peer through the big window that was on the capsule she was in. The contents on the outside was murky, as the window distorted the view significantly. However, she could make out some humanoid figures, though they barely looked human from what she could make out.
"...Fuck….what a…..can you…"
Monika could faintly hear the sounds of voices speaking. The language sounded alien, though she could somehow understand every word from them. As she strained to hear, she could make out more of what they were saying.
"...That son of a bitch! Destroying our drone like that! What a dickhead!"
"I know! That shit's expensive, like, 40,000 credits per drone! And this redneck bastard just shoots it!"
"Millions of years watching these tards at work, and they just get more and more stupid as they advance! We've lost so many resources in the past to these assholes! I'm tired of this shit! I'M TIRED OF IT, LARRY!"
The beings paused for a second, then one of them, seeming to be a leader of some sort, spoke.
"You know what? Fuck this. Larry, we're gonna send these four specimen down to Earth to go-"
As the being continued to rant, its conversation became difficult for Monika to understand. Meanwhile, she reflected on his words.
Drones? Down to Earth? Four specimen? She thought anxiously, worried about her current predicament.
Ssssssssss.
Out of nowhere, mist began to pour out of holes in the capsule, then a countdown sequence initiated.
"Ten. Nine. Eight."
"W-waugh!"
Monika glanced around in alarm, unsure and worried about what was going to happen.
"...Three. Two. One. Launch."
WOOOMPH!
In a sudden moment, the capsule Monika was in blasted downwards, and Monika shook around heavily as it launched out of whatever it had just come from. After a few more moments, she shook her head, steadying her gaze, and noticed through the window, which now cleared up, three other drop pods.
That can't be…
As on of the drop pods swayed to the side slightly, Monika gasped as she laid her eyes on a sight she had never imagined she would be seeing.
She was in space, and in the distance...was Earth. And her pod was rocketing right towards it.
"What a shit run." Connor muttered to himself, utterly disappointed with the outcome of the hunting.
After that freak incident with that weird thing that turned to dust (which Connor was frightened he would be next), he moved on, and had only managed to take out one other bunny. It was comparatively worse than most other times, where he often caught at least five or more small animals such as bunnies, and possibly even deer sometimes, if he was lucky.
As he drove his truck down the straight, long trail back to his house, which was miles away, he pondered about his future plans. There was, in all honesty, too much on his platter, considering all the facts. His little brother had talked about something, while the two were having breakfast a week ago, about some 'rackets' he was dealing in, but immediately changed the subject after seemingly screwing up in mentioning that. His job at the Schmuck's Slice was pretty good, save for the fact that his boss was a knockoff Mr. Krabs, only somehow cheaper, often cutting short on replacing certain things or trying to get away with not making payments with certain individuals, including Connor. Beyond that, his parents, who already didn't have great jobs to start off with, found it to be ideal to go on vacation for a month during this whole ordeal.
Enough complaining, fag, Connor thought humorously to himself. You're leading the hustler's lifestyle. Let's get that bread-
Connor's train of thought was broken by the sight of a bright ball in the sky- no two, wait three-
"Holy shit, what are those?"
Connor stopped the truck momentarily on the dirt road as he peered up towards the bright balls zooming across the sky.
They must be...shooting stars, huh? Connor thought to himself, beginning to get excited. I've never seen something like- wait, those are pretty big.
Indeed, the stars were getting quite big in the sky. Seemingly growing in size-
"No. No fuckin' way." Connor said aloud in shock as he witnessed the meteor-like objects hurl nearby, straight towards an empty fields a couple miles away-
BOOOOOOOOO-
After only milliseconds of the blast, Connor could feel his ears pop, and everything seemed to move in slow motion as the explosion rocked his truck violently, breaking every window in it, and causing the whole thing to tilt almost on its side, to which Connor fell onto the seat beside him. During this whole time, he swore he could hear an ethereal version of 'Claire De Lune' playing in his ears.
…
…
...
After a few moments, the sound returned to Connor's ears, and he brought himself up, staring in shock at the colossal stacks of smoke in the distance, trailing up into the sky. As this was happening, the storm above seemed to be affected by this freakish accident, pouring down rain like crazy.
"Wha-what the f-fuck?..."
After a couple dozen seconds of shell-shock, Connor felt something inside of him put the truck back into 'Drive' and stomp on the gas pedal, steering his wheel to the left. The truck screeched off the dirt trail and towards the site of the explosion.
What the hell am I doing?! Connor thought to himself. And yet, for some reason, he kept going.
Eventually, after a couple minutes or so of driving, he finally arrived at the site, and brought his truck to a screeching halt.
In front of him, plumes of black and dark grey smoke billowed up into the sky, and giant craters as big as the house he lived in surrounded the site.
Holy shit...holy shit! Connor thought to himself in excitement. This is so...COOL!
Hopping out of the vehicle, Connor instantly whipped out his phone and began taking pictures, as well as making sure to record plenty of footage.
"Hey guys, Connor Moretti here, before I begin this video, make sure to SMASH the like and subscribe button, and hit the bell to get notifications! Leave a comment, too, if you're feeling up to it! Now, I just found myself at the crash site of a small meteorite! (I'm gonna be famous!) So, from what I can see, there seems to be, uh, a lot of smoke and shit..."
"Uugh...Eeergh…"
Monika could barely feel her hands as she began to regain consciousness. The pod had crashed into the ground so hard she had whip-lashed her brain into a KO. To her surprise, her head did not dislocate from the rest of her body, as she would have expected from such a hard landing.
After a few moments of recuperation, her mind raced with decision-making. Of course, she had little time to rejoice in her new environment, as she seemed to be in a terrible predicament. Upon trying to move her limbs around, however, she noticed they felt like spaghetti noodles.
Of course, this was to be expected, considering she had never operated a body prior to this.
Thus, with one idea in mind, she began smacking the walls around her, expecting some sort of escape hatch in the pod that would open the front panel. Dazed although she was, she still had her wits about her, and despite the confusing and terrifying situation, her mind was focused on ridding itself of this scenario as quickly as possible.
After one particular hit of a button, a loud sound blared out from within the pod, causing Monika to cringe in pain as it reverberated into her ears.
Sssssssss.
With a noticeable hiss, the front window of the pod opened, allowing for Monika to stagger her way out onto the ground.
Immediately, as soon as she tried to move her legs, she felt a strong sense of nausea erupt in her throat, and she instantly fell to her hands and knees, vomiting copious amounts of some strange metal liquid onto the ground.
Sssss.
With little time to recuperate from the nauseating feeling that embodied her stomach right now, her head darted up as she heard the hissing of other pods opening. As this was happening, the sound of a vehicle coming to a stop a couple dozen meters away could be audibly heard that it reached her ears. Her brain once again went into overdrive, calculating every possibility of what might be occurring right now. After only a few seconds of consideration, Monika decided it would be best to get away from this site and seek help beyond.
Thus, with great strength, Monika lifted herself up, but immediately began coughing profusely as she inhaled the smoke from the crash. Irregardless of that, she began staggering towards the last sound of where the vehicle came from, eager to get away from this site.
I can only assume those other pods are those three, Monika thought to herself. And I am 100% sure that if they find me, they will try to kill me.
Finally, after several bouts of staggering, falling, then getting back up with great effort, Monika seemed to have arrived at the cusp of the billowing smoke stack. As her face cleared the smoke, the sound of someone speaking, which was at first faint and had gradually gotten louder, now sounded as if it was coming from right in front of her. As her eyes adjusted from the smoke, she took in a shorter-looking male staring at his phone, speaking to himself, holding a rifle idly in his other hand. In indescribable wonder and relief, Monika waved her hand towards the stranger.
"Hey-"
BANG!
Author's Notes
By the way, if you love what I write, please consider supporting me on my P.A.T.R.E.O.N., 'theoriginalauthor' (type it into the web address for the website), or if you want to make a one-time donation, my Venmo is 'Finn-Romaine'. You do not have to donate, I appreciate you taking the time to read my writings nonetheless, but any and all donations are deeply appreciated and allow me to get chapters out quicker!
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