Chapter 18 - Eve

What was the deference between humans, orcs, fairies, and lizardmen? They were all humanoid, capable of intelectual thought and crafting. Out of all these, fairies had the highest intelect. Being no taller than five inches high. They would often be overlooked. Their homes destroyed by animals and children. Until one day, the human kingdom established the fairy conservation act. A special plot of land was established and gaurds were posted all around the domed kingdom. There was a simple reason humans noticed fairies. That reason was their losing battle against orcs and lizardmen.

In one year of human protection, fairies flourished. Inventing technology rapidly and creating a suit of armor to help the humans win the war. Of course, the fairies were wise. The suit of armor's full arsenal could only be activated by a tiny person. In other words. Fairies made themselves a guarentee to not be ditched and forgotten after the war.

"My name is Lilly Storm..Second armored unit division." Lilly said.

The tiny fairy man stepped forward on his platform. His armor made him look like a ghost or some kind of death knight.

"My name is officer Kilo. It would be an honor to have such a lovely lady be my partner." Kilo bowed. His wings were like glittering rainbow stained glass and his voice was soothing.

Zilla remembered that day so clearly. In a way, she felt betreyed that Dale took Kilo's armor and left him behined.

"Zilla?" Dale called.

Zilla was staring at a projected screen. Some pirate movie played on it, but Dale didn't care to know which one it was.

"We just wanted to know if you'd be down to help us..fight the robots." Dale felt his own hesitation. He dreaded the thought of fighting them again. As far as he knew, it was just a suicide mission.

"You know. I feel like I'm drowning in your culture…in my home world. We weren't this advanced." She said.

"Well…that exo-suit your wearing sure is..thats really impressive." Dale said.

Zilla's red eyes locked onto him.

"It was made by the fairy race..one of them was Kilo. He was my rider..before you made me ditch him." Her mouth still didn't move when she spoke. Her expressionless face suddenly became bitter.

"Look..I'm sorry."

"No…what agitates me more now is that new armor of yours…It smells like a genetic mess." She covered her nose.

"The aliens stole Kilo's armor. So I asked the goddess for a new one. In this same way, maybe I can send you home…but we have to defeat the aliens first." Dale said.

She raised a brow.

"Do you think we'll win?"

"To be blunt. I hope so..but I'm afraid."

"Then why fight?"

"Because I trust the Goddess? If I die anyway, then…that'll just prove how shitty this world was.." Dale held his chest. Part of him wanted closure of some kind. Perhapes to prove if he was a victim of the world or a victim of his own human condition. The condition that caused self hate and doubt. Fear and failure.

Zilla brought her face closer to Dale. Then she squinted to see him better.

"Fine..I'll do my best. But I'll need you to use my arsenal like last time. I hope that new armor of yours can take a hit. Especially since it doesn't have the grappling ropes to keep you stable." She said.

Dale rubbed his head, but he felt his helmet.

"Yeah…this armor can take hits. That much I learned first hand. So what kind of weapons does your armor have?"

"I dunno…only Kilo could activate them. I know I have a cannon, saw, and iron knuckles. Maybe thats all I have?" She scratched her head as she looked at the ceiling.

"Alright. Thats fine. Our plan will work with or without your weapons. We just need to distract the enemy."

A girls head popped up from the ground and nearly startled Dale. It was the red eyes and white hair that gave Scarlet away.

"I looked into the alien robots…they seem to be made of mechanicle parts inside. The armor is around seventeen feet thick..I think." She said.

"Took you long enough." Dale said.

Scarlet made a dissapointed look.

"Ugh, well I had to find something to measure it by…I can't pick up a ruler and measure..anyway, the aliens were eating last I checked. Its like they're waiting for something." Scarlet said.

"Yeah, we're not letting them get the order to attack. We'll attack them first. Scott wants us to attack tomorrow at noon." Dale looked at Zilla and noticed her wide eyed expression. Like somebody who'd just witnessed something scary.

"Whats the matter?" Dale asked.

"Why are you talking to yourself?" She asked.

The feeling of embarrasment clawed at him. Forgetting to explain certain things lead to this result.

"I'm…I'm talking to a ghost..please don't ask why or how, because I don't even fucking know." Dale said.

"I understand…" Zilla made a worried expression. That alone let him know she either thought he was crazy or delusional. He had to leave it at that for now. Dale passed the through the garden. Scarled skipped around observing the poorly kept bushes. She stopped and tried to smell a rose. Dale stopped too out of curiosity if she could actually smell it. She nodded silently and Dale knew she couldn't.

"Anyways. Are you sure you want to fight the aliens? You could just walk away and let the army fight them. Nobody would blame you." She made a look of concern with a hint of pity. Dale felt a strong fear in his gut.

"Trust me. I want to run…I'm fucking traumatized from what they did to me…I'm so afraid that my legs feel weak at times." Dale said.

"I don't want to do this, but theres no other way…my only other option would be to run like a coward." Dale said.

He stared at a faded rose on the bush.

"I've been running for the longest time…you know I was a bum before this? It was only because of that Goddess, genie, whatever she was. That I gained power to fight. In reality, I'm not fit for this."

Dale fell to his kneese.

"And I still feel afraid. Why am I always afraid! I feel weak as Hell. The fear hurts. When I go to an interview, when I signed up for college. The fear was there and I quit." Dale tried to swollow the urge, but he felt himself crying again. The hot tears running down his cheeks underneith the helmet. It sucked he couldn't wipe them.

"You know..Richard Rosewater was afraid too. He was bitter, he failed, and he sometimes did stupid things. But he still followed his duty. Even being afraid, he still pushed through." Scarlet kneeled before him.

"As far as I can tell. Your facing your fears. That's the true definition of courage. Moving foward even if you pee your pants." Scarlet smiled as she held a thumbs up. He felt weird taking tips from a ghost kid, but he knew she was right.

"You're right..before. I ran away from everything..I'll stare the boogeyman in the face from now on. Even if it scares me." Dale said as he stood up.

"Good."

"Let's go finish wrapping up the plan."

When Dale entered the home. He saw a man among the girls. At first, he felt like getting defensive, but then he saw the sunglasses. It was Scott sitting on the couch tapping away at his phone. Senko and Stella we're debating something about magic. Bobo and Jill were in the kitchen brewing some kind of tea or coffee in a pot. He couldn't tell what it was.

"Scott?" Dale said.

Scott put his phone down and leaned foward.

"Ah! If it isn't the man of the hour." He said.

"Don't say stuff like that.."

"Ha! Anyways. We got the go for the air strike tomorrow. Is your team ready?" Scott said.

"Yeah. Zilla is willing to fight too."

"What do we do if we lose?" Stella added.

Scott pulled off his sunglasses, then he smiled.

"That ain't an option cupcake..if we lose. Its game over. We don't got the tech to do higher damage. Maybe a nuke, but even a nuke won't be as strong as that lazer beam of yours." He leaned back in his chair.

"O.k..I get it." Stella said.

Scott stood up.

"Alright. Get some sleep. We got a big ass day tomorrow. I don't believe no god, but May God help us." Scott finished.