It wasn’t until the next morning (or six am Earth time) that Dr. Elizabeth Monica finally opened her eyes. When she did, she almost screamed.

            There hadn’t been a nightmare. If she had been asked, she would have said she had no memory of any dream at all. She had time after she awoke to realize that she was she was lying down in someone’s bed. Had she been dreaming? Was today the day that she would finally succeed in being the first person to be teleported, and all that about a parallel universe had been nothing but a very vivid and strange dream? Or had she somehow managed to get back to her own universe and she was now in the hospital? How had she gotten back? Had her team managed to somehow pull her back? Perhaps the teleportation had failed and rendered her unconscious and she had the dream of her being in an incredibly tiny world of another universe. Maybe…

            “Oh…you’re awake.”

            It was when Elizabeth found the source of the voice that screamed.

            She was sitting at the foot of the bed. The giant lady. The previous ruler of Earth. The woman from the stars with her blue hair, purple cat suit, and her unholy tech. Even now, as she looked her in the eyes, Dr. Monica could her hear voice: I am taking complete, total, unrivaled control of Planet Earth. This is non-negotiable.

            The very same woman, who had, for some reason, left Earth after something (not everyone knew all of the details) had happened in New York City, was sitting in front of her at the foot of the bed. Dr. Monica immediately tried to get up, but her body got tangled in the coverlet and she fell off the side, painfully landing on her side. The woman from the stars, a calm look on her face, did not react to the scream at all.

            “Careful,” She said. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

            “You!” Dr. Monica wheezed, trying to crawl away from her. “You! You’re…you’re that alien woman! You’re the Avakonian! Please! Please don’t kill me! I…I’ll do anything, but please just don’t hurt me!”

            “Relax,” The Avakonain replied. “I’m not here to hurt anybody. Just calm down and get back into bed. Your body has suffered a great amount of stress and you need rest.”

            “Wha…wha?” Monica could manage only that.

            “You’re on my ship, right now,” The alien woman replied. “I’m Arell, the…well, actually, you seem to remember me, so never mind that part. How are you feeling? As I said, you’ve been through a lot, physically, and you really ought to…”

            “Why am I here!?” Dr. Monica asked, still trying to put distance between herself and the Avakonian. “Why have you brought me here? What do you want with me? I haven’t done anything to you! How could I have!? Please, let me go! I don’t want to die! I haven’t even completed all of my research yet!”

            “I’m not going to hurt you,” Arell said, calmly and soothingly. “Please stop moving so much. I’m quite serious, you really need to…”

            “Please, please!” Elizabeth continued, flailing her arms.. “Just let me go! Let me go home! I promise I won’t tell anyone you’re back, just please let me…!”

            “STOP!” Arell yelled, thrusting her arm forward. The lights that dotted her attire lit up and the power within them suddenly smacked the woman known previously as GeekZilla, causing her to seize up as if she were on a movie screen and someone had hit pause. Arell sighed. “Please…you can’t move around too much right now. Your body has undergone immense re-organization atomically, and there will be terrible consequences if you stress your muscles and your bones now.”

            Arell levitated Dr. Monica from the ground to back into the bed. Using her other hand, she pulled the coverlet back over the terrified scientist.

            “Your research is part of the reason you are here,” The Avakonian said, disengaging her suits power, allowing Elizabeth to move.

            “My research…what?” Dr. Monica asked, too terrified of the woman to disobey her orders to remain still.

            “Yes,” Arell nodded. “Your research has brought you here in a sense. I…”

            “You can have it!” Elizabeth quickly offered. “My research! If you want it, I’ll give it to you. It’s almost perfected, I know it! I was just about to test it myself. I’m sure that your people, as technological sophisticated as they are, can easily…”

            “I don’t want your research,” Arell waved this away. “Teleportation is not something that should be used on living organisms anyway. It causes far too much problems on a biological being for it ever be practical.”

            “It…it does?” Dr. Monica asked.

            “Yes,” Arell said. “It causes a lot of problems. It can cause cancer, it can cause two things to be fused together, it can cause a person to be disintegrated….” She looked at Dr. Monica. “Or…in your case…it can cause someone to grow to incredible size.”

            “Grow...to…?”

            “You were never in another universe, Dr. Monica.” The Avakonian explained. “You were on Earth the entire time. Your teleportation pod caused a strong power surge, and, as a result, malfunctioned and projected your size to over forty times your original height. My estimates suggest you were around seven miles tall. Enough to even make my own race puny…”

            “Seven miles…me?”

            “When I saw what was happening I quickly reduced your size.” Arell said. “No doubt that both your rapid growth and shrinking has had strong impacts on your body. This is why I need you to rest. Certain parts of your body may have been weakened by all of the molecular…”

            “So…that town…” Dr. Moncia asked, slowly working it out. “That city….those things…were Earth…”

            Arell paused for a moment, a grave look on her face. “Yes.” She said finally.

            Dr. Elizabeth Monica stared at Arell, as a feeling of pure horror sank into her heart and mind. All that time…all the things she had done…how many people had she killed? Why had she even done half of the things she had done anyway? She had just thought it would be a good idea to rip a town in another dimension out of the ground just so she could take it home to study it? Why had that seemed like a good idea!? She had been so cruel to what she had thought was another system of intelligent life in another dimension....why? Everything she had done seemed so stupid!

            “I…I...I can’t believe it…” She said slowly. “My research…I…oh my god, what have I done!? I’m ruined!! They’ll KILL me for this! So many people…I may have…oh god, what have I done!?”

            Dr. Monica ran her hands through her hair and began to sob. Arell sat where she was, quietly watching, a tear falling down her own cheek. She felt everything that Elizabeth was. She had gone through something very similar. The Earthies would no doubt kill her if presented the chance. They’d be furious, and rightly so, at her for the immense damage and loss of life she had caused. Just as the other Avakonians had been when Arell had told them their story. Just as the people of Earth would do to her, the Avakonains had shunned Arell. They hadn’t killed her, but they had essentially banned her. In some ways, though, Dr. Monica had it worse. The Avakonians had showered her with forgiveness after discovering the source of Arell’s madness and warmly accepted her back. She could see no such course for Dr. Elizabeth Monica, who was now banished from Earth, a fate Arell herself had been afraid of.

            “Right now,” Arell said, softly. “You’re about my height…five hundred and thirty five feet.”

            “I’m still big!?” Elizabeth wailed.

            “Unfortunately, yes…” The Avakonian sighed. “And you almost certainly will be for the rest of your life.”

            “No…” Dr. Monica sobbed. “You’re lying…you can’t be serious…”

            “I am.”

            “Then…” Elizabeth choked. “I…I…can’t go back…ever…”

            “I’ve already spoken to my people,” Arell said. “The Avothian, the head of state on my planet, will speak with you about your predicament when we arrive.”

            “Arrive…?”

            “Right now, we’re on our way to my home planet, Avakon,” Arell said.

            “Avakona?” Dr. Monica asked. “Why…why are you taking me there!?”

            “It wasn’t really my intention,” The woman from the stars admitted. “You weren’t really part of the original plan. But when I saw you as you were…well, you sort of became an addition. The short story is…I came back for Bradley Peterson, so that he may speak to my…”

            “Bradley Peterson…?” Elizabeth asked, looking towards her. “I’ve heard that name before…somewhere…”

            “Yes, I’m sure you have,” Arell nodded. “He was the Earthy I…uh…well, abducted. He was also the one who brought me to my senses and…I guess saved Earth. I need him to speak to my people. They’re…not happy.”

            “Not…happy?”

            “They’ve seen my research of you Earthies,” She explained. “And the reaction they’ve had to it…is as bad as I thought it would be. You see, the reason I…did what I did when I last visited was because I thought I could make you all change. Make you so that I wouldn’t have to lie to my people to protect you and so I wouldn’t have to watch you kill each other day in and day out. I was wrong to do it, I know that now…but because they now know the truth, my people have begun to make the same mistakes in judgment that I have, and now the time has come to finally sit down and talk about it.”

            “I don’t understand…” Dr. Monica sobbed, not really paying too much attention.

            “I’m not surprised,” Arell nodded. “Again, you’re sort of a surprise addition to the situation. In time you’ll be fully brought to speed as to what has happened. Until then, just rest. I’ll bring you some food and drink later.”

            “Do you have a bathroom?” Elizabeth asked, sniffling. “I…I think I need to throw up…” She was thinking of the death toll of her actions.

            “Yes.” Arell said, reaching forward to help the woman up. “Move slowly and calmly and I’ll take you there. I’ll need to show you how to use the facility eventually anyway…”

…

            “This is stupid. How could we be so stupid?”

            Sarah LaFluer sighed as Todd began to, once again, pace about the floor, clenching his hands together nervously. He’d been going on and on, in episodes, about the situation, and it was beginning to get irritating. Even Colonel Stark had been quiet for awhile, simply sitting off near the window to look at the starry sky. Earlier, he had voiced relatively quiet agreement with McFinnley, but, after some time, had stopped.

            “Todd…”

            “We’re heading to her home planet,” Todd said. “HER home planet. The lady who tried to kill all of us is taking us to her home planet. Why did we agree to this!? We’re completely fucked! We literally just walked right to our deaths!”

            “Todd…” Sarah tried again.

            “How can we even be sure she’s telling us the truth!” McFinnley interrupted. “She even admitted to several lies the last time she was here. How do we know she’s not just trying to get revenge? That she’s going to take us to Avakon where all of her people will kill us!?”

            “Todd,” Sarah said. “There’s no way that’s the case.”

            “Why not?” Todd asked. “How could you possibly know? This is Arell we’re talking about! She’s never really forth…”

            “Because nothing you’re suggesting makes sense,” Sarah stopped him. “She doesn’t need her planet to kill us or get revenge. And, even if she was trying to kill us, we’d already be dead by now, most likely. The mere fact that she asked us to come along is more proof that she isn’t lying to us than she is.”

            “How!?”

            “Because she doesn’t NEED to ask us.” Sarah said. “She could have just beamed us up and said, ‘You’re coming with me.’ She didn’t do that, though. Why? She’s trying to trick us? Why would she need to trick us into coming when she can easily just force us? It’s not like we could stop her if she wanted to just kidnap us. A person with the power she has over us doesn’t need to be come up with tricks to get us to follow her. You’re saying that she’s lying to us, trying to fool us…but none of that makes sense, because we know that’s not what she would do. She didn’t try to trick the planet into accepting her rule. She turned the power off, kidnapped all the world leaders, and made it happen.”

            Todd sat down heavily, grumbling.

            “Now, the best thing to do now is just hope for the best. You think that we have it bad right now, but imagine what Bradley must be going through right now. He’s the one who the Avakonians are expecting to change their minds. He’s the one who, in the end, is going to represent the Planet Earth…”

…

            Bradley Peterson could not believe that he was going to represent Planet Earth.

            Arell had beamed up an unsold mobile home, one of the more fancy ones that actually tried to look like a house, for her new guests in an effort to make them feel more comfortable. Somehow, the thing had power, which Bradley wasn’t sure how she had managed to do that, but at this point knew it didn’t really matter. Arell was always seeming capable of doing things, and just one more thing shouldn’t surprise him that much. She had sent Sarah and the rest of them back to their homes to gather some personal belongings. Nice of her, but she hadn’t bothered doing so for Bradley. He assumed because she knew that his apartment no longer existed. Thanks to GeekZilla.

            Bradley was now sitting in his new room in the mobile home, staring out the window, which did not have a starry sky outside. Though Arell had placed the mobile home next to a window to allow a view outside her ship, his window just showed the inside, which he was well accustomed to by now. He had to find a way to get out of this, even though he was beginning to think that it was too late. Why had he said ‘yes’ earlier? How could have he been so stupid as to agree to do something so immensely crazy as try to go to an alien planet and try to convince its massive, intelligent, and immeasurably powerful race to change their minds about his own planet and to spare his people. How the hell was he suppose to do that!? He had taken Public Speaking only once in his schooling years, and had been terrible at it then, only managing to get through with a “C”. During his speech assignments, he had always fumbled, stuttered, shifted on his feet, and could not make eye-contact with the audience. Now he was an ambassador (or maybe a diplomat) for Earth to Avakon! As far as he was concerned, this was the worst idea that anybody could have come up with.

            There had been sounds coming from Arell’s room. Probably Arell dealing with the finally awake GeekZilla, who had devastated the planet Earth about eight hours ago. It was difficult to sympathize with the woman, honestly. He understood that she had not meant to do the damage that she had, and was currently looking at spending the rest of her life as a giant freak and never being allowed back on Earth. But at the same time, she had killed untold thousands, perhaps millions, and done incredible damage to everything everywhere she went. That, and she had destroyed his car and his home and had nearly killed him in the process.

            Movement outside the window. Bradley looked  towards it and saw, as the mobile home shuddered softly under her movement, Arell entire the room. He got up and walked out the back door of the mobile home and walked around to the front. Arell must have wanted to speak to him too, as she came right up and knelt down to bring her eyes before him.

            “How is she?” Bradley asked, not sure if he really cared or not.

            “She’s alive,” Arell answered. “Devestated, and lucky not to have literally fallen apart, but…alive.”

            “Yeah, well…she did destroy half of the United States,”

            “Don’t be hard on her. This is not her fault.”

            “It’s not mine either.”

            “I know, but try to think what’s she’s going through right now. She…”

            “I’m not exactly living the easy life right now, Arell…”

            “I know, but, she’s basically losing everything right now,” Arell explained. “Her people now hate her, and all she’s guilty of is trying to design a revolutionary new technology for them. She had all the best intentions, or at least no intention for people to get hurt. And now look what’s happened.”

            “Speaking of her,” Peterson said. “You said you managed to…resize her or whatever. When can I…”

            He stopped when he saw Arell shaking her head.

            “I knew you would ask about that,” She said. “I’m sorry, Bradley, but I can’t adjust your size.”

            “You did with GeekZilla…”

            “I had no choice,” Arell told him. “She was far too big and she was destroying the planet. I had to stop her. And now she’s bedridden because her body isn’t use to such rapid growth and shrinking. It’s terribly unhealthy, and potentially lethal. I had to perform several tests and remove several spores of cancer cells growing on certain organs inside her. She’s very luck, to say the least!”

            Oh, so you guys can cure cancer too, Bradley though, good to know.

            “So I’m going to be talking to your people like this?” He asked. “Tiny little caveman Earthy Bradley Peterson to speak to the mighty, giant, advanced Avakonians? And you think this is a good idea?”

            “Your size isn’t important,” Arell said. “Even if I did make you as big as us, it wouldn’t help you anyway. They don’t care how big you are, they care about the history of you planet.”

            “But I’m only one guy!” Peterson protested. “What on Earth am I supposed to do!? Apologize for the actions of people I have no control over and for the mistakes of generations before me!?”

            “No,” Arell said. “What you need to do is show them what you showed me. When we were in New York, you didn’t stop me with violence, with anger, or anything like that. You, tiny little caveman Bradley Peterson, stood before me and spoke from his heart. What you did is something only a very brave and intelligent being would do. Any two creatures can lash out at each other violently, but it is a beautiful thing when a species evolves past such barbarity. I need you to show that same beauty to my own people. Make them realize that you Earthies truly are something special and not just a race of savages.”

            “I don’t know how you want me to do that,” Bradley said.

            “I know it won’t be easy,” Arell said. “But you’re the only one that I believe can do it.”

            “What happens if I can’t?” Bradley asked.

            “Then Earth’s future is in jeopardy,” She replied.

Things were quiet for awhile.

            Nobody seemed to really have anything to say. It seemed the madness of the situation was freezing everyone, trapping them in a block of social ice that silenced all of them. Other than sitting quietly, or wandering about aimlessly, nobody really did anything. The only person who seemed to be moving with any purpose was Arell, who went around her ship simply checking on things. But even after a time, she too merely sat down near the mobile home and stared off into space.

            Dr. Monica was no help to the problem either. Arell had managed to move her into a spare bedroom, which was smaller than Arell’s since it was for guest passengers, for her to stay in. Ever since, GeekZilla had not made a sound. Arell went in to check on her every now and then, but each time was the same thing: she was lying, curled up on the bed, on her side staring at the wall. She did not acknowledge or respond to Arell at any time.

            Kevin Logans was getting tired of the quiet though. He was actually in quite good spirits despite the entire situation. And why shouldn’t he be? Beautiful women of massive proportions seemed to be coming into his life more and more these days and it was fantastic. GeekZilla was a hot monster, but, after three years, Kevin had forgotten how attractive Arell was. Now that he was graced with her giant presence, he was beginning to think that she was even hotter than GeekZilla, and that was something, because, in Logans’s humble opinion, the sexy nerd was not something that was easily beaten.

            He stepped out of the mobile home, his hands shoved into his pockets, and wandered around the shelf. Arell was sitting next to the home, staring out the window. The last time she had visited Earth, she was too busy trying to conquer it and being the general enemy to really talk to. Now that she was a friend, there somethings that he really wanted to ask her about. She was life from another planet, something that Kevin had always told his very skeptical parents existed, so she was a gold mine of information.

            “Hey…uh…Arell?” Kevin spoke up suddenly when he wandered close enough to the giant woman.

            Arell turned to look at him. “Hmmmm? Oh…hello, Kevin.”

            “Yo,” Logans replied. He looked around. “So this ship of yours is really cool.”

            “Thanks,” Arell replied, simply.

            “Is it yours, or did you rent it or something?”

            “It’s mine.”

            “Cool. I’ve always wanted to be on a futuristic space ship.”

            “Oh, yeah?”

            “Yeah! I mean, everything is so advanced on this thing, that I really wish I knew what everything does.” He pointed to a panel on the wall near a doorway. “What’s that thing over there control? Does it do something like re-arrange the room, or make stuff appear?”

            “Hardly,” Arell said, smiling. “That’s the light switch.”

            “You guys have those!?” Kevin said, awed.

            “Of course we do.” Arell chuckled. “How else would we control our lights?”

            “I dunno…” Logans replied. “It just seems so…familiar. Old fashioned, I guess.”

            “Old fashioned?” She asked. “You’ll always need something to turn the lights on and off with. Even we, who do indeed have great technology, still use the humble light switch to control our lighting.”

            “Well, I mean,” Kevin explained. From behind, he heard the sound of the mobil home’s door opening. He glanced back to see Randy and Sarah walk out. “I always thought everything would be automatic in advanced societies. You know, like how your doors just slide open when you approach them, rather than you having to turn a knob and all that.”

            “The light switch has sensors that can detect when people are in the room,” Arell explained. “But you can adjust the settings so that it behaves much like your typical switch on Earth. I have it on that setting now, since it’s not designed to detect small Earthies.” Arell winked.

            “So, can this ship travel like really fast?” Kevin asked. “I mean, it has to be capable of intergalactic flight and all that for you to be here, right?”

            “Naturally,” Arell nodded. “But don’t get too excited. I won’t be taking us anywhere near that sort of speed. Not with you Earthies on board. You guys haven’t been properly trained and prepared for that sort of thing. And doing it now might cause very serious problems with your physiology…if it doesn’t outright kill you.”

            “Damn,” Kevin said. “Okay, another question. You’ve been studying us right? What kind of organs do you have that we don’t? Do you guys have like, two stomachs, or something, or…”

            “I don’t think I’d want two stomachs,” Arell replied. “I think it’d ruin my curvature. There’s no physiological difference between you and me…except for our height, obviously.”

            “Speaking of curves…” Kevin went on. “Are all women on Avakon…like…you know…hot?”

            “Kevin!” Sarah snapped. “Don’t go asking stupid questions!”

            “But don’t you want to know if there are hot guys there?” Logans replied. “You may find the dudes up there are ripped and you’ll be swooning over every one of them.”

            “I really don’t think the attractiveness of the Avakonians is something that’s important right now, Kevin…” Sarah replied, rolling her eyes.

            But Arell laughed good naturedly through their exchange.

            “Why do you ask?” She inquired, chuckling.

            “Well, I mean,” Kevin went on. “Are all the girls on your planet cute? I mean, if there’s another race of humans, I gotta know this.”

            “Are all of us?” Arell repeated, grinning. “Should I be flattered that you’re using me as a point of reference?”

            “I wouldn’t mind if you were,” Kevin replied, grinning too. “Let me ask this way; are all girls on Avakon hot like you?”

            Arell laughed again. Sarah rolled her eyes again...but even she smiled a little. Randy had been wandering off to the side, but now he came up to them as well, a smile on his face too. Behind him, the door to the mobile home opened again, and Fred, Bradley, and Todd came out, perhaps curious as to what was going on.

            “Maybe I should just let you find that out for yourself.” Arell said, winking again.

            “Aw, don’t leave me hanging!” Kevin begged.

            “What’s going on?” Todd asked Sarah.

            “Oh, Kevin’s asking stupid questions.” She replied.

            “No, I’m not,” Logans overheard her. “This is of the utmost importance! The men of Earth have a right to know this!”

            “He’s asking if women on Avakon are attractive,” Randy explained.

            “Well…what was the verdict?” Todd asked, grinning himself.

            “I don’t think it’s fair for me to say,” Arell replied. “I’m just one out of many. I’ll just let you decide for yourselves when we get there.”

            “Well, if they’re anything like you,” Kevin said. “Then let me be the first to say that this might not be a completely bad experience.”

            “Kevin, really…” Sarah sighed.

            “Hey, flirting with a hot space girl has always been something I’ve wanted to do!” Logans said, pushing up his sunglasses.

            “Is that what I am?” Arell asked. “The ‘hot space girl’?”

            “Yep!” Kevin said. “Be proud! It’s a great honor!”

            “Oh, believe me, I’m overwhelmed,” Arell laughed. “Don’t mind me if I start crying from all the emotion.”

            “I wouldn’t dare hold it against you,” Kevin said. He paused. “So…you said we’re physically the same, right? Does that mean you guys get it on in the same way we do, right?”

            “Kevin! Seriously!?” Sarah said, shocked. She was barely heard because Arell, Fred, Todd, Kevin, and even Bradley laughed.

            “Remember, this are essential questions, Sarah,” Randy said, jokingly.

            “Yes, we do ‘get it on’ in the same way,” Arell said through some laughter. “And, since I’m sure you’ll ask, yes, we are quite good at it.”

            “Both sides?” This time Sarah was the one to ask.

            “Both sides.” Arell nodded.

            “Hey!” Todd exclaimed. “What’s that supposed to mean!?”

            “N-Nothing!” Sarah said, turning red. “I was just asking!”

            “Don’t feel too bad,” Arell said. “You have to remember that my people have lived a long time. Long enough to perfect, or at least become very talented at, various things. Sex, naturally, is one of them.”

            “I don’t feel bad about anything!” Todd replied immediately.

            “Why ya so defensive, bro?” Kevin asked.

            “Shut up, Kevin!”

            “Speaking of long lives…” Bradley spoke up. “That’s another thing I’ve always wanted to know…just how old are you, Arell?”

            Arell gave him a sly look. “Now, Bradley…” She said. “I thought you Earthy Men never asked a woman her age.”

            “Well, you’re sort of a radical exception.” Peterson replied.

            “Am I?” She said. “I’m a still a woman, even though I am from Avakon. Why should I be any exception?”

            “She’s actually more woman than any of us are used to,” Kevin said. “I mean…she is…..how tall are you, Arell?”

            “Well, on your scale, I’m about five hundred and thirty five feet,” She said.

            “Are all Avakonians your size?” Todd asked. Bradley remembered him wondering something the last time Arell had visited Earth.

            “Of course,” Arell replied. “I’m actually a little taller than most Avakonian women, though. I’m about as tall as most men on Avakon.”

            “So you’re a big girl even over there!” Kevin laughed.

            “Yes, I suppose you could say that,” Arell smiled.

            “What kind of money do you guys use?” Fred asked.

            “We don’t,” Arell replied.

            “Huh…?” Bowden replied. “Then…how do you buy stuff?”

            “Technically, we don’t,” The Avakonian replied. “To put it this way, when I go to a store, if I want something, I just take it. I don’t pay for it.”

            “So…you guys just steal everything?” Fred asked.

            “No,” Arell shook her head. “I’m supposed to take it. That’s the whole point.”

            “I’m confused…” Fred said. “Where does the transaction occur here? The moment when you give the other party something for the thing you’re taking?”

            “It doesn’t exist,” Arell said.

            “So if I’m on your planet,” Fred said. “And I see a really cool yacht, like one of the real expensive ones, I can just take it and no ones gonna come screaming at me?”

            “Well…” Arell explained. “In that sort of case you’d need to sign off on it and show that you know how to operate and maintain the vehicle so that you’re not going to hurt yourself or somebody else. But, ultimately, yes.”

            “How does that work?” Fred asked. “You can’t just get something for nothing. There has to be some exchange or something, right?”

            “Not really,” Arell shook her head. “Money never quite caught on Avakon like it did on Earth. My people have always been more concerned with meeting the needs of all and any. We distribute all materials that are produced or secured equally. It’s always been an Avakon tradition to make sure that everyone is taken care of. The concept of money just never became relevant in our world.”

            “So…you’re not paid to research stuff?” Fred asked.

            “Nope.”

            “Then why do it? What’s the point?”

            “Because I’m genuinely interested in life on other planets, of course.” Arell replied, as if it should have been obvious. “Why else would I do it?”

            “Well, hey, I’m genuinely interested other planets too,” Bowden said. “But, ignoring the current situation, I couldn’t previously afford to get on a rocket and fly to the moon or Mars.”

            “That’s a shame,” Arell frowned. “The universe is really a beautiful place to travel through. I’m not a special case, every Avakonian has the ability to travel to Earth if they wanted to. The only reason they haven’t all of these years is because the researchers usually observe and learn about them first. That way, when we want to contact them, we know their language, their culture, and everything else. It makes communicating with them so much easier.”

            “Have you discovered other intelligent life?” Sarah asked. Bradley already knew the answer to this.

            “Well, yes, in some sense,” Arell replied. “No other life on planets are as advanced as Avakon, or even Earth. Not to say that they’re unintelligent, they’re just primitive. But, ever since we’ve contacted them, a lot of them have shown to be quite intelligent and creative. We often try to educate them, so that they can better survive and thrive in their own environment. Then, they…”

            “That’s funny…I don’t remember YOU being so damn supportive.”

            It was Colonel Stark. He’d come out of the mobile home and was now standing behind Bradley and the group, staring at Arell hard.

            “A few things come to mind when I think of you, alien woman,” He said, bitterly. “And, let me tell ya, none of them are caring, loving, and supportive. They’re more like arrogant, destructive, and downright evil.”

            Bradley tensed. He felt some of the others do so as well. While they had, just a few seconds ago, actually had a very pleasant conversation with their giant hostess…it was true that the very same woman had threatened each and every one of them at least once during her last visit to their planet. Peterson especially, who remembered the time he had spent on this ship previously. It had not been, at all, a pleasant experience, one that had been full of torment and ridicule and fear.

            “I admit that the case of Earth was…unfortunately very different.” Arell said, returning Stark’s glare.

            “Good,” Stark said. “Then you admit that your people are a bunch of controlling shits that ought to leave other planets alone, instead of threatening to destroy them when they don’t behave the right way.”

            “You don’t understand…” Arell began.

            “Oh, I think it’s you who doesn’t understand.” Stark interrupted. “We wouldn’t be here on this ship right now if you and your kind just stayed the hell on Avakon and me and my kind stayed on Earth. Both of us in our place, just leaving the other one alone. Everything’d be fine.”

            “The humans of Avakon don’t simply forget about other humans,” Arell said. “Like it or not, you’re a human, and therefore, connected to us. I…”

            “I’m not connected to you goons,” The Colonel shook his head. “So by some unfathomable coincidence, we happen to look alike. Just like on your planet, there were apes. And then, after some time humans evolved. That doesn’t mean that we’re related. It just means that life just evolved in similar ways on both of our planets, you half-wit.”

            “Regardless of our separation,” Arell replied. “We are, undoubtedly, the same species. We are anatomically the same in every which way, other than height and longevity of life. You Earthies are considered an extended part of our family, if you will, and like it or not, you will be treated as such.”

            “And that’s where the bullshit piles up,” Stark said. “What if we don’t want to be treated like one of you? Who are you to make that call, huh? We don’t treat you guys like one of us? We don’t subject you to our laws and ways of life. If we did…well, let me just say, alien woman, you wouldn’t be alive right now. We’d have put your sorry ass down a long time ago, and rightly so because of all the innocent people you murdered out of cold blood.”

            “I know what I did!” Arell snapped, causing Sarah and the others to retreat behind Bradley, who was also shaking at the knees. “I don’t need you to remind me! I…”

            “Don’t you start getting all worked up, you oversized bitch!” The Colonel snapped back. “You’re a monster, a hypocrite, a liar, and a murderer, and that’s ALL you ever will be! You may not realize this, but I’m not scared of you!  Do to me what you will, but you ain’t gonna shut me up unless you break me in half!”

            “Well them maybe I ought to and BE DONE WITH IT!” Arell yelled. Her face and gone red and her eyes were lit up with pure fury. She reached forward to grab Colonel Stark…

            …and then she quickly withdrew her hand, a soft, startled gasp emitting from her. She grabbed her hand with the other and held it against her chest, a wide, terrified look coming into her eyes. Her gaze went to Bradley, and all of those who were cowering in fear behind him.

            Arell began to slide away from them, but went too far and fell out of her chair, hitting the floor with a hard thump that shook the shelve the Earthies were standing on. She quickly got to her feet and backed away from Bradley and the others, breathing heavily.

            Then, all at once she began to sob. And once the tears started to flow she turned and hurried out of the room, burying her face in her hands.

            Bradley stood where he was for a moment, breathing heavy himself. When he finally realized the situation wasn’t going to escalate further, he turned around. He saw Stark standing where he was, his arms folded across his chest staring at where Arell had gone. The Colonel remained where he was for a moment, then shook his head and walked back to the Mobile Home.

Arell did not return to her room for a long time.

            When Sarah and the others had packed for the trip, Arell had instructed them to grab some food for themselves. The fridge in the kitchen of the mobile home was thus stocked, and the group had dinner. Bradley had wondered if their giant hostess was going to make an appearance, but she did not.

            Through most of the meal, no one had really spoken. The only people who seemed to have much of an appetite were Kevin and Colonel Stark. For once, since meeting him, Bradley thought he sensed some sourness in Ward’s mood. He’d always been the team goof ball, but now he just quietly shoveled food into his mouth, the Colonel doing much of the same. Todd mostly poked at his food, and Sarah didn’t even have a plate. Randy seemed to be content with just a glass of water and Fred was eating out of a pudding cup.

            There wasn’t much signs of life beyond the walls of the mobile home. If Arell was still moving, it was for brief moments. And there was still not a peep from where Dr. Elizabeth Monica was staying. Arell had mentioned that she would try to make a home for the dislocated scientist on Avakon, but Bradley wasn’t sure if that would really be the ideal solution. Despite her new size, the once “GeekZilla” was an Earthy, and that most likely meant that the Avakonians were going to be just as suspicious of her as they would be of the rest of the group. She would probably be just as isolated on Avakon as she would be on Earth. Was Arell taking Monica back to her home planet really much better than the US Army executing her? Peterson didn’t know.

            And who knew how things were back on Earth. Almost everyone would be panicking right around now. A massive nerd had just destroyed several acres and miles of land, taken an untold amount of lives, and then had up and disappeared with no one knowing where. Those who might have been watching would have seen some sort of sight as Arell had reduced the woman’s size, beamed her and Peterson’s group up onto her ship. If they hadn’t then, the population of Earth would now be turning their heads up into the sky, nervously. Is she back? That would be the question that most of them would be pondering with great anxiety. The US Government would probably be so worried about this that they might spend more time preparing for Arell’s hypothetical invasion than repairing the damage caused be GeekZilla. Little would they know is that it be pointless.

            “You know…you really know how to shit on the mood, Colonel Saggy Sack”

            Bradley was pulled out of his thought process and saw that Kevin had finally looked up. Behind his sunglasses was most likely a hard glare that was being cast at the Colonel, who paused and returned his own stare towards Ward. The temperature in the room must have dropped fifteen degrees in the next two seconds before Stark returned to eating.

            “You all need to grow up,” He said, bitterly. “That giant bitch invaded our home, killed our people, took over our land, and even held one of us hostage for three days,” He glanced at Bradley. “…and here you all are. Making nice little chit-chat with our greatest enemy like she was an old friend. Peh!” He threw his fork onto his plate where it clattered loudly, causing Sarah and Todd to jump. “She is a monster, and so are her people. DO NOT start taking their shit and kiss their asses, or I WILL starting having an issue…especially with YOU!” He glared at Ward.

            “I was just talking to her!” Kevin snapped. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

            “Don’t be stupid!!” Stark yelled. “You’re doing EVERYTHING wrong! We do not, under any circumstances, trust the enemy. NEVER! That is something you learn when you’ve been in the service as long as I have. When you do, all you do is set them up to drive a knife right into your spine!”

            “But she’s not even a villain anymore!” Ward shot.

            “THAT!” The Colonel shot his pointer finger at Kevin. “THAT. Right there! That’s trust, you idiot! Who says she’s our friend!? WHO!? HER!? Is she the one who told you that!? Do you even understand what the concept of a ‘lie’ is!?

            “How do you know she’s lying?” Kevin asked.

            “Because she’s admitted to lying to us before, you stupid prick!” Stark was pressing his hands against his head, as if he thought the perceived stupidity coming from Kevin was enough to make his brain explode. “That’s why! Once a liar, always a liar! I know her type!”

            “Guys, guys!” Sarah shouted. “Stop yelling at each other! You’re arguing about something that doesn’t even matter!”

            “What are you babbling about?” Stark whirled to her. “How does any of this NOT matter!?”

            “I understand your concerns, Colonel,” Sarah replied, keeping her voice lower and calm. “Arell’s dangerous and our past with her isn’t exactly spotless and full of good times. But, the bottom line is this: if Arell wants us to go somewhere, there’s nothing we can do to stop her.”

            “Yeah, and?”

            “She gave us a choice,” Sarah explained. “She didn’t threaten us, she didn’t yell at us, or just lock us away and force us, even though it’s well within her capabilities to do all of those things. She even let us return to the planet to grab some things for the trip. None of those things she had to do. She also did save our lives and several others by catching us and reducing Dr. Monica’s size.”

            “Are you going somewhere with all this?” Stark asked.

            “Yes,” LaFluer nodded. “I’m saying that Arell’s actions and behavior have been drastically different than when we last saw her. Why did she even bother taking care of our ‘GeekZilla’ problem? She had no reason to even get involved in that.”

            “Because she caused that whole thing,” Stark said. “I’m sure of it.”

            “But that doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Sarah replied. “If that’s the case, why did she grow Dr. Monica just to unshrink her again? There’s no way Arell could have planned that Dr. Monica would just so happen to wander into our paths, pick up a whole town with Bradley still on it, just so she could sweep in and seemingly save the day.”

            “She’s stacking the deck,” The Colonel replied. “She’s trying to make us trust her and you kids are buying it, hook, line, and sinker.”

            “Maybe…” Randy spoke up. “But that…just doesn’t sound like something that Arell would do.”

            “Oh, really?” Stark said. “And you know that for a fact, music boy?”

            “Look, just think about it,” Fredrickson said. “Arell was pretty forceful when she last visited Earth. She just dropped in, whisked our leaders away, and then said, ‘You all belong to me, now’. No debate, no questions asked. If that’s the way she gets what she wants, then why would she spend the time to come up with a clever, elaborate plan, when it’s much easier to just beam us up? It’s not like we have any weapons, and even if we did we still couldn’t put up much of a fight, anyway.”

            “Because she’s trying to get us to trust her, I told you that,” Colonel Stark replied, as if it should have been obvious. “She’s trying to raise a knife over you’re head when you’re not looking, what’s so hard to understand?”

            “Well, that’s one theory,” Randy said. “But people try to gain trust for different reasons. To stab people in the back later is one…to mend relationships is another.”

            “Oh fer the love of…”

            “Look, I’m just saying that IS a possibility,” Randy said. “Sarah does have a point; Arell is acting differently than before. Maybe she has changed. And if she hasn’t, well, we’re screwed anyway, because it’s not like we could fight back if anyway.”

            “I knew this was stupid…” Todd sighed. “We should never have agreed to come.”

            “Well, that’s the whole thing,” Randy went on. “Why did we even get that choice?”

            “You know what?” Stark said, standing up. “You all can go on and trust the giant bitch if you want. More power to your dumb asses. But when she’s squeezing the life out of you in her fists, just try to remember that I tried to warn you and I hope the pain you’re feeling is enough to realize that you’ve had your heads up your collective asses the whole goddamn time!!”

            And with that, Stark stormed out of the dining room and went into his room, slamming the door as he went. There was a brief pause at the table as they listened to the muffled sounds of him continuing to fume in the semi-privacy of his own room.

            “You know, he’s right,” Todd said. “I hate to say it, but the Colonel is right.”

            “We don’t know that…” Sarah began.

            “Of course we do!” Todd hissed. “She tried to kill us! She called Kevin’s apartment and told us to give up Bradley and if we didn’t she’d come down and squash all of us! Don’t you remember? All the shit that she’s done? Have you all forgotten that?”

            “Of course not…” Sarah replied. “But regardless…we’re on the ship now. The reality that you and the Colonel don’t understand is that, at this point, we don’t really have a choice but to trust Arell.”

            “What…?”

            “It’s not like we can opt out of this now,” Randy explained. “We’re on our way to her home planet, and probably a long away from Earth on a ship that we don’t know how to operate and are too small too anyway, plus it’s all in a foreign language. We’re stuck here. There are two paths: either Arell is lying and she’s got something sinister in store for us, or she’s changed and she’s on our side. Right now, all we can do is hope it’s the latter…and that means we have to trust Arell.”

            “Oh, god…” Todd said weakly.  He got out of his chair and wobbled away from the table and made his way to his and Sarah’s room.

            As he went, Bradley kept hearing what Randy had just said.

            We have to trust Arell.

            We have to.

            Good God, Bradley thought, please be telling the truth, Arell.

            Please.

…

            By his Earthy watch, it was approaching eleven pm, and he still couldn’t sleep. Not that that was surprising.

            Bradley Peterson was staring at the ceiling of his room in the mobile house, wondering just what in the hell he was going to do when they arrived at Avakon. His mind kept conjuring an image of him, dressed up in a suit (because that’s what all good public speakers wear…right?), standing at some tiny podium in front of a large group of massive faces…all staring down at him with expectation. Big drops of sweat would drip down his temples, he would fumble with, and probably drop, his note cards (he was allowed to have those during this…right?), and stammer and stutter like a complete jack ass. Then, the Avakonians, thoroughly unimpressed, would stomp the living shit out of him, all laughing at his pitiful performance as they did. So much for the great Bradley Peterson of Earth, who had so eloquently soothed the heart of an angry giant with his own words. What a fraud, they’d think. A charlatan! A sham!

            He had thought of preparing a speech…but he wasn’t sure if that’s what he was even supposed to do. He’d tried to ask Arell just what it was that she wanted him to do, but she hadn’t been very helpful. Perhaps that was to mean that not even Arell really knew just what was going to happen, but if that was the case then he was really fucked, because he was going in completely and totally fucking blind and that made the whole thing even more terrifying. Why him, he thought again. Why had Arell thought HE of all people was the correct choice to speak to her people? He had just been tiny little Bradley Peterson, the pet property of Arell, who had stayed in a little cage and ate scraps of his mistresses plate. What on Earth made Arell think he was the one qualified for this madness!?

            Arell had mentioned someone called the “Avothian”, earlier. Bradley had no idea who this person was except that Arell had referred to them as ‘her’ and the whoever ‘she’ was, ‘she’ was the apparent ‘head of state’ of Avakon. Whatever else that meant, it meant she was important. No doubt that everyone was going to get a chance to meet this mysterious woman in the flesh once they arrived on the planet. For his own sake, Peterson was hoping that she was a person of understanding and compassion.

            Movement outside the mobile home.

            Bradley sat up and listened. The familiar sound of footfalls, and the shudder of the home were two good clues. With Dr. Monica seemingly have turned into a zombie who didn’t seem at all interested in leaving the confines of her room, it had to be Arell finally returning from wherever she’d gone off to when Colonel Stark had seemingly upset her. Peterson turned her head towards his window, which was open for some reason. It had been since Arell had beamed it up and he couldn’t get the stupid thing to shut. The lights of Arell’s ship had dimmed, making it harder to see, but there was definitely some one moving out there. He saw the large figure lumbering around. Whoever it was, they were shrouded in dark, making it hard to identify them.

            Maybe it wasn’t Arell. Her suit had those lights on it. It had to be Dr. Moncia then. The person moved towards Arell’s bed, paused for a moment, sighed, and then lied down, curling up in the sheets. It was hard to recognize the voice of a sigh, but it could have been Arell. It was her bed, after all. No way he could know that, though.

            He got up from his bed and walked over to the window.

            The next thing he knew, he was flying out of it.

            “GUH!” Bradley as some invisible force swept him off his feet and propelling him out the door.

            Like a plane he sailed over a long field of floor. A temporary bust of nausea swept him as he stared straight down. Best not to think of that. Don’t think of the drop that awaits you if the forces that be decide that it’s time for you to take a dive, Bradley ol’ pal. He forced himself to look forward, and saw that he was headed for the bed in the center of the room. Only one thing that he was aware of could make him soar through the air like this. As he began to lower, Arell reached out, and he made a smooth gentle landing into her waiting hand. When she pulled him back in, her fingers gently wrapped around him, securing him in their grip so that he wouldn’t fall. This momentary gesture actually took Bradley aback. It was indeed very different than the Arell he had once known.

            Arell placed Peterson down on her pillow and he immediately saw the most haunted eyes he’d ever seen. There were shadows under her eyes, which were bloodshot.

            “You sort of…disappeared there,” Bradley said after an awkward pause.

            “I…I’m sorry,” Arell sighed. “I just…needed to be alone for a while. Especially before I…well…lost….I…” Trembling, she sighed again. A new tear formed in her already cried out eyes.

            “This is because of the Colonel, right?” Peterson asked. He had to keep his balance as the pillow moved from Arell’s nodding.

            “I don’t like him…” She said. “…but even I can’t deny that he’s right. In that moment…after what he said…for a minute…I wanted…I wanted to….” She gasped a sob. “I really am a monster…”

            She buried her face into her pillow and began to sob. Bradley silently watched until she eventually got ahold of herself again.

            “A-A-Anyway…” She stuttered. “I’m glad…you’re awake. I wanted to talk to you….alone.”

            “Well, I’m here,” Peterson said. Regardless of whether or not I want to be, he thought but did not add.

            “I’ve been thinking these past few hours,” She said. “About what Colonel Stark said, and about my life…but…mostly about you.”

            “Me?”

            Arell nodded. “It’s not the first time. Those three years in solitary confinement were the longest of my life. And I’ve been alive for a long, long time, Bradley. I know I must not look like it, but it’s true. Never would I have ever imagined that three short years could seem like a lifetime. It wasn’t just long, but also the scariest time of my life.”

            “Because you thought you’d never be free again?”

            “Because I didn’t know who I was anymore,” Arell sighed. “I thought about everything that I had done to your people, to your planet…to you. It…it didn’t make sense to me, like it had before. When I had watched all the atrocities first hand, the wars, the torture, the betrayals…I was so angry. It…it was righteous anger, I wanted to put an end to the suffering and help the victims. But, time and time again the victims would turn around and do the exact same thing to another group. Nobody was a victim. Nobody was innocent in my mind anymore. Governments turned on their own people…imprisoned them and tortured them…I…I couldn’t bear it, Bradley. My mind was swirling with all sorts of emotions. And then…well…you know what eventually happened. I was determined to put an end to it all one way or another.’

            ‘But I was wrong, Bradley. Oh, so very wrong. But I didn’t know it at the time. I was blinded by my own anger, by my own moral conflicts. The things I did…a part of me I think all along knew I shouldn’t have done. But…it was me doing something, I couldn’t stand by! I know it’s hard to understand, but the compassion I felt for you Earthies…I couldn’t just do nothing. And, I thought…maybe if I sinned a little it would all work out in the end. Maybe it was just a case of necessary evil to make things work out in the end. As you Earthies say…two wrongs don’t make a right, I suppose, but…I couldn’t stop myself. Colonel Stark has not been the first person to speak that way to me. I didn’t want to hear any of it. To me, I thought I was the one who was right. The one who was seeking justice and making things right.’

            ‘But, as I sat in that cell…alone and hungry…I realized that I was never even remotely close to being right. All I did was allow myself to become corrupt. To become a greater fool than you Earthies ever will dream to be. I could have done something differently. I could have...approached you Earthies, and spoke to you and…tried to teach you. Connect with you. I could have acted differently…but I did not. And when I realized my failure…I felt like a stranger to myself. I kept thinking that the Arell I know would never have done those terrible things. Under no circumstances would she allow herself to succumb to such vice and find pleasure in such sin. But…the memories were there…and impossible to deny. I had lied to you Earthies, to my people…and to myself.’

            ‘I thought of your words constantly. I thought of them because I wished I could believe them. You said I was too smart to continue doing what I was doing. That you believed that I was sincere about my own beliefs and values. But, I wasn’t so sure of that myself. How could I say that I loved all forms of life when I had tried to enslave and d-d-destroy a planet?” Tears flowed from Arell’s eyes. “How could I say that I abhor violence when my actions were nothing but that? How could I speak of altruism when I showed none? I was nothing more than a liar, a hypocrite, and a monster. And several times, I was seduced by the prospect of taking my own life, which, in the eyes of my people is one of the most pathetic paths a creature can take, and is one only a fool who has done foolish things like myself would ever consider. But I felt pathetic, and that made it seem more of a fitting end for me.’

            ‘But I couldn’t bring myself to do that. Because one thought kept me alive, and that was, that if I ever were to get out. Somehow, someway, I would come back to you and I would try everything to make it right. It was nothing but a dream for most of those three years, as I was condemned for life, doomed to stay within those four walls for the rest of my life. But, something within me held stubbornly to that dream. And when my people saw my observations…when they let me go…I knew it had to be destiny that we see each other again.”

            Arell raised her eyes back to her little Earthy.

            “Bradley, there are so many things that I wish I could take back. I wish I had been stronger. I was weak, and my people are being weak. You’re right….if we were the superior race, then we’re most certainly not showing it. We’ve become arrogant, and we don’t even realize it. That’s why I think it’s so important that you are here with me right now. But there’s something weighting down my heart, and, before it drives me mad I have to let it out. Right now I can’t make amends with your planet, but I have to start somewhere. I know I have no right to ask, but I have to know if you could find it in your heart to forgive this girl before you. This girl who was weak and foolish. This girl who took you against your will for her own evil deeds. This girl who betrayed everything she believes in…”

            Arell went silent, aside from her soft gasps of sobs. Her eyes were a constant stream, soaking the fabric of the pillow. Bradley Peterson stood where he was, his hands shoved in his pockets, looking into the eyes of the girl before him. The girl who was weak and foolish. The girl who took him against his will for her own evil deeds. The girl who betrayed everything she believed in.

            The girl who had become a monster.

             Bradley stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the bridge of Arell’s nose. He squeezed them as hard as he could.

            Arell closed her eyes and began to sob. She reached up and held the Earthy against her.

            At some point, sleep overtook both of them. For Arell, it was the lightest in a long time.

I'm going to immediately apologize that this is not a continuation of the story. But I do have some news that may excite those who followed it.

This series has been long dead for awhile and, despite that, I still get people asking me about it even after all these years. For a long time I wanted to return to it, but never really could bring myself to it. Part of that reason was because there were a lot of things I regretted about it when I first wrote it, particularly the first installment of the series, "The Final Frontier". It got to the point where I basically would rather redo the whole thing rather than continue it.

And that, my friends, is what I have decided to do. I am going to reboot the entire series, starting over from a fresh start. What would such a reboot entail? I wrote about this on my Deviant Art page a few weeks ago, and I'll repost some of that here:

"The major change would be with Arell, specifically her behavior in the first of the series, "The Final Frontier". When I first began writing that series, Arell was meant to be evil. There was no redemption arc, nothing like that planned. She was just a hot alien woman being a giantess. I don't remember when or why, but I eventually decided such a simple approach to the character wasn't good enough, so the whole arc of her redemption came along. However, this change of character was not well transitioned, especially since Arell killed people in front of Bradley and seemed to enjoy doing so, and continued to maliciously tease and taunt him.

A reboot of the series would feature a much more restrained Arell, who regrets having to "step in" and take control of the planet, but feeling that she must do so. However, her approach, while firm, would be more diplomatic, creating the second big change of the series. In "The Final Frontier", Arell is the antagonist. She seems to be enslaving the planet and threatens to destroy it if there is resistance. In the reboot, her rule would offer a future of peace and technological advancement at the cost of the planet's freedom. This creates a schism in which many in humanity are in favor of Arell's rule, while others wish to resist it. Bradley Peterson is thus forced to face not only Arell, but his fellow humans."

In the coming months, I hope to post the first chapter of this reboot, eventually making this story into an E-book of sorts. To that end, and please excuse this bit of self promotion, I have opened a patreon, and one of the tiers is designed to help fund me so that I can create bigger, story driven works like the "Frontier" series.

I want to emphasize that the series will not be exclusive to those supporting me on Patreon, it will be released for free as it was originally. But, patrons will get early access to chapters, so, if you've been a long time fan and are interested in supporting me, please feel free to check out my Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/KevinFred.

I apologize for sounding like a shill, but writing has always been what I wanted to do and this is the time that I can finally make it happen.

Regardless of whatever you choose...look to the stars, Dear Readers...

Arell is coming back.