Beatle, the younger version of himself, held the small rat as it stayed in the tank tight near his chest. His family, including his mother and aunt, rebuked his actions.
“Gross!”
“Poison it!”
“Throw it down the toilet and flush it down!”
And all those requests, Beatle said, “No!”
And upon each of those requests, they would ask, “Why?”
They would call him crazy, stubborn, or just plain psychotic.
Beatle merely sighed, and after a night of warmth in his tank and good food, Beatle let the rat out of the tank. This isn’t the first time Beatle offered salvation to another creature of God. For that was already in his nature. To save, rather than rapture.
Now…
Billy and Grub entered the deep snow, struggling to walk forward, but Happy did not struggle, though his body did, he didn’t seem fazed at all. Just rather annoyed by the sheer will he must put to move his mechanical Humanoid body.
“You two need to eat,” said Happy.
“Don’t be silly…” said Grub, before smirking. “I am the daughter of the Saint King… I don’t think I need to allow myself to eat even when the body calls it. For I represent the fortitude of the very Human-...”
“Mammoth, please!” smiled Billy.
“Goddamn it, Billy!” roared Grub.
Happy takes out his rifle, rubbing his mechanical hands beneath the skinsuit along the shaft. “Very well. Follow me.”
Much, much later… the group sees a herd of Mammoths walking around the Ice Bridge, which is a massive sheet of ice that covers the Philippine islands, connecting all as one. Seems they are actually nearing Bohol, at the center of the Visayan Ice Sheet. In the far distance are mounds of snow and glacial ice, which the trio use to prepare for sniping one.
“How’d we get so far? These are mammoths migrating to Mindanao…” asked Billy. “Where are we!?”
“We’re nearing Bohol.”
The two young creatures snuggle near Billy’s chest.
“Is there a Multiverse Port nearby?” asked Grub, seeing Antlion and Gabrielle shiver.
“No. That would be back in Baguio,” said Billy.
“You telling me we’ve been in Mindanao the entire time!?” asked Grub.
“Can’t you fly!? Run fast!?” asked Billy.
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“Dude.” Grub hid behind the snow and covered her mouth with the scarf. “I never actually listened to any of Dad’s lessons.”
Billy facepalms. “Great…”
The Mammoths move in a herd similar to an Elephant’s structure, with adults surrounding the children.
But the elderly Mammoth stayed behind, which Happy tried to snipe.
“What in the world are you doing!?” Billy screamed, pushing his sniper away.
“Getting you food.”
“Beatle taught me to appreciate all life,” said Billy. “This wouldn’t be the right way of killing her.“
Grub’s eyes quivered. “Dad taught you that?”
“Yes!” yelled Billy.
Grub sighs. “Mmm.”
“So, how do you suggest we kill her?” asked Happy.
Suddenly, as the blizzard reached its peak… the Mammoth saw nothing but white towards the horizon, only for Grub, now in her fullest size of 15 feet, to crash down and strangle her with a tree.
Billy, appearing in front of the Mammoth, shoots it in the face with the sniper, as it lets out a loud bellow and falls to the ground, wheezing.
Billy grabs the trunk, letting it feel around her hand. “Let go…” she whispered. “Let go…” The Mammoth loosens its muscles and agrees. She grabs a dagger and quickly stabs her in the brain, killing her, as the creature would fall into eternal sleep.
That evening, they used the hide as a makeshift cloth to keep the children and two sisters warm. Happy used the fat of the Mammoth to oil his endoskeleton. They made thefast from the fire Grub manifested from her magic.
Grub, now in her normal size, bites into the flesh of the Mammoth, having a hard time chewing. “Geez… Fatty…” she gagged.
Happy sighed and fixed the charcoal in the fire with his bare hands. “Do not complain about life nor death. I would kill to feel that again.”
Grub looks up, almost astonished and annoyed by what he said.
“You complain about your father’s actions during his life, yet you complain that he has died. Your bleeding ego is quite grim, knowing everything your father has done for this world. It is selfish, every word you speak about him.”
Her lips quivered, and she whimpered. “YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME!!!”
Happy closed his eyes.
“Thought you didn’t need to sleep,” she mocked.
“I just wish not to eye you right now. To think, Beatle’s own grub turned into such a bitch…”
“Psh…” she rolled her eyes away.
“Easy on her,” said Billy. “Grub grew up on the Moon Ark.”
“Duh! I ate practically everything that isn’t fodder in this damned world! Then one day, Mom just asked me to leave where I was! I had mani-pedis! Good food like sashimi that actually didn’t stench of radiation! I had A LIFE there, and I watched Ate Billy get KILLED by Mars first few months I got here! But then Beatle cured YOU. I HATE THIS PLACE!”
Billy smacks Grub in the face.
Grub grabs her cheek and tears up.
“Don’t forget it, but this was Dad’s home.”
“Oh, here we go… You and your ‘Sacred Connection’ with him! You’re not even my real SISTER!!!”
Billy punched Grub, and she stumbled to the ground. Billy’s eyes glow red for a short second, and Grub catches this, but sighs, thinking it must have been her mind playing tricks. “You’re not the only one who HATES losing up! SHUT UP, BRAT!!!”
Grub tears up and begins to cry. “My Dad died… Why?”
Billy bowed her head.
Grub sobs. “I just go him 10 years ago! Why! Why’d he have to choose the world? Why can’t he be selfish!? WHY!?!?”
The Moon Ark was the Starcross Crusader's last bit of sanctuary after the war ended, where Beatle was left on Earth for eight grueling years. The place became a luxury with many Droids, servants, and staff members that kept Grub sane. This world, however, is a brutal one, and Grub hated it. She hated her father for it, but now he’s gone, she went mad. She grieved.
“Why do I hate this? I thought I hated him… Why do I hate losing him so much?” she asked.