Land of the Wanted: Out of this World (split POV novel snippet)

“Hey, speaking of my name, where is that adorable little child, who happens to share my nickname?” Tobias said. Austin and Abby both looked at each other.

“I thought he was with you!” They said at the same time. Mom looked at Alex.

“You had him last, Alex!” Maddy said.

“I set him down next to his parents!” Alex said. Just then, I heard a scream from behind me. I spun around, and saw a man with purple hair carrying the screaming Toby in his arms.

“THERE!” I screamed. “THAT GUY HAS TOBY!” Every turned in my direction, and gasped. Tobias’ smile twisted into an angry frown.  

“DINGO! GET BACK HERE!” Tobias screamed as he ran over to the guy.

“MOMMY! DADDY!” Toby screamed, thrashing in his grip. Dingo was running to a big empty space. He took a remote, pressed a button, and a rickety looking silver spaceship appeared out of nowhere. I ran with Tobias over there, while everyone else followed close behind. Tobias was surprisingly fast, even though he had a metal limb. DIngo wasn’t as fast, so we caught up to him super quick. 

“NO CHANCE, BIG BROTHER!” Dingo yelled. “KIKI! LET ME UP!” TObias jumped on top of Dingo, making him and Toby fall to the ground. Toby started crying. I quickly jumped over, and grabbed him. When I landed, a throbbing pain shot up my left foot. 

“YIPE!” I screamed, keeping tight hold of Toby. I had rolled my ankle on my landing.

 “KIKI! HURRY UP!” DIngo screamed. Just then, a huge green beam shot out from underneath the ship. I no longer felt the gravity pulling me down anymore. I was lifted off of my feet as if I was in space. I threw Toby in front of me, so he couldn’t get sucked into the beam. Tobias rolled out of the way, and grabbed Toby.

“GET HIM AWAY FROM HERE!” I screamed. 

“MICHAEL!” Mom cried.

“I’LL BE OKAY, MOM!” I screamed, tears streaming down my face. Just then, Dingo grabbed my jacket, and clamped his hand over my mouth.

“You might want to rethink that,” Dingo sneered. When we got into the ship, the trap door closed below us, and we regained gravity.

“Let me out of here!” I snarled, wiping tears from my face. “What do you want with me?!”

“For one thing, your stupid dad killed my friends mother.” DIngo said. “And you and your stupid girlfriend killed Acrius.”

“First of all,” I snapped. “Sadie is NOT my girlfriend, and she is NOT stupid. And second of all, Acrius almost DROWNED Sadie, so he deserved the same treatment!”

“But you want her to be your girlfriend, still?” DIngo said like he didn't listen.

“Shut up, Dingus!” I yelled.

“My name is DINGO for your information.” 

“WHy did you take Toby first then?!”

“I just needed one of you to follow! Also, ‘Toby’s’ father betrayed Acrius, Amber, and Cynthia!”

“This doesn’t solve ANYTHING!” I yelled. “Just let it go!”

“Let it go?! Are you crazy?! I can’t let you get out when you KILLED my friends! That’s just SICK!” He yelled.

“What about Tobias?!”

“That’s why I’m still here on this stupid planet!” he yelled. 

“Then why am I here?!” I yelled back. 

“STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!” He screamed. I flinched. “I am here for Tobias, okay?! Is it a shame to miss my big brother? I am going to get him back, no matter what the cost. It gets a bit lonely up in space and if I could just convince him that he does want to be apart of my plans, then everything will be just peachy!” 

“Lonely?” I heard a voice ask, “What about me?!”

“You don't count Kiki,” Dingo said, “I want my brother back and I am going to get him back… using you,” He pointed a robotic finger at me. I flinched. It reminded me of Dad’s accept it was attached to the hand of an alien. “Tobias cant resist helping a poor young human, especially when he is the offspring of the girl he used to like…”

(Tobias)

“NO! MICHAEL! MICHAEL!” Maddy screamed at the sky. Dingo’s, well, my spaceship (Dingo’s was a hand me down from me) was long gone, and he took Maddy’s kid with him. He was gonna get it now. Maddy dropped to her knees, and sobbed into her hands. I knelt down beside her.

“Don’t worry, Maddy.” I said in a quiet voice. “We’ll get him back.” Maddy stared at me with her swollen, but beautiful blue and hazel eyes.

“How do you know?! He could be ANYWHERE in space!” She sobbed. Seth sat down next to her and held her close to him. SHe continued to sob into his chest. “WHY ARE WE ALWAYS THE STUPID TARGETS FOR EVERY VILLAIN’S STUPID PLANS?!” She started to cry even harder. I put my hand on her shoulder.

“It’s gonna be fine, Maddy. He’s my brother. I’ve lived with him for thirty nine...earth years, at least.” I said. “He couldn’t have gotten that far.” Maddy sat up, and rubbed her eyes.

“How are we gonna find them?” She said. “He could be anywhere! Space goes on forever!” I smiled.

“You know who that Dingus got his ship from, don’t you?” I said, crossing my arms. 

“W-who?” Maddy said.

“Me!” I said. “I know everything about that ship! And do you know WHY i gave it to him?” I said.

“WHy?” Seth asked.

“Because my mom implanted a tracking device in there, to keep track of where I was all of the time! From the last time I checked, it’s still in there!” 

“What are we gonna do? How are we gonna track him?” Seth said.

“We go to my Mom, get the other half of the tracking device, and track down Dingo! I SWEAR she still has it!” I said.

“How did you get here anyway? And how will we get THERE?” Maddy asked.

“COme with me.” I said. I ran to another part of a nearby field, took out my small, portable remote, and pressed a button. My brand new, bright silver ship appeared from under the cloaking mechanism to keep it invisible to the human eye.

“Get in!” I said. Everyone was staring in awe at my new ship. “What? You’ve never seen a space--oh right. You’re humans.” I scoffed. I pressed a button, and brought down a ramp/ “COme in, guys! There’s only two seats, so you’re gonna have to make room.”

“Uh, Tobias? If I get dents in your ceiling, you will know why.” Austin said.

“Don’t worry. You won’t. I’m taller than you and I can. Besides, the cock pit is nine to ten feet tall. You’re gonna be fine.” I said. We then walked up the ramp, and into the ship. I loved my ship. My old ship was old, scratchy, and rickety. It was WAY slower than this new one that I’ve been saving up for YEARS. Inside, the walls were covered with different buttons, levers, and other doohickeys to help control the ship. Everything was so shiny and new. My pilot chair was a THOUSAND times better than my previous one. It was a shiny black on the outside, and a velvety red on the inside. I wouldn’t trade it for ANYTHING. “Alright, everyone!” I said. “FInd a seat STAY seated, and DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING!” I eyed Alex who was about to press a button to bring us into light speed. That would have been bad. If he had pressed that, we would have zoomed along the GROUND at light speed, crushing every house and person in our path like a bug under a shoe. It wouldn’t have been pretty, and I’d probably be sentenced to DEATH for that. When everyone was sitting down on the floor, I sat down at my beautiful pilot chair, cracked my knuckles, removed my gloves, and pressed a few buttons to start the engine. The engine roared from behind, and quieted into a soft whirr. I let it sit for a minute or so. After that, I pressed a few ignition buttons, and grasped the lever to lift the ship from the ground. “HOLD ON, YOU GUYS! GET READY FOR TAKE OFF!” I then slowly pulled the lever backward, and we became lifted from the ground. Seth started looking a little green in the face.

“I think I’m gonna be sick.” He said.

“DON’T PUKE ON MY BEAUTIFUL CARPET!” I yelled.

“I’ll try. But no promises.” He groaned. Many ships don’t have carpet as flooring, and mine does, so it was LUXURY. When we were high enough in the air, I squeezed the lever on the side of the handle, and pressed the button on top of the lever. Before I knew it, we were zooming up into the sky. The view was OUT OF THIS WORLD! Literally!

...

“This is taking FOREVER!” Seth groaned.

“Seth, stop complaining!” I said. “My parents live far away from earth, so it’s gonna take a while.” I added. “Also, nobody puke on the carpet. If you’re gonna puke, puke in the trash, or try not to puke. I just got these carpets cleaned!” I eyed Alex, who was green in the face. “Specifically you, Alex!” I said. “Also, peppermints help ease the stomach. There’s a few in the bowl over on the first shelf over there!” Alex shook his head.

“No. Absolutely no peppermints.” He said.

“Suit yourself.” I shrugged. As I clenched both of my fists on the wheel, I heard a crinkling noise. 

“Huh?” I turned around and saw Seth opening up a CHOCOLATE bar.

“Yum! I forgot I brought this!” He said. I started to panic. I was EXTREMELY allergic to chocolate. Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, well, not really white chocolate because white chocolate isn’t even a real chocolate. I lifted my shirt up to my nose, slammed my fist on the autopilot button, and ran out of the room. 

When I got into the bathroom, I could finally breath a sigh of relief.

“That was a close one.” I said to myself. I heard a knock on the door.

“Tobias? What happened?” It was Maddy. “Are you okay?” 

“Tell that husband of yours to throw away that DEMON DIRT TURD THAT HE’S EATING!” I yelled. I heard Maddy snicker.

“Demon dirt turd? You mean his chocolate bar?” She said.

“Yes! What else would he be eating?” I said.

“Why? Do you really hate ch-”

“OF COURSE I DO!” I screamed. “I’M EXTREMELY ALLERGIC! IF HE DOESN’T THROW THAT OUT I WILL LOAD HIM INTO THE PHASE JETS AND SHOOT HIM OUT TOO!” Maddy was silent.

“O...kay then. SETH! THROW OUT THE CHOCOLATE BAR!” She yelled.

“W-What?! Why?!” I heard him say. 

“BECAUSE TOBIAS IS GONNA ASPHYXIATE IF HE TAKES ONE WHIFF OF THAT!”

“How the heck do you know what ASPHYXIATE means?!”

“I’M MARRIED TO A DOCTOR!” She yelled.

“FINE! FINE! I’LL THROW IT OUT!” He yelled. “WHERE DO I DO IT?!”

“THERES A SMALL BLACK LID NEAR THE STEERING WHEEL!” I yelled. “THROW IT IN THERE, AND PRESS THE BLINKING BLUE BUTTON!”

“Okay!” Seth yelled. I heard him lift the lid, throw the chocolate in there, then the sound of him pressing the button. The robotic voice then spoke

PHASE JET ACTIVATED. A loud FLOOMP sounded outside of the ship. I looked under the bathroom curtain, and saw the chocolate float away into the midst of empty space.

“Whew. There goes that problem.” I said. After a few minutes, I opened the door, and walked out. Everyone was staring at me. My face turned twice as red as it already was. Almost the color of my HAIR. “Sorry, guys! I’m allergic to chocolate. I mean, REALLY. If I take one whiff of it, my throat closes up, I get hives, and I suffer for about a week, even if I get treatment.”

“Yikes. I am SO sorry about that!” Seth said.

“Just, sanitize your hands with that hand sanitizer over there.” I said. “Or...fire.” I pointed to the lighter I had sitting on the dashboard.

“COOL! FIRE! I’M IN!” Seth said. He started to grab the lighter.

“NONONO NOT LITERALLY!” I said, snatching the lighter away from him. Seth snickered.

“I wasn’t really gonna do it. You know that, right?” He said. There was an awkward silence. Seth chuckled nervously, got some hand sanitizer, and sat back down on the floor. “All right. Nevermind.”

I made my way back into the cockpit, making sure that Seth wiped off the button that he touched with his chocolate-infected fingers. I took the steering wheel in my hands. The soft fibers have grown used to my rough hands always pulling, yanking, and swerving in the cold abyss that is space. I sighed. I was going… home. 

Note to self:

Be prepared for a slap in the face, and/or a grounding. 

Everyone was asleep, I think, so I dimmed the lights in the cockpit. I watched as the small lights darted across my holo-screen as I navigated back to my home planet, Glantario. Well,Earth was my home planet, but after that whole incident at the fam, I decided it was best to forget that. 

I glanced behind me. Yep, they were asleep. Accept Sadie. She was sitting in the seat diagonal from mine. She was looking up at me with Mark’s blue eyes. She had a sleeping Toby in her arms. I sighed and went back to my controls. 

“Is Michael going to be ok?” I heard her soft voice. 

“I don't know…” I said, “But if… no, when I see my brother again, I’m gonna pop him in the nose real good, see how he likes it…” I said. Sadie let out a soft laugh and I smiled. “You like that kid, don't you?” I said. 

“Yeah…” was the reply.

“How old are you?” 

“Sixteen…” 

“Hm…” I mummbled. “I’m fourty somethin’ here on earth, and… uh, two hundred somethin’ up here in space. I’ve been so many places, I’m starting to forget,” I chuckled. She did as well. 

“My Dad told me a lot about his adventures…” she said. “He told me about what you did…”

“And by that you mean he told you that I kidnapped him and his friends and seariously injored them?” I asked. 

“He did tell me about that…” She said. My heart sank. Just what I thought. “But, he also told me about the time you helped Maddy when Dingo kidnapped her…”

“He did?” I said, “I thought everyone forgot about that…” 

“I bet Maddy didn't…” 

“Maybe so…” 

“Is that the apple man?” asked a small voice a few minutes later. I glanced back at Sadie. Toby was awake. 

“Apple man?” she asked. Toby giggled. 

“Yeah! He has a face! Red like an apple! But pointy!” he smiled. I know he just made fun of my face, but how could I get mad at such an adorable little kid, whose name is one of my nicknames, might I add. 

“Yup,” I said, “That’s me… the apple man.” I yawned. 

“Are you sleepy?” Toby asked. 

“A little…” I said. “Then why don't you sleep?” Toby asked. 

“Because…” I said. 

“Because why?” 

“Just because…” 

“Did you eat a lot of candy? Is that why you can’t sleep?” He asked. TOby hopped out of Sadie’s arms and sat in the co-pilot's seat. “Daddy says that if I eat too much candy, then I can’t sleep…” He said. “Because I ate half a bag of candy corn once, and I didn’t go to sleep until four in the morning!” I almost burst out laughing.

“No… I didn't eat too much candy…” I yawned once more. 

“Then why are you not sleeping?”

“Cause I’m on a mission…” I said. 

“Like a spy?” This kid asks a lot of questions doesn’t he? 

“Yes…” I told him, “I’m a spy. A spy who needs to stay up so he ca-”

“You're not a spy.” Toby shook his head. 

“Why not?” I asked.  

“You're too noisey to be a spy.” 

“What do you mean by that?”

“You walk like this.” Toby hopped off of the chair he was on and started to drag his foot across the floor, “Clank! Screeech!” he said. “Like that!”

“Ok, ok, you got me,” I said, “Now hush, everyone’s trying to sleep.” Toby nodded and hoppedback into the seat. I rubbed my tired eyes. 

“I think you should sleep…” 

“I need to get this hunk of metal to my parents house,” I said, “We need them to help get your couzin’s guy friend back.”

“Guy friend?” Toby asked. 

“Yeah, a friend, who’s a guy. Can you go back to Sadie now? I need to concentrate on where we are going…” 

“But I want to sit here!” Toby pouted. 

“Ok, ok, just don't yell. Got that?” Toby nodded.  

“So… you're going home?” Toby asked after another short silence. 

“Yeah… going home…” I said. Those words hadn’t escaped my mouth since… well… since long time I can tell you that. 

“What are your mommy and daddy like?” I froze. I hadn’t so much as imagined what my parents looked like now. 

“Last time I saw them, my mom was skinny, with a round face and dark hair. She is from Earth, like you. From Japan. She was always kind and loving, she taught me how to do all sorts of stuff. Like make the most delicious ramen you have ever tasted!”

“What’s raman?” 

“You’ve never had ramen? They’re a type of delicious noodle soup dish they eat in Japan. I should make it for you sometime.”

“That sounds yummy. Now, what’s your daddy like?”

“My dad… he looks a lot like me, he has a more ashy shade of red skin than mine, his ears are pointed like my brothers, and his hair was always either messy, or under a hair net or chef’s hat. He took a job as a cook for a rich family some time ago, I heard.”

“Does he have green eyes?”

“Yes, green eyes. Forest green to be exact,” I said, “He also has freckles.”

“Like me!” Toby smiled, pointing to his cheeks. 

“Yeah, but his are dark red and all over.” I said. Toby lowered his voice.

“Even on his back?” He asked. I snickered. 

“Yeah, I think so…” Tobias said. “I’ve never really seen him without a shirt on, so…”

“If he does, he’s also like me!” Toby said. “I have freckles EVERYWHERE!” I smiled. Toby was IMPOSSIBLE not to smile at. Possibly one of the cutest kids I’ve seen in a while. I would really enjoy talking to him if I wasn’t so tired right now. I didn’t want to risk putting the ship on auto-pilot again, cause who knows what could go wrong. 

I decided just to wait until we got to Glantario to sleep. I didn’t wanna fall asleep at the wheel, but I also didn’t want to hurt everyone else on the ship by problems with the auto pilot. It wasn’t too far from here.

AFter another hour or two, the planet came to my view. I was filled with excitement, and fear at the same time. I would be able to see my family again, which I haven’t done for many earth decades, and I would be able to do something good for once to impress my parents. Nothing bad, like I learned in the past from Dingo.