Moonquest: A Journey To The Stars

Chapter 48 - Fuel For Thought...

After more than two months of travelling, Simona and Duncan have returned, successfully managing to bring back Titus with them. As they got closer to 'Simon's Snippets', they heard some whooshing sounds, after which a blurry object was seen hurtling towards them.

""DUCK!""

Just before it hit Duncan's manly face, a green arm is seen grabbing the blurry object, crushing it into pulp. Just before the arn was retracted, Simon could not help but notice a slight golden glow emanating from his fists, bulging slightly from the top of his arms.

Before he could say anything, he was distracted by the arrival of a pair of footsteps.

The bush split apart, revealing a very blackened Goblina, along with Lewis sporting burnt-at-the-tips 'Einstein Hair.' Is anyone hurt? Sorry for the disturbance- Oh, it's you guys! When did you come back?!" Initially remorseful, Lewis began to bow in apology, before realising that it was his two missing companions, along with a very tall green figure.

Seeing the tall figure, Lewis became very guarded, his eyes evasive. "Umm, what race is he supposed to be?"

Goblina on the other hand, was visibly stunned. "Holy Illumia, is he and ORC!? Omigoshomigoshomigosh... Eeehhh! I can't belive they still exist!"

Eye raised, Lewis looked at Goblina, directing a questioning gaze at her. "What d'you mean 'still exist'? Aren't Orc's supposed to be very common here?" Looking at Lewis as if he was a retard, Goblina revealed something that shocked Lewis to the core.

"Duh, don't you know? All the Orcs were exterminated around 500 years ago..."

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As Lewis stood there stupefied, the recently arrived trio headed into the shop, although Titus had to stay outside, due to him being nearly 3 m in length. "Sorry for my height. I'll build something here for now to live in..."

Simon, embarrassed, quickly shook his head. "No, no, no. No need to worry, I'll get someone to come and draw some plans to build a taller house for you to live in. Just make sure you keep yourself hidden, otherwise..." Turning his head to the left, Titus immediately knew what he meant.

"Yeah, got it. I'm not even supposed to exist..."

Downcast, Titus slumped down, his bare chest caving in. Goblina panicked, her arms flailing, as she tried to apologise to him. "Sorry, so, so sorry. I didn't mean it that way. It's just–"

"Hey, what this?"

Poking the pulp with a stick, Simon asked the very panicking Goblina what it was. It weirdly resembled the rocket that Lewis was seen drawing...

"Oh that? That's something that Lewis had built, using it as a working model or something. He said he wanted to 'experiment', using my 'fuel' concoctions to test something. Something about 'fuel efficiency' and 'energy coefficient'. Hey, is it true that you're aiming for the Moon?"

One minute anxious, the next starry-eyed, Simon was taken aback. "Yeah... I'm aiming to go to the Moon. How did you know?"

Eyes darting, hands clenched, Goblina whistled absentmindedly. "Nowhere. Just...just heard it from a birdy..."

Eyes squinting, Simon knew immediately who sold him out. "Damn it Lewis, you rat! Now she'll think I'm such a dumdum..."

Just then, Lewis came by, accepting the loss of fantasy's most clichéd species. "Oi, stop poking the rocket! I still need to correlate the data with the previous five experiments. Goblina, what's the tally now?"

Standing straighter than a pole, she began reporting:

"Rocket 1 – Got dissolved into a puddle of sludge. Resulting toxic fumes caused nearby wildlife to fleet in terror, along with a couple of birds to fall from the skies (was very delicious though)

Rocket 2 – Sang Holy Hymns. Was very beautiful (it was not blasphemy, just an experiment gone wrong, that's all...)

Rocket 3 – Exploded immediately. The Aviatrix delivery man had one of his wings burnt off. Very expensive (damn asshole should've left his wing, schlurp...

Rocket 4 – Lift-off was made, but only for a brief moment. After landing, the resulting Manatised Deisl leaked into the ground, causing a very angry Treant to rise up (man, how're we supposed to know it was sleeping there!?)

Now for Rocket 5..."

Listening to the report, Duncan, Simon and Titus slowly backed off...