Hercules sprinted out to wrestle with the human bird floating across, but Tom vanished from the battle field, which shocked the people in the arena.

“Where did that fool go???” the resentful king asked the nearest face.

Hercules roared his displeasure, asking for another fight inside the cage, staring at his preferred men with his paws against the bars.

Tom had a vision of his future flashing before his eyes. Gabriel picked fresh roses from the garden early in the morning. A six-year-old Taylor came out of their hut, running towards his mother. “Today dad is going to teach me how to fly!” Laughing along with Gabriel, Tom came out from his door adjusting his ropes as he stared at them enamoured.

“I hope both of you don’t get lost!” Gabriel looked at them dotingly.

Tom walked over to kiss Gabriel. “We won’t be long,” he said.

Holding her shoulders, Tom watched their son hop from one end flapping his new-born wings across the long grass and Tom met Gabriel’s eyes.

Tom had his rope around his waist, attached not far apart from his son. Taylor was howling with joy, keeping a steady flight in the sky. Shortly, Tom cut his rope and the boy lost his balance. “Dad I’m going down!” The boy battled to stay in flight, flapping his undeveloped feathers; and soon he took a face dive into the snow. The kid shook himself and gazed at the far surface from the tallest mountain cliff.

Taylor launched himself up from the ground but like a chicken that can’t quite reach flight. His father was nowhere to be seen and was probably resting his wings in the upper terrestrial. Tom glanced at his chick far in the mountains and hid a proud smile. The kid got hold of a stick trying to defend himself from the wolves, then took another leap down to land somewhere safe.

Observing the young one falling between the cracks, Tom heard an explosion near his home then saw the smoke rising from the location. Although concerned with his son’s safety, he forfeited the thought of Taylor and flew to check up on Taylor’s mother.

Touching down on the short grass by foot, there were three parked spaceships around his hut. Gabriel, in great agony, ran to him with a hole in her chest. Tom stood dazed by the event. Gabriel ceased pacing and leaned on his arm upon her arrival. She gasped, “Don’t let them take our son!” as she closed her eyes from her last words. Tom rested her head on his lap with bloody hands.

Beast, the devil himself, and his evil spirits from hell came out from his hut laughing at him. Tom’s face was masked by his long hair falling across his face. Howling in emotional torture, he drew out his long sword, making his way towards the villain. Beast stepped down from the wooden stairs, inserting bullets in his silver gun. Tom seized his sword from the end and chopped off the red faced goat’s head. Beast stopped walking across the field, pointing his gun at his target, and seconds later he shot Tom’s head from afar.

Tom roused from his nightmares drowning in his sweat. Moments later he realised he was captured and wrapped around with belts. Tom looked around and saw alien faces staring back at him from the dark. Orkold, the ugliest alien in the room, looked on with his science group confounded, and related to his employees that Tom could not understand what those mute aliens agreed on. Orkold took a syringe nearby then stretched its sharp end, looking on with an edged head.

Tom was horrified. “Wait!!! What are you planning on doing to me? Where the hell am I?” he shouted, examining every other face in the room.

Orkold grabbed the dripping supply that was wired to Tom’s immune system.

“No! Don’t do it man! Do you know who the hell I am?” shrieked Tom.

After injecting him with the chemical, Tom lost consciousness near the speechless physicians looking at him with their huge alien eyes from behind spooky spectacles.

*****

Aaro was snoring in his top office when Gibeon walked towards the Presidential building leading his team. He kicked the doors open to scare off government officials. Monkey threw down tables, Snake slithered up to the security guards, Jackal wrapped up electrical wires, the Mouse threw monitors against the window and the Grizzly Bear pounced on everyone on his path.

Aaro roused himself up from his sweet dreams and ran to look down from the top window at the chaos. He looked down on his workers rushing out from his building. Gibeon finally kicked his door flat, ill-tempered. “Why would John Ferguson want to terrorise my employees at this hour?” He asked catching his breath.

Gibeon walked towards Aaro and held him up by his two antennae. “Listen here! I know you have been communicating with those human bugs who took away Gabriel!” he roared, maintaining his eye level. “Now where is she? Where are the humans?”

Aaro groaned. “I know where she is, but there’s no need to go breaking peoples’ property when there’s no harm intended. Now, you can put me down so we can discuss this like professionals instead of interrogating my staff like animals!”

Soon after their long conversation with Aaro, Gibeon and his team managed to locate the castles of Porto in the heavens. Ken and Queen Gabriel rode inside a carriage drawn by a rhino dinosaur, waving back at the happy human birds; fire crackers chartered a tracing depiction across the sky. Some pulled great feats in the celebration dance until the wedding day ended. The two finally drove home and guards helped Gabriel alight from the carriage.

Inside his castle, Ken gave his royal fur to his servant. “I have never been so close to God’s mystery, but was that performance part of those street magic tricks, or did he vanish from the face of the earth?” he asked.

“I blame her father. He could have explained what happened back there!” Blade said, turning towards the ladies while closing the door.

“If he had anything to do with it, I doubt he would have left my love Gabriel to rescue that fool!”

Gabriel blocked the conversation. “Okay, I’ve heard enough! No one knows what happened in that field, the fighter is the one who could explain himself, but since he’s no more, just shut it!” and headed up towards her room, clearly upset.

With the great ape out of action, Gibeon is now the operation chief. On the surface of Porto, Gibeon’s team brought shipping containers. Helicopters flew in as trucks were escorted from the camp site.

Lindsey grumbled: “The movement is making a lot of noise!” but Gibeon said, “The man will be too busy to notice any of us down here!”

Tom rose up, untied from his experimental room, and Orkold and his team kept the record documents at hand. Lorden, joined by his brothers, walked towards Orkold staring at Tom from a side glass in-between them and the patient inside ward 22.

Lorden turned towards Orkold. “How is he coping?”

“He’s in great shape and can come out at any time,” he said.

Dandy laughed alone inside the walls of Holens. “I can’t wait to kick his ass!”

“Although we have pending tests that need our full attention, tomorrow you may come pick him up!” Orkold replied.

Later a guard served Tom in his room with a tray of fruit. “Hey! Why won’t anyone speak to me?” asked Tom. The guard went back out without a word.

Orkold could not take his eyes off Tom when he was eating. He was fascinated by this alien.

After a long nap, Tom woke up in front of the big head alien.

Orkold stood nearby with a smile. “Greetings, Tom!”

“You can speak English?” Tom was amazed and Orkold agreed.

“Yes we can speak, and our planet needs your help!” he said, holding his own hands in supplication. “There’s a great scientist genius who goes by the name Godevo, who is planning on taking over Dormend. On earth, you may know him by the name of John Ferguson. We, as Dardens, are concerned that only a living soul could kill the other and we believe you’re his worthy opponent!”

Tom was confused. “Hold on! I don’t get you. Are you trying to say you’re some kind of aliens, sending me on a mission?”

“I don’t expect you to agree to this journey. I am asking you to help save our universe. The evil man on your planet possesses a threat to all living creatures!” he said.

Tom soon came out from his ward and took a walk with Orkold; he was presented with the same black robes that everyone had worn on Dormend. Black shoes, black pants, black top that is well fitted on his chest, and they walked throughout Holens with all eyes on the alien.

Tom asked, “So how old is this planet?” staring at the exquisiteness of the roof top microscope.

“It’s about ten billion years in existence, but we discovered it two hundred million years ago. We have been living through many galaxies, and life has never been so appealing.”

When they got next to the door, the bright sunlight gave his eyes a flash reflex, birds sang, students enjoyed their conversation beneath shady trees. Tom could hear traffic not far away. He came out looking at the bright sunshine as an air plane blocked the sky and it felt like he was back home years before evolution.

***