The mecha dragon roared but could not break loose of the magenetic hold the unknown figure had caught it in. We were slowly being dragged closer and closer to its location below.

"Dragon," I said commandingly, "burn it!"

The dragon didn't respond, though; it instead continued to fight against the pull on its own.

Boom-Boom quickly buried herself at my feet. "Protect me, Provider!" she begged in a very sad voice.

"HEY!" Cleetus boldly cried out as he peered down at the figure, "LET GO! WE HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO DO!"

The figure's many eyes grew wide, as if in surprise. It did not release its pull on the dragon, but it did not continue to pull it any closer.

"YOU...YOU SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF URANUS?" it called back up to us, in a voice that was remarkably similar to Macy Gray's.

We looked at each other. It was just like the spirit of Durdumples had suggested; the Martian language resembled French, the Uranusian language resembled English.

"...WE DO, YEAH," replied Cleetus, "ARE YOU FROM URANUS?"

I snickered a little. Uranus. Cleetus elbowed me.

"YES, I AM!" the individual seemed almost relieved, "I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE YOU ARE FROM OR WHY YOU ARE ON ONE OF THOSE HORRID THINGS BUT I CAN ONLY HOPE YOU ARE MY RESCUE TEAM!"

" 'RESCUE TEAM' ?"

The Uranusian seemed to waver. " SO...SO YOU ARE NOT HERE TO SAVE ME?"

"WE WERE KIND OF TRYING TO SAVE OURSELVES FIRST," replied Cleetus, "TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE. GOTTA MELT THE POLAR ICE CAPS AND TRY AND FIGHT SOME DRAGONS- LIKE THIS ONE, EXCEPT THE ONES OUT TO DESTROY HUMANITY."

"YES, IT IS THOSE DRAGONS THAT STRANDED ME HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE- WHAT IS THIS 'HUMANITY' YOU SPEAK OF? IS THAT YOUR HOME PLANET? HUMANITY?"

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"WE'RE EARTHLINGS," I called down, trying to clear up confusion. However, it only seemed to make matters worse.

" 'EARTHLINGS'? BUT EARTH IS UNINHABITABLE!"

"WELL, EARTH HAD LIFE ON IT FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS," I yelled, "WHAT'S LEFT OF EARTH LIFE IS NOW HERE ON MARS."

"GOOD GLTHFGUTHS," the Uranusian exclaimed, presumably calling on its race's form of a deity, "HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN STRANDED HERE IF EARTH'S HAD SO MUCH TIME FOR LIFE TO GROW?"

"LOOK, WE REALLY NEED TO GET GOING," Cleetus stoically cut in, "WE ARE IN A TIME CRUNCH AND MAY ALREADY BE TOO LATE! WE REALLY GOT TO FIND A MORE SNOWY PART OF MARS AND START MELTING FOR WATER, WE CAN COME BACK AND RESCUE YOU AFTER!"

The Uranusian did not seem to like that. "NO! WE'VE BEEN WAITING HERE SO LONG! YOU MUSTN'T LEAVE NOW!"

"SERIOUSLY," insisted Cleetus, "WE HAD TO GET TO THE POLAR ICE CAPS IN TEN MINUTES WHEN WE FIRST TOOK FLIGHT AND WE'RE DEFINITELY WELL PAST THAT. OUR SPECIES IS DOOMED IF WE DON'T CONTINUE THIS MISSION RIGHT NOW-"

The figure didn't seem to care. It wiggled its tentacles and the magnetic pull started again.

"Humanity is doomed," groaned Cleetus, then shot me a look. "Not that you care."

"I do care," I replied, "but I don't know how to get the dragon free of this hold."

Boom-Boom, up against me, was shaking. "Please protect me!" she repeated, even more pitiful than before.

"We're trying, Boom-Boom," I said, though hardly comforting.

"HEY!" Cleetus called out again, sounding firm, " STOP! WE NEED TO GO!"

The Uranusian didn't respond.

"Do we have anything we can throw at him?" asked Cleetus, frantically looking around.

All the metal on the dragon seemed secure. And apart from my exoneration letter, I had little of substantial value on me. I shook my head.

Then Cleetus's eyes landed on the cat.

"Cleetus..." I began softly.

Boom-Boom, oblivious, stayed close. "Keep me safe-"

"Come here, Boom-Boom," instructed Cleetus. Boom-Boom looked to me.

"Cleetus, no," I stated, "you better not be thinking to throw-"

"-Boom-Boom, come here," Cleetus repeated.

"What are you going to throw?" the cat asked, still unaware. She slowly began to slink towards Cleetus as commanded. I grabbed her back legs.

"Cleetus-"

"It's for humanity's survival," he said, "there's got to be sacrifices."

"How is this a worthy sacrifice?!" I countered, "just throwing her isn't necessarily going to do anything! This is a stupid plan!"

"Throwing who?" Boom-Boom was clueless.

"It's the only way, Cole," Cleetus insisted and suddenly, with a strong yank, had removed my grasp on the cat. Before I could react he had thrown Boom-Boom over the edge of the dragon, straight towards the Uranusian.

"Boom-Boom!" I cried out, truly concerned as I watched my loyal feline fall through the air.

"PROVIDER!" she cried sadly as she fell, "I ASKED YOU TO PROTECT ME-"

Then she collided with the figure.