Previously on Protector’s of Worlds:

With the deadline approaching, our heroes, after much discussion, decided it would be best to surrender! When morning came, Envi came before them with a massive spaceship right behind him, causing a wave of fear amongst his people.

He took Calem, Roin, Julie, Marcel, Floso, and Velu with him into the ship, where they met Envi’s new ally, Doctor Uell Moroo, who said the future of the tribe is in safe hands.

What does he mean by this? Find out in this new chapter………..

X

The last few days have been nothing but frightening for the Iguackos. Their leaders are now prisoners, members of the tribe are taken inside the ship, never to be seen again, a criminal has forcibly become their new chieftain, and worst of all, one mistake could cause the ship to blast the entire village to oblivion

In the present, the scared Iguackos were going about their daily routine, taking care of their young, eating, and forging weapons as many tried their best not to look up and see the gigantic ship hovering above them, watching them very carefully. Some thought about what could be happening inside the ship, what are the fates of their heroes……

X

Inside a dark room with a single light, Envi was having a blast, torturing Roin, delivering deadly blows to the face and body, and slashing the chest with his claws, leaving deep marks as the blood splattered against the walls. After having his fill, Envi stopped to catch his breath while Roin groaned in pain, spitting out some blood in the process.

“Not so tough now, are ya?” Envi said to Roin who didn’t respond. “Are ya?!”

Envi shouted as he yanked Roin by his crest, causing him to grunt but didn’t get a word out of him. Agitated, Envi continues the beatdown on Roin, causing more blood to drip to the floor.

X

Several hours later, In the prison corridor of the spaceship, our heroes are imprisoned but not together. Velu and Floso were kept in one cell while Calem, Marcel, and Julie were locked in another with both cells being in the same place but on different sides. As they tried to make the best of their prison life, like pacing around or lounging about, a door opened and footsteps could be heard, breaking everyone out of their trance. As they got close, it turned out to be Envi who was dragging Roin by the crest as he stopped by Velu’s cell. He powered down the forcefield before throwing Roin to them.

“Roin!!” Floso yelled out as she came to her lover’s aid along with her grandfather. Roin’s face was battered and bruised with his left eye swollen and his body covered in claw marks and big bruises.

Once he turned the forcefield back on, he turned his attention to the humans and approached their cell

“The doctor would like to see you……” Envi said as the three were hesitant about what would happen next.

X

Calem, Marcel, and Julie, now restrained in hi-tech handcuffs, follow Envi who leads them throughout the ship. After Envi opens a door for them, they enter the room where Uell Moroo is residing, and in it are a few computer screens on the wall with a control panel and ……… three operating tables. As he was making the finishing touches, he noticed them.

“Ah, glad you could make it.” Uell politely said as they entered with Envi shoving them right in. “Thank you, Envi. That will be all.” Uell said as Envi merely just smiled as he left, closing the door behind them.

“You know what, I don’t believe we had the chance to introduce one another. I’ll go first.” Uell said before having the robot politely bow before the three. “Doctor Uell Moroo, from the planet Atenema and member of the Ska-ruu race, honored to make your acquaintance. Might I ask who you three might be?”

Once he was done, he waited for an answer from the humans but didn’t get a single thing from them. All they did was glare at him intensely with such anger and rage that Uell could almost feel it.

“Nothing?” Uell asked as they remained silent. “Well, that’s quite impolite. Here I went out of my way to get a meeting with you three, greet you like the kind person I am and this is what I get. Just to let you know, It’s considered rude to not introduce yourself.”

After trying to remain silent as Uell tried to guilt trip them, they eventually conceded but were still frustrated with him.

“I’m…….Julie..”

“Calem……..”

“......Marcel…”

They all said quietly and with fury, but Uell was able to hear them.

“Great! It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” Uell said, delighted that they told their names to him.

“Yeah, yeah, just get on with it, asshole,” Calem directly said, wanting this to be over.

“(GASP)......Foul Language!” Uell shouted as the robot’s hand covered his mouth. “Watch your mouth when talking to me, young man!”

“Now that you think of it, who should we be talking to?” Marcel asked, joining in. “The robot or the green face on its chest.”

“Oh, you talk to me,” Uell said as the robot pointed its thumb directly to the middle of its chest, where Uell’s face is.

“Ah, so you’re the dom in the relationship,” Marcel jokingly said which caused Calem and Julie to laugh quietly at that joke as Uell just smiled.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Ohohohoho, that was funny,” Uell said. “You’re quite the jokester, huh?”

“I try my best,” Marcel sassed back.

“Moving aside from that, I would like to tell you how grateful I am that you all surrendered. It was the best-case scenario and was ended peacefully.” Uell said.

“Peacefully? You call the deaths of three people or threaten to blow them up peacefully?” Calem said as Julie and Marcel nodded in agreement with him.

“Yes, Yes, I understand your frustration, but that was just a demonstration of what we are capable of doing. Those three you mentioned were necessary sacrifices.” Uell explained but Calem didn’t buy it nor did his friends.

“Look, we did what you told us, just give us your word that you don’t hurt anymore,” Julie said

“Well, isn’t that thoughtful,” Uell said, taken by her kindness. “But tell me, why risk your own lives just to save these primitive creatures?”

“They’re our friends……..And I just don’t want them to suffer the same way we have,” Julie responded.

“Oh, I get it,” Uell said, realizing what she meant, “You three must be filled with so much guilt about what you did to your world, you want to help others as a way to atone. That’s what you're looking for, right? Atonement?”

“No, we’re way past that. All we want to do is to do the right thing,” Calem said which got a nod from Marcel and Julie.

“I see……..Very well, you have my word,” Uell said. “No harm shall fall upon the Iguackos,”

“Just answer me this, what do you plan on doing to the Iguackos?” Calem asked.

“Nothing serious, I only simply intend to help the poor saps,” Uell said.

“Really, and how do you plan to do that?” Marcel asked before he started joking again. “Like teach them how to use a phone?”

“Ehhhh, not quite. Let me show you,” Uell said as he snapped his fingers, causing a door to open with two figures walking out. The moment they showed themselves, Calem, Marcel, and Julie's faces were contorted into ones of pure horror by the mere sight of them….

What they saw before them were two Iguackos, a male and a female, but their bodies were heavily distorted, with half of their bodies being replaced with cybernetic implants. The female had one of her eyes replaced with a robotic eye, a mechanical crest, and her lower half is cybernetic while the male just had his head replaced with a robotic one. They were a new breed of creatures……cybernetic lifeforms………with no life or emotion in them.

“W-Wha……What did you do to them?!” Julie asked, still traumatized by the atrocities right before them.

“To them? I didn’t do anything to them.” Uell replied.

“Bastard! You said you wouldn’t hurt them!!” A frustrated Calem said, seeing how Uell just broke his word.

“What are you talking about?” Uell calmly asked. “All I simply did was improve them.”

“How in the name of all hell is that improvement?!” Marcel asked with outrage.

“I don’t get why you’re acting like this. This is just a new step in evolution,” Uell said, trying to justify his actions. “This way, they don’t have to feel anger, hatred, or sadness and they won’t even get hungry or feel pain ever again. If they ever damage a limb, BOOM, they instantly get a new one.”

“B-But, what you did to them……It’s immoral and twisted!!” Julie said, still frightened.

Uell couldn’t help but just snicker at her words, which got the three all confused.

“You know, those are the exact same things my own people said to me,” Uell said.

He proceeds to tell the three that his people had massive brains, giving them great intellect but their bodies were extremely frail. They couldn’t breathe properly, digest food, and their limbs were lanky and flimsy. So, they resorted to using walking machines to assist in their daily needs. They eventually used their intelligence to create medicine, food, prosthetics, and machines for species that were going through desperate times. These acts of kindness gained them love and appreciation from so many races. Uell on the other hand, was thinking of ways to improve his species and he was able to come up with a theory. By having their flesh merge with the machine, they could become an entirely new organism.

“And you want to know how they reacted?” Uell said as the humans just stayed quiet while he circled around them. “They dismissed it, called it “barbaric” and “A disgrace towards life itself”. Some even called me “Psychotic”! HA! Those bloody fools would rather waste their lives in those useless shells than take part in such a historic moment!”

After that, he went into hiding where he started experimenting on animals and eventually……his people. Many failures later, he managed to do it! He was able to create a fully functional, living cyborg! It was able to move, talk, think, and even remember who it was…….

“And just when I was about to celebrate my success, the law managed to find me and arrest me, putting me on trial,” Uell said. “They decided to put me to death, but you wanna know something funny? My race is extremely pacifist and doesn’t believe in killing, so instead, they decided to put me on a barren asteroid where I would live the rest of my days.” He stopped as he began to laugh like a maniac.

“Isn’t that just amusing?” A hysterical Uell said. “Talk about a bunch of hypocrites, huh?!”

“You’re telling me,” Marcel said. “They made a grave mistake with that,”

“Oh, and they did,” Uell said. “I could’ve been on that thing until I died if It wasn’t for “Him”. He saved me during my most desperate time, gave me my own laboratory, and allowed me to continue with my experiments.”

When Uell mentioned “Him”, Marcel, Calem, and Julie knew who he was talking about: The man they released that brought the ruin of their world!

“Which is the reason I’m here……” Uell said menacingly. “I didn’t come just for the lizards, but my friend gave me the job…….to kill you three,”

With that, our heroes must think of something because if something isn’t done soon, the Iguackos will suffer a fate that is far worse than death……

X

Back at the prison cells, Roin was being cared for by Floso who was wiping the blood off his face while Velu looked on, feeling hopeless as his people's lives are in jeopardy.

“Enjoying your time?” Envi, who had just returned, said in a mocking voice as they turned to him “Looks like it.”

“Don’t insult us, boy,” Velu said as he got up with the help of his staff, “You’ve just made a grave mistake, joining forces with a dangerous outsider.” He stopped when Envi started to snicker.

“That’s funny because you also happen to let three strangers into our village, putting our lives at risk,” Envi mouthed off at the old lizardman.

“They were different,” Velu answered back. “Throughout the time they spent with us, they were generous with us and even risked their lives for the safety of our people. You, however, teamed up with someone who threatened us with death if we didn’t obey, and killed a few of our people,”

“Well, at least the doctor respects me and gave me what I want: Control,” Envi said as Velu remained silent for a few moments.

“......You know, when I was making my decision, I could’ve chosen death as your punishment but I didn’t. You wanna know why?” Velu asked to which Envi just shrugged his shoulders, “You were young and I saw potential in you as not just a great fighter, but as a fantastic hunter. I believed that imprisoning you would help mature you and learn the error of your ways, but you threw that all down the well,”

“Well……..” Envi stopped for a moment to think. “That was pretty stupid, even for you,” He said which only angered Velu as the grip around his staff tightened. “You should’ve chosen wisely, old one because when the time comes, you’ll be the next experiment for the doctor and no one will be able to stop me,”

For a moment, all was silent………But that was broken when Roin burst out laughing, taking a few deep breaths before resuming, confusing his lover, the chieftain, and even Envi.

“What’s so funny?!” Envi asked.

“It just amazes me how empty-headed you are,” A laughful Roin said, “I didn’t think that skull of yours was that hollow!”

“What was that?!” An infuriated Envi asked, slamming his fist against the wall

“So you paired up with someone and got what you wanted, big deal,” Roin said. “I’m just curious about how long that’ll even last,”

“W-What do you mean?” Envi said, confused.

“Oh, come on, Envi. Did It ever occur to you that the doctor only partnered with you just because he’s using him for his own reasons? Have you ever thought that he might betray you one day?” Roin asked.

“N-No, you’re lying,” Envi answered back. “He promised that he would help me!”

“Really?!” Floso joined in. “You honestly believe a promise from that maniac is worth something?! It’s not and only a fool would accept it!”

“You see, you’re just his pawn,” Roin said, taking the lead. “You two may be colleagues for now but when you outlive your usefulness, he’ll cast you out and abandon you like a defect!”

“S-S-Shut up!” Envi said angrily, trying to deny what they are saying. “Y-You don’t know what you are talking about!”

See, that’s the reason you lost!” Roin snapped at him, only feeding Envi’s rage. “You’re so ignorant and careless, you think that the entire world revolves around you when It doesn’t. When you don’t get what you want, you throw a tantrum, like a child. Because that’s what you are and will be for the rest of your life: An immature, worthless brat!!!”

When he couldn’t take it anymore, Envi furiously powered down the forcefield and charged at Roin, attempting to teach him a lesson, but as he was blinded by his anger, Velu used his staff to hit him right in the stomach, causing him to gasp for air. As he was in pain, Roin swiftly swiped his tail, hitting Envi across the face, causing him to slam his head against the wall and be rendered unconscious. With him down and the barrier gone, Floso peeks her head out, making sure no one is near.

When she nodded her head that the coast is clear, she helped up Roin as the three made their escape, wandering through the massive spaceship……

What will the Iguackos do now that they are free?! Will they be able to save our heroes in time before the fiendish doctor disposes of them?!! Stay tuned for next time!!