Surrounded by human troops John could do nothing other than surrender. He threw his weapons to the ground, took off his helm and raised his hands.

“Don’t shoot. I surrender,” John shouted. He withdrew his aura shield. Would he spend the rest of his life in a prisoner-of-war camp? Surely Sor Al would arrange for his release. Nothing bad would happen.

“He’s a little kid,” he heard one of them say. “What do we do?”

“Just zap him.”

An electric blue ray hit John on the head and he lost consciousness. When he came to, he found himself lying in a strange new land with two suns. There was a machine with a screen attached to his wrist. Green words were continuously streaming off the screen. He got up and looked around. A little away from him there were two humans, a humanoid plant with roses growing on it and a bird discussing something among themselves. A talking bird? Some kind of Ent? There were many strange sights in the galaxy. How long had he been out? Was this a hallucination? Had he been drugged?

“Eh good, you’re awake,” the bird looked at him. “Finally! Come join us over here.”

John walked over cautiously. Everything felt real enough. He pinched himself and felt pain.

“Introductions are in order, now that everyone’s here,” said the bird. It was completely black, and as big as a donkey. “Eh, I’m a crow, and a former resident of Aspica. I was thrown here for insulting the Empress of Oor. You can call me Crow.”

“You’re too big to be a crow,” said John. The bird was massive when it stretched out its wings like it was doing now.

“Eh? Then call me Big Crow.”

“I’m Rose,” said the green plant human. “A former rose bush. A saint meditated by my side for thousands of years, enlightening me. Unfortunately, after I gained sentience I forgot it all.”

“You’re voice is too masculine to be called Rose,” said a big woman wearing a white half sleeved shirt and black pants. She was very muscular, her arms and shoulders bulging. Her shirt looked like it could rip off with the slightest flex.

“Well, I’m a rose bush. Call me Rosebush then.”

“That’s even worse.”

“Rose is a unisex name where I’m from,” the rose bush man tried to argue, its dark opening of a mouth moving up and down rapidly. “And I’m unisex too. My flowers are of both genders.”

“Then why is your voice like a man’s?”

“Who knows.”

“Why were you captured?”

“I tried to seduce one of the Conglomerate bosses’ daughters.”

“Why would a plant seduce a…Never mind.” The muscled woman then took a bow, “I’m Ara. I was thrown here for fighting for the emancipation of women on planet Tata. It is a backward world. I do not know why the Asi Conglomerate protects it.”

“I’m Lin,” said the last man. “A denizen of planet Artoo.”

“Artoo?” Ara asked in wonder. “Do you have a pet?”

Lin nodded and a wolf the size of a horse appeared at his side out of thin air. It seemed tame, looking curiously at all the people there.

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“Why were you sent here, Lin?” Ara asked.

“My wolf pissed on a nobleman’s leg.”

“And what about you?” Ara asked John.

“My name’s John. I was living with elves on the planet Kumra. I got captured during the recent war, in the battle of Aroth.”

“A child warrior,” said Ara. “Why would a human work for elves? Are you part of a mercenary company? I thought the elves were too proud to hire mercenaries.”

“No, I was rescued by elves from a planet far away from the known galaxy.” When John thought back now, those had been relatively peaceful days.

“I know who he is,” the crow said suddenly. “He’s Wild Child!”

“Wild Child,” the others exclaimed as one.

John scratched his head, “I see you’ve all heard of me.”

“It was big news,” said Ara. “A new planet full of rich minerals, and one wild human to conquer it all.”

“I wasn’t exactly conquering anything,” said John. How easily fake rumors spread.

“The news made it sound like you’d tamed all the monsters there and were living like a king,” said Lin, the tamer. “When the elves came you tried to destroy them with a giant millipede, but in the end you were taken captive and brainwashed.”

“They didn’t capture and brainwash me,” John laughed. “They saved me and treated me well.”

“Eh… I don’t know what our friend Lin has heard but most of the other stories say the same thing you said,” Big Crow took flight and landed in front of John. “Those stories call you a human traitor.”

“Why?” John asked aghast. “Is it because I killed the God King? I didn’t have much of a choice at the time.” Fighting against humans on Aroth would probably have done nothing good for his image as well.

“Eh, there will always be haters, and nobody likes those ‘morally superior’ busybody elves.”

“Enough with the introductions,” said Ara, seeing that John was getting uncomfortable. “It’s time to discuss a plan.”

“Where are we?” asked John. This was definitely not a hallucination. His mind wasn’t creative enough to come up with something as complicated as this.

Ara tapped the machine on her wrist, “this says we’re on planet K-235, a world to be developed. It is our mission to reach the checkpoint which is tens of thousands of miles away from us. There are monsters aplenty to kill. They will probably lure more and more powerful monsters towards us as we progress further.”

“How do you know so much about what they’ll do?” asked Lin.

“I’ve watched the show before.”

“Show?” asked John.

“This is a game show. You see these mosquitoes all around us? They’re cameras.” She tapped the instrument on her arm, “this allows the audience to talk to us. We can gain patrons by pleasing them. Patrons are allowed to send us gifts.” First he was a slave, now he was on a survival show? Humans had done nothing for John except to harm him.

“What sort of gifts will the patrons send?” asked Big Crow.

“Anything from a box of chocolates to a missile launcher.”

She pointed at a metal capsule not far away from them. They often supply the contestants with basic weapons in the beginning. Let’s see what they sent us.

They walked over to the metal capsule. Ara pressed a button on it and it dismantled into a row of shelves. On the shelves were an assortment of weapons and bags of rations.

“I’ll take this one,” Big Crow said, choosing a pair of golden talons that were obviously made specially for him.

“I’ll take these,” said John, choosing a glaive and a pulse laser pistol. He could adjust the pulses, one for rapid fire and one for slower but more lethal blasts.

Ara chose a long spear and a rifle. Lin chose a sword, and a laser pistol like John.

“What should I choose? What should I choose?” Rose asked.

“Take something simple if you’ve never used a weapon before,” advised John.

“I’ll take this one,” Rose chose a flamethrower.

“Umm...Are you sure?” Plants and fires didn’t get along.

“I like playing with fire.”

“Aren’t you scared of setting yourself alight? You’re a rose bush after all.”

“No,” Rose said obstinately. “I want my flame thrower.”

“Pack enough fuel canisters to last you,” Ara said to Rose.

“No worries.”

They ransacked the rest of the supplies and took torches, rations, health kits, and ponchos. There were no tents, John thought with regret. They’d have to sleep out in the open with only their ponchos for protection against the cold and the wind.

“We need a team name,” said Big Crow.

“How about Guardians of the Galaxy?” John asked. There was a walking plant, a smart animal, a heavily muscled person and him. All they were missing was a green skinned woman.

“Nah, that’s lame. We’ll call it Team Big Crow.”

“Let’s move out Team Big Crow,” said Ara, the unofficial leader of the group. She knew more about what was going on than the rest of them. “We don’t have time for choosing a better name. Stay close together. We’ll head towards that mountain and make camp there before it gets dark. It seems safer than staying in the valley.” Ara looked at the device on her wrist. “Our final destination is in that direction as well.”

Five people, laden with weapons and supplies, and one pet wolf, began their journey into the forests of K-235. The forest welcomed them with sinister calls and jeers. The birds seemed to mock them as they began their journey as though laughing at their fragile mortality. John had spent the first eight years of his life in such an environment. He knew what to expect. And this time he had friends with him. This game would be easy to win.