Chapter Text
"Do you think there's gonna be a war?" Kez and Eden overheard a classmate ask his friend as the two students looked at a news article on an iPad.
"I doubt it." The friend replied. "I mean, they haven't bombed us, attacked us or anything like that, even though they're clearly threatening to. If they haven't done it yet, I doubt they ever will."
A few dozen steps across the sidewalk later, the two were soon strolling through the doors of the Highschool of Jasper, Nevada.
"Hey, Kez, look at this!" Eden showed Kez their phone screen, which showed a meme about the event that every news channel and citizen in the country was talking about.
Kez laughed at it first, causing Eden to laugh along with her.
"Hey, you two!" A voice familiar to the duo called as it approached them. "What'ch ya looking at?"
"Oh, hey Miko." Eden greeted, showing her the phone screen.
"Ha, ha! That's funny!" Miko said as Eden pulled the phone back and sat down in the usual spot before Kez sat next to them.
"You know, you don't need to pretend that you think it's funny," Eden said. "I won't be like, offended or anything."
"Oh, I know you won't..." Miko trailed off. "Anyway, who's ready for anime club tonight?!"
"Oh, I am!" Kez exclaims.
"I am too!" Eden adds.
"What movie do you think we should watch for movie night?" The club president asked, who really only got her position because of being from Japan and wouldn't even be in the club, to begin with, if Eden and Kez hadn't suggested her to.
"We should watch the Hetalia movie," Eden suggested. "Or Ponyo, if you want something a little more well known."
"I was thinking more along the lines of Spirited Away or My Neighbor Totoro," Kez suggests.
"Oh, me too," Eden says, getting up after the bell to go to homeroom rang. "Talk to you guys later."
Kez went to her locker and texted her boyfriend, who accidentally slept in. After putting a few books into her locker, Kez headed to her history class, where she knew they'd discuss the current events.
After the pledge, the teacher greeted the class and pulled up a news video and pressed play.
"Breaking news!" The news anchor exclaimed as the words he spoke appeared on the screen in big, red letters before fading away to reveal the newsroom. "We are getting reports that scientists from the small Slavic country of Claoz Sanya have been studying and testing bombs in the abandoned town of Oxton Springs."
The screen changed to show a bunch of people in lab coats standing at the edge of the town, facing the desert and showed an explosion go off in the distance.
"Sources believe that they have established their research labs here so that they have access to Hydraetuldrutrol, which is a very rare radioactive substance that is known for its blue glow." The news reporter explained as an image of a blue liquid appeared on the screen.
"The explosions of the bombs being tested can be heard by the fearful residents of the nearby town of Jasper, Nevada." The news anchor said before a local town resident appeared on the screen.
"We're all scared." The woman said. "I've lived in this town since I was a teenager and I've raised my kids here, I've never ever been worried about my safety or their's until now."
Next, the local school idiot, Vince, appeared on the screen, causing murmuring to fill the class. "Yea, it's pretty surprising that a town like this would become the center of attention like this. I mean, we don't even-"
He was cut off and the screen showed the newsroom again. "We strongly recommend that if you are near the town of Oxton Springs, that you keep far away. We will report any new information that we receive."
-Later in the School Day-
It was five periods into the school day, and Eden was sitting at their usual lunch table with Jack and Miko.
"So, what do you guys think about that whole Oxton Springs thing?" Eden asks, trying to find more information on its president, but only one picture came up and the only information was his age and information about the current events.
"Oh yeah, that..." Miko trailed off.
"I don't know how I feel about it," Jack said flatly. "But I do know how I feel about that date I'm going on tonight."
"Oooooh... A date?" Miko smiled. "With who?"
"Is it with Sierra?" Eden added, smirking along with their friend.
"Ha, no, it's actually with the new girl," Jack smirks. "She's nice and I found out Vince wanted to go on a date so I figured I'd beat him to her. And I did."
"Nice work," Eden chuckled. "But I hope you're not trying to date her just because you wanna annoy Vince."
"No, no, of course not!" Jack says quickly. "I like her for more than that."
"Okay, good," Eden says with a soft sigh. "But back to what I asked before, what do you guys think about that whole thing?"
Once again, the topic was deflected. Eden tried to bring it up again multiple times but failed at every attempt.
The next time Eden brought it up without the topic being changed immediately was in the car after anime club ended with Kez and their friend, Amber.
"So I tried doing research into Claoz Sanya and I couldn't find anything that didn't have, like, anything to do with the whole bomb testing site thing," Eden said, sitting in the passenger seat, next to Amber.
"Really?" Kez asked, surprise.
"Yes, really," Eden says, looking out the window. "It's almost as if the country doesn't even exist."
"Wait, so if the country doesn't exist, then what's going on in Oxton Springs?" Amber asked.
"I don't know," Eden sighs. "It's not like we can go check it out or anything. The police have the road that goes by it blocked off."
"Actually, I remember seeing an old map of the county in the basement at my house," Kez says. "It has a bunch of old roads that aren't there anymore. So it might have an abandoned road that'll take us directly into the town."
"Breaking into an abandoned town that we're not supposed to be in? Sounds fun." Amber smirks.
"Actually, we need someone to stay behind in case we don't come back," Kez says. "If we don't text you tomorrow morning, then come look for us."
"G-Guys, I don't think going there is a very good idea..." Eden says shyly as they pull into Amber's driveway.
"Well if you don't feel safe about going, why don't you stay and make sure we come back?" Amber asks as they get out of the car and grab their backpacks.
"No, no, it's fine," Eden says. "I'll go. I'll be fine."
"Okay good," Kez says. "I'll find my map and come over to your place later."
They split up and went to their own houses, all of which were close to each other.
They wrote notes in the situation where they are never seen again, got bottles of water, snacks and other thing's they'd need for the trip.
Kez found the old map and Eden opened their dad's gun case and stole a pistol and a small pack of bullets, just in case.
Kez came over at six o'clock.
"Eden!" She called when she entered the parent-free house. "I found the map!"
"Great!" Eden called back as they ran down the stairs with their travel backpack, only stopping to pet the cat.
"Look, it even has a road that goes into Oxton Springs like I thought!' She said, pointing to a road that wasn't in any of the current maps. "It's by that old bar on the edge of town."
"Alright, let's go," Eden says, adjusting the backpack straps and pet their cat and dogs goodbye.
The two were grabbing their bikes in the garage when Raf passed by, dog leash in hand. "Where are you two going?"
Eden and Kez looked at each other, then back to Raf. "Nowhere in particular..."
"You're going to Oxford Springs, aren't you?" He asked, frowning. "Please don't..."
"Don't worry, Raf," Kez assured her neighbor before getting on her bike and pedaling off. "We'll be fine."
Eden walked to the edge of the road, they were gonna hop onto their bike before Raf grabbed their wrist.
"Eden, please, listen to me!" Raf begged. "It's not safe!"
"I'm sorry, Raf, but we need to see the truth." Eden sighed, pulling their wrist out of Raf's grip. "We'll come back, safe and sound, I promise."
Eden pet Raf's dog on the head before following after Kez, feeling guilty about making a promise they knew they might not be able to keep.
The road wasn't too hard to find because the two knew what they were looking for, but it wasn't particularly easy to see either.
It was easy to ride on, at least, and they were able to travel on it without being stopped by the police.
The weather was good for bike riding, too. Kez's eyes looked like glowing amber in the warm sunlight, occasionally she'd close them and feel the wind flow through her brown locks.
The ride itself took about three hours, though it would've taken about an hour and a half if the two hadn't stopped for breaks to rest and pile rocks on the side of the road occasionally to help prevent them from getting lost on the way back.
"All the reports made this place seem so much closer," Eden commented as they flipped their deep blue fringe out of their face for perhaps the hundredth time.
"I know," Kez replied, both of them grateful they were almost there.
The sun was almost gone for the night but was still giving the town enough light for the two teens to see without artificial light to navigate the town.
Once they got off their bikes, Eden took their phone out and started to film.
The close friends weren't even two steps into town when they heard a loud bang.
Eden wanted to turn and run, yet followed their friend who dashed toward the bang without hesitation.
"Hey! Wait for-" Eden stopped speaking when they saw two giant robots fighting each other.
"Are you filming this?!" Kez asked, looking at her friend, who nodded.
"Looks like the Japanese got here first," Eden whispered, zooming in on the big blue and grey one as he hit the bulky green one with a hammer attached to his arm. "Because there's no way these things aren't Japanese."
The two stood for a while, watching the fight from their alleyway, unnoticed, or so they thought.
"What is it that you find so special about these humans, my lord?" The two teenagers turned around slowly, to see a cherry red bot standing above them.
Kez dashed between his legs like a bat out of hell, and Eden froze, staring at the red bot with wide, deep blue eyes, convinced they were having a heart attack.
Eventually, they broke out in a sprint, running in the opposite direction of their friend, screaming for help, hoping another human would hear them.
Eden ran faster than they have ever run in their life, with the red bot hot on their tail. The phone didn't leave their hand until they tripped over their own feet.
Eden flipped onto their back, feeling the almost forgotten pistol in their waistband. They pulled it out, shooting at the approaching bot, missing every time. At least it slowed the bot down.
"Shit!" Eden cried out once the gun ran out of ammo.
They kept scooting back, unable to stand until they felt someone, a human, come and help them back to their feet.
"RUN!" Kez screamed, grabbing Eden by the wrist and making a break for it.
Their bikes just came into sight when they were grabbed by the hands of the red bot.
"Yes Lord Megatron, I've got the humans as you requested," Their captor said. "Send the ground bridge, I'm bringing them back to ship. I'm sure they'll make fine test subjects."