Chapter Text
Aja was delighted to join Steve's bonfire invitation, and Krel had accepted Eli's "bro's night" and both twins we're in the midst of preparing for their trip
Krel was perfecting a prototype in his workshop, a portable transduction in a serrator that he was making for occasions like this, he was almost finished when he realised it was almost 7 o'clock and had to leave for the "bro's night"
Aja was excited if a bit confused, she accepted Steve's courting ritual and felt like she belonged on Earth, and while she may not know what was coming, she was gonna be ready for it, And when her brother finally came they were ready and had a talk with the blanks
"Just be home by curfew, little lady or you'll be grounded!"
"Ground- Fresh ground pepper, add a kick to your salad!"
Varvatos decided to explain the situation clearly,
"More to the point, if you are not home in time, your human forms will wear off." which Krel immediately responded with a serrator
"Not anymore, I am close to finishing a portable transduction however, it still needs testing."
"I can test it for you, I may end up taking up more time with Steve."
"Test it somewhere safe Aja, Our identities are on the line" Krel warned his sister before muttering under his breath "I really do not understand romance..."
A disembodied voice suddenly alarmed the royals as it detected an "Unknown being attempting to breach the perimeter, permission to vaporize?"
"Permission granted!" Krel responded in a heartbeat before Aja immediately protested
Aja had been to many galas with other royals so.. why was this oaf making her nervous? As the Blanks interrogated Steve, Aja was enamored by him, He may be an idiot, and he definetly still needed some work since she still won't excuse him punching Krel, But she sees him trying to better himself, seeing what he can be.
\\ At the bonfire party \\
As Aja and Steve arrived by Vespa, Aja took in all the sights of the nighttime forest, the trees were rustling as the wind blew through her disguise, the fire in the center was warm and glowed like nothing she'd ever experience, with Akiridion-5 the whole planet was inorganic, everything, the people, the pets, the weapons, we're made of light, but this fire... the light... it was different, it calmed Aja... It was lively.
as She and Steve danced awkwardly, shared scary stories around the campfire, and enjoyed what the humans called a "s'more" she pondered about what her brother was doing, but assured herself that Krel can protect himself.
Krel and Eli explored the forest looking for a "Billycraggle", Anything was possible in Arcadia as Eli said, and Krel wanted to properly understand what it meant but suddenly a roar and rustling noise was heard, Krel was wary, but Eli was determined to find the Billycraggle, not realising the monster infront of him was the dangerous bounty hunter Zeron Beta, as the bespectacled one attempted to communicate, Beta had no hesitation as it whacked Eli away, leaving Krel to defend himself.
Eli stumbled and fell, and when he regained vision he found a weird box... it looked like a chest, it had three gems and they seemed to be embedded in the design, the design itself had frogs in it, while the gems looked half empty, Eli found something extraordinary and he wanted to show it to his friends but saw bright flashing lights and immediately went to warn the others, but as he returned to the fire, Steve and Aja left to the kissing tree so Eli ran off to find them first.
Aja and Steve reveled in the lights of the fireflies, it reminded Aja of the vastness of the universe, as she enjoyed her time with Steve, he slowly made his move, he and Aja went in and kissed at the top of the kissing tree, Krel's Prototype worked and Aja stayed in her form. The two descended from the tree, one gracefully, the other... broke their gronk nuks, but Aja caught Steve before he fell, they dusted eachother off when Aja finally asked the obvious.
"So, we're official?"
"Yep, we sure are"
"AJA!, STEVE!"
Eli arrived in Steve's Vespa with a box in hand and started rambling
"so I was with Krel and we met the Billycraggle but he wasn't really friendly and whacked me with his tail! and then I tripped and found this box and I really wanna see what's in it with you guys since they'd think i'm crazy-"
"WAIT WAIT Eli, is my Brother in danger?"
..."OH SHOOT I LEFT KREL WITH THE BILLYCRAGGLE, OH GOSH WE HAVE TO GET HIM! This can wait, our friend could be with a dangerous creature right now." Eli placed the box down, but then it suddenly opened and lights Blue Pink and Green started flashing.
Meanwhile Krel was "Totally having the time of his life" (that was sarcasm) He was still in a tough battle with Zeron Beta but then he noticed flashing lights and saw Aja, "Oh forget trying to keep it a secret, I need help right now!" he ran as fast as he could to the light, as he made his way and saw Aja...
*FLASH*
She vanished... along with Steve and Eli
Krel had no time to think, he had to hide so he went into a bush and hid for as long as possible, his transduction hadn't faded yet since he replenished it the moment they left, but he was running out of time, Zeron Beta was close and he did not want to be vulnerable yet.
As Krel stayed silent, one thing was in his thought... What happened to Aja? it circled his mind and he couldn't think of any logical answer, he immediately thought of Eli's words of anything happening in Arcadia, and that probably had something to do with it.
Zeron Beta finally thought Krel fled the scene and immediately reported it to the other Zerons, as they leave, so did Krel, while walking he dropped his serrator on the ground, the moment he tried to pick it up an owl came and snatched it right from the grass.
"HEY! GET. BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BIRDIE!" Krel chased it through an abandoned house and a bright flash came and went, next thing Krel knew the moment he grabbed his serrator back he realised he was... somewhere else entirely...