Of Big Black Eyes and Unzipped Flies

The abandoned Aqua Life Sanctuary

Holly gazed in awe at the glass tube in front of her. Here he was, Commander Julius Root. Alive. In horrible condition, but alive nonetheless.

Trouble walked next to Holly and examined the commander. He frowned slightly. “The commander appears to be breathing, Hol’, but just barely.” He paced around the glass tube, taking in the site. Upon Root’s head was his LEP helmet, the one that had led them there. Dozens of wires were attached to it, and these wires followed out of the tube. A breathing mask of some sort was strapped to his mouth. His body was completely mangled. Parts of an arm and leg were missing, and it had more cuts and burns than a baby demon in a volcano.

“Trouble, to Foaly.”

“Foaly, the master genius here, what can I do for ya, Trubs?”

Troubled winced at the nickname. “Enough of that, donkey boy, we found Commander Root.”

There was silence on the other end. “Y-you did?”

“Yeah,” Trouble activated the camera in his helmet. He walked around the tube, sending the images to Foaly. “He’s in horrible condition, though.”

“Hmm...” Trouble and Holly heard a tapping of hooves on the other end of the ComLink. “Horrible condition is a bit of an understatement, Trouble.”

Holly looked at Trouble. She had remained silent since they entered the Eel Room. She tapped her ComLink. “So he is alive, then?”

At Holly’s voice, Root stirred inside of the tube. Holly and Trouble jumped back in surprise. The commander’s fingers twitched, then he fell back into his coma-like state.

Suddenly, the scurrying of small feet was heard. Holly and Trouble turned around to find themselves surrounded by at least three dozen black eyed creatures.

“Are you guys okay?” chirped Foaly in their ears.

Holly whispered as quietly as she could into her ComLink. “Foaly, there’s some creepy little guys here.”

One of the little creatures hurried up to Holly and told hold of her hand. He slapped it. “No, no! That’s bad! You can’t wake him!” He snatched her and Trouble’s ComLinks. “No, no!”

Holly jerked her back in surprise. “What the hell? Who are you people?”

Trouble stepped to her side. “We’re the LEP, we’re under investigation of this place!”

Six dozen black eyes widened in respect, and three dozen little creatures bowed low to the ground.

The same creature that had slapped Holly’s hand rose. “We are so sorry, sirs.” It squeaked. “We did not know it was you, sirs.” He gave a quick bow. “My name is Jook. I am of the gremlin people you see before you, sirs.”

Holly raised an eyebrow. “You guys are… gremlins?” She hovered her hand over her holster belt.

Gremlins were strange little creatures. Standing at only one and a half feet, they were one of the smallest of the People. Most were known for their big black eyes and pale bluish gray skin. Joked as the dwarf’s polar opposite, they were completely bald, and actually never grew any hair. Only in the past century have they become accustomed to wearing clothes, although none of the other fairies seem to notice or care, as gremlins were not a common sight in the Haven. They had assumed that they had dwindled out, as they are one of the few elven races without much magic. Because of this, the gremlins isolated themselves from the rest of the People, and opted to build their own communities deep under the earth. Only a handful lived in the general fairy population.

Jook continued. “We have been waiting for you, sirs, but we did not expect you so early, sirs.”

Holly and Trouble were trying to take in all that the little gremlin was saying. “Wait,” said Trouble, as he was handed back his ComLink. “You were expecting us? Expecting us for what?” They adjusted their ComLinks back into place and switched them so Foaly could hear what was going on.

All the gremlins bowed again. “We were expecting you to get the red one, sirs.” finished Jook.

“The ‘red one’?” questioned Holly and Trouble together.

Three dozen index fingers pointed in the direction of the glass tube that held Commander Root.

“Him, sirs.”

Over the ComLink, Foaly was burst into laughter.

Six months earlier, Police Plaza ceremony room

“Foaly! Hurry up, the ceremony starts in less than an twenty minutes!” Holly was pacing outside of Foaly’s apartment door. The elf and centaur had agreed to attend Trouble’s promotion ceremony together. However, Holly was starting to regret this decision.

“Come ON, Foaly! It’s not everyday that one of your friends becomes a major!” Holly picked a piece of imaginary lint off of her red dress. “Geesh, why did I agree to go with you anyway?”

Foaly walked out of the door, and smirked at Holly. “Because you would never gather up the guts to ask Root to go with you, and we both didn’t want to look like idiots.”

Holly took in his appearance: a starch white suit jacket and neon purple turtleneck. She shook her head. “Sure, we won’t look at idiots at all.”

They started on their half trot down to the Police Plaza, and boy what a site they were. You’d laugh too if you saw a girl in a red dress with a crew cut running along side a centaur with a purple turtleneck on.

Holly and Foaly finally arrived at the Police Plaza. “So why do you think I’d never gather up the courage to ask Root?” asked Holly as they entered.

“Captain Short! Foaly! You’re late!” barked a voice amidst the crowd. Holly twirled around as Commander Root pushed himself through the people. Root’s eyes widened when he got clear view of Holly and Foaly.

Trouble was right behind him. He broke into a grin when he caught site of Holly and Foaly. “Holly! You clean up nicely!” He glanced over at Root who had a look on his face like none he’s seen before. And this look was directed towards his only female officer. Trouble’s eyes’ narrowed and his grin took a wicked hook. “Don’t you agree, sir, doesn’t Holly look great?”

Root broke his stare and turned a deep shade of red. “Uh, yes, she looks very pret- presentable. Nice work, Short. Try being punctual next time.” Root nodded curtly to the female elf and centaur, then grabbed Trouble by the arm and disappeared into the crowd again.

Holly was planted on the spot. “What the heck just happened?”

Foaly snickered. “See? THAT’S why I believe you would’ve never asked him here. Now let’s get to the buffet table, I’m starved!”

The abandoned Aqua Life Sanctuary

“So why are you helping our commander?” Trouble and Holly were following several of the gremlins through the abandoned aquarium.

“We have to, sirs.” Jook replied.

“They have to?” Foaly chirped in Holly’s ear. “Why?”

“Yeah,” continued Trouble. “Why do you have to?”

The gremlin avoided looking Trouble in the eyes. “We just have to, sirs. That’s all.”

Holly and Trouble exchanged suspicious glances. “Well,” Holly began, trying to get as much information out of them as possible. “How in Frond’s name did you save him in the first place? I saw for myself, he became a pile of ash!”

Apparently, that was not the case. The gremlins explained that their discovery of Root was completely by accident. One of their smaller communities lay undetected below E37. The force of the explosion sent Root hurling down the vents towards the gremlins. It kicked up so much dust and debris that it appeared as if he had disintegrated into nothingness. The gremlins discovered him shortly afterwards, and did their best to keep his vitals stable. They, however, could not heal him, as they possessed very little magic.

“I’m guessing that’s where we come in, right?” asked Holly. “You were waiting for some elves to come because we could patch him up in a heartbeat.” The gremlins nodded. “But that still doesn’t explain why you’re helping him in the first place.” They ignored the question. “Or how you know we would even come. Were you planning on stabilizing him for decades until some wandering fairy walks by?”

The gremlin continued to avoid eye contact. “We just knew, sirs.”

Holly and Trouble arrived with the gremlins in what appeared to be the gift shop. Instead of shelves and shelves of useless tourist junk, shelves and shelves of medical equipment, metal parts, and other complicated things lined the walls. On the far end of the room was an operation table and several pieces of papers stabled to the wall.

Trouble walked up to the papers; it was a series of lists. Operations that needed to be done on the commander. He read them down: new lungs, new liver, new stomach, new ribs, new left arm, new left foot, new right knee, new pelvis, the man practically needed to be rebuild again from scratch. “How on earth can these little blue guys do all that, Foaly?”

“Psh, you’re asking me? I thought this guys were extinct.” Trouble could sense the irritability in the centaur’s voice. Anyone who went untracked by Foaly’s computer didn’t exactly sit well with the Ops Booth operator. He did not like being outsmarted. And something seemed off about these black-eyed creatures.

“Some use you are, ‘master genius,’” Trouble chuckled, remembering his position in the LEP. “Remind me to cut your budget when I get back.”

Foaly gave a nervous laugh across the line. He knew Trouble was joking. He had to be joking. “Very, very funny, Commander. Now tell me, what are you going to do once Julius comes back to the force?”

Trouble’s brow wrinkled in thought. Hmm, I haven’t thought of that yet. All the excitement of Root’s return made me forget that I have his old job. Would he even return after all this? “Root and I will worry about that when the time comes, Foaly.”

“I’m sure you will, Trubs.”

“Good, good, very good.” Jook had reentered the room. “It seems we shall be able to proceed with the operations right now, sirs.”

“Right now?” Holly asked surprised.

“Yes, sirs.” He bowed and led the way back to Root’s tube. With a press of a few buttons, the tube split open. Jook and several others gremlins ran up to lower the commander from the wires.

They took Root into the gift shop again. The gremlins lowered him onto a table. “It is time to begin, sirs.” Trouble nodded and approached the table. Holly rolled up the sleeves of her suit and followed.

“First,” said one of the operating gremlins. “We have to work with the actual body. That is, the bloods, guts, bones, you get it.”

Trouble smirked at this gremlin’s particularly rude attitude. He actually preferred it over the annoying idolizing attitude the other one took on.

“What are you grinning at? We need to get to work!” The gremlin’s eyes widened for a moment. “Oh, and by the way, I’m Rale. I do surgery.” He started removing the remains of the LEP suit that Root was wearing. Trouble got the hint and started to help. Holly turned around, trying to hide her reddening cheeks. She heard a loud ZIPPPP and blushed even more. “I’ll let you take care of this one, Trouble.”

A snicker was heard over the ComLink.

Trouble stared at Holly. “What? Holly, I can’t heal him entirely by myself! Even if I was running hot, I’d never have enough magic to complete it!” Holly still didn’t turn around.

Trouble’s eyes widened as he took the hint. “Holly,” he began exasperately. “Are you serious?”

“It’s the commander, Trouble.”

“For Frond’s sake, Holly. I’ll throw a towel on him."

"Trouble, I can't." said Holly desperately.

"Holly, you're being ridiculous!" Trouble grabbed a white towel from the medical table and waved it in front of Holly's face. "Here! See? Problem solved! Now just suck it up and do the procedure. Do you want him to live or not?”

Holly crossed her arms, her back still to Trouble. “Of course I do! More than you know!" She whirled around and grabbed the towel from Trouble's hands. "Gimme that damn towel, and I'll do the healing myself!"

Foaly chimed in. “Just pictured everyone in their underwear.”

Holly shook her head. “How is that going to help, Foaly?”

“It’s always helps me.” Foaly sighed over the ComLink. “Just do whatever the hell you want.”

The two approached Root’s body. Rale, during all that commotion, had already laid a medical blanket over him, saving Holly the trouble and embarrassment of seeing anything she didn’t want to see (or more accurately, didn’t want anyone to know she wanted to see). The two elves laid their hands on his chest. “Heal.”

Blue sparks started dancing around Root’s body. Rale pointed at Root and shouted out orders. Two gremlins raced up and held a mechanical arm where Root’s missing left arm would have been. Two gremlins and a metal foot followed suit. The blue sparks continued to surround Root’s body.

Trouble watched as the various burns, cuts, and bruises magically closed themselves. He glanced over at Holly who stared almost too seriously at the healing process. Holly, I don’t know why you are making such a big deal about this. I know Root would if the situation was flipped, but why are you?

“Alright, stop!” ordered Rale. Holly and Trouble removed their hands.

“Is he alright?” breathed Holly.

Three months earlier, Commander Root's office

“CAPTAIN SHORT! IN MY OFFICE NOW!” Holly raced down the hallways of the Police Plaza, trying to get to Root’s office as soon as possible. She didn’t want to get him any angrier than what he already seemed.

“W-what is it, sir?” she blurted out breathlessly.

Root leaned back in his chair and dabbed out the cigar he was smoking. “What is this I here about you and Foaly throwing Private Verbil out a window?”

Holly blushed. She hated talking about Chix and his sexist antics. Especially with the commander. “Well, sir, he was out of line.”

“Out of line?” barked Root. “How so?”

“He... well...umm...” Holly scratched the back of her neck. How the hell was she supposed to tell the commander that Chix had told her that he wanted to park his shuttle in her vent shoot and make her magma flare? Not exactly the kind of story you share with your superior officer.

Root sighed and shook his head. “You know, Short, you’ll have to deal with things worse than that when you become a major.”

Holly gasped in surprise. “Major, sir?”

“Yes, major. Haven’t I told you yet?”

“No, sir.”

Root motioned for Holly to sit down. A rare gesture.

“Captain,” he looked across his desk with a stern face, not an unpleasant face, but a stern face. “You’re one of the damn best officers I have, and after the past few years, you’ve really proven yourself. You’re crazy sometimes, but I think that’s a good thing. In the adventures we’ve been in together, I’ve never seen anyone who was more quick-witted. The council IS going to make you a major, and I’ll personally make sure of that. You’re one of the best for the job. I know that you are going to make a huge difference in the way things are run here.”

Holly beam. “Thank you, sir.” She rose to leave.

“Oh, and Holly,” Root rose from his chair and opened the door for his captain. Another rare gesture. “If it means anything to you,” he struggled to find the right words. “They’ve been… fun. The adventures, I mean.”

“Yeah,” replied Holly thoughtfully. “They have been.” What she did next was sort of a blur to both her and the commander. She embraced the red elf, then quickly withdrew in embarrassment. The young elf gave an awkward salute and dashed out the door, leaving Root slightly stunned, staring after her.

The abandoned Aqua Life Sanctuary

“His new organs are in, and the magic seems to have placed the artificial limbs on nicely. The red one should awake shortly, sirs.” Jook said over a speaker that was in one of the tour rooms of the abandoned aquarium. Holly and Trouble leap out of their seats and rushed to the gift shop.

They pressed their faces against the glass door, watching the gremlins remove the last of the wires. All that was left was to wait for the commander to awaken.

Tune in for the next installment, Of Carrot Juices and Red Cabooses.

Reviews and suggestions are always welcomed!

Suggestion Topic: Grub Kelp - helpful brother or annoyingly funny security guard?