Riddle School: The Retelling

Chapter Six (RT1)

They were going home.

They were going home!

The four kids stood in awe at the majesty of the Earth, filling up the view from the spaceship they were riding in. All was serene.

Diz, the stereotypical alien who was piloting the ship, broke the silence.

"Well, now that your world is saved and our sadistic leader Viz is gone from this universe," he looked up, "What do you all plan to accomplish when you return to your life on Earth?"

Everyone was silent for a moment, thinking, and Zack, human fireplace, stepped up.

"Uh... Personally I plan to find a cure for this fever I've developed. Drinking a couple thousand gallons of ice water might help a little."

Right. The fire that was continually flaming on his head. With how freezing he had been for years, it was a wonder he wasn't bothered by the heat.

As the children were standing in a sort of line, Smiley, the eager schooler she was decided to go next.

"I'll continue my search for knowledge and use what I know to help others." She put a finger to her chin, pensively. "Reading the encyclopedia might be fun."

Ah Smiley. Always so kind, and eager to learn. I'd never admit it, but I sort of... admire her.

Phred, the so-called helping hand, looked up from the floor and spoke up next.

"I haven't really thought about what I'll do when I get back," he admitted. "I guess what I'll do when I get back, is think of what I'll do when I get back."

Ah, well, that's to be expected from my lazy friend. Nothing wrong with that at all I say, especially since we've already gone through a lifetime together with him being as lazy as ever, and it usually working out.

Now it was my turn. The stalwart leader. I had an inkling of what to do, I guess.

"As for me..." I started-

Out of nowhere, a sudden brightness flashed against our eyes, blinding us for a second. As I waited for the spots to disappear, I looked over to my friends and found them as confused as I was.

"What's going on?" Phred voiced our thoughts as Diz turned the steering, with a worrying look on his face.

"Why have we stopped?" Zack spoke up, drawing my attention to the fact that, we actually have stopped our gentle cruise.

A strange white aura was peeking around the ship through the windows.

"Something is controlling the ship," Diz said, perplexed. It was a large tracker beam, coming from somewhere on the big beautiful ball in front of us.

Diz pulled out the remote to the ship and frantically pushed a button, as if to do anything significant.

Well, that's good, right? We were heading to Earth anyway.

"It's taking us off-course!" Of course it was.

There was nothing we could do but watch as the tractor beam stole us down surprisingly slowly, taking us to a strange and tall gray building surrounded by in-the-middle-of-nowhere desert.