“We’re under attack!” Estella cried, shaking Eli awake. “Wuzzis?” Eli yawned, tumbling out of bed. “CHARGE, TEAM TAXON!” A boy Estella’s age with neon blue hair rushed past the open bedroom door. Estella marched up after him, finding him holding a baseball bat, about to hit a gremlin. “Stop! Not now!” Estella shouted, grabbing Taxon by his collar, dragging him back to Eli’s room. “Hey! No fair!” He protested as he wriggled in her grip, swinging his baseball bat. Releasing him onto the hard, metal floor, Estella slammed the door shut. She could hear more gremlins clambering on to the space shuttle. “Prince Taxon! Prince Taxon! Come home!” They chanted over and over. Estella gnashed her teeth. That dirtbag. Getting herself and Eli into all this trouble, that PRINCE Taxon. Never told about how he left his old life behind. Never even thanked them from all the trouble they rescued his butt from. But, oh no, this is Taxon, and Estella had a hunch that there was more.

“Now what?” Eli asked, her voice barely audible. “What next?” Estella gazed out at the galaxy. Taxon’s cleared his throat. “If you… do look under your bed… there is a…”
Estella peered underneath.
“Taxon! Why is there a trapdoor underneath my bed?!”
Taxon looked down at the floor.
“It was meant to be a prank. Send you down into the pantry, and hopefully see never see you again for a thousand years,” Taxon informed truthfully, scratching his hair. “So the trapdoor is meant to let us escape?” Eli guessed. Taxon crawled under Estella’s bed. Thunk. Eli and Estella shared a look. Eli followed. Thunk. Estella should go. She had to. Scrunching up her face, she made her way to beneath her bed. Click. Estella felt herself tumble through air. Whump.

“I think we made it,” Eli said, looking about the pantry. Estella was about to respond, but heard something that made her blood turn to ice. “What was that?” She asked aloud. Taxon rolled his eyes. “You can’t hear anything in space.”
Splurge.
Scurolge.
Splurge.
A fluorescent violet goo dripped down on to Taxon’s shoulder. Taxon pulled a face, and looked up. “Prince Taxon,” a gremlin said, its innocent eyes gleaming maliciously. “Prince Taxon. Prince Taxon. Come back. Come back.” More gremlins surrounded them, their purple floppy ears flipping as they tottered towards them.

“You should‘ve listened to your captain!” Taxon yelled at Estella, kicking a gremlin in the chest. It tumbled over, nocking another 5 over. “You shouldn’t even be captain!” Estella screamed, throwing a can of Baked Beans at a massive gremlin. He grunted, throwing it painfully back at her. Wincing, she turned to find Eli having a rather nice chat with another gremlin. Catching her looking, she quickly knocked it out, then stood up. “Prince Taxon! Your mother awaits for you!” A gremlin called out. Taxon turned around, and stared at it. “My… mother?”
“Yes, Prince Taxon! Your mother is awaiting to see you again!”
“Liar”
“No, Prince Taxon!”
Taxon’s hit it squarely between its head. Estella swallowed hard, making her way towards him. When he saw her making his way towards him, he furiously rubbed his eyes. “Retreat!” A gremlin called out, and then all was empty and silent. Estella looked at Eli quizzically, but she shrugged. Suddenly, the idea dawned on to her. “Taxon,” she said hurriedly. “What if we did see your mother?”