VampiricYoshi

Epilogue: Definite Possibility Mark stood by them as The Captain sent out the signal. He sighed softly. He seemed nervous. The Captain reached over and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. Mark cracked a small smile at them and huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, you’re right. It’ll be fine. We just need to wait until we-” He was cut off as the matter around them shifted. Their molecules were momentarily scattered, and they zoomed through space. Suddenly, they both materialized on a dark and familiar ship. And, as usual, a helmet was thrust onto Mark’s head. Wug removed the helmet and tapped at the device on his wrist. Mark whimpered as The Captain moved over to give his shoulder a good rub, rousing him to look at them. They squeezed his shoulder again comfortingly. Mark nodded. “I-I’m okay, I’m okay,” he said. He took a deep breath and let it out. “Human?” a rough voice inquired. “And ugly human?” Mark pouted, but then he straightened his shoulders, shrugging off the Captain’s hand.

Chapter 5 - Just Like Old Times Their head hurt. The Captain groaned and tried to roll over, but suddenly there was a hand on their shoulder. “Hold on there, Captain, don’t move too suddenly,” a voice told them. They opened their eyes to a darkened room. It was bigger than their tent had been, but it looked very similar – there was even a red tent flap over a small window. A kiosk was in the room with a tablet and a viewscreen, as well as some posters; one of them was a skeletal system while another was of a cat hanging off a tree branch with a cliché “hang in there” slogan. Both appeared to be hastily put up with the skeletal system having been placed upside down. The Captain themselves were in a cot with covers over them (did nobody take off their boots?) and an ice pack on their head. Beside them was Mark, sitting in a camping chair with The Captain’s hat hanging from the back corner. The chair leaned precariously as Mark was sitting forward toward The Captain, hand on their

Chapter 4- Free Will: Illusion It felt like they’d been laying there for a while. The Captain didn’t even remember what led up to them being where they were; lying on their back inside a glass case with - what was this, potpourri? – making up some kind of bedding for their body. There wasn’t much room in the case for movement. The Captain’s shoulders touched glass on either side, and tilting their boots downward would touch the end. A gentle push told them that their hat was pressed against the other end. It was a coffin, essentially. They felt kind of like Snow White… but presumably her coffin had a removable lid. Above them the top panel joined the sides in sharp angles without any seams to be seen. Gingerly The Captain raised their hands, their elbows knocking awkwardly against the walls in the cramped space. They couldn’t even move their hands up above their head, where they would have had the most leverage, and had to settle for pushing against the glass uncomfortably above

Chapter 3: Unlikely is Just Certainty Waiting for Its Turn “I appreciate you tagging me in on this, Captain. It kinda felt like I wasn’t really pulling the weight of my title for a bit there, you know?” The Captain nodded, glancing briefly at First Mate Tyler before turning their attention back to the terrain in front of them. Both hands were firmly on the steering wheel of the truck they were in on their way to Gunther’s base camp. The Captain’s left hand hurt and every so often they let go of the wheel to try to flex the muscles of their palm, to little relief. “Is your hand bugging you, Captain?” Tyler asked. “Maybe you should have medical take a look at it.” The Captain shrugged. They were fine – it was just a little twinge that must’ve happened while they were trying to sleep. At least, they hoped. “Well, if you’re sure, Captain,” the first mate said. He checked the topical map on his tablet. “Gunnerson’s camp is just over this hill, Captain,” he instructed and they turned