So the Story Goes on and on and on and Skewed Right, Then Cleft Down the Middle, Only to Jump Track

1. Part One by JBaz
2. Part Two
3. Part Three
4. Part Four
5. Part Five
6. Part Six
7. Part Seven ⬇️⬇️⬇️

“Turn around, slowly, Phialan Tial. Step away from the Earth weapon.”

Carl slowly stood. Before turning around, he looked at Jaylene and his children. He mouthed I love you to them, then stepped away from the fallen agent and put some space between the cosmic bounty hunter and himself. The giant advanced toward Carl.

“Huh, will you look at that,” the hired gun commented. “There’s a ship. We can leave from here, Phialan. It’s time for you to go back and serve your sentence.”

Carl backed up two steps and said, “I’m not going back to spend time in some Giovettan moon prison.”

“I’ve been given orders to bring you in alive, preferably. But you should also know I’ve been given the command to bring you in however necessary. So, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. It’s your choice.”

“I’ve made my choice,” Carl blurted out. Turning, he ran three steps and tripped over a metal wire embedded in the ground beside the cabin. Cursing, Carl tried to get up, pushing up on the ground before him. He could hear the bounty hunter walking towards him. Panicking, Carl shoved and sliced his thumb on something sharp. With a sense of deja vu, he felt until he pulled an old, opened Buck knife out of the leaves. He barely had time to see the nearly pristine condition of the blade before he was plucked up into the air by the nape of his neck.

Giovetta’s paid agent shook Carl a few times before tossing him into the side of the cabin. Shaking his head, Carl narrowly dodged a punch but received a kick in his side for his troubles. He huddled, trying to protect his vitals from the onslaught of blows the giant spaceman was raining down on him.

Realizing he still held the knife in his hands, knowing that the bounty hunter would not give him a chance and he’d have to take one, Carl swiped. When the knife connected with his enemy’s forearm, he was shocked that the flesh sliced like butter. Stabbing, he brought the knife into his opponent's side. Green blood poured from the agent’s wounds, covering Carl’s arm and the knife.

With a roar, Giovetta’s paid gun hit Carl across the head with his huge fist, knocking him completely senseless. Carl dropped to his knees, letting the knife go and clutching his head. Shaking his head, he tried to clear the image of two giant bounty hunters from his eyes.

“Phialan Tial, you are hereby arrested for immediate extradition to the Giovetta sector,” the space hunter said, pulling a pair of spacer cuffs from his belt.

No sooner had the giant said this when he was hit in the head with a tire iron, taking him down to his knees. Standing over him was Thomas, holding the tool above his head. Bringing it down repeatedly, he said, “This. Is. The. United. States. Of. America. And. We. Don’t. Recognize. Extradition. To. Giovetta. Sector. Mother. Fucker.”

Several seconds passed, and Thomas continued striking the space man with the tire tool. Finally, Jaylene said, “Um, Thomas, I think he’s dead now.”

Wiping the sweat and blood from his brow, Thomas stepped back, shrugged his shoulders, and said, “I guess I got carried away.”

“Dad, Barker won’t get up.” They all turned towards Adam, where he stood by the injured dog.

Walking over towards the dog, they were surprised to see Barker awake but panting hard. Bending over, Carl looked at his pet to see where he had been injured. Seeing grooves along the pup’s neck and right flank, Carl was shocked that he couldn’t find a bullethole anywhere. Looking up at his family, Carl said, “I think Barker’s going to be fine!”

“Well, what do you have planned to do next?” Thomas asked.

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Carl answered.

“There’s a ship, you could go anywhere you wanted to.”

Looking at his wife, Carl replied, “I think we’d like to stay here, on Earth.”

“I think we can arrange that. First, we should clean this up before someone else finds it.”

Thomas and Carl dragged the bounty hunters into the space shuttle. Then, Carl went to the control panel and pushed a random set of buttons. Looking at Thomas, he said, “I think we should get moving.”

Rushing outside, Thomas grabbed Adam and Felix while Carl picked up Barker. Jaylene had already picked up the twins and was moving back up the path the way they had come. They moved with a purpose, as quickly as they could. They had just reached the Ford Expedition when an explosion was behind them. Climbing into the SUV, they swiftly got the hell out of Surprise.