A small piece of artery tubing slithered its way through an ashy tunnel no bigger than a garden hose. Its pink flesh had blackened with soot since departing its warm home near a heart ventricle (some prime real estate if you can get it). The determined noodle pushed onward and upward, crawling through cracks and crevasses on an epic journey to reunite with its homeworld.
The wily hunk of wayward flesh, which we shall name Pip, wriggled to the edge of a cliff overlooking a bottomless pit of despair. Not wanting to take a million steps back, Pip recoiled and scanned the pit for another route. (Not that he had eyes, or that he was a he. More like a sexless critter with a phantom eye, or something. Anyway, moving on.)
Alas, Pip found no easy way out. However, bits of dirt fell into the cavern and bopped his head, presenting a clear upward direction. The dim glow of a light source far above gave him a sliver of hope, even though he couldn’t actually see it (no eyes, if you recall). The harsh reality of a perilous climb revealed itself.
Pip sighed, in a manner of speaking, as he gazed into the great beyond, also in a manner of speaking. With nothing to lose and everything to gain, he gripped the craggy wall and began the dangerous ascent. Several meters later, he paused to rest upon a narrow ledge, content to pass some time and forget about the daunting task in front of him (or above him rather). An unexpected earthquake forced Pip to seek cover against the wall as rocks and debris fell from above.
When it was over, a giant fissure had opened overhead, bathing the pit with light from the surface.
Pip shook with glee and wagged his tail (the rear of his noodle, basically). The sudden burst of elation launched him back into the climb. Every few meters, he stopped to catch whatever he considered breath, then resumed the journey. Hours later, Pip reached the surface and crawled out onto a smoldering plane of destruction. He gazed upon a fallen sky where the surfaces of other worlds crumbled overhead. The blackness of space was nowhere to be found, just a horrid tapestry of collided planets on fire.
But none of that mattered.
Pip had a job to do.
The little artery looked right, then left, then right again before going left and deciding on right. He climbed through ash, rock, and steel on his way to the Promised Land. Snow and fire proved no match as he soldiered through the planes of desolation. Pip swam through streams (a hilarious sight), tunneled through dirt (like a worm, no biggie), and hurled his body over twigs (you really haven’t lived until you see a gut noodle hop over a flaming sprig).
And then it happened.
The little fella summited a mighty pebble to uncover the flaccid face of destiny, the glossy eyes of gaiety, the parched tongue of triumph. Pip summoned all of his remaining will to crawl into the mouth of momentousness and slide down the gullet of grandeur.
Victory was his.
The reassembled body of Trevor began to stir.
He sat up, rubbed his face, then yelped like a frightened child as his gaze whipped around the imploded Terramesh. Everything was on fire. Meteorites slammed into the surface. Massive fissures spewed lava into the atmosphere.
“What in the wide world of f—”
A meteor smashed his body to bits.
THE END
Max and the gang will return.
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