EL-ROY watched Dallas swing his arms about wildly.

“Okay. That’s the all-clear. Let’s move out!”

Alex was still angry. He glared at Sammi and Herbert as they waddled off behind EL-ROY down the hallway. Standing there, he realized the farther they shuffled away from him, the less angry he felt. What if I did go solo, he thought. Maybe I could be the greatest AlienSlayer in all the galaxy.

Then he looked down at his blobby, ridiculous disguise.

“This is so wrong,” he heard himself say. He looked up and spotted the group of teenagers. In an instant, he found himself waddle-running down the hall, chasing after them. He held out a rubbery arm.

“Uh, good day, maties!” He began shouting in the worst Australian accent ever. “You, uh, bushboogers enjoying your little tripsy-doodle to the museum, thar, what-what?”

The teens stared, not sure what to make of him.

“What are you, some kind of G’Dalien pirate?” one teen said.

“Are you feeling all right?” another asked, eyeing his baggy skin suspiciously.

“I’ve never felt better,” Alex said. “Because I am not a pirate…or a G’Dalien!” He yanked the rubber mask off his head.

The teens were stunned for a moment. But just for a moment.

“It’s really him!” one exclaimed. “It’s a real AlienSlayer!” Another group heard the call and came running. Soon a mob of museum visitors swarmed Alex. He started laughing as he wriggled out of his bulky costume and scrambled through the growing mob’s legs. He began running down the hall, toward the caveman diorama, yelling at the top of his lungs.

“FIRE UP YOUR N.E.D. SUITS! FIRE UP YOUR N.E.D. SUITS!!”

Alex’s voice echoed down the Hallway of Human History, followed by the screams of the AlienSlayer fans. Dallas and Sausalito saw Alex running toward them, followed by the crazed mob. They stepped up to block them, waving their arms lamely.

“Back! Stay back! Official museum business!”

EL-ROY peeked out from behind the curtain and saw what was coming. “Not on my watch,” he muttered. The tiny G’Dalien hopped over the railing and ran toward the oncoming mob. As Dallas and Sausalito let Alex through to the diorama, EL-ROY squeaked to a stop in front of the oncoming teens.

“STOP RIGHT THERE! I ORDER YOU ALL TO IMMEDIATELY—”

FWUMPH!

The mob plowed through EL-ROY’s flailing tentacles, sending the mini-squid flying in the air. Dallas and Sausalito struggled to hold back the excited fans as Alex ducked behind the curtain. Sammi and Herbert, out of their G’Dalien costumes and ready to go, stared at him.

“What?” Alex grinned. “Just making my debut.”

A dizzy-looking EL-ROY suddenly stumbled through the closed curtain. Using all his tentacles to hold it closed as it was punched and tugged at from the other side, he warily looked up at the three of them.

“Go! Quickly!” he shouted.

Alex, Herbert, and Sammi flipped the switches on the buckles of their N.E.D. suits. In the center of the painted black cave, the shimmering blue light swirled to life.

Alex held his nose as if he were about to dive into a pool. He jumped into the air and cannonballed, solo, into the wormhole.

FOOMP!

Herbert and Sammi shared a look.

FOOMP! FOOMP!

The shimmering blue light vanished and an exhausted EL-ROY slumped over, allowing the curtain to be yanked open. The teens stopped short and stood there in confused silence.

“Take a holo-picture, why don’cha,” EL-ROY said. “It’ll last longer.”

 

“Please, do go on…”

GOR-DONNA’s eyes were wide behind her very large, very dark sunglasses. She tried to keep her red lipstick-lined mouth from hanging open as Chicago finished his story.

“So Alex yells back, ‘Maybe I will go solo!’ I don’t think they’d ever break up the AlienSlayer team, of course, but it’s a total universal access look at the real people behind the silver suits. You can use that title if you want.”

“Oh, thank you,” GOR-DONNA said with a smile. “Thank you so much.”

“So when will I be on the show?”

“Well, we’ll have to verify your main source, of course. I’ll need to interview AlienSlayer Alex right away.”

“Right. Of course. That makes sense. I’ll set it up.”

“Excellent,” GOR-DONNA said in a deeper, growling voice. She began to laugh in an uncontrollable, not very ladylike manner. “BWAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH!”

Chicago looked up from his wristwatch hologram and cut in. “Uh, tomorrow afternoon okay?”

GOR-DONNA stopped laughing. “Yes. That would be fine.”