Preparation

After coming home. Dale was questioned. He didn't complain, because he was given a free meal and a hotel. He hadn't seen Stella or the other girls yet, but he knew they were safe. We'll, if he trusted the police's word for it, which he did. During the interview, he told them about the ship, and what they did to him. All said in the most detailed way he could tell it.

"So, last question. Where's the armor? Is there any way we can replicate it?" The man asked.

The man was from a new branch, designed to investigate all forms of abilities to combat the alien threat. At least thats what he said, and Dale had no reason to question that. As long as he was free to see Stella, Senko, and the others again. He just had to hang in there.

"No..it can't be replicated. The aliens stole my first suit. The second suit returns to its own demension when I'm not using it. So does the body." Dale said.

"Its own demension? What do you mean by the body?" The man asked as he wrote something into his notes.

"The body…you know. The girl you found in Egypt..which was me. Appearently theres another universe like ours..one thats not under attack by aliens." Dale said as he felt his face burn with embarrasement.

"Right..that really did confuse everyone. How did it feel to have a va…" Dale slammed his hands down before he finshed.

"Look, that Scarlet body looked clearly underaged, theres no way in Hell that I'll answer anything indecent…understood?" Dale said with a glare.

"It was a joke…" The man laughed.

"Anyways. Is that all you wanted to ask?" Dale questioned.

"One last thing. We did accomodate Zilla a new home behined your home. Its a hangar. We also wanted to investigate weapons for Zilla..but that may take time. In the mean time. We'll keep in touch." The man handed Dale a card with his phone and email.

A few minutes later. The Uber driver dropped him off at his mansion's gate.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drop you off at the door?" The driver asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." Dale replied.

He handed the man a fifty dollar bill and the driver tipped his hat.

"Thank you."

Dale punched his code in and the gate opened. He heard the gate close behined him as he walked up the long driveway. The grass had grown long by now, but it was still clean. There wasn't signs of weeds yet, but there would be if he didn't hire lawn care.

He opened the door. At the entrance was Stella wearing a dress, mopping the floor. She made a guilty expression, then it changed into a sad one, then she frowned. Her mop fell to the ground, she broke into tears and threw her arms around him.

"Its alright man…"

"It was my fault..I was scared..and…"

"Hey Bobo! Wheres my Mac and cheese!" Senko's voice echoed in the kitchen area.

"No, it was my fault. I was acting as leader and I didn't believe you all could do it..I shouldn't be scared. I was a damn coward." Dale said. His mouth felt dry.

"Maybe thats true, but we may be dead if we didn't retreat..I honestly don't know what the right answer would be." Stella said as she pushed him away. She was still holding his sleeves and he could feel the tightness of it.

"Is everyone alright?" Dale asked. He almost regretted asking, but he had to know. He could keep playing coward anymore.

"Yeah. Everyones great. The machines stopped after they took you, but we can talk about that later. Come, lets eat. I'm sure your tired." Stella said.

"Right…I feel like I've been through Hell and back. I even landed in Africa." Dale forced a laugh.

"Dale? Dale? Is that you?" Senko stood at the kitchen entrance. Her eyes were wide and her large tail was still there.

Dald kneeled and hugged her. He'd thought she died at first. That could've been the end, it should've been the end.

"You're alive!" Dale cried.

"And you're alive too.." She said.

"I thought you died..you got hit pretty hard." Dale said as he wiped his tears away.

"I have a magic ability. I maxed out my defense resistance. That means any hard hits are blocked for three seconds..I guess that robots smack counted as a shot. Since marksmen use that skill to block arrows in my world..it still hurt through." Senko smiled.

Dale nodded his headed slowly.

"I don't know what the Hell you just said, but I'm glad you pulled through, Senko.." Dale smiled.

"How could you not know! Its simple magic!" Senko said.

"Whats all the commotio….D-Dale!" Jill was by the kitchen and then she threw arms around him.

"Why did you surrender! You promised you'd be with me…I don't want to be alone again." Jill said.

Thats right. I did promise Jill I'd help her cope with her culture shock. I'm such a bastard, Dale thought.

"I won't break that promise. I'm here now aren't I? We're all family and we'll fight for whats ours." Dale said.

"Right." She smiled.

Senko grabbed Dale's finger and thumb. Then she pulled.

"Comon. The foods done! You gotta try mac and cheese. Its the best!" She said.

At that point, any food would impress her. Especially since she lived off stale rations in her world.

Dale told them what had happened over a meal of mac and cheese and chicken tenders.

The aliens, the ship, the torture, and everything up to this point.

Stella slammed her hands down.

"I'll go teach them a lesson.." Senko said as she pulled out her sling.

"Chill out guys..I mean. I feel sort of the same way. But we have to act strategically. If we lose, we lose together, and if we win. Well." Dale made a nervous smile.

Stella leaned back in her chair and made a grin.

"There you go, being all pessimistic again." She said.

Dale chuckled at that.

"I told you Dale. I'll shoot them in the head and pop their heads off. We got this!" Senko cheered.

Dale felt fear again. He studied their faces as they laughed at Senko's remark. Looking at Jill, he imagined her dead body under collapsed rubble. Then his eyes moved on to Senko's proud smile. He imagined her doll like body resting in a casket at the funeral home. Her proud smile replaced with a gentle sleep like expression. Then there was the wise ones, Stella and Bobo. He paused and remembered the Goddess. She believed in him for a reason. She chose this team, as weak as he may think it is. This team was put together by a Goddess. If she's anything like the good book says, them she should be all knowing.

I just need to do my best to play my role, Dale thought.

"Everything alright, bro?" Stella said with a smile.

"Yeah. I think we should talk about the giant robots.." Dale's voice trailed off.

"I was..umm. Thinking about that. We all have skills right? Me and my sis have various skills and abilities. Almost like a video game..but maybe a few could help defeat the enemy." Bobo made an unsure smile. He could tell she wasn't fully confident in herself or Stella's abilities. But Dale knew she was onto something. He could feel it in hus gut.

"Right…Senko."

"Ya!" She raised her hand like a child.

"You said you could block shots right?"

"Right. I can block three per day. Well, it takes a tiny span of eight hours for one ro recharge." She said.

"Alright, alright. I can work with that." Dale's smile grew a bit more confident.

"Maybe we can become dragons and serve as extra cannon fire." Stella said.

Dale bit his lip as he thought about it. He studied the ceiling as if the answer was there.

"Maybe..we know the cannon shots didn't help last time. I did notice the robot's armor heat up. So we can accumulate heat." Dale rubbed his chin.

"If we can get the military to help. We might be able to melt through." Jill said.

Her soft voice surprised Dale, since shes usually quiet. She took a sip of her coffee as he thought about it.

"That can be a hit or miss..we'll have to make Zilla avoid close combat." Dale said.

"Right. Or we can use her blade saw and cannons to cut through." Stella added. Dale rememebred the last time he tried to use her cannon. Any little hit Zilla took caused Dale to bounce around in the cannon chamber. He certainly didn't want to feel anymore pain. Then another idea hit him. Scarlet. He couldn't use the first set if armor, but he could use the new one he wished for.

Dale studied the inner tattoo, wondering if he could even transform anymore.

"Scarlet?" Dale said.

"What?" Stella replied.

The armor meterialized around Dales body.

"What the crap! A monster!" Senko cried.

"What did I tell you about saying bad words?" Dale said.

Senko gulped.

"What happened to you, Dale?" She said.

"I lost my first set of armor, so now I have this one." Dale said.

The sound of a snapping filled the room, followed by a loud thump. Dale found himself on the floor. Chair had callapsed and Dale felt his face growing hot again.

"Bahahha!" Senko laughed. Everyone else bursted into laughter, but Senko's laugh was the loudest.

"Jeez…give me some slack..its not that funny." Dale said as he stood up. He looked down at the wooden chair and it's broken legs.

Stella was wiping her tears away.

"I-I…think…I'm gunna throw up!" She said as She bent over as she held her stomach.

"Look, its not that funny..oh whatever." Dale said.

Dale looked past his laughing comrades. Through the large windows he could see the garden in the back yard. Behined that was a massive hangar. Zilla was inside there and Dale felt uneasy about asking for her help. Would she help? The alien robots crushed her saw and damaged her armor. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to endanger her. Senko chomped her bread calmly. Her ears twitching as the others spoke. It was clear she wasn't afraid. Neither was Stella or Bobo. Was it because of trust or were they confident in their skills?

Dale smiled under his helmet.

"I'll go talk to Zilla. I'll be back."

"Good luck." Stella said.

"Those robots won't know what hit them.." Senko stood up on her chair and out her hands on the table. Her large tail wagged like a dogs would.

"Thanks. I'll tell her the plan and let her decide." Dale said.

"That sounds good. Although I wish it were optional. If we don't win, we may as well surrender. We'd all be dead eventually." Stella said.

"Now looks who's being pessimistic." Dale teased.

"Right…get out there and get her." Stella said with a wave of her hand.

And with that. Dale made his way to the hangar.