Storyverse: Stealing the Show - 7. Chapter 7-Epilogue and Author's Notes

“There,” kbois declared as she closed her laptop. “Last chapter is posted.”

“I can’t fuckin' believe we’re done,” Aaron said with a weary sigh.

"Don't you mean forkin'?"

"That's reserved for GA only."

The two authors looked rather ragged around the edges. Kbois’ ponytail was askew, strands of hair hanging in her face. Aaron’s usually neat, Ned Flanders mustache had morphed into something resembling Zoidberg's upper lip from Futurama. They both sported dark circles under their eyes.

The two were compelled to complete their task as quickly as possible, pushed by the knowledge that an entire population was on the brink of extinction. Granted, it was in an alternate timeline, but still, it was a heavy load to bear. They did the best they could. All that was left was to wait and see what happened.

“I need a drink,” kbois announced. She looked around, frowning, when she spotted the empty Skrewball bottle, grabbed it, and held it up. “Nelly darling, whip me up another bottle of whiskey, please.”

“No,” the AI replied. “The captain will revoke my license to serve.”

“Fine,” she retorted with a huff. “Aaron, you try talking some sense into that thing.”

A low humming sound was the closest thing Nelonius had to a growl. Aaron snickered, his ridiculous mustache rustling from his breath.

“Nels, go ahead and serve her. I swear she has a cast iron stomach and an off-the-charts alcohol absorption rate. I’m sure her kidneys process that stuff at the speed of light. I could go for another round of sake, too.”

The AI emitted another low buzz. It ended with a loud POP as the requested libations appeared.

Kbois grinned triumphantly.

Raising her tumbler, kbois turned to Aaron. “Congratulations! We fucking did it.”

Aaron clinked his glass against hers. “Yup. Knocking out three stories in two weeks is a record for me. I’ve never been this tired. At least Nels kept us clean and fed the whole time.”

“Yeah, that waterless, ion-pressure thingy she zapped us with every day was weird, but effective. I still prefer a shower, though.”

“Me too.”

The two sat in companionable silence as they enjoyed their beverages. Before either finished, they each slipped into a peaceful, well-deserved slumber, sprawled out on their respective recliners.

*****

Wythuf closed the app and set his tablet to the side. He sat back in his chair in stunned silence. He asked for content. What the two authors delivered went above and beyond. Excitement bubbled within him. He jumped up, nearly knocking his chair over, and called out, “Nelonius, update the current status of kbois and astone.”

“Captain, they are currently in their ninth hour of stasis.”

Sleeping. He should have figured as much. The two authors had spent the better part of two weeks typing furiously on their keyboards. Wythuf felt compelled to check on them. He hurried to the door, ignoring the loud whooshing noise the airlock made. His long strides propelled him down the corridor, the heels of his boots clicking on the floor's smooth surface.

Wythuf softened his steps as he approached the door to the StoryKave, as the two had christened it. Their literary command center. “Quiet mode,” he instructed. This time, the door opened silently. He peered around the corner of the room kbois, and Aaron had commandeered. His eyes widened at the sight. It looked as though a nebula had exploded. The room was littered with several empty bottles of Skrewball, mango habanero whiskey, and sake.

Aaron was splayed out on his recliner. It was pushed back as far as it would go. His legs were stretched to the edge of the elevated footrest, and his head was thrown back at the top of the seat. A snore would rumble from his mouth every few seconds, which hung open.

Kbois was sound asleep in a semi-reclined position sideways with one leg thrown over the arm of her recliner. One hand was tucked under her head, the other hanging over the side, clutching the remote control for the chair’s massage feature.

It was hard to believe these two had pulled it off. Preliminary reports concluded that the content they created had gone viral. Millions of hits each time they posted a story… in a matter of hours. Entertainment producers were already planning their own versions of these game shows to broadcast.

The latest computation results measuring the planet’s depression index have shown considerable improvement. It was nothing short of a miracle.

Wythuf stilled as Aaron stirred. As if on cue, kbois did the same. She must be a light sleeper. Aaron woke up fully, nodding when he spotted the captain. “What’s up, dude?” he asked.

The sound roused kbois from the remnants of her slumber. She yawned, then stretched, her back cracking audibly. She greeted Aaron with a grumbly “Morning, or whatever the fuck it is.”

Wythuf smiled. Earlier, he realized she was not what her world deemed a ‘morning person.’ She nearly bit his head off the first time he tried to engage her in conversation after a nap. “Shall I order breakfast for you?”

Two grunts acted as a reply. The cloud of just-got-up-grumpiness was ignored in the same way one would overlook a pink elephant in the room.

“Nels, the usual for both of us, please,” Aaron instructed as kbois padded off to the attached bathroom.

A moment later, the scent of coffee and bacon permeated the air. A couple of minutes after that, kbois came out of the bathroom looking better. Nelonious obviously ion-cleaned her. Aaron headed in next, oblivious that they could hear his release of flatulence as soon as the door closed behind him. Kbois rolled her eyes as she grabbed the giant tumbler of coffee from the tray.

Aaron returned, looking refreshed as well. His mustache was no longer unkempt, trimmed back to its original state.

Wythuf knew better than to initiate any meaningful conversation until at least half of the sizeable insulated tumbler of kbois’ coffee was consumed, so he sat back and waited.

In addition to the crispy bacon, Nelonius provided two items Aaron informed him were called breakfast burritos. They were a concoction of scrambled eggs, with the addition of whatever the consumer preferred. Kbois added roasted potatoes, sausage, caramelized onions, fresh spinach, and pepper jack cheese to hers. She topped it off with a spicy peach salsa and sour cream.

Aaron was hell-bent on devouring his culinary creation, filled with bacon, Swiss cheese, and mushrooms.

Earlier, Wythuf had Nelonius fix him a breakfast burrito, and he had to admit, it was a brilliant combination of flavors.

When he deemed it was safe to address kbois, Wythuf cleared his throat, getting their attention. “Ahem, I’ve received the early results from our headquarters. I have to say, I was skeptical at first, but it seems the content you created has worked.”

Aaron stood, raising one leg and fist-pumping the air at the same time. “Woo-hoo! I knew it!” He proceeded to gallop around the room, spurring on an imaginary horse.

“Whoa there, cowboy. Settle down. This isn’t your Cow-man story, y’know,” kbois admonished. Aaron looked sheepish as he took a seat.

“So, your world is safe?” kbois asked, turning to Wythuf.

“It seems that way. At least for now.”

A frown of concern crossed both author’s faces. “What can we do to keep it that way?” Aaron asked.

“Spread the word in your timeline for your fellow authors to write more stories. Encourage collaborations such as the ones you’ve written. I’m also requesting permission from our leaders and your Myr to create a permanent portal between our timelines so we can access the amazing Gay Author’s platform.”

“Do you think it will work?” kbois asked.

“If your fellow authors get onboard, it will.”

“We’ll do whatever we can to help,” Aaron promised.

“Yeah, I know Gnomie will jump on the bandwagon. Her need for attention won’t let her miss out on keeping an alternate world safe. She lives for praise and being in the spotlight.” Kbois chuckled.

Aaron giggled. “You two need to do a collab.”

“I’m not sure the site would survive an onslaught like that,” she teased. “We’ll see. Our schedules are hectic, but maybe someday. In the meantime, I think Wythuf is right. We need to encourage the other authors to keep writing stories and do more collaborations. There’s a demand for it in both worlds.”

“Not to mention, the GA site is such a welcoming and inclusive platform,” Wythuf noted. “I think our world would benefit from the creation of something similar. I can’t thank you both enough for what you’ve done.”

“Well, you didn’t give us much choice,” kbois pointed out with a huff.

Wythuf blushed. “Yeah. About that, I am sorry.”

Kbois smiled and walked over to hug the captain. “Next time, ask nicely before you abduct someone.”

Her gesture touched Wythuf. She did have a heart.

Aaron held out a fist. Wythuf looked at it, puzzled. Kbois reached down and grabbed his hand. She balled it up and tapped it against Aaron’s.

“It’s called a fist bump,” she explained.

Their world had some strange customs. “I’m grateful it wasn’t that thing you call fisting.”

Aaron cackled and choked out, “Someone discovered Pornhub.”

Kbois laughed.

Wythuf’s cheeks turned fire engine red. “It was research.”

That admission caused kbois to double over. Aaron’s eyes teared up as he tried to hold back his snorts of mirth. It was a losing battle. The two authors couldn’t control themselves.

When they finally quieted down, kbois spoke. “As much fun as this has been, I’m sure our families and friends are worried sick about us. Can we go home now?”

“Jesus, my mom has probably plastered my face on milk cartons worldwide.” Aaron looked stricken at the thought.

“Of course,” Wythuf agreed. “However, you don’t have to worry about being declared missing persons. I will have Nelonius return you to the same point where we, um, abducted you. No one will ever know you’ve been gone.”

Aaron sagged with relief. “Phew! I wasn’t looking forward to explaining the past two weeks.”

“What about our postings? Haven’t they already been seen by the readers in our timeline, too?” kbois wondered.

“Nelonius will be able to manipulate the time continuum so that your stories will post on a weekly basis in your world. You will be able to comment and interact with your readers as you normally would. The synchronization to our world will be the same. No one will ever be the wiser.”

“That sounds perfect,” Aaron said. “Can we get going? Noah might not have missed me, but I missed him.”

“Someone’s horny.” kbois giggled as Aaron shot her a look.

Wythuf ignored their antics and addressed Nelonius. “Nel, prepare to return these two to their timeline two to three seconds after their initial departure. Wait for my command.”

“Yes, Captain,” the AI replied. “Calculations will be complete in five seconds.”

“That’s our Nelly,” kbois quipped. A short buzz sounded in the room.

Aaron smirked as he withheld a snort. “Only you could aggravate an artificial intelligence being.”

She shrugged and grinned back at him.

Wythuf cleared his throat again. “Once again, I’d like to thank you for all you’ve done. You really have no idea how close we were to a catastrophic event. My world is in your debt. If you ever need anything I can provide, don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll arrange it so that you may contact me through the GA site.”

“Oh, please make your avatar an alien, and your GA moniker can be whythef-asterisk, hashtag-knot,” kbois suggested.

Aaron chuckled in agreement. The two never let up.

“On that note, it is time for you to return to your world. Nelonius, initiate reversion protocol.” Wythuf instructed.

“Initiating.”

The authors' eyes widened as Nelonius started the process of essentially beaming them back to their respective homes. Wythuf knew from his own experience the weird electric tingling that shot through your body as the molecules were rearranged in order to be transported to another place through space and time.

The two faded, then disappeared altogether.

“Transfer successful,” Nel informed him.

“They did it, Nel. They really did it.”

Nelonius replied with a phrase undoubtedly learned from the snarky kbois. “No shit, Sherlock.”

Wythuf laughed. “Indeed.”

*****

Author’s note

I can’t believe Aaron is giving me free rein with the last word. His loss.

Accolades– first of all, thank you, Aaron, a.k.a., @astone2292 for all the laughs and snorts along the way. It was a lot of fun trading ideas and working together on this.

Then there’s @Mrsgnomie Once again, you did a bang-up job of catching what Grammarly didn’t. LOL. Not to mention allowing me to “borrow” Jay and Loren.

I also need to thank @Graeme. His words of wisdom and guidance will certainly help make me a better writer.

Most of all, I need to thank all of our readers, especially the ones who gave me permission to use their names. I can’t begin to tell you how much fun writing Korner Klash. I got to stretch my writing wings, try something new, and involve so many of the readers who made it all possible.

Going back to Darts of Destiny for a moment– I know it’s not what any of you pictured when I promised you’d see Kage again, but this was a unique way for me to provide some closure. Kage will always hold a special place in my heart.

I really enjoyed bringing back some favorite characters, as well as lending Aaron a few. It was good to see them.

We started working on this in October. I’ll admit, Aaron got his three stories done a lot faster than I did mine. I had a lot going on. It all worked out though.

As for what’s next? I can’t speak for Aaron. I do know of a couple of things he’s working on, but he tends to have multiple irons in the fire. You never know what will spew forth. As for me, I can work on one thing at a time. The last installment of Hybrid Journey is chugging along. It’s not moving as fast as Shadow Effect, that’s for sure. It won’t be anytime soon, but it’s probably safe to say it will be this year.

As for any other collaborations? Well, I’m not opposed. It’s a matter of finding the right co-author and the time. Ideas are plentiful. Will Aaron and I team up again? I hope so. It really was a lot of fun. I’m sure there are more formats we can steal for the Storyverse. I'm confident we can expand the world quite a bit.

So, my friends, thank you once again for allowing me and Aaron to entertain you for a bit. Now go do your part–review and RECOMMEND!!! Shoo!