Space News: Mr. Shoelaces has issued a challenge to Ms. Shoelaces, saying whoever can steal the most shoes in a week will be crowned as the Undisputed Shoelace Thief.

The Rocketeers occupied the front seat while talking to each other. Wolf would've known what they were discussing if they hadn't put up a force field between him and them. Sitting at the back, he stared out of the shuttle. He almost died fighting the mutants. Thankfully, Chichi and Bentlee saved him in time.

"If I can't handle mindless beasts, how can I stop Cleopatra?" he muttered.

"The mutants didn't seem mindless to me. They had coordinated attacks. How else did they think surrounding you would block your escape?" Wednesday said.

Wolf had no answer. He sighed, then glanced at The Rocketeers. They spoke and gazed at him from time to time. "What do you think they are talking about?"

"If I was to guess, your performance against the mutants. They said they would assess you before deciding if you were worthy of being a freelancer."

"I don't remember them using the word worthy."

"Do you want me to read their lips and tell you what they're saying?"

"No." Outside the shuttle, there wasn't any vegetation north of Deadland Sudan. "Are you positive they are talking about my performance?"

"I'm not Positive. I'm Wednesday."

Wolf rolled his eyes.

Wednesday chuckled. "Yes, I'm positive."

The Rocketeers finished their discussion and turned off the force field. Chichi took command of the shuttle after setting it on auto-drive. Bentlee sat beside her, while Zorro and Lola went to Wolf.

Wolf gulped. He couldn't read their stony expressions, so he fell down the paranoia hole. Placing his hand on his chest, his heart thumped against his palm. This was his worst fear; finding people he liked and them not wanting anything to do with him.

Lola sat beside him and held his hand. "Wolfie, like, we were talking, and like, we decided..." She glanced at Zorro, who nodded at her.

Wolf gulped. This was it; the moment of truth. He hadn't realized how much he wanted to be part of The Rocketeers until when they were about to tell him their decision.

"We have, like, decided to make you a freelancer for us." Lola smiled.

Wolf sighed in relief. His shoulders slumped after the weight on them vanished. "I thought I blew it back there with the mutants, seeing as The Lady and The Mage had to save me."

"That's what teams art for. We protect each other. Thither art many times whither I hath to be saved, and that goeth for the others as well. Don't worry about it. Thee showed quick thinking when thee ran from the mutants and opened a space for us to finish the rest with ease."

"That wasn't Wolf's intention," Wednesday said. "He ran away from the mutants because he feared death, not to open space."

Thankfully, Zorro couldn't hear Wednesday. And as long as The Rocketeers didn't know that, then Wolf was happy to be a quick thinker in their eyes. "Well, some coyotes do call me Mr. Brain, so—"

"Which coyote? You don't speak to any of them," Wednesday said.

"—it was a pleasure helping you defeat the mutants," Wolf finished. "Now that I'm a member of the team, do I get a codename?"

"Yes." Zorro extended his arm, and Wolf shook it. "Welcome to the team, The Freelancer."

Wolf gasped. "That's my codename?"

"Do you, like, like it? I chose it for you," Lola said.

"I love it." Wolf smiled.

"Welcome ter the team, The Freelancer," Chichi said through the speakers.

"Welcome to the team, I suppose," Bentlee added.

Wolf couldn't stop smiling. Finally, he was part of a team that didn't make him feel left out. He also liked his teammates, which was a bonus.

Zorro returned to the front and sat beside Chichi.

Lola stayed with Wolf. She hugged his arm, pressing it against her chest. "I can't, like, wait for The Coyote to meet you," she said. "When I, like, told him about you, he was excited that I, like, found someone to keep me company while he wasn't around."

"You and he were a thing?" Wolf asked.

"We, like, still are."

Wolf faced her and raised his brow. "What do you mean?" He knew exactly what she meant. But he wanted to hear her say it so he wouldn't feel like he jumped to a conclusion.

"He's, like, my boyfriend."

"I warned you about getting involved with her," Wednesday said.

Wolf always avoided getting involved with women in relationships. It was a major red flag. He had heard about people losing their lives over such a thing. He loved his life—no matter how bad it was.

"I warned you, Wolf!" Wednesday laughed in his ear. This was the longest and loudest laugh she had ever had.

If Wolf had known this back then, he wouldn't have entertained Lola. But she had a sex appeal that was hard to ignore. So she didn't have a hard time bedding him.

He cleared his throat. "What do you mean he wants to meet me?"

"We are, like, in an open relationship. As long as we know who we're both with when we're not together, then it's, like, cool."

Open relationships were the norm. It made cheating almost nonexistent. There were a few exceptions, like in everything else. But Wolf was selfish. He had a 'what's mine is mine' mentality. He hated sharing—especially his girlfriend.

"We 'ave arrived in Deadland Egypt," Chichi announced over the speakers.

Wolf looked at Lola. "We will continue this discussion another time."

"Hopefully, by that time, Little Rabbit will be, like, around. I really want you to meet him. You two will hit it off. I promise. You're, like, so similar."

"We'll see." Wolf placed an oxygen-plaster on his nose before activating his combat suit's breather. He walked out of the shuttle and found no mutants in the surrounding area, much to his appreciation. Though he would have loved to redeem himself and prove he wouldn't always be a damoiseau in distress.

"Let's headeth inside." Zorro led the way to the Great Pyramid of Giza, staring at his wristtab's display, which showed Little Rabbit's location.

They entered an opening in the pyramid's north and arrived in a large room. Wolf expected to find treasures or tombs with mummified bodies inside. Instead, large web cocoons hung from the high ceiling.

"Thither he is." Zorro pointed at the cocoon at the end of the room.

"Wait, these are all people?" Wolf asked.

"Why don't we check, I suppose?" Bentlee pulled the sword on her back and cut one cocoon. A naked body covered in brown slime dropped to the ground. She pressed two fingers on its neck. "He's alive, I suppose."

"The Coyote's alive too," Zorro said, having released him from the cocoon.

"Let's destroy the rest," Chichi said.

Out of the fifty-three cocoons, only ten had people who were still alive.

Little Rabbit regained consciousness, sitting on the floor, and wheezing. Wolf couldn't help but notice how large and muscular the man was. He was bigger than everyone on the team, with his dark skin, blue eyes, and white hair.

"Count your lucky stars Little Rabbit has no problem with you having sex with Lola. Otherwise, he would've killed you," Wednesday said.

Wolf wasn't worried about that at the moment. Lola had dared to say he and Little Rabbit were similar. How? The Coyote was a walking tank with the face of a model. While he... he was the way he was. Not ugly or handsome. Not muscular or thin. Not large or small. He was average in every department.

"Yawl shouldn't have come here," Little Rabbit said with a deep voice.

"Like, what are you talking about, baby?" Lola asked, sitting beside him, holding his hand.

Wolf's heart burned watching Lola cozying up to her boyfriend. With him around, he knew Lola would never look his way again.

"Yawl can't escape it. It's comin' tuh eat us. It promised." Little Rabbit pulled his knees close to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He swung back and forth. "Yawl can't escape it. It's comin' tuh eat us. It promised." He stared into the air with widened eyes, looking like a possessed man.

"What will eat us?" Zorro asked Little Rabbit while crouched in front of him.

Little Rabbit looked at Zorro with tears in his eyes. "The Spider."

The Rocketeers glanced at each other with raised brows, curled lips, and creases between their foreheads. No one knew what that was.

"It did sumpn tuh us," Little Rabbit said. "Ah don't know whut, but don't yawl say ah can breathe in thuh toxic air without uh problem?"

Wolf glanced at the other survivors. They were breathing without complications. "Did you notice this after we released them from the cocoons?"

"Yes, but I said nothing because I wanted you to discover it for yourself," Wednesday replied.

A monstrous scream filled the room, shaking the floor. Dust particles fell from the ceiling, covering the air. Bentlee swatted her sword with one swift move and dispersed it.

"What was that?" Wolf placed his hand on his chest, feeling his beating heart.

"The Spider," Little Rabbit said. He was trembling. "It can control mutants. Wheyun ah arrived an saw it, ah tried runnin' awf. But it sent thuh mutants after me."

Wednesday had said the attacks from the mutants who chased Wolf looked coordinated. And after what Little Rabbit said, it made sense that The Spider was controlling them. But Wolf hadn't heard of mutants who could control other mutants. "Is it a mutant?" he asked.

Little Rabbit looked at Wolf. "No." He gasped. "Yawl must bay Wolf."

"Yes, that is I." He chuckled. He never thought this day would come. But there he was, meeting the boyfriend of the woman he was sleeping with.

"We killed the mutants. They won't beest a bother anymore," Zorro said.

Little Rabbit's eyes widened. "Yawl shouldn't have done so. Without thuh mutants around, thuh Spider will come fahwar us herself."

Herself? The mutants were a combination of different animals, making it hard to know their sex. But if Little Rabbit could tell with The Spider, did that mean it was a different species?

Zorro turned to the other members of The Rocketeers. "Let's leaveth here before The Spider cometh for us."

The Rocketeers helped the other survivors walk out of the pyramid, leading them to the shuttle before returning outside.

"We can't leaveth like this. We hast to do something before it finds more mutants and kidnaps other people," Zorro said.

"Wotcher suggest?" Chichi asked.

"Ah know uh way," Little Rabbit said while leaning on the shuttle, looking exhausted. Whatever The Spider did to him, it seemed to have taken most of his energy. But at least the toxic air didn't kill him. "Ben—I mean The Mage—attack thuh pyramid with chur strongest fire wave. It will brin' out The Spider."

Bentlee nodded, then pulled the sword from her back. Pressing the button on the handle, fire coated it. Then she drew her arm backward, and with all her strength, she swung it in an arc towards the pyramid.

A sharp, curved line of fire struck the pyramid, cutting it in half.

Another monstrous scream came from the pyramid. It was so loud this time; they had to turn off their breather's sound detector. Something flew out of the pyramid, heading to the sky. Its enormous shadow covering them before it landed in front of them.

Wolf gasped. "It can't be."

When Little Rabbit talked about The Spider, Wolf thought it was a mutant. But he was wrong. The Spider was a silver mechanical beast standing at fifteen feet with the face of a woman and the body of a spider. It had two stingers—one on its forehead and the other on its back.

"Like, what is that thing?" Lola asked.

"A golem," Wolf said.

The others looked at him and had a facial expression that said, "What's a golem?"

Before Wolf answered them, The Spider said, "Which one of you killed my babies?" It circled them like a predator, waiting for the right opportunity to strike. "Which. One. Of. You. Killed. My. Babies!" Its scream produced a sonic attack, thrusting everyone to the ground.

They stood immediately.

"I'll tell you what a golem is later. For now, if you want to kill it, then aim for its head," Wolf said.

"There's no other way to kill it?" Zorro asked.

"None."

Zorro looked at Chichi, Lola, and Bentlee. "Let's finish it quickly." He turned to Wolf. "Protect The Coyote and those inside the shuttle."

Wolf nodded.

Zorro, Chichi, Lola, and Bentlee attacked The Spider. At first, it countered them with its sonic attacks. But there seemed to be a limit to how many times it could use it. After the fifth sonic attack, it looked drained of energy. So, it began attacking them with its stingers.

Lola aimed at the stinger on its forehead with her mechanical limbs, Zorro went for the stinger on its back, and Chichi attacked its legs. When The Spider tried hitting them with her web, Bentlee used her fire to burn it.

Lola and Zorro cut off its stingers, and Chichi destroyed its legs. It was up to Bentlee to finish it. She used the same attack she did on the pyramid earlier. With one swing of her arm, she cut The Spider in two. The golem collapsed to the ground and burned to death.

"That was amazing," Wolf said.

Little Rabbit chuckled. "Yayus, it was."

"Now, telleth about the golem," Zorro said after the four returned from killing the golem.

Wolf described the events in Coupon City, beginning with what he discovered, and what happened afterward. He didn't tell them about Oli. The pain of losing a new friend was still fresh in his heart. Maybe one day he would have the courage to tell someone about her. For now, she was his little secret.

The Rocketeers were quiet after he finished talking. Wolf hadn't expected this reaction from them. He thought after learning about the existence of extraterrestrials, they would be afraid. But they looked... calm and collected.

"Golems, huh?" Chichi said.

"Yes," Wolf said.

"Like, Olden?" Lola asked.

"Yes." Wolf nodded.

"Centauri, I suppose?" Bentlee asked.

"Yes." Wolf smiled.

"The Majors?" Zorro asked.

"Yes." Wolf sighed.

"Since thuh toxic air doesn't affect may, duz thet mean ah might bay uh golem?" Little Rabbit asked. Tears welled in his eyes before streaming down his face.

This was the reaction Wolf expected. Sadly, it came from someone traumatized after being in a cocoon for weeks. "I don't know," he said.

"Like, I'll take him inside." Lola grabbed Little Rabbit's hand and took him to the shuttle.

"I'd like to hast a minute alone with Wolf," Zorro said.

"I'll go prepare for us ter leave," Chichi said.

Bentlee wanted to say something, but she stopped herself before going to the shuttle.

Zorro gazed at the sky. "If what thee sayeth is true, then we don't hath't long before The Majors arrive. I'm going to spendeth the remaining time doing what I doth most wondrous, and that's treasure hunting. Then at which hour the time for war cometh, I'll square to mine last breath." Zorro looked at Wolf. "What about thee?"

"There's a mission I've been neglecting for the last few weeks. I'm going to complete it. Then after that..." He shrugged. "I don't know what I'll do."

Zorro placed his hand on Wolf's shoulder. "If thee findeth yourself with nothing to doth and wanteth to earn extra credits, giveth me a calleth."

"I don't have your number."

Zorro laughed. "Right." He tapped his wristtab and a holo-number appeared. Wolf recorded it on his wristtab before giving his. "Let me payeth thee too." The Gentleman pressed his tab, and a ding came from it.

Wolf checked his eWallet and saw he had received one-hundred-thousand credits. "It was good doing business with you." He extended his hand to Zorro.

"Thee's not coming with us?" Zorro asked, shaking Wolf's hand.

Wolf shook his head. "I'll call for my spacecraft to pick me up."

"We'll return to Tanzanite City and see if there are missing reports on the survivors." He patted Wolf's shoulder. "Until we meet again, The Freelancer."

"Goodbye, The Gentleman." Wolf smiled.

Zorro nodded, then entered the shuttle. Wolf spotted Lola staring at him from the window. He waved at her, and she waved back before they flew away.

"Wednesday, bring the spacecraft," Wolf said.

"It's on its way," she replied. "There's something else you should know."

"What?"

"The other coyotes assigned to hunt Cleopatra are in the spacecraft."

"My spacecraft?"

"Yes."

"What are they doing there?"

"They say they found Cleopatra and went to capture her. But she defeated them and destroyed their spacecrafts. They escaped by stealing one of her shuttles. Your spacecraft is the only one left out of the group."

Wolf hated having guests in his spacecraft. Though it had other rooms that could accommodate them, he didn't want them there. He sighed. "Is that all?"

"No. They say they almost captured Cleopatra, but she had help from another person whom you might know."

"Who?"

"Rainbow."