The Louds were led back into there room on the ship.

"Goodbye Earth." Lana said sadly. Her little face was pressed up against the window as the ship flew higher and higher.

"Wow" Lori said looking out the window. They were now high enough they could see the curve of the Earth. "It really is quite beautiful up here."

"What's going to happen to us?" Luan said.

"Well Gabriel seems really nice." Leni said. "Maybe the Red King will be nice too."

The others gave Leni a look.

"What?" Leni said.

...

Back on earth...

"Where is Benny?" Mrs. Bernardo, the drama teacher asked. "We cannot have a play on Moby Dick without our Captain Ahab."

"He hasn't shown up in school today." One of the kids mentioned.

"I can do his role." A voice chimed in.

It was a young emo girl named Maggie.

"I think you'll find I am much better than that looser Benny." Maggie said.

"But Captain Ahab is a male role." Mrs. Bernardo explained.

"And so is Peter Pan." Maggie said. "But he's always played by a girl. So, what makes Ahab any different?"

"Ahab is an adult!" another student called out.

"And Benny is a child." Maggie pointed out. "A dumb and annoying child."

"Well he is dumb." Another student said.

"And he believes in aliens!" another student chimed in.

"Very well Maggie." Mrs. Bernardo said. "You can give it a shot."

Maggie climbed onto the prop ship on stage. She took out a wooden sword and raised it into the air with pride and said... "Why is the rum gone?"

"Uh Maggie." Mrs. Bernardo said. "You're playing Captain Ahab, that line was from Captain Sparrow."

"Oh... Maggie said. "The strong man who has known power all his life, may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows... compassion."

"Uh that was Captain America." Mrs. Bernardo said.

"Oh..." Maggie said. "Then let's boldly go where no man has gone before."

"That's Captain Kirk."

"Oh..." Maggie was starting to blush. "Um... Chrunchitize me captain?"

"That's Captain Crunch." Mrs. Bernardo said. "Well actually it's what kids say to Captain Crunch in the commercials."

"Oh." Maggie said.

"Maggie, the line is "I'll get you Moby Dick"" Mrs. Bernardo informed Maggie. "If you don't even know the lines, how am I to believe you could be a good replacement for Benny."

"Come on Mrs. B!" Maggie pleaded. "I am leagues better than Benny in every conceivable way."

"Then prove it." Mrs. Bernardo said.

Maggie took a deep breath. "I'LL GET YOU MOBY..."

KA-BOOM!

A giant fireball crashed through the ceiling, knocking Maggie off of the cardboard ship and destroying the prop.

The smoke cleared to reveal a large metal cylinder.

"MY SHIP!!!!!!" Maggie wined. "YOU RUINED MY SHIP!!!!!!!!!"

A door opened on the metal pod and Benny stumbled out.

"Ugh I should have known it was you!" Maggie growled walking up to Benny. She grabbed Benny by the color of his shirt. "You ruined my ship you little dweeb!"

"Ok. A, your ship is not even a real ship, and never was. It's a prop made of cardboard." Benny said. "And B, it's not even yours, it belongs to the school." Maggie let him go.

Benny turned to Mrs. Bernardo.

"You guys gotta help me!" Benny said. "Luan was abducted by aliens!"

Everyone started to laugh. Benny's face grew red.

"Do you not see the alien escape pod?" Benny said, pointing at the metal cylinder.

Maggie looked at the pod, then at Benny. "Aliens?" Maggie pondered for a moment. She didn't give a crap about Luan but seeing an alien could be cool. And that Pod Benny was in did convince her that Benny's story could be real. "Ok Benny. I'll help you find your sad buck toothed clown of a girlfriend."

"You will?" Benny said. "I didn't think you cared about me or Luan."

"Psh of course I care." Maggie said. "You guys are like my best friends."

"But you never speak to us." Benny said. "And you just said Luan was a sad buck toothed clown."

"Oh, that was just a joke." Maggie said. "And it would be cool to see an alien. Something with powers far beyond our mortal comprehension."

"And there's the real reason you want to help." Benny said.

"Maybe I'll get to see them prob somebody." Maggie said with an evil smile. "Maybe I'll get to see them prob YOU. Yeah, I'm in all the way, let's do this."

...

The raptors ship had now left the atmosphere and was on its way to the moon.

"Hey what's going on?" Luan asked as the family started to float.

"we left the atmosphere." Lisa said. "There's no gravity in space."

"Yay!" Leni said, floating about the room. "I can fly!"

"Artificial gravity engaged." A voce filled the room.

As gravity returned to the room Leni fell face first on the ground. "OOF!!!"

"Are you ok Leni?" Lori asked.

"Fine." Leni said. "a little soar. But I'm glad that artificial gravity guy found someone, I'm really happy for him."

The other siblings facepalmed.

"We have to find a way out of here." Lynn said. "If we can get to those escape pods." She nudged Lincoln. "Come on Man with a Plan, how are we going to get out of here?"

"I don't have a plan." Lincoln said.

"What?" Lynn said. "But you always have a plan!"

"Not this time." Lincoln said.

"Why not?" Lynn asked.

"Because I don't want to escape." Lincoln said.

The others gasped.

"Well, clearly Lincoln's been brainwashed." Lola said. "Looks like we gotta knock him out."

"Lola no!" Lori said. "Lincoln, why don't you want to escape? We have so much to live for back on earth. Don't you think your friends will miss you? Ronnie Anne came all the way from Great Lakes city to see you, and you've barely seen her all summer."

"Well these creatures came from billions of lightyears away to see us." Lincoln said.

"Yeah." Lola said. "So, they can take us to their leader and KILL US!"

"You don't know that." Lincoln said.

"Uh... yeah we do." Lola said.

"Lincoln's right." Lori said. "We have no idea what this Red King wants with us. But that's what scares me. We don't know what he is, or what he's capable of. I don't want to risk being hurt or killed."

Lucy chimed in. "Has it occurred to anyone that trying to escape could just make things worse."

"I doubt that." Lola said.

"Lola, let's here Lucy out." Lori said.

"Well." Lucy said. "We don't know what The Red King wants with us. But as far as we know, he has no reason to want to hurt us."

"Uh... he's called the Red King, Lucy." Lola said. "I don't think a guy with that name is going to be about hugs and cuddling."

"How do you know?" Lucy said. "Yes, to us the color red has some negative connotations. But these are aliens, to them red could mean anything. You know in some parts of the world, they wear red dresses at weddings instead of white ones. Remember, red is just a color."

"Yes, in many Asian cultures, red symbolizes good fortune." Lisa added.

"So what?" Lynn said. "You think the Red King is some sort of luck god?"

"He was Lucky enough to find us." Lincoln said.

"You know he's probably not an actual god." Lisa said. "It is said that to a much less advanced civilization, science would appear as magic. Think of all the stuff we have. Cell phones, cars, the internet. If you mentioned these things to someone in the dark ages, you'd be burned at the stake for witchcraft."

"I don't like burned stake." Leni said.

"The Red King most likely just has technology far more advanced than our own." Lisa pointed out.

"And he's also older than time itself and is so horrifying that you would go crazy just looking at him." Lori said. "Isn't that what you said Lincoln?"

"That's what I heard." Lincoln said. "From Agent Jay, who read it on some antient ruins somewhere. Guys we are surrounded by well-armed aliens who not only have super advanced weapons, but also have razor sharp claws and teeth. Not to mention that gigantic spike on their tail. If you guys, try to escape your going to get yourselves killed. And for what? because you think The Red King might be scary?"

"Lincoln's got a point." Lori said. "attempting an escape could be very dangerous."

"Look," Lincoln said. "I don't think The Red King sent these people all the way here, and then to drag us all the way to the center of the Galaxy, just to kill us."

"Aren't you some sort of chosen one?" Luna said. "Didn't you say something about "a child born when the rift opened would end the Red Kings reign?""

"If he really saw us as a threat." Lincoln said. "Why would he be bringing us right to him? Something's not right."

"Man." Lana said. "Who knew space would be so dark."

The window was pitch black now. Earth had vanished from view.

...

The ship landed on the moon.

The Louds looked out the window in amazement. The ground was a bright gray and the earth rose in the sky like a sun.

"Wow." They all said, their eyes wide as a puppy dog.

"We got here exceptionally fast." Lisa pointed out. "Usually it takes astronauts months to get to the moon."

"Well they don't have anything nearly as advanced as these guys do." Lori pointed out. "No one on Earth does. Despite our fears, you gotta admit this is kind of amazing. I mean, how many kids can say they've actually been to space?"

"Let's hope we make it back to gloat about it." Lynn added.

After the ship was fueled, they blasted off and set course for Pluto.

"Wow we're at mars already." Lisa said, as the red planet floated by. "This technology is absolutely mind blowing!"

...

"Wow." Lori said as they passed Saturn. "I've seen images of Saturn in books and movies but... seeing it up close like this. It's breathtaking."

"Well this image sure does ring a bell" Luan giggled as her siblings rolled their eyes.

After many breathtaking sites they arrived at Pluto.

The Louds were escorted back to the control room to speak with Prawly before they continued.

"So, you wanna look us in the face as you deliver us to our deaths?" Lori remarked as they entered the room.

"Don't worry, you will not be harmed." Prawly assured them. Just outside the window they saw an object orbiting Pluto. The object was made up of 3 massive rings.

"If the Red King doesn't want to hurt us. Why is he sending all those movie monsters after us?" Lola asked. "They could have killed us!"

Prawly laughed. "You humans sure love to jump to conclusions. Those monsters have no connection to the Red King."

"THEY DON'T!!!!!" All the siblings said in shock.

"You see that there?" Prawly pointed at the machine orbiting Pluto. "That is a wormhole generator. It bends space and time. Connecting two distant points in the universe through a higher dimension."

"A higher dimension?" Luan asked.

"Think of this higher dimension as a subway." Prawly said. "A quick way to travel across the galaxy. Like subways on earth, it has rats. Those monsters you've been seeing, those are the rats. The wormhole this device will generate will be a stable one that can be closed when we pass through it. But the wormhole you have on earth, what you call the rift, is very unstable. Things are starting to pour out."

"Well why do the monsters look like things from movies?" Lana asked.

"They are not all from movies." Prawly said. "You yourself had an encounter with a goliath spider-frog. But there is something else in the rift, something... far beyond even the Red King's understanding. That is what's responsible for what you have seen."

The rings began to spin. A distortion appeared within the rings. A dark sphere formed in the center of the rings.

"Time to boldly go where no human has gone before." Prawly said, as the ship made it's way into the wormhole.

The inside of the wormhole was dark, even darker than the space around it. They could hear the metal of the ship creek and twist.

"Whoa!" the louds called out as literally everything in the room started to distort and twist into unnatural shapes.

...

Everything went back to normal as the ship exited on the other side of the wormhole.

The jaws of each sibling dropped at what they saw. It was a massive black hole. Bigger than any planet or sun. the black hole was lined with the fire of all the stars that had been sucked in.

"Well, this has been a very interstellar journey hasn't it." Luan gigged.

"Welcome to the center of the galaxy." Prawly said. He pointed to the supermassive black hole. "Now THAT is a black hole. You do not want to go in there. If you do, you will never come out. Every galaxy in the known universe has one of these at its core."

Orbiting the black hole was what can only be described as a city floating in space.

"And that... is the Red King's home." Prawly said. "We call it the Singularity. After the center of a black hole. The most powerful force in the universe."

They flew up to the Red King's mothership. The Singularity dwarfed the ship the Louds were on, making it look like a small car in comparison.

Massive gates opened on the Singularity (The ship named the Singularity, not the black hole) and red light flooded into space.

The Raptor's ship docked in the Singularity.

"All ashore that's going ashore." Prawly said. He led the loud siblings out of the ship and into the massive hallways of the Singularity.

The Louds looked around in awe and wonder at the massive structures within the impossibly huge ship.

"GASP! Is that the Red King?" Leni yelled pointing at something.

"No that's a potted plant." Prawly informed her. The plant looked similar to a fern, but it was blue and has strange flowers budding from it.

"Is that the Red King?" Leni asked pointing at something else.

"No that's a lightbulb." Prawly informed her.

Then they ran into something horrifying. A ten-foot-tall, grotesque gray blob with tentacles growing out of it in all directions.

"I...Is that the Red K-king?" Leni stuttered in fear.

"No that's the janitor." Prawly said. "His name is Scruffy."

"Howdy." The alien creature greeted them.

"Uh, hehe sorry." Leni said, feeling embarrassed.

"I will tell you who the Red King is, when we meet him." Prawly growled.

After walking through a maze of long winding hallways, they came to a much larger room. In the middle of the room was a staircase, with a throne on top. The throne was turned away from the Louds and facing the incredibly massive window overlooking the Black hole the Singularity was orbiting.

"THIS is the Red King." Prawly said.

"The Red King's a chair?" Leni said.

Prawly facepalmed. "NO YOU TWIT!!!! The Red King is IN the chair."

"And it's a throne." A deep voice boomed from the throne echoing through the entire room. "Did you bring the Loud family?"

"Yes sir." Prawly said.

A deep and dark laughter was heard.

"Well bring them forth, I've been dying to meet them." The voice said.

"Remember what Lincoln said about going crazy looking at this guy." Lori whispered to her siblings.

The chair started to turn, and the siblings instantly closed their eyes and fell to their knees. Lori, who was holding Lily covered the baby's eyes with her hand.

The Red King's footsteps echoed as he descended his throne and made his way to the group.

"What the fuck are you doing?" The Red King's voice boomed. "Stand up and open your got damn eyes you bunch of fucking pussies."

Her heart racing, Lori slowly opened her eyes to see the Red King's face.

"Oh..." Lori said, with a hint of disappointment as she fully opened her eyes. She took her hand away from Lily's face and stood up. "Lincoln, girls, you can open your eyes, he's not what you think. It's nothing scary. Just some guy."

The louds opened their eyes, almost confused at what they were looking at.

"So... what do you think?" The Red King said.

Before them stood, not some enormous scary monster with a bunch of tentacles but... Just some guy. One of the most normal looking dudes you would ever find. Of a matter of fact, one could even call him attractive.

He was about as tall as Lynn Sr. he had a muscular build, but he wasn't insanely buff, just physically fit. He had jet black hair, black eyebrows, Caucasian skin and a short grey beard around his smiling mouth. His eyes were dark brown and conveyed a sense of fatherly warmth.

He wore a burgundy plaid flannel shirt over a red t-shirt. He had blue jeans, and orange and white striped tennis shoes.

"Ooo he's cute!" Leni cooed, her pupils practically turning into hearts.

"Yeah he sure is a hunk." Lori said. "But definitely not sca..." She was almost drooling.

"Why thank you!" The Red King said with a smile. "And you're a bunch of good-looking fuckers yourselves. And who's this little ass kicker?" he knelt down to get a closer look at Lily.

"Lori snap out of it." Lincoln said.

"Or right." Lori shook her head. "This is our sister Lily."

"Oh, isn't she just fucking precious." The Red King said in a warm tone that very much contradicted his cussing.

"Don't touch her!" Lori shot back.

The Red King put his hands up. "Alright. Boundaries, I get that. You don't trust the fucker from space. I get that too."

"And watch the language!" Lori said. "I don't want Lily picking up any bad behaviors."

"Kid." The Red King laughed. "If you've seen half the shit I've seen. You ain't gonna have clean mouth either."

"FUCK!" Lily giggled.

"Oh great." Lori said.

"Shit!" Lily giggled.

"Oh look, I'm teaching her something already." The Red King smirked. "You know it's about fucking time you guys got here. The readers REALLY wanted to know what I look like."

"So. is this your true form?" Lincoln asked. "Or is this like Contact or IT where this is the only form our minds can comprehend."

The Red King laughed. "Nope this is the REAL ME! In the fucking flesh!"

"It's just..." Luan said. "We were expecting something more..."

"Terrifying." The Red King said. "Some Cthulhu, Thanos looking mother fucker. Well sorry to disappoint. You gotta look at this hottie instead."

"Say Mr. Red King sir?" Lisa asked. "I was wondering where you get all the resources to build such an impressively huge ship."

"Good question." The Red King said. "See, we actually blow planets up and mine the resources from the rubble. If you'd like, I can show you. It's pretty cool."

The Louds gasped in shock and horror.

"Oh fuck." The Red King said. "I get it. I see why you're shocked. But I assure you, we only ever blow up planets that are completely devoid of Life. And trust me, there are actually more lifeless planets in the universe than ones with life. Besides I have no fucking reason to blow up a planet with life on it. Once a civilization forms, they start to use up all the resources on the planet. We would actually loose more money and resources to blow up a civilized world than we would gain. It costs a lot to operate a planet busting laser."

The Louds let out a sigh of relief.

"So, you're not planning to blow up the Earth?" Luna asked.

"Fuck no." The Red Kind explained with a chuckle. "What would be the fucking point in that?"

"How about conquering it?" Lori added.

"Kids." The Red King said. "I'm going to be honest with you guys. I'm actually planning to retire soon."

"Retire?" The siblings all said at once.

"Yep." The Red King said. "I've been ruling the entire middle of the Milky Way since the dawn of time. It's time for me to throw in the towel. After my rule, my kingdom is going to try this brave new idea called Democracy. They'll actually vote for new leaders."

"Wow." Lori said. "That's actually very impressive. I must say, aside from the swearing, you're not the monster we thought you were."

"Yeah why do they call you the Red King anyway?" Luna asked. "Is it just because of the shirt?"

"Oh, you guys are going to fucking love this." The Red King smiled. He lifted his hands to his sides and red flames shot out of his hands like a flame thrower.

"WHOA!!!!" The siblings awed.

Then the Red King teleported to the other side of the room in a red flash. Then he teleported back.

"How are you even doing that?" Leni asked.

"It's clear from those impressive powers that you are not human." Lisa said. "So, what exactly are you?"

"I got these powers during the Big Bang." The Red King said. "During the creation of the universe. This red power, I call it Primordial Energy. It's energy that otherwise would only be created in an event like the Big Bang. My body was fused with this primordial energy in the beginning of time, now I can create and control it. It is 100 times more powerful than any other form of energy in the universe. Primordial energy is what I use to power this very space station, as well as nearly all of the technology of Bsepatica."

"So, I'm gonna finally address the elephant in the room here." Lori said. "Why us? Why did you bring us here in the first place? It would seem you have nothing against us."

"Ah yes." Red King Said. "THE BIG FUCKING REVEAL! With all this small talk I almost forgot. First of all... can I offer any of you something to drink?"

"No!" Lincoln said. "Just tell us already! Who are you? Why did you bring us here?"

"Well you see." The Red King said. "And the folks reading this at home may want to make sure you're not drinking anything, because this is a real fucking spit worthy shock. But I am actually..."

BEEEP! BEEEP! BEEEP!

An alarm went off.

"Sir." Prawly interrupted. "It' the Oxans."

"Zax!" The Red King growled. "The little twerp!"

"Zax?" Lori said.

"My mortal enemy." The Red King said. "Very long story. But the little douchebag loves to just fuck me over."

"And what are Oxans?" Lana asked.

Ka-Boom!

The door the louds had entered the room through exploded. Two massive hulking creatures walked in. the creatures looked almost like giant men made of green rocks.

"Those are the Oxans." The Red King said.

The Oxans raised their hands and shot green crystals at The Red King. The Red King formed a shield of red energy in his hand to block the crystals. The Red King shot blasts of Red flames at the rock creatures. More of the Oxans marched into the room.

The Red King formed a sword of flames and rushed at his rocky enemies.

"RRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" The Red King yelled as he charged into battle.

In the chaos the Louds were grabbed and pulled out of the room.

The Red King's flame sword cut through the rock monsters like a hot knife through butter. When the smoke cleared, fives dead Oxans lay at his feet.

"Where did the Louds go?" The Red King asked.

"I'm afraid that in the panic." Prawly informed the King. "Zax's men have taken the Loud children."

"NO!" The Red King yelled, his eyes glowing red. "I finally get them right here RIGHT FUCKING IN FRONT OF ME! Then Zax comes along and..... Gah FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A shockwave of red energy erupted from the Red King's body.

"Careful sir!" Prawly warned. "You'll damage the ship!"

...

The Loud siblings found themselves on yet another ship speeding away from the Singularity. Unlike the Bsepotican ships, this one was bathed in green light instead of red. This ship was much smaller. The compartment they were sitting in was about the size of a train car. To of the rock creatures they learned were called Oxans stood guard at each end. They looked out the window to see dozens of starships blasting each other with red and green lasers.

The door at one end opened up. A smaller creature came in.

"Hello." This new creature said. "My name is Zax."

Zax was a much smaller and slimmer creature than his Oxan brethren. Though it was clear he was one of the Oxan. He too had skin that was made of green emerald. He was just a little taller than Lori and had a very slim build. Instead of hair, white spikes made of crystals grew from the top of his head. He seemed to be wearing a green business suit with a green tie. Somehow the suit was also made of rocks. On his face he had what looked like hipster glasses.

"So, your Zax?" Lori said. "You're the guy the Red King is afraid of."

"Well afraid is a strong word." Zax said. In contrast to the Red King's voice, Zax's voice was much higher pitched and a bit nasally. A little bit annoying even.

"Well you had some pretty bad timing dude." Luna said.

"Yeah we were just about to learn who the Red King truly was." Lincoln said.

"Um actually." Zax said. "He was never going to tell you who he was."

"He wasn't?" The Siblings said.

"Um actually The Red King was likely going to kill every one of you on the spot." Zax said. "Would you really trust someone who swears that much?"

"Fuck!" Lily giggled.

"See he's already taught your poor baby his bad behavior." Zax said.

"Um actually..." Lori said. "This is our sister."

"Yeah and now Lori's picking up on YOUR bad behavior." Luan laughed. "Get it?"

"No." Zax said.

"Because you say "Um actually" a lot" Luan said.

"Um actually I don't believe that I do." Zax corrected her.

"You literally just did." Lori pointed out.

"No, I didn't." Zax rebutted.

"Well why would the Red King want to kill us." Lincoln said. "We've never even met him before."

"Um actually, your parents have." Zax smirked.

"Our parents." Luna said.

"Rita and Lynn Loud Sr." Zax replied. "They are the one sole reason for The Red King being what he is today."

"But how?" Luan said. "The Red King is as old as the universe."

"Unless he literally lied to us." Lori said.

"Um actually he was telling the truth about his age, but..." Zax said. "Let's just say time travel was involved."

"And how do you know who our parents are?" Lori asked.

"The King and I were friends once." Zax said. "Before he betrayed me, and lead to the destruction of my home planet. Back then he told me a lot about his past."

"Did he tell you who he is?" Lori asked. "Like his real name."

Zax raised an eyebrow and paused for a moment. "No..." Zax said. "Most people who get close to him just call him Red."

"Red?" Lincoln said.

"Short for The Red King." Zax replied.

The ship they were in arrived at a larger ship. This ship wasn't as big as the Red King's "Singularity" ship, but it was at least bigger than Lincoln's school.

"Here we are." Zax said. "My home sweet home. Welcome to the Gem."

...

They all walked out into the larger ship. They found themselves in a large hanger stocked with broken down ships. Each ship was about twice the size of the loud house, and most of them were just as much of a mess. Aside from one, which, while it did seem to need a few repairs looked as though it could still run. The ship was a metallic silver with a blue finish. It was shaped almost like a classic rocket ship mixed with a submarine.

"Wow Zax." Lana said. "Your ships are in really bad shape."

"Um actually, those aren't mine." Zax Said. "We find abandoned ships out in space and sell the to scrape yards for cash. There they are likely stripped for parts."

"Well that one looks like it can still work." Lori pointed out.

"Maybe." Zax said. "It's not in... terrible condition."

"Well can we have it then?" Lori asked.

"Oh heavens no." Zax said. "We need the money we'll get from selling it to fund our war efforts against The Red King."

"Are you guys going to bring us home?" Lola asked.

"Um actually we can't." Zax replied.

"WHAT!?!" The siblings yelled.

"Well we have no idea where your planet Earth is." Zax said. "And we are spending all of our time and resources to fight the Red King."

"Can't you just have a team, or something break off and help us get home?" Lori asked.

"Sorry kids." Zax said. "But fighting Red comes above everything else. The galaxy must be free of his tyranny."

"But he said he was planning to retire." Lincoln said. "And let his kingdom turn into a democracy."

"Um actually he lied." Zax said. "Red has no intention of ever retiring. And even if his kingdom did become a democracy, it would be a corrupt one, where he would still be in charge from the shadows."

"But Red seemed so sweet." Leni said. "And cute."

"Um actually. The Red King is anything but sweet." Zax said. "He may seem nice on the outside, but deep down he is full of toxic masculinity."

"Toxic masculinity?" Lori asked. "Seriously?"

Lincoln rolled his eyes.

"Figures the boy wouldn't like hearing that." Zax said. "But I'm sure you ladies know what I'm talking about."

"We literally don't." Lori said.

"And if you try to sing about it, I'm gonna hit you where the sun don't shine." Lynn threatened.

Zax who had pulled out a harmonica quickly put it away.

"And what do you even mean by full of toxic masculinity." Lincoln asked.

Zax pulled his harmonica back out and started to play it. "Well I'm glad you asked." Despite the warning Zax started to sing.

"Well, when you're sitting on the subway, and your legs are spread to wide.

When you explain something to a woman because you think your IQ's high.

Spoiler alert it's not.

You may be wondering what's wrong with all of that, WLL I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S WRONG IT'S..."

BAM! Lynn punched Zax in his balls (that his species apparently had, conveniently in the same place we have ours) with all of her strength.

"WWWWWOOOAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Zax yelled as he fell to his knees.

"Hey I warned you." Lynn scolded. "Didn't I warn him? Yeah, I warned him. Listen buddy! Your voice is nails on a chalk board when you're talking. What makes you think we want to hear that nasally, ear piercing voice of yours singing?"

"Now maybe you understand why we sit like that in the subways." Lincoln smirked.

"I didn't even know they had subways in space." Leni added.

"Ok moving on." Zax squeaked.

"So, what are you going to do with us?" Lori asked. "Aside from literally singing us to death."

"Hold on..." Zax said, climbing back to his feet. "Let me catch my breath... ok."

"Well" Lori said.

"Well we do have the means to take care of you." Zax said. "The Gem can be your new home."

"But I don't want to live on the Gem!" Lola protested. "I wanna go back to Earth! To our REAL home."

"Lola's right." Lori said. "We literally can't stay here. We have a family and friends back home. We have a life."

Zax gave a smile that looked a little bit too mischievous. "Tell you what. You help us fight The Red King. Once we have over thrown the Red King, my people and I will see about getting you back to Earth. Deal?"

"I don't know." Lori said. "I don't think I really want to let my siblings be involved in some sort of star wa..."

"Um Lori." Lincoln cut her off. "I don't think we have the budget for you to finish that sentence."

"In a space war." Lori continued.

"Take your time to think." Zax said. "But we need every hand we can get in the battle against The Red King. How about I introduce you to my sister."

Zax lead the Louds down some more hallways to a smaller room that his sister was using for her bedroom.

"This is my sister Gaia." Zax introduced them to a beautiful feminine creature. She was about the same height as Zax. Her skin however seemed to be made of white diamond. Her long flowing green hair seemed to be made of thin vines and leaves, she wore a long beautiful blue dress that came down to the floor.

"Whoa" The louds all said.

"Are you a princess?" Lola asked.

"Sort of." Gaia said, in a voice much more pleasant than he brother's. "We here on this ship are the last remaining members of the planet Oxite. My brother and I command this ship."

"Wait your name is Gaia?" Lisa said.

"It is indeed." Gaia smiled.

"Interesting." Lisa said. "And uh... how old are you?"

"My people live much longer than you can imagine." Gaia explained. "I have lived many centuries. Zax has told me of your unfortunate predicament, and I symphysis with your struggle to get home. I am sorry we cannot bring you to your planet. We more than anyone understand what it's like to live without a world. I promise we will make this ship feel as close to home as possible."

She turned to Zax. "What are these wonderful creatures anyway?" She asked her brother.

"They're called humans." Zax informed her. "And these are not just any humans..." Zax whispered something in Gaia's ear.

Gaia's face lit up. "Oh wow! Well, we are honored to have you children on our ship."

"What did he tell you?" Lori asked.

"Was he making fun of us?" Lynn snarled.

"Oh, no it was... just a little inside joke." Zax said. "You don't need to worry about it."

"Uh yeah a joke..." Gaia gave a nervous giggle. "One that has nothing to do with you.

"Oh, I love jokes!" Luan said.

"Trust me dude." Luna said. "She's got a million of 'em."

"Hey, you guys have anything to eat on this ship?" Lynn asked. "I'm starving."

...

"What is this?" Lola asked, poking at her food. The Louds had been brought to the Gem's cafeteria. They had been served some kind of meet. It looked almost like some sort of sea food. "It looks fishy."

"It's meet from a creature called an inkling." Zax replied. "It's a squid like creature native to one of the planets around here. The meet of the inklings is considered a delicacy."

"Oh man this stuff is great." Lana said, shoveling the inkling meet int her mouth.

"Tell me about it." Lynn said, as she and her sister inhaled their meals.

"Squid like?" Lori said. "I thought you didn't know where Earth is? How do you know what a squid is?"

"Oh um..." Zax replied. "Though I personally have never been to Earth. The various creatures of the galaxy have been cataloged in the grand library of the planetary council. And I happen to know that the closest earth animal to an inkling is what you would call a squid."

"So, you know about the animals on Earth, but you don't know where Earth is?" Lori raised an eyebrow.

"Hey as long as you keep feeding us such amazing food." Lynn said. "I'm not questioning your judgement Mr. Zax."

As the siblings went back to eating Zax took out a plastic bag. The bag was full of some sort of blue glowing plant. He took a bunch of the glowing plants and put them on a piece of paper and rolled the paper into a joint and lit it. He then started to smoke the joint.

"Is that drugs?" Lori asked. "Is that... alien drugs? Aliens do drugs?"

"Don't worry it's completely harmless to my people." Zax said blowing out a puff of smoke. "It's been a long day."

"Oh, let me try!" Luna said, grabbing the joint from Zax.

"HEY!" Zax said.

"Luna!" Lori said.

"Relax sis." Luna said. "Zax said it's totally harmless."

"LUNA NO!" Zax yelled. "It's harmless to Oxans, but there is no telling what it'll do to a human!!!!!! NNOOOO!!!!!!"

To late, Luna already drew a long puff from the alien joint.

Luna dropped the joint, her pupils grew wide. She looked at her hands, she could see colors bleeding from her fingers.

"Luna are you ok?" Lori asked.

Luna looked at her sister. Lori's head was melting, twisting and contorting. Luna's eye twitched as the world around her became neon colored.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Luna yelled, she then got up and started to run around in circles.

"Don't do drugs kids." Lincoln remarked. "Especially alien drugs."

"DUDES!" Luna yelled. "I'm on fire!" even though she wasn't on fire.

"What was that?" Lori asked.

"I warned her!" Zax said.

Luna moved over to Lincoln. "Dudes I found it! I found the Earth." She wrapped her arms around Lincoln's head and held him tight. "Lincoln's head was the Earth the entire time!"

"Uh Luna..." Lincoln said, struggling to get free.

Then Luna vomited all over Lincoln's back.

"GAH!!!!" Lincoln yelled in disgust.

...

Some of Zax's men came to take Lincoln away from the group.

"Where are you taking him?" Lori asked.

"Don't worry." Zax said "Your brother will be fine, we're just getting him some clean cloths. Unless you want him running around the galaxy with a puke-soaked t-shirt."

"I'm going with." Lori said. "He's only 11, and I don't want him wondering around this ship by himself."

"Um actually, he's not alone." Zax said. "There's thousands of my people on this ship."

"Yeah and your strangers to him." Lori said. "And to us, I don't want him to be alone with these people."

"Because we're not human?" Zax said. "Because we're different from you?"

"Because your literally strangers!" Lori said. "How do I know they won't hurt him?"

"I would feel a lot better if Lori came with me." Lincoln added. Clearly feeling uncomfortable with the two hulking rock creatures beside him.

Zax sighed. "Very well."

...

Lori and Lincoln were taken to a dressing room. Lori stood outside the room as Lincoln changed. She made sure no one went in the room aside from Lincoln.

"How do I look?" Lincoln said as he came out of the room. He had on a baggy white long sleeve shirt, with tan pants and boots. His outfit looked very reminiscent of a certain hero from a famous space movie about wars in the stars.

"You look great." Lori gave Lincoln a warm smile.

Zax came in and escorted Lincoln and Lori to a room with the rest of the siblings.

It was a room about as big as their living room with 11 beds, one for each of them. Lynn sat pretzel legged on the ground, playing with Lily. Luna held onto a waste basket she had been puking into, she had come down from her high and was experiencing symptoms of a hangover. Lisa was looking out of the window into space, writing in a little notebook. Lola was sitting with her back against a wall, she was sobbing as Lana and Leni comforted her. Lucy and Luan had both fallen asleep.

"Hey guys." Lori said with an awkward smile.

"Well this will be your new living quarters." Zax said. "I trust I'll see you all in the morning." He then left and the door closed behind him.

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT WE'RE IN HERE!" Lola sobbed, pointing at Lincoln.

"My fault?" Lincoln said.

"If you hadn't been so obsessed with meeting the Red King, we wouldn't be here." Lola sniffed. "We could have escaped when those dinosaur people took us. But no, you wanted to wait, you wanted to see what that Red King guy looked like. Well Now we're a bajillion light years from home and have to live on this ship with a bunch of rock people! I hope your happy."

"Well the Red King was pretty hot." Leni said.

"Leni you're not helping." Lana added.

"Your right." Lincoln said. "This is all my fault."

"Lincoln..." Lori said.

"But I won't make the same mistake again." Lincoln said. "This time I vote we get out of here."

"Maybe see if Zax has more of that glowing weed first." Luna replied.

"Luna you are literally puking in a bucket!" Lori said. "Why the hell would you do that anyway. You took drugs like it was nothing. You didn't even know what it was."

"Ugh can we talk about this tomorrow?" Luna asked holding her head. "I got such a headache."

"No Luna." Lori said. "I need to talk to you about this. Have you been doing drugs at home?"

"Muh..." Luna replied.

"Luna answer me." Lori demanded.

"I smoked weed a couple times, what's the big deal?" Luna said.

"The big!?!?" Lori started to lecture Luna.

"I want to go home." Lola cried.

"I know." Leni said. "I do too."

"Well look at the bright side Lols" Lana said. "Um... at least the beds are comfortable."

Lincoln looked over at Lori and Luna. Luna looked like she was about to pass out. Lincoln wondered if she could even stand up.

"Lori..." Lincoln interrupted Lori's lecture. "I think Luna needs to have some rest. Just look at her, she can't even stand up."

"you're right." Lori sighed. "I'm sorry for yelling at you Luna." Lori and Lincoln helped Luna get up and onto one of the beds. Lori set the bucket by the side of Luna's bed.

"Just promise me..." Lori said to Luna in a calm voice. "Promise me that I won't catch you doped up on heroin or meth, or some other hard drug."

"I promise." Luna mumbled.

"I... I care about you Luna." Lori said. "And I don't want to come home one day to find something bad happened to you."

"I know..." Luna said before drifting off to sleep.

"Lincoln!" Leni said in a refreshingly joyous tone. "I didn't even notice you changed your outfit. You look good."

"Thanks Leni." Lincoln smiled.

Lincoln walked over to Lisa and joined her in looking at the stars.

"I'll bet you're loving this." Lincoln said with a smile. "A chance to study aliens that live millions of lightyears away."

"It is fascinating yes." Lisa replied.

"Well I'm glad someone's happy at least." Lincoln said. Then he looked back at his sisters.

"Leni, I think the Red King is a bit old for you." Lori said to Leni. Lori had a smile on her face and had a joking around tone in her voice.

"Well I don't know." Leni replied.

"Leni, he's literally as old as the universe." Lori laughed.

Lana started to giggle as well, and Leni shrugged.

"Huh..." Lincoln said. "Even in such a terrible situation, you guys are still the same people I know and love."

"Lincoln." Lisa said. "I would like to talk to you about that Gaia person."

"Gaia?" Lincoln said. "Well. I will say her brother Zax is a bit sketchy at best, but Gaia seems pretty nice."

"How much do you know about Greek Mythology?" Lisa asked.

Lincoln shrugged.

"Are you aware that Gaia is the name of a powerful goddess in Greek Mythology?" Lisa asked.

Lincoln shook his head. "I know of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. That's about it. Who was Gaia? In Greek mythology that is."

"She was a goddess that ruled the cosmos before the time of the titans." Lisa explained.

"Titans?" Lincoln said. "Is that anything like that Attack on Titan show? I started watching that once, but I stopped because it gave me nightmares."

"I don't think so..." Lisa said. Lisa had not seen the show Lincoln was talking about, so she didn't know if it had anything to do with actual Titans of Greek Mythology. "But who Gaia was in the Mythology is not important. What's important is that one of our gracious hosts just happens to be named Gaia as well."

"So?" Lincoln said. "What's your point."

"These Oxans, these rock creatures are a very technologically advanced species, that by Gaia's own words have a life span that lasts for centuries." Lisa explained. "Some scientists hypothesis that the earth could have been visited advanced aliens long ago. And these aliens could have inspired the myths of Greek gods."

"So, you're saying that the Gaia we just met, and the Gaia from Greek Mythology are one in the same?" Lincoln said.

"I think that is very likely yes." Lisa replied.

"So that means..." Lincoln said.

"That means that Gaia and Zax have BEEN TO EARTH!" Lisa said.

"And they know where it is!" Lincoln announced, his voice starting to sound angry. "But they're just not telling us!"

"Bingo!" Lisa said.

"So Zax can just take us home whenever he wants, but he jus chooses to keep us here." Lincoln said, anger rising in his voice.

"If my theory is correct." Lisa added.

"Why?" Lincoln said. "Why would Zax want to keep us here?"

"I don't know." Lisa said.

"And if Gaia is well... Gaia." Lincoln said. "You think Zax could be Zeus?"

"Possibly." Lisa said.

"Well from what little I know about Zeus." Lincoln said. "The man was a real pervert. You don't think Zax wants to..."

Lisa looked back at the other sisters. "Oh god I hope not! But I think Zax keeping us here might be a more strategic move."

"How do you mean?" Lincoln asked.

"Well what do we know about Zax and the Red King?" Lisa said.

"That they hate each other." Lincoln added. "And for some reason The Red King REALLY wants to capture us. So... you think Zax is holding us for ransom?"

"I think that is the most likely option yes." Lisa said.

"Why do you think The Red King wants us so bad?" Lincoln said. "Zax said it has something to do with our parents, and time travel."

"Well..." Lisa said. "Honestly the answer to that could be anything. Assuming that is if Zax was telling the truth. I do have a theory, but it is way out there."

"What is it?" Lincoln asked.

"Well you can't deny that The Red King looks strikingly human." Lisa said.

"Yeah, a human who can shoot fire out of his hands." Lincoln said. "And is immortal."

"But what if he IS human?" Lisa said.

"What?" Lincoln said. "That's impossible."

"Well what are the chances we would find something that looks THAT human out in the stars." Lisa said. "But somehow it isn't human."

"So, if he's human then..." Lincoln said. "How does he have those powers? And why hasn't he shown signs of aging over these trillions of years. Leni thinks he's HOT! A human that old wouldn't look hot."

"I'm not sure, there's just so much we don't know." Lisa said. "But if he was human at one time, he probably had a family. A family that's long gone by now."

"So, you think he blames our parents for losing his family?" Lincoln said. "So, what, he wants to take away their family like they supposedly took away his."

"If Zax was telling the truth about our Parents being involved." Lisa replied.

"No way!" Lincoln said. "Mom and Dad are good people. I don't know who the Red King was before he became what he is now, but there is no way Mom and Dad are responsible."

"Well I don't believe one word that scrawny little hipster Zax says." Lori interrupted. "And I sure as heck don't trust the Red King either."

"So, who can we trust?" Lincoln asked.

"We can trust each other." Lori replied. "Now let's get to bed. If we're going to escape this place, we'll need plenty of rest."

Lincoln got into one of the beds. Despite everything he drifted off to sleep. He my have been lightyears from home, but as long as he had his sisters with him, he always would have a slice of home too. 

https://youtu.be/lj7k-eJTmhc