Episode 22: Drill through the heart

ALL CHARACTERS MENTIONED IN THESE STORIES ARE COPYRIGHTS OF CARTOON NETWORK. I HAVE NO AFFILIATION TO SYM-BIONIC TITAN OR ITS CREATOR, GENNDY TARTAKOVSKY. I AM SIMPLY TRYING TO EXPAND ON HIS EXCELLENT WORK, NOW THAT THE SHOW, WHICH HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL, HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

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It was lunchtime, but Lance wasn't hungry. He was thinking about a girl he had met for the fourth time that month. Lance recalled two other instances in which he had talked to her, and although both of them had had unsatisfying conclusions, what little he had learned about her made him even more interested in her. Now he watched her as she sat down at a nearby table alone. Lance had learned from his first two encounters that she, like him, was quiet, anti-social by choice, and a skilled fighter. Lance had never seen these qualities in an Earth girl-or any other girl he had met, for that matter, and the idea of someone being remotely like him drew him toward this mysterious girl.

She was wearing a green t-shirt, and a green plaid skirt to match that ended just above her knees. She had magenta highlights in her hair, the same Lance had noticed in her from before. She seemed to be looking in his direction, but when he tried to look back at her to attempt communication she suddenly turned her head away. He frowned, realizing that she might be a little shy, just like he was. One of them would have to break this awkward stalemate, and Lance reasoned that it would have to be him. He took a deep breath and stood up abruptly from the table. Lance glanced furtively around him. No one noticed, let alone cared, what he was doing. Realizing that the coast was clear, Lance briskly walked to wear the girl was sitting, placing his lunch tray beside hers. She didn't move away when he sat down.

"Hey there," Lance said, feigning a friendly smile that was difficult for him to fake. Until now, the girl had been staring down at her food and pretending to ignore him, but now she turned her head to face him. Lance couldn't help but look immediately into her eyes, noticing that they were as dark and clouded as his own. Most likely a coincidence.

"I...I know who you are," the girl said, blushing at the awkward statement she had just made and wishing she could take it back.

"We don't know each other's names yet, do we? I'm Lance," he said, the smile on his face turning genuine.

"Kristin," the girl replied. Seconds of silence passed. Lance cleared his throat and nervously asked:

"Do you want to hang out sometime?"

"Sure. I actually wanted to ask you the same thing! How about we go to a movie at 8?"

"Fine with me. Well, uh, see you around-Kristin," Lance said, picking up his tray and leaving, but not as quickly as before. Kristin waved goodbye when he turned back to look at her, and he waved back, relieved that everything had gone well.

Asking her out, Lance had realized that Kristin was just as nervous as he was about this dating thing, and the mutual shyness they had seemed to relax him for some reason. No doubt she felt the same way. For the rest of the lunch period Lance sat by himself, watching Kristin from afar and thinking about what they would do and say on their date. But then reality surfaced in his head; he had never been on a date before! In fact, he had rarely had contact with girls, Galalunan or otherwise. This was his first crush! Lance felt ashamed as he realized that he had no knowledge of dating etiquette. He reasoned that with his lack of experience, if he said something regrettable, tried to be too flirtatious, too cool, or even act natural, she could very well reject him utterly! Maybe he could ask Ilana for help.

He saw Octus and her approaching him at the table, and he invited them to sit down. "Ilana, I need to talk to you," he began. "I just asked a girl out on a date. I don't know what do, exactly. What can I do to make sure I don't screw up?"

"You have a crush? Awww!" Ilana cried. "Who is she?"

"Some girl. You don't know her."

"Can't you just tell me her name?"

"Kristin." Ilana gave him a puzzled look. "No, I don't know her," she said. "But I can give you some advice: All you really need to do is look your best and be yourself. Just get comfortable talking to her."

"But we're going to the movies."

"Oh. In that case, you should...well, just relax and enjoy the movie together. The purpose of the first date is to get to know each other a little. If you two start talking and you want to know a little more about her, go ahead and ask what you want, but try not to get too personal. I'll bet you'll do fine."

Lance thought about it and figured that Ilana was fairly accurate. Considering her only date she had ever had was with Jason, and that Prince Simon guy, she wasn't too knowledgeable in this area. But nonetheless, her advice seemed practical. Kristin wouldn't like it if he was nervous. He just needed to stay calm, learn more about her, and enjoy the movie. But then he suddenly grew concerned and asked Ilana one more question:

"Wait, what if she wants to a little bit about me? You know...where we're from?" Ilana gave it some thought, but she couldn't think of an appropriate response. Octus spoke up:

"You will have to tell a lie. The details don't matter, provided that you stick with them and don't contradict yourself."

"Lying, Octus?" Ilana asked him. Her life at the pinnacle of society had strict moral codes, most of which had been suitably abandoned after she had arrived here. Although she had obviously lied before, she was a little surprised that Octus was now advocating it.

"You know the reason," Lance told her.

"You're both right," she replied. Wishing to lighten the mood, she turned to Lance and said, "Now don't worry about us, ok? You go spend some quality time with Kristin. You need more people in your social life," she advised him.

"Whatever. I just like her and want to get to know her, is all. I've...never actually had a girlfriend," Lance admitted. "Thanks for the advice, Ilana."

"Any time!" She replied. Lance picked up his tray and left, feeling that something else had needed to be said, but wasn't.

"Kristin's very lucky to have Lance willing to open up to her. He never really hangs out with people like we do. I like this change in him, and I bet Kristin will like him if he stays this way."

"What makes you say that?" Octus asked.

"Oh," Ilana said, blushing. "No reason." Octus could tell there was a little more to it...the Rift Gate suddenly opened, cutting off his thoughts. It had a tendency to do that, he had observed. He reported this to Ilana, whose blush faded as she grew worried.

"Well? Where is it heading?" She asked nervously. Octus checked, but the signal seemed to stay in one place, growing fainter each second.

"Whatever it was, I believe it may have died on impact," he concluded.

"Good! Let's not tell Lance; I don't want him caught up in a fight before his date, "Ilana suggested. Octus nodded as they watched him leave the cafeteria from afar.

Meanwhile, in the same forest where Octus had previously detected a Rift Gate signal, a crater appeared in the woods. These forests were no strangers to extraterrestrial life, though; the crater was not far from the area which Lance, Ilana, and Octus had first arrived on this planet. Out of the crater a beast emerged; it was ten feet wide, twice as tall as Manus, and 40 feet long. It was gray and blind, but it needed no eyes. It had four thin, yet sturdy legs with small, flat feet. But this was not its impressive feature; it was the spiraled horn protruding from its forehead. The horn was silver and sharp. Muscles near the creature's skull would allow the horn to rotate, thus making it a drill. This drill-like horn could burrow 10 miles underground in twenty seconds. It was a truly fearsome sight. But was it a match for our heroes? Upon emerging from the crater, this horned beast dug a tunnel about 40 feet deep. It lay at the bottom and waited for its prey.

"Patience," Modula told the monster. "The outcome of this battle will most likely be failure, but you should be honored to provide me with good practice against Ilana and her guardians." The creature gave a low roar in protest, but green sparks of energy surrounded its body, and it calmed down again.

Back at home, Ilana was lounging on the couch with Octus in front of the TV in the living room, watching High School Hearts, their favorite teen drama show. They watched as the kid who couldn't read made out passionately-or so it seemed-with the ditzy cheer captain who seemed somewhat familiar, at least to Octus.

"This scene is obviously illegitimate," Octus complained. "No self-respecting cheer captain would ever show affection to an illiterate delinquent such as Mark!"

"I don't know," Ilana said as she swung her feet over the side of the couch. To her and Octus, providing commentary on the show was about as fun as watching it. "Mark was really sweet to her two episodes ago. Besides, you should know how easy it is to win over a cheerleader." Octus scowled at her when she said that, and Ilana put up her hands defensively.

"If they love each other, why didn't they make out two episodes ago?" Octus asked. They watched as the scene jumped to two jocks in a confrontation. Ilana shook her head and laughed.

"They kept hyping this scene in the trailers, and now it's finally here!" She said. "I don't see what's so great about it."

"They're supposed to be locked in decisive combat," Octus replied as the jocks exchanged blows. Just then, Lance headed down the stairs, looking the way he normally did, but with his long hair parted evenly away from his forehead.

"Do I look okay, guys?" He asked. Ilana turned to look at him with a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry! It's only your first date. You go and have fun with Kristin, and worry about her, not yourself!" Lance sighed in disbelief at his own foolishness. He smiled back at Ilana.

"Thanks. See you guys later," Lance said as he headed for the garage. When Ilana and Octus heard the sound of his car driving away, Octus turned off the TV.

"I think it is imperative that we investigate the Rift Gate signal, now that Lance is gone."

"But High School Hearts isn't over yet! And I thought you said that the signal had vanished!"

"Not quite, it seems. There seems to be a faint sign of alien life in the Sherman forest." Ilana sighed.

"This is becoming a chore," she said. "Okay, I'll go with you to check it out. But Lance only comes if absolutely necessary."

"Right," Octus replied.

Ilana went outside with Octus and activated her armor. Using the jets on the soles of Corus' feet, Ilana flew with Octus to the location of the creature, flying too high to be followed, let alone be seen. They arrived at the site of the crater and the tunnel in the forest. The trees in this section of the forest were huge and massive, some being about ten feet in circumference. The sunlight passed through the leaves near the tops of these massive trees, illuminating patches of the ground. The crater from which the Mutradi came from had a beaten-up rocket, similar to the one Tashy had come in, only much smaller. The impact had completely burned a few of the nearby trees, but they still retained their massive height. The tunnel, just a few yards away, was fairly wide enough for five people to go in side by side, but it seemed to get dark fairly quickly down there. Ilana had a bad feeling about it. She felt like it would be better if they stayed up here. Octus scanned the area. "I am detecting a very faint vital signal," he began.

He scarcely finished speaking when the drill-headed monstrosity leapt out of the hole and lunged at Ilana. She had no time to react. Her armor-clad body was flung backwards. Ilana crashed into a massive tree, but she managed to recover and fired a blue laser at the creature. But it scarcely penetrated its thick hide. She flew around it, trying to find a weak point at which she could shoot it to do some damage. Octus, meanwhile, was attempting to wrap his gel around the creature's horn. But when Octus latched on, the creature rolled and flailed, slamming Octus against a tree trunk. Octus was crushed, but he didn't break. The creature then tried to buck him off. It was successful in knocking Octus away and sent him crashing into Corus. The two landed in a heap several yards away. The creature then reared up on its legs and prepared to drill his horn through them. Octus got up and tried to move the damaged Corus robot, out of the way the monster. But the creature simply stomped on Octus and kicked him aside. Octus was badly damaged now. The creature could have chosen to kill him there, but Ilana was its primary target. She formed a force field to protect herself, but she could only block the creature's attacks for so long before it shattered. She watched as the drill-horned thing roared, trying desperately to break the shield by pounding at it with more and more force. If she was killed in battle, the King and his soldiers would lose morale and surrender within days. They might even reveal the location in which the civilians were hiding, much to the General's delight. And they would certainly abandon their hope upon seeing the corpse of their beloved princess. But those thoughts never crossed her mind. She only knew that this thing wanted nothing less than her destruction...

Lance was waiting outside the movie theater where Kristin had promised to meet him. It lay outside of the more metropolitan areas of Sherman, but it had always managed to attract customers nonetheless. Its modest atmosphere and humble appearance were somewhat nostalgic to the older folks, but to young people like him it only reminded them that there were here just to see a movie, and nothing more. At the moment there were only a few cars in the parking lot that lay across the street from the theater, one of them Lance's own. The flow of people entering and exiting indicated a slow business day, but Lance took this as a good sign. He got out of his car and waited. Minutes passed, but no sign of Kristin. Had she forgotten their date? Or had she just changed her mind and stood him up? Both possibilities were unlikely. His fears subsided when he saw Kristin driving up to the parking lot of the theater. She emerged out of her car wearing a black t-shirt and jeans that were a few shades lighter than Lance's, and clung to her lower body. She approached him and said apologetically, "Sorry I'm late. I'm a little nervous, what with this being our first time. Going out, I mean." Lance ran a hand nervously through the back of his parted hair.

"It's fine," he said, trying not to stare at Kristin's undeniably attractive body. "Have you dated other guys before, or am I the first?"

"No, you're not the first, but I always get nervous on first dates anyway," Kristin said awkwardly. "Do you know what we're seeing?" Lance froze up at the question, realizing that he hadn't planned on what movie they were going to see.

"Uh...how about...Shadowdust?"

They entered the theater together, and Lance, knowing it was his obligation, purchased their tickets. The two teens walked over to the snack vendor's counter. "You want anything?" Lance asked.

"I suppose I could go for a soda. Medium, anything, really," she said.

"Ok then. I guess I'll get a large," Lance replied, paying the snack vendor the money. As the vendor got their sodas, Lance asked, "Oh, and uh, could I have some popcorn with that?" He craved the buttery flavor of this bizarre Earth food, and his eyes lit up as he watched the vendor squirt the buttery liquid on the popcorn. There was nothing like it on Galaluna. Kristen smiled in amusement.

"I usually don't get this much," he explained.

Shadowdust, unfortunately, possessed poor acting and cheesy special effects. There were few other people there. It was a matter of time before Lance and Kristin starting talking and soon ignored the movie altogether. Kristin crossed her legs and propped them up on the seat in front of her.

"Not a good movie choice," she said.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know it would suck?" Lance responded with a smile. He was met with harsh hisses of silence from the other people in the theater.

"Whisper; I think these people actually like this movie!" Kristin said. "Let's just go back to watching it!" Lance nodded, and tried to focus on the movie screen. He felt his eyelids grow heavy, and had to stifle a yawn. It was just so...boring! He realized now that he'd have much rather talked to Kristin than kept watching this.

"Hey," he asked her, remembering to whisper, "Why were you practicing your moves alone that day?"

"Oh, that," Kristin said, recalling their encounter. "I've been training in martial arts. You know, to protect myself. You were pretty good back there. Heck, you were almost better than me."

"What do you mean, almost? I pinned you down!" Lance replied. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine, but not after I did first. You seem to like fighting," she observed. Lance knew how awkward it would be if he confirmed her assumptions. But Kristin surprisingly turned her face to him and said:

"Don't worry. I'm like that, too. What are you into besides fighting?" she asked.

"Well, I play a little guitar."

"Cool. Play me a song some time."

"Sure. When did you start training in martial arts?"

"When I was like, 6, believe me or not. Some guy hit me, just to be mean, and from that day on I vowed to learn to defend myself. I had to teach myself at first. Then one of my brothers was nice enough to help me out. But it wasn't long before he went off to college."

"What about your parents?"

"Oh, them. Well, I only got hit that one time, but I never forget things like that. Besides, if I tried telling them, they probably wouldn't have taken me seriously. It was around that time that it had occurred to me that most girls didn't know how to defend themselves. Maybe that's why you always see women being abused or beaten. I didn't want to end up like them. The world can be harsh sometimes; instead of being submissive you should toughen up." Suddenly, Kristin stared off into space. "Yep. You just have to toughen up," she said scowling at the screen for no real reason.

"You know, my life kinda started like that, too," Lance said. He recalled his own past for a moment.

"Small world. Where did you live before coming to Sherman?" Kristin asked. Lance winced, but she didn't see it. He forgot to prepare an answer to this question! He couldn't just say he was an alien from another planet, after all! Frantically, he tried to think of some place believable. What was that country north of this one? "Uh, I'm from... Canada," he lied.

"No wonder you never stood up to say the pledge of allegiance with the class on that first morning! You and your family had just moved to America and didn't know it, hadn't you?"

"Yeah, we had," Lance said. That was the truth. He, Ilana, and Octus didn't say the pledge of allegiance because they didn't know the country had one. Galaluna had nothing like that. Lance didn't understand some of the words, too. Why would you pledge your allegiance to a flag instead of your country? And "under God?" Who was this "God" person? America's first president? And what exactly was this country's name? America or the United States?

"You know, you're not like other guys I've dated," Kristin said. "For some reason, I like you. We already seem to connect. I can't explain, it really; I just feel it. Love at first sight, I guess."

"Maybe," said Lance. Was love at first sight true love? Was this love at all? He'd have to date Kristin more to find out, he thought, as he reached for some popcorn. Suddenly, his hand felt Kristin's, and she giggled.

"Hey, just like in those TV shows," she observed.

"What are you talking about?" Lance asked. He hadn't watched enough Earth programs to know about the ever-clichéd "Reach for the popcorn at the same time" thing.

"You know how, in movies and TV, they'll have some kids dating, and they go see a movie, just like we're doing, and then they both reach for popcorn at the same time, and their hands touch?" Kristin began. "We just did that whole routine by accident."

"Oh..." He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Was it so clichéd that they were dating?

When the movie finished they left the theater with everyone else, a little relieved that it was over. Kristin walked side by side with Lance, and he offered his hand to her. She took it. Lance didn't know this girl very well, but he was pretty sure now that he liked her.

As they headed for the exit, they were blocked by a stout man in a Hawaiian shirt, sandals, and sunglasses. "You stupid kids!" He growled. "You were the ones talking during our movie!"

"Leave us alone. You know that movie was no good, anyway. We just want to get out," Kristin said. The man reached for her purse. "Hey!" She cried.

"I'm taking enough money from you to refund my movie!" He cried. But before he could open Kristin's purse, Lance reached out and pinned the man against the wall.

"Give the purse back, and let her aside!" He cried.

"Why, you little punk! Security!" The man cried. Lance pressed him harder against the wall, his arms straining as the man struggled. He took her purse from the man and handed it back to Kristin.

"Get to your car," he said.

"What about you?" She asked.

"Don't worry! I'll handle it!" He cried. Kristin left the theater, and the other moviegoers did, too, but not before getting a look at the scene. Lance released the man after everyone had left. Before the man could give him a piece of his mind, Lance reached into his own wallet and asked him, "How much did that cost?"

"15 dollars," the man replied, "But why does that matter to a punk like y-" Lance handed him 45 dollars, triple the amount of the admission price.

"He found Kristin waiting for him outside in the parking lot. Lance felt glad that she had waited for him.

"Thanks for staying, it means a lot," he said. Kristin hugged him.

"It's official, we're gonna be together," she declared. "No guy's ever shoved a man aside for me. Or protected me, for that matter. I really appreciate it." When they let go, she added, "But next time, let me get in on the action."

"Sure. I-I like a girl that can protect herself," Lance replied. After saying goodbye, they parted ways.

Lance grew worried when Octus and Ilana where nowhere to be found at the house. He knew what might have happened. His fears came true when he stepped outside and checked out his armor. It picked up strange signals coming from the woods...Ilana! Why hadn't she contacted him? He turned on his armor and flew off.

The creature stabbed its drill in Ilana's chest, shattering her armor. She was helpless now. Ilana stood up and ran for her life. Octus tried shocking the monster as it chased after her, but it had no effect. The creature reached out to pin Ilana down with a heavy foot. She was almost crushed, unconscious and utterly helpless.

But then she saw Manus with Lance inside of it flying overhead. He unsheathed his sword and slashed at the creature. It fell backward, but got up and charged. "Get her out of here!" Lance yelled. Octus obeyed, carrying Ilana's body and flying home. Ilana regained consciousness briefly, just long enough to see Lance jump to one side after the creature had tried to ram him against a tree.

Lance dodged the blows of the creature, hovering just out of his reach. It jumped out at him, taking him by surprise. It pinned him down, but Lance struggled free and used his sword to slash at the thing's feet. It screamed in pain, rearing up slightly. Lance used this opportunity to fire a few missiles into the creature's belly. He then punched its burning stomach, flipping it over. The creature rolled to one side, but Lance rushed into the creature's back. He pressed a small button on the handle of the sword, transforming it into an axe as he charged. He then tore off a chunk of flesh from the creature's back side. The thing howled in pained again as its yellow blood poured out of its body, flipping over with its belly exposed once more. Lance's axe changed into a spear, and he stabbed at creature's exposed heart. The thing died in seconds. Lance then flew away, seeing that his mission was successful. He left behind a corpse, knowing that G3 would probably pick it up soon.

"A strong fighter, indeed," Modula said to the creature as its consciousness faded. It tried to express its thanks in a low gurgle. "I was referring to Lance," Modula added.

He arrived at their home minutes later. Ilana was waiting outside the door. "You're alive! I was worried. I wanted to go back and help, but Octus wouldn't let me. How did you defeat it so easily?" Lance ignored the question and scowled at her.

"Why didn't you guys get me to go with you and help? You could've gotten yourselves killed!" He cried. Ilana cringed defensively.

"I have an explanation!" She said. "Look, we just wanted you to have a good time with Kristin. You deserved a chance to be happy. In fact, after you didn't show up, I felt better. That meant your date had gone well, or you would have noticed us." Lance sighed, placing a hand on Ilana's shoulder in understanding.

"I can't believe you risked your life just to make me happy," he said. "Don't ever do that again, Ilana. You're way more important to me than some date." He then headed inside, trying to clear his mind of the stress she had accidentally caused. Octus approached Ilana afterward.

"'You're way more important to me than some date.' How did he mean to say that, Octus?" Ilana asked the robot. "I mean, how am I important to him? As something to protect, or...something more?" Octus shrugged, although he knew what Ilana was implying.

"Wanna watch High School Hearts?" He asked. Ilana nodded.

"Hey, Lance," she called as she stepped inside the house, "Wanna watch our show with us?" She got no answer, so she assumed it was a no until she saw Lance on the couch, watching High School Hearts.

"Why not?" he said to Ilana, who was fairly surprised he would be doing this. "Kristin made me realize I need to lighten up. But remember, you're important to me to."

For now, Ilana thought, her mind would just have to accept this answer.

Author's note: How did I do? If you liked this story, feel free to review it. However, I would prefer substantial reviews, i.e. something besides "OMG this is so good!" Constructive criticism or analysis would be best. Also, I changed the title because the last one just had a bad ring to it...

So far, I have written 12 "episodes" of varying length related to Sym-Bionic Titan. If you'd like to see more of them uploaded to the site, please review what's already here. I don't want to release the next few "episodes" until I'm confident that I have a readership!