Kinder Cosmic: Part 3 - The Heralds Of Awakening

Chapter 3 - Bark From The Grave

As the hoard of machine elves are gathered around them, Alf can be seen backed onto a corner furiously barking and growling at the elves advancing before him.

Machine Elves: HI BOY!

Machine Elves: GOOD BOY!

Machine Elves: WANNA TREAT!?

The elves joyously resonate bouncing up and down

Jorg: ALF! NO! YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE!

Alpha: C'mon man! A puppy? He doesn't even have an ego...

Machine elves: OH YES HE DOES!

Before Jorg or Alpha can even react the machine elves ruthlessly "bloop" Alf; stranding his young, underdeveloped mind in a torrent of self contemplation and the death of his own identity.

Physically, Alf is sitting on his hind legs; tongue puckered out of his mouth, eyes glazed, dazed and confused the young pup is lost to the world around him.

Mentally Alf's astral self is falling through a limitless expanse of blackness, the absence of everything around him terrifies the young dog as he kicks his legs in vain trying to find solid ground and whimpering all the while.

As he falls Alf can hear the mounting rhythm of banjo and mandolin enveloping every space within his being not unlike a waterfall drowning every pore within his conscious mind. It is the melody of Okkervil River's "Dead Dog Song" echoing and reverberating, the vibration pummeling every terrifying, fragmented thought within his simplistic little mind like a jackhammer piercing concrete.

Alf spins still kicking his feet and whimpering into the darkness, falling through the void of space not unlike a feather in the wind fluttering to the earth.

As the song continues Alf can see a tunnel of light beneath him as he flutters towards it still kicking his feet and crying out. The light blinds him as he falls into it; back unto the earth he plops down in a pile of snow simultaneously squeeking in suprise.

As Alf looks at his surroundings and shakes off the snow from his coat he can see an ancient primordial forest all around him with huge towering trees like woodland spires projected from the earth. He can smell a familiar scent of the forest and the fauna all around him and can hear the even moreso familiar sounds of other dogs howling, barking, and cubs chirping as a pack of long extinct wild dogs run throughout the forest towards him. Alf barks in return but the animals do not respond.

He sits in the snow and watches as these animals; noble and untamed spread throughout the forest. Hunting, playing, living free while experiencing the merciless nature of this new world. Starvation, Hunt, premature death, exposure to the elements; Alf witnesses the history of his kind presented in full view before him and then is suddenly whisked away again squeeking as he is carried foreward in time and dumped atop a hill overlooking an ancient community of early men.

Alf barks once again and wags his tail but the world around him is unresponsive, as if he wasn't even there.

He sits atop the hill and peers down at the village where he witnesses the first man and the first wild dog forming a domesticated partnership. He watches as these two creatures form a symbiotic relationship, one out of survival and necessity. The dog aids the man in his hunt and in turn the man feeds, protects, and homes the dog.

But before he can gather his wits Alf is once again carried away on a celestial wind that dumps him into the far future.

At this point Alf has realized that the world he is witnessing is not his own, he sits and watches on the side of a dirt road as another community, another village in another time is full of dogs. These dogs and men have now bonded forming familial relationships that have now effected the dogs on a genetic level.

Different dogs of different sizes and shapes all serving a different purpose and in kind forming a relationship with men that defies the cruel nature of the world he had previously witnessed beforehand.

Alf realizes that this bond is important, it is the most important aspect of his very existence. It is his ancestry, his very being, and in it he has been given a gift. A rare gift, a wondrous gift, a most important gift.

And with this new revelation Alf has discovered newfound purpose, heightened awareness, a sense of self and of the world around him that no other dog in the history of mankind has ever reached.

Determination floods his little puppy mind as he steels himself with resolve and commits to this new identity.

And then Alf closes his eyes; driven to one singular purpose. Carried on the wind one final time....

As the Machine Elves are encircling and closing in on the three with the song "Bassa Sababa" still resonating throughout the auditorium and the young puppy incapacitated; the Elves Can be heard speaking in unison towards our three remaining, trapped heroes.

Machine Elves: WE WANNA PLAY!

Luna: No! Go away!

Machine Elves: WATCH THIS!

Alpha: GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!

First the Elves *bloop Luna, who falls to the floor in existential turmoil.

Luna: I'm....I'm just a poor parody of Jodi Fosters character from contact...

Next they *Bloop Alpha and the last thing he sees as his astral presence leaves his body is Jorg speaking to the Machine Elves.

Jorg: Hi guys!

Machine Elves: HI JORG!

As his reality begins to fold in upon itself; Alpha is carried back into the "dark prison" of which legion had cast his mind during the first story.

Alpha can feel his astral presence floating through the void of space as the song "Rocket Man" by elton john begins to play throughout his mind.

A solitary place, an empty place, Alpha can feel an overwhelming sense of loneliness and abandonment as he floats through the ancient blackness lost to the reality he once knew.

Alpha has known this loneliness before, and for far too long. Deep, deep, deep within the recesses of his mind he begins to feel a feeling of hopelessness. Of loss and guilt. For the longest time Alpha has accepted this loneliness as his own, but more recently he had forgotten it. He had been preoccupied with a newer sense of kinship and acceptance that he once thought that he might never experience again. And the thought of losing that feeling terrified him.

All around him he can see the faint brilliance of millions of stars, planets, and the remnants of other astronomical phenomena. The deep blackness of space serving as a canvas of the cosmic beauty surrounding him.

As Alpha floats through space he notices the disembodied head of legion hurtling through the void; it's mouth agape and it's tongue trailing behind it like the tail of a comet as it changes it's direction and heads towards him it suddenly stops and turns meeting him face to face.

The creatures head; somewhat decayed and only showing the white of it's eyes begins repeating the words Alpha once heard before his imprisonment:

Legion: EVEN DEATH IS TOO KIND A FATE FOR YOU, LITTLE ONE. LEGION CANNOT CONSUMATE THE NEPHILLIM BUT WE CAN ENVELOP YOUR MIND IN EVERLASTING DARKNESS, A PRISON OF TORTURE AND MENTAL ANGUISH. YOU WILL ONCE AGAIN WITNESS THE FALL OF MAN FROM YOUR PRISON, POWERLESS TO SAVE THEM, POWERLESS TO SAVE EVEN YOURSELF!

He then looks down and in his arms he is holding a small crying human child and though he tries he cannot seem to comfort it to stop it from crying. As he looks away in pain he looks back and he's now holding the planet earth in his hands which dissolves into grains of sand and passes through his fingers.

He begins angrily, passionately muttering to himself: "Not again....Not again....NOT AGAIN!"

The feeling of guilt and loss overwhelms him as tears stream down his face; he feels powerless, hopeless, lost and.....responsible.

Alpha: I'm sorry!

Alpha cries out in pain

Alpha: I've failed you over and over again and it's all my fault...

Alpha continues crying:

Alpha: I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry.

And then he begins to wake....

Alpha and Luna are both discombobulated; slowly recovering from the effects of being "*Blooped"
and Jorg is preoccupied having a metaphysical conversation with a hoard of machine elves.

Jorg: And then there's this....

*BLOOP!

Machine elves bobbing up and down:

WOW! WOW! WOW! THAT'S SOOOO COOL JORG!

Alf is swept through time and dumped back into his own body. As he shakes his head and stands up he remembers his vision and steels himself once more.

The melody of "Dead Dog Song" begins to blast through the speakers at a headsplitting; loud, melodic tempo that fills the room and spills out of the auditorium.

The fur of the puppies coat begins to raise as he mashes his little teeth and growls in defiance.

Alf: GGGGRRRRRRR!

The machine elves all begin to spin and advance towards Alf.

Machine elves: UH OH! UH OH! UHHH OOOOH!

Machine Elves: HE'S MAAAAD!

Jorg: ALF! YOU'RE OK!

Suddenly Alf sprints towards the gate at a tremendous speed as the machine elves try to intercept him and *Bloop him once more.

Alf jukes one machine elf after another, weaving amongst them not unlike a roided up NFL running back barking furiously all the while.

Machine Elves: COME HERE BOY!

Machine Elves: GOOD BOY!

The song continues to play as Alf runs ever closer towards the gate dancing around the Elves with pinpoint accuracy.

Song: OOOOOOH IT'S ALL OOOVER HE AIN'T EVER COMIN' BACK!

As Alf reaches the gate the machine elves start crying out in unison

Machine Elves: NOOOO! WE'RE NOT DONE PLAYING!

Three Machine Elves crowd before the speeding puppy as he plops down on his belly and skids beneath them.

Machine Elves: NOOOOO! NO! NO! NO!

A single Elf hovers before Alf and the gate as he skids to a stop he stands up on all fours and begins growling once more.

Machine Elf: BE A GOOD BOY!

The Machine Elf *bloops and the bubble slowly spins as the music rages and Alf growls. The bubble pierces Alf's mind and he continues to growl completely unaffected.

Machine Elves: WHAT? WHAT? IT DIDN'T WORK? OH NO! OH NO! OH NO! OH NO!

Alf once again sprints towards the toppled podium of the auditorium now lying directly infront of the gate passing through the Machine Elf blocking his path.

Machine Elves: NOOOOOOO!

Alf uses the podium as platform to vault his little body into the gate at full speed, smashing into it he falls to the floor and squeaks.

The gate tips backwards and then leans forward and then flips backwards crashing to the floor.

Machine Elves: NOOOO-

Not missing a beat Alf races towards the wiring of the gate and chews through it as the light emitting from the gate itself begins to phase in and out, electrical sparks discharge from the gate and shock Alf throwing him backwards.

The Machine Elves now phasing in and out of existence with the light of the gate.

Machine Elves: NO-OO-OOO-OO

His fur now slightly singed Alf sprints towards the gate once more and relieves himself near the electrical discharge.

The urine trickles slowly towards the gate and then is caught by the discharge short circuiting the gate and completely shutting it down and phasing the Elves out of existence from this realm.

Alpha and Luna have now fully recovered and are both staring at Alf completely shellshocked.

Alpha: What....the...hell?

Luna: Did he just.....save us?

Jorg runs towards Alf scooping him up in his arms and holding him up in the air praising him.

Jorg: GOOD BOY! GOOD BOY!

Alf wags his tail and licks Jorgs face

Alpha: Something about this dog has changed.

Luna: What do you mean?

Alpha: Have you ever seen a dog do anything like that? How did he know that would work? That the Elves were tethered to the gate and not this realm??? I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT WOULD WORK!

Luna: No....actually no I haven't. That was incredible...

Alpha: Something about that dog has changed....

All the while as Jorg continues celebrating Alf gazes towards the destroyed gate and remembers his vision, his experience, his purpose:

To save mankind....