Ape Kodomo Escape REDUX

Chapter 12 - Galactic Royale

Panic was an understatement when describing the situation that was brewing. Almost immediately after seeing Daichi get kidnapped, Hiroki's phone started ringing and vibrating from phone calls and messages. He picked up one of the incoming calls and talked with the person on the other side.

It was too low for Dawn to make out what the other person was saying, but it had to have been something along the lines of "Get back here as soon as possible". She was already somewhat prepared when the grown man started step backwards, before fully turning and running back towards the labortory.

The girl continued to try to listen in on the conversation the best she could whilst running alongside the adult, but she could still only make out the father's side. But it was clear that something had been suddenly brought up in the conversation when Hiroki stopped in place with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"Wait, what?" He said so loud that it was almost a shout.

He brought his phone in front of his face and swiped his thumb across its screen to end the phonecall. He didn't even say goodbye or try to explain what he was talking about to Dawn, he just started dashing in the same direction – even faster than before. The young girl, understandibly, tried to run after him.

The grown man's speed didn't drop, not even when he made it to the stairs at the professors house. He simply ran up them as quickly as possible. The girl slowed down, but still went up the steps as quickly as possible. As she reached the top, she could hear loud noises coming from inside the house – either shouting or screaming.

She took in a deep breath and walked closer to the door to open it. She wasn't sure at all how to process what she saw as she entered the house. In the hallway was her dad, and he was holding something. He turned around to look at who had come into the house.

In his arms, was Yuki. It had been the first time the two girls had seen each other in weeks. We smiled and giggled, while waving her hand to wave. Dawn's father had an awkward smile on his face. As the shock of the girl's suddenly appearance started to go down, the rest of the situation in the house became clear.

Dawn ran to the labortory doorway and looked inside before going in. Natsumi was by the main module, Charu was standing next to the tool panel and Dr. Tomoki and Aki were working on a small monitor in the corner of the room. Akira was next to his mother whilst holding an ice pack on his cheek, and Theo spun around in the office chair on the other side of the room. Amelia was standing by the doorway without her iconic messenger bag.

The cherry red haired girl walked straight over to the main module and tried to figure out what was going on. She stopped next to the mother, who continued to furiously type on the keyboard.

"So, what are you doing now?" She asked.

"We're trying to find where Daichi's been send to, but we can't find a location anywhere on Earth." Natsumi replied, but it was clear that she was more focused on the monitor.

"So what if he's on the moon or something?" The girl replied.

"The machine hasn't been restored to allow for that yet, so if he's on the planet...we can't get to him."

Dawn's eye widened and she decided to leave the woman to her work, walking around her to stand next to the boy.

"Are you gonna come with us when we find where Daichi is?" She asked him.

He moved the ice pack off of his cheek and started to talk.

"Yeah, he has to say sorry to me."