Now normally, the first answer I get when I ask someone, what would you do if you knew you were about to die? I get the following answer, at least from my siblings, "I would rob a bank, steal a Ferrari and have the best time of my life." I was told I was could die very soon, so what did I do? I said, "fuck it" and fell asleep on the couch in the barracks. I was seriously just too tired and worn out from the night before to care. The way I saw it was, you know, we all die eventually, but no way in hell am I dying tired as all hell. In truth, if I had the choice in the matter the last thing I would do before death was hit an unlimited buffet of all my favorite foods, pizza, mac and cheese, deep fried spicy chicken, Fettuccine Alfredo and on and on. But Ace, you say, what if you could live to be 100, but you could never eat those foods again? Well, what would be the point? In the words of comedian Gabriel Iglesias, "Gabriel don't you want to live to be 100? Not if I can't eat Tacos." And he's right. Why live to a hundred if it means I can't enjoy myself? Die skinny and miserable at 100 or fat and happy at 55? Hmmm...my money is on 55.

Me sleeping on the couch was a rather rare occurrence, just ask my family. When it happened I almost always woke up around 5PM, still tired as shit and sometimes with a headache. Though when I woke up this time, rather than finding I had a headache, I found instead that Nina had somehow managed to squeeze herself into the space between me and the back of the couch without waking me up. She had both her arms around me in such a way it was as if she were trying to prevent me from escaping...

"Welcome back to the land of the living", Nina said quietly.

"Maybe not much longer if professor green was right", I said stretching out.

Nina sighed, "you think he is?"

"I don't see a reason to think he's not", I sighed, "the man seems to be a legit genius, why would Morningstar have us pick him up if he wasn't?"

Nina sighed again and pulled me tighter, "maybe your right."

I turned around to face her, "hey, look at it this way, I couldn't have asked for a better girlfriend."

She smiled, "I couldn't have asked for anyone better myself."

She pulled me into a kiss that lasted for about 30 seconds, but felt like a lot longer. When she pulled away from me, I rolled off the couch and sat up, "you guys have your gear ready for tomorrow?", I asked.

"No", She said, "I've been trying to keep the others from losing their minds. How the hell did you just come in here and fall asleep?"

I shook my head and yawned, "I was honestly to tired to give a fuck."

'Wow", Nina sighed.

"Hey", I said, "I'm tired of worrying about how I'm going to die. It took me long enough to realize that no matter what I do it's gonna happen, maybe not today, hopefully not tomorrow, but it's going to happen. What's it matter if I die in bed or on the battlefield? Same thing with the Civic, Front wheel Drive, tons of turbo lag, get it wrong in the middle of a corner, dead. I have just arrived at the point where I don't care if I live or die."

Nina sighed, looking like she might start crying, "I do. I care."

I rose from my spot on the floor and joined her on the couch, pulling her close to me.

"I'm not ready to go", she said, "for the first time in my life I have people who care about me and who give me a second thought. Ace, if I lost you....I don't know how I would take it. I love you."

"I love you too", I said kissing her.

"Then why are you so eager to die?", she asked, "I don't understand it."

"I'm not eager to die Nina", I said, "I wanna live, now more than I ever have, but having said that, I'm just done worrying about when and how it's going to happen. I could eat a bullet right now with my only regret being that I don't know what our kids would look like."

Nina laughed a little, "do you think we would even get anywhere if we tried?"

I shook my head, "a question I'm sure professor green could answer with some horrendously invasive test."

Nina giggled and pushed me down into the couch, sliding on top of me, "I'd rather just try and see for myself."

"I don't think so", I said, "I'm not sure I'm ready for that."

Nina gave me a funny look and then pulled her arms out from under her, crashing down into my chest with all of her 397 pounds, knocking the wind out of me.

"Just me, me, me", she sighed with a sarcastic tone, "think about someone else for a change will ya?"

I coughed a few times, trying to get a breath, when Jayden and Arnett picked that. Exact. Second, to walk through the door.

"What the hell?", Jayden asked, stopping dead in the door way.

"Are you two making out?", Arnett asked.

"Not quite", Nina said getting off of me, allowing me to get a breath.

"Were you trying to suffocate Ace?", Jayden asked,

"Yes", I gasped trying to pull myself out of the couch, though I wasn't able to go very far because Nina still had my legs and tail pinned underneath her, "she, almost, made me die."

"I though you loved him?", Arnett asked looking at Nina with her ears back.

"I do", Nina answered.

"So why the hell were you trying to murder him?", Jayden asked.

Nina giggled, "because he's been bad."

"Annnnd I'm out", Jayden said turning and leaving,

"Go on", Arnett smiled, "while, later at least, Morningstar sent us to tell you guys to come to the Borad Room, he wants to talk with us."

Nina looked at me and gave me a look that reeked of, "I'll get you, just wait."

Talk about saved by the bell. They had been just a little bit slower I would have...well, try not to think about that. Nina allowed me to get off the couch and then the two of us walked from the barracks to the broad room, finding the others already gathered around the table.

"What's this about sir?", I asked, taking my assigned seat,.

"Kids", Morningstar said, "I just want to get one thing out of the way, right now, when we developed the serum to change you, we also developed an Anti-gen that can completely flush the mutagens out of your system and revert you to before you joined, the Professor said it's safe, unlike the Mutagen. If you kids want out now, you can."

"What brought this up?", I asked.

"The serum problem brought this up", Morningstar said, "if I had known that the serum was unstable and could kill you kids from the inside out, I would have waited to recruit you until I could get Professor green onborad."

"He was coming anyway?", Nina asked.

"Yes Nina", he said, "we had talked several times over the course of your training and what he was telling me was hinting that Black River was doing something sketchy and the talk we had with traiq pretty much confirmed what I already was sure of. From this point on, I tell you kids everything, assuming you decide you can trust me enough to stay."

"Why would we leave?", Arnett asked, "wearing the American flag on my shoulder is the best thing ever."

"Seriously", Jayden said, "Project Venom is the best thing that ever happened to me."

"And Special Operations has been a dream of mine since I could remember", Mercury smiled.

"Were all staying right here sir", I said, "I'm here because I want to be here."

"Me too", Nina said.

"Me three!", Leanna said happily.

"Same with me", Rylar said.

Morningstar garnered pretty much the same response from everyone, we were all staying put right where we were.

"Thanks kids", he smiled, "it means a lot. Now, I have some good news. Professor green has made it clear to me that he will have a permanent fix ready by tomorrow morning. Now, given I know you all leave for long missions tomorrow, but I still feel the need to celebrate. Go back to the barracks, take showers and dress nice, then come to the Hangar, I'll explain when you get there. Dismissed.

On that note, we all stood and headed back to the barracks, grabbed the nicest clothes we had and then went to the showers. As normal, we all spread out, or at least, eight of them did, Nina was a little different story.

"Can I come in with you?", she asked from the other side of the curtain.

"Ummmm", I answered, "no."

"Why not?", she asked innocently.

"Hmmm", I said sarcastically, "gee, I wonder?"

I heard her giggle from the other side, "you can't hold out of me forever, you know damn well I'll get you soon."

"Nina there are little kids around", I said.

"Their in the army", Nina snickered, "they won't be little kids for long."

I found myself both horrified and a little turned on...wait...why am I telling you this? I finished showering as quickly as possible, looked both ways to make sure Nina wouldn't try to assault me and then went to the locker rooms, dried off and then went back to the barracks, looking for what nice clothes I had. I fished around in my dresser for my blue collar shirt and my dark black jeans, underwear, boxers and socks. I was finishing getting dressed and I was grabbing my wallet, watch, emitter and sunglasses when Nina walked in, being very loud with the door to ensure that I noticed her.

"Stop! STOP IT", I said turning away from her, 100% sure she was still nude.

"Stop what?", she asked closing the door.

"Stop taunting me!", I said.

"I'm not", she said.

"Yes you are", I said, "why else would you have been so loud with the door?"

"Just turn around Ace", she said softly, "I think you might like what you see."

I laughed, "no, that reeks of trap!"

"It's not a trap", She said, "I'm dressed silly."

"I don't believe you", I said.

"Just a glance?", she said, "please? I promise you I have a dress on."

Against my better judgment, I turned around. Nina was wearing a bright blue dress with a water decal that went down a few inches past her knees along with a dark blue jean jacket. She had on high top sneakers that looked more like combat boots anything else that were a nice tan color that matched the blue of the dress and her hair was a much brighter blonde than it had been a few days ago.

"Well?", she asked spinning around, "how do I look?"

"Stunning", I said, almost at a lost for words.

She walked up to me and leaned into me, having to look up at me as the emitter shaved a foot off her height.

"I never realized how small I was", she giggled putting her arms around me.

I laughed, "your not that much shorter than I am. Now lets go see what Morningstar wants."

Nina and I walked holding hands to the hangar where I found Morningstar in a fancy suit with Carlos, his Marine team and even the guys who guarded the gate, Luke, Jake and Conner if I had their names right. We didn't see them too often around the base, because their jobs kept them at the gate all day, but they were part of the Venom family nonetheless. I also noticed three new vehicles, a slammed, bright blue Honda Accord sporting Neo Design bumpers, sideskirts, custom headlight lips, a mesh grill, Mugen Rear Spoiler and Borbret wheels, the same ones I almost bought for the Civic. It had a Marine sticker on the bumper, so I assumed it belonged to Carlos. There were also two bright, neon green station wagons that were sitting rather low, wearing Ford Focus badges and seemed to have body extensions for more seats. Interesting, anyone know they made Focus Wagons?







"Everyone but the professor", I said, "will he be joining us?"

"No", Luke said, "he told me he had a lot of work to do on the Serum, but asked if we'd save him something."

"Where we going?", I asked.

"Out on the town", Morningstar said, "there's this upscale restaurant in Bakersfeild that serves some very expensive eats, as well as some of the best cheap food, like fried chicken, that you'll ever eat."

"I'm sold", I said.

"Then load up", Morningstar said.

Everyone began piling into the two Ford Focus Wagons, while Carlos and his buddies went to his Accord. When everything was said and done, Nina and I were left out.

"Looks like you guys are taking the Civic", Conner said from the passenger seat of the wagon that had Luke at the wheel.

Hmmm....with the way Nina had been advancing on me all day, this was a little too convenient. Wouldn't you say? I would.

"Looks like", I said pulling my keys out of my pocket. Nina and I walked to the Civic and slid in. I put the car in neutral, woke up the engine and then put the windows down to air it out as it was baking inside. The other three cars started up and then the hangar door slid to the side. Morningstar drove the lead Ford Focus out and started up the trail, while Carlos and Luke followed behind, leaving my Civic in last place. There were no worries tough, I would rectify that soon enough. We stopped outside the gate so Luke could lock it up and activate the pop up turrets which used Rubber Bullets to chase people off. Once that was done, we turned onto the main road and headed down towards Furnace Creek so we could get onto the short cut road. When we reached the short cut, Morningstar stopped his Focus and called us over the CB.

"You know", he said, "what's the point of having two, 500 horsepower rear wheel drive wagons if we never have any fun with them?"

'You wanna Race?", I asked pulling along side Carlos.

"always", Morningstar replied me.

"Wager?", I asked.

"Two mile drag", Mercury said, "loser pays for his own dinner."

"Your on", I said.

"Looks like your paying for your own shit Ace", Carlos called.

"As if", I said, "I have no idea what your putting to the ground, but your accord is already heavier than the Civic because it's a Sedan, add in three extra people, your at a weight disadvantage just like everyone else."

"We'll see", Carlos said.

With everyone lined up, Mercury started a count down.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1", he said, "GO!"

The evening air filled with the sounds of transmissions jumping into first gear and air was soon saturated with the smell of burning rubber as the front wheels of the Civic and the rear wheels of the two Ford Focus' fought for grip for only a fraction of a second before taking off, while Carlos' Accord cleared 100 feet in the time it took me to get traction. Figured, he was All Wheel Drive, no wonder he was so arrogant.

"All Wheel Drive won't save you!", I shouted over the supercharger as the Turbo kicked on, flinging the Civic to 65 miles an hour before I shifted into second gear. The Supercharger wailed over the the scream of the engine as the engine past the boost threshold of 6500 RPM and the Turbo kicked in for a second time. The Civic rode right up to Carlos' Accord and the two superchargers began a contest to see which of them could feed their engine the most boost. When I hit 6500 in third gear, the turbo kicked on, which lead to me discovering the fatal flaw for Carlos' Accord, he wasn't compound charged.

"See ya bro!", I shouted as the Civic rocketed away from the accord, clearing the two mile race with me in 1st, Carlos in 2nd, Luke in 3rd and Morningstar in 4th. Though even in 4th place, Morningstar wasn't all that far behind me. This is one of those things that proves something I only realized after I bought the Civic, Front Wheel Drive will nail you when you least expect it and it's a slice of heaven if you happen to have some money laying around, though be ready to pay for fuel, you go through E85 quickly, thank god for flex fuel and drug store alcohol.

"I win", I said slowing back down to 60 miles an hour.

"Yep", Morningstar said, "and my situation remains unchanged. Anyone need gas after that? There's a station a few miles up the road."

"I do", I said, "my car sucks down that E85."

"So does mine", Carlos said as we stopped at the second gate. Morningstar unlocked it and soon we were back on the high way again. The sun began to paint the sky a brilliant orange and pink color as we drove down 191. About a half hour after leaving Area 29, the AC went off and the window's went down. The wind was hell on Nina's hair, but she didn't seem to mind. It was about a 5 mile drive before we made it to the gas station. I didn't have the money to put E85 back into the tank, so I simply filled the Civic with super unleaded, while Nina went inside to get a couple of bottles of alcohol. Once everyone was fueled, we were on the road again. The sky gradually turned from orange and pink, to pink and then to black as it sank below the horizon, replaced by a full moon and many, many stars. We followed Morningstar into Baker's field and almost all the way out of the city before I saw a bright sign and a Carino's style building that both read in nice blue lettering, 'Saffron Cafe".

"Saffron Cafe?", Nina asked, "hmm. Interesting."

'Reminds me of Saffron City from Pokemon Heart Gold Version", I said as I pulled into a corner parking space and put the Civic in park.

"You play Pokemon?", she asked.

"You have no idea", I smiled, "I still play Heart Gold."

She laughed, "I need to buy a 3DS so I can play Alpha Sapphire."

"I know", I said as we stepped out of the Civic, "that game has eluded me for so long. I just wish the stories weren't always, get the badges, fight the evil team and then get famous."

"What else could they do?", she asked as we joined the others.

I shrugged, "anything but that."

The group walked into the Restaurant. The main entry way reminded me of Olive garden. There were two small recreation area's on both sides with white leather couches and darkly stained oak coffee tables with glass tops that both sat next to large wine racks. Looking straight ahead, there was a wooden wall that was made out of un touched tree trunks with lights set into it that looked something like Red stone lamps from Minecraft. The floor was made out of blue granite tile that was polished until you could eat off of it. I was overtaken by the scents of every food that I couldn't live without hitting me over the head with a baseball bat, I also couldn't help but notice that the others were also about doubled over.

"Stupid nose", Nina said, "how am I supposed to survive in this place? Just when I thought food smell torture couldn't get any worse."

Morningstar laughed, "good, now I'm not the only one suffering."

"Welcome to Saffron Cafe", A black woman said coming around the corner, "General Morningstar, so nice to see you."

"You as well Erica", Morningstar said.

"You have quite the following here", she smiled, "follow me, I have the perfect table for you."

The woman lead us to a window area by a stone covered wall that had an amazing view of a completely open kitchen that showed the massive brick pizza oven, deep fryers, regular ovens and stoves covered in copper cookware. I could see six or seven chefs rushing around while eight waiters were taking piles of food to their tables.

"Okay this place is awesome", I said, "I feel like I'm in Minecraft."

'Why is that love?", Nina asked leaning on my shoulder.

"This entire building", I said, "it's soo cool."

Nina smiled, "it is. I'm gonna try to build it in Pocket Edition."

We sat at the table for about five minutes before Morningstar's waitress friend came back.

"All right Alex", she said, 'are you all ready to order?"

"Yes", Morningstar said, "I'll take a poached fish sandwich with Iced tea and a ceaser salad."

"I'll have a medium pepperoni Pizza with a small coke", Mercury said.

"I'll have a large Popcorn Chicken bucket with a Mountain Dew", Riley Said.

"I'll have the same thing as my brother", Trace said.

"Hmm", Jayden said, "I'd like a deep fried chicken breast with a medium sized mac and cheese pasta bowl on the side with a medium coke."

"I'll have a 20 piece spicy chicken nugget box with small fries and a coke", Arnett said.

"I'll have 5 cheese ravioli and a coke", Leanna said.

"I'll have the same", Rylar said.

"Just a medium cheese pizza and a coke for me", Mako said.

She turned to Carlos and his Marine team, "and you sir?"

"I'll have the same thing as Alex", Carlos said, "not wanting anything to heavy tonight."

"I'll take a poached lobster tail with a coke", Tyler, one of Carlo's Marine's said.

"I'll have a meatlovers pizza with a Sprite", another said.

"A bucket of Chicken fingers for me", the third said.

Luke, Conner and Jake all ordered the same thing and then the woman moved to my and Nina's table.

"Are you", she stopped in mid sentence, "are you Josh Miller from Short Throw Shifter?"

I smiled, "that would be me."

"I love watching your channel", she said, "you raced my older brother's Hennessy Camaro on your stream the other day."

"That thing was wicked fast", I said.

"Well the Civic was a little bit faster", she smiled, "what did you say was getting to the front wheels?"

"610", I said, "but when the boost kicks in it's like 900 at the front and 1,010 at the crank."

'Cool", She said, "now ya ready to order?"

"Yes I'll have a large mac and cheese pasta bowl, 20 spicy Chicken Nuggets and a coke to drink."

"I'll have a large pepperoni Pizza and a coke", Nina said.

The woman smiled, "Your orders will be out in about 15 minutes."

She turned and walked away. Another waiter brought us bread sticks which Nina and I ate to offset the smell of the food cooking in the back of the restaurant. It was exactly 15 minutes before four waiters, yes four, brought us our food. And let me tell ya, it was worth the wait. The pasta bowl was amazing, like no Mac And Cheese I'd ever eaten and the nuggets were a throwback to yesteryear's Spicy Chicken McBites from McDonald's, which used to be my regular order. Dinner took well over two hours and by the time I was done, I couldn't eat anymore if I wanted to and I still had leftovers, as did almost everyone else. Morningstar payed the bill, got us boxes for the leftovers and then we went back to 29. Everyone hit the showers at the same time, which turned out not to be a big a clusterfuck as I thought it would. When I went back to the barracks, I turned the AC down as low as it would go and then rolled into bed. I was almost asleep when the door opened and Nina walked in, looking happy, but tired as shit.

"I'm going to dream about that chicken", she smiled sitting on the foot of my bed.

I sat up, "I will too, that place was cool."

She sighed and looked at me, I could see the look in her eyes change, her pupils went from normal size to almost invisible, something wasn't quite right, "Hey Ace, can I ask you something?"

"Sure", I said.

"Do you love me?", she asked moving closer.

"Yes", I answered, "course I do, why do you ask?"

"I just like hearing you say it", she giggled, "goodnight love."

I smiled, "goodnight."