H.O.M.E. 17
by
Fin
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While the attack on The Exo Club had failed in the end to acquire its targets, the dance hall itself would not be reopening. It was a call made by both Franklin and Slim. DermStims were the true focus of the business now, and what with the cost of repairs and the liability of such a public facing company, the club's street entrance was permanently closed.
It was never exactly determined whom had ordered the assault, though Slim of course had his suspicions of half a dozen rivals from across Outer Ring City. Franklin had no reason to doubt The Slime Lord's instincts on the culprits, but the exact perpatrators themselves were less important to the man than ensuring that such an attack would never occur again.
With the chances of finding his true son reduced greatly by the discovery in Void's Rest Graveyard, the remaining Sam clones became the admiral's only priority. And as such, he still needed the SlimStim brand to free them from the chains of which they had been shackled. Thus Franklin had decided to take charge of the business' security, while Slim continued to oversee the repair efforts to their headquarters.
With many of its floors already demolished for free, conversion of the facility into a full factory production line had already started. The Sams working as greeters, bartenders, and dancers were now employed as construction workers still under the supervision of The Slime Lord. The rainbow walls, the multicolored light fixtures, the sparkling crystal statues, all were eventually torn down or removed as the business went from exploiting the Umons to instead working for their freedom entirely. All still the while creating more profit for its owner than the alien had ever known in all his long years in The Core.
Slim however had one extra duty besides that of managing his fleet of clonal workers. With the idea of finding another Slime Lord partner eventually rejected as fit for only an Idiot, the violet beast had to resort to more traditional methods of increasing his output. Resting in the center of the flurry of construction activity in full blob form, the alien focused his attention on creating more of himself, while ordering the efforts of the Sam clones intermittently when needed. This additional cellular matter would function even when separated from its original creator to constantly produce more Fever round the clock in huge vats.
Or that was the plan anyway, once all the preparations had been completed to the facility. Until then, Slim would be spending much of the time doing what blobs do best, growing more of himself until he became the fattest Slime Lord in the entire city.
Meanwhile with the chaos of the new headquarters still under construction, James and Sammy were able to find time to slip away unnoticed to be with only each other. Their love, albeit alien from many points of view, grew like a true one nonetheless.
First as always came the physical attraction, and of course its messy magnetic results. After that however burgeoned an affection even stronger between the two. One resulting from a mix of both esteem as well as brotherly love.
As such the two became quickly inseparable. Chatting, laughing, strategizing, they could always be found by each others side. And in that time it soon became clear to James that his new boyfriend had spent too much of his almost equal in length life behind the bejeweled walls of The Exo Club. With such barriers now quite literally destroyed, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to show the boy the world of which he had so long been denied.
Fortunately enough, James was also a newcomer to Outer Ring City, which meant both could enjoy the siteseeing he planned for them when they found time to escape on one of their "dates." The excursion they were currently on was what the soldier insisted was a time honored tradition of their home world, much to Sammy's disbelief.
"Why would anyone go to The Shopping District if they do not want to buy anything?" the boy had questioned immediately when they had arrived at their secret destination.
James chuckled, not exactly sure there was an answer.
"I guess it is because its just fun to be out and around...," the lieutenant had been about to say "others", before he had spied the crowd of extremely bizarre and offputting aliens in front of them.
Well that didn't quite work here in The Core nearly as much.
Regardless, a visit to the mall was still a necessity for the young blonde clone to experience, and if nothing else, there was still always the food court the soldier baited to the habitually hungry lad.
It turned out though that James needed not worry about the quality of their activity all that much, as the pair of young lovers were caught in the enchantment of one another nearly as much or moreso than that of their surroundings.
Visiting a clothing store, the two giggled at the extreme range in sizes of the garments inside, often with several attachable limb extension sleeves just in case.
Wandering a luxury import venue, the young Blades gawked at the unusual offworld curios that often had no description of their intended use whatsoever. Most were being sold as some sort of decoration, but honestly the two wondered if the strange objects did not have a much more unusual origin.
Browsing a candy retail, Sammy was quick to find a long thin sugar on a stick to lavisciously suck in front of his new best friend. James tried to not think of how many years of practice or with what creatures it had been with, to have made the boy such a professional in wolfing it down.
From store to store the two crisscrossed the bustling streets and avenues of The Shopping District creating their own form of entertainment in each one. So it was the pair ended up having a grand time before even once stepping foot in the legendary wonder that was a food court, or so the lieutenant still claimed.
Once again however the bizarre bazar at first seemed too alien to live up to its hype. What with a menu selection from restaurants serving the most raw and wiggling combinations of insectoworm creatures imaginable, it was actually hard to think of ever eating again after seeing such an assortment of gag worthy delicasies! But Outer Ring City was no stranger to having to cater to the vastest array of consumers, and soon the boys were in line to acquire what James extremely hoped tasted like the chicken it sort of looked like.
"I really want to thank you," said the blonde lad to his boyfriend sincerely. "For today... and every day recently actually."
"You don't have to thank me Sammy," replied his brother. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here with you. And I do know of serveral universes."
James smiled. Somehow it was true.
"That's why I really have to thank you."
The blonde boy then kissed his "older" boyfriend, their lips staying pressed against each others passionately as they waited in the queue for their food.
"Well I've never!" excalimed from behind them a shocked rotund yellow alien to its equally odd blue friend beside it. "Umons with other Umons! What is The Core coming to?"
Sammy gestured to it immediately in a symbol James had not quite learned yet. Though the soldier guessed it must have been as crass as it looked because soon the beasts were hollering for others to intercede because of the slight.
"Are you even let to eat here Umon?" asked the blue tentacle creature with disdain before getting a closer look at his taller companion.
The being squinted its one large myopic eyeball before exclaiming to the growing circle of watchers around it.
"It's him! One of the new ones!"
That was the indeed the sound of Last Call for the human lieutenant.
"Come on Sammy. Maybe its best we go... before things get worse..."
But the lad would have none of it.
"No! No way!" the boy protested. "We came here to eat at Lkyrtzrk's Ybcvul of Fine Wqojks in peace and we are going to have our Wqojks or else!"
The frusterated lad was about to make a stand of it when just then however a loud dull tone blared throughout the dining plaza as every last one of the ad displays around them shifted into an official screen emblazoned with the logo of The Council.
The tussle in formation immediately dissolved as every last alien citizen in The Shopping District turned to watch the unusual announcement. It did not take much time for it to begin.
"Greetings valued beings of Outer Ring City, this is the official Voice of your Council," the words began over a series of images of the alien metropolis. "We are very sorry to have disturbed you today, however there is a matter of great urgency we would like to discuss."
"We can watch while we walk," said James to his brother as he scooted the boy away from the distracted mob.
"It is not unknown to any of you our dire situation," said The Council's Voice. "Every last one of us, either by fate or by birth, has been stranded here on The Core, unable to reach the worlds of our origin."
After a pause while more pictures of various alien species played, the announcement started once more.
"But today citizens that ends! Today your Council wishes to inform you that we have found a way home! A way home for us all!"
James halted in his tracks. Sammy as well. It couldn't be! A way off The Core? That was just not possible! But the assortment of aliens around them already had begun to cheer at the miraculous news!
"All we will need... are your Umons."