Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders

[EmilyAnnCoons 7]

I know what you're asking..."Did I REALLY just read that Emily is making a Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders novelization?" The answer to your question is YES! This is the prologue to "Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders". I cannot say how much different from the real game this will be, but for those of you who are old enough to remember this game, have fun reading and having nostalgia. Keep in mind that this story is fiction, and thus in no way should you really believe the telephone was invented by aliens, nor is the telephone company sending a weird hum over the lines to make us stupid.

 

Prologue

 

The Earth, a beautiful world filled with life and wonder. On this beautiful, blue planet, exists many different creatures, ranging from cats to dogs, fish to birds, insects to apes, but the greatest of all creatures on this planet are those of the Humans and the Skolarians.

 

The Skolarians were a strange race. Blue in color, and having rather large heads, the Skolarians were the smartest of the two races. They built marvelous creations, ranging from the Pyramids of Egypt, to the Temples of the Mayan Dynasty. However, they had a secret purpose on this planet. They knew another race, the Caponians, would come to Earth and try to take over. Using their superior intelligence, the Skolarians created a device that would stop the Caponians.

 

However, many millennia ago, a great uprising occurred, and the Skolarians were forced to leave the dimension forever. Before they left, they took apart the Skolarian Device which they had forged to stop the Caponians. They placed the pieces of it in various lands around the world, then left the world to itself.

 

It was, though, as the Skolarian’s feared. Only a few thousand years after the Skolarian left, the Caponians came to Earth. They found the land to be weak without the Skolarian’s around. So, they launched their invasion. They pretended to invent many things with their technology, such as the phone, and the phone company. Then, after their plan was ready, they created a machine that would send a signal out to all the humans on the planet, and destroy their intelligence. Then, when the time was right, they would invade.

 

The Caponians, however, were not stupid. They knew of the Skolarian Device, and were ever watchful. As their plan grew, they became more cautious, for they knew that if the Skolarian Device was re-assembled, then their plans would be ruined. So, they watched carefully and ever vigilantly to make sure that the Skolarian Device would never be activated.

 

In the year 1988, one man, a Mr. Zakary McKracken was unaware of what lied ahead in his future. He did not know that he would soon be forced to become mankind’s only hope to stop the Caponians.

[EmilyAnnCoons 7]

Yes! Chapter 1 of Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders is here! For those of you who actually KNOW how the dream sequence in ZM goes...I know this is VERY different...bite me if you hate it >< I kept getting lost in where I was in the dream sequence, so I just designed it from what I could remember. Also, since this is a novelization of "my own version of ZM", it's SUPPOSED to be different...anyway...that's about all I have for this chapter. Next chapter: A Squirrel's Secret! What will Zak McKracken find in Seattle, where the two-headed squirrel lives?

 

Chapter 1: An Odd Dream

 

Zak McKracken was a man in his twenties. He worked for the National Inquisitor – a newspaper company in San Francisco – as a reporter, though his work was usually scam work. Everything the National Inquisitor wrote was usually scams and fake reports. Zak had brown hair that was fairly short along with very handsome brown eyes. He was currently wearing a blue, button-up shirt, along with a pair of black dress pants, along with a red tie. His shoes were also black, dress shoes, along with a pair of white socks, which didn’t match his outfit at all.

 

Zak had been called in to see the Editor-in-Chief of the National Inquisitor. The guy was fairly fat. He was bald as well, and spoke with a deep voice. He had on a full suit, which included a shirt, suit coat, pants, tie, the works. He set his elbows on the desk in front of him, putting his hands up and putting them together. He leaned forward, his eyes looking at Zak. “Welcome, Zak,” the chief spoke.

 

“What did you need to see me about?” Zak asked.

 

“I happen to know that lately your work here has been declining,” the chief spoke. “You don’t seem happy.”

 

Zak sighed. “How can I be? The longer I’m stuck doing reports here, the less I can work on my book.”

 

The chief sighed. “So, your book is more important then your job?” He asked as he sat back in his chair.

 

“No, that’s not it, sir…it’s just…I’m not going to win a Pulitzer here.”

 

The chief sighed. “Zak, Zak, Zak, this is definitely disappointing.”

 

“Sir, you know how much I want to work on my book,” Zak spoke, walking up to the desk now. He was now staring the chief in the eyes.

 

The chief sighed. “In either case, I have a job for you.”

 

“I’m tired of making up stupid stories, sir,” Zak spoke.

 

“Then make up stories that aren’t stupid,” the chief spoke, raising his voice a bit. There was silence for a moment. “Look, Zak, I know you want to write your book. Just do this job for me, then you can go about your business and write your book.”

 

Zak nodded. He was happy the chief was letting him out of it, but he still wasn’t happy about the assignment. “Very well.”

 

The chief set a ticket down on his desk. “This is a ticket to Seattle. Supposedly there is some kind of two-headed squirrel there that has been attacking campers. I want you to write a story on it.”

 

“Very well,” Zak walked over and took the ticket from the desk. He turned around, and he thought for a moment. “A good headline…‘Reporter Strangles Boss Over Dumb Assignment’,” he spoke in a low voice to himself.

 

“What was that?” the chief asked.

 

“Nothing, sir,” Zak spoke, then walked out. He walked to his own desk and grabbed his jacket. It was the beginning of Spring, which made it slightly cold, but not very much. He put the jacket on and looked at his ticket. It was dated for a flight the next day. He sighed again. “At least I get to sleep one night before I leave…”

 

Zak walked out of the news building and headed on home. His apartment was at 5858 13th Avenue. Though it was a nice home, he did wish he could live somewhere other then where he was. He stopped at the door to his house and looked at the mailbox. There was a small letter inside. Zak quickly headed up to his apartment, and grabbed the key to his mailbox that was sitting next to his door. He walked back down the stairs and opened his mailbox, looking at the letter inside. “Aw crud, a phone bill…” he grumbled. “I’ll take care of it tomorrow.” He turned and walked back up to his apartment.

 

Zak opened the door and looked forward, giving a sigh. The apartment wasn’t too big. It had a small area for a kitchen, with a small area for his living room as well. Beyond that was his room. He walked forward, tossing his coat onto the couch and sitting down. He grabbed the remote that was next to him and turned his TV on. “News,” he flipped the channel. “More news,” he spoke, flipping the channel once more. “Even more news,” he finally just turned it off. “Nothing good is ever on TV. Makes me wonder why I even have it.”

 

Zak stood to his feet and grabbed his coat. He opened the door to his room and looked around. It was fairly small. It had his bed, a stand for his phone and lamp, and also a dresser. On top of his dresser was a fish bowl, which held a small goldfish swimming inside of it. He tossed his coat onto the bed and smiled as he walked to his fish. “Hey, Sushi,” he spoke. The fish stared at him. “Don’t give me that look. I know it’s lonely here sometimes, but I can’t stay all the time.” The fish continued to stare at him. “I know, Sushi…” he sighed. He grabbed a little fish food that was sitting next to him and sprinkled some into the fish bowl. “There you go.”

 

Zak turned and sat on his bed. He proceeded to change from his dress clothes into some blue pajamas. He walked back out of his room and fixed himself some dinner and ate. Once he was done, he stretched, put his dishes in the sink, and went to his room. He pulled the covers off the bed and laid down. He closed his eyes and soon feel asleep. Little did Zak know that this very night would be his strangest night yet.

 

Zak soon found himself dreaming. He sat up in his bed and looked around. He was surrounded by an odd, blue color that seemed to stretch out for miles in all directions. He stood to his feet, finding there was ground beneath him. He turned, and saw himself still laying in bed. “‘Reporter “Spaces Out” in Dream’,” Zak spoke, making up a headline for what was going on.

 

Zak turned back around, only to find himself staring face-to-face with a tall alien. It had a rather large head, and its skin was blue. It wore a black outfit, almost like a wet suit. Zak’s mouth dropped open as he stared the creature in the face. It raced its hand and pointed behind Zak. He turned, slowly, and behind him, where he had seen his body and bed only moments ago, was now a large, yellow ankh. “What does this mean?”

 

Zak turned to look back at the alien, only to see the alien had vanished. He was about to turn back, when he had the sudden feeling he was falling. He looked down, and he saw Earth appear beneath him. He seemed to slow down, stopping as his surroundings now became outer space.

 

Zak then felt himself being pulled, as if by a large hand. Whatever was pulling him soon turned him around, and he saw Mars in front of him. His eyes went wide as he seemed to now fly at high speeds toward Mars. A small building was slowly coming into view. “A face?” Zak asked as he stared at the building. The top of the building looked oddly like a large face.

 

Suddenly, Zak felt another hand grab his arm, and pull him at even higher speeds, shooting him straight towards the mouth of the face. He screamed as he flew faster, then suddenly stopped, now finding himself staring at rather large map. “Is this…Ancient Earth?” he asked. The map looked as if the continents of the world were still separating. Africa and South America were still slightly connected. There were strange dots all over the map as well.

 

Zak then felt himself once again get grabbed by an invisible hand. He flew head first into the map. The map seemed to become real as he found himself now falling down to Earth once again, watching the continents quickly separate to what they were before. He screamed as he found himself falling faster. Suddenly, a yellow hat appeared next to him. It seemed to be connected to a pair of glasses with a fake nose and moustache attached to it.

 

Zak found himself land back in San Francisco, and the hat continued to follow him, floating about eye level with Zak. Zak turned and began to run, and a large door appeared in front of him. He quickly jumped through it, and his eyes went wide. In front of him was another pair of nose glasses, but this time twice Zak’s size. He screamed and quickly jumped back. The hat and nose glasses that had been following him seemed to land on him, and grip tight.

 

Zak grabbed the hat and tried to pull it off, but it was to no avail. A large machine then appeared in front of him. It had a large gauge which showed the number sixty on the left side, the number zero in the center, and the number sixty once again on the right side. He heard a voice laugh, and the blue alien appeared once more, his face looking completely serious.

 

Suddenly, Zak fell through the floor, his butt landing hard on nothing. He was once again in the strange blue area his dream had started in. He stood to his feet and rubbed his butt as he looked around. A strange machine then appeared in front of him. It looked like a mini rocket with a strange, three-pronged holster on it. The three bars went out and held three different crystals on it. One was blue, one was yellow, and the last was white. He stared at the machine and reached up to touch one of the crystals.

 

As Zak’s hand touched the yellow crystal, a woman suddenly appeared in front of him. She was just a few inches shorter then Zak. She had beautiful, shoulder-length, brown hair and the most beautiful, green eyes that Zak had ever seen. She wore a purple, short-sleeved shirt, along with a pair of, what appeared to be, jeans. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. She looked at the machine, and Zak did as well. She went to speak, and suddenly vanished.

 

Zak quickly turned in the direction the girl had been only moments ago. His mouth was now wide in shock once more. He went to step forward to attempt to search for her when two more women appeared. One had blonde hair that was a little bit longer then shoulder length, and was also very curly. She wore a magenta tank top with a pair of magenta pants. The girl next to her had black hair that was about waist-length and straight. She looked very oriental, and she wore a cyan, short-sleeved shirt with cyan pants.

 

Zak blinked a moment then waved at the girls. They giggled, and Zak could swear he heard the blonde girl say “He’s cute” to the black-haired girl. Zak went to speak once more, but the girls vanished. Zak blinked again, now officially confused. The blue alien appeared once again, then pointed behind Zak once more. Zak turned his head slowly, then turned around the rest of the way. He screamed and fell over as he saw a two-headed squirrel staring him straight in the eye. It looked ready to attack. Zak fell back, only to continue falling. He screamed once more, his eyes opening quickly as he sat up in his bed.

 

Zak panted, looking all around him. He looked at himself, then moved his leg out of the bed. Once he was sure he was no longer dreaming, he stood to his feet and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. “What a dream…” Zak spoke. “What was all that about? A face on Mars? Some weird hat? That blue alien…” Zak trailed off for a moment. “That girl!” he shouted. “She was cute,” he spoke, putting his hand to his chin, thinking for a moment, a devilish grin appeared on his face. Suddenly, the image of the map re-appeared in his mind. “That’s right! That map! I should draw it before I forget about it!”

 

Zak quickly scrounged around, trying to find something to write with, and write on. He quickly grabbed a piece of paper off his desk, then looked around a little more. “Why do I have paper, but nothing to write with?” he asked himself. “I can see it now. ‘Reporter Caught Without Writing Material’.” Zak grumbled. “There must be something…”

 

Zak opened the door to his room and headed out to his living room. “Oh wait!” he spoke, then ran to the kitchen. He opened the cupboard under the sink and smiled. “Yes!” He grabbed a small pack of crayons from under the sink cupboard and quickly opened it. “One yellow crayon…Note to self: Buy more crayons…and other writing materials…” He quickly pulled out the yellow crayon, sat down at his table, and began to draw the map in his dream.

[EmilyAnnCoons 7]

Chapter 2 already? Yeap. I'm writing this one pretty fast...the chapters are also a LOT smaller then what I usually write...while most chapters are 6-9 pages long, these are about 3-4 each. Also, I am using the box cover for the American PC version (the 16 color one) for this chapter...why? I have NO idea...I just felt like it...maybe it has to do with the two headed squirrel...Nah, to be truly honest, I just felt like using it instead. Also, we can't forget...our first glimpse at the Caporians is in this chapter! What will happen next? Will Zak ever manage to get back to San Francisco if he keeps buying the wrong ticket? Wait and see what happens in the next chapter...which I still have no name for...

 

Chapter 2: A Squirrels Secret

 

Zak sat back in his chair, now finished with his map. He sighed. “Too much thinking,” he spoke. It was true. He had wanted to get the map as accurate to his dream as he could, so he had spent half an hour trying to rack his brain so that he could remember the map. It had taken this long, but he had managed to draw the entire map, and the map was almost an exact duplicate of the one he had seen in his dream.

 

“I wonder where each of these dots go…it’s a curious thought, really.” Zak stared at the map for a bit, then stood to his feet. “I should get dressed,” he spoke. He turned and walked back to his room. “Since I’m going on a flight to make up a story about a two-headed squirrel, I don’t really need to dress for the occasion…” Zak sat down and quickly threw on a pair of jeans, along with a blue, short-sleeved shirt. “This should be good,” he spoke.

 

Zak walked over to his desk and looked it over a moment. “Where is it?” he asked himself. “It’s got to be around here somewhere…” he spoke. He bent down, and there, under the desk, he found what he was looking for. “There’s my Debit Card.” He reached under his desk, attempting to reach the green card under his desk. He attempted to push his hand under the desk, but to no avail, there wasn’t enough room. “Dang it…” he grumbled. He stood to his feet. “What else can I use to get it?” he asked as he looked around.

 

Zak walked out of his room and looked around. He soon headed over to the kitchen, where he grabbed a small knife out of a drawer. He headed back to his room and carefully stuck the knife under his desk, managing to push against the card and push it out from under the desk. “Got it,” he spoke, and picked up his card. He set the knife down on the desk, then headed out to the main room of his apartment.

 

Meanwhile, elsewhere, in a secret room, trouble was stirring. The secret room was filled with all kinds of odd mechanical devices. On one side of the room was a large, square, metal box that was big enough to stick several people in. The front was open, almost as if it was some sort of advanced jail cell of some kind. Next to that was a large machine. It had the same gauge on it that Zak saw in his dream. A switch was next to it, which went up and down, both positions labeled as “on.”

 

Next to that was a large map of the current Earth, while in front of the machine was a single person. He wore a black suit, similar to that of a wet suit. He had a big head that looked similar to a peanut shape. The eyes were on the top bulge of the head, while the mouth was at the bottom bulge. The man also wore a simple, yellow tie, and was also bald.

 

The man was staring at the machine in front of him when the noise of a door opening was heard. He turned, a rather dazed and stupid look was on his face. From the doorway came another man who looked exactly the same, save for a slight change in his face, and a difference in tie color. This man’s tie was blue instead of yellow. “I have just come back from visiting the King,” the man with the blue tie spoke. “He has informed me that everything is going according to plan.”

 

“Yeah, according to plan,” the yellow tied man spoke, rather stupidly.

 

“The King has told me that the machine also seems to be working perfectly.”

 

“Yeah…working perfectly…”

 

The man with the blue tie now had a strange look on his face. “I think you’ve been around the machine too long.”

 

“Yeah…too long…”

 

The man with the blue tie hung his head and sighed. “I think I need a new partner.”

 

“Yeah…new partner…”

 

The man with the blue tie now rolled his eyes and walked off. “Bye, idiot.”

 

“See ya!” the man with the yellow tie spoke. He then went back to giving the machine his stupid look. The door slammed shut as the alien with the blue tie left.

 

Meanwhile, back in Zak’s house, Zak was currently looking for the remote. “Aww, man,” he spoke. “I have to leave in an hour to get to the airport, and I can’t find the remote to the TV to check the news.” He picked up a seat cushion of his couch. “Ah ha!” Under the seat cushion, he had found the remote. He quickly picked it up and put the cushion back down. He turned and hit a button on the remote to turn the TV on, but nothing happened. “What the…” he grumbled. “Now what’s wrong?”

 

Zak was about to give up when he looked down next to the TV. “The power cord came unplugged…what the heck…” he sighed and quickly went over and plugged the cord back in. He then hit the remote button again, and the TV turned on. “Finally!”

 

“More about the stupidity epidemic coming up, but first, we go down to 14th Avenue to meet with someone who has insisted on speaking with us,” the woman on the TV spoke. “Let’s go down there now, live, to see Miss Annie Larris.” The image on the screen switched to show an image of a woman. Zak’s eyes went wide as he saw the girl on the screen.

 

“No way! Who is that?” Zak asked. “That’s the girl from my dream! I’d remember that face anywhere!”

 

“Hello,” Annie spoke to the TV viewers, “I am from the Society of Ancient Wisdom in San Francisco. Not many of you realize this, but a greater understanding of our past can actually help make our future better. However, we can’t do it alone, we need your help. If you happen across any strange artifacts, though I do wonder just how many there can be here in San Francisco, please bring them to 14th Avenue. All artifacts donated to us will be returned in their original condition they were given to us in.”

 

The image now switched back to the blonde reporter. “Artifacts, huh?” Zak asked. “I wonder…nah…my map wouldn’t help them any…” Zak turned to walk off.

 

“We now go live with the coeds on Mars,” the reporter spoke.

 

“Mars?” Zak asked, turning around to look at the TV once again.

 

“Hello, this is Melissa China, correct?” the TV reporter asked. The TV now showed a split screen between the reporter and a woman wearing a cyan spacesuit.

 

“Hi there! Yes it is,” the woman spoke.

 

“Melissa, I have to ask, why did you and your friend Leslie travel all the way to Mars?”

 

“We had dreams in which some blue alien told us how to convert our van into a spaceship. We were told to take it to Mars and await further instructions.” Melissa looked around. “Well, we’re here.”

 

“And…have you received these ‘instructions’?” the reporter asked.

 

Melissa gave a sigh. “Not yet…we haven’t encountered any kind of intelligent life here at all. However, we are willing to-” her sentence was then cut off as she gasped. “Oops, sorry, I have to go, my helmet is saying my oxygen is low.” Melissa ran off, leaving a red screen now.

 

The screen then switched back to just a single screen, instead of the previous split screen. “Well, then, we’ll continue with our leading story on the stupidity epidemic after this…”

 

“Oh, jeez…” Zak spoke, “two girls go off to Mars…and this other girl is looking for artifacts…” Zak sighed. “I guess if other people are doing odd things, I guess I should go take care of mine…” He pulled the ticket out of his pants. “Seattle, here I come.” Zak pushed a button on the remote, then, without really thinking, put the remote in his pocket. He walked off, opening the door to his apartment and walking out. “Yo, Taxi!” he shouted. A yellow taxi cab stopped in front of him. “The airport, please,” he spoke and the driver nodded.

 

Zak sat in the taxi cab as he was driven to the airport. Once there, he got out and handed the cab driver his debit card. The driver swiped it once in the card reader, then handed it back. The taxi then drove off, and Zak walked into the airport. He sat down as he waited for the plane that would take him to Seattle.

 

It took about half an hour, and the airport soon became crowded, but soon Zak’s flight was announced. “Now boarding at Gate 38 to Seattle, Washington,” the woman over the loud speaker spoke. Zak stood to his feet and headed off towards the gate.

 

“Hey, man!” a man spoke, suddenly popping out of nowhere. The man was dressed in a white robe.

 

“Whoa!” Zak fell back. “Who are you?”

 

“I’m a devotee of the Guru, man. Want to buy a book on enlightenment?”

 

“Umm…no, thanks. I really should be getting to my plane.”

 

“It will give you something to do on the plane,” the man spoke.

 

“No, really, I’m okay,” Zak spoke.

 

“This is my last book, man. Buy it, and you’ll never see me again, ok?”

 

Zak grumbled. “‘Tabloid Reporter Agrees to Buy Book But Fools Man with Debit Card’,” Zak spoke then shook his head. “Nah…not an important enough headline…” he then looked at the man. “Fine, give me one,” he spoke, handing the man his debit card.

 

“One moment,” the man spoke and proceeded to pull out an odd little machine. He swiped the card on it, and Zak just stared. Zak had thought that, once the man saw he had just the debit card, that he would let him go. “Here you go,” the man spoke, handing Zak his card back. “That was fourty-two dollars. Here is your book.” The man then handed Zak his book. “Farewell.” The man then rushed off and disappeared.

 

“What was that about?” Zak asked, then turned and ran off towards the gate. “I hope I’m not too late.” He managed to get to the gate in time, and he handed the woman at the gate his ticket, who nodded and let him through the door.

 

Zak made his way to the plane, and walked in. He was the last to board, and the stewardess didn’t seem too pleased. “You’re late,” the stewardess spoke. “You were supposed to be here several seconds ago.” The stewardess was a somewhat tall woman, at least as tall as Zak. She had shoulder-length, blonde hair, much like the other girls in this story. Her outfit consisted of a simple blue dress and blue shoes.

 

“Jeez, it’s only a few seconds!” Zak spoke. The stewardess gave a glare at him. “Err…that is to say…I’ll try to be here faster next time…” he stretched out the “m” as he looked at the stewardess’ outfit. “…Jessie,” Zak spoke, finally, after finding her name tag and reading it.

 

“You damn well better be,” Jessie spoke. Zak turned towards the seats. “Your seat is over here,” she walked Zak to an empty seat and he sat down. She then turned and walked back to the entrance of the plane. She then turned and looked at the passengers. “Now, I’m sure you all know this already, but in case of a water landing, the cushion you are sitting on can be picked up and used as a floatation device.”

 

“Really?” Zak asked, standing up. He picked up the seat cushion. “Amazing,” he spoke. He then noticed as something fell to the floor.

 

“Sir, I must ask you to sit back down and not stand up until we are in the air,” Jessie spoke rather rudely.

 

“Oh, right, of course,” Zak gave a nervous chuckle, put his cushion back on his seat, then sat down. He then quickly bent over and picked up the object he had seen fall on the floor. “A lighter?” he asked himself in a low voice. “I can see it now ‘Man Blows Up Plane With Lighter’.” Zak sighed. He stuck the lighter in his pocket.

 

“Also, please stay seated and buckled until the plane has taken off. Then please pay close attention to the ‘Seat Buckle’ light. If it happens to come on, that means you need to buckle up. Also, if we lose cabin pressure, oxygen masks should appear, but don’t count on it. Enjoy your flight.” Jessie spoke the last part cheerfully, and with a big smile, then turned and walked off. She then walked out a few moments later. “Here’s your meal,” she spoke, handing Zak a small bag of peanuts.

 

“I could hardly call this a meal…” Zak spoke, grumbling. Jessie then walked off. “‘Tabloid Reporter Strangles Stewardess’.” Zak gave another sigh. For most of the plane ride, the stewardess was fairly mean to Zak. About halfway through the ride, he finally couldn’t take it anymore. “‘Tabloid Reporter Plays Dirty Prank on Stewardess’,” Zak spoke as he stood up. He walked off to the bathroom and smiled. He looked around, then shut the door. He quickly grabbed some of the toilet paper and stuffed it down the sink.

 

“Eat that, Miss Stewardess,” Zak spoke. He laughed some as he turned on the water, watching it soon overflow onto the floor. He quickly opened the door, then pushed the call button. He then rushed off towards his seat. The stewardess quickly made her way down to the bathroom to see what was going on. The door shut, and Zak quickly rushed to the doorway.

 

“What the…” Jessie spoke. “Oh my god! What a mess!” she shouted. Zak couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“Let’s see…a good headline for this one…‘Sabotaged Sink Stifles Shrieking Stewardess’.” Zak laughed again as he made his way back to his seat. He carefully performed this trick a couple more times during the flight to keep her busy. Zak was careful enough, however, to be able to perform it without being caught. Soon after, the plane landed in Seattle, Washington.

 

“Good-bye,” Jessie spoke. “I hope you enjoyed your flight. I know I didn’t.” She then smacked Zak across the face. “And you thought I hadn’t already figured out it was you flooding the bathroom each time.”

 

Zak grumbled. “If you were nicer, it wouldn’t have happened,” he spoke, then hopped off the plane. He made his way through the airport, and into Seattle. He headed from there and headed out to Mount Rainer, where his story would be at. He stopped at the mountain and looked around. “So, this is it, huh?” he asked. “How interesting.” He walked forward, and as he did, a two-headed squirrel ran past him. “What the…” he grumbled. “That was the squirrel…”

 

Zak watched as the squirrel ran off, heading into a small hole in the mountain side. “Stupid squirrel…well, now, let’s see…” Zak put his hand to his chin.

 

Meanwhile, back in the secret room, something big was going on. The alien with the yellow tie was still standing watch over the machine, however, he was also dancing and singing. “Oh baby – I’m a jailhound dog lovin’ meat tenderizing rocker in my blue suede.” He was also horribly off key.

 

“And what do you think you’re doing?” a voice asked. It was the alien with the blue tie.

 

“Grooveling to the King, man!” the yellow tied alien spoke.

 

The blue tied alien sighed. “Stop it this instant!” he shouted and the yellow tied alien stopped. “Now, then, come here.” The yellow tied alien walked over to the taller, blue tied one. “You’re supposed to be watching the machine, not dancing like a gloon!”

 

“Sorry.”

 

The blue tied alien turned around. “Don’t forget, there is still a hope for these humans. If they activate the Skolarian Device, our plans will be ruined. There is a chance the humans will find it, be however small. No chance is too small, though, which is why you must keep a vigilant eye on this machine at all times. If it is activated, you must stop them.”

 

“Of course.”

 

“Of course, we will be in control soon enough, so we won’t have to worry about that soon, but until then, keep your mind on the job!” the blue tied alien shouted the last part at him. “We, the Caponians, have not come this far, and worked this hard because one Caponian decided to slack off and not keep his mind on the job.”

 

“Duh…what do you mean by that, boss?” the yellow tied alien asked.

 

“I mean…” the blue tied alien breathed in. “Keep your mind on the job and stop dancing around and being stupid!” He yelled this at the top of his lungs, and the yellow tied alien fell over.

 

“Duh…right! Okay, boss!” The blue tied alien rolled his eyes and walked off. Once he was out of sight, and hearing range, the yellow tied alien went back to singing and dancing once more. It was obvious he had no real intelligence.

 

Meanwhile, back in Seattle, Zak was staring at the hole the two-headed squirrel had run into. He growled as he kicked at it, and watched some dirt fall off. Zak’s eyebrow rose up, and he quickly dug his hands into the side of the mountain. “The dirt here is loose…I wonder how much of it…” With that, Zak quickly went to digging. It took about an hour, and he had to beat the two-headed squirrel off a couple times, but he soon managed to dig through and reveal a large cave.

 

“Amazing!” Zak spoke. He walked inside the cave and looked around. The light from outside gave just enough light for Zak to barely make out a small fire pit in the center of the room he was in. “Looks like whatever was here hasn’t been used in a while…” He walked forward, now checking the fire pit. “The logs in here are still good…if I could get some kindling…” he stopped and looked forward. “‘Tabloid Reporter Goes Insane and Starts Babbling to Himself’,” Zak spoke. “I really hate this job.”

 

Zak stood to his feet and looked around. He reached out and touched the walls and the floor to see if he could find anything. “What’s this?” he asked, his hand coming upon something odd. He grabbed hold of the object and carefully pulled it down. “A bird’s nest? This would be perfect for the kindling I need!” He quickly rushed to the fire pit and tossed the bird’s nest it. He moved the logs around a little, then pulled out the lighter he had found. With a couple flicks of the lighter, he managed to set fire to the nest, which caught the rest of the pit on fire.

 

Zak stood to his feet as he looked around, his eyes now wide. “Wow! Amazing!” It was a large, empty cave, save for a small nest nearby that looked a lot like a bird’s nest. Inside was the two-headed squirrel, who was resting. Zak turned to look at the walls, his eyes resting upon one wall which had strange markings on it. He walked over to it, and as he touched it, a vision of an ankh came to his mind. He quickly pulled out his crayon and scribbled upon the wall, forming the markings into an ankh.

 

Upon completion of the ankh, the wall began to shake, and a noise, as if something had just broken apart, was heard. Zak stepped back from the wall as he watched it shake and move to the side. His eyes went wide as he found himself staring into a large, metal room. He slowly walked forward, entering the amazing room. “Wow!” he spoke. “This is simply amazing!”

 

The walls of each room were lined with metal. A small, almost glass-like platform sat at the north-eastern corner of the room. In the center was a large platform, and upon that was a large machine. The machine was a large, triangular object with another triangular object on top of it. Inside of the top triangle was a large, blue crystal. Zak’s eyes went wide as he saw it. “That’s the crystal from my dream!” he spoke.

 

Zak quickly ran over to the machine and grabbed the crystal. He pulled on it, but it didn’t budge. “It’s…locked…into…the…pedestal…” he spoke to himself as he pulled on the crystal. Finally, he sighed, letting go. “What else can I do?” he stared at the machine for a moment, then noticed it seemed to have the same type of sensor his TV had. He thought again for a moment as he reached into his pockets. Much to his surprise, he found the remote from his house in his pockets.

 

“I thought I left this at home…” Zak spoke, then looked at the pedestal in front of him. “Maybe…” he held the remote up and pushed the power button. The pedestal began to make a whirring noise, and it opened at the top. The crystal was now free. Zak reached up and took hold of the blue crystal, but when he did, the lights turned off. “Oh crap…” he spoke. He quickly grabbed the crystal and ran towards the light he saw coming from the previous room.

 

Zak stopped once he had made it completely out of the cave, now able to see the crystal in the sunlight. “Amazing…I wonder what it is…it looks like the crystal from my dream…I wonder what it is supposed to be for…” Zak sighed and quickly placed the crystal in his pocket. “Maybe that girl will know…” With that, Zak headed back to the airport, where he would accidentally buy a ticket to Miami.

[chaozo 0]

In the year 1988, one man, a Mr. Zakary McKracken was unaware of what lied ahead in his future. He did not know that he would soon be forced to become mankind’s only hope to stop the Caponians.

 

The story of Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders takes place in 1997, not 1988. (Even thought that's when the game was made).

[EmilyAnnCoons 7]

Sorry for the wait. Chapter 3 of Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders is finally here!

 

Chapter 3: The Coeds

 

Mars, a beautiful red planet. It is the fourth planet in the solar system, and is said to contain no intelligent life. On this day, however, that is not true, as two Yale coeds have managed to convert their minivan into a space shuttle. After a long, two month flight, and a lot of space sickness, Melissa China and Leslie Bennett have safely made it to Mars.

 

Melissa China was a tall woman, a few inches taller then her partner, Leslie Bennett. Melissa was an oriental girl, most likely of either Chinese or Japanese decent. She had waist-length, straight, black hair, as well as blue eyes. She wore a cyan-blue spacesuit that covered her entire body.

 

Leslie Bennett was a few inches shorter then Melissa. Unlike her partner, she was of English decent. Her hair was very curly, and was currently a blonde color, though it did have an odd habit of changing color on her. Whenever Melissa asked about this, she just said, “It’s the hair dye I use,” and left it at that. Her eyes were a beautiful grass green while her spacesuit was magenta in color.

 

“This place is boring…” Melissa spoke up. “I’m tired of just standing here and waiting for instructions.”

 

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Leslie spoke up. “Mars has a great beach, I’ll give it that…but there’s no water, no boys…ugh!”

 

“I’m beginning to think we should have gone to Fort Lauderdale for Spring Break like everyone else. It would have only taken us two days…not the two months it took to get to this place. Not to mention that I wouldn’t have gotten sick every time I looked out the window!”

 

“Oh, tell me about it! In zero gravity, that was some mess.”

 

“Maybe we should just go back home…” Melissa spoke, trailing off.

 

“Why? We got here, so let’s explore!” Leslie spoke quickly. “Just because no one was here to give us instructions, that doesn’t mean we have to go back home. Who knows? Maybe if we explore some, we’ll find someone…maybe they weren’t expecting us so early, you know?”

 

“It’s doubtful, but maybe…”

 

“Then it’s settled. Go grab the debit cards and your boombox. We can listen to music while we’re out here.”

 

“I don’t know if we could hear it out here…with no air and all…”

 

“I’m sure we could. After all, we can hear each other, right?”

 

“Umm…built in communicators, Leslie,” Melissa spoke.

 

“Oh, right, I forgot about that,” Leslie responded. “Still, it’s worth a shot.”

 

“I guess so…” Melissa turned and opened the car to the minivan. She sat down in the chair and opened the glove compartment, which had a sticker on it that said “I love Mars”. She reached in and grabbed the two debit cards that were sitting inside. She handed one of them to Leslie, then grabbed her boom box and picked it up. Finally, she reached over and ejected the tape from the tape player in the van. “Oh shuzbutt!”

 

“What’s wrong?” Leslie asked.

 

“The tape is busted!” Melissa growled. “I guess the stupid piece of tape on the inside broke.”

 

“Aww, that’s no good.”

 

“Tell me about it.”

 

“Well, let’s go explore anyway.”

 

“I guess…” Melissa hopped out of the van and looked around the red, desert sand that was Mars.

 

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Zak McKracken was now realizing he had bought the wrong ticket. “How the hell did I wind up in Miami?” he shouted. He grumbled. “I must have bought the wrong ticket…only one way to fix this…see if I can buy a ticket to San Francisco, then make absolutely sure I get it right.” Zak headed off further into the airport and, once again, purchased a new ticket. This time, he was certain his flight would go to San Francisco.

 

Zak sat down in a chair and sighed. He pulled out the book the man in San Francisco had bought him. He opened it up and began to read it. “Hey, man!” a voice shouted. Zak tossed the book into the air, and looked forward. There was a man now standing in front of him, wearing tattered and torn clothes, and he had a rather rough, short beard that looked as if he hadn’t shaved in a couple days. Zak had been startled by this man, the book landing in his lap a moment later.

 

“Who are you?” Zak asked.

 

“Just a man without a home,” the man spoke. “Can you spare some money?”

 

Zak blinked a little. “Sorry, I don’t got any on me.” He looked down at the book. “You could take this book, though, I guess. It’s supposed to enlighten you…I read some on the last plane ride, but I didn’t get anything out of it.”

 

The man quickly snatched up the book and glanced it over. “I’ve heard of this guru,” the man spoke. “Let’s see what he has to say, shall we?” The man began to read the book, and Zak’s eyes widened as he saw how quickly the man read through the book. The man handed the book back to Zak and gave a bow. “Thank you, sir, you have given my life meaning.” The man reached into his coat and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. “Please, take this, I don’t need it anymore.”

 

“Thanks, but I don’t drink,” Zak spoke.

 

“Take it anyway, I’m sure you’ll find someone who will need it.”

 

Zak sighed, then took the bottle. “Thanks…I guess…though, don’t they like…not let you on the plane with alcohol?”

 

“Normally, but take a look at the bottle.”

 

Zak held up the bottle. The bottle had the cover of a juice bottle on it. “You sure this will work?”

 

“It worked for me,” the man spoke.

 

“Well, all right.” Zak then looked up as they announced his flight. He took hold of the book, stood to his feet, and walked off to the plane. He was stopped for a moment, but the cover of the bottle let him go through without problems. “Worldwide stupidity epidemic,” Zak spoke to himself. “Perhaps there is something going on, after all…that shouldn’t have worked…nor should this book have given that bum a meaning for his life.” Zak was beginning to notice something very odd was going on.

 

Back on Mars, the coeds has begun to explore the barren, red planet of Mars. To their left was a rather large building, one that, from the top, looked like a rather large face. The coeds had labeled this as the “Great Face of Mars”. To the right they had found a fairly small building. A sign on the outside read, oddly in perfect English, “Mars Hostel”.

 

“Let’s check this out,” Melissa spoke. She walked inside the hostel and looked around. The inside was a single room, or so it looked. The room was filled with all kinds of advanced technology. Machines lined the room, all seeming to work together to do something, but none were activated. Melissa stepped in and looked around, examining the walls until she found a small fuse-box-like object. “Check this out.”

 

Leslie came over to her partner’s side and bent down to look at it. She reached forward and grabbed the cover of the box, pulling it open to look inside. Inside the box was a single, obviously burned out, fuse. The entire fuse was broken in two now. “Looks like we need a new fuse,” Leslie spoke.

 

“Wonderful! Where do we find a fuse that will fit in there here on Mars? It’s not like there’s a shop anywhere around here!”

 

Leslie pulled the fuse out and examined it. “It’s the same kind of fuse we used in our van. It should still be good. Go grab it and we’ll see if it fits.”

 

“All right,” Melissa spoke and rushed back off to the minivan. She got into the glove box and pulled the fuse from it. She looked at it, making sure it was still good, then quickly headed back to Leslie. “Here you go,” she spoke as she handed the fuse to Leslie.

 

“Thank you,” Leslie spoke, taking the fuse into her hand and installing it into the box. The whirs of the machinery could be heard as the fuse powered the room. Leslie stood to her feet and looked around. A small button now flashed on the wall, and she carefully pushed it. The door that they had come into quickly shut closed, and an odd noise could be heard, almost like gas being released into the room. “Oh great! Now what have we done?” Leslie asked.

 

“Hang on,” Melissa spoke as she turned, now seeing a door appear on another wall. A small light flashed, then turned green, the words “room oxygenated” could be seen in the light, and the door shot open. “Room oxygenated…I wonder if that means…” Melissa unclipped her helmet, and quickly held her breath.

 

“What are you doing?” Leslie shouted. Not listening, however, Melissa took the helmet off, noticing how it didn’t depressurize when she did. She breathed out, then breathed in, noting that the room was filled with oxygen now.

 

“It’s ok, the room has been oxygenated. We can breathe in here. So turn off your tank and take your helmet off so we don’t use up oxygen.”

 

“All right,” Leslie spoke, popping her helmet off and turning off her oxygen tank like Melissa had done moments before.

 

“All right, let’s check out this room.” Melissa walked forward, entering the room. It was a fairly large room, consisting of a ladder, a bunk bed, a couple of lockers, and a few other odds and ends. Melissa opened the first locker, looking in. A small flashlight sat on the inside and she picked it up. She then turned to look at the second locker. “What’s this?” she asked.

 

Upon the locker was a small piece of tape. The tape looked exactly like a piece of tape from her audio tape. She reached up and pulled it off, noticing how it was sticky. “I wonder…” she thought as she pulled her audio tape out and pulled on the tape inside of it. She placed the sticky tape onto the break, then rewound the tape back into the audio tape. She then stuck it inside of her boombox and turned it on. The boombox began to play and Leslie cheered. “Awesome, we have music now!”

 

“Yeah, but we shouldn’t use up the batteries,” Melissa spoke as she turned it off. “Never know when you’ll need it, you know?”

 

“True, we don’t have the adaptor out here, so we can’t plug it in,” Leslie spoke.

 

“Exactly.” Melissa then walked forward, looking around. She looked over at the bunk bed, noticing how the blankets were raised. This meant something was sleeping under them. She quietly snuck up to the bed and grabbed the blanket, throwing off of the bunk bed. Underneath the blanket was a long broom. Two eyes seemed to stare up from the broom, completely blank. “Oh, it’s just a broom,” Melissa spoke.

 

“Then why does it have eyes?” Leslie asked.

 

“What?” Melissa asked, looking back down at it. Her eyes went wide as she saw the eyes on the broom now. They weren’t moving, just staring up, and no noise was coming from it either. “It’s a dead alien!” she shouted. She quickly turned and rushed off, this had terrified her.

 

“A dead alien? Run!” Leslie shouted, turning and running away as well. The two ran in completely opposite directions, but soon turned and ran into each other. They collapsed to the ground and rubbed their heads, sitting up.

 

“Ouch,” Melissa spoke.

 

“God, that was scary…a dead alien…” Leslie spoke, looking over at the broom. “Well, if it’s dead, then maybe we can still use it. It is a broom after all.”

 

“Yeah, let’s just pretend it’s a broom and forget about it being an alien,” Melissa spoke. Leslie stood to her foot and grabbed the broom alien. “Now what do we do?”

 

“Grab the ladder and head out?” Leslie asked.

 

“And what would we do with a ladder?” Melissa asked.

 

“Hey, you never know when you’ll need a ladder.”

 

“True, I’ll grab it then.” Melissa headed over and grabbed the ladder. The two then headed back out of the room, and into the first room. They set their stuff down and put their helmets on. Activating the oxygen tanks, they pushed the button once more, which closed the door they had come through, and opened the exit, which immediately depressurized the room.

 

Melissa and Leslie then walked out of the hostel. They looked around, noticing a large mound of sand in front of them. Melissa stopped and pushed some of the sand, noticing something underneath. She quickly snatched up the broom alien and hopped onto the mound, quickly beating against the sand to sweep it off the object. A few minutes passed, and underneath was revealed to be a rather large solar panel. “How interesting is that?” Melissa asked.

 

“Awesome! A solar panel! I wonder what it powers,” Leslie spoke.

 

“Probably that,” Melissa spoke, pointing over to a tram that was nearby. It had seemed to power up the more they cleared off the panel, and now looked fully powered up and able to run.

 

“So, now what do we do?” Leslie asked.

 

“I haven’t a clue…” Melissa spoke.

 

“Melissa, Leslie, can you hear me?” a voice suddenly asked.

 

“Whoa!” Melissa shouted. She looked around quickly. “Whose there?”

 

“If you can hear me, close your eyes and think out my name. I am Annie Larris, I need to speak with you.”

 

“Like this?” Melissa asked in her head as she closed her eyes.

 

“Awesome!” Annie shouted. “I’m here with someone who has given me a piece of a strange machine. We’re all going to use telepathy to talk to each other, got it?”

 

“All right,” Leslie spoke. “What’s his name so we can hook to him as well?”

 

“His name is-”

 

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Zak McKracken had made it back to San Francisco. He headed from the airport to 14th Avenue. Once there he made his way through the street until he came to an odd building. It only had a single door with a drop box, no windows or anything around it. He opened the drop box and tossed the Blue Crystal inside, then quickly shut it. He tapped his foot, standing at the door and waiting.

 

A moment later, the door opened and a woman stepped out. It was the same woman from the TV earlier. It was Annie Larris. “Where did you get this crystal?” she asked.

 

“Forget about that!” Zak spoke. “You were the girl from the dream I had!”

 

“What a line!” Annie spoke, turning around. She stopped and turned back to look at him. “Wait…a dream? What dream, exactly?”

 

“We were standing in a blank space and a machine was between us.”

 

“Wait,” Annie spoke. “Follow me.” She turned and headed back into the building. Zak followed close behind. The building was a single room building. It had a large set of bookshelves to one side, on the other side were a couple more bookshelves and a desk. She walked over to one of the bookshelves and grabbed a small ring that was hanging off it. She pulled it down and a scroll unrolled, showing a strange machine on it. “Did it look like this?”

 

“That’s it!” Zak shouted. “That’s exactly the machine I saw in the dream!”

 

“So, we both had the Great Dream, huh? Interesting. I’m not sure what this machine will do, but I have the feeling we have to create it.” Annie walked over to another bookshelf and grabbed a yellow crystal. “This is another piece, but it is only part of it. The rest of the crystal is somewhere else.” She handed the blue and yellow crystals to Zak. “Take these and be careful with them. We both had these dreams, meaning we’re both a part of it. If you are caught and thrown in prison or some such thing, we won’t be able to do this. Understand?”

 

Zak nodded. “Yes.”

 

“Now, there are four of us. We will each talk to each other using telepathy. Just close your eyes and speak the name of the person you want to talk to in your mind. Since we’re all connected, we will be able to talk to each other.” She then blinked. “Oh, hey, what’s your name? I just realized I didn’t know it.”

 

Zak laughed a little. “My name is Zak McKracken.”

 

“I see.” Annie closed her eyes. “See? Now that I know your name, I can talk directly to your mind.” she spoke to Zak’s mind.

 

“Interesting,” Zak spoke, then closed his eyes. “Like this?” he asked in his mind.

 

“Perfect! I’ll connect you with my friends on Mars now. One moment.” She then spoke another name in her mind. “Melissa, Leslie, can you hear me?” she asked, but their was silence for a moment. “If you can hear me, close your eyes and think out my name. I am Annie Larris, I need to speak with you.”

 

“Like this?” Melissa asked in her head.

 

“Awesome!” Annie shouted. “I’m here with someone who has given me a piece of a strange machine. We’re all going to use telepathy to talk to each other, got it?”

 

“All right,” Leslie spoke. “What’s his name so we can hook to him as well?”

 

“His name is Zak McKracken. He also had the Great Dream. It looks like the four of us will be working together.”

 

“All right, I’ll connect to him, then,” Melissa spoke. “Zak, can you hear me? My name is Melissa China. If you can hear me, please respond.”

 

“Melissa?” Zak asked.

 

“That’s right, I’m one of the two Yale coeds on Mars. Now just connect yourself to Leslie Bennett.”

 

“Leslie? Like this?”

 

“Awesome!” Leslie shouted in her mind. “We’re all connected now!”

 

“Perfect, let’s keep it this way. Whenever any of you encounter something you can’t figure out, let us know, we might be able to find it out on our side.”

 

“Understood,” Melissa spoke.

 

“This is going to be very interesting,” Zak spoke.

 

“Very interesting indeed,” Annie spoke.