Underdogs: The Enemy | Book 3

By K. Weikel

Malcom wakes in a strange world of aliens and whimsical, nonsensical creatures. Unable to recall anything, he meets a girl in this strange place, a girl he feels like he knows. Will they ever leave this fantastical place, or will they die knowing nothing of each other and nothing about themselves?

Book 3 of the Underdogs Series

• Language: English
• Publisher: K. Weikel Publishing
• Release date: Jun 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9781005345822

K. Weikel

K. Weikel uses her three-dimensional characters to tell stories of life and adventure and magic."The One-Hundred" won the Wattys Award in 2015 and has reached over two million reads. Weikel has also won the 2017 Writers Awards for Building Monsters. She has written 60 books, including her first manga, "Katharsis". To learn more, visit her website: http://www.kweikel.comSERIES:Underdogs (4)Replay (13)Katharsis (1)The One-Hundred (6 Books, 1 Short Story, 1 Novella)The Haunted Mansion (4)The Blood Room [3 Alternate Endings]TRILOGIES:Dead MenMaskless TrilogyTrapped TrilogyCOMING SOON (1)DUOLOGIES:The Unnamed DuologyStop; GoSTAND-ALONES:WaterloggedThrough the Dimension of NightmaresWhen the Sky EatsCreatures of the BelowNord and the BordSamenessBuilding MonstersDollhouseThe Vampire's CarnivalKrystal's WorldLabyrinthFiguresMatchCagedList X

Book preview

Underdogs:

The Enemy

Book 3

K. Weikel

Underdogs: The Enemy | Book 3

K. Weikel

Independently Published

Copyright © 2023 by K. Weikel

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people, if you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the website and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

For my friends and my family.

Special thanks to:

Abel Kent, Nathaniel Luscombe, poetry.rae, Anna Ford, John Oliver, Jadeisreading, Reina, SJ Blasko, Umbra Nigra, and so, so much more amazing people who have helped and supported me on my writing journey.

Other Books by K. Weikel

Underdogs

The Dream

The Infestation

Replay

Amnesia

Reboot

Tiptoe

Crimson

Glitch

Lifeline

Ghost

White

Black

Green

Red

Crystal

Peridot

The One-Hundred

The One-Hundred

Untouched Water

Tamir

Damian’s Deeds

The One

The Deal

Human

Dead Men

When Dead Men Bleed

The Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Band Room

Revenge

The Blood Room

Alternate Ending 1

Alternate Ending 2

Alternate Ending 3

The Maskless Trilogy

Hiding behind a Mask

Hiding behind a Name

Hiding behind a Face

The Trapped Trilogy

Trapped

Wiped

Grounded

The Unnamed Duology

The Unnamed

The Elite

Stop; Go

Stop

STAND-ALONES

Through the Dimension of Nightmares

When the Sky Eats

Creatures of the Below

Nord and the Bord

Sameness

Building Monsters

Dollhouse

The Vampire's Carnival

Krystal's World

Labyrinth

Figures

Match

Caged

List X

Anthologies

Among Other Worlds by Nathaniel Luscombe

Chapter 1

Fragments of magenta crystals float around me as I open my eyes, everything blurry. There’s a blob before me, my unfocused eyes glazing right over it. Purple and cyan, glittering in the omnipresent light.

I HATE TO LOSE, the blob says in a kind of omnipresent voice as I attempt to blink away the blur. SO I HOPE YOU CAME TO WIN.

The blob blinks from existence as the crystals spin around me, tussling my dyed hair and tearing at my clothes. Droplets of water appear from thin air, gathering and growing as the crystals explode with the liquid. Salt fills my senses as gravity takes hold, pulling me into the water as it surrounds me. I gasp for air, reaching out as the bubbles switch direction.

Turning as best I can, I kick up, breaking the surface after what feels like an eternity. Coughing my lungs out, my hands catch on a rock, the water pushing me to my right. My muscles cry out as I pull myself onto the riverbed, trees as tall as the sky plunging into the clouds surrounding me.

Who am I? A boy, lost in the strangest woods I’ve ever seen.

At least I don’t think this is normal.

I don’t even remember my name.

I shake my hands out, squeezing the water from my hair. The trees are made up of every color I’ve ever seen, each piece of bark reflecting a separate hue. The leaves hang large and low to the ground, giant bugs perched along the branches as they scream with the sounds of nature. Fog clings to the thin grass, movement catching my attention as animals I couldn’t name dart to and fro.

A scream to my left.

I turn, wiping the water from my eyes. A humanoid creature with four arms stands, pointing in my direction. Its gray-brown skin seems to ripple in the soft light from above, a singular eye centered on its face. Its mouth is large and gaping; it doesn’t seem to have teeth. Its body is covered in earth-toned thin clothing.

A second humanoid creature appears from the fog, standing from the ground as it looks to where the first one is indicating. I stumble backward, nearly tripping over a rock that slips from under my feet, tumbling into the brine to my right.

They communicate in a language I don’t understand, rough and quick, terror in their eyes.

I turn and run in the opposite direction of the two beings, looking for somewhere to go. If I’m caught, maybe I’ll be brought back home, and I don’t want that—but where’s home? Where am I now?

I stumble over my thoughts as I slow, the trees moving. Their bark expand and contract as if they’re breathing, the colors glimmering like scales in the light. Humidity sticks to my skin, weighing on my chest.

That language echoes through the woods again.

Why am I running? What if they want to help me?

I bite my cheek as I turn to glance over my shoulder. They don’t look human. But... am I fully human, myself?

My eyes catch on my wrists where crystals poke out from my skin. They’re light blue in color, magenta around the edges. I may not know who I am or where I came from, or even where I belong, but I do know that crystals coming from one’s skin is not normal.

I press forward until all I can hear is the screeching of the animals and insects around me. I can feel eyes on me, watching. Predatory eyes, waiting for the moment to pounce. And although my body is fatigued, something in the back of my mind reminds me that I’ll be fine. That these muscles beneath the white fabric I wear aren’t just for show.

I stop, the world before me growing warbly. The ground beneath my feet shudder, as if an earthquake is passing just in my area.

With a quick glance behind me, I continue forward, a jolt of electricity seeming to pass through me. I stumble straight into a tree—but this tree is different than the others. Looking around, all the trees seem different. Behind me are the colorful ones, looking as if thousands of crayons have been melted down and splattered across wood, and before me are normal trees, brown and green with normal-looking bugs—well, ‘normal’ as in bugs I’d seen on my home planet... Which has a name I can’t recall.

The voices of the cyclops creatures still follow me, although they are distant, but there’s a new sound that pushes itself over the ruckus. Singing. It’s not the prettiest I’ve ever heard—something tells me I’ve heard the finest music known to man, but of course I wouldn’t know what. No, this voice is wonderful on its own, charming and slightly rough, like a voice that belongs to a rock or punk song. But what is she singing?

I venture closer, hoping the cyclopses don’t see me, trying to make out the words.

A very happy un-birthday to you, to you...

I find myself smiling at the absurdity as the singing voice unravels into silly sounds and giggles, whoever singing it laughing at herself.

I move on, through the trees, hearing the song as the girl continues with it. After a minute, she stops, and I hear her talking, as if she’s reciting lines from a play.

I can’t explain myself, sir, because I am not myself, you see.

My ears perk at the sound of her natural voice. I know it. Why isn’t’ she hiding from the cyclopses? Perhaps the cyclops are actually peaceful and I’m judging them before I know anything about their species. How terrible of me, even though I was raised to do it... to someone.

I turn to my right and head toward the girl. The trees fall away, coming to a clearing. Off to one side is a strangely lopsided house, looking as if it’ll topple at any moment. A long table sits before that, various characters in the chairs. One with a large hat, one that looks like a large rabbit, and one that looks like a tiny mouse, sleeping on its back in the center of