Janet hovered a half inch over the surface of Naturia so that Gramps could herd his family on. 

     Others ran up to jump on as well, but Gramps got to Janet before they did. 

     The first words out of Gramps mouth once he got onboard: "Get us the hell out of here." 

     Janet did exactly that, and much faster than the Valid's van had before...

     and just in time, too...

     …because, right then, Mother Naturia, the entire continent, rose up to snatch at them. 

     Mother Naturia was now a sickly brown color and covered with slime. 

     And the hundreds of thousands who, at first, stood on her, then clung to her? ​

     They dropped from her to land on the cold, Arctic surface.

     They then began to freeze.

     Around them, their fellow citizens, the ones who'd held onto Mother Naturia for as long as they could, fell to their deaths. 

     They'd been promised a warm place to sleep and enough food to stuff themselves as much as they wanted for as long as they wanted. 

     They'd been desperate, and Mother Naturia promised to help them and did help, but now all of that rose away to leave them freezing on the ground.

     Abby witnessed it all as Janet took them up and away from there.

     "Oh Daddy, all those people," Abby said. "Couldn't there have been another way?"

      "I doubt there was another way," Gramps replied, although, really, he had no idea why the Azure did what they did. "I think they felt they had to stop Mother Naturia before she grew more powerful," he said. "The longer she thrived, the more people would suffer in the long run, but I'm just guessing."

      "I GAVE YOU EVERYTHING!" Mother Naturia roared. "AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?"

      "Fuck you, bitch," Niki replied. "Give her another blast, Janet, really take her out this time."

END OF CHAPTER EIGHT

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