“Jakey, you’re awake!” cried Jaska.

Jake groaned, and heard a strange moaning from nearby.

“This is just like how it used to be,” she said. “Me, nursing you back to health.”

“That’s my job!” came a familiarly scolding voice. “Leave my Jakey alone, you hussie!”

“Oh no, please don’t fuss, Mom,” he pleaded. All of limbs throbbed in pain. There would be no escaping from these two.

“Jake45, he is risen to save us,” came the strange moaning voice again.

“What’s that?” he asked, not sure whether he wanted to know or not.

“Your followers,” grinned ‘Arry. “It seems you’re some kind of a celebrity ‘round here.”

Jake tried to sit up and was helped into a comfortable position by Jaska. He looked around and was greeted by a particularly unwelcome sight. Jake was sitting in a giant bed on a pedestal. Around him, was an army of people who looked just like him, and around them was what seemed like the entire population of Crawk, all kneeling, praying and chanting his name.

“What are they doing? I’m just the Crawk-King, they have never done this before.”

“You aren’t just the Crawk-King, you are a Crawk-King with over 600 identical children. The world has never had a non-Crawkling Crawkling birth before.”

Jake looked at Jaska. “That can’t be, we haven’t even..”

“We know that, but they don’t need to,” said ‘Arry. “They saw this army of young men who look almost identical to you, and just assumed. Now that the Grand Zombie Master has gone, they are looking at you to take his place. It’s got us out of a right pickle, so you will play along with it until we have got this world back into order. You understand?”

“Err yes, ‘Arry,” said Jake answering the rhetorical question.

“I hope you’re going to be a hard ruler, Jake,” said Rosemary. “They kept your Mom in a prison, they did.

“Prison?” asked Jake. “What did you do?”

“Trying to smuggle international criminals, that’s what,” answered Officer Howler.

“Death to all the prison guards!” cried Jaska.

“No,” said Rosemary, smiling at the supportive gesture. “That’s a bit too mean. Maybe ban them from having a tea break for a couple of weeks or something.”

“Anyway, Jake,” said ‘Arry. “I know you’re only just off your death bed and everything, but we need to get back to work right away. The war is over. You need to call back all the Crawkling troops. We need to declare an official coup of the government of Crawk. And then we need to send someone back to tell everyone in the Outer Galaxies that the war is over. They’ll be living like it’s the 14th century until the White Palace is fixed. So who wants to go?”

Every single hand shot in the air, except Jake’s.

“You don’t want to go home?” asked his Mom.

“No,” he replied. “Until someone gets the radio working, back home I’m still the most wanted man in the universe. There’s no power in the Inner or Outer Galaxies so I won’t be able to play computer games. I can’t do without computer games. Besides,” he looked at Jaska and, glanced around at ‘Arry and Al and all the other tall, wiry, dark haired young men surrounding him, “I’ve got family here.”

THE END.