At first Starfire heard what sounded like a distant pounding of a bass drum. It got louder and louder. Then the mosquitos vanished, rushing madly for higher ground but there was none. Why were they so fearful for their lives?

Well if you would have paid attention in that animal mortality class, you would have learned why. Mosquitoes flap their wings so rapidly, it gives that telltale high pitched buzzing sound. This buzzing creates a lot of heat. If you could see a buzzing mosquito under a microscope in the dark, you would see a tiny flame at the base of each wing. It should be obvious by now that mosquitos only run from one thing, trolls.

The explanation is quite simple. Trolls fill the air with methane and mosquitos ignite it in little pockets, enough to fry that little winged beast but not enough to cause a chain reaction that would blow up the sky. The net effect is that if you put methane in the air, the air heats up. And even without mosquitos, it still heats up but nobody really understands why.

Most people do not realize that the moon had air just like Earth, but what happened to it? Do I need to tell you or can you figure it out yourself? Alright I'll tell you.

More and more skinny trolls splatted into the moon. Because the moon is so much smaller than Earth the amount of methane from the trolls in the air up there just kept getting higher and higher.

Then it happened. A mosquito got caught in a troll's nose hair and could not escape. As it approached the moon it ignited all the methane and burned up the sky and the lush forests that once grew there. Some of the trolls blew off the moon and landed on mars. That is why we have not yet sent people to mars. NASA just can't figure out how to solve the troll problem.

Just as Starfire was leaping from one tussock to another a dark shadow loomed over her. She looked up and saw a horrible sight. Large green teeth first caught her attention. They were dripping a foul liquid that could be mistaken for diarrhea. The big fat belly looked more like a part of a coconut shell, just tightly knit bristles. The sky was blotted out by the scaled foot that was crashing down on her. She caught her wits and sprang to the side just as the foot stomped.

Starfire was braying in terror. And the millions of mosquitos started flapping their wings in unison as if to send a distress signal, but to who? The massive hand swatted at her with a glancing blow. The unicorn was sent spiraling through the air. She dove out of sight between the tussocks. But the troll could follow the swaying of the tussock smashing down with each step growing closer and closer. The baby unicorn's heart was patterning at an unbelievable rate. How long could she endure? At any moment, she would surely perish. The last thing she wanted was to spend the rest of eternity fertilizing a tussock.

Then off in the distance a sound, chug, chug, chug ... It grew more rapidly with each chug. The troll stopped briefly to see what was happening. Off in the distance, He saw this man, 6'5", more legs than anything else, black Stetson hat over bushy hair. He was carrying what looked like a flag on a pole. He was closing in rapidly on the troll. But the troll just turned and continued to close in on the horrified and nearly breathless unicorn.

But then the mosquitos were no longer fleeing. They were orbiting at a safe distance in anticipation. Just as the unicorn could flee no more, the troll looked up to assess the situation. Contrary to popular belief, trolls are far more intelligent than people give them credit. What was that flag and why were the mosquitos edging dangerously close? OMG thought the troll -- that flagpole was sporting a fireproof blanket covered with sticky goo. He instantly recognized the threat.

This very odd man was going to use the pole to smack him on the butt and that fireproof flag would wrap him up like a diaper. While trolls were indestructible, they were quite susceptible to nasty itching mosquito bites. The instant the troll was wrapped up eliminating the threat of fire, the mosquitoes would attack, millions of them. The troll immediately put his hands to his chest and started flapping his arms like chicken wings. His belly grew bigger and bigger until there was this blinding flash of light. The troll slowly rose into the air with rocket flames billowing out behind him. He soon disappeared over the horizon.

Starfire and The High Tundra Drifter approached somewhere between formally and casually -- a better word would be respectfully but maybe a combination of all three. There are just no words to describe this special relationship. They nuzzled noses if that makes things clearer.