Hello! Here is the sequel to Carrier. It's pretty short. Ill post it in two parts. Sorry for the long wait and thanks to everyone who reminded me that I said I would do this haha.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hot Wheels Battle Force Five. If I did, bla bla some witty comment.

"Zoom, what is the matter with you?!" Vert huffed in annoyance as Zoom, for the third time that day flinched at Vert's casual touch.

At first Vert didn't really notice. Zoom's injuries were the obvious reason Zoom didn't want any contact with others. But as time went on, and Zoom's injuries started to heal, it became apparent that Zoom didn't want any one touching him.

And okay, Vert could understand personal space, but the occasional brush against his arm in the hallway sometimes couldn't be avoided and it was baffling for Vert to see Zoom jump away in nervousness.

Zoom was looking sheepishly at the ground, scratching the back of his head.

"Uh, it's nothing Vert. Sorry, just lost in my own head. You startled me" Zoom wouldn't look into Vert's eyes, which had Vert worried.

"Is there anything wrong? You know you can talk to me" Vert soothed, placing a hand on Zoom's shoulder.

Zoom glanced at the hand resting there and forced a smile.

"Really, I'm okay"

He ducked from under Vert and walked quickly away.

Vert watched him leave, concern written all over his face.

XXXXXX

"What is with Zoom lately anyway?" Spinner asked, looking around at the group at Zeke's diner.

The team had decided to meet at the diner for a slice of pizza. Zoom had declined to come, opting to stay in his dojo and gain his strength back after his period of healing time.

"It's like he's annoyed with us or something" Agura said while the rest of the group nodded.

"Or afraid" Vert added.

"It's obviously got something to do with what happened two months ago." Sherman suggested.

Spinner rolled his eyes, "You think bro? And about that. What was the story again? That some virus affected everyone except him and he also just so happened to fall down the stairs? Please. Like any of us believe that"

"And what happened to his Chopper? Thing is all banged up." Sherman added.

Stanford nodded while inspecting his slice of pizza. "I think we ought to corner the chap and get his story straightened out" he suggested, taking a bite.

The table murmured in agreement.

"Come on guys, I know we are all curious about what happened, but I don't think we should corner the guy. He should be able to tell us what really happened when he's ready" Vert said, trying to calm everyone down.

"He seems okay around Sage" Stanford mused, chewing slowly.

"He actually seems to spend a lot of his free time with her lately" Agura agreed. "Maybe we should try and see if we can get anything else out of her first"

As everyone agreed, the conversation turned to more casual topics, and the team got on with their dinner.

XXXXXX

Outside, lurking in a dirty corner was a mass of darkness with no defined figure. If anyone were to look directly at it, it would somehow shift into nothingness. As if it was there but not. It wasn't familiar with this place. It had somehow come to be in the area after strange weather from its home.

It had been aimlessly floating around the desert for over two weeks now, slowly starving and looking for a way home when it happened across a structure.

It had sensed food nearby and now watched the group inside the diner with interest. It could taste their confusion and annoyance earlier on and liked it. Craved it. It had been too long since it last fed.

As the group stood up, gathering their things to leave, the thing slipped up to the exit.

Vert lead the way out of the Diner towards their messily parked rides. A chill swept down his spine and he suddenly stiffened. Something felt wrong. He glanced around The Diner car park which was growing dull in the fading light. He thought he saw something dark clinging to the wall but as he turned it faded away.

The group's chattering quietened as if they sensed a change in mood as well.

"Vert?" Agura asked softly, looking around also.

The thing watched them standing around in silence, trying to find what was causing them unease. As it bathed in their presence, The Darkness was overwhelmed with a hunger so great it had to actively calm itself so as not to start feeding immediately. It wanted them to last. Their unease made them smell that much better.

Unable to stop itself, The Thing opened its gaping hole of a mouth and tasted the leader's aura.

Without warning, Vert saw a flash and Zoom was in front of him. He grabbed Zoom's shirt and slammed him forcibly against the garage wall.

Vert blinked and stepped back in shock only to find the team looking at him in concern. He was back in the car lot.

"Vert? What's wrong?" Agura asked again, putting a hand on his back as Vert breathed heavily, looking at his hands.

Vert shook his head to clear it. He didn't understand what he just saw or the flash of anger he felt.

He looked at his team who were waiting expectantly for an answer he couldn't provide. They clearly hadn't seen anything so he put it down to feeling tired.

Vert sighed, shaking off the uncomfortable feeling. "Nothing. C'mon, let's get out of here" he said, climbing into his Sabre.

The Thing grinned happily at the unexpected surge of anger and licked its lips delightedly. Yes, the leader tasted good. It slipped unnoticed underneath Vert's car, sticking to its underside and awaited patiently at the thought of tasting each member of this group and not having to worry about starving to death over the next few weeks until it could return home.

XXXXXX

Zoom glanced up from the T.V. as the team returned home from Zeke's. He smiled at them but they seemed a little distracted.

Shrugging he looked back at the show that was on. Zoom could tell the team was getting frustrated with him. He knew they noticed his discomfort around them, try as he might to hide it. He was starting to get exhausted trying to go about his daily routine without arousing the team's suspicions.

He wished he could just forget the past like his friends and move on. He was just getting up to go and talk to Sage about it when Vert called out from the kitchen.

"Hey Zoom?"

Zoom instead walked to the kitchen to see what he wanted.

"We saved you some pizza. It's on the table" Vert said, smiling tightly.

Zoom nodded his thanks and sat down to eat. He wasn't that hungry but he didn't want to be rude.

He was a few bites in when he noticed Vert was still in the kitchen watching him with a strange look on his face.

"Uuh, something wrong?" Zoom asked, smiling uncomfortably.

Vert seemed to snap out of his daze and shook his head, laughing embarrassedly.

"Sorry, was zoned out there. I'm gonna head up to bed. Enjoy the pizza, Grace sends you her regards." He said and promptly left the room.

Zoom finished his pizza more slowly, contemplating Vert's odd behaviour.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team crowded into Sage's office to ask her again about Zoom's odd behaviour.

Vert walked in as Spinner was saying "Can't you just tell us what happened?" stomping his foot a little childishly.

Sherman glanced down at his big brother, silently telling him to calm down with a pat on the back.

Sage sighed and turned to face them from her computer. "You will have to wait for Zoom to tell you. It is not my place to say and I do not want you to hassle him. Just leave him be and he will soon let you know."

"It's not fair that he is allowed to keep secrets from us! Back home, no one would dare do this to a member of the Royal Family!" Stanford complains with a huff at the end.

"All I can tell you is that some things did happen that he has not told you and so you should be careful not to pester him about it less it..." she pauses to find the right words, "-upsets him"

Vert sighed. He knew she was right and nodded at her. The others thanked her and turned to leave.

Zoom walked up the stairs, heading to bed himself, to find the rest of the team filing out of Sage's office looking put out.

"Alright Zoom?" Stanford said. It seemed a little forced.

Zoom rubbed his arm self consciously, worried that they were trying to get answers out of Sage.

"Yeah, just heading to bed" He replied, thinking of the repairs he still needed to do to his Chopper. Most of the damage the team had done to his bike all those weeks ago was pretty superficial, and Zoom had to wait for his injuries to heal before he could really fix it. Now he was almost better, he could polish it off over the next day or so.

Agura nodded, deciding to sleep as well.

They exchanged their goodnights and headed their separate ways.

XXXXXX

The Thing was hidden in the huntress' room, watching her as she climbed under the covers.

She shivered unknowingly at its presence. Before long however she fell asleep, and The Thing silently descended upon her to feed.

Zoom awoke suddenly in the darkness of his room. He glanced at his clock which read 1:13 a.m.

He wondered what could have woken him up until he heard the sound of someone groaning in the room next to his. He crept out of bed, going to check on Agura.

Her door was open a crack and he peeked through. She was thrashing around in her bed, seemingly having a nightmare. For a moment he thought he saw something in the room, hovering above her.

He pushed his way into the room, fear for his team mate surging in his gut. Something was in there with her!

Although the moment he entered, whatever he saw was gone. Confused he glanced around the dark room. Must have been a trick of the light...

Agura was still rolling in her bed. There was a thin layer of sweat over her face and she was shaking.

Zoom hurried over to calm her, whispering her name softly.

She suddenly snapped her eyes open and jack-knifed into a sitting position. Unaware of her surroundings she lashed out at the first thing she saw which was unfortunately Zoom.

The punch had him falling to the floor backwards, gripping his nose and bumping his head.

He groaned and rolled forward onto his knees, never letting go of his nose, and blinking away stars.

Agura was gulping in air desperately and squinting through the dark down at Zoom.

"Zoom? What are you doing in here!?" she yell whispered.

"Urgh. You were habing a nibmare" he said through a bleeding nose. He was still reeling from the look Agura had given him when she first awoke. He hadn't seen her look like that since the virus.

"Are you alright?" She asked, concerned. She looked to be calming down now.

"I guess" Zoom replied, standing back up.

"Let me clean it up" She said, crawling out of bed and wiping her face with shaky hands.

She took his free hand and led him to her bathroom adjoining her room. She sat him down on the closed toilet and fished through her cabinets for some first aid supplies.

Zoom looked down at his hands as she crouched down and started mopping up the blood from his face.

"I am so sorry Zoom" she said softly as he winced from the dabbing.

"S'okay" he murmured, feeling stupid for not being able to block the punch in the first place. "What were you dreabing about?" he asked curiously.

Agura didn't answer straight away and just looked at him strangely for a minute. "I don't remember" she said slowly.

Zoom somehow doubted her but shrugged a little, letting it slide.

"This may be broken Zoom..." she said apologetically.

"Ob course" He said as she finished her dabbing and got some medicine for the pain.

"It doesn't look crooked though which is good. Just rest this ice pack on it and let me know if you are having trouble breathing through it when the blood clears up"

"Right" Zoom got to his feet and began to leave but Agura stopped him.

"Thank you Zoom. For trying to help" She said and watched as he left back for his own room.

She stood there a moment longer, a crease in between her eyes as she remembered her shockingly vivid nightmare. She had been standing over Zoom smacking him in the face and screaming obscenities at him as he clearly struggled with the pain. But instead of feeling compassion she only felt hate and would hit him again and again.

She had no idea why she would dream such a horrible thing, but what scared her most was that when she woke up and saw Zoom hovering over her, all she wanted to do was beat him to death. Unfortunately a punch had gotten away from her before she could calm herself down enough to think normally again.

She got back into bed feeling miserable and worried. It took her hours to get back to sleep that night.

The Thing was perched in the darkest corner of the room, eating all of the negative aura in the room greedily. It had never tasted such a lovely mixture of pain and suffering before. Somehow each member of this group seemed to have some kind of delicious memories of hate hidden away inside them just waiting to be unlocked and gobbled up. The Thing was more than willing to help and perhaps, if it played its cards right, it could live here, feeding of these beings forever.

XXXXXX

Zoom stared at his reflection in the mirror the next morning. A bruised nose and two black eyes were very obvious additions to his face. Agura was one strong lady. His face hurt. He shook his head and went down stairs for some more medicine to prepare for his day at the garage.

As he entered the kitchen Vert glanced up from his cereal then promptly dropped his spoon.

"What happened?" he got up and tilted Zoom's face up so he could inspect the damage.

Zoom inadvertently flinched again at Vert's quick movements.

Vert froze, and slowly took his hand away, looking a mixture of apologetic and annoyed.

"It's a bit of a long story" Zoom said quickly, trying to cover up the uncomfortable moment.

Vert purposefully folded his arms so he wasn't tempted to touch Zoom again but still looked at his face.

Zoom shifted and shrugged one shoulder.

"Agura was having a nightmare last night and when she woke up she accidentally hit me" he summarised quickly.

Vert grimaced in sympathy. "Ouch. Here I'll get you something for the pain. It looks really sore"

"Thanks" Zoom said, helping himself to some cereal.

Vert plonked down next to him and handed over some pills to take the edge off. They both ate in silence until Sherman walked in.

He looked extremely tired.

"Everything alright Sherman?" Vert asked concern in his gaze.

Sherman looked over at the two of them and nodded briefly.

"Didn't sleep well" He said, then noticed Zoom's face. His eyes widened comically and he whispered "Who did that to you?"

"I did" Agura said as she entered the kitchen herself.

Sherman looked as though someone had slapped him in the face.

Agura laughed a little at his expression and quickly explained what happened. She left the details of her nightmare out Zoom noted.

Sherman sat opposite Zoom and stared at him longer than necessary.

Zoom sighed and looked up eventually, unable to ignore the stare any longer.

"Are you alright?" Sherman asked him, as though he had gone through some traumatic experience.

Zoom frowned slightly. "Yeah Sherman, I'm fine"

Vert looked from Agura to Sherman.

"Weird that you both slept so badly. How come you didn't sleep well Sherman?"

Sherman looked at Agura and shifted away from her slightly. "I had nightmares too"

"Do you want to talk about it?" Vert asked as Zoom downed the pills and got up to leave.

Zoom nodded goodbye to everyone as he left to get to work on the Chopper. Everyone knew that's what he was up to today. He could feel Sherman's eyes on him as he left.

He vaguely heard Sherman start to answer Vert, but didn't really hear anything as he made his way over to the garage, shaking his head at his weird behaviour.

XXXXXX

After several hours of banging the dings out of the Chopper and replacing some parts, Zoom's head was beginning to pound. He just had some minor touches to finish to the bike, but overall it was working again. He sighed happily, cleaning his hands on a relatively oil free rag. He was glad to have his bike back.

He decided to call it a day and turned to make his way back to the Hub.

By the time he entered the Hub his head was killing him.

Spinner bounded over to him cackling "Is it true?! Did Agura actually break your face?"

Zoom groaned inwardly. He wasn't really in the mood to joke around with Spinner.

"Yeah, she did Spin" Zoom replied, heading to the kitchen for more pain pills.

Spinner held his belly and laughed long and hard, bent over double. He then had to jog to catch up to Zoom, apparently not finished yet.

"Look at your eyes! Like a cute little panda!" he said, reaching out to pinch Zoom's cheek.

Zoom swatted the hand away, this time remembering not to flinch.

"Spinner!" a shout was heard across the room.

Sherman was storming over and he looked pretty angry.

Zoom panicked. Why was Sherman angry? Had he contracted the disease again?

Zoom backed away frantically, putting the kitchen table between him and the other two.

But instead of being attacked like he thought was about to happen, Sherman instead cuffed Spinner upside the head.

"Leave Zoom alone" he said angrily.

"Hey! Ow! Chill bro! I was just having a bit of fun!" Spinner whined, rubbing the back of his head.

Sherman turned to face Zoom with an apologetic look on his face.

"Are you alright, Zoom?" he asked softly.

Zoom was panting slightly from the rush of adrenalin, his head pounding in time with his heart.

Zoom was confused at this strange interaction. Why was Sherman being so protective?

Zoom nodded. "Fine. He didn't mean any harm." He tried to defuse the situation. Spinner was always giving him a hard time, what's new? Why would Sherman suddenly storm to his defence?

But Sherman would have none of that. His look of apology turned to one of concern.

"Why are you hiding behind the table?" He asked, beginning to walk around it.

Zoom forced a laugh out. "I'm not hiding" he said, silently kicking himself for being so weak. He reached out to hold the back of the chair as his legs started to feel a little wobbly. He noticed his hand trembling slightly.

"What's the big deal bro? He's fine." Spinner said exasperatedly.

And with that, Zoom collapsed.

XXXXXX

"You're nothing!" Vert spat at him, raising his crowbar above his head. He swung down hard, snapping Zoom's arm in an instant. The rest of the team descended upon him, beating him wherever their fists could reach.

The terror and pain were agonizing and when Zoom woke up to Sage's frantic voice, he screamed in fear. He backed up to the headboard of the infirmary bed, holding up his hands to ward away any attacks.

"Calm down Zoom!" Sage called, holding her hands up in a placating gesture, her eyes wild with worry.

It took a few moments, but eventually Zoom came to himself and realised where he was.

"What happened?" he asked breathlessly.

Sage, seeing that he had calmed, walked over to him and smoothed his hair back soothingly.

"You appeared to be suffering from some form of flash back. I had been trying to wake you for five or so minutes" she explained worriedly. "was it about the virus?"

Zoom nodded, trying to push himself up on trembling arms. Why did he feel so weak now?

"Why am I in here?"

"You collapsed. Sherman said you were trying to put distance between yourself and them. He didn't understand why. He said you looked really pale and frightened."

"I guess I haven't been hiding it as well as I'd hoped" Zoom confessed to sage, looking away and flushing red.

"Zoom," Sage gently cupped his cheek and turned it so he was facing her. "You aren't dealing with this situation well. They all know something happened, and it is clearly still bothering you. It may help to talk about it with them" she urged him.

Zoom sighed, suddenly noticing his headache again.

"Do you have any pain pills? My head is killing me" he said, eyes pleading with her to drop it.

Sage's head drooped slightly in defeat, letting it go for now.

"Okay, I'll get you something now"

Zoom left the infirmary soon afterwards, giving Sage a hug in gratitude.

He was heading up to his room when he got a strange feeling that he was being watched.

He checked behind him, only to see nothing out of the ordinary.

When he turned back around, he was suddenly face to face with Sherman.

Zoom jumped in fright, taking one quick step back, uncomfortable with the proximity.

"Heya Sherman" Zoom said with forced cheer.

"Zoom, I was coming to see if you were okay?" He looked more worried than before.

Zoom laughed, "I feel like that is all you have asked me today, buddy" He said.

Sherman didn't say anything, just waited for a proper answer.

Zoom sighed in defeat. "I guess I over did it today in the garage" he muttered to him, kicking his foot at some imaginary dust on the ground.

Sherman didn't look convinced. "Can I talk to you a minute?"

"Sure?" Zoom said, curiously following as Sherman turned to lead him to his room.

The Thing watched as one of the smallest beings followed the biggest one down the hall way.

The Thing liked that small one. There was so much turmoil writhing within him. It followed the two, hoping for another taste.

Sherman opened his bedroom door and held it open for Zoom to enter first. He then closed the door behind them.

"What's up?" Zoom said, turning in the tidy bedroom to face Sherman.

"Zoom. I want you to tell me why you are so afraid of us" Sherman cut to the chase.

Zoom felt like he had been winded. He sat down on Sherman's neat bed and started fiddling with his fingers.

"I'm not afraid of you" he said unconvincingly.

Sherman sat down next to him, putting a comforting hand on his back.

Zoom squirmed slightly and Sherman took his hand away.

"See Zoom? This is what I'm talking about. You can barely stand to be around us, you hate being touched, you scare easily. What's wrong? Did we do something wrong? Did we hurt you?"

Zoom couldn't meet Sherman's eyes, but something in Sherman's voice made him want to.

"Zoom." Sherman crouched down in front of him to try and meet his gaze and Zoom gave up, finally looking. Sherman's eyes were wide and watery.

"Zoom. I had this dream last night. A nightmare. It seemed so real though..." Sherman stood up and began to pace, wringing his hands.

"What happened?" Zoom asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"In the nightmare, I was in a battlezone with everyone. And I was watching..." He paused, wiping a hand down his face in distress.

"I was watching Agura hit you into the ground. A-and I was just watching, letting it happen. And for some reason I wanted her to keep hitting you because I thought you d-deserved it." He trailed off, now him being the one who couldn't meet Zoom's eyes.

Zoom's chest was tight. Was the team beginning to remember what happened on their own? Was it just Sherman?

"Zoom, I asked Agura and she had the same nightmare but from her point of view" Sherman continued. "Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me we didn't do that to you Zoom!" Sherman pleaded, turning back to look him in the eye once more to see Zoom's shiny with pent up emotion.

"Zoom? Say something" Sherman insisted.

Zoom couldn't do it anymore. Perhaps Sherman finding out was for the best, he thought. Maybe things will get better if everyone knew. And not really seeing anyway to deny it, Zoom just gave up and nodded, looking at the floor as a lone tear escaped his eye.

He quickly wiped it away, feeling as though the atmosphere in the room was getting darker and heavier.

Sherman strode over to Zoom and lifted him into a tight firm hug. Zoom swallowed tightly, letting Sherman hug him. He didn't know what to do now. If Sherman knew, everyone would soon know.

He waited for Sherman to let go, fighting the urge to push him off, still uncomfortable at the contact.

"I am so, so sorry" Sherman murmured.

Zoom was beginning to feel suffocated. He didn't want pity and he didn't want everyone to feel bad. He just wanted everyone to get over it and he just wanted to get out of this room!

Thankfully, Sherman finally let go and Zoom stumbled to the door, pulling it open and staggering out. He fell against the wall, catching his breath.

Sherman followed him out, concern all over his face.

"What's wrong?"

Zoom groaned, making his way to his own bedroom. "Nothin, just need some rest" he murmured, ignoring Sherman's questions which followed after him. He landed onto his bed and promptly fell asleep, unexplained exhaustion taking over.

The Thing gleefully followed the small one who was giving off waves and waves of distress. The Thing knew it was mostly It's own doing. Part of The Thing's feeding habits exacerbated the negative emotions within the victim, but this small one was particularly juicy. It would drain this one a little more before moving onto the other beings. It could feel Itself becoming so much stronger than It had ever felt before. It loved this world and its delectable occupants.

It entered the small one's room and opened It's hole of a mouth and began to feed immediately.

Mkay, the next part will be up in a few days. I hope you like this. Let me know in the reviews. X