Waow, what awesome reviews I got last time, for ch. 1 and 2 ! Thanxxxx a lot to all of you, BB123, Bos and CT4000 ! You really made my day back then ! And I do hope you'll enjoy this chapter enough to leave me nice comments again !

Also, thanxxxx to the max for writing on your own stories, for which I always stay tuned ! And I can't wait for more from you all !

And now, why don't we go on with the explanatory part, eh ?

N'joy ! (and review…)

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3 _ EXPLANATIONS AND HELP

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Cathy was now lying in a bed, with her eyes closed. Hugo Smith was sitting by her side, checking the rhythm of her pulse. He left his fingers on the side of his granddaughter's neck for a moment, then took them off and watched his relative with concern.

"So, Mr Smith ?" Danny asked in an urging tone.

The Rhapsodian turned to face him. "Her heartbeats have slowed down. Her breathing is deeper now. She is not to wake up before long. Actually, she won't until she gets her shadow back…"

It was Sam's turn to speak : "But what happened with her shadow ? How and when did it disappear ? I mean, we didn't notice anything before this afternoon. It's true that a shadow is definitely not something to pay attention to, but still…"

The white-haired man took a deep breath and began explaining : "I can think of only one reason why an alien could lose his/her shadow : it's in case it has been stolen by another alien. There is a tribe of monsters which are known for "rustling" shadows of other aliens. It's the tribe of the Howlers. They are called this because they howl when they want to give alarm, in case an enemy has been detected. They used to live on the Dark Planet, but their leader, Hathho, got defeated two centuries ago and those monsters had all been destroyed at the time. Therefore, I'm surprised that an Howler could have done this, but honestly, I don't know any other reason why an alien's shadow would vanish."

"So you think that it would be one of these… Howlers to have sucked up Cathy's shadow ?" Chris asked.

"Yes, possibly. Or even, probably. But I have no clue when that could have happened. Yet, since she had a bad night, I assume that's related, for the victim always starts feeling physically bad less than twelve hours after being attacked. And since Cathy was still alright two days ago, it means that the Howler got her shadow yesterday."

"But how could that happen ?" Danny phrased, expressing aloud their common wondering. "I mean, we were with her all the time, weren't we, and nothing special took place. Cathy was behaving just like usual."

The old alien got thinking. "Are you sure that nothing out of ordinary occurred ? Please try to remember again carefully !"

"Mmmmmh, not that I can recall…" Chris answered.

"Me neither" Sam added. "We fought an alien in the park and that was it. No atypical event. I really wonder when that could have happened…"

Danny decided to go for the pragmatic way : "Anyway, what do we do next, Mr Smith ? How can we give Cathy her shadow back ? Where do we have to go and what do we have to do ? It's urgent we do something quickly !" His hard stare let know of his determination.

Hugo Smith gathered his memories regarding Howlers and, after a moment of pondering, he went on explaining : "The only way I can think of would be to journey to the Dark Planet and release Cathy's shadow from the place it's imprisoned in. And alas for you, it's a very dangerous expedition, as that planet is known as one of the most hazardous ones of the galaxy. I really wished you didn't have to go there, but rather on any other planet…"

"Well, the way you speak of it, we're going to have a rough time with this journey…" Chris commented. "But we would do anything for Cathy !"

"Yeah, anything !" Danny energetically exclaimed.

In this moment, Cathy started to moan and moved about under the blanket. They all turned to her. She winced and frowned, and let out new moans, louder this time, then moved again restlessly.

"What's the matter, Mr Smith ?" Sam asked. "It looks as if she was having nightmares."

"Well, you see, the victims of the Howlers fall into a state of apparent sleep, but in which they often get horrible visions. It's related to the loss of the shadow. I'm sorry, but I can't explain exactly why…"

"It's strange that such a secondary element as a shadow could generate so much pain and such serious consequences" Chris remarked.

The old man gazed firmly at him. "The thing is that shadows have much more importance for us aliens than for you humans. That is, we can't live without it, while you maybe could go on living if you lost it. So, with respect to this, finding Cathy's shadow and bringing it back to her in time will be vital. It's a matter of life or death !"

Danny felt his temperature sink all of a sudden. "You… you said… life or death ?"

The elder nodded. "Yes, indeed. It's most serious. If we can't attach the shadow back to its body quickly, then… she will die." He made a visible effort not to let emotion overwhelm him and make him shed tears. "I will show you something. Come here."

They all followed him to the foot of the bed. The white-haired man pulled the blanket and sheet up, took out his granddaughter's leg and let them watch.

At first, they wondered what they should be looking at, then they spotted some small black area stretching on the tops of all toes.

"What… what's that ?" Danny almost shouted.

"It's called "the black veil". It's a kind of parasite that takes gradually hold of the victim's body after disappearance of the shadow. It will spread on the feet, then the legs, the belly, the chest, the arms and finally the head. And when the last hair has turned completely black, the person will pass away. We have to do quick, as we probably haven't more than a few days, maybe two or three, at best four. It spreads very fast. We aliens can't remain very long without our shadows, unlike humans."

The three team members were staring at the black area on Cathy's foot, they felt deeply upset about it and were suddenly scared than this loss of shadow had such terrible consequences.

Sam spoke in a decided tone : "So Mr Smith, where is located the Dark Planet and how do we get there ?"

The old alien turned his gaze at her : "I know exactly who I need to help us. It's an old friend of mine, who comes from a planet next to Rhapsodia. She has powers who enable her to use interdimensional passages in order to reach a place directly, without travelling there. So she will be able to open a spatial breach for you to step immediately on the Dark Planet. This way, you'll gain a lot of time, and we can't afford lose too much time…"

/

It was late when the sound of a motor was heard outside the Smith house. A door was slammed and light footsteps came up to the house. A discrete knock broke the silence in which the house was wrapped.

Hugo Smith went for the door, opened. A brief conversation was heard, in a language none of the MBC members knew. Then footsteps reached the lounge and an elderly woman appeared by the Rhapsodian's side.

"Guys, let me introduce you to Katie, from planet Minnie. She has great powers that I personally wish I could master. Katie, here is Christopher, that is Samantha and upstairs is Daniel, looking after Cathy, my granddaughter."

The lady walked to the yellow member and shook her hand, then did the same with the blue member.

"Pleased to know you" the stranger said. She was very pale and seemed to have slanting eyes, which was unusual for a Western female. "May I see Cathy, Hugo ? I need to know all there is to, so we can work on an efficient and swift basis." Her voice was very calm and almost "soft", her tone naturally comforting, soothing.

The old Rhapsodian led the way upstairs, the lady on his heels, the MBC members bringing up the rear. They soon reached the room where poor Cathy was lying unconscious.

Once they were all in, Mr Smith addressed the red member : "Danny, this is a friend of mine, Katie. Katie, here is Daniel, or Danny for his friends."

The young boy was taken aback : "Your… your name is… Katie ?"

"Yes, I know what you're thinking, Daniel : it sounds like your friend's name, Cathy. You pronounce it the same, but the spelling is different. Sorry if you felt shocked about that similarity."

"It's okay" he replied. "Can you do something for Cathy, please ? It's her life that is at stake" He turned to look at his now weakened love.

The elderly woman walked to the bed and stared at the young Rhapsodian, who now had ceased moaning, but had started sweating. She lay her hand above Cathy's forehead and an blue aura glowed around it. She focused silently and frowned as she understood what had happened and how Cathy was feeling now. It was serious, no doubt.

Katie finally turned around, watched the teenagers' faces, then stopped on Mr Smith. Her look was extremely stern. "Your granddaughter has been attacked by a Howler, Hugo. It was yesterday, most probably in the beginning of the afternoon."

Chris's eyes goggled. "Wait ! Wasn't there when we were fighting that hybrid alien in the park ? Yes, it must have been, since it was right before the resumption of the lessons. But when did that monster attack Cathy ? We didn't see any other monster than the one we were actually trying to bust. And Cathy hasn't been mugged at any time, otherwise we would have seen, or if not, she would have told us. I don't get it…"

Katie continued : "The Howlers are known for sucking away alien shadows, and often doing it by approaching their prey from behind, sneaking from under some bush or so. So there's a good chance that the Howler who stole Cathy's shadow was hidden behind a tree, under a bench, behind a stone or so. And it got close to Cathy while you were all focusing on the other monster to fight, and dragged her shadow away without you noticing it."

Sam was thinking. At last, she expressed her opinion : "Yes, I guess there's a chance it might have happened this way. All the more since nothing particular occurred that day apart from that monster busting. These Howlers really are dangerous creatures…"

"More than you think !" the pale lady replied. "And now, from the informations I gathered by scanning the body of Cathy, she has begun to sweat and the black veil has started covering her feet. Also, her pulse sank down to 20 bpm, which is really low, and her breathing rhythm is as low as snakes, that is very slow. It's very preoccupying, and foretells of serious physical complication. We must absolutely restore the shadow back to its body, as quickly as we can, otherwise there's not a single chance Cathy can live on. I'm sorry to have to tell you all those bad news, but I will never hide the truth, however dark it is. Never !"

"No, you're right !" the brunette said. "We need to know the truth, even if it's terrible. We must be aware of the danger, and of all its parameters. The questions now are : how exactly do we get her shadow back and how much time do we have at hand for this ?"

Katie took a deep breath and watched Mr Smith. The latter caught her glimpse and understood it. "They will need to journey to the Dark Planet, right ?" She nodded and pursued : "The Howlers were supposedly extinguished, but when they were still an active specie, they lived on that planet. I guess they were some specimen left alive and they reproduced. Also, they used to be obeying the orders of Hathho, a dark lord who ruled that planet in a most nefarious way, seeking to steal as many shadows as possible in order to augment his power. He was thought to have been defeated, but we never actually had the definitive proof of that, so he may be back or someone may have taken his place and now ruling on Howlers. Nobody is aware of a possible line of descent for Hathho, so it's probably not a child of his, more likely another dark raiser."

"How will we travel to the Dark Planet ? Mr Smith told us that you could help us to get there quickly." Chris told her.

"Yes, I will enable you to be on that planet faster than you ever could otherwise. You will need to seek for help in a village where the last Light people had gathered long ago. I have recently heard that they were still in that village, and that the queen ruling the village hasn't taken power back to make it Light planet instead of Dark planet. That's why I have been suspecting, for a moment now, that something may be going on on that planet."

Danny quickly intervened : "And how much time do we have to rescue Cathy ?" He couldn't wait any longer, for every minute that passed was a minute lost. They had to do quick !

Katie faced him and gazed intensely at him. "According to the informations I retrieved from Cathy's body, you have a bit more than 50 hours. You will need to keep an eye on time, so I will give you this !"

She raised her hand and made a little sign. Silver dust appeared out of the blue, whirling slowly, and followed a twisted aerial way towards Sam. Then it lowered and came twirling above the brunette's wrist, before getting altogether to form… a tiny silver hourglass which floated above the girl's wrist.

"This hourglass will remain hovering above your wrist, Samantha. It contains the exact amount of time remaining for you to bring back your friend's shadow. You can refer to it anytime to know how much time is left before... the end. And I will also give you this, to help you find your way on the Dark Planet."

She reached out to Chris, her hand wide open, palm up. A bubble of energy formed over the palm and once the light had vanished, a tiny brass compass was resting within her hand.

"You will have to keep on heading south, until you find a group of white houses. It is the village of Fic. Once you arrive here, you will have to ask for Her Majesty Lauren. She is the 123rd sovereign of the Beaba's, the People of Light. Only her can help you locate Cathy's shadow, because she has the ability to sense shadows' identities and you certainly won't be able to know, by yourselves, where your friend's shadow is without Lauren's help."

Danny took a step forward. "Madam, thank you so very much for your help ! We owe you a lot ! And without you, we would barely be able to make it !"

Katie watched him benevolently. "You are welcome, Daniel. That's the least I could do for you. I always do anything I can to help people, because I have the power to. It is my pleasure to help you, because you are good people and friends of my long-time friend Hugo."

Mr Smith smiled. "You have all my gratitude, Katie, as always. Your help will me most precious. Thank you so much, my dear !" She nodded and grinned back to him.

The African-American addressed her : "Can you please let us know how you can help us reach the Dark Planet swiftly ? Mr Smith let us know you had a way for that, thanks to your powers…"

"Of course. I will enable you to step directly from Earth onto the Dark Planet by creating an interdimensional passage."

"You can do that ?" Chris asked, baffled.

"Yes, I can, take a step back, please." she told the group. They all did, watching her attentively.

Katie put her both hands flat, horizontally, one on top of another. Then she parted them slowly, one upward, one downward. In this very moment, an elliptic hole opened in the room and kept stretching up and down. It looked like an enormous eye that was gradually opening.

Katie stopped her movement and took her hands down. "You can now cross the limit to find yourselves directly on the Dark Planet."

The MBC took a glance through the interdimensional passage. They saw two white pillars and, in the background only thick shadows, with no lights at all in the distance.

"How dark !" Danny exclaimed.

"Yes, I had forgotten. This will be of great use." Katie then raised a finger, and on top of it, a flame appeared. It then took off and reached the teenagers, stopping beside them, up in the air. "This flame will float above your heads to light up the way. It's not a big one, but trust me, its brilliance is far enough powerful for you to check out all your surroundings at any time. And now, I'll sum it up for you : always walk towards south, looking at the compass, until you come to a white village called Fic. Queen Lauren will help you to locate Cathy's soul and bring it back here. You will need to keep an eye on the hourglass, to estimate how much time remains. Oh, and don't forget one thing : you should absolutely avoid to talk too loud in this land, because Howlers have a very developed hearing and could easily locate you."

Chris looked at Katie intensely. "Thank you so much for your help, Madam."

"Oh, call me Katie, please ! And you are welcome. Pleased to help you ! I will stay with Hugo here, to watch after Cathy and make sure she doesn't oversweat or that her pulse doesn't slow down too much. You should go now, because you will need as much time as possible to find Cathy's shadow. I wish you good luck. May your mission have a positive outcome !"

"Thank you again !" Sam said. "And now, Team, let's go save our best friend !"

They all walked to the eye-shaped passage and each in turn stepped over the interdimensional boundary. And soon the three fighters found themselves in a pitch-black place, where the only light around was the flame hovering above their heads.

"Goodbye !" Mr Smith and Katie said in unison, waving their hands. "And remember to speak low !" the elderly lady added.

The huge passage started to close slowly, its sides coming closer to each other. It really looked as if some gigantic eye was closing to sleep. This alas brought back the memory of Cathy, lying eyes closed and weak in her bed, risking her life...

The two sides of the hole merged, leaving an horizontal golden line which soon diminished, getting shorter and shorter, until it reached the size of a dot... then vanished away.

They now were all alone on what seemed to be an hostile planet, ignoring all of the dangers that could be waiting for them, and with an urgent mission to carry out successfully, at any cost !

Race against Time had begun !

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Ok, I know there was a lot of bla-bla and not much action in this one, but I really needed to clear up things, bring up explanations and mission's outline, so there just had to be much dialog going on.

But now, my Friends... now begins the real action plot ! Get ready for the core of the adventure ! It's gonna be catchy ! ;)

I hope to update asap, but in the mean time... please review or PM ! And once again, thanxxxx for all the previous kind reviews ! You are amazing, Friends !