A/N: Slightly late, but not that bad, and I hadn't expected this one to be on time. A lot happens here, and I figured it would be about as long as it ended up being. (Upside of 4300 words!) So, in this chapter, we have a check in with our bad guy, and then…the sort-of surprise twist! (Sort-of because it's pretty obvious what happens, my 'How' however, is out of left field. XP) Next chapter should be up in a week or two (it's a shorter-ish one, but my schedule is up in the air.) Don't have much to say, so, enjoy!

Morning news casts tended to be more humorous, lively, in an attempt to wake their audience up at the ungodly hours they had to awaken for their work. Evening news, then, was meant to put their audience to sleep. The monotone voices of the news anchors depicting the more melancholy stories of the day with as much interest as a child regarding educational television tended not to draw much attention, let alone derive any humor from any situation. The short Mexican sitting in front of the TV, however, couldn't help but laugh himself silly as he rewound an earlier scene over and over again. It was a mystery as to how they got the footage, but somehow a news station had cameras set up to capture Rev Runner's earlier blunder on the bridge, and his earlier opponent was greatly enjoying his victory.

"You-know," he said in his speedy Mexican lilt, "you'd-think-he'd-have-more-coordination-for-being-the-'fastest-thing-in-Acmetropolis'. He-wasn't-so-hard-to-beat!"

"You just got lucky," a monotone voice that put the news anchor to shame stated. "If that bridge hadn't been there, we'd have had some serious problemas."

"You-worry-too-much!" the first said with a dismissive wave of the hand. "That-gringo-doesn't-stand-a-chance-against-me."

The slower shook his head. "You are too arrogant, and ignorant. While you are fast, the roadrunner is faster."

"So? I-have-brains!"

"Correction: You have me." Ignoring the speedster's outburst, the slower turned his attention to the TV as the newscast was finally able to continue past the roadrunner blunder.

"Reports state that Rev Runner was not severely injured after his impact, though he will be out of commission for a few days. With this new speedy villain on the loose, that means more difficulty for the Loonatics. Despite previous blunders from the roadrunner, from common high-speed mistakes to the Robo-Amigo incident that almost ruined the Runner family business, Rev still proves to be a valuable team member, especially with a villain about that challenges his area of expertise…"

"In this case, we need to stop trying to beat the competition head-on and try something else…" A slight pause here as the program was rewound once again, allowing him to listen to the sound bite again. "We need to get rid of that roadrunner…and I know just how to do it."

xoxoxoxox

"Okay, how did dey manage ta get footage of dat?!" Ace asked indignantly as Lexi shut off the TV, unable to stomach seeing Rev's painful impact. The bunny was never happy when news teams showed up and filmed them in combat, mostly because he wanted them well out of the way of danger but also because he felt no need for any of them to relive the event later on.

"Nowadays, they can have cameras everywhere and no one could realize it," Lexi stated, though her distaste was evident. "Have you seen how much dirt they have on celebrities and politicians these days?"

"Still, no reason ta show somethin' like dat…"

"Oh-it's-okay-Ace-it's-not-like-it's-that-graphic-or-anything-and-besides-I-only-fell-off-a-little-bridge-I'm-fine!" Rev said, attempting to sound reassuring. Considering the fact that he was sitting in a chair with Tech standing behind him, in the process of bandaging the roadrunner's head, it didn't work as well as he may have wished.

"Technically speaking, you fell on a bridge, and if you hadn't suddenly gone uphill so fast, it could have killed you," Tech stated matter-of-factly, giving the back of the roadrunner's head a frustrated look as he attempted to look back at the coyote- again. "Unless you want me to bandage your crest in with the rest of your head, stop moving. I'm almost done…" Rev huffed, but did as he was told.

It was quiet in the living room for a moment, until Slam, Duck, and Sive walked in from the lab. Seeing as Tech was indisposed, they had taken it upon themselves (some more willing than others,) to look over the footage from the bank. Tech could have easily done it on his own, but otherwise, it was a two to three person job. While knowing who they were dealing with may not have helped them any, save for potentially giving them an address to look over, it was still a good thing to know. Plus, it was driving them crazy that their villain was deciding to remain anonymous.

"Anything?" Ace asked.

"Nothing," Sive confirmed agitatedly, tiredly plopping herself down on the couch next to Lexi. "The bank only had the one camera in the front, and it was even worse quality than the other one. He was either careful to avoid being seen by it, or still moving too fast for a frame-by-frame to make a difference."

"Are you sure none of you three managed to see him?" Tech asked the three from the bank portion of the earlier escapade, again. "Nothing at all?"

"He made sure not ta slow down enough ta get a good look at him," Ace replied calmly. "He's tryin' not ta be seen."

"Can't-we-even-get-a-general-description?" Rev cajoled. Ace, Lexi, and Duck all paused to see if they could remember anything significant.

"He was short," Lexi offered.

"Hispanic," Ace added.

"He might have been an anthro…" Lexi said thoughtfully, thinking him over. "When we hit him that last time, I still couldn't see him that well, what with the light from the blast and the fact he was still breaking 50 miles per hour until he hit the table, but he either has a head that rivals Mastermind's or really big ears."

"That's something to go on," Tech said, finally finishing Rev's head and beginning to repack the first aid kid. "Anthros are still uncommon enough that we should be able to narrow down the field by a lot. Got anything else?"

"He was crazy…" Duck stated matter-of-factly.

"Well that's something new and different," Sive said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "So, what is it this time? Garden-variety crazy, obsessive crazy, or seriously crazy?"

"Seriously," Duck emphasized, his tone leaving no room for humor. "Like, in need of a shrink, seriously."

Rev seemed to perk up as well. "You-mean-how-he-talked-to-himself?"

Tech immediately shook his head. "Everyone talks to themselves sometime or another. You guys should hear me working on my own in the labs sometime-"

"No, we mean carrying on a two-person conversation with himself," Lexi supplied with equal conviction as Rev and Duck.

"In two completely different voices," Ace added.

"So, we're now dealing with a speeding, slowing, mind-wiping Mexican who may or may not be an anthro and has Multiple Personality Disorder," Sive summed, making it sound as normal as possible. "Great, and here I thought this would be boring…"

"That should help us figure out who we're dealing with, though," Tech said.

"Yeah," Rev agreed, "antrhos-aren't-that-common-but-neither-are-severe-mental-disorders-so-we-should-easily-be-able-to-narrow-down-the-field-to-about-a-dozen-people-or-so-and-even-if-he-isn't-an-anthro-it-probablly-still-comes-down-to-within-50."

Tech nodded in affirmation before turning back to the others. "Anything else?"

"I could tell from when he slowed a bit dat he had dark skin…or fur," Ace added as an afterthought, "but I couldn't see his face; he was wearin' a mask or somethin'. Dat I remember because it was dis gaudy red color."

"No it wasn't," Lexi interrupted. "I saw it too, and the mask was green, not red."

"No, it was definitely red."

"Green."

"Red!"

"Green!"

"Duck!" Sive interrupted before the petty argument could escalate any farther. "What did you see?"

"Uh…" It was very quiet in the room as Duck tried to make a decision. "Call me crazy, but I think I remember seeing both…" Ace facepalmed at this, while Lexi rolled her eyes, both obviously still thinking they were right.

"Okay, then…" Tech drawled. "While you guys sort that out, I'm going to put this away-" here he indicated the first aid kit, "-and then go down to the lab and start searching for our guy. Have fun with that."

Tech vacated the room, and it looked for all the world that the argument between the bunnies was about to resume. The others were also preparing to flee the room, trying to create believable excuses to be elsewhere, but before the argument picked back up again, the door chime mercifully went off, making them all jump in surprise. The only frequent visitors they got were when they ordered in dinner; seeing as that hadn't happened, their surprise was warranted. It lasted all of thirty seconds before the doors opened, admitting their unexpected company.

"Mom-Dad-Rip!" Rev chirped happily, rising and zipping over to meet his family as the two adults rocketed out of the elevator to meet their son. The youngest of the bunch followed much more slowly, though the detached, apathetic look that had defined him on his last visit was replaced by one of mild worry.

"Why did he give them a key?" Duck grumbled before being quietly shushed by Lexi.

Rev's parents wasted no time, embracing their babbling son while Rip stood off to the side, inspecting his brother's injuries. "What-are-you-all-doing-here-so-suddenly-not-that-I'm-not-happy-to-see-you-all-it's-just-surprising-I-wasn't-expecting-to-see-you-all-until-my-next-visit!"

"We were watching the news earlier-" Rip began, only to be verbally run over by his father.

"We-saw-what-happened-to-you-on-the-TV-and-immediately-came-over-to-make-sure-you-were-okay," Ralph explained, mindfully keeping the speed of his voice in check for the sake of the others in the room.

Harriet, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as observant as she fussed over her oldest's injuries."OhRevhoneylookatyouyou'reallbeatuphowcouldthishaveh appenedyoushouldbemorecarefu lsomeoneshouldhavebeenwatchi ngoutforyouwhywereyoualoneyo ucouldhavebeenkilledorworse-"

"Ma!" Rev interrupted, his mother's frantic ranting coming to a sudden stop as he gently but firmly gripped her wrists so she would stop fussing. "I'm-okay-Ma-it's-nothing-really-just-some-bumbs-and-bruises-it-looks-worse-than-it-really-is."

Harriet still didn't look completely appeased, but did relent at the look her son gave her. "Ifyouinsistbutyoucan'tsayyoudidn'texpectustoshowupImeanwhatki ndoffamilywouldwebeifwedidn'tcomethesecondwesawthatyouwe rehurt?"

"Um-Ma-remember-that-conversation-we-had-a-litte-while-ago-about-speed?" Rev asked quietly, eyeing his friends who were unsuccessfully trying to understand what the Runners were talking about.

"Oh-of-course-how-could-I-be-so-rude?" Mrs. Runner said with a sheepish expression, finally realizing that they had an audience. "Hello-everyone-sorry-for-dropping-by-so-suddenly-but-once-we-saw-that-Rev-had-been-hurt-we-came-running!"

"Literally…" Rip grumbled, though only Rev seemed to hear him if his concerned look was anything to go by.

Ralph, meanwhile, zipped over towards the other Loonatics, already in the process of giving out friendly, though forcefully fast handshakes. "Let's-see-if-I-remember-you-all-I'm-really-good-with-names-you-know." Starting with Ace and moving down, everyone made sure to remain polite as Rev's father made his rounds, saying, "Here's-Chase-Flexi-Scram-and-Chuck!"

As he got to Sive, who was hiding her confusion very well, taking the fact she hadn't yet met the Runner family into consideration, he paused partly because of his 'coyote issues', and partly because he couldn't quite figure out why he remembered Tech looking so different. Then, of course, the real Tech walked back into the room, and all three Runners did a double take as they realized that there were now two coyotes in the room.

"Oh-my-goodness-there's-two-of-them!" Ralph shouted in alarm, jumping back and zipping back behind the relative safety of the other Loonatics as Sive gave him a look that plainly questioned the elder roadrunner's sanity.

Tech, for his part, handled the situation fairly well. Walking in and finding that the Runners had dropped by for a surprise visit would have been unpleasant (to him) anyway, but poor Sive had no idea about their…quirks. Thinking as quickly as he usually did, Tech took a couple of long strides over to Sive, grabbing her arm and insistently tugging her away back the way he'd come. "Oh, Sive, I just remembered that I need you in the lab! Right now!"

Sive figured out enough on her own about the situation to know to follow Tech, though she did whisper quietly enough for only Tech and Lexi with her super hearing to hear, "What was that about?"

"I'll explain when we get to the lab," he replied in an equally hushed tone as he and Sive exited the room.

Rev fidgeted slightly, having expected that would happen when his parents first met Sive (seeing as he had left out the little detail of species in telling them about her,) but he still hadn't been quite ready for it. "Uh-Ma-Pa-that-was-Sive."

"I-gathered," Ralph said in a clipped tone, shooting Rev a displeased look at that neglected tidbit of information.

The room quieted after that, the silence awkward and heavy. The Loonatics all didn't quite know what to say after that little performance, Rev was trying to avoid eye contact with both of his parents, his parents were both trying to convey their feelings to their son through their expressions while being oblivious to anyone else in the room, and Rip was still trying to figure out what had just happened.

Ace, ever the peacekeeper, was the first to break the silence. "So, Mr. and Mrs. Runner, can we get ya anythin'? Ya must have had a long trip ta get here so fast…"

Both of the elder Runners seemed to snap out of their haze, directing their attention back to the general public, much to Rev's relief. "Oh-thanks-for-the-offer-but-we're-fine," Harriet said reassuringly with a shake of her head.

Pa nodded his agreement. "We-wouldn't-want-to-impose-after-all-we-are-here-unnanounced-though-to-be-fair-we-were-planning-on-dropping-in-sometime-soon-we've-been-meaning-to-talk-to-Rev-here-about-something-important-for-a-while-now."

"Oh-well-if-that's-the-case-then-maybe-we-should-take-this-somewhere-else?" Rev suggested, indicating a side door that he could potentially quickly ushering his parents through. While his parents were the type most teenagers would hate being seen with in public, they seemed to be hell-bent on making an even bigger spectacle of themselves than usual.

"Oh-sure-honey," Harriet agreed, quickly zipping through the designated door with her son and husband in tow.

Rip made as if to follow them, but stopped as the door slid closed again, the electronic panel indicating that it was locked from the other side not a moment later. "Tch," he snorted, rolling his eyes as he walked away. "Whatever."

xoxoxoxox

"So…coyote issues?" Sive repeated, looking as skeptical as she sounded.

"Yeah, I don't get it, either," Tech agreed with a shrug. "Rev said that it stems from some particular ancestor who was constantly bothered by coyotes, but that doesn't help explain it."

Sive shrugged, hopping up to sit on the edge of a table as Tech turned his attention back to one of the many consoles in the room. "Different strokes for different folks."

"I'd agree, but this particular 'stroke' just rubs me the wrong way," Tech grumbled. "I got more than enough of this in college, thank you. The last thing I need is a melodramatic repeat from my best friend's parents."

"Haven't you been to Rev's house, though?" Sive asked, recalling the many times Tech grumbled about houses on cliffs and Rev's humorous explanation.

"He somehow managed to convince them that I was a vegetarian," Tech stated dryly, looking skyward and shaking his head at the absurdity of it all. Sive couldn't help but giggle at this, though it was mostly directed at Rev's parents if that was what it took to be allowed entry into their home. "Glad to see you're finding so much humor at my expense."

"I'm laughing at them, not you," Sive explained, mildly amused at how easily Tech could get all huffy, though she wouldn't dare say anything about it to him, especially while he was in a mood. "So, are all three of them like that?"

"No, just-" Tech was cut off by the sound of the door chime. When he had the lab doors locked, as he usually did, the chime was essentially a doorbell, installed per Ace's request after one too many all-nighters turned to all-weekers with the rest of the team locked out. Sending the access code through the console, both coyotes were surprised as the youngest of the Runners walked in.

"Hey, Rip," Tech greeted, turning his attention away from the console. "What are you doing down here?"

"Getting away from my parents," the younger roadrunner replied matter-of-factly, his tone speaking volumes of how common this occurrence was.

"Join the club," Tech invited with a general wave of the hand to indicate their situation.

Sive nodded in agreement. "You know, so long as you're not going to scream and run, too."

Rip laughed once, walking further into the room and leaning on the table next to Sive. "Nah, that's just them. Sorry about that, by the way, they're…something else."

"I gathered," Sive commented dryly.

Wanting to move the subject off of his parents for the sake of his own wounded pride, if nothing else, Rip said, "So I take it you're Sive, then?"

"Last I checked," Sive confirmed, amiably shaking hands with the younger roadrunner. "And you're Rip, right?"

"Yep," Rip confirmed with a nod. "So, what are you two up to down here? You know, other than hiding from Mom and Pop."

"I'm just hiding," Sive replied with a shrug.

"I was planning on going over the security footage from the earlier heist again," Tech stated, "but Sive here feels that quadruple-checking would be obsessive."

"We didn't find anything the first time, and your two successive checks didn't make any earthshattering discoveries, so I say quit while you're ahead," Sive advised. "Or, at least, before you fall any further behind. You're going to work yourself into a coma at this rate."

"That's what Ma always says to Pa and me," Rip chuckled, shaking his head. "Since there are two of us, though, she can't really do anything."

"Lucky you," Tech retorted in mock-annoyance. "I've got both Rev and Sive to drag me out."

"If we didn't, you'd be a complete shut in."

"Hey! That's not true! I've always been pretty good at not getting too wrapped up in anything," Tech huffed, crossing his arms. It was evident he wasn't really mad, though, if one took his tone and pouty expression into account.

Sive smirked. "Rev's told me about some of your college habits."

Tech blanched. "Okay, you win."

Rip couldn't help but laugh at them, drawing both of the coyote's attentions back to the roadrunner. "Rev's right; you two do fight like an old married couple!"

Both coyotes blushed and looked away, both directing their gazes anywhere about the room that was far away from the other and both making a mental note to have a long talk with Rev later. Rip took note of this action but, much to the two coyote's relief, didn't say anything about it.

"So…" Tech began, wanting to change the subject but unsure of where to go. "How've you been Rip? Anything interesting happening at your dad's company?"

The change was almost immediate. The younger roadrunner's previous mirth disappeared without a trace, replaced by a clearly perceptible scowl that was purposefully directed away from the coyotes. "I've been a little out of the loop, lately."

"I thought Ralph gave you a jumpstart in the marketing division?" Tech asked, a puzzled look on his face.

"He did, and at first, everything was great after the whole, ah…'incident'," Rip explained, hesitant to even mention the episode revolving around the Bio-Tech parasite. At the mention of this, Sive shot Tech a questioning look, and he non-verbally replied with an 'I'll explain later' expression. "But lately both he and Ma have been acting…weird."

"Weird how?"

Rip thought a moment before replying. "It's hard to explain unless you've been living with them for forever. Just, like, the little things, you know? Dad's been forgetting meals, Mom's been less…jumpy about everything, both have all but forgotten about me, among other things."

"Could it have something to do with whatever it is they want to talk to Rev about?" Sive questioned, mildly concerned for their speedster friend. Tech was as well, though it wasn't obvious; the elder coyote was hard to read at the best of times, but Sive had learned a few of his tells. In that case, while remaining outwardly calm, she hadn't missed the sudden twitch of his tail in response to her question, and his own worry. What Sive didn't know, though that could be contributed to her lack of knowledge on the Robo-Amigo incident, was that Tech was also expressing worry for Rip as well. If he was being neglected like he had been again, Tech was planning on having a talk with Rev about it.

"Maybe; like I said, I have no idea what they wanted to talk to him about," Rip replied with a shrug. "They barely remembered to get me into the car when they left earlier, much less tell me what's up."

It was silent in the lab after that, the roadrunner thinking to himself about everything while the two coyotes struggled with thinking of something to say. Before long, Rip shook his head and looked back at the others, his previous dark expression gone and replaced by one of mischievous interest. "Enough of that; let's change the subject! So, tell me about this new villain. I hear he's totally nuts…"

xoxoxoxox

Rev led them to another part of HQ, into a room that was similar to the one they had just exited save for the fact it was in a less-central area of the tower. Having a 300-some-odd story building left them with a lot of extra space, and Tech's 'toys' could only take up so much room, and this led to many repetitive rooms; namely five living areas and four kitchens scattered about. Even though they were now in a completely different part of the building, Rev still felt embarrassed as his mother once again set upon him, determined to examine first-hand each and every little injury her son had sustained.

"Ma-I'm-fine-really-it's-not-so-bad," he again tried to reassure, but this time she wasn't letting him off the hook so easily.

"You-say-that-but-have-you-seen-that-clip-the-news-is-showing-of-you-getting-hurt-I-thought-you'd-been-killed-at-first-until-they-said-otherwise-but-I-was-absolutely-terrified-your-father-too-so-we-immediately-came-over-and-I'm-glad-we-did-seeing-as-they-didn't-take-you-to-a-hospital-or-anything," she ranted, quickly switching from sounding fearful to irritated as she poked around her son's bandaged head.

"Well-if-it-had-been-worse-they-would-have-but-we-have-an-infirmary-set-up-in-a-sublevel-of-the-lab-and-we-all-have-some-medical-knowledge-some-more-than-others," Rev explained, purposely leaving out the fact that Tech knew more than anyone else by far.

"No-it's-not-okay-son!" Ralph suddenly cut in, looking as livid as he sounded. "You-are-constantly-put-at-risk-and-getting-hurt-and-they-won't-even-take-you-to-a-decent-hospital-let-alone-give-you-a-paycheck-and-that-is-one-of-the-largest-cases-of-injustice-I've-ever-heard-of!"

"But-it's-really-not-Pa," Rev began, trying to hide his hurt at the sudden repeat of their conversation before the Robo-Amigo incident. He had thought, hoped that Pa had gotten over it, moved on, but it appeared as though that wasn't the case, and the thought that he was disappointing his parents didn't sit right with the speedster at all. "We're-here-to-keep-everything-safe-for-everyone-it's-a-job-meant-for-the-greater-good-and-it-makes-me-happy-and-it-makes-others-happy-and-while-we-aren't-officially-paid-we-get-reimbursed-in-lots-of-ways-that-make-it-more-than-worth-it."

"But-it's-not-fine!" Ralph continued, practically ignoring everything his son said. Rev had seldom seen his usually calm and amiable father so worked up, and whenever he did, Ma was usually the one to calm him down. At that point, though, Harriet wasn't making any move to curb her husband, didn't even seem bothered by what was going on, and Rev wasn't feeling brave enough to make his own attempt, so Pa carried on unchecked. "Rev-son-I-love-you-but-you-need-to-realize-that-this-job-isn't-doing-anything-for-you-except-putting-you-in-constant-danger-and-I'm-dissapointed-that-you-still-can't-see-that."

Rev, now started to get mildly distressed, looked to his mother for help. A sudden shift happened that Rev missed in his distress; Pa, previously livid, calmed almost instantaneously at Rev's shift in attention and became calm, almost indifferent save for the determined look he still bore. Ma, on the other hand, looked between her son and her husband for a moment, slightly conflicted before steeling herself. It was then Rev realized that she hadn't been looking for what to say, who to side with, but how to say it. Their minds had been made up.

"Rev-honey," Harriet began, trying to sound sincere though concern quickly won over, "while-I-do-respect-how-much-you-love-what-you-do-and-how-good-it-is-and-all-it's-never-sat-right-with-me-try-looking-at-it-from-my-perspective-having-my-son-run-off-willy-nilly-into-the-face-of-danger-doesn't-sit-right-with-me-and-I-honestly-can't-say-I-approve."

Now Rev really was distressed, the emotion plain on his face as he forcibly escaped his mother's hold and backed up a bit, facing his parents, one concerned and the other quickly shifting back to stern. "Where-did-all-this-come-from-what-are-you-getting-at?"

The two elder Runners faced each other for a moment before resolvedly turning back to their son.

xoxoxoxox

"Are you sure you want to leave so soon? You practically just got here, after all," Lexi said, trying to be the culturally required voice of hospitality. In reality, most of the Loonatics would agree with Duck on the matter; the Runner parents were definitely…different, and having three speed-talkers in the room at one time was a little much to handle. They (apart from Duck and perhaps Tech,) didn't mind having them over every once in a while, but no one would complain when they left.

"Oh-no-that's-okay-dear-we-really-just-wanted-to-check-up-on-Rev," Harriet replied cheerfully, waving off Lexi's concern as she and her husband waited for the elevator.

"Speakin' of which, where is Rev?" Ace asked, only just noticing that the red roadrunner was absent. The elder Runners had zipped in and announced their impending departure so quickly, no one had had the chance to notice their missing team member.

"He's-still-probably-thinking-about-what-we-had-to-speak-to-him-about-and-we-already-said-goodbye-to-him-so-there's-no-reason-to-go-track-him-down," Ralf said dismissively. The Loonatics waited for an explanation as to what Rev was reportedly thinking about, but resolved to ask their friend themselves when no details were forthcoming.

The elevator arrived not long later, polite goodbyes were exchanged, and the Runners loaded on as the gathered Loonatics started to get back to what they were doing, only to stop and watch in wonder as a blue blur came in from the direction of the lab.

"Bye guys!" Rip shouted quickly, shifting to slide into the closing door of the elevator without an inch to spare.

Tech and Sive followed, much slower, stopping once they saw that the youngest of the Runner family had made it. "I know he's a Runner and all, but…wow," Tech commented, giving voice to what everyone was thinking. "I had no idea he could move that fast."

"Hey, where's Rev?" Sive asked, looking around the room for the other roadrunner. Both she and Tech wanted to have long conversations with him about varying topics, and she had been hoping to have her questions answered sooner rather than later.

"I was just about ta go lookin' for him," Ace replied, already heading for the door the three Runners had exited through earlier for privacy. However, Rev beat him to it, opening the door and slowly walking in.

All activity in the room stopped at the sight of their usually lively and cheerful teammate. Shoulders slumped, haunted expression, and walking slowly by normal standards, Rev looked as though he'd been through hell and back only to be told he'd have to do it all over again. Even his voice was slowed as he didn't wait for the question, going right to the answer.

"I talked to Ma and Pa and…" he began, before pausing as though he was having trouble finding words. In reality, he just didn't want to say it; it would only make it more real.

"They…they want me to quit the team."

A/N: Didn't see that coming, did you? XD A lot is going to tie into this, but nothing will be given away until later on. (Unlike previous stories, I will be giving out hints and such to what's going to happen here and there, but you have to be paying attention to see them! Foreshadowing, anyone?)

And on a side note, as to the un-severity of Rev's injuries from the previous chapter, think about it from a hypothetical perspective. If you're in a car and drive up a hill without hitting the gas, you'll slow down. Now imagine doing the same thing at a 90 degree angle. You rapidly slow, meaning that the impact wouldn't have been that bad seeing as he would have slowed down a lot at that point.

Now that the physics lesson is over… R&R!