A/N: Thanks to TacticianLyra for the review!

Enjoy!

Alarms went off, making everyone jump as bright red lights blared throughout the rooms and halls.

"Wh-what's going on?!" Bren exclaimed as soldiers started running out of the cafeteria in a dizzying wave. Chase let out a gasp.

"Don't you read the manuals, Glasses? It's an alarm about a breach in the ship!" Dax shouted as they all got to their feet.

"And you read them?" Bren said, raising a brow, "Who would even attack a S.T.O.R.M. ship?"

He and Jinja all exchanged looks before realization dawned on them. They all looked to Chase, who's face had gone pale. Before any of them could react, he was bolting down the hall back to his parents' flat.

"W-wait a sec Chase!" Jinja exclaimed after him. Soldiers were now running all over the place, shouting things that almost made no sense in the blur of the moment. Bren could see Chase's jacket as he practically soared through the halls. It was only when they got closer to his place did they all realize the soldiers were going towards there as well.

Another alarm went off. This one much different.

"What's going on now?" Bren asked as they all came to a halt.

"…It's a prision break!" Jinja said, looking around, "Someone's probably escaped."

"So what do we do?" Bren asked. It wasn't like they were like the rest of the S.T.O.R.M. soldiers. They didn't really have any authority here on the ship, only in the field. Chase didn't hesitate, and started to run back to his apartment again. Bren took a step to follow him when Jinja gasped again.

"Hold on. I'm going to go find Beyal," she said, turning to go in the other direction.

"W-wait! Jinja! Doesn't it make sense we all-" Bren started, but was soon left as she took off as well, leaving him and Dax standing in the hall. Dax let out a sigh.

"C'mon, Glasses. Let's go help out Chase. Knowing the type of trouble that could've happened, his parents were probably in the middle of it."

The two of them quickly caught up with their leader as he charged through the crowds. Bren could hear the soldiers shouting about how they saw something outside, but that could've been anything. There was a chance that it was monsuno attacking, but the only people out there that had monsuno still were the Forge Resistance and a few of the mercenaries that used Eklipse cores, who were all definitely avoiding S.T.O.R.M. at this point. They rounded the corner, and Bren let out a gasp as smoke crept from the doorway into the hall.

"Mom! Dad!" Chase shouted as they ran over. Soldiers continued to move in and out frantically, ignoring the three of them for the most part. Chase pushed his way inside, as did the other two

It was completely ruined. The roof practically gone, and everything either scorched or vaporized. Bren did a quick look around from where they stood, seeing how it looked as if a monsuno had attacked. He glanced quickly over to Chase to see his face was still pale with worry. A few soldiers made their way in and out, now taking some of the destroyed furniture out as they did.

"Mom! Dad!" Chase exclaimed, running over to where the two of them stood. Bren stepped through the bustling crowds just as Chase reached his parents, immediately embracing them.

"W-what happened?" the raven-haired teen asked. Both his parents looked fine, though a bit shaken up. Jon Ace was also there, signaling some of the soldiers every few seconds. Sophia and Jeredy exchanged looks, as if debating what to say.

"It seems there was an attack to try and obtain your father's research," Jon said after a moment, "It's hard to say what they took exactly, but we'll be able to tell soon enough."

Chase narrowed his eyes a bit, "Who's 'they'?"

Jon turned to Chase's parents, who were still quiet. Jeredy let out a sigh.

"It was this group of… Well…" He scratched the back of his neck, "Your mother said they're part of the Hand of Destiny, but they said they weren't anymore so-"

"Was it that kid again? Or this guy with brown hair?" Chase asks quickly. Sophia had a look of surprise when he said this. Jon looked to Jeredy, who still seemed hesitant towards saying anything. Bren felt a tap on his shoulder, and saw it was Dax.

"Oi. Who's he talking about, Glasses?" he asked quietly. Bren blinked dumbly. Throughout the night they had yet to say anything to Dax or Beyal about the boy they saw earlier, even when they were in Trey's office.

"Earlier on the mission, there was this kid who was trying to steal the monsuno energy from the warehouse we had to go to," Bren whispered, and then frowned immediately, "Actually, he did steal. But that's not what's important right now. He was one of those guys from the Hand of Destiny."

"But I thought we beat Droog and the rest of them a few weeks ago," Dax said with a frown. Bren shook his head.

"No, not them. The ones who were in those ruins," he said, making vague motions with his hands, "You know. With the original monsuno and how they had weird monsuno powers that I was telling you guys about."

Dax scratched his cheek, "Oh yeah. Forgot about them."

The two turned back to Chase and the rest of them who were still talking.

"-We'll go after them right now! I doubt they got that far," Chase said, turning to Jon, "We can go as soon as-"

"Chase. No," Sophia said firmly, "They're gone. And going after them isn't wise. Especially at night like this where they could easily launch a sneak attack."

"B-but mom, they don't have any monsuno! And it's not like I'll be completely harmless with Locke around!"

One of the soldiers marched up to Jon, giving a silent salute.

"Sir. It's just been confirmed that two of the prisoners have escaped," they said, "It appears to have been Professor Klipse and Six."

Everyone went quiet. The soldier gave another salute, and walked away. They had enough problems as is, but now Klipse was out too? Bren couldn't help but inwardly groan at the timing of everything. Chase and Dax both exchanged looks, and Sophia just looked away. Jon, however, was watching Jeredy, who had grown silent and was now looking intensely down at the core in his hand.

"… What is it Jeredy?" Jon asked. The scientist stared down at Driftblade's core in his palm. He finally shook his head.

"… No. It's nothing right now," he said, then looked up, "We have to go after them Jon, and not just those three that attacked. If Klipse really escaped, then there's the possibility of them meeting up with Tallis again and starting something."

"I wouldn't be so sure doctor."

They all turned to the door to see Trey walking in. Or rather, trying to walk with Sebastian clinging to his leg.

"The lead of Axistown was right. He was there," Trey said, finally getting tired and picking Sebastian up, "Not sure why he was there. But we caught him and one of the Punk Monks-"

"Hey uncle! Can we go get ice cream now? Are there going to be french fries? Where are we? Why's it so gross now?" Sebastian continued to babble. Jeredy and Sophia exchanged looks as Trey gave an exhaustive sigh.

"Sebastian, was it?" Sophia asked with a smile, going over to them. He stopped talking with a frown and nodded.

"How about we go to the cafeteria? I'm sure they'll have something there," she said. The boy looked to Trey, who nodded. He put Sebastian down, who was now suddenly very quiet as he took Sophia's hand.

"W-wait! Mom-" Chase started, but stopped when he saw her give him a reassuring look.

"We'll be right back. I promise," she said, then walked out with the boy in tow. Chase watched them as they disappeared around the corner. Bren could tell that he didn't like the idea of her wandering around without any protection, especially now that S.T.O.R.M. had been breached.

Jon cleared his throat, "Anyway. Where was Tallis taken? Or have they arrived yet?"

"The ship with him and the other captive is on it's way. Good timing considering they could've easily gotten away in all this chaos," Trey said, glancing around the room, "I'll tell them to stay airborne until we give them the all clear."

The commandant nodded, and Trey turned on his heel and left the room. It got quiet besides the soldiers now trying to quickly patch up the room.

"… Jon, please," Chase started again, "I know that we have bigger problems at the moment, but can you let us go out, even just for a few minutes?"

The two stared at each other, though Chase's eyes seemed to waver against the man's hardened gaze.

"… No," Jon said, turning away to one of the soldiers, "Help Dr. Suno get his research over to the labs below. It'll have to do for now. And be sure to go find Mrs. Suno and tell her to go down to the other apartment where the rest of Team Core Tech is staying. The three of them will have to stay there until we get this mess cleaned up."

Before Chase could start to argue again, the Commandant turned and left the room. It grew awkwardly silent, and Dax tapped on Bren's shoulder again, motioning for the two of them to leave.

At first, Bren glared a bit, thinking that it would be terrible to leave his best friend in the middle of this. But when turned to the other, he could see that there was this look in Chase's eye that was unsettling. Bren hesitated as Chase glanced wistfully around the room, but knew he had to get Chase's mind off this or he'd do something rash (something he was known for).

"Hey, Chase," he said, "Let's go down to the other flat for now. We can clean this up in the morning."

The raven-haired teen looked around, then finally back to the other two.

"Nah. I think I'm going to stay and help out my dad," he said, a faint smile on his lips. Bren felt his heart twinge a little for the other. Growing up with a bunch of older siblings made one a bit thankful for moments of alone time, Bren could say that from experience. But Chase never got to experience anything with his family, even some of the moments that left Bren cringing. And to finally have peace just for it to come crashing down like this must've been shocking.

Bren sighed, then went ahead and followed Dax out the door.

HLP

It didn't take long for Jinja to find the monk boy. On the contrary, she nearly ran into him as he stared a bit blankly out one of the hall windows.

"Ah! Beyal I-um... What're you doing?" she asked, coming to a halt. He blinked turning to her.

"Oh. Just thinking," he said, gaze falling for a moment before he glanced around, "Is there something wrong?"

She raised a brow, "Um… Haven't you heard the alarms going off? Someone attacked S.T.O.R.M. just now."

He blinked slowly again. Did he just wake up or something? Jinja shrugged to herself, it was probably nothing.

"Well… Anyway," she said, "Let's go find the others, something might've happened to Chase's family."

Beyal's eyes widened a bit, but he didn't say anything as they walked down the hall. Jinja felt the urge to run throughout all the chaos still going on, but the other teen didn't seem to worried at the moment, going at a casual pace. She would've found it reassuring if it weren't for the fact that soldiers kept bumping into them every few seconds.

About halfway back to Chase's apartment, Jinja looked over and saw Beyal suddenly stop in his tracks. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but could see there was a faraway look in his eye that usually came when he got a vision.

"… Beyal? What is it?" she asked. He didn't seem to hear her, and stared down at the ground for a moment.

"I… Keep seeing flashes of… something," he said vaguely, putting a hand to his head, "I'm not sure what it means…"

Jinja put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Even though she also had monsuno sight, she still didn't understand what any of it meant. Sure she knew theoretically what it was, but actually trying to use it was a whole different story (so in some ways, this was the only thing that Chase was better at then her). Still, it'd be nice to understand so she could at least offer some sort of comfort to the monk, even Chase to some extent.

"Maybe you should tell Chase," she said, moving a little out of the way as a few soldiers ran by. The alarms turned off, which meant whatever was going on was now being handled.

"No… I think I'll just… Go lie down," he replied faintly, then turned around to go back to the apartment they all stayed at. Jinja stood there for a moment, split between going with the monk or going to see if Chase and his family were alright. She decided to go with Beyal, and shook her head for a moment before following. Nothing had blown up in the past few minutes, which meant things were probably alright on Chase's side.

He didn't seem to notice her as they walked along. Whatever was distracting him at dinner was probably on his mind. She wanted to ask, but sometimes it was better to just let him be. They got back after a few minutes, the place pretty empty. There was a good chance that everyone else that stayed here was either out and about or out in the field. Beyal didn't hesitate to head straight for his room.

She took a few steps towards him, but stopped when someone almost bumped into her. She blinked, realizing it was Tango.

"Oh. Sorry," the other girl said, taking a side step. Jinja blinked, and glanced to where she came from. She let out a small laugh.

"Wait. Why were you in Bren's room?" Jinja asked, a little bemused. Tango's cheek grew red.

"I-I… It doesn't concern you," she huffed, then quickly walked off. The red-haired girl quickly glanced inside just as the door closed, spotting a few white blossoms sitting on Bren's desk. She chuckled to herself, and had to admit that Bren's ability to woo the other girl was impressive. Especially considering how clammy he got at the mere mention of the black-haired girl. But for Tango to actually go out of her way to do something for Bren was a bit outstanding, if a little scary as well.

Jinja looked up, but saw that Beyal had already left. Seeing that there was no point in hovering over him, she decided to go down to the main area. She spotted Alpha sitting on one of the couches. After a moment, she walked right over and sat down with a sigh.

"… What's up?" he said casually. It was then that Jinja noticed that he was looking down at one of his cores rather intensely.

"Um… Nothing much," she said, then shook her head, "actually, could I ask you something?"

Alpha shrugged, which probably meant a yes.

"Could you… Keep an eye on Chase?" she asked, "well… Watch him more then you usually do."

"I-I don't watch him!" Alpha said, turning as red as Tango did a few moments ago. Jinja rolled her eyes.

"Yeah sure," she sighed, then gave him a serious look, "But… I just want to make sure that he doesn't do anything to reckless. I have... a bad feeling right now… That alarm earlier made him think it had to do with his parents. I don't think anythings wrong right now. But..."

He turned with a quirked brow. They stared at each other, and it seemed like he understood where she was coming from. And it was true that there was something eating at her ever since the alarm sounded. At first she thought it was nothing, but with Chase and Beyal acting up, it could easily be something dealing with monsuno.

Alpha let out a sigh, "Fine. But you owe me."

HLP

"I think this is the last of them," Jeredy said, stacking one of the boxes full of papers and cores into one of the S.T.O.R.M. labs. Chase glanced around. They didn't really have a lot of stuff left from the attack, but it was hard to tell most of the time with his dad's research sprawled around the living room on some of the bad days. For all they knew, nothing was taken at all (not that Chase believed that).

"You sure? Cause we can always go back and look before S.T.O.R.M. starts throwing things away," Chase said. Jeredy shook his head.

"Nah. I told them to bring anything that looked important down here. I'm sure they can figure things out with Jon up there with them," he sighed. Chase watched him for a minute, debating whether to say something. Now was as good a time as any.

"Hey Dad," he started, "Why was that energy so important? You know, the stuff we had to get today?"

His father turned around, "Well… The properties for one are a bit more unstable then the stuff I've handled so far. It's much like the monsuno essence that was found on that rock piece that me, Jon, and Klipse studied a long time ago."

A while back, Chase and his friends, along with Jon Ace, had to go after a meteor piece that was infused with monsuno essence. However, the reaction it had caused massive destruction to the facility it was in, and even transformed Jon Ace into a monsuno hybrid for a while. It was surprising to know that there was still monsuno essence out there that was still active like that.

"It… It can't possibly react in the way that it did before, right?" Chase asked. There was some hesitance from his father, but he nodded in the end.

"The chance of there being something similar to what happened to Jon is unlikely. Besides, the data on the shadow effect was lost when the facility was destroyed, and when Klipse's own floating base was taken down by you and Locke," he said, "I don't think we have to much to worry about."

There was still something wrong, but Chase couldn't place it. Instead he just nodded. He looked at the time, and saw that it had gotten rather late. Chances were, his mother was now back at the apartment that everyone else was staying at. At least he had that to look forward to. He walked towards the door.

"… Hold on for a moment," Jeredy said, "Could I see Locke for a sec?"

Chase turned back around, and nodded. He handed over the core, watching as Jeredy examined up close the small core.

"Has… Was there ever a reaction from Locke that was… Different?" he asked. Chase turned around with a raised brow.

"What do you mean? Like he was acting funny?"

"Not quite," his father said, "More like the core. Was there a moment when you could sense more then just Locke's presence? Like what he was thinking? Or if anyone else made that type of reaction before?"

The teen folded his arms in thought. Of course there were tons of times he could hear Locke, and a lot more now that he was understanding how monsuno sight worked. But something told him that wasn't what his father meant. The only other time there was a strong reaction with Locke was when he was trying to be ordered by Six.

But nothing every happened after that, so why would his father ask?

"There was this one time with Six, but he hasn't tried anything like it since," Chase said honestly, "Why? Do you think somethings wrong with Locke?"

Jeredy had a serious look on his face as he stared down at the core. He passed it back, but continued to look down at his desk.

"… Dad?" Chase asked. His reaction certainly didn't seem reassuring, but there had to be a reason behind it. Was his father… Keeping something from him?

"… It's nothing," Jeredy sighed, then looked up, "I'll figure it out later. In the mean time, why don't you go and try to get some sleep. If your really going after the Hand of Destiny tomorrow, you might as well gets some rest."

Chase watched as his father turned to look back at the core and files on his desk, and let out a sigh. There was truth to his words, seeing that staying up all night worrying wouldn't do anything for them now. He walked to the door, letting his gaze linger on his father as the door shut, the scientist now engulfed in research.

With a sigh, Chase shoved his hands into his pockets and started to head for the flat they were staying in for the moment. It was quiet when he got there, which must've meant that everyone else had probably gone to sleep. He let out a tired yawn as he shuffled over to his room, but stopped when he heard a soft voice coming from his parent's room.

Curious, he peered a little inside to see his mom and, shockingly, Sebastian of all people. He stayed quiet as Sophia continued to talk.

"-and then he beat it down with his own fists. And that's how Trey was able to save that port town from monsuno," Sophia said. Sebastian pouted.

"I really doubt that. My uncle is really lame," he said, crossing his arms, "he got beat by Chase of all people. But I guess Chase is really cool so it was expected."

Sophia let out chuckle, "Now, now. You'd be surprised by the type of action your uncle as seen. Even Jeredy was quite the fighter back in the day-"

"You mean before the wrinkles?"

"Yes. Before the wrinkles," Sophia said with a smile. Sebastian let out a yawn, wiping his eyes as well.

"I think it's time you go back to your uncle," she said, then stood up, "C'mon. He's just around the corner in the other apartment."

The boy hopped up from his seat and took Sophia's hand, something that genuinely surprised Chase. He quickly hid inside his own room, watching as the two walked out and into the hallway, now heading for Trey's place.

Some of the first times he ever spoke to just his mom were actually very quiet moments. He wasn't sure what to say or ask, seeing that he always thought she was dead. If anything, he just ended up talking about his own adventures with monsuno for the past year or so. It was only after a few weeks did she start telling the stories about his father and before monsuno started to take over their lives.

"I wonder…" he muttered to himself, "If… We could've been like that if it weren't for the hand."

His eyes lingered where he saw the two leave, and gripped the door. It didn't matter, the past was behind them. He had to focus on what was going on right now. And the way he saw it, the Hand was still out there, and they tried to get to her and his father.

He turned and quickly started rummaging through the things in the room, not bothering to be quiet. Even though he knew it'd be going against regulations, and he'd probably get into a lot of trouble for doing it, but he had to look for them now. The longer they were out there, the longer they were plotting. And even if he wasn't going after them, Klipse had gotten out, which meant even more trouble.

He piled a few of the spare objects in the room that he could use for a long trip. Most of his personal stuff was probably still in the other apartment, though he wasn't sure if his or his parents' rooms were actually damaged.

"… I wonder if I should go get another core…" he said to himself, glancing around.

"Why would you?"

He jumped at the voice in his doorway, and quickly turned to see Alpha leaning in the doorway. Chase hesitated to answer, knowing Alpha would probably report him.

"Oh. Umm… Just a little midnight training," he shrugged, hiding his half filled bag behind him, "why are you even in here? Shouldn't you be ironing Trey's coats or something?"

Alpha's eye twitched, and his frown deepened. He let out a sigh.

"Listen Suno. I already heard about the whole situation with you and your family-"

"No you didn't," Chase cut him off, "And why would you even care? My problems don't concern you."

Chase turned back to start looking around the room for something else he'd need. Alpha took a step forward, putting a hand on the other's shoulder.

"Things matter when they affect your team, Suno," he said, "And if your to be my rival, I don't want to have to drag you of all people out of trouble."

Chase turned back around, staring intently at the red-haired teen. It was almost as if Alpha was trying to challenge him without saying anything. He could just hear it in the tone that he spoke in. Alpha removed his hand.

"You wouldn't understand," Chase said, heading bowing a little, "This is… I finally got back something that I've been missing for so long. I can't… I'm not going to just sit around waiting for the next attack. Not when I can do something about it!"

He looked back up with a determined look, "And I don't care what trouble I'll get into later. Right now is what matters."

Alpha chuckled, surprisingly, "Well then. How about a deal? You and me, on the roof. If you beat me, I won't say anything. But if I win, you have to go tell Commandant Ace yourself."

Chase raised a brow. He was actually offering a deal? Instead of just outright reporting? He could just run now and hope for the best. But if Alpha was helping him from the inside, maybe he could get a lot farther then on his own. This could also just be Alpha's way of challenging him again, but whatever. He could use a monsuno fight at the moment anyway.

"Alright. Lead the way."

A/N: Review Review Review!