Sorry about the wait for this one but it's a long chapter so I guess it's worth it.

I couldn't believe I was doing this. Mom and dad were in the lab and I was contemplating paying Doyle a visit. Fisk was practically begging me not to and komodo… well I wasn't sure where komodo had snuck off to. Fisk was fussing over nothing I was sure.

"Come on Fisk I'll be fine! It's past noon, I'm sure Doyle could use some company," I assured. Fisk wasn't so convinced "It'll be just like I'm checking on him. Yeah, that's it. I'll be doing them a favour, Doyle could have tried to break out or something, who knows?" I took Fisk by the hand and led him away with me down the corridor towards the house prison ward. There weren't many lights in this part of the house, so when I turned them on we still couldn't see all that much. I was quite surprised that they'd shut him alone down here in the dark. I went down to the end of the corridor and walked out onto the platform of jail cells. Fisk refused to follow me but I went on ahead. All of the cell doors were wide open, except one at the end of the row. I swallowed nervously and tip toed over to it. I knocked on the bars and something stirred from one of the corners. It was so dark in there I could barely see anything but I already knew he was in there. I saw his eyes first and then a silhouette of a figure. He didn't move from his spot in the corner and when he spoke, he sounded in quite a state.

"Drew?" He asked. He must've been pretty messed up if he couldn't tell the difference between me and mom.

"No Doyle. It's me, Zak," I corrected him.

"Zak … What are you doing here?"

"I want to talk to you about the relic," I said as calmly as possible but I could feel my hands shaking.

"What do ya want to know?"

"I want to know how you got the relic back."

"I had a feeling you were gonna ask that," he dreaded "well, I went back and found it after Fisk put it in the waste chute. I then got some of your mom's Kur books and tried to fix the damned thing. Next thing I knew I was growing scales in places I didn't even know I had."

"Nasty," I cringed "Do you think it'll get any worse?"

He didn't answer me for about a minute and I had thought that he'd changed again. "Can you do me a favour Miniman?" he asked.

"Sure Doyle, what is it?"

"I need you to get me an aspirin or something, I'm not feeling too good," he sounded pretty worried.

"What do you mean?" I asked. He walked a little bit closer to me and then stopped. After that he began to undo the top part of his shirt revealing part of a larger design on his chest along with a wreath of new scales around his collar bones. It looked like someone had gotten a wall paintbrush and had swiped it across him because of the way it was seeping into his skin. It made my skin crawl. "Does it hurt?" I asked. He nodded and bit his lip. "I don't think pain medication is gonna help with that Doyle," I said. He smiled sadly.

"I know but what else can I do to stop it?" He asked.

"Do you want me to get mom for you?"

"I don't think so Miniman, I think she has a death wish on me now," He replied.

"She has every right to be angry with you okay? Just apologise to her and tell her how you feel, that always worked for me when I was grounded," I told him. He looked doubtful.

"I'm turning into a monster, it's not like I broke the TV or something Zak," He said, rolling his eyes.

"I know Doyle, but-," He cut me off.

"No, you shouldn't even be down here. I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen," He responded.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked him.

"Go and warn your parents, tell them to upgrade the security."

"Why?"

"Because the serpent lady has started trying to get at me again, I'm not sure how long I can ignore her for," I was shocked.

"What is she telling you?"

"It's not you this time, you're not the target." Who did he mean then? Who else could she have told him to go after?

He took a deep breath. "It's Fisk." I was stunned.

"It must be the kur guardian thing, she knows Fiskerton can help us find Kur," I realised.

"I'm sorry Zak," he sighed, running a clawed hand through his now onyx black hair. "I need you to go now okay? I need to concentrate on fighting this thing."

I smiled at him and gave him a wave. "Sure thing Uncle Doyle, I'll make sure to warn mom and also good luck!" He smiled back but didn't make any other movements. I jogged back down the corridor and towards the lab where I assumed my parents were working. When I entered I found that they weren't in there but I did spot something else in the corner of my eye. It was the relic. They had put it in a padlocked glass cabinet yet it was still glowing brightly. I walked over and peered in. It felt really unnatural and eerie. I then began to hear shouting from the other side of the room and I stepped away from the cabinet. Mom and dad came into the room.

"Zak! Where are y- … oh there you are kiddo!" Mom said, coming up to me and giving me a hug.

"Hey mom I have something to tell you!" I said, looking up at her.

"What is it honey?"

"Doyle told me to tell you that-," Dad cut me off.

"Doyle?! Zak have you been talking to your uncle?" Dad asked, folding his arms. I grinned innocently.

"I was just checking on him," I said defensively, "he told me to tell you that he wanted the security to be upgraded in his cell," they both gave me confused looks. "He said that he can hear Rani Nagi talking to him again, she's telling him to go after Fisk this time," they both looked shocked now "he's changing again, he's got more of those marks on him now." Mom and Dad looked at each other.

Dad spoke first. "We'll have to find some stronger chains."

"No use," Mom cut in, "he'll just pull them out of the wall like last time."

"We could always use the shock collars," dad suggested. Both mom and I glared at him, "what?" He asked.

"Come on Doc, maybe something a little more humane?" Mom scolded. Dad frowned.

"I suggest we use the limb restraints instead."

"Drew, he'll just break out of them as soon as we leave him in them."

"Oh… do you have any other suggestions Mr science guy?" I hated it when they argued like this so I moved in between them and made myself known.

"Well why don't we just let him wander free and see how that works out!" I cried. They both looked at me. I had a point.

Normal POV:

Soon enough they had Doyle once again clad in chains and cuffs at the back of a cell. Handcuffs, foot weights, reinforced chains, you name it they had it.

"Is all this really necessary?" Doyle asked sarcastically. Drew rolled her eyes.

"Yes Doyle, it is," she commented, "none of us want to deal with a psycho cryptid hybrid in the middle of the night." Doyle suppressed a chuckle.

"I guess this is goodnight then sis," he said.

"Well I wouldn't use the word good to describe the situation but yeah, see you tomorrow," she still sounded pretty angry at him. She and Doyle shared a death glare before the Saturdays moved off down the corridor leaving Doyle alone in the dark…

Everyone settled down for dormancy that night with a clear mind that nothing else would go wrong. The only one who didn't succeed with that was Doyle. Up until around the midnight hours he kept a level of control on his mind and body but all being said and done, Doyle began to doubt that now. He was slightly frightened by the sickening creaks and cracks that were coming from his bones yet he felt only moderate pain from this. If it was describable, he decided he would compare it to harsh growing pains. The quote on quote 'burning' on his skin was worse, the marks felt like someone had put a red hot branding rod on him and pressed down. He couldn't move to as much as touch them because of how tightly he was bound. It only got worse from there. Every nerve in his body was taut and his muscles were twitching and clenching. He didn't even realise he was shaking until he noticed the clanking sounds of the chains that bound his hands in front of him. He let out a quiet whimper as the darkness began to assault his mind and she was right on time to arrive with it.

"My servant, this is the last time I will speak to you like this, this is the last chance I'm giving you to think with your human mind." Doyle's heart sank at her words.

"Why, what are you going to do to me?" He quivered.

"You may have noticed that you have begun to become more beastly, a lot more animal than man if you will. You are only a few changes away from total cryptid influence and I have decided that even though I hate to show mercy, the most humane thing to do is to put you out of your misery and drown your humanity."

Doyle's heart missed a beat and he tried to sound brave. "That doesn't matter! There's no way I'm getting out of here! My family won't die at your hands."

"I wouldn't be so sure. I can fill you with fierce desires all I want and I can give you the physical attributes to achieve it and once I have finished my work tonight, you will have the strength of five men."

"NO! I won't let you do this! I won't let you use me to get to them!"

"They are already dead, there is no hope for them." Her words sent him into a powerful rage in which he was nearly able to rip off his cuffs.

"You're wrong," he snarled, his eyes blazing with hatred. She laughed.

"You are confused as to who's side you are on Saturday, are you forgetting that you belong to me now?"

"I don't 'belong' to anyone."

"You aren't one of those humans anymore, you belong with us now, you are about to become part of a bigger empire as soon as I strip you of your humanity and useless emotions."

Doyle felt a sharp pain in his chest and collapsed. He felt a numbing sensation spread through his arms and legs. "You will be incapable of showing weakness, showing any signs of pain even if you are about to cease existing."

He nearly screamed as he just about tore at his own wrists to remove the chains. "You won't feel any human emotions, no love, no compassion, no empathy, only unbridled aggression and brutal loyalty."

His eyes widened in horror, "unfortunately you won't remember anything about your human life beforehand. You won't even have the illusion that the Saturdays are your family. You'll forget everything you ever were. Your family. Your identity. Even your own name…"

Zak's POV:

Fisk refused to sleep as soon as the clock hands had hit midnight. I had no idea why. He was just sat by my door, ears twitching as if he was listening out for something. Komodo was the same. He was lying across me protectively, hissing and growling at the quietist night sound.

"It's okay guys, really!" I told them, "nothing is going to happen." They didn't seem so sure. "Mom and dad made sure Doyle wouldn't get out this time," I comforted. I turned off the lamp and was about to snuggle into the duvet when…

CRASH!

Did I really hear that? I sat bolt upright in bed and turned on the light. Fisk and komodo were freaking out, shrieking and yowling. I grabbed the claw from my bedside and ventured over to the door. I grasped the latch and opened the door a crack. Nothing. I stepped out into the hall weapon first. Still nothing. The whole corridor was empty and untouched. I edged my way down a few doors and opened up the door to my parent's room. To my surprise they were both sat up in bed.

"You heard it too?" Dad asked. I nodded and they both got out of bed, mom putting on a dressing gown and unsheathing her fire sword.

"Do you think it's uncle Doyle?" I asked them.

"I hope not sweetie," Mom said, "but your father and I are going to check on him just in case."

"Can I come?" I asked. Mom shook her head.

"You might need to actually son. If Doyle really has broken out, we'll need to make sure he doesn't get to you," dad suggested. Mom looked annoyed but she had to agree.

"Let's go," she said, tossing the battle glove to dad. We moved out into the hall and Komodo and Fisk poked their heads out round my door.

"Rah?" Fisk asked, pointing to us.

"We're going to check on Doyle fisk, you stay up here, you'll be safe in my room," I told him. He saluted me and closed the door. I looked ahead to where mom and dad were already climbing the stairs and ran over to them. When we reached the room we were shocked to see that the door was mostly off its hinges but the inside devastation was worse. The cell door was dented inwards to a point that it had just crumpled and fell off. Mom's mouth hung open in shock and then it closed in fear as she brought her sword down.

"He could be anywhere, don't let your guard down," she said as we moved back into a circle.

"I don't get it. I thought he would be hunting us," dad said from behind. There was a scream from upstairs and we all span round. I didn't recognise the sound until a second cry rang out. I then realised what I had done. It wasn't me Doyle was after anymore, it was Fisk. I had just doomed my brother and I hadn't realised before it was too late.

"I'm coming Fisk!" I cried, running back to where I had left him. My parents seemed to catch on quickly and they followed me. I ran upstairs to see the two wrestling on the ground in pitch black darkness. I pointed the claw at Doyle and shouted at him "Get away from him!" Doyle stopped trying to strangle Fisk and locked eyes with me. I wasn't gonna lie, he looked hideous. I was horrified to see that in the short time since I had last seen him he had changed so much. He had a few more patches of scales and any bare skin was now a grey hue and I could have sworn he was at least a few inches taller than he was before. However, the most shocking feature was a long black lizard like tail that extended from his back, it swished and curled in time with his movement in an almost disturbing way. Mom placed a hand to her mouth and whispered his name in pity and awe. He didn't even flinch and after a few seconds went back to trying to claw Fisk who cried and bolted towards us. I could barely describe the calamity that followed. Doyle collided with dad (who was now shorter than him) and had him quickly pinned and would have smacked him upside the head had komodo not latched onto his tail and distracted him. Dad and Fisk held him against the floor as he roared in outrage.

"Hold him still! I want to try to talk to him!" Mom cried as she bent down in front of Doyle. She was about to reason with him when he smacked dad off him with his tail and grabbed mom by the wrist and pulled her down. She kicked him in the chest but he didn't seem to loosen his grip. She let out a sharp cry and instead swept him off his feet with a leg sweep. Dad grabbed him as he fell and punched him hard. He shook himself off and within seconds jumped up and latched onto Fisk's back. Fisk cried out a tried to slap away the claws that were jabbing at his back. I watched as Fisk body slammed him into the wall. It had no effect. I was so worried that someone was going to be injured at this point. That's when I noticed mom standing to my left with a reflex disruptor. As soon as she got a clear shot she fired directly at him. It knocked him down alright but after about 5 seconds he was back on his feet, circling Fisk like a vulture. Her jaw dropped. We were all shocked that he was now strong enough to be impervious to such weapons. I got in between he and Fisk and shot at him with the claw. He batted the hand of Tsul Kalu away and snarled at me, his fangs bared.

"Doyle! Can you hear me! It's Zak!" I shouted to him desperately. His expression didn't soften one bit. Mom then followed my example and began to talk at him. He was slightly confused, looking in all directions. "You can't do this Doyle! You can't listen to her! I know you wouldn't really hurt any of us!" There was a moment when I thought I saw something register in his eyes and I thought that he'd heard me but just as quickly his eyes glazed over with hatred and he went savage once again. I was lifted into the air with almost no effort by the neck and would have been thrown head first into a wall if mom and dad hadn't latched onto Doyle's arms in an effort to stop him. He dropped me and I fell to the ground, watching him bat away both mom and dad. Dad was able to dodge his swings but Doyle managed to catch the side of mom's face and send her stumbling back. I ran over to her whilst dad was blocking Doyle and helped her up. He hadn't drawn any blood but she looked very upset at the fact he had hit her.

I was angry with him now. "Okay Doyle, let's see if I can change your mind," I said, opening up the claw and sending a burst of energy hurling towards him. I connected with him with ease but struggled to stop him from kicking me out of his head. I couldn't find any of Doyle's thoughts in there but I shouldn't have been surprised to find the voice of Rani Nagi.

"Keep fighting them my soldier. Come on! Overpower those vermin!" So it was true. She was suing mind control on his. A burst of her dark matter sent me out of his mind and I drew back before Doyle could recover and strike me. I scuttled over to mom who was picking up her sword.

"Mom are you alright," I asked.

"I'm okay but I'm starting to see a major problem here," She stated, leaning on her sword slightly. "There's no way we can get him to stop until we break his connection to the Nagas control."

"That's it mom!" I cried. She had given me an idea.

"What is? Zak! Where are you going?!" She shouted as I turned and ran in the opposite direction.

"I know how to stop him mom!" I yelled back, not turning to look at her, "you and dad need to keep Doyle busy up here if it's gonna work!"

"Okay honey! We will!"

Now I just needed to dash down to the lab where I would find it. I reached the door and tried the handle. Locked. I busted the lock open with the claw. Oh well. They'd thank me for it later. I pushed the door open and ran inside. My eyes scanned the room for It and I immediately spotted the cabinet in which it was kept. I raced over and opened it up. At first I had to shield my eyes from the brightness of its glow but my eyes soon adjusted and I saw it clearly. The relic. It caused this mess so it could surely cure it right?" I guess I had to find out. I reached for it and then hesitated. What if it did the same thing to me that it did to Doyle? I thought about it and realised that it there wasn't any other way around that and I grabbed it. It looked like Doyle had done a good job of repairing it as it wasn't all that damaged. I turned on my heels and made a beeline for the door with the thing in my hands. I charged upstairs. The glow was getting brighter the closer I got. I sprinted inside and mom and dad straight away saw what I had in my hand. I got to Doyle before they could stop me and pointed the relic straight at him. The effects were instantaneous. Doyle's eyes lit up and he backed away.

"You don't like that do you Doyle?" I said sternly as he went down on his knees, gripping his head and yowling.

"Zak no!" Mom and dad both screamed. Fisk ran up to me and slapped it out of my hands. It rolled onto the floor a few feet away and a chunk fell off it. It seemed to have a slight pause on Doyle who's eyes widened and he seemed to stand there bewildered until he mentally shook himself.

"NO! Get them you fool, don't just stare there! Keep going!" I could hear her again now. Her voice seemed to be emanating from Doyle (or rather from around him as his mouth didn't open for speech). "Don't let the weakened connection cease your loyalty!" Oh it was definitely her. She was making him attack us. It was nothing to do with instincts. I knew what I needed to do to help him out. I briskly walked over to where the relic was.

I aimed…

"No Zak don't do it!" Mom cried.

I raised the claw above my head…

"We don't know what that'll do to him! Let alone you!" Dad yelled.

I brought it down onto the relic…

…Shards flew everywhere. Everyone including me shielded their eyes as a power surge roared through the room. After it cleared there was still shards of energy floating around but we could see clearly. The relic was completely in pieces and Doyle, well at least he wasn't trying to attack us. He was still a cryptid hybrid in appearance but we had no idea how he was going to act. He was laid on his back, groaning a little. Mom and Dad readied their weapons as he got onto his feet. He didn't attack us like we suspected. Not at all. He grumbled a little and leaned back, cracking his back. Then sighing in relief. We couldn't believe our eyes. He looked over at us pretty casually and opened his mouth to speak.

"Hey Drew did you remember to stock the fridge? Man I'm starved."

"Doyle!"