Hello, everyone! Sorry for the wait; I had a school assignment that I had to work on the whole weekend, but at least now I have a break. Anyways, new chapter, as always.

When Kate, Garth, and Lilly all left the chamber with the Star-Humphrey, many of the adult wolves started to put him inside what looked like a large glass case on a steel block. Winston put up the last wall of glass on the case, screwing it on with an electric screwdriver. Immediately after all the glass was in place, Kate saw Humphrey close his eyes, but only for a split-second, because the glass became opaque with a white glow.

"So," William began, "all this time, my son…was a Starsoul."

"Yes." Winston replied, "We found it out on the night he visited."

Alice folded her hands and looked at the ground, "I just don't understand why this happened…"

Winston placed a hand on her shoulder, "I've been researching all this…trust me, Humphrey's gonna be just fine." And then, he walked away without another word.

Kate went after him, "Dad…" she said as she approached.

Winston looked over at her, "So…have you figured it out yet, Kate?"

Kate's eyes darted back and forth, "Well…uh…Humphrey's…mmm…"

"He's been chosen…" Winston responded, "…like few Starsouls before him."

Kate tilted her head, "Whaddya mean?"

Winston cleared his throat, "When it senses a threat or danger, the Crystal will give it's energy to a wolf, one of the Starsoul heritage, for it to reach it's potential power. It will not do so with any random wolf."

"Wait," said Kate, "your saying that the Star of Earth is alive?"

Winston nodded, "Yes…and no. The Crystal's energy is fueled by the consciousness of wolf souls; as a result, it generates power used to protect living beings." He took the book in Kate's hand and opened to an illustrated page, "Over time, it grew…and became conscious from excess energy. The Atlanteans had tried to use it as a weapon, but it's power not only affected their enemies, but them too. The power overwhelmed them…and destroyed the island."

Kate's eyes widened, "So that's why it was sent here; to keep it hidden from other civilizations that the Atlanteans were aware of…but they didn't know about North America."

Winston nodded, "Yes…and they hoped nobody would misuse it's power. Or to have anybody harness it's power…much like Humphrey's doing now."

Kate closed the book in Winston's hand, "But dad…what's gonna happen with Humphrey?"

Winston sighed and closed his eyes, "If he is infused with the Crystal's energy for too long, then he'll merge with the Crystal itself…forever."

Kate looked worried, "How would that happen?"

"Well," Winston slowly started, "he would turn into a glowing silver cloud, and move straight towards the Crystal, passing through anything in his way." He looked back at the glass cage, "We're keeping him behind one inch of bulletproof glass for his security, but he has to…act…soon."

Kate knew what her father meant, but how they could get him back into the cave, or bring the now useless Star of Earth out, she didn't know. Her heart ached at the thought of the Star taking Humphrey out of her life. He had always been a good, fun-loving, adventurous friend of hers, and she didn't want all that to suddenly leave her.

Garth, meanwhile, had gone back to his neighborhood. He was still very angry about Kate rejecting him. He figured he should try to get back at her. BIG time, too. He happened to know a good computer-hacking expert on his block. He was a disabled millionaire retiree who always spent his life in his house, and only went outside for mail. But he was well-associated with Garth.

Garth took a walk down to his place and rang the doorbell. When the door opened, he saw the old wolf in an electric wheelchair, "Oh, hello Burton."

Garth smiled, "Hey, Mr. Tuco. Can you do me a favor?"

Tuco shrugged, "Yeah, what is it?"

"I need you to help create something that will be catastrophic on Jasper. And I mean Armageddon-grade catastrophic. Able to?" Garth asked.

Tuco nodded, "Sure, no problem. But, what for?"

Garth glanced around, "I've been treated like garbage, and I want the ones responsible to suffer."

Tuco nodded again, "Alright, I'll think of something."

Garth thanked him and went on his way. Behind the locked doors of Tuco's house, the elderly wolf was busy silently hacking his way into a military LEO satellite armed with a state-of-the-art laser cannon. With his years of experience, he could hack into any mainframe or network with relative ease, completely undetected. Once he got control of the turret, he noticed that a small asteroid was slingshotting it's way around the planet.

Tuco figured he could change the trajectory; after doing a bunch of complicated math, he aligned the crosshairs at the desire point, waited for the precise moment, and discharged a single laser blast. The space rock split into two, one half went away from the Earth, but the other started to orbit at a much faster speed, gradually getting closer as time passed…

Uh-oh. This doesn't look good; a professional hacker has changed the path of an asteroid…Humphrey could be lost to the Crystal…such a big situation, and yet, they aren't aware of the whole thing! I know this chapter was a little short, but I couldn't think of a lot. The story should get better soon, though. Keep holding on…