Disclaimer: Victorious belongs to Dan Schneider; "Road to Nowhere" belongs to the Talking Heads (and frankly, they can have it).

(And yes, I will resolve the cliffhanger from last chapter…but not until the next chapter. Heh heh heh…)

The compact car crawled through the darkened streets at fifteen kilometers an hour. Beck rarely spoke; his hands remained rigidly fixed to the wheel. In the seat beside him, Trina scanned the sidewalks for any signs of movement that might be caught in the glare of the headlights, silently praying to God to keep Tori and André safe back home. Jade, Cat, and Robbie were jammed tightly together in the back seat, which was doing their mood no favors whatsoever.

"So, Beck," said Robbie, "Remind me again why you couldn't have chosen, you know, a van? Or an SUV? Or a freaking double-decker bus? We've got our pick of every vehicle in London, and you jam us into a rolling sardine can!"

"More fuel-efficient," Beck replied, never taking his eyes from the road. "We've got no way to replace gas once we use it up, remember?"

"No worries, babe. I'm pretty sure we could power this car with just the strength of Robbie's B.O."

"Well, excuse me for living, Ms. Jade 'Hasn't Bathed Since the Summer Solstice' West!"

"You think I'm going to make like the rest of you and roll around in a koi pond, Shapiro? That's just one step above a hog wallow."

Cat put in meekly, "My brother fell into a hog wallow once…"

"Did the hogs eat him?" Jade asked.

"Um, no."

"Then I'm not interested."

"…Poo."

They were passing through one of the less engaging parts of the city. Dreary council estates hemmed them in on all sides, the monotony broken only by the occasional fast-food restaurant or vacant lot. Two hours had already gone by, and they had seen neither hide nor hair of Sinjin or Sikowitz.

Rex began to sing: "We're on a road to nowhere / Come on inside / Takin' that ride to nowhere / We'll take that ride…"

Jade tore the puppet from Robbie's arms and dashed it against the door handle, dislocating its jaw.

"HEY! What the HELL was that about?" Robbie cried. "Rex could SUE you for that, you know!"

"Okay, first? There are no more lawyers – or barristers, or solicitors, or whatever the hell they have over here. And second? It's a puppet."

"He's not-"

"YES! It IS a goddamn puppet! It's a lifeless piece of wood that you use as a mouthpiece because you're too messed up in the head to cope with the real world on your own!"

Robbie's lower lip trembled. He tried to form words, but nothing emerged from his mouth save for pitiful, incoherent squeaks.

Cat moved protectively toward him. "Don't be mean, Jade. If Robbie thinks Rex is real, then-"

"No. Robbie doesn't have the luxury of lying to himself anymore. It's time for him to grow up. Do you hear that, Shapiro?"

"Jade, calm down-"

Even Beck's influence wasn't enough to curb the tirade on which Jade was embarking. "It's time for all of us to grow up. This isn't a game, and we're not kids anymore. No one's going to bail us out if we get in trouble. We keep on screwing around like we have been, and we're going to get killed. Simple as that. Am I the only one who understands this? Tell me I'm not."

There was silence in the car. No one wanted to agree openly with Jade, but the basic truth of her words was painfully clear to them all.

As they rolled past a little strip mall consisting of a curry shop, a locksmith's, and a day-care center, the headlights abruptly shut off, plunging them into blackness; and scarcely half a second later, the engine sputtered and died.

"What the…?" Beck turned the key in the ignition. Nothing. He tried again, then a third time, with no better luck.

"Guess that's it for our search," muttered Jade.

"Well, we could break out the flashlights and try our luck on foot, but I don't think it would be terribly productive," Beck replied. "Probably better just to wait until morning."

"Um – maybe we should take a vote." Trina understood Beck's line of thinking, but she felt an instinctual revulsion to the idea of sitting in the car and doing nothing while Sikowitz could be in mortal danger. "All in favor of staying-"

Trina Vega, duck.

"DOWN!" she yelled, with such terrible urgency in her voice that they all reflexively obeyed.

An energy tendril whipped through the car at what had been their head-height, neatly shearing off the upper body and sending it crashing to the pavement. The chill night air flooded Trina's lungs.

"SCRAMBLE!" cried Beck. They leapt from the car and dived for cover.

Trina had never been more thankful for her martial arts training, for the first lesson her sensei had drilled into her was how to take a fall. Tucking her head in, she let her shoulder take the brunt of the impact, then rolled over and over sideways until she was clear of the line of fire. Once she had ensconced herself behind a rubbish bin, she carefully peeked around the corner.

The energy-things were everywhere, flailing about madly. At least half a dozen blocked the street at each end. She couldn't see any of her friends, but she hoped her warning had given them the chance to survive.

It was time to retreat, she knew. She hated leaving Beck and the others in the lurch, but there was no way she could fight all these monstrosities alone and unarmed; even trying to cross the street and reach the shelter of the strip mall would be a death sentence. Besides, if the things had been able to track them here, they might also have located the group's home base; and if that were true, Tori and André would need all the help that they could get.

What would be the quickest way to reach-

THUD.

A heavy object struck the back of her skull. She fell to the sidewalk, her vision swimming. Reaching behind her head, she felt a tangle of blood and matted hair.

Must…stay…conscious…have…to…

The last thing she saw before the world went black was a grinning face topped by a mound of frizzy hair.