"Er…" Theodore blinked dumbly at the hordes of Temps Commission agents—both masked & unmasked—blinking into existence behind the Handler. Flashes of blue illuminated the frosty field as they just kept coming; hundreds upon thousands of highly trained assassins all little carbon copies of his Uncle Five (or close to it if Uncle's boasting was to be believed) filled the fields to the brim, like toy soldiers all lined up in neat little rows. "I don't know if I should feel honoured or not that you brought that many people here for us…"

Firearms were cocked an aimed at the Hargreeves with deadly accuracy, the Handler baring a schadenfreude smirk upon her rogue lips that mirrored the obvious distaste present on Lila's who remained standing stoically next to her. In turn, all Hargreeves present suddenly found themselves faced with a much larger army than they had been expecting. In the past, they had only ever encountered one or two agents at a time and now they were being dropped into the deep end and expected to swim…or drown in this case. Either side of him, both Uncles Diego and Five nervously eyed the sea of smartly-dressed assassins with panic clear on their faces. Theodore, however, was far more concerned with creeping chimaera prowling from the furtherest woods. Even from this far away he could see how each muscle bulged and twitched with each careful step, how ears twitched and whiskers brushed against cornstalks as if they were nothing more than weeds.

"So…" Uncle Diego drawled lowly, leaning towards Uncle Five as if doing so would make their conversation all that more private. "What do we do now?"

"Well, we got two choices" Uncle Five replied as he fidgeted in place. "Fight & die now or run & die later. Either way, we're food for worms"

"Preference?"

"Wouldn't mind a few more minutes breathing air through the old windbags"

"All right—"

"—Let's get this over with, shall we?" The Handler interjected, delicately plucking a red scarf from the depths of her pocket and holding it aloft for all to see. Eyes blew wide at the action and both uncles stumbled back from the women, intent on savouring their last few moments of breath. The Handler quirked an eyebrow at Theodore's decision to remain standing where he was and she opened her mouth to comment on it, just as Uncle Diego had circled back to yank him away. But Theodore paid none of them any mind as his attention was solely locked on the pair of chimaeras now quickly bounding towards them. If he had to hazard a guess, one had once taken on the form of a canine whilst the other was that of a reptile.

The ground rumbled and roiled underfoot sending many scrambling for some kind of balance as the two beasts swiftly approached with fangs bared and monstrous claws ploughing through the dirt like a thousands hoes. Loralite scales flared and rippled in agitation as his heart felt like it was about to burst through his chest with all of its jackhammering and he stupidly tried to buy time even as the first of the outreaching agents were trampled underfoot like they were nothing more than ants. "Quick question before we die" Theodore hurriedly spat out as his eyes flickered back and forth between the beasts and the two women before him.

"Hm? Yes, what is it?" The Handler hummed impatiently, fingers twitching around the scarf still held aloft.

"Do you consider yourself an animal person?" He shifted in place, turning slightly as if to run as his fingers twitched nervously at his sides.

"What the hell is that thing doing here…?" Uncle Diego breathed from behind him, wide eyes easily identifying the beasts from their last encounter at the Icarus Theatre. He was thankfully, however, ignored.

"You're about to die and that's the all important question you absolutely have to ask?" Lila scoffed derisively, crossing her arms.

"I'm afraid I don't understand the question" The Handler replied, in turn ignoring her daughter's comment as she dug in her heels to remain upright. Theodore suspected that she had done so quite literally, stabbing the heels of her stilettos into the moist soil at their feet. Swiftly darting forward in an action that would forever haunt him in its stupidity for the rest of time, Theodore snatched the dangling pendants from the Handler's neck and yanked with all of his might, causing the blonde woman to stagger only slightly; something which appeared to irk her. But that was all he saw before he turned tail and ran, calling over his shoulder as he did so.

"YOU WILL!"

RAAAAAAAH!

Theodore didn't wait to see what had happened behind him as he began to book it back towards the barn; but the sudden onslaught of gunfire, sounds of flesh being torn apart and the wide-eyed panic clearly written on his uncles' faces as he passed by told him all that he needed to know. RUN. With heart pounding in his chest Theodore heard more than felt as his scales spread across his skin with a crunch of each thundering foot against the ground as loralite met with snow. At some point his shoes had flung off to the side somewhere as he fleed, far more occupied with the sounds of pursing agents relentlessly firing on them without mercy.

Further up ahead, Auntie Allison, Uncle Luther & Uncle Klaus had retreated behind a couple of frozen troughs and hale bales, doing their best to shrink away from the incoming bullets as they rained down on them. Even as Theodore sprinted for the worn out tractor tires piled atop each other like a rubber snowman that lay between the hale bales, the old tractor and the barn, he could just hear the panicked cries of his other uncles over the gunfire, bloodthirsty chimaera and blood rushing through his ears. "We're not gonna make it!" Uncle Diego grunted. "What're you doing?"

WHOOSH!

"Nngh!" Uncle Five grunted as he blinked both himself and his brother closer to the house.

"Eurgh!" Uncle Diego gagged, tripping over his own feet at the sudden feeling of displacement coursing through him. "Five, I think I'm gonna puke!"

"No time!" Uncle Five retorted as the pair tucked themselves behind the large wheels of the tractor just as Theodore dove behind the tires up ahead of them. Now that he was granted the world's smallest reprieve, Theodore slumped back against the sleet-covered rubber with a shaky sigh and closed his eyes in an attempt to stop the tears already sliding down over his loralite-peppered cheeks.

"S-sorry" Theodore whispered up into the air, not quite sure who he was talking to. The sudden revelation of Kiran and Yugi's previous employment at the Temps Commission had set his mind for a spin, warring hard against his heart who mourned for the loss of more Garde. It was almost sadder in that way, how Theodore was far more upset about the idea of more deceased Garde than that of the actual deaths themselves. It almost made the apologies worthless. "I'm—I'm sorry.…I'm so sorry"

Bowing his head, shaky hands gripped tight to the pair of pendants now resting in his palms. Twin emblems of his House—of their House—stared back at him: the twisting knots of House Theron that lay above the runic lettering of each of their names. Kiran. Yugi. Two younglings taken long before they should have been—they'd come so far, survived so much; it wasn't fair! Sniffing heartily, Theodore shakily slipped the pendants over his neck, letting the blood-stained chain rest against the nape of his neck. "I'm so sorry Yugi, Kiran, I'm sorry"

Blinking back the tears in his eyes, Theodore looked up just in time to see Uncle Five dash into the bullet-riddled house just as a wayward water truck ignited and spewed the voluminous fireball up into the air, easily melting away the small radius of snow surrounding the now melted vehicle. Sucking in a deep breath and wiping away the excess water in his eyes, Theodore peered around the side of the large tractor tires to find Uncle Diego still cowering behind the tractor in front of him. A little further on found the two chimaera far more preoccupied with the Temps Commission agents that they were ripping into and flinging about like chew toys. They hadn't evened the numbers by any means, but the sudden appearance of the two beasts had granted enough of a distraction that the agents had splits themselves into two groups: Hargreeves hunters & Chimaera slayers. "Why is it always the chimaeras?!" Theodore cursed as he ducked back behind the tires, least he attain more than just the steady chipping away of loralite from his person.

"Oh, I'm sorry" Loren sassed haughtily. "Would you rather the two giant monsters or a thousand tiny little ones?"

"Er…can I—can I phone a friend?"

"What friend? The dead ones?"

"Well, what are my options? Stray bullet or wayward claw? Both sound pretty gross to be honest"

"That's 'cause either one ends in death!"

"Loren, can we even survive this? This is so much more than an asteroid or a hunting party! There's a whole army out there!"

"A whole army just for little ole eight people, isn't that flattering?"

"Loren!"

"What? You calmed down didn't you?"

"…"

"Don't deny it, I'm in your head! Mwhahaha!"

"All right, Mr Cartoon Villain, I get it, thanks"

Their little moment however was soon cut short as the agents drew in closer as evident by the bullets now focusing more sharply in on their positions. One assassin pair was bad enough, but now that there hordes of them? Just what kind of game were they playing? Even with the loralite littering his skin, Theodore shrunk down as much as he could in order to hide behind the bullet-riddled tires; which while thick offered very little proper protection against the weaponry. It wasn't until a high-pitched whining had him looking up from his arms that he found himself staring up at Mama like she was some kind of God-sent angel. Fully illuminated in white (not quite like she had been at the Icarus Theatre) and floating several feet up in the air as energy thrummed through the already static atmosphere.

A single white light shone from the centre of her chest as she stared down unwaveringly at the hordes of agents and pair of chimaera laid before her. Theodore had always known that his mother could hold her own—that she was a badass—but seeing her like this, like some kind of etherial entity only solidified these thoughts. "I'm never back talking Mama ever again…" Theodore murmured as he traced her path with wide eyes, going so far as to peer around the tire stack as she grew brighter and brighter with each thrum of energy until it was far too much to look at. Like looking straight at the sun, Theodore ducked back down behind the tire stack, falling into a turtle position with hands over the nape of his neck as an enormous shockwave ripped across the farmlands.

It seemed that Uncle Diego had truly cursed them, for when Theodore looked out into the now corpse-riddled field he found that both of the chimaeras (whilst further back) appeared to be unperturbed by their sudden displacement. Not only that but a singular bubble stood dead center where the Handler and Lila had been, not once moving from their places in the country soil. "What the hell…?" Theodore gaped, eyes sharpening in on the leather-clad woman as she rose into the air much in the same manner that Mama had done.

"Any chance she's Garde?" Loren suggested hopefully.

"Nope!" Theodore replied, shuffling back a step or two in the hopes that he could either outrun the attack now mirrored in the younger woman. Fear pricked at his heart, as he watched Lila ignite in a much brighter light and the high-pitched whining of culminating energies around her sounding like a swarm of angry hornets than the symphony Mama's had been. This was no longer a God-sent angel—no this was the face of an avenger and they were about to feel the full force of this scorned woman.

This time when the counterattack sounded, everyone—including Mama who remained airborne—was blasted backwards like long-forgotten rag dolls. The force of the blast was strong enough to lift them all from the feet and send them flying across different parts of the farmlands. Like dropping a stone in water, the Hargreeves were scatted across the Cooper's farm without much hassle: Uncle Luther crashed through the ceiling of the Cooper's home where Uncle Five remained hidden, Mama hit the barn wall, Auntie Allison became embedded in a trailer of hay, Uncle Klaus stopped mere meters from the ground caught presumably by one of the buzzing ghosts now nearby, Uncle Diego was caught under the tractor and Theodore flew clear across the canopies until he was dumped into a nearby lake.

The shock of the cold water barely registered as his breaths came in gasps from his sudden landing and the weight of his drenched clothes dragged him downwards. Despite the obvious lack of waves, Theodore was unable to tell which way was up or down and it was only due to Loren's quick control of his limbs that he was able to eventually haul himself up onto the soggy bank. Water expelled from his lungs with a cough and hack, retching the blasted liquid from his shivering body as he fought for consciousness in the snowy cove. The black spots danced across his vision like busy bees zooming from flower to flower and it didn't take long for his arms to give way, leaving him alone and unconscious on the bank of the Cooper's lake.