After a day of pretending to live on Tatooine, Felix had already become home-sick. He missed everything and everyone, especially Marzia. He couldn't sleep knowing how scared she was, wondering where he had gone. He could feel his heart sink every time he thought of her or his parents, all of which would be worried sick. Each thought of it became even more unbearable, but he knew he couldn't think about it. He looked at the light of the setting moon from the Tatooine surface, hoping to bring his mind off of the horrible thoughts, then down at his watch.

It was a watch, yes, but it was much more advanced than any watch that he had seen. His watch was somewhat blocky, like a small book tied to his wrist. Underneath it, it had a thick layer of fabric protecting him from overheating, and such, though it did feel a slight bit uncomfortable, it was not painful at all. The screen was small, about the size of an iPhone screen, and above it had some sort of camera or projector. Either for recording or something else. Below the screen was a small touchpad that could either type via his voice commands or when he types something via a miniature keyboard. Underneath the screen, he could just make out a small hole in the tech, as if something was missing.

A sudden touch on his shoulder wakes him from his moment of thought. He turned to look up at a dark figure looming over him in the dimly lit room. It was Colinne. She stared at him for a moment and then knelt next to him.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Hey, what's up?" Felix whispered back.

She pointed to his watch, "I think we should head back to the lab, for reasons,"

Felix sat up, "I don't know, after what seems to have happened, that may not be the best idea."

She sighed in response. They both knew it was dangerous to go back there, especially considering what was happening to the group currently. They had already encountered the same thing from the previous night, and now, with research that Colinne had conducted, they could find out what they were and who controlled them. It was a conflicted idea.

"Well, what is life without reward and risk?" Colinne asked after a minute of silence. Felix looked at her for another second and sighed.

"Welp, there's nothing here, is there?" he asked, subtly obliging to her. They nodded and woke the rest of the group up, saying they were returning to the lab. Most didn't like the idea, so Felix volunteered to go back there by himself and scout it out. It wasn't his brightest idea he had thought of, but it was something that he could hopefully deal with. He stood from his not so blissful rest and stretched. He then walked over to the group and nodded to Mark, who nodded back.

"Once you get back, use the coms to let us know what you see," Sean said, "If you don't respond after a certain time, we'll come for you,"

Felix nodded, "Sounds good to me,"

He typed the coordinates into the watch, slower than last time. He felt a small rumble as the mechanisms began to turn and work. He then saw the yes or no button and, without hesitation, pressed yes. The room lit up very bright as he disappeared once again, but this time, small particles in the air seemed to ripple in his wake. Sean observed the small ripples. They were like heat waves, except they were shaped like cracks as if a wall of air had just been broken.

The lights faded from Felix's vision, and he opened his eyes to see the lab he had been in the previous day. The lights were still on, and everything seemed normal. It seemed like the same lab they had left before. Except for a few exceptions: the room was filled with noise of tools and some voices, but it sounded like only one.

"Um, Colinne?" he called into his coms.

In a split second, another voice answered, "What's wrong?" The voice belonged to MatPat.

He paused for a second, "I think it's safe here, let's get everyone back,"

Without bits of hesitation, most of the group began to file back to the lab. Starting with Colinne and Sean, the rest of the group returned in great flashes of lights, each having a different group. The last two were Dan and Cheshapeek before Felix spoke up about what was going on.

"So, welcome back to this place," he said as he turned on his heel to spectate the place once again. Colinne also whirled around as she realized what happened. Her reaction was a mix of shock, fear, and anger. She turned to Felix.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice somewhat shaky.

"I have no idea, but whatever those people wanted, they got it," he said, referring to the radio tower. A sigh emitted somewhere in the group.

He slightly turned his head in response, "Yes? What is the matter?"

"That was our only way to find worlds and faint signals, yeah, it's no big deal," Colinne said, strain melting into her voice. Ex grabbed her shoulder, trying to calm her down. He shook his head, meaning there was something else.

"Well, our watches have 'that' except on a smaller scale," he said, pulling up Vanoss' arm and showing it. She typed something into the watch, and a hologram came to life and showed the world it was: World 347: Minecraft.

"Well, that's surprising," OBIS commented, filling in the awkward silence. Then, the voice spoke again.

"Now what?" Ex asked. It didn't get the response it wanted.

"Alright, we need to either find out who did this or…" she didn't finish as all of their watches began vibrating sporadically, emitting a loud beeping noise, making it sound like a siren, and it blinking red. Everyone raised their arms to look at the watch as it pulled up a recording from a street view camera that showed something big landing in the middle of a busy street. As the thing came into view, they saw something just like that thing they had encountered. It was more significant though, about eight to ten feet tall, with sharp crystal-like shards on its elbows and knees. It looked like something out of a Godzilla movie except smaller. It was shocking just how big it was, as it tossed cars and trucks around the square as if they were books. It roared and then threw a car at the camera as the footage cut out. The group looked around with a silent gulp. This was what they had to face now. Colinne announced something through the silence.

"I'll put this thing into the computer files," she said, "Once I do, you'll have all the information you need to stop it."

MatPat looked at her, shocked, "Are you serious?"

"What?" she asked, puzzled, staring at the group.

"We can't fight that thing," he motioned to his watch, "Whatever that is."

"He's right," Sean said, "We are not able to fight something like this. We are just normal,"

She turned to them, "But you guys are vililantes who fight and run for a living. Plus, what else are we going to do?"

She brought up a good point, but that wasn't a point of contention to have them risk their lives. Hesitantly, Ian raised his hand.

"I'll go," he said, his voice somewhat shaky. Following him were Felix and Sean.

"Alright, let's go," he said, more confident this time.

Their watches began to power up as they began to prepare to fight this thing as the rest said they would stay back and help from afar. They looked at their watches: World 338. The white light engulfed the room again, and then they were gone. Colinne ran to her computer and started the download process of its information. It was going to be a long day for them.

"Also," Colinne began, "I need some help with something."

"Alright," Cheshapeek said, "What is it?"

"There is an excavation site in this world," she said as she typed and sent files flying through the computer system, "I'll put the coordinate into your watch now."

"No, you guys stay here," Vanoss said, "I'll go with Brian and Delirious,"

"You sure?" Ex asked.

"Yes, you need to stay here," he said.

"We can handle ourselves, you know," Crystal pointed out.

"I know," Colinne interjected, "But you should stay and help from afar."

"Not saying I wanted to go," Crystal said. They nodded as Vanoss, and his group departed from the lab, leaving only the excess energy behind them. The rest of the group woke from their moment of awe and began to watch as the data from before began to upload into the computer. This was going to get interesting.


They landed, and their visions began to sharpen getting used to the sensation. The Metroville city was huge, much larger than what they had expected. The buildings seemed to stretch for miles into the sky as if pillars surrounded them. Felix looked up in awe at how tall they were but was quickly snapped out of it when a scream came through the coms.

"I think it found us," Sean screamed, sounding more panicked than Felix could've imagined. He turned the corner to see the thing grabbing someone by the hip and staring at him for a second. Felix had to act quickly, or else this will end badly. He turned to the watch for a solution, hoping to find an answer.

He panicked, "I need a weapon,"

"How can we help?" Colinne's voice asked through the coms. Felix suddenly felt the world slow down around him as his thoughts began to move through his head wildly. What was he going to do? He needed to help, but he didn't know-how as he was just an average guy trying to fight something more significant than him. The thought hit him, and he thought of Marzia, knowing that if he died, he would never see her again, and that thought made him scared to fight, but willing nonetheless. He needed something to hit it, but he didn't know what.

Suddenly, his thoughts were cut off as the thing recoiled from something behind it. Dropped the person as it tripped onto the pavement. It fell but caught itself on its arms. It turned to see a large mound of ice on its back, not there a second ago. He knew exactly what was going on.

"Hang on, the heroes are on their way," he said into his coms. He said it as the thing heavily recoiled from a hard hit. It fell back and, landing on top, was a man wearing a red suit and a letter on the chest of it. He stood triumphantly as the thing stood once again. More and more heroes came to fight the thing, but it seemed to be invulnerable to their abilities. Then, a chunk of the building came flying towards him as the thing thrashed around, trying to hit the flying figures. As it almost hit him, he felt a tremendous rush of air as the creature landed mere feet away from him. He turned to see a blond-haired kid standing next to him as he panted, seeming a little tired.

"Thanks," Felix said, his voice shaky. The kid nodded and ran off without saying another word.

Meanwhile, across the street, Ian laid on the ground, helplessly trying to move back and out of the way of the thing as it stood again. He looked up as it began to turn its attention towards his direction. The man slid off, only then noticing him, and waved for him to move. He strained to stand as he felt weak after the thing dropped him. He felt his legs begin to weaken more due to fear and stress. He called the coms for help.

"Is there something anyone can do?" he screamed into the coms. They were silent for a second. Then he looked at his watch. He brought it to his face and looked at it for help, thinking of running to another world. Then, an image appeared on his watch, which seemed to be a helmet that he saw. He looked at the picture as a small loading bar finished filling, the image blinked twice before the watch appeared with words. It said Voice Command Needed. He didn't understand at first, mentally scratching his head. He didn't have time as it punched its hand into the ground, cracking the concrete just mere inches from his feet. He swiftly stood and ran, struggling to keep his balance as he did. He felt a surge as he looked at the watch again as it was still waiting for a command. He looked back and pressed the button and shouted.

"Contact!"

The watch began to buffer, and then it blinked twice, projecting the words Identification Completed. The watch then vibrated suddenly, as the big thing swung at him. It hit him and sent him flying into a small park field, scraping the ground as he did. He felt the pain of the moment as his hearing and vision blurred, but it was all an afterthought since the pain wasn't as searing as he thought it would. The sound of him scratching the ground turned from a natural skin sound to a more metallic scraping. Like finger-nails on a metallic chalkboard, near unbearable. He slowed to a halt as he felt the ground underneath him lift him higher than before. He realized that something was wrong, but he didn't know until a voice called for him through the coms.

"Ian, are you alright?!" It was Colinne. He stood, still nauseous from before.

"Yes, I'm okay," he said. His eyes lit up suddenly with numbers and images of things that were happening around him. He turned around and saw the creature, this time making extreme eye contact with him. His mind began to clear, only then realizing that he had landed on knee pads and his hoodie slid one due to the extreme force of the hit. He turned and looked at the thing.

"Maybe not for much longer," he said as the thing revved back and roared. It was so loud that it shattered windows around it. In its eyes looked like nothing was behind them, just staring blankly at him, but its face conveyed anger and motivation. He could feel it as it slowly crawled, then readily sped up as he looked at his watch for help.

"What are you waiting for?" a muffled adult voice shouted. He stared at the watch, thinking of some type of weapon to use. His thought was of something big and something that can cause a lot of damage. His watch buzzed, and an image popped up on the hologram. As he watched it, he saw a massive RPG rotate on the wrist of his arm. He turned around, making sure the thing couldn't see it, and he slowly extended his arm to grab it. A small hand was seen on the screen about to grip the trigger. As he went to grab it with his right hand, it began to pixelate and glow white. The weapon started to materialize in his hands, each inch pixelating into existence as if the air around him was morphing into a physical object. As it finally completed, he got a good look at the weapon. It was a simple model used in most of the games he played, made of iron, and furnished in wood. The rocket itself had a dinosaur looking face, with sharp teeth and a mouth and angry eyes. His thoughts focused on it for a second and then blurred.

Only then in that blurry moment did he realize that the thing was still after him. What felt like minutes mentally was mere seconds physically. He looked back at the thing which reared back and roared again. He quickly spun around and pointed the green rocket at the beast. At that moment, he could see the slight hesitation on the beast's face. He smirked at his thoughts.

"Get a load of this," he quipped as he pulled the trigger and the rocket seamlessly left the barrel and flew directly at the beast. Due to its speed, it couldn't dodge in time, so the rocket hit the animal just above its right eye, and it exploded on impact. Ian, at first shocked, burst out laughing at his accomplishments.

There was an explosion and a sigh from Felix as he saw the thing reel from the blast. His relief was cut off by a sense of excitement, then realizing that he could help out in the fight.

"How did you do that?" he asked, barely hiding a grin on his face.

"The watch," Ian exclaimed, "Use that to find any weapon you need,"

He looked at the watch and thought of a broad idea, "What are you thinking?"

The watch popped up with many solutions, finally selecting one in particular.

"I like that idea," he said, but before he could grab it, the thing began emitting a white light around it. Felix backed up, knowing what was going to happen.

"Watch it, guys," Ex said over the coms. As he said it, the thing was engulfed in the white light, and this time was different. It seemed to leave behind small particles as they fell to the ground like ashes in the wind. It seemed like they won, but something wasn't right. It felt too easy, but they weren't going to question it. However, it was something to keep in mind.


Back at the labs, the trio of teens stood behind Colinne, anxiously watching her talk into the coms and laughing at their accomplishment. They stood behind and talked about what was happening. Not just right then, but also back at home.

"What about the virus?" Crystal asked.

"I think we are perfectly fune for now," Cheshapeek said. This got a laugh out of the trio as, according to them, it was a meme in their friend group.

"The better question is about family, though," Cheshapeek said. The laughing stopped before they thought about it.

"What about you?" Ex asked, referring to Crystal, "You know, with everything that has been happening?"

"I don't know," he stated plainly, "What would they do about this?"

"No clue," Cheshapeek said, "With the virus, you moving, and us not being able to see each other, it's a bit of a relief that we don't have to social distance here."

Crystal nodded, "Agreed. I just hope that we can get back home before school starts again."

Ex nodded, "Okay. I'm gonna go exploring."

The other two nodded, and Cheshapeek responded, "We have nothing to do, so let's go together."

"Stay in clumps," Crystal joked, laughing both Cheshapeek and Ex. The trio then stood up and walked up the stairs through the doors, which were almost non-existent due to the explosion, leaving the frame near unfixable. What Colinne found comforting was the fact that no police officers were sent to check out what had happened. It was since if they did come, it would've been an exciting interrogation talking about different dimensions. Ex shuddered at the thought as he walked through the hallway past the lounge. They peeked inside and saw through the lounge and into a window to the outside world. It was just glaring lights and a small building just across the street. Cheshapeek sighed, knowing that one day he might enjoy a walk through the streets. They walked down the hall and to where they had first arrived, the elevator room where they had first entered the labs. It felt like minutes ago when, in reality, it had been almost three days. Crystal looked down the hallway and saw a labeled bathroom leading to a door at the end, most likely a janitor's closet. He kept his gaze down the hall and then pressed a button calling the elevator. Within a few seconds, the elevator arrived, and it's doors opened, and they stepped through. Ex stepped forward and pressed the first-floor button.

As the elevator descended, they felt the small instability of each rock of the cage they were in. One stone shook the elevator so much that it caught the trio's attention.

"What was that?" Crystal asked. Ex looked around for a second before standing up straight.

"Probably some faulty maintenance," he said, "Like the ones downtown."

"True," Cheshapeek said. Their breathing cooled until they felt calm again. The elevator pinged as they came to a stop on the first floor. The doors opened, and they walked around the first floor, which seemed to be a reception area. They walked out of the elevator area and into a reception area, filled with plants, seats, a reception desk, and the likes. The room around them was almost entirely made of glass, the walls, and the ceiling letting in natural light.

"Good source of vitamin D," Ex commented. They kept walking around, seeing a second elevator room and a staircase leading up to the upper floors. Crystal and Cheshapeek went ahead and went to call the elevator. Before Ex could reach them, however, he felt a strange feeling roll up his spine, as if something was watching him. He turned around to see just the empty room behind him. He turned back to his friends and walked, but he could've sworn he had seen something beneath one of the larger plants.

They silently waited as the elevator went to the next floor, level two. The thing pinged, and they entered what seemed to be a cafe or dining area. It was probably used as a way to eat without leaving during their breaks. The cafe had multiple coffee dispensers, but only a couple of pastries left. Must have been a rush before or while they were here is what they presumed. They looked around, seeing the big room filled with tables and chairs empty, void of people. Outside was an observation deck to see a small park adjacent to the building, which they hadn't seen before.

"This is interesting," Ex said aloud.

"Yeah, definitely," Crystal said.

"So, what now?" Cheshapeek said, "I don't drink coffee."

"The others probably do," Ex predicted, "Wanna get some?"

"Nah," Chesh replied, "Kinda waste of time."

The other two nodded as they turned back to walk to the elevators. They then heard a sudden creak as they left. They turned and saw as a chair fall over a couple of tables away from them. This prompted discomfort amongst the group as they raced to the elevator and, in a panic, tried to call a lift. They turned to see what was following them, and it just so happened to be a bird sitting on a chair. They looked out onto the observation deck and saw that one of the doors was open, most likely how it got in there. Ex sighed and chuckled.

"Just a bird," he said. The trio entered the elevator again and pressed to see the fourth floor.

As they walked to the fourth floor, they found that they were close to some offices and workspaces with computers and whiteboards. The rooms were surrounded by a thick and fogged glass, with some panels being clear. Inside, chairs were neatly pushed in, and the boards had a lot of small drawings of other inventions that they had planned to build. Some were simple mechanical inventions to some of the most sophisticated electronics. They looked at one of the electronics that was pretty familiar.

"That looks like the communication device we saw earlier," Crystal stated, pointing to the board.

"You're right," Cheshapeek said, "This must be one of the older meetings."

"Well, would you look at that," he said as he pointed to the table. On the table was a spreadsheet, each with a list of names and places. They focused on it for a second before a sudden this behind them caught their attention. They turned around to see nothing but the third of a falling water jug. While Cheshapeek and Crystal kept their attention there, Ex turned around into the office near immediately. Instead of it being empty, there was a mysterious figure inside the room in front of the window across the table. It quickly locked eyes with him, and Ex only stared.

"What the…" he didn't finish as the figure punched through the glass and landed next to him. He looked to the figure quickly and then felt the pressure of a push propel him away. He fell to his back a couple of feet apart. Crystal turned around to see the figure just in time for it to hit Cheshapeek and try to catch him with a hook. Crystal was able to duck and move out of the way before it could get him. Ex stood up and looked at the being who proceeded to grab him and push him against the wall. Ex could hear the figure breathing heavily near him.

"Who are you?" it asked. Its voice was distorted, which was probably a voice-changing device. Ex grabbed its arms and tried to pry himself free, only managing to have it grip his shirt tighter.

"I asked you," it said, "Who are you?"

Ex looked around and then back to the thing, "Uhh..."

It thought for a moment before it asked again.

"Better question: what is this?" It pulled up Ex's watch and brought it to his face. Ex looked at the watch, which was different from any others he had seen. It was blocky with a rectangular screen on the top of his wrist. It had few features, and it was a simple wrap around the wrist leather. He looked to the person speechless for a moment. He was about to speak before he felt some words push into his mouth.

"It is a watch that can simultaneously tell time and travel through this place called The Vortex, alright?" he said. The figure looked at him for a moment before it loosened its grip.

"You're like me," it stated. Ex stood and looked at the being.

"Somewhat," Ex said. It then looked at him.

"What do you mean, then?" it asked. Before he could answer, he felt the barrel of a gun on his forehead, and he sighed.

"You're one of those things, huh?" he asked back. The thing looked at him then pushed the barrel further onto his head.

"You mean the green monsters?" it asked, "I was going to ask the same thing."

It pushed the barrel down to the middle of his eyes and left it there. Ex watched its finger twitch on the trigger, seemingly aching to pull the trigger. Finally, when the finger wrapped around the metal trigger, he broke.

"Fine!" he shouted, "We're a group of random ass people from this place called World Zero! There, you happy?"

The thing hesitated, then put the trigger down. It moved up to his face and spoke softly.

"You are lucky," it said, "I don't usually like your kind."

Ex was confused, "What? People from World Zero?"

The thing shook its head, "You wouldn't understand, mister…?"

Ex thought it was asking for his name, but decided to give his alias.

"My name is Excavious," he said, "You can call me Ex."

"I'm Cheshapeek," he groaned as he stood. Crystal and Ex ran to his aid as Crystal raised his hand.
"And I'm Crystal-Flame, but Crystal will do," he said. The figure watched them as they helped each other to their feet and looked at the figure. They looked at each other and then at the figure.

"And you are?" Crystal asked. The figure stood for a second before the figure tapped a thing on its neck. Its voice changer deactivated, and its voice was revealed.

"The names Skye," she said. Her voice was in the middle of rough and smooth, and she had a middle-range pitch. She didn't take off her sunglasses or her hood, but she did reach for her face mask. Her face was revealed for only a split second before a seeming cloak like tech deactivated and showed the rest of her face. The cloak covered a white snout with sharp teeth and a black nose. She looked at them and removed her hood, revealing a pair of white pointed ears and a dirt-filled fur. She looked at them with a plain face, while the trio watched her.

"What?" she asked, "Haven't seen something like this before?"

"Nope, not at all," Crystal admitted. She wasn't amused.

"Nevermind. Let's go speak to this professor here," she said. She began walking towards the elevator while the trio stood motionless behind her. They looked at each other for a moment before they followed. Ex looked at Cheshapeek, and they silently talked.

"What the fuck is going on?" Cheshapeek mouthed. Ex silently shrugged.

"No idea," he mouthed back.

"What now?"

"No idea. Pay attention."

"Colinne?" Crystal mouthed. Ex could only shrug helplessly as they entered the elevator in front of Skye. The doors closed as they felt the elevator descended downwards to the labs. Behind them, Skye whistled a little tune to a song, and Ex recognized the song instantly. He chuckled.

"Yes?" she asked him, "Is something wrong?"

"Nope, just a song I've heard," he said. The elevator dinged as they came to a stop, and the doors opened. The trio exited before Skye, and they turned to the destroyed doors of the lab. Awkwardness plagued the trio as Skye walked in front of the trio to meet Colinne. She turned to see them before her attention turned to Skye. Before she could speak, Ex spoke first.

"Don't question, because we have no idea," he said plainly. She looked at Skye.

"Another world, I presume?" she asked. Skye nodded.

"You all probably have a name for it," she said, "I don't."

Ex could hear her voice most of the time was a very sour tone like she didn't enjoy being around them at all. Ex pointed it out.

"What's wrong?" he asked, "You don't sound happy around us."

She didn't speak for a second, "That is none of your business. Any of yours."

She walked away and across the room from the others, and she sighed as she sat down on a bench. The trio was silent to Colinne, who was just as confused as them. She then turned and said a short sentence.

"You all explain this when everyone gets back."


Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, Evan and his smaller group were on their way to investigate the coordinates Colinne gave them. They jumped through the portal and fell through this white tunnel of energy, and then it ended as a bright day appeared in front of him. He landed, nearly losing his balance and falling on his back. He felt three other thuds next to him. He turned and saw both Brian and Delirious standing together, and with them was Dan.

"What are you doing?" Brian asked, "I thought there would be some people afraid of this stuff."

"I know, I am," Dan replied, "But a little adventure didn't hurt anybody."

"I understand," Brian retorted, "But, maybe we should find out what we are doing before we possibly risk our lives."

"I agree," Delirious said. Vanoss nodded and opened his coms.

"Hey, Colinne," he asked into the coms.

"Yes?" another voice asked. It was Mat, "She isn't here right now."

"Alright, Mat," he said, "Can you ask her about the thing we are doing?"

A soft conversation occurred before he came back, "She said it is a company excavation site, but right now it seems to be empty, according to her."

"'Seems to be,'" Brain grumbled. It wasn't a good sign, but they followed down the road that led to the site. As they approached a guard point, they then saw a sleeping guard in the guard post. He was about a full head taller than any of them, so getting in an altercation would lead to them getting hurt. Vanoss, who was leading, motioned for the group to duck down and walk past the post and ran to the site's open door. They stopped short and walked to the doors as they saw a camera and waved at it, hoping that it would do something in response. After a second, it blinked twice in response, most likely taking a photo of the group.

As they entered the building, they entered a small room where it would remove anything that would be considered contaminated. Puffs of air blew past them as they waited for the place to open up into the next area automatically. When it did, they slowly walked into the next area as the machines behind them began to slow down. Ahead was a small hallway leading into a larger open space. Upon entering, they were met with a large crater about the size of a New York City blocks. It was deep, too. So much so that they could barely see what was at the bottom. Spotlights above flooded the room with bright light, illuminating everything around them. The dome-like structure above them blocked most of the sunlight from the outside. At the bottom of the crater lay what seemed to be a ruined temple and a surrounding building, used for researching the age of the building.

The group stood in awe at the top of the crater, looking down. Delirious looked around the top to spot anything that could help them get down there fast. He looked at the rest for help.

"So, how do we plan on getting down there?" he asked. Everyone was still as confused as he was, but an idea popped into Vanoss head.

"What about sliding down there?" he proposed, "It doesn't seem that steep."

"Well, when you find something to slide down on," Brain responded, "Then we can."

Before anyone else could speak, Dan grabbed a sheet of metal and slid to the edge of the crater. He tipped down and slid down into the hole, aiming for the entrance to the facility below. Hesitantly, the rest of the group followed suit. As they slid down, the ruins and facility got bigger and bigger. The wind rushed past Vanoss' face as he couldn't help grinning as he found it somewhat fun. Finally, the group came to a halt just outside the facility opening. They stood and approached.

"That was kind of fun," Dan commented. Vanoss nodded, but didn't respond as he pushed through the door of the facility to find a near trashed room of objects. Glass vials broke, tables smashed, metal bent and walls torn threw like paper. They looked on the walls and saw it: black ooze. It was splattered against the wall, but it wasn't big, signifying little damage.

They exited the small lab and entered into the main hallway to find large masses of crystals spiking from the walls and making it seem like a scene out of Stranger Things. Small particles parted the air around them, emitting a cough from Terroriser. The lights were on, but it was extremely dim. Finally, they reached the end of the hallway and entered the temple ruins.

"Hey, you guys still there?" Colinne asked through the coms, causing Evan to jump.

"Yes," Dan replied simply, but before he could respond, she kept talking.

"The coms need to be pressed to respond," she said, "I did some tweaking before the others left."

"Okay," Dan said after he pressed the coms in his ear, "Why is that?"

"Just so that way, we don't hear each other in action, or we don't give info away," she said near innocently, "Anyways, I'm helping OBIS develop a version where it trasmits straight through your jaw bone."

Vanoss sighed, "Alright, thanks for the explanation. What are we looking for?"

"Look around, there should be a laptop somewhere inside the ruins," she said, "A colleague left it in there for further research today."

"So, he left it in there yesterday?" Terroriser asked, "And no one decided to get it?"

"First of all, she," Colinne replied, "Second of all, yes, they were expecting to come back after a lunch break when, according to most, something crashed through the roof. Most thought it was a meteor, but they evacuated the facility with some survivors claiming that some monster entered the facility,"

Delirious asked quietly, "Did you believe them?"

"Not at first," she replied, "But now after everything has happened, I think I might have to."

They walked through the damaged hallway and entered into the area of the ruins. Broken bricks were scattered around the building with metal rods peppered about the ruins. The stone at their feet was sharp and loose like gravel, and wood and clay supported a large portion of the ruins that had rotted off as if to support the whole thing. It was something out of an action-adventure film like Indiana Jones.

They walked around the ruins and finally found the opening to the towering temple. As they entered, the air seemed to become much thinner as the darkness plagued the beginning of the stairs, giving an ominous sense. Vanoss used his watch as a flashlight, illuminating the path ahead. As they descended downwards, they noticed strange markings chipped into the stone walls. At first, they seemed like hieroglyphics, but they realized that it was more like a large scene. They looked around to watch the progression of the tableau.

"What is this, Colinne?" Dan asked, his voice expressing slight awe.

"We don't know," she replied, "We say that it was an ancient culture that was wiped out sometime after the Mesopotamians."

"Well, then what is that?" Terroriser asked, pointing to multiple pictures with signatures like crosses, most likely referring to Christianity, and one with a moon and a star, signifying Islamic culture.

"I know," she responded quickly, "None of our scientists have been able to decipher what it means. We're looking for anyone that knows something about this culture."

As they finished walking down the stairs, they walked through the dark hallway leading to a research desk. It was a dimly lit one with two lamps above it, one with a broken bulb and the other nearly ready to give out. They searched the desk for a laptop that could help them. Dan stepped back and turned around to see the face of the stone in front of him. He jumped back and let out a small yelp. He bumped into Terroriser as he jumped back, causing a chain reaction down to Vanoss, who jumped and slipped some papers off the desk. The documents fell to the floor next to his feet like feathers. He sighed as he bent down to pick them up and stack them on the desk. As he laid them back down, he looked at where they fell from and saw a glimpse of shiny gray. He moved the papers and saw the laptop, less than an arm's length, and very light. Vanoss grabbed it and opened it to find it had been broken, presumably by someone or something in rage or in fear of it being found. The crack on the screen stretched across the center, striking off the centerline like lightning. Vanoss nodded to the group.

"I think we found it," he said into the coms.

"That was quick," Colinne replied, her voice sounding more upbeat, "Head back out into the parking lot, we don't want to damage anything in the lab."

"Understood," Dan said. He inhaled, most likely trying to say something more, but was cut off as a hand grabbed his arm and threw him into the stairs they walked down. Everyone turned their attention to the being that threw them. It was the guard that they walked past as they entered. Finally, they got a view of what it was. Disguised, it looked nearly identical to a human, all except for its eyes. Where normal eyes were white and a particular color, its eyes were dark green with an iris colored black. Its pupils were nonexistent, drowned in the iris' black abyss. It was near terrifying to look at. It turned its attention to Vanoss.

"I believe you have something," it pointed to the laptop, "That belongs to my leader."

"Hey, let's talk," Delirious tried to say before the thing slapped him out of the way, hitting the deck and sliding a couple of feet. Vanoss immediately pulled out his gun and aimed it at the thing, hoping for it to flinch.

"Hey, I need some help here," he pleaded into the coms as the thing walked towards him. He closed his eyes, looked away, and began mindlessly pulling the trigger.


"Guys?" Colinne shouted into the coms. No response. She stood up and looked at the rest of the group, hoping for an answer. Finally, Ex sighed and stood up.

"I'll go," he said. Before anyone could stop him, he pressed the button on his watch, and he was gone. The room was silent for a few moments before Colinne sat back down in shock.

"Let's get this done," she sighed to herself.


Ex slowly walked down the stairs of the ruins. The darkness blinded him for a second before he saw Dan lying on the stairs. He quickly descended and knelt next to Dan, whose breathing was slow yet shaky.

"You good?" Ex asked him. Dan nodded slowly, most likely muted by the extreme pain in his back.

"Alright, can you stand?" he asked. Dan tried and stood on his shaking legs for a mere second before he fell back onto the stairs. Ex could see fear and pain in his eyes, wanting to help. He looked at his watch, hoping to find something that could help. He thought of something that could heal him, and his hand began to glow white. In a second, a box appeared in his hand. He held it for a second and then turned to look at the face of the box. On the front was a bright red cross over what seemed like bandages and stuff. Ex smiled and turned to Dan.

"Take this," he said as he handed the health pack to Dan. The minute Dan touched it, it disintegrated into hundreds of particles, and Dan gasped as he had come out of a free dive. He sat up and stretched, smiling along the way.

"How do you feel?" Ex asked.

"Better, thanks," Dan replied. Before they could stand, a yell and a roar came from down the hallway. Then, footsteps approached them fast and quick as a figure emerged from the darkness and teleported to another world just as fast. Behind him was Vanoss, breathless and tired.

"He...he…," he started, but Ex knew what he was saying.

"Got it," he said. He suddenly scanned the area instinctively and jumped after it. Vanoss raced to Dan's side and helped him up.

"You think he can do this?" Vanoss asked. Dan didn't know what to say but chose to be positive.

"I believe in him," he said, "And that is all we can do,"

Ex suddenly left and felt no ground beneath him as he fell. He let out a scream as he hit the ground with a thud. His eyes closed for the whole ordeal, causing him not to see where he was or what he was doing. Murmurs focused on him as he opened his eyes, and, to his shock and surprise, instead of a nose, he had a snout. He sat up and felt a sharp pain in his lower back, causing him to yelp. He stood up and saw that not only was he covered in fur but that he also had a tail and paws instead of hands. He sighed at sight, knowing this wasn't a good sign. He looked down at his watch, and it displayed what he already knew: World 1139 was Zootopia.

"So this is what furries feel like," he silently quipped. Then, he realized that he wasn't tracking down the thing anymore. His eyes and ears shot up as he quickly looked around the room. He was surrounded by others looking at him intently. He surveyed the whole area until he saw a security guard panther walking up the stairs with a distinctive marking on his left shoulder. It turned to look at him for a second before turning up the stairs and bolting. Ex pulled up his bandana and sprinted after him. He quickly launched himself up the stairs and into the main area. He vaulted over ticket scanners and ran out into the sunlight.

He realized where he was pretty quickly. The central hub just outside of the station in the movie, though this was the only place that he knew about that was shown in this area. He stopped and looked around through the crowd of people. His tail swooshed past different species as they walked behind him, though his mind was focused on catching that thing. After a second of searching, he glimpsed at a figure running away from him, and he gave chase. He quickly ran to see it push past a group of friends talking, and, due to his adrenaline, he promptly passed the friends seconds after him. Though he seemed average in fitness, Ex seemed to realize that, even here, he was a bit higher on the fitness scale than anyone else. As he saw the figure slow to a jog, he quickly took a sharp left and into an alleyway parallelling the thing. He slowed down to catch his breath and talk to Colinne.

"Hey," he called into the coms, "You there, guys?"

"Yeah," Colinne spoke, "Did you find him?"

"Yep, on his tail right now," he said, "Figuratively and literally,"

A small snicker was heard before someone responded, "What do you need?"

"A way to track him just in case I lose him," he responded quickly. He yelped again as he stepped on his tail, groaning afterward.

"You okay there, dude?" Cheshapeek asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he responded, "I just have never had a tail before, and it is very annoying."

A small laugh came before Colinne took it back, "Alright, you should see it on your glasses….now,"

He brought up his glasses and a sonar-like beeping from the laptop emitted. The dot on his glasses moved slowly on the street in front of him. He sped up to stay on track with the thing. Suddenly, his glasses brought a pop up on the left corner of his vision. He looked at the image, which seemed to be a walkie talkie, and it began to vibrate in his vision before a voice came through his hearing.

"We have 10-80, repeat: we have a 10-80 in progress," a deep voice spoke through the coms. Understandably, both Ex and the group were confused and scared of what was happening.

"Um, Colinne, what does that mean?" Ex asked, his voice growing a little shaky. The coms were silent for a second before Colinne's voice came on again. The only problem was that his hearing began to ring all of a sudden, though not painful, he couldn't hear what she said for a second. He waited for a second and then asked again.

"I didn't hear you, what does it mean?" he shouted into the coms.

"It means there's a chase in progress!" she shouted back. As if on cue, his mind filled with the action thoughts again. Incoming! He turned to see a group of blue and black figures behind him, fully running after him. He quickly looked and saw the red dot of the laptop begin to speed up as another group chased it. Ex sighed and bolted in the direction of the dot, hoping not to be caught.

He ran out of the alleyway and into the light of a street filled to the brim with bustling people. He turned back to see them bursting out of the alley right behind him. He ran through the crowd, apologizing when he accidentally bumped into someone, and when he saw the thing again. He was running into a small park filled with people. If he slowed down, he would lose it.

"Not this time," he whispered as he sprinted as fast as he could. He caught up with the thing at the entrance of a park, and, as it took the entrance to the park, Ex jumped over a small barrier and smashed into it. With a loud thud, both hit the ground as the laptop skidded a few meters ahead of them. Ex looked up and saw the computer just ahead of them and, though tired, tried to stand and grab the laptop. But, the thing wasn't out either, as it caught his tail and yanked him back down and placed a foot on his chest. He gasped as he felt the thing crushing his rib cage slowly. It wasn't painful, but he could feel his lungs and chest beginning to beg for air. His tail lay flat on the ground between his legs, unable to move due to the lack of oxygen.

"You people just don't quit," the thing smirked. Ex stared at the thing sternly, waiting for his chance to respond. It lifted its paw and allowed him to breathe, but just barely.

"That's more or less my charm," Ex laughed, finding the thing talking funny. Its face turned grim and angered.

"Don't laugh," it said as it pressed its foot onto his chest, causing him to groan in mild pain. The sidewalk was rough and rocky, each but stabbing into his back like small needles. He looked down at his body, trying to find a way to free himself.

He groaned in an angered voice, "Get. Off. Of. Me!" He screamed as a sudden shake occurred around his hands. The thing flew off his body as a surge of energy filled him, giving him a bit more strength. He immediately stood up and bolted for the laptop. As he did sharp pain in his shoulder pierced him and his ears rang from a loud bang. People around him screamed in terror as he finally got to the laptop. He knelt next to the computer as blood dripped from the front of his shirt. He grabbed the computer and pressed a button on his watch. His watch beeped and suddenly turned red, meaning it was nearly out of power. His anger amplified at that moment between the problem and the pain.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" he shouted. As he said it, his watch emitted a signal, presumably sent to OBIS. Colinne came onto the coms to send a message from OBIS.

"Okay, OBIS is telling me that your watch is nearly dead," she stated in the coms. Ex picked up the laptop and began to run, but was stopped due to the pain in his shoulder.

He pressed his coms, "Well, thanks for the known news forecast, Captain Obvious. Any other news today?"

"Well yes, actually," Colinne replied sarcastically, "Your watch has enough juice to teleport you away from that area and somewhere where we can get you."

His anger cooled, "Well, that is excellent news."

"Great! Now get out of there!" she commanded. A roar emitted from the beast. It was a mix of a metallic jet engine, a deep pitched lion roar, and an earthquake shaking the ground. It sounded near terrifying.

"Maybe someone can kill this thing as well?" he asked.

"Hang on," a background voice quietly spoke. Suddenly, in a flash, Markiplier was behind it, wrapping his arms around the beast. It recoiled, trying to get away from him. Only then did Ex realize a crowd of Zootopians gathered around the park. Voices murmured around him as he stood. He held his hands up in stop motion.

"Everyone, please evacuate this area temporarily," he shouted, "We have this situation under control."

Markiplier grunted as it bashed him against a tree, almost dropping him, but he held on tight.

"Ex!" he shouted, "Get out of here!"

Ex looked to Mark and then back to the rest of the people. He looked at them, trying to think of a way to get them to back away. He gave up and pressed a button on his watch, and he began to find the best spot to go. The watch suddenly began to vibrate as a white light engulfed him as he began to teleport. A sudden shout brought him out of his trance.

"No!" a deep voice shouted. He looked just in time to see Markiplier launches of the things back, and it ran at him. In shock, he sought to Mark as he struggled up.

"Dude," Ex yelled, "Catch this and get out of here!"

He chucked the laptop towards Mark as he disappeared into another dimension. He disintegrated into white particles as the laptop left his fingers. He saw as the laptop flew up and over the beast just before his vision was moved to another spot in the same world.

Mark looked at the laptop moving in slow motion as he pressed his watch to head back to the lab. He entered the coordinates, and his legs began to disintegrate, and he jumped for the laptop. He hit the ground, and his hands touched the computer before his vision was shrouded in white. He fell through, and he prayed that his hands had touched the laptop as the lab came into focus. He heard the shout of the beast and a cry from someone else. He hit the ground of the lab's more smooth tiles and opened his eyes. He saw the grey of the laptop in his hands. He jumped for joy onto his feet. The rest of the group surrounded him as he held the laptop in success.

"Nice going, Mark!" Brian shouted, joy radiating from everyone.

"Thanks, but I couldn't have done it without…" he stopped, only then realizing that Ex was still in that world, trapped, possibly being hunted by that thing. The idea shook them all out of their joyful moment.

"Well, what do we do about that?" Mat asked. The group had no idea what to do since they didn't want to risk getting hurt, possibly killed, or arrested by the police. No one seemed willing at first, but the idea was a little tough to try and complete.

"I can still find him," Colinne stated in the silence, "His watch emits a frequency that is trackable by my logistics. Seems like he chose an obscure place, huh?"

The map shuffled around the city until they landed on the spot somewhere northeast of the town. According to the charts, it was in a place called the Rainforest District. He was in a rentable treehouse area, and his watch seemed to be charging, but not by much.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Mark asked, "He is bleeding and could die there if we don't do something."

"But we can't risk this, or else they'll know where you guys are," Colinne responded, "There needs to be a group in order not to get caught and not to seem suspicious."

Before she could continue, Skye spoke, "Then I'll go."

"What? Why?" Colinne asked suspiciously.

"Because I can get in and out quickly," she replied, "Plus, look at me. Anyone wants to come with me?"

Cheshapeek raised his hand, "We're his friends. I can help."

"Yep," Crystal-Flame quickly spoke. Both were willing to help. Though Skye seemed unconvinced, she would be lenient.


Ex could barely hold back screams of pain anymore. He quickly pushed through the wood door, not thinking about the burning sensation on his wrist. In mere minutes, he would be on the ground crying in pain. He ran to the house's bathroom, hoping to find any medical equipment. The weather outside was stormy, and a crack of thunder was heard off in the distance. He ran into the bathroom and finally got a good look at himself in the mirror. He was a wolf, a wolf with dark gray fur covering his body. Above his nose, his fur was a light grey color like the laptop. But everything below his nose was a light shade of gray and white. His eyes were a hazel brown, and his ears had small black lines across the top.

Before he could spectate further, he felt a surge of energy beginning to mobilize in his chest as he looked under the sink and fished out a first aid kit and ran down to a couch. He sat down and opened the case to find bandages, pain killers, and tweezers. He thought for a moment and, when the pain came back, grabbed the pain killers, rotated the bottle in his hands, and then put it back.

"I could do that," he whispered to himself, "But I could risk getting an infection, and it is pretty obvious."

He pulled out the tweezers and looked at them for a second before feeling another rush of pain. This time, he could feel his voice box begging to scream. Guess I better stop delaying it. he thought as he brought the tweezers up and grabbed the lodged bullet. Before he could pull, he looked out the window and waited for thunder to occur so he couldn't be heard. The light flashed into his eyes as he inhaled and pulled.


Across the street, Skye had come ahead of the other two to search for him somewhere in this area. She no longer covered her face, leaving her fur open to the rain and wind. Cheshapeek and Crystal chose not to stay in the Zootopian form since they found it to be weird, and they felt embarrassed according to each other.

"The last signal was from right here," Crystal yelled, snapping Skye out of her train of thought. She hurried back to the two and looked at the spot, which had a small drop of blood that sat below a sea of rainwater. Cheshapeek looked around, hoping to find some detail that would lead them to Ex. Skye didn't care what happened at first, but then she got a gut feeling about something when she saw him jump into the fray and help Vanoss and Dan. Something was different about him. Crystal lifted his hand to his ear and spoke.

"Are you sure he is here?" he asked, referring to anyone at the lab who was listening.

MatPat's voice punched through, "According to OBIS, yes. This was the last place he was tracked,"

"Well, he must have gotten some roof over his head," Skye said, a bit annoyed at the fact that he could die. The storm above them raged on as lightning flashed, and thunder clashed with the air around them.

"We gotta do something that could help us find him," Cheshapeek said, worry dripping into his voice. Another clash of thunder occurred as Skye began to sigh when she was cut off by a scream. The three immediately stood tall and listened. The cry was deep, coming from a man, but it wasn't deep enough to be considered an adult. They turned their heads down the street and saw a house that had a pair of lights on. They turned and ran for the home, hoping to save him.

The door ahead wasn't open, but they knew it was unlocked. Cheshapeek looked at the trio, grabbed the doorknob, and opened the door to a sight. Ex sat on the couch, seemingly lifeless, with blood running down his bare fur and skin. It leaked all over on the sofa and table in front of him. His head was tilted back on the couch, his mouth slightly opened, and his eyes opened in shock. Finally, his hands were on his lap, his left hand empty, and his right hand held a pair of tweezers, and a small bullet lay right next to his hand.

Crystal and Cheshapeek ran over to the body while Skye walked behind him and watched them talk.

"Ex, are you there?" Cheshapeek asked worryingly. After a second passed, a groan was heard from him as he tried lifting his head.

"Gosh, that hurt," he replied softly and painfully. Skye couldn't help but stare at the wound that he sustained. Blood had dripped slowly from the would, and it stained his fur, or artificial fur, and made an indent on his shoulder. She knew that there could be bits of bone, but she chose not to search for that. Instead, she stepped back and looked at him.

"Pretty stupid what you did back there," she said, her voice stern and near-emotionless.

"Don't flatter me," he asked, but then looked at her, "But you are right."

Ex grinned at the thought of what she said. He looked at her face and tried to make out as many details as he could through his ever blurry vision. He saw a full white-furred face, but sunglasses obscured her eyes. Her fur had bits of dirt and what seemed to be ash smeared on her face. Her eyes were piercing green. Even when the image in his eyes was distorted, he could still see them.

Crystal pulled his attention back, "We gotta get you to a doctor."

"Not possible," Cheshapeek predicted, "They'll know him in an instant and call the cops."

"Then, at the very least, let's close that wound," Skye said.

"Alright," he agreed, "There's a bathroom upstairs that should have towels and bandages."

They nodded and hurried up the stairs to the bathroom, but before they went up, Cheshapeek went back and fist-bumped Ex.

"Nice," he commented. Ex painfully laughed and pushed him away as he ran to the stairs.

They ran up the stairs to the bathroom. Inside, found towels and more wound cleaning supplies. Before they could get back downstairs, the worst sound came into focus: tires outside. Ex loudly talked from downstairs.

"Stay up there," he commanded. They stayed quiet and peeked over the railing at Ex sitting on the couch. His head turned to the door and back up to them, pretending to be sleeping. A sudden crack of thunder and the door to the house burst open. Two flashlight beams radiated from the door. An audible sigh came from Ex as the two were entering. Ex thought he knew who they were, but he has had wrong assumptions before.

"ZPD, identify yourself," a male voice. The voice was recognizable to Ex, but his mind was blurred and he couldn't think straight. He struggled, but raised his hand to show that he was not able to harm them. He felt a sense of fear run through him as the figures approached him, hoping that he didn't die or was arrested, though the pain in his shoulder was much worse than anything he could comprehend.

"Well," he whispered to himself, "Shoot."


Back at the lab, MatPat had spent most of the time on the computer tracking Ex's watch, hoping to find him if he was kidnapped or arrested. Most of the group, including Stephanie, went off to get some sleep. He kept on thinking of places he could've gone and kept searching through OBIS' scans. Before long, a hand tapped his shoulder and he was snapped out of his thoughts. He turned to see Colinne as she pulled him away for a second.

"Any luck?" she asked, hoping for a good response.

"Not so far," he replied, seemingly hopeless, "I've tried contacting Crystal and his group, but nothing so far,"

"That's okay, maybe they're just…" she paused to think, "Hiding in plain sight or something like that,"

"That is highly unlikely," MatPat guessed as they walked away from the computer, "Remember, we don't talk or know the same things as them. They might've gotten caught."

"Oh," she replied solemnly, "Well, we should still try to find them."

A sudden flash appeared in the lab as they finished talking, and Crystal-Flame and Cheshapeek came running through.

"Is anyone here a doctor?" Cheshapeek asked, his voice a small bit distressed.

MatPat came running through, "What's wrong?"

"This," Skye said as she walked into the lab with Ex slumped over her shoulder. He was passed out as small drops of blood rolled down his body. Quickly, the group raced to stop the blood slowly dripping from his shoulder. Colinne races over and looks at him for a second and sighs in what seems to be relief.

"What?" Crystal asked in response to that.

"It's good since it only hit his shoulder," she stated, "Any lower and he would've died a lot quicker,"

"'Cause it would've hit my lungs," Ex groaned as he struggled to move.

"Ex, listen, you're going to be fine," Mat said as he tried to encourage him. He looked at the group for a second before Ex lifted his left hand painfully.

"Use the thing," he said as he motioned to his watch. Mat looked at his watch confused, then footsteps came behind him. He turned and saw Dan walking up for a moment, then running up to the table where Ex was. He stayed for a moment and he held up his watch. Ex began to smile as Dan reached over his watch and grabbed something.

"What are you doing?" Colinne asked.

"Paying him back," he said as he grabbed a health kit, it materialized in mid-air and gave it to Ex. He grabbed it and a small wave of light moved up his arm slowly. It reached the spot and he felt the spot heal in a strange mix of nerves falling asleep and waking up and a weird stinging.

"This is a different health pack," Ex said simply, his voice becoming strong again.

Skye looked at the group weirdly, "Why didn't you do that before?"

"We didn't know that was a thing," Cheshapeek said, his voice sounding more relieved.

"Anyways," Mat blurted, "Ex, you might want to rest after all of that."

"Agreed," he said simply. He stood, his legs almost giving out due to little brain signals, leading Cheshapeek and Crystal having to assist him. Dan followed shortly behind, leaving Mat, Colinne, and Skye standing where Ex had been sat. Skye looked up for a moment, seeming happy and content. But only when she saw Mat and Colinne then did her face lose the emotions they had been showing. She turned and walked away without saying anything.

"Why does it seem like you hate us?" she asked Skye. Her ears perked up in response to the sudden question. She turned back, her white fur . She sighed.

"You wouldn't understand," she grimaced as she walked away. Mat walked next to Colinne as she prepared to head home.

"What do you think is up with her?" she asked him. Mat shrugged and lifted his shoulders.

"I don't know," he said, "It seems like distrust,"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean…" he paused to think for a moment, "She has this tone that conveys distrust and she doesn't seem like the person, I mean animal, to be like that."

"You're implying what?" Colinne asked before he could go any further.

He sighed, "I think it might have to do with some type of trauma in her life."

Colinne sighed as well, "Welp, better luck tomorrow, right?"

"Yep." Mat agreed, "We'll get some info before you get here tomorrow."

"Thanks, Matthew," she said.

He chuckled, "Call me Mat, for now, okay?"

Before she could leave, a thought crossed Mat.

"About OBIS, it came with a letter from someone named Lance," he said, "Do you know him?"

Colinne stopped for a moment and sighed, "Yep, he's my brother. He is a computer guy who works across the world from here. He is a computer guy for a company that is developing AI. I guess OBIS was his first success."

"Are you okay?" Mat asked.

She inhaled sharply, "Yeah, it's just… We haven't talked in years. We last saw each other at a friend's wedding. We didn't talk, though, just said hello and went on our ways."

Mat thought for a moment, "What about the rest of your family?"

Again, she sighed, "I don't think we should get into that. I'm just disconnected from them. You?"

Mat stood in silence for a second, "Well, I have a baby boy back at home. When everyone isn't looking, Steph is stressing over what is happening up there. I am too, I'm just wondering who is going to take care of him."

She nodded and walked out the door of the lab and left. Mat sighed, more in pain than in relief, feeling the stress of everything that had just happened. The weight is having a significant impact on his mood, making him tired and a bit angry. It was all connected to one question: Why? He pondered this as he walked in: Why was it that he and Steph and a bunch of these people have been brought into this mess of a situation. It seemed too coincidental, the fact that they all were gamers, most of the group were YouTubers, and that they were known in this world as heroes or vigilantes? It seemed like too much of a coincidence. The idea was locked in his head as he walked into the lounge to a burst of laughter as a conversation broke out in the room. Mat decided to push the thoughts away and listen in, though it kept nagging at him.

The laughter came from a story that Sean was telling. It was a funny story during a recording session with Mark and some other friends. Most of the group was interested, other than Mark, who knew the story and was already chuckling, and Skye, who was not listening to the story and instead of tinkering with some machinery. Mat went and sat next to Skye, listening to the story, but periodically peeking at what she was doing. Finally, Sean finished the story and the room burst out laughing. The laughter died down as the mood had changed from a more happy situation to a solemn remembrance.

"Anyone here been to Korea?" Mark asked, trying to start the conversations up again.

"Nope," Cheshapeek replied, "The quarantine was not any help,"

"Oh," Mark said solemnly.

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that," Cheshapeek implied, "I meant to say that the quarantine wasn't a fun thing to experience."

"Agreed," Stampy said.

"Anyone else?" Cheshapeek asked, turning towards Ex, who was slumped over for a second before falling forwards and sitting up immediately.

"I'm awake. I'm awake," he said, his voice more energized now. Everyone began to laugh again as he wasn't that well awake.

"So, what happened back there in Zootopia?" Mark asked.

"First of all," Ex started, pointing to his shoulder, "Son of a bitch shot me."

"Obvious," Skye commented.

Ex chuckled, "Then I teleported to the Rainforest District and got into a house before the storm."

"Then, two officers came into the house, and instead of arresting him, they helped us heal him," Cheshapeek burst in.

"Tell me it was them, you know, Hopps and Wilde?" David asked, waiting for an answer.

"Nope. It was a polar bear and a wolf," Ex said, rubbing his shoulder in remembrance.

"According to them, he was destroying property and I was creating one hell of a ruckus," Crystal said, "But they pardoned us."

"Indeed," Ex said. He turned to grab something off the table to eat and, as he turned his attention to Skye and Mat, realizing that Mat had fallen asleep as well. He was leaned back in his chair, and his body was trying to keep him in a comfortable position.

"How long has he been asleep?" he asked Skye. She turned to Mat and then back to him.

"I don't know," she replied, "Just leave him."


Mat woke up in what seemed to be a dark room. He felt the hard floor against his face as his eyes searched for a light source. He tried to stand but felt how his body was in pain and sore from something. He stood and found his attire to be different. He wore a weird shirt and gloves. The gloves were fingerless and had the emblem of his channel on there: a spiked circle surrounding four small curved rectangles and in the middle a green trophy. He wore torn jeans, not just at the knees, but lower and up and down his thigh, with bruises and blood poking out of each tear. Except he didn't feel it. Each bit of bruised skin wasn't hurting at all, as if they weren't there. The felt began to hyperventilate, extremely scared, and worried about what was happening. Then, the ground shook beneath him, and he turned to see a door leading out of the building. He walked towards it, extended his hand, took a deep breath, and then pushed the door open.

Opening the door gave to a symphony of sounds surrounding him. He walked out with his ears plugged and his head down, due to the darkness of the room and the sudden brightness of the outdoors. He could hear sounds of screams, crashing metal and stone, and roars of anger and anguish. His eyes adjusted, and he found himself in a ruined town. The screams were silenced as his mind came into focus; all he heard was gushing wind and stone cracking around him. He spun on his heel to see hundreds of rocks crashing down on the building he was in. He stared at the broken building for a moment before he turned around to a blur jumping at him. He covered his eyes and found that nothing happened, but when he opened them, a man stood in front of him. His hair and face covered in ashes, his eyes a bright white, and his skin gray and black. His eyes were piercing before he dropped to his knees, and Mat bent down with him. His breathing began to slow as he kept staring at him.

"Don't...Don't..." he tried to say. His voice was hoarse and airy.

"It's okay, I'll get you some help," he said as he turned, looked up, and shouted, "Hello? Is anyone out there? Please, we need help!"

The man brought his hand to Mat's forehead and began to speak in a different tongue. Mat could only stare as he looked at him much weaker now.

"You… are our hope," he said as he raised his hand.

"What? What do you…" he couldn't finish as the man's hand thrust into his chest.

"You shall be our shield!" he cried as his hand began to glow against Mat's chest. It didn't feel painful, but it stung against his chest. He raised his head and cried in not pain, but a mighty roar to the sky before there was black.

Mat sat up straight with a gasp. He looked around where he was, realizing that he was in the lounge again. He looked around, seeing that he was the only one awake in the room. He found himself to be too awake to fall back asleep. His watch began to vibrate, and, as he looked down, he saw that his screen was glitching a slight bit as he felt it vibrate on his wrist. The screen then emitted a soft yet recognizable high pitch sound that sounded near like nails on a chalkboard. It suddenly stopped just as fast as it began, showing a time signature instead.

"5:57," he sighed as he stood up and walked out of the lounge. He didn't feel fazed as it wasn't the weirdest thing he had seen recently. As he walked through the door, he saw a small light above a table. As he walked closer, he saw Ex sitting alone at the laptop that he had helped to retrieve. He hummed a low tune to himself before he stood as Mat approached.

"Woke up early?" he asked.

"Didn't sleep at all?" Mat retorted.

"Nah, I slept, just had something on my mind so I couldn't sleep."

"You mean a dream in your mind?"

Ex looked at him for a moment, "You had one of those too?"

"Mmmhmm," he responded. Ex stood.

"And your watch just shook on your hand?" he asked. Mat nodded again.

"What was it about?" he asked. Mat held his head by his forehead.

"I don't know," he stated simply, "We'll find out later."

"So, wanna help me with this instead?" he asked. Mat nodded and walked over to him.

"What's up?" he asked him.

"I want to find out what those things are," he said as he pointed to a picture of the thing they encountered previously. Mat looked at the image and then back to Ex.

"What are you looking for," he asked. Ex turned his head to look at him.

"A way to kill it."


A/N: TWO IN ONE DAY, BABY! In all seriousness, though, it is taking me quite a long time to revise this while at the same time creating a VERY long chapter simultaneously. I hope that I can finish the next one or two revisions over the weekend and have it posted by mid next week, as well as maybe finish up the chapter and then get it ready to post here and on Wattpad. But we'll see. All of this is my hope. Nonetheless, enjoy these next few chapters!