Earth didn't look...alive would be the proper term. Its atmosphere had a faint, sickly yellow color, the continents' green looked like it was fading and the blue waters had begun to turn black. In short, it looked like a totally different planet.

"They say you can't go home again, but..."

"Here we are," Quinn finished Gary.

"Are we really home," asked Fly as she looked at the planet with pity.

"No. No, we aren't."

Suddenly, a voice spoke through Gary's communicator. "Gary, can you hear me?"

"Avocato? It's Avocato!" Hearing that, Fly let out a sigh of relief. "Hey, where are you, man?"

"I'm looking at a whole lot of nothing."

"Did everyone make it out?"

"Almost. But I haven't seen Mooncake."

"How are Little Cato, Fox and Ash?" asked Fly, sounding worried.

"They're fine. So are Sheryl, Tribore and...his son, in case you're wondering."

"Oh. Okay."

"Gary, I'm heading into some..." All that came next was static.

"Avocato, Avocato?!"

"Gary? Fly!" Avocato grunted in frustration. "We lost them."

"So we're just gonna sit on this planet chunk and do nothing?" asked Sheryl.

Tribore scoffed. "Speak for yourself, hot mama. Come on, Quatro. We're leaving." Quatronostro nodded.

"Yep. You're leaving," deadpanned Ash. This would be the second time Tribore left for an unexplainable reason.

"I'm afraid I must. My species has an ancient cherished ritual called paternity leave."

"Uh-huh. We're all familiar with the..."

"I must spread my wings like a majestic falcon and leave. So bye."

Quatronostro pulled out a huge laser axe out of his satchel and used it to crack the planet chunk they were on in half, separating him and Tribore from the rest of the Team Squad. Seriously, how was he born with those weapons? "Lo veremos más tarde," he said.

"Will we ever see you again," called out Fox.

Tribore said as they drifted away, "Close your eyes. Now look at me. But keep them closed. But look at me. I'm with you. But I'm gone. I'm here. But I'm gone. I left. But I stayed. But I'm gone."

Okay! We get the point!

"There's gotta be a ship down there," said Quinn.

"Alright, we jack a ship, we find the Team Squad, and we skip town out of Final Space," said Gary.

"But, we are going to save Earth right?" asked Fly. "I mean, there still could be people down there."

"Haven't gotten that far yet. But we will. Somehow. But first, we planet jump."

"Gary, I'm afraid the aberrant gravity wells make that impossible."

Gary let out a groan of disappointment at HUE. "Well, thank you, HUE. Just swoop in there and buzzkill the whole dang moment."

"I'll take you down," volunteered KVN. "Hold on to my claws." Gary and Quinn held onto KVN's claws while HUE and Fly held onto Gary and Quinn respectively. "Got it? Air KVN is ready for lift off." With everyone holding on tight, the spherical robot flew off and toward Earth. It looked like he was heading straight for Europe. "And I hope you're enjoying the view," he said, acting like a tour guide. "Weather conditions permitting I'm expecting a smooth transition to, uh, post apocalyptic Earth..."

Suddenly, an invisible force ended the smooth ride and began pulling them downward at breakneck speeds. "These would be those aforementioned abhorrent gravity wells."

Gary snapped, "You just love saying abhorrent gravity wells, don't you, HUE? Don't you-u-u-u?!"

They all screamed until they crashed into the middle of a street. Thankfully, KVN broke their fall. Fly was the first to get up and ask, "Where are we?" When she saw the ruins of the Eiffel Tower in the distance, she knew where they were instantly. "We're in France?"

"Not just France," said HUE. "Paris. It's... beautiful."

"Beautiful? What an idiot. Heh, heh. Am I right, Gary?"

For once, Fly agreed with KVN. Paris looked dead. Dead bodies and cars floated in the air, buildings and streets were crumbling and the sky was tainted with a sick yellow color. It didn't look like there was anything or anyone alive left in the city. It made Fly wonder out loud, "Is there anything left to save?" Nobody responded.

Back with Avocato's group, Little Cato asked him, "Dad, how do we find the others when we don't even know where we are?"

The older Ventrexian put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Hey, I know where you are. For now, that's enough."

Suddenly, the whole planet chunk started to shake. "Hold on," Sheryl shouted.

"No one panic," Fox assured everyone. "We're getting through this." Suddenly, he vanished in a blink of light.

Ash was startled and she began panicking. "Ahh! Fox? Fox?" She activated her powers and flew around frantically, calling out, "Where are you?! Fox?!"

"No, Ash, stay close. We don't know what we're up..." Sheryl disappeared before she could finish her sentence.

"Sheryl!" Now it was Ash's turn to vanish.

"Ash," Little Cato called out. "Dad. W-What's going on?"

Avocato began firing his gun randomly, hoping it would shoot whatever was kidnapping them. "I don't know. But I swear they are not taking you." Spoke too soon. "Little Cato!" Then he disappeared.

As Gary's group walked down the streets of the dead Paris, HUE said, "My greatest dream was to transfer my AI into a corporeal being and see Paris. And now it's become a reality. A charming Parisian café. Oh, and it appears to be open." He opened the door...and his right arm fell off.

"It's true! People would give their right arm to visit Paris," said KVN.

Poor HUE sighed despondently. "Is this what mortality feels like?"

The group came across a garage and were relieved to find some ships. But after inspecting them, they knew they were not space worthy. "Damn it," said Fly as she banged her fist on one of the ship's trunks. "It looks like somebody stripped these hunks of junk clean. I'll never understand the whole 'looting in an apocalypse' mob mentality."

"We're totally stranded," said Gary.

"Dead ships, dead world. Boy, I'm glad this isn't my fault, right Gary?" KVN got up in his face. "Can you imagine being responsible for the annihilation of Earth?" He chuckled, resulting in Fly punching him in the eye.

"You're not helping!"

Suddenly, something flew by. "What is that?" asked Quinn, pointing at...whatever was flying right at them. She, Gary and Fly pulled out their guns and began firing at it, but it just dodged their shots. "Run!" They took off running but the flying thing grabbed onto Fly and Gary by the ankles and took off into the sky.

"QUIIIINNN!" screamed Gary. "Get after me!"

Fly squirmed and tried to shoot at flying thing, but she missed. "Let go of us, you...you...what are you, anyway?!" It obeyed her command and dropped her and Fly in a hole in the ground. "Wait! I changed my MIIIIIIINNNND!" She screamed as she and Gary fell down into what looked like an underground bunker.

"I'm okay," Gary groaned in pain. "You broke my fall."

"And Harp's box broke mine," Fly said, rubbing her sore back. "Either that, or it ruptured a few organs.

Suddenly, they heard voices coming from all around them. Fly thought there was something familiar about them.

"Is that them?"

"Oh, that's got to be him. I'd know those faces anywhere."

"Whoa. I want a lock of his hair."

"I want all of her hair."

Gary pulled out his guns and he and Fly ducked behind a metal crate. "Who are you?!" Gary shouted. He looked around the crate and saw multiple red eyes staring back at him. "Okay. Aah! I'm alone and outnumbered by possibly apocalyptic manticores."

"Manticores?" questioned Fly. "We're in Paris, not Persia."

"Doesn't matter! We're surrounded by monsters! There's only one course of action, Gary. You got to take them all out."

But he didn't get the chance to use the guns as whatever was hiding came out of the shadows. "Can we take pictures with you? Hey, Gary, hey, hey..."

Fly's eyes bugged out. "On second thought, I want the manticores!"

"It's a school of wild KVNs! NOOOO!" screamed Gary as they grabbed him and Fly. "What has the Earth devolved into?"

"LET GO OF ME," screamed Fly in an insane manner as they poked and prodded her. "PLEASE! LET ME SHOOT MYSELF! YOU'RE SUCKING THE SOUL RIGHT OUT OF ME!"

"I love when Gary yells," said one of the KVNS as he took pictures of Gary.

"I know," said another. "Why did he stop? It's the funniest thing."

"I knew it would end like this," wept Gary. "Being tortured in a European hellscape by a demon horde of KVNs. Roll out death's sleeping bag. I'm ready for the big nap."

Suddenly, something let out a "RAAAAWWWRRR!" Something small was walking toward them.

"What is that thing," Gary asked.

"If it's anything like the KVNs, it's better off dead," Fly shrieked holding up both of her guns.

"Is someone telling jokes in here? Who tells jokes?" As the figure got closer, Gary and Fly got a better look at it. It looked like a small, white tiger version of a Ventrexian wearing a blue jumpsuit and green safety goggles.

"Oh, it's like a tiny Crumble Bear," exclaimed Gary.

The little Ventrexian let out an excited moan as he pointed at Gary and Fly. "Ohhhhh, boy! It's you. It's you. It's really you." He jumped into Gary's arms and began licking his face.

"Okay, stop it. Stop licking my face." He grabbed the Ventrexian and held him away. "I know I'm me. Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Biskit the Tiger Tiger."

"Fly! Now would be a nice to get all killy-happy!" Gary looked over at Fly, only to see that she was staring at Biskit in awe, completely mesmerized. "Seriously?! What is it with you and talking cats?!"

"I can't help it!" Fly squealed with excitement and held Biskit in her arms. "He's so kawaii!" She stopped when she realized, "Wait, did I just say that?" She sighed despondently. "I really am insane." Then she asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm you and Gary's greatest living super fan," said Biskit with a smile on his face.

"We're your hugest fans," said the KVNs.

"A fan of WHAT?!" screamed Gary.

"We've seen every episode," said one of the KVNs. "All your transmissions. Seriously."

"Excuse me. Did you say transmissions?"

"The ones you sent Quinn," said Biskit. "Five years of broadcasting genius."

Wait. Gary's visual diary? "You...saw those?" he asked, looking red in the face.

"All of them," said another KVN. "And they just got better and better. Especially Episode 2,513, when you moaned like a dying animal."

"How did you even get those?" Fly asked as she patted Biskit's head, making him purr.

Before anyone could answer that question, Quinn and the original KVN came in. "Gary? Gary, are you alright?"

Upon seeing her, all the KVNS applauded while Biskit leaped out of Fly's hands and squealed, "Oh, my gawwwwrrawr! It's Quinn! It's Quinn! It's Quinn! Hey, Quinn."

Quinn pointed her gun at him. "Who are you?"

"Quinn, careful what you say," said Gary dramatically. "It knows everything."

Biskit purred, "You're even more beautiful in real life."

Quinn smiled and holstered her gun. "Okay, this one lives."

"I got to tell you, this is a real treat. We haven't seen a visitor since Earth was like basketball palmed into Final Space."

Quinn knelt down and asked him, "How did anyone survive here? What is this place?"

"The bunker to Earth's most visionary roboticist, Kevin Van Newton." He showed his guests a holographic image of a man in his late 40s with dark hair and a matching beard.

"Whoa, Papa Kev," exclaimed the original KVN. "He's the one who created me, Gary. He created your best friend. Which is me, KVN."

That caught Gary and Fly's interest. So, this man was the one who created these annoying pieces of shit. "Quinn," he whispered. "I've finally found him. The father of Beelzebub."

Giggling like a lunatic, Fly pulled a fire axe off the wall and said, "Chop, chop, chop goes his head!"

"Not enough! This house... must be cleansed... with... fire. We got to burn it to the ground, Quinn. We got to burn it to the ground."

"Later, Gary," said Quinn. "Is this Kevin still alive?"

"Not sure," said KVN. "Anybody see Papa K lately?"

The other KVNs said, "Not me. Yeah, not in a forever. Anyone's guess. I don't know. Probably dead."

Then Gary saw it. A door with the name "KVN" on it. "Down the hall, Quinn. Shoot for the head," he said as he charged up his gun.

At that moment, HUE came in, wearing a scarf and a beret. "Monsieur HUE is in the building. No arm jokes, s'il vous plait."

Gary, Quinn and Fly entered the room, where they found Kevin. He did not look well at all. His dark hair and beard had become white and his clothes were a disheveled mess.

"Hello?" Gary called out.

The old man ignored him and ranted to himself, "Not listening. Remember, the voices aren't real, Kevin. They're not real. I wish they were real."

Fly let out a scream and charged at him with the axe. "CHOP! CHOP! CHOP CHOP!" ZAP! The old man hit her with a stun wand and she went down in a heap.

He put it away and said, "Oh, oh, of course you'd show up now that I've officially lost it."

"We haven't met before," Fly said through gritted teeth.

"Not you. You." He pointed to Quinn, who gave him a confused look. "It's been... a while." He chuckled in a crazy manner.

"If by a while, you mean never, then, yeah, we're good."

"Your hallucinations are getting realer and realer and realer. Well done. Look out!" Kevin threw a ball at her, but she caught with expertise. He gasped as he realized, "Impossible. You are real. Real."

"How do you know her again?" asked Gary.

Kevin ignored him and pleaded with Quinn, "But why now? Have you a new mission for me? I need something to do. My turd museum is finished."

She backed away from him a few inches. "Uh...okay."

Gary snarked, "Didn't answer the question, but..."

"We ARE looking for a ship," said Fly as she stood up.

"Another ship. Ha! I should've guessed."

"You're just gonna blaze over that one," Gary grumbled at the old man. "Good."

"Our friends are lost out there," said Quinn.

"For now. But we need to get to them."

"MORE?! THERE'S MORE?!"

Fly whispered to Gary, "It seems even Kevin can't stand his own hell spawn."

Gary nodded as he asked him, "So do you have a ship or not?"

"No, no, no, no, no, but I know where to find one. But first, you rest," Kevin insisted as he shoved Quinn and Gary into a bedroom.

"Did he say rest?" asked Gary. "Why would we-"

"REST!" Kevin shouted as he closed the curtain. Then he turned to Fly. "Oh, right. She tasked me to give you a message."

"She did?" she asked, confused. "Who?"

"Please, do not kill Kevin even though he may drive you insane. That's what she said."

"You mean Quinn? She never told me that? Hell, this is the first time we met!"

"Of course she did! She was very thorough about it."

Avocato groaned as he came to. Then when he fully awoke, he gasped when he saw his teammates caught in a spider's web. "What the...?"

Suddenly, a large, metallic spider dropped down and said in a threatening tone, "You finally came to finish us off, Invictus."

Invictus? "What? I'm not..."

Another spider dropped down and asked Avocato, "Why then are you here if not to kill us?"

Avocato pointed at it. "You kidnapped us."

"A stirring alibi for a lying liar," said a third. "You sir, are a grand master of lies."

"You're Arachnitects?!" Fox shrieked.

"You know of our kind?" asked the first Arachnitect.

Little Cato nodded. "Yeah, we made, uh... we made fast friends with um... Ugh, he had an incredibly stupid name. Um ...Jermaine? No, uh Jared? Jeremy? Yeah, that's it. Jeremy."

"Jeremy? You've seen him?" Little Cato nodded again. The Arachnitect chuckled. "Jeremy is my boy."

"Oh, he's your kid?" asked Ash.

"No. He's my boy. I can't believe they didn't fire him. He's utterly incompetent. I love that guy."

"If you don't mind me asking, and Lord knows I don't mean to intrude, what are you doing here," asked Fox.

The second Arachnitect explained, "When the Arachnitects created Final Space, they deployed hundreds of sentries like us to guard Invictus and the Titans. But the Titans broke through, and one by one, we've all been murdered. Except us."

"You're the last ones left in Final Space," Little Cato realized.

The third Arachnitect said, "We've been hiding for so long. You can stay here with us. We will protect you."

Back with Gary and Quinn, they felt a little uneasy as they rested on the bed. Especially with the occasional rumblings that happened outside. "You know, I think this is our first time alone together since I found you," said Gary in a romantic tone.

"How does it feel?" asked Quinn.

"Like my soul doughnut just got injected with the blueberry jelly essence that turns a mediocre confection into the special of the day."

"My soul doughnut feels the same. Want to make out?"

"Dang, you're good! Hell yeah!"

But before they could kiss, Kevin pulled back the curtain and asked, "Are you resting?"

Gary, pissed that their moment was rudely interrupted, said, "Will you not? Yes, we are resting per your completely insane demand."

"I see you saved a spot for me. Very thoughtful of you. Excuse me." Kevin crawled under the covers to lie next to the spot between Gary and Quinn.

"Oh, yeah, okay. No. No. Stop. Stop. Don't slither. You're under the cov..."

"Here comes the mole."

"Why are you under the cov... okay."

Kevin popped his head out from the covers. "There we go." Gary and Quinn tried to leave but he pulled them back onto the bed. "No, no. Don't get up. I will beat you if you get up. Rest."

Gary plugged his nose. "Oh, I am literally eating your breath. Thank you for that snack."

Kevin got in Quinn's face and said, "So, how did you two meet? I must know everything. Everything. Every. Thing."

Quinn waved a hand in front of her face. "Dude, you are way too close."

"Tell me everything," he said to Gary.

Gary said reluctantly, "Actually, it's... it's pretty embarrassing. I think I called her a, uh..."

"A muy bueno super-spicy lady," said Quinn.

"Oh, yep," Gary said.

"It was bad."

"Mm-hmm."

"But not that bad."

"Then, it got way worse..."

"Oh, come on."

"And then I found my ride-or-die."

"Oh. A little love coin just deposited in my happiness savings."

Suddenly, Kevin pulled the two of them out of the bed. "And now arise. Our rest is complete. Come on. You should be rested." There was a loud smashing sound. "That would be Fly."

Fly chopped up one of the KVNs with the fire axe, looking crazed. She held the box Harp was in close. "Nobody touches the box, you hear me?!"

Another KVN said, "In my experience, boxes are usually empty. Or maybe with a little cheese stuck to the top. And one time pepperoni! What a day that was!" He let out a scream and tried to take the box from her. "GIVE ME THE BOX!" He wound up hacked to pieces.

"Fly?" Gary, Quinn and Kevin arrived. "What's going on?"

"They tried to style my hair and they pestered me with questions about the meaning of Gary! And they tried to take Harp!"

"Would you stop messing around?" Kevin asked, as if he didn't care that she'd just chopped up two of his robots. "It's time to go!"

The group met up with HUE in the hanger bay. Kevin put on his helmet as he opened the doors. "Come on. The shipyard is only one 179 miles away."

"You mean we're finally getting a..."

"And keep an eye out for Mutant Land Fish," Kevin interrupted Gary. "They're everywhere and we're all gonna die."

"What are Mutant Land Fish?" asked Fly.

"Oh, parasitic creatures who feed on dead planets, like rabid house mice. Only less cuddly."

"I vote we return to the bunker and eat fromage," said HUE.

"Will you shut up?! If you keep talking, the Land Fish will hear you." Kevin pulled a lever, summoning three KVNs and the original KVN.

"Where are you taking us," asked Quinn.

"To the land of beer and spaceships. Belgium. Take some mints."

"Belgium truly is the Canada of Europe," said HUE.

"Grab hold!" The group held onto the KVNs and Kevin laughed as they flew away.

Back with Avocato's group, the Arachnitects let them loose after the misunderstanding was over. "We apologize for ensnaring you all," said the first.

"Nah, we're good," said Little Cato, fist bumping him.

"How did the three of you survive?" asked Ash.

"How does anyone survive?" the second rhetorically asked. "Hope."

"Even in the darkest moment there's always a little..."

The third never finished his sentence as all three of them suddenly began to writhe and scream in agony before their bodies crumpled up like paper. Then the group heard it. An high, rasping laughter. They looked up and saw a small, grey alien wearing a black robe. The Lord Commander smiled wickedly at them. "My, my, my... How I've missed this."

Avocato gasped in horror and rage. "It can't be! DIE!" He fired his gun, but the midget alien tyrant blocked all his shots with a forcefield before he pulled them all in a telekinetic hold.

"Some new faces. Lovely. Except there seem to be a few of you missing. Where, oh where is my friend Mooncake?" He grabbed Little Cato by the throat. "Little Cato, care to share?"

The young Ventrexian spat in his face, "I wouldn't tell you even if I knew."

The smile the Lord Commander said, "I was hoping you would say that."

"You really don't remember me, do you," Kevin asked Quinn as the group flew across the sky, above the city of Belgium. Or rather, what was left of Belgium. "Well, I was younger then. And I've gotten more handsome."

"I REALLY don't," said Quinn.

"I find that strange since you're the one who told me to build this ship."

"What?"

Fly, hearing this, began to wonder out loud, "Wait...are you talking about -"

Gary interrupted her, "Yo, crackpot. How much further is the ship?"

"We're here."

Unfortunately, the place was already home to dozens of mutant fish monsters that were currently feasting on Belgian bodies. "Land Fish," said HUE.

"Oh, good. How are we supposed to get to the ship," asked Gary.

Quinn took out her gun and fired at the fish. "We shoot our way in!"

"Works for me," Fly laughed maniacally as she blasted at the Land Fish with a machine laser gun.

"Gary, did I ever tell you the story about..."

"No, because I don't know you," Gary snapped at Kevin. "Nobody knows you."

"19 years ago the Infinity Guard contracted me to build a device that could safely lightfold organic beings between two points in space."

"That's...actually pretty interesting," said Fly. "If we live, tell us how to use it."

"I called it a Hyper-transdimensional Bridge."

The original KVN scoffed at the name. "That's a stupid name. Why - Why not call it a Starbridge or, uh, ooh, a Stargate?"

The old man huffed at him and said, "When you invent a teleporter, you can name it whatever the hell you like."

"Why didn't it work," asked Fly.

"We built the first gate on Earth, but then the bridge technology was scrapped."

Before they could enter the hanger, another Land Fish burst out of the ground. Gary screamed as he shot it in the mouth. "Aah! Aah! Oh! Oh, no! Oh! Not from the ground, too!"

"Which means all I have to do is connect it to the second gate and then..."

"We can leave Final Space?" Quinn finished Kevin's sentence as they landed and ran inside.

"A way out. There's a way out?" asked Gary.

"You're sure this can work?"

Kevin just laughed. "Certain? Hilarious. The parts were warehoused in London. If I can find it, maybe I can retrofit it and, well, there is one other wrinkle."

"Space-time wrinkly or dress-shirt wrinkly?" asked Gary.

Kevin scoffed and snarked, "I don't know. Summer-khaki wrinkly, you idiot."

"Oh, no. That might be too wrinkly."

"Gary, you're starting to sound like Tribore now. I think he's rubbed off on you," said Fly. Suddenly, she heard a roar and turned back to see one of the monster fish flying toward them. "THEY FLY?! THEY'RE LAND FISH! LAND FISH AREN'T SUPPOSED TO FLY!" She fired her gun at the fish, blasting its brains out. "WHAT ELSE CAN GO WRONG, HUH, GOD?! WHAT ELSE, GOD?!"

HUE's other arm popped off. "Oh, mon coeur."

The group ducked behind a road block. Kevin sparked a conversation with HUE, "Heh. Well, this is sort of awkward, but who are you?"

"My name is H.U.E., or HUE."

"HUE? Why, that's the signature of an AI. Why would you subject yourself to the processing limits of a garbage bot," Kevin laughed.

"I thought that, without a body, I was less somehow. But now I know that with physicality comes the burden of endless need."

"Stay positive, champ. You never know what the future holds."

"Come on. How would he know? He has no arms." Wow. Way to ruin the moment, KVN.

"Four Mutant Land Fish between us and the ship," said Gary. "Let's do this."

KVN flew up into the air and fired his lasers at all four fish monsters with his lasers. "Zero."

"Everyone to the ship," Fly shouted.

The ship looked like an Infinity Guard cruiser, but colored purple and white. The interior was also different, much more advanced than the average Infinity Guard ship. It looked like Kevin had spruced it up with whatever alien tech he could find.

"I give you the Bearded Turkey Wing," Kevin said as they entered the bridge.

"No, no, I wanted to name it," complained Gary. "I had a name all picked out."

"What was it, Gary?" asked KVN. "Tell me!"

"The Dragon Hawk 5. What do you guys think?"

"Meh," said Fly. "I would have called it the Crimson Light Mark Two."

HUE felt a tad uncomfortable. "AVA..."

"Oh. Sorry, HUE."

"Let's go with the Galaxy 2," suggested Quinn.

"Wha- Aw, man," Gary pouted. "Life is a graveyard of dead dreams."

Suddenly, something slammed against the ship's windows. "Oh, look," said Fly nonchalantly. "The horrible mutant fish are back."

KVN trembled. "Ooh, I'm feeling a sweet rumble in my butt panel. That's how you know it's a good ship.

Quinn tried to start the engines, but nothing happened. "Quick, where's the ship's AI?"

"It doesn't have one," said Kevin.

That caught HUE's attention. "Did you say no AI? Please can I have my old job back? Please?"

"Hell yeah, dawg," said Gary as he sat in the captain's seat. "Get in there."

"Yeah, baby. Au revoir, garbage bod. Uploadjulating." HUE's lights blinked before his body shut down and toppled over.

Fly tapped his shoulder. "HUE? You okay?"

All the lights, devices and appliances in the newly christened Galaxy 2 activated. "Systems are activated. HUE 2.0. is online, baby. Land Fish detected ahead." HUE fired the ship's guns at the monsters. "Land Fish eliminated."

"Alright, HUE!" Gary cheered as the ship took off. "Yes!" He turned to Kevin and asked, "Why the hell did you abandon this ship?!"

"I didn't abandon it. She did," Kevin pointed to Quinn. "Like it? It's the ship I built for you. But you never came to get it. Until now."

Quinn said, frustrated and annoyed with the crazy old man, "For the last time, I've never seen you before in my life. I don't know who you are, and I certainly didn't tell you to build this ship."

"Wait," said Fly. She had a feeling who it was now but she had to know for sure. "Kevin, when Quinn asked you to build the ship, did she have a chip in her head?"

"Now that you mention it, she did."

Gary and Quinn knew at once what Fly was implying. "It was Nightfall," she said with a slightly sad look. "I knew it."

"So it was me," said Quinn. "Just not yet. Why did you go through all this for someone you never met?"

"Uh, she said something about everything going to hell and the two of you meant to be together, but never meant to be, and... honestly, I don't remember much," said Kevin, shrugging his shoulders. "It was six years ago. She sounded either crazy, or... or totally in the know. I... anyway, I built this."

Fly smiled as she looked out the window, seeing Belgium be left behind. Then she frowned. "HUE, go to Mobile."

"Alabama?" questioned Gary. "We have to go back to the bunker."

"Gary, there's something there I need right now. Don't worry. It'll take a few minutes."

"Here we are," said HUE.

Fly put her helmet back on and exited the ship. "Like I said, I'll be back." She approached a house sitting upon a hill. It, like pretty much every other building she'd seen so far, was in total ruin. Dead vines covered its walls and the windows were broken. She kicked the door down.

The living room had a typical middle class style: a TV mounted on the wall and a couch with a coffee table in front of it. She didn't pay any attention. Instead, she walked upstairs to the master bedroom. The mattress had rotted away and the photos sitting on the dresser had begun to fade away.

But she paid no attention to it and instead focused on the loose floorboard next to the bed. She opened it and smiled at the sight of what she was looking for. "Gotcha," she said before pocketing it. She felt a presence. "You let the place go to shit, Dad."

Siting in a chair was an old man holding a shotgun in his hand. "I haven't been back here in a decade. I own a two-acre ranch in Springwood, Illinois now. When I saw your ship, I had a feeling it would be you."

Fly looked down the hall to see her old bedroom. It was the same as it was when she left it all those years ago. A couple of posters of her favorite bands hung on the wall and her collection of manga and American comics were stacked up in her closet. She smirked. "You left it intact." Then she frowned. "Nothing in this house but bad memories, mostly."

"So why'd you come?" asked her father. "Need more money to steal from? A place to hide? You're barking up the wrong tree, girl. Far too late to come begging now."

Fly glared at him. "Nothing you do could ever make up for what you and mom did to me."

"We did our best with you! But you were trouble from the moment you went to middle school! Disobedient, ungrateful, with the attention span of a cockroach and a mouth like a sewer. Oh, we saw where you were heading, I've been down that hole myself. And I guaran-goddamned-tee you, we did everything to pull you out. What more do you want from me?"

"You never approved of anything I did! Everything I liked or wore or wanted was always wrong! Mom picked out my friends for crying out loud! I never had the chance to make friends of my own! I wanted to be free!"

"And where did that get you? You stole from others, you drugged them, had your way with them and dumped their naked bodies in alleys! Hell, you even sampled your own products! And you poisoned an entire planet's ecosystem and got your sorry arse in prison for life. Some freedom."

Fly gritted her teeth. "At least I managed to make a real friend. At least I was able to make up for what I've done."

"You think he'll ever take you in? You think his boy would truly accept you as a mother? You haven't changed. You're still that same foolish girl who runs away from your responsibilities. Just like with Cetus. You never even gave her a name! Didn't even bother to ask that couple what name they gave her."

"I told Avocato this already. I didn't want to get that kid stuck in the same problems I was going through. I... You know what? Why am I bothering talking to you? I already explained my past to Avocato and Gary. I don't need to explain my actions to you." She was about to leave when he stopped and asked, "Where's Mom?"

The old man made a snort. "She died after you got arrested. Said you brought shame to our family. Died from shock. We cremated her."

"Oh. I..."

"Fly?" She turned to see Gary and Quinn. "You were in here for fifteen minutes. What's taking you? Did you find what you're looking for?"

"Just..." She turned her back on the old man. "Just having a last minute conversation with my dad." She paused to look one last time at him. "Maybe...maybe you did all those things for a reason. But I'm glad I became such a screw up and became Fly. Otherwise, I wouldn't have met these two."

"Peh. You'll drag them down. You will never be the mother you think you will be."

"Love you too, dad," she said as she left.

Gary whispered to Quinn, "Should we be concerned that we just watched her having an argument with a mummy?"

The corpse was sitting in the chair with a shotgun in its mouth.

The group returned to Paris to drop off Kevin and his KVNs at his bunker. Before the group left, he asked, "Tell me, what happened to Nightfall?"

"She's dead," said Fly, earning her a slap in the face by Quinn.

"What was that?"

Quinn said, "What she meant was, she made sure Gary and me..."

Kevin held his hand up. "Sounds like a long story. I'm going to London to see if I can get this bridge working. You've got my cell."

"Yo, we actually don't have your..." Kevin didn't hear Gary as he walked off. "Okay. Alright. Just walk away. He's gonna call."

Gary activated the engines and asked HUE, "HUE, can you lock onto anyone's signature? Mooncake? Little Cato? Avocato? Anyone?"

"Uh, did you forget about Sheryl, Fox, Ash, Tribore and his newborn, full grown son," questioned Fly.

"I'm picking up dense energy from three sectors away," reported HUE.

"Alright. We got us a ship and maybe a way out of here. What do you say muy bueno super-spicy lady?"

"Gary," said Fly with a cringe. "Please don't flirt with Quinn while I'm here. It was bad enough watching you do it in those messages you sent her."

"Hey, I don't mind," said Quinn. "Mooncake, here we come."

Fly pressed a button on her console. "Activating lightfold engines!"

Bolo brought Mooncake to a red dwarf star. "Killing Oreskis will be no simple task. We will need to forge a weapon of immense power. And you will help me forge it."

"Chookity-pok," said Mooncake.

"Do you see that red dwarf?"

"Pok."

"I will fold that star onto itself like steel over anvil. And you will be the hammer, Mooncake. Blast it with everything you've got."

Mooncake nodded with determination. "Chookity-pok-pok!"

"Alright, home slice, let's do this!" Bolo grabbed onto the red dwarf with all six hands, slowly pressing it. "Now, Mooncake!"

"CHOOKITY-POK!" Mooncake fired his laser at the star, creating a small wormhole. Bolo reached into it and pulled out a large, green sword from it and held it up high like He-Man or Lion-O would. Mooncake watched with awe as it began to glow purple.

"Now, let's hunt us a Titan!"