At least Doyle didn't leave the ship. That was the good thing. And Van Rook was able to contact Dr. Odele, the closest Secret Scientist, to take Cheveyo. However, Komodo refused to go with the other Scientist.
"He never did like the rest of us that much." Odele mused, "But it seems he's taken a liking to Zak. Perhaps you should keep him instead?" It took some puppy eyes on the three adults, but eventually, Zak had Abbey, Van Rook, and Doyle agreeing, some better than others.
"As long as you promise to take care of him." said Van Rook, the one issue he had with keeping Komodo. He wasn't about to clean up after the large lizard. He was already thinking of all the money it would take to care for Komodo. Of course Zak had agreed, and that was how Komodo was accompanying them on their way to the Amazon. He was curled between seats, catching up on sleep as they flew. Doyle had his arms crossed, refusing to talk to Abbey or Van Rook. He tended to hold a grudge at the worst of times. Abbey was flying as Van Rook spoke of how he had a few ideas of where the piece of the Kur Stone could be.
"Drew loved the Amazon." said the eldest man, "She had grown up in Tibet, in the constant cold, so having such a warm place was paradise for her. It is likely the place she hid the stone, but not without protection."
"The basin is home to several packs of Tapire-Iauara." added Abbey, "She might've hidden it in the mud amongst their territory. It won't be easy to retrieve."
"When is anything ever easy?" Doyle snapped. Suddenly there was a beeping sound from the dashboard. A call was trying to come through. Out of habit, Zak leapt from his seat and grabbed Komodo's tail to drag him out of sight. The lizard yelped at first but soon followed with some prodding. When they were clear, Van Rook answered the call. The only one who called him on the ship was Argost. Thankfully, all of the family were wearing their masks at the moment.
"Greetings, Van Rook." said the white-haired man, "I have a rich proposition for you, if you would be so kind as to accept." Doyle looked over at Argost, a glaring anger in his eyes, but since it was hard to see through the lenses of the mask, the other man didn't notice. Abbey glanced back to give Doyle a hard look and so the redhead turned away again.
"And what might I be after?" asked Van Rook.
"You know I won't tell you until you accept. This one is especially important. I don't want you selling this to another treasure hunter, now do I?" Argost had a point. Out of all of Van Rook's clients, Argost never gave up information until he was assured that Van Rook would do the job. He was also the most careful about said information.
"Yes, yes, of course." Van Rook nodded, ignoring Doyle's glare, "Now, what is it you want us to find?"
"I'm sure you haven't heard of it, but I wouldn't be surprised if you had. It's called the Kur Stone." Argost's eyes narrowed, "Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of information of where it could be located. That's up to you. But the longer you take, the less handsomely you'll be rewarded. Now goodbye, and please bring me the stone soon." The connection cut. Doyle shuddered in rage.
"That man is no human. Why did you accept?" Doyle asked as Zak and Komodo returned. Van Rook turned around in his chair.
"He expects us to follow through with it. He does not realize our true intentions. And to keep it that way, we must hand the stone to Argost. Or, at the very least, a good replica."
"But he still gets the stone! How does that help?!"
"Do you not understand? If Argost expects nothing, he will not come after us." Van Rook said, "You will be able to avenge your sister eventually. For now, we must stop Argost before he realizes that we are not on his side."
"Why can't we attack him now, before he realizes it's us?" Doyle demanded, "We'd catch him off-guard, save the world before it ever gets that bad!"
"He's too dangerous." Abbey said, "Didn't you hear what Van Rook said about the assault on Weird World? Forty entered, seven survived. And that was just his home. Argost himself and his servant Munya aren't to be messed with. You've seen them in action yourself." Doyle had. There were a few missions he'd been sent on for Argost and he'd seen what the man could do, what Munya could do. Doyle turned away, cheeks red with defeat. Not like they could see it with his mask, but the others could tell regardless. Van Rook shook his head before turning back to the controls. He then began discussing with Abbey about how they would make a fake convincing enough to fool Argost, who was a certifiable super-genius at the worst of times. Zak, now back in his chair, leaned down to pet Komodo. He knew for a fact that, as long as Argost was loose, Doyle would never be calm again. Zak had just as much of a right to be angry, yet he also understood that Van Rook had a point. They couldn't fight Argost as it was. Doing so was suicidal. It was in their best interest and health to hang back and not let Argost suspect them. Hopefully, like Van Rook said, Doyle would learn to calm in time. They would need him calm if they were going to work as a team and stop Argost. He had to understand that.
There weren't a lot of clearings big enough to accommodate the ship in the Amazon Rainforest, so Abbey had to forcefully land on some trees, breaking them and making her own clearing. However, this earned them the ire of one pterodactyl-like cryptid, who attacked as soon as they stepped out.
"Down!" Doyle was the first to sense something amiss and made Zak duck as the cryptid swooped over their heads. His instincts were second to none, sensing attacks before they came like some strange radar. And right now, he was using it to dodge the pterosaur any time it swooped on them. Komodo hissed and tried to bite the pterosaur, drag it down to their level, but the cryptid was too fast. Zak looked around for a way to help as the adults shot at the cryptid with their wrist blasters. It made him realize what they'd done upon landing.
"Wait, wait!" Zak brought out his Claw and made a connection to the flying creature. Immediately he could sense her anger, intense and large, but he asked for her to calm down enough to let them talk. Thankfully, she listened, landing beside the boy, the only one she considered trusting at the moment.
"What are you doing?!" Abbey asked, "Zak!"
"Just hold on a sec!" Zak ran a hand through the pterosaur's crest, trying to calm her down. It was almost like hair, but not quite. He pointed to the damaged trees, "I think we might've landed on her nest, that's why she's so angry at us." It was hard to tell in the crushed debris, but there was something that looked distinctly like branches woven together in a thick, large bowl.
"Miniman's right." Doyle moved closer, sidestepping Zak and the cryptid as he examined the bowl, "Definitely looks like a nest here." They all lowered their blasters. Komodo growled but made no aggressive action. He was just as nervous about Zak being close to the pterosaur as the adults were.
"I knew trying to make a landing spot was a bad idea." Abbey sighed.
"Can we-"
"No." Van Rook cut Zak off, "One cryptid is enough for us to take care of, two would be too much."
"C'mon, I'm sure she won't be that bad." said Doyle, laying a hand on Zak's shoulder, "I'll even teach her a few tricks." He was still glaring at Van Rook and Zak could guess what those 'tricks' were.
"I said no. Now shoo!" The sudden waving of the elder man's arms spooked the pterosaur into fleeing.
"Hey!" said Zak, "She doesn't have a place to go!"
"She will be fine. She has survived this long by herself. The Kur Stone is more important." Van Rook began leading the way into the jungle, forcing the others to follow. Abbey took out her sword and began cutting through the foliage with ease. She had always had it, as long as Zak had known her. And it could throw fire, so that was a bonus. But for now, it worked equally as well at making a path through the forest. She was up front with Van Rook right behind her with directions, then Zak, Komodo, and Doyle took up the back. The boy knew it was important to get to the Kur Stone, but they were ahead of Argost. Couldn't they have stopped to help the poor pterosaur with her nest? They helped cryptids while out on jobs, so how was this different? The Kur Stone could've waited just a little longer, right? Zak didn't voice these thoughts, though. It would just make Van Rook mad and Zak didn't like seeing him mad. They continued their trek in silence, only broken by Van Rook's directions.
"Do you have a better idea of where this thing is beyond a guess?" Doyle prodded, "The longer this takes, the longer I have to wait before I pound Argost's face into the pavement."
"You will get your chance. Be patient." said Van Rook. Doyle huffed. They continued walking until they finally came across a small river. Abbey held up a hand.
"We're right in the middle of Tapire-Iauara territory now. Stay on your guard." She glanced back, "That means you, Zak."
"Yes ma'am." He knew there was no point in arguing with her. They then spread out across the area, searching for any sign that something was there before they started digging. Zak and Komodo were the only ones small enough to prowl under the roots of some of the trees, looking for answers while the adults searched the banks of the river. It wasn't until Komodo picked up on the scent of something that they started getting anywhere. Immediately the lizard returned to one of the muddy banks and began digging for something. A few seconds later, a hard object wrapped in linen was unveiled. Zak pat Komodo's head.
"Good job! See, I told you he'd be helpful!"
"I suppose." Abbey said, kneeling to pick up the object, but her voice told him it was in jest. She hadn't thought much of Komodo at first, like the other adults, but now she could see Zak's wisdom. He'd always had a better way with animals than any of them, so maybe they could trust him on steering them in the right direction with cryptids.
"Uh oh." said Doyle. Zak, Abbey, and Komodo looked up. The men were quickly backing away from the foliage, where large cats were coming into the clearing. Even without his powers, Zak could sense that they were hungry. Abbey pushed Zak behind her and the adults aimed their wrist blasters.
"There hasn't been a lot of rain recently and that means that what the Tapire-Iauara usually feed on, like other animals, has been few and far between." Abbey explained.
"Meaning we're Tapire-Iauara chow!" Zak yelped. They all activated their jetpacks and took to the air, Komodo latching onto Doyle and narrowly avoiding the cryptids, who tried to pounce on them. The treetops were too thick for them to fly through and so they nested themselves on branches, watching the cryptids as they prowled below. A few tried to climb the trees to get to the humans, but they had no luck.
"At least they can't climb." Doyle noted as Komodo moved off to a different branch, "Now what do we do? Fly back the way we came with these cats on our heels?"
"We will just have to wait them out." Van Rook suggested.
"Or we could throw you to them and see how they like the taste of 'lying, backstabbing mercenary.'"
"Will you cut that out!" Abbey snapped, "Stop blaming him for something he had no control over!"
"Yeah, well, either of you could've told me it was my sister Argost murdered!"
"We didn't know that until you told us." she pointed out, "If you wanna stop Argost, then stop being mad and start acting like a decent person! Giving the Tapire-Iauara food isn't an option, they'll only want more. We can't outrun them and I don't feel safe flying through the rainforest in my jetpack. We need a plan to get out of here."
"I could try using my powers." said Zak.
"Absolutely not." Van Rook shook his head, "You do not have enough experience with it, certainly not enough to handle more than one cryptid!"
"But Rook-!"
"No way, Miniman." Doyle said, "I hate to admit it, but he's got a point. Don't you remember what happened with the Cameroon Flashlight Frogs?"
"How was I supposed to know there was more than one?" Zak pouted, "And the stampede was totally not my fault."
"Totally was."
"Was not!"
"Actually, that may work." Abbey said, interrupting Doyle and Zak before they could get an argument going. She held up a hand for silence and pointed down at the cryptids, "Tapire-Iauara are pack animals. If we can figure out the Alpha in the pack, you might be able to control him and get them to leave us alone for a short time."
"I can do that." Zak pulled out the Claw.
"Just remember to not push yourself." Van Rook added. Zak rolled his eyes.
"Maybe put a little trust in me and I might not do that." It was a stinging remark. Being mercenaries, trust was always something you couldn't rely on. There were more deaths related to backstabbing in this profession than any other, after all. And it only hurt worse with the revelation that both Abbey and Van Rook had been keeping something from Zak for almost his whole life. But didn't they have a right to do it? He hadn't asked about what happened to his parents because he never really knew them, he was happy with Van Rook, Abbey, and even Doyle. So they had kept it a secret. He had no right to be angry with them. But then again, neither did Doyle, in a way, and he was certainly fuming about it. Neither Abbey nor Van Rook knew Drew had been his sister, yet he was understandably angry. Zak could see the faults in being angry about something you couldn't change and so he was only the slightest bit bitter. That gave him carte blanche to make the scathing remark, didn't it? And when he was given no response, Zak launched into his power and focused on one of the Tapire-Iauara. While it might not have been the Alpha, it may give him information on which one was said Alpha. It was hard to get control, however, as much of the cryptid's mind was overcome with hunger. It wanted to eat, and it wanted to eat now. Zak focused harder, trying to prod into more sensical places of the cryptid's mind, asking who the leader was. Despite the hunger, he saw the Tapire-Iauara's head turn and its eyes focus on the cat just under the tree they were hiding in. It was a tan color with a blue-green mane, matted with moss, and was a few inches bigger than the rest of the pack. Its front tooth was also like an iron spike, much longer than the other cats in the pack, perhaps due to not being worn down. It looked very much like a one-fanged saber-toothed tiger. Zak switched his focus from the previous Tapire-Iauara to the Alpha and concentrated on getting past the hunger long enough to reason with the cryptid.
"I thought I heard a herd of tapir running nearby." Zak sent an image of the pig-like animal into the cryptid's mind. It was enough to make the Tapire-Iauara pause.
"Food?"
"Uh huh, juicy little tapirs for you all to chew on! They went over that way!" Zak gestured in a direction opposite of where they had entered. Like he hoped, the lure of food was enough to make the Alpha bark out orders and so the pack was scampering away in search of the non-existent herd.
"Wow. I haven't seen an animal drool that fast since we dealt with that Chupacabra in Puerto Rico." Doyle commented, "What'd you tell it?" Zak shrugged.
"Just that there was a buffet nearby." They all used their jetpacks to climb down, Komodo having to ride with Doyle once again. The lizard hissed in displeasure until he was safely on the ground again.
"I'm sure they won't be distracted for long." Abbey pointed out, "Let's get moving." They began running back the way they had arrived, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the Tapire-Iauara as possible. It was much easier to run back toward the Flying Fox now that they had carved out a path, but it would also make it easier for them to be pursued. They continued running until they were sure they were clear of the Tapire-Iauara, which took several minutes. Zak knew that the cryptids were good trackers, so as soon as they'd figured out the trick, the Tapire-Iauara would be on their tails.
"Not much farther back to the ship." Van Rook said, checking his wrist computer's map, "Hmm…"
"Something wrong?" Abbey came closer to look at it.
"I believe we have company, and not the good kind, either." Zak knew what that meant. Van Rook held up two fingers, the sign to split into two groups, and gestured to himself and Doyle to move one way. Abbey and Zak would take the other. Komodo followed along, surprisingly quiet as they split up. It was likely their ship had been tracked down by bounty hunters wanting to capitalize on the reward on Van Rook's head. Not the first time they'd had such an encounter and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Van Rook, as far as the boy knew, was the only one with a bounty. Abbey tended to keep out of the spotlight or stayed in the shadows on missions while Doyle was still Van Rook's apprentice and so wasn't worth much. Zak, like Abbey, also stayed out of sight, so he was relatively safe. But he couldn't help but worry for his father figure.
Eventually he, Abbey, and Komodo had snuck around to the right of where their ship was. As suspected, the ship was being guarded by two men with guns. There was likely a third inside. As for how many more could be around, that was the unknown threat. The more people, the greater the danger. Abbey pointed her wrist computer towards the ship and did a thermal scan. There was only one person inside. Three-on-three. Add in Zak and Komodo and that gave them good odds. Not like Abbey would ever let Zak put himself in danger to help, but it was a nice thought. Komodo, though, could actually help out. Zak raised a hand to rest on Abbey's hip, getting her attention. There was always a set way they would do this. Usually Abbey would use flash-bangs on whoever they could see initially, drawing out the threats from inside, to which Van Rook and Doyle would make their move and subdue the threats, Abbey coming in as backup. But now that they had Komodo, they had an even greater element of surprise. Zak whispered his idea to Abbey and after a moment she nodded. There was some tapping on her wrist computer as Zak shared the idea with Komodo. Once there was confirmation from both the lizard and the computer, Komodo became invisible.
Zak and Abbey watched in trepidation as the slight shimmer left their hiding spot and approached the men. It slid past the two guards and went inside the Flying Fox. Suddenly commotion came from inside the ship. The two guards whirled around, puzzled, only for Doyle and Van Rook to drop from above, landing on the men and knocking them out. Doyle dashed inside to take care of the last man while Van Rook checked the pockets of the two unconscious ones.
"I'm surprised that worked." Abbey mused, stepping out with Zak after Doyle had brought out the last man. Komodo followed along behind, pleased.
"Never underestimate the powers of an invisible komodo dragon." Zak said.
"Unfortunately, these three were not the only hunters here." Van Rook tugged a piece of paper from one of the guys' pockets, "This is a checklist of hunters after me on this mission. It looks like there are three more."
"Then we shouldn't stick around." Doyle said, "I don't know about you but I'd rather not get shot at today, thank you very much. My shoulder's still sore from the last time."
"I don't know." Abbey muttered, "They look familiar. I'm going to scan their faces." Zak was sure the redhead rolled his eyes. Doyle was always the one to make hasty decisions and had a fiery temper to match, Abbey made sure they thought things out and took it slow. Sometimes, both could have a point, but eventually one had to win out over the other. It was almost like they were Van Rook's advisors sometimes instead of family. Zak was glad they were taking their time, though, as he had a bad feeling about all this since he'd seen the others. Abbey gave a noise of disgust.
"Of course, poachers." If there was one type of bad guy they could all hate, it was poachers. And learning that these guys were not just hunters but poachers as well made Zak feel even worse.
"Do you think Zon is okay?" he asked, "The pterodactyl?"
"You already named her?" Van Rook shook his head, "Конечно, есть. If it would make you happy, we shall look for the flying lizard." He held up a hand before Zak could even try to speak, "We will not look for long. The Kur Stone cannot fall into other hands, understood?"
"Yes sir." The boy nodded. He knew he was lucky Van Rook was allowing them to look. Usually, when they were near the end of a job, Van Rook would want it over and done with. The Kur Stone was even more important than that. Zak would not get another chance like this. Immediately Zak tagged Komodo and Doyle to come with him in searching while Abbey and Van Rook would tie up the hunters. It would be easier to get a look from the air and so the child-uncle duo took to the sky. Komodo hissed his displeasure even as he latched onto the redhead.
"You've gotta find someone else to carry you around." Doyle grumbled. Komodo hissed an agreement. Zak ignored them. He activated the built-in binoculars in his helmet and looked around. The binoculars also had a range of senses to choose from, including thermal and night vision. This would make it easier to search. Because Zon was likely cold-blooded, he tried thermal first. She was big, too, so it shouldn't be too much trouble to locate her.
"Do you see anything?" the darker-skinned child asked.
"Maybe. We might have to approach from the ground." Doyle pointed in an easterly direction and they descended to the ground. It didn't take them long to approach. The poachers' ship had been parked close to the Flying Fox, likely for battle purposes. Zak had glimpsed it in his searching, as it had to be mostly cargo rather than comfort, despite being the same size as the Flying Fox. There were cages set up for all sorts of animals, one of which was being loaded onto the ship by the poachers. And over to the side was none other than Zon. She was sitting quietly in her cage, nursing her wing, which was bent at an awkward angle. It was likely broken and Zak had a feeling the poachers had everything to do with that.
"What do we do?" he asked Doyle. The redhead observed the area, silent.
"Distraction." he said at last, "Best way to do that is to loose some of the animals."
"Komodo and I can do that." Zak said. All of them knew how to pick a lock but Zak was the quickest.
"Uh, no." Doyle shot him down, "If Van Rook found out I let you put yourself in the line of fire, he'd kick me off the ship without a jetpack or parachute."
"But-"
"No. Look, Miniman, I've got this. Just trust me and stay here." Doyle moved off. Zak couldn't just stand by, though. The animals didn't have a lot of time and they'd only spotted two of the three remaining men. Zak turned to Komodo, an idea on his lips, only to find the lizard gone. Had Komodo deserted them or decided to instigate his own plan? Zak's eyes flitted around the cages. He couldn't see a shimmer, it was too far to notice. But he could see some of the cage doors falling open. Animals escaping were quickly causing a ruckus. Two of the men ran out to deal with it. Zak readied his weapon. Doyle could handle both men by himself, but not if they were armed. Zak shuddered to remember the last time Doyle had gotten shot. He aimed the Claw. He knew it would reach a long distance after some practice, he just had to make sure the shot counted. And there was Doyle now, chopping one guy in the neck and downing him easily. But there was the other one, raising his gun. Zak fired the Claw, allowing it to latch onto the back of the guy's head and causing deep gashes. The poacher screamed and the Claw let go. Doyle took the guy down with a few more punches and turned to invade the ship, but there was little need. The last guy, like with the Flying Fox, was being dragged out by his leg, an invisible Komodo leading the way. It didn't take the redhead long to subdue him.
"You know how to pick a lock?" Zak asked after joining with Komodo again. The large lizard nodded with a smirk, "You're just full of surprises, huh?"
"Hey, Zak!" Doyle called. Zak turned just in time to catch the keys flying towards his face. Doyle continued, "Free the rest of these things. I'm gonna deal with these guys. And next time, don't get involved." The older man slung two of the poachers over his shoulders and moved them inside the ship. Zak left him be. This was not their first cleanup operation. He freed the animals, letting them return to the jungle, and finally made his way over to Zon. Zak, while he'd certainly gotten his fair share of sprains and broken bones, was unsure of which kind Zon had. There was no way she could hope to survive, though. They would need to take her with them. Zak let her know of his intentions with his powers before he opened the cage, explaining the situation. Zon seemed to understand and allowed him to help her out. She trilled painfully when her wing flopped on the ground. Zak was now pretty sure it was broken. He looked around for a moment. Spotting some branches and vines, he cut them down with the Claw and created a brace for her wing.
"We'll get something better for you on the ship." he said, "This is just to help you walk." Zon cawed a thanks. It was at this point Doyle returned to the group.
"Well?"
"We can't leave her alone. Her wing's broken, I think." Zak rubbed her head, "C'mon, it's the least we can do after all that's gone on. It's our fault her nest was destroyed and our fault the poachers came here." Doyle sighed.
"Fine. Does she need a ride or can she walk?" Zon took a few steps but she was limping on her wing. She was able to walk, however, and so they trekked back to the Flying Fox.
"What'll happen to the poachers?" Zak asked.
"Called the authorities. They'll pick up those three and their ship in an hour or so. Won't have to worry about dealing with them again. Also raided their stores, so we might just get paid from this whole thing after all." Doyle patted his pockets. They definitely looked fuller than before. The boy wondered if Doyle would keep the bounty to himself just to spite Van Rook. He could get pretty spiteful when holding a grudge. When they got back, the three hunters were tied up outside and the ship was humming, ready for liftoff. Zon hobbled up the ramp, followed by Komodo and the humans. Zak helped Zon into the infirmary as Abbey came out from the cockpit.
"We're adopting another cryptid, huh?" she drawled. Her mask was off and she was giving Doyle a look. He held up his hands in a helpless gesture.
"Hey, don't blame me! Zak's got some good points on why we should take in Jurassic."
"And you're nicknaming it now. Great." Abbey had a small smile on her lips despite her voice, "Do you mind helping Van Rook fly? I'd do it myself but if the pterodactyl is injured-"
"No, I get it. And I promise not to kill him this time." Doyle took off his helmet as he headed into the cockpit, shaking his hair loose despite the lack of it. Zak was pretty sure they'd start fighting soon enough. They were friends, sure, and they argued sometimes, but this rift created between then would take a long time to heal, which included many arguments to come.
"So, Zon, is it?" Abbey asked. Zon had situated herself on a bed with a little help and was staring at Abbey suspiciously.
"Yeah, that's her name." Zak rubbed Zon's crest, "I think her wing's broken."
"Hmm." Abbey slowly ventured forward. She only touched Zon when Zak assured the cryptid that Abbey only wanted to help. After undoing the brace and examining the wing, Abbey said, "It's definitely broken, but it's not as bad as it could be."
"What do you mean?" the boy asked. The woman went around to grab the materials needed to set the wing.
"Her wing, it's not like a bat's, which has all those fingers in it. Because it's more similar to a limb with a wing attached, I think I can set it better than if it was more bird- or bat-like." That made sense. The two of them worked together to set Zon's wing while the cryptids watched on. Eventually, when they were done, Abbey tied the appendage against Zon's chest. That made the pterodactyl protest until Abbey explained, "It's only temporary, to keep you from hurting it further." Zon accepted that. But when the British woman turned to Zak, she didn't look happy. Abbey crossed her arms, a stern look on her face.
"I see blood on your weapon, Zak. What happened?" The boy sheepishly tried to hide the Claw behind his back even though he knew Abbey had already seen it.
"Well, Doyle had to fight off the poachers and he was about to get hurt, so I distracted one of 'em. All I did was grab the guy's head."
"You shouldn't have gotten involved." she chastised, "Even if you did save Doyle. He knows what he's doing."
"But what if he got hurt again?" Zak pointed out, "He couldn't do anything for weeks last time." Abbey's expression softened.
"Zak…" She crouched to his level, "We just don't want you getting hurt, okay? Thank you for helping him, but don't do it if it puts yourself in danger. Before Doyle joined us, he was already used to the lifestyle. He knows the consequences. You just have to trust that he'll be okay."
"But what if he isn't? I know what happens to people who get shot, Abbey. It could've happened to him too."
"I know." She took him into a hug, "I wish sometimes Van Rook had never brought you with him into this world, but it's not like any of us have much of a choice. I know I keep saying this, but you have to have faith that things'll be okay." She pulled away, "Do you understand?"
"Yeah." Zak gave a slow nod, "Not that I like it…"
"I know." Abbey got to her feet, "We should be home soon, if those two haven't killed each other yet. Do you wanna come join us or stay here?" Zak thought about it. He reached down to rub Komodo's head, the other stroking Zon's crest.
"I think I'll stay here. They need a friend." Zak knew how it felt to be alone. He may have had his family and gone on all sorts of adventures, but he really didn't have anyone his age he could call a friend, both because of his work as a mercenary and the fact that he wasn't supposed to share his actual life with others. Abbey smiled sadly. Maybe she got the feeling of what he was thinking.
"Alright." She left them alone after that. When she went back to the cockpit, she paused to listen to Doyle and Van Rook talking about how they could still keep their pieces of the Kur Stone while giving Argost a fake. What made her pause was not actually their talking but Doyle giving an excellent idea of how to do it.
"The trick to making a good fake is to have it as close to the original as possible. I assume that Argost didn't get a good look at the stone before but he'd notice a big difference, being a genius and all. And since the Kur Stone is supposed to be a map, that means that these symbols need to change just enough to look like something else without raising suspicions." They stared at Doyle.
"...Sometimes your intelligence astounds me." Van Rook said. The other man rolled his eyes.
"But it would work, wouldn't it? He didn't have the stone long enough to examine it well. And it's been years since he's seen it."
"We don't believe he did, no." Abbey added, taking one of the seats behind them, "It may work, it may not, but it sounds like a good plan. Everyone can make errors. If we let Argost believe that he has the correct piece, then we might actually win against him."
"But to make a good fake you need to leave some things as they are, which means we can't change everything." Doyle added, "We'll have to leave some truthful details to make it look like the real deal."
"I know a guy who can get a forgery done." Van Rook spoke, "It will take a few days, but that is okay. Argost does not expect us to get him the stone in only a few hours. He knows we must search for it and this will help add to our credibility."
"Now that we've got that settled, are we gonna try to find Kur first?" Doyle asked, "You know Argost is gonna start right away as soon as he gets the piece."
"We'll see. We need to analyze the piece first." Abbey answered. The redhead opened his mouth, only for Abbey to interrupt, "I know you have a point, Doyle, but we have to go about this carefully. The less Argost thinks we're involved the better. That means we'll have to take other jobs as well, to throw him off our trail."
"He'll just get ahead!" Doyle snapped, "We might be giving him a fake but who's to say he won't still figure it out? Argost is a genius. The fake'll only distract him for so long. Either we start right away in trying to find Kur or we do something about Argost."
"Enough!" Van Rook spoke, "We will figure something out. For now, we must let Argost go. And you," He pointed at Doyle, "are not to try going against Argost on your own. It would be too dangerous. Think about what it would do to Zak if you were lost." Doyle flinched. He put the ship on autopilot and stood up, glaring at Van Rook.
"Low blow." he hissed. He stepped back into the rest of the ship. Abbey took his seat as the older mercenary sighed. Van Rook took off his mask and set it aside, dragging a hand through his hair. Abbey gave him a sad look.
"Leonidas…"
"Van Rook, Abbey. You know not to call me that." Her stare was still saddened.
"You know that Doyle cares a lot about Zak, maybe even more than you do. And he's the only blood relative Zak has left."
"That does not mean he can put himself in danger for his revenge. I have agonized for years over what Argost did. Does he not realize how much I am hurting?"
"It's still a fresh wound for him." Abbey said, "He needs time to heal."
"If he does not heal soon enough we will not be able to stop Argost and keep up our charade at the same time." Van Rook was quiet, "But I do understand his pain. Do you know what it was like for him when I met him, Abbey?"
"You said it was in Montréal. Both of you were banged up." She frowned.
"He was an orphaned street urchin who had been all around the world." he answered, "Doyle lived alone with no one to care about but himself for many years. He did not make connections because, if he lost them, it would be like losing his family all over again, the family he barely knew but wanted so much. And in a way, that is what happened. He is angry and hurt. He wanted to take his anger out on someone. And because I am not letting him go after Argost, he is angry at me."
"All alone…" Abbey sat back, thinking.
"Do not let him know I told you that. He wants no one to know what his past was like."
"Then why ask him to become your apprentice?"
"I wanted to give him a second chance." Van Rook turned to look at her, "I know this sounds ridiculous, but I felt like I saw myself in him. I did not grow up rich, Abbey. I had to fight for my money, to have a chance to live. I did not want him to have to struggle the same way. So I helped him." She slowly nodded.
"Maybe if you tried to help him understand your perspective, Doyle wouldn't be so angry." Van Rook shook his head.
"He is too stubborn for his own good. He would barely listen to me before, he will certainly not listen now."
"Then let me talk to him." Abbey offered, "I'm pretty sure even Zak knows that we need to work as a team if we're going to stop Argost, which means Doyle needs to let go of this grudge that, in all respects, he should rightfully have." Van Rook grunted.
"You can try." was all he said. Abbey shook her head. Sometimes she wished these two were not so stubborn.
When they got home, Van Rook stalked off elsewhere, likely to go ahead and get the forgery made. Doyle had been with Zak since he'd left the cockpit, and Abbey had gotten an email some minutes ago from her sister. She checked it while they disembarked.
"Miranda just sent me the images she had of her part of the Kur Stone. While we don't have Cheveyo's part, that still gives us a lead over Argost." Abbey said, fiddling with her wrist computer, "I'm going to try and convert her images as well as the ones we have of our part of the stone and see if I can make a holographic image we can work with." She looked at Zak, Doyle, and the cryptids, "Do you need anything?"
"I think we're good for now." Doyle said, "Go do your thing, Professor." Abbey smiled, even as she rolled her eyes at him.
"Well, make sure you come by later. I wanted to ask your advice on something." She walked off to the lab.
"Guess that leaves me and you, Zakman." Doyle knelt to be on the boy's level, "What do you say we go start putting things together to make new beds for our new cryptid friends?"
"Impressive. You didn't happen to know where the stone was when I called, did you?"
"Нет. You know I would have told you if I had. And the payment?"
"Electronic. You will get it tonight." Argost assured, "Thank you for your services, Van Rook." The mercenary nodded back and the call ended. Argost was quiet, steepling his fingers.
"Munya?" There was an affirmative grunt behind him, "Do you remember that tracker we put on the Flying Fox? Where did it say the ship was when I called Van Rook?" Munya brought up the tracking information on a computer, scrolling back to a few days ago, and showed it to Argost. He gave another questioning grunt, to which Argost answered, "Yes, I did have a suspicion he knew more about the stone than he let on. I suppose we now have a way to find out."
Notes:
Russian (pronunciations and translations provided by Google Translate)
Конечно, есть (Konechno, yest) - Of course you have
Нет (Net) - No
So... yeah. It's been a while. Sorry for the long absence. Blame my new obsession with Stranger Things for that. Been sucked in there since October and I finally got out of it this week.
Anyway, I hit a roadblock a while back on writing this chapter, but I finally got past it. And sorry for the length but I wanted to make sure it was good and there was really no easier way to transition from one part to the next. I have many ideas I want to implement into this story (definitely not giving up on it!), but I'm not sure what direction to go in. I have two choices: Follow Canon or make something up. While I will be following the storyline of Secret Saturdays, I want there to be more adventures involved this time around and episodes might get switched around. So I'm giving you guys the choice to make for what the next chapter will be. Here they are:
Follow Canon (Vengeance of the Hibagon or Ice Caverns of Ellef Ringnes would be next)
Make up a new scenario (Give me a suggestion of what the chapter would focus on)
I'll let you guys give me your answers in your reviews. Whichever choice is the most will be the one I will write about for the next chapter. I may be slow to update on this thing but I promise you that this is a story I want to finish! That is not an empty promise. Now have a pleasant day and please read & review!