It was night time in Axle City. Blaze and his family were out having a late game of soccer in the park.

"Head's up, Blaze!" Phoenix cried, kicking the ball to her eldest son.

"I got it!" Blaze swooped in to get it.

"Pass it here, Blaze!" AJ waved over.

"Here ya go!" Blaze passed the ball, and AJ got it with his feet.

"Ooh! Ooh! My turn! My turn!" Sparkle jumped excitedly, waving her tire at her adoptive human brother.

"All yours, Sparkle!" AJ kicked it, and Sparkle grabbed it with her tire.

"Yes!" she then zoomed over towards the goal, where Flame was waiting to block the shot. "Try to catch this, Dad!"

"All ready, kiddo!" Flame had his tires out and ready to grab or block.

Sparkle grinned and took the shot with one kick. The ball shot forward and arced towards the goal, hitting net.

"WA-HOO!" Phoenix cheered. "Nice shot, Sparkle!"

"Thanks, Mom!" Sparkle was beaming as the rest of them laughed happily while Flame grabbed the ball.

As they continued to play, Pickle spied on them from another field, where he and Crusher laid out a picnic basket to have an excuse to be out there that late. The dark blue truck had set up the picnic basket and glanced up at the green truck.

"How long does it take to do this?"

"Depends…" Pickle sighed. "I told you that this is mostly improvise. If I get the chance, I'm taking it,"

"Alright, alright," Crusher nodded and munched on the sandwich he packed. "Maybe you should eat first,"

"Nah, I'll eat later," Pickle's eyes focused on Sparkle. "She's got to leave the family some time…"

"Oh no, the ball!" the orange truck suddenly cried out as a soccer ball bounced out of the soccer field. "I'll get it!"

"Aha! My chance!" Pickle got to his tires immediately. "Got the chloroformed towel?"

"Yeah, here," Crusher handed over the towel. "Good luck,"

"I'm gonna need it," Pickle took a deep breath and zoomed towards where Sparkle went.

He soon found Sparkle under a tree, looking for the soccer ball. With a heavy heart and plenty of guilt, he zoomed over and placed the towel on her face.

"MMF!"

Sparkle struggled to get free, but wasn't able to do it on time. Soon, she passed out, limp, and Pickle placed her in a sack and carried her off to where Crusher was watching.

"Come on, big fella, let's go,"

"Okay," Crusher nodded and quickly packed up the picnic blanket before they zoomed out of the park.

Meanwhile, Blaze was getting worried when he saw his little sister not return from getting the ball.

"I'll go check if she's okay," he offered before driving off to the direction he saw her leave in.

When he got there, however, his stomach dropped to see the place empty.

"Where did she go…?"

He looked around to find her but couldn't find a trace of her. His worries peaked as he managed to find the ball but not his sister. He grabbed it and zoomed back towards the rest of his family.

"Mom, Dad, AJ!" he cried out. "Sparkle's missing!"

"WHAT?!" Phoenix and Flame gasped.

"Where could she have gone?" AJ wondered, looking around.

"I don't know…" Blaze hissed in worry. "But we've got to go find her. If we can't by dawn, I'll phone Officer Anna,"

"Good idea, Blaze," Phoenix nodded in agreement.

"Come on then!" Flame urged, eager to find his daughter. "Let's go find Sparkle!"

X

Sparkle woke up with a major headache as she found herself in dark room.

"Where… am I?" she asked particularly to no one as she got up and looked around the place.

She soon caught a glance of the different containers of organs on the shelves nearby. She gasped and backed up in horror, but when she hit the wall, she turned to find heads of lifeless trucks on the other shelf, causing her to release a high-pitch scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

From above, Crusher winced as he heard the scream. Pickle sighed as he placed the spatula down.

"Well, our guest is awake," he said, placing another pancake onto the pile beside him. "Let's go and make sure she's okay,"

"Remind me again why we placed her in the basement instead of the guest room?" Crusher raised an eyebrow as they drove to the secret door.

"She might misunderstand our intentions for kidnapping her if she wakes up in a bedroom," Pickle pointed out, opening the secret door. "Same thing if she wakes up on the couch,"

"P, there are TRUCK HEADS down there, along with bloody organs," Crusher told him. "I think she's still misunderstanding the intention,"

"…rather have her think more truth than the first," Pickle shrugged. "I sure would rather be kidnapped by an assassin than a rapist,"

"I'D rather NOT be kidnapped at ALL," Crusher shuddered as they entered the room, the screaming still ongoing and getting louder as they drove.

They soon found Sparkle hyperventilating as she glanced around the room with wide, horrified eyes. Pickle sighed and went over to gently get her by the shoulders.

"Sparkle—"

"AAAAH!" Sparkle turned to him in shock before she stopped herself. "O-Oh! Pickle! It's you!"

"Yep, it's just me!" Pickle nodded. "Me and Crusher, of course,"

"Oh, good!" Sparkle sighed in relief. "For a minute there, I thought that you were the murderer!"

"Murderer? Oh no!" Pickle shook his head with an offended look. "I prefer to be called an assassin, thank you very much. Sounds more professional,"

"W-Wait… you… you're an assassin?!" Sparkle's widened in horror as she backed up and began to scream. "AAAAAH!"

"Sparkle, calm down—"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!"

"Sparkle—"

"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! AAAAAAH!"

"Sparkle—" Pickle groaned as the girl continued to scream. "Ugh. Crusher, help me out?"

"Well, if I woke up to a room full of blood, and I didn't know that you were an assassin, I'd react the same way," Crusher gave a shrug.

"Not helping," Pickle grumbled.

"He he, sorry," Crusher grinned and backed up, raising his tires. "I honestly don't know,"

Pickle sighed and turned back at the now-crying girl as she begged for her life.

Being an assassin had it's tough times.

"Sparkle, SPARKLE!" he quickly grabbed the girl by the shoulders. "Calm down. I DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT hurt or kill kids. I don't hurt them in any way possible because one, I'm not a pedo. Second, I'm not a rapist. Assassins and rapists are two different beings. And THREE," Pickle sighed. "I'm gay, so no thank you,"

"I'm gay too, so I'm out of the question," Crusher added.

"You… You're not going to hurt me…?" Sparkle asked. "Or… k-kill me…?"

"Nope! I won't, promise!" Pickle assured her.

"O-Oh, that's… that's good," Sparkle did her best to catch her breath from all the scream. "Then… why did you kidnap me…?"

"We'll tell you later. For now, it's breakfast time!" Pickle said, taking the girl by the tire and leading her out of the basement.

They all drove out of the secret room and headed towards the dining room. As they did, Crusher sniffed the air and frowned.

"Do I smell something burning…?"

"AAAH! My bacon!" Pickle quickly zipped to the kitchen. "It's burnt!"

"You finished up the pancakes but forgot the bacon…?" Crusher snorted.

"MY POOR BURNT BACON!"

Sparkle watched the scene unfold with a little giggle. Suddenly, she felt someone bump onto her, and she turned to see a small green truck behind her.

"Oh! I'm sorry!"

"It okay!" the little truck giggled. "Me Gherkin. You?"

"I'm Sparkle! Nice to meet you!" Sparkle held out her tire to shake the other's.

"Hello!" Gherkin giggled before turning to the dark blue truck. "CWUSHA! CWUSHA!"

"Aww, hey, Baby Gherkin!" Crusher picked you the baby with a beam.

"Cwusha, look at what me do to dolly!" Gherkin held out a headless doll. "Dolly was being mean to teddy!"

"O-Oh!" Crusher lightly winced as Sparkle gasped in horror at the broken doll in the baby's tires. "You… beheaded her. Wow… uh… g-good job, Baby Gherkin,"

"Thanks!" Gherkin giggled. "Me gonna be like big bwotha!"

"Yep, looks like it…" Crusher grimaced as he set Gherkin down. "Anyway, Baby Gherkin, this is Sparkle. She's our guest,"

"Um, hi again," Sparkle nervously waved.

"HI!" Gherkin drove over to hug her. "You my new best fwiend!" She then smirked and giggled. "And I KILL anyone who twy hurt new best fwiend!"

"Uh…" Sparkle gulped.

"Eh, you'll get used to it," Crusher shrugged. "I sure did,"

"BREAKFAST IS READY NOW!" Pickle exclaimed, zooming towards to them with a beam. "Oh, hey, Baby Gherkin! You found yourself a new friend?"

"BESST FWIEND!" Gherkin squeezed Sparkle tighter.

"D'aww that's so adorable!" Pickle cooed.

"Oh, and big bwotha, OOK!" Gherkin held out the headless doll. "Dolly mean to teddy, so me kill,"

"Great job, little sister!" Pickle patted her head happily. "But next time, get rid of the body and keep the head. Who knows what we can do with the head?"

"Oh! Thanks for advice, big bwotha!" Gherkin nodded.

"Come on then, everyone! Breakfast time!" Pickle urged them all to the living room.

Sparkle looked unsure as she stayed back. On one hand, she was hungry after the game last night. On the other hand, she was going to have food made by an ASSASSIN, a killer of beings. Also, she missed her family SO much… and she bet that they missed her too…

"Come on, Sparkle, you need to eat," Crusher motioned her to follow.

"Erm…" Sparkle twiddled her tires.

Crusher seemed to recognize this motion and sighed. He drove back to her and held her tire.

"You're fine, Pickle really doesn't kill kids, trust me,"

"Mm…" Sparkle glanced up at him unsurely. "but why kidnap me, though…?"

Crusher let out another sigh. "I don't remember all the details, but I do know this; someone's targeting to kill your brother,"

"What?" Sparkle was taken back. "Who?"

"We don't know. We only know the guy through code name," Crusher shook his head. "The guy's also after you and the rest of your family. I don't know the full detail to Pickle's plan, but kidnapping you is an essential,"

"Will… I see Mom, Dad, Blaze and AJ again…?"

"When the client's dead, at the most," Crusher shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I told you that I don't know much of Pickle's plans, but trust me when I tell you to trust him. He's got things covered,"

"If you say so…" Sparkle sighed as she followed after the dark blue truck to the dining room.