"We should be close," Xero said as Zero and she walked through aisles and aisles of boxes, many with an embellished stamp that read "stored indefinitely."

Once again, wearing his long coat, scarf, and sunglasses, Zero carried a few boxes in his hands. "Any idea what's inside of these boxes?" he asked as they continued their walk through the deserted aisles.

"Niki didn't say. She only told me that they might be necessary."

Zero let out a sigh. "Well, if these things can help make me normal again, I guess carrying a few pounds will be worth it."

"Thats the spirit," Xero said enthusiastically.

She suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"This should be the last container," she said as she lifted her head from her list to the shelf.

Zero gently dropped the other boxes on the ground beside him and started to rub his arm.

"Tired?" she asked.

"Not at all. Niki's sample collecting has just made me feel a little off-balance. Niki seemed to like the blood drawing process a little too much," he said as he leaned against the boxes.

"You almost fainted," she teased.

Zero couldn't help but blush at her comment. A lesser person might have been annoyed by her teasing, yet to Zero, it was a sign of endearment. To know that she cared to be with him, even if he looked like a monster out of children's nightmares, meant the world to him. it made him feel more comfortable with his current appearance. "And yet you were the one who reached out for my hand," he finally countered.

"That was just so you wouldn't runoff," she said slyly, her face as red as his. "Now, since you have free hands, help me get this box down," she said as she struggled to reach the final box above her.

She suddenly felt a warm grip around her waist and her feet lifting off from the ground. She quickly looked and saw Zero lifting her from her waist. She numbly reached for the box and held onto it as she looked down at him.

"Do you got it," he asked as he kept his focus straight ahead.

"Yea," she said bubbly.

As soon as she was lifted, she was coming down. The only thought running through her head was, "wait, not yet." Her feet now planted on the ground, she turned to look at him, now returning to the boxes, the final one still within her grasp.

"Zero, I-"

Xero was suddenly silenced as her ring communicator went off. The text on it read "NIKI."

Xero quickly answered it as Zero continued to work with the boxes.

"Can Zero hear you?" Niki whispered.

"no, let me-" she said ready to get Zero's attention.

"Don't. I need more time with these samples. Just take Zero and the boxes you've collected to your on-base rooms. And go ahead and open them."

Niki was silent on her end as Xero waited patiently to hear either news or bad news.

"And take him to that fair I was talking about," Niki added before hanging up, leaving Xero visibility frustrated.

"What's the word," Zero asked as he finished checking all the boxes.

"We should go back to our on-base home away from home," Xero said as she put on a fake smile. "Niki gave us the go-ahead to open these boxes there."

"Alright," Zero said as he looked at her, a hint of worry behind his eyes. He then collected all the boxes, ready to follow after her.

"How do you feel about fairs," Xero asked as they started their walk out of the storage unit.

Katz watched as the metal ore continued to liquefy above the make-shift fire. "That encounter with Vein was too close," he said, his voice echoing within the cave.

"Uh-huh," Susan said as she held onto her camcorder firmly.

"We have to be cautious when we strike tonight. it's only a matter of time before someone finds the bodies of the unconscious goons we hid in the bathroom closets." Katz continued.

Mole suddenly piped in. "if you don't mind me asking, but why is Baron Vein here now?"

"I don't know MOLE unit, but we can't dwell on that right now. We still have to save the Poppyfields." Katz then turned to Susan. "Did you affect all the cameras?"

She suddenly snapped back to attention. "Yes," she said assuringly.

"Good," Katz said as he poured the molted metal into the key mold. "We are so close," he whispered to himself.

Xero swung the door wide open as she looked around their shared home away from home. Not as big as the Modi-blimp, but still important to her. She remembered the time she and Zero had their first heart to heart on her birthday, a day that still haunted her. She also remembered the time his cold gun malfunctioned and stuck them together for an afternoon. She smiled at these memories.

Zero dropped the boxes onto the floor and quickly discarded his long coat, scarf, and sunglasses. He then fell exhausted onto the couch. "Any idea when Niki will have any news?"

"I'm not sure," Xero said as she grabbed the first box on top. "I talked to her before we left the storage room, but she said she needed more time with the samples. She recommended that we kill some time at the local fair."

"It may be a little hard to go to the fair looking like this," Zero said as he pointed to his face.

"We can figure that out later," Xero said as she placed the first box on his lap.

He lifted the box and gently shook it. "What do you think is inside it," he asked hesitantly.

Xero looked at him, and hoping to lighten the mood, said, "maybe it's a disguising device like your old morph belt."

He looked at her with a sly smile, "because that worked so well last time," he said sarcastically. "worst invention of the century," he added.

Before Xero could throw in her own sly remark, Zero lifted the lid of the box and audibly gasped in horror.