Chapter 3: Fights and Large Air Ducts

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Blinx yelled. We were in the Gate Room with the squad, and we were filling them in. "The Tom-Toms have built some kind of large metal arena filled with time monsters, though we aren't sure of the purpose. Every entrance is guarded. We don't have to worry about time monsters, the Tom-Toms have them contained. It's in the Spring/Summer side of the world, so we have the grass as cover. We don't have exact coordinates, but we're going to have to walk for half an hour to get there. Keep your eyes open for patrols. Any questions?" No one said anything. "Okay then. Let's go." With that we jumped into the gate. Looking again for the hue of colors, I actually saw some. Except they were brighter.

"Did you see-"

"Yes." We heard the others land behind us, the snow crunching beneath them. We started walking to the border, and headed towards the arena.

-XxXxX-

"I know you said it was a large scale thing, but it's even bigger than I thought," a Sweeper said in a low voice as we crouched on an overhang overlooking the arena. Even more time monsters than before filled the main room, and were killing each other. The resulting crystals were pushed or fell into a hole in the floor, to who knows where.

"Three entrances," I said. "Three teams of six can take the doors, and we can get inside. Or we Pause, smash the roof to get to the arena, and take out at least some of the monsters," I trailed off, thinking about how neither would get us inside without trouble, and the base was full of Tom-Toms.

"We have the vents," someone said. "We could Pause, and one of us could get in."

"Then another Pause, or a Fast Forward, and a team could get in."

"They could signal the others to attack a certain entrance, and we could pin them."

"Get in the vents and split up, notifying when we found something."

"We don't even need the doors then," Blinx said. "Alright, here's the plan. Bandit, your team will open the vent and get in," he started addressing a Sweeper in all black with black and white fur, the pattern making it look like he had a mask on. "Then another team will go in, and another, until we're all in. Then we split up into different directions. Stay in the vents and be quite. If you see a way to take them down or the purpose of this, signal immediately. We need to get this done fast." Bandit and his team, Team Night Kings, crawled forward. Seeing an opening, Bandit hit the control and sped off with his team at his heels while everyone else, save the Sweepers, were frozen. They successfully made it into the vent as the Pause ended.

Another team Fast Forwarded, speeding into the vent before anyone saw.

Another group used a Slow, and made it.

Another group used a Pause as well, and all four teams were in the vents.

"Now," I heard Blinx whisper, and we sprinted as he activated a Fast Forward. We jumped into the vents, and found the rest of the squad in a large central vent. Why there was a space in the system to fit twenty Sweepers, I will never know. Blinx made some hand signs, and the teams split, one to the right, one to the left, and two, plus us, forward. We tried to move as quietly as possible, but we kept kicking each other as the vent got smaller. Eventually, the vent split into three again. The two teams each took a side, and Blinx and I went straight. We almost made it to the opposite wall, when I heard some voices. Looking, there was a shaft with a grate to my left. Tapping Blinx, we turned to the vent. Looking through, we saw Benito pacing around, yelling at Ugo.

"And why is there a bunch of monsters reforming in the arena when the crystals should be collected and handled properly?"

"We are collecting crystals, boss. Just some don't get touched and reform. But there is a plus side to this," Ugo said hurriedly. "We don't have to capture monsters, meaning less suspicion from the Sweepers."

"Too late," I whispered. Blinx glanced at me and smiled smugly. Benito grunted.

"That's why I thought of this. To collect crystals without suspicion. We need money, mainly for me. And to take out those mangy cats. And that means selling more time." He stopped pacing and sighed. "If only we didn't need to waste money for this place. But fear not, for this shall help us get more than ten times our original profit, and less of those cats in our way." He said this with great flourish that made us giggle. Our plans were the opposite of what he wanted.

Just then, our communicators went off and we were connected to a group video chat. We crawled away from the vent we were looking through, until we were out of earshot. Thankfully, no one started talking until we were all safe to do so.

"What did you guys find?" I asked.

Bandit replied to me. "A large storage area filled with crystals. And they're glowing brightly, like something's trying to form. We're going to sweep a few and see if that calms it down. Anyone else find something?"

"Benito. He's using this place to gather crystals to sell, without us noticing." Blinx said.

"I don't need to say it, but that's a fail," someone said. This drew many chuckles.

"Alright. Everyone meet a Team Night Kings' position. We'll sweep some crystals and figure out a plan from there." We ended the call and our screens switched back to maps. Using them, we made our way to the rendezvous . Looking through the grate Team Night Kings opened, we were able to see how many crystals they meant. The room was as large as a school cafeteria and was packed with crystals, sorted by type. We dropped down, and were practically blinded due to the glow. I don't know how we didn't see it in the vents.

"Whoa," someone behind me breathed, and I heard more boots land quietly on the floor.

I activated my sweeper and swept up a Pause crystal. It vibrated, and said I had a Pause control, even though I only had one crystal. Frowning, I swept up a Retry crystal, and the exact same thing happened. The other also started sweeping up crystals, but we couldn't carry many. And if anything, the crystals glowed brighter. I had two spots left, so I swept up a yellow crystal. I got two Slow controls. This was even more puzzling. But before I could voice my concern, a door on the left of the room opened, and two Tom-Toms walked in. I hit a Pause control at lightning speed, and we hid amongst the crystals. We could only wait and hope they don't find us.

Hey how y'all doing? Hope you're having a nice time this week. Go get 'em fey!

-ThinMintE