An unexpected amount of intel has fallen into Jake's hands, on top of rumors of a powerful morph capable contender on the horizon, Marco also brings news that The Controllers may be active in their very own hometown. But in light of all that they have discussed, it is decided that the acquisition of battle morphs worthy of the coming violence is their top priority.

Filling the Deck II

Day 6, Morning

I like sunlight, and fresh air, and hiking. Overall there's something about the outdoors, about taking a walk or sitting down in the woods that relaxes me, but I'm not going hiking today. Today we're visiting the Gardens, more specifically, their zoo, a collection of the most exotic animals humanity could capture and sustain in a healthy if enclosed environment. We're here to do a little more than just look at the animals. We have to touch them.

But touching the animals we want as battle morphs is easier said than done in a zoo filled with hundreds of people. especially when you have familiar faces nearby. I've read a list of all the animals in the Gardens that are worthy as a battle morph. I've decided to acquire several, we can't be too limited in the scope of our abilities. The first stop for me is the elephants, and all of the animals that the keepers will allow us to touch, if we're lucky they might let us pet the dolphins.

"Thanks for the invitation, midget," Tom said his nickname for me as we locked our bikes on the bike rack. "Seriously, thanks. I've been wanting to see that Komodo Dragon exhibit for a really long time now."

"Sure thing bro," I said with a smile, shaking hands with him. "Just be careful not to get burnt to a crisp?"

"I think Cassie's the one you should thank," Marco contested, cracking his knuckles. "She heroically convinced her parents to give her some discount passes to share."

It was a crowded place, and there were a good number of bikes on the rack here as well, Rachel and Marco have to be around here somewhere.

((Hey, Marco,)) I spoke up in thought speak suddenly. I turned to look at him.

((Don't worry, I'm only sending my thoughts to you,)) I reassured in a voice that sounded more powerful than it normally is. Then again my thought speak voice sounded way more serious and powerful than the one my friends are used to. Marco started walking slower than normal, I matched his pace.

((Me and Cassie tested it out on her parents, we can choose to only be heard by each other, and whoever wishes to hear us.))

That is so sick! Marco mouthed silently.

((I know we're here on a mission, but let's enjoy this, alright? Just us, together as a group of friends. This is probably going to be the last really fun time we'll be able to have together.))

"Even with someone who is a possible Controller?" Marco whispered to me.

((Let's ignore that,)) I said, wrapping my arm around his shoulder. ((Even though he may or may not be a controller, Tom's still my brother.))

I finished the conversation as we approached the gate where the Park officials are scanning tickets.

"Are Rachel and Cassie in on this?" He asked.

"Yeah, she brought Melissa and Jordan too," I said. "We're going to have a good time."

"With a parasite as a chaperone," Marco concluded sarcastically under his beath.

It didn't take us long to get in the Gardens, and when we did Marco saw something very strange.

"Wait, IS THAT A TATTOO SHOP?" He said in disbelief.

"What?" I asked, looking to where Marco was pointing, a hotdog stand. "Oh ha ha, very funny!"

Next to the hotdogs were the girls, Rachel, Cassie, Melissa, and Jordan, sitting on a bench next to it.

"What's up docs?" Jordan piped out.

"Hello nurses," Marco said, not skipping a beat, then he froze when he realized what just transpired. "Oh...oh, I'm sorry. That was...I'm very sorry," Marco said quietly.

"Ignoring that. Let's do it," Rachel said, walking over to the rides.

And we enjoyed that day very much, we rode most of the rides. Laughing, this was the last fun thing we did before the fight to change Earth's fate began.

But throughout it all, I had the feeling that I had already left and joined the battle. My favorite rollercoaster, The Purgator, was still wonderful, we twisted and turned, someone threw up on the ride. It was some very good fun, but that didn't have the speed we got by dive bombing as a bird of prey. While I was a bird, I felt the acceleration, the wind ruffling my feathers, but somewhat sort of didn't feel it, if that makes sense. I enjoyed the roller coaster ride more than I expected. The house of mirrors distorted our bodies into strange looking shapes, but the effect was made even more weird because of how much warping me and my friends had gone through without needing mirrors.

We rode a Casino themed Tilt-A-Whirl named Fortuna, and a Yoyo Swing ride called Ring Around the Rosie, it doesn't matter how girly the ride looks with the flowers painted on, it's awesome. But the fun always has to end eventually, the sun can't shine forever.

Day 6, Noon

Our stint on the amusement park side of the Gardens ended when we ate lunch at a pavilion. We had fun, burgers, soda and music, Jordan couldn't stand caffeinated drinks, so she had a Hi-C. Marco teased her a little bit about it, but that was it. The ice cream machine was broken, and the fries were horrible for some inexplicable reason, good thing Melissa brought Doritos.

Eating is just the same as it always has been, but not really. Despite the strange device in my throat, I swallow food normally, unless I want to save something to go into my biomass reserves. The knowledge that I can scarf down biomass endlessly was something that made all of my eating experiences very different.

((Jake, I think we need to go,)) Cassie said as we put our plates on a cart.

((Yeah, Cassie's right,)) Rachel agreed. ((It's time we started the mission. We've had our fun for long enough.))

((I agree,)) I said to them privately.

"Hey guys," I said to the rest of the group as we got out of the pavilion, putting our plates, silverware, and trash away. "Wanna go see the animals?"

"Finally," Tom said, and started the march towards the animal section of the Gardens.

"We'll split up from the rest of you guys," Marco said, waving goodbye. "We're going to try to find the dolphins."

It took us little time to lose Melissa, Tom, and Jordan. But we were walking to the Zoo, me and Cassie were in front, holding hands.

"Hey Cassie, serious question," Marco piped up. "Would the Zoo employees allow us to pet the dolphins?"

"Miles for sure would," Cassie said. "you want to acquire them?"

"We're going to need aquatic morphs," Marco said. "Humans are the dominant species on land, well, excluding aliens. If we're going to fight then we're probably going to have to go aquatic, and when we do it's not off the table that we'll encounter Nartec somewhere down the road."

"Nartec? I thought we were focusing on fighting them?" Rachel pointed out. "Didn't the Nartec leave LA and the Northeastern Pacific?"

"They left LA, but that doesn't mean a few didn't stick around to keep an eye on us. But either way we'll need to get good sea legs."

"Yeah, we should definitely add acquiring dolphins to our bucket list," Cassie said. "Have you decided on your battle morph yet, Marco?"

Marco looked away, scratching the back of his head. He blew through his mouth before answering, "Uh, I can't think of any that I set my mind on. And Tobias said that in order to be effective we have to aim for versatility. What about you guys?"

"Hmmm," I wondered.

"I'm a Grizzly Bear," Rachel decided, wearing that stubborn expression of hers that said she's not budging. "They're big, they cause massive damage, and can take out anything in their path."

"So you're going to be the tank?" Marco said.

"If by the tank, you mean the guy that 'Takes damage and deals damage,' then yes," Rachel agreed.

Everyone was silent for a bit as we made our way to the dolphin tank, we were quite a ways into the Savannah part of the Gardens' Zoo. Marco and Rachel were waiting for either me or Cassie to respond. I opened my mouth to answer but Cassie spoke first.

"I haven't decided," Cassie said. "I think I'm just going to be in a support role. Maybe a wolf? Give you guys backup wherever it's needed."

"That sounds solid," I agreed.

"So, Jake, what are you going to turn into whenever you want to wreck stuff?"

"Hmm," I thought about it. "I want something fast, able to hold its own, tough, and hard to take down."

"A Komodo Dragon?" Cassie suggested. "It has a huge amount of power, is incredibly tough to takedown, its scales are super tough, and it has a nasty bite."

"But it's a reptile, cold blooded," I pointed out. "I don't want something that would grind to a halt mid-battle when the wind gets chilly, and how do we know the lethal bacteria in its mouth will be included in the morph?"

"Hm, those are good points," Cassie said, scratching her chin.

"Cassie's a support, Rachel's a tank...lion, yeah, I'll be a lion," I decided.

"So, what do you guys think Tobias' solution to the problem of our battle morphs mauling each other when we try to wake each other up is?" Marco put forward. "If you ask me, I'd say I really don't want to be the first to die, or kill any of you when I go George of the REAL Jungle."

Rachel opened her mouth to retort something when we heard an animal get especially vocal. My cousin's attention was drawn to a spot behind us. I was the first one to turn around and look at what had caught her attention. There was a crowd around that pen, and there was a Zoo employee allowing people to feed and touch the creature.

"Hey Cass?" Rachel asked. "I think I may have found a solution to the battle morph problem."

"Really?" Marco said, with an incredulous smile on his face. He was laughing until he noticed what Rachel was looking at that and his jaw dropped. "No, no way. Getting the right materials to morph birds was hard enough. But that? No, it can't be done!"

"Whether or not it will work depends on the answers to one question," Rachel turned to face Cassie.

"Okay. What is it?" Cassie asked.

"How many animals can hurt an African Elephant?"

Day 4, Twilight

There was nothing that I could do, Tobias justified in his head as he waited on the roof. He never bothered to leave any other avenue for contact.

It was a car shop, where mechanics repair, upgrade, and modify vehicles to perform better, or perform to their standards. Some cars could even be assembled from scratch in places like this, he noted that one group of teens had their tires removed so that as they drove sparks would cover the road. Tobias blew through his nose in a sad, silent echo of a laugh at that immature teenage stupidity he so dearly wishes he could've enjoyed.

The sun was setting and the employees were leaving, the store very much closed. Everyone who worked there filed out of the place, they all said their goodbyes to each other and parted ways, entering their cars, all except one, he didn't have a car, and thus had to walk home. He went a different way than the others, into an alley that was seemingly abandoned. He moved in the dying daylight to intercept him, he leapt off of the rooftop into the neighbouring carwash. It took nothing for him to silently jump across the gap in the rooftops where the alleyway was, he landed on the roof of an abandoned run down house and without missing a beat dropped on to the brown picket fence, standing with both feet perched on top of a round-edged plank.

He heard the sound of his footsteps come closer, his walking style was much more careless than Tobias' own stride, but most of that can be attributed to his limp. He wasn't even walking on the front ends of his feet. Then he appeared, he was wearing a windbreaker jacket that barely reached to his waist, and his clothes were stained with grease. He walked past Tobias without saying a word, The Mechanic turned left in front of the house, towards his home, and disappeared from Tobias' view.

"Don't pretend you didn't notice me," Tobias spoke in a quiet and even voice as he deactivated his cloak and like a ghost, soundlessly landed on the ground for the first time in days.

The person Tobias was stalking to had stopped, he turned around and leaned on the picket fence. His face was gaunt and pale, the skin around his eyes dark bags, the man was in his early 20s, wore his hair long, which was starting to turn grey far earlier than it should be. His amber eyes were filled with the expression of a man who was meeting with a friend one too many times.

"I already told you," the mechanic declared tiredly as he scratched his head as the street lamp turned on, it was flickering. The Department of Transportation was being incredibly taxed by rebuilding Los Angeles, and other areas that were damaged by alien assaults, but there was no reason to repair a streetlight on a road this desolate anyway. "Stop wasting your time, I can't do it."

"So we can't even hang out for old time's sake, Ben?" Tobias asked, his hands splayed out.

"No," The Mechanic said firmly. "We had agreed. And please, just don't call me that."

"Ben..." Tobias said, desperation leaking into his voice and face. "Please, about your Father-"

"If we really are going to have this talk, I don't think it's a good idea to have it in a place like this."

Tobias nodded and Ben resumed his walk home, it had taken them both forty minutes to get to Ben's house, a run-down, decrepit place that was barely kept from falling apart. The daylight was gone, which gave the house an eerie atmosphere. Ben took his key and unlocked the door, when he entered the floorboards creaked with his every step. Tobias was taken aback at how sparse the entire place was, wallpaper peeling in some places, cobwebs and dust was everywhere. No pictures, no special rugs, nothing.

Ben moved his hand to besides the door, to turn on the lights. But his hand returned with what looked like an oil lamp, he pressed a button and with a click it turned on.

"Please forgive me with the sparse accommodations," Ben said abashedly as he closed the front door, locking it again. "It's not an accident, I live as low maintenance as possible. It's better to be ready to leave everything I have behind if I don't have much to leave behind to begin with. Ever since we split, I always figured you'd come back someday."

The pair entered the living room, an equally dusty area, the only things in there was a couch, a small TV, and a large table covered with various items that were of mechanical nature, the table and its contents however were never left untouched for more than two days.

"Forgive me for not believing everything you say," Tobias said. "But you were the one who had the biggest sweet tooth out of all of us, and loved luxury. Are you sure there isn't another reason for such a...spartan living space? Even the ghost town I stayed in for the last month was more lively than this place!"

Ben laughed, a smile forming on his face for the first time. "I never upgraded my dig-out because I want to see the look on your face when I show you."

"The look on my face says I'm very surprised and somewhat concerned," Tobias said as Ben walked over to his couch, and began messing with one of the cushions.

"Wrong answer friend," Ben said as he began pulling. "Your face says you are shocked, pleasantly so."

Tobias noticed that Ben wasn't pulling on the cushion, he was pulling something out of it. It was a large grey-black case, a large suitcase, nothing special about it at first glance.

"Did you seriously sow a Z-space Storage Gate into a couch seat?"

"Yes," Ben said as he finished pulling the case out. The Mechanic rubbed a very specific part of the case with his index finger fast enough for his finger and the leather of the case to start getting hot. "It's my skill with technology from the Old World, and my love of tinkering and maintaining it that caused me to gravitate towards a job as a mechanic. compared to what I normally work with, everything that goes in that car shop and the tools I use to work on them are mind-numbingly primitive."

Then the bottom of the case snapped and a hidden compartment fell out, the case was now suddenly three times as big as it was when Ben brought it out.

Tobias smiled and laughed, "Did you seriously make that suitcase bigger on the inside? What do you have in there?"

The Mechanic dropped the case by the couch, and that was when Tobias noticed that it had new opening mechanisms, adjusted for its increase in size.

"The thing I wanted to see your face when you set your eyes upon it," Ben smiled as he opened it.

Tobias' eyes widened into round moons when he saw it. Inside the case was cash, dozens of bundles of hundred dollar bills.

"By The Ellemist," Tobias stuttered.

"Yep," Ben said, his hands making a 'you got me' gesture. "That is the reason why I live like a Spartan, everything I get in excess goes in there."

"How much did you put in that case? That's easily a hundred grand!"

"To be honest I lost count," Ben said, scratching the back of his head and straightening up to look his old friend in the eye, deadly serious.

"Surely you couldn't have gotten it all by working at that car shop?"

"You'd be surprised at how little I had to fix my appearance to get the job. I already looked way older than I really was, didn't matter that it was two months until my fifteenth birthday. Forged an ID, and I've been making money there ever since."

The Mechanic closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"We had agreed," Ben repeated, his voice strained and deadly serious. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes again. "We either join our parents on their crusade, or we disband and stay hidden at all costs until the violence blows over."

Ben stopped talking to look down and put his hand on his ruined right leg as he sat. "My decision had already been made for me a long time ago, Arbacan, as was yours. If you need it you can have all of the money in the case, and whatever device you need me to put together at the moment, but that is all I can offer."

"Triysol is dead," Arbacan spat out the terrible words half without thinking.

At the news Ben's eyes widened and his entire body went rigid from shock. A disbelieving expression melted into his face, his stoic mask shattered. The room was dead silent except for the ticking of the clock on the wall above the TV for a good minute as Ben processed the bomb that was just dropped.

"Triysol...dead?" Ben asked in disbelief, struggling to process what he had heard. "No, no...How? How can Triysol be...Father...he survives every...!"

Ben stuttered in shock as grief overwhelmed him, he collapsed on the couch, his face broken into a mask of despair.

"I...there wasn't even anything left to say goodbye to, was there?"

"No. I'm sorry," Arbacan said, walking towards his friend, stepping around the massive case. Ben's grief melted from his face and it was replaced by an emotion he couldn't identify, a very dark one.

"Who did this?" Ben growled, a completely different person, a creature hungry for blood. The light cast by the 'oil lamp' cast brutal shadows over his face, making him look like a darker figure than he actually was. "It was The Beast wasn't it?"

"NO!" Arbacan shouted as he shook his head, hard.

"No," Arbacan repeated, quieter. "The Beast is gone, it fell with the rest of its people on this world."

"The explosion in Dixie National Forest, that was you," Ben said in surprise. "Is it true? Their Citadel's finally gone?"

Tobias nodded.

"So that's how," Ben whispered, smiling sadly as he looked out of his window, at the night sky. "The blood of the Ellemist served him well. I'm glad to see that the fight is finally looking up."

Arbacan winced as he looked away, hesitating to say the rest of it.

"So, did you-" Ben asked.

"The Citadel is gone," Tobias interrupted him, his tears beginning to rise up. But he wasn't going to cry, once he started he wouldn't stop for a long time. No, he already gave voice to that horrible, wailing, aching pain in his chest that just won't stop, will never stop. "But it doesn't matter, I so desperately wish Triysol was the only casualty. Tepin, Blajis, Skartauga, Lurdatha, Mitiriol, Galratun, Haurok, Elsinir, even my Father, everyone's dead!"

Ben looked down to face Arbacan, an expression of horror on his face.

"Ellemist have mercy...please...no...no," Ben managed to gasp out with his face even paler than usual. His voice had turned hollow carried by the winds that were blowing hard this night.

"No!" Ben founding his resolve, he turned to look Tobias in the eye. "This doesn't add up. You've fought those abominations before, I was even there one of those times. Those monsters are insanely tough, but their numbers have been whittled down. Not even the four hundred remaining in the Citadel could withstand a dedicated all-out assault with them at full strength!"

"It wasn't them. We took down The Citadel without only three casualties, or at least, they did," Arbacan clarified. "But I was remaining at a rendezvous point, preparing to treat the wounded. They were ambushed by another enemy on the way there, one we know nothing about."

"An ambush? But with the Citadel gone, there's no sentient creature that far inland of North America other than the humans."

"Yes, there is. They were a race of parasites, with scores of humans under their command...they just unloaded on them," Arbacan said. "They annihilated each other, my Father barely managed to escape with his life. Four days ago, a remnant of The Citadel's war machine found us...and neither came out of the confrontation alive."

"The Cube! Tell me you at least managed to recover the Cube!" Ben asked his younger friend desperately.

"Yes, I did," this elicited a sigh of relief from Ben. "Dad managed to ensure that everybody believed it was destroyed in the base. All the data they had collected from studying it was erased, up to the backups of the backups."

"And now you have it on you," Ben concluded, his pale face serious, his eyes grim amber orbs staring at Arbacan. "You're here to repair my body so I may operate The Forge. Am I correct?"

"Yes."

"How many of those with the Old Blood are there left on the continent? Sixty? Eighty? Saying this is going to be a difficult fight is a huge understatement. I'm in, I'll join you, but if we are to overcome this parasitic threat, I must return to the Sanctuary without delay."

"No, not the Sanctuary," Arbacan handed his comrade a slip of paper. "We're going to set up our base at these coordinates, a set of coordinates that could use your skill at refurbishing technology."

Ben took the paper and scrutinized it.

"A bunker? Yes...yes I can definitely bring that to operational status, it'll take some time though. Wait, this is close to that city you were hidden in! Why are you coming back here, of all places?"

"Before his death, Father declared that in order to triumph against these Controllers, we cannot afford to limit our recruitment options."

"So we're giving the power to Pure Humans?" Ben asked incredulously. "Those are the people who...this is madness! They know nothing of what's beyond the atmosphere, they don't know the truth, they don't have the skills and the fortitude needed to undertake this task! And many of them don't even trust us enough not to try to sic ETCS on us if we dared reveal our true nature!"

"That doesn't matter, we'll teach them. And we need the numbers," Arbacan said, smiling. "There's already a group of four that Father managed to secure the loyalty of, they won't betray us. And besides, it shouldn't matter if they're of a Pure or Old heritage. The time has come to allow new blood join the battle."