The door(and most of the wall) flew in when Billy's bomb went off.

"You didn't come out…" Billy called, "So we're comin' in!"

He went silent when he found nothing.

In the vent nearby, Alph watched Billy search the room.

"I coulda swore this was the room they went in…" He mumbled.

Alph, content, crawled to where the rest of them were.

Beta Simon and the other two were a bit farther down the vent.

"Listen, they're gonna go on lockdown soon. We have to make sure we move carefully and not make any loud sounds. The cameras are off, so we won't be caught that way, but there will be guards everywhere. So just follow me and you'll be safe, ok?"

A few minutes later, the lights cut off and they were submerged in darkness.

Beta Simon slowly pulled off the vent cover and they entered the hall.

"Make sure you follow ME, okay?" Beta Simon whispered, before creeping down the hall.

Travis sat in his room, staring at the wall.

What is the meaning of life? He questioned. The lights turned off conveniently after he finished this thought.

Travis got to his feet and smiled.

A lockdown. That means prisoners are free and trying to escape… I get to hunt them.

Travis kicked open his door and drew a knife. He snuck down the halls, listening for every little sound.

A few minutes into the process of peeking around corners, sitting completely still, and jumping out and scaring Gamma guards, Travis took a breather.

"Why did you stop?" A voice whispered from behind him.

Travis whirled around and saw a figure in the dark, crouched down. He fumbled through his things for a flashlight and pointed it at the figure.

"...oh." Amber rose to her feet and laughed, sheepishly. "Hi…"

"Why were you following me?" Travis asked, then facepalmed. "How are you out of your cell?"

"I- uhh… I snuck out and turned off the light-"

Travis pointed his knife forward.

"Whatever. I've been really stressed lately and can't find a reason why. I think, while I have somebody I hate so dearly in front of me, I should let off a bit of steam, don't you think?"

"...is that a threat?"

"Yup." Travis put his hands together and readied a psionic beam. "Just hold still."

Amber looked at Travis, then tilted her head to see behind him. A bright light poured out from behind him.

"Uhh…"

The beam didn't leave Travis's hands. He flinched, a light flashed, and Travis collapsed.

Two Gamma guards stood behind him, one with a glowing hand and the other with a lack of hands.

"Hey." One greeted, "We met your blue-haired buddy and he said he knew you or something… we couldn't let this loser beat you up, soo…"

"Well, Mart, you saved the princess, but got us into deeper doody than before!" The goomba complained, "Now what?!"

"I don't know why you escaped, ma'am, but wherever you're going, we gotta go too."

"Yeah, we're wanted for treason, soo…"

Amber raised a brow.

"Well, I was supposed to be in an escape pod, but I messed up and have no idea where I'm going."

"The pods…" Martin(which Amber assumed was the guy) mumbled. "They're right around that corner." he pointed behind him.

"Great, thanks." Amber rushed past them and burst into the room. A terrified L put down his gun.

"Don't scare us like that!" He fussed, "Now come on! The pod's ready to leave!"

"Uhh… Amber looked behind her. "I hope we have room for two more,"

L noticed the two guards and pointed his gun at them.

"You saw nothing."

Alph pushed L out of his way and waved.

"Thanks for the help!"

"Sorry, bud… we might need YOUR help." Dave groaned.

"Ya see, we're wanted guys around these parts. Somebody ratted us out to the Omega and she tried to get us." Martin added.

"There's enough room on the pod… I think."

"Good, because we need to leave soon… I think that inkling might wake up soon-"

"There you are!" A voice called from down the hall.

"Run!" Dave yelled as they frantically piled into the pod.

Beta Simon sealed the pod behind them and turned to the two guards.

"You two are safe, right?"

"We aren't safe, but we're on your side, sir." Dave replied.

"Good. Then we're off."

Beta Simon pulled the escape pod out and they flew off, safe at last.

During the ride, L decided to strike up some conversation.

"How does someone get into Gamma?"

Dave and Mart exchanged glances.

"You have to get really popular." Dave replied.

"Like, hella popular. If the MVPs have to stop you, then Gamma will take you in." Martin added.

"What did Billy do?" Amber asked.

"He was flagged by the MVPs as a potential threat after he showed extreme intelligence and terrifying mental issues." L stated.

"Okay, but what did he do to be flagged?" Alph butted in.

"He proposed a military-style plan to the princess… which we couldn't go through with, due to a lack of toads wanting to participate. Nobody knows where his house is except for the princess, so she and Mario traveled there to make sure he was okay. It didn't go well, according to them."

"What do you mean, didn't go well?" Beta Simon scoffed from the driver's seat.

"He vanished out of thin air and wasn't seen in town for several years. One day, he returned to argue with relatives. He left the house fuming. That was the day we learned to identify him as a threat." L sighed. "He left a pipe bomb in the castle after givng the princess a lackluster apology. I should have known that he was just playing with us to settle some beef."

"Damn…" Amber breathed, "He told us a VERY different story."

"Anything he told you was probably a twisted nightmare of misconception."

"There's one thing he told us that was real…" Martin sighed, before pulling down his sleeves. "Yeah, those are acid burns."

L choked back a gag and turned away.

"Why?" He cried.

"We really were caught and punished for treason." Dave chuckled. "Omega told him to brainwash us. Instead, he gave us mental scars."

"That was the guy that followed me down the halls?!" Beta Simon gasped. "I'm glad he didn't try anything with me…"

A long wait later, they all felt the ride skid to a halt.

"Get up." Beta Simon demanded. "We're here."

Inside the base…

Billy slapped Travis awake.

"Hey, stupid!" He hissed, "Wake up!"

Travis slowly got to his feet and looked around.

"Where'd she go?" He asked.

"If you're talking about Amber, she got away! Her and her fan club flew off in an escape pod before we could get the power on!"

Travis weakly punched the wall and shook his head.

"Dammit."

"No worries, bud. I've got a new mission for us."

"And what would that be?"

"Getting crucial info from our favorite agents…" Billy held up a screen, showing a tracker. "And possibly killing them in their sleep."

"Good. Tell me when you're ready..."

As Travis turned to leave, Billy caught a glance of something.

"What the hell happened to you?" He asked.

"Somebody shot me in the back. Nothing I can't handle." He said, before wincing. "But it still stings."

Billy smirked. "That's because it took out most of your vest... and that bruise doesn't look like it's going away." He teased.

Travis turned, his face bright red. "What?!"

He yanked off his vest and gawked at the huge hole in the back.

"What the hell?!" He exclaimed as he felt the hole in his shirt too. "That was my concert-exclusive Diss-Pair shirt!"

"Was it that red-haired twerp?" Billy asked.

"What?"

"That kid and his goomba... they've got some strange dynamic. One keeps the other emotionally in check, the other... might require more of my attention."

"Is he that bad?"

Billy paused and stroked his chin.

"Not if he's on our side."

"Whatever." Travis huffed, before storming away.

"You aren't going to get that checked?" Billy called.

"No." Travis replied.

Well well well...

There's a weird suspicion about these two Gamma dudes that joined our side. Just to clarify, because I never actually said it, Martin does have red hair. And possibly some strange power we don't know about.

I guess we'll see about him next chapter.