Kirk and the others were stood waiting in the alley for Blythe and Evrim to return, which they hoped would be soon. "What's taking them so dam long?" Questioned McCoy, clearly his patience was wearing thin. "They'll be back in a sec, mister… Um, its only just occurred to me that I don't know your names, well I know who Delta is." Grace said shyly, this was a bit embarrassing. "Oh that's right, well we'll get to that once the others are back." Replied Kirk, "We're back! Sorry it took a bit longer than we originally thought." Called a voice. Kirk turned around, not expecting to be greeted by the sight which stood before them. Blythe and Evrim looked completely different, they were dressed in futuristic suits. "Bloody hell!" Chekov called, "Sorry, I know it's a bit of a shock." Replied Evrim. "That's an understatement…" Muttered McCoy as he blinked his eyes, he couldn't really believe what he was seeing. Evrim looked like some sort of futuristic bunny samurai, the pink light which shone from the accents of her suit made her glow with a beautiful aura. While Blythe looked like some sort of flying swordsman, the metal wings which were attached to her back twitched occasionally, while the small jets at their base flamed intensely. "Well, since you're back I guess we'll tell you our names." Kirk stated, he quickly introduced everyone, at least now they were better acquainted.
Just then, Blythe handed something to Grace, it looked like a gun well two. "Did you just hand her a set of guns?!" Question Kirk, Blythe nodded. "I don't do well with high-tech weapons, I prefer the more classic ones." Grace replied as she placed them on her belt, Kirk wasn't really going to argue with her. Suddenly Crescentia came soring down from above, frantically flapping her metallic wings about. "Crescentia, what's wrong?" Asked Grace as she tried to calm her friend enough so she could understand her, "Are you sure?" To which Crescentia just nodded. "What is it Grace?" Scotty asked nervously, "Crescentia has seen some of my mother's minions lurking about." "It must be Salix and her pet, we must be careful, Salix is very dangerous." It was Blythe who had responded. Evrim then had an idea, "If Salix's on the hunt then there's no way were going to get into where your friend is being held, we need a distraction. By that I literally mean, I'll be a distraction but I'll need someone to come with me." Everyone had the same look on their faces, Chekov was thinking about offering but as it so happened, someone got there before him. "Me." It was Keenser, he had been the one to offer. "Are you sure, lad?" Asked Scotty, to which Keenser just nodded. "OK then, let's go, your friend is most likely in great danger."
As Evrim stepped out of the alley, she tapped the bunny emblem on her chest. For a split second nothing happened, that was until something came screeching to a halt beside her. "You've got a car?" Asked McCoy slowly, "No, it's a bike." Evrim replied as she turned to face Keenser. "Hop on, we've got a distraction to make." She helped the Engineer onto her bike, before speeding off. Blythe noticed the look of concern which had appeared on Scotty's face, "Don't worry Scotty, Evrim will take good care of your friend." She said reassuringly to him. "I know she will lass, come on, let's go get Lexie." Blythe smiled as she raised a hand up to her face, to put on a yellow visor. Grace patted Crescentia on the head, once she had settled down on her shoulder. "Are you alright ,Grace?" Chekov asked as he stepped over to her, "I guess I'm just a little nervous, like I said earlier I haven't seen my mother in many years. If I'm honest, I'm not sure if I really want to."
Grace turned her head away as she spoke. "You see, I've tried my best to avoid my mother at all costs. But, if seeing her again is the only way to get your friend back, then I'll do it." Grace then felt a hand on her shoulder, she turned back to see Chekov smiling at her. "Just remember, you're not facing her alone, you've got us with you." Grace gave a small smile in reply, "Thanks Chekov." Blythe made them wait for a few moments, she said it was to give Evrim and Keenser some time to create their distraction, which was fair enough. This gave Grace a chance to ask Chekov a question, "This friend of yours, Lexie. Is she important to all of you?" Her question seemed to confuse the young Navigator. "Yes, she is. Lexie is like a sister to me, but then again, she's part of our family." Now Grace was the one who was confused, "What does he mean by 'family'?" Grace asked herself, it's not like she had never heard that word before, because she had, it was just that she didn't understand what it meant. "Alright, let's go. The others should have been able to distract Salix by now." Called Blythe as she stepped out into the street, closely followed by the others.
The truth was that Evrim and Keenser hadn't even found Salix, which was a little concerning. "Where?" Keenser grunted as they sped down another street, "I don't know, but something tells me that we're the ones being hunted." That didn't make Keenser feel any better, he just gulped in response. Suddenly something came charging out from a nearby alley, Evrim had to swerve to avoid whatever it was. "What?!" Cried Keenser as he looked behind them, to see a panther chasing them with a woman riding on its back. "That pal, would be Salix and her pet Mistral." "Well, if it ain't Evrim. Still wearing that stupid bunny costume, I see." Evrim simply growled, clearly she took that as an insult. "And your still riding around on an over-sized tin can, hah! And you call me stupid." Evrim laughed, now that's how to distract someone, insult them so they will chase you. Well, it seemed to work a treat since Salix simply ordered for Mistral to catch them. "You might wanna hold on tight Keenser, this is going to get a bit rough." Evrim warned as she placed a mask over her mouth, Keenser nodded as he grabbed her tightly around the waist, he didn't wish to fall off the bike at such high speed. However, their highspeed chase wasn't going to last long.
Something struck the back of Evrim's bike, causing her to lose control of it. "Shit! Keenser jump!" Evrim let go of the bike and grabbed a tight hold of the Engineers wrist, before leaping from the bike which skid across the street before crashing into a wall, immediately it was engulfed in flames. "Oops! Aww I'm sorry, did I break your little toy?" Salix called smugly, Keenser turned to see the woman walking towards them, her panther not far behind. "And I'll break yours in a second…" Evrim growled as she got to her feet, Keenser watched as a strange circle of light appeared on the ground beneath her feet, while she pulled out a katana from the holster on her back. "You have got to be joking? You think you can really take the pair of us on." Salix asked, "I've done it once before, so I can do it again." Evrim wasn't going to stand down, her grip of her weapon only got tighter. "Well then, I guess I'll have to change your mind. Mistral!" Evrim believed that Salix's pet was coming for her, but he wasn't. Mistral simply jumped over her head and pounced on Keenser, "Get off him!" It was then when Evrim made the mistake of turning her back on Salix, who simply struck her in the back with her claws. "Still as foolish as ever, come Mistral and bring the… thing?" Mistral went to pick Keenser up by his shirt, but the Engineer punched him, which of course caused Keenser more pain than it did to the panther. "Feisty aren't we? Mistral." Keenser was about to speak when Mistral's tail hit him hard in the back of the head, knocking him out.
Scotty felt extremely on edge, he guessed his worry about Lexie was just getting the better of him. "Forget what happened on Lilo, this is Kyle all over again…" That was one memory Scotty wished he could forget, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't erase that man from his mind. Lexie had been able to let go, so why was Scotty finding it so much harder to do? "You worried?" A voice asked suddenly, which caused Scotty to jump a little. "I would lie and say I'm not, but I know you would see right through that, Leonard." It had been McCoy who had asked Scotty the question, "It's alright to be worried Scotty, we all are, but we'll get Lexie back." "It's not just that Leonard, it's what we're going to find when we get there. Judging by what the lads told us about Matrix, these people ain't going to be easy to deal with." Scotty did have a good point, these people seemed to have weapons of such advanced tech, it would be hard to fight them. "Just remember Scotty, we're armed too." Scotty turned to see Kirk holding his phaser tightly in hand, well that was one good thing. At least they had Blythe and Grace with them, who looked like they could handle themselves in a fight.
Being led by Crescentia who was flying above their heads, they soon came to a run-down warehouse, which looked creepy. "Why are we here? This place looks like it will collapse if I sneeze on a wall." McCoy stated nervously, "It's what's beneath this building that counts McCoy, there was no way in hell my mother would keep things in plain sight." Grace answered as she stepped into the building, followed cautiously by the others. "So how do we get below the building then?" Question Scotty, Blythe smiled as she placed her hand over a circuit box, which caused the wall to open up. "We take the elevator." Everyone just blinked, they really were going to walk into a secret lab, via the front door! Not the most mission impossible entrance ever but, as long as it worked. All eight of them crammed into the elevator, it wasn't the biggest thing in the world but no one was complaining. But as the doors closed Scotty believed he heard something, a noise which caused his body to shiver. "Scotty, what's wrong?" Delta asked, since the robot was sat on the Scotsman's head he had felt the man's body tremble. "I… I thought I heard… Lexie…"
The Scotsman's statement didn't surprise Kirk and the others, they understood that the two Engineers had a bond which seemingly allowed them to hear each other, from miles away. "It seemed that you are connected to your friend, that will come in handy." Blythe stated, to which Scotty just nodded. He could feel the tears which he had been holding back slowly starting to drip from his eyes, but he just blinked them away, he couldn't show how broken he was, he needed to be strong to help Lexie. It was only a short time before the doors to the elevator opened to reveal a shadowy room, "It's even creepier down here, than it was up top." McCoy stated quietly, he didn't want to alert anyone to their location. "If you think this is creepy, then wait till you see what my mother works on down here, then you'll be freaked out." Stated Grace as she stepped further into the room, her guns tightly in hand. Chekov could now see how on edge she was, she really didn't like coming here but he was glad that she had, they would need Grace to get Lexie back. "Do we really wanna see what ya mothers working on lass?" Asked Scotty, he was being sarcastic and Grace knew this, so she just gave him a smile. Suddenly someone laughed maniacally at them from the shadows, "Well now, look who came crawling back? Blondie. I see you brought friends." A voice followed.
Instantly Blythe drew a sword, which was actually hidden as one of the metal plates on her wings. "Stop being a coward Nina, show yourself! You too Matrix!" Scotty grabbed a tight hold of his phaser, "Stay behind me lad." He whispered to Delta. Just then, two people stepped out into the light. "Hello Blythe." "Nina…" The pair stared into each other's eyes, while Matrix looked over at Chekov. "Hello kid, nice to see you can finally move again." "Where's Lexie?" Chekov growled, he wasn't in the mood for games. "Oh, you mean our new lab rat?" Nina asked smugly, which touched a nerve with Scotty. "Don't ya dare call the lass that!" Scotty could feel his emotions slowly getting the better of him, but he just couldn't help it, that was his daughter they were talking about after all. Scotty then felt a hand on his shoulder once again, but this time it was Kirk. Just by the look his Captain was giving him, Scotty knew he had to calm down, before his anger got them in deep trouble. "Sorry to be the one to tell you, but none of you will ever see your friend again." As Nina spoke, she nodded her head at Matrix who simply flicked her tail about violently, before seemingly plugging its tip into the ground. The group didn't even have a second to try and figure out what she had done, before the floor opened up beneath them, sending them plummeting into a dark pit. Thankfully, Blythe could still fly along with Delta and Crescentia. However they didn't make it far, since some kinda force field was placed over the opening, which electrocuted them, in turn sending them to join the others.