TW: dinosaur deaths, panic attack

Right after Persia, where the parents nearly found their freedom—which resulted in their escape hole being sealed by a metal cover—the ship headed to France and the results were as unpleasant as in the last time period... Not long after they entered the time warp once more, Spectre's frustrated voice thundered through the entire ship, so he was heard even over at the house.

"That doesn't sound good," Spike expressed as he was standing by the glass door. "Seems like Spectre's in a terribly foul mood," Aki said; she was sitting by herself on the couch across the door. "I would be too if I were him. After all, he has to listen to himself sing all the time!" Cretacia joked. Trias who was sitting beside her hummed thoughtfully. "More likely, it's because he hasn't found any new Cosmos Stones with the detector we built for him." "Got that right!" Cretacia grinned and slid closer to Trias, leaning on him. "And he won't so long as we have this chip!" She spun a small chip on the tip of her finger. "Without this, the detector won't be able to catch any real wireless signal, not even the ship's, and instead shows randomly generated locations."

"If Spectre hasn't snatched any new stones, maybe Max and the others have," Spike suggested. "I sure hope so," Aki agreed, "after all, the entire universe is at stake." "We have to believe," Amano, who was sitting on the floor next to Ryu, joined in, "I just wish there was something we all could do to help the children out." "Me too." Ryu nodded.

"Then let's quit lying around here and do something!" Cretacia suddenly snapped out, "come on, let's use our heads, everyone. Isn't there some way we could hack into Spectre's communications hub and then get in contact with the children? Well, darling?" She grabbed her husband's hands and smiled at him brightly.

Who would have thought that this was the person who was completely flooded by negativity after one meeting with Seth only a few days ago? Well, Trias did mention that Cretacia is a pretty good actor. That only begged the question of whether or not this was just an act; a mask hiding everything.

"It's worth a try!" Trias agreed with his wife, resting his hand on top of hers. "Then that's the plan. Let's get started!" Spike exclaimed. "Yeah!" everyone cheered.

The brunet then turned back to the glass, noticing a man standing at the catwalk—of course, Seth was spying on them. "And let's hope that Seth doesn't get in the way. But knowing him... he will. All the more reason for us to hurry!" The blue-haired then disappeared from the room; he seemingly heard what he needed.

"Do you happen to have a computer here?" Trias wondered. Spike quickly turned to him and closed the curtains. "There is one in Rex's room," he replied, "should I bring it?" Trias nodded. "We'll need it and a keyboard." "On it!" Spike rushed upstairs and soon carried the mentioned computer into the living room—the keyboard was laid on top of it. He put it down beside Trias who was kneeling in front of the TV.

He and Cretacia spent hours doing something the others couldn't understand on the computer that was connected to the TV. Trias then pulled away and groaned in frustration—it wasn't exactly easy to hack into an alien ship with 2007 technology while only knowing the one which came 120 years later.

"Still nothing?" Ryu wondered. "I can't find a way to connect to the ship's network," Trias explained, "the technology is too old for that... We need a wireless connection and that is just impossible with this hardware." "I haven't got a clue about what you just said," Amano admitted. "We can't catch any signal." "I see..."

"Well, if something doesn't work..." Spike spoke up and swung his arm towards the computer, his hand curled up in a fist, "you just gotta hit-" "Spike, no!" Cretacia snapped at him and pulled him back by the vest. "I was just trying to help." "Breaking it won't really help though," she pointed out to him. "Sorry. That just used to work in the good old days. Do you have any ideas?" "Actually..."

The blonde's eyes widened in realization. She held up the chip she showed off before. "Darling, do you think it'd be compatible?" he asked Trias. "All we can do is try," he told her. She inserted the chip into the computer, hoping that it could do something. It did. "We're connected!"

"What now then? Can we actually call the children?" Aki questioned. "Hopefully..." Trias exclaimed, typing something on the keyboard, "there! I've hacked into Spectre's imaging system! Now we can see what he sees."

The TV screen switched to the scene from the outside, a Jurassic forest on fire. "My goodness..." Aki let out. "Oh, those poor dinosaurs!" Amano covered her mouth in shock. The forest...the dinosaurs were being consumed by flames, roaring in agony. The horrors in front of them were unbearable, yet neither of them could tear their eyes from the screen.

In the middle of the raging inferno, they spotted three figures getting cornered by the fire. "Oh no! The children!" Aki gasped in horror when she recognized those figures. "Max, can you hear me?!" Spike called out.

"Rex!"

"Zoe!"

Nothing...

"We can see them...but they can't see or hear us..." he mumbled; his heart broke when he realized. "And that means we won't be able to help them," Cretacia said, grabbing onto her arm tightly. "We were so close..." Ryu wept quietly, tears forming in his eyes.

All they could do was watch the destruction unfold as the fire was killing everything in its path...plants...dinosaurs... It didn't matter... Everything slowly turned to ash. Everything but the children...

As the D-Team was cornered, the Backland ship flew above them and the three were teleported out of the forest—just barely escaping the same fate.

Trias sighed in relief. "That was close. Thank goodness they've all escaped safely." "Yes, they did," Spike pointed out, holding Aki's shoulder, who was trembling and trying her best not to break into tears—it didn't work... Everyone was in clear distress by what they just witnessed—Amano was paler than usual, Ryu was wiping away his tears, Cretacia covered her ears and glanced away from the screen, her eyes shut.

The roars suddenly went silent. The TV showed the forest fading into the time warp. The ship left the Jurassic, letting it all burn down. Everyone was completely speechless.

Trias bit his lip when he got an idea; they still had access to the ship's camera system after all. He typed on the keyboard and the scene switched from one camera feed to another until he spotted all the Space Pirates and Seth in the ship's briefing room. The blue-haired man was holding two capsules with a big, colorful jewel in each of them.

"That's-! ...the children's Cosmos Stones," Trias uttered, catching everyone's attention. "All of that for those stones...?" Spike wondered.

"I knew you'd do the best job, Seth!" Spectre exclaimed from the TV, grabbing Seth's shoulders and kissing his cheek. He then snatched the stones from Seth's hands, gazing adoringly at them. "I'll be forever thankful to you for this."

The three stooges just watched until Gavro cleared his throat. "What?!" Spectre snapped at him. "Um, boss... Aren't you forgetting who helped him?" "Not sure if burning down a forest could be considered 'help'," Foolscap admitted. Spectre spun on his heel and shot a death glare at the two; they immediately shut up.

Meanwhile, Seth's eyes shifted over at the camera, staring right at the parents—there must've been something indicating it was turned on. He walked over to it, unnoticed by the pirates, and kicked the camera. The TV screen switched to static. "He knows..." Trias let out.

Scenes of the fire were still very much alive in their memory. The worry for their children wasn't the strongest feeling that infected them—the D-Team was rescued after all. The horrors of the fire taking so many lives were scarring to them... No wonder. No one likes to witness an animal's death... However, one of the parents seemed to be more affected by it than the others.

The Drakes and Trias were handling it quite well; Spike was clearly shaken by all this but did all he could to turn his attention away from it, making sure that Aki was okay. Her whole body was trembling and leaned against her husband, clearly being light-headed. He led her over to the couch and helped her sit down.

"Do you need anything?" he asked her, stroking her cheek. She shook her head slowly. "I'm not the one you should worry about..." she whispered. He glanced over at the others; they were all surrounding Cretacia who was still covering her ears and her eyes shut. "I'll be fine," Aki told him reassuringly with a weak smile on her face. He turned to her and pecked her forehead. "They can take care of it; Ryu and Amano know what they're doing. Someone has to be with you and Cretacia would never forgive me if I left you alone."

Cretacia was hyperventilating "Cretacia, it's okay now," Trias said as he reached his hand to her. She flinched when she felt his touch, but calmed down a little when she hesitantly opened her eyes. "Are they...quiet now?" she mumbled. "Yes." Trias nodded. "The ship left. It's over," Ryu joined in. Despite being told that, Cretacia's breath was still fast and when she pulled her hands from her ears it seemed to be speeding up; she slammed the hands back. "No, no, no!" Ryu gasped in a bit of panic. "Slow and deep breaths. Slow and deep," he repeated that a few times before it started working.

"That's it," Amano added, "it's over; everything will be fine. We'll get through this together." The blonde nodded as she steadily uncovered her ears after minutes of calming down. "How are you feeling?" "Terrible..." Cretacia admitted, leaning on Trias, "everything aches so much. My head...my chest..." "That is normal; it'll go away soon," Ryu assured her. She nodded understandingly. "I just...don't get how this happened..." "Don't forget that you've been under a lot of stress lately," Amano reminded her, "I'd say the most out of all of us. And physically, you are only mere weeks after giving birth." "Right..."

"You don't have to worry if this happens again; Amano and I know what to do and so does Spike," Ryu told the blonde while Spike gave a sad nod. "Thank you..." Cretacia let out and then her voice went louder, "thank you!" She jumped at Ryu and Amano and embraced them. "You're welcome." Ryu wrapped his arm around the blonde, holding her reassuringly. Usually, Amano would pull away from a hug like this due to her own issues, but right now, she knew that someone else needed help.

Trias watched with a big smile on his face. It was reliving to see how much the others are willing to help. And it was incredibly surprising too, although, like they showed the other day, the others don't blame him or Cretacia for anything. ...Despite them clearly being responsible. There was something that hit hard about knowing that if it weren't for them, Seth wouldn't be as corrupted as he is now and he wouldn't cause such destruction. Trias was sure that wasn't the only cause for Cretacia's panic attack; the two of them have heard voices of the dinosaurs coming from the stone plates in the past—they were screaming for help and the Ancients could understand every single word. It was like that today too or at least it felt like it. Hearing the voices of agony was bad enough, but those voices led to all their misfortune. ...including losing their son and floating aimlessly through the flow of time, feeling like they're lost forever.

"Why the long faces?" a male voice suddenly asked them. Everyone jerked over to its source, knowing very well who it was. Seth was standing in the opened glass door. "What do you want here?!" Cretacia snapped at him, ready to launch herself, but Ryu and Amano held her back. "Cretacia, no!" "I'd love to know what was the meaning of your little spying," he replied, not phased by her reaction at all.

He walked inside the house and made his way over to the computer, pulling out the chip. He examined it and then smirked to himself. "Did you enjoy what you saw?" he wondered, making everyone tense up in anger. He was literally taking pleasure in the destruction he caused, both physical and mental. "You're insane, Seth," Trias growled at him. "Anything new under the sun?" "Don't you realize how many lives were lost to that fire?" Ryu joined in while he and Amano were still holding Cretacia., "whatever you've done could change history in unpredictable ways. Don't you care about that?" "Of course he doesn't," Spike added, "he was willing to bring his mutated T-Rex into the past to change the entire course of history just for his enjoyment."

"You really don't get it, do you? The past doesn't matter; once I get my hands on all the Cosmos Stones, nothing will matter. This whole timeline will be erased with the snap of my fingers," Seth said mockingly, walking around the room, staying away from Cretacia—very aware she'd be willing to kill him. He stopped when he was standing right behind the couch Aki was sitting on. "No one can stop it now; not you, not those little brats of yours, no one. And in all honesty, if your kids go on like this, they'll only get themselves killed." With all the furious expressions focused on him, he glanced at Cretacia. "And the best thing is that it'll be all your fault."

The blonde shuddered for a split second, but before he could notice, she tried charging at him, yet she was still being held back. As much as both Ryu and Amano would love for Seth to get what he deserved, they couldn't let Cretacia be the one to do it; not so early after her panic attack. Despite that, the man faced consequences of his words, however, it wasn't from Trias, who'd have all the right to strike, or Spike, whose punch would easily give him at least a fraction of justice; it was Aki instead.

Her palm collided with Seth's cheek with a loud slap, which echoed through the house. The blue-haired man froze in shock, keeping his head titled the way the slap moved it. Everyone was staring in surprise.

Aki was trembling, her face red and soaked by tears of rage. "I hope you burn in hell as you deserve." Seth let out a low chuckle. "Is that all?" he asked her with a wider smirk. "Yes, as long as you keep your hands off our children." He clicked his tongue annoyedly at that. "As long as they stay out of my way." He made his way over to the glass door, taking another look at the chip. "Although, with this, the Cosmos Stone detector will be fixed in no time and this universe will become nothing before the brats manage to fix the past." He then eyed the parents and hissed as he reached a hand to the cheek Aki hit before he left the house.

Spike immediately jumped beside Aki. "Are you okay?" "Yeah, no need to worry," she replied with a soft, reassuring smile, waving her hands. Pain suddenly shot in her hand and she winced and cringed. He gently took her hand, looking her in the eyes in concern. "You hit him pretty hard," he admitted. She gave him a small smile. "I hope it wasn't too much..." she let out. "He had it coming," Trias told her. "Only had himself to blame," Spike said. "I bet we would've done the same," Amano added. Then they all shared a quick laugh, which faded out almost instantly—the atmosphere was still pretty tense after what they witnessed.

It was a terrifying image and it was clear that they all were shaken by it, even if they tried their best to hide it. It all happened again. How could Seth mess them up so easily every time? There had to have been a way to bring at least a little bit of light to them.

"He won't win that easily," Spike exclaimed determinedly. "I appreciate your optimism, Spike, but at this point, there is nothing we can do; whenever we try anything, it ends horribly because of him," Trias responded, shaking his head, "as much as I hate to admit it, I think he has already won. We should give-" "No," the buff man interrupted him, "the children haven't given up this whole time, then why should we? Just because that clown is being a pain doesn't mean he's right; the kids defeated him once already—they can do more than we ever could. I'm sure of it. They'll stop Seth; they'll stop Spectre." Trias frowned at him, yet knowing that he had a point.

"We'll rest for a bit and think of another plan." "And how is that one gonna end?" Trias asked, "each plan has worse results than the last, and after this one..." He went silent for a while, eyeing Cretacia. "I don't want to risk something worse happening. Now it's only up to the children. The most we can do is warn Spectre about the power of the stones, but I have my doubts it would do anything." "It's worth a shot," Spike told him and they both nodded.

They spent the next few hours recovering from the whole thing—Cretacia took some time to get back to her usual self and as soon as she did, she and Trias were dragged over to meet with Spectre in the lab. They were afraid of what this could be all about—Seth could have ratted them out—and when they entered the room, they immediately understood.

The Cosmos Stone detector was destroyed! A huge chunk of it was missing and the rest was smelted into a pile of glass and metal. There was not even a hint of the ball-like shape it used to have.

Spectre demanded that they fix it—so the Space Pirates didn't manage to get the stone yet! They refused, changing the subject to the dangers of the Cosmos Stone power. They've run a few tests in the past and it turned out that merging all the stones could be catastrophic. He didn't listen...

Despite insisting that they repair the detector, he left them alone, not doing anything else to force them. He acted irrationally, his words contradicting each other...

They managed to get away with not doing what Spectre said...

After they came back to the house and explained what happened, they came to the same conclusion as before, it is up to the kids now. All they could do now was hope and wait...and eat.

To pass time, Aki decided to cook for everyone with the help of Amano. Cretacia also tried to lend a helping hand, however, she wasn't allowed—the last time she joined, the house nearly caught on fire and by Trias' words, she can't be trusted in the kitchen. The same went for Spike; the two were already a magnet for disasters and it got even worse when they were near fire.

The whole ship suddenly trembled as if there was an earthquake and soon it happened for the second time. "I think the shaking's finally stopped," Aki said once the ship was still again, holding a pot. Spike hurried into the kitchen. "Hey, is everyone all right?" "Yeah..." She smiled at him softly. "And the curry is safe too." "That's good," he sighed in relief as he walked back into the living room.

Amano peeked out of the kitchen after him. "This is the second time within a few minutes. I wonder what that's all about." "It feels like we collided with something," Trias replied, standing near the glass door. "Collided? How?" Aki wondered, coming out of the kitchen. "I guess one of those imbeciles got to control the ship," Cretacia theorized jokingly. "Something is going on out there," Trias said, not moving from the door, "but what?"

"I don't know," Spike admitted and then a wide grin crossed his face, "but the good thing is that the curry is safe." "That's not the main thing to worry ab-" Amano spoke up, but was interrupted by her husband. "It does smell really good." "I don't think-" She paused and let out a deep sigh. "Whatever..." "Aki's curry is the best in the world," Spike exclaimed, "no, the best in the universe!"

"I just wanted to have it prepared for when we meet with the kids," Aki expressed, filling the house with sudden gloom, "Max and Rex love my curry." Trias finally looked away from the glass. "Rex too?" The brunette nodded in response. "Do you think Rex would like my cookies?" Cretacia wondered. "I thought you weren't allowed in the kitchen," Amano pointed out. The blonde grinned, leaned to the others, holding her hands together. "I might be a menace when it comes to cooking, but I have quite the talent for recipes." "That is true," Trias confirmed, "Cretacia's cookies are exceptionally good." "Rex is going to love them," Aki reassured them, "cookies are his favorite."

"I can't wait for him to judge for himself," Cretacia said with a soft smile. "And I'd give anything to make my little Reese and Zoe their favorite strawberry cake and apple pie again..." Amano added, her voice trembling. "They love them so much," Ryu mumbled.

The whole room went silent and grim.

Spike let out a sigh, bending over, his head and arms hanging down. "Wow...What a party. Why do I even hang out with you guys?" The others glanced at him. "Well, you don't really have a choice," Cretacia joked. He looked at her and chuckled. "I guess you're right."

He swiftly straightened him back and snapped his fingers as he got an idea. "Hey, what about an actual party once we're out of here?" he wondered, resting his hands on his hips, "when everything's over we'll celebrate it! All of us!"

He kept going, describing his countless ideas ranging from all-you-can-eat for everyone to karaoke to a cooking competition everyone would take part in. Yes, once they're free, they'll celebrate it with the kids for sure. In preparation for the last idea, they actually wrote down some recipes, including their children's favorites.

They were all quickly back in a good mood, which was soon shattered as the Space Pirates entered the house. The three of them got a hold of the parents and dragged them or even shoved them outside.

"Hey, get your meat hooks off of me!" Cretacia snapped as Gavro was nearly crushing her arm. "Where are you taking us?" Trias questioned. "Relax. It's your lucky day," Foolscap told them and pushed Amano out of the house right at her husband, "we're releasing you all back to your kids."

They couldn't believe what he just said. Are they being set free? Out of nowhere?

"That's right. They're trading Spectre the Cosmos Stones for you guys," Sheer explained as she brought the Taylors out. "They're doing what?!" Spike wondered, nearly shouting, "hold u-!" "There's no use arguing," Gavro interrupted him, "the deal's already been made."

All six glared at the aliens, but that's all they could do. They were led into what seemed like a prison of the ship and they were forced onto some sort of a platform. Glowing magenta bars shaped like hexagons surrounded them like a cage.

"They can't just do this, can they?" Ryu asked in a quiet voice. "If Spectre gets his hands on all the Cosmos Stones, we're all doomed," Cretacia replied, "there is no telling what exactly can happen, but I can assure you that it isn't good." "Then what do we do?" Amano wondered. Trias and Cretacia just glanced sadly at each other, either of them wanting to say it out loud, so someone else did instead.

"We can't let the trade go through," Aki spoke up, her voice unexpectedly steady. After trying so hard to escape, this time they had to do everything to stay. Spike nodded. "That's the most we can do."

"Zip it already," Foolscap ordered them, very likely not understanding what they said. He and Gavro jumped on the edges of the platform and they all teleported into a different part of the ship; into a room where Spectre was sitting on his throne and Sheer was standing in front of a huge opened door.

A room that connected to something bigger; something where a group of people was waiting... The Alpha Gang and the D-Team...

The parents' expressions quickly switched from anger and determination to disbelief and happiness. Despite knowing they'll have to break this happy moment, they couldn't help but be filled with joy—it's been so long since they last have seen their children...

The kids gasped and called out to their parents as soon as they saw them.

"Max, you guys did so well. We're all very proud of you," Spike said with a soft smile. "We're sorry we couldn't rescue you earlier," Max apologized to his father and then turned to Spectre, "okay, now release them." "Of course. After all, we had a deal," Spectre replied and Max pushed a cart in front of him towards the connecting tunnel. They'll finally save their parents.

"Max, wait!"

The brunet froze up and looked up at his mother. Spectre shot an annoyed glare at the cage. "Oh, what now?"

"You can't do this," Aki said, holding her fist near her heart, "as much as it pains us to be without you, we can't let you give Spectre those stones." "But this is the only way to get you back," Rex exclaimed. "Hello! They're trying to free you here," Spectre reminded the parents, his voice filling with irritation, "how about you just say thank you?"

"All of space and time may be on the line here," Trias joined in, "Spectre can't get those stones! Forget us!" "Just shut up already! You're not helping!" the green alien snapped at him and turned back to the kids, "don't listen to them, just bring me the stones. After all, you want to give your parents a big hug, don't you?"

Max eyed his hands as his grip on the cart tightened. "Yeah..." He made a step forward but was stopped by his father's voice. "Max, you must listen to your head, not your heart." "Easier said than done," the boy mumbled.

"No!" Zoe yelled out, "we're not losing you! Not again!" "We'll be fine," Ryu reassured her, "stop the trade now and keep those stones!"

"That's what I've been saying the whole time!" Dr. Z jumped in. "We can't just do that," Rod objected and Laura nodded in agreement. "Look, we risked our lives for all this," Ursula spoke up. "Right!" Zander and Ed agreed. "Just let the brats do the trade and have a happy reunion."

They were on the D-Team's side? Since when?

"If we do, there won't be any reunion," Cretacia told them, "everything will be gone as soon as the trade is done. It'll be just like what happened in the Jurassic all over again, but over 9000 times worse." Max's head shot up when he heard that.

They know what happened there...

The parents were also shocked that it was her of all people to bring it up, but she was right. It'd be like that fire, but much, much worse.

"They're bluffing!" Spectre stepped in, "trust me. They'll give you a five, ten-minute time-out, tops!"

"We know we shouldn't give Spectre all seven Cosmos Stones, but..." Max started, "but the truth is we only have six of them to give him."

"What?!" Spectre nearly fell off his seat. "What do you mean six?" Sheer wondered. "After Seth betrayed you, he stabbed us in the back as well and during a confrontation managed to escape with the last stone," Rex replied. "Oh, Seth! Even when he's not here he's causing problems!" Spectre growled. "Yeah, no shit," Trias whispered, surprising the others.

"If Seth keeps escaping with the last stone, the Space Pirates will never get it," Zoe explained. "It's still too dangerous," Amano responded, "Seth cannot be trusted in any way; you'd be giving the fate of the entire world to a maniac. You have to protect the future."

The kids stared at them, tears filling up their eyes.

"It'll all be over in no time," Spike said with a grin on his face, "and as soon as we reunite, we'll have a big party, okay?" Of course...that party. Cretacia reached into her vest and pulled out the recipes they all wrote down, she folded them into a paper plane. "That's right," Aki agreed, "it'll just have to wait a little longer. Don't think it's because we don't love you." "Yes, it's because we do love you that we're doing this," Cretacia added as she sent the paper plane to the kids.

"Bye..." The parents waved at them. "Wait!" Max cried out when he caught the paper plane. "Don't worry about us. We'll be just fine," Spike assured him. "Zoe, tell Reese that we love her too, okay?" Ryu asked. Zoe nodded while crying.

"Jonathan, I'm issuing a direct order," Trias called out, "close the connector hatch and detach from Spectre's ship!" "What?! No, Jonathan, don't do it!" Max shouted. "But I must," Jonathan's voice sounded from a screen on the Backland, "my programming gives me no choice."

The door started to close.

"No, no, no, no!" "Not yet, please!" "Don't go!" the D-Team yelled and rushed over to the door. The parents smiled at them, watching their kids pleading for them to stay, holding back the tears.

The door shut in the kids' faces, but for a little while, before the ships detached, there were loud bangs on the closed metal gate.

"What are you standing around for?" Spectre snapped at his pirates, "plot a course! We've got to go after them!" "I hate to be the one to bring this up, but that isn't possible," Sheer told him. "Why?!" "Remember that crash?" Foolscap spoke up, "the maneuvering device is wrecked. We're not going anywhere until we fix that."

"Oh? Well, if you know about it, then how about someone go start fixing them?!" Spectre ordered, "oh, I was so close. But then... you." He glared at the parents. "You just had to open your yappers, didn't you, and ruin my whole day! Thanks a lot!"

Spike laughed at him. "Now you know how we feel every time you belt out one of those off-key songs of yours." "Oh! No need to get nasty!" Spectre groaned. "We are just protecting our children as all parents should," Amano told him. As soon as she did, all aliens flinched and she'd swear there was a hint of pain in Spectre's eyes.

"Look, this is what you get when you trust Seth," Cretacia said. "Shut it!" Spectre shouted and in a blink of an eye, the cage teleported back to where it came from alongside two pirates that were standing beside it. That truly was the final straw. "Spectre really was in love," Trias realized. The others just quietly looked at him, knowing what he was referring to.

They were then escorted back into the house.

Stopping the kids was the best thing they could have done. ...despite how much it hurt them.

"How could this even end?" Amano suddenly asked after seemingly hours of silence, receiving confused looks from everyone, "I mean, neither Spectre nor Seth will give up on getting the stones; the kids cannot shield them forever." "Who knows," Trias replied, "considering the results of all the Cosmos Stone research, I doubt that their power would be able to be controlled in anyone's favor. It's just too gre-"

Out of nowhere, the entire ship started shaking again, this time more violently than before from the crashes.

"They really need to learn to drive this thing," Cretacia complained. "Somehow, I think this isn't related to their piloting skills," Ryu added.

And he was right... Not long after the shaking, something entered the house. A dark smoke... It was creeping towards them, spreading through the house.

"What is this?" Spike wondered. "No way..." Trias mumbled, "this is-" He was quickly interrupted by gasses suddenly releasing around them, making all six cough and gasping for breath.

"We gotta get out of here!" Spike exclaimed but broke into a coughing fit immediately after.

It was getting harder and harder to breathe. Their throats and lungs hurt and they could barely take a step forward.

Then, everything stopped. No one was coughing, they could breathe normally again. They were fine and standing in silence, recovering whatever just happened.

Standing in silence that was shattered by a choked scream.

Alright, it took me only a month this time, not 5. So, we're in the endgame and I'm about to enjoy the last chapter (ironic cause I don't like the last episode) I'd say because ANGST.

I'm pretty happy with this chapter; sure, it's a bit of a mess with everything, but there wasn't a point in splitting it in two.

I mentioned this before, but yes, I'm combining the English dub with the Japanese one (there are Japanese subs on NetflixJapan) because that one is better with the dialogue. Also, yes, I mentioned Reese, not because she's my favorite character, but because she doesn't deserve to be overlooked like that.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you with the last chapter of Unseen Events.