"Y'know," Rex began, leaning against a tree, "I'm kind of glad you didn't tell me where the pills are."

Biowulf scoffed. "And conversely, I'm regretting that."

Rex, Biowulf, and Breach stood in the forest of Abysus, watching the castle from a distance. The fire, as it turned out, had spread to at least a quarter of the castle by the time they were aware of it. However, that was hours ago- in the end, only one third of the building was damaged. The three had spent the night in the woods to keep from dying in their sleep, and Van Kleiss was nowhere to be found. The man had instructed them to seek refuge amongst the trees while he returned back to the castle.

It felt strange for Rex, who could be considered somewhat of a city boy, to be sleeping under the stars. Due to his weariness from running rampant through the halls to escape the flames, he fell fast asleep as soon and he had lied down on a particularly mossy boulder- not even his moderate insomnia could stop him. It was barely five in the morning by now, and yet, he could still observe the strangeness in the skies above. Just like in the day, the night sky was tinted with an eerie shade of red- though, it was extremely diluted in the overall blackness.

Biowulf was, of course, still angry with the teen- but currently more distracted with their temporary homelessness. He'd taken care to avoid Rex out of disgust, not wishing to start a fight in his injured state. Breach, on the other hand, seemed deadpanned, staring at the castle with a blank face that could rival poker champions from around the world. It was almost as if she couldn't comprehend what was happening, and at the same time, as if she couldn't care less.

"When do you think Van Kleiss is gonna come back?" Rex asked no one in particular, stifling a yawn. "He's been in there all night. Does he ever sleep?"

"Stop talking," the mechanical EVO near him commanded, his limbs dangling from the tree branches he'd slept on that night. "You never have anything important to say. It's just mindless droning."

Breach giggled.

Rex rolled his eyes. "It is important. Like, what if he died in the fire? You think we could escape?"

"He's not dead, idiot," Biowulf retorted. "It takes more than a mere fire to kill someone like him. Besides, the castle isn't in danger anymore. Pay attention."

The blue EVO's words rang true. When they'd awoken half an hour ago, no signs of the flames could be seen- at least, from a distance. The structure hadn't crumbled, and the castle appeared to have been saved. The king, however, was nowhere in sight.

"Doesn't matter," the boy continued. "Even if the fire's been doused, I still don't want to go back. There's someone- or something sadistic in there that tried to kill us yesterday."

"You have plenty of enemies that can, by all means, take you away," Biowulf snorted. "Though, I don't know who's particularly after me. I'm not too prominent a figure."

"Doesn't that bother you? Don't you want to be a little famous?"

"No, Rex. We're not all as desperate for attention as you are."

Breach cleared her throat. "He's baaaack."

The two males of the group glanced towards the direction of a group of trees about twenty yards away, watching Van Kleiss emerge from the foliage. His facial expression appeared to be weary, though there seemed to be a glint of frustration in his eyes. Seeing as how the castle appeared to be intact, it was unusual to see a lack of satisfaction on his face- then again, the inside of the building wasn't visible to them. For all they knew, every room might have been burned to a crisp.

"Master, what was the cause of the fire?" Biowulf asked, leaning forward. "Are you... alright?"

"I'm just fine," the king answered, eyeing the EVO in the tree. "Come down from there. We're returning."

Rex raised a brow. "No. I'm not dying first thing in the morning."

"You don't have a choice," the man replied, furrowing his brows. A dark look formed in the older EVO's eyes. "Be a little cooperative."

The teen stepped back, sensing something was amiss. He'd seen Van Kleiss outright angry before, but this time, it was a much subtler touch. If anything, that made his mood all the more dangerous.

"It's still hot," Breach sighed, fanning her face with a leaf she'd plucked from a nearby tree. "It's an oven out here."

"I had to send in the Hydrants to fix the mess," the gauntlet-clad EVO informed them. "At least twenty. Do you realize how much effort that took, Breach?"

"Hydrant?" Rex asked.

"A specific type of EVO that evolved from camels. They have the ability to expunge water from their bodies when needed. By the gallons, might I add. Quite useful for a disaster like this."

"Cool, I guess," the boy responded. "But there's still something inside that could kill us. There's no way that fire was a coincidence after we came back from Providence."

Van Kleiss retained a cold look on his face, staring eerily into the distance. "Rex, while I'm glad you decided to start using your head, this isn't the time to voice it. I have another matter on my hands."

"We should check for any lasting injuries," Biowulf piped up, familiar with the duty of scanning wounds after fights. "I only have slight scratches, and the child... appears to be alright, judging by his usual nagging. Breach?"

The girl in question frowned, then slipped up her sleeves. Reddish marks littered her forearms, as well as a few blisters around her elbows. She then fluffed up her skirt, exposing scorched areas of fabric that she'd successfully hidden between the pleats. Rex's eyes widened as he suddenly counted himself lucky for not receiving as many injuries.

"It really does hurt," Breach revealed, curiously walking towards the king. "Do you have burn cream? Ice? Is there any left in the-"

Van Kleiss struck her head violently with his metal arm, knocking her out instantly.

Biowulf flinched, suddenly reminded of the fate of Skalamander. Rex stared in shock, scrambling up a tree when the man's gaze soon fell upon him. When the king began to walk towards him as well, he tried climbing even higher into the branches, unwilling to be anywhere near the gauntlet-clad EVO below. Ignoring his collar, he prepared his nanites for flight. Van Kleiss had clearly gone insane for absolutely no reason, and it was best to-

"I'm not going to hurt you, Rex. Come down."

The teenager stared down at the older EVO below, activating his wings in an instant. "Liar! You just went ballistic and put Breach in a coma! Who says you're not gonna do the same to me?"

The king sighed. "I do, because you're not the one that set the castle on fire."

Rex fell silent.

Biowulf stared at his master incredulously. "She did that? How did you find out?"

"Some of my experiments in the deeper labs are under constant watch by cameras," Van Kleiss explained. "They caught the girl lighting up matches and pouring fuel on the floor. I was just as surprised as you are."

Slowly, the boy slid down the tree and deactivated his wings, though still on edge from the sudden turn of events. "So that's why you looked murderous."

"What are we going to do with her?" Biowulf asked. "Are you going to extract her nanites before we bury her?"

The man shook his head. "That wouldn't lead us anywhere. I want to know her motives. She's not in a coma as Rex has so ignorantly stated- she's merely unconscious. When she comes to, she'll be tied down and forced to answer our questions."

"Like a CIA interrogation," the youngest EVO pointed out. "We're not gonna waterboard her, are we?"

The older EVOs glanced at the teen.

"Yes, Rex, that's exactly what we're going to do," Van Kleiss responded, the sarcasm in his tone ever so subtle. "Bring the water and the wood. In fact, we'll make a pyre so we can burn her alive if she refuses to listen."

"That's twisted!" the boy shot back. "Even if you're just making a creepy joke, I know exactly what you're capable of. You probably would burn someone alive if you had the chance to."

"You're only scaring yourself, Rex. With thoughts like those, it's no wonder you couldn't sleep."

Rex rolled his eyes. "Oh, so now you believe me about the pills? Figures. And by the way, I'm still not going anywhere near that castle. I want to relocate."

"We aren't going to relocate. Most of the castle wasn't destroyed. It was merely the various labs- and I will be harsh on Breach if she doesn't have a good reason to defend herself with. Biowulf, gather some vines and tie her against a tree. I'll restrict her powers as best as I can."

After about half an hour, Breach began to stir. All six of her limbs were tightly restricted against the trunk of a mutated oak. Feeling dizzy from the impact on her head, she blinked a couple of times to regain her vision. The first thing she saw were the three blurry figures of her captors, standing over her like a group of hitmen.

"I'm in trouble," she whispered, dreading torture.

Van Kleiss nodded. "You will learn the true meaning of the word if you don't explain your motives at once."

"Yeah, Breach," Rex chimed in. "Why did you try to kill us?"

"I wasn't trying to kill anyone," the girl denied. "Just burn the place down."

"That's literally not any better."

"That's not how you use that w-"

A rough kick to the child's stomach cut her sentence off instantly, causing her to wheeze. The black boot of her leader then removed itself from her vital organs, as if giving her a second chance.

"It's bad enough working with you in your normal state of mind- if you can even call it that," the king seethed, his eyes flashing with traces of rage. "You nearly destroyed countless experiments, including Rex's. You set half the medical supplies ablaze. Who are you working for, Breach? Who is idiotic enough to trifle with me?"

"I don't... know."

The three males stared in confusion, watching the girl's face for any hints of betrayal. Instead of finding barely restrained signs of fibbing, she only seemed hurt by what they'd done to her. Biowulf was the first to break the silence, feeling a bit sorry for her, though just as mystified as the others.

"How can you be working for someone you don't know?" the blue EVO asked. "You're not making sense... though that's not new."

"I heard voices telling me to do it," Breach revealed, her head drooping in shame. "No one was around. They told me to light the place up or else they'd take me away."

Rex shook his head. "She's officially lost it. Even more than before."

"I'm not lying!" the girl yelled at him, straining against the vines. "They talked to me! They told me to listen to them! They-"

"That's enough," Van Kleiss interrupted, wrapping a vine over her mouth to gag her. "Even I'm not sure what to make of this. She's not exactly the epitome of sanity-"

"And neither are you," Rex muttered under his breath.

"- but I can't simply write off every word she says, however much I want to," the man continued, giving the boy a light pinch. "Rex, since I assume you know where the elevator is, I want you to take Breach down to the seventh floor where the cells are."

The child pushed the man's hand away immediately. "Ow."

"Be polite."

"Ugh, I'm so tired of you people," the teen groaned, undoing the vines around the frustrated girl and guiding her towards the direction of the castle. "Breach, you picked the worst day to go full arsonist."