"Brio!" a wheezy voice spoke in darkness. "Brio, are you OK?"
The darkness opened up, leaving Brio's eyes to soon focus in front of him. Right there stood Neo, who showed a confident expression upon him. He looked around and saw himself in a comfortable bed, with an icepack on his head, a thermometer in his mouth and a Womble teddy next to him.
"Ow... what... happened?" he asked with pain in his voice.
"Let's just say that you've returned into your beast form again."
"My beast form?" A sudden painful urge went through his forehead, causing him to hold onto it. "OW!!!!!!!"
"Don't panic - it's not all that bad. With Corona by your side, you've managed to clear her out of the city."
"Really?"
Neo gave out a confident nod. "Really really! Now that's one down and five to go."
"That's good!"
"But you HAVE to stay behind if another one gets located around here tonight. You're badly injured."
"That's bad."
"So this means that you'll gain your strength back by the morning, which isn't too far from here." Neo turned to his right, bringing his attention to a grandfather clock nearby. "It's now getting towards half past ten at night."
"That's good... or is that bad?"
"Who bothers about which?" Neo then gave out a sweet smile. "The main thing is that you're alive and well, and will be fully recovered by sunrise tomorrow."
"Thanks. Guess I'll leave you to it then."
"No problem", Neo winked before leaving the room with a few casual strides.

Not too far from the bedroom was a set of hallways leading into a large playing room. In that room, the others were around a small coffee table playing a game of "Scrabble". On the board were words that were no more than four letters long.
"OK then - my turn!" Gadget smiled, before picking up five tiles from her hand and layering down the word 'Homer'.
"D'OH!" Bubble sighed angrily. "It's not even a real word!"
"Very funny", she sighed. "Now look - a homer is another term for a home run in baseball, so that's a high score I've got there!"
But as soon as she finished speaking, the window at one side of the room suddenly swung open... and a terrifying mix of wind and snow came in, blowing the game and contents upside down.
"So much for our game", Gadget growled as she went up towards the window.
With all her might she tried her best to close the window and lock it. Within a few seconds she finally did so. After that she turned to face the crew again... and she saw them all covered in snow from head to toe!
She then gasped with fright. "What's with all this?"
Before they could respond, Neo made his way into the room. "Guys, I have some news about..." He gasped at the sight of the snow-covered team. "Wait a minute... snow... in July?"
"That's exactly what I was thinking", she said while taking a glance into his eyes. "Hopefully you'll be the flamethrower for the job", she responded with a sweet smile.
Neo gave out a light chuckle. "Well we'll have to see what's causing it first!"
"I think I've an idea", said Kiwi as she popped her head from out of the snow. "While we were going home I spotted a very peculiar machine firing ice-white beams inside the Joe Robbie Stadium, the home of the Miami Dolphins football team. It also felt pretty cold for a summer night over here - much colder than I expected. Maybe that thing may have caused it."
"We'll take a look inside", Neo smiled with determination.
Corona soon followed by popping her head out. "Count on me - I re-filled my flamethrower and I'm ready to take this snow problem outta here!"
Misty soon followed on, growling at Neo's direction. "Just make sure you go the right way this time!"
As Chad freed himself, with Boron and Goliath following on from him growling, he sighed towards the turtle. "He always does! You still don't have your sense of direction."
"Heehee", Snappy chuckled as he catapulted himself out from the snow. "Make way for the Snap!"
"Whatever he wants, he will get it!" Travis smiled as he emerged from the slush.
"Yeah - and they'd best watch out for the Technical Starfish!" Bubble smirked as he stood upright from his position.
"So you ALL want a piece of it do you?" Neo smiled with enthusiasm. "Let's hope we get there fast before we're back in the Ice Age!"
"Well put!" giggled Gadget.
Within seconds they all dashed out from the corridors towards the front doors of the block. After that their attempt to beat the cold will somehow begin.
"Good luck guys", whispered Brio from his secluded room.
He then leant his head onto the pillow and went to a peaceful sleep very quickly. But as for the ventures ahead, there will be no rest for Tiko and the others!

The snow current drifted further and further across the street, blowing harder as time progressed. Deep footprints could be seen inside it, and up along the trail a large struggle could be seen.
"Maybe them guys were wrong", Neo started to pant painfully as he stepped further into the snow. "I think I'm the FROZEN One!" he exclaimed before collapsing.
Within no time, both wolverines popped out of the snow like moles in the countryside and helped him up.
"Thanks", Neo smiled before looking down. "Unfortunately it's going to be a bit tougher from now on." He brought his attention to both wolverines, whom both had widened eyes. "If we don't move any further then this means that the snow will grow deeper until we're buried inside." Both wolverines yelped with fear at his comment. "We need to be quick to get inside! By the way, how are the others doing?"
Boron pointed back along the footprint trail and saw the others, whom have managed to catch up. Corona however had no problem, what with her flamethrower clearing a small path for her and the others. Kiwi tackled against the wind but she managed to fly faster than the current. Within no time they managed to catch up at the gates to the stadium. In an instant, Chad and Bubble started fiddling about with the padlock.
"I'm worried about getting frozen to death", cried Travis.
"Don't panic about the heat now", Corona smiled. "I'll keep you all warm on the way."
"Yeah, but just make sure that your so-called Chosen One don't get it", Misty sneered.
"Why not?" Corona blinked. "We can't win the wars without him!"
"Because he's just a downright show-off!"
"And what have I done to make you jealous?" Neo asked Misty.
"You'll be all over the front page when we're through with Sgt. Soup and co. and we won't get any sign of credit whatsoever!"
"Course we will!" Gadget smiled at her. "Now stop talking utter nonsense and let's get inside."
But it wasn't long until the padlock broke open. Both Chad and Bubble stepped away from it, showing relieved expressions upon them.
"Good timing! We got it open!" Bubble grinned.
"Great!" Gadget screamed in return, giving him a hug upon his back.
Corona then opened up the end of her guitar, and lit the flamethrower end as gentle as a flashlight. "OK, let's check it out, and let's all stick together. We don't want to lose anybody."
So they went inside and started walking around the area in search of anything suspicious. After a while...
"I feel like there's nothing much in here at all", Snappy sighed before turning to Kiwi. "Are you sure we're in the right stadium?"
"Of course we are - look! The club's logo is quite literally all over the place!"
Snappy turned to the right and then to the left, and saw that Kiwi's statement was right. He then gave out an angry sigh. "I just know that it'll be better if we all split up. That way we cover more ground."
"It's not going to work", Neo said while shaking his head. "If we lose anyone at this stage then this means that they're gone for good..."
"Oh wait", Gadget gasped before coming into a standstill. "Lemme check if everyone's here..." She started counting everyone over and over again, with her face becoming more panicked than ever. "Nine? Two of us are missing..." She gasped. "Where's Travis and Bubble?"
"I thought I held their hands for safety", said Chad with a surprised expression. He looked down to his hands, and noticed that he was holding onto two other objects. "Cold hot dogs?"
"CHAD!!" the whole group exclaimed at him.
Misty quickly punched him in the face, sending him into a wall and causing him to see stars as soon as he rebounded.
"What have you done to them, you old-aged maggot?" she furiously asked him.
"Hey! Don't talk to him like that!" Gadget sighed in return.
"Sorry", the turtle said with sarcasm.
"Wonder what happened to them", Gadget then started to ponder.

"Where are we?" asked Travis as he looked around the darker reaches of the stadium, with his feet giving off loud footsteps upon the floor.
"I'm not sure but I don't wanna find out", frowned Bubble.
"Have you got a flashlight?"
"Luckily I do."
He turned on the flashlight and the room revealed itself as a power warehouse, with a gas tank right in the middle, and several computers all around it.
"I don't like the sound of that", Travis said with fear in his eyes.
"I know, but there's no way out", sighed Bubble. "We can't escape this from the way we came in."
"As a matter of fact, you can't escape anywhere!" said a voice from nearby.
From the ceiling, a black figure came down quickly and stood with legs far apart. Travis cowered behind Bubble, who managed to stand his guard.

Back with the others, they were seen making a furious run through the corridors... back the way they came?
"Are you sure that Bubble and Travis were last seen down here?" Kiwi asked the others. "I can't see a secret switch anywhere."
"Or anything suspicious for that matter", sighed Snappy.
"Well let's just think about it this way", Gadget said while turning towards Kiwi. "Like you said before, the whole place is littered with Dolphins merchandise. There's gotta be something that stands out above the rest..."
"But we couldn't see anything suspicious at all since we first stepped into this place", shrugged Misty.
"That's because it's too dark, dufus", the bear growled as she caused the light on her end of her flamethrower to shine brighter. "If we get more light then it'll stand out a lot more..."
"Guys!" said Neo's voice from nearby. "Come over here!"
The others quickly dashed over to Neo, who was standing in front of a picture of a peculiar-looking trophy.
"If you're looking for something that stands out, then try this one for size."
"Oh puh-lease, it's just a picture of a sporting trophy", Misty sighed. "There's nothing wrong about that, is there?"
"Think before you speak, woman", Corona growled before pulling onto her pigtails harshly.
Chad then went up towards the trophy portrait himself. "If I'm not mistaken this trophy has no link to football whatsoever."
"As if...?" Misty asked with curiosity.
"This is a picture of the original soccer World Cup prize - the Jules Rimet trophy", Chad smiled as he lifted the picture up. "And I bet that they may have ended up down here somewhere!"
A button could be seen on the wall, and he immediately pressed it down. The wall turned around and shows a dark passageway.
"Way to go Neo dude!" Snappy exclaimed with a smile.
"Yeah - where could we be without you?" Gadget sweetly grinned back.
"See?" Misty sulked. "Just like I said he'd get ALL the glory and..."
Kiwi soon fought back by pecking her on her head. "Stop whining and let's go!"
They started dashing down, but on the first second... Gadget instantly slipped, causing her to scream. And then, she started plummeting down a deep hole, lightened by neon lights.
"GADGET!!!" Chad gasped towards her.
"Don't panic - we'll get her at the bottom of the pit, we'll see", Neo smiled with confidence. "Start climbing!"
"But I'm a parrot, so I can do it the OTHER way round", she smiled while she outstretched her wings, unaware of the others leering towards her.

At the bottom of the pit, Gadget made a bumpy landing on a cold, hard surface, landing on her belly. Eventually she looked up... and was blinded by several lights all at once. Eventually they started to fade out... and she saw herself in a recognizable power chamber! At this stage blobs of pink ooze were blowing up quite a few computers and three figures could be seen at war. She got out her binoculars and looked closely in from her position.
She instantly gasped. "I don't believe it!" She placed the binoculars down and shouted up the hole above her. "GUYS!!! I'VE FOUND THEM!!"
There was no response.
"Maybe they've gone another way round" she sighed.
She looked on at the battle and saw how things were going. But a white flash soon interrupted it.
"TRAVIS!!" exclaimed Bubble's voice.
Travis was now stuck in the wrecks of another computer and the current was shocking him. The fried smell and the fear in his throat made things worse.
"I know you're hurt - just hang on!" Bubble panicked. "Let me deal with this one first!"
"Please... OW!!" the current continued to shock his body. "Go on without me", he said before squealing continuously.
Gadget then showed worry in her eyes and was trembling all the same. It was only a few years ago since she rescued the boy cat from a worse experience - a car crash in the desert regions of the state. Now it looked like she was ready to do it all over again. She started walking slowly to the scene of the crime, armed with a pistol in each hand, aiming them towards the black figure.

Further up the tunnel, the others were making steady progress climbing down safely, unaware of the condition of the battle down below. Regardless of that, confidence was purely shown across everyone's faces.
"I can see a shiny metallic floor from here", Neo said with a smile. "We're almost there!"
"Uno momento por favor", Kiwi started speaking in a Mexican accent. "What if Gadget down there has broken a few bones? How are we gonna take her up?"
"Hey birdie - there could be another way out, you know", Snappy winked at her.
"Good point, Gator!" Corona exclaimed towards him.
"That's my surname, don't wear it out."
But from directly underneath them, a blob of ooze struck the side of the landing.
Neo instantly gasped at it. "Oh no..."
"Now what?" Misty asked while leering towards his eyes.
"I hate to tell you this, but... LIO'S DOWN THERE!! Pinkeye Fiend at 5 o' clock!!!"
"Let me take him on!" Kiwi exclaimed before flying down.
"No, wait! Corona panicked in her direction.
It was too late. Kiwi already flew inside and saw the bad events happening down there. Travis was trapped in a computer wreckage, Bubble was trying to help him out and Gadget was already cornered by Lio, who's now in the light. He got another blob of ooze in possession and was about to fire it directly at her...
"Say your prayers, missy!" Lio smirked at her direction.
But just before he was about to toss it... a sharp pecking pain started to take a hold on him, going down from his head, all the way down his spine.
"OW!!! MY BUTT!!!" he exclaimed with pain.
The ooze went flying up and tossing over like a pancake, and eventually it got stuck on the ceiling. He turned around furiously and saw Kiwi looking sweet and innocent.
"YOU!!!" Lio shouted towards her.
"Uh-oh..."
He then took a hold of her around her neck. "What on Earth do you think that was for?"
As this was going on, this gave Gadget some time to escape.
"Er... it was an accident!" she smiled at his direction.
"Accident? I'll show you accident!"
He drew the arm back and was about to toss it right into the boiler... but coming from behind his back, a yellow beam went crawling up his back and sooner enough he started squealing his head off and let go of Kiwi, who managed to dodge the attack. His X-Ray could be seen through it and sparks could be seen flying all over the place. And his baseball cap fell off, giving room for his hair to stand on end, and finally an explosion occurred at the centre of the room!
At the same time there were some footsteps from the pit of the Pit, and Kiwi soon flew towards them.
"Head into your battle stations, people!" Chad shouted with determination.
"I don't think we should bother", said Neo as he shook his head.
"But..."
"And besides, we're not supposed to be here", frowned Kiwi.
The smoke of the explosion fogged up the entire room, with all the machines in the room destroyed. Meanwhile, from the smoke, a small figure came in, carrying two others.
"I have a bad feeling about this", Snappy said in his best Obi-Wan voice.
As soon as the figure came near them, he dropped his luggage on the ground, both of them struggling to get up.
"Bubble!" Chad gasped towards the starfish.
"Gadget!!!" Neo exclaimed to her.
Their bodies seemed to be that drained of energy they couldn't even stand up. Finally, they were both pulled up.
"Are you guys OK?" Chad asked them both.
"I... I..." she said with a weak tone. "I don't know..."
"That... figure", Bubble responded back while shaking in his legs.
Neo then brought his arms around the back of Gadget's torso, leaving her to lean on his shoulder. "Don't panic. We'll be out of here in no time. Oh... by the way, who saved you guys?"
"I did", said a young voice.
The figure came out of the fog... showing himself as Travis!
Corona gave out a gasp. "How did you do that?"
"I think..." He spoke with a shaky expression, "While I was in the computer I felt a strange feeling..." As he spoke, a yellow current surrounded him quickly. "Oh no…!"
"HIT THE DECK!!!!!" Snappy exclaimed.
They all ducked, as Travis sent out an uncontrolled... electric attack right above their heads! As soon as it stopped, the others stood up again.
"That's my problem", he frowned. "I feel that I've got something new inside my body..."
Corona then went up to him. "Don't panic about failing to control it. It's just like when you're in nappies, and you can't control your digestive system properly. Give it time. You'll get used to it."
"Still, I'm pretty lucky I had that really, or else we would all be mincemeat!" Travis smiled with a more joyful expression.
"There you go my sweet!" she smiled while cuddling him.
"Now be careful - I might shock someone in my sleep tonight", Travis said with panic upon his face.
"Course we will. That's my boy!"
"One more question - what are we gonna do with Gadget and Bubble?" Snappy asked the others.
"They should be healed by the morning", Chad nodded. "Luckily enough, Soup and the others don't know where we all live! This means we can rest easy tonight!"
"Awww... do we have to?" Travis frowned, while giving off an uncontrolled yawn. "I'm not tired..."
"Come along", Corona smiled towards him.
She got out her flamethrower and aimed it towards the side of the wall, where from that viewpoint the snow was melting away. The plan of turning Miami into a snow park had then been backfired. Today they've gained a quick start in taking care of the evil in the area, but tomorrow they need to hurry up and deal with the others!

-end of part 3-