CHAPTER TWO: The Watcher


Aleka ripped her cellphone from her bag as she raced down the path, Cal rushing along on all fours beside her. She struggled with the buttons, trying to juggle between calling her husband and keeping out of the way of occasional passersby on the way to Hammerhead and Clip's home.

"Shoot, shoot-Cal! Slow down, I can't do this while I'm running!" She exclaimed, skidding to a stop at the crosswalk outside the Birds of Paradise Hotel. Cal copied her, nearly spinning out into the road as he did so. She caught him with her shin, and he sat on the sidewalk as she entered the final numbers.

"Liko? You busy?" Her words came out breathless, and he sensed it; she could hear him placing a heavy stack of papers down at his desk, "Aleka? What's going on?"

"More alien activity; the dangerous kind too. I'm gonna need you to run to the house and get out the first aid. Not sure how much it'll help, but it can't hurt to have it."

"Oh-geez-I'll be over right away!" The phone dutifully clicked off, leaving Aleka back at the crosswalk with Cal anxiously staring up at her. "Come on." Aleka said, scooping him up and letting him perch on her shoulders, "Let's go grab your teacher."


The path to the cottage was lined with flowerbeds and bushes, summer blooms swaying as Aleka ran past them. Hammerhead, as always, had sensed them coming, opening the door and stepping onto the porch to see what was going on. Cal waved and pointed back at the door, and the 0-series' face darkened as he stood by to let them inside.

Hammerhead locked the door behind them as they caught their breath, casting a suspicious glance out the window as he began to draw the blinds. "Cal, what's the matter?"

"Can't-it's a lot, we have dimensional trouble…" Cal began, nodding in thanks to Aleka as she placed him down on the floor, "There's an evil you running around, so-"

"What-?" The 0-series placed both flesh and metal hands up in confusion, evidently having a difficult time processing what he was saying, "What do you mean, an 'evil me'-?!"

"It's exactly what he said, Old Man." Aleka interrupted, "A bunch of alternate versions of us got pulled into our dimension, and one of them is what Cal describes. We're picking you up so he doesn't get any ideas about you."

Hammerhead's eyes widened at the news; dimensional travel and alternates were difficult, but not unheard of. What WAS unheard of was…this-an evil him on the loose and a bunch of different versions of his family running around…

"I'll get my plasma cannon." He said, nodding in the direction of the bedroom, "Should I tell the others?"

Cal shrugged, "I dunno-I can call Nosy if you want me to."

"Do that. I'll reformat my arm while I'm at it." The tool-headed experiment rushed from the room, leaving the two to wait in suspense. Cal reached up for Aleka's phone, and she handed it to him as he dialed Nosy's number. However, movement from the screen door in the kitchen distracted him from entering in the final number. He glanced in the direction along with Aleka, and…

"...My gods…"

He hadn't seen them. Hadn't seemed to notice Cal's horrified whisper, but the very alternate they'd been warned about was delicately picking his way across the borders of Hammerhead and Clip's back garden. Cal and Aleka watched in dread as a trail of wilted plants followed the rotted version of 033, the former taking a protective step to shield the latter in case they were seen.

The alternate stopped.

They nearly dove out of sight at seeing his head turn upwards. Not towards them, but directly upwards at someone Cal knew was likely aiming his cannon at him. He waved at Hammerhead before continuing his path, making his way into the forest through the side gate. His shadow wavered outside for a moment before dissipating into the undergrowth along with him.

Cal's mouth felt dry. He gulped as hard as he could and pressed the last number, only half-aware of an unnerved Hammerhead cocking the aforementioned plasma cannon as he crept back into the room.

"You saw him?" He whispered, and they nodded as Nosy's phone went to voicemail. Hammerhead glared out the window before nodding to Cal, "Leave a message. I'll call Clip and tell her to stay in town."


Liko wasn't sure what to expect as he raced home from work, a watchful eye scanning his surrounding for anything suspicious. He wished Aleka had been more specific; he wasn't sure what to look for, even if he was used to alien activity by now.

Only one street left and he was there…

He was on the path, but he was not alone. Not by a long shot. A pair was ahead of him, one of which turned back and jumped at the sight of him. He stopped in shock upon seeing their face, but grimaced and ran forward with renewed dread.

Were these two what Aleka had been warning him about? Or…

The alternate version of Cal stopped and whirled around, defensively holding another mirror close to himself. One whose fur was slowly patching a dark purple. Their eyes were closed, and squinting revealed other-smaller-green patches around their face and eyes. He stopped in his tracks at the sight, and the alternate Cal gulped and glanced at the house, shifting from one foot to the other as the two awkwardly stared at one another.

Liko was the first to speak, his voice hoarse from shock, "...Are you…"

"Name's Galena. I'm with one of the alts." Galena's voice was equally hoarse, and he slowly let his grip on the alternate he was carrying relax, "Both of us."

So this was why she'd wanted the first aid kit out…

"Okay. Galena then-I'll open the-"

The door swung open to reveal what Liko assumed must be the alternate Galena had mentioned. She beckoned both to come inside, pointing to Galena as she spoke with one hand jammed over her communicator.

"Get in-the base sent antidotes!"


Hammerhead covered for both Aleka and Cal as they ran up the path to the house, plasma cannon bouncing in its holster slung over his back. Aleka had scooped up the much slower Cal, where he clung to her shoulder with his heating element charged. At the back of their minds, they suspected the rotted figure they saw wouldn't be following them over, but fear over the possibility still prevailed.

To their credit, there weren't any signs of the counterpart's presence, so they supposed they were in the clear for now.

Aleka was the first through the door, yanking it open and nearly kicking Hammerhead into the room. He dodged and opened his mouth in protest, but stopped short and grimaced in horror at the sight in front of him.

"What the hell…"

Argent glanced up, but only for a moment. Whatever satisfaction she would've gotten from seeing her counterpart and allies back safe was overshadowed by the warping purple flesh of the experiment splayed out on a winter jacket in the middle of the floor. A needle was held fast in one of her hands and the other had gripped a piece of the person's skin between thumb and forefinger. Only Jumba, Liko, and another "Cal" were in the room, and this Aleka was thankful for. Her daughter…daughters and their friends likely shouldn't see something like this…

Hammerhead squinted at Argent, but a quick nod from her to the poisoned experiment lying on the jacket made him stand back and next to a perturbed Cal and Aleka. The former's eyes traveled to his creator in confusion, and when Jumba's only response was a shrug, rested on the scarred face of his counterpart.

They met his eyes for a moment, but just as quickly turned away to watch what Cal presumed to be his boss and teammate.

"Gal. I need the other one." The other him rushed forward at her words, handing her another needle filled with a glowing blue substance. Argent flicked the cap off and yanked up another clump of skin as Galena stood back, eyes still fixed on his teammate.

"...There." She stood back up and placed the cap over the needle, but remained close to the other mirror of Cal, studying him for any sign of change. It was occurring, but it was slow; the purple blotches spreading on his body were beginning to dissipate alongside what the others realized were enlarged green veins sticking out from the experiment's cheeks.

Hammerhead felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he watched this. It couldn't be…

Negatorium was rare. To see a poisoning on such an isolated part of the galaxy should be impossible, but here he was, witnessing not only that, but someone who clearly knew how to counter it and had the resources to do so. Despite her clear status as an ally, he couldn't help but take a defensive step in front of Cal and Aleka; after all, this was a version of him…and…he knew himself.

His mirror immediately took notice of his action, but simply nodded to it in acknowledgment, "Glad to see you here. Your name is…?"

"Hammerhead." He crossed his arms, but couldn't stop himself from taking a small step forward out of trust, "Who are you? And what's going on?"

She sighed, casting a sorrowful glance back to the recovering experiment laying on the jacket, "You…may want to pull up a chair."


Cal crept close to the ground, like an Earth cat. He'd practically flown into the hallway after Argent had given him the go-ahead to get the Lilos downstairs. At the moment, Pleakley was managing them, and he'd wanted nothing more than to stay with them. But he knew Mrs. Ka'aukai needed someone to come with and Hammerhead was still adjusting to Earth, so he'd volunteered to go when Argent had split responsibilities between the group at the house.

He could hear the two Hammer alternates conversing with each other, but didn't look back. Truth be told, he didn't want to; it was one thing to see a different version of his old mentor and friend, but it was another entirely to see alternates of himself. The two he'd left in the living room-the one with the scarred face and torn ear and the poisoned one crumpled on the jacket-were at once familiar and alien. They were him, and yet they weren't.

Cal felt his fur start to stand on end. He took a deep breath, stood up, and fluffed it out before stepping into the elevator leading up to Lilo's room.

His ears flattened inward when he reached the top. Scratch immediately closed his mouth and looked up from the floor with a sheepish expression on his face, but Cal shook his head in irritation. The teal experiment gulped and took a few steps back toward Lilo's bed, leaving one of the three to rush forward and wrap him in a tight hug. "You're back!"

"Yeah-don't-don't worry Lilo. Nothing happened." He said, returning the hug as the others got up to join them. "Hammer's staying over and Clip's gonna room with Flute and Slick, so everything worked out."

"Okay-good." Lilo pulled away from the hug and nodded to the others, "Don't worry by the way; we heard some stuff, but not much."

"Not anything new I guess." Lilo M. added, crossing her arms as she squinted at the floor, "I'm kinda more involved in this stuff, so I know why we're up here."

Pleakley sighed, "I wish you didn't; I mean, you aren't from this universe, but I don't think you should be knowing about something as nasty as Negatorium."

Lilo M. only shrugged and looked up at him, adjusting her glasses as she did so, "Argent has me tag along when she works at Laniakea. It's kind of something I've heard just 'cause we've gotta deal with it sometimes."

"I guess. She doesn't bring you around actual…situations like this, right?" Pleakley asked, and Lilo M. nodded, "I'm not allowed in the infirmary wing. Not unless someone wants me there."

"Well, that is good to hear. I just wish you could be sent back to that base you were talking about…"

"Anyways." Cal said, causing Pleakley to turn his attention to him. He smiled and carefully patted the top of his head, "Anyways! It's great you're back safe Cal. Hammerhead's not too stressed out, is he?"

Cal grimaced and shrugged, "That's…that's gonna depend on how much Argent tells him."

"...Speaking of, can we come down now?" Lilo N. asked, tentatively joining the rest of the group, "Is the you who was brought in gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, he'll be fine. Argent says we can come down now." Cal said, crossing his arms as he glanced down at the elevator, "So…"

"...I guess we should. Besides…we probably need to hear about what we're up against. It definitely involves us." Lilo M. said, but Cal couldn't help but sense some hesitation on her part. She was right-they did need to come downstairs, but given she was more involved in tracking this evil version of his mentor than the others, he had to wonder how much she'd actually picked up from Argent about his motives.

He took a deep breath and nodded, "...We're…gonna have to eventually."

"I know, it's just…she's never actually told me about this version of her." Lilo M. explained, "I don't think she's ever wanted to and I never wanted to ask."

"Well…" Lilo sighed as she thought of what she could say to this, "Look; if he's after us-and I think he is, then…chances are, we're going to have to anyways, even if we're not gonna like it."

"That is true…"

"You can always take a few moments before coming down, you know." Pleakley offered, "If Argent's anything like Hammerhead, she's not going to mind."

Lilo M. nodded at his suggestion, "She is."

"Want me to tell her then?"

The Lilos and their experiments looked to each other before nodding, "Thanks Pleakley," Lilo said, "we're gonna stay up here for a bit then."