Elastiguy moved fluidly through the dense jungle, occasionally pulling herself from tree to tree with his outstretched arms. Making his way into a clearing, he saw the glint of a gray steel monorail overhead. Then she heard the hum of a monopod approaching in the distance.
Elastiguy threw his arms up high as the lights of the monopod streaked above him. His hands gripped the vehicle, and it yanked his feet from the jungle floor. He dangled from the monopod until he could swing herself to its top.
The pod sliced through the jungle canopy with Elastiguy determined to hang on. As he squinted into the wind, he could see that the monopod was speeding toward the base of a towering volcano. The pod plunged into a dark tunnel and emerged inside a room with a massive launchpad. "A rocket?" Elastiguy wondered. He decided it was time to drop in and investigate.
Finding a corridor off the launchpad, Elastiguy stretched his neck and looked around a corner. A guard was sliding a key card through a reader, and whoosh, the door in front of him opened. He needed that key card. It would let him access different parts of Syndrome's lair to look for his wife.
But as Elastiguy stretched toward the guard holding the key card, the doors behind him snapped shut, trapping his leg. Soon more guards approached, opening more doors, and Elastiguy found himself caught in two separate doorways – his torso in one, and his leg still in the other. Using his Super elasticity, he managed to kick and punch all the guards till they were unconscious.
He grabbed a key card, freed himself, and set off down the corridor once again. It was time to find his wife.
Inside the cave, Ash and V sat close to the fire. Ash stared into space as V practiced generating force fields over the fire. Each try was like a little bubble.
"Well, not that this isn't fun," Ash finally said, "but I'm gonna go look around."
V stood up. "What do you think is going on here? You think we're on vacation or something? Mom and Dad's lives could be in jeopardy. And Dad said to stay hidden."
Ash rolled her eyes. "I'm not gonna leave the cave," she said, annoyed.
She grumbled as she took a flaming stick and moved into the darkness. V could see the flame getting smaller as Ash moved farther and farther away. "Cool…," he heard her say in the far distance. Then suddenly… she heard Ash scream.
"V! V, V, V, V, V!" Ash yelled running back toward him at warp speed.
"What?" said Vincent as Ash pointed to an orange glow at one end of the cave. It was growing brighter and brighter, getting closer and closer. V could feel the heat of it on his face. "What did you do?" he screamed as they both raced out of the cave.
Ash and V outran the fireball in time to see a rocket roar into the sky. Looking up, they realized they hadn't been hiding in a cave at all. It was the exhaust tunnel for the rocket launch.
That night, they had no choice but to sleep on the jungle floor.
Ash awoke to the exotic sounds of the jungle. She stretched her legs, still stiff from the day before. Suddenly, she heard the words "Identification, please." She rubbed her eyes and looked up. The words had come from a brilliantly colored robotic bird perched in a nearby tree. Ash watched it, mesmerized.
She was thrilled. "Hey, Vincent!" She laughed, nudging her brother. "Look! It talks!"
"Huh? What?" V answered, still sleepy.
V tilted her head and smiled. They stared at the bird, enchanted, waiting for it to speak again.
"Voice key incorrect," the bird said.
"Voice key?" V repeated, and frowned.
The bird's head mechanically swiveled toward Ash and V. Its eyes lit up red as its beak dropped open and let out a shrill electronic alarm.
"What do we do?" asked Ash as V began to back away.
"Run!" yelled Vincent.
"Where are we going?" said Ash, hesitating.
"Away from here!" he called back.
