The fact that Nia was gone didn't change Astro's priorities. He knew there was no chance he could take out all of the Youngblood members in this room. He needed to get out of here. But now that the portal was closed he had very little options here. He could try to take back his own scissors from Drake and open a portal for himself.

But that was essentially the same as trying to stand his ground and fight, and that was just a losing situation no matter how many times he ran it through his mind.

The second option was getting out of here on foot. That meant getting out of an unfamiliar enemy territory and just running until he found some place far enough to use the All Seeing Eye again. But he wasn't sure just how well that would work out either. If they had members that were faster or good at tracking he'd have a tough time.

"You really didn't think this through too well did you?" Priss said, smirking. She and her brothers were eager to get a little payback against him after their last encounter.

Astro didn't take his eyes off Drake. He needed every second he had to think of a way out of this. He didn't even know half of their powers. He needed a surefire way to escape. "Is he ignoring us? Seriously, this guy has some nerve," Victor said looking eager. "Let me take him on," he said ready for a decent fight.

"No way! I haven't gotten to fight since I joined this stupid group. He's mine," Heath said as his arms began to heat up.

Shen Mi scoffed. "Both of you can get in line. He's a magic user, that's my forte," she said floating up above him. She looked Astro up and down. "He's actually pretty cute. Maybe I'll keep him and make him my servant or something."

Drake narrowed his eyes. "It doesn't have to happen this way Astro. If you surrender now we can negotiate something. If not an alliance then at least a ceasefire." He didn't know what it was, but he felt some kind of kinship with the prince.

Astro lifted his sword. "You threatened my family. Whether it was intentional or not, I can't ever let something like that slide," he said before stabbing his sword down on the table. A cloud of mist suddenly shot out and around the room.

"Shit!" Savage yelled.

"Slick bastard!"

Heath and Carnage both moved in to where Astro had been, but the fog was too thick to see anything clearly. Drake tightened his grip on the scissors, not sure if he'd try and come for them. Then he heard the door open. "He's trying to escape on foot!" Drake yelled.

Shen Mi raised his hand into the air. She was done with this stupid fog. With one quick movement the fog was suddenly all sucked up into the tip of her finger. What they all saw when the smoke cleared made them all go wide eyed. "Shit…"

Standing around the room was not just one Astro, but twenty of him. "Fuck…" Carnage said looking around at all the smirking figures.

"What's wrong?" one of the Astro's asked, crossing his arm.

"Trying to figure out which is the real one?" another asked.

"No way to tell for sure unless you catch them all," a third said laughing.

"Shouldn't take you too long! I play this game with Nia all the time!" a fourth one teased.

They all headed for the door and then immediately split up. The real Astro smirked as he ran down the hall alongside the others. This way he could get a better layout of their base and cause some chaos at the same time.

Drake growled. "He can't escape this base!" If he broke out and revealed their location he could have the Vanguard here in a matter of hours. They could be long gone by then, but they'd never be able to move all the evidence and equipment they had stored here.

"Can anyone tell who the real one-"

"I can!" Victor said charging out of the room, leaving the others behind. He wasn't planning on sharing his kill with anyone this time. The prince was gonna be all his.

"Damn it Victor!" Alisha said, running after him.

"Guess whoever catches him gets to kill him first!" Heath said, smirking as he rushed out.

"Hey! No fair, we called dibs!" Savage shouted as the triplets ran out as well.

"This'll be fun!" Shen Mi said flying out at full speed.

Drake sighed and shook his head. This wasn't a game. It was serious. If they didn't catch him it would set back his plans for who knows how long, and his father wouldn't be happy about that one damn bit. He looked up and saw Jessie and Alex both still in the room. "You're not going to pursue him?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Chasing down such a pathetic specimen is beneath me," Alex said, crossing his arms.

Jessie blinked for a few seconds, and then grew wide eyed. "Wait, where did everyone go?!"

Drake facepalmed. He was screwed…

Rogen and Artemis made their way down the hall side by side. Rogen was on his pad looking over some blueprints. After that prank the Battalion had pulled on them he wanted to make sure security was upgraded. He wasn't planning on waking up with feathers again just because Charles fucked up some mission info.

"You think Roxy is done in there yet?" Artemis asked, looking bored. They had only stuck around to wait for her, but now they were getting bored.

"Not sure. Depends on how stubborn Iceman is," he said opening up a new page. "How long do you think it'll take him to join up? If he does I mean."

Artemis hummed. "Not sure. He seemed like a total hard ass. I think the only thing keeping him in check back there was his little sister. Which is good, cause I get the feeling he's pretty damn dangerous," she said.

"Well he's not making a move now. Not with all the top ranked guys in one room with him. I just wished they'd hurry up and… what's that?"

They both looked down the hall and then saw two Astro's coming towards them. "Shit!"

"I stand corrected!" Rogen said bracing himself.

Artemis pulled out her gun and fired at one of them. The first knocked the bullets away with his sword and then swung at her. She stepped to the side and pulled out her knife, slashing him across the chess.

Instead of blood pouring out however, he turned into a puff of fog. Artemis was blinded for a moment, and didn't see the second one coming. "Artemis, duck!" She did so without a second thought, letting Rogen punch the clone right into the wall. It shattered into little bits of ice. "What the hell was that?!"

"Like I'm supposed to know!" Artemis said, confused.

Shen Mi and Heath suddenly rushed past them. "Out of the way B-ranks!" Shen Mi said flying past them with an evil smirk on her face.

"Yo Rogen, I'm sending you specs for my upgrades later!" Heath yelled rushing by.

All the top members rushed around, tracking down any of the clones they could find. The triplets had pinned one down, but it melted into water. Alisha managed to corner another, but it broke down into snow.

None of them could seem to find the real one, which Astro had counted on. He really hadn't gone that far from the door. He'd let the clones run ahead of him and waited until most of the members left to make his move. He'd jumped through one of the windows and got ready to leap down into the forest.

Once he got far enough he would open the Eye back up and then- "Got ya bitch!" Astro was tackled from behind and sent crashing down into the forest near the castle. He groaned and reached up to rub his head, and then looked behind him to see Victor.

"Oh stump…"

Victor chuckled as he got back up to his feet. "Man, that was smooth as shit frosty. Making the others run after your copy-cats and trying to make a quick escape? Nice," he said rolling his shoulders back. "I had to make it look like I was chasing after the real you ya know. If I'd have sniffed you out behind that door I would've had to share."

Astro narrowed his eyes and lifted his sword. "You're going to wish you hadn't done that," he said raising his sword. The lot of them, well, that was impossible. If it was just this one however, he was pretty sure he could do it. He'd finish him quickly and then get the hell out of here.

"Now we're talking! Let's have some fun!"

Victor charged at him, electricity sparking around his hands. Astro swung at him, but Victor ducked out of the way. He punched at Astro who leaned back and then kicked up at him. Victor moved back away from him, but an ice spike rose from the ground and headed towards him.

The S-class just barely managed to move his head aside before the ice spike stabbed through his face. "Not bad! You got some real moves for some stuffy royal!" he said moving around the ice and then shooting some bandages at him.

"I don't need your compliments half-breed!" Astro shouted dices the bandages up.

"Aren't you one to talk!" Victor yelled back before shooting lightning at him.

Astro made a shield of ice, blocking the attack before charging at him. He swung his sword, but suddenly Victor's form changed. He turned himself into Nia, and Astro's eyes widened. He stopped swinging, and Victor smirked before kicking him right in the chest.

The prince went flying back and crashed into a tree. He groaned, but quickly got up and saw Victor walking towards him. "What's wrong? You can't attack me when I look like this? Too much of a softie to attack your precious baby sister?" he asked mockingly.

Astro grit his teeth. He gripped his sword tightly, but didn't raise it. He knew. He knew it wasn't really Nia underneath there. But he couldn't bring himself to attack his sister's face. "What, you serious man? This ain't gonna be any fun if you can't fight back," he said changing back.

The moment he changed back Astro lunged and tried to stab him through the face. "Whoa!" Victor moved aside dodging the blade, but Astro brought his other fist up and managed to punch him in the face, sending him sliding back. Victor chuckled before spitting blood from his mouth. "You really do pack a fucking punch."

"Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?" Astro said annoyed.

"Only all the fucking time," Victor said smirking back. "But, just for curiosity's sake, I got to know. Does the pretty little princess know about you? I mean the real you."

Astro's grit his teeth. "Shut up!" he yelled, blasting at him again.

Victor moved out of the way once more. "You hide it so well I was barely able to tell myself. But when Drake showed up and you let it slip. I mean, damn," he said laughing.

"I said shut your damn mouth!" Astro growled and then swung his sword sending a wave of ice. Victor jumped out of the way and landed on a nearby tree branch.

"I mean, seriously, I thought I was a mess in that department. But you. I could just smell it seeping off of you. I wonder what you really look like under that uptight prince outfit."

"SHUT UP!" Astro said, shooting a blast of scalding water at him.

Victor jumped down and then ran at him. Astro raised his sword and blocked his punch with the flat of his blade. "Running around calling me a half-breed, acting like you're any better. I mean, just what the hell kind of monster did the queen fuck to come up with you?"

Astro snapped. Victor leapt back as suddenly a dark magical energy began to cover his body. He smirked as he looked at the prince. "Oh, I think I hit a nerve…"

The dark energy kept surrounding Astro who looked downright furious. He held his hand up at Victor who looked ready to brawl. "Midnight Shriek…"

A black spectral skull formed in front of his hand. It fired forward at Victor who barely managed to dodge it this time. "Not bad, now we're getting some-" Victor stopped when he saw what the blast did to the forest behind him. A good chunk of the forest behind him had been wiped out. "The fuck?!"

Astro aimed at him once again. "Dark Nebula Buster." A dark ball of energy with rings around it formed in front of him. He launched it at Victor who held his hands out and tried to stop it. He was pushed back as he felt his hands burning from the attack.

Victor growled before pushing it upwards into the air. It blew up, the explosion so large it blocked out the sun for a few seconds. Victor shook his hands which were now smoking. He looked back at Astro who was walking towards him.

Victor could tell with one look that he had snapped now. He was going into rage mode. He was going to have to take this a little more seriously. "Okay then, bring it."

Astro raised his hand up. "Black Velvet Infer-" A figure came from the side and blindsided Astro before he could finish the spell, knocking him to the ground.

"Hey! What the hell!? That's kill stealing man!" Victor yelled.

Savage chuckled as he stood over the downed prince. "Sorry, couldn't help it. Little shit had it coming after what he did to us and sis last time," he said. Astro groaned and slowly looked up to find the other member beginning to surround him.

"That's a nice little trick you pulled off back there, but you won't be doing it again," Shen Mi said hovering over him. "Now play along like a good little boy, okay?"

Astro glared at her. "I'm going to kill every last one of you…"

Savage pressed his foot down harder. "You really don't know when to quit, do you?"

"There has to be something we can do!" Nia shouted angrily. It was rare the girl was in such a foul mood. It just wasn't in her nature. But seeing her brother be left behind like that. Knowing he was fighting for his life. All because he was trying to protect her. She just couldn't stand it.

"Look kid, I know this sucks, but he cut us off. We have no idea where the Youngblood base is. We don't have anything to go off of," Cayenne said. She could understand why Nia was feeling like this, but there was nothing they could do. Their hands were tied.

Nia slammed her fist on the table. "Can't Serena track him down?! She knows magic! Or we could get Sear to sniff him out!" she suggested.

Micah leaned against the wall off to the side. "Serena doesn't have any spells that are specific, and I already tried using Sear. He couldn't pick up a scent. Look, wherever they are they're jamming any way of tracking them down. Technological, magical, or otherwise," he explained.

"He's going to die!" Nia shouted, tears in her eyes. "My brother is going to die and you want me to just sit here and do nothing! There's got to be some way we can find him and help! Please?!"

The others looked down, while Micah grit his teeth. He felt the worst in this whole situation. Astro had been right there. Right in front of him. If he'd have moved a second sooner he might have been able to grab him. Or at least made it through the portal and went with him.

Now he had no idea if he was even coming back, and seeing Nia break down over it just made him feel even worse. "Nia, we can keep searching for ways, but right now we just have to trust that Astro can hold out. Drake isn't known for being all that bloodthirsty. I'm sure he'll be fine until we can track him down."

She yelled. "That's not soon enough! I need to- AAAHHH!" She grabbed her head as it suddenly throbbed in pain.

"Nia!" Vera said moving towards her.

Nia fell to her knees and kept clutching her head. "They're hurting him!" she screamed as she suddenly began sweating. "They're hurting Astro!"

Everyone quickly rushed to help her. "Nia, what are you talking about? How do you know?"

She winced in pain again. "I don't know! I just… I can tell!" she could feel Astro being hurt right now. Not physically, not completely anyway. But she could just… feel it. He was hurt, and hurt badly. "We need to get to him now!"

"Nia, we can't! We have to-"

"No! That's not good enough! We need to help him now!" she shouted before her eyes suddenly began glowing. A bright light suddenly went off around Nia, surrounding her entire body. The others were blinded as the light covered the entire room.

"The hell is this?!" Cayenne yelled.

"Nia!" Vera yelled trying to reach out to her.

Astro leaned up against a tree, covered in scratches and bruises. There was blood leaking from his forehead and he had a black eye. He panted as he clutched his sword and held it up towards the Youngblood members. "Man, you really don't know when to give up, huh?"

Astro kept glaring at them as he clutched his broken rib. He couldn't believe it. He had screwed up. He'd lost it and got so focused on Victor he was totally blindsided. And once the others had shown up… he could only hold them off for so long.

Escaping hadn't even been an option this time. Shen Mi had wiped away every trick he conjured up. Then between the triplets, Victor, and Heath he just hadn't been able to keep hold of them all off. It was only a manner of time before one of them got a critical hit, and then he was just fighting to stay on his feet at that point.

Victor chuckled as he knelt down in front of him. "Damn man, I got to hand it to you. You held out way longer than I thought you would. You actually have my respect." Astro tried swinging at him, but Victor moved back. "And still going! I love this guy!"

"He's a tough bastard, I'll give him that," Heath said snorting.

Astro coughed up a bit of blood before looking back up and seeing Drake approaching. He frowned as he looked over the injured prince. "I'm truly saddened by how things turned out my young friend. I really would have preferred we be on the same side rather than clashing. But you're as stubborn as your mother it seems."

"Or his father," Victor said, smirking.

He growled towards Victor. Drake sighed. "Listen to me. Just surrender. You have my word you won't be killed. You're better off being used as a bargaining chip. So just come quietly and-"

Astro spit at his feet and then slowly began pushing himself up to his feet. He was barely able to even raise his sword at them. "I'm a proud knight of Mewni, and the prince of the Butterfly Kingdom! I'll die before I'm reduced to a bargaining chip!" he said, struggling to stand.

"I have to admit, your determination is admirable. But you're not really in a position to make that choice. Victor, restrain him."

Just as Victor was about to wrap him up, a bright light went off in front of Astro. Everyone was blinded by the light, which quickly began to die down. They looked up and saw Astro was gone.

"What the hell?!" Carnage shouted.

"He's fucking gone! How did he do that?!" Savage asked angrily. If he could have escaped, why hadn't he gone earlier? That didn't make any sense!

"I don't think he did," Shen Mi said. She sensed other magic at play here. Powerful magic. She turned towards her brother. "What should we do?"

Drake narrowed his eyes. This whole thing had been a disaster. "Just leave him. He didn't get far enough to figure out a location. Wherever he is now, is none of our concern."