They reached the top after what felt like an eternity of climbing. Sonny knew there was an entrance at ground level, but the chances were, there would be cameras. Sonny helped D'Jok and Micro Ice get a footing as soon as they reached the top. The weather was turning bad, he could feel the cold winds increase.

It wasn't always this cold up here. Sonny could remember a time of evergreen forests, with lakes and flowers growing.

This was where it had all started. This was where Duke Maddox transferred him.

This was where Professor Eugen Monteague taught him how to create Flux from almost nothing.

Sonny smiled as he saw Micro Ice lean away from the ledge.

"We're not taking the same way back down, are we?" He asked, trying to catch his breath.

"It would be the easiest, but no. This is Technoid's old Akillian labs. Even in the summers we used to have, it was bitter cold up here. The perfect place to hide any attempts at shady experiments. Even more than I imagined. And now, we have to make sure things won't go any worse." Sonny explained, getting out his gear to jam their presence, and open the doors. D'Jok looked at the doors.

"So the Andro Zygnans are after the labs?" he asked, looking at his father.

"Maddox had it cleared once Technoid abandoned it, but Bleylock might have still left something here. They can't get their hands on it. If they even have hands." He said. D'Jok and Micro Ice looked at each other.

"You're just going to get captured. We're coming with you." He said. Micro Ice nodded. Sonny sighed, before agreeing.

At The Sanctuary, Corso was taking Callie around the area where they lived, to let her know where she could get the supplies needed. Of course, she could have it delivered but Corso figured Callie would appreciate doing things herself. It also kept him from worrying. Callie kept assuring him Sonny knew what he was doing. Still, he kept looking over his vitals.

Callie wanted to see the Sanctuary, and Corso agreed to drive her around. They reached the supply area, and Callie wanted to check out what they had. She was about to ask Corso if they needed something at home, when she saw him answer a holo call on his transmitter.

"What do you mean, they're missing in action?" Corso nearly snarled at the Chissian Lieutenant that contacted him.

'We tried to stop them, honestly.' He reported. Corso growled.

"Did you check the private astro ports?" He asked. Within minutes, he got an answer. Sonny took off from Genesis, without giving notice of where he was going.

Of course he went off on his own.

Corso looked at Callie. As they drove back, Callie touched his arm.

"I'll be fine. Go find him." She said. Corso managed a faint smile.

"I'll bring him home." He said as he left to prepare for the mission at hand.

Duke Maddox frowned as he was informed by his team on Akillian. With everyone desolated, it was very empty, with nothing but the military around. Apparently the enemy forces were close to the abandoned labs in the mountains. They were shut down after the glaciation. It was a perfect hiding place for Bleylock. Duke Maddox remembered the many trucks it took to clear out all the hazardous material.

A new call came in. It was the guards for Sonny. There was no trace of him. The logs from the astro port also showed a small vessel took off around the time he disappeared. It went straight for Akillian. Of course Sonny wanted to do things on his own. As always.

"Get to the cold labs as soon as you can to assist Sonny Blackbones."

Sonny used the old maps of the lab to get to the area Bleylock used. The place looked deserted, but Sonny wasn't convinced. The Andro Zygnans were known for their trickery so he was prepared for anything.

Sonny gave the signal to be quiet. There were lights in the hallway they traversed.

They weren't alone.

They quickly used their invisibility cloaks. Up the hallway, a figure, looking much like a Xenon, walked up.

Micro Ice slammed a hand in front of his mouth, to choke a gasp of fear.

The being wasn't aware, but Sonny still made them take a few silent steps backwards. As soon as the Servant had safely passed them, Sonny moved forward. He peeked into the laboratory.

Screens were on, and gauges moving. Sonny knew all too well what that meant.

They were creating synthetic Flux. They couldn't let that happen. Sonny signaled for D'Jok and Micro Ice to guard the door.

He opened his backpack, took out a miniature lab and got to work.

Duke Maddox had no choice. He tried to contact Sonny but the man didn't answer. What was he doing? He couldn't just up and do his own thing. He was too important. If he died, hope died with him. He had to get Sonny out of danger.

But how?

Then it hit him. He should ask someone who Sonny would listen to.

"Get me Corso's number."

Artie And Bennett could sense Corso's stress as they headed for Akillian as fast as the Black Manta could fly. He was snappy the entire time. Sonny going off on his own was a regular occurrence and it never sat right with Corso.

Artie was on communications duty, and waved Corso over.

"It's Duke Maddox, he doesn't sound happy." He reported, as Corso came over.

"Put him through." He said. Bennett nodded. Corso looked at the screen as Duke Maddox came through.

"I already know he went to Akillian. Do you know why he did that?" Corso asked the old man. Duke Maddox nodded.

"He got wind of some old abandoned labs Bleylock used to use. He probably thinks the enemy's using it now." Duke Maddox explained. Corso agreed.

"And he needs to play the hero. Do you have any ground crew there that can help them? We need to get them to safety. The Black Manta is making her way there. After that, I will have a long talk with Sonny about the Galaxy not stopping for him." He said. Duke Maddox nodded.

"He really needs to learn that his safety means other people's safety as well." He said.

There, all done.

Sonny double checked everything, to see if any of the liquids were still active. Everything was clear. Either they didn't know or didn't think they'd need what was stored here. He looked at the other two. Micro Ice and D'Jok were ready to defend the door. Sonny was about to wrap up, when he noticed a strange file in the system and took a look.

It was a complete oversight of the invasion. Locations, number of troops. Probably everything. He sent it to the Pirates Mainframe.

A commotion started. Sonny could see Duke Maddox' troops approaching on the screen, and the invaders prepared to attack. That could be a distraction. Sonny motioned for the others to prepare.

That was when Micro Ice's transmitter went off. This made someone approach the room. Sonny signaled for them to use their cloaks to stay out of sight. They activated them in the nick of time.

The servant that looked inside. Sonny carefully slid himself into cover. The Servant looked around, searching for intruders.

"They are storming us, what do we do?" A voice yelled. The Servant grunted.

"Drive them back, and open the hidden tanks Bleylock left us." They snarled. This made Sonny realize something; This wasn't just some mere servant.

This was a leader.

Corso landed as close as he could to the labs. He could hear commotion in the distance. It sounded like an attack. Kuun heard it too; he looked bewildered and checked Sonny's coordinates.

"They're still at the lab. Something must be blocking their escape." He said. "So what's the plan?" He asked. Corso studied the map.

"We'll go through the ice mines. They won't think to look for us there."

Cobra forced his host, a Xenon, to enter the room.

Something wasn't right here. He shook his head, now wasn't the time. They were ready to show just how powerful they were, thanks to Bleylock setting things up.

That man was so easy to control.

Such hunger for power. The perfect prey.

And now, they had storages of Fluxes on every important planet. Things would be easy.
They just had to destroy The Guardian.

They also needed to free The Warlord, but that could wait. If anything, that one needed the proper punishment.

Cobra was about to leave the room, when he brushed against the side of the door and hearing a yelp.

Someone was here.

He felt something being pressed against his neck.

"Not another move." A voice hissed.

Sonny Blackbones.

Before anyone could react, his arm shot out and grabbed Sonny's throat, pinning him against the wall.

"Dad!" Shouted a voice from his right. Sonny tried to fight, but he was struggling to breathe. His partners watched in horror as Sonny grew limp in the Xenon's grasp. Cobra placed Sonny in front of him.

"End of the line."

Well… that's an intense cliffhanger.

Thanks you to Paranoidgirl for beta-ing this story..

I hope this story is leaving you on the edge of your seats.

Happy reading.