Chapter Four: Unraveled

MAY 27, 2025:

The smartphone rang once again in Heat's hand, and, once again, it went to the automated message after around four rings. Kixx had never bothered to set a custom message for when he was away from his phone, so Heat was more than used to the bland voice on the other end of the line.

It was a bit odd for Kixx to not pick up like this. Given the recent disappearances, Heat couldn't help but feel apprehensive as to what could've stopped him from doing so. It wasn't like him-usually, Kixx would pick up at some point, and he'd called him before to tell him he was getting off work at the summer camp. He'd spent the day setting up the front entryway, so Kixx had had plenty of time to respond…he hoped he'd just gotten tied up with a phone call, or went out to see Witch and Crystallene again…

Heat took a deep breath as he made his way down the street, halfheartedly making another attempt to call his partner. He frowned as he watched the phone yet again go to the automated message, this time letting it get to the beep before he turned it off. As if on cue, he cast a suspicious glance around the remainder of the street as he approached its end, wondering if a certain someone was perhaps, watching-either from the undergrowth, or worse, from Hamsterviel's new base.

Whether or not Gantu and Hamsterviel were watching, Heat wasn't going to let them believe they could attack. He charged the air surrounding him, narrowing his eyes at the slight shimmer that rose from the sidewalk as it turned to dirt.

…That was strange.

The path shouldn't be this big-certainly not this wide-

Heat's head shot up as he whipped it around the sight surrounding him. Crushed bushes. Felled trees. Saplings strewn across the path…and a set of footprints he recognized as well as ever-he'd seen their owner leave them, swearing, in the mud as he kicked it off at the ship's hatch when he went out on rainstorm hunts.

Heat's breath caught in his throat. He felt it quicken and turned towards the path's end, feeling his eyes start to bulge from their sockets. He wanted to run-and he should, but in truth, he didn't need to. After all, he could see the smoke curling over the treeline where their house was supposed to be.

He approached it slowly, shakily. Feeling as though his legs would evaporate and leave him crawling the rest of the way. The house stood, smoking, burnt, every window shot out and the roof caved in. The trees out front were blackened sticks, dead branches piercing the sky like the teeth of a shark at a surfboard. Nothing remained of the porch, the set of steps leading up to it crushed by another familiar footprint.

But the worst of these new features was sitting neatly on the driveway, in a clean, white stack with an H-shaped paperweight holding them down. A pile of letters in pristine condition gleamed in the sun like a bone, and it unnerved him the most.

The house was one thing. These strange letters were another entirely.

Against his better judgment, Heat approached the stack of papers. A well-aimed swat took care of the paperweight, sending it clattering away into the smoking brush. Heat's mouth felt dry as he took the topmost letter off the stack, silently reading its address.

Captain Gantu,

Suite 2638, Azuros Station, Turo

Retrieved on September 18, 2009

Heat remembered this letter. The first one he'd sent to Gantu after he'd returned to Turo. He remembered he'd been happy for him and Reuben back then, despite everything they'd done. In the end, he'd known it was all for their survival, so he hadn't truly held their actions against them.

He…didn't want to open this.

He went through the rest of the stack, shriveling into ash with each one. Letters, transmissions, even transcripts of phone calls-all of it-everything he'd ever sent to Gantu since he went back to Turo…all of it was now here, taunting him for believing he was safe to tell him…anything.

Boiling tears clouded his vision. Heat knew the two were watching by now; he'd caught a glimpse of a set of holes on the side of the "paperweight" he'd thrown away, revealing it to be a sort of radio. He stared in its direction, feeling bile rise in his throat.

He had to get out of here…

A moment later found the radio-paperweight cross reduced to a bubbling clump of golden plastic, sizzling a small depression in the ground as Heat stiffly walked away into the undergrowth.

The clearing hadn't changed. He still knew where to find it, all these years later. If it hadn't had such a horrible history to it, it might've still held some beauty to him. The depression carved out by the ship was still there-and still devoid of life.

Heat's legs gave out in the center of the ditch. He fell to his knees and gasped, vomiting steam as the ground began to condense, melting into…

Lava. Bubbling. Steaming-he wasn't Yang-there were better ways of releasing his energy…

JUNE 2, 2025:

Kixx was the first out of the plane's hatch, surprising the worker who had come to unload the luggage. They'd stowed away-him and the others, with Slushy trying his best to keep them warm in the frigid depths of the plane. For being an ice experiment, he'd done a decent job, as although Kixx was freezing, he was still in one piece.

The change in temperature hit them in a wave when they emerged from the luggage compartment. Slushy recoiled in horror, quickly blowing a cloud of frigid air around him to withstand it. The others-Slugger, Blowhard, Boomer, and Pix, huddled around him in shock at the drastic change.

All of them knew the cause of this. They'd seen the weather report from Kauai.

Kixx wasted no time-in fact, he didn't even bother to wait for any of them. He simply took off, dashing towards the fence and jumping it. He landed awkwardly, on his lower set of arms, but he was numb to any pain that would have come of it. He continued his run, heading towards…

"...No."

The word came out as a hoarse whisper, Kixx's breath catching in his throat as he stared in horror at the remains of his home. A fence had been set up around it, yellow caution tape warning against trespassing on the ruined property.

Kixx's breath caught in his throat at the sight. His home-the one he and the others had pieced together board by board-was gone. What remained was a pitiful, blackened husk rotting away under the weight of the heatwave currently razing the island.

He would've fallen to his knees in despair if not for the scent of something strange coming from his right. He knew what it was-he'd smelled it before at the beach and outside gym. It was cigarette smoke, and its gray-furred owner had been silently watching him since he'd dashed up the widened path.

Kixx caught Hammerface's red-tinted eye as the tool-headed experiment surveyed him, smoke twisting around the stub of a cigarette held fast between his fingers. Dark bags stretched out from beneath his eyes, and his fur was ruffled from what Kixx could only guess was a combination of neglect and stress. The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity in Kixx's mind before he broke the silence between them.

"Where's Heat."

Hammerface only continued to stare at him, but in truth, he didn't need to explain anything. After all, Kixx had already seen the news reports coming from Kauai.

"Please…please tell me he's-"

"He's at the ship. He's resting, but…"

"But what?"

Hammerface merely gestured to the sky at Kixx's question, the cigarette burning out as he did so. Kixx felt a pair of tears blur his vision as the 0-series confirmed the worst.

"I'm heading over there then-"

"You will not," Hammerface interrupted, crushing the cigarette butt under his foot as he stood up and faced the 6-series, "Not right now. You're still coming down from her song. Clip and I are taking you in for the time being."

"But I-"

"Kixx, please. Don't…don't make it harder than it already is." Hammerface's voice cracked on the last word, and Kixx wiped his eyes to see the earlier series was crying.

He hesitated, but slowly nodded, allowing Hammerface to take one of his lower hands and start leading them both back down the path. It had been widened in Gantu's attack on the house, so he kept his eyes on the ground as they walked.

The dirt changed to the sidewalk, then a fancy, well-lit pathway, then dirt once again as the two approached Hammerface and Clip's home-itself having been caved in when Gantu had stolen Hammerface. Clip herself stood on the porch, which Kixx only realized when he heard the couple call to each other. Clip's claws soon entered his field of vision, gently guiding him into the house as Hammerface closed and locked the door behind them.

They both offered him food, but he wasn't hungry. Hammerface ended up leaving him alone in the spare room with some earplugs and a microwave oven, a plate of his dinner carefully wrapped in cellophane and tucked inside the miniature fridge. Hammerface had said something about Gatorade, then stocked the fridge with several multicolored bottles.

Kixx held the other earplug in between his fingers, watching mist begin to envelop the island. Slushy must be hard at work tonight; it'd taken him a long time to set Kauai back to its normal temperature. The approaching cloud caused him to shiver, fluffing out his fur and sitting down on the bed.

He felt numb. He wanted-badly-to see Heat, but he knew he couldn't, at least, not right now. Judging from what he was hearing downstairs from the early series and…from the outside itself, Kixx wondered if he would even be able to be in the same room with him. He might not if Hammerface and Clip's downstairs conversation was to be believed…

He sniffed and drew his knees to his chest, burying his face in them and halfheartedly placing the remaining plug into his ear, almost smashing it as he did so. He'd done it too rough and the resulting itch made him cough, wiping an eye as it watered. On cue, there was a lull in the conversation below, followed by a knock at the door and Hammerface's voice asking if he was alright. When Kixx didn't respond, it opened. He heard a sigh as the 0-series entered the room. Kixx felt a blanket placed around his shoulders a moment later, followed by Hammerface ruffling the tuft of fur on his head.

"...I'll take you to see Heat tomorrow, okay? But now…it's just not the right time." He explained, and Kixx nodded in understanding-albeit with his face still buried in his knees.

"Alright. Get some sleep, okay? We have…a lot to discuss, but we'll start tomorrow."

The door closed a moment later, leaving Kixx alone in the room. He took his head out of his knees, dully glancing out the window. Mist now obscured the yard, covering up what Kixx knew was the last of Gantu's damage to the house. The 0-series had used the destruction of his own home as an excuse to enlarge the spare room, but Kixx could still see a twinge of pain in his face as he'd assured them he'd renovate it.

…Hammerface was right. He needed to stop thinking about this. All of it.

Kixx turned onto his side and pulled the blanket over his head, closing his eyes against the darkness of the spare room.

JUNE 3, 2025:

Hammerface sat outside while Kixx visited with Heat. The room he was in was airtight, the 6-series held behind a heatproof door with a thermometer posted outside to monitor the temperature. A separate reader-this one for thermal energy levels-was situated outside next to the thermometer, and it was this Hammerface eyed as the minutes ticked on.

It occurred to him Kixx had been inside for a while, which struck him as a bit odd at first. Heat was asleep-both from the massive amount of energy he'd expelled and because of Drowsy's bleat. At one point, there'd even been talk of utilizing Swirly and Amnesio to repress his emotions so they wouldn't overtake him. Himself, Carmen, and Spooky had all been against this, but the danger Heat presented was so severe the discussion was nevertheless one they had to have. After all, his destruction of the old clearing and ensuring heatwave had made international headlines, something Shush and Cobra had worked around the clock to cover up.

At the moment, only one person was allowed inside the room. Early series took turns guarding the door, and those who'd originally stayed on Izayoi as lookouts had resolved to return to Kauai to help.

…Speaking of which, the phone in Hammerface's hand lit up, displaying a text from Sparky.

"I told Jumba I'll be leaving; I have to help him with one more thing, but I'll be here in about three days. I know you're big on cooking for people, so I don't think I need to tell you to keep Heat fed. Last thing we need is for him to lose more energy."

Sent 12:37 P.M

Hammerface sighed, opening up his phone to respond. As he typed, he thought back to his initial inspection of Kixx and Heat's home.

It was worse than his and Clip's had ended up, largely due to the burn damage. He'd have a hard time rebuilding it, especially when, for Kixx, it held personal significance as something he'd made himself. Just getting started had been exhausting; even with Choppers and Deforestator providing most of the wood, the three still had to take out and replace the majority of the material in the house.

A real-life Ship of Theseus. Save for the things they'd managed to salvage.

He finished writing his message, hitting "send" and leaning back against the chair he'd situated himself on. He wondered how much longer Kixx would take. He'd promised to take him by Frenchfry's after he finished with his visit, and the cooking experiment had taken to closing up earlier than usual since returning to Kauai.

Him and many others. Experiment-run stores closed at sunset now, their owners being terrified of being caught out at night. Many later series wore earplugs when running errands, and Ani and Hokū were minded by powerful-earless-experiments when they so much as stepped foot outside.

It was the most restrictive the island had ever been. Hammerface squeezed his eyes shut at the full scale of the situation surrounding them, opening them back up to glare at the monitors outside Heat's room. This was too much-things would need to change, and by this point…

If it meant never speaking to Stitch again? He was ready to do so. Anything to prevent Gantu and Hamsterviel from touching Earth…

PRESENT DAY:

They'd been holding hands ever since Heat had woken up. Certainly before he had as well, as one of the first things he'd felt upon awakening was Kixx's palm. He had his favorite spot in the ship; a bed set up next to the window with the blinds open, the cord gently clicking against the slats.

The last thing Heat remembered before his vision had faded was being told not to worry. It was something he'd heard a version of nonstop for the past month, and although the sentiment had gotten old, he'd appreciated hearing it from Jumba.

It'd been a long month. A long, horrible month. He barely remembered any of it, not that he wanted to. He'd been relying on a combination of Drowsy's bleat and Spooky's therapy to get by, so he hadn't noticed the time passing around him.

That and Federation-prescribed antidepressants.

He remembered he needed to thank Cobra and Shush for helping with the last part.

They'd been sitting together in silence as he'd woken up, watching the last of the sun slip below the treeline and the lights in the Kamihara's front yard click on. There were more visible stars on Izayoi than there were back on Kauai, and it intrigued him to see a small sliver of their branch of the Milky Way in the sky. A marine layer was starting to roll in, mist beginning to converge on the house.

Their troubles-and his-were far from over. He was still in therapy. He'd have to watch his charge now more than ever, and worst of all…those three were still at large.

Or were they?

He didn't know. All he knew was that they were still in the woods, and despite the comfort of having his physical health taken care of, Heat knew he was still in the middle of a mental health crisis. For now, his fear-a pounding, overwhelming sensation in his chest-was suppressed, and he was enjoying the fact that it was.

He sighed and closed his eyes, carefully turning over and stretching an arm across his partner's. He had an energy regulator strapped to him, and he felt it beep as if it were annoyed with his movement. Upon feeling Kixx move closer to him in concern, Heat opened one eye and gave him a faint, but reassuring smile. Kixx returned it, but his held some sadness to it-something Heat was sure his reflected as well.

"I heard Angel's here now."

"She is. Being her usual."

"That's good. At least one of us is happy."

"Well that and wanting to scream in your face when she sees you."

Heat chuckled, reaching up and cupping Kixx's cheek in his hand. "Gods. I thought…"

"I…I know. But I came back."

"Did anyone play it backwards…?"

"I did. You…wouldn't know, but her song's emotion-based. If you know you're under it, you can find workarounds."

"Ah."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Heat placed his hand back on the bedsheets. "I'm sorry."

"What're you apologizing for?"

Heat stared out at the trees. He was unable to say. He didn't want to either. He'd admitted it to Spooky and Hammerface, but…he wasn't sure if he could to Kixx.

He had to. Eventually, but…he didn't know how.

"I…kind of copied Hammer."

He hadn't meant offense to him, but Hammerface's attempt was the only frame of reference they had to go off of. Immediately, he felt Kixx tense up, the fighting experiment holding his breath as he took in what exactly he'd tried to do to himself after his capture.

"Oh. Oh gods."

Heat cast a dull glance out the window. "I just…didn't know how else to say it."

"I thought I lost you. And…it was my fault. I thought there was just nothing left for me to do and…" Heat sighed and tilted his head to look up at Kixx, "Well…"

There were tears brimming in the fighting experiment's eyes. That was, before Heat felt himself scooped into a tight hug, the regulator giving another irritated beep. He returned it, burying his face in Kixx's shoulder as he felt his own set of tears spring from his eyes.

Both of them felt their fur getting wet as they held each other. Kixx's tears were much colder to Heat than he understood his to be, and he was glad the reset had reverted them back from boiling point.

They held each other for as long as they could, neither wanting to let go after such a long separation. The sound of the door opening finally made them separate, Heat craning his neck to try and see who was coming before turning back to Kixx.

"You're…not upset?"

Kixx sighed, gently cupping Heat's face in his hand, "Well…I wish you told me sooner. That's…serious, you know? But at the same time…I'm glad you're still here."

He was answered with a lick to his cheek and smiled. He was about to return it when a knock came at the door to Heat's room, causing the two to exchange glances. Heat had caught a glimpse of him, but just from how quiet and hesitant the knock sounded, both earlier 6-series knew it was Stitch.

Heat took a deep breath before answering.

"...Stitch? Is that you?"

There was a similar pause from the door before Stitch's nasally voice broke through. "...Ih."

Heat looked to Kixx. "Should we…?" He mouthed, and Kixx nodded, "Yeah."

"You can come in Stitch." He said, though not without a knot in his stomach as to how this could go…

Stitch kept his eyes on the ground as he opened the door, noting the change in lighting from yellow and orange to white and blue; the end of the main hallway and the beginning of the infirmary section. He knew, implicitly, where both of his cousins were, so he made right for their direction…and nearly walked right into Kixx's chest. He felt the fighting experiment's hand gently stop him from doing so, but didn't raise it, only continuing to stare at the metal floor.

"So…meega heard…about…" He began, but found himself struggling to say anything more.

He was met with silence, then the sound of a chair dragging across the floor and gingerly touching against his back. "Come on, sit down, alright? And…you wanna look up or…?"

Kixx's voice was very quiet given the circumstances. Stitch remembered the last time he'd heard it, and immediately wished he hadn't; Kixx had spent their last interaction snarling at him under the effects of Angel's song, and…he'd heard it twice by now…

He was roused from his thoughts by being picked up and placed onto the chair, but ended up clinging to Kixx's arm when he tried to steady him.

"Let go please; we can't talk if you're just gonna grab onto my arm like a Koala." Kixx said, and Stitch reluctantly did so, gulping as he placed his hands on the edges of the chair.

"Meega…didn't know. Meega's soka. Naga know what else meega can do to make it up, but…meega would like to try-i-if youga would like…"

The silence returned to the room. Stitch was still staring at the ground, but he knew Kixx and Heat well enough to know they were looking to each other, then him. In fact, he could feel their eyes turn back to him…but no answer just yet.

He could hear a whispered exchange and purposely blocked it from his mind, which meant he wasn't prepared for the rustle of sheets-and Heat pulling him into a tight hug. Stitch felt his eyes water and sniffled, burying his face in the thermal experiment's shoulder as Heat held him.

"It's okay Stitch. We're just glad you came back." Heat said. His voice was naturally soft and carried the same cadence as, of all people-Angel, and it wasn't something Stitch had heard in a long time.

In fact, it'd been a while since…a lot of people had been this patient with him. Or at least, come off as such.

"Naga knew-meega knew some things, but very little…" He explained, "Meega soka-naga thought it'd get so bad."

"...If it helps, we didn't think that either." Kixx said, "What really started it was Gantu gettin' dishonorably discharged. That didn't have anything to do with you."

"We uh…we kind of blame him for a lot of what's going on." Heat added, pulling out of the hug and-Stitch presumed-offering him a smile. Upon realizing Stitch was still fixed on his chest, he snorted. "My eyes are up here. All three of them."

Stitch started, but refocused his gaze on the thermal experiment's face. Heat had evidently been crying, and he looked exhausted, the wrinkles already on his face seeming deeper than they had when Stitch had seen him last. For a moment, Stitch felt a twinge of guilt, but it was quickly replaced by relief at seeing he was indeed giving him a tired, but reassuring smile.

"Naga…naga mad with meega for leaving?"

"Well…" Heat shrugged, "We were, once. But we've had a few years. Now we're just relieved you don't have one of those glowing purple helmets on ya. And we get to show you your niece and nephew, so…'s not all bad."

"Next time, don't run like that though." He finished, his voice hardening slightly as his eyes slightly narrowed, "We would've helped you, Hammer aside."

Stitch nodded, managing a smile despite the change in Heat's tone. "Ih. No more running. But…"

"Gaba about Yuna?" He asked, "Is meega gonna have to leave and come back or…"

"Because…meega kind of…pulled her into all this." He finished, lowering his ears at the thought.

Kixx shrugged, "I don't think you'll have to. I'm sure we can set something up so you can visit her or Lilo. This ship for instance."

Stitch nodded, breathing a sigh of relief, "Okitaka. Naga want her left alone, isa all."

"That's good of you. She was really nice when we met yesterday, I'm sure she'll be comforted to know that." Heat said, "She even saw me off before I went under; I can tell it's new territory for her, so I was surprised she came over given…"

"All this." He finished, tilting his head towards the regulator strapped to his arm.

Stitch grinned, "She took meega in when I crashlanded-she's done a ton for meega, so naga want to leave her, ih."

"Speaking of. When're the others coming?" Kixx asked, "Did you go ahead or are they waiting for you?"

"Ooh. They're waiting for meega-meega wanted to say soka first." Stitch explained, and the fighting experiment nodded, "Sounds like them. You wanna go out and tell them you're done?"

Stitch nodded, "Ih! Gimme a sec!"