The sun rose above the horizon as Colinne entered the parking garage of the lab. She sighed as she took the keys and entered the lab. She walked down the empty hallway towards the lounge. As she looked in, she saw that most of the group was still sleeping, except for one or two who were awake and sitting at the table. She sighed and walked to the lab doors. She pushed them open and walked down two stairs before hearing a shout.

"Heads!" Ex yelled as Colinne ducked under what seemed to be a green and blue baseball flew over her head. She stood and looked for Ex in the room ahead, but he wasn't there. Then, a pair of footsteps appeared behind her as she turned to see Ex standing right behind her with what looked like a glass ball with a void in the middle.

"What is that thing?" she asked, puzzled and frightened.

"It's called an Ender Pearl." Mat shouted, running to them, "Just remember to watch where you throw it, Ex."

She pointed to Ex, "Teleportation?"

"Yep, sorry about that," he said, his face conveying mostly regret and empathy towards her.

"No, no, it's fine," she said, "How long have you guys been up for?"

"Since about 5:55," Mat said. Ex was silent and then sighed.

"4:45," he admitted. This caught Colinne's attention.

"Jeez," she replied, "Tell me you guys at least didn't mess around the whole time."

"Nope," Ex replied, looking somewhat guilty, "Come take a look."

The trio walked down to the desk, which Mat and Ex had fixed up with many things they could remember to bring, such as drinks, holographic displays, and the likes. Empty cans were strewn about the table, and two plates with crumbs of food lay next to the laptop. Colinne sighed and walked to the screen of the laptop. She found the screen to be black and off, an endless void with a reflected image of herself. She pressed the spacebar, and the screen brightened with life as images, browsers, and text files with letters and messages to people.

"Whose are these?" she asked, in awe of how much data was on the laptop.

"From what we found," Mat stated and pointed to a letter, "You and Andys."

Colinne focused on the letters, only to see that they were right. Each letter was signed by either a return signer, her signature, or Andy's signature. The sight caused her hands to shake and her eyes to water slightly. Some were familiar names, while others were officers, soldiers, generals, and leaders of countries. The problem with that was she never remembered writing any of these.

"That's impossible," she claimed, "I couldn't have written any of these since I don't remember anything about these people."

"Maybe that's the point," Ex interjected, "We found other notes written by us to 'Whoever you are.'"

"And, with a bit of research, we are most likely those people they are talking about," Mat concluded, "Due to one detail. Take a look at the signature on this one."

He pointed to a large letter with many paragraphs, bullet points, and small diagrams for later people to see. In the end, there was one signature: a circle, with a pointed outer ring and a trophy in the middle.

"That would be Mat," Ex said. They stared at the letter and signatures before finally, Colinne broke the silence of thought.

"Do either of you know what it says?" she asked. They glanced at each other before turning back to Colinne.

"Yes," Ex replied, "It is a death note from Andy with info from us."

"Like, this whole group, everything?" she asked. Mat nodded.

"Simply? Yes. It says who we are and why we are here and such," Mat explained, "But it is very cryptic."

Ex sighed, "It says something about a whole religion we found and a whole story. It is interesting."

Colinne looked at the two for a second, then spoke, "But there's no evidence of how to get home, right?"

They both nodded, and Mat responded, "We have nothing to get back."

"Damn," Colinne commented. She looked at the group with a bit of worry in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Ex asked. She sighed and looked at the group.

"It's just…" she paused to think before she sighed, "We are all normal people. Especially all of you since you all don't have prior experience to any of this. Exceptions could include Ian and Skye, who are both pretty skilled, but still. One is a soldier; the other is a possible thief."

"We don't know that," Ex interjected. Colinne looked at him to respond, but could only sigh.

"Look, even though we met just, what was it? Three days ago?" she said, her voice becoming solemn before Mat changed the subject.

"Look, about those things, I found records of them both on the laptop and such. According to 'past me' they are labeled as Crystalites, smaller versions of a larger substance. You guys called them Virus Bots, or V-Units for short."

"Crystalites sound better," Ex commented. Mat nodded while Colinne chuckled a bit before returning to her solemn tone.

"Looking at their blueprints," she continued as she pulled up a picture and quickly studied it, "They are made of a crystal called Incor. It is a very durable material that uses surrounding or programmed materials as sources. With a touch of engineering and electricity, the thing can make the crystal as weak and flexible as human skin or as tough and durable as Titanium."

Ex looked at Mat and back to Colinne, "That doesn't sound good."

"It isn't," she started before seeing the rest of the group, lazily walking down the stairs. She directed her attention to them as they walked down the stairs and into the lab. The three simultaneously looked at the computer clock.

"9:23," Ex said, tilting his head sideways and back, "Up and at 'em."


After about five minutes of mindless talking, the group finally surrounded the table and became serious about the situation at hand. Each would have their way of showing it, whether it be leaning in close or listening and repeating. But this was more than that, meaning everyone was silent. So silent that the loudest thing was breathing from everyone.

"So," Ex started, "Anyone wants to get anything out of the way beforehand?"

"Yeah," Brian asked, "What's the point of this?"

"Well," he stated, "It's good news and bad news."

"Then don't keep us waiting," Mark said. The group looked at him expectantly. Ex sighed and began.

"Okay, let's start with the good news," he said, "The good news is that we think we found a way out of this place."

The group began to lighten up, but Ex sighed, "Which leads into the next part. The bad news? We have to go through these things."

He pulled up the diagram of the things they had been stopping for the past two days. A massive groan emitted through everyone, even Ex felt himself want to break something in anger.

"Look, to find out how we can get home, we need to find out who we were here," he said, "According to this laptop, which belonged to a quote in quote 'friend of ours', AKA Andy, we were some really important people to these places. To gain the knowledge we need to both beat these things and get home, we need to find certain things and people."

The group groaned again, even Ex knew the absurdity of what this situation was and sounded like. Everyone looked at each other, hoping to find an answer that they knew no one had or could come up with. Sean raised his hand, but Ex knew what he was going to say.

"I know," he replied, "I know that we are all just normal people, who've been dropped into this situation and told to do things that we never could do. But I know that…" he paused for a second, still looking at the group and waved that away, "Okay, just, look. Our only hope of getting home is to find out what the hell these people are and what they want. Only then can we find out how to leave this place."

The room was silent for a long time. What felt like minutes were just mere seconds in everyone's eyes. It was quiet—silent chaos. That's all Ex could think to himself. Outside, it was silent fear, but on the inside, it was a chaos of emotions and feelings. Ex sighed and looked around the table, unable to say anything else. Colinne walked in between Mark and Evan and looked at the group before speaking.

"I know you guys are afraid of this," she said, her response solemn, "But this is your ticket home, and I don't want you guys to lose your hope and semblance because this scares you."

The group was silent for a second, then she spoke again, "Don't waste this time thinking of what is up there in World Zero right now," she said as she pointed upwards, then placing her finger onto the table, "Think about what is happening here right now. We do this, and we get help, you all go home, the end."

"Not the best motivational speech," Evan said after a moment of silence, "But it's a start."

Everyone chuckled before Felix spoke, "Well then, what's the plan?"

Ex typed into the laptop, "Our objectives are to find some old tools and allies of ours. Sounds easy on paper."

"But harder in practice," Ian commented. Ex nodded.

"That's true," he replied, "What makes it even harder is that certain people will remember us while others won't. Meaning we need to find out what happened."

"But, we can do just that," Mat said as he politely moved Ex and typed into the laptop, "According to the thing, there might be away."

Mat pressed enter as the holographic table lit up and pulled up multiple images of people and places that suddenly sparked a jolt of energy in their minds as senses of similarity came to all of them. Each location and face seemed to bring faint ideas of memories back, some good, while others not so much. The group finally came back to Mat as they stared at each photo.

Mat started, "So, our objective will be to gain our memories back while trying not to get killed. Is that right?"

"I guess," Ex said.

"Right," Colinne said, "We have the objective in mind, but what's the plan?"

"Yeah, didn't make it that far," Mat admitted.

"Well, then, let's think," Ex sighed, "We don't have much time."

Colinne groaned, "Just go in groups. It's simple. Only that a couple of people have to stay behind cause I need some help."

"Alright, no offense Ex, but you should stay due to," he said as he brought his hand to his shoulder. Ex sighed and nodded.

"I'd like to come," he said sarcastically, "But can't disagree with that."

"Then we'll stay as well," Cheshapeek said, Crystal, nodding behind him.

"I think we need all the help we can get, right?" Colinne asked. Mark shook his head.

"I think that if we have more, then we'll risk getting captured," he said. Both Cheshapeek and Crystal nodded in agreement, and so did Ex.

"Alright, we'll stay," Ex responded, "We can help out around here."

Before long, everyone was ready to go while Ex began assigning them what to do.

"So far, there are three things we can do right now," he stated, "The sixth one is the coordinates and world number to the connector world, the world which will be able to take us home. For now, however, we have people and places to see."

"Name 'em," Brian said, his voice sounding hurried. Ex looked around before starting.

"First up," he began, "Felix, Vanoss, and Brian, you three need to find a world that, according to this, was of great importance to us. It's signed by a guy named Marshall Davis."

"So, military?" Sean asked. Ex shook his head.

"Marshall is his name," he replied, "Anyways, he is said to have some details on two worlds in particular: one with our quote enquote 'home' and another one that should be our ticket home. He is a political officer in that world and, according to sources, was the last person in possession of information under the project name 'Project Centerpoint.' You need to find the folder, which may be in his office, and get it out of there before anyone notices."

"Done deal," Mark said. Both Sean and Felix nodded their heads, hoping to have this over with quickly.

"Next up. Ian, Joe, and Dan. You guys need to head to find something that we left behind on an island in World 674."

"Got it," Ian replied.

"But, it will stand out?" Dan asked. Ex nodded.

"Now," he said, "Mark, Delirious, and Sean. You guys should be able to find this person."

A picture of a hooded figure came up, unable to identify either race or gender under the darkness of the garment. The trio nodded towards Ex.

"Anyways," he began, "This figure has an essential purpose to our case. The two names I've mentioned are some of the only people who remember us and this world. This one will be a big help to us, though. So we need you guys to find it."

"Why is it referred to as 'it'?" Brian asked. Ex sighed.

"Can you tell who that is from here?" Vanoss asked. Brian sighed and conceded.

"Okay," he said, "Since this has been going on for too long, I'm just going to give you guys simple instructions and pictures of what to do and where to go. And don't worry, none of these will have to do with the Crystalites. I'll get off my ass if there is one in any circumstance."

Colinne chimed in real quickly, "First off, language. Second, Crainer. You, Squaishy, Squid, Mat, Steph, and Gaijin are going to stay here for the reasons that we don't have anything to give you, and second, we need some more hands and your guy's knowledge about these worlds."

They nodded and stayed behind as the rest of the group went off to get ready for the fight. The group returned to the table after getting their torn and dirt-ridden suits. Colinne turned to Ex and mouthed Upgrades required. Ex nodded and returned his attention to the group. Finally, they pressed ready on their watches and then waited as nothing happened. They looked at their watches, which had nothing on their screens. Sean raised his arm and shook it.

"Why isn't this thing wo…" he didn't finish as his body was engulfed in white light, but this time, his body also seemed to pixelate. Then, it melted away into green pixels that fell to the floor. Ex looked at Mat before Vanoss moved his arms in motion, and that is when he teleported in a pixelated white light that ended in dim yellow light. Then, everyone followed suit one by one. Each person left into an adventure to get all of them home. The room was silent afterward, leaving behind an empty feeling in the room. Though, they could feel that becoming more standard in their heads.


Felix felt the ground suddenly catch him as he had to move his arms in a strange move for the watch to consider him moving enough. As his vision cleared, he then began to hear many sounds. There was so much sound that it was almost disorienting to him. But, he could still focus as he looked at his hands, realizing that his hands were normal again. They have detailed it yet again. He could see the individual dirt and bloodstains on the wraps on his hands. It was like he was in real life again, back in World Zero. A sudden pat on his shoulder caused him to spin on his heels to see Evan and Brian waiting for him to snap out of his thoughts.

"Well, now what?" Felix asked. Vanoss and Brian shrugged in response.

"Let's try and find out where we are supposed to go," Vanoss suggested. The group nodded and walked out and down the street. The city didn't seem that busy at the time, almost no cars or people were out and about with them. Turning back, they saw the construction site empty, and the lights were off. No one seemed to be out and about at the time. Looking up, the trio could see hundreds of windows, with a scattered few with lights on its walls. They were confused, so they used their coms to call for help.

"Hey, Colinne, where are we supposed to go again?" Felix asked, his voice becoming a little shaky as he asked.

"Why? Is everything alright?" she replied. Felix sighed.

"It's just," he began, "This place reminds me of home."

"Oh, as in the looks?" she asked.

"Yeah," he sighed, looking around, unknowingly growing a small grin on his face. Before long, he shook his head and returned to the question.

"So, where again?" he asked. Colinne quickly reacted.

"Right," she responded, "You are looking for a government-controlled building. Something big and something that stands out. Okay?"
"Kinda understood," Felix said, shaking his head.

"Look," Vanoss said, as they turned the corner. He pointed down the street to a large building that looked something like Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Except, it didn't have the iconic dome-like structure from the original. It was blocky, with windows sprinkled around the sides of the buildings, and a green bush wall surrounded the perimeter of the building, like something from a palace. The front gate was overrun by people in what seemed to be a protest against something, though it wasn't clear what they wanted.

"Well, they aren't happy," Terroriser commented.

"No shit," Felix replied. They walked to the group of people, shouting their message to the government about what they want and why they want it. But, to the trio, their voices were garbled, as if to hide more true intentions from any unwanted listeners. Brian listened in carefully as they shouted again, this time, something becoming clearer. He felt himself jolt with electricity all of a sudden as a thought came into his head, one that felt familiar, yet one he didn't understand.

"I think…" he paused to gather his words, "I think this is a form of protesting here. Because the government doesn't listen, they choose to speak in a different language to others."

"What?" Felix asked, looking at Terroriser as if he was crazy, "When did you come up with that?"

"I don't know," he sighed, "I just heard them saying it."

"But we can't hear them?" Pewdieie asked. Terroriser shrugged quickly.

"Heads," he said as a group of what seemed to be guards quickly approached the crowd. They began to push the people back and further from the building. The trio knew they had to act fast.

"This is our only chance of getting in there," Vanoss claimed quietly. Pewdiepie sighed, knowing he wasn't wrong.

"Wait," he said as a thought came to him. He raised his watch, and he quickly thought of an item that could help them. Once his watch found it, the object hovered above the base of the watch: a glass bottle. Though, it seemed a lot less round and more blocky than any other. He grabbed it quickly and swiftly drank from the bottle. As he did, the sound of bubbles in his throat became apparent as he felt himself change in some way. Before long, Terroriser looked around him in confusion.

He tapped on his shoulder, "Invisibility."

"Oh." Terroriser quickly realized what he meant. Within a matter of seconds, both Vanoss and Terroriser were gone, seemingly wiped from the face of the earth. Though, Pewds knew bubbles were secreting from his skin, giving the invisibility effect away. But he couldn't think about that at that moment, as he tried to slide through the group of protesters without alarms being raised. He slowly made his way to the gate, passing every person as they backed away and nearly bump into him. He turned as a guard in a black and blue suit approached him. He felt himself want to gasp, but he held back as he swiftly ducked down and under his arm. He fell to his hands and knees and began to crawl a small distance to the opened gate. He stood and jogged up to the entrance. A hand grabbed his shoulder, stopping him and pulling him into the grass area. His HUD displayed another figure waiting for him. He softly sighed in relief at the sight of Terroriser with him.

"You good?" he whispered.

"Yeah," Pewds whispered back. He tried to peek around the bushes before he felt Brian pull him back. He looked back at Brian, who was slightly visible again, pulling on his completely visible arm. Quickly, he grabbed another potion of invisibility and drank it, just in time for a guard to walk right behind him. He turned slowly to watch as the figure walked just inches from him and then walked away. The duo quickly ran to the entrance and slipped through a closing door behind them.

They both walked into what seemed to be a reception room. The floor was a bright and reflective tile, most likely a grey marble. It shone due to a glass window above, which was positioned over what seemed to be a glass clock in the middle of the room. As the sun rose into view, the ground beneath showed a time stamp. Though it didn't show the exact time, it showed a possible time when it was: between 10 and 11 o'clock. They were so busy looking up that Felix accidentally bumped into somebody as they walked. The person recoiled and looked around for whatever hit him as Felix felt his heart rate accelerate from 0 to 60 very quickly. He stood and began to run through, his footsteps emitting a soft tap each time his feet hit the floor. He promptly entered another section of the building, which was a long hallway of offices and rooms. A sound next to him emitted as Vanoss came out of invisibility, slowly crawling back into view. He sighed and chuckled.

"You lucky son of a bitch," he chuckled. Felix looked down, realizing that he was about to blink back into view. He felt himself begin to hyperventilate before Vanoss quickly grabbed his arm and pressed something on his watch. Then, he blinked back into the room, but this time, he wore not a jacket and wrapped hands. Instead, he wore what seemed to be a janitor style outfit that was a grey and yellow colored suit. He looked at his name tag, which read Daniel in a red text on a small white background. He looked at Vanoss, who had similar attire, looked at him, and smiled.

"I think Brian went ahead," he said, as he began to walk down the hall. Felix quickly followed behind him as they passed door after door, looking for a name in particular. He could hear Vanoss whispering his name to himself.

"Marshall, Marshall, Marshall," he repeatedly whispered.

"Will you please stop that?" Brians voice softly shouted from just ahead of them. Vanoss looked in front of him, and he saw a figure. It was draped in a dark black and had yellow linings running down its body, leading to its chest. The figure stared at him, turned on his heel, and walked through a door and into a room. He quickly rushed over to the door and read the plaque on the outside out loud.

"Marshall Davis," he said, a smile slowly growing on his face. He turned the knob and quickly entered to find the room empty. His face went from excitement to wonder and awe. Felix came in behind him.

"Did you not just see that?" he asked him. Felix turned to him as if he were crazy.

"What are you talking about?" he asked back. Vanoss stared at him for a moment before sighing.

"Nevermind," he said, "What are we looking for again?"

"A folder," Brian suddenly replied as he walked in, "Something named 'Project Centerpoint'."

"Where have you been?" Felix asked. Brian stared at him.

"Got lost and fell behind," he replied, "Now, let's get looking."

Vanoss tilted his head in confusion but shook away the thought. The trio looked around the room, which seemed very comfortable. It had two large bookshelves, a small couch, and a thick wooden desk in the back of the room. On the desk was a keyboard and monitor in front of a large writing pad, which was covered in papers and folders. A large essay sat in the middle of the pad and on top of most of the documents. From the look of it, it seemed like some sort of contract, will, or agreement of some sort. It was signed in letters at the bottom by M. Davis.

"What is this?" Felix asked as he picked up the document. Quickly, Brian grabbed it from him.

"We are not here for that," he quietly shouted at him. Then Vanoss helped up a small batch of papers to himself and read through. His expression went from stressed to mildly amused as he continued to read.

"Check this out," he said as he handed the stack to Felix, and he kept searching. He looked at Vanoss before turning his attention to what seemed to be an excerpt out of a news article. The title was all he needed to read: Vigilates To The Rescue! He felt his legs turn to jelly as he looked at the photo: a picture of two familiar looking people looking into the camera. Without thought, he knew who they were: Mark and himself. He felt his legs come out from under him as he fell into the chair behind him. As his eyes closed, a grey figure walked into his view and only waved before he saw black.

The others ran to catch him before he fell. Evan looked at Brian and back to Felix before sighing.

"What is happening to us?" he quietly asked. Suddenly, Felix screamed near the top of his lungs before waking up again. His heartbeat was so fast and loud that everyone could hear it. Everyone looked at each other before Terroriser spoke.

"Welp, now we have a time limit," he grunted as he swept through the pages. Vanoss followed suit while Pewds sat there in shock at what just happened. All he did was pass out, and some type of vision came to him before he could even think. He snapped himself out of his thoughts and stood up before instinctively reaching under several papers and grabbing a single folder before looking at the title.

"Project Centerpoint," he read aloud. The other two looked at him for a mere second before doors down the hallway began to burst open.

"No time to ask," Vanoss said as he typed into his watch. The other two followed suit as his watch then beeped in response to him finishing his typing.

"What the fuck were you doing?" Terroriser asked. Felix could only shrug in response.

"No idea. Less talk, more running," he said as he finished typing. Vanoss moved his arms in a swift motion, and he pixelated out of the room. Felix finished typing, and it emitted a beep from his watch. He looked to Terroriser, who had just done what Vanoss did previously, but when he tried to, he couldn't. Sudden stress began to built-in his chest as the group of people started to enter the room. He quickly ducked behind the desk and looked at his watch. He closed his eyes and wished for the best of what was about to come as the door slowly opened to the room. Footsteps approached the desk slowly and quietly, a menacing quiet before a storm. Finally, his watch beeped, meaning that it was ready to go. He quickly motioned his arm, and he felt himself teleport away. He caught a glimpse of someone bending down to see what was going on but just missed him. He felt himself land on his back as he sat up to find himself outside the lab once again. He sighed in relief to himself.

"This is going to be a long summer," he whispered to himself as he stood up and walked into the lab.


Meanwhile, with another trio and around twenty minutes earlier, SSundee, Stampy, and Dan had just landed on the beach of this mysterious island Ex had told them about. Due to inexperience, they all landed and then fell on each other. They landed on a sandy beach on the southwestern part of the island. They looked out into a near-endless blue ocean while behind them lay a deep green jungle or forest of some sort. SSundee quickly got up and swiped the sand off of himself and extended a hand to Stampy, who accepted, then to Dan, who chose to get up by himself. They looked around the island exterior before Dan pointed at something in the distance.

"Look, smoke," he said as they saw a plume of smoke rose in the distance. They looked at each other and began a short walk on the sandy beaches to their objective. The sand slightly parted with every step beneath them as they approached what seemed to be a dead campfire. Around the fire lay four large wood logs, and the fire pit was filled with four burned pieces of wood, with ambers floating out of the remains. Ashes lay below the wood, while more and more smoke followed them slowly into the clouds. Dan walked over slowly to the fire, cautiously looking around in the bushes and trees as he approached. He brought a hand close to the light and felt the overwhelming sense of heat. He brought his hand back and looked at the others.

"It's still pretty hot," he said, "Meaning it was recent, I would say."

"And when did you become an expert on this?" Ssundee asked sarcastically. Dan chuckled.

"I didn't. I'm just predicting," he said. He began to speak again when a rustling in the bushes began to move around them. Immediately, all their attention was turned to the sound before Stampy tapped on SSundee's shoulder.

"Let's not do this and go?" he suggested. Looking at him and then back to the sound, he sighed.

"True," he stated, "Dan, let's go."

Dan nodded as they turned back to the beach as he quickly followed behind them, turning back every once in a while to check if they were being followed. As they kept walking, SSundee could feel something was off, not just because of the rustling bushes. He had been hearing footsteps around him ever since he had woken up that morning, but he attributed it to his high levels of stress. He sighed and tried to breathe in and out as he closed his eyes for a mere second. Before he could get past his third breath, a whisper rolled through his mind and ears. A deep yet strangely comforting voice kept talking in a tongue that he couldn't recognize slowly moved through his mind and body before he opened his eyes.

He opened his eyes to a phantom-like being walking down the beach and then up the beach to a small outcrop in the sand. It bent down and placed something with a white neon reflection to it as it lay in the sand. Then, the molecules of the being began to dissipate as it began to stand up. Finally, it disappeared after turning to look at him for a split second. He returned his attention to the spot where it placed that object and rushed over to see. He bent down to find the sand in that area dug up, and the thing was missing. He stood and looked around before he turned to see Stampy and Dan running after him.

"It's gone," he shouted to them as they approached him. They looked into the small hole created in the sand, seeing small finger trails and shovel markings covering the sand. He placed his hand on the sand as he felt himself begin to get a strange feeling. Before he could speak, Stampy asked first.

"Anyone here get the feeling that we are being watched?" he questioned. The two looked at him, and Dan nodded.

"Now that you say it, yes," he responded. They all heard an audible thump as they turned to see what seemed to be a grenade lying in the sand. It emitted a loud beeping noise, and, as it got faster, it began to brighten up. SSundee yelled something inaudible before the trio lept in different directions to escape the blast. Stampy hit the ground but then felt himself go flying again as if the explosion propelled him. But there was no heat, no damage, and all that hurt was the part that he landed on. He looked back to see the other two lying face down in the sand, in a bit of pain. They looked to where they were and saw a small crater of sand from around the spot where the thing was. But, there was no debris, only sand that fell to the ground around them. He sat upright, looking at the others before being blinded by sand flying into his eyes. He covered his eyes and tried to rub the sand out of them before feeling an extreme force on his back, push him forward, and fall into the sand in front of him. He gasped for air as a foot lay on his back, keeping him pinned to the ground. He tried to stand, but the foot kept him on the ground. A voice came through his near blank mind.

"Not so tough now, huh?" the voice asked. His voice was cocky and fast-talking, with little to no hesitation. Yet, somewhat familiar.

Strained, Stampy tried to respond, "We aren't here to hurt anyone."

"Yeah, yeah," the voice replied. It took its foot off of his back, but he couldn't move as it hurt to just move his legs. He looked over and saw a pair of shoes, colored red with white stripes, and the bottom of the shoes. The socks were pushed to the opening of the shoes, clumped and wrinkled up. At that moment, he knew who he was looking at before the thing bent down to look at him.

"So, buddy, are you from Robotnik?" he asked. Stampy laughed.

"Nope, just a couple of travelers here," he said, trying to have a more friendly conversation.

"Well then, traveler, why are you here?" he asked. Stampy looked at him, an expression of fear plastered on his face.

"We're just here looking for something," Dan groaned from a small distance away. The thing seemingly teleported to where Dan was lying and Stampy finally got a good look at him. Stampy looked up and saw a very familiar face. Blue fur raced across its face around a brown muzzle and a black nose. Its eyes were big, or most likely. Just its single eye was big. He knew who it was, but he couldn't bring himself to speak before he felt himself blackout.


"Guys?" Colinne called into the coms, "Guys?"

Ex stood next to her as she sighed and put a headset on the table. Ex groaned.

"How does this happen?" he questioned.

"Maybe, and this is a small observation," Colinne began, "Maybe it is because you guys shouldn't be out there fighting those things."

"First of all, we know that wasn't a Crystalite, so most likely they're fine," Ex stated, "Secondly, they are probably being taken to a place where they will heal them."

Suddenly, static came through the coms. Colinne quickly picked up the headset and listened to a soft voice come through the coms.

"Hello? Hello?" the voice asked through the coms. The voice was high pitched and energized, sounding like a young kid. Colinne kept listening until the voice was clear.

"Who is this?" she asked the voice. It took a minute before the voice came back over static.

"My name is Tails," he said aloud and proudly. Colinne looked at the trio after that statement and only smiled at the name. Ex shook his head.

"He's not like what you think," Ex stated as he took the headset from her and spoke.

"Hello?" Tails called into the headset.

"No worries, Tails," Ex said, "We'll send someone over to accompany our friends home."

"Great! Just be quick, please," he said as the static overtook his voice again, "We don't know if Robotnik is tracking us now."

Ex placed the headset back onto the desk before he turned to the rest of the group, who had begun to listen in on the conversation between the two. He shrugged and looked at everyone.

"Anyone up for a trip to South Island?" he asked as his eyes waltzed across the room, meeting everyone's eyes for at least a second.

"I'll go if no one else won't," he stated. Before anyone could answer, Colinne quickly shut it down.

"No, you need more time to heal," she said. Ex sighed in an unwanted agreement, looking around for anyone else willing to volunteer.

"He's my friend," Dave said, "Squaishy, and I will go."

"Alright," Colinne said. The two nodded and began to type into their watches. Dave then stood and waved his arm as he pixelated and disappeared in a bright white flash as Squaishy followed right after him.

"Welp, I guess I'll get to work," Ex said. He walked past Colinne and to the desk next to her, and he sat down in the chair next to Colinne as he opened the laptop and began to type. Colinne sighed and looked at the group.

"Anyone hungry? I'm going out to grab something to eat," she asked. Ex raised his hand.

"Starving," he stated. Everyone else nodded and murmured in agreement. She walked up to the lab doors and began to shout down to everyone.

"Hey, might want to come up and tell me what you want," she shouted. Everyone except Ex and Skye walked up to meet her. Cheshapeek looked back at both of them.

"You can probably get something I'll eat," Ex shouted. Cheshapeek nodded and left the room as finally, a silence rolled through the lab. Ex returned his gaze to the laptop screen, sighing and grumbling to himself. Skye looked at him for a second, then walked off to another sector of the lab. After about a minute of research, Ex finally found a folder titled Crystalite. He felt himself grin as his attention was brought out and to a sound of static from the headset, Colinne had been using. He thought for a moment, turned back to see Skye across the room, and sighed as he felt tired. He laid his head down in his arms and closed his eyes to get a little more sleep.


In another world, Mark, Delirious, and Sean were busy finding where they were. They had landed in an old, abandoned town, and they had no clue where they were. Looking around, they could only see mountains, and they were cold in this bleak and no color area. Looking at the details, they noticed that they all looked realistic. Like they were back to real life, or they were in a highly detailed game. They searched around the village before coming up empty.

"There's nothing here!" Sean screamed in frustration. He sat down on a fallen stone brick defeated. He held his head In his hands as suddenly his breathing began to intensify. He felt the sensation begin to scare him as he knew something was wrong. As quickly as it happened, it stopped, and his breathing began to slow again. He began to calm down as a voice appeared beside them.

"You always did that when something was wrong, Sean," a voice commented to Sean. The trio suddenly stood up to be greeted by a hooded figure walking to them, similar to the one they were told to look for. It carried a staff made of rugged wood and bits of metal and twigs protruded from the staff itself. It was also cracked in many spots, and some other places were broken off and what seemed to be pieced back together with a type of paste. It seemed to notice Mark studying the staff and wait for his response.

"And you are?" Mark asked. The figure laughed in a medium pitched female voice.

"You'll know soon enough," she said, "Just come with me, and let's get out of this freezing weather."

She began to walk away as they followed her on the gravel path leading down the mountain, the gravel moving out beneath her feet as she did. For a second, they were confused, until the chill of the mountain reminded them that they should follow her. They quickly made it behind her as they descended down a staircase cut out of the mountains. It was steep and unstable, making the trek a little more stressful for the trio. Finally, Delirious spoke again.

"How did you know where to find us?" he asked the figure, who strode far ahead of them on the stairs, tilted its head in thought for a moment before replying.

"Just a thought," she replied, "You did say you would be back one day."

"Um, I don't remember exactly that moment," Mark said, "If you could give us a refresher?"

She hummed in response, "Too cold for me to talk about it here," she chuckled. Sean groaned to Mark.

"She's like a mix of Spock and Yoda," he said. Mark turned to him in confusion.

"I see the Yoda part, but Spock?" he asked with a grin. Sean chuckled to himself as well. Delirious wasn't interested in the conversation, more focusing on not falling to his death. His feet shuffled on every step before they finally hit the final step, and he kept right behind the figure. He caught up, near breathless, and tried to begin a conversation.

"We never got your name," he asked, panting all the way.

She gave a small laugh, "My name is Anahella. I know who you are, too, Delirious. Crazy and funny in so many ways. Your laugh, your crude humor, and your abilities are so remarkable."

The trio stopped for a second before they kept on following Anahella. The cliffs around them stretched for miles and miles on end. The cliffs were nearly a thousand-foot vertical drop down to a snowy and rocky doom. Behind them, the rock outcrop that held the abandoned village seemed like miles behind them. It was chipped and eroded to a dangerous point, but still seemed stable. Looking at each other, they all breathed a sigh of relief, Sean breathing the heaviest. He looked over the cliff edge as a heavy amount of butterflies formed in his stomach. His palms began to sweat as he backed off really quickly and ran up behind Anahella. The others came up behind except for Delirious as he walked next to her.

"Abilities? What abilities?" Delirious asked. Anahella waved him next to her and whispered to him.

"I can't say yet," she said, "But they call you the 'Shadow Killer' for a reason."

He felt a small sense of pride begin to bubble up in himself when she said that, but he knew not to get too ahead of himself. She then brought them to attention down the road as they walked off the cliff edge into a small wooded area. They walked to the opening before Mark stopped.

"Wait, how did we get here so fast?" he asked.

"We walk as the crow flies," Anahella replied.

"Okay, Ana," Sean said. She then turned to him and shook her head.

"Don't call me Ana," she said sternly, "I lost that name a long time ago."

"Woah, okay," Sean said, holding his hands up in a surrender stance. Anahella could only sigh in response.

"It's that bad, huh?" she asked, "You don't remember anything?"

"No. Nothing," Mark replied. Anahella looked for a second, then turned away.

"It worked..." she paused, "Too well."

"What now?" Delirious asked. She said nothing as she continued the trek through the woods. The quietly followed her into the woods for a short distance before she stopped mere feet in front of a tree. The others stood behind her as she lifted her staff next to the tree and began prodding for something near the base of a tree while speaking some other language. It was after mere seconds that she stopped for a second and turned to the group again, smiling.

"Come in," she said as she walked past the tree and practically disappeared. Sean and Mark felt their jaws drop as they looked around where the tree was, stunned at what happened just moments before. Mark slowly approached the base of the tree and extended his arm, so his hand barely touched the spot where Anahella disappeared. Before he could think, two hands grabbed his wrist and dragged him in. He fell to his knees as he looked up to see Anahella standing over him, seemingly holding back laughter at their shock of what just happened.

She walked through the force field and grabbed the other two and dragged them in just as a loud screech embellished the world with noise. Her face went from having a good time to concern. She quickly muttered the same thing she said previously, slammed her staff into the ground by her feet, and stood back as an audible thump was heard on the outside of the shield, like a rock against a brick wall. The impact was so hard that Mark could feel it even when he was just feet away.

"Well, that was close," she retorted, her voice conveying sarcasm and relief. She then pulled back the hood over her head, revealing her face. Her skin was a dark brown color, and her eyes a golden yellow with small imperfections surrounding the deep black iris. Her face was covered in streaks of white paint and what seemed to be ash. The paint was old and dry, as cracks began to form in the paint as it had probably been on for days. Finally, her hair was a silky white, conveying her being of old age. But her face looked very young, which confused Mark at first. She looked at him before she spoke.

"You know, staring is rude, right?" she asked him. Mark shook himself out of his train of thought before apologizing.

"My bad," he said. She shook her head.

"Nevermind, you don't remember me anyway," she said, "But when you do, you'll understand."

For a split second more, a sense of what seemed to be worry crossed her face before she woke from her trance and looked at the trio.

"You all must be freezing," she said as she walked up a small hill to a medium-sized building, most likely her home. The outside of the building resembled a house built with eloquence and multiple people in mind. The entry was laid with stone brick stairs, each with their own separate cracks and small craters in the stone. The door was a large Japanese-style sliding door which, even though looked weak, was actually very insulated as it kept the warmth in and the cold out. As they entered, the familiar noise of a fire and its warmth reached them as they closed the doors. They turned around the entrance of the building to see in the center what seemed to be a sparring ground, surrounded by steps leading down into it. Across from them was the fire they had felt before as they entered. Candles and lamps lit around the sparring ground and around it. Above them was a second floor where possibly she lived and slept.

"It's great, right?" she asked, "Nothing here that people can track you with. Plus, you can't get here without knowing my personal magic, so we're safe for now."

"Yes, we understand that-" Sean started, but he was cut off.

"Sorry, but I won't be able to come and help you all out of this mess," she said, "That is for you to do yourself."

"Wha-what do you mean?" Delirious asked. Anahella walked through the sparring area and stopped somewhere in the middle.

She turned her head and then turned back, "I just can't."

"Please," Mark said, "We aren't the guys you think we are."

"Oh sure, Mark," she sighed, "You don't remember anything, so I can't help with that unless you can bring those memories back."

"Don't do this to us, please," Delirious begged as he walked behind her. She groaned and then yelled something strange.

Tama Unite Ise!

Her voice echoed through the home as she turned and swung her staff at him. Delirious brought his hand up, caught the staff, and then seemingly blacked out.

Mark and Sean saw Delirious catch the staff and sigh in relief before watching Anahella bring it back and swing again, this time at his knees. Delirious didn't react as he instead flicked his still extended wrist, and his skin suddenly changed. As the staff came to hit his knees, the staff instead swung through a seemingly liquid-like gas as Delirious then fell to the ground in a plume of smoke. Before Anahella could react, two hands came from behind and put Anahella into a choking maneuver. She quickly flung the being over her head and held her staff to his head. The being was Delirious. Though, he seemed different in some way before he held up his hands in a surrender position. He looked at the ceiling for a second before Anahella stepped back and looked at Delirious as he stood up, catching what she saw changed: his eyes. His eyes were a normal color until she swung at him, then they turned into black color, resembling a void. Then, as if he woke up, his head shook around before his eyes turned back to their normal color. He looked around the room for a second and down at his feet and then looked to Anahella in confusion.

"What the fuck just happened?" he asked. Anahella looked in shock at him before a sudden smile came across her face.

"You can remember," she whispered, the smile not leaving her face as she quickly turned to the fire and stridden to it. Mark and Sean walked up to Delirious before they raced after her. They met her by the fire as she began to speak in that other language again. Her smile was replaced by a face of focus and thought.

"What?" Mark tried to ask but was quickly cut off by Anahella shushing him and opening her eyes to look at them. She sighed and smiled.

"Remember what I said earlier?" she asked.

"That you couldn't help us," Sean replied. Anahella nodded and smiled at them.

"I might have to now."


Ex woke with a start as he looked around where he was. He wasn't in the lab anymore. Instead, he seemed to be on a type of stone. He brought himself to his knees on the cold and hard stone as he looked around where he was. Trees of red and pink leaves surrounded him, and large rocks and roots rose to the sky from the ground below. He then looked at the stone he was on, which was smooth and round, surrounded by smaller smooth circular rocks. Roots weaved between and around the rocks, and the grass was a deep green color under the shadows of the trees. He groaned to himself.

"Not this again," he whispered. He looked at his hands, which this time seemed a slight bit more detailed, but not realistically detailed. He stood up, and before he could think, his mind told him to duck. He obeyed, and he fell to a knee as he felt the air once again rush over him as he looked up to see a large figure skid across the stone and fall onto his knees, panting hard like a tired dog. He stood for a second before a voice poked through the silence.

"Getting a little tired there, Po?" a young voice quipped through the trees. Ex went from confusion to shock as he turned to see another, more human-like figure walk up to the stone. He was young, had dark brown hair with hazel eyes, and his voice was a medium pitch. The face and voice were recognizable to Ex. It was him.

"No, just had a run-in earlier this week, and I'm just tired," Po quipped back. Past Ex chuckled to himself before jumping up into a flip and onto the center of the stone with a bit of childish elegance.

"Then let's go," he said as he stood in a stance ready for an attack. Present Ex could only watch in awe as he watched his past self begin to fight what this world would call a kung fu master without him even knowing anything about it. His past self kept fighting and swinging around the panda like a monkey in a tree and seemingly having a good time about it, laughing and smiling throughout. Finally, he stood in front of Po before he held his fingers up to his throat and whispered to him.

"Yield, dragon master," he said. There was silence for a second before they burst out laughing at the situation. Present Ex couldn't help but smile at this thought of what he was and could be.

Then, the sun seemed to turn off like a lamplight. The world around him was flooded with black as he turned around, looking at the sun and where it used to be. After a second, hundreds of voices pierced through his mind. He closed his ears in response, but it was no use. They kept screaming, some in triumph while others in pain. It felt like he was in the middle of a war. Then, a young girl's voice pierced through them all as they silenced.

"Help me!" it screamed. Ex looked around as he was still in the darkness of this world except for what seemed like a spotlight on him. He looked around as the voice screamed again, this time much softer.

"Help me!"

Then, the world suddenly lit up as he saw fire surround him. He turned in the direction of the voice and, instead of his first thought of running, he sprinted to the voice before he stopped before the fire. He looked around, scared about what to do next. Again, the screaming in his head began again as he knelt down in pain. Then, faster than before, the voices stopped as a conversation started.

"He is weak, and yet you choose him?" a voice asked in an angered tone. Ex turned his head to see two genderless figures speaking to each other over him. One was a white tinted while the other was a darker blue-tinted. The blue one sighed.

"Give him a chance at least," the blue one stated, both of their voices a garbled mess.

"We are leaving these people who, mind you, have probably never had a sense of struggle in their lives. So tell me, how are you going to teach a bunch of randoms how to play our game?"

"Simple: we use the techniques of the past."

The white one laughed, "You think that'll work?"

"It will have to, or else we are all doomed."

The white one sighed, "You always stand up to the weak, huh? Fine, give him a test, and we'll see how they do."

The room went black for a second before Ex felt his eyes closed, then slowly open to his voice saying something.

"1993.2," he whispered to himself before he shot up in his seat. He turned to see Skye still on the other side of the room, experimenting with something on a table as he looked back into the laptop screen, seeing where he left off. But he could feel that his hands were numb in some sense as if they had fallen asleep. He leaned his head to his left to speak.

"Hey, Skye, when did the others leave?" he asked her. He could feel her eyes turn to him without him knowing as she sighed in response.

"They just left, Ex," she said. Ex sighed and returned his attention to the laptop as he typed in the number 1993.2, just like he had heard himself say a mere second ago. Nothing showed up except code decrypters and code software.

"What were you talking about?" he whispered to himself. He sat back and thought for a moment before his eyes were attracted to the signal tracer that had one distinct trait: four numbers followed by a decimal number. He slid his chair over and spun the dial until the numbers read 1993.2. He put on the headphones and waited. And waited. And waited until his impatience got the better of him. He took off the headphones and set them down on the desk as he felt the sensation of boredom wash over him.

"Wait," a voice said into his ears. He quickly looked up and around to see no one. The voice spoke again.

"I said wait," it stated. Ex became scared at that point as the voice seemed confident in telling him what to do. He took a deep breath and stood up, leaving the headphones lying on the desk, and decided to walk over to Skye and spectate what she was doing. He walked past her as her tail swished in the air from boredom. She groaned about something as she dropped her head into her hands. Ex looked at the amalgamation of what she was creating then back up to her. Her nose was inches from the table, and her ears were folded back, conveying that she was upset. He studied the project she was working on and, without thinking or warning, he spoke.

"Did you connect the secondary wires to the main switch instead of the main electrical system?" he asked. He shook his head suddenly as he didn't understand what he had just said. She looked at him for a second, did some tweaking, and then an engine began to whir after she flipped the switch quietly. Ex couldn't believe what he had just said. She looked up at him.

"You're a tech guy, huh?" she asked him. Ex sighed as the voice came back.

"You're welcome." Ex then nervously laughed.

"I wish I could be. Then, I would understand what I just said," he said. Then, the voice came back into his head.

"Again, you're welcome," it whispered. He quickly spun around to remember that the voice was in his head. He sighed and turned back to Skye, who was busy configuring the machine she was building.
"So, what are you building?" he asked. She didn't look up as she answered.

"What do you think?" she scowled at him.

"Wow, your mood changed fast," he commented without thinking.

"Shut up."

He gave up on trying to further the conversation, "Alright. Need anything?"

"Nope," she said. Ex nodded and began to walk away. Before he left the area, the machine stopped whirring, and the room was left in silence. He kept walking as he knew she was probably watching him exit. He felt himself want to turn around and confront it as his blood began to heat up just a little bit but decided against it. He walked over and sat at the desk where the headphones were. He grabbed the headset by the right ear and placed it against his ear. A sudden screech emitted from the headphones as he dropped them in response. He gritted his teeth and covered his ears for a second before he looked at the headphones, hanging by the wire they were connected to. Skye then approached from behind him as he reached for it.

"What was that?" she asked. Ex looked at her and then to the machine.

"Just some interference, plus the headphones were too loud," he replied. She turned around and sat on the edge of the desk next to him. Ex knew that something was happening; he just didn't know what. Just as he brought the headphones up, a voice began to shout. He immediately put the headphones on and listened while Skye watched him concentrate on the words. He didn't talk for a moment before he turned to Skye.

"Well, what is it?" she asked. Ex looked at her for a moment before replying.

"It's a mayday call," he said, "Someone is calling for help."

She looked at the laptop then back to him, "You're seriously considering going to help?"

He was quiet for a second, "Yes?"

She looked at him before responding, "Welp, no point in stopping your suicide plan, so I'll help."

Ex smiled, "Thanks."


He grabbed the radio again, this time, hoping for a response from his team.

"Mayday, mayday, this is…" he didn't finish as he saw that his radio was short-circuited due to the seawater. He sighed and dropped his radio into the lower part of the flooded cockpit. A sudden creaking caught his attention as he turned around and saw the back of his ship begin to break away. His heart began to race as he tried to get his legs unstuck from the cockpit. But his legs were jammed in there and nearly immobile, meaning he was sinking with the cockpit under the waves. He breathed in and out, trying not to panic as he looked around for anything to help him. In front of the ship, he could see the remnants of a ship he had shot down in a dogfight just moments earlier. A loud crack woke him from his train of thought as his cockpit began to sink even faster than before.

He felt his heart race even faster, the cracking not helping with the pressure as more and more water flooded into the cockpit. He tried to force his legs out of the bent metal, but they wouldn't budge. Water rapidly entered the cockpit, filling the only empty space where his legs were. He pulled and pulled, hoping for the top to give way. The water was now at his waist and rising steadily. He looked around for anything to help him as the water reached the base of his neck. He looked up, hoping that something would happen as he gasped for what air he could as he let his head sink beneath the water. Trying to pry his legs free was more difficult in this sense and seemed nearly impossible. He looked up, the wing on the surface still floating effortlessly, except now there appeared to be a being on top of the wing. Fox had no time to think before he blacked out.


Ex stood for a moment, his mind taking in the surroundings. They seemed like a child's game mixed with an anime style. It was pretty familiar to him as he had seen it before in the animation for the Star Fox Zero game. It was recognizable to him, but probably not to anyone else. Quickly he realized that he was taking too long as the waves brought him out of his trance.

He dived down and followed the wreckage until he could reach the pilot. He looked at the pilot before he looked down at the wreck, not paying much attention to how much air he had. In the split seconds he looked at the ship, he saw it as a metallic gray and blue with what seemed to be sci-fi like boosters. Finally, he saw what he was looking for on the wreckage: a red logo of a four-legged creature with a long tail and wings. The emblem of the Star Fox team. His mind processed the information within the seconds after he dived in, and he grabbed the pilot by his jacket, trying to pry him out. Then he realized that he was stuck, meaning he had one other option. He typed coordinates into the watch, hoping that they would take them to land, and then he grabbed the pilot again. He brought his hand up and then swung it as fast as he could downwards. The movement was registered to the watch as they teleported out of the water and to somewhere close to land. Ex gasped for air and looked around as he found himself just offshore by a couple of feet. He sighed as he dragged him to the beach and out of the water. Then, the dull burning pain of the watch seeped in. He sighed as the sea water helped to cool the pain.

He sat Fox down on a tree a little far up the beach. He was still out cold, his gray coat drenched in seawater, and his metallic legs still having small droplets of water. He typed into his watch and pulled out a pair of defibrillators and began to charge them up. He rubbed them together and then placed them onto Fox's chest. He breathed in, hoping this would work.

"Clear," he whispered as he administered the shock to him. For a split second, nothing happened. He was still slumped over on the tree. Then, a loud gasp for air pierced his ears, and he sighed in relief.

Fox coughed, feeling his lungs and throat filled with nothing but salt water. He coughed until he felt that he was in a good position to speak. He looked up to see a figure right in front of him, bent down to look him eye to eye. Fox couldn't reply as his brain's wheels were only now beginning to turn. Then, he began to talk.

"That was rough back there," he commented. Fox's eyes widened and he grabbed for his pistol.

"You're telling me," Fox replied, still holding the gun shakily towards the figure. The figure nodded and sat down next to him. Fox looked at him and then down to his legs.

"So, are you going to kill me?" Fox asked. The thing laughed.

"Of course not," he said, "I'm here to help you."

"Really?" he asked, "You helped me out of my ship?"

"Yep, either that or you would be swimming with the fishies."

Fox chuckled at that, "True. Who are you, anyway?"

The figure replied, "For now, you'll know me as Excavious or Ex for short."

"Okay, what race?" he asked. Ex didn't reply for a moment.

"I don't know if you would understand," he said. Fox tilted his head in confusion.

"You aren't from around here?" he asked.

Ex thought for a response, "Well, that would be a mild understatement."

Fox didn't understand, "What does that even mean?"

Before he could reply, a signal in his brain shot off again, like with Skye, and in that dream, he was in before. He quickly ducked down and felt the air molecules around him ripple back. Fox rolled onto his knee as he saw what seemed to be a massive beast approaching them from the waves. It looked like a sentient crystal.

Ex was taken aback by the look. It was a completely different model than before. This time, it looked more human than like a monster. Its face was a human face with no jagged crystals except the ears and parts of the hair. Its skin was a reflective emerald color with black eyes and a deep white iris. It wore a black jacket with a gray undershirt. Its pants resemble something out of the military, like cargo pants. It walked up to them with an eerie smile.

"You people just won't die, huh?" it sighed.

"What do you want with him?" Ex questioned. The thing's smile didn't seem to leave its face.

"Why do you ask, boy?" its voice retorted.

"Because I don't think I've seen someone as determined as you to kill him," Ex retorted back. The thing didn't back down as it began to walk towards them. Fox instinctively rotated his pistol and pointed it at the thing. Ex didn't have a weapon, so he put his fists into a boxing position. The creepy thing about this was that the thing never lost its smile throughout, and Ex was ready to point it out.

"You know you're creeping me out with that smile, mate," he said. The thing didn't stop.

"Oh, don't worry," it said, "You won't have any nightmares to experience this after I rip you apart."

Its smile then turned into a concentrated stare before it lunged at Fox. Fox quickly aimed and fired at the thing before it got to him. The lasers stunned it midair, and it fell to the ground. It stood up and looked over its body, which was now covered in blast markings and one dent in its crystal skin. It looked up at Fox and chuckled.

"It's going to take a lot more than a laser tag gun to hurt me," it retorted. Fox looked at his pistol in shock at what he saw then back as it approached him. Suddenly, Ex grabbed at the thing as they then wrestled for each other for control. Ex was then flung over its shoulders, and he landed next to Fox. The thing was about to swing at Ex when a ship flew right over them, and they were forced to duck. It was another arwing, someone else in Fox's squad. The thing growled at them in response.

"Let me guess," Ex said, smiling beneath his face mask, "This isn't the last time we'll meet?"

It smiled, "Sure. Whatever it is you all say."

It then pixelated, and, in a blinding white flash, it was gone. But, as it left, Ex's watch began to beep rapidly. He looked at the watch and saw a red dot moving over a hexagon-like grid. The dot flew across the hexagons before disappearing, and the screen projecting a red text saying Target Out Of Range. He sighed in relief and a bit of anger. Why don't you fight like a man is all he could think as a small sense of rage boiled within him. He awoke from his trance, and he saw that down on the beach, the ship began to land. Fox ran up next to Ex as he typed into his watch.

"What's wrong?" Fox asked. Ex looked up and saw one of Fox's teammates, Falco, begin to climb out of the cockpit. He turned to Fox quickly.

"That's my cue for an exit," he said, "But I'll stay in touch if you need us."

Ex quickly brought his arms into an 'x' position on his chest and then broke it by bringing his arms to his side. Then, he started pixelating and left in a much softer flash of light, and this time, the pixels stayed, and they fell to the ground like luminescent ashes.

Fox was only distracted for a second before Falco ran up to him.

"You good?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied.

Falco sighed, "Who was that?" Fox turned back to where both the thing and Ex had been.

"No clue, honestly," he said, "But he did seem pretty friendly."

"I don't think so," Falco replied, "You tend to make friends, and then they betray you just as quickly."

Fox chuckled, "I know. But this one seems different."


Ex landed on the lab floor, and water drenched the floor around him. He held his arms up and watched the water drain from his clothes. He looked around for anything to help him dry off. He heard the footsteps of Skye as she grabbed a towel and threw it to him.

"Don't make it obvious," she said.

Ex quickly took the towel and dried off his hair and arms. Before he could finish, he heard the doors above them open and to see the rest of the group returning to the labs. Most of the group were talking about what they had seen in the city. Ex didn't hear the full conversation as a ringing in his ears began to emerge. The noise around him began to soften as the ringing intensified. Colinne walked over to him, her face having a bit of concern and anger as she started talking. However, her voice was nonexistent to Ex as his hearing was lost, and his mind began to nauseate him. His vision began to rotate, and his throat began to close up. He pushed past her and quickly ran up the stairs to the doors, and his vision began to tunnel more. He ran into the bathroom, and he splashed water onto his face. As he did, his senses began to come back, and he wasn't feeling nauseous anymore. He looked into the mirror, and all that stared back was his reflection. He looked down and cupped his hands under the faucet. The water streamed into his hands as he sipped it as he felt dehydrated. It was then that he felt a small yet recognizable chill run up his spine. He stopped for a second as he knew something was wrong but decided to do nothing. As he stood up straight, he looked into the mirror again and saw his reflection. But instead, his reflection was smiling while he felt his face not contorting in any smile. The reflection looked at him for a couple of seconds before suddenly speaking in his head.

"Hello there," a voice said, his reflection mimicking it. Its voice was joyful and ecstatic. Ex got closer to the mirror and looked around to find where the voice was coming from. The voice just laughed at his actions.

"I'm in your head, dummy," it said. Ex quickly looked at the reflection with confusion and curiosity.

"First of all, who the hell are you?" he asked.

"Can't say that now," it said, "Introductions later."

"Why?" Ex asked.

"Because I'm not in the mood right now," it said. Ex didn't understand what he said, but before he could reply, the voice spoke again.

"That was epically stupid back there," it said. Ex got even more confused.

"What are you talking about?!" he nearly screamed.

"Alright," it said calmly, "You and I are in this together, and I'm going to help you with it. I'm just saying that I could've done that a lot better."

"Alright, but what does this have to do with me?" Ex asked.

"Oh, this will have to do with you," it said, "Because when we help you get some knowledge into that head, it's gonna be fun. Oh, and it will help you get back home."

Ex brightened up, "You mean back to World Zero?"

His reflection nodded, "Yep, but you need to follow my instructions, alright?"

Ex then had a moment of thought, "You didn't have time to introduce yourself, but you have time for this?"

His reflection sighed, "As I said, later. I'll be in touch."

On cue, his reflection began to blur into a mess across the glass, like smearing dirt across the surface. Then, it stopped, leaving his old thinking behind, a young, acne-ridden face with confusion plaster all over it. He sighed, and he felt himself feel much better than before. He slowly turned and left the room as he felt himself begin to doubt things that he knew before, such as the reason they were here.

At first, he thought it was an accident. That they were here because of a stupid coincidence and horse shit luck. But now, as he walked back to the lab, he began to question everything about the situation at hand. Were they really there because of that? Or was it because someone had a hand in bringing them there? Ex couldn't tell anymore. Everything seemed to be hitting him at once now. The thought of his parents searching for him to no avail and then probably be forced to believe that he was dead. It was harsh, and Ex didn't know what to do in those moments except walk. Walk into an environment he was familiar with, except now his perspective had changed. Everything had changed. He looked at his watch and whispered aloud.

"What do you want me to see?"

Mat was confused about what had just happened as he and his group had come back to Ex leaving due to some type of fever. He decided to ignore it for the time being as he had enough to deal with currently, and Ex could eat when he came back. Instead, he worried about the rest of the group and how they were doing. He walked over to the coms where Colinne was sitting.

"How's it going over there?" he asked. She looked at him and took off the headset.

"Seems like everything is fine," she said, "They should be either returning by tonight or staying the night there. We might need someone to go and keep an eye on them."

"I can," a voice said. The two turned and looked to see Ex coming down the stairs and walking down to where they had brought the food in. Mat looked at Colinne, nodded, and walked over to him. When he got there, Ex was already eating a burger at a fast pace. Mat stopped and waited before asking.

"What is wrong?" he asked. Ex looked at him before replying.

"What? Aren't we all hungry?" he asked.

"No, not that," he said, "Why did you run off earlier?"

"That?" he asked, quickly trying to fabricate a lie, "I think my stomach wasn't agreeing with me. It's better now."

Mat sighed, "I think you aren't telling us something."

Ex walked up to Mat and whispered to him, "I had another of those dreams when I accidentally dozed off."

Mat's eyes widened, "What happened?"

"Well, it was just something from my past at first," he started, "But then it changed into a conversation or something between two guys."

"Well," Mat responded, "Who were they?"

"No clue, honestly," he said, "But I had a conversation with someone like them, and they said something along the lines of we aren't here on accident."

Mat felt his heart stop for a second, "What do you mean?"

"As I said, no idea," he said, "But I feel like we're getting some answers soon."

Across the table, Skye listened and seemed to grimace at him. She leaned over and tapped Ex on his shoulder to get his attention.

"Well then, you might have another thing wrong," she said, "I looked over and saw you reading both the folder that Pewds got and the laptop."

Ex looked to Mat in confusion then back to Skye, "Really? I specifically remember falling asleep and dreaming."

"Welp, that is what I saw," she said. Ex sighed and tried to recall the moment before a flurry of information rushed to him. He looked around with shock covering his face, and he looked to Mat.

"I know what to do," he softly exclaimed. He quickly walked to the holo-table that they had used that morning and began to type into the laptop. He shouted for the group to gather around and listen to this. As everyone filed in around him, he seemingly didn't flinch as everyone stared at him for a second before he spoke.

"So," he stated, "Sorry about doing this on such short notice, but I have info that might be helpful."

"Then don't keep us waiting," Colinne said, smiling. Ex smiled back and began.

"So, each of these things are made from Incor, right?" he asked. Before anyone could respond, he started again. "That was a rhetorical question. Yes, they are made of that stuff, and they are nearly indestructible, but they do have some things that may help us when we fight them."

"First of all, each is labeled by a tier from one to six. One is easy to defeat, most likely posing as a human, which is why I call them super easy mode. Two is a little more challenging, but bearable, considered regular easy. Three is the most common tier we will see out there, the normal difficulty. Then come the upper three, tiers four, five, and six. According to the information, I can say that we most definitely won't be encountering a tier six."

"What's so special about them?" Mat asked, "The higher-tiered ones, that is."

"Oh, well…" Ex paused, trying to form a sentence, then responding.

"There is little to no information about these tiers because they are so rare and powerful," he said, "Near demigod-like abilities. But, that depends on something else: build classes. There are only a couple we need to worry about. Each building type brings a different ability to the table."

"For example, the one, you guys, fought in the Incredibles world was a beast class build. They are made to be big and loud. They can range from the size of an SUV to about the size of a ten-story building. They are all built around legendary beasts, like the Kraken and the hydra. But that also means that they have similar weaknesses to them like the legends. Like if you fought a hydra, cut one head off, two more grow back. But, it also has its weakness'. Therefore, cutting off the head and then cauterizing it is its weakness."

"Next up is the soldier class. They are built in large numbers and are made to swarm and conquer. Their Incor, however, isn't as strong as the others, leaving a thick layer of kevlar underneath the stuff. But it will still have skin that is extremely bullet resistant. Nonetheless, still a little easier."

"Another class to worry about is the hunter class build. It is usually a sniper and long-ranged class that prefers to stay out of the fight. But it is known for its bow and sniper accuracy being extremely pinpoint. Their weakness is that they are easily trackable, and they suck at hand-to-hand combat, though their knives and arrows are as sharp as scalpels."

"Finally, we have the most common of the classes: the brute class build. This build is a large class of Crystalites that are usually built around either a normal human height, 6'10", or they can be as tall as a school bus. They are built to withstand massive amounts of force and hit just as hard. Their Incor skin is strong enough to take hits from artillery, but not for long."

"Which leads me to talk about all of their weaknesses. Their main weakness is that the Incor needs an electrical current to be as strong as it is. It means, no current, no strength to the 'metal,' which then technically becomes a type of crystal, but I'm in no position to say that. Still, the most vulnerable spot on its body is its neck, meaning we can disconnect the current in many ways."

"Which means?" Sean asked.

"In layman's terms," Ex said, "Either shoot it until it feels something or beat the shit out of it until it feels something."

"About as simple as it gets," a voice stated. Immediately the group turned their attention to the sound, and each reached for a weapon. Ex turned to see Mark, Delirious, and Terroriser next to the hooded figure they were looking for. Before they could speak again, Delirious waved in front of her.

"Guys, it's alright," he said, "She is with us."

The group stared for a second before the hooded figure removed her hood and spoke.

"Hello again, my friends," she said, "My name is Anahella, for those who don't remember, and I am here to help you get home."

Mat smiled, "Well, that is great, but how?"

She smiled in her response.

"Not in the way you think."

"Well, then I don't think we should trust you," Steph said flatly. Anahella looked at her with what seemed like a bit of awe.

She sighed, "Why do you think that?"

"Simply put, you can't walk into a room and think everyone is friendly," Colinne told her. Mark stepped in front of them and tried to defuse the situation.

"Everyone chill out," he said, "She is here to help us."

"How?" Sean asked, "How is it so hard to get back to World Zero?"

"Well, you not only had a life up there," Anahella said, catching everyone's attention, "But there was a life with all of you here."

"What does that mean?" Mat skeptically asked. She smiled at him.

"Oh, you don't remember those days?" she asked, her eyes suddenly glowing yellow, "Like the time you protected hundreds of innocent people with just your bare hands and a shield?"

Mat opened his mouth to reply, but his mind silenced him with a memory. An image of him with a shield, protecting hundreds of people with nothing but his shield. His face conveyed confidence and fear as it contorted into a shout as red pellets bounced from a circular shield that he was carrying, and the rest compressed into the shield and dropped to his feet. It was a freeze-frame, leaving all of the things frozen in time, like the bullets falling to his feet and his face remaining in a shout. In mere seconds, he saw it, and then it was gone. He leaned back, placing his hand to his forehead in shock. He felt Stephanie place her hand on his arm as she tried to comfort him. Anahella turned to Crystal-Flame, who had gotten up and approached her.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. She smiled and looked at him, her eyes glowing yellow once again.

"Oh, old memories," she replied, "Like the time you flew between worlds to stop an intergalactic war."

Like Mat, Crystal had a vision of his past self flying through space being chased by a group of Crystalites. But, instead of Mat, he could see from his own eyes and see the action taking place. He found his memory of him falling from the sky and onto a seemingly metal ground below. He felt himself flip into a pencil dive position and, before he landed, he stopped the fall by mentally saying something and suddenly floating about the ground by a near foot or so. In front of him was a group of Crystalites staring him down with anger and confidence. He simply floated a foot higher and launched himself at them. Before the fight could start, Crystal then woke from it and leaned back onto the desk.

Anahella smiled, "Any more memories coming back now?"