The smell of smoke was beginning to wander into the lower levels, meaning the fire was close. The heat was intensifying and the tension was rising just as quickly. The room was a mess: metal and parts strewn about and papers torn apart in a rush to remove them from their places. The fire was growing nearer…
And Colinne and Skye were still in the building.

The scientist frantically grabbed everything she could and shoved it into a bag, including the laptop and a few papers. Skye was panicking as well but shoved it into the deepest pits of her mind while assisting in the fearful scientist's goals as they both packed up and tried to run. Skye sighed and looked to OBIS, who was still connected to the lab's electrical system and was currently being downloaded onto a drive. In a matter of seconds, OBIS was on the drive and Colinne pulled it out and almost shoved it into her pocket. Finally, Skye spoke.

"Alright," she said, "What now?"

"Now, we get outta he-" Her line was cut off by a sudden cough coming from her. Skye ran over to catch her before she fell to the floor, holding her chest in pain. Skye looked at her, seeing that she wasn't hurt in any way, but she was still feeling weak. She looked around, not seeing or smelling anything that could make Colline like this. Then, she caught a faint smell of vinegar and something else acidic. That smell then caused her nose to burn, alerting her to the smell more.

"Tear gas," she said, Colinne then looked at her.

"Then this isn't a normal fire." Colinne stood through the excruciating pain and tears in her face and lungs and tried to run to the door, Skye supporting parts of her weight. She kept coughing, each time the cough became more intense.

"And this isn't ordinary tear gas," she said through coughs.

"If that wasn't obvious already," Skye said. The crackling of flames became more and more evident as the room increased in heat. Colinne looked back to see something moving, but her tears blurred her vision and she couldn't see exactly what it was. She turned to Skye, who was bolting towards the door and tried to follow her.

Skye reached the door and grabbed the handles, only to feel the sensation of heat in her hands. She quickly pulled back and looked through the door windows. On the other side, the ceiling had collapsed and there was a large fire sitting on the other side of the hall. She turned around to tell Colinne to go the other way, only to see a larger figure approaching from behind them. It was a Crystalite, the one Ex said he had killed. It grabbed something off the table and aimed at Colinne, who was near helpless to do anything. Colinne turned around to see the thing as well and faced it. She waved her hands around, grabbing the things attention, and having it aim more and more at her. Skye ran to her, trying to stop her. Shouting, crying, and pure fear came through her, but the only word that came out was her name.

"COLINNE!"

And with a loud bang, the world slowed to a halt for Skye. Colinne's jumped as the impact occurred and then sighed. Then, it sped up again as Skye ran to her side and grabbed her. She then looked at her, realizing that she wasn't hurt and nothing hit them. They looked up to the Crystalite, whose head was now missing a chunk. It fell to the ground with a metallic thud, and a smoking barrel stood in its place. Behind it, Mark and Ex stood panting and sighing in relief.

"Y'all okay over there?" Ex asked. Colinne nodded, running over to them.

"Yeah, except for the tear gas," she said. Ex and Mark looked at each other and then back to them.

"Well then we can't feel it," Mark said. Colinne sighed and Ex ran to help her.

"She must be more vulnerable to this stuff," Ex said, "Let's get 'em outta here."

Mark nodded and began typing into his watch. He looked from his watch to the group more and more before suddenly, he felt something push against the back of his head. His hands suddenly stopped as a commanding voice boomed over him.

"Take. Off. The watch." The voice was male and he could tell that he was about the same height as Mark, as the gun was parallel to his skull. Mark hesitated and he slowly reached towards his watch. Colinne groaned in both anger and pain.

"Why is it always people like you, Markus?" Colinne questioned. The man stepped out from behind Mark and he grimaced at her.

"Why me?" he laughed, "I should be asking you. Helping these people and destroying us? How could you?"

Colinne lost it, "How could I?! How could you?! You kill people because you're afraid of change and afraid of what it would bring: peace. Because war is business here and peace takes more money out of your pocket!"

"She's got a point," Ex said quietly. Markus turned his attention to the teen.

"And what are you?" he asked, "A boy, thinking he knows what's best for the world? You're naive to the world's problems."

"At least I don't solve everything with a gun and politics," he said back, "I solve it with people's lives in mind before I pull the trigger. Also, my guess is your profit is coming out of the Crystalites pocket."

"Why would you want to know?"

"So I can sue them and take their money. What do you think, jackass?"

Markus then went off on a rant that Ex didn't hear as Alexi began to chuckle.

"I didn't know you had it in ya," he said. Ex spoke mentally.

"You got anything to help us?" he asked.

"Yeah, and I think you'll like it," he said, "Check your right wrist."

He looked down and saw that something in his wrist was glowing. He grinned and looked to the Admiral, who was still pacing around Mark. His words finally came back into focus.

"...And you, thinking the world works in the way the media portrays it. That there is a black and a white. Learn the gray area, boy."

"All I see your eyes in black," Ex said, "A man looking for his next profit. And for his next kill. It excites you, no, pleasures you to kill."

"Don't tell me what I am and what I'm not." He placed the barrel of the gun against Ex's forehead, trying to dig him one last time.

"You're just a boy."

Ex smirked, "Mark, wanna help him to the door?"

Ex suddenly grabbed Mark's shoulder and Mark raised his arm and slapped Markus in the chest, sending the unknowing admiral flying across the room. Mark was shocked at this and Ex chuckled.

"You were?" he asked, motioning to his watch. Mark quickly returned to typing into his watch and finally finished as his watch began to whir to life. Ex sighed in relief until he turned and saw the Admiral stand and take aim at the group. Ex grabbed onto Mark, who lifted his hand and brought it down, causing the world around them to turn white. Ex watched as his vision was obscured by something for a moment. Then, nothing.

In a white flash, they were gone, and nothing was left for him. To his surprise, he sighed in relief. He looked around the burning lab for a moment before his radio started to static. He grabbed it and brought it to his mouth.

"This is Admiral Markus," he said.

"Did you do the job?" the voice asked. It was robotic and Markus was hesitant to reply.

"Negative, over," he said, sighing in defeat. The fire above him became more and more unbearable and began his trek over to the doors. Then, another sound caught him: a soft high pitched clanking. He turned around and walked towards the sound, for a moment doubting its existence. Then, he felt a small object roll under his boot. He lifted it felt his heart stop for a moment before his eyes began to water. He bent over while simultaneously bringing the radio to his mouth.

"I retract that statement from earlier, over," Markus said, his voice shaky. He tried to stand, but felt his feet become less supportive than jello as he held the radio close, but kept the piece of metal he found close.

It was a bullet covered in blood.


Ex gasped as he looked around at his surroundings, realizing they were now on some type of beach. The beach water was about mid-way up his shin and the waves were calm. He looked at Mark, who was almost if not just as pale-faced as Ex. Ex looked down at himself, sighing in relief that he wasn't hit. He looked at Mark, who was also just as happy about the situation as he hadn't been hit either. Then, a little gasp came from behind them. Ex turned around to see Colinne holding a part of her lower chest, blood seeping out more and more. His eyes widened at the sight and he looked to Colinne, who was becoming paler and paler as she then fell onto a knee and Skye grabbed her and she fell onto her back, the water splashed with every movement. Her calm breathing now replaced with sparatic coughs and gasps. Skye watched in what looked like horror as Ex and Mark stood by her.

"How is it, OBIS?" Ex asked.

"I can't help when I'm not connected to a larger system."

"Hey, stay with us, please," he said, his voice desperate and pleading with her. Ex turned to her, taking off his mask and placing it onto the wound. She looked at Skye, who seemed to be too afraid to do something.

Ex snapped out of it and shouted into his coms, "We need help, please!"

"On our way," a distorted voice said. Suddenly, another soft voice came.

"Guys?" Colinne whispered in pain. Ex immediately brought his head closer to her.

"Hey," Ex said, "We're here. You're gonna be alright."

Colinne shook her head, "Too…much…blood…"

Ex didn't want to believe it and brought his hand to his ear, "Where the fuck are you guys?!"

The static of the radio gave him his answer as he kept applying pressure to the wound. The blood seeped even more into the saltwater and the waves constantly shook them off balance. Colinne suddenly grabbed Ex by the wrist.

"Ex," she said, catching his attention, "I'm scared."

Ex felt his heart shatter at the words, knowing that if they failed, her life would be cut short.

"Don't worry, you're going to be fine."

Mark nodded, "Just stay awake and with us, alright?"

Colinne shook her head, "You…have…lives to…save…"

Ex shook his head, "Don't push us away right now."

"I've…done…my part," she gasped, holding on tighter to his wrist, "Let…me…go."

"Absolutely fucking not!" Mark shouted, "Where the fuck are they?"

Ex helplessly shrugged, "I dunno, but they better hurry the fuck up!"

Ex kept trying to stop the bleeding as Colinne began to gasp even more. Immediately, Skye tried to comfort her and stop this, but once again to no avail. She looked to Mark and Ex, who were just as desperate as them. She then looked down to Colinne, whose breathing began to slow. Then, Ex heard her do something that he didn't expect from her: she whimpered.

"Please…" That was seemingly all she could muster before finally, Colinne laid still. The waves crashed on the sand a few feet away from them, filling the void of empty sound and washing the blood, sweat, and tears onto the sandy shores. Ex didn't want to admit it, but there was a contradicting feeling in his heart, combating the sadness and growing pain in him: rage. Pure, unbridled, rage. He felt his fingers clench onto her jacket until the blood rushed out of them and into his other extremities. Finally, it overtook him and he screamed, in both rage and pain.


Mark sat just feet away from the now-dead Colinne and kept his thoughts to himself as he felt his heart sink and sway in the storm that was happening right now. Earlier, when they had returned to the Great Fox, he had fully expected Skye to run off to a place to hide. But instead, it was Ex who was the first to walk away. Mark didn't see much as they were carrying the now lifeless body onto the ship for examination. He sighed in both confusion and sadness, knowing the feeling all too well. He stood and walked out of the room as he saw Mat quietly rummaging through the backpack she had. He stood next to him and watched him pull a laptop from the back part of the bag. He sighed and looked it over.

"Probably soaked," Mark commented. Mat nodded.

"Any ideas?" he asked. Mark shrugged.

"I'm gonna go check on 'em," he said.

Mat stopped him for a moment, "Just be careful. You know their ages are pretty vulnerable to this stuff."

Mark nodded, "I can try to sympathize with him."

He walked away and out into the hallway, passing rooms filled with soft conversations. He only sighed again as he quietly approached the door to the bridge. The doors opened with mechanical hiss giving way to earth-shattering silence. No one was there except the robot ROB. He turned around and walked to the lower decks, listening for him. Then, he heard him, screaming at something followed by a loud crack. Mark walked faster and turned the corner to find himself in a small gym area. Workout machines surrounded a boxing ring and on one side were mirrors and boxing bags. There, Ex stood there with a beaten boxing bag. Mark approached and saw on the floor: sand from the bag and blood. His gaze didn't leave the bag.

"If you want Skye," he said, holding up a thumb drive, "She left just a minute ago. You missed her."

Mark sighed, "Ex, please don't…"

"Don't what?" Ex said, not removing his sightline, "Don't begin crying?"

Mark walked up next to him and leaned against the bag nearest to him.

"Why are you…" He was cut off again.

"Why do I hide my emotions?" he asked, looking at Mark. He sighed.

"You wouldn't get it." Ex turned around, facing away from Mark as he tried to walk closer to him. Mark hesitantly placed his hand on his shoulder and looked at him.

"Try me," he said sternly. Ex thought for a moment.

"Fine," he said, "I'm just tired of bottling up my emotions and pretending that I can't show them. Plus, I'm pissed about Colinne. She helped us, she was innocent! And yet, they killed her. They did not hesitate to kill her. I am so conflicted, I want to crawl in a corner and cry, but at the same time, I wanna... fucking tear them apart!"

Ex's shout ended abruptly and he didn't continue for a moment. He held his face in his hands as he tried to compose himself. Mark was silent and didn't speak until Ex spoke again.

"I'm also conflicted about here. Here, I feel special, like I'm worth something. Back home, I'm nothing. Just as he said, 'a random kid' that has anger problems, slowly declining grades, even possibly mental health problems. How am I supposed to say I'm willing to return to that life when here, I can be whoever I want to be?"

Mark stayed silent once again, not answering his question. Though he didn't agree with Ex's ideas, he could see that he was hurt. Really hurt. A very bad kind of hurt and Mark didn't know what to do. He looked at him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Well," he said hesitantly, "I can't stop you from sharing your opinion. I can only respect it. For now, let's just try to calm down and… you know…"

Ex looked at him and then down, "What?"

"Not be this way," Mark said, punching the bag closest to him. The bag flew up the chain and then back down, reassuring his strength.

"I've lost people too, you know," he said, "I've been on the brink of death more times than I like. I've felt the same thing as you: the pain of losing someone you care about, while also being enraged that it happened. That their life was cut short and you can't do anything about it."

"But we could."

Mark tilted his head as Ex continued, "Remember that we could summon medical equipment at the flick of a wrist and... and…"

"Don't do that," Mark said, "Blaming yourself won't help."

Ex sighed, "You're no therapist, so I don't expect you to understand."

"No one does," a different voice replied. The two looked at where the voice came from only to see Fox standing at the doorway. He smirked and walked over. Fox sat down and looked at the two for a moment in silence.

"I mean, you should be glad you have parents," he said, "But hey, I guess my dad and your dad are a lot different."

Ex chuckled, "Yeah, yours was an ace pilot. And my dad's just an engineer that used to fix things and now he tells people how to fix everything. But I know he could do better."

Fox chuckled, "Engineer? What kind?"

"Airplane."

"Then they aren't that different."

"I guess." They were silent for a moment. The rumbling of the engines were some of the only things making noise. Ex sighed as he remembered something.

"I wanted to thank you guys," he said, "For allowing us to have this much freedom."

"Just know," Fox said, "As soon as you find someplace else, you've gotta go."

"We owe you guys a lot," Mark said.

"Getting Krystal back is my payment," Fox said, his voice turning stern.

Ex nodded and walked out just in time to hit Mat as he ran into him. They both fell to the ground hard as Mark and Fox came to Ex's aid while Steph and Falco helped Mat. Ex spoke first.

"Sorry, mate," he said. Mat waved it off.

"It's fine," he said, "But I think we found something with Colinne."

Mat ran off and the rest quickly followed as he came out of the room with the laptop in hand. He was already typing and he turned it to show a screen of three numbers, one red, and the other two white. One number was familiar.

"Wait," Mark said, "Isn't World 7603 where our stuff still is?"

"Exactly," Mat said, "That means that these other ones are important for one reason or another."

"Great! Let's get a move on," Ex said. Before he could, though, Mark put a hand on his shoulder.

"I think me, you, and Fox should go check something out," Mark said. Ex tilted his head.

"What do you mean?"

Mark sighed, "Anahella."

"Why?" Ex asked. Mat nodded.

"Actually, Mark does have a point," Mat agreed, "She knows more about us than we do. So it isn't unreasonable to assume that she could tell us more."

Ex groaned, "What are we going to do now?"

"Alright," Fox said, "How about this: me, Ex, and someone else goes to the red world, World 424, and do some exploring. Mark, you choose someone else to go find this Anahella person. If anything comes up, let Falco know. Finally, Mat, you and Steph go check out what that world is. If anything dangerous happens, like before, my team is at your side."

Mat nodded, "Well then, off to the races!"


Mark sat comfortably around the fire as Sean and Evan chowed down on the bowls of rice they were given. Around them, the forest was emerald green, having no snow in sight. The fire was simply something that Anahella kept with her on her travels around the world. Mark ate slowly as Anahella sat in silence as the fire crackles matched in volume to Sean and Evan eating. Mark sighed and looked at Anahella.

"Please tell us you know something," Mark said, "About us, about this, about how to get home."

Anahella looked at him for a moment, "I can possibly help with the first two things, but I can not help with the last part."

Mark inhaled deeply, "Well, two outta three isn't bad."

"First," she said, "Who were you? You were nobodies, people doing good because they knew it was right. That is what made you special, giving you access to things no one had seen before."

"Isn't there a science to explain all this?" Sean asked through a full mouth. Anahella nodded.

"Yes," she said, "But incomprehensible science. You call it magic. Mark, according to people who are experts, your muscles are much denser than normal human beings. You are stronger than anyone in the world. You can lift cars with a hand-tied behind your back."

"Sean, your powers are mystical, even I don't understand them. You have something that gives you the ability to form handheld weapons at a moment's notice. It is so interesting and yet, nothing about you changes, unlike Ex."

"Ex? What about him?" Evan asked, placing the bowl at his side.

"His powers are equal to Felix and Crystal," Anahella said, "Not saying you aren't powerful, but they are very powerful. Ex has the ability to form metallic structures using a liquid steel-like metal secreted from his body. Strong, durable, and extremely useful for nearly anything. Both of you can secrete it from your pores and send it across the ground and into objects."

"Vanoss," she said, "A hero with an important power to be used wisely. You can create an energy force field around either your full body or certain parts to make them nearly invulnerable. It is from an ancient source of magic that comes from deep inside you."

Evan looked at his hands and then back to her, "Really? That sounds like a load of shit."

"It isn't, and you best not forget it."

"But we aren't heroes," Mark said, "We're just people who entertain people by playing video games."

Anahella stood up and sighed, "I'm tired of this."

"Of what?" Sean asked.

"Of you all thinking that just because you aren't what these people see you as doesn't mean you can't be that. Just because you throw away the garbage or you defend people in a court of law, that doesn't mean you can't run into a burning building to save someone or you can't do miraculous things. That is why the sane people are the most afraid. They are afraid to get dirty and do dangerous things. They say that being wise is knowing what happened and learning from it. But the wisest people, me included, are the people who have experienced these things first hand and instead remember those mistakes that lead to pain, and learn from them. Like riding a bike or solving a puzzle. It only takes one right decision and one wrong decision to create a balanced learning experience. You are all heroes, you just don't know it yet."

The trio sat in silence for a minute, pondering her words of wisdom. She walked around the fire to each of them, setting foot around them.

"Now think," she said, "What do you desire most."

Almost unanimously, they all spoke:

"Family."

Anahella smiled, "Then you are ready to be heroes."

Anahella knelt down between Evan and Sean, gripping her staff to the point where her knuckles were almost out of blood. She sighed.

"I'm very sorry for this, but it is necessary." She placed her hand on their shoulders and whispered something. The trio suddenly felt extreme pain in their heads as the effects of the revival began to take over. Evan and Sean groaned in a headache while Mark simply rubbed his forehead in mild pain. Anahella was confused for a moment, then Mark remembered.

"Oh, right," he said, "Met someone who put some type of spell on me to help-"

"Control the powers," Anahella chuckled, "Must've been a strong memory."

"She is," Evan said, returning from his phase of effects. Sean groaned.

"Was that necessary?" he questioned. Anahella nodded.

"Yes," she said, prompting Sean to tilt his head, "Yes, to help you control your powers and it is also a way to ensure that your mind is at ease in certain situations."

"Alright," Sean asked, "How many more are there of these?"

"If I remember correctly," Mark said, "One more?"

Anahella nodded, "And I will be waiting."

Evan stood, "Well then, what now?"

Sean stood with him, "I honestly don't know."

They looked at each other and then to Anahella, who shrugged.

"I say train," she said, "That's all I can help you with."

Sean sighed, "Why did this happen to us?"


Ex landed with a soft thud followed by a much louder thud of metal legs hitting the ground. He turned to see Fox standing up and another thud to his left caused him to turn and see Chesh standing there. Ex sighed and looked at his hands that brought him to a shock: they were realistic. Like back home. They were detailed to where he could see everything that had happened in the past six days. He looked to Chesh, who was almost as surprised as he was, then to Fox, who was busy looking down himself. Ex could make out tons of detail in his fur, his clothing, and more.

"This is it," Ex sighed, "World 357."

The group looked around for a moment before Ex taped Chesh on the shoulder.

"Hey, what does it say?" Ex asked. Chesh looked down and pointed in the direction of a small wooded area.

"That way." The trio followed him as the sky above them darkened and the noise of nature began to seep in. The world around them, now only illuminated by the bright moonlight. Green leaves and trees were softly rustling as they pushed past and the ground gave light crunches as their feet dug into the soil. Finally, Chesh stopped and Ex ran to his side. Sure enough, the coordinates matched what the board had said. Ex looked around, only seeing trees surrounding them and nothing else. Chesh sighed.

"Was that a scam?" he questioned, "Where is this place?"

Ex shrugged, "I think we could do better with a birds-eye view."

Fox nodded, "I'll go get my Ar-Wing."

"Too obvious," Chesh said, turning to Ex, "We need something smaller, maybe a single person flyer."

Ex sighed, "I'll go, you guys stay here."

"No, it-" Fox didn't finish.

"It may be dangerous," Ex said, "I could die, yadda yadda. I know that. Let's go."

Fox looked to Chesh then to Ex, "Alright, suit yourself."

Chesh flicked his wrist and a pair of light gray wings appeared in his hands. Ex took them and strapped them to his waist. Chesh also gave him a batch of fireworks. He nodded to him.

"Gonna stay as quiet as possible," he said. He looked up at a nearby tree and climbed up a few branches then proceeded to jump off the tree. A split second later, he was gliding around and flying. He lit one of the fireworks and flew up into the night sky near silently. Fox and Chesh waited for a minute until the static of the coms cleared and Ex's voice came through.

"This is Echo X-Ray 1, over," he said, mimicking the talk of a pilot or military personnel. Chesh laughed.

"Alright, Ex, what do you see?" Chesh asked. Ex was silent for a moment.

"I think like forty yards ahead of where you are," Ex said, "There seems to be a path of some kind."

Following his instructions, Chesh and Fox slowly approached where he said and sure enough, there was a road leading down to what seemed like nowhere. It stretched on for miles, with nothing in sight. Chesh and Fox sighed.

"There's nothing here," Fox said. Ex suddenly came through.

"I disagree." His voice was shaky, not as confident as before, and… there was rain? In the background, Chesh could hear what sounded like rain. He looked up, seeing that the skies were clear. Chesh then had an idea. He walked forward until he heard it: a soft yet noticeable whirring noise. He extended his hand and slowly, he walked into nothingness. Like he had never existed. Fox quickly followed as the world around them changed, from a cloudless night to a stormy hell. The first part was the smell: it burnt his nose like an onion and smelled like rotting corpses. Around him, the road was wet with mud and he already felt like he was going to sink under. He walked up behind Chesh, who was shielding his face from dust and rain flying around. Before long, a loud shout came over the wind.

"Over this way!" Ex shouted, coming directly to them. He grabbed both of them and they raced to cover in what looked like an underground bunker. The door creaked open and they rushed inside, Ex staying back to close the doors. They slammed shut and the sounds from outside disappeared into nothingness, but so did the light. The trio were left in darkness and they couldn't see anything. Finally, Ex whispered.

"Can I try something?" he questioned, reaching for Cheshes watch. He silently obliged and with a flick of the wrist, a white light appeared and then disappeared quickly. The group was silent for a moment before Ex spoke again.

"Stand back." With a click and a sudden ignition, a deep blue-tinted light filled the room around them. Chesh and Fox looked as Ex held something in his hands: a hilt with a deep blue plasma blade emitting from the hilt. Fox walked closer, only to back away when he felt the tremendous heat. Ex sighed.

"It's called a lightsaber," he said, "Stick with me."

He began to walk down a long winding hallway, lights deactivated and doors closed. Ex shivered as the cold of the rain began to dawn on him. He looked up at each of the doors, reading their now non-illuminated signs. The signs read numbers and rare words, giving the group a sense of tension that rose every time they took a step forward. Finally, they came along a room that read Electrical and Ex hesitantly stepped forward. On the side, there was a keypad that did not affect the door one bit, so Ex pushed the two back.

"Sorry about this, previous owner," he said as he plunged the lightsaber into the door and began cutting a hole into it. Three painful minutes later, there was a not so clean hole in the door and Ex stepped into the room. He looked around for only a minute before finding a switch labeled Base A. He flipped the switch and in a loud whirr, the lights flickered on. Ex sighed and turned around ready to leave.

"Holy shit!"

Fox and Chesh jumped as Ex came bolting out of the room. Behind them, a sudden thud revealed that they weren't alone. This base was never empty. Around them, the hallway was filled with frozen figures, some mid-walking, others mid-conversation. Others were toppled over, frozen in their last moments of what seemed like fear. The loud gulp from Ex was audible from everywhere, they could even hear a soft echo. Finally, they continued their trek into the unknown base.

"What happened here?" Fox questioned as they continued down the hall. Ex knelt down and placed his hand on one of the soldier's arms.

"It's cold," he said, "It seems they've been dead for a while."

"As in?" Chesh questioned. Ex shrugged.

"I-I don't know how to read bodies," Ex said shakily as they kept walking. They walked past body after body until finally, they came across a room filled with screens and camera images. They slowly entered the room, where they found more bodies strewn about the room.

On the cameras, certain cameras were off and they couldn't see into the rooms. Ex looked at each camera and saw nothing moving, each one being either static or with nothing moving. The footage was surprisingly well done for how long this place had been abandoned, and it was still recording. Ex was going to sit down, but kept in mind why they were there. On the desk, there was a large floor blueprint that showed where they were and what was going on. On the print, there was also a white and green keycard sitting over the security room. Chesh grabbed it and lifted it off the print, looking at it from every angle he could. He walked out of the room and down the hall, Fox and Ex following.

"What are we looking for?" Fox questioned.

"Something is here," Ex said, "W-we have to find it."

Fox sighed, "We've been here a while, and I've got a bad feeling."

"Same here," Chesh said, "What are we going to do here any…"

He didn't finish as a loud thud came from around them, sending a chill down his spine. The thud was followed by an eerie mechanical creaking. Ex felt his body fall completely still and so did Chesh. Fox, however, was more active. His eyes were darting at every nook and cranny that was surrounding them. Ex looked to Chesh, who was staring at him in fear.

"That can't be good," Ex said, chuckling nervously.

Chesh looked around for a moment before seeing a detail, "Look at that."

Ex turned and saw around them what looked like pillars extruding from below them. They were above something, something big. Ex hesitantly brought his foot up and slammed it against the floor. The stomp echoed into something below them and it lasted a good few seconds. He looked to Chesh.

"That's quite big," he said, mimicking the meme. Chesh nodded.

"We're here," he said, "We might as we… Wait, where's Fox?"

Ex looked around, realizing the fox pilot went off on his own. Ex speed-walked around until he found Fox hesitantly staring down a long staircase. Ex waved Chesh over and they chased behind him, the staircase descending into a much dimmer room. Fox, who was much farther ahead, grabbed his pistol and kept it to his side. Ex followed suit by grabbing his rifle and Chesh pulled out a pistol. Ex looked at it and chuckled.

"Valorant?" he whispered. Chesh nodded, making sure the suppressor was tightly on the barrel.

The trio approached the end of the short hallway, blocked by a small door. Fox pushed against it to no avail and Chesh walked beside him, searching for a way to open it. He then got an idea and pulled out the keycard he had grabbed earlier. He looked around and saw a small station where a number pad and key swiping station was. He inserted the card into the beginning of the machine then moved it across the machine. It whirred for a moment before a sudden hiss scared them. The door slowly opened to a dark room ahead of them as they entered the room via a thin bridge, floating high above the floor around them. As they entered, the door behind them suddenly shut, leaving them in pure darkness. Then, the floor lights below them illuminated, giving them a path like an airplane. Finally, it ended in a small circular area surrounded by what looked like a keyboard.

Ex was the first to comment, "What is this place?"

"You tell me," Fox said, approaching the keyboard. Ex and Chesh followed slowly as they finally reached the keyboard. They stood in the middle of the circle and the keys slowly began to glow in white light. The screen materialized out of thin air into a holographic look. The trio stood there for a moment before Fox sat down at the chair, staring at the screen.

"Well," Chesh said, "Press something."

Fox nodded and hit a key, causing the system to boot up and blink a blank box onto the screen. The three interpreted it as a password. Ex thought for a moment, thinking out loud.

"What would they use as a password?" he questioned. Fox shrugged.

"How about something conventional?" Fox quickly typed, in all lowercase, password. Ex chuckled.

"Very conventional," he comments. Fox pressed enter, but the screen blinked red in response. It once again prompted the box. Chesh looked around for any sign of what to look for, then, looking at the card. On the back, he found a number code and copied it into the box. Pressing enter, the screen blinked red again and then prompts the box once again. Ex sighed, placing his hand next to the keys.

"What do we do?" he asked, looking at the two. However, they were too busy staring at something else: Ex's glowing hand. Looking at it, Ex tried to move his hand, but felt it stuck to the table. He grabbed his wrist and tried to yank his hand off to no avail. For a moment, he felt a sharp pain, then a sudden green blinking brought him to reality as he saw the password had been accepted. He was speechless for a moment.

"Do you guys have this?" Fox asked.

"Nope," Ex and Chesh said in unison. Finally, Ex lifted his hand off the table to the sigh of Alexi in his mind.

"Try and let me handle some of these things," he said. Ex was able to speak mentally so easily now.

"Alright, just let me know ahead of time," he said, placing a small bit more trust in him than he had before. The screen came to life with folders spreading out from around them, each name floating in front. The trio studied the folders for a moment, staying quiet the whole time. Finally, Fox spoke.

"You think this has anything to do with their locations?" he asked, referring to the people disappearing and Krystal. Ex could only shrug.

"I don't know," he said, "We could be doing something com-aha!"

He exclaimed as he pointed to a folder labeled Prisoners. He reached for the folder and a large paper folder materialized into the palm of his hand. Without hesitation, he opened it and flipped through the folder, his eyes darting at pictures and words. The pictures taken were of the people taken from afar, and they were pretty recent judging by an orange text in the bottom left. Ex then found it: a photo of Krystal in the days leading up to their meeting. Ex sighed.

"Found it," he said as he read through the file aloud.

This creature is stunningly gifted in telepathy and the usage of magic. Mind reading, ability to move certain objects, and gifted with strength. Her heart is pure (cute) yet she fights like a warrior. She seems perfect, but we need that magic artifact before anything can be done.

Scheduled for Crystalization

Ex felt his words falter at the last few words. The temperature of the room dropped considerably and Ex, without looking, knew Fox was mad. The sound of his clenching fists was all he needed. He looked to Chesh.

"Try and find a folder relating to this 'Crystalization' shit," he said. Chesh nodded and scanned each folder around him. Ex kept flipping through the folder he was holding, his heart racing, each beat becoming more and more noticeable.

Then it stopped completely.

Fox turned to look at Ex, whose face had gone from red with anger to pale and fearful. Fox stood and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to him, his hazel eyes dilating with near-light speed focus.

"Oh, shit…" That was all he could muster before Chesh looked over at the picture and felt his jaw drop. The picture was realistic like in the world they were in. The person in the photo was a tall teenager, not as old as Chesh or Ex, but old enough to be a teen. Acne, glasses, and a pretty built frame. His hair was a light brown and they could barely make out his eye color as brown. Fox titled his head in confusion.

"Why is this important?" he asked. Ex chuckled.

"Why is this important, you ask?" he says before planting a finger on the picture, "That's my brother."

Fox nodded in understanding, "Why is this important?"

Ex shook his head in shock, "Why do they have a picture of my brother in this file? That's what I'm wondering!"

Fox tried to calm him down, "Let's try and be rational. Look through it more, there have to be more people other than this group."

Ex flipped through the pages quickly, scanning each photo. Sure enough, another familiar face came up and he turned it towards the others. The name was recognizable.

Marzia

Ex knew this had to be something bad so he quickly skimmed through the description and saw words, bolded in red at the bottom of the paper:

Caught and awaiting further instructions

Ex, without thinking, threw the file over the keyboard, returning it to the holographic screen. Ex felt a scream form in his throat, but contained it, trying not to make a scene. He sighed and laid his head against the desk, trying to calm the beast that was his rage. Fox placed a hand on his shoulder and the two looked at each other.

"Everything will be alright," he said, but Ex knew he was lying only to calm him down. He nodded and looked around the screen more until his eyes locked onto another document titled Vigilantes. Ex grabbed that and opened the folder to a moving picture in which a Crystalite was being beaten to the point of death by a hooded figure. The punches radiated with a red and black glow. The colors were familiar, though Ex kept going. Nothing struck him as familiar, so he just watched as the same group of individuals kept beating and breaking the waves of Crystaites. Ex sighed.

"Where are these people?" he questioned, "Why aren't they doing anything?"

Fox sighed, "I would think that's you."

Ex looked at him, "Me? Us? We aren't heroes like that! We're just us."

"I've met plenty of people who've said the same thing," he said, looking around, "And they've become some of the greatest people I've ever met."

Ex was silent for a moment, before speaking again.

"This is a gold mine, though," Ex said, changing the subject, "With all of this, we can take them down without them even knowing we knew this stuff."

"Yeah," Chesh said, putting his hand to his ear, "Hey guys, do you have anything that can store a large amount of information, like a thumb drive?"

"Um, those were gotten rid of years back," Slippy said, "We can get you something else, how about a hard drive."

Chesh sighed, "Yep, that'll work."

Fox nodded, "We'll be with you in a second."

"Nah," Slippy said, "I'll send it over."

Chesh's hand began to glow with a blinding white light, causing Ex to move his hand in front of his eyes and look away. But, while in the middle of that, Ex finally saw the room around them. Well, a small portion of it, that is. In front of them was what looked like a star destroyer or something big out of Star Wars. Ex felt his gaze drift again to the side, seeing more ships around. Not tens, not hundreds, but hundreds of thousands of ships. Then, the light stopped, cutting his view off again as Chesh sighed with a small hard drive, about the size of his palm. Ex, however, wanted to see around the room again. So, he slid into the chair and looked around the keyboard, trying to find something. Then, at a press of a button next to the keyboard, the screen flickered away and a holographic screen began to play a video. Ex watched as animated figures flew across the screen, showing Crystalites and humans standing together. Ex knew, however, something was wrong. But the speech kept playing.

We live in a world of fear, domination, and 'heroes'. The normal call them gods, supers, heroes. In the real world, there are no heroes, only good and bad. But not in technology. Technology is good, always, giving us what we want and what we need: peace. What we don't need is an expansion into the galaxy, we need a purge. A purge of the weak-minded and a rise of the strong-minded. We want to help you create a world of peace and tranquility.

The recording finished and Ex began to chuckle softly.

"That does not sound like something I would get behind."

Fox nodded, "They can't do this peacefully."

The trio was silenced by a flash of the screen and then a progress bar appeared on the screen. Ex sighed in relief, watching as the progress bar filled up even more. Then, the screen flickered again, bringing up another screen with more figures. Text appeared in the top left of the screen, spelling Phase 1. Ex watched as Crystalites blinked around like that animation from the Incredibles. The first phase was the Crystalites taking over some big cities around the worlds, some familiar, others not so much. Then, it blinked onto Phase 2, which looked like then reworking wires on some big machine. Then, Phase 3. The moment Ex saw it, he stood in shock as he saw places in World Zero, like Paris, New York, Moscow, and many more places being destroyed.

"This isn't a peace plan," Ex said, Chesh finishing his sentence.

"This is world domination."

"Then no wonder they're kidnapping people like Krystal," Fox said, "It's an attempt to demoralize everyone."

"And make it easier to take over," Ex said, "Then why her? Why not you or some high figures?"

Chesh spoke before Fox, "Because if the people don't have anyone to look up to, they can bring new heroes into the equation. But if the heroes are demoralized, thinking they have no hope of winning, then that is what the people look up to. Hopelessness"

"Damn, how'd you come up with that?" Ex asked. He shrugged.

"Interpretation."

Ex looked at the progress bar and it read at 84%. Ex sighed, in boredom and relief that they were alone. Or, at least he thought they were. Ex watched the progress bar until it reached 97% quite quickly. Then, a soft whirring caught his attention as he looked above him. The lights then finally boomed to life. Ex bounced on his knees in surprise as sounds like rolling thunder. The room around them lit up as they finally saw what was in there. Or what was left. The large room was empty, but it almost seemed like the size of the Burj Khalifa, and as wide as what looked like multiple city blocks. It was impossible to say that they were underground, this was too big to be under the Earth, is what Ex thought. Around them, the room was covered in white and gray panels with steel bars that looked like they held something up in the air. Something big. Ex looked around in shock before Chesh grabbed the hard drive.

"It's done," he said, "Let's get the hell out of here."

"Agreed." Ex saw Chesh run for the door and Fox grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to follow the two. The light began to flash red as an alarm sounded, making Ex run faster than he had ever before. Ex couldn't remember the last time he had been this afraid, only matched by Halloween's as a younger kid. Fox shouted something to him, but it was drowned out by the alarms and his ever louder heartbeat. A loud bang was then followed by Chesh screaming in pain. Ex ran to grab him and hoist him onto his feet and they hobbled to the door. Fox hit the panel with his feet and the doors quickly hissed shut. Ex set Chesh down on the floor as a steady stream of blood rushed onto the floor. Ex looked to Fox for aid as he put his hand to his earpiece.

"We need medical help at the Great Fox," he said, "Now."

A quick response was heard before he lifted Chesh off the ground and ran as Chesh then flicked his wrist. Then, his thoughts caught up as he turned to Ex, who ran behind then without a watch. The two then turned around as they teleported in a white flash, leaving Ex alone. Ex felt his breathing deepen as he tried to remain calm, but failed as he ran around, trying to find the exit. His senses heightened at every sound and movement that occurred. The sounds of the lights booming off gave him a sense of terror as he felt the temperature of the room drop. The silence that followed made him want to tear his heart out just so he could hear something other than the creaking floor under his feet. He ran until he made it to the security room they had been to before. He looked behind him to try and shut the door, but nothing was there to help him shut it. He sighed nervously and sat down at the chair looking at the cameras.

"Please don't make this like Freddy's," he softly pleaded. He looked at the cameras desperately trying to find a way out and back to the outside. He looked at both the cameras and the blueprints at random. The stress was building in him, and he didn't know what to do. Then, he heard the faint sounds of chatting coming from the hall. Ex immediately dove under the table and softly breathed in and out, trying not to make a sound. Finally, it came into focus.

"...now they want me to do this shit." It was a Crystalite. He could tell by the voice: it was robotic and flat. The part that threw him off was that it sounded completely human, it just had no emotion in it. The other voice laughed.

"You need to get that fixed," it said, the other one sounding more human. Ex held his breath as the voices stopped for a moment and then heavy footsteps approached.

"They must've forgotten to turn this off," the broken one said, "Dumbasses."

Ex withheld his breath as one pair of legs appeared in front of the desk. Its knees bent over and sat down as the other Crystalite walked behind it. They both looked there for a minute as Ex waited for them to finish. He tried to silently breathe, luckily being successful in that. The Crystalites were too distracted on the screen, looking at the cameras. Ex hesitantly crawled onto his knees and up to one of the pairs of legs. He looked up to see the two staring at the cameras aimlessly, their eyes not moving at all from the screen. He slowly crept away, trying to make sure his hands didn't stick to the floor. Then, he felt his leg brush against the standing Crystalites leg. He waited for the shout followed by something grabbing him and then his ultimate demise. But it never came. The Crystalite continued to stare off into the distance as nothing happened. Ex kept crawling farther and farther away until the one on the cameras shouted.

"Hey wait a second," it said. Ex held its breath.

"There were people here a couple of minutes ago," it said. He turned back and saw the two focus even more on the cameras. Ex finally stood onto his feet and bolted down the hallway at speeds he didn't know he could run at. He was pleased to hear that the footsteps weren't approaching, or were too far behind for him to hear. He found the way they had come in and burst through the doors into a calm area that was no longer covered in storms. He looked around for a minute, then saw lights from a distant city illuminate the sky. His instinct was to run, but then caught a glimpse of what looked like a motorcycle. A man stood over it, as if trying to escape. He sighed and ran over to it, pushing the guy off.

"Welp," he said, talking to the frozen person, "If you aren't using this, I'm gonna."

He sat on the seat and looked around for an ignition key. When he couldn't find it, he got an idea. He looked down at his hands and placed them onto the handle bars. He closed his eyes and breathed in slowly and out.

"Start."

The roar of the engines suddenly gave way to a shaking of the cycle itself. Ex looked at it for a moment, then laughed in surprise. It worked as he thought, but he didn't have time to think. He grabbed the handlebars and revved the engine before shooting off down the road.

"You're welcome," Alexi's voice echoed. Ex sighed.

"Thanks, man."

"Now we're starting to get along."


His ride was messy, the ground constantly wanting to take the bike out from underneath him. The slippery trails lead through tons of trees and brushery, mixing the brown and green together into a dense forest area. That was, until the lights of the city came into view again, surrounded by mountains. There was also a large statue above it all, with its arms outstretched to the world. That was a dead giveaway.

"Rio," Ex whispered to himself. He looked around at the city and the sunset off in the distant ocean giving him a sense of peace. Then, his coms began to speak to him.

"Ex? Ex, are you there?!" Chesh shouted. Ex sighed in relief.

"I'm okay," he said, "But I may have some company soon. Mind giving me a hand?"

"Not at all," he replied. Before he could speak again, a sudden force pushed him off the bike and down a large hill. He rolled over and over again as bits of dirt and leaves grasped onto his clothing. He finally came to a stop and struggled to move onto his hands and feet as he coughed, trying to find the energy to move again. Heavy footsteps approached, and Ex finally felt the adrenaline rush push him forwards and into a small slum area. He passed through what he hoped were streets, accidentally bumping into one person. Sadly, he didn't have the time to help him. He could only wave his hands and apologize profusely.

Finally, after running for what seemed like a mile, he made it to the edge of the city and ran into the neon-lit city. He pulled up his mask, which was now similar to the mask worn by Caustic, and kept running as the footsteps approached even faster. Ex didn't know what to do but felt himself be pushed in certain directions by an unknown force. Unknown, until a voice guided him.

"Down this alley," Alexi whispered to him. Ex followed his instructions and ran down the nearby alleyway. Ex sighed and hid from view for a moment to talk.

"Why are we going this way?" Ex questioned mentally. He was silent for a moment.

"Just have a gut feeling." Ex sighed, knowing he had few options for what to do. He followed his instructions and continued to find a large alleyway with multiple food stalls. The long road was coupled with hundreds of people and restaurants strewn about. The buildings were about four to five stories tall and covered in multiple bright colors. He pulled himself deeper into his hoodie and walked down the street, shoving his hands into his pockets. He then heard a voice in the distance.

"Where did that little shit go?" a robotic voice said. He quickened his pace as the voices approached little by little. Finally, he stopped at a food stall with what looked like Chinese characters on the top. Ex thought for a moment before standing in front of the line. He looked around at the kitchen, which was dirty and filled with pots and trays strewn about. He sighed and looked around.

"Um," he spoke finally, "Hello?"

Another voice suddenly chimed in, "Hello. Terribly sorry, but we don't have any food."

"Ah, okay, thank you," Ex said, walking away. He sighed, knowing that he could be caught any time now.

"Didn't know you could speak mandarin," Alexi said. Ex shrugged.

"Don't thank me, thank my school system."

Then, a pair of hands grabbed him and pulled him through the crowd. He wanted to scream, but something was stopping him, like some type of gag. Finally, he was dropped in a small area and he looked at his captor, who had a tail and two perky ears. Ex immediately recognized the figure.

"Skye?" he asked. The figure bent down to him.

"That obvious, huh?" Ex chuckled as she pulled him onto his feet. She pulled down her mask, still looking the same way she looked from before. Ex sighed.

"Well," he said, "Am I glad to see you."

"Do you still have access to your gun?" she asked him. He nodded, but then thought about it.

"No clue," he said, "Should I check?"

"Later." She grabbed him and pulled him away and into a larger crowd. They ran to a large van and jumped into the back as the driver stepped onto the gas and shot forward. The driver looked back with a familiar laugh.

"Top of the mornin' to ya!"

Ex laughed, "It's great to see you, Sean."

"No worries," he said, "Let's get outta he-"

They didn't continue as they were hit by a sudden force, shooting Ex and Skye into the side of the bus, knocking Ex out and leaving Skye conscious. Sean looked at the car, realizing that it was with the Crystalites.

"Motherfuckers!" he shouted as he hit the gas again but to no avail. Skye leaned over and back.

"They're not stopping," she said, trying to urge him on. Sean hit the gas again and then turned the keys.

"It's not starting!" Sean looked out the window and saw the car that hit them roll back and then sped at them again. Sean grabbed the wheel and braced for impact while Skye struggled into the passenger seat and wrapped the seatbelt over her chest. They looked away and waited, but the impact never came. Skye looked out the window to see the car being lifted off the ground by what looked like blue energized pillars. Skye immediately turned back and saw Ex placing a glowing hand against the van floor and staring deeply into the wall. He looked to Skye and smiled.

"Ex?" Skye asked. He shook his head.

"Not right now," Ex replied, his voice distorted into a different tone, "The name's Alexi."

Sean tilted his head, "Now I'm confused."

Alexi sighed, "Just get outta here."

Sean hesitantly hit the gas and they sped off, listening to the carnage they created behind them. They were on their way down to the beaches, hoping to lose them in the fray of people. But then, the radio crackled to life.

"This is not a drill," a female robotic voice said, "Evacuate to the nearest safe area immediately."

Alexi looked at the two, "Well that isn't good."

"Nice observations, Sherlock," Sean said, his voice stressed beyond belief. He was not ready to handle this type of stress while Skye was hyperventilating and Alexi was breathing pretty normally.

"What was that back there?" Skye asked. Sean looked to Alexi as well and Alexi shrugged.

"It's a power that the kid gained from me," he said, "He can create metallic objects from his body. It takes energy, but it is extremely powerful. You have something similar, Jack."

"It's Sean, not Jack," he replied, "And I've already heard all this shit."

"Then I'll elaborate," Alexi said, "You guys are said to be protectors from the Crystalites. I can explain later when I get the chance to. People."

Sean looked back and yanked the steering wheel to the right and dodged a large group of people running from the beach. Sean pulled over and the trio hopped out of the vehicle in front of a tall business building. Skye looked out to the beach and stopped for a moment to admire a sight. Alexi, in Ex's body, grabbed her.

"What are you doing?" he asked. She pointed out.

"That isn't good." Alexi looked out and saw what she was talking about: the beach water was receding into the sea. It receded far, out near miles out. This scared Alexi as he grabbed Skye and dragged her into the hotel as they raced up the stairs. Sean waved them up to his floor as he opened the door to a sudden crack of a fist hitting his jaw. It sent him stumbling into the railing behind him. Alexi, still in control of Ex's body, stepped in front of him.

"Alright fellas," he said, "You're hurting my partner's friends here. So I suggest that you leave us alone and just leave us be, is that cool?"

Without hesitation, the Crystalite in front punched Alexi in the nose, causing him to fall back, but not over. He shouted in pain.

"Mother. Fucker!"

Without skipping a beat, kicking his leg out with a sudden blue mechanical leg emanating from his knee down. The Crystalite was sent flying across the room and slammed into a concrete wall. Alexi looked to Sean and Skye and motioned them to keep going up. They nodded as Alexi stayed behind them for a moment, making sure the other Crystalite wasn't going to follow them up.

Sean burst through the door to the roof, breathless. They ran to the side of the building to catch their breath as he and Skye watched as a wave nearly two thirds rushed towards the building. The sudden crash of the wave left Skye face down on the ground and Sean doing an extreme balancing act trying to stay up. After a moment of silence came from them before another pair of footsteps approached.

"That should keep 'em down for a minute," Alexi said, "That should give us enough time to get outta here."

"You're telling me," Sean said as he brought up his watch. He began to type into the watch, heading for the Great Fox. Then, a loud crack was heard and concrete powder flew up next to Sean. They looked up to see the Crystalites, chuckling at the near-miss.

"'Down for a minute?'" one asked, "I don't think so."

"Goddammit," Alexi said, "You mess with my friends, you mess with…"

He trailed off and, without warning, pushed both Sean and Skye to the ground. Before another word was said, a large fireball came hurtling above them and landed on the ground below with a metallic thud followed by an explosion. Alexi stood up and looked over the concrete wall to see a fire broken out in the water below a building. Then, the screams came as the fire built higher and higher in the building, but not high enough to reach the people on the roof. The screams echoed through the flooded city streets, mixing with the crashing waves below. Sean and Skye stood with him and looked down at the burning rubble.

"Well then," Alexi said, "Where did that come from?"

Then, he got his answer in the form of a deep and ominous thud. Alexi immediately turned around while Sean and Skye stood in fear facing the other way. Slowly, they did turn their heads to the noise, seeing a large scaly body towering over them and the building. It was black, near-invisible in the now almost night sky. Its skin blocked the ever-growing amount of stars forming in the background and made Alexi's skin crawl. Then, he followed it up to a large pair of thin arms, though they were the thickness of a redwood tree. Finally, he caught a glimpse of the head, which resembled a dinosaur and it reminded him of a fictional beast. When he finally saw the face, however, the air around him gave way to an eardrum-shattering roar. Alexi covered his ears to dampen the sound, but it only did by a little. Skye and Sean followed, with the near same results as the roar ended, echoing in the valley that was Rio. Alexi looked up and heard a soft voice say something.

"Godzilla," Ex's voice softly whispered. Alexi was confused, but also terrified.

"What the hell is that?"

Sean grabbed him, "I think we should go now."

Alexi nodded and waited for the jolt of energy, leading them into a different world. But, it was interrupted by the sound of bullets whizzing by them. Alexi groaned.

"Again?! Seriously?!" He turned to see the Crystalite running at them, guns drawn and blood lust in their eyes. Alexi was thrown off by their appearance: they were human, but they didn't have the emotion of one. They looked and sounded human, but he knew they weren't. He shook his mind out of it.

"Try again," one Crystalite challenged, "Shall we?"

Sean shook his head, "Kinda not interested."

"Try this," the Crystalite shouted as it lunged at the trio. The thudding of Godzilla shook them enough that Sean was tackled by the Crystalite to the ground. It raised its arm up and brought it down, hitting the concrete centimeters from his head. He softly gasped in shock before grabbing the things arm in fear. His muscles strained under the stress of holding its arm back, that was until it seemed to buckle over causing the Crystalite to fall on its side. Sean sat up and rolled away from the now writhing Crystalite. He held up his hands in fear.

"What the…" he couldn't think properly as Alexi stepped in front of him and he looked at the two.

"Get outta here," he said, "Come get me in a minute."

Alexi turned to the other Crystalite that began charging him. Alexi approached slowly, trying to keep his balance as Godzilla beside him kept stomping around, throwing him constantly off balance. He watched as the Crystalite aimed low, so he jumped up and kicked, connecting with the lower neck area. It knocked it back and as it stumbled into a wall, Alexi felt a much bigger force connect below them. Alexi turned and saw the large reptile lean forward, grabbing something and hoisting it up. The rumbling below them then reached a peak as the floor below them exploded as a tail came up. Alexi stumbled backward, watching helplessly as the Crystalite levitated above the rubble as he fell into the raging waters below. Accompanied by another loud roar from the titan, he felt himself slip unconsciously as a white light surrounded him.


Ex woke suddenly in black. He was back in this dream world. He blinked and looked around again, now in a field of white and blue flowers. He looked around at the scenery, a near-endless garden of green. He stood and saw another figure a few meters away from him, seemingly trying to avoid him.

"Alexi?" he questioned, "What happened?"

He moved but groaned in pain as his back suddenly ached in what felt like a sore pain. Alexi sighed at that.

"Sorry, Ex," he said, "I did that."

"What do you mean?"

Alexi chuckled, "You're a real trooper. Fell from a twenty-story building and only feel the back? That's impressive."

"Twenty stories?!" Ex shouted, "I should be dead!"

"Yeah, well," his tone changed quickly, "Blame the large dinosaur."

"Godzilla," Ex corrected. Alexi waved it off.

"Yeah, him," he said, "It was his fault that he-"

Ex cut him off, "So, wait, let me get this straight: you took over my body, fought Godzilla, and fell from a twenty story building?"

"No, I took over your body and fought Crystalites."

Ex sighed and laid back, "Well, I guess that is somewhat better."

The two sat in silence as a soft wave of air pushed around them. Ex stood, his face stern and angry while Alexi was more soft-toned and seemingly sympathetic. Ex held his gaze for a moment longer until he stepped closer to him, the painless searing now.

"Why?" Ex said, "Why are you like this when they said that I was perfect?"

Alexi chuckled, then it evolved into a laugh, "You think that was you? What you saw in that vision was when I died, and those Divines decided, 'Hey, this guy seems perfect to mentor others.' So you know what? I mentored people who took my place… FOR SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS!"

He stood in anger and continued, "Do you think I wanted this? To be a spirit or some shit like that, teaching others how to save the world, when I could just as easily do it?!" The wind around them gained speed, "I want to save the world as much as you do, pal. I want to do all of this, but I can't, alright? I CAN'T!"

He sat again, the winds quieting down again, leaving them in silence and at a loss of words. Ex sat at his side and looked him dead in the eyes for his question:

"Then why don't you let me do it?"

Alexi didn't say a word, nor did it sound like he was breathing for a moment. Then, he looked at him.

"I can't let you die," he said, his mood changing completely, "You're my companion on this magical carpet ride."

Ex knew it was a lie, he could hear it in his voice, but he played along, "Oh."

Ex stood, slowly realizing the pain in his back had dissipated. He felt around his body, realizing the less searing pain in his legs had also dissipated. He looked to Alexi, who was now smiling.

"Benefit of this job?" he questioned, "We get back up pretty quickly."

The world shifted back to black as he felt his eyes close. Then, he jolted into a sitting position, looking around the room. He held his forehead, feeling the heat emitting from it and the pain slowly washing away from him. The room he was in was different from the Great Fox as it was big. Really big. He looked down, realizing he was in some type of advanced hospital bed, as well as covered in some type of liquid wires. They dissipated and Ex stood in fear of what was, light shone brightly into the room, causing him to shield his eyes. Then, a familiar automated voice came through.

"It is currently 10:46 am, weather forecast: a sunny day with minimal clouds."

Ex looked around for a moment, "OBIS?"

"Yes, it's me," the voice replied. Ex chuckled and looked outside to a shock: they weren't in space. Instead, there was a large cavernous valley, at the bottom lay an ocean with water shooting up the steep rocky walls. Before he could stand, his left leg buckled in pain. OBIS spoke again.

"I believe your friend helped a lot," OBIS said, "Broken spine, three ribs broken, internal bleeding, and serious brain damage. But, you healed all of it within the first hour you were here."

Ex looked around the room, "OBIS, where are we?"

"I couldn't tell you now," he said, "But Matthew probably could."

"Mat?" Ex asked, "What about him."

As if on cue, Mat walked in, Skye and Chesh following behind him. Ex sighed in relief, only for Alexi to chip in again.

"I think you forgot something."

Ex turned around to look at the hospital bed, then looked down. He didn't have a shirt. He quickly ran to the bed and looked around, not able to find anything. Then, he felt something land on his back. He grabbed it and turned to the three.

"You might need that," Skye chuckled as Ex slipped the shirt over his head and down his body. He was now in a deep gray shirt with a black pair of sports pants. Ex looked at the group in fear.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. Chesh started first.

"Yeah, something is," he said, "How did you survive that fall?"

Ex looked at them and shrugged, "Healing. Super healing."

"Yeah," Mat said, "I just found that out about most of us already."

Ex tilted his head, "Really? How long have I been asleep?"

"Nine and a half hours."

Ex chuckled, "That's nothing. I've slept twelve."

"Can we stop comparing that and get moving?" Chesh asked, looking to Ex with a smile.

"Where are we going?" he asked. Chesh shrugged.

"I don't know," he said, "Mat has been telling us to stay here and wait for you to wake up."

Mat corrected him, "No, the AI controlling this place was over-protective. With some help from that memory revival stuff, I was able to reprogram the system so that OBIS had control. This also helped him gain knowledge of the worlds we've been to, how they work, etcetera."

"Damn, memories like that?" Chesh said, "All I remember is random bullshit about pasts and magical beings."

"That sounds cool," Ex chimed in, trying to make the negative a positive. Chesh only nodded to Ex. Ex then thought of something.

"Wait," he said, "A: How did you get in here then? B: Why is a hospital wing outside the main area?"

"The main place is only accessible through this," Mat said, leading them to a large door that seemingly looked like an elevator door. It had four large mechanical sliding pieces of metal that would go in different directions. Mat looked at a touchpad next to the door and placed his hand on it.

"This better work," he pleaded as the machine whirred to life. The doors emitted white energy as they slid into place, one going up, one going down, and the others falling left and right. They revealed a small room with moving devices, sliding and moving about. Each turn seemed to be important as Skye stepped into the room. In a bright flash, she was gone. Mat padded Chesh and Ex on the shoulder.

"See y'all on the flip side."

In another flash, he was gone as well. Ex felt his jaw drop as Chesh walked into the teleporter and blinked away. Ex quickly followed and he felt a sudden drop as he then appeared in a different room since he could see the light from the room emanating from the other side of the door. With a mechanical hiss, the doors opened to a completely different room.

Now, instead of a long corridor in a hospital room, he was now in a large circular room. The entrance that he had gone through was complemented by two other exits, each going somewhere different. Though this was the only teleporter in the room, and the other ones went into different rooms. The lights from each room spilled into the room along with glass windows around the room, bringing outside light into the dimly lit room and holographic projectors surrounding them, as well as multiple levels like in a presentation room. In the middle, a circular table lay dormant and off as Mat and Chesh stood around it. Ex approached them at the table, but before he could say a word, a pair of hands grabbed him and made him jump. He turned around to see Skye, breaking down in laughter. Ex sighed and grinned.

"I'll give it to ya," he said, "That got me."

Skye stopped laughing, "I thought you'd be mad."

"Anger management," he said, "Look it up."

She sighed in defeat and they approached the others staring at the table in confusion.

"How do you turn this thing on?" Chesh asked. Mat shrugged.

"Dunno," he said, "Maybe this…"

He pressed a button and the table flashed to life. Strings of code flew from the table and into the ceiling. Ex watched in awe as the world around him burst into white colors, creating a sight that he had never seen before. He was shocked and on the brink of nervous laughter. Then, it all stopped and the table stayed white. Mat laughed nervously and looked to Ex, who was almost as excited as he was. But then, a thought crossed his mind. He looked to Ex.

"Hey, Ex?" Mat said, Ex looked at him, the look on his face draining away.

"What's up?" he asked quickly. Mat sighed.

"Crystal and Beth are gone," he said, "They were caught."

Ex's posture straightened, "How?"

"Crystal said he needed some time alone," Mat said, "After Colinnes death, we were all so torn, and we knew you three were the most. So we thought that would help. Instead, it got him captured. Beth, without hesitation, went after him, but we lost her shortly after as well."

Ex's fist clenched, "Where?"

"They were last seen in the Mushroom Kingdom world," OBIS said, "Specifically a place the locals called Delfino Island."

Ex was speechless at first, "Then… what are we gonna do about it?"

Mat sighed, "Our best bet is to either ask the residents of the island or we find someone who may have more info than us."

"Got 'em."

Looking to the entrance, Sean, Mark, and Felix stood with someone in their arms. Without hesitation, they threw him down the stairs, grunting pain as he fell farther and farther. Finally, he came to a stop next to Ex, who instinctively ran to grab him. He looked at the face, hoping to see who it was.

It was Admiral Markus.

Immediately, Ex's impulses of rage flew in as he punched Markus in the jaw, sending him flying into the ground, seemingly knocking him out. He sighed in relief as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He sighed and looked to Felix.

"Why is he here?" he asked, his voice breathless. He looked to Skye, who was restraining herself from doing the same as what he just did.

"He is our best lead when it comes to finding where they were taken," Felix said, "We get him to talk, we find our friends and families."

A small chuckle came from Markus as he looked up at Ex, blood seeping in his teeth.

"Try."

He brought his tongue up and suddenly, his emotions changed. He went from cocky to afraid after he realized he was missing a tooth. Ex looked to where he was facing and saw a small white tooth on the floor. He quickly stomped on it, causing a white foamy liquid to spew out onto the floor. He looked to Markus.

"Cyanide." He grabbed Markus by the collar and lifted him onto his legs, his blood rising more and more. Before he could speak again, a fist flew into Markus' jaw and this time, knocked him out cold. Ex laid him against the stairs and looked to Skye, who was panting from the sheer force of the punch.

"That feels so worth it," Skye said. Ex nodded.

"Now the question is how do we make him talk?" Ex asked. Felix shrugged.

"Maybe we can find something in this place to help," he said.

"What?" he asked. Without warning, however, Ex fell in pain as a huge headache overtook him. Mat simply put his hand to his forehead while Chesh just sat down, trying to calm it. Though he was failing, Ex felt something take hold on his mind as the pain completely disappeared in a sudden wave of calm. He looked around the room as he stood, a smile suddenly growing onto his face.

"I think I have an idea," he said, stepping up to the table, "OBIS, can you find anything about what he fears?"

Not even a minute later, Markus was leaning off the edge of a large cliffside. Around them, the mountainside was surrounding them, falling into a deep dark blue sea. The sea was populated with sharp-edged rocks and mini cliffs. Small cracks ran up the rocks and many different materials littered the side. The detail resembled a DreamWorks movie, and Ex found that amazing. But he couldn't dwell on that.

The admiral was out cold. Well, not for much longer. With Ex closing his nose, the admiral woke with a gasp and looked around until he turned around and didn't see the ground. He gripped the arm that was holding him, only for him to look back and see Ex grasping his shirt tightly. Ex chuckled.

"Joined the air force to be a pilot," he chuckled, his voice distorted, "But you have a fear of heights. Weird."

"Why are you doing this?!" he strained, trying to sound calm, while only making himself sound more afraid. Ex tilted his head.

"You know why." His voice was stern and his eyes didn't leave his face. His grip didn't leave his jacket, but he felt it slip more and more from his fingers. Ex saw the confusion in his eyes and sighed.

"A: Colinne," he said, causing him to jerk a slight bit, "And B: You're our best way to find out where they took our friends."

Markus chuckled, "What do you want me to do?"

Ex shrugged, "I dunno, how about tell us where they take their prisoners."

He laughed out loud, "You think they would tell me?"

Ex turned around to the rest of the group, watching him trying to gain info out of him.

"Any ideas?" he asked. Felix stepped forward.

"Tell us the truth, Marky," Felix said, "Or the last thing going through your mind will be your shins."

Markus tried to play it off, "Ha, I-I don't think you u-understand. I-I'm basically a pawn in their plan, so why would they tell me anything?"

"A pawn?" Ex asked, "To me, you see yourself like a queen or bishop type player in his game."

Markus laughed nervously, "Well then…"

Ex smiled behind his mask, "You want to talk, or am I gonna have to make you?"

"Try," Markus said, spitting in his face. Ex looked at Felix and Mark, who were shaking their heads in frustration. Ex shrugged.

"Suit yourself." Ex, without warning, released his grip on Markus' jacket. The screaming began but was slowly silenced by his ever-growing distance between them. Ex knew that he had a little bit of time, so he watched his friends reactions turn from frustration to fear. Ex looked at them and shrugged.

"He was asking for it," he said, waiting another moment, then sighing, "Alright. I got this."

His eyes chenged color and, with finesse, he leaned back and let gravity pull him off the cliff. He positioned himself into a dive position and let the air around him keep pushing him until he was right next to Markus. He was screaming like there was no tomorrow and his face was pale white. His loose clothing flapped in the wind. He looked to Ex, who was seemingly relaxing at the moment. His hands were behind his head and he was pretending to be asleep. Markus panicked as the sea grew ever closer.

"Fine!" he shouted, "I'll tell you about it! I have a contact to meet soon!"

Ex turned to him and only stared at him.

Mark stood in shock while Felix watched the cliffside intently. Chesh stepped forward.

"Why would he do that?!" he shouted. Felix held his hand out like a stop sign.

"For a reason." On cue, Markus' screams came into focus, as well as what resembled an engine. Their focus returned to the cliff as finally, the noise became clear as day, and Markus came flying up onto the upper cliffside. Markus, still on the ground, shuffled away from the edge in fear. Then, Ex hopped up the edge, seemingly like out of Peter Pan. Felix ran over to Ex, whose smile was gleaming through his mask, and looked at him.

"I got the info," he said, "Let's get a move on."

He walked over and grabbed Markus by the sleeve and dragged him a small distance before he stood up and shakily followed. Chesh chuckled and looked to Skye, who was in shock.

"I don't know what side of him that was," she said smiling, "But I like it."

"I didn't know he had that in him," Chesh said, following them and teleporting into a different world, "He's usually quiet and kind. Guess Markus did something really wrong. Oh wait, he did."

Skye smirked, "I can see him getting into a lot of trouble with that side of him."

"He almost never shows it," Chesh says, "He prefers to be respectful and kind, as previously stated."

"But why?" she questioned, "Why to be kind in the face of what happens?"

"Don't ask me," Chesh said, "Gonna have to ask him yourself."

Skye watched as Ex pulled Markus in the right direction and then pushed him against the wall. He didn't convey much emotion in the moment, but he was enraged. Everyone could tell.

"Now," Ex said, his voice stern and deep, "You're going to meet this contact of yours and you are going to get as much information out of him as possible. You got me?"

Markus nodded, "Find out where they went, simple."

"Good," Ex said, "Any funny shit you got up your sleeve, don't try it. Got it?"

Markus nodded and Ex sighed, "Good. Get in there."

Markus nodded again and Ex walked him to the door of what looked like a pub. The wall around it was just brick, no windows, no parking. Just this building in a very big alleyway. Immediately, the look was what gave it away: it was the same world Colinne was in. It was the first world they had ever dropped into, and it seemed like this was a place nowhere close to the city they were in. This seemed like a red-light district, and they were going to wait here until Markus returned. To some, this was a joke.

To them, this was life or death.

Ex stood, tapping his foot in frustration and impatience, while the rest of the group waited patiently for what felt like an hour. In reality, it was less than twenty minutes before Markus came stumbling out of the pub, seemingly drunk. Then, he leaned against the wall, casually. Ex stepped up to him.

"So, what?" he asked. Markus chuckled.

"According to him," he said, "They are locked up in a chamber that slo…"

"Not what we asked for," Mark said, stepping towards him.

"I know," Markus said, "He did tell me things, but not where to find your friends."

"Shit," Chesh said. Markus held a hand up.

"But," he said, "You could take that information from one of their army fleet ships. That way, you could both see what they have in store and find your friends. There was also another thing."

"And that is?" Skye asked. Markus looked at her and sighed.

"They are planning on finding a place," he said, "Someplace called Centerpoint."

Ex's heart skipped a beat, "Why?"

Markus looked at him, "The guy said something about it having a way of getting to a place called Zero."

"Zero?" Chesh asked, then looking to Felix and mouthing World Zero. Ex stepped forward.

"Welp, if that's all," he said, "You're free to go."

Without hesitation, he sprinted away from the group at speeds Ex didn't know were possible. Ex chuckled for only a moment before he walked toward the group.

"So he's saying World Zero," Mark thought aloud, "That means…"

"That's our key home," Felix said, a smile gripping more onto his face. Ex, however, stopped it instantly.

"We first need to get our friends back," he said, "The longer we stay here, the less time they have."

"Well then, smarty," Sean said, "Where are we going to find a fleet of ships?"

Ex brought his finger to his ear, "OBIS, care to assist?"

"It will take me a while, Ex," OBIS said, "My advice is for you to keep exploring the base. It may yield some surprises."

"Can't you do that already?" Sean asked OBIS as they all jumped and landed safely into the meeting room, the circular table now blinking with OBIS' words.

"I can," he said, "But Ex has already assigned me to find a faint radio signal. It may not seem like much, but something as minuscule as his watch would need hundreds of watts of power. I would need more power to achieve that level of multitasking."

"How can we do that?" Felix asked.

"In my research," OBIS replied, "It is a very delicate task, so I would advise against it."

"Alright, on foot it is." Mark walked towards the hall to the right of the table followed by Sean and Felix while Ex, Chesh, and Skye went down the left. Felix and Mark stood side by side as Sean trailed behind, still in the conversation. They wanted to get home, this was their chance, but Mark kept saying.

"I don't think I could live with the guilt," he said, "I mean, yeah, we get home. But we leave these people to die."

"But what if we die?" Sean questioned. It was a good question. No one in this base wanted to put their lives on the line, but something wasn't adding up. Why them? What was so special about them? They were just people who played games for a living. How were they, a random group of people, heroes? Mark shrugged.

"I guess we'll find out soon," he said. The trio finally came to an opening, leading into a largely lit room, having two floors with the top being a balcony looking into what looked like a small park. Surrounding it was a reflective sheet metal. Sean walked over and nearly pressed his face against the glass.

"What is that?" he asked. Lights on the wall appeared and began blinking.

"That is a sanctuary," OBIS said, "It has one of the last remaining Glowisti trees in this world. They are a rare species of trees that create a soft humming and emanate a soft white glow. It is low enough for humans to hear, but machines seem to scramble at its sound."

"So basically it's a signal jammer?" Mark said, "Cool."

"This, combined with an electronic field shield the base from being tracked and anything that approaches it within a 20-mile radius around the island."

"Awesome," Sean said, "It can sort of hear it right now."

Listening closer, Mark could faintly hear the sound of what sounded like a deep rumbling hum coming from the tree. It sounded like a far-off car motor or the sound of a distant earthquake. It was menacing, yes, but it also had a somewhat calming effect on Mark as he felt his eyelids suddenly close. He stood up straight in response, jostling his mind awake. He sighed.

"Alright," he said, "What I need is a night of sleep."

"Yeah, look," Felix said, pointing out and towards the reflective metal. It now shone a light red and pink, signaling that it was almost night. OBIS suddenly began blinking like crazy.

"Indeed," he said, "Well, I shall go find your friends. Who knows where they are now."

OBIS blinked away, leaving them in a slightly less bright room. Mark looked back at Felix, who was now walking back towards the meeting room. Sean ran ahead of him and back to the meeting room while Mark only walked next to Felix. The two walked in silence for a moment before Felix spoke.

"My god," he chuckled, "I haven't asked how you've been!"

Mark laughed at that, "I mean, getting shot at doesn't help with that. But, yeah, I've been fine. I heard about you and Marzia, congrats!"

Felix smiled, "Thanks, let's get ourselves to bed and we'll talk in the morning."

Mark nodded, "Look, I don't know about this. What's our next move?"

Felix thought for a moment, "Why are you asking me? I'm no leader. Hell, I think Ex could be a better leader than I could."

"With my anger problems? Hell no!"

Felix looked up and saw Ex standing around the table with Chesh and Skye, though, only Skye and Ex were smiling. Chesh was softly ranting to himself about something Felix couldn't hear. Ex looked at him.

"Dude, there's so much here!" he shouted excitedly, "Hangars for cars and planes, futuristic battle arenas and dojos, even a damn gun range! This place is amazing!"

Felix nodded, "Okay, that's cool and all, but I believe we should get off to bed soon. It's almost night."

"Alright," Ex said, "Let's get to da choppa."

Skye chuckled and Mark looked up at him, "You watched that?"

"No," he said, looking to Skye, "It's just popular."

Mark nodded, "Bad timing, good reference."

Ex nodded, "Let's go then."

Entering the teleporter one by one, the group filed into now a large room filled with multiple doors. Judging by the room size, Felix could count about twenty-four, enough for all of them and more. The room was divided into two stories, twelve on the bottom, twelve on the top. There were no stairs, the only thing lighting the room was a to what looked like a large energy beam flowing up through the roof base. Felix was about to question it, but OBIS spoke first.

"This is the chamber for you all," he said, "The center pillar contains a large circulation of energy needed for this section due to all of these doors leading to pocket dimensions."

Ex looked at the blinking light, "Woah, woah, woah, woah, wait. You're saying that all of these doors lead to other dimensions?"

"More or less something along those lines," OBIS replied, "It is way more complicated. I can elaborate if you wish."

"No thanks, OBIS," Sean said, rubbing his temples, "Just point us in the right direction to our rooms."

OBIS obliged and pointed each of them in the direction of each of their rooms. When all was said and done, only Ex, Felix, and Skye stood outside the rooms. Before Ex could speak, something grabbed him and pulled him. He fell down and onto his back, only for his reflexes to kick in as he bounced back onto his feet. He looked at Skye, who was still grasping his arm, and then to Felix.

"Yes?" he asked Skye.

"I have to talk to you," she said, "Alone."

"Oh this isn't good," Alexi said, mentally.

"Yep, but might as well." He nodded and followed her back to the teleporter where they appeared back in the main meeting room. There, Ex caught a quick glimpse of someone walking to where they were going earlier and he was about to question Skye when she looked at him sternly.

"You didn't keep your promise," she said. Ex was confused for a moment, then remembered.

"The finding you a world thing?" he said, "Well, let's see, I was teleported to a different world, saw a good friend of ours die right in front of me, yeah, I've been a little busy."

Skye slammed down on the table, "Don't make excuses!"

"What do you mean?!" Ex shouted back, "If you're lost, I'm just as lost as you are! I have nowhere to go, I learn I'm a superhero, and now I realize that a family member is being held captive by the Crystalites and I have yet to tell the rest because I want them to have a good night's rest! What the fuck do you want me to do?!"

Skye was silent before sighing, "I just need a home, that's all."

Ex finally felt the empathy and guilt roll over him as he tried to think. His mind was scattered at the moment, and he was tired of thinking for the day. He looked at her then down at the table.

"I mean," he said, "You could stay with us for a while. I mean, there are plenty of rooms here for you to sleep in."

Skye looked at him, "And possibly be murdered? No thanks."

Finally Ex came out, "What is your problem with us?"

"It's not you," she said, "It's what you are."

"Kinda hypocritical then, isn't it, Skylar Sallow."

Ex knew he caught her off guard when he looked at her and her face suddenly turned to shock. Ex walked around the table, talking as he went.

"Skylar Sallow," he repeated, "Born with a deformity in her lungs that made it hard for her to breath, hard for her to think, and very easy to get angry."

"Stop it," Skye said, holding back her anger. Ex continued, however.

"Your father was a decorated soldier your mother was a highly regarded doctor, known for saving countless lives. Though everything I just said, they loved you. They cared for you. But most importantly…"

"...they were human."

"I said, stop it." Her voice was stern, her anger was seeping through more and more. Ex knew he had to get to a spot where she wouldn't treat him like trash, know the direness of the info he had, and he knew just the trick.

"July 16, 2014," he said, looking at her reaction of more anger, "That was the day you changed. All it took were some hateful words and a molotov cocktail. Your parents and you were coming back from a friend's home in the city, and you were forced to drive through a heated protest. Out of all the cars there, yours was chosen to be beaten. Suddenly, some guy without warning threw a molotov cocktain into a broken window. Before long, the whole car was burning, and everyone was laughing at the burning victims, well, that is until you screamed for help. That was when a good samaritan came in and saved you, right?"

Skye looked at him, blood boiling, "Don't continue."

"Why?" Ex asked, taking another step towards her, "You're just like me, just like Felix, just like every person in this gosh darn base. And you are telling me that because after that moment, and your consciousness being moved into a white wolf body, that you are somehow better than us?"

Finally, she shattered in rage. She lunged at the teen, who only leaned to the side and dodged her attack. She fell onto the floor but was persistent. She stood and tried to punch him several times, to which either he dodged it or blocked them. Then, she finally threw a punch and Ex caught it. Now, his hand began to glow blue and Skye suddenly couldn't move, even as she jerked her body around to move. Ex sighed.

"You don't have to be like this," he said, "Just listen to me."

"No!" she shouted as she jerked around even more. Now, she sounded desperate. Ex sighed again.

"Look," he said, "Listen to me."

"Why should I?" she grunted.

"Because we want to help you," he said, finally letting go of her hand. He walked back to the table and sat on the side looking at her stand.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked as if the previous couple of minutes never happened. Skye stood and walked over to Ex, standing close. Really close. Ex leaned back a slight bit in response, only for her to place her head on his shoulder. Then, he felt her jump slightly as she began sobbing. Ex sighed and patted her back.

"Alright," he said calmly, "Let it out."

Her sobs grew in emotion, and Ex stood there as his shoulder became damp from tears. During this, Ex felt himself blush hard as he stood there for what felt like 20 minutes letting Skye cry into his shoulder. He constantly comforted her until she finally stood and looked at Ex.

"Better?" Ex asked. Skye nodded hesitantly.

"I just…" she said, "It's been hard to do something like that ever since that day."

Ex nodded, only able to sympathize with her. He patted her shoulder and leaned back onto the table, pressing down on a button. Skye sniffled and moved away from him.

"What else did you find?" she questioned. Ex was silent before she looked at him with a uset stare and he sighed.

"Your consciousness was transferred into a wolf body," he said, "Though, I read something about 'genetic enhancements.' Any clarification?"

She sighed, "Yeah. I'm basically a weapon made for strategic operations. They made me a monster. And monsters don't deserve homes."

"You're not a monster," Ex said, "You're just hurt. Really hurt."

She rolled her eyes, "Stop sounding like you know what this feels like. You don't."

"I know," he said, "But that doesn't mean I can't try to make you feel better."

"But why?" she asked, "With all the bad things in this world, the people, the business', and whatnot, why are you being kind to someone who has done bad things through their life?"

Ex stared at her for a moment, an answer not coming to him for a moment. He thought of his morals, his ideals, and more before he came with a response.

"To some, there is such a thing as good and evil," he said, "To others, it's all gray. To some, you're a monster. To others, you're just someone in pain. In some cases, you gotta look at it through one or the other lens. Sometimes you gotta see in black and white, but also be able to see in gray."

Skye was silent, "Then… what about the Crystalites? You have no qualms with killing them, right?"

Ex shrugged, "To me, they're just robots. They can be reprogrammed into anything they want. Organic life, however, is far more valuable than that."

Skye chuckled, "Preacher."

Ex leaned back, "Preacher?! Where'd you get that?"

"Nothing," she said, "Just something that popped into my head."

Ex laughed and placed his hand on the table, "Well, if that's all, then I'm off to bed."

Skye nodded, "You guys have a lot of work to do."


Beth felt drowsy. She felt like all of her body parts had increased weight by a hundred tons. She looked around and realized that she was laying down on some type of bed suspended above the ground. Below, there was a white soft padded floor with lines streaking across, showing the pads themselves. Without thinking, Beth accidentally rolled off the bed and onto the soft pads. She groaned as she put her legs and arms underneath her and tried to stand. A pair of hands gripped her shoulders.

"You alright?" Crystal's familiar voice asked. Beth nodded as she stood.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, "Are you?"

He nodded, "I'm fine. Got hit in the head pretty bad, though."

Beth sighed, "Where are we?"

"No clue." Crystal stood next to her as they looked around them, seeing they were in a room with a single open wall, revealing multiple rooms that were the same as theirs. She saw that everyone of them was filled with at least one individual.

"Where are we?" she asked Crystal.

"We thought you'd know."

She looked over to the voice and saw a familiar blue fur vixen standing in a cell adjacent to them. Crystal stood at the entrance.

"Krystal!" he loudly whispered. Before he could say anything else, Krystal stopped him.

"Don't come towards me," she said, "There is some type of barrier stopping us."

Beth hesitantly brought her leg up and pushed it until she felt it stop against an invisible wall. Nothing reacted to it, no light, just an invisible wall in between them and a large hallway. She looked at her.

"Don't worry," Beth said, "Everyone is working on finding us and saving us."

Another voice spoke, "Hopefully, they don't involve hurting the people we love."

Crystal looked over to the right, "Wait is that…"

"Yeah, yeah," Frozone said, "Can't talk now. Wait."

On cue, a sudden burst followed by loud stomps accompanied figures approaching their cell. They were Crystalites. Crystal immediately dragged Beth to the back of the cell as they stopped in front of them. Then, one walked through the invisible barrier and to them, staring down at them, emotionless.

"You have been ordered to meet the head of this facility as soon as you awoke," the thing said, its voice void and deep. Beth stood.

"And if we decline?" she said. The robot grabbed her arm in response.

"That was an order."

A sudden shock and pain overwhelmed her side as she fell to the ground and gripped her side in pain. Crystal immediately bent down to help her, while waving off the Crystalite.

"Alright! Alright!" he said, "We'll come. Chill out!"

The Crystalite grabbed Beth and Crystal and began pushing and shoving them out of the cell. Looking around, there weren't just a couple of cells like theirs. There were a couple thousand cells like theirs. Up to three people in one cell occupied something similar to a prison, except it didn't seem all that loud. Most of the cells were as quiet, leaving nothing but a soft breeze blowing through the building. The room was shaped like a circle, the cells going up and up higher until they became small dots in the sky. They then walked out into the center of the room, which was in the shape of a circle surrounded by a ring, and they stopped. The Crystalite in front of them turned to look at them.

"On our command, you will jump up and land on both feet, understood?"

Crystal nodded hesitantly while Beth nodded with confidence. She wasn't going to let the robots get to her. She obeyed the order as the bot nodded and she jumped half an inch off the ground, only for her vision to blur for a moment before they landed in a completely different room. They were now in a rectangular room, now with a black and green color scheme. She couldn't recall any more details as she was still reeling from the pain in her side and she was now being forced to move at a near snails pace towards a group of seemingly normal people. The room was silent all except for the clacking of keys and a faint sound that she couldn't recognize. Then, they were stopped. They looked at each other than to loud noise at the front: a much taller figure approaching them. The figure was taller, but it was learner, skinnier, and its face was distorted as if it was burned to a crisp then painted back on. Before any more could be seen, the figure grabbed a white mask and placed it on his face. He groaned in pain for a moment before the mask morphed into a horrifying smile. It looked at the two prisoners before it spoke.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" he shouted, "Welcome!"

The room remained silent before it spoke again, "Welcome to your forever home here! Enjoying your stay so far?"

"Umm, define enjoy," Crystal said, "Being locked behind an invisible wall? If that's what you call enjoyment, then yeah, ten outta ten stars experience."

"Great!" he said, approaching them, "If you don't remember, oh wait, you don't."

He began laughing, and everyone except Squaishy and Crystal-Flame. The laughs were robotic except for his. His was creepy, like something you'd hear from the Joker. It wasn't one of enjoyment. It was one of what sounded like pure insanity. Then, it all silenced.

"Now," he said, "If you do not recall, I am…"

"The bad guy?" Beth interrupted, "I could kinda tell. Kidnapping people, shocking them, and much more."

His smile twitched, "Yes, about that. I will explain later. Now, before you so rudely interrupted, I am Omiteksiu."

Crystal looked to Beth nervously, "Am I supposed to know what that means?"

"Crystal King," Beth said to him, "It means Crystal King."

"Yes!" he shouted, his voice seemingly booming through the room, "I am the Crystal King, leader of the Crystalites. And you are supposed to be my enemies. Ruthless robot killers."

He approached the two and skimmed his hand over Beth's face creepily, "You look like the wind elemental. I remember your ancestors destroying my armies in just a single swing of your staff. Your powers were by far the most amazing to me."

"And you, son. Your powers are by far the most powerful we've seen in centuries. You could destroy battleships with a single punch and fly faster than any of my soldiers. Both of you with amazing abilities."

"And now you're in the palm of my hand."

"Wait," Beth said, "Did you say 'centuries?'"

"Yes indeed," he said, "Our fights with these powers have been going on for hundreds of years. Without stopping."

Crystal looked to Beth, "Um, okay then… So, what do you want with us?"

"It's not you," he said, "It's what you can give me. Allow me to show you."

He walked past them and motioned to the guards for them to follow him. He pushed through a door and then it came into focus: the noise was screaming. They stood on a balcony that overlooked a large sphere, circulating electricity everywhere. Below it was the screaming, though they couldn't make out how many there were. The Crystal King laughed.

"This is the final step in our Crystalization process," he said, "You'll be our last group of subjects to have this treatment."

Crystal stepped back, "What are you doing to them?"

The King sighed, "Didn't you hear what I just said. I told you, this is the last step in the Crystalization process. Oh wait, you don't know what it is."

"No shit," Crystal replied. The King then grabbed his shoulders and lifted him up with near feather-like ease.

"This process," he said, "Is a process that has given us the edge for the past hundreds of years. We take the powers from the owners, spread it to our men, then kill the user. Simple."

Beth swallowed, hard, "But, why?"

He chuckled, "We would be at a tactical disadvantage in every case if we didn't do this."

"But…" Crystal didn't finish as the King turned around to them.

"Send them back to the cells," he said, "Have them say their goodbyes to everyone."

Being shocked was one thing, but being catapulted into a wall was another for Beth. She was really hurt now. She felt as if she pulled a muscle as she stood. Krystal came to the edge of her cell and looked at her.

"Is everything alright?" she asked. Beth nodded.

"I'm fine," she said, coming to her senses. Crystal, however, was panicking, pacing around next to Beth as she stood. He kept cursing under his breath as they waited. Then, someone noticed.

"Ey, kid," Frozone said, "You alright?"

Finally, he shattered, "Do you think that I'm alright when I know that these things are going to kill us all?!"

The room was silent for a moment, then Krystal came even closer to the cell exit.

"What?" she questioned. Beth groaned as she stood.

"They're doing something terrible," Beth said, "They're taking the powers from people and then... killing them."

The temperature of the room dropped, and Beth could tell. They were in for a long, long night.


Evan exhaled slowly as he placed his feet onto the small cylinder of wood. Looking down, it was about a fifteen-foot drop from where he was standing and his legs began to shake. Then, a voice brought him out of his fear.

"Do not focus on the ground," a voice came from behind. He turned around and saw Anahella balancing one foot on a single pillar while staring at him. The single action of looking at him helped to alleviate a portion of the fear that he was experiencing. Another voice came to him.

"You got this, man!" Ex shouted from below. He breathed heavily and then closed his eyes as words fluctuated through his mind. IN. OUT. IN. OUT. Then, he felt calm, only then for a force to knock his feet out from underneath him. As if instinctively, he grabbed for the pillar underneath him. His fingerless gloves cushioned a part of the fall and he felt his body stop falling. His muscles strained as they held his body up in a plank position above the pillars. He looked to Anahella, who was grinning and then went down about an inch before he propelled himself upwards. He pushed his legs forwards and landed on the small surface without much grace, but stood straight up and looked to Anahella. She chuckled.

"Now you're getting it," she said as she went into a fighting-ready position. Evan followed suit and waited. The room went silent, then, Anahella swung high with her staff. Evan reflexively wanted to duck, but instead, he grabbed the staff and kicked her in the side, knocking her off balance. She fell but caught herself on two pillars. She looked back to Evan, who now held her staff at her neck, and she chuckled again.

"You spend so much time looking up top," she said, removing her cloak, "You are afraid to look down below."

In an instant, she wrapped her cloak around his waist and dragged him down with her as they fell and hit the ground below hard. Though it was padded, Evan felt all the air leave his lungs and his back ached. He groaned as he tried to stand while Anahella got up with minimal effort.

"You must learn how to cushion a fall," she said, "For your lungs, I mean."

Evan nodded, "Yep, could kinda interpret that."

"It takes practice," she said, aiding to his feet, "You'll understand eventually."

Evan grabbed a towel and motioned for her to follow, "We've got food. You can eat here if you want."

She chuckled and waved it off, "No, no. I'd just be a burden."

Evan shrugged, "Alright, your choice."

Evan walked out and into a locker room. Ex stood there waiting for him to finish and he watched him enter breathlessly. He sat down and Ex stood next to him, waiting for a moment before speaking.

"You good?" he asked. Evan sighed.

"Yeah," he said, "It's just been a rough couple of days recently."

"I know," Ex said, "Learning about the family thing, Beth and Crystal, and much more. I understand you."

"Yeah," he said, "But I'm having trouble with the stuff Anahella is trying to teach us. I mean, acrobatics is fun, but it takes a while to get used to again."

Ex nodded, "I guess we have no other choice in this matter. Either we learn it or people pay with their lives."

Evan sighed grimly. Ex stood and walked into the training room while Evan stood and approached the door leaving the locker room. His chest rose up and down as he climbed the stairs leading to the cafe area. There, Mat, Steph, and Gaijin sat and were talking while looking at a holographic projection of something that looked similar to the star destroyer from Star Wars. He walked up to the group as the conversation became clear.

"... that's why it's almost impossible to-" Gaijin stopped as he saw Evan approaching. He waved him over and Evan knelt down next to them.

"So," he asked, "Anything?"

Mat shook his head, "Well, whatever we used to destroy these things, it was powerful."

Evan tilted his head, "What do you mean?"

"Well," Gaijin said, "The armor of each ship is thick. Very thick. As in about ten feet thick steel and sometimes titanium."

"God damn," Evan said, "Where is this weapon?"

"We had it," he said, "But we lost him just yesterday."

Evan straightened, "Crystal-Flame, you mean?"

Steph nodded, "Take a look at this."

Steph flipped over a tablet she had next to her and faced the screen towards Evan. The video was in a futuristic setting and above what looked like a crowded city. Screams were faintly heard as the camera panned up to see a large futuristic warship floating over the city, like something out of Star Wars. Evan was about to quip when what sounded like a boom emanated around the city, causing the screams to quiet down. Then, with a loud crash, something crashed into the side of the ship, causing it to tilt over to its left. Then, in a fiery explosion, the ship shattered into hundreds of pieces in a mere second. Finally, the thing that crashed into the large ship shot upwards into the sky above. It stopped, hovering a couple of feet above the debris as the camera zoomed in.

It looked like Crystal, only if he didn't have any limbs or a head. They were see-through, like they weren't even there. He looked around and flew like he was Superman and he suddenly turned to the camera. In a sudden shake of the camera, the holder and Crystal were flying above a now collapsing building. It fell from the bottom outwards like a failed science experiment with an exploding container. Finally, Evan leaned back into the real world.

"Jeez," he said, "What's up with him?"

"Something about his past," Steph said, "Something happened that gave him these abilities, and we have some crazy abilities as well."

"Like?" Evan asked. Mat sighed and leaned backward off his chair before bringing his right arm to his chest then extending it to Evan. By magic, a shield appeared on his arm, a yellow goldish glow emitting from it. Evan was taken aback.

"Holy shit!" he laughed. Mat chuckled as the shield dissipated from his arm into a yellow mist. Mat kept smiling.

"Well then," he said, "This will be interesting."

On cue, a loud alarm began blaring through the base, the blue hue color replaced by a blinking deep red. Evan jumped up and ran to the meeting area and stopped at the table. He was shortly joined by Mat and Steph, Gaijin following behind with Ex and Anahella. Then, the whole group came from the sleeping chambers, starting with Mark and Felix. Everyone was tired. They weren't willing to listen as OBIS brought up a picture of a large Crystalite invading into what looked like an island village. Felix sighed.

"Why are they doing this now?" he questioned.

"Because they wait for no one," Anahella said, stepping forward, "Now you must go and help these people."

"But why?" Chesh questioned, "Why do we have to do it? Can't they do it themselves?"

Anahella groaned, "They aren't equipped to protect themselves against a force like them. Only you all can."

Ex and Evan looked at each other and shrugged while everyone else gave a hesitant response except for Chesh, who kept speaking.

"I mean, come on!" he said, "We are just normal people, for fucks sake! We aren't superheroes, we're just a bunch of lazy gamers and normal people."

The room was silent for a moment, letting all that knowledge sink in. Reality sunk in, making some who were optimistic feel a little down. Chesh didn't stop.

"Look, I know that we all want to save our friends," he said, "But I want to go home, and so does everyone in this room. We can find our way home and get the military to come after them. I mean, they know more than us."

Finally, Anahella stabbed her staff into the ground, causing the room to silent in the echo. She looked at Chesh angrily and she looked at everyone else.

"Is that so?" she asked Chesh, who nodded confidently, "Then, I want you all to think practically right now. When they are finished with all of these worlds, most likely killing your friends in the process, where do you think they will go next?"

"World Zero," Ex admitted, "You've got a point."

"But…" Chesh tried to speak before Anahella sternly cut him off.

"Listen to me, all of you!" she shouted, her anger finally spilling out, "This is your time to make them see who you are. What you can do. You all know you can stop them, the problem is that you can't see past the fact of who you are right now. Stop that! That is the moment you stop believing about who you were, and instead, believe in what you can be. Believe that this is an addition to you rather than a subtraction. Don't let it be your detriment."

Again, silence rang through the room. Nobody knew what to say, all except for nothing. It echoed for a minute before Chesh grumbled.

"But what if we die?" he questioned. Without hesitation, Evan stepped forward and spoke confidently.

"We won't."