It took days, multiple bot scrapings, engineering, and much more. but finally, they had it. Chesh and Stampy stood at the table, anxiously waiting for Anahella to arrive and help them. Skye and Ex stood with them though staring at the phone in Ex's hand while Stampy and Chesh somewhat stressed. The room was silent again, only to the sound of Ex sliding his finger on the screen of the phone and Stampy bouncing his knee up and down extremely quickly. Then, Ex threw his phone on the table in frustration.

"I don't know how," he said frustrated, "But the phone is at low battery."

"Shit," Chesh said, "OBIS, can you charge it?"

"Yes, I can," OBIS replied quickly, "Joe, could you please take it to Ex's room for me? Because, as you can see, I can not really do that myself."

"Okay," he replied. He grabbed it and left the room in a sudden rush of air. The group had quickly learned their powers. Joe and Dave, as well as possibly Beth, were spirit users. They were able to control the spirits to their abilities. Mat, Steph, and Gaijin were summoners, able to bring weapons to their disposal at any time. Evan, Delirious, and Brian had numerous abilities and were one of the few groups that had different abilities for each other. Same with Ex, Chesh, and Crystal and Felix, Mark, and Sean. Ian, Crainer, and Dan were more magical beings, using magical abilities to their advantage.

Using the skills they had acquired in the few days they waited, they were able to fix up machines, learn more about their pasts, and much more. But, they knew they were going to need something to help them take on multiple Crystalites at once. But according to Ex, he had that covered.

As he did, OBIS kept going, "Well, now I believe it is a good time for you three to make some progress," he said, "Chesh, how about you and Skye go find Anahella since she is running late."

"What about me and Ex? We both go back a long time," he said.

"What is your problem with me?" Skye asked.

"I don't mean to make this sound personal," Chesh said, "But we've known each other since fifth grade. I just learned your name about a week ago."

"Alright, alright you two," Ex said, "I think what OBIS means by that is I know Fox more than you two and I can convince him more."

"No, I am just tired of the two arguing so much," OBIS said. Ex sighed while Skye and Chesh couldn't help but laugh. Ex softly laughed with them before Ex smiled at the table.

"Not helping, OBIS," he chuckled.

"Sorry."

Ex chuckled more and patted Skye and Chesh on the shoulders, "Okay, I'm gonna head out."

Ex quickly flicked his wrist and he quickly disappeared from the base. Chesh and Skye stood alone for a minute, watching the late afternoon sky above shine faint stars into the lightly illuminated room. Skye was the first to speak.

"So," she said, "What now?"

"We wait, I guess," Chesh said. He leaned against the table and sighed. Skye shook her head.

"This whole thing is a mess," she said.

"I don't even know how Ex can stay so positive," Chesh said, "When it comes to life or death situations, he always tries to stay fuckin' positive. I don't know how!"

"Yeah," she said, "At times he seems like he doesn't care."

"Oh, he does," Chesh said, "He cares a lot about anyone he knows. No friend or family left behind."

"The definition of a hero," Skye said. Chesh scoffed.

"One day, that may get him killed," he said, "I hope that day isn't going to happen soon."

"I wouldn't count on it."

Skye and Chesh turned around and saw Anahella tiredly approach them. She looked as if she hadn't gotten any sleep in the past few days. She looked as if she had been thinking for a while before she got here. She stumbled with each step, causing her to lean on her staff for support. She slowly hobbled over as Chesh stepped over for support. She gladly took it and they finally stopped on the last step and she sat down.

"Ex is someone on this team to fear," she said, "Not to say any of you aren't."

"No offense taken," Chesh replied, "Thanks again for coming on such short notice."

"My pleasure," she said, "So, what is it that you require?"

"Well," Skye said, "We're waiting on Ex for the other part."

"Other part?"


Ex walked around the town and pressed his finger to his ear, trying to contact the Star Fox team but to no avail. He sighed in frustration and decided another way was better.

"Hey, Alexi," he mentally spoke, "You got any ideas on how to find him?"

"I may have a way," he said, "But we do this under the condition that when we find him, I do the fighting."

"And let you have all the fun?" he chuckled, "Nah. Believe me, I got this."

"If you get beat up, don't expect me to get you back up."

"Okay, so now what?" Ex asked. Ex felt Alexi pull him in a direction and stop in front of a bar.

"Here," he said, "That's what Falco told us, remember?"

Ex nodded and pulled up his hoodie as he approached the entrance to the bar. He grabbed the door handle, inhaled sharply, and entered.

The bar was not very full, only about ten or so people populated the tables surrounding the bar in the middle. In the outer tables, there were multiple full four-seat tables. Including one with a group of six guys sitting at one table just his left. He only swiftly looked at the group before proceeding forward to the bar.

At the bar, the center pillar was covered with bottles and lit with neon lights while surrounded by a wooden finish. The bartender was a very large primate-looking animal who noticed him and motioned him to sit next to another figure. One with a gray T-shirt and long blue jeans, covering up metallic legs and boots while also improving on his fit physique. He looked to the side and his eyes widened as Ex sat down.

"Anything for ya?" the bartender asked. Ex nodded.

"Something non-alcoholic for tonight," Ex said, giving his best deep voice impression, "'Else the wife'll kill me."

The bartender chuckled, "Sure thing."

Ex sighed and looked to Fox, who looked as if he'd seen a ghost. He chuckled to him.

"What's up, doc?" Ex asked. Fox shook out of his shock.

"How's it going?" he asked quietly.

"Pretty good," he said, watching him put his drink down, "We think we have an idea of where she is."

Fox turned to him quicker than he expected, "Then what are you doing here?"

"We need your help," he said, "You know her more than any of us."

"Done, I'm in," Fox said. The two smiled as Fox finished his drink and Ex grabbed his drink and attempted to drink as fast as possible, causing him to choke and spit out the drink into the glass. He chuckled and put the glass down and turned to Fox, unintentionally smiling as if he were drunk. Fox scoffed and turned back to the bartender.

"He's on me." The bartender nodded and turned away to grab the bill. In a mere second, something shot past his head and to the middle pillar, shattering multiple bottles. Fox spun around and watched as the group of six stood and approached them. He sighed and looked to Ex, who seemed to be zoning out for a moment before one of the guys, a large alligator covered in red scales, grabbed him and spun him around. Ex looked at them and, surprising Fox and the alligator smiled confidently.

"Evening, gentlemen," he said, "How y'all doin'?"

"Well," he said, "Depends on what you do next."

"And that is?" Ex questioned. The alligator smirked.

"Gimme everything you got," he said, "Everything."

Ex gritted his teeth and inhaled, "Sorry, man, don't think I can."

His buddies behind him stared more intently at the two as the alligator grabbed the bottom of his jacket and lifted it, revealing a small laser pistol holstered into his belt. It had a very thin barrel and the trigger guard was spiked for the enlarged finger of the reptile. The grip was a deep red color with wood furnishing and swirls of tree bark in it. Ex studied it for a moment before looking up to the now smiling alligator. Ex, though completely terrified on the inside, was able to control it on the outside as he looked up with a blank expression before smirking.

"What?" he questioned, "You think showing me your half an inch is going to change anything?"

The room burst out with laughter and Ex smiled as the alligator's smile disappeared faster than a street magician's magic trick. His buddies couldn't help themselves wheezing or laughing their asses off. Fox was chuckling silently while he could hear the bartender behind him just going off with his laughter. Ex only smiled but could hear Alexi laughing in the background of his mind as well. Finally, it all silenced when the alligator grabbed him by the collar and lifted him to his level.

"You're a brave one, eh?" he said.

Ex quipped back, "Ain't the sharpest tool in the shed, huh?"

Finally, the anger boiled over and the gator threw him to the ground and grabbed his gun. Ex instinctively brought his legs together and kicked him in the gut, forcing him to bend over in pain. Ex rocked back and forth before standing up and throwing his right fist into the gator's chin. He then grabbed the gun and, making sure he was out, slammed the grip into the top of his noggin. He fell to the ground, out cold. Ex heard the sound of multiple feet standing up and he looked to Fox, who only sat in shock. Alexi sighed.

"As stated previously," he said, "I'm not helping."

Ex mentally groaned, "Go fuck yourself."

Ex turned and saw five other guys approached him. His mind was working on other things, so he couldn't quite see what their species were. His mind was working overtime all of a sudden before it all suddenly went quiet. He felt as if the world around him slowed and he could think straight all of a sudden. He looked around, sudden blue markings popping up like a HUD, except this was different. It looked like he was looking at blueprints. Like steps of what to do before finally deciding on what to do.

"Tama Unite Ise."

Then it hit him: the adrenaline rush. His mind focused on the instructions that he had planned so quickly, time had barely passed. What he didn't realize was the now blue metal surrounding his hazel eyes, the white now replaced with blue metal and neon white lights circling around like a car headlight.

His eyes shot to one of the animals who was lunging at him. Without hesitation, he extended his left arm, clotheslining him to the ground. As he hit the ground, Ex turned to another figure, who was about a foot taller than him and attempted to try and kick him in the torso. Ex grabbed his leg and swept the other out from underneath him, causing him to fall to his back with a thud. Ex sighed as he got back up again and another guy grabbed his jacket and held him as the final two guys approached, one with a knife. Ex sighed.

"You call that a knife?" Ex asked. The two tilted their heads in confusion. Ex chuckled as he held his hand straight, all fingers and thumb pointed to the floor. His signal was feeling his hand suddenly feeling heavier and he raised it up. His hand was now encased in a deep blue blade, illuminating with what looked like wires spanning the whole thing, starting from his wrist. It extended to about his kneecap. He chuckled as he saw the mood of the room change and the guys backed up. He sighed and turned to Fox, who was in pure shock at the ordeal.

"Did you pay the bill yet?"


Beth and Crystal had finally convinced the Crystalites to share a cell with Krystal, saying that she needed help sleeping after a small commotion had occurred up at the resting area. They were told many things about their last week there. Last week. And then they would be killed. Beth wasn't taking too kindly to it and was beginning to panic more and more. It was becoming more and more impossible to sleep that night. She and Crystal watched as Krystal tried to shout into what she called a 'black, deep, and quiet void.' It all was becoming hopeless. Everyone else was quiet, but conversations around the room became more and more apparent to the group as they heard a male Spanish accent speaking to an equally loud African female.

"Well," it said, "One last rush wouldn't hurt, would it?"

"Nah, stay sober-ah," the female replied, "It won't be long now."

"Hopefully," an extremely soft female voice said. Beth and Crystal looked at each other in pure hopelessness, hoping to get some sleep. But they wouldn't as a blood-curdling scream came from their cell.

It was Krystal.

Beth immediately stood as suddenly everyone began to shout and scream in fear, as they thought someone was being taken. Beth sat by Krystal, who was now silent and she then passed out without warning. Crystal stood by the two.

"Is that bad?" he asked. Beth looked at him and shrugged.

"Hopefully not."


Krystal woke again in the middle of the deep black void, but this time, it wasn't quiet. Now it sounded like a rushing ocean surrounding her and she sighed. She stood on an invisible floor as she wiped off her… tribal robe? She clearly remembered wearing her blue and black flight suit back in her cell. Not her tribal robe. She looked around in confusion and she shouted.

"HELLO?" she shouted. Her voice echoed against invisible walls. She sighed and looked around for anything.

Fox stood next to Anahella and she placed a hand on his shoulder as Ex stood and explained to him what was going on.

"Okay, here's the plan," Ex said, "You find where Krystal is spiritually and I hope that we can possibly find where she is. That'll lead us to her and possibly everyone else."

"Okay," Fox said, "Sounds easy."

"To get the best," Anahella said, "I suggest getting as close as possible to her. That way, I can help your computer friend find her."

"Yep," Ex said, "If anything goes wrong, Krystal will wake up and it will be ruined."

Fox nodded, "Be gentle, then?"

"If you can." Ex smiled and nodded to Anahella, who gripped his shoulder and her eyes began to glow a deep gold as Fox gasped and felt a motion as if he were falling. He finally hit the ground with not a sound in hearing sight. He stood and looked around into a black void, nothing in sight for him. He looked down, seeing that he was in his normal attire: white coat with a dark gray undershirt and green pants just above his metallic legs. He sighed and looked around, hoping to find something that would help him. After a moment, nothing happened, and he sighed. He was about to call Ex for help when something came to him.

"HELLO?"

A voice. Her voice. Fox's ears perked up and immediately he felt his heart begin to race.

"KRYSTAL?!" he shouted back, his voice nearly cracking in the silence. Then, it responded.

"FOX!"

Without hesitation, he ran towards the voice. Wherever it was, he was going to find it. No matter how long it took. He felt his heartburn from exertion, but he couldn't care less. His eyes scanned the horizon for anything of her blue fur. He stopped running as his legs couldn't carry him much anymore. He sat on a knee and shouted breathlessly.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" He caught his breath fairly quickly but refused to stand. He scanned the horizon again and sighed. He blinked. After that blink, a blue speck far away from him appeared. His eyes widened and he bolted towards it, it became clearer and clearer by the minute. Fox heard a faint voice sounding like Ex, but he didn't care. He kept running until finally, he stopped about ten feet away from the figure. It was a female canine, covered with multiple white tattoos. Her tail was braided and she wore a tribal robe covering her chest and waist. Fox knew the figure and took a single step forward, prompting the world to stop as she slowly turned to look at him. Their eyes met and Krystal began to tear up.

"Fox?" she softly spoke. Fox chuckled.

"Krystal?" he softly replied. Fox took a step forward as Krystal ran at him and the two caught each other in an embrace. Fox wrapped his arms around her back and held her, not wanting to let go. He felt his heart race and Krystal felt the same. They wanted to stay in this forever. Before anything else could be said, Krystal gave a soft yelp as she backed away from Fox. Fox turned back and his mouth gaped open.

In front of the two, Ex was running from what looked like a huge wave approaching them. Krystal grabbed Fox, but only for a moment as the wave shrank into a much smaller ripple as he sighed and slowed to a halt in front of the two.

"Sorry to pop in unannounced," he said, "But we're getting close."

"And?" Fox questioned angrily.

"Wanted to make sure you guys didn't go off-topic," Ex said.

"Well, in that case, they did mention some things," she said, "Including this world that they were scanning. World 257."

Ex nodded, "257. Got it."

"Also," Krystal said shakily, "They said they'd kill us in a week."

Ex felt his heart stop, "You guys?"

"According to what we've heard...everything that breathes dies in the next few days."

Ex felt blood rush to his ears, "Anything that can give us a hint of where you are?"

Krystal tapped her chin, "All I can say is that we are on a small island, a few miles around."

Fox and Ex nodded as she continued, "They have hundreds, no, thousands of guards here. I have no idea of what or where we are at times."

Her words echoed through the grey abyss around them like they were inside of a large tunnel or cave. Even the sound of Ex's sigh gave a soft echo around them.

"That isn't good," Ex said, "Now what?"

"You have a watch to help track us, right?" Krystal questioned. Ex nodded.

"Yeah, but the signal is too faint for any computer here to get it," Ex said. Krystal was about to speak when Fox approached her and hugged her again. Ex sighed.

"I can't stop you guys," Ex chuckled. Krystal leaned into the hug and sighed contently as they swayed back and forth for a minute before Ex cleared his throat to catch their attention.

"Again, hate to disturb this," he said, "But we probably need to-"

His voice was cut off as the world around them suddenly got louder and more violent, the waves returning with a long seeming vengeance. The fields of nothing around them erupted into chaos like an unpredicted storm. Krystal looked into the eyes of her partner and frantically began speaking.

"Fox! You guys must hurry! I don't know about what their planning, but maybe you can get more ti-"

She didn't finish as she suddenly blinked away and disappeared. Fox jumped up and stared at where she was and Ex ran up and grabbed Fox by the shoulder.

"We're getting outta here. Right now!."

OBIS' voice came through them, "We lost her!"

Fox gasped as he woke back up back in the base with Anahella looking at him sympathetically. Fox then looked to Ex who groaned.

"You've gotta be fuckin' kidding me," he said, "How close were we."

"Good news: we narrowed it down," OBIS said, "Bad news: we narrowed it down to a couple of hundred worlds. Too big of an area for us to search."


Krystal woke in a sudden panic as sirens began to blare around them. Beth and Crystal sat next to each other and looked at Krystal. They looked at her with open ears.

"Well?" Crystal shouted, "Anything?"

Krystal nodded, "They're getting close. Really close."

Crystalites swarmed around them and saw that all of the gates were closed. The Crystal King came along and watched each of the groups intently. He seemed to be looking for something as if he knew something strange was going on. He then turned to the white striped Crystalite and nodded.

"Anything?" he asked. The Crystalite shook its head.

"Not here," it said, "Down at the other block."

"You mean where the normal ones are sent?"

Normal? Krystal thought. She knew that she wasn't normal, but what about Beth and Crystal? They're just normal people. Or so she thought. Maybe some more mind tricks could see what the Crystal King was talking about. She was so focused on the thought that she didn't hear the conversation at hand.

"I've got an idea," the Crystalite general said, "What if we use them to bring the others out?"

He pointed at Beth and Crystal, who immediately backed away farther into the cell. Krystal instinctively stood up at the sound of that idea and she stood in front of the two, as if she could protect them. Though, she knew that they could easily beat her due to their size and near robot level strength. The Crystal King smiled.

"That may be a good idea," he said, his face returning to a frown, "But it may be too risky."

The Crystalite general clenched his fist, "But sir, we could take out all of these idiots with ease."

"Only if something extraordinary happens," the Crystal King waved away. On cue, a much smaller Crystalite ran into the fray, carrying a holographic clipboard.

"What, smally?" the general asked.

"W-well," it said, "We've sent out twenty-seven soldiers to capture individuals and cause havoc in the past few days."

"So?" the Crystal King asked. The smaller one seemingly gave an audible gulp.

"Umm," it said, "The 'heros' you've talked about? They've destroyed... twenty-four of them. Sir."

This caught the attention of everyone, including the Crystal King, who roared in anger. Loud enough that it felt like the whole world was shaking against his wrath. He grabbed the smaller one and held him up in the air.

"HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" his voice roared, before dropping the small Crystalite and trying to calm himself down, "I mean, they haven't discovered anything about their abilities yet, have they?"

"I hate to tell you," it said, "B-but I think they have."

The Crystal King inhaled sharply as if to shout again, but instead let it out in a controlled breath. He looked to the general and sighed.

"I guess your plan may work," he said, "But only if we play our cards right. Don't get overconfident. Play them smartly."

The general nodded, "And if there are any complications?"

The Crystal King smiled, "You'll be fine. I've got something else ready."

The general smiled, "You heard him! Get those two and we are off to World 257 ASAP!"


Fox rubbed his temples and sighed as Ex patted him on the shoulder, comforting him as they sat in his workshop. The workshop was as big as a hangar, meaning he could easily keep multiple vehicles in one place, including Brian's four-wheeler and Fox's Arwing, which he was repairing at the moment. More inventions were taking their stay in his workshop, including his SK 709 hanging on a stand being analyzed.

"Well," a voice said, "Nice workshop you got here, chucklenuts."

Ex turned to see Scout, Medic, and Spy enter the room. Medic studied the equipment while Spy and Scout approached the two. Spy chuckled.

"I see that you two have found some clues," he said, referring to the board in front of them now covered in sticky notes. Ex nodded.

"We also found this place that seems pretty cool," Ex said, "It's a large city called Centerpoint."

"Centerpoint," Medic said softly, "It rings a bell."

"Yeah," Ex said, "It does to us too. But I don't know, could be some shit hole we don't know about."

Scout scoffed, "You all talkin' smart, but we need to find where these guys are, 'else they're gonna kill 'em."

"If they haven't already," Spy said sadly. Ex shook his head.

"I don't think they know where that city even is," Ex said, "Otherwise their plan would be much more dangerous."

"What does that mean?" Scout asked. Ex sighed.

"I think that is our ticket to World Zero," he said, "Home."

"Well," Spy said, "Are we going to continue talking about vacation plans? Or are we going to get to work?"

"Well then," Ex said, "Be back in the main room. Ten minutes."

The group nodded and ran off except for Fox, who stayed for a moment as Ex took a look at his gun, which had a holographic progress bar that stated 86%. That meant it would take a couple of hours for it to finish analyzing and then he could use it. He sighed and turned to Fox, who was zoning out.

"Hey," Ex said, "We'll find 'em. It's only a matter of time."

"But do we have enough of it?" Fox questioned as he stood and walked away. Ex sighed and quickly followed behind. A quick walk later, and he was back in the main room with most of the others. He walked in and, in a woosh of air, he was spun on his axis as a being in yellow stood in front of him. Ex smiled.

"Joe," he said. Joe looked back at him and smiled.

"Ex," he said back. The two stood at the table and Ex watched as Mat and Felix spoke with each other. Ex stood with Chesh and Skye, who were laughing at something that Chesh had previously said. As he listened in, more and more people began to surround the table, including the TF2 trio, the Star Fox team, Sonic's posse, Galactic Rangers, including Ratchet, and Tracer, one of the only active remaining members of Overwatch left. Most of the group were captured or not willing to help the group, according to most. Finally, Mat waved his hands trying to quiet everyone down and bring their attention to them.

"Alright, everyone," he said, "Let's get this meeting started."

Everyone murmured as Felix stepped forward, "Let's get some stuff out of the way. Ex, how's everything coming down in the shop?"

"Fairly," he said, "I'm almost finished with most of the vehicles, but I'm not touching anything related to light speed because… sorry, going off task. But, yes, everything's coming along well."

"Great," Mat said, "How's training?"

Everyone replied by simply shrugged. Felix nodded.

"Now," he said, "Let's get started."

The table lit up as Mat circled the table, "We are still looking for the Crystalite HQ, but we have a fair idea." The table in front of them pulled up a list of around twenty for numbers as Mat kept speaking. "These worlds were in the radius of where we were able to track them. Each world has a distinction and we want to check each one in order to find it. So that's why we are asking for your assistance: to help us find and save our friends."

"But," Ex jumped in, "We could track them if we had a strong enough signal finder to pinpoint their location."

"Which is why," Mat said, "We are asking for your assistance."

"Well," Tracer said, "I'm free all week."

Mat smiled as the rangers chuckled and nodded in agreement. The group was growing louder and seemingly more confident than before. Then, Mat waved his hand, silencing the whole group.

"Alright," he said, "That aside, we are going to need a group to go exploring that world the Crystalites were talking about. It must be important."

"Yeah," Ex said, "If they are scanning the world and sending soldiers there, something must be there that is important."

"Sounds good," Ratchet said, "I'm just hoping that everyone's alright."

"Yeah," Ex said, nodding and looking at Fox, whose expression said it all. Then, Felix spoke.

"Our plan is to keep Ex and some techies here," he said, "There is still a lot we can do and research while we're here."

"Understood," Ex quickly said.

"Next, me, Sean, Mark, and someone else will go to this world they're talking about and look around. The rest stay put just in case they try to do something."

The group nodded as Felix walked off with Sean and Mark, Tracer following behind them. Mat nodded to the rest.

"Ratchet, Tails," he said, "Ex will lead you to the shop."

"Right this way," Ex said, "I need some help."

Ratchet and Tails followed Ex out of the main room, leaving the rest of the group. Skye looked to Chesh, who immediately followed after Ex and the rest. Skye followed suit as Mat picked the conversation up again.

"Now," he said, "Unless anyone has a strong enough signal tower, we should get looking."

A female voice perked up, "Let's go, then!"

Mat looked and saw a pink furred animal standing in front of him, waiting for orders. Mat sighed.

"Alright, Amy. You and your group keep a lookout for this world: Word 8456. Take this." He handed the pink hedgehog a small device with a little screen on the top. It had a small hand that pointed to numbers ranging from one to eight. He kept speaking. "The higher the number, the more amount of Incor radiation and Incor related electricity in the area. Don't worry, the radiation is harmless. If it goes any higher than a six, give us a call and we'll be there."

Amy nodded, "Done. Let's go fellas."

She exited quickly and the loud boom of the main teleported going off signaled they were gone as May grabbed another two and handed them to Medic and the gang as well as the rangers. Once again, the room was silent, leaving Mat and Joe standing at the table near tired from mental exhaustion. Though, Mat knew something was coming. They had to be ready. He sighed as he messaged Gaijin, who was in a room just above them, scribbling down notes about multiple things at once.


Gaijin didn't know what hit him, it was now like being here allowed him to think about multiple things at once without fatigue. This worked while he was fighting, being able to track targets in the back of his mind, quick decisions, allowing him to make good decisions in split seconds, and, of course, taking notes. Though the two he worried about were his friends and that bomb the Crystalites had dropped back in the lab, sending the group to different worlds. Finally, after the last period, he sat back and looked at the wall of notes that now populated his board, leaving little bits of writing space here and there. He sighed in content as suddenly, a noise that reminded him of a mini drone. He looked over and saw Tails approaching with a seemingly joyful expression on his face.

"This place," he said, the smile on his face growing, "Is absolutely amazing!"

Gaijin chuckled, "Indeed it is."

Tails looked around for a moment before he cleared his throat, "Ex asked if I could come up and get some results from you."

Gaijin nodded, grabbing a small device shaped like a mini projector and pushed a button, causing a large group of notes on the board to glitch before disappearing and the machine shifting into what looked like a thumb drive. He picked it up and handed it to Tails, who quickly grabbed it and examined it, rotating it in the palm of his hand. Gaijin sat back a minute as he heard Tails began to explain the possibilities of what this could be and how it could work, mentioning nanorobotics, liquidizing metals, and many other possibilities that Gaijin didn't really listen to. Then, he turned around when he heard him go silent for a moment, thinking he had left the room, only for him to see Tails staring at a diagram of the bomb they had encountered at the lab. Gaijin grimaced at the thought before Tails asked.

"What is this thing?" he asked. Gaijin stood and sighed.

"The closest thing I could think of?" he asked, "It's some type of rift opener."

"Rift opener?" Tails looked at him confused. Gaijin nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "Didn't click for me either. But its purpose is to open random portals in the Vortex and send you to a random world. Though, certain parameters can be added to control the outcome of the portal. But I've yet to discover how it works, I mean how they can put specific worlds in mind? Then it just becomes a portal bomb that they can use to shove large amounts of people through at once."

"Complex," Tails said, intrigued, "I like it."

Gaijin chuckled, "Be warned, I've heard it makes you feel like your insides were turned inside out."

Tails laughed, "Yeah."

They laughed for a minute before Tails said goodbye and swiftly exited the room. Gaijin sat again in silence for a minute before he stood and stepped onto the teleporter and returned to the main room, now empty. He sighed as he approached the table, which was deactivated. It lit up suddenly as he approached and OBIS' voice spoke to him.

"Hello, Gaijin," he said, "How is the research coming along?"

"So far so good, OBIS," he said, "I'm just a little stressed for time right now."

The last part was a lie, but it was just a way to keep OBIS from asking more than he wanted to answer.

Gaijin felt as if OBIS gave a small nod to the response, "I understand. I've had to spend hours decoding things that Ex and Mat have given me. Such as that laptop, which I had to decode for fourteen hours straight."

"Damn," Gaijin said.

"No worries," he said, "It's my purpose. And that laptop had something very interesting that I thought someone should see."

OBIS brought up a video of the laptop desktop screen and a small pop-up that contained the settings of the computer, and a location of its manufacturer: Centerpoint, World 257. Owner: Janice Turgenev. Birth Place: Moscow, Soviet Russia. Gaijin felt something in him jump at the final location.

"Wait," Gaijin said, "Is there a place in that world for The Soviet Union?"

"No sir," OBIS said, "And with other residents, it would state their birth world. Meaning that if she had no world that she was born in…"

Then, it dawned on him: she was from World Zero. She was someone from World Zero, meaning something brought her there. OBIS kept his spirits high.

"That may be good," he said, "Let's make an attempt to search for that."

"Agreed," Gaijin said.

OBIS gave a robotic sigh, "I would thank her, you know."

Gaijin didn't understand until he remembered. Colinne. She was the reason that laptop made it out of the lab and stayed out of the bad guy's hands. Without her, none of this would've been possible. Gaijin sighed.

"She's watching us," he said, "Just watching us make the world a better place."

"Gaijin," he questioned, "What happens after we die?"

On cue, before he could answer the question, the holo table suddenly lit up red and a large map showed multiple dots pulsating on multiple different worlds. Gaijin studied it as Joe ran into the room at near the speed of sound, causing Gaijin to support himself on the table in shock. Mere seconds later, David, Fox, and Mat ran in the opposite side of the room as him. As if by magic, all of the group except for Ex and his group were in the main room. Joe was the first to speak.

"What is happening here?" he asked, "Why are they doing this right now?"

"It looks like," OBIS said, "The Crystalites are trying to send mysterious individuals to worlds that aren't their own."

"How's that possible?" Medic asked. Gaijin raised a hand.

"Maybe it's that rift stuff they're working with," he suggested, "They're sending them to different worlds with rifts."

"But why?" David asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Spy asked, smoking his cigar as everyone turned their attention to them. He sighed.

"They are trying to cause a distraction," he said, his French accent clouding his words in a cloak of mystery, "I've done it plenty of times: give the enemy something else to worry about then do what you intend to do without much, if not anything or anyone in your way."

"So that begs the question," Steph said, "What are they trying to do that they don't want us to see?"

Felix crept slowly behind Tracer, who kept him pinned close to the ground. Around them was a vast field of grass and flowers, a soft wind blowing them around. It looked so real and yet, it had a look of something unrealistic. It looked surreal to them.

Mark and Sean stood in the field a couple of feet ahead of them, just as still as them. They were still as a loud whirring was approaching them, growing deeper and louder every second. Finally, they saw a large group of Crystalites fly above them and in a different direction. They were big, about twice the size of Felix or anyone in the group. He couldn't catch what their faces looked like, all he could see were small packs that allowed them to fly, some had small wings to mimic winged flying.

As they passed over, Tracer relieved the pressure on Felix and he slowly stood to his feet as the last few Crystalites flew over them. The rumbled off into the distance and the group stood and watched aimlessly for a moment.

"Should… we follow them?" Mark asked. Tracer shrugged.

"Seems like the only thing we can do," she said. Felix nodded.

"I guess so," he said as he began the trek to where the Crystalites had gone. They walked through the field, parting away flowers and tall grass as they approached the group only a couple of hundred yards away and beyond a small patch of trees. The group approached until they could see the group in its entirety. It consisted of about ten to twelve Crystalites standing in what looked like a guard position as if they were protecting something. Tracer looked to Sean and Mark while quietly motioning them to move to a different side of the group, gaining a better view. Sean nodded and hurriedly, but quietly, made his way to the other side of the group while Mark stood in a state of nervous fear. Finally, the Crystalites spoke.

"What is taking that waste of space so long?" one asked. The other Crystalites bickered for a moment before a loud thud was heard off in the distance. Tracer and Felix ducked to avoid their gaze. Another Crystalite laughed.

"Well, right on cue," it said. The sound of their loud jet packs was heard becoming louder from a distance. Tracer watched as the Crystalites smiled gleefully at the sight of one of their comrades approaching. Well, their comrade and some passengers. Crystal and Squaishy. Felix felt his heartbeat increase tenfold as he looked to Tracer, who was equally stunned.

"It's a hostage situation," she said.

"Yeah," Felix said, "What's the plan?"

"You want to save them?" Mark asked, surprised Felix sighed.

"What else can we do?" he questioned.

Tracer shrugged, "Quick run in and grab them?"

"I don't know," Felix said, "How much risk are we looking at?"

She shook her head, "Twenty-five percent chance of failure."

Mark nodded, "I like those odds."

"I think I got something," Sean said over coms. Felix nodded.

"Mark," Tracer started, "You jump in to protect the two from harm while me, Pewds, and Jack try to take the rest out."

"Sounds good," Mark said, "On what? Three?"

"Wait for it," Sean said, "I'll let you know when to go."

"Got it," Mark replied, watching the group intently. Then, one facing front pulled out something on his back, which looked something like a camera, and placed it down in front of the group. It began to speak about something along the lines of retaliation is futile and surrender is the best course of action, but it didn't finish as a loud crack followed by one of the Crystalites behind him falling caused him to turn around.

"Heads!" Mark shouted as he jumped in front of Crystal and Squaishy, making sure the Crystalites couldn't get them. Just as quickly, a light blue trail followed until Tracer suddenly jumped in and began shooting at anything that wasn't human. She was able to stun most of them, but it wasn't very effective. The main Crystalite laughed.

"It'll take a lot more than a laser tag gun to beat us," it said. Suddenly, Felix was behind the beast and he turned around, just in time for him to raise the heavy cannon from Doom and aim at the Crystalites head.

"This isn't a laser gun, bitch," he said, the last word being in Swedish. Without warning, he pulled the trigger and the gun jerked back into his shoulder, leaving him with a sore feeling in his right shoulder. But that didn't matter as the Crystalite was flung backward and onto its back. Mark stood there in shock before an idea popped into his head.

"Tama Unite Ise!" he shouted. He felt the rush and, without hesitation, grabbed the fallen Crystalite and swung it around like it was a feather, smashing it into the other Crystalites like a club. Mark stopped and dropped the Crystalite and, to his surprise, he began to chuckle. He was enjoying this, somehow. Then, Sean and Felix repeated the phrase and jumped in, surrounding Tracer, Crystal, and Squaishy. Felix began swinging wild punches while Sean turned to keep the two out of the fight.

"So," he said, "How are you doing?"

Beth bounced her head left and right, "Mighty fine. How about you?"

Right as he said it, a Crystalite jumped in out of nowhere and swung at the Irishman, who ducked and swung a hand at it that slapped it, causing a loud crack to emanate from it. It stumbled back and stared at him. Sean quipped.

"Top of the mornin' to ya!"

Then, Felix jumped in and began pelting it with hundreds of punches. Sean turned back to them and gave a hesitant smile.

"Sorry about that," he said, trying to play off the fact he had punched a robot, "I'm fine."

Crystal finally spoke, "How do you do that?"

"They say this strange phrase," Tracer said, quickly blinking in and out of the conversation. Crystal hesitated.

"What?" he said, "You mean that Tama Unite Ise thi…"

He didn't finish as he felt the sudden adrenaline rush surge through his body, causing him to fall to a knee. Beth grabbed him and began to shake him.

"Are you aAAAA!" Her words turned into a scream as Crystal looked back at the group with nothing. Literally.

His head was gone.

Sean looked at the teen stunned. He could see down his shirt and through to where his feet used to be. His shirt swayed in the wind like a scarecrow without its stuffing, but his shoes were moving, they were shaking. He was frantically looking around as if there was something surrounding them.

"G-guys?" he quietly asked. Sean slowly knelt down and wiped his hand in front of his face, leading to no reaction.

"He's blind," Sean spoke aloud. He thought for a moment before he turned around to face Mark.

"Mark!" he shouted, Mark turning to face them.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Did you find anything of sorts that could help him?" he asked, referring to Crystal. He shook his head.

"No," he said, before suddenly remembering something, "But I think I may know who does."

He turned around and saw that the rest of the Crystalites were gone. He sighed in relief and turned to the now blind teen.

"Hey, buddy," he said, trying to calm him down, "Can you hear me?"

Crystal turned his body towards the voice, "Y-yeah, I can hear ya."

"OBIS," he said, "Do you have the glasses that we found in that container...thing?"

"Yes," he replied, "But Brian told me that they were just absolute sun blockers, covering his eyes completely."

"Just send it, please," he asked solemnly. Mark's watch beeped and he looked at the text saying Delivery from OBIS. He chuckled and flicked his wrist, causing the glasses to form into his hand in a quick white flash. He grabbed Crystal's arm, careful not to scare him, and placed the glasses in his hand.

"Take these," he said, "Put them on."

The glasses shook in his invisible hand for a moment before moving up to his face and placed them on where his nose was. Now, his invisible eyes were covered with dark black sunglasses. His head rotated to look at each person in the group before chuckling.

"I can see!" he softly exclaimed. Beth looked at the group and then to Tracer. She smiled and extended a hand.

"You must be Tracer," she said. Tracer smiled back.

"And you must be the famous Squaishy," she said, being even more friendly. They both laughed for a moment before returning their gaze to Crystal, who was already calmed down and standing. Beth began to speak.

"They brought us here for a reason," she said. Felix nodded.

"Yeah, we heard," he said, "But we don't have enough time to search the world. They probably already have something going on."

"I can try something," Crystal said, "I have something… or someone… in my head telling me what to do."

Tracer bent down, "What is it?"

"I dunno," he said, "It's like a little voice in the back of my head, but it isn't mine."

"What is it telling you?" she asked. Crystal looked at her.

"This." After the single word, he hopped a few inches off the ground and the group watched in awe as he didn't touch the floor again. He was hovering. Without another word, he shot up into the sky and then slowly fell back to the earth. He chuckled.

"I kinda like this already," he said, "Alright, you guys head back. I'll do a flyover."

Before anyone could object, he was already up and flying away into the distance. It was silent for a moment before the group nodded and agreed that one should stay and make sure Crystal is fine while the rest can head back to the base. In a quick coin toss, they agreed Sean would stay while the rest went back. In an instant, the group was gone, leaving Sean alone. He sighed and sat down on the dry, hot ground for a moment, realizing what was happening.

"I'm a superhero," he said aloud, the realization washing over him like a plague and a warm wave of relaxation. He wondered for a moment before he stood, holding his hands out. He thought that maybe there was more to this power that he had and that he could do something really cool. He jumped and, with the thought of it, felt his body rotate into a backflip in the air. He landed on his feet and stood in shock for a moment before chuckling. He looked around and saw a wet piece of dead wood and his mind wandered for a moment. He extended his arm to where his hand was facing the wood and he thought for a moment before he repeated the phrase.

"Tama Unite Ise."

Though he didn't see it, his eyes went from normal white and his light blue to a dark green outlining his now deep sea blue pupils.

In an instant, he saw a green slime-like liquid shoot from his arm and latch onto the wood. He watched for a minute before his mind caught up and he swung his arm back. The wood jumped off the ground and flew right at him. In response, he brought his arms up in a shielding position, hoping something would happen. Luckily, that green slime formed into a large blade and, when the wood hit it, it shattered into two large pieces. He turned and watched them fall and roll off into the distance. Finally, his excitement peaked, causing him to jump up in excitement.

"That was awesome!" he shouted. He jumped around and began trying different ways of using his powers. On cue, an audible thud was heard from behind him. He turned around and saw Crystal slowly approaching him, his body still invisible from before.

"That was fast," Sean commented.

"Could've been faster," Crystal said, "Didn't wanna rip these clothes."

Sean nodded, "What did you find?"

"A city," Crystal said, "Centerpoint if I had to make a guess."

Sean was taken aback by this, "Any coordinates?"

Crystal handed him his glasses, "These should have it. Tama Unite Ise."

The final words brought the skin of his face back and he smiled at him broadly. The two stood for a moment before a message came through.

"What about the others?" Sean asked, "What will they say to this?"

"I saw some people other than Crystalites," Crystal said, "I think they're one step ahead of us."

"Guys?" Felix shouted, "We've got a problem!"

Quickly, Sean grabbed Crystal's arm and the two jumped in time just to see the base now flashing red with alarms. The two raced to the main room to find Felix and everyone else sitting around the table, including Ex and Chesh. The two bolted to their friend and aided him to the table, though he didn't need it. Sean hurriedly ran to the table in confusion.

"What's happening?" he questioned. Ex answered first.

"Looks like the Crystalites had too many prisoners," he said, "So they sent them to random worlds to distract us."

"From what?" Sean asked, knowing the answer.

"To find Centerpoint," Crystal said, "But good news: we've got it first."

Sean smiled and placed the glasses on the table and, with OBIS' help, videos of the city projected onto the screen. The coordinates also stayed on the screen, marking its location. Ex smiled.

"That is good to hear," he said, "But I think we've got much bigger problems on our hands."

"Right," Sean said, "Anything we know about them?

"They're being controlled by the Crystalites using a mind-control device planted somewhere on the body," Steph said, suddenly appearing in the conversation, "We deactivate those, we stop them from killing everything in sight."

"What about the Crystalites themselves?" Sean asked.

"They probably are hiding in the background just in case we interfere."

"But how are we going to stop them?" Crystal asked. Ex smiled at that.

"Get in there," he said, "I'll send the payload when it's finished."


A/N: Triple Combo! Three chapters revised and edited and now working on revising the 11th while writing the 12th! Hopefully y'all are enjoying this and ready to see more of this but I'm also thinking about posting this story someplace else as well. Any ideas on that or how to get it published? Anyways, hopefully you all are enjoying this story!

Get ready, things are about to get heated up in here!