FYI: This chapter has some swearing (because erm...Overkill)

Arthur woke to the smell of coffee simmering.

He could hear the Tick humming happily as he went about the kitchen. The intoxicating smells lured him out of bed and into the dining room, where the Tick was cooking… eggs?

"Tick?" Arthur stared. "Since when did you learn how to…cook?"

"Now, Chum!" The Tick beamed proudly twirling the spatula. "Get your gullet ready for some eggy goodness!"

"O…kay…" Arthur glanced around, suddenly realizing something worrisome. "Uh, Tick…Where's Destiny?"

"Destiny's always right where you need her to be, Chum!"

"I mean—" Arthur glanced around. "Why isn't she in the apartment?"

"Oh," the Tick smiled widely as he shoveled some eggs onto a plate, "She left a note…it's right there on the table. Didn't you see it? It's glowing !"

Arthur snatched the note. It read: "Going to the docks for recruitments." " 'Recruitments'...?" Arthur mumbled, completely confused—and then his eyes widened as he suddenly remembered the conversation from last night—

"Oh noooo …." Arthur ran to get his phone. Sure enough, there were at least 7 missed calls—and all of them were from Overkill.

"Shit!" Arthur groaned as he scrambled for his keys. "Tick—" he blurted hastily, "I-I'm really sorry but I-I gotta go—"

"Go?" The Tick echoed in confusion. "But Arthur! Your eggs are getting cold—"

"I'll have them later!" Arthur yelled over his shoulder. "Right now I–I gotta go talk to Overkill—"

"Tell him I say hi!" The Tick yelled after him. "I'll be here enjoying a nice warm breakfast. Tell Destiny her eggs are waiting!"

"I'm—" Arthur shook his head with dismay, "I'm not gonna say that." He bolted for the door without looking back and ran without stopping all the way down to the wharf. On the way in between sprints, he called Overkill (who was thankfully on his speed dial).

"Where the fuck are you, you little piece of shit!?"

Arthur groaned. (Yep, he was pissed.) "I-I'm on my way!" he yelled as he doubled the distance.

"Do you have any idea what she's been doing, asshole!?" He'd never heard Overkill so furious.

Arthur groaned again. "I've…got some idea…" he muttered under his breath.

"Don't be cute," Overkill hissed. "Do you know what she's been saying to Dangerboat this whole time? She wants him to fucking FLY, Arthur-into OUTER fucking SPACE!"

"I-I know—" Arthur managed to somehow talk and run at the same time.

"Did you KNOW She was coming here?" Overkill barked. "Did you KNOW she'd be risking our LIVES!?"

"NO!" Arthur blurted, between secretly praying that he'd never be caught in a lie. "She—she just wants to rescue Su-Superian—"

"Hey ASSHOLE!" Overkill snapped, "Superian can rescue himSELF. He's SUPERIAN!"

Arthur practically bit his tongue. "Actually—"

"Are you actually ARGUING with me!?"

"N-NO!" Arthur yelled back, even as he ran straight into Dangerboat's hull. There, in the main room, stood Destiny, looking unsettlingly pleased with herself, and Overkill, who looked anything but pleased.

"Arthur!" Dangerboat greeted him cheerfully from the ceiling. "You've missed a grand conversation! Destiny and I have some news—"

"Thank your lucky stars you're not getting married," Overkill snarled, then whirled about to Arthur, so close that they were almost nose-to-nose, "You better have a good argument for DB here why going into outer fucking SPACE is the most moronic idea of the century!" Then, before Arthur could respond, he whirled back around to DB and barked, "You DO realize that you IDENTIFY as a BOAT for a REASON!"

"I've been practicing," came the smug reply from DB, which gave the vigilante pause in spite of himself.

"Practicing?" Overkill shot Arthur a look. "Did you know about this?" he growled.

"NO!" Arthur choked, "I-I have no idea what he's talking about but—Destiny—there's something you should know about Dangerboat," Arthur muttered hesitantly, "He-he's got—"

"PTSD," Dangerboat finished for him. "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder….but, Arthur, it's OK: and do you know why? Your talk with me that day…it healed me." Dangerboat swiveled towards Arthur so that his eye was pointing straight at him. "I realize now—that I'm not alone," the bot proclaimed. "I've been working hard on healing myself, Arthur…I've been reading books on tape–"

"SERIOUSLY?" Overkill slammed his fist down on the table so hard everyone jumped. "BOOKS on TAPE!? You could have KILLED us ALL that day—"

"I wanted it to be a surprise." DB's voice suddenly grew quiet. "I was going to surprise you but…I think now is a better time than any…"

"Surprise me?" Arthur muttered. "About what?"

"Not you," replied DB, "Him…my partner." He nodded dutifully in Overkill's direction. "I CAN in fact fly," proclaimed DB, "and in fact—I can SHOW you!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Overkill hissed.

"I've been flying in secret," declared DB, "when you've been on patrol…and a few times at night…and...more so, most nights, when you were at Dot's place."

"ASSHOLE!" Overkill glared darkly at him. "You could have KILLED me in my SLEEP!"

"I'm actually getting rather good at it," Dangerboat protested.

"I don't believe you," Overkill snapped. "If this is all to impress some girl or Arthur—"

"I don't need to impress them—"

"You haven't flown for real since MICHAEL," Overkill snapped icily, and the room was hushed by a dead silence.

"Uh, Overkill…I really don't think that's wise—" Arthur began, but Dangerboat swerved around, halting him in his tracks.

"That's OK, Arthur," the Bot declared solemnly. "Overkill is just trying to shock me into seeing his perspective…but it won't work." His lens gave Overkill a pointed stare. "Overkill doesn't want to risk losing—"

"FUCK you!" Overkill growled, before storming abruptly out of the hull into the sunlight.

"He'll be back," Destiny proclaimed reassuringly, "but the question remains: are you in fact ready for a mission of this magnitude?" She glanced at Arthur, adding hesitantly, "I don't want to have to confiscate one of AEGIS's ships and put the status of the Flag Five at risk of treason—"

"We're already risking that either way, Destiny," Arthur mumbled, "but…I'm more concerned about whether Dangerboat is ready for something like this." He looked pointedly up at the bot who was listening intently. "DB….are you sure about this, buddy?"

"Yes," responded Dangerboat, "I've never been more sure of anything in my life!"

"You know," Arthur pointed out carefully, "you don't have to prove anything to us—"

"To Overkill I do," the boat responded solemnly, "Unfortunately…"

As if on cue, that was when Overkill returned, but the flash of anger in his eyes remained. "I heard everything from outside," he said stiffly. "If you really can fly….I want to see it."

Dangerboat hovered directly over him. "You will."

"And by the way—" Overkill huffed, "if you really are in fact a spaceship—which by the way I find really hard to believe—I don't see how we're going to go into outer space without the correct space gear—"

"Oh don't worry about that," replied DB with a smug tone that Arthur was beginning to enjoy, "I've got you covered." With that, a panel opened in the walls of the hull, revealing a secret room that nobody had known existed. Inside the room was filled to the brim with all the necessary space gear and equipment that one could ever need.

"Holy shit…" Arthur murmured. "He really IS a spaceship!"

"Told ya," grinned Destiny.

Overkill, it seemed, was in shock, as he said not a word as he gazed at the spacesuits, complete with oxygen helmets.

"NOW do you believe me?" smirked Dangerboat from above.

Overkill's unblinking eyes stared up at him, completely mystified. "What else are you hiding in that hull?"

The boat returned the sobering question with a chuckle. "Wouldn't you like to know?"