Long-time, no update! I will try to update more frequently than once a year. I was busy learning for my final high school exams (like graduating in the US).

Disclaimer: I don't own MBC.

This chapter is in retrospective. The things that happen in this chapter happened between chapter 1 and chapter 2. Anyway, enjoy it!

The vibe of the chapter: Change the World by Eric Clapton - If I could be king, even for a day, I'd take you as my queen, I'd have it no other way...

The day before the cheer try-outs.

Chris' POV

Sometimes I miss monster busting, still, I am glad John is in the new team. MBC needs a Lang to invent new devices and gadgets! I can help them anytime, I am more experienced than them after all. I've done it for almost 6 years, the new team started working together a month ago. I don't even know them yet. The only thing I know is that the team consists of two boys and two girls, they are all freshmen and the second male alongside John is Calum, Cathy's cousin. They look a lot alike. They both have blonde hair and cyan eyes... Well, at least one of them. Cal has one blue and one green eye. He can't stretch his limbs as Cathy, his ability is telepathy and telekinesis. Which might come in handy during missions. He's a mysterious kind of a guy, definitely not that outgoing and bubbly as Cath.

I am grateful to have such an opportunity to bond a strong relationship with my teammates and to embrace love with Sam. Our marriage was arranged, but heaven knows we both wanted it quietly. I had a huge crush on her but was too shy to do something and let her know. It all got better eventually. My teen years are almost over and I am glad to say: I am proud of who I am now. I used to be bullied and made fun of. Now I am proud.

Sam helped me a lot with this, she's a perfect role model. She inspires me to be more creative and to overcome myself. To be a stronger person. Unfortunately, I am not that physical and I was practically doomed without my inventions while being on duty. I felt insecure... I still sometimes do. Who doesn't? Danny is insecure himself, but he is hiding it behind acting OVERconfident. I don't like this side of him. He still loves Cathy but he will never admit it. He'll never apologize to her. He's afraid of having a relationship and failing again. We all have insecurities I guess. And after their break up, it got even worse. They had some sort of romance going on at the time of our wedding and shortly after it. After our wedding, they had to spend more time together and I suspect they've even done something sexual. From that point, it went downhill. They still hang out, they are friends, but it's just not the same. They have to sort this out on their own, I don't want to be the judge and neither does Sam. She has a lot on her plate right now with that cheerleading situation.

John called me in the afternoon and told me to come over with Sam to the clubhouse, saying it's a serious manner. Our plans after school were clear.

In the clubhouse

I haven't been there since our "retirement" and was quite surprised by how different it seemed to me. This is a place where I have spent nearly every day of the last 6 years and I had trouble recognizing it already. John was standing by the hologram table.

"Hi guys, glad you made it." He giggled. He was wearing his blue monster buster suit, similar to the one I used to wear. He pretty much took my place - he's a tech expert and gadgeteer, an inventor. Needless to say, his invents are better, than they used to be.

"Hi John, what's the matter?" I said a bit concerned.

"I've heard that Sam is the new cheer captain."

"And that's it? All you wanted was to talk about this?" Sam was upset. "This is not a serious matter John. I'll tell you what is - cheer try-outs are held tomorrow and I know nothing about this...eh.. sport. I don't even want to do this!"

"I don't want to have a cheer conversation with you Sam. Zubin does. Somehow, he's worried about your new after-school activity."

"Let's call him then," I suggested.

After several minutes of waiting, Zubin finally answered the call. The hologram of him appeared. I and Sam sat on a couch together, we could already tell that this is going to be time-consuming. As far as I knew, this never happened in the past. The galactic commander has never reached to the former team members before.

"Hello, former monster busters. John, if someone from your fellow teammates is near, I'd like to talk to them as well."

"I think that Alexa is in the basement. Alexa? Could you come upstairs please?"

A girl with dyed red hair came. At the moment she saw us, her jaw dropped. "Oh my gosh, aren't you the former team members?"

"You act like we are some sort of celebrities," said Sam. Clearly, she wasn't in the mood of making new friends.

"That's my brother." Said John proudly. Alexa. glanced at John, then at me, then back at John and then she smiled. "You don't look alike."

"I would like to continue if you let me. This is a serious, life-threatening situation we are talking about." When Zubin saw how focused and quiet we suddenly were, he carried on. "I won't hide around the bush. 20 years ago, a retired member of the club died unexpectedly. Almost 10 years ago, another retired member of the club, that was incumbent in the time of the first death, died under strange circumstances. It will have been 10 years in two months. But we can't be so sure about that."

We exchanged a confused look.

"We found it really strange. 2 unexpected deaths in 20 years. After some investigation, we found out that it wasn't just a coincidence. It seems like a certain type of alien energy is killing former team members every 10 years. Both of the victims were females. The first one died in 1998 and the second one in 2008. Now it's 2018."

"Wait... let me get this straight," started Sam eagerly, "you are basically saying that I, or Cathy, could get killed by an alien in the next, let's say, 3 months or so?"

"That's exactly what I wanted you to be aware of. Here comes the cheerleading problem. As a captain, you are going to spend time without your friends and husband. That makes you easy prey."

"We'll do anything to prevent it. I can get on the team. As a current member, I can help." suggested Alexa.

"That's a good idea, but will one person be enough?"

"Do you want to try out as well?" Alexa asked John with a laugh.

"No, but Cathy, Danny and Chris definitely should." With that, he gave me a look.

I turned to face Sam. "I would do anything to save you. But you know how bad I am at sports."

"Weren't that you, who said earlier, that the decision of choosing people on my team is up to me to make?" She had a point there.

"Okay... Cathy wanted to try cheer anyway, but how are we going to convince Danny to join the team? His reputation means everything to him."

"That's easy. I'll let Wendy join the team as well."

Zubin let out a sigh of relief. "That's what I wanted to hear. If a whole former team and one current team member was on the team as well, that should be enough. But you should try to find the ones who lost their teammate, to know what, when and how it happened exactly. What happened before and what after."

"Could you at least give us names?" asked John.

The commander frowned. "I don't know any names. The former commander has died and as you know, MBC is a top-secret organization. We don't have the names written anywhere. Either way, I wish you good luck. Stay strong and work together." After that, he hung up. We remained silent for a while. I was holding Sam's hand while trying to figure it out.

Sam suddenly stood up, told Alexa when and where the cheer tryouts are going to take place and went outside. I was right behind her.

"Maybe we should ask Mr. Smith if he doesn't know them?" I suggested. She turned around and said: "That's where I am going right now."

When we arrived at Smith's, Cathy was doing green smoothies with her grandpa. They were clearly happy to see us, but after a while, they could sense that something was bothering us. We told them the news. Cathy hugged Sam and started crying.

"We are going to die." - "Don't worry Cathy, Chris and Danny will protect us." - "I told you already - we are going to die." She whispered.

"You started monster busting in 2011. But that was after a 15-year gap. No one was doing that job for 15 years, till I and Cathy formed the new team. However, I know one alien guy who was doing it in the '90s. He still lives in Singletown."

"Do you by any chance know his name?" I asked hopefully.

"I am afraid not. But I recall that he was quite strange. He was obsessed with lawns because they didn't have them on his planet. He loved how grass smells like. He always said that one day, he wants to live near the park."

"Maybe he does. There's a weird shack in the park." I said.

"So, we'll go and pay him a visit?" Sam suggested. Us four exchanged looks and we knew, that this is the only option we have right now.

By the weird shack

We knocked on the door with hesitation. We waited for a while, but nothing happened. When we wanted to turn around and go away, someone has opened the window. It was a man that was in his forties.

"Can I help you?" He asked unwillingly.

"Hi, mister." Cathy greeted him and stretched her arm to shake his hand. The guy was surprised.

"You are an alien!" He shouted.

"I am, but you are too," Cathy shouted back.

"How can you be so sure?" Asked Sam.

"Dear Sam, when an alien sees another alien, we don't have to ask, we just feel the energy."

"What do you want? Why did you come?" He seemed mad.

"Can we come in? It's serious." I said. He nodded, went downstairs and let us in. I decided that it's gonna be me who will ask questions because the girls were clearly shocked by the horrible news.

"So, what's the matter? I am Noel by the way."

"You used to be a monster buster, weren't you?"

"I used to be. We retired many years ago."

"One person from your team has died 10 years ago, right?" His expression changed drastically.

"I don't want to talk about it. People are dying all the time but this was something that nearly killed me as well." It was clear that he was trying not to cry. "I... I even forgot her name. My power is to forget the things I want to forget. So I chose to forget it. And though I want to remember her forever, hearing her name was too painful. A certain type of flower or plant reminded me of her."

Names as Rose, Lily, and Daisy came on my mind instantly. "We understand. Can you at least tell us the other names, Noel?"

"Tom has moved to Australia after her death. And the second girl... I am not so sure. But I am certain she works for the police. We used to call her Glitch Girl. She was very good with electronic devices. Perhaps she works as a hacker? She was really close to the deceased girl. They were best friends."

"I have heard of Glitch Girl. I had to crack some of her passwords and decipher her work when I started doing monster busting. If we find her, I'll probably ask for her signature, because she was a great tech expert." I recalled how much trouble some of her invents caused me. She was talented.

"How can you be not sure about what her name is?" Sam was confused by that.

"She didn't want to ever see me again, because I reminded her of the great times we used to have when all of us were alive and happy." That answer was sad, but it made sense. A scary thought came on my mind - What if Sam or Cathy dies? What am I going to do then? What about Danny? I am pretty confident he loves Cathy and cares about Sam a lot. Would he move to Australia as well? Would I live in the weird shack all alone?

On top of it, Noel stated: "I don't know why she would talk to you about the most painful loss of her life. She doesn't want to talk to me and we were as close as you are." That made sense as well. Why would she talk to strangers about losing her best friend when she doesn't talk to someone with who she had spent several years of life. I would never stop talking to my teammates... or would I?

We left his house while still being quiet. I bet we were all thinking about what would happen if... we lost our girls. I just wanted to go home.

At Sam's place

Sam's house was nearly as sad as the situation she was in. She doesn't have any siblings. Her mom had died in a car accident. Her despotic father left a year ago. Maybe he is the reason why she is so tough and bitter. The house was half empty. Sam was trying to keep it clean and tidy, as we were living here. Sometimes we went to my place, which is next to her's. Maybe the fact that we were neighbors and my mom treated Sam as her own child is why we are so close. I can't imagine my life without her, that's for sure.

Sam was trying to teach me round-off the whole night. She didn't give up so easily. I could do a solid handstand, which was weird to me since I am not an athlete and I have never worked out. It seemed that 6 years of hunting aliens do wonders for your body.

I was so relieved when I finally managed to do it.

At the same time, I was worried. I don't care about the reputation, about the hours of training after school or about the stress from the competitions. The only thing I truly care about is the girls' safety. I love Sam more than everything. I am not sure if she is aware of that though. This whole situation makes me more and more insecure. What if I fail? And what will happen then?

So, what do you think will happen next? I'll be glad for F and F's, as always.

Get Into The Groove